Rule #15: Always work as a team
UA's Hero course Curriculum: There are normal core classes like English which meet in the mornings.
Toru deftly twirled her mechanical pencil between her fingers, bored out of her mind as she stared at the blackboard where Present Mic had written four grammatical sentences in English for them to study.
She wasn't the only one. To her left, Shiro was more preoccupied with floating pieces of stationary around a crumpled up piece of paper like an odd little solar system. Whilst to her right, Tamaki was doodling in the borders of her notebook as she not-so-subtly chewed on some obnoxiously pink bubblegum.
"…Now which of these four sentences contains a mistake?" Mic-Sensei asked, turning to the sleepy class "HEY EVERYBODY! LOOK ALIVE! GRAMMAR RULES!" Next to her, Tamaki popped her bubblegum.
Next is lunch, which is eaten in the main cafeteria where we can buy pretty tasty stuff on a budget.
Class 1-A had pretty much stayed together in small clumps around the cafeteria as they ate, only splitting up into the tentative friends group that had started to form. Toru quietly ate her ramen as she sat next to Shiro and Tamaki who seemed to talk about everything and nothing all at once.
Across from them, Tokoyami, Ojiro and Todoroki sat quietly eating their own lunches, occasionally reacting to something that was said or adding a comment of their own. At some point, the Cook Hero: Lunch Rush, came over to see how they were enjoying their food before moving onto another table.
And then in the afternoon, it's finally time for basic Hero training.
The last couple of periods of the day were dedicated to basic Hero training, at least they were supposed to be, but the class had been waiting for their next teacher to arrive for some time now. So much so, that Toru was starting to regret not pulling out the book she had been reading on the train that morning.
Eventually, their teacher did arrive in a rather dramatic fashion, no less. "I AM HERE!" Declared All Might, his voice reaching them before he slammed open the classroom door, "COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A HERO!"
Even with his loud voice, his equally loud costume made it hard for him to be missed. Unlike the acceptance letter, All Might was decked out in one of his older hero costumes; it was red, white and blue patterned, with hints of yellow around the waist, boots and wrists that tied the whole outfit together. A loud costume for a loud man.
"Whoa!"
"I can't believe it's really All Might!"
"So he is a teacher! This year's gonna be totally awesome!"
"Hey! Look! Is he wearing his silver age costume?"
"I'm getting goosebumps, it's so retro!"
The class gushed in awe as they watched All Might march up to the podium with arms swinging. "WELCOME TO THE MOST IMPORTANT CLASS AT UA HIGH! THINK OF IT AS HEROING 101!" All Might introduced, easily towering over the wooden podium at the front of the room, "HERE, YOU'LL LEARN THE BASICS OF BEING A PRO AND WHAT IT MEANS TO FIGHT IN THE NAME OF GOOD! SO LET'S GET INTO IT! TODAY'S LESSON WILL PULL NO PUNCHES!"
A battle royale? Toru mused as All Might introduced what they were going to be doing for that lesson. Or maybe just combat training? "BUT ONE OF THE KEYS TO BEING A HERO IS LOOKING GOOD!" All Might swung around to the left-hand wall where several shelves of numbered compartments slid out. Enough for one each.
"THESE WERE DESIGNED FOR YOU BASED ON THE QUIRK REGISTRATION FORMS AND THE CLOTHING REQUEST YOU SENT IN BEFORE SCHOOL STARTED!"
Our costumes! Finally! Toru cheered as she tried to unblock her ear. Good God! Is loud the only setting All Might has?
"GET YOURSELF SUITED UP AND MEET ME AT TRAINING GROUND BETA!" All Might instructed.
"Yes sir!" Chorused 1-A.
"Oh wow! Our costumes are finally here!" Tamaki fangirled next to her as she looked down at the gear laid out before her "It's finally real!"
"It'll be even more real when you put it on" Toru grinned as she shed her school uniform in exchange for her own costume.
"I know!" Tamaki squealed, doing an odd little dance before she began to change.
The clothing allowance: before we enrolled at UA High, we submitted our Quirk registration forms amongst other things.
In the locker room around them, the other girls in their class were also garbed in varying stages of dress. Each and every costume ranging from the everyday wear, like leather jackets & jeans to the extreme like skin-tight suits and hefty headgear. And all of them ranged in every colour and pattern that you could ever think of.
This included any physical measurements and desired costumes designs to an exclusive clothing company designated by the school.
For Toru, her costume was rather simple compared to some of the others, but then all at once, so much more complicated. The black tabi shoes, black steampunk goggles and sky blue gloves she wore were the only things on her costume which her visible to the naked eye.
"Oh that's so cool!" Tamaki turned to Toru when she saw the white and yellow patterned suit disappear as soon as it assimilated to Toru's Quirk when the albino put it on.
With all that info, they created state-of-the-art costumes for each and every one of us.
The main body of the suit was made up of a lycra-type material that had the ability to completely disappear just like Toru did. It was because of this alone, that she knew just how precious this costume was. The disappearing material alone was one of the most expensive things she had ever laid her hands on.
Thankfully the suit clung to her form like a second skin and covered more than just what a bikini would, like her one at home. Unlike her older inviso-suit, this one covered the majority of her chest much like a sports bra with a halter and the lower portion of the suit fit her figure in a pair of high-waisted shorts that fell to mid-thigh. All in all, it fit pretty good.
"Thanks! You too!" Toru replied looking over her friend who grinned in return. Tamaki had gone for the more normal approach to her costume; she wore a black skater dress that fell to mid-thigh with black & red striped stockings underneath, plus a pair of blood red boots and a matching red cropped leather jacket. The whole outfit was topped off with a black domino mask and cuff bands around her wrists.
All in all, it looked like she could have passed for an everyday kid, like she was going to the mall or something. But there was this air about her that made you just a little bit wary, like she could kick your ass at the drop of a hat.
"C'me on! Let's go join the others!" Tamaki linked her arm through Toru's and pulled her towards the training ground.
"Okay!"
"THEY SAY THE CLOTHES MAKE THE PROS, YOUNG LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! AND BEHOLD! YOU ARE THE PROOF! TAKE THIS TO HEART! FROM NOW ON YOU ARE ALL HEROES IN TRAINING!" Said All Might as 1-A emerged from the locker rooms, blinking rapidly at the sudden change in brightness.
Toru couldn't help but grin as she looked around at her classmates, they all looked like they had stepped straight out of a comic book! Bright colours popped against dark ones and the angular edges of some of the accessories created new silhouettes whilst skin-tights suits revealed others.
"Nice shirt, you pick that out yourself?" Tamaki teased as she pulled Toru over to where Shiro was standing.
"Oh ha ha!" Shiro embarrassedly crossed his arms over his bare chest, the open black and purpled vest hiding very little. "I think I got the measurements wrong for the shirt, cause it fits weird so I went without"
"Ah well, what'cha gonna do? At least it's not the worst one out there" Tamaki replied as Toru looked over Shiro's costume.
His costume consisted of the open black vest trimmed with mauve around the edges and a matching pair of black capri pants that ended around his calves. Atop his head sat a pair of pilot goggles and on his feet he wore a pair of wooden geta. Tamaki was right, it really wasn't the worst one out there.
"THIS IS GETTING ME ALL RAMPED UP! YOU ALL LOOK SO COOL! NOW SHALL WE BEGIN, YOU BUNCH OF NEWBIES?" All Might called, as the last of the stragglers arrived and cutting through any lingering conversations in an attempt to garner everyone's attention.
"NOW THAT YOU'RE READY, IT'S TIME FOR COMBAT TRAINING!" Said All Might.
"Sir!" Interrupted Iidya from underneath the tall robotic suit at the front of the class, "This is the fake city from our entrance exam. Does that mean we'll be conducting urban battles again?"
"NOT QUITE, I'M GONNA MOVE YOU TWO STEPS AHEAD! MOST OF THE VILLAIN FIGHTS YOU SEE ON THE NEWS TAKE PLACE OUTSIDE. HOWEVER, STATISTICALLY SPEAKING, RUN-INS WITH THE MOST DASTARDLY EVIL-DOERS TAKE PLACE INDOORS"
That makes sense, I suppose. Toru mused, biting her lip in thought, I mean, you'd would get more vantage points and places to hide if you were inside and familiar with the layout of said building.
"THINK ABOUT IT: BACKROOM DEALS, HOME INVASIONS, SECRET UNDERGROUND LAYERS. TRUELY INTELLIGENT VILLAINS STAY HIDDEN IN THE SHADOWS. IN THIS EXERCISE, YOU'LL BE SPLIT INTO HEROES AND VILLAINS TO FIGHT TWO-ON-TWO INDOOR BATTLES!" Continued All Might.
"Isn't this a little advanced?" Asui asked.
"THE BEST TRAINING IS WHAT YOU GET ON THE BATTLEFIELD! BUT REMEMBER YOU CAN'T JUST PUNCH A ROBOT THIS TIME! YOU'RE DEALING WITH ACTUAL PEOPLE NOW!"
At that, more questions were fired in rapid succession towards All Might.
"Sir, will you be deciding who wins?"
"How much can we hurt the other team?"
"Do we need to worry about the losers getting expelled, like earlier?"
"Will you be splitting us up by chance or comparative skill?"
"Isn't this cape just trés chic?"
"Listen up! The situation is this: the villain have hidden a nuclear weapon somewhere in their hideout and the heroes must foil their plans. To do that, the heroes must either catch the villains or recover the weapon. Likewise, the villains win if they capture the heroes or protect their payload!"
Huh, maybe All Might does have more than one level of sound. Toru smiled.
"Sounds like a typical action movie or video game set-up" Shiro murmured.
"Mm" Toru agreed.
"Time is limited and we'll choose out teams by drawing lots!" All Might presented a bright yellow box to the class.
"Isn't there a better way?" Iida asked.
"Think about it: Pros often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot, so maybe that's the reason we're seeing it here?" Midoriya suggested.
"Yes, I see, life is a random series of events. Excuse my rudeness" Iida apologised.
"No sweat! Let's draw!"
After the class had reshuffled themselves to stand next to their partners-Toru having been paired up with Oijiro Mashirao (the blonde with the kangaroo-like tail)-the class waited with bated breath as All Might drew forth a lettered ball from two more boxes to determine who would play the villain and who would play the hero in the exercise.
"I declare that the first teams to fight will be: Team D as the villains and Team A as the heroes! Everyone else can head to the monitoring room to watch!"
"Yes sir!" Chorused the rest of the class as they left behind the specified teams in the arena.
The rest of the class watched from the monitor room as Team D set up their 'lair' within the building whilst Team A set about plotting their plan of attack. When their five minutes were up, All Might's voice echoed out through the intercom. "ALL RIGHT! LET'S BEGIN THE INDOOR COMBAT TRAINING! TEAM A AND TEAM D, YOUR TIME STARTS NOW!"
CLICK!
Pulling away from the intercom, All Might stared forward at the windows on the screen that displayed the main hallways within the chosen building. "Pay attention kids, think about what you would do!" Toru could only watch on as Midoriya and Ochako used her Quirk to enter through a second story window on the building. The pair almost seemed to wander through the winding hallways of the building without rhyme or reason, occasionally pausing to check around the sharp corners.
That was until Bakugo made his appearance. Taking a note out of All Might's book, the blonde burst out from around the corner in a ball of fury and fire, aiming a strike straight for Midoriya's head. Next to her, Shiro sucked in a breath as he watched Midoriya push himself and Ochako out of the way just in the nick of time, leaving a cloud of smoke in their wake as Bakugo made impact with the wall instead.
When the smoke cleared, Toru was able to see that the only damage had been done to Midoriya's mask, melting more than half of it clean off of his face. In the same moment, Bakugo emerged from the dissipating smoke looking very much the part of an enraged villain.
"He almost got the jump on him!" Exclaimed Mineta.
"Sneak attack, Bakugo! What kind of man pulls cheap crap like that?" Kirishima cried with a punch.
"IT'S A VIABLE STRATEGY. HE'S PLAYING THE PART, ACTING LIKE A TRUE VILLAIN WOULD!" All Might replied.
"It didn't work! Midoriya dodged him!" Added Ashido.
"Look! There he goes!" Kaminari cried as Bakugo charged forward only for Midoriya to meet him head on.
Toru's eyes widen in surprise as she watched Midoriya execute a perfect move, flipping a sparking Bakugo over his shoulder like he was nothing more than a sack of flour. It seemed to take Bakugo a moment or two to regain his bearings, the flip having knocked the breath out of him when he landed on his back. Whatever Midoriya had seemed to declare had set off Bakugo who responded in kind with large explosions sparking in his palms and such a look of crazed mania that it kinda reminded Toru of Terasaka Ryōma, one of her old classmates.
Over on a seperate window, Toru watched as Idia had a bit of a freak out next to the 'weapon' as Bakugo seemingly hung up on him. "Hey, whose Bakugo talking to?" Kirishima asked, watching the window where his classmate filled the screen, "I'm not hearing anything. Can we get any sound with this video?"
"He's got a radio in his ear so that he can talk to his partner!" Replied All Might, gesturing to the same one in his own ear, "I gave it to them before the match started along with a map of the building. Also this: a roll of capture tape. Wrapping them around your opponent means you've captured them and their out for the rest of the game"
"So there's a 15 minute time limit, and the heroes have no idea what level the weapon is hidden on, right?" Mina asked.
"Correct!" Replied All Might.
"Then the heroes are clearly at a disadvantage here, a big one"
"Real Pros have to outwit villains on a daily basis, that's life. Even when the odds aren't in our favour, we fight"
"Ah!"
"All together, let's hear a…"
"PLUS ULTRA!" the class cheered.
"Monsieur, he's on the move!" Aoyama piped up, his gaze still on the screen.
"Hm?"
Turning back to the large screen, the class watched as Ochako ran from the scene, making her way further into the building, but not without sending a worried glance over her shoulder at Midoriya who stayed behind. In turn, Midoriya met Bakugo's next attack head on once more; this time using the capture tape to wrap around the blonde's ankle before dodging out of the way of another explosive punch.
"That little guy's really good!"
"He's holding his own and he hasn't even used his Quirk yet!"
This time as Bakugo prepared himself to attack again, Midoriya took off down the hall, choosing instead to head in the opposite direction in which Ochako had gone. As if Midoriya planned it (and he probably had), Bakugo followed hot on his heels, only to loose him in the twisting hallways.
"That guy has some real anger issues, it's kinda scary" Tamaki shifted next to her.
"Mm" Agreed Toru as she watched Bakugo storm around the building blasting doors off of their hinges as he searched for Midoriya.
On a seperate screen, the boy in question sat hunched against a wall as he caught his breath and thought over what to do next. On the third screen, Iida stood impatiently waiting next to the 'weapon' as a fourth screen showed Ochako pressing in closer to the 'lair'. With the time ticking down to the single digits, Ochako finally discovered the room where the 'weapon' and Iida was being stored. Ochako had just enough time to tell Midoriya where she was before Bakugo found Midoriya.
Toru let a quiet gasp escape from her lips when she saw what Bakugo planned to do. Whilst Midoriya pulled the capture tape taut between his hands, Bakugo moved to pull the pin on the large grenades encircling his wrists.
"What? What is it?" Tamaki asked, turning to the albino.
"He's gonna kill 'im!" Toru breathed.
"What?"
"Think about it: if those gauntlets aren't just for show, then Bakugo must've been using them to store residual amounts of power as he went. And if you compare how powerful his usual attacks are, to what he could do with that much power…"
"But a blast that size would be devastating!"
"He must know that, surely?" Oijiro piped up, their conversation having carried throughout the quiet room.
"But what if he doesn't care?" Toru turned to the blonde "What if whatever ridiculous beef he has with Midoriya overpowers that?"
Toru didn't receive a reply from either of her classmates; instead it was All Might who shouted through the intercom for Bakugo to rethink his plan of action. "YOUNG BAKUGO! DON'T DO IT! YOU'LL KILL HIM!"
"Holy shit" Shiro breathed as they watched Bakugo pull the pin on one of his gauntlets anyway and release a blast so large that it shook the entire building (including the monitoring room), put a gaping hole in the exterior wall several meters behind them and pushed Midoriya back so far he nearly flew out of the new hole.
"Ah!"
"Woah! This is nuts!"
"He's insane!"
"COME IN! COME IN MIDORIYA!"
"Sis?" Shiro whispered once he regained his balance. While the others tried to pull themselves together, a second window on the screen showed how Ochako took the opportunity to charge straight for the 'weapon' much to Iida's surprise. Using her Quirk on herself, Ochako leapt straight over Iida's head and flew right for the prize. Well, she would have had Iida not used his own Quirk and ran away with the item in hand.
Back to the other screens, the watchers saw that somehow Midoriya had miraculously survived the blast. He seemed to have only received a few burns here and there, plus he lost more patches of his costume, but otherwise he appeared relatively okay.
Bakugo on the other hand, wore an expression of pure mania as he stood over Midoriya. It was clear that he was way past playing the villain and was using the exercise as a means to torture Midoriya with whatever beef he had with him.
"Sir, isn't this getting out of hand?" Kirishima asked, "That Bakugo is acting real crazy, he's gonna kill 'im!"
"Not so" All Might replied calmly, not explaining any further much to the frustration of the red head. Tuning into the intercom, All Might spoke again "Bakugo, used up that stored up power again and I'll stop this fight. Your team will lose; to employ such a strong attack indoors is inviting the destruction of the stronghold you should be protecting! That's a poor strategy! Whether you're a hero or a villain! The penalty would be a massive loss of points"
Not to mention all those lives. Toru thought dryly as she watched Midoriya finish talking to Ochako through the earpiece just in time for him to catch Bakugo blasting straight for him. Instead of taking Midoriya head-on like he had previously, Bakugo switched his position mid-air and attacked Midoriya from the back. This time, Toru's eyes lit up his actions reminded her of Shiota Nagisa and his pertinence for attacking from behind.
"Huh?"
"Wha?"
"What was that move?"
"He doesn't come off as a guy with a strategy, but he's actually quite intelligent" Todoroki analysed.
"What are ya talking about?" Kirishima asked.
"He changed his trajectory in mid-air by using a blast that doubled as a smoke-screen. Very clever"
"An attack like that requires an extreme amount of precision" Toru mused aloud.
"He had to calculate the physics and demonstrate control over his Quirk" Added Yaoyorozu.
"Ugh, Bakugo is uber talented" Kaminari complained, "I hate it!"
"This is hard to watch!" Cried Mina, "All he has to do is wrap tape around him, not kill him!" She wasn't wrong though, despite the upper hand that Midoriya seemed to have had, was long gone by now and Bakugo was throwing him around the room like a ragdoll.
"Bakugo is certainly acting like a villain" Tokoyami commented.
"I thought Midoriya was pretty amazing at the start of the fight, but he's completely outmatched in there terms of combat power. Not to mention Bakugo seems like a natural at all this stuff" Added Kaminari.
"Hmm" Toru hummed, watching the two on the screen.
"What?" Oijro asked, still glued to the screen.
"It's just…they both seemed to have forgotten about the capture tape"
"Oh yeah…but how else are they gonna end this? I mean besides beating the shit outta each other"
"Well, Bakugo seems to be of the frame of mind that beating the shit of Midoriya is the best way to go about it and Midoriya keeps taking it" Toru's mind began to race as she analysed the fighters on screen.
"So?"
"So, if Midoriya can get up and get a good hit in, he could end it all"
"But Bakugo's got more control over his own Quirk, and maybe about the some amount of power. Plus that ruthlessness…"
"But that's just it!" She was getting excited now, "Midoriya's hit doesn't need to be powerful, it just needs to be well-aimed and well-timed"
"…And then game over!"
"At least until one of them can get to the 'weapon"
"He's running away!" Mina cried.
"Not very manly but he doesn't have a choice. He's outgunned" Said Kirishima as the class watched Midoriya practically crawl to the other side of the room where he put a wall of windows to his back.
"Unless he's got some kind of plan, which is possible" Added Shiro as Bakugo stalked forward towards Midoriya.
With hands clenched and Quirks activated, the two boys charged at each other, both filled to the brim with passion of a different kind. One that spoke of prideful egos and natural talent and another that spoke hard-work and dreams.
"THEY'RE GONNA KILL EACH OTHER!"
"SIR!"
"BOTH OF YOU STOP!" All Might ordered, only to be ignored. Midoriya shouted something to Ochako through the earpiece (as seen through her hugging the large concrete pillar next to her in a seperate window on the screen) just as he switched angles and shoved his Quirk-powered punch up towards the ceiling.
Toru stared unabashedly and open-mouthed at the screen. The aftershock from the attack was intense, so much so that a large gaping hole emerged in not only the floor above the two boys, but all the way up to the top.
Ochako who had been hugging a nearby pillar, was thrust into the air. But with the use of her Quirk, she was able to lift the pillar like a bat and send the debris flying straight towards Iida like a thousand softballs.
From the corner of her eye, Toru saw that Shiro was wearing a grin so wide it seemed to almost split his face. Back on the screen, Ochako took advantage of Iida's moment of distraction and sent herself flying towards the 'weapon' once more. This time she got it.
Everyone watched on with a mismatched expressions of shock and awe; both those within the arena and those within the monitoring room. They had done it, despite all odds the heroes had won. And so it was that Midoriya collapsed to the ground, cradling his broken arm to his chest as a shocked Bakugo stood over him.
