23

Chapter Text

The gates to the Yaoyorozu mansion were quite a sight to see. The wrought iron fence at its front towered above the neatly trimmed hedges, its ornate design fitting right in to such a high end residence. Izuku would admit, the impression that the mansion gave off was a bit daunting, especially when he considered the sheer size of the lot. With his bugs, Izuku noticed that the building and its accompanying yard stretched out for a fairly long distance; he estimated it laying around 40,000 square feet in total.

He was so impressed with the luxurious size of the mansion that he nearly missed the voice that came out of the miniature speaker positioned on the brick pillar next to the gates.

"Excuse me, sir. May I help you?" came the low, monotonous voice.

Izuku only then noticed the camera positioned at the gate's upper arch, realizing that whoever was on the other side had been watching him gawk at the mansion for the past minute.

"I, uh—" Izuku cleared his throat. "Yes, sir. I'm here to see Miss Yaoyorozu. I, umm… I'm here to help out with the study session that she's holding for our class."

"Ah, yes. The young heiress told me that you would be coming. Izuku Midoriya, correct?"

"Yes sir." Izuku nodded.

To his side, the massive gates opened, the two doors slowly parting ways.

"Please proceed to the foyer, sir. And please don't wander around on the way. I will know if you decide to do so."

Izuku promptly followed the voice's wishes, only taking the time to appreciate the topiaries as he passed them by on his way to the entrance. Despite the long stretch of the cobblestone path, it wasn't long before he had reached the large, red doors. He had barely raised his fist to knock before the door opened, revealing a stout, grey-haired man in clothes befitting of a butler.

However, Izuku's eyes widened with recognition as he looked at the man's face. The bushy eyebrows and drooping mustache were things Izuku having seen previously the other day. His bugs had picked up on the man's face through the windshield of the limousine Yaoyorozu had used to to go home. 

"Oh! Your Mr. Hinami-san! A pleasure to meet you sir!" Izuku exclaimed, raising his hand out in a gesture to shake hands. 

The man didn't show any sort of response on his face, but he did take the offered hand in a curt handshake after a moment. He then immediately turned, motioning Izuku to follow.

The walk was short, ending with the two stopping in front of a door just further ahead of the foyer. What Izuku didn't expect was for the man to open said door, revealing what was obviously a cleaning supplies closet, and motioning for Izuku to enter.

"Umm… You want me to go... in there?" Izuku asked.

Mr. Hinami nodded. "After you. I'll follow you shortly after."

Izuku hesitated for a second, but decided to follow the man's word. Indeed, after Izuku had entered the rather spacious closet, so did Mr. Hinami. He then silently closed the door, his hand remaining on the doorknob for a few seconds.

A purple light shone from the edges of the door, basking the cramp closet in its hue. Shortly after, the light faded, prompting Mr. Hinami to open the door.

Izuku fell into a slight daze, his balance a bit off and his mind in a mix. It didn't help that he had the need to reposition himself, for whatever had happened had shifted their position further into the mansion. Izuku could tell, as the bugs in the walls that he'd been monitoring had suddenly moved much further away from where he was previously.

And indeed, when the dazed Izuku was guided out of the closet by Mr. Hinami, it was quite obvious that the hallway they were in was quite different, the space holding a few paintings on the walls rather than the pottery that were held on stands from before.

"It will wear off shortly, sir. Come along now, Madam Yaoyorozu is waiting in the dining room. 

It'd be best not to keep her waiting."

The walk turned out to be another one one, Mr. Hinami walking a few steps forward to open a set of double doors leading to the aforementioned dining room.

"Madam Yaoyorozu," announced Mr. Hinami, "one of your guests has arrived."

The announcement spurred Yaoyorozu from her seat at the ornate table, spinning around to see Izuku. "Midoriya!" she greeted. "Glad you could make it!"

Yaoyorozu then turned her attention to her butler. "You can go ahead now, Hinami-san," she said. "I can handle it from here." 

The man nodded in response, wordlessly turning to face the double door. Unlike last time, he merely placed a hand on one of the doors, the purple light shining yet again. Opening only the right door, the man stepped through into a room filled with screens. A low hum of electronics filled the air, but gradually faded away as the door to the room closed.

"Is that his quirk?" Izuku asked, still somewhat lightheaded.

"Yup!" Yaoyorozu said. "It's called [Doorway]. Allows him to travel between any two doorways he's been to before. Quite useful for a place this big, even if it kind of makes any first time passengers feel a bit woozy." She then looked at Izuku. "You alright?"

Izuku gave a slight nod. "I'll be fine." He then noticed her attire. It was quite different than what he was used to seeing; yet again all that included was the hero costume and her school uniform. "You look nice," he said.

"Oh! Uh, thank you, Midoriya. I just thought that I'd look the part, you know? A sort of teacher-slash-tutor sort of thing. Do you think it works out?"

"Yeah, I do." Izuku nodded. "So when does everyone else get here?"

"Ugh! This is madness! What do these things even mean?!?" squawked Ashido, head slamming into the table's face. "It's impossible," she slurred.

The study session was relatively well so far. The group had been split between Izuku and Yaoyorozu to lighten the workload; Izuku paired with Ashido and Kaminari and Yaoyorozu caring for Jiro, Sero, and Ojiro.

"It really isn't, Ashido-san," Izuku said. "Come on, we can go at it from the top. Kaminari here can help out since he's already gotten a good handle on the material."

The only problems so far was the disgruntled Kaminari, who as of yet remained to be difficult when interacting with Izuku.

Kaminari scoffed. "Why'd I get you again?" he offhandedly commented. "I didn't sign up for this! I mean, sure, I need the help. But nobody said that you were going to be here. I thought it was just going to be Yaoyorozu-san."

"Kaminari," Yaoyorozu rebuffed, "Midoriya is just as capable as me in the material. His position as class rep should be proof of that." She looked at him pointedly.

"Yeah, Kaminari," added Jiro. "Be nice to Midoriya. He's just as capable as Yaomomo here. Maybe he'll actually knock some sense into you if you let him."

"Pfft. Yeah, right."

Izuku sighed. "Come on, Kaminari. Like it or not, you're here to improve your chances of passing the exams. You want to have a fun experience at the camp, don't you?"

"...Yeah, I suppose."

"Good! Then work with me here and I'll make sure that you pass the written portions of the exam. One hundred percent guarantee."

Kaminari glared at Izuku for a long moment, aiming to see just one flaw in the boy's demeanor. Just one reason to refute the other's help.

When he couldn't see one, Kaminari deflated, resigning himself to his fate. "Fine. But only this once."

"Great!" Ashido exclaimed, jumping from her slumped position. "Help me with this then! Let me see your work!"

"Ashido!"

The study session had passed, the day turning into night.

Izuku found that the halls of the Yaoyorozu Manor were fairly dark this late in the day. He was almost certain that candles were probably in common use around the residence, but his bugs supplemented the need of light sources to navigate the expansive floor plan. 

He didn't need to worry about making too much noise either, even if he considered the fact that the rest of the study group was staying over. Yaoyorozu, having planned for the study session to span over the weekend, had set up individual rooms for everyone in advance. And with so many rooms available, there were plenty to spare, leading Izuku with the capability to slip out of his room virtually unnoticed.

The only reason he was out in the first place was due to the activity he had noticed on the far end of the mansion, in a room which purpose he had figured was for training — both physical and quirk-related. Despite it being almost midnight, Izuku's bugs had heard the constant thud-thud-thud of fists against a punching bag. The bugs had also experienced the bright, glittery light that followed the spontaneous creation of objects Izuku was familiar with.

It wasn't long before he found himself in front of two wooden doors, the apparent entrance to what seemed to be traditional dojo. His bugs could still feel and see the effects of Creation on the other side of the door, so Izuku had decided that now was the best time of any to talk to Yaoyorozu.

The low creak of the door gained the attention of the girl, who turned to witness Izuku entering the room. 

"Oh, Midoriya! What are you doing here?"

Izuku took hold of the scene in front of him; Matryoshka dolls lined the floor, with various other weapons and materials being strewn about. Yaoyorozu herself was looking different from before, with simple white hand wraps and clothes much more suitable for her workout session rather than for tutoring. 

"Not much, really," Izuku responded. "I just happened to notice that you were still up and about at this late hour. Something wrong?"

Yaoyorozu was silent for a moment, looking as if she wanted to say something. She shook her head instead. "Nothing you have to worry about, Midoriya."

Izuku walked closer, sitting himself on a bench. "I'm not so sure," he began, looking ar Yaoyorozu. "As team — as class representative, it's my duty to ensure my classmates are doing alright. And you haven't been doing so well since the Sports Festival. I noticed it during our meetups, even if I couldn't tell what was wrong at first. But when Setsuna spelled it out to me it was clear as day."

"Tokage-san told you?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"She did. Told me while we were in Kyoto."

Yaoyorozu sighed. "I see." She slowly made her way towards Izuku, plopping herself down beside him.

"I— I suppose that I haven't been feeling all too sure of myself, is all," Yaoyorozu admitted.

Izuku edged her on, merely nodding to show that he was listening. Yaoyorozu continued

"It was my fault that my team didn't go on to the next round. Tokage-san, Kendo-san, Fukidashi-san; I failed all of them. I was the one who spoke out to Shinso-san. I handed him our headbands."

"That wasn't your fault, Yaoyorozu," Izuku said. "Shinso was a wildcard. Even I don't know what he could do until I faced him one-on-one. If I crossed paths with him during the cavalry battle I would have done the same as you."

"But that's just it, Midoriya!" Yaoyorozu retorted. "I froze up afterwards! You wouldn't have done that! You would've had a plan to fight back, gain your points back. I just… I burdened down my team."

Another sigh. "Do I really have what it takes to be here? I haven't gotten a single win in my time at U.A. Not at the Battle Trial, not at the Sports Festival, not even at U.S.J. Koda did most of the work against the villains with his birds."

"And then there was Uwabami," her voice rose. "I didn't learn anything, and Uwabami never went to fix that! All we did was star in a bunch of commercials!"

"I only got in to U.A. because I was a recommendation student," Yaoyorozu continued, much more softly than before. "And the when I look at all my classmates who've worked so hard… Do I deserve any of this?"

"Hey, don't say those things about yourself!" Izuku exclaimed. Yaoyorozu jumped at the sudden remark.

"Your a very capable and intelligent person, Yaoyorozu," Izuku continued. "Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. Sure, you might have had a couple pitfalls here and there, but those don't reflect on your skills! There's a reason someone like you would get in through recommendations, after all. That achievement isn't something to scoff at! And look at today's study session! Ashido, Kaminari, Ojiro, Sero, Jiro; they all look up to you. Don't sell yourself short, Yaoyorozu. You deserve to be in 1-A as much as everyone else."

A small smile adorned her lips. She then suddenly wrapped Izuku in a hug, startling him. It took him a moment to readjust his mind and return the gesture.

"You're a sweet guy, Midoriya," said Yaoyorozu, lingering on the hug.

"Ahem."

The two friends jumped, releasing each other and swerving their heads toward the voice. The two found the silhouette of another by the entrance.

"Oh! Hinami-san! What are you doing here?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"I've come to retrieve you, Madam Yaoyorozu. It has been half an hour since you've begun your training. Any more this late at night would be detrimental to your health."

"I, uh, of course. I'll be right there." Yaoyorozu turned back to Izuku placing a brief peck on his cheek. Izuku froze.

Izuku flushed. "Oh. Uh..."

"Goodnight, Midoriya!" And then she left.

Izuku blinked. "Okay…" he muttered, getting up and heading towards the door, still being held aloft by Mr. Hinami.

However, before Izuku could get past the door, a hand fell onto his shoulder. "I suggest that you refrain from any more wandering, sir," spoke Hinami. "You should get to your room soon; it's almost time for me to let out the patrol hounds. You wouldn't want to be up and about with them roaming the halls."

"..."

"I— Yes, of course, Mr. Hinami. I'll be on my way."

Monday came, and so had the written exams. As Izuku presumed, the written portion was a breeze. They lasted for most of the week, and by the end of it all everyone had passed. That left Friday, the day of the practical portion of U.A.'s finals. 

And so, there stood class 1-A, suddenly finding themselves amidst the gathering of their teachers. Most of the class was rather confused with the setup. Izuku was even more so than the rest, though the source of his confusion was due to something else. 

Deep within Aizawa's scarf, Izuku could sense a lone beetle. When Izuku investigated the bug's presence further, its weak visual allotments revealed that the bug was held by principal Nezu himself.

"Hello Midoriya," whispered Nezu, still hidden within Aizawa's capture gear. "I'd say that this was a pleasant surprise, meeting up like this, but that'd be a lie considering I smuggled in this beetle with me into my hiding place with Shota here."

Izuku blinked in surprise, reeling in to the fact that Nezu was speaking to the beetle. How could he tell that I was listening in? Or was he just assuming? No, no. Unlikely, the timing lined up too perfectly with my forming the connection to the beetle. Maybe with—

"We'll talk later," Nezu said.

"Sorry! I'm afraid not!" exclaimed Nezu, revealing himself from his spot on Aizawa's shoulders. Unsurprisingly, Izuku noted, Aizawa was completely indifferent to Nezu's decision to conceal himself with the scarf.

"From this point on, U.A. is changing the contents of the test," Nezu informed. "Simply put, from now on we'll be focusing more on person-on-person battles in order to imitate circumstances much closer to a real battle. As such, all of you will be placed in predetermined pairs, formed up to face against your own teachers!"

A few within the class seemed uneasy at the declaration of them having to face pro heroes. Nonetheless, Nezu continued on. "Your pairs have been chosen based on grades, demeanor, interactions, you name it. We personally judged upon the pairings, so we'll list off the matchups now."

Aizawa was first, turning his gaze to two of his top students. "Yaoyorozu, Todoroki. You're with me," he said with a smile. The two widened their eyes at the revelation.

Aizawa plowed on, turning towards Izuku. "Midoriya. You're—"

"With me!" interrupted Nezu.

"Nezu," started Aizawa, "we already talked abo—"

"You'll be paired together with Kaminari!" Nezu continued.

"What?!?" exclaimed Kaminari. "You're serious?"

"Of course!" Nezu said, cackling. "Why wouldn't I be?!"

Aizawa sighed. 

Kaminari visibly gulped, but nonetheless made his way to his partner, yet again resigning himself to his fate. "So much for single-time exceptions."

Thirteen stepped in this time, taking the initiative to inform 1-A. "Asui and Tokoyami, you'll be going off against Ectoplasm. Sato and Kirishima, you'll be against Cementoss." Both pairs nodded to each other's respective partners.

"Jiro and Koda will be heading off against Present Mic—"

"OH YEAH!!!"

"Ahem. Shoji and Hagakure versus Snipe. Mineta and Sero against Midnight. Iida and Ojiro with Power Loader. And last but not least, Ashido and Aoyama with me."

"Wait," Uraraka said. "But then, that leaves me with—"

"That's right, young Uraraka!" came the booming voice of All Might. "You and Bakugo will be facing off against me! But fret not!" All Might pulled out bracelets which Izuku found vaguely familiar.

"Are those… Hatsume's Compressor Weights?" Izuku asked.

"Ha ha!" All Might laughed. "They are indeed, young Midoriya. Though, I suppose that I should have expected you to recognize them, considering your tendency to delve into your friend's lab space!"

"Yeah, those weights were a pain to test out…"

All Might placed his attention back on his two opponents. "Anyhow, just know that with these, I won't be at my full power!"

Bakugo scowled. "Keh! You're looking down on me…"

All Might gave a hearty laugh. "Trust me, Bakugo. You wouldn't want to fight me at my full power."

"You—!"

"Anyhow, you two get ready!"

Uraraka made her way to her partner's side, which prompted Bakugo to scowl at her presence. "Just don't get in the way, Round Face!"

Uraraka sighed. Most of the class her shared in her worries, giving her looks of sympathy.

The individual pairs of students began fumbling about, each pair's teachers motioning for them to follow.

Nezu was no different, making his way to his own designated pair. "Midoriya, Kaminari. To my office, if you will," Nezu said, motioning his hand for them to follow. 

"Come, come. We may still have an hour before the test is scheduled to start, but we have much to discuss."

As he entered the room, Izuku found the sight of the principal's office to be a much needed surprise. While the room was fairly sparse and devoid of decor, that wasn't necessarily a bad thing in Izuku's opinion. It was a huge improvement from his old principal's room, the lighting being a lot brighter than Izuku was used to and the space feeling a lot less constricting.

Izuku sat in front of Nezu's desk. If Izuku was going to be honest, the only thing that seemed out of place was the desk. It was obviously designed with humans in mind rather than whatever bear-dog-rat thing the principal was.

The wooden desk was comically large for Nezu, so much so that that Izuku had his suspicions for how the principal was able to use such a thing.

And, by connecting his thoughts to an inconspicuous fly on the wall, Izuku found his suspicions to be true.

"Yes I do use a booster seat. And it's quite comfy, actually. Much better than the chair," Nezu said.

Izuku broke out of his reverie at the principal's remark.

"That's quite a versatile quirk you have, being able to spy on others so discreetly," Nezu continued.

Izuku remembered that the principal had done something similar just a while ago in sensing Izuku's quirk. "How can tell?" he asked.

"Aside from the obvious?" Nezu chuckled. "Well, those would be all of those micro expressions that you humans use. However slightly the human face moves, it gives off a whole load of signals regarding what you're thinking. You're no different, Midoriya."

"Really?"

"Mhm. But there are some other factors as well. When you activate your quirk, your body stills for a moment. The same goes hand in hand for your bugs when you connect to them. It's quite a simple thing to notice to the trained eye."

"Wow," Izuku said in awe. "High Spec really does wonders, doesn't it?"

"Ah, you give my quirk too much credit. Even humans can read micro expressions with enough practice. It just takes them a lot longer to learn how to do so."

"Well, then that probably means that you're the best at doing it!"

"Perhaps," Nezu agreed, not refuting the statement. "Though my skills are not infallible. I will say that you, Midoriya become virtually unreadable when you're connected to enough bugs, strangely enough. It's quite the peculiarity."

"Oh. Uh… thanks?"

"Of course."

Silence reigned for a few moments, the two individuals looking at each other, as if edging the other to speak first. Izuku was the first to break.

"Is there… Is there something specific that you wish to speak to me about, Principal Nezu?" 

"Oh no. I just want to talk," Nezu said. "You're only alone now because I plan to do the same with Kaminari. Simple courtesy, you can call it. His turn is right after yours. That's why he's sitting outside with my secretary. We just need to get through this talk first."

Nezu reached down below his desk, taking out a teapot and matching teacups. "Tea?" he asked.

Izuku looked at the ornate porcelain, eyeing the steady stream trail running from the teapot's neck. "Umm… sure."

"Great!" Nezu exclaimed, pouring Izuku a cup of the steaming brew. Nezu then sat himself back down on his side of the desk, holding on to his own cup of tea. "Now, you see, I've taken quite an interest in you, Midoriya."

"Oh?" Izuku took a sip of the tea.

"Mmhmm. I noticed that you were registered as quirkless not too long ago. However, that is obviously not true. Yet, despite that, you've demonstrated tremendous aptitude in the usage of your… previously unheard of quirk. Would you mind explaining that?"

"Oh. Uh, it's nothing all too exciting, really," Izuku admitted. "I just got my quirk late, is all. I went to sleep one night, and the next thing I knew I could feel all my bugs. I just… kind of knew how to use it? Like it came with an instruction manual, you could say. A really unhelpful one, but a manual nonetheless."

"Interesting," Nezu chirped. "And it's registration? You named it [Hive Mind], correct?"

Izuku nodded.

"Nice name. Rolls off the tongue and portrays your quirk nicely," Nezu chuckled. "Anyways, continue."

"I guess… Well, it was so late in my life that I never found a reason to register my quirk. I'm only registered now since my quirk needed to be known when I sent my costume qualifications in."

"A late bloomer, eh? Definitely not unheard of, but nonetheless exceedingly rare. Seems that you were lucky, Midoriya, to get such a versatile quirk so late in life." 

Nezu took a long sip of his tea. "Tell me, Midoriya, how old were you got your quirk, if I may ask?"

"Umm… Around eight, Mr. Nezu sir."

A small smile formed on Nezu's face. "So no less than seven years ago, yes?"

"Yes, sir."

Nezu let out another laugh, this one much more mischievous than the last. "You're quite the paradox, Midoriya. Do you know that?"

"Umm…"

"Your demeanor, your quirk, how long you've had it. How you responded during the incident at U.S.J. And then there's your… extracurricular activities."

Izuku's vision blurred. "My extra… What do you mean?"

Nezu's smile became more profound. 

Does he…

"Why, your physical training of course!"

"Wha…"

"It's not so often that we get students that train their body when it doesn't play a role into directly strengthening their quirk. Shota-kun being one of our more recent examples, for instance."

"Who?" Izuku asked.

"Oh, silly me! My apologies, Midoriya. I mean your homeroom teacher. Skills like Aizawa's have been few and far in between during my time here. Seeing someone like you is quite the refresher, you see."

Nezu's sighed, his head tilted to its side. "However, still quite the conundrum."

"Uh… sir?"

Nezu's paws slammed onto the table, creating a loud bang. Izuku stirred, as did a few of his bugs. The fliers rose slightly into the air, with Izuku's body shifting into a more defensible stance, ready to leap from his position on the chair.

Nezu gave off another smile. "That'll be all, Midoriya. Send Kaminari in on your way out."

Notes:

And there we are. Teacher battles will be out the next time around, plus some other things. Until then!