Chapter Text
The next day, everyone begins moving into the dorms. Fortunately, Cementoss has furnished the rooms so there’s nothing big Izuku needs to bring. He packs up some of his books, clothes, and all his school items, but he leaves most of his things at the apartment. He also grabs some framed pictures of him and his dads, and even one of his mom that Bakugou’s parents had given him years ago.
It doesn’t take too many trips and soon Izuku is unpacking in his new room. He’s happy to learn that his floor and side of the building he shares with Shouto, Hitoshi, and Bakugou, which he’s sure that his dad did on purpose. He’s a little sad about leaving his parents and the cats, but once he hears everyone’s lively shouts from around the dorms, Izuku begins to get more excited about living there.
Once Izuku’s unpacked, he lays on his newly made dorm bed, scrolling through the new phone his parents had gifted him, since his old phone was destroyed at the training camp. He smiles at the texts from his classmates in the group chat, saying how relieved they are that both him and Hitoshi are alright.
Izuku can actually hear Hitoshi thumping boxes around his room, so Izuku swings off his bed and heads over, smiling at his friend’s dorm room. It’s fairly plain, like Izuku’s, but there’s touches of Hitoshi everywhere, books and games that his friend has always loved.
“Hey,” Hitoshi grins when Izuku comes in and sits down on the bed, “You here to help, or just relax?”
“Definitely relax,” Izuku grins, laying back on the bed, “It feels kind of strange, doesn’t it? Moving out?”
Hitoshi sighs, “Yeah, it does. My mom…she actually cried. I think she was still wound up from the kidnapping and everything. How did your parents take it?”
Izuku remembers expressing some more concerns to his parents last night, afraid that Izuku will touch a classmate and see their death. He was going to have to be so careful living here with so many people.
“It’d be good for you, kid,” Aizawa had said to him, “We’re right here, if you need us, but you deserve to have a normal year, to be with your friends.”
“They took it okay,” Izuku says quietly from Hitoshi’s bed, remembering his dad’s words, “I think they’re mostly excited I might make more friends and stuff.”
Hitoshi nods, continuing to unpack his books quietly for a few moments. After a while, Hitoshi clears his throat and asks, “Hey, uh, Izuku? What do you think…Shigaraki meant? When they were going to act ‘two days from now’ and he broke that tv?”
“I have no idea,” Izuku sighs, “It’s kind of been driving me crazy. I dunno, I kind of get the feeling…Shigaraki wanted to be caught. I don’t know why.”
“What could he be trying to accomplish with that, though?” Hitoshi asks, stopping his unpacking to look at Izuku, “I mean, what can he accomplish from Tartarus?”
Izuku shrugs. “I don’t know, but he asked me about the vision I saw of his death. Maybe he’s made a decision based on that. I told it all to the detective and my parents, but apparently Shigaraki isn’t talking to anyone. I guess we may not ever know.”
Hitoshi busies himself with unpacking again, talking to Izuku about something that had happened in class, but Izuku’s mind wanders. What was Shigaraki’s plan? So many of the visions that had plagued his nightmares since childhood now no longer seemed possible. However, given the number of times he has seen people die at the hands of both Shigaraki and All For One, Izuku’s not ready to completely relax yet.
Once Hitoshi’s finished, he and Izuku decide to head downstairs and check in with everyone else in the dorms. Izuku already hears loud music playing, the television playing, and lots of laughing and talking. As they reach the common area, they see the majority of their classmates spread out on the couches, some working on homework and others just talking.
“Hitoshi, Izuku!” Mina gasps, jumping up with a squeal, “They’re back, everyone, they’re here!”
Bakugou and Shouto are there first, both hugging Hitoshi and checking in with Izuku. Izuku’s a little overwhelmed as his classmates begin to swarm them, hoping that no one will touch him accidentally. After the seizures he had with the League, Izuku has no desire to experience that again anytime soon.
Izuku shyly meets with everyone as best as he can, but a few people try to hug him, and he flinches away.
“Oi, extras, back the fuck off him,” Bakugou spits out, crossing his arms, “Do you fuckers seriously not remember his quirk is touch-activated?”
“Sorry!” Hagakure whines, sounding sheepish, “We just really missed you both and we’re glad you’re okay. Your parents were um…really upset. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mic-sensei mad before, and Aizawa-sensei and Midnight-sensei were terrifying.”
Hitoshi sighs, sitting down on the end of one of the long couches. “Yeah, that tracks. My mom probably would have ripped out Shigaraki’s throat with her teeth if he had kept us there another day.”
“And Hizashi and Aizawa would have decimated an entire city block,” Bakugou smirks while Izuku blushes, “Protective doesn’t even begin to cover it with those two.”
Iida is standing in the center of the group, a hand on his chest. “Well, let me be the first to officially welcome you home to Heights Alliance! Now, I think that as our first order of business, we should meet and discuss dorm rules-”
Kaminari boos loudly, giving Iida a thumbs-down, “No, come on man, we can do rules and stuff tomorrow. Tonight is popcorn and a movie night. Come on, there's still a couple people in their rooms. We should go get them! Class party.”
A little while later, all twenty of them are sequestered in the living room. Shoji is using his appendages to support Sero, Ojiro, and Aoyama, all of whom are sharing a popcorn bag. The girls have made a heap in the center of the floor with the exception of Jirou, who’s perched on the edge of the couch. Tokoyami is settled on the floor with Dark Shadow curled in his lap like a cat, and the rest of the boys are scattered on the couches.
Izuku’s bundled himself up in a blanket and pulled up his hood so if he accidentally brushes against someone, he won’t see a vision. Tonight’s the first night in a while he’s really felt like a teenager, doing something that isn’t focused on death or the League of Villains.
The movie they had chosen was a childhood favorite of many of them, an animated musical with lots of popular songs, and Izuku smiles when half the class starts singing along to the opening song.
It’s nice, domestic. Peaceful, even. Izuku is safe here. He knows his parents are nearby if he needs them, but in the end they were right. Moving to the dorms was the right choice and Izuku knows it now.
Halfway through the film, exhaustion floods Izuku’s body, still recovering from the incident with the League. He drops his head on Shouto’s shoulder, glad to be pressed against his warm side, his eyes drooping closed. His last thought is of how lucky he is to have friends like this, looking forward to many more movie nights in the dorms.
The next week is shockingly normal. Izuku wakes up, eats breakfast with his friends in the dorms, and heads to homeroom with everyone. He walks to class every day with Hitoshi, but sometimes Bakugou and Shouto join them, too. Others walk with them on different days. Izuku makes coffee for Aizawa each day and leaves it on his dad’s desk, knowing his dad always wants more coffee.
There’s studying, training, homework. Izuku sees no death visions and doesn’t have many nightmares. He feels so good in fact that he takes a week off of meeting with Nighteye, something he hasn’t done since first started working with the man.
1-A is working together on preparing for the provisional licensing examinations, the tests that will give them licenses to use their quirks in public. Izuku doesn’t use his quirk to fight, but he wants the license anyway so he can be more active as a real hero.
Each night in the dorms after homework, when the whole class is ready to relax, it’s Bakugou who keeps them on their toes. Bakugou’s study schedule is second only to Iida’s and the two of them are determined to make sure that no one in 1-A fails the exams.
“Come on, we have studying to do,” Iida says calmly one late evening as everyone groans, “Licensing exams are coming up. Let’s get to work.”
“If any of you fuckers fail, I will drop kick you into the ocean,” Bakugou snarls, making a few of them sit up a little straighter, “Not after how hard Glasses and I have been working to help you. Now open your goddamn textbooks and start studying!”
Izuku studies hard, relieved that much of the quirk theory and rescue protocols he’s almost learned by osmosis from his parents over the years. Growing up at UA has given him a leg up, on top of everything that Nighteye had taught him. Izuku’s more concerned with the practical execution of the exam itself, hoping it’s not all hand-to-hand combat. While Izuku is a black belt, he still can’t keep up with someone who has physical quirks.
On the day of the licensing exam, the entire class takes a bus to the examination facility. There’s other schools bringing their students too, and Izuku’s eyes widen when he sees just how many people are here to take the exam. He makes sure his gloves are tight and his hood is on.
The exam is mainly a rescue exercise, and Izuku is relieved. He manages to pass, along with everyone else in 1-A, to their immense relief. Aizawa is there, looking proud as they all clamor to show him their licenses. Aizawa saves his most proud smile for his son, grinning when Izuku hands him his new license.
“Well done,” Aizawa grins quietly, as if forgetting his other students are there, “Proud of you, peanut.”
Izuku flushes beet red as his dad calls him his childhood nickname, Bakugou snorting out a laugh next to him. His parents don’t usually embarrass him, certainly not intentionally, but sometimes Aizawa could be oblivious when he was emotional.
“Did I actually just hear Aizawa-sensei call Izuku peanut?” Tsuyu smiles, “That’s adorable.”
“It’s a very…manly nickname,” Kirishima snorts, covering his laugh with a fake cough, “Maybe that should be your new hero name, Izuku.”
“Dad,” Izuku moans in embarrassment, Aizawa just raising an eyebrow, shrugging and not addressing it at all. The rest of the class seems to find this hilarious, and Izuku knows he’s not going to be able to shake ‘Peanut’ as a nickname from now on.
Back in the dorms, the class decides to celebrate. They order pizzas and Aoyama and Mina put up decorations while Jirou has a good party playlist going. It’s probably the first proper party that Izuku’s ever been to. He had birthday parties of course, with his parents, Nemuri, Hiotshi, and Bakugou growing up, but never with this many people, all celebrating the same thing.
“We did it!” Sero shouts from the kitchen, bringing out a tray of baked goods that Sato had made, “You guys, we seriously all did it!”
Izuku observes his classmates from the couch, watching as Kirishima slaps Bakugou’s back from laughing so hard, Bakugou turning to rage at him while he doubles over. Mina is hugging Jirou and Yaoyorozu, and Tusu has her arm linked with Uraraka. He notices Shouto pressed against Hitoshi as they try to set up a board game on the floor.
It looks casual, easy. Izuku wishes more than anything he could be like that. He’s envious of them wearing shorts and t-shirts, with no shoes or socks. He looks down at himself, his thick socks, sweatpants, hoodie, special gloves. Izuku feels a pang in his heart, wanting nothing more in that moment than to have a different quirk. To be able to touch other people freely, without any precautions at all.
He’s lost in his thoughts, so he doesn’t even notice at first when Hitoshi sits down right next to him, carefully slinging an arm over Izuku’s shoulders.
“Come on, Shouto and I need help, peanut,” Hitoshi teases with a playful smirk, “Like, half the Monopoly pieces are missing.”
Izuku smiles back, the joy rushing back into him a little, his melancholy thoughts forgotten for now. Sometimes having his quirk was really, really bad. But with friends like Hitoshi, Shouto, Bakugou, and the others, Izuku feels lucky. No matter what’s going to come in the future, he’ll always have them.