Trust Falls

A look into the past

It took a few minutes for everyone to pile into the common area comfortably, everyone either sitting on the floor in the middle of the couches or on the couches themselves.

Izuku himself sat on a couch, Hizashi and Shouta on either side of him. Katsuki had decided to act even more like a guard dog and sat on the floor in front of him, shoulder pressed against his leg. Izuku pointedly ignored the kissy faces and smug looks from the class at that and instead shot Katsuki a bright smile.

Once everyone was settled, Izuku looked out over all of the faces eagerly watching and not for the first time wondered if he'd bitten off more than he could chew.

Taking a deep breath, he leaned against Hizashi for a moment and tried to think calm thoughts. He'd had an idea of how to tackle this but now with everyone looking to him for direction it was more than a little intimidating. Which was mind boggling because he'd faced off against all kinds of things in the past three years and survived.

Yet 19 teenagers were going to be what scared him the most. Make it make sense.

"Who wants to go first?"

The words were barely out of his mouth when Iida's hand shot in the air, the teen almost rising from his seat in his eagerness. Izuku was not surprised, had even counted on this. He had a good feeling of what the uptight teen was going to ask, as well, and steeled himself for the inevitable as he pointed to him.

"Forgive me for prying, Izuku, but I feel the need to ask this so I will try and be as tactful as possible." The class president rose from his seat carefully as he spoke, adjusting his glasses nervously. "How did all of this start? I'm finding myself unable to see how someone like yourself could end up with such a high villain ranking."

Izuku relaxed a little, secretly relieved that the teen had phrased the question as tactfully as he had. A part of him expected an outburst like the first day of class.

It still didn't make answering the question any easier but that was a whole other matter. Especially when he could feel Kacchan tensing up as he waited for Izuku to drop the hammer, so to speak.

It was a good thing Izuku had already forgiven the blonde's teen actions otherwise this would get really ugly really quickly.

"Well, it all started when I was four years old and diagnosed quirkless..." He laughed a little, leaning forward a little and daring to run his fingers over the hair on the back of Katsuki's neck, hoping he would understand that he could relax. There were scattered laughs from the class and Izuku flashed them a small smile. "Really, though, it did kind of start there. No one is exactly welcoming of Quirkless kids these days. We're not common in this generation and we're sort of seen as inferior and useless."

The somber nature of the topic settled in over the class and Izuku could feel the tension in Katsuki's shoulders and neck rising, either in worry about what he was about to say or upset at the topic at hand. Izuku couldn't tell but he could also feel the hand Shouta placed on his back to steady him, the underground hero having some idea of where this was going. Izuku could do this. He could tell this version of the story.

"So yeah, not really a pleasant way to grow up, you know? I was mostly okay until one day in the beginning of my second year of middle school. On my way home a villain tried to use me as a shield against a hero that was chasing them..." Izuku paused to gather his thoughts, making sure the way he bit his lip and twisted his fingers into the back Katsuki's shirt made it seem like he was just unhappy reliving the memory and not just thinking over the way to word his next statement.

He had a plan, and this next part was going to be crucial to it.

"When the villain was contained, I took the opportunity to ask that hero if someone like me, quirkless, could still be a hero. They didn't exactly sugar coat what they thought of that." He gave the class a sad smile, not really having to fake this part. Just remembering the man's words that day made him want to curl up in a ball and cry all over again. He didn't think he'd ever be able to shake the intense reaction to the words 'be realistic'. "He couldn't have known, of course, that I wasn't exactly mentally sound at the moment but he left me alone and I kind of spiralled."

The hand on his back gripped at the back of his hoodie and Izuku couldn't help but peek up at Shouta out of the corner of his eye, taking in the absolute rage shining in his dark eyes. That was...surprising. He looked away quickly and cleared his throat, shifting a little so he could pet Katsuki's hair a little more to calm himself.

It was a testament to how upset the rest of the class was that no one made a comment on it, all of them silent and staring at him with troubled looks. He hadn't really thought they'd be this upset by his words. Even Katsuki was just letting him do as he pleased with his hair as he talked.

Maybe...this hadn't been the best plan of action?

"Uh, sorry, I got off topic a little. Um. Long story much shorter, I attempted to hurt myself that night and someone stopped me. Someone..uhhh. with..a..less than healthy disregard for the law? That works. He patched me up and gave me a place to stay when I decided I didn't want to go home."