Heroics and Other Things

Chapter 23: The Weapons That Serves

All Might picked Izuku up for school on Monday. Izuku had expected to go down to the street and wait for him, but he emerged from his room with his bag to see his mother in the front hall, talking quietly with All Might at the door of the apartment. Izuku felt it prudent to announce himself while he was still several feet back, and the two adults jumped apart as though they'd been caught doing something wrong.

"Please come up for some tea when you drop Izuku off," his mother said to All Might as Izuku put on his shoes.

"Of course, Midoriya-san," All Might said quietly.

"Ready!" Izuku said, leaping to his feet, and All Might blustered out a goodbye and ushered him out to the car.

All Might liked a lot of American music, so Izuku amused himself translating the lyrics in his head and trying to decipher the idioms until they got to school. They were earlier than if he'd taken the train, and it was a nice day out, so Izuku decided to go wait by the gate for his friends. He hadn't been waiting long, and he hadn't expected anyone but the earliest of students for some time yet, when he heard someone calling his name.

"Midoriya!" came a female voice from outside the gate, and Izuku looked up to see Fujioka from class 1C running up to him eagerly.

"Fujioka," Izuku said, smiling as she closed the distance between them hurriedly. "It's nice to see you again!"

Fujioka stopped to catch her breath, leaning forward with hands brace on her knees, but when she had recovered she looked up at him with bright, excited eyes.

"Midoriya, you were amazing!" Fujioka said loudly. "I saw you at the sports festival but I didn't get the chance to talk to you, and then you were on the news, and you really took down that villain all by yourself, and . . ."

"Woah woah," Izuku held up his hands to stem the tide of compliments. "I didn't really take out Stain myself, I was just helping. I didn't really do that much."

"Yeah, but you fought a real villain!" Fujioka gushed. "A dangerous one too, the news said he'd killed more heroes than any villain since All Might came on the scene!"

"Well, he was dangerous," Izuku admitted uncomfortably. He didn't know what else to say. Taking credit for Stain's capture in the news had been a calculated move, but taking credit for it to a classmate seemed somehow different.

Fujioka, however, didn't seem at all disheartened by his lack of enthusiasm. "You really made our class proud Midoriya!" she said earnestly. "We all knew you'd be good, but you're shaping up to be a great hero!"

A denial rose to Izuku's lips, but he swallowed it down. This was what he'd been hoping for. This was why he'd done everything he'd done. He wanted to make people who were ordinary, who didn't have flashy quirks, who were just like him , feel special because they were just like him. He thought of the way the class had encouraged him the day of his exam fight. The idea that he'd made them proud gave him the strength to smile back at her.

"Thank you," he said, and it was easier than he'd thought it would be.

"Oh!" Fujioka gasped, then hurriedly bowed her head. "I also meant to thank you! I got an email from the school with a video of your exam fight, and my sister loves it!"

"Yeah, I asked Mic-sensei if he could send you the video," Izuku recalled. "He said he would edit it to look like if they were broadcasting it on TV, like the sports festival."