The next day, it was school as usual. Though with a heavy dose of downpouring rain, which was going to be fun for anyone who had to do any physical activity outdoors. In another school, that would have meant that the standard gym class would have been canceled, postponed, or moved inside. At a hero school, however, a day of rain just meant a day of training to prepare for days of hard work under the downpouring sky.
As he walked through the rain, a black, goey, makeshift tarp suspended over his head, Izuku felt… Different, then the last time he came here.
He wasn't entirely sure why, but as he walked he did do with a lightness in his heart that hadn't been here before the tournament.
Maybe it was the result of actually winning it, or maybe he just had finally settled into his place here. Or maybe he just felt better after getting some stuff off his chest.
"Hi, Izuku!" Izuku halted, as the cheerful voice sounded from behind him.
Turning around, he saw Uraraka walking towards him, carrying an umbrella over her head that was quite a bit less conspicuous than Izuku's.
"Oh, Hi Uraraka."
As he waited for her to catch up, he looked Uraraka over.
In contrast to how Izuku felt, Uraraka looked… Tired. Really tired.
Still, she did smile as she walked up to him.
Then hesitated, as she looked him in the face.
Izuku immediately understood what it was that was bothering her, and gave her a smile showing his teeth.
She immediately relaxed as she settled in beside him.
"So you recovered completely?"
"Yeah."
"Good to hear." She seemed no less tired, but the smile she gave Izuku seemed to have a lot more heart and confidence to it than before."
"I'm really glad you got them back without any problems."
"To be honest… I don't really remember much of when they were gone."
"Oh right, Venom was in… Control."
"Yes."
Her eyes went up the makeshift tarp that was just kinda hanging over his head, held up by a thread of black liquid. Then back at Izuku again.
"Neat."
They walked in silence for a few seconds, before continuing.
"You… Okay? Venom said you were… Pretty down after the fight.."
"Eh, I'm fine. Just… Didn't quite reach the goalposts I had set for myself. I… Needed some time to think about that."
There was an implied "Sorry" in the way she said that last part like she was worried he'd be mad about her not calling him up before they got back to school.
He… really wasn't.
"I understand. In any case i-" "THIS IS NO TIME FOR AN IDLE STROLL!" Someone shouted behind them, accompanied by about half a dozen rapid splashing sounds.
Both the young teenagers swirled around, only to see Tenya Iida running through the rain at them, dressed in an enormous poncho, waterproof pants, and rainboots.
"WE'LL BE LATE! GOOD MORNING, MIDORIYA AND YOU TOO OCHAKO!"
And with that, the taller teenager sped past them and across the courtyard up to the steps into the building.
They looked after him, Uraraka checking her phone with a confused look.
"What the hell was up with him? Holy shit, he felt really, really down today."
The symbiote did not sound particularly saddened by that idea.
"What?" Uraraka asked flatly, looking at the tarp, which had formed into the usual attire.
"H-we, can sense emotions." Izuku explained.
"I have to put in some effort, but Venom can just tell all the time."
"That's… Kinda creepy. Useful, but creepy."
Izuku hadn't really thought about it that way before.
It… Kinda was creepy, the way Venom was able to feel how everyone was feeling at any time, no matter if they were trying to hide it. Somehow the concept had just become completely natural to him.
The benefits of it as a tracking tool had pretty much blinded him to how people might feel knowing that their true emotions were like an open book to him and Venom at all times.
That thought bothered him all the way until they came to the classroom, to wait on Aizawa.
All around him, the rest of the class chatted away about the result of the sports festival.
In particular, everyone who had performed well was chatting about suddenly getting public attention from random people they met on the train or street.
It was mostly positive stuff… Except for poor Sero, who had apparently suffered the rather indignant fate of everyone(From old folks to grade-schoolers) he had met trying to make him feel better about his one-sided loss by telling him he "Made a good effort".
That wasn't something Izuku had experienced one way or another. Everyone who saw him in the tournament would mostly remember his mask-clad face, rather than how he looked beneath.
It was quite the contrast, and one was far, far more memorable than the other.
Mostly he left everyone to talk, while he sat and listened. Here and there, he got a congratulation on winning the thing, but it didn't really lead into any conversations.
Then Mina entered and gave him a grin and a wave that made Izuku smile, as a strange sense of happiness just came over him as he saw her.
He waved back and was about to say hi, only to be cut off as Aizawa entered.
Almost immediately, everyone was in their proper seats, and all talk ceased, as the harsh and disciplinary teacher took his place behind the desk.
He looked way better than he had the last time Izuku saw him. Having ditched the bandages, gotten a proper cleaning for both skin and hair, and haven gotten a bunch of scars across his face(One massive one under his right eye), he looked far, far more dignified than he usually did.
In fact, Izuku couldn't help but think that cleaned up, Aizawa kinda looked like a respectable samurai of old.
It was a strange transformation for a man who usually spent all his time looking disheveled and dirty. Izuku was rather certain it wouldn't last, but frankly, it was a welcome change while it lasted.
"Nice to see you out of your bandages sensei." Tsuyu commented as Aizawa settled in.
"The old lady's treatment was excessive." Aizawa said his usual, bored-sounding voice, as if having recovered after suffering crippling injuries from a villain, was as normal as going out and buying milk.
"But never mind that. Today we've got a Hero informatics class. And a special one at that."
After that, Aizawa paused before he continued.
It took Izuku about 5 seconds before he realized, Aizawa was actually, genuinely trying to heighten the tension before he revealed it. His voice, however, had completely sapped any sense of anticipation the students might have had, had anyone else delivered the line.
"Today you'll be coming up with your hero aliases."
The room exploded with such fanfare, and shouts of "YES!!!" "AWESOME!!!" and in Kirishima's case "HOW AWESOME! TIME TO SHINE!" that Izuku and Venom both Vinched at the volume.
Several of the students(Including Mina) were so excited, that they jumped up from their seats, and threw their fists triumphantly in the air.
Two incredibly ominous glowing red eyes quickly put an end to the celebrations, as order and silence returned under their sensei's wroth glare.
Aizawa didn't speak until all sound had died down again.
"But first… Concerning the pro draft picks I mentioned the other day… It is based on who the pros think will be ready to join the pro hero workforce directly, after just 2 or 3 more years of experience… So you could say it's a way for them to show interest in your futures."
It was kinda weird, how in everything that had happened during the tournament, his feud with Mei, his battles, Eren, his recovery, prophetic psychic attacks, and yesterday with Mina, Izuku completely forgotten WHY he had entered the tournament, to begin with.
Behind his desk, Aizawa continued.
"But there is plenty of time for their interests to wane before you graduate. And any and all offers can be arbitrarily revoked at any time. It happens quite often.
Behind him, in an incredibly bitter and angry voice, Mineta muttered. "Stupid adults and their Whims."
An actual question came from the class's invisible girl.
"So if we're picked now, it'll just mean there'll be higher hurdles to overcome later."
"Yes."
Aizawa turned and began scribbling on the chalkboard, making names, then long lines by them, then adding a number to the right of the lines.
"Now, here is the complete list, of Draft pick numbers for 1-A."
Ashido - 1372
Todoroki - 1132
Midoriya - 999
Ochako - 890
Bakugo - 652
Iida - 301
Kaminari - 272
Yaoyorozu - 108
Kirishima - 68
Sero - 14
The class immediately began chattering, amongst themselves about the result, while Kirishima raised his hand and asked a question.
"Didn't they get the top 4 kinda mixed up? I Mean, it was Midoriya and Uraraka who took the top spots."
"It's our parents' influence." Shoto interjected from the back of the class.
"They want the "Honor" of Saying they scouted the ones they think will become their parents' successors."
"Indeed. Nepotism is a big part of these picks. They always have been." Aizawa said in his usual tone.
Kirishima looked really, really troubled by that answer, and Izuku looked over at Mina to see how she was handling the idea.
...
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