To Be a Contender
U.A.: Second Semester Orientation
Everyone else in Class 1A had been understandably surprised upon hearing that Midoriya and Bakugou had duked it out. 'Are you guys stupid?' had been the leading question asked while their now under house arrest classmates had explained the situation. Clay had also been questioned about having to stay after class, to which he'd simply replied that he happened to be up at the time but didn't think to report them until it was too late. Though he did reveal the real reason to Slade when the two of them were out of earshot.
But thanks to their house arrest, neither Midoriya nor Bakugou were allowed to go to the orientation. Though in Clay's opinion, they were lucky in that they didn't have to listen to Iida directing. "Everyone keep in line and move promptly to the school grounds," said Iida as he waved his hands like a traffic cop.
"Dude, you're the only person not in line," Sero pointed out as he passed by, causing Iida to freeze up and start muttering about the dilemma of being class rep. But whatever fun they were having was quickly cut short by the appearance of Monoma, who was leaning against the wall by his arm.
"You know what I heard," said the blond with his trademark douche smirk, "That two people in class 1A actually failed in the provisional license exam!"
"Ah great," said Kaminari as he backed away instinctively, "This guy's crazy as usual."
"And let me guess," said Kirishima with his own smug grin, "You were the only one out of your whole class to fail again. Like you did in the final, right?" For whatever reason, the red head's comment only served to make Monoma begin laughing as his class came walking around the corner.
"Everyone in our class passed!" He declared with his arms wide, "It seems we've pulled ahead of you at long last Class 1A!"
"And we're supposed to care again, why?" Questioned Slade as he scratched the back of his head.
"I'm sorry everyone," said Todoroki suddenly. 'Guess he cares for whatever reason.'
"Hey they're the ones making this a competition," consoled Kirishima, "Don't worry about it."
"Hi Clay," said Pony as she stepped forward with a friendly smile, "Did you know Vlad sensei said we'd be having classes together this semester?"
"Did he now," replied Clay, "I guess that means you won't have to search for me in the halls when you need to learn a new phrase." Pony was about to respond that she was looking forward to it, until Monoma whispered something in her ear.
"So this is the exchange student you mentioned," said Kaminari, "I'm starting to see why you kept it a secret."
"I didn't do it intentionally," said Clay, "I just never thought to mention it, given that most of our exchanges are in the hallways between classes anyway."
"Oh Clay," said Pony, "I'm gonna beat your whole class up so bad your mothers won't recognize you." Kirishima and Kaminari were understandably dumbfounded by this statement, especially given that she was still smiling when she said it, but Clay and Slade actually got a good laugh out of it.
"What's so funny," questioned Pony as she gave them all a confused stare.
"You have no idea what you just said, do you?" Clay stated more than questioned in English.
"Monoma said it was a friendly phrase," replied the American transfer student in her native language.
"Well you basically just threatened us," The cloud user explained, "But it's no problem. Just tell Monoma this." Clay whispered a few phrases of Japanese to the horned girl, who nodded in response before suddenly hiding behind him. The cloud user turned his head in the direction she was looking and saw that Mina and Jirou were suddenly not very enthusiastic.
"I forgot about her," said Jirou with a note of irritation in her voice.
"I guess this semester is gonna be a little more infuriating than I thought," added Mina as the two girls smiled while glaring daggers at Pony, who hid her head even further behind Clay.
"Did something happen at camp between you three," questioned the cloud user with a raised eyebrow as he looked back and forth between them.
"Could we get through back here," said another voice from down the hall as Shinso and a few other students from the support course came walking their way.
"He's right," said Iida, "We need to get moving everyone, so save chitchatting for later." Both class 1A and 1B began moving again, heading towards the door outside.
"That was the guy who took on Midoriya in the sports festival, right?" Questioned Jirou as they stepped outside, "He doesn't look as scrawny as the last time I saw him."
"Probably working out to make sure he's not tossed over someone's shoulder again," Commented Slade, "Brainwashing is a good quirk, but like sensei said you can't be a pro if you only have one trick."
"Speaking of tricks," said Mina, "What did you tell Pony a moment ago?" Clay was going to respond, but the sound of a yelling Monoma answered her question instead.
"I did not have to be saved repeatedly by the whole class!" yelled the copy quirk user, "And I'm not the class pansy-AAAACK!" Once again, Kendo had been kind enough to shut up her rowdy classmate with a chop to the back of the neck.
Outside, all of the classes were gathered in a block formation as their attention was directed towards a large stage. "Hello everyone!" Said Nedzu happily, "It's the small mammal principal you all love with a few announcements! You see, recently my prized fur has deteriorated in quality a bit and it's become difficult for me to take care of it. This is something you can apply to humans as well, as even with a balanced diet of zinc and vitamins, you still need sleep."
'I really hope he gets to the point soon,' thought Slade, 'or I might just catch up on my sleep right here.' "What I'm trying to say is that disturbances in one's lifestyle can be quite deteriorating if you're not careful," the principal said, "In this case, the disturbance to our lifestyles comes from the events at the summer training camp and the recent loss of a great pillar. The effects from that loss have arrived faster than any of us could've imagined and are likely signs of even greater chaos to come in the near future. Those of you in the hero course will be more aware of this than anyone, so you must treat out of school activities with a greater sense of caution and crisis than before, especially when it comes to the hero work studies that the second and third year students normally attend."
"What's he mean by hero work studies?" Questioned Mina as she titled her head in confusion.
"It may be like the next level of the internships we did," suggested Tsuyu with a finger to her chin.
"The air feels heavier lately," continued Nedzu, "especially when we talk about gloomy subjects such as this. The adults around us are working hard to alleviate that heaviness and we'd like you to learn from them as you all work to become capable people. Indeed everyone here in the business course, general studies, support course, and hero course should remember that you are all successors of this society."
"Thank you Principal Nedzu," said Vlad King as he took over the podium. "Now then, we have the non-curricular guidance teacher, Mr. Hound Dog, here with a few warnings." The 1B homeroom teacher then stood aside as a large man with a mane of yellow hair, a dog-shaped snout with a muzzle over it and a brown vest that was very furry began to speak, or rather growl, into the mike.
"Grrr..," snarled the Hound Dog, "Yesterday…Grr…unused to life…rawr…two students….AWOOOO!" 'I didn't understand a $ #ing word of that,' thought Clay as Vlad took the mike back while Hound Dog exited the stage.
"Well let's see," said King, "It seems two students were fighting last night. Now we know you're not used to living life at the dorms yet, but let's try to live a life of moderation."
'Why'd they even bring Mr. Hound Dog up if he couldn't even communicate,' thought Slade with a sigh.
"Does he forget how to speak like a human when he's angry," questioned a nervous Mineta.
"It seems like Midoriya and Bakugou are being treated as problem children," said Momo.
"I'm sure it'll blow over soon," said Slade with a comforting hand on her shoulder as they were all dismissed back to their classrooms.
Class 1A
"Okay everyone," said Aizawa, "starting today we'll be continuing normal classes. A lot of unprecedented events have come our way recently, but you'll need to switch gears and go back to focusing on your studies as students. We may be staying inside the classroom today, but make no mistake, your training will be even harsher this semester."
"Is he not gonna mention it," whispered Mina to Tsuyu before Clay was able to stop her.
"What was that Ashido," said Aizawa with a sinister presence behind his voice, causing the pink girl to shudder in fear.
"Actually she has a question," said Tsuyu as she raised her hand, "could you tell us about the 'hero work studies' mentioned earlier?"
"The principal said it was something many of the upperclassmen are participating in," added Momo.
"I had planned to tell you all about those," said Aizawa as he rubbed his head, "But at a later date. Though now may be a more logical time to inform you all. In simple terms, the work studies are hero activities outside of school, much like the internships from earlier in the year but with a bit more involvement."
"Wait," said Uraraka as the gears ground in her head, "IF WE HAD THAT THEN WHY DID WE WORK SO HARD AT THE SPORTS FESTIVAL?!"
"She has a point," said Iida, "If we have work studies then even those who didn't get scouted at the festival would still have an open path."
"The reason is that the work studies use the scouting from the sports festival as connections," explained Aizawa, "It's not part of the class but rather an activity undertaken by the student at their own discretion. So those who didn't get a lot of offers at the sports festival will have a difficult time lining up a work study to begin with. Originally, agencies recruited on their own, but a number of complications arose when trying to get U.A. students to join, leading to the situation we have now. Do you understand?"
"Yes I do," said Uraraka with a bow of her head, "I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions." The gravity girl then sat back down in her seat as their homeroom teacher continued his explanation.
"Now that you've obtained your provisional licenses," said Aizawa, "you can provide more assistance and for longer periods. There haven't been many cases where first years receive their provisional licenses, but with the increase in villain activity we're seriously considering your participation. For now, you'll all learn more about this and get further details on what the work studies are like at a later date. In the meantime, sorry to keep you waiting Mic."
The classroom door slid open then as Present Mike stepped in. "FIRST PERIOD IS ENGLISH! In other words time for the man with a mike to stand on stage!" 'Yep, back to school,' thought much of the class with a sigh as first period began.
U.A. Heights Alliance: Late Afternoon
"Hey Bakugou, it looks like you missed a spot," pointed out Mineta as he and Sero wiped some dust off one of the windowsill.
"That window was Midoriya's job!" exclaimed Bakugou, "So quit messing around! And Deku, can't you even cleanup properly?!"
"S-sorry," apologized the green-haired student as everyone, save for Clay, entered the common area. "Oh guys, just put the trash from your rooms in the hall and I'll take it out." No one replied to his statement as they started discussing the classes for the day as well as the subject of work studies. 'In one day I feel like I'm falling way behind,' thought Midoriya with a bit of a dejectedness.
"Don't think everyone's trying to be heartless," said Slade as he walked up, "Truth is some of us are a bit upset by the circumstances."
"Indeed we are," confirmed Iida, "but that is the consequences of being put under house arrest."
"Uh, by the way, what are the work studies everyone's talking about?" Questioned Midoriya.
"Afraid we can't say right now," answered Slade, "Aizawa forbid us from telling you guys anything about classes until the house arrest is up."
"So the both of you will have to fully experience the pain of house arrest to insure you've learned your lesson," said Iida, "That goes for you as well Bakugou."
"Shut up! I know already you damn four eyes!" The ash blond yelled back. 'Well at least we don't have to put up with him in class for another couple of days,' thought Slade with a feeling of slight relief.
Class 1A: Three Days Later
Not a whole lot happened over the next three days, save for Midoriya apparently seeing some blond guy's face popping out of the wall and the ground by the dumpster. But now that he'd turned in his written apology and had his house arrest lifted, he was finally back in the classroom. "I'm sorry for causing trouble!" exclaimed the now returned student with more force than Clay ever thought he was capable of.
"Thanks for all your hard work in the dorms Deku," said Uraraka, happy to have her friend back in class with everyone.
"Is it me or does he actually look angry for once," noted Jirou with a hint of concern.
"He's been incredibly concerned about falling behind in class," explained Clay, "this is probably one of the few times I've actually seen him even slightly angry over something."
"I'm sorry for disappointing you Iida," Midoriya said, apparently intent on apologizing to everyone.
"O-of course," said Iida, confused as to why he was getting an apology, "at least you know what you did wrong."
"The way Clay tells it he didn't do anything wrong," said Slade, "Bakugou gave him no choice but to fight. But that's not what's got you so worked up is it Midoriya?"
"I'm going to catch up on everything I've missed over the last three days!" declared the One for All holder with his fist clenched in determination.
"That's the spirit!" cheered Kirishima, a little caught up in the moment. A moment which was quickly ruined with the arrival of Aizawa, who promptly ordered everyone to their seats.
"Morning everyone," said Aizawa, "now that Midoriya's house arrest is up, we can go into more detail about the work studies. It'll be best if you hear about them from people who have firsthand experience, please come in." The door slid open then as a trio of third year students walked into the room. "These three third years stand at the top of U.A., you may know them by another title, the big three."
"Ah #$%," muttered Clay under his breath. He'd heard a number of rumors about these students. Some of them obviously weren't true, but while he was doing his two days of after school help in the staff areas, he happened to look into them a little. The three of them were a bit on the weird side, but their power and skill was undeniable.
"It's the big three!" cheered Mina, apparently having heard some of the rumors herself.
"The ones among us who are the closest to becoming pro heroes," added Momo. Everyone else was in one degree of awe or another. 'Yeah now they are,' thought the cloud user, 'none of them stood out all that much at first, but they've been making quite a name for themselves recently. Just what the heck kind of people are they?' He would soon find out as Aizawa asked the big three to introduce themselves.
The first one was a student named Amajiki who sported dark hair that covered his left eye while also spiking out everywhere at the back. Also, if Clay wasn't mistaken, his ears were a bit pointed as well. But what really got everyone's attention was the sudden intense stare he was giving the entire class. "It's not working," he said suddenly and surprisingly quietly, "Even if I imagine them all as potatoes, only their heads change. The rest of their bodies still look human, so I still see them as human. What should I do….I can't say….a word….my mind's blank….can I just go home now?"
'Wait a sec,' thought Slade as he took a closer look, noticing how much the third year student was shaking, 'does this guy have stage fright?' Amajiki then turned towards the wall, apparently too afraid to even look out over the class anymore. "Um, you are one of the top three, right," Ojiro finally asked.
"Oh Amajiki," said the blue-haired girl of the trio, "You're acting like you have the heart of a flea again. It's so strange considering you're human." The girl then turned back towards them, her more than waist-length blue hair flowing as she did so. "The flea here is called Tamaki Amajiki and I am Nejire Hado. We were asked to come here today to talk to you all about work studies. But one question first, why are you wearing that mask?" Her question was directed at Shoji.
The dupli-arms student attempted to answer, but before he could, Nejire caught sight of Todoroki. "Oh and you're Todoroki aren't you? How did you get that burn? Ashido, can your horns regrow if they're broken off?" She continued to ask nearly half the students a random question before moving onto the next student without hearing the answer. "There's so many things I want to know about you all, it's so strange! Are those balls your hair?"
"She's got the whole airhead routine down pat," commented Kaminari, "It's kind of cute."
"She's like a curious kindergartner," added Mina with a bit of a confused smile.
"She asked me about my balls, that's sexual harassment," said a drooling Mineta. 'You wish,' thought most of the class.
"This is lacking a bit of rationality, don't you think," said Aizawa with a look of annoyance.
"Oh, don't worry Eraser sensei," said the final student whose name was apparently Mirio. He had short blond hair which stood up on top of his head and stuck out on the back of his neck. He was also taller than Iida and even more heavily built. "I'm going last so that I can wrap things up." He turned to the class with a hand to his ear, "The future is gonna be-?" Silence was his answer as no one really had any idea how to respond to his question.
"Grim," said Mirio, "It's supposed to be grim. Alright, call and response was a total failure!" For whatever reason he was laughing it off like it had been successful. 'I know greatness sometimes comes in weird packages,' thought Clay, 'but what is up with these guys?' "Well you all look like you've got no idea what's going on, what with us third years suddenly appearing to talk about work studies which aren't even required. I understand, it's confusing."
'Because you're making it confusing,' Slade almost blurted out as he sat with his chin in his hand. "Let's see, you guys got your provisional licenses as first years, which means you're all probably pretty energetic," surmised the student, "Not to mention, it looks like my jokes aren't working either. So why don't you all fight me at once!"
"W…WHAAAAAAAT!" exclaimed the entirety of the class at this sudden declaration.
"It's most rational for you all to experience our experience firsthand, right," said Mirio as more of a question than a fact. "How about it Eraser?"
"Do what you want," Aizawa said after a moment, looking as indifferent as ever.
Gym Gamma
"So…you're serious about this?" Said Sero, voicing the question that was on everyone else's minds as they stood in their gym clothes in front of the big three's apparent leader.
"Totally and completely serious," replied Mirio as he was doing basic warm up stretches.
"Mirio, you're going overboard," said Amajiki who was all the way over pressing his forehead against the wall, "It would've been fine if we just said 'this is what is it was like' and 'I learned so much doing this.' Not everyone has the same level of ambition as you, and we can't end up with kids who can't recover afterwards."
"What does he mean by that?" Questioned Kirishima with a raised eyebrow.
"Well for example," said Nejire, who was pushing Mina's horns back and forth, "There was a student in the past who got so frustrated with everything, he quit, which wound up causing all sorts of problems. It really is tough isn't it Togata? This'll be tough too if you don't think it through properly."
"Please stop," said Mina, somewhat feebly. Clay decided enough was enough as he pushed the blue-haired girl's hand away.
"We all need to focus here," said Clay, "Would you mind moving to the side."
"Oh I would," said Nejire with a smile as she put her hands behind her back, "But I've got one more question I need answered. How well can you really fly on those clouds?"
"I can answer that later-hey," the cloud user was interrupted by Nejire's surprisingly strong grip on his arm.
"I mean I want to see firsthand," she explained, "And it's no fair that Mirio gets to have all the fun. So right this way please." The girl began dragging Clay along to the other side of the gym, which had had a number of pillars set up, obstructing their view of the rest of the class. "Alright, this should do." She let go then before marching a good fifty feet away.
"So what is it you want here?" Questioned Clay as he glanced at the numerous pillars around them, "If you want me to give a flying demonstration, outside would be better suited for it."
"Silly, I didn't drag you over here just to watch you fly," she said with an innocent smile, "It's strange, but I want to fight you one on one. I've been wondering about my maneuverability recently."
"Huh, so my senior is asking me for a bit of help," said Clay as he produced a mass of clouds behind him as well as his gauntlets and boots, "Alright then, but since you're the best of the best, it means I can cut loose a bit."
"Come at me however you'd like," she said, still retaining her smile as she took a stance of her own. The cloud user struck first, sending out his cloud mass with a number of blunt weapons forming on the ends. He maneuvered several other tendrils around the pillars, also sporting blunt objects to attack his opponent from the sides and back while he took to the air. 'Only one way out, let's see what you can do.'
A sudden blast caused Clay to pause for a moment as the blue-haired girl released some kind of energy that completely destroyed all of the weapons he'd created while also propelling her into the air. 'She attacks with energy waves!' the cloud user thought with a good bit of surprise before directing his remaining ground clouds to shoot up after his opponent. "You'll have to do better than that," she sang before spinning in the air and releasing another energy wave that dissipated his remaining clouds.
Then she shot through the air with another attack charging in her right hand. 'She's generating energy from her feet and hands to fly!' Clay realized as he instinctively dropped to avoid her up close attack. But it turned out to be a feint as she fired an energy wave from her left hand, grazing her opponent who just barely managed to roll out of the way in time. He attempted to counter by firing cloud vines out of the knuckles of his cloud gauntlet, only for them to be dissolved by a wave of her energized hand.
"You're pretty smart to keep your distance against an unknown enemy," sang Nejire with her same smile as she floated around in the air, "But my wave motion isn't just a close to midrange quirk." She illustrated her point by firing a wave out of both hands, which Clay again barely managed to avoid by producing a large cloud cover before escaping down into the pillars. 'I can't beat her in a straight up quirk brawl, I'll need to outmaneuver her.' "Going somewhere," he heard as he looked down to see Nejire was already standing on one of the pillars. 'Oh crap.'
Other Side of Gym Gamma: About the Same Time
'What in the world's going on here,' thought Slade as he looked at his downed classmates. Half of 1A had been taken down in hardly a minute by Mirio's speed and strength. He'd revealed his quirk gave him the ability to phase through any solid matter, at the cost of losing his clothes, allowing him to slip in and out of the ground wherever he pleased. This also meant he couldn't be hit until he became solid as well.
His strategy, while simple, had also proven effective as he started at the back of the class and began popping in and out of the ground like a super powered mole, aiming first for anyone with a ranged attack quirk. He'd been able to down them all with one punch before popping back to the front of the class. "The only ones remaining are the ones who focus on close combat, right?" Questioned Mirio as he stood shirtless before them with a smile on his face.
"What do we do," said Uraraka, "He can phase and he can warp. He's practically untouchable."
"Doesn't that make him, like, unrivaled or something like that," questioned Ojiro.
"Not quite," said Midoriya, "He's going for us directly, which means we might have a chance if we focus on counterattacking."
"When he's able to touch us," added Slade, "That's when we'll be able to touch him."
"Right," the remainder of the class replied as they resumed their fighting stances.
"Oh, you think you've figured it out," said Mirio as he began running towards them, "Let's see what you've got then." Everyone tensed as their opponent rushed towards them, and slipped into the ground. 'Here he comes,' was the collective thought. Midoriya moved proactively then as he lashed out with a kick behind him.
At the same time, Mirio emerged from the ground with a look of surprise on his face. But it quickly returned to his usual smile as Izuku's leg passed through his arm. "Good, but try an ultimate move now, Blinder Touch Eyeball Crush!" Midoriya attempted to move his head out of the way, but was still blinded as Mirio's hand phased through his head.
The top student then twisted in the air as he slammed his fist into Izuku's midsection, taking him out of the fight. "Midoriya!" yelled Kirishima as Mirio sunk back into the ground. No one else was able to follow his movements as he took the remaining students down, each with a single gut punch before slipping back into the ground to set up for the next strike. He used the same strategy when he got to Slade, but encountered something different this time.
The density shifter actually managed to turn around in time and knock Mirio's strike away before countering with his own punch. The top student instinctively phased, and was actually surprised when Slade's blow connected. "Unlimited POWER!" yelled Slade as he rained a number of high speed blows against Mirio, moving at the fastest speed he'd ever gone before finally slamming a powerful uppercut into his opponent's jaw, causing him to stumble away several feet.
"Wow," said Mirio as he rubbed his chin, "It's been a long time since someone managed to get a combo like that on me. How did you do that?"
"It looks like you forgot that I've got a secret move," explained Slade as he shook his fists out, noting how durable his opponent was. "Remember I'm a density shifter as well. I can lower my density to the point that my molecules drift apart slightly, allowing me to pass through solid objects for a very short time. It also allows me to move at high speed because I'm no longer facing air resistance, though you probably just figured that out."
"Oh right, you did that in the sports festival," said Mirio as he rubbed his head, "I gotta ask, how do you keep your clothes on when you do that?"
"Well my quirk isn't as internal as one might think," explained Slade, "you see I actually bring in particles from all around me and convert them into a layer of varying density. When I lower my density, I expel particles to the point where my own body and any particles touching my skin, clothes namely, also become unstable."
"You're lucky," said Mirio, "You don't have to worry about whether or not someone sees your willy."
"About that," said Slade as he tossed the top student his gym pants, "I got a slight proposition for you. Since I've shown you my trump card, you'll easily be able to counter me if you attack again, so how about this. I've gone ahead and matched my density to yours so this fight will be a bit more even, so what say we just slug it out from this point on, no more quirks." The density shifter tossed off his gym top so that the both of them were shirtless.
"Now that is interesting," said Mirio with a hand on his chin, "I suppose it will decrease the chances of your class seeing something they shouldn't, so why not." A sudden explosion interrupted both of them as a screaming Clay came flying over the wall of pillars, just managing to soften his landing with some small clouds.
"Ow," said the cloud wielder as he staggered to his feet while rubbing his head. "How are we doing?"
"Just you and me left," replied Slade as he cocked a thumb to the rest of their incapacitated classmates.
"Seriously, what happened over here guys?" Questioned Clay as Nejire came flying over the wall as well and landed next to Mirio.
"He's strong and he can phase," explained Slade, "What about you? I've heard a lot of explosions over there."
"She shoots energy waves," replied Clay, "My clouds can't stand up to them and every time I tried getting behind her from the pillars, there she is waiting for me. I think this is the first time I've ever been out-flown by anyone."
"Well I just challenged Mirio to straight up hand to hand," said Slade, "You wanna do the same with Nejire?"
"How about just low quirk use," said Clay as he reformed his cloud gear, "That good with you Nejire?"
"Of course," she replied with a smile, "Though we should probably wrap this up, class will be ending soon." All the participants nodded in agreement as they launched forward for one final clash. Slade threw punch after punch, each one failing to connect as Mirio either blocked or dodged around it. Clay had a similar issue as he kept switching between hand to hand attacks and cloud weapon attacks, all of which either failed to connect due to Nejire's elegant dodging or were simply destroyed by a short burst of her wave quirk.
"Now, finishing move!" declared Mirio as he and Nejire managed to slip in under their opponent's guards, "POWER!" Slade was dealt a mind numbing punch to his gut while Clay was hit with a blast of wave energy which sent him flying back, too disoriented to even move anymore. With the fall of these two, Class 1A was now totally defeated.
It took a bit of time for everyone to get back on their feet. By that point, Mirio had managed to get his shirt back on and was standing with the rest of the big three. "I tried my best to make sure no one saw my willy, but I'd still like to say I'm sorry to the girls," said Mirio, "Though you should all get it a bit better now, right?"
"I get that we all just got punched in the stomach," groaned Midoriya as he and everyone else were holding onto their guts in pain.
"Did you think my quirk was pretty strong?" Questioned Mirio with a smile.
"More like too strong!" complained Sero and Hagakure.
"You can slip through stuff and you can warp," exclaimed Mina, "Are you some kind of hybrid like Todoroki?"
"Nope," replied the top student, "I got just the phasing quirk."
"He calls it permeation!" said Nejire happily, like she was playing a guessing game.
"Hey, it's Mirio's turn right now," said Amajiki with his head still against the wall. Nejire pouted as she stood back.
"That's right," confirmed Mirio, "My quirk is permeation and my warping ability is just part of it."
"How can you warp," questioned Midoriya, going into notetaking mode. Clay wondered where he was keeping the notebook.
"Well as you've all seen, I can phase through everything, even the ground," explained the blond, "and when I deactivate my quirk while I'm falling, something odd happens."
"You get repelled," interrupted Slade, "Because two different masses can't occupy the same space or overlap."
"That's right," affirmed Mirio, "I get shot right back out, hence my warp-like ability. By changing my angle or position, I can aim for where I want to go out."
"It sounds a lot like a buggy game to me," commented Ashido, which Mirio heartily agreed with.
"So you can move where you like and avoid all attacks," said Tsuyu, "It is a strong quirk."
"It's only strong because I made it into something strong," countered the top student. "You see, since everything passes through me while I fall, I can't see, hear, or even breathe. It's like being in a dark world of nothingness. When it comes to just going through a wall, I have to keep one leg solid while I step through, then solidify the other leg before pulling the rest of me through. Even for something that simple, a lot of steps are required."
"I'd mess that up fast if I was in a hurry," commented Kaminari.
"Indeed," said Mirio, "I was always behind because of the drawbacks of my quirk, dead last in fact. In order to get to where I am now, I had to learn predictions! I had to be three steps ahead and get tricky when it was necessary. I had to think faster than those around me, and what made it possible for me to use predictions was experience! Building my predictions on everything I knew and learned. I wanted to show you all this same experience by fighting you."
"In our work studies, we're more than just guests, we're treated as sidekicks and even pros, which is sometimes terrifying! Pros will wind up watching people die on some occasions. But those scary and painful experiences are something you won't be able to get at school! I transformed my own experience into power during my work study and was able to take the top spot! That's why I think it's something you should all do, even if you're first years!"
Whether it was appropriate or not, everyone began applauding Mirio's speech to one degree or another. But one thing that did dawn on everyone, the dangers faced at their work studies would be nothing like the internships. They would all be treated like pros now, and they needed to get that mindset straight as soon as possible. Class 1A had come far in their first semester, but so much more was to come as the heroes in training would soon face the realities of the world beyond the walls of U.A., a world which was quickly becoming saturated with a new generation of villains. The second semester of U.A. was truly underway now.
End of Volume 1
And that is a wrap. Seasons one through three of my hero academia have come to a close and with it, this volume. For those of you who haven't heard, this is where I'll be stopping this particular story until season four comes out. What I may not have mentioned is that season four onward shall be posted as a new story: Hailstorm Volume 2 (still working on the title). The adventures of Clay and Slade shall continue as they proceed down their path to becoming heroes with the rest of class 1A. In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked about this chapter or the story as a whole, or even any neat ideas you might have for the next volume.
For those of you looking to fill the gap between now and the start of the next volume, fear not. I've recently begun my latest fanfiction: Armory of the Forgotten Hero, which I shall be posting weekly. Be sure to check it out and any other stories I might be posting further on down the line. See y'all at volume four.
