This is a little blurb off of Patreon from years ago, but I came across it again and thought I'd share! When considering a rewrite of this book, this is an AU I thought about!

Be warned: writing is old, cringey, and trash. I skimmed it and tried to fix it up but let's be so fr

Or: What if Takashi had become a middle school teacher before Izuku and Bakugo joined UA?

Third person pov

Aldera Junior High was a rather drab school that seemed like it was falling apart from the foundation up. It was a lesser option for most, ranked quite lowly against the other middle schools in the prefecture. It wasn't hard for Takashi Todoroki to get hired on as a teacher for one of the third year classes. A teacher had quit in the middle of the year-- ailed with some sort of illness that wouldn't be letting up anytime soon.

Their rather sudden and early retirement had sent the principal into a frenzy trying to find someone else to replace them. And who better than a young, spry man with a positive attitude and rather powerful quirk to boot? It was perfect!

Takashi was excited! He'd only be their teacher for around five or so months, but he wanted to make the most of it. He was told there were many hero hopefuls in his new homeroom, which was an exciting prospect in and of itself as far as dreams went. Takashi was ready to help them flourish to achieve their goals!

He moved down the roster and tried to commit the names to memory. He was sure they'd be hesitant to welcome a new teacher in after being so adjusted to their old one, but the brunette would have to make do! He was sure he could get them to warm up to him in no time flat.

If there was anything he absolutely loved, it was teaching. It was his greatest passion. Guiding kids and watching them grow mentally and intellectually was absolutely stunning to him, something he wouldn't trade for anything. Knowing he could lessen the strain school brought to so many students made him feel lighter.

Even now, he could still remember his stressful days struggling through middle and high school both. It wasn't fun. Having a good teacher who genuinely cared made all the difference, and he wanted to try and be that teacher for as many kids as possible! Though, he'd never handled older kids before...

Touya had been very encouraging, showering him in kisses and taking him out to celebrate at their favorite restaurant. This job was a pay raise from the kindergarten he'd previously substituted for. This meant Touya wouldn't have to take so many shady jobs! It was too wonderful a thing for him to be nervous long.

Takashi was exuberant. Absolutely overjoyed! He loved working with kids— so what if they were a bit bigger? Little kids were more his forte, but how different could middle schoolers really be? Definitely meaner and hopefully not as messy, but children were children, right?

Probably! Either way, he had very high hopes.

He could hear the class' rambunctiousness before he stepped in. He beamed, pushing open the door. Attention was almost immediately drawn to him. The door was at the front of the room, his new desk right across from him. He allowed his eyes to scan his new students as they wound down, taking their seats somewhat reluctantly.

Much better discipline than the classes he'd substituted for! Not a super high bar seeing as those courses mostly consisted of six-year-olds, but he digressed. Anything was going to be (hopefully) an improvement from his previous kids, so he'd take it all in with as much optimism as possible!

"Hello!" He chirped out cheerfully. A few snickers erupted at his peppy demeanor. Takashi didn't really mind, coming to the front-center of the room and going over the names and faces he could remember from the files he was given. He felt pretty good about it! "My name is Takashi Todoroki! I'll be your new teacher from here on out!"

A few people grumbled... something back at him. It did nothing to deter Takashi's bright grin as he set his bag down on his desk. The room felt cold and not at all personal. He'd asked the principal if he was allowed to decorate and had received a vague wave of a hand.

Takashi was going to assume that meant he had full creative freedom over his space. He was going to go buck wild with it and turn this place into the cozy hovel it was meant to be. It was so uniform and ugly as it was.

Anyone would be stressed in here! And that? That simply wouldn't do. He already had a million ideas running through his mind as to how he could spice it up.

"I hear that a fair number of you want to be heroes!" Takashi exclaimed happily, clapping his hands together. That certainly got their attention.

A few cheers erupted. Takashi observed with keen eyes, his smile not wavering when a few of the bolder in class activated their given powers. One who caught his attention immediately was a boy with blonde hair. Bakugo Katsuki, if he recalled?

His palms were popping with miniscule explosions, his grin wild and cocky. The boy seated in front of him had green hair and was rather curled in on himself, seeming awfully tense. It was an immediate red flag to see him so closed off and defensive. Takashi filed the reaction away for later.

"I'm gonna be the best!" Bakugo Katsuki cackled. Takashi laughed, reaching into his bag.

"Noted!" The cheerful man chirped. He pulled a tupperware box out of his bag, beaming at them. "Now, who wants cookies?"

~~~~~~

To say the class loved Takashi Todoroki would be a gross understatement.

He was far better than their last sensei, who'd been fairly strict and uninterested in them. Takashi took the time to get to know them. He knew all their names by the end of the first day, and most of their quirks on top of it.

They didn't even have to do any work that day either, instead spending the class eating cookies and doing minor icebreakers should they wish to. He told them a bit about himself-- he was married, liked cats, and had taught kindergarten before this. He was a pretty relaxed teacher whom they could talk to if they needed anything!

A few of the students had introduced themselves too, and Takashi encouraged the boldness readily. It was mostly to talk about their quirks, but any positive reception was better than none. One of those kids, again, had been Katsuki Bakugo.

He claimed he'd be number one; a hero stronger than All Might. His classmates seemed to agree, rallying around him with readiness. Takashi watched this all with a happy expression that never swayed.

That didn't mean he wasn't observing keenly, though. Happy expression or not, he could already tell something about this class wasn't all smiles.

He kept finding himself drawn back to Izuku Midoriya. The boy was quiet and drawn in on himself. He kept himself curled around a notebook that didn't appear to belong to any particular subject. He was scared and anxious. Didn't seem to have any friends and showed no attempt to be social.

His peers ignored him entirely, not even acknowledging him. It rubbed Takashi the wrong way. He jotted himself down a quick reminder to check it out, brows furrowing.

The second day brought Takashi's new class into a world of comfortable color. Takashi didn't use too many bright hues, accenting neutral tones with them only when he felt it appropriate. He'd managed to get a massive area rug to span the underneath of all the desks. That way, students were free to take their shoes off if it would make them more comfortable.

There were pillows and blankets available to anyone who needed them, and he'd put up a variety of art pieces that depicted different heroes and animals up. He bordered the white board in frilly pompoms and even put in a few beanbags out, haphazardly shoved into the corners.

The class was ecstatic with the change. What middle schooler wouldn't be?

A few students who weren't his own popped their heads through the door on occasion, taken by the room and jealous. Takashi laughed as his students preened, feeling prideful about having the 'cool' teacher on campus. He learned all the kid's quirks down to a pat, and with them, the fact that Izuku Midoriya... didn't have one.

This made Takashi frown. Not because it wasn't okay not to have a quirk. It absolutely was! That was just who he was, and that was perfectly fine.

There was just a... startlingly high suicide rate. Most quirkless individuals didn't live past their teens, faced with relentless bullying and discrimination. Midoriya Izuku was clearly no stranger to it, hunched into himself and wary. Thus, Takashi kept his eyes peeled for any signs of foul play.

A week passed without anything happening in the classroom. Izuku was still withdrawn though, and Takashi didn't miss the way he flinched every time Bakugo's voice rose. His class had settled into the new norm readily, unaware of their teacher's eyes searching for any hint of wrongdoings to the most anxious student in his class.

He'd wanted to talk to Izuku one-on-one for a while now, but pulling him aside after class was near impossible. He was always out the door as fast as humanly possible, rushing off frantically like he was trying to escape something.

Takashi didn't want to call him out and ask him to stay, either. It could make things worse, or stress him out more than need be. Takashi didn't want to push him— not with how on edge he obviously was.

Luckily, Takashi is patient. He knew someone would slip up. He was still new— the students were all testing the waters because of this. One was bound to hit the deep end of the pool eventually.

He watched his students push the boundaries. Nobody had hit a line yet. He hadn't had to scold anyone, only laughingly asking them to quiet down a few times when the volume rose a little too much. It was only a matter of time before they got bolder-- stepped over the invisible standards Takashi had set for them.

He was the chill, fun teacher! Would listen to their worries and bring them cookies! Surely he wouldn't get them in trouble. He'd wave it off with a laugh and let them go on with their lives. Right?

Wrong. Absolutely fucking wrong. Especially for this.

It was a Tuesday afternoon when the topic of heroes came up. It was a free period for them to study and relax. A few students used this time to do homework or catch up on sleep, whilst others formed groups to revise notes.

Heroes was a common thing that was often talked about. Most conversations were dominated by Katsuki. The other students looked up to him, praised his quirk and his overall 'amazingness' with no qualms. They were afraid of him, Takashi could tell.

Katsuki, with a textbook case of a narcissist personality disorder, couldn't care less about them. He didn't even appear to know their names. It was all very concerning. The kid needed some anger management, stat.

"I still can't believe Midoriya wants to be a hero." One of his students claimed, his fingers elongating. Takashi sat up a little straighter in his seat as the student's index came and tapped on Midoriya's desk, eliciting a flinch from the boy. Takashi felt something in him start to go cold, his gaze trained on the interaction. "Why do you even try? It's not like you'll make it anywhere without a quirk."

This seemed to spur something forth in Katsuki. His grin, cocky previously, turned downright venomous. His eyes turned sharp and predatory.

Midoriya's pupils shrunk down in his panic, his entire body shriveling up and his shoulders hunching up to his ears. He looked like he was on the verge of crying, tremors making their way through his shoulders and down his spine.

Takashi certainly couldn't stand for that. Oh, no, not at all. It was becoming quite obvious the previous teacher hadn't defended Midoriya from any sort of negative attention. Takashi was suddenly quite glad for his early retirement. Someone like that didn't deserve to be in this sort of position.

"Exactly, Deku." Bakugo barked the derogatory name out with a laugh, grinning. "You're just a useless piece of shit. Don't know why you even try. You're just some creepy dumbass who mutters a--"

Takashi slammed his book closed hard and loud, standing up so abruptly that the chair legs screeched against the linoleum. Attention shot to him, but Takashi's gaze was trained on Bakugo.

He was smiling just like he always did, but it seemed... different. Bakugo froze immediately under the stare.

Gone were his teacher's comforting green eyes. His irises had gone blood red, the color beginning to creep up from his fingertips and across his hands. He cocked his head at the boy, something dangerous gleaming across his expression.

Izuku looked up hesitantly, wide eyes landing on their unhappy teacher. The room had gone silent. The temperature seemed to drop significantly.

"That's detention with me tomorrow, Bakugo!" Takashi chirped in his usual tone. It lacked a certain warmth to it, however. A shiver shot down Bakugo's spine. "That's not any way to talk to a classmate, is it? Apologize."

Bakugo's expression dropped like a stone in a pond. Takashi only smiled wider.