At school the next day, Izuku was sitting in his seat, conversing with Uraraka about the events of the previous night. He had enjoyed himself, but something had happened toward the end that had him conflicted.
Aizawa walked in, looking as tired as ever. Izuku knew that their time was up, and leaned over to Uraraka.
"We'll talk later," he said, quickly snapping himself back into place.
"Good morning. Today, you'll be having your first Fundamentals of Heroics class. For that, your teacher will be-" Aizawa was cut off.
All Might, in his Silver Age costume, sped through the door, striking a pose as he slid to a stop. He stuck his thumb at his new students, showing them right away what kind of teacher he was going to be.
"ALL MIGHT!" he roared his own name.
The class erupted into cheers at this information. They had heard rumors, but nobody knew for sure if All Might was really going to be the first years' teacher. Now that they knew, though, they were hyped for his class.
"Now, suit up, because everybody knows that Hero's most important tool … is LOOKIN' GOOD!" All Might said, pressing a button on the remote he held.
The wall opposite the door, right next to Izuku, opened up, revealing twenty suitcases, numbered to a specific student. Everybody clamored for their case, knowing that their custom costumes were inside, ready to be worn. Izuku sat back as his classmates frenzied, waiting until he could actually move to go and calmly grab his case and head to the changing rooms with everybody else.
Once Izuku was changed, he got a good look at himself in the mirror. His costume was a teal jumpsuit with white trims, coming up into a cowl with rabbit-like ears, stemming from him mainly being a speed type of fighter. He had his regular red sneakers on, with red kneepads and elbow pads. Izuku also wore a respirator, so that he could breathe on the chance he ran into somebody with a Gas Quirk.
He ran outside, seeing that everyone else was waiting for him in all their fancy costumes. Izuku was glad that nobody could see his face, otherwise they'd know he'd started sweating from having twenty pairs of eyes on him all at once.
"Uh, hi!" Izuku greeted his class, his voice breaking slightly.
The others turned back to All Might for instructions, and the Hero pulled out poorly concealed cue cards, and there was a collective facepalm as they marvelled at the number one Hero, reading from a script.
"Today, we will be doing mock battles," All Might said, returning his notes to his invisibly thin pocket.
"Like the entrance exam?" Asui asked.
"Not quite. During the entrance exam, you used your Quirks on robots. Easily fixed things. This go round, you'll be using your powers on each other, forcing you to reign it in while also remaining creative!" All Might revealed, striking a pose for some reason.
"What? That seems a little advanced for a first class. Shouldn't we be learning some basic combat, first?" Mashirao Ojiro, a boy with a large, muscular tail, piped up.
"I say that the best learning you'll ever do is on the job! Now, we'll be getting you newbies into pairs; Heroes versus Villains! These battles will be conducted indoors, because only the truly manipulative demons hide in the shadows," All Might countered.
"How will we be deciding the teams?" Iida asked.
"Lots!" All Might cheered, not matching the tone of the group at all.
Izuku went up first, drawing the 'A' ball. Bakugo went next, shoving Izuku out of the way. He shoved his hand into the box roughly, damaging the cardboard it was made of. He pulled out a 'D' ball, not liking how far down the alphabet it was compared to 'A'.
Bakugo moved out of the way, his grenadier gauntlets knocking Izuku's ball out of his hand. Izuku knelt down to pick it up, wondering why Bakugo was so angry that day. He was always annoyed, but Izuku used to be able to tell that he wasn't angry. Now, he had no clue.
A boy with spiky red hair, Eijiro Kirishima, went next. He picked out a ball with the letter 'J'. He grinned, and Izuku was let to wonder if he sharpened his teeth on purpose, if it was a mutation given to him by his Quirk. He couldn't know until he witnessed Kirishima in action.
Uraraka walked up next, drawing an 'A'. Izuku was conflicted about this turn of events. The two were friendly, but he was too distracted by what had happened last night to be partnered up with her. He walked up to All Might, wringing his hands together.
"All Might, I don't think I can work with Uraraka right now," Izuku whispered.
"Nonsense. I'm sure you'll get along just fine," All Might assured Izuku.
"It's not that. Well, it's kind of that, but-" Izuku was cut off.
"It's not about whether or not you're on good terms, it's about the random nature of chance," All Might said.
Izuku walked back to Uraraka, refusing to look her in the eye. He stared at the ground, trying to think of ways to both counter the Quirks of his class that he knew about and keep his head in the game.
In his efforts to think of a plan, Izuku had missed everyone else drawing their lots, getting into their teams and being addressed brackets. Team A, Izuku and Uraraka, had been put up against Team D, Bakugo and Iida.
"Izuku! Don't think that because you have some hot new power that makes you better than me!" Bakugo said, approaching Izuku.
"Katsuki, don't make this harder than it has to be. I don't want to fight you, but-" Izuku tried to say.
"Bullshit! You'd love to prove your worth to your mentor, wouldn't you? You'd love it if Al-" Bakugo was cut off by Izuku firing off a low power soundwave at him.
Bakugo was pushed back by the soundwave, staggering as he covered his ears. He took his hands away from his ears; no blood. Part of Bakugo's Quirk was that his eardrums were much thicker than a regular person's to withstand the constant noise of his Explosions, so he was more resilient than most.
All Might sped between them, blocking both of their sightlines on each other. Bakugo grunted, and walked off to 'plan' with his teammate. Izuku breathed out sharply, letting go of his temporary anger.
"Come on, Uraraka, we need to plan," Izuku said, walking toward the entrance to the building that Bakugo had just walked into.
"Oh, okay?" Uraraka was perplexed.
She had just witnessed Izuku burst into a fit of violence, something she had never thought he could do. He seemed like a sweet, sensitive, caring guy, but he just fired off his Quirk on another person with no hesitation. That conflicted Uraraka.
When the two of them stopped in front of the door, Izuku began muttering to himself about possible counters to Bakugo's Quirk, as well as Iida's. Uraraka was slightly unnerved, but thought his small mumbling voice was kind of cute in its own way.
"Uraraka," Izuku said, startling her out of her thoughts.
"Yes?" Uraraka responded.
"What we're going to do is …" Izuku began.
With Bakugo, he was venting his frustrations on a barrel. He grabbed on tight and detonated his Quirk, blowing it to smithereens. Bakugo spun around, glaring at Iida. He stomped over to his teammate and growled.
"What are you looking at, Four Eyes?!" Bakugo yelled.
"I think that we should formulate a plan, Bakugo. If we cooperate, we can win," Iida said, pacing.
"The day I listen to you is the day I lose, and I don't lose!" Bakugo growled.
The timer to start the mock battle sounded, and Bakugo's gaze snapped to the door, using his Quirk to propel him through it and out of the room. As his partner barreled through the corridors, bouncing from wall to wall, Iida was left behind.
With Izuku, the timer rang and the Heroes entered the building. Izuku used his electrostatic levitation to hover through the air, moving slightly faster than Uraraka. They moved through the halls, making it to the second floor before they ran into trouble.
Izuku touched back down on the ground as he heard booms in the distance, the clues that Bakugo was getting closer. He crouched low to the ground, using an ability with his sound energy that had yet to be useful.
He got down low and put his hand flat on the ground. He sent pulse after pulse of sound through it, getting them sent back to him immediately. Izuku could roughly 'sense' where things were without having to see them, using a crude form of echolocation to know where exactly in the building Bakugo was.
"Bakugo is coming. He's two floors above us and moving fast. Are you ready?" Izuku asked.
"Yes," Uraraka said, taking a steadying breath.
"Alright," Izuku said, his eyes still closed.
Izuku rose from the ground, knowing that Bakugo was only a moment away. He charged his arms with light energy, illuminating the hallway with emerald light. He waited in a fighting stance, with Uraraka behind him as he manned the front line.
"DEKU!" Bakugo roared, soaring down the corridor.
Izuku froze, not having heard that name in over a month. He let his guard down the slightest bit, but that was enough for Bakugo to take advantage of. He swung a loose right hook at Izuku, but he blocked it with his empowered arm.
Bakugo, being kept in place by Izuku's block, ignited his Quirk, sending both of them back. Izuku was sent flying into Uraraka, taking her with him and putting some distance between the team and Bakugo.
"Uraraka! Are you okay?" Izuku asked, crawling over to check on his partner.
"I'm fine!" Uraraka said, climbing to her feet.
Izuku got up, facing Bakugo down. Bakugo was already standing, staring at him with seemingly glowing eyes, he was so pissed at Izuku. The smaller boy waited for Bakugo to charge, knowing that he was much more of a reactionary fighter.
"Use your Quirk, Deku. I want to see it!" Bakugo yelled.
"When are you going to let this go, Katsuki? Why does any of this matter? We have much bigger things to worry about!" Izuku asked.
Bakugo grunted and started a charge. He led with a right hook, something that Izuku recognized immediately. When the two were younger, around thirteen, they had begun to train their combat skills. Bakugo was a talented fighter from the get-go, but Izuku's analytical skills carried him to victory more than Bakugo liked.
As Bakugo swung, Izuku ducked under it and flooded his arms with electricity. He used electrostatic levitation to fling Bakugo down the hall, tumbling across the metal floor as he went.
"Uraraka! We can't sit here and fight all day. I need to move fast," Izuku said, making his way to Uraraka's side.
"Got it," Uraraka replied, knowing exactly what to do.
Uraraka took Izuku's hand, pressing all five of her fingertips into his. Izuku became weightless, starting to float into the air, but he caught himself in an electrostatic field. He nodded to Uraraka, who nodded back and started running ahead of him, making sure to step over the downed body of Bakugo.
"Let's see if this works," Izuku said, leaning forward.
As he leaned forward, Izuku picked up speed like he never had before, catching up to Uraraka in an instant. He slowed down to match her pace, effectively flying beside her. They moved down the corridor until they came across a staircase.
"Great! We can just go up this instead of having to make holes," Uraraka said, looking up the space in the middle.
"No. We still haven't found Iida, and he's more chilled out than Katsuki, so he'd likely had stayed back. His speed is overwhelming, and with the element of surprise, he could take either one of us down in the blink of an eye," Izuku said.
"Oh, that makes sense," Uraraka said, her eyes dropping to the floor, which Izuku noticed.
"No, it's not to say that it was a bad plan; it does beat breaking through ceilings. It's just that Iida is powerful, and we don't know how he fights," Izuku explained.
"Alright. So, what do we do?" Uraraka asked.
"DEKU!" Bakugo screamed from behind them.
They both turned around to see Bakugo, walking towards them, spit out some blood and lick his own lips. Izuku was getting nervous, as he had never had this much of a battle high before. Izuku stepped in front of Uraraka, putting his arm out to shield her if anything happened.
"Uraraka, go. I'll meet you at the top," Izuku said, his eyes locked on Bakugo.
"Oh, I think not! She can stay and watch you die!" Bakugo yelled, lunging forward.
Izuku made Uraraka duck, just before an explosion tore its way through where she had just been standing. He got in front of her again, this time facing the stairwell that had once been their objective.
"Give me my gravity back," Izuku whispered.
Izuku felt his weight return and gave Uraraka a thumbs up from behind his back. He looked Bakugo in the eye, waiting for him to act. Bakugo seemed to be talking to himself, but Izuku couldn't hear what he was saying.
"I have to say it, Deku. You've done well for yourself. Getting a fancy Quirk upgrade from out of nowhere. Getting All Might to give you help, while I had to do everything on my own! Your delusions are coming true! You're a Hero, and I'm the only one who sees what you really are. The only one that sees you don't deserve anything you have! The only one opposing you ..." Bakugo gestured around him, chuckling as he did.
"... which makes me the Villain," Bakugo finished.
"Kacchan, what are you-?" Izuku tried to ask.
"Don't call me by that fucking name, Deku!" Bakugo roared.
Bakugo threw one of his hands forward, and the pin on his grenadier gauntlets popped out, making the whole gauntlet glow red from the grooves. Bakugo grinned eerily. He shook the gauntlet, and it sounded like a carton full of liquid.
"Since you were biding your time until you were powerful, you took it upon yourself to learn everything about my Quirk," Bakugo said. "You know that it makes me sweat a substance similar in make-up to nitroglycerin, only ten times more powerful. You also know that I can only detonate it all at once, so I never build up that much nitro-sweat to pull off a really powerful blast."
"Why are you saying this?" Izuku asked, crouching low.
"These gauntlets aren't just for show, y'know? They've been storing up my sweat this whole time! Now, it's time for a monster blast!" Bakugo said, pulling the pin on his gauntlet.
"Uraraka, get down!" Izuku said quickly.
Izuku, seeing the explosion building up in his gauntlet's nozzle, put up an electrostatic field in front of the two, attempting to shield them from the blast. He packed us much power into this shield as he could, electricity flowing from his arms to make a physical barrier. He marvelled at this new advancement in his powers before he heard the explosion go off.
The light was blinding, even from behind his electric construct. He heard Uraraka, though he couldn't discern what she was saying. His ears were ringing, and he knew that he was still tumbling, judging from the fact that he was flailing his arms while letting them go limp, and the fact that he was about to throw up.
When he opened his eyes, Izuku saw the damage that Bakugo had done. The entire floor was decimated, leaving only a few pieces of cement standing, and he was quickly getting to work on those, knowing he couldn't lethally injure a person, even Deku.
Izuku looked around for Uraraka, and saw that she had been mostly unharmed. She was unconscious, but had barely a scratch on her. He breathed a sigh of relief at that, knowing he had been able to keep her safe. That alerted Bakugo, though, and the blond trudged over, with the most manic expression Izuku had ever seen.
"You just don't know when to quit, do you, Deku? I guess that's an admirable trait for a Hero, if you'd have lived to be one," Bakugo said, aiming his hand at Izuku's face.
"You have to stop, Kacchan! Can't you see that this is crazy?" Izuku pleaded.
"Crazy, but badass!" Bakugo said, and it clicked for Izuku how much the Sludge Villain incident must be weighing on him.
That was something that Bakugo had said way back then, the day he lost his idol to his lesser friend. Bakugo had always said that he would be better than All Might, and the words Izuku had last spoken to him before they stopped talking were a promise to take that from him. His one dream. Bakugo was pissed.
"How can you think this is a good thing?" Izuku asked.
Uraraka groaned as she tried to pick herself up, making both boys turn to look at her. She managed to kneel on the ground, looking at the two boys in front of her with wide eyes. Uraraka managed to get a croak out, but her voice died in her throat.
"Uraraka, don't look at what happens next!" Izuku said, accepting his fate.
Bakugo turned back to Izuku, smiling widely as he pulled the pin on his gauntlet. Izuku let the charge build up, knowing that it was his time. He felt oddly peaceful, accepting that this was the day that Bakugo lost control. It had to have happened sooner or later, and Izuku was happy knowing that it was him and not somebody else.
"Midoriya!" Uraraka called out.
"Ochaco, run away!" Izuku screamed, shocking her from the use of her given name.
"Yeah, bitch, run! Your useless powers couldn't do anything to stop me, even if you tried!" Bakugo taunted.
Izuku opened his eyes to glare at Bakugo. They were pulsating with energy, looking at him with such rage that it was almost palpable. Izuku grabbed the gauntlet, with the charge still building, and knocked away from himself.
Bakugo's eyes widened as he was taken by the throat, held up in the air and dangled off the ledge that he had created. He failed his arms, but it was useless. Izuku wasn't moving. Bakugo saw that Uraraka had no defence, and grinned.
"You wanna be a Hero so bad? Be a Hero, Deku," Bakugo snarled, aiming his still charging gauntlet at Uraraka.
Izuku traced the aim with his eyes and gasped. He let go of Bakugo and started hovering toward Uraraka, moving as fast as he could. He rushed to his friend, and got to her just as he heard the explosion go off.
He turned around to see the flames rocketing toward him. It was almost beautiful how they shot forward, lurching around themselves as they chased him. Izuku had been waiting for a chance to test his immunity to certain things he absorbed and saw his chance. It was time to test 'Reversion', a move that Izuku came up with that let him absorb an energy based attack and shoot it directly back at the target. If his powers surrounding heat worked like he thought they did, he would be able to do this.
Izuku was touched by the flames, and he tried to suck in as much of them as possible. He had never actively tried to absorb anything before, so it was a lot of effort, putting a strain on Izuku's already injured body, but he did it. All of the flames were being pulled toward him, swirling like a fiery tornado as Izuku crouched to the ground.
"GO! Get far away from here!" he warned Uraraka.
"I can help, Izuku!" she tried to argue.
"Go, please!" Izuku screamed, barely containing the explosion spinning around him.
Uraraka obeyed, running out of the room. Once she was out, Izuku began to stand up, slowly but surely getting there. He was still holding his hands out, keeping all of his attention on keeping the blast contained, but he was still able to look Bakugo in the eye and smirk.
"You can call me Deku, but it doesn't mean the same as when we were kids! It doesn't even mean the better version you came up with as an apology! If being a Deku means that you fight injustice, wherever it may be, whoever may be committing it …" Izuku said, bringing the explosion as a whole into his own body.
A moment of silence. Izuku and Bakugo locked eyes, Bakugo's filled with fear, and Izuku's with flowing green energy, and they both knew what was about to happen. Bakugo started to back away, actively fearing Izuku for the first time.
"... I am Deku," Izuku finished.
Izuku releases the explosion, pushing it forward, as well as compressing it, so that it shoots directly at Bakugo, not leaving any room for error in his aim. Bakugo tried to dodge out of the way, but Izuku's blast was too powerful. It was magnitudes more powerful than Bakugo's previous blast, but Izuku needed this. Izuku knew it, All Might knew it, and the class knew it.
They had seen and heard Bakugo constantly belittle Izuku, put him down or otherwise be a gigantic egotist. He deserved this. Izuku blasted Bakugo with every little bit of power he had, pushing past his limits and Going Beyond, Plus Ultra style.
Izuku was blasted back by his own power, flung out through the window, smashing it, and into the open air. He fell through the air, getting nearer and nearer to the ground, until All Might appeared, catching him from hitting the ground.
After that, Izuku blacked out. He found it funny how often he was doing that lately, but couldn't laugh. One of his ribs had punctured his lung. In his sleep, he had the most wonderful dream. It was of himself, but older, stood up on a rooftop in Tokyo, overlooking the city. Bakugo was there, too, as well as Uraraka. They were Heroes together.
In the dream, Bakugo had his regular expression of annoyance, but he understood it wasn't aimed toward him or Uraraka. They were all happy together, patrolling the city. It was nice.