There are many bisexual disasters in this class, tsk tsk. And now, Battle Trials Ahoy!
Sorry the chapter took so much longer this time...my computer fucking crashed and I could not recover anything. Luckily this was all in google docs so I didn't LOSE progress, but having to get a new pc and do setup while the work project is in the final days...ugh.
Himiko left Ochako's room after a little while, headed to the kitchen to get a couple bottles of water for her and her partners. Their 'activities' had led to a slight bit of dry mouth, and she figured she'd grab something to drink for them all. There was no prohibition against spending the night together, considering everyone was adults, and Katsuki had taken Eri for the evening just in case she had a bad dream so the three felt they were safe deciding to just…stay together.
As she made her way down the stairs, she noticed Kyoka leaning against her room door, as if waiting for someone. She looked up when Himiko came down the stairs and stood up straight. "Hey, Himiko," she said quietly.
"Hey Kyo! Is something the matter?" Himiko asked, tilting her head to the side.
Kyoka's cheeks pinked a little as she looked slightly to the left of Himiko. "No, nothing. I just…uh…wanted to check if Midoriya's doing okay? I heard you leaving the room so I thought I'd wait and um, ask…"
"Oh, yeah, he's much better now! Took some effort but 'Chako and I got it through his thick skull it's okay to have a bad day," as emphasis, Himiko rapped herself on the head with her knuckles in a fist and made a silly face.
"That's good, that's good. And um…are you okay? That's gotta be rough, right?" Kyoka seemed to be refusing to meet Himiko's gaze, which the blonde was a bit confused by but chose not to call attention to it. Maybe she just didn't like showing this much concern for people she barely knew.
"Not gonna say I like seeing him like that, but I can manage. He's always there for me, so, you know…returning the favor."
"Right, yeah, okay. So long as you all are good," Kyoka nodded. "I um, I'm gonna go to bed then. Just wanted to check up on you guys."
"Thanks Kyo!" Himiko walked over and gave Kyoka a quick hug, letting go as soon as the purple-haired rocker froze in place. "Oops, sorry, didn't mean to overstep!"
"N-no, it's fine!" Kyoka squeaked out.
"Alright, I'll leave you be! Goodnight Kyo!" Himiko hummed to herself as she walked away, Kyoka watching her leave in her Cheshire cat tank top and exceedingly short shorts. Her cheeks burned as she dove back into her room and leaned against the door.
"...Green and Uraraka are so lucky," she muttered. The blonde had been stuck in her head since she'd had to be rescued by her, carried by this ridiculously fit flexible cheerful blonde badass who somehow made the damned giant robot punch itself in the face, and it did not help that she seemed to have little regard for how people saw her.
It also did not help that Kyoka was surrounded by a lot of hot people. Half the class were absolutely incredible looking, and she cursed being a bisexual disaster every minute she'd spent around them. But seeing how snuggly and adorable the trio was, how the two girls had helped cheer up the boy who somehow blew up a zero pointer, the same one who cooked that delicious meal with Bakugo while doing knife tricks and if she was correct, also played guitar considering what she heard the 'brothers' talking about the day before…ugh.
She held her face in her hands and let out a muffled scream. She was okay. It's fine. It wasn't like she couldn't manage. Just so long as Himiko stopped wandering around in her version of pajamas…
Izuku thought he might get embarrassed, having to leave his girlfriend's room in the morning and being seen by Ashido as he exited. But surprisingly, he really didn't care. Ashido was practically vibrating in excitement when she saw him, but she was far too sleepy to comment beyond a sleepy, mischievous grin. He rolled his eyes good-naturedly at her, feeling far better than he had before. Who knew cuddling two incredibly beautiful women all night could make a bad day much better?
Getting ready for class was much easier this morning. He felt…lighter. Although he did notice Jiro was acting kind of weird when he saw her, she seemed a bit flustered and out of sorts. He shrugged mentally, giving Himiko a quick kiss on her forehead when she sleepily leaned into his side as he was throwing together a quick breakfast for the trio, Ochako seated at the table.
Katsuki strode past, having been up since five in the morning since he went to bed so early. Eri was beside him, running about to give her morning hugs to the other three, before climbing up to the table to sit next to Ochako as Katsuki stepped up next to Izuku to throw something together for her.
In no time at all, the rest of the students had made their way down in varied states of wakefulness, spending time making breakfast or in some cases just snacking on something easy. They trickled out of the dorms towards their classroom. The quartet walked together, Katsuki with his hands in his pockets, Izuku gesturing wildly as he spoke about some of the things he'd noticed during the test the day before. Himiko was only partially listening, looking at her phone as Ochako nodded along with the greenette.
"Hey, has anyone heard from Toshi lately?" Himiko asked, frowning as she checked the last message she'd received from him.
"Now that you mention it, no. He said he'd be busy all last week, but I really thought he'd say something once we got in," Ochako said, tilting her head to the side as she thought about it.
"Must be really busy if he can't talk to us," Izuku mused. "It's a bit concerning."
"He's All Might. I'm sure he's fucking fine," Katsuki said.
"Oh yeah, I'm sure, just wondering what kept him from replying to us. It's not like him to leave us without replying for so long," Izuku said. Katsuki just shrugged, walking over to his desk as they entered the classroom.
Morning classes were…distressingly normal. No one was expecting UA's hero school to focus so heavily on things like English and Math, but there they were. The one saving grace in Izuku's mind was each glass was taught by a different pro hero which had him squeeing internally, to the smirks of his girlfriends and snorted laughter of Katsuki. Lunch was also a moment of internalized fanboying; he was trying very hard to keep quiet so as to avoid more mockery, but it being Lunch Rush really made it difficult.
As they returned to class after lunch, the class was abuzz since this would finally be something they were waiting for, Hero Basic Training. Izuku was excited to see which hero would be teaching them, and then he heard a voice he was all too familiar with.
"I am…coming through the door like a normal person!" Toshin-All Might stepped in, nearly ripping the door off the hinges as the class nearly leapt out of their seats in excitement (save the quartet who were in shock).
Izuku missed half of what his mentor said as he realized the reason why Toshinori had been so cagey the past week. He wasn't sure if he was annoyed or not, if he was being honest. But…wait, what about their costumes?
Katsuki grabbed him by his arm and yanked him up out of his chair, half-dragging the somewhat shell-shocked greenette out of the room towards the locker room to change. He gave a half-hearted glare, but the blonde was smiling too widely to care. He'd been smiling since he'd heard the word 'Battle', reminding Izuku that Katsuki hadn't had a good spar in a week and he got very antsy if he didn't.
Izuku nodded as he looked over the costume the designers had finished for him. While he was pretty sure he'd need more later, this seemed to work out well. A dark, almost black, green jumpsuit, with strategic armoring over his shins and along his arms. A pair of sturdy gloves covered his hands and ran further up his arm towards his elbow. He wore a dark red utility belt, holding first aid supplies and odds and ends he thought could come in handy.
The bracelets that tracked his energy levels had a slot in the gloves so they were visible, locking into place at an easily accessible location. His boots were covered in extra armor, which fit with his notes about trying to get more into utilizing kicks in his fighting style (based on comments Nighteye had made to him during sparring practice). Finally, a respirator that hung around his neck, one he could flick up to cover his mouth with ease.
As he stepped out of the locker room, he noticed Katsuki latching on the gauntlets the two of them had come up with as children. He nodded absently, happy to see that had been approved. A way for him to store up extra sweat into a rotating chamber that would allow him to rapid-fire blasts just in case he was starting to run low himself or just as a more concentrated version. He shook his head out of his contemplation and headed out of the room to meet up with the rest of the class.
He swiftly realized two things: One, his girlfriends were really hot in their costumes. Two, most of the costumes in the class were very impractical. When asked, pretty much everyone said the same thing: they made some requests and let the costume company handle it. Most of the boys were alright (save Kirishima's, what the hell, he may be a walking shield but he was not always in his hardened state!), but between Ochako's skin tight bodysuit she felt uncomfortable in, Yaoyorozu's lack of any form of protection, and Hagakure's…everything, Izuku's eye was twitching in such a way Katsuki chose to step away from the muttering verdette.
"Yeah, I mean, you look great sweetie, but not sure that's entirely safe," Himiko commented, looking at Ochako's heels. Her costume was closer to what she'd asked for, a black gothic style dress that was inlaid with armored plates and was DNA encoded so she could transform and not be naked when she dropped it. Her gloves had retractable talons for both gripping and injuring her opponents, and when Izuku asked how many knives she was carrying, she simply looked him dead in the eye and said 'Yes.'
Izuku whipped out his notebook, to the consternation of most of the students around him who did not see a pocket or pouch large enough to hold it, and began writing rapidly while muttering under his breath angrily. He was interrupted by All Might grabbing everyone's attention, commenting on how they all looked like heroes.
He explained they would be doing battle trials indoors, expressing how commonly villain fights take place within rather than without. He continued by explaining they'd be doing mock two on two battles, one side defending a 'bomb' as the villains and the other side as the heroes entering the building to try to take it. Victory conditions were the one of the teams capturing the other in the provided capture tape, or if the heroes successfully got to the bomb and touched it before time ran out. If time ran out, the villains would be victorious.
"Sir! How will teams be determined?" Ida asked, Izuku pleasantly surprised by Ida's costume and how it looked to actually be practical unlike half the others.
"Random draw!" All Might replied with a big grin.
"Is that to simulate the fact you may never know who your allies are in a battle?" Izuku asked.
"Right you are, young Midoriya! In the field, you can never quite be sure who will be at your side, so it is best to be adaptable and prepared for all situations! Now, let's draw our lots!" After the lot drawing, the teams were laid out as such:
Team A (Kaminari, Shoji) as Heroes vs Team B (Ashido, Sato) as Villains
Team C (Todoroki, Ida) as Heroes vs Team F (Aoyama, Tokoyami) as Villains
Team D (Shinso, Koda) as Heroes vs Team H (Uraraka, Asui) as Villains
Team E (Hagakure, Sero) as Heroes vs team G (Himiko, Jiro) as Villains
Team J (Kirishima, Bakugo) as Heroes vs Team I (Midoriya, Yaoyorozu) as Villains
"Now…let's begin!"
Match 1: Team A vs Team B
"Hmm…normally I'd say the villains have the advantage, but in this particular case, the heroes have a big advantage here," Izuku mused.
"How so?" Ida asked.
"The villains biggest advantage in this scenario is that the heroes do not know where they hid the bomb, as well as being able to set traps and funnel in the opponents where they choose. But Shoji's ability completely negates that advantage. Neither Ashido or Sato are particularly stealthy nor do they have a good way to negate his ability. And they cannot afford to let Kaminari get too close."
"I'm not so sure about that," Shinso remarked.
Izuku tilted his head to the side, looking up from his notebook. "How so?"
"I saw him use his Quirk at the exam…if he overdoes it, he goes all slack and confused, that's why he needed help."
"Hmm, I wonder why that is. What constitutes 'overuse' then? Is it simply accessing too much electricity, or does it depend upon the range he uses it? Does it-"
"Doesn't your fancy vision tell you?" Shinso asked, arching an eyebrow at Izuku.
Izuku shook his head. "No, it doesn't work like that. When I look at someone with it on, the color is white and kind of flat, although I can see how it 'moves', for lack of a better term. Once I figure out the base power it gets a color. But it doesn't necessarily tell me how it works. It just lets me examine it, I still have to figure out the way it functions, it's more just…a clue? Like yours. I know it has something to do with your voice and your mind because it's brightest at your throat and your brain, but that could be a hundred possible powers."
"Oh, right, you didn't see him use his power last night!" Hagakure commented, smacking her glove into the other one.
Izuku's head shot up from his notebook to look eagerly at the purple-haired boy standing beside him. "Oh you showed it last night? What is it? What does it do? How does it work? What-"
"Izu, breathe," Himiko cut in, rolling her eyes fondly at him.
"Oh, right, sorry. May I ask what it does?"
Shinso narrowed his eyes at the verdette. "Why do you want to see it?"
"Well-" and whoosh, Izuku was frozen, eyes wide and blank. Everything was muffled, fuzzy, the world partially faded in the background. He could see it, the tower rising out of the ocean of his power, the vestiges looking at him curiously, looking like they wanted to speak but unable to be heard. A moment later it all vanished, him feeling like he'd been slammed back into his body with no time to catch himself.
"Woah, dizzy," he commented, swaying as he held his hand up to his head. Ochako reached over to give him support, Shinso looking at him worriedly.
"Uh…sorry. People don't normally get dizzy when I let it go…"
"No no, it's fine. But wow, that's so cool! Holy shit Shinso, you could do so much with that! You'd be amazing at bringing down villains without collateral damage! Wow, no wonder you wanted to be a hero, that's such a great Quirk for hero work!" Izuku's grin was wide and shining.
Shinso blinked rapidly at the verdette, unsure how to respond. "Um…t-thanks, I guess," he muttered, turning away from Izuku as the green-haired boy began rapidly writing in his notebook.
"Is the activation requirement a response? Is that why you asked me a question? Does it work if you get them to laugh instead? Or perhaps a snort? Is it verbal responses of any kind or must it be language? Does it work in other languages? Can you use a microphone? Is there an upper limit on the number of people it can affect? What sort of control does it permit, or is it solely the ability to freeze their mental state? Does it-"
"Midoriya…I understood maybe a third of that," Shinso cut off the rapid fire questions.
"Sweetheart, you can ask Shinso questions later. You don't want to miss the match, do you?" Himiko interjected, gently trying to refocus Izuku before he got upset for missing the match.
"Oh, right!" Izuku turned back to the monitor, watching closely as Shoji unerringly led Kaminari towards where Ashido and Sato had the bomb 'hidden'. Ashido was keeping an eye on the doorway, her hands flexing as she prepared to use her Quirk, which Izuku was still somewhat confused by exactly what it was beyond some type of viscous liquid (he really wished he'd had time to examine it during the assessment test).
Sato, he had noticed his Quirk was food based, considering he'd eaten something right before doing the tests. It appeared to strengthen him in some fashion, but Izuku wondered what the exact mechanisms were. As it was, he didn't appear to be using it yet. Izuku assumed it must be on a time limit, so he was holding off utilizing the power up he got from eating whatever it was (it was small, but he hadn't been able to get a good look at it).
However, he didn't have to wait long, with Shoji and Kaminari making it to the fourth floor room they'd barricaded for the bomb. Sato had, with some effort, found some large pieces of furniture and used them to block off the doorway into the room. It was clear they were banking on neither Kaminari nor Shoji being able to get through the clutter.
"That's gonna be hard for them to get through, right?" Ochako commented.
Izuku shook his head. "Nah. Shoji's Quirk doesn't give him super strength in the way a strength Quirk normally would, but due to him having denser musculature than a normal person to handle his mutation Quirk he has the equivalent of super strength as a side effect."
"...what?" Sero asked, now interested in Izuku's commentary.
Izuku gestured to the screen as Shoji's arms split into a multitude and began to rip into the doorframe, slamming into it repeatedly and shifting the furniture back. "You see, he's growing and removing extra limbs at will, right? Well, he's not creating that from nothing. The skin, ligaments, muscles, nerves, etc, all are coming from him. But while he's tall and fit, he's not some hulking behemoth. This implies that he has more compact 'extra' various body parts, if you will, within him. Like he stores the extra within himself. For that to work and for him to be the size he is, he must have a much denser muscular structure. Which leads to more strength and speed than someone of comparable size."
The rest of the students were half-listening to Izuku, half watching as he finally broke through the doorway, both Sato and Ashido squaring up to face off against them. But Shoji, after a quick nod from Kaminari, instead grabbed Kaminari by the back of his jacket, spun about, tossed him into the room towards Sato, and ducked behind the wall. The blonde boy shouted something as his body crackled with electricity (Izuku wincing a little but otherwise not reacting), and the room erupted into a storm of electrical discharge, shorting out the cameras and making the display of the room go blank.
"Oh wow! That's gotta be the win for the heroes then!" Hagakure said.
Izuku nodded his head slowly. "Likely, but the villains do have one chance. It depends on how conductive the liquid Ashido produces and if she can produce enough to cover herself in time. I'm not sure yet how it functions, but if it's not conductive and she can cover herself with it, she could be safe from that discharge. Sato though is likely out."
All Might was quietly muttering as he directed a drone up to the closest window to the room that just went out, as all they could see was Shoji diving into the room after the discharge faded. A moment later, the screens flickered back on, showing Shoji with a tired hand on the bomb, Kaminari giving a thumbs up with a blank grin on his face and the other two out cold on the ground.
"Hero Team wins!" All Might shouted. The class waited for the arrival of their classmates, Shoji returning to the room carrying all three of them carefully.
"My apologies, Sensei," he remarked as he gently set them down, Kaminari conscious but dazed.
All Might nodded, before turning to Izuku. "Young Midoriya, do you think you could assist them?"
Izuku snapped his notebook shut and nodded. "Kaminari, yes, it worked at the exam. Not sure about Ashido and Sato, but I can try!" The entire class save Himiko, Ochako, and Katsuki looked over at him in confusion as he carefully placed one hand on Kaminari's shoulder, the green glow shimmering beneath his fingertips and trickling into the blonde's form. Kaminari shook his head rapidly, his eyes clearing as he noticed Izuku next to him.
"Oh, I went overboard again…did we win?"
Izuku nodded. "Yes, but I think that's really dangerous. Do you do that every time you use your Quirk?"
Kaminari shrugged. "Only if it's a big area shock. Otherwise I'm fine. It's the whole 'million volts through the brain' thing."
"I see," Izuku muttered, his hands twitching as if he were going to write something. He ignored the urge and knelt down next to Ashido and Sato, the class now very curious about what he was doing. He focused and sent the same small jolt of energy into them, the two of them groaning and snapping awake after a moment.
"Huh. That worked. Hmm, I wonder if it works for all forms of unconsciousness," Izuku thought out loud.
"Wait, what happened?" Ashido asked, holding her head.
"You got knocked out cold by Kaminari!" Hagakure said with a teasing tone.
"Aww man, we lost?" she pouted.
"That you did, young heroes, but a loss is merely an opportunity to learn! Now, could anyone tell me who the MVP of the battle was?" All Might asked, looking over the class.
Yaoyorozu raised her hand. "That was Shoji. While the villain team's plan of hiding out and attempting a defensive fortification was sound on paper, Kaminari's Quirk made that an impossible task unless they had a method to neutralize him first. Utilizing him as a form of living bomb after breaking into the room and locating it through judicious use of his Quirk made Shoji the clear leader. Kaminari's part in the place relied heavily on a single area attack which left him helpless after the fact, and neither Sato nor Ashido had a plan to protect themselves from such an attack." Izuku was nodding along with Yaoyorozu the entire time.
All Might coughed into his hand. "W-Well yes, that is correct! Well done with your analysis! On to the next!"
Match 2: Team C vs Team F
"So who do you think has the advantage here, Izu?" Himiko asked her boyfriend.
"Aoyama's Quirk has an obvious weakness we all saw at the exam. Todoroki and Ida can capitalize on that with hit and run attacks. However, Ida may have issues utilizing his speed to its fullest potential in the narrow corridors. Tokoyami's Dark Shadow is incredibly potent and has great offensive and defensive capability. As for Todoroki, well…" Izuku trailed off as the match began and Todoroki put his hand on the wall, the entire building freezing in an instant.
"He can do that," he remarked, gesturing to the monitor.
"Oh wow, so…I guess they win?" Ochako asked.
Izuku shook his head. "Not against Tokoyami, not like that. Dark Shadow can break them out with ease," as he spoke, the monitors showed the shadow creature smashing the ice around their feet with massive talons, Aoyama shivering in the cold and wrapping his cape tight around his shoulders. "Todoroki just made it more difficult for Ida. Now he's in danger of losing his footing when they enter. And it's going to take longer to reach the bomb. And…yep, there they go. Tokoyami is taking advantage of how far away from him Dark Shadow can go, they can continue to harass the hero team with impunity."
"Huh. I guess even that much ice power can't get past Tokoyami," Sero muttered, as the monitors showed the truth of Izuku's words, the shadow creature breaking through walls while cackling to swipe at the two 'hero' team members before ducking back into the dark.
"Todoroki could probably do something about it if he used the second half of his Quirk. Dark Shadow seems to dislike light from what I've seen. But for some reason he's not using it," Izuku trailed off as he tilted his head to the side in confusion, frowning at the frustrated Todoroki.
"Second half of his Quirk?" Kaminari asked, having come to watch over Izuku's shoulder as he scribbled in his notebook.
"He has some type of fire or heat related part to his Quirk. He's used it to warm up after various parts of the exam, and I can see the swirling flames in his Quirk signature. If he can create light or fire with it, it would weaken Dark Shadow. But maybe it has a tricky activation or warm up period."
"It doesn't look like they will make it to the bomb in time," Jiro commented.
"Perhaps…but we've yet to see Ida make his move…" Izuku replied, watching carefully. He couldn't see the frustration on Ida's face under his helmet, but based on the way his motions had become more robotic and how the two heroes appeared to be snipping back and forth, he could tell something would snap.
"There it is," Izuku breathed out, watching intently. The rest of the class was confused, as nothing on the screen seemed to change, but a second later Dark Shadow erupted from the floor, crashing through the ice and swiping at Todoroki again. At that very moment, Ida moved. Blue flames erupted from the engines on his calves, and he shot forward, leaping clear over the shadow creature and the now broken ice, running along the wall, his metal boots digging into the combined ice and drywall without issue.
As he neared a corner, he leapt up and kicked off the wall, ricocheting himself down the hallway, dashing to where he believed the bomb was. The cameras could barely keep up with his blurred form, and when he neared the door to the bomb room, he leapt up and kicked through it, the door bursting from the scenes and flying across the room, Aoyama barely dodging it.
The bedazzled blonde quickly fired a beam at Ida but the speedster managed to dodge to the side and ran straight for the bomb. Aoyama quickly adjusted his aim and fired right in front of Ida, cutting him off and making him bolt to the side rapidly. The blue flames sputtered and died, Ida no longer moving as if a blur. But he kept dashing around the room, the two in a game of keep away as the screens showed Dark Shadow brawling with Todoroki further down the corridor, a massive wave of ice filling the hallway and shoving the shadow creature away. Frost crept up the side of Todoroki's face, his face twisted to a snarl.
"Wow, this is really close!" Ashido clapped, watching with wide eyes.
"Nah. Ida has this," Izuku replied. Most of the class looked at him in confusion, but Katsuki and Yaoyorozu were nodding with him. The monitors reflected that a moment later, as Aoyama fell to his knees clutching his stomach, allowing Ida to bolt past and grab the bomb, just as Tokoyami came running back into the room in an attempt to give backup.
"Hero team wins!" All Might shouted. Once more, the four competitors came back to the room, this time with Ida and Tokoyami helping to support Aoyama as Todoroki marched back, his expression carefully blank. "So, who was the MVP this round?"
"That would be Ida, All Might sir. Todoroki did not take into account his opponents abilities when using his opening attack and made the fight more difficult for them. Tokoyami performed excellently as a distraction, but he got too focused on Todoroki and left Ida for too long once he took his chance to go for the bomb. Aoyama's lack of stamina led to him collapsing too early, giving Ida the chance to take the bomb. Ida for his part showed patience and strategy by waiting for the appropriate moment to make his move," Yaoyorozu dutifully recited.
"Excellent analysis once again, young Yaoyorozu! Let's move onto the next match!"
Match 3: Team D vs Team H
"Alright Midori, you're our predictor person, who's the winner here?" Ashido asked, sitting beside Izuku.
"Midori?...nevermind. Well, I think it depends heavily on what Koda has access to around here. 'Chako's amazing and her Quirk is super useful, and though I didn't see much of what Asui can do, if I am correct, she's likely very agile and has powerful kicks. So the truth is, I think this is going to come down less to what they do and more to do with what Shinso and Koda do."
"How do you figure?"
"Well, we know how Shinso's Quirk works, but not replying to someone taunting you can be difficult, and um…'Chako has a temper if you press the right buttons," Izuku chuckled nervously, Himiko nodding rapidly in agreement. "But if they can keep their mouths shut, Asui and Ochako have the advantage in a straight fight…which is why this comes down to Koda. It depends on what animals are around and what he can convince them to do."
"Do we know what's around?" Ashido asked, looking around the room as if it held the answers.
Izuku chuckled. "Nah, if there are any animals they are probably hiding somewhere. We'll have to see what Koda can call."
"But what's your prediction?" she insisted.
Izuku paused for a moment as the five minute timer for preparation began to wind down. "Well, and I say this as unbiased as possible…with how up to chance Shinso and Koda's abilities are, I'd put the bet on Ochako and Asui. Especially as unlike the past two teams, I don't believe they'll be as defensive. A simple surprise attack will take the heroes out, and Ochako knows how to be quiet. Quirk Tag taught us a lot."
"...Quirk Tag?" Yaoyorozu asked, unable to keep quiet.
"Yeah! It's Tag but…with Quirks? So it ends up being partially Hide and Seek too, since you don't want to be caught and sometimes it's better to hide than to just run around."
"Especially when everyone but you can freaking fly," Himiko grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.
"Kacchan's the only one who can fly by definition Himi, I just use force fields to throw myself around and Ochako is using force projection to alter her relationship with gravity, it's not flight by the standard definition."
"Izu, babe? It's super hot when you get all rules lawyery, but it is also super annoying when you're doing it while telling me I'm wrong!"
Izuku smirked, patting Himiko on the head. "Maybe be wrong less."
She glared at him. "Oh just you wait mister, I'm so gonna kick your ass next spar!"
"Don't threaten me with a good time," he shot back.
"Ahem! Young Midoriya, Young Himiko, perhaps save the flirting for outside of class?" All Might interjected weakly.
"Oh, the timer's counted down! Time to see what they do!" Izuku said loudly, trying to draw the attention away as he realized how bold he'd been in front of the class, his cheeks flushed. With his attention thus turned away from the class, he did not notice Jiro's flushed expression at the blatant flirting between the two of them, nor did he notice how Ashido had a wide, almost manic grin on her face.
Izuku's prediction about the 'villain' team not resting on their laurels was correct. Ochako left the bomb room almost immediately, by leaping out the window and floating herself down to the ground floor, rushing over to the door the heroes had entered through and following behind quietly. Asui had the bomb in the corner away from the door, and had exited the room, leaping onto the ceiling and sticking to it. The watching classmates eyes went wide as she faded from view, almost completely invisible as she camouflaged herself against the ceiling.
"Fascinating, I wonder what other properties of various frog species she has access to? Can she create toxins? I know her tongue is elongated but what's the maximum length, and how much weight can it bear? How prehensile is it, could she manipulate a handle with it? What about-"
"Izuku, 'Chako's about to kick some ass, focus?" Himiko said, drawing his attention back to the monitor following his girlfriend, the brunette carefully sneaking up behind the hero team. Izuku narrowed his eyes at the screen, feeling something was off, and it hit him just in that moment.
"Oh, I see what Koda found-" he began to speak, just as the two heroes ducked beneath Ochako's initial lunge with outstretched hands. They spun about to attack her back, Shinso shouting something, but Ochako's feral grin didn't change. Instead, she leapt backwards and slammed her hand onto the ground, a vibration following from it before it buckled beneath the hero's feet. She couldn't quite extend the effect far enough or add enough pressure to make it collapse, but she could make it difficult to walk across as the concrete cracked and buckled.
She swiftly threw out a cable at the two, it being stored within the pink bracelets she wore around her wrists. Koda and Shinso split off to other sides of the hallway, Shinso ducking down a hallway as Koda ran further down the initial hall. Clearly a planned split if they got noticed early, with how they did it by a single nod. Ochako chose to follow Shinso, running behind him as he messed with the strange black mask he had on his face. As he ran, no one in the room could tell what he was shouting, but for some reason Ochako seemed to not be reacting at all.
"Wait, what did Koda find? I didn't see anything!" Ashido remarked, staring at the screen as if it would show her the mysteries of the universe.
Izuku pointed along the walls. "I saw a flash of fur in one of the cracks. Looks like mice. He had them following them and moving ahead to scout and watch their backs, very clever use of them. Covered both their moving forward and kept their back safe too."
"I'm kinda surprised at Ochako though, she'd not rising to any of his bait. You'd think she'd at least look annoyed," Himiko remarked.
Izuku tapped his pencil against his mouth for a moment, contemplating as Ochako continued chasing Shinso, the purple-haired boy trying to throw a quick kick back at her that she ducked under with a forward roll. "I…I think she plugged her ears. Probably used a bandage or something from the small first aid kit she has in her belt. She's not reacting to any auditory stimuli. Risky tactic. Koda could jump her if she's not careful, and it looks like that's their plan. See how Shinso's leading her back towards where Koda headed? I think it's a pincer attempt."
"So you think she'll get caught?"
"Asui is the wildcard here. I don't think anyone knew she could camouflage, and I'm not sure if she can move while doing it. If she can and she's nearby, she could interfere. But depends on if the mice notice her through scent or something," Izuku replied to Hagakure, the invisible girl having come closer as well. Izuku hadn't really noticed that most of the class had gathered around him, listening to his commentary as the match went on, too busy staring at the screens and trying to write down as much as he could.
Back in the battle, Ochako managed to get ahold of a small piece of rubble and flung it at Shinso with Quirk active, the purple-haired boy managing to duck it but losing momentum, almost stumbling as Ochako leapt towards him with capture tape in hand. But as she did, Koda's hand reached out for her, his own tape ready to grab her.
Ochako's feral grin didn't fade, as Koda's body was suddenly yanked backwards by a now visible pink tongue, dragging him into the wall and slamming him against it. Before he could react, Ochako had abandoned Shinso and leapt onto him, wrapping the tape around his arms. As soon as she had, she jumped to her feet and darted towards Shinso, who was now trying to dodge the tongue of Asui.
Ochako pulled the same trick as previously, increasing gravity on the floor and making it crack beneath his feet, throwing him just far enough off balance for Asui's tongue to wrap around him, pinning his arms and allowing her to throw the tape around him.
"Villain team wins! Well done all!" All Might announced. The four competitors gathered back with the group, Shinso looking rather frustrated while Ochako had exchanged her feral grin for the normal sunshine one, taking small wads of bandage out of her ears, proving Izuku's guess correct. "So, who was the MVP this round?"
Yaoyorozu, to no one's surprise, raised her hand. "The MVP this round would be Asui. Koda's use of his Quirk was an excellent scouting tool and defensive tool, and their plan was sound, but they had no way to deal with the fact Uraraka is a better fighter in close quarters. While Uraraka's plan to block her hearing to avoid being driven into a taunt was clever, it prevented communication with her partner, and if she simply were more disciplined it would not have been necessary, making it a risky strategy. Whereas Asui utilized the field and her Quirk to their best advantage, allowing her to sneak up on and capture Koda, leaving Shinso in an unenviable 2v1."
"I should note that the entire idea was Ochako's plan, ribbit," Asui interjected. "She came up with the idea of me sneaking up on them while she distracted them."
"And it was an excellent plan! But for now, let's move on to the next match!
Match 4: Team E vs Team G
"Alright, Commentator Midoriya, what's the lowdown this time?" Ashido asked in a terrible fake announcer voice, pretending to hold a microphone up to his face.
Izuku snorted, batting at her hand gently to push it out of his face. "Well, Hagakure's best advantage is, like the earlier battle with Shoji, negated by her opponent. Jiro's hearing will catch her, and there will be no sneaking up on them. However, Sero's ability to move in three dimensions better than nearly everyone here is going to be a huge advantage. Even in a cramped space, he can easily go outside the building and reposition. Not to mention it'll be difficult to dodge his tape in these narrow corridors. And though Jiro will know where Hagakure is, knowing and reacting in time are two different things. We saw in the assessment that Hagakure is fast, with excellent reflexes. Probably a defensive mechanism to keep people from running into her out in the streets."
He paused to scribble something else down as the camera showed Sero listening to Hagakure, the invisible girl's gloves gesticulating wildly as she tried to explain her thoughts. "That said, Himiko is there. She's very very good at finding hidden people, and is likely the most or second most flexible person in the class. And she can hide herself from others as well…not like how Hagakure does or how Asui can camouflage, but she can vanish from people's senses. And in close quarters, she's a demon in a fight."
"Call me Tsu, ribbit," the frog girl sighed as she sat down next to Izuku, peering at his notes.
"R-right!" he stuttered out, grinning sheepishly. "A-anyways, yeah, Himiko's close combat skills are going to mean that if she reaches Sero, he's going to lose."
"Maybe he has some killer fighting moves too though!" Ashido protested.
"Tch. Nothing like Fangs over there, Pinky. Trust me, you don't want to run into her in a dark alley," Katsuki interjected.
"Ah, the bell rang, here we go…" Izuku muttered, his eyes locked to the monitors. With a nod to her, Himiko ran out of the bomb room, leaving Jiro standing by the window, her earjacks plugged into the wall in two different places. She held her hand over her earphones and listened, eyes closed, her mouth moving as she reported back to Himiko. The blonde was heading unerringly to where Sero and Hagakure had entered, but the camera could not follow the invisible girl as she shucked her gloves and boots as soon as the fight began.
Sero, for his part, was half-jogging along the corridor nearest the wall, his arm set in a way that showed he was ready to fire his Quirk as soon as he saw an opponent. The cameras could catch him muttering into his earpiece, no doubt talking with Hagakure who it appeared had split off from him if the way he was talking into the earpiece showed.
Himiko though, was not heading towards him. She was bolting down the corridor as if possessed, heading to a nearby window. With a push, she unlocked it and leapt out of it, the needle claws in her gloves extending as she rammed them into the building side and began creeping down the side of the building, carefully dropping one story and scurrying along the side of the wall. A drone followed behind her, the class only now noticing her boots had similar needle-like points on them to help with climbing as well.
She paused by a specific window, waiting. She took a deep breath and seemed to almost shrink for a moment, the camera seeing her creep every so slowly back into the building. The internal cameras followed her movement, the blonde creeping along very slowly, one hand unfurling the capture tape as she stepped up against a wall, pressing herself against it as it opened into another corridor.
Izuku nodded. "That's it for Hagakure." As most of the class looked at him in confusion, he pointed back to the monitor just in time for them to witness Himiko leap into the corridor, the tape wrapping around an invisible form as she rolled over, landing hard on her back with what they assumed was Hagakure now wrapped up. Izuku shrugged. "Hiding from Himi is nigh impossible once she wants to find you."
"Yeah but now Jiro has to deal with Sero all alone," Kaminari pointed at the monitor, showing Sero having found his way to the bomb room.
Izuku nodded. "Yeah, this one I'm not sure about. I don't know either of their combat abilities well enough to say which one wins the 1v1, but Himiko wouldn't have gone off on her own if she wasn't confident in Jiro. I think they have a plan."
True to his statement, as soon as Sero opened the door and shot his tape into the room, it was stopped by a wave of sound from the speakers on Jiro's ankles, her jacks having plugged into them and amplifying a noise that created powerful soundwaves. He grimaced against it, but ducked to the side and tried to get an angle on her, throwing his tape up onto the ceiling and swinging over the soundwaves, bringing his feet down to kick at Jiro.
The purple-haired girl rolled to the side, barely dodging his kick as he sent out another flurry of tape towards her. Her jacks flickered in the air towards him, forcing him back as well as she ducked under the tape.
"Hmm, Sero has the advantage in a long range bout like this. If his tape gets onto her jacks he can pull her off balance easily, but she can't repeat the same since he can cut it off at any time. That said…Himiko's nearly there." Izuku muttered, writing down another section on Jiro's ability to create soundwaves, his mind wondering where the originating sound was coming from.
Jiro slipped on a piece of rubble, giving Sero just enough time to lunge forward and get his tape around her midsection, pinning her arms. He bolted for the bomb, wanting the quick victory, but was blindsided by a sudden tackle to his side as Himiko finally made it back just in time. The two rolled over the floor, Himiko springing to her feet as Sero used his tape to yank himself backwards for safety.
He launched another strand at her, the blonde girl diving over it and flinging a knife towards him, Sero's eyes wide as it came spinning at him. He dodged to the left, then continued the dodge as she threw another one, and then a third, all forcing him further and further away from the bomb. She grinned at him, her fangs visible, winking at him. He held up his arm to send another shot of tape at her, but she just snapped her fingers and giggled as the buzzer rang, signaling the timer run out.
"Villain team wins!" All Might announced. The four came back in, Hagakure oddly subdued. "So, who was the MVP this round?"
"Himiko, sir. Not only did she successfully capture Hagakure, who even with Jiro pinpointing her location would be difficult to pin down, but she also managed to delay Sero long enough for the timer to run out. Hagakure relied too heavily on the idea of her Quirk protecting her from detection. Jiro did well, but she did not keep an eye on her surroundings and this caused her to slip and nearly cost them the match. Sero did well in capturing Jiro and fighting against Himiko, but he let her distract him for too long instead of ignoring her and going for the bomb, as his mobility in the larger room should have given him enough advantage to take hold of the prize." Yaoyoruzu once again said, to the consternation of the competitors and All Might's mental reminder that she could be a little bit long-winded.
"Excellent rundown! Now, to the final match!"
Match 5: Team J vs Team I
"Best be ready, Zu. I'm winning this!" Katsuki declared, his grin wide.
"Oh we'll see about that Kacchan," Izuku shot back, his own grin mirroring his brothers. Yaoyoruzu tapped Izuku on the shoulder.
"Shall we go plan, Midoriya?" she said calmly. Izuku nodded, walking off with her as Kirishima clenched his fists in excitement.
"This is gonna be awesome! I can't wait to see how badass you are close up!" Kirishima said excitedly.
Katsuki's face twisted for a moment as he clenched his fists. He hated how much he enjoyed hearing that. He shook his head to clear it. "Yeah, we'll, let's fucking do this. What's your Quirk do, anyways?"
Kirishima held up his arm, the skin crackling and sharpening, looking almost rock-like. "It's nothing flashy, but it gets the job done. I'm a lot tougher when it's active. I can do my whole body like this, but it's pretty hard to keep it up for long."
Katsuki nodded absently. "Right. Okay. Well, here's the thing…Zu's a fucking genius, and as far as I've seen from Ponytail's observations, she's pretty damned smart too. I'm a genius too, but that's still 2v1 in the brains department, unless you're also smart as fuck?" he said the last part as a question.
Kirishima flushed a little as he looked away, grinning sheepishly. "Not really. I'm not like, a complete idiot, I got into UA, but I can't do that sort of crazy analysis and stuff that Midobro was doing."
Katsuki waved it off. "Yeah, sure. Okay. We're not going to be able to outthink them if we play on the same level as they will. I know Zu will set up a shitton of traps to slow us down, and he knows how my Quirk works pretty damned well. The thing is, he doesn't know yours yet, and that's what we can take advantage of."
"But what about Yaoyorozu?"
"I'm not really sure what all her Quirk does, except she can make all sorts of crazy shit. So if Zu and her are doing what I think they are, they'll trap the shit out of every possible attack avenue."
"So…we go through a way they aren't expecting?" Kirishima said, tilting his head to the side.
Katsuki nodded. "Yeah…but not just unexpected. A stupid route. Zu will expect me to go for the windows or some shit, so I imagine they stuck the bomb in a centralized room. And probably have some decoy rooms or something setup. That's why once we find the room, we're not going in from the sides…we're going in from above."
Kirishima seemed confused for a moment, before his eyes brightened and he smiled excitedly.
"Are you sure about this plan, Midoriya?" Yaoyorozu asked, panting slightly as she'd apparently overdone it with her Quirk.
"Yeah, Kacchan's not dumb, he already will be expecting the traps if not the specific kind we set up. He's pretty smart, but he's also straightforward and prefers to go straight for the goal. He's adaptable though, that's why I said we needed a bunch of different traps to force him to keep switching it up. I'm not entirely sure on how Kirishima's Quirk works yet, but he seems to be a melee fighter, which I can manage."
"Well, if you're sure," she remarked. She couldn't help but smile a bit though. Midoriya had happily listened to her ideas, adding his own input when he felt necessary, but not once did she feel like he was condescending to her or pandering to her, like nearly everyone she'd dealt with her entire life. He seemed to genuinely believe in her and her abilities (he gushed about her intelligence and skill in using her Quirk for half their planning time before she'd managed to steer him back to the topic at hand) and that was truly a breath of fresh air for her experience.
But seeing him in action, how he laid out his plan and thought process, she couldn't help but be amazed. It was so intricate but not difficult to follow, a plan that he could have made even without his knowledge of Bakugo. She was rather excited for this trial, after the previous four where he had shown his analytical mind and she was able to give her summation, this was a chance to prove her mettle as well, and thus she would give it her all.
The sensor's she'd set around the building started to ping, alerting her to the presence of the two foes. They had apparently gone for the sixth floor windows, like one of Midoriya's predictions. He claimed Bakugo would not make the mistake of entering through the front door or the rooftop entrance, knowing they'd have trapped them, so he'd pick a floor and enter through the windows, carrying Kirishima…and based on the drone she launched just in time to see the remains of the broken window falling to the ground far below, she realized he was correct.
She rolled her shoulders, watching as Midoriya paced about, his hands softly glowing with his Quirk. He'd insisted they not go out, not wanting to take the risk of them getting separated, saying that though none of their traps would stop the opposing duo, the goal was to delay and reduce their stamina. Which, based on the muffled explosions they could hear, it appeared to be working.
What neither of them had predicted though, was Bakugo apparently not caring much about the structural integrity of the building…since he blew up the ceiling three floors up and dropped into the room with Kirishima in a cloud of dust and rubble.
Momo found herself on the defensive, a pair of heavy shields having been slammed into the ground upright so she could take cover when Bakugo unleashed an explosion. The room they'd chosen for the bomb had been much larger than most others, to give them room to maneuver, but it had the downside of giving the same to the explosive blonde. Midoriya was dashing back and forth between the two, trying to keep either of them from approaching the bomb they were defending. Momo had been supporting Midoriya from behind as much as possible, throwing various grenade-like bombs with a specialized foam designed to expand and restrict movement, in an attempt to capture either of the 'heroes'.
However, Bakugo was just as quick to try to throw them away through the force of an explosion, leading to an uneasy standoff between the two as she was creating and throwing as quickly as he could get a good angle on her to fire from. Midoriya was managing to push Kirishima back, but the way he could harden his body prevented the other boy from damaging him enough to get around him to reach Bakugo.
It wasn't as if Momo could not fight in melee however, and the bo staff she had set by her side was ready for the moment one of the other two got within range. Unfortunately, she really couldn't get out from her cover due to Bakugo's constant pressure. It was at that moment a loud beeping noise sounded from Bakugo's gauntlets, his grin turning feral as he reached up to pull the pin above the massive gauntlets. Midoriya had warned her about these, they could rapid fire his explosions and likely break through her shields, so she decided now was time to abandon the position and began strafing to the side, preparing another counter-explosive to try to blot out his vision.
What she did not notice was how Midoriya froze for an ever so brief moment, his eyes going wide in terror as he shouted at Bakugo. "Kacchan stop!"
It was like a bolt of lightning shot through his body, giving him an instant headache and time feeling like it slowed down ever so slightly.
'Well…I wasn't expecting this to occur right now…' the quiet voice of the vestige of Hikage Shinomori sounded in Izuku's mind, the first time he'd heard one of their voices since the day he received One For All. But he had no time to dwell on it, his eyes taking into account the thing that had been bugging him all day since he'd seen Katsuki's gauntlets.
When they designed the gauntlets as kids, the initial idea had been a single tank, for a singular massive explosion. But as they grew older, both realized that for all of Katsuki's blustering and shouts of 'die'...he didn't intend on actually killing anyone unless given no choice. And the gauntlets could certainly do exactly that. So instead they'd created the rotating chamber idea, which would still give him extra firepower without the risk of death, extreme injury, or massive collateral damage.
Izuku knew they'd submitted the correct design, because they'd scrapped the old one a decade ago. But as he looked at the gauntlets, as he contemplated how long it took for the indicator sound to trigger, as he felt the pain in his head intensify, he realized that somehow, someway, those gauntlets were designed in the old fashion…and were aimed at Yaoyorozu.
Izuku's shout got through to Katsuki, the sheer terror in it making him try to stop. But the pin had already been pulled, and Katsuki felt himself rocketing backwards as the explosion erupted forth, a twisting whirlwind of flame and force.
Izuku moved. One For All snapping to the highest percent he'd used yet, emerald lightning burning off him as he leapt into the way and wrapped his arms around his teammate, turning his back to the explosion to shield her. An energy field erupted from his arms and wrapped around her, moving to wrap about his back as best he could…but it was too late. The explosion hit him square in the back and the two of them were thrown backwards, over the bomb and through the window, flying out into the sky as he felt his skin bubble and burn, his costume wiped away by the force of the blast.
The pain in his back made him unable to really react, feeling nothing but pure white hot agony as they fell, a muffled white noise taking his hearing. It wasn't until moments later he realized someone was calling his name, and that the two of them were no longer falling. He blinked open pained eyes, seeing the panicked and worried gaze of Yaoyorozu before him, one of her arms extended up above her head, a steel cable partially melded out of her arm and leading upwards to the hole in the building.
He managed to crane his neck up enough to see Kirishima, his feet hardened and dug into the floor, trying to pull the two of them up as he gripped onto the grappling hook Yaoyorozu must have made swiftly as they fell. Moments later, Katsuki, with his gauntlets no longer visible, was there as well, pulling along with Kirishima.
By the time they had gotten close enough to be pulled up, Izuku could barely move. Every scrape felt like agony, especially when the two boys had to grip him by the shoulder to pull him up since he could not let go of Yaoyoruzu since she had the cable.
"Shit shit shit shit, shit! Izuku, fuck, I'm sorry, shit, that's not how those are supposed to work, shit-" Katsuki was babbling apologies as Yaoyorozu tiredly started trying to create something to help deal with the burns,
"Shut up Kacchan, you didn't know," he managed to hiss out, deciding that yes, laying facedown on the concrete was the correct solution right now.
"Uh…was that not supposed to happen?" Kirishima asked, scratching the back of his neck.
"No! We designed those for a bunch of smaller explosions, not…not that!" Katsuki retorted, sending a glare back at his own gauntlets.
"Well, I'm glad to know you don't hate me that much Bakugo," Yaoyorozu said quietly, smiling nervously as she tried to add some levity to break the tension.
At that moment, All Might zoomed into the room, kneeling down beside Izuku to check on him. "Well…that could have gone better," he murmured. "How are you feeling, young Midoriya?"
"Like a million fucking yen," he replied with gritted teeth, internally cursing every god who decided that pain nerves were a thing.
"...right. Kirishima, Bakugo, would you please help Midoriya back to the control room? The exercise is over. You all performed well, for the record. It was just an accident, those happen. We'll go over how you did when you get back, but for now, let's make sure he gets healed up alright?"
Kirishima nodded. Katsuki, unusually subdued, reached down to help Izuku up, but flinched when Izuku felt a whine of pain escape his lips. With effort, the two boys managed to lift up and start to walk the barely mobile greenette away, All Might and Yaoyorozu following behind.
As they entered the control room, Ochako and Himiko rushed over but were stopped by the gentle insistence of All Might. A quarter of robots entered the room, grumbling quietly, dragging a stretcher behind them and making the boys lay the partly unconscious Izuku on it. The class was subdued after witnessing the event, none more than Katsuki, the blonde stomping off to the corner, arms crossed, looking down as he ignored anyones attempts to speak to him.
"Well, not the best ending to our day, but with the information young Yaoyorozu provided, I believe we can chalk that up to an issue with the support company not following instructions correctly. It is unfortunate Midoriya was hurt, but I promise all of you Recovery Girl is excellent at what she does and he will be fine in just a little while. I need to grade and evaluate your performances, so we'll be ending class here. Feel free to change and head back to your dorms!" Without waiting for further conversation, All Might dashed off, only the trio who knew his time limit knowing why.
"...we're gonna go change and check on Izu," Himiko said quietly, gripping Ochako's sleeve as she started walking out. She stopped by Katsuki and leaned over into his space, whispering. "It's not your fault Kats, stop sulking and come with us."
"...I'll come by later," he muttered back. Pushing off the wall, he stomped out of the room, ignoring Ochako's attempt to grab his arm.
Kirishima stepped up beside them and smiled nervously. "I'll keep an eye on him girls, don't worry!"
"...thanks Kirishima," Ochako replied with a soft smile. She left the room with Himiko to change as quickly as possible and check on their boyfriend. The rest of the class slowly followed suit, Yaoyorozu bringing up the rear as she nervously grasped her hands, her mind spiraling at the events of the past few minutes.
Fun fact: while I chose the teams for the quartet, I did NOT choose who they were fighting, I just rolled dice to setup the teams. Thinking to myself, hey, there is no need for the Katsuki/Izuku fight here for character development...but the dice gods spoke and demanded it be so. Thusly, the final match was as it was!