Replies to my Reviewers
Darkjaden: It'll be my fucking pleasure.
Zhyon: {Cheshire Grin}
hazeleyes180: I can't have Katsuki's redemption start without a beatdown from both his bully and his bully's new friend/love interest. BTW, when Denki finds out, he'll do WORSE.
Ninjafang1331: Thank you back.
TheHuntBegins18: First off, who doesn't? Second off, I'm pretty sure there's a AO3 tag for that.
fencer29: Hmm... You just gave me an idea on the memory thing...
Plasma Dragon 312: Are you referencing 'Rush Hour 2' to me? I'm actually tempted to make 'Lee and Carter' OCs now.
Aisirus: Yes. Yes it is.
PasiveNox: Green Tea and a bit more for the Broccoli Kid.
greengoblin12: You lucky enough for that bet?
Logical-Tadkins: She's an angel.
TheGreatBubbaJ: Hmm, if only there wasn't a Symbol of Peace listening on that. A Symbol of Peace with a friend on the Force. And speaking of people listening in, let's not forget. NEZU.
Trismite: Words will be had.
Chapter 08: Battle Trial II
Izuku Midoriya and Ochako hurried up to the top floor, where their last opponent awaited them.
"So he cleared away everything?" Izuku asked as they ran. "Not only did Iida-kun clean away all possible weapons for your quirk, he's actively avoiding contact with you?"
"Y-Yes." Ochako panted, a bit jealous of her partner's stamina. "He's really into the villain role. He even carries along the bomb with him."
Izuku pondered a bit before looking back to her. "I have a plan."
"So you have returned, Uraraka!" Tenya Iida declared in an incredibly hammy manner. "Seeing as you are here alone, I assume that Bakugo-kun has lost and Midoriya-kun is too injured to assist you! The situation is no different from before! It is your loss, Hero!"
Ochako smirked back. "Well, you're only right about one thing; Bakugo lost."
With that she rushed forward towards him, fingertips at the ready. However, Tenya dodged her, carrying the bomb as he dashed around the room. "It's useless! I am utterly incompatible against you, Hero!"
"It's not useless!" Ochako yelled back, struggling and chasing him about until finally she fell to her knees in exhaustion. Due to her earlier fight then the rapid climbing of stairs, she was really running on fumes now. Luckily, Izuku factored that as well.
'Now that I've made Iida-kun lose some energy and gain some paranoia,' "Deku-kun! You can drop in now!"
Tenya instantly turned his sight to the windows and roof. "A sneak attack from above?!"
No. It came from underneath.
"[Black Whip: Head Hunter!]"
Dozens of green tinged shadow tendrils ripped through the ground to entangle Tenya, gripping him tight.
"Oh no, Nii-san showed me a Pre-Quirk horror movie about this- No!" With that, Tenya was pulled underneath, leaving the bomb for Ochako's swift dive while Izuku tagged the capture tape on the wailing Tenya.
"No! The weapon!"
"Hero team, wins!"
All Might's voice went out over the speakers, ending the exercise.
Izuku stumbled as he held a nauseous Ochako's arm over his shoulder, while wincing from the ruckus the Predecessors threw in his head.
"You won!" Daisy cheered.
"Well done, Little Ninth." Takashi congratulated.
"Indeed, you've truly outdone yourself, Little Ninth." Hikage praised.
"Deku-kun," Izuku snapped out to look at Ochako, blushing from how close she was. "I... know that it's not my place to ask but what did Bakugo say to you?"
"...Kaacha- Bakugo said something to me that many others already did." Izuku replied, turning his head to indicate his discomfort with this topic. "It just really hurt to come from him of all people."
"I see..." Ochako replied.
Behind them, a depressed Tenya and despondent Bakugo followed, with the latter alternating between gritting his teeth in rage and numbing from shock with the same words repeating over and over like a mantra in his head.
'I lost... to Deku... I lost... to Deku... I lost... to Deku... I lost... to Deku... I lost... to Deku... I lost... to Deku...'
"Come back, Bakugo-shounen." All Might placed a hand on Bakugo's shoulder, causing him to realize that he'd been left behind. "It's time to review the results."
"Well, despite the results," All Might said as the four members of the first group returned to the observation room with him for a review of the match, "the MVP of this exercise is Iida-shounen!"
"Eh?!" Tenya looked at All Might in surprise while Bakugo's head was lowered, face hidden by his explosively spiky hair.
"It's not either of the winners, Ochako-chan or Midoriya-chan?" Tsuyu Asui asked.
"Mm!" All Might hummed in approval at her critical thinking. "Valid question. Why didn't I choose one of those two? Who has a guess?"
"Yes, All Might-sensei!" Momo Yaoyorozu raised her hand. "I can explain why."
"That is because Iida-san adapted the most to the context of the training. From watching the match, it appears Bakugo-san acted on his own because of an obviously personal grudge. And as All Might-sensei said earlier, it is foolish to launch a large-scale attack indoors. In the same way, Midoriya-san accepted this grudge and fought accordingly, turning a training exercise into their own duel site. As for Uraraka-san, while abandoning her role to save Midoriya-san from a potentially dangerous enemy could be seen as admirable, she completely neglected her role, leaving the 'villain' to do as he wanted. The Hero team only won because Iida-san was too honorable to attack Uraraka-san when she turned her back on him."
'Forget saying it all correctly, this girl said it better than I could.' All Might thought in surprise. "W-Well, Iida-shounen also has parts of him that could be more relaxed, but well. that was all correct!"
"All right everyone, let's change locations and start the second match." All Might instructed. "Tackle this training after reviewing what we just talked about."
"Yes, sir!"
Shoto Todoroki & Shoji Mezo vs Mashirao Ojiro & Toru Hagakure
"Ojiro-kun." Toru Hagakure, a girl whose quirk rendered her invisible with only her gloves and shoes to indicate her presence, called out to her partner. "I'm gonna get serious! I'll take off my gloves and boots, too!"
"O-Okay..." Ojiro nervously responded. 'Hagakure-san, that's the correct decision as an invisible person, but the fact that there's a naked girl so close to me is really distracting.'
"You can't look, okay?" Hagakure asked, apparently just realizing what she'd just done. The only piece of her existence left was her floating comms.
What's the difference?" Ojiro asked. "I can't see you even if I tried."
"Now, let's start the indoor person-to-person combat training with Team B and Team I!" All Might announced to the teams.
Mezo Shoji spread his tentacle-arms out at the sound of the buzzer, turning the tip from one of them into an ear. Meanwhile, Shoto Todoroki, a heterochromatic guy with his short hair divided in white and red halves, walked into the building behind where Mezo silently stood, scouting.
The ear Shoji had formed morphed into a mouth. "One in the hall on the north side on the fourth floor," The mouth told Todoroki. "The other is somewhere on the same floor... Both are barefoot... I think."
A second mouth came down from the tentacle tip above it. "I bet Hagakure-san plans to ambush and capture us."
"Go outside for your own safety." Todoroki stepped past Shoji. "I'm sure our opponents intend to fight a defensive battle..."
As he spoke, Todoroki raised his right hand, releasing icy mist from it, and placed it on the wall. "But that does not matter to me."
As soon as his hand made contact with the wall, ice sprang forth, spreading over every inch of the hallway and going upwards. As Shoji ran out, he gasped as he saw the ice spread it's domain over the outside as well.
Almost all of the class had huddled together from the cold, with Asui even threatening to go into hibernation.
"Amazing!" Izuku said, both of his hands now occupied with taking notes. Thankfully, he was too distracted to notice Ochako leaning into him for warmth. Denki on the other hand noticed and smiled. "This exercise was one perfectly suited to Todoroki-san and Shoji-san's skill sets!"
"Really, Midori-kun?" Mina Ashido asked.
"Shoji-san's quirk is so cool, I mean it's perfect for reconnaissance and for rescues." It showed how far gone he was that Izuku didn't notice the nickname. "During a rescue mission, he would be able to hear for any survivors, making him an exceptional asset for disaster areas!"
"And for Todoroki-san," Izuku continued. "To have exceptional power and control over his ice, ramps up his versatility immensely! I wonder if he can make constructs!"
"Excellent analysis, Midoriya-shounen!" All Might praised. He was one of the few people not shivering at all. "Todoroki-shounen didn't cause any damage to his teammate or the nuclear weapon, and on top of that, weakened the enemy."
"He's so strong!" Eijiro Kirishima said as Bakugo looked to the view with something akin to despair. Izuku watched him in slight worry, still feeling something for his neighbor.
"Hero team, wins!"
Todoroki placed his left hand on the bomb, creating an instant blast of heat that melted all of the ice in an instant.
"Heat?" Ojiro looked around as the surrounded ice steamed off.
"It's- It's- It's hot!" Hagakure stuttered, hopping from the hot water dripping to the floor.
"Sorry." Todoroki spoke in an indifferent tone. "The difference between us was too great."
"W-Wow!" Rikido Sato stuttered.
"What's up with that quirk?" Denki questioned, feeling intimidated from the fellow elemental's greater control.
"Heat, too!" Izuku ran the risk of tearing up his notebook. "Is it Heat Generation or Fire Generation? Can he use both sides simultaneously?"
"Seriously, Deku-kun. How did you get your notebook in here?" Ochako asked but was ignored.
"As expected of someone who got in through recommendations." Asui commented.
"Now then, another quick review before moving on!"
While the class answered, Bakugo just grit his teeth harder.
The rest of the battles went on, giving Izuku enough info to actually fill {Hero Analysis for the Future No. 15}, to his great despair and the Predecessors' amusement. Finally, the class reached it's end.
"They've all got some real potential." Nana praised.
"I especially liked that Sato boy's muscles! Kirishima's as well!"
"Please shut up, muscle fetishist." Harumi said.
"Good work, everyone!" All Might declared to the class. "We didn't have any major injuries either! Excellent first day of training, all around!"
"To have such a proper class after Aizawa-sensei's orientation… It's kind of anticlimactic…" Asui sighed while half the class nodded.
"We're free to have proper classes, as well! Well then, I must go and review the results! Midoriya-shounen, remember to meet Recovery Girl for your burns! The rest of you, change and return…" All Might started before dashing off fast enough to leave a dust cloud, echoing, "...to the classroom!"
"All Might's amazing!" Denki exclaimed.
"Why was he in such a hurry?" Ojiro questioned.
"So cool..." Minoru Mineta muttered.
'Bakugo-shounen really is overflowing with pride. So much that Midoriya-shounen's description feels underwhelming to what I've seen.' All Might thought as he dashed towards the staffroom.
'His ego may be justified, but a school like U.A. is bound to shatter it. As his teacher, it's my sworn duty to counsel him well. But it'll have to wait.' All Might thought as his body began steaming.
'If I teach a class...' He ran through the door, and as it closed, a burst of steam erupted around his body when he fell back into his emaciated true form, gaunt and sunken eyes filled with frustration as he struggled to catch his breath. 'I barely have time. Shit!'
"Now then, I hereby call in the Council of One for All."
The Predecessors were seated in chairs, surrounding a classical Round Table, all made from stone. They were all seated by their numbers, with Izuku between Daisy and the golden fiery form of the ever absent All Might.
"Little Ninth, are you sure you don't want to talk about Bakugo?" Hikage tentatively asked.
"Yes. I.. I want to deal with him myself." Izuku replied.
"Well, it's your choice. Just be careful, Little Ninth." Takashi said.
"Well, if anything happens," Daisy threw an arm around him. "We are here."
"And in case of emergencies, remember that Black Whip is sometimes automatic and always ready for maiming." Banjo said, causing both the Fourth and the Sixth to dope slap him.
'After getting healed, I fell so exhausted from both the burns and using One for All that I missed afternoon classes...' Izuku thought to himself as he returned to class and opened the door. 'Aizawa-sensei's probably gonna choke me with his scarf.'
"Oh, Midoriya's here! Good work!" Kirishima said as he spotted Izuku.
Izuku gasped as Kirishima, Hanta Sero, Ashido, and Sato all crowded around him.
"Man, I don't know what you were saying during the match, but you were fired up!" Kirishima beamed.
"I can't believe you fought evenly with Bakugo, who was first in the entrance exam!" Sero pointed out. "Uraraka was awesome too in how she jumped in!"
"You did a good job fighting!" Ashido gushed.
"You guys did that in the first match, so the rest of us had to give it our all, too." Sato remarked.
"You were far from elegant, but-" Yuga Aoyama leaned past the girl.
"You really did a good job fighting!" Ashido repeated, cutting off Aoyama and jumping closer to Izuku.
"H-Huh?" Izuku's cheeks turned slightly red.
"Don't say that! You totally deserve the praise!" Nana encouraged.
"Yeah! It's totally earned!" Daisy added.
"Hey, I'm Eijiro Kirishima." Kirishima introduced himself. "We've been going over training results while you were in recovery."
"I'm Hanta Sero."
"I'm Yuga Aoya-" Aoyama tried introducing himself before getting interrupted by Ashido again.
"I'm Mina Ashido! You did a good job fighting!" Ashido repeated.
"Is this girl a Blood Knight?" Takashi asked.
"If so, she's a really friendly one." Hikage commented. "If a bit rude to that Aoyama boy."
"I'm Tsuyu Asui." Asui peeked out from behind Mina. "Call me Tsu-chan."
"I'm Rikido Sato!" He gave a thumbs up.
Izuku was starting to get flustered from the honest, friendly gestures he was getting.
"You already know me but I'm Minoru Mineta!" He jumped up into a pose.
"Where the hell did you pop out from?" Eijiro wondered.
"I am Yuga Aoyama. I am a man who never stops shining." Aoyama sparkled.
"You did terrible in the training." Rikido pointed out to Yuga's displeasure.
"So noisy." Fumikage Tokoyami muttered from the other side of the classroom, while sitting on his desk.
"Tokoyami-kun!" Tenya declared as he strode towards the bird-headed boy with his arms making stiff motions. "Stop using that desk as a chair! Get off of it this instant!"
'Iida-kun never relaxes, does he?' Izuku thought with an awkward smile as the other students around the door watched him with various looks of confusion, exasperation, resignation, or amusement.
"He needs to get laid." Daigoro declared.
"He's fifteen, I think." Hikage deadpanned.
"So?" Daisy asked. "We all know Little Ninth needs that himself."
Thankfully, Izuku got distracted by something else.
"So, anyway, wanna grab a bite sometime? What kinda stuff do you like?" Denki asked Ochako as they walked into the classroom carrying stacks of books.
"Mochi-" Ochako answered before noticing Izuku. "Deku-kun!"
She and Denki ran over to him. "What took you so long?"
"S-Sorry guys." Izuku sheepishly replied. "I overused my quirk a bit and Recovery Girl warned me that using quirks that weren't originally suited for my body would take a bit more energy and stamina from me than normal."
"So that's your drawback, huh..." Denki muttered. "I guess there's no such thing as a perfect quirk with zero drawbacks. And it was so versatile too.."
'I really wonder if there's such a quirk like that, Kaminari-kun...' Izuku wondered before noticing Bakugo's empty seat.
"Ka- Bakugo!"
Bakugo stopped on his way out of U.A., looking back to see a panting Izuku who had run all the way from the classroom.
"What do you want?" Bakugo growled.
Izuku stared back and slowly breathed. "Everything I said to you, back then, was the truth. You don't seem to believe me, thinking that I let myself get bullied and tortured, just to pull one over you. So, I just wanted to get that clear."
"Huh?" Bakugo actually blanched before an ever familiar anger took over his expression. "What the hell, Deku?! You go from some quirkless shit to this?! Don't talk to me like I'm an idiot. You already made a fool outta me in that damn training exercise. So? Did you come here to rub it in? I lost. And to make matters worse, it was to you!"
"Why do you have to make it sound like it's a bad thing?!" Izuku yelled back. "You always so confident! So strong! I admired you so much that I actually ignored all the shit you did to me! Bakugo, I always admired you, not just for your quirk, but for your strength, your confidence and your tenacity. But the sad thing is I could never see those things wherever we interacted with each other! You always yelled at and attacked me!"
"Deku..."
"Don't call me that!" Izuku hated how his voice cracked. "After having Uraraka-san speak that name kindly, it's just hurts to hear it from the origin! Every damn day of being called useless! And you know the worst part, Bakugo? You're not even the worst of them! You've never cheated, you never actually used lethal force against me except today and I know that despite your powerful quirk, you actually worked hard at everything else to get this far!"
Bakugo could only stare silently at Izuku as he ranted.
"I understand that I was a bit obsessed with you, which might have influenced some of it, but for someone who called me a 'pebble', you seemed pretty obsessed back!"
That caused a rise.
"What?! I'm not obsessed with you! I don't care what you do with your shitty life! You're not even competition for me!" Bakugo shrieked.
"If that was true, then you wouldn't have tried to stop me from applying to U.A.!" Izuku shot back. "'Take a swan dive off the roof and pray that you get a quirk in your next life.'! That was the lowest for you, Bakugo! You were my first friend, Bakugo! Of all the ones who hurt and bullied me, to have it from you... made you the worst of them all. I mean, you weren't even the only one to tell me that. Hell, I got notes like that at least twice a week back in Aldera! And I cant-"
Izuku devolved into a bit of Angrish.
"Lately you've been nothing but a villain to me, Bakugo." Izuku muttered, feeling a different kind of exhaustion that wasn't related to Recovery Girl's quirk. "You've always said that you were going to be the Number One Hero. Like All Might is. But the thing is, everyone looks up to him because he makes them feel safe. You. . . you don't do that. Looking back on it, I can't remember the last time I was in your presence, and I didn't flinch if you looked in my direction."
Izuku then gasped as if he remembered something. "But you stopped! After the Sludge Villain incident, you actually stopped, for a whole ten months! You were actually becoming better!"
Then Izuku deflated. "Then, somehow, me awakening my quirk caused some kind of relapse and then you tried to kill me today. This really sucks, Bakugo."
Bakugo opened his mouth, not entirely sure what he could possibly say to this. In the end, all he could manage was a very soft, "You… aren't calling me Kacchan anymore."
Izuku managed a sad smile, with hidden tears almost being held back. "We... both know that you haven't been Kacchan for years now..."
There was a long minute of silence between them before Bakugo turned around and started to leave.
"I'm still going to be the Number One Hero, no matter what." Bakugo declared. "But still, you've given me a lot to think about, De-Izuku."
Izuku stared blankly at Bakugo's back, shocked at the name that hadn't slipped past Bakugo's lips for fourteen years.
"Also... I'm sorry."
A sudden blast of wind blew past, causing Izuku to almost miss those words. He reached out to his first friend, but then Bak- Katsuki's back disappeared as he turned past the school gate.
"Was this really okay?" Izuku muttered before feeling seven, no eight separate and invisible hands on his shoulders.
"No, it's not. But it's a start, Little Ninth."
In a nearby bush, Toshinori Yagi sat in silence, feeling a weird pressure on his palms as if he was pressing it against something, before pulling out his phone. For the first time, he regretted knowing too little about his Successor's life before meeting him.
"Naomasa-kun." Toshinori spoke quietly. "I need a favor. No time limit required."
Nezu, Principal of Ultima Academia High School (commonly known as U.A.) and unidentified chimera, silently watched the scene from his office, thanks to a hidden camera on site.
"Hmm... As Midoriya-kun says, it seems Bakugo-kun is on the road to self atonement, and considering that Midoriya shows no sign of being intimidated, his forgiveness is genuine."
Nezu got off his chair and looked through his shelf for some files.
"Well, while it's all good if my precious students can resolve matters on their own," Nezu smiled very slowly. This was not the pleasant smile he showed his comrades, parents and students, nor was it the empty smile she showed government officials or the media. It was one which looked best on sharks and crocodiles, which interestingly were considered the less dangerous option between every single person who knew Nezu.
"Aldera Junior High..." Nezu found the files he was looking for, thumbing through Izuku and Katsuki's (inaccurate) reports. "It's always nice to have a pet project."
"No way... He actually became a teacher there."
The person speaking was the buxom girl with bluish gray hair, who'd recognized Izuku on his first day. She was in the bar with a strange bluish ball of opaque slimy liquid in her lap, a man seemingly composed of black mist for his body and a hulking, muscled mass of black with an exposed pink brain, beady eyes, and a beak-like face with rows of exposed teeth.
"Hey, Kurogiri. Let's do it. I wanna see what Sensei's weapon can do." The girl gushed. "If it really can kill All Might."
The ball of slime wriggled almost threateningly.
KingVessel: There we go. Kacchan redemption subplot is now underway!