Chapter 7!
Single chapter solo update. I thought this was an interesting little interval chapter with some necessary stuff but I can't wait to get back to focusing on just Itsuka and Izumi in following chapters as well as having some fights here and there. Updates on other stories are totally destroying me but once I have them then I'll send them right away. I may sound like a broken record but thank you all for being patient.
User/Reviewer yomunot: Slowly but surely we'll make it there. Once I get to a good point I'll be able to write chapter after chapter of just the two of them. Thanks as always for the reviews.
To everyone who faved, followed, or reviewed thank you so much!
Enjoy, more notes at the end!
Chapter 7: Enclosure
*Pony POV*
1-B was finally getting an up close look at just what the new addition to their class could really do.
They were just doing randomly drawn 1 on 1 mock matches in which you had to immobilize your opponent within a time limit and currently Midoriya was against Tetsutetsu. The class still didn't know what to think about the green haired girl but they knew at least to not mess with her unless you wanted to get hurt.
The two students had just started, Midoriya still not having a hero costume yet save some gloves for fighting, and everyone was keeping their eyes on the green haired girl. Midoriya was pretty set with her boxing but the blonde girl could sort of tell that there was more to it. Actually, Pony's dad liked watching boxing, she watched with him sometimes, so the horned girl knew that Midoriya was frighteningly good.
Tetsutetsu was already fully quirked up and swinging but only Midoriya was landing anything and was unbothered that she was punching steel, pretty strongly at that considering the noise it was making, and a couple students grimaced at the sight. The exchange was impressive but the class caught on to a mumbling amongst them and Pony and the others noticed that Kendo was talking to herself as she watched.
"...left feint to right straight, left straight head to right body blow, left hand smash finish," the orange haired big sister of 1-B muttered while lost in thought and the class all turned back to the fight.
Sure enough, Midoriya's left was in the motion of an upper and the steel boy tried to force a dual exchange but whiffed miserably as the greenette stopped and a right straight hit him on the right side of his face. Midoriya then followed with a straight from her left, once more aimed at and making contact with Tetsutetsu's face, before a right body blow bent the silver haired boy in half when he tried guarding his head. Midoriya's left then lowered and slightly came out before firing up and across and throwing the steel armored boy's head back.
The sidelined students had all been impressed by Kendo's predictions but the orange haired girl looked stunned, same as the rest of the class, as Midoriya pivoted on her front leg to switch to a southpaw stance and deliver the same punch but this time with her right hand.
Kendo gave a sigh to herself, "and quick shift right smash that I didn't predict," she groaned, placing a hand to her head, "I would have been hit too. Ugh, it hurts just thinking about it."
"You gonna be okay Itsuka?" Setsuna spoke up, voicing what a few of the others were wondering, "you've been kinda zoned out since Midoriya got up there."
Kendo snapped to attention and shook her head, "ah, no I was just thinking that her fighting is really incredible," the orange haired girl complimented and a few murmurs of agreement followed.
"She is kind of a bulldozer isn't she?" the splitting girl joked but Kendo just refocused on their new classmate with a soft gaze.
"You can say that," the orange haired girl stated, not completely denying it, "I used to think she was just punching wildly but that's not quite it."
"Are you sure?" Kaibara had to ask for the majority of the class, "I mean I can see where she's sharp here and there but other times it's like she's swinging for the fences."
Kendo just shook her head again, "I've sparred her a few times before so I know," she adamantly confirmed. "Even though I thought I'd read her or got used to her punches I'd get caught off guard and I didn't understand how she was doing it," the orange haired girl recalled while they all listened to her, "but looking at her from here it's pretty obvious to me."
"Midoriya's been fighting for a long time right?" Pony asked and Kendo confirmed her suspicions.
"She uses her instincts to fight, I knew that already," the orange haired girl explained, "but seeing how she thoughtlessly but systematically breaks someone down shows how much effort she's put in and just how unique she is."
"That just sounds damn scary to me," Awase chimed in while Shiozaki glared at his choice of words and interruption.
"She gets feedback through her punches and if she does have thoughts they're all simplified to, 'I can hit them', so there's no waste in her reactions," Kendo told them, still eyeing Midoriya, "and then there's when she gets angry," the girl added on with a slight shiver.
The class didn't need to see Midoriya's anger up close as they had already had their fill of it just watching her at the Sport's Festival when she dismantled Bakugo. Pony's dad had explained how some people actually get better if they used their emotions and after listening to Kendo talk about the new greenette, she sort of had an idea about Midoriya as a fighter.
"Her punches get worse," Kendo continued on from her previous statement with a grimace, clear that she was familiar with whatever that punch felt like.
"Well yeah, she's swinging super wide and like a crazy person," Tsuburaba interjected, a chorus of agreement coming around again.
"No, I meant they hurt worse," Kendo corrected and a silence swept over the class.
"How extraordinary," Yanagi whispered quietly, enthralled by the way Kendo was talking about the greenette.
"When she starts going crazy her punches are harder to dodge, they're sharper and hard to understand, plus even if she swings empty it still freaks you out," Kendo mumbled out as she rubbed her arm like she was cold. "She doesn't need good form or to even look at you either, it's seriously scary," the orange haired girl admitted and it threw the class for a loop just how unconfident their big sis was acting.
"That's quite, unsettling," Kodai commented plainly and Kendo pointed at the two students who were matched up.
"If you don't believe me then just look at their faces," she suggested and Pony found that she had been on the money with her guess about Midoriya's fighting type.
Even though she had been pummeling steel, the greenette looked almost viciously elated to be able to fight and have someone be withstanding her. She had a lot of pride and willpower, not to mention her physical strength, and she was like an animal in its natural habitat and doing what it was best at. The big and excited smile on her face gave away her enjoyment but looking over at their other classmate told the story of what it was like to be on the receiving end of Midoriya.
Tetsutetsu looked like his spirit was breaking. His quirk was like an armor, his pride, and Midoriya was cracking it with just her fists with no signs of stopping and no way for the steel boy to fight back. For the greenette to be able to reduce someone like Tetsutetsu to this state from something he also found joy in was a terrifying thing. Other than the fact that Midoriya's natural punches were actually hurting him through his steel, each shot of hers broke down his will and sense of self until he finally crumbled at her feet. Most of the class collectively felt a chill through their bodies, Midoriya had something a lot scarier than any of their quirks. However, Pony was more focused on Kendo and the way she never took her eyes away from the greenette.
Kendo was acting strange.
-break-
*Kinoko POV*
Even being in a different class didn't stop old bullies from returning when they had the chance.
Kinoko had always managed to avoid any of her old classmates that made it into the other U.A courses since she had always been mocked in the past for her hobbies, somewhat timid nature, and the strange appearance of her eyes that she herself quite liked. The mushroom girl didn't understand what was so fun about doing something like this and she also didn't understand why she couldn't bring herself to fight back. It made the brunette feel sick with herself for not doing anything back, even verbally, but she couldn't let this continue.
She had to stand up for herself, even just this once to prove that she had changed, "L-leave me alone, please..." Kinoko trailed off, able to say the words but still feeling her confidence waning.
Even if her eyes were already hidden behind her hair, the brunette stared down at her feet and was unable to face forward. Would this work? Would they finally leave her alone now? Kinoko had finally spoken up so couldn't she be rewarded for doing her best? There was a moment of stunned silence but the pair of students just laughed at her pitiful attempt of standing up to them and Kinoko kept her mouth shut in shame. The brunette had thought that she was more confident in herself now that she had made it into the hero course but it looked like she was still the same.
She wanted help but she couldn't even do that herself.
The ridicule was about to continue but the student to her right suddenly cried out in pain as a school bag was hurled into the side of their head. Kinoko's head swiveled in the direction that the bag came from and she saw her new classmate down the hall a little ways off. The mushroom girl hadn't known her for very long but she did know that the greenette had a temper. Midoriya looked like she was going to murder someone.
"Damn pests ain't got a life do ya?," Midoriya growled in irritation, all of them startled by her tone as she approached, "how 'bout ya fuck off," the greenette directed at the two bullies who, despite their initial fear, balked in anger.
Midoriya's eyes went to Kinoko, who had been staring at her since her arrival, but the brown haired girl immediately looked away. Midoriya intimidated her but Kinoko brought her gaze back up once her new classmate situated herself in between her and the two bullies. The mushroom girl now just stared at the back in front of her and marveled at the strength that radiated from it. Kinoko knew that Midoriya was quirkless, pretty much everyone at U.A did, but the greenette was almost everything that the mushroom girl wasn't. It was something that Kinoko was both a little jealous of yet had to admire.
The brunette heard the complaints of the two students and she even noticed from her place behind Midoriya that one of them was starting to activate their quirk. Kinoko lifted her right hand and gripped the back of Midoriya's uniform and gave it a slight tug to try and get her to back down since the brown haired girl didn't want to get her in trouble just for her sake. Midoriya ignored the brunette's urging and clenched her fists instead.
"Fuckin' trash," the greenette ground out in disgust as she noticed the activated quirk.
While Kinoko couldn't see her expression, the mushroom girl saw that it made the other students flinch back and Midoriya grabbed the one who was threatening with their quirk by the collar and lifted them high into the air with just her left arm, their feet kicking helplessly as they dangled away from the ground.
"Just remember that yer tha one that started shit," the green haired girl reminded while both bullies broke under her pressure and began apologizing.
"Why are ya sorry?" Midoriya demanded and the student who was being held up struggled to answer.
"For making you angry and picking a fight!" they forced out, nearly crying out from how intimidating the greenette was.
"Try again," Kinoko's classmate told them but neither student had an answer. "Ya don't even know why or who ta apologize ta so yer not sorry," Midoriya snarled as she dropped the student, who crumpled onto their rear, while the other remained on their hands and knees.
Kinoko was still unable to say anything but Midoriya turned towards her and put and arm around her shoulder to force the brunette to leave with her. Midoriya picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder while she guided the brunette away from the scene and Kinoko felt some of her own tension unraveling.
"Tch, shitty cowards," the greenette sneered without even looking back and Kinoko just silently walked beside her.
The duo kept going, Midoriya still hanging her arm around Kinoko, and once they got out of sight the mushroom girl spoke up in a quiet voice.
"Why did you do that? What if you got in trouble?" Kinoko worried, knowing that the greenette must have worked insanely hard to win the Sport's Festival and transfer into their class.
What would Midoriya do if she got kicked out of the hero course, or even worse got expelled from the school entirely? She seemed ready to get into trouble at every turn and didn't mind getting violent if she felt like it so Kinoko was a bit wary of her. It was true that the greenette had helped her just now but her way of doing things might backfire on her one day.
"I ain't blind an I ain't deaf," Midoriya stated without even a glance, "I'm not gonna pretend I am either."
The mushroom girl couldn't respond to her so Kinoko just smiled softly to herself. Her classmate who had only known her for a few days had stood up for her without hesitation when she needed help and that was all there was to it. Maybe Midoriya wasn't that bad after all.
"Thank you Midoriya-san."
-break-
*Monoma POV*
Neito had mixed feelings about their new classmate.
Midoriya was now a 1-B student and his desire to have his fellow classmates do their best was extended to her as well but at the same time she made him feel empty. He initially categorized her as someone like himself, a side character within this world of quirks, but after the Sport's Festival he couldn't do that.
Despite the fact that she was quirkless, Midoriya accepted it and had gone on and paved her own path to the top while destroying the powerhouses of 1-A along her way. Neito's quirk was nothing unless he drew from someone else but Midoriya didn't have a power yet still managed to make herself the lead. Truthfully, the copycat felt hopelessly inferior to the greenette who he knew outclassed him in every way.
While he had provoked the 1-A students, and would continue to as well as others with great quirks, the blonde couldn't force himself to do it to Midoriya. She was better than him but was now his classmate, what was he supposed to say? How fortunate that you don't have quirk, that you worked harder than anyone? The feeling inside of him was making him sick to even think about. It truly was frustrating Neito to no end having such conflicting thoughts about the greenette as well as about himself. Neito did know something though, he couldn't leave things the way they were without at least confronting Midoriya once.
None of the 1-B students ever saw the greenette during lunch as she either left for some unknown place to eat or ate at her desk in the classroom. That time of the day came around and as their classmates started filing out slowly, Neito approached the girl as she was taking out her lunch. Midoriya's eyes dragged over to his and her sharp gaze made his throat feel dry but the blonde managed to force his voice out.
"You're bigger than life Midoriya," he stated, putting every ounce into this false bravado of his, "you really are a main character huh?" Neito questioned, prodding at her with his smug tone to see how she'd react.
"Sure am," Midoriya agreed, shrugging the copycat off for the most part as she paid more attention to her lunch than him, "guess you're one too," the greenette commented offhandedly and Neito scoffed.
"Please don't mock me," he demanded and Midoriya swung her focus back onto the blonde.
"I'm not," she assured flatly before pointing to herself, "main character of my life," Midoriya spoke up and then pointed at Neito, "main character of yers," she finished and the blonde had no words to counter her.
He wasn't even sure what he had been hoping to accomplish originally but it seemed that this brief talk between the two of them had been fruitful.
"Hell of a face yer makin' Monoma," Midoriya returned smugly but there was more of a hint of amusement to her tone.
Neito didn't know exactly what kind of face he'd shown Midoriya just now but he overwrote it with a composed smile.
"Welcome to 1-B."
-break-
*All Might POV*
Toshinori waited for one of the teachers sitting with him to respond to his idea.
Since he was in charge of Hero studies he'd figured he would pitch the idea to his fellow heroes who were also the teachers of the 1st year hero classes. Vlad and Eraser were both in thought, the Blood Hero having his arms crossed as he stared forward into his own cup of tea.
"I can see the merit in it down the line but I'm hesitant to do joint training currently," Vlad admitted after mulling it over for a while.
"I have to agree with Vlad," Eraser tiredly followed up and Toshinori sighed at the rejection.
"It could be beneficial for both the classes and enforce working with one another outside of your usual groups," the blonde informed and the gray haired man nodded at points.
"While it's true that you need to be able work with others despite differences, and forgive me if I sound emotionally guided here, there are a number of students that I don't believe should be interacting with one another currently between the two classes," he explained wholeheartedly and Toshinori was surprised by his reason.
He knew that a few students could be tense with one another but it was something that could eventually be fixed, "sooner or later there will need to be some kind of training interaction between the two classes."
"Then later is better," the black haired hero added in, leaving the longer explanation to his fellow homeroom teacher.
Vlad gained a very serious, almost grim look, and broached the heart of the issue, "rivalry is fine but having my students be looked down upon or discriminated against for their quirks, or lack there off, is not something I will carelessly put them through."
Toshinori realized that this, while not exclusively, was mainly to do with Midoriya and the interactions she had with young Bakugo during the Sport's Festival. They were now in the same school and the same course however, and avoiding one another would not bring any type or resolution or growth to either of them.
"I don't mean to say that 1-A is solely responsible as I have my own students who have similar misconceptions but for the time being I disapprove of joint sessions," the blood wielding man firmly took his stance, directing the words both at Toshinori and the erasing man.
"I understand Vlad," the 1-A teacher nodded, "whether it's my class or your class, they are all students and need an appropriate environment for learning."
"The idea is sound Yagi," the gray haired man acknowledged, "but as things are now, as some of the students are now, it wouldn't benefit either class."
"I see," the blonde relented, "it seems I was getting ahead of myself."
"You're still new to the job," Vlad hummed patiently, "the things we've gone through may not work for the students and even further they may not work for certain individuals." The man leaned his head back and closed his eyes while a peaceful look came across his face, "understanding that and then finding a means to teach them in a way that they'll learn is part of being an educator."
"We may think we know what's best for a student but that's not always true," Eraser commented as his eyes traced over some papers, "communication and understanding are important as well."
Toshinori briefly thought back to his short encounter with Midoriya and then watched the two teachers that were now conversing back and forth.
It would be a while before he caught up to these two.
Notes and Stuff
Gotta integrate Izumi slowly but properly into the class and let a few more characters get to see what kind of person she is despite all her aggression. While I'm sure they'll be others, I decided to go with Monoma and Kinoko having some complicated feelings surrounding this Izumi. I'm going off just early story panels in regards to Kinoko since we only really get to know her during the joint training but it seemed like she was quite timid or lacking some confidence prior to that point.
Speaking of joint training, it'd be awful in this and Izumi and Bakugo shouldn't encounter each other at all unless people want a disaster. Remember int this they've never met each other prior to the Sport's Festival. He went straight from how he was in junior high to being that way in U.A and though he was knocked down a peg by his classmates who had quirks he saw as strong, he was quite literally knocked out by a quirkless girl in a public match. On the flip side, this Izumi absolutely despises people like Bakugo and she's not shy about saying it or crushing someone like that.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and look forward to more updates from me!