Chapter 8: Young Blood

The week didn't really start off that great for Izuku. It was difficult getting out of bed when all he wanted to do was drown in his sheets and pretend the earth wasn't turning for just one day, pretend he didn't need to go to school and socialize, pretend his problems didn't exist for just a day. But unfortunately for him, both his mother and Ritsu didn't let him give into that fantasy, nor his own conscience for that matter. He had asked Ritsu to make sure he gets up every morning at 5:00 to go on a run, and he cursed his past self for doing that.

Yesterday was a literal trainwreck for Izuku, and honestly, he was only marginally better today. Only an ounce more energy in his heavy bones that lifted him from his nice, warm sanctuary. He got ready for his run, grabbing his jacket, a banana, and a water bottle as he left his apartment silently.

His brain wasn't moving at its usual mach 20 that morning, more like a sluggish 2 inches per minute, weighing heavy and blurry with muck clinging to every thought bubble. It was stagnant for the most part, and Izuku felt grateful for the moment of peace, but it didn't help much in his morning anxieties that stirred his stomach. He tossed the remains of his banana in a nearby trash can.

His phone buzzed in his pocket.

Izuku startled, slowing to a stop on a bridge, then fished his phone out to see the caller. It was Kaede.

He smiled and answered.

"Hey!"

"Izukun! Good morning!"

His chest fluttered at her voice and he paced to the railing of the bridge, propping his elbows on the metal to lean.

"Early, aren't y-you?" he chuckled.

"Not as early as you, silly. It's, like, butt-O'clock. Are you out running?"

A laugh escaped him. Kaede always called him in the morning, though not usually so early or at the start of his run. The sun was barely even peaking up. She usually caught him when he got home and started his morning routine to start school. He knew she also called Nagisa after school almost every day too.

Izuku hummed in confirmation, bobbing his head despite the fact he knew she couldn't see him. "Hh-had Ritsu wake mm-me up this mornin'. Wha'about you?"

Kaede made an uninterested sound, as though she shrugged but remained silent for a while. "Woke up suddenly," was her only response, but that was all Izuku needed to hear to understand. He hummed back in understanding.

"I hear you," he whispered, lifting his gaze at the sky trying to wake up with amber stretching across it. "H… How've you b-been?"

"I'm doing okay, actually. Still have my… slow days, and all, but- high school's a lot easier than junior high, isn't it?"

"Dependss'on how you ss-see it."

"Guess you're right. Well, I mean, I'm not- it's… no one cares that I don't have a quirk, is what I mean? Well, there's a few people who have been less than nice about it, but I don't let it bother me. What about you? How's it going on your end?"

Izuku smiled. "It's going ff-fine. Uh, good! I-I told you 'bout mm-my n-new friends, right?"

"Oh right! Iida-san and Ura… Ura-chan, right?"

Izuku's smile felt lopsided at that, embarrassment churning his cheeks red. "Um, on-only 'cause I c-can't pronn-nounce her full nn-name…"

Kaede giggled in response. "Okay, Ura-chan it is. You've told her, right?"

"Honestly?" Izuku laughed, shaking his head. "H-haven't even used her nn-name yet."

"What?! Izukun! That's so mega rude!"

"I know! I kn-know! It's j-just- I'm, uh, nn-nervous… z'all… eheh…"

Kaede clicked her tongue. He could practically feel her eye roll through the phone and he laughed. "Izukun, there's no need to be embarrassed, you know? You know I- we love your voice, stutter and all."

His cheeks burned but he didn't fight off the smile. He… liked hearing that. "Th-thanks."

"Of course. So… you and Ura-chan?"

Nevermind, he didn't like it anymore.

Izuku sputtered, trying to coordinate his words together before finally settling with, "Uh, no! No, nn-no, you- I- Kae- nnnnnnn!" He near smashed his head on the railing, he was so embarrassed. His voice grew soft then. "Y-you… know how I ff-feel…"

Kaede giggled, obviously pleased with herself. "I know, I'm just messing with you. I…" her own voice sounded gentle over the phone. Izuku eased into his lean on the railing, free hand twitching in the free space. He wished… "I miss you," she finally whispered.

He stretched his hand out over the morning traffic below the bridge, opening to grasp something. A hand.

"I do too."

With Kaede sitting at her work desk, she stared out her apartment window in Tokyo, hand touching the glass.

"We should, um, I-I mean- are you ff-free? This weekend, I-I mean."

Kaede smiled.

"Yeah."

---

Aizawa hummed as he stood in front of the Autonomously Intelligent Fixed Artillery box in the faculty room. "So this is Ritsu."

Nedzu nodded. "Korosensei was kind enough to entrust her main energy source unit to U.A. and its teachers," he explained, smiling at Ritsu's screen, the AI smiling sweetly in return. "With Ritsu's permission of course."

"I see," Aizawa mused, eyes skimming the 'girl.'"And I assume this is legal…"

Nedzu gave a laugh. "Ritsu was created by the Norwegian government. However, she grew self-aware, and had a bit of help with recoding herself to become self-sustaining. She has since been frequently updating herself to become impenetrable. Is this correct, Ritsu?"

Ritsu's image bobbed her head in confirmation. "Korosensei helped me see that I can be just as human as a, well… human. In short, he's given me freedom to do what I want."

"Very good," Nedzu smiled. He turned to Aizawa then, a jaded expression full of knowledge lighting his eyes. "Ritsu has agreed to help the staff and students maintain safety by monitoring the school and students both on campus and during school-designated field trips. We're very thankful for your assistance, Ritsu." The animal principal returned his gaze to the AI and dipped his head.

Ritsu's smile never faded despite a certain sadness tingeing her digital lips. Her hands cupped together over her chest. "My friends are here. I know there are bad people who are still out there… who want to hurt them. Because of Korosensei's influence on us. That's why the government in this country has placed us all under protection."

Aizawa understood that much; but it helped to put his problematic students' lives into much better perspective. His expression grew harder. It felt wrong what these children were forced into. Forced to grow up too fast. Forced to fix adult problems. Forced to kill. It was troubling to know these students have eyes on them, and from who? Aizawa could only guess either villains or other assassins, angry that these children took their bounty.

Raising his eyes, he met Ritsu's. "You're incredibly intelligent and especially well-equipped for self-defense and assassinating, aren't you?" He may have read her notes as well, but refused to believe it until he saw her. The raven raised a brow. "Obviously we can't transport your unit during off-campus events."

Ritsu lit up at that. "Oh, of course! I've actually created my own app for easy access! It's a private program, of course. All the students of 3-E has it on their phones. I keep tabs on all of them as well; it's how we keep connected. I could send you the app if you plug your phone into my USB cord here." To back up her offer, a small panel slid open as multiple phone cords extended out. "Do you have a samsung or an apple phone, may I ask?"

Aizawa stared for a moment before turning his tired gaze to his boss. "I'm assuming you expect me to download her app?"

Nedzu nodded. "As will all the other staff members."

"Is she a registered student?"

"She is. Though, she's listed as a homeschooled student for personal medical reasons so she's not required to 'come to school.' She's enrolled as a Gen Ed student."

Aizawa hummed and turned back to the AI. Nedzu no doubt inquired of her thought on the matter. He was very passionate about free will and having a choice in things despite his controlling nature. It was no wonder why Nedzu seemed to have a dazzle in his eye whenever he looked at the AI. They were like-spirits, created and experiments and given no choice in their lives before they were set free. The heroics teacher eyed the offered phone cords before sighing and pulling out his own iPhone. For the safety of his students and in honor of the late Korosensei, he supposed.

"Alright then."

---

"Are the preparations complete?"

"Yes, all are accounted for and are awaiting orders."

"Wonderful."

A shriveled young man with wirey platinum hair cackled as he stared out the dirty windows of the abandoned shack. Below them on the catwalk, stood a multitude of villains, a soft lull of chaos in the air. His dry lips cracked a smile as he leaned over the railing. Thrill ran through his spine. He felt like he was about to get a new video game!

"Just a few more hours. Then the Hero of Peace will cease to exist, and my little noumu will be mine again."

---

Old school is sometimes the Best School, thanks Uraraka.

Was the thought Karma had as he laughed, racing down the hall early morning toward his class. He skirted around students still mingling around classrooms and bathrooms, muttering half-baked apologies whenever he nearly knocked someone over or just a "watch out!" before it came to that, but there was no amount of non-existent guilt that could stop the powertrain that was Akabane Karma, with a rather irate and pissed-off Asano Gakushuu rushing behind him, leaving a trail of weighed down students in his wake from his exerting pressure.

He didn't mean to tick off the personified God Complex.

Okay, that was a lie. He did, he really, really did—and by the way, that wasn't easy! Asano has a temper, don't get him wrong. He just let his temper out through his quirk, so getting a physical reaction out of him was a triumph in and of itself.

What did Karma do?

Oh, you know. Just sort of verbally stabbed him in the gut and twisted the blade? Challenged his authority and questioned place in life (Karma prided himself in cryptic speech that caused overwhelming confusion and self-doubt)—the ex-assassin swore he saw the ginger have an actual existential crisis for about 2 seconds before he lit on fire and Karma took off.

It was still over-the-top hilarious and god, Karma wished he had his phone out so Ritsu could record it.

There—class 1-I's door wide open and waiting—Karma took a sharp left turn, ducking his head as he entered. "Miranda, cover me!"

"This is stupid!" came her annoyed reply as she touched his shoulder, turning him invisible.

The students waiting for homeroom to start simply waited in bated breath for their Pressurized classmate to fall into their trap.

Waited…

A bulldog-faced student, Scott O'Madagain, piped up, "Is… he gonna walk in or what?"

"Are you sure you got him to chase you, Karma?" Date inquired.

Karma stood straight, Miranda's hand releasing his hidden form and he scoffed. "Yeah, he was screaming and everything!"

They stopped when footsteps sounded nearby. Miranda put her hand back on Karma's shoulder, hiding him from Asano's potential freak-out. The first bell was about to ring. Voices…

And Business Guy walked into the plastic wrap, the door closing behind him and latching him to the wall.

The classroom was silent.

It was Mizushima's sudden laugh that broke the tense, waiting atmosphere and soon the classroom burst along with him. Yet, Business Guy remained silent and otherwise expressionless and he stood straight, silencing his class. The plastic wrap broke but stayed staticked to his face while he walked to his desk, and the door opened with Asano walking in, a smug smirk on his face. He looked at Miranda, her invisible hand levitating over thin air and he somehow freaking met Karma's eyes behind the veil.

The mother fricker.

Miranda let him go and sat in her seat, huffing and muttering something about how stupid everything was, and it didn't even work anyways, what a waste of my quirk. Still, even as Asano sat in his seat and the class felt as awkward as physically possible, having experienced a failed prank alongside an actual cryptid of a teacher who still had plastic wrap around his face, no one seemed to be able to stop muffling their laughter.

---

The announcement of the field trip somehow surprised half the class, which confused Izuku considering they all had to fill out the permission slips that Aizawa-sensei had passed out last week. Still, he was pretty ecstatic for it—he even marked it on his calendar and had Ritsu remind him that morning. It was even cooler that they got to wear their hero costumes too! They didn't get to wear them nearly as much as he wished they did.

Rescue training…

Izuku gave Nagisa a determined smile from across the room before they were dismissed to change.

---

Tsuyu felt a croak erupt from her throat as she watched Midoriya and Nagisa chatting animatedly beside her. Well, to be more precise, she was more focused on the two snakes that hung from the blue-haired boy's head, the smoother of which had been giving her an intense stare of what Tsuyu could only assume to be one of curiosity. She was intrigued, herself.

But the (extremely cute) snakes weren't the only things that intrigued the frog-quirk girl. These two boys were interesting on their own—ever since she overheard them talk about their old school, the seedling of a certain thought never seemed to leave her. It tickled her knack for puzzle-solving, if she was being honest. Not to mention how tight the two seemed to be—Tsuyu wanted to know more.

Another croak stretched her throat as she leaned forward, curiously.

"Maybe we should go to the arcade this time, or something," Nagisa was saying.

Izuku hummed, cupping his chin the way he does when he's thinking too deeply about something. "Mm-maybe…" He trailed off, losing himself in thought.

Nagisa turned to Iida sitting across them and still sulking over mistaking the bus model. "Iida, would you like to hang out with us this weekend?"

Midoriya flinched out of his thoughts, his face flushing at the prompt. "Eh- uh, er…"

Iida seemed just as startled away from his sulking, straightening like a board and looking flattered all the while. "Are you for certain? Wouldn't you much rather spend the weekend studying?"

Kaminari leaned over and gave an exasperated expression to the speedy boy. "Dude, are you for real? Studying on the weekend? Gross! Forget that noise!"

Nagisa had a rather pained smile (if it could even be called that) at the exchange. He shook his head, waving his hand. "No, no, Iida, we just— well, we were going to have a sort of get-together with some old friends of ours, we just thought you might want to meet them? And the invitation extends to you too, Uraraka-chan." He turned to the brunette sitting next to the class co-president, perking up at the mention of her name.

"Uh- m-me?" she pointed to herself, looking a bit dumbfounded at the sudden inclusion before brightening up considerable and pumping her fists together. "Oh, definitely! I'd love to meet your old friends!"

Midoriya chuckled a bit. "Mm-my frien' K-Kaede's been wanting to mmm-meet you, too."

Uraraka's eyes widened at that, appearing flattered. "R-really?" Midoriya hummed with a nod of his head.

Nagisa smiled. "We were going to just invite a few. I think you'd get along with them."

Kirishima took interest, leaning forward. "Your friends from Kunugigaoka, right?"

Kaminari gaped. "What- seriously?! You two are from Kunugigaoka?! Dudes, that school's, like, hella intense, isn't it?"

Nagisa and Midoriya shared the same sheepish expression at that, heads dipped—they looked like palette swaps with their hero costumes so similar. It was obvious Midoriya took some creative liberty somewhere along the line with designing his. It was kind of cute.

"I… That's one way to put it," the snake-haired boy chuckled weakly. "We were actually in one of the lowest classes, but did so well, we were let in on recommendation."

Uraraka stood up then, seemingly positively flabbergasted. "What! But wasn't Izukun at the practical exams?! You broke your arm for Pete's sake?!"

Midoriya gave a rather hysterical laugh at the mention and the students around them gaped even more.

"How's that even happen?!" Kirishima exclaimed.

Kaminari wasn't much better. "Dude, that is power if your quirk does that to you!"

"Yeah, didn't you break your finger too, during that quirk assessment thing last week?" Uraraka had sat back down in her seat but was still leaning over the bar in front of Yaoyorozu and herself.

"That's right!" Kirishima nodded. "Man, that was a crazy throw, dude!"

Ashido was probably the loudest and intrigued Tsuyu the most when she pointed out with an exaggerated gasp, "I KNOW WHAT YOUR QUIRK REMINDS ME OF NOW! Your quirk's like All Might's!!"

Nagisa started choking in a half-fit of laughter and surprise and Midoriya just smiled blankly, blinking and attempting to process the statement before shaking his head. "Ah- n-no, oh, um, I-I- All Mmm-mm-m-might, um—R-really? I h-haven't- um, don't think? Ss-so? I-I mean, uh, um-"

Kaminari shook his head, interrupting his nervous babbling (Interesting…) with a single laugh. He leaned his head on his hand, staring at her across Aoyama. "Yeah, right, do you see All Might runnin' around with broken body parts whenever he Hulk Smashes someone?"

(Tsuyu heard Midoriya mumble something like, "he doesn't 'Hulk Smash', you dork." She tried her best not to laugh.)

"Kaminari's right, they're already super different in that part," Kirishima agreed. "But still, that quirk's got some mad power for a strength enhancer quirk, you know?"

Ashido stuck her tongue out at that.

Tsuyu blinked. There was an opening—she was going to take it. She faced forward.

"I've been told I'm rather blunt and tend to speak my mind, Midoriya."

The boy next to her nearly shrieked out of his seat—Iida then took that moment to Mom him, scolding him for not sitting straight. Kirishima, Ashido and Kaminari all gave a rather thick chuckle at the exasperated class president, newly appointed since yesterday.

With a chuckle, the amphibious girl turned to the taller boy beside her, a smile curling her lips and her head giving a tilt. He swallowed, his grin coming out lopsided. Tsuyu glanced at Nagisa behind him, eyes slipping mostly to the snakes that levitated just about the boy's shoulders.

"O-oh, huh? Wh-wha's it, Asui-chan?"

"Call me Tsu," she quickly corrected before meeting his wide, tired eyes, "You said you came from Kunugigaoka Junior High. You must have heard about that monster creature, then, kero?"

That's when she saw something even more interesting than interesting. Midoriya flinched back at the statement, and Nagisa instantly turned away. Tsuyu tilted her head. Kirishima seemed more attentive at the mention but didn't push further.

"Yo, did you see it or anything?! Dude, that's so hella rad; that must've been so freaky!" Kaminari grimaced then. "I heard he was an actual teacher there, you know?"

Ashido blanched. "Seriously?! That's so weird, how could they not know something so freaky was in their own school? How come no one reported that?"

"Um…" Midoriya's soft voice broke them from their excitement. Tsuyu blinked at the boy, who looked sad with his knees together and his hands in fists on them. "I just…'M nn-not very… comfor'ble talki… t-talking 'bout th-that, y'know?"

Kirishima instantly deflated. "Oh, man, I'm so sorry, we didn't mean-"

"B-but," Midoriya lifted his head some, smiling softly despite the pain in his eyes. Tsuyu wondered what sort of things he's seen. "I will...ss-say that… um, he… he wasn't, um, a… a mm-monster. Ss-so, y-yeah."

There was a lot of things that fascinated Tsuyu. Quirks and laws fascinated her, and so did the mechanism of hibernation and reptiles and amphibians the same. But she didn't think anyone's ever left her so starstruck with wonder as Midoriya Izuku and Nagisa did. She didn't miss how Midoriya deliberately took his time trying to speak clearly with his thoughts. How his voice cracked a bit there at the end, straining under some sort of pressure.

Curiosity wrangled her throat, pleading with her mind to speak and push further, question why he would think that before her better judgement pulled on the leash of her impulse control. That would only make him more uncomfortable and she didn't want that. She liked Midoriya and Nagisa. As much as they enthralled her with their closeness and their overall vagueness on topics that surrounded junior high, she did care about them and watching Midoriya break down twice in the corner yesterday told her that there was definitely a 'do-not-touch' list of subjects. And she would respect that.

So she swallowed the burning coal of curiosity in her throat, croaked, and nodded. "Sorry for bringing that up then, Midoriya, Nagisa."

The two smiled in appreciation at her, nodding wordlessly and she noticed the shine in their eyes, the wobble of their bottom lips. Yeah, apologizing was a good call.

Her eyes skirted across the bus to see Bakugou staring intensely at Midoriya as they started up another conversation (after a few thick swallows and clearing of their throats) about a weekend hangout again.

---

Ashido perked up after a bout of silence. "Oh! By the way, a totally unrelated question, Nagisa."

Nagisa looked uneasy. "Yes?"

"Are you a scaley?"

Nagisa blinked while Izuku beside him burst into laughter-induced tears. "What?"

"A 'Scaley!' You know, like a furry but with reptiles!"

He stared at her blankly before inhaling in defeat. "Three things. First off, what? Second off, no. By that logic, would you go asking Ojiro if he's a furry? And thirdly, what?"

Izuku let out a deep wheeze in an attempt to contain himself again while Kaminari and Kirishima watched on in stifled amusement. Ashido merely leaned back in her seat, crossing her legs and nodding in thought. "Alright, alright, that's fair." She gave him a winking smirk, mischief gleaming in her eye. "As for your question… HEY OJIRO!"

Iida was on her standing as quick as fly on trash, his arm waving around frantically. "Ashido! Sit back in your seat immediately! Don't you know how dangerous that was?! Sit back down!!"

Poor Ojiro lifted his head up from the back of the bus, expression wide with confusion.

Izuku kept on laughing.

---

The Rescue Training site was as amazing as Izuku thought it'd be— of course , the thought in the back of his head whispering, of course it'd be this great, this is UA!! They don't pull any punches whether it be doors or training sites. This is Plus Ultra! Excitement rattled his insides, making his feet restless and his hands plucking at a string from his gloves.

The hero Thirteen stood before class 1-A, explaining what the facility held. Neither Uraraka nor Izuku could contain themselves when it clicked in their heads that Holy smokes, Thirteen! It's Thirteen!! Nagisa beside the two was mostly amused at their excitement.

Aizawa walked toward Thirteen, drawing Nagisa's attention while his two friends beside him squawked about the Rescue Hero. He could just barely hear Aizawa mention All Might. Thirteen raised three fingers in response, adding something Nagisa couldn't hear but it was all the context he needed to hear to understand.

Thirteen turned their attention to the class and cleared their voice, keeping their hand raised. "As I'm sure many of you know, my quirk is called Black Hole. It can suck in and tear apart anything."

"You've used it to save people in all sorts of disasters," Uraraka chirped.

Thirteen nodded. "Indeed. However," their voice deepened into seriousness. "My power can easily be used to kill. I've no doubt there are some among you with similar abilities."

Nagisa swallowed thickly at that, feeling ice crawl through his legs and grip his stomach in a heavy weight. A side glance to Izuku told him he was having the same realization.

They had plenty of time to think on this last year. Way too much time, in Nagisa's opinion. Before they realized just how many quirks Korosensei was immune to, they had to think about how dangerous theirs could be to normal people. How dangerous it was to have no control.

Nagisa knew his quirk couldn't exactly kill , but if he didn't have control of his snakes and they bit someone, well…

Looking Izuku over fully, seeing his hand clenched over his chest while he stared at their teachers with a seriousness Nagisa's only seen a handful of times. Sighing, he turned back to Thirteen. Izuku's had his own share of trouble too. Probably more than himself. He's… lost control once. Nagisa's sure the green-haired boy was thinking about that time.

"In our superpowered society, the use of quirks is heavily restricted and monitored," they went on to say. "It may seem that this system is a stable one, but we must never forget that it only takes one wrong move with an uncontrollable quirk for people to die. In Aizawa's class, you were shown your hidden potential. All Might's class showed you how dangerous your quirks can be to others"

There was a silence to let that sink into the students. It was a heavy realization no one really wanted to acknowledge because none of them wanted to be that one who accidentally did something they'd forever regret. None of them wanted to admit all of them could be that someone.

Thirteen had an expression on their suit that made it seem like they were smiling, somehow. They continued, "Which is why you'll be shown a different perspective. In this class, you'll learn how to use your quirks to save lives."

The mood lightened with that.

"Your quirks are not meant to inflict harm."

Nagisa saw Izuku smile with a glow on his face.

"I hope you all leave here today with the understanding that you're meant to help people."

There was a wave of pride among the student body. As Nagisa looked around, he saw a number of his classmates smiling with puffed up chests. It took him a moment to remember this applied to him too. Even if his quirk wasn't flashy, if it wasn't made of power or strength, he could still save people. He could be used for good. Nagisa smiled.

Thirteen bowed as the class applauded them. "That is all! I thank you for listening."

Aizawa stood straight from his lean against the railing behind Thirteen. "Right, now that that's…"

There was a distinct static sound then.

"...-isa! Izu… distur… I'm be… -isconnected… Tell Aiz… dangerous!"

"What's that sound?" he heard a classmate behind him wonder.

Nagisa gasped at the muffled sound from Izuku's pocket. The green-haired boy stammered an apology as he fished his phone out from his leg pocket. Nagisa felt anxiety gnaw at his stomach and he felt he needed to grab his own, plucking it from his boot, ignoring the confusion and agitation from his classmates.

Ritsu.

She looked frantic. "I can't… Na… -sa! Tell-"

Her image cut out. Eyes widened and his breath caught in his throat. Blue eyes shot to their teacher, watching his back turned with his phone also pulled out, staring over the railing.

"Aizawa-sensei! Ritsu, she-"

"Huddle up and don't move!!" Aizawa shouted suddenly, turning to Thirteen. Nagisa caught a blur of black down below and his beating heart almost froze in panic. He glanced to Izuku frantically, catching his emerald, panicked eyes. "Thirteen, protect the students!"

Confusion rattled Class 1-A as bodies melted out of the black swirl below.

Nagisa forced himself to keep his breathing steady even if his snakes themselves were hissing in a panic-driven frenzy.

Villains.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
BlackSwanna

Next time on HEROISM: "Not again. Please, not again..."

If you haven't yet, please check out my other fic, History of HEROISM! It's full of drabbles that take place during the year of Class 3-E & other important moments that foreshadow future events!

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