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Alternate chapter title: Battle Trial Part 2- Battle Tendency
"My apologies for the delay, students," All Might said, addressing the class, "but we are finally ready to resume your class."
Katsuki, Uraraka, and Tsunatori had returned a few minutes ago, the latter two having shed their costumes in favor of the gym uniforms the school had provided for them. A quick visit from Recovery Girl, who had shot All Might a withering look, ensured that they were all in perfect health, if a little worn out from the exchange.
To Izuku's immense relief, Katsuki and Uraraka had walked over to stand on either side of him when they returned from the lockers. They still weren't looking at each other, but Izuku could tell that some of the tension between the two had bled away. His mother had been right after all. Katsuki had just needed to vent some of his frustrations, and combat had been the perfect way to do it.
"Does this mean we're not getting out of class till late?" Ashido asked, not bothering to raise her hand.
All Might smiled jovially, "No need to worry, young Ashido. We made allowances for a few delays. You will make your train with time to spare."
She chuckled at his statement, causing All Might to frown in confusion before continuing. "Ahem. Moving on. Now that the first fight has been completed, it's time for analysis! After all, you learn as much from your failures as your successes! Or so I'm told."
Izuku, along with the rest of the class, winced at the unintentional hubris. All Might's reputation for being unbeatable was well deserved, but taken the wrong way, his statement could be seen as an insult towards the lower ranked heroes. Izuku knew his mentor hadn't meant it that way, and he dearly hoped that if any of the UA staff had heard it they wouldn't take it as one either.
"Why don't we start with overall impressions? Who would like to go first?"
Izuku was tempted for a moment. As hard as it had been to watch Katsuki and Uraraka battle, there had been several moments that had sent his inner hero nerd into a Quirk analyzing frenzy. From a technical standpoint, it had been an amazing bout. Even Jirou, who hadn't done any fighting, had demonstrated some impressive skills. He wondered just how sensitive her hearing really was and whether she could selectively mute sounds to block out vibrations from traffic or other urban noise pollution.
Before he could do more than contemplate volunteering, Yaoyorozu's hand shot into the air.
"Quite frankly, sir, it was a complete disaster."
You could have heard a pin drop in the stunned silence that followed her words. Even All Might seemed taken aback by the statement. Unfortunately, she took this as leave to continue.
"There was no team cohesion from either side. Both Bakugou and Uraraka immediately broke away from their partners to brawl, ignoring the objective of this match entirely. Tsunatori was only slightly better. She at least had the sense to hide the bomb, though her efforts were ultimately fruitless. Jirou was the only one who kept the objective in mind the entire time, though her infiltration would have been much more effective if she had coordinated with her partner beforehand."
Indignant grumbles came from Jirou, Uraraka, and Tsunatori, while Katsuki actually growled in frustration. None of them were happy with the feedback, and they might have even voiced their opinions if All Might hadn't jumped in to head them off.
"A, uh, very thorough analysis, young Yaoyorozu. Excellent work. However, you missed a few things. First, the strategy to divide and conquer threats is a tried-and-true staple of heroism, especially when fighting a stronger opponent. Second, I believe young Uraraka and young Tsunotori came much closer to defeating their opponent than you realize. Third…" he trailed off as he obviously tried to think of a good point to finish with. "Third, I believe we should give your classmates a round of applause for showing us a rather explosive first match."
There was a polite smattering of applause, though it was much more muted than it would have been before Yaoyorozu's comments.
For her part, Yaoyorozu seemed to realize she had made a social error and looked quite embarrassed. Izuku's heart went out to her. She had looked eager when raising her hand to answer and had obviously hoped to make a good impression on their teacher. Now, her shoulders were hunched and she had shrunk in on herself. At least her partner, Aoyama, seemed to be doing his best to comfort her, though Izuku wasn't quite sure how cheese was supposed to make you feel better.
"Thanks to all of the participants of our first match," All Might said, drawing the class's attention back to him, "You certainly gave it your all. Now, however, it is time to give the rest of you a chance to shine! That said, there will be a slight change to the matches going forward."
He pulled out a small set of notecards from his belt and held them up, his eyes dancing across the cards as he read.
"The objective of this exercise is to locate a mock explosive device hidden somewhere in the city. The team playing the villains will be allowed to move or disguise the device as they see fit while the hero team will need to locate and disarm the device by touching it. Your goal is to display and expand your information gathering prowess, as well as your teamwork skills. Stop reading here."
He coughed suddenly, trying to cover for the mistake while the class chuckled awkwardly.
"As you can see," the hero said, forging ahead as best he could, "The rules are mostly the same as they were from the first match. The change in conditions is simply to help focus your attention in a less… destructive manner."
Katsuki snorted, but made no comment.
"Now, are there any questions, or are you all ready to go on?" All Might asked, glancing around the observation room. Not a single hand raised, and the man seemed to relax a little. "Very well then. Let's give the rest of the matches just as much energy as the first. Say it with me now! Plus Ultra!"
"Plus Ultra!"
The second match of the day pitted Sero and Koda as heroes against Iida and Hagakure as villains. The latter two took their roles to heart, putting on their best villain voices as they waited for the heroes to enter the alleyway where they had stashed their bomb. In comparison with the first match, the second was rather tame. There weren't any grudge matches or spilt blood, and the actual battle was over rather quickly. Koda managed to locate a small park in the cityscape and recruit its squirrel population to his cause. They swarmed Iida, but were unable to find any gaps in his armor, and were quickly blown off when Iida dashed around at top speed. Iida then quickly subdued the quiet boy, and turned his attention to Sero. Sero had done an admirable job holding off Hagakure, though he couldn't quite manage to capture the nimble girl, but was ultimately overwhelmed when Iida joined the battle as well.
In the aftermath, All Might praised the heroes for using inventive tactics, as well as the villains for keeping in character the whole time. For most of the class, it was a relief to see that these matches didn't have to be quite as intense as the first had been.
The third match, which set Kirishima and Shoji as villains against Sato and Todoroki as heroes, lasted even less time. Kirishima attempted to charge the hero team while Shoji snuck around behind them, trying to trap them in a pincer movement. In response, Todoroki simply froze the ground around him, catching both his opponents and his partner in the same attack.
Everyone in the viewing room shivered at the image as Todoroki slowly began to thaw his classmates out, partially from the power the heterochromatic boy had just casually thrown around, and partially in empathy for the three who had been frozen in place.
Positioned behind Asui as he was, Izuku noticed that her response to the cold had been particularly violent. Her entire body shuddered, even though the room was still relatively warm. Noticing this, Ashido wrapped an arm around her partner's shoulders and gave her a comforting squeeze.
Izuku, meanwhile, added another note to his hero notebook. Her reaction was far greater than anyone else in the class, which meant it was probably related to her Quirk. He wondered just how similar to a frog her Quirk actually made her. If it made her endothermic, then that would explain her reaction, though her costume didn't seem to offer any sort of protection from the cold, and he was fairly certain having a lower body temperature would require different digestive bacteria, which would mean she—
His train of thought was cut off by a sharp elbow to the stomach from Katsuki.
"Oi! Quit it with the mumbling and start walking! You're up next."
Izuku looked around to find most of the class staring at him in amusement. Asui, Ashido, and Mineta were all waiting by the exit to the observation room. Ashido sported an amused smile as she waved at him, though the other two looked far less pleased. Asui's face was almost clinically neutral, while Mineta looked thoroughly annoyed as he tapped his foot on the ground.
Izuku flushed with embarrassment and hurried to join them, but was stopped halfway there as Katsuki called out to him yet again.
"Don't you even think about losing, ya damn nerd. If you do, we're gonna have another sparring session this weekend, and I won't be holding back this time."
Izuku paled at the thought. Their previous sparring sessions had all left him battered and bruised. He could only imagine how terrifying it would be if Katsuki were properly motivated.
"I'll, uh, do my best!"
"Damn well better!"
"Did you really need to threaten him?" Round Face asked, stepping up beside Katsuki while they waited for Izuku's match to start.
He snorted derisively. "That wasn't a threat. Trust me, if I ever threaten someone, they know it. But yeah, I fucking did need to. Remember, I've known him since we were kids. Shit like this freaks him out, and he's just gonna focus on the one thing that will make him less nervous. Problem is, he gets so into thinking about Quirks that he stops paying attention to anything around him. We were walking home once, with him spitballing ideas about some new hero when some asshat tried to mug us. Izuku didn't even notice that the guy was holding a knife. Just apologized to the guy and kept walking. I don't know who was more surprised, me or the mugger."
She snickered. "Did Deku really do that?"
Her casual use of the name sent a spike of reflexive anger shooting through him. His palms flexed, and sparked unconsciously, drawing the eyes of half the room to him.
"The fuck are you all looking at?" he snapped, sending most of their heads whipping right back around, to his amusement.
One of the few who didn't turn away was Horns. Instead, she walked over to stand between Katuski and Round Face, replacing Izuku as the barrier between the two. Despite standing next to the person who had knocked her half-senseless so recently, the American showed almost no signs of awkwardness or hesitation.
"Who wins?" Horns asked, gesturing toward the screens that were currently showing both teams preparing for the coming match. Izuku and his partner were in the middle of some kind of debate while Raccoon Eyes and her partner inspected the area around their faux bomb.
Round Face put a finger to her lips and frowned in concentration for a few seconds before finally responding.
"Hmmm. Probably Ashido and Asui. Deku is strong, but he always hurts himself when he uses his Quirk. Plus, I can't see him using it to actually attack someone if there's a risk they could get injured, and I don't see Mineta winning a two versus one."
"You're so wrong it's almost funny," Katsuki cut in.
"You think Midoriya wins?" Horns asked, cocking her head to get a better look at him.
"I think Izuku trained with me for the entire summer, and he's forgotten more about Quirks than the two of you will ever know. Those two are so far outclassed that I'll be amazed if this match lasts longer than ten minutes."
"You forgot to include Mineta in that," Round Face pointed out.
"I didn't forget shit. The little gremlin can die in a hole for all I care. In fact, the quicker he gets taken out the better. Then the rest of you will understand why you shouldn't be looking down on Izuku." He gazed pointedly at Round Face as he finished.
Instead of looking intimidated or offended, she simply looked amused. "You really care about him, huh?" she said, the smile on her face setting his teeth on edge.
"No shit. He's the only other one in here that actually stands a chance of being a hero."
"Ah!" Horns said, clapping her hands in realization, "I see! You are 'tsundere!'"
There was an audible crack as the last of Katsuki's patience snapped. "I WILL FUCKING END YOU, YOU ALL-AMERICAN REJECT!"
"Young Bakugou, please keep it down," All Might said, silencing the explosive blond before he could say anything else. "The next match is about to begin."
There weren't a lot of things that could have changed Katsuki's focus that quickly, but the news of the impending fight did just that. He tuned the entire room out, and waited to see what harebrained scheme Izuku would cook up.
"What do you mean you can't use it?" Mineta cried in dismay.
"I-I-I'm sorry," Izuku stammered, "I'm not that good with my Quirk, and if I tried something like that I could seriously hurt them."
"You can't, like, punch less hard or something?"
"N-Not really," he replied, scratching the back of his head, "One for—er Super Power is really strong. My body isn't strong enough to handle its full force yet. I tried during the summer with Kacchan, but…"
Their experiment had led to an extremely awkward visit to the nearest clinic to get Izuku patched up. The doctor had been extremely dubious about how Izuku had managed to do so much damage to his arm by himself. It was only when they had mentioned that they had both been accepted to UA that the doctor had relented and healed Izuku. His Quirk hadn't been nearly as potent as Recovery Girl's, and Izuku had needed to wear a sling for multiple days, and make a second visit to the clinic before he had been completely fixed. After that they had decided that experiments with Izuku's Quirk were best left for when they were actually at UA.
"Man, this sucks," Mineta whined, "This was supposed to be an easy match against two hotties. Instead I'm stuck with the only guy who can't use his Quirk, so I have to beat them both myself. This is not what I meant when I said I wanted to get double teamed!"
Izuku wasn't sure what that meant exactly, but he decided not to address it. Instead, he thought long and hard about what they could do. Mineta wasn't wrong. With Izuku unable to use his Quirk without hurting himself or his classmates, they were at a severe disadvantage. They had very little in the way of offense, while their opponents had quite a bit of versatility on their side. If they were going to win, they needed to come up with a strategy.
"Mineta, what exactly does your Quirk do? I know the balls on your head detach, and that you can bounce off of them, but is that it?"
The smaller boy shook his head, then detached one of the purple spheres from his head. A replacement immediately grew in its place, surprising Izuku with the speed of its growth. Mineta then gave the sphere he had plucked off his scalp a gentle toss towards a nearby wall. The second the sphere touched the wall it stopped short, firmly stuck in place.
"They stick to anything that's not me," Mineta explained, "They come off eventually, and I can remove them, but they stay stuck until then."
"What about each other?"
Mineta shrugged, then tossed a second sphere at the first. This one also stuck fast, though the chain of spheres drooped slightly with nothing to support them. "Yeah, why?"
"I have an idea. I think if she sees me, Ashido will try to chase me down. Then we can lure her into a trap using your balls."
"I like the sound of that," Mineta said, wiggling his eyebrows for some reason.
"We'll need to find them first, but I have an idea for that as well. Are there any ponds on that map?"
After a quick glance, Mineta nodded. "There's a pond in the park four blocks over."
"Then that's where they'll be. Asui will want to be somewhere near water, to make the best use of her Quirk, and Ashido will go along with it since her Quirk can be used anywhere. They'll have hidden the bomb in the park, or maybe in the pond, so we have to go through Asui to get to it. Hopefully she'll stay behind after we lure Ashido away, so we won't have to try and fight both of them at once. Then, we'll have to come up with a way to combat her, since neither of us are that strong in water… oh! Is it a problem if your balls get wet?"
"No. I've clogged up the bathtub before, so they're just as sticky in water."
Midoriya nodded once, then dove back into his muttering as he worked through the possibilities of their battle. There were so many ways that even just the three Quirks in use could interact and bounce off each other that it was staggering. He was used to thinking through hero battles, but only in the abstract. Somehow the knowledge that this was real gave every idea a new weight, making him double- and triple-check every thought. If he screwed something up, someone might actually get hurt.
"Students!" All Might's voice boomed throughout the mock city that had been silent except for Izuku's muttering, "You may begin!"
Izuku instantly felt his stomach drop. He wasn't anywhere near done planning yet! There were still too many variables he hadn't accounted for! What if Ashido managed to free herself from their trap before they could get the capture tape on her? What if Mineta's balls weren't as sticky in water as he thought? What if Asui had some other aspect to her Quirk that he hadn't figured out?
"Midoriya! Are we doing this, or what?" Mineta asked, gently jostling his leg.
Izuku took a long, slow breath to calm his nerves. It didn't help nearly as much as he thought it would. Then, so faintly he almost missed it, Izuku heard a bang in the distance. It was probably just a trash can falling over, but it caused Izuku to picture Katsuki shouting angrily at him to get a move on.
A small smile crossed Izuku's lips as he rose to his feet. Even when he was stuck in the viewing room, Katsuki was still supporting him, albeit in his usual, grouchy fashion.
"Yeah," he replied, his resolve set. "We can do this!"
"Whoa! They're headed right towards the bomb!" Sparky exclaimed, surprise evident in his voice. "I thought for sure they'd have to look around a bit before they found it. Think they got lucky?"
"Unlikely," High Class replied. "Their path is too linear to be a search pattern, and they both seem rather sure of where they are going. Perhaps one of them possesses a Quirk that allows them to locate their opponents?"
"Deku's Quirk gives him super strength," Round Face said, "And I'm pretty sure Mineta's has to do with the balls on his head. Nothing that would let them find Ashido and Asui."
"It's not a Quirk. It's logic," Katsuki snapped, tired of the endless chatter. They hadn't even gotten to the interesting shit, and half the class seemed bamboozled already. He couldn't imagine how frustrating it was going to be when things really got started.
"Care to explain, young Bakugou?" All Might asked, turning to smile at the explosive blond.
Katsuki grit his teeth before continuing. He somehow felt less sure of himself explaining things to the rest of the extras now that he knew All Might was actually listening in on their conversation. If he were a little more introspective, he might have realized he didn't want to screw up in front of someone who he respected.
"Croaker is a frog. She likes water, and probably feels safest in a puddle or something. So, they looked for the biggest puddle around and hid the bomb there. Izuku knew that they'd do something like that, so he knows about where they are. Now it's just a matter of finding where Croaker and Raccoon Eyes are hiding and beating them up."
"That seems like quite the leap in logic," Four Eyes cut in, "They could have just as easily chosen a battlefield that would favor Ashido's Quirk instead."
"Raccoon Eyes might be a happy-go-lucky idiot, but her Quirk is good in a lot of places. If you try and punch her, she can counter with acid, and if you stay at range she can just chuck some at you. I'd still kick her ass in less time than it takes to put on my gauntlets, but someone like you would probably get your ass handed to you."
Four Eyes spluttered in surprise and frustration, but All Might cut him off before he could reply.
"Quite the excellent analysis, young Bakugou! I dare say you might give young Yaoyorozu a run for her money!"
"You're damn right I would. But I wasn't analyzing shit. I was just quoting."
"Quoting?" the hero asked in confusion.
"First day after class, Izuku showed me his notebook. Took me forever to read his handwriting, but all of the shit I just told you came straight out of it. And he had a page done for each of you after just one day. That's why he's gonna hand those two their asses. Anything they can come up with, I guarantee he's already analyzed and come up with a counter for."
"Wait, he has a page for all of us?" Round Face asked in surprise.
Katsuki rolled his eyes, then pointed at her. "You sleep with gloves so you don't accidentally float your pillow away, you have basically no fear of heights, every time you put on weight you feel like you can lift more with your Quirk, and if I dunked you in a pool of water, you wouldn't have any trouble figuring out which way is up."
He swung his eyes around the room, searching for a new victim, while Round Face flushed in embarrassment at his comments.
"High Class," Katsuki continued as his eyes landed on the girl who looked like she suddenly wished she was several inches shorter, "you store fat super efficiently, so you're actually much heavier than you look, and your idea of a full meal probably looks like a feast to most people. You also find puzzles easy, since you can picture the whole thing in your head without having to touch the pieces."
The girl in question turned crimson before hurriedly turning away from Katsuki. Ears, who was standing next to High Class, leveled a death glare at him, but he ignored the look. Let them get pissed. Katsuki didn't care about their opinions, and it made sure that they would never forget this moment, or what Izuku could really do. By the end of the day, there wouldn't be a single person in the class who would be able to think of Izuku as "lesser". Not if Katsuki had anything to say about it.
"Bird Brain is weaker in the sunshine, Soy Sauce has trouble putting his arms out straight, Ears prefers low-pitched shit. Do I need to go on, or have you got it through your thick skulls yet?"
The only response to his question was an awkward silence and some shuffling, which made Katsuki smile in triumph.
"Yeah, that's what I thought, you bunch of slackers. While you were goofing off or trying to impress each other, he was putting in the work to be better than all of you put together. So sit back, shut up, and watch him hand those two their pathetic asses."
There was more grumbling about his tone, and an admonishment from All Might about being a good sportsman, but after a few moments, everyone in the viewing room turned to silently watch Izuku and his partner lay a purple ball-covered rope across one of the alleyways near the park.
The viewing room grew so quiet, in fact, that Katsuki could hear Round Face mutter "Dick" under her breath as she turned back to the screen.
As he approached the edges of the park, Izuku did his best to swallow his nerves. Somewhere among the numerous trees and overgrown shrubbery, Ashido and Asui… no, a pair of villains were waiting to ambush him.
Years of practice traveling through the woods to the Lair took over as Izuku stepped off the main path. He stepped deftly around numerous stray branches that threatened to catch on his uniform, as well as the myriad of dry twigs and leaves that covered the ground. It was slow going, but Izuku managed to traverse the distance relatively silently.
He paused to catch his breath and center himself when the pond at the center of the park came into view. The time limit for their matches had been extended to thirty minutes, since the trial was taking place in a larger area. Even still, Izuku was feeling the time crunch. More than a quarter of the time had already elapsed, and they hadn't even seen their opponents.
Setting their trap up had taken more time than Izuku had expected. Getting the sticky spheres into place without touching them or getting them stuck on something unintentionally was harder than it had seemed at first. They'd gotten it ready after some trial and error, but it still left Izuku feeling anxious.
He craned his neck, trying to catch a glimpse of his opponents, or of the bomb. Nothing was visible, though there were some suspicious bubbles towards the center of the pond that Izuku wanted to investigate.
The strange thing was that he hadn't come across any signs of Ashido. She was talkative, had a hard time sitting still in class, and her pink skin should have stood out extremely well in the foliage. He had expected to come across her patrolling the park, or to have at least caught sight of her by this point.
He was jolted from his thoughts by a hissing sound coming from just beside him. He glanced towards it to find a stray leaf quickly being dissolved by a droplet of potent acid.
Instantly his senses jumped to alert, and he scanned the area, looking for the telltale flash of pink that would tell him where his opponent was. It was only when a second droplet fell inches from his nose that he realized why he couldn't spot her.
He craned his neck upward to find Ashido squatting in the tree above him. She was holding her hands in front of her face with the fingers extended in a crude imitation of fangs, the tips dripping acid while she smiled mischievously.
The second their eyes met, Ashido dropped the ridiculous pose and swung into action. She gripped the branch she had been squatting on and used it to launch herself forward at Izuku in a powerful kick.
He jumped backward as best he could, nearly tripping on an exposed root in the process. The kick wasn't quite as fast as one of Katsuki's rocket-powered ones, but it was dangerous enough that he didn't want to risk blocking it. He dropped into a battle stance, ready to deflect the next attack, only to be caught off balance when no follow up came.
Ashido was far too busy laughing over what had just happened.
"You know, I was kind of disappointed to get stuck on the villain team, but that made it completely worth it! Oh man, you should have seen your face, it was straight out of a horror movie!"
She dissolved into another fit of giggles, leaving Izuku feeling a bit embarrassed. Sure, he'd been surprised to see her in the tree, but he didn't think he'd made that funny of a face. He hoped none of the cameras had been able to see him.
"How did you know where I'd be?" Izuku asked. Their entire plan hinged on catching Ashido unawares. If she had some way to detect her opponents, then there was nothing he could do.
"I didn't!" she chirped, "Total coincidence. You have no idea how hard it was not to laugh myself out of the tree when I saw you stop right under me."
Izuku allowed himself to relax slightly. Their plan was safe. All he had to do now was lure her into the right place and hope Asui chose to remain with the bomb.
"I guess the fun's over though," she said with a sigh, sliding into a battle stance, "Sorry for this, Midori. I'll buy you a drink later to make up for it though!"
He dropped low as well, ready to make a break for it. He just needed to distract her for a moment, to give himself a head start. He racked his brain for a moment before inspiration struck.
During their sparring sessions, Katsuki used every trick in the book to distract Izuku, from insults and vulgar language to faking a call from his mother. He'd said it was to train Izuku to resist distractions, but had seemed to take a sadistic glee in punishing any gaps in focus on Izuku's part. In the end, Izuku hadn't learned to resist distractions during a fight, but he had picked up quite the bag of dirty tricks of his own.
"Nice job, Mineta!" Izuku said, shifting his gaze to a point just behind Ashido's back.
Her eyes widened in surprise and she spun around, ready to defend herself from the surprise double team. That combined with the surprise of finding no one there bought Izuku more than enough time to disengage.
He dashed for all that he was worth, leaving quite the obvious trail for Ashido to follow as he did.
"Midoriiiiii! Get back here!" she called, dashing after him. She was fast, but the uneven ground kept her from using the acid slide technique she had shown on the first day and let Izuku easily keep his distance.
Then they exited the park, and the equation changed. Ashido didn't lose a step as she exited the park and transitioned to her acid skating, much to Izuku's dismay. She also picked up a significant amount of speed in the process, putting her dangerously close to Izuku. He was fairly certain that she wouldn't use her acid on him for fear of hurting him, but her proximity was still concerning.
He took the corner into a nearby alleyway as fast as he dared. His shoes scrabbled for purchase on the smooth pavement, and he nearly lost his balance in the attempt. Thankfully he didn't fall, and he didn't lose too much time.
Once he had cleared the corner, he risked a glance behind him to check on Ashido's progress and was dismayed by what he saw. Instead of a graceless scramble, she took the corner in one smooth slide, kicking off the wall to preserve her momentum. It was an elegant maneuver, and one that ate significantly at the lead that Izuku had established.
Turning his head forward once more, Izuku laid on as much speed as he could, channeling every lesson that he had learned in his training with All Might. His legs pumped furiously and his breath tore at his chest, but he moved faster than he ever had before.
The final corner was even sharper than the rest, and Izuku couldn't quite manage it. He slammed into the wall at full speed, bouncing off of it with a whoosh of air. He stumbled back, gasping for breath, then spun to face the oncoming Ashido. He was in no condition to keep running, despite being only a few dozen feet from the trap. He needed to stall for time while he regained enough wind to make it the rest of the way.
Ashido came barreling towards him like an acid powered freight train. The smile on her face hadn't faded one bit during the chase, and it remained in place right up until her shoulder crashed into Izuku.
He blocked the blow as best he could, but the force still sent him skidding backwards. It wasn't quite as powerful as one of Katsuki's explosion enhanced kicks, but it was clear Ashido was taking this seriously.
"You're pretty fast Midori," she said, wiping a bit of sweat from her brow. The chase hadn't winded her as much as Izuku, but it had obviously put at least a small dent in her stamina.
"Thanks. You… too," Izuku managed to wheeze out.
She dipped her head graciously at the compliment before continuing. "Tell you what, if you put that capture tape on yourself, you can sit here and catch your breath while I go find your partner."
He shook his head. "Not… gonna happen."
She shrugged, not appearing surprised in the least. "Didn't think so, but it was worth a shot."
She lunged forward, keeping her body low to the ground while she closed the distance so he couldn't get any attacks off. Then, just before she entered arm's reach, she slammed her hands to the ground and spun herself around like a top. Her feet came dangerously close to knocking Izuku's out from under him, and the droplets of acid that sprayed out of her shoes stung his skin wherever they landed.
Izuku leapt out of range easily enough, but struggled to find a way to counterattack while Ashido kept spinning. The globs of acid she was spraying from her shoes weren't exactly dangerous, but if they got in his eyes or mouth he wouldn't be able to keep fighting. Her legs were a danger as well. She was spinning at a high enough speed that an unguarded blow from her boots would hurt. He was tempted to try running again, but his breath hadn't recovered nearly enough for even the short sprint that leading her into their trap would require.
Thankfully, she couldn't keep the maneuver up forever. After less than a minute, her spinning slowed down and she popped back to her feet in one smooth motion.
"Pretty cool, huh?" she said happily. "I call it "Acid Top!"
"Very cool," Izuku agreed.
Before she could say anything else, he darted forward and sent a quick jab toward her stomach. It wouldn't be enough to take her out of the battle entirely, but it would buy him enough time to either make it to the trap, or to even capture her himself.
She darted out of the way of the blow, though her eyes widened as she did so. She clearly hadn't been expecting him to take such an aggressive stance. He followed it up with a second punch, this time aimed at her shoulder. In exchange, Ashido lashed out with a kick towards his side, forcing him to dodge to the side and throwing off his aim.
His blow went wide, and it left him off balance as Ashido came at him again. He blocked the punch she threw almost instinctively, falling into the rhythm of combat. He turned smoothly to block the next blow, a right hook to his side, only to find nothing there. Instead, a sharp pain blossomed in the back of his head as Ashido's elbow slammed into it.
Stars danced in his eyes as he went stumbling forward. His vision cleared quickly enough thanks to his high pain tolerance, a trait that would serve him extremely well in the years to come, but he was still off balance for several seconds.
Thankfully, Ashido didn't press her advantage. Instead, she kept her distance, a look of concern replacing the smile she had worn for the entire battle. It seemed like the battle between Katsuki and Uraraka had her feeling a little more skittish about fighting her friend than she had let on.
Her hesitation gave him a moment to recover, and to think about what had just happened. It took a moment of silently running over the battle in his head to realize what he had done.
He had tried to block a blow to the side because that's what Katsuki would have done. He would have pressed his advantage relentlessly until Izuku either yielded or was unable to move, whichever came first. The many hours of sparring that Izuku had logged with the explosive blond were both saving him and making him vulnerable, since he would have to fight both his opponent and his instincts.
He risked a glance down the alleyway and at the line of trash cans at the far end. It wasn't an exceptionally long run, but it would be taxing in his current state. Still, remaining in this fight would probably be even worse.
His gaze returned to Ashido, who had caught the look. She shook her head. "Don't you dare…"
He took off before she could finish her threat, making it to the end of the alley and clearing the line of cans in one smooth leap. Ashido moaned in annoyance, then pelted after him.
"Midori, get back here!" she called, preparing to leap over the cans after him, "You're the one who's supposed to be chasing me! There's a time limit and—"
"NOW!" Izuku cried, just as she reached the apex of her jump.
From a blind spot around the corner of the alley, Mineta yanked on the ball covered rope that the trash cans had been hiding, pulling it directly into Ashido's flight path.
She ran into the rope with a squawk, tumbling to the ground as she flailed wildly to get free. Her efforts only succeeded in attaching more of the sticky spheres to herself and pulling the rope tighter.
Before she could recover from the shock of the capture and think to use her acid to melt the spheres off of herself, she was blasted with a high powered stream of water.
Several feet away, Izuku was standing with his thumb over the nozzle of a hose, directing the flow at the pink girl. He wasn't quite sure how much acid she could produce at once, or how quickly she could do it, but he hoped that the amount of water he was blasting would be enough to dilute her acid long enough for Mineta to wrap his capture tape around her hands.
Izuku kept the spray going for nearly a minute before he realized something was wrong. Ashido was still pinned in place, but Mineta hadn't moved to capture her yet.
Izuku risked a glance towards his purple partner, but the boy was nowhere to be seen. His capture tape, however, was plainly visible. It was lying on the ground, exactly where Mineta had been hiding in preparation for their ambush.
Izuku's eyes danced around the alley, looking for any trace of Mineta and coming up empty. It was only when he heard the unmistakable monotone voice of Asui that Izuku realized he had forgotten to look above him for the second time that day.
Asui was stuck flat to the wall directly above him, clinging to the actual wall rather than to any visible handholds. Her long tongue was extended several feet away from her, the end wrapped tightly around Mineta's unconscious body.
"Surrender, hero, or your friend gets it, kero," she croaked, shaking her hostage slightly for emphasis.
Izuku paled. He'd hoped that Asui would be reluctant to leave the bomb alone after the ending of the first match. Apparently she cared more about keeping her partner safe than protecting the bomb.
He reacted instinctively, and turned the hose on Asui. Predictably, the spray did nothing to the frog-girl, sliding off of her hydrophobic costume easily.
In the process, however, the water stream hit Mineta full in the face. He jerked back to wakefulness with a cry of surprise, then screamed even louder when he realized he was currently suspended in midair by Asui's tongue alone.
Despite his considerably thrashing, Mineta was unable to free himself from her grip. He was successful in throwing her balance off and drawing her attention away from Izuku, which was enough for Izuku to make his move.
He grabbed the only nearby object that could serve as a weapon, one of the trash cans that they had used to build their trap, and hurled it at Asui. She dodged the can easily, but doing so put her well within Izuku's reach.
He leapt up and towards her, as high as his legs would carry him, with his arm cocked back for a powerful punch. But before he could get close to her something small, warm, and very loud slammed into his back and knocked him back to the ground.
Seeing the oncoming punch, Asui had adopted the exact same strategy as Izuku had moments before. Instead of a trash can, however, she had opted to use Izuku's own partner against him.
The two tangled together in a pile of limbs, which was only made worse as they each tried to free themselves. Izuku did his best to help the other boy up while Mineta tried to free himself while rubbing against Izuku as little as possible. Neither were very successful, though they did manage to separate eventually.
What they found when they finally regained their feet once more was far from encouraging. Asui had dropped to the ground and was standing at the far end of the alley in a fighting stance. Ashido, meanwhile, had dissolved the spheres and rope that had been binding her and had moved to cover the other end of the alley. Her smile had finally slipped away, leaving her looking quite grumpy and more than a little soggy from the ordeal.
"H-hey, no hard feeling about tying you up, right?" Mineta said, a slight quiver appearing in his voice as he noticed the look on Ashido's face, "It's just part of class!"
"Mmmmhmmm," Ashido grunted noncommittally in response.
Izuku's mind raced for a solution to their current predicament. Ashido had already proven that she could go toe to toe with Izuku, and Asui's tongue was strong and fast. Mineta, on the other hand, had confessed to being rather inexperienced with combat, putting him and Izuku at a significant disadvantage in a straight-up fight.
There was nowhere to run, either. The two of them had both of the exits blocked, and Izuku didn't like the idea of leaving their backs exposed to Ashido and Asui's powerful ranged attacks while retreating.
Then a burst of inspiration struck him. Both Ashido and Asui were facing them down, which meant there was no one guarding the bomb. Izuku had been so focused on defeating his opponents that he had forgotten the real goal of the exercise.
A wild, desperate plan occurred to him in that moment. It was risky and would be far from pleasant, even if it worked like he hoped it would, but it looked like their best shot.
"Mineta, your balls are soft, right?" Izuku asked, barely taking his eyes off of Asui long enough to see the nod of agreement from his partner, "Okay. I have an idea. I need you to get on my back."
"You need me to what?"
Izuku shot the shorter boy what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Trust me. I have a plan."
Mineta's face went through a wide range of emotions before finally settling on acceptance. He pulled two balls off of his head, one in either hand, and leapt onto Izuku's back in a surprisingly smooth motion.
"Lots of practice with high shelves," he said, in answer to the unasked question.
Ashido and Asui surged forward, trying to take Izuku down before he could put his plan into action, but they were a little bit too late.
He called on the inner fire of One for All, fanning its flames until it surged out from his core and through his body. Then, just as it felt like his skin was going to combust, Izuku aimed his fist toward the ground in front of him, and punched.
The blast of air from his punch ripped through the alleyway and sent everything that wasn't nailed down flying backwards. Ashido skipped along the pavement, picking up several bruises and scrapes as she did so, before finally coming to a rest in a rather large pile of trash bags that had been left by the curb. Asui wasn't quite so lucky. She smacked into the wall of a large office building, the impact leaving her with stars in her eyes. She, at least, wasn't injured quite as much as Izuku.
He soared through the air above the mock city, unable to enjoy the trip due to the agony shooting up his arm and the screams of terror that were coming from his and Mineta's throats. Even knowing what had been coming, the speed and distance that they were traveling shocked him to his very core. He had only been planning to send them a short distance, far enough that they would have a head start in the race to the bomb. Instead they had reached the apex of their arc as they were almost above the park, meaning they would come down on the other side of the area.
"Mineta, make a landing platform!" Izuku shouted, fighting to make himself heard over the wind.
"What?" Mineta shrieked back.
"Your balls. We can use them to land!"
"I can't make that many!" Mineta called back, his voice filled with fear.
Izuku's stomach dropped instantly. He hadn't even considered the fact that Mineta's Quirk might not have a high enough limit for what he'd been planning. The two hadn't talked very much the first day, so Izuku's data on his Quirk was spotty at best, but he still should have put the effort in. Just because Mineta was a little stand-offish didn't mean they couldn't be friends.
"It's okay," he called reassuringly, "You can do it!"
"No I can't!" Mineta sobbed, "I wanna go hoooome!"
"You have to try!" Izuku called back, his eyes turning towards the rapidly approaching street beneath them. "You're stronger than you think, I know it! You just need to believe!"
There was a moment of heart stopping silence while Mineta processed his words. For just a brief moment, Izuku entertained the idea that Mineta wouldn't do it, and it would be up to Izuku to stop them.
He might be able to do it. They were traveling pretty fast, so their momentum might cancel out the wind pressure of a second punch. There was an equal chance they'd be launched back up into the air, though, and this time Izuku wouldn't be able to do anything. He could also try something smaller than a punch, like flicking his wrist or his fingers, but he had no idea how much wind that would generate. If it wasn't enough to slow them down then they would be in just as much trouble as they were now, only he wouldn't have enough time to come up with another plan.
Between the roaring wind and how hard he was concentrating, Izuku almost missed Mineta's response.
"Fuck it," the smaller boy said, releasing the death grip on Izuku's back he'd been maintaining since takeoff and began to hurl his balls as fast as he could. They stuck fast to the ground and to each other, forming a small purple cushion on the ground beneath them.
Izuku was surprised by how firm the balls were as he slammed into them. They had just enough give that Izuku didn't break any more bones, though he could tell he had picked up several new bruises in the landing. The balls compressed with the force of the landing, then flexed back into shape, sending Izuku launching backwards. Or, they would have if Izuku hadn't been stuck fast to the cushion. Instead they just jerked on his skin painfully as he bounced up and down, unable to free himself.
Finally, the bouncing ended, and Izuku's sense of balance reasserted itself. He was lying almost flat on top of the pile, his arms and legs spread-eagled and his head forcibly turned to the left. Mineta was no longer on his back, though he had no idea where the other boy had ended up. He must have been catapulted off of Izuku's back at some point during the landing.
"Midoriya! You okay, dude?" Mineta called, running over to him. Blood was dripping out from under his mask, and he was definitely limping a little bit, but he seemed to be okay.
"Fine," Izuku grunted. It was difficult to talk with half of his face stuck in place, but he managed anyway.
Mineta quickly began to peel the balls away from Izuku. As the diminutive boy touched them, the balls surface changed from intensely sticky to completely smooth in an instant. The sensation was so alien to Izuku that he couldn't quite put it into words. The closest he could get was the time he had stuck his hand in a bucket of non-newtonian slime his class had made during an elementary school science class.
Once Mineta had freed him, Izuku clambered unsteadily to his feet. His right arm was completely shattered and sent shocks of pain through him with every step, but he could push through the pain for a little while longer. Long enough to complete the match, at least.
"We need to get moving. Ashido and Asui will make it back to the park soon. We need to get there before they do, or we won't stand a chance." Izuku said, shaking his legs to make sure they were still intact.
"Are you kidding me?" Mineta said in disbelief, "Dude, we almost got pancaked a minute ago, your arm looks like beef jerky, and my head is bleeding like crazy! I didn't sign up to get the shit kicked out of me during a training exercise! Let's just take the loss and go get healed."
"I can't," Izuku said, "I… I need to pass this class."
"Is this, like, to impress a girl or something? Because I think you're going overboard if that's the case."
"NO!" Izuku said, shocked by the accusation, "It's… it's for me. I need to prove that I deserve to be here. That passing wasn't a fluke. That I'm not useless."
Mineta stared at him incredulously for a moment before finally shaking his head. "You're a strange man, Midoriya."
Izuku let out a sigh of relief as he and Mineta burst into the clearing around the pond and found it empty. Somehow, they had beaten the odds and made it back first. Now they just had to finish the final stretch.
"Ummm, where's the bomb?" Mineta asked, glancing around the clearing.
"I think Asui hid it in the pond," Izuku said, indicating the spot where he had seen the suspicious bubble trail earlier. The trail itself was long gone, but Izuku was fairly certain that he still remembered the exact spot it had been in.
"You mean we have to go swimming now?" Mineta groaned.
"I, uh, can't really swim right now," Izuku replied, indicating his broken arm.
Mineta let out a deep sigh in response, then pulled off his cape and boots. He set them down in a messy pile next to Izuku, then shot the taller boy a glare.
"The girls better start throwing themselves at me after this," he said before taking a series of deep breaths and leaping into the water.
Izuku was surprised with the grace of the dive. The diminutive boy hardly made a splash as he cut through the water and disappeared from view. His form was swift, sure, and looked quite practiced in Izuku's opinion.
Before he could ponder it further, a voice from behind him sent a shiver up his spine.
"Hey Midori," Ashido practically purred. Despite the sweet tone and friendly nickname, she could not have been more menacing.
Izuku spun to see both her and Asui emerging from the overgrown shrubbery. They were both limping, and their costumes were scuffed and torn in several places. Asui's hair had been pulled from its usual careful braid by the wind blast from his earlier punch, giving her a particularly feral look. Ashido's white domino mask had vanished at some point, leaving her face totally bare as she marched toward him.
There was no way he could win. Even if his arm hadn't been broken, he wasn't skilled enough to take on two opponents at once. Even still, Izuku planted his feet and raised his remaining arm in a fist. He might not be able to win, but he was going to go down swinging.
"The bomb has been disabled! The hero team wins!" All Might's voice boomed through the arena, making everyone jump in shock.
The sense of relief that shot through Izuku at those words sent him toppling forward as his legs finally gave out. It was over. Somehow, someway, they'd managed to pull out a victory.
A pair of strong arms caught him before he could hit the ground. He glanced up to find Ashido staring down at him, looking surprisingly concerned considering that they had been opponents just moments before.
"What the heck happened to you? I only got a couple of hits in, but you look like you just got hit by a car."
"My Quirk," he explained, "I'm… not good at controlling it."
"Wait, you break your bones every time?" she said, "I thought that first day was just an accident or something."
"No it's… pretty regular."
"That sounds rough, kero," Asui said, stepping over to his side and crouching down. "Do you think you can make it to Recovery Girl's office, or do you need someone to carry you?"
"I'll be fine," Izuku said, trying to struggle to his feet. His legs refused to respond, however, and he collapsed back into Ashido's grip.
"No, you won't," Ashido said, sliding his arm over her shoulder so that he could lean on her for support. "Tsuyu, can you make sure his arm doesn't move?"
Working together, they managed to hoist him to his feet with a minimal amount of jostling. Asui's control of her tongue allowed for small, deft movements in addition to the powerful swings that she had demonstrated in the match and their Quirk assessment. She used this ability to keep his arm steady during the process, which Izuku was immensely thankful for.
Before they could start heading towards Recovery Girl's office, the irritated voice of Mineta cut them off.
"Man, I did all the work. How come he gets carried back by pretty girls?"
"Because he's hurt, kero," Asui replied dryly, "and because he didn't get captured while ogling Ashido when she was tied up."
The look that Ashido shot the diminutive boy was filled with so much venom that Izuku could swear she had gained the ability to project acid from her eyes as well.
Mineta clicked his tongue. "You guys are just salty that you lost."
"We almost beat you a bunch of times!" Ashido complained. "Especially at the end there. If we'd been a bit quicker, you'd be the salty one!"
"Do you have any idea who you're talking to?" Mineta asked, pulling himself up slightly and presenting his best 'imperious' attitude, "third place in Kanagawa prefecture's under-four-foot swim meet two years running. You never stood a chance."
"Not sure a bronze medal is something to brag about," Asui said, placing a finger to her chin and cocking her head to the side. "But I'm surprised. I didn't take you for the athletic type."
"What, just because I appreciate the female form, I can't be into sports? I'll have you know, I'm quite multifaceted. In fact, if you want to hang out this weekend, I'll show you just how unique I am."
"Thanks but no thanks."
"Alert!" a mechanical voice called from behind them, "Blood has been detected!"
"Agreed. Student is injured. Give us the student!" a second voice said.
Izuku craned his neck around to get a look at the new arrivals. They were a pair of mid-sized robots with white plating and Recovery Girl's stylized "R" symbol branded on their chests. They were holding a stretcher between them and looking up at Izuku expectantly.
"Uhhh, what's with the freaky robots?" Ashido asked, stepping away from the pair.
They didn't look particularly intimidating, especially when compared to the faux villains from the entrance exam but there was something about their voices that sent a slight chill down Izuku's spine.
"Young Ashido, Asui, and Mineta, please leave young Midoriya with the recovery bots and make your way back to the observation room for your debrief and for the next match," All Might said, voice issuing from the speaker in the rightmost robot.
"Are you sure?" Ashido asked, glancing at the robot's expressionless faces, "They seem a little…"
"Ah, yes. Apparently a former student reprogrammed their voice lines for a prank, and the support department has been unable to change them back. I am told you get used to it."
"Give us the weakened one! He will be upgraded!" the second bot said, not helping the situation one bit.
"Midori, if they try to add any robot bits to you, I want you to run, okay?" Ashido whispered as she slowly lowered him onto the stretcher.
That brought a smile to his face, despite the pain he was in. "I'll do my best."
As the possible murderbots trundled him away, Izuku watched his three classmates wave goodbye to him before slowly beginning to pick their way back to the rest of the class. It was only when they were finally out of sight that he fully flopped back onto the stretcher and let the tears flow freely.
"Young man, this is the second day in a row that I have seen you," Recovery Girl said, clicking her tongue as she examined his broken arm. "I don't care for repeat visitors, particularly with this much frequency."
"I-I'm sorry," Izuku muttered, dipping his head in apology, "I didn't mean to disappoint you."
She sighed and hopped back in her chair. "I wish your type weren't so sincere in your apologies. It makes it so much harder to stay irritated with you."
"My type?" Izuku asked, cocking his head in confusion.
"Young man I had to deal with All Might practically every day while he was training here. Though his injuries were at least inflicted by someone other than himself."
That gave Izuku pause. Despite knowing about All Might's injury, it was hard to picture anyone being able to seriously battle against the hero. Even when he had still been in training.
"The problem is that your injuries are worse by far," Recovery Girl continued, "and you haven't had sufficient time to recover from your last healing. You'll have to wait for your stamina to recover somewhat before I can use my Quirk on you again, and that will take a few days."
Izuku winced. The idea of spending the weekend with a broken arm was not an appealing one. There was nothing to be done for it, however. He was extremely well versed in how Recovery Girl's Quirk used the body's natural energy to accelerate the healing process to superhuman levels. If the patient didn't have enough energy for the healing, the process could be deadly.
He was especially familiar with Recovery Girl's Quirk since she was one of the most prominent healing heroes in the world, and there had been a point in his childhood when Izuku had been convinced that his invisible Quirk was simply an undiscovered healing Quirk. The conditions for activating such a Quirk could be arcane, and there had been several instances of children realizing they had a healing Quirk much later than their peers. Unfortunately for Izuku, "later than usual" meant around seven or eight years old. He'd also tried every way he could think of to heal or patch up an existing injury, but to no avail.
A sharp rap on the door startled both of them, Recovery Girl because she hadn't been expecting her services to be needed again anytime soon, and Izuku because he hadn't been expecting to hear that particular knock while class was still in session.
"Is that nerd healed yet?" Katsuki called through the door, "Cuz if he is, I owe him a beating."
"He's kidding," Izuku explained to Recovery Girl, who had cocked an eyebrow. "Mostly."
She rolled her eyes, but let him in anyways. He stalked in, already changed out of his hero costume and back into his uniform and stood next to Izuku's bed, glaring first at Izuku's obviously still broken arm, then at Recovery Girl. His lips curled into a snarl, but Izuku cut him off before he could say anything they both might regret.
"K-Kacchan, shouldn't you be in class? There's still one more match."
Katsuki still looked angry, but he turned away from Recovery Girl with a click of his tongue. "Nah. Bunch of losers don't even know how to dissect a fight. I was doing all the work, and I don't need them leeching off me any more. Besides, we both know that fight's gonna be one sided as hell."
Izuku had to agree. As powerful as Tokoyami and Kaminari's Quirks were, the fight had been pretty heavily stacked against them. Aoyama's Quirk was the best counter to Tokoyami's, and Yaoyorozu's versatility and intelligence would only tilt the balance further in their favor. It was possible that there would be some tactical lapse or surprise upset, but Izuku didn't think it was very likely.
"Maybe. But it's still not good to skip class."
"Save it. I've wasted enough time with BS classes already. If they're not gonna let me fight again, I'm just gonna head home. Was going to let you come with once you got fixed up, maybe try and scope out some heroes on the way, but that's not fucking happening now."
"Kacchan, you know I don't like skipping class. Besides, you forgot about Ashido's party. That's after school today," Izuku supplied helpfully.
"I didn't forget shit," Katsuki snapped, "I'm not going."
"They're our classmates Kacchan. You should get to know them. Make some friends besides me."
"Why should I? Corpse threatened to expel someone on day one. Sooner or later he's going to follow through on that and kick a bunch of the extras out of class."
"That was just to scare us into doing our best. He wouldn't actually expel someone for no reason," Izuku said.
"He would, actually," Recovery Girl supplied, looking up from her paperwork briefly, "He expels those who he doesn't think can handle the hero course. Not all of us agree, but he has some sort of special deal with the principal."
Izuku felt his stomach drop. Part of the reason he'd been defending Aizawa was to assuage his own fears. After all, if the man had threatened to drop a student from the program once, he could do it again. Izuku had only just scraped by the first time, and he wasn't so sure he could do it again, especially after seeing what his classmates could really do that day. There had been some spectacular displays of ability from everyone else. Meanwhile, all Izuku had done was run away and break his own arm in the process.
The sudden crack of an explosion next to his ear nearly caused Izuku to leap out of bed in surprise. He should really be used to explosions at this point, given how long he had spent near Katsuki. Then again, the blond had very few chances to actually use his Quirk freely. The teachers had punished any on campus use of the ability severely, so he had only really been able to use it at the Lair, and even then he had had to mute the explosions so they didn't carry to far.
"Fuck off with that depressive shit Izuku," Katsuki said, leveling a glare at his friend. "Don't think I can't see you thinking about getting kicked out. That's BS. You've gotten further with half a Quirk than half these posers. You work that shit out and you'll finally be ready to be my sidekick, and leave the rest of them in the fucking dust."
Izuku couldn't help it. He smiled at Katsuki's naked ambition. For as long as he could remember, his friend had burned with the desire to be the best, to be the number one hero in the world. Izuku knew he could do it too. He'd always known. The only question was whether Izuku would be able to follow behind him, or be left in the dust.
But Katsuki had never seen it that way. He might call Izuku a nerd, and threaten to beat him up all the time, but he had never doubted that Izuku would be coming with him. And for that, Izuku would always be thankful.
"Thanks Kacchan."
"You can thank me by not doing it again. Shit's annoying."
"I'll do my best," Izuku said. Then, a thought occurred to him. "Kacchan, you still owe me that ramen from earlier, right? I think I want to cash that in after school."
"Eh?" Katsuki frowned for a moment as he tried to figure out what Izuku was getting at. Then, his eye widened. "No. I know what you're trying to do, and the answer is no. I won that match fair and square. I don't owe you shit."
Small as it was, Izuku sensed weakness. And while he normally would feel bad about pressing something like this, he didn't mind doing it for a good cause.
"The bet wasn't about whether you'd win. It was whether someone would put up a decent fight. And I think Uraraka definitely did that."
"I took her and Horns on at the same time, and the only reason I didn't flatten them is because of some arbitrary bullshit. How is that a decent fight?"
"The part where you had to use your bracers, even though you told me you wouldn't need them."
Katsuki opened his mouth to disagree, then stopped short. As angry as he obviously was to have his own careless bet turned against him, he was firm about never going back on his word.
"Fine. I owe you a ramen. But I'm not going to the damn party. You wanna waste your time with that, fine. But I'm going to go do something productive."
"Kacchan, please? It won't be the same without you."
"Fucking why? You're the one who's always going on about making friends. I don't care."
"But… maybe you could find a training partner? Or something. I just… I don't want to go alone."
Katsuki snorted. "Aren't you all buddy buddy with Round Face and Raccoon Eyes now? Why don't you just go with them and leave me out of it?"
"Because you're my friend too. Me having more friends doesn't change that. But it's different with you. I don't have to worry about messing up."
He could see Katsuki wavering. It was subtle, a slight aversion of the eyes and a tensing of his hands, but the signs were there. Of course, seeing this made Izuku feel incredibly guilty. He hated using their friendship like this. But he couldn't think of a better way to get Katsuki to come along to the party. He was even more resistant to social interaction than Izuku was, willing to push people away at the slightest sign of deceit. But this was his chance to see that not everyone was like that. There were some people out there who meant what they said, and who would accept Katsuki as he was. Who would be his friend, despite all of his prickliness, just like Izuku was.
"Please Kacchan. For me?"
For a long moment, he thought his plea had fallen short. Then Katsuki sighed heavily and rose to his feet.
"I'm never doing you a favor again. And I'm making you sing something stupid in front of everyone as punishment."
Izuku's face lit up into a smile. He knew it was a tall task, to have Katsuki stay up late and come to an event he didn't care for just so that Izuku could feel better, so he was immensely thankful that Katsuki had agreed.
Katsuki might not always be the most vocal with his friendship, but the explosive blond showed it in other, more subtle ways. And that was something Izuku would always be thankful for.
"Thank you."
Katsuki grunted noncommittally in response, then grabbed his bag and started out the door. "See you in class, you damn nerd," he called back, refusing to acknowledge the thanks.
"See you," Izuku replied, before he leaned back with a sigh.
He felt much better after the exchange with Katsuki, but the dull ache coming from his arm was a constant reminder that not everything was okay. Even with the friends that he had made, he still had a long way to go before he truly felt like he was a proper member of their class.
Still, the fact that he was going to a party with friends was more than enough to keep him going, to let him bear the pain for as long as it took. He was going to have fun if it killed him and, if he was truly lucky, he might even make a new friend.
"While I appreciate your enthusiasm Toshinori, I would appreciate it if you would keep such deviations to a minimum in the future," Nedzu said, closing the file in front of him.
Toshinori quailed under the calm and peaceful look the pint-sized principal was giving him. It wasn't often that someone made him feel small and helpless, but Nedzu had a way of doing it that was more effective than anyone Toshinori had ever known before.
Part of it, he thought, was the all too familiar sensation of being called into the principal's office for a scolding. It may have been many years since he had sat in this same position, desperately trying to figure out which piece of accidentally broken gym equipment had been discovered and landed him there, but he still felt like he had been transported back in time.
"I'm very sorry," Toshinori said, bowing as low as he could without actually throwing himself to the ground.
He really was too. Seeing the children who were supposed to be in his care with injuries like that, particularly young Midoriya, had been a shock to the system and had shown him that he had made a mistake better than anything else could have.
Coming into the class, he'd been more excited than he had been in years. Signing up to teach at UA had been a means to an end when he had first begun to entertain the idea, but his summer with young Midoriya had changed that attitude. Watching the boy go from a scrawny hopeful to a viable hero candidate had been truly inspiring. The boy's passion and dedication reminded him of his own training so many years ago.
He'd wanted to share that experience with the class, and what better way than one of his favorite training exercises from his own days at UA?
The first match had shown him that things were different for these students. Young Bakugou and Uraraka had gone after each other with such ferocity that he had been taken aback. One moment they had been students, and the next they had become a pair of dueling warriors. He had known, of course, that hero training would eventually harden them, strip them of their youthful looks and attitudes. He'd thought he would have years before that happened though, not mere moments.
After that, things had just continued to go off the rails. Despite switching back to the predetermined lesson plan, the students had shown surprising amounts of aggression toward each other. Even the timid young Koda had used his power for offense rather than exploration or defense.
The attitude was something he might have expected to see among the students in their later years, once they had gained confidence in their abilities and their control. Not in children barely out of middle school who had been looking at their hero costumes with such wonder earlier that day.
He silently cursed himself for his failure to create a proper atmosphere for those students, for putting them through more than they should have had to handle.
"Now now, Toshinori, none of that," Nedzu said, rapping his paw sharply on the desk to grab Toshinori's attention, "I believe that you, as well as the rest of us here, have forgotten that you are a student of teaching as much as your charges are students of heroism. That means there will be struggles, and yes mistakes, as you grow into the role. That does not make you a failure, it makes you a person."
Toshinori sighed. Nedzu was right, of course. He always was. Still, it did not make his guilt any easier to bear, nor would it make his apology to Aizawa any easier.
"You don't need to worry about your peers either," Nedzu continued, eerily predicting Toshinori's thoughts. "While they may be quite proficient now, they all made similar mistakes when they were beginning their careers. It's inevitable when pro heroes attempt to adjust to a more civilian lifestyle. You may ask Miss Kayama to tell you about the dodgeball incident if hearing an example would ease your mind. She quite enjoys sharing that story, if I recall correctly."
That did bring a smile to Toshinori's face. Nemuri had been exceptionally welcoming to him, but he had noticed her tendency to tease her fellows did lead to the sharing of many stories at his and the other teachers' expense.
"Now, I believe it's time you get going," Nedzu said, "I expect to see you here bright and early tomorrow. You'll need to work hard if you want to be up to snuff for their next foundational heroics class."
Toshinori nodded his agreement, then rose slowly to his feet. Between capturing several villains on his way to school and maintaining his muscular form for a whole class, he had maxed out the time limit on his transformation, which had left him feeling rather exhausted. His muscles ached, and he knew from experience that it would take a long soak in the tub before he felt normal again. Or as normal as he could these days.
"Oh, and Toshinori?" Nedzu called just before the man could exit the room, "Do be patient with yourself. I know many things come easily to you, but not every skill can be intuited. Everyone needs a tutorial now and again, even the mighty All Might."
There was something about the way Nedzu said the words that made them stick in Toshinori's brain as he made his way back to the teacher's lounge to collect his things. They bounced around, nagging at the man until finally, just as he was prepared to leave, they clicked.
He wasn't the only one who had been thrust into a new situation without any guidance, or the only one floundering under such circumstances.
He slapped a palm to his face as he realized that he was failing as a teacher on more than one level. He had been waiting for young Midoriya to grasp on to One for All in the same way that he had, without any need for coaching or assistance.
A quick search of Aizawa's desk netted him the boy's contact information. He was thankful that Aizawa rarely used the desk, preferring to use whatever surface was closest to him at the time to fill out paperwork, which meant he didn't have to sort through too many papers.
With that done, Toshinori flipped open his phone and punched in the number for the Midoriya household. He would have preferred to contact his protege directly, but the school did not keep the student's personal numbers on hand. He would have to risk a discussion with the boy's mother, keeping the topic of the conversation as vague as possible.
Thankfully, no one picked up. Instead Toshinori was greeted by a rather adorable message from a much younger Midoriya apologizing for missing the call and instructing him to leave a message after the tone. The happiness and enthusiasm in the boy's voice brought a bright smile to Toshinori's face. It warmed his heart to know that Midoriya's enthusiasm and positive attitude had been just as prevalent in his childhood as they were now.
When the tone finally came, Toshinori cleared his throat and spoke as clearly as he could.
"Greetings, young Midoriya. It has been brought to my attention that you and I are long overdue for a discussion about your Quirk…"
First off, thank you to everyone who's been sticking with this story despite its long and inconsistent upload schedule. Your continued support means the world to me. I'm trying to get better about my writing schedule, and I think I've improved a fair bit, so my uploads should get a bit more frequent. And thank you to everyone who has joined part way through. The fact that you were willing to take a chance on an unfinished fic like mine is just awesome. I hope that you'll continue to stick around as we go on.
Also, thank you to RinneSage726 onfor pointing out that not sticking to the Japanese school conventions was stupid. You were absolutely right. I do my best, but sometimes I get a bit overzealous with my changes and do something ridiculous. Thanks for keeping me honest, and for improving this fic as a whole.
I know many of you have been wanting to know about Izuku's invisible Quirk. It wasn't my intention to keep you in the dark for so long. I have a tendency to condense plot lines in my head, which led me to think "Oh yeah, I can totally get to USJ within a chapter or two. Please don't judge me too harsly. That said, I don't want to keep you waiting much longer. It's my intention to make getting to the USJ and the reveal of Izuku's Quirk specifics ASAP. To that end, I plan to concentrate heavily on this fic once IzuMina week is over at the end of this month. Ideally I'll get two chapters out during April, assuming coronavirus doesn't end the world by then :D, putting us squarely at the reveal (and one of the scenes I've been looking forward to writing the most) by the end of it.
Thank you once again for reading, and I hope you all have an excellent and glutinous day!
