A/N: Aaaand we're back! Please Read, Review, and Enjoy!
Chapter Eleven: A Hero's Secret
Mei and Izuku were peering out of the window on one of the middle floors of the U.A school building. Due to the shape and design of the building, one could peer across to the other floors with ease— Well, if they had a Quirk as useful as Mei's at least.
"The school's glass is super tinted so it's hard to see in from the outside, buttttt—" Mei had trailed off as she slid her goggles on, smirking. "With this baby and my Quirk I can totally do it!"
Izuku was on watch, looking around nervously as the girl went to work.
This is such a bad idea, was all Izuku could think. However, he knew how impulsive Mei was, and how she would still do this even if he left. So, Izuku figured he'd at least help her to not get caught.
"I see him! There we go," Mei exclaimed, adjusting her goggles.
In her vision, she was able to peer right down into the teacher's lounge, where the large figure of All Might could be seen moving to a couch, sitting down.
"Mei, be quieter! What do you see?"
"Give me a second, and…" She adjusted them further to try and get a better look as she zoomed in with her Quirk— However, she let out a slight gasp suddenly, making Izuku jump a bit in surprise.
"W-What is it?"
"I dunno! There's steam everywhere suddenly, and All Might's gone!"
Izuku gulped, looking around and down each hall. "W-Was he onto us then? We should—"
"No wait, there's some super thin guy sitting where he was at. Weird! He looks kinda like…"
Izuku was distracted by Mei, looking from her to the window in anticipation, so he didn't see as a small figure approached them from behind.
"Um, hello! What are you doing?"
Izuku turned around quickly at the chipper voice, looking around and not seeing anyone. S-Someone invisible?
"Ahem, down here."
He looked down, seeing a very short figure standing there. They were like an upright animal in a suit, looking like a combination of a dog, a mouse, and a bear, with white fur and a deep scar along their right eye.
"U-Um…" Izuku wasn't sure what to say about the person he was seeing. Alarming thoughts were in the back of his mind, but he couldn't remember why this person was familiar.
"That's it! All Might's is actually super thin or somethi—"
The seemingly happy animal-person suddenly flashed a dark look, jumping up at a quick speed and putting his paw on the back of Mei's neck, seemingly incredibly gently.
Mei froze in mid-sentence, falling over to the ground. Izuku yelled out in panic.
"W-Wait I remember now— You're..!"
"Principal Nezu! Am I a dog? A bear? A mouse? Who knows!"
The Principal laughed, while Izuku panicked and began to shake Mei worriedly.
"Don't worry, she's fine! But you know, U.A doesn't do kindly to snoopers. This is a prestigious institution!"
"I-I'm sorry, I—"
The Principal cracked his knuckles, a dark look on his face.
"You can explain it to me, and All Might as well."
The door to the teacher's lounge burst open, and All Might instantly puffed himself back up to his buff form, giving a large grin towards the entrance.
"Ah hello the— Eh?!"
All Might watched as Izuku and Mei were pushed inside by Principal Nezu, who walked in after them, shaking his head.
"Toshinori, I told you to be careful about what you were doing while on the school grounds," Nezu said to the Hero.
"What do you mean? I-I made sure nobody was around!"
"Oh? Then why did I catch two students peeking on you from afar?" The Principal casually walked over to a coffee machine, clambering up onto a stool to stand and make a cup.
All Might gave a dark look to Izuku and Mei, the boy freezing up under the gaze of his childhood Hero.
"I see the youth are quite spry huh," All Might said softly, before sighing. He flashed the Principal a look, who nodded to him in silent confirmation. With that, All Might allowed himself to transform back into his true form, wisps of steam rising from his body.
Izuku blinked, watching as the steam cleared, his eyes widening with shock as they finally got a good look at All Might's secret.
"If this is what you wanted to see, then here it is," All Might spoke solemnly.
The once large, muscular man who was renowned the world over, had now transformed into a thin, baggy-eyed figure, reminiscent of a walking skeleton.
"B-But why…?" This was all Izuku could manage to ask after a few moments of shock.
"Well, I can't go into it," the Hero replied with a shrug. "It's something that could put you both in danger, you know. This is exactly why sneaking around is against the rules."
Mei got a bit closer, moving around All Might and examining him, much to the man's dismay as he followed her with his eyes. Finally, Mei stopped and smiled, giving him a thumbs up.
"I'm just glad I get to see something cool and new!"
"M-Mei! This is—" Izuku panicked a bit, trying to pull her away from him.
All Might blinked at this statement, then let out a laugh and shook his head.
"Well, I can tell that you two are definitely good-hearted," All Might told them. "But I definitely don't appreciate the snooping. Principal Nezu?" Hearing his name, the Principal looked up with a 'Hmm?' As he casually sat on his stool, stirring sugar into his coffee. "What do we do about this?"
"Well, we have strict policies in place for misbehavior," The Principal began as he took a sip of coffee. "Usually we leave it up to their homeroom teacher, but this is more of a Hero course matter, I would say."
Izuku looked over to Mei, envying her happy expression when they were being confronted by the Principal and the #1 Hero in the world. He thought for a moment, and finally decided to take action.
"I-It's my fault… I-If you'd let me take the punishment, I will," Izuku spoke up. He got nervous when the two adults looked his way.
"As expected of the Quirkless student," the Principal said with a smirk.
"H-How many people know about me..?"
"Well, before I might have misspoken," All Might began, "You are not the first Quirkless student in these past few years since the rule was lifted, but, well…"
"They always end up flunking out! Isn't that crazy," the Principal interjected excitedly, sending coffee spilling everywhere.
"Gah! They flunk out?!" Izuku gasped and spoke quickly at the outburst from the Principal, who let out a wicked laugh.
Principal Nezu set his coffee mug down on the nearby table and hopped down, walking up to Izuku and looking up at him, before pointing over to All Might.
"You want to be a Hero, just like him, right?"
Izuku gulped, looking up to All Might, feeling his nerves starting to get the best of him as he wasn't sure what to say.
Luckily, Mei suddenly outbursts, saying, "Of course! Midoriya wants to become the #1 Hero! He practically worships All Might!"
"Mei!" Izuku could feel his face burning with embarrassment, even more than when she had forced him to confront his Middle School classmates weeks prior. The girl shot him a taunting, sly wink, as she usually did when she exposed one of his shortcomings.
"Of course! All Might is the envy of almost all of our students," the Principal exclaimed. "But you are in the Support class! Shouldn't you be focusing on your studies there?"
"I-I am," Izuku defended himself, leaning forward and motioning with his hands nervously. "I've been trying my best to learn and create to the best of my ability!"
"Yet here you are! Caught spying during class time!"
Izuku sat back, unable to retort that last part. It all did look really bad on him— If all previous Quirkless students had quit the school early, then what hope could they possibly have for another one who would rather spend their time breaking the rules? I hate it but I've gotta step up and take the flak… I owe Mei that much.
"But—" Izuku looked up as the Principal began to speak again. "I've seen your Exam results! They speak for themselves really. Very impressive stuff! So I believe that you have promise, Midoriya— And you as well, Mei, who had the best scores we've seen in years!"
Izuku's spirits lifted a bit at these words, feeling Mei getting more excited by the praise as well.
"You need to keep to your studies, if you want any chance of entering the Hero Course," All Might told them. "It is possible to transfer later. But for now, for obvious reasons… This should all remain a secret." He motioned to his current form.
Mei did a sort of mock salute. "Yes sir!"
"Y-Yes sir, All Might!" Izuku did the same as her.
All Might sighed and looked to the Principal. "I actually have an idea for a punishment now, if you don't mind?"
"Sure! I'll leave it up to your discretion!"
"Thank you. Well, Young Midoriya and Mei…." All Might turned into his buff form and smirked at the two deviously.
I-I don't think I can do this!
Izuku was standing before the large door to Hero Class 1-B. He was shaking as he looked across the hall, seeing Mei at the door to 1-A. She noticed him looking and gave him a thumbs up and a smile before pulling the door open and going inside with a loud greeting.
"Don't barge into classrooms like that!" Came the reprimanding voice of a man inside.
"Sorry!" Mei didn't sound sincere at all as she responded.
Izuku closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down— Suddenly, the door to the room slammed open, making him jump in surprise. Inside, he could see the teacher, the Hero known as King Vlad, standing at the front podium, a trail of solidified blood attached to the door, which slithered back to him.
"Hey, you just gonna stand there forever? We don't have all day," the Hero barked.
"S-Sorry!" Izuku quickly stepped inside, instantly regretting it as he looked over, seeing twenty unfamiliar faces looking at him. In a slight daze from all of the attention, he cautiously approached the front, nervous sweats coming on.
"Well," Vlad began, "It seems that we have an avid Support class student whose here to take some requests for Support items. These will help you enhance your Quirks and your fighting styles— BUT!" He shouted that last part, making everyone snap to attention. "I won't allow you to use em til you prove your own strength first. Got it?"
"Sensei!" An orange-haired girl raised her hand and continued. "What exactly can we request?"
"Well, Kendo… I really don't know. What are you best at, kid," Vlad wondered, looking to Izuku.
All eyes had returned to him. He gulped, looking around, thankful to not see Bakugo anywhere, but feeling like he might've appreciated a familiar face after all.
"W-well I guess a-aerodynamics, electronics, machinery…" Izuku's voice was shaky, but he got a little more confident as he spoke more. "I-I'm sure I can manage to work with any Quirk—"
He paused as he saw the faces of the students staring blankly at him. I-Is this how it feels to be Present Mic?!
Then, suddenly, one person shot up from their seat. It was a guy who had a naturally angry-looking expression that reminded Izuku of Bakugo, with messy silver hair and thick yellow eyelashes of sorts around his eyes. He raised a fist high into the air.
"My Quirk lets me turn my body into Steel! Make me something to hit harder!"
T-That seems reasonable—
A girl stood up, one who had long brown hair that covered her head in a sort of mushroom shape.
"I'd want something to make my mushroom spores travel faster!"
Mushrooms? I—
Several more began to spout ideas off all at once, making it impossible for Izuku to even hear what they were saying.
"Hey! We should be more respectful," the girl named Kendo yelled to everyone. "Everyone introduce yourselves one at a time and pitch your ideas!"
Everyone looked a bit taken aback, not wanting to do as she said. However, they gave in and decided to take it a bit easier, much to Izuku's relief, as he listened to them.
"I'm Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu! Nice to meet you," the boy who had spoken first shouted aggressively, doing a quick bow, before continuing. "Like I said before— Make me hit things harder!"
Kendo sighed. "Do you even know what being respectful means?"
After a mind-numbing half an hour, the entire 1-B class had pitched Izuku something. Many of the ideas were outlandish and something that he wasn't even sure Mei would be able to create, but he still wrote it all down and was now faced with a choice, with everyone staring him down intensely.
Well, h-here we go, I guess…
"You'll have one week to complete a few of their requests," he remembered All Might saying to them both. "They need to learn to cherish the Support team's help at some point, so this will be a lesson for all of you."
Taking a deep breath, Izuku began to say what he wanted to say. First, he pointed to Tetsutetsu.
"A-As for 'hitting harder', if you can turn yourself into Steel, I feel like something to absorb the shock of your hits could make it easier for you to… Punch harder and faster," Izuku said.
Tetsutetsu crossed his arms and nodded intensely, imagining that in his head.
"Yeah yeah, that sounds like something!"
"He has no idea what you're talking about," Kendo commented. Tetsutetsu scoffed.
Izuku chuckled a bit and turned towards the boy named Kosei, who had messy brown hair a bit of a plain look about him.
"Kosei, right…? Um… You can create solid air with your breath? So something to enhance your air intake and regulate breathing easier?"
Kosei nodded and raised a finger. "Yeah, but make sure it's not super basic. I want it to look cool, ya know?"
"R-Right…" Izuku jotted that down. When he looked up, the remaining 18 students were all watching him very closely, the tension in the air rising as he began to get more nervous again.
All of their Quirks are really amazing, Izuku thought as he looked at his notes. I hope I get to work with all of them eventually! But for now…
"It was…Kodai?.." Izuku looked up at the girl with black hair and an emotionless, cool expression about her, a bit flustered. "Y-You wanted something you could reuse with your enlargement Quirk… As a close range defensive tool. L-Like a bracer or something?"
Yui Kodai nodded slowly. "It seems appropriate," she said softly.
"O-Okay, I think that's it I think—"
Many students from the rest of the class suddenly went into an uproar as everyone began to demand their ideas. Izuku began to panic a bit, while Vlad watched on, knowing his was all part of the boy's punishment. Suddenly, the boy named Monoma, who had been fairly quiet the whole time, stood up, one hand lifted to the air while the other patted his chest.
"Though he may not be able to help us all today, should we not all cherish our relationship with the Support students? They will soon be able to assist us all in our venture as Heroes," Monoma said dramatically.
"You're just sucking up to him so you get chosen," the boy with a peculiar set of teeth on the outside of his mouth, Juzo Honenuki, commented.
"No no no, I would never!" Monoma let out a soft laugh.
You totally would, was what everyone in Class 1-B thought in unison.
With that, Izuku had his assignment. After giving a brief and awkward goodbye and promising to do his best, he quickly headed out of the classroom, only for King Vlad to approach him one last time.
"Hey, if I ever catch you snooping around my class, you'll hell to pay, you got it?"
Izuku looked at the largely built Hero, seeing the seriousness in his face. He nodded and bowed his head politely.
"I-I'm sorry! I'll do my best for you all," Izuku exclaimed.
"Good! Don't let my students down," Vlad said before heading back into the classroom.
Izuku breathed a sigh of relief that he had made it out of the class unscathed. Footsteps made him turn to see Mei approaching him, peculiar scuffs and burn marks on her clothes now, but the usual big smile on her face.
"D-Did 1-A do that to you?!"
"Huh? What, this?" Mei looked down at her uniform and the rough shape it was in. "Nope! I showed off some of my babies for examples and they might've exploded a bit."
"Aren't we supposed to be making amends…? Not making the Hero students hate us," Izuku commented.
Mei laughed. "They'll totally be amazed when they see our babies anyways!"
"N-Not so loud," Izuku motioned for her to quiet down. "Can we get back to class without getting into more trouble, Mei?"
"No guarantees! But I do wanna get back to get started as soon as possible," Mei said as they started to head out.
"I don't know if we'll get the chance… We um, kinda forgot something—"
Ken and Shiro glared viciously at Izuku and Mei, who had just arrived back at class.
"What happened to our combined girl power," Shiro wondered through gritted teeth to Mei, who rubbed the back of her head and shrugged, not going to defend herself.
"What was that about me not doing the entire project? I recall something like that, Midoriya," Ken commented darkly to Izuku.
"I'm sorry! W-We um… Well…" Izuku wasn't sure how to tell them what happened, since it was supposed to be a secret.
Luckily, the two were saved when Power Loader intervened and approached them.
"They got caught up in some Hero requests," their teacher explained. "They were given extra credit assignments directly from the Hero classes."
This didn't help much, as Ken and Shiro seemed even more angry than before.
"So you both ditched us to get extra credit?!" The two yelled in unison.
Power Loader chuckled a bit, but then placed a large hand on both Mei and Izuku's shoulders. They looked back at him, seeing a rare, very serious expression beneath his helmet.
"Don't go causing anymore trouble like this from now on, got it?"
Izuku and Mei both gulped and nodded. Their sensei patted their shoulders and walked away.
"You've got an hour until it's time to test your robots, so no slacking off," Power Loader spoke over his shoulder.
Thus, the day continued on normally, as normal as a day like that could get at least. Izuku couldn't help but think about All Might and all that had transpired. The pressure was on more than ever, at least, that's how Izuku felt about it all.
They expect me to do well, so I can't let them down anymore!
Izuku lifted what he had just created into the air, smiling at it, feeling the excitement of a successful creation rising. Ken noticed and got close, examining it.
"Is this what I think it is?"
Izuku nodded. "I got the idea for this baby from Class 1-B," he said. "It'll help absorb the shock from the force of an attack!"
"So it's a prototype for those things you have to make, huh," Ken commented.
"Yep, and we'll be able to test it right now!"
Ken sighed and shrugged. "Well… I hope your inventions are better than your work ethic."
"A-Are you never going to forgive me?!"
"Nope!"
To Be Continued
Next Chapter: Challenge: Izuku vs Ken