Their Guardian

8. Battle Trial – Part 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Boko no Hero Academia.

Warning: Their will be course language and elements of blood as the story progresses.

The first day of school came to a close but the second day was just around the corner. Instead of only going to their homeroom class like they did the first day, they were introduced to the full day of school they were to take part in, from English, history, lunch, mathematics, the works. As the day progressed for everyone it definitely started to feel like a regular school day as everyone was getting acquainted with all their teachers instead of just the one.

English was first on the list with none other than Present Mic teaching the class. Since a large majority of countries in the world had a large population of English speakers, or people bilingual in English and other languages, it would do well for the heroes to learn the language. One thing that would be a disaster for a hero then they're on the job is for them to only be versed in only one language or not know the proper language for whatever country and province they are in. Afterall its kind of hard for a hero to see if a civilian person needs help, they saw something suspicious, or can make inquiries if said hero doesn't understand them or know how to communicate.

Jason, having learned English first, was a natural in the class and was quite adept in showcasing his English skills, especially since the majority of the time he's only spent it speaking and writing in Japanese. He even was on par with Yaoyorozu in terms of answer questions. Being bilingual in both Japanese and English was a big plus in Jason's eyes. Even Izuku was doing good both for his analytical and incredibly smart mind, and the fact he was friends with Jason for most of their lives.

History was an interesting class to be sure. "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it." As the general quote goes from write and philosopher George Santayana. History is not one to be neglected lest people make the same damaging mistakes.

Although it's kind of hard to learn modern hero art history, primarily to those of the male gender, when it's the R-Rated Hero: Midnight, Kayama Nemuri, teaching the class. Not all of the males, and maybe a girl or two, were ogling the teacher as she teaches, or intentionally throwing flirtatious signals as a joke to her students. Some of them like Iida, Bakugo, Izuku and Jason were able to keep to the focus of their work. Some of those reasons being one is entirely focused on the rules of the school and the importance of paying attention in class, another was just angry all the time just gave a bored look as the lesson droned on, another was fanboying at seeing her in the flesh and was excited to be learning from her, and Jason, while appreciating her looks, still focused on his work, the pain and memory of his intensive training staying firm in his mind form to not slack off at all.

Cementoss, Ishiyama Ken, handles the modern literature class. Not much can be said about the class itself but for some students it was interesting to see the hero in person. Something he was keen to tell everyone was the fact that because of his Cement Quirk, he's pretty much been able to make a significant majority of all the structures in U.A., from the school to the Battle Centers the students took part in for the entrance exam.

Lunch would come around mid-day and while there's no teacher for obvious reasons, students take great stride and happiness in the fact that their lunches are being prepared by the Cook Hero: Lunch Rush, Ranchi Rasshu. The fact he can make a large amount of food in such a short amount of time, and very delicious food as well, means theirs no shortage of food to have at the cafeteria and theirs always a large selection to accommodate a large number of people's taste buds. Of course Jason still kept his word and lent the bento box with food in it to Todoroki. After he was done eating Jason would take it back and would refill it for the next day and so on for the rest of the week. He had to get his mother to help him make it.

The pro hero Ectoplasm, is the one that heads up the mathematics class, which many find boring, and some even find the teacher a little scary on his appearance, and maybe sometimes his voice, but theirs no doubt he's a great teacher looking to help better his students when it comes to school.

But while all those classes are important in the grand scheme of things, its no surprise that everyone of the students, especially for the ones of class 1-A, find this particular class of the day to be the one that they are most excited for:

Foundational Hero Studies.

No one really knew exactly who it was that was going to teach the class but since U.A. is for all intents and purposes a Hero school, many found the others classes boring and reminiscent of their time in middle school. The class setup for them to begin training and working to their hero careers were what got most of the 1-A students bustling with excitement.

Idle chatter can be heard around the room as everyone talks about whatever but most of them are mostly in excitement about the class starting, even though it technically started but theirs no teacher to teach yet.

"You know you never answered my question yesterday." Jason sighs at Mina's accusation behind him. After his abrupt departure yesterday that left the pink alien insect looking girl fuming, she's been bugging him about it. Even Kirishima tried to get her to ease up, no longer wanting to know the answer to his question if Mina keeps pushing. However the girl said no and is now trying to get an answer out of spite.

"Did I? Huh, don't remember." He nonchalantly replies while laying back in his chair.

"Don't be coy with me." She fumes at him, leaning forward that she's leaning over his shoulder and staring at him. "We don't know anything about your Quirk and now your keeping quiet about your training routine."

"Really?" He sarcastically says in faux confusion. "I don't remember being intentionally quiet about those things."

"You did tell Midoriya to not say anything about your Quirk either, ribbit." Jason cranes his neck back to see the blunt statement coming from Asui. 'You know I should have figured when she said ribbit.'

"Well sorry then but I'm not saying anything. You're just going to have to keep an eye out." Jason mentally smirks at the annoyed look on Mina's face. He goes to say something else until he feels a slight vibration on the floor. He slowly concentrates and just barely hears the sounds of loud footsteps too.

"What's up?" Mina asks at his curious expression.

"Someone large is coming."

"How can you tell?" Ojiro in the next seat next to him asks. Jason goes to tell him…

"I am here…!" A familiar loud booming voice can be heard right at the door to the classroom. What follows next is All Might in all his glory leaning through the now open doorway and shouting. "Coming through the door like a hero!"

"You think this guy can be subtle?" Jason smirks at the popular hero in front of them, donned in a large red and white skintight outfit, with a dark red cape, yellow belt and yellow accents on his forearms, along with blue and white pants. Whether Ojiro or the others heard him or not he doesn't know because a lot of the students are now exclaiming loudly at the number one hero in their midst.

"I can't believe it's really All Might!" Kaminari can be heard.

"Sweet! So he is a teacher. This year is gonna be totally awesome!" Kirishima is pumped about this as well. As all the students take in the hero, he gives them a bit of a show by taking slow but wide steps towards the front podium almost heroically.

"Hey look. Is he wearing his Silver Age costume?" Asui asks just as All Might stops at the front.

"I'm getting goosebumps! It's so retro." Ojiro is in awe at the costume. Jason is indifferent of the man, having seen and met him before and all but he will note the hero knows how to clean up and make an in-person impression.

"Welcome to the most important class at U.A. High. Think of it as 'Hero-ing 101.'" All Might addresses everyone.

'I can see that. While the other classes are more or less what you'd expect from any regular school, this is supposed to be the class that will and in fact teach us anything and everything we need to know in order to go ahead as heroes.' Jason thinks as he pays attention.

"Here, you will learn the basics of being a pro, and what it means to fight in the name of good! Let's get into it." All Might begins flexing onto the side before brandishing a card in a show of flair with the word 'Battle' on it. "Today's lesson will pull no punches!"

"Fight training!" As much as Jason loathes to admit it, Bakugo mirrors his words in his head on what the card means.

"Real combat?" He even groans at the confusion Izu has.

"But one of the keys of being a hero is… Looking good!" Pointing to the wall, several slots and shelves emerge from the wall on the left side of the room, each carrying a metal suitcase with numbers on them. "These were designed for you based on your Quirk registration forms and the requests you sent in before school started."

"Costumes!"

"Oh my god!"

"Yes!"

Just like that, everyone gushes and cheers at the idea of finally seeing their costumes before them. Even Jason gets a grin on his face as he adjusts his shield on his back, ready to complete the ensemble.

"Get yourselves suited up, and then meet me at Training Ground Beta!" All Might orders everyone to do.

"Yes, sir!" All the students confirm they heard as one before everyone starts making a beeline for their costumes.

While all the students rush and sometimes shove each other to get to the containers holding their costumes, Jason moves at a relaxed pace at the back and simply waits till theirs no one threatening to elbow him. It doesn't take long for the majority of the students to get the cases and take off to the changing rooms with All Might staring at them all, giving an appreciative nod at the enthusiasm. Jason is the last one as he grabs the case and stares at it in his hands.

"You ready to do this?" Jason looks at All Might now that everyone else is out of the class. Their isn't much more that's said between them, the underlying aspect doesn't need to be said about what's to come. Jason is Quirkless and he's about to go up against other people with new, different, versatile and powerful Quirks. It's something they well established back on the first day of the beach when the two of them plus Izuku met up to talk about going to U.A. and what they'll deal with.

This is fight training, so he's going to fight.

He gives a long hard stare at the teacher before returning the smile with his own grin. "Oh… I've been ready." He speaks in a low but very determined voice, pulling off and gripping his shield onto his right arm and carrying the case in his left hand, ready to go. He makes his way out the classroom towards the changing room.

All Might's smile doesn't falter as he watches the boy go, getting a feeling that this isn't just bravado that Jason was speaking, but actual feeling that he's ready to do this. "Hm, that's what I like to hear." With that last comment to himself, he speeds off to Ground Beta, eagerly waiting to see just what the future heroes made for their costumes.

"They say that clothes make the pros, young ladies and gentlemen, and behold, you are the proof!" All Might proclaims as almost everyone class 1-A makes their way out of the tunnel, their costumed selves shrouded in the darkness of the tunnel before one by one, everyone begins emerging into the sunlight. "Take this to heart. From now on you are all heroes in training!" He states loudly to everyone, much to the students enjoyment. Once the majority of the students make their way out, All Might gives an appreciative nod at the future heroes in front of him. "This is getting me all revved up. You look so cool! Now, shall we get started, you buncha newbies?"

Many students give their own nods and words of acknowledgement at All Might's question. As they do, Ochaco looks around and is bustling with excitement at how cool everyone looks and that they'll officially soon begin their hero training.

"Hey, Uraraka!" Ochaco looks to the side and gushes as Mina runs up to her, the both of them excited as they take in each other's costumes. For Ochaco's costume, her hero costume consists of a black full-body suit with a pale pink design down the middle of her torso, two black circles on her chest, and a black rectangle below her waist, running between her legs. There are two more pink patches over her shoulders, both cut off by darker pink armbands that match the thick choker around her neck.

She has circular wrist guards, a dark pink handle on the back of each one, wide knee-high boots with magenta soles and a two-piece belt around her waist a circle embedded into the center where the pieces join up, a helmet with a tinted visor sometimes worn on her head, all of which are the same pale pink color.

For Mina's costume, her hero costume consists of a plain white mask over her eyes, with a purple and turquoise skintight bodysuit with a camouflage pattern, ending just above her chest. Over this, she wears a cropped, sleeveless, tan-colored waistcoat with white fur along its collar, which she leaves unbuttoned. She wears custom made plum violet and beige acid-proof boots with holes in the soles, allowing her to secrete acid from her feet to slide around.

"Wow, your costume looks good." Mina states as she looks at her friend up and down.

"Hehe, thanks. You look good to." Ochaco giggles in embarrassment at the compliment.

"Thanks. Hey I wanted to ask you but have you seen Jason? Kirishima noticed he didn't walk out with us." She says as she points a thumb to the red head, who is saying something about 'manly' to Bakugo's costume attire.

"Uhh, no I haven't seen him." Ochaco says as she looks around, now noticing someone else is not there as well. "Hang on, Deku isn't here either. I wonder what's taking them so… long…" She begins to question until she looks down the tunnel they just entered from.

"Hm, what is it?" Mina asks until she follows her friends gaze, seeing the silhouettes of the last two people in their class walking out of the tunnel.

Both childhood friends walk side-by-side as slowly emerge from the tunnel, the sun shining and revealing both their forms.

Izuku's costume may not be the most advanced compared to his classmates but it's the thought and meaning behind it that he favors most of all. Izuku's hero costume is a green full-body jumpsuit that was given to him by his mom, with a red belt, elbow pads, knee pads, and gloves, along with his signature red boots to go along with it. He also wears a mask with long ear-like protrusions, and a white metal respirator on his mouth and chin with ballistic glass covering from the top of his mouth to past his eyes, an addition advised by Jason to add for just a little bit of extra protection for his face, as well as a couple other pieces that might help too. On top of that he also has a thin body armor chest and back piece made of polyethylene and standard Kevlar colored the same color as his jumpsuit, so from a distance you wouldn't see if he was wearing it until you got up close and personal. Finishing off his ensemble is some green bracers of leather and polyethylene on both his forearms. Normally Izuku wouldn't have gone for the bit of military materials added to his costume, but the insistence of Jason to his otherwise bare costume of additional protection made him see to add Jason's suggestions without compromising or changing the jumpsuit his mother gave him. They opted for some of the lightest body armor materials to give him some form of protection without negating his movement.

Jason's costume though is on a completely whole other ballgame than that of his slightly smaller friend. Dark blue waterproof underclothes make the base of his costume, silver colored reinforced steel plates on his elbows and knees to protect his joints, as well as black guards added to his forearms but not his legs for more freedom for himself. Lightened black styled combat boots with then metal soles and white locking Velcro adorn his feet as he steps. The lightened weight of them won't make his feet too heavy for him to move around in. A slightly thicker blue body armor chest piece is what Jason is wearing than Izuku, this time he opts for more slightly heavier but tougher pieces of equipment. His chest and back pieces come equipped with polyethylene, Kevlar and ceramic plates. He has a faceplate covering the full front of his face and some of the side too with one-way ballistic wide side glass for his eyes to allow for use of his peripherals without being hindered. The glass is also designed to polarize when in sunlight or hit with any form of bright flash of light so as to not blind him. A mouthguard plate covers his nose, chin and mouth with slots to allow him to add filters to turn it into a gas mask or rebreather. He has thin nylon gloves with small black metal plates sewn into the tops of his knuckles for added damage to his attacks. His black belt consists of several gray pouches that contain medkits, his gas mask filters, and small replacement parts some of his gear. There is also a large metal rod with a rubber handle strapped to the small of his back. He carries his shield in his left hand and to finish off his entire look is a long black cape that goes down to his shins that clips to two points on his shoulders. The cape is meant to be torn off so that way no one can try to grab it to stop him, or it doesn't catch on something and pull him down as well. Finishing it off he has an analog watch sewn into the bottom part of the wrist of his costumes left wrist.

Jason smirks as he sees everyone in all their hero costumes before taking his faceplate off and clipping it to his belt. He takes a few movements with his costume on, making sure he has as much free range of movement as he would like. Theirs a few points of slight restriction but since this is the first version of his costume, no doubt their will some moments where can adjust it. All the weight training he did when he was running for the exams comes in handy as he doesn't feel as weighed down as one would expect. Of course it's not like he's going to be as fast and as maneuverable as in regular civilian attire but he has to keep some form of movement and speed for himself while giving himself some armor to protect himself. This is also the original design he had sent in to U.A. so Hatsume didn't get her hands on the design of it either. "Okay… I think I can make this work." He comments to himself as he stomps his boots, smirking at the feel of them.

"Your right." Izuku comments next to him, taking the time to appreciate his costume too. "It actually feels pretty light. Amazing." He says as he pats his chest a couple times to get a feel for the light armor.

"Told you."

"Holy cow you guys!" They both look up and stare surprised as both Mina and Ochaco walk up to them. "You two look rad." Mina comments.

"Yeah! Love your costume, Deku! Not too flashy, ya know?" Ochaco states as she takes in Izuku's costume before turning to Jason. "Wow, Jakkun! You look intimidating. I like it."

Both boys have trouble speaking as they take in both girls and how… tight their costumes are. Izuku can only turn away only slightly while his hands cover up his mouth while Jason has to try to keep himself firm and not blushing.

"I should've been more specific about what I wanted." Ochaco can only grin in embarrassment at her costume. "This bodysuit is skintight. Not really my style."

"Says you." Mina pipes up as she stretches her arms left and right, getting a feel for her costume more thoroughly. "This is exactly what I wanted. The skin tightness helps keep me aerodynamic, you know?"

"Yes, exactly." All four of them look confused at the new voice before looking to the side and seeing Mineta staring at them, more specifically the girls. "I love this school." Jason can barely hear the guy mutter under his breath. The girls shiver at the stare he gives them, Izuku flinches at the guys attitude, and Jason steps in front of the guy to block his view of the girls.

He also begins to question his choice as a hero costume from what looks like he's wearing a diaper of all things.

Still though, as he looks around he takes a second to see all his fellow classmates until he spots All Might staring intently at Izuku, right before he turns away and seems to be muttering under his hand. He's confused what's gotten into the teacher until he glances back to Izuku, then back to All Might and repeats a few times. It's only then that he realizes what Izuku was going for with his original costume design. The bunny-like ears on his head to All Might's v-shaped hairstyle, to the white mesh on Izuku's mask to All Might ever-present pearly white smile. 'Oh Izu.' He groans as he walks to the large, as does the others when All Might waves everyone closer.

"Now that you're ready, it's time for combat training."

"Sir!" Both Izuku and Jason instantly know the person that raised their hand is Iida. Both of them think he costume looks cool with Jason appreciating the modern version of a knight look he's got going on, with some automobile frills added in. "This is the fake city from our entrance exam. Does that mean that we'll be conducting urban battles again?"

"Not quite. I'm going to move you two steps ahead." All Might shuts that idea down and proposes something else. "Most of the villain fights you see on the news take place outside. However, statistically speaking, run-ins with the most dastardly evildoers take place indoor." Jason nods at that reason, seeing as the most cunning of villains will actual plan somewhere secret before initiating their villainy. "Think about it. Backroom deals, home invasions, secret underground lairs. Trule intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows. For this training, exercise, you'll be split into teams, of good guys and bad guys and fight two-on-two indoor battles."

"Isn't this a little advanced?" Asui states, which she is right. From what All Might is getting at they are going to be pitted against each other on the second day of school.

"The best training is what you get on the battlefield!" He reaffirms his belief in this trail he's going to put them through. "Remember you can't just punch a robot this time. You're dealing with actual people now." He states firmly to make sure everyone knows this.

"Sir, will you be the one deciding who wins?" Jason knows its Yaoyorozu asking the question but can't bring himself to look at the girl, mentally questioning why she would go with the costume that reveals so much of herself.

"How much can we hurt the other team?" He rolls his eyes, knowing exactly who's asking that.

"Do we need to worry about the losers getting expelled like before?"

"Will you be splitting us based on chance or comparative skill?"

"How will we split up the teams evenly when theirs an odd number of us?"

"Isn't this cape fabulous?"

Jason grins subtly as he sees the frustrated look on All Might's face at the bombardment of questions sent at him. "Listen up!"

"Oh god." Jason has to facepalm as he sees their instructor pull out a script of all things.

"The situation is this: The villains have hidden a nuclear missile somewhere in their hideout. The heroes must try to foil their plans. To do that, the good guys either have to catch the evildoers or recover the weapon. Likewise, the bad guys succeed if they protect their payload or capture the heroes." He quickly explains to everyone what the objective is. Some of them nod at the straightforwardness and easy way all this is setup. All Might then proceeds to pull out a yellow box. "Time's limited, and we'll choose teams by drawing lots."

"Isn't there a better way?" Iida asks.

"It makes more sense this way." Jason speaks up. "You can't always expect to be partnered up with who you want all the time. Sometimes you have to make do with who you have."

"He's right." Izuku adds in, "Think about it. Villain attacks can happen at any point in time. Pros often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot because they can't be picky. That's what this exercise must be about."

"Yes, I see." Iida begins to see the reason for this now. "Life is a random series of events. Excuse my rudeness." He bows apologetically to the pro hero.

"No sweat. Let's draw! Remember theirs an odd number of you folks, so make sure to keep an eye out for a red X. That's the odd person out of this whole event. When everyone else has gone first, then this person will be able to go next." All Might informs everyone. His reasoning is very vague about the whole thing but when it comes to last person but people begin walking up and taking the lots for their respective teams.

"Hmmm…" Jason hums as he stares at the note with the red X on it. 'I shouldn't be surprised… but this just might give me the opportunity I need to showcase my skills.'

"Looks like you're the odd person out." He looks to the side to see Shoji looking at him, holding up his note with the B on it.

"Tough break." Kirishima says as he and his partner walk up.

"Yeah, I wonder what you're going to have to do?" Sero asks curiously. All Might didn't elaborate on what's to happen exactly so it's up in the air.

"Not sure. Guess we'll see." Jason mutters as he looks around at the other teams. Shoji's partner Todoroki is standing a little bit away, not really bothering to talk to him besides the mutual agreement they had before and that being it.

Jason can't help but smile as he sees the flustered state Izu is in with him conveniently being paired up with the girl he likes. "I declare that the first teams to fight will be…" All Might begins to say as he reaches into two separate bins, one black and labeled 'villain', the other white labeled 'hero'. "These guys!" He shouts as he holds up two calls with letters on them.

Jason's heart drops instantly as he stares at the letters on the balls. 'Team A… Izu and Ochaco… Team D… Bakugo and iida.' He lets out a low growl at the sheer crap luck his best friend was just given. He barely hears All Might mention how team D is the one that gets to be villains, finding the label appropriate for Bakugo of all people. He just stares at the back of Bakugo with anger and frustration as All Might instructs everyone else to head to the observation room.

Meanwhile, Izuku stays rooted to his spot, a small buildup of fear hitting him as he glances over at Bakugo, only to be greeted by a glare from the tormentor. Izuku flinches away and looks down at the situation he has now been placed in.

"… Beat him…" Izuku is brought out of his scared state at the whisper in his ear. He watches Jason walk away with the others, having been the one with malice in his voice telling Izuku what he should do. For months now they've both been training their hardest in order to make it into U.A., dealing with pain after pain in their training and everyday lives in order to make it.

Izuku gives a determined stare at Bakugo, fear and being scared gone, now replaced with a readiness for himself, much to Bakugo's confusion and anger at the sudden change to Izuku.

Minutes pass as everyone stands in the observation room until All Might finally enters, having given a last bit of information for the current teams about to perform. He gives the signal for the teams to begin. Through multiple security monitors of CCTV camera from inside the building to even outside, all of them in the observation room can see as both the villains and heroes make their way through the building.

Jason just stares at the camera focused on his friends, blocking out the sound of the other students as they make a comment here and there. He mentally congratulates Izuku on his plan to go through the window and taking careful measured steps as he goes through the hallways with Ochaco following close behind, especially when he checks his corners down the hallways.

Yet all that praise he mentally gives to his friend is only temporary as he knows how much things are going to come to blow so quickly and so violently when it's Bakugo involved.

He was right.

Just when barely a minute passes that when team A steps up to another corner that Bakugo makes his move, jumping around the corner and heading straight for them. Izuku's reflexes are on point as he grabs Ocahco and dives away, making Bakugo miss as he slams into the wall just behind them. Jason's eyes scan the duo team and worries instantly when he sees half of his mask broken, even a small crack can be seen on the glass covering his left eye. Not enough to impair his vision but shows how close he was to getting hit.

This only makes Jason lets out a growl as he clenches his fingers tightly. "Always pulling crap like this Bakugo. Always." He growls under his breath.

"He almost got the jump on them." Mineta states to everyone in the room.

"A sneak attack, Bakugo? What kind of man pulls cheep crap like that?" Kirishima admonishes the guy's strategy.

"It's a viable strategy." All Might speaks up. "He's playing the part. Acting like a true villain would."

"He doesn't need to act…" Jason mutters quietly. "To be a villain."

"It didn't work. Midoriya dodged it."

"Look, there he goes." As he listens to Mina and Kaminari voice themselves, Jason keeps his eyes trained on the screen and watches as Bakugo dashes forward.

Jason is going to be worried, worried for his friend for the entire match as his best friend has to fight against that prideful egotistical jackass… but he also knows that Izuku has always been analyzing Quirks almost his entire life. But most of all… he's always been analyzing one person specifically and how 'amazing' his Quirk.

Jason's lips curl into a smile as he watches Izuku push into Bakugo's reach, past his right hook explosion he was going to do first. Next he shifts his feet around before hooking onto Bakugo's extended arm as he tries to give off explosions with his left hand, but isn't able to get them off in time because of the surprise Izuku had on him. Jason watches with immense satisfaction as his formerly meek friend proceeds to pull Bakugo over his shoulder and slam back first straight into the ground, letting out grunt of pain as he does from the takedown.

Of course, everyone in the observation room can't actually hear anything due to the audio being out, which Kirishima inquires about. All Might replies of the fact that the participants in the exercise were given earpieces so they can communicate with each other. He goes further onto explain the layout of the building that the villains know, the capture tape roll to signal a person's out and so on.

"Then the heroes are clearly at a disadvantage here. A big one!" Mina states after realizing the 15-minute time constraint everyone will need to deal with as well, on top of all the other advantages the villains were given as well considering the extra minutes they were given to prepare before the battle started.

"Real pros have to outwit villains on a daily basis. That's life. Even when the odds aren't in our favor, we fight!" He tries to both explain and pump up his students about what they'll have to deal with when they become heroes.

'Some of us more than others.' Jason thinks as he stays off to the edge of the group, not even bothering to join in when he gets everyone shout out a 'Plus Ultra.' "All Might."

"Hm?" The hero turns at Jason's call out. He doesn't turn to his instructor but stays staring at the screen, which All Might does as well. They watch as both combatants begin to engage each other again. This time as Bakugo goes for a kick, Uraraka takes off, more than likely to go after the bomb while Izuku stays to hold off the hot head. Using the tricks he saw Aizawa do with his own capture device on the first day, Izuku tries something similar with the capture tape he has on Bakugo's body. This angers him as he goes for another explosive punch. Izuku anticipates this as he ducks and dodges to the side, making Bakugo blast the wall instead.

They have a small standoff as Bakugo gets ready to fight, except Izuku turns into a side hallway and runs away. They may not have the audio in the observation room but it's clear that the explosive Quirk user is not happy, especially when he goes down the hallway and loses track of Izuku, making him cause explosions in his hand in a tantrum.

"That guy has some real anger issues. Kinda scary…" Kaminari voices everyone's thoughts in the matter.

"Yeah. I wonder what's his deal? Hey, Jason?" Mina asks him, much to the others confusion when she says his first name.

"Yeah?" He replies, still looking at the screen.

"Your kind of know Bakugo right? Why does he look so angry right now?" She asks.

Jason doesn't like being put in the spotlight in front of everyone like this, but he doesn't fault her for being curious. You wouldn't expect this kind of anger from a hero. Even Endeavour, as questionable a hero as he is, doesn't show his anger at every opportunity like Bakugo is doing. "… He's prideful. Always has been, always will be and never liked the idea of anyone being on his level." He gives an even answer, his voice calm but a layer of venom on it. "Especially us." He adds the last part for himself, referencing himself and Izuku.

"But that can't be all of it, can it?" Sero asks.

"He found him." Asui speaks up, shifting everyones focus back on the cameras as they see Bakugo has finally caught up to Izuku, and he's not happy one bit.

'What are you doing? And what are those?' Jason thinks, wondering what they are going to do now that they are ready to fight again, and wondering what exactly are those oversized grenades of his on his arms. Not a whole lot of ideas go through Jason's head as he tries to figure out just what those pieces of equipment on his costume are for. 'They can't just be for looks. He's not THAT showy and intimidating for that alone. So does that mean they're—?'

"Young Bakugo!" All Might's sudden call out over the microphone to the participants shocks everyone in the room. "Don't do it! You'll kill him!"

"He'll what?!" Jason's cries, his voice flooded with equal parts surprise and fear… fear for his friend.

He turns back to the screen, eyes wide with panic… only to see to his childhood friend engulfed in a fiery explosion and black smoke.

Then… the explosion…

The entire room rumbles. Everyone gasps in surprise at the small earthquake they all feel. The fact that everyone in the observation room can feel it from in there all the way from the very building the teams are fighting in shows the sheer power that was behind that blast. While most of the students are surprised by the whole thing, Jason and All Might are staring at the screen and waiting for the smoke to clear to see the damage.

And what damage Bakugo had wrought.

The entire hallway that Izuku and Bakugo were in was widened considerably with chunks of concrete having been almost incinerated away. An outside camera shows a massive large hole having been blown through the side of the building. When the smoke finally clears, it shows Bakugo with a devilish grin on his face as he slowly talks up to a surprised and scared Izuku laying on his ground, his mask on his head having been torn off with the glass part of his mask having been fractured and almost broken to near uselessness. It barely hangs onto his neck, leaving his face and head completely open now. The sleeve of his right arm has been singed and a large chunk torn off, leaving his forearm bracer, having been singed a little but still functional, to still cover his arm including his elbow pad. He grimaces as he pulls himself to his feet, shaking as he is in the heat of the action taken on him but he quickly looks to be talking into his earpiece. Bakugo doesn't like that and looks to get ready to blast him with the other grenade gauntlet.

"Bakugo. Use that stored-up power again and I'll stop this fight. Your team will lose." Jason breaths a small air of relief at the ultimatum All Might gives Bakugo. "To employ such a strong attack indoors is inviting the destruction of the stronghold you should be protecting. That's a poor strategy, whether you're a hero or a villain. The penalty would be a massive loss of points." He's not sure if what the hero is saying is true or not but he doesn't care, as long as Bakugo doesn't pull a stunt like that again.

His fear comes back though when in Bakugo's consumed anger he blasts himself forward using his Quirk. Izuku tries to get his foothold to prepare to counterattack or dodge after when he was blindsided when he was talking into his earpiece but a piece of the floor gives way, causing him to lose his balance. He's forced to meet his attack head-on with another punch of his own.

Jason watches in horror as Bakugo seamlessly launches a blast to Izuku's face, blinding him with the smoke and reorienting himself around, allowing him to get a shot right to Izuku's back. While the others in the room proceed to analyze and almost compliment the skills Bakugo exhibited with his Quirk, some of them focus on the match and watch as Izuku stumbles a little from the force of the blast to the back, not really in pain but discomfort mostly, right before Bakugo swings his right arm wide, going for the right hook he had missed the first time. Izuku barely has time to bring his right forearm up slightly to catch the attack. It still hurts but not as much as getting hit in an unprotected area.

Bakugo goes to grab his arm but Izuku is just barely able to maneuver his arm out of the way from Bakugo's grip. His eyes widen at the miss but he quickly regains his senses as Izuku swings around and goes for a left hook of his own right back at him. While his grab may have missed, Bakugo reflexes are up to snuff as he manages to use his free hand and blast Izuku in the chest before he can punch. Jason's fists clench tightly as he watches his friend go flying back through the air and hit the ground roughly, rolling a few times as he does before pressing his hand to the floor slowing his sliding before he slams into the wall. Izuku has a pained expression on his face as he grips his chest but thankfully doesn't seem to be majorly injured. He manages to push himself up, giving a defiant look to Bakugo as he slowly stands up, using the wall as a means steady himself.

"Wow! Did you see that? Midoriya took those hits like a champ." Kirishima compliments, a little pumped himself as he watches the screen. Jason smiles as even though Izuku got hit hard a few times, he still standing and ready to go still. With the moments pause and it seems like they are talking to each other, Jason quickly looks at the other screen to see Iida and Ochaco in the bomb room. She seems to be favoring standing next to a pillar while Iida stays near the bomb.

"Look, they're running." He's not sure who it was that called out what's going on but Jason looks back at the screen to see Izuku and Bakugo charging at one another. Angry and determined looks mar both their faces but everyone begins to get nervous as they see Bakugo getting ready to launch another blast at Izuku while they see the telltale signs of Izuku's Quirk activating on his right arm. To Jason though, it make look like he's going to punch Bakugo but the angle of his punch looks all wrong.

'But… what is he… are you…?' His mind tries to formulate anyway that Izuku is going about to try to attack Bakugo… until he sees his left arm moving.

"Both of yo—!" All Might begins to shout until Jason's arm shoots out and covers the mic, surprising both the teacher and the others in the room.

"Jason!" Mina calls out in surprise at his action of him stopping All Might from stopping the match.

"Their going to kill each other man! He needs to stop it!" Kirishima tries to explain it to him yet his focus is still on the two charging students. The others in the room can't hear it but All Might does hear Izuku shout something, something to his partner as Ochaco latches onto the pillar. That's why he doesn't continue to yell into the mic after Jason lets his arm falls, a tired expression on his face.

"No… they aren't." He resigns himself to the action his friend does.

Right as the two students get right up to each other, all of them in the observation room watch as three things happen. One: Bakugo lets loose a close but devastating explosion right into Izuku. Two: His left forearm comes up right into the path of the explosion. Three: His right arm, the one that was charging up to let loose his Quirk, goes off, but not at Bakugo. Amidst the small black cloud that appears they his arm is acutally angled upwards directly into the ceiling. What follows next is several cameras losing connection but the ones they do see is the fact that the power and force from Izuku's attack destroys the ceiling above them, and consequently the next several floors and ceilings above as well… right in the middle of the bomb room. Quick thinking on the hero teams part, Ochaco, now that the pillar she was holding onto is broken off, she takes away its gravity and uses it as an oversized baseball bat, hitting several small and large chunks of concrete that floated up right in front of her. Iida is forced to block the debris as it bounces off his armor but that renders him unable to see as Ochaco floats herself above and past him and grabs the bomb, signifying the end of the match, right as the last couple of seconds tick off.

"…"

"…"

"…"

Silence greets everyone in the room, unable to process what unfolded before them. When the smoke clears to reveal Izuku's bruised and broken right arm, his blackened and burned left arm, a pained looking Izuku, and a completely stunned and surprised Bakugo.

"Sir… call it." Jason instructs in an even tone. Very subtly he also seems to be bracing himself to move as he slowly spreads his feet apart.

All Might is snapped out of it as he brings his mic back up. "The hero team… WIIIIINNNNNS!" He calls it just as Izuku collapses.

*CRASH*

Everyone flinches in the room at the loud crashing sound. Some of them turn to see Jason having shoulder-checked the door with his shield held up and sprinting down the hallway. With the result of the match called, its time for the participants to clear the area for review and the next team to take their place… in another location.

Not a minute passes after the winners were called as the two teams reel from how everything went. While they may have been on opposite teams, Iida tends to Ochaco and her sickened state from having overworked her Quirk. Izuku is on the ground curled up, breathing shallowly in pain from his injuries, not even able to hold his broken arm with the other bruised and only slightly burnt.

Bakugo though, is still stunned from what happened as he stands there, subtly shaking ins subdued anger at the ramifications of what Izuku said earlier and his moves to predict Bakugo's attacks. He doesn't even take note of the loud fast stomping footsteps heading towards him from behind. A black and blue blur passes him and slides right next to Izuku. He takes quick and careful actions in picking Izuku up, being mindful of his broken arm and piggybacking him onto his back. When he turns around, Bakugo flinches as he sees Jason having been the one to pick up his opponent. He glares at the Quirkless as he passes… but he is completely ignored as Jason runs off and out of the building, heading straight for the nurses office.

His eyes widen as he begins shaking.

"Oh Izu." Jason mutters as he stares sadly at his friend. In record time, faster than the stretcher bots that were going to grab him, he was able to take Izuku to Recovery girl without problem. Few minutes pass and now he's staring at his friend who's been more or less healed with a cast on his right arm and sleeping.

"You know theirs a reason we have specialized robots setup to grab the injured." He smirks a little at the tone of the kind but firm old woman who healed his friend.

"I know… but after the fight I just wanted to make sure he was okay and brought him here ASAP." He explains before turning to the woman as she fiddles with an IV bag. "No offense but those robots aren't exactly the fastest things in the world."

"Mmmm, true… true." She shrugs at the fact. The robots attached to the stretcher were designed to be slow but tough in order to move the injured carefully without aggravating their wounds. The school can't have a dedicated team of medics on standby so the robots are the best bet. "Still though, you don't have to worry about your friend now. At this point he's kind of become a regular so I'm prepared for this." She says as she grabs an IV needle checks it.

"I wish he wasn't a regular but thanks anyway."

"No problem. His right arm took the most damage and was the toughest to heal. He has some bruising and scraps, a couple burns as well on the rest of him but nothing too serious. It looks like his costume was able to take the most of the damage." She idly points to the end of Izuku's bed on the ground as she begins attaching the IV needle to the tube on the bag.

Jason glances and stares at the ruined armor pieces on his costume. Both back and chest armor pieces have black scorch marks on them from the fire of Bakugo's explosion, the seams having ripped apart and the inner layers just about falling out. His forearm guards though are unrecognizable. His right one was almost torn to complete shreds from the proximity of his Quirk usage but probably mitigated at least some of the damage done to him from the backlash of his Quirk. His left guard is blackened and torn as well from taking the full blast of Bakugo's explosion to it, having fallen off easily as soon as Jason stepped into the nurses office. His left arm still has just a little bit of burn marks and bruising but wasn't the most serious injury he had. Some scraps were still on the rest of him but thankfully the body armor did the trick and prevent anymore burns from appearing on his chest and back, just light bruising from the force of the explosions but those were the least injuries he had.

Overall it would have been a lot worse if Izuku didn't have at least some armor protection on.

"Yeah… it did."

"Now he's going to be out of it for a while and I need to get this IV drip into him. Get back to class now before you get into trouble." She sternly tells him as he moves over to Izuku. Jason idly nods before heading for the door. As he opens the door, he gives one last glance to Izuku's unconscious form, gripping the door handle tightly before heading out and back to class, a dark look on his face as he goes.

"Now that that's done, let's get on with—" All Might begins to say to the rest of the class before the door opens. It still has a slight indentation on it from when Jason bashed into it but nothing damaging. The person in question steps through and becomes the center of attention. "Ah Takeda! So glad to have you grace us with your presence." He says with a hint of slight annoyance what with Jason having left the class so abruptly and all.

Jason scratches the back of his head embarrassingly as he explains. "Sorry about that sir. With the way how the match went I just had to get Izuku to the nurse without delay."

"Hm, if you had stayed out any longer I would have given you detention for skipping class. But considering the circumstances, and the fact this is our first class, I'm willing to let it slide this one time. Don't let it happen again." All Might sternly tells him.

"Yes sir. I understand." Jason nods and offers a small bow in apology. While they both have met before in casual sense and Jason knows his secret, when at school they have to keep a strict teacher-student relationship. No favoritism, especially with Izuku so people won't find out about the him being All Might's successor.

"Now then, as I was saying before, let's get the next match underway!" All Might loudly proclaims again before fishing another set of labeled balls out of the hero and villain boxes.

That's how it goes for the rest of the class period as the next teams begin to go.

Next match is Team B and Team I with B being the heroes, Shoji and Todoroki, with the villains being Ojiro Mashirao with his tail Quirk and Hagakure Toru with her invisibility Quirk. It was a one-way fight as the sheer power of Todoroki's ice Quirk was able to freeze the entire building, including the two villain combatants inside. It was a simple matter for him to walk in and touch the bomb while his enemies were stuck to the ground. When the match was called he used the other half of his Quirk to heat up the building and release them as well as thawing out the entire building, much to everyone surprise at the added nature of his Quirk.

"Hey Jakkun." Jason turns his head, not at all put off by the only other person to call him by that nickname as Ochaco gets his attention. "How's Deku doing?" She whispers.

"He's alright. Despite his injuries Recovery Girl got him fixed up from the worst of it. He just needs to rest up to ward off the exhaustion. Don't expect him back in class though." He simply answers.

"That's good. I was worried after you took him but glad to know he's okay." She replies with a relieved smile. Jason can't help but smile again at seeing someone else worrying about his childhood friend.

From there it was one match after another for the other students, many of the different students giving it their all after the chaos or one-sidedness that happened from the first two matches.

Some of them were simple, a little on the one-sided in some cases, others were won or lost by only a hairs length. Best of all was the fact that the most serious of injuries was only in Izuku's case… yet.

Theirs still one more person that has to go.

"And there we have it. The rest of the teams have gone and have given some exemplary matches, both heroes and villains alike." All Might praises the class as a whole before getting serious. "But we're not done yet. We still have one more to go." Jason can immediately feel all the eyes shift to him at their teacher's words. "Ready to go, young Takeda?"

Jason doesn't immediately answer. Instead, he grabs his mask clipped to his belt and brings it up to his face. As soon as he does, a simple button press and it locks onto his face, latching on as it does. What follows next makes some of the people look on in amazement or bits of fear as the eye glass lights up with a red tinge, adding just a bit more to his already intimidating appearance. He lets out a breath of air, getting a feel for the breathing in the mask before staring at his teacher.

"Oh, I've been ready sir." They can't see his eyes so none of them can see him sending a glare right at Bakugo.

The explosion user as well can feel the eyes on him too. He may have lost the fight with Izuku, but a devilish grin appears on his face at the idea of fighting him, this time in an intentional fight, not the illegal ones they always got in middle school. No holds bar.

And like that, the first part of the battle trial comes to a close… with Jason's match coming up next. Who will he fight next? I think some of you already have an idea of who but that's why I'm leaving it off on a slight cliffhanger to make you wonder on a possible different combatant.

As you can see, thanks for Izuku to being friends with Jason not only gave him some pointers in fighting, but most of all some criticism for his hero costume. Just a few changes gave our green-haired cinnamon roll some added armor without really compromising his weight and speed he would have in his original costume idea. Originally, I was planning to simply skip the Izu vs. Bakugo match and go right to the end and into Jason's match, but I decided instead to recap the fight with some added dialogue as well show the changes that happened because of Jason's place in Izuku's life. This time he wasn't absolutely stomped on by Bakugo and wasn't as injured.

Jason's kept a relatively low profile on his status compared to the rest of his classmates but in a combat scenario, its going to be hard to keep it a secret still. But now with the fight coming up, its time he really shows everyone just what his skills are and really show everyone what he can do with this shield.

RedHood001: Yes, yes he did.

Marbled Gold: Yeah its starting to look like that. However things may be different than they appear as things progress. You might be right but keep an open mind. He's being a little cheeky with keeping the others in the dark about his 'Quirk' but that's because of first impressions you know. They'll know soon enough.

Grimlock987: Sort of but not exactly. He's not exactly going to be wearing the stars stripes like the captain, nor throw his shield at physic defying angles to hit several points and head right back for him. He's got his own thing going on.

Duckmaster67: Don't worry, he will eventually move onto strength training in order to round out his entire bodies conditioning to account for a lot. For now, he just wants to keep up with the others so he doesn't fall behind, not match them. Soon he'll add strength training to regimen so no worries there.

Light Seeker 001: I'm glad you like the story.

No there won't be another 1B student. Never really saw something like that to happen nor did I want to make another OC, never was comfortable with stories with multiple heavy OC's in them so I decided to work in the canon story and try to include him with various reasons. Hope they make sense to you and everyone else.

Thanks again for the link. Someone else had also mentioned the manga's before but it's nice to see the link, and on this site no less what with fanfictions removal of people putting other websites in the descriptions. I've wondered how someone can get around that and this is a pretty good example of how to do it. Thank you.

Justu80: He's not going to be a straight rip-off of the captain. He will have some heavy use of his shield and all, and its not as light as Captain America's shield, so he's got to work his own way into fighting with the shield as both offense and defense when he doesn't have much options. He may have a shield but he's going to have his own equipment and fighting style.

Thanks again for reading folks. This is starting to be a heck of a story and I'm happy with how things are starting to shape up. As of uploading this chapter I am still working on the next chapter but I should have it done by the next upload date in two weeks. Not sure about the next after that but for now I should get it done. Take care everyone. Have fun reading, go ahead and fave, follow, review, and most of all, have a great day everyone reading.