Hey! I'm back!
Sorry for the long abscence, but this part of the story is giving me some trouble. My muse seems to prefer planning and writing the more important parts, like the USJ, or the mushier parts, like post-Eri's rescue.
I hope you all will like this chapter!
And as always, thanks to PV, Sinful and all the other guys from the UI team in PV's Discord server (you'll have a link to it at the end!).
Enjoy the show!
"My brain hurts," Mina plopped down on the bench with a whine, a hand massaging her forehead.
It was finally lunchtime on their first day of actual classes, and Mina wasn't the only one with a headache. Between Math with Ectoplasm, English with Present Mic and Modern Hero Art History with their own Homeroom Teacher, some of 1-A's members felt their heads had just been stuffed full.
"I swear Ectoplasm wanted to kill us," Kirishima agreed, dropping beside his childhood friend, "At least the normal stuff is done for the day!"
"I didn't find it that hard," Momo said, looking around surprised at the disbelieving looks that got her, "I could help you study if you want though!" She said brightly, turning the looks around, from disbelieving into joyful.
Izuku smiled at the idea, "I wouldn't be opposed to helping, either," he frowned in thought for a second before brightening up again, "I could even clear it with my moms and get us permission to use our place's gym to help you train." He offered, some of his classmates looking eager at the idea. Kirishima even seemed to be vibrating.
"That's an extremely generous offer, Midoriya-kun," Iida said, approaching them from where he was sitting before doing a perfect ninety degrees bow towards him and Mitsuki, "I would also like to apologize for my behaviour the day of the entrance exams, my words were uncalled for!"
"It's fine, Iida-kun," he smiled, Mitsuki chuckling beside him, gesturing for the boy to straighten up, "We were all nervous that day."
"Yeah, Glasses-kun," the explosive girl agreed, calming her chuckles down, "No harm done."
"Seriously though," Mina was looking between the couple, "You two are just adorable together."
"Thanks, Ashido-san, but the adorable one is Manami-neechan." Izuku grinned. He had yet to meet someone more adorable than their Manami, though he sometimes wondered if there even was someone out there like that.
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In a Yakuza hideout somewhere, a little girl with ruby eyes, white hair, and one horn on the side of her head sneezed.
'Hopefully I'm not getting sick,' she thought, before laying down on her 'bed' again and trying to not make a sound, hoping to get some sleep before the bad men came to fetch her again.
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"Ahp, ahp, ahp. What's this whole 'Ashido-san' business? It's Mina!" She looked around the table, "You all can call me that, no problem!" She beamed.
"I-I don't know…" Izuku trailed off before Mina looked at him with the most intense look he had seen on her face.
"Midori, you saved my life, even if you didn't know you would," she told him, dead serious, "I think the very least you deserve is to call me by name, don't you agree?"
Tsuyu nodded beside her, "I already told you all to call me Tsuyu-chan, but Mina is right Midoriya-chan, as far as we know, if you hadn't kicked that Zero-Pointer's head off, we would be dead."
"Wait, what?!" This was news to those that weren't in their little group yesterday's morning, but it was Kyōka who voiced their thoughts, "You kicked one of those giant robots?!"
"Indeed he did, Jirō-kun," Iida confirmed, "This is the first I hear about him saving their lives though. As far as I remember, neither Asui-kun nor Ashido-kun were in the same area as us."
"We weren't, kero," Tsuyu shook her head, "But Midoriya-chan's kick sent your Zero-Pointer's head towards our area, and fell on top of our own Zero-Pointer when it had Mina-chan, Utsushimi-chan, Hagakure-chan and me cornered."
"Wait, I have proof with me," Mitsuki said, rummaging inside her bag, "There you are, you little fucker!" She said, pulling out a very familiar, small disk and placing it down on the table, "Here, Manami-neechan modified it to play only that part!"
The whole class crowded around them, eager to watch the recording, Mitsuki herself quickly climbing up to Izuku's horn so someone else could sit, Izuku handing her her food. The ones who weren't there that day watched unblinking as Izuku destroyed that robot as if it was nothing, shocked into absolute silence as the head went flying.
"I said it before, and I'll say it again. Midoriya, that was so MANLY!" Kirishima was almost crying, he was so moved.
"Your speed is indeed impressive, Midoriya-kun," Iida nodded towards him, "You're definitely faster than me. Seems I will have to up my own training to not fall behind!"
"I agree with Kirishima, Green, that was badass," Jirō looked at him with respect and awe in her eyes.
"You moved that fast, simply because someone could have gotten hurt," Melissa said softly, shaking her head. 'It will take me years to reach that level, if ever,' she thought, looking at the ground, "Midoriya-san, you really are made to reach the top." 'I'm sorry Uncle Mi-'
"I don't care if I become number one or not, Shield-san," Izuku shook his head, making the blonde's head shoot up. "Obsessing over your ranking is how Heroes become like Endeavor," He winced, turning to look towards their bi-colored classmate, "No offense, Todoroki-kun."
"None taken. Please insult him some more," Todoroki said flatly, though the small twitch of his lips gave away a bit of his amusement, "I know better than most how bad an idea it is to inspire your Heroics after him."
"B-But then," Melissa looked at him, her eyes sad and confused, "What is your goal as a Hero?"
With a muttered 'Oh, here we go' by a smirking Mitsuki, Izuku gained one of the brightest smiles the class had ever seen, comparable to a certain blonde Hero's, even, "All Might and Mama Nem have been my Idols for as long as I can remember. The rankings don't matter to me, I want to go beyond that, become a Paragon of Hope! I know once All Might retires, our country may fall into unrest and the crime may spike. I want to be able to be someone for the people to look towards, to see that we have not lost, and that everything will be okay once more!" His voice was as determined as they had ever heard him, his eyes were focused and his smile was gigantic, "That's what being the best Hero I could be means to me."
Melissa's mind was running a mile a minute, 'Is that what being Uncle Might's successor means?' She realized that her classmate was right, All Might wasn't the Symbol of Peace because he was the Number One Hero; it was the other way around! There had been Heroes in the top spot of the rankings, but none of them were ever considered a Symbol like him. It had been him becoming the Symbol of Peace to the people that had made him take the top spot. 'Now I understand,' The fire in her heart roared, growing stronger than before, 'I won't fail you, Uncle Might!' A bright smile blossomed on her face.
Mitsuki smiled warmly and placed a kiss on her boyfriend's forehead, "And I will be with you every step of the way."
The class was absolutely silent, the only exception being a crying Kirishima who was repeatedly whispering 'So manly!' under his breath.
"Holy shit Izuku-kun," Yamato's voice was clear among the class's shock, "If this is the kind of attitude I can expect being your friend, bring it on!"
That broke the spell, a determined and joyful aura setting over the class. Hell, even Todoroki was smiling!
The atmosphere was getting to Setsuna, "I still can't believe All Might is gonna be a teacher here! Do you think he will be teaching us?" She looked around the table, her excitement fueled even more by Izuku's words.
"He will probably teach the third years, kero," Tsuyu guessed, inadvertently deflating the disassemblable girl. "They are the ones closest to becoming Pro Heroes, it would make sense for him to give them some tips."
"Who do you think is teaching Fundamental Heroics, then?" Melissa asked the class at large, her own renewed excitement and determination not diminishing one bit.
"What about Mr Principal?" Izuku offered, going through his Hero Notebooks in his mind, "He's a genius and masterful tactician, or at least that's what I know."
Momo had a thoughtful frown on her face, "Maybe the teacher changes every week?" She tilted her head to the side, "Different Heroes focus on different areas, so it would make sense to have more than one teacher for this."
No one could disagree with her logic, but nothing could put a damper on the determination their classmate's words had put into each of them. The only thing that interrupted it was when they remembered they hadn't even started to eat, too focused on the moment. They took the first bite of their food, cooked by none other than the Pro Hero Lunch Rush. The general cry from the first years didn't take long to echo through the room.
"IT'S DELICIOUS!"
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Once their blissfully perfect lunch was eaten, and the class had made it back to their classroom, even the calmest members of the class (like Tsuyu) were at the very least excited, while the most… energetic members, like Kirishima, Rumi and Mitsuki, were basically vibrating off their seats.
And then the laugh came.
"HAHAHA!"
Their eyes widened. "There's no way!" Yamato's jaw dropped open, while a face-splitting grin stretched across Setsuna's face.
"I AM HERE! COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!" All Might himself came in, his cape flowing behind him, slow-jogging his way to the front of the class.
"Seems Tokage-san was right," Melissa's eyes were wide. How did her Uncle Might keep this from her?! The man could barely keep a- 'You know what? Nevermind.' She thought, looking down at her hands and remembering a certain, extremely big secret he had kept from most everyone for over twenty years, and now had trusted her with. She was going to make him proud, even if it meant years upon years of taking her body to its limits and then some!
"Is that his Silver Age costume?" Tsuyu's face was as calm as ever, and it was hard to tell if her naturally wide eyes had widened even more, but the shine in them betrayed her own excitement. The soft little croaks escaping her lips were pretty telling too. Mina, sitting in front of her, thought them adorable and was about to melt.
"Wait… where's the wind for his cape coming from?" Momo tilted her head in confusion. The windows were closed, so how did…? 'And here I thought Midoriya-san being that fast was weird.' She shook her head, releasing a resigned sigh.
"Welcome, you lot, to Fundamental Heroics!" All Might smiled at them, "Consider this class like a Hero 101! Here, we will teach you the basics of what you'll need to survive out there as a Hero!" He posed, his hands on his hips, one of them covertly reaching under the podium, "This class, and the upper years' more advanced versions of it, will be the most important while you're here at UA, earning you the most units!" He flexed, revealing a card on his hand that simply read 'Battle.' "So let's get this show on the road! Your first lesson shall be Combat Training!" He let his eyes roam over the classroom, looking at all his stude- wait a minute, "Shouldn't there be 20 of you here?"
"Mineta is sitting behind Midoriya, All Might-sensei," Kaminari chuckled as Izuku sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as he stood up and walked to the back of the classroom, allowing the short boy to be seen.
In all honesty, he had tried to offer Mineta to switch places during their first class after Homeroom, that being Modern Hero Art History. An almost unnoticeable shake of his mother's head, the memory of the boy giggling against the lockers' wall (an event he had told her about and which she had promised to look into) and a look at Momo's pleading eyes had made him remain where he was.
"Ah, I see" the Symbol of Peace sweatdropped, 'Another one falls prey to Nezu's sense of humor!' He shook himself from his thoughts, there would be time to wonder about his furry little boss's machinations later, "Anyways! For today's training, you will need these!" And with a flourish, he pointed a remote towards the front wall, five long cabinets sliding outwards, four holding five suitcases while one held three, each suitcase labeled from one to twenty, though the numbers nine and eighteen were missing.
"Costumes!" The class as a whole cheered.
"Precisely!" Their teacher's eyes moved towards two specific students, "Kozuki-shōjo, Midoriya-shōnen, your cases are waiting for you in the locker rooms. They were too big for storage here! Once you are all changed, meet me at Ground Beta!" And with a last smile and thumbs up, he rushed out the door, the class following hot on his heels.
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'I can already feel the embers straining,' All Might thought, looking down at his fist, standing alone in front of the mock cityscape, 'At this rate, I'll have to introduce Toshinori sooner than I thought.'
The sound of footsteps coming from the tunnel in front of him brought him out of his ruminations, 'It's showtime!' His smile grew as he took in his students, "They say the clothes make the Pro, my students," he said, striking a pose as class 1-A walked out into the light, "Take pride, for from now on you are all Heroes! And let me be among the first to say you all look great!"
The students were looking around at each other, some gushing at their friends' costumes, others asking which designer made it, others showing off.
"Damn, Tsuki-chan!" Yamato approached her black-clad friend, looking her up and down, "Who designed your stuff? You look badass!"
"Zu-kun's mom, Auntie Inko, and Manami-neechan designed both our costumes," Mitsuki said, turning around and smirking up at her tall friend, giving the girl's costume an once over. A white, sleeveless kimono with diamond patterns over her breasts covered her torso, a pair of red hakama pants and sandals covered her legs and feet while a large purple and white nio-daisuki hugged her hips and tied behind her back. On her right hand and over her shoulder she was holding a large studded kanabo. "You don't look half bad yourself, Horny-chan, love the club!"
"I said the same thing!" Rumi laughed, her and Ochako coming to stand beside their friends, the rest of their group slowly approaching.
The short, white-haired girl was clad in a white leotard, with dark purple accents over the shoulders and hips, a yellow crescent moon over her chest. On her legs, thigh-high blue socks in the same tone as her leotard's accents strained against her powerful thighs with every step.
Ochako, for her part, was dressed in a sleeveless black catsuit, with fingerless, elbow-long gloves on her hands and light, black boots on her feet, a domino mask on her face. A brace extended up from the top of her catsuit and over her neck, stopping a couple of inches before reaching her head.
"Wait, Auntie Inko?" The blue-haired girl's eyes widened, "As in Midoriya Inko?"
"Yup." Mitsuki nodded with a grin, looking at her friend's costume, "She did good work with yours too, Bluraraka-chan!"
This went on for a while, until Mineta started bouncing five inches into the air again and the floor slightly shook under their feet. As one, the students and All Might turned towards the tunnel.
First came the long, curved, shiny white horns, the whole class for once realizing just how sharp they were. Then came the heavy, black combat boots over green-gray pants.
"So, for Zu-kun, I was thinking," Manami told Inko, showing her Izuku's costume outline, "We don't know when he's going to stop growing, if at all, and we know what his Quirk does, so what about making his gear out of his DNA?" She highlighted the clothing in the 3D hologram, "We can get a hair sample from him easily enough, and it's not like we haven't done this in the past for other Heroes."
Around his hips and working as a belt, a thick, off-white belt of laid rope festooned with a pair of white, hanging shide in the front. It wasn't there to hold up his pants though, for going over its top and hanging over his legs were two rectangular flaps of a rich purple cloth, with a thick, golden torus chain each attached to themselves through holes on their corners.
As more of his body stepped out of the shadows, the glint of the golden spikes in the bracelets on his wrists caught their eyes, before another sparkle from behind him got their attention, Yamato's lips stretching into a grin at the sight. 'Oh, I hope he knows how to use it! I haven't had a good spar in ages!'
Hanging on his back from a dark strap crossing over his bare chest was a huge kanabo made of shiny black steel, its dulled spikes glinting dangerously under the sunlight, completing the ensemble.
"Damn," Mitsuki's voice broke the silence that had fallen over the class, "Auntie Inko and Mana-neechan really went all out for yours, Zu-kun!" She looked around, taking in her classmates' reactions, 'Mina's broken again!' She chuckled, noticing the faraway look in the pink-skinned girl's eyes.
He chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head, "I think Mana-neechan was almost fully in charge, actually."
The explosive girl's eyes raked over her boyfriend's naked torso, a saucy grin growing on her face, "I would tend to agree."
"I'll say!" Rumi smirked, her eyes mirroring Mitsuki's, her costume drawing a faint blush from Izuku.
"Ok, you zygotes, pipe down!" All Might interrupted, looking around the class, "It's time to get started!"
"All Might-sensei!" Iida's hands shot up, "This looks like the sites we took our practical exams in! Are we fighting robots again?"
"No, Iida-shōnen!" the Symbol of Peace said, looking directly at the blue-haired boy, "Today you will be doing indoor situations!" Seeing the confused faces on some members of the class, he decided to elaborate, "While the battles all of you may have seen over the years, be it in the news or in person, took place mostly out in the streets, the smartest of villains know the dangers of prying eyes like ours, and the darkest of crimes more often than not take place hidden inside buildings or even underground bases!" He signalled towards the cityscape behind him with his hand, "Backroom deals, drug dealing, people trafficking and worse. We live in a Hero society where the most dangerous villains are the ones that use their brains and try to always be one step ahead of us!" He met eyes with his students, letting his words sink in. He may be new at the whole teaching business, but no one could say All Might was a bad orator, "So, to help you understand this, you will be divided into groups of two! The teams will be assigned either a Hero or Villain role and sent into the building!"
"Without basic training?" Tsuyu tilted her head to the side, her finger under her lip.
"You will learn with experience, Asui-shōjo, and this exercise will give you just that! The difference between this and the entrance exam is that you won't be fighting some flimsy, easily replaceable robots!"
A soft, sultry chuckle washed over them in the ensuing silence, "I don't think Power Loader would agree with you on that, All Might!" A voice they all recognized said from behind the muscular Hero. Turning their eyes towards its source, the class saw their Homeroom Teacher walk out of an alleyway, her whip in hand.
"Kayama-sensei!" Setsuna's eyes widened, her head detaching and approaching their teacher, "We weren't told you would be here!"
Nemuri quickly attached her whip to her belt so she could catch her student's head between her hands (and wasn't that surreal?), flashing a small, caring smile down at her, "It was supposed to be a surprise, Tokage-chan," she gave a short, embarrassed giggle, "It's just, Nezu decided to trust me with a class of my own, and I kinda want to be as close as possible to you lot." A small, shy blush appeared on her cheeks.
Two loud squeals were followed by a pair of human-sized projectiles impacting against her, one pink and one transparent. Setsuna got her head out of her teacher's hands before she could end up trapped there, quickly floating back towards her body.
"I'm sorry Midori, but we're stealing your mom!" Mina and Tōru were cuddling against their Homeroom Teacher's body, "Kayamama is too adorable not to!"
'I love these kids!' "Girls, I don't think my wife would appreciate that, and as much as I love cuddling, we're on a schedule here," Nemuri chuckled at their playful groans, pricklings of joyful tears in her eyes, looking down at their faces with a smile that was making the watching All Might proud, "But I have no problem with that nickname! Now go back to the class so we can keep going!"
"Kayama-san is right!" All Might nodded, thankful, "Before we proceed though, are there any questions?"
Momo raised her hand and seemed to bounce in place, "What's the objective?" She was wearing a high-collared, sleeveless crimson leotard with silver lines at her waist and around her arms, cut open from the neck all the way down to her belly button, exposing as much skin as possible for her Quirk, both sides being held from falling by a golden strap from shoulder to shoulder, crossing over the top of her chest while a pair of thick, golden utility belts wrapped around her waist. Knee-high heeled boots in the same crimson color were on her feet, topping off her costume.
"Good question, Yaoyorozu-shōujo!" All Might pulled a sheet of papers from… somewhere, confusing the students and sending Nemuri in a fit of barely repressed giggles, "The Villain teams will be protecting a nuclear device that they intend on detonating, it will look like this, just bigger!" He pulled out a small toy missile from behind him, "To win they merely need to allow time to expire while keeping the Heroes away from the weapon at all costs. They can also capture or incapacitate the Heroes if they see the need or chance. And like in our day to day, the Heroes face an uphill battle. The Hero teams will be tasked with incapacitating both Villains and securing the device!" He lifted his gaze from his notes, meeting the class's eyes, "However! A Hero should never prioritize stopping the Villain over saving the innocents," he could swear he heard Todoroki mutter something at that, but didn't give it much thought, "As such, you can bypass capturing both your adversaries and go directly after the bomb! It will cost you some points, since the Villains will still be at large to come up with a new plan in the future, but it will still win you the encounter! You have a strict time limit of fifteen minutes to accomplish your task, after they have passed, the bomb will have blown up, and the Heroes will have lost! Same happens if the Bomb is destroyed! Every round will also be held in a different building so the teams coming later don't have the advantage of memorizing the layout!"
The Symbol of Peace noticed the worried expressions on some of the students' faces, and the quick darting of eyes towards a certain classmate of theirs, so he decided to reassure them, "Originally every round would have been a Hero team against a Villain one. After seeing your assessment results, however," He looked directly at Izuku, the rest of the students mirroring him, "And from little anecdotes that Kayama-san has shared with us about Midoriya-shōnen's abilities, it's been decided that it will be three teams sent against him, no matter who he ends up partnered with!" He saw some relieved faces among the kids, he honestly couldn't blame them, "Once the teams are formed, they can either volunteer to be one of the three going against him, or they will be chosen at random!"
Finally, he put back his papers from wherever they came from and pulled out a box, the sound of objects rolling inside of it reaching the students' ears, "The teams will be decided through lots!"
"Is that really wise, All Might-sensei?" Iida asked, confused.
"It actually makes sense, Iida-kun," Izuku looked down at him, "Heroes rarely get to decide who they are working with while on the field, the rare exception being teams like the Wild Wild Pussycats, and so they may end up working with someone they have never even heard of. During emergencies, it's not rare to see Heroes from different cities and Agencies having to work together."
"I see. Thanks for the thought out answer, Midoriya-kun! And forgive my interruption All Might-sensei, Midnight-sensei!" He bowed to each of them, getting a little handwave from All Might.
"Nothing to worry about, Iida-shōnen, it was a good question! Now come forward!"
One by one, the students approached All Might and got their little ball out, Izuku asking to just be handed the last one when he saw the box was too small for him to put his hand in.
He ended up paired with Mineta, much to everyone's amusement while Mitsuki got paired with Tsuyu. The team after them were Rumi and Yamato (that had made more than one member of the class shiver), then came Ochako and Shōji, followed by Momo and Kyōka, Mina and Tōru coming after them.
Setsuna and Camie made up another team, Kirishima and Kaminari becoming another, Himiko and Melissa being next, with Iida and Todoroki rounding up the class.
Really, most of the class was relieved their two strongest members hadn't been paired together. Trying to go against Izuku would be hard enough already, Melissa working with him would be just the icing on the cake!
"Tsuki-chan, do you want to go against Midoriya-chan?" As always, Tsuyu went straight to the point, looking at her partner.
"Only if you're up to it too, Tsuyu-chan!" The explosive girl grinned back, looking down at her classmate
"Kero!" The froggy girl smiled, taking her teammate by the arm and walking towards their teachers, "All Might-sensei, we want to volunteer to go against Midoriya-chan."
Rumi heard the small conversation and exchanged a look with Yamato. Matching grins quickly growing on their faces, the horned girl picked her short friend up before following after the two other girls, "Count us in too!"
"That's the spirit, young ladies!" All Might gave them a thumbs up, Nemuri going on about 'youthful vigor' while holding her blushing cheeks in the background, "Don't fear adversity, meet it head-on!"
Izuku looked down at his teammate, noticing the boy's eyes fixated on the girls talking with All Might. Too fixated for his liking. His Quirk seemed to churn inside him at the thought of the short boy ogling his Mitsuki.
"You do know one of those girls is my girlfriend, don't you?" He growled down at Mineta, an annoyed look on his face. His only answer was a high-pitched 'eep' and a terrified look from the boy.
Before he could terrify the purple-haired boy some more, All Might's voice brought him out of his haze.
He never noticed the scales slowly receding from his hands.
"Alright you zygotes, listen up!" the Symbol of Peace called to attention, most of the students just now noticing the two new boxes All Might was being flanked by, "First round will be…" be put his hand inside the box on his right, pulling out a ball, "Team D as the Heroes, versus…" he repeated the process with the one on his left, "Team C as the Villains! Tokage-shōjo, Utsushimi-shōjo, you two will be heading in first! The U. A. robots will help you quickly move the bomb towards the building and room you point them to if you ask for help. Both teams will have ten minutes to prepare whatever they need afterwards, but the fifteen minutes timer will start the moment the Heroes are allowed in the area, so don't leave your preparations for the last minute!" He grinned at them all, this was his favorite part of this exercise, "That said, remember we're doing this to help you get some actual experience without being in a life-or-death situation, so give it your all! The Villains should try and have a truly villainous mindset, method acting if you will! Just keep in mind that this is also a school exercise, so don't go too far. Either Kayama-san or I will step-in if needed. If either of us declares the round to be over, it is OVER," He looked at them in the eye, waiting for everyone to nod their understanding, "Also, you should all be mindful that the Capture Tape we will give you at the start of the round can only be used once each and it's only one per team, so use it carefully!"
"Yes, sensei!" The four ladies nodded before quickly making their way towards their assigned area.
"The rest of you, follow us," Nemuri signalled to her class, walking towards a side door and into a room with seats and monitors covering half of one of the walls, "We will watch them through the security cameras in the area." Taking a seat near Izuku, she pulled out a notebook and pen, noticing her son already with his own out, and his group of friends moving to sit nearby. "I recommend you all take notes and talk among yourselves; there will be after-action reports and every little idea counts!" She told them while All Might made some finishing touches on the console, improving some of the cameras' feed slightly.
"Kero, Midoriya-chan?" Tsuyu approached the giant, "I know Tsuki-chan is going to sit on one of your horns, may I sit on your shoulder?"
"Sure, Asui-san, no problem!" He smiled down at her, leaning his head to the side so she could jump up.
"Thank you Midoriya-chan," She smiled back at him from her new seat, "And call me Tsuyu-chan."
"What do you think of the matchup, Zu-kun?" Mitsuki smirked down at him, getting a chuckle.
"That we were lucky Tokage-san was on the Villain team, or this would have lasted a couple of minutes."
"My thoughts exactly, Midoriya-san," Momo agreed, she and Kyōka moving to sit closer to him and Nemuri.
"Huh?" Kaminari looked between the two, sitting in the row in front, "What are you two talking about?"
"Remember what she did in the standing long jump, Kaminari-san?" Izuku asked him, getting a nod back, "Judging by that, if she was in the Hero team she could simply send one of her fingers towards the bomb without the Villains noticing in the first few minutes and win the exercise."
"As it is though," Melissa joined in, "Hagakure-san could infiltrate the building without them noticing, while Ashido-san distracts them."
"The Villains have another advantage though," Mitsuki pointed out, getting the group's attention, "We know Mina-chan has her Acid, Setsuna-chan can dismember herself and Tōru-chan is invisible, but Camie-chan's? She's never even mentioned it."
"So their best bet would be for Tōru-chan to enter stealthily…" Momo trailed off.
"... And for both of them to be on guard whenever Utsushimi-san is near them." Izuku finished her thought.
"Good analysis, you lot!" All Might's voice called their attention, "But no plan survives first contact! Let's see how right you are!"
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Mina and Tōru had basically come to the same conclusion their classmates had, the invisible girl quickly dressing down, this meaning taking off the gloves and shoes that was her costume, before they both ran towards the building, hoping that Mina's steps would cover Tōru's own.
With a quick fling of acid at the door's lock, just in case, they both quickly made their way inside, finding themselves in a dimly lit hallway and coming face to face with Setsuna. The verdette was throwing her head up and down in her hand, grinning at them.
"Why, hello there, Hero!" The head said, her sharp teeth seemingly glowing in the dim light, her body's free hand waving at them before it moved towards her mouth as she gasped, "Where's your partner? Did she finally get fed up with you and left?" She gave her the puppy dog eyes and an exaggerated pout, "Do you need a hug?" Yep, she was definitely mocking Mina now.
Mina, not knowing if Tōru had left yet or not, decided to keep up the banter. No, it wasn't because she was finding it fun. She was just following All Might's instructions to embody their roles, promise! "So much bouncing that head of yours must be making you dizzy! She has her role, and I have mine, Villain! And if I were you, I would focus on the here and now!" She cried, rushing the verdette.
See? No finding it fun, just doing her assignment!
…
Ok, she was having the time of her life. Happy, now?
Before she could reach Setsuna, however, a hand shot towards her, grabbing her by the neck and… caressing her face?
"Come on now, Pinkie-chan~" Setsuna purred, her head floating towards Mina's face, "I could take such good care of you~" She whispered breathily in the pink girl's ear.
Mina's cheeks went purple, this wasn't in the script! She grabbed the floating head beside her own and threw it back towards its body, "I-I won't fall for your tricks, Villain!" She rushed towards her classmate again, trying not to listen to her taunts.
"Oh, so you like to play rough? I can do that~"
"SHUT UP!"
AGDH - AGDH - AGDH - AGDH
While Mina was having her flustering fight, Tōru was doing her part and looking for their objective. She had indeed left while Setsuna was talking, quickly making her way past the verdette and deeper into the building. 'Find the bomb, don't be noticed,' was the mantra running through her head. For a girl that had had to spend most of her life fighting for the world to notice her, that was pretty out of character for her.
Every room she saw, she checked as quietly as possible, making sure to not get herself in front of the door. Instead, she opened them from the side and slowly leaned her head in, looking around before closing the door and repeating the process in the next room.
'Jackpot!' She cheered internally, finally spotting the bomb on the third floor, being guarded by a seemingly distracted Camie.
Neither of them noticed the fawn-haired girl exhale towards Tōru, until Camie's head whipped towards her.
"Finally!" Camie started to walk towards the invisible girl, her eyes fixed on Tōru's, "I have been waiting for you to appear, Invisi-chan!" The grin on her face was downright predatory.
"H-How?" Tōru squeaked, walking backwards, "How can you see me?!"
"Sweetie," A voice chuckled from behind her, a pair of arms circling her neck from its source, "You're in my world now!" Turning around, she came face to breasts with another Camie.
As the voice said this, more and more copies started to appear all over the room.
"The game starts now!"
"No way!" Tōru freed herself from the copy hugging her and ran out of the room, the Camies hot on her heels, "MINA-CHAAAAAN!"
AGDH - AGDH - AGDH - AGDH
Back with the rest of the class, there were confusedly amused faces all around. They had been lucky the cameras had an infrared mode, or they would have lost sight of of their invisible classmate the moment she took off her gloves and shoes
"What the hell is Tōru-chan doing?" Rumi's voice was dripping with disbelief and amusement in equal measures.
"When you gotta go you gotta go." Kaminari was barely holding back his laughter, groans filling the room.
"Of all the things you could have said."
AGDH - AGDH - AGDH - AGDH
"Sorry, Tōru-chan!" Mina said through her earpiece, catching her friend's call for help, "I'm kinda tied up right now!" She told her teammate as she dodged a limb wanting to do naughty things to her.
"C'mon, Pinkie-chan~" Setsuna's teasing game was still going strong, "Stop resisting and Mommy Tsuna will give you a nice reward~"
"Keep your hands to yourself, Villain!" Mina whined, smacking a flying hand out of the air. Setsuna had managed to keep her out of close range between sultry teasing and long-ranged punches.
Yes, it was as weird as it sounds.
"Aw, you're no fun, Pinkie-chan~!" The verdette whined, her hands coming back to her body, "Mommy Tsuna will have to punish you~!" She said, before making her first mistake in the round.
She got inside Mina's fighting range.
Seeing her chance, Mina's legs became a blur, kicking away at Setsuna, quickly knocking the breath out of her. As the green-clad girl fell to the ground, Mina proceeded to tie her up as tight and thoroughly as she could with the Capture Tape..
"Is that bondage enough for you, you kinky villain?!" Mina wheezed out, trying to catch her breath after her kick flurry.
"Tokage has been captured!" All Might's voice came through their earpieces, "Please exit the arena, Tokage-shōjo!"
Setsuna looked down at her bound body, wiggling, "Umm, All Might-sensei…" She sweatdropped
"Don't worry Tokage-chan, I'll go fetch you!" Nemuri's chuckling voice came then.
AGDH - AGDH - AGDH - AGDH
'Note to self,' Tōru thought as she ran, her feet were starting to hurt from running around barefooted, but she could still hear at least one of the Camies following her, 'Redesign your costume. There must be something that turns invisible when I touch it, right?!' She turned a corner, 'On the other hand, it's easier to not make a sound without shoes.'
Hearing Camie (or at least a Camie) approaching, she quickly looked around her, hoping for anything to hide in, just in case the girl could still find her somehow. Instead, the sight of a closed door made the proverbial light bulb go off in her head.
Camie hoped she was going in the right direction. Her Quirk had worn off of Tōru a while ago so she had no idea where the girl was anymore, but hopefully her invisible friend hadn't noticed yet, keeping her nervous could make her make a mistake. Her head whipped around as a door to her side slammed closed, "Found you, Invisi-chan~!" She sing-songed, going into the classroom. She realized her mistake when she heard the door being jammed from the outside by something, "Hey!"
"I can't believe that worked!" Tōru cheered from outside the room, "Now, Villain, if you would just wait there while I find your bomb, that would be great!" She started running back towards the room with the bomb, leaving the trapped Camie behind.
"Tokage has been captured!" All Might's voice rang in her ear, "Please exit the arena, Tokage-shōjo!"
"Yay! Mina-chan won!" Tōru started running faster towards the bomb room, she knew that if All Might hadn't called Camie as being captured, it was because he thought her friend may free herself yet.
"Tōru-chan! Did you find the bomb?" Mina's voice came through the earpiece as the invisible girl approached the door.
"Yup!" She chirped, entering the room, "Don't worry Mina-chan, I'm winning us this right," she put her hand on the bomb, "Now!" She pushed the (surprisingly lightweight) fake bomb to the ground.
"The Hero Team wins!" All Might's voice rang through, "Hagakure-shōjo, could you go free Utsushimi-shōjo, please? She hasn't gotten out yet!"
"No problem, All Might-sensei!"
AGDH - AGDH - AGDH - AGDH
"Welcome back, ladies!" All Might nodded at the four girls as they took their seats, "Now, you bunch of zygotes! Can you tell me who was this round's MVP?"
The students could only look at each other, thoughtful frowns on their faces. "I'm… honestly not sure, All Might-sensei." Izuku spoke for them all, scratching the side of his head in confusion.
"Yeah," Mitsuki turned towards the four combatants, "No offense girls, but what the hell was that?"
"Huh? What do you mean, Tsuki?" Mina tilted her head, it wasn't that bad, was it?
Izuku was the one to give her her answer, counting on his fingers, "Mina-san, you spent most of the round flustered and only captured Tokage-san because she made a mistake." The pink girl turned away with an embarrassed blush, "Tokage-san, you got cocky and instead of remaining at a distance you approached Mina-san and got yourself captured," Setsuna nodded with a sheepish chuckle while rubbing the back of her head, knowing she messed up. "Utsushimi-san, you didn't try to find Hagakure-san once you heard the door slam before entering the room and got trapped," Camie playfully pouted, he was right, "And Hagakure-san, no offense, but you ran away from Utsushimi-san and the bomb like a headless chicken for some reason." Tōru chuckled sheepishly, before the last bit sunk in.
"Wait, what do you mean 'for some reason' Midori?! Didn't you see her clones?!" If the blank looks from her classmates weren't answer enough, Camie's giggles definitely were.
"I'm guessing your Quirk is illusion-based, Utsushimi-san?" Momo asked her classmate, her head tilted in curiosity.
"Right in one, Yaomomo!" she winked at the taller girl, getting a small blush in return, "Glamour lets me create an illusion through my breath, but it doesn't last too long, and it's even shorter if I'm doing something tiring, like running!"
"That's something to work on then, Utsushimi-chan," Nemuri smiled at her student, "I can help you with breathing exercises and how to keep your breath for longer." She made a little note in her notebook.
"Thanks Kayamama-sensei!"
"While everything Midoriya-shōnen said was true, and it's something to work on," All Might spoke to the girls, "There were some good things that should be pointed out!" He did exactly that, pointing directly at Setsuna, "Tokage-shōjo! Until the end of the round, you managed to keep your adversary not only at bay, but on the defensive the whole time!" His finger moved towards the next girl, "Ashido-shōjo! Even though your opponent kept you back, you didn't give up, and used the opening you got marvelously!" Next in his encouraging queue was Camie, "Utsushimi-shōjo! You used the fact that none of your classmates knew what your Quirk was to amazing results!" And of course, last was Tōru, "Hagakure-shōjo! If it hadn't been for the bad luck of getting caught up on Utsushimi-shōjo's Quirk, you could have ended the round much earlier thanks to your stealth, and then managed to still win your team the round and trap your opponent thanks to those same skills!" Seeing his words sink in, he continued speaking, "Now, considering both your achievements and mistakes, I can't in good faith give any of you the MVP. However, don't let that put you down! That's what you're in school for! To make mistakes and get it wrong here, instead of in the field!" He looked at his students' faces, "Now, let's see who's turn it's next, shall we?"
So yeah, as I said, sorry for taking so long to update, and I'm pretty sure the next chapter is also gonna take a long while to come u.u'
The Battle Trials have started! Luckily All Might has Midnight there with him to help keep him from making mistakes!
Tell me what did you think of the round in the comments! I know I need to improve my action writing 'n.n
And as always, if you want to chat, you can find me at PV's Discord server, The Singularity, here /3ZwnRbh
I'm not the only writer there and we have a blast there, so drop by!