Chapter 3: Rekindled Bonds
It had been a week since the new semester started at U.A. University, and Izuku was excited because today, they were having their first 'Hero 101' class. After Aizawa's surprise examination, the greenette and the rest of his classmates had gotten used to their schedule, the greenette even sharing some classes with some of the students from the B dorm.
During that time, Izuku and Momo had managed to befriend a few of their classmates. Iida and Uraraka actually became quick friends with Izuku, and Momo managed to befriend her desk neighbor Jirou. There were other classmates they became friendly with. Kirishima and Ashido often swapped date stories with the two, with the pinkette suggesting a double date between the four.
And so, as Class A waited for their teacher, whose identity was still unknown to the class, Izuku fidgeted in his seat with anticipation. This was it, everything he had trained for was leading to this. And then…
"I AM HERE...COMING IN THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!" The classroom door was slid open, and none other than All Might himself showed up, dressed in a primarily red & white costume. Suffice to say, the students were ecstatic to see the Number 1 Hero!
"No fuckin' way!" Kaminari shouted.
"It's freakin' All Might." Ashido said with glee while Asui tilted her head.
"I don't think I've seen that costume before."
"That's his silver age costume!" Izuku said, absolutely geeking out at this. "He wore it during his sixth active year."
"Wow, he's even cooler in person." Mineta said with his eyes sparkling.
"Now, now, you guys, calm down." All Might stated. "I love the enthusiasm, young heroes. Welcome to Hero 101, where you'll learn the essentials to fighting supervillains. And of course, if you're gonna be heroes, you'll need to dress the part!"
The blond superhero pressed a button on his desk, causing the left classroom wall to slide up, revealing several numbered drawers jutting out of the wall.
"Yup, those costume designs you submitted in your applications were sent to a support company contracted to this university. So get changed and meet me at Training Ground Alpha!"
While All Might ran out of the room at superspeed, Izuku was calming himself down as he went to the wall to grab his costume. As he did so, he had one question on his mind;
Did All Might even remember their encounter from a few years ago?
Later on, All Might was waiting patiently for his students. And after a bit, all twenty of them came out, all of them dressed in their hero costumes. While the veteran hero questioned some of the design choices (did young Aoyama really need to make his cape so sparkly?), in truth, he only had one thing to say;
"You all look so cool!"
Within the crowd of twenty youngsters, Izuku was adjusting the green visor on his head.
"Ah, Midoriya! I must say, that costume fits your abilities." The greenette turned and saw a man in a silver suit of armor approach him. Izuku was a tad confused until he saw the pipes on his calves.
"Iida? Wow, you look so cool! Like ridiculously cool!"
"Why thank you." Iida replied.
"Ya, you look like a robot knight!" The two young men turned and saw Uraraka approach them, now clad in a black & pink costume with a clear helmet/visor on her head. She also seemed to have small holes on her shoulder pads, wrist bands, and belt.
"Ah, and you seemed to have gone for a space motif. I suppose that makes sense given your quirk." Iida said as Izuku raised an eyebrow.
"What are those holes on your costume?"
"These are little retro-rockets. They're kind of like the ones satellites and space shuttles use to position themselves." The brunette explained as she held up her wrist band. A small burst of air shot out of one them as an example.
"Oh, I get it! That way you can position yourself better when you negate your own gravity. That's really smart, Uraraka!" Izuku said, making the brunette woman chuckle bashfully before she took a look at her friend's costume.
The green-haired man had a bright green visor over his eyes and a black metallic mouth mask hanging from his neck. The rest of his costume consisted of a green sleeveless spandex top with black lines, pant tights with a similar design, red elbow and leg pads that matched his shoes and gloves, and a black utility belt on his waist. Uraraka noticed a high-tech gun in the right holster.
"You look pretty cool, too, Midoriya." Uraraka said, even as she noticed that Izuku's top was rather...tight on his chest.
"Thanks." The green-haired man said before his eyes darted elsewhere and he smiled. "Hey, Momo!"
Uraraka and Iida turned and saw Momo...and her rather revealing costume. It consisted of a red sleeveless top that stopped just above her abs, a pair of red spandex pants that had openings on the the side of her thighs alongside a pair of red boots. Her equipment consisted of a tan utility belt with several pouches, a wrist computer on her left wrist, and a pair of high-tech red goggles on her face.
"Far be it from me to judge someone else's taste, Yaoyorozu, but isn't that costume a bit...revealing?" Iida asked.
"It is, but I need access to my skin in order to effectively use my quirk." The black-haired woman explained.
"You should've seen her first idea for a costume." Izuku joked. "It was pretty much a swimsuit with a boob slit."
"Oh, I don't think you should be one to judge, sweety." Momo said as she created something out of her exposed thigh. That something was a piece of paper with designs for Izuku's original costume idea. "Your first draft made you look like a green bunny."
"It wasn't a bunny." Izuku said with a pout as Iida looked at the paper.
"It does seem very bunny-like, Midoriya." Iida said.
"Those are supposed to be All Might's hair bangs." The green-haired man said as he took the paper from his girlfriend's hand. "Uraraka, these look like All Might's hair bangs, right?...Uraraka?"
"O-Oh, sorry!" The brunette said as she seemed snapped into attention. "I was just getting in the zone for the exercise."
Yes, that's what Uraraka was doing. She totally wasn't staring at Momo's abs.
"All right, youngsters, here's how it's gonna go down." All Might said, getting everyone's attention. "First, we're gonna split you up into teams of two. Then, you'll be fighting each other in Heroes VS Villains matches."
"Okay, but how are we gonna decide who teams up with who?" Mineta asked, hoping to get paired up with one of the single girls.
"Why by drawing lots, of course!" The blond hero said as he pulled out an orange box. And so, the twenty students drew lots, and the ten pairs were formed.
Team A: Kyoka Jiro & Tsuyu Asui
Team B: Shoto Todoroki & Himiko Toga
Team C: Ochako Uraraka & Koji Koda
Team D: Hanta Sero & Mashirao Ojiro
Team E: Tenya Iida & Yuga Aoyoma
Team F: Izuku Midoriya & Katsuki Bakugou
Team G: Mina Ashido & Denki Kaminari
Team H: Fumikage Tokoyami & Eijiro Kirishima
Team I: Minoru Mineta & Toru Hagakure
Team J: Mezo Shoji & Momo Yaoyorozu
'No...no way.' Izuku thought with wide eyes as he looked at the red-eyed young man. It had been three years since the two former friends had spoken to each other. And in all the time they had been in the same classes at U.A., the two hadn't talked to each other. In fact, the most they interacted was Bakugou scowling at Izuku before looking the other way.
And as the two sat next to each other, the awkwardness was palpable. So much so that you cut it with a knife. Momo noticed this, slightly worried about her boyfriend interacting with his former bully as she chatted with Shoji.
All Might then drew another set of lots to determine who would fight who as heroes and villains.
Team I VS Team D
Team B VS Team E
Team H VS Team F
Team J VS Team A
Team C VS Team G
"Hey, neighbor!" Izuku and Bakugou turned and saw Kirishima and Tokoyami approaching the two. "Looks like we're gonna go head-to-head!"
"Ya, looks like it." Izuku replied, hoping the conversation would fix the mood as Tokoyami spoke to Bakugou.
"I would like to apologize in advance. As we are to fight in enclosed darkness, my other self will be at its full, demonic might." Tokoyami stated with his arms crossed. "You might become terrified by his power, and for that, I am sorry."
A smirk appeared on Bakugou's face. "You gloating at me, Bird Brain? 'Cause me and De-Midoriya are gonna wipe the floor with you and Jabber Jaws!"
And this just confused Izuku more. His former friend/bully was about to call him Deku, but stopped himself.
Soon enough, the first two teams went towards the fake buildings while All Might and the other students headed into a monitor room to watch the battles that would unfold.
All Might explained that the objective of this exercise would have one team acting as villains trying to detonate a bomb with the other team acting as heroes to try and stop them. Both the heroes and villains had capture tape, and if any of the participants were wrapped in it, they would be immediately captured. The exercise would end if the timer ran out (in which case the villains would automatically win), one of the heroes touched the bomb, or both of the heroes or villains were captured.
Now this was something Izuku was excited for, opening up a fresh notebook with excitement as he stood next to Bakugou.
The first match had Mineta and Hagakure against Sero and Ojiro. The feed showed Sero using the prep time the villain teams were given to lay some tape traps all over the room where they set up the bomb, with Ojiro standing guard of the only entrance. Izuku was curious to see how the hero team would handle this. With a press of her wrist button, Hagekure's gloves, boots, and silver sci-fi dress turned as invisible as her as she ran into the building while Mineta began to scale the outside of the building with two grape balls.
"That's ingenious! If he's planning on scaling the entire wall, does that mean the stickiness is long-lasting? What exactly determines how long it lasts? Are his gloves made of a material that counteracts the stickiness or-"
Izuku heard a chuckle and saw Bakugou smirking at him, though this smirk was nowhere near as malicious as the ones he gave him in the past.
"What?"
"Nothing. It's just that some things never change." The explosive man said, confusing his old friend.
The matches continued, with Hagakure causing enough chaos to distract Ojiro and Sero, giving Mineta an opening to touch the bomb, winning them the match. The next bout was over quickly, since before Toga could actually do anything, Todoroki ended up freezing the building, trapping Iida and Aoyoma. The two knightley heroes-in-training were left freezing and humiliated while Toga (whose costume could best be described as a vampiric ninja) pouted by not being able to do anything. And now, Izuku & Bakugou's match against Kirishima and Tokoyami was set to begin.
"Hm." Bakugou said as he tapped on the fake bomb. "Seems pretty cheap for U.A." He then turned towards Izuku. "So, what's the plan?"
"You're asking me?"
"You're the quirk nerd. You can probably think of ten ways to handle Birdbrain and Street Shark's quirks in like...a minute."
"...I just figured you'd want to just go after them yourself." Izuku said, surprised just by how...rational and calm Bakugou was being.
"Maybe if the edgelord was by himself, but spikehead's a walking wall with that hardening quirk of his. And I don't want to half-ass this exercise. So, what's the plan?"
The dirty blond just kept surprising Izuku as the two came up with a plan.
A few minutes later, Kirishima and Tokoyami were walking through one of the building hallways, until…
"Knock, knockugou! It's Bakugou!" Turning around the hallway was Bakugou with his right palm pulled back, ready to attack. Kirishima quickly stepped in front of his partner and activated his quirk, tanking the explosion. "Tch, you really are a wall, aren't ya, redstone?"
"Is your thing just being pissed and coming up with nicknames?" Kirishima said, smoke coming off of his hardened forearms.
"I would say arrogance is more his forte." Tokoyami said as he looked around the hallway intersection. "Where is Midoriya?"
"Don't know, don't care." Bakugou said with a savage smile, creating tiny explosions in his palms in an attempt to intimidate his opponents. "I don't need that nerd to help beat the shit out of you two!"
'He must still be guarding the bomb then.' Tokoyami thought as Kirishima made his next move and swung his fist at Bakugou. He dodged, with Kirishima's fist leaving a dent in the wall.
"Tokoyami, Midoriya's probably guarding the bomb!" The redhead exclaimed. "I'll keep this guy busy! So go!"
"Right." Tokoyami said as he quickly ran ahead and began to turn the corner.
"Get back here, birdbrain!" Bakugou shouted as he leaped after Tokoyami. But in a surprising display of speed, Kirishima grabbed his blond opponent by the ankle and swung him into a wall, knocking some spit out of Bakugou's mouth.
"If you want a fight, then let's do it mano-a-mano." Kirishima said as he smashed his fists, Bakugou smirking as he got back up.
"Bring it, Shitty Hair!" Bakugou exclaimed. 'Alright, Midoriya. I did my part, not you gotta do yours.'
Meanwhile…
"Woooo! Get 'em, Eiji!" Ashido cheered as she flailed her beefy arms around. "Show that hothead's who's boss!"
"You can do it, Katsu-Cutie!" Toga exclaimed. "Blow him up real good!"
"You girls know they can't hear you, right?" Sero asked.
"Oh, let them have their fun." Hagakure said.
'Ah, the energy of youth.' All Might thought with bemusement as Ashido and Toga cheered on for their boyfriends, watching them on the monitor room screen with the rest of the class. Another screen showed Izuku, standing by in front of the fake bomb, ready to fight at any moment.
All Might couldn't help but think back. It was an ordinary day from him, having been on a snack run until he heard of a slime villain stealing some money. The hero tracked him through the sewers, saving an awkward and nervous green-haired boy. While the boy was passed out from the attack and stress, All Might signed his notebook, and was impressed by the analysis and notes the boy had seemingly taken on several heroes and villains.
When the boy woke up, he freaked and geeked out, thanking All Might for saving his life and for his autograph. But before All Might could take the captured villain away, the boy mustered up all of his courage to ask him something.
Four Years Ago…
"Y-You see, I'm….q-quirkless. Everyone's t-told me that it's i-impossible for s-someone like me to...to be a h-hero." A younger Izuku said, a sad look in his eyes...one that All Might recognized from his youth. "But...A-All Might, sir, d-do you...is this possible for s-someone like me to b-become a hero...even w-without a quirk?"
All Might didn't know what to say. His first instinct was to say no, to keep the boy from going down a dangerous path. But he saw the notes. The fact that this middle school boy made such detailed and professional notes without any kind of analytical or intelligence quirk was nothing short of amazing. Not to mention that the boy was looking at him, his eyes showing that the boy was hoping for All Might to say yes. The boy had even said that no one had believed in him. But that would be irresponsible of the Number Hero to say.
After pondering for a moment, All Might gave his answer.
"Of course you can, young man."
Izuku's eyes began to widen.
"However, I think you've been asking yourself the wrong question all this time."
And then his eyes showed confusion.
"W-What do you mean?"
"Young man, think back to how you felt when that villain attacked you. What was going through your head at the time?"
"I...I was t-terrified. I-I couldn't b-breath. I...I thought I was going to die."
"I thought so." All Might said as he placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "That fear you felt is the same fear that all heroes face when they go up against a powerful villain or rush in to save civilians from a disaster. Even I feel that primal fear."
"Y-You do?! But...y-you're you! I-I've footage of you b-bench pressing a building!" Izuku said with surprise.
"There's more to being a hero than just having power. You need to have the courage to push back against your fear. To face a hopeless situation and charge in, despite how terrified you may be. Ask yourself these two questions, young man; Why do you want to be a hero? And can you be a hero as you are now?"
"I…." Izuku said, his eyes beginning to water. "...I don't know."
But before any tears could drop, All Might rustled his bushy hair, giving the kid a kind and understanding smile.
"Don't fret, my boy. You have plenty of time to decide the kind of person you want to be." All Might proclaimed. "And if that person turns out to be the first quirkless hero, then I think that would be pretty cool."
"R-Really?!"
"Really. I saw those notes you made." All Might said as he placed his finger on Izuku's forehead. "I can tell just having skimmed them that you have a sharp mind when it comes to analysing quirks." He then pointed to Izuku's heart. "But you need to train this as well if you want to have the courage and conviction it takes to become a true hero."
He then held up Izuku's noodly arm and shook it for comedic effect. "And a few workouts and self-defense classes never hurt either."
"I-I see." The boy said as All Might removed his hands. Izuku wiped the water from his green eyes before bowing. "Thank you, All Might. You've given me a lot to think about."
"Hmm. No stutter that time." All Might thought to himself before speaking again. "What's your name, young man?"
"Izuku Midoriya, sir!"
"Very well then, young Midoriya." All Might said as he turned around. "I hope you find your answers. And maybe we'll cross paths again someday."
With a final chuckle, All Might leaped into the sky, leaving the young boy behind.
Present Day…
All Might continued to watch the screen as Tokoyami burst into the room with Izuku inside it. Through his earpiece, the blond man could hear the birdman's declaration.
"You shall only be given one ultimatum, Midoriya…" He said as he summoned Dark Shadow, looking as fierce as ever. "...surrender peacefully, and I shall spare you my other self's wraith."
"I can't do that, Tokoyami." Izuku said, pulling out the two escrima sticks from his belt, the tips of them sparking as he took a combat pose. "If you want this bomb, you're gonna have to go through me!"
All Might smiled at this. In the three years since they had last met, that scared, nervous, and skinny young boy had turned himself into a confident young man. As the two students stared each other down, All Might couldn't wait to see what they could do.
Tokoyami was the first to make a move, Dark Shadow blasting ahead, hoping to overpower Izuku. However, Izuku spun out of the way and struck the living quirk with the electrified tip of his baton. The surge of electricity caused Dark Shadow to let out a screech before retreating slightly. Seeing an opportunity, Izuku charged past Dark Shadow and headed towards Tokoyami.
"Dark Shadow, guard!" Tokoyami proclaimed while mentally ordering Dark Shadow to strike his green-clad foe. Izuku leaped out of the way as Dark Shadow swung its claw down, taking out a chunk of the floor. The battle shifted to Izuku being on the defensive, leaped and dodging away from Dark Shadow's attacks, occasionally using his stun batons against the sentient quirk.
Tokoyami scowled at this, since Izuku's more acrobatic nature was making a difficult opponent to strike down. But he realized that he didn't need to take down his foe. Dark Shadow would keep him distracted while Tokoyami went and secured the bomb.
But things took a turn as Izuku noticed his opponent inching closer towards the bomb. The young man leaped into the air, and pulled down a piece of string...that was connecting other pieces of string that pulled out several pins. Tokoyami was one of these pins above him and looked up to see several grenades glued to the roof. And before Tokoyami could shield himself, the grenades went off and the room was engulfed in a blinding flash of light. Dark Shadow couldn't handle the light and retreated back into the equally stunned Tokoyami.
However, Izuku seemed unfazed by the blinding light and tackled Tokoyami into the floor. The birdman struggled for a bit, but Izuku was able to tie up his wrists in capture tape.
"Tokoyami has been captured!" All Might said over the loudspeakers. Tokoyami sat up, showing his whited eyes.
"You're more cunning than I gave you credit for, Midoriya." The birdman said. "Though, I have to wonder how you saw me through the blinding light."
"My goggles can filter out extreme light and all kinds of cool stuff." Izuku explained.
"Ah, so they're not just an aesthetic choice."
A few floors below, Kirishima and Bakugou's battle had moved into a wider room, their battle having almost destroyed the hallway they were in. While Kirishima had some burns on his arms and chest, he was still standing, almost unaffected by the sheer tonnage of quirk-made explosions he had taken. By contrast, Bakugou was sweating and panting like crazy, wiping some blood from his mouth after having taken a punch from Kirishima.
"Tch. You're a freakin' monster, Red." Bakugou said, being thoroughly impressed by just how tough his opponent was.
"Hey, you're pretty tough too." Kirishima said with a smirk. "Been in a few fights before?"
"If you call 'beating down assholes who think they're hot shit' a fight, then yes." Bakugou said before using his quirk to blast towards Kirishima. The redhead attempted to punch his foe, but the dirty blond used a smaller explosion to change direction and blast above Kirishima. And when he was behind him, Bakugou unleashed another explosion at his back, but Kirishima's instincts kicked in once again, his back instantly hardening and tanking the blast.
Bakugou landed on feet, once more on the defensive as he avoided Kirishima's fist. His red eyes briefly glanced at the pins on his grenade gauntlets...and then his body froze up, giving Kirishima a chance to sock him in the stomach, causing Bakugou to violently cough.
"Oh, shit man. Did I punch you too har-"
Kirishima was stopped mid-sentence as Bakugou unleashed another explosion on him.
"If I couldn't take a punch, I wouldn't have any right to be in the hero course!" Bakugou said as he stood back up. "So don't underestimate me, ya damn numbskull!"
Bakugou charged at Kirishima again, the two rearing their arms back and…
"TIME'S UP!" All Might said as an alarm blared. "THE VILLAIN TEAM WINS!"
"We lost?! Aw, man!" Kirishima said as he face-palmed. "I got too caught up in the fight!"
'Oh, thank god.' Bakugou thought, finally able to catch his breath.
"If anyone needs to go to the nurse's office, please do so now or let us know if we need to send the medi-bots to pick you or your classmates up."
"I'm going to help Tokoyami get to the nurse's office." Izuku said over his and Bakugou com-links.
"Whatever." Bakugou said.
On the upper levels, Izuku was indeed helping Tokoyami and guiding him out of the building. The birdman said he didn't trust Dark Shadow to guide him without pulling some kind of prank, and Izuku felt bad for temporarily blinding him.
"Hey, Midoriya…" Izuku heard Bakugou say through the com-link. "...good job. Your plan went off without a hitch. And, hey….would you be cool with talking after class?"
Just when Izuku thought his old friend couldn't surprise him anymore, he did just that. "I...I'd like that, Kacchan."
A few minutes later, Kirishima and Bakugou made it back to the monitor room, and the students and All Might began discussing who was the MVP of the match.
Some like Mineta believed that Kirishima was the MVP since he pulled a classic hero move of taking the brunt of damage so that his partner could complete the mission. Some say it was Midoriya for coming up with a plan to deal with a foe more powerful than him. But surprisingly, Momo said that Bakugou was the MVP, since without him separating Kirishima and Tokoyami, Izuku wouldn't have been able to disable the shadow user alone with his flashbang trap.
Some part of Momo didn't want to praise her boyfriend's old bully, but the black-haired girl was nothing if not professional. But Bakugou was also quick to say that it was because of Izuku's plan that won them the match.
Clearing her mind and walking alongside Shoji, Momo mentally amped herself up for her match. Izuku had shown the others what he was capable of. And now, it was her turn.
Author's Note: So you guys can probably see what I'm going for, and how this AU is less, "one alternate decision causes a ripple effect" and more "a series of diverges to make this a new but still familiar experience." And I'm excited to make a story that isn't just Female Muscle Smut.
But don't worry; we'll still have Female Muscle Smut and Harem antics in the story. It's just not gonna be the only thing the story has going for it.
I also have an announcement that might annoy you guys; we're gonna have to do the Ochako poll again. And this for two reasons:
1). As it turns out, Deviantart polls only show percentages, not how many people voted for which choice, so my idea of combining votes from two different polls is a bust. As such, I'm gonna stick with the Fanfiction polls.
2). I assumed that everyone who read First Impressions might've also read Red Riot's Muscular Harem, where I explained the details and logic behind the different muscular sizes/builds.
While I'm sure there's some cross-reading going on, there's probably a bunch of people who only read this story with no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned the poll. Basically, I've gotten inspiration from Pokkuti's Pinnacle of Physique comic and the four categories of muscle girls and guys.
So for those of you who need a refresher or for those of you for needed some clarification, here's the description for each of the muscular builds:
Light: 17 to 21 inch biceps, four to six-pack abs, and muscular thighs. More on the fit and athletic side.
Heavy: 22 to 27 inch biceps, six to eight-pack abs, and big thighs. Very pronounced shoulders and lats. Midway between Light and Superheavy.
Superheavy: 28 to 32 inch biceps, eight to ten-pack abs and massive thighs. Shoulder's as large as a character's head. Arms as large as a torso. Exploding pecs and lats. Proportions resemble an inverted triangle.
Hulkout: By either discovering a new way of using their quirk or some outside method, girls in this category gain the abilities of sudden muscle growth. Can vary from normal to superheavy, light to superheavy, or heavy to superheavy.
Individual details like definition, breast and hip size will vary depending on the girl. And each heroine in Izuku and Momo's harem (Ochako, Kyoka, Yui, Pony, and Mei) will have their own dedicated poll to determine their muscle size.
I've also decided that, instead of spinning the story off into a second story, I've decided to turn this story from a two-shot to the main ongoing story, since this is quickly proving to be my most popular story, even more so than Red Riot (which I'll still update, don't you worry). I also promise to never give you guys an update without some kind of story to go with it, so I'm replacing the previous non-chapter announcements with two actual chapters.
So ya, we're doing the Ochako muscle build poll again. You guys get to determine whether she'll have a light, heavy, or superheavy muscular build or gain the ability to hulkout. And the first choice to get five or more votes will win!
And with that long note out of the way, cast your votes and have a safe day!