Capítulo 1993: 12
Cheat Code: Support Strategist byClouds (myheadinthecoudsnotcomingdown)
Chapter 12: People
Summary:
Izuku has some...interesting chats.
Notes:
First off, here's some cute fanart of Izuku from Dead in a Ditch.
Also, I am on vacation for the next week or so, and as such, I just wanted to let you know that if I update a little later than I normally do, I'm not dead. I'm just probably busy picking blackberries.
Chapter Text
Izuku grabbed his bag and bolted as soon as he heard the bell. A small part of him knew that his classmates might not reject him right off the bat, this was UA after all, but the larger part of him knew that wasn't very likely. These kids were still human, which meant that they would still see him as weak and defenseless now that they knew he didn't have a quirk, just like Katsuki had.
He hadn't even noticed Mei chasing after him until she grabbed him by his arm and spun him around to face her, "Izuku Hacker Midoriya, just what do you think you're doing?"
"Breaking out the middle name? This must be serious." Izuku chuckled nervously. "You do realize I might have a real middle name, right?"
"It's too late to change it now, Izu-kun, your middle name is Hacker." Mei dismissed. "Now, why'd you run away like that?"
"Why do you think?" Izuku couldn't help snapping, but then forced himself to take a deep breath. He wasn't used to letting himself feel frustrated about things like this, but that still wasn't any reason to take things out on Mei. "I...I'm sorry, Mei-chan, but believe me, it's better if I can just avoid...everything that was about to happen. People don't tend to react kindly when they learn I'm quirkless."
"You have to give people a chance to be good, Izu-kun!" Mei stomped her foot. "You can't just run away because you assume people are going to hate you! What if I hadn't forced you to listen after you told me? Would you have run away then too?"
"Yes!" Izuku was only able to hold himself back from yelling because he remembered they were still in the hallway. "Look, you're the exception. All my life, the second anyone has learned that I was less evolved, they've turned on me. Everyone. Even my own mother started seeing me differently. I'm tired, Mei-chan. I don't…Ugh! I just didn't think I wanted to deal with that today, ok?"
Mei looked as shocked as Izuku felt at his outburst. He hadn't really realized that all that was bubbling under the surface when he ran away from his classmates. He'd just thought he was...scared? He didn't know, but now that he was thinking about it, he realized that his frustrated self was probably more honest than he was used to being with himself. He was tired. Sick and tired of the constant betrayal that came with people abandoning him. He didn't want to do it anymore.
"Izuku…" Mei's expression shifted from something almost like pity to a determined glare and he had to take a step back as she grabbed his arm and started dragging him back toward the classroom. "No. I'm not gonna let my best friend run away from potential allies just because he's scared of a little rejection! Any good inventor knows that you can't let a few explosions drive you from the lab!"
"I'm not an inventor!" Izuku dug his heels in and tried to yank his arm back, but Mei had years worth of muscle from hauling around tools and materials, so all he did was slow her down. "I'm an analyst. I use past data to make predictions! And all my data is pointing to this not being a good idea!"
"Your data set is skewed." Mei countered. "Now get back there and make friends!"
"No!"
They were so busy with their modified game of tug-of-war that neither of them noticed Nedzu hanging upside-down from the ceiling until they were right in front of him, "Hello!"
Izuku yelped and Mei stumbled backward. Without her actively pulling against him, Izuku's own momentum was too much and he fell to the floor, pulling Mei down on top of him. His face grew hot as he realized that not only had the principal of UA, and supposedly his new personal mentor, caught him in the middle of a childish fight, but then Izuku had to make things worse by literally tripping over his own feet. Couldn't he catch a break?
"Oh dear!" Nedzu smiled pleasantly. "Well, this seems to be quite the predicament!"
Mei didn't waste any time untangling herself from Izuku, who groaned as she accidentally slapped him in her haste to get to her feet. Well, it was probably accidental, but really, who knew when it came to her? Either way, within seconds she had scrambled to her feet and started shaking Nedzu's paw enthusiastically.
"I'm Mei Hatsume, future CEO of Hatsume Industries!" She grinned. "And you're Principal Nedzu."
Izuku hid his face in his hands, silently screaming in embarrassment, but Nedzu didn't seem phased by Mei's behavior at all as he simply chuckled, "That I am! And I know who you are, Miss Hatsume. I saw your entry for the entrance exam and I must say that I am very excited to see what you'll do here at UA. Do you mind if I steal young Midoriya from you for a moment? I'll return him by tomorrow."
Before Izuku could protest being referred to as an object, Mei grinned, "Of course!"
She grabbed his arm and yanked him roughly to his feet. Nedzu was no help and simply grinned knowingly as Izuku was manhandled by his best friend. Mei shoved him forward, effectively handing him off to the principal, "See if you can get him to stop being an idiot while you're at it!"
Nedzu laughed, "I will do my best Miss Hatsume!"
"You'll have your work cut out for you. He's too stubborn for his own good." She turned on her heel and waved as she started walking away, "Good luck, Izu-kun! See you tomorrow!"
Izuku gulped and turned back to the principal, "Um...hi?"
Nedzu simply smiled, seemingly unbothered by his awkwardness as he started leading Izuku down the hall, "Hello! How was your first day? Did everything go well?"
Izuku nodded, pushing the whole situation with his quirk introduction out of his mind, "It was really good. I, uh, heard that you had a hand in setting up my workstation, so...thank you?"
"Oh!" Nedzu's smile grew a little more excited. "Was everything to your liking? The moment I saw your request form, I thought, this simply won't do at all! You can't learn without the right materials, after all!"
"It just seems like a little much." Izuku said softly. "You really didn't need to go to so much trouble for me, I'm sorry."
Nedzu waved his paw dismissively, "Not at all! In fact, it was rather fun, so you were doing me a favor."
Izuku hadn't thought of it that way, but he supposed that Powerloader had said that Nedzu had enjoyed setting up his little room, "Oh, then you're welcome, I guess."
They had arrived at a door that Izuku recognized from his entrance exam as the principal's office. Nedzu opened the door and gestured for Izuku to go in, "Tea?"
"Y-yes, please…"
Nedzu grabbed a kettle from the side table and poured hot water into two cups, putting the tea bags in before setting them on the desk and inviting Izuku to sit down, "Now, I'm sure you're eager to get home, and you're most likely wondering what this is all about, correct?"
Izuku nodded hesitantly, "Just a little, though I'm pretty sure you wanted to talk about my analysis lessons, right? Powerloader said something about me being your personal student, so…"
"That is partially correct!" Nedzu took a sip of tea. "I do want to talk to you about that. However, there is something else. Powerloader mentioned that the support students work on projects over the course of the semester, correct?"
"He said something about that in my acceptance letter." Izuku confirmed. "But he hasn't said anything else about it."
"Ah, well Midoriya, each first year support student chooses a project to work on every semester and most of your grade is based on your adequate completion of it. Most students in your class will be working on an invention, but I have something a little different in mind for you if you find it agreeable."
Izuku nodded and took a sip of his tea as he waited for Nedzu to continue. Was he supposed to say something? But he didn't want to interrupt the principal of UA! Thankfully, Nedzu took his nod as answer enough and continued talking before Izuku could work himself into a full anxiety attack wondering how he was supposed to act around such a smart and important person. Well, not person, but...authority figure? Izuku hadn't really had many positive experiences with those.
"I would like you to make a full analysis of the first year hero students' quirks." Nedzu said. "They are still young and lack training, so they have a lot of room for improvement. You should focus your analysis on how they can play to their strengths while hopefully minimizing their weaknesses. These will be given to the students for them to use, so you'll be able to see the difference your skills can really make. Is that acceptable?"
"Yes!" Izuku sunk back in his chair sheepishly, "Um, I mean, yes, that sounds like it will be a good project."
"It's not bad to be excited." Nedzu chuckled, making Izuku blush. "In fact, that enthusiasm is probably a large part of why your analysis is so advanced at such a young age. I wouldn't have chosen this project if I didn't believe that you would enjoy it."
"Thank you." Izuku wrung his hands together anxiously, "But, um, I don't think my analysis is really that advanced yet. I still have a long way to go."
"But of course!" Nedzu smiled. "This is a school, afterall. But that brings me to the next part of our chat. You do realize, of course, that as an analyst, you will often have access to sensitive information, whether this is given to you so that you can do your job or whether it is something like a hero's weaknesses that you figured out yourself, correct?"
Izuku nodded, wondering where he was going with this.
"Well, I was planning on giving you full access to the school's camera system so you can easily observe the first years wherever they happen to be." Nedzu said. "But, if you are observing correctly, you might become privy to certain...circumstances, when it comes to one of our faculty. This information cannot be allowed to get out, you understand."
Izuku nodded anxiously. Was he really being entrusted with big secrets on his first day? What if he somehow messed it up? What if he accidentally posted something that exposed the secret and then the staff would hate him and he'd get kicked out of UA and blacklisted from all the other schools and…
A knock on the door startled Izuku out of his spiraling thought. Nedzu jumped down from his chair to open the door, "And here he is now! Welcome, All Might! Come inside!"
Izuku practically deflated in relief as he saw All Might in his skinny form hesitantly walk in the door, "Oh, you were just talking about All Might's other form! I already knew about that, so you don't have anything to worry about."
Nedzu grinned manically and All Might did a double take and spit up a few drops of blood as he saw Izuku sitting at the desk, "Uh, Nedzu...that's a student."
"Yes, that's Izuku Midoriya, my personal student." Nedzu said, almost proudly, if that was even possible. "I thought it would be best to tell him about your injury before he saw you change forms on the cameras, but it seems I had nothing to worry about."
"But...uh…" All Might opened and closed his mouth nervously a few times, "...how?!"
"You…" Izuku's stomach dropped slightly, "You don't remember me?"
All Might looked between Izuku and Nedzu, confused and a wave of disappointment washed over him. He didn't know why he expected All Might to remember him, but for some reason he'd assumed he would. That short conversation had completely derailed his life and knocked him forcefully onto a new path, so it just seemed so important to Izuku, but to All Might, it was just another conversation with a fan. Of course he didn't remember every fan he'd talked to! Remembering one person would be completely unreasonable!
Izuku forced a smile onto his face, burying his disappointment in logic, "It was almost a year ago, so it's ok that you don't remember! I, uh, asked you if I could be a hero and you encouraged me to choose a more realistic path." He chuckled awkwardly. "I did! I, uh, still want to help people, but decided it would be safer if I did that from behind a computer, you know?"
"Oh…" All Might still looked confused, but after a moment, there was a flash of recognition, "You were that quirkless boy."
Izuku smiled and shrugged, "I'm going to be an analyst. If you'd never saved my life that day and taken the time to talk to me, I would probably still be chasing an impossible dream. I'm a lot happier now, though, so, uh, thank you."
All Might shuffled awkwardly, glancing to Nedzu, who was watching the scene with an unreadable expression, "I'm, uh, glad I could help."
Izuku nodded and turned back to Nedzu, "Well, I've known for a while now and haven't told anyone yet, so was that all you wanted to talk to me about."
"For now." Nedzu confirmed. "Anything else can wait. Now, shouldn't you be getting home?"
"Yes!" Izuku bowed to them and grabbed his backpack before running to the door. "Thanks!"
All Might hesitantly started edging for the door as well, "I, uh, should probably be heading out as well…"
Izuku was already on his way out, but he could've sworn there was a slight chill in Nedzu's voice as he closed the door, "Actually, All Might, why don't you stay for a cup of tea? I believe we need to have a little chat."
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