Heroics and Other Things

Chapter 27: Small Might

The shift between living at home and living in the dorms had been less dramatic than Izuku thought it would. Sure the class was growing closer as they all spent more time training and studying together, and his bedroom sharing a wall with Hitoshi's bedroom was . . . interesting, but honestly not much had changed. He still went to school, ate lunch with Hatsume, did homework and trained with Shouto and Hitoshi. The routine he'd settled into since internships went on almost uninterrupted, and for that he was grateful. He liked getting to spend time with his friends and work toward becoming a hero all at once.

The only thing that really changed was that he felt significantly safer, surrounded by UA's security system and with a Pro Hero nearby in case of emergency. He felt like his mother was safer too, especially since All Might was going to keep visiting her. The League of Villains had no reason to attack his home if he wasn't there, and with All Might watching over her they wouldn't be able to hurt her to get to Izuku, even if that had been their plan.

Then of course there were the things that would have changed anyway. Nezu, for example, had promised to keep Izuku in the loop about his efforts to build a case against Endeavor, but somehow Izuku still found himself surprised when not long after moving into the dorms Aizawa held him back after class to inform him that the principal wanted to see him.

"I don't think you're in trouble, Problem Child," Aizawa assured him, in a bored sort of way, when Izuku reacted to the invitation with surprise. "If your little stunt in Hosu wasn't enough to merit punishment I doubt anything you've done in class is of any concern to him."

"Oh, I know," Izuku nodded hurriedly. "I'm pretty sure I know what this is about."

"Oh?" asked Aizawa, suddenly interested.

"Um," Izuku realized he'd accidentally hinted at something he was supposed to be keeping quiet about. "Uh, thanks for letting me know!"

He turned around sharply, before Aizawa could ask any more questions, and found Hitoshi and Shouto only a few feet behind him. Quickly he ushered them out of the classroom, and when he took off for the principal's office they trailed after him.

"Is he going to talk to you about Endeavor?" Shouto wanted to know.

"Probably," Izuku said. "Has he talked to you yet?"

"No," Shouto said, tilting his head to the side. "Is that strange?"

"A little," Izuku said, frowning. "It seems like he'd want to talk to you directly, given that he's gathering evidence. Is there anything you want me to tell him?"

"I'm glad he hasn't," Shouto admitted. "I'm not sure what I would say. I'm worried for my sister Fuyumi and my brother Natsuo, but they're not stuck there. They can leave whenever they want."

"You know you're going to have to talk about it eventually," Hitoshi cautioned. "The police are going to want to hear your account. That's evidence too."

"I know," Shouto said in a small voice. "It's just . . . hard. It's too soon to believe all this is real, that people believe me. I just don't want to say the wrong thing and have it all go away."

"We're not going anywhere," Hitoshi said firmly.

"No way," Izuku seconded.

Shouto closed his eyes and gave a small smile.

The other two left Izuku outside Nezu's office, promising to go to their usual gym and do their quirk exercises while he was busy, so they could jump right into sparring when he joined them. They been spending some of their time in Training Ground Beta, so Izuku could practice parkour with his staff while the other two were otherwise engaged, but there was no point to that today. After he'd said goodbye Izuku went to the office door, not even surprised when it opened before he had touched it.