A New Friend, An Old Enemy

"We'll start today by introducing ourselves," Miss Koushi said.

Izuku sat up straight. So far school hadn't been about learning anything more than about his class.

"What should we say Miss Koushi?"

"Start with your name, quirk and likes," she instructed.

Izuku frowned. Name he could understand but why did they have to say what their quirk was? No one he'd ever met said what their quirk was, and even the other day, when that woman had come to Kurogiri's bar, she had introduced her friend by name, not by quirk. Why did the quirk matter? Or was this one of the reason's Daddy had told him to tell people his quirk was Fire Breath? Because his quirk didn't have a name?

"Student number 1," Miss Koushi called.

The green haired boy put aside his questions and perked up. If he wanted to make friends, then he'd have to learn his classmate's names and he was sure some of them would have interesting quirks. Even if it was odd to have to introduce yourself by saying your quirk name it was good information.

A girl who was sitting in the front corner rose and turned slightly so that she could see the rest of the class. "My name is Saicho Gasei," she said. Izuku wasn't the only one looking at her. She had brilliant red hair that had spikes coming out of it. Her skin was also slightly red. The white of her school uniform looked almost pink. "My quirk is Spike Hair," Saicho added, gesturing towards her hair. "I can create spikes from my hair and detach them. I like ice-cream," she finished, before bowing and sitting down.

"Thank you Saicho," Miss Koushi said. "Student Two please?"

The boy in the next desk rose and turned, copying Saicho. "My name is Arata Ogawa," he introduced himself. Emitter Quirk, Izuku thought to himself looking over him. Arata had black hair and no obvious mutation. "My quirk is Night Vision. I can see perfectly in the dark. I like football."

Miss Koushi nodded as Arata sat down and called for the next student. Izuku's fingers itched for a pencil so that he could note down all the quirks of his classmates. And their names. Some of them sounded so useful. Night Vision would be a huge boon because then, even if he woke up in the night he could move around without letting Tomura know he was awake by turning on the light!

"Student Eleven," Miss Koushi called and Izuku realised that was him. He rose and couldn't really turn to face the class as he was seated in the middle. "My name is Izuku Chui," he said, remembering Daddy telling him that he couldn't use his real name. "My quirk is Fire Breath," he continued. Daddy had explained why he couldn't say his real quirk and Izuku realised that he hadn't named it! He'd have to name it soon! "I can breath fire," he added the explanation, as everyone else seemed to. "I like quirk analysis," he added.

Miss Koushi said nothing as she called upon the next student. Izuku went back to listening, trying to commit as much as he could to memory. He would have to write a lot tonight but then he reminded himself that these were his classmates. He'd be able to write notes on them all year. It wasn't until Student 19 was introducing herself that he realised there was something wrong with his class.

"My name is Ochaco Uraraka," the girl with gold brown hair said. "My quirk is Zero Gravity. I can remove the gravity of anything I touch," she added. "I like mochi!" She said happily.

Izuku nodded to himself as Miss Koushi called upon the last student. Zero Gravity was another, really useful quirk but he wasn't focused on that. He listened to the last introduction.

The 20th student had an obvious mutation quirk. He wasn't the only one in the class, just the most obvious. He had six eyes set around his head which looked like it was made of chitin. There were very short hairs sticking out of it and he had mandibles for a mouth. It distorted his voice a bit but he was still perfectly understandable.

"My name is Gatarui Kumou. My quirk is Arachnid and I like sweet things." The boy bowed and then sat back down, allowing the class to turn back towards Miss Koushi.

Izuku frowned. It wasn't making any sense. Since he'd gone with Daddy, he'd spent a lot of time with Kurogiri but also with the Doctor. Doctor Garaki didn't mind if he sat quietly but it did mean that he'd heard the Doctor talking a lot. The Doctor liked to talk about something called quirk singularity. He spoke about almost anything related to quirks but Izuku knew he had spoken about the quirkless, and had been pretty clear about their numbers.

"Izuku? Miss Koushi called upon him.

He looked up at her. "Is something wrong?" She asked him gently.

He stood up. "Miss Koushi. One in five people are quirkless," Izuku said. "There are twenty of us here, so why isn't there any quirkless student here?" He asked.

He could see the surprise on her face. She looked at him with a soft expression and if Izuku were older, he would have known the word condescending, as it was he couldn't help the feeling that she was looking at him as if she had to explain something urgently. "There are no quirkless students in this class, Izuku," she told him.

"So where are they?" He pressed.

Miss Koushi raised one hand. "We run special classes for the quirkless children who enroll here. This way, they can be well cared for since they are more fragile. It's okay, you won't ever have to have a class with them," she added in a comforting voice.

That wasn't what he was asking but he sensed that it wouldn't be a good idea to go further.

"Now children, we'll start with the hiragana," Miss Koushi changed the topic and Izuku zoned out. He already knew them.

-ted-

Izuku looked around as he held the bento Kurogiri had made him. It was lunchtime and he needed a good place to sit. Some of the kids in his class had already gathered into groups and were unpacking their lunches. Izuku thought they had gone to the same kindergarten or something since they already seemed to be friends.

There were a few others who seemed to be looking around uncertainly like himself. Izuku shook himself and then walked over to where two of his classmates were standing tentatively.

"Hello," he said brightly. "I'm Izuku."

The girl with brown gold hair seemed relieved and smiled at him. "Ochaco!" She replied happily and they both looked at the other boy.

"Hibiki," he responded.

"Do you want to sit together?" Izuku asked, vaguely gesturing off towards a place under one of the trees.

"Yes!" Ochaco said, bouncing happily.

Hibiki didn't seem as certain and before he could say something one of the other groups came up to them.

"Got a question for you Chui!" One of the kids said. Izuku didn't recognise them so knew that they had to be in a different class. Gatarui and Arata were with him.

Izuku smiled sunnily at them but in the pit of his stomach he could tell this wasn't going to go well. Apparently Ochaco thought the same because she began looking around for a teacher. Izuku could see one, not Miss Koushi and felt a small bit of relief but he knew things weren't over yet.

"Are you some kind of Quirkless sympathiser?" the taller kid asked.

Gatarui nodded.

"What?" Izuku frowned. Where had that question come from?

"You were asking about those losers in class!" The boy snarled, gesturing to a group of kids Izuku hadn't noticed. They huddled together in a group on the fenceline. He could see that they were eating quickly, even as they looked around nervously.

Izuku looked up at the boy. He must be in one of the upper classes. "I was curious to know where they were," he tried to explain. "Since one in five people are quirkless, there should have been one in our class."

"So you were looking for them!" The boy crowed as if Izuku had admitted to some grave sin. "They are weaklings!"

"Statistically, the Quirkless are not any weaker than someone without a strength enhancement quirk," Izuku told him. The Doctor had checked that very carefully. "And to avoid a singularity, the Quirkless are nee-" He didn't get any further.

Izuku didn't see the boy move but he felt it when he was hit.

"You're just a sympathiser," the boy announced.

Izuku's face stung and he looked back at the boy. "I'm not," he insisted.

"You shouldn't do that!" Ochaco said and Izuku could tell she was trying to get the attention of the teacher who was looking the other way.

"He's just a sympathiser," the other boy said, turning away. "Go and sit with your type," he commanded.

Before Izuku could say anything further, the boy stormed away, with Arata and Gatarui trailing behind him. Hibiki looked at them, and then back at Izuku, and then back at them and Izuku saw the moment Hibiki made his decision. The boy slinked after them. He turned to Ochaco who was still standing beside him. She looked at him with wide brown eyes. "He shouldn't have done that," she said plaintively

Izuku raised one hand to his cheek and rubbed at it. "He shouldn't have," he agreed.

"Why didn't the teacher do anything?" Ochaco asked.

"I don't know," he said but was thankful that he hadn't actually dropped his lunch. "Let's find a place to eat," he suggested and was pleased when Ochaco nodded.

They walked over to the shade of a tree, before finding a place to sit down. As they began to eat, Ochaco looked at him. "Why did you ask about quirkless people?" she asked softly, as if she was afraid to hear the answer.

Izuku swallowed the mouthful of lunch he had been chewing before replying. Kurogiri said it was important not to speak with your mouth full. "I was curious," he replied.

Ochaco nodded and accepted the answer at face value. She picked up her sandwich. "I've never met anyone who is quirkless," she said finally.

"You probably have," Izuku replied as he picked up a mild pickle. "Twenty percent of the population is quirkless," he remembered that statistic with surprising clarity. Doctor Garaki always complained that if so many people were quirkless it was very hard to find them. People didn't like to admit that they were quirkless.

"He wasn't very nice," Ochaco said.

"No, let's finish eating and I'll tell the teacher," Izuku suggested.

They both applied themselves to their food.

-ted-

"That's a very serious accusation, Izuku. Are you sure Ijimi hit you?" the Teacher asked.

"He did, Miss Youju," Ochaco backed him up.

"Then why didn't Izuku come straight to me?" Miss Youju asked, her voice a mask of patience.

"Because I was hungry," Izuku said. "Ijimi came up to us with Arata and Gatarui and asked why I had asked about Quirkless people in class," he attempted to explain again.

The teacher frowned. "What did you want to know about the Quirkless?" she asked.

"I wanted to know why no one in the class was quirkless. If 20 percent of the population are quirkless, I was expecting to have at least one Quirkless classmate."

Miss Youju said something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'aren't you a precocious brat?' but she kept smiling. "We have special classes for the Quirkless, Izuku," she said. "They are more fragile so we put them in their own class."

"Why?"

"Because they are more fragile."

"How are they more fragile?"

"Because they don't have a quirk."

"But studies have shown that a quirkless person has the same strength as someone without a strength enhancement quirk," Izuku countered. He could remember Doctor Garaki saying that very clearly.

"There are so many studies Izuku and many say that the Quirkless are fragile. To ensure that you can't hurt them they have their own class."

"I wouldn't!" Izuku objected.

"Neither would I," Ochaco said as well.

"You wouldn't mean to," Miss Youju said kindly. "But we've had it happen in the past. It is best for the quirkless students to have their own classes."

Izuku could feel there was an issue here, but he didn't know how to address it. "So why did Ijima hit me?" he asked, now knowing the name of the boy.

Miss Youju seemed to sigh, but then she looked up. "Ijima," she called, spotting the other boy. "Could you please come here?" She asked, her voice sweet.

The other boy trotted over. Izuku noticed that Arata and Gatarui again followed him, as did two others he didn't know. Hibiki was nowhere to be seen.

"Now, Ijima, did you hit Izuku?" Miss Youju asked.

"Of course not, Miss Youju," the boy replied. Arata and Gatarui began shaking their heads emphatically.

"You did! I saw you," Ochaco objected.

"Now, now Ochaco," Miss Youju said mildly, "let Ijimi speak."

"I just wanted to ask him about his quirk," the boy continued.

Izuku looked at him flatly. That was a blatant lie and he was sure Ijimi didn't even know what his quirk was. "What's m-" He tried to ask but Miss Youju interrupted.

"There, you see, just some questions," she said brightly. "Run along now, Ijimi," she told him.

He was very quick to retreat.

"Now, Izuku and Ochaco, I'm disappointed in you. This is the first day of class and you have to tell the truth," she said.

"But Ijimi hit Izuku!" Ochaco objected. "I saw him!"

"Ochaco, please stop this. I don't want to have to punish you on the first day."

"It's okay Ochaco," Izuku said, looking at Miss Youju.

Ochaco didn't look like it was okay and Izuku took her arm gently. He would have said more but the bell to end lunch sounded and Miss Youju looked down at them again.

"Run along now, and remember it's important to tell the truth!" She smiled.

Izuku pulled Ochaco away. They couldn't be late to class. She followed him but he could feel the heat in her gaze. "That's not fair!" Ochaco growled at him as they moved through the corridors.

"Life isn't fair," Izuku said. He jerked up when he realised he was saying one of Tomura's phrases.

Ochaco stopped. "He shouldn't have hit you, and if he does again, I'll… I'll use my quirk on him!" she declared.

"Don't bother, brat," a new voice interrupted.

Izuku turned to look at the speaker. It was another older student. The girl was leaning against the wall. Her uniform was long but had a rough look to it and while the hallways were rapidly emptying people seemed to be avoiding her.

"I'm sorry?" Ochaco said.

"Don't bother. Don't bother to stand up for the quirkless. You'll just ruin your own reputation," the girl spat.

"But I-"

"We don't need your help, pipsqueak," she growled and stalked away.

Izuku just blinked. He wasn't sure what had happened.

The last bell sounded and Ochaco dragged him into their classroom.

For the rest of the day, he still wasn't sure what had happened.