So... just a little heads up... I'm gonna up the word count for the next few chapters. Expect around 15k a chapter for a while.

If that bothers you, I offer my deepest apologies.

I'd like to say thank you to all of you who sent writing advice. I truly appreciate it from the bottom of my heart, and I hope that my chapters going forward will implement a bit of the knowledge you guys have given me.

As always, there will be an Author's Note at the end if you guys want to read it for additional info and whatnot.

Enjoy!

I do not own My Hero Academia.


"Midoriya-kun, wake up!"

"Midoriya-kun! Midoriya-kun!"

Izuku's eyes flew wide open at the sound of his name and at the frantic shaking of his shoulder, and immediately the side of his head began to throb something fierce. It took everything he had to not groan out loud as the world around him became blurry and distant.

As his eyes slowly adjusted and the world came into focus once more, he began to realize a few things...

First, for some reason, he was staring at the ceiling. At least, he thought it was the ceiling. Light fixtures usually hang down from the ceiling... right?

Second, the round face that belonged to his classmate Shoda came into view; he wore his gym uniform and an openly anxious expression as he knelt close to the left side of his head. On the right side, bending over to look at him, was the masked face of Ectoplasm Sensei. Izuku couldn't properly gauge his expression because of his facemask, but it felt like the cloning hero was studying him rather intensely… for whatever reason.

Three, as the ringing in his ears subsided, he began to realize just how loud the background noise in the area was. Everything from 'hups!' to 'hiyahs!', to 'raaaghs!' and 'uummphs!' could be heard frequently and often, and they were accompanied by the sounds of bodily impact and collision as they came from every direction.

Four, his back was on the flo-

Immediately, the green-haired boy shot up into a sitting position, reeling from the action and almost hitting his peer as he did. He would have gone further had there not been some form of resistance that lay across his chest. One look was enough for him to realize that the unknown resistance was the arm of his teacher, holding him steadily and securely to prevent any more movement.

"Easy there, Midoiya-kun. You might have a concussion, so try not to move around so much."

"I-I'm fine, sir! I-I promise-"

"Midoriya-kun! Man, I'm so sorry! It was a complete and total accident on my part- "

"Shoda-kun. Please go get yourself some water. Take as much time as you need."

"… Y-Yes Sensei…"

As the short boy got up from the ground and walked dejectedly towards the water fountains, Izuku took a moment to look at his surroundings.

Currently, they were in one of Yuuei's many gyms and each of his classmates had a partner; each pair was lined up in two rows as Vlad King and a couple Ectoplasms walked along the middle aisle to offer advice and encouragement to those who needed it. Everyone stood on black mats that were caked in sweat as they continued to do basic combat drills and light contact sparring against their partner, all while being closely supervised by their personal Ectoplasm clone. Izuku could look in any direction he wanted to see his peers get either tossed or walloped, and Ectoplasm would occasionally step in to intervene, correcting their mistakes or praising their techniques as needed.

Had Izuku been just a bit more cognizant, he would have realized that he was getting quite a few stares directed at him. Some were in curiosity, quietly wondering why he was sitting down. Others watched on in worry, hoping that he had recuperated enough from yesterday to actually be doing any of this. And then there were a few who watched on in either disgust or in glee, surprisingly for the same exact reason: because the kid with arguably the most powerful quirk in class just got his ass kicked.

His Ectoplasm suddenly squatted right in front of him, looking him dead in the eye. He had a pretty bad head injury yesterday, right? I should probably be pretty thorough on my evaluation then. "Alright Midoriya-kun, I'm going to ask you a few questions, and I need you to answer them as correctly and as honestly as you can. I need to see if you have a concussion or something worse, and if it's bad enough I'll have to bring you to Recovery Girl. Understood?"

"Y-yes Sensei…" She is not going to be happy to see me again so soon…

With the grace of experience, the hero began to conduct a quick test as the entire class continued on with their lesson.

It started off with a few simple vision and hearing tasks, like following the flash light on his teacher's phone, identifying the correct number of fingers he held up, and snapping his fingers by Izuku's ears to see if the boy reacted to the stimuli. Then came the severity questions. Ectoplasm made sure to gauge his reactions carefully as he asked him about having any headaches, nauseousness, numbness or tingling, and finished by asking how Izuku felt overall.

Seemingly satisfied with his answers, the hero made the boy stand up and walk in a straight line a few times, and then around in a circle a couple more, all the while making him touch his nose with his fingers and asking him to solve simple math questions. After Izuku had finished all of those tasks with exemplary marks, Ectoplasm finished his examination with a simple directive.

"Ok Midoriya-kun, I need you to recall everything you can from the start of heroics class, in as much detail as possible please. And as you talk, please be sure to do some stretches to keep yourself limber."

"Yes Sensei… well, heroics class began today when I walked into the gym…" Izuku began as he did some inner thigh stretches.

"What was the first thing that happened?"

"I, uh… got pulled into the middle of the gym (Literally! I had no idea Kan Sensei's quirk had that much range!)… I-I was part of the group who did bad enough on the assessment tests that I had to do… S-Soul Crushers… f-for extra conditioning..." The freckled boy couldn't help but shudder as the sound of the dreaded punishment escaped his lips, standing up to do some hamstring stretches as he did.

'Bad' is… subjective… "You mentioned a group; who else was part of that group?"

"U-Umm, Rin-san, Kaibara-san, Fukidashi-san, Bondo-san, Komori-san, Kodai-san… and Kuroiro-san, Sensei."

"Very good, Midoriya-kun. Which exercises did you get captured in during your intensive training?"

Well that was an easy question to answer… for multiple reasons… Izuku flushed and looked away in shame as he sank deep into some quad stretches. "I, ah, got captured when I was doing the pushups... the alternating lunges... and the mountain climbers…"

"Good. Your… activities went on for about ten minutes. What happened after that?"

"Oh! You had given us a really good speech, Ectoplasm Sensei! It was really informative about how- "

"Forgive me, Midoriya-kun," the teacher interrupted gently with a raised hand, "but class will be over relatively soon. Please, paraphrase what you learned from my personal anecdote."

"O-Oh, right! Sorry, Sensei! U-Um… your speech was a warning, telling us on why we shouldn't rely on our quirks all the time… and you also explained why we should take the time to also physically train our bodies alongside our quirks, whether if it's for performance or combat."

"You… stressed that their may be a time where our quirks fail us, and if we ever get to that point… then our bodies will only be as trained and as prepared as we make them..." Izuku slowly raised his hands together above his head and then began to lean side to side, his face still contemplative as he wondered about how to best say the next part.

"Also… u-umm, the reason you w-wanted to tell us this w-was because… when you were a sidekick, Sensei… y-you, uh, had neglected to do any of that… and, u-um, because you did, you had lost your legs… and, almost your life, to a villain who had managed to out maneuver your quirk…"

The teacher nodded along somberly, glad that at least one of the students was learning something. This particular memory of his was one that would haunt him until the end of his days… but if reliving it meant that the next generation could learn from his mistakes, he would do it as many times as he needed to, without hesitation.

Speaking of learning…

"An excellent summary, Midoriya-kun. After that, everyone was then paired up with a clone of mine, and as a class, we began to go over a number of fighting fundamentals and basic combat techniques. I want you to list a couple of them that you need to work on."

"A-All of them, S-Sensei…" Izuku once more couldn't look his teacher in the eye as he began to rotate his hips in a clockwise fashion.

Well… he's not wrong… "Try to be a little more specific please, Midoriya-kun; you're being a little too hard on yourself. There were a few techniques that you were able to do just fine; you just needed to practice their execution of them."

"Y-Yes, Sensei… Um… W-Well, I really need to learn how to perform better choke holds, like the figure four one, and all the Nelson holds too… and I need to work on my flexibility a bit more, if I want to use any kicks… also, I should probably get a little better on performing joint manipulations too, as well as escaping them… especially escaping them… And I definitely need to work on-"

"That's good enough, Midoriya-kun. We spent about and eighty minutes or so going over and learning these basics, and then we gave you guys a five-minute break. You and Shoda-kun came back at around the same time, so you guys were partnered up. What were you two partnered up for?"

"We were doing non-contact sparring Sensei… and then you let us do a little bit of free sparring after about ten minutes of that…" Izuku began to rotate his shoulder blades and arms slowly in opposite directions as he dreaded what he knew would be the next question.

"You are correct. Do you remember how you got knocked out?"

Izuku cringed as he nodded, absently rubbing the left side of his head as he did.

Yeah… he remembered all right…

"I-I, uh… well, Sensei… I-I kinda just… r-ran at him… and then he got me pretty good, right here." He lightly tapped the sore spot on his temple, unable to look his teacher in the eye.

Ectoplasm looked at the kid with a little bit of respect… and much more exasperation. Not that anyone could easily tell, since his mask covered all of his facial expressions.

While it was true that their match had ended remarkably fast, the kid had held his own against a strong opponent for a few moments. And while he mentally applauded the kid for his humility, the match wasn't as cut and dry as he made it out to be.

The moment their sparring session had started, Midoriya had immediately gone on the offensive, charging and swinging with reckless abandon. His punches, if they would have connected, would have hurt without a doubt; Shoda, however, had kept his defenses close and and his wits sharp, bobbing and weaving through the attacks with practiced effort.

About 25 seconds in, Midoriya, who had not showed any signs of slowing down, suddenly switched up his targets. The abrupt change from wild head shots to targeted body shots was enough to catch Shoda off-guard, and Midoriya had successfully landed two solid hits in rapid succession on the other boy's solar plexus.

But, there were two things of importance that the teacher came to realize quickly as he watched Midoriya land the two blows.

The first was that Shoda's natural instincts had kicked in right on time. When the green-haired boy had struck, Shoda took the punches head on as a boxer would; at the same time, he expertly controlled his breathing so that the strong hits wouldn't knock the wind out of him.

The second was that, for whatever reason, Midoriya had frozen for just a split second when he had made contact with Shoda's body… and that was all the time that Shoda's reflexes had needed to take advantage of the gaping hole in his opponent's defense.

"And… that's the last thing I remember, Sensei…"

Ectoplasm simply nodded along, silently impressed that the boy's memory was still perfectly in-tact. I gotta admit, his memory is quite impressive. Looks like the blow to the head wasn't as bad as I initially thought.

"Well, your memory is surprisingly clear and you're not showing any symptoms reminiscent of severe head injuries. Are you feeling alright, Midoriya-kun?"

"Yes, Sensei! I'm good to go for another round!"

"Well, that's good… but unfortunately, there's only about five or six minutes left before you guys have to go get changed. So, for now, go ahead and rest up a bit. Be sure to review and practice what you learned today; it will help you build your own fighting style in the future."

"Yes Sensei. Thanks again for looking out for me." Izuku gave a grateful bow as the cloning hero returned the gesture respectfully.

Since he had a few minutes left, Izuku decided to spend the rest of heroics going through the motions of all the simple techniques he had just learned today.

But… his homeroom teacher had other plans.

"Alright, everyone! It's time to start your cool downs!" Came the call from Vlad King as he walked to the center of the gym, a sadistic grin on his face. "Those of you who had to do some Soul Crushers early, come on over here and let's get the fun started! The rest of you, cool down on your own accord! If I catch any of you slacking, you'll be joining us for the festivities!"

Izuku's face turned very pale, but he went to go join the others as he did before without a second thought. He had to fight to keep his knees from giving out, much like his peers who were also stuck partaking in the 'festivities.' The rest of the students could only watch on in sympathy, secretly grateful that they didn't have to do any of... that madness… yet.

Not wanting to call him out, the clone simply watched him go with growing respect. Most kids would have leapt at the opportunity to use the head injury to get out of doing… this. But apparently, not Midoriya.

The Blood Hero caught the clone's eye and shot a questioning glance towards the boy before turning back to him, quietly asking if the kid was cleared for this activity. The clone simply nodded in confirmation, and the Blood Hero simply nodded in understanding as he turned back around to start their little 'workout'.


Nirengeki had returned from his water break just in time for everyone to be dismissed. Luckily, he hadn't been part of the group who had to do those… Soul Crushers- thank goodness- so no one had really noticed his absence.

Nirengeki had decided to use his extended water break to go to the vending machine that he had found earlier and buy himself two bottles of the fruity sports drink, the kind that was ideal for right after a workout. He had also taken the time to wash his face and clear his head before he went back to the gym.

He felt really bad for doing that to Midoriya, especially since the guy just ran headfirst into a wall yesterday. It had been a complete and total accident, a mere reaction on Nirengeki's part, but damn… he had been hoping Midoriya, of all people, to have better reflexes than that

As he came back into the gym, he was lucky enough to escape Vlad King and Ectoplasm's watchful gaze as they dismissed everyone to go get changed. Nirengeki took this time to find Midoriya for the simple reason of wanting to properly apologize to the guy.

When he found him, Nirengeki noticed that Midoriya was looking a bit ragged, but whether that was due to the Soul Crushers or because of the blow to his head was anybody's guess. Luckily, Midoriya seemed to be out of it enough that he didn't notice the other boy approaching him.

"Here, Midoriya-kun. I am… so sorry, about everything, man…"

Izuku jumped slightly as he turned to look at the other boy, and saw that he was holding out an ice-cold sports drink for him. Immediately, Izuku began to dismiss the other boy's concerns with a couple friendly waves of his hand and a tired smile. "Oh, Shoda-kun! Thanks, but I'm fine! You don't have to do that!"

"I… kinda do man… Look, I'm really sorry about uh… well, you know…"

"Oh, i-it's fine! Ectoplasm Sensei gave me a pretty thorough examination, and he's certain it wasn't anything serious." As they continued to walk to the locker rooms, Nirengeki still had not stopped offering the beverage in his hand, so hesitantly, Izuku continued on. "B-but… um, a-are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Please, it's the least I can do. Again, man, I'm… really sorry…"

The other boy just chuckled awkwardly as he absently rubbed his sore spot and finally accepted the drink from him. "I-It's fine, Shoda-kun… I… probably s-should have blocked in the first place…"

The other boy chuckled back in response, glad that the guy seemed to bear him no ill will. "Yeah, man. Keeping your guard up is like… fighting 101."

As the two boys took a moment to chuckle, they both felt the tension leave from the air, relaxing enough to open their drinks and enjoy the fruity taste and pleasant coolness. Eventually, they wound up in front of the boy's locker room.

"By the way, I'm Shoda Nirengeki. We didn't really get the chance to properly introduce ourselves, so… it's nice to officially meet you." The light blue haired boy offered the green haired one a fist bump and a smile, and Izuku couldn't help but eagerly accept it in return as he opened the locker room door for the both of them.

"I'm Midoriya Izuku! It's nice to officially meet you too, Shoda-kun!"

As the two of them entered the changing area, they were suddenly assaulted by the rowdy sounds of their fellow male classmates, no doubt originating from all the testosterone floating around in the enclosed space. As the boys made their way to their lockers, they paused long enough to throw their bottles into the recycling bin after they completely drained them. Continuing on their way, Izuku remembered that Shoda's locker had actually been pretty close to his, which enabled the other boy to continue their conversation.

"So, Midoriya-kun, don't take this the wrong way, but... Recovery Girl did clear you for activity, right? Because after all those injuries yesterday… getting another one to the head would be… pretty bad, yeah?"

Izuku let out a nervous laugh as he opened his locker to get his shower supplies out. "So… you heard about that this morning, huh?"

"I mean, it's kinda hard not to when your desk is in behind mine." The other boy proceeded to get his own shower supplies as well from his locker before pausing to consider his words. Then he quickly added, "Sorry! I wasn't… trying to eavesdrop or anything, man."

"It's fine! I, uh, yeah, I got healed up by Recovery Girl. She cleared me this morning!"

"Phew! I'm glad. There was… a lot of blood after that stunt yesterday. Getting injured again so soon is the last thing you need, ya know?" The two of them made their way towards the showers for a quick rinse off, where they both noticed that they were the last ones in. Luckily, they didn't have to worry about running out of hot water in a prestigious school like Yuuei.

As they each set down their stuff and found a stall to shower in, Nirengeki asked the one question that he and many of their classmates had become very curious about. "Speaking of yesterday, what kind of quirk do you have?"

Izuku nearly slipped in his stall from the sudden question, and he quickly tried to hide all the red rushing to his face. "O-oh! My quirk is, uh, is called S-Super Power! Yeah, it uh, gives me super power!"

Shoda stopped scrubbing his body for a moment to glance at the other boy with a confused expression on his round face, which was made all the more pronounced by the almost inaudible "...huh?..."

Desperately wanting to change the subject, Izuku blurted out "Whataboutyourquirk?"

After an awkward pause, Izuku cleared his throat and tried to ask the same question again; luckily, it came out a little better the second time around. "W-What about your quirk, Shoda-kun? I, uh, I saw it yesterday during the test. It looked really neat! Is it a recoil quirk of some kind?"

The stocky boy blinked a few times at the sudden change of topic, before giving a mild shrug and continuing on with his shower. "I guess you could say that. It's called Twin Impact. Basically, anywhere and anytime I strike with my body, I can release a second impact, within a certain amount of time. It's, well… it's useful, but nothing too terribly flashy." The icy haired boy grimaced as he looked off to the side.

"I think your quirk is really cool, Shoda-kun!" Izuku said earnestly with a small smile as he tilted his head upwards in thought, enjoying the cool water that was running down his back as he did. "And you use it really well too! The way you moved with it makes me think that you have to be constantly vigilant of everything around you. I bet you can out maneuver anyone in a fight, no matter what quirk they have!"

"Actually…" Izuku paused to rub his sore spot absently, "…anyone unlucky enough to fight you without backup is probably guaranteed to lose, so long as you can get at least one hit in… because then, you could easily throw off your opponents. Wow, you can make so many openings with your quirk, can't you! That's so cool!"

For Izuku, saying all this stuff was second nature to him, so it wasn't a surprise that he was still able to continue cleaning himself absently as he rambled on in fascination. But had the freckled boy been just a touch more attentive, he would have noticed Nirengeki falter slightly at the praise and turn to give him an odd look. Listening to the other boy simply gush over the many speculations he had about Twin Impact made his round face soften up, and Nirengeki couldn't help but think to himself … I don't think I've ever had anyone say that my quirk could be cool before…

After Izuku had finished his theorizing, the two of them continued their shower in a comfortable silence. One of them was still thinking of all the cool things Twin Impact could achieve as the other rethought about all the misgivings he had about the boy a few stalls away from him.

He… really isn't like all the other people with powerful quirks, is he?… Nirengeki thought to himself as his mind went over everything he had observed of the green-haired boy's actions until now. He easily has one of the most powerful quirks in our class, and yet… you would never know, with the way he acts... And, he's actually trying to broaden his horizons to better himself, with all the effort he can muster. Granted, his attempts are pretty sloppy, but... he isn't lazily going through the motions either...

In Nirengeki's experience, many people born with incredible power were so use to displaying it for the world to see that it made them shortsighted and prideful.

He saw it constantly at the gym he trained at, whenever they decided to take in new boxers and power lifters for their prestigious programs. Granted, he couldn't blame them- if he had something flashier, he would probably act the same way. But their elitist nature was always made apparent whenever they'd walk in with their swagger, thinking they could step into the ring and come out on top like they have in the past for everything else.

Having been so blessed their entire lives meant they had more than likely looked down on all the effort it took to become proficient in the sport, and they would quickly come to realize that the power of quirks didn't matter in a fight without quirks.

After they would inevitably lose, they would scorn and mock the sport and the fighter, saying that if quirks were involved, the outcome would've been different. And if their pride was especially bruised, they would sometimes find a way to prove just how different the outcome would've been if quirks had been allowed, leaving them high on 'victory', with their egos inflated and their point proven.

For that particular reason, Nirengeki wasn't a big fan of people with overly powerful quirks: because more than once, he had been reminded that outside of his arena... he wasn't anyone special.

But this guy... Midoriya ... he was different.

Granted, there would always be exceptions to the rule, but not like... this. Nirengeki had spared him more than a few glances during their basic combat training out of curiosity (who wouldn't want to see how well the most powerful guy in class could move?), and even from a distance, his trained eye could see just how bad this guy was at fighting. And when they had the chance to fight, instead of harking on about 'oh, if we were using quirks, you wouldn't have won', he goes on to say the stuff he did, in a way so kind that it was almost unbelievable and in a manner so honest that it was refreshing.

He heard the other boy shut off his shower head, so he quickly did the same after making sure all his soap bubbles had been washed off. He's... a pretty nice guy. Genuine too. Who would've thought that someone so powerful could ever be so humble? Or chill?

As the two boys dried off and went back to their lockers to finish getting changed, Izuku had stopped thinking about Twin Impact's uses and had started thinking about the quirk's owner instead.

Shoda… had completely wiped the floor with him. With startling ease.

His physical abilities alone were incredible. He may have looked like an apologetic, short, chubby boy, but he was anything but that in a fistfight.

His reaction time was amazing; every hit Izuku had tried to make, the other boy had easily seen it and countered. He had moved so gracefully, so at ease, that fighting him was like trying to catch air in a vacuum. It was like... every move he made had been practiced a thousand times over.

Not to mention, the stocky boy had knocked out Izuku in one hit. Izuku hadn't even seen the fist coming, and he was certain that if he did, he would not have reacted in time. And even worse, that was the only punch that Shoda had thrown!

But the most startling thing that Izuku had discovered about his classmate happened right after he had struck him in the stomach. First, Shoda had taken the hit head on without so much as flinching. And second, that boy was not fat, not in the slightest. When Izuku had made the hit, it felt like he had collided his fist into a solid wall of stone surrounded by multiple layers of leather, and it shocked him enough that the green-haired boy had frozen in his tracks.

Granted… that wasn't the only reason why Izuku had frozen up back then.

It was also the first time that Izuku had willingly tried to hit another person, and it was an… unusual sensation, being on the other end of the punching bag. He honestly hadn't prepared himself for how easy it was to hurt someone, and that alone had shaken him to his core.

Izuku felt a few taps on his shoulder, and he turned to see Shoda looking at him curiously, about halfway changed. Idly, he realized that the noise in the locker room had died down substantially, meaning that most of his peers had probably already headed back to class.

"You ok man? You were sorta just staring off into space."

"Ah, yeah, sorry! I was just thinking about class, that's all." There was a pause as Izuku went to put on his shirt and Nirengeki sat down to put on his shoes. When his head popped back through his shirt, Izuku continued on. "You were amazing out there, Shoda-kun! Everything you did was instinctual, and you moved so flawlessly! You have a lot of fighting experience, don't you!"

Nirengeki hid a small smile as he finished tying his shoes. "Ah, you're too kind, Midoriya-kun. I still got a long way to go before how I move can be considered 'flawless'. Although, you are right about one thing: I do a little bit of boxing on the side. I have since… 5th grade? Nothing too showy, ya know?"

Since the stocky boy was too busy tying his shoes, he failed to notice Izuku look at him with wide eyes. Did Shoda just admit to having a long way to go? When he was already this good? Izuku couldn't help but shake his head in admiration as he turned his gaze back to his tie, trying (and failing) to make his Windsor knot. "You still moved so… naturally…. It makes me wonder if I'll ever be able to move like that…"

"All that stuff takes time and practice, man. No one ever starts out good in anything. It's why we're here in school, ya know? I'm sure in no time, you'll be a force to reckon with, especially with that quirk of yours." As the pair finished getting dressed, they picked up their bags and began to head towards the classroom.

As they walked in silence, Nirengeki couldn't help but think about all of Izuku's kind words, and how he seemed to break his personal stereotype of people with powerful quirks.

He... also felt a little bad that all the hard work the freckled boy was putting in was essentially being wasted- not for the lack of trying on his part, but because he was doing a lot of things wrong fundamentally, even with his best efforts.

So when Nirengeki next opened his mouth, he tried to do so with the intent to help.

"So, hey… don't take this the wrong way, Midoriya-kun, but your fighting is really sloppy."

The stocky boy watched as the freckled one slumped a bit at his words, and he quickly amended them.

"Wait, wait hold on… that came out wrong. I meant, like... you're moving as if you've never fought before. Like... you're telegraphing your moves big time. And your fighting style doesn't exactly suit you either. It's part of the reason why I was able to move so 'flawlessly'," the boy used air quotes for emphasis, "against you: because you made it easy for me to do so."

Izuku was now listening with rapt attention as his earlier disappointment began to disappear, and Nirengeki took the chance to continue giving advice.

"So… when you fight, you'll notice that big movements, while having a lot of power, are actually really sloppy and inefficient, and they can also be easily countered. This was how you were moving when we fought." Shoda had shifted his book bag onto both shoulders, and began to copy Izuku's wild swings from earlier with ease as they made their way through the halls, making anyone that was walking around them move out of the way in alarm.

His point made, he gave a few apologies to the students around them before he continued on. "When you fight like that against anyone with experience, you're basically announcing to them that you have no clue how to fight. Moving like that also wastes more energy as you try to hit your opponent with each windup you do. Next time we fight, try to focus on how to move instead of how much force you can put into it. My boxing trainer always says something like… 'Your punches will never mean a thing if you don't know how to throw them.'"

As Izuku was nodding along eagerly, the boxer continued on, feeling encouraged that the other boy wasn't taking offense to any of this. "Speaking of technique, I also wanted to ask… is there a reason you only kept throwing haymakers? That style would make since if you were built like Shishida-san, and if your quirk could be used reliably, but since neither of those apply to you-." His eyes suddenly bulged from his slip up; he clamped his mouth shut as he looked fearfully at the other boy. "Sorry! Sorry, that came out so wrong, I'm so sorry about that man- "

"It's fine, Shoda-kun," Izuku said dismissively, already forgetting the accidental slight and wanting more education. "I mean, it's not like you're wrong. But anyway, you were saying something about styles? Why doesn't it make sense?"

Breathing out a subtle sigh of relief, he continued on with his explanation. "Yeah, man, it doesn't make any sense. Like… Haymakers are typically only good if you wear down your opponent first, or if there is a huge opening in your opponent and you're quick enough to take advantage of it. It's like… you're trying to go for the instant knockout, but you lack everything you need to be able to do that." Nirengeki slapped a hand on his head and groaned quietly- he could just feel that he was turning himself into a complete ass in front of this guy…

But had he been actually looking over at the green-haired boy, he would have seen him looking off to the side in curiosity instead…

Unaware of what was happening to his right, Nirengeki rushed ahead to try to fix his blunder. "Basically, what I'm trying to say is that it's generally more useful to stick with jabs, hooks, feints, uppercuts, and other standard punches before you resort to the haymaker. I'm not sure what exactly you're wanting to do in regards for your own particular style, but sticking with those kinds of attacks can help you conserve more energy, deal faster strikes, and defend a lot more easily too. Also, it can help you gauge an enemy's strength if you throw them in a smart succession."

They continued up the stairs as Izuku took in all of this information, and when they reached the top, Nirengeki decided to try to explain what he had originally meant earlier. "But, back to what I was saying: haymakers typically only work for guys with the physical ability to back them up. Like Shishida-san, for example; I promise that if he were to throw a punch at me like that and I didn't properly defend against it, I would be hurting."

"Other bruiser type heroes, like Death Arms, and Mt. Lady, and uh… Oh! Duh! All Might too!" At the mention of the hero, Izuku's eyes snapped straight to his. "All those heroes are prime examples of having the physical ability to back up a haymaker! Basically, all of them are so strong and fast and durable that the typical negative effects of throwing an instant knockout really doesn't bother them at all."

As they rounded the hall that led them to their classroom, the boxer finished with one last tidbit of information. "Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you knew about your habits, man. It's a lot easier to break them early when you know about them beforehand. You're athletic, but… not in that way, ya know? When it comes to a fight, you gotta know how your body works."

"Shoda-kun?"

The other boy turned to look at Izuku, a little surprised that he had stopped walking all of a sudden. Izuku wasn't really staring at Nirengeki, but even from where he was at, the other boy could tell that his mind was working at blinding speeds from the way his eyes were zipping back and forth. "What… what was it that you were saying again? About All-Might?"

"Hm? Oh, uh…All Might doesn't really have to worry about the negatives of throwing a haymaker. His sheer power is enough to bridge that gap alone, so he can, like, throw as many as he wants with ease, and without any drawbacks. Why do y-"

"And what were you saying? About athleticism and styles? Oh! Uh, sorry to interrupt you, Shoda-kun!"

The boxer gave a small shrug, glad that the guy was easygoing enough to forgive some of his accidental rudeness. "No worries man. I was just saying that, like, while you are athletic… you're not athletic enough to keep up with a haymaker-only fighting style. You gotta know your body, ya know? It's like what Sensei said earlier today: you gotta know the fundamentals before you can start with anything else."

Izuku felt like he was on the edge of a breakthrough, but of what he didn't know...

But whatever Izuku was about to realize had to be put on hold as the sound of the first bell rang through the hall, prompting the two of them to hurry back to their homeroom.


Itsuka let out another sigh and did her best to not roll her eyes as she continued to write on the piece of paper in front of her.

She and Setsuna had been the first to arrive back in homeroom, and they were currently waiting at their desks for the rest of their peers, and their teacher, to trickle in.

Currently, she sat sideways in her seat with her usual side ponytail undone to let her hair dry a little faster. She was trying to write down her ideas to promote better classroom cohesion and participation… but it was a little hard to concentrate when there was a child next to her complaining nonstop about how boring today was.

Oh wait. That was Setsuna, who had not stopped bitching about their heroics class since they had left the showers a little while ago.

"-I cannot believe that we have to spend the next week going through all these stupid basics-"

"-Preaching to the choir, hon- "

"-I mean, I get it, I do, but really? Do they really need to lump us all together like that- "

"-Don't be like that. That's just rude- "

"-because at the very least, they could have an intermediate class going at the same time!- "

"-Now that's the smart thing to do."

"… you're not even listening are you?..."

Itsuka coughed lightly, looking somewhat apologetic as she looked up from the paper she was writing on. "Sorry Setsi. I promise I'm listening, but… ya know… I suddenly have responsibilities now. Responsibilities that you refused to share, by the way," Itsuka jabbed at her friend, both in speech and with the eraser end of the pencil she was holding.

Setsuna, still scowling and in an unpleasant mood from their absolute waste of a hero class, merely shrugged as she waved off the eraser. "Hey, he gave you the chance to back out. Not my fault you didn't say no."

"Yeah, I know…" Itsuka said glumly, as she turned back to her paper with a frown. "Still though," she said, writing down the thoughts that came to mind, "It would have been pretty awesome if you said yes. Can you imagine us two queens ruling over 1B? We could've done sooo much, but nooooo, it's too tedious and boring."

Setsuna smirked at her sister's joke, her irritation cooling slightly as she let Itsuka's calming aura wash over her as it had many times before.

She was so incredibly lucky, so incredibly thankful, to have Itsuka in her life. Itsuka had always been so patient, so kind, and so funny that anyone could, and would, enjoy her company almost instantly. She had been like this since the day they had met all those years ago, and without her, Setsuna could guarantee that she wouldn't be the person that she is today.

Itsuka's nature to care for others would take her far in life, and honestly, 1B couldn't have asked for a better person to be in charge of their well-being. Even now, while Itsuka had patiently listened to her bitch and moan nonstop for the last twenty minutes or so, she had been thinking up ideas just for the benefit of everyone in class. Sometimes, seeing her beautiful soul in action made Setsuna just a little jealous, because for Itsi, being a good person was as natural and easy as a heartbeat. That was just who Itsuka was: a wonderful woman, with a wonderful heart.

That… was not the case for herself, something she came to know deep within her heart of hearts. It was a discouraging reality that she had desperately tried to fight but... in the end, Setsuna came to terms that she would never be able to defy her nature. Nobody could.

Well… for the most part…

"-llo, Earth to Setsi, come in Setsi, over?" the green-haired girl felt a few pokes between her eyebrows, and she looked up to see the set of expressive teal eyes before her. "There you are! What are you spacing out for? Are you still butthurt about our heroics class today?"

Heaving a dramatic sigh, the green-haired girl simply opted to slouch further in her seat and look towards the ceiling. "Noooo… just wondering how well Ibara will fare as she tries to keep up with you." And wondering how someone like me could be lucky enough to have someone like you in their life...

Itsuka chuckled lightly at the comment, her eyes and smile a little exasperated. "Well, I don't know about all of that-"

"-I do-"

"-but I think the two of us are going to do a lot of good! I had the chance to talk to her earlier, and she seemed really excited with our new positions! And, she had all sorts of ideas too! So, I think I might go talk to her for a few minutes before homeroom starts, to see what we can do- Oh! Look at that! Perfect timing!" Itsuka went to collect her phone from her bag as well as the notebook she had been writing in and a few pens and pencils as the girl in question came into the classroom, her hair also wet from the shower. "I'll be back Setsi! I gotta go do big girl stuff now!"

Setsuna watched as her friend darted to her deputy co-representative, waving a greeting as Ibara returned it with a warm and gracious smile. Soon, the two of them began to talk shop, and Setsuna was left groaning in boredom.

Welp… might as well get some homework done…

Begrudgingly, she pulled out her English homework and began to go through all the stuff Present Mic had been spouting off about conjugations and whatnot for the next few minutes.

Setsuna had gotten pretty far in her surprisingly easy homework when the noise level in the classroom became enough to break her concentration. So, as she finished her last question, she put her book away and glanced at the clock on the wall right as the warning bell had rung. Doing a quick head count, she was surprised to notice that her neighbor the rabbit and his neighbor in front of him had yet to show up.

Actually, scratch that: she was surprised that Shoda hadn't shown up yet; Izuku, on the other hand, was three for three for almost being late to class.

A worried frown flitted across her features as she wondered about a couple things concerning the boy who sat next to her.

The first was obvious: while she hadn't seen him get knocked out, she had most definitely heard it, and Shoda's startled cry from across the gym. She had turned around in time to see him plop right onto the mat for a few seconds before Ectoplasm Sensei and Shoda had woken him back up. And while she was glad that he had been 'ok' enough to do those… Soul Crushers (Setsuna involuntarily shuddered at the memory of watching her classmates go through… whatever the hell that was...), she really hoped his brain wasn't be all busted up.

The other thing she wondered about was where he went for lunch, because for the second day in a row, she hadn't been able to find him at all during the holy hour. Granted, she hadn't been looking too hard yesterday, but it was still relatively easy to see where everyone sat at lunch, especially with a quirk like hers.

Seconds before the bell rang, the two boys in question came power walking into the classroom, both of them very engrossed in a conversation. Setsuna felt a small smile tug on her lips as she followed the two of them with her eyes. Well would you look at that! He made a new friend!

As she watched the boys sit down at their seats with a relieved sigh, she couldn't help herself as she began to casually eavesdrop on their conversation.

"-h, so your time limit is more like an inverted parabola!"

"Uhhh, suuure… I have no idea what that is…"

"O-Oh! Sorry, it's, uh, it's like a bell curve! Like, the longer you wait, the stronger it is."

"Up until a certain point, then the power begins to drop, yeah."

"Wow, that's so neat! How do you-"

"Alright class, is everyone in here?"

The class quieted down immediately and everyone bolted for their seats as their teacher did a head count. Seemingly satisfied, he simply nodded his head, looked at the clock, and clapped his hands together once.

"Alright. Good job with basic combat training today, everyone! Make sure you keep working on those techniques, because they will serve you well in the future. Remember, tomorrow you guys have Battle Training, so make sure you rest up and prepare yourselves for actual combat against your peers. If you think tomorrow isn't going to be serious, I'll have you know that class A had to send two of their students to the infirmary during their simulations." Vlad King held up two fingers for emphasis as he briefly looked around his classroom. "Please, everyone, do not take this exercise lightly."

Quite a few of class B stirred at the surprising news, but before the volume could get too loud, the teacher silenced them with a wave of his hand.

"Does anyone have any questions for me at this point of time?"

"Sensei, what exactly happened during class A's battle simulations?!" Ibara asked with a raised hand, worry and shock heavy in her voice.

The Blood Hero hesitated for a moment before he decided to give the most neutral answer he had at his disposal. "A couple of the students got a little more... carried away with combat than they should have."

When he was met with stunned silence, Vlad King clapped his hands together once more. "Are there any more questions at this time?" The tone he used made it clear that they were not to ask anymore questions about Class A... for now.

As the class began to get the hint and the silence continued on, the hero gestured grandly towards the door. "Then have yourselves a wonderful day, young heroes. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

No one moved a muscle for a second as they all tried to process what they had just heard, unbelieving their ears.

(Un)fortunately, Ibara took it upon herself to verify what was said.

"But, Kan Sensei… we still have 15 minutes of homeroom-"

"Nonononono!-"

"Shh! Shh shh!-"

"Oh… well, if you guys want to stay, I do have a few things everyone can-"

The teacher's voice became drowned out by the sudden flurry of movements from his students, and he couldn't help but chuckle at their expense, content to sit back at his desk and type up a few things on his computer as they scrambled for the door.

After less than a minute, the classroom was empty of students except for two.

The first one approached with worry on her face, and the teacher was happy to answer the young lady's question before she even said it.

"Yes, Shiozaki-san, it's perfectly fine for the students to leave the school during this period of homeroom. You don't have to worry about a thing."

"O-Oh… of course, Kan Sensei… A-Are you certain the students and yourself won't get in trouble though?"

"I wouldn't have given you guys permission to leave it if I wasn't," the teacher answered with an understanding smile. "This homeroom is mostly used for accountability and to act as a transition period for students to go to their after-school clubs and organizations, or to go to a certain area of the school that they need to access such as the library or one of our specialized training rooms. I appreciate you looking out for your peers, Shiozaki-san, but I promise, this is allowed at our school."

"Ah, I-I see… thank you for your knowledge and time, Kan Sensei. I apologize if I was rude in any way. Have a blessed day." Ibara bowed her head deeply to her teacher and walked out of the classroom as he returned the gesture in his seat.

And that left Izuku as the last student in the classroom.

Tentatively he stepped forward, but before he could ask his question, Vlad King had beat him to the punch.

"How's your head, Modoriya-kun?"

"Good, sir! Ectoplasm Sensei evaluated me, and he said I was good to go!"

"Excellent. Then I'll see you in gym delta in about 10 or 15 minutes. Go ahead and change back into a gym uniform before I get there, please."

"Yes Sensei!" Izuku said as he eagerly bolted out the door to hurriedly make his way back gym delta once more.

But as he rounded the corner of the hallway, he found himself almost running right into Nirengeki as the other boy seemed to be heading back to the classroom.

"Oh, I'm sor- Shoda-kun? What are you doing here?"

The other boy looked at him in similar surprise. "Oh! What's up Midoriya-kun? I forgot to get my English book, so I need to get it before Kan Sensei locks the classroom." The boxer gestured towards their homeroom before he added, "What about you? You about to head home?"

Izuku couldn't help the awkward chuckle that escaped his lips as he rubbed the back of his head. " A-Actually, uh, Kan Sensei is, uh, making me do some... remedial training…"

Nirengeki cringed in sympathy. "Oooooooo… Dang man, that sucks… Well… I guess, don't have too much fun? And, uh, try not to die?"

The two of them shared a weak laugh before they wished each other well and went on their way to their respective destinations.

But right as the green haired boy was getting out of earshot, Izuku heard Nirengeki call out to him one last time.

"Hey Midoriya-kun! Do you wanna hang out sometime, man?"

Izuku paused, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly open in surprise as his brain tried to process what he had heard...

…Did… his ears just deceive him?...

Hesitantly, Izuku turned to face the other boy, who had also turned to look back at him expectantly, and Izuku felt himself smile true and wide at the prospect of doing something he hadn't had the pleasure to do in a very long time. "Yes! I would like that, Shoda-kun!"

Nirengeki returned it gladly and gave the other boy a wave goodbye. "Alight bro! I'll catch you on one of these days when you're not busy! See ya tomorrow man! Don't work too hard!"

As Nirengeki turned and entered the classroom, Izuku headed towards the gym in a quick, but dazed, pace. Once he was inside gym delta's locker room, he began to change out of his school uniform; since he didn't have an actual lock and locker for this area, he simply opted to leave his stuff on the bench.

But as his body went about his business, his mind was still processing a simple truth that hadn't applied to him in what felt like a lifetime, right until he had walked through the doors of class 1B…

He had friends.

He couldn't help the smile that spread on his face, nor the watering of his eyes as he prepared himself the best he could for his remedial training with Vlad King.

And even though he knew he had a long way to go, he still felt incredibly grateful for the life that he had been given the chance to live. As his mind thought about Shoda and Kendo, Komori and Rin, Shiozaki and Tetsutetsu, and Tokage, he couldn't help but say the small prayer of thanks that escaped from his lips on accident.

"All Might, I know there's still a lot I can't do right now… But I gotta say… even making some friends is more than I could have ever asked for…"


"Alright Midoirya-kun, tell me everything you know about your quirk."

There was an awkward, heavy silence that filled the air after that question… because somehow, Izuku didn't think that his teacher would be asking it in the first place...

How does one go about explaining a quirk you're not supposed to explain, at all?

The two of them had been doing a few minor warmups, the hero in his costume and the student in his gym clothes. They hadn't talked at all while they did, but now that his teacher had actually mentioned this particular subject, he wasn't entirely sure of what to say...

"W-well, ah…" Izuku wasn't even sure where to begin explaining, and which parts he needed to leave out. Gosh, hindsight really is 20/20...

Vlad King merely looked at him with an upturned eyebrow, patiently waiting for a response. I… hope this kid at least knows something about his quirk…

"W-well, Sensei… ah, my quirk is called Super Power anditgivesmesuperpower…" Crap…

Ooooh boy…

As the silence between them grew even more awkward, Vlad King cleared his throat. "Ok. Let's, ah… let's start with the basics."

Before Vlad King had come to the gym, he had stopped by a vending machine to get a bottle of sports drink. He immediately downed the rest of his drink and removed the cap before he gave the bottle to his student to hold. Then, he took his right arm and made a fist in front of him, clenching it tight. As he did, blood began to flow from the slits in his gauntlets and into the open palm of his opposite hand, where it began to ball up into a sphere the size of a grapefruit.

"When I first started training with my quirk, I had to understand two very important details: the amount of blood I drew out, and the actual limitations of what my blood could do."

"In order to get an understanding of the first detail, I had to practice drawing out my blood many times until I instinctively knew how much I had removed. This in my hand," he gestured to the ball of blood, "is roughly about half a liter of blood. And if I can get that bottle back real quick Midoriya-kun…"

Izuku eagerly handed back the empty bottle, and watched carefully as the ball of blood flowed right into the bottle as if it were water, filling it up all the way. When Izuku checked the label, sure enough, the bottle was sized for half a liter.

"In order for me to understand the second detail…" the hero continued on as he focused on the blood in the bottle, "I had to start by hardening my blood, at least to a certain degree."

To prove his point, he turned the bottle upside down and shook it vigorously to show how the blood had hardened up to the point where it had gotten stuck in the bottle. Then, as if it hadn't even been solid in the first place, the blood began to flow back into his other open hand, where it once again turned into a sphere.

"And once I had accomplished hardening my blood to a certain degree," the hero began to massage the blood in his hands, as if he was working with clay, "I had to physically manipulate it into a shape that would be easy for me to form into whatever I wanted to make."

As he finished his sentence, the ball of blood had become sculpted into a large triangular shape with a small tab sticking out of it before it suddenly morphed into an authentic, detailed, blood-red combat knife.

"Gradually, I was able to get to the point where I don't necessarily need to physically manipulate my blood anymore… although, it still helps from time to time." As if to prove his point, the knife suddenly melted back into a puddle before it turned into a giant strawberry the size of his palm.

Izuku continued to watch the demonstration before him in fascination, until Vlad King brought him out of his thoughts with a simple question. "So, in your experience with handling your quirk, is there anything similar to what I've shown you here that you've had to work on in order to focus your power more accurately?"

"Yes sir! Actually, there are, um, a few things I'm trying to work on…"

"Excellent!" Now we're getting somewhere! "What are they?"

"B-basically, I'm trying to get the sensation right when I use my quirk… Like, I-I'm trying to regulate how much power I use…"

"Now that sounds like something I can help with. What have you been trying so far?"

"W-Well… I-I sort of just, uh…mhmhmhm..."

Izuku's words suddenly became inaudible for a second.

"What was that, Midoriya-kun? I didn't quite hear you."

"I-I, um… I-I think about an e-egg… in a m-microwave…"

The hero blinked down at his student, unsure if he heard his words correctly or not. "Can you elaborate on that? I don't… think I quite understand..."

Izuku swallowed his embarrassment and answered his teacher's question as he continued to look down at the floor, stumbling through his explanation the best he could as he did. "I, uh, I… when I use my quirk at full power… it makes the part of my body that I use it on… sorta feel like an egg in the microwave. One second it's fine, but the next it kind of just… e-explodes everywhere…"

"Hmmm… ok… have you had any luck so far in execution?"

"T-the grip test was the first time I was, uh, successful Sensei… so… no?..."

"Alright then… well, let's start with that. Follow me."

As Izuku followed his teacher through the gym, the hero began to idly play with his ball of blood. He would casually toss it in the air, letting it morph it into something random like a cup or a screwdriver, before turning it back into a ball right as he caught it in his hand.

Eventually, they found themselves in the spacious area of the northern corner of the gym. This area looked like it was often used for agility training, but apparently the hero had other things in mind. In this area was a room similar to a closet, where the hero disappeared for a moment before he dragged out a couple of huge trash bins full of scrap metal- one labeled 'iron', and the other labeled 'carbon steel ONLY'.

"So, a little fun fact about this particular gym: the support kids like to use this area as a testing ground for personnel heavy duty machinery, like... exoskeletons, and prosthetics. And more often than not, they always break the equipment in here, which is why we have these." He gestured to the two metal bins full of scrap. "Technically, they're supposed to rebuild anything they break, but there are many times where they lag on the cleanup. And we," the hero pointed to the two of them, " will capitalize on that."

"Alright, let me see your arm, kid."

The green-haired boy complied with his teacher's request, and the hero once again clenched his fist. This time, a torrent came out of the slits and slithered its way through the air before it began to wrap around the young man's outstretched arm and harden; it covered every part of bare skin that was available, forming itself into something akin to a thick rubber glove. And for some reason, their was a trail of blood that led from Izuku's arm back to his teacher's, formed into what he thought was a loose hanging cable.

"Catch!"

Looking up, Izuku saw the pro throw a small piece of… something that looked like it used to be part of a squat rack. As he moved to catch it, Vlad King began to explain his plan.

"In your hand, you are holding something that just came out of the iron bin. From the looks of it, it appears to be something made of wrought iron, so it's safe to say that it's compressive strength is fairly high."

Izuku looked up with excited eyes as he began to connect the dots, and Vlad King found himself fighting the smile that was threatening to form. "So, here's what I had in mind. You said the grip strength test was where you had the most success doing what you needed to do, right?"

"Yes, Sensei!"

"Well, you are going to be applying the same concept of that event, to all of these pieces of scrap metal. But before we do, I need to test something important really quick."

"I need you to squeeze that piece of iron in you hand with all of your strength. And make sure you use the gloved hand."

Izuku could only stare blankly at the man, unsure of what he just heard.

"Go on, kid. Trust me."

Hesitantly, Izuku took a deep breath and began to flood his arm with One for All, mentally preparing himself to break his arm (again) as he did.

But before he could even make an indention in the piece of iron, multiple sudden sharp pains erupted underneath the area of his gloved arm.

"Gahhhhh!"

Izuku dropped the piece of scrap to look at his gloved arm in surprise and shock…

…And Vlad King's eyes flew wide open; his face paled instantly as he hoarsely whispered "Holy Shit…" under his breath. (No wonder he said it feels like an egg in the microwave… Jesus Christ, what the HELL is that power?!)

There were a few moments were everything went still, and then the hero broke the silence. "Well… that worked… I suppose…"

"Sensei, what was that!?" Izuku's vibrant green eyes were wide as his gazed flickered between his teacher and his glove repeatedly.

"That, Midoriya-kun, is how we are going (to try) to control your quirk while we train."

Izuku looked up at the man in awe as his mind replayed everything that he had just experienced, and then his eyes began to widen in realization.

"Right before I could crush the piece of iron… it felt like a bunch of needles had stabbed my arm at the same time… did you basically copy your gauntlet design on my forearm, Sensei?"

Vlad King, who's mind was still reeling from the unexpected power of his pupil, and who was desperately trying to find the best way to safely go about this, looked up in surprise. Wow… This kid's smarter than I already gave him credit for... "Basically, yes. It's not a perfect method of control by any means, but… I do think that we can make it work. For now."

"But- but… how did you know when I was about to break my arm?!"

The hero bent down to pick up his blood ball, which had fallen onto the floor from the hero's shock, and reformed it into a crude model of the human arm.

"So, essentially, I created two separate layers in the gauntlet of blood. The first layer I made sure to stretch as thin and as tight around your arm as possible, like an actual glove." The model moved in accordance, showing how a thin layer appeared to stretch out over the arm in the same way that saran wrap clung to food.

"This layer's sole purpose is detection. I had a theory: if I could stretch my blood thin and tight enough around your arm, then I'd be able detect the minute changes in your skin, muscle, and bone structures as you used your quirk. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to detect it, but... apparently, that won't be a problem. Your power is simply so great that the very air vibrates from the sheer intensity of your quirk in action..."

Vlad King trailed off for a moment as the words began to sink in for the two of them, more so for the hero than the student. "Regardless… I was able to sense that your bones had suddenly been subjected to immense pressure (…barely…), and that's when I activated the second layer."

The blood model responded in kind, showing how the second layer, which was reminiscent of the skin of a cactus, cinched down onto the arm. "I know it's a bit barbaric, but for now it'll have to work. Consequently, it also helps that the injuries you receive from doing this are simple flesh wounds. I asked Recovery Girl for her professional opinion and permission on this matter ahead of time, and she stated that she could heal this with ease and with little repercussion. Although she wasn't entirely pleased... she conceded that this would be a better alternative to your previous injuries."

"My… former homeroom teacher, Iron Maiden-"

"OOOH! THE HURTING HERO! I DIDN'T KNOW SHE WAS YOUR HOMEROOM TEACHER! SHE WAS INCREDIBLE AT THAT HOSTAGE SITUATION AGAINST-"

"Ahem."

Izuku recoiled from embarrassment, becoming red in the face as he remembered that, sometimes, his natural enthusiasm was… a bit much to some people. "S-Sorry Sensei…"

Vlad King merely chuckled and shrugged, and his eyes grew a little distant for just a moment. "Heh. Don't worry about it, kid. She was… pretty incredible…"

Shaking himself from his melancholy, he said, "Anyway, Iron Maiden was my homeroom teacher when I went to Shiketsu. When she was training me to control my quirk, this was one of the many methods she had used to make sure I didn't end up using too much blood. Granted… her methods were, uh, a little different… but the principal is still the same. In fact, her training is what inspired the design of my gauntlet!"

"I do apologize for not warning you about this idea ahead of time, Midoriya-kun. Trust me, I know how much this can get both annoying and agonizing- "

"It's fine, Sensei!" Izuku beamed, a weird, eager light in his eyes. "I… I think this could work! With this, I could accurately find how much my body can take before breaking! With this, I… I could learn to control how much I can use, at any time!"

"Sensei… I think this is exactly what I needed!" Izuku looked up to his homeroom teacher, the light in his eyes igniting into an inferno of pure motivation as his smile soon began to reflect the determination within his soul.

The young man's enthusiasm was infectious, and the hero couldn't help the smirk that snuck itself onto his face. "Glad you see it that way, Midoriya-kun. Now take off your gym jacket and get ready to work- we've got a lot of catching up to do."


The following 40 minutes were nothing short of intense in every possible aspect of the word.

For the young hero in training, the session had him hurting and trapped in a state of tortured bliss that he had never felt before. It was exhilarating to finally be able to effectively test out his quirk in a (relatively) safe manner… but boy were his arms shaking in agony from both the continual strain of using One for All, and from the unending stings of the tiny spikes.

The professional wasn't faring any better, at all- for him, this had become a minefield full of unknowns and anxiety, and he was having an extremely difficult time trying to navigate it.

During those 40 minutes, Izuku had reached the threshold of where his body could operate safely at only a handful of times, and each time for only three to four seconds at the most before his control began to wobble. Getting to that point had been a challenge by itself, and he had lost count of how many times he had to try again as the blood spikes prevented his arms from breaking into a bunch of tiny pieces.

Initially, he had tried to implement all three of the techniques he had learned and observed from yesterday, as well as the egg and toothpaste analogies at the same time… but each time he did, the spikes had immediately slammed into his skin before he could even think about reaching his goal. After a few more vain attempts at trying this, Vlad King had persuaded him to stop this specific practice, claiming that whatever he was doing was causing such a huge and sudden surge of power within his arm that even the pro was having trouble reacting to stop it in time. So, Izuku ended up experimenting with each of his three techniques separately instead as he practiced the egg analogy, getting himself varying results with each one.

The first thing he learned was that whatever Tokage's technique did to his body, his teacher was not on board with it, at all. Naturally, whenever he applied her technique he would also use the toothpaste analogy; but, anytime he would start to roll up the toothpaste from the end, his teacher would immediately clamp down on his arm. Apparently, Vlad King had felt his power randomly jump and multiply under his skin while he did this, and it made it hard for the pro to effectively gauge his arm for damage; in addition, the Blood Hero suspected that whatever he was doing was causing something to happen to his bones and muscles that he couldn't quite detect or understand.

So, Izuku had spent the rest of the time experimenting with Tiger's and Edgeshot's methods individually, and he was rewarded for his diligence with surprisingly different outcomes.

With Tiger's research, the boy noticed that the process for him to build up power may have been slower, but he was able to control it much more effectively. Conversely, using Edgeshot's techniques, the build-up of power was much faster, but the amount he built up was constantly fluctuating. It also felt like Edgeshot's way of doing things granted him more power, while Tiger's way lasted much longer.

To make sure that one of his arms wasn't in constant pain, and to ensure that he was getting experience with both arms equally, the teacher would move his blood gauntlet to the other arm after every five attempts. However, regardless of which arm he used, the boy still got way too close for comfort to breaking his arms much more than the teacher was comfortable with. It didn't help that Izuku's naturally inquisitive mind and go-getter attitude resulted in him occasionally trying to test out if his arm could take just a little more power. Needless to say, Vlad King, who only knew that his student's power was making his arms rattle like a maraca, would put a stop to that with his tiny iron maiden before Izuku had the chance to fully experiment that facet of his power.

The student's goal to crush the little scraps of iron and steel within certain limitations of his power was proving to be a more vexing challenge for the both of them than they originally thought. While the pile of crinkled metal at Izuku's feet slowly grew, the sound of clanging was constantly accompanying it as the boy would drop the piece of scrap in pain more often than he would crumple it.

But regardless of the agony and the obstacles they faced, Izuku had persevered and Vlad King had remained vigilant.

They continued this particular training regimen until there was a quiet snap, and Vlad King swore out loud as he moved towards his pupil, who had gasped out in pain at the sudden sensation.

"Dammit! I'm so sorry Midoriya-kun, that was entirely my fault!"

"I-It's ok, Sensei! I-I can keep going! -"

"Nooooope. We're stopping for the day."

"But Sensei! I swear, I-I'm fine! -"

"Kid. We are not about to have another incident like yesterday."

"B-but I have another arm… -"

"Midoriya-kun."

The kid, still high from the combination of adrenaline and his naturally driven spirit, looked up as the pro placed a hand on his shoulder. "You made progress today. This is good. So, let's not push our luck, ok? Besides, you'll need your strength for your battle simulations tomorrow, and this is as good as any point to stop training for today. And don't forget: you'll be training with your quirk every day for a while- there's no need to get impatient and sloppy."

Dejectedly, the young green-haired man nodded as his eyes traveled to his broken left arm. Currently, said arm was completely encased and compressed by hardened blood, like plaster would be used to create a cast. Even though Izuku couldn't see what his arm looked like, he hoped that this break wasn't as bad as his previous ones since his mind hadn't immediately clouded over in pain… yet. It still hurt, but it was like comparing a scrape on the knee to a stab in the gut.

Glancing at his other arm, he had to fight the surprise he felt when he just now realized that this arm, and probably the other, sort of resembled his teacher's, albeit to a much tamer level. His right arm was bleeding freely from multiple places in slow dribbles, and each puncture mildly stung to a certain degree; alone, the pain wasn't noticeable, but all together made them barely tolerable. Idly, he wondered if these wounds would scar up as bad as his teachers, but one glance was enough to know that these pinpricks were quite shallow in nature.

With all the information that his mind was processing, he idly wondered if he really did progress today- to him, it felt like he was doing nothing but blindly stumble in the dark, bashing his big toe against every piece of furniture as he did.

But then his eyes glanced towards the discarded pile of scrap nearby, and he saw how each piece was adorned, and ruined, by the imprint of his hand print… and somehow, that was all the confirmation he needed. After all, each piece of ruined scrap, regardless of the number of tries it took, was physical proof that he had achieved reaching at least 5% of his power.

With a shaky breath, he couldn't help but wonder if it was ok to feel this quiet contentment coming from within, knowing that he had struggled to get here, and knowing that he had made only a small step forward in the right direction.

"Here."

Izuku looked up at the gruff voice to see the hero give him his backpack and his change of clothes. "Go ahead and see Recovery Girl right away. Hopefully… she won't be too fussy when you go to visit her..."

"Wait, Sensei… how did you know where my stuff was? And how'd you get it so fast?" Izuku was thoroughly perplexed, but also secretly excited. Did his teacher use Blood Control to get-

"Uhh… Midoriya-kun, you've been standing here staring at that scrap pile for the last three or four minutes… and you didn't exactly put your stuff in a locker…"

(Aww man…) "Oh… S-Sorry Sensei… Here, let me clean this up at least- "

"Nope." The finality in his teacher's voice left no room to argue; the finger pointed in the direction of the elderly heroine's office and his light scowl simply added on to the effect. "Go see Recover Girl. Right now. I'll clean this up for you."

"A-Are you sure, Sensei? -"

"Yes, kid. Now go. Before I take you there myself. And make sure to get some rest tonight!"

The hero almost snorted at the young man's miserable look, as if someone had just kicked his puppy.

"…Yes sensei…" As the young man took a few steps forward, he suddenly turned around again, with a questioning expression on his face. "Oh, uh… what would you like me to do about the, uh…" Izuku gestured to the blood cast that belonged to the hero, which still clung around his broken arm.

"Just give it to Recovery Girl. She can dispose of it in her facilities," the teacher dismissed with a wave.

"You don't need your blood back?"

"Kid, I appreciate the thought, but my blood was replenished almost right after I took it out of my body. Now go! Get to the nurse's office! And be here, in this gym, by 0700 tomorrow morning!"

"Yes Sensei! Have a good night, and thanks for training me!" The freckled boy bowed deeply with all the stuff in his arms, and then turned around to make his way towards his destination.

The moment he was gone, Vlad King collapsed onto a nearby bench, burying his head into his hands as a low groan escaped his lips.

This was going to be a lot harder than he originally thought.

A. Lot. Harder.

The entire time during the session, the hero had been on edge. He thought his plan had been a decent stopgap until they were able to think up something more suitable, but… boy was he wrong….

In the first place, it had taken every iota of control to keep the thin first layer of his blood from being absolutely eviscerated from the sheer radiating power of the boy's quirk.

Secondly, his second layer of blood had a surprisingly hard time penetrating the boy's skin; the pro was fairly certain that if anyone stabbed the boy in the area where his quirk was active with a regular steak knife, the knife would definitely bend and break before his skin would. It appeared that Super Power also granted Midoriya an unknown level of increased durability, which was something Vlad King didn't think the kid was aware of in the first place. So as a result, he had to expend a lot more effort trying to break the boy's skin, all the while making sure that his stabs weren't too deep.

And if those two weren't bad enough, the absolute nightmare of multitasking his blood to not only accommodate the previously mentioned stipulations, but to also intently focus on detecting the subtle effects of the boy's quirk in his arms left the pro hero reeling from one monster of a migraine.

It literally took one time- one time- for him to wipe his brow, enjoying the small relief it brought, while Midoriya was testing out his power and it had caused the boy's forearm bones to snap in multiple places. All it took was one small lapse of focus... and Midoriya had paid the price for it.

He had no idea how to approach this, how to bring his student up to par with what was expected of him.

But…

He did know someone who might. Someone who was far smarter than anyone else in the school, and probably the nation, and had been more than helpful to Sekijiro on multiple occasions in the past. He had hoped that this would be the year that he wouldn't need to seek his guidance, as a way to say thanks to the creature that had helped him so much and to prove that the time he spent teaching him wasn't going to waste… but now was not the time to get hung up on something like that.

Eventually, the pro started to slowly clean up the area, his body performing the task automatically as his mind was busy recovering and thinking. He would have to ask him tomorrow morning, while the kid was busy working out; the two of them weren't going to be able to take another step forward if he didn't.


Author's Nooooooote!

If you guys are a little mad that Izuku got knocked the fuck out on his first day of heroics training, I'd like to say two things: first, remember, this story is called Through Trial and Error for a reason. And second, nothing, and I mean nothing, makes you more aware of just how bad you suck at fighting than getting your ass beat by a guy who isn't even trying. It is... quite the eye opener. And if you guys are mad that I had Izuku do training at all after getting his head smacked around, I promise, Recovery Girl won't fail you in the next chapter.

I hope my representation of Shoda was acceptable. And I know he can technically use his quirk on any impact he can see, but for now, he will be limited to what I specified. Rest assured, as the story progresses, Shoda, as well as class B, will get stronger. Also, I made him a boxer- even though his profile only states that he likes to watch boxing; I thought it would make sense if he were an actual boxer, given the nature of his quirk. Also, him being a skilled fighter means that Izuku was able to get the eye opener he needed as well as the inspiration to try to find his own fighting style. I do hope that this works out favorably for you guys.

And! Izuku has finally begun his remedial training! He's off to a rocky start, no? If you guys need anything clarified, or have any questions about his training, don't be afraid to ask! And if you guys were wondering why I had him struggle with 5%, it's because I believe that, before full cowling became a thing, the times he used his quirk were quick and instantaneous. Hell, even when he started with full cowl, he had trouble maintaining 5%. All I was trying to accomplish is giving Izuku more ways in which he can utilize his power. I hope I did his training some justice.

Every review you guys send my way warms my heart :) I can't express how much it means to me when I get a little notification saying that I have a review, and even if I don't take the time to personally answer your review, please know that your input and your kind words mean the world to a poor bastard like me :)

Thanks again for reading guys! Each of you are amazing in your own way.

Stay safe and healthy! I'll see you guys in the next chapter!