A.N.
I've had multiple people ask, so I wanted to clarify here that the cast was taken by Truth just after the USJ arc. So they've only seen through the first season. I didn't want to take them much later, because then it would take forever for them to get to episodes that would be considered the future for them, plus I figured the USJ served as an overall bonding experience for them so the class being fairly close wouldn't be too weird.
The students were shown exclaiming over what a great score that was or what a strange quirk Midoriya had to have been hurt like that. Bakugo had the most extreme reaction though, staring in shock at the power his former friend had displayed. He thought about how people were supposed to all get their quirks at 4 years old, and what Izuku had said to him after they both got into UA. His shock turned to anger, and he rushed at Midoriya, demanding to know what was going on.
"Knowing what we know now, Bakugo's reaction makes a lot more sense, kero."
"Yeah...someone you knew forever suddenly gaining a new quirk would be pretty shocking." Ojiro admitted. "Not that I agree with his actions here, but it does make it more understandable."
Nearby classmates nodded in agreement.
Bakugo was suddenly stopped in his tracks by Aizawa's capture weapon. Aizawa told him the bands were hard because they were made of custom material. Aizawa then said the kids should stop making him use his quirk so much, because he had dry eye. The students exclaimed that it was a waste because their teacher's quirk was so amazing. Aizawa was then given a quick close up and voice over.
"It is amazing." Todoroki said quietly, thinking about how many villains their teacher had taken out before getting captured by the Nomou.
Momo looked over at him in surprise; it was rare to hear the boy actually speak. "It is, and just imagine how much more effective he would be if he didn't have to worry about his eye condition so much."
"He'd be almost unstoppable." Jirou agreed.
"In some cases certainly."
Aizawa wasn't much moved by the praise about his quirk. He knew it was useful, but he also knew there was a lot more to being a great hero, and a great person, than having a useful quirk. Too many people overlooked that.
"You know," Hizashi spoke up "from what we've seen, you may be the very first teacher to give Bakugo real life consequences for trying to hurt another student. Or at least the first to do it in a long time."
Aizawa looked between the screen and Bakugo, who was grumbling while rubbing his eye, chest, and shoulder in sequence.
"You may be right." He wasn't sure what to feel about that. A part of him felt satisfied that he might have done something to start changing the toxic dynamic between two of his students. A much larger part of him felt anxious and wary. Just what did it say about the environment both Midoriya and Bakugo grew up in if that simple action made such a difference?
Aizawa deactivated his quirk and let Bakugo free before telling the next person in line to step up. Izuku carefully edged around the still seething boy to go meet up with Uraraka. Bakugo thought about how Deku had been so insignificant to him not long ago. The scene then flashed back to Midoriya and Bakugo as little kids playing in the forest. Izuku told Bakugo how cool his quirk was, and Bakugo claimed that no matter what quirk Izuku someday got the other boy would never beat him.
"Hmmm..."Ashido looked thoughtfully between the images of little Bakugo and little Midoriya. "Bakugo's pretty cute as a little kid too, but I'd still say Midoriya's cuter."
"I agree." Hagakure said with mock seriousness.
'So young, and already so arrogant.' Iida thought to himself. Iida wondered if he had any room to judge, since he'd shown himself to be rather arrogant about his own assumptions. Still, when his assumptions were challenged he did his best to adjust his beliefs to fit the evidence. Bakugo didn't seem willing to do that. 'Perhaps he was never forced to do so before. With such a naturally strong quirk, it would be hard for most others to stand against him, even as a young child.' That certainly didn't excuse the boy's behavior...but like with the ball throw earlier, it would make his reactions more understandable.
Meanwhile, Midoriya looked dejectedly down at his hands. He had always admired Bakugo, and had never thought of himself as even being on the same level as him, much less better than him. But to hear the boy's own thoughts label him as a pebble was still disheartening.
Midoriya was shown moving onto the next test, and the next, fighting against the pain in his finger the whole time.
Izuku grumbled and squeezed Uraraka's hand as the pain in his finger fluctuated with each scene. She gave a comforting squeeze back.
"And why didn't I see the boy sooner?" Recovery Girl demanded. Aizawa tried not to let her look phase him, but he still ended up fidgeting a bit.
"It was a test to see how they could do while using their quirks. It wouldn't have been accurate if let each person go get taken care of after a minor injury, same thing with quirk exhaustion. They have to take responsibility for their own actions and how those choices will affect their future abilities."
Recovery Girl looked displeased, but let it go for now. Aizawa relaxed only after she stopped looking at him.
"Aoyama is looking at the 'camera'." Todoroki noted in surprise. Momo looked at the screen, to see it was going over the sit up test, and that Todoroki was correct. Which was strange since everyone else in the scene was looking at their partner for the test. What could he have been looking at from this angle, aside from the ceiling?
Finally the tests were over, and everyone gathered around to see the final scores. Aizawa explained how the scores were tallied, while Izuku bemoaned the fact that the pain had caused him to do poorly in the rest of the tests. A hologram showed the test results, and Izuku was dismayed to see that he was in last place.
Current Izuku was dismayed because his past self kept clenching his fist and making his finger hurt more. The action had done a good job at distracting himself from his own anxiety in the past, but now it was just painful and annoying.
Aizawa then said he had been lying about expelling the last place person. The students looked at him in shock as he said that he'd used the pressure to make them do better during the tests. While everyone else freaked out, Momo said that it should have been obvious it was a lie from the start.
Jirou gave Momo a playful shove. "Alright, we get it, no need to rub it in our faces."
"Sorry, I didn't mean it to sound condescending, it really did seem obvious to me."
Over with the teachers, Aizawa had to elbow Hizashi to get him to stop grinning like a madman.
Aizawa dismissed the class and told them to change out of their gym clothes before getting back to class. When he passed Midoriya he gave him a slip of paper and told him to get 'the old lady' to fix his finger.
Recovery Girl shot him a look, and Aizawa instinctively leaned away from her. He eyed Yagi's seat, which was a bit further away from the nurse, but Yagi noticed and shook his head.
"I'm not switching seats with you Aizawa."
Aizawa told him there would be more and harder classes the next day, then walked off. Izuku told himself he'd gotten through for now, but that he still had a long way to go.
"Think of it this way Midoriya, if you're starting at the bottom, the only way left to go is up!"
Midoriya smiled. "Heh, thanks Kaminari."
The scene shifted to Aizawa passing by All Might, who called the other teacher a liar.
The students all frowned in confusion or sat up in surprise. Liar? What had their teacher been lying about?
Aizawa noted that All Might had been watching, and implied that the hero didn't have anything better to do. All Might ignored this to point out that Aizawa had expelled an entire first year class during the previous year.
Jaws fell open among the students. He...he hadn't been lying? They really would have gotten expelled if they hadn't done enough in Aizawa's eyes?
Midoriya was most shaken by this, thinking he had come far too close to failing his mentor. What would he have done then...no he couldn't think of that. He had to look forward and think about what he could do in the future.
He was closely followed by Mineta for being most shaken, because he had been just one placement above Midoriya. If the other boy hadn't broken his finger then would Mineta have been expelled? But Aizawa had still kept Mineta on, so he must have done something right. Still...he wondered how close he came to not making the cut.
Momo was also very disturbed by this revelation, though for different reasons. She had been so sure she had managed to see through their teacher that first day...but it turned out she hadn't understood the situation at all. Had that happened during the battle trial too? Had All Might just been humoring her by agreeing with her assessments? She didn't know what to think anymore.
'Endeavor would have been up front about what he expected out of you, or just beaten you until you gave him what he wanted.' Todoroki thought. Aizawa really was a lot different than his father. He was grateful for that.
All Might said that Aizawa didn't hesitate to pass judgment on those he deemed unworthy, and concluded that Aizawa must have seen something special in Izuku for the man to not follow through with his threat. Aizawa smirked and noted that All Might seemed to be favoring Midoriya, and wondered if that's how a teacher should act.
Yagi rubbed the back of his head, his cheeks heating in embarrassment. "I suppose I could do a better job at not letting others know we have a previous connection."
"Aw, come on All Might, this guy was just teasing you." Present Mic nudged Aizawa. "You don't have to be guarded all the time, you can trust us."
"I appreciate that Hizashi."
Meanwhile, Izuku was blushing slightly from having All Might be so obviously happy about him passing the first day's test.
Aizawa claimed that he only passed everyone, including Midoriya, because he hadn't sensed anyone with zero potential. He concluded it would be cruel to encourage a dream only for it to end midway.
The students stared at the screen, and mulled the words over. They hadn't really thought about Aizawa's motivations before, partially because they hadn't known he'd been lying about the expulsion, and hadn't known he had such a caring reason behind them.
"Mr. Aizawa really is a good guy once you get past the gruff attitude." Uraraka said softly.
"Indeed. He may be strict, but it seems he keeps both the current and future well-being of his students as a top priority."
Izuku wasn't sure what to think about Aizawa's reasoning. He could appreciate what Aizawa was trying to do, but it honestly sounded too much like what All Might had said to him on the rooftop for him to be comfortable with it. He wondered if Aizawa would have declared him to have zero potential if he was still without a quirk...
Izuku was shown leaving the school, looking exhausted. He was stopped by Iida, who asked if his finger was healed. The scene flashed back to just after Recovery Girl had kissed Izuku's finger. Izuku marveled at her quirk's speed, but he was suddenly very tired. Recovery Girl explained how her quirk worked, including the fact that if Izuku's got more injuries than he had stamina then using her quirk could end up killing him.
Many of the kids paled, and suddenly became very glad that they hadn't gotten injured much at UA yet.
Momo wrote down the new information in her own notebook, thinking that it would be a useful thing to remember, and also using it as a distraction from her earlier thoughts.
Izuku just sighed in relief, glad that is finger no longer hurt, even if he could now feel tiredness pulling at him.
Izuku thought about how he needed to learn control so he wouldn't have to keep relying on others.
"You know you can depend on us, right Deku?"
Izuku smiled at Uraraka. "I know, I just don't want to become dependent. It's like Aizawa said, if I don't learn better control, then I could end up being a burden on others. Plus, you guys won't always be around. I need to be able to depend on myself too."
Uraraka and Iida both nodded their understanding. "That was very well put, Midoriya."
Iida walked with Izuku, and talked about everything that had happened that day. Izuku's thoughts showed his realization that Iida wasn't actually scary, he just had a lot of passion.
Iida smiled, relieved that Midoriya's view of him had improved so rapidly.
Uraraka ran up to them then, hoping to walk to the station together. She introduced herself, and then said their names, but she mistakenly said that 'Deku' was Midoriya's first name, because that's what Bakugo had called him. Izuku was quick to explain that was actually a mean nickname.
"Awkward." Jirou commented.
"Why does she still use it then?" Shoji wondered. Ojiro shrugged.
Uraraka apologized, but cheerfully pointed out that 'Deku' sounded close to the phrase 'you can do it!', which caused Izuku to immediately accept the nickname as something good.
"Well that was fast." Mineta commented. Though he couldn't exactly blame him for accepting something like that from a pretty girl.
"I think Iida agrees with you." Sero said snickering at the boy's on-screen reaction.
"That is a wonderful attitude Midoriya." Aoyama praised. Much to the others' surprise, Tokoyami nodded.
"Indeed, being able to reclaim a past insult and make it into something positive is a powerful thing."
"Thanks, guys." Izuku said.
Bakugo scowled, but this went unnoticed by Izuku. He just smiled gratefully at Uraraka, and she smiled back.
The three walked together, and Izuku figured that he could at least be happy he had friends.
Smiles were shared among all three of them now.
The scene cut to All Might, who thought about how Midoriya didn't have time to relax, because the real test would begin the next day.
Izuku's smile morphed into grimace. The battle trial was the next day, which meant more injuries, and it was likely Truth would show them exactly what Bakugo said to him.
"But if we don't relax between the challenges then when are we supposed to relax?" Kirishima asked.
"Yeah, we gotta relax sometimes, right?" Sato added.
"Finding a proper balance between being ready for whatever happens and giving yourself time to enjoy life can be quite challenging for a hero" Nedzu said. "Keeping one's guard up is important, but could be detrimental if one does so to the point of paranoia."
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Present Mic said with a grin. Yagi shook his head.
"I don't think they'll get that reference."
The scene shifted to the next day at UA, where Izuku went over how the daily curriculum of UA was structured. While in Present Mic's class, the students were shown barely responding to him and saying the class was too normal.
Present Mic put his hand over his heart. "Why do you kids have to hurt me like this?"
"S-sorry, Mr. Yamada, it's just hard to get into it when you're sleepy and looking forward to the hero related classes." Izuku said, ducking his head sheepishly.
"I don't have any trouble getting into the morning classes." Momo protested, and Iida quickly agreed. Jirou rolled her eyes.
"Well of course you don't." this only caused the two to look confused.
Lunch hour was explained, and Izuku was shown fanboying over meeting the hero Lunch Rush. Then in the afternoon they had Hero Training. All Might was shown, bursting through the classroom door and announcing that he was 'coming through the door like a normal person'.
Recovery Girl snorted. "You just keep telling yourself that, sonny."
The students laughed when they heard. Yagi could help smiling with them, despite looking a tad bashful at his chosen entrance.
All Might strutted up to the lectern while students whispered in awe about him really being a teacher here. All Might introduced himself as their teacher and announced that they would be starting out with combat training. This made Izuku look nervous and Bakugo look far too excited.
Aizawa hummed thoughtfully at the reminder that Midoriya sat right behind Bakugo in class. Given the history he now knew they had with each other, he started thinking about moving Midoriya to a different seat. It would probably help them both concentrate.
Uraraka and Iida looked at each other in concern. They both remembered how intense the battle trials had gotten for Midoriya and Bakugo, and wondered what they might learn about what really went down between the two of them. They had both been too worried about their own parts to pay close attention the first time around, and given what they now knew about both boys' past they couldn't help but worry.
All Might then revealed that the costume designs they submitted were now ready to be worn, and said to gather in ground beta after they put them on. The scene switched to that exact area, as All Might waited for the student's arrival. They walked out all together, their various costume pieces being shown off.
"Oh, what a striking image! Especially because yours truly is among you!" Aoyama gushed.
"I really do like my costume. Yours is cool too, kero." Tsuyu said to Uraraka.
"Thanks! I like yours too. The color and goggles really suit you."
'Why'd I stand next to Shoji? He makes me look so short!' Mineta berated himself.
"You're costume looks familiar." Shoji commented to Iida. He'd never really had a chance to ask the other boy why that was.
"I based by costume off of the hero Ingenium, who is my older brother, though I altered it to suit my quirk better of course."
"Did I ever tell you how wicked cool your costume looks?" Kirishima asked Bakugo. Those around them murmured in agreement. The outfit certainly fit the boy's quirk and personality.
"Like I need you to tell me that." Bakugo boasted. He was grinning broadly at Kirishima though.
Izuku's voice over explained how the clothing allowance at UA worked, then the scene shifted to Midoriya's apartment three weeks ago. Izuku needed to have his current quirk registered for the allowance, but wasn't sure he could change his registration so late. He ended up calling All Might to ask, and the man assured him that quirk registrations could be changed as a person discovered more about their quirk as they got older.
"Hmmm, I never realized that." Momo said to herself. She wondered if hers had ever been updated after they discovered that she used the lipids in her body to create things, rather than just having them springing from nothing on the surface of her skin. She'd given her parents quite a scare when she made too much at once when she was little and became dangerously underweight for a while.
'Did I ever note how sentient Dark Shadow is on my registration? Is important for me to do so?' Tokoyami wondered.
Izuku was startled by his mother coming home and ended up hanging up on All Might. Inko put on a big smile and pulled out a jumpsuit she'd gotten Izuku to congratulate him on getting into UA. She said she'd gotten the idea after seeing a design of his sitting out on his desk, then she admitted she felt guilty for what she had said when he was younger. She had given up after he was declared quirkless, but he hadn't. She said sorry, then smiled proudly at him and said she'd support him from now on.
"That's so sweet." Uraraka said softly, and Iida hummed in agreement. Looking at the scene with shinning eyes. Izuku felt some of his anxiety about the upcoming scenes ebb away as he remembered his mothers words, and how he felt wearing that costume.
Many others looked away again, not wanting to intrude on the family moment more than they had to.
The scene went back to the present, where Izuku ran out wearing that same jumpsuit. Uraraka came up to compliment him on it. Izuku got a look at her costume, and blushed so hard it could be scene through his headgear. Uraraka commented she should have been more specific in her description, because she felt embarrassed hers was so tight. Mineta stood nearby, looking at her, and said that the hero course was the best.
Tsuyu's tongue suddenly lashed out and slapped Mineta across the face.
"OW! What was that for?!"
"If you're gonna make comments like that out loud, then you should expect some negative feedback, kero."
"Here, here."
"Definitely."
"Indeed."
"Little pervert."
Hagakure, Ashido, Momo, and Jirou spoke in succession. Uraraka was too busy blushing and burying her face in her hands to comment, and Midoriya wasn't much better.
A couple students chuckled, but Aizawa raised an eyebrow. A couple of those sounded very bitter. Just how bad did Mineta's comments about such things get?
The scene showed All Might noticing the similarities between Izuku's costume and his own look, and the man had to hold in laughter at how obvious his protege was.
People around the room laughed and chuckled. Izuku didn't realize why however, as he still had his face hidden from the earlier scene. So he was saved some embarrassment.
All Might started to explain the trial, but was interrupted by a question of Iida's. Izuku looked at him, and thought his costume was cool.
"Thank you very much Midoriya." Iida said, pride puffing out his chest. Midoriya finally calmed down enough to uncover his face and smile at Iida.
All Might explained that this test would be done indoors, since that was where one would actually be more likely to run into villains, especially clever ones. He went on to explain how the students would be paired up for the test. Tsuyu asked if they were going in without any training, and All Might confirmed they were.
"So, would I be correct in assuming this is similar to Mr. Aizawa's first test?" Momo asked. "The Quirk assessment was used to figure out our baseline abilities in different areas, right? So then this test is being used to determine our natural fighting abilities and go-to styles?" She looked over at the teachers hopefully.
"That is indeed what I had in mind, young Yaoyorozu. You are as sharp as ever!" Yagi said enthusiastically.
Momo chest had felt a bit tight ever since she learned she'd been wrong about Aizawa's intentions, but it lessened with All Might's compliment.
The students started asking questions one right after the other, until All Might said he'd answer them all and pulled out a script.
"Ah, yes, I remember days where I needed a lesson plan right in front of me to get through the lesson." Present Mic said, nodding sagely.
"Don't you still take it with you every time?" Aizawa asked.
"Yes, but now I just use it as a reference. I don't have it in front of my face the whole time like I did when I was first starting."
Yagi let out a sigh. He'd been worried for a while that needing the script meant he hadn't prepared himself enough to be a teacher. It was a relief to know that one of the others had done the same thing early on.
All Might went on to explain the battle trial scenario, and how pairs and sides would be determined by drawing lots. Iida wondered if it was wise to make the choice so random, and Izuku pointed out that it would replicate times when heroes had to team up with whoever was around.
"That was a good bit of insight, Midoriya." Nedzu complimented. Aizawa nodded his head in agreement.
"T-thank you, sirs!"
The screen showed who each person had been teamed up with after lots were drawn. Uraraka was excited to be teamed up with Deku, but Izuku was nervous about being able to communicate effectively.
"Heh, probably a good thing those two got paired up, or Izuku might still be tongue tied." Sero nudged Kaminari, who laughed at the thought of Izuku freaking out every time he had to talk to Uraraka.
"I'm glad that this exercise helped you both develop your communication with each other." Iida declared, much to the embarrassment of his friends.
All Might drew lots again, and revealed that Izuku's team would be going up against Bakugo's team. Izuku looked over at Bakugo, and received a glare so fierce he looked away immediately.
Aizawa frowned. Based on the video he'd seen of these two, and basic observation, he knew that these two had plenty of bad blood between them, but it had seemed a bit better after the battle trial. Now that he knew more about what all it entailed though, he was pretty sure he or another teacher would have to take a more active role in figuring that whole mess out. Normally he tried to keep personal interference to a minimum, he was a firm believe in the importance of being able to figure things out for yourself, but it was becoming clear that this issue was much more extreme than he originally thought.
All Might also frowned at the display as well, and remembered what was about to happen. Had he really made the right choice concerning their fight?
Izuku steeled himself though, and looked Bakugo in the eye without flinching. That seemed to startle Bakugo, but it didn't take long for his scowl to come back even stronger.
Kaminari, Mineta, Ashido, and Sero went 'ooo!' at the same time, earning them a scowl from Bakugo.
Iida smiled, proud that his friend was learning to stand up for himself and not just others.
Kirishima took note of the display as well, and found himself impressed with Izuku. Gathering up the courage to face down someone who had caused you so much hurt was definitely manly. He also hoped Bakugo got it together and stopped looking down on so many people. It was messing with the blonde's natural manliness levels.
Yagi now felt reassured, the interaction reminding him of why it had been so important for Izuku to finish that fight.
All Might gave instructions to the hero and villain teams. Before the villain team went in, he told them to use this opportunity to figure out how villains think, and to not be afraid of going all out.
"Thinking back on it, that might not have been the wisest thing to say to young Bakugo." Yagi said quietly. Aizawa snorted.
"Hindsight is 20/20." Present Mic reminded them.
The scene changed to show Iida and Bakugo in the same room as the bomb. Iida talked about not wanting to play the villain's role and inspected the bomb, until Bakugo got his attention by asking about Deku's quirk. Bakugo began to shake with anger as Iida talked, and he raged that Deku had hidden his quirk from him.
Izuku was stunned. Was that honestly the first thing Kaachan's mind went to?
"Talk about jumping to conclusions, kero."
"Indeed, it is rather arrogant to assume that the actions of another are all because of yourself." Tokoyami agreed. Koda mumured something and made a string of gestures, and Tokoyami nodded. "Indeed, especially considering the hardship Midoriya went through because of the assumed actions."
"Seriously dude?" Kaminari looked at Bakugo like he had a screw loose. "You honestly think Midoriya would go through everything that comes with being labeled quirkless just to mess with you?"
"Well, of course he did." Jirou said with a sneer. "Haven't you heard? Everything is about Bakugo: his perfect quirk, his perfect backstory, his perfect plan. There's no way someone he grew up with could possibly make a decision that didn't involve him in some way. So obviously Midoriya let people treat him badly his whole life just so he could privately laugh at Bakugo." Sarcasm practically dripped off of Jirou's words, and Bakugo looked about ready to throw himself from his seat and start a brawl with her. Kirishima looked back and forth between them worriedly.
"Can you cool it down Jirou? We haven't even seen how this bit ends."
"Indeed," Iida declared, standing up. "just as Bakugo should not assume the motivations behind Midoriya's actions, we should not make assumptions about Bakugo. We should all return to the viewing and see how things play out."
Hesitantly, everyone looked back to the screen, sending wary glances toward Bakugo. He ignored them and continued to glower at Jirou. Bakugo knew now that his past thoughts weren't accurate, but what was he supposed to think before he knew all the shit about All Might and passing down quirks?
"Perhaps we should consider recommending a therapist to young Bakugo's parents." Nedzu pondered, just loud enough for only the teachers to hear him. "Midoriya may benefit from it as well. It seems they both have issues that they could use additional help overcoming." The teachers nodded in agreement and Aizawa made a note of it.
The scene changed to show Uraraka and Izuku going over the building floor plans. Uraraka tried to talk casually, but became distressed when she realized how wound up Izuku was, and he admitted it was because they were facing Kaachan. Uraraka questioned if it was because Bakugo bullied him. Izuku looked downcast before saying Bakugo was amazing.
Bakugo jolted, and looked at Izuku in surprise, wondering if he'd heard that right.
Izuku thought about Bakugo boldly proclaiming how he would surpass All Might. Then he told Uraraka that Bakugo's goals, strength, and quirk, were all better than his.
'But...if the nerd really thinks that, then why does he keep defying me? Why does he admit it to her and not me?' Bakugo thought in confusion.
Izuku said that all of those things were why he didn't want to lose right now.
Bakugo narrowed his eyes at Deku. He wasn't going to be anyone's stepping stone, especially not Deku's.
Uraraka smiled at Izuku's show of determination. Izuku apologized, saying that this wasn't her problem, but she replied that it was now that they were a team; and said they should do their best. Izuku smiled at her show of support.
They smiled at each other in real life too, and Iida joined in. Ashido and Hagakure quietly squeed over the sweetness of the scene. Ashido caught Aoyama's eye, and the boy gave her a thumbs up. Maybe they wouldn't have to interfere as much as they thought to get these two together.
All Might announced the start of the first trial, and internally promised not to play favorites during grading.
Aizawa raised an eyebrow, highly doubtful of the man's ability to be impartial. He wasn't the only one thinking so, as the look Recovery Girl sent Yagi had him fidgeting.
Uraraka and Izuku were shown sneaking into the building. Izuku thought about how he couldn't control his quirk, and couldn't use it against anyone due to fear of killing them. So he'd just have to work with Uraraka's quirk and his own innate power.
"And therein lies the problem." Aizawa said to himself.
"Think positively, having to work around that kind of limitation will be a great mental exercise." Hizashi said.
"I just hope he gets experience strategizing with his quirk as well as without it."
Meanwhile, Bakugo scoffed. Deku barely had any innate power when compared to himself, even with all that training.
Izuku told himself he'd have to think back to all the notes he'd made about heroes participating in indoor battles in his journals, but his thoughts were interrupted by Bakugo leaping around a corner almost slamming into them with an explosion.
Murmurs went up around the room as people looked at the scene. Though the majority of people in the room were either angry or fed up with Bakugo's attitude at this point, it was impossible to deny the power he wielded so naturally. Or the fact that he really knew how to make an entrance.
Izuku and Uraraka managed to dodge out of the way just in time, but the blast had managed to take off half of Izuku's face mask.
"Forgive me for suggesting this, as I have much respect for your mother, but if Bakugo's attack was able to damage your suit that much you may need to think about remaking it out of stronger materials." Iida stated. Izuku nodded.
"Yeah, I thought about that after this fight. When I sent it off to get repaired I made a not of that for the support company. I'm gonna keep things like the glove and belt though, she did a really good job with those."
"Blending the practical and the sentimental, well done."
Bakugo told Izuku not to dodge, and Izuku said he figured Bakugo would come for him first.
"Don't dodge?" Ojiro said in disbelief. "What? Was he supposed to just stand there and take it?"
In the observation room, Kirishima declared that a sneak attack wasn't at all manly. All Might said that a sneak attack is just a sound a strategy as any other, and that they had to think realistically in this battle.
"I use sneak attacks quite a lot." Aizawa pointed out.
"Yeah, I can tell you here and now that most villains don't care about honor or whatever some people think battles are about." Present Mic said. "You should press whatever advantage you have to get the battle over more quickly."
"Within reason of course. Heroes can still be charged with excessive use of force." Yagi clarified.
Bakugo raced toward Midoriya, declaring that he wouldn't damage him enough to stop the fight, but he'd get close.
Aizawa frowned, making another note in his book. He really hoped they could convince Bakugo and his parents to agree to anger management or therapy, preferably both. Bakugo had a lot of potential, but he would only hurt others and himself if he continued with this kind of mindset.
Bakugo reeled back and threw a punch, but before it could connect, Midoriya grabbed him by the arm, swung him over his shoulder and slammed him into the ground.
The class cheered. It didn't matter that they had seen that move before, watching it happen was still awesome, plus they got to see it up close this way. The cheer drowned out the cry of pain that real life Bakugo let out when the on-screen version of him crashed into the ground. He felt like the wind was getting knocked out of him all over again.
Izuku declared that he'd watched Bakugo over the years, and noticed that he usually started with the same move. When Bakugo got up enough to look at him, Izuku declared that 'Deku' wasn't always going to mean useless, instead it was going to mean 'you can do it'!
"Yeah!"
"You tell him!"
"There you go!"
"Alright!"
This cheer was more varied than the last, but it was just as loud. Izuku blushed as people cheered his speech, it had been so spur of the moment, he hadn't even really thought about it. He just wanted Kaachan to understand...
Uraraka felt something warm fill her chest as she remembered just how much her redefining of 'Deku' had inspired her friend. She found his hand again, and gave it a gently squeeze, which he returned.
Bakugo turned to Deku, thinking back about how the boy would try to defend others from his bullying. He saw that Izuku was once again standing up to him, despite the fact that he was scared. The episode ended with Bakugo declaring that was the reason he hated Deku.
The class looked at each other in confusion, wondering what he meant. Why would Deku being brave and wanting to protect others upset Bakugo that much? Didn't Bakugo want to be a hero too? A big part of that was protecting people after all.
Bakugo just alternated between staring at the screen and staring at the Deku in front of him. Why couldn't the damn nerd have kept to his place, like everyone else in his life had? But then he thought about what happened during the first 'episode', and what Kirishima and Aizawa had said to him. He'd said something that could have gotten Deku killed and only thought of it as 'keeping the nerd in his place'. Maybe he shouldn't be so obsessed with trying to keep things from changing...
The break was going to be a short one this time, just long enough for people to stretch and use the bathroom. Still Izuku found himself going over to talk to Aizawa.
"Um, sir?"
"What is it problem child?"
"Well, I was just thinking about what you said to All Might after the quirk apprehension test, and I had to ask: Do you still think I'd have passed it without a quirk?"
Aizawa just looked at him for a minute, and Izuku started to fidget, but then he finally answered. "There's a good chance you could have passed the test if you didn't have one. Given all the training you did, there's a good chance you wouldn't have gotten last place if your injury hadn't distracted you, and you wouldn't have that without your quirk. However, if you hadn't trained before coming to UA, I may have expelled you if you'd gotten in. You would still have your spirit and passion, but that doesn't count for much if you can't do that work to back it up. If you hadn't prepared at all before coming I may have assumed you lacked conviction. Can't say for sure of course, but that's likely what would happen."
Izuku nodded slowly. "I...that's reasonable. Thank you for your honesty sir."
"That being said, I see things differently now that I know more about you. It sounds like you did a really good job with those quirk analysis notebooks you made, and being able to make those kinds of connections and observations is a valuable skill for a hero. If you'd trained physically, or found a way to show off your brand of intelligence during the tests, then I think I would have passed you. I only would have expelled you if you managed to display neither."
The rigid tension left Izuku's body in one go. "That's very good to know. I'll keep that in mind going forward."
Aizawa nodded and Izuku went back to his seat. He felt a little lighter, knowing Aizawa could have seen potential in him even if he was quirkless.
A.N.
I was recced a fanfic recently that goes over what might have changed if Aizawa had more actively addressed the issues between Bakugo and Midoriya from the beginning, and I've really been enjoying it. I'm hoping to incorporate some of the issues and ideas it brings up into this fic as time goes on. It's called What is Owed and What is Earned by yamadadzawa (liarielle) on ao3.
Also, in order to maintain my belief that Aizawa is a reasonable authority figure who wouldn't stand for the majority of the stuff Mineta pulls, I have always gone with the headcanon that Mineta makes his comments and such away from him and that no one has reported him to Aizawa or anyone else for various reasons. I'm hoping to touch on that in later episodes more.
