Author's Note: Thank you for 400 follows on this story. Since we reached 400 I have a question: What made you want to read this story? What did I do to draw you in and made you stick with it for so long?
Izuku couldn't see and he was surrounded. Without sight, Izuku knew he was in danger but remained calm. The last thing he should do in this situation is panic and give his opponents the upper hand. He steadied his breathing and waited for his opponents to make the first move.
He heard movement in front of him and Splint Second activated. He raised his arms in a defensive position and felt his opponent's attack bounce off his arms. There was movement beside him and he quickly kicked away the attack. He heard something behind him and he quickly dropped to the floor to avoid getting hit.
The attacks started to come in faster but Izuku didn't hesitate. With the help of Split Second, he was able to dodge all of the attacks without breaking a sweat. He was feeling confident until he got hit in the back of the head. One of his opponents managed to hit him.
It all started to go wrong after the hit. Split Second didn't feel right. It still felt like the world around him slowed down, but his enemies' attacks were moving faster. He still managed to dodge the attacks but he was getting hit more frequently.
One of his opponents hit him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He collapsed to the floor holding his stomach. Now with an easier target, his opponents started to bombard him with their attacks. Izuku quickly curled himself into a ball to minimize their attacks.
"Ok, ok, that's enough!" Izuku cried out. The onslaught stopped as Izuku got on his hands and knees to catch his breath. He heard someone walk beside him and pat his back.
"You lasted about a minute. That's better than last time," he heard Mei say. Izuku took off the blindfold that was covering his eyes, allowing him to see the mess in the warehouse. Tennis balls littered the ground and he saw four pitching machines surrounding him. He slowly got off the ground and moved to the couch by the computer to rest.
"How fast are you setting those things anyway?" Izuku asked. Mei walked up to him and tossed him an icepack and an energy drink. He greatly accepted both as she walked over to her computer.
"100 mph. It's the best setting to test your quirk," Mei hooked up a camera to the computer and pulled up his training tape. She showed him the pitching machines shooting at him one at a time, and he did a good job at both dodging and deflecting the tennis balls. Then she showed him the machines shooting at him at the same time and he saw himself struggle.
"You're lucky that you haven't run into a group of people who are smart enough to attack you at the same time," Mei told him. He has faced off against groups before but he always managed to take each member out separately or he was lucky that each member attacked him one at a time. Mei brought his attention back to the screen for him to see a still image of him getting hit in the head. "And this is when everything went wrong."
Izuku knew what she was gonna say, it was a downside of his quirk. Whenever he takes any damage, Split Second becomes less effective. The world still slows down, but everything moves faster than normal. It's the main reason why he has a scar on his forehead.
"I know it's bad but I do a good job at dodging out in the field," Izuku tried to reason with her but she shook her head.
"I know you do but one day you're gonna be overwhelmed and it could cost you your life," Mei said grimly. Izuku couldn't argue with her, she was just looking out for him. Even though he has done a good job of not getting hit, he knows at some point his luck is going to run out.
Mei closed out the video and pulled up a blueprint of a suit. From what Izuku could tell, it was a dark green one-piece suit with a black belly. It also had a utility belt, black shin guards, arm guards, combat boots, and gloves. To top it off was a cowl that would cover someone's face except for their mouth.
"On a brighter note, how do you like your new costume design?" Mei asked. Looking over it, Izuku doesn't hate it. Sure, there were some things he didn't like, mainly the black belly but that's something Mei could adjust later.
"It looks great! It'll be your best work so far, especially after you practiced making my first suit and the other hero course student's costumes!" Izuku complimented her, and she grimaced in response.
"I don't get to make the hero course costumes. From what I've heard, students have to send in a request form of their designs, wants, and quirk to UA and the school will send those forms to support companies that work with UA. The support course doesn't get to work on the hero course costumes until after the first heroic class," Mei informed him. She looked at the blueprint and smiled with delight. "Your new suit is the first costume I get to make at UA!"
"But how would you be able to make it without raising suspicion?" Izuku asked. Mei always hounded him about protecting his identity and he didn't want her to give out their secret if someone catches her working on a costume for no one in the hero course.
"After the first heroics class, Power Loader will allow us to use the workshop after school to work on anything the hero course sends us. I even looked for any blindspots in the workshop too!" Mei reassured him before closing out of the blueprint and frowning a little. "But that does mean I won't be here every night."
"You're doing this to help me so I don't mind. Just promise me that you'll have your earpiece with you. I like having someone to talk with when I'm out there," Izuku told her and she smiled.
"Deal! I'll even upgrade one of your weapons while I'm at it!" Mei promised and they gave each other a high five. Mei looked at the time on her computer and started to push Izuku out the door. "It's getting late and the first heroics class is tomorrow! I need to get as much sleep as I can now because starting tomorrow it's gonna be nothing but all-nighters!"
She slammed the warehouse door in Izuku's face. Izuku laughed before he started walking home. Mei has her moments sometimes but he's glad that they're partners.
The bell rang and everyone packed up their stuff. They just finished their English class and were getting ready for lunch. Present Mic erased the lesson he wrote on the board and packed his stuff too.
"Since it's your first full day of classes there won't be any homework. Though I do want you to practice today's lesson on your own time," he told them as they were left.
Fumikage and Tsu were walking to the cafeteria talking about their day. So far, they only had normal classes that you would have in any normal high school. The only thing that separates UA from a normal high school is that pro heroes are the teachers. It quickly loses its charm after the first few classes.
"I don't care what Present Mic says, I will never be that excited about English," Tsu said. She's not bad at English by any means, but she does consider it to be one of her weaker subjects.
"At least he tried to make it interesting," Fumikage replied. If he was being honest, he was grateful that a teacher was trying to make the lessons more engaging and actually motivate him to learn. If he had more teachers like Present Mic back in junior high then he wouldn't have worried so much about the written portion of the entrance exam.
The two made it to the cafeteria and the room was huge. It had the standard layout of a high school cafeteria but it had the feel of a mall food court. Tsu spotted a line of students getting their food and the duo quickly joined it. It didn't take long for the two to reach the front.
"Welcome! My food is so delicious it'll blow your taste buds right off, and it's all affordable too!" The chef greeted them. Much like the teachers, the chef was also a pro hero. They're the Cook Hero: Lunch Rush. They were wearing a standard chef's uniform and a robotic mask.
The two placed their orders and quickly received their meals as fast as they ordered. They moved away from the line and tried to look for an open table.
"You have the option to order anything and you choose a tuna sandwich, ribbit," Tsu commented on Fumikage's lunch choice. Fumikage had a tuna sandwich for lunch ever since he started school; it became an everyday ritual for him.
Fumikage was gonna say something back to his frog friend, but he saw Shinso sitting alone. Since the quirk assessment test yesterday, word spread like wildfire of his "villainous" quirk. Shinso took it in stride as if he was used to it, but Fumikage could tell that it was bothering him. He signaled toward Tsu and she nodded in agreement with what he wanted to do.
"Mind if we sit with you?" Fumikage asked Shinso when he and Tsu made it to his table. Shinso appeared shocked before quickly putting on a stoic mask.
"You can if you want," Shinso replied in a monotone voice. The two friends took their seats and started eating their lunch in silence. It quickly became awkward with no one knowing what to say. Luckily for them, a jovial pair of floating clothes bounced up to the table.
"Is it alright for me to join you guys?" Hagakure asked. No one objected and she graciously took a seat across from Fumikage. She couldn't seem to sit still because she was excited about the next period. "Are you guys ready for our first hero lesson next period!? I almost stayed up all night just thinking about it!"
It was the class everyone was both excited and anxious about. It was going to be their first taste of what being a hero is like so it made sense there were some nerves. They were all going to be taking their first step into their future profession.
"I heard a rumor that All Might will be teaching us. How cool is that!?" Hagakure added with glee. Shinso just rolled his eyes and snorted.
"Yeah right. If All Might was gonna be our teacher then we would've heard multiple reports of him working at UA. It's probably going to be either Snipe or Mr. Aizawa," Shinso said, causing Hagakure to pout. Fumikage gave Tsu a slide glance, secretly smirking at her. Because of his acceptance letter, they knew All Might was teaching at UA. Fumikage had to assume that the rumor was probably started by one of their upperclassmen or someone who had All Might in their acceptance letter.
The two friends decided not to tell them that the rumors were true. They didn't want to ruin the surprise for them. They chuckled just thinking about how everyone who didn't know about All Might being a teacher would react when he bursts into their classroom.
"You two seem close," Shinso commented when he saw the two friends chuckling. "You two seemed to always be around each other now that I think of it."
"It's like you two are dating," Hagakure added, a hint of sadness was heard in her voice.
Fumikage and Tsu looked at each other. The two would've been a blushing mess if this was a stereotypical romantic comedy. Instead, they just laughed at the thought of someone thinking they were dating, which received some confused looks.
"Oh no, we aren't dating. We've known each other since we were kids, ribbit," Tsu said to at least ease Shinso's and Hagakure's confusion.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed because of how close you two are…" Hagakure said apologetically and Tsu waved her off.
"It's fine, but I am dating someone," Tsu said and even though she was invisible, both Tsu and Fumikage could tell she had stars in her eyes.
"REALLY! Do they go to our school? Are they in our class? Please tell me!" Hagakure quickly fired off her questions, making Tsu a little uncomfortable. She never made a big deal about her relationship with Izuku. It was just two friends who shared the same feelings for each other.
"She's dating a friend of ours. He goes to Musutafu High so you won't see him in any of our classes," Fumikage answered for his friend and Tsu silently thanked him.
"Oh, well that's cool," Hagakure said, sounding a little disappointed. "But I bet you wish your boyfriend went to the same school as you?"
"He's not my boyfriend," Tsu said and she received confused looks from everyone.
"But didn't you say you were dating?" Shinso spoke up after being silent for so long. Tsu nodded, wondering where the conversation was going.
"Then how is he not your boyfriend?" Hagakure asked. Tsu pondered over the girl's question for a minute.
How is Izuku not her boyfriend? They have been going out for almost 10 months now and not once have they considered each other boyfriend or girlfriend. They haven't even done anything that boyfriend and girlfriend do with each other. Sure, they hugged but it was either a celebratory hug or a group hug between her, Fumikage, and Izuku.
But outside of that, nothing. They never held hands, cuddled, or even kissed. Her face went red just thinking of that last one.
Seeing how flustered his friend was, Fumikage cleared his throat to regain everyone's attention.
"So, uh, what do you think the next class is going to be about?" Fumikage said to change the subject and thankfully it did.
"I would like to say it would be something simple like walkthroughs, but after the first day, I'm not sure what it'll be," Shinso responded while stroking his chin.
"Do you think we'll get to wear our hero costumes? I've been looking forward to that ever since I sent in my form," Hagakure said while bouncing in her seat.
The bell rang and everyone started to file out of the cafeteria. While walking in the hallway, Tsu tugged on Fumikage's sleeve and silently thanked him for earlier. He brushed her off and told her that she would do the same for him.
Everyone sat in their seats, anxious for the class to come. Almost everyone was theorizing about who their teacher was going to be. Some were keeping their expectations low, saying that it was probably Mr. Aizawa or Snipe. While the ones who bought into the rumor were excited that All Might would teach them.
Fumikage didn't say anything. Fumikage saw a few students looked extremely excited and he assumed they also had All Might in their acceptance letter. He and Tsu smiled at each other and waited for their teacher to arrive.
"I AM HERE!" Everyone shut their mouths and widened their eyes when they heard his signature phrase. All the rumors were confirmed when they turned to the door and saw their teacher. "COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A HERO!"
All Might. With a huge smile on his face, he marched to the front of the room as the students showered him in praise. He was wearing his Silver Age costume, a red and white top with blue and white pants. He also had a yellow belt and a blue cape.
He stopped behind the podium and everyone quickly shut their mouths, anxiously waiting for him to begin their lesson.
"Welcome to the most important class at UA High where you'll learn the basics of being a pro and what it means to fight in the name of good!" All Might flexed before pulling out a flash card with the word "BATTLE" on it. "We won't be holding back in today's lesson!"
Everyone was surprised they would be doing something so advanced during their first lesson. Well, everyone except Bakugo, who looked extremely excited.
"But if you're going to be a hero you must look like one!" All Might pushed a button and 20 briefcases emerged from the wall. Each briefcase had a number between 1 and 20 that corresponded with each student's seat number. "These are your hero costumes based on your quirk registration forms you sent in before school!"
All Might allowed everyone to cheer before silencing them so he could move on with his lesson.
"After you're done suiting up, meet me at Training Ground Beata!" All Might flew out of the room and everyone grabbed the briefcase that matched their seat number. They soon headed for the locker rooms that were the closest to the training ground All Might wanted to meet up.
Fumikage looked himself over as he stretched. He wanted to make sure that he had some flexibility in his costume before the lesson started. His hero costume was simple; a black t-shirt, black baggy pants, and black boots. He also wore a black cloak that covered his whole body down to his shins.
The cloak had two purposes: to help strengthen Dark Shadow and to camouflage himself when he becomes an underground hero. He also had two black wristbands, one on each arm. They didn't serve any purpose; it was more of a stylistic choice.
He left the locker room and walked down a long corridor until he saw the exit. He emerged on the other side to find everyone else waiting in a mock city, similar to the one in the practical exam. He quickly spotted Tsu and made his way to her.
Her hero costume was a bright green bodysuit with dark green stripes with yellow borders. She wore tan-colored gloves, a harness, and a belt of the same color as her gloves. She also had on black thigh-high boots with webbed flippers designed as frog toes. To top off her costume she had a pair of goggles with dark green lenses and a streak of dark green face paint going across her face.
"You're looking good. I really like how simple your costume is, ribbit," Tsu commented on his attire.
"Thank you, but aren't you embarrassed to wear something so… revealing?" Fumikage asked. With one quick look around his class, he could instantly tell that a majority of the girls' costumes were skin-tight suits.
"I don't mind," Tsu said with a shrug. "It's nothing more than a glorified wetsuit anyway. It also benefits me and my quirk so I'm not complaining."
A few more seconds passed before everyone arrived. All Might looked them over with a proud smile on his face.
"You all look so amazing. From this point forward you are now more than just UA students, you are now officially heroes in training!" All Might gave them a few seconds to congratulate themselves before moving on with his lesson. "Now that you're all here it's time for combat training!"
"Sir, this is similar to the fake city in the entrance exam, does that mean we'll be conducting urban battles again?" A man in a futuristic suit of armor asked.
"Not exactly, we're going to be doing something more advanced! Most of the villain fights you see on the news take place outside, but statistically, most run-ins against the evilest villains take place indoors!" All Might explained to the class. "Backroom deals, home invasions, secret underground layers. The most intelligent villains stay hidden in the shadows."
Fumikage nodded along to what the number one hero said. The most interesting hero fights are the ones you see on tv or online, but the ones that scare you or make you nauseous are the ones that you read about. He remembered being furious a few months ago when he read an article about an underground fighting ring that pitted children with mutation quirks against each other.
"For this training exercise, you'll be split into teams of heroes and villains and fight two on two indoor battles!" All Might told them and Tsu had a question.
"Doesn't this seem a little advanced?"
"The best training you can get is on the battlefield. But you must remember, you aren't going up against a robot this time. You are going up against each other," All Might answered and everyone had questions of their own.
"How will you decide who wins?"
"How much can we hurt the other team?"
"Is the last-place team going to get expelled?"
"Will you be splitting us up in a certain way?"
"Isn't this cape just fabulous?"
All Might clenched his fist and bit his tongue. It was clear that he wasn't expecting everyone to ask their questions at the same time. He took a deep breath and pulled out a small booklet.
"Alright, listen up! The scenario is that a duo of villains hid a nuclear weapon in their hideout. The heroes have to go in and defeat them. To do that, the hero team either needs to capture the villains or recover the weapon. But if the villains capture the heroes or defend the weapon then they win!" All Might informed the class before pulling out a box from thin air. "Time is limited so we'll be deciding who partners up by drawing lots!"
"Isn't there a better way to decide?" The suit of armor asked.
"Heroes don't always have the privilege to team up with whoever they want. Most of the time, they'll team up with whoever is in the area to take down a villain," the girl with a ponytail said.
"I see, so All Might is testing us to see how well we'll work with others we're not familiar with," the suit of armor then bowed to the teacher. "I'm sorry for questioning your methods, sir!"
"Uh, yeah," All Might cleared his throat before reaching into the box. "Anyway, let's see who is working with who!"
One by one, All Might randomly pulled out everyone's name and assigned them a letter. Fumikage was on Team F with Hagakure, Shinso was on Team H with the bob-cut girl, and Tsu was on Team B with…
"You have to be kidding. Why did it have to be him?" Tsu said in disbelief. She looked over to find her partner glaring daggers at her.
His hero costume was a black tank top with an orange X across the middle, black baggy pants that were being held up by an orange belt, and black combat boots. He wore a metallic neck brace, had some grenades clipped onto his belt, and a black mask covering his eyes with two flare designs on the back of his head. But what stood out the most was the two grenade-shaped gauntlets on his wrist.
Tsu rubbed her head and contemplated why, out of everyone in her class, was she the one to be paired up with Bakugo.
"Alright, let's see who is going first!" All Might reached into two boxes, one labeled Hero and the other labeled Villain. He pulled out a ball from each box and showed the class the results. "Team B will be the Heroes and Team F will be the Villains! Everyone else will be joining me in the monitor room!"
All Might separated the two teams and led them to a five-story building. He opened the door for Fumikage and Hagakure but held them back to tell them something.
"You have 5 minutes to prepare. Young Tokoyami and Young Hagakure, I want you two to embody true villainy during this trial. I'll be watching the entire time and if I think things start getting out of hand I will step in! Understand?"
The two teens nodded and All Might allowed them to enter the building.
It didn't take long for them to find the fake bomb. They both agreed to move it to the top floor to give them enough space from the Hero team, even if it was an obvious hiding spot. Fumikage had Dark Shadow carry the bomb while he and Hagakure strategized.
"So what's the plan?" Hagakure asked. Her hero costume was just a pair of light blue gloves and brownish-gray boots. Fumikage tried his best to remain focused on the trial and not his partner's costume, or lack thereof.
"The obvious concern is Bakugo and his powerful quirk, but we shouldn't underestimate Tsu because she has been working on a form of camouflage," Fumikage told her. He remembered Tsu showing him and Izuku her camo ability before the entrance exam. It was impressive but she could easily be spotted if you paid close attention to her hiding spot.
"Well my quirk is nothing but camouflage so why don't I just sneak up on them with the capture tape and end it," Hagakure suggested. It was a good plan, but Fumikage didn't like the idea of her going off on her own with such little protection.
"Maybe, but I don't want you to go off on your own and I also don't want to leave the bomb defenseless."
"Aww, you're worried about me. That's so sweet," Hagakure gushed. Fumikage was slightly flustered. They made it to the fifth floor and hid the bomb in one of the many rooms. They had less than a minute left to prepare and Fumikage came up with an idea.
"I think I have a plan on how we can beat them," Fumikage drew Hagakure close to him and he whispered his plan into her ear.