Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"You two are the talk of 1A and I can't fucking stand it anymore."

Izuku snorted and put his chopsticks down. "What, they've never seen two people dating before?"

The look that Hitoshi gave him made him look triple his age. "See that's the thing, they have no idea you're an item. They're just shook that someone talks to meathead over here like you do."

"Oi fuck off, eyebags."

Hitoshi flicked a grain of rice at him in retaliation.

Katsuki glared and kicked Hitoshi in the shin.

Izuku sighed and got back into his food. He'd almost take the bickering sass over the petty horseplay and kicks they traded under the table. "If you make my drink spill on my notebook again, I will intentionally fuck with your costumes," he warned them.

That seemed to end their petty feud with ease. They flipped each other off and picked their chopsticks back up.

"We'll settle this during training later, hair for brains," Katsuki said with a glower.

"Yeah fuck you too, sparkles."

"You're both insufferable," Izuku grumbled. "So no one has figured it out yet, Hito? We're not exactly hiding it."

Hitoshi slurped up some ramen and shurgged. "I dunno. They're kinda dumb about certain things though. Kat and I have both noticed that."

Oh? That was kind of intriguing. "In what way?"

"Yamada has been checking in on Aizawa a lot more since the USJ, but they haven't fucking realized that they're married yet. I don't know how to help them besides pointing out their matching tattoos."

Izuku's lips quirked up in a smile. He had been the first of their trio to notice the detail. He had spotted a little tattoo behind Eraserhead's left ear, and then realized he had seen it before. Turned out Present Mic had the same one behind the same ear, hidden for the most part by his hearing aids. That added to the conspiracy pile he had assembled over the years that the two were probably married gave him the clear impression that they were.

That had all been before middle school when they had garnered more direct interaction from the duo via Hitoshi. Eraserhead had saved their best friend from a bullying incident that had left him wandering around with a severe concussion and a muzzle on his face. Aizawa had been a constant presence through their youth from that moment onwards. Then he had extended an offer to train the three of them for the hero course, which had come with an invite to meet his husband.

Izuku had felt so smug when he saw the look on Katsuki and Hitoshi's faces when his theory about the two was proven correct. Yamada had been a vibrant addition to their youth, and had singlehandedly helped Izuku figure out what he wanted to do in life.

The very first support item he had ever created had been the most dinky and horrendous thing, but Yamada still had it tucked away in a drawer somewhere. It had been a hearing aid add on that allowed him to switch gears and hone in on one particular voice. Izuku had made it after he overheard the man commenting that he wished he could just listen to his husband’s voice all day.

He still brought it up from time to time, if nothing more than to see Aizawa furiously hide pink tinted cheeks in his capture weapon.

It had been from that first little invention that Izuku realized he had found a niche for himself. Somewhere to pour both his natural caretaking sensibilities, his desire to help people, his technological intellect, and his childhood dream to be a hero. By creating support items for heroes with existing disabilities and drawbacks from their quirks, he would in essence, be a hero to the heroes.

Then he had gotten into UA’s support course and begun a thriving partnership with Mei. They brought out the best (and worst if Power Loader were to be believed) in each other. They pushed the boundaries of their inventions and did everything they could to create tech where none existed.

One day, he could see Mei being a full fledged business partner. For now, Izuku was content to have found a partner in crime. Though he was quite certain his boyfriend was afraid of her.

Maybe not as afraid as he was of a grumpy Aizawa, however. That visage always seemed to win out.

”Team Yamazawa might haunt us for life if we fuckin’ take away their fun of having a secret relationship,” Kacchan muttered.

”Just say you’re scared of pissing Dadzawa off, gawd,” Hitoshi drawled.

”I will shove your head in your bowl of ramen, bitch.”

”Try me, Pomeranian.”

Oh, he could already feel a headache building in his temples. Why did they always choose to be loud on his hard days?

”Boys,” Izuku said, raising a brow.

They both stiffened at his tone, staring at him with bewilderment.

”Why do I hear boss music?” Hitoshi wondered aloud. “Why are you mad? It’s lunchtime, that’s like illegal or something.”

Katsuki also seemed confused and borderline concerned. “That’s not a great tone, Zuku. Is something up?”

Izuku stared right back. “There’s no tone?”

His two favorite humans shared a look.

”Stop doing that stupid little ‘Izuku is in a state’ eye contact bullshit,” he grumbled. “There is no tone.”

His boyfriend said nothing but pressed his lips together in a clear sign that he was withholding his thoughts.

Izuku glared at him but then huffed and dragged his notebook to the center of the table. “Fine, you’re making me get a headache on a big innovation day. I’ve been trying to figure out a minor setback on my current project since midnight and I still got nothing.”

“Did you not fucking sleep, Greenie?? The hell!? You’re still recovering from your USJ stunt!”

He cringed, side eying Katsuki for a moment. He was still in a bit of trouble for what he’d done. Neither his mother nor his boyfriend were pleased that he had overexerted himself by so much, even if it had been for a noble reason.

Izuku could have made the argument that he’d never establish the boundaries of his quirk if he played it safe all the time, but the worried faces they had given him had quieted the words before they could reach his tongue.

The worst of his exhaustion had passed just a few days before, which meant he was back to normal. Minus the protective hovering Katsuki was doing.

”I’ve been working on personal projects for the Sports Festival,” he said. “I’m already way behind on making myself support items. I have to put in more work than usual if I have any chance of meeting Mei in the 1 on 1 battles.”

Katsuki huffed. “Why do you have to battle her anyways? Aren’t you two ‘inventor besties’ or whatever the fuck?”

”To show off our creations to the watching crowd of course,” Izuku shot back. “The best way to get grants and what not for research is to prove you’ve got ideas worth funding. Not to mention landing internship opportunities.”

Hitoshi made a confused sound in the back of his throat. “Wait, I thought only the hero course had internships.”

Izuku shook his head. “Nah. Most branches of the school offer them, but it’s optional for most. It’s mandatory to the hero course, and at least one is mandated for support course. Power Loader said it’s supposed to ‘broaden our innovative horizons’. Though he more of less told me that I didn’t need to seek out beyond the niche I’m already in.”

The two of them nodded. They had known almost as long as Izuku himself what the game plan was.

If the stats Power Loader had were accurate, Izuku was the first to actively seek out the field of medical grade support items in the last 18 years. Most, his sensei told him, went into combat or costume support since the demand was much higher.

Izuku longed to be in the medical field. Ever since he had worked on that hearing aid attachment and saw the delight on Yamada’s face, it felt as though he had stumbled in to his new dream.

Though he had once planned to be a combat or triage medic, a support hero more or less, that path seemed more like a necessity based option. Which was why Izuku planned to get certified as both a medical grade support specialist and an emergency field medic. That way he would be able to play to both of his strengths.

Which meant he had a lot of work ahead of him if he was going to achieve all of his goals. Luckily for him, he had a pretty good support system at his side to ensure that he did.

"So, needless to say," Hitoshi said with a sharp grin. "The support course kids are about to be diabolical in the Festival."

Izuku tilted his head and gave just as sharp a smile back. "What I'm saying, is that the hero course better watch out for the kids that make their gear."

Katsuki let out a strangled sound beside him. "You're about to give me nightmares, Zuku."

"But you love me anyways," he declared, kissing the blonde's nose.

"Yeah... yeah I do."

This was going to be so fun!

Chapter Text

“Are you lost, young man?”

Izuku turned, a bit surprised to find the Number One standing just behind him. Was All Might one of the circulating watch dogs?

The entire campus had been in high alert since the USJ. Nedzu had even interrupted a build session to confer with some of the tech-heads in his class to see what they thought of the back to back issues. If it had been anyone else, Izuku would not have thought about the situation as much. But when the smartest creature in Japan sought out his smartest group of students because he was miffed and bemused about the double break-ins, you knew it was serious. Nedzu wasn’t known to be one to seek secondary opinions, yet he had sought theirs.

Izuku had known that the Sports Festival would spell a larger hero presence since that moment. Nedzu wasn’t taking chances anymore. So security was tightened and extra hands were called to deck.

Which seemingly included All Might as well.

”Do you even have enough time left to patrol like this?” He asked without much thought.

It hadn’t escaped his notice that the man was seen in his hero form less and less. Most assumed it was because he was teaching now, but Izuku knew the truth. He had since the buffoon had revealed his secret to him on a rooftop after he had nearly died to the Sludge Villain.

From the look of aghast that bloomed on that almost constantly smiling face, Izuku realized the man didn’t remember him.

”How do-…”

Suspicion, a trace of fear, raised guard. He saw it all flicker across the Number One’s face.

Izuku sighed, facing him fully. “Sludge Villain. You told me the truth on a rooftop after you couldn’t hold your hero form in front of me, All Might.”

It took a few seconds but there was a hint of recognition in those eyes now. “O-Oh! Yes. It’s good to see you again, young man.”

He tried his best not to wrinkle his nose at the title. “Midoriya,” he offered. “But seriously, All Might, do you? You were low on time when I met you and that was almost two years ago.”

The Number One cringed slightly, looking around the both of them with heavy caution. “Midoriya, please. Not in such an open forum.”

”You sure didn’t think about that kind of thing when you told me the truth,” he grumbled. “Whatever. It doesn’t pertain to me. I don’t care that much. No, I am not lost. I’m going to wish my boyfriend luck before the Festival starts.”

”Oh I see. So you’re a student here, then. I don’t recall having seen you.”

”I’m in the support course,” he said with a shrug. “I want to make med-grade support equipment.”

”A noble endeavor,” All Might said with a nod. “And a far more reasonable choice since last we spoke.”

Izuku’s eye twitched with minute irritation. “Okay, no. We’re not doing this again.”

That unwavering smile faltered once more. “I’m sorry?”

He crossed his arms and squinted his eyes at All Might. “When I talked to you that day on the rooftop, I asked if a quirkless person could become a hero. Instead of an answer, I got a first hand look of how much medical support you needed and were hiding from everyone, and an outright denial. If I had been anyone else, that might have broken me.”

”I.. um.”

Izuku barreled on, unhindered by the attempted interruption. “That was a test, All Might. One I do to almost every hero I meet. Few have ever passed it, I was just disappointed that you weren’t one of them.”

”A test..?” The man asked.

”I’m not actually quirkless,” he replied. “But I have a non-combative quirk which means most people overlook people like me. I test heroes to see if they’re really paying attention to the youth that look up to them so much. Because you, as a hero, have a social obligation to kindle their spirits and keep them reaching for their dreams. But instead…” Izuku trailed off with a shake of his head.

He could put himself in the shoes of a little quirkless boy asking his biggest hero if he could be someone like him and then having that hope stripped bare from him when the Number One himself said no. Izuku could almost feel the heartbreak, could almost taste the blood from bitten cheeks, could almost see the way that little boy might look too long at the edge of the rooftop he’d been left on.

It had been unacceptable conduct from someone in such high standing. Izuku refused to let the matter go undiscussed any longer.

”If I had been a kid at the end of my rope, I might have killed myself that day, All Might.”

”M-Midoriya-!”

He held a hand up and glowered. “I’m talking right now and you owe it to me to listen.”

The Number One shuffled uncomfortably but acquiesced to his request.

“I say this as someone who could have been in that position, you have to mind your words. Despite your personal beliefs, you have to give them hope. They don’t need the cold reality being shoved in their face by their hero. They need to be given hope that things can change, that their life can get better. You have an obligation to give them that as one of their role models. You cannot be on the pedestal you’ve built for yourself and not accept the additional responsibilities that come with.”

The only heroes that had passed his test in recent times had been Aizawa and Yamada. Izuku had held onto his sense of faith in the two and had not been disappointed. They had been quick to assure him that even quirkless people could reach as high as the rank of hero if they worked hard enough at it.

A quirk is a tool, Aizawa had muttered, just because someone has the right tool doesn’t mean there isn’t someone who knows how to do the same job without that specific one. If anything, quirkless people have the advantage of customizing tools to achieve whatever they wish to accomplish without having to worry about limitations set by their quirk.

Izuku had been in tears after that one. It was one of the many reasons the hero Eraserhead had become one of his all time favorites over the years.

”I have a healing quirk,” Izuku continued. “Which comes with the silent societal expectation that I will use it to become the next Recovery Girl, but I don’t want to. I am going to put myself in a position of being able to assist during emergency situations, but will ultimately use my power at my own discretion.”

Which was one of the many reasons he kept his quirk on the down low. People who learned of his ability were so quick to push their expectations on him. They said he had a duty to fulfill and that he had a responsibility to uphold.

Izuku hated that shit. Just because he had won the medical quirk lottery suddenly meant he had to be a healer? It was bullshit. The type of quirk a person bore shouldn’t dictate what they did with their life.

”I understand the invisible weight you bear as a hero as I have my own societal expectations to deal with, but you can’t let it distract you from your responsibility to the youth. You’re the Symbol of Peace, All Might. You can’t just put that in your pocket whenever you want.”

Izuku broke eye contact to kick his foot against the ground. “I dunno that any of this will even matter to someone like you. But it matters to me. You could have been the last hope for that kid that day, and you would’ve blew it.”

The subsequent reactions to the pros he told his test to were always a mixed basket. There were plenty who felt shame and uncertainty but there were others who only doubled down and called him a bad person for lying to a hero.

Logical deceptions and all that. Aizawa was truly a role model.

”No, you’re quite right, Young Midoriya. It was an err in judgement and I should have handled it better.”

Well at least the Number One wasn’t an irredeemable piece of shit. Izuku was glad for that.

All Might seemed thoroughly chastised by his words. “I didn’t adhere to my usual standard of encouragement that day, and I am sorry for that.”

Izuku gave a half shrug. “I don’t need an apology, I’ve never wanted to be a hero in the first place. So you weren’t exactly off the marker. But you could have been and that’s the point of my test. So don’t say sorry, just tell me you’ll do better next time.”

All Might’s smile was back, weaker this time. “On that, I can assure you, young man.”

”Good. See ya.”

Izuku didn’t wait around anymore. There was only so much time for him to get over to the 1-A lounge to wish Katsuki luck. He had wasted enough of it scolding All Might.

There was some kind of commotion near the doorway as soon as he tried to get in.

Izuku shoved past a couple of kids he recognized as being part of 1-B to lay eyes on the now familiar faces of 1-A. Most of whom were glaring at a certain blonde that seemed to be the primary antagonizer at the moment.

“-have enough anger issues to fill an entire anger management class and then you have shitty attitude to match,” the blonde was saying. His tone was so taunting that it sounded sickly. “Truly what is so great about someone like you? To think that you of all people get to do the great speech to start off the Festival.”

Izuku’s attention honed in closer and closer the more this kid spoke. Especially as he realized the words were directed at his boyfriend.

Katsuki was keeping his cool but only just, there was rage plain to see on his face. His palms twitched with the absent need to light explosions to banish the sweat.

He crept forward, brow furrowed.

”You’re a disgrace to this school and to the word hero itself. I think you’d do the entire world a favor if you went ahead and threw yourself in jail now. All you’ll ever be is a powerful boy with a villainous attitude.”

How dare he? How dare he bring to light Katsuki’s innermost insecurity? How dare he!

Izuku’s mind went quiet. Then, a fury so hot that it felt like his blood was boiling in his veins. He pushed past some of the 1-A students and punched the blonde right in the face.

”Izuku?!” His boyfriend wheezed.

”WHOA!”

”Holy shit, Mido,” Kirishima exclaimed.

”Ayyy, whoa. Chill out, Greenie!” Hitoshi said from further behind him.

Izuku put a hand on his boyfriend’s hip and then stepped in front of him to face down the antagonizer that lay holding his unblemished cheek.

”Monoma Neito,” he ground out. “Class 1-B, quirk: copy, hero name: Phantom Thief, 170cm tall, with blood type A.”

Monoma stared.

Izuku tilted his head, holding eye contact. “You’ve been on my shit list for a while now, Monoma. Why dig yourself even deeper?”

”Who the hell do you think you are?!”

“I’m one of the support kids that helps produce and fix up your costume, copycat.”

Technically, he helped more with gadgets and ensuring structural stability and support for the body in relation to the costume itself. But that wasn’t important right now.

Monoma shot to his feet and got in his face. “I’ll have you know that it is unbecoming of a UA student to resort to violence outside of training.”

Izuku offered him a confused look. “What violence? I don’t see any marks on you.”

Katsuki stiffened behind him, anxious.

Monoma froze for a moment, hand on his cheek.

”No pain, right?” He asked. “So where’s your proof that I hit you?”

”Y-You..! What the hell did you do to me?”

Izuku dropped into a sweeping kick and knocked the blonde down again. Then he grabbed Monoma’s wrist that was poised to strike him. “It’s my quirk, Monoma. I’m a healer that can heal you with a single touch. But you know the thing about us healers?”

He pulled him a bit closer and smiled.

There was barely concealed horror in those periwinkle eyes now.

”The thing about us is that if we wanted to? We could do exactly this. Hurt you and then leave no trace of it behind. There would be no evidence, no bruise, no mark of our presence on your body at all.”

Monoma pulled away from him, breathing hitched and quick.

”I can be your friend, or I can be your worst nightmare, copycat. So choose your battles wisely.”

The eye contact they continued to share was piercing. The tension left in the air was like a physical thing weighing them both down.

“Go back to your class, Monoma,” Izuku said at length. “And leave my boyfriend’s name out of your mouth.”

The blonde didn’t dare speak another word as he ran out of the room. The other 1-B students were quick to follow.

”Holy shit, Greenie,” Hitoshi exclaimed. “That was dark, even for you.”

He rolled his eyes. “He’s been bothering Kacchan since the entrance exams. I got sick of it.”

Katsuki turned him around and cupped his face. “That was a lil extreme though, Zuku.”

He pouted. “I can’t help it. You know I fucking hate bullies.”

”Yeah… I know.”

”Why are you here anyways, Izu? We’re supposed to be ‘mentally preparing’ with our class or some shit right now.” Hitoshi seemed a bit concerned over his outburst but hadn’t mentioned it yet. Probably later when there weren’t as many people afoot.

He scoffed, raising a brow at the insomniac. “Can’t I wish my boyfriend and best friend good luck in the upcoming tournament?”

That, at least, seemed to abate some of Hitoshi’s worry. He huffed and then shrugged. “I guess. Thanks, Greenie. We’ll see you out there.”

Katsuki was watching him with careful ruby eyes. “Are you gonna behave out there, shithead?”

He offered a toothy grin in response. “Ohhh I dunno. We’ll see how I’m feeling. Spontaneity is fun y’know?”

His boyfriend shook his head. “Well. I suppose the school will learn today. They’re not ready for you or your goblin friend.”

”Mei is, in fact, more manic than I. So yeah. Should be fun.”

Izuku glanced at his watch and grimaced. “Okay I really have to run back now.” He stood on his tippy toes and pressed a kiss into Katsuki’s lips. “Love you, good luck out there, Suki!”

He stole another kiss and then raced out of the room, smiling at the chaotic outcries that followed his exit.

There would be no doubt that he and Kacchan were dating now!