Chapter Text
“You’re late, Shou,” Hizashi chided once Shouta finally reached the teacher’s lounge for lunch. His meeting with Bakugou hadn’t taken as long as he expected, so he would probably still have time to brew and enjoy a cup of coffee.
“Dealing with a student,” Shouta grumbled on his way to the coffee maker.
“Did you expel someone already?” Nemuri asked. She and Midoriya were sitting together on one of the couches, seemingly trading parts of their lunches.
“No. I mandated therapy for Bakugou as a condition to stay in the hero course. The last thing the world needs is another Endeavor,” Shouta replied, getting out his favorite cat mug.
“I’d drink to that,” Snipe drawled as Ectoplasm nodded solemnly.
“Normally, you’d just expel him,” Hizashi pointed out. “What’s different about this one?”
“I asked him not to,” Midoriya spoke up, sounding nervous. “Bakugou was conditioned to behave the way he does by quirkest teachers. He deserves a chance to overcome that.”
“How do you know that?” Cementoss questioned.
“Oh, um… I did online schooling because I was severely bullied. But before that, Bakugou and I went to the same schools since, well, nursery school. Once kids started getting their quirks, the teachers started praising certain kids more than others. The ones with the ‘perfect’ quirks.”
“That’s horrible,” Nemuri gasped, frowning at the admission.
“It only got worse as we got older,” Midoriya confessed. “Really, that entire school district should probably be shut down or something. But most people don’t care enough to get involved.”
A vent slammed open abruptly. The startled occupants of the room watched as Nezu dropped down rather gracefully and dusted off the front of his suit. “I would be happy to arrange that.”
“Arrange… w-what?” Midoriya stammered, clearly baffled by the rat’s method of entry.
“I will shut down the Aldera school district and properly issue charges against the staff there that continue to perpetuate the cycle of quirk discrimination. Along with exposing whatever other illicit things they may be doing aside from that,” Nezu grinned, showing his teeth.
“That’s-- You would do that?” Midoriya seemed completely stunned by the notion.
“Of course. As both an educator and someone who has faced discrimination, this matter is very important to me,” Nezu answered. Then he left, probably already getting started on the task.
After the rat had left, Hizashi was the first to break the quiet. “If you don’t mind my asking, Little Listener, what is your quirk?”
“He doesn’t have to answer that,” Shouta cut in quickly.
“Right! Absolutely, Little Listener,” Hizashi agreed with a reassuring smile. “I was just curious since you mentioned being one of those who were bullied. It’s your business though.”
“No one here would judge you for your quirk, just so you know,” Ectoplasm offered. Sounds of agreement followed from the other present staff members.
A small huff came from the boy. “Maybe not in this room…” The mumbled response was dripping with bitter resignation. Midoriya straightened up. “I’d rather not share my quirk at this time. I have plans to eventually, but I want to prove myself as a fellow teacher first.”
“Completely fair,” Hizashi replied, chuckling after a few seconds. “I suppose I ought to stop calling you ‘Little Listener’ then.”
“Congrats. He’s going to start calling you ‘Dawg’ like the rest of us,” Cementoss deadpanned.
“I do not do that!” Hizashi protested only to gape in mock offense when everyone else chimed in to confirm that he does, in fact, call people that. And worse.
Of course, Aizawa noticed when Izuku flinched, hard, at All Might’s explosive entry into the classroom. After swiftly shutting down the idea of ‘battle trials’ and redirecting the students to Gym Gamma for costume evaluations as All Might apparently should have done, Aizawa pulled Izuku aside to question him about his reaction.
“I’m fine,” Izuku insisted immediately. Aizawa’s eyes narrowed. Oh no…
“You flinched when he came in. Your breathing picked up, although you deliberately tried to control it with subtle breathing exercises. Your entire body became tense and your pupils dilated. So no, you are not fine , Midoriya.”
“I will be fine,” Izuku corrected with a nervous smile.
Aizawa stared down at him, clearly analyzing him. Then his eyes widened ever so slightly.
“You know, don’t you?”
“Know what?” Izuku tried playing dumb.
He watched as the man opened his mouth to respond, only to hesitate when he realized he couldn’t say anything in case he was wrong and Izuku didn’t know.
“You don’t have to come if you have issues with All Might,” Aizawa settled on instead.
“The only reason my first reaction was so bad, was because I didn’t expect him to be here,” Izuku replied, letting Aizawa guess which encounter he was actually talking about. “Now that I know, I’ll be fine. I’m probably going to avoid him, but I can do my analysis of the students.”
“If you’re sure,” Aizawa relented, not looking happy about it. “Let me know if that changes.”
“I will. I promise,” Izuku said sincerely. Though Aizawa seemed reluctant, they both headed to Gym Gamma to catch up with All Might and the students.
“They say the clothes make the man, young men and ladies,” All Might boomed when the students finally gathered in the gym. Izuku was keeping Aizawa between himself and All Might. “Be fully aware, from now on you are heroes! That’s great everyone. You all look cool!”
They did look cool but… Izuku definitely had some critiques at first glance.
“While aesthetics are important for heroes that are in the public eye,” Aizawa cut in. “It is also important that your costumes are easy to move in and provide maximum protection. Today, each of you will be running through some simple exercises to test how well you are able to maneuver in your costumes. We will also check that they are compatible with your quirks. Lastly, support companies tend to take some creative liberties, so we will also be making sure that you are happy with the final result of your costumes. Now line up. We’ll start with running.”
Izuku pulled out his notebook as the students lined up, preparing to do sprints the long way across the gym. He was not at all surprised when a few people struggled immediately.
Running, jumping, stretching… Aizawa meticulously tested the limits of their mobility while Izuku dutifully took notes. “Those should be more streamlined… Heels, really? That can’t be safe… That’s well-designed. I’m not even sure what could be added to improve it… Is that functional or just decorative?... Good start but it definitely needs more… What the actual hell is that?... Exposed skin… Exposed skin… Exposed skin… Oh, no. Absolutely not…”
“You’re muttering,” Aizawa pointed out. He waved off Izuku’s sheepish apologies. “It’s fine. But it’s something to work on. You wouldn’t want to give away your thought process to your enemy.”
“I, for one, think their costumes look great!” All Might butted in unprompted. What was that that Aizawa said about enemies…? “Plenty of fine female heroes have heels as part of their costumes so I don’t really see why you have an issue with that!”
“Heroines,” Izuku corrected quietly.
“Pardon?” All Might faltered.
“Heroines or just ‘women’s hero costumes,’” Izuku elaborated. “It’s rude, if not a little sexist, to refer to women as females. It’s dehumanizing and often used with derogatory intent.”
“I was unaware of this! I will refrain from this in the future!” All Might replied amicably. Izuku was a little surprised by his agreeability but then the man was probably just quirkist, not sexist. Small mercies, huh? “But I still do not understand why heels would be bad!”
At this point, the students had returned from their latest exercises and were watching the exchange with curious gazes. Izuku sighed. So much for avoiding All Might.
“Heels aren’t inherently bad,” Izuku began to explain. “It depends on the kind of heel. For example, Aoyoma, Mineta, and Kouda all have slight heels as opposed to flat soles. This is fine. They are wide and short, so it would be difficult for them to cause an accident. They might catch on slight indents, but so can the toe of any shoe. Yaoyorozu’s shoes have a taller heel but it’s wide. There’s a little more concern about hers catching in gaps or being difficult to run in due to the stress it would place on her ankle. It’s unlikely to break though given the width.”
He eyed Uraraka and watched the girl wilt. Still, it needed to be said. “Uraraka’s heels, on the other hand, are thin. They may not be stilettos, but the fact that they are thinner than the actual width of her feet means that she will be unsteady. Her feet can teeter over the sides of the base of the heel causing her to fall. She could sprain her ankle or tear a ligament in her leg. Plus, with how thin it is, it could break or get caught in grates or cracks in the sidewalk. It’s dangerous.”
“I actually asked for astronaut-style boots,” Uraraka admitted. “I didn’t want such a tight costume either. I wanted something more like Thirteen’s costume.”
“And
that
is one of the reasons we do costume checks,” Aizawa sighed tiredly.