Chapter Text
Four thirty a.m.
Izuku isn’t quite not sure whether he’s sick, hungry, or terrified. probably a combination of all three. As he lays there trying his darndest not to puke, he closes his eyes and the next thing he knows All Might's voice is ringing through his head. he lets it repeat a few times while he sikes himself up to move then flops over to his side and squints at his phone, jabbing his fingers at the screen to silence the alarm. Letting his phone drop he again lays motionless for a few moments until he hears a soft knock on his door and glances over his shoulder to see his mother peeking in
"Happy first day!" she says in a whisper yell.
"It's just a retreat, we're not actually starting yet."
"Close enough," she replies before retreating to the living room. Finally dragging himself out of bed he pulls on the shorts and t-shirt he laid out the night before. Making his way to the bathroom Izuku stares at himself for a good few minutes before slowly brushing his teeth. He picks up a brush, looks at it, and puts it back down with a small sigh. He learned about halfway through middle school that it's completely pointless to try an d control the green curls that live atop his head.
After throwing his bags in the back of his mothers car he slumps into the passenger seat only reanimating to gladly take a hazelnut latte from his mom as she pulls out of the drive-through.
Barely ten minutes later they pull into the parking lot where teachers are still setting up check-in stands. Early as usual, but he doesn’t mind. Prefers it in fact. He gets out and tells his name to the person manning the check in table then introduces himself to a few professors that don’t seem too busy only forgetting his name once. Once he has made a socially appropriate amount of introductions he sits on one of the curbs next to his bags. he's just putting in his earbuds when he hears it
"Katsuki Bakugou! if you do not get these bags out of this goddamn car right now you will never see them again!" He turns to see Kacchan yanking two bags from the boot of the car, his father attempting to keep the peace.
"Fuck off mom!"
"Katsuki, please do not talk to your mother that way! Mitsuki please calm down," they both ignore him and continue screaming. Mitsuki turns to get back in her car when she spots Izuku, and immediately comes over.
"Izuku! So good to see you, I must apologize for my son's behavior this morning." She throws a dirty look back at Kacchan who is growling his information at the terrified looking check-in-person.
"It's fine." he breathes, staring at his shoes. She always scared Izuku a little bit, he never understood how he and his mother became such good friends. The same way Izuku and Kacchan had when they were younger, he supposes.
"Make sure to tell your mother hello!" she calls as she slips into the front seat and zooms off. Why he would need to, he has no idea. She's probably going for brunch with Inko right now.
He plops back down on the curb and once again attempts to plug in.
"Hey! Nerd!"
Oh goodness, here we go. He removes his earbuds and turns to face Kacchan.
"Hi, Kacchan." he mutters, again meticulously assessing his shoes.
"so, uh, how’ve you been?" His tone startles Izuku so much that he un-braces himself to look up at him. Kacchan’s hands are stuffed in his pockets and his feet are scuffing the pavement. He looks almost nervous.
His and Izuku's families are probably the only ones who know how much anxiety he has. Everyone else just thinks he has anger issues, which he does but that's not the point.
"I've been alright, er, Kacchan are you okay?"
"I'm fucking fine! Just trying to be fucking polite!"
"Oh! Yeah of course! sorry! You're just not usually very um-"
"Considerate of other people's feelings? Yeah I know. I started counseling and my therapist says I should try to make connections or some shit." Another surprise to Izuku but it's not an unwelcome one.
"That's good. So... does that mean you won't be as mean this year?" At this Kacchan’s gaze drops to his feet as well.
"Yeah, about that. I'm, uh, I'm sorry for the past few years - or decades I guess. Either way I said some really fucked up shit and I'm sorry." Well, that was unexpected.
“I'm not asking for you to forgive me or anything, but I figured that you're pretty good with people and I was wondering if - if um,” his voice gets smaller “if you could help me not be such a dick?" Izuku stares at him, Kacchan never asks for help, much less asking Izuku.
"That's understandable." Kacchan says and turns to walk the other way, Izuku snaps out of his shock and grabs his shoulder but quickly recoils as an instinct built up over years of more negative interactions.
"Of course I'll help you. I was just surprised." Kacchans shoulders relax a little and without turning back to him he mutters a quiet
"Thanks"
"Yeah..." Izuku puts his earbuds back in and slowly examines the name tag and lanyard given to him at registration.
Three songs later four tour buses pull into the lot and display numbers 1 - 4 on the doors. The number at the top of Izuku’s name tag makes much more sense now, he'll be on bus #3. Everyone forms lines and files onto the buses, once everyone is loaded on someone takes roll. Then they pull out and Izuku plugs in, managing to drown out the veritable screeching around him.
It's only about an hour and a half ride to the camp, when they exit the bus are directed to lines of bags to take to the cabins. Izuku grabs his stuff and rechecks his name tag
シダービレッジ (1) - Cabin 10
Then checks the wooden post in front of him and follows the path it points to. He scans the numbers on the cabin doors until he reaches ten. He pushed the door open to see four bunk beds all pushed against the four walls. He sets his bag down next to the bunk closest to the door, unrolls his sleeping bag and flop down on his back, music still pumping through his ears.
Again he is interrupted as the door is opened by some other boys loudly singing the soundtrack from a musical he vaguely recognizes, followed by another boy. He scans the room as he enters, analyzing every aspect before fully crossing the threshold, when he does his eyes stay locked on Izuku. The red side of his split hair is swept low over his right eye, ineffectively covering a scar that takes up a little less than half his face; what it does hide until he looks up is the piercing blue eye itself.
"Is this one taken?" He asks, nodding to the bunk above Izukus, he shakes his head. The boy settles his bag next to Izukus and chucks his sleeping bag onto the mattress before climbing up after it.
"Deku, you're in here too?" he turns back to the doorway now occupied by Kacchan,
"Yeah, is that ok? I could try and switch-"
"No! I mean, no, it's fine - I was just, surprised." He cuts Izuku off and plops down in the bunk pressed against the wall cornering Izukus.
Before the silence gets too awkward an older man walks in slamming the door behind him, when Izuku turns he sees that in fact, he's not old at all - just really, really tired.
Shaggy black hair hangs over bloodshot eyes and a thick white scarf hides the lower half of his face, he throws his things haphazardly on the staff bed and turns again to address the room.
"My name is Shota Aizawa. I'll be your RN back on campus. The people in this cabin are your cohort so get used to each other. I'm taking a nap, you all need to be in the amphitheater by three thirty. Don't wake me up, don't die. " And with that he zips his yellow sleeping bag up to his chin and falls asleep. Gosh, Izuku thinks, it must be nice to be able to do that on command.
It's a little before two so he pulls out his notebook and starts jotting down notes on the quirks he saw on the ride over
As he’s finishing up an illustration of one of the support items Izuku looks up to see Kacchan standing not even a foot in front of him, hands in his pockets and eyebrows raised. Izuku lurches back in surprise and bangs his head on the wall behind him. Kacchan snorts
"Guessing you didn't hear me then?" he says with his signature smirk. Izuku rubs the back of his head and shakes it no. He gives another amused snort
"Figures. Hey, what are you always scribbling in those things anyway?"
"Just notes on fights and quirks and stuff..." Kacchan shifts and holds out his hand expectantly. Izuku hesitates, remembering what happened the last time Kacchan got a hold of one of his notebooks. As if reading his thoughts Kacchan adds,
"I won't blast this one, promise." Even though he’s not fully convinced, Izuku slowly hands over the journal. He leafs through it, stopping on a few pages then moving on. Izuku isn’t sure what he was expecting but it definitely wasn't for him to just look and hand it back, his next words take Izuku by surprise again,
"Those are actually kinda cool. Should’ve looked before throwing the other one out the window" Izuku’s shoulders relax and he mutters his thanks than remembers Kacchan was standing there for a reason,
"Oh, uh, what did you say? When you first came over here?" Kacchan also seems to have forgotten until just now,
"Oh yeah, I was just wondering if you wanted to go look in that weird souvenir shop thing since we've got some time until we gotta be somewhere." Izuku nods and slips his notebook back into his bag.
As they’re shutting the cabin door, it's pulled back open by Izuku’s new bunkmate.
"Sorry to intrude, but would you guys mind if I walk with you? Our roommates seem a bit... rowdy." he says, glancing over his shoulder at the other two boys who are now engaged in a full fledged performance on one of the top bunks.
"Oh, yea-" Izuku starts, but then looks back at Kacchan who has his ever present disgusted look on his face. The two are both completely unreadable in totally different ways. This boy has no expression at all - no emotion anywhere in his features, and Kacchan has just an extreme resting bitch face. He could be on top of the world and he'd still look like he was on his last nerve, but he nods slightly though which Izuku takes as a yes and completes his response.
"Yeah sure, um, what was your name?"
"Oh, yes, I am Shoto Todoroki. And you two?"
"I'm Izuku Midoriya, and that's Kacch- em, Katsuki Bakugou," he matches Todoroki’s formal introduction but Kacchan's real name feels weird and wrong in his mouth.
They walk in silence for a few minutes making their way back to the main part of camp. The tension is probably palpable but Izuku is just trying to keep pace with the taller boys without jogging. Finally he finds a stride long enough that he won't fall behind. He scans both their faces and he can tell Kacchan is trying to analyze every inch of this boy and this forest and even Izuku but that's from years of reading him and memorizing every mannerism. Mainly so he knows when to keep his head down and when to run, but Todoroki is still a mystery.
Kacchan eventually breaks the silence
"So what's up with your face?" Izuku stares back at him mortified, that's blunt even for him. But when he sees the shock or offense flicker across Todoroki's features he knows Kacchan got what he was looking for.
"It's a burn, I got it when he was little. Don’t really remember it, to be honest.” Izuku can tell that's a lie, so he guesses that the stony exterior is a trained trait. One Kacchan has already managed to manipulate. That does seem to be his only goal though, he doesn't press any further as they cross the parking lot to the shop they saw on our way to the cabins.
The small space is covered wall to wall with Hero merch: Hoodies, travel cups, Frisbee's, even the tiny stuffed animals have little bandannas that read Camp Kyanpu . The far side of the room has a check-out counter that is also a bubble tea stand. Izuku wanders to the small basket of stuffed animals. Which, despite being vastly different species, are all exactly the same shape. Izuku turns a small panda over in his hands and is oddly fixated with it until Kacchan's growl snaps him out of his trance.
"Hey Deku! We're checking out. The fuck are you so interested in?" he saunters over to Izuku and snatches the panda out of his hand.
"Kacchan! I was just looking at it! C'mon I really don't wanna pay for property damage on the first day..." he reaches to grab it back but Kacchan holds it over his head, easily out of his reach. He said he'd be nicer this year. Even though Izuku should have known better he still finds himself fighting back tears.
"Midoriya, are you ok?" he feels Todoroki place a hand on his shoulder as he sniffles and wipes at tears that haven't actually fallen.
"Yeah, I’m fine, sorry." he mutters. When Kacchan looks down at Izuku and his smirk drops
"No why the fuck are you sorry, I'm the one being a goddamn asshole again." he lowers the panda to look at it, then back at Izuku.
"You want it?" At first Izuku takes his question as 'do you wanna get it' as in get beat up and he frantically shakes his head, but when he process that Kacchan’s offering to buy it for him he stops and stares
"Oh, come on. You gotta stop gawking at me like that every time I act like a half decent human being. You want it or not?" Izuku gives a microscopic nod and follows him and Todoroki to the counter where he shoves the panda and a can of Arizona at the clerk.
As Todoroki orders a coconut bubble tea, Kacchan holds out the stuffy while staring at the other side of the room. Izuku reaches out to take it the way you would give food to a rabid dog. Kacchan opens his tea while they wait for their third, after taking a long swig he turns to face Izuku.
"I'm not gonna hurt you. You don't have to treat me like some kind of bomb - or well, you know what I mean." Izuku nods again, fiddling with his panda's weird bandanna thing. if he’s being honest Izuku doesn't really believe him, but he wants to, he always wants to...
Just then they call Todoroki's order and the three file out into the afternoon sun. Even though there isn't a cloud in the sky, it's still freezing.
"So where to now?" Izuku asks, turning to face the other two, Kacchan shrugs and takes another gulp of his Arizona, Todoroki sips his straw and nods in the direction of a small playground covered in wood-chips.
"We could hang out over there." Kacchan looks at him with an actually disgusted disgusted look
"You think I'm gonna go sit on some baby toy shit?"
"But look Kacchan, they've got swings!" he points, then covers his mouth, Kacchan looks back at Izuku deadpan.
"Like I said, baby shit." Kacchans not having beat Izuku’s ass today is gives Izuku enough confidence to mutter
"You're just bitter cause I was better than you" Izuku is just as surprised as Kacchan is that he would actually say that out loud, and Izuku can see him trying to figure out whether this whole 'good person' thing is worth it as Todoroki glances from Kacchan, to Izuku, and back to Kacchan while slowly sipping his tea.