Flux of Emerald Lightning

Disclaimer: Check chapter 1 for disclaimers.

Kei: Welcome to the newest chapter of a Flux of Emerald Lightning. Eventually, we'll be taking the original Emerald Lightning and deleting it, as we've come to a point where we need no longer recycle scenes that worked. But here, we'll be diving into more character development before we get into the plot.

Yusei: Does anyone else feel Izuku being compared to Luffy and Naruto as Goku expies insulting? Because both the alien, the rubber monkey, and the orange fox are big eating idiots - no offense - and that green rabbit has shown none of those traits. Kai 3 Abridged.

Chapter 5: For All His Faults, He's A Hero

Hitoshi Shinso makes an unpleasant groan. Here in the mess hall of UA High, the purple lightning bruiser walks in by his lonesome with his arms behind his head. From his position, he notes a large amount of the students he's been paired with already waiting in line for food. Thinking about his position, he gives out a depressing sigh.

While the position of Class 1-A's president is flattering, he's not exactly suited for leading others. His heart is honestly more suited for leading by example, not by direction. With all the training he's gained with his 'superpower' Quirk, he needs to focus on improving the usage of that power. 'During Battle Training, the maximum I used was 19 percent. That alone won't be enough to defeat Midoriya or a real villain in a real fight. Instead of wasting time giving positions and planning schools trips, I gotta get stronger. For Toshinori.'

He stares at his classmates before joining the line for donburi, jumping in behind Izuku and Yaoyorozu. Once there, he notices the two chewing the fat:

"So, congrats on becoming a vice-president, Yaoyorozu."

"It's fine, I guess. I kind of wanted a higher position."

Shinso watches as the two collect their meals and take a seat at a table. The purple-haired teenager orders his own meal, mapo doufu, and follows after with his own plan running in his mind, having noticed the table consists already of them, Uraraka, Iida, and strangely Bakugo.

"Hey, Shinso!" says Izuku, calling out to him with a wave and taking him by surprise.

"Hm?"

"You wanna join us?"

"Yeah, come sit down, Mr. President," speaks Uraraka with her exuberant energy.

Shrugging, he takes a seat at the open spot next to his vice. Thinking about it, Momo Yaoyorozu, by all means, would be a far better choice to being the leader of this class of misfits than him; out of everyone, she was able to in meticulous detail describe the winners of everyone's battle training. Sure, that power of his draws people in, but he by himself isn't charismatic. Hell, if he didn't get this lucky he'd be no one.

Though if he picked her, that'd still leave him in a position where he has to deal with the role of a vice president. With his authority he could pick anyone, but who is worthy of lifting this hammer?

"How does being president feel, Shinso?" asks Iida after he chews his noodles.

"… okay, I guess," Shinso says with a shrug before he proceeds to chew what ends up in his spoon. "I'm not used to leading."

"Who is?" Izuku states jokingly.

Iida waves his hand up. "I know you'll do fine," he speaks, "my vote won't go to waste with someone as qualified as you."

Shinso almost chokes on his meal. "You voted for me?!"

"You're a collected, level-headed person with an impressive Quirk. Your ability to assess and overcome Midoriya during the trial is proof."

"That's… true…" he admits, noticing Izuku looking off to the side with an embarrassed expression.

"But Iida," begins Uraraka, "didn't you want the title more than anyone? I mean, you got glasses."

As the rest of the table looks amiss at her bluntness, Iida waves her off in a robotic manner. "Just because you want it doesn't mean you deserve it. Such a title should go to those most deserving, most fitting."

'So why did you vote for me,' is what Shinso is thinking at the moment. Turning over to Izuku, a particular thought reaches the forefront of his head. Hmm, he muses as he plots this out through his skull while watching him eat that tonkatsu. He nods agreeing with his plan.

Later that day, the students find themselves in their classrooms. Aizawa enters the classroom, a light smirk rising on his face the moment he realizes they all quieted down soon as he entered. "Good to know you're all learning well."

"Sensei!" Too late. Iida raises his hand to speak. "Isn't this the part where we enter hero training?"

"Not today," is his reply. "Like Class 1-B yesterday since there's only one sponsor for this training, you'll be allowed to leave earlier since there's nothing left to do." He then chuckles, or rather sighs. It sounds like both. "Or, that's what would have happened. But since you all missed orientation you have to take your guidance sessions."

The consensus this time is in a complaint on how that's also his fault.

Aizawa places a sheet of paper on his desk. "Since this is a waste of time for me, I'll let your class representatives handle this. I'll see you lot tomorrow."

Shinso groans while the teacher leaves the room, forcing him and Yaoyorozu to rise and approach the podium. The president picks up the sheet and looks over the activities he has to do as said president. But before that, it lists the room they have to go for their guidance sessions.

"Alright, when I call your name, you'll all file to the room I tell you two at a time; there are two counselors thankfully. When you're done, ya come back and let us know you did it."

"Wouldn't it be more prudent for you to walk us there to make sure we go?" asks Izuku.

"Oh, you'll go." Shinso grins shaking his head. "I'm pretty sure if you don't Mr. Scary Homeroom Teacher will stare at you until there's a hole in your head."

"Not if he doesn't care." This is from Jiro, as sarcastic as the other purple-haired person.

"Midoriya has the right idea. It'll show that we're taking this seriously," states Yaoyorozu with a smile.

'Damn it.' He then glances at Izuku. 'But, this does confirm my choice.'

With the directions given, the students soon start to file out to their destination. The list runs down until reaching Shinso and Izuku. The two move forward down the hall heading to a room to meet with their class' counselor.

"Here we are, Room A-7." Izuku walks up to the door, also huge like the rest, and gives a knock.

"Come in, Midoriya." The electric teen opens the door and steps inside, where he finds a carpeted floor with a living room set up. Inside he finds a man with frilly and free cyan hair sitting in a rotating chair. He wears an indigo suit with a blue shirt. The moment Izuku steps on the floor, he says, "Take off your shoes."

"Eh?"

"I'd rather you not track dirt in here."

Looking down, Izuku sighs before untying his red sneakers using his Quirk. He then slips them off and steps onto the carpet, sitting on the couch. Looking around, Izuku is a bit confused by what he sees.

"Um," he begins, "why is this room so much different than the rest of the school?"

"Because why not?" is the adult's reply. "This is much more relaxing, isn't it?"

"Good point." He has to admit he's right; this is a nice break from the classroom setting. "Also, are you a hero?"

"Actually, no," he waves his gloved hand aside in the air. "I did once upon a time work in All Might's agency, but that's it."

"Ah." Izuku nods to that. That would be enough. "So-"

"Shimura."

"Shimura-san, what exactly do I do here?" He shifts in his seat to get more comfortable.

"As the school's counselor, it's my job to determine your mental state and guide you into becoming the ideal hero you wish to be." The man tents his fingers looking forward at Izuku as he sits back in his chair.

The boy nods. "Well, where would I begin?"

"I feel the first to start with is why you want to be a hero."

Izuku leans his head up as that question wraps around his head. Why DID he want to be a hero? "I mean, do I really need such a deep reason?"

"Well," Shimura shrugs, "it's not like you need a depressing childhood or someone important dying in your family to be a hero. But, there are many job choices out there. Why be a hero?"

Izuku crosses his arms. To answer a question properly means going back to why he first inspired to become a hero. The answer? "Well, I guess it all started with this nightmare… Is this-"

"This is confidential."

"Phew." He wipes away the imaginary sweat and proceeds. As he begins, his expression drops down to a less positive one. "Well, when I was two, I had this horrible dream…"

Outside…

Shinso leans against the wall, his eyes buried into his phone. It's been a few minutes since Izuku went inside the room. Not that he forlorn having a session; he'd rather get back to what he needs to do. Plus, it'd be nice to have a quiet chat with Shimura again, an update if you will.

The door eventually opens and out steps the emerald protagonist walking out. He notes his expression is far more pleased and content that before, which is saying something considering how straight forward and positive this boy is – at least that's how he believes from their extended interaction. Shinso asks, "How was it?"

"I feel a lot better about something now," is his reply, his joyous tone expressed in his words. "Your turn, Shinso!"

"Great." Shinso steps inside the room, the door closing up quickly.

"Welcome, Hitoshi. Shoes."

"Wh-really?" He removes his shoes and steps on the carpet, sitting on the couch. "You know, when you said you'd be working as a guidance counselor at a hero school, you never told me it was here."

"I figured it'd be a surprise." Shimura swaps to another paper on his clipboard. "How has your training been?"

"I'm up to 15 percent but I can go at least 19 without breaking something, which was enough to win the battle training."

"And?"

"I don't get how he did it so fast. I can barely have enough time to focus on my training, and that's before I became my class president."

"Well, you know what they say, Plus Ultra." The amethyst-haired teen sterns a snicker that soon blooms into a flowery chuckle. "Or as I would retort, surpass the suck."

This is where Shinso's mouth yanks open as he laughs. "Yup! I can imagine how long he had to deal with surpassing the suck!"

The two then share in their laughter, one that they soon calm down from. Shimura then follows up with, "Any regrets?"

"Of course not. If it weren't for him, I'd probably never be in this room. I'd just be the boy most likely destined to be a villain." He shakes his head as memories of that time return to him. "Although, since we're talking about him, I did see him. He's actually being professional about us; no mention or hint of our connection at all, or even who he is."

"Thank god for that, Valiant." Shimura glances back down at his paper. "But, back on track; I would ask why you want to become a hero, but we both know that. Right?"

Shinso's eyes downcast. That smile remains painted, unfazed by the chance of bad weather his eyes are predicting. "I want to be a hero for two reasons. The first is to show that anyone with the heart to help others can be a hero if they work for it, no matter what people say about you or your Quirk."

"And the other?"

"… to make it up to you for what you did."

His crimson eyes narrow as he smiles. "I probably shouldn't say this, but you shouldn't do it for me."

Some time goes by as the two talk things over. The green-haired teen remains standing outside, writing in a notebook he pulls out of his back pocket. Instead of writing about his classmates' powers, because he's had all yesterday for such an endeavor, he writes down notes on himself – specifically, alternative ways to utilize his Quirk combat wise.

On his page, he has a drawing of himself flicking his finger and shooting a beam propelled by his finger. He writes, "To perform such a feat requires a current on both sides of my arm, as well as something to survive the charge, metal. But if I use too much electricity it'll melt what I'm shooting, and too little will lower its speed. And it'll need to be something I can carry with ease. Maybe yen… no, that'd be wasting money…"

The door soon opens, and out steps Shinso tying his shoes. Izuku quickly pockets his notes and asks, "How was it?"

"Very informative. The guy's pedantic." Together, the two walk back to class.

Soon, the rest of the class finishes their assignment. With the class president and his vice of Class 1-A being the last to go, Shinso finds himself exiting the school at a time where the sky is now orange. But instead of being in his uniform, he's dressed in the blue and white gym clothes and yellow sneakers.

He heads around back to the area they once did their assessment test. The superpowered Quirk user approaches the track, his head flinching back when he spots someone else already there. "… huh."

Mineta is running across the track as fast as he could, head back and chest up as his running position. Shinso watches as the sweaty grape slowly runs by him. He continues to beat feet until stopping and falling face forward.

As he gets up, the class president examines him a bit further; he's far more battered and bruised than one should be by simply running. Whatever happened to him, he did more than simply sprinting across a track.

Izuku moves over quickly to the minuscule grape boy. "Hey, are you okay?"

Mineta groans as he tries to get up. "Just… tired…"

Sighing, Izuku helps the boy onto his two feet. He asks, "Mineta, why are you out here so late? We have training in heroics tomorrow."

Mineta drops down with his hands to his knees, glaring at Izuku. "Hey, you superpowers may be able to take it easy, but I'm one slip up away from failing!"

The two look at each other. "You are?"

"Don't you remember what Aizawa said after that test?!" Izuku and Shinso pound their fists into their palms when they remember that one offline.

Shinso then sighs patting Mineta's head. "Look, it's fine. I'm pretty sure he wasn't serious about flunking us, and this early in the semester."

The little one's teeth gnarl against each other as he glares at him. "I was joking when I said that earlier. What kind of school allows its teachers to fail students for getting in last?"

"Oh yeah?!" Mineta digs into his pocket and pulls out his phone, showing words. "These are reviews of UA teachers from last year. And here you can find twenty with the same reply."

The two look at the screen, squinting. "Ah, I can't read this."

"Hold on." Izuku takes the phone and inputs his electricity into the smart device. The screen is shown stretching out like a hologram.

The other two turn to Izuku with shock. Mineta looks at his phone and then him. "… you can do that?"

"Yeah," is his quick reply, as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Shrugging it off, they turn their eyes to the screen to view the many reviews left by parents for the teachers of UA, most especially Shota Aizawa aka Eraserhead. When they see his hero name Izuku immediately goes, "Oh," when he recalls who that hero is.

"F**k that guy! How dare he expel my son just because he didn't try as hard as possible! He got first place!"

"He'd be nothing without that Quirk of his! My little Ira would squash him!"

"He does not believe in second chances."

"How can he judge my child a failure when he carries his bed to the bathroom?"

"That last one has a point," Shinso chuckles.

"You see?! If I slack even a little I'll get kicked out! I'll be as bitter and lonely as the people in these comments!" says Mineta as he pulls his phone away, canceling the projection Izuku made. "I'll never have my harem!"

Sighing at that, Izuku takes a knee and says, "Come on, Mineta. The fact that you're still here means he sees potential in you. Just think of why you became a hero in the first place and use that to motivate you."

"That stupid guidance counselor told me to find something less creepy."

There is a beat. "Creepy?"

"I want girls to touch me." At that, both heads of the taller gentlemen drop. "I figured girls would be more open to being with a guy like me if I was a hero because women love cool guys! And what's cooler than a hero?!"

Shinso groans before pulling his hand away. "Look, you-Oh crap!" One of the Pop Off balls is stuck to his hand. "How long does this last?!"

"Depends on my diet."

As he uses his Quirk to smash and explode the ball, causing grape slime to splash all over him, Izuku speaks: "Mineta, I don't exactly know what girls want, but I doubt simply being cool and strong is enough. Kacchan was one of the most stand out guys in my class, and none of the girls asked him out."

"Mm, shocker," mutters Shinso. He then puts in his two cents: "Aizawa has a point; we're going to be in this school for three years, so we're better off focusing on becoming heroes than dating. Get stronger and better than everyone else, and the girls will follow."

"… really?"

"Well," he pokes his stomach, "not perving on them would be a plus."

"Oh, sure, when I do it I'm a creep!" It's at this point tears start to form. "If I was a pretty girl I bet no one would be angry at me!"

The two shudder at the thought of that, a female Mineta drooling over them. After recovery, Izuku adds, "Mineta, I want you to succeed. I want everyone in our class to succeed, even Kacchan. If you're serious about your training, I'll help you out every step of the way."

Here the tears dry up. Mineta looks up at Izuku, asking, "Do you mean it?"

"Yup." Such a bright smile reflects off the boy, blinding both the minuscule violet boy and Shinso effectively.

"So bright!"

Tomorrow…

Shinso opens the door to his home, stepping out with a kick in his step. From behind him, his mom says, "Hitoshi, good luck at school!"

"Thanks!" He heads out moving fast.

While walking to the train, he passes by other kids his age on their way to school. Looking back, he notices that a slew of them still have their eyes on him, eyes that look none too friendly. He can even hear their murmurings.

"So, he got into UA?"

"Lucky bastard."

"Must be great to have a top Quirk that lets you be what you want to be…"

Shinso looks back, and they immediately turn away as if pretending they never spoke those words. Though, he feels rather sympathetic. There was a time after all where he felt that way. It brings a depressing scowl to him, where he sighs. 'If I never met him, would I be like that? A bitter and jealous person always complaining about every hero course kid's Quirk?'

Once he reaches school and enters his class, he finds a good deal of the others already there waiting for him. Izuku can be found in his seat talking to Yaoyorozu. "Hmm… they get along pretty well."

Soon the rest come in just before Aizawa does, and he gives his morning greeting. "Five seconds. Alright, perfect." He then says, "So, today your hero training will be to improve your combat abilities. There's a special training session coming up next week, and this will be to prepare you for it. And now, your representatives will speak."

Shinso and Yaoyorozu get up and stand before the rest of the class. Shinso looks out to the rest of the class as he speaks, "Morning guys, and girls. Before we start the announcements, for my first act as class president, I want to pass over my position."

Their attention already focused on him, the students look among themselves before back at Shinso. The female redhead asks, "Are you really giving it up?"

"Of course," he shrugs, "I mean, I honestly would rather Midoriya over there take over."

Izuku's wild hair goes static at the announcement. "Eh?!"

"Midoriya?" Yaoyorozu looks to Shinso.

Midoriya waves his hands, his face turning red. "Wait, I can't just accept this. You've earned that title."

"Yeah, but the thing is, I don't really want that. I can't focus on what I need to do if I'm busy looking after you guys."

Yaoyorozu narrows her brows and eyelids staring at him. "Then, why did you accept it in the first place?"

He responds with a stare of his own. "It's not like I had a choice; if I'm the only one who's qualified then I'd have no choice but to accept. Because if I had the opportunity to dump this on someone else I'd pick someone best suited to lead." He wags his fingers now. "And if you've been paying attention, I'm not exactly leadership material. So just take it."

"But, is that allowed?" Izuku turns to Aizawa.

"I don't care. Finish up," says the teacher. He takes a juice box and sips.

"… okay, I guess. Thanks." With a sense of pride in him, Izuku comes up to the stand while the rest of the class clap in congratulations. Yes, even Bakugo is doing a non-sarcastic one, albeit low on energy.

Kirishima smiles while she says, "Well if that's what the president finds best."

"Midoriya's reliable actually," Mineta states with a nod.

"Deku better be!" Izuku gets up and approaches the front of the school as Bakugo says this.

"Still, why didn't you offer it to Yaoyorozu?" Izuku asks, noticing the gloomy expression on his richer friend glaring at himself and Shinso. "She enjoys the duties this job gives."

"But then I'd be a vice. Nothing would change."

Yaoyorozu lowers her eyebrows and head with a gloomy expression. "Nice of you to think of me…"

"Do… do you want to be the class president?"

"Not like this," she replies.

"Ahem!" The loud throat-clearing of the hero stops all activities of the heroes in training before him. "As you were…"

"R-Right." With his new authority, the green teen turns around to face his classmates. "So, with this announcement…line?"

Yaoyorozu sighs shaking her head, but smiles. "Well, Shinso and I have several positions filled for people. Mr. President?" She hands over a slip of paper to the president. While nervous, he receives the paper and looks it over. "Also, after school, we'll be meeting with Class 1-B about a project happening next week."

"Thanks for telling me. I can't wait to meet them." Our emerald protagonist says this with his notebook wide open.

"… where did that book come from?"

'Moreover, in joy do the thoughts of Midoriya run,' Shinso wonders under the healthiness of freedom in his mind. Seeing the excitement that his new position has granted, he has a feeling Izuku will enjoy this.

Kei: Alright, let's see... next chapter we will begin what would be USJ.

Yusei: Why was Shimura there? What happened to the Villain Alliance? Who are the villains of this story?!

Takeshi: Wait and find out. Or, reread chapter four. Anyway, review-reply time.

Julia: Let's see... Mr. Epic, do us the favor of not insulting the other readers.

Kei: Yeah, that's our job!

Julia: *glares at Kei, who runs off* Whether FoxonPie likes our chapters or finds faults in them, there's nothing we can do to stop it except catching our mistakes before we publish. Which is almost impossible because Lightz hates waiting, being rushed, and redoing something twice in a row.

Kei: A collection of faults that always end up together in the world of writing. Also, we'd rather receive reviews and comments on the story itself or else it'll revert to that same kind of awful that gave those people apologia to criticize the story. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find some faults in TAD's writing and correct it. *groans*