Work Text:
Denki has a glare set on his face. Eyes set. Brow slanted. Lips pressed together in a thin line. He stepped onto the stage and looked out upon the crowd. The entire school had assembled to watch seven to ten students from each year present their assignment. Said assignment was given to these students for one reason and one reason only. To embarrass and punish. And Denki was going to put an end to it.
He had watched five students be punished because of their poor grades. These students were struggling in class and instead of receiving aid they were given an additional assignment. Their assignment was to make a presentation on their worst subject and present it in front of the entire school. Denki had watched five students have their pride ripped away as the people they considered friends snickered in the audience.
Denki Kaminari sets down his two page essay side by side on the podium. He glances down, takes a deep inhale, and clears his throat.
“My name is Denki Kaminari. My assignment was to make a presentation on the subject math, but I took a slightly different approach.” He hears murmurs from the audience and he clenches his jaw. He can imagine what the murmurs are saying.
Different approach? He must be trying to get around doing actual work.
What a moron, can’t even complete an assignment.
This is why the project was created, for idiots like him.
He shakes his head and carries on. “Are you aware that thirty-seven percent of students between the age thirteen and eighteen are struggling with math?” The murmuring quiets. “I sent out an anonymous survey after I was given this assignment asking students which subject they struggle with the most. Not the subject they are failing, but what they are struggling with. Out of the nearly seven hundred students, ninety-five percent responded. Ninety-five percent of seven hundred is approximately six hundred and sixty five students. And of those students thirty-seven percent of them responded that they struggle the most with math. That amounts to nearly two hundred and forty seven students, just a little larger than one class size here at UA.
“Now, I may be horrible at math, but I know two hundred and forty seven is a large amount. Too large for such a prestigious school. These students aren’t struggling because we’re stupid. Because not a single of us would be here, in this school, if we were stupid. Each one of us students had to pass the same exact entrance exam, so no we’re not stupid. I’m more than certain that we’re just struggling. Struggling with things like ADHD, ADD, dyscalculia, dyslexia, and other learning disorders. All of these are things that teachers should have caught. That the school system should have caught. But people like us slip through the cracks and are belittled instead of helped.” Denki takes a breath, breaking eye contact from the paper to look at the audience. The faculty that he called out was sitting in the front row. Denki finds Aizawa’s eyes, which hold oceans of guilt and regret. Good.
“Research shows that forty to sixty percent of students have experienced text anxiety. Twenty-six percent of students say that they always feel anxiety before a test. Test anxiety can cause people to experience stomach aches, nausea, headaches, shaking and sweating. It also can make students completely blank out on the material. Students become so overwhelmed that they feel paralyzed. No age is exempt from this experience.” Denki glances down at the final paragraph of his paper with a smile. “For the remaining part of my speech, do pardon my french.”
“In conclusion, this project is bullshit. The only reason it was written was to embarrass the lowest achieving students in hope that they’ll put more effort into their work. But if that was the goal, you’re fucking stupid. The students on stage today need help, guidance, not punishment. They will think that school is just like society. And at this rate, I have a feeling that UA is going to turn out more vigilantes and villains than actual heroes. There is no support here. Just people pushing out machines and not caring about the outcome. I’ve been struggling in the school system for years because numbers bounce around the page and nothing processes in my brain. But instead of asking why, the people who are supposed to help, hand you back your failed test with a disappointed look while your classmates snicker and wonder, out loud, how someone to stupid could be in their class. And on the rare occasion that the words “see me” are written on the test, the teacher berates you and tells you that you need to spend more time studying than fooling around and never once asks if you are having problems.” Denki cuts off, finding his fists clenched and shaking. There are tears in his eyes. He shakily exhales, looking out at the audience.
“That is why I've made the executive decision to leave UA.” Denki doesn’t take a second glance as chatter erupts from the students and staff alike. He saunters off stage and exits before anyone can stop him. He mind was made up, if society was only going to see him as a lazy, stupid, and unreliable person he was going to leave that society. Denki didn’t know where he was going to go, but he sure wasn’t spending any more time here.
As soon as all eyes are off him he makes a run for it. After Denki sent out his survey, a plan was set in motion. A plan along with a stream of intrusive thoughts. This assignment, along with the damaging words of his classmates, brought down Denki in ways he didn’t think was possible. He was at a new low, but his plan was still a go.
He speeds to the restroom down the hall, running to the last stall where he planted his duffle bag. He climbs onto the sink and kicks out the window at the top of the wall. Out first goes his duffle bag, then Denki himself.
Now all there’s left to do is run.