In Loving Memory

Well, that's not supposed to happen

First day at UA. Katsuki woke up excited and ready to kick butt for the first few moments he was awake, then remembered Izuku.

Well, that's just peachy.

Though he actually was happy to be at his dream school, it was depressing to think about how excited that the kid he'd known for so long would be to go to UA, or how Deku would pester him about his days at school and how Katsuki would roll his eyes and sigh and reluctantly go on about the friends he didn't make and the people he outshined on day one. He climbed out of bed and got some breakfast, not really feeling like eating but knowing his mom would yell at him if he didn't. He shuffled to school, not quite sure if he should be excited.

The spring cherry blossoms on the trees of their namesake were cheery and beautiful, a nice sense of joy in the world around him. Hundreds of students were entering the school building, the sea of greys and blues and other such colors feeling almost surreal.

Izuku Midoriya was next to Katsuki, floating a few inches above the ground and tailing behind him until it became hard to dodge people and he decided to just float above the crowd. It was a lot to take in, seeing how big the school was and how many people were there. He almost was left behind by Katsuki, so he floated a little faster. Soon, Katsuki had made it to his class. Class 1-A. Izuku floated into the class, looking around as Katsuki took his seat. The class looked simple enough. 20 students. Izuku noticed the purple-haired guy from the entrance exam. Nice. He made it.

"Hi, nice to meet you. I'm Ochaco Uraraka." Izuku smiled, recognizing the girl's voice.

"Ejiro Kirishima." After they had chatted for a while, Kirishima noticed that something was up. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just frustrated. There was this kid who basically saved my life at the entrance exam. Nezu said he checked the tapes and it looks like there was no kid, I just floated in the air. He says that I must have accidentally used my quirk and my memory's all whacked up. But I'm sure the kid was there. He told me he had no points and saved me anyway. He told me his name!"

"Hey, what was his name, anyway?" Kirishima asked. "Maybe I knew him."

"Yeah, he said it was Izuku Midoriya."

"Hm, never heard of-"

Katsuki cut off Kirishima with a hiss. "There's no way you met Izuku Midoriya."

"What do you mean?" Ochaco asked.

"It's impossible. There's no way he was there!" Katsuki was almost yelling, but showing a novel amount of restraint.

"Well he was! And it's so dumb that he couldn't be here! And I think you're being a jerk for thinking so little of someone who saved my life!"

"Nezu's right. Your memory's been messed up," Katsuki huffed ignoring her.

"How rude," Uraraka grumbled. Izuku looked around, wishing he could tell them what happened. The teacher, who called himself 'Aizawa' put the students through quirk testing. Izuku almost felt bad for them all.

The teacher laid outside the door in a violently yellow sleeping bag, slurping at his applesauce pack with a furrowed brow.

Izuku was just as surprised as everyone else and followed the class outside to where they were taking their quirk examination. He was as dazed at the situation as anyone would be, but he was also a bit annoyed—Bold of you to assume I'm not still here, Kacchan—so he decided to cause a bit of confusion. As he had realized during the entrance exam, he could become tangible without being visible, so his first thought was to pick up a ball and throw it into the air. His second was to unravel the teacher's capture weapon. Yeah, that sounds fun. He grinned and tugged at the grungy-looking hero's scarf. The hero stumbled and looked around.

"Who's doing that?"

"Pardon?" A girl with her black hair in a high ponytail looked up, stopping thinking about whatever she'd been pondering so hard about.

"Somebody's using their quirk to tug on my scarf. Who has a second quirk here?"

"I do sir, but it's not telekinesis," A polite-looking boy with red and white hair said. Izuku floated around and finally settled in the air just beside Uraraka. Uraraka, in turn, shivered. Aizawa scanned the area with suspicious eyes, until ultimately deciding to ignore it. The situation had been funny, but it was still an unfamiliar thing to be making fun of people the way his bullies had. The students started a series of quirk tests, something Izuku stayed around for to root for Uraraka and Bakugo from the spirit world.

Eventually, the quirk tests finished, and it was about time for everyone to go home a few hours later. Izuku started down the sidewalk that led home. He must have gone visible by accident, because Uraraka was yelling "Hey Midoriya!" and running down the sidewalk at full speed. He squeaked in surprise and floated a little higher in the air.

"Oh uh, hi Uraraka," He said, surprise the first emotion on his mind. He wasn't sure why she was able to see him.

"It's kinda sad you weren't able to make it into U.A." Uraraka caught up with him.

"Yeah, it's been a dream of mine," Izuku said sheepishly.

"You've got a good quirk."

Izuku pursed his lips as he floated along. He didn't really have a quirk, and felt guilty that she thought as such. "Thanks," he said, lowering to the ground and doing his best to walk. "I heard you got into U.A," he finally added.

"Yeah, it was great! I'm just sad you couldn't be there with me."

"Well, y'know, I guess that's the way things are."

"There was this kid named Bakugo in my class," She said, trotting a bit to catch up with Izuku, who was moving a little too fast by accident.

"Oh?" Izuku raised an eyebrow.

"He was really rude," Ochako grumbled. "He said my memory failed me and that it was impossible that I had met you." Izuku debated telling her about the fact he was dead. Then, he rejected the thought. This was his closest thing to a friend in forever. He couldn't risk scaring her off.

"That's Kaachan for you," Izuku sighed.

"Kaachan?"

"Oh uh, Bakugo," Izuku corrected.

"You know him?"

"Well, obviously, he recognized my name, but we've known each other since we were kids."

"You did?"

"He's so mean," Izuku complained. "But his quirk is great, and he's so smart. He'll be a great hero. Not too popular, though."

"I can't believe you knew him for so long," Ochako marveled.

"Kaachan is a bully. Just back off and try not to make him mad," Izuku said tentatively. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll be fine," she assured him. "Besides, he can't hurt me without getting in trouble."

"Not if there's a practical exercise," Izuku countered nervously. "He's really strong!"

"Well, so am I!"

"Oh, um," Izuku started, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You overestimate his strength, don't you?" she asked gently. "I'll be okay."

"Stay safe, okay?"

"I will."

"Promise?"

"Promise."