We're Made of More

Chapter 3 - New Classmates

Class 1-A is strange. Their homeroom teacher Aizawa-sensei is even stranger. But hey, who was she to judge? Everyone in her new class is weird in their own way and Izuku has no trouble making them her friends. For once they're nice and treat her like a person without any threats from her or Katsuki, which is a new experience. She especially loves Kirishima, who acts like it's his life goal to annoy Katsuki by trying to be his best friend. Kirishima had also instantly claimed Izuku as his other bestie. She had laid eyes on Kirishima and immediately walked up to him. Then without introduction, said the thought that had been bugging her since she first saw him. Of course, that thought happened to be "I like your teeth," and Kirishima had flipped and now he won't leave her side. Saying something about her being a true friend.

Izuku looks across the room as everyone stands up for lunch and watches the boy named Toderoki Shoto. He stands out, even in their class. Whether it's due to his multicoloured hair, or the burn covering half his face, Izuku's not sure. What she does know is that no one makes their way over to him. He moves slowly while he packs up his books as if he has no one waiting for him. Izuku guesses he probably doesn't.

"Deku!" Izuku startles our of her intense stare to see Katsuki, Kirishima, and Kaminari walking towards her. Katsuki is leading the group, but Izuku can tell just by looking at his face that it's unintentional.

"Hey bro! Come eat lunch with us!" The always enthusiastic Kirishima slams his hands down on her desk, grabbing her attention. She glances over at Uraraka and Iida, who are looking her way as well. The two had been surprisingly quick to make her a friend, and she kinda wanted to go eat with them. But the look on Katsuki's face screamed for her to save him from the two idiots beside him.

Of course to anyone else he would have just looked his usual pissed off self, but Izuku had learned how to see through it. She had to if she wanted to be there for him because god damn it. The boy may be beautiful, but he was an ass when it came to expressing his feelings. Well, she wasn't a whole lot better, but at least she would talk to him after the fact. Kat would hide everything from her if he could; without even meaning to. It was just his default setting.

"Okay. Sure, why not." Izuku stood and followed the three boys out of the classroom. Holding Katsuki's hand and giving her other two friends a sympathetic look and a small wave before they were out of sight.

"So how long have the two of you been a thing?" Kaminari's question is unexpected. Izuku turns her head and looks him in the eyes for a few seconds, only seeing honest curiosity in a place where she usually saw taunting. He was just interested in his friends' lives, and Izuku's heart hurt knowing she had been so quick to think that he had bad intentions. Everything seemed to be flipping on its head recently, and she was beginning to think that she had pegged the world wrong.

"Three years." It's Kat who answers, and the slight squeeze that he gives her hand tells her he understands. He gets what's going on in her head, and Izuku thinks of the three boys standing around her on their way to lunch. She thinks about her two friends who wanted to eat with her as well. She thinks about all the new people she's making friends with in her class. She thinks about all the teachers/hero's she's met in the last few days who have done nothing but support her.

She remembers all the people in her past who only shot her down and broke her apart. Harsh words and tough fists easily tearing through a seven-year-old's defenses. How quickly her world had come crumbling down around her when she started to believe them.

You'll never be a hero

You can't even protect yourself

Weakling

Outcast

Ugly

Stupid

Worthless

Strong

Katsuki had been the first to tell her that. That she was strong. That she was worth something. He had tried his hardest all these years to build her back up to what she had only been in her farthest memories. Confident. Not bathing in her own self-hatred after years of hearing the same insults again and again. He tried so hard, but it was never quite enough. Yes, she cares about Kat. More than anyone else minus her mother. But her broken mind had always just seen it as one opinion vs thousands. Now though...

Izuku smiles up at Kaminari and gives a slight shrug as the step into the cafeteria.

"We've known each other since we were toddlers though." Out of the corner of her eye, Izuku sees Kat's jaw clench and has to hold back a laugh. They both know what's coming.

"No way! That's adorable! You're such a man Bakugo! Asking out a girl you've known your whole life would take balls!" Kat's checks take on a slight red tinge and Izuku can't help what comes out of her mouth next.

"I was actually the one to ask him out." All three boys turn to look at her, Katsuki with betrayal in his eyes, as silence covers the group and they stop walking right in the doorway.

"No fucking way!" Kaminari is the first to break the tension and Izuku starts laughing even harder when his laughs turn into wheezing.

"Deku! You're so manly! This is why I love you!" Kirishima slings an arm around Izuku's slim shoulders. Despite the weird roundabout way he says it, Izuku preens at what she knows is a compliment from Kirishima. That is before Izuku catches Kat's eye and sticks her tongue out at him because then the big baby pouts and goes stomping off into the cafeteria. "Hey bro wait up!" Kirishima runs after him and Kaminari takes a second to catch his breath and pat Izuku on the shoulder before joining him.

Izuku plans on joining the boys in line for food in a minute, but for now, she's content watching them laugh. With knowing that things could only get better from here onward. The reason? A real smile stretches its way across her face for the first time in a long time. The reason is that now it's more than just one opinion vs thousands. Now, she has people who not only believe in her but can help her to believe in herself again. As for Izuku? She's already feeling the difference her new friends are making in her life, and she's more than ready for the change.