Chapter 10: This Is Getting Out of Hand Part 1
With a wave of his hand, Izuku creates an illusion of a perfect-looking apple next to the real apple core on the table. "There, that should help you visualize what you're aiming for."
Eri still looks unsure. "T-thanks Mido but…"
Izuku bends down to her level to look the little girl in the eye. "We're here to help Eri, but remember, no one's forcing you here. We'll only do this if you want to."
Early in the morning before his second day at UA, found Izuku in Aizawa's apartment on campus. He had gotten a text from the man last night saying Eri was willing to try and use her quirk again but only if he was there. Izuku happily agreed.
"I-I know…" Eri says while wringing her hands. "But what if I m-mess up again…"
Izuku smiles and stands up. "Watch this." He holds his hand out to Eri, palm forward, and concentrates. She watches curiously as his hands glow faintly. For a few seconds, nothing happens. Another few seconds and nothing. A whole minute and still, nothing.
The green-haired boy finally drops his hand and leans on the table for support while panting. Eri makes to hug him but stops, looking unsure what to do with her hands. "Mido, are you okay?!"
He wipes a bit of sweat from his brow and gets his breathing under control before responding. "Yeah, I-yeah Eri, I'm fine. Do you know what I just tried to do?" The little girl shakes her head. "I tried to turn you invisible."
"Oh." She looks down at herself, examining her arms. Izuku, as always, tries not to let her scars get to him. "But you didn't."
Forcing a smile back on his face, he says, "that's right, I didn't. Are you mad at me that I couldn't?"
Izuku barely stops himself from chuckling at the offended look she gives him. "No! Why would I be?!"
"And do you think I could do it with enough practice?"
"Yes!"
He got her. "So don't you think we feel the same way about you?"
Eri opens her mouth to respond but stops. She studies him before turning to look at Aizawa, who's been watching them both silently with his sleeping bag rolled up in his arm. And finally, she turns to look at Recovery Girl, who would've preferred this done in her office but Eri's comfortability came first.
So instead, the doctor gave her a soft smile. Eri, seemingly satisfied, looks back at him. Taking a deep breath, she nods. "Ok, I'm ready."
Izuku takes a step back and Eri reaches forward, putting her hand on top of the apple core and looking intently at the illusion Izuku had created.
The horn on Eri's head begins to spark before the energy pours out in full force. Slowly, the apple core rewinds itself to an uneaten apple. Eri screws up her eyes in concentration trying to stop her quirk but it's no use. The apple rewinds itself further.
"No!" Eri cries, tears streaming down her face. Aizawa is quick to erase her quirk and she's just as quick to wrap her arms around Izuku, blubbering apologies while he gives her reassurances.
"I think that's it for today," Aizawa tells Recovery Girl who marks the results on her clipboard.
"I agree," she replies curtly. "We'll talk more later." And with that, she takes her leave.
Izuku lets Eri cry all she wants for however long she needs. It doesn't matter, she needs it and he can fix any wet spots on his clothes with his powers later. After five minutes, she's mostly quiet, though still clinging to him.
"And you promise you're not mad?" It's barely a whisper.
"Never." Izuku leaves no room for doubt in his voice. "I'll be here for you no matter how long it takes. I can't abandon the Princess of Mischief now can I?"
As he hoped, she giggles. She always did when he called her that. "No, you can't. It's the law now."
Izuku can't stop his snickering. "A law huh?"
Eri looks up at him, her tears were mostly gone and a small smile had found its way on her face. "Yes. A law. Also, the princess is allowed all the candy apples she wants."
Izuku separates and bows dramatically. "If she demands, then I shall-"
"No, you won't," Aizawa so rudely cuts in, albeit with half his face covered by his scarf. "Candy apples are a sometimes treat."
"Traitor to the empire!"
Aizawa ignores him, looking down at Eri. "Feeling better?"
The little unicorn shuffles her feet a bit. "I am…and you're not mad either?"
"No. And if I was, I'd just take it out on Midoriya."
"So everything you've put me through has been you being nice?!"
Eri finally laughs and smiles. "Okay."
"Stop ignoring me!" Izuku looks down at himself, touching several body parts. "I didn't make myself invisible by accident again, did I?"
Aizawa nods. "Good. Now class starts soon and I believe you had a new drawing you wanted to show Midoriya before he left?"
Eri looks confused for a moment before a realization dawns on her. "Oh, right!"She turns to him, giving him some of the most pleading eyes he's ever seen. "Please don't leave yet, Mido! I really want to show you something!"
Can he ever say no to her? "Okay." Eri nods with excitement and runs out of the room to presumably her bedroom.
Aizawa stretches, creating a few popping noises before settling down on one of the chairs beside the table. "Since it appears we have a few minutes, why don't you and I have a conversation."
Izuku groans, plopping unceremoniously onto his own chair. "Look, if this is about yesterday…"
His teacher shakes his head. "It was amusing Problem Child, but don't expect to have too many days like that. I've already warned All Might about you for your class today."
Izuku can't stop his smirk. "Is that a challenge, Eraserhead?"
Aizawa gives him a smile back that would send many pro heroes running. "It's a promise."
The two continue their staring contest until Izuku can't hold anymore and he has to blink. What was he thinking, the man makes a career out of not blinking, of course he'd never win that.
The older hero snorts before reaching into his sleeping bag. One day, Izuku will figure out what magical properties it contains. From it, Aizawa pulls out two files. "No Midoriya, I wanted to talk to you about Bakugo."
Izuku is quick to school his expression to a neutral one. Most would've never noticed his flinch but unfortunately, Eraser isn't most.
"What is there to tell?" Izuku says conversationally. He leans back trying to keep his posture casual. "We've known each other since we were babies and w-we're r-rivals." Dangit, even his body knows that's a lie.
"Rivals," Aizawa parrots. He couldn't make it clearer he doesn't believe him. "The sad part is, I think I might have actually believed that, if I didn't know you."
Izuku stands abruptly, his chair screeching against the floor. "Thank you for inviting me over Aizawa-sensei, but I should be getting to class."
"You've got plenty of time," the man replies, his tone too light for Izuku's liking. Aizawa raises his voice. "Besides, you wouldn't leave until Eri got to show you her new picture, would you?"
"Wait Mido, please!" Eri's voice carries from somewhere down the hallway. "I'm still looking but I'll find it soon! Please don't leave!"
Izuku's glare does nothing to Aizawa's victory smirk. "No, I'm not going anywhere, Eri."
"Yay!"
Throwing himself back into his seat and crossing his arms, Izuku says, "so, you pulled our files?"
Aizawa hums, opening one. "After the, let's call it an altercation, between you two yesterday, I felt I should. Do you want to know what I found?"
Izuku shrugs, trying to feign disinterest in the files.
The older hero clears his throat. "A joy to have in class. Always willing to help others. A model student. Well behaved. Compliments, one after another. Now, I know I've only had Bakugo in my class for one day, but that doesn't really sound like him, does it?"
"Like you said," Izuku responds, keeping his voice as even as possible. "It's only been a day. He could've been stressed or worried and that's why he was off."
"Hm," is all Aizawa offers before opening the other file. "Maybe. But then I read this. Poor student. Doesn't pay attention in class. Constantly starting fights. Picks on other students. A constant disruption to the class. Now, I won't lie, I somewhat believe that last one." Izuku can't contain his snort. "But I've known you for what, a year now, and I can safely say the others aren't true."
Izuku tries to hide how uncomfortable he is with a single sigh. "Is there a point to this?"
Aizawa copies Izuku's posture, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. "The first point is obvious. The administration at your middle school are fucking morons."
He hates the smile that's tugging on his lips. "And the next point?"
"For some reason, you're willing to lie alongside them about Bakugo so he can have his place here at UA. You do realize that hero candidates don't usually attack each other unprovoked, don't you?"
Shrugging seems like the only thing he can do for this conversation. "It wasn't exactly unprovoked. I kept messing up his scores in a test where expulsion was threatened."
"Yes," Aizawa agrees, "but instead of speaking to me about it as any rational person would, his first choice was to cause you physical harm. In front of an adult no less. Almost as if it was normal."
What does Eraser expect him to do here? Just start crying about everything Bakugo did to him? Give him some stupid sob story and tell him things like, the reason he only wears long sleeves is so no one sees the burn scars on his arms. No, he's not that selfish.
Doing his best to retain eye contact, Izuku actually says, "It's fine, sensei. Sure, Kacchan and I have…disagreed in the past. But he's still gonna be an amazing hero who can save countless lives. They deserve that."
"Maybe so." Eraserhead bores his gaze into him. "But what about what you deserve?"
Pfff. He's already gotten into UA and his classmates don't seem to openly hate him so frankly, he has enough. If he can just keep making people laugh, he'll be content. Probably not the best thing to actually say though. But before Izuku could think of a proper response, a phone alarm goes off.
Aizawa exhales and checks his phone. Izuku sees the time, only fifteen minutes until class. "This is not the end of our conversation, Midoriya. Eri! You can come back now."
The called little girl walks back into the room, notably empty-handed, but her presence does cause the mood to lighten.
Izuku tilts his head in confusion. "Hey, did you not find your picture?"
Oh, he is not liking the smile she's giving him. "There is no picture."
"What? What do you me-" Izuku stops. A horrifying understanding begins to take hold.
Despite her sweet tone of voice, Eri is anything but innocent when she says, "you told me I had to practice my manipulation on other people besides 'Zawa…"
"You know I didn't mean me!" Izuku yells, indignant. What has he created?
His blood turns cold at what she says next. "Well, Mido…you never said I couldn't practice on you."
Izuku slumps back into his chair. "So that's what that feels like." He was under the belief that whenever Aizawa smiled at something that truly made him happy, a puppy died. And looking at the man's face now, he can't help but mourn for the thousands that were lost today.
After making sure they were all in their correct seats this time, which involved most of the people on Izuku's side moving back a seat, their first official day of classes began. And to be honest, he could see some people finding it dull, but Izuku was having a blast!
C'mon, pro teachers stuck in classes with them, prime picking for questions and autographs, who wouldn't love it?! Sure, he and Yaoyorozu were stuck answering most of the questions in English, and Cementoss can kind of drone on but he wouldn't trade it for the world!
He even got to meet the hero Lunch Rush during, well, lunch! Funny thing was that was the second craziest thing to happen during their eating period. The first being Iida and Uraraka actually wanting to sit with him!
He's embarrassed to admit how long it took her to get his attention because he just sort of assumed she was calling out to someone else? But she wasn't! This place is weird but he doesn't mind.
After leaving the twilight zone-he means the lunchroom, Izuku finds himself with the rest of his classmates waiting impatiently for their Hero Basic Training instructor to arrive.
While his classmates debated on who it could be, Izuku decided to switch to a more productive use of his time. Annoying Kacchan. See, while he was still feeling out the others to see how far he could push them, he was pretty aware of Kacchan's limits.
So flicking some of the blue marbles he kept in his pocket dimension into the back of his head wasn't out of the question. By his calculations, All Might should show up before he explodes.
But man, if watching his shoulders rise with every flick wasn't entertaining.
Before the second coming of the Big Bang could occur, the door swung open. "I am…" Phew, All Might was cutting it close. "Coming through the door like a normal person!"
"It's him!"
"So he really is a teacher?!"
"Is that his silver age costume?"
"It's so retro!"
"Welcome to Hero Basic Training!" All Might announces once he's at the podium. Was Izuku secretly using his magic to make All Might's cape billow despite there being no wind? Yes. Was it worth the concentration? Also yes.
"This is the subject where you'll learn all the different ways to be a hero! Or in other words, your most important subject! So let's hit the ground running!" All Might dramatically reveals a card to them with the word 'battle' printed on it. "Your first lesson, Battle Training!"
The malicious aura coming from Kacchan could be cut with one of his daggers. But he won't lie, it'd be fun to fight something for once that wasn't a robot. Or a god he had no chance of beating.
"But first, you'll need these!" At the hero's gesture, numbered suitcases slid out of the wall beside him on some sort of mechanized system.
Their hero costumes. Well, his class' costumes. His was more of a special case and didn't need to be carried around. His dad was adamant he didn't wear anything that wasn't the 'finest Asgardian leather.' He didn't mind, it was actually pretty comfortable.
"Now, go get changed and meet me at Ground Beta!"
"Yes, sir!"
Letting his class clamor all over themselves for their suitcases, Izuku waited until everyone had left before getting up himself. Before he could leave, All Might got his attention. "Young Midoriya, if I could trouble you for a small favor?…"
"They say clothes make the hero, ladies, and gentlemen! So from today on, you are all heroes!" Toshinori says to most of his class gathered in front of him. "You all look great!"
And they did! Was it presumptuous of him to have a good feeling about the kids in front of him? Maybe. It might possibly also have something to do with him teaching for the first time. Imparting his years of knowledge on the next generation. Why was Torino-sensei grumpy all the time?
"Sir!" Ah, that must be Iida under that armor raising his hand, he'd recognize Ingenium's brand anywhere. "How will we be conducting our combat training?!"
"An excellent question, Young Iida! If you would just give me a moment-"
"All Might!" Toshinori did not jump when Young Midoriya appeared in front of him out of nowhere in a flash of green light. Thank you very much. The boy, still in his uniform, lowers his voice. "I got what you asked for." He holds out his script so the hero can discreetly take it.
He had been such a fool to forget it in the teacher's lounge. Thankfully, Young Midoriya could be discreet when he wanted to be.
"Thank you, my boy," Toshinori whispers as quietly as he can. "Now, I've spoken to Aizawa. There's not gonna be any funny business today, is there?"
Midoriya smiles and whispers back, "no, sir. I will complete the exercise and not do anything you say I can't do."
Well, that was easier than he thought. He has no idea what Aizawa was worried about.
Toshinori returns to his booming voice. "Now, go and be with your classmates!"
"Ok!" Midoriya gives him a thumbs up before walking back to the rest of the kids.
"Young Midoriya, aren't you forgetting something?"
The greenette turns back. "What are you…" he looks down at his uniform. "Oh!" He chuckles nervously. "Sorry about that!"
All Might flips through his script as fast as he could, letting Izuku face his classmates again and start his walk over to them. He looks down, trying to hide the smile on his face while the familiar yellow lines envelop his body. He could make the transition almost instantly if he wanted to, but style was a big part of his dad's curriculum, so he'll slow it down and show off a bit.
The lines glow brighter and finally, Izuku is wearing his hero costume. On his upper body, Izuku wears dark green, almost black padded Asgardian leather with diagonal lines running down the front. On his shoulders, though unseen as they are covered by a cloak, he wears royal blue armor pads.
His arms are covered by green long sleeves, with extra armor running down his upper arms down to his elbows. Izuku's forearms also have extra protection provided by light yellow armored gauntlets with a strap that loops around each of his thumbs.
On his lower body, he wears dark green pants with plenty of hidden pockets to take the place of the utility belt he originally wanted to use. Black armor runs down each of his legs from the knee down. And over his feet, modded red high-top shoes that yes, also had hidden compartments for knives.
And finally, to complete the look as mentioned before, a long dark green cloak covered his shoulders and went down his back with a hood that was currently covering his head.
Even with his protests, did his dad make him a horned helmet? Yes. Was he going to wear it? No. Even he had his limits.
"No wonder we haven't seen you in the locker rooms!" A red-haired boy with sharp teeth runs up to him. Why is he so bad with names? "You can use your quirk to change! That's manly as hell dude!" Not…exactly the word he'd use but in this context he thinks it's a compliment so he thanks him.
"I'm happy to see someone else likes green as much as I do, ribbit." Oh, frog girl! He did hear her croak!
"Yeah, I guess it's always been my color…n-not that it can't be both our colors!" Izuku scratches his cheek bashfully.
She gives him a blank look. "You're kind of socially awkward, aren't you?" Well ok then. 'I mean, it's true but still!'
"It gratifies me to find another who shares an affinity for the robes of our ancestors." Oh! That's Tokoyami! The bird head is kinda hard to forget. As to what he said…
Izuku's confusion must've shown on his face because what appeared to be a bird made of shadow made its way out of the boy, giving Izuku a thumbs up. "He means he likes your cloak!" It says in a distorted voice.
"That is what I said, Dark Shadow!"
Izuku laughs, a bit more relaxed, and returns the thumbs up. "Thanks! Your cloak is awesome too! And thank you for the help Dark Shadow."
As Izuku walked away, he heard the creature whisper in awe, "he acknowledged me as an individual…" note to self, make sure to keep doing that.
Changing into his hero costume in front of everyone seemed like fun at first, but with everyone staring at him, Izuku makes his way as quickly as possible, without making it obvious, to the back of the group, thanking and returning compliments to a few more people as he did.
"So you're a rogue."
It's not a question. Izuku looks and sees the boy with off-blue hair staring at him. He'll remember names eventually he swears! The boy wears a black trench coat over a navy blue shirt, dark pants, and hey! The same red shoes as him, what are the odds? But like his own, he could tell they were modified but wasn't sure how.
On the boy's hands are mechanical gloves that only cover a few fingers, if he had to guess, it was those gloves that can retract if you flex.
He also wore a black utility belt around his waist that even though he couldn't see most of it because of the trench coat, he could make out a mini grappling hook, first-aid, and he's pretty sure explosives.
"Hud," the boy says. Izuku sees his right eye light up a bit with different colors. Was he wearing contacts that gave him a heads up display?! WHERE can he get those?! "You carry a lot of knives," he comments.
Izuku's head dips to the side. "Don't most rogues?"
His red eyes narrow. Now, Izuku was used to having red eyes on him. Whether it was Eri's innocent ones or Kacchan's many anger-derived emotions in his. But this was different. His eyes were none of that, but also very familiar at the same time.
He was analyzing him. Like Izuku had done to so many others. "So if you're a rogue, then how do you know polymorph?"
Why could he turn into animals? Izuku thinks, how to answer this? Judging by the way he talks then…"I multiclassed," Izuku answers. "I took a lot of levels in sorcerer."
The boy keeps his eyes on him for a few more seconds before very visibly relaxing. "FINALLY. Someone here who speaks plain Japanese."
Before Izuku could figure out what that meant, All Might was ready to start. "Alright you zygotes, listen up!" All Might's voice distracted him from seeing the boy's flinch.
The premise of their combat training was simple. Two versus two battles. Heroes versus villains. The villains would protect a bomb and could win by capturing the heroes or waiting the time out. The heroes won by capturing the villains or touching the bomb. All Might then took them into a monitoring room to show them where they'd all be watching the matches.
Afterward, they each went up and took a ball with a letter on it to decide their teams by lottery. 'Team D huh? So who-'
"Oh, Deku! Looks like we're teammates!"
Oh, thank god. At least his partner was someone he knew. "Hey, Uraraka! I guess we-"
Wow, the ceiling of this room was really interesting, don't you think?
That's right, just keep looking up and do not look at Uraraka's costume. Was it always so warm in here? He hopes so. You know what, he could probably do this exercise without looking at his partner.
"Your costumes looks so cool, Deku!" She laughs a little. "I should've been more specific about what I wanted. I was going for the astronaut look, you know like Thirteen? But they made it skintight instead…"
Was she trying to kill him?! He was well aware it was skintight! Was it possible to die from-wait, did she say Thirteen?
"You like Thirteen, the rescue hero?" Izuku asks, getting more excited while using all of his demigod willpower to keep his eyes on her face.
"Well, yeah!" She says getting excited with him, her eyes sparkling. He found he liked it when they did that. "I've been a fan of theirs for years! Ever since I was little, and on tv they were showing this disaster relief, this building started to collapse-"
"Oh, OH! You're talking about the Rilyth disaster! When-"
"Yes! They had that evacuation site but the building next to it became unstable and started to collapse! And-"
"And it would've landed on the site killing everyone! But then Thirteen showed up! And they-"
"They used their quirk and sucked the whole building up! Saving everyone!" Uraraka finally finishes.
"I've watched that video so many times on HeroTube…" Izuku recalls fondly.
"I bet not as many times as me!" Uraraka challenges.
Izuku puts his hands up in defeat. "Well, you made your costume after them so I'll admit defeat on this one…" Unfortunately, bringing up her costume made his eyes drift downward aaaand oh look at that, he's back to looking at the ceiling.
"Hey, are you ok?" Uraraka asks. "You're looking kinda red."
"Yup!" Izuku says in a voice that is a few octaves too high. He tries again. "Yup. Just a bit hot in here…so very, very hot."
All Might, being the hero he is, comes to Izuku's rescue. "Let's start with our first matchup of the day! Team A will be the heroes! Versus Team D, the villains! So we have Young Bakugo and Kirishima versus Young Midoriya and Uraraka!"
Well, positives first. He figured out the red-haired kid's name is Kirishima. Negatives, Bakugo looked so hungry he was worried he might actually try to eat him. It was a valid concern, he was drooling.
"Teams, follow me!"
He and Uraraka were led to the third story of a five-story building where a paper mache bomb was kept and given maps of the building. "You'll have five minutes to prepare once I leave this room. You both still have your capture tape, correct? Good. Now, any questions?"
"I got one," Izuku answers, trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice. "You said when explaining the exercise we could use any resources we wanted to. What are the limits?"
All Might's smile widens. "Great question, young man. You may use your quirks to the fullest extent you can, provided you're not destroying the building. Get into the mindset of a villain. A good one wouldn't want to destroy his base."
"So as long as we're not destroying the building, we can do whatever we want?"
"Yes, as long as you are not causing excessive harm to your opponents. I will stop the exercise if any of you go too far, are we clear?"
"Yes, sir." He and Uraraka say at the same time. Anything he wants huh? Apparently, All Might wasn't paying close enough attention to Aizawa.
Their Hero teacher nods and leaves the room, starting their timer. "So your quirk makes stuff weightless, right?" Izuku asks, looking anywhere that's not his partner.
"Yes! If I put all five of my fingers on an object, I can remove its weight, my limit is currently three tons."
'Holy crap! Wait, if she removed the weight off Mjöllnir, could she lift it? Stop! Getting off track.'
"Can you use it on yourself?" Asking quirk questions surprisingly makes him more comfortable with looking at her.
Uraraka makes a queasy face. "I can, but it makes me nauseous fast. I do have some pressure point hitters built into my costume to relieve that though."
Izuku nods. "That's smart." He looks at the bomb in thought for a second.
"T-thanks, Deku."
Squinting his eyes, Izuku snaps his fingers. "Ok, I think I have an idea with the bomb." He explains what it is to her.
"Alright! They'll never see that coming!" She says enthusiastically.
After Izuku is done doing what he wanted to do with the bomb, he sees Uraraka moving more furniture and whatever else she can find into the room.
"I can make this stuff weightless and throw them around when we fight to keep the other team on their toes. Darn, If we had more time, I could move more furniture in here…"
"Oh, that won't be a problem." Izuku gestures to the room. "After the exercise starts, I can give you a little more time to get more ammo."
"You sure?" Uraraka questions.
Izuku smiles. "Positive." 'He's having a full-on conversation! Oh no, it's starting to end…do something!' "After we blow this city up and somehow not die too, you wanna go rob some banks?"
To his immense relief, she laughs. "You're taking what All Might said about becoming a villain pretty seriously, aren't you? Ok, I'm in. But we have to give some of what we steal to the poor."
Izuku laughs too. "So we'd become the Robin Hood types? Fine with me, and with your quirk, we can steal so much!"
"Yeah!" She's really getting into this. "And with your quirk, you can make it seem like they were never robbed in the first place!"
"W-wow, yeah!" People were usually too confused about his powers to think about what he can do. It's a bit surprising she figured that out.
After letting them both calm down a bit, Izuku put his hand to his chin before continuing, "so once the exercise starts, I can go down and delay them and after, I'll lead Kacchan, s-sorry, I mean Bakugo, I can lead him away and distract him the whole time. And I know you can take Kirishima. One touch and he's done. That should be enough to win…"
He was surprised to see Uraraka giving him a confused look. "What's wrong?"
"Sorry, I'm just confused?" She definitely looked it. "Aren't we supposed to be fighting them together?"
"W-well I mean…" Izuku so articulately puts together. "Kacchan is gonna come after me as soon as he can so…"
She walks up to him, crossing her arms. "So what part of that means you have to fight him alone?"
He…does not have a good answer to that. Rubbing the back of his head, Izuku says, "I guess I'm just…used to it being that way?"
Uraraka beams brightly at him. "Well, you better get unused to it! Because whether it's robbing a bank or launching those guys into space, you got a partner in crime now! And partners don't leave each other out to dry!"
She holds her hand out, pinky tucked in. "And partners, especially friends like us, don't let the other do dummy things on their own. So what do you say?"
'Friends?'
Their comms crackle to life. "Alright Heroes and Villains! Ready or not, we're about to begin!"
Izuku won't lie, this is way out of his comfort zone right now. Most of the things he knows how to do, he was taught how to do alone. Now that he thinks about it, he doesn't think his dad ever really taught him how to work with a team. That was always more of Uncle Thor's thing.
"5!"
He guesses in retrospect, that makes sense. One of his biggest lessons was how to hide and be independent. Literally how not to work with people. Any lessons he got about other people were how to trick them into doing what he wanted without them knowing.
"4!"
But heroes work with others all the time? And he wanted to be the best hero he could be. But that would also mean trusting another person. Something his dad was vehemently against.
"3!"
That's right. The lessons were always how to get people to trust him, not the other way around. His dad told him all those years ago he'd have to be alone, but looking at Uraraka now and realizing someone actually wanted to be his friend…
"2!"
Well, he wanted that too! He takes her hand, thankfully he was so caught up in the moment that the blushing storm that would hit him for doing such a thing wouldn't come until later in the night.
Izuku returns her smile. "Yeah, you're right. Let's do this, partner."
"1!"
They shake hands.
"Go!"
Chapter 11: This Is Getting Out of Hand Part 2
Katsuki flexes his hand again, yeah, these gloves were good. He wouldn't expect anything less from UA. Here he was, the future number one hero being taught at the best hero school by the current number one hero. This shit was like destiny or something. It's almost perfect.
Almost.
There was just one wrinkle in his origin story. One, green-haired, annoying, stupidly persistent wrinkle. One that he finally had the chance to straighten out.
How Deku got in, he'll never know. But maybe that's why they got to battle so early? It let the strong send the weak home crying so only those who actually deserved to be here got to stay.
Yeah, there was no other explanation. It'd be what Deku deserves after that shit he pulled last year. Just disappearing like that after he said…what he said and not even bothering to tell him where he went?!
Who the fuck did he think he was?
Well, he's gonna let that nerd know exactly who he was today. A side character. No. Not even. He's one of those background characters that doesn't even move or blink.
Today was going to be a good day, he gets to finally end Deku's dream of ever thinking he could stand in the same ring as him! And as a bonus, he'll show the other extras who's top dog and impress All Might at the same time. That's right, he can fucking multitask.
"Oh man, I'm so pumped!"
Oh, right. He had to carry this extra to the win with him. Whatever. Might as well get used to it since he'll be doing the same thing when he goes pro.
What was Shitty-Hair's name again? Eh, fuck it. That'll be his name.
"So," Shitty-Hair starts while smiling way too brightly. "You got a game plan?"
Katsuki takes one look at the building's blueprints All Might gave him before throwing them away. "Yeah. I'm gonna go in, kick Deku's ass, and win."
"That's what I'm talking about!" His red-haired teammate says, hardening his arm and pumping it at the same time. "A full frontal assault, that's the manliest way to fight!"
"Whatever." Katsuki jabs his finger into the other boy's chest. "Just stay outta my way. Do what you want but no matter what, Deku. Is. Mine."
"No prob! You and Midoriya got some rivalry thing going, right?" Shitty-Hair punches his shoulder. Why did he let him do that? "I respect that. Gotta prove you're the best."
"I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO PROVE! I'M ALREADY THE BEST!"
"That's the spirit!"
God, his enthusiasm is exhausting. But not the worse thing in the world, so he'll let it slide…for now.
Their comms crackle to life. "Alright Heroes and Villains! Ready or not, we're about to begin!"
Fucking finally. 'I hope you had fun while you were here, Deku. 'Cuz this is the closest you'll ever come to being a hero.'
Deku is a pebble. He should be lucky Katsuki decided to grace him with his boot.
"5!"
He was the best, born to be a hero! Deku could never measure up to him!
"4!"
"Are you alright? Can you stand? It would've been bad if you hit your head."
"3!"
No! He was the hero goddammit!
"2!"
"You know, there is a way you could be a hero."
"1!"
Right?
"Go!"
Toshinori watches the cameras carefully with the rest of class 1A in the monitoring room. Young Bakugo and Kirishima charge into the building while Young Midoriya and Uraraka move furniture and supplies into the bomb room.
"Pay close attention, students. Take note of what your classmates are doing, figure out why, and then see how you can improve." That book is working like a charm.
"It would appear the hero team plans to fight head-on," Shoji comments.
"Wait, what's going on with Midoriya?" Ashido asks, pointing at the screen. Indeed, she was right. While the boy continued to help move things, his body was beginning to blur.
"What's he-"
Kaminari is interrupted when, in a flash of green light, a second Midoriya appears in the monitoring room with them, eliciting a few screams from some students and looks of confusion from others.
"Hi, there!" The new Midoriya greets, waving excitedly at everyone.
Toshinori joins those with confused looks. He knew the boy couldn't teleport, granted he didn't know much about how young Midoriya's quirk worked. But one look at the screen showed Midoriya, the real one, was still hard at work helping Uraraka.
"Young Midoriya, you sent a clone to the monitor room?" He knew the boy could make copies of himself at least. His perplexity to use them to scare unsuspecting victims was well known to those who knew him.
The verdant wags his finger at his teacher. "Not exactly. This is an astral projection. Unlike my clones, it lets me perceive the world around me. Now then…"
Gran Torino had taught him many lessons through their years together. If he was being honest, he thinks learning to take a punch was the biggest one. But another one was you could never be too old to learn something new.
And that lesson was never more apparent to him, than when young Midoriya proceeded to spin on his heel, cup his chin with his hand, and start studying the cameras.
Oh.
Oh.
This was what Aizawa had meant…
"Midoriya!" If he wasn't still trying to get over the fact that his student had a copy of himself that could study the monitors, All Might would have been impressed by Iida's reaction. "You cannot use the cameras to aid you! It's against the rules!"
"Is it, Iida?" Midoriya counters, not taking his eyes off the screens. "All Might told us we could use whatever resources our powers let us have, as long as it didn't cause excessive damage. He never said the cameras were off-limits. Oh! There they are!"
"It shouldn't have to be said!" Iida tries, his arm chopping at an incredible rate. "It is implied!"
Midoriya turns his head back to give his classmate a smug smile. Was it always this chilly in this room? "Are you gonna let 'implied' rules stop you from saving people?" Iida's mouth hangs open and Midoriya faces the screen again, raising his arms while each of his fingertips glows a dark green.
"Besides! I'm not just using these to find them!"
The tablet Toshinori had sitting on the podium next to him dings.
Rattator: Aizawa requests a meeting with you as soon as your class ends :)
Well, it would seem the world will have to learn how to function without the Symbol of Peace a lot sooner than he had suspected.
Katsuki and Shitty-Hair ran down the hall, sparing glances into each room as they barrel past. His teammate was probably looking for the bomb, but he wanted Deku, who was probably shitting himself in one of the rooms
"I can save you some time guys, I'm right here."
The explosion user whips his head around to see Deku waving at them down the hall. When the fuck did he get there? Whatever, doesn't matter.
"Hey, Midoriya!" Shitty-Hair waves back like a dumbass. "Man I'd love to fight you but Bakugo kinda called dibs so…"
"DIE!"
Tearing himself across the hall in moments, the blonde boy swings his right arm and creates an explosion right in Deku's smirking face. The idiot didn't even try to dodge.
"He's like a dog chasing a car, isn't he?"
"Hey! What the-" Katsuki turns to see the still smirking nerd standing next to Shitty-Hair who had jumped back in surprise. He recovers quickly though, throwing a hardened jab at the greenette's face, who dodged easily.
"What did I say, Shitty-Hair?!" Katsuki uses his explosions to launch himself at Deku again, only for him to disappear right before he could make him pay.
"Can't blame a guy for trying," The redhead says while Katsuki skids to a stop next to him. Deku reappears in front of them again. "Welp, I'll go find Uraraka and the bomb! Good luck on your rivalry, hope you win!"
"Of course, I'll win!"
Shitty-Hair flashes him a grin, showcasing his sharp teeth. "I love your confidence bro!"
"Stop being so fucking positive!"
His partner laughs and runs back and around the corner, letting him focus everything on Deku. "Nowhere to run now you sh-"
"Well, I guess it's just you and me now," Deku shrugs, interrupting him. "You gonna stand there all day, or do you wanna waste some more time by attacking me?"
Fuck. Him.
With a yell that was more animalistic than human, Katsuki launches himself at Deku again and again. Over and over. Each time just barely missing. And the whole time, the nerd just keeps laughing and running from him, fueling his rage more.
"I always knew you were full of shit!" Katsuki yells, his sweat being pretty much liquidized rage at this point. "You talked such a big game about fighting me in middle school, but now-"
"Kacchan, I'm over here!" Deku interrupts him again. Standing at the end of the hall. Why does he keep doing that?! It's like he can't fucking hear him! "Wow, what happened to beating all the villains?"
He can't run forever. Even Deku's weird fucking quirk, like all others, is physical. He's gonna reach his limit, and because he's nowhere near his own level, it'll be way before he does. And he'll be there when it happens.
Deku waves and rounds the corner. "Don't stop, Kacchan! You got so close last time!"
Finally, something he was more than happy to oblige with. Katsuki lunges around the corner, an explosion already ready to go, and a feral smile on his face because this time. This time it was gonna work. He could just feel it.
Time seems to slow down as Katsuki finally rounds the corner, thrusting his hand and explosion forward. His face falls at what he sees. It's Shitty-Hair, already in the process of throwing a punch. In between them, two Deku's watch them eagerly. It was a trap.
That was his last thought before a hardened fist impacts his chest, hard. At the same time, his explosion hits Shitty-Hair's face, who by the looks of it, hadn't been expecting him either and didn't have time to harden that part of his body.
There's a resounding boom as both boys are sent tumbling back by each other's attack. Katsuki rolls on the ground for a second before getting his bearings and landing back on his feet, clutching his chest. Damn, that hurt.
The two shitty nerds give each other high-fives. "I can't believe that worked!"
"I know right?!"
To put it simply, Izuku was having the time of his life. He twists his hands again, willing his decoys to dodge out of the way of the two boy's counterattacks.
He found a slight hiccup when he realized he couldn't hear what the boys were saying so he couldn't have his clones talk to them properly, but given Kaminari's hysterical laughter and Iida flying through a UA manual he apparently kept on him, even when in costume, it was worth it.
"You…you…made them!…attack each other oh my god!" Kaminari is able to wheeze out in between laughs.
"Assuming what Midoriya is doing right now is allowed, then it's possible he could keep them occupied the entire match," Yaoyorozu says while narrowing her eyes at the screen.
"Seems a bit underhanded to me…" Tail boy says concerned. "But if no one gets hurt and the villains are stopped then…"
"Technically I'm the villain right now!" Midoriya yells with a smile that doesn't seem to make him feel better. Huh, weird. "But I'm not gonna do this the whole match. If I did, then Uraraka wouldn't get to do anything! But we're about done anyway so time to lead them to the bomb room!"
"Isn't the point to keep them away from the bomb?" Asui, as he has learned, asks while placing a finger on her chin.
"This is getting out of hand," Shoji vocalizes through a separate mouth.
Sero shakes his head, trying to contain his own laughter. "Are you kidding? If Midoriya wants to make every class like this then I'm in"
Kaminari's blue eyes light up with excitement. "You got something else planned, don't you?!"
The blonde's laughter was contagious, causing Izuku to laugh along. Nearby, All Might curses his 'Teaching for Dummies' book for not telling him what to do in this situation.
"I know," Izuku laughs. He loves playing the villain so much. "I know the point is to keep them away from the bomb." The Prince of Mischief smirks. "But where's the fun in that?"
The door to the bomb room is blown off its hinges and Kacchan bursts through, but you'd be forgiven for thinking it was a rabid dog from the growling and the way his head whips around the room. The red eyes zone in on their target.
Izuku can barely hold his laugh. He had known Kacchan his whole life and as such, had more analysis on him than anyone. For example, when it came to Izuku, he had tunnel vision. Kacchan is smart, more than most give him credit for, but when it comes to the shitty Deku, all of that goes out the window and he becomes…exploitable.
The room, his partner, the furniture they have everywhere, or the three bombs sitting against the back wall don't matter. It's just him.
"You couldn't hide forever, Deku! Now die!" Kacchan blasts over, right arm ready to finally hit his target, only for 'Izuku' to grab the arm mid-swing. And that's when Kacchan realizes his mistake. He can tell by his widening eyes.
'Izuku' touches Kacchan with all five fingers and they all glow pink. One of the first things he's analyzed, Kacchan always leads with his right arm, and he has no problem sharing that info.
The illusion flickers and Izuku fades, revealing Uraraka, grinning triumphantly. "Expecting someone else?" Kacchan can't respond before Uraraka heaves him over her shoulder and into the wall.
"What the f-" Kacchan isn't able to finish his curse before a couch collides with his face. Fun fact, Uraraka's quirk doesn't take away mass. She found out today.
"DEKU!" Kacchan roars from halfway up the wall, his nose bleeding. "There you go again, running from the fight!"
Izuku, who had turned into Uraraka to help fool Kacchan, shrugs. "Well if you didn't make it so easy to fool you…" Izuku says sweetly in Uraraka's voice.
"What uh, what's going on here?" Both Urarakas turn to see Kirishima panting at the door. "That explosion must've been worse than I thought…I'm seeing double!"
The original Uraraka laughs, releasing her quirk on an unsuspecting Kacchan who fell to the floor with the gracefulness of a rock. "No, you're ok! I'm the original and she's a copy." The gravity girl lowers herself into a fighting stance. "Let's do this, Deku!"
Izuku shifts back into himself. "Ready!"
Uraraka runs at Kirishima who lowers himself and charges as well. "Just so you know, it wouldn't be manly of me to go easy on you!"
His teammate's response is to remove the gravity of two desks and smash them on either side of Kirishima, who hardens just in time. The red-haired boy shakes himself off. "Oh, this is gonna be awesome!"
Izuku could watch these two fight all day but…
"Deku."
He's got his own.
Izuku spins as Kacchan wipes his face and lets a few explosions go off in his hands. "You actually gonna fight me this time, or was all that shit-talking you did in middle school fake?" Kacchan's voice is oddly calm but laced with venom.
"I meant what I said, Kacchan." He matches the other boy's calm voice. "You'll get your fight. Did you mean everything you said in middle school?"
He…wasn't sure what he was expecting when he said that. But hearing about things said in middle school brought up feelings in him that he hoped were long buried and the retort just came out. To confuse him even more, was the small flinch he got in response.
Kacchan shakes his head. "Whatever. I want a real fight this time, Deku! And none of your stupid tricks or little knives, come at me!"
Izuku conjures two throwing knives in his hand. "Aww, but I like my knives. I mean, what can I say, Kacchan? I just can't seem to miss."
He whisks the knives at the other boy, only for them to be easily blown out of the way. "Guess there's a first time for everything, Deku."
He grins. "Made you look."
Kacchan can't do anything but scream when the real Izuku appears behind him, stabbing him through his right shoulder with his dagger. Barely resisting the urge to twist his weapon, Izuku roughly pulls the blade out of his opponent's shoulder and pushes the boy back.
"I promised myself I'd stab you after what you said to me," Izuku says with a lot more confidence than he feels, hiding his shaking hand behind his back.
His once friend places his left hand on his shoulder, wincing before taking it away and looking at the blood. Izuku braces himself for the yelling and screaming and probable threats that were to come, but none ever did.
Instead, his bully just inspects the wound. "You avoided the arteries," Kacchan says in an almost matter-of-fact kind of way but Izuku has known him long enough he can still hear the questioning tone.
"I said I wanted to stab you, not make you bleed out." Izuku crosses his arms but immediately unfolds them. He's not really sure what to do with them right now. "There were at least a dozen places I could've stabbed you that would've ended this but…" he conjures his second dagger. "I promised you a fight. And I keep my promises."
Kacchan's eyes move from him to his shoulder several times before finally settling back on him. "That's it…" Kacchan says it so quietly, Izuku's unsure if he was meant to hear it. "Fine. You want a fight!" He lowers himself, palms pointed behind him. "I'll give you a fucking fight!"
Izuku does his best impression of what he thinks a feral grin would be, lowering himself and flipping his daggers around to his preferred reverse grip hold.
For a second, nothing. Then Kacchan explodes toward him, faster than Izuku has ever seen him move. In a blink of an eye, Kacchan's left palm is in his face, ready to ignite. But Izuku has trained with someone a lot faster.
He rolls under the boy, throwing a knife at his airborne opponent when he sits up, but Kacchan uses an explosion to reorient himself, spinning in midair, kicking the knife as he does so.
Izuku has no time to get excited about the move because Kacchan is on him again. The magic-user dives back, avoiding another explosion aimed at his face. Now, upside down, Izuku places his hands on the ground to balance himself before bending his legs and kicking Kacchan in the chest with both of his feet.
The blonde tumbles back but recovers quickly. "You'll have to do better than that!" He tears at Izuku in another explosion but instead of dodging this time, the green-haired boy moves forward.
Kacchan isn't ready for the unexpected move and can't dodge Izuku's knee to his stomach. "How's that?!"
The explosion user wheezes but smirks. "Got you." Izuku realizes too late that Kacchan's left hand is on his back and the explosion sends him flying. His costume's protection works but it still hurts.
Izuku flips in the air and lands on his feet, standing back up, daggers raised. Kacchan was busy staring at his hand before looking back at him. "Holy shit that was actually you."
"I told you I'd give you a straight up fight." Izuku raises the daggers a bit higher. "But you should know I'm just waiting for Uraraka to tell me she's done, then I'll end this."
The red-eyed boy sneers. "So what?! You're saying you're going easy on me?!"
Izuku may be enjoying this a bit too much, but it's something he needs to hear. "Yeah, I am." Kacchan reels at the easy admission. "My grandfather always told me that I should never look for a fight, but always be prepared for one. But I think this time, I'll let myself look because Kacchan, I want to be the one to finally show you you're not the best!"
"You'll never be better than me, Deku!" Kacchan launches again, only for his explosion-infused fist to go through a decoy. Without a second thought, he whirls behind himself letting off a huge explosion. Kacchan sees Izuku fly out of the smoke, burns littering his body, hitting the wall hard and crumbling onto the ground.
"You really thought I'd fall for the same thing twice?" Kacchan leers, raising his palm.
Izuku barely gets his head up, chuckling. "Actually yes…it's just not the trick you were expecting."
The real Izuku turns visible, grabbing the blonde's wrist while the injured Izuku fades. Kacchan tries to yank his hand back but before he can, Izuku gashes his palm with a deep cut from his dagger.
"Fucking fuck!" Kacchan screams, backing up, cradling his injured left hand.
"Try making explosions now." He tries his best, he really does, but he can't keep the taunting tone out of his voice. He is his father's son after all.
"I still got my right hand you fuck! And that's more than I need!" Kacchan lets more explosions off in his uninjured hand to prove his point.
"Sorry, Kacchan. But it's not. Uraraka! We're ending this!" Izuku turns to his winded partner who's still facing down an equally tired Kirishima.
"Right, Deku!" She charges Kirishima and at first, the redhead is more than happy to meet her. That is, until Izuku waves his hand and Kirishima is facing down ten Urarakas charging him.
"W-wait! Which one do I dodge?!" He backs up and tries valiantly to dodge through the number of clones but it's too much and the real Uraraka touches him with all five of her fingers, floating him.
"Aw crap." Kirishima slouches in the air, not able to do anything and both Uraraka and Izuku turn to face down the injured Kacchan, who bends over and laughs.
"You think you've won?!" He screeches, lifting his left arm and putting a finger through the pin on his gauntlet. "Did you forget about these, you idiot?! I've built up enough sweat to blow you sky high, Deku!"
"You know I can dodge it, Kacchan! There's no point!" Izuku yells, knowing full well what was about to happen.
"Yeah, I know I couldn't hit you, nerd. But can you say the same about her?" Dread fills Izuku as the gauntlet moves, now pointing at Uraraka. "Since you're such a better hero than me, then save her!"
"Young Bakugo! Wait-"
"Take this!" Kacchan pulls the pin and squeezes the trigger. The blonde sees Izuku dive in front of Uraraka as they are both engulfed by a blast that rocks the entire building, blowing a huge hole in the opposite wall. "THAT'S RIGHT! I WIN SHITTY DEKU!"
"Piece of advice, Kacchan." The explosion user looks like he's swallowed a lemon when Izuku reappears in front of him, holding a weightless couch. "Be more aware. Even though I couldn't turn Uraraka invisible, I knew you'd be so focused on me, you'd still never see her coming."
Kacchan gasps as Uraraka grabs his arm, making him weightless. Izuku smiles genuinely. "Batter up!" He swings the couch into the angry boy who flies into the nearest wall, creating cracks in it. Uraraka releases her quirk and Kacchan lands on the ground in an unceremonious heap.
Izuku walks up and wraps the other boy's wrists with the capture tape. "I win, Kacchan."
The Pomeranian lifts his head up defiantly and glares. "You…you used help…it doesn't…doesn't fucking count…"
"And it doesn't matter anyway because we're about to win!"
Uraraka and Izuku see Kirishima barreling toward the three bombs, his feet back on the ground since Uraraka had released her quirk. "It's gotta be the middle one!" Kirishima jumps, hands outstretched to secure his team's victory.
Thankfully, he was able to harden himself in time after going through the bomb and hitting the ground.
"And that's time in the round! Villain team, WINS!"
Izuku and Uraraka cheer, the former going stiff and red when the latter hugs him. Uraraka, after realizing what she's done, jumps back red as well. Huh, she must've exhausted herself more than he realized. "G-good job, Deku."
Izuku's need to make sure others feel good about themselves temporarily takes over any other embarrassing feelings he may be having. "S-same to you. You were right, w-we make a good team."
She giggles, still a little red. "Those banks don't stand a chance, huh?"
Izuku chuckles along, calming down a bit. "First the banks, then the world?"
She raises an eyebrow. "I think you're letting your win as a villain get to you."
He gives her a half-smile. "I didn't hear a no?"
She smiles back. "I guess you didn't."
The two smile at each for another second before whatever was happening is interrupted by Kirishima running over. "That was great, guys! You kicked our butts through and through! But I gotta ask, which bomb is the real one?"
"About that…" Izuku twists his hand and all three bombs disapear. "None of them were!"
"WHAT?!" Kacchan is back on his feet, somehow, limping toward them. "The fuck do you mean, none of them were real?!"
Izuku shrugs, unable to keep the smug smile off his face. "The real bomb was invisible and upstairs the whole time. It was never here."
Kirishima points to him and back at where the fake bombs were a couple of times. "So-so-so wait! I thought you just made copies of the bomb!"
"Nope!" Izuku makes sure to look Kacchan in the eye. "The best way to trick someone, is to make them think they solved the trick."
"Wow! I couldn't tell at all!" Kirishima exclaims. "How good are your illusions?"
"So good I can be talking to you and you'd never notice when I switched to a decoy," Izuku says, enjoying Kirishima's confused face. Two more decoys appear around them.
"But now…"
"Which of us…"
"Is real!"
The three laugh while Kirishima stares intently trying to figure out this new puzzle before a new voice cuts in. "None of you are."
The three Izukus gape at Uraraka, whose head is tilted in thought. "It's just like the bomb, isn't it? You're making him think you copied yourself?"
The real Izuku emerges next to her, dispelling his three clones. How? His mind is racing. Besides his dad, no one had ever guessed one of his tricks before? What happened?!
Was it because he did the same thing? He's done that before and no one noticed? What was different this time? How had he messed up? Ok, relax. Everything's alright, you're still in control.
"Everything alright, Deku?"
You know what? It's probably okay. He's sure this happened to dad when he was younger too. He can ask him about it the next time he sees him. He's alright. He's safe.
"I'm fine." Izuku gives her an easy smile. "C'mon, let's get back!"
Back in the monitor room, Izuku, Uraraka, and Kirishima stood in front of their classmates. Kacchan had been taken by bots to Recovery Girl's office.
"To start things off…" All Might begins slowly. "I want to say you all performed adequately. That being said…young Midoriya…"
"Yes, All Might? The very best hero instructor I've ever had?" Izuku asks sweetly, putting on his best innocent smile.
"Wait, the best?"
"Sir!" Yaoyorozu, no. "I feel the need to inform you that you are also our only hero course instructor so far!" His dad always told him that if he ever wanted someone's life destroyed, all he'd have to do is ask him. Something he never considered…until now.
"Ah, yes." All Might clears his throat. "Thank you. As for you young Midoriya, we will be having a discussion later on about what rules you are allowed to break."
"I feel the need to clarify I didn't break any of the rules you set, sir." Izuku is trying to keep a straight face but Kaminari's laughter is not helping.
"We will continue this later, but for now. We move on with class! Now, who do we believe was the MVP of the round?"
"It was Uraraka, Sensei," Yaoyorozu states with the utmost certainty. "Bakugo never even attempted to work with his partner or come up with a plan. Kirishima didn't offer any ideas of his own. And I can see why Midoriya would be in the running for most of you. His plan with the cameras and the bomb was well executed, and he had control of his fight with Bakugo at all times, however, he never took the exercise seriously. There were several points he could've ended the match prematurely but did not because it was not 'fun.' Uraraka meanwhile, offered several ideas to her team that were used, was instrumental in taking down their opponents, and never wavered from the purpose of the exercise. That is why she is the MVP."
The class stares at the heiress, dumbfounded. Even Izuku, who had a great deal of experience in long-winded explanations, was caught off guard.
Seemingly unaware of the confoundment she brought upon her classmates, Yaoyorozu continued, "I am, nevertheless, a bit confused about one thing. Midoriya, how exactly does your quirk work? I have several theories but none of them seem to offer a complete explanation."
"I am curious as well, Monsieur Midoriya," Aoyama adds. "It's almost as if, to say, you have multiple quirks." No one notices All Might flinch.
Seeing an opportunity to regain control of the situation, Izuku let his mischievous persona shine through. "Sure, I'll tell you!" He took a step forward and began to explain. "Well to start off, it's pretty much like two quirks in one." He sees Todoroki, because he'd obviously remember the name of the number two hero, in the back of the room actually move.
"It's illusion-projection and duplication-casting. Illusion-projection involves depicting a detailed image from outside oneself, which is perceptible in the external world, whereas duplication-casting entails recreating an exact facsimile of one's own body in its present circumstance, which acts as a true holographic mirror of its molecular structure. Understand?" Izuku explains way too quickly on purpose.
To his annoyance, Yaoyorozu nods. "That makes sense. Thank you for simplifying it, Midoriya." She will be the first to face his ire.
"You guys understood that?!" Kaminari whines.
Todoroki tilts his head toward him. "Made perfect sense to me."
"Who cares about all that?!" Two floating gloves, Hagakure, he remembers, interjects. "What I wanna know is, you can turn invisible?!"
Being complimented was the sure fire way to knock Izuku back because he can't help but scratch his cheek, a little embarrassed. "Um, well, yeah…"
"So you can choose to turn it on or off? That's so unfair!" The invisible girl complains.
Darn his need to make sure others don't feel bad about themselves. "W-well yes technically but it takes a lot to do so I can't do it very long! Plus there's always a small green light when I do it so it's not the best for stealth like you and your ability to refract light has so many possibilities-"
"My what?" Izuku's rambling is stopped by the girl's confused tone.
Izuku returns her confusion. "Your ability to refract light? You should be able to, right? If you couldn't then you wouldn't be able to see, light would just pass through you leaving you blind. But since you can see, it means you're blocking the light from passing through your eyes."
Hagakure backs up, her gloves touching what he presumes is her head. "Oh my god…how did I not…" did he say something wrong?
The pink girl who was skating on some sort of liquid yesterday, materializes in front of him. "Oooh, ooh! Ms next! I can make acid, tell me something I don't know about my quirk now!"
'What is it with the girls in this school getting so close?' "I-uh-well, you make acid?" She nods eagerly. "Can you control the solubility?"
"Yes! And the viscosity! I knew that already! Try again!" Izuku doesn't think he's ever met anyone in his life this enthusiastic. Well, except his Uncle Wade but he was excited about different things.
"W-well I n-noticed during the apprehension tests your acid didn't hurt you so you're immune to it?" Izuku asks hesitantly.
The pink girl's smile has not lowered in the slightest. "To an extent! If I produce too much it starts to hurt."
It's amazing what going into full quirk analysis mode does for a stutter. "I noticed you had no problems skating on it, so have you ever tried increasing the viscosity to the point where you could wear your acid like a protective suit? It could be both offensive and defensive! Any attacks against you would be melted and you'll be at a serious advantage if you have to fight hand to hand or just get close to someone!"
Her smile disappears and she stares at him in awe. At least he hopes that's what it is. "Oh. My. God!" She somehow gets closer. "I'm coming to you for all my quirk questions from now on! You can call me Mina!"
Analyzing a stranger's quirk, child's play. Responding to someone being so nice? He'd rather just find a hole to hide in.
Uraraka moves between them, lightly pushing the girl back. "Ok, Deku helped you with your quirk, you can move back now!" 'Is she upset? Why?'
Mina's yellow eyes look between them before she gets an 'oh' face. "My bad! You don't have to worry about me, Uraraka!"
"No, it's not like that!"
Dangit, just when he thought he was getting this social interaction thing down, he doesn't know what's happening again.
The rest of the battle trials went on mostly without any problems. The only hiccup was Yaoyorozu confirming they could use the monitor room if their quirks allowed and since he let Izuku do it, All Might had no choice but to concede, but with the caveat, they'd be a lot more specific about what they could do in the future, which calmed down Iida at least.
For the record, Yaoyorozu ended up making a drone with a camera and flying it to the monitor room to watch the cameras, he begrudgingly admitted it was awesome.
After All Might had dismissed them for the day, Izuku finds himself at his desk packing up for the day with Iida and Uraraka chatting idly next to him when a new voice surprises them.
"H-hey." Oh, it's the blue-haired boy, scratching his neck nervously and not looking at them directly. "So…you guys are going to the station right?" Izuku nods. "I was just wondering if I could join your party" he hurriedly glances at Uraraka and Iida. "I mean, your group…on the way there."
Iida and Uraraka's smiles make the answer clear. "Okay!" Izuku answers. "You can join our party, but we raid after school and usually during lunch if that's cool?"
The boy smiles in relief, just like he did earlier. The message was clear. Izuku finishes putting his supplies away. "Sorry but I'm really bad with names, what was yours again?"
"Tenko," the now-named boy answers. "Tenko Shimura."
Iida steps forward and holds out his hand. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Shimura! I am-"
"Tenko."
Like engines can, Iida stalls. "I'm sorry?"
Tenko scratches his neck more. "Tenko. Just please call me Tenko, if that's alright."
The smile returns to Iida's face. "If that is what you wish, Tenko. I am Tenya Iida." The two shake hands and Izuku realizes he's wearing artist's gloves on both of his hands! Calm down, Izuku. Give him at least a day before potentially scaring him away with your questions.
After getting properly introduced to everyone, Uraraka asks, "so Tenko, what do you like to do?"
He laughs a bit warily. "Do you guys like video games?"
"Did someone say video games?!" Even though Izuku knows he's coming, he still lets Kaminari wrap an arm around his shoulder. "Well hello like minded-people! Now, who said something about video games?" He grins eagerly at all of them.
Tenko raises his hand sheepishly. "Me. Was just asking if anyone else here liked them."
Kaminari jumps up and down, jostling Izuku in the process, raising his hand. "Me! I do! Pick me!"
Izuku can't help but laugh at the boy's energy. He raises his hand too. "Yeah, I like them too."
Uraraka slamming her hands on the desk brought the three boys' attention to her, who was boring into all of them with fire in her eyes. "I would destroy any of you in any fighting game! Just name it."
Her glare left no room for argument and they all backed down before they could even think of a response.
Iida cleans his glasses on his shirt. "While we really should be focusing on our studies and hero work, I will say that my brother was not a stranger to having me join him in a racing game."
Izuku laughs. "Yeah, Ingenium liking racing games make sense." He chokes before covering his mouth. "Oh my god Iida, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to-"
"Not a problem, Midoriya." Iida lifts his hand up to stop him and puts his glasses back on with the other. "I didn't want to advertise my relationship and receive special treatment but it was bound to come out eventually." Posing with his fists on his hips Iida declares, "yes! It is true, my older brother is the hero, Ingenium!"
"Woah!"
"I knew you were a rich kid!"
"You'd be really good for ganking."
"Anyone else here have any famous siblings?" Izuku half-jokes because he really wants to know.
"Sorry! I'm an only child," Uraraka says.
Kaminari taps his chin. "I think my dad said I have a cousin around my age? Not sure, What about you, man?" He asks Tenko.
The red-eyed boy seems to stare in the distance, his mind somewhere else for a few seconds before swallowing.
"No."
Kurogiri stares down at the newspaper reading the front-page story. Interesting. He opens the door from the back room and enters the main bar area. Shigaraki lays on the couch, watching tv.
"It would seem, All Might has found himself employment at UA," the portal user says, holding the paper so that it can be seen.
Shigaraki looks up.