Post Vitam

Chapter 131

When Izuku sat down at his desk for the first time in a while it was quite the strange experience. The amount of things that have happened between the last time he was seated here and now was staggering. So unlike the rest of the class who had gotten somewhat used to it, Izuku jumped slightly when the door burst open and his dad entered with a scowl. Izuku knows there's no malice behind it, just tiredness so he can't help the small smirk he's trying to hide. It seems not many others have noticed that so when the words "Be seated." filled the air, most of them scurried and cut off their talking immediately.

"Now I know a lot has happened, for some more than others" his dad started the morning lecture by gazing at his son and carried on. "But the battle is far from over!"

A few of his classmates tensed looking around for attackers, then it dawned on him. For nearly everyone else the USJ attack was the most recent thing to happen to them. Izuku almost snorted with laughter at the thought of that. To be so lucky! The tension remained as the words "Prepare yourselves!" rang around the room. Alone for a loud groan to overtake it as Aizawa-sensei finished with "for the sports festival!"

The groan shifted into relaxation as there was no threat and turned into excitement with idle chatter granting a general noise to the room. Kaminari raised his hand and was given the chance to speak. "Aizawa-sensei, I thought it was cancelled after the USJ. . ."

A grim tone spread across Aizawa's face as he said "Apparently it's more important to show that we aren't weak to the public. Nezu has done all he can and strengthened security to such a ridiculous degree, it would be suicide to try and attack the event."

That apparently eased some of the fear that hung in the air and the excitement was now genuine. No doubt sensing there was no chance to regain control Izuku gave his dad a bemused smirk. This earned him an eyeroll and the words "Self study for the rest of the period" ringing out across the noise of his class. This of course was code for "I'm taking a nap" and no sooner had he said that the Yellow caterpillar of Class 1-A was in their midst again.

Much of the morning went the same way. No teacher could get the full attention of the class, it looked though like they had expected it. Must be the same every year once the festival is announced. Izuku knew it was a big deal, It's the nation's largest sporting event of the year after all. It wasn't till he had lived with the old man that Izuku had even watched it on tv before in its entirety, only sneaking a few minutes or watching clips later online. Still he found it all a bit, well, much. Once he managed to see it fully the overdone spectacle of it only reinforced he never would've gotten to join without a quirk. He wondered if it'll still feel like that now that he's participating.

When the bell for lunch rang Class 1-A found their way blocked and the hallway filled to the brim with students. "What's going on?" Uraraka asked Izuku as they stood waiting to exit. Then a smug voice reached everyone's ears. "We are here to see our so-called 'competition' for the top place at the festival, frankly I'm not impressed."

Izuku rolled his eyes, someone that boisterous is clearly insecure. This was getting annoying and he wanted to go to lunch already. So he moved to the front of the class to where Kacchan was remaining remarkably calm. He cleared his throat using his sister's quirk to make it louder than anything else. The chatter stopped and every eye was on him. Especially that of the smug blonde who spoke earlier.

Izuku's tone came off as bored when he said "I Like comparing dicks as much as the next horny teenager but can you move so we can go to lunch already?" This earned him a few chuckles and snorts as the smug blonde gurgled a noise of surprise. Well that and protests from Iida-kun about inappropriate student conduct. Izuku just glared at him then looked back at Uraraka. He got the unspoken message as his face turned red and he grew silent.

The smug blonde seemed to be broken as he just kept standing there. Izuku sighed deeply then said "Move or be moved blondie" This seemed to snap him back to reality as he smugly replied "I'd like to see you try"

Izuku laughed and Class 1-A tensed sending calming phrases his way.

"He's not worth it Deku-kun"

"Please don't hurt him too much"

"Think about what your dad will say"

Izuku looked around at all of his nearly panicking classmates and smirked. "Chill guys, I'm not going to do anything to him"

The smug blonde laughed and judging by his next words alone had no idea who Izuku was. "Why are the rest of you so worried? 1-A must be really weak if this shorty is the best they have and he scares the rest of them."

The whole of class 1-A took a collective step back and mumbled condolences to the smug blonde. Now Izuku has a thick skin, years of insults and actual abuse will do that. For some reason though his height was and probably will always be a sore spot for him. The smile vanished from his face. His eyes glowing that toxic green again. "What did you just call me?" he asked, making his voice echo over itself with Izumi's quirk again.

"Oh, touch a nerve did I?" he chuckled

Izuku walked closer to him and the difference in height was even more apparent now, he floated himself to the blonde's height so they were face to face. "One." he said

"What?" the blond smirked

"One punch, give it to me. Your best" Izuku said, turning his cheek as if to offer it.

"W-w-why?" he stammered looking pale at Izuku's actions

"Not going to take your chance then? It's a freebie, you're so confident in yourself. Show us how much stronger you are than 1-A then." Izuku mocked him

The blonde paled even more and wanted to take a step back but the mob he brought with him was still blocking the hallway from both sides so he had nowhere to go. Either punch someone clearly not afraid of him or run away and admit he's full of shit. These were the choices Izuku had forced him into. His face got red, clearly annoyed at having the situation turned around on him.

"Fine then, you asked for it!" he said and pulled his arm back for the punch. He launched his fist and it connected with Izuku's jaw. The air filled with a sick crunching sound everyone had assumed Izuku had his jaw broken. Instead it was the blond who recoiled and cried out in pain holding his now limp and swollen hand. The skin on Izuku's face showed he had used his replication of Kirishima's quirk.

Behind the blonde a girl with red hair clicked her tongue in annoyance "That's what you get for trying to act tough Monoma, idiot." She picked him up off of the floor where he had curled in on himself crying from the pain. Her hand turned huge and she moved aside the students blocking the way to the infirmary. Class 1-A took their chance then too and left through the gap.

Behind him Kacchan came closer and tugged at his sleeve making Izuku turn around and face him. He relaxed and his skin became smooth again as he was pulled into a slow and deep kiss. When they broke apart Kacchan told him "You're perfect at any height, Izu"

Izuku blushed as he took his hand and they left for the cafeteria too, not minding a comment about his height for the first time ever. Kacchan really can do everything he found himself thinking.