once more to see you

A Talk

Izuku sat at the bar listening to Shigaraki. He needed the distraction but listening to his friend talk was difficult. Izuku gathered from being around the man, that Shigaraki had a tendency to act very child like when bad things happened. (not that Izuku cared much) But listening to the man talk about the work he had to do, Izuku felt a bad feeling in his gut in reference to whoever Shigaraki's boss was. "-Boss gifted me something, and told me that it would help me win, but it was broken. He said it was under control and we could try again, but I think he's mad that the job didn't work out" Shigaraki continued. Izuku didn't exactly know what type of work Shigaraki did, but the way his boss was gifting him things and reassuring Shigaraki that everything was under control made Izuku worry. It sounded a lot like a form of grooming, and the childlike actions of Shigaraki when talking about the man didn't quench his fears, but Izuku didn't know enough so he didn't bring it up. "I hope your next job goes better, but, having you around is way better!" Izuku said smirking. Shigaraki's mood lifted at the words, "Nice to see you too brat."

-

"Anyways what happened, why did you want to talk?" Shigaraki asked. Izuku grimaced, he didn't want to bring down the mood too much, maybe he should start off positive... "Remember the boy I told you bullied me?" Izuku started. Shigaraki grew wary immediately, scowling. "Yes... I remember." Shigaraki said. "Well he got into the U.A. Hero course. We needed to talk about some... things. And one thing let to another and he actually started having a breakdown, like crying and everything. We decided to try and be actual friends." Izuku finished, looking up to try and read Shigaraki's reaction, Izuku knew that his friend might be a bit protective since Kacchan had hurt him in the past. "You're giving that asshole a chance?!?" Shigaraki exclaimed. Izuku adorned a wobbly smile, "He isn't all bad." Izuku stated. "From what you told me, He Is." Shigaraki said, disintegrating the cup he was holding. "Calm down Shiggy, I promise he's changed. Well he's been changing... he saved me. I want to give him a chance to fix things. But now things have backfired." Izuku's eyes darkened. "He's in the hospital." Shigaraki's eyes widened. The pale blue haired man still wasn't totally on board with the idea of Izuku allowing this person back into his life, but it was clear that he meant a lot to Izuku. "His class was attacked. All might manage to arrive on the scene, only to send one of the villains flying through the ceiling, making part of the ceiling collapse, right on top of Kacchan." Izuku continued, "Fucking All might. Kacchan would be fine if it weren't for his poor damage control. None of the other students ended up in the hospital!" Izuku was screaming at this point, and Shigaraki looked like he had seen a ghost.

Shigaraki felt nauseous, he didn't know Izuku's 'friend' was in the hero course. Knowing his boss, it was pretty much certain that he would be forced to attack the hero class again to lure All Might. Shigaraki preferred not having these NPCs involved but knowing that Izuku cared for them too made it 100x worse. It wasn't totally bad though. It was clear that Izuku was more angry at All Might then the 'villains' (which he didn't know much about or else he would've connected the dots)

"ALL MIGHT ISNT EVEN BEING PUNISHED FOR THE INJURY THAT HE CAUSED! NOT THE ATTACKERS, HIM!" Izuku screamed, his nails sinking into his palm. (scratching and drawing blood from themselves was a bad coping mechanism they both had) Shigaraki grabbed the younger boy's hands, being careful to keep one finger up, "Kid. Calm down. Remember that this is why you got into UA. You're going to expose Hero society from the inside, and All Might won't be immune to prosecution." Shigaraki said. Izuku let out a breath. "Thanks Shiggy I'm glad we talked...." Izuku paused, looking at the hands holding his, before lighting up. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small box. "Here! I had extra materials from the support class, so I made you these. They are super durable and waterproof." Shigaraki took the box, carefully opening it, revealing a red pair of artist gloves. He slipped them on, staring at his hands for a moment while he recalled a memory of when he and Izuku first met. "Thanks brat." Shigaraki said ruffling the boy's green curls.

The next morning Izuku woke up feeling lighter, getting his thoughts out was relieving. But in its place repressed thoughts bubbled to the surface. 'What was the connection between the press break in and the attack? They seemed too close together to be coincidence. And the dusted gate he saw during the press break in? It reminded him too much of Shiggy.... About Shiggy, the things he told Izuku about his boss made his concerned. What if he was being groomed to attack UA? He looked really pale while I was talking about the attack..' Izuku pushed these thoughts down. His doubts would be clear once Kacchan and Mr. Aizawa could talk to the police. For now, he needed to get to school.

-

School went by quickly, Hatsume, and he worked together in support, and in the management department they reviewed the publicity UA was getting because of the attack, (sore subject...) So for the most part, normal, well until the end of the day. Nezu had called for Izuku to come to his office for 7th period due to Mr. Aizawa's absence. Izuku complied, so when the time came he found himself in front of the principal's office. The door swung open without anyone touching it and on the desk sat the principal. "Hello Midoriya." The principal greeted, his beady eyes shined as he smiled, sending a shiver down Izuku's spine. "Hello sir." Izuku said, bowing his head. The principal had already set tea cups on the desk and urged the boy to sit. "I decided to take over Mr. Aizawa's lesson with you today, is that alright with you?" Nezu asked, pouring green tea into the awaiting cups. Izuku nodded. "Wonderful! Now, I wanted to poke at your brain a bit, so I've prepared some questions." Nezu pulled out some papers.

"On the second day of school I had Mr. Aizawa give you a prompt to answer. Do you remember what it was?" Izuku racked his brain, pulling out his notebooks to review if he wrote anything about the prompt. "Ah, I think it was 'How can you tell if something is good or evil?'" Izuku stated, Nezu grinned. "That is correct. I wanted to talk about your response. I found it very interesting." Nezu looked down at the papers he had pulled out. "You said, and I quote, 'Humans are evil. Humans manipulate and bargain just for their own self preservation. And while there is nothing necessarily wrong about that, it does make them evil.'You also said, 'How can you tell the difference between good and evil? Can you tell from their quirk? Can you tell from the way they speak? Can you tell from their looks? No.'" The Chimera put the papers on the table. "Can I ask you to elaborate?" Nezu said looking back up at the green-eyed boy. Izuku shifted nervously but nodded. "I believe that good doesn't exist. 'Good' was only created to juxtapose evil. All humans have evil within them, although not everyone may view a person as evil. For example, 'villains' view hero's as 'bad' or 'evil'. While 'heroes' view 'villains' as 'bad' or 'evil'. The whole concept is based on point of view." Izuku finished, eyes locking with the principal, as he cupped his hands tightly around the tea cup in front of him. Nezu's eyes were lit up, and he was grinning. "You have a unique view on the subject, all the other students given the prompt talked about villains as the symbol of evil, and heroes as the symbol of good." Nezu took a sip of his tea. "It's refreshing to see a human who views humans similarly to me." Nezu stated. Izuku's mind was racing, his view was similar to Nezu's?? "I would like you to do something." Nezu said, snapping Izuku out of his head. "What would that be sir?" Izuku spoke. "I would like you to sit in on the hero course classehero-coursehe students, and report back to me." Izuku blinked at the chimera principal, trying to figure out if he heard correctly. Nezu continued, "My goal at this school is to create heroes that aren't limited to viewing the world through the labels of 'Hero' and 'Villain'. The hero commission is preventing me from focusing on this, so I want you to review the students in my place. Judging by our talk today, and your test scores, I believe you are capable of this." Nezu finished. Izuku sat in shock, jaw dropped slightly, eyes blown wide.

"Are you sure you want me for this?" Izuku questioned.

Nezu nodded.

Izuku weighed the pros and cons, before deciding to speak. "Okay, I'll do it."

Nezu grinned, "Glad to hear it!"