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Changing tides

Izuku imagines that in another life, he'd probably be more nervous than he is right now. It's his first day of high school after all. Most people would be a little anxious.

However, standing here, in front of class 1-A's intimidating door, he only feels calm. If not slightly curious as to what he'll encounter on the other side of that particular threshold.

If SAO taught him one thing, it was to always remain calm and cool in the face of uncertainty. Getting scared meant getting sloppy and getting sloppy meant getting killed. It's just the way that things worked. It was either, get emotional and make a mistake, or reign it in and stay focused. Survival at it's finest.

These days, he just had to remind himself that there were no monsters on the other side of these doors. There were only teenagers, and possibly one slightly angry homeroom teacher.

After the entrance exam, he'd gotten a long lecture from Recovery Girl about his reckless and dangerous behavior. Therefore, when he'd gotten a glimpse of the two pro heroes coming towards him in angry strides. He just made a run for it. Successfully managing to avoid them since then. Mic was used to his lack of self-preservation by now. However, Aizawa was not.

Izuku didn't want to go through that particular lecture. He shuddered at the thought. Aizawa could be scary when he wanted to. The man reminded him of Lizbeth when she got worked up about her equipment.

Shaking that thought away, he finally pushed the door open. Familiar voices immediately reaching his ears as he stepped into the room.

With a small sigh, he noted that Aizawa wasn't there yet. However, his momentary relief was cut short as Bakugou's voice rang through the room.

That was another interaction he wasn't looking forward to.

Nodding towards the occupants of the room, he made his way towards the desk adorning his name. He could practically feel the pair of eyes that were burning a hole through his retreating back.

Still, some people shot him a couple of glances. Some of them were even smiling at him or waving. He supposed that's what normal students did to make friends.

He couldn't bring himself to wave back though. He was a solo player and he always will be.

Everyone who got close to him ended up dead. He wasn't going to make that mistake again.

His mind wandered to his other friends. Yui hadn't been able to track them down without their real names. He figured it was for the best.

Yet, he couldn't help the slight sinking feeling that pooled in his stomach. The thought of never seeing them again made his heart ache. They were the only ones who understood. They lost him too.

His musing was interrupted as the blue-haired boy from the entrance exam entered his field of vision. The teen was as rigid as a board as he stood in front of him.

"Hello! My name is Iida Tenya! I must apologize for my actions before the exam! Your selfless actions that day proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that I had deeply misjudged you!" The boy- Iida then proceeded to bow to him, his posture displayed the perfect picture of respect and remorse.

"I- uh- " He fumbled slightly with his words. His bewilderment barely concealed behind his practiced poker face. "Sure..." Doing his best to smile back at the taller teen, he continued. "I'm Ki- Izuku Midoriya. It's nice to meet you Iida." The beaming smile he got in response made the whole interaction worth it.

Iida opened his mouth to say something, but whatever he was about to say was promptly overlapped by the bubbly voice that resounded from behind him.