The students stared ahead at the teachers with trepidation. The teachers stared back confidently. There was an unspoken communication between most of the class wondering who would have the unfortunate task of fighting All Might. In unison, the class all turned to stare at Izuku, praying that he could undertake the task. Mr. Aizawa cleared his throat before he pulled up a list to display the matchups to the class. They each searched for their names frantically to find which teacher they would be fighting. Izuku stared at who he would be fighting and sighed. He and Yaoyorozu would be fighting their homeroom teacher. Izuku glared at the list hoping if he looked long enough, he could fight a different teacher.
"Why do you look so troubled Mr. Midoriya." The principal chirped from his perch in Mr. Aizawa's scarf. Izuku made eye contact with Nedzu and a chill ran down his spine. The principal had always seemed to know more than he let on in Izuku's meetings with him.
"Honestly, I wanted to fight Mr. Aizawa the least. If I had any other teammate, I would just accept failure right now." The class seemed taken aback by Izuku's comment.
"I know you're strong, but at least it's not All Might." Uraraka said. Izuku shrugged, indifferently. All Might also seemed to be giving the stink eye to Izuku, but it was quickly broken up as the class was taken to a bus with each of their respective teachers. On Mr. Aizawa bus, he sat in the front while Izuku and Yaoyorozu made their way a bit back from him to talk about strategy.
"Do you have any ideas for beating Mr. Aizawa, Midoriya?" Yaoyorozu asked as she glanced back and forth between her teammate and enemy. Izuku looked in his direction for a moment before he shook his head.
"Unfortunately, I have zero clue how to beat him. He's probably one of the most dangerous teachers to fight. The only thing I can do is rely on you." Izuku admitted as he leaned back. Yaoyorozu seemed to be overwhelmed by the task laid upon her, but Izuku tapped her shoulder. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not telling you to fight him by yourself, but whatever plan we make will need to hinge on you and your quirk."
Yaoyorozu sat for a moment in contemplation before she figured it out. "It's because he can stop me from creating, but can't erase a creation, right?" Izuku nodded as he began to think of how they would approach this.
"The first question is escaping or capturing? What do you think?" Izuku inquired
"I think capture would be our best option. Let me explain." Yaoyorozu and Izuku dove deep into their strategy to counter Aizawa's erasure. They talked as quietly as possible, but the faint glow from the back alerted Aizawa that they were preparing for him.
It wasn't too long before they arrived at the site of their exam, and Izuku and Yaoyorozu were left at the front of the city as the bus took Aizawa to another part of the city. The pair went over their strategy one more time before the signal went off and they made their way into the city. Izuku took off his coat and threw it at Yaoyorozu. "Since you're the crux of the plan you cannot lose your quirk. Use this to help create an opening."
They approached through the city slowly with Izuku taking the lead with a small fire in his hand while Yaoyorozu stayed behind him using his large fire coat as covering. There was still the faint glow of her creation being active behind him.
"Do you think this will actually work? I just threw this plan together." Yaoyorozu called from inside the fire coat.
"I think it's a good plan. The only thing I'm worried about is if I can catch him while you distract him. If I can't then just run." Suddenly, Izuku's fire went out and a scarf wrapped around the fire coat dragging Yaoyorozu back and slamming her into a fence directly behind her.
Just as quickly Mr. Aizawa sent out his scarf to wrap around Izuku, but Izuku dodged to the side and ran towards Aizawa. Izuku swung a fist forward, but Aizawa dodged using his capture weapon and continued his assault. From Izuku's perception, he could tell Aizawa was serious about taking him down. The exchanges were quick, but Aizawa had a clear advantage in hand to hand combat.
Izuku managed to parry what he could but he kept getting pushed back. Suddenly, he felt the familiar fire of his quirk and shot it forward quickly forcing Aizawa to dodge to the side while simultaneously gaining breathing room.
"You're not bad without your quirk but spelling out your strategy without knowing where I was, was a mistake. Especially not including your partner more in your plan." Mr. Aizawa lectured as he prepared to attack again. Izuku smirked for a moment before he glanced to the side. Aizawa reacted and turned back quickly when he saw no one was there.
In that instance, Izuku had already closed in a good deal and Aizawa responded by lashing out with a kick which seemed to strike Izuku right above his eye. It didn't stop Izuku from coming forward and for a moment Aizawa was nervous. "Don't you remember who I interned with, Mr. Aizawa? A kick like that doesn't have a chance of slowing me down." Izuku looked feral as blood dripped down the side of his face. Seeing the opening he created, Izuku grabbed Aizawa and tripped him. Slamming him into the pavement.
It didn't seem to faze Aizawa who quickly escaped Izuku and wrapped him in his capture weapon from beneath him. Aizawa dusted himself off as he stood up. The dust and force of the slam had forced his eyes closed, but he quickly reactivated it to prevent Izuku from escaping. He heard a noise behind him and turned quickly.
Yaoyorozu was prepared to activate her quirk from her hand. But Aizawa was going to beat her to the punch as he was already blinking, preparing to stop her. In an instant, a hand slid in front of Aizawa's eyes. And he found his left arm wrenched behind his back. This gave Yaoyorozu the chance to shoot the material forward. Because of the increased temperature from Izuku using his time stop, the material suddenly hardened around Aizawa and Izuku while Yaoyorozu produced handcuffs to put on Aizawa.
Once Aizawa was secure, Izuku was left free of the capture material Yaoyorozu had made. With his newfound freedom, Izuku slipped to the ground for a moment and sat. Yaoyorozu rushed to check on him but he merely held up a hand. "That's still so tiring, but I'll be alright." Aizawa seemed shocked by the sudden development before he realized he had been set up.
"So, from the beginning you planned to use yourself as a decoy while your teammate focused on capture. Impressive, but a risky gamble." Aizawa seemingly complimented. Yaoyorozu undid the handcuffs and helped Aizawa up. With the exam results decided, the three made their way to the bus which took them back to the campus.
They were then brought to the observation room where Recovery Girl, Uraraka, and Aoyama were already waiting. "Did you two win already?" Izuku asked as he walked into the room. Uraraka seemed to stiffen for a moment before responding.
"Yea, we were fighting Thirteen and I managed to catch her when she dragged me towards her." Uraraka replied. Izuku congratulated them both as he stood next to Recovery Girl.
"How's it looking so far, gran?" Izuku asked turning towards the screen. He hadn't really timed the fight with his teacher, but he didn't expect so few to be done.
"Several of your classmates have already finished their exams and are on their way here. From then on it will be their decision if they watch the remaining matches or if they go to the dorms." Izuku seemed to light up at the information.
"Does that mean so far everyone has passed?" Izuku asked excitedly. Recovery Girl shook her head before returning her attention to the monitor.
"Unfortunately, Mina Ashido, Denki Kaminari, Eijiro Kirishima, and Rikido Sato all failed. They missed the point of the exam and failed to analyze their situation. They were completely overwhelmed by their exam supervisor." Izuku thought carefully about the teachers they matched up with and saw the issues that may have occurred without proper planning. Izuku turned his head to watch the screen. He was greeted with an image of Midnight chasing Mineta. "This child also seems to be missing the point of being a hero. Maybe it isn't for him."
Izuku watched carefully as Midnight chased Mineta across the examination field. "Yea he doesn't seem like much at a glance. He's a pervert who only wants to get popular with girls, but he chose heroics to do it. I don't think anyone who would put their life on the line for their goals is that bad a person." As if he heard Izuku's statement, Mineta shot into action. Dodging Midnight's attack and trapping her and her whip in the field. "He made it into heroics and stayed in with Mr. Aizawa's teaching. He has to have some potential for it."
He then ran across the field back to where Sero was passed out. Izuku was impressed to say the least, especially to beat a hero like Midnight who plays to his weaknesses. Recovery Girl cleared her throat. "Maybe even something like that can be fuel to make a good hero." By this point, most of the class had arrived. Some of those who failed the practical portion made their way back to the dorms, but most of the class wanted to stay for the match that had yet to start.
Izuku watched as Todoroki and Bakugo seemed to still be arguing about their plan of action. It was almost painful to watch the two of them as they seemed so out of sync. All Might was standing in front of the gate. It seemed as though his strategy would be to wait for them at the gate and stop them. All Might then pulled back his fist in his familiar motion and leveled a path through the city from gate to gate. The entire class was shellshocked at the display of power.
Even Recovery Girl seemed to be speechless at the development. All Might truly appeared to be a villain as he descended upon the two students. His moves seemed to be designed to finish the fight quickly. Bakugo and Todoroki, for their part, seemed to agree that the path they wanted to choose was fighting and capturing, but All Might pulled no punches in the matter. All Might descended on them like a plague and knocked them around, giving no chance to counterattack or retreat.
It was frustrating to watch because there were no holes in All Might's assault. Most of the teachers seemed to be inconvenienced by the weights, but someone of All Might's strength wasn't comparable to students even with the weights. All Might destroyed any opportunity Bakugo and Todoroki attempted to create, not even giving them the chance to coordinate an attack.
The temperature of the observation room began to rise and Izuku found himself ready to attack All Might. From what he could tell, he seemed to be trying to prove a point as a hero rather than teach them a lesson as a teacher. "That stuck-up bastard. Recovery Girl what would happen if I were to interfere in their exam." Izuku asked, already making his way towards the door.
"Normally you would fail your own exam and be at risk of further academic actions; but if you were to follow the principal's logic of a villain attack, I don't see why you couldn't support them." Izuku smiled as he closed in on the door before Recovery Girl spoke again. "However, as a doctor I can't allow you to leave this room in that condition." Izuku glanced back at Recovery Girl and smiled.
"That's no problem, which direction is the city they're in right now." Recovery Girl tilted her head to the right, curious as Izuku sat for a moment. The rest of the class seemed shocked that Recovery Girl would allow the interference in the exam, and Iida began to chop his arms to reprimand Izuku when Yaoyorozu spoke up.
"Can you use your quirk from this distance?" She inquired as she continued to watch the screen. At this point, All Might was flinging them like ragdolls and leaving no opportunities anymore. Todoroki and Bakugo were simply firing their quirks off to attempt to create some kind of defense.
"I'm not sure honestly but I don't have a choice at the moment. Is that screen a live feed?" Recovery Girl hummed back an affirmative as she continued to watch. Izuku's stomach growled as he struggled to maintain focus. Suddenly, Yaoyorozu had an idea and she dug through her costume and produced a snack and threw it at Izuku as he continued to try and find the perfect timing. Izuku hungrily devoured the snack as he finally found their approximate location.
"That's a super calorie snack that should give you more than enough fuel to use your quirk." Yaoyorozu called. She normally wouldn't facilitate cheating, but Izuku had stood by her plan and helped see it through. She felt like the least she could do was back him up in this.
"Thanks. Now let's get started." The temperature of the room had finally evened out and Izuku's eyes glowed a brilliant green. "It was hard to find their heat sources, but now I've got it." Simultaneously, All Might was closing in on Bakugo yet again and Bakugo looked desperate. He had pain in his face, seeing the distance between himself and the number one hero. It was difficult for anyone to watch. He let loose a few weak explosions that seemed to do nothing to All Might. Suddenly Bakugo's next explosion expanded much larger than any explosion he had ever managed.
It was such a violent explosion that it even shook the observation room and for a time the screen was not visible aside from debris. When the smoke did begin to dissipate, part of the city in which they had been fighting had been completely leveled and there was a trail of ice leading into the distance. Bakugo and Todoroki were no where to be seen, but neither was All Might.
Izuku's classmates in the observation room were shocked. And even Recovery Girl wanted to blame old age on what she had just seen. From such a distance to produce that much damage in terms of attack power and combat, Izuku was definitely on an entirely different level than his classmates.
The camera angle continued to move until they found Todoroki dragging Bakugo down an ice path towards the gate. They both looked very worse for wear and Todoroki was sporting a noticeable limp as he made his way through the city. They crossed the gate without much incident and collapsed sparking concern through the class.
Recovery Girl gathered her equipment to begin moving them as All Might came into view on the screen. Parts of his costume were singed off and one of his weights was missing from the hand that was closest to the explosion, but otherwise he looked perfectly healthy. He gathered up the boys and made a dash back to campus. Izuku followed Recovery Girl to her office where All Might arrived soon after.
He seemed to share a glance with Recovery Girl before dashing out. Izuku could care less as he sat in the room while Recovery Girl treated the two. "Do you think less of All Might because of today?" She asked after she had finished the treatment. Izuku pondered over the question for a moment before he replied.
"I don't think less of him, but it seems like he's not interested in us. Like he's looking at something else and isn't training us as seriously." Recovery Girl didn't respond, but she looked conflicted as if she wanted to say something to Izuku. "I think he's similar to Stain in some ways. He sees a problem in our society, and he wants to fix it his way for better or worse."
Recovery Girl snorted at the comparison. "That's insulting, considering one is the number one hero and the other is a murderer. But otherwise for as long as I've known All Might, it's a valid statement. He does what he wants, and thinks is best without regard to how it might affect things." Izuku let Recovery Girl's last part hang in the air before he responded.
"I think one's problem was caused by the other. When I fought against the hero killer, he was definitely strong. But in a lot of reports, they said he was a failed hero course student. How does someone with that much potential fall out of hero school? It has to be a product of hero schools and society hunting powerful quirks." Recovery Girl seemed to ponder over the information before she paused and made a face. Izuku recognized this and then also paused and repeated what he had just said to himself. "I wasn't supposed to tell you that please forget I mentioned it."
Recovery Girl put up a small smile. "I'll trade one secret for another. All Might is more focused on someone else in this school and has neglected some of his teaching duties because of that". Izuku stared at Recovery Girl like she had grown a second head before he turned back.
"How long do you think it'll be before they wake up?" Izuku asked.
"You'll at least have enough time to change into your normal clothes and come back." Recovery Girl replied. Izuku nodded and left the room to change. Most of the class had already moved onto the dorms but Izuku made his way back to the infirmary and waited for Bakugo and Todoroki to wake up. It took a couple hours, but eventually they stirred awake and Recovery Girl told them about what happened. She left out the part of Izuku's involvement, leaving him to explain. He promptly cleared his throat to get the duos' attention. He then put his face to the floor as he bowed.
"I'm so sorry for interfering in your exam. I attacked All Might from the observation room using my quirk. I hope you two can forgive me." Bakugo reacted as one would expect and stormed out of the room violently while flipping his bed in his wake. Todoroki, on the other hand, sat calmly for a moment before he responded.
"I don't think I'm mad. We would have failed without your interference. I think the apology is truthfully unnecessary. The distance between us was too great." Todoroki said as he made his way out of the bed. "Are you heading to the dorm, Midoriya?" Izuku nodded as he collected his things and made his way back to the dorms with Todoroki in tow.
"So how did you manage to push All Might away so severely?" Todoroki asked as they made their way back to the dorm. Izuku replied quickly.
"I don't think I pushed him back that far. I think he just let his guard down there. But it took almost all my remaining energy to manage that attack." Todoroki nodded as they made their way back to the dorms. As they began to close in on the dorms, they saw a muscular form in front of the dorms. It was All Might still clothed in one of his suits. From what Izuku could tell from a distance, he was frowning. "Go ahead without me, Todoroki. I'll catch up in a little bit." Izuku instructed.
Todoroki made his way into the dorm and Izuku stood in front of All Might with his arms crossed before speaking. "I'm not sure what the principal is thinking allowing you to interfere with the exam like that, but that was very uncalled for, Young Midoriya. Heroes need to be able to stand on their own to be able to get stronger." Izuku glared for a moment before he sighed.
"If that's what you think that's fine, but one person can't hold up everyone. It'll always fail." Izuku stated calmly. All Might towered over him, but Izuku wouldn't back down in this situation. All Might could also feel that this conversation was going nowhere, and he sighed.
"You and I will be having a meeting with Nedzu and Aizawa to discuss this immediately. Come with me." Izuku followed All Might silently back towards the school building. He knew the consequences he could face when he decided to do it and was ready to face them, but it didn't make it less frustrating to be in this situation. He marched behind All Might to the principal's office where he found a group of teachers sitting.
They each had a small tablet and also the large monitor of the room they were in playing videos. One appeared to be the video from All Might's examination and the other appeared to be the video from the observation room. The conversation and video playing came to a halt as Izuku and All Might entered the room. "You've caused quite a stir yet again, Mr. Midoriya. Would you like some tea?" Izuku once again accepted the offer, taking a cup and having a seat in the corner.
"The room is almost in total agreement of the course of action we need to take here, but we're having a bit of trouble debating this. We thought you would like to hear the results of our deliberations." The principal stated with his usual enthusiasm, taking his place at the front of the room. The rest of the teachers seemed to go silent. "We'd like to hear your side of the story if that would be all right before we pass down our judgements."
Izuku let out a small chuckle as he spoke. "The video should be straightforward. I attacked All Might to create an opening for them. I knew that academic consequences would follow, but I couldn't allow the match to continue as it was." Izuku stated firmly. He wouldn't budge on this issue. If this was where he got expelled, that would be ok with him.
"I see Aizawa I'll leave it to you then." It was then that Izuku's homeroom teacher arose from his sleeping bag and made his way over to Izuku.
"All you do is bring trouble, problem child. Which is why you'll be staying in my class. Your specific grade will be lowered on the practical final. Bakugo and Todoroki will also be passing their exam." Aizawa said succinctly. Izuku was dumbfounded as he attempted to stammer out a response. And even All Might was staring at the room in somewhat disbelief. "They both fulfilled their obligation by passing the exam. Recovery Girl said it herself in this type of exam against an insurmountable opponent they would've needed assistance." Aizawa concluded.
All Might looked ready to blow a gasket, but Izuku could only stare in shock. "Now, Mr. Midoriya, get back to the dorms." Nedzu stated. Izuku took the opportunity and sprinted down the hallways toward the dorms. As All Might stared at his back as he retreated, he heard the principal clear his throat. "As for you All Might, have you been using most of your time limit to train Mirio." All Might froze for a moment before he turned.
"Yes, I feel as though he has the potential to replace me as the Symbol of Peace." All Might stated confidently. "That attack was strong, but it couldn't have defeated me in my prime. I am still confident Mirio will be the number one hero." The teachers watched the interaction between All Might and Nedzu carefully.
"Is it possible that that isn't what the next generation needs. There are several exceptional young heroes among the first years between the two classes as well as all throughout the school. Maybe your Symbol of Peace is an outdated concept." All Might seemed taken aback, but before he could begin Aizawa spoke.
"I see your point about his attack being impressive from that distance. Looking at it again, he did more damage to the city in that instance from two miles away than you did with your opening strike. If anything, it's possible you're betting on the wrong horse. And it's not just him. My entire class has amazing potential." All Might looked like he had been slapped at the statement.
"And what makes you so sure of that?" All Might replied sarcastically.
"Because I'm going to make that class the best generation of heroes, they can be and if their goal is to be the number one hero, I'll give them the tools to do it." Aizawa called back defiantly as he left the meeting grabbing his sleeping bag as he exited. Several of the teachers were in shock, but Present Mic and Midnight gathered their things and quickly followed after him.
"It almost sound like you're being soft on those kids." Midnight teased as she and Mic caught up with Aizawa.
"I'm not going soft. Those kids all have tremendous potential. Even if they do shorten my life every second of every day." Aizawa deadpanned. Mic and Midnight followed behind him and they left the main school building heading off for the day. Meanwhile, Izuku was laying in his class dorms.
"At this rate I'm really going to get expelled. But sometimes I have to do what I have to do." Izuku mumbled to himself. The class would have a small meeting tomorrow to discuss their results with Aizawa for tomorrow. Until then, he wouldn't let this bother him too much.