Chapter 9
The next morning, Izuku checks in with Recovery Girl before homeroom begins.
"You already read half the book?" She blinks in surprise. "I thought it would take longer- it certainly did for me, but you seem like you're a faster reader. I'm still impressed that you, a fifteen year-old boy, willingly read Human Anatomy and Physiology four times in less than a year. I feel like it took me ages to get through that book when I was in college."
Izuku smiles and she turns to her desk, pulling something out of the lower drawer. "Well, then, I have no worries giving you this."
She pulls out what looks to be some sort of costume. Izuku tilts his head questioningly as his mentor explains, "You're going to need this for today's hero lesson. I've already spoken with Toshinori-kun and apparently the class is going to be combat training. Since it's really just a chance for the students to show off how their quirks can be used in battle, you will be on standby for injuries."
"Oh. Okay," he says, still confused by the costume.
She gives him a firm look. "Now remember that until you learn how to control your quirk, you're not allowed to heal anything beyond minor injuries. However, since you read a good deal of that first aid book last night, you can also choose to treat minor injuries through traditional means."
He nods and finally she gestures to the costume in her hands. "You never submitted a form for your costume."
"Huh? Costume?" He asks, "But I thought…"
"Healers often wear costumes too, especially since most work as combat medics," Recovery Girl explains, "So that they're more easily identifiable on the field. I hope you don't mind, but I went ahead and spoke with your mother to create your costume for you. There are some regulations that combat medic costumes have to follow, but I think we made something rather nice."
His breath catches and he wants to reach for his costume- his costume!- but Recovery Girl puts it back in her drawer.
"You won't need that until after lunch," she says, "But one of the things it comes with are a few pouches full of medical equipment. Today's class will be a good opportunity to become familiar with them."
A bit disappointed that he can't become familiar with them now , Izuku pouts and nods. Recovery Girl's eyes twinkle with amusement and he blushes, looking down at his feet. "Okay."
She smiles before adding, "And remember what we talked about yesterday."
Izuku ponders. "Oh! I can observe my classmates' quirks more closely today! And… think of how overuse would affect them?"
Recovery Girl nods and the warning bell rings. Izuku bids his goodbyes before joining Kacchan, who is waiting outside.
Kacchan frowns at the skip in his step and asks, "What are you so happy about?"
Izuku beams. "I got to see my healer costume!" He chirps.
"Healer costume?" Kacchan raises an eyebrow incredulously.
"I know right?" Izuku says, "I didn't even know I would get one! Apparently Recovery Girl-san designed it with mom."
"Uh oh." Kacchan smirks when Izuku gives him a look.
They walk into class 1-A and take their seats. Homeroom begins soon after and Izuku's heart still gives a little leap of excitement when he sees Eras- Aizawa walk in. He's Aizawa now, not Eraserhead. Man, it's gonna be awhile before he stops internally fanboying over his teachers. There's even heroes in the goddamn cafeteria! Izuku nearly chokes on his food when Lunch Rush passes by his and Kacchan's table.
At least it's a bit easier with All Might during their hero class after lunch. While everyone freaks out at the sight of the number one hero, Izuku is able to remain a little more composed. Sure, he gawks too- it would be suspicious if he didn't, and All Might's silver age costume is really cool. But when All Might's smile gets just a bit brighter when their eyes meet, well, Izuku can't help but feel a little bit special.
"I teach Hero Basic Training!" The hero announces once he reaches the podium. "It is a subject where you train in different ways to learn the basics of being a hero! You'll take the most units of this subject!"
Izuku's lip twitches. It sounds like he rehearsed this many times.
All Might promptly announces that they'll be doing combat training, which Izuku already knew but it's fun to see Kacchan's enthusiastic reaction. Their costumes slide out of panels in the walls and Izuku is pleasantly surprised when his is there too. Recovery Girl must've given it to All Might during lunch.
As they get changed, Izuku takes a moment to admire his costume in one of the changing room mirrors. It appears to be a light green-and-white jumpsuit with pale yellow bands down the front and a darker red belt that holds his medical bags. Looking at it a bit closer, Izuku realizes with a fond flutter in his heart that it almost looks like a combat-ready, palette-swapped version of what Recovery Girl wears underneath her lab coat. It also has black gloves, elbow and knee pads, as well as a black face mask that he keeps on his neck for now. The most noticeable part, however, is the red Caduceus symbol on his chest, which is probably the required healer identification Recovery Girl mentioned.
A smile tugs at his lips. He feels so… important.
"Not bad." Izuku glances up to see Kacchan giving him an appraising look.
"Thanks," he says, "You look pretty cool too."
Kacchan puffs up his chest as he smirks. Izuku rolls his eyes and playfully shoulders past him, following the rest of his classmates as they start to make their way to Ground Beta. It takes a moment to realize that the tall suit of armor walking in front of him is actually Iida, but when he does, he trots up to his side.
"Your costume is super cool, Iida-kun!" Izuku says.
Iida's armored face turns to him. "Thank you! Yours is… interesting as well." He gets the feeling Iida doesn't quite know what to make of him. "Actually, I've been meaning to ask-"
"They say the clothes make the man, young men and ladies," All Might declares as, interrupting Iida, "Be fully aware, from now on you are heroes!"
Izuku smiles and glances around at his classmates. They all look so cool!
All Might just about voices his thoughts, seeming very excited as he gazes at all of their costumes. "Now, it's time for combat training!" He announces, somehow straightening up even further. He goes on to explain that, since villains have a higher probability of attacking indoors, their training will take place inside. They'll be split into "heroes" and "villains" to fight 2-on-2 battles. The heroes' goal is to find and capture the nuclear weapon that the villains are protecting.
All throughout his explanation, students ask question after question. Izuku can see All Might sweat-dropping and stifles a laugh, but it gets really hard when the hero just pulls out a script to read from.
"Teams and opponents will be determined by drawing lots!" All Might says, holding up a box.
Iida raises his hand. "How will teams of two be chosen if there is an odd number of students?"
His classmates shift uncomfortably, recalling how easily Mineta was expelled on just the first day of class. Izuku tilts his head. Well, if he's going to be on the sidelines…
"No worries, Young Iida!" All Might shouts, dramatically pointing to Izuku, "Young Midoriya here will not be participating!" Most of the class aside from Kacchan, Yaoyorozu, and Todoroki, make various noises of confusion. "UA has been given a unique opportunity to welcome a young healer into its ranks! Young Midoriya is being mentored by Recovery Girl-san, but he will be joining the hero course in many of its classes. However, during exercises that involve direct combat with quirks, he will remain on the sidelines in case any injuries are obtained." As Izuku shrinks under the sudden attention of his classmates, All Might gives a cheeky smile. "Be grateful, young heroes. Healers are very rare and you are very lucky to have the chance to learn alongside one."
Okay he's really laying it on thick, and from the mirthful look on his face, it's on purpose. Izuku blushes as his classmates practically gawk at him.
"A healer?"
"Hey, cool, I've never met a healer before!"
"Like a doctor?"
"No, dummy, he's like Recovery Girl, he has a healing quirk."
"Ohhh."
"I guess the wings make more sense now," the brown-haired girl says and Izuku gives her a confused look, "On your costume. The… the medical symbol?"
"Oh, right."
"How does your quirk work?" A lanky black-haired boy asks, "You're not going to kiss us like Recovery Girl, right?"
All Might lets out a booming laugh, catching all of their attention. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll become very familiar with his quirk soon enough," he says, "After all, as heroes-in-training, injuries are to be expected. Avoided if possible, of course, but nevertheless inevitable."
"Well, it's a good thing you're here, then!" The red-haired boy that was talking to Kacchan earlier grins at him. "Midoriya-kun, was it?"
"Yeah." He smiles back.
"All right, let's get started!" All Might says. Lots are drawn, the teams are made, and then Izuku is heading with most of the class to the monitor room. Kacchan, Iida, Uraraka, and Yaoyorozu make their way to their assigned battle building.
While the teams take time to make their plan of attack, Izuku opens his medical pouches and examines the contents. It seems like stuff that would be typically found in any first aid kit, but it's pretty extensive. Izuku is surprised that they were able to fit so much into these bags, and in an organized manner. He'll have to be sure to avoid letting it get messy. Seeing so much equipment, however, kind of makes him nervous. He finds himself wishing he had read more of the book last night. Sure, first aid seems simple enough, but what if he panics in the heat of the moment and completely forgets what to do? Of course he could always use his quirk, Recovery Girl even gave him permission to for minor injuries, but wouldn't it look bad for a healer to rely so heavily on their quirk that they don't even know basic first aid? If he ever gets hurt or sick, this is the only way he'd be able to help people! Why didn't he bother learning this stuff sooner?
"Young Midoriya."
All Might's voice cuts through his thoughts. The number one hero is facing the large screen displaying the battle area, but he glances at the greenette in concern.
"Everything alright?" He asks. "You're muttering."
Izuku waves his hands apologetically. "Sorry! It's a bad habit! I'm just, er, making myself familiar with my medical bags."
All Might nods and turns back to the wall of screens. "Now, let's start the indoor person-to-person combat training with Team A and Team D!" He announces into the microphone. Izuku stands a few feet behind the rest of his classmates as they gather around All Might, gazing up at the screens that display the various angles of the interior of the building.
"Okay, everyone," All Might says, "You all should think as well."
The screens don't have any audio, but it's clear that Iida is trying to form a plan with Kacchan, who is very obviously ignoring him. Izuku sighs and ponders about the possible outcomes of this exercise. Kacchan and Iida might win out of sheer power, but Yaoyorozu didn't get in through recommendations for nothing. He watches as she whispers to Uraraka, who nods determinedly.
As soon as All Might gives the signal, Yaoyorozu creates a ladder and the two girls climb to the second floor. She also creates two pairs of… goggles? Then both girls are creeping along the corridor, their eyes concealed behind tinted glass.
"Why are they wearing goggles?" Asks the electric-blond boy- Kaminari, was his name? Izuku thinks back to All Might announcing the teams and nods. Yeah. Kaminari.
"It's probably part of their plan," another boy- Ojiro!- answers.
Kacchan does exactly what Izuku expected he would and attacks first, leaving Iida behind to defend the weapon. As soon as he launches himself at the girls, Yaoyorozu quickly makes a shield and throws something at Kacchan with the other hand. All of the sudden, the screens turn white and everyone winces, either squinting or closing their eyes.
"A flash bomb!" All Might laughs, "Clever!"
The screens clear just in time for them to see Uraraka slap a disoriented Kacchan with her hand. A second later, he starts floating into the air. The blond shrieks indignantly and aims an explosion at Yaoyorozu, but the shield protects her. The force of the explosion sends the floating Kacchan flying back into the wall. Izuku winces at the hard impact. Uraraka touches her fingers together, causing Kacchan, still stunned from being thrown into the wall, to fall to the ground. The girls quickly dash forward and Yaoyorozu holds down Kacchan's head and upper torso with her shield while Uraraka ties his wrists together with the capture tape in one swift movement.
"Bakugou Katsuki has been apprehended!" All Might announces.
Izuku cringes. No way Kacchan is going down that easily…
"Er, All Might-sensei…"
Kacchan suddenly lets out a large explosion. The hero team leaps backwards in surprise, but Uraraka, who had just tied his wrists together, doesn't manage to fully escape the explosion. Her face contorts with pain as she pulls away with a very obvious burn on her arms.
Exclamations of shock and outrage ripple through his classmates.
"What the heck, he just attacked them!" Ashido shouts.
"Bakugou-kun, that's cheating!" Kirishima frowns. "Not manly at all!"
All Might grips the microphone and says sternly, "Young Bakugou, I made it very clear that once you are apprehended you are out for the rest of the game!"
Kacchan continues to thrash around, no doubt yelling furiously. He continues to release explosions, causing the hero team to back away from him, clearly confused. Uraraka ducks behind Yaoyorozu and her shield.
"Young Bakugou!" All Might warns.
Kaminari wrinkles his nose. "Man, what a sore loser!"
"Hey, he got free!"
Izuku tenses up as Kacchan's wrists snap apart, having broken through the capture tape with his explosions. His face is twisted with rage, his eyes bloodshot. This is probably the first time Izuku has ever seen him lose a fight and he's clearly pissed about it. He ignores All Might's repeated warnings and takes a step towards Yaoyorozu and Uraraka.
Izuku frowns. Kacchan usually gets away with a lot, but this is unacceptable.
Gently nudging his way past his classmates, Izuku promptly takes the mic from All Might and says sharply, "Kacchan!"
Kacchan freezes.
Izuku glares at his image on the screen. He hopes the other boy can somehow feel it.
Kacchan's fists clench and unclench repeatedly. He lifts his foot.
"Kacchan!" Izuku snaps again, an edge of warning in his voice.
After grinding his teeth and glaring at the two girls for a solid minute, Kacchan snarls and backs down. He huffily leans against the wall and crosses his arms, still glaring daggers at Yaoyorozu and Uraraka, who both glance at each other before continuing to move to the third floor.
Satisfied, Izuku hands the mic back to All Might and turns around. His classmates stare at him with wide eyes.
"What?" He asks innocently.
There's a couple more seconds of silence in which All Might unsuccessfully tries to smother his laughter. Then, Kaminari speaks up.
"Dude," he breathes, his eyes wide with awe, "That was… He didn't even listen to All Might…"
Izuku blinks, confused.
"You didn't even have to try and convince him." Sero gawks. "All you had to do was say his name."
"'Kacchan'?" Asui tilts her head. "You two must be very familiar."
Izuku nods, still unnerved by their stares. "Um, yeah," he says, scratching the back of his head.
His classmates glance at each other and a few of them shudder.
"What?" He asks again.
Kirishima gives him a toothy smile and wraps an arm around his shoulders. "That was super manly, dude!" He says, "But damn, I'm almost scared to find out what you had to do to make a guy like that listen to you!"
Izuku's eyes widen and he waves his hands around frantically. "Oh, no, no, it's not like that!" He protests, "We're just childhood friends! He doesn't even listen to me half the time anyway! I'm not like- trust me, he kicks my butt all the time when we spar!"
Kirishima laughs and ruffles his hair. "I like you Midoriya-kun!" He grins. "Oh hey, there goes Iida-kun."
Izuku tries to politely duck out from under Kirishima's arm to look at the screen. Iida isn't faring well against both Yaoyorozu and Uraraka. He attempts to keep the weapon out of their grasp by picking it up and running around, but Yaoyorozu creates a grappling hook and binds his legs together, making him fall to the ground. Their victory is secured soon after.
"Hero team wins!" All Might yells victoriously.
"Man, Yaomomo is super cool!" Ashido says enthusiastically. Izuku smiles. Yaomomo? What a cute nickname.
"Right?" Another girl- he thinks her name is Jirou- says, "Her quirk is really cool!"
"Uraraka-kun was pretty great too," Kaminari says, "She sent Bakugou-kun flying!"
"It's too bad about her arms, though," Sero says, wincing, "That burn looks painful."
There's a pause, then all fourteen students turn to Izuku expectantly. He blushes and looks at his feet.
"Young Uraraka," All Might says into the mic, "Will you need assistance getting back to the monitor room?" He presses a finger to his earpiece, then nods. "Alright, then. Return promptly." To the rest of the class, he says, "We'll review their performance together and then teams I and B will go."
The students nod and Izuku smiles a bit. All Might is doing well for his first day as a teacher.
The two teams enter the monitor room a few minutes later and Izuku immediately approaches Uraraka. She's holding her burned forearms close to her body, a pained grimace on her face. Izuku ignores Kacchan's glower and instead focuses on Uraraka.
"Can I see your arms?" He asks softly, holding out his hand. She nods and carefully stretches her forearms out. Izuku frowns down at the nasty burns marring her soft skin. They remind him of the burns on Haru…
He instinctively reaches out to use his quirk, but then he hesitates. This isn't like the usual scrapes and bruises he's used to healing. If he could just use his quirk all the time, then Recovery Girl probably wouldn't care whether or not he knew first aid.
Pausing, he looks over the burns for a few moments. Now he notices that bits of Uraraka's costume have been seared into her skin.
If he healed her, would the fabric get trapped beneath her skin? He doesn't want to find out.
Thankfully, the black gloves that are a part of his costume are covering his hands already. He doesn't want his quirk to activate as soon as he touches her, not with the pieces of fabric that have been seared into her skin. He'll have to cut it away first.
He quickly finds some scissors and tweezers in his pouch and starts carefully removing the cloth. "Sorry about your suit," he apologizes as he cuts around the burn, but Uraraka simply smiles and shakes her head.
"Don't worry about it," she says, wincing when he pulls another piece out.
As soon as her burns are clear of any scorched fabric, he pulls off his gloves and gently puts his hands on her forearms, letting his energy flow. Uraraka watches in awe as the burns fade away right before her eyes.
"Whoa," she whispers.
"Dude, that's awesome!"
Izuku jumps in surprise and glances around. He didn't realize that all of his classmates were watching him!
"It just disappeared in like five seconds!" Kirishima exclaims.
Tokoyami gives him an impressed look. "That's some quirk."
"How'd you do that, man?" Kaminari asks.
"Oh! Um…" Izuku fidgets nervously, not knowing who to look at, "My quirk is called Healing Energy. It's like… er, I heal people by transferring my own energy to them. It, uh, makes me really tired if I use it too much, though." He laughs sheepishly.
"Your own energy?" Iida asks, peering down at him curiously, "I've never heard of a healing quirk that works like that."
"Oh, yeah, um, I guess it's kind of uncommon?" It sounds more like a question.
Ashido bounces up to him and grins, her black eyes wide. "What's the biggest injury you've ever healed?"
Izuku swallows and looks to All Might for help. The number one hero just grins and shrugs.
Well, he supposes it's alright if he's vague about it…
"I regrew a guy's stomach once," he admits. The reaction is immediate.
"Whoaaa!"
"But I passed out for like two days afterwards!" He adds quickly.
"Whoa- ohhh…"
Yaoyorozu puts a hand on her chin in thought. "I suppose a quirk like that would carry more risks for you," she says, "It must be a very self-sacrificing power."
Izuku blinks. "Oh… er, I guess so…"
All Might claps his hands, catching everyone's attention before they can continue questioning Izuku. "Well, then!" He says, "Let's discuss their performance. Who do you think the MVP is?"
His classmates mutter amongst themselves, but Izuku thinks it's rather obvious. He glances at Yaoyorozu, who looks torn between raising her hand and staying quiet. She probably doesn't want to seem conceited.
Smiling, Izuku raises his hand. All Might nods to him. "Yes, Young Midoriya?"
"I believe Yaoyorozu-kun is the MVP of this exercise," he says.
All Might's grin widens even further. "And why is that?"
Time for Izuku's hero analysis skills to kick in.
"Yaoyorozu-kun embraced this challenge. She thought of ways not only to apply her own quirk in battle, but her teammate's as well. While sending Ka-er, Bakugou-kun to play the offensive role was a good idea on the villain team's part, it was obvious that they didn't communicate well with each other. It looked more like Bakugou-kun was going off on his own. Iida-kun did well to protect the weapon, but he took advantage of the fact that this was training. If the weapon had been real, carrying it around while fleeing from heroes would not be a viable option. Uraraka-kun worked well with her partner, but she relied a bit too much on Yaoyorozu-kun. Yaoyorozu-kun was fully prepared to engage with her opponents, she had a strategy and never lost sight of the mission."
When he finishes, everyone is staring at him again. Yayorozu's cheeks are tinged pink. Even All Might looks surprised.
Izuku blushes.
"Er… I like analysis…" He mumbles sheepishly, scuffling his toe.
"Correct!" All Might suddenly shouts, making everyone jump. "Good observation, Young Midoriya! Now, let's move on to the next match! Tackle this training after thinking about what we just talked about."
As the next two teams leave, Izuku goes over to Kacchan, who is sulking against the far wall.
"Hey," he asks, "You alright?"
Kacchan grinds his teeth. "Fucking superb."
Izuku frowns. "No you're not, your face is all scowly. You're upset about the training match."
Kacchan wordlessly snarls. Izuku remains unfazed.
Leaning against the wall beside his friend, he says, "Don't feel too bad about it. It's just training, that's all. You can't always expect to win."
"That's bullshit," Kacchan hisses lowly, "I always win. No matter what. The best hero always comes out on top."
Izuku gazes at him for a long moment. Kacchan's pride has been hurt, no doubt, but there's something he's clearly not understanding.
"Kacchan," Izuku says quietly, "You're not the best here." The blond's head whips up to glare at him. Izuku glares right back. "You're not the best here. You're used to beating up people that are weaker than you, that don't have aspirations to be a hero. But guess what? Now you're surrounded by people just like you, people with strong quirks, people that all want to be the best hero. You're on even ground with everyone now. So no, you can't always expect to win. Before UA, you were the strongest because you just happened to be born with a powerful quirk. But now, you're going to have to work to be the strongest. Got it?"
Kacchan stares at him, his eyes slightly wide. Then, he grits his teeth and turns away sharply, burning holes into the ground with his glare. Izuku sighs.
"I don't really know what I'm doing either, you know?" He says, "I thought I could just rely on my quirk for everything, but I can't. There's a lot of stuff I don't know yet and it is frustrating, but I'm willing to learn. Are you?"
"Of course I fucking am!" Kacchan snaps a little too loudly. A couple of classmates glance back at him from the group.
Izuku smiles. "Good." He looks back at the screens, which show teams I and B getting ready in the battle building.
"Match two!" All Might announces a couple of minutes later, "Team B will be our heroes! And Team I will be the villains! Look alive, kids! Show us you're the embodiment of good!" He falters. "Or evil! Let's go!"
Izuku smothers a snort behind his hand. All Might is doing pretty good for his first day as a teacher, but he's incredibly goofy at times. It's even funnier to know that his classmates probably think it's on purpose.
As soon as the buzzer sounds, Shoji steps into the building and spreads his multiple arms, listening for his opponents. Izuku thinks back to what Recovery Girl told him about quirk overuse. He supposes that would only apply to emitter-type quirks, but he wonders what would happen if one of Shoji's extra limbs were cut off. Would it grow back? If not, would he still be able to replicate different body parts on whatever is left?
He should ask when he gets back.
After Shoji reports to Todoroki, he goes back outside. Murmurs of confusion ripple through the students. Izuku watches in awe as Todoroki places his right hand on the wall and freezes the entire building. Unfortunately, it also makes the monitor room very cold.
Under normal circumstances, his classmates might gape at Todoroki's power. However, now they're just too busy shivering.
Izuku steps closer to Kacchan, who thankfully tends to run warm.
"He did not cause any damage to his teammate or the nuclear weapon," All Might says, his teeth chattering, "And on top of that, he weakened the enemy."
Hagakure and Ojiro appear to be stuck, their feet frozen to the ground. Izuku feels a brief flash of concern over potential frostbite, but Todoroki uses his left hand to both claim the weapon and unfreeze the building.
"Hero team wins!" All Might declares.
Todoroki's face remains impassive as he turns and leaves the building.
"Wow!" Sato exclaims.
Kamainari looks impressed, but a bit uneasy. "Man, what's up with that quirk?"
"As expected of someone who got in through recommendations," Asui comments.
Izuku tilts his head, watching Todoroki through the screen. From the recommendation exam, he knew Todoroki's ice quirk was powerful, but this is a whole other level! His left side probably prevents him from getting from getting frostbite, while his right probably prevents him from overheating. But why does he keep his left side frozen? Wouldn't that make it hard for him to use his fire, as well as reduce his mobility?
As soon as the teams return, Hagakure bounces over to him.
"Can you use your quirk on me?" She asks excitedly, "I wanna see it again! Also, my feet hurt!"
"It's probably not that bad," Ojiro says, approaching more calmly, but takes off his shoes anyway when Izuku gestures for him to do so.
It's just some frostnip, so he uses his quirk. He can't see Hagakure's feet, but he assumes they look the same as Ojiro's. They thank him once he's done and he looks up at Todoroki, who's standing a bit away from the group, gazing up at All Might impassively as he reviews their performance.
Once the teams for the next match leave, Izuku approaches him.
"Todoroki-kun!" He says, "I was just wondering- why do you keep your left side frozen?"
Todoroki narrows his eyes and Izuku immediately backpedals.
"I-I mean, I was just worried about frostbite!" He stammers, flailing his hands, "Even- Even though your left side would keep you warm- which, by the way, why doesn't that just melt the ice? Wouldn't keeping your left side frozen reduce your mobility? And make it hard for you to use your fire? And-"
"I don't get frostbite," Todoroki interrupts, his voice monotone.
"O-Oh…" Izuku squeaks, averting his gaze out of sheer embarrassment, "Right, er, that's good." He notices that Todoroki didn't answer any of his other questions and looks like he has no intention to. Still, Izuku gets the feeling that he shouldn't ask.
"Erm…"
"Your friend looks upset." Todoroki's face doesn't change, but his eyes slide past Izuku.
The greenette glances over his shoulder to see Kacchan glaring daggers at Todoroki. He lets out a shaky sigh of relief. An angry Kacchan he can deal with. A cold, emotionless Todoroki however? He has no idea how to deal with that.
"Er, right. Thanks- I mean, I'll see you later?" Izuku turns away before he can see Todoroki's reaction, his face burning as he scampers back over to Kacchan.
"What'd that fucker want?" His friend growls.
Izuku just covers his face with his hands and not-so-subtly tries to hide behind Kacchan. "Nothing," he groans, "I'm just awkward."
The rest of the matches go on with relative ease. Izuku soon forgets his embarrassment and watches the screens with rapt attention, trying to learn as much as he can about his classmates' quirks. There aren't any more injuries for him to heal, although Aoyama tearfully asks him if he's able to heal his cape that Ashido accidentally burns.
The class takes up most of their afternoon, so all there's left to do afterwards is change out of their costumes and return to homeroom. He's already thinking about his lesson with Recovery Girl as he walks back to the classroom. A few of the other students are enthusiastically discussing the training, but Izuku doesn't pay much mind to them. At least, not until the final bell rings and Ashido stops him from grabbing his bag.
"Midori-kun!" She grins. "Don't leave just yet!"
"Eh?" He asks in confusion, slightly unnerved by her gaze.
"I can call you Midori-kun, right?" She asks, "I have a feeling we're gonna be great friends!"
"Oh, um-"
"I'm Kirishima Ejirou!" Kirishima seemingly pops up out of nowhere. "We're all going over the training right now."
"I'm Sero Hanta!"
"I'm Aoyama Yu-"
"I'm Ashido Mina!"
"I'm Sato!"
"I-I know!" He stammers, "I mean, I heard. During the training. From All Might?" He rapidly loses confidence as he continues to talk.
Thankfully, his classmates don't seem to mind his awkwardness.
"I've never met a healer before!" Ashido says, "It's super cool that you get to be in the same class as us!"
"Are you ever going to join a training lesson?" Kaminari asks, but Sero punches him in the shoulder lightly.
"No, silly, he's a healer! Healers don't fight."
"A-actually, I do," he says, trying to keep his voice steady, "Um, I've been taking self-defense classes since I was ten…
Somehow Ashido's eyes sparkle even more. "You know martial arts?!" She squeals and Izuku nods. "So cool! I love martial arts! Where do you train?"
Her intense energy makes Izuku struggle to find his words. "Oh, um…"
"Why do you need to know how to fight?" Sero tilts his head.
"So you are going to be training with us?" Kaminari asks.
"Uh- um, yes, but not on days when we're supposed to use our quirks for direct combat," Izuku manages to stammer, "I'll stay on the sidelines for that." To Sero, he says, "Healers need to know how to fight because they're sometimes put in dangerous situations, especially for combat medics."
"Combat medics?" Sato asks.
Izuku nods. "Yeah, like if-if they join a rescue team, or sometimes I think they follow heroes when they fight big battles and are on standby for injuries, but they're technically out on an active battlefield then, so-"
"Wow!" Kirishima exclaims, "I've never thought about all this stuff. I just figured healers stayed in the hero agencies or something. Do you-"
"Oi!"
They all turn to see Kacchan glaring at them, having just put his costume back in its case slot. He stomps over to them huffily.
"Quit hounding him, idiots!" He snaps, shouldering his way to Izuku, "He doesn't have time to answer your shitty questions!"
He grabs Izuku's arm and pulls, but Izuku protests. "Wait, yes I do!"
Kacchan stops and glares at him. "Don't you have a lesson with Recovery Girl or something?" He sneers.
"You have after school lessons too?" Kaminari gives him a pitiful look. "Yikes, that's rough."
At the mention of Recovery Girl, Izuku perks up. "Yeah, I do! Which reminds me…" He turns away from Kacchan and says, "One of the things she told me to find out today was how my classmates' quirks affect them when they're overused."
His classmates brighten.
"My brain short-circuits and I get really dumb for a while," Kaminari says, looking way too proud.
"My acid starts to eat away at my skin!"
"My hardness gets hard to keep up after a while!"
"I get really sleepy after I use my quirk! Oh, and the sugar also makes me kind of dumb."
"My stomach hurts if I shoot my laser for more than a second." Aoyama winks. "So it's a good thing you can grow me a new one if my stomach ever collapses."
The mental image makes the conversation falter for a moment, everyone just staring at the sparkly boy in shock and mild disgust.
Then, Kacchan grumbles, "I'm pretty sure I saw Round-Face puke her guts out after the entrance exam."
Izuku frowns. "Round-Face?"
"Hey!" Uraraka snaps from across the room.
Iida suddenly starts shouting at a boy named Tokayami for sitting on one of the desks, which grabs all of their attention for a few moments. Kacchan tugs at Izuku's wrist again.
"Right, well, I do actually have to go," he says apologetically.
"No worries!" Kirishima says.
Asui's head pops out from behind him. "If you would like, Midoriya-chan, we can go around writing down how our quirks affect us and give it to you tomorrow, ribbit."
Izuku protests, not wanting to trouble them all, but they take to the idea eagerly.
"Don't worry about it, Midoriya-kun!"
"Anything to help out our class healer!"
"It'll help us get to know each other better, too!"
He thanks everybody profusely as Kacchan drags him out of the classroom, huffing in annoyance. They don't talk much as they walk to the infirmary, Izuku still reeling from the interaction. When he opens the door, he's surprised to see that Recovery Girl isn't alone.
A boy with smooth blond hair is sitting on the bed, complaining quite loudly about the pain he's in. Recovery Girl looks mildly annoyed.
Kacchan takes one glance at the scene before turning away with a snort. "Have fun with that, Zuku."
Izuku sighs as he walks away and steps into the infirmary.
"Ah, Midoriya-kun, perfect timing," Recovery Girl says as soon as she notices him, "Come on over."
"Who are you?" The blond boy asks, seeming unimpressed.
"Midoriya Izuku," he replies, glancing between the boy and his mentor, "Are you alright?"
"Apparently, one of his classmates chopped him on the head," Recovery Girl says, her tone dry. Izuku's lip twitches.
"Kendou-kun doesn't understand a joke when she hears one," the boy gripes.
Recovery Girl stifles a sigh and looks at him. "Basically, he has a headache. How would you heal him?"
Surprised, Izuku hesitantly replies, "With my quirk…?"
"No, just ice it and give him a couple of painkillers," she says bluntly, "Now that you're in the hero course you're going to be dealing with injuries bigger than scrapes and bruises. You should learn how to spend your energy wisely and don't use your quirk unnecessarily, especially on minor injuries that will typically go away in a day."
Izuku thinks back to the burns on Uraraka's arms. Usually minor injuries aren't too taxing on him, but if he heals a lot of them they eventually take a toll. If he had to heal Uraraka's injury after healing a bunch of minor ones, he imagines he'd be very tired afterwards.
He nods. "Okay, that makes sense."
Recovery Girl looks at him expectantly and he jumps, quickly going over to the mini-fridge and taking out an ice pack. As he presses it to the blond boy's head, he asks, "What's your name?"
"Monoma Neito," the boy replies, eyeing him up and down, "Are you a nurse or something?"
Amused, Izuku says, "I'm a healer. Or, well, I'm going to be. Recovery Girl-san is training me to become one."
"She said you were in the hero course."
"Yeah, I'm in class 1-A," he explains, "I'll join some of their hero lessons, but whenever they involve direct combat with quirks I'll be on the sidelines in case anyone gets hurt."
Monoma's face twists into something indecipherable. "You're in class 1-A? How come they get a healer and we don't?"
"Huh?" Izuku looks at him in confusion.
"I'm in class 1-B," Monoma says, "How come 1-A's getting special treatment?"
"Oh, no, they're not, I just-"
Recovery Girl interrupts him by slapping something into Monoma's hand. "Go to the water fountain outside and take these," she says, "You can keep the ice pack."
Monoma blinks down at the pills in his hand. Recovery Girl ushers him out of the infirmary soon after and turns to Izuku with a huff.
"I'll tell you something, Midoriya-kun," she says, "There are two types of heroes you'll encounter. Those that try to act tough and hide their injuries, and those that complain nonstop about every little thing." She sounds so annoyed that Izuku can't help but laugh.
"Aw, come on, he didn't seem that bad," he teases.
His mentor huffs again before asking how his day went. He tells her about the combat training and how cool his costume is. He also describes with detail how he got the fabric out of Uraraka's burn before he healed her.
She looks impressed. "I'm glad I didn't have to teach you that myself. I'm sure by now you've realized why I'm having you learn traditional methods first." He nods and she gestures to one of the beds. "Your quirk is powerful, Midoriya-kun, but all quirks have limitations. What would happen if you healed a broken bone without taking an x-ray first?"
He gets the feeling that she already knows how he'll respond, but he still says, "It might heal wrong. I mean, if it's a bad enough break that I'll need to set it first…"
Recovery Girl nods and smiles. "And I'll teach you how to do all of that. How to take an x-ray, how to set a bone- I'm glad that you had the foresight to remove the fabric from that young lady's burn before healing it. Wounds that are dealt with incorrectly often result in surgery being needed."
Izuku suddenly becomes nervous. "Will I need to learn how to do surgery too?" He doesn't know if he can handle that much gore. Even Uraraka's burn was hard to look at.
Recovery Girl notices his discomfort. "Don't worry, I'll definitely be saving that for later. No way will I be teaching a first-year how to operate on a human being."
Izuku lets out a sigh of relief and his mentor beckons him closer, grabbing a chart from her desk. She takes him through the list of students that she treated today, which isn't many since it's only the second day of school. She asks him how he would have treated them before telling him how she did. It kind of feels like a pop quiz, but she doesn't get upset when he says something incorrect. He's grateful for her patience and afterwards he tells her about his classmates' quirks. He tries to remember what he can about what a few of them told him about how their quirks affect them, but eventually he just reassures her that they'll write down that information later.
"Don't worry about it," Recovery Girl says, "Geez, you like to rush, don't you? Trust me when I say that you've already done more than I expected you to. It's not bad to be an overachiever, but I don't want you to get so worked up over thinking that you haven't done enough."
Izuku takes a deep breath and nods. He can't help wanting to learn as much as he can as soon as he can. It's hard to take things slow- he wants to be a healer already! He wants to fix All Might's injury!
Recovery Girl gets his attention again. "Now, how 'bout you tell me how you think you treat each of your classmates' quirk overuse?"
For the first time in his life, Katsuki lost a fight.
The foreign yet distinctly recognizable feeling of failure that he hasn't felt in a long while returns now, and it only fuels the burning rage within his chest.
He glares heatedly at the ground, slouching against the wall as he sulks in the hallway outside of the infirmary. His blood boils with anger and humiliation as he recalls the shitshow that was their first hero lesson. He can't believe he had been taken down so easily! No, taken down isn't even the right word! It was hardly even a fight in the first place- if it was, he would've turned both of those bitches into mincemeat! He was going to, but they- fuck- they got him first, and he was about to say 'fuck it' and blow their asses up anyway, just to wipe that triumphant look off their faces and make sure they damn well knew this didn't mean they won, but then Zuku called out to him with that tone and Katsuki begrudgingly backed off- solely because Zuku sounded like he was going to get his panties in a bunch if he didn't and Katsuki didn't want to deal with that.
But damn, those bitches! Especially that Ponytail chick- she nearly fucking blinded him! He had been expecting her to have some tricks up her sleeve. After all, she'd gotten a better score than him during Aizawa's quirk assessment test, and Zuku mentioned that she was one of the other students that got in through recommendation, so surely she must have some level of skill. And she sure as hell proved it.
What the fuck was her quirk- some sort of object creation quirk? Where the hell did she get that shield and those flash grenades from? Whatever, it doesn't matter- he underestimated her. He underestimated that round-faced chick too. He'd caught a glimpse of her puking her guts out earlier during the entrance exam and immediately dismissed her as weak, instead seizing up Ponytail as the bigger threat and deciding to focus on going after her, but then Round Face surprised him by appearing out of nowhere and sending him flying into a fucking wall!
And it's not just them, either. He'd underestimated all of his other classmates too. When he'd seen that Half n' Half guy freeze the entire building, it felt like his own blood had been frozen as well. All he could do was stare at the screen in awe as the guy single-handedly defeated his two opponents, something he failed to do, in mere seconds.
This was Todoroki Shouto. Katsuki recognized him of course. This was the son of Endeavor, the son of the number two hero. A recommendation student, just like Ponytail girl, and just like her, he already scored higher than Katsuki during the quirk assessment test. This was his competition, this was the real deal.
Faced with such blatant, immense power, Katsuki had been momentarily stunned to find that… he couldn't see himself defeating someone like him.
The blond clenches his jaw. His heartbeat flutters like a bird's wing in his chest as he ducks his head, squeezing his eyes shut. Damn it. Damn it! No! This is the real deal! UA is the best of the best! That's what Zuku was trying to tell him, wasn't it? To not feel bad about it, because he can't always expect to win now that he's up against people that are strong too… right?
Katsuki swallows heavily. Zuku… What must he think of him? To see Katsuki, the one who's supposed to protect him, to keep him safe, lose a fight. In all their lives, he's never seen him lose- what must be going through his mind? Surprise? A flicker of doubt? Is he thinking, perhaps... maybe he's not good enough then?
Katsuki chases away the thought with a wordless snarl, but it's followed by another thought. A memory- the one of watching all of their classmates' matches, feeling the hard knot in his chest growing by the second, then glancing over to see Zuku's awe-struck expression, eyes sparkling in obvious excitement at the sight of such powerful quirks. Recognizing that look. He knows that look. He knows that look, because even to this day Zuku still holds a healthy admiration for his quirk- because he knows damn well how great it is- and he can always make those eyes twinkle by doing something particularly flashy.
But now those eyes are turning elsewhere.
Katsuki's fists curl. A brief flash of fear brushes against his heart beating rapidly within the cage of his chest. He grits his teeth.
Fuck that. Fuck that. UA's the best of the best? Well then he'll be better than the best! He made the mistake of allowing himself to get too comfortable around the weak-ass losers in his junior high, but there's no time to fuck around anymore. He's in UA now, All Might's goddamn alma mater. Zuku may have been right about him being surrounded by people with strong quirks, but he was dead wrong about them being on even ground with him. He's going to kick ass during training, show all these extras just how strong he is, then he'll leave this place and everyone in his dust and become the greatest hero anyone's ever seen!
And he'll be the best damn hero for Zuku! The only one worthy enough to protect him!
The familiar burn of determination returns, filling his chest and overshadowing the unwelcome feelings of fear and failure. Katsuki straightens up, taking a deep breath through his nose as he clenches and unclenches his fists. There. That's better. Anger and determination- this he can deal with.
The door to the infirmary suddenly slides open, making him flinch. He glances over in surprise, but it's not Zuku. Of course it's not, it's far too early, his lesson just began only twenty minutes ago.
Instead a girl walks out, an upperclassmen. Katsuki thinks he might've seen her walk in earlier. She doesn't have a scratch on her now, and she looks a lot happier than she did before. Of course she does. She just saw Zuku. Katsuki can hear the muffled sound of his bright voice from inside the infirmary, followed by familiar, bubbly laugh just before the door slides shut again.
The fear flicks at his heart again.
Katsuki swallows, throat impossibly dry. Clenching his jaw, he turns back to his phone with a scowl and pushes all thoughts of the day's events out of his mind, stubbornly ignoring the lingering hint of fear in his chest that refuses to be snuffed out.
Izuku leaves the infirmary a lot later than he did yesterday. Even though he didn't do much healing today, he's still pretty tired after the long, exciting day he had. He finds Kacchan sitting against the wall in the hallway, playing on his phone while he waits.
"Why didn't you go back to the classroom?" Izuku asks as they walk to the train station, "You could have chatted with our classmates instead of just being bored in the hallway."
"I wasn't bored," Kacchan grumbles, but says nothing else.
Izuku glances at his friend, frowning slightly. The explosive blond almost looks like he's pouting as he trudges onward, his brows furrowed and his eyes on the ground. Hmm, he must still be upset about losing to Yaoyorozu and Uraraka.
However, Izuku already gave him a talk and he's kind of too tired to think of another one.
So instead he just sighs and leans his head against Kacchan's shoulder while they wait for their train to arrive. Kacchan glances at him, but stays quiet. He doesn't say a word the entire way home, and as more time passes Izuku starts to get a bit concerned. Kacchan isn't usually one to keep his thoughts to himself. He's not exactly the quiet type.
Before he steps onto his porch, Izuku opens his mouth to speak, but instead Kacchan interrupts him by saying, "If you ask if I'm alright, I'm gonna kick your ass."
Izuku knows he doesn't really mean it, but he snaps his mouth shut anyways. He and Kacchan watch each other for a long moment before the latter huffs.
With a determined gleam in his eyes, Kacchan straightens up and declares, "I'm just getting started, you hear? I don't give a shit about what happened today- I'm still gonna become the number one hero! So you better keep your eyes on me!"
His words are unabashedly confident, like he doesn't have an ounce of doubt in his body that that is his future, no matter what anyone else has to say about it, and Izuku doesn't expect anything less from him. He's so blatantly brash and arrogant, and after his behavior in today's hero lesson Izuku should really be more chastising, but still he finds himself smiling.
He nods.
"I'll look forward to it."