Chapter 7: The Sidekick

Green

Izuku

I sat upright in my seat, all the way in the back of the room in the very last row. I was seated between Bakugou and the kid with purple, ball-like objects on his head. Mineta, I think his name was. Even back here, I could feel the heat of the scrutiny Aizawa-sensei was giving us.

"You know what I see," he said lightly, "looking at the bunch of you?

No one said a word, leaving the room in a stifling silence. A few of the students gulped, while others shifted uncomfortably.

"Potential," Aizawa continued, "wasted."

"I don't see any direction, any drive, from the bunch of you." His tone was scathing.

"I even believe I heard some of you fighting over seating arrangements for, of all things, a girl."

Besides me, Mineta stiffened in his seat, and began sweating.

"You know who you are," Aizawa said, "stand up."

Reluctantly, Mineta, Kirishima, and Kaminari stood up shame-faced. Their faces were red, and they kept their eyes averted towards their desks. Aizawa glared at the three, but didn't give them the third degree like I expected. Instead, he continued talking, "Someone else seemed to think it was okay to disrespect their classmates and school property in my class. Whoever had their feet up on the desk," Aizawa's eyes glinted ominously, "Stand up."

Bakugou shuffled beside me and did as instructed.

"Whoever used their quirk without permission, stand up."

Esdeath, sitting about two rows in front of me, jerked her head upright. I couldn't see from where I was, but I could imagine the coldness of the glare she was giving Aizawa. He didn't back down, and simply stared her down until she relented and stood up with a snort. A few of members of the class also stood up, including a brunette girl in the first row, Yoarashi behind her, the guy with cylindrical elbows, and the pink-skinned girl. By now, roughly half of the class had been forced to stand. Some of them were glaring Aizawa, namely Esdeath, but the rest seemed to be embarrassed.

"This is hero school," said Aizawa, "not the zoo. You are learning to become heroes. Paragons of justice. You are not heroes yet, but in my class, I will hold you to the standards of one. This means no reckless using of Quirks, no disrespecting of each other or school property, and no stupidity. Otherwise, you can pack up now."

He surveyed the room once more, taking in everyone's chastised look.

"We've wasted enough time." From inside his sleeping bag, he pulled out a plastic bag.

Within them were uniforms.

"Put these on," He said, "we've wasted enough time."

I don't know much else about Aizawa, but he certainly put the fear of God into us within the first five minutes of class.

Green

We were gathered around a track, which I recognized to be the same on I had taken my entrance exam in. Aizawa stood in the center of our class, hands in pockets.

"We are now going to conduct a physical exam," he stated. He looked down at the list in his hands, "Bakugou, step forward."

The blond stepped forward cautiously, still wary of Aizawa after having been called out earlier in class.

"Back in middle school, what was the furthest range you could through a baseball?"

"Uh, roughly seventy three meters, I think."

"Right, and with your Quirk, how far?"

"I've never done it with my Quirk," came his reply. "Sir," he added.

"Exactly."

Aizawa drew himself to his full height.

"The government is irrational. They limit the usage of Quirks in schools, thinking it will safer for students to study in a Quirk-less environment. Instead, it does the opposite. By now allowing children to familiarise themselves with the Quirks, they limit the growth of the child."

Aizawa tossed Bakugou a baseball.

"Throw this using your Quirk."

Bakugou stepped up onto the base. He wound himself up in a classic baseball pitching position, screamed "DIE!", and chucked the ball away in a fiery explosion. We watched the ball rocket away, tracking it all the way to the other side of the track.

Aizawa held up a machine in his hand, which displayed the numbers, "730m".

We all gasped at the difference.

"In this physical," grinned the scruffy man," You will be allowed to use your Quirks. Do your best, because the person in last place will be expelled."

Cue gasps from certain members of the class.

"What?" screamed the brunette from earlier, "You can't expel us! We just got here! That's completely unfair."

Our sensei glanced at her.

"Ochako Uraraka, huh? And do you think natural disasters are fair?"

That shut her up.

"You think villains with powerful Quirks will hesitate to use them on you because it's not fair? Lots of things in the world are unfair. It's up to us heroes to combat the unfairness."

"Now are you going to keep whining about fairness, or are you going to grit your teeth and show me 'Plus Ultra'?"

Around me, I could see the fighting spirit being roused in members of the class.

"We'll start in alphabetical order.

Green

The exam went without a hitch. With One for All's help, I was able to crush every single exam with ease, easily obtaining first place overall using only 5% of my maximum capabilities.

I used the opportunity to survey the Quirks of my classmates.

Yaoyorozu's Quirk I learned was called Creation, which allowed her to create any non-organic material from the lipids in her body. The potential applications for that Quirk were literally limited only by imagination, making it an extremely power ability. I imagined a villain with that Quirk creating a nuclear bomb and setting it off in the middle of a city. Terrifying. Thank God she was studying to be a hero.

Tenya Iida had engines for calves, which granted him super speed. Tsuyu Asui could do whatever a frog could. Mina Ashido secreted Acid. Eijiro Kirishima could harden his body. Yuga Aoyama could shoot lasers out of his stomach, although it gave him a stomachache if he used his Quirk for over a second.

One Quirk interested me. Fumikage Tokoyami, the bird-headed boy, summoned a shadow-like entity from within his body. It seemed to be sapient, possessing it's own consciousness separate from Tokoyami himself. He called it Dark Shadow, and it possessed the ability to interact with the physical world. I was fascinated with this Quirk. Upon pressing him for more specifics, which Tokoyami was happy to provide, he told me that Dark Shadow was stronger during the night, and weaker during the daytime. However, the shadow-like entity tended to go berserk during the night, so Tokoyami rarely summoned him outside of daytime.

I shuffled that information away to the back of my head for future use. Eventually, the physical exam ended, and we gathered around Aizawa again. The person in last place, Mineta, was biting his nails nervously and sweating profusely. I felt a little bad for him, and wondered if I should speak up and convince Aizawa to let him stay. It seemed too cruel to just cut someone's dream right off the bat.

"You all performed admirably," Aizawa stated, "this'll be all. Dismissed."

"Wait, what about the expulsion?" Iida raised his hand.

"Oh, that," Aizawa gave us an amused look, "It was just a rational deception to make you all do your best."

"WHAT!?" Class 1A screamed collectively in anger.

Aizawa just grinned evilly.

Green

"I AM HERE… WALKING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!"

Around me, gasps of admiration rang out among the students.

"It's really him," Kaminari exclaimed, "All Might is here as a teacher!"

"He's more handsome in real life," said Mina, hands cupped around her chin.

"This is the top hero," stated Bakugou, "the man who stands at the very top."

All Might stood proudly in his Silver Age suit, posing at the front of the classroom with his arms cocked at his waist.

"Welcome, young students, to your hero academia."

"It is I, All Might, who will be your teacher for foundational hero studies. Here you will learn to utilise your Quirks in order to deal with all the duties that come with being a professional Hero. Today's first lesson will be: COMBAT!"

At those words, everyone's heads perked up, including mine.

Combat?

All Might pressed a remote in his hands, which made cupboards pop out of the classroom walls.

"In here are the costumes you designed and sent in. Put them on and meet me in Ground Beta."

A while later…

Class 1A stood decked out in our colourful hero costumes, awaiting instructions from All Might.

My costume was, naturally, green in colour. It was made of a special ballistic weave designed by Melissa herself, months ago during her brief stay at my place. In fact, the entire suit was her design. It may look like simple spandex at first glance, but it provided ample protection to the wearer. Around my neck I wore the metal band she designed more me. It was based off Professor Shield's Quirk Amplifier, only instead of amplifying Quirks it suppressed them. This allowed me to limit the power output of One for All until I got better control over it. I was to keep this band on around my neck at all times, according to All Might's instructions.

Never take it off, he had said, and limit your output to a maximum of 5% for now. Melissa told me that just by putting the band on, it limits your output to 80% of your power. However, that is still more than enough to instantly obliterate most villains, which is why I'm setting a soft limit of 5% on you for now.

"All right," All Might clapped to grab our attention, "are you ready for your first lesson, zygotes?"

My mind briefly flashed to a scene from nine months ago, when I was training my Quirk with All Might. He had called me a zygote back then, too.

Yaoyorozu raised her hand, "What will we be doing today, sir?"

All Might pulled out a tiny book from somewhere, flipping through the pages.

A script?

"The scenario today," he began, "is that a team of villains have hidden a bomb somewhere in their lair. The heroes' jobs is to either apprehend the villains, or to secure the bomb. The villains' job is to either defend their bomb or defeat the heroes. You shall be randomly paired up with another classmate, and I shall randomly decide which pairs are heroes or villains. Any questions?"

Iida raised his hands, "May I ask the reason behind such a haphazard method of pairing?"

All Might grinned, "Well, Young Iida, it is because heroes are often called to make spontaneous team ups with heroes from other agencies. You don't always get to pick and choose your allies in the real world."

Iida nodded, "So this is a lesson that looks far into the future. As expected of the top hero, your wisdom and discernment is beyond our comprehension! I am humbled, sir!"

All Might nodded, "All right, let's get this started!"

He began reading off the pairs. I was paired, to my pleasant surprise, with Yaoyorozu Momo, who seemed equally as excited about the team up.

"Looks like we'll be working together quite closely for now, Midoriya," she smiled at me.

I grinned right back, "Looking forward to it. Call me Izuku."

"And me Momo."

We turned our attention back to All Might, who had finished pairing everyone up by now.

"Now, it's time to figure out our first fight."

He reached into two boxes that had come from– wait, were they there the whole time?– somewhere. One box was labelled 'Villains', and the other 'Heroes'.

From inside, he pulled out to balls labelled with letters.

"Letter A and Letter F," he read.

"That's us," I muttered to Momo, who nodded resolutely. As I stepped up, I glanced at our opponents-to-be. Esdeath and Yoarashi stepped up, the former staring hungrily at me while the latter bounced in visible excitement.

"Team A will be the villains," All Might continued, "while Team F will be the heroes. Everyone else, head to the viewing rooms. Team A, head into the building to your left please. You'll find the bomb inside on the first floor. You can pick where you want to hide them. Team F, stay outside for now. The exercise will start in 10 minutes, giving you both some time to plan." With that said, All Might began to head off with the rest of the class, but not before catching my eye and giving me an encouraging grin.

I smiled discreetly back. We had agreed beforehand to not reveal our relationship as master and disciple to the public beforehand, due to the necessity of keeping my identity secret from All for One.

Heading inside the building with Momo, we came across a Paper-Mache bomb.

"Got any ideas?" I turned to Momo, who cupped her chin in thought.

"Well, it's certainly too big to just hide in some corner," she stated.

"We should definitely take advantage of your Quirk to make traps or something."

She nodded, "Agreed. I can do that. But is there even a need to hide it in the building?"

I gave her a confused look, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," she gave a sly smile, "there isn't a rule that we can't just take this thing and hide it somewhere else in the ten minutes we have."

My lips began to curve into a wicked smile as I began to catch on to her suggestion, "That's quite the devious plan, Momo. You make a good villain."

She smiled and tossed her hair imperiously, "That's right. I'm bad to the bone." She winked at me, "Rargh."

I smiled at the cute display, and turned my attention to the bomb.

"All right, I'll take the bomb with me and run," I said, "you just trap this building as best as you can. Make them think it's hidden somewhere in here."

"Got it."

We split off, each with a purpose. I snuck out the back of the building, bomb in hand, and took off into the distance, One for All creating crackles of green lightning around me. Ground Beta was full of abandoned buildings. There was bound to be one where I could stash the bomb.

Green

Momo

As Izuku dashed off, I turned my attention to my task.

Trap the place up, eh?

Not exactly an easy task. I could create a lot of things with my Quirk, but I didn't know the first thing about trap-making.

Hm, this is turning out to be harder than I thought. I only had ten minutes to do this, and from the discussion with Izuku earlier, we had used up four minutes.

That leaves me six minutes to trap five floors.

Not really that realistic. I'd have run of out time by the time I finished one floor, let alone five.

No, I had to be realistic about this. I glanced around my surroundings. The building I was in looked to be in poor shape, with crumbling foundations and paper thin walls. It looked like any explosions would topple the entire building.

I blinked. There's an idea.

If I placed charges in the corners of the building, then detonated it, I could potentially collapse the entire building. It would probably be lethal to a normal person, but Esdeath and Yoarashi both had extremely powerful Quirks so they probably wouldn't die.

Wow, maybe I AM suited to be a villainess.

I set out to enact my plan, setting up bombs on the pillars and corners of the ground floor. I had no idea how much was needed to bring the building down, so I went for quantity over quality to be safe. The charges I set would create a weak explosion, but I made a lot so it should compensate. In addition, I made them all so I could remotely detonate them. With my traps set, I rushed out the back of the building, creating a bike. I made it with an electric engine so it would make less noise. Riding it away in a random direction, I tried to see any signs of Izuku. No luck.

I was feeling pretty weak from the exertion of creating so many objects at once. I probably only had enough juice in me for one more medium sized creation before I was totally out. Gonna save that in case my plan goes wrong.

If all went well, this should take out both members of the hero team. If not, then Izuku was going to have to deal with them because I would probably not be of much use in my current state.

Here's hoping it goes well, but they say 'the best laid plans of mice of men…'

I managed to get a fair distance away from the building before I heard All Might's voice over the speakers set up all over Ground Beta.

"Ten minutes have passed," came the announcement, "heroes, you may now head inside. Villains, good luck."

I parked my ride by a random building, and ran inside, up the stairs and to the rooftop, where I had a clear view of the action. It had been about two minutes now, which was more than enough time for them to head inside.

Here's hoping the plan works, I thought, holding up the remote detonator in my hand and pressing the button.

A second went by, before a muffled boom rang out from the building in the distance. It seemed to shake, clouds of dust rising from the bottom, before crumbling inwards in a loud crash.

Success, I thought, that should hopefully take them both out. I waited with bated breath. My hopes were dashed, however, when a huge tower of ice exploded from within the rubble, carrying Esdeath with it. She seemed completely unperturbed, but she was carrying an unconscious Yoarashi underneath her arm. He seemed to be bleeding from the forehead, but was otherwise alive.

I was torn between feeling relief that they were both alive to disappointment that my plan didn't work as intended. Well, at least I got one of them.

It's your turn now, Izuku.

Green

In the viewing room, All Might and Class 1A were looking at the screen in terror.

"Holy shit," Kaminari said, "she decimated that building."

Mineta was shivering in his boots, "S-so scary! I would've died if I was in there."

A few other members of the class nodded their heads in agreement.

"Let's just agree to never piss of Momo-chan," stated Sero in utmost seriousness.

Tsuyu Asui just turned to All Might, "Is that allowed, Sensei?"

All Might, who seemed completely flabbergasted at the turn of events, jerked slightly in surprise, "Uh, what? Oh, sorry, yes. It is a villainous action, and I didn't say anything in the rules about it, so yes, it is allowed."

"However," he added, "from now on you are not allowed to destroy the buildings anymore. It costs time and money to rebuild and I don't think UA will appreciate it if Ground Beta was destroyed on the first day of class."

"Now, pay attention to the screen class," prompting the students to turn their attention back on the action, "it seems like Young Esdeath has confronted Young Izuku."

Green

Izuku

I faced down Esdeath, who was clad in the same white general's apparel I saw her in from back in the entrance exam, except there was a sword strapped to her side this time. It looked like a traditional sabre. She casually tossed Yoarashi's unconscious body to the ground, kicking at it slightly so it rolled out of the way. I raised my brow at the rough treatment of her teammate.

"You sure don't give him any love, huh."

"Weaklings that are taken out in a single blast are beneath my attention," she smirked, "but this is just as well. I'd been meaning to catch you alone."

"Oh? I hadn't realised I was in such hot demand amongst the ladies."

She gave me a dry look. "Really?" Sarcasm dripping off her voice, "You don't realise the effect you have on girls."

I gave a dry cough, "Well, you're one to talk considering how you look."

She gave me a languid gaze, "Oh? Been taking glances at me behind my back, have you?"

"You can't fluster me with this level of teasing, Esdeath-chan," I said, "I've honestly handled worse."

A predatory smile emerged on her visage.

"Oh, trust me," she purred, "you can't handle me."

She unsheathed her sword and leapt at me point first, crossing the distance between us in a flash.

I cursed and hurriedly dodged to the side, avoiding the point by a hairs breadth. However, I was unprepared for her follow up, which came in the form of a powerful kick that launched me into a building. I crashed through the walls, landing powerfully on my back.

"Ow," I blinked.

From the hole I made, I could see her standing, hands cocked on hips, cockily smirking at me from the middle of street.

"You're not taking me lightly, are you?" She asked, "Because if you are, you'll die."

With a snap of her fingers, a spear of ice formed from midair and shot towards my position. I flipped up from my prone position and kicked it aside, but Esdeath merely formed more. One became two, then four, then innumerous as she created a maelstrom of icicles to shoot at me.

I ducked and weaved as best as I could, but there were too many. Eventually, one pierced through my left thigh completely, lodging itself deep into the muscle. I let out a hiss of pain. The brief pause cost me, as more and more ice spears penetrated my body. I crossed my arms in front of my face to protect my head, but another two spears managed to lodge themselves in my right shoulder and stomach, respectively. I let out a pained groan, falling to my knees.

"Don't tell me this is all the 'King' amounts to," mocked Esdeath, "Otherwise I will be sorely… displeased."

From my position on the ground, I could barely make out the sadistic expression on her face. I also saw a brief flash of… disappointment?

This wouldn't do. This wouldn't do at all. I pulled out the spears with my free hand, starting with the one lodged in my shoulders and working my way down. The holes began to steam and close up immediately, my regeneration kicking into place. Soon, the wounds closed and displayed perfect, unblemished skin. Rolling my shoulders, I stood up and gave a wry smile to Esdeath.

"That would've killed anyone if they weren't me, you know," I said lightly.

Esdeath merely rolled her eyes, "If they died to that level of injury, then they deserve to die."

"You've got a pretty twisted sense of humour, huh," I stated, "A hole in the stomach and shoulder is considered a light injury to you?"

She gave me an amused look. "Isn't it for you?"

I laughed.

"You got that right. You had my curiosity before, but now you have my full attention."

I pressed a hand to my limiter and vocalised, "50%."

"Confirmed. Releasing 50% limiter."

A wave of force erupted from me, blowing Esdeath slightly back. My skin began to lightly glow.

"Here I come," I warned, blasting towards her direction. She met me halfway, and as my fist collided with her sword a wave of force erupted from the center of our clash. I was initially surprised at how she didn't even budge an inch, but then I noticed that she had reinforced her arms with a huge icy exoskeleten, as well as frozen both her feet to the ground.

Esdeath tried to crush me with two ice pillars she created on both sides of me, but those I easily crushed with a punch. I returned fire at her with a jab, which generated a whirlwind of force that impacted her face and sent her spiralling back, breaking through the ice constructs holding her in place.

"Not so fast," I growled, aiming at her figure and mimed grasping something, "get back here."

Her flying figure paused midair, as if suddenly held by some invisible force, and jerked back towards me.

I caught her wide eyes as she came flying back.

"Wha–"

I kneed her powerfully in the diaphragm, cutting off her air and causing her to choke up blood.

"Aackgh–" With a pained groan, she shot off again into the distance.

"Nope, another one." Her body came flying back again. This time, however, she had learned, and she managed to create a pillar of ice at me. I smashed it to smithereens with ease, but it broke my hold over her body, which allowed her to generate ice beneath the soles of her boots. She jumped upwards, propelled by a burst of ice beneath her feat that trailed after her position.

Landing on the rooftop of a nearby building, she grinned at me while holding her stomach.

"Ah, this is what I was talking about," she moaned, "this is what I wanted." She shivered in pleasure.

I gave her a weird look. Is she a masochist?

"How the hell did you tank that?" I demanded. I didn't hit her with the full 50%, since that would most likely kill her, but it was a solid hit at around 20%.

"I'm just really, really durable," she said, "but we digress. Warmup's over, it's time to bring out the big guns."

She snapped her fingers.

"Behold, the true power of the White General."

From above her, an absolutely humongous meteorite of ice materialised, casting a shadow over Ground Beta. The thing was huge, looking to be almost half a kilometer wide.

I choked back a gasp, "Are you crazy?" I yelled at Esdeath, "that thing could kill everyone here, including you!"

She smirked, "Not if you stop it."

"What the hell makes you think I can stop something that big?"

"Then I guess we die."

"Shit–" I cursed, looking up at the rapidly falling meteor.

50% can't handle this.

"80%, limit off. Quickly!"

"Confirmed."

Even more power surged through my body, as faint red lines began to appear on my skin.

With a cry, I leapt up from the ground towards the meteor, arm cocked back.

No, one arm alone won't generate enough force.

I twisted my body midair as I flew.

"Shoot style: 80% Delaware Smash!"

With a bang, my legs smashed into the bottom of the meteor, causing it to shatter into pieces. Chunks of ice crashed into Ground Beta, peppering across the entire training field. Most of it landed on the streets, causing large cracks to form in the ground, but some of them landed on the buildings, damaging them severely.

"Got you," I heard. Esdeath, who had taken advantage of my distraction, had leapt up to my position. She created a hammer of ice and smashed down with it, blasting me into the ground from midair.

She formed more pillars of ice, striking down at my prone form. I curled up my bodies in defence, still in 80% mode.

The ice impacted me, but couldn't pierce through or damage my One for All enhanced body. My suit, however, was severely damaged.

With a groan of effort, I shattered the ice that held me down, flipping up and preparing to leap back in the fray. However, when I glanced up again, Esdeath was nowhere to be.

Where is she?

I frantically looked left, right, in front of me, and behind me.

Not up, not left, not right, nor in front or behind. That leaves–

"Down!"

I stomped on the ground with all my might, causing the ground beneath me to disintegrate and the entire training ground to tremble. Dust billowed out in clouds from the ground, but with a wave of my palm those dispersed, showing the dirtied form of Esdeath. Pieces of ice lay broken by her side, showing that she had managed to defend herself with an ice construct hastily.

She coughed out a little bit of blood, but managed to stagger upright.

"Yes," she croaked, "you are the one I've been looking for."

We readied ourselves to fight, but a shout stopped us.

"ENOUGH!"

All Might's form crashed into the ground between us. He held out his hands, palms out, towards our forms.

"This training exercise is over," he stated, "The heroes have won."

What?

"How?" I asked, "She hasn't defeated me."

All Might gestured to me, "Look at your wrist."

I glanced down, and to my surprise, saw tape wrapped around my left hand.

"When?" I glanced at Esdeath in surprise.

"When I sent the pillars of ice at you just now, of course," she smirked, "you were curled into a ball, not paying attention at all, so I took the opportunity and used my ice to attach it to you."

"What about Momo?" I asked All Might.

"She had long been incapacitated due to the aftermath of your fight," All Might stated, "which you should have known, had you been properly acting in your capacity as her partner."

The rebuke in his voice was evident, causing me to flinch.

"Return with me, now," All Might said authoritatively, "It's time to hear your feedback."

Green

The walk back to the viewing room was awkward, and silent. I had powered down, and was hanging my head depressingly as I trailed behind All Might. Esdeath held her head proudly beside me, seemingly not bothered by All Might's rebuke at all. From time to time, her eyes would meet mine, which would cause her to shoot me a saucy smirk.

To this, I would avert my eyes. I can't believe I lost. Even with my power, I still…

"We're here," All Might's voice rang out.

The door to the viewing room hissed open, and we stepped into a room with a large screen.

Within the room were the members of 1A, who were currently staring at us with open mouths. I noticed Yoarashi and Momo immediately, the former having bandaged his head, and the latter having bandages covering her arms and legs. Guilt arose in me immediately at the sight of her injuries.

How could I have forgotten Momo was there? I should have been more attentive.

I'm a terrible teammate. I need to apologise to her. I ran over to her, scanning her body for more injuries.

"Are you alright?" I asked, then immediately palmed my head, "No, of course she isn't, you dolt. What I mean is, how are you feeling?"

She giggled, "I'm fine now. I took a bit of a fall, but Recovery Girl already healed me up. The bandages are there just in case. I should be able to take them off by tomorrow."

"Oh, thank god," I sighed in relief, before dropping into a ninety degree bow.

"I'm sorry," I apologised, "I should have been more attentive to you."

"Oh, that's not necessary," Momo stepped back, slightly flustered, "It's okay."

"No," I stated firmly, "it was completely unacceptable. Not only did I ignore the mission objective, I also lost complete contact with you, my teammate. I didn't think to check on your condition, or to meet up with you. I basically just took the bomb and left you to your own. You were also injured by the aftermath of my attacks," I gave her a guilty look, "I can't possibly apologise enough for everything."

She swallowed thickly, "Well, when you put it that way…"

"I must make it up to you," I grabbed her hands, raising it up.

"Please, let me amend for my mistakes."

Momo glanced at our intertwined hands, a red hue slowly creeping up her neck.

"A-and… how are you planning on making up to me?"

"Anything you desire, as long as it is within my capabilities."

"Anything?"

"Yes. Anything."

Momo glanced around the room, at the classmates who were watching the event curiously.

"I'll think about it, then. Let me get back to you."

I gave a sigh of relief, and stepped back.

"Thank you, Momo."

All Might gave a cough, which garnered all of our attentions. His stern gaze had softened somewhat at my actions, which quietly relieved me, but his arms were still crossed.

"Well then, now that the spectacle is over with, let's get right to the meat and potatoes," he said.

"First, the Hero team. Who can tell me what they did well, and what they didn't?"

Tenya Iida was the first to raise his hands.

"The hero team had two powerful Quirk users, which was to their advantage. They made good use of this initially, with Yoarashi using his Quirk to fly to the top of the building and approaching from the top. It was a good idea, him approaching from the top, and Partas approaching from the bottom. In theory, it would have pincered Midoriya and Yaoyorozu, had they been in the building. However, the lack of communication between them caused Yoarashi to be unable to react to the detonation of the bombs in time, and he was unfortunately taken out by having the ceiling fall on him. Esdeath, although caught in the explosion, was able to erect a barrier of ice to defend herself, which demonstrates incredibly reaction speeds."

All Might nodded, "A good analysis. Do the people in question have anything to add?"

Esdeath ignored the question, while Yoarashi sheepishly rubbed his head, "Man, It's really embarrassing to be taken out in a minute like that. I really thought I could've shined."

"Take this as a learning experience," All Might said, "To always be prepared for the unexpected."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, to the villain team. What went well, and what didn't?"

This time, it was Todoroki who spoke up.

"They were able to come up with a strong plan and act on it from the beginning, showcasing a strong synergy between the two. Taking the bomb out of the building was an inspired idea, along with the idea to blow up the building itself."

Momo blushed at the praise.

"In terms of carrying out the objective, I would have to say that Yaoyorozu completely outclassed Midoriya. As we saw, she was the one to come up with the plan, she was the one to bring down the building, and she managed to get away successfully too. If we look at it from this point of view, the only thing of note Midoriya did was carry the bomb away."

I looked down in shame. He's right, I thought, I was completely useless.

My fists clenched at my sides, and I bit my lips in consternation. What use is this strength if I can't use it properly?

All Might nodded, "Very true. I agree completely." He turned to face me.

"Young Midoriya, you are blessed with great power. It is good that you are able to work well with your teammate, but beyond that, all you showed today was your ability to create massive amounts of destruction. As a hero-in-training, it is important to keep in mind your location and objective. I hope you keep this in mind for future purposes."

I nodded my head.

"Understood, sir. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for mistakes, Young Midoriya. Learn from them. That is all I ask."

"Yes, sir." I kept my gaze down.

"However," he continued, "I'm glad to see how well you handled that meteor."

I glanced up in surprise. There was a small smile on All Might's face now, as well as a proud tone. He gave me a tiny nod of acknowledgement. I felt emotions rush through me at this gesture, welling up from deep in my chest. My eyesight began to water. He still acknowledged me!

All Might turned to attention to Esdeath, who had so far been standing impassively, her arms crossed under her large bust.

"Young Partas, you too demonstrated incredible prowess and mental agility today. You recovered admirable from the surprise detonation, and even recovered your teammate from the rubble. However, your action of kicking him aside when confronting Midoriya is something I frown upon. Do treat your teammates gentler, next time."

She gave him a sweet smile, "Of course, sensei."

"Furthermore, you were incredibly impressive with your usage of your Quirk. I personally acknowledge Midoriya's strength, and the fact that you were able to go toe to toe with him is nothing short of prodigious. You should be proud of your power. Your powerful combat ability, coupled with your wit, is something that will serve you well. Continue to do your best, and we'll see a top hero out of you yet, my dear."

Esdeath seemed stunned at this praise.

"Well, thank you," she managed, "that is very nice to hear."

"That being said," All Might continued to speak,"Your actions this time were completely overzealous. If it wasn't for my absolute faith in Young Midoriya, I would've stopped the match a long time ago. Most of your actions would've been downright lethal had it been directed at other students. As a teacher, I fear I would be remiss in my duties if I did not rebuke you severely for that. If," here his eyes glowed blue, "you ever use that kind of power against another student here, I will be the first to boot you out of UA."

"To be a hero is infinitely harder than being a villain. The duty of a hero is to protect, something that I fear you have failed to do today. That meteor you yours would have decimated the city you were fighting in, making the whole point of this excercise mute. Reflect on this, Young Partas, and we may see a heroine out of you yet."

Wow, this was the first time I had ever seen someone get the third degree from All Might. Esdeath, initially stunned at the praise, had soon schooled her features in a mask of polite neutrality.

"Of course, All Might-sensei. I thank you for the guidance. I will take your words to heart."

"Now then, for the next teams," All Might announced, " Team C and Team E…"

As other teams began to do their thing, I couldn't help but glance curiously at Esdeath. How had she tanked my punches so easily?

Green

I walked home slowly, backpack slung on one shoulder. I couldn't believe how many things happened on my first day of school. As I walked in silent introspection, a sound from behind me garnered my attention.

"Izuku!" came a light, elegant voice. I turned to see Momo, panting slightly a distance behind me.

"Momo?" I blinked, "what is it?"

"My favour," she panted, "it still counts, right?"

"Y-yes, of course. Anything you want. As long as I can do it, I will." I owe her this much.

"Very well."

I waited for her to catch her breath a little bit.

"You know you could've just waited till tomorrow, right?" I asked her in slight amusement.

"I felt like this had to be done on the first day, you know? That way I can remember this moment for the rest of my life."

"Oh?" Her response had my curiosity piqued. What kind of request will she give me?

"Izuku Midoriya," she stated, pulling herself up to full height, "I want you…"

"…To give me a guaranteed position as sidekick in your future hero agency."

My jaws gaped wide open.

Huh?

"What did you say?" I asked, wondering if I had misheard.

"You're planning on making your own hero agency in the future, right?"

"Well, yes, but that's…" years into the future, honey.

"Well, you can start now. And make me your first sidekick."

I stared at her in befuddlement.

"Uh, no I can't. I'm not a professional hero."

"True, you can't open a hero agency," she agreed, "but you can make yourself incorporated."

What?

"Midoriya Inc.," she stated proudly, "I've already thought of the name."

"What–? What brought this on, Momo?"

She sighed, "Well, originally I was just going to have you run an errand for me or something as the favor, you know."

Yeah, that was what I thought too.

"Then I thought, opportunities like this where the hottest rising star of herodom owes you an opportunity doesn't come everyday. So I got to thinking, 'how do I milk this for all it's worth?' I then realised that, since you'll probably be an extremely successful and famous hero one day, I'll jump on that wagon earlier. You can't open an agency now, since that requires a lot of manpower, but you can make yourself incorporated, as I mentioned earlier. This means you can start paying people, because you'll technically be a company. That, means I can become your first official employee."

She paused here, "You follow?"

"Well, yes." Seems straightforward. What I didn't get was the why?

I asked her.

"Simple, Izuku," she said, "despite your mistakes today, I still believe in you. I still believe in your potential. In fact, I could very well see you becoming the next All Might. My Quirk is powerful, yes, but I honestly don't see myself becoming able to compete with people like Yoarashi, Esdeath, Todoroki, or even Bakugou. So in order to secure myself the best possible future, I need to find a big tree. You."

Momo gave me a serious look.

"I'm dead serious about becoming a hero," she stated, "and that means looking forward into the future from my very first step."

I gazed at her in stunned silence. She had been thinking that far ahead?

Chuckles emerged from my lips. I couldn't help it.

"It seems like I have much to learn from you, Momo. You've taught me so many things about being a hero already."

She blushed slightly at the praise.

"All right, I'm down. What do I need to do?"

"Wait, really?" She seemed surprised, "You'll actually do this?"

"Yeah," I shrugged, "why not? You're a talented, forward-thinking, independent and resourceful girl. I would be blessed to have you by my side."

Her face had turned completely red now.

"You silver-tongued devil," she said, but her body language betrayed her excitement.

"What do I need to do?" I reiterated.

"Follow me," she said, "we'll have to get started immediately." She turned about face and began walking off briskly, motioning me to follow her.

Guess I'll have to tell Mom I'll be heading home later tonight.

Green

Momo

Izuku and I sat seated behind a counter, still in our school uniforms. I had my driver, old Takeshi-jii-chan, drive us to the best corporate law office I knew. He had seemed surprised at my bringing of a boy into the car, but thankfully didn't ask. He still heavily scrutinised the boy, though.

We had gone into the officious looking building together, going up to an office clerk and explaining our intentions. The middle-aged man had quirked an eyebrow at the two of us, before motioning us to sit down.

"Uh, sorry," he said, "explain one more time, please."

"We want to incorporate a business."

He scratched his head, "All right, I guess I heard right the first time. Let me go get the paper work for you."

He returned shortly with a stack of paper in hand.

"Would you need help with filling out the paper work?"

"Yes, please," shot Izuku, who looked painfully lost.

The man sighed and sat down behind the counter.

"All right, first you have to decide if you want to be an LLC or fully incorporated."

"Fully incorporated." I informed the man.

He filled in something on the sheets.

"Alright, and who's going to be the head of this business."

"Uh, I am," Izuku supplied beside me.

"Okay, and your name?"

"Izuku Midoriya."

"I-zu-ku Mi-do-ri-ya," the man spelled out, "does that look right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Okie dokie, the next step is deciding if you're an S or a C corporation."

"S corporation, please." I cut in for Izuku here.

Turning to him, I explained, "S corporations are for companies that plan on having less than a hundred shareholders. We're not looking for anything too big here."

He nodded hesitantly, "Got it."

"Right, you need to fill in the address of your business."

"Just put your home address."

Izuku did as told.

There were more page to fill out, the clerk patiently guiding us through the entire process and answering our questions when needed.

After about an hour, we managed to finish up all the paperwork.

"Excuse me," I stopped the man as he turned to leave, "How long does it take to get incorporated?"

"Uh, it's done. You're already incorporated. This young man is the new CEO of Midoriya, Inc."

"That fast?"

"Yeah, I mean it's not technically true until I file this, but for all intents and purposes, yeah."

He affixed us with a curious look, "It's not really my place to ask, but what were your intentions doing this? You guys seem awfully young. Those are uniforms, right?"

Izuku gave a chuckle, "Yeah, we're students from UA."

"The hero school? What're two heroes-in-training doing incorporating themselves? Thinking of starting a hero agency?"

I coughed gently into my hands.

"Of course not," I said, elbowing Izuku in the ribs. He had just been about to reflexively agree. He shot me a confused look, which I returned with a glare.

"We're a perfectly legal business entity selling hero products."

"Hero products? As in products specifically for hero use?"

I glanced at him warily.

"Yeah?"

"You'll need a license for that."

"What? How do you get a license?"

He scratched his chin.

"Well, you need to pay a certain fee, and also prove you have the means of production."

"How much?"

"Fifty grand."

I choked. "Fifty grand?"

I definitely did not have that kind of money. Crap, I didn't think we'd run into an issue here. It had all been going so smoothly.

Beside me, Izuku looked to be in deep thought.

"If we have this license," he began, "is there anything else we need to do in order to become a company?"

"Nope," the man popped the p, "this is all."

The green haired boy beside me sighed, and pulled out a black card from his wallet.

"Let's do it, then."

The man and I both blinked in shock.

"You have the money?" I asked in disbelief. I come from a well-off family and even I can't casually wave around that kind of capital.

"Yeah," he responded, "it's complicated. Tell you later."

We finished up some for paperwork, and finally the clerk said, "Well, you still need to show me the means of production."

Izuku shot me a look. Your turn, he mouthed. I understood immediately. A glow of light emerged from my palm, as a flash grenade appeared from the light.

"Here," I showed him, "means of production. It's real."

He reached out to touch it, eyes wide in wonder.

"Okay, you're all set. Congratulations, I guess."

Green

"How did you pay for that?" I rounded curiously on Izuku as we walked out of the building.

He sighed.

"When I was young, I was the main subject of a large-scale research project."

I didn't know that.

He saw my look and quickly reassured, "It's not what you're thinking. Everything was completely legitimate and by the book. I wasn't experimented on or anything."

Oh, good.

"As the main subject, I got paid really well for my cooperation. I've never really had a use for all that money, so my mom just kept it in an account for me. That's it, really."

"What kind of research?" I asked, "I mean, if it's okay to tell me."

"It's fine," he laughed, "just that I started growing new organs when I was young. They couldn't figure out how when I didn't have a Quirk."

"You– didn't have a Quirk?"

"Yeah, I–" he froze mid-sentence.

"Y-yeah, they uh– thought I didn't have a Quirk, but it turns out I actually did– crazy thing, it was."

I narrowed my eyes at his suspicious behavior.

"That sounds like bullshit."

"L-look, can we drop this topic, for now?"

He clearly looked uncomfortable, but I decided we weren't close enough for me to dig too deep without seeming rude.

"Alright," I conceded, changing the topic, "now, about our agreement."

"Oh, right," he latched on to the lifeline quickly, "you're hired. Now. As of this moment. Congratulations."

"Thank you," I smiled sweetly, "but what I meant was the original plan. I want the position of main sidekick. This is the favor. I'm the first. The biggest. Understand? In return, I'll support you to the top with all I've got."

He blinked at me.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just, you're the second person to ever say that to me."

"Oh? Who was the first?"

"She designed this thing," he showed the band around his neck, "and my suit."

My ears immediately perked up.

"She?"

"Oh, yeah. I'll introduce her sometime. You'll love each other, I promise."

"Is she your girlfriend?"

"Oh, uh," he hesitated slightly there, "no, no. It's nothing like that. No way."

I let out a breath I didn't even realise I was holding.

"Oh. Okay."

There was suddenly an awkward silence in the air. He was the first to move.

"I guess I'll see you… tomorrow, then?"

"Of course. Do you need a ride home?"

"No, I can just…" he made a weird gesture, waving his hand up and down jerkily, "jump… home."

We bade our goodbyes and went on our way. As I glanced at Izuku's retreating figure, I felt the enormity of the days' events crash into me.

Oh my god. What have I done?

Green

AN: How's that for a twist, ladies and gentlemen? Betcha didn't see that coming.

Canon plods along slowly. Izuku fights Esdeath, that was hard to write.

Don't really have much to say. I have lots of things planned for Esdeath, okay? Lots of people in the reviews have mentioned having her be another member of the harem. No no no. I have bigger plans for her. I may or may not take you guys opinions on her, but if she ever becomes a romantic pursuit for Izuku, that will be FAR into the future.

Now, he has his hands full with just Melissa and Momo.

Other than that, I hope you liked the chapter. As always, your reviews are much appreciated. Let me know of any plot holes, or anything, and I'll do my best to address them in the story.

Dollarboy, out.

Edit: Wow, the response to this chapter was something I hadn't expected at all. Okay, that's fine, I'm can take constructive criticism so I'll address your concerns one by one.

1) 'Esdeath is a mary sue/ she should've been expelled rather than praised'

In hindsight, yes, you're right. I went back and changed that part, so give it a re-read. However, I do have to argue the allegations of her 'mary-sue-ness'. If you read carefully, after Midoriya started taking her seriously, nothing she threw at him could hurt him. I get that some of you are frustrated with how unfairly powerful she is, but trust me, there is a reason for that. I'll reveal the reason most like within the next two chapters, so just sit tight for now.

2) 'Midoriya is too weak' or some variation of that

I had to go back and edit the fight with Esdeath a lil bit to make it more obvious, but when I had Midoriya power up to 50% and when he punched her, it wasn't a full 50% punch. Midoriya, unlike Esdeath, knows to control his punches. Having 50% of your power unleashed doesn't mean all your punches are at 50% levels of force. It just means you can reach up to 50% levels of force. So, at 50% limit, Midoriya can dish out, at his will, anywhere from 1% to 50%. The way I have One for All work in this fic is a qualitative increase across the board. He becomes proportionally more durable, more speedy, more everything, really, the more One for All is unleashed. If I made Midoriya seem weak, it was because he is training to be a hero, he is training in control.

3) 'Why the hell was he so submissive to Momo'

I don't really understand this review, because to me he really wasn't. He offered a favor to Momo in order to make up for his mistake during the class. He thought that it would be something simple, but Momo came up to him with something else completely. Someone mentioned how he basically sold his soul to Momo. What? No he didn't. She works for him, not the other way around. It was a valid suggestion, and serves to tie the two characters together closer than would be classmates.

Everything I have happen to Midoriya, including his 'loss', is crucial to moulding his character. What would happen to someone with overwhelming power, in a society where power determines everything, who always had everything go his way? He becomes arrogant and conceited, that's what happens. He becomes unable to handle setbacks. Losses are good for him. I personally feel like if my main character just one shots everyone he comes across, that makes for a boring read. I introduced Esdeath as a foil to Midoriya, but since I made him so powerful so early on in the story, I needed her to at least be able to challenge him.