Chapter 3: afraid
Izuku finished up his breakfast and made sure his uniform was pristine before he headed out for the day. Today would be his first day at Shujin Academy, and the last thing he wanted was to be late on day one. That would give off the worst impression ever…
He said goodbye to Torino, who handed him a surprisingly heavy packed lunch and waved him off. Once he was out the door, Izuku headed for the train station. The Tokyo subway system was way more crowded than he was used to - back home in Musutafu, they had only half this amount of people, and a large chunk of them were usually U.A students going to and from school.
This time, as he disembarked his first line at Shibuya, he saw mostly students in Shujin uniforms. It seemed like this stop was a frequent place for Shujin students to change trains. But it was raining now, and he hadn't brought an umbrella… Izuku frowned. Well, he could afford to wait just a minute or two to see if it let up. He'd just double-check his route in the meantime.
As Izuku opened his navigation app, he once again saw that freaky app had reinstalled itself on his phone. His eyes went wide, but before he could properly do anything about it, he was distracted by a girl in a hoodie coming to stand under the same awning as him, likely to get out of the rain as well since she didn't have an umbrella either. When she pulled her hood down, Izuku saw that she was… really, really pretty. She had long, blonde hair in pigtails, and wore fashionable clothes and makeup.
Izuku turned his eyes away, trying not to stare, but the girl seemed to notice him anyway, giving him a gentle smile. "Waiting out the rain too, huh?"
"U-Uh," Izuku squeaked. A girl his age was actually talking to him?! "Yeah. I-I, uh, forgot my umbrella at home. I didn't, um, realize it was going to rain…"
The girl didn't seem put off by his awkwardness or fumbling over his words, though. "Yeah, me too," she chuckled, looking sheepish. "Guess I should've checked the weather."
Izuku wasn't really sure how to respond. He wasn't used to talking to people his age… but before the momentary silence could lapse into an uncomfortable or awkward one, a car rolled to a stop in front of the awning. The driver, a man with dark, curly hair and who was wearing a tracksuit, rolled down the window. He leaned forward, looking at the girl beside Izuku.
"Good morning!" He said with a smile. "You want a ride to school? You're going to be late if you just stand around like this!"
"Do you know him?" Izuku asked, eyebrows furrowing. Was this some random guy asking to give her a ride…?
"O-Oh, yes, I know him. Thank you," the girl said, looking a little surprised at his concern. She approached the car with a short wave goodbye to Izuku. "Um, sure. I'll ride with you…"
"Do you need a ride as well?" the man asked Izuku next, still smiling.
"No, but thank you for the offer," Izuku shook his head. He needed to walk the route himself and make sure he didn't get lost in the future. The man nodded, and as he rolled up the window, Izuku saw that the girl's eyes had a very… strange, almost sad look to them. For a second Izuku wondered if he'd made a mistake, not saying something about the girl going with the man, but what could he have said? It wasn't as though he knew her or anything about her… he couldn't make assumptions based on a look.
As the car drove off, a boy went running after it, skidding to a stop in front of Izuku when he realized he wouldn't be able to catch up. The boy grimaced to himself. "Damnit! That pervy teacher…"
Izuku's heart dropped. Had he made a mistake after all? Should he have stopped her? "P… Pervy teacher?" His phone was clutched tightly in his hand. He was desperately hoping he heard wrong. "What do you mean…?"
"Huh?" The boy turned to look at Izuku. He was wearing a gakuran with a Shujin pin on the collar, sort of. He had the pants and jacket on, although the bright yellow t-shirt he wore underneath the unbuttoned jacket was definitely not within guidelines. He had short, blond hair, with a darker color peeking out at the roots. Dyed, maybe? Either way, Izuku didn't have time to think about it, because the boy's displeased expression turned to focus on him. "What, you gonna rat me out to Kamoshida?"
"Um, n-no?" Izuku said, wishing he knew more about anything going on right now. Clearly, this boy knew them, but Izuku had no idea who any of these people were! "I-I don't even know who 'Kamoshida' is… I'm not from around here. I just changed schools to go to Shujin Academy."
The boy's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Oh… I didn't know we were gettin' a transfer. No wonder you don't know him. Kamoshida's the guy you saw in the car. He just does whatever he wants, actin' like he's the king of a castle or something. Total asshole."
"The king of a castle, huh…" Izuku murmured, eyebrows furrowing. This other boy didn't know him yet, so Izuku was inclined to believe he was being told the truth. And if that was the case, he knew exactly which teacher not to piss off from now on. The last thing he wanted was to be singled out as the quirkless kid by that kind of a teacher - he'd met several at Aldera. But that didn't exactly reassure him when it came to the girl. Still… "Thanks for the warning."
"No prob," the blond scratched his head. "Hey, if you're a transfer, what grade are you in?"
"I'm a third-year in junior high," Izuku said, and the blond grinned a little.
"Same here. We're in the same grade, then. Pretty exciting, seeing a new face. Anyway, the rain's let up, so we should get going. We don't want to be late," he pointed to a clock on one of the buildings, and Izuku's eyes widened. He hadn't realized it had gotten so close to the bell!
"R-Right!" Izuku nodded, fully intending to get going. But as he stepped forward, a wave of… somethingcame over him. He wasn't sure what changed, but it was like the whole world around him had shifted in some way, and it made his head spin.
"Ugh, my head…" the blond put his head in his hand, and Izuku was right there with him.
"Yours too?" Izuku asked. "Is… is it a quirk?"
"How the hell should I know, man?" the blond groaned, shaking his head. "I just wanna get to school…"
Izuku swallowed the nerves in his throat that said something wasn't right, because honestly, he had to follow the blond's example. He couldn't afford to be late, regardless of whatever could be going on. Not while he was on probation, not while he had to watch his every move. First the blue fire yesterday, now this. "Well… I'll follow you, then… if that's okay."
The blond just shrugged, still rubbing at his temples. "Sure, man. I don't care."
In a police interrogation room some time in the future, prosecutor Niijima Sae folded her hands on the table in front of her. "There was a terrible subway accident that day. You remember it, don't you? I assume you remember the public uproar about the 'psychotic breakdown incidents' too."
Across from her, a battered and bruised Midoriya Izuku held his head in his hands. "Doesn't ring a bell," he muttered. Sae's expression was displeased.
"That can't possibly be true. It was all over the news, and one of the victims was a teacher at your school. Let me ask you this, Midoriya… on that day… were you still an ordinary student?"
Midoriya stared back at her with a flat expression, not uttering a word. Sae's mouth pursed.
"I'll change the question. You attended Shujin Academy, correct?" When Sae received a nod, she continued. "An ordinary prep school that could be found in any city. That's what it should've been. What happened? What changed? Tell me everything… truthfully."
Midoriya was quiet for a moment more, and then… "I just went to school."
Izuku followed the path the blond led him down, tucking his phone away in his pocket. It seemed like this guy knew where he was going - he could take this route for today. It seemed less traveled by the other students at least, which was good to know in case Izuku needed a good place to duck and hide later.
"What the hell…?"
Izuku caught up to the blond, only to be met with a baffling sight. Where the school should've been, there stood a gigantic, imposing castle. And it was definitely standing in the place of the school - the sign out front still said Shujin Academy, after all, and Izuku recognized the street out front from his visit yesterday. The blond looked as confused as Izuku felt right now.
"We didn't come the wrong way… what is this?" he muttered, turning back and looking around. "Do you have any idea what's goin' on here?"
Izuku shook his head. "No idea at all. Maybe it really was a quirk that affected the area. Should we… try going inside to see if anybody else knows what's happening?"
"Yeah, I guess that's the only reasonable option," the blond grumbled. "I just wanna know what the hell kinda quirk could turn our school into a damn castle! I'm Sakamoto Ryuji, by the way… sorry for not introducing myself earlier."
"It's okay. I'm Midoriya Izuku. It's nice to meet you," he said, hoping it wouldn't come back to bite him if Sakamoto found out he was quirkless later. The last thing he wanted was for the name 'Deku' to follow him all the way out to Tokyo. That would be awful. Sakamoto nodded in response to his introduction, and the two of them went up the steps to the… school? Castle? Whatever it was.
They walked up the steps and found one of the massive front doors just open enough to get inside, luckily, because they were certainly too heavy to open normally. After slipping through, the inside of the building seemed to be just as… castle-y as the rest of the building, replete with glimmering chandeliers, massive staircases, giant portraits, and ostentatious, decorative pillars.
What the hell kind of quirk did all of this?
"This is so weird…" Sakamoto muttered, looking around what looked to be the foyer with a furrowed brow. "Where's the school? What happened? You really think it was a villain attack or somethin'? But who'd wanna attack this place? And why turn it into this? I just don't get it…"
"Me either," Izuku agreed, sticking close to Sakamoto as he was quite nervous right about now. He hated being so out of the loop. If he just had a little information to go on…!
"No service, either…" Sakamoto sighed, checking his phone. "Where the hell did we end up? I don't think even a villain attack could knock out all of the cell service like that, could it?"
"It depends on what kind of quirk they have. If there's a quirk that blocks electrical signals, sure, they could block signal from getting in. But this quirk seems like a transformative quirk, something that turns places into different shapes, or maybe swaps buildings with another? It'd be weird to have a component like blocking electrical signals…" Izuku trailed off when he saw Sakamoto wasn't following his ramble in the slightest. "S-Sorry. Um, long story short, no, I don't think this would end up blocking signal. I have no idea why you can't get any."
"Ugh, it's alright," Sakamoto ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I just wish somebody was around we could talk to!"
As if on cue, there was a metallic clank-clank-clankas what looked to be an animated suit of armor came walking right up to them. Between the gaps in the pieces there was this… darkness, not quite a body but also not quite total nothingness, either. It was strange, shifting, hurt to look at for too long, and creeped Izuku out. But Sakamoto either didn't seem to notice or didn't seem to care, and actually looked relieved to see the moving armor.
"Geez, you scared me! Who're you, anyway? A student?" Sakamoto asked, looking at the suit of armor expectantly. It didn't answer, Izuku got the feeling that something was very wrong here. He took a step closer to Sakamoto, poised almost defensively. He wasn't sure he could really do anything, but if something went wrong, he had to try. Sakamoto stepped forward, closer to the armor. "Man, your costume is impressive… is that armor real?"
"Sakamoto-kun," Izuku whispered, trying to wave him back. "That might be a villain!"
Sakamoto's eyes went wide as he realized that was a possibility. He tried to step back, only to be met with another clank-clank-clank as a second animated suit of armor came up to them. "...Oh shit, dude. This doesn't look good…"
"What should we do?" Izuku stood back to back with Sakamoto as the suits of armor got closer. Sakamoto grabbed Izuku's arm and turned.
"We gotta run, obviously!" he said, pulling Izuku along after him. But they were stopped shortly after, with more of those suits of armor coming up from behind to completely surround them. Sakamoto looked around for any place to escape, any way through the wall of armor around them, but there was nothing. One of the suits bashed its shield into Sakamoto's back, knocking him to the floor.
Izuku went to Sakamoto's side instantly, standing over him as the poor boy gasped for air, winded by the harsh blow. So these really were villains, then… "Oww…" Sakamoto groaned. "Y-You're gonna break my bones, man! I didn't even do anything! The hell do you think you're-"
Sakamoto was very aggressively cut off by the suits of armor closing rank around them, leaving no chance for them to get out at all. One of the armors ordered the others to grab them, and Izuku slapped the guard's hand away from Sakamoto. Izuku did the only thing he could, and tried to force his way out by shoulder-tackling one of them. "Get away from him!"
But the suit didn't budge an inch, and the next thing he knew, he was out cold when one of the suits hit him over the head with the butt end of its sword.
"...Hey. … Hey! Wake up!"
Izuku heard a distant, foggy sort of voice as he woke up with what could only be described as the worst headache he'd ever had. With a groan, Izuku sat up, his eyes fluttering open and processing the dim light of whatever room he was in. He put his hand to his head, only to hiss and yank his hand away when he found that it hurt like hell. There was also a bit of tacky blood on his forehead, which… didn't bode well. Still, he was awake, and his vision wasn't swimming, at least.
"…You alright?" the worried voice, more clear this time, belonged to Sakamoto, the boy he'd met that morning. Izuku jolted into awareness upon seeing his face as he remembered exactly what happened - they'd been involved in what they assumed was a villain attack, and he'd tried to help Sakamoto, only…
"Yeah," Izuku gingerly nodded, appreciative of the genuine concern on the other boy's face. "I think I'll be okay. My head just hurts. What about you?"
"No kidding, your head hurts! That fucker hit you pretty hard. I was worried you wouldn't wake up when they dragged you here and you didn't move at all," Sakamoto frowned deeper and paced from one end of the room to the other. "Sure hope you don't have a concussion. I'm more or less alright, myself. But this… this is one effed up villain attack, if it even is a villain attack. This shit's too weird for me…"
Looking around, Izuku realized that the 'room' they were in was actually a cell. A dark, dank cell like something out of a medieval guide to torture. Chains and stocks lined the walls, and there were suspiciously dark stains on some of the stones. Wherever they were, Izuku knew that he and Sakamoto were in some serious trouble right now.
"Hey, let us outta here!" Sakamoto yelled, rattling the bars of the cell door. But no response came, so he trudged back to where Izuku was sitting on some kind of… wooden table and sat next to him. He saw the bump on Izuku's head and looked… guilty, almost. "You know… you didn't need to do that. Step in for me like that."
Izuku just smiled sheepishly. "I know… but I couldn't help myself. I can never look the other way when somebody's getting hurt. Especially since you've been so nice to me since we met."
"Nice?" Sakamoto gawked, eyes wide. "You sure you got the right guy?"
"Yeah! You let me follow you to school on my first day and warned me about that Kamoshida guy. That was pretty nice of you, helping somebody you didn't even know like that," Izuku said, to which Sakamoto looked very embarrassed.
"I guess… if you say so… thanks for stepping in, then," he mumbled.
"Of course!" Izuku smiled, a little more easygoing this time. It was quiet for a moment, so before it could lapse into an awkward silence, Izuku continued. "So, do you wanna look for a way out? I have a bad feeling about staying here."
"Yeah," Sakamoto agreed quickly, hopping up and looking around. "It's probably a long shot, but do you have a quirk that could help? Mine doesn't really help with getting out of a locked cell…"
Izuku pursed his lips. He… didn't want to admit he was quirkless. Not in this situation. For all he knew, it could make things worse if Sakamoto didn't take that particular revelation well. "Um… no. Nothing that would help in here."
"Damn," Sakamoto sighed. "Well, it was worth asking, at least…"
Before Izuku could suggest trying to look around some more, there was a horrific, distant scream like somebody was being tortured elsewhere in this nightmarish dungeon. Both Izuku and Sakamoto sprinted for the cell door after hearing it, terrified and trying to look to either side of the hallway they were in to see what was going on.
"You're shitting me, right…?" Sakamoto trailed off, looking genuinely terrified. "This is bad… we'd better find a way out of here fast…!"
The two of them got to work moving around the few things that were in the cell, namely a few raggedy-looking barrels and the table Izuku had been sitting on, but couldn't find anything. Izuku even tried looking for loose stones to possibly make a hole in one of the walls, but so far everything seemed to be locked up tight. And before either of them could continue to look further, there was the clank-clank-clank of those suits of armor growing closer.
"Oh, great," Sakamoto groaned, the both of them stepping back. The suits of armor surrounded their cell, and one of them stood at the door. Izuku wasn't stupid enough to try rushing them again… he learned how fast that would backfire.
"Your punishment has been decided," the one at the front of the group seemed to sneer down at them. "Your charge is 'unlawful entry.' Therefore, you will be sentenced to death."
Izuku and Sakamoto's expressions were both horrified, though Sakamoto's was significantly more angry. "What are you talking about?! You can't just execute people! You're the ones who turned our school into this freaky nightmare! There'll be heroes responding to an attack this big!"
"Attack?" A new voice joined the mix, and the guards began to part. "The only attack here was the one you launched on me by sullying this castle with your presence. Nobody can do as they please in my castle except me."
The man that came striding between the guards was… wait, wasn't that the teacher Izuku had seen earlier that day? The one in the car that Sakamoto had said was pervy and an asshole? Judging by the crown and weird, fluffy cape with hearts on it which was… the only thing the man wore besides a speedo… Izuku honestly wasn't surprised Sakamoto had described him like that. Was he secretly a villain who coordinated an attack on the school? Izuku's mind raced with the worst possible scenarios. Even if he got out of this alive, he could be arrested for vigilantism again! How did he always get drawn into the middle of the worst situations possible?!
Sakamoto looked equally shocked. "Kamoshida?!"
"I thought it was some petty thieves that had snuck into my castle, but to think that it was you,Sakamoto… Trying to disobey me again, are you? I'd have thought you learned your lesson last time. And you even brought a friend with you… you're so weak you'd stoop to bringing in help, hm?"
Clearly, the two had a history together. Izuku had no idea what he'd walked into, but this was… very, very bad.
"Shut up! Don't give me that shit! What did you do to the school, you shitty ex-hero?! Where is everyone?!" Sakamoto rattled the bars, furious. Izuku was shocked - this guy was the hero-turned-teacher? What the hell? Kamoshida's eyes narrowed and he looked down his nose at the blond in an angry snarl.
"I see you don't understand your position. You should know better than to talk to a king that way. Sneaking into my castle, insulting me… the punishment for that is death." Kamoshida unlocked the cell door with a ring of keys he carried.
When Kamoshida snapped snapped his fingers, the guards pushed further into the cell, surrounding them like they had earlier. This time, it was Sakamoto who tried to tackle one of the suits of armor out of the way, and while he managed to push it over, one of the others reared back and punched him in the stomach, causing him to fall to his knees, gasping for air again.
Kamoshida seemed to be singularly focused on Sakamoto, which make Izuku sick with worry. Izuku had been serious - even if the blond had no idea he was quirkless, he'd still been so nice. Izuku couldn't stand by at the best of times, so when somebody as nice as Sakamoto was getting hurt like this it made him want to do something. Yet even so, it seemed like this time his legs wouldn't move. It was like the world moved without him, and he'd become rooted in place, only able to watch in horror as the suits of armor closed ranks around him. Was it because he himself was afraid? Because this situation seemed even more hopeless than the sludge villain incident had?
Sakamoto, unaware of Izuku's internal struggle, tried to wave him away while the guards were focused on him. "Go!" the boy coughed. "Get outta here…! These guys… they're serious…!"
"Oh? Going to try running away? What a heartless friend you are." Kamoshida laughed, eyes turning to Izuku for just a moment.
"He… ain't a friend…" Sakamoto coughed again, and alright, ouch. Izuku had to admit that kind of stung. Even when he didn't know Izuku was quirkless, he still wasn't friend material, apparently. "What're you doing just standing around?! Hurry up and go already!"
"Looks like he's too scared to run away. So much for the mighty vigilante," Kamoshida scoffed, and Izuku paled. How… how did he know? Sakamoto looked confused, but Kamoshida moving closer made him momentarily forget about that. "Useless scum like him isn't worth my time, anyway."
If Izuku thought Sakamoto's comment about not being friends stung, being called useless felt like a kick to the chest. If Kamoshida said that because he already knew Izuku was quirkless, that meant that other people probably already knew, and that… that sucked. A lot. If he got out of this situation alive somehow, then his probation was going to be another year of hell.
"I'll focus on this one's execution instead," Kamoshida grinned, cruel and twisted. That certainly snapped Izuku's attention out of his worry, reminding himself that he and Sakamoto were literally in a life or death situation. Now was absolutely not the time to be throwing himself a pity-party. "Take this!"
Kamoshida threw a punch into Sakamoto's stomach that had him doubling over and losing his breakfast all over the floor. Izuku, aghast, could only wonder if the man's quirk let him punch so hard. Certainly, the man was an adult and they were kids, but the way Sakamoto couldn't even get a breath in after all of that spoke to just how powerful that punch had been. If he'd punched any higher, it likely would've broken several ribs and possibly even killed him if things got punctured. As it was now, Izuku was seriously worried that Sakamoto would have serious internal damage.
And yet, even still, Izuku's legs just wouldn't move.This felt like the beginning of the sludge villain incident all over again: back then, he hadn't been able to move, either.
Kamoshida wailed on Sakamoto, although this time it seemed he'd held off on the quirk-enhanced punches in favor of regular ones, and once Sakamoto had dropped to the floor, unable to even lift his own head, Kamoshida spit on him and grinned as if he'd won. Izuku wasn't one for profanity, but even he had to wonder: what the fuck was wrong with this guy?!What could Sakamoto have possibly done to warrant such a beatdown and being spit on?!
"Where'd all your energy go, Sakamoto?" Kamoshida sneered. "I'll kill you right now."
"Stop it!" Izuku cried, beating on the back of one of the suits of armor that blocked his path. Just as before, it… didn't do much of anything… but at the very least Izuku could say he'd finally moved. "Leave him alone!"
"Tch," Kamoshida waved some of the guards over towards Izuku, who pressed him up against the wall with their shields. "Hold him while I finish off this peasant."
Kamoshida laughed as he stood over Sakamoto, but then it happened. With a look of primal fear in his eyes, Sakamoto spoke. "No… I don't want to die…!"
It felt as if the world slowed to a stop for Izuku, his heart beating wildly in his chest as an almost manic sort of courage washed over him and he began to really thrash against his restraints. That was it, Izuku recalled, that was why he had moved on the day of the sludge villain attack. Just like back then, it hadn't really hit home until he'd seen the fear in somebody else's eyes.
The second he'd heard that tiny, hopeless, terrified cry of 'I don't want to die' leave Sakamoto, everything had changed.
It truly is an unjust game… your chances of winning are almost zero.
As the world slowed around him, Izuku heard a delicate, soft voice, and an equally delicate, almost transparent butterfly danced across his vision from one side to the other. It was hard to see, and Izuku would've been convinced it was a hallucination if he wasn't already in one weird, fucked up situation already. But before he could consider why a butterfly was moving in front of him while everything else had slowed nearly to a stop, the voice spoke again.
But if my voice is reaching you… there may be a possibility yet open to you…
The butterfly vanished, and the world returned to its normal speed. Kamoshida was saying something to Sakamoto, but everything was drowned out by a new, secondary voice. A deep, rumbling sort of voice that reverberated in his chest.
"What's the matter? You ran in to save the one who tormented you since childhood, and yet here lies a kind soul, in pain and in need of rescue… Where is the resolve you've had until now? Has the label of 'vigilante' changed you so much? Is a name enough to make you lose your drive to be a hero?"
Izuku felt compelled to answer.
"No…" he choked out his answer despite being pressed against the wall. Sakamoto was raised by one of the suits of armor, sword to his neck as he dangled in the air. Izuku thrashed against the ones pinning him down, panicked and furious in kind. "No…! I still… I still want to be a hero more than anything…! I want… I want to save him no matter what I'm called…!"
"Very good. I feel your resolve… and I take it in stride."
The voice made him feel like his already aching head was being slammed around on the inside of a bell and his heart felt like it was seizing in his chest. Izuku screamed out in pain, thrashing wildly even as the voice continued to speak to him.
" Vow to me, Midoriya Izuku. I am thou… thou art I. Thou who art willing to do any act to become a hero and deliver thine own justice! Call upon my name, and show thy valor! Show the strength of thy resolve to save those around you, no matter the form you must take!"
"Execute him!" Kamoshida cried gleefully, and Izuku felt his eyes snap over to where the man stood, regardless of the pain he was in.
"That's… enough… I will… I will stop you!"
Kamoshida froze, and then slowly turned to face him. He gestured to the suits of armor, who let go of Sakamoto and focused on him. "You desire to be killed first that much? Fine, then."
The guards slammed him up against the wall, and one raised a sword over Izuku's head, poised to strike. Sakamoto, who had been dropped and was now sitting up weakly against the opposite wall, was the one forced to watch this time. The suit of armor with the sword was about to bring the sword down onto Izuku's head, but before he could strike, a massive blast of some kind of power shot out from where Izuku stood.
It shoved the guards back just enough to give Izuku room to get his arms free, and the sword was tossed from the grasp of the one in front of him. Kamoshida and Sakamoto watched, one angry and the other confused. Izuku, however, felt… invigorated, almost.
The ringing in his head had stopped, his chest felt lighter, and his face… his face?
Izuku reached up to touch his face, and on it, he felt a… mask? As he reached further up, he realized the mask had two things sticking up from the top of it, though he couldn't quite tell what they were without being able to look at them directly. Still, as he touched the mask, he felt the urge to get it off at all costs. No matter what he had to do to remove it, no matter how badly it hurt as he began to pull on it, it just had to come off.
With a cry of pain, Izuku gripped the two things that stuck up from the top of the mask and yanked as hard as he could, ripping who knows what as pain bloomed across the entire upper half of his head. Blood dripped down his cheeks and chin, and he held the mask in his hands. As he looked up at Kamoshida this time, Izuku felt… free.
Light seemed to spark around him, and some sort of… bright, ethereal blue fire seemed to cover his face before consuming his entire body. The blue fire spread out, further and further, before snapping back into the shape of… some sort of giant person with another blast of energy. This time, it launched both the guards and Kamoshida back in to the other wall, and Kamoshida tried to scurry away.
The figure, now fully emerging from the light, stood behind Izuku, who turned to see him in full. He was… huge, muscular, and wearing an outfit that was something like a blend between a modern pro hero and a musketeer, standing proud and looking down at Izuku with an impassive stare. The figure raised a heavy-looking musket in a strong, stalwart pose, that bright light from before almost haloing it. Izuku heard that voice again, only this time, it came from the figure.
"I am the dauntless and just knight, d'Artagnan!"
Sakamoto, from the floor, looked gobsmacked. Izuku had not only summoned this giant… thing and had a mask just appear on his face, but his clothes changed too, though Izuku himself hadn't realized it. "Wh… what the…"
"I am the hero's soul that resides within you," the figure, d'Artagnan, continued to speak. "If you will accept what may come of it, I shall grant you the power to save those in need."
Izuku didn't even hesitate. "I'll do anything if it means being able to save people."
Though his expression hadn't changed and was just as staunch as before, d'Artagnan almost seemed proud as he turned to face Kamoshida and his guards. "A good answer. Very well, then…"
Kamoshida ordered his guards forward, and suddenly, they transformed, melting into a shifting, incomprehensible mass of dark shadows. And then, rising from the mass, they turned into different shapes, monsters that cackled and laughed. "You'll learn the true strength of my men! Kill him!"
D'Artagnan stood strong, pointing his musket forwards. "My power is also yours. Deliver thy justice… perform a daring rescue!"
Izuku wasn't sure what to do, but he felt a sort of instinct guiding him. As though d'Artagnan was a part of himself, he directed the lumbering figure to attack the monsters that had taken shape from the suits of armor. Internally, he was freaking out, but it was the kind of freak-out he would have to pack down so he could focus and process his feelings after he'd gotten out of this mess. There was no All Might to save him this time… only himself and d'Artagnan.
D'Artagnan, feeling Izuku's instruction rather than hearing it, lunged forward and bashed one of the monsters with the heavy butt of his musket. And when the monsters attacked back, it was like they didn't even bother him. D'Artagnan took the hits on Izuku's behalf so he wouldn't get hurt. It continued like that for a while, trading blows until the monsters vanished in an explosive mass of shadows.
But when the fighting died down, it seemed like Kamoshida was beat. He stood, in total shock that his guards had been defeated. Sakamoto stood from where he'd been leaning against the wall and took the opportunity to tackle the man, despite the pain he must've been in. It sent the keys that had been in Kamoshida's hand flying, and Izuku grabbed them once they hit the floor.
"Come on!" Izuku pulled Sakamoto out of the cell with one hand and their bags with the other, slamming the door shut while Kamoshida was still stunned. "While I'm holding the door shut, lock it!"
With wide eyes, Sakamoto quickly took the keys from Izuku and locked up the cell door, effectively keeping Kamoshida away from them for the time being. They backed away from the cell doors, ignoring Kamoshida's yelling completely as they ran to the end of the stretch of dungeon they were in. Kamoshida's yelling was distant now, and Sakamoto leaned up against the wall, adrenaline fading and in a lot of pain as he caught his breath.
"Wh… What was that…?" Sakamoto, still propped up against the wall, looked at Izuku with confusion and awe. "You said you didn't have a quirk that could help, but that was…!"
Izuku quickly shook his head as whatever clothes he had been wearing vanished, leaving his uniform in their place. "I-It's not a quirk! I have no idea what that was, honestly, I'm about ten seconds away from having a panic attack right about now, but we need to get out of here while we have the chance! Can… can you walk any more? I don't know if I can carry you on my back, but I can try…"
Sakamoto touched his stomach and drew his hand back with a hiss. But even though it had to hurt, he shook his head. "No, I can walk. Just… let me lean on you?"
"Of course," Izuku let Sakamoto throw his arm over his shoulders. The blond boy was taller than him, so Izuku was the perfect height to lean on. Now that they could make a decent speed without making Sakamoto's already egregious injuries worse, the two of them got a move on.
Getting out of here was not going to be as easy as it looked, however. There were not only more guards that they had to avoid, but some paths were blocked, with the dungeon being built over a river, somehow. The bridges crossing them were raised with no visible lowering mechanism. So instead, Izuku had to help Sakamoto cross the river the hard way. With the injured state he was in, Izuku was sure it was extremely unpleasant, and yet Sakamoto did it all without so much as a single complaint.
To top it off, just when they finally thought they'd found their way out, it turned out that the giant, spiraling staircase they'd found lead up to anotherlevel of dungeons. This time, there were peopletrapped in here, much to Izuku and Sakamoto's horror. But none of them were within their ability to help, so as much as it pained Izuku, they had to leave them.
"This is so messed up… How big is this place?" Sakamoto groaned. His was in pain and exhausted. Izuku himself wasn't doing so hot either, his headache beginning to return and his body becoming sore from being sandwiched roughly between metal shields and a brick wall.
"I have no idea…" Izuku murmured, looking desperately around for a way to get out of here. They went down one path, but it too seemed to have no way for them to get out. "How many dead ends are there? What kind of labyrinth is this place…?"
"Damnit! How the hell are we s'posed to get outta here?!" Sakamoto groaned, leaning a little more heavily on Izuku. Izuku had no answer.
But somebody else answered for him.
"Hey, over here." Sakamoto was just as surprised as Izuku when they heard the voice, and they both looked around trying to find the source of it. They were still in the dungeons, so was it coming from one of the cells? "Hey! Blondie, greenie! Look over here, would you?!"
The voice seemed to be coming from the furthest cell, nestled at the very end of this row. The two cautiously approached the cell, wondering who the voice could belong to, but the last thing Izuku expected to see was a talking cat that wore clothes and walked on two legs. The cat was grasping the bars in its… paws?… and shaking as hard as it could to try and get their attention.
"What is this thing?!" Sakamoto cried, eyes wide.
"You're not soldiers of this castle, right?! Help me out of here!" the cat seemed to bypass Sakamoto's comment entirely. "Look, the key's right there…!"
"We're trying to get out of here ourselves, thank you very much!" Sakamoto rebuffed. Izuku honestly didn't think this day could get any freakier, and yet here he was. "Besides, you look like an enemy yourself! You're a talking cat!"
"There are so many things wrong with that statement!" the cat glared at him. " Don't ever call me a cat again! More importantly, how can I be your enemy?! I'm locked up in here! Just help me out!"
"Um… you look like a cat, though…" Izuku trailed off, eyebrows furrowed.
"Call me a cat again and you'll regret it!" the not-cat hissed angrily. "Look, the guards will be back any minute. You two want to get out of here, right?! I heard you talking. If you let me out, I can show you where the exit is, easy! I'll even take you there myself! I never go back on my word, so please, just get me out of here already…!"
Izuku looked over to Sakamoto, who looked just as skeptical but resigned as him. They didn't exactly have much of a choice in the matter. They certainly had no idea how to get out of here on their own. They'd need a guide. Izuku looked to the key that hung on the wall the not-cat had pointed out, and he grabbed it. "I'm going to open the door."
"Fine… guess it's all we can do in this situation," Sakamoto reluctantly agreed. Izuku unlocked the door and let out the not-cat, who immediately ran out and stretched.
"Ahhh, freedom! I missed it!"
"Alright, we let you out, now where do we go, freaky cat?" Sakamoto asked, looking around nervously. The clank-clank-clank of the guard's armor could be heard in the distance - they needed to get out of here quickly. The not-cat, however, was quite offended at Sakamoto's name calling.
"I told you not to call me a cat! My name is Morgana, got that?!"
"Just show us the way already or I'm gonna lock you back up in that cell myself! We're injured, in pain, and our lives are at stake here, man!" Sakamoto ordered, to which the not-cat - Morgana, apparently - took a step back.
"A-Alright, jeez! Follow me and keep quiet!"
In the staff room of Shujin Academy, Todoroki Fuyumi sat, expression scrunched up in thoughtful worry. She was trying to get her paperwork done, but her thoughts were elsewhere. The new student… where was he? He was supposed to be here. Midoriya seemed so earnest in their first meeting, and yet…
"It's fourth period already… I called Torino-san to confirm that he left, and he has, but…" Fuyumi glanced down at her phone. "I wonder if I should do something… I could always call the police, but that might be overkill…"
She worried about the boy. He didn't seem like the type to skip school, but if she called the police, they'd likely assume that's what he was doing given his prior record. And that would just get him in so much trouble, especially since he was already on probation… she didn't want to be the one to ruin a poor boy's life if something more serious had actually happened!
Fuyumi sighed. "If he doesn't show up soon, I'll call. I hope he's alright…"
Morgana showed them the way as he promised, teaching them the trick to lowering the bridges so they could cross the rivers in the dungeons. And even more insane was that on top of being a walking, talking not-cat, Morgana apparently had the ability to summon one of the giant figures from blue fire like Izuku could.
They got into a fight together against more of those suits of armor-turned-monsters and Izuku got to see Morgana's summoned partner firsthand. His was named Zorro, apparently.
Izuku thought he fought pretty well with Morgana, all things considered, even if Morgana thought he was an amateur and had to teach him several things about fighting with… whatever the things they summoned were. At least Izuku knew it wasn't a quirk he'd suddenly grown if he wasn't the only one to use them - that would've been too hard a pill to swallow.
"Not bad," Morgana hummed appreciatively, once they'd finished their first side-by-side fight. "Your Persona's pretty powerful."
"Persona? Is that what they're called?" Izuku wondered, watching as d'Artagnan vanished.
"Yes. You ripped off a mask to summon yours, right?" Morgana asked, to which Izuku nodded. "Well, everyone wears a mask within their hearts. By removing it…"
Izuku's clothes disappeared shortly after d'Artagnan did, returning back to his school uniform in a flash of light. Sakamoto still looked baffled by everything that was going on, and honestly, Izuku was right there with him. This was… a lot to take in.
"Hm… looks like you don't have full control over your powers yet. Normally your transformation should stay the entire time you're in here. But we don't have time for a lesson - we've got to get out of here before more guards show up. Come on, keep following me. The exit's not much farther," Morgana said, heading further down the path they'd been following.
Izuku and Sakamoto kept following, only this time, there were people they could help along the path. Sakamoto was the first to notice them, insisting they stop running to help. "Can't we get them out of there? This shit is so messed up! They don't deserve to be tortured like this!"
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Morgana looked baffled. "Look, we don't have time to go saving people who don't need saving. They're not real."
"What?" Izuku's eyes went wide. "What do you mean they're not real?"
"I told you we don't have time for me to explain! I'm leaving - it's your choice whether or not to follow me," Morgana said, promptly turning tail and leaving just as he said he would. Sakamoto and Izuku shared an equally frustrated and exasperated look, but with the clank-clank-clank of distant armored guards coming closer, they both knew they had no choice but to leave.
"Damn it!" Sakamoto hissed, grabbing Izuku's arm. "We need to go."
Izuku reluctantly followed, eyes trailing back to the people in the cells. He didn't want to leave them either, but he knew realistically he was in no position to fight an entire castle full of guards, with or without d'Artagnan. He'd get killed trying to help. The best thing he could do, both for himself and for them - whether or not they were real like Morgana said - was to go and get help.
Finally, finally, after what felt like forever, Morgana led them to the entrance, where they'd come in. They couldn't use the front doors, of course, as they were under extremely heavy guard, but there was a hallway off to the side of the entrance where Morgana pointed out a very convenient ventilation shaft above a bookshelf. They'd have to crawl through it, but according to Morgana, it dropped off right outside the castle and would take them to safety.
"Finally!" Sakamoto cheered. "We're getting out of here!"
"Celebrate once you're actually out! Get going!" Morgana shooed them off. Izuku worriedly looked over at Morgana, who was standing staunchly at the door to the hallway.
"What about you? Aren't you coming too?"
"There's still something I have to do inside the castle," Morgana shook his head. "Sorry, but you'll be escaping on your own. And don't worry about me… I'm a professional."
"I still have so many questions, but… I guess I don't have much of a choice. I'll be sure to let the heroes know there's a villain attack going on as soon as we get out of here," Izuku reassured. Morgana looked at him with a confused expression.
"Heroes? I think you're mistaken. Nobody else can come here. Once you get out, you shouldn't be able to come back either. This isn't a villain attack or whatever it is you're thinking of," Morgana said. That only served to make Izuku even more baffled with this whole situation, which in turn frustrated Morgana, who huffed and ushered them forward. "Just get going. You'll see for yourself."
The clank-clank-clank of armor sounded as though it was getting closer. Izuku groaned and began climbing the bookshelf up to the ventilation shaft, with Sakamoto following closely behind. Before heading fully inside, Izuku said, "Thanks for your help, Morgana! Stay safe!"
Morgana grinned cheekily. "Heh. You too!"
As Izuku and Sakamoto climbed into the ventilation shaft, they didn't hear Morgana talk to himself. "Those two seem useful…" the not-cat murmured. "Especially the green-haired one, if my instincts are correct…"
After running from the castle once they got out of the ventilation shaft, both Izuku and Sakamoto were hit with another wave of that headache-inducing feeling, and suddenly, they were on a normal street surrounded by normal people. In the distance, Izuku could see the school, and this time… there was no castle. Seemingly nothing had happened, except the injuries the two sported proved that the incident in the castle was real.
"What… what the hell… are we safe?" Sakamoto asked, looking around nervously. Izuku's phone buzzed in his pocket, and when he pulled it out, that mysterious app had opened itself and was now speaking to him through the automated GPS voice.
You have returned to the real world. Welcome back.
"I hope that means we're back to normal… but… where did the castle go? Was the cat right? If it wasn't a villain attack, then what could that all have been?" Sakamoto groaned, running his hands through his hair again. "This is just too confusing, man…"
"I think we're back, but… I don't know what to think of all that, either," Izuku shook his head. He was just as lost as Sakamoto was in this whole situation.
"I mean, what was up with the castle, the cat and Kamoshida?! And now it's like none of it ever happened! What the hell is happening to us, man… I'm just glad I wasn't alone, or I might've thought I was seeing things or having one effed up dream!" Sakamoto exclaimed. Izuku nodded in agreement - he almost thought the same at several points during the previous escapades.
"What's with the yelling?" A voice got their attention, and the two turned to see two police officers on bikes approaching them. "Are you two Shujin students? Cutting classes, huh?"
Izuku gulped. Glancing at the time on his phone, he saw that nearly half the day had been spent in that awful dungeon. Shit. He was in so much trouble right now if he got brought in for truancy! Izuku wanted to defend himself but Sakamoto had already jumped in, shocked the officer would assume they were skipping school in the state they were in. "Huh? No! We were trying to get to school, and we ended up in this weird castle dungeon thing…"
"What?" The first officer scoffed, and Izuku paled. Clearly, he didn't believe them. Morgana was right - it couldn't have been a villain attack, or surely somebody else would've noticed an entire castleappearing. People would be fleeing the area and the police wouldn't be accosting them for truancy. "Hand over your bag, kid. You'd better not be on any drugs."
"Why would you think I'm on drugs?!" Sakamoto cried. Trying to mediate, the second officer interjected.
"Are you his friend?" he asked, directed to Izuku this time.
"Um… something like that," Izuku murmured, pressing a hand to his tender head. Despite Sakamoto's earlier insistence that they weren't friends, it was better not to seem too suspicious right now.
The second officer sighed and gave him a stern look. "Look, if you're friends, then you should take him to school with you. We won't contact your school this time, but we'd better not catch you out here again at this time of day, understand, young man?"
"Yes!" Izuku blurted, bowing deeply. He'd gotten solucky that the officer was letting them off with a warning. His record couldn't handle any more black marks! He quickly grasped Sakamoto's arm and pulled him along in the direction of the school. "I'm sorry to trouble you, officer. We'll be on our best behavior going forward, I promise!"
"Are you for real?!" Sakamoto followed along, albeit unhappy he was being dragged. "Why didn't you say something?!"
"I can't," Izuku hissed under his breath. "I have a record. I'm already on probation. I'll be lucky if the teacher doesn't report me for this… I just want to go to school and not cause trouble!"
"You? Have a record? Even though you were talking all big about being a hero earlier?" Sakamoto asked, disbelieving. "You don't seem like the type at all… I guess I understand why you were so insistent on getting away from the officers, though…"
"It's… a long story. I don't want to talk about it," Izuku mumbled.
"Oh, shit. Sorry, I didn't mean to pry," Sakamoto cringed a little. "Let's just get to school, then."
By the time they got to the school, the counselor and Kamoshida were waiting for them. Only Kamoshida wasn't wearing the cape and crown he had been in the castle - he had on the tracksuit Izuku had seen him wearing in the car earlier that morning. Were they the same people? Or different? Izuku wasn't quite sure, but he knew for sure that he was pissedas he saw Izuku and Sakamoto come onto school grounds.
"Care to explain yourself?" the counselor asked, arms crossed. "We received a call from the police about two Shujin students skipping class. Where were you?"
Izuku paled. The police officers had called after all…!
"Um," Sakamoto looked between Izuku and the counselor. "In a castle…?"
"Not taking this seriously, are you?" The counselor's eyes narrowed. Kamoshida looked just as unamused by Sakamoto's answer.
"You look so carefree right now, Sakamoto. Quite the opposite from your days on the track team. Do you not understand the position you're in right now?" the man asked, his stare practically boring holes in Sakamoto with its intensity.
"Shut up! It's your fault that I'm-"
"Watch your mouth!" the counselor snapped. "You can't talk to Kamoshida like that! Just come with me - you're going to explain yourself seriously!"
Sakamoto swore colorfully under his breath, but followed, knowing he didn't have much of a choice in the matter at this point. While he walked up the steps, Izuku followed, but he was stopped by Kamoshida. The man gave him a serious look.
"You're the new transfer student, right? Midoriya Izuku?" he asked. Izuku reluctantly nodded. "Have we met somewhere before?"
"You took a girl to school in your car this morning. I was there," Izuku said, not wanting to risk saying anything else about the castle. Who knew how that would go over… if it really was the same person both times, then he had one hell of a quirk and it hurt like hell. Izuku couldn't feel d'Artagnan here any more, so he'd be out of luck if the teacher decided to try anything.
"Ah, I remember now," Kamoshida's expression turned to a scowl. "Well, I'm sure you've heard from the Principal, but cause any more trouble and you'll be expelled. We don't tolerate things like this, but I'm sure you're not used to being told no if you could get a criminal charge like you did."
Izuku, of course, was forced to take the backhanded insult like he did every other time. "I understand, sir," he grit out. "It won't happen again."
"Good. Then get inside and explain yourself as well," Kamoshida huffed. "I'm certain your teacher is tired of waiting for you. Todoroki-san's just too nice to say so. Good luck trying to enjoy your new school life."
"… The school turned into an old castle?"
"It did," Izuku murmured. There was no sugarcoating it. The skepticism on Niijima's face was as plain as day as she looked at Izuku with a flat expression.
"I won't put up with you joking around. I asked you to tell me the truth. Now you're telling me that not only did your school transform, but an entire castle's worth of armor began moving on its own, the armor listened to your gym teacher, and there were people held captive in a dungeon? Even with quirks, it would be a stretch for all this to have happened at once and then suddenly vanish without a trace, Midoriya."
"I'm not joking…" Izuku laid his head down on the desk. Niijima checked her watch and sighed.
"I don't have the time to argue. Continue your story. The first person to receive a calling card was an ex-hero and a famous athlete. An alumnus from Shujin Academy, and your P.E teacher: Kamoshida Suguru," Niijima said, spreading out two cards and a photo on the interrogation room desk.
Izuku scowled angrily at Kamoshida's photo, disgusted, and then looked away. He didn't want to think of that man ever again.
"It all came out in his confession, you know," Niijima continued. "He was guilty of everything. The abuse, the… violations… of his students, but there should've been no connection between you two. You only just transferred at the beginning of the year. Why did you target him?"
Izuku didn't speak because he wasn't going to admit to anything, but he figured it should've been pretty obvious. She already knew why… she'd said it herself, although she skirted around it. The man was a complete and total scumbag who abused and assaulted the students he was supposed to guide and care for. Izuku's silence, however, was not what Niijima wanted.
"You can't stay silent forever!" she slammed her hands on the desk. "Tell me the truth!"
Izuku stood awkwardly in front of Todoroki-sensei's desk alongside Sakamoto… apparently, they were in the same homeroom. Their teacher looked at the both of them with a serious frown, her brows creased with worry. Izuku's stomach churned uncomfortably. He wasn't used to seeing worry on a teacher's face…
"Midoriya-kun, you have a head injury… and Sakamoto-kun, you're clearly in pain… what happened? Did you two… get into a fight?" She asked tentatively. "Is that why you're late?"
"No!" Izuku insisted quickly. The last thing he wanted was to get Sakamoto in trouble. "Sakamoto was very nice! He tried to help me find my way to school, but… I got us lost, that's all. And I tripped and fell and hit my head because I wasn't watching where I was going… it's all my fault, really, Todoroki-sensei. Please don't be mad at Sakamoto."
Todoroki-sensei didn't seem very convinced, but neither did she press the matter. Instead, she turned to ask the blond. "Is that what happened, Sakamoto-kun?"
"U-Uh… yeah. He pretty much covered it," Sakamoto nodded. "I went to help him after he fell and I tripped too. Some shitty sidewalks around here… Anyway, I waited with him until we felt better. That's why we took so long getting back to school… he hit his head pretty hard."
"Alright…" Todoroki-sensei sighed, put a hand to her chin in thought, and finally shook her head after she chewed over whatever was on her mind. "Well, I'll let it go just this once. But only once, okay? You two need to be more careful from here on out. Go to the nurse's office and get yourselves looked at, and once the lunch break is over, come back to class. I'll have you introduce yourself then, too, Midoriya-kun."
Izuku felt like he could double over and sob with relief right now. He had no idea why Todoroki-sensei had deigned to look past their tardiness and terribleexcuses, but he'd never been more grateful in his life. "Thank you so much," Izuku put his head in his hands, his voice warbling. "I swear I didn't mean for this to happen. I promise I'll do better in the future."
"That's all I can ask for. Go on, then. I'm sure that bump is painful," Todoroki-sensei's expression was very gentle as she ushered the two out of the room. Izuku was honestly shocked, and a little suspicious at how kind Todoroki-sensei had been. Why was a teacher being so nice? Would she hold it over his head? He didn't know, but… he was sure he'd find out in time.
"Hey… thanks for covering for me," Sakamoto murmured after they'd left the faculty office. "You didn't have to… anyway, I'll show you where the nurse's office is."
"I'd have felt terrible if you got in trouble for associating with me…" Izuku muttered, kicking at the floor a little as he walked. "I'm the one with a record, after all. It's not your fault you were just trying to be nice to me and show me to school and we happened to get caught up in… all that."
"Man, if anything, you're the one that's gonna suffer for being seen with me," Sakamoto grumbled. "I'm… not exactly well liked around here. And I keep telling you, I wasn't tryin' to be nice or anything…"
"Still," Izuku murmured, shaking his head. "I think it was nice of you."
Sakamoto just sighed. The nurse's office wasn't very far from the faculty office, as they stopped in front of a door and knocked. The nurse let them in, took a look at Izuku's head wound, and cleaned and bandaged it. Once he was taken care of, she gave Sakamoto an ice pack for his bruised stomach and let them rest until the break was over. Izuku got suspicious looks the entire time, but… that was nothing new. The nurse at Aldera always looked at him like that when she let him know that he shouldn't antagonize his classmates.
Sure. He was the one antagonizing them. Yeah, right.
Once the break was up though, they had to go back to class. They saw Todoroki-sensei waiting for them outside of the classroom, and she sent Sakamoto inside. Izuku, however, she stopped to give a gentle warning. "Take your introduction seriously, okay? Especially after being so late, it's best to give the others as good of a first impression as you can. But if you have problems, you can come see me. And just so you're aware, the subway incident from yesterday has cut classes short, so we'll be leaving after fifth period."
"Oh… alright," Izuku murmured. Todoroki-sensei was still being so… nice. Saying she could actually come to her with problems, as if she truly meant it. "Thanks for letting me know. I'll be sure to introduce myself properly."
Todoroki-sensei seemed to accept that answer, so she showed him inside. The students, upon seeing him, broke into a wave of chattering whispers. Stuff like 'is that him?' or 'he's crazy to be so late on the first day' or 'I heard he's friends with Sakamoto' or 'I wonder if he's fought villains for real.' Izuku tried not to let his upset show - the students already knew about his record, somehow. Who had told them? As far as he knew, only Sakamoto, the teachers and the Principal were aware of his probation, and it couldn't have been Sakamoto…
"Quiet down, please," Todoroki-sensei said firmly, to which the students gave her their undivided attention. "I'd like to introduce a new transfer student. His name is Midoriya Izuku. He got a little hurt on the way to school, so we had him start later so he could recover. Go ahead and introduce yourself, Midoriya."
Izuku bowed. "I'm Midoriya Izuku. It's nice to meet you. I'm sorry to trouble the class by being here so late. I hope to get along with everyone."
"Is that tiny guy really a vigilante?" another student whispered to another, loud enough that Izuku could hear it at the front of the class. "He doesn't seem like he could fight villains… Maybe he gets violent when he's angry or something…"
"Maybe that's why he got hurt… he was probably trying to fight villains…"
"You all should know better than to talk about people like that. I'll be speaking with you after class," Todoroki-sensei gave the students who had been whispering a harsh look, to which they shrunk back in their seat. "Midoriya-kun, please take a seat. Yours is right there, behind Takamaki-san."
She was pointing to the empty seat behind a blonde girl, who Izuku recognized. The nice girl from this morning was in his class, too? Quietly, Izuku took the seat pointed out to him. Sakamoto sat on the other side of the classroom, but the two shared a look as Izuku sat down. In front of him, the blonde girl muttered something to herself that Izuku couldn't quite make out, so he opted to let it go. He was already socially outcast enough as it stood… Sakamoto, however, gave him a subtle thumbs up of encouragement, and Izuku felt himself smiling just a little.
"Alright. Now that Midoriya-kun has been introduced, please be aware that the volleyball rally is in two days," Todoroki-sensei said, gathering the attention back onto her. "As you have a new student and everyone's just changed classes, I suggest using that time to get to know each other. I think that's the only announcement I have, so why don't we get classes started?"
Izuku sunk into his seat. He was not looking forward to this school year one bit after a miserable start like this, but at least he knew one of his classmates wasn't so bad.
Izuku barely attended any classes at all what with the day being cut short atop his tardiness, and all in all he felt like he wanted to curl up in a ball and die. People had whispered about him nonstop since he'd gotten there. The one blessing he had was that none of it had included talk about his quirk, or lack of one, rather.
It seemed as though only his criminal record had leaked. He didn't know how or why, but Izuku could deal with that a little easier than people finding out he was quirkless. Still, that didn't mean he enjoyedit. His head was pounding from that morning's injury and he was already on edge as it was. On top of it all, as he was about to leave the classroom, he had a short dizzy spell, followed by his vision blurring and warping.
For a moment he could have sworn he was back in that godforsaken castle again. He rubbed at his eyes with a hiss, and behind him, a quiet voice spoke up. "Are you alright, Midoriya-kun?"
Izuku saw Todoroki-sensei approaching, and he nodded weakly. If she was here, then he wasn't back in that castle, at the very least. "I-I'm alright. My head just hurts…"
"I'm sure it does," Todoroki-sensei murmured. "You should go home and rest. And just so you know, I'm not sure where people heard those things about you - I certainly haven't told anybody. I'm sorry your first day has been so difficult."
Izuku didn't even feel well enough to process the fact that a teacher was going out of her way to comfort him. "Alright. Thanks for telling me. I… I think I'm gonna go home now…"
Todoroki-sensei left back into the classroom and Izuku went downstairs. He was just outside the school gate when another dizzy spell and hallucination hit him, this time much stronger. He had to lean against the outside wall for support, and it was then that Sakamoto joined him in doing the same.
"...You saw that?"
Izuku turned to look at Sakamoto, and Izuku nodded. "Yeah… I thought it was just my head injury acting up, but if you saw it too…"
"We should talk. You busy?" Sakamoto gestured back to the school. Izuku was about to respond, but there was another person who interrupted their little conversation: Torino. The old man came marching up the sidewalk, tapping his cane and muttering to himself. He looked pissed, and it was then Izuku realized that the school had probably called Torino to tell him about his tardiness.
"Alright, boy, you want to tell me why I got a phone call saying you missed half of your first day of school?! I ought to…" Torino, however, trailed off once he actually got a look at Izuku and the bandage on his head. Then he went quiet, gauging Izuku for a moment before his mouth pursed into a fine line. "On second thought, I want to know about that nasty lump on your head."
"I… just tripped and fell on the way to school this morning, Torino-san," Izuku muttered, looking away from him. He didn't want to lie to Torino, who had been accepting of his quirklessness, but it wasn't like anybody besides Sakamoto could believe such an insane story.
"Don't lie to me, Midoriya," Torino's eyes narrowed.
"I'm sorry, Torino-san… honestly. I didn't mean to be so late. And I don't want to lie to you or anything, it's just… the truth is nuts. I'm not sure I believe it myself. I really did get hurt this morning though, that's why I was late. I promise I wasn't ditching class," Izuku bowed his head, hoping Torino would accept the answer.
The old man grumbled to himself again. "I can tell you're not going to give me the whole picture. Just tell me this: do I need to file a police report for anything? Was it somebody that hurt you?"
Izuku glanced over to Sakamoto for a moment and decided this wasn't worth dragging him into. Besides, if Izuku thought Torino was unlikely to believe him, the police were even less likely to believe him. So Izuku shook his head. "No, that's alright, Torino-san. I didn't get into a fight or anything. The injury kind of… came out of nowhere."
Torino once again gave him a look as if gauging his honesty before finally nodding. "Alright. At least you're telling me the truth this time. Now, who's this blondie over here?"
"This is Sakamoto-kun. He's a classmate of mine. He was with me this morning and stayed with me after I got hurt. He's nice," Izuku said, giving a small smile to Sakamoto as he recalled the small thumbs-up he'd gotten earlier. "Ah, Sakamoto-kun, this is Torino Sorahiko. He's my, um, guardian. We were just about to go talk, right?"
Sakamoto nodded seriously. "Yeah. I gotta talk to Midoriya. It's really important. Is it cool with you if I steal his time a little bit?"
"Fine, you two can talk. Just don't take too long. I came here to walk this one home so he doesn't get into any more trouble on the way back," Torino sighed. Izuku thanked him and bowed, and the and Sakamoto scurried off back inside the school to speak. Sakamoto led him to the roof, which had been left unlocked and unattended.
There were several unused desks up on the roof, which Izuku and Sakamoto sat at. It was quiet for a moment, before Sakamoto gave Izuku a curious look. "You know, I said earlier that you'd probably get it worse for associating with me, but man… some of the stuff people were saying is crazy. Were you really a vigilante? Guess that explains why you were so gutsy back in that castle…"
Izuku sighed. "It's not as bad as it sounds… honestly, it was overblown… I'm not even sure it classifies as vigilantism, but I did get charged, so…"
"Well, whatever the case, I wanted to talk to you about that castle, actually. We almost got killed this morning. If it weren't for you, I'm certain Kamoshida would've… actually had me killed. But I just don't get it. Nobody else knows anything even happened. It wasn't a dream, though… right? Because you were there too. You got dizzy and hurt and saw shit just like I did," Sakamoto leaned forward in his seat, intently looking to Izuku for some kind of answer.
"Yeah… I don't think I could ever forget," Izuku whispered, hugging his arms to his chest as he recalled the sound of Kamoshida's fists colliding with Sakamoto's stomach over and over. In kind, Izuku also remembered the feeling of freedom and warmthhe had felt summoning d'Artagnan for the first time.
"I don't think just knowing does us much good, though…" Sakamoto sighed. "Not like anybody'd believe us. We'd get called effin' nuts just for bringing it up. But… the point is, one of the reasons I called you up here 'cause I didn't properly express my thanks. You seriously saved my life from Kamoshida this morning, you know? So… thank you, Midoriya."
Bashfully, Izuku turned his head away so Sakamoto wouldn't see the embarrassed flush on his cheeks. He'd never been thanked so genuinely before. Even Kacchan hadn't said 'thank you' after the sludge villain incident. He'd just gotten yelled at. It was a little overwhelming, hearing somebody his age actually thank him directly like this.
"Y-You're welcome," Izuku finally managed to find his manners. "I'm glad I was able to do something."
"Yeah, me too. That Kamoshida back there, though… he was something else. You're new here, so you probably haven't heard the rumors," Sakamoto murmured.
"That was the P.E teacher, right? The one who we saw in the castle and who I saw before the castle this morning?" Izuku asked. Sakamoto nodded.
"Nobody questions him 'cause he used to be a hero and a famous athlete to boot. He got hurt on the job one day, and he wasn't quite the same after, so he had to quit both positions. He took a less strenuous job as a P.E teacher after that, but everyone treats him like he can't do a damn thing wrong. Rumors are he abuses the volleyball team in training. So seeing him as the king of that castle earlier… it shook me up."
Izuku's expression fell. "He was… a hero once? What was his hero name?"
"I think it was something like… Spike? He was some volleyball-themed hero. That was also the sport he played. It's why he's the volleyball coach now. His quirk lets him hit things hard as hell… you saw that firsthand. It feels like you got hit by a truck when he slaps or punches you," Sakamoto scowled.
Izuku didn't recognize the name. He must've been a smaller hero - Izuku was a hero nerd, but it was difficult to keep track of every single one out there. Still, even being a hero in the first place, no matter how small, afforded a person a lot of prestige and leeway. Was Kamoshida abusing his position of power? Was the Kamoshida they saw in that castle even real? Morgana had said the people inside weren't real, but Izuku had no way of really knowing…
"I wonder if we could go back to that castle…" Sakamoto murmured. Izuku's eyes widened.
"You want to go back?" he asked, disbelievingly. Sakamoto shook his head quickly.
"Ugh, no. Just forget it. It had to have been some collective hallucination quirk or something, I don't know! Whatever it was, we really should just forget it! It's not like anybody else would understand," Sakamoto groaned, leaning back in his chair and stretching. He stood up and bumped elbows with Izuku. "Anyway, I really just wanted to thank you and make sure I wasn't the only one who remembered all that shit. Sorry to drag you away from your, uh, guardian just for this."
Izuku shook his head. "No, it's okay. I appreciate the talk. It was nice to be reassured about what happened this morning, honestly."
"You know… you're not so bad. Maybe we're even similar," Sakamoto chuckled, and for the first time Izuku got to see him smile. "I think we'll get along as two 'troublemakers.' So, y'know, call me Ryuji if you want. Let's hang out after class sometimes. Don't ignore me, yeah?"
Izuku's eyes went impossibly wide, and he clutched the straps of his worn yellow backpack tightly in his hands. Sakamoto… had told him to call him by his first name. And invited him to hang out. Did that… make them sort of friends, despite Sakamoto's earlier comment? Or… was it something else? Shyly, Izuku nodded back, though his hands trembled with his white-knuckled grip.
"O-Okay. Um, then, you can call me Izuku. I'd… like to hang out sometimes," he mumbled, and Sakamoto - no, Ryuji grinned even wider, laughing a little.
"No need to be shy about it, dude! Alright, well, I'll let you get back to that old guy. See ya!" Ryuji waved as he headed down from the rooftop. Izuku went down after him as though in a daze, still not processing the fact that somebody actually wanted to hang out with him. It was a foreign feeling, but a good one. Izuku felt warmed by the thought of having somebody to talk to, to hang out with.
Maybe he was being naive, but… for once, Izuku let himself hope that he might make a friend.