Deku the Anti-Hero

Approaching Excitement

A/N: Nope, no deeds to MHA.

To say class 1-A was having a hard time concentrating was an understatement; everyone was hyped for the upcoming sports festival. By the time the class was finished, Cementoss doubted a single student had been paying actual attention for more than half of the period.

"Man, some of you guys are so lucky. You'll stand out even without doing much," Kaminari stated.

"Well, just looking different isn't the same as being good enough," Shoji offered.

"This could be interesting," Izuku muttered to himself.

"It certainly will. After all, this is a great chance to be seen," Iida said with an awkward dance.

"I couldn't agree more," a raspy voice added. The two looked behind Izuku to see Ochaco with a scarily determined expression.

"Well, she's into it," Tsuyu commented before Uraraka started letting everybody know she wasn't going to hold back when it came time.

"By the way, you never actually answered our question from earlier," Kirishima noted. He, Sero, and Bakugo had come up from the side, the latter of whom clearly wanted to be anywhere else besides where he was.

"I'll think about it. But with classes, schoolwork, my own training, and personal life, I'm not sure if I could find time for too many more people," Midoriya replied.

"Hey, Deku! We're heading to lunch, come on!" Ochaco called from the doorway.

"Like I said, I'll think about it."

The halls were mostly empty, save the occasional straggler. The three had plenty of room on the way to Lunch Rush's Eatery.

"Say, Uraraka? Why did you decide to become a hero?" Iida asked. She was nervous to reply, and upon hearing her answer, Izuku could understand why.

"So, you want to be a hero for the money?"

"Well... yes and no. See, my parents own a construction business, but there haven't been any customers recently, so they've fallen into financial hardships. I'm riding on scholarships right now, and they're pitching in whatever they can to help out. But when I become a hero, I'll be able to afford to care for them, give them the cared-for life they gave me."

Iida and Midoriya were quiet for a little while, then the former started congratulating his classmate for her will to help her family.

Izuku, on the other hand, had hit a fork in the road. Of course, he had hoped Ochaco had a good reason for wanting to be a hero for money, which she did. But someone like Stain wouldn't see that; he'd probably get too caught up in their "greed" to hear the rest of the story.

He had never truly followed Stain's morals, but this definitely was a game changer in a way.

"Hey, Midoriya, are you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine, just got caught in my own thoughts."

"Oh, hello there, young students," All Might greeted from behind them. He was greeted back by three rounds of "Hello" before holding a small container wrapped in a napkin to the green haired teen.

"I wanted to thank you for helping me and Aizawa at the USJ. Would you like to take this?"

After recovering from his shock, Izuku took the offered food and thanked the teacher, who dashed back down the hall with a cloud of dust behind him.

"I look forward to seeing you all at the sports festival!" rang down the hall, loud enough to probably deafen those who were closer to the teacher.