Chapter 1: Partners
Izuku couldn't believe his terrible luck. First, he was forced to already break a finger during the quirk apprehension test to make some kind of impression on his gloomy homeroom teacher. Afterward, Izuku made the major mistake of believing things were going to get better over time. The glimmer of hope was torn apart by his mentor and idol; All Might. No, the famous hero decided to begin the school year with a hero-vs-villain training exercise. There were already dozens of thoughts entering the young boy's mind as he contemplated the possible outcomes, which mostly ended with him breaking a few limbs in the process.
His control over One for All was very limited, and fighting against his fellow classmates was certainly the last thing he needed right now. Using his out-of-control strength was concerning for someone who holds the potential to level entire buildings if he was to believe his mentor correctly. Truth be told, the ninth inheritor was also worried about trying to prevent himself from being heavily injured or injuring a fellow classmate. Even worse, there was a fear about potentially killing someone if he wasn't careful.
'If that was even my only concern,' Izuku thought his only problem was the issues surrounding his new quirk. However, his mentor decided to throw another unexpected element into the exercise.
Random partners. This meant the young boy was going to have to team up with someone from his class and work with them. An absolutely terrifying thought for someone with his kind of past, and there were already numerous what-if scenarios playing out in his head. What if they didn't want to work with him? What if they think he's completely inept? Or, the worst possible outcome, what if his partner was going to be one of the few girls?
Unfortunately, Izuku wouldn't get a chance to think about it.
The hulking mass of muscle, colorful costume, and overwhelming power known as All Might started to pick two random names from the class list and announcing them as partners. It didn't take long for the famous hero to call out his secret protege and the boy's partner.
"Izuku Midoriya and Kyouka Jirou!"
At first, there were dozens of thoughts bouncing around in Izuku's head. 'I...I...I'm being partnered up with a girl!?' the young boy was beginning to panic from what this meant. 'T-This means I have to talk to a girl. W-What if I screw this up? Will she think I'm weird? O-Or is my inability to talk to girls going to come back and bite me in the behind?!'
He was tempted to speak up or ask for a new partner, but it was too late to change his mentor's decision as something poked the back of his shoulder. It was followed by the soft, feminine voice of the girl who was partnered up with him.
"You're Midoriya, right?"
"Y-Yeah," the young boy nodded as he slowly turned around to face the girl. "That's me."
The young boy's experience with girls was already non-existent, and Izuku already began panicking as he took in the appearance of his partner for the training exercise. Thankfully, the mask on his head was making sure no one could see the bright red covering his cheeks. In his eyes, his partner was certainly pretty. Slender frame, chin-length purple hair, porcelain-like skin, and a pair of appendages attached to her ears were some of the first things to be noticed by his brain and eyes.
"You okay, dude?" the girl raised an eyebrow at his nervous disposition.
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled awkwardly, "I-I'm fine. Just a little anxious about what we're doing today."
For a moment, the girl didn't say anything as she seems to think about his answer. Izuku feared he might have sounded strange to her, but the girl shrugged her shoulders. "Okay," she said. "If you say so."
He wasn't able to say another word as his mentor spoke up with his usually booming voice, "I see you all have gotten with your partners. It is time to see who will be facing off against who!"
The matches were randomized, and it meant Izuku and the rest of his class didn't know who they were going to face. However, it didn't take long for their match-up to be decided. When he heard his mentor announce the next pair of letters, Izuku felt his heart sink to his stomach.
"We will have team A vs team G!" All Might held each letter in his hand, showing them to the rest of the class. "For this match, team A will be the heroes while team G are the villains. Each side will only have ten minutes to prepare a plan! I suggest you all use your time wisely before the match begins! The rest of you will follow me to the observation room."
While everyone began clearing the area and following their teacher, Izuku felt like someone was trying to burn a hole into the side of his skull. He swallowed his saliva before glancing to his left, seeing a terrifying sight. His former-friend-turned bully; Katsuki Bakugo seem to be attempting murder by just using nothing more than his eyes. There was nothing in the young bully's eyes to make anyone believe they were friends at one point in their lives
Then, the feeling went away as his former friend stalked away with his partner close behind. Izuku was able to calm down somewhat and feel like he could breathe again.
"So, partner, think we should get a move on?" the girl gestured in the same direction as Bakugo and his partner. "I think passing means we need to head to the same building as them."
He gently nodded his head, "Uh-huh."
They began walking towards the designated building in utter silence. Neither of them knew what to say to the other person, especially Izuku. He never really spent much time around girls. In middle school, it was quite common for the girls to use him as a 'rite of passage' by making fun of the quirkless kid. The whole situation became almost a nuisance to Izuku over the past three years. He hoped none of the girls in his class were going to play such games with him.
"Can I ask something?"
"H-Huh?" Izuku was caught off-guard by the girl speaking up. He hesitated for a moment before giving a response, "W-What is it?"
The purple-haired girl used one of her appendages and pointed at the long, green ears on the top of his hero costume. "Are those supposed to be bunny ears?" she asked him with a hint of amusement in her voice.
"N-No."
"Really?" she seemed unconvinced by his answer. "Cause they look like bunny ears to me. Or, are they supposed to be something else?"
He felt torn between answering the girl's question and keeping quiet. There was no telling if his partner would laugh at his admiration for All Might. Still, she seems to be expecting an answer from the look on her face. Izuku, recalling everything that's happened in the past year, decided to take a step forward and try to improve his school life.
In the great words of his favorite green alien; Do. Or do not. There is no try.
"Uh, they're supposed to be...a reference to All Might," he quietly muttered.
The young boy waited for the mean-spirited teasing or laughing at him for being such a fanboy, but the girl's response never came. Instead, he noticed how she looked up at his green ears for what appeared to be an eternity looking back at him with a slight smirk, "What do you know? I can see the uncanny resemblance between them and All Might's hair. Must be a fan of the big guy if you're willing to go as far as to put them on your costume."
At that moment, Izuku almost couldn't believe her words. No rude comment, laughing in his face, or being an asshole in general. "I-I am," Izuku smiled underneath his mask as he thought about what the famous hero has done for him in the past year.
No one would think twice about some quirkless loser and their dream. Somehow, All Might was more than happy to give him a chance to reach for the ultimate goal of becoming a hero. On top of his desire to become a hero, Izuku had another – even bigger – responsibility to succeed All Might and continue his legacy as the symbol of peace. A lot of weight was riding on his shoulders, but the young boy was prepared to accept the extra load and ascend to the top.
"So you got any ideas on beating the class firecracker and Mr. Responsible?"
"Uh," Izuku scratched the side of his head and thought about her question. He already knew about his former friend's quirk quite well. Being on receiving end of explosions for the past ten years will do that to do anyone. "I might know a few ideas but I think it's important if...y-you tell me about your quirk."
"Oh, that makes sense since we're working together," the girl said to him. "It's called Earphone Jack," she proceeded to gesture towards the pair of elongated appendages and explained her quirk to him. "I can hear minuscule sounds and vibrations. Plus, I can use them to channel the sound of my heart-beat into an attack."
Her simple description was enough to send Izuku's brain into overdrive, "From that information, I can already imagine how incredibly useful a quirk like that would be in numerous situations. They range from performing recon on a building or structure, checking the number of individuals inside them, and being useful in search and rescue. There is their usefulness in combat, adding to her versatility in some combat situations if called for it. Maybe they're more durable than they appear…"
"Dude, you're scaring me."
Those words brought Izuku to a screeching halt as the young boy slapped his hands over his mouth or respirator. His eyes widened in fear, 'Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! W-Why did I go and start muttering like an idiot?! She's going to think I'm weird or something!'
He turned towards the purple-haired girl, already imagining the look of disgust on her face. When his eyes landed on her face, Izuku was surprised by her raising an eyebrow at him.
"You okay?" she asked him. "I heard your heart-rate skyrocket."
"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to go on like that," Izuku was fighting back his urge to crawl into a ball from embarrassment. "Quirks...fascinate me. Sorry if you...if I happened to seem weird to you."
The girl brushed away his apology, "Uh if you haven't noticed we have a guy with a tail in our class and someone who has six arms. You going on a small tangent isn't all that weird."
"A-Are you sure?"
"Positive. Anyway, you have any ideas on how to beat our opponents?"
'To think all the beatings I took from Kacchan is going to end up helping me,' Izuku didn't know if that was sad or impressive. Personally, he was going to say it was impressive as a good way to start the new school year. For once, the ninth inheritor was going to be the one doing the beating. He looked back at the girl, feeling a bit confident about facing someone like his former friend.
"I...I might have an idea."
(X)
(A Few Minutes Later)
Toshinori watched as the timer count down as he thought about the first match-up of the day, 'I have to wonder if One for All really does bring bad luck to its users. Midoriya is forced to start his journey by facing Bakugo. I know the boy hasn't mentioned much about their relationship, but if the events of yesterday during the quirk apprehension test means a damn thing...I can imagine how bad it must have been for my protege.'
The past few months of training his successor definitely brought a few things to light, and it was how eerily similar they were to each other. A number of things came to mind; being stubborn, putting their bodies on the line, and possessing a drive almost unmatched by those around them. The closest to him was none other than the hero below him; Endeavor. For Midoriya, it appeared to be young Bakugo if the boy's attitude towards everything was to be believed.
He mostly ignored the students behind chatting with each other, unsure of what to think as he had quite a few concerns about the match.
There was a big possibility of their previous history having an enormous impact on what was to happen as well as their decision-making. Toshinori was hoping his protege would be smart enough to avoid any serious confrontations with young Bakugo. No telling what might happen should they meet. Although, the famous hero was more concerned about Midoriya being able to effectively handle One for All in the match to come.
Despite the boy's rapid improvement to becoming a better-suited vessel for the immense power, the one show of power during the entrance exam was enough to let the number one hero know there was more work to be done. Training was going to be very much needed in the coming days. The school year was just starting, and Toshinori understood the need to watch over his successor's growth.
...A thought fueled by the beating he received from Gran Torino. The old man was very adamant about being involved with the newest inheritor of One for All.
'Hopefully, young Midoriya is prepared for what the old man is going to bring to the table,' the famous hero briefly shuddered at what was awaiting his successor in the near future.
His thoughts came to a halt as he heard the soft beeping of his timer. The hero spoke into his earpiece, letting his students know the battle exercise has begun. "Time's up! Heroes, you know your mission! Villains, fulfill the role to the best of your ability!"
The match was underway between the heroes and villains. It didn't take long for young Bakugo to start yelling as he ordered his teammate – Tenya Iida – to guard the 'nuclear device' while he headed down to fight young Midoriya and young Jirou. Not the worst strategy in the world. Iida was not built for such close quarters with his build and speed. Meanwhile, Bakugo could easily maneuver with ease by using his explosions in a series of controlled bursts.
The hot-headed boy used such a method to travel any significant distance during the entrance exam. As for his protege, Toshinori observed as Midoriya and Jirou seem to be taking a more careful approach. He already heard the exchange of information between them. It seemed like Midoriya was planning to take advantage of his partner's quirk while using Bakugo's tunnel vision against him.
It seemed as if there was a ticking time bomb in the building, and it wasn't the fake nuclear bombs.
Then…
His worst fears came to pass as Bakugo manage to locate the hero team. The words being exchanged between them were causing the pro-hero to sweat a bit. Unlike their homeroom teacher, Aizawa, there was no way to prevent their fight from spiraling out of control in a more peaceful manner than using sheer brute force. Every student seems to be watching as Midoriya sent his partner ahead, but Toshinori noticed his protege sending a last-minute gesture with his right hand.
The pro-hero didn't take long to realize what they were doing, 'Oh, so they're dealing with young Bakugo first.'
It appears as if they're prioritizing the more dangerous opponent, thus making their fight against Iida much easier. Although, Toshinori knew Bakugo wouldn't go down without a fight. Whatever these two had planned for their opponent, they better move quickly or time was going to run out for them.
Soon, the pro-hero and his class watched as the two students seem to be exchanging words. Not exactly the smartest idea in a fight, or a graded assignment. While he understood his successor's reasoning for getting his classmate talking, Toshinori still feared it wouldn't be enough to get his opponent off kilter for whatever the hero team had planned.
Words quickly devolved into action.
A short, but one-sided brawl happened. Midoriya, much to everyone's surprise, was able to counter and retaliate against Bakugo. This moment of victory earned a few words of encouragement from some of his classmates. However, the pro-hero watched the scene with a mixed opinion. The mentor-side to him was proud of Midoriya taking a step in becoming a hero. On the flip side, the new teacher already knew the plan was quite dependent on their opponent taking the bait.
To be fair, Bakugo was certainly going to take the bait.
While the ash-blond teen got up and chased after Midoriya, Toshinori looked at a few other screens for the latter's partner. He caught a glimpse of the purple-haired student and realized where she was.
'Looks like an ambush is being prepared.'
As he predicted, Bakugo walked right into the trap. Midoriya manage to move out of the way as Jirou unleashed a burst of sound, directly aimed at their opponent. In an attempt to escape, Bakugo tried to move out of the way but was too late as he was slammed into a nearby wall and broke right through the damn thing. When it was all said and done, Toshinori could see the slight smirk on the girl's face as she looked in the direction of Bakugo.
'I wouldn't celebrate too early,' Toshinori was happy to Midoriya said for them to keep moving, saying it won't be long until Bakugo gets back up.
"DEKU!"
Toshinori heard the familiar yell of Bakugo through his earpiece, 'Right on time.'
The rest of the match seem to progress as the hero team was making their way to the bomb until they could feel the entire building shudder from a series of explosions. Didn't need to be a genius to realize who was angry right now, and the explosive teen manage to locate the hero team. Or, more correctly, he manage to find Midoriya.
Deep down, the famous hero wanted to end the match as he witnessed Bakugo grab Midoriya and, with as much grace as a bull in a china shop, slammed them through a wall. Suffice to say, the entire match went to shit for the lack of a better term.
Bakugo nearly failed the assignment for using excessive force, which could've easily killed Midoriya if it wasn't for the boy getting out of the way in time. His protege nearly leveled the entire building while using One for All, but broke his arm in the process. The hero team managing to win by the skin of their teeth. Jirou being selected as the MVP for her performance. For his first day of teaching, Toshinori was very nervous about what the rest of the year held if this was the kind of things he'd be dealing with on a regular basis.
There was one positive thing about their match-up for his protege, 'Midoriya was able to speak with a girl. That has to count for something, right?'
(X)
(Sometime Later)
Izuku came to learn a painful truth about today.
He should really think about making some changes to his costume. Maybe adding armor might be the move going forward, considering Izuku can claim to know what it feels like to be driven through a few walls by an angry, blonde bullet. After the match against his friend-turned-bully, the young boy's been lying down in the nurse's office for the past few hours. He already missed the remaining school day as the sun seem to be much closer towards the horizon than earlier.
'Great, my second day of school and I'm stuck sitting in the nurse's office,' Izuku dropped his back on the pillow in minor frustration. He could care less about the injuries. No, he was more concerned about missing out on important information from the missed classes and getting to know his classmates, who he would be with for the next three years.
The only other noise in the room was the occasional sound of scribbling as Recovery Girl, the school's most valuable staff member, was doing some kind of paperwork.
Izuku hadn't really said much since being brought to the nurse. It's already the second time she's been forced to heal his injuries. The first time was during the school entrance exam. That was nearly a month ago. Less than two days at his dream school, Izuku already broke his arm and suffered nasty injuries in his fight against Kacchan.
Suffice to say, there was a lot of work to be done. Getting his costume fixed and making some changes for the future, even if he was a bit hesitant to change the design. His mother helped him create it, but he needed to survive what was coming down the road if today was any indication. Next, he needed to start training more with One for All, especially getting some guidance from his mentor. He knew breaking limbs on a regular basis was not healthy or viable for the long-term. If he could be honest, there was the whole 'talking to a girl' and managing to work with one. For someone as socially inept as him, that was a major improvement.
Another thought came to mind for Izuku. It was centered around his partner for the training exercise. 'I can't lie...she...she really is pretty,' the young boy couldn't stop blushing as he recalled the girl's appearance.
Knock! Knock!
"Come in."
Izuku raised his head in response to hearing the nurse call out to whoever knocked on the door, 'Is that All Might?'
The young boy received his answer as he heard the door gently open. It was followed by a very familiar voice from earlier, which caused the boy to freeze up in absolute terror. "Sorry, All Might asked if I can swing by your office and leave his stuff."
Recovery Girl stopped writing and responded, "Oh, that's no problem, sweetie. You can just leave them on the chair by his bed."
Even if he didn't have super-hearing like his partner from the exam, Izuku could make out the sound of footsteps approaching his side of the nurse's office. He didn't have time to prepare mentally before the curtains were pulled back, revealing the same purple-haired girl from earlier. Unlike earlier, she was no longer wearing her hero costume. No, she wore the regular school uniform.
"How are you feeling, partner?"
The question was unexpected, but Izuku managed to give an answer. "I...I'm okay."
She pointed to the cast covering his injured arm, "And that?"
"It still kind of hurts," Izuku admitted as he scratched the back of his neck. He looked over at her, "Uh, what about you?"
"What about me?" she raised a brow at his question. "Dude, I'm not the one who broke an arm, took an explosion to the face from Mr. Firecracker, and leveled a dozen floors in a single strike."
The young boy struggled to anything, uncertain if the girl was showing concern for his rash decision to destroy the building or trying to fight his friend-turned-bully. He forced an awkward laugh out, "Sorry, I...I guess I should be more worried about myself."
As if seeing through his attempt to seem normal, the girl placed his book-bag on the nearby chair. She turned towards him and crossed her arms, "To be honest, I thought it was pretty awesome with how you were able to level a dozen floors in the building. It was stupid – don't get me wrong – but it was ballsy as hell."
"Thanks...I-I guess," Izuku was torn between feeling ashamed and embarrassed. He noticed the slight smile on her face and blushed at the sight of it. A girl smiling at him wasn't an everyday sight. Clearing his throat, "T-Thanks for bringing my...my stuff."
"No problem," she shrugged her shoulders. "Given how you broke your arm in order for us to win, it's the least I can do for you."
"We won?"
The purple-haired girl nodded, "Yup. By the skin of our teeth, if I might add."
Before Izuku could ask anything about the other matches, both students heard a ring-tone going off in the room. The words were in English, but Izuku manage to recognize what was playing even if it was muffled by her book-bag. "Coming out of my cage. And I've been doing just fine. Gotta gotta be down. Because I want–"
Immediately, the purple-haired girl removed her book-bag and started searching the inside of it. Izuku was caught off-guard by the usually calm and collected girl becoming embarrassed with a bright blush being seen. She was able to find the source – her phone – and answered the call.
While she was speaking to someone on the phone, Izuku wanted to laugh as he knew the song playing out loud. Although, the menacing glare from the girl prevented him from doing anything else.
"Mom, I will be home soon. I was just doing a favor for a classmate."
"…"
"O-Of course not. I...I'll see you later."
"…"
"Love you too."
Izuku watched the entire exchange, noticing the blush on his classmate's face. He fought the temptation to make a remark about the song. On the other hand, the young boy valued his life. For once, he realized not asking any questions is the best chance for survival if her menacing glare was any indication as to what she might do.
After she ended the call, the purple-haired girl leaned forward and looked him directly in the eyes. "Not a word about what you just heard," she said to him. "Got that?"
He merely nodded his head, unable to trust his mouth at this moment. His meek response earned a very different reaction as the serious expression on her face turned into laughter.
"Dude, I'm kidding," she leaned away from him while still laughing. "You don't have to be so serious. I'm not going to hurt you or anything."
"O-Oh, right."
Izuku was very confused by his classmate. One moment, she was acting embarrassed after he heard the ring-tone on her phone. The next moment was her glaring at him before erupting into laughter at his reaction. To be fair, Izuku's lack of experience with girls wasn't helping him. In fact, it might be right to say it was making things worse.
"But, seriously, don't tell anyone."
Unsure of how to respond, he complied with her demand/request. "O-Okay."
"Anyway, I'm going to miss my train if I don't head out."
He glanced over at the clock on the wall and realized the time. Out of curiosity, he decided to ask a queston. "W-Wait, do you take the Shizuku line?"
She answered his question. "Yeah, why?"
"N-Nothing. I was surprised to learn someone else takes the same train as...me," he could already feel his heart-rate rising quickly, nervous to reveal such information to someone so quickly into the school year.
As usual, this pretty girl seems to always surprise him in every way. "That's pretty neat. Maybe we can take the train together after school or something. Well, not today obviously but you get what I mean."
"Really?"
"Yeah, why not? We're classmates now. There ain't nothing wrong with riding the train together," she replied in a casual manner. Afterward, the purple-haired girl glanced down at her phone and noticed the time. "But I should get going. I'll see ya tomorrow in class, Midoriya."
"I-I'll see you tomorrow too...Jirou," Izuku said back, slightly blushing at the use of her last name.
When she walked out of the room, the young boy was left to think about everything that just happened with the girl. 'I really talked to her without making myself look like an idiot and got to use her last name in such a friendly way,' he felt something akin to relief.
Then, a tiny smile appeared on his face...
You know, the idea of this story came from an unusual source.
I was playing EU4 with some friends. We made a joke about taking over Japan and remaking the country in our respective image, and one of them said I'll be able to rewrite MHA in my image. That led to me thinking about writing a story about Kyouka and Izuku.
Pretty weird, right? XD
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter. As for the next one, I don't know when it will come out. I've got other stories to worry about right now.