Chapter 1: Entrance Exaam
Chapter Text
Chapter 1 Entrance Exam
The day was young on this particular morning in Japan. This day was a particular day for 14 year old young men and women who hoped to one day become pro heroes. This day was the entrance exam day for Japan’s number 1 hero school Yuei. As expected, around a thousand teenagers applied to have a chance to enter this wonderful school.
A group of seven students were arriving at the school’s entrance, they wore their middle school uniform so one could see they came from the same school. Curiously the group were arranged in a circle around one of their members as if to protect him. The middle student stared up at the entrance deep in thought.
“Here we are, ” Midoriya Izuku said softly, looking at each of his six friends, friends or rather comrades that he’d fight and die for, and they for him. “Let’s do our best and pass this exam.”
“Of course, Juudaime!”
“You got it, Midori!”
“We will EXTREMELY pass this exam!”
“Yes, Bossu!”
“Hmm… I will bite them all to death.”
“As if this will be difficult after what we went through, baka boss!”
“You’re in my fucking way, shitty Deku!”
That last one didn’t sound like one of his friends. Peeking behind them, Izuku was surprised to see his old childhood friend and recent bully, Bakugo Katsuki. With short, spiky, sandy-blond hair, sharp red eyes and a face set in a scowl that only a mother could love, Bakugo walked with a swagger necessary to carry his humongous ego.
“Kacchan,” Izuku stepped forward and greeted his old friend. He hadn’t seen Bakugo since shortly after he and his friends returned from Italy.
Bakugo stopped right in front of Izuku, jutting his head forward until they were nose to nose. “What the fuck are you doing here? I thought I told your Quirkless ass not to bother coming here? I will be the only one to enter Yuei from our shitty school of Aldera you ear me Deku. You and those extra you call your friends will not be part of my backstory as the future number 1 Hero!”
Seeing Katsuki starting to sound like a broken record Izuku sighed “How many times did I tell you that I have a Quirk I just didn’t like using it.”
“A weak excuse from a worthless extra like you Deku!”
“You take that back you Shitty-Pomeranian!” Hayato, the most hotheaded of Izuku’s friends, sneered as he got right in Bakugo’s face. Literally as the two were now butting heads.
“Why should I, Shitty-Knockoff?” Not one to refuse a challenge to prove his superiority Bakugo refused to retreat a single step.
Hayato was equally stubborn, so the two of them were now grinding their foreheads.
“What a good display of friendship!” Takeshi laughed, 100% earnest.
“”We’re not fucking friends”” Hayato and Bakugo shouted in synch then realising what they had done bellowed at each other “”Stop fucking copying me!””
Izuku pinched the bridge of his nose, willing the growing headache caused by the two shouting loudmouths away. “That’s enough Hayato”
Hearing those words Hayato’s attitude did a complete 180 as he quickly stepped away from Bakugo(making the loudmouth stumble from the sudden lack of resistance) and rubbed the back of his head shamefully. “Forgive me Juudaime!”
“Heh, Fucking suck up” Bakugo, having recovered from his nearfall snorted.
“You-!” started Hayato gritting his teeth ready to start this whole thing all over again;
“We’re going to be late at this rate,” Izuku interrupted before another argument could start. Then he turned his focus to his childhood friend. “Kacchan, you can insult me as much as you want, your words mean nothing to me. I stopped caring years ago. But-” he exuded a tiny pressure of his quirk forward, just enough to make Bakugo stagger in shock “I won’t accept you insulting my friends.”
For the briefest of instants Bakugo was confused, unable to accept that the teenager standing before him could have a quirk when he never showed the slight hope of having one before. But then his self-assuredness kicked in, brushing the moment off as a trick of his imagination.
“Like I fucking care what you think, Deku,” Bakugo scowled, shoving his hands into his pockets as stomped forward into the school.
Izuku’s Hyper Intuition pinged, seeing through Bakugo’s childish attempt to knock Izuku over with his shoulder. With a mental shake of his head Izuku casually stepped aside, causing Bakugo to stumble when his roughhousing hit nothing but air. He shot Izuku a murderous glare, as if someone as worthless as Deku daring to avoid his bullying was a crime against the law of Bakugoland.
“You and your shitty extras better stay out of my fucking way, Deku. This is my origin story, and I won’t have you worthless side-characters screwing it up.”
His piece said, Bakugo stormed off towards the enormous Yuei building.
“He hasn’t changed since middle school. He is still a bully. I wonder how someone with such a personality can ever hope to be number 1.” Mikoto growled and the air around her crackled with static electricity.
“A carnivore with blood on his fangs.” Kyoya grinned eagerly “I can’t wait to bite him to death.”
“Fucking asshole, how dare he insult Juudaime!” Hayato seethed.
“His attitude is EXTREMELY unheroic. “Ryohei added.
“That’s just the way he is,” Takeshi laughed. “it’s actually kind of adorable!”
“You are so weird Yamamoto-kun” Chrome said, making said boy’s grin even wider.
Izuku huffed, lips slowly turning into a smile. “Come on, you guys. We have an exam to attend.”
Wow they seem like such good friends, Uraraka Ochaco thought watching the group of seven from afar. She could tell, just from how close they were as they walked, that they were all really dear to one another.
She considered running up and introducing herself, because it would be amazing if she managed to attend Yuei AND got seven new friends all at once, but decided against it. They looked like a close knit group and Uraraka didn’t see any room in it for anyone new and the black haired boy looked quite scary even from a distance.
C’mon Ochako, focus! Uraraka hyped herself up. She was going to ace this exam, and attend the greatest hero school in Japan! If…no, WHEN she got in, then she’d think about introducing herself to those seven, especially if they managed to pass as well.
His name’s Deku. Uraraka memorized it before slapping her round cheeks to get herself focused and marched towards the front doors of Yuei with her head held high.
Now that the written portion of Yuei’s entrance exam had concluded the faculty’s staff members were shuffling into the darkened observation room where numerous screens were relaying footage of the mock cityscapes where the practical exam would be held.
“Sure am lookin’ forward ta seein’ what this year’s crop will bring” Snipe, the Gun Hero, said as he took a seat and got comfortable.
“I’m looking forward to being pleasantly surprised,” Cementoss, the Cement Hero said.
“Ahh hundreds of youthful boys and girls all panting and sweating as they desperately fight for the few available slots in the Hero Course,” Midnight, the R-Rated Hero, cooed while rubbing her legs in a suggestive manner. “It never fails to turn me on!”
“Behave,” Eraserhead, the Erasure Hero, scolded, using an ice cold spray bottle with a label that said “Midnight Extinguisher™ “ to calm the adult heroine down.
“Shouta!” Midnight spluttered through a mouthful of water but nevertheless having been calmed down.
“Nemuri,” Eraserhead dully replied, finding his own seat.
“Now now, everyone,” Nezu, the principal of Yuei High, a professional Hero, and one of the few animals in the world that manifested a Quirk, softly chided. “We’re about to select the next generation of heroes, and I expect you all to give it your utmost attention.”
Sitting in the chair beside the principal’s was a skeleton of a man, wearing a baggy yellow suit several sizes too large and hung loosely from his gaunt frame. His golden blond hair fell across his sunken blue eyes, which were fully focused on the dozens of screens throughout the observation room.
He was All Might, Japan’s number 1 hero, perhaps the greatest hero in the entire world, and his time was running out. Having sustained a life-threatening injury from his nemesis, All For One, years ago All Might’s time as a hero was shortening by the day. By now he could barely perform his duties as the #1 hero for three measly hours a day.
That’s why he was here at Yuei : to find a worthy successor for his Quirk, One For All, the greatest Quirk in the world and the power that allowed him to become Japan’s Symbol of Peace. Yuei was filled with hero-hopefuls with boundless potential, and surely one amongst them embodied the heroic qualities All Might was searching for in his successor.
If not, he might have to swallow his pride and go with his former sidekick’s recommendation.
“And….BEGIN!” Present Mic, the Voice Hero’s voice roared from the speakers. The English teacher was this year’s entrance exam referee and as such was absent from the room.
“It’s starting,” the Space Hero, Thirteen, said as her knees bounced excitedly.
All Might watched the many screens closely as hundreds of examinees frantically rushed into the mock cities Yuei prepared for their practical exams. They were seven cities in total, each the size of a busy metropolitan, filled with robots that the examinees needed to destroy for points.
The #1 hero’s attentive gaze flickered from screen to screen, already spotting many young men and women with fantastic potential and excellent Quirks. There was a young lady with orange hair and a side ponytail crushing scores of robots with her enlarged fists; the younger brother of Ingenium shattering test-bots with his engine-powered legs; a young man with an explosive Quirk and an equally explosive personality wrecking devastation upon his targets; another examinee was shrinking every robot she came across into the size of pebbles before crushing them underfoot; there was even a boy who had the head of a raven while his sentient Quirk, a living shadow extended from his stomach to smash apart robots with its deceptively powerful shadow claws.
All of them would surely grow up to be powerful heroes who’d easily break into the Top 50 of the ranking charts when they graduated.
But All Might was looking for something more than just brute strength. He was searching. He was searching for those who had the heart of a hero.
“Intriguing,” Ectoplasm, the Haunted Hero, spoke up.
“Someone caught your eye?” the Excavation Hero, Power Loader, asked.
Ectoplasm nodded “Exam Site F, camera 122.”
Everyone turned to the aforementioned screen, including All Might. The camera attached to said screen was zoomed in on an examinee. It was a fairly tall teenager with an athletic build and short but spiky black hair. Unlike most of the examinees, this young man was positively beaming as he decapitated a 2-point villain robot with his… sword?
“Is that allowed?” All Might asked.
Power Loader scrolled through the electronic pad in his hands. “Yup. The kid had it registered beforehand as a support weapon.”
“What’s so special about the boy?” Vlad King, the Blood Hero, asked
.”Keep watching,” Ectoplasm said.
They did, and the Haunted Hero interest became self evident as the young man cleanly executed robot after robot, divesting them of their heads and limbs with but a single slash each with incredibly smooth and precise movements. This boy wasn’t toying around with a sword for the heck of it; he was trained, extremely well trained.
“Wow, those’re movements I usually see in movies.” Midnight exclaimed impressed.
“He’s experienced,” Eraser Head said, tired eyes narrowed. “Too experienced. Those aren’t movements learned in a dojo. We might have a vigilante on our hands.”
“If he passes we’ll do a thorough background check,” Nezu assured.
“What’s his Quirk? Increased proficiency with bladed weapons?” Snipe asked curious.
That question answered itself when the young man suddenly found himself surrounded on all sides by test-bots. They attacked simultaneously, and where an ordinary examinee would’ve panicked this young man did not. Instead he practically gleamed with excitement as he held his sword in a reverse grip.
“Shigure Soen Ryu,” the microphones picked up “Nana no Kata Shibuki Ame!”
Cerulean water erupted from the katana’s blade as the young man spun in a tight circle, launching a wave of rippling water into the encroaching robots. Instead of blasting the robots away, the conjured water enveloped their frames and the staff of Yuei watched in interest as the movements of the robots slowed to a crawl.
“Hachi no Kata,” the boy all but laughed. “Shinotsuku Ame!”
With speeds so fast All Might nearly missed it in his unpowered skeletal form, the young man executed a rapid series of slashes that utterly diced the barely-moving robots, reducing them all to scrap in the breadth of a second.
“Ha!” the boy grinned brightly “This is fun!”
“What was that?” Midnight asked the question many of them were wondering.
“Yamamoto Takeshi, “Nezu said, pulling up the young man’s information on his own pad. “Quirk : [Tranquility]. It allows him to produce waters that slow down and weaken anything they touch. My, how fascinating!”
“Wait, doesn’t that mean his Quirk has nothing to do with swordmanship?” Thirteen asked in surprise.
“It doesn’t,” Erasedhead confirmed. “His sword skills are something he learned to supplement his Quirk. A logical approach.”
“High praise coming from you, Shouta.” Midnight said cheekily still upset about the water incident.
“But he’s taking this exam way too lightly, “Eraserhead continued, his tone hard. “He won’t get far as a hero with such a flippant mindset.”
All Might didn’t mind as much. After all, that’s what Yuei was for: to take these unpolished gems and transform them into magnificent heroes! Plus, young Yamamoto’s Quirk intrigued him! It wasn’t a direct combat Quirk like many of his fellow examinees’, but the boy hadn’t let that slow him down! Instead he supplemented his Quirk with his skillful swordsmanship, which surely took many years of hardship, practice, and training!
Fantastic!
“Look at Site B, camera 33,” Hound Dog, the Hunting Hero, said, drawing their attention away from Yamamoto Takeshi.
Nezu used his controller to enlarge the aforementioned screen, showing a tanned skin teenager with striking gray eyes and short unkempt ashen colored hair. His upper body was larger and more defined than Yamamoto’s, and his fists were blurs of expert jabs that pulverized every test-bots he came across. He’d just demolished a robot that nearly snuck up on another examinee with an uppercut.
“Sasagawa Ryohei,” Cementoss read the boy’s name from his electronic pad. “Quirk : [Activation]. Increases the efficiency of any type of activity.”
“Explains his strength,” Eraserhead noted, eyeing the robot that was literally punched into unrecoverable scrap. “He’s using it to improve his own combat ability.”
“A basic but good all-round Quirk,” Vlad King said with a nod.
“And he didn’t hesitate to save that black-haired boy,” Power Loader pointed out “That earns him some Rescue Points right there.”
Until Sasagawa Ryohei suddenly decked the boy he’d saved right across the face.
“I stand corrected.”
“What’s going on? Why’d he attack him?” Thirteen wondered.
“Do we need to disqualify Sasagawa for assaulting a fellow examinee?” Cementoss asked.
Nezu fiddled with his controller to bring up the relevant audio.
“... giving up?!” Sasagawa’s loud voice, one that’d make Present Mic both proud and jealous, boomed from the speakers, causing Nezu to adjust the volume. “You made it this far haven’t you?!”
“But… I don’t…. I don’t feel like I belong here,” the black-haired boy weakly admitted “I thought I could man up if I forced myself to attend the Yuei entrance exam… but it’s no good! Ever since that day I ran from that damm villain, I….I learned what kind of a fraud I am! I am not manly, not manly at all! All I can do is talk big! I don’t deserve to attend Yuei, much less be a hero!”
“Oof, that kid’s got baggage for sure.” Snipe sighed.
“A traumatic incident in his past.” Hound Dog assumed.
“Does anyone have any idea what villain he’s talking about?” Thirteen asked.
“Not with the information given.”
“Oï, grit your teeth.”
“Huh?”
“ORAAA!” Sasagawa roared as he socked the black-haired boy in the face, this time on the opposite cheek, knocking him off his feet.
“Shouldn’t we stop this? At this point it’s abuse,” All Might said worriedly, seeing how the poor examinee was now bleeding from a split lip.
“Not yet,” Nezu said, watching intently. “Keep watching.”
“So what if you were afraid?! Everyone gets afraid:” Sasagawa roared “I know what you’re going through. I have been afraid too. I’ve seen monsters disguised as men, and the fear of just standing in front of them damn near killed me. But you know what? Seeing my bestest buddies and my little sister almost die in front of my eyes was a fear that eclipsed everything else. yeah I was afraid, but I couldn’t let that feat keep me down! Not when my buddies and my sister were counting on me! So I stood up and fought, because like my little bro’s always saying, ‘courage ain’t the absence of fear but the willingness to fight in spite of it!’ You say you’re not manly? Yet here you are, fighting the good fight despite your fear!”
“Bro…” the black haired examinee was staring up at Sasagawa in wonder.
“Ask yourself this : ten years from now, if you looked back to this very moment, would you regret running away? Would you regret not giving this exam your all?”
“....I would….. I definitely would!”
“Then stand! FIGHT!” Sasagawa bellowed. “You’re worried about not being manly? You’ve already taken the first step! Being MANLY is about putting your life on the line for the things important to you without regret! And if you still think you can’t do it” Sasagawa jabbed a thumb at himself “then just follow me! Watch my back, and I’ll show you how to be a MAN!”
Sasagawa held out a hand for the other examinee, who stared at the open palm with teary eyes before grabbing it. Sasagawa suddenly began to glow, and many of the teachers tensed seeing the activation of a Quirk. It steadily enveloped the black-haired boy with the soothing light of the sun, concentrating around the cuts on his face.
All Might, along with many others, went bug-eyed witnessing the boy’s wounds closing.
“[Activation],” Recovery Girl, the Youthful Heroine, gasped in delight. “He’s increasing the rate of cell regeneration, healing the boy! He can use his Quirk to heal! He is a healer! Oh Happy day!”
Several of the staff members sweat-dropped at Recovery’s jubilation
“What’s your name?” Sasagawa asked, pulling the other boy to his feet.”
“K-Kirishima Eijiro!”
Sasagawa nodded. “Follow me Otouto! You’re going to pass this exam, and become your ideal hero!”
“Y-Yes aniki! I’m going to be as manly as you!”
“You’re wrong, otouto, I’m not manly… I’M EXTREMELY MANLY!”
With that the two examinees joined forces against the exam’s robots.
“....well that just happened.” Eraserhead huffed
“Ooooh!” Midnight wriggled in her seat. “So youthful: It turns me on!”
“We’re accepting that boy,” Recovery Girl stated “Sasagawa Ryohei will become a student of Yuei, and that is final.”
“Let’s be fair, the exam isn’t over,” Vlad King said, trying to be the voice of reason in this room of craziness. “There’s no guarantee he passes.”
“I don’t care.” the Youthful Heroine dug in her proverbial heels. “If he doesn’t make it into the hero course, I’ll take him as my personal student.”
“But such a thing doesn’t exist?”
“Then I’ll create one!”
“Now, now ” Nezu bade everyone, Recovery Girl in particular, to calm down “Sasagawa Ryohei has done more than well enough for himself. He already has 32 Villain Points, and I say his interaction with Kirishima Eijiro earns him a healthy amount of Rescue Points! Unless something goes drastically wrong Sasagawa-kun is an easy shoe in.”
“Good” Recovery Girl huffed giving Vlad King a look that promised full physical in unhealthy amounts in his future.
“You feel quite strongly about this,” All Might said cautiously.
Recovery Girl turned her glare to him. “And why wouldn’t I? You know, as well as I do, that healing Quirks are phenomenally rare, and despite my title I am not getting any Younger. If I can train the next generation healer who’ll look after doofus like yourself then I can retire in peace.”
All Might chortled, while Nezu laughed uproariously. It was thanks to Recovery Girl’s Quirk, [Heal], that Yuei could hold practical exams like this without worry. Additionally there was nothing wrong with having more trained healers.
But All Might was far more impressed by young Sasagawa’s spirit. He not only saved young Kirishima with his actions, but took it a step further and inspired him to keep pursuing his dream to become a wonderful hero. That was exactly the sort of trait All Might was searching for in a successor.
Thus he mentally added Sasagawa Ryohei to his short list of potential inheritors.
“Whoa, we’ve got a dangerous one over here,” Ectoplasm said, beckoning at screen 99 at Exam Site E. The screen was blown up and relevant audio switched on.
“FUCKING DIE!”
The Yuei staff watched as a half Japanese teenager of average height, mid length silver hair and an impatient scowl that was fed up with the universe, fire a plume of bloody crimson flames from his hands that lashed out erratically before consuming the robots before him.
Everyone was both awed and horrified as the flames devoured the exam robots until not even ash remained.
“A fire Quirk?” All Might asked, his gut warning him that those flames were more dangerous than Endeavor’s Hellflame.
“No,” Nezu replied with utmost seriousness as reviewed the examinee’s file. “Gokudera Hayato? Quirk : [Disintegration]. He produces flame-like energy that decays and breaks apart whatever it touches.”
“What a terrifying Quirk,” Thirteen whispered “His potential for sheer destruction is horrifyingly high.”
They watched as a trio of 3-pointers, robots thrice the height of an average adult and far more durable than their one and two point counterparts, charge at Gokudera, only for the boy to fire another blast of disintegration at them and reduce them to stray atoms. Even the concrete road underneath them was affected, leaving behind large gouges where [Disintegration] had haphazardly erased solid matter.
“I’ll be a monkey’s uncle,” Snipe whispered, propping up the tip of his cowboy hat to get an unobstructed view of the unmitigated damage Gokudera caused. “That right there might be one of the most terrifying Quirks I’ve ever seen. ‘Bout as dangerous as yer own [Black Hole], Thirteen.”
The Space Hero didn’t deny that fact.
“I shudder to think of a Quirk like that in the hands of a villain,” Midnight said as Gokudera deleted a 2-pointer from existence, along with the building behind it. Worriedly she asked “He hasn’t injured any of the other examinees with friendly fire, has he?”
As all footage was being recorded so the teachers could review each individual examinee more thoroughly afterwards, Eraserhead brought up the recordings of Gokudera’s progress on his personal pad and carefully watched the footage on fast-forward.
“He hasn’t,” the Erasure Hero concluded, much to everyone’s relief. “The first thing Gokudera did when the exam started was to distance himself from the other examinees before cutting loose. Even now, he’s taking great care only to use his Quirk when the coast is clear. He’s being cautious and careful. A good attitude to have with a Quirk as dangerous as his own.”
Power Loader checked his own electronic pad. “49….53 now. The exam's not even halfway done and he’s still raking up points. He’ll get in even if he doesn’t earn a single Rescue Point.”
“A powerful and flashy Quirk, exactly what the public and media loves,” Eraserhead scoffed. “You can have him, Kan.”
Vlad King rolled his eyes. “Already handing over your problem children off to me?”
“I’m sure I’ll get my fair share.”
“Oh! Look at that,” Thirteen pointed.
Everyone paid attention as Gokudera attacked a 3-pointer at the same time the boy with the Explosion Quirk did, and they were treated to an astonishing sight. Gokudera’s flames of [Disintegration] overwrote the other boy’s explosion, eradicating it and the 3-pointer at the same time.
“I’ll say it again: That’s a terrifying Quirk” Snipe laughed without much humour.
“What the hell was that, Shitty-Knockoff?” the boy (All Might checked for his name : Bakugo Katsuki) demanded, barely getting the words out past his shock.
“That was me earning 3 more points, Shitty-Pomeranian.” Gokudera snarked, chin jutted up.
“Since when do you have a fucking Quirk?!”
Gokudera rolled his eyes, his derision plain for all but Bakugo to see “Since always dumbass. Unlike you who like to show off with weak explosions, I obey the law when it says not to use our Quirk in public unless carrying a license that allows us to do it.”
“Do they know each other?” Midnight asked as two young men traded barbed insults.
Nezu brought up their information “They both attended Aldera Junior High.”
“Don’t we separate examinees who attended the same school so that they can’t work together?”
“Usually yes, but this year many students were from Aldera and we couldn’t separate them all.”
“I don’t think we have to worry about them” Vlad King pointed at the screen, where Gokudera and Bakugo were standing close enough to bite each other’s throats out “trying to work together.”
“You stole my fucking kill, you shitty extra!” Bakugo howled.
“I wouldn’t have been able to if your quik wasn’t so fucking weak.” Gokudera taunted.
Bakugo’s expression became downright murderous, making All Might and several other teachers fear an actual fight might break out. That was until a 2-pointer skid around the corner and barrelled towards them both. Gokudera didn’t even turn his head to look, holding out his arm and blasting the exam robot with his [Disintegration] before it got close.
“58 points” Gokudera goaded, causing Bakugo’s face to slacken in disbelief. “From the look on your face, I’d say I’ve more points than you, Shitty-Pomeranian.”
“No way….no fucking way a damned extra is doing better than me!” The palms of Bakugo’s hands began crackling threateningly.
“Careful,” Gokudera drawled, taunting mockery lascing his every words “Attack me and the cameras will catch it,” he pointed straight at the camera All Might and the others were watching through. “and I don’t think the teachers of Yuei are like the spineless dipshits at Aldera that let you do whatever the hell you wanted. Plus the more time you waste with me, the less time you’ve got to improve your pathetic score. Wouldn’t that be a laugh? Mr ‘Future No. 1’ not even earning first place on a fucking entrance exam!”
“Shitty….Knockoff…!” Bakugo grit his teeth so hard All Might heard it from here. Regardless, his decision was already made as Bakugo used his explosions to propel himself away from Gokudera to find more villain bots to destroy.
“Heh, dumb motherfucker,” Gokudera snorted. “Don’t get what Juudaime sees in that bastard.” He continued searching for villain bots on his own, and with each one destroyed Power Loader lamented the extra workload increasing before his eyes.
“Did anyone else catch what they said about Aldera?” Midnight pointed out.
“We did,” Ectoplasm confirmed. “I don’t like the insinuation. It’s not uncommon for teachers to grant leeway to students with flashy Quirks, and Bakugo’s Quirk definitely applies.”
“That and the comment about the Quirk law made me think that young Bakugo might have used his Quirk on other students before.”
“He’ll get a rude awakening if he tries any of that nonsense in Yuei.” Snipe said arms crossed. “We don’t tolerate that bullcrap here.”
“I’ll look into it.” Nezu promised. “For now, any other standouts?”
“Exam Site D, camera 61” Hound Dog said, eyes wide.
Nezu brought up the relevant screen, and everyone’s eyebrows reached the sky.
It was an average looking teenage girl, with medium chestnut hair and equally chestnut coloured eyes, she had small hairclips in her hair shaped like frogs. She was sitting on top of an operational 3-pointer. Yet the bot wasn’t following its programming and unseating the girl. No its was carefully and deliberately carrying the young woman like she was its queen and it was a servile mobile throne. Not only that but there were another six 3-pointers that surrounded them almost like an honor guard.
“How is she doing that? Did she reprogram the bots?” Midnight asked as it wasn’t often you saw something like that.
“No, I think she is directly controlling them,” Eraserhead said, having noticed the occasional static electricity bouncing between the girl and her bots. “Who is she? What is her Quirk?”
Vlad King scrolled through the files. “Misaka Mikoto. Quirk [Electromaster], capable of generating and manipulating electricity.”
“Nothing about hacking? Or overriding technology?” Cementoss asked, surprised.
“It’s an aspect of her Quirk,” Power Loader said, leaning forward in his seat as Misaka directed the 3-pointers under her control to surge forward and attack a pack of villain bots. The regular villain bots ran on a rudimentary operating system, so while thay appeared big and intimidating their attack patterns were basic enough for a kid with a useful Quirk to take them down. Misaka had replaced the attack system of her 3-pointers with a complex algorithm of her own, allowing them to move and execute advanced offensive patterns vastly outstripping the efficiency of their counterparts. Needless to say Misaka’s 3-pointers tore apart the villain bots with ludicrous ease.
“Her control over electricity is so precise it can bypass the firewalls on our villain bots and overwrite their operating system with one of her own,” Power Loader continued. “Hot damn, the absurd level of control that would take, along with the mental acuity to rewrite their programming from the ground up with her Quirk alone. Jesus, her brainpower must be off the charts.”
“So she’s a genius?” Vlad King asked.
Power Loader snorted. “To put it lightly.”
“She’s not taking this exam seriously,” Eraserhead said, glaring at Misaka’s screen. The young woman was propping her head up with one hand where she sat, and fighting to keep a yawn off her face.
“In her defence, the exam’s villain bots are powerless against her.” Midnight pointed out. “This practical test was practically made for her.”
“Doesn’t mean she should be slacking off.”
“How many points does she have?” Thirteen asked to keep Aizawa and Nemuri from going at it again.
“30,” Ectoplasm replied, having already thought of checking the records. “Probably not enough for a top 10 spot but probably enough for the hero course.”
“That is without counting her Rescue Points.” Cementoss said, as the enlarged screen showed Misaka ordering one of her bots to protect another examinee that had been knocked over by a bot. The 3-pointer made short work of the weaker bot allowing Misaka on her mobile throne to approach.
“Are you okay?” Misaka asked the young woman with short violet hair and earphone jacks hanging from her earlobes.
“Peachy,” the examinee, Jirou Kyoka, groused as she hobbled to her feet. Then she saw Misaka’s ride and gasped. “Holy…How’re you doing that?”
Misaka tilted her head like a curious cat “With my Quirk?” she said, as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.
Jirou palmed her face. “I get that Athena but what kind of Quirk?”
“An electrical kind.”
“You don’t say.” Jirou deadpanned
Misaka chuckled lightly “As fun as it is, don’t you have some bots to break?”
“Oh crap, you are right!” Jirou’s head whipped left and right searching for bots in the vicinity and finding none. “ I can’t be wasting time like this! I don't have a ton of points!”
“Want some help?” Misaka offered to the surprise of most of the staff.
Jirou stared at her, like she was trying to decipher her motives. “Why would you help me? Aren’t we enemies?”
“We are?” Misaka said guilelessly. “I don’t recall you ever swearing death and vengeance against me or mine. I’d definitely remember someone as cute as you ever doing so.”
Jirou spluttered, cheeks starting to turn red. “What the… You can’t just call someone cute like that out of the blue.”
“Why not? It’s just a fact.”
The poor girl's face got even redder making the watching Midnight coo at the scene. “S-Screw you, you damned Aphrodite. When I said enemies, I meant that you’re part of the competition! We’re all trying to get accepted into Yuei, and that makes us enemies! You have no reason to help me.”
“What if I want to see more of you in class?”
“Oh my, either that girl clearly knows what she wants or she is totally clueless,” Midnight ogled, her smile downright lecherous “but either way that other girls doesn’t stand a chance.”
All Might found himself agreeing, as you Jirou went even redder that the ripest tomatoes and her jacks flailed uncontrollably.
“Are you all right? Do you have a fever? Why are you so red?” Misaka asked as she saw Jirou’s face turning even more red “Wait what am I doing holding you up even more.” Misaka then chided herself, politely ignoring how Jirou’s face became hot enough to fry an egg on, turned to one of her 3-pointers. A line of electricity jumped between her and the robot, and its red optics flickered as its programming was rewritten. “There, this guy will follow every command you give him. Give it a shot.”
Young Jirou needed a handful of seconds to get her scarlet blush under control. “For real? Um, okay. Pick me up?”
The 3-pointer obeyed, although not in the way she expected, as Jirou certainly didn’t expect to be bridal carried by the reprogrammed bot.
“What the hell is this?!” she shrieked.
“I made sure he knew how to treat a lady.” Misaka explained looking very proud of herself.
A few of the staff members felt for the poor girl, while Midnight laughed like a hyena high on laughing gas.
After shouting a few unintelligible words due to her outrage Jirou commanded the bot “Just put me on your back.”
Once she was situated, and fighting to keep the heat from her cheeks she grumbled “Okay… yeah this’ll help. With how fast 3-pointers are I should be able to rack up some points.” Young Jirou then glared at a smiling Misaka. “I still think you're a weird girl but this will really help me out so ….Thanks.”
“You are welcome I am Misaka Mikoto.”
“Jirou Kyoka.”
“See you in class Kyoka-chan”
“SHADDAP!” Jirou screamed, as she tried to hide her burning face with her arms as she ordered her bots to move.
“Shouta,” Midnight said.
“No” Eraserhead denied
“Shouta, please.”
“Nemuri no.”
“You have to put those two in the same class! You have to!”
“No.”
“But think of the fun I’ll have watching them!”
“More incentive not to put them together.”
As Midnight and Eraserhead squabbled, All Might checked his electronic pad to see how well young Jirou was fairing. She’d only amassed 11 Villain Points so far, and the practical was halfway over by now.
“Are we going to allow this?” Vlad King asked the principal. “Any points Jirou Kyoka scores from here on won’t be on her own merit. An argument could be made that she is cheating.”
Nezu hummed in consideration. “Requesting assistance from your fellow heroes when your own strength is lacking is a valuable lesson we teach our students. While Jirou-kun isn’t a student of ours yet, I believe there’s nothing wrong with her receiving assistance from another. I’ll let this pass.”
Vlad King gave the principal a look, but accepted his reasoning with a shrug.
“Oh, what’s this now?” Thirteen said, drawing everyone’s attention back to the screen.
“Hey, lady,” another examinee, one with tired eyes and a mess of light purple hair, called out to Misaka.
“Hmmm? Can I…?” Misaka’s words were cut off as her eyes glazed over, and the purple-haired examinee smirked in triumph.
“Gotcha. Now, give me of your…”
But he never got to finish his sentence as a sudden spark jolted Misaka’s head, causing her to flinch and her eyes to clear.
“What just happened?” Snipe asked nobody in particular.
“What the hell?” the examinee mirrored that thought.
“Shinso Hitoshi,” Eraserhead read the boy’s profile. “Quirk : [Brainwashing], he can place another in a suggestible state if they verbally respond to something he says.”
“Brainwashing, a powerful Quirk,” Hound Dog said, fingers folded. “But how did Misaka escape from it?”
“Ouch that hurts.” Misaka said shaking her head. “Haven’t felt that one in a long time. You’ve got some sort of mental interference Quirk don’t you?”
“How did you escape from my [Brainswashing]?” Shinso demanded, still shaken about what had happened.
“Ah, I once knew someone with a similar Quirk.” Misaka explained, shrugging “She liked making others her thralls so I developed a countermeasure. Whenever I detect abnormal electrical signals in my brain activity, I programmed my subconscious to run a mild shock through my nervous system to reboot myself. Good attempt, though. Would’ve worked on anyone but me.”
“She can do that?” Thirteen asked awed.
“She’s versatile with her Quirk, expanding its applications beyond its common usage.” Eraserhead admitted.
“Feh, just my luck,” Shinso spat with a scowl. “Whatever. I tried, I failed. Piss off and leave me alone.”
“Why? Weren’t you going to ask me to give you one of my bots? Sure go ahead.”
Shinso was understandably stunned, as were most of Yuei’s staff. “What’re you playing at? It it pity? Well you can take your pity and dump it in the trash, because I don’t need it.”
“Less pity, and more understanding,” Misaka said, already reprogramming one of her 3-pointers and directing it to the bewildered Shinso’s side. “You’ve got a nifty Quirk, and the fact that you are here means you want to use it for heroics. I like that. The problem is that your Quirk doesn’t work on machines, does it? If this Exam had been against real people you would have aced it with flying colors, and I think it would suck if you failed just because of a bad matchup. When you saw me give Kyoka-chan her own bot you thought you could brainwash me into doing the same for you. That’s smart thinking.”
“I…I don’t….” Shinso was struggling to find the words to verbalize his hectic feelings.
“Just take the bot and get to smashing,” Misake reproached, frowning as she saw the hesitation in the boy’s eyes. “You are running out of time, and you want to be a hero, right? Then swallow your regrets and fight for what your heart desires. Plus Ultra.”
Those words stirred young Shinso into actions, his hesitation hardening into resolve as he climbed atop of his 3-pointer. “You troublesome girl…. If I make it into the hero course I’ll get you something as a thank you.”
Misaka’s eyes suddenly turned into stars. “Gekota Plushie.”
Shinso could only stare as his 3-pointer led him to bots as Misaka was still day dreaming about drowning into a sea of Gekota Plushies.
The chestnut haired girl recovered and seeing that she was alone directed her army of bots to seek other prey.
“She’s one to look out for,” Power Loader said, impressed “Such versatility from an electricity Quirk? She’ll make it into the top 10 shortly after graduation.”
“She has potential.” Eraserhead grudgingly admitted.
“I bet she’ll have a flock of young boys and girls pinning after her before long.” Midnight squealed.
Eraserheard soured as he imagined that nightmare, and then looked at Nezu. “Can we disqualify her? Right there, right now?”
“I am afraid not Aizawa.” the principal chuckled.
“Then she’d better not be in my class.”
Nezu’s cackling only filled the Erasure Hero with dread.
All Might, meanwhile, was very proud of young Misaka. While her elemental Quirk was a powerful one, the young woman had greatly expanded its parameters with her exceptional creativity. Add in her willingness to aid her fellow examinees and All Might was more than happy to add Misaka Mikoto to his list of potential successors.
It made him wonder how young Sasagawa was doing, and he flipped through the tabs on his pad to check the examinees’ villain scores. He was pleased to discover that Sasagawa Ryohei was sitting comfortably in 5th place with 49 villain points, while young Eijiro had now 28. Misaka Mikoto was now in 6th place with 38 villain points. All in all they were doing quite nicely.
Out of curiosity, he scrolled upwards to see who was in first. The score he saw made him gasp.
“What is it, All Might? Someone caught your eye?” Midnight asked him.
“I believe so,” All Might replied slowly, reading the name currently in first place. “Principal? Can you bring up the screen for Hibari Kyoya?”
“Indeed I can!” Nezu said, rapidly flicking through the screen so fast it was near impossible to see what was on them. Despite this, the principal stopped perfectly on a young man of average height and short black hair. His narrow gray eyes were so intimidating it almost made All Might shiver upon seeing them. He wielded a pair of steel tonfas, which he used to destroy the villain bots with brutal efficiency.
“Whoa, we’ve got a savage one here,” Snipe said, watching as Hibari struck a 2-pointer’s head so hard it flew off and lodged itself in the chestplate of the 1-pointer behind it.
“Look at those moves,” Thirteen admired as Hibari slid beneath the horizontal hammer arm of a 3-pointer, jabbed his left tonfa into an exposed opening in its joint, and tore the mechanical limb clear from its socket. “This boy knows how to fight.”
“Extremely well, at that,” Eraserhead grumbled. “Yet another problem child displaying a level of skill unachievable without real experience.”
“Vigilante?” Vlad King asked.
“Likely.”
“I’ll add him to the list,” Nezu chuckled. “What brought this particular examinee to your attention, Yagi?”
All Might swallowed. “His score. Young Hibari has amassed 90 villain points thus far.”
The other staff members were sufficiently stunned.
“He’s on a roll, “Snipe admitted. “Looks like his time prowling the back alleys of Japan have been good for something.”
“The Exam’s only…”Vlad King checked the time. “Three fourths of the way over, meaning he still has time to improve his score.”
“What was your score when you did the practical?” Midnight asked All Might, recalling he was in fact a Yuei alumni.
“105 villain points, 80 Rescue Points,” All Might answered.
Snipe whistled. “185 points? That’s quite the record, ain’t it? Think Hibari here’s gonna be the one to break it?”
“No,” Eraserhead easily refuted, having checked young Hibari’s progress. “The moment the exam started Hibari went off on his own. He hasn’t encountered any of the other examinees, meaning no chance for him to get Rescue Points. He might beat All Might’s Villain’s score record but not the total score.”
“Still, earning over a 100 villain points is nothing to scoff at,” Thirteen said. “His combat ability is beyond exceptional for his age.” The screen showed Hibari striking a 3-pointer in the midsection so hard he tore it in half. “He’s quite fortunate to have been born with such a prominent strengthening Quirk.”
Nezu started cackling, which was never a good sign.
“Principal?” Vlad King asked warily.
“Delightful! How very delightful!” Nezu threw back his tiny rodent head and laughed maniacally.
“Now I’m worried.” Cementoss admitted without shame.
“Aizawa,” Nezu said, calming down so suddenly it was downright eerie. “You’ve already pulled up Hibari’s profile, have you not? Won’t you please read it aloud for us?”
“What’re you planning, you annoying rat?” Eraserhead huffed, nevertheless fulfilling the principal’s order. “Hibari Kyoya, Quirk…” All Might didn’t miss how Eraserhead’s exhausted eyes widened in surprise.
“Shouta?” Midnight asked worriedly.
Eraserhead swallowed to clear his throat. “Quirk : [Propagation]. He can increase the size or multiply the quantity of a chosen non-living object.”
“Oh, that’s quite the handy Quirk to have,” Thirteen said, admiring the possibilities such an ability brought. “He could propagate the number of relief supplies during a disaster. Can he do the same with food? Can the copy he produces be safely consumed? Does…”
“Hold on a moment,” Hound Dog cut in, getting an inkling about what triggered the principal. “How does that…” he pointed at Hibari eviscerating a 2-pointer of its wires and circuit boards… “come from [Propagation]? Is he multiplying his strength?”
“No,” Eraserhead said solemnly, watching Hibari with keen interest. “His file says his Quirk produces a purple cloud that induces the propagation effect. I’ve checked the recordings, that problem child hasn’t used his Quirk a single time throughout the practical exam.”
A dumbfounded silence fell upon the Yuei staff as Eraserhead’s words sunk in.
“Are you saying…” Midnight struggled to put her shock into words. “...that Hibari Kyoya has earned almost a 100 villain points quirklessly?”
Eraserhead nodded.
“Impossible,” Vlad King gasped. “He’s practically tearing apart the villain bots with his bare hands! Are you saying he’s doing that without a Quirk?!”
“Indeed!” Nezu tittered, looking ready to thank the world for delivering such a fascinating specimen that shattered the mold.
“Pathetic false herbivores,” Hibari Kyoya’s smooth and confident words filtered through the room’s speakers. When an examinee earned far more villain points than their fellow competitors the bots were programmed to start avoiding said individual, not only to give the other hero-hopefuls a passing chance but to see how the over-archiever would adapt to the villain bots fleeing their presence.
The staff of Yuei gawked as they saw how Hibari used that rule to his advantage. Like a predator gleefully hunting his chosen prey, Hibari has chased and corralled a cluster of bots into a dead end alleyway with skillful manipulation.
“I’ll bite you all to death.”
With purposeful steps, Hibari casually walked into the passage with his tonfa raised. The villain bots, seeing their only hope of escape was through Hibari, lunged at him as one.
What came next was a massacre.
“Sweet Jiminy Cricket,” Snipe gaped, taking off his cowboy hat and placing it across his chest as they all witnessed Hibari Kyoya tear through the bots as a whirlwind of destruction. “If that youngin’ can do all that without a Quirk, the hell is he capable of doing with it?”
“Is that bot crying for help?” Midnight asked hesitantly, pointing at the villain bot trying to flee past the devil himself, only for the black-haired Satan to grab its leg and slowly drag it back into the alleyway.
“It’s just your imagination, Nemuri,” Power Loader replied blandly.
“But…”
“Imagination, let’s leave it at that. For the sake of my sanity.”
“Alright if you say so….”
“WHAT THE FREAKIN’ HELL IS THAT?!” Snipe suddenly screamed, startling them all.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” All Might demanded, worried about what could make a Pro Hero react in such a way.
Snipe pointed a shaky finger at one of the screens : Exam Site C camera 42.
Nezu quickly enlarged the display and soon all the other staff members of Yuei became just as baffled as Snipe.
On it was a petite girl with short purple hair, styled in a way that reminded All Might of a pineapple. Her right eye was covered by a black eyepatch decorated with a white skull, while her left eye was a vibrant violet.
Oh, and she was riding atop of freaking Cthulhu! The eldritch monstrosity was the size of a five-story building and was all tentacles, fangs and teeth! Sweet Mother America, so many teeth! Its tentacles writhed, twisted and lashed out in ways that made the law of physics cry in a corner, capturing any and every villain bots it came across and shredding them into toothpick-sized fragments with its millions of teeth! Why did it have so many teeth?!
“...are outer gods allowed in Yuei?” Thirteen asked meekly as on screen Cthulhu bellowed in satisfaction as another group of bots were reduced to scrap metal.
“How would they pay the tuition? With souls of the damned?” Ectoplasm blandly wondered.
“Don’t be so illogical,” Eraserhead scowled. “That thing is probably a creation of that girl’s Quirk.
“How curious,” Nezu murmured, unable to contain his toothy smile as he reached behind him and brought out a device resembling a game controller. He turned it on and an artificial voice said “Manual override engaged.”
“Principal?” All Might asked, wondering what the mad-rodent was up to.
Nezu only replied with a toothy grin that made his expression exponentially creepier. Using his controller, he took control of a 2-pointer and had it scale a tall building Cthulhu was shambling past. He then directed it to leap directly for the one eyed girl balanced on top of the eldritch abomination.
It didn’t get far. As soon as the young lady spotted the bot falling towards her, indigo mist pooled in her singular eye. Tree branches as thick as a man’s torso erupted from the building, ensnaring the 2-pointer so comprehensively it couldn’t move a single servo. Then out of nowhere, hibiscus flowers began blossoming all across the bot; flowers were somehow growing out of cold metal! All Might’s jaw fell farther and farther as those same red flowers suddenly erupted into geysers of crimson fire, melting the 2-pointer into slag.
“Wha…” Midnight gawked.
Nezu’s beady black eyes were practically glowing as he took control over a 3-pointer and directed it to ambush the young girl from behind.
A gigantic anvil, one with ‘1,000 TONS!’ engraved on its side appeared over the bot and flattened it with a tremendous WHAM!
“Wha….?!” Ectoplasm said, blinking furiously.
Nezu controlled another 2-pointer to make a leaping ambush at the girl.
Space tore open, and a gigantic seven fingered hand emerged from the tear in reality to reach out, grab the 2-pointer, and squeeze into unrecoverable pieces before retreating back into the void.
“What?!” Hound Dog cried, eyes perfectly round.
Nezu directed a squadron of 1-pointers to take on Cthulhu from the front.
Only for the concrete beneath them to ripple like water before transforming into spikes that impaled each bot.
“WHAT?!” Cementoss shouted, seeing an examinee mold concrete as easily as his own Quirk could.
“Principal, what’s going on?” All Might gasped, arctic dread pooling in his nonexistent stomach. “That young girl…. Does she have multiple Quirks?”
Was she somehow related to All For One? A secret weapon he prepared against All Might but never had the chance to unleash before All Might pulverized the top-half of his despicable head?
“No,” Nezu said, his grin ever-present as he flicked his controller off. “That is Dokuro Chrome, and her Quirk? It’s listed as [Real Illusions].”
“Illusions? Those are illusions?” Vlad King asked incredulously. “She’s been getting points for every villain bot she destroyed! Our cameras are recording the insanity she’s causing! How’re they illusions?!”
“That’s where the ‘real’ part comes in, doesn’t it?” Eraserhead asked, watching young Dokur studiously.
“Indeed!” Nezu cackled joyously. “Dokuro’s illusions are so powerful they deceive the world itself! If she cuts you with a sword she conjured with her Quirk, your body believes it’s actually been cut and wounds itself accordingly! If she smashes an object with a construct of her Quirk the world somehow records it as damage and destroys said object! Why, if she made a bridge with her illusions it’d be entirely possible for people to cross it, because they believe it’s actually here! AH HA HA HA!”
While All Might was relieved to discover young Dokuro had nothing to do with the deplorable Symbol of Evil, the description of her Quirk still sent chills down his spine.
“Can that even be considered an illusion at that point?” Thirteen whispered, watching as Dokuro summoned more tentacles (why tentacles?!) to deal with the villain bots.
“It can!” Nezu assured. “Because at the end of the day, they are illusions! So long as you accept that this is an irrefutable fact, Dokuro-kun’s illusions have no hold over you!”
All Might breathed a sigh of relief, as did many of the other staff members.
“A glaring weakness for such a powerful Quirk,” Snipe hummed, finally getting his metaphorical feet beneath him. “It’s like a fancy parlor trick. Once ya know the gimmick, the magic’s gone.”
“No doubt she’s been heavily reliant on her Quirk to carry her to this point.” Eraserhead hummed. “No self-respecting hero is a one trick pony. If she passes, put her in my class. She needs to learn there are situations where she’ll be unable to rely upon the crutch of her Quirk.”
Nezu nodded, but All Might saw the devious twinkle in the principal’s eyes. There was something he knew that he wasn’t telling Eraserhead. Should he warn his soon to be colleague? But that might direct Nezu’s ire to himself if he ruined the principal’s fun.
In the end, All Might decided silence was golden.
“This year is truly quite the bumper crop,” Thirteen said admiringly. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen so many talented individuals in the same exam before.”
“It’s definitely goin’ to be one helluva year,” Snipe agreed, putting his cowboy hat back on.
“How many minutes are left in the practical?” Midnight asked.
“1 minute,” Eraserhead mumbled, glad it was almost over.
“Then I do believe it’s time!” Nezu said gleefully, flipping up a glass case on dashboard before him and punching the big red button.
The faculty got a front row seat of the examinees’ reaction as the gimmick villain bot, a colossal machine that towered over the faux city’s tallest buildings, appeared in each of the exam sites. The principal laughed in unholy glee as he watched the children scamper in fear like rats, causing several of the staff members to quietly groan at his shenanigans.
“A person’s true colors are shown in the face of overwhelming opposition,” All Might said, doing his best to keep an eye on all the displays. It was disheartening to see nearly all the examinees flee at the first sign of the Zero-Pointern but he didn’t hold it against any of them. They were still children, and fleeing in the face of such a titan was to be expected.
As far as he could tell only six people didn’t flee before the Zero-Pointer : In Exam Site B Sasagawa Ryohei, in Exam Site C Dokuro Chrome and Cthulhu, in Exam Site D Misaka Mikoto and her army of 3-pointers, in Exam Site E Gokudera Hayato, in Exam Site F Yamamoto Takeshi and in Exam Site G Hibari Kyoya.
“Uh Oh,” Power Loader said. “Everybody, camera 1.”
They looked and saw what’d elicited the hero’s concern: in Exam Site A an examinee, with auburn hair and shoulder length bangs that framed her round face, was pinned beneath a pile of debris caused by the Zero-Pointer’s rampage. Even worse, she was in its path, and if nothing was done the gargantuan machine would run her over beneath its tracks and kill her.
“Shut down that site’s Zero-Pointer,” Erasedhead ordered as a girl’s life was more important than a test.
“Will d…”
“Wait,” Nezu cut in, his tail standing straight.
“Principal, with all due respect that girl isn’t getting out of there on her own.” Power Loader objected.
But Nezu shook his head “There is no need. Look.”
All Might barely caught what seemed to be a steam of orange fire jettisonning across on one of the screens. It then appeared in another, then another, and another. The #1 Hero swiftly realized the cause : someone was flying across the faux city at extreme speeds.
The mysterious flame-clad figure skid to a stop before the astonished auburn-haired examinee, one Uraraka Ochaco. With a blast of his beautiful flames the boy blew away the debris pinning young Uraraka, allowing him swiftly to scoop her in one arm while he used the other to expel a torrent of fire to propel them skyward.
“He’s flying,” Ectoplasm said, impressed.
“He’s totally flyin’.” Snipe agreed.
The young man landed on a faraway rooftop, allowing camera 3 to zoom in and give the Yuei’s staff a proper look at his appearance. He had a mop of fluffy dark-green hair, with bright irises of a similar color. His cheeks were dotted with four symmetrical freckles shaped like tiny diamonds. All in all, All Might would’ve said the young man was rather plain looking.
Yet he carried himself with the surety of a professional while his eyes burned with quiet confidence, inevitably drawing in one’s attention like a force of gravity.
“Are you allright?” the boy asked Uraraka, who was still stunned by her instantaneous rescue.
“I-I am, “Uraraka stammered, her heart doubtlessly trying to beat its way out of her chest from the rush of adrenaline. “Thank you for saving me. I-I am sorry you had to waste your time with me.”
“Don’t be. Saving you was never a waste of time and besides: as soon as I saw you needed help my body simply moved on its own.”
All Might’s heart hammered in his boney chest, and he sat a little straighter.
The young man and Uraraka looked towards the distant Zero-Pointer, whose rampage continued to topple the buildings around it while filling the air with screams of terrified examinees.
The young man immediately stepped forward.
“What’re you doing?” Uraraka asked.
“Stopping that machine.” the young man answered immediately.
“But Present Mic said that it isn’t worth any points! And that it should be avoided.”
“So what? It’s a danger to others regardless. Besides…” he turned to Uraraka and gave her a small but assertive smile “I can’t stand by when I see others in danger.”
Emotions surged across every fiber of All Might’s being, so intense he nearly buffed up on accident.
That young man…!
Holding out his hands behind him, the Yuei faculty witnessed the boy fire twin streams of fire from his palms. The thrust was so great it instantly propelled the young man skyward, rocketing over the empty buildings of Exam Site A at an incredulous speed.
He’s almost as fast as Hawks! All Might thought, hands clenched.
In a matter of seconds the young herp was flying directly above the raging Zero-Pointer. Firing another explosion of orange flames upwards, he used that force to boost himself straight down…
“Big Bang Axle!”
…and smash a flame wreathed fist into the top of the Zero-Pointer’s central processor (aka: its head). But he didn’t stop there. The heat of his flames were so great it burned away the gimmick villain’s metal exterior as if it were made of paper, and his speed so overwhelming he plowed straight through the rest of the Zero-Pointer’s body and caused it to explode catastrophically.
A few teachers instinctually leapt to their feet, worried for the young hero’s wellbeing. Yet when the dust and debris settled they saw him standing tall and unscathed amongst the Zero-Pointer’s wreckage.
At the same time the other Zero-Pointers were neutralized in the other Exam Sites.
“TIME’S UP!” Present Mic’s voice echoed across all the Exam Sites, signalling the end of Yuei’s practical exam.
“Holy Smokes,” Snipe breathed “Did you see that?”
“Obviously,” Eraserhead drawled, even though he was totally focused on the main screen.
“We’ve had others stand against the gimmick in the past, but it’s been a while since one’s been destroyed. Let alone five of them.” Ecoplasm said, impressed.
“Look at him! He’s not even tired!” Midnight gestured. Indeed, the young hero wasn’t even breathing heavily, nor did All Might see a single drop of sweat anywhere on him.
He destroyed Yuei’s Zero-Pointer as easily as All Might would have.
“Who is he?” All Might asked, hoping he didn’t seem too giddy. He succeeded for the most part, although from the look Principal Nezu gave him the Quirked animal discerned his interest.
Hound Dog brought up the young man’s information. “Midoriya Izuku, Quirk : [Harmonization].”
Thirteen blinked beneath her astronaut-themed helmet. “It’s not a fire Quirk?”
“And here I thought we were seeing the next Endeavor.” Cementoss hummed.
“What does Harmonization do?” All Might asked.
“...I don’t know.” Hound Dog admitted, scrolling through young Midoriya’s application. “The boy didn’t add any details about his Quirk, only its name.”
“Is he trying to keep it under wraps?” Vlad King puzzled.
“It’s illogical of us to waste time puzzling out the ins and outs of his Quirk before he’s even been accepted,” Eraserhead said, standing up and shuffling towards the exit. “If he becomes an official student of Yuei, then we will ask.”
“Do you really think than that boy won’t get in after a performance like that, Shouta?” Midnight asked.
Eraserhead shrugged “Nothing is certain until all the points are tallied. I’m going to sleep for a while before patrolling.” The automatic door slid open as Eraserhead approached, briefly flooding the dark observation room in light as the Erasure Hero left.
All Might, on the other hand, could barely contain the trill of excitement surging throughout his veins.
I finally found you my successor!
Examination Results :
1 Midoriya Izuku / Villain Points : 80 / Rescue Points : 65 / Total Points 145
2 Hibari Kyoya / Villain Points : 130 / Rescue Points : 0 / Total Points : 130
3 Misaka Mikoto / Villain Points : 50 / Rescue Points : 75 / Total Points : 125
4 Dokuro Chrome / Villain Points : 105 / Rescue Points : 10 / Total Points : 115
5 Gokudera Hayato / Villain Points : 90 / Rescue Points : 15 / Total Points : 105
6 Sasagawa Ryohei / Villain Points : 64 / Rescue Points : 40 / Total Points : 104
7 Yamamoto Takeshi / Villain Points : 81 / Rescue Points : 22 / Total Points : 103
8 Eijiro Kirishima / Villain points : 55 / Rescue Points : 40 / Total Points : 95
9 Tetsutetsu Tetsutsu / Villain points : 54 / Rescue Points : 40 / Total Points : 94
10 Fumikage Tokoyami / Villain Points : 49 / Rescue Points : 30 / Total Points : 79
11 Bakugo Kastuki / Villain Points : 78 / Rescue Points : 0 / Total Points : 78
12 Shiozaki Ibara / Villain Points : 36 / Rescue Points : 35 / Total Points : 71
13 Kendo Itsuka / Villain Points : 30 / Rescue Points : 35 / Total Points : 65
14 Ida Tenya / Villain Points : 50 / Rescue Points : 10 / Total Points : 60
15 Awase Yosetsu / Villain Points : 50 / Rescue Points : 6 / Total Points : 56
16 Mezo Shoji / Villain Points : 44 / Rescue Points : 10 / Total Points : 54
17 Ashido Mina / Villain Points : 25 / Rescue Points : 28 / Total Points : 53
18 Togaru Kamakiri / Villain Points : 46 / Rescue Points : 5 / Total Points : 51
19 Jirou Kyoka / Villain Points : 25 / Rescue Points : 25 / Total Points : 50
20 Uraraka Ochaco / Villain Points : 15 / Rescue Points : 34 / Total Points : 49
21 Asui Tsuyu / Villain Points : 24 / Rescue Points : 24 / Total Points : 48
22 Shishida Jurota / Villain Points : 30 / Rescue Points : 15 / Total Points : 45
23 Komori Kinoko / Villain Points : 44 / rescue Points : 0 / Total Points : 44
24 Kodai Yui / Villain Points : 21 / Rescue Points : 21 / Total Points : 42
25 Yanagi Reiko / Villain Points : 20 / Rescue Points : 21 / Total Points : 41
26 Tsonotory Pony / Villain Points : 20 / BRescue Points : 20 / Total Points : 40
27 Hiryu Rin / Villain Points : 10 / Rescue Points : 29 / Total Points : 39
28 Fukidashi Manga / Villain Points : 19 / Rescue Points : 19 / Total Points : 38
29 Koda Koji / Villain Points : 0 / Rescue Points : 37 / Total Points : 37
30 Nirengeki Shoda / Villain Points : 18 / Rescue Points : 18 / Total Points : 36
31 Monoma Neito / Villain Points : 20 / Rescue Points : 15 / Total Points 35
32 Shihai Kuroiro / Villain Points : 10 / Rescue Points : 23 / Total Points : 33
33 Hagakure Tooru / Villain Points : 15 / Rescue Points : 17 / Total Points : 32
34 Mineta Minoru / Villain Points : 5 / Rescue Points : 26 / Total Points : 31
35 Aoyama Yuga / Villain Points : 20 / Rescue Points : 10 / Total Points : 30
36 Shinso Hitoshi / Villain Points : 10 / Rescue Points : 19 / Total Points : 29
Chapter 2: Assessment
Notes:
Here is chapter 2. Now don't expect two chapters a week everytime this is an exception. I am grateful for the kudos and the comments. Before someone flay me about flame logic : In this world there are no dying will flames only Quirks so they obey the laws of Quirks meaning as they aren't mutations they are subject to Erasure. Regarding the chapter in it the Quirk Assessment Test for 1-A and a little Bakugo Flashback.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 2 Assessment
Yaoyorozu Momo was barely able to contain the butterflies in her stomach. At long last her hard work and dedication had paid off! She was here, standing before the massive H-shaped building of the one and only Yuei! Her parents had questioned her decision to walk the arduous path of a Hero, especially when the Yaoyorozu group was one of Japan’s wealthiest families. Her father and mother assured her that their darling daughter would never want for anything.
But Momo didn’t want to waste her life drowning in luxuries. She wanted to make her indelible mark on the world, one that proved she’d made a positive difference.
Which was why she chose to enroll at Yuei High.
Her parents had been skeptical but supportive, and she proved her dedication to her dream by being one of the four students to make it into Yuei through the stringent recommendation exam.
“Hold your head high, Momo,” she gave herself a quiet pep talk, secretly hoping no one was nearby to overhear her. That would be embarrassing! It was a good thing she had the foresight to ask her limo driver to drop her off very early in the morning, when there’d be fewer prying eyes. “Today is the day you take your first step as a hero!”
Buoyed by her newfound confidence, Momo passed through the main entrance gate and into Yuei’s main campus building. The windows were polished until they shone like diamonds, and the interior was as clean and well-kept as the Yaoyorozu estate.
Memorizing the directory posted in the entrance hall of the main building, Momo briskly made her way to her classroom : room 1-A. Its door was enormous, likely to accommodate students with heteromorphic Quirks that gave them larger bodies. Although she was certain she was the first person here, Momo nevertheless checked her hair and straightened her uniform before sliding the door open and stepping inside.
Contrary to her expectations there were already five others waiting within, fellow Yuei students judging from their uniforms.
The boy with fluffy green hair had already been facing the door when Momo opened it, causing their eyes to instantly meet.
“Hello there,” He was rather plain looking, but his smile was welcoming and full of warmth. He stood up from his desk to greet her, holding out a hand. Up close she saw he was a few centimeters shorter than her. “I am Midoriya Izuku. Happy to meet you.”
Momo didn’t forget the manners her mother had studiously drilled into her.
“A pleasure to meet your acquaintance as well,” Momo genially replied, shaking his hand. It was rough and calloused. “I am Yaoyorozu Momo. I am looking forward to having a productive year with you all.”
“Hey,” the chestnut-haired girl introduced with a small wave of her hand. “ Misaka Mikoto.”
“D-Dokuro Chrome.” The girl with the eyepatch stammered, partially hiding behind Midoriya. Oh dear, she must be really shy.
“EXTREMELY Nice to meet you,” the gray-haired boy said with a loud voice. “I’m Sasagawa Ryohei! Are you interested in the Boxing Club?”
Momo was a little startled by the over enthusiastic boy. As if seeing her discomfort Midoriya intervened before the boxing fanatic could do more damage.
“Nii-san, we talked about this. Let new people get their bearing before pestering them about boxing. Besides, I don't think there is a Boxing Club in Yuei….”
“Ah Right. Then I will EXTREMELY create one as soon as I am able to do so.”
With Ryohei momentarily distracted with thoughts about how to create a boxing club from scratch, Momo was able to exchange pleasantries with Mikoto and Izuku and sometimes Chrome when she got over her shyness. Before long she realized she forgot the last member in the classroom. The black-haired boy with stern eyes merely gave her a sideways glance before choosing to ignore her, leaning back in his chair (with his feet propped up on his desk) and taking a nap instead.
Momo wondered if she’d done something to offend him. Oh, good going Momo! It was only the first day and she was already making a bad impression on her peers!
“Don’t mind him,” Midoriya said, almost as if he’d read her mind. Was it just her imagination, or did his verdant eyes briefly flicked into a jewel-like amber? “Kyoya’s a lone wolf kind of guy. He doesn’t like gatherings, and he’s slow to make friends.”
“I-I see.” A lone wolf? That just made Momo all the more curious! “Are you all familiar with one another?”
“We’re friends,” Misaka said, sitting on the edge of a nearby desk. “Even if that baka-wolf won’t admit it. Seven of us took the exam together.”
Oh no, and there were only five of them here.
“I am sorry your friends didn’t make it.” Momo said heartfully.
Sasagawa finally entangled the puzzle Midoriya gave him and rejoined the conversation, in a very loud manner. “What do you EXTREMELY mean?”
Midoriya clarified matters before a misunderstanding brewed and before Sasagawa tried to recruit anyone for his new boxing club. “It’s alright, Yaoyorozu, All seven of us passed, but we didn’t wind up in the same class. Hayato and Yamamoto are in Class 1-B.”
“O-Oh!” Stupid Momo! There you go again, making assumptions! Thankfully her well-practiced mask of decorum held strong, ensuring none of her classmates were aware of her inner disorder.
And why was Midoriya watching her so intently?”
“Ano….Um Y-Yaoyorozu-san?” Dokuro spoke up, rather meekly..
“Yes?” There, a change in topic! Most excellent!
“I…I don’t think I saw you anywhere in the auditorium during exam day.”
“That is because I was accepted into Yuei as a recommendation student.”
“That’s amazing!” Midoriya blurted, his smile as bright as the open sky.” Only 36 students in total pass the normal entrance exam for the Heroics Course, but the recommendation exam’s even stricter since only four can pass! You must’ve worked incredibly hard!”
The heat in Momo’s cheeks threatened to make her stern lips rise. In her old private and prodigious middle school many of her stuck-up classmates accused her of only getting in because of the Yaoyoruzu name, gossiping that her parents greased the wheels of nepotism with their endless stores of cash. It was hurtful to hear, especially when it completely disregarded all the effort Momo put to pass.
So to have someone finally give credit where credit was due, Momo couldn’t help but be happy.
“Thank you for your kind words, Midoriya.” Momo said gratefully.
“If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your Quirk?”
“My Quirk is [Creation], it allows me to create any non-living material or object from my exposed skin so long as I know the molecular structure.”
Midoriya’s eyes were almost shining, his fists doing tiny shaking motions Momo found rather adorable.
“That’s an amazing Quirk! With such a versatile Quirk, the only real limit must be your imagination! You must’ve studied extremely hard to know all the precise details of what you want to create! It’s so adaptable too, useful for any number of situations! You can make weapons, gadgets, tools heck even food if you're familiar with the composition! Most people might not be able to wield such a power to its truest potential because of its strict requirements, but passing the recommendation exam proves you’ve practiced to the point of creating any number of tools on demand! Your quick thinking and knowledge have to be as good as Mikoto’s so you must be brilliant! But where does the fuel come from? No matter how insane Quirks are, you can’t create matter from nothing. Could it be fat? Lipids? An exotic material your body naturally produces as a result of your Quirk? Perhaps you’re like Fat Gum and the more you eat the more material you have to work with. But unlike Fat Gum your body mass index appears to be within normal range, so does that mean the number of creations at your disposal is limited or has your body adapted to better suit your Quirk and you’re actually heavier than you…”
As soon as Midoriya started talking Sasagawa threw a look at Misaka who nodded and got ready to intervene. She pinched him hard with a little bit of electricity as soon as he got in range of some things you don’t talk about in public. “Let’s stop there baka-boss. You don’t ever mention a lady’s weight. What would Mamadoriya say?”
Although Midoriya’s sudden avalanche of words proved he had a keen and active mind beneath that mop of fuzzy hair, Momo was grateful Misaka stopped Midoriya when she did. Her weight was certainly a topic she didn’t want to discuss with people she’d just met today.
After recovering from the eclectic pinch and the mention of his dear mama, Midoriya bowed and sheepishly apologized “I-I’am sorry about that. I’ve always liked Quirks and tend to get carried away….”
“That is alright, Midoriya. And to answer your question, my Quirk converts my lipids into matter,” Momo replied. Midoriya’s hands were making furious writing motions, like he was jotting down everything she said in an invisible notebook. “If I may, what are your Quirks?”
“[Electromaster].” Misaka held up two fingers, and a tiny jolt of electricity passed between them.
An electricity Quirk. Those were rather rare, and quite powerful too. Still, wasn’t Electro master a bit of an exaggeration?
“Illusions?” Dokuro mumbled, holding up a hand to show a tiny white rabbit wearing a tuxedo tap-dancing atop her palm. So adorable!
“My Quirk is [Activation]. I use it to EXTREMELY enhance my strength and I can even use it to heal.” Sasagawa said, holding up a hand covered in bright yellow energy.
A Quirk that could heal? Those were even rarer than the electrical ones. And it could also enhance the user. What a way to win the genetic lottery.
“[Harmonization].” Midoriya answered.
That brought a plethora of question marks to Momo. “That is…I am sorry, but what does [Harmonization] do?”
Midoriya smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “That’d take a while to explain.”
Meaning he didn’t want to talk about it. Momo understood, and saved the matter for later. Besides, they were in the Hero Course of Yuei, so she’d see his Quirk in action eventually.
“What about Hibari-san?” Momo asked.
“My Quirk is biting fools to death.” Hibari replied, revealing he wasn’t as asleep as he seemed.
“O-Oh, an enhancement-type Quirk that improves your jaw strength?” Momo asked.
Misaka was clearly trying to hold her laughter in but Sasagawa was openly laughing.
“No, no. Ignore him,” Midoriya clarified in a hurry, keeping the embarrassment away from Momo. “His Quirk is [Propagation]. It lets him increase the size or number of whatever non-living thing he uses it on.”
Momo covered her gasp with the tips of her fingers. That sounded like a Quirk that would pair quite well with her own [Creation]. It was such a shame that it belonged to their class ‘ lone wolf ’.
She wound up making small talk with Midoriya, Misaka and Sasagawa, even if the latter still tried to invite to his yet non-existing boxing club, while Dokuro was more comfortable watching them rather than participating. Although it started as a meaningless polite conversation, eventually they began discussing the nuances of Momo’s Quirk and its various applications. It was very engaging, as she was drawn more and more into the topics they brought up. It was surprisingly liberating to converse so casually with a peer, and it helped that Midoriya possessed a keen mind.
Many of the ideas he brought up were new to even Momo, and it was her Quirk!
It was so entertaining that time flew by, and their classmates began filtering in.
“ Bonjour !” a rather showy boy with a slim build, feminine features, and stylized blond hair called, striking a pose as moonwalked into the classroom. “You’re hereby graced to share a class with the one and only Aoyama Yuga!”
“Wassup everyone!” a girl with light pink skin, unruly pink hair with a pair of pale yellow horns, and eyes with black sclera and yellow pupils, introduced herself. “Ashido Mina is in the house!”
“Good morning, kero.” Their next classmate was short of stature, slender with a wide mouth, large oval eyes, dark sea-green hair reaching her waist, large hands, and walked with a mild hunch. Her frog-like appearance was doubtlessly due to her Quirk. “Asui Tsuyu. Call me Tsuyu-chan.”
Before anyone could do anything, Misaka seemingly teleported herself from where she was near Momo to behind the newly arrived Asui and promptly glomped her in her arms like she was a plushie.
Startled, the poor girl could only utter a “Kero!”
With stars in her eyes the culprit started to rub her cheek against her victims like she was a huge cat while uttering some nonsensical words “Gekota…. A real Gekota….”
Midoriya was holding his head in his hands while swearing “Why…. Why does this happen when Takeshi is not here to calm her…..”
Sasagawa was rolling on the floor with laughter, Dokuro was blushing and hiding behind Midoriya, Hibari was napping in his chair, while the rest of the classmates that were present could only stare at the scene in astonishment.
“...... Well I guess there is no choice but to use that .” Midoriya said, seemingly coming to a decision about what to do about his friend holding a classmate hostage.
To the surprise of everyone but his friends Midoriya pulled out his phone and fiddled with it. Once Midoriya found what he was looking for, he put the phone on speakerphone and pointed it in Misaka’s direction.
“ONEE-SAMA!!!!!!!!!”
Misaka froze, snapped out of her trance, and with a glare at the phone returned to her place.
“I’m sorry Tsuyu-chan, Mikoto has a soft spot for frogs and sometimes she can’t control herself when she sees one.” Midoriya explained bowing.
“That’s okay, kero. It’s better than the alternative…” Asui said, with no emotion in her voice.
“Who was that on the phone and why did hearing her voice make Crazy Girl go back to her senses?” Ashido asked.
“That was one of our kohai from Middle School. Shihai Kuroko, she is the self named number one fan of Misaka Mikoto.”
“She is a stalker, a pervert, and someone with a huge crush on me.” Misaka grumbled from her place, not looking at Asui to avoid another episode.
Momo couldn’t help but shake her head at this craziness, this was much more lively than her stuffy middle school, it made her wonder if she shouldn’t have been in a middle school like them, maybe if that were the case they would be her friends by now.
Then the next classmate entered and Momo recognized him from the recommendation exam. It was the one who came in second overall: Todoroki Shouto. He was moderately tall, between Midoriya and Sasagawa’s height, with a pleasantly attractive face. But his most striking features were his two-toned hair (evenly split between white and red), his heterochromia (his left iris was turquoise, his right a dark gray), and the large burn scar on the left side of his face.
Todoroki quietly slipped in while Midoriya and the others were getting acquainted with Aoyama, Ashido and Asui. Momo tried to greet her fellow recommendation student, but he promptly ignored her while claiming his seat.
She refused to show how much that stung. She noticed MIdoriya staring at Todoroki with a frown. Did he know Todoroki? It didn’t seem to be the case, as Midoriya returned to chatting with Asui about her Quirk.
“Hey, is this class….?”
“Kyoka-chan!” Misaka said happily.
“Geh! You?!” the slender girl with dark-purple hair and earphone jacks protruding from her earlobes spluttered, immediately going bright red.
“You passed after all! I am glad!”
“You’re in this class too?!”
“Oooooh, what’s this? What’s this?” Ashido cooed like the cat that’d caught the canari. “Do I smell love in the air?”
“Hell no!” Kyoka vehemently denied. “Th-This crazy lady just…just helped me pass the practical exam, that’s all!”
“Is that so?” Ashido turned her cheshire grin to Misaka “And why’d your lady-knight in shining armor do that?”
“Because I wanted to see her again.” Misaka freely admitted.
“D-D-Don’t go saying crap like that out loud!” Kyoka stammered, her earphone jacks flailing erratically. “People’ll get the wrong idea, you damned philanderer!”
“But it’s the truth?”
“Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-You…!”
Ashido mercifully chose to briefly cut Kyoka some slack. “Ashido Mina.” She said, holding out a hand.
“J-Jirou Kyoka.” Jirou grumbled, shaking it.
Too bad Ashido’s mercy was in short supply. “Hue, hue, hue! Already on a first name basis with Misaka, are we?”
“Drop it! And you!” Kyo-Jirou spun around on Misaka, who was looking as innocent as a kitten. “I…I owe you, okay? So I’ll find a way to pay you back later.”
“Really?” Misaka asked brightly.
“Yeah, really,” Jirou huffed. “I’m a gal of my word.”
“Want to grab dinner?”
“ Why are you doing this to me?! ”
“ANIKI!” The door was slammed open as a muscular boy with bright red and spiked hair barreled into the classroom, garnering everyone’s attention. His head whipped left and right , searching for someone. His face lit up when he spotted Sasagawa.
“ANIKI, you made it.”
“Of course Kirishima-otouto.”
“I want to thank you for straightening me up during the practical. So Thank You ANIKI!” said the now named Kirishima as bowed deep in gratitude.
“I just EXTREMELY showed you the way. You were the one who did the work otherwise you wouldn’t be here! But if your honor and your pride won’t accept not thanking me, you can thank me by EXTREMELY joining the future Yuei’s boxing club!” Sasagawa said, nodding his head and again trying to gather members for his boxing club.
“A boxing club? Of course I’ll join aniki!”
“Thank you Otouto!”
“Aniki!”
“Otouto!”
Sasagawa and Kirishima then held hands in a manly way while crying tears of manliness. As soon as their hands touched a scene with a beach and a setting sun appeared behind them.
“What the…” Everyone but the ones already familiar with Sasagawa said.
“Bossu…Senpai is being weird again.” Dokuro softly said, while frowning and pulling Midoriya’s sleeve to get his attention.
Once more Midoriya bowed before them as he said “Sorry, Ryohei is special. That probably won’t happen again…I hope.”
Once Sasagawa and Kirishima separated the background returned to normal.
“Horn Buddy!” Ashido said, her hands raised for a high five. Showing she was already familiar with Kirishima.
“Horn Buddy!” Kirishima returned her high five.
Thankfully their next classmate to enter did so peacefully. Shoji Mezo was a quiet giant, with gray hair swept towards to cover most of his face and six arms each attached to one another with a web of skin.
Unfortunately the one after Shoji did the exact opposite, entering the classroom with a literal BOOM. The spiky blond-haired boy opened his mouth to announce something, but the instant his red eyes spotted Midoriya they narrowed into a murderous glare.
“...Deku…!” he growled like a wild animal.
Bakugo Katsuki was in a state of shock. He’d just gotten the results of Yuei’s entrance exam in the mail, which he tore open with relish. The electronic projection played a recording of All Might (ALL MIGHT) congratulating him for passing both the written and practical exams and welcoming him to Japan’s premiere Hero Academy.
Katsuki was on top of the fucking world! This was it! His glorious first step to becoming the new #1 hero destined to surpass All Might!
Then the exam results were displayed, kicking Katsuki’s balls straight to his throat.
11th place.
He, Bakugo Katsuki-sama, the best student in Aldera Middle with the best fucking Quirk in the world…placed 11th?!
HE DIDN’T EVEN MAKE IT INTO THE TOP 10?!
WHO THE FUCK WERE THOSE EXTRAS, KIRISHIMA TETSUTETSU AND FUMIKAGE?!
But what boiled his blood like he’d had molten magma injected straight into his veins were the shitty extras that’d taken 1st to 7th.
He recognized each and every background character.
They were the useless hanger-ons that attached themselves to that worthless Deku.
Deku, who’d gotten first place with 145 points.
Katsuki’s screams of outrage were so prominent that his old hag busted down the door to his room and smacked him for disturbing their neighbors.
The next day, after their guidance counselor congratulated the lot of them for getting into Yuei, Bakugo demanded that the extras and Deku meet him behind Aldera.
Only Deku, Shitty-Knockoff, Baseball Freak, Cyclops and Pikachu showed up.
“I thought I told you all fucking extras to be here.” Katsuki snarled.
“What’d you say, you Shitty-Pomeranian?” Shitty-Knockoff growled.
Deku raised a hand, and the dickless copycat backed away with his tail shoved up his ass.
“Kyoya does whatever he wants, and Ryohei’s training his juniors in the boxing club,” Deku needlessly explained. “So what do you want?”
“...how’d you fuckers do it?” Katsuki demanded past clenched teeth.
“How’d we do what?”
“How’d you fucking cheat?!” Katsuki roared, grabbing the front of Deku’s uniform and trying to haul him forward. Yet Deku didn’t budge. It was like Katsuki was trying to lift a thousand tons with one arm. He just wasn’t fucking moving . Katsuki ignored this impossibility; he was just tired of putting extras in their place all day, that’s all. “How’d a Quirkless twerp like you pass Yuei’s exam? With more points than me?! It doesn’t make any goddamned sense!”
“You bastard!” Shitty-Knockoff hissed, reaching for one of the sticks of dynamite he always managed to smuggle into the school. “Get your filthy hands off of Juudaime right the hell now!”
“It’s alright, Hayato,” Deku said with infuriating calm, gesturing for his silver-haired bitch to sit and behave. “Don’t do anything, guys. This is between me and him.”
It wasn’t until Deku said that, that Bakugo realized he was surrounded. While Shitty-Knockoff stuck to Deku like glue, Pikachu was suddenly positioned on Katsuki’s right, Cyclops to his left and Baseball Freak right behind him.
So fucking what? It didn't matter if he was surrounded by a hundred side-characters. He’d blow these shitty extras away the moment they forgot their place.
“If this is a simple talk between friends,” Pikachu said, wrapping her fingers around the wrist of the hand Katsuki was grabbing Deku’s uniform with, “then he should know to keep his hands to himself.”
Then Pikachu’s fingers sunk into Katsuki’s arm, and it took all of his willpower to keep his cry of pain bottled up behind his clenched teeth. Because he swore it felt like Pikachu shattered every fucking bone in his wrist!
“Fucking… extra…” Katsuki spat, baring his left hand as he prepared to blast Pikachu’s pretty face off with an explosion she’d never forget “DIE!”
Nothing happened.
He couldn’t feel his Quirk.
It was like… like he was Quirkless.
“You….” Katsuki glared at Cyclops with what he hoped was rage, noticing the mist swirling on her single eye. “What the fuck did you do to me?!”
Cyclops didn’t reply. The damn mute never did. She just continued to glare at Katsuki as if his existence insulted her.
“Whoa there, don’t go glaring at our Chrome like that. She’s really shy!” Baseball Freak laughed from behind him. Then his voice went colder than the summit of Mt. Fuji as he rested the head of his baseball bat on Katsuki’s shoulder. “And it’s a senpai’s duty to ensure his kouhai’s comfort, no matter what he has to do.”
Right then and there, the pillar of confidence that propped up Katsuki’s ego for all these years cracked.
No….NO! He wasn’t fucking scared! Not of these worthless extras who did nothing but cling to a shitheel like Deku!
“Enough,” Deku suddenly commanded with authority Katsuki never knew the Quirkless dweeb had. “Stand down, now.”
His peons obeyed like the obedient lapdogs they were. Pikachu let go of Katsuki’s wrist (which was bruising), Baseball Freak withdrew his baseball bat, and Cyclops’ eye returned to normal. Each of them took a few steps back, but no farther.
To his immeasurable relief Katsuki felt the familiar crackle of his Quirk return. Was that Cyclops’ Quirk? Disabling someone else’s Quirk? What a useless fucking ability. Even without his [Explosion] Katsuki could’ve pummeled the shit out of a stick like Cyclops any day of the week. He was really damned to do just that, to teach the bitch her place before she got a big head, but knew Pikachu, Baseball Freak and Shitty-Knockoff would get in his way.
So he swallowed his anger, saving it for later. Once he got the chance he’d trash that one-eyed bitch so hard she’d never even think about standing up to him again.
“Talk, Kacchan,” Deku said, still using that infuriating fucking nickname. “What do you want? I do have plans for today.”
“...drop out.”
“Speak up, I can’t hear you.”
“I said drop out of Yuei, you damned nerd,” Katsuki snarled. “I don’t know how you cheated your way in, but a Quirkless nobody like you doesn’t deserve to attend the same school as me. You and your extras screwed up my origin story? I was supposed to be the first and only one in Aldera to make it into Yuei, not you and your brainless minions! So gather up your grunts and drop the fuck out before I expose you all!”
“No.”
Katsuki nearly blew a fuse. “The fuck you say?”
“I said no,” Deku repeated, with that same aggravating calmness. As if Katsuki was nothing to him. “Do you think Yuei so incompetent they wouldn’t notice someone trying to cheat their way in? My friends and I earned our place fair and square. Deal with it.”
“...who the fuck do you think you are talking to, Deku! As if a Quirkless piece of trash like you could’ve ever beaten me without some kind of dirty trick!”
Deku sighed wearily. “Again with this? Kacchan, I’ve been telling you since the moment we could talk: I. Have. A. Quirk. I’ve always had a Quirk.”
“Bullshit. If a nerd like you had a Quirk I would’ve seen you use it.”
Deku had the gall to roll his eyes. “Not everyone spends their free time using their Quirk to push around others. And I told you before: I hate mine. Until recently I never even wanted to use the damn thing.”
“Ex-fucking-cuses. This is your last goddamned chance, nerd. Run away to a different high school while I’m still asking nicely.”
Deku stared at him, and Kastuki refused to accept that there was a part of him that was unnerved by the intensity of his amber eyes…wait what the fuck? Deku’s eyes were green, not amber. Katsuki glared back, and saw Deku’s tear-generators were indeed green. Had he been seeing things?
“You disappoint me, Kacchan.”
Katsuki froze.
“The fuck. Do. You. Say?” he forced out every word like he was spitting teeth.
“You disappoint me,” Deku repeated with that SAME fucking look and his punchable mug. “This is the future #1? A thug who can only be the best after threatening others? Hey Mikoto, who got 8th, 9th and 10th place again?”
“Kirishima Eijiro, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu and Fumikage Tokoyami.” Pikachu answered.
“Right. Let’s say, by some God-sent miracle, you did convince us to withdraw our applications. You’d still be in 4th place. What’s the plan then? Were you going to track down the first three, ambush them on their way home and threaten them to drop out too?”
“Deku!” Katsuki was barely holding back his boiling rage, his palms crackling with the promise of bloody violence.
“Did you somehow convince yourself that Kirishima, Tetsutetsu and Fumikage, people you never met before, cheated their way into Yuei too? What were you planning to do when they didn't fold over like everyone else? Assault them with your oh-so mighty Quirk until they are too hurt to attend?”
“Deku!”
“Hayato, what does society call those who attack others with their Quirks for selfish gain?”
Shitty-Knockoff wore a shit-eating grin. “They call them villains, Juudaime.”
Katsuki saw red.
“DEKU!” he shrieked, using his explosions to launch himself straight at the worthless Quirkless. His right hand lashed out at Deku’s infuriating face, another explosion primed and ready. Even on the cusp of rage-induced madness, Katsuki wasn’t an idiot. If he hit the nerd too hard and did something permanent Yuei would kick his ass to the curb. So he regulated his power. He wouldn’t kill the fucking nerd, just give him a burn he’d never forget.
“DIE!” Katsuki slammed his right hand into Deku’s face, feeling resistance, and let his Quirk loose to fire a satisfying explosion that rippled the air! More than enough to land Deku on his worthless ass.
So why couldn’t he move his right arm?
The smoke from his explosion dispersed, and Katsuki’s eyes slowly grew wider and wider as he saw Deku still standing in front of him, and still so MADDENINGLY calm. The Quirkless bastard had intercepted Katsuki’s right hand with his left, their finger now interlocked.
Try as he might, Katsuki didn’t see a single damned burn on the nerd.
Instead, the veins in Deku’s left arm, from the tips of his fingers all the way to his elbow, glimmered with amber light beneath his skin.
It was a Quirk.
There was nothing else it could be.
The nerd had a Quirk…
…SO FUCKING WHAT?!
No matter what Deku’s super secret shitty Quirk was, it was still nothing compared to Katsuki’s [Explosion]! He tried to yank his right arm back to wind up for another swing, but was stunned to discover he couldn’t. Deku’s left hand was like an unbreakable vice, Katsuki couldn’t pull himself free!
“Shitty nerd!” Katsuki howled, lashing out with his left instead.
And Deku caught it with his right, also shining with those weird-ass glowing veins.
Katsuki unleashed a powerful explosion anyways, this time holding nothing back. The detonation was worthy of a fucking Pro, and would’ve sent any weakass villain straight into the afterlife.
But Deku continued to stand before him, utterly unfazed and unhurt.
“Dek….!”
The nerd squeezed, and this time Katsuki failed to hold back the howl that tore its way out of his throat. Deku’s fingers tightened around Katsuki’s hands like they were fucking hydraulic presses.
Then it stopped.
Not because Katsuki managed to escape by his own power.
But because the nerd let him go.
“I’m so disappointed in you, Kacchan,” Deku said, almost sounding like he was sad. “I really hoped you would’ve been better.”
Then the nerd fucking dared to turn around and walked away, his entourage following his every step.
“Deku, Deku, Deku,” Shitty-Knockoff said in a mockery of Katsuki’s voice “What does the Shitty Pomeranian think he is? A Pokemon? I should start calling him Bombasaur.”
“Are you alright, bossu?” Cyclops asked worriedly.
“Don’t worry, Chrome. Not a scratch on me.” Deku assured and it was true : even his fucking uniform hadn’t suffered a scratch.
Baseball Freak laughed “Great! C’mon, my dad promised to make us as much sushi as we want for getting into Yuei!”
“Can’t wait,” Pikachu smiled.
It was only after they left that Katsuki realised he was on his knees.
Deku had forced Katsuki to kneel.
Did…did he…loose…?
…
…
…
NO!
NO HE FUCKING DIDN’T!
He was just caught off guard because shitty Deku blindsighted him with his shitty Quirk! If he’d been prepared Katsuki would’ve blasted that damned nerd into the stratosphere!
This didn’t count! It didn’t fucking count!
Once they got into Yuei, Katsuki would prove, without a single shred of doubt, that Deku and his shitty sidekicks were nothing but useless extras who existed solely to serve as his stepping stones!
And he was going to make damned sure they all broke beneath his heels!
Momo watched as their explosive classmate clicked his tongue as he made his way towards his desk, rudely showing aside anyone in his way.
“Who’s that?” she asked, worried how the boy’s troublesome demeanor might affect the rest of them.
“Bakugo Katsuki,” Midoriya sighed tiredly. “We went to the same middle school. We used to be childhood friends, but then he got his Quirk, [Explosion], and suddenly it wasn’t just his sweat that blew up.”
“He’s got an ego the size of the planet Jupiter.” Misaka added.
Oh dear. That sounded very troublesome indeed.
She tried to put the potential delinquent out of mind as the rest of their classmates soon arrived as the morning bell drew closer.
“Vanguard of the endless night, Fumikage Tokoyami.” Fumikage had the head of a black bird, possibly a raven, while the rest of him was quite human.
“ And I’m Dark Shadow! How’s it hangin’! ” Fumikage’s Quirk, a sentient shadow monster with an avian motif, emerged from Fumikage’s stomach to introduce itself.
“Heyo! I’m Hagakure Tooru! I hope we’ll all get along!” a floating Yuei uniform introduced cheerily. It took Momo a second to grasp that Hagakure had an invisibility Quirk.
The next classmate was a tall and rocky boy who apparently couldn’t talk as he introduced himself as Koda Koji using sign language.
“S-S-So many cute babes!” a very short boy, barely passing 100cm in height, drooled upon entering. He had a round face, black eyes, and purple ball-shaped protrusions growing from his head instead of hair.
The way his lecherous eyes shamelessly roved over hers and her female classmates’ bodies made her wish their uniforms came with a coat; a very thick coat.
The next arrival was someone Momo recognized, as the Ida family often attended the parties and social banquets her parents organized. ida Tenya was tall for his age, with short dark blue hair and square glasses that rested on his serious expression. The first thing he did…
“Remove your feet from those desks this instant! Such an action is an insult to those who came to Yuei before us!”
…was reprimand Hibari and Bakugo.
“Don’t crowd me, herbivore.”
“I can do whatever the fuck I want, you stuck-up elitist!”
Brushed aside by their class’ delinquants, Ida then noticed Midoriya and power shuffled over to him.
“I recognize you from the practical exam, “Ida said. “My name is Ida Tenya, from Somei Private Academy.”
“Midoriya Izuku, Aldera Middle.” Midoriya replied, and theu shook hands.
“ Mais dites moi?! You’re the one that got first place in the practical are you not?” Aoyama asked, impressed.
“145 points, did you leave any for the rest of us?” Jirou joked.
“As expected of aniki’s friend! So manly!” Was Kirishima crying?
“Midoriya you perceived the true nature of the exam, didn’t you? I saw the way you flew off to rescue that girl while I shamefully ran away,” Ida continued, mortified by his own behavior. “Forgive me for any prior rudeness! You were undoubtedly the superior candidate!”
Momo curiously wondered what happened during Yuei’s practical exam. She knew it was very different from the recommendation exam, but from what Ida said it sounded like theirs had hidden layers to it.
“At the time, I wasn’t thinking about the exam. I just saw someone in need and moved to help.” Midoriya replied humbly.
“That just make your actions all the more praiseworthy!”
“Ah! That curly hair! It’s you!” the 20th and last number of the new class 1-A exclaimed peering around the door. She had auburn hair and pink blush on her abundant cheeks.
“Hey there,” Midoriya greeted. “You passed too. I’m happy for you.”
“Thanks! I’m Uraraka Ochaco! I never got the chance to thank you for rescuing me, so thank you very much!”
“You’re welcome, and I’m Midoriya Izuku.”
“Pardon me,” Momo spoke up, spurred by her inquisitiveness. “I am Yaoyorozu Momo. What exactly happened during the practical?”
“Oh, it was so scary, but so cool too!” Uraraka energetically explained. “There was this huge robot called the Zero-Pointer, and it was as big as a skyscraper!”
“Indeed! As its moniker suggests, the faux villain was worth no points so there was no reason to confront it!” Ida added.
“While it was bustling buildings some pieces knocked me over and landed on my legs. I was stuck! And the Zero-Pointer was getting closer! I totally thought it was going to run me over!” Uraraka emphasized her tale with vivid arms gestures. She hadn’t noticed she’d garnered the attention of the entire class. “But then De… Midoriya came in, like swoooosh! Picked me up and carried me to safety! Then he said the Zero-Pointer was dangerous to others and blew it up with one punch.”
Momo was impressed by Midoriya’s courage, but his feats didn’t quite sink in as it felt like Uraraka was embellishing what happened. Yet those that did survive the gauntlet that was Yuei’s practical responded with varying levels of awe.
“No way! Someone actually destroyed the giant bot? With one hit?”
“Indeed! It was magnifique! ”
“Geez, and all I did was run away when I saw that thing!”
Midoriya rubbed the back of his head shyly. “It’s not that big of a deal. I’m sure there are others who did the same.”
“I find that hard to believe, Midoriya! That faux villain was a formidable foe!” Ida insisted.
Midoriya turned to his other friends : Misaka, Dokuro, Sasagawa and Hibari. “How’d you guys handle your Zero-pointers?”
“Hacked in and shut it down by wiping out its operating system.” Misaka shrugged.
“Poulpy-chan took care of it for me, but it broke.” Dokuro mumbled, shuffling nervously.
“I EXTREMELY punched it EXTREMELY hard until it was dust.” Sasagawa proudly said.
“That meaningless machine was in my way, so I bit it to death.” Hibari huffed.
The rest of 1-A were flabbergasted by the casual admittances.
“I think we know who the strongest ones in our class are.” Ashido said with a nervous laugh.
Bakugo ground his teeth so hard Momo half-expected them to crack.
Todoroki quietly studied the five students who’d inadvertently shown they were a cut above the rest.
Momo felt a rush of questions starting to bubble forth from her classmates, but before they popped Midoriya clapped his hands, once. It wasn’t loud, yet for some reason that simple gesture commanded their attention.
“I’m sure you all have questions, but our homeroom teacher is almost here so please save them for later,” Midoriya said. “For now, let's take all our seats.”
“Thank you for the forewarning!” Ida near-shouted with a bow before power walking straight to his assigned seating.
Although a few of them were skeptical, especially when they saw no one at 1-A’s doorway, once Ida took his seat they all automatically followed suit.
Bakugo, on the other hand, snarled “Are you trying to tell me what to do, Deku?”
“Says the guy who’s already sitting.” Misaka chuckled.
“Zip it, Pikachu!”
Because Momo was in seat #20, she was close enough to Midoriya (seat #18) to quietly ask “Is our homeroom teacher actually near?”
“Yup,” He said, then pointed “Actually, he’s right there.”
Everyone’s heads turned, and while half of them were confused when they saw nobody, the rest were gobsmacked when they spotted a giant yellow caterpillar shuffling across the floor.
“You’re all already in your seats.” No, it was actually a pale man with messy shoulder-length black hair, incredibly tired eyes, wearing a baggy black outfit and a long scarf wrapped loosely around his neck. He peeled himself out of his yellow sleeping bag before shuffling to the front of the class. “Time is a precious resource. It’s good you lot are acting logically by making every second count. I’m your homeroom teacher. Aizawa Shouta. Pleased to meet you.”
This is our homeroom teacher? Momo thought incredulously. He wouldn’t be out of place in a homeless shelter! Judging from the faces her classmates were making, they thought the same.
Yet if he actually was a teacher of Yuei, that meant he was also a licensed Pro Hero.
“Now change into your gym clothes and meet me outside on the P.E. grounds.” Aizawa-sensei left without another word.
Aizawa Shouta kept a close eye on his watch as he waited for the year’s saplings to make their way to the track field behind Yuei’s main building and besides Gym Gamma. It’d only been three minutes, but he expected these green brats to take as long as 20 before they got here. They were lacking a sense of urgency. It made him wonder how many of them he’d be expelling before the day was….
“Aizawa-sensei.”
Adrenaline surged throughout Shouta’s system as his combat instincts took over, grabbing his capture weapon and whirling around… to find Midoriya Izuku, wearing Yuei’s navy blue gym uniform, standing patiently behind him.
How? How did a 1st year manage to sneak up behind him, a veteran pro who’d been battling villains and criminals for more than a decade? Did he let his guard down? No, even when he was off duty he always maintained a certain level of constant vigilance.
Yet somehow this child had entered his blind spot and approached his exposed back within knife-distance without him noticing.
Midoriya Izuku was dangerous.
“Midoriya,” Shouta drawled, his years of professionalism helping him keep his true feelings under wraps. “You got here fast.”
“Mikoto, Chrome and Ryohei should be here shortly and Kyoya moves at his own pace. I wanted to talk to you before the others got here.”
Shouta went over the names in his head : Misaka Mikoto, Dokuro Chrome, Sasagawa Ryohei and Hibari Kyoya. They went to the same school as Midoriya, Aldera Middle, along with Gokudera Hayato, Yamamoto Takeshi and Bakugo Katsuki. According to their middle school teachers with the exception of Bakugo all of them were friends, though they noted how rare it was for such strong personalities to mesh together so seamlessly without clashing.
It was uncommon for Yuei to accept so many students from the same school, but Midoriya and his friends had proven themselves to be exceptional. Quite possibly the greatest talents Yuei had seen since All Might.
And it was Shouta’s job to deflate those egos before their delusions of invincibility got them killed in the real world. How troublesome. He still had a headache from the ruckus Gokudera raised when the delinquent discovered he wasn’t in the same class as his “Juudaime”; weird nickname. The foul-mouthed brat threatened to raze all of Yuei with his [Disintegration] if he wasn’t immediately transferred to 1-A.
He was subsequently given the fastest detention in Yuei’s recorded history.
“Well, spit it out.”
“Don’t use your Quirk on Chrome.”
Shouta raised a tired brow. “You know what my Quirk is?”
“You’re Eraserhead, the Erasure Hero, an underground hero who’s been in the business for 15 years. Your Quirk, [Erasure], nullifies the Quirks of whoever is in your range of vision, although its effect is negligible against most mutant-type Quirks. It deactivates whenever you blink, and has a minor telekinetic effect on your hair that causes it to rise. You should think about either cutting your hair or wearing a hairband while on patrol to keep villains from noticing such an obvious tell.”
Goosebumps broke out across Shouta’s skin, so it was a good thing he always wore long sleeves. He was an underground hero, meaning he avoided the public spotlight and shot down any attempts to interview him. Information about his Quirk was heavily safeguarded, so how did this kid uncover so much?
“You’re well informed,” Shouta said, giving Midoriya a cold stare that would break most 3rd rate villains.
“Research,” Midoriya replied, unfazed.
He was a problem child for sure.
Shouta sighed. “I get what you’re doing. You’re looking out for your friend, but life isn’t fair. If Dokuro plans on graduating and becoming a pro she needs to learn that she can’t rely on her Quirk for everything. There might come a situation when she’s unable to use her illusions, and in the face of such I expect any student of mine…”
“Sensei,” the problem child rudely interrupted. “If you use your Quirk on Chrome she’ll die.”
Shouta gave Midoriya his full attention, because those weren’t words said in jest.
“Explain.”
“A few years ago there was an… Incident. It destroyed one of her lungs, a kidney, her whole stomach, and the entirety of her intestines.”
Shouta was horrified as Midoriya listed the extent of Dokuro’s injuries. “But she looks perfectly healthy.”
“Because of her Quirk,” Midoriya explained, and Shouta quickly put two and two together. “She’s replacing her missing organs with illusions. They’re currently the only reason she’s alive and living without constant pain.”
“Her Quirk can do that?” Shouta thought he’d understood everything Dokuro’s [Real Illusions] were capable of when Nezu explained them, only to realize how much he’d been vastly underestimating them.
“So long as Chrome accepts that her illusions are ‘real’ her body will treat them as such.”
Shouta took in a shuddering breath. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Midoriya.” He frequently used his Quirk to quiet his students down whenever they got rowdy, and if he’d done so to Dokuro…. if he became directly responsible for a student’s death he’d never forgive himself.
Why had no one informed him of this before? A grievous injury like this should’ve been in Dokuro’s file… the same file he hadn’t read to avoid forming any bias towards his students before the Quirk Assessment Test.
Is this what they call Karma? Shouta wondered, his headache progressing into a migraine. One way or another he was going to have Dokuro see Recovery Girl to make sure she was fit for Yuei’s grueling Hero Course.
As Shouta resolved to pay close attention to Dokuro, 15 minutes elapsed and the rest of 1-A arrived at the P.E. field. He didn’t miss how Dokuro, Misaka and Sasagawa stood close to Midoriya while Hibari stood apart from them but only by a few meters.
Shouta then told them what they’d be doing.
“”A Quirk Assessment Test””
“What about the entrance ceremony? Orientation? Our guidance sessions?” Uraraka babbled worriedly.
“Pointless wastes of time, especially if you’re all hoping to be heroes.” Shouta grunted, passing a cursory glance at Dokuro. Despite purportedly missing several vital organs she appeared like any other shy teenage girl. Her Quirk truly was both powerful and versatile. Not only that, her list of injuries were rather similar to a certain blond oaf’s, who’d remain unnamed. Could she possibly do the same for him? He’d bring the topic up with Nezu later. “Yuei is known for its unrestricted educational style, which applies to the teacher as well.”
His eyes narrowed when he spotted All Might spying on them from around one of Gym Gamma’s corners. What was that idiot doing here? And why was he shuffling like a nervous schoolgirl trying to muster up the courage to confess to their crush?
Whatever. Ignore the oaf.
“You’re all familiar with the standardized physical fitness tests your middle school requires you to do,” Shouta continued. “Japan still insists on prohibiting the use of Quirks while calculating those scores. How illogical, everyone working in the Department of Education should be fired. Midoriya.”
“Yes, sensei?”
“What was your softball record in middle school?”
Midoriya frowned, then turned to Sasagawa. “Did we do that in Aldera?”
“We EXTREMELY were in Italy for a lot of time last year so we EXTREMELY missed it.” Sasagawa loudly replied.
Italy? Shouta hadn’t known Aldera Middle arranged field trips abroad. Not bad for a boringly average middle school.
“When the hell did you do to Italy Deku?” Bakugo grunted.
Or maybe not. Questions for latter.
“No matter. You came in first in the practical. Get over here and stand in this circle.” Shouta pointed at the chalk circle beside him. When Midoriya did, Shouta tossed him a durable ball with an odometer built into it. “Use your Quirk to throw that as far as you can. As long as you stay in that circle anything goes. Give it your all.”
Midoriya lightly tossed the ball up and down to get a feel for its weight. Once he was satisfied, he took a deep breath and held it in.
Orange flames erupted from both his hands, like wings of golden fire. Despite being so close to the problem child Shouta didn’t feel any heat, meaning Midoriya had excellent control over its temperature.
Amongst the entranced students of 1-A, Todoroki Shouto glared at Midoriya intensely.
Holding the ball in his left, the flames shooting from his right doubled in output, causing him to slowly start spinning like a top. Faster and faster, Midoriya was rotating so quickly he became a miniature hurricane of orange fire powerful enough to whip up winds that forced Shouta’s students to shield their faces.
Then, with all the immense centrifugal force he’d amassed…
BOOM!
…Midoriya hurled the ball into the sky so hard it created a shockwave that knocked the smallest member of 1-A off his feet.
Shouta craned his head as the ball disappeared into the distance, leaving behind an aurora of Midoriya’s jewel-like flame in its wake.
After a minute or two the measuring device in Shouta’s hand beeped, signalling the ball had reached its maximum distance.
“It’s important for us to know your limits,” Shouta said, showing 1-A the score Midoriya achieved. “Because from there, we know the next logical steps you heroes-in-training need to take to improve yourselves.”
“”1,855 meters?!””
“Manly!” Kirishima exclaimed.
“...Deku!”
“Flames? How does that relate to [Harmonization]?” Yaoyorozu murmured to herself.
“This looks so fun!” Ashido gushed.
“We can use our Quirks as much as we want!” Uraraka enthused.
“Fun?” Shouta’s chilling tone doused their enthusiasm. “Do you plan on wasting the next three years with such a flippant attitude? Alright, then whoever gets the lowest overall score today will be considered hopeless and immediately expelled.”
That got the reaction he was hoping for, as his students began protesting in panic.
“Expelled?” Hagakure nearly cried.
“No! I can’t be expelled! I just got into Yuei!” Mineta wailed, collapsing to his knees and rolling into a ball of despair.
“Can he do that? He can’t do that, can he?” Uraraka worriedly asked nobody in particular.
Yaoyorozu opened her mouth to say something, but Midoriya was faster.
“He can,” the problem child said. Strangely enough, neither Midoriya nor his four friends were concerned in the slightest. Were they that confident in their abilities? Judging from their performance during the practical exam, Shouta supposed they had every right to be. “Aizawa-sensei himself had expelled over 154 students in tenure as a teacher of Yuei.”
Yaoyorozu paled as her mouth snapped shut. Hearing his track record 1-A became petrified as they understood their futures were on the chopping block, save for Midoriya and his friends, Todoroki Shouto, Asui Tsuyu and Bakuo Katsuki. Todoroki was solemn but serious, it was difficult to tell what Asui was thinking because of her blank expression, and Bakugo was grinning feral at the challenge laid before him.
Damn problem child. Airing his dirty laundry made it hard for Shouta to pull his “logical ruse” card if everyone in 1-A succeeded in impressing him.
Misaka leaned over to Midoriya and whispered something in his ear, which Midoriya replied to just as quietly.
Aizawa read their lips.
“ Is he serious about expelling someone? ”
“ Yes, but only if he believes they’ve got no potential. ”
“ So last place is safe? ”
“ As long as they give their all and demonstrate sufficient creativity with their Quirk. ”
Shouta frowned. Where was this problem child pulling this frightfully accurate information from? He’d have to keep an even closer eye on Midoriya.
“We can choose what to do with our students, so your fates are in our hands.” Shouta said, snapping everyone from their varying fugue states. “Welcome to Yuei’s Hero Course.”
“I-Isn’t this too unfair?” Uraraka protested. “We were only just accepted! How can you expel us?”
“Unfair? The world is unfair, especially to heroes. Natural disasters, high pileups, rampaging villains. There’s always a new calamity around every corner. Heroes are the ones who stand on the front lines to battle that unfairness. If you came here to have fun with your friends, spending your afternoons hanging out at McDonalds, too bad. Because for these next three years Yuei will run you through the wringer, over and over again. So go beyond, and use your strength to overcome it all. Plus Ultra.”
Shouta was glad to see most of the students weren’t backing down as they put their game faces on. A good attitude to have. Time to see how far that would get them.
Event 1: 50-Meter Dash
Tensei’s younger brother blurred across the finish line, finishing the 50-meter dash in a respectable 3.04 seconds. Shouta wasn’t impressed, seeing as Ida’s Quirk [Engine] specialized him towards speed-based events. It was like watching a fish swim. The real test would be seeing how Ida tackled the other challenges.
Shouta was more interested in those who used their Quirks creatively. Such as Aoyama Yuga, who used the recoil of his Quirk [Naval Laser] to propel himself across the track. While he wasn’t able to continuously maintain the beam for the full 50 meters, resulting in him falling and hitting the ground and forcing him to restart, he still got a time of 5.51 seconds. Much better than Jirou Kyoka and Hagakure Tooru, both of whom were unable to find a way to use their Quirks [Earphone Jack] and [Invisibility] effectively and ended up simply running the 50 meters Quirklessly; they got 7.95 and 8.12 seconds respectively.
Then they were those who came close to Ida’s time. Todoroki skated across the finish line on a ramp of ice (3.78 seconds), Bakugo propelled himself forward with his explosions (4.01 seconds), Fumikage’s Dark Shadow reached out and dragged him across the finish line (4.54 seconds), and Yaoyorozu used her Quirk [Creation] to create an entire motor-powered rad bicycle (3.33 seconds).
But the standouts were those who shattered the speedster’s record. Midoriya’s flames sent him shooting past the end goal (1.23 seconds), Misaka wreathed herself in a shroud of lightning that somehow let her move at super speeds (0.51 seconds), Dokuro used her illusions to manifest a motorcycle made of skulls and bones and ran off the wail of the damned (1.34 seconds), Sasagawa glowed yellow before sprinting like a madman using his [Activation] enhanced speed to reach the goal (2.79 seconds), and Hibari used his Quirk [Propagation] on a pebble he placed under his foot to enlarge it into a boulder. The instantaneous expansion launched him across the whole 50-meters in a single go (2.21 seconds).
Ida was taken aback by how his time was easily defeated by those with Quirks that didn’t specialize in speed like his own, but didn’t let it deter him as he vowed to do better.
Shouta took down all their times, and moved onto the next test.
Event 2: Grip Strength
“Wow! 540 kilograms? Are you sure you’re not a gorilla or an octopus?” Kirishima asked about the high score Shoji achieved. His Quirk [Dupli-Arms] certainly gave him above average strength.
Crunch!
Heads snapped towards the source of the noise, and everyone saw the crumpled piece of the grip measuring device fall from Midoriya’s fingers. Skillfully propelling small jets of flames from his individual fingers, he reinforced his grip with their collective thrust and pulverized the device.
“Sorry sensei,” Midoriya said sheepishly “I gave it my all, and… um, I’ll pay for the damages?”
Shouta sighed, and simply jotted down the problem child’s score as 999kg.
“Midoriya is skillful, kero.” Asui (55kg) noted.
“I…I have to do my best!” Hagakure (22kg) sniffled.
Misaka used her [Electromaster] to hack into the device’s display so that it showed the maximum score: 999kg.
“Hey! That’s cheating!” Mineta (18kg) vigorously protested.
“It’s the score she achieved with her Quirk. It’s allowed.” Shouta said, shooting the argument down before it began.
Not to be outdone, Yaoyorozu created a portable industrial press and used it to compress the measure device’s handle until it shattered. Another 999kg went onto the list.
Dokuro followed that performance by creating a three meter tall, four armed gorilla with six pitch black eyes, silver scales instead of fur and serrated knives for teeth. That girl’s head must be a terrifying place. Her monstrosity, which had everyone frantically backing away the moment it was conjured, wiggled one of its enormous fingers around the device’s handle and gave it a squeeze.
Needless to say, it was powdered.
“Girl! What the heck was that?!” Ashido (36kg) cried after the living nightmare disappeared. Dokuro, too shy to answer, hid behind Midoriya.
Sasagawa, not to be outdone, roared and squeezed his device and while he reached 999kg, the device held on it just that the handle was permanently marked by Sasagawa’s grip.
Hibari jammed the end of his tonfa (wait, since when had he been carrying that?) through the middle of the measuring tool and used his [Propagation] to increase its size until the device registered 999kg before bursting.
That was the fourth piece of school property destroyed in a single morning. Good thing Nezu’s bottomless accounts were filled with funds from reputable (?) sources, or else all this would be coming out of Shouta’s paycheck.
Bakugo, upon witnessing their feats, gripped his device like he was trying to squeeze water from stone. When his score came out to 145kg he angrily blew the device up with an explosion.
Event 3 : Standing Long Jump
“”He can fly?!”” the students shouted in astonishment as Midoriya used his orange flames to soar across the sand pit, fly to the opposite hand of Yuei’s expansive P.E. field and do a cheeky lap around Gym Gamma before returning.
Darn problem child wasn’t the only one either, as Misaka hovered across the sand pit a meter above the ground on tendrils of electricity that somehow kept her afloat. Dokuro rode on the back of a giant pterodactyl. Sasagawa jumped normally but the boost from his [Activation] allowed him to clear the sand pit. Hibari used [Propagation] on his tonfa again, but instead of bloating its overall size he used a controlled application of his Quirk to only increase the length of its main body. With one foot balanced against its handle and its back end wedged into the ground, Hibari casually road the extending weapon over and well past the sand pit.
Todoroki, Aoyama, Ida, Asui, Uraraka, Tokoyami and Yaoyorozu all used their Quirks to achieve very good scores, but they were nothing compared to the first five.
Bakugo attempted to mimic Midoriya’s flying, but it was clear his explosions weren’t suited for sustained flight; at least not yet.
Shouta noticed Hagakure was panicking, especially after Mineta used his Quirk [Pop Off] to form a large pile of purple balls that he jumped on to achieve a respectable distance. Too bad she wouldn’t be getting any words of assurance from him. If a measly threat of expulsion was enough to break her then she wasn’t suited for the grueling life of a hero.
That was until Misaka approached the invisible girl and spoke to her. With her back turned to Shouta, the Erasure Hero couldn’t read the girl’s lips. Whatever was said, it visibly (ironic, given her Quirk) cheered the girl up.
“Hagakure, you’re up next,” Shouta said, mildly intrigued to see the results of Misaka’s pep talk.
“Yes, sensei!” Hagakure shouted, hurrying over to the startling line while…taking off her gym uniform?
“What are you doing?!” Yaoyorozu cried, cheeks flushed as the invisible girl even started stripping out of her sports underwear.
Mineta was staring hard with bloodshot eyes, as if his lust would somehow let him pierce the veil and see through Hagakure’s ability.
“Using my Quirk!” Hagakure announced, dropping her clothes in Uraraka’s flustered arms. “Hold these for me!”
“Wh-Wh-Wha…?”
The only thing Hagakure had on left were her shoes, which approached the edge of the long jump’s sand pit. Almost everyone was caught off guard when said shoes suddenly went flying over the sand in an arch before landing on the far end.
Anyone with functioning eyes could tell from the unnatural way they’d moved that the shoes had been thrown.
“Is that allowed?” Jirou asked. “I mean, that wasn’t a long jump. She just chucked her shoes!”
“I totally jumped! You can’t prove I didn’t!” Hagakure argued, now stark naked and 100% invisible to the world.
“Aren’t you standing right there?” Ashido said, pointing to the starting zone where Hagakure’s voice came from.
“Gah!” There was a slap sound; her hands smacking over her loose lips.
“I’d say it’s fine,” Misaka spoke up, smiling. “After all, this is a Quirk Assessment Test. With Hagakure-chan’s Quirk…” the invisible student made an embarrassed blubber “...the only way we can see her is through her uniform. With her shoes all the way over there, we can’t say we didn’t see her jump.”
Shouta huffed, raising the edge of his scarf to hide a smirk of his own. This was the sort of lateral thinking he wanted to see. Although he wished Hagakure had come upon the answer on her own, this would do for now.
“Hagakure, 24m” Shouta jot down.
The invisible girl whooped in glee and relief, and Misaka slightly staggered as she tackled her with a hug. “Thank you so much Misaka-chan!”
“It was my pleasure Hagakure-chan.”
“Hagakure?” Midoriya spoke up. “Even if you’re invisible, please don’t forget you’re not wearing anything.”
The impression pressing against Misaka’s uniform froze, before leaping off as she’d been shocked.
Jirou glared daggers at the back of Misaka’s head all the while.
Event 4: Side Steps.
His arms outstretched on either side, Midoriya shot repeated burst of fire from his palms that rapidly propelled him firm side to side so quickly he was leaving behind after images. Misaka used her lightning shroud to copy Midoriya’s speedy movement. Dokuro made an identical illusion of herself that stood on one side of the chalk line while she was on the other; moving in tandem they worked together to inflate her score. Sasagawa and Hibari both refrained from using their Quirks and showed their physical prowess.
Mineta was bouncing rapidly between two piles of his elastic balls, and Hagakure had put her shoes on her hands and was furiously swinging them from side to side to make it look like she was side-stepping as fast as HIbari and Sasagawa.
Seeing the two students who’d come in last in the first three tests suddenly starting to excel, the remainder of class 1-A threw themselves into the physical exercices with everything they had to avoid the looming threat of expulsion.
Something Shouta was more than happy with.
Event 5 : Ball Throw.
Because Midoriya already went he was exempt, so Hagakure immediately volunteered to go first.
“Hagakure! You’re in clear violation of the rules!” Ida reprimanded with an energetic chop of his arm.
“You can’t prove anything!” Hagakure retorted, having grabbed the ball and was running off with it.
“I can clearly hear your voice getting farther away!”
“That’s just my ventriloquism! I practiced a lot!”
“When?!”
“This morning!”
She dropped the ball at the 500m mark, but returned as a panting and sweating mess.
Bakugo stomped into the circle next, chucking the ball with an explosion-powered throw and an energetic “DIE!” The ball landed 707.6m away, to which Bakugo cussed up a storm.
Yaoyorozu created an entire cannon she loaded the ball into before firing, scoring 1,765.9m. Dokuro used her [Real Illusions] to make her ball sprout two sets of bat wings and willed it to fly away; she landed it exactly on the 1,000m mark. Todoroki launched his with a glacier of ice that erupted from the ground with an upward swing of his hand; 981.9m. Sasagawa threw his ball almost normally but got an astounding 805.7m. Hibari swung his tonfa at his ball….
(“Sensei! Surely using a support item is against the rules of the test!” Ida protested.
Hibari glanced in Ida's direction and gave him a bloodcurling smile. “Come and take it from me, herbivore.”)
…while propagating its size on the moment of impact. The additional mass and force sent it flying 1,001.9m. Uraraka’s Quirl [Zero Gravity] was perfect for this test, because once she erased the ball’s gravity and threw it the device escaped the planet’s atmosphere and joined the stars amongst the empty void of space.
“”Infinity?!””
“She beat your score Izu,” Misaka chuckled, bumping elbows with Midoriya.
“Sorry about that, Midoriya!” Uraraka apologized.
“Don’t be, that was great Uraraka.” Midoriya praised.
With every score that eclipsed his own, Bakugo gnashed his teeth harder and harder. That kid was a bundle of anger issues.
Everyone else went up (scoring less than Shouta’s explosive student) until only Misaka was left. Within the circle, Misaka was spinning the ball atop one finger, ruminating.
“Sometime today, Misaka,” Shouta said, before warning. “Waste too much time and you’ll be given a zero.”
The threat didn’t bother Misaka. Instead the chestnut-haired girl looked to Midoriya and said, “Izu, I’m going to use that .”
Midoriya’s eyes went round. “Are you serious?”
“Seeing everybody do so well has gotten me pretty fired up,” Misaka said, catching the ball in her hand. “So I might as well go Plus Ultra.”
“That’s what you should have been doing from the start,” Shouta groused, deciding to flunk Misaka if she didn’t toss the damn ball within the next 10 seconds.
Midoriya's shoulders slumped “Fine, fine. Yaoyorozu?”
Yaoyorozu jumped a little when Midoriya abruptly called her name. “Yes Midoriya?”
“Can you make 21 sets of earplugs for everyone here? Sensei included.”
Yaoyorozu blinked “I…Yes, I can.”
“Please do. We’re going to need them. I also need everyone to back away, back far away from Mikoto.”
“Don’t try to order me around, Deku!” Bakugo snarled, stubbornly rooting himself in place.
Midoriya shrugged “Your funeral.”
“Midoriya,” Shouta called out. “Will Misaka’s attempt be dangerous?”
“For herself? No. For anyone too close? Absolutely.”
Shouta grimaced. While Misaka had demonstrated great resourcefulness with her Quirk, not once had she shown enough pure destructive force to warrant Midoriya’s caution. Yet his gut told him Midoriya was earnestly worried for everyone’s safety, and he’d been in the business long enough to trust his instincts. So what should he do? Dissuade Misaka from using what was likely her full power? Or urge the kid who’d been coasting through the test to finally take one seriously?
Shouta palmed his face, wondering why these problem children were making him ask such questions on the first blasted day of their semester.
Unfortunately, he already had his answer.
“Bakugo, get over here.” Shouta grumbled, Yuei needed to know the true extent of what Misaka was capable of in order to help her improve as a hero-in-training.
While Bakugo cursed and grumbled under his breath, he knew better than to play deaf towards his homeroom teacher.
Yaoyorozu finished passing out red earplugs to everyone, who were curious enough to fit them in their ears without question. Once Midoriya had them all stand 100 meters away from Misaka, he asked Dokuro, “Chrome, if you’d please?”
Dokuro nodded, and a one-meter thick transparent blast shields materialized protectively around Class 1-A. It was the type of heavy acrylic polycarbonate that made automatic gunfire no more threatening than a gentle drizzle of rain.
“Isn’t this a bit extreme?” Shoji asked what everyone was thinking, including Shouta. If this turned out to be a prank then both problem children would be sharing their detention with Gokudera.
Midoriya didn’t answer, instead choosing to observe Jirou.
“What?” she asked.
“Your Quirk gives you enhanced hearing, right?”
“Yeah?”
Dokuro handed Jirou a pair of noise-cancelling headphones she made with her illusions.
“Wear that!” Midoriya said/ordered.
Jirou did, appearing puzzled all the while.
Midoriya finally waved at Misaka to give her the go-ahead.
Misaka nodded before tossing the ball straight up and slamming her palms together.
The whole world dimmed.
No, the storm of electricity raging between Misaka’s slowly spreading hands was just so blindly bright that a white star was born on Yuei’s grounds. There were cries of shock as stray tendrils of lightning lashed out from Misaka’s electrically charged body, filling the vibrating air with the smell of ozone. Here and now, as Misaka harnessed a level of overwhelming power many might consider divine, Shouta grasped why her Quirk was titled Elector master .
As the ball began its descent Misaka primed her right hand into a supercharged fist, then threw it forward with a thunderclap of force. It connected with the throwable device…
CRACKLE-CRACKLE- BOOOOOOM !
and sent it rocketing forward as a laser beam of plasma so impossibly fast that if Shouta had blinked he would’ve missed it. The impact was accompanied by a BANG so thunderous it sounded like a lightning bolt had struck the ground right beside them, sending half of Shouta’s class to their trembling knees, while Dokuro’s blast walls violently shuddered as if punched by All Might.
Then Misaka powered down, and quiet returned to the world.
Dokuro allowed her illusions to fade back into mist.
“W-W-What the hell was that?!” Mineta screamed hysterically, ripping out his earplugs and tossing them at the ground.
“ Mon dieu ,” Aoyama struggled in vain to still his shaking legs. “Her shine…outshone my own.”
“A railgun,” Yaoyorozu gasped, clutching her frantically pounding heart. “A projectile launched with electrical currents and magnetic fields using the Lorentz Force to achieve velocities more than five times the speed of sound. How… the most advanced militaries in the world have yet to create a fully functional railgun, yet Misaka did so with only her Quirk?”
Jirou was speechless, mouth dandling open.
Nodding in satisfaction, Misaka casually left the circle as if she hadn’t pulled off a super move powerful enough to kill All Might. “Sensei, what's my score?”
Shouta blankly stared down at the recording device in his sweaty hands: 102,859m.
Peering over his shoulder, Ashido’s eyes saw the ludicrous number and bugged out “Holy Breakdancing Aliens!”
“Unsurprising,” Asui said, her tone and expression as blank as always, yet her fingers shook with a noticeable tremor. “Shooting something faster than Mach five? I actually expected it to leave earth and bump into Uraraka’s ball.”
“I hope you didn’t shoot down a plane or a satellite or something by accident, did you?” Shoji asked somewhat nervously.
Most of Class 1-A whipped their heads between Shouta and Misaka at the horrific thought. Misaka was actually pretty nervous, as if she hadn’t considered the possibility.
Midoriya’s eyes briefly flared amber. “I’m sure it’s fine.”
The lightning prodigy heaved a sigh of relief.
That headache Shouta had before? It successfully evolved into a full blown migraine. He wanted nothing more than to curl into his sleeping bag and pretend this day never happened, but as a professional hero and teacher of Yuei he needed to carry out his duty.
“Stay here,” Shouta grumbled, heading for the main building. “I need to warn Nezu to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” And possibly the Ministry of Defense while they were at it, to assure the government that Yuei wasn’t under attack by a foreign hostile nation.
All the while Bakugo was gaping at Misaka with a pale and clammy complexion, as if this was the first time he was truly seeing his fellow Aldera alumni.
Good news, Misaka’s ball landed harmlessly in the Pacific Ocean. The most damage it caused was giving a passing fisherman a good scare. Although Nezu had to fend off some pressing questions and concerns from the Japanese government, Shouta was given the all-clear to finish up the rest of the Quik Assessment Test.
So after downing a pair of aspirins, Shouta urged the most troublesome class he’d ever had to push through the last three tests.
Event 6 : Sit-ups
“100… 101… 102… 103…104… 105…!”
“Are you actually doing any sit-ups, Hagakure?” Asui asked as she held the invisible girl’s legs.
“Totally! Absolutely!” Hagakure promised.
“Because you’re not the least bit out of breath…”
“I’ve got abs of steel you could grate cheese on!”
“...and it doesn’t feel like you’re moving at all.”
“Just your imagination!”
After 1-A shook off the surprise of Misaka’s railgun (as best they could anyways), Shouta had the class move onto sit-ups. Most of them were doing the exercise normally, even the troublesome five. A few were making use of their Quirks, like Jirou, who was wrapping her earphone jacks around her partner’s shoulders and was using them to pull her up and complete her sit-ups long after she’d run out of strength.
Event 7 : Seated Toe Touch
“Look! I’m totally folded completely in half!”
“No, Hagakure, we don’t see. Literally.”
“Trust me, I am!”
Event 8 : Endurance Running
Shouta checked his stopwatch. It’d already been two hours and the last 10 students had yet to stop running. Midoriya, Misaka, Sasagawa and Hibari were in the lead, jogging at the brisk pace they’d been maintaining for the last 124 minutes. Dokuro wasn’t running at all, leisurely riding a six-legged horse with fire for eyes and half a battle axe sticking out of its head (why, Dokuro; why?). Behind them was an exhausted Yaoyorozu, a shivering Todoroki, a profusely sweating Bakugo, Ida with his leg engines spluttering weakly…and Hagakure was probably in there somewhere (or so she claimed).
As the minutes dragged on, their numbers dwindled.
Ida staggered and fell as his Quirk finally stalled.
Bakugo stubbornly tried to keep up with the five in the lead, the explosions he used to sporadically shoot forward growing stronger the more he sweated. But with more power came a lack of control, and Bakugo’s subsequent explosion blasted him right off the track and disqualified him. His howls of outrage, aimed mostly at himself, almost popped Shouta’s ears.
Todoroki was next. He’d been skating forward on a road of ice he continuously generated until his body was no longer able to withstand the cold of his own Quirk. Shouta’s brow furrowed. He brought up Todoroki’s file on his phone and saw that Todoroki’s Quirk was [Half-Cold Half-Hot], meaning he was able to create fire as well as ice. So why didn’t he warm himself up with his fire? Did he think he could skate through Yuei with only half his Quirk?
Yaoyorozu tried to keep up on her motorized solar-powered bicycle but its battery drained faster than it recharged, leaving Yaoyorozu to manually pedal after the five problem children until her legs refused to cooperate.
Shouta quietly observed the last five in the endurance run. Midoriya, Misaka and Hibari were panting lightly from the workout, their uniform beaded with sweat but they were nowhere near the point of exhaustion. Sasagawa was perfectly fine as if he did runs like that every day, he wasn’t even sweating or panting from the now 138 minutes of the run. Dokuro looked like she was on a leisurely countryside horseback ride, showing no side of Quirk exhaustion despite maintaining her illusion for so long.
He honestly had no idea where Hagakure was.
Since it was obvious they could keep this up for another two hours or more it was illogical to waste anymore time, so Shouta called for them to stop as he assigned the remaining six full marks.
Finally, the Quirk Assessment Test was over. Shouta was already hearing the siren song of his sleeping bag calling to him.
“Gather around. Let’s get these results over with.” Shouta said as his device tallied up their total scores to determine their placings. Dokuro generated towels with her Quirk and passed them out to her friends.
Most of 1-A, mainly those who hadn’t excelled, awaited their results with deathly pallors. After all, this moment would decide which of them would be kicked out of Yuei, the dream high school they’d all worked so fervently to get into in the first place.
“Also, no one’s getting expelled,” Shouta announced, smirking at how many anxious expressions went through a dramatic shift. “You all impressed me, one way or another, so you all get to stay.”
Mineta collapsed onto his behind, babbling incoherently as he blankly stared towards the heavens. Jirou stopped tapping the tips of her earphone jacks as heaved a massive groan of relief. Somewhere he heard Hagakure sniffle.
“Here are your results.” Shouta pressed a button on his handheld device, projecting a holographic image of their rankings.
1 Midoriya Izuku
2 Misaka Mikoto
3 Dokuro Chrome
4 Hibari Kyoya
5 Sasagawa Ryohei
6 Yaoyorozu Momo
7 Todoroki Shouto
8 Bakugo Katsuki
9 Hagakure Tooru
10 Ida Tenya
11 Fumikage Tokoyami
12 Shoji Mezo
13 Kirishima Eijiro
14 Ashido Mina
15 Uraraka Ochaco
16 Asui Tsuyu
17 Aoyama Yuga
18 Koda Koji
19 Jirou Kyoka
20 Mineta Minoru
“We’re done here,” Shouta said, leaving the screen up as he turned around to leave. “Documents about the curriculum and such are back in the classroom. Get changed, head on back, and take them with you. After that, feel free to leave. Today’s a half day. Dokuro.”
“Y-Yes, sensei?” Dokuro stammered.
“Go to the nurse’s office and fill in Recovery Girl about your condition. Her evaluation will decide whether or not you’ll remain in the Hero Course.”
Dokuro’s classmates turned to her worriedly, doubtlessly wondering what her circumstances were.
“I…okay sensei,” Dokuro murmured, head hanging low.
Until Midoriya placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “It’ll be okay, Chrome. I’ll go with you.”
Dokuro brightened immediately. “T-Thank you, boss.”
Weird nickname for a friend. There was likely a story behind it, but not one Shouta was interested in. Addressing the entirety of Class 1-A, he announced “Don’t expect tomorrow to be any easier. Just because you survived today doesn’t mean your attendance here is secure. If I feel aren’t giving the Hero Course your all, I won’t hesitate to expel you and fill your seat with someone more deserving.”
His final piece said, Shouta left his students to sweat over his parting words.
Momo withheld a groan of reprieve as today’s trial concluded.
“Jeez, I almost got expelled, “Jirou groaned seeing how close she was to coming last.
Mineta, the actual person in dead last, nearly fainted on his feet.
“9th place! I got 9th!” Hagakure cheered, her sobbing split between relief and joy. “Thank you Misaka-chan! I couldn’t have done it without you.”
Misaka smiled. “Happy to Help.”
“Oof , I really didn’t do so well,” Kirishima sighed at his low ranking. “How unmanly.”
“Just means we have a lot to work on, kero.” Asui ribbited “That, and we’ve got some monstrously strong classmates.”
“Seriously, what is your Quirk?” Ashido asked Dokuro, who was curling in on herself underneath all the attention “Is it doing whatever you want? Because you were whipping out all sorts of craziness.”
Todoroki took one look at the rankings, narrowed his eyes at the name in first place, and walked off to the changing room without a single word.
Bakugo was snarling at the projection as if it’d insulted his ancestors. He shot one last vicious glare at the top five before stomping off.
Momo slumped, disappointed with herself before shaking off the cobwebs and saying “Congratulations Midoriya, for coming in 1st.”
“Thanks,” Midoriya returned. “You did really well too.”
Momo accepted Midoriya’s courtesy, then asked Dokuro. “Are you well? Aizawa-sensei wouldn’t send you to the nurse’s office without a reason.”
Dokuro bit her lips, unable to reply.
“Sorry, but that’s kind of a private matter for her.” Midoriya said.
“Oh, I apologize. I didn’t mean to intrude.”
“It’s okay. Maybe Chrome will tell you about it one day…” Dokuro was shaking her head behind Midoriya “...but for now please don’t pay it any mind. Let’s go, Chrome. I’ll meet you back at room 1-A after we’re done changing.”
“Okay boss.” Dokuro agreed.
“You should see the nurse too, Hagakure-chan.” Misaka said, speaking to an empty spot of air.
So Momo was surprised when she heard Hagakure’s voice coming from that exact location. “What for? I’m perfectly fine!”
“Your feet are scrapped up.” Misaka somehow divined. “From running around on your bare feet.”
“It’s no big deal,” Hagakure said timidly. “I’ll just apply some antiseptic and bandage them up when I get home.”
“But why do that when Recovery Girl can heal you up instantly?”
“There’s no need! I don’t want to bother her with something so small.”
“Your health should never be taken lightly. Here I’ll carry you there.” With little warning, Misaka stepped forward and scooped Hagakure into his arms. Jirou was watching all happen without blinking.
“M-Misaka-chan. There’s no need for this!” Hagakure cried, her blush radiating through her flustered voice. “I can walk!”
“On injured feet? Not on my watch.”
“H-Hold it right there!” Jirou stammered, standing in Misaka’s way. “You’re not going anywhere without me.”
Misaka blinked “Are you hurt too, Kyoka-chan?”
Jirou flushed at familiarly Misaka kept using her name. “N-No! There’s just no way I’m leaving Hagakure alone with a philanderer like you.”
“That’s great! I’m glad you’re coming with us.” Misaka said with a guileless smile,that left Jirou redder than before. “I think you and Hagakure-chan can become really good friends.”
As the group of three left, Momo noticed Mineta glaring broadswords into Misaka’s back while gnawing on the tip of his thumb and crying tears of blood. “Why not only are there handsome bastards in this class but now lesbian as well?! How will I ever score?!”
Momo cautiously stepped away from the diminutive boy as he emanated a dark and unpleasant aura. She almost bumped into Hibari and Sasagawa, the only members of Midoriya’s group who didn’t go to the nurse’s office.
“Will you be going with them?” she asked out of politeness.
Hibari huffed, running a finger along the length of his tonfa. “I dislike crowds. “He said before wandering off to be on his own.
Sasagawa replied loudly “ Yes I should join them, But I extremely wanted to congratulate my otouto on his performance. Then I have to EXTREMELY find out if there is a boxing club in this school! ” He then went to do just that before disappearing, probably to the main building to find out if a boxing club existed or not.
“Yaomomo!” Ashido called out, standing with Asui and Uraraka. “C’mon lets hit the showers together.”
“Y-Yaomomo?” Momo coughed, taken by surprise.
“Yeah do you not like it?”
“It’s fine Ashido. It’s…nice” She never had a friendly nickname before.
“Coolio! Call me Mina!” Ashido eagerly insisted. “Now let’s g! I’m sticky and sweaty *, and in dire need of a super long shower!”
Walking with her fellow female classmates, Momo’s mind wandered back to all the amazing Quirks and abilities showcased during Aizawa-sensei’s assessment test. She had a feeling her first year at Yuei was going to be an unforgettable one.
Shouta almost made it through the front doors of the main buildings when he was stopped by the last person he wanted to see.
“Aizawa! How are you on this fine day?” All Might boisterously asked, in his 220cm muscle form and wearing a tacky yellow suit with stripes.
“Exhausted.” Shouta said bluntly, walking around the #1 hero and heading straight to the teacher’s lounge. His precious awaited. “What do you want, All Might?”
Sensing he was in no mood for small talk, All Might cut to the chase. “I’d noticed you skipped orientation today, so I came to find you! Imagine my surprise when I saw you already putting your class through their paces!”
“Your point?”
“Erm…yes…what do you think of them?”
“They have potential. I would’ve expelled them on the spot if they didn’t.”
“Would you say some stood out more than others?”
Shouta stopped to look All Might right in his nervous eyes. “If you’re asking about someone specific, spit it out.”
All Might coughed awkwardly, but pressed on. “What do you think of Young Midoriya?”
“He’s dangerous.”
Judging from how badly All Might was taken aback that wasn’t what he’d been expecting. “What do you mean?”
“He’s calm under pressure, too calm. My threat of expulsion didn’t so much as make him blink.”
“Perhaps he knew you were lying?”
“I wasn’t lying at the time. I was fully prepared to expel each and everyone of them if they showed zero potential. Yet despite today being our first meeting, Midoriya read me like a child’s picture book. He even knew details about my Quirk no student should be privy to. His insight and intuition are far beyond the level of a student. Not only that, but his mastery of his Quirk is far too high for his age. Not just him, but Dokuro, Misaka, Sasagawa and Hibari as well. Their skills and familiarity with their Quirks rivals most pros. Where did they gain such experience? Then there’s the way those four act around Midoriya.”
“Aren’t they friends?” All Might asked weakly.
“They defer to him. Even Hibari, in spite of his unsociable attitude,” Shouta replied. “I’ve no doubt their friendship is genuine, but there’s a hierarchy among them and Midoriya stands at the top. These aren’t ordinary bonds formed by middle school friendships.”
All Might swallowed, a knot of unease lodged in his throat. “What are you getting at, Aizawa?”
“He’s hiding something,” Shouta surmised. “A secret, one he guards zealously. I’ve no idea what it is, or whether it’s a danger to himself, his classmates, or Yuei itself, but until we know for sure we should keep Midoriya under close observation.”
Notes:
In the next chapter we will catch up with Gokudera and Yamamoto with their own Quirk Assessment Test, we will also have the check up with Recovery Girl for poor Chrome and maybe just maybe we will know a little more about how Izuku became Vongola Decimo and what happened in middle school...
Chapter 3: A Day at Yuei
Notes:
I express many thanks for the support, comments and kudos this fic received. Without further adue here is the chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 3 A day at Yuei
Kendo Itsuka wondered if it was too late to transfer. Don’t get her wrong, Yuei was her dream school that she worked tirelessly to get into but …
“How dare those shitty teachers separate me from Juudaime?!”
“Ha ha ha! Relax, Hayato! We all still made it in, so we’ll see Midori a bunch between classes!”
… why did her classmates have to be so rowdy?
“Enough, we’re almost at the auditorium.” Their homeroom teacher, the professional hero Vlad King, said. He was an intimidating mountain of a man nearly two meters tall, with wide shoulders and powerful arms that looked like they could choke a mountain bear. His short pale gray hair was spiked upwards, his stern eyes tolerated no nonsense, and he had two prominent lower canines sticking up from his lips. He was wearing his hero costume, a dark red skin-tight suit, with a low U-shaped collar, and thick white vambraces on each arm that helped him better utilize his Quirk [Blood Control].
Yuei’s auditorium was more like an indoor stadium, and it took all of Itsuka’s considerable willpower to refrain from swinging her head around like a child in a free candy store. There were already thousands of students sitting in attendance, from all the departments. Yuei not only had a Department of Heroics (which Itsuka and her class, 1-B, were a part of), but a Department of General Education, Support, and even Management.
Kan-sensei (Vlad King) directed 1-B towards the rear with the other new 1st years. The 2nd years were in the middle, and the 3rd years closest to the stage.
“I do believe some amongst our year are absent.” Itsuka’s classmate, Shishida Jurota, pointed to the empty square of space beside their own, where Class 1-A was supposed to be. Despite his beastly appearance, Shishida was a well-spoken guy who wore glasses that made him seem all the more intellectual.
“1-A’s missing.” Honenuki Juzo said, clicking his lipless teeth.
“1-A… missing…?” Gokudera Hayato gasped, dramatically falling to his knees. “Did something happen to Juudaime? Juudaime! WHERE ARE YOU, JUUDAIME?!”
“Quiet.” Kan-sensei ruffled Gokudera’s silver hair, much to the half-Italian half-Japanese’s irritation. “Aizawa always does this, skipping orientation. He’s likely putting 1-A through their paces with the Quirk Assessment Test.”
Gokudera shot to his feet and would’ve bolted straight out the door if Kan-sensei hadn’t grabbed the scruff of his uniform. “Wait for me, Juudaime! I’m coming!” He screamed, his arms and legs swinging comically while Kan-sensei held him aloft.
“You’re not going anywhere until orientation is finished.”
“Hmph! To think those upstarts in 1-A are already flagrantly flaunting their superiority in our faces! And on the very first day!” Monoma Neito, a boy with slick blond hair and an envious sneer, said haughtily.
“Didn’t Kan-sensei just say it was Aizawa-sensei’s fault they’re absent?” Shinso Hitoshi logically pointed out. He had large tufts of indigo hair and baggy eyes that were in desperate need of a caffeine injection.
“Hm.” Kodai Yui, who had shoulder-length bob-shaped black hair with a perpetual neutral expression, hummed. She never said much, but seemed to agree with Shinso.
“Ditching orientation to get right into testing their limits! Manly!” Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu screamed.
“Sounds like fun! I hope we get to do that too!” Yamamoto Takeshi laughed light-heartedly.
“It’d be hella cool to use our Quirks as much as we want!” Tokage Setsuna, a girl with a pointy smile and long moss-green hair, agreed.
“All of you, quiet down,” Kan-sensei scolded, making Itsuka slump because it felt like he was lumping her in with the rest of her raucous classmates. “The principal’s taking the stage.”
Another thing that made Yuei so unique was their principal : Nezu. He was famous (and infamous) for being one of the extremely rare cases of an animal manifesting a Quirk. Standing at only 85cm, and wearing a white dress shirt, black double-breasted waistcoat, matching dress pants, formal shoes, and a neat red necktie, principal Nezu hopped onto the elevated stand provided for him so he could reach the stage’s microphone.
“Hello everyone!” The principal’s voice rang out from all the auditorium’s speakers. “Am I a mouse? A dog? A bear? Who knows! All you need to know for sure, is that I am the principal!”
The students of Yuei clapped politely.
Standing on stage with the principal were the faculty of Yuei, and while the most eye-catching ones were the pro heroes in their hero costumes (when did Kan-sensei get up there?), there were plenty of ordinary staff members as well.
“On behalf of myself and my wonderful faculty and staff, it is my greatest pleasure to welcome all our new and returning students to Yuei High School! Today marks the beginning of an important chapter in your young lives, and we are honored you have chosen to share those years with us.
“While high school is a time of growth, discovery, and challenge, Yuei is so much more! We will not only instruct you on how to become the best heroes you can be, but also hone your minds with important academic knowledge that will help you better navigate your futures! Our dedicated staff and teachers are here to support all of you every step of the way, and are committed to aiding you achieve your fullest potential while encouraging the pursuit of your dreams!
“As you embark on this wonderful new journey, I urge you all to embrace every opportunity that crosses your path with enthusiasm and dedication! Remember, every challenge you face is an opportunity to grow! Every loss you suffer, a chance to learn! Every victory you achieve, a hallmark of your progress! Never be afraid to ask questions, to seek help when it is needed, and to support your fellow heroes-in-training. For while man alone can reach for the moon, only together will we fly amongst the stars!
“In closing, I remind you all that you are now a part of the rich and dynamic tradition of excellence that Yuei encourages and embodies. Take pride in your school, uphold the values it teaches, for so long as you dedicate your hearts to your dreams we at Yuei will work tirelessly to make them attainable goals! Go beyond! Plus…!”
“”... ULTRA !””
Even Itsuka added her voice to the passionate avalanche of cheers threatening to bring down the auditorium. It was hard not to, especially when hearing principal Nezu’s speech really drove home how she’d actually made it into the top school for heroics in Japan.
Once the cheering settled down, principal Nezu went on to introducing the other teachers (it was hard to believe Midnight was allowed around teenagers wearing a costume like that ), a representative of the 3dr years gave a welcoming speech riddled with bad puns and terrible jokes, and then they all came together to sing the school song.
When the opening ceremony was over, Class 1-B followed Kan-sensei back to their classroom.
“Hound Dog is Yuei’s guidance counselor and a licensed therapist,” Kan-sensei said as he led them down the school’s immaculately clean halls. “I won’t lie, being a hero is tough business. There are moments where you’ll be confronted by the unforgiving dark side of society, and witness atrocities that make you question whether this path is the one for you. There’s no shame in asking for help. Don’t keep your problems bottled up inside and left to fester. I’ve seen students with outstanding talent crumble beneath the burdens they’ve chosen to silently carry. Should any of you ever find yourselves trapped in a corner, know that you can always come to us for help.”
They reached their classroom, where everyone sat in their assigned seats.
“Now,” Kan-sensei pulled out a pen and a folder. “It’s time for attendance. Awase Yosetsu?”
“Here!”
“Gokudera Hayato?”
“Tch, I’m present, you fanged bastard.”
“I’d give you detention, but you already have one. Togaru Kamakiri?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Shihai Kuroiro?”
“I have emerged from the pits of darkness to rend my foes with despair.”
“...a simple ‘ here ’ will suffice. Kendo Itsuka?”
Itsuka raised a hand. “Here, sensei!”
Kan-sensei nodded. “Kodai Yui?”
“Hm.”
“Absent, I see.”
Kodai panicked, standing so fast she knocked over her chair as she wildly flailed her arms.
“Oh, there you are. Why didn’t you say anything?” Kan-sensei asked.
Kodai sat back down, her head pressed against her desk.
“Komori Kinoko?”
“I’m here, shroom!”
“Shiozaki Ibara?”
“By the grace of our lord and savior, I am present.”
“Shishida Jurota?”
“Present and accounted for, sensei.”
“Yamamoto Takeshi?”
“Here! Right here, sensei!” Yamamoto waved energetically.
“Tsunotori Pony?”
“Here teacher. I mean , sen-shi?”
“Sensei. Don’t worry, we’ll work on your Japanese. Nirengeki Shoda?”
“Here.”
“Speak louder next time. Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu?”
“Totally here!”
“Not so loud. Tokage Setsuna?”
“Doing fine, thanks for asking!”
“Hiryu Rin.”
“Here.”
“Fukidashi Manga?”
“Woop-woop-woop-woop-woop-woop!”
“Honenuki Juzo?”
“Present.”
“Monoma Neito?”
“Present, Kan-sensei.”
“Yanagi Reiko?”
“My soul lingers on this mortal coil.”
“...I could’ve sworn I gave most of the problem children to Aizawa. Shinso Hitoshi?”
“Here, sensei.”
“Good.” Kan-sensei marked everyone down as present and snapped the folder shut. “Everyone’s here. If someone had missed their first day at Yuei. I’d question their commitment to heroics. Now change into your gym clothes and meet me outside on the P.E. field. It’s time for your Quirk Assessment Test.”
Itsuka covered her ears as Gokudera screamed. “These tests are fucking nonsense! Why the hell is touching our toes part of a Quirk Assessment Test?”
“Aw, someone salty?” Tokage cackled. Thanks to her Quirk [Lizard Tail Splitter] she could split her body into as many as 50 pieces and remotely control and levitate each one. With her Quirk, she simply detached her hands at the wrists and leisurely massaged her feet to get full marks.
“The only salt I need is the shit I’ll be harvesting from your bones once I make you extinct, Dino-Witch!”
“Ha! In your dreams, Flame-O!”
All of Itsuka’s classmates gave Kan-sensei’s eight exercises their all. No one wanted to be seen as the weakest member of 1-B.
Shishida’s Quirk [Beast] allowed him to transform into a large monstrous beast-man with incredible strength, speed, durability, and enhanced senses, letting him dash across the 50-meter sprint in 3.76 seconds.
Itsuka tought she had the grip-strength test in the bag, as her Quirk [Big Fist] gave her enhanced gripping power whe she enlarged her hands, but Shiozaki outperformed her by wrapping the measuring device in layers of her vines and squeezing until it creaked in protest.
Tsunotori dominated the standing long jump by hitching a ride atop her Quirk [Horn Cannon] and crossing the entire sand pit.
For the sidesteps Komori surprised everyone by bouncing between two elastic mushrooms she grew with her Quirk [Mushroom], although she wound up giving herself motion sickness and puked shortly afterwards.
During the ball throw, Yanagi sent hers soaring 541.4m with her Quirk [Poltergeist].
Tetsutetsu did really well on the sit-ups test, showing he’d worked out extensively before coming to Yuei High.
Tokage beat everyone in the seated toe-touch. Itsuka was flexible thanks to her years of martial arts training under Fon-shifu, but she couldn’t beat a Quirk that let its user play patty cake with their hands and feet.
And now, in the middle of their final physical test for the day Yamamoto shone brightly as unlike the rest of them who were sweating and panting messes, the tall boy looked as fresh as before starting this whole thing proving he was at least a stamina monster.
“Damn it!” Gokudera seethed as he angrily pumped his arms. “Baseball-idiot is doing better than me, Juudaime’s right hand man? It’s bullshit! Some of our Quirks are fucking useless for these shitty tests!”
Itsuka, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow with the back of her hands, seriously wondered who this “Juudaime” Gokudera kept mentioning was. Still, while his mouth was fouler than month-old garbage left to ferment in a clogged up summer sewer, Gokudera wasn’t wrong. His Quirk [Disintegration], was seriously terrifying and undoubtedly one of the most dangerous she’d ever heard of. Yet it didn’t help him run 50-meters, throw a ball, or touch his toes.
What Gokudera most likely occluded was the fact that Yamamoto’s Quirk [Tranquility] was the same way. It didn’t aid him with any of the tests, but unlike Gokudera the ever-smiling Yamamoto looked like he was having a blast. Despite doing every test Quirklessly he did so with infectious eagerness (Tetsutetsu called it “manly”). And while apart from the endurance run he didn’t dominate each test he placed very well in each of them like during his ball throw, he surprised everyone by adopting a pitcher’s stance and hurling the ball 456.8m.
When Itsuka asked how he did that without a Quirk, he grinned and said “I just really love baseball!”
Yamamoto was obviously a powerhouse even without his Quirk, so Itsuka had a feeling he’d place well in the exam.
The same couldn’t be said for Shinso. Their baggy-eyed classmate was in the same boat as Gokudera and Yamamoto : stuck with a Quirk ill-suited for these sorts of exercises. He refused to share what his Quirk was though, and threw himself at the tests with all he had.
It was sorely lacking. His lanky body was the weakest in the entire class, making him consistently place last. Itsuka guessed his Quirk was powerful enough for him to put off training his body while carrying him through the entrance exam, otherwise he would’ve never gotten into the Heroics Department.
When Kan-sensei announced the assessment test was over and brought up the final results, Itsuka saw she’d placed 8th overall. Not as bad as she feared, but also bot as good as she’d hoped.
“Fuck…fuck…!” Gokudera snarled, shuddering in anger. “I let Baseball-Idiot beat me?”
Itsuka was surprised when she spotted Gokudera’s name right beneath her own : 9th place. That was really good for someone who couldn’t use his Quirk at all for the tests.
“Don’t mind, don’t mind!” Yamamoto chuckled, patting Gokudera on the back, though this only infuriated the half-Japanese more. “You’ll just have to do better next time!”
“Itsuka was legitimately shocked to find Yamamoto was in 2nd place. That guy did better than almost all of them, Quirklessly! She wasn’t alone in staring at Yamamoto in awe, wondering what sort of diet and exercise routine he put himself through to attain such might.
“Tsk.” Shinso hissed in annoyance as he shoved his hands into his pockets and glared at his feet. His name was at the very bottom of the rankings : 20th place.
“Don’t take it to heart,” Kan-sensei said, turning off his display device. These scores merely represent your starting points. Yes, Gokudera, this test wasn’t fair to some Quirks, but that shouldn’t stop you from puzzling out alternatives. As a pro, it’s not uncommon to find yourself in a situation where your Quirk is useless. In these scenarios you need to be able to think on your feet, to create alternative plans to achieve your objectives, because innocent lives might very well be counting on you. These scores aren’t a measure of your strengths, but an indicator of what you should be working on. Am I understood?”
“”Yes, Kan-sensei!””
Their homeroom teacher nodded in approval. “Good. Hit the showers and head back to class. There are a few more subjects we need to cover before I let you all go early. But don’t expect many short days like this. Yuei is the best heroics school for a reason. We’ll push you, bend you, maybe even break you, in order to mold you lot into the best heroes you can be. Today was the easiest day of your high school lives, so expect things to get much harder from here on out.”
Itsuka swallowed her nervousness, choosing instead to take Kan-sensei’s warning as a challenge. Like principal Nezu said, challenges were simply opportunities to grow.
Shuzenji Chiyo (aka : the Youthful Heroine Recovery Girl) was enjoying a nice cup of tea in her wonderfully empty nurse’s office when her computer received a notification with a ding .
Harrumphing irritably as she wondered which fool got themselves injured on the first day of school, Chiyo opened her new message and saw it was from Aizawa. Upon reading its contents, her old heart ached heavily.
“Goodness gracious, that poor girl.” Chiyo sighed, prepping a bed for her patient’s arrival.
A quarter of an hour later the door to her office slid open. Dokuro Chrome and Midoriya Izuku stepped inside wearing their Yuei uniforms.
“Hello dearies.” Chiyo greeted warmly, spinning her chair to face them. Studying Midoriya, she asked. “Are you hurt as well?”
“I’m not.” Midoriya said, holding the shy Dokuro’s hand. “I’m only here to support Chrome.”
How kind of him. Just in case, Chiyo asked the girl. “Are you alright with him being here?”
“Y-Yes.” Dokuro nodded nervously. “I’d like boss to stay.”
“Then he’s more than welcome.” Because Chiyo took both the physical and mental wellbeing of her patients very seriously. “I received a message from your homeroom teacher explaining your circumstances, but I think it best if I heard the story straight from you.”
So Midoriya listed out the tragic injuries Dokuro suffered, and Chiyo felt her grip tightening on her syringe-styled cane all the while.
“Quirks truly are a marvelous thing.” Chiyo said after hearing how Dokuro was keeping herself alive. “Please change into this dearie.” She pulled out a folded hospital gown from her cabinet and handed it to Chrome. “Feel free to change behind there.” She pointed at the folded privacy curtains around one of the beds used for patients that needed an overnight stay.
Dokuro accepted the clothes with a bow and shuffled over the bed before drawing the curtains close around her.
“That poor girl.” Chiyo sighed, feeling every bit her age. Even over the age of 80 she still came across cases that appalled her.
“Chrome’s been through a lot.” Midoriya agreed softly.
“What exactly happened to her?”
Midoriya leaned against a wall, arms folded as he considered how to answer. Closing his eyes, he finally said “Officially, it was a hit-and-run: a reckless driver accidentally ran over Chrome before driving away to avoid arrest. The suspect was never identified.”
Chiyo cocked a brow. “And unofficially?”
When Midoriya opened his eyes, there was a steel in them that could cleave a lesser man. “There was nothing accidental about it.”
“And you know this how?”
Midoriya’s fingers tightened around his arms. “Because he came back to make sure he finished the job.”
“Despicable villain.” Chiyo spat.
“It’s funny you say that,” Midoriya huffed without humor.” since the person who did this is a well-respected doctor still working at one of Japan’s largest hospitals.”
Chiyo scowled, putting the pieces together. An ‘official’ story covering up a heinous crime; Dokuro’s assaillant, whoever it was, was a man of status, wealth, and connections. He doubtlessly used his ill-gotten contacts within the police force to muddle the truth of his crime and walk away scot-free.
“What’s their name?” Chiyo demanded. She wanted to know whose shins would be getting well acquainted with her cane, as well as pass their name to Nezu so the vengeful principal could enact some chaotic justice behind the scenes.
“That’s for Chrome to say. If she doesn’t want to tell you, I won’t either.”
“Why? Because she’s the victim?”
Midoriya looked at Chiyo in her wrinkled eyes. “Because the one who did this to her is her biological father.”
Chiyo’s breathing hitched. Right when she thought the news couldn’t get any worse, the troublesome boy drops this on her. What sort of monster would deliberately do this to their own flesh and blood?
“Excuse us.” Her office door opened again and two youngsters walked inside; Midoriya’s classmates. Wait, the chestnut-haired girl was holding up her arms as if she was carrying someone.
“Mikoto.” Midoriya said.
“Izu.” The girl tipped her head. “You’re Recovery Girl?” she asked Chiyo, to wich she nodded. “Misaka Mikoto. I’m a big fan.”
“Thank you dearie. That’s very kind of you. What brings you to my office?”
“My classmate hurt herself a bit during our assessment test.” Misaka answered, shifting her arms. A feminine “Eep!” squeaked from the empty air, and Chiyo realized the girl was carrying Aizawa’s invisible student. But according to her file, Hagakure Tooru didn’t have the ability to extend her Quirk over her clothes. In other words…
“Is that young lady naked?” Chiyo asked flatly.
“Yes.”
“Why is she naked?”
“Because she needed to use her Quirk for sensei’s assessment test.”
“And you carried her all the way to my office like that?”
“She’s very light.” Misaka insisted, missing the point entirely and making Hagakure blubber in embarrassment.
Chiyo shot her a very flat stare. Was she being deliberately obtuse? Choosing to focus on one problem at a time, Chiyo shifted her attention to the invisible girl. “Where are you hurt, dearie?”
“I, um, kinda scrapped up my feet?” Hagakure replied nervously.
“Set her down on a chair.” Chiyo gestured at one of the free stools in her office before passing the invisible girl a spare medical gown. “Would you like some privacy?”
“No need!” Hagakure said, slipping into the gown so that it looked like it was floating in midair. “Not like anyone can see anything anyways!”
Chiyo worried how growing up with such a Quirk affected the girl’s sense of modesty, but that was an issue for Inui to deal with.
“How’s your stamina, dearie? Are you feeling tired?” Chiyo asked.
“Only a little!”
She sounded energetic too, and that was good enough for Chiyo. Thanks to the medical gown giving her a good indication where Hagakure’s invisible head was, Chiyo used her Quirk [Heal] and gave the girl a smooch on the cheek. Hagakure’s silhouette fleetingly lit up with a lime aura as Chiyo’s Quirk used the girl’s own energy to speed up her body’s natural healing.
“Whoa, that’s so cool! I’m all better!” Hagakure cheered, clapping the sole of her bare feet together.
“Excellent. Here, have some gummies.” Chiyo handed the girl nutrient-dense candies to give her a small boost of energy. They vanished as soon as Hagakure happily tossed them into her mouth. “What about you dearie?” Chiyo asked the girl accompanying Misaka, the one with earphone jacks extending from her earlobes. “Are you hurt anywhere?”
“No, just making sure this one…” she jabbed a thumb at Misaka. “...didn’t try anything with Hagakure.”
“Call me Tooru! And it’s not like I didn’t like it.” Hagakure admitted bashfully.
Jirou glowered at MIsaka as if this was all her fault.
Unaware of the death glare she was getting from a jealous teenage girl, Misaka asked “So why did Aizawa-sensei want Chrome to see Recovery Girl, Izu?”
“Because of this.” Midoriya gestured towards his stomach, offering no further clarification to the two girl’s confusion.
Not that any was necessary, as Misaka immediately understood.
“Ah, gotcha. Want me to stick around? For support?” Misaka asked.
“I-t’s alright, Mikoto,” Dokuro’s voice came from the other side of the partition. “I don’t want to be a bother.”
“You’re never a bother.”
“I’ll be here with her.” Midoriya promised. “There’s no need to wait on either of us.”
Misaka hummed. “If you’re sure, Izu.” She then gave the two girls she came here with a smile that was extremely dangerous to use on hormonal teenage girls. “Since Tooru-chan’s all better now, why don’t we head to the changing room too? Afterwards, we can hang out and grab a meal together.”
“Hey, don’t…!”
“Sure!” Hagakure chirped over the budding protest, grabbing the earphone girl’s arm and dragging her along as the three of them left.” C’mon, Kyoka! New school means new friends! It’ll be fun!”
“T-There’s no way I’m going to be friends with this casanova!”
“Don’t worry Kyoka-chan, I like you enough for the both of us.” Misaka said.
That poor girl’s incoherent screams tapered off as the office door slid shut behind them.
“Goodness, I didn’t expect the first day of the semester to be so hectic,” Chiyo huffed. “You can come out now, Dokuro dear. They’ve all left.” Dokuro had been taking her time getting changed, and Chiyo guessed she was stalling because she didn’t want her new classmates to know about her condition.
“Okay.” Dokuro mumbled, pulling aside the privacy curtain and stepping out wearing the hospital gown.
“Good, good. Lay down on that bed, dearie, and leave the rest to me.” Chiyo said as she got the relevant machines ready. “Don’t worry, other than a quick blood draw we won’t be doing anything invasive.”
It was thanks to Yuei’s nigh unlimited funding that Chiyo was able to stock her humble office with some of the best medicinal equipment in the industry. Thanks to recent technological advancements her specialized MRI resembled an overhead projector instead of a massive capsule that would’ve taken up half the room’s limited space.
As Dokuro held still, and the MRI sent detailed scans of her body to Chiyo’s computer, the Youthful Heroine’s expression grew darker with every picture. Her specialized machine could detect Quirk usage in the human body, and from the way Dokuro’s left lung, left kidney, 95% of her stomach, and her entire intestinal track were lighting up on the radiographs Chiyo had hard proof that they were indeed illusionary constructs of her Quirk.
Goodness, the poor child’s injuries were even worse that Yagi’s!
Chiyo froze.
Dokuro’s injuries were worse than the blond idiot’s yet she looked and acted like a perfectly healthy girl her age thanks to her Quirk! Japan’s greatest hero lost a lung and his whole stomach (information that was being kept ardently from the public) six years ago and was gradually becoming weaker with every passing day. Traditional medicine, the latest surgeries, and even Chiyo’s own Quirk weren’t enough to save the self-sacrificing #1, but perhaps this could.
“Recovery Girl?” Midoriya spoke up, snapping Chiyo out of her musing. “Is everything alright?”
“No, no it’s not.” Chiyo wearily admitted. “Don’t tell this to anyone sonny, but I’m very tempted to wrangle the name of the knave who did this to Dokuro and shove my cane down his throat.”
Midoriya chuckled, and the corners of Dokuro’s lips twitched.
“Hayato offered to erase him with his [Disintegration], but such a high profile person going missing would hit the news channels in an instant, so we decided against it.”
Chiyo wasn’t sure what was scarier : the fact that Gokudera’s Quirk could easily accomplish that, or that Midoriya sounded like he wasn’t speaking in jest at all.”
“Well I’m glad you didn’t go along with it.” Chiyo said lightly, trying to sound like she was playing along with the joke. “No need to ruin your bright futures on account of that horrid man. He’ll get his due, I promise you that.”
Midoriya smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
Moving the tests along, Chiyo drew some of Dokuro’s blood with a clean syringe and slotted the sample into her high-end hematology analyzer, which sent the results to her computer after a few minutes.
Her CBC came back normal, and while her sodium was a little high it was still within acceptable range. Blood sugar levels were elevated too; the girl had a sweet tooth. She needed more calcium in her diet, although her cholesterol was fine. But what really boggled Chiyo’s mind was that her kidney function tests all came back normal. Normal! When one of her kidneys was an illusion!
Unfortunately Dokuro’s HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) was one of the rarest on record, almost like a certain blond oaf’s, so there was vanishingly little hope of securing her a viable organ transplant to alleviate her condition.
At least her blood pressure was normal.
Chiyo took off her stethoscope after listening to Dokuro’s heartbeat, which sounded perfectly healthy too.
“I almost don’t know what to say.” Chiyo admitted, logging all her findings into her computer. “Despite missing several rather important organs, all my tests say you’re a normal healthy girl.”
“Are we done then?” Dokuro asked hopefully.
“Not yet, just a few more questions. What’s your diet like?”
“Um, nothing special? Boss makes most of our meals. T-They’re really good and tasty!” Dokuro hurried to add, as if worried she’d insinuated otherwise. “We usually have rice, miso soup, eggs, and grilled fish for breakfast. For lunch we sometimes go to Takeshi’s place for sushi. His dad runs a sushi place.” That would explain the high sodium. “Dinner varies from day to day, but it’s really tasty stuff like fried tofu, grilled chicken, and…and katsudon! Boss makes really good katsudon!”
“I see.” Chiyo typed everything into Dokuro’s file. “And you’ve no issues digesting or processing any of these foods?”
“No, not at all.”
“Sometimes she gets stomachaches after one-too-many cups of ice cream.” Midoriya teased.
“B-Boss!” Dokuro whined cutely, her face lighting up. “You didn’t have to mention that!”
“The one person you should never lie to is your doctor.”
As the children bantered, Chiyo struggled to wrap her head around the miracle that was Dokuro’s Quirk. Honestly, could her ability even be considered illusions at this point. Just how exactly was an illusion digesting food and absorbing the nutrients her ravaged body needed to survive? If Dokuro wanted to rename her Quirk to [Fuck Reality] Chiyo would wholeheartedly support the change; because it was so bloody accurate.
Whoops, there she goes again. She was getting crass with her old age.
Although Chiyo did pick up something interesting. “The two of you live together?”
Midoriya nodded. “With my registered guardian. Chrome doesn’t have anyone to look out for her, so she’s living with us.”
“Registered guardian? What of your parents?”
Midoriya’s expression grew frightfully blank as his glare bored a hole into the opposite wall. It was a terrifying face she never thought she’d see on a child.
“My mom’s currently admitted at Shizuoka General Hospital,” Midoriya spoke, his voice emptier than the cold void of space. “In their intensive care unit.”
Chiyo swallowed her trepidation, telling herself she had nothing to fear from a student. If she kept repeating it, she’d eventually believe it. “I’m sorry to hear that, dearie. What of your father?”
For a brief instant Chiyo swore she was suddenly crushed by the full weight of the sky, as Midoriya’s eyes burned into pools of molten amber.
“A non-issue.”
Oh dear, it sounded like this poor child’s history was filled with hardship and tragedy. With heroics becoming a staple of modern society Chiyo hoped there’d be less heroes with tragic backstories, but it seemed it wasn’t meant to be. She made a note recommending Midoriya attend a few therapy sessions with Inui.
“What about the damage your illusions sustain?” Chiyo asked Dokuro, changing topics. Midoriya was quietly thankful, as he shook off his grim mood. “Say you’re injured in the field. A villain nicks your constructed lung. What happens to it?”
“Not much?” Dokuro replied, cupping her hands. Indigo mist flowed from her palms to from a glass ball. Then she dropped it on the floor, where it shattered into dozens of pieces. “Unless I will it otherwise, damaged illusions react like any other mundane object. So if someone stabbed me in the stomach it would bleed like any other stomach would. Oh, but since most of my stomach is made from my Quirk I would just redo the illusion. It’d be like I was never stabbed to begin with.”
Chiyo hopped down from her chair and picked up the biggest sliver of broken glass. It felt entirely real between her fingers, and when she jabbed her thumb with its pointiest bit a trickle of blood seeped from the tiny puncture.
“At the end of the day, they are illusions! So long as you accept this as an irrefutable fact, Dokuro’s illusions have no hold over you!”
Recalling Nezu’s words, Chiyo focused on the illusionary shard of glass in her hand and convinced herself it wasn’t real. Or at least she tried. Because no matter how many times she repeated the words “This isn’t real, this isn’t real, this isn’t real.” in her head, the hardened shard of silica didn’t disappear. The pressure her wrinkled fingers exerted on it remained, and the sting of pain it inflicted on her thumb stubbornly throbbed.
“Is something wrong?” Dokuro anxiously asked.
Chiyo shook her head. “Nothing serious, dearie. Just a tidbit Nezu, our principal, told me about your Quirk, how accepting that it’s nothing more than an illusion seals its effectiveness. But no matter how much I tell myself this piece of glass isn’t real, nothing seems to be happening.”
Dokuro turned to Midoriya, as if asking for permission.
He gestured at her to go ahead.
“S-Seeing through my illusions is a bit harder than that.” Dokuro said, letting the broken glass vanish into fading mist. She then formed a scarlet hibiscus flower with her Quirk and passed it to Chiyo. “You can tell yourself than this flower isn’t real, but your eyes still see its beauty. Your n-nose still smells its floral scent. Your fingers still feel the softness of its stalk. If you chewed on a petal, your tongue would taste its tart flavor. E-Even though you’re consciously aware the flower isn’t actually there your subconscious can’t help but be fooled.”
“I see.” Chiyo raised the hibiscus to her nose and sniffed, inhaling the sweet floral fragrance. Faced with such realism no wonder it was so difficult to break free from Dokuro’s spell. “And to think the other teachers thought your quirk had a glaring weakness. Is it even possible to overcome your illusions?”
“Well.” Midoriya reached for the flower, and Chiyo’s eyebrows shot forward as his fingers passed through it like it wasn’t there. “It’s certainly not impossible.”
“...How?” Chiyo asked.
Dokuro giggled. “My illusions don’t work on boss, not against his Hyper Intuition.”
“Hyper what now?”
Dokuro slapped her hands over her mouth, her lone eye wide as if she’d spilled a secret she wasn’t supposed to share.
“It’s fine, Chrome.” Midoriya assured, before clarifying. “You can say Hyper Intuition is an aspect of my Quirk. I’ve often heard it called the ‘ power to see through all ’. But in layman’s terms, I’d say it simply makes me hyper perceptive to my surroundings. It’s what helps me see through Chrome’s illusions.”
So this was basically the case of a Quirk countering another Quirk. That made plenty of sense, as Chiyo had seen similar occurrences during her long tenure as Yuei’s head nurse.
“On your application you wrote down your Quirk as [Harmonization], but left the details of it blank. Mind filling an old woman in?” Chiyo asked.
The cheeky boy merely raised a finger to his lips and winked.
If he was standing any closer Chiyo would’ve given him a love-tap with her cane. As luck would have it, he was a mere step too far.
“ ...aime! ”
“Hmm? What was that?” Chiyo thought she heard something.
Midoriya, on the other hand, palmed his face with a tired sigh, much to Dokuro’s amusement.
“ JUUDAIME! ”
Chiyo nearly fell off her chair as her office door was slammed open so hard it was a miracle it didn’t go flying off its hinges. The culprit was a boy whose photo would fit perfectly in the dictionary underneath the definition of delinquent.
“Hayato.” Midoriya groaned, and Chiyo finally recognized the boy; Gokudera Hayato, wielder of an extremely lethal Quirk.
“Juudaime! Are you alright?!” Gokudera cried, grabbing Midoriya by the shoulders and checking him over like a worried mother hen. Also “Juudaime”? Why was Gokudera calling Midoriya ‘ Tenth ’? His friend certainly did have the oddest nicknames for him.
“Of course I’m okay.” Midoriya replied. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“That Bombasaur didn’t attack you while your back was turned, did he?”
“Kacchan isn’t dumb enough to attack me on Yuei grounds”
“Last time that Shitty-Pomeranian wanted to ‘ talk ’ he tried to blow you up!”
“I’m fine , Hayato.” Midoriya stressed. “We’re only here because Aizawa-sensei wanted us to inform Recovery Girl about CHrome’s condition. How’d you even know we were here, anyways?”
“Bumped into Static-Brain.” Gokudera answered. “As soon as she told me where you were I ran here as fast as I could! Yo Pineapple!” He shouted at Dokuro. “You doing okay?”
“I am.” Dokuro said, smiling lightly. “You didn’t need to worry about me.”
“Tch, of course I was worried! You’re Juudaime’s friend, meaning if anything happened to you I’d have to kill the fucker responsible for making Juudaime sad! You’re not allowed to let anything happen to yourself, you got that Pineapple? The only way you’re dying is after you lived 300 fucking years and pass away in your sleep with the biggest goddamned smile on your face!”
Dokuro giggled. “I’ll do my best.”
Chiyo huffed in amusement. Although the rude boy had a mouth on him, it was easy to see he meant well. Still that didn’t excuse his crass behavior, earning him one of Chiyo’s patented cane-smacks to his shin.
“Ow! Little bitch!” Gokudera howled, hobbling on one leg. Yep she’s still got it.
“Language, young man.” Chiyo reproached. “You should know better than to use such naughty words in front of a lady.”
“Hah? I don’t see no fucking ladies here!”
Chiyo whacked his other leg, almost making the rude punk topple over.
“Is Chrome cleared to participate in class?” Midoriya asked, reminding Chiyo of the whole reason they were here to begin with.
“Normally I’d never give the green light to someone with Dokuro’s injuries, but then again I’ve never seen a Quirk as miraculous as hers. Yes, she’s allowed to roughhouse with you other younglings, but I’m mandating weekly visits to my office to ensure there’s no negative side-effects to her Quirk. I know she’s been using it quite well for the last couple of years, but you never know when surprise complications might arise.”
“Thank you for all your help, Recovery Girl.” Midoriya said politely.
Chiyo waved him off. “Just doing my job, dearie. Go ahead and change back into your regular uniform, Dokuro. The first day for 1st years is usually a half-day for those in the Heroics Course, and I’m sure you kids have better things to do than spend your afternoon humoring an old lady.”
“You’re not old, You’re the Youthful Heroine.” Dokuro quietly protested.
Chiyo chortled. “That’s kind of you to say, sweetie. Here, have a gummy.”
Dokuro happily accepted the treat and closed the privacy binds around her to get changed. Meanwhile, Midoriya and Gokudera chatted as they waited for their friend.
“Did your sensei make you do that stupid Quirk Assessment Test too, Juudaime?”
“He did.”
“How’d you do?”
“Got 1st.”
“I knew you would.” Gokudera pumped a fist. “There’s no way anybody could do better than you, Juudaime!”
“Thanks, Hayato. What about you?”
“...”
“What was that?”
“...9th place, Juudaime.”
“Huh, I actually thought you’d do a lot better.”
Gokudera practically collapsed onto his hands and knees, slamming his forehead against the floor so hard Chiyo worried he’d fractured his thick skull. “Forgive me, Juudaime! My stupid Quirk wasn’t suited for those dumb tests!”
“Takeshi’s in 1-B too. How’d he do?”
“...”
“...Hayato…”
“Baseball-Idiot got 2nd, without his Quirk.”
Chiyo perked an intrigued ear. A child getting 2nd place in a Quirk Assessment Test without using his power? Either his classmates were slacking, or the boy was built like an Olympic athlete of old.
Midoriya watched Gokudera closely. “You haven’t started smoking again, have you?”
Chiyo whipped her head around at the boys “He what?!”
“Not at all Juudaime!” Gokudera ignored her to assure his friend. “You said you were worried for my health and wanted me to stop, so I did! I swear as your right-hand man!”
“Why’d you even start smoking at all at your age?” Chiyo scolded heavily, whacking the delinquent repeatedly on the head with her cane.
“Ow! Ow! Stop that , you old hag!” Gokudera cursed, struggling in vain to protect himself with his arms.
“You’re still going through your formative years! Smoking at your age is extremely detrimental to your health; present and future! Do you have any idea what sort of damage you’ve done to your lungs?!”
“None of your damn business, hag!”
“I’m the nurse of the school you’re attending, brat! And a hero to boot! I’m making it my damned business! The next time Dokuro’s in my office you’re coming with her, and getting a full physical and medical checkup to boot!”
Gokudera leapt to his feet and reached behind his Yuei uniform. “Not on your life, shitty hag!” Chiyo’s eyes nearly burst through the visor of her hero costume when the insane brat whipped out sticks of dynamite! Where in Nezu’s furry backside did he get those from?
Thankfully, before the delinquent did anything rash, Midoriya intervened.
“Hayato.” He warned, and the rambunctious boy’s belligerent attitude came to a dead stop.
“Juudaime?” Gokudera said nervously.
“You’re getting that checkup.”
Gokudera was so shocked his dynamite slipped from his limp fingers. Chiyo picked up a stick and was horrified to discover they were genuine explosives!
“B-But Juudaime…!” Gokudera tried to protest.
“Hayato, please. I’m worried about you. Do it for me.” Midoriya said, wiping away any and all arguments Gokudera could possibly muster.
“...okay, I’ll do it.” The delinquent swore reluctantly but resolutely. “If it puts your mind at ease, I’ll let the shitty hag do whatever she needs to give me a clean bill of health, even if it means anal probing.”
“What the hell do you think goes on in a nurse’s office?!” Chiyo shouted, giving the idiot child’s legs a satisfying thwack .
“Gak! Have you seen Recovery Girl’s younger photos? She was easily around 160cm in her 30s, but look at this hag! She barely hits 110cm! For all we know the real Recovery Girl was kidnapped and replaced by a U.M.A. that’s infiltrated Yuei to gather information about humanity for their own nefarious purposes!”
“I am not a pod person!”
“Ha! That’s exactly what a U.M.A. would say!”
Whack!
“GAH!”
“Um, boss?” Dokuro pulled aside the privacy curtain, dressed in her Yuei uniform. “I’m ready to go.”
“Thank goodness.” Midoriya sighed, pulling Gokudera away from Chiyo’s cane that demanded righteous retribution. “Thank you for all your help, Recovery Girl.”
Chiyo reigned in her temper, remembering she was dealing with teenagers. “You can call me Shuzenji-sensei when I’m off duty, dearie. Now go, shoo. Enjoy your day and try not to come back so soon.”
“We’ll do our best.” Midoriya promised.
“Just you wait, U.M.A.!” Gokudera howled, jabbing a finger at Chiyo that she was half-tempted to grab and snap. “I’ll find a way to expose you and send you packing right back to Area 51!”
“Thank you for everything, Shuzenji-sensei.” Dokuro, the kind girl, said with a polite bow.
The three of them left her office together, although Gokudera made sure to flash her his middle fingers before slamming the door shut behind him. Goodness gracious, Chiyo was starting to realize why Aizawa referred to some of his more troublesome students as problem children.
Damn brat even forgot to take his dynamite with him. Still now that Chiyo had a moment to herself she found she wasn’t terribly surprised Restrictions on support equipment had become rather lax with the normalization of Quirks. After all, Aizawa had a student whose Quirk was creating literal explosions from their palms. Regardless, she’d be calling Majima to collect and properly dispose of these sticks of dynamite; they had no place in her house of healing.
Doing her best to ignore the ever-prominent creek in her old bones, Chiyo pulled herself back onto her chair and rolled to her desk to type up a pair of messages. One was to Nezu, asking the rat to find anything he could about Dokuro’s medical records. Someone had done an horrendous job piecing that poor girl back together, and Chiyo was determined to see the hack responsible for her ‘ care ’ disbarred from the medical industry. The second was to Yagi, detailing a possible solution to his deteriorating condition.
Chiyo was distracted when she heard her office door slide open yet again. The boy with said explosion Quirk stepped inside.
“Old lady.” The boy grunted “What was that about Cyclops’ Quirk?”
Midoriya Izuku walked the hallways of Yuei with two of his friends and Guardians, Hayato and Chrome. Ever since receiving the acceptance projection from All Might he often found himself wondering if he was dreaming. Getting into Japan’s greatest hero academy and becoming a hero who saved people with a smile, just like All Might, used to be his dearest wish as a child.
Right up until Izuku bumped into him : the sadistic private tutor from Hell, who immediately saw through the truth of Izuku’s Quirk. After a very rough introduction, his self appointed tutor warned Izuku that his life would never be ‘ normal ’, not while the blood of the Vongola ran through his veins.
And he was right, damn him. A few months later, and Izuku’s sperm-donor barged into his life, shoveling garbage into his face and acting like it was gold. He learned what the villainous organization’s plans were for him, Iemitsu’s mistake , and how he was supposed to be happy a gang of villains headquartered in Italy were dictating his future. Izuku remembered swearing he’d never become a villain, and shouting if Iemitsu ever showed himself in front of Izuku again he’d report his biological father to the heroes.
Not used to being told “no”, Italy’s most powerful and dangerous mafia family hired countless assassins, mercenaries and hired guns to capture Izuku and kill anyone who got in their way. Izuku, with his private tutor’s hellish mentoring, successfully fended off the worst of the worst for nearly an entire year, gaining new friends and allies along the way.
Until it all cumulated with Iemitsu shooting Izuku’s mom in the heart.
A familiar rage threatened to activate Izuku’s Hyper Mode as recalled that day : Iemitsu’s lackadaisical and self-absorbed answers, claiming how Izuku had passed all the Vongola’s tests but that his mom was a hindrance holding him back from achieving his “rightful inheritance”, right before shooting the bullet that entered Midoriya Inko’s chest and severed her carotid artery.
If it wasn’t for Dr Shamal then Izuku’s mom would be in a funeral urn, not the hospital. If it wasn’t for that very fact Iemitsu would be with her and not still at large and on the run from both the heroes and the Vongola, because after that act and knowing the string of assassin and the like would keep coming, Izuku and his Guardians along with his hellish tutor decided on a bold plan : going to Italy and take over the organization.
It took a long and grueling war that took the better part of their senior year of middle school but in the end the Vongola 9nth generation was sent into retirement to be overseen by the last of Nono’s sons Xanxus and Izuku took over as Decimo. When he learned that Vongola Primo had intended to form a Vigilante organization but that his cousin Secundo had turned said organization into the villain one it is today, Izuku returned the organization to its original purpose and he also banished Iemitsu from the family for the crime of attempted murder of a kin.
“Are you allright, Juudaime?” Hayato asked worriedly. In spite of his brusque attitude Hayato was always the sharpest when it came to Izuku’s moods.
Had anyone else asked, Izuku would’ve lied. But for his friend he set aside his mask.
“I don’t know.” Izuku murmured.
To be perfectly honest he wasn’t sure what he was doing here at Yuei High. He wanted to honor his mom’s wishes of completing his education, but he didn’t need to attend Yuei specifically for that. The only reason he was actually here was because Takeshi asked them, one night over sushi, where they all planning on going to high school. Izuku simply asked what the closest campus to Dr Shamal’s apartment was, and when Mikoto pulled up a map on her phone she wound up on Yuei’s homepage.
Maybe he was trying to live out the dead dream of his younger, more naive self? Or maybe he simply couldn’t ignore the fundamental fact that Midoriya Izuku’s heart would always want to save those in need. Honestly, it was impossible to say for sure.
But at the end of the day, he doubted he’d actually become a hero.
Because what sort of hero was not only the son of a villain but also head of a foreign vigilante organization?
“Do you know where the others are?” Izuku asked, trying to keep his thoughts occupied.
“Static-Brain is at the cafeteria with three chicks.” Hayato diligently reported. “Baseball-Idiot is still at the P.E. field, trying to beat his old ball throw record. Boxing-Head heard there isn’t a boxing club and is trying to start one, and Hee-Bastard found a way to break onto the roof and is cloud watching.”
“Three?” There was Jirou and Hagakure, but who else?
“Dino-Witch.” Hayato grunted, then corrected himself when he noticed Izuku’s confusion. “Just some bird from my class. Tokage Setsune seat #14. Has a Quirk that reminds me of some big-nosed clown in an old manga I once read.”
“I wonder how many hearts Mikoto will break without meaning to?” Chrome wondered innocently.
“She’s not that bad.” Izuku tried to speak in his Lightning Guardian’s defense.
“Didn’t Static-Brain start a civil war amongst the chicks in Aldera that one Valentine’s Day?” Hayato reminded him.
“...We don’t talk about Valentine’s Day.”
Izuku shivered recalling the absolute mayhem that filled the middle school’s halls: Namiyo using her telekinesis to slam Azami’s head into the ceiling so hard it was locked in place; Wakiko choke-slamming Kagami into the school flower bed; Uta morphing her legs into rabbit feet to dropkick Akira off the school roof, where she landed atop of Satsuki the slimegirl; the twins Nozomi and Amaya, performing a double-lariat on Kana before turning on each other; Fumi using her Quirk [Sickness Glare] to give a fourth of Aldera’s female populace explosive diarrhea; and last but not least Mikoto’s number one stalk…fan Shihai Kuroko who used her teleporting ability to immobilize some of the girl while loudly proclaiming her love for her beloved Onee-sama.
And those were the tame incidents.
All because MIkoto said she’d only be accepting a single Valentines chocolate.
The battle royale got so bad the principal had to call the police, who took one look at the pandemonium and radioed the local heroes for backup. Kamui Woods really earned his paycheck that day. In the end the chaos was pinned on a smalltime villain with a Quirk that induced hysteria and no one in Aldera was charged with illegal Quirk use. Mad Lad (the hysteria Quirk villain) vehemently protested his innocence, but since he was caught nearby working over a convenience store owner his pleas went ignored.
“I don’t think Yuei would ever let things get that bad.” Izuku said/prayed.
“By the way boss, where are we going?” Chrome asked.
Izuku brightened. “We’re going to see Shoichi. He sent me a text saying he made it into Yuei’s Support Department.”
Hayato whistled. “Specs made it in too? Not bad.”
Chrome tugged on Izuku’s sleeve. “Didn’t he say he wanted to become a musician?”
“That was his original plan.” Izuku said. “But after everything that happened in Italy, Shoichi became really interested in support items. He even said he might be able to fix a bunch of what we used there.”
Hearing that got Hayato grinning massively. “Now that’s what I like to hear! My Flame Arrow was fucking badass! If he can get that old girl working again I’ll take back every bad thing I ever said about him!”
But as they approached the reinforced iron doors of the Support Department’s Development Studio, Izuku’s Hyper Intuition flared. He raised his arms, motioning for Hayato and Chrome to stop.
Because the department’s heavy doors were blown right off their hinges by a BOOM that filled the hallway with ash and smoke. Hayato and Chrome immediately prepared for battle; Hayato filled his right hand with dynamite while the left burned with his flames of [Disintegration] while Chrome created a three-pronged trident with her [Real Illusions] and held it defensively.
Until Izuku gestured for them to stand down, as his Hyper Intuition wasn’t picking up any more danger.
“Goddamnit, Hatsume!” someone grumbled from the thick smoke. “It’s only the first day! The first damned day!”
“It’s perfectly fine! Failure is the mother of progress! As long as that baby’s getting their alimony there are no sacrifices too great in the name of science !” a girl laughed exuberantly.
“...a mistake, coming to Yuei was a mistake!” a familiar voice wept.
“Shoichi?” Izuku called.
“”Izuku!” His childhood friend, Irie Shoichi, wailed as he crawled out of the smoke and scrambled for him while crying a fountain of tears. His friend’s red hair was as messy and unkempt as always, his thick glasses slightly skewed, and his thin cheeks smudged with ash. He grabbed Izuku’s leg and clung to it like a frightened baby koala. “Save me! Save me from that maniac!”
“Hehehehehehe! Where do you think you ‘re going, my precious?” The last of the smoke cleared to reveal a girl with salmon-pink dreadlocks, yellow reticles for irises, and a surprisingly developed musculature. She cackled as she approached Shoichi, making suggestive motions with her grease-soaked hands. “You and I still have so many new babies to make!”
“ Heeeee! ” Shoichi squealed, hiding behind Izuku.
“Huh.” Hayato glanced between Shoichi and this eccentric stranger with an impressed look. “Out of all of us I thought it’d be Static-Brain who punched her V-card first. Not bad, Specs. I’d never stick it in crazy, but you do you.”
“It’s not like that, Gokudera!” Shoichi protested, cheeks aflame.
“Hatsume, stop harassing your classmates before I give you detention.” The first voice, belonging to an adult even shorter than Izuku, scolded. He was bare chested, only wearing blue cargo pants and a large yellow helmet resembling an excavator claw with tufts of ginger hair sticking out from underneath it. All his fingers had large L-shaped protrusions instead of fingernails, a result of his Quirk [Iron Claws].
Izuku recognized him: the Excavation Hero, Power Loader.
“Power Loader-sensei.” Izuku greeted respectfully.
“Hmm, who’re you?” the professional hero asked after grabbing the back of Hatsume’s black tank top to stop her from accosting Shoichi, which had the interesting effect of accentuating her sizable breasts.
“Damn, now I see what Specs sees in her.” Hayato noted appreciatively.
“I keep saying it’s not like that!” Shoichi whined. “Ah my stomach! My stomach’s killing me! Izuku, be a bro and fry my hard drive with the microwave if I die!”
“I’m Midoriya Izuku.” Izuku answered the hero. “These are my friends, Gokudera Hayato and Dokuro Chrome.”
“You’re all in the Heroics Department, yeah?” Power Loader said. “What brings you lot to the Support Department? Bit soon to be asking about your hero costumes.”
“We’re actually here to see Shoichi. He’s our friend too.” Izuku replied, patting Shoichi on the head to calm him down. It worked. “i never knew Yuei’s Support Department was so…. dynamic.”
“It’s not. It’s really not.” Power Loader bemoaned, helmeted head hanging. “My department was nice and peaceful before this…” He lifted Hatsume with one hand, an achievement seeing how she was taller than him. “...gremlin of chaos landed on my lap. It’s still the first day Hatsume! How did you already blow up my workshop?!”
“There are no such things as risks on the road to perfection!” Hatsume proudly declared.
“Then it’s high time you learned ‘ consequences ’ are a thing! You’re going to read the rulebook to the Development Studio front to back…”
“No way! Sounds boring!”
“...or else I’ll ban you from the workshop for life!”
“...is it laminated?”
Withholding a heavy groan, Power Loader said. “Irie, feel free to give your friends a tour of the Development Studio if you’d like, but no tinkering without supervision. If there’s something you need done today, for whatever reason, find and grab a 3rd year.” His piece said, Power Loader dragged Hatsume away to the faculty office.
“Bye, precious!” Hatsume cheerily waved all the while. “We’ll start making fantastic babies tomorrow!”
“Her inventions!” Shoichi cried before Hayato could say anything. “That uncontrollable ball of insanity calls her inventions ‘ babies ’!”
“Huh, well that’s nowhere near as fun.” Hayato grumbled.
Wheezing like a deflating balloon, Shoichi finally let go of Izuku’s leg and braced himself against the wall to stagger onto his feet. “Thanks for seeing me, Izuku.” He said with an anxious smile.
“I’d have dropped by even if you hadn’t texted me.” Izuku as the two of them bumped fists.
Irie Shoichi was Quirkless, and since Izuku spent the better part of his early childhood sealing his Quirk away the two of them were frequently called the ‘ Quirkless Nerds ’ throughout elementary and middle school; primarily by Katsuki and his hanger-ons. They were two bumbling, nerdy, clumsy kids who frequently got lost in passion projects, which let them get along like a house on fire. Shoichi was the second friend Izuku ever made, and the one that stuck around after Katsukie awakened his Quirk.
“How’s the first day been treating you?” Izuku asked as Shoichi led them around the dislodged iron door and into the Development Studio. Inside was a spacious wonderland of gadgets, gears, and tools that would make any aspiring inventor drool with envy. (In three different locations, Giannini, Spanner and Verde sneezed)
“Before I knew Hurricane Hatsume existed? Swell.” Shoichi groaned, clutching his mid-section with both arms as his chronic anxiety-induced stomachaches threatened to knock him over like a domino. “I don’t know if I’ll survive three years with that menace, Izuku. I really don’t.” Peeking over his shoulder at Hayato, he whispered in Italian. “ Is there any chance I can convince you to make Hatsume ‘ disappear ’? ”
“I only kill the people the Tenth tells me to kill.” Hayato replied in his mother tongue.
“Please don’t kill anyone, Hayato.” Izuku groaned. Hayato did his best to teach Izuku and the rest of his Guardians Italian for when they traveled to Italy. While Takeshi and Ryohei were amazing friends, they were admittedly slow learners. “Hatsume’s not so bad, Shoichi. Weird, yes, but I think you’ll like her if you give her a chance.”
Shoichi grumbled. “Is that what your Hyper Intuition’s telling you?” When Izuku nodded, he irritably ran his fingers through his messy hair. “Fine! I’ll try! But when she starts violating the Geneva Convention on my personal boundaries don’t blame me when I start pointing her your way!”
“What about you, Pineapple?” Hayato asked Chrome. “Up for sacrificing yourself for Specs’ sake?”
“Hatsume’s a bit much for me.” Chrome admitted as they followed Shoichi through the cramped workshop, sliding around leftover projects that’d been left in Yuei over the break.
Shoichi had an Eureka moment. “You know, if I told Hatsume you could create endless components for her to tinker with using your Quirk she might actually leave me alone to bother you! Holy moly, this is awesome! I’m such a genius!”
“Sell me out and I’ll ensure everything you eat spontaneously grows spider legs and crawls back up your throat.” Chrome warned sweetly.
Shoichi shuddered, his stomach threatening to rebel and seek asylum at the nearest organ donor hospital. Izuku rubbed Shoichi’s back, but his childhood friend really should’ve known better than to antagonize an illusionist who repeatedly took reality over her knee and made it call her “Mommy”.
“T-This is my workspace.” Shoichi showed them the wide desk tucked in the farthest corner of the studio with the least amount of cameras aimed at it. It was cluttered with used stationeries, as well as notes and blueprints written in a nigh-unbreakable code Shoichi and Hayato came up with as a pastime. “Like I texted earlier, I’ve actually been working on a lot of your old gear! Mainly the stuff we ‘ requisitionned ’ from those jerks back in Italy.” Now that they were on a topic he was invested in, Shoichi became much more animated. “Yuei’s a treasure trove of raw materials! We need to fill out a bunch of requisition forms to get our hands on the expensive stuff, but i was able to make good use of the ressources they hand out for free!”
“Like what?” Hayato asked, interested.
“Your uniforms, for starters!” Shoichi was shaking with giddiness.
“Uniforms?” Izuku repeated before his eyes widened in realization. “Please don’t tell me you kept the suits.”
“I kept the suits! C’mon Izuku! Those suits were the coolest, and you guys looked so badass storming the Vongola headquarters in those babies!”
Chrome giggled. “You called them ‘ babies ’.”
Shoichi paled as her words registered. “Oh god, that was a mistake! I didn’t mean it! Argh, is it too late for me? Have I already been swept away by Hectic Hurricane Hatsume?”
“Focus on the suits, Specs.” Hayato said seriously, obviously a fan of those outfits.
“Right, right, the suits.” Shoichi took a minute to boot the runaway Hatsume from his mental palace. “Izuku, there was no way I was throwing those suits away, even if most of them were basically scrap when everything was over. They were made from next-generation Kevlar that was as soft as silk and four times stronger than what’s commercially available! Not to mention the neo-ceramic matrices laminated with a feather-light titanium weave sewn between the lining! Then there’s the lattice of experimental aerogel that redirects and disperses physical blows! Those beauties were more than bulletproof! They could stop most offensive Quirk despite being as ligh as regular clothes! But that wasn’t all! On top of that Lal Mirch went the extra mile and had them infused with the ultra-rare Alpha-Elementi, allowing the suits to adjust and adapt to the Quirks of its users! Do you know how much they cost? Nearly 25,000,000 euros…EACH! That’s 3,825,000,000 yen per suit!”
And they requested seven suits to be made, for Izuku and his Guardians before the final battle, meaning the total came out to…he tried not to think about it (26.8 trillion of yen, a corner of his mind whispered). When Lal Mirch brought the idea of protective uniforms Izuku thought she’d get something basic but durable, not… this . Not only that, but the support Lal Mirch and her C.E.D.E.F. provided Izuku and his friends with their illegal funds, vast connections, and intelligence network was invaluable during their war against the Vongola. Now he felt bad about leaving her behind in Italy, especially since that made repaying her difficult.
Or so he thought.
Because Izuku didn’t need Hyper Intuition to catch Shoichi’s lie.
“Those suits are masterpieces!” Shoichi continued to ramble. “If I had the chance to meet THE Tailor I’d lick his feet and beg him to take me as an apprentice! The man’s an artist, the Da Vinci of the support world! I swear I came close to bawling blood when…!”
“Shoichi.” Izuku cut him off.
“Hm? Yeah, Izuku?”
“You said you brought the suits here?”
“Yeah.”
“And you managed to fix them?”
“Totally! Trust me, I’ve been working on them day and night ever since we got back, but I couldn’t finish them without Yuei’s generous donation of materials! You’re going to love them Izuku! They’re as good as new! No, better!”
“And Yuei had zero qualms providing a 1st year support student with very expensive materials like next-gen Kevlar and experimental aerogel on his first day?”
Shoichi clammed his mouth shut, falling suspiciously silent.
“Not to mention Alpha-Elementi. Goodness, Yuei’s generosity truly knows no bounds if they’re freely providing such an ‘ ultra rare ’ material…doubtlessly worth hundreds of millions of yen… to any who simply ask.”
Shoichi was sweating buckets. He frantically turned to Hayato and Chrome for help, but Izuku’s loyal Guardians abandoned the tinkerer to his fate.
Smiling like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, Izuku loomed over his trembling childhood friend as he asked. “How long have you been in touch with Lal Mirch?”
“...”
“Shoichi.”
“...she gave me her number…saying to contact her…if ever needed anything to support you.” Shoichi weakly confessed.
“She’s in Japan, isn’t she?”
“...”
“Shoichi.”
“...heh, heh… did you know… a few days after we got our acceptance letters, a new company offering great financial advice at affordable prices opened up right here in Musutafu? They’re um, called the Consulenza Esterna Della Famiglia… or you know, C.E.D.E.F. for short.”
Izuku pinned Shoichi with a glare that threatened to make his childhood friend wet himself. “And why am I only hearing about this now?”
“...because I like living?”
“Shoichi!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Shoichi begged, going as far as getting on his knees and rubbing his hands together. His ability to grovel was truly polished to perfection. “When I heard you applied to Yuei I wanted to be able to support you as best I could, but I didn’t have the ressources I needed! That’s why I called Lal Mirch for help!”
Izuku sighed like he was expunging a decade’s worth of stress. How was he supposed to put Italy behind him when the damned country seemed intent on following him everywhere?
“Tenth, if those spy bastards are bothering you just give the word and I’ll blast all their asses back across the pond.” Hayato offered.
“It’s fine.” Izuku said tiredly. “I told them to track Iemitsu and I don’t like that they’re here without telling me. Meaning there is a high chance that the bastard is hiding in Japan….Is there anything I should know? Like the Varia opening a bounty hunting office in Tokyo?”
“N-No.” Shoichi answered, nervously adjusting his glasses. “Last Lal Mirch heard, those psychos were running around putting the fear of God into all the subordinate families that used to answer to the Ninth. Since he lost to you fair and square Xanxus has accepted your position as Tenth and is trying to get the other dons to see it your way too.”
“Good, glad to hear it. I don’t have the patience to deal with Kacchan and Xanxus in the same country.” Izuku said bluntly. “Any other surprises for me?”
“Actually, there is one thing… a good thing, I swear!” Shoichi hastily added when he saw the look Izuku was giving him. “Thanks to all the help the C.E.D.E.F.’ been giving me, I’ve finally got around to fixing THIS!”
Scrambling to his feet, Shoichi hurried over to his work desk and pulled open a hidden compartment facing away from the workshop’s cameras. Inside was a high-tech safe that required Shoichi’s fingerprints, DNA, retina scan and vocal password to open (definitely not something the school loaned him). When the hydraulic pistons unlocked with a steady hiss , Shoichi yanked it open and pulled an object out of the safe.
It was a palm-size box the color of Izuku’s flames, embellished with gold decorations in the shape of royal crowns. VONGOLA was stamped across each side.
Izuku instantly knew what it was. How could he not? This box housed one of his dearest companions, whom he believed lost during the climatic final battle. Elation filled his thundering heart as he carefully picked up the fully restored box and held it fondly in his hands.
“Tenth! That’s…!” Hayato choked up, growing teary eyed with emotion.
“He’s alive!” Chrome held a hand over her mouth to hold in her happy sob.
“Shoichi did you…?” Izuku breathed, unable to finish the question lest his hopes be dashed.
“I did.” Shoichi said proudly. “Lal Mirch and her subordinates raided the Vongola’s biggest research lab and pilfered a ton of their data. They sent the pertinent info to me over a secure channel, and with it I was able to restore your personal Box Weapon: Leone di Cieli, Version Vongola . ”
“Shoichi.” Izuku’s throat was so thick with emotion he switched back to Japanese. “Thank you, so much.”
His ingenious friend grinned proudly, patting Izuku’s shoulder. “For you? Anytime.”
Feeling a genuine smile brighten his face for the first time in a long time, Izuku gently pressed his Box Weapon against his forehead and whispered “Welcome back, Natsu.”
From within the confines of the box came an affectionate purr.
TO BE CONTINUED....
Notes:
Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Next time we will start the Battle Training! What will be the teams? Who will face who? Will Izuku and his four Guardians dominate the fights? You will know most of that after the next chapter ;-P ! Just to warn you I'll leave on vacation next Week End so there maybe a break. I'll try to post two chapters next week but don't get your hopes up because those take time to write.
Chapter 4
Notes:
Again thanks for the support, the comments and the kudos, keep them coming I like them. Now for the chapter. Here we are the first part of the Battle Training. I hope you like the teams I made and the match ups. I couldn't possibly go into every fight so I detailed only the two most interessant.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 4 Battle Trials
Todoroki Shouto was caught off guard by how normal the first half of their second day was. They had English lessons with Present Mic and mathematics with Ectoplasm. Lunch was served by the pro hero Lunch Rush, and Shouto was secretly ecstatic that the Cook Hero served a good bowl of cold soba.
He almost cracked a smile.
But that small moment of joy was burnt away by the ever-present simmering hatred that defined his existence. According to their class schedules the latter half of their school days were when their basic training for heroics took place, the subject Shouto was most vested in.
Because he was the creation, the ‘ masterpiece ’ of the #2 hero, Endeavor. Shouto despised his sorry excuse of a father. He hated Endeavor for the grueling training he forced Shouto to endure since the age of four that often ended with him puking his guts. He hated Endeavor for separating him from his siblings, claiming Shouto was different from them, that they were distractions that lived in a different world. He hated Endeavor for the cruelty that drove his mother mad, resulting in her pouring boiling hot water on his face and scarring him for life.
Shouto didn’t hold that against his mother, because he knew exactly where the true blame lied: Endeavor.
Endeavor wanted his masterpiece to surpass All Might, the untouchable peak the Flame Hero himself was unable to reach. Fine, but Shouto wouldn’t give his sorry excuse of a father the satisfaction of using his Quirk. Instead, Shouto swore to become the #1 hero with his mother’s ice alone.
The first step to achieving this plan was proving the undisputed best of his class. Needless to say he hit a few road bumps.
Not only did Shouto fail to come 1st during the Recommendation Exam, but he placed 7th in yesterday’s Quirk Assessment Test. Some of his classmates were honestly strong, he’d be an idiot not to accept the truth.
Yaoyorozu Momo’s Quirk was very versatile, but her creations required time to produce. Her movements were also stiff and often unsure, meaning she hadn’t been as harshly trained as Shouto. In a one-on-one match Shouto could immobilize her in an instant inside a glacier, and…if she somehow created a tool to melt her way free… he was confident he surpassed her in hand-to-hand. Ergo, her threat rating was low.
Sasagawa Ryohei. His Quirk was not only an enhancer but apparently he could heal himself and others with it, but that wasn’t what made him dangerous. His experience as a boxer made fighting him in hand-to-hand something to avoid, fortunately for Shouto in a one-on-one match he could also trap Sasagawa in a glacier and avoid a fist fight that way. The only unknown variable was if Sasagawa was strong enough to free himself from Shouto’s ice in either way it would be a battle of stamina and Shouto was confident he had the upper hand because surely breaking free over and over was more tiring than creating a glacier. Threat level : medium.
Hibari Kyoya. His Quirk involved increasing the size of an object. Not only that, but he could choose which dimension to manipulate (length, height, width). While his Quirk was basic on paper, the real threat were his close combat capabilities. Even from what little Shouto saw, Hibari’s controlled and precise movements sent cold sweat down his back. His instincts told him Hibari was highly adept at fighting, perhaps even better than Shouto. If Shouto faced him in battle, he’d have to keep his distance and freezing Hibari from afar. Threat level : medium.
Dokuro Chrome was an enigma. At first Shouto thought her Quirk was similar, if not identical, to Yaoyorozu’s, but when she brought forth monsters that lived in children’s nightmares to do her bidding he did a complete reassessment. Right now his leading theory was that her Quirk brought forth items and creatures born in her imagination to the real world. That was the kind of powerful Quirk Shouto’s old man would’ve spent a lot of money to get his hands on. Shouto’s best bet to defeat Dokuro was to attack her so swiftly she didn’t have time to formulate a proper creation. But if she did manage to activate her Quirk, and create something resistant or outright immune to cold, Shouto would find himself pressed for options. Threat level : very high.
There was no forgetting MIsaka Mikoto’s ball throw. All of Shizuoka Prefecture must’ve heard the lance of lightning that split the sky. Yaoyorozu called it a railgun, and it was the most overwhelming move he’d ever seen. Shouto even had a good dream about Misaka’s ultimate move puncturing through his old man’s [Hellfire] and giving him a scar to match Shouto’s. Fuzzy feelings aside, Shouto quickly accepted there was no blocking that ludicrous technique. Not even the largest glacier in his arsenal could’ve stopped that insanity. But from what Shouto observed Misaka’s railgun required buildup to properly launch, meaning its counter was a constant application of pressure so Misaka was unable to focus. Still, Shouto doubted the railgun was the only card in Misaka’s arsenal, meaning she had any number of super moves Shouto needed to watch out for. Threat rating : high.
Midoriya Izuku; nothing worth mentioning. While Shouto was initially surprised to find someone with a fire Quirk in his class, his interest dwindled with every test. Although Midoriya got 1st overall, his fire was weak. Even standing close by Shouto barely felt any heat from his flames. They were nothing like the scalding bite of Endeavor’s [Hellfire], instead akin to the soft warmth of an autumn evening. Midoriya’s Quirk might’ve been able to produce enough thrust to fly, but Endeavor could do the same. Midoriya likely achieved lift because his body mass was so much lower that the Flame Hero’s. All in all, his threat level was negligible.
Shouto was frankly disappointed. He’d hoped to use Midoriya as a measuring stick to see how his mother’s ice would work against another fire Quirk, but with Midoriya’s weak flames it wouldn’t even be a challenge.
Glancing up from his desk, Shouto silently observed the other students of 1-A that were trickling into the classroom as their lunch period drew to a close. He’d already memorized their faces and names (a skill Endeavor all but beat into him, shouting how Shouto needed to be able to identify villains on sight), searching for anyone else that might pose a threat.
None stood out. Aoyama’s own Quirk damaged his body, Ashido’s couldn’t produce acid fast enough to melt his ice, Asui’s frog Quirk likely made her susceptible to cold, Ida’s speed was meaningless if Shouto froze the whole battlefield, Uraraka’s Quirk required a five-fingered touch to activate and could easily be restrained at a distance, Kirishima was another close-range combatant weak to long range attacks, the same applied to Shoji and Koda, Jirou’s Quirk was easily sealed by icing her ears, Hagakure might as well forfeit the moment she was matched against him, and Mineta was as harmless as Midoriya.
Fumikage’s Dark Shadow might be worth some effort, but so long as he froze the wielder himself the Quirk wouldn’t be an issue. Bakugo’s Quirk was interesting, powerful in that it created explosions, but Shouto noticed those explosions were produced by sweating, something very hard to do if Shouto dropped the ambient temperatures to freezing.
In conclusion, the ones to watch out for were Dokuro, Misaka, Sasagawa and Hibari. Perhaps Yaoyorozu too. Maybe Fumikage and Bakugo. Shouto hoped that whatever lessons they had today would let him test himself against those four.
The bell rang, and everyone took their seats as they waited for their next teacher to arrive.
“Who do you think we’ll have?” Ashido whispered excitedly.
“Snipe? Cemetoss? Or maybe a hero we haven’t seen yet?” Kirishima guessed, unable to control his bouncing feet.
“Hmph.” Hibari leaned back in his chair, bored.
“I AM…!” Shouto sat up. There was nobody in all of Japan who didn’t recognize that voice! “...ENTERING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”
“”All Might?!””
“Awesome!” Kirishima cheered, pumping a fist. “The rumors were true! He’s really a teacher here!”
“That’s his Silver Age costume.” Asui said, her voice an octave higher in the #1 hero’s presence. All Might was wearing a skin-tight red costume with white accents that highlighted his unstoppable musculature along with a heroic cape that billowed dramatically over his shoulders.
“All Might.” Dokuro’s whispered, though strangely enough her tone lacked the reverence most everybody had for arguably the world’s greatest hero.
Shouto said nothing, merely watching as All Might made his way to the front of the room and posed gallantly. This was the summit his old man tried and failed miserably to overcome. How angry would Endeavor be if Shouto asked All Might for an autograph? The idea was tempting.
“Greetings, students!” All Might said, his pearly white smile ever present. “I will be teaching today’s class on Hero Basics, where you’ll be put through all sorts of special training to mold you into magnificent heroes! And what could be more basic in heroics than this?” All Might flashed a glossy card with the word BATTLE stamped on the front “Battle training!”
“Battle!” Bakugo grinned devilishly, his palms literally crackling in anticipation.
“And for that, you’ll need these!” All Might dramatically pointed to the far wall and clicked the remote in his hand. Concealed shelves emerged, each stocked with cases bearing a different number. “Your costumes! Tailored according to your special request forms and the Quirk registrations you submitted!”
Shouto felt the other students’ excitement saturate the air, finally feeling like actual heroes with the appearance of their custom costumes. Personally he had no thoughts on the matter. So long as his outfit was functional it was fine.
“Now grab your gear, get changed, and meet me at Ground Beta! Look alive zygotes, because starting today…you’re all heroes!”
Class 1-A scrambled from their seats as they made a mad dash to get to their costumes. Shouto calmly walked up and grabbed the case with his seat number (15). But before he left for the changing room, he noticed Midoriya approach All Might with Dokuro, Sasagawa and Misaka.
“All Might, our costumes are still at the Support Department.” Midoriya said. “It’ll take us a while to head over and grab them, is that okay?”
“I understand, young man!” All Might replied boisterously. “Setbacks happen on the road of heroics, that’s life! All I ask is that you hurry, you don’t want to keep the rest of your class waiting!”
Midoriya smiled. “We will, All Might. Kyoya!” He called out to the loner of 1-A. “Come with us!”
“I’ve no business with those tiny animals.” Hibari said, walking away.
“Shoichi has our suits.”
Suits? Didn’t Midoriya mean costumes? Yet the world held meaning to Hibari, because his air of disinterest sharpened into hungry fangs. “Wao? Now you have my attention.”
The five of them left together, with All Might departing shortly after in a whirlwind of speed.
Shouto put the mystery of their ‘suits’ out of mind, as he’d discover the truth soon enough anyways. The more important thing now was concentrating on his goals. He was grateful the first hero class involved combat, because it presented the opportunity to challenge the class’ most dangerous fighters and win.
To prove to his damned old man he didn’t need that bastard’s fire to be #1.
Toshinori Yagi rushed to Ground Beta ahead of Class 1-A and, after checking the coast was clear, deflated to his true skin-and-bones form to conserve as much of his hero time as possible.
Truth be told, Yagi was nervous! So very nervous! He might be the #1 hero in Japan but he had zero experience as a teacher! He definitely should’ve bought that ‘ Teacher’s Guide For Dummies ’ help book while he had the chance!
Don’t worry! Calm down! Just follow the script and everything will be all right! Everything will be All Might!
If Chiyo heard that horrible pun she would’ve rapped his shins.
Speaking of his friend, Yagi’s thoughts drifted to the message she’d sent him yesterday. He almost couldn’t believe the words displayed on his phone’s screen. To think Young Dokuro suffered such a dreadful tragedy! It was a good thing he didn’t know the name of the bastard responsible, otherwise he’d be sorely tempted to do something emphatically unheroic. As someone suffering from similar injury he related to what Young Dokuro went through before coming up with the ingenious idea of replacing her organs with her [Real Illusions].
And hadn’t that come swinging out of left field! For all intents and purposes Dokuro was living the life of a healthy young woman despite suffering injuries even worse than Yagi’s! When he read Chiyo’s suggestion, about letting Young Dokuro in on his secret so she might use her Quirk to aid him, a spark of hope kindled in Yagi’s emaciated chest that made [One For All] burn a bit brighter. He tried to smother it, to keep his expectations manageable, but it was too late! There was a chance he could be whole again, with the proof of concept attending Yuei as a student! Yagi barely remembered the days when he didn’t wake up in constant pain, the rusty barb wires in his chest scraping away at his smile with every breath he took.
If Young Dokuro could give him back his health, he would forever be in her debt!
Yagi perked as he heard footsteps approaching Ground Beta from the lightless entrance tunnel. It was kept purposely dark to add a bit of dramatic flare to the students’ first ever appearance in their hero costumes. He quickly buffed back up into his familiar muscle form. The nervous Yagi was gone, now there was only the unshakeable All Might!
“Looking good is very important, ladies and gentlemen! You can’t reassure those you save by dressing sloppy!” All Might said as, one by one, these hatchling heroes stepped into the urban training course of Ground Beta. “My, you’re all looking great! So cool!”
He told no lies! Everyone did look fantastic! Costumes really came a long way since he was a Yuei student, and no doubt these initial versions would see countless revisions and upgrades over the next three years until they were outfits for heroics!
“Whoa, is that really your costume Tooru?” Ashido asked the floating set of gloves and shoes. All Might dearly hoped the young woman requested a costume that turned invisible with her Quirk.
“Yup! It’s no big deal, since it’s not like anyone can see me anyways!” Hagakure’s gloves waved energetically. Oh no, without some form of protection young Hagakure was leaving herself vulnerable to stray attacks. He’d warn her about that after today’s lesson. “By the way, where’s Mikoto and her buddies?”
“Geh, you’re really using her first name?” Jirou said, shifting her speaker-boots awkwardly.
“Yeah! C’mon Kyoka, didn’t we all have a ton of fun yesterday?”
“...I didn’t not like it.”
“Tch, if those damned extras can’t be bothered to be here on time we should start without them.” Young Bakugo grunted.
“Now, now, there are extenuating circumstances resulting in their tardiness.” All Might said, which Bakugo grudgingly accepted. Then he heard soft footsteps echoing from the tunnel. “But worry not, for here they come now!”
As the five sets of feet grew closer all eyes focused on the mouth of Ground Beta’s entrance. When the figures emerged, Yagi found himself whistling positively.
Midoriya, Dokuro, Misaka, Sasagawa and Hibari were all dressed in jet-black single breasted suits that each projected a hard aura of professionalism and subtle power while maintaining a sense of class. They also had similarly colored neckties, pristine white undershirts, and black dress shoes.
These weren’t cheap outfits sold at a 100 yen flea market, but the real expensive stuff Yagi usually only saw worn by the wealthiest investors attending one of the Hero Public Safety Commission’s private galas.
They made the rest of 1-A’s outfits look like cheap Halloween costumes in comparison!
“I hope we didn’t keep you waiting for long.” Midoriya said, adjusting his necktie.
“You all look Manly as hell!” Kirishima shouted.
“Manly?” Dokuro murmured, trying to make herself as small as possible.
“Manly?!” Misaka growled, small sparks of electricity could be seen sparking around her head.
“Not manly, otouto, EXTREMELY manly!” Sasagawa roared, with a volume that made even All Might wince.
“You’ve got a whole theme going already!” Hagakure gushed. “Are all of you planning on working at the same agency when you graduate? Or maybe you’re going to start your own?”
“These are very well made.” Yaoyorozu noted, slightly leaning forward to get a better look. “They seem as good as my father’s Stuart Hughes Diamond suits he brings out on occasion.”
“Are those expensive?” Kirishima asked somewhat worriedly.
“Not really, they are only priced around one million U.S. dollars each.”
The price tag hit the class like a runaway bus.
“One….million….” Uraraka mumbled, swaying dangerously before passing out. She might’ve hit her head on the ground if Young Sasagawa wasn’t perfectly placed to catch her.
Yagi didn’t blame her for her reaction! He nearly spat blood himself! A million bucks for a piece of clothing? He’d never understand the mega-rich!
“Yaomomo, are you, like, super-mega rich?” Ashido asked.
“O-Oh, I would say my parents are rather well off.” Yaoyorozu hesitantly answered.
All Might cleared his throat. “While you each look fantastic, I sure hope you didn’t sacrifice function for fashion!”
“No worries there.” Midoriya assured as he then listed off the protective properties of their outfits. Yagi was straining to keep his smile plastered on and not drop his jaw like the rest of 1-A.
He never knew the Yuei Support Department offered such marvelous gear! It was better than what most pro heroes currently wore! Although now that the initial shock was wearing off, Yagi noticed the slight difference between their suits. Midoriya’s came with black metal-clad gloves with a large sapphire crest on the back of each hand; he also had an orange folded handkerchief in his right breast pocket. Dokuro wore a skirt instead of pants, but had leggings so her legs weren’t without protection; she also had an indigo folded handkerchief in her right breast pocket. Misaka, like Dokuro, wore a skirt and also had leggings; she also had a green folded handkerchief in her right breast pocket and green frog hairclips. Sasagawa had his hands taped like a boxers without the gloves and a yellow folded handkerchief in his right breast pocket. Hibari’s costume came with a red armband with the word DISCIPLINE on it, like the others he had a folded handkerchief in his right breast pocket but his was purple.
“ Mon dieu. ” Aoyama gaped, wracked with envy. “We could have asked for such fabulous costumes? Excusez moi , I must depart to the Support class posthaste to request a change of costumes!”
“Now, now.” All Might placed a hand on the shiny shoulder plate of Aoyama’s hero outfit. “We’re still in the middle of class, so any costumes changes will have to wait until later.”
“Plus, you might not be able to get suits like ours.” Misaka said bluntly. “Our stuff wasn’t made by Yuei, but by a friend of ours who’s in the class 1-H of the Support Department.”
All Might was even more surprised! A student made these? The future was shining brighter with every generation!
“This is the work of a 1st year?” Yaoyorozu said, running a finger along Midoriya’s sleeve. “That only makes it all the more impressive. What is their name?”
Midoriya smiled. “He’s a childhood friend of mine, Irie Shoichi.”
“Hah?” Bakugo scowled like he’d heard wrong. “That Quirkless dweeb? The hell’s he doing in Yuei?”
“Quirkless?” Uraraka asked, mirroring the others’ thoughts.
“Shoichi was born without a Quirk, but he’s still the smartest guy I know. A true genius.” Midoriya happily explained. “Just because he doesn’t have a Quirk doesn’t mean he can’t be amazing in his own way.”
“Tch, as if that worthless nerd could actually put together anything halfway decent.” Bakugo spat. “Your shit’s going to be scrap by the end of today, I guarantee it.”
“Isn’t this really unfair?” Mineta wailed, looking unflattering in his costume’s diaper-like pants. “These guys get super-ultra cool costumes, while we’re stuck with the basic stuff! That lezzie will be able to score even more easily now!” He jabbed a finger directly at Misaka. “Where’s the justice?!”
“Forming connections is essential in any occupation, even heroics.” The business-minded Yaoyorozu said. “Still, Irie Shoichi, Is it alright if I ask you to introduce me to him, Midoriya?”
“Sure. Just don’t hold it against him if he develops spontaneous stomach cramps.” Midoriya replied.
“I’ll… try not to?”
All Might cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “While your costumes really are the cream of the crop, we’re getting off track! Now that everyone’s here, it’s time for your first course in heroics!”
“”Yes, sensei!””
“Sensei!” Ida, resembling a knight in aerodynamic white armor, shot up a hand. “This area appears similar to the faux cities our practical entrance exams were held in! Does that mean we’ll be fighting robots again?”
“Not at all! Today we’re going a step beyond! While statistically most villain battles occur outdoors, the more cunning and heinous villains are squirreled away in their hideouts. Between unlawful confinement, black market deals, and the production of illegal narcotics, the cleverest villains in our hero-filled society commit their dark deeds indoors! That’s what we’ll be simulating today! You’ll all be split into Villain Teams and Hero Teams, and face off in two-on-two indoor battles!”
1-A was split between the excited, the anxious, and the calm.
“What about basic training?” Asui asked.
“Practical experience is the best form of basic training!” That’s how All Might learned after all, with Sorahiko beating him black and blue day in and day out!
“What constitutes a victory?”
“Can I blow everyone up?”
“Will you expel us if we do badly, like Aizawa-sensei?”
“How will we be dividing ourselves into teams?”
“Isn’t my cape magnifique ?”
“Slow down everyone, my Quirk isn’t super-hearing!” All Might said, whipping out his cheat sheet and reading the rest of the lesson off of that. Think of Gran Torino, just emulate Gran Torino (minus the beatings, else he’d be fired on his first day). “Listen up, zygotes! The scenario is that the villains are hiding a nuclear weapon somewhere in their hideout. The heroes win if they capture both villains or touch the weapon, thereby securing it! The villains must either capture both heroes or run the clock, which will be set to 20 minutes! As for your teams, they’ll be decided by drawing lots!”
“Is such an arbitrary method really the best way?” Ida protested.
“Indeed!” All Might replied. “Out in field heroes often team up with heroes from other agencies in an emergency, meaning they must find a way to work together with allies they’re unfamiliar with!”
“I see!” Ida bowed at a 90° angle. “Thank you for clarifying, All Might-sensei.”
“No problemo! Now, let’s start!” All Might announced, pulling out the raffle box that would decide the teams.
Team A : Midoriya Izuku and Yaoyorozu Momo
Team B : Todoroki Shouto and Hibari Kyoya
Team C : Mineta Minoru and Uraraka Ochaco
Team D : Dokuro Chrome and Ida Tenya
Team E : Bakugo Katsuki and Koda Koji
Team F : Misaka Mikoto and Hagakure Tooru
Team G : Aoyama Yuga and Ashido Mina
Team H : Asui Tsuyu and Fumikage Tokoyami
Team I : Shoji Mezo and Jirou Kyoka
Team J : Kirishima Eijiro and Sasagawa Ryohei
“Looks like we will be working together, Midoriya.” Yaoyorozu said looking relieved for some reasons.
“Indeed Yaoyorozu, looking forward to it.” Midoriya replied as they shook hands.
Hibari and Todoroki exchanged glances, but said nothing to one another.
“Nice!” Mineta flashed a thumbs up, his short stature putting him in close approximation to Uraraka’s posterior. Uraraka wrestled down the urge to send the pervert into space.
“L-Let’s do our best, Ida.” Dokuro said nervously.
“Indeed! We shall give this lesson the diligence it is due!” Ida all but shouted.
“Who the fuck are you, Rock Face?” Bakugo snorted.
Poor Koda seemed to wilt facing his loud partner.
“I’m happy to see we’re teammates today, Tooru-chan.” Misaka said, smiling.
“Me too, Mikoto!” Hagakure’s gloves were pumping animatedly.
Jirou was boring holes into the back of Misaka’s head. Shoji noticed and asked “Are you jealous?”
“H-Hell no!” she sputtered.
“ Bonjour , my fair lady. Are you ready to win so magnificently we sparkle?” Aoyama asked his partner.
“Heck yeah!” Ashido cheered.
“Let’s do our best, kero .” Asui said.
“Our combined might shall revel in the dark.” Fumikage nodded sagely.
“Aniki! Let’s show who the manly team is!” Kirishima exclaimed.
“Otouto! Let’s EXTREMELY win this!” Sasagawa roared.
“Now for the first match! For the first round…” All Might shoved his hands into different raffle boxes and yanked out a pair of balls with letters printed on them. “...the heroes are Team E! The Villains are Team D!”
Bakugo Katsuki and Koda Koji VS Dokuro Chrome and Ida Tenya!
“The villain team will head to their designated hideout first!” All Might continued. “They’ll have five minutes to prepare, after which the hero team will begin their attack! Remember, the match is only 20 minutes long! This lesson is for the sake of acquiring practical experience, so don’t hold back! Go all out! Just be aware that I'll step in if either side goes overboard. Everyone else will be with me, in the observation room, where we’ll watch the match live via CCTV! C’mon, let’s move it, move it, MOVE IT !”
Ida Tenya stared up at the ‘ nuclear weapon ’ they were required to protect. It was made of paper-mache, was twice his height, barely weighed a kilo, and resembled a stereotypical bomb one might see on a Saturday morning cartoon show.
“While it pains me to assume the role of a villain, this is for the sake of training! So I’ll be giving this exercise my all!” Tenya declared, although his loud volume spooked his skittish partner, Dokuro Chrome. But as a hero, he was quick to apologize. “Forgive me for startling you, Dokuro!”
“I-It’s alright.” Dokuro said, still a bit jumpy. Witnessing her timid behavior it was hard to believe this was the powerhouse that came in 4th in the entrance exam and 3rd in their homeroom teacher’s Quirk Assessment Test. With such a strong Quirk Tenya thought Dokuro would have confidence in spades.
The two of them were standing on the top floor of the abandoned building provided for this battle. While the overall layout was large the hallways were narrow with many tight corners, preventing Tenya from using his top speed.
“Um Ida?” Dokuro said. “If it’s a-alright with you, I have an idea?”
Bakugo Katsuki impatiently waited for All Might to call the start of the match, standing out on the open street in front of the villain’s hideout. With the overhead sun beating down on him, his Grenadier Bracers, a pair of arm bracers shaped like giant grenades (badass), were quickly filling up with his explosive sweat. Just because the villains were given prep time didn’t mean Katsuki couldn’t take advantage of that too.
“Listen well Rock Face! Since you can’t talk, I’ll speak for both of us. The only way this is ending is with me earning a total victory! So that means you will follow me, stay silent as you usually do and stay in a corner so that you won’t be defeated while I will blow up Four Eyes and Cyclops! Nod if you understood you pathetic extra!” Katsuki growled in Rock Face’s rock-like face to show dominance over the timid boy.
The extra couldn’t nod fast enough.
With that problem dealt with, Katsuki could now focus on the real match. While he wanted to fight Deku, Cyclops was a decent consolation prize. He still owed her for the shit she pulled in Aldera, making think his Quirk wasn’t working. Katsuki was very much looking forward to blasting this bitch.
“ The first indoor anti-personnel training match, ” All Might’s voice echoed from Ground Beta’s many speakers, “ starts…NOW! ”
Sneering ferally, Katsuki blew off the front doors of the villain hideout and charged inside. He could feel Rock Face’s pathetic attempt to keep up with him.
Katsuki didn’t wait. If the weakling couldn’t keep up, then that was his problem. Accelerating with the power of his explosions, Katsuki did a quick sweep of the first floor. Finding neither the villains nor the bomb, he blew up the stairs to the second.
Then slammed his foot to a stop.
Rock Face panted as he caught up with him and freeze when he saw what made Katsuki stop.
Mist. The entire second floor was filled with mist so thick that when it pooled across the floor Katsuki couldn’t see his own feet.
Rock Face’s expression showed he didn’t understand what it was. What the fuck did the idiot think it was, exhaust from Four Eyes’ engines?
Since he was so dumb an explanation would be wasted on him, Katsuki marched ahead without a word. He could feel Rock Face attempt to hold him back but shrugged the weak hold on his shoulder like it wasn’t even there.
Katsuki honed all his senses to their limits. Cyclops’ mist was getting thicker the farther they got, making a perfect place to ambush him. As an experiment he blew open a large hole in the outer wall yet none of the mist escaped outside. Definitely unnatural shit made with Cyclops’ Illusions.
Tap, tap, tap .
Katsuki didn’t hear anything other than his boots clanking against the abandoned office’s tiled floors. Cyclops’ mist was now so annoyingly dense he couldn’t see past the end of his damned nose.
Tap, tap, squelch!
What the fuck was that? All of a sudden the floor felt funny, more malleable beneath his combat boots. Fuck, just from the sound it felt like he’d stepped into a warm pile of cow shit.
The mist cleared abnormally fast, and Rock Face nearly screamed in terror when he saw they weren’t standing in an office building anymore. Instead, they were inside a corridor of warm flesh, lined with enormous pulsating veins feeding weird shit into bulbous sacks of mysterious crap, and hundreds of bloodshot eyes all glaring straight at them.
It was horror movie shit. Kastuki wasn’t impressed.
“KYA!!!!!” Rock Face screamed like the third-wheel actress who always bit it first in every scary movie ever.
Katsuki didn’t have time to tell the extra to shut his trap when the adult-sized sacks began bursting open one after another, vomiting out tentacle monsters with no eyes and hundreds of human teeth that surrounded them in an instant. Was this the shit Cyclops’ messed up head thought of when she rubbed one out at night?
Momo wasn’t the only one gawking incredulously at the many monitors in the observation, watching as Dokuro dropped Bakugo and Koda in a world of nightmares.
“I’m so glad that’s not us.” Uraraka admitted weakly, turning pale.
Fumikage, on the other hand, was almost on his knees in worship. “The black mistress summons the bowels of the abyss to consume her unwitting sacrifices! Praise be!”
“ Ignore him. ” Dark Shadow piped. “ That’s what I do. ”
“I’m not bad with scary movies, kero , but if I saw that I’d be hopping in the other direction.” Asui admitted without shame.
Even All Might was wearing a conflicted expression.
“Midoriya,” Momo called to one of the few people that might have answers. “Just what is Dokuro’s Quirk?”
Her query drew everyone’s attention to Midoriya, who chuckled. “Chrome’s Quirk is called [Real Illusions]. Basically, she makes illusions.”
“Illusions?! Those aren’t illusions, that’s nightmare fuel!” Mineta cried, pointing wildly at the screens showing the eldritch abominations. “Tentacles are supposed to be sexy, not scary!”
“Wait, if they’re illusions how come they can touch stuff?” Uraraka asked the pertinent question. “She used a bunch of them during Aizawa-sensei’s test.”
“Chrome’s illusions are special.” Misaka picked up. “Unless you’re acutely aware that what you’re seeing isn’t real, her illusions can touch and even harm you.”
“That’s a crazy cool Quirk!” Ashido gushed. “Can she make anything? Even Xenomorphs?”
“As long as she has a clear image of what she’s making, sure.”
“My new bestie!” Ashido squealed, ready to leap into the monitors and give Dokuro a big hug.
“Is it okay for you to tell us all this, kero ?” Asui asked. “Dokuro’s Quirk really is impressive, but now that we know how it works it’s ineffective against us.”
Asui brought up a good point. At first Momo believed Dokuro’s Quirk was similar, perhaps even more powerful, than her own [Creation]. But like a slight-of-hand trick, now that the mechanics were known the magic was gone.
“I wouldn’t be too sure.” Misaka teased, but didn’t elaborate.
“Bakugo doesn’t know how Dokuro’s Quirk works.” Jirou pointed out. “Doesn’t that mean he’s about to get his butt whooped?”
“No.” Midoriya said, watching the match closely. “In fact, Kacchan’s about to surprise us.”
“HMM HMMM!” Rock Face tried to scream for help as the tentacle monsters dog piled him.
Katsuki didn’t move a finger. Even if he grabbed Rock Face’s ear and screamed Cyclops’ weakness into it he doubted it’d make a difference at this junction.
The tentacles dragged the screaming extra away, before the floor opened to reveal a giant mouth filled with rows of fingers that swallowed him whole.
A few seconds later. “ Koda Koji has been eliminated! ”
Damn there went his perfect victory, but a win was still a win and now he didn’t have to worry about the extra getting in his way.
“Aren’t you going to attack me?” Katsuki taunted Cyclops’ fucked up octopi. “Come on! I’m standing right here! Come and get me!”
They did, lunging at Katsuki from every angle and burying him beneath a mass of lashing tentacle and teeth.
But Katsuki had already learned everything there was to know about Cyclops’ Quirk from the old lady in the nurse’s office. The midget hero didn’t have a problem sharing, saying investigative work was a core aspect of being a hero. Now he knew how Cyclops tricked him into thinking his Quirk was on the fritz. At the end of the day it was a pathetic ability that only faked strength while having no real power at all.
Her worthless Quirk was no match against Bakugo Fucking Katsuki!
Which is why he sauntered straight through the tentacle freaks, because the dumb pieces of shit weren’t really there. Everything here that he saw was fake , and there was absolutely no way the future #1 was getting tripped up by a parlor trick.
With every step Katsuki took, brimming with unshakable surety, Cyclops’ pathetic show-and-tell warbled and cracked. By the time he reached the staircase leading to the third floor, Katsuki was standing in a regular office building once more.
It’s my win!
“I’m honestly shocked.” Momo heard Misaka admit, watching the match with far greater interest. “How’d Bakugo, of all people, see past Chrome’s illusions so easily?”
“You all went to the same middle school, maybe he learned about it there?” Shoji pointed out, speaking from a mouth formed by one of his [Dupli-Arms].
Misaka shook her head. “Even if he did, knowing how to counter Chrome’s Quirk is wholly different from actually doing it.”
“In this case, Kacchan’s confidence is his greatest asset.” Midoriya explained for everyone. “His ego won’t let him accept that there’s anyone better than him. In his mind, since he’s the undisputed best, there’s no way Chrome’s ‘ weak ’ Quirk can work on him. His unwavering sense of certainty aligns his conscious and subconscious actions, thereby letting him slip through her illusions.”
From the way they spoke it sounded like Dokue’s illusions were harder to break than Momo initially believed, yet somehow Bakugo did exactly that.
“Isn’t she in trouble then?” Ashido asked, worried for her bestie.
“Yeah! Without her Quirk she’s powerless against Bakugo! This match is going to come down to him and Ida!” Mineta pointed out, voicing what everyone was thinking.
Only for Midoriya to smile knowingly. “Says who?”
Katsuki burst his way into the last room of the topmost floor, grinning maniacally as he finally tracked down his objectives. There was the bomb, along with Cyclops and Four Eyes. He laughed aloud at how the bitch missing an eye was teamed up with the robot that had too many.
He wasn’t going to waste time bantering, to waste the extra air on a pair of stepping stones. He was just going to destroy them and achieve an incontestable victory!
“Die!” He fired an explosion in Four Eyes’ direction, using more boom than bite to produce a curtain of smoke. With the shitty elite blinded, Katsuki lunged straight for Cyclops. Now that her illusions weren’t worth shit, she was as good as Quirkless! One explosion to knock her down, a second to ensure she stayed down, and Katsuki would be free to focus on Four Eyes.
So he was briefly taken aback when Cyclops met his charge head on, sprinting straight at him and moving surprisingly quick to boot. The surprise didn’t last long, as Katsuki prepped an explosion that would make her eyes match. The fuck was she going to do without a Quirk? Slap him?
No, instead she aimed a well-practiced kick at Katsuki’s side. He would’ve scoffed if he had the time. Like she would do any damage with those noodle-legs of hers. Regardless, he raised his left arm to block her kick and prepped his right to blow her face…
Wham!
Cyclops’ leg slammed into Katsuki’s grenade gauntlet so hard it was rammed into his side, rattling his ribs as he staggered backwards. What the fuck? Since when did Cyclops hit this hard? He shook off the throbbing pain as Cyclops charged at him even faster than before accompanied by the roar of…engines?
Hold the fuck up.
Cyclops(?) threw a front kick at Katsuki’s stomach but he saw through that shit coming from a mile away and grabbed the sole of their foot with one hand. Then, using a series of rapid explosions from his other hand to generate torque, Katsuki hurled Cyclops(?) into the nearest wall, stunning them, before blasting them straight into the next room with a double-palm explosion.
As the dust and debris settled, Katsuki saw mist melting away from the collapsed figure, revealing them to be a scorched and stunned Four Eyes.
Cyclops had tricked him. She used her illusions to swap appearance with Four Eyes, trying to take Katsuki out with pathetic tricks!
“You fucking bitch!” Katsuki howled, whipping around towards the lone villain guarding the bomb. Four Eyes’ image faded away to reveal Cyclops, exactly as he thought. “You think your shitty tricks are going to save you from me?!”
The dumb mute didn’t respond, mist pouring from her whole body and coalescing into killer hornets as big as cats and with giant syringes for stingers.
“Useless!” Katsuki’s explosions launched him forward, letting the giant hornets pass through him because they weren’t actually real.
Cyclops’ mist transformed the floor between them into a massive pitfall filled with tarantulas that had piranha teeth instead of mandibles.
“ Useless! ” To everyone in the CCTV room it looked like Katsuki was running on thin air as he passed over the pathetic illusion, which faded with his crossing.
There was only a few meters left between them now.
In a last ditch effort, Cyclops used her insignificant Quirk to form a baseball bat made of bones that she swung at his head. Katsuki didn’t even bother to dodge. There was no point, because her hands were empty. He was validated as the bat intangibly passed through his head.
“USELESS!” Katsuki bellowed, right in Cyclops’ face as he slammed his palm into her stomach and let it detonate.
Boom!
He put some kick into that one, blowing out the windows and filling half the room with smoke. There! That hit was so goddamned satisfying! His explosion likely tossed Cyclops’ scrawny ass straight out of the building, but he was sure All Might would catch her before she hit the ground. It was a shame he ruined his chance to get a second explosion in, but there was always next time if the stupid extra dared raise her head where it didn’t belong.
Then the smoke rushed out the shattered windows, and Katsuki’s brain hitched like a scratched record when he saw Cyclops still standing defiantly in front of him. The fuck was this? Another Illusion? No, her worthless Quirk didn’t work on him. Then how? How did his explosion only push her back a single step? It didn’t even damage her stupid suit!
…was her costume actually decent?
Katsuki snapped out of his stupor as mist poured from Cyclops’ hands; a trident sprung forth. Fuck, so maybe that Quirkless nerd who always clung to Deku knew how to make decent shit. He’d just aim for Cyclops’ head!
The one-eyed bitch twirled her oversized fork and swung the end at Katsuki’s head. Again, a pointless waste of effort. His palms sparked as he prepared to unleash his most powerful explosion yet, right after Cyclops’ worthless illusion passed…
Whack!
Katsuki staggered as his clock got rung. He briefly saw double, almost dropping to a knee as a shock of pain and confusion bounced around his head. What the fuck happened? Did Cyclops hit him with her Quirk? With her useless stupid illusions?
She swung the end of her trident again, and Katsuki grit his teeth and focused on the immutable fact that her Quirk couldn’t…
Wham!
Her weapon slammed across Katsui’s face, nearly knocking out a molar while he collapsed onto a hand and knee. His mind was a jumbled mess. This shouldn’t be possible! He overcame her Quirk, so how was it hurting him? None of this made a damned bit of sense!
Cyclops’ trident vanished in a puff of mist before she created a massive bull with dragon limbs for legs and a pair of blunt maces for horns. The abomination against nature charged at Katsuki, who stood his ground and told himself no illusion was capable of hurting him!
The sharp sting of pain on his face said otherwise.
The air was knocked clean from Katsuki’s lungs as the freakish bull rammed into him like a wrecking ball, taking him for a ride and slamming into and through the far wall. When the illusion vanished and Katsuki collapsed on the floor, he was hacking up a lung as his whole body screamed in agony. It felt like he’d shattered every single rib he had. He craned his head up, blood and spittle trickling down the corner of his lips, and saw Cyclops standing there, right beside the bomb.
Looking down on him.
Like he was beneath her.
FUCKING BITCH!
Anger was hell of a drug, numbing the pain better than morphine ever could as Katsuki pushed himself to his feet.
“Don’t you dare…LOOK DOWN ON ME!” He hollered, aiming one of his Grenadier Bracers at the extra and pulling back the striker level to expose a firing pin.
“ Young Bakugo, stop this at once! You’ll kill her! ” All Might warned.
“If her suit’s as good as Deku claims then she’ll live!”
He pulled the pin, firing all the nitroglycerin-like sweat that’d been stored inside the gauntlet’s tank. The result was a ruinous explosion that swallowed up and destroyed everything in its path. Katsuki himself was thrown back by the recoil, his shoulder crying in abuse. He ordered it to shut the fuck up as he witnessed the awesome devastation he caused. Admittedly the explosion was more powerful than he thought it’d be, blowing off half the building’s rooftop.
Fuck , he grimaced. While he made sure to aim his ultimate attack away from the fake bomb there was a chance he damaged it by accident. But if he had he would’ve lost, and since All Might hadn’t called the match then everything should be good.
Where was Cyclops? He needed to wait for the smoke and ash to clear, but he prepped his other Grenadier Bracer just in case. Did she dodge? No, he didn’t give her enough time to. Defend herself with an illusion? Katsuki didn’t know why her fucking Quirk was suddenly putting in overtime but from what the old lady told him her constructs still broke just like anything else, and he highly doubted Cyclops had an image in her screwed up head that was able to block his best move.
A flicker of light caught his attention, and Katsuki aimed his gauntlet.
Only to freeze when he saw what it was.
Fucking Deku was standing there, in front of Cyclops and the bomb, protecting them with a wall of orange fire forming from his hand. Everything behind him was untouched by Katsuki’s strongest attack. His eyes showed no strain, only a calm disinterest.
Deku blocked his greatest explosion like it was a spit on the wind.
That boiled Katsuki’s blood to the point where it was a miracle it didn’t start evaporating.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing here, Deku?!” Katsuki snarled, half-mad with rage. “Here to save your one-eyed girlfriend, you damned…!”
Deku launched forward with his flames, faster than even Katsuki could react. His fire-wreathed fist slammed into Katsuki’s Grenadier Bracers, breaking them into pieces. Then came a barrage of punches so swift it was ike they were being shot from a fucking machine gun, the armored gloves sinking into Katsuki’s skin and flesh until they connected with bone and awoke his prior pain.
Was he losing? Was he losing to fucking Deku again?
Katsuki lashed out with a soundless scream, trying to blow the nerd’s head off, but Deku ducked and swept Katsuki’s feet out from beneath him with a low kick. Before he even hit the damned ground, Deku swung around and smashed his fist into Katsuki’s face; the two of them were simply moving at different speeds. Throwing his waist behind the blow Deku pushed forward and slammed Katsuki’s head into the floor, where it left a melon-sized indent.
As his consciousness fled to escape the pain, Katsuki thought he heard All Might’s voice.
“Bakugo Katsuki is eliminated! Villain Team wins!” All Might announced, glad that that nerve-wracking first match was over. When Young Bakugo unleashed that attack he honestly feared for Dokuro’s safety, especially considering her condition! If she was knocked unconscious would her illusionary organs fade? Yagi was prepared to rush onto the scene in a millisecond and sprint Dokuro to Shizuoka General Hospital. The many doctors there would have a much better chance saving Dokuro’s life than Chiyo would by herself.
Thankfully such a worst case scenario was avoided by Dokuro’s latest feat. Goodness! Even knowing all the details, the young girl still managed to surprise him.
“Wha…wha…what?!” Mineta cried, pointing at the Midoriya on the observation screens, then at the real Midoriya standing amongst them, and then back and forth. “How’re you in two places at once?!”
“I’m not.” Midoriya said simply.
“It is an illusion.” Yaoyorozu gasped as the implications set in. “Dokuro can create illusions of people too, even replicating their Quirks!”
“Bingo.” Misaka confirmed. “Granted, when it comes to actual people Chrome needs a thorough understanding of who she’s trying to copy. Uncanny valley and all that. Creating imaginary animals and monsters is much easier in comparison.”
“But Bakugo was totally ignoring her illusions at the beginning. How come they suddenly started working again?” Kirishima asked. “Did she go Plus Ultra?”
All Might had a strong idea how Young Dokuro pulled one over her hotheaded opponent thanks to the decades of battle experience under his belt, but kept it to himself. He was a teacher now! What sort of instructor would he be if he simply gave his students all the answers? Plus he recalled how Gran Torino would never give him a straight answer and always pushed him to puzzle together solutions of his own, all while beating Yagi up and down the gymnasium.
“Not exactly.” Midoriya shrugged.
A few minutes later the first match’s participants entered the observation room. Except for Bakugo, who was being carried on a stretcher held between two transpo-bots straight to Chiyo’s office.
“Are you alright Young Ida? Do you require a visit to Recovery Girl as well?” All Might asked, noticing Ida’s battered outfit and the mild limp in his steps.
“My injuries are minor, All Might-sensei.” Ida reported, pulling off his battered helmet and bowing apologetically to Dokuro. “Forgive me. I wasted your well-thought plan and allowed Bakugo to disable me with ease. I swear to do better next time!”
“Don’t worry about it, I-Ida.” Dokuro whispered. As soon as she spotted Midoriya her dour expression split into a bright smile. “I did it, boss!”
“You did.” Midoriya said happily. “Great job.”
“We’re proud of you.” Misaka added, ruffling her hair. She didn’t mind at all.
“You did EXTREMELY well against that Bombasaur!” Sasagawa shouted loudly.
Hibari said nothing to his fellow Aldera alumni but All Might didn’t miss the miniscule smile.
“Now then!” All Might said. “Who would you say is the M.V.P. of this match?”
“Dokuro, right, kero ?”
“Has to be Dokuro.”
“Dokuro all the way! The way she kept fighting was totally manly!”
“Ha, ha, ha! Indeed, it’s rather obvious isn’t it?” All Might boomed. “Not only did Young Dokuro capture Koda early in the match, but she devised the cunning plan that allowed Ida to catch Bakugo off guard! Even after Ida was disabled, Young Dokuro kept her cool and triumphed over a formidable foe! Chin up, Young Koda! Although you were taken out early every loss is an opportunity to learn!”
Unfortunately the young man didn’t hear All Might’s advice, too busy hugging himself tightly in a vain attempt to settle his whole-body shakes.
Merciful peanut butter and jelly, that poor boy needed Jesus….cough….to see Inui ASAP.
“Dokuro performed marvelously.” Yaoyorozu said as All Might asked a Yuei security bot to escort Young Koda to Hound Dog. “But what I do not understand is how she managed to regain her Quirk’s effectiveness against Bakugo during the latter half.”
“There’s no shame in that!” All Might assured. “The trick Young Dokuro pulled off would’ve fooled even professional heroes! Would anyone like to take a gander at how she did it?”
A few half-hearted suggestions were made, but none that hit the mark. Everyone was well and truly stumped.
“What do you think, Chrome?” Midoriya asked his friend, who’d taken her customary spot behind him. All Might made a small note to help Young Dokuro with her shyness in the future. “Do you want to share with everyone how you did it?”
“Um, well…” Dokuro’s one eye saw how her classmates were eagerly awaiting an explanation, like an audience on the edge of their seats as a grand magician prepared to reveal the secrets of their magic. “...I suppose…I don’t mind. Can you explain it for me, boss?”
Midoriya shook his head. “You’ve got this, Chrome. I know you can do it.”
Dokuro gulped, but found the courage to push ahead. “Does e-everyone know what my Quirk is?” She received a round of nods. “W-Well, Bakugo’s confidence was the main reason why my illusions weren’t w-working on him. I needed to shake that first, and I did it with t-this.”
Dokuro rolled back the suit sleeve of her right arm, exposing a holster strapped to her wrist. With a practiced flick of her hand, the device ejected a small black baton into her palm. With the press of a hidden button, it extended and unfolded into the trident she used in the match.
All Might saw the moment understanding flickered in the eyes of 1-A’s more perceptive students.
“The trident you used to hit Bakugo…it was never an illusion! It is a support item!” Yaoyorozu realized.
“Hold on, what about that mist stuff that always comes out whenever she uses her Quirk? We still saw that happen when she busted out her weapon!” Jirou reminded.
“O-Oh, that part was an illusion.” Dokuro said, stunning everyone. She demonstrated, allowing mist to pour from her free hand as if she was utilizing her ability. “I needed to sell the idea t-that my trident was made from my Quirk.”
“ Kero , you used an illusion to fake an illusion to make Bakugo believe it was all an illusion.” Asui deduced.
“Illusion-ception.” Jirou murmured.
Kirishima turned to Ashido. “Did you get all that?”
“Horn buddy, you know I’m not that smart.” Ashido whined.
“Even ‘ dismissing ’ your trident was part of the act.” Shoji realized. “All to make Bakugo believe your Quirk was effective against him again.”
Dokuro nodded, and demonstrated by covering her support weapon in her illusionary mist. However she made it thin enough that everyone saw her press a button on her trident that retracted it into baton-mode before dexterously slipping it back into her hidden wrist holster. When her mist dispersed and the trident vanished, it appeared as though Dokuro had simply dismissed a creation of her Quirk.
“But why was your crazy bull able to hurt Bakugo? That was definitely an illusion.” Uraraka asked.
Dokuro explained. “Seeing through my Q-Quirk requires absolute certainty that my illusions aren’t real. When I hit him with my trident, which he believed was fake, it planted a s-sliver of doubt. That was more than enough for my Quirk to touch him a-again.”
There was a chorus of “Ooooohs” from 1-A.
“What about fake Midoriya?” Mineta asked.
“Ah, that’s even s-simpler. When Bakugo saw boss he didn’t even consider the possibility that I'd used a-an illusion. He believed b-boss was really in front of him…”
“...which allowed your Quirk to defeat him.” Yaoyorozu concluded. “I must say, you are frightfully skilled with using your Quirk.”
“S-Sorry.” Dokuro mumbled.
“I meant that in a good way!” Yaoyorozu rushed to clarify.
“While this has been a productive discussion, it’s time we moved on to the next match!” All Might announced. Instead of pulling labeled balls from a box again (mainly because he forgot where he’d left it), he used the computer to randomize the teams. “Next battle: Hero Team H VS Villain Team J!”
Asui Tsuyu and Fumikage Tokoyami VS Kirishima Eijiro and Sasagawa Ryohei.
“Otouto, let’s EXTREMELY win so that we can show our EXTREME manliness!” Sasagawa could be heard coaching Kirishima even as the two teams left to their respective start points.
Ashido tiptoed up to Dokuro (eliciting a “Meep!”) and whispered, “Have you seen the movie Aliens?”
“I…I don’t know?” Dokuro murmured back, leaning backwards when Ashido leaned forward.
“You know that really old but awesome movie with the coolest aliens called the Xenomorphs?”
After a second, recognition flickered in Dokuro’s eye. “I think I-I watched it with the others once.”
“So you could make a Xenomorph if you wanted?” Ashido asked excitedly.
Dokuro responded by holding up one hand and casting an illusion showing a miniature Xenomorph wearing a monocle and top hat, waving hello to her pink-skinned classmate.
Ashido squealed in absolute delight as she hugged Dokuro tightly, much to the illusion user’s confusion. “We’re the bestest of friends!”
“Ehh?!”
All Might was happy to see these future heroes becoming closer. Their bonds would serve them well when they all went pro.
Thankfully the second match was a lot less stressful on All Might’s heart, as well as shorter. In less than five minutes after the start of the match both heroes were down and the Villain Team won for the second match in a row thanks to the wonder of random selection.
The swiftness of the match was down to one thing Quirk match-up, it was obvious Fumikage and Asui were counting on the poor lighting inside the building to boost Dark Shadow’s offensive power. However thanks to his Quirk Sasagawa was able to glow like the sun and therefore render Dark Shadow useless, thanks to that he was able to quickly subdue Fumikage and then joined Kirishima against Asui where the poor girl was quickly defeated in a two against one scenario.
Young Sasagawa was awarded the M.V.P. position because of how quickly he managed to subdue both Fumikage and Dark Shadow, it was the decisive factor of the match.
The computer spat out the teams for the next match.
“Hero Team F VS Villain Team C!”
Misaka Mikoto and Hagakure Tooru VS Mineta Minoru and Uraraka Ochaco.
All Might noticed Young Uraraka’s momentary panic before she buried it by mustering up her confidence and walking to the battle site with her head held high. Mineta deliberately walked behind her, his eyes never rising above Uraraka’s waistline. All Might would bring up his behavior with Aizawa and principal Nezu.
Hagakure Tooru was excited! Nervous! Excitous! Was that a word? It should be a word! Many in her middle school called her overly bubbly, sometimes attention seeking, but how else was an invisible girl supposed to stand out?
“Worried?” Mikoto asked her, flashing that girlish smile that did funny things to her heart. It was times like these Tooru was glad her Quirk was always on.
“Not at all!” Tooru assured. Okay, she was a little nervous, but not about the outcome of their match. It was hard to be anything less than confident in their imminent victory when her partner was a powerhouse that fired super death laser beams!
“Me neither. I know we’ll do great together, Tooru-chan.”
Mouuu , did Mikoto even hear herself? It was no wonder Kyoka kept calling her a philanderer when she used lines like that together with her lady-slaying smile. At first Tooru suspected Mikoto was one of those scummy types that enjoyed playing with a maiden’s heart. She’d seen enough jerks like that in middle school, bigots born with flashy Quirks and believed that gave them permission to do whatever they wanted. But if there was one advantage to being permanently invisible, it was that Tooru could get close and study her friends and schoolmates without them noticing. Sometimes she even went streaking to eavesdrop on the latest juicy-juicy gossip.
Her bad habits aside, what she was trying to say was that Tooru had gotten real good at reading people, and Mikoto was as earnest as they came. She didn’t use empty praise, but meant every kind word she said. Her ‘ flirting ’ was just an unintended consequence of speaking her mind.
A natural and unwitting playgirl, a maiden’s most dangerous foe.
“ Five minutes are up! ” All Might’s voice boomed over the speakers, making Tooru jump. “ Match Three, begin! ”
Tooru lightly smacked her cheeks to get her head in the game. “So what’s our plan? You charge in, beat Uraraka and Mineta, and win us the match?”
“I could do that.” Mikoto casually admitted, as if their opponents weren’t an issue.”But that wouldn’t be fair to you. You also deserve a chance to show off how incredible you are, Tooru-chan.”
Tooru’s face was heating up so much it almost made her lightheaded. Thank her mom and pops for her invisibility!
“You’re flattering me, Mikoto.” Tooru had plenty of experience modulating her tone so no one could tell how she was really feeling by the sound of her voice. “Your advice really helped me with Aizawa-sensei’s test, but I don’t see how it’ll help in a fight.”
Mikoto gave her a patient smile. “What do you think the most dangerous kind of attack is?”
Puzzled by the sudden change in topics, Tooru nonetheless replied. “Your railgun?”
Mikoto chuckled. “In terms of sheer destructive power, perhaps. But no. The most dangerous attack is the one you never see coming. Imagine it: you’re in the middle of a crisis, focusing entirely on the problem you know and see, when wham …” MIkoto clapped her hands for dramatics “...you’re suddenly unconscious, or gravely wounded, hit by an attack outside your awareness. Sure, my railgun is big and flashy, but all my friends know how to block, counter, or stop it in its tracks. But not even All Might can stop a blow he doesn’t see coming.”
“I-I think I get what you’re saying.” Tooru mumbled, resisting the desire to draw circles in the ground with her shoes. “But I’m not that strong! My arms are like noodles! I can’t even do a single pull-up! What’s the point in sneaking up on someone if I’m too weak to hurt them?”
“That’s something you can easily work on later. Besides, even as you are now, you’re more than capable of inflicting serious damage on the average person.”
“Like?”
“A finger-poke to the eyes, a chop to the throat, an elbow to the nose, a palm strike to the ear to blow out an eardrum, a punch to the chin, a chokehold that blocks the carotid artery in the neck, a well placed punch to the solar plexus, a kick that blows out the knee, a strike to the groin, a punch to the kidneys, just to name a few. As long as you know where to aim, anyone can be dangerous, more so if your opponent doesn’t see it coming.”
Tooru wasn’t ashamed to admit she shuddered at Mikoto’s expanding list of ways to brutalize someone.
“You’re…not telling me to do stuff like that to our classmates, are you?” Tooru worriedly asked.
“Hm? Oh, no. Not at all.” Mikoto assured her, to her great relief. Before continuing with a shark-like grin. “I’m just telling you your options for later. Like in the case you find yourself against a real villain. For now you should stick to non-lethal measures. Don’t admit you haven’t been waiting for a chance to give Mineta a good slap on the face.”
Now there was a great idea! Tooru was getting tired of MIneta constantly perving on the other girls in class. Even in the middle of homeroom!
“Now I’m feeling fired up!” Tooru cheered, peeling off her gloves and shoes so she was completely gone from the world. She did some shadow boxing, imagining feeding the class pervert her knuckle sandwich.
“Not like that!” Mikoto suddenly said, grabbing her invisible hand and brushing her soft palms against her much softer fingers. Tooru’s heart pumped like she’d chugged a gallon of sugar as Mikoto carefully curled in her fingers, tucked them into her palms, and braced her thumb over her index and middle fingers to form a solid and proper fist. “This is how you make a fist. Punch someone the wrong way and you’ll only hurt yourself.”
“Erm…Mikoto?” Tooru squeaked, her new fist still cupped in her hand. “Can…. Can you….see me?”
How else could she so accurately grab her hand when she’d taken off her gloves? Tooru did her best to cover her bare breasts with her other arm while crossing her legs to hide what she could, all while her everything burned like a summer campfire.
Mikoto laughed softly, and Tooru’s breathing hitched when her chestnut eyes unerringly found and met her own teal ones.
“Tooru.” Mikoto reached out with her other hand to stroke her super-heated cheek. “If I could see you, you’d know.”
What was that supposed to mean?! Could she see her or not?!
“M-M-M-Match! The match!” Tooru cried shrilly, arms flailing like inflatable noodles. “The m-m-m-match already started and we h-h-h-haven’t even stepped inside yet! If we waste t-t-t-t-t-t-t-to much time we’ll l-l-l-l-l-loose! We don’t e-e-even know where the villains o-o-o-o-or the bomb is!”
“Don’t worry.” Mikoto said with that same quiet confidence that made it harder and harder for Tooru not to feel funny things. “Ochaco and Mineta are on the fourth floor, roughly 54m from where we’re standing.”
Tooru blinked, embarrassment briefly forgotten. “ How in the world do you know that?”
“How does he know that?” All Might heard Young Yaoyorozu wonder aloud. He turned on the microphones for this match so everyone in the CCTV room could hear what the heroes and the villains were saying (he didn’t use it for the first and second match because he’d simply forgotten).
“Does he have a sensory Quirk?” Young Shoji asked.
“But isn’t his Quirk doing manly electrical stuff?” Young Kirishima wondered.
All Might brought Young Misaka’s file on a small monitor. Misaka Mikoto, Quirk: [Electromaster]; capable of generating and manipulating electricity. A short and simple explanation that in no way clarified his extrasensory skills.
“Hold up! We’ve got a bigger problem!” Ashido exclaimed. “If Misaka can see Tooru then that girl’s been peeping on my girl since the assessment test!”
“That would be very scummy of her, especially since she is the one who convinced Hagakure to strip in the first place, kero .” Asui agreed grimly.
“I don’t…look. Misaka’s a relentless flirt but I don’t think she’s the same kind of pervert as Mineta.” Jirou tried to speak in Misaka’s defense. “Midoriya, you’re her buddy, right? How’s Misaka doing all that?”
Everyone was interested to hear more.
“Mikoto’s Quirk is called [Electromaster],” Midoriya kindly explained. “In her Quirk Registry it’s described as the generation and manipulation of electricity. But in Mikoto’s hand it goes much further. She can also sense electric, magnetic and electromagnetic phenomena. Her eyes can see electric and magnetic fields and lines, and since the human body produces small amounts of electricity Mikoto can spot the fields a person naturally produces. That’s how she knows where Uraraka and Mineta are. In Hagakure’s case, while Mikoto can’t see through Hagakure’s invisibility Mikoto can sense and detect her general outline.
As 1-A absorbed this new information, Kirishima groaned. “Man, some just win the Quirk lottery. I ain’t got any complaints about my Quirk but what’s armor compared to being an Electromaster?”
There was a murmur of agreement from some others in 1-A, but All Might didn’t miss Midoriya softly whisper. “Sometimes being born with a powerful Quirk is no blessing at all.”
From the way Todoroki craned his head, All Might wasn’t the only one who heard that.
Ochako had finished setting up the final tripwire trap in the hallway leading to their location and was now reinforcing the door by placing furniture in front of it. Thanks to her [Zero Gravity] she was able to move objects others couldn’t possibly dream of moving by themselves.
“Mineta, are you finished?” Ochaco asked.
To her genuine surprise, Mineta was taking his duty very seriously. In order to avoid getting eliminated by Hagakure’s touching the bomb, Mineta was placing his sticky purple balls on the ground around the fake bomb (there’s a sentence Ochaco never thought she’d say). Despite their harmless appearance, each ball was notoriously adhesive and could easily immobilize Hagakure if she stepped on one. With Mineta’s tight placement there was no way the invisible girl was sneaking up on their payload without getting caught.
“Done!” Mineta announced, having used his Quirk so much that his scalp was lightly bleeding. “No way Hagakure’s getting to the bomb without touching my balls.”
“How long will they last?” Ochaco asked, placing the final desk in the way of the door? It’d take considerable force to break through her barricade.
“I took an extra long poop before class, so hours at least.”
Too much information.
“We’re going to win!” Mineta vowed, his determination cranked to 120%. “We’re going to show that lezzie that even unpopular guys like me can score a win.”
Ah, yes. The real reason Mineta was so uncharacteristically serious : to show up Misaka. While Misaka’s display during the assessment test was honestly quite terrifying, Ochaco believed they’d made sufficient preparation to secure their victory. There was no way All Might would allow Misaka to use her railgun against other students, so that left her lesser ability. With her Quirk revolving around electricity Ochaco had hid on the ceiling several traps with electricproof material that should neutralize Misaka’s power.
We can win, we can win! Ochaco repeated to herself, to give herself courage.
Although All Might had announced the start of the match minutes ago everything was still quiet. Misaka was taking her time: Was she that confident in her victory? It stung Ochaco’s pride that the elctromaster wasn’t taking her seriously. With every minutes Misaka wasted the higher their chance of winning became.
“Why’s the lezzie taking so long?” Mineta grumbled, biting his thumb nail. “Is she flirting with Hagakure? Lezzie’s probably… no definitely using this match as an excuse to get handsy with the invisible babe! You saw the way that lezzie held Hagakure after Aizawa-sensei’s test from hell, right Uraraka? I bet the lezzie’s pulling the moves on her right now!”
“Please calm down!” Ochaco said for the nth time. “I’m sure Misaka and Hagakure are simply taking their time devising a plan of action. And how do you know Hagakure is a ‘ babe ’? She is invisible.”
“Are you kidding me? My hotness-radar pinged the moment I heard that sweet, sweet voice! Her face is definitely a 9 out of 10! And the way her uniform hugs her body? Those are 4-star boobs with an A+ ass!”
Ochaco resisted the urge to remove Mineta’s gravity and allow him to join the stars.
Twang!
Ochaco’s tension shot up as she heard the first trap, a small tripwire that launched makeshift rubber arrows, go off.
“They’re coming, Mineta!” Ochaco warned getting ready to drop her ceiling traps the moment Misaka entered the room.
“Come at me, lezzie!” Mineta growled, grabbing two purpled balls from his head. “Death to all girl stealers!”
Step, step, step …
Ochaco became more and more anxious as she heard the footsteps coming closer and closer.
Suddenly, the footsteps ceased, Ochaco knew the electromaster was here. The question was how long would it take to break down the…
A crackle of static was all the warning Ochaco had as she hit the ground, the furnitures barricading the doors either utterly destroyed or flying above her head and striking the opposite wall.
With the casual confidence of the powerful , Misaka Mikoto strolled into the bomb room with an easy smile. The amazing expensive-looking suit she wore didn’t have a scratch on it. Her traps had been as useless as she feared.
“Hello there,” Misaka said genially, as if she wasn’t facing off against a pair of villains. “I’m a hero, and you’ve got a dangerous bomb. Won’t you surrender? I’ll put in a good word at your trial to grant you leniency when your case goes to court.”
If Misaka wanted to waste time by role-playing then Ochaco wasn’t going to deny her.
“That I can’t do, hero.” Ochaco said, thinking fast about what to say to make her exposition longer and get Misaka to go deeper in the room, right underneath one of her traps. “Heroes have failed our society. Only with the cleansing purity of fire can our world be reset to zero, and its people given a chance to start anew!” She recited the crazy rhetoric of a movie she once saw with her parents.
Misaka shook her head woefully. “It’s always the beautiful ones who fall deepest into villainy.”
Ochaco couldn’t help but blush madly, wasn’t Misaka hearing herself. No wonder Jirou and Hagakure fell under her charm, that girl was dangerous.
Mineta, seeing that went ballistic. “Don’t you dare try and sink your fangs into Uraraka next, you sparkly vampire!” He lobbed both his balls at Misaka. If either one stuck they'd hamper her movements greatly. While her suits was a marvel of technology it wouldn’t help her against Quirks that restricted movement.
But Misaka didn’t even bother moving her arms. With no visible trigger, two thin bolts of lightning leapt from her body and intercepted Mineta’s quirk, frying them to ash.
“Never heard of a vampire that sparkles, but somehow that comparison annoys me greatly.” Misaka said, with an angry tick on her brow. She then took a few more steps into the room. “I’d like to point out that both of you are within my range, and unless you are eager to find out what it feels like to be tasered I'd strongly suggest surrendering.”
Ochaco grimaced, so Misaka could use her electricity without a medium and at long range. But unfortunately for the opponent, she was just below the main trap.
“Now, Mineta!” Ochaco shouted as she put her fingers together to cancel the effect of her Quirk.
“Die, girl stealing lezzie!” Mineta screamed, hurling ball after ball upon the trapped Misaka, aiming for the edges where the thick sheet met the floor. The smallest student of 1-A moved with ferocious speed, not even stopping when his scalp was gushing blood. In a matter of seconds the sheet was stuck in place completely entrapping one of the class strongest students.
They’d done it! They won!
Elation filled Ochaco as her plan was carried out to near-perfection. Mineta’s senseless ramblings were very much unrequired, but other than that he performed his duty very well.
Wrestling down the smile fighting its way to her lips, Ochaco said aloud. “That tarp covering you is a thick insulation sheet I found, thanks to my folks working in construction I was able to recognize what it was. Your electricity won’t be able to get through it.”
“Which means we win, damned lezzie!” Mineta cackled victoriously, whipping his capture tape and leaping towards the trapped Misaka to officially eliminate her. “Banzai for the underdogs, and don’t mind if I…!”
Pow!
Mineta’s face suddenly jutted to the side as he was punched out of midair.
“Hagakure!” Ochaco realized. Seeing the bomb was too well protected by Mineta’s balls the invisible girl must’ve shifted priorities to capturing the villains. Thankfully she wasn’t carrying either of the capture tapes, otherwise she’d be too easy to find.
Hagakure remained mum, the only indication she was still inside the bomb room being the faint echoes of her bare feet tapping against the floor.
“Gugh” Mineta grunted. He was unsteady on his feet but not out. “I don’t have to know where you are to capture you, 4-star! Indiscriminate Grape Rush!”
Like its name suggested, Mineta grabbed the regenerating balls sprouting from his head and threw them in every direction. To avoid being hit, Ochaco used her Quirk on herself to float above the attack, even if her stomach threatened to rebel; it was better than being taken out by her own teammate.
One of Mineta’s sticky balls stopped in midair, attaching itself to a startled Hagakure, who still hadn’t said a peep. Ochaco seized the opportunity, pulling out her own capture tape and floating out to the invisible girl to end the match.
Only to watch in frozen disbelief as several of the metal objects that formed the barricade and had been blown away, only to now return and form a protective shield around Hagakure.
Ochaco was stunned. What was this? What’s going on? Was this a part of Hagakure’s Quirk? It can’t be! If her Quirk possessed minor telekinesis she would’ve used it during the Quirk Assessment Test!
“Not a bad plan.” Misaka’s muffled voice came from beneath the insulation sheet…
Shinck!
…before it fell apart, sliced into ribbons by the black blade Misaka suddenly wielded in her right hand.
Ochaco’s eyes went perfectly round. “What is that?”
“Girl stealing lezzie!” Mineta cried, tossing another volley of his purple balls.
Misaka didn’t even glance in Mineta’s direction as she electrocuted both him and his balls, before sending him flying into the wall, and sending some metal to pin him into the wall.
Hagakure knew an opening when she saw one, sprinting toward the still shocked and immobile Mineta and… wrapping a capture tape around him?! How?! A mere second ago Hagakure hadn’t been holding anything!
Then Ochaco noticed that the tape was damp with saliva, and the answer presented itself. Hagakure had hid her capture tape in her mouth; which was why she hadn’t said a word until now.
“ Mineta Minoru has been captured and eliminated! ” All Might announced.
“Eurk, I don’t wanna do that again.” Hagakure panted, wiping the stray drool from her lips.
Mineta was still unconscious from his electrical shock.
Ochaco tried to focus on how all this happened, then the answer hit her like Misaka’s railgun!
[ “A railgun. A projectile launched with electric currents and magnetic fields using the Lorentz Force to achieve speeds more than five times the speed of sound.” ]
“Magnetism!” Ochaco gasped, while Misaka showed surprise at being found out so quickly. “You’re using your Quirk to manipulate metal objects using electromagnetism!”
“Correct! I didn’t expect you to figure it out so fast.”
“Yaomomo helped with her detailed explanation of how your railgun worked. Then that sword….” Ochaco stared at the black blade, a katana, in Misaka’s grip.
“Iron sand gathered and shaped by my electromagnetism. I can even make the individual parts vibrate at high speed to turn it into a high-frequency blade that can cut apart anything.”
“ Uraraka Ochaco has been captured and eliminated, the Hero Team wins!”
Wait? What? How?
While Ochaco was distracted, Hagakure had snuck behind her and had wrapped her capture tape around her neck.
She lost, and so easily too.
“You did your best, Ochaco.” Misaka said releasing Mineta and reviving him with another shock. “And I’m sure you both will get stronger from here.”
“I don’t need your pity, girl stealing lesbo.” MIneta grumbled, earning another electric shock.
“I’d never pity someone who does their best. But keep insulting me and I will keep shocking you until it sticks.”
Ochaco didn’t believe her words. The unassailable truth was that Misaka could have won the second she entered the bomb room. She just humored them by allowing them to try to beat her.
What else could that be but pity?
All Might welcomed the teams back to the observation room and congratulated them all for giving their best in battle. Young Uraraka was deeply disappointed by her defeat, but this was a lesson every aspiring hero needed to learn. No hero ever went their entire career without experiencing loss, not even himself. All anyone could do was pick themselves up and do better next time. It was for the best that these harsh lessons were learned in the safety of the classroom and not during life-or-death crisis.
Young Misaka was named M.V.P. of the match, and for good reasons. Not once did she panic, even after allowing herself to be caught by Uraraka’s trap(if she could sense electromagnetic field then there was no way she missed the sheet on the ceiling) She also defeated MIneta without to much force and distracted Young Uraraka until Young Hagakure could capture her. Even if All Might gently reminded her not to freely electrocute Young Mineta, no matter if he did deserve it.
It was extraordinary to see the different ways Misaka taught herself to utilize her Quirk. Honestly if it wasn’t for Young Midoriya’s earlier explanations Yagi would have suspected a certain villain’s hand in gifting someone multiple Quirks. Those were basically his trauma. The observing classroom was in awe of Young Uraraka’s deduction in the field. Polishing one Quirk to the point it resembled several! Fantastic!
The fourth match was between Hero Team I and Villaing Team G: Shoji Mezo and Jirou Kyoka VS Aoyama Yuga and Ashido Mina. He didn’t want to sound biased, but their battle was poor potatoes compared to the ones that came before, especially when Ashido became overzealous with her acid and accidentally melted the bomb she was supposed to protect. Aizawa was going to chew her out for her carelessness.
That only left the final two teams, one which had the boy he was seriously considering as his potential successor. Although Aizawa’s warning still rang clear in his head, All MIght believed Young Midoriya had the proper heroic mindset to inherit [One For All]. If there were some dastardly secrets Young Midoriya was holding close to his chest, perhaps this next bout would bring some forth into the light.
“Final match!” All Might announced. “Hero Team B VS Villain Team A!”
Todoroki Shouto and Hibari Kyoya VERSUS Midoriya Izuku and Yaoyorozu Momo!
TO BE CONTINUED…
Notes:
Hope you liked the chapter. Now as I said in the last chapter's notes I will try to upload the main event by Friday before I leave for my vacation. Here is a brief outline of the next few chapters : chapter 5 Battle Trial part 2, chapter 6 Aftermath, chapter 7 election of the class president, chapter 8 cafeteria event, chapter 9 USJ part 1, chapter 10 USJ part 2, chapter 11 aftermath, chapter 12 Sports Festival preparation.... With that said I bid you adieu and see you next chapter!
Chapter 5
Notes:
Thanks for the support, the comments and the kudos! There are some who wanted to know (in detail) how the war with the Vongola went. After much thoughts I decided that once this fic is done, I would write a prequel that would focus on middle school Izuku's training and his conflict with the Vongola. Here is the humongous chapter. It is mostly just fight with some comentary from the peanuts gallery. Enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 5 Battle Trial part 2 : A sky’s conviction.
Yaoyorozu Momo tried to put her best foot forward as she and her partner, Midoriya Izuku, stepped into the building that would be their battle ground. The fake bomb was on the middle floor, in an empty conference hall with plenty of space to fight. Momo felt that this match was a little heavy in fire power, you had the two recommendation students in her and Todoroki, and the 1st and 2nd place of the regular entrance exam in Midoriya and Hibari.
Nevertheless, Momo was excited to be paired with Midoriya, during their exchange yesterday he showed to have a keen mind for Quirks and even had ideas about her own Quirk Momo never even thought of. Even better, he showed the versatility of his Quirk by finishing 1st place in Aizawa-sensei’s Quirk Assessment Test. But Momo was curious as he said his Quirk was called [Harmonization] but showed an ability to use fire, hopefully this battle would show her a little of what Midoriya could do with his mysterious Quirk.
“Is everything alright, Yaoyorozu?” Midoriya asked, adjusting his gloves.
Damn she must have been deeper in her thoughts than she realized if Midoriya noticed. “Everything is great, Midoriya” Momo replied, before stealing herself. She was now in the hero course of Yuei High and if she was afraid of befriending someone because of her family she wasn’t going far in the business. “I know that my name can be quite mouthful so if you don’t mind feel free to call me Momo.”
That caught Midoriya off guard, but thankfully in a good way as he smiled. “Momo, then. Feel free to call me Izuku.”
“Izuku, then.” Momo cheekily replied in the same way, before resuming seriousness as she asked about the upcoming match. “Have you any ideas about the way our opponents will attempt this exercise?”
“Hmmmm,” Izuku hummed thoughtfully. “Todoroki plans on encasing the entire building in ice, a blitzkrieg move to try and take us out immediately. He’s underestimating us both, greatly. We’ll use that to our advantage : pretend we’ve been caught, then incapacitate him afterwards.”
“Hmm, I see.” Momo was impressed, Izuku could really plan well. But she also was really curious about how he could know so well about how Todoroki would act so she asked. “But how are you so sure that is what he will do?”
“Intuition.” Izuku answered simply, as if that explained everything. Maybe it did. Maybe there was more to his Quirk than just fire. Maybe that ‘ Intuition ’ was part of his mysterious Quirk? Maybe that was how he could really be spot on about all the fights results even the one that didn’t involve his friends.
“What about Hibari?”
Izuku frowned, stroking his chin. “Kyoya fights best alone. He’ll give Todoroki a shot first, and when that fails he’ll make his own move. Chances are he’ll come straight for me.”
“Will you be okay? Hibari seems strong.” Momo recalled his feats of strength during their homeroom teacher’s surprise test.
“He absolutely is.” Izuku readily agreed. “Ouf of all my friends, Kyoya has the greatest battle sense. He’s a genius when it comes to fighting. In terms of raw skill alone, he outclasses me several times over. It will depend on you Momo, do you think you could restrain him while he’s distracted by fighting me?”
“Hmm, I suppose I could first tase him then ensnare him in some durable material. If you can hold his attention long enough, that should do it.”
Izuku nodded. “Here’s what we’ll do. When Kyoya engages me I’ll keep him distracted. You find an opportunity to tase and restrain him. He should be disorientated for a second, time I’ll use to fly him out of the building and throw him away from the grounds.”
“You are not going to try and capture him?” Momo asked, curious.
Izuku laughed briskly. “When it comes to Kyoya, the smart thing to do is not to fight at all.”
“ Five minutes are up! ” All Might’s voice boomed. “ Final match, START! ”
“Eyes up, Momo.” Izuku warned, staring dead ahead and more serious than ever. “I just got the feeling this match won’t be so easy.”
Before she could ask what he meant, their whole word turned to ice.
~moments prior~
Shouto would’ve preferred it if he’d been matched against Dokuro, Misaka, Sasagawa or Hibari. Instead, he was facing MIdoriya and Yaoyorozu, while also being partnered with one of the four he’d been hoping to fight. It was frustrating, but there was nothing he could do about it.
Well, he’d at least challenge Hibari indirectly.
“Stay outside.” Shouto ordered his partner, who gave him a sideways glance. “I’ll finish this in an instant.”
“Do whatever you want, herbivore.” Hibari replied, sounding bored as always.
A tone he’d soon be changing once he saw what Shouto was capable of with his mother’s Quirk.
“ Five minutes are up! Final match, START! ”
As soon as those words were heard, Shouto slammed his foot against the road and directed his ice towards the six-story building in front of them. With a seismic quake, Shouto encapsulated the entire Battle Site within his largest glacier yet, transforming it into an icy fortress/prison.
Shouto glanced over his shoulder at Hibari, but instead of shock or awe his partner was openly yawning. Was Hibari actually unimpressed or was he simply hiding his real feelings?
Hibari, noticing Shouto looking his way, made a dismissive shooing motion with one hand.
Shouto clicked his tongue in irritation. Fine, if that’s how he wanted to play things so be it. Shouto marched into the frozen structure, the cleats his costume came with allowing him to walk without slipping on his own ice. He’d seize the bomb and end this farce of a match.
By the time he found Midoriya and Yaoyorozu on the third floor he was shivering slightly, his breath turning into icy vapor with every exhale. Shouto might’ve overdone it, because his core temperature was dropping the longer he stayed in this enormous freezer. His Quirk gave him no natural resistance against the cold. The only way to warm himself was by using Edeavor’s fire, and he’d sooner die before using that bastard’s Quirk.
“I-I-Is not this a-a bit m-much, T-T-Todoroki?” Yaoyorozu stammered, up to her neck in Shouto’s ice. Midoriya, who was in front of her (had he tried to shield her?), was entirely frozen solid.
Shouto felt a pang of guilt. He shouldn’t have taken his frustration out on these two.
“Sorry.” He apologies, hurrying towards the bomb behind them. The sooner the match was over the sooner he could thaw them both out. “We’re just in different leag…”
Midoriya burst out of his frozen cocoon in a plume of his orange fire, catching Shouto completely off guard as the knuckles of his metal gloves slammed into his gut; right into his solar plexus.
Sharp pain radiated across Shouto’s sternum as he was blown backwards, but even with his diaphragm paralyzed by the attack… making it difficult to breathe… Shouto rolled to his feet and immediately couterattacked with a wave of ice from his right side. He’d suffered far worse while training with Endeavor.
Yet Shouto’s eyes were blown open as his attack never even got close, as the flames pouring from Midoriya’s fists tripled in output and easily melted all the ice within the bomb room. Even the ice Shouto was using to cover his entire left side, a statement that he didn’t need or want Endeavor’s Quirk, was dripping away into puddles of water by sheer proximity.
Impossible! It was as if Shouto was standing mere meters away from an open furnace! The surface of his skin was scalding, forcing Shouto to constantly generate cold least he be overtaken by heatstroke! Midoriya’s flames were nowhere near this hot during the assessment test!
What about his partner, Yaoyorozu? She was standing even closer to Midoriya than Shouto was! Did he have zero regard for his teammate? Yet when Shouto glared past his raised arms he saw Yaoyorozu standing comfortably next to Midoriya, staring in wonder and curiosity at the color of his flames. She didn’t look uncomfortable at all! She wasn’t even sweating! How? What was going on?
“My flames would never harm my allies.” Midoriya answered, as if reading Shouto’s mind. “But I can’t say the same for my enemies.”
Shouto gasped. Was it actually possible to control the temperature of fire with such finesse? Not even Endeavor, widely regarded as having the strongest fire Quirk in Japan, could boast such control!
Midoriya positioned his hands behind him and blasted forward with twin jets of his flames. Shouto slammed his right foot against the floor, erecting a wall of ice to block his opponent’s flight path.
It liquefied the instant Midoriya drew close. The only thing he passed through was a veil of stream before coming face to face with Shouto. Shouto tried to guard but Midoriya was too fast. The fire he constantly expelled from his fists even accelerated the speed of his punches, because Shouto was completely blindsided by the right hook that knocked off his feet.
He thought Dokuro had been exaggerating her illusion-Midoriya’s speed when it took out Bakugo, but if anything she’d downplayed it!
Shouto stomped his foot against the sizzling floor to generate a massive icicle poised to intercept Midoriya’s speedy approach, but Midoriya swerved around it with such ease he could’ve dodged it with his eyes closed. Shouto crossed his arms over his chest to block Midoriya’s incoming kick, only for the flame-user to shift tactics at the last instant and clap his fire-wreathed hands in front of Shouto’s face. It produced a burst of noise and light akin to a flash bang, blinding and deafening Shouto so he never saw the dress shoe connect with his chin and snap his head backwards.
Forcing himself to think past the flashing lights debilitating his eyes and the pain muddling his mind, Shouto hastily encased his upper body in a shell of ice to shield against Midoriya’s follow up attack.
Only to be grabbed by the ankle as Midoriya swung Shouto overhead and slammed him against the floor. Shouto’s ice armor, instead of serving as protection, shattered into shards upon impact that cut into his skin before melting away.
Shouto was barely able to roll onto his stomach and push himself up despite his limb’s protests. Out of the corner of his vision he saw Midoriya rapidly approaching to continue his relentless assault. Gritting his teeth, Shouto pushed his mother’s Quirk to its limit, surrounding himself in a massive cage of ice that walled him from all sides. Already he heard the exterior melting, but that was fine. He just needed to buy himself time to catch his br…
The floor beneath him cracked, and Shouto could only gape as Midoriya burst through the ground and landed a devastating punch on Shouto’s stomach; again! Folded over Midoriya’s arm, Shouto felt the familiar sensation of bile rushing up his throat before he forcibly choked it down. Midoriya’s punch was so strong it sent Shouto hurtling upwards until he slammed into the ceiling.
In spite of the pain radiating from every bone in his body, Shouto’s training pushed him to absorb every bit of detail from his newfound but unintentional vantage point. That’s how he spotted the second hole in the floor right outside his rapidly melting barrier. Everything clicked: the moment…no even before Shouto tried to bunker behind his ice Midoriya had blown a hole in the ground, slipped down to the floor below, repositioned so he was directly underneath his target, and then smashed his way back up to the bomb floor to directly attack Shouto; completely bypassing his barriers of ice.
Shouto began to fall, and Midoriya was waiting for him with his capture tape in hand. Somehow it hadn’t caught on fire despite the orange flames billowing from Midoriya’s gloves. A rush of panic spurred Shouto to move. He refused to lose because of a technicality! He reached out with his right, determined to freeze and crush Midoriya’s flimsy tape!
Foolishly leaving himself wide open to a punch that hit his unguarded armpit.
The lance of agony shooting straight to his chest was unlike anything Shouto experienced before, especially when a foreign numbness filled his whole arm with pins and needles.
Glaring weakly into his opponent’s clear verdant eyes, Shouto realized : Midoriya baited him with the capture tape, manipulating him into exposing a vulnerability in his guard. And with his right arm going dead Shouto wasn’t able to block Midoriya’s overhead bicycle kick that rammed into his side, rattling his ribs and sending him careening into the floor.
How? How was he doing this? It was like Midoriya was reading Shouto’s every move before he made them! Hell, before he even thought of them! Every attack he committed, every defense he tried to muster, Midoriya saw through them all and punished them with the frighteningly calm efficiency of a surgeon taking apart a cadaver!
Shouto tried to get up, to fight back. Midoriya might be taking him apart piece by piece, but Shouto refused to lose! Not now, not like this! But to his horror, his body refused to cooperate. Strength bled from his legs like water from a broken faucet. Fatigue suddenly hit him out of nowhere, and his lungs weren’t accepting oxygen. Then the pain set in, horrific pain that seared its way across his nerves and made his pulse thunder in his ears like war drums.
Midoriya’s kick had perfectly hit his liver.
Shouto was teetering on the brink of unconsciousness. He bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood, using the sting to stay awake. But that was all he could do. Even now, as Midoriya approached him with slow but certain steps, Shouto failed to scrounge up the strength to so much as lift his head.
“It’s over, Todoroki.” Midoriya was entirely serene, as if he was taking a casual stroll in Musutafu park; capture tape in hand. Because that was apparently how much effort it took to defeat Endeavor’s masterpiece. Shouto flicked his gaze up as high as it would go, trying to see if Midoriya was at least suffering from Quirk overuse. He had to be. Everything Shouto knew about fire Quirks said there was a limit to how much heat the human body was able to withstand. Endeavor was a prime example of this. While the old bastard’s [Hellfire] was devastatingly strong, overuse overheated his body and drastically deteriorated his physical functions.
But when Shouto saw Midoriya’s unstrained expression, he knew…down to the marrow of his bones….that this wasn’t the case here. The flame-user wasn’t even scratching the surface of what he was capable of.
Shouto’s initial impression was so very wrong : Midoriya wasn’t a negligible threat, he was possibly the tallest obstacle standing between Shouto and his goal.
Was this it? Was this as far as he got with his mother’s Quirk?
Was that bastard, Endeavor, right all along?
…
NO!
No he wasn’t!
Shouto wasn’t defeated, not yet! He was going to prove, right here and right now, that he only needed his mother’s ice to overcome any difficulty! With a shout no one heard, Shouto gathered up more energy than he ever had before, and directed every last iota to his right side! The ambient temperature dropped sharply, frost forming across the entire building, as Shouto prepared to bring about a second Ice Age that would swallow up all of Ground Beta!
He would surpass his old limits, and release his strongest move yet!
Plus Ultra!
“ Sky’s Serenity .”
Right up until Midoriya’s unleashed towering waves of his orange flames, rushing across the hall and splashing into the walls like ocean tides against the shore line. Paradoxically, they didn’t burn. No one was hurt by the vibrant waves of fire. Instead, they merely countered Shouto’s ultimate technique with insulting ease. Whatever ice he’d hoped to swallow Ground Beta with was easily brushed away by the world dominated by Midoriya’s all encompassing flames.
Shouto had gone beyond, but it wasn’t enough to touch the sky.
He’d lost, utterly.
All Might was feeling a little shocked, he expected many things from this match, but certainly not this one sided show down between Young Midoriya and Young Todoroki. Young Yaoyorozy hadn’t had to intervene in the match yet, and Young Hibari was…! Where was Young Hibari?
“What…The….Freaking….Hell….Is….This….?!” Young Jirou said for almost everyone in the room, seeing the easy way Young Midoriya dominated Young Todoroki in their fight.
“I knew Midoriya was strong, kero , but I thought even he would struggle against Todoroki?” Young Asui added.
“Yeah, if it was me Todoroki would have got me with his first move!” Young Hagakure added energetically.
“It’s weird though… . At times it seemed like Midoriya knew what Todoroki would do even before he did it. Like he predicted Todoroki’s first move and how he got around Todoroki’s ice cage!” Mineta pointed out, showing that beneath his repulsive behavior concerning his female classmate he had quite an observing mind.
The remainder of class 1-A turned to face the trio of Midoriya’s remaining friends.
“Dokuro, Sasagawa, Misaka, can one of you explain how Midoriya’s Quirk works? It’s a little confusing.” Young Shoji respectfully asked.
All Might was quite thankful to Young Shoji because he wondered the same thing himself! But he didn’t have the nerve to ask them. A shudder traversed Yagi’s spine. If Gran Torino ever heard that Yagi was afraid to ask his students a question…Yagi would be beaten black and blue!
The three of them seemed to have a silent conversation before Young Misaka spoke for them. “I don’t know what Izu would be comfortable with you knowing so I will only explain what you have seen. The way it seemed like Izu could read Todoroki’s mind is because of his Hyper Intuition. Basically it means Izu’s hyper aware of his surroundings, meaning he can’t be fooled by Chrome’s Quirk, and also he can read the true intentions of people he is with. You remember yesterday when I launched the ball with my railgun?” She got a round of nods from the audience. “Well, I was at first pretty nervous that I may have shot down a plane, but Izu said : ‘ I’m sure it’s fine. ’ it was because his Hyper Intuition told him it would be fine.”
All Might wasn’t aware that his jaw had dropped like the rest of 1-A.
“Isn’t Midoriya a little bit broken, kero ?” Young Asui asked nobody in particular.
All Might was very glad that at least he could ease Aizawa’s mind about the way he was read by Midoriya. He was sure the other teacher would be glad to know that he was read by a Quirk and not by someone with prior training.
All Might then refocused on the present as Young Kirishima asked “But then is the match over? I mean with this ability even Hibari won’t be able to beat Midoriya?”
“Don’t be so sure! Kyoya may be a lone wolf but he is very very strong! And don’t think his Hyper Intuition makes Izu unbeatable, there are many ways around it.” Misaka added, especially when she saw Kirishima’s downtrodden face.
Todoroki Shouto could only watch helplessly as Midoriya approached him, ready to capture him.
“You tried.” Midoriya said blandly, wrapping his capture tape around…
Crash!
Hibari Kyoya dropped from the floor above, closing the distance between himself and them and tearing Midoriya’s tape apart with a swing of his tonfa. His other weapon, twirling faster than the propeller of a helicopter, swung for Midriya’s head, which he speedily retreated from with a thrust of his flames.
“Izuku!” Yaoyorozu cried, joining Midoriya’s side. “Are you okay?”
“I’m alright.” Midoriya said, rubbing away the blood dripping down his cheek with his thumb. He hadn’t dodged Hibari’s attack entirely, as it’d left a small scratch on his face.
“Hibari.” Shouto coughed. He was wrestling his lungs into cooperation, and while every breath he drew felt like inhaling broken glass at least his limbs were starting to move again. He staggered next to his partner, clutching his side. “I’ll hod off…Midoriya, you…deal with Yayorozu and get…!”
His words, and air, were cut off as Hibari’s elbow buried itself in Shouto’s stomach. Why was everyone hitting him in the stomach today? Was he cursed? Did he need to see an exorcist? Worse, his own partner’s surprise attack was stronger than anything Midoriya had hit Shouto with previously, making him puke the remains of his lunch all over his boots (what a waste of good soba).
“Stand aside, herbivore.” Hibari followed up by backhanding Shouto across the face. He swore it was like getting hit by a 100kg mallet, nearly popping his head from his shoulders. Instead, Shouto was viciously flung aside, only stopping when he slammed into a wall.
With his head ringing like a temple bell, Shouto was so disoriented he didn’t feel pain. That was nice; pain bad. Unfortunately it also left him without any feeling in his arms and legs, so all he could do was make himself comfortable in his new bed of debris and watch whatever the hell was about to happen next.
“What’re you doing, Kyoya?” Midoriya demanded, more serious than he ever was with Shouto. “Attacking your own partner is against the rules of the exercise. You’ll be lucky if Aizawa-sensei only slashes your score.”
“You and I need to talk, small animal.” Hibari said, arms and tonfa resting at his sides.
Midoriya furrowed his brow. “You haven’t called me that in a while. If you wanted to talk, why not between classes? Right now is hardly the time.”
Hibari chuckled with an undertone of menace. “Have you forgotten already, small animal?” Then he lunged, moving so fast Shouto almost mistook him for another member of the Ida family. He swung his spinning tonfa in an overhead strike, which Midoriya blocked by crossing his arms above his head. The following impact fissured the floor beneath Midoriya’s feet, reverberating across the ground and reaching all the way to Shouto’s bones. “Violence is my first language.”
“Get back Momo!” Midoriya shouted as he and Hibari rapidly exchanged a flurry of blows. Metal clashed loudly against metal as his fists were blocked and/or deflected by Hibari’s tonfa, while Hibari’s weapons were likewise pushed aside and/or punched away by Midoriya’s gloves. Midoriya was suddenly moving far faster than when he’d been knocking Shouto around like a ragdoll.
Each impact rang out as a shriek of grinding steel, making Yaoyorozyu clutch her ears in pain while staggering away from the dueling friends.
But were they really? Because every swing of Hibari’s tonfas carried enough force to shatter bone, like he was trying to reduce Midoriya into a black-and-blue pulp that needed life support to survive. Midoriya’s attacks, meanwhile, were blatantly more subdued.
This became evident when Hibari dodged a punch by the narrowest margin before trapping MIdoriya’s fist underneath his arm. Unable to escape, Midoriya was wide open as Hibari headbutted the flame-user’s face with a sickening crunch . Midoriya instantly retaliated by slamming his heel into Hibari’s chest, separating them.
Shouto saw Midoriya’s nose was crooked, definitely broken. Yet despite how badly it must’ve hurt, Midoriya didn’t hesitate to grab his nose and twist it back into its proper place with a snap that made Yaoyorozu turn green.
“Why’re you doing this, Kyoya?” Midoriya’s nasally tone demanded an answer. He fixed this by plugging his left nostril and strongly exhaling from the right, spraying the clogged blood out of his nose and clearing the passage. He did the same with the other nostril. “There’s no need for either of us to fight so seriously.”
Shouto knew Midoriya hadn’t been fighting him at his best before, but hearing it aloud stung his pride.
“On the contrary.” Hibari twirled his tonfa with masterful movements. “There’s no better way for me to express my disappointment.”
“Disappointment?”
There was a barely audible click as Hibari triggered a hidden mechanism in his weapons. The bottoms of his tonfas opened to release a small round weight from a length of chain.
Spinning his tonfas, Hibari activated his Quirk. Purple clouds ran along the chains that weren’t even half-a-meter long, and Shouto got to witness Hibari used his Quirk offensively. [Propagation] lengthened the chains until they were more than a dozen meters long, and physics made the iron weights at the ends of each of the chains move harder and faster until they were searing through the very air with every rotation.
Moving like a martial artist handling a traditional rope-dart, Hibari swung a weight directly at Midoriya. It moved so fast Shouto barely saw it at all, much less reacted. But Midoriya dodged, swerving to the side with a propulsion of fire. The iron weight, the size and shape of a glf ball, continued to soar past him, striking and utterly demolishing the far wall.
If that hit anyone without a durability Quirk they’d need to be rushed straight to Recovery Girl!
Hibari whipped and twirled both chains at such speeds he was soon the eye of a hurricane of steel that was hungry to shred flesh from bone. With skillful manipulation, Hibari lashed the extended chains at Midoriya, who was furiously flying to and fro to avoid them. His acrobatic maneuverability was outstanding, far better than Endeavor’s straightforward gliding. Every attack he dodged tore trenches in the conference hall, and in a matter of seconds the whole place better resembled a warzone.
Shouto didn’t dare move; neither did the terrified Yaoyorozu. With Hibari’s Quirk-enhanced chains trashing apart the area like a rampaging Yamata-nno-Orochi even a glancing hit would mean grievous injury (or death) for either of them. That was made all the more terrifying as Hibari ramped up his endless assault to catch Midoriya, the ends of his chains becoming invisible mirages of speed that Shouto, despite all his training, couldn’t keep track of.
The only reason both of them weren’t already reduced to bloody smears was because Hibari was deliberately avoiding them. Even the bomb, standing in the middle of the hall, was untouched despite everything around it being actively torn to shreds. If they moved, made a mistake that disrupted Hibari’s rhythm, only a gruesome end awaited.
Which Yaoyorozu didn’t seem to realize as her eyes became focused, seeing an opening that wasn’t actually there.
“Don’t!” Shouto tried to warn her.
He was too late. That or she didn’t hear him, because the well-intentioned idiot sprinted towards what she thought was Hibari’s unguarded back. She made it three steps before one of his iron weights barreled towards her…
…one who wasn’t late was Midoriya as he somehow appeared out of nowhere to intercept the weight, catching it in one of his hands.
Hibari didn’t even bother to give any attention to the girl he nearly maimed.
Midoriya was different.
“Momo, are you alright!” he cried in naked worry.
A mistake, as that brief pause was all the time Hibari needed to whip forth gis chain and wrap the end around Midoriya’s left ankle.
“Got you.”
Hibari pulled with all his prodigious strength, yanking Midoriya out of the air and slamming him against the ground so hard the entire floor trembled. He didn’t stop there, flicking his tonfa so an arc traveled down the length of linked metal that hurtled Midoriya into the ceiling with a heavy wham! Hibari then twirled his tonfa overhead like a lasso, dragging his prey down from the upper floor and spinning him in one, two, three dizzying circles before flinging him through the west wall and beyond. Not deigning to stop there, the insane bastard swung the chain so Midoriya was dragged in a semi-circle through the south and east walls.
Shouto and the guilty looking Yaoyorozu had to duck as Hibari’s tonfa-chain passed over them, showering them with rubble. Was Midoriya even still alive after all that?
That question was answered when Hibari tugged on his chain, hauling the ragged Midoriya through the crumbling east wall and swinging his other tonfa at his punching bag’s head. Midoriya barely lifted his left arm in time to block it, but Hibari expected this and wreathed his weapon in his Quirk. The size of his tonfa quintupled in an instant, turning it into the size of a police battering ram, and the additional mass let Hibari hit Midoriya with 5x the force. There was a thunderous WHACK upon impact, immediately followed by the familiar crack of a human radius snapping in two despite the suit's impressive defenses, as Hibari struck Midoriya so hard he was half-buried in the crumbling floor.
His orange flames weakly sputtered like dying candles.
“You’ve become weak.” Hibari said banally, his tonfa reverting to normal, as if he wasn’t trying to beat his friends to death.
Should Shouto stop this? All Might hadn’t called the match, but this no longer felt like an exercise. The more he witnessed, the more it felt like a villain torturing his classmate.
“K-Kyoya!” Midoriya coughed, his left arm bent at a wretched angle that nearly made Yaoyorozu hurl at the gruesome sight.
Hibari threw out a kick, which Midoriya tried to catch with his right palm. But it was a misdirect; Hibari slammed his foot down on Midroiya’s wrist, pinning it in place, before connecting a brutal knee to the side of the flame-user’s head, breaking the skin above his left eye and causing blood to freely burst forth.
“Pathetic.” Hibari spun his tonfa to generate momentum and connected it with Midoriya’s chin, sending him flipping backwards from the ruthless uppercut.
What was going on? Why wasn’t All Might calling the match? A sharp intake of breath coming from Yaoyorozu caught Shouto’s attention.
“The speakers! There is none left! Even if All Might’s calling the match right now we can not hear it. All Might must come here in person to stop this.” Yaoyorozu whispered not to attract their villainous classmate’s attention.
It was then that Shouto realized what Hibari was doing before coming here. Then his attention returned to the beating Midoriya was enduring.
For an instant, Shouto saw something else. He didn’t know if it was a hallucination born from a combination of his hurt and fatigue, but he saw Midoriya as his younger self and Hibari as a tyrannical Endeavor.
That, more than anything, spurred Shouto to act. All Might must’ve called the end of the match and they simply weren’t aware of it due to the missing speakers, and Hibari’s actions were resembling those of a villain.
“Stop!” Shouto shouted, slamming his right hand down and sending a wave of ice forward to immobilize Hibari. Hibari used his tonfa to destroy it with insulting ease, then hurled one of iron weights at Shouto. It pierced the rest of Shouto’s ice as if it were no denser than shaved ice before colliding into Shouto’s stomach, doubling him over and making dry heave in agony.
Again the stomach! Did someone paint a red-and-white target on his costume when he wasn’t looking?
“Don’t interfere, herbivore.” Hibari warned, turning back to Midoriya, who wasn’t looking good at all. Head wounds…even shallow ones… bled heavily, and the deep wound above his left eye bled all over the side of his face.
“Why…are you doing this?” Midoriya demanded past grit teeth.
“I told you : disappointment : who are you? You’re not the one I chose to follow to Italy, the raging sky burning with enough conviction to light the stars. You’re an aimless creature not even worth calling an animal. You’ve dirtied yourself with hesitation, and befouled the rest of us with your sickening uncertainty. You ask why I’m doing this? Because I’m disgusted, looking upon the person I once respected but seeing nothing more than a polluted sky.”
What the hell was this crazy villain spouting? How’d someone so unhinged get into Yuei? And why did his nonsense seem to resonate deeply with Midoriya whose unbloodied eye was round with shock.
“If you can’t even understand that.” Hibari continued, sending one of the small spherical weights skyward. “then die.”
His Quirk activated, purple clouds flowing into the airborne ball of Iron and rapidly expanding its size. Shouto gasped as the weight that was one as small as a golf ball was now larger than a wrecking ball.
And was plummeting straight towards Midoriya.
Midoriya tried to evade, breaking into a run as he clutched his bent arm, but Hibari’s other tonfa-chain was still tied around his ankle. With a sharp tug Midoriya tripped.
Completely helpless as the wrecking ball collapsed atop of him, his flames snuffed out entirely.
“NO!” Yaoyorozu cried, tears running down her face.
Shouto was similarly horrified, which only grew more pronounced as he saw the blood pooling out from underneath Hibari’s weapon of execution. He just saw a classmate get killed right before his eyes, and the shock warring with his disbelief and rejection of reality concocted an emotion he’d never experienced so intensely before.
“Why did you do that?!” Yaoyorozu screamed, the rawness of her voice gut-wrenching. “Was Izuku not your friend?!”
“I’ve no idea who that was.” Hibari declared coldly, and Shouto was outraged by the sheer callousness of this villain’s words. “He shared the same face as someone I once knew, but that’s all.”
“You…you heartless jerk !”
Shouto would’ve used much harsher vocabulary to describe the murderous villain before them, but he was more worried about why All Might hadn’t shown up to save Midoriya. The #1 hero definitely saw everything happening in the CCTV room, and said he’d interfere if the battles got out of hand! So where was he?!
All Might was moving the instant he saw Hibari Kyoya preparing to finish off Young Midoriya with one final blow. He sprinted out of the observation room with hurricane-force speeds and made a beeline through Ground Beta as fast as his mighty legs could carry him. Windows shattered and concrete structures trembled as he zoomed past.
But as he approached the Battle Site, he ran into something completely unexpected: a gargantuan transparent sphere with a light purple hue and large cone-shaped needles that lined the interior and pointed inward. The unforeseen obstacle was so enormous it encased more than a dozen city blocks, and All Might saw that the final Battle Site lied in its epicenter.
He didn’t need immediate answers, What he knew for sure was that Young Midoriya’s life was in peril, and this odd sphere was an obstacle in his path.
“ DETROIT SMASH! ” All Might struck the barrier with a punch strong enough to change the weather itself.
So he was understandably surprised when his mighty fist didn’t even crack or dent the barrier, let alone break it. If anything, its color deepened in hue.
Then he saw the Battle Site shudder from an impact, and he feared the worst.
“ All Might-sensei. ” He heard Young Shoji’s voice in his earpiece. “ You better come back here. ”
“Young Shoji! Is Young Midoriya alright?” All Might asked even as he was on the return trip to the observation room.
His silence was telling enough.
GOD DAMN SHIT!
Never before had All Might felt like such a failure, both as a hero and a new teacher. While there were people even he was unable to save, this was the first time he lost a life as young as Midoriya Izuku’s under his watch. What twisted the knife even deeper was the fact this happened on Yuei grounds, where students were supposed to be safe.
But he’d wallow in his failure later. Right now there were still two other aspiring heroes trapped with Hibari Kyoya (wasn’t he supposed to be young Midoriya’s friend?), and he couldn’t penetrate this strange barrier on his own.
All Might tapped his earpiece, calling Aizawa’s number. It rang a few times before the phone was picked up.
“ All Might. ” came the perpetually tired voice. “ This had better be… ”
“Code Alpha Emergency!” All Might interrupted without remorse or preamble. “Gather who you can and meet me in Ground Beta’s observation room, now !”
Eraserhead sensed his seriousness and reacted like a pro. “ We’re on our way. ETA: five minutes. ”
All Might grunted, hanging up before continuing to the observation room. There was no point wasting time outside the inverse-spike barrier. Rather his efforts were better spent gathering information via the Battle Site’s surviving cameras, which were still transmitting.
Dear god, the cameras! 1-A had watched one of their classmates die. No wonder Young Shoji asked him to come back quickly. He could only imagine the devastation they were all going through.
He returned in an instant, and as he feared the students were wracked with varying levels of horror, shock, and grief. Ida was clenching his hands so tightly his gauntlets creaked. Kirishima was staring into the monitors with an empty gaze, trying to understand the tragedy he witnessed. Uraraka was clutching her hands over her grief-stricken mouth. Asui appeared blank-faced as always but there was no hiding the tears gathering in her large eyes.
Then there was the trio of Sasagawa, Dokuro and Misaka who were calmly looking at the screens as if nothing happened.
“We…we really saw that happen….” Young Jirou whispered in dismay.
All Might needed to know more about the strange barrier and also why Midoriya’s three other friends who should be the most upset were so calm so he approached the closest one : Young Dokuro.
“Young Dokuro.” All Might walked right up to the one-eyed girl startling her a little. “You’re familiar with Hibari Kyoya?” When she nodded, he flipped through one of the screen’s channels and brought up an image of the purple barrier that prevented him from saving an innocent life. “Do you know what that is?”
“Needle Sphere, Reversed Form.” Young Misaka, looking over Young Dokuro’s shoulder, answered for her shy friend. “It’s one of Kyoya’s ultimate techniques. It takes time and massive amounts of energy to set up, but once he does he can create a virtually indestructible cage.”
“Cage?” All Might noted the odd term. Not barrier?
“Kyoya mainly uses that technique to create a sealed field to trap his prey in a one-on-one death match where no one can interfere."
“Yeah he must EXTREMELY not want any interference in his grudge match against my first otouto.” Sasagawa added.
“Must be why he also destroyed the speakers so that you couldn’t stop the match remotely, All Might-sensei.” Misaka concluded.
“How the hell does he do that with [Propagation]?” Mineta cried.
Misaka resumed watching the screens and shrugged “Shoichi must’ve fixed Kyoya’s Box Weapon after Izu’s.”
Box Weapon? A type of support item?
“Chrome.” Young Ashido murmured to her new friend. “I’m so sorry.”
Young Dokuro tilted her head? “Why?”
“Why?!” Young Ashido nearly screamed, her black sclera lined with tears. “Your…your friend just killed your other friend? Aren’t you sad? Betrayed? Devastated?”
“Killed? Why do you think boss is dead?” Young Dokuro asked naïvely.
“Chrome we just saw….” Young Ashido tried to explain.
“You should know that a love-tap like that can’t kill boss.” Young Dokuro said with Sasagawa and Misaka nodding along.
All Might first figured they were in shock, or denial but this quiet confidence started to make him consider the fact that maybe…just maybe..they were right and Young Midoriya could still be alive.
“Look!” Young Asui pointed at the main monitor showing Young Yaoyorozu, Young Todoroki and Hibari.
“ You will not get away with this. ” Young Yaoyorozu hissed past her tears, on the verge of charging at Hibari to get justice for Midoriya.
“Don’t do it Yaomomo!” Young Hagakure whimpered in a panic. “He’s too much for you!”
As brave as Young Yaoyorozu was being in front of a murderous villain, Young Hagakure was right. Seeing Hibari take apart Young Midoriya after the green-haired boy handily defeated Endeavor’s son demonstrated the villain’s outstanding combat ability, with and without his Quirk.
They watched the screens with baited breath as Hibari gazed at Young Yaoyorozu with disinterest. “ Herbivores should hide when the carnivores hunt. ”
Without hesitation or mercy, Hibari horizontally swung the weight at the end of one tonfa-chain directly towards Young Yaoyorozu, purple clouds infusing the iron ball and inflating it into the size and mass of a bowling ball. A bowling ball on a trajectory for Young Yaoyorozu’s unguarded neck.
Horrified cries filled the CCTV room as 1-A, and All Might, feared they were about to witness a second death.
Right until a whirlwind of orange flames roared forth and intercepted the killing blow.
He’s alive , Shouto thought, surprised by the relief overflowing from his heart.
Midoriya, though bloodied and battered, rushed to Yaoyorozu’s rescue with speeds that far outstripped anything he’d demonstrated thus far. With his left arm disabled the flame-user caught the enlarged weight with his right hand alone, though the momentum behind the attack was so great he was pushed back several meters, nearly colliding into and toppling over Yaoyorozu.
But he stood firm, stopping Hibari’s dangerous attack even when it popped his right arm from his shoulder.
“Izuku!” Yaoyorozu sobbed with utmost joy and relief seeing Midoriya alive.
However, the surprises weren’t over yet. With a murmur Shouto shouldn’t have been able to hear, he somehow picked up Midoriya’s next words as if they were whispered in his ears.
“ Zero Point Breakthrough : First Edition .”
Shouto’s eyes nearly ejected from their sockets as Midoriya’s orange flames vanished, only to be replaced by a crystal-like ice reflecting a kaleidoscope of colors that swallowed up the end of Hibari’s ball and chain and anchored it to the ground.
Fire and Ice?! Could it be….was Midoriya actually Endeavor’s secret love child? Did that sleazy bastard cheat on Shouto’s mother to create his perfect masterpiece? Was Midoriya actually Shouto’s half-brother?! If he survived this day he was going to put the screws into his old man, consequences be damned.
“Beautiful.” Yaoyorozu gasped, awed by the diamond-like quality of Midoriya’s ice. Shouto was forced to admit the same, no matter how much he believed his mother’s Quirk to be the best.
“Kyoya.” Midoriya’s tone was ablaze with anger. “You could have killed Momo.”
“Perhaps.” The villain unconcernedly admitted, making both Shouto and Yaoyorozu tense at his callousness.
“This has nothing to do with her!” Midoriya roared, the air trembling with the intensity of his indignation. “Your issue is with me!”
“It is.” Hibari agreed, giving the tonfa attached to the frozen iron weight an experimental tug; it didn’t budge. Shrugging, Hibari tossed aside the disabled weapon and made a duplicate of his other tonfa with [Propagation], leaving him with a pair of melee weapons once again. “Any hunter corners their prey by striking its weakness.”
Yaoyorozu bristled, but kept quiet as Midoriya stepped forward. His verdant green eyes met Hibari’s unflinching grey ones.
“I’m sorry I pushed you to this point.” Midoriya said with complete sincerity. Shouto was baffled. Midoriya was apologizing? He was the one covered in his own blood, with a broken left arm and a dislocated right, while the rest of his body doubtlessly resembled one enormous bruise beneath his insanely sturdy suit. Did he take one too many blows to the head? “But you’re not going to stop, are you?”
“Of course not.” was Hibari’s reply.
“You’re going to keep putting Momo’s and Todoroki’s life at risk.”
“If that’s what it takes.”
“...You’re right I have been lost.” Midoriya admitted, baffling Shouto even further. Even Yaoyorozu was so confused he could practically see a question mark form above her head. “I haven’t been the same since….but that doesn’t matter right now. If you’re going to keep endangering our classmates, then there’s only one thing for me to do.”
The veins in Midoriya’s left arm, starting from his shoulder and ending at his fingertips, became aglow with amber light; the same color as his soft flames. What was he doing? Was it an aspect of his Fire-Ice Quirk? Whatever it was, it somehow twisted Midoriya’s broken forearm back into its proper place while simultaneously returning full functionality. Flexing his glowing fingers, he grabbed his right arm and jammed his dislocated limb back into its socket with a gut-wrenching pop .
The noise made Yaoyorozu gag.
Next, Midoriya’s left thumb ignited a small torch of fire, which he boldly used to cauterize the deep gash over his eye, sealing it shut and leaving behind an angry red scar and the uncomfortable smell of cooked meat.
Yaoyorozu was definitely close to puking now.
Throughout this all, Midoriya’s face hadn’t betrayed a hint of discomfort.
He wiped away the blood soaking half his face with his sleeve, allowing him to open both eyes. With an expression carved from pure determination, a torch of orange-ruby fire suddenly ignited on his brow, right between his eyes. Clenching his gloved fists, the orange fire spilling forth hardened… for lack of better word…until they condensed into dazzling ruby flames that filled the crumbling conference hall with the all-encompassing harmony of the boundless sky. His green eyes shifted and swirled until they were a glorious amber, shining like a pair of priceless gems, and radiating a luster of unwavering resolve that would remain steadfast even in the face of certain death.
“Hibari Kyoya.” Even Midoriya’s voice changed, devoid of doubt and pain. Instead, it reverberated with a timbre of unyielding conviction. “I’ll defeat you with my Dying Will.”
“Ah, yes. There it is.” Hibari smiled softly, eyes alit with delight. “It’s good to see you again Izuku.”
“What’s Young Midoriya doing?” All Might wondered aloud. He was overjoyed to see the young man alive, as was the rest of the class (that cheered upon his dramatic appearance and rescue of Young Yaoyorozu), but that boy needed a doctor! Not to keep fighting!
“Hyper Mode.” Young Dokuro answered, watching the monitors as her faith in her friend was validated. “Boss is taking this seriously.”
“You mean he wasn’t before?!” Young Ashido exclaimed.
“Boss doesn’t like hurting his friends, but Kyoya’s not giving him a choice.”
“What exactly is this Hyper Mode, kero ?” Young Asui queried.
“Does Mido-bro already have an ultimate move?” Young Kirishima asked excitedly.
“Boss has several, but Hyper Mode is one of his strongest. It allows him to remove all the limiters on his mind and body, enhancing his…well, everything. He’s stronger, faster, tougher, and even his Hyper Intuition is sharper.” Young Dokuro helpfully explained, a wellspring of information on Young Midoriya.
“It’s also a double-edged sword.” Misaka frowned, arms crossed. “Izu’s Hyper Mode is akin to hysterical strength, that boost of power people exhibit in sudden life-or-death situations. While he’s much stronger, he’s also putting his body under extreme stress for as long as its activated.”
“I understand.” Young Fumikage nodded. “Just as the darkness can drown our enemies in the cruel abyss, using it exacts a devilish toll on one’s soul as well.”
“Exactly.”
She understood that? everyone thought.
“All Might.” Eraserhead, along with the pro heroes Midnight, Snipe, Present Mic, and Thirteen, finally arrived at Ground Beta’s observation room. Accompanying them were Recovery Girl and Yuei’s principal Nezu. The students hurriedly moved aside to give their teachers immediate access to the monitors. “Situation.”
“Hibari Kyoya has shown villainous intent.” All Might said, empathizing with the grimaces that spread amongst his colleagues. It was never pleasant to see a student fall. “He’s ignoring the battle match entirely to attack the students. He’s nearly killed Young Midoriya and Young Yaoyorozu and shows no signs of stopping. I moved out to subdue him but he’s erected a powerful barrier around a large portion of Ground Beta, one that withstood my punch.”
Hearing that took the other teachers aback.
“Jesus. Never thought I’d see the day a student repelled you.” Snipe said, changing the ammunition in his custom pistol.
Young Misaka and Young Sasagawa stepped forward. The boy was slightly faster in speaking.
“I EXTREMELY disagree with your decision to call Kyoya a villain!” Sasagawa said loudly, shocking the entire class and the teachers, before continuing his defense of his friend. “If Kyoya wanted Todoroki and Yaoyorozu dead, they’d be dead. He just did that to motivate otouto to fight him seriously.” He then jabbed a thumb in the direction of the screens. “That is a grudge match that maybe got out of hand. Not a villain attacking civilians.”
Aizawa was ready to scold Young Sasagawa for his brash interruption when Principal Nezu intervened to focus everyone on the matter at hand. “We will deal with that after we know how to reach them. You wanted to say something, Misaka-san.”
“Kyoya’s Reversed Needle Sphere uses his [Propagation] to maintain itself, but it can also siphon energy from Quirks used against it to strengthen itself. I don’t know exactly what your Quirk is All Might-sensei, but if it’s what let you punch away hurricanes then hitting it only made the Neddle Sphere tougher.”
All Might scowled, chastising himself for his brash actions.
“How does a Propagation Quirk lead to that?” Midnight asked, pointing at the massive barrier shown on a screen.
“...it’s working in tandem with a support item.”
“Intriguing.” Nezu said, stroking his furry chin. “If Quirk based attacks are detrimental to our needs then we’ll force an opening with alternative means. Hizashi, please bring me Kageyasu in 3-B to…”
“WHOA! What is that ?” Jirou shouted, drawing everyone’s attention to the main monitor.
The doubts and regrets that’d been a constant fog in Izuku’s mind were blown away as Hyper Mode sharpened the word with untarnished clarity. Every cell in his body was fully focused and committed to a singular goal : protecting his classmates by defeating his Cloud Guardian.
To even consider accomplishing that, he needed to bring out his best.
Izuku reached out into his suit’s inner breast pocket, and pulled out that . The ring that marked him as Vongola Decimo, Tenth head of the Vongola Famiglia that’d secretly controlled all of Italy (and beyond) for the last two centuries. When he took it from the cold hands of the Ninth head, Izuku was half-tempted to destroy it then and there. To bring an end to the Vongola line.
But he didn’t.
Because something in his intuition told him not to.
So he took it, along with the responsibility of the Tenth head with the goal of reforming the previously villainous organization. He always kept it on his person in fear some opportunistic villain might seek out one of the most powerful artifacts to come about with the birth of Quirks. Not once did Izuku believe he’d ever use it against one of his own Guardians.
Life was funny like that, always filled with the unexpected. Something his former tor-tutor loved.
Izuku was no longer blinded by regrets and doubts as he slipped the ring onto his left middle finger. It was a dark metallic silver that’d endured the centuries without a hint of tarnish, with intricately detailed vines wrapping around the smooth cerulean crystal that shone with untapped potential.
Inside the crystal was a single word: VONGOLA.
How did Lal Mirch say the rings were activated again?
Ah that’s right.
“ Imagine your determination burning like a vibrant flame. ”
Orange-ruby flames erupted from the Vongola Ring of the Sky, his resolve given form, and flooded Iuku’s battered body with a new wellspring of power. Newfound strength infused his limbs, his heart thundered with vigor like he’d been given a fresh injection of adrenaline, and his already sharp focus achieved a new zenith.
Combined with Hyper Mode, Izuku had few equals.
One of whom was standing across from him, smiling in a mixture of pride and anticipation. Kyoya was never much of a talker, and he’d already used up his daily word limit chiding Izuku.
Kyoya lifted his right hand. There, resting comfortably on his middle finger was a familiar ring. Bearing a similar color and motif to Izuku’s, Kyoya’s was fitted with an emblem-like shield decorated with heralding lilies centered around the crest of a cloud.
The Vongola Cloud Ring, claimed from the Villainous Famiglia’s former Cloud Guardian after Kyoya defeated them in single combat.
A tempest of purple clouds raged from the ring as Kyoya fueled it with his eagerness for battle, irritation with Izuku’s dispirited behavior, and unwavering decisiveness in his own beliefs.
The all encompassing Sky, against the independent and unrestrained Clouds.
Two forces of nature, battling for dominance.
And neither were done just yet.
Moving like mirror images, Izuku and Kyoya brushed aside the hem of their suits. Hanging from their respective belts was a hand-sized box. Izuku’s was sky-orange, and Kyoya’s a cloudy-purple. They both unclasped their personal Box Weapons, brought them up to chest-level, and then slammed their ignited Vongola Rings into the box slots.
The Box Weapons greedily drank up the excess Quirk energy, their gold etchings illuminating as they were suffused with the incredible power. An invisible seam, running down the middle of each box’s top and across its ring-slot, unlatched as their inhabitants were called forth.
From Izuku’s a torrent of golden fire erupted, adopting the impression of an enormous eastern dragon that protectively swirled around him. But even as he stood within the eye of a literal firestorm, Izuku showed no fear. Why would he, when he had nothing to worry about? Because even as the golden flames dominated his half of the building’s interior nothing and nobody was so much as singed. His partner understood his heart like no other, and his fire would never harm those under their protection.
Once they were done metaphorically stretching their legs, the golden cyclone rapidly shrunk in and coalesced into a lone point above Izuku. There was a gentle pop and a joyous cry as his companion fully manifested as a tiny lion cub with eyes like amber gems, a mane of Izuku’s orange flames, and wearing a small silver sports visor on its head.
Leone di Cieli, Version Vongola.
Izuku’s Box Weapon and partner, Natsu.
“ Gao, gao! ”
At the same time, rolling thunderclouds rushed from Kyoya’s Box Weapon. They flooded his side of the devastated conference hall, all while lashing against Natsu’s emergent flames. They eventually gathered and took a solid form : a porcupine, hovering in midair by Kyoya’s side. Instead of the typical quills protruding from its back, the tiny animal was comfortably attached to a metallic sphere, more than thrice its own size, with steel spikes as large as broadswords extending from its surface.
Porscopino Nuvola, Version Vongola.
Kyoya’s Animal-Type Box Weapon, Roll.
“ Kyu! ”
“”They’re so cute!”” Ashido and Hagakure gushed in tandem, fears briefly forgotten before the power of adorableness.
“Are those…animals with Quirks?” Midnight gasped, the other pros throwing nondescript glances in Nezu’s direction.
“My, my! The mystery deepens!” Nezu cackled manically, making those near him back away slowly.
“ Gao! ” Natsu leapt onto Izuku’s good shoulder and rubbed against his cheek affectionately.
“I missed you too, little guy.” Izuku said, giving Natsu a scritch under the chin that had the cub purring adorably. “I’m sorry I didn’t bring you out sooner, but we don’t have the time to catch up.”
Natsu noticed Izuku facing Kyoya and Roll. He whined, wondering why the friends were hurting each other, but put his game face on. Questions could wait until later. Right now, Natsu’s buddy needed his help. He hopped onto the ground and bared his tiny fangs in challenge.
Kyoya cocked his head, his question unspoken : Are you finally ready?
Izuku answered by adopting his battle stance : Let’s finish this.
The air grew palpable with rolling tension as both sides waited for the other to make the first move.
Izuku spread his stance, prepared to launch forward in a flash.
Kyoya readjusted his grip on his tonfa, ready to intercept.
Natsu growled, mane of fire flaring as he primed a counter.
Roll hissed, steel spikes elongating as he shifted to defend his partner.
All the while, Momo and Todoroki struggled to so much as breathe as the pressure both sides gave off crushed the very air from their lungs.
Then…
“ Giorno Delle Nuvole. ” (Cloudy Day)
“ KYU! ”
Fueled by Kyoya’s [Propagation], Roll began to multiply; rapidly.
One, two, four, eight….!
16, 32, 64, 128…!
In a mere handful of seconds, hundreds of armored porcupines were rampaging throughout the bomb hall. Like a growing cumulonimbus cloud threatening to swallow the world, and their propagating ‘ quills ’ shredding apart the concrete room like it was made of Styrofoam, the storm front of destruction descended upon Izuku and Natsu while parting harmlessly around Kyoya.
“ Ruggito Del Leone! ” (Lion’s Roar)
“ GAO! ”
Refusing to be outdone, Natsu let loose a sonic roar infused with Izuku’s hard flames. The shockwave, visible as a thick ripple of ruby light, collided against the tide of Rolls with physical force, halting the condensation of porcupines in their tracks and annihilating more than half the duplicates.
Izuku and Kyoya weren’t idle.
The instant their partners attacked they were already leaping at one another without hesitation. They held nothing back, aware their respective opponent was someone who couldn’t be defeated with half-measures.
“ Big Bang Axle! ”
Izuku used the very technique that annihilated Yuei’s Zero Pointer with one blow, but this time infusing his hand with the additional harmonious energies of the Vongola Sky Ring. The abundant flames concentrated and condensed into his fist until it shone with the vibrancy of a ruby star, its power incomparable to before.
“ Stratus Breaker. ”
Purple clouds erupted from Kyoya’s Vongola Cloud Ring, envelopping his furiously spinning tonfa until he commanded the might of a violet hurricane in the palm of his hand.
Their attacks clashed, both nigh-unstoppable forces.
Devastation followed.
Everyone in the observation room beheld in disbelief as they witnessed the Battle Site, six stories tall and nearly 10,000 tons of concrete, explode into pieces like it’d been punched by All Might on a bad day. The concussive aftershock of force that followed nearly toppled the surrounding structures like dominoes.
Izuku was flung backwards, as was Kyoya in the opposite direction, colliding against the empty building behind him. His suit absorbed most of the impact, and his focus was sharp enough to write off the rest.
His Hyper Intuition picked up that Natsu had evacuated the Battle Site with Momo and Todoroki. His partner likely grabbed both teens by the scruff of their costumes, before hauling them away with a burst of flame-powered speed.. It would’ve been funny to see Natsu (small as a kitten) carrying two teenagers of Izuku’s size and age.
But humor was the last thing on his mind. An attack of that magnitude was nowhere near enough to put down his Strongest Guardian, and his caution was confirmed as his Hyper Intuition picked up Kyoya’s Voice.
Flames boomed behind him as Izuku shot forward like a ruby bullet, zipping past the falling ruins of the former Battle Site and driving a front kick towards Kyoya’s chest, with all the intention of carving in his sternum. His Cloud Guardian blocked it with his tona, but not for long.
Izuku didn’t let up. He doubled the output of his hard flames, roaring like the scream of a jet engine, and plowed Kyoya through one, two, three…an entire block of Ground Beta’s buildings that quickly collapsed in their wake.
Kyoya didn’t fall. His guard was unbroken, and his stance remained strong even as the soles of his reinforced dress shoes tore trenches into the pavement to stand against Izuku’s momentum. With a smile brimming with battle-starved energy, Kyoya returned the favor: his whirling right tonfa, empowered with his [Propagation], enlarged into a massive iron club that came tearing for Izuku’s head.
Izuku guarded, the amber glow dancing across the veins in his arms brightening in intensity.
[Harmonization, 4th Generation : Blood Dress]
Anywhere his blood flowed (skin, veins, muscles, bones) became as hard as tempered steel. Kyoya’s attack, which previously punched through his suit’s defenses and snapped Izuku’s forearm, only managed to inflict a bruise.
But the raw force behind it was enough to send Izuku catapulting backwards, distance Kyoya utilized by lashing out with his tonfa-chains. The whipping links of metal sought out Izuku with a whirlwind of ferocity, forcing him to take evasive action. He juked and barrel rolled through the air to avoid the first wave before charging directly towards the heart of the storm. He avoided Kyoya’s expertly wielded tonfa-chains by the narrowest of margins, his Hyper Intuition threading a path through the thrashing maze that’d already reduced Kyoya’s surroundings to rubble, and swiftly zeroed the distance between them.
The screech of metal ringing against metal was deafening as Izuku’s reinforced gloves sought dominance against Kyoya’s tonfa. Both fighters slammed a foot down, the pavement cracking beneath their heels, as they threw a barrage of rapid attacks at one another.
Strike, block, evade, deflect, attack. Neither side gave an inch, even as their surroundings were punished by the consecutive shockwaves produced by their clashing weapons. The fissures in the ground widened as their stalemate was prolonged by the second, until they were standing in the epicenter of their own localized earthquake.
Kyoya’s tonfa stabbed forward, seeking to gouge out Izuku’s left eye.
Izuku ducked as his flame-wreathed fist screamed for Kyoya’s head with enough power to reduce it to pulp.
Kyoya countered with a right cross that nearly snapped Izuku’s neck.
Izuku retaliated with a flame-boosted hook that almost collapsed Kyoya’s diaphragm.
Kyoya’s chopping strike fractured Izuku’s clavicle.
Izuku’s revenge blow cracked a few of Kyoya’s ribs.
On and on it went, a hundred exchanges executed in the span of a breath, as Izuku’s Hyper Intuition sought out the weakness in Kyoya’s guard and punished them while his Cloud Guardian’s monstrous battle senses countered Izuku’s predictions to inflict the same. Yet even as their wounds piled up, with flecks of blood soon flying through the air as they trashed each other senseless, Izuku’s resolve never faltered and Kyoya’s smile never wavered.
“ Burning Axle! ”
“ Cumulonimbus Fang. ”
Explosion.
The city surrendered before Izuku and Kyoya did, the devastated street beneath their feet pulverized into powder by their overwhelmingly powerful attacks. With nothing to ground them both sides were forcibly separated again, granting a brief moment of reprieve.
Izuku spat out the glob of blood accumulating in his mouth.
Kyoya flicked away the trickle of red running down his lips with a thumb.
Then their partners caught up to support them.
“ Tempesta Di Aghi. ” (Needle Storm)
Roll, and the 21 surviving copies accompanying him, all squealed in affirmation as they launched their steel spikes at Izuku and Natsu like missiles. Empowered by Kyoya’s [Propagation], the Animal-Type replenished its projectiles near-endlessly. Not only that, but each javelin-spike was shrouded by Kyoya’s clouds, constantly multiplying their numbers mid-flight. In a matter of seconds countless steel spikes bore down on them, their numbers blotting out the sky.
“ Mantello Del Rei! ” (Mantle of the King)
Natsu roared,blasting a concussive wave of orange-ruby fire from his blazing mane that harmlessly passed over Izuku. The tide of heat knocked many of Roll’s steel quills away, while those aimed directly at Izuku were melted outright.
The superior move also destroyed several more of Roll’s duplicates while knocking the floating porcupine into the distance with a startled “ Kyu?! ”
Seizing the opportunity, Izuku took to the sky. Kyoya tried to haul him out of the air with his tonfa-chain, but Natsu intercepted them with fireballs he spat from his maw; the benefits of a two-on-one. Continuing to battle Kyoya head-on was ill-advised, as Izuku wasn’t the only one who’d come back from Italy stronger than ever. They’d only whittle each other down to the bone until nothing remained of either of them.
So Izuku shifted gears.
His hard flames surged from his hands as he flew even faster than the Wing Hero, Hawks. Izuku kept low to the ground, jetting in large circles around his Cloud Guardian while leaving a long trail of ruby fire in his wake. Natsu did his best to distract Kyoya from afar. Then he accelerated, going faster, and faster , and FASTER until Izuku’s entire world became a blur and he was circling his Guardian a dozen times a second.
“Natsu!”
“ Gao! ”
The lion cub inhaled until his tiny lungs couldn’t hold another atom of oxygen before belching it all out as a ginormous flamethrower. Natsu’s sweltering flames were immediately added to Izuku’s, merging together until they exploded into a cyclone of fire so enormous it stretched skyward and splashed against the ceiling of the Reversed Needle Sphere, all while Kyoya was being baptized in the center.
Combination Technique : X-Stream.
The heat was cataclysmic. The ground was steadily turning cherry-red as concrete itself melted, and even the surrounding buildings were beginning to droop and sag as if they’d been made of wax.
Until Kyoya’s figure punched through one side, riding atop his extending tonfa to escape the lethal cyclone. Ordinarily such a feat should’ve been impossible, especially without escaping with third-degree burns, but Kyoya had channeled the power of his Vongola Ring into his suit, and the Alpha-Elementi sewn between the fabric adopted the energy to bolster the uniform’s already impressive protections.
Well done, Shoichi.
But it didn’t stop the hurricane-force winds whipping around the X-Stream from hurtling Kyoya upward, especially when the tonfa carrying him didn’t survive the heat.
Izuku instantly pursued, flying after Kyoya and slamming into him from behind. To his credit, the Cloud Guardian didn’t stay disorientated for long, ramming an elbow against the side of Izuku’s head. He might’ve dislodged Izuku’s brain from its skull had he not protected himself with [Blood Dress] at the last second.
Gritting his teeth, Izuku grabbed Kyoya by the throat (re returned the favor by slamming his remaining tonfa into Izuku’s Adam’s Apple without mercy. Not even [Blood Dress] fully protected Izuku from the ruthless blow), blasted fire from his free hand to spin them in several dizzying circles, before…
“ Galactic Crash! ”
…hurtling Kyoya straight down with a flame-empowered throw. Kyoya dropped like a meteor, and crashed with the force of one too. The several blocks of city encapsulated by Roll’s Reversed Form quaked on impact as a cloud of debris was spewed into the air, and dozens of the surviving structures were bowled over.
Izuku remained hovering in midair. He didn’t drop his guard for a second. Did he overdo it? Not in the least. If this much was enough to faze Hibari Kyoya then he wouldn’t be shouldering the title of Strongest Guardian.
His caution was immediately validated.
“ Nuvole Affamate. ” (Hungry Clouds)
A violet sphere covered in short but hundreds of razor-sharp thorns came buzzing out of the debris cloud, rotating so viciously that it could shred and saw its way through solid steel, as well as Izuku’s suit and [Blood Dress].
Izuku swerved aside with a gust of flames, the spinning sphere tearing the spot he previously occupied. Sparing a glance at the ground, Izuku spotted Kyoya standing in the epicenter of his crater as though ‘ pain ’ was merely a softly worded suggestion for plebeians. He was bleeding from numerous cuts littered across his body as he’d survived an encounter with a wood chipper, but despite this Kyoya was grinning like he was having the time of his life.
Izuku’s Hyper Intuition whispered Roll had managed to catch his partner moments before Kyoya impacted the ground, bleeding off enough momentum to keep him fighting.
But Izuku couldn’t divert too much attention to his Cloud Guardian, as the thorned sphere greedily devoured the ruby flames Izuku left behind. It absorbed the energy and used it to duplicate itself, and suddenly he was being chased by two shredding spheres constantly homing in on him.
Nuvole Affamate was a diabolical technique that consumed the energy of Emitter-type Quirks to further fuel itself. Against the right sort of enemy it would endlessly chase its prey while steadily siphoning away their power, strengthening and replicating itself all the while their quarry grew weaker and weaker.
For these Roll-duplicates, there was no finer fare than Izuku’s flames.
But if he allowed himself to be distracted by the pursuit-spheres, Kyoya would capitalize on the opening and sink his fangs into Izuku’s neck.
That’s why…
“ Cometa Di Fiamma! ” (Flame Comet)
Natsu tucked himself into a ball, flames jettisoning from his mane as he rapidly spun like a certain blue hedgehog. Then he launched forward like he was shot from a cannon, burning a super-heated line across what was left of the ruined city and plummeting towards Kyoya with the force of an artillery strike.
With the flames so concentrated blocking was out of the question, even with the Vongola Cloud Ring at his disposal. So Kyoya lengthened his tonfa-chain with [Propagation, shot out and anchored its weight into the rooftop of tipping building, and undid his Quirk’s effect. The chain immediately shortened, reeling Kyoya upward and out of harm’s way.
But Natsu didn’t give up, quickly correcting course and giving chase. Kyoya repeated his earlier feat to maintain distance, skillfully zipping from building to building like a New York web-head, while Natsu’s burning body punched through the structures as easily as heated metal burned through butter, reducing them all to tons of molten slag.
Meanwhile, Izuku’s evasion attempts were growing more harried, as Roll’s Nuvole Affamate hungrily ate up enough of his ruby flames to duplicate again, and again . Not only that, but there was more than enough energy to bulk them all up to thrice their original size and double their speed. So now there were eight purple serrated wrecking balls shearing through the air in order to grind him into bits and pieces.
But Izuku’s hadn’t been dodging blindly. He’d been steadily gathering enough focus to pull an ace up his sleeve. As soon as he did, he rocketted downward and slammed into what was left of the city’s pavement, the [Blood Dress] coursing throughout his legs cushioning the landing.
Then he slammed both hands against the ground.
“ First Edition : Void Nebula! ”
His ‘ice’ instantly spread outwards, encompassing everything within a few blocks of him in crystalized negative energy. But transforming his surroundings into a frozen wonderland was only the first step. The pursuit-spheres continued to plunge towards him heedless of the danger. With an exertion of will, Izuku summoned eight crystal pillars from the frozen plane that rose up and collided into each of the spheres. They were immobilized instantaneously as his pillars of ice spread across and swallowed them up at an exponential rate. In the blink of an eye, Kyoya’s Nuvole Affamate were entrapped in columns of negative energy, their consumed stores of power drained away and placing them in an inescapable state of stasis.
At the same time Natsu had liquefied the last of the buildings Kyoya used to escape, forcing the Cloud Guardian to retreat upwards. He was hundreds of meters up, almost high enough to touch the ceiling of his Reversed Needle Sphere, and Natsu was soaring straight up to immolate him.
Exactly as Kyoya planned.
“ Buddha’s Cloudy Mountain. ”
Enhanced by the Vongola Cloud Ring, Kyoya’s clouds of [Propagation] enveloped his remaining tonfa in its entirety. Its dimensions increased with a vengeance, transforming his simple handheld weapon into a metal pillar as large as a skyscraper.
Natsu squealed in alarm as the gargantuan monolith, with the weight of a mountain and large enough to hold up to the Heavens, thunderously crashed into Izuku’s partner and flattened him against the ground below. Izuku might’ve worried had his Hyper Intuition told him that while Natsu was hurt, he was still alive.
Alive, but trapped beneath one of Kyoya’s ultimate techniques.
Izuku didn’t waste a second as he shot straight for the Guardian, who was sliding down the side of his mountainous tonfa. Its base was slowly heating up as Natsu struggled to escape. Izuku launched a wide screen of fire to swallow up his Cloud Guardian.
The damage was minimal, but that was fine. Izuku only intended to obscure Kyoya’s vision for a split second. He flew past and above his briefly blinded opponent before manipulating the vectors of his flames to make himself spin like a vertical top.
“ Big Bang Axe! ”
Izuku’s right leg, shining as a ruby cudgel as [Blood Dress] made it as hard as steel, smashed into Kyoya’s shoulder with a powerful axe kick that cracked the Guardian’s right collar bone. The momentum behind Izuku’s kick sent Kyoya plummeting, but his Guardian’s battle instincts were second-to-none. Knowing Izuku was up to something as soon as he was blinded, Kyoya created a regular tonfa in his dominant hand and…the moment he was hit…wrapped its chain around Izuku’s neck.
Hyper Intuition barely allowed Izuku to slip in a hand to prevent Kyoya from strangling him, but when Kyoya was sent rocketing downward Izuku was unceremoniously dragged along.
Even as they fell at near-terminal velocity they never stopped fighting. Izuku tore off Kyoya’s chain with a super heated grip, but Kyoya used that time to get behind him and trap Izuku in a chokehold. Izuku rammed the back of his head against his Guardian’s nose, slipping free to trap Kyoya’s limb in an arm-bar. Without the ground as leverage, the Cloud Guardian slipped out and wrapped his legs around Izuku’s neck in a triangle choke hold.
They seesawed back and forth, constantly shifting positions as they tried to use the other as a cushion to land on; to maximise the damage the other took.
Kyoya came out on top, grabbing Izuku’s head and treating him to a face full of cracked asphalt at terminal velocity. [Blood Dress] minimized his injuries, but it didn’t stop his brain from being rattled in its skull.
His Guardian was on his feet in an instant, while Izuku was still seeing double. He kicked Izuku’s head like a soccer ball, nearly dislocating his jaw, before proceeding to bury him in an avalanche of blows. Izuku instinctively activated [Blood Dress] on his entire body to weather the assault while trying to regain his bearings, but it’d only be a matter of time before his Strongest Guardian broke through such a stale defense.
[Harmonization, 3rd Generation: Gravity Force]
Kyoya staggered as the gravity around him suddenly became 10x heavier. All the opening Izuku needed to hit him with a one-two combo before closing with a right hook that nearly dropped Kyoya.
But his absurd friend refused to fall, even as the weight of the Sky itself seemed to be pressing down on every square centimeter of him.
Izuku surged forward, reaching out with his right as he prepared to envelop his Cloud Guardian with First Edition . But Kyoya’s honed instincts saw the attempt coming, grabbing Izuku’s middle finger and bending it backward with a snap . Izuku hissed in annoyance, while Kyoya came swinging with his lone tonfa. Izuku responded by smashing his knee into Kyoya’s grip, breaking his index finger in retaliation.
They both lashed out with a front kick, slamming their heels into one another’s stomach with synchronous timing.
Staggering backwards, the two fighters gave each other a moment of reprieve. Izuku’s broken finger was dangling like a wet noodle, so he grabbed it and snapped it back into place. Kyoya studied his own broken digit with disinterest, then simply tossed his tonfa into his unbroken left hand. He was ambidextrous, after all.
“Kyoya.” Izuku grunted, folding his unmoving finger into a fist.
“Izuku.” Kyoya hummed in delight.
Izuku was starting to feel the strain of maintaining Hyper Mode for so long, as it was slowly tearing him apart from the inside. Nothing major, merely the cost of overclocking his body and forcing it to perform beyond its safe limits. He countered this by utilizing a low undercurrent of [Blood Dress] across his entire body to stabilize it, so he could keep fighting beyond his mortal limits. This was hardly the first time he’d been forced to go above and beyond.
In the same vein the injuries Kyoya amassed were finally beginning to hamper his movements, which he took note of with mild displeasure.
“ Gao! ” Natsu freed himself from Kyoya’s mountainous tonfa with a funnel of fire, scampering to Izuku’s side with only a small limp in his steps. So long as Izuku’s will remained unwavering, Natsu would battle to the very end.
“ Kyu! ” Roll floated beside Kyoya, haggard from the relentless fight but more than willing to see it through to the end.
It was time to go all-out.
“Natsu.” Izuku said.
“Roll.” Kyoya mimicked, rumbling with unrestrained anticipation.
“”Cambio Fo….””
“ ENOUGH! ” All Might appeared out of nowhere, descending from the sky and interposing himself between them.
Aizawa-sensei’s capture weapon quickly followed, tightly binding itself around Kyoya’s bloodied and battered body. Izuku’s Cloud Guardian soon found himself surrounded by the pro heroes Eraserhead, Midnight, Snipe, Present Mic, and Thirteen. All of them were on guard, treating Kyoya as if he were a dangerous and unrepentant villain, although a few couldn’t help themselves glancing at the bewildered Roll, who was miffed by the interruption.
“It’s alright, young Midoriya! We are here!” All Might announced, although Izuku didn’t miss the strain of his smile. His Hyper Intuition whispered that something he’d revealed bothered the #1 hero greatly, and that All Might was a hair-trigger away from subduing Iuku on the spot and demanding answers. “Rest assured, Hibari Kyoya will be punished to the fullest extent of the law for his villainous actions!”
Izuku and Kyoya exchanged looks, and an understanding passed between them : their match was being put on hold.
Izuku powered down, deactivating Hyper Mode. The beacon of fire on his forehead faded, and his ruby flames softened into their familiar orange hue before fizzling out entirely. Without the steadfast concentration that accompanied Hyper Mode, Izuku became profoundly aware of the myriad of injuries…ranging from shallow scraps to broken bones…he’d amassed. Were it not for [Blood Dress] Izuku would’ve crumpled on the spot.
But he didn’t, not when there was something he needed to clarify first.
“Please don’t.” Izuku sighed. “Everything that’s happened here is my fault.”
All Might wasn’t the only teacher gawking at him in confusion.
“...eh?”
Back in the observation room, the rest of Class 1-A had witnessed everything. They were overwhelmed beyond words upon watching two of their classmates fight at a level beyond anything they’d ever seen, as well as witness those same two tear into one another like they were trying to kill each other.
Misaka, Dokuro and Sasagawa had secretly followed the other teachers out to ‘rescue’ Midoriya, leaving only the 11 remaining members of 1-A currently present to try and digest what they saw.
Mineta summed up everyone’s feelings succinctly.
“...holy shit…”
TO BE CONTINUED….
Notes:
I hope you enjoyed reading at least as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now there will be no chapter until the 24. See you next time with chapter 6, some interrogations, headaches, and much revelations.
Chapter 6: Interrogation and Revelation
Notes:
Here I am after my little break and back with another chapter. So since you waited for quite some time I'll let you enjoy the chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 6 Interrogation and Revelation
Nezu, principal of Yuei, was practically skipping, almost clicking the heels of his custom dress shoes, as he and two associates made their way into Chiyo’s domain, where the school’s most esteemed nurse was confining Midoriya Izuku and Hibari Kyoya to mandatory bed rest. Those two, along with the other Aldera alumni, garnered the Quirked animal’s interest with their magnificent showing during the school’s practical entrance exam, but now they had his attention! He knew they were hidden depths to those extraordinary youths, but never did he dare to imagine how deep the rabbit hole truly went!
He’d rewatched the recording of Midoriya’s and Hibari’s battle several times now, deconstructing the most minute of details, and was positively thrilled by his findings. Those rascals were stronger than the vast majority of Japan’s professional heroes! Combat experience, Quirk usages, tactical acumen; they topped the charts across the board! Why, Nezu would wager good money they could battle most of Japan’s top heroes to a standstill! Perhaps even squeeze out a victory or two?
He was also positive that neither had shown their entire hand.
And that was only two of the magnificent seven! There was still Dokuro Chrome, Misaka Mikoto, Gokudera Hayato, Sasagawa Ryohei and Yamamoto Takeshi! The principal of Yuei had a very strong inkling that the other members of Midoriya’s group were surely just as powerful when the need called!
Nezu couldn’t recall the last time he’d had so much fun. He loved it! He’d hardly call his tenure as Yuei’s principal boring, but he wouldn’t say no to having a bit of chaos shake up the monotony of his daily routine!
Variety was the spice of life, and Nezu needed his fix!
But just because he was entertained didn’t mean he was willing to turn a blind eye to Hibari Kyoya’s actions. The child deliberately went out of his way to endanger the children under Nezu’s care, and as principal of Yuei he took the safety and wellbeing of every single student very seriously. Initially Hibari Kyoya would’ve been expelled on the spot and handed over to the police, but hearing Midoriya speak in his attacker’s defense put a pause to that. There was a greater mystery afoot, and Nezu couldn't wait to sink his incisors into it and unravel it layer by layer.
“Hello!” Nezu cheerfully announced as he stepped inside Chiyo’s pseudo-hospital. He'd spared no expense ensuring she had everything she needed and more. Midoriya and Hibari had been given a round of emergency treatment from the Youthful Heroine and were resting in the office’s beds. The silly children had hammered each other so badly not even Recovery Girl’s [Heal] was able to put them back together in one go. Midoriya’s left arm still hung from a cast, while Hibari’s was in a sling to avoid exacerbating his mending collarbone.
He was also wearing a shiny new pair of Quirk Suppression cuffs, ensuring he wouldn’t be able to start any more trouble. If Hibari somehow slipped out of those, Eraserhead and Midnight were standing by to restrain him on the spot.
“Am I a rat? A dog? A bear? Who knows! All you need to know is that I am the principal!” Nezu gave his customary introduction before gesturing to the pair who’d been accompanying him. “And these are Yagi Toshinori, assistant teacher for Heroics, and Tsukauchi Naomasa, a detective in the police force!”
Although he’d used up all of his hero time for the day, Yagi insisted he attend the questioning : to confront his own concerns about Midoriya, especially the bombshell Chiyo dropped on them earlier. So he was here as the mild-mannered Yagi, All Might’s secret civilian identity. He even called in a favor with a friend, which was why a police detective was present as well. Nezu didn’t mind, especially since Tsukauchi’s Quirk would make getting into the bottom of what happened today much more straightforward.
“Good evening.” Tsukauchi greeted, taking off his tan detective hat and holding it over his plain overcoat’s chest. He was tall, with short black hair; an ordinary Japanese appearance. Quite rare during this era of superpowers. “I’m detective Tsukauchi Naomasa.” He showed both boys his badge.
“Yagi Toshinori.” Yagi said, his smile still strained. Understandable, given that the boy he’d nominally chosen as [One For All]’s successor displayed something that very nearly gave the #1 hero a heart attack.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” Midoriya replied politely from where he lied.
Hibari didn’t say anything. His eyes hadn’t left Nezu. They weren’t disrespectful or combative, merely curious.
“Are both of them well enough for a quick chat?” Nezu asked his school’s exemplary nurse.
“Somehow.” Chiyo sighed, seeming to have aged 10 years. My that wouldn’t do. His dear friend didn’t have many of those left. “These fools”, she (gently) whacked both boys on their heads with her infamous cane, “thrashed each other so badly they would’ve normally required months, if not a year’s worth, of hospitalization.”
“Which brings us to the heart of the matter.” Nezu pulled up one of the office’s stools and sat atop it so he was eye-level with their ‘ villain ’. “Hibari Kyoya. I’m certain I don’t have to express how much trouble you’re in. It’s in your best interests to answer our questions fully and truthfully, for your answers will determine your future here at Yuei, am I understood?”
Hibari shrugged, unconcerned despite his tenuous position.
Tsukauchi cleared his throat. “As this conversation will be recorded and logged as part of Yuei’s official investigation into today’s incident, I’m legally obligated to inform all parties that my Quirk is [Lie Detector]. I can tell when someone’s being truthful or not by their verbal responses.”
Midoriya’s eyes glimmered. “That’s an amazing Quirk for your line of work, detective.”
“Thank you, it’s definitely pulled its weight.”
“Did you understand all that, Hibari?” Nezu asked.
Hibari huffed. “Ask whatever you want, carnivore.”
Nezu tittered at the boy’s choice of nicknames, but got to the heart of the matter? “During All Might’s heroes-villains exercise, did you attack your classmate, Midoriya Izuku, with lethal intent?”
“Yes.”
“Truth.” Tsukauchi reported, as shocked as everyone else by the boy’s blasé admittance. Aizawa’s frown deepened until his eyebrows nearly fused, and Kayama preemptively scratched open a small portion of her costume’s sleeve.
Nezu’s toothy smile never faded, but a seriousness crept into his beady black eyes. “Did you attack your classmate, Yaoyorozu Momo, with the intent to maim or kill her?”
“Yes.”
Tsukauchi nodded, confirming it was the truth as Hibari knew it.
“Why?” Yagi interjected roughly, dismayed that a student, a child, would act so callously. Nezu’s other teachers were the same, while he personally wondered how someone with such a malicious mindset slipped under the radar for so long.
“Because the small animal’s dithering irritated me.” Hibari replied as of it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Nezu held up a paw to forestall Yagi’s outburst “I believe all of us require a deeper explanation.”
The boy cocked an eyebrow. “I meant exactly what I said.”
That obviously wasn’t good enough for the #1 hero.
“Principal Nezu.” Midoriya spoke up before the situation devolved. “Kyoya did what he did because he was worried about me.”
The bewildered silence that followed could’ve rivaled that of a morgue’s.
“...truth?” Tsukauchi murmured, turned around by his own Quirk’s findings.
“Young Midoriya.” Yagi gasped.
My, my! Things were getting more interesting by the second!
Folding his paws across his lap, Nezu asked. “Do you agree with that, Hibari?”
The boy clicked his tongue. “No.”
“Lie.” Tsukauchi reported, thoroughly baffled by all the conflicting information.
Hibari glared at the detective for daring to contradict him, and Tsukauchi, who’d served on the force for years and faced down many violent criminals and villains, actually shivered. Nezu was amused, seeing the seasoned detective intimidated by a child half his age!
“Young Midoriya.” Yagi was struggling like his fellow heroes to wrap his head around everything. “Your… friend, very nearly killed you today. Yet you claim all his actions stemmed from his concern for you?”
Midoriya nodded. “Yes.”
“...truth, or at least he believes it to be.” Tsukauchi mumbled, massaging his forehead.
“Kyoya just has a very…straightforward way of expressing himself.” Midoriya tried to defend.
“Midoriya.” Nezu made himself comfortable. “In your own words, what were Hibari Kyoya’s grievances towards you?”
The child’s shoulders sagged. “He didn’t like how I’d been acting for the past eight months or so : lost. A…a lot of things happened, and… I guess you can say I lost sight of what I wanted.”
Yagi swallowed. “I don’t understand, young man. Don’t you wish to become a hero? Isn’t that why you’re here at Yuei?”
With a self-deprecating smile, Midoriya said, “When I was younger, I used to watch All Might’s old debut video online. Over and over, so many times. My mom used to tease that I was responsible for a thousand of its views. That image of All Might, saving hundreds from that disaster, all with a smile… It was my greatest inspiration. Back then, I wanted to be a hero just like him.”
Nezu saw how the knot of unease coiled in Yagi’s chest was greatly loosened by the pure earnestness of Midoriya’s confession.
“But since the ‘ incident ’.” Midoriya continued, falling solemn. “my emotions are all over the place. Do I still want to be a hero? My heart may say yes but my mind isn’t so sure. The only reasons I sent an application to Yuei in the first place were that I promised my mother to finish my education and that it’s the closest school to where I’m currently staying.”
The admission stunned not only Nezu, but everyone else in the room save for Hibari.
“Kid, you passed Yuei’s entrance exam with the highest score we’ve seen since All Might.” Kayama said slowly. “Are you really telling us you not only passed, but aced the hardest heroics school’s exam on a lark?”
Aizawa was glaring, frustration and disappointment bleeding from his perpetually tired eyes. “I’m extremely tempted to expel you on the spot, problem child. Even with a powerful Quirk like yours, heroics isn’t some child’s game. Actual lives are on the line, yours and the people depending on you to protect them. Do you really think you’re capable of saving anyone with such a half-assed attitude?”
There was nothing Midoriya could say in his defense.
“I’m sorry sensei.” He hung his head low.
Nezu looked at Hibari “And it’s this behavior that frustrated you so?”
“Yes,” Hibari answered, which Tsukauchi confirmed as truth. “I refused to watch someone I’ve come to…respect”, he growled the word as if each syllable was like dragging rusty nails across his tongue, “lessen himself into such a pitiful animal.”
“I see.” Nezu was starting to get a vague idea about the relationship between the two boys. “But were such drastic actions necessary? It’s not a stretch to say you very nearly killed Midoriya today.”
Hibari scoffed. “If such weak attacks were enough to kill Izuku he would’ve died years ago.”
Very interesting.
Tsukauchi groaned into a hand. “Truth.”
“And young Yaoyorozu?” Yagi demanded. “Had young Midoriya not been able to intercept your attack, you would have innocent blood on your hands.”
“That herbivore was never in any danger.” Hibari replied dismissively.
“...why does that register as the truth?” Tsukauchi bemoaned, wondering if his Quirk came into work with a hangover.
“Explain.” Aizawa ordered.
“Izuku was there,” Hibari said simply. “He fights hardest not for himself, but when he’s protecting someone else. Those two herbivores were the safest animals on the planet, because Izuku would’ve sooner died before letting happen to them under his watch.”
“...truth.”
How fascinating! Midoriya and Hibari certainly had a dynamic unlike anything Nezu had witnessed before. At first glance they should’ve been as incompatible as water and fire, yet somehow they found a way to coexist in strange harmony. Not perfectly mind you, otherwise today’s fiasco would’ve never happened, but despite this their bond clearly remained strong.
Aizawa, on the other hand, was about ready to pray to the gods he didn’t believe in for strength. Kayama was grinding her legs together in very child-unfriendly motions, which Chiyo thankfully put an end to with a quick rap of her cane.
The tightness had drained from Yagi’s thin lips. Japan’s greatest hero had already explained to Nezu the real reason he wished to teach at Yuei, and how he believed he’d found the perfect successor in Midoriya. The boy’s earlier showing at Ground Beta had dealt a grievous blow to Yagi’s faith, but Hibari’s account of Midoriya’s penchant for self-sacrifice was steadily patching that wound.
“Are you and Midoriya actually friends?” Chiyo suddenly demanded.
“I tolerate him.” Hibari replied.
Which was a good enough admission for her. “Then why did you beat each other so senselessly?! If I’d sent you to a general hospital they’d have thought you were victims of a B-Rank or higher villain attack!”
Tsukauchi was startled to hear how badly the two boys had hurt one another, while the teachers grimaced.
“Sorry, Shuzenji-sensei.” Midoriya apologized sheepishly. “But Kyoya’s one of the strongest people I know. I couldn’t afford not to fight him seriously.”
Hibari, however, smiled. “I was having too much fun to bother holding back.”
“Idiots!” Chiyo gave the pair of them another love-tap with her cane.
“Thank you for your honesty, Hibari.” Nezu said, stroking his furry chin. “While your actions were inexcusable, thanks to Midoriya’s actions and his defense of yourself, you avoided being expelled; however you will have detention for the rest of the year with whatever teacher is available in order to learn to use appropriate force.”
“What about me? I still bear some responsibility for today.” Midoriya said he seemed happy that his friend escaped without being expelled and frustrated that he wasn’t being punished.
“If you’re that eager for punishment you can join Misaka, Hibari and Gokudera in detention.” Aizawa decided.
“Did something else happen today?” Tsukauchi asked.
“In a fashion,” Nezu replied. “Gokudera Hayato is quite the budding delinquent, having threatened to bring down Yuei were he not placed in the class of his choosing. He was given detention on his very first day of school. As for Misaka…”
-Hours prior-
Nezu walked behind the other professional heroes of Yuei as they led Midoriya and Hibari to Chiyo’s office for medical care. Hibari was bound by Eraserhead’s capture weapon, the pro hero taking extra care not to worsen the boy’s numerous injuries while also ensuring he was tied tight enough to stop him from escaping. Not that it seemed to be an issue, as Hibari moved with an unworried gait. Midoriya, meanwhile, was being ferried on a gurney carried between two transpo-bots.
All Might, Eraserhead, Midnight, and Snipe were positioned around their most troublesome student, ready to react and subdue Hibari at a moment’s notice. Present Mic and Thirteen found and were escorting Todoroki and Yaoyorozu to the Infirmary.
The remaining students of 1-A were gathered around the entrance and exit to Ground Beta. They were all worried for Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, awed by Midoriya’s display of power, and terrified/wary of Hibari. So when the teachers approached they hastily made a path, giving their classmate of wide berth.
All except one.
The teacher came to a stop when Misaka suddenly placed herself right in front of Hibari, her face as dark as brewing thunderclouds.
“Step aside, Misaka.” Eraserhead ordered.
Misaka didn’t, her thunderous glare focused solely on her fellow Aldera alumni.
“You heard your homeroom teacher, little listener.” Present Mic said, placing a hand on Misaka’s shoulder to gently push her aside. But the young woman didn’t budge, even when the Voice Hero put his back into it.
“What the hell were you thinking, Kyoya?” Misaka demanded, outright ignoring Present Mic even when the adult grabbed her by both shoulders and pulled with everything he had.
Nothing worked. It was like the Electromaster’s feet were locked in place by powerful magnets. She was deaf to her teacher’s increasing vocal warnings, having only eyes and hears for the ‘ villain ’ before her.
“I did what needed to be done,” Hibari casually replied. Nezu eavesdropped with interest. “The rest of you might be willing to wait years for Izuku to get his head on straight, but I refuse to stomach his indecisiveness any longer. So I acted.”
“By fighting? Why the hell didn’t you just talk? Or is speech a skill too advanced for a wild beast like you?” Misaka growled.
“Perhaps,” Hibari freely admitted. “But what about you? You, and all the others, saw what Izuku was reducing himself to. Why did none of you ‘ talk ’ with him instead?”
Misaka scowled, and from the way her fists clenched and her rebuttal failed to surface Nezu surmised the Electromaster was unable to refute the accusation.
“Fine, you’ve got me there,” Misaka reluctantly spat past clenched teeth. “We dropped the ball. We knew Izu was suffering, but didn’t step in to help because we believed he’d pull through like he always does. That’s on us…..BUT!”
Lightning clapped as Misaka’s electrified fist thundered across Hibari’s face so abruptly none of the teachers reacted fast enough to stop her, not even All Might. Yet Hibari, bloodied, beaten, and bound, somehow countered with inhuman reflexes, slamming his opposite foot against Misaka’s temple.
The mutual hits sent both teenagers reeling, but only for the briefest of moments. They recovered, ludicrously fast, and wound up slamming their foreheads against each other the next instant, both sides refusing to back down.
“Misaka!” Aizawa warned, his eyes burning red as his [Erasure] deactivated the Electromaster’s Quirk and prevented Hibari from retaliating with his own, all while ensuring Dokuro was nowhere near his line of sight.
Velvet sleeping gas began seeping from the tears in Midnight’s costume, ready to knock out the two at a moment’s notice. Snipe whipped out both his custom pistols, one aimed at Hibari and the other at Misaka, tranquilizing rounds prepped and ready to fire. Present Mic and Thirteen protectively stood between the startled members of 1-A and the belligerents. All Might stopped between Hibari and Misaka and forcibly pushed them apart.
Yet they ignored the heroes in their entirety, having only bloody eyes for one another.
“You pull something like this again, and I’ll kill you.” Misaka snarled.
Hibari smirked in anticipation. “I look forward to it.
Their Quirks disabled by Eraserhead, yet an unnerving presence bled into the air between them. One that forced the students to back away in instinctual fear, while the teachers broke out an involuntary cold sweat. Even Nezu’s fur stood on end as he felt a million invisible razors sliding across every centimeter of his bare soul. It was a sensation most professional heroes experienced before, when the Shinigami’s scythe kissed their exposed necks murderous intent.
The last time Nezu experienced this harrowing feeling that put him in touch with his own fragile mortality was when he assisted the police and a group of heroes corned, engage and capture the B-Rank villain Moonfish, a deranged psychopath and cannibal responsible for the deaths and desecrations of hundreds of victims, and was now awaiting his appointment with the noose on death row.
He’d never thought he’d feel similar, if not greater killing intent from a pair of teenagers in their first year of high school.
“That’s enough!” Midoriya barked, ignoring his injuries as he leapt to his feet. He and Dokuro along with Sasagawa were the only ones unaffected by Hibari’s and Misaka’s desire for violence made manifest. “Both of you : stand down NOW!”
He wasn’t asking, he was commanding.
Nezu was even more astonished when the two troublemakers did exactly that, withdrawing their killing intent and allowing the unbloodied children of 1-A to breathe once more. Poor Mineta nearly suffered an accident, so it was a good thing he was already wearing a diaper.
“”Misaka.” The girl’s homeroom teacher growled, glaring at her far more cautiously than before. “Detention.”
“...there was a minor incident, but was promptly taken care of. No need to concern yourself with it, detective.” Nezu assured.
Although curious, Tsukauchi took the principal at his word.
“Midoriya,” Nezu said to the guilt-ridden boy. “While Hibari is in detention for the rest of the year, he hasn’t been expelled. That means that him and yourself will have to make an apology to your fellow students, but also will have to make sure that further accident won’t happen again. Am I clear?”
Midoriya bowed his head as best he could while lying down. “Yes Sir. Thank you so much, principal Nezu!”
But the principal wasn’t the only one to notice a certain someone hadn’t reacted the way a normal student would. Aizawa’s drowsy eyes narrowed as he studied Hibari’s blatant disinterest despite his near-expulsion.
He put the pieces together as fast as Nezu expected from a pro, and said with a pained grown. “You don’t care at all, do you? That you were this close to being kicked out of Yuei.”
Hibari shrugged “No.”
Tsukauchi’s gobsmacked face confirmed the boy’s words.
“Why’d a problem child like you even enroll at Yuei in the first place?”
Their little troublemaker nonchalantly cocked his head at Midoriya . “Because Izuku is here.”
A hint of dread made Kayama’s face scrunch, no doubt recalling the real reason Midoriya was attending Yuei. “Midoriya, you’re friends with all the graduates we received from Aldera, right?”
“All except Kacchan. Bakugo, I mean.” Midoriya confirmed.
“And how many of them are here because they want to be heroes?”
Midoriya chuckled guilty. “Heh…um, as far as I’m aware… none of them.”
Nezu would’ve laughed at his dumbfounded faculty, standing there like they’ve been slapped in the face with live squids, if his own expression wasn’t threatening to mutiny as well. His beady black eyes blinked furiously as his [High Spec] Quirk tried to parse the ludicrous truth he heard.
Puzzled by everyone’s reactions, Tsukauchi asked his friend. “Does Midoriya have a lot of friends?”
“Six of them, that we know of,” Yagi replied, sounding strained. “Together they dominated the practical exam, filling up the top seven spots with ease. They undoubtedly the most talented students to ever be accepted into Yuei, second only to myse…I mean to All Might.”
Comprehension hit the detective like Mirko’s Luna Arc. Nezu agreed with every word Japan’s #1 said, and coming from All Might it was high praise indeed. Seven students of immense potential, much of it already realized, and it turned out not a single one of them actually wanted to be a hero. If the examinees who failed to get in heard this Nezu worried he’d have a riot on his paws.
Actually, that sounded rather fun. Nezu stroked his fluffy chin as the convoluted gears in his extremely intelligent mind spun and churned out delectably interesting ‘ hypothetical ’ scenarios. A test for his precious lab rats…cough…students, precious students.
An idea he shelved for later.
“Problem children,” Aizawa bemoaned, rubbing his pounding temples.” I’m surrounded by problem children.”
“Inui has got his work cut out for him, doesn’t he?” Kayama said, quietly giving the school’s guidance councilor her best wishes.
Indeed. While Aizawa would’ve been all for expelling Midoriya and his friends on the spot, nobody was blind to what a waste that’d be. The possible good these seven ould do for society was far too great to ignore.
Nezu clapped his paws. The tiny pads of his paws didn’t produce the crips clap humans made, but it served its purpose to attract everyone’s attention. “Midoriya?”
“Yes, principal?”
“Mandatory counseling sessions with Hound Dog.”
Midoriya slumped. “Yeah, saw that coming.”
Nezu chortled “Now that we’ve got all that unpleasantness out of the way, there are a few remaining topics I’d like to cover before we let you both rest up. Honestly, while the conflict between you and HIbari was regretful, I certainly won’t deny that it wasn’t maddenly enlightening too! In the way it left us with even more questions than before! Hopefully you’ll be willing to help us fill in a few blanks!”
Midoriya shot a suffering glaring at Hibari, who merely smirked as he leaned into his bed and quickly dozed off into a restful nap, abandoning Midoriya to the mercy of the Yuei’ inquisition.
Or at least that’s how Nezu jokingly narrated it into his head.
In truth, he was using humor and his [High-Specs] Quirk to prevent any of his true feelings from surfacing, because according to Chiyo the boy’s ‘ Hyper Intuition ’ would pick up on the smallest discrepancy. He wondered if this enhanced sense was Midoriya’s original Quirk…
…or if it was given to him by All For One.
Because there was zero doubt the boy possessed multiple Quirks. He and Yagi had rewatched the battle footage from Ground Beta several times over, and with each replay the emaciated hero’s gaunt face became more and more pale.
All For One, the Symbol of Evil, the ruthless supervillain who once ruled Japan’s underground with an iron fist, and who’d finally met his end underneath All Might’s righteous fist five years ago.
Or so they were led to believe.
Initially Nezu believed Midoriya might be one of All For One’s most trusted subordinates, here on his master’s orders to spy on the Symbol of Peace or sabotage Yuei. After all, not many received multiple Quirks from All Might’s greatest nemesis; not many survived. But that theory was sunk with Midoriya’s confession that he only chose Nezu’s school because of its close proximity to his home address. Additionally, no spy would blatantly show their hand the way Midoriya did.
This led Nezu to an alternative hypothesis : Midoriya hadn’t been All For One’s subordinate but a test subject. Receiving Quirks from the Symbol of Evil wasn’t without risk. Those forcibly given multiple Quirk Factors often suffered major side effects : physical degradation, often followed shortly by brain death; their bodies unable to withstand the burden of so much power. So someone like Midoriya, who was able to handle multiple Quirks without noticeable risk, would’ve been seen as prime research material for the supervillain.
Midoriya already hinted something had happened to him that caused him to lose sight of his original dream of becoming a hero like All Might, and suffering beneath All For One’s tender mercies would certainly qualify.
But again, this was only guesswork. It was equally possible Midoriya was a secret sleeper agent, falsely believing in his own illusion of innocence until he was activated by All For One to betray them.
Putting all that into consideration, they couldn’t rush headlong into interrogating the boy. If he was a victim, Nezu didn’t want to treat him like a criminal. If he was a sleeper agent instead, the wrong question or wording might activate his programming and turn him hostile. While subduing him should be relatively easy with Eraserhead and Midnight standing nearby, Nezu didn’t want to cause Midoriya anymore undue harm.
He was going to have to choose his questions carefully.
Before Nezu could begin with his first question, Midoriya surprised everyone by sighing before asking/demanding. “Fine, I’ll tell you my life story but first I want you to agree to three things. First you will leave Irie Shoichi, who is in 1-H alone. He may be my best friend but he has nothing to do with this beside being around for most of it. Second I will not tell you any names, because either they are no longer relevant or because they are innocent, you may ask me to confirm an identity if you have a theory but I won’t come forward with a name. Third, you won’t be doing anything about either the rings of our Box Weapons. Is that agreeable to you principal Nezu?”
It was a tough bargain. On one hand they could know the answers to most of their questions about Midoriya, and with Tsukauchi here truth was a sure thing. On the other hand they would lose the opportunity to lead the interview and Nezu himself would lose the opportunity to meet and study other Quirked animals.
After a little bit of thought Nezu decided to go for it, in the hope that Midoriya was really on their side. And also hoping that by gaining the boy’s trust he would get to study this ‘ Box-Weapon ’ of his and his friends. “You can go ahead when you are ready, Midoriya.”
Midoriya seemed to gather his thoughts and steel himself. “Please, try to not interrupt too much. I’d rather go through it in one go.”
“Understandable, but if you drop a bomb on us we can’t be held accountable. And Tsukauchi may intervene to inform us if what you say is the truth or otherwise.”
“Fine. But I will tell the truth, I may omit names but I won’t lie.”
Midoriya then got more comfortable on his bed and started his tale. “For the first four years of my life I lived the normal life of a Japanese boy with the glaring exception of the absence of any sort of father presence. At the time I didn’t think much of it as my mother was the best mother I could have asked for. I was an All Might Fan and I was eagerly waiting for my fourth birthday to come so that my Quirk would finally awaken and allow me to start my journey as a smiling hero like All Might. I made friends with Bakugo and Schoichi during that time. Bakugo’s Quirk came first as he was older and his temper got worse, Schoichi’s Quirk never came and when the time came for mine I was initially ecstatic as my Quirk seemed to be fire related.”
As Midoriya paused to take a breath, Tsukauchi said “Truth.”
The green haired boy then continued his tale. “But this elation turned to surprise as my mother wasn’t as elated as I was. She then revealed the truth she hid from me. I wasn’t as I previously the result of a one night stand with a man who then bailed on his responsibilities but I was a result of a rape. Of course my mother didn’t explain it that plainly but I could read between the lines. Worse, my Quirk, which I thought was great, turned out to be quite similar to the despicable piece of shit that provided half of my DNA. It was then that I swore to myself never to use my Quirk ever again, and if I was to become a hero like All Might I would do so in a different manner.”
“Truth…”
Nezu and the other teachers could only stare at Midoriya in disbelief after the bomb the green haired student dropped.
“Young Midoriya…” Yagi said, staring in horror and pity at his chosen successor. Nezu could tell that Yagi was still ambivalent about his choice of successor but that Midoriya was gaining some points in his favor with his tale so far.
The green haired student shook his head to gather his thoughts then continued his tale. “After this, I started to hide my Quirk and my friendship with Bakugo deteriorated while my friendship with Shoichi remained strong. Life went on until I started middle-school. It was then I met ‘ him ’. The private tutor from hell that saw through my attempts to hide my Quirk, and decided to train me in its use. Of course since I was rather scrawny at the time, he decided to add some physical conditioning to it as well.”
Aizawa couldn’t help himself and gave Midoriya a flat look. “A tutor taught you how to fight at a level not even most pro heroes achieve.” He turned pointedly at the detective, but Tsukauchi could only shrug helplessly as his Quirk confirmed Midoriya hadn’t lied.
“You don’t say?” Nezu made a show of smiling widely. Had All For One approached Midoriya in the guise of a tutor? Unlikely, as it’d be difficult to even appear in public while missing half his face. Perhaps an intermediary? “And how long did they teach you for?”
“I was going to say this anyway but maybe around two years.” Midoriya made a face : half-exasperated, half-resigned. “He’d always grumble about how he had his work cut out for him, since I never wanted to use my Quirk until he found me.”
Fascinating. Nezu was rather proud of his own capabilities as an instructor, but even with his own intelligence-boosting Quirk he struggled to visualize a means to transform a boy who’d rarely utilized their Quirk into the veteran fighter before him now in such a brief timeframe. Did All For One have an unknown penchant for education, or was Nezu circling the wrong rabbit hole?
“Might I have your tutor’s name?” Nezu made his request as innocently as possible. “I know you said you wouldn’t say any name but I’d love to have someone with their expertise as a guest lecturer at Yuei. Why, depending on their current employment status I might even offer a full-time position!”
For an instant, Nezu amused himself at the sheer impossibility of All For One teaching at Yuei.
“No.”
But Midoriya’s instantaneous denial killed that fantasy as abruptly as a gunshot.
“...will you tell me why?” Nezu asked, hiding his internal fears behind a bulletproof mask of curiosity.
“Because if you hire that madman, I guarantee after a month 90% of your students will be traumatized for life and withdraw from Yuei on the spot. If they’re smart they’ll put as much distance between themselves and Japan as possible. Antarctica is nice this time of year.” Midoriya deadpanned.
That’s… not at all the answer Nezu expected.
“Surely that’s an over-exaggeration.” Kayama said.
Midoriya’s eyes became distant, and Nezu suddenly felt like he was staring at a war veteran with PTSD instead of a high school student. “I used to have crippling anxiety, shyness, and self confidence issues. When he learned of this, the next thing I knew I was standing in front of my middle-school crush wearing nothing but my boxers, and forced to confess at gunpoint; in the middle of Shibuya Crossing, during peak hours. Physical conditioning…a gym? What’s that? Real endurance was built by running marathons across the Arctic while being chased by angry polar bears. I didn’t strengthen my arms by lifting weights but by rock climbing Canada’s Mt Thor over and over again; 1200m, without climbing gear. Safety? The fear of death was the only safety I needed, apparently. And nothing improved reflexes, spatial awareness, and survival instincts faster than constantly waking up every morning to find poisonous snakes, hungry crocodiles, and brown recluse spiders all over my bedroom. My tutor made sure I got plenty of practical experience fighting villains too, because every so often a dozen villains would suddenly and inexplicably hate my guts and refuse to stop hounding me until they saw my body floating in Okinawa Bay; And after I survived all that…” Midoriya’s dead, unblinking eyes seemed to swallow Nezu whole, making his fur bristle. “...he congratulated me for passing his ‘ introductory lessons ’ and moved to the real training.”
The disbelieving silence was only compounded when everyone whipped around towards Tsukauchi’s slack-jawed expression, the detective unable to refute a single thing Midoriya claimed.
Nezu damn near cackled up a storm. My, what a fresh education style! He wanted to meet this mysterious tutor even more now, especially since it sounded nothing like All For One’s modus operandi. As the Symbol of Evil who operated from the shadows, there was absolutely no way he’d involve himself in such public spectacles. Also Nezu noted how Midoriya claimed he was dragged to the Arctic as well as Canada, when the preliminary investigation into his past documented he’d never left Japan in his life. So either Midoriya’s memories were compromised, or his official records were doctored to tell a polite fiction.
Nezu leaned towards the latter.
“Did you attend any such lessons as well?” he asked Hibari.
The boy smiled “They were fun.”
Well if that was a tiny glimpse into what these boys endured to achieve their strength then it was little wonder they were so outstanding!
“Can I go back to my tale now?”
“Please do go on.”
Midoriya settled on his bed and continued his tale. “During these two years of hellish training I met all of my friends and they joined the training as Hibari told you. At the end of the second year of middle-school. The despicable piece of shit that was my sperm donor found me. He started to rant about how he had duties overseas and that the organization he was part of had decided that I would be the next leader. As I didn’t want to leave Japan I told him no. And to show his discontent the bastard shot my mother in the heart right in front of me. I beat him black and blue and was on the verge of killing him but in the end didn’t as my mother’s life was hanging by a thread. This particular event is the incident I mentioned that made me doubt my dream of being a hero. Because I know that had my mother not survived that shooting I would have killed the bastard in a heartbeat.”
Nobody could find a thing to say after that. Tsukauchi could only nod his head indicating that once more Midoriya told the truth. Nezu was glad that he already sent the boy to Inui.
“Please there is no need to keep going.” Chiyo intervened. “If you have any questions please hurry them along. The boys need their rest.”
Yagi said, looking every bit serious. “I have one. Izuku Midoriya, what is your connection to All For One?”
Tsukauchi’s head snapped up, radiating alarm as he realized the true reason he’d been called in such a hurry. Chiyo had no compunction against slapping her forehead in exasperation, especially after Yagi blurted the existence of the underworld’s boogeyman right in front of Nezu’s teachers who weren’t in the know.
Except instead of reacting in the myriad of ways Nezu anticipated, ranging from denial to outright hostility, he hadn’t been prepared for Midoriya’s honest confusion.
“Who?”
Yagi gawked, and Nezu was struggling to keep his own expression carefully blank.
“All For One?” Kayama murmured, as confused as Aizawa by Yagi’s seemingly non sequitur. “Like the urban legend?”
“What illogical nonsense are you bringing up now?” Aizawa scowled.
Yagi was deaf to them both, his throat so tight he barely squeezed his next words out. “You… you don’t…?”
“Sir.” Midoriya spoke clearly and directly, eliminating the possibility of a misunderstanding. “I’ve never heard or met anyone going by the name All For One.”
Yagi desperately whirled around to his detective friend, who confirmed Midoriya was telling the truth with a slow nod. A mountain of anxiety and apprehension collapsed from Yagi’s thin and exhausted shoulders.
Nezu was trying to make sense of this latest enigma. Midoriya was telling the truth, or at least as far as he knew it. Could All For One have approached Midoriya under a pseudonym? Possible, but unlikely. The megalomaniac wanted everyone to know exactly who he was, and wasn’t shy about shoving that fact into everyone’s faces.
“But…but then how do you have multiple-Quirks?” Yagi continued to ask, blind to Aizawa’s and Kayama’s bewildered reactions.
Midoriya sagged. “Of course you noticed that.” With a tone that was more resigned than guilty, he said. “Everything you’ve seen me do are aspects of my main Quirk, which I was born with. I wasn’t ‘ given ’ additional Quirks by this…All For One, if that’s what you’ve been worried about this whole time.”
“You’ve labeled your Quirk as [Harmonization]. How exactly does it work?” Nezu asked, leaning forward.
“If you want me to answer that question then I don’t want it written or recorded anywhere, for my own safety.”
Ah. another hard choice to make. But Nezu was too curious for his own good and so with touch on his phone cut the camera in the nurse’s office.
“We’re dark, you can answer as you want.”
“[Harmonization] is a dominant Quirk Framework.” Midoriya said, looking as serious as a heart attack.
“What is a Quirk Framework? And what does it mean a dominant one?” Kayama asked for everyone.
Midoriya sighed and then explained what he meant. “Say you have someone with [Harmonization] and someone with [Hyper Intuition] that have a child together. Said child would then have [Harmonization] that would manifest Hyper Intuition.”
Nezu gasped as he understood the magnitude of what Midoriya just said. “You mean to tell us that under [Harmonization] you can use many other powers that have been absorbed into it?”
“Yes, and there is only one Quirk Factor in my body so in theory it is just a single Quirk.”
“I get it now why you didn’t want it written or recorded anywhere. If anyone where to learn of this they would hunt you down either to kill you or to get your DNA for nefarious purposes.” Nezu could respect Midoriya’s self preservation instincts in that matter.
The other teachers and Tsukauchi were astonished but knowing of the risks involved quickly agreed to keep the secret to their graves.
“Now if everything is done, we….”
“ JUDAIME!!!! ”
The sliding door was nearly torn off its track as Gokudera Hayato stormed inside in a flurry of concern, fear and panic. When the student of 1-B saw the state Midoriya was in he executed an impressive sliding dogeza that stopped right at the foot of MIdoriya’s bed, nearly knocking over Yagi along the way.
“Forgive me;Judaime! I should’ve been there to protect you!” Gokudera wailed so loudly the office’s window rattled.
“What’re you doing here, Gokudera?” Aizawa demanded tiredly.
“Our class got canceled.” Yamamoto Takeshi said from the doorway entering alongside Sasagawa Ryohei. “Kan-sensei said an issue came up at Ground Beta, so our heroics course became a free period.”
“I bumped into them, and I told them about your EXTREME fight!” Sasagawa roared like he wasn’t aware indoor-voices existed.
The two 1-B students wore the same black suits as their 1-A friends with minor differences individualizing each. Gokudera’s inner shirt was colored crimson (like his [Disintegration] instead of the standard white, Yamamoto had a sheathed katana slung over one shoulder.
“It’s alright, everyone. I’m fine.” Midoriya promised his friends.
Gokudera was on his feet and glaring at Hibari like he was trying to make him explode through sheer vehemence alone. “What the fuck were you trying to pull, Hee-Bastard?”
Hibari lazily opened a single eye. “I was expressing my displeasure.”
“By attacking Judaime until he was bedridden?” Gokudera suddenly pulled out a fistful of dynamite from somewhere . “I’ll fucking en you!”
“Hayato.” Midoriya warned sternly, making the delinquent flinch like a scolded puppy. “That’s enough. No attacking Kyoya. This is between me and him.”
“I… I understand, Judaime.” Gokudera unwillingly ceded, putting the sticks of explosives away. It was like they vanished into thin air. Goodness, where was he storing them all? “Hee-Bastard better not be getting off with just a slap on the wrist for this.”
“He will join you in detention for the rest of the year and Midoriya and Misaka will join as well after school.” Aizawa drawled.
The delinquent’s jaw dropped. “Why the fuck is Judaime getting the book thrown at him? He’d never pick a fight with Hee-Bastard, which means that carnivore attacked him first! Anything Judaime did afterwards can be chalked up to self-defense! Don’t tell me this is that zero-tolerance bullshit I’ve heard about!”
“Midoriya blames himself as the cause of the altercation, and insists on being penalized for it. Thus the detention.”
That ended any further argument Gokudera had. “ Feh ! If it’s Judaime’s choice then it can’t be helped.”
He didn’t even bother asking why Misaka had detention as well.
“Hey Midori.” Yamamoto walked up to Midoriya’s bedside, earnest. “You okay?”
“Shuzenji-sensei’s a miracle worker. I’ll be all better in a couple of days.”
Yamamoto frowned. “You know that’s not what I meant.”
A wordless understanding passed between them. “I’m…not sure yet. Kyoya’s given me a lot to think about, but…I need a bit more time.”
Yamamoto ruffled Midoriya’s fuzzy hair with a laugh. “Take as much time as you need. Just don’t be a stranger. You were really worrying the rest of us.”
“Sorry.” Midoriya replied with a small smile.
“Do you need EXTREME healing, little bro?” Sasagawa asked, holding up a hand that was shining bright with the light of his [Activation].
“You’ll do no such thing!” Chiyo swiftly chided, threateningly waving the end of her cane at the well-intentioned student. “You’ve no idea how glad I am that you’re willing to use your Quirk to help others, but until its effects are extensively tested and documented there’ll be no unauthorized healing without my say-so!”
Sasagawa frowned, the creaky hamster-wheel in his head turning sluggishly. “But I’ve always patched up my bros when they needed it!”
A vein bulged beneath the Youthful Heroines’s visor. “How many times?”
“A bunch!”
“When?”
“Middle school!”
“With a teacher’s and doctor’s permission, I hope?”
“I didn’t have time for that!”
Aizawa bemoaned into his palms. “Illegal Quirk usage.”
“It’s only illegal if you’re EXTREMELY caught!”
Nezu considered himself lucky Chiyo didn’t suffer a stroke on the spot, as Yuei still needed their irreplaceable head nurse. As it was, she was likely going to spend the next week tracking down everyone Sasagawa ever healed to ensure they were no unforeseen complications with his Quirk, as she did with Kirishima Eijiro after Yuei’s entrance exam.
“Little bro!” Sasagawa bulldozed past his myriad crimes that’d been brought to light. “I’m sorry! I wasn’t there to help you when you needed me! Even if you never asked, I should’ve been there for you! Just like you were there for me and Kyoko! Doing nothing was EXTREMELY unmanly of me! That’s why I’m going to endure detention with you!”
“You don’t need to do that, Ryohei.” Midoriya tried to conciliate.
“And you don’t have detention either.” Aizawa made sure to point out.
“EXTREMELY no problem!” Sasagawa immediately spun around and slugged Gokudera across the face, much to everyone’s astonishment.
“What the fuck , Boxing-Head?!” Gokudera snarled, clutching his swelling cheek.
Sasagawa completely ignored him as he faced his twitching homeroom teacher. “I’m an EXTREMELY bad student that deserves to be put in the ring with detention!”
Aizawa was utterly done with today. “No assaulting other students, damn it. Detention.”
Sasagawa punched his fists into the air and cheered like he’d been named Japan’s Boxing Champion.
“Oh, Oh! What about me?” Yamamoto asked eagerly, waving his hand to get Aizawa’s attention. “I want detention too!”
“...aren’t students normally supposed to avoid getting detentions?” Tsukauchi whispered to Yagi.
The #1 hero chuckled fondly. “These young men just have a deep bond of friendship.”
Nezu grinned wickedly as he recognized the look on Aizawa’s scowling face : he was one step away from slamming his head into the nearest wall and allowing the sweet embrace of unconsciousness to save him from dealing with very problematic children.
“Go get it from Vlad.” Aizawa rejected.
“But I don’t know where Kan-sensei is. Can’t I just punch Hayato instead?”
“Don’t you fucking dare, Baseball-Idiot!” Gokudera snapped.
Midoriya sighed tiredly, even as his lips twitched at his friends’ antics. “No picking on Hayato.”
“Ah, gotcha. Ryohei heads up!” That was all the warning Yamamoto gave before decking Sasagawa, whose head snapped to the side while his body remained upright.
“EXTREMELY good hit!” Sasagawa flashed a grin, awarding Yamamoto’s punch with a thumbs up. There was a small cut in his lip, but it sealed itself with a flash of his [Activation].
“Thanks!” Yamamoto laughed, then spun to the mentally exhausted Aizawa. “What about now?”
“...until retirement, you just need to last until retirement.” Aizawa mumbled to himself. “Fine, detention.”
“Woo-hoo!”
1-A’s homeroom teacher was used to dealing with illogical children, it was inevitable when working at a high school, but Midoriya and his friends were truly testing the Erasure Hero’s limits. Nezu thought Aizawa was just about ready to pray for deliverance, but the gods were on their coffee breaks.
“Um, pardon me?” Dokuro Chrome meekly peeked inside from the ajar doorway. “C-Can I come in?”
“Of course, dearie.” Chiyo said with motherly kindness. Yagi even ushered her inside with the energy of a worried parent. “Is something wrong?”
“N-No, Shuzenji-sensei. I w-wanted to check on boss. Um i-if it’s alright with everyone, can I have d-detentions with him too?”
Aizawa rolled back his head and released a groan suspiciously close to a death knell.
Kayama took over for the sake of her friend’s sanity. “Detention’s for punishing bad boys and girls, Dokuro. I don’t believe you’ve done anything to warrant that.”
“O-Oh…can I have it a-anyways?”
The R-Rated Heroine’s brow twitched. “If I say no, are you going to do something against school rules?”
Dokuro fidgeted remorsefully.
A cackle crawled its way up Nezu’s throat. “You already have, haven’t you?”
Sheepishly avoiding everyone’s pointed stares, Dokuro shuffled out of the nurse’s office and returned shortly after holding a very familiar yellow sleeping bag. Aizawa’s exhausted eyes nearly popped from their sockets upon locking onto the trio of evenly spaced holes puncturing his property.
“D-Does this count?” Dokuro eeked out.
“ DETENTION! ”
Nezu’s unhinged laughter had his sides in stitches. While he made a mental note to reimburse his overworked teacher, he couldn’t help but appreciate the hijinks of these rascals. With Midoriya and his friends livening things up around Yuei, the next three years were surely going to be ones to remember.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Notes:
I hope you enjoyed this chapter of the aftermath of the titanic battle between the Decimo and his Cloud Guardian. We will have a couple of easy chapters (probably two) before we go right back into the thick of things with the USJ. So keep supporting this fic with kudos and comments and see you next week with the next chapter.
Chapter 7: The calm before the storm
Notes:
In this chapter we see a little bit of the Todoroki Family and also our little Shouto making assumption, we also have the election of class president (off screen) and the first part of the cafeteria incident. I hope you'll like it.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 7 The calm before the storm
Shouto silently ate the tasteless meal his older sister, Todoroki Fuyumi, had painstakingly prepared for their family dinner. It wasn’t a slight against his sister. She was a good cook, he just didn’t have the stomach for it at the moment.
Not while he was sitting at the same table as Todoroki Enji.
His sister was kind, like their mother used to be, but Shouto really wished she’d stop organizing these ‘ family ’ dinners. Just looking at the bastard’s stoic face made his appetite freeze over. He understood what Fuymi was trying to do, to mend the bridges in their broken family, but Endeavor had burned those down and kicked aside the ashes a long time ago.
Even his older brother, Todoroki Natsuo, was glaring into his bowl of rice to avoir even glimpsing at the old man’s face.
No doubt Fuyumi found the silence smothering their Japanese-style dining room suffocating.
“H-How was school, Shouto?” Fuyumi tried to start a conversation.
“Fine.” was Shouto’s monotone reply, plucking a single grain of white rice with his chopsticks and slipping it into his mouth. He didn’t want to make his caring sister uncomfortable, but Endeavor’s presence wasn’t doing his mood any favors. Plus, his stomach still ached after today’s Battle Trials, even with Recovery Girl’s treatment.
“What a-about you, Natsuo?” Fuyumi asked her other younger brother, grasping at straws. “How’s college?”
“Fine.” was Natsuo’s equally dull response, stabbing the plate of fried mackerel with his chopsticks but not even bothering to eat it.
Fuyumi wilted, and Shouto would’ve felt guilty if his underlying hate hadn’t burnt it away.
“What about you, father?” Fuyumi asked anxiously, showing the bastard more respect than he deserved. “How was your day?”
“Busy.” Endeavor grunted. He hadn’t even changed out of his hero costume.
Fuyumi slumped, head hanging in defeat.
Another gathering organised, another waste of time.
Endeavor finished the remainder of his meal with cold efficiency, treating his daughter’s conscientiously prepared dinner like a mere source of sustenance instead of the heartfelt wish Fuyumi hoped it to be. He stood up, not even thanking her for the food, and moved for the doorway to return to his agency; straight back to work. While he’d never be the #1 hero as long as All Might was around, he still put in the work to consolidate his position as #2.
Shouto should’ve held his tongue, to let the old man leave so the rest of them could find some enjoyment this evening. But today’s Battle Trials had brought with it branding questions he desperately needed answers to.
“Endeavor.”
The old man paused, glancing over his shoulder. “Are you finally speaking with me again, Shouto?”
Natsuo jerked up from his rice bowl, surprised Shouto was choosing to talk with the flaming bastard. Fuyumi was hopeful, wondering if her little brother was trying to take the first steps of reconciliation with their father.
Shouto hated that he was going to disappoint her.
“I have a question.”
Endeavor faced Shouto fully. “The second day of Yuei is when the Battle Trials are held. Did you face an obstacle you failed to overcome? Are you finally going to end the childish rebellion of yours and embrace your left side?”
Shouto nearly rolled his eyes; nearly .
Instead he came right out and asked. “Did you have an affair?”
The disbelief was as powerful as Bakugo’s building-leveling explosion he used against Dokuro. The blast that his Endeavor came so far out of the blue it might as well have dropped on his head from space, almost extinguishing his ridiculous mustache and beard of fire. Natsuo was so shocked he accidently iced over and shattered his chopsticks. Fuyumi gasped, clutching her hands over her mouth as if they were the only things damming her hurt.
“I fought someone today,” Shouto began, watching his old man’s every microexpression. “Midoriya Izuku. His Quirk let him control fire and ice. His flames were stronger than yours and his ice better than mine.”
He’d never forget how Midoriya’s crystalline ice stopped Hibari’s flail and refused to so much as crack throughout the entire fight, while in comparison Shouto’s crumpled like freshly fallen snow.
Natsuo rediscovered his voice first, and he was seething.
“You bastard !” Shouto’s older brother leapt to his feet, jagged edges of ice jutting from his clenched fists. “Was ruining mom’s life not enough for you, you burning dumpster of shit-piss?! Did you want your goddamned ‘ masterpiece ’ so badly you rammed your dick into anyone with an ice Quirk?!”
Endeavor’s facial flames reignited, hotter than before. “Watch your tone, Natsuo. I’ll not have you disrespecting me in my own house.”
“Well I don’t live here anymore, so fuck you anyways!”
“P-Please stop!” Fuyumi begged, and it was only seeing their eldest sister on the verge of tears that made Natsuo reel in his anger. “Father…! You, you didn’t…did you?” Even Shouto’s caring sister couldn’t ignore a marital affair.
Endeavor sucked in a massive lungful of air to rein in his temper, making his flames flare a bit brighter. ‘I never cheated on Rei.”
Natsuo scoffed with years worth of derision. “So you’re saying someone around Shouto’s age just happened to be born with the perfect Ice-Fire Quirk you spent years trying to make? Pull the other one!”
The old man didn’t have a rebuttal for that. Multifaceted Quirks like Shouto’s [Half-Cold Half-Hot] were very far from common. Shouto only had a powerful dual-elemental Quirk because of Endeavor’s obsession and willingness to spit on the law he purported to uphold. If the hypocrite cared for the rules so much he would’ve never trapped Shouto’s mother in a Quirk marriage. While it was possible for strong Quirks to appear naturally, like Dokuro’s [Real Illusions] and Bakugo’s [Explosion] a Quirk of Shouto’s caliber only came about because of eugenics.
Knowing nothing he said would convince Natsuo otherwise, Endeavor turned his full attention to Shouto. “You fought this boy.”
“I did.”
“You claim his flames are stronger than mine.”
Shouto heard the unasked question. “It was a Heroes versus Villains team battle. We were on opposite sides. He beat me, easily.”
Hearing his ‘ masterpiece ’ confess to losing so easily made the old man snarl. “If you’d used your flames…!”
“I still would’ve lost.” Shouto said frankly, secretly surprising himself by how effortless the admission was. “His fire melted my strongest ice in an instant, while his ice withstood attacks that easily shattered mine. Both sides of his Quirk outclass both sides of mine. Not only that, but I didn’t see him suffer any drawbacks from overusing his fire side.” Endeavor’s eyes widened. “He exceeds me in every category.”
Dark shadows of displeasure accentuated the old man’s grimace.
Normally, admitting such weakness would’ve rankled Shouto, because it’d be the same as acknowledging he couldn’t become the #1 hero with only his mother’s Quirk. But right now he was sidetracked by an equal if not greater, concern.
Standing up, Shouto walked up and stood toe-to-toe with the old bastard, his heterochromic eyes glaring into Endeavor’s turquoise eyes.
“Who is he?” Shouto demanded. “What’s Midoriya’s relationship to us?”
Natsuo refrained from raging, grimly keen on hearing the truth from the old man’s mouth. Fuyumi was torn, unsure if she wanted to hear if their family truly was broken beyond repair.
“I did not cheat on Rei.” Endeavor growled, with a flare of his [Hellfire]. “Your classmate is not my son, nor your half-brother. That’s the end of this discussion.”
“Like hell it is, bastard!” Natsuo screamed, stomped around the dining table like he was getting ready to outright deck Japan’s #2 hero.
An option Endeavor took away by marching out of their Japanese-style house and slamming the door shut behind him.
“That son of a bitch!” Natsuo looked like he wanted to grab the dining table and flip it over in rage. “Where the hell does he think he’s going?!”
“His agency.” Shouto replied dully.
That got an amused huff from his older brother, his anger briefly quelled. “Rhetorical, Shouto. Never change.”
“I…haven’t?” Sometimes Natsuo confused him.
“Do you think father’s telling the truth?” Fuyumi asked weakly, nervously rubbing her hands together. A habit she’d developed when they were kids.
“Like fuck he is.” Natsuo spat. “You know how many times he forced himself on mom until Shouto was born. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he tried to improve his chances by spreading his seed around. Fuck, there’s an imagery I sure as shit didn’t need.”
“He…he wouldn’t…”
“Sis, we all know how obsessed that flaming turd is with becoming #1. He can’t measure up to All Might’s ankles even on his best day, which is why he bought mom’s Quirk and had us. First he gets Toya killed, then he shoves all his shit on Shouto! Screwing other women with powerful Quirks is exactly what that selfish sack of goat piss would do, especially if it means increasing the likelihood of his precious legacy reaching the top of the Hero Billboard Chart!”
“That’s exactly why father wouldn’t do that!” Fuyumi cried, grabbing Natsuo’s shoulders.” One of the factors that goes into the Hero Chart is public approval! If the news caught even a whiff of an affair father’s ranking would plummet, and you know that’s the one thing he’d never let happen!”
“Quirk marriage is also illegal.” Shouto spoke up, hating himself from hurting his sister like this. “But Endeavor did it anyway. He did it and nobody knows. Because he has connections in the Hero Commission, police force, and the largest major news outlets that make sure the skeletons stay buried.”
“S-Shouto, please…you….you really don’t think…?” Fuyumi whimpered, making Natsuo wince guiltily.
Shouto didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to. Did he believe Endeavor would do anything to create a tool with the perfect Quirk to surpass All Might? Absolutely. It was the entire reason Shouto was born. The old bastard already broke and buried one law, what was one more? And Endeavor obviously didn’t believe in the sanctity of marriage, otherwise he wouldn’t have hit his mother every time she begged him to stop training Shouto until he was puking his guts up.
Fuyumi, her gentle heart unable to bear anymore, almost collapsed to her knees, and would’ve had Natsuo not caught her.
“Sorry sis.” Natsuo helped Fuyumi to her seat. “But if that flaming pool of sewage gave a damn about mom he wouldn’t have locked her away in Shizuoka’s psychiatric ward.”
Their older sister didn’t respond, too emotionally wrung out.
Shouto and Natsuo sat as well, not wanting to leave her alone. The dinner she’d prepared went unfinished, everyone’s appetites ground to dust.
Feeling the need to apologize as well, Shouto said. “Sorry. I ruined dinner. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
“Like hell you shouldn’t have. We deserved to know.” Natsuo gave him half a smile. “Besides, dinner was ruined the moment the gutter trash showed his ugly mug. Say what’s our half-bro like? Does he look anything like us?”
“Not even a little. I think he got all his looks from his mother, whoever she is.”
“Good on her for ditching the selfish bastard.” Natsuo approved. “It would've been tough raising a kid alone, but that’s better than growing up as a son of Endeavor. Especially if his Quirk’s a slam dunk.”
Shouto nodded in agreement, his gaze drawn to the well-kept shrine in the corner of the living room. It was there in memory of their oldest brother, Todoroki Toya, who died too young trying to earn Endeavor’s approval.
“You planning on introducing our little bro to the rest of the family?” Natsuo asked.
“I don’t know.” Shouto admitted. “I don’t want Endeavor interfering with his life.”
“Kinda too late for that. Now that the bastard knows about him there’s no way he’ll leave him alone.”
Shouto blinked. He was so emotional he hadn’t thought of that. “Oh. Oops.”
Natsuo chuckled. “Yeah, oops. Well, the milk’s already spilt and all that. Now that he’s on the burning turd’s radar you should warn him. Our new bro probably only knows about the bastard’s ‘ heroic ’ image, and not the massive road stain he actually is behind closed doors.”
“I’ll tell him.” Shouto promised. His half-brother(?) didn’t deserve to be blindsided by an absentee father, especially when said father was Endeavor.
Natsuo perked as he realized smother. “Hey, you said our new bro’s name is Midoriya Izuku, right? Do you know when he was born?”
“No. We’re in the same class so we should be around the same age. Why?”
“He might be younger than you, which means you have your own little brother to look out for!”
That gave Shouto pause. His birthday was January 11th , so chances were strong Midoriya really was younger than him.
A little brother. Shouto didn’t think he’d ever be an elder sibling.
It was…nice.
Todoroki Enji’s fingers remained motionless against his keyboard. He should’ve been tackling the backlog of reports cluttering his computer, but for once his mind refused to focus on work.
“Did you have an affair?”
Of course he didn’t. He understood his children, Shouto and Natsuo especially, held a poor opinion of him, but did they really believe him to be so foolish? It’d been dangerous enough skirting the law by purchasing Rei from her parents, but an affair on top of that? With a woman, no matter how useful her Quirk, whose silence he couldn’t guarantee? It’d be a death sentence to his reputation.
“Both sides of his Quirk outclass both sides of mine.”
Enji’s mantle of flames flickered in irritation, washing his unlit office with waves of harsh light. His Shouto wasn’t one to overblow the truth. Enji was well-read, and knew Quirks continued to blend and evolve with every new generation. If you’d compared the Quirk of someone born during the Dawn of Superpowers to a modern day Quirk the difference would be staggering. Yet for someone to be born with the exact Quirk which Enji spent years trying to bring into fruition? One that surpassed even Shouto’s?
“He exceeds me in every category.”
The interior of his large and luxurious office, located atop the skyscraper of his hero agency, was nearly burnt down by the blinding frustration of his [Hellfire].
Impossible.
Impossible!
Endeavor refused to believe the sacrifices he’d made, the crimes he’d committed, and the lives of his family he’d ruined, were all completely undone by a random freak of genetics!
He punched a button on his phone, cracking the frame, and called one of his sidekicks.
“ Sup, boss? ” Kamiji Moe, pro hero Burnin, asked from the other end.
“I need a background check done. Full scope. I don’t want a single pebble left unturned.”
Hearing the intensity of his tone, his sidekicks audibly gulped. “ G-Got it, boss man. What’s the name of the villain who pissed your Cheerios? ”
“Not a villain, a civilian. A Yuei student.”
Burnin choked. “ You want me to run an investigation on a civvy? ”
“ Yes. ” The obedience he demanded was absolute.
“ ...what’s their name? ”
“Midoriya Izuku.”
“What’s it like learning form All Might?!”
“Tell us how the Symbol of Peace acts in front of a class!”
“How’s the #1 hero as a teacher?!”
Momo mumbled out half-hearted apologies as he squeezed her way through the throng of reporters trying to make her eat their microphones. Her head was too preoccupied with what happened during yesterday’s Battle Trial, the jaw-dropping fight between Izuku and Hibari. She thought they were friends, but now she was not so sure. Because it looked like they were doing their best to kill one another, battling so intensely Ground Beta was literally falling apart around them.
But above all else Momo could not forget how Izuku had saved her.
Beyond the embarrassment of recalling how gallant he looked, standing there with his unflinching poise, Momo felt worthless. She was the same age as Izuku, Hibari, and even Todoroki, but she was outclassed by all three. When Todoroki froze the entire Battle Site she had to be rescued, and when Hibari started beating Izuku she tried to help her partner but nearly got her head flattened instead.
They were all the same age, right? And she entered through the recommendation exam like Todoroki. So how were those three that much stronger than her? Or was becoming a hero really nothing but a pipedream for a sheltered heiress?
“You look worried, Yaomomo.” Asui ribbited behind her, startling Momo.
“A-Asui!”
“Call me Tsuyu.”
So forward! Momo was not sure she could do this as the lessons her mother taught her about manners and politeness were anchored deep inside her.
“What’s bothering you?” Asui asked as they approached the main campus together, successfully escaping the piranha pit of reporters.
“I… was thinking about yesterday.”
Asui nodded. “It would be strange if you weren’t. Things were hectic. Never knew Izuku and Kyoya were that powerful.”
“That is right.” Momo said, agreeing with the frog looking girl. “I was so surprised! They almost destroyed Ground Beta and they were so fast I barely saw anything.”
“Weren’t you scared?”
“Not…really?” Momo admitted, to her own surprise. “I mean, sure I was pretty terrified when Hibari started fighting Izuku, but I was more scared by how badly he was hurting him. I tried to help, but…”
“Yeah, that didn’t go well,” Asui said bluntly. “We all saw you almost get hit, and were worried for you.”
Momo became flustered, recalling the many monitors in the surveillance room and how they would have caught and recorded her moment of failure. “You guys saw all that?”
“Along with Kyoya almost killing Izuku, as well as you. To be frank, everyone was horrified. We all believed we watched Izuku die, and were terrified you were next.”
“You were scared too?”
Asui always seemed to be perfectly calm.
“Of course. I just can’t emote well because my Quirk makes it difficult for my face to properly express emotions, which is why I speak bluntly,” Asui shared. “Otherwise people tend to misunderstand me.”
“Oh, I am sorry to hear that.” Sometimes Quirks came with unforeseen downsides like that. Momo, for example, had to be very careful about the objects she created as a volatile substance could harm her as soon as she created it. She had to monitor her lipids very carefully because if she tried to create something big when her lipids were low it probably could kill her.
The two of them chatted all the way to their classroom, and by then Momo felt reasonably comfortable she had made a new friend.
When they stepped inside, it was quiet. Her fellow 1-A students were either whispering to one another in hushed tones or just keeping to themselves. Like Asui said, yesterday was weighing heavily on everyone.
Momo glanced around, and noticed five of their classmates were missing : Izuku, Dokuro, Sasagawa, Misaka and Hibari. Hibari’s absence came as no surprise, but she did wonder where the other four were. Maybe they were ambushed by the reporters and had not managed to escape like she did?
As the minutes passed, and the loudest noise was the sound of the clock ticking away every passing second, the deafening silence became all the more stifling.
Eventually, one of them could not take it anymore and blew up.
Three guesses as to whom, and the first two did not count.
“Why the fuck is it quieter than a damned graveyard in here?” Bakugo demanded, slamming his fist against his desk. He glared at Koda, his partner from yesterday’s Battle Trial.
The mute boy made a point to ignore Bakugo completely, probably still annoyed with Bakugo’s behavior in their Battle Trial.
“They don’t know?” Uraraka whispered to her desk neighbors.
“Dokuro sent Bakugo to the nurse’s office and Koda to the school shrink.” Ida reminded. “Neither of them were there when Midoriya and Hibari fought against each other.”
Bakugo sat up. “What the fuck does Deku have to do with this?”
“Dude, it was insane!” Mineta cried, bursting like he had been holding back a dam of complaints. “Midoriya and that other handsome bastard went at it like wild animals on steroids! All the steroids ! They were totally trying to kill each other! If the teachers hadn’t intervened they would have!”
Bakugo stared at Mineta as if he had suddenly started rambling in a foreign language. “Deku and Toothless?”
“Bakugo.” Momo spoke from her desk. “You went to the same middle school as them, correct? Were you aware of any animosity between them?”
“ Hah? ” Bakugo snarled. “Toothless is just some punk that’s all bark and no bite, and Deku’s a worthless bastard who refused to show anyone his weak-ass Quirk! There wasn’t any shit going on between them!”
Kirishima leaned over to Ashido. “He doesn’t know anything, does he?”
“Guess he was too busy preening himself.” Ashido shrugged.
“The fuck was that, Raccoon Eyes?! You want to say that to my face?!”
“If you don’t know anything relevant, then be quiet.” Todoroki said, his tone colder than his ice. “Your shouting is annoying.”
Miniature explosions crackled from Bakugo’s heated palms as he marched to Todoroki’s desk and glared down at him. “You got something you want to say to me, Half-n-Half?”
Todoroki was not intimidated in the slightest. “I already said it. Get a hearing aid.”
Bakugo bared his teeth like he was about to take a bite out of Todoroki’s face, but before any punches were thrown their homeroom teacher stepped inside; along with their missing classmates.
Momo blinked. Rubbing her eyes, she checked again. There was Izuku (a few bandages wrapped around his head), Dokuro, Sasagawa, Misaka, and Hibari (also with a few bandages around his head). She had not imagined it, Hibari was still here. She was not sure how to take it but she was sure that there was a logical explanation as to how Hibari continued presence in their class.
“Everyone take a seat.” Aizawa ordered, his tone brooking no argument, forcing even the combative Bakugo to comply. Izuku, Dokuro, Misaka, and Sasagawa found their desks, quietly greeting and nodding to their seatmates, while Hibari remained beside their homeroom teacher. “We’re wasting valuable time, so let’s get this over with. As you may have noticed Hibari Kyoya is still a student of Yuei heroic course but is on probation, meaning that a pro hero will be around him at all times while on the school’s ground.”
This was met with many protests.
“That ruffian is still a student of the prestigious Yuei? Unacceptable!” Ida’s arm was chopping at light speeds.
“He almost killed Midoriya and Yaomomo! What’s he still doing here?” Hagakure protested.
“He’s going to kill us! He’s going to kill us all!” Mineta wailed, hugging himself as he trembled uncontrollably.
Momo wanted to protest as well, as she did not know what she would do if she bumped into Hibari in the middle of the school hallway.
Their homeroom teacher’s long black hair briefly fluttered, but settled down as he barked “ Quiet! ”
Everyone sealed their lips.
“I understand where you’re all coming from.” Aizawa grumbled, rubbing his dry eyes. “But this decision was made by Yuei’s principal, and will not be contested. But rest assured, if Hibari attacks another student of Yuei outside of school regulations he will be ousted from the premises and handed over to the police as a potential villain.”
Despite the assurance, an undercurrent of unease lingered.
“If that guy attacks anyone whose last name isn’t ‘ Midoriya ’ then they’ll probably die before they can blink.” Mineta said warily.
“Because they’re worthless extras.” Bakugo sneered, arms crossed. “If Toothless tried that shit on me I’d kill him.”
Jirou scoffed. “He’d kick your ass up and down Ground Beta with both arms tied behind his back.”
Bakugo glared with the heat of an explosion. “You saying Toothless would win against me, Earlobes? Me? ”
“Easily, dude.”
“ Enough. ” Aizawa was nearing the end of his patience. “As I said before Hibari will be accompanied by a pro hero at all times. If he so much as steps a toe out of line he’ll be apprehended on the spot. So long as you’re all on Yuei grounds we teachers will guarantee your safety. Hibari go take your seat.” The probationary hero student went to his seat. “I’ve gone over yesterday’s Battle Trials and graded your performances accordingly.”
Momo and many others sat a bit straighter.
“Dokuro.” Aizawa focused on the eyepatch-wearing girl, who shuddered like a tiny frightened animal. So he eased up. “Well done. Your performance was exactly what I wanted to see from my students. Even when Bakugo discovered your Quirk’s weakness you turned your disadvantage into an opportunity with tactics and cunning, ultimately guaranteeing your victory. Keep up the good work.”
Dokuro almost dissolved into a puddle of relief. “Y-Yes! Thank you, sensei!”
“Hold up.” Bakugo scowled, keeping the cursing to a minimum in front of a teacher who did not tolerate nonsense. “Yesterday’s fight didn’t count. Deku interfered. I would’ve won if he hadn’t swooped to bail Cyclops out.”
Momo really did not like how Bakugo’s mean nickname highlighted Dokuro’s missing eye.
“The Midoriya that took you down was an illusion.” Aizawa said flatly, making Bakugo go rigid as he immediately caught the implications. “You saw it as real, therefore it became real. Dokuro’s victory was well within the bounds of the rules. Do you have anything to add?”
Bakugo scowled. “No.”
“Good, because I do. I heard from Recovery Girl that you figured out Dokuro’s weakness before the match, but you didn’t see fit to share such vital information with your teammate. Not only that, but when Koda was caught you didn’t even try to help him. Maybe you believed you could subdue Dokuro and Ida on your own, and while sacrifices for the greater good are common in your line of work, those actions are only justified when said goal is ultimately achieved. But you didn’t succeed, you failed . Your actions served no purpose other than to feed your own arrogance, and if the final match hadn’t been canceled you would’ve scored the lowest in 1-A. You’ve plenty of potential, but this is Yuei, the greatest hero school in Japan, rivaling the best in the world. Everyone here has potential, they wouldn’t be here otherwise. So either grow up or get out.”
Momo was sure everyone heard Bakugo’s poor molars grinding away in frustration, but peeking at their once-haughty classmate showed most of his anger was aimed at himself. He could not argue against a single thing their homeroom teacher said because the cold hard fact was that he lost .
“...got it, sensei.” Bakugo grunted, head lowered.
“Good, Fumikage, Asui.” Aizawa continued turning to another team. “Your overall plan was good but once you encountered your opponents you showed no tactical acumen so work on that. Fumikage once you saw how Sasagawa’s Quirk neutralised Dark Shadow you should have retreated or let Asui handle him. For the future you will have to work on Dark Shadow’s weaknesses. Asui once Fumikage was defeated you should have gone with stealth instead of facing both your opponents, as they have no way of detecting anyone with their Quirks.”
“What a mad banquet of darkness.” Fumikage said as he accepted his critique and knew what he had to work on for the future.
“You’re right sensei. kero .” Asui ribbitted aggreeing with her critique.
“Sasagawa, Kirishima, you had no plan beyond facing your opponent head on. While that may have worked this time thanks to Quirk match up it won’t work everytime. A hero must use every tool he has to save people and if it means having a plan to engage from stealth or using cunning he must do so understood!”
“Yes, sensei I EXTREMELY understand.” Sasagawa said his voice loud enough to be heard from outside the grounds.
Kirishima merely nodded, not looking like he agreed with their sensei’s judgement.
Aizawa moved along, reviewing the next two Battle Trials. He took the time to concisely point out what everyone did well, but more often than not highlighted their mistakes and areas they needed to improve on. He pretty much lambasted Ashido, since it was her carelessness that destroyed her own team’s bomb. He gave minor praise to Hagakure for making the best use of her Quirk, but reminded her that her ‘ costume ’ needed serious reworking, before scolding Misaka for not taking the exercise seriously.
When it was time to discuss the final match, everyone was awaiting his verdict with baited breath;
“Todoroki.” Aizawa began. “Your file says your Quirk can generate ice and fire.” Murmurs broke out amongst the rest of 1-A, as no one had seen a hint of fire from Todoroki. Momo was surprised by how similar his Quirk was to Izuku’s. Could Todoroki fly too? “When your ice proved ineffective against Midoriya, why didn’t you use your fire?”
Todoroki was solemn. “I’m aware of the limits of my fire. It would’ve been useless against my br…against Midoriya.”
Aizawa’s eyes narrowed. “And that’s the only reason you refrained from using the other side of your Quirk?”
Todoroki did not answer, returning their homeroom teacher’s glare with equal intensity.
Seeing he was not going to be getting an answer anytime soon, Aizawa moved on. “Yaoyorozu.”
Momo almost flinched out of her seat. “Y-Yes, sensei?”
“You tried to intervene in a battle between two fighters who vastly outmatched you. While your desire to help your partner was admirable, know your limits. Well meaning intentions do more harm than good if they lack the strength to back them up. In your case, you distracted Midoriya long enough for Hibari to catch him.”
Guilt suffused Momo as she found herself staring down at her lap. “I am sorry, sensei.”
“If you’ve got time to be sorry, you’ve got time to train and be better. Now, moving onto homeroom business…”
“Wait!” Mineta shouted. “What about Midoriya and the other handsome bastard?”
Aizawa forestalled further questions with a scary glare that sent shivers down Momo’s spine. No wonder he was a pro hero, she bet his scary eyes could glare villains into submission.
“Hibari and Midoriya already got their review regarding their performance, and therefore bears no further mentioning.”
Everyone was clearly curious as to when this happened, as well as what was said, but no one was brave enough to test their homeroom teacher’s dwindling patience.
“Now it’s time for you all to pick a class president.”
Misaka Mikoto neatly tucked her school work into her backpack as the lunch bell rang. Izuku was voted class president of 1-A, winning the majority of the votes. Momo was nominated as vice-president, having gotten three votes. Misaka herself got two votes, she only had to turn to Kyoka (looking away with a blush) and Tooru (waving at her energetically) to figure out where they came from.
In all honesty she was glad that Izuku didn’t resign on the spot after having been voted class president. Maybe it was a sign he was getting better.
“Mikoto! Let’s hang out!” Tooru chirped, dragging a semi-reluctant Kyoka along.
“I’d love to,” Mikoto happily accepted. “Is it okay if I invite Izu and Chrome too?”
She wasn’t going to leave Izuku alone, not after yesterday. Mikoto was still kicking herself for practically abandoning her best friend to this internal demon, telling herself it was a hurdle Izuku would ultimately overcome in time. It was also maddening how Kyoya , of all people, took it upon himself to try and ‘ cheer ’ Izuku up; in typical Kyoya-fashion.
Kyoya and Ryohei had disappeared as soon as the bell rang. The first probably to find an empty classroom for a nap and the latter to find some candidates for his boxing club.
Momo, Tsuyu and Ida invited themselves along too, interested in getting to know Izuku better. Or maybe they just wanted answers about what happened yesterday. Either way, that’s how their group of eight found themselves heading to the campus cafeteria together.
Mikoto noticed Ochako trying to muster the courage to ask if she could tag along as well, but wound up slumping her shoulders and walking off on her own. Something was clearly troubling her, but she wasn’t sure what.
Yuei’s cafeteria was named Lunch Rush Cafeteria, a giant food court larger than a gymnasium and bustling with students from every department. Lunch Rush (the Chef Hero), his diligent sous chef, and the hardworking kitchen staff were prepping high-quality meals worthy of being served at Michelin Star restaurants, all while keeping everything cheap and affordable.
“Oh my!” Momo said, taking small bites of her white rice topped with truffles and pieces of Kobe beef. “This meal tastes better than the ones from the chefs my parents hired while I was growing up.”
Their group was seated around one of the many long tables in the cafeteria.
“Yaomomo, I ask this bluntly but are you stinking rich?” Tsuyu asked, sipping her miso soup one spoonful at a time. Although most would say Tsuyu’s appearance was off-putting because of her [Frog] Quirk, Mikoto would vehemently argue she was cute.
“Sorry! It is my parents who have money, not me!”
“Maybe.” Kyoka agreed, savoring her marinated chicken skewers one at a time. “But girl, have you seen what you ordered? Most of us have never eaten truffles or Kobe beef.”
Momo choked on a mouthful of water.
Izuku patted her on the back. “Having problems getting recognized for your own merit, instead of merely an extension of your parents’ success?” He guessed, or more accurately : his Hyper Intuition divined via the power of bullshittery. Izuku always insisted his Hyper Intuition merely made him highly observant, letting him deduce conclusions from the vaguest of data points, but Mikoto had seen her best friend pull answers and information out of thin air like the world was whispering its secret into his ear.
His remark was obviously dead-on from the way Momo slouched.
“You are right. When I was in middle school everyone saw me through the specters of the Yaoyorozu group. I just want friends that will saw me for me and not for the money my parents earn.”
“I get it.” Tooru said, her lunch vanishing with every bite.
“By the way, is anyone going to ask what the heck was up with yesterday?” Kyoka said, shooting straight for the topic at the forefront of everyone’s minds. “Why was Hibari doing his best to murderize you?”
Izuku calmly nibbled away at his pork cutlet. “He was just showing how disappointed in me he was, that’s all.”
Tsuyu blinked her large round eyes. “He has a very violent way of expressing himself.”
“To think such a ruffian managed to sneak his way into Yuei! Such a travesty!” Ida gnawed on the ends of his chopsticks.
“Can it really be considered sneaking when he passed the practical with 130 points?” Tooru pointed out.
“Believe it or not, ‘ ruffian ’ is the last thing most people would call Kyoya.” Izuku shared with a light laugh.
“Kyoya was head of the Disciplinary Committee back in Aldera.” Mikoto explained, using her spoon to fiddle with her omurice. “He’d enforce the rules when the teachers weren’t there too, albeit with extreme means. If there were any truants his underlings would track them down and drag them back to school. If he caught someone littering the hallways they’d be spending the rest of the day in the school dumpster. And if anyone caused a ruckus or disturbance, one of the teachers pretended not to see, Kyoya would be there to ‘ bite them to death ’. It might be hard to imagine after yesterday, but Kyoya upholds and honors rules and discipline more than anyone else I know.”
Poor Ida stalled as the conflicting logic caused a glitch in his processors.
“Bakugo was really l-lucky boss would always distract Kyoya whenever he got up to n-no good.” Chrome mumbled, demolishing the sweets that made up half her lunch.
“Though because of that Bakugo wound up getting the wrong idea about the Disciplinary Committee.” Mikoto scoffed. “I still don’t get why you didn’t just let Kyoya have a private chat or two with Bakugo, Izu.”
Izuku slumped. “Because Kacchan would’ve never backed down, and it’d end with him getting sent to the hospital.”
“W-Would that have been so b-bad?” Chrome was no fan of Bakugo’s.
“Well he’s on the teacher’s watchlist now, so we don’t have to worry about Hibari suddenly swooping in out of nowhere to attack you.” Kyoka said as a joke, but when she saw Izuku wince she almost slammed her head into her lunch tray. “Dude, for real?”
Izuku scratched his head sheepishly. “Our fight got interrupted, so the possibility is there.”
“Surely he wouldn’t assault you while his admission hangs in the balance!” Ida protested.
He definitely would. As much as Kyoya loved enforcing rules and discipline, if something or someone caught his attention he became more persistent than a dog with a bone.
Mikoto needed to keep a close eye on the Cloud Guardian. That, or stick close to Izuku so she could defend him. Although she understood why Kyoya acted the way he did, that didn’t make it excusable.
“Now I’m totally worried we’ll randomly bump into him in the middle of the cafeteria and he’ll come at us with his tonfa swinging.” Tooru mumbled, nervously glancing left and right as she searched for the battle manic.
Mikoto huffed, lips quirked. “Don’t worry, Kyoya would never come here willingly.”
Momo tilted her head. “Why’s that?”
“Kyoya hates crowds like you wouldn’t believe.” Mikoto stressed. “You should have seen the time the teachers forced him to work with his class during that one cultural festival. I swear there was a moment he broke out into hives.”
“That’s a thing?” Kyoka said disbelieving. “Is it actually possible for someone to be allergic to crowds.”
“It’s not a condition I’ve ever heard of.” Ida confessed, just as baffled.
“We should submit Hibari’s case to the nearest medical journal, kero . They’d have a field day with him.” Tsuyu said. She sounded so serious it was hard to tell whether she was joking or not.
“Um Midoriya?” Tooru asked nervously, shifting in her seat. “How’re you and Hibari so strong? I mean, seeing the two of you fight was wild . It was like watching two pros duke it out. No, two superheroes . There was barely anything left of Ground Beta by the time the teachers got there!”
The question got everyone’s attention, even from some other members of 1-A who were sitting nearby. Mikoto noticed Todoroki and Uraraka freeze as they eavesdropped intently.
Izuku never liked lying, but there were too many details about himself he couldn’t afford to share freely. “Necessity. I… had something I needed to protect, enough for me to put my life on the line time and time again.”
He didn’t explain further and their tablemates knew not to press, especially when he sounded so grim.
“What about that adorable kitty you had with you?” Tooru asked, changing the subject.
Izuku’s chopstick stilled at the sudden segue, but eased into it with a smile. “Ah, that was Natsu. My partner.”
“I thought our principal was, like, the only animal with a Quirk in Japan.” Kyoka said, leaning forward in her chair. “So how’d you and HIbari have some just tucked away in your back pockets? I mean, if that’s private or something don’t gotta share, but I won’t lie and say the curiosity isn’t eating me up inside.”
Izuku chewed on his answer. “It’s a bit of a story, but what I can tell you is that they’re meant to be autonomous support weapons that resemble animals.”
“You mean they’re not real?” Ida asked.
“They’re real to me.” Izuku replied simply. “That’s all that really matters.”
“Can we see him?” Tooru asked eagerly, almost bouncing in her chair.
“Sorry, but the cafeteria isn’t the place to unleash such a weapon. Maybe during a training exercise.”
“Aw drat! I wanted to cuddle the cute kitty and rub his fluffy belly!”
“Technically Natsu’s a lion cub.”
“Even better!”
Kyoka glanced at Mikoto. “Any chance you have a crazy support weapon like that too?”
Mikoto nodded. “I call him Gekota, but he’s not on me at the moment.” Gekota was sadly really hurt during the clash with the Vongola’s ninth generation so he was still in repairs.
Tooru nudged shoulders with Chrome. “What about you?”
Startled by the sudden attention Chrome nearly curled into herself and disappeared, but a steady hand from Izuku kept her grounded.
“I-I do….his name’s…Mukurou, a-an owl.”
“Totally adorbes!” Tooru squeaked. “I can’t wait to meet them all!”
“Juudaime!” Hayato called, rushing into the cafeteria as fast as his legs could carry him. He skid to a stop in front of Izuku, startling Momo and Ida, and bowed at a 90 degree angle. “Forgive me for my tardiness! Baseball-Idiot has no sense of urgency!”
“C’mon, don’t be like that Hayato!” Takeshi lagged with his perpetually easygoing smile. “Sup, Midori!”
“I am here, and EXTREMELY sorry for being late! But I found our friend plus some others while searching for boxing club members!” Ryohei hollered, his enthusiasm dial still stuck at 120%.
The three of them hadn’t arrived alone, accompanied by two others from 1-B. Mikoto recognized Tokage Setsuna, whom she’d made acquaintances with on their first day, but not the girl with orange hair tied into a side-ponytail.
“Do you know them, Izuku?” Momo asked.
Izuku smiled brightly. “Yeaj, they’re some of my closest friends. We all graduated from Aldera together.”
“Gokudera Hayato.” Hayato stood straight, adopting his customary slouch that was somehow both uncaring yet subtly threatening. His delinquent glare, honed during his time as a minor Italian villain, had their 1-A friends sweating. “Clean the crap out of your ears and listen up, because I’m only going to say this once : I’m the Juudaime’s right hand man! You nobodies are free to chummy with him, but the moment you’re a threat I’ll be the one who’ll blow you the fuck up! Got it?”
Hayato still needed to work on his socialization, a sentiment Izuku shared as he palmed his face.
“...he’s just like Bakugo.” Momo murmured stunned by the similarities.
“Right-hand man?” Kyoka snorted in good humor. “You playing mafia or something?”
Her jest was closer than she realized.
“Such abhorrent language!” Ida seethed, shooting to his feet and rapid-firing his arm-chops. “Have you no sense of respect for this sacred institution?”
“Don’t mind, don’t mind!” Takeshi laughed as he slung an arm over Hayato’s shoulders, which the half-italian irritably brushed off. “Hayato might be all scathing and prickly on the outside, but he’s loyal and steadfast when it counts! By the way, I’m Yamamoto Takeshi of 1-B! Thanks for looking out for Midori for us!”
Those sitting with Izuku introduced themselves in return.
Meanwhile Ryohei was checking up on Chrome, eyeing her sweets-laden lunch tray with EXTREME disapproval. “Have you been following the nutritional plan the doc and I worked out for you?”
Chrome sunk into her seat guiltily “Not….really?”
“That’s EXTREMELY not good! Kyoko was just telling me how much she worried about you! You’re still skin and bones! You need a balanced diet to provide all the vitamins, minerals, proteins, carbohydrates, and fats your body demands for energy, growth, and physical and mental health! Witness me!” Ryohei ripped off the top-half of his Yuei uniform and struck a pose, flexing his bare but muscular torso and arms. His sculpted body was so solid and tightly defined that ancient Greek statues would erode in envy.
Many of the male students wilted as their manliness was challenged.
“Why did he strip?” Kyoka bemoaned, trying and failing to hide her pink cheeks behind her hands.
“Who cares? I like it.” Tooru whooped.
Ida, meanwhile, was struggling not to blow a gasket of school rules Ryohei flagrantly broke.
“Behold!” Ryohei flexed his cored arms and flashed a front double bicep pose at Chrome, who was on the verge of dying from embarrassment . “Do you think I developed these gains by boxing against diabetes? I say NAY! I forged these fibers of steel upon a solid foundation laid down by a healthy and balanced diet!” He lowered his right arm, held it at a right angle, and pushed his side chest. Someone tossed a fistful of 10,000 yen notes in the air. “If you want to sculpt an amazing body then nothing is more important than a nutritious meal! You’re always complaining how Izuku doesn’t notice you because you’re short, your butt’s flat, and your chest is nonexistent, but…!”
TO BE CONTINUED…!
Notes:
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Next time we see the end of the cafeteria incident and its consequences. See you next week!
Chapter 8
Notes:
Once again I would like to thank you all for the support, the kudos and the comments I got. Keep them coming. So without further adue here is the chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 8 When it Rains, it Pours
Everyone was treated to the unique experience of witnessing a misty train from Hell (with bleeding skulls for wheels, enlarged skeletal arms acting as coupling rods, and a frame assembled from a giant ribcage) ram its mace-shaped buffers into Izuku’s Sun Guardian and send Ryohei catapulting into a faraway wall before dispersing.
While the whole cafeteria almost devolved into a madhouse of chaos after seeing the Devil’s Expressway, wondering if they were being attacked by an unknown villain, those in the know were totally blasé. Mikoto continued to sip her cup of warm tea, Hayato busted a gut at Ryohei’s misfortune, and Takeshi clapped his hands and said a prayer on their boxing-obsessed comrade’s behalf.
“You alive, Ryohei?” Izuku unworriedly called out to the fresh crater.
A fist popped out from the rubble, flashing a thumbs-up “EXTREMELY!”
“...sometimes I forget how terrifying Dokuro’s Quirk can be.” Kyoka mumbled as Takeshi handled the crowd, promising everyone that everything was alright.
Tooru had a cheshire smile in her voice. “So, Dokuro! What’s this about your crush on Mido…?” Her tongue did the tango when she saw Chrome was using her [Real Illusions] to make herself invisible, leaving only her Yuei uniform in plain sight. “Sister?!”
Mikoto felt rather bad for Chrome. Her feelings for Izuku were the most poorly kept secret amongst the Guardians. But while Izuku wasn’t blind to Chrome’s affections, it was impossible for him to miss (especially with his cheating Hyper Intuitions spilling everyone’s secret with him like a pathological gossiper), in his current state of mind any thoughts on romance were immediately placed on the backburner.
Tsuyu, miraculously nonchalant in spite of the sudden mayhem, addressed the other two members of 1-B. “Did you both graduate from Aldera too?”
“No, not us.” the orange-haired girl said, shaking off her shock with a small wave of her hand. “I’m Kendo Itsuka, 1-B’s freshly elected class president. I’m only here to make sure he…” she pointed a thumb at Hayato, who clicked his tongue. “...doesn’t blow anything up. Had no idea his friends were such troublemakers too.”
“He has an explosion Quirk too? He really is another Bakugo.” Kyoka huffed.
A vein bulged in Hayato’s temple. “Like fuck I am! I’m nothing like the Shitty-Pomeranian!”
“Dude, if I didn’t know better I’d say you two were fraternal twins or something.”
“Right?” Takeshi grinned widely. “They got along the best back in middle school!”
“Like fuck I did! Are your eyes made of baseballs too?!” Hayato heatedly denied. “Me? Get along with that rabid dog? After the crap he put the damn Pomeranian put Juudaime through that motherfucker’s nothing but my mortal enemy!”
“Amen.” Chrome whispered darkly.
“Why do you call Izuku ‘Juudaime’, kero?” Tsuyu asked.
“None of your damned business, Frogger!”
As their lighthearted quarreling generated quite a bit of noise, Izuku hastily apologized to the others of 1-B on his friends’ behalf. “I’m so sorry about this, and thank you for being patient with them.”
Setsuna laughed, her large smile flashing her pointed teeth. “Ain’t nothing to worry about Greenie! Your buddies are a riot, which makes them great in my book! Tokage Setsuna! Put her there!” She held out a hand. When Izuku shook it, it suddenly fell off at her wrist. “GAH! MY HAND!” She wailed, swinging around and clutching the stump over-dramatically.
Mikoto would’ve been worried if she somehow missed the complete absence of blood. Her Quirk, [Lizard Tail Splitter], let her safely split her body into separate pieces.
She definitely elicited several startled gasps from bystanders, but Setsuna’s teasing was overwritten by confusion when Izuku didn’t react the way she anticipated. It was damn near impossible to pull a fast one over his Hyper Intuition, which was no doubt already filling him in on the aspects of her prank. But her biggest mistake was literally showing her hand to the most passionate Quirk nerd in the whole country.
“So this is your Quirk! Amazing!” Izuku gushed as he poked, probed, and massaged the detached hand that was wriggling in embarrassment beneath his ministrations. “It still retains full functionality despite being separated from your person! Is it similar to how a lizard’s tail continues to move after falling off? No, this level of autotomy is beyond that! I can still feel a pulse, and these muscles contractions aren’t spontaneous but controlled! Ooooh!” From the way Setsuna’s hand jerked around she was trying and failing, to recall her missing limb. “So there’s a telekinetic link between the separated parts and the main body! Can you split more than just a hand? I’m sure you can!”
“Um, Greenie?”
“Hmm, did your hand get a little colder?” Izuku continued to mumble, lost in his own happy little world. “I see, while detached the cells only have a limited store of energy to run off of, like a battery. What happens if they’re completely depleted? Cell death, no doubt. The hand itself would die if it doesn’t reconnect with the main body in time. But that seems like a major drawback for such a great Quirk, so there must be more. I’ve got it : regeneration! If the individual parts suffer cell death before rejoining with the main body you must be able to regrow what’s lost! It’s incredible! Together your Quirk gives you superb maneuverability, survivability, and strategic potential!”
“Class prez, help me.” Setsuna whined.
“You reap what you sow.” Itsuka said graciously, no doubt having fallen victim to this exact prank earlier and was now enjoying her classmate’s odd comeuppance.
“But there are drawbacks.” Izuku was on a roll as he fiddled with Setsuna’s fingers. “The telekinetic force itself doesn’t feel that strong, maybe around the level of your own physical strength. Can you improve that with physical training? Plus there’s always the risk of the main body coming under threat if you scatter too much of yourself. Do you risk sensory overload if you divide yourself into too many pieces?” Izuku pressed the palm of the detached hand against his cheek, eliciting a startled “HEY!” form Setsuna. “Tactile perception is confirmed, so sensations experienced by detached parts are still transmitted, meaning overload is a possibility. Plus if too many parts are destroyed beyond recovery you’ll be forced to regrow them from scratch, and the energy expenditure would be enormous. Not only that but controlling so many individual pieces would take a great deal of mental focus and awareness to use effectively.”
Mikoto chose to spare Setsuna any further embarrassment, tapping her best friend’s shoulder to snap him back to reality. “Riveting stuff, but you might want to return Setsuna’s hand before she has to put that regeneration to the test.”
“Gah! Sorry!” Izuku hurriedly apologized, returning Setsuna’s limp hand which promptly reattached itself to her wrist’s stump.
“Nah, no need to sweat the small stuff, Greenie.” Setsuna said, taking Izuku’s mutter storm with good humor. “But hot damn, you sure know your stuff. One failed prank and you basically figured out everything there’s to know about my Quirk. Let me guess, you’ve got an intelligence Quirk that makes your brain pump out the good stuff?”
“I-In a way?” Izuku shrugged awkwardly.
Kyoka, Tooru, Momo, Tsuyu and Ida were stunned by the admission.
“There’s more to your crazy Quirk?” Kyoka asked, nearly throwing her arms up in frustration.
Something easily caught onto. “You mean Greenie’s Quirk ain’t [Super Smarts]?”
“No! I mean, I guess it is now? But how…?” Momo was tripping over her words.
Tsuyu did what she did best and got straight to the point. “Your Quirk makes no sense, Izuku. During Aizawa-sensei’s assessment test we all thought you had a fire Quirk, but then we saw you stop Hibari’s weapon by entrapping it in ice.”
“T-Todoroki can use fire and ice too.” invisible Chrome stammered, her uniform shuffling awkwardly.
“You also did that thing were you made your veins glow, and call me crazy but that looked like some sort of durability Quirk, kero.” Tsuyu continued to point out, firing her observations like they were being shot from Snipe’s revolver. “Now you suddenly have enhanced intelligence on top of all that. Quirks normally follow a theme, but yours is all over the place.”
Everyone was so busy focusing on Izuku they didn’t notice Mikoto and the other Guardians tense.
“That’s just how it appears on the surface.” Mikoto tried to deflect, maintaining an easygoing tone. The last thing Izuku’s life needed was for the truth of [Harmonization], the Quirk that allowed the Vongola to rise to prominence and dominate Italy for the last two centuries, to be made public. “It’s like my [Electromaster]. I can pull off a variety of feats that makes it look like I’ve got multiple Quirks.”
“But yours makes sense.” steamroller Tsuyu rolled right over her. “Everything you’ve shown can be derived from your base power.” Was her Quirk really [Frog]? Because she was more like a bloodhound that’d caught the scent of fleeing prey.
Before their first day at Yuei, Izuku told them he’d be limiting himself to only using the Sky Flames of [Harmonization] in order to avoid attracting unwanted attention, but Kyoya forced him to give everyone a small peak at his true hand on just their second day.
Damn it, Kyoya! Why couldn’t you have fought Izuku somewhere without witnesses? Mikoto internally groused. Kyoya might’ve been the strongest of Izuku’s Guardians, and the most reliable in a fight, but there was no doubting he was a blunt instrument. So long as he got his own point across Kyoya didn’t care for the bleating of sheep.
“Oi, Frogger.” Hayato loomed over Tsuyu threateningly, his hands itching for his dynamite. “Sounds to me like you’re trying to accuse Juudaime of something. Spit it out, so I can engrave it on your gravestone.” The murder dripping from his every word made the seemingly stoic Tsuyu shudder.
Izuku hurriedly scrambled to his feet before his over-protective Storm Guardian did something stupidly drastic. “Hayato, it’s fine!” His hands were frantically flailing in every which way. “They’re just curious, that’s all! There’s nothing…!”
Then he froze, verdant eyes flashing amber, and every Guardian recognized the telltale sign.
Hyper Intuition was warning Izuku of an imminent threat.
The Guardians reacted on instinct.
Mikoto and Chrome shot out of their seats, startling their tablemates. They were immediately joined by Hayato, Takeshi, and Ryohei (who charged out of the rubble he’d been relaxing beneath) to form a tight defensive perimeter around Izuku. Their eyes were peeled and their senses heightened for the slightest hint of hostility.
“What are you guys doing?” Momo asked, as bewildered by their sudden action as everyone else.
“Something’s wrong.” Izuku stated, voice devoid of the slightest doubt.
VREEEEE!!!
As if prophesized by his words, the school’s alarm blared from every intercom. The seeds of panic were showered upon the student populace, and those with sensitive hearing (like Kyoka) wound up clutching their ears to stem the pain.
“Warning! WARNING! Security Level Three has been broken! All students please follow protocols and evacuate in an orderly fashion!”
“What’s Security Level Three?” Ida asked a 3rd year that was hurriedly joining the rush of students stampeding straight for the exits.
“It means someone broke into campus!” came the panicked reply. “Hasn’t happened once in my three years here! Hurry up and run!”
Fear was eating away at calm rationality, and while Mikoto caught a few 3rd years in the Heroics Department (a blond with beady blue eyes and a girl with long periwinkle hair) trying to direct their fellow students in evacuating they were being steadily overwhelmed by the mob’s collective panic.
“W-What’re we supposed to do?” Tooru asked anxiously, unconsciously clutching Kyoka’s arm. “Did our class even go over what the evacuation plan’s supposed to be?”
“It was probably covered during orientation! Damn it, Aizawa-sensei!” Kyoka cursed out their homeroom teacher.
“Vlad-sensei covered it with us! Follow me!” Itsuka shouted to make herself heard over the terrified ruckus deafening the cafeteria.
But Mikoto didn’t budge, none of the Guardians did. Instead, her head snapped to the side as she saw the EM waves throughout Yuei suddenly devolve into a flurry of unnatural activity. Mikoto stared beyond the physical walls, peering directly at the origin, as the electromagnetic waves convulsed, twisted, converged, and then ruptured as a new source abruptly appeared. She knew exactly what was going on, having witnessed a familiar phenomenon from the Vongola’s Vendicare : it was a portal Quirk.
Someone was using the school-wide alarm as a distraction to sneak onto campus.
“Izuku.” Mikoto warned.
Not that it was needed, as Izuku was already focusing in the same direction, warned beforehand by his Hyper Intuition.
“What’re you idiots doing?” Setsuna shouted, seeing Izuku and his Guardians hadn’t moved an inch. “We need to ditch this takoyaki stand, like, yesterday!”
Then Izuku spoke. Although his tone was soft, his words pierced the scared yammering with an unyielding authority.
“Mikoto, Ryohei. People will get hurt if this continues. Go with Momo and the others and calm down as many as you can.”
“Understood.” Mikoto said.
Ryohei slammed his fists together. “We’ll EXTREMELY take care of it!”
“Hayato.” Izuku continued.
“Yes, Juudaime?”
“Warn the teachers. Tell them a villain has snuck into Yuei. Start with Aizawa, he’s dealing with the distractions at the front gate.”
“Leave it to me!” Hayato vowed. He was a bit too enthusiastic about carrying out Izuku’s orders, whipping out his dynamite and proceeding to blow holes in one wall after another so he could make a beeline for their homeroom teacher.
No doubt earning himself another month of detention for the destruction of school property.
The seriousness of their situation was highlighted when Izuku didn’t bother to reprimand his Storm Guardian.
“Takeshi.” Takeshi grinned a little wider when Izuku spoke in Boss Mode. “The intruder’s actions are the opening act to something much greater. They’re in the faculty office : subdue them if you can…put them down if you can’t. Chrome and I will back you up as soon as possible. And Takeshi, if the choice is between you and them you know what to do.”
Izuku was speaking shortly and concisely, meaning their window of opportunity was already shrinking fast. There wasn’t a second to waste.
Takeshi’s smile remained, but there was a subtle shift to it. Many would never notice the seemingly insignificant change, but those who’d drowned themselves in violence and blood woud recognize the look : the peek of steel, a katana on the verge of being drawn to mercilessly reap the neck of its foes.
“You can count on me.”
Mikoto wasn’t worried for her fellow Guardian, no matter the villain he’d face.
Because he was the Rain that washed away the Sky’s enemies.
If Hibari Kyoya was Izuku’s strongest Guardian…
…then Yamamoto Takeshi was his Deadliest Guardian.
“Give us All Might! He’s in there, isn’t he?!”
“Just a comment! That’s all we want!”
“We have a constitutional right to report the truth to our viewers!”
Shouta barely concealed his scowl beneath his custom capture scarf as he and Hizashi were hounded by these rabid hyenas. The two teachers were standing firm before the main entrance of Yuei’s campus to prevent these media sharks from swarming into the school to find their quarry.
“This is completely illegal.” Hizashi leaned over to grumble in Shouta’s ear. “How’d they even get past the Yuei Barrier? These idiots are totally trespassing. Can’t I just blow them away already?”
“Lay off it, Mic.” Shouta grunted, unwilling to admit he would’ve paid good money to see that. As an underground hero he loathed the media with a passion. Seeing these circus clowns intrude on school grounds did nothing but reinforce that. But as much as he wished otherwise, these carrion scavengers weren’t actual ‘villains’, meaning the heroes had no authorization to use their Quirks against them. “They’ll write some hatchet job about you if you do. Just wait for the cops to get here and escort them away.”
“Tch, I know. Doesn’t mean I like it.”
Neither did Shouta, who was extremely tempted to grab the microphone being shoved in his face and use its cord to strangle an idiot, but the law was the law. All they could do right now was…
Boom!
…hold on, why was he hearing explosions?
The question answered itself as the front doors of Yuei’s main building were blown off their frames, nearly hitting Shouta and Hizashi while sending the clustered mass of panicked reporters scrambling.
Shouta’s headache returned with a grudge as Problem Child #5 stormed from the opening while carrying dozens of sticks of dynamite between his fingers. Why? Why?! Those were automatic doors! They would have opened on their own! And where in Nezu’s furry white backside did Gokudera hide all those explosives? His belongings were checked the moment he stepped foot on campus grounds, yet he still found a way to smuggle dynamite into Yuei!
The pounding in Shouta’s head only grew worse when the land sharks immediately swiveled their cameras and camcorders to Yuei’s worst delinquent as blood hit the water. They smelled a scandal, one they were ready to sink their jagged teeth into.
“Droopy Eyes!” Gokudera shouted, ignoring the hundreds of simultaneous camera flashes bombarding him.
“Gokudera.” Shouta refrained from strangling Problem Child #5 with his capture weapon, especially in front of a live audience. Hizashi was too busy picking his jaw off the ground. “You’re hereby suspended for wanton destruction of school…”
“Fuck that!” The delinquent interrupted, sending his high school career straight to the gallows. “These worthless dipshits…” he slashed a hand at the mob of reporters, many of whom twitched in annoyance. “...are a damn distraction! A villain snuck into the school!”
Whatever Shouta planned on saying was immediately erased as an icicle of dread rammed itself into his kidney.
“You’re serious.” It wasn’t a question, but a demand. If Gokudera was lying about a matter as serious as this, a mere suspension would be the least of his worries.
Gokudera gnashed his teeth. “Why the fuck would I lie about shit like this?! Juudaime told me to come and warn your tired ass, and that’s what I’m doing! Now do you have any more pointless questions or…?”
Crash!
Hundreds of heads, and just as many cameras, whipped upwards as an upper floor of Yuei, the one where the faculty office was located, burst outwards in a wave of cerulean water. Someone was bodily ejected from the building and tossed onto the P.E. field, accompanied closely by the sound of crashing waves.
That water belonged to Yamamoto Takeshi’s Quirk.
A student of Yuei was under attack.
All doubts vanished from Shouta’s mind.
“Mic! Get these idiots out of here!” Eraserhead ordered, pointing at the suicidal idiots on the verge of stampeding towards the source of the commotion to get their prime time footage. “Gokudera, find the rest of your class and follow them to safety!”
The Erasure Hero didn’t stay long enough to see if the delinquent did as he was told, slamming his yellow goggles over his eyes as he sprinted towards the outdoor field. The reporters lacking any sense of self-preservation tried to follow him, but Present Mic disoriented the fools with a brief blast of his [Voice] Quirk. Once the press interfered in official hero business they went from civilians to obstructers of the law.
“This is Eraserhead to all Yuei heroes!” The Erasure Hero barked into his emergency communicator, opening a priority channel to all heroes on Yuei grounds. “We have an Emergency Alpha-Victor-Charlie! Target is located on the P.E. field, and is currently engaged with a 1st year student! I need the nearest heroes to respond NOW!”
A few moments prior.
Shigaraki Tomura stepped out of Kurogiri’s dark fog portal and into the enemy faction’s territory. He rolled a Nat-20 with his distraction because there wasn’t a single hero in sight, and the electronic scrambler Sensei lent him meant the security cameras were only catching static.
His fingers itched. Shigaraki wanted to squeeze his hands around the hero society’s gleaming tower of self-righteousness and revel in their horror as he reduced it to a monument of their failures. The best way to do that? [Decay] a few wannabe do-gooders, and let the world watch as the so-called heroes failed to even protect the brats in their own stronghold. But he resisted, because this was only a subquest. He was only here to acquire the Key Item that’d unlock the Main Quest : killing the Symbol of Peace.
“Stealth mode.” Shigaraki mumbled to himself, shifting through the desks while taking utmost care not to touch anything with all five fingers at once. “Stupid timed missions, not letting me loot in peace.” His League of Villains needed to know when their precious All Might was separated from the other heroes before they could properly start the Raid Battle.
The dry skin around Shigaraki’s bloodshot eyes wrinkled as he spotted the folder that might as well have a glowing exclamation mark hovering over it : it was labeled Teacher Schedules.
He almost heard the customary ding of a successful quest completion as took it into his inventory.
He was about to call Kurogiri for his exit strategy when his unkempt hair stood on hand. Goosebumps broke out like a bad rash across his skin.
Every survival instinct he possessed screamed as murderous intent flooded the office.
Shigaraky frantically threw himself aside, tripping over a poorly placed box in his haste and slamming into a random teacher’s desk. Yet it was that bit of misfortune that saved his life, as a fucking katana cleaved through the spot he was just standing in.
He almost git ganked on a recon mission! He must’ve failed a stealth check somewhere and got caught, so he shifted gears. Sensei had been helping Shigaraki power-level like crazy by farming EXP from on-duty heroes around the Shizuoka prefecture. There was no way he’d lose to some lazy hero weakened by their ‘teacher’ debuff, which forced them to waste their time babysitting noobs instead of grinding their skills.
But when Shigaraki flipped to his feet and faced the jungler, he was taken aback : because it was just a teenager brat wearing a school uniform. He’d been attacked by some random noob? RNGesus must’ve dumped a critical fail in his head for him to get caught by a nameless NPC. Whatever, this would be over in an instant. One touch and the heroes would be cleaning the twerp off the floor with a dustpan, and Shigaraki could return from his subquest with a success.
But what was that bloodlust from earlier? He must’ve imagined it. His first mission into infiltrating enemy territory must be screwing with his stress meter. Something he’d work on later.
“Yo!” the NPC said with idiotic cheer, his sword carelessly slung over one shoulder. Seriously a katana? What a weeb. “That was a great dodge! I seriously thought I had you there! I’m Yamamoto Takeshi, what’s your name?”
Shigaraki snorted. Clearly intelligence was this mob’s dump stat. “There’s no point in giving my name to a corpse!”
The soles of his feet dug into the tiled floor as he lunged at the NPC. He might not have a speed Quirk, but battling and killing real heroes improved his stats beyond anything a wannabe brat could hope to struggle against.
The nobody was so outclassed he hadn’t managed to blink as Shigaraki’s fingers loomed centimeters away froù his…!
Wham!
A wordless scream almost clawed its way out of Shigaraki’s throat as his collar bone snapped like a twig, broken in twain by a downward slash of the NPC’s sword. The only reason Shigaraki wasn’t split in two was because the brat used the back of his sword!
“Don’t be like that!” the NPC laughed, like he didn't have a care in the world. “After all, I gave you mine!”
“You…!”
“8th Form : Pelting Rain!”
Azure water sprang forth from the brat’s katana, which became a blur of deadly folded steel as it came lashing towards Shigaraki’s unguarded body. The annoying mod was fast, but Shigaraki had fought and killed faster! So he dodged…
The katana’s blunted side struck like a metal baseball bat, and scored a series of hits that Shigaraki failed to follow. Pain radiated from his ribs, chest, left forearm, and right thigh as he was sent ass over teakettle. He got flung back so hard he hit the ceiling, breaking a few fluorescent lights, before bouncing off the floor.
What the shit just happened? How’d a frigging mod character knock him over like that? And what was with the water? The NPC was using some sort of sword-style too! Who’d this fake samurai think he was, Kamado Tanjiro?
Clenching his yellow teeth hard enough to make the enamel crack, Shigaraki ignored his fractured bones and shoved himself upright with murder in his glare. A quick death was far too good for this NPC! He no longer cared if this quest was timed or not, Shigaraki was going to make sure the Tanjiro-knockoff suffered.
“Whoa! You’re still standing? You’re tough for such a skinny guy!”
“Keep laughing, brat!” Shigaraki snarled, pushing the pain out of his mind as he charged again.
But he didn’t attack directly. He still didn’t know how the weeb caught him off guard like that. Perhaps there was more to the brat’s Quirk than hydrogenesis, or maybe Shigaraki just let his guard down way too far; mistaking the fake samurai for a Lvl.1 NPC when he was actually Lvl.10.
Either way, Shigaraki was going to take the runt a little more seriously. Instead of attacking directly he grabbed a handful of stationary from one of the scattered desks (pens, binders, and stacks of paper) and chucked them at the kiddie-hero’s face. With the brat easily distracted, Shigaraki bent low and wove between the teacher’s desks, escaping the NPC’s line of sight. He effortlessly got behind the inexperienced twerp and, with a sinister sneer, reached out to grab fake-Tanjiro’s sword arm. His Quirk, [Decay], would rot the brat’s skin, muscles, and bones into dust the instant all five of his fingers landed!
Except the NPC leaned aside, avoiding Shigaraki’s hand without even looking, before grabbing him by the wrist. Shigaraki’s world went upside-down as the brat easily chucked him over one shoulder and, before the bewildered villain even hit the floor, grabbed his katana’s handle with both hands.
“1st Form, Rain Axle!”
The katana’s pommel slammed into Shigaraki’s chest, and searing pain lanced through him as he heard his sternum crack. Yet the damage was more than that. It felt like a shockwave had rippled from the point of impact, cascading across Shigaraki’s internals and nearly turning his lungs into pulp.
He crumpled to the floor spewing blood, his lungs acting as if he’d inhaled shards of glass.
Were he any D-lust villain he might’ve gone down then and there, but Shigaraki’s fury kept him fighting. He wasn’t going to fail a goddamned subquest, especially when it was the next vital step to killing All Might!
So he was back on his feet like a zombie, snarling as the despicable NPC with all his indignation.
The tryhard samurai had the nerve to keep grinning. “Still standing? Not bad! I was so sure that’d keep you down! I guess you’re not just any random villain.”
Of course he wasn’t! He was Shigaraki Tomura, leader of the League of Villains and the one who’d crush Japan’s pathetic Symbol of Peace with his own two hands! Or at least that’s what Shigaraki would have said if his throat wasn’t busy vomiting blood by the mouthful.
“But you’re kind of putting me on the spot here.” the NPC, no Shigaraki couldn’t afford to look down on the weeb anymore; the griefer continued casually. “Can’t you just, you know, surrender? Whatever your dastardly plan is, it’s totally not happening anymore. I mean, you’re just so weak.”
Shigaraki stilled.
The words echoed in his skull.
His rage exploded. A scream, spittle, and blood erupted past his chapped lips as he barreled at the soon-to-be-corpse with mindless abandon.
“Whoa!” fake-Tanjiro cried, weaving around Shigaraki’s grasping hands.
Just once! Shigaraku just needed to touch the insufferable brat once! He wasn’t leaving this zone until the griefer was reduced to bloody chucks of dust at his feet! Yet no matter how hard he tried, or how feverishly he pushed himself to move faster and faster, the freaking hero student easily dodged his hands by the tips of his fingers!
How high was his Armor Class?!
But then Shigaraki’s golden opportunity came when the brat was distracted by a flicker of Kurogiri’s [Warp Gate]. The appearance of the foggy portal meant Shigaraki’s allotted time was up. Had everything gone according to plan he would’ve retreated to complete this damnable subquest.
“Grab him, Kurogiri!” Shigaraki howled.
Quickly grasping the stealth mission had gone to shit, Kurogiri expanded his fog into a threatening cloud of zero-visibility smoke that filled the teacher’s office. Perfect! All Kurogiri needed to do now was immobilize fake-Tanjiro with a portal, and Shigaraki could take his sweet time Decaying the brat’s limb one by one!
“7th Form : Splashing Rain!”
Only for the aggravating griefer to unleash a wave of water from his katana. Shigaraki’s eyes nearly popped as they somehow washed away Kurogiri’s fog, even forcing his [Warp Gate] to snap shut.
Leaving Shigaraki on his own.
It wasn’t just hydrogenesis! There was no way mere water could’ve neutralized Kurogiri’s Quirk like that!
“Man, you’re tenacious!” The hero student sounded proud of Shigaraki for some inane reason. “You’re totally the type that’ll keep fighting no matter how badly you’re hurt, aren’t you? Believe me, I know the type! All my friends are like that, and they’re the best! But…” the kid’s smile never changed, but his brown eyes hardened into tampered steel. “Midori’s trusting me to stop you. So if I can’t make you give up… oh well, guess I’ve got no choice. Sorry in advance!”
Something shifted.
It felt like rain pellets, cold as ice and as sharp as needles, were prickling against Shigaraki’s skin, making him break out into a cold sweat.
It was happening again : that subtle yet unmistakable killing intent.
Was it coming from the kid? Not a chance. It didn’t matter how long fake-Tanjiro had grinded his sword skill for, at the end of the day he was still nothing but a naive brat living in a world of peace, of lies. There wasn’t a chance he had the actual guts to….!
-slice-
Every instinct Shigaraki had screamed at him to dodge, and if Sensei had taught him anything it was to always listen to his survival instincts. So he did. He jumped backwards to create some distance and looked at the place he just left. He saw that the desk that was behind him was cut in two pieces.
For the first time in the fight the brat had used the edge of his blade instead of the back. Did the brat have the guts to do a lethal attack?
But Shigaraki had no more time to think as another attack came his way, this time going for the neck.
Shigaraki jumped backwards once more, doing a backflip in the process for added speed. But he wasn’t able to escape fully unscathed as a trickle of blood slowly trickled from a swallow wound in his neck.
For a single heart-stopping second, he was terrified. Because just now if he’d been just a millisecond too slow, his head would’ve been sent flying from his shoulders.
This so-called hero student seriously tried to kill him!
On top of that, Yamamoto Takeshi’s expression hadn’t changed one bit. He was still smiling, but Shigaraki no longer saw it as a devil-may-care grin. No, it was the cold smile of an assassin ready to add another kill to their tally.
“Oh, so that’s your Quirk.” the killer noted, observing Shigaraki’s hands. He’d accidently pressed all of his fingers against the floor, rotting parts of it into ash at his touch. “Kinda like Hayato’s. That must be why Midori told me to be careful.”
Shigaraki had no idea who this Midori was, nor did he have the luxury to care. He must have E-Rank luck to run into Yuei’s random challenge encounter! How was he supposed to know some shitty dev was going to toss such an over-leveled enemy against him?!
In any other situation Shigaraki would’ve enthusiastically recruited this villain in hero’s clothing. His League of Villains needed hardened killers not afraid to get their hands dirty.
But right now, the only thing on his mind was getting out of here alive!
To do that, he either needed a distraction or to defeat his foe. For the former as demonstrated by Yamamoto’s Quirk help would be hard to get. For the latter it would be equally hard as for someone without a speed Quirk Yamamoto was ridiculously fast.
Nevertheless Shigaraki was fueled by his hatred of hypocritical heroes and hero society in general. Something that was sure to grant him temporary HP in order to ensure his survival long enough for Sensei and his mad doctor to fix him up, even if they had to rip the [Hyper Regeneration] Quirk out of a Nomu to fix him.
His mind made up on a strategy, Shigaraki got ready to sprang up too Yamamoto to guarantee his [Decay] would hit even if he had to get slashed to do it. As long as he wasn’t one shotted he would then be able to get away.
As soon as he started his jump, Shigaraki, to his growing horror, noticed that he wasn’t as fast as usual. And knowing his body inside and out thanks to Sensei rigorous training, quickly deduced that this effect must be the result of a Quirk.
Yamamoto Takeshi wasn’t just a DPS, he was a debuffer! That water of his wasn’t just a pretty effect to his sword style, it weakened everything it touched.
Shigaraki, understanding this, tried to backpedal as fast as he could. But, having already been touched by the waters of Yamamoto’s Quirk, he was slow enough that Yamamoto’s katana found him and sliced him up good.
The end result of that little battle was heavily in Yamamoto’s favor as Shigaraki wasn’t able to touch him. Shigaraki had a cut above his left eyebrow, the blood flowing from that wound forced him to close his left eye, several cuts upon his right arm that rendered that limb completely useless, and two deep cuts on his thighs almost to the bone.
Not only that, but each cut came with its own stack of debuffs from Yamamoto’s Quirk meaning Shigaraki was even weaker than before.
Shigaraki saw that the shadow of the Grim Reaper was just hovering over him, ready to collect his soul as soon as he passed away. But Shigaraki wasn’t ready to die yet! He still hadn’t killed All Might or burned down hero society! And so he did the only thing left for him to do.
As if sensing that Shigaraki was doing something Yamamoto jumped, sword ready to end Shigaraki’s life for good.
“SENSEI!”
The spot above his head suddenly vomited black tar that smelled worse than week-old fermenting sewage. Yet from it emerged a shallow-gray hand that caught the killer’s sword, the blade splitting dense muscles and lodging into artificially thickened bone. Most importantly, it saved Shigaraki from being bisected.
It was Sensei’s portal Quirk.
Shigaraki gagged as his mouth began regurgitating identical black tar, and while it’d take weeks to wash out the noxious odor he couldn’t bring himself to care at all. Because he was saved! Just like his Sensei promised, he’d always be there for Shigaraki whenever he needed him! As relief ripped away at his dwindling fears, Shigaraki glowered at Yamamoto Takeshi to commit his face to memory. Even if he was a pretty cool killer Shigaraki would’ve loved to have in his League of Villains, there was a price to pay for screwing up his subquest, and Shigaraki planned on exacting a heavy…
“6th Form : Late Autumn Rain!”
A surge of water, large enough to be called a wave, erupted from Yamamoto’s sword, weakening the disposable Nomu’s hand enough that the blade cleaved through the rest of it with dangerous ease, before slamming into Shigaraki. To his horror it neutralized Sensei’s portal the same way it did with Kurogiri’s. The Nomu’s portal shut close around its biceps, severing the arm as it flopped against the floor, while washing out the tar in Shigaraki’s mouth.
As easily as that Shigaraki was stranded in a too-small room with a dangerous killer, and that killer wasn’t him.
“Sorry about that!” Yamamoto laughed. The innocent sound had never seemed more menacing. “But I promised Midori I wouldn’t let you escape. So I need you to die for me, okay?”
What the hell was wrong with this psycho?!
“Shigure Soen Ryu, 10th Form : Clash of the Swallow!”
If Yamamoto’s previous technique summoned a wave, then this time he conjured a tsunami. It filled the room to the brim and hit Shigaraki with the force to level a building, all while the tip of Yamamoto’s katana closed in unerringly towards Shigaraki’s rapidly pounding heart.
His world was washed away by the crash of a tidal wave.
…
…
…
Then he jolted to awareness, and immediately wished he hadn’t. Everything hurt, like he’d been stepped on by Mount Lady; repeatedly. His eyes, so heavy he wanted to close them and never wake up again, blearily cracked open and saw the cloudy blue skies above.
He’d been blown right out of the boss arena, landing in the middle of what appeared to be a track field. His back didn’t appreciate the harsh landing, but that pain was nothing compared to the deep cuts that adorned his limbs. It was only luck that he hadn’t lost them in this fight, even so with so many cut to the muscles they would be out of commission for a while.
How was he still alive? The samurai’s last attack should’ve killed him. Shigaraki hadn’t been able to put up even a meager defense. Then he craned his head to the side, and saw the corpse of a gray Nomu lying beside him. Its missing arm meant it was the same bioweapon that’d saved him earlier. There was a stab wound over its heart, penetrating all the way through its chest.
Sensei must’ve somehow teleported it between Shigaraki and the killer samurai in the nick of time, although they still wound up being blasted away by the tidal wave that followed.
Seriously, who the fuck was this kid? Despite their carefree smile Yamamoto was relentless. From the moment they engaged, he cut up Shigaraki with a familiarity born from hard experience. And when Shigaraki refused to stay down, they didn’t hesitate for a second to resort to lethal measures. Shigaraki had only seen such ruthlessness from the outcasts of society, losers stepped on and trodden by this disgusting hero-adoring culture until they either faded into obscurity…or became monsters that fought back.
A figure flickered overhead, their shadow passing over Shigaraki.
Yamamoto came descending from the sky, katana aimed downward and straight for the point between Shigaraki’s eyes.
He only survived because Sensei opened another portal that ejected a second gray Nomu, bulkier than the one before, that scooped Shigaraki into its arms and pulled him out of Death’s way.
Sensei was still watching over him. With his support Shigaraki knew that he’d be getting out of this clusterfuck alive. However that relief gave way to shame, since Sensei was forced to intervene because Shigaraki failed a simple subquest.
Yamamoto frowned for the first time, slowly pulling his katana out of the ground when it failed to find a home in Shigaraki’s head. He studied the genetically engineered and dramatically modified human test subjects, as the mindless bioweapon stood over two meters tall even while hunched over. The Nomu’s many listless eyes swiveled and bulged from its exposed brain, which Shigaraki always found dumb. Why go around flaunting such an obvious weak spot? Sensei’s doctor might’ve been a demented genius when it came to Quirks and biology but obviously forgot to put any points into Wisdom.
Shigaraki’s hatred threatened to resurface, braying for him to find a way to latch onto Yamamoto and watch as he decayed to ash. However logic won as Shigaraki wasn’t an idiot, he knew that he was hurt all over, that he couldn’t actually move on his own, and that even if he could move Yamamoto was almost as fast as him, perhaps even faster and so victory was far from certain. But more importantly his mission was a success and killing All Might was far more important than wasting energy trying to kill a brat.
The Nomu dropped an earpiece into Shigaraki’s hand, which he sluggishly shoved into his ear. The killer’s debuff was slowly wearing off, but not fast enough.
“Shigaraki Tomura.” He heard Kurogiri’s voice. “Have you acquired what you need?”
“Yes. But an annoyingly strong brat stopped me from leaving.” He spat, never taking his eyes off the samurai.
“I see, only a partial success then.” There was no judgement in Kurogiri’s tone, there never was. “Let the Nomu serve as your disposable shield. Master will recall you once the opportunity presents itself.”
“No way! One isn’t going to be enough! This is a trash unit and I am in the open, reinforcement is sure to be coming sooner rather than later. I need every available Nomus sent to my location as soon as possible!”
The fake-Tanjiro hadn’t made a move. He seemed wary of the Nomu. It was only a gray Nomu, meaning it was a 3rd tier trash whose sole purpose was to be cannon fodder, but the samurai didn’t know that. Or maybe Yamamoto had exhausted himself with that last move and needed to wait for his skills to come off cooldown. Either way, this situation allowed for Shigaraki to wait for reinforcement and then made his exit.
“Shall I send the Anti-All Might unit?”
Good question. With a 5-Star unit like that, escape was a guarantee. But on the other hand, All Might’s presence on campus wasn’t confirmed and that would mean revealing the unit to their opponents giving them time to prepare counter measures.
In the end logic won over rage as Shigaraki answered Kurogiri’s inquiry “No, can’t spoil the main event when we don’t even know if the raid boss is here or not. Give me all the low-level Nomu Sensei can spare. They’re the doc’s failed experiments, so he shouldn’t care what happens to them.”
“...Master says he’ll send 10. Prepare yourself for extraction.”
Shigaraki’s wet lips split as he smiled in glee as more and more tar-portals opened up and deposited the additional Nomu around him. These trash mobs weren’t here to win the battle but to distract Yamamoto and keep him from shutting Kurogiri’s Quirk once again.
Using the other Nomus as distraction, Kurogiri remotely used his Quirk to surround Shigaraki with cloud-portals.
“Enjoy these last gifts from me, fake-Tanjiro. Hope your ultimate is ready for use again if you wish to survive those. If not, you got bad mileage on your cooldowns.” Shigaraki gloated as this was probably the last time he could do so in this encounter.
But Yamamoto remained oddly calm, even being outnumbered twelve to one. The killer samurai sighed. “Sorry, Midori. I didn’t expect him to have backup.”
Even as Kurogiri’s portal was closing, Shigaraki saw several things that made him very glad he didn’t stay to fight. The first of those things was twin torrents of orange flames crashing down against the field, dispersing to reveal another student with fuzzy green hair with a one-eyed bitch hanging around his shoulders.
“Are you alright, Takeshi?” The rando asked, fire coating both of his hands. So this knockoff Endeavor was the ‘Midori’ that Yamamoto mentioned before. The one that sent the killer after Shigaraki. So Shigaraki made sure to commit his face to memory to be killed later.
The two new arrivals were dressed like students, but after being surprised by Yamamoto before, Shigaraki wasn’t about to commit the same mistake again. So he labeled them as hidden bosses.
“Haven’t been touched.” The samurai replied cheerily.
“Yamamoto!” A high-leveled player rushed into their PVP arena just as Kurogiri’s portal closed. The long shaggy black hair that nearly concealed the yellow goggles covering the eyes made the identity of the intruder quite clear. Eraserhead, the only hero Sensei said to avoid fighting until after All Might was dealt with.
Eraserhead hid his grimace beneath a mask of professionalism, keeping his capture weapon at the ready as he analyzed the situation. 11 villains in total : hulking monstrosities that shared enough similarities to make his stomach sink in disgust. The corpse-like pallor of their skin, the exposed brain, the lifeless eyes…they were either products of a very unfortunate Quirk, or the sick result of a soulless scientist’s mad experiments.
The mere notion of the latter hit him with palpable revulsion.
“Yamamoto, Midoriya, Dokuro. Get to safety!” Eraserhead ordered. It’d be hard enough to subdue so many villains in a straight fight, let alone stall them while defending his students. He didn’t care how strong Midoriya was, Aizawa Shouta was a hero as well as a teacher : he wouldn’t have children fight his battles for him.
So his left eye twitched when the problem children stood their ground. If anything, their stances conveyed that they were ready and willing to throw down.
When they got out of this safe and sound, all three of them were going to go into detention with a specific focus on following orders during an emergency.
“I gave you three an….”
“Takeshi, fill me in.” Problem Child #1 interrupted, with an authority Eraserhead only heard from veteran pros, or seasoned vigilantes.
“The one villain that managed to escape had some sort of decaying Quirk, works quite like Uraraka’s with five fingers activation. He must have succeeded in his goal, and is probably behind the press distraction.” Problem Child #7 reported, deferring to Midoriya. “They also got at least two guys out there with portal Quirks, one is called ‘Sensei’ and seemed like the boss, the other is called Kurogiri and seemed more like a follower. That’s how they got those things in there, plus another one that died earlier. What are those things? And why are their brains outside?”
What the hell was going on? Not one but two different portal Quirks?! That was going to be a nightmare to defend against. But aside from that, Eraserhead was stunned at the casual way Yamamoto referred to the death of one of the villains. He may not be found legally guilty as he was under attack at the time but still…. In order to avoid thinking about it during the hard battle about to begin Eraserhead put it down to shock.
Midoriya’s eyes narrowed. “They’re bioweapons.”
Eraserhead figured Midoriya’s Hyper Intuitions figured it out, but it was their reactions that truly stunned him. They barely reacted to the appearances of those villains. If anything, they looked at the bioweapons with pity. This wasn’t their first time faced with such darkness, and that brought forth even more unsettling questions.
Eraserhead seriously hoped the rat unearthed more of Midoriya’s secrets, because this was getting ridiculous!
“I’m sorry I’m late Juudaime!”
Eraserhead couldn’t suppress his groan of frustration as Problem Child #5 rushed to Midoriya’s side, dozens of sticks of dynamite fitted between his fingers.
Seemingly reacting to something, the bioweapons shrieked in unison, stretching the limits of the human vocal cords to produce an unearthly wail that hit like a wall made of rusty nails. Then they charged, wildly ambling for them with an acceleration well beyond an average person’s limits.
Eraserhead immediately placed himself in front of his students, his eyes growing warm as he activated his [Erasure]. But even when he canceled out the bioweapons’ Quirks they didn’t slow down in the slightest, meaning their speed was the result of whatever physical augmentations were done to them.
This was very bad. If these disgusting creations were as strong as they were fast, without Quirks, then Eraserhead was at a severe disadvantage he needed to…
“Wipe them out.” Midoriya commanded.
The Erasure Hero’s line of thought was interrupted as Yamamoto swung his bloodied katana, releasing a wave of his [Tranquility] at the Nomu. Problem Child #7’s cerulean water wave crashed into the bioweapons and slowed their movements to a crawl.
An opening Problem Child #4 exploited as her mist poured off her body, swirling upwards and consolidating into over 50 indigo torii gates. But those weren’t typical shrine gates, but modified guillotines that fell upon the lethargic bioweapons and brutally chopped the lot of them into large bloody chunks.
Eraserhead knew he didn’t look professional with his jaw dropped to the ground but the feeling didn’t last long when he saw that the body parts were still squirming, trying to reform. Such vitality wasn’t natural.
“Eat shit and DIE!” Problem Child #5 threw a cluster of dynamite into the air seemingly without aiming.
It was thanks to Eraserhead’s dynamic vision that he noticed the discrepancy. These weren’t the regular sticks of explosives Gokudera frequently touted. Instead they were colored a deep crimson, the same shade of his [Disintegration], and had metallic nozzles attached to the base of each.
No, not nozzles : miniaturized propulsion systems, igniting and launching every stick of dynamite at the wriggling Nomu pieces like a round of RPGs.
But the true shock came when the explosives detonated. They didn’t explode like typical bombs, instead they unleashed Gokudera’s [Disintegration] at their targets. The helpless bioweapons were bombarded by bursts of deadly crimson energy, and when it was over Yuei’s track field was mottled with dozens of unnaturally smooth depressions where the engineered creatures once lied.
Just like that it was over. Eraserhead briefly wondered which lunatic support technician figured out a way for Gokudera to store his dangerous Quirk into his already dangerous weapons and then modified them so they could be thrown and added a f*cking propulsion system.
TO BE CONTINUED….
Notes:
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I would also like to use this space to answer some questions I got from a comment written by BudgetHouders2 :
Momo and Izuku will start to have more interactions after the USJ.
Whose stronger between Izuku and his Guardians is a difficult question to answer. But I will say this if the fight wasn't interrupted by the teachers Kyoya would have won in the end for multiple reasons but here are the main two. One Izuku can't fight against his friend at his full power because he wouldn't want to seriously hurt them. Two the main point of the fight is that Izuku was handicaped by depression and self doubt something Kyoya hated and as a battle maniac he simply thought Izuku needed a good fight to get his head together.
The rate of the chapters will start to drop after this one but not because there is no other chapter in my inspiration for this fic (this chapter shows a great deviation from the other story) but because I start a new job tomorrow and as such will have less time to write. The rate will drop to one chapter every two sundays so the next one should drop on the 21st of September.
As for Harmonization. I will answer that once I manage to coherently organize my own thoughts on the subjets. I know how it works I just never manage to put it in a coherent written explanation.I will see you in two weeks with the aftermath of this confrontation with Tomura and the LoV and the first part of the USJ which will be similar to canon as well as completely new.
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