So, uhh.. It's been while, huh? Have no excuse beyond life kicking my ass, really. Well, that and a general.. dislike of where the show/manga has been heading recently. Still, a few good fanfics caught my interest again so here I am! The next chapter I'm hoping for Kurama to make another appearance.. Believe it or not, I first started this chapter 2021-08-21! It's finally done. It's around a 1000 words longer than usual, enjoy!
Also, go check out Wise Men Get Second Chances by JustYourAverageJoe, and tell him I sent you - he won't know what it means, but it's another MHA Time travel story so fans of this will definitely enjoy it!
Mezo Shoji was just starting his second week at UA, and was experiencing the strange combination of being overwhelmed by everything (the sheer size of UA, the many pro-heroes teaching at the university, the fact that he had actually made it into arguably the best hero-course in the country and one of the best courses in the world) and simultaneously..
Well.
Underwhelmed.
He realised aiming to become a hero couldn't just all be battle-tactics, quirk training and fighting practice - but the entire first week of classes had been spent on various theory subjects. Laws about quirk usage and heroing, introduction classes into both marketing and business finances, criminal psychology and even general psychology with regards to handling victims and civilians.
Not to mention individual meetings with both Nedzu himself and their sensei to discuss their goals and ambitions.. And the support course students, under supervision from Power Loader, had also been allowed to offer their services to the students in the hero course in the place of the general support companies contracted by UA.
There were both pros and cons to the arrangement. On the one hand; the support course students were inexperienced, untested and possibly slower than the professional companies - but on the other hand; their fellow students were more likely to take the suggestions of the student they worked with into account, were eager to prove themselves, and it could be seen as the first step in a mutually beneficial relationship that might last years.
All Might, for example, had met David Shield in their first year out of high-school, and had never looked for another supplier when it came to his hero suits or gear. Still, for most of them it was a difficult decision and they waited for each of the support students to make their pitch before deciding either way.
Key words being most of them. The moment they had met up with the support course, Midoriya had made a beeline for a pink-haired support girl wearing black overalls with the sleeves ripped off and what he would describe as 'Steam-punk' themed goggles on her head - the two of them had spoken for less than five minutes, before filling in the paperwork with Power Loader that made their partnership official. It made sense, of course - becoming a pro-hero was about more than just fighting villains and rescuing people during disasters.. but the entire thing just seemed a bit.. off to him. Bakugo, as abrasive and short-tempered as he was, wasn't nearly as openly hostile to his classmates as Todoroki and had sounded pretty confident in the fact that Midoriya and the pink-haired support student didn't know each other.
He had reluctantly admitted that 'Deku' (an odd nickname, but then so was 'Kacchan') might have met her since joining UA, but that he still didn't know why they signed up together so quickly.
Overall, Mezo's experiences so far had just left him feeling plain whelmed - not that he was exactly sure if 'whelmed' was a word that could be used in the context, but saying he felt 'ordinary' just didn't fit - perhaps bemused was a better word. It felt more like he was being pulled between two extremes rather than balancing in the middle.
Especially considering how intense their orientation had been, with Midoriya actively steamrolling through any of his opponents. That had been a shock - Mezo had known there would be some exceptional students in his year (the Sports Festival made it clear there were always a few prodigies ahead of the rest, especially in the first year) - but he had in no way been prepared for the force of nature that was Izuku Midoriya.
It had made him glad for his face mask; it having easily covered up that he had been staring open-mouthed for the majority of Midoriya's spars on their orientation day. The green-haired man also seemed to be rather intelligent based on the ease with which he had answered any questions directed at him throughout the previous day, despite seeming to daydream through most of those classes.
Frankly Mezo still wasn't entirely convinced Midoriya wasn't some underground pro-hero added into their year in order to either motivate or keep an eye on them - it didn't make that much sense if he was being honest, but there were a lot of things that didn't make sense about Midoriya.
One of which was the way he interacted with the rest of them - as if he already considered all of them friends. Which wouldn't be that out there, some people are just that friendly (Ashido, for instance), but with Midoriya it was.. different. He just couldn't place his finger on exactly what it was that made it different; rather than being friendly (which he was) he acted like he really had known them all for years.
It was simultaneously very unnerving and oddly motivational - if someone their age, as strong as Midoriya was, saw real potential in them.. well. In Mezo's opinion there was likely more than one reason their entire class was as focused as they were on a Monday morning, despite a rather.. unexpectedly normal first week.
The main reason for their focus, if he was being honest, still likely had more to do with what their semester plan stated for this week.
Battle and Rescue training.
Today was scheduled for 1-A to have their battle training; the next day would be for 1-B to have their first battle-training-session - followed by two days of physical training, and then finally a joint training day between both 1-A and 1-B for the rescue training which was apparently happening off-campus.
The only other information that they had been given beforehand was that battle training would be different from other quirk training sessions and that both the battle training and the rescue training would involve other heroes involved with the school who they had not yet seen.
Some of his classmates, notably Asui (who insisted on being called Tsu) and Uraraka, were hoping for some of the more 'unknown' heroes to be involved in Rescue training, such as Kelpi or Thirteen, while others, such as Bakugou and Kirishima, were hoping that one or more of the Top Ten ranked heroes might be involved in the battle training.
It was only moments later when a deep booming voice and the famous catchphrase it spoke proved just how wrong he was.
"..But on the flip side, if the 'villain' team lasts until the time is expired - or they manage to subdue the heroes - then they win. Are there any questions?"
Shota Aizawa carefully took in the expressions on each of the students' faces, looking for any uncertainty. He had been doing this long enough to know that oftentimes the students that had the most trouble understanding were the most hesitant to speak their questions aloud.
He was glad to see that he needn't have worried, as several students raised their hands, until All Might called on one of the female students.. Tsuyu Asui, if memory served.
"Sorry for being blunt, but isn't this exercise unrealistic? If the villains are already aware of the heroes coming to apprehend them, wouldn't they just trigger the bomb manually without waiting for the timer to run out?"
A bit morbid, but a good question - Shota, initially against All Might taking a position at UA, was rather curious as to how the giant oaf would answer the question.
"Good question, young Asui! What you have to keep in mind is that although this exercise has a designated 'villain' team for each round, we are trying to turn you all into heroes! The way the test is set up is so that both sides get sufficient experience in being a hero!" All Might explained with a grin, before continuing:
"While the 'Hero' teams get the obvious experience of a mission to infiltrate and subdue their target, the 'Villain' teams have to defend an object until a certain amount of time has passed. In this scenario that countdown represents the timer to the explosive device.. but it could just as easily have represented the time you needed to protect a civilian or location until reinforcements or aid could arrive!" he finished, and despite how much the number one hero tended to annoy Shota with his booming voice and over the top behaviour, he couldn't deny that the man's lesson was a lot more thought out than he had initially assumed. Yet rather than continue the lesson, All Might seemed to be pondering something.
Eventually nodding to himself, he spoke again but this time in a much more serious and low tone of voice:
"Another thing you need to realise Zygotes, is that there is a distinct difference between criminals who use their quirks to commit crimes, and true villains. Most people you will be facing throughout your career are the former - just petty criminals with selfish desires and wants - hardly the type to go out in a fiery explosion just to take a few heroes or civilians along with them. After all, their desires and wants mean nothing if they aren't around to enjoy the fruits of their misdeeds."
There was a thoughtful silence as the students seemed to take in what their teacher told them.. until Kaminari spoke up:
"Uhh, sir..? Then what would you consider an actual villain to be?"
All Might seemed to look through Kaminari for a minute before finally answering:
"I.. am not entirely sure how to explain it. It is not something easily put into words. It is something you can only truly understand when you stand facing one who uses their abilities to hurt for the sake of hurting, to enjoy the pain and suffering of others..," he took a breath here, seeming to look each and every one of 1-A in the eyes before finally continuing, "and make no mistake, if you continue to pursue a career in heroism you will come across these men and women. Yet even they would be unlikely to manually trigger such a device - after all, those that hurt and discard others, tend to value themselves above all else. No, my students.. such an act would be more in line with the behaviour of super-villains or zealots. Those that devote themselves as surely to their own cause as we as heroes swear ourselves to doing what is right; along with the fanatics that follow them.. In my entire career I have come across only four individuals I would place in this group - and it is my sincerest wish that none of you will ever have to deal with creatures such as them."
Breaking the sombre mood that had settled over his students, All Might clapped his hands together to gain their attention and directed them towards the wall where each of them drew lots to decide their team placement; he wasn't sure if All Might had planned the random team assignments to reflect real-life conditions, but either way Shota felt it was a good idea.
As the crowd of students between him and his fellow teacher walked away, he finally stepped out of his sleeping bag and moved towards where All Might was watching a tablet - most likely one that displayed each of the teams that had been formed.
All Might looked up as he approached, and when he neared offered him the device, stepping past to divide the various teams into their matches. Scanning through the assigned teams, he wasn't sure whether to grin or to glare - there were some pretty interesting pairs..
Team A - Mina Ashido & Denki Kaminari
Team B - Tenya Iida & Eijiro Kirishima
Team C - Shoto Todoroki & Katsuki Bakugo
Team D - Tsuyu Asui & Ochako Uraraka
Team E - Toru Hagakure & Izuku Midoriya
Team F - Fumikage Tokoyami & Hitoshi Shinso
Team G - Mezo Shoji & Hanta Sero
Team H - Yuga Aoyama & Rikido Sato
Team I - Mashirao Ojiro & Koji Koda
Team J - Kyoka Jiro & Momo Yaoyorozu
So caught up was he in reading through and considering the potential advantages and disadvantages of each pair that he almost missed All Might's announcement on the matches:
"-eams A through E will serve as the heroes, or the attackers, while teams F through J will serve as the villains, or the defenders as it were. Match one will be.. Team E versus Team J!"
Toru Hagakure was excited!
Her first week at UA had been.. disappointingly bland? Not at all like she had pictured the country's leading heroics academy. It was still amazing, and impressively absurd in scope, but.. well. It had largely felt like the first few days of high school.
Not anymore! Today they were going to take part in Battle Training!
Something she knew she needed help in.. people couldn't tell due to her quirk, but she was in excellent shape! Yet her quirk wasn't exactly made for direct combat - which meant she especially needed to pay attention to battle training! As luck would have it, she was also teamed up with probably the strongest student in their year!
'He seemed pretty nice too, I hope he doesn't just want to handle everything alone.. Invisible Girls have to work hard to stand out!'
A small cough pulled her back into the moment, and she realised she and Midoriya had arrived at the location they were told to wait and plan while their opposing team did the same and attempted to prepare defences for when they were to attack.
"Sorry Midori! Was a bit lost in thought there, what were you saying..?"
Rather than the smirk or confident rejoinder she expected, he just blushed slightly and raised a hand to scratch at his jaw before saying:
"Ah, feel free to just call me Izuku," he started, before she interrupted.
"No can do, Midori! But you can call me Toru!"
She stifled a giggle as she saw his expression, but kept it quiet as
"..but I was saying my quirk is really well suited to close quarters fighting, but we lose points if we cause too much damage so we probably need to plan our turn out carefully."
Toru held out her two pointer fingers upright and tilted them sideways; an ingrained habit she unconsciously repeated as she tilted her head sideways.
"We do..? Couldn't you just like.. Boom, pow, bang! Battle trial over?"
That startles a laugh out of him, and she grins, always happy to make others laugh.
He soon calms down, and says:
"While I like your enthusiasm, it won't be that easy.. This match-up is actually very interesting! I'm one of the strongest students in our year," and Toru snorted at the idea that he was 'one of' the strongest students, "while you are probably the best at stealth in our year. I'd give us around 70-30 odds against any of the other teams.." he trailed off, seeming to think over his own statement.
Now it was her turn to blush; it wasn't so much what he said (being so easily missed meant she often heard that people said very different things depending on whether or not they knew you were there or not) but the way he said it - she was the best at stealth, and together they could probably beat any other team. Not just because he was as strong as he was.. being easily missed meant she had a bit of a self-confidence issue.
It was one of the reasons she acted so bubbly all the time - so she'd be noticed. Minor..- no, Izuku, suddenly spoke again:
"Unfortunately, Yaoyorozu and Jiro are almost the ideal team to go against as, at least in an event where we have to attack while they defend. Yaoyorozu has by far the most versatile quirk of our year, and Jiro's hearing is an almost perfect counter to any type of stealth. Not only will they likely have set up a strong defence in order to slow us down, but Jiro means it would be almost impossible to sneak up on them as well.." he finished in a mutter, raising his right hand to his chin while his left gripped it at the elbow.
All in all an excellent thinking pose; she'd give it a seven out of ten. Still, they had limited time and he seemed easily distracted.. she had a plan though!
Time for Toru to shine!
"Hey Midoriya, you're a pretty strong guy, right..?"
Her question catches him somewhat off guard, but he doesn't dismiss her and nods in the affirmative while waiting for her to explain things further.
"So hear me out - you give me a ride into the building, and then Jiro will only be able to hear one set of footprints! Especially if you make some noise while we go - I doubt we could make enough to disorient Jiro, she went through the entrance exam fine after all, but it would at least draw her attention! Though you'd probably need your hands free.. so I'll sit on your shoulders, as long as you go slow when going through doorways at least. Don't want to hit my head!" she finished proudly.
She knew it probably sounded a bit silly, but it definitely had potential in her opinion..
'Wait, why's Izuku blushing again? What did I say?'
"Uhm.. Before I answer that Hagak..-"
"To~ru!"
"Yes, uhm, Toru.. before I answer.. what exactly is your hero costume made of..?"
…
…
A moment passed.
Then two.
She suddenly felt her face burn with a blush as she let out a squeak of embarrassment at the other unintended consequences of her plan.
"Nevermind, nevermind, nevermind!" she almost shouted, waving her hands wildly in order to make sure he understood the gesture.
Luckily for her, he seemed just as embarrassed and quickly moved past the whole thing, the only sign of acknowledgement being the last hint of red on his face.
"Right.. well, it's not a bad plan to use me as a distraction while you try to sneak by and go for the bomb. Neither Yaoyorozu nor Jiro are the type to let their ego's force them into a direct confrontation when they could win by running out the clock.. though it would be stupid to expect them not to be prepared for it either.."
"Can you tell me a bit more about your quirk?" he suddenly asked, a notebook appearing in his hands between blinks.
Deciding now wasn't the time to ask questions, she said:
"Well, it's pretty straight-forward - my quirk makes me invisible, and I have been since the day I was born. I've been working on controlling the way the refraction works, but I haven't been able to do anything consistently yet.. Oh! I'm also able to make something I'm holding invisible, as long as I'm focusing on it and it isn't too large.." she trailed off, a bit surprised at the speed Midoriya was writing everything down.
Why was he doing that anyway? She never got the chance to ask though, as his notebook suddenly vanished and he said:
"You know Toru.. everyone is probably expecting a variation of me either taking them down in a fight, or you sneaking by for the bomb, or them managing to delay us long enough for the time to turn against us.. how do you feel about throwing that completely out of order?"
She grinned; this was going to be fun!
Kyoka was feeling unexpectedly confident in their chances, now that they knew for certain that Midoriya and Hagakure didn't have some plan to enter from the outside windows or the roof itself - both she and Momo had agreed that his quirk made it possible that Midoriya might attempt an unexpected entrance to the building, but had also realised that if they wanted to beat someone as strong as he was some risk was needed.
Which was why they had only made rudimentary preparations to defend from the windows, while focusing the majority of their planning on the doors to the room itself as well as their.. 'combo move'.
Something she really hadn't expected Momo to be as excited about as she was.. seemed like her new friend had a surprisingly child-like side. Who knew?
She took a moment to look back towards the bomb they were guarding - they had shoved it into the corner of the room, limiting the amount of angles available to reach it, and the entire floor for around three feet in front of the device was covered with hundreds (maybe thousands) of marbles.
It wouldn't stop them, but it would certainly make it impossible for Toru to sneak by without them noticing her attempts at reaching the device. Furthermore, Momo had made herself a net launcher modified to shoot capture tape and shotgun (designed to shoot pepperballs, not bullets) for a last resort if their trap didn't work.
She had also made some kind of sealing paste that was supposedly designed to seal metal containers in emergencies and was hopefully going to slow their opponents down even further.
"And that's the last of them set up. We're fortunate the assignment said we were to keep damage to a minimum, so at least Midoriya can't simply come bursting through the walls.." Momo trailed off, inspecting their work critically.
Kyoka felt her train of thought derail.
"Wait, you think Green's strong enough to just bust through walls easily?" she said curiously - she wouldn't say he couldn't do it, but she wasn't sure.
"Hmm? Oh yes, almost certainly. Judging by the display of strength he had in the various spars I'd say he would easily be able to, or have you forgotten about the pillar of Todoroki's ice he so easily destroyed? Ice is a lot stronger than people realise."
"..suddenly I'm not so confident in our chances."
Momo laughed nervously, before saying:
"Well.. yes. That's why we're trying to run out the clock rather than face them directly. Still, we have a good chance of..-"
"Get ready, they just stepped onto our floor," Kyoka interrupted, with an apologetic look at having to interrupt.
Momo almost instantly lost her nervousness, picking up controller as she stepped to stand beside Kyoka and inserted earplugs to protect her from the multiple speakers she had made and placed throughout the room - all mounted on rotating stands that Momo could control.
They knew Midoriya had to be durable (a side-effect of strength quirks) but her sound attacks were probably the best chance they had of immobilising him - hopefully long enough for Momo to hit him with the capture tape, so that she could focus her quirk entirely on finding Hagakure.
As if to emphasise the end of her thoughts, a sudden gong echoes through the room as Midoriya starts trying to break open the doors from the outside - his strength really was incredible, as their attempts to impede him were already starting to fail..
BANG! The door flew off its hinges, landing hallway to where they were waiting.
Scratch that, had failed. Luckily they spent more time preparing to constrain him once he entered than they did on keeping him out. She was just about to blast him with the full force of her heartbeat when he said in a shockingly accurate imitation of All Might:
"Surrender, Villains! For I Am Here!"
He had it down completely - the tone, the pose, even the expression! He looked so proud of himself for it too..
'What a dork.. he's not expecting us to join his..-'
"Never, incompetent fool! You have fallen right into our trap, strike now Heart Jack!" Momo suddenly exclaimed, clearly just as into the situation as Midoriya.
'Make that two dorks.. whatever, they seem to enjoy it anyway. Let's see if he enjoys this.'
Taking a deep breath, she attacked with strong pulses of sound rather than a single continuous blast, hoping the quick but consistent attacks from different angles would disorient him. It was something he was clearly expecting as he started moving the moment she attacked.
Luckily for them he was caught off guard by the speakers being able to turn, and Kyoka nailed him with a particularly strong blast that threw him off his feet. He was quick to recover, however, and unfortunately dodged the capture-tape-net that Momo had launched at him.
Kyoka was focusing entirely on maintaining her attacks on Midoriya, and so only vaguely saw Momo pick up the shotgun and fire towards him - something he managed to dodge again! Though at least their strategy of forcing him back seemed to be working. Combined with the time wasted as Midoriya and Hagakure raced to find the bomb, a grin formed on her face as she realised they might actually win this thing!
A grin that completely vanished at the announcement:
"Momo Yaoyorozu and Kyoka Jiro have been captured; the hero team wins!"
"What?!" came the twin shouts of disbelief from herself and Momo - yet as she looked down, she could clearly see the capture tape around her legs.
A cheerful giggle made her turn around to see two gloves making peace signs suddenly appear.
"Hehe, you guys forgot about me, didn't you~?"
Kyoka let out a groan of disappointment, because yes they had, even after explicitly planning for Hagakure not to sneak by towards the bomb!
What a bummer.
"..why I believe Hagakure is the MVP of this match," Tenya finished, chopping his hand to emphasise his point.
"Excellent reasoning, young Iida! While I agree, it should also be noted that the MVP of the match could just as easily have been Jiro or Yaoyorozu - their plan was only a few minutes away from succeeding. Now onto the next match.. Team C versus Team F!"
Izuku had been in thought earlier when the teams were revealed, planning his next outing as 'Kurama' and so had missed the fact that Kacchan and Shoto were teamed up together.. and now the attacking duo. A quick look showed him that they were also facing Fumikage and Hitoshi.. If Shoto started the battle the same way he did in the original timeline..
"This is not going to go well.." he muttered, not even realising he spoke aloud until Denki spoke up:
"Heh, no kidding. I would not want to be the Villain team right now!"
There were mutterings of agreement from several students, causing Izuku to shake his head and clarify.
"That's not what I meant.. I'm almost certain Bakugo and Todoroki are going to lose."
That shocked everyone into silence - not that he could really blame them. If you were to objectively look at their quirks alone, there would be almost no chance of Kacchan or Shoto losing.. but he knew them. Knew Kacchan's temper, knew Shoto's hubris, knew Fumikage's desire to prove himself, knew Hitoshi's cunning.
As they watched the two teams start to plan and confer with each other, he noticed that Fumikage sent Dark Shadow up the side of the building, likely to keep watch.. and that Kacchan and Shoto were already fighting.
'I'm not sure why that even surprises me. Kacchan is going to hate the fact that Shoto isn't using his full quirk, while Shoto won't be able to look past Kacchan's resemblance to Endeavour's abrasive personality..'
His musings were interrupted by a light tap on his shoulder; turning around, he looked into the grinning face of Hanta Sero.
"So you sounded pretty sure about whose winning this thing.." he said in a whisper, before continuing after Izuku nodded his agreement.
"Well then, how about a little wager..? My mother works as a secretary for Ms. Joke's agency, so if you win I'll get you her autograph - but if I win you have to partner with me one Midnight's art history class project!" Hanta finished, already looking as if he had won.
Izuku stared at the friend who had years ago (from his perspective) taught their male dorm mates how to play poker.. by fleecing them all without mercy, and couldn't stop the slightly vindictive smirk from showing on his face.
Offering the cellophane hero his hand to shake, he said:
"Oh, you are on.. and I want that autograph in my notebook!"
Hanta snorted, but joined him in watching the battle unfold.
Just as Izuku predicted, Shoto starts out with a massive ice blast, easily freezing the entire building.. though thanks to Dark Shadow's quick reaction, failing to immobilise either Fumikage or Hitoshi. As Kacchan and Shoto pause, likely waiting to see if they win, he can clearly see the shock on Hitoshi's face.. shock that quickly changes to an intense sort of focus as Fumikage gestures to the building.
An unplanned consequence of Shoto's attack? The entire building is now darkened, the ice seeming to have damaged the power while also covering the windows up. While the two 'villains' conversed with each other, Kacchan had apparently had enough waiting, and blasted forward towards the building.
Shoto followed after, but he was significantly slower as he worked off the after-effects of only using the one half of his quirk. After a bit of deliberation, Fumikage left the room with the bomb, heading down towards the lower floors.
They clearly had a plan, as he made sure to hide when Kacchan sped by towards the top floor.. it was clever. Divide and conquer - Kacchan was an excellent counter to Fumikage, while Hitoshi was in an excellent position to defeat Kacchan due to him not yet having learned how to control his temper rather than simply give in to it.
Yet as Kacchan and Hitoshi entered the same room, Izuku almost thought he would be proven wrong when Kacchan managed to ignore Hitoshi's first few taunts, trying to close the distance.. but Hitoshi apparently managed to strike a nerve as Kacchan shouted something back.
Izuku winced. Kacchan was going to be pissed.. mostly at himself, but still.
"Katsuki Bakugou has been captured and is eliminated!"
In another room on a lower floor, Shoto pauses with an annoyed look; clearly irritated that his teammate had been captured.
Which served as the perfect opportunity for Dark Shadow to suddenly strike; yet Shoto wasn't a recommended student for nothing, and he managed to barely dodge the attack before launching a quick counter.
It wasn't enough; in the darkness of the building Dark Shadow was empowered beyond usual, and Shoto was placed on the back foot, never gaining enough space to try for a larger attack. So focused was he on trying to see where Dark Shadow's next attack would come from that he missed Fumikage sneaking up behind him with the capture tape in hand.
"Shoto Todoroki has been captured; the villain team wins!"
Turning, Izuku tossed a notebook at a disbelieving Hanta, and said with a smug grin:
"It's a new notebook, so have her sign the top of the first page, if you don't mind.. and thanks for the free autograph!"
So, what do you think? Love it, hate it, ambivalent but just glad to see in update..? Review and let me know! Quick question - what about the rest of the battle trials? Show 'em, give a brief overview, only show those for which I have an interesting or unique idea..? Let me know in the comments!
A few extra things: I haven't said this before, but any and all of my works are up for adoption. Not because I'm giving them up, or not planning to finish them, but just because it would be hypocritical to write fanfiction and have a problem with someone wanting to write something similar.. so if you like the premise, but think Izuku should have come back as an adult, feel free! Just credit me in the notes, yeah?
