Chương 7: Never Enough

The final bell rang, and Karma couldn't help but to suppress a sigh. It wasn't that this Business 101 was difficult—far from it, actually—but Business Guy… was just excruciatingly overbearing. Even to Karma's level of patience.

The dark blond hero hefted himself on top of his desk at the last ring, suitcase at his side and ready to swing open. "Alrighty, class dismissed," he announced. "Remember to get those portfolios in before next Wednesday, kids! Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with business." And with that, the man clicked his suitcase open, a wave of money from different countries falling out and he used the case as a surfboard to quite literally money-surf out of the room…

With that, the class gave a collective sigh, either leaning back or forward on their desk before they started gathering their things. Karma already had his things packed and rose to leave but a hand on his shoulder and a familiar pressure in the air halted him. Irritatingly, he glanced back to the hard stare Asano had on him.

"What is it you want?"

"Answers. That's all," Asano said simply, passing him and toward the door. He leaned against the wall and Karma felt the pressure he exerted intensify and the last students in the class shuffled out, leaving the two of them alone. Asano closed the door after the last student and the pressure fell gradually. "We made a deal, didn't we?"

Karma crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at the ginger. "I suppose we did. But you still haven't met the requirements, yet."

"Oh?"

Karma smirked. "The condition is this: beat my grades this semester fair and square and I might consider spilling."

"Not too hard. Soon enough I'll have this school on its knees anyway."

The horned boy scoffed at that. "You forget, Asano. You're not playing on home field anymore, are you?" Golden eyes studied the other, noting how his eye twitched only slightly. "There's no 'Daddy' here to give you his backing or sabotage the playing field anymore. Everyone here starts on square one just like everyone else. It's how you play the game that determines how far up the rope you climb. You would know that, wouldn't you?"

A hum of vague acknowledgement. "I suppose so. Fair enough conditions, anyway. I look forward to winning this little 'game'."

Karma narrowed his eyes again, smirk widening. He made for the door, deciding their conversation was over before halting.

"Oh, and one more thing."

He knew Asano could see the expression he held by the way the boy tensed somewhat, a spike in how heavy the air weighed, but Karma knew it wasn't coming from the other student's quirk this time. His expression grew sharp and his smug look fell to something deathly serious. Hardened golds shot to his right to trap lavender under its smothering gaze.

"Don't try to get anything out of those three either. We've been through hell and deserve our moment of peace, don't you think?"

The door slid open and Karma walked out, leaving Asano to his thoughts.

In the hallway, a lone garbage bin came rolling toward him, making the horned teen to stop and blink in bewilderment. "What the…"

It stopped beside him, and the lid lifted to reveal Business Guy holding a rose in his hand, seemingly scrutinizing it. "Romance sure is hard."

Karma gawked.

"Are you high?"

"Only off love and money. And man, is money a cruel mistress."

"Did… Did you get dumped by your money…?"

Business Guy only sighed before closing the lid on himself, mumbling, "Romance sure is hard," again and rolling away.

Karma stood, squinting dumbfoundedly at the direction the garbage bin went rolling off to. "What the hell…"

---

Karasuma nodded as the students wrapped up their second exercise, looking winded and a bit bruised here and there but otherwise unharmed.

"Good work, everyone," he started. "Despite some of you not having proper training with close combat, you all performed exceptionally well and adapted nicely."

The withered man beside him nodded along in silence.

"You have ten minutes until the bell. Any questions before I dismiss you?"

Kirishima raised his hand, to which the pro nodded to. "I meant to ask before, but who's that man?"

Izuku grimaced nervously behind his mask, meeting Toshinori's eyes. He felt a sweat begin to freeze against the back of his neck. Thankfully, Karasuma was a man who was quick on his feet, hardly ever shook off balance, so it came to no surprise that he answered in a timely manner and with an even voice, "This is Yagi Toshinori, a staff member at UA. He will sometimes act as a student teacher, watching the class and whatnot. Pay him no mind and you'll both get along fine. Anything else?"

No one had anything to say. Izuku smiled and let out a silent sigh with how quickly the subject. was diffused.

"Then you're dismissed. Get changed and head back to class."

Izuku made sure to stay back as the class shuffled back to the main building of UA. Pulling his mask down, he smiled at his old teacher. "Karasuma-ss-sensei, All Might," he greeted, approaching the two.

The raven merely nodded in acknowledgement to the shorter student. "Midoriya. I'm pleased you made it into the hero course."

Izuku nodded, beaming like the sun. "Th-thanks to your train- training, of c-course!"

Karasuma merely nodded at that, an appreciative tone in his eyes that twitched his lip corners just a tad. "You did exceptionally well today, sans for letting your guard down a few times." Karasuma raised a brow as Izuku glanced away sheepishly, giving an awkward smile to nothing in particular. His cheekbone throbbed a bit.

Toshinori rubbed at his chin contemplatively. "Young Bakugou, was it? Quite the temper on him, hm?"

Izuku shrugged. "I dunno him v-very, um, w- very, mm, well. He sseems very, uh, T-Terasaka-y?"

Toshinori sighed, rubbing his face with a hand while he shook his head. "Not another one." Inhaling, he grinned at Izuku. "Alright. Well, get back on to class. You don't want to get out late."

The student nodded with a beaming smile, waving to his teacher as he parted. "It was nn-nice to ss-see you again, K-Karasuma-sensei!"

Once Izuku disappeared into the main school building, Karasuma glanced at Toshinori. "You're sure you can handle another class of rambunctious teenagers by yourself?"

"Pft," Toshinori snorted, looking Karasuma in the eyes with a smirk. "If he could do it, so can I."

"We'll see, then."

"Have a little faith."

"Hm."

---

A few days pass when Karma and Rio greets Nagisa and Izuku at the train station. That Bakugou kids still cops an attitude at them, which amuses Karma to no end and honestly, he's a bit disappointed he can't tease the ash blond more often than before school and the few times he sees him at lunch. He often comes mostly to chat with Izuku and then he leaves after Karma pokes a bit of fun at him.

"How're you feeling, Nagisa?" Rio asks when the five meet.

Nagisa smiles half-heartedly, appearing tired of the same question every morning. "Just as fine as the last three times you've asked… I'm just sore inside, kinda raw and stuff but Lunch Rush's meals have been helping during lunch."

"That's good to hear," Karma says. His eyes scroll toward Bakugou whose eyes are cast elsewhere. He scoffs suddenly and turns to leave without them. "Hey, now. What's the rush?" Karma calls out to the blond, voice laced with amusement. Bakugou remains silent, looking as though he didn't hear the horned redhead. He holds his head down, and Karma couldn't help but wonder if he was trying to avoid someone. The thought came with a hum of amusement.

It was, hilariously, confirmed when a boy with spiky red hair comes out of almost nowhere only to wrap his arm around Bakugou's shoulder, shouting his greeting cheerfully. Karma almost choked on spit and strangled laughter.

"Bakugou!! There you are!!" the unknown redhead cheers. "I didn't know you took the train!!"

"Not anymore," grumbles the ash blond, trying to get the boy's arm off from his shoulder.

"Aw, haha, don't be that way! Wh- heyya! You ride with Midoriya and Nagisa?" Ah, the redhead caught his group's stares, turning the both of them around and approaching with a sharp and welcoming grin. "'Sup guys! Oh, hey, who're these two?"

Nagisa and Izuku give Karma and Rio smiles of exasperation before introductions were given with the other giving a sickeningly happy, "Nice to meetcha, dudes! Any friends of Bakugou's and Midoriya's are friends of mine!! I'm Kirishima Eijiro!!" So the energetic kid is Kirishima, from Izuku's class. Interesting. Karma wonders vaguely if he could weasle the guy into being his pranking guinea pig sometime.

Uraraka and Iida don't meet them at the train station this time, so they decide to make their way to school anyway, Kirishima running his mouth off all while actively keeping Bakugou from fleeing (Karma was?? Impressed??), talking about everything under the sun until he starts asking his own questions to the group, to which they answer happily and with amusement. Rio and Karma are the most active in the conversation; it appears Izuku is starting off on a less than good day and Nagisa's trying his best to distract him.

It's when they started closing in on the school building that their conversations began to dwindle. There was a crowd by the gates. A rock of frustration settles in the back of Karma's throat, not emotionally ready to face anyone but the school staff and students today, and especially not ready to face the god-awful media of all things. Izuku and Karma both stall, shifting looks at each other before looking at Rio and Nagisa, also appearing wary.

Karma sighs and then he pushes forth, ignoring the burning anxiety in his gut. If he keeps his eyes sharp, they'll back off, right? He just had to give off the most sinister and cold aura of "frick off" he could possibly manage.

One of those vultures are on the group in a heartbeat and like stink to flies, the others follow suit, overwhelming them easily and throwing question after question to them—mostly about All Might, which everyone tries their best to answer (they're simple questions like: 'how is he like?' or 'how does it feel to be trained by the number one hero?'), trying to shuffle through the crowd. Bakugou yells at some of them to back off while Kirishima tries to simultaneously calm the explosive blond down and keep the peace with the news reporters. Izuku stammers and lowers his head to hide behind his curls while a reporter tries to make sense of his nonsensical murmuring. Nagisa looks like he's trying to decide whether or not it's worth it to use his quirk on them (Karma thinks 'go for it, what's the worst that can happen?' but he knows too well), and Rio's gritting her teeth and straining a smile at the people swarming them. Karma's just outright ignoring the mics shoved in his face and the questions—

That is, until one of them recognizes them.

"Hey, aren't you the kids from Kunugigaoka Junior High?!" The breath is sucked out from Karma and he meets the scumbag's eyes with his own piercing hues, silently pleading death to the man. He doesn't relent, and instead he's seen pushing through the stunned crowd. "You are, you are! I recognize you! You're the kids from that class- who ki—"

A sharp nail is pressed under the man's neck as he walks right beside him. He feels the reporter go still, a breath of fear leaving him and Karma feels his chest grow light and giddy at the feeling. He can feel the bloodlust he kept under lock and key surge in his chest, burning like acid through metal and he grins as he leans into the reporter's ear with a smile. There's silence around them, cameras angled toward him. Well aware of this, his hand slides down the man's neck and onto his shoulder where he keeps his thumb right above his clavicle, a firm and stifling pressure pressing down. The nosy son of a fricker has the nerve to whimper slightly. That makes this all the more enjoyable.

"Talk to us again," Karma's voice is soft and thin but sickeningly threatening, "and I promise you, our next meeting will be less than welcoming."

The pressure is lifted and the horned teen pushes the reporter to the side, creating an opening for the students to pass through peacefully. He gestures to the others to follow before taking his own leave.

The burning is singeing his throat and he feels ready to throw up and cry and destroy them all simultaneously. Izuku's shaking under all the prying stares. The redhead stops at the gates as Kirishima and Bakugou pass him with prying eyes before Karma turns around, staring at the crowd of vultures, their faces crumbling in his fiery eyes.

"Ask us again, and you're next.

He turns on his feet, wrapping an arm around Izuku's shaking frame and follows the group inside the school. They're approached by a dark-haired teacher whose tired eyes pierce Karma and Izuku, and he looks just about ready to inquire if anything was the matter, but then he sees the press lining the gates and understanding envelopes his expression along with exhaustion, a bit of anger, and frustration before he pats Izuku's shoulder and heads toward the media buzzing about with a hard look in his eyes. Karma doesn't comment on it.

"Are you okay?" Karma asks in a hushed voice to Izuku when the teacher is gone. His eyes burn a bit, but it's nothing compared to how Izuku's must feel, shedding tear after tear in stifled silence. He hears a sniffle and a hum before they stop in the locker room. He guides them to a corner and turns the freckled boy toward him to avoid people seeing his reddened and wet face. Izuku buries his face into Karma's chest as they sit on the bench that lines the wall.

"Whoa, is he okay??" Kirishima questions, his full attention turned to Izuku and Karma. He approaches and Izuku wraps his arms around his head to hide himself. "Dude, you alright? Just- try and breathe slowly, okay?"

Rio and Nagisa come close too, concern and understanding in their eyes, along with unshed tears.

"He's not good with crowds," Rio explains softly.

He can feel Bakugou's unnerving stares from across the way, unmoving despite the fact he can clearly leave them. "That prick just reminded him of something… sad that happened last year is all. He'll be fine." He hopes. They have to be fine, sooner or later. Even Karma himself was only barely keeping all his seams attached.

He lowers his head to look at Izuku gently. "Right, Izukun? Just take some deep breaths, okay?"

Kirishima's face melted into something of sympathy and he touches Izuku's shoulder gently. "Aw, Midoriya, it's okay. I'm sorry that happened. Do you want to go to Recovery Girl's office for a bit?"

"We could sit with you, Izukun," Nagisa softly offers, his own voice shaking slightly. Ko and Roka tug a bit closer, trying to reach the boy.

Izuku shudders in Karma's hold, his head lifting somewhat to catch his breath. "S-sss-sorr-y-y," he gasps, voice thickly laced in a sob that wracks his body. He's struggling, Karma notes sadly, to keep his noises soft and nonexistent. He doesn't want the attention. Karma's hand rubs against his back soothingly. What a crappy start to the day; and it wasn't even 9am yet.

"No, no," Rio softly coos, sitting next to them. Her hand twirls his curls around. Karma realizes that her voice sounds wet and fragile but she masks it with how thin she speaks, almost a whisper. "Don't be sorry, Izukun. Just focus on breathing- And, let's get you to Recovery Girl, maybe- m-maybe she'll let you sit out for some of homeroom." Her voice trembles just a tad.

"I don't mind letting Aizawa know you'll be late?" Kirishima offers, crouching down. Izuku slowly starts to sit up at this, breaking his hold on Karma and rubbing at his scarlet face. His hands fidget with each other. His breath still hitches and he looks like he's still trying to catch his breath, but he shakes his head anyway.

"Nnn-nn-no," he stumbles out. Karma's half tempted to tell him not to push himself, because he knows he hates talking when he's being strained like he is. He gets frustrated when the right words don't come out or they'll come out but in the wrong way and he'll have to switch up his sentence half-way through another. At much as Karma liked to tease people, just like Nagisa made his femininity out-of-bounds (way too late) later into the school year, Izuku made it known how insecure he was about his voice—how insecure he still was. Karma shoves down the icky feeling of... bad that tries to climb up his throat to itch at his brain. Izuku sucks in a shaky breath again, wiping at his face some more. "'M ff-ff-fih.. Fi-finne. 'Mm'ok-k-kay."

Kirishima's brows furrow in concern. "You sure, man? It's alright to bow out for a sec. There's nothing more manly than taking a sec to care for yourself!" He offers a smile.

Izuku blinks and starts to smile back before nodding and muttering something about going to the bathroom. He makes to stand up but sits back down again, another torrent of tears breaking through his eyes and falling down his cheeks as a choked sob rips out of his throat. Karma makes to hold him close again, silent and struggling to hold back his own tears. Kirishima frowns and stands to help them back up. "Let's go to Recovery Girl."

Beside him, Nagisa is not-so-discreetly wiping away tears along with Rio but they take steady breaths to keep themselves calm and strong for Izuku. The group heads for Recovery Girl's office, Karma and Rio hugging the trembling Izuku, and even Bakugou trails behind them distantly. They just miss Uraraka and Iida entering the school, their stares curious with concern.

---

"—Karma would make a good class prez, I think."

Karma heard this the moment he opened the door to the classroom, and without missing a beat, he instantly replied with: "I agree."

The class 'calculator', Date Akemi scoffed and sat straight in her desk. "You don't even know what we were talking about!"

Shrugging, the redhead passed a paper slip to the infuriatingly cheerful Business-sensei. He slouched in his seat, smirking at the girl. "Don't need to. I heard my name and 'good' in the same sentence; clearly it means I've become the alpha of this class."

Date gave him an unamused stare while another student behind her, the octopus-headed Mizushima Takoyaki, leaned forward. "Never say that again."

Asano gave a laugh, leaning in his seat. "Figures you'd use that sort of terminology, damn furry."

"Ahem," Business-sensei cleared his throat, though everyone knows he doesn't hold as much authority as he thinks he does. Still, everyone turned their attention to him. "I'll excuse your tardiness this time, Akabane-kun, seeing as you came from the nurse's. Anyway, we were discussing the need to choose the class president!"

That's when Karma started to slowly zone out, gold gaze glued to the excited ginger leading homeroom. God, his giddiness shouldn't even exist on a Monday. Oh, man, Karma wanted to punch him so bad.

He listened to his classmates verbally wrestle for the title of 'class president,' only somewhat interested in the position but his mind was foggy and wrapped in other thoughts. He was about ten minutes late to class, but he couldn't quite bring himself to care very much. After promising that Izuku would be alright, Recovery Girl scurried the rest of the kids out after the first bell rang, handing them all a pass in case they missed the late bell. He also missed the late bell, of course, considering he took a straight path to a vacant bathroom and proceeded to have a minor breakdown before re-conducting himself well enough to face society again.

Honestly, he surprised even himself with how well he cleaned up after that fiasco. He was pretty proud of himself; it'd be a nice feat to flaunt around if it wasn't so freakin' embarrassing.

He tried to discreetly shuffle his notebook out and work through his notes. Karma's head felt like cotton was stuffed through his ears and into his brain, fuzzing everything up. Stuffy. No, he wasn't sick; he's pretty sure it's not that. Juvenile crayons are scrawled all over his mind and suddenly he wants to cry again.

That stupid, yellow octopus.

He won't get out of his head.

Everything reminded him of that bastard. He's even in his freaking dreams sometimes; he can't escape it. And he can't admit that he actually liked Korosensei—the idiot was just enjoyable to be around, he was a fun challenge to overcome, he was- he was a good teacher, and friend. He was a hero, but this damn government refused to see him in such a light and condemned him for something he couldn't even control.

Then there's that freakin' Mizushima kid, a literal walking reminder of what he— they all —lost. Listen, he was a nice kid. Kind of on the timid side, but not as bad as others he knew, since he seemed to have frequent bouts of courage here and there to say what's on his mind. Karma tended to keep his distance from him, but he couldn't find it in himself to feel bad about it despite the kid not deserving that sort of treatment. Okay, yeah, it wasn't fair. Nothing was fair, really. No one could control much of anything these days.

And that's why he's here, Karma thought. He was going to dominate the Business Course and then climb into the Politics Course next year with vengeance. His goal, he remembered and contemplated every day, is to fix the damn political system so people like Korosensei never have to fall victim to unjust laws that condemn their very existence.

Sure, there are laws that protect victims of inhuman experiments—there have been several cases over the centuries leading from the first quirk discoveries to quirklessness dwindling nowadays that were based in illegal experimentation; so why was Korosensei any different? It frustrated Karma to no end, and Karma… Karma hated injustice in the system. It was why he found himself agreeing somewhat to Stain's philosophy, but there were better ways to dealing with corruption in today's society, and Karma was doing just that.

His head cleared at that, a new determination lighting his eyes after he caught Asano's hard and prying stare. Scowling, Karma blinked away the wetness in his eyes and turned to face forward.

"Well, tough cadoodles, Miranda, that's not how democracy works!" shouted Mizushima from across the room.

"I don't care! I'm the smartest and most responsible person in this room, it should be me leading you all!"

Another student shot up, pointing at her angrily. "See!? She doesn't even care how we think! What makes everyone think that she can lead us with care!?"

Miranda Rodriguez sighed loudly and put her head in her hands. "You are all so infuriating! "

"Now, now, class," Business Guy soothed, stepping in front of his desk. "Let's not get overwhelmed here. Though, this does remind me of the time in class where Best Jeanist was nearly sucker punched by Blood King in class over the same issue… ah, good times. Jeanist still laughs about it! Ah, well, I do at least."

" You're friends with Best Jeanist? The most cryptid hero in the database?" Date gaped with a touch of amusement at Business Guy, who hummed with a touch of laughter. The class seemed only slightly impressed.

"Yepperoni! We're as tight as thread in jeans, we are!" he nodded smuggly. "He hooks me up with some of his merch sometimes, too. Like- okay, okay, take a gander at these babies—" Business Guy whipped out some navy blue pencils, grinning proudly. The students squinted. The 'impressed' levels just took a dump into 'that's excruciatingly lame' levelsa.

"They're just regular pencils?"

"Guess again!" Business Guy leaned forward towards the students, his cheeky grin almost splitting his face in half. "They're jencils. "

"...'Jencils.'" Miranda shot him an incredulous look.

"Jencils! Jean Pencils! The outside- okay, okay, get this," Business Guy waved at the kids giddily, bouncing on his feet. "The outside of the pencil… is made… of jeans . I also, ahah , happen to be wearing a pair of authentic Best Jeanist patented jeans at the moment…" Karma wished he didn't sound so smug about that.

Silence.

"Okay, so it's a pencil with a jean outside. Does Best Jeanist even- Who designs these? Do all Best Jeanist's merchandise just consist of jean-versions of regular things? And jeans should not be considered Best Jeanist merch."

"Okay, but all of All Might's merchandise is just All Might versions of regular things too."

"You know what? You're completely right. I'm a fool. Have a nice day."

They bicker just a bit longer before another student suggests a voting system where a student can't vote for themselves. It seemed reasonable, so Karma agreed. He didn't really care all that much about the whole thing—

Until Asano challenged him.

---

Nagisa and Izuku come to homeroom way later than Karma did, and Kirishima and Bakugou had gone on ahead to let Aizawa know they'd be late since they were both in the nurse's office. Nagisa stayed back with Izuku after everyone left because he was starting to have his own episode as well. Panic attack, Recovery Girl had mused and let them stay for a while until they calmed down enough. She made it known that she knew about the incident in Kunugigaoka and that if they were having any trouble at all adjusting or weren't feeling well enough to function around others, to come to her room for a break. She was very thorough with asking questions regarding their mental stability, wondering if they were taking the counseling sessions offered to them, if they were on any medication or had a history with this and that before finally letting them be.

The door to class slid open and Izuku wondered if he was even remotely close to being able to function properly today, let alone look like he could. It was so embarrassing, having that meltdown in front of so many people and just because of a stupid comment by some stupid news reporter of all things. He kept his head down for a second, knowing all eyes in the class were on him and Nagisa (Nagisa passed both their nurse passes to Aizawa who acknowledged them passively, something in his eyes said he would probably check on them after the period was over. Wonderful).

"The class just finished voting for class president. Make your vote and then return to your seats," Aizawa's voice was dull and uninterested, but Izuku finally analyzed that he was like this all the time, apparently, so it didn't bother Izuku as much as it would had he not understood this.

His command barely registered in his still fuzzy mind, however, so he stalled for a moment to process it before looking at the board and hastily giving his vote to Iida and scurrying toward his desk. He desperately tried to avoid the quizzical eyes that burned on both ex-assassins. He kept his head down until the results were announced and he felt the color drain from his face at them.

"Fff-ff-fuh- wh- I- it- f-ffour votes?!" Izuku's high-pitched voice cracked pitifully at the results. He sank in his seat just as deeply as his heart sank into ice. That… did not sound good. Or fun. Aw, frick. Most of the class seemed to be disheartened at the outcome, disappointed they couldn't take the 'throne,' but (thankfully?) others seemed to be excited. "Um, there- is th- mm-mis- uh, no ."

"Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, up front." Aizawa, you son of a frick, get me OUT OF HERE.

Shakily, he shot a pleading look to Nagisa and Uraraka, the latter of whom responded with two thumbs up and a smile. Nagisa just gave a grimace-smile, a sympathetic gesture that Izuku could appreciate but it stILL DIDN'T SAVE HIM FROM THIS HELL. For the LOVE of quirks, today COULDN'T GET WORSE.

Standing stiffly next to the relatively indifferent Yaoyorozu, Izuku could feel his knees wobbling and his hands desperately gripping at each other, pecking at the skin on the backs of them.

"So, then it's President Midoriya and Vice-President Yaoyorozu. Take the rest of the period to study or do whatever."

Izuku wanted to just die on the spot.

"Wa- wha- wait, but, I- uh, c-can't, um, the p-pres… Better..?" He stopped himself, shutting his lips tightly when he couldn't even understand himself. His brain had trouble forming most sentences already, this was just awful. How was he supposed to be the class president if he couldn't even vocalize himself properly?! He felt his face burning before swallowing and trying again. "...I… c-can', um, do this."

Kirishima stood up, brows furrowed in concern but he offered a supportive smile. "Sure ya can, Midoriya!"

Ashido raised her hand. "Yeah! You're so cool and collective during our past few hero exercises, there's no reason you can't be totally BOSS at leading us!" Settling down, those around her could hear her mumble, " Although, I'd really like to be the one up there and not them but oh well, I guess …"

Izuku set his lips in a firm frown, lowering his gaze a bit at that. Okay, she was right, but Izuku on the field was a totally different Izuku than the Izuku who had to take deep breaths to calm himself when ordering food from McDonald's by himself. And even that Izuku was different from the Izuku who felt completely safe around his close friends in class 3-E, allowing himself to be snarky and open and shamelessly playful. This class here wasn't a safehouse to him. They weren't used to his way of speech, how could he be sure they were fine with it? Sure, no one's exactly brought it up or questioned it or anything, but…

This was a whole new ballpark that the ex-assassin wasn't familiar with and he didn't have every backing he had when he was in Kunugigaoka.

Well, okay, he wasn't being grateful enough. All Might, Nagisa, Karma, and Rio were big anchors to him. They were his grounding beings and thoughts, and he knew he wasn't alone on his tiny boat in this massive sea of different people. What had he learned all year, then? Korosensei spent all his time training his students, Izuku included, to be able to face this dog-eat-dog world by themselves. If he relapsed into his shell now, all that would have been for naught and it'd be an insult to Korosensei's life.

Taking a shaky breath, he nodded solemnly. "Okay," he swallowed. His voice was tiny, he couldn't even be sure anyone but maybe Yaoyorozu heard him. "I-I'll try."

He saw the supportive smiles from Uraraka and Nagisa. He smiled softly. Maybe he can do it.

---

"So, you got stuck as class prez too, huh?"

Izuku sighed and nodded with his face on the table before lifting it. "W-wait, 'too??'"

Karma smirked and leaned forward on the table. "Let's just say I never back down from a challenge."

"I'm not surprised," Nagisa gave him a sideways glance after putting a spoonful of pudding in his mouth. "Who's your vice?"

Karma shifted his jaw and glanced away. "Some kid, Mizushima. S'got an octopus head mutation." He could feel Izuku flinch at that before groaning when the thought of being class president came back swinging with a metaphorical nailed bat.

" Ugggh, what mm-makes e'ryone th-think I could- could lead a-anyone?"

"Well," Uraraka began with a small voice. "You're kind of inspiring, you know?"

Izuku's face burst into strawberry hues. He stared at her with saucer-shaped eyes.

Uraraka met his eyes and turned down then, her smile still soft and sweet if not a bit more shy now. "Um, well, see," her fingers wrapped together. "We know you have a tough time with certain things, but, like, you don't let it get to you! Like I said the other day: your nickname? It's inspiring! You're like a storm that won't be stopped!"

"I concur," Iida nodded. "I believe you'll be alright, especially with Yaoyorozu-san by your side and everyone else. You've got guts and judgement when it counts, just like Ashido-san said today. That's why I voted for you, because I knew you'll be able to carry us through."

"Gotta admit," Karma grinned, nudging Izuku's shoulder. "It's not much different than planning escapades, y'know? That's what I figure. It's why I went for class prez too." You know. Aside from the whole 'Asano challenged my role in life and I refuse to back down' thing.

"I… I s'pose," Izuku seemed to calm down a bit.

Rio smiled at him while Nagisa set a hand on his shoulder. "We believe in you."

"Hey, Iida-kun," Nagisa turned his head. "Didn't you want to be class president too?" Under his breath, he added, "I saw you sort of sulking after the results…" Izuku snickered.

Iida sputtered but quickly recollected himself with a cough. "I stand by my beliefs that mere volition has nothing to do with one's actual suitability. I did nothing more than follow my own judgement on the matter. I sincerely stand by my decision."

The six melted into pleasant conversation which turned into a minor outburst by Izuku and Uraraka upon learning Iida's brother was, in fact, the Hero Ingenium (which didn't surprise Karma at all, honestly). Rio teased the usually stern boy at the small smile she noticed crawling on his lips—Karma watched Izuku and Nagisa ease into a calm that wasn't there that morning, finally feeling that everything would be alright, at least for the moment.

Which, technically was true, because after that moment, the alarm went off and a screech came from their freckled friend. Panicked sounds erupted from the lunchroom and Karma instantly wrapped his arm around Izuku's to keep him balanced.

"Stay together!" Rio shouted.

[SECURITY LEVEL 3 HAS BEEN BREACHED. STUDENTS, PLEASE EVACUATE CALMLY AND PROMPTLY.]

"Level 3??" Uraraka stood up, looking rushed and the rest of the table followed. Rio linked her arm with Uraraka.

Pressing his brows together, Iida caught the attention of a passing student. "What's security level 3?!"

"It means someone's the school grounds!" the student explained frantically. "This hasn't happened in three years!!"

Iida quickly shot a glance at his friends before they nodded and followed each other to the quickly crowding hallway. Nagisa and Izuku had their arms linked as well, making sure they don't separate from each other, but as soon as they were pushed into the crowd, bodies slammed them all side to side. One taller student shoved Nagisa from behind, the snake-haired boy losing balance and falling to the ground. Fearful, he ordered his snakes to curl in his hair while he balled himself up.

"Nagisa-kun!" A larger hand grabbed his wrist and yanked him to his feet, and he had a split second to realize it was Iida who tried to pull him close before another swarm of panicked students cut them apart, pressing Iida into the window while sweeping Nagisa into the crowd again.

Karma did his best to keep Izuku close to him, knowing that today already started off so crappy for him; imagine what this frenzy was doing to him? It was loud, it was cramped, Karma was almost knocked off his own feet and they already lost Nagisa in the flood. He could've sworn Rio and Uraraka were right next to them, but when he turned to check real quick, they weren't anywhere close to them. Izuku held so tightly to the horned boy's arms, almost pinching his skin through the fabric of his blazer but Karma kept him close.

An elbow knocked into Karma's face then, clocking him out for just enough to lose Izuku in the crowd. The moment he regained his senses to keep straight, a throbbing eyebrow somewhat distracting him with the vague acknowledgement that it would definitely bruise later, he started his own pushing and shoving. "Izuku!" he shouted over the crowd. He saw Izuku's hair bob just above the sea of heads before disappearing. Irritation buzzed in his throat and the redhead was two seconds close to using his hard plate head and horns to knock these idiots over like bowling pins. "Get out- th' way- IZUKU!"

This was impossible —

Suddenly, the gold-eyed teen's attention was snatched by—Iida? Zooming to the end of the hall and catching himself above the exit. He… He looked like an exit sign man.

"EVERYONE, CALM DOWN! IT'S JUST THE PRESS!"

The crowd stilled, attention solely on the engine quirk wielder just barely keeping himself composed for the lot of them.

"There is nothing to worry about!! You are U.A students!! Let's keep calm and conduct ourselves in a manner fit for those enrolled at the highest academia!!"

With the boy's words, even Karma was impressed by the calm that blanketed the crowd of students. He was helped back down after Uraraka (Rio recounted the whole thing to him afterwards) released her quirk and a few of the taller students lent a hand. Taking the moment of peace to his advantage, the redhead forced his way through the body of lingering students to find Izuku. "Izuku? Izuku, where are you?" he called.

Iida found his way through the swarm to meet Karma, keeping a firm hold on Nagisa whom he reunited with on the way. It still wasn't a dispersed crowd yet, so they had to tread with caution and continue their chain of arms in case another outburst strikes the students again. "Izuku's still missing," Karma explained, linking arms with Nagisa. "He got swept with the crowd. Bunch of idiots, can't even keep calm during a- what would've happened if this was, like, a fire drill?? Do they all just rip their pants off and roll on the ground, what the hell?! People could've gotten hurt- or killed."

"Karma," Nagisa started with warning in his voice. "Now's not the time. Let's find Izukun before he has another attack. After this morning…"

Iida nodded. "Yes, I've been meaning to ask, but I know now's not the time for that."

Karma could respect that. Just as he was about to open his mouth, however, he spotted a mop of green hair balled up on the floor near the wall across the way. A hand raised to gesture at his direction while he lead the two toward the cowering boy—"Izuku, Izuku, are you okay?"

The crowd had cleared some, allowing the three boys to unlink their arms and crouch down by the freckled teen who had his hands covering his ears, knees drawn to his face, and rocking back and forth. His eyes were clenched tightly.

Slowly, Karma put his hands over Izuku's, squeezing them while Nagisa rested his hand on his knee. Flinching, the tear-stained eyes of the curly teen finally opened and he met gold, instantly releasing the tension in his muscles and letting a torrent of tears fall down. He spotted Nagisa beside him, who smiled gently and reassuringly and the three boys melted into a warm embrace. It didn't take much longer after that for Izuku to calm down completely and for Rio and Uraraka to meet with them.

"Is he okay? Oh, God, Izukun, what happened?" Uraraka slid to her knees beside him while Rio took her place on the opposite side.

"The crowd was too much for him," Nagisa explained softly, the three slowly breaking their hold on each other to sit straight. "Are you alright now, Izukun?" The boy in question took a shaky breath in and nodded. Nagisa and Iida extended their hands out to him, to which he accepted and was helped up.

"Mm-my ankle," he whispered, lifting his foot. "F…f-fell."

Iida's stare hardened, no doubt infuriated at the recklessness and carelessness of his fellow peers. Karma internally cursed, hating how he was right that someone would and did get hurt, but he otherwise kept quiet. "Here," Iida let the shorter boy lean on him. "I'll take you to Recovery Girl. It's most likely just a twist or sprain, but we can't have you out of commission during our hero training."

Wordlessly, the boy sniffled and nodded again, following Iida and Nagisa to the nurse's.

Karma clenched his fists at his side. He jolted when a hand touched his shoulder, turning his head to see Rio staring at him firmly.

"Freaking schools. No matter where I go, there's always careless staff, aren't there," he muttered venomously. "Someone always gets hurt."

"The staff was busy calming down the press," Rio replied. "If anything, be mad at them, not the school."

Uraraka gave a nervous chuckle, hands wrapping together. "F-For a second, I, um, I thought there really was a villain attack. I don't think I'd be ready for something like that, so I'm, ah, sort of glad it was just the press."

Rio agreed, and strangely, so did Karma. He was serious what he said to Asano days ago; they really did need their moment of peace. Rio gestured to the window. "Look, the police are here. Seems like they're finally getting things under wraps."

"I'm glad," Uraraka sighed in relief. "Let's go catch up with Iida and Nagisa-kun. I think they're going to stall on classes until the teachers are back in and everything's calm again."

"Right, let's go."

Jesus, Izuku just couldn't stay away from the nurse's office, could he?