Chapter Text
"Stop! Kacchan, please. We need to think of a plan togeth-" The pain wasn’t the first thing Izuku registered in his mind. First, he heard the crunch of bones giving way against metal. Then he felt the familiar warmth of blood dripping down his nose. The vile taste of iron stained his lips before he could cover his crushed nose.
"SHUT UP, DEKU!" Kacchan had hit him. Nothing new for him, except for the added weight of the gauntlet. "I have no time for your whining; I’m going to defeat All Might on my own!"
Izuku tried to make a grab for Kacchan with the hand not holding his nose. Before he could shoot himself away, loud static from a speaker stopped them—Aizawa’s monotone voice felt tighter than usual to Izuku.
"Bakugou, stop where you are." The teen looked up at the speaker with his typical frown.
"What the fuck is happening?"
"Bakugou Katsuki, student number 17, class 1-A, has hit his partner unprovoked and out of training. Therefore, this exam is terminated.”
"WHAT!" both Katsuki and Izuku exclaimed—the former in anger and confusion and the other in a shocked whisper.
"Both students, please come back to the bus that will be waiting at the entrance. Stay where you are until you can be accompanied by All Might. Do not engage physically in any way." The end of the static somehow felt louder than when it was playing.
Izuku spun his head from the speaker to Kacchan. For a second, Izuku doubted if he had heard the announcement correctly, but the other’s face made it very clear that he did. He had a blank expression he had never seen before.
After years of walking on eggshells around Kacchan, he was very adept at reading people's moods and predicting their reactions. However, he had no precedent for this situation. He swallowed his immediate questions of concern and weighed his options. Right at that moment, he noticed the shaking of the teen’s hands. Paying more attention, he heard the muttering.
"Failure, failure, failure..." It was very unusual for him to mutter; he hated it since he started to lose his hearing due to his quirk.
All Might spotted them when he landed at the mouth of the alleyway. He had heard the announcement as well and wondered what kind of injury Young Bakugo would have caused. Seeing the blood trickle through Young Midoriya’s hand, he was sure the boy had at least a broken nose.
"...Kacchan?" All Might heard Midoriya ask in a soft voice while reaching out to the other teen. He wondered how he could be so kind to the boy that had just broken his nose.
When the other teen turned, his face was stoic for a moment before rage seemed to wash over him. He saw him raise his gauntlet and reach for the safety pin while pointing directly at Midoriya.
"THIS IS YOUR FAU-" before he could finish the sentence and shoot his explosion, All Might had already disarmed him and placed the grenades out of reach.
"Enough, Young Bakugou." All Might didn’t shout, but his voice was firm and authoritative. "You will not engage with each other until we reach the viewing room."
"Yes, All Might!" Izuku tried to speak up, but his voice got caught in his throat. He straightened up, looking down to allow the blood to flow freely. In his experience, it was the best thing to do in these situations. His mentor’s voice showed disappointment, his thoughts beginning to spiral.
‘I messed up again. I keep failing All Might. If I hadn’t provoked Kacchan, none of this would have happened. What will Aizawa-sensei say? Maybe he’ll finally have enough and expel me. I don’t even know how many times I’ve made him frustrated with me.’
Katsuki was still standing in the same place where the hero had taken away his grenades. He stared at his hands like they held the answers to the universe. Izuku almost spoke up, but thinking it over he stopped himself before he could. Nevertheless, Kacchan had noticed. With long strides, he pushed past him to the entrance. He refused to look at the other teen the rest of the way back.
When they walked into the viewing room, all their classmates stared at them. Some with concern and others in confusion. Recovery Girl walked quickly to Izuku and made him sit down to check his nose.
"Bakugo, you have assaulted one of your classmates, unprovoked, intentionally, and while they were a teammate and not a training partner." Katsuki’s eye twitched and his hair puffed up; regardless, he stayed quiet for the moment. "Your behavior has shown your lack of judgment, and your inability to communicate efficiently. As you heard, you have failed the exam."
"HUHH!?"
"As of right now, you will be suspended for the rest of this week's classes and will not be allowed to attend the training camp." Aizawa-sensei ignored him and continued talking as if the interruption hadn’t happened.
"Deku’s cowardice is getting me suspended! Why am I getting punished for wanting to fight? If he wanted to be a whiny baby, that's not my fault!" The vein on Kacchan’s forehead looked ready to pop. This is it, Izuku thought. This was when Aizawa-sensei would turn to him, realizing it was his fault. He’d yell at him for holding Kacchan back, being a coward, and making them lose precious time.
"I see you don’t realize what’s wrong with your actions. Very well, during your suspension, you will have to write an essay about the importance of teamwork in three specific cases I will assign you. If you don’t complete the assignment, you cannot retake the exam." Aizawa-sensei's voice left no room for argument. That has never stopped Kacchan, so as always, he made his own room.
"You have to be joking! All of this because Deku is a failure? I’m getting punished because I wanted to fight. Isn’t that what heroes are supposed to do? WIN?" Katsuki knew better than to let out his explosions right now, but he was incredibly tempted.
"You lost before you even started, Bakugou. A hero is there to serve others before themselves. Although you’re right about winning, Midoriya’s cowardice won’t make you fail.” Izuku saw Aizawa-sensei’s eyebrow twitch, he straighten from his usual slouch and stared deeply into Katsuki’s eyes. "Because Midoriya wasn’t a coward."
‘What the hell?’ Izuku thought. However, he only let out a quiet, confused noise.
"He wanted to strategize before charging into a battle with negative odds. You only have yourself to blame for your actions. However, I must take some of the blame as well. I planned the matches. I thought this fight would help Midoriya fight against someone he viewed as too strong and for you to learn to fight together with others; it can mean life or death in this field, and you choose to charge blindly with nothing but your stubbornness."
His teacher finally turned to him, as he had been expecting him to do this the whole time. He was not anticipating what he actually said to him.
"I apologize for the position I put you in." Aizawa bowed slightly.
Izuku stared at him dumbfounded for a couple of seconds before comprehending what had happened. He tried to wave his hands frantically, but Recovery Girl pushed them down so she could keep examining his nose.
"It’s okay! I'm fine, really. I should have tried harder. I was the one annoying and provoking Kacchan." His voice had a nasal tone to it.
“Dearie, your nose is broken." said Recovery girl poking at the sides of his nose.
"I don’t need your help." Katsuki exclaimed.
"According to what I saw, you’re not to blame. Either way, my decision won’t change." Sensei’s word was final.
Izuku’s first thought was ‘Welp, I’m dead meat.’ He knew Kacchan wasn’t going to take this lying down. Yet, a part of him grew hopeful. No teacher had ever stood up for him. Aizawa-sensei had already shown that he would stop Kacchan from harming him. When he thought about it, the only times he had hurt him at UA never happened in front of Sensei.
"Now, let’s talk about Midoriya retaking the exam."
"HUH? Why is he getting to take it again if he didn’t even do anything?" Aizawa seemed to have reached his limit and just covered Katsuki’s mouth with his capture weapon.
"Exactly, Bakugo. He didn’t do anything to foil his exam." Sensei used his quirk to emphasize his point. "You’ll take your exam tomorrow, against another Pro hero. Same rules apply."
"Will he fight a Pro alone?" Yaoyorozu asked with a faint frown on her face.
"No, he is able to pick a classmate from the ones that failed their exams." Turning back to him, he said, "Think it over and make a decision in no more than 10 minutes, please."
Izuku wasted no time in pulling out his pocket notebook to organize his thoughts.
"To those students, this is a unique opportunity due to unforeseen circumstances. Do not waste it. I will trust you not to plan anything with your partner before the allowed time; do not disappoint me." Aizawa moved out of the way between Izuku and the class, dragging a struggling Bakugou behind him.
"Yes, sir"
"Stay still while I set your nose, so I can heal it correctly." Without further warning, she just pushed his nose in place. He flinched a little in surprise, but it wasn’t overly painful. The healer hero kissed his cheek, and the pain ceased completely.
"Please line up so Midoriya can know his options." Mina, Kaminari, Kirishima, Sero, and Satou lined up in front of Midoriya.
"Oh. That's a difficult choice," said Yaoyorozu.
Izuku immediately thought of Kirishima with his brute force and great defense. Plus, he was a team player and very friendly. Despite that, he knew his choice almost right away.
"Ashido-san, would you be my partner for the exam?" He managed to ask in a small voice with minimal struggle. He wasn’t used to talking to girls in general, least of all Mina, since he didn’t interact with her that much. However, the fact that she wasn’t likely to make fun of him gave him some courage.
"Really? For sure, Midoriya, we'll crush it!" Ashido’s face lit up, and she got closer to him while bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“Yeah," he managed to say with a confident tone in his voice.
"We’re done for the day; head back to the changing rooms," Aizawa instructed the students. "Bakugou, stay back." The usual teasing noises Sero and Kaminari would make didn’t seem appropriate for the situation, so they refrained.
Katsuki had been uncharacteristically quiet since sensei release him a couple of minutes ago. He grimaced about the command but didn’t argue.
While the students were walking to the changing rooms, Ashido called out to Izuku. He told Todoroki and Uraraka to keep going.
"Hey, Midoriya. Thank you for picking me as a partner." She flashed him a sunny smile. "I was just wondering, why me? Like I'm pumped, don't get me wrong, but I thought you'd pick Kirishima for sure," Mina tilted her head.
"Well, I did consider you both. I guess my first instinct was to pick you." Since he was looking down, he didn’t notice the touched expression on Ashido’s face. "Your quirk is amazing for long and short-distance attacks, and your speed and strength make you a good fighter even without it. Also, you’re good in a team and friendly to everyone. I think I thought that you would be nice to work with." Izuku kept his eyes down and nervously moved his hands during his explanation. Suddenly Ashido’s hands came into view, and she grabbed both of his hands in between hers.
"Midoriya, I’ll be the best teammate ever. You won’t regret it." Her bubbly voice was fiercer than usual. "Let’s kick ass tomorrow!"
"Yeah!" He choked a little on his words, his face on fire.
She let go of his hands and started to run to the changing rooms.
"See you tomorrow, partner!" she waved backward.
"See you," he waved back, but even if he had raised his voice, she was too far away to hear. He smiled to himself; his nerves were going down now.
While he walked home after class, his thoughts swam in his head. So much had happened that he had no idea where to begin to untangle it. Weirdly, as soon as he went to bed, his mind went silent, and he fell asleep immediately.
Aizawa got mentally prepared for the phone call he needed to have. After a long breath, he dialed the number.
"Hello?" Said the voice on the other side of the phone.
"Hello, I need a favor."