Chapter 41

*THIS CHAPTER MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM THE MANGA, READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION* The events in this book are not entirely canon—for obvious reasons—but there are still some canon details.

The class of 1-A chatted among themselves enthusiastically, ecstatic to have their green bean back with them. The past month had been quite dull without his constant mumbling and bright smile. It was safe to say that the entirety of the class missed him. They even missed the explosive blond too. The classroom just wasn't the same without those two, and they couldn't wait to see them again.

There was one student among them all that stared intently at the door, waiting for the greenette to step through. He had a tasty gift waiting at his desk, so he anxiously waited for him to make an appearance.

"You sure are excited to see Midoriya, aren't you mon amour?" Mina teased as she elbowed the sparkling blond's shoulder gently. Aoyama brushed his hair back with a chuckle, smiling up at the pinkette.

"Why of course, ma cherí. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for him without eating some delicious cheese oh mon dieu!" He exclaimed, putting a hand over his heart dramatically. Mina laughed, pointing towards the door with a goofy grin.

"Then what are you waiting for? MIDOBABY YOU'RE FINALLY BACK!" She squealed, bolting towards the door where a mop of curly green hair popped through. She tackled the surprised boy, Uraraka, Kaminari, and Kirishima tagging along.

" OI he's still fucking injured you idiots! Get off him!" Katsuki's growled, having walked in after his boyfriend. He pushed the extras off the greenette with a scowl, making them pout.

"No fair, Bakubro! You had him for an entire month, let us have this!" Kirishima whined, earning a chuckle from Izuku.

"I missed you guys too. Being bed bound was torture. I'm glad to be back," he said, smiling softly. Uraraka helped him up, noticing that his arm was no longer in a cast.

"Oh, you finally got your cast off! Weren't you supposed to take it off tomorrow?"

"I kinda convinced Recovery Girl to take it off today," Izuku smiled sheepishly, making Katsuki click his tongue.

"Fucking nerd wouldn't stop complaining about how much his arm itched. The old lady only took it off to prevent her ears from bleeding out," the explosive blond snorted, making Izuku blush slightly.

"Kacchan!"

"You still owe me for what you did yesterday," Katsuki said, glaring at the greenette.

"It was in the spur of the moment! It just...came out!" Izuku defended, already backing away.

The class erupted in laughter, relief flooding through them at listening to the couple's back and forth bickering. Everything was finally back to normal, their presence had brought back the missing piece. That, and the recent classmate that had joined their class.

"It seems like I'll have to get used to this now," a familiar voice spoke, catching the attention of the greenette. His jade eyes widened as he smiled brightly, walking over to the newcomer.

"Shinso! What are you doing here?" Izuku exclaimed happily, now standing in front of the purple-eyed male.

"Since the little grape guy was expelled, Aizawa asked me to transfer here, and Nezu approved it. So here I am," Shinso explained, giving a small shrug.

"Wait, Mineta was expelled!" Izuku's gasped, receiving a few murmurs of confirmation.

"Why yes, mon amour. He was caught placing cameras in the girl's dressing rooms," Aoyama sighed, shaking his head in disapproval. Izuku's eyes widened. The last time Mineta was sent to Nezu's office, he had been let off with a warning and a week of detention. Thankfully, his homophobic slurs had ceased, but he would still look at him in disgust.

"What he did was so unmanly, bro. I'm surprised he didn't get expelled the first time," Kirishima commented, and Katsuki scoffed.

"About fucking time," he grumbled, throwing his arm over Izuku's shoulders and pulling him close. The greenette blushed lightly, but gave him a relieved smile, which he returned. A loud squeal had them covering their ears as they turned their attention to the two squealing girls rolling around on the floor.

"Uhh...are they alright?" Izuku asked, genuinely worried. Kaminari and Sero laughed, patting his shoulder reassuringly.

"Oh, they're fine. They're just having a fangirl overload," Sero explained, making Izuku chuckle. Well. It made sense.

They were quieted down by Iida, who instructed them to their seats as their homeroom teacher made his way inside the classroom. Everyone scrambled to their seat, Izuku having seen the carefully prepared cheese platter on top of his desk. He smiled brightly as he turned to face Aoyama, who winked at him with a cheeky smile.

Their homeroom teacher made their way inside, instantly locking eyes with Izuku. His eyes then flickered to the cheese platter on his desk, but, for today, he would simply brush it off. Aizawa welcomed him back, making the rest of the students cheer and blood rush to Izuku's cheeks for the attention. The lesson then started, and, thanks to Katsuki, the greenette was caught up in his studies. A sense of content and familiarity spread through Izuku's body. It felt so good to be back.

Once their first lesson was over, the greenette quickly shared the cheese with his classmates, knowing that their next teacher wouldn't be as forgiving as Aizawa when it came to food in class. It didn't take long for the students to devour the whole thing, deeply satisfied with Aoyama's choices. If there was something Aoyama was extremely good at, was his cheese preferences. 

As they rushed to their next class, a single student carefully separated themselves from the rest. HIs phone buzzed inside his pocket, a chill running down his spine. There was only one person that would contact him in the middle of a school day. And he would be dammed if he didn't answer.

With a heavy heart, the boy hid around an empty corner. All of the students were supposed to be inside their classrooms, so he didn't have to worry about anyone eavesdropping. Shakily, he grabbed his phone, the nonstop buzzing making his heartbeat quicken with dread. Looking both sides of the empty hallway, making sure no one really was around, he let out an anxious breath to his mouth before answering the phone. 

"Alright, settle down!" Present Mic ordered, the students immediately scrambling to their seats. He began the role call, noting that one of the students was missing. Confused, the teacher turned his attention to Iida, questioning if the student had not attended school overall. 

"Huh? No, he should be here. He was back in Mr. Aizawa's lesson." The class president answered, just as confused as the teacher. The rest began murmuring among themselves, no worried that something might have happened to him.

Hagakure raised her hand, Present Mic acknowledging her and giving her permission to speak up. "I-Is it okay if I go search for him? He was right with us when we were walking in the hallway, I doubt he would be too far from here."

The teacher pondered for a moment, before giving a swift nod and placing his hands on top of his desk. "Alright, you can go. If you can't find him within five minutes, come back here and report back to me, alright? Take Jirou with you. You're allowed to use your quirk to locate him."

Both girls nodded, standing up from their seats to hurriedly start their search. Once outside, Jirou plugged her earphone jack's onto the ground and focused. After a few seconds, she managed to pick up a faint sound of footsteps, and her head whipped up to look up at Hagakure. She straightened up, pointing to their right, "this way!"

Hagakure nodded, turning in the direction Jirou had pointed at and running in hopes of finding their classmates. After reaching the end of the hallway, Jirou repeated the same actions, pointing her finger to their left and hurrying along. It didn't take them long to hear hushed whispers, and they instinctively slowed their footsteps, making their approach as silently as possible. 

"Are you out of your mind?!" Aoyama's clear voice whisper-shouted, alerting the girls. "I-I can't do that!"

Preoccupied Jirou plugged a single earphone jack onto the wall, picking up on the voice on the other side of the conversation Aoyama seemed to be having. Once she heard the response to Aoyama's small outburst, every fiber in her body froze in fear. Hagakure gauged her reaction, eyes widening at the utter fear that flashed across Jirou's reaction. Something wasn't right.

"It will be a shame if I have to remind you what refusing orders will turn out for you," All for One taunted, yet there was no playfulness underlying his tone of voice. "You've been a good spy for me, Aoyama. I doubt that this last task will be too hard for you, will it?"

"N-No," the boy stammered, his voice shaky. "But...how will I even make it past security? It's an incredibly difficult task."

All for One chuckled darkly, sending bad chills down both, Aoyama's and Jirou's spine. Hagakure was still unaware about who the man on the other side of the call was, but given her friend's reaction, and Aoyama's words, she had a good idea as to who it could be. She shook her head in disbelief, hand going up to cover a low gasp as her eyes watered.

"I'm sure you will figure it out. You have thirty minutes to take down U.A's security system. Fail to do so, and your parents are as good as gone."

"Wait—" Aoyama tried to protest, but the line had already gone dead. "Fuck!"

Trembling, Jirou reached out for Hagakure's arm, tears rolling down her eyes as she unplugged the jack from the wall. Her heartbeat increased as anxiety creeped up on her, chest rising and falling as she fought against confronting their classmate, or rushing back to report to their teacher and everyone else. Aoyama was still hidden around the corner, giving them time. Hagakure immediately snapped out of her shocked state, pulling at her friend and taking the chance to run back towards Present Mic's classroom. 

The faint sound of retreating footsteps had Aoyama jump in alarm, eyes widening as he peaked at the hallway the two girls recently stood. The crippling sensation that he had been caught had the hair on his arms standing, immediate panic flooding his senses. If someone had eavesdropped in on his conversation, he was done for! Whoever it was must be on their way to alert someone, and if that was the case, then he had to act, now!

Cursing under his breath continuously, Aoyama ran away in the direction the security room was supposed to be located in. His breathing was ragged, each step feeling heavier than the previous as he focused on the task at hand. As much as he didn't want to...he had to. He had to protect his parents!

Meanwhile, Jirou and Hagakure ran inside Present Mic's classroom, alerting everyone as they breathed heavily, eyes wide with fear. "Present Mic!!"

The way their voice shook had everyone standing up from their seats, rushing over the two girls with worry etched on their faces. The teacher approached them, trying to calm them down. "Whoa, take it easy girls. What's going on? Is Aoyama alright?!"

"H-He's—," Hagakure stuttered out, a sob escaping her lips as she kneeled down on the floor. "Aoyama...he's the t-traitor."

The broken, whispered words that came out of her mouth took everyone by surprise. Izuku stepped forward, a bad feeling settling in his gut, eyes wide as he took in the sudden information. Before he, or anyone else, could speak up, Jirou continued for Hagakure. 

"When we found him...he was on the phone with A-All for One. He was told to take the security system down. They're making their move, right now!" 

A grim expression overtook Present Mic's features, processing the information he was given. For a second, he hesitated. How could he be sure that the two girls were speaking the truth? It was a harsh accusation, claiming that Aoyama was the traitor among them. But...why would they lie about such thing? Why would they come rushing in, crying and in disbelief? They couldn't be lying...which meant one thing.

"Students...put your hero costumes on, right now." The man ordered, immediately turning to his desk. "I will alert everyone else, you go report to Aizawa and stop Aoyama!"

Izuku shook were he stood, feeling as his chest tightened up at the turn of events. His heart pounded inside his chest, placing his shaky hands against his forehead as he tried controlling his breathing. Out of all the people that could be the traitor...why Aoyama? Just...why?!

"Oi!!" Katsuki called out, noticing Izuku's change of demeanor. He had to snap him out of it, this was no time to go having a panic attack! "You need to breathe, Izu. As hard as this must be on you right now, you will have to push it to the back of your head. I'm right here for you, nerd. We need to get moving, now!"

Normally, Katsuki would take his time, comfort him and speak him through it. But now, as much as he hated it, they had to get into their costumes and get the fuck out of the classroom to hunt down Aoyama. Thankfully, his words were enough to bring Izuku back out of the inevitable state of mind he had fall down to. Katsuki breathed out a small air of relief, pulling the greenette in for a tight hug.

"You're right, let's go."

*  *  *

Glancing down at his watch, Aoyama noted that he only had ten minutes to get his mission done and over with. There was no way that teachers hadn't been alerted, which made him move faster. He had arrived at the front of the security room's door, raising a trembling fist to hastily knock on the door. If he was being honest, he did not know what the fuck he was doing, or how the fuck he would even get near the security system. But he had to do something.

The door to the security room opened, a tall, looming figure stepping in front of Aoyama, making him gulp audibly. "What are you doing here, kid? This is no place for a student to be luring around."

"M-My teacher had me send out a...uhh, message?" Aoyama made up, cringing at his own lame excuse. The man raised an eyebrow at his blatant lie, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Oh, really? That's funny, because...your teacher just called to alert of a certain student planning to take down our security system. Sounds familiar?" 

Aoyama froze in place, eyes widening as he got caught red handed. What will he do now?! 

The man reached out his hand to grab a hold of Aoyama's shoulders, making him flinch and shout an apology as he blasted his beam at the guard. The man yelped, the force of the attack knocking him back into the security room. Aoyama jumped over him, taking the small opportunity he had to get inside the room. Three other men now stood, charging at him and yelling into a radio as Aoyama fought them off. Five minutes left!

Somehow, he managed to push off the guards, giving him a sliver of time to shoot his beam at the security panel. He wasn't sure it would work, but he'd be dammed if he didn't try! 

The moment his beam made contact with the panel, static could be heard as sparks shot out from the controls. He stumbled backwards, covering his eyes. Guards shouted at one another, running to the security panel to inspect it as an object quickly captured the boy. Aoyama's eyes widened, his eyes taking in the situation at hand. Did he do it..?

His attention then shifter to the scarf around him, his body tensing as he hesitantly looked to the side. The moment his eyes landed on his homeroom teacher, he began trembling as his eyes welled up with tears. He had been caught, but it was already too late! 

His eyes then landed on Izuku, the greenette looking at him in disbelief, hurt, and upmost betrayal. Aoyama couldn't stop the sob that left his lips, tears rolling uncontrollably down his cheeks as he gave Izuku an apologetic look, ashamed of himself. "I'm sorry, Midoriya."