Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or else, Izuku would be anything other than a Pro Hero.
"Hey hey guys! What scores did you get in your midterm results before our third semester began?"
Currently, Midoriya Izuku, Bakugou Katsuki, Uraraka Ochako, Todoroki Shoto, and the rest of Class 2-A were at a nearby park near UA High School. The whole class decided to simply bond after a grueling day in school, which also happened to be their final week in their first semester at U.A. High School and in one month, they would be entering their final semester before moving up to their third year in high school. For this reason alone, their resident gossip queen in Ashido Mina floated the idea of going out and before Bakugou could even shoot it down, Yaoyorozu Momo quickly supported the idea and everyone else decided to come along.
It was about quarter to three in the afternoon when they sat on the side of a fountain near the vending machine where everyone can purchase soda as well as chips. Near them, there were a few kids playing around in the badminton court while others were simply chatting around and laughing. Since it was a Friday afternoon, one can see why kids can really enjoy their time.
Now, Mina was referring to the three-day mid-term exams that they took before they could advance to their third and last semester of their current school year. Yesterday, they had the 500 item test that consisted of the five major subjects: Japanese, English, Mathematics, Science and World History. In UA, it is a requirement to pass all those subjects alongside their usual heroics curriculum and if one of them is placed in the bottom 100 who did not perform well, they'll have to attend remedial classes on the vacation day before the start of the third semester.
She, as she describes it, bravely fought like a true hero until the end.
Bakugou merely looked at her with an irritated expression, "You flunked all of your tests except Japanese pinky and even you barely passed on that portion. I'm surprised you can still put up a stupid smile like that."
"Don't be like that, Bakugou!" Mina wailed, much to the mentioned pomeranian's chagrin. "I swear I did everything I can! I even studied for a week and stopped looking for the latest tea in our school!"
Iida Tenya looked unconvinced at the last part, "And it seemed that it wasn't even enough…Plus, I didn't even think that you can study that hard."
"She knows how to study?" Todoroki blinked in genuine surprise as he ate soba that he bought from a nearby convenience store. "I just thought you don't do that because it just wasn't your style. Seems like I was actually wrong about that part."
"According to the score list listed in the bulletin board, Mina got a 20 in science, 49 in English, 65 in Japanese, 7 in world history and 0 in mathematics," Momo listed off. "So does that mean that she'll either attend makeup classes before she can be allowed to proceed to the third semester?"
"Well, she can be held back by a year if she doesn't want to attend makeup classes…kero…" Asui Tsuyu shrugged, ignoring the look of horror in Mina's face. "Or she can pray that they add some extra credit points in hers and Kaminari's pitiful final grades."
Hagakure Toru whistled smugly (although no one could see it) as she said, "Well, 141 over 500 is still more impressive than 0. Well, I think at least for you."
"So low…" Kirishima Eijiro muttered. "And here, I thought I was going to fail the exams and be unmanly..."
"Maybe she and Kaminari should have studied for three more weeks instead," Jiro Kyoka finally spoke for the first time as she was busy listening to her music track.
"Why is everyone so mean to us?!" Kaminari Denki whined, which went unnoticed.
Momo then asked curiously, "I didn't check the bulletin board since I had to go home early but what scores did you get anyway?"
Iida smiled rather too proudly for his own good as he made weird hand signs, "452 out of 500. I have to keep up my grades with my advanced heroics study."
"I only got 376 out of 500, kero," Tsuyu finished then looked thoughtful for a second, "Which is still better than nine points less than a hundred and fifty. How about you, Uraraka-chan, Yaoyorozu-chan?"
Mina felt offended as she shouted an indignant, "Stop being so mean!" but she was sadly ignored.
Ochako replied, "I got 369."
Momo smiled sweetly, "That's so high, Ochako-san. I only got 400."
Everyone sweatdropped, not knowing if it's a sarcastic remark or not.
"By the way, not that I'm not grateful for it but what happened to that Mineta and why isn't he around again?" Hagakure asked.
"The perv got admitted into the hospital after getting beat down by that lady from the other school…"
As everyone from the group was busy chatting with each other, Izuku merely smiled softly as he preferred listening to the conversation within his large group of friends and classmates. To his misfortune, Ochako noticed him and decided to ruin his peace.
"That aside, I didn't see your test results, Deku, nor did I see your name in the list of those who failed…" The brunette girl asked with a hint of curiosity. "And here, I'm thinking that you might have the best grades of all of us…"
"Not that the nerd would even beat me but it would take a miracle for him to fail," Bakugou sneered with a disgusted face. "But then again, I'm the best so don't look down on me!"
"Calm down, Bakubro…"
That's not what she meant, Bakugou. Izuku grumbled in his mind before he went back into his usual mode.
"I-I just did what I can to pass the exams…" The spiky-haired boy muttered with complete confidence. "And besides, it's normal for me to get higher scores when I'm serious…"
Asui nodded, "I agree. Last time I checked, Midoriya-chan made it into the top ten of our batch."
But before the boy with the seaweed hair could reply, they were suddenly interrupted by a phone ringing in the pocket of Midoriya, who quickly checked his inbox.
Suddenly, Midoriya's expression turned from bewildered to a concerned one as he furiously typed his reply.
After about a minute and a half, Midoriya closed his phone and before anyone from his class could react, he excused himself, saying, "H-Hey guys, something came up and I have been summoned. I'll see you all next week when we hold our final classes for this semester. I have something to do tomorrow."
He then quickly left as fast as he could.
"Neh, did anyone notice how Midoriya looked like he's in a life and death situation," Hanta Sero said.
"I don't feel any darkness from him though," Tokoyami Fumikage added.
"He did say he was summoned but by who?" Momo entered a thinking pose.
Mina was in a thinking position before she suddenly bursted out, "Why don't we follow him then?!"
"Mina, violation of someone's privacy is unbecoming of a UA student!" Iida warned her.
"Come on! I'm pretty sure you all wanted to know where he wanted to go!"
"Maybe he had a secret date or something…" the timid Koji Koda whispered but was heard anyway.
"It's impossible! The nerd doesn't have the balls to ask out a girl, let alone have one!" Bakugou yelled rather angrily.
"He had a bigger chance by a mile than you Bakugou," Todoroki said coolly and Kirishima had to hug down an angry Bakugou that was glaring at the half-half colored boy like an angry dog. "You wanna die, half and half bastard?!"
"Let's all calm down please," Tsuyu said, "I hate to say it but I agree with Mina. I believe we need to know what Midoriya-chan is doing, for his safety of course, kero…"
"See! We need to follow Midoriya for some tea!"
The next day, after a last-minute deliberation on whether they should follow a certain greenette boy, all students of class 2-A dressed in their choice of outfits as they set out to follow their classmate on where he is going. Tying down her spiky ponytail shorter, Momo kept herself in front of the group as Iida and Mina were leading the way while they hid in the bushes while waiting for MIdoriya to come out. They all decided to hide and wait behind a waiting shed. It wasn't long before they spotted Midoriya coming out of their dormitory. Quickly seeing him, the whole class "stealthily" followed him as he seemed to be speaking to someone on his phone. Strangely, he isn't in his usual attire but instead, he is in red sports shorts, a pair of what looked like Nike Air Hawk Flight shoes, plain white t-shirt and a white, red, and black duffel bag that had the words "AKATSUKI FIVE" in it. While it did surprise Bakugou, who never saw Izuku as the sports-type of guy, Momo's voice snapped her out of her surprise.
"Do you see him, Jirou-san?"
The earjacks nodded "He's muttering even lower than before so even I couldn't pick up what he's saying on the phone."
Meanwhile, Izuku had made his way through neighborhoods and walked down the busy road, past convenience stores and restaurants. The upcoming Pro Heroes in training trailed behind not so far away, much to the confusion of passersby who just stared at them oddly, though they paid no attention to them. Soon, they found themselves in the train station of Shizuoka and it was exactly seven in the morning when the rest of the Class 2-A boarded the same train segment as their classmate, who was still unaware that he was being followed. Soon, the one-hour trip began and as the train began to be jam-packed, Mina began to complain.
"Why are they jam packed now?! We could have done a lot of things back in the dorm at this rate," she whispered to her classmates.
"Mina-chan, you're the one who suggested following Midoriya-chan to where he would go, kero…"
Soon after, the one-hour long journey had ended with the train stopping somewhere in the middle of Tokyo and the Class 2-A were finally able to get out of the hell hole of a train as Bakugou kept a locked eye on Midoriya, who was walking rather rapidly. Soon, the whole class was at it again as they were in an unfamiliar neighborhood but from what they observed, it looked like Midoriya knew this place quite well.
"...this place is so far and so unfamiliar…" Denki can't help but comment.
Not long after, they had found out that MIdoriya had checked his phone for a moment, and then went sharp to a corner. His classmates quickly followed him and it was there that they saw their tutor meeting up with a face that they haven't even seen before. It looked like he waited for him by a corner. Bakugou looked like he saw red and felt like he was ready to go and confront that stranger that met with Midoriya as the others expressed surprise and shock upon their faces. "You arrived earlier than we anticipated. Apologies for the sudden call. Tarou's down with a knee injury and there are no available players from either Shinjotowa or Yokohama Taiei."
"It's fine, Kawamura-senpai. I actually look forward to playing basketball with all of you again," MIdoriya uncharacteristically fist bumps with the lanky guy, who is also wearing basketball shorts and what looked like to be his playing shoes, "While I wanted to wonder how Hinoko-chan got my number, I stopped myself from wondering so. It's her, after all."
"She's a good manager. Even I had to admit it," The spiky-haired tall young man named Kawamura insisted, "What do you plan after graduation? Continuing to become a Pro Hero or you will test the waters in our professional league?"
"I haven't thought of it since I'm leaning more towards continuing my Pro Hero path," Midoriya replied, "But I'm not discounting the possibility of playing pro ball as well...when the pay is high, I guess…"
From their hiding spots, the Class 2-A can't believe what they are hearing. It looked like they were seeing a glimpse of their classmater's double life, "Eh? Kawamura? Who the hell is he?" Momo was getting pretty much confused as she watched the two converse, "Do any of you know who that giant is?"
Everyone then looked at Bakugou, who angrily replied, "I don't know who the hell is the guy speaking with the stupid nerd."
"I think you all missed the most important point. That he actually knows how to play basketball, kero," Tsuyu quipped.
"I have never seen him play basketball, even during our physical education class. He was absent at that time," Todoroki said.
"Me too," Ojiro Mashirao added.
"See, this is the tea that we…"
"Can you stop about that stupid tea for once, raccoon eyes?!"
"Bakubro! No need to be so rude!"
"Guys, the two are now moving away so fast. Let's move now before we lose track of them." Jirou called them out and the rest of the Class 2-A followed Izuku and the giant named Kawamura and the two apparent cagers took a sharp turn into another street. Thirty minutes had passed and they were getting sort of tired of tailing the four and were about to call it quits when suddenly, the two players then stopped walking.
When the whole class stopped as well, it was then that they noticed that they were in front of a large sports gymnasium.
"Before we go inside, we're up against Yang Seung-jin (양승진) and the streaky South Korean team that won the continental championship last year," Kawamura sternly said, "It might just be the first part of the preliminaries but we can't lost the first game, youngster."
"I know, Kawamura-senpai. I didn't even play last year in the Asian Games but that buzzer beater against the team in the semis was painful for the rest of the team," Izuku had an expression in his face that Todoroki can only describe as too uncharacteristic for the greenette, "As the starting point, I had to be the first one to stop that crafty bastard…"
The last two words caused a mini-stroke among Class 2-A. They have never heard their innocent cinnamon roll curse, much less say it to someone, prior to this. "D-Did he just call someone a bastard?" Hagakure asked, not believing what she just heard.
"Yes…he did…"
"Uwaaah! Who is that impostor?! Our cute bean wouldn't dare call someone like that!"
"Don't you think you are overreacting on this one?"
"Before we get left out here, stop the stupid chit-chat and let's follow Deku and that giant beanpole already!"
The class then continued following the two but stopped as Midoriya and the Kawamura guy entered a door with the sign "Restricted Access". They would have disregarded it if it wasn't for the four guards posted at the entrance. As a result, they were forced to go back to the main entrance where, after a brief argument as there was a need to buy tickets to enter the gymnasium and Ochako did not have the money to purchase one, Momo decided to purchase all tickets for the rest of the team as she was the richest kid in the class and Bakugou was seconds away from blasting the ticket counter.
"You know what? Stop pretending that you didn't see them. I can practically hear that pomeranian's voice and he was acting like the kami reincarnated."
"As much as I wanted to confront them on why they followed me, I can't. Not because they don't know much about other life here as a cager but because I don't want to cause a commotion here. I'd rather let it slide and let our normal routine go on as possible."
"Not that I'm meddling with how you deal with your classmates but I don't know if your routine would even be normal now that they know."
Midoriya and Kawamura were busy conversing as they went straight towards the dugout, where the rest of the team was waiting for them.
"Oh, Midoriya and vice captain is now here, Hinoko-san, coach, and cappy," Kojima Yuto, the starting center for the Japanese team, called out to their coach, their team captain, and their manager, whose eyes sparkled the moment she heard them coming.
"Neh…neh…Midori-chan!" The girl named Hinoko practically threw herself into the green-haired UA student even before the latter could even react, "I missed you so much!"
"Hinoko-chan…can't…breathe…"
"Hinoko-san," their red-haired captain quickly intervened, "Let Midoriya breathe. We need him for this game."
"Sorry, Akashi-kun, I got practically carried away, hehehe," the female manager with light brown hair chuckled, "You can't blame me. I love him, after all."
"I don't care what you do to him in your private time but set it aside for today's match," their captain, Akashi Masakumo, said in a dignified but borderline intimidating manner that would certainly make a certain acid-spewing pink alien run for her life, "We already lost last year. I don't want a repeat of it this year."
Hinoko only saluted and grinned at the captain.
Once they were all complete in the locker room, most of the players were all talking excitedly as they cannot hold down their eagerness to go out there and finally hand their South Korean counterparts their first loss in the preliminaries.
"I can't believe that we had the chance to take the first lead in the brackets and to get revenge for that stupid buzzer beater that they gave us last year," Yuto said, still chewing his energy bars. "But hey, they're already our strongest opponents in our bracket. No disrespect to Indonesia and Taiwan but I'm more afraid of South Korea heating up beyond the arc." He was sitting on one of the benches in their dressing room, leaning his back on his locker while his sneakers were just in front of him. He is 6 ft. 11 in. frame and was towering above the rest of his teammates.
"Well, they've got an even win-loss record against us for the last 50 or 100 years so I kind of understand you, Yuto," 6 ft. 9 in. power forward Tsurumaki Miyaji said, "By the way, I'm up against Cho Hee-jung again, huh? Just thinking about it makes my nerves go baka-baka. That guy and China's Guo Luo basically gave me nightmares last year."
"Man, I can't wait to play," Igarashi Shigehiro, the back-up point guard, said as he spun a basketball on his index finger. "It sucks that Tarou is not here but hey, at least we got Midori and I!"
"Aren't you too eager?" Tomonori Yuki, the 2nd-line shooting guard after Masakumo, raised his eyebrows, "The game isn't even starting and we're both on the bench…"
"Of course! I really want to put that Yang Seung-jin bastard in his place!"
Upon hearing a certain Korean opponent's name, the temperature seemed to drop.
"Be careful what you wish for, dumbass…" Kawamura chided his teammate as he rose up off the locker.
"What?! But I―"
"Igarashi, this is the continental tourney, not the local Inter High or even the Winter Cup. Not only is the fact that he is playing but South Korea seemed to get a big boost with a naturalized center. Plus, based on the chart given to us by our scouts, it seemed that their scores from their tune-ups are all over 110. Especially against the UAE. You all would not want to know how bad it was," Masakumo paused, letting that sentence sink into their heads. He then continued, "They have other scorers, not just Yang Seung-jin. It was a lopsided match that to be frank, it isn't funny at all. So, if we should have it in our heads that that guy is who we should look out for, then we'll end up getting our heads chewed by Coach Aono and just look forward to the qualifiers two years from now."
"Yeah, you're right, captain…" Shigehiro reasoned.
"Plus…" Masakumo continued. "He's the least of our problems. It's all blank in the slates so everyone from their team would be sure to go out with both guns blazing in order to take the lead in our bracket."
No one said anything after that. They knew that what Kawamura and Masakumo said was right. They haven't really properly watched the South Korean play this year aside from the UAE match due to their own match schedules but judging by how last year's Korean team played against their own team at the semis, Izuku knew that they were a force that they shouldn't take lightly. If anything, they have immensely improved further.
"By the way, Midoriya, are you fine?" Shigehiro suddenly spoke in a loud voice, "You're sulking there…look I know that you'll be forced to start because that moron Tarou was injured but keep smiling bud. We'd feel down if you frown."
Midoriya was in the corner of the room, sitting with his legs stretched out while his back leaned on the locker containers, "Actually, Igarashi-san," the UA student started. "I just can't imagine myself being here. The truth is, I didn't even want to play for this team at the beginning for fear that I might not be able to match up against South Korea. I just did this as a favor to Tarou-san and because I was summoned by him," He said as he dropped his hands to his sides and subtly motioned towards Masakumo, who said nothing. He then turned to face Yuto, "Besides, something has been bothering me."
The starting center only blinked at him.
"W-Well, there's just this super cute girl in the South Korean team that I have met a week back in the classification brackets," He said with a sheepish smile, "Judging from her jacket, I think she's the manager for the Korean and I know she's still angry at me for spilling her ice cream when I accidentally bumped into her but still, it feel like I'm going to play for her today…"
"Play for us, you moron!" Shigehiro shrieked as he hit the green-haired boy with a basketball lying on the floor, "Besides, you have our manager! Why are you sympathizing with an enemy?!"
"Ehh? I'm not sympa—"
"Idiot, let's win the preliminaries first before talking about such things," Yuto said, "Besides, of all the twelve of us, I think you're the one who needed to calm down. For a UA runt, you're not exactly the best when it comes to dealing with pressure."
"You-you don't have to remind me of that…" Izuku muttered.
Just then, the door opened and their head coach Aono Kozo entered. He was a middle-aged man and a former national player himself. Currently, he was dressed in a suit, and casually had both his hands in his pockets.
"Hey, you boys ready to go?" He asked sternly to his players, "It's almost time to get out there..." His face shone and then he said, "…Give it everything you have."
Damn, old man, who are you trying to impress with that clean-shaven face of yours? Kawamura thought. When the boys saw their coach, they snickered, trying their utmost best not to laugh out loud.
"Our game plan will be what we discussed. Stay focused. Oh and you, UA Brat…" Kozo called out to the wielder of One For All, "...I know it was sudden but we need you to start against Yang Seung-jin. That idiot Tarou re-injured his knee again and we're up against time."
"I understand Coach Aono," Izuku said as he stretched his body.
After having to turn a lot of times in the stands, Class 2-A managed to secure seats amidst the rowdy mixed crowd of Japanese and Korean supporters as none of the UA students wanted to stand for the whole forty minutes. Ignoring the whispers from the Japanease crowd who recognized them as the heroes in training from UA and even briefly cheered their entrance, they then made sitting arrangements on the spot. In one row, there were Shoji Mezo, Sato Rikido, Mineta, Bakugou, Kirishima, Kaminari, Mina, Hanta Sero and Kyoka seated in that order from left to right. In front of them were Iida, Ochako, Momo, Todoroki,Tsuyu, Tokoyami, Aoyama, Koda, Ojiro, and Hagakure.
"Neh…neh…who is Japan going up against?" A clueless no-name audience member asked among the crowd.
"South Korea, I think," another audience member replied to that clueless person.
"South Korea? Scary…" A Japanese fan said as he was waving a banner with the words, "FEROCITY AMIDST ADVERSITY!"
"Don't underestimate them. This squad of ours is hungrier ever since the loss last year. They'll be able to get the victory this time," his friend reassured him.
Every student of Class 2-A can only listen awkwardly around the conversation which was centered around the upcoming basketball match between Japan and South Korea and the history behind it. Now about that, they can't really say anything or add to it because they're not exactly basketball fans at all since they're only here to follow their classmate and that they have no prior knowledge about Midoriya's double life.
"For a game which still bans the use of quirks up to now and uses quirk suppressing devices, I'm surprised to know that the crowd is full to the brim, even if most of them looked like they are half-Japanese of something," Iida made weird hand gestures as he made his point, "Even the Olympics isn't anymore that popular in Japan since a long time ago."
"Besides, it isn't even the number one sport in Japan, historically speaking…" Momo added.
"As they say, it might have a cultural relevance to both Japan and South Korea…or…I don't know…I don't watch basketball…" Ojiro smiled nervously as he scratched his head.
"Just shut it!" Bakugou yelled. In all honesty, he did not really want to be here but Deku's apparent double life was somehow making him curious at the same time.
"Let's just ask him after—" Momo's sentence was cut off by the announcement of the officials, who began to call the two teams, causing the crowd to cheer wildly as even if this is only the eliminations, they are excited to see two of the Asia's top dogs battle for position in the standings.
From the east of the dugout came the team of South Korea. Many of the Korean fans present cheered wildly, with one of them accidentally hitting Bakugou with a large fan-made poster and this nearly sent him into blasting the poor girl if it wasn't for the fact that the whole court was sprayed with anti-quirk gas.
From the west of the gate came the Japanese squad and since this was their homecourt, the roars of support were louder. The Class 2-A can see their classmate, who was wearing number 5 jersey, sucking a lollipop while looking unaffected by the crowd.
"They certainly looked intimidating," a fan commented of the Japanese team's rather piercing appearance, further amplified by one of their player's dignified but intense walking. Judging by his number 4 jersey, they deduced that he was the captain of the whole team.
"N-Neh…is it me or there is something about the number four guy that is making me a bit…afraid…" Mina, for the first time since all of these had begun, felt fear just by looking straight into the eyes of the redhead cager.
"I agree, kero. He looks really scary," Tsuyu nodded and everyone else agreed too. They were wondering why Midoriya Izuku would team up and hang out with someone like him of all people?
The two teams then began to warm up for the game and they were surprised when Izuku was able to dunk the ball despite not being that tall.
"I didn't know that Deku-kun had a very high vertical when he's not using his quirk," Ochako commented.
"I can do better than the shitty nerd!" Bakugou yelled but he was ignored.
Coach Aono Kozo of Japan and his Korean counterpart Coach Heo Jae-min strode towards the scorer's table, with the two bench tacticians already having their hands out ready for a handshake. There was nothing but mutual respect between these individuals. The taller Kozo clapped the former point guard of the past Korean national teams on the shoulder as they shook, looking genuinely pleased to see his former nemesis from the past again.
"Mr. Aono, still looking excellent even if we both stopped playing professionally many years ago," Jae-min said, appraisingly. Known to Japanese basketball players and fans, the professional coach had changed little except for his hair during the past years after he had retired from Japanese basketball—this was made immediately clear when he immediately spotted his counterpart walking towards his direction.
"Ho ho ho, I'm glad to see you still coaching the young generation even after you stepped out of the limelight many years ago," Kozo chuckled, returning the compliment. "From Seng-jin alone, it seems that you have mentored an excellent player capable of surpassing even you."
Jae-min nodded, "Regardless, my friend, Mr. Aono. I wish you and your boys the best of luck. May the strongest team win," he added, giving Kozo's hand another hand shake.
The Japanese coach returned it with slightly less vigor. "We still have much to learn from you, Jaemin-dono"
The game had yet to start, but as Kozo watched his Korean counterpart dash off without a care back to their bench, the mentor couldn't help but feel relieved. That man sure has turned out to be a good coach for our opponents. Well, I have done my best to mold the new generation of Japanese players. It's up to them to take up the challenge of surpassing us oldies.
As the team was busy warming up, Yuto's rather loud and unexpected burp caused everyone in the team to temporarily stop their routine.
"The fuck…did you eat more than what the cafeteria had served to you?" Kawamura was understandably disgusted by the belch that their starting center had made.
"I can't help it, Kawamura-san," Yuto said as he flexes his muscles, "The more beef I eat, the more power I can consume. And considering we're up against South Korea, I need all the power I can get to crush them underneath."
"I see…no issues with you then…" Kawamura said with a less enthusiastic manner.
"If there's one thing we needed to be weary of, it's that they had a naturalized center," Yuto said in a dispirited-like look as he motioned to where the South Koreans are warming up, "I'm taller in terms of height alone but his athleticism is frightening. I'll have to jockey with that monster for positioning under the basket alone."
"Sheesh…they're strong already and yet, they just become much more monstrous…" Second-unit 2.09 m center Ota Tatsuya saw the naturalized player bounced the ball before he made a beeline for the net and grabbed the ball airborne before slamming it in a reverse clutch form.
Izuku saw the Afro-American naturalized player perform that dunk and merely commented, "He moves like that legendary player LeBron…"
"Now that you mentioned it…I just can't unsee it," Tatsuya replied as he squinted at the Afro player.
But honestly, I don't see anything special in him, maybe other than how high his vertical leap is. Midoriya is not underestimating the naturalized South Korean player but in his double life as a cager, he had seen those types of players who are so athletic that they had become too reliant on it. And from what he saw, the naturalized player could be one of those types of players.
But with that said, it's the first time he's meeting the Afro-American and he wouldn't want to take his guard down.
"Team, gather together!" Masakumo called out from the bench, snapping Izuku out of his thoughts. The rest of the Japanese players were quick to gather in a circle around the redhead captain, Hinoko, the assistant coaches and their head coach as warm-ups ended.
Masakumo stood silent, pondering his words for a moment before speaking.
"Even if this is just the first game of the qualifiers and we'll be one of the hosts for the World Championships, we treat this one as if this is our last game of our lives. Japan is back once again at the Asian basketball map and it's time for us to prove that we belong with the elites. We'll do that first step by beating South Korea, the third king of East Asia and the ones who broke our hearts last year!" Masakumo's smooth but sadistic grin began to stretch across his face. "If you want to say something about that, save it after we either win or lose."
"We get it, captain," Izuku replied, determined to contribute for this game.
"Yeah, cappy," Kawamura said as well.
The captain held his hand out expectantly, and in the moment, 11 other hands all piled atop of it.
"LET'S GO JAPAN!"
The huddle broke up in an instant, with the starters heading to center court and the rest of the players finding their seats at the bench.
"Starters for the game!" The game official said on the microphone as the following lineup was announced to the public. "First, in white uniforms, announcing the starting lineup for South Korea!" Every Korean supporter present roared while raising up their banners and blowing their trumpets as the Korean Five was called on the court.
"Number five, Ha Ung," the starting shooting guard merely nodded as he tucks in his shorts while walking all the way to the court.
"Number eleven, Kim Jun-yong," the lanky small forward waved at their compatriots as he bowed to them.
"Number fifteen, Cho Hee-jung," the power forward had just finished chewing his gum as he entered the court.
"Number twenty-five, Ra Sang-jae," the naturalized center flexed his muscles.
"Number four and captain, Yang Seung-jin," the cheers were louder this time as the skipper and floor general of the team finally entered as he exchanged high-fives with his other teammates.
"Next, in black uniforms, the starting lineup for Japan," the moment the announcer said this, the Japanese crowd seemed to have lost their minds as the screams and shouts escalated, the announcer had to pause a while before he could start up again.
"Number ten, Kojima Yuto," the center flexed his muscles as he ran to the center circle.
"Number nine, Tsurumaki Miyaji," Miyaji bowed his head to the crowd as he followed Yuto.
"Number eight, Kawamura Yudai," Yudai exchanged high-fives with the bench players.
"Number five, Midoriya Izuku." To the shock of Class 2-A, almost every Japanese fan present in the gymnasium went wild while screaming the moment Izuku's name was announced as the green-haired boy tucked in his shorts while making his way into the court. Heck, there were even scores of female fans who were waving large pictures of the green bean.
"Oh my god! It's him!"
"He's so cute!"
"I want to have his babies!"
Every fan, especially the female ones, were cheering wildly while the Class 2-A could only gape in shock, especially since they heard the last remark.
"The fucking hell…why was everyone cheering the nerd's name so loudly?!" Bakugou couldn't believe it as he wanted to bleach his eyes and gouge his ears as he was seeing what he thinks is a blasphemy.
"I-I did not expect that he had this much support from the crowd…" Momo stammered. This is certainly not within her expectations.
"Maybe because he's from UA and we're from UA…" Ojiro tried to give an explanation.
"But shouldn't they cheer for us as well?" Tsuyu asked.
"They did but only briefly…"
"This is the tea that I am craving for!" Mina cried in tears of joy.
"Number four and captain, Akashi Masakumo," the cheers were just as loud as Midoriya's as the team captain and the sweet-shooting combo guard of the team finally entered as he exchanged high-fives with his other teammates.
"I had to agree with what Mina said a while back. Their captain's…I don't know…I don't want to look straight into his eyes," Hagakure said, now shivering when she thought the redhead point guard heard her as he tilted his head up and just smiled—in a predatory way.
The rest nearly recoiled in their seats when they realized that Masakumo was staring at them. Damn, so scary! Everyone except Bakugo thought.
The starting lineup then was flashed on the basketball scoreboard:
Starting Lineup
Point Guard:
#5 Midoriya Izuku (JPN) - 1.71 m
#4 Yang Seung-jin (KOR) - 1.81 m
Shooting Guard:
#4 Akashi Masakumo (JPN) - 1.91 m
#5 Ha Ung (KOR) - 1.96 m
Small Forward:
#8 Kawamura Yudai (JPN) - 2.00 m
#11 Kim Jun-yong (PHL) - 2.06 m
Power Forward:
#9 Tsurumaki Miyaji (JPN) - 2.09 m
#15 Cho Hee-jung (KOR) - 2.09 m
Center:
#10 Kojima Yuto (JPN) - 2.11 m
#25 Ra Sang-jae (formerly Steve Ratliffe) (KOR) - 2.06 m
"I know All Might and Endeavour are tall but I did not expect such taller Japanese guys from Izuku-san's team," Momo had to admit that she wasn't used to seeing tall people on a regular basis.
"Only Midori is the one who doesn't stand at 1.80 m or more, Kero," Tsuyu felt sad for her classmate.
"Are you all ignoring the fact that the damn nerd is in the starting line up?!" Bakugou was at it once again.
"Eh? I'm not being rude but is he really that good at basketball?" Denki asked in plain curiosity.
"Maybe. If he is not, then he would not even be starting on this team," Momo replied, unsure herself what to really think about what is happening right now.
"We don't know. The first time we had basketball in our physical education last semester, Deku-kun was even absent from class," Ochako felt compelled to mention it.
After their initial greetings to each other, the two teams, S. Korea in white uniforms and Japan in black and red, then got into their positions for the tip-off, with Sang-jae and Yuto in the center circle. The referee then tossed the orange leather in the air as the centers quickly leaped with their outstretched arms to try and slam the ball to their own teams. The Japanese beanpole managed to outjump the naturalized player as Yuto slams it into Kawamura Yudai's waiting hands.
But as quick as he managed to win the jump ball was Seung-jin's quick swat of the ball as he swiped off the leather from Yudai. The ball ended up into Ung's hands as the shooting guard then motioned to throw the ball into a fast breaking Hee-jun's hands.
"Score! Quick!"
But the moment he tried to throw the ball, Izuku quickly came in front of him and before the ball was let go, Deku slapped it away and into the hands of Masakumo.
"Deku-kun got it back!" Ochaco cheered.
"Fast…" Todoroki Shoto was amazed at his classmate's quick reaction.
Akashi Masakumo was quick to break away but before he could even get deep into the shaded lane, the Koreans were quick on their feet as they were already positioned for defense. I had to admit, they're quick! Izuku thought, praising the Korean zone defense. We wanted a run-and-gun for a quick layup but they were able to read it.
"The defense of the opponent is tight," One of the audience members said.
"This is very nervous-wracking…"
Masakumo then passed the ball to Izuku who then caught the ball and suddenly caught his mark off guard with his behind-the-back shake and bake movement before he quickly dashed towards the net.
"Tha-That was so cool, Midobro!" Kirishima had tears in his eyes.
"I wanted to play basketball too!" Denki chimed in.
"Let's all play basketball when we get back to UA!" Sero added.
Izuku then saw Miyaji and he passed the ball. The latter caught it airborne and was aiming to dunk it via alley oop. Most of the crowd was surprised by the Midoriya-Tsurumaki combined offense but not Ra Sang-jae. As soon as Miyaji's hand came down, he spiked the ball from his hands.
"He blocked it?" Kyoka said.
"Aww man, the other team had a fucking import!" Denki cursed.
"Language, Kamirai!"
Seung-jin caught the ball with ease, "I knew you could do it, Steve-bro." He smiled. He then dashed down the court with the ball but was blocked by Izuku. He then passed to the left behind his back to Ha Ung who headed towards the net. He was about to make a layup when Masakumo grazed the ball with the tip of his fingers. It bounced off the rim of the net, to the relief of the Japanese bench.
Two minutes then passed with neither team being unable to score with both team's defense being tight as always.
"Oh man," one of the Korean fans said to their Japanese counterparts. The entire Class 2-A that were in the audience listened to them. "I hate you guys but your team's good. They're stuck in equilibrium."
"Once one of them takes control of the game, it's very difficult to take it back during the same quarter," a Japanese supporter said.
Out of morbid curiosity, Momo then looked at the scoreboard. "It's been almost two minutes without either team scoring. If what they're saying is right, then at this rate, whoever scores the first point should theoretically take the first quarter."
"Indeed," Tsuyu agreed. "I just hope it'll be Midoriya-chan and Japan."
The game went on with Seung-jin dribbling down court. A shot was attempted but it rebounded off the iron hoop. Yuto managed to outjump both Sang-jae and Hee-jung in the scramble for the loose ball. He then threw it to Masakumo who dashed off. "Run and gun!" Ha Ung had blocked him but then he passed behind him into Izuku's waiting hands.
Upon seeing that Izuku was standing perfectly between the three point line and the center circle, Seung-jin was shocked. What? Are you trying to shoot a three from that distance?!
The green haired UA student didn't care as he casually entered into this motion before shooting the ball, and before it even went into the net, he and Masakumo were heading back to defend.
As Izuku had a high release for his height, the ball flew a bit higher than a normal shooting arc as one of the Korean fans, upon seeing Izuku and Masakumo going back to defense like they didn't care, stood up while angrily shouting, "His arrogance is pissing me off!"
"I hope the ball doesn't go in!"
"It won't! It's too far!"
But to their heart's disappointment, the ball ended up crashing straight into the net, finding the underneath without even a hint of it grazing into the metal hoop.
The Japanese crowd roared as Izuku had managed to score Japan's first three points and the first points of the whole game.
"What a manly move! Midobro scored for Japan!" Kirishima was crying manly tears.
"Now only that, he broke the deadlock of the game!" Momo said, shocked. She did not expect Izuku of all people to score the first basket of the whole game. "Japan basically had the momentum right now."
Bakugou, meanwhile, was having a mini-stroke as he didn't expect Deku to make himself look so cool.
However, the moment Seung-jin got the ball in his hands at the sidelines, he quickly gripped the ball in his right hand and with perfect timing, he made an outlet pass to their center, who ran back to Japan's net as soon as Izuku had scored the three point basket and with ease, he caught the ball from the other side of the sideline and slammed the leather into the net even before Japan can recover to defend.
"The fuck! They gained back the control of the game!" Denki cursed, not minding Iida scolding him for profane language.
Back in the court, Midoriya can only feel miffed as he stares at Yang Seung-jin, "That was pretty much a welcoming response…"
"We're sorry. We can't let you take the first quarter that easily," The Korean floor general replied while rolling his eyes.
Getting the ball from the inbound pass, Izuku brought down their possession and once he got past the middle half, he had to back down a bit as Seung-jin was sticking too close to him. As Miyaji got free to screen for him, Izuku broke past the Korean skipper as he circled momentarily into the lane and slowed down before seeing an open Masakumo and passed the rock.
The redhead got a clean look towards the basket before he made an attempt, ending up with his first field goal of the game.
The crowd cheered once more.
"That was a nice shot!"
"But more than that, their number five guy really knows how to probe before dribbling. It's very rare for you to see point guards who have that skill, more so in Japanese basketball."
"Not even in the ? I'm pretty sure they had guys who knew how to probe dribble as well…"
"Tanaka-san of Alvark Tokyo is close but he's more of a shooter, not a playmaker…probably Namizato-san of Ryukyu as well…"
"Uh…guys…what is this probe dribbling they are saying?" Ochako felt like she was about to vomit just from hearing about things she doesn't even understand.
"Girl…you're looking at people who are also basketball-clueless…" Hagakure Toru deadpanned.
Unfortunately, Steve (Sang-jae) was also proving to be a handful as he caught the ball airborne and landed before slightly pushing off Yuto and making a dunk. South Korea then returns to defend their basket.
Undaunted, Midoriya had the ball and as he passed the center line, he was waving weird signals at his teammates, who seemed to understand what he wanted to happen and they decided to move out and step outside the three point line.
"A 5-Out Motion Offense…"
"A what now?" Bakugou had it and quickly asked in a rude manner the fan who said that.
Sighing at Bakugou's rather crude questioning, the male fan nevertheless replied, "A 5-Out Motion Offense is a strategy that's reliant on continuous passing, cutting, and screening to create more opportunities in scoring a basket or fishing a foul. Basically, everyone gets a chance to get the ball."
"Isn't that what basketball is all about?" What Denki knew about basketball came from their Physical Education class.
"Those are the basics. Professional or international basketball is more in-depth, not just simple dribbling, shooting, or passing," the man sighed before he joined back in cheering for Japan.
Back in the court, Izuku then saw the weak-side barely given attention by the Korean defense as he proceeded to attack it. However, the moment the Koreans reacted to him penetrating, Izuku then stopped and turned before passing the ball to Masakumo, who was waiting in the corner spot.
Suddenly drawing Ha Ung to mark him, Masakumo passes the ball towards Yuto, who was standing at the top of the arc. He then jabs against Steve before quickly flinging the ball towards a cutting Kawamura Yudai, who attracts the attention of three Korean defenders and as he was stopped in his tracks, he then passed overhead to Izuku, who was free to attack the wing and as he did that, he stops and shifted from right to left before attempting a floater basket.
To his happiness, the ball went in, earning him another basket.
"W-What did Deku just do? Did Aizawa-sensei teach us that in our physical education class?" Ochako asked.
The class didn't answer her. Instead, someone from the crowd somewhat answered her indirectly.
"The number five Izuku kid was good, I must say," one of the fans said, "He mastered the art of sidestepping…"
"Why did you say that…" his companion asked.
"When the Izuku kid got the ball back after rotating the basketball, he did what longtime hoop junkies call the Euro Step or sometimes, the side step,," the other man explained, "Historically, it was in the European hoops scene where the move was popularized before it was brought to the NBA a hundred years ago or more. Basically, after one picks up his dribble, the player then takes one step in one direction before quickly taking a step on another. It's usually done to avoid the defender in front of you before attacking the basket. That's why I think he could have not picked it up in local Japanese basketball. Someone else, most likely a foreign player, might have taught it to him or he spent his time watching NBA or EuroLeague footage."
The Class 2-A obviously look as if they're trying to understand something they don't even get at all.
"Did Aizawa-sensei also teach that…side-step…thingy…in our physical education class…" Ochako asked sheepishly.
"He said that we should just dribble and shoot…if I remember correctly…" Todoroki replied to her.
"Isn't that what they are doing right now?" Tsuyu said.
"I mean…yes but their movements are…I don't know…it looks very easy to do on paper but very hard to execute in reality…" Momo replied.
Their eyes glued back to the game, they see that South Korea managed to gain another point as Seung-jin stops and pops for a 15-feet jumper from the top of the key and perfectly, it went in.
"Wasn't that the guy who hit that buzzer beater versus our team last Asian Continental Hoops festival?" One of the Japanese fans near where Class 2-A was seated asked.
"Yeah, he's that guy and it seems that the number five guy Midoriya-san will be the one who'll be guarding him today. Last time, it was Tarou Mikisato-san and reports said his ACL injury had resurfaced again," his seatmate replied to him.
Now, to cut things short, the first half of the game, which is the first two quarters, have been going mostly normal except for the fact that all of the players are too concentrated on the game that they seemed to have tuned out the cheering and hooting from the mixed Japanese-Korean crowd. The lead exchange has been going back and forth as both teams made their shots, grabbed rebounds and attempted a lot of steals.
"Both teams are still going at it easy," a Korean fan from the crowd said, "it's almost as if they all thought of doing the same thing."
"Well, the Japanese guys, especially, the Number Five cutie Midoriya, seemed to be testing our own boys," her fellow Korean fan replied but for some reason, a fuming Ochako was prepared to send that female fan into infinity.
"Of course, our boys will win but even I'm afraid of what Mr. Midoriya will do. He's very composed and he's very good at distributing the ball. He's very well-rounded as a player and…" The Korean female fan, who looks to be at the same age as the Class 2-A, entered a thinking pose before replying with a dreamy look, "...he looks like that one idol that I listen to every day with that green hair. Certainly, he's someone I can date…"
Her Korean friend would have certainly agreed with her if it wasn't for the sudden cold and murderous vibe suddenly masking in their backs and once their looked behind, they nearly yelped to see Uraraka Ochako who looked as if she was about to rip the two foreign fans to shreds.
"O-Ochako…chan…" Tsuyu was visibly worried at the sudden mood swings of her friend.
Frightened, the two Korean fans quickly focused their attention on the game as they ignored the dark aura that Ochako was emitting.
"End of the first half!"
The announcer suddenly said as Masakumo had just beaten the buzzer to tie the game at 46 points apiece. The two teams then headed towards their respective dugouts.
"That was a…very intense but creepy game…" Mina said, "Like…they were all so focused on what they're doing that they didn't even pay attention to the crowd cheering for them…"
"It was a very competitive game, especially that it involved two international teams," Momo conceded, "But it begs the question as to how Midoriya-san got involved with the national basketball team of Japan. Has anyone seen this coming?"
"We're so preoccupied with improving our quirks that we barely had any time to think about non-academic activities," Jiro admitted.
"And still, Deku-san had time to play basketball, kero," Tsuyu said.
Bakugou, meanwhile, looked like he was about to suffer a heart attack as the image of everyone borderline worshiping Deku was too much for him to bear and an imaginary foam was beginning to form in his mouth.
"Midoriya-kun is so cool, neh?!" A Japanese fan near Class 2-A nudged her best friend, "Not only is he the famed next Symbol of Peace from U.A. High School but he also re-established the struggling national team once again…"
Wait, what?! Class 2-A was again surprised as they learned their classmate apparently had resurrected the dormant Japanese national basketball program all by himself. But how?!
Besides, they were all wondering how their stuttering, green-bean, cinnamon roll managed to recruit players in order to do that seemingly impossible task. None of them came from U.A. Academy, after all.
"Excuse me," Momo apparently had enough of their class being kept in the dark so she decided to politely ask the fan who said that, "Sorry if we're interrupting your time but may you explain by what you mean that Midoriya-san re-established this national team again.
"Oh, you didn't know…wait, I think I know you…you're from U.A. and a classmate of Midoriya-san, am I right?" The fan apparently was familiar with them so Momo nodded. "I don't know why you don't know but I heard from one friend who works with the Japanese Basketball Association that he and their captain Akashi-san traveled throughout Japan to find players suitable for rebuilding the national team."
"Yes, I see that but how?"
"Look, I don't know how he did it but that's what they said," the fan sighed, "Besides, that's not important to them anymore. What's important is they need to win or else, they'll have to make good their promise."
"And that is?"
The fan laughed a bit before replying, "That if they lose to either China or South Korea again, they'll have to confess to the girl that they liked buttnaked and have it streamed."
The moment they heard this, all students of Class 2-A had their brains short-circuited as they were struggling to process what they heard. When they finally recovered, they all shouted.
"WHAT?!"