Tabula Rasa (BakuDeku)

01

I'd Rather Rot

Izuku's eyes peel open. His fuzzy, sleep-addled brain tries to find familiar shapes in the dark room, but there are none, except for him. Sitting up on the solid, moldy cot, he yawns.

Izuku's hand gropes blindly for the wall next to him, it's wet. It must've rained last night.

Is it spring already? Or maybe Japan's just experiencing an irregular influx of precipitation. Stretching, he rolls his right orange pant leg up. A physical reminder to check the wall later.

It's pitch black in Izuku's jail cell. There's a poor excuse of a window is at the very top, but it's no bigger than a standard air vent. He only gets sunlight from 2-4 pm. Izuku knows, because the guard with the deep voice says he starts his shift at 8:30 am.

Well, he didn't tell him directly. The guard was on the phone with his wife a few weeks ago. (Or a few months?) Izuku used to wish for someone to talk to, but when he talks they don't answer. The guards aren't allowed to speak to him.

"Shift's over, Greg. Go get some lunch," There's a pat, and then the shuffle of feet. Izuku's second guard has a squeakier voice, but it's still muffled through the heavy dark iron door. Greg. That's his name.

"That means it's noon..." Izuku mumbles. Sometimes, he talks out loud. Just so he knows what his voice sounds like. Smiling to himself, he lays back down on the cot. He'll have sunlight in two hours.

Izuku is (was?) villain notorious for his stunning, sublime artwork, the walls and floor his canvas and his ink the blood of his latest victim, all while keeping his identity under wraps. His preschool teacher always told him he was an excellent finger painter.

Of course, he has to team up with that failure called the League of Villains for one mission, but things get out of hand quicker than he could say 'Fuck All Might', winding all five of them in jail. And him in solitary confinement for the rest of his deeds.

Screw Shigaraki for being a whiny, spoiled brat.

There's a jingle of keys, a click, and two bored black eyes peer into his cell from the outside world through a slit in the door. Izuku blinks.It's the first face he's seen in a while.

"You're Izuku Midoriya, correct?" He doesn't recognize the voice.

He clears his throat, "Yeah?"

"Perfect. Come with me." The eyes disappear, and for a second Izuku thinks the man has left him here, but the door rattles and swings open, and now there's a pro hero in his cell. "Put your hands in here," he demands. The greenette shoves his fists into the quirk blocking handcuffs. They cover his whole hand and end at his forearms,making them look like mini-torpedoes. Fun.

Izuku studies the pro hero in front of him. Now he recognizes him as Eraserhead, the quirk erasing hero. As he follows the hero to their destination in silence, Izuku makes a mental note of every exit. Then, he looks down at his pant leg.

Izuku has yet to leave the building. Yet to see the sun. He wonders if he remembers it the same.

Then, he's led into a really, really tall room, eyes wide and mouth agape as he blinks at the ceiling. Definitely much taller than what he's used to. Which isn't saying a whole lot.

The tables are set to form a square, all the chairs facing the center. The biggest seat looks more like a throne than a chair, and it's the only seat on the opposite side of the entrance.

Some...rat is perched on said throne, arms folded on the desk, directly across from the League of Villains. Izuku groans as he's shoved in the seat next to Toga. He might prefer solitary confinement over this.

"Hey Midoriya!" she waves energetically. Izuku's internal clock tells him it's about twelve-thirty now.

"Hi." It comes out flat, but Izuku's satisfied with his answer. Simple, neat, short. Stop talking to him.

"Now that you're all here, we can discuss business," The rat claps. Izuku flinches, "You all are very talented young kids. I'm aware that we have been at odds for quite sometime, and I don't know about you, but I'm ready to put it all behind us."

Izuku's brain stutters.

"Allow me to explain. We, as heroes, like to keep the children 18 and under out of jail as much as possible. It's not a fit place for young minds to develop. Therefore, you all have the option to attend UA, under very close pro hero supervision. You will stay in the dorms, attend all the classes, and hopefully graduate with a heroes degree!" Izuku blinks at light speed like it'll help him understand what he just heard. (Spoiler: It doesn't.)

"Can we stay in jail if we want to?" Izuku wonders out loud. It's better than attending hero school, for Gods sake.

"It's either all of you, or none of you." Eraserhead sighs, brushing his ugly black pants off as he stands. The rest of the villains glare daggers in the greenette's general direction, but he doesn't care. In case they forgot, it's their fault he's in this situation in the first place. Suck it up.

"Wait," Toga interrupts,"Maybe-maybe we should at least hear what they have to say." Izuku rolls his eyes, are they even villains? He can barely say the word hero, let alone coexist with them. He can't.

He hates heroes.

Dabi pitches in, "Fine. We'll stay. Shigaraki?"

"Yeah," Shigaraki says, "We'll stay."

"I hate all of you." Izuku huffs. Fine, if they're not going to respect his wishes and listen to them, he'll make them regret it. Later, of course.

"Great! Let's go over dorms rules and such," Principal Nezu presses a button on a tiny grey remote, and a projector descends from the ceiling behind him. "This is the Class 3-A dorm. Shigaraki, Dabi and Twice will all live here." He presses another button, the remote making an annoying 'click' sound. Izuku wonders how much pressure it'll take for him to snap it in half, "This is Class-2A's dorm. Izuku and Toga, you'll live here." The greenette scrunches his nose in disgust.

"Jail looks much better." He grumbles.

Dabi scoffs and uses his cuffs to bonk the greenette on the head. "One more word and I'll maim you." Izuku rolls his eyes, the ravenette doesn't scare him. His mental hit-list rearranges, Dabi taking third place.

Eraserhead continues, "I'm your homeroom teacher, and will be keeping a close eye on you two..." He eyes Izuku and Toga. The greenette puffs his chest so he's bigger than him.

"And I'm in charge of you three," Midnight says.

"Any funny business, and it's back to the cell you came from. For life. Got it?" Eraserhead threatens. Izuku shrugs, Twice groans.

"I'm excited!" he says through his mask. It probably gets suffocating in there, "I'd rather rot."

The heroes let them take off the handcuffs. Izuku doesn't know why, he can kill them all right there. He doesn't though. Instead, he waits.

He's semi-impressed by the dorms. No wonder heroes are so fat and lazy, they're living like kings! "The boys are on the left, girls on the right. Here are your keys." Eraserhead hands him something that looks suspiciously like a motel room key, "Guys aren't allowed in girls dorm after lights out at eleven. Vice versa. If I catch you, there will be consequences." Izuku rolls his eyes. There are always consequences, he wants to say.

"So as long as we don't get caught we're fine? Sweet." Toga lifts her hand for a high-five. Izuku ignores it, he doesn't want to touch her grimy hands. This is why he wears gloves. Like a professional.

Turning on his heel, Izuku heads to the elevator in silence, "Thank you Mr. Eraserhead! We'll be on our way now!" Toga yells behind him. The greenette shakes his head and presses the elevator button.

Hero school, here he comes.