Chapter 5: Pushed to the Limit (I)
Izuku was becoming more and more convinced about bad luck being a real thing for any user of One for All. What was fueling his belief in such an absurd notion?
For starters, the dozens of criminals walking out of a large, vortex of darkness was a pretty big hint at the possibility. The appearance of these individuals wasn't even the worst part. No, that title belonged to the most unusual and menacing creature he's ever seen before in his life. Skin as dark as charcoal, but was only broken up by the numerous scars covering its body. Even more strange was the sight of a beak on its face and being able to see its exposed brain. However, the most terrifying element was the enormous frame of its body.
'Practically the same height as All Might in his buff form,' Izuku could almost hear a ringing sound in the back of his head like it was trying to warn him about the creature. It certainly instilled dead into the young boy's mind as the creature stood behind the army of criminals approaching alongside some other individual covered in hands.
He turned his head around slightly to the left – as if he knew where to look – to see whatever was the cause behind the weird sensation. Unknowingly, Jirou noticed his movement after realizing the gravity of the situation facing their classmates. As for Izuku, his eyes widened slightly as he caught sight of a tall, shadowy figure with a pair of shining green eyes standing just behind him.
A moment later, the figure looked down at him…
"It begins, boy."
The voice reverberated throughout his skull like the figure was talking from within his mind. He could barely recognize anything about it. As if multiple individuals spoke at once. Then, before Izuku had a chance to blink, the shadowy figure dissipated into wisps of smoke. His attention, however, was soon grabbed by a chilling and sinister voice.
"Looks as if the schedule was wrong about his attendance," the voice said as Izuku and his classmates jumped in surprise as they witnessed a large cloud of darkness appear before their very eyes. Glowing golden eyes appeared within the cloud, staring at them like a predator would at its prey. "Apologize for the intrusion, children. However, I believe All Might is supposed to be here with you."
Izuku never imagined being caught up in a scenario as dangerous as encountering criminals and villains at a school like U.A High or during his first year as a high school student. 'To think I thought today was going to get any better after what happened in the locker room. Damn it, this is more than just bad luck at this point. I can't seem to catch a break.'
(X)
(Earlier that Day)
"I wonder what Mr. Aizawa and the other teachers have planned for us. What do you guys think they'll do?" Uraraka asked the others sitting around the lunch table, drawing their attention away from eating as they each thought about it.
Izuku stopped eating as he heard the question. He couldn't lie about being curious. The teachers were more than willing to take advantage of their ability to do whatever they saw fit in the classroom with the last few days being prime evidence, and Izuku wondered what the others must've thought as their lunch period was coming to an end soon. As if hearing his thoughts directly, Iida was the first to say anything.
His response was pretty typical for someone as enthusiastic as him about their school. "We are proud students of U.A High, I can only begin to imagine what our teachers have prepared for us. I only wish for us to do our very best and prove we can handle whatever they throw our way," his answer earned a number of different reactions from the others sitting at the table.
"Of course, you would think that way, Mr. Responsible."
Jirou – who was sitting next to Izuku – rolled her eyes at the taller boy sitting across from her. One of her earjacks pointed at him. "Seriously, you're not even the least bit curious about what these teachers might do to us?"
"I have already expressed my dislike of that nickname. It is not very heroic to refer to your classmates in such a manner," Iida adjusted his glasses before turning to Izuku and the other person sitting at the same table as them. "Don't you two agree with me?"
"We are...you know...still students," Izuku wanted to stay neutral in the conversation between some of his friends. Although, he already saw a smug smile on Jirou's face as she looked at the Iida. "I-I mean, I kinda want to know what the teachers have planned."
"Told you," Jirou turned towards the newest member of their table. "What about you, Yaomomo? Does your big brain have a theory?"
It was already difficult enough with Jirou as she's taken a liking to sitting down next to him during their lunch period. Safe to say, he was between feeling anxious and excited at the same time about her being next to him. He suspected his 'teenage' brain was responsible for the latter, but it's made even worse as sitting in the seat to the right of him was none other than his fellow class officer; Momo Yaoyorozu.
He remembered Jirou asking earlier in the morning if she could invite Yaoyorozu to join them at lunch as the two are friends. Despite his anxiousness about someone new coming to the table, Izuku decided to say yes out of respect for Jirou and wanting to get over his previous experience. Even if it was a tad bit uncomfortable for him. The others were more than happy to expand their small circle of friends and welcomed the raven-haired girl.
The new class vice president leaned forward and looked over at her friend, "There are many possibilities as to what is being planned for us. Combat training, a team-based exercise, or even related to rescuing people, Kyouka. I'm not too sure about what the teachers might be doing. It's still our first week here at U.A High. Just be patient."
"I know that. No need to remind me."
Iida and Uraraka seem to take the answer from Yaoyorozu without too much of a response. It's pretty hard to argue with someone as intelligent as her. The first few days in class certainly showcased the gap as even people like Izuku, Iida, and Kacchan were outdone by her.
During those moments, Izuku recalled the words from Jirou about his fellow class officer being a very reliable person. 'I guess she wasn't wrong about not having to carry all the weight if Yaoyorozu is the class vice president,' he was glad to know someone like her was going to be helping him out.
Another thought came to mind…
'Oh God, I'm going to be working with another girl,' Izuku was getting used to being friends with Jirou and all of her tendencies. Thankfully, she made conversations easy and always honest with him. In his mind, the only real downside – if it could even be called that – was her constant teasing. It's never in a mean way or anything, but Jirou always tried to get a reaction from him. He's blushed more than a few times since lunch started. Yet, there was something different about it.
It was never in a mean way or meant to offend him. More than anything, there was a strange feeling of anxiousness rushing through him whenever she smirked at him or seeing her laugh. He couldn't really explain the feeling. Maybe it's being happy to be friends with someone for the first time in a very, very long time.
Still, there was nothing to change the reality of the situation.
He hardly knew a thing about Yaoyorozu. To be fair, they've never exchanged a single word between each other during the first few days of school. That meant it's possible for her to have similar concerns about him, and what little he knew about the girl came directly from Jirou.
"Midoriya?"
"Y-Yes?"
To his surprise, Yaoyorozu turned towards him with a polite smile on her face as she spoke to him. "Let me say I apologize for not saying these words sooner due to inconvenience yesterday. I actually wanted to tell you I'm really looking forward to working with you. I'll do my best to fulfill the role as the class vice president and support you throughout the school year."
Afterward, she stretched her hand out towards him.
Izuku was caught off guard by her sudden faith in him until he felt an object poking him in the shoulder from the other side. The poking was quickly followed by Jirou leaning over and whispering into his ear, "You're supposed to shake the person's hand, dork."
"I-I know," he couldn't stop from slightly blushing at the playful tone behind Jirou's words. A moment later, Izuku turned back to face Yaoyorozu and shook hands with her. "I...I am also looking forward to working with you as the...class president," he tried to remain calm as possible as those words came out of his mouth.
In the back of his mind, he recalled the conversation on the train with Jirou about keeping the position and actually try to be the class president. 'Like she said, it might do me some good to put in some effort. I really am placing my trust in you, Jirou.'
Unknown to him, a small smile appeared on said girl's face as she overheard his words.
(X)
The rest of their lunch period was filled with the usual conversations between teenagers about dealing with classes, adjusting to their new school, and any other topics that came to mind for them. However, it came to an end as the bell rang, letting the students know it was time to return to their classrooms for their afternoon classes. For everyone in class 1-A, they were informed by Mr. Aizawa to get ready and meet him downstairs by the bus in the next few minutes.
He mentioned it wasn't necessary for the students to wear their hero costumes but were allowed to do so if they desired. Izuku was unable to use his costume as the hero support company was still repairing the damage done to his costume. Although, he made sure to submit a list of changes to the costume as a result of getting beaten into a bloody pulp by his former friend a few days ago.
'They said it won't be fixed for a couple of weeks,' Izuku finished putting on his gym uniform to act as a replacement as some of the other guys in the locker room talked among each other as they put on each of their respective costumes. 'Hopefully, the company will be able to do everything I asked on my list. I learned my lesson after that little training exercise during All Might's class.'
"Yo, class prez!"
Izuku – at first – didn't respond to the nickname being used for his position until he finished putting on the knee braces used on his first costume. He was about to stand up from the bench to make sure they fit but was stopped at the last moment as two people appeared in front of him, forcing the young boy to sit back down in surprise.
"W-What?" Izuku recognized his two classmates – Denki Kaminari and Minoru Mineta – as they took a seat on both sides.
"No need to be scared," Kaminari placed his elbow on Izuku's shoulder. "We just wanted to ask you, our wonderful class president, a few questions and, if you would be willing to help a pair of brothers out, a favor."
The young man with blonde hair wasn't alone as the much shorter, purple-haired boy grabbed his other shoulder. "That's right, we just wanted to know a few things because of your position as our wonderful class president," Mineta had a smirk on his face.
Izuku couldn't help but feel nervous as he heard their words. Years of bullying helped him build a kind of warning system whenever he was around people who weren't being totally honest. Unfortunately, he was getting that vibe from these two. He didn't think they were bad people, especially since it's far too early to judge anyone in his class. Still, Izuku had a feeling they were trying to 'butter' him up.
"You two want something from me, don't you?"
Honesty was the best policy. It saved him on a number of occasions during middle school, but it didn't save him from every single beating handed out from Kacchan and his groupies.
The expression on Kaminari's face slightly faltered after hearing those words before clearing his throat and trying his best to recover. "You make it seem like such a bad thing, class prez. All we wanted to do was talk to you about certain individuals who sit at the same lunch table as you...if you catch my drift."
"Exactly," Mineta tightened his grip on Izuku's shoulder. "You got nothing to worry about from either of us, Midoriya."
Izuku resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the words, recalling the number of times people tried to trick him with such reassurances. He mentally scoffed, 'Where have I heard that line before?'
"All we want to know is how you and Iida manage to get babes like Uraraka and Yaoyorozu to sit at the same table as you two. We're all guys in here," Mineta didn't shy away from asking.
Immediately, the reaction from the other guys in the room was mixed. Some rolled their eyes, a couple shook their heads, or voiced their opinions in a number of ways. One of them was none other than Iida.
"Mineta! We should refrain from talking about such topics," the taller boy attempted to scold his fellow classmate. "In fact, we should be heading downstairs to meet with Mr. Aizawa. Being late is absolutely irresponsible for future heroes such as ourselves."
The purple-haired boy, however, ignored the words from Iida. He turned back towards Izuku to resume asking his questions, "All we want to know is how you guys snagged a pair of babes like Uraraka and Yaoyorozu. Seriously, this whole 'innocent guy' act is really good. I mean, you even managed to attract a girl like Jirou to sit at the same table."
"What do you mean by that?" Izuku raised in brow after hearing the mention of his best friend.
"You can't be serious with that question," the shorter boy stared at him in disbelief. "Compared to girls like Uraraka and Yaoyorozu, I wouldn't be surprised if people thought Jirou was a boy with the lack of curves on her body. It makes me wonder if she's desperate for attention from Midoriya, our class prez, or even Iida."
Nearly every single boy in the locker room paused for a moment as they looked at him. No one seem to have a response to his words. However, Izuku narrowed his eyes at his classmate.
"What did you say?"
"You heard me, dude."
Izuku frowned at the harsh words being said about his best friend. He may have only known Jirou for a few days, but she's treated him better than anyone in the past few years. She went out of her way to be friends with him, even convincing him to remain as the class president despite his reluctance to take on the role. To hear one of their classmates insulting her was enough to elicit a reaction from Izuku. Anger was a rare emotion for him to experience. No matter how badly people treated him in the past, he never once took out on them. As if he was operating on pure instinct, the young boy reached up and grabbed the hand of Mineta, earning a confused reaction from his classmate.
No one said anything until – for a brief second – a flash of green lightning could be seen dancing along his arm in an almost mesmerizing pattern until it reached his shoulder.
"I'm going to ask you again...what did you just say about Jirou?"
The restrained anger behind his words was enough to raise some concern from others. Some could feel the hairs on the back of their neck stand up from the atmosphere getting tense in the locker room. They looked at their class president as if he was an entirely different person. Mineta – rightfully so – couldn't lie about the fear coursing through his mind as he was terrified by the calm expression on Izuku's face.
In a desperate bid to save himself from utter annihilation, he carefully moved his hand away from his shoulder. Mineta let out an audible gulp before trying to calm the situation down.
"W-What?! I...I didn't say anything about her!" the purple-haired boy waved his hands wildly in front of him in a frantic manner. It only became more desperate for him as he saw the emerald lightning flare up in response to his words. "F-Forget I even said a word to you, Midoriya. I-I meant nothing by it!"
The short, purple-haired boy didn't waste another moment and ran out of the locker room, tears running down his eyes as he desperately wanted to live. His last words, however, seem to bring Izuku back into reality and snapped him out of whatever anger was present in him.
"I-I promise I won't insult your girlfriend anymore!"
Izuku's reaction was the complete opposite from earlier. Cheeks flushed, eyes widened in surprise, and unable to speak properly. He looked down at the ground, embarrassed to show his face to the others as his mind went wild. 'S-She's not my girlfriend! We've only known each other for a few days! What are the others going to think?! W-Will they believe him?!'
He felt someone place their hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry, man. If you're dating Jirou, there ain't nothing to be ashamed about. It seems you're pretty protective of her too."
Kaminari seems to have regained his confidence from earlier, causing even more headaches for Izuku as he was unsure of how to respond without adding more fuel to the flames.
'This is not how I expected today to go,' Izuku covered his face to hide the blush from everyone in the room. 'I really hope no one says anything...or s-she might find out. Oh God, that would be...terrible for me.'
(X)
(Sometime Later)
The bus ride to the training facility felt like any other field trip during middle school. Kyouka began to wonder if the teachers at U.A High realized – no matter what – teenagers were going to act like a bunch of idiots overflowing with hormones. The sight of everyone chatting with others, laughing, or insulting a certain explosive blonde classmate in ways only a teenager was willing to do. A few of her classmates appeared to be sleeping on the way to the school facility. Unfortunately, not everyone was enjoying the bus ride as she glanced over to the person sitting next to her.
Other than exchanging a few words with him, Midoriya had been relatively quiet for the short journey to the facility. He leaned back against the seat, closed his eyes, and looked as if he was sleeping. Most people might have left him alone. However, Kyouka suspected Midoriya wasn't 'sleeping' from how his heart rate was slightly higher than normal and his breathing wasn't exactly calm either. It's like he's trying his best to avoid any conversation with her for some odd reason.
It made Kyouka wonder what happened between lunch and the bus ride. Maybe she went a bit too far at lunch with the whole calling him a 'dork' for not shaking Yaomomo's hand. Or there was a chance he's still unsure about taking on the role of being the class president. Midoriya was taking a big leap of faith by listening to her suggestion.
She decided to get some answers in the best way possible; asking directly from the person sitting next to her.
"Midoriya," Kyouka gently nudged him with her shoulder.
At first, he didn't make any sudden movement but she saw through his facade by the slight twitching of his closed eyes.
'Looks like we're doing this the hard way.'
Kyouka raised one of her earjacks in the direction of his shoulder. A moment later, she allowed for the appendage to fly towards him. Immediately, Midoriya opened his eyes and let out a brief 'yelp' of pain as he rubbed against the spot where she poked him with her earjack.
"W-What was that for?"
"Dude, I'm not an idiot. You weren't sleeping. Remember my quirk...I have very good hearing."
"I...I knew that," he muttered meekly while blushing in embarrassment. "I'm just...thinking about some stuff. N-Nothing for you to worry about or anything."
She raised a brow at the awkward smile and nervous tone behind his words, 'The only other thing I can think of is the locker rooms. I guess it wouldn't be totally impossible to imagine the guys probably talking about us girls and maybe that's why Midoriya is acting so flustered right now. But why around me? It's not like I'm anything special or anything.'
Compared to the other girls, Kyouka wouldn't lie about feeling somewhat jealous. Most of them were a lot more developed than her in the body department. She doubted the guys in their class would bother to look at her twice when people like Ochako, Yaomomo, Mina are far more desirable. It's a tough pill for Kyouka to swallow.
"Alright," she started to twirl one of her earjacks. "I actually thought you were mad at me for a minute there."
Now, it was his turn to be confused by her words.
"M-Mad at you? Why would I be mad at you? You...You haven't done anything wrong."
"I mean, I kind of pushed you into keeping the class president role if you think about it," Kyouka said while continuing to twirl her earjack. "I tried to make it sound like a suggestion but I think most people would say otherwise if they heard me say what I did."
She got an unexpected response from Midoriya.
"You didn't force me or anything like that," a small smile appeared on his face as he rubbed the back of his head. "In fact, I've never got to say...how much I appreciated your effort to have me be the class president. No one..no one's ever done that for me before and...I have to say thank you for doing that, Jirou."
"N-No problem, dude. We're friends, right? It's normal to help out friends."
Kyouka couldn't help but feel embarrassed by Midoriya giving her so much credit. She could already feel the heat rising up in her cheeks as she heard those words, forced to stop twirling her earjack as a result of it. Unfortunately, it led to another habit of hers making an appearance.
Both of her earjacks seem to gain a mind of their own and started tapping against each other resembling the movement done by tapping one's fingers. It didn't go unnoticed as it seem to earn the attention of Midoriya. He tilted his head in confusion and pointed towards the scene playing before him, "D-Does your quirk act up like that wh–"
"It doesn't."
She answered the question with a harsher tone than intended, wanting to avoid the topic surrounding her earjacks. 'God, why the hell does these earjacks always make things complicated for me,' Kyouka struggled to keep her quirk from acting up any further. 'Why am I even embarrassed?! He's just asking a question about me!'
"O-Okay."
He seem to catch onto her embarrassment and didn't ask any more questions. Neither teen said another word, unsure of what to say to the other person. They wouldn't have an opportunity to think about the awkward atmosphere because their homeroom teacher announced to everyone about their arrival at the training facility.
'Okay...not the best move ever, Kyouka,' she scolded herself for coming off as rude towards him. 'You say the guy is your best friend the proceeds to cut him off, thus making said guy think he's stepping on a landmine.'
Hopefully, they'll get the chance to talk at some point during their time at the facility. Clearing the air between them was probably for the best…
(X)
(The Present)
'Why did I have to open my god damn big mouth?!'
Kyouka thought today was going to be a normal school day until the awkward moment with Midoriya on the bus happened, but that was far from the worst part. No, it belonged to the unexpected arrival of criminals and villains. She almost couldn't believe the sight, thinking it was some kind of cruel trick by the teachers. However, their homeroom teacher seemed just as surprised by their appearance as the rest of them, which certainly caused a ripple effect among her classmates.
After her teacher jumped into the fray, the events to follow were a blur in her mind. Thirteen gave them orders to escape the facility, a villain cut off their escape, threatened by said villain. The worst part was hearing the villain ask where was All Might, saying the schedule said he was supposed to be here. That drew a soft gasp from the person next to her.
Her friend, Midoriya, seemed...worried for some reason by the villain's question. Earlier, she recalled him turning to look at something behind him. He looked almost confused by something. Maybe she'll ask him later if they manage to survive an encounter with real criminals and villains.
It didn't take long for the villain – who possessed some kind of warp quirk – to take out Thirteen and cornered their class. Fortunately, as painful as this was for Kyouka to admit, a certain blonde asshole and a red-haired guy decided to charge forward like a pair of idiots to take on the terrifying villain in a moronic charge.
Why did she think they were idiots?
They manage to piss off the villain as his body of darkness – suddenly – seem to cover the entire area in one, swift move.
"I believe it's time to scatter you, children," the villain's voice could be heard in every direction. "Your deaths will bring about great change to our society."
Kyouka was blinded by the darkness, unable to make out anything around her. Out of sheer instinct, she went for the closest damn thing to her.
"Midoriya!"
Before she could even utter another word, Kyouka felt the ground disappear below her feet. What made things even worse was the inability to hear anything. It was like she stepped into a place devoid of any sound or light. The only reason why she remained calm was the familiar sound of a heartbeat. Kyouka thought it was hers but remembered grabbing her green-haired friend at the last possible minute before the villain used his quirk.
It didn't take long for her to realize she was pressed up against his chest, giving her the chance to hear his heart rate.
'He's...not as scared as I thought,' she wanted to look up at his face but the darkness of the void made it nearly impossible. 'Guess he hides a strong heart under all that jittery nature.'
She wouldn't get another chance to think about her friend as the darkness gave away to the bright lights of the USJ facility. Unfortunately, there was another sight waiting for them. A large body of water seem to be rapidly approaching them. Kyouka closed her eyes and prepared to hit the water, which led to her tightening her grip around Midoriya.
'This is going to suck, isn't it?'
Been a minute since I updated this story. Still, better than the situation with my Izuku Momo story. XD
In this chapter, Izuku is slowly getting used to the idea of friends as well as dealing with the new member of this circle being Momo. Plus, he is going to be working with her in the future. I went with the idea of adding her since, well, why not? Other than that, simple conversations between a group of teenagers as they talk about school and whatnot.
The next big portion was the locker room scene. Yes, Mineta pissed him off with the insult about Kyouka. That's your first hint towards...an idea I'm playing around with in my head. Also, you can see a glimpse into this Midoriya will think, especially if it involves Kyouka.
Other than that, you got the bus ride scene and how awkward things can get between teenagers with someone like Izuku involved. Or you might think it's bad. I don't know. You guys let me know how I handled the scene. If you want to send me some advice or tips, don't be afraid to send it.
The next chapter is basically going to be the USJ fight with a few minor changes (well, they're not all that minor if it brings about some changes) added on top of it.
Okay…
It's that time for me. At the time of writing this chapter, the NFL draft is pretty much in the 5th round and nearing the end.
My Cowboys have done alright for the most part. Yeah, I would've preferred them drafting one of the top CBs like Patrick Surtain II or Jaycee Horn. I know Caleb Farley was still on the board, but his back injury scared the shit out of a lot of teams. Unfortunately, the Broncos and Panthers went with the first two I mentioned.
That screwed us over cause I thought the Broncos would've gone with Justin Fields or even a bit of help on the OL. Instead, we drafted Micah Parsons. He's...interesting. A talented prospect at linebacker, no doubt about that. The concern is Micah isn't good in coverage, doesn't have a good feel for the ball at times, and has some character concerns if you know anything about the dude. I mean, he doesn't seem ready to play as a Mike linebacker. No, he prefers playing downhill and going after the ball. The problem is we already have two linebackers who do the same damn thing in Smith and LVE.
Still, I can appreciate the rest of our picks as we're going almost purely defense with getting a CB in the second round in Kelvin Joseph. We did add another LB in Jabril Cox to add to our depth at the position. Although, I think we might need to focus on the OL in the later rounds cause they need some help down in the trenches with all the injuries they've faced over the years, especially if guys like Zack Martin and Tyrone Smith are getting hurt more often. That's really all the help we need on the offensive side of the ball since we're alright to good in other places.
Anyway, that's it. A bit more positive if you're familiar with my stuff. XD