The episode started with Midoriya being questioned about All Might by the media just outside of UA.
Aizawa scowled at the screen, and muttered something unpleasant about the media. Present Mic shook his head.
"No respect I tell ya, no respect at all. You sure we can't make stricter guidelines about how the media can approach the students?" He asked of Nedzu. The animal gave a tight smile.
"We have very strict guidelines about how the media may enter and act on campus, but we cannot regulate how the media conducts its business on a public sidewalk, even if it is only a few feet away."
"Maybe ambushes aren't all unmanly, but this one sure was." Kirishima grumbled.
Modoriya escaped the reporter with a stuttered excuse, but she immediately moved onto Uraraka, who described All Might's teaching as 'muscular'.
Several students, plus Present Mic, snickered at her answer.
"She put me on the spot and I didn't know what to say!" Uraraka complained, her face turning red. "And it was true, you know? All my teachers before UA weren't muscular at all."
"At least you gave an actual answer, I couldn't even do that much." Izuku tried to reassure her.
"I don't think any of the reporters were happy with our answers." Tsuyu said, putting a finger on her chin. "One caught me and asked the same thing. All I said was that he was good. She didn't like that that's all I would say."
Iida was her next victim, but he turned the tables on her. When the reporter woman asked about All Might, he started a long speech about All Might as a person and the opportunities his presence afforded them, and soon the entire group listening was bored.
Iida looked very put out when he realized just how many people didn't put effort into listening to what he had said.
"Oh yeah, I forgot, I meant to thank you for that, Iida." Ojiro said. Iida looked at him curiously, so the boy continued. "Well, you distracted a lot of them, and I'm pretty sure that's what allowed me to sneak through without being caught."
"Same here." Tokoyami and Shoji said together.
"It helped me too." Sato added.
Iida smiled. At least his words had helped someone, even if it wasn't in the way he intended.
"I got caught, but I just told them off." Jirou said with a shrug.
"I wish one of them had paid attention to me. My smile was dazzling that day." Aoyama slumped in disappointment.
"I don't think they even saw me." Mineta added.
"Can't say I'm surprised. You probably don't even reach their knees." Kaminari said. He smirked while Mineta sputtered.
The reporter woman tried to question Bakugo too, but stopped and voiced her recognition of him from the slime villain incident. He snapped at her.
Ashido frowned. "Didn't that happen almost a year ago now? I can't believe they'd remember one kid from one villain incident that long."
"I wish they'd forget already." Bakugo growled. "Stupid media bastards."
The woman was then shown trying to get something out of Aizawa. She commented on how scruffy he looked while a couple other reporters gave him suspicious looks.
"Well that was rude." Present Mic said with a huff. That didn't surprise Aizawa, Present Mic was always very defensive of his colleagues. What did surprise him was how many students voiced their agreement with him; he hadn't been aiming to be liked by his class after all. Still, it was nice to hear.
Aizawa told the media that All Might wasn't there, and ordered them to leave so they'd stop disturbing the students. As he walked away the reporters called after him, and he wondered how All Might managed to deal with all that and be a hero.
"Why Aizawa, that almost sounded like a compliment." Yagi said innocently. Aizawa narrowed his eyes at the man before crossing his arms and looking back at the screen.
"Don't read too much into it."
The reporter woman tried to follow after Aizawa, but was stopped when the gate buzzed and a metal barrier slammed down in front of her and all across the fence. Another reporter explained how the UA barrier worked, and that there were sensors all over the campus for detecting intruders.
"Shame they didn't go off when we actually needed them." Uraraka said. She turned around to look at Kaminari. "Did you ever get a sense of where the interference was coming from?"
The boy shook his head. "Nah, I never got through."
"We did our best to investigate the bypassing of the security system directly after the attack." Nedzu explained. "We were unable to find any clues in that short amount of time, and were hoping further time and investigation would reveal the hole in the security system. But perhaps we will be lucky enough to see how it was done within these videos."
Izuku's older voice over explained that the news of All Might teaching had surprised the nation, and that's why there had been such a big media response. "Everyone wanted a piece of All Might." The scene shifted to show the back of a young man with pale blue hair watching the scene from across the street. "Yeah, everyone."
The room became quiet as, one by one, people realized who that young man must be.
"Shigaraki was there that early? Why? Was it just to do surveillance? The attack was well planned enough that it seemed like they must have gotten all necessary information long before that. Could there be another reason? Or was it just for his own enjoyment..."
Izuku's muttering elicited some huffs of annoyance, but mostly he got giggles, fond exasperation, or looks of curiosity. When he heard the sound of the giggling, he stopped and apologized while rubbing the back of his neck. People were quick to brush it off though. Intentional or not, the muttering had stopped the atmosphere from getting too tense, and people were either grateful for that or appreciated that he'd brought up the questions that had been going through their own minds.
"I suppose we know for certain who went after the gate now." Present Mic muttered. The other teachers nodded minutely.
The scene changed to class 1-A's homeroom. Aizawa congratulated the class on their performance during the combat trials. He told Bakugo that he was talented, so he shouldn't act like a kid about losing. Then he told Midoriya that he couldn't keep breaking his limbs to win, but if he managed control there would be a lot he could accomplish. Both seemed bolstered by his words, in their own ways.
Present Mic smiled. As much as Shouta liked to put up a grumpy, distant front, he really did care for his kids and was a good teacher, and moments like this showed it. He leaned over to nudge Aizawa.
"Look at you being all encouraging."
"Don't touch me."
Yagi noticed the interaction, but paid much more attention to what on-screen Aizawa had just said. The man had used no fanfare or grand words, yet he had delivered a message that inspired determination and gave the students a goal to work toward. It was very far from the way All Might would have said it, yet it seemed to be just as effective. It was fascinating, and rather impressive.
Aizawa then announced it was time to deal with homeroom business. The whole class wondered if there was going to be another test, and were visibly relieved when Aizawa announced that it was just picking a class representative.
Nedzu grinned, clearly approving. "You know you've put the fear of god into a class when they dread every announcement you make."
Aizawa smirked.
Pretty much everyone in class started vying for the position, talking over each other and demanding they be picked. This included Mineta mentioning how his 'manifesto' was to shorten the girls' skirts.
Tsuyu opened her mouth to slap Mineta again, when Momo held up her hand. "Please, allow me."
Momo stood up and silently approached Mineta from behind his couch. When she was close enough, she took her notebook and smacked the back of his head.
"Ow!"
She rolled her eyes. "I barely put any muscle behind that."
"It still hurt!"
"So do those comments!" she shot back before stalking back to her seat. Aizawa raised an eyebrow and made another note in his journal. He'd have to find a time to give a talk to Mineta too.
They were silenced by Iida demanding quiet. He gave a speech about how the role required the person to be trusted by the class, so they should select it via an election. Students pointed out that the didn't know each other well enough to truly trust each other and that most people would probably just vote for themselves. Iida countered that that meant someone gaining multiple votes be all the more significant. Iida asked what Aizawa thought, only for the man to be shown wrapped up in his sleeping bag. He said he didn't care as long as they decided before the end of the class.
Yagi gave Aizawa a skeptical look. "You seriously just left it to them while you napped?"
Aizawa shrugged. "I wasn't really sleeping, just resting. I've been a hero course teacher long enough to know it's not worth my time and energy to try and control them during something like that. Besides, a lack of input on my part allows the kids inclined toward leadership to step up and get recognized for it."
"And the fact that it requires the least amount of work from you is just coincidental, right?" Present Mic said with a teasing grin. Aizawa shot him a glare. Nedzu chuckled delightedly while Recovery Girl shook her head.
The election results were shown, Midoriya gaining three votes and Momo gaining two, much to Midoriya's surprise. Bakugo demanded to know who voted for Deku, missing the way Uraraka whistled innocently in her seat.
Giggles and laughter filled the room. Bakugo shot a glare at Uraraka, who returned it with a bright smile.
'Round Face is spending too much time with Deku, he's rubbing off on her. Stupid smile...' he grumbled to himself.
Iida lamented his zero votes, and the students around him wondered why he didn't just vote for himself if he wanted to position. The scene changed to show Midoriya and Momo standing up at the front of the class, officially receiving their positions. Momo looked at how much Midoriya was shaking and muttered about how vexing it was.
Uraraka frowned. "Well that was kinda rude."
Momo frowned herself. "I see what you mean. My apologies Midoriya. I did not mean to imply that you are inferior, I merely wished that I could have had the lead position myself at the time."
"It's okay, I didn't really want to be up there anyway. I mean, it was flattering, but I didn't really want the position like you did, plus I think you would have done it better."
"Thank you." Momo nodded, glad to know she wasn't the only one who had been thinking that.
The scene switched to the lunch room, where Uraraka, Iida, and Midoriya were eating lunch together. Midoriya confessed that he wasn't sure he was qualified for the class representative position. Uraraka simply told him he was, while Iida said that his courage and critical thinking made him worth following, which was why Iida voted for him.
"I, um, your support means a lot to me, both of you. I hope you know that." Midoriya managed to blurt out through his embarrassment.
"No problem Deku!"
"Your support and friendship is equally valued by myself, and I assume Uraraka."
"Of course!"
Izuku's face grew redder, and tears welled up at the corner of his eyes.
Uraraka pointed out that Iida had wanted to be the class rep too, which made sense because he had glasses and everything!
"Dang it, you're right! We completely forgot to take that into account when voting! We should have known Iida would end up being the rep based on that alone!" Kaminari said with a laugh. Mineta and Sero joined him.
Uraraka laughed lightly. "Yeah, I suppose it does sound kind of silly when you put it like that."
"Well, you weren't exactly wrong, he really does have that kind of look, kero."
"Yeah he does." Jirou agreed.
"Vindication!" Uraraka shouted, pumping a fist in the air. That got the rest of the class laughing.
Iida insisted he had just been doing what he thought was right. Uraraka suddenly remembered that she had wondered something about Iida, and asked him if he was rich. He looked surprised, then turned away, saying that he'd tried not to give off that impression.
"Well that failed." Hagakure stated bluntly.
"Yeah, Bakugo pointed it out on the first day, and I'm pretty sure he wasn't the only one who noticed." Sato agreed.
He admitted that he came from a long line of heroes, and that his family ran the Ingenium agency.
"Man, I'm kinda jealous." Kirishima admitted. "Iida musta had a bunch of people to give him quirk and hero advice growing up. He's already got an insider look."
"Whatever, they probably didn't let him in on the real gritty stuff if 'I am evil' is what he thinks a villain sounds like." Bakugo scoffed. "Besides, the best experience is first hand experience. Ain't nothing gonna top going out and doing it yourself."
"So manly..." Kirishima whispered. This was the side of Bakugo he liked to see.
Todoroki mulled that fact over. He hadn't thought about how he wasn't the only 'legacy' student in class. He wondered if Iida ever got any pressure concerning that...probably not as much since his big brother was still young and fulfilling his role well.
Izuku was able to immediately rattle off a bunch of facts about Ingenium. Izuku put the pieces together, and Iida revealed that Ingenium was his older brother. He described Ingenium as an honorable leader, and said how he wanted to be just like him.
"That is a very honorable goal, young Iida. I wish you the best of luck in achieving it, and hope you'll let me know if there's any way I can assist you as you go forward." Yagi said. Iida stood up and bowed to him.
"Of course sir, I'll do my best! Thank you sir!"
Iida said that it was probably too soon for him to lead others like his brother did though, and that Izuku was more qualified since he figured out the trick to the entrance exam. Izuku was about to tell him that he hadn't really figured the trick out- but was cut off by an alarm ringing.
"I appreciate you attempt to be honest as soon as the topic was brought up again." Iida said. "But honestly, I believe that not knowing about the rescue points, and rushing forward to do a rescue anyway, simply makes the action all the more admirable."
Izuku blushed. "Thanks Iida, but really, I'm just like you when you voted for me then, because we were both just trying to do what was right."
"But really, you-"
"Geeze." Uraraka giggled. "Just accept that you're both awesome already!"
Now both boys were blushing.
An automated voice announced that there was a security breach and directed the students to evacuate outside. Iida asked another student what was going on, and he said that someone had trespassed on UA grounds before urging them to hurry and running away. Soon there was a mass of people trying to exit at the same time, everyone panicking and pushing each other.
"Yeesh, I heard it got bad, but not this bad! Are we sure no one got trampled?" Present Mic asked worriedly.
"Only minor injuries, fortunately." Recover Girl reported.
"Such is the way of mob mentality." Nedzu shook his head. "I suppose we should learn from this and increase the frequency of our emergency drills. Perhaps we could build an additional exit from the cafeteria as well."
Aizawa grunted in agreement. He was glad he'd ended up with the kids he did, if this was how the other students reacted to an alarm.
Izuku got swept away from the other two by the crowd. Iida was forced over to the window, where he saw that the 'intruders' were just the media. The scene zoomed in on the woman reporter from before demanding a statement from Aizawa and Present Mic, who did their best to deflect the questions. Present Mic whispered to Aizawa that the press people were technically committing a crime right now and wondered if they could get away with beating them up. Aizawa whispered back that it wouldn't be worth what they'd write as a result.
"I know it's wrong, but a part of me really wanted Aizawa to say yes, just so we could get to see these guys getting chased away." Jirou admitted.
"Heck yeah! That would have been awesome!" Kaminari yelled.
"That would be very satisfying." Momo admitted.
Todoroki nodded in agreement.
Iida tried to tell the crowd that it was a false alarm, but no one heard him over the panic. He saw more classmates getting swept away, and tried to think of what to do. He saw Uraraka and moved toward her, asking himself what Midoriya or his brother would do at a time like this.
Izuku's mouth fell open. Iida seriously thought of him when he was trying to figure out what to do?
Yagi chuckled. "Young Midoriya certainly does have an affect on people."
"He does, though I'm not sure he realizes it yet." Aizawa agreed.
Iida got an idea. He reached out his hand toward Uraraka and asked her to use her quirk on him. She managed to brush her hand against his, and suddenly Iida was floating above the crowd. He set his sites for the exit sign, and fired off his engines. He slammed into the wall just above the sign.
"Ah!" Iida cried, feeling pain spasm across his back and side.
"Iida?" Uraraka and Izuku said his name in unison in the same worried tone.
"I find that Midoriya was correct, that did hurt more than I remember." Iida said, his smile only a little tight. He was rewarded with light laughter from his two friends.
Iida secured his place before yelling out that everything was fine, that it was just the media. Thankfully everyone heard and began to calm down. Relieved faces were seen throughout the crowd, and Izuku was looking up at Iida with clear admiration.
Iida felt his chest swell with pride at eliciting such a reaction from a friend he so respected and admired.
"Just as cool and manly as I remember." Kirishima smiled fondly.
"Defintely!" Ashido agreed.
The scene changed to everyone back in class 1-A's homeroom. Izuku and Momo stood at the front, and Izuku nervously announced they had to choose the other class officers. He only calmed when he started to say that he wanted to give up his position to Iida, in acknowledgment of how Iida got everyone to calm down in such a cool way. Others in the class agreed with Izuku, and the heartfelt moment was interrupted by Aizawa demanding they get on with it.
"See, it all worked out." Aizawa said.
Yagi sweatdropped at how Aizawa was once again in the sleeping bag during class.
Iida stood up and eagerly accepted the nomination, and earned the nickname 'Emergency Exit' from his classmates. Midoriya was smiling up front, but Momo looked put out and wondered why everyone overlooked her.
Izuku's jaw dropped in realization, and he turned to Momo, waving his hands frantically.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to skip over you like that! I can't believe I didn't ask you if you wanted to position first, I'm sorry!"
"I too must apologize Yaoyorozu, it was most presumptuous of me to take the position without consulting you." Iida stood and gave her deep bow. She looked between the two of them critically, before letting out a sigh.
"It was extremely annoying at the time, but I'm okay with how things are now. After I gave it some more thought I decided that, since Iida is more proactive in his leadership style, that our partnership would work better if I was the one in the supporting role. So, I accept your apology. Just remember to follow proper succession rules in the future."
"Of course!" "Absolutely."
The scene changed to just outside the UA front gate, or what was left of it. Midnight, 13, Recovery Girl and Principle Nedzu looked at the crumbled pile of material that was once the front gate barrier. They concluded that the press hadn't been the ones to do it, and that someone else gave them a hand getting in. The question now was if it was meant to sneak someone in, or if it was meant as a warning.
"Looking back on it now, it was probably both. Shigaraki seemed to be the type for dramatics, and someone sneaking in could explain the trouble with the sensors later, and how they knew the class schedule." Aizawa mused.
"That's certainly a possibility." Nedzu agreed.
The scene changed to somewhere out in the city, where a group of battered heroes faced off against a large villain who was holding a family hostage, using them to deter the heroes from acting.
"Those kinds of villains are the worst! Using innocent people as shields!" Hagakure said passionately. Students around her murmured in agreement.
"Yeah, they're the worst type to fight too." Present Mic agreed. "You get really limited in what you can do if you've got civilians in the line of fire."
The fight was cut short by All Might dropping out of the sky to knock out the villain and save the family. As soon as he was done with that, he heard someone cry out about a car accident, and couldn't resist going to help even if it made him late.
Recovery Girl shook her head in fond exasperation. "You're not the only hero in the city, young man. I know you're one of the most effective, but that doesn't mean you have to solve everything yourself."
"I know that, I do, it's just...I can't ignore a cry for help." Yagi rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
Present Mic nodded. "I get that, I do, but even you can't save everyone you know?"
"Indeed. You must remember that you won't be able to give the students your best if you exhaust yourself before school even starts." Nedzu admonished lightly. "You must decide soon where you priorities ultimately lie."
Yagi looked conflicted, and Aizawa sighed. 'I'm hardly one to talk about being exhausted, but I always do my best to think of my students first. If he continues to spread himself too thin, I get the feeling that's going to come back to bite him, and at more places than just the USJ.'
All Might leaped toward the cry he'd heard, only to realize that his jumps had gotten slower. He thought about how his own use of One for All had gotten weaker since he'd passed it on, and how pushing himself during the slime villain incident had caused his time in hero form to shorten once again.
The students sent each other worried looks. They remembered All Might having a clear victory during the USJ incident, but had he really? Had he pushed himself again and cost himself more time?
Izuku felt guilt squirm in the pit of his stomach. All Might was getting weaker, and it was because of him. All Might came so close to having his secret revealed during the USJ, he might have even been killed if things had gone slightly differently, and it was Izuku's fault because-
"Midoriya, my boy." Yagi's voice startled Izuku out of his spiraling inner thoughts, and he looked up to see his idol standing in front of him. Yagi sighed, and knelt to lay a hand on his shoulder. "We've been over this, my boy. My quirk getting weaker is not your fault. It was getting weaker on it's own already, plus this would happen no matter when, or who, I passed it onto. Please remember that going forward. None of what happens to me because of my weakening powers is your fault."
Izuku looked into his eyes for a moment longer before nodding. "I'll do my best."
"That is all I ever ask." Yagi said with a smile. He ruffled the boy's hair, causing Izuku himself to smile, before getting up and going back to his seat.
The scene flashed back to the end of the last episode, just after Midoriya had talked to Bakugo. Midoriya apologized for telling Bakugo about his quirk. All Might let him off with a warning, but reminded Midoriya that he had to be more careful with who he spoke of One for All to, since the world was full of people who would try to steal the power away from him if word ever got out.
"Before anyone starts to worry too much, One for All can only be passed on willingly by the one who holds it. No one could forcibly steal it from young Midoriya, but most would not know this and attempt to go after him anyway." All Might explained. Those present absorbed the information silently. If villains truly descended upon Midoriya, the information that his quirk was safe held only a little comfort.
Back in the present, All Might thought about how Izuku was now a proper vessel, but still very young, so he'd have to keep himself together as much as he could. Then he jumped away toward another disaster.
"'I've got to keep myself together' he says, right before running off to do something that will tax him even more." Aizawa muttered. Yagi looked down, abashed. Dang it, how could someone so skeletal look so much like a scolded puppy?
"I just couldn't-"
"We know, couldn't ignore a cry for help." Recovery Girl interrupted.
The scene changed back to the school, where Aizawa announced that the class was going to participate in rescue training.
Tension filled the room as everyone was reminded about what was coming up. They would have to face the terror of what had just happened all over again, and experience every hurt that went with it.
Present Mic turned to Aizawa, his eye shining with worry. "You got hurt pretty bad during the USJ incident. Do you want a spare notebook to use for the pain like Midoriya?"
At first it seemed like Aizawa might not answer him, then the man let out a deep sigh. "I'll use my capture weapon when the time comes. It'll do a better job of muffling any noises I make."
Hizashi nodded in acceptance, and shifted a little closer to Aizawa, a silent message to say that he would be there for his friend no matter how bad the pain got. Aizawa didn't look at him, but leaned toward him.
Yagi noticed the exchange, and wondered if he should change his own seating location when the incident officially started. He knew few details about what Midoriya, or any of the other students, had gone through before he arrived there.
The students talked excitedly about their first lesson in one of the main jobs as a hero.
"Alas, how naive we were." Tokoyami said with a bowed head. Shoji rested a hand on his shoulder.
Aizawa interrupted them to say that costumes were optional this time, and that they would need to take a bus to get to the training location before leaving the kids to get ready. Izuku was shown to be thinking about how rescue was what he had found so inspiring about All Might, and vowed to do his best with this next step to being a hero.
"Such fiery passion about your journey. It truly makes you shine Midoriya!" Aoyama said with a bright smile.
"Heh, thanks, Aoyama." Izuku smiled back at him. "I was really excited, though it's a shame that we didn't get to do actual rescue training."
"It may not have been the lesson plan, but we did practice rescuing ourselves." Tsuyu pointed out. "And you went back to help, so that should count as rescuing too right?"
While the students discussed that, Nedzu spoke to the teachers.
"It occurs to me that we may need to rearrange some of our classes for 1-A to help them make up for rescue training they missed. Though practical experience has it's place, there are certain basics they should be taught to ensure they perform up to par."
Aizawa let out another sigh. "Great, that'll mean even more paperwork."
"I'll give you a hand." Present Mic promised.
The kids were shown waiting around for the bus to be ready. Once it was, Iida used a whistle and gave talk about how to properly board the bus in order to save time. Which turned out to be completely moot once it was shown that the inner design was different than anticipated.
"Not gonna lie Iida, the face you made when you stepped onto the bus and saw the seat arrangement was pretty great." Sato said with a grin.
Iida huffed. "I guess being entertaining is better than nothing."
Momo's eyes were narrowed at the screen. "Is Aoyama looking at the 'camera' again?"
Todoroki shifted his gaze to look at the past image of said classmate. "He appears to be."
"Are you sure he's not just looking at Iida? Everyone else in the scene is." Jirou pointed out.
"His pupils seem to be a little too high to be looking at Iida, everyone else is looking down, at least slightly." Momo made a note of the strange occurrence in her notebook.
Tsuyu turned to address Midoriya. She asked him to call her just 'Tsu' and then pointed out that Midoriya's quirk was quite similar to All Might's.
Yagi startled so bad he started to cough, and nearly spewed blood. He soothed his chest by taking a cup of water Recovery Girl offered him before saying. "Is it really that obvious?"
Aizawa raised an eyebrow. "To be honest, I could see the similarities, but didn't think much beyond that. So no, not as much as you might think."
"People are going to start thinking about the connection if you react like that when questioned about it though." Nedzu pointed out.
Midoriya tried to act casual and come up with a plausible explanation, but ended up stuttering and sounding awkward instead.
Izuku hid his face in embarrassment.
"Nedzu's gotta point." Present Mic pointed out. "If you both react that badly then someone's gonna start to wonder."
"I'd recommend coming up with a few scripted answers for if people notice any connection between the two of you." Nedzu said.
"And then practice them a bunch so you can actually say them naturally." Recovery Girl added.
"Right, right, I'll add it to my to-do list." Yagi said, making a mental note. Maybe during the next break...
Izuku was saved when Kirishima pointed out that All Might didn't get hurt when he used his quirk. Then went on to say that Midoriya was lucky to have something as flashy as that, since his own quirk was useful, but didn't look like much.
"Any decent hero should be willing to take 'useful' over 'flashy'." Aizawa declared.
"You gotta remember that not everyone is an underground hero." Present Mic pointed out. "As annoying as it can be, keeping public approval and attention is pretty important to everyday pros."
Aizawa huffed, but didn't argue the point.
Midoriya praised Kirishima's quirk, saying that it could definitely work for him as a pro. Kirishima made a point about how popularity was a big part of being a hero too. Aoyama claimed that his own quirk balanced the two well, before Kirishima declared that Todoroki and Bakugo were at the top of 'powerful and flashy' when it came to their class. Tsuyu took the opportunity to point out that Bakugo's constant anger would hurt his popularity, which caused him to snap at her right away.
"Way to prove her point." Jirou muttered, still a little ticked at how he'd nearly knocked her phone out of her hands when he leaped to his feet. She really should have sat somewhere else. Bakugo scowled at her, but it went unnoticed.
Kaminari said how amazing it was that everyone already recognized that Bakugo had a garbage personality. The teasing went on and Uraraka and Momo commented on the conversation, yet no one noticed how panicked Izuku looked about Bakugo getting teased.
Uraraka frowned, realizing how much hurt her friend must associate with Bakugo being that angry. "I'm sorry, I would have said something if I'd noticed how weirded out you were by all of that."
"I too must apologize, as you friend and class representative I should have noticed your distress and tried to address the issue."
Izuku waved off his friends' apologies. "It's okay, I wouldn't want you guys to make a scene over something like that. Besides, I think it was a good reminder to me that UA isn't like my old school."
Aizawa ordered them all to quiet down, because they were arriving at their destination. When they got off the bus they were greeted by pro-hero 13, whom they greeted excitedly before escorting them into the facility.
"Dang, never thought I'd see Midoriya get competition for his hero fanboying." Hagakure said with a giggle, noticing how excited both Izuku and Uraraka were.
"Fanboying vs Fangirling, which will win?" Ashido said in a mock announcer voice.
"I didn't realize it was a competition." Uraraka teased back. "But I'll do my best!"
Izuku could do nothing but sit there and blush.
The students looked around in awe as they entered, and 13 explained the different disaster areas. After declaring the building the Unforseen Simulation Joint, aka USJ, the class seemed to realize en masse that it was the same initials as Universal Studios Japan.
"That was the pun he was going for I believe." Nedzu said. "I should mention how you all figured it out once I'm able to visit him. I'm sure he'll be very pleased."
Aizawa walked forward and asked 13 where All Might was. 13 quietly confided that he'd used up his time on the way to work and was resting in the teacher's lounge.
Izuku's eyes widened. Shigaraki seemed to know something about All Might's weakness, was it possible he also knew about the time limit? With all the minor villains under his command it was conceivable that Shigaraki had encouraged more villains to act up that morning in order to wear All Might down before he even got to class. But if that was true, then they'd gone too far and run All Might out of time completely. Was that an accident, or did Shigaraki not know All Might's exact time limit? He frantically wrote the theory down, determined to bring it up with his mentor at the next available opportunity.
A skeletal All Might was shown in the lounge using his phone, saying he'd try to show up near the end of class. Aizawa voiced his disapproval before telling 13 to get on with the lesson. 13 started by explaining his quirk and how he used it in rescue situations, but the mood quickly turned when he pointed out that his quirk could also be used to kill, and that some of them probably had quirks that were similar.
Several looks were sent toward Bakugo, who scowled when he noticed them.
"Don't give me that look unless you're giving it to Half and Half and Deku too." He growled. Some raised their eyebrows while others looked chagrined. Bakugo actually had a point that time; his wasn't the only dangerous quirk in class.
13 warned them to remember that there were plenty of quirks that could kill if mishandled even a little. And that he hoped to compliment the lessons given by their first two hero classes by making sure they understood that their powers were for helping others. The class cheered when he was done.
Present Mic grinned. "You gotta admit, 13 has his own brand of charisma."
"Indeed, the students were hanging on his every word." Yagi agreed.
Aizawa started to direct the class forward, only to be interrupted by the lights short circuiting. He immediately sensed something was wrong, and turned to see a swirling black and purple portal appear in the center of the facility. The screen gave an up close view of Shigaraki's head becoming visible through the mist.
Students recoiled in disgust. The combination of his red eyes and severed hands would never fail to be disturbing.
Izuku took a deep breath and steeled himself. He wasn't looking forward to going through this again, he'd gotten more than enough of a view after he and the others escaped the shipwreck zone. But this episode appearing also meant they had almost reached episodes covering the future, and he was willing to go through this again to get the knowledge needed to save others from being attacked. He poised his pen over his notebook, ready to note down any details about the villains he may have missed before.
On another couch, Momo was doing the same. With how battered their teacher had been after the attack, she doubted he would be in the position to jot down anything once things got going. Since the other teachers may be distracted with taking care of him, she was determined to observe and record as much as she could in their place.
Aizawa immediately told the students to stay back and ordered 13 to protect them. As the teachers and class looked on, the portal widened, and soon Shigaraki was stepping through, surrounded by a multitude of other villains. Kirishima wondered if this was another case of the exam starting without warning, but this theory was quickly dashed when Aizawa warned them that these were real villains.
"I told you to stay back." Aizawa grumbled, seeing that past Midoriya had started to step forward. Present Mic glanced at him, catching the undercurrent of concern in Aizawa's voice.
"I'm sorry sir. I just wanted to get a closer look to try and figure out what was going on and how the people were getting through. I'll listen better from now on." Izuku promised. This seemed to mollify Aizawa somewhat.
Izuku's voice over noted the irony of the villains appearing before them when they should have been practicing rescues. As he said this, the Nomu stepped through the portal at Shigaraki's command.
People shivered at the sight of the Nomu, some remembering how the being had gone toe to toe with All Might; while Midoriya, Tsuyu, and Mineta were reminded of the sound of snapping bones.
Nedzu stood up in his seat addressed the room.
"I understand that the upcoming event was very trying for everyone involved. That being the case, if anyone would like to take a short break to steal themselves, no one will think any less of you."
The students looked at each other and had quick conversations. While none of them were looking forward to going through this again, there seemed to be a general attitude that it would be better to get it over with than spend any time dwelling on it.
Present Mic shifted his gaze between Aizawa and Yagi, knowing that both had needed medical attention by the time everything was over. His eyes gained a determined glint.
"Hang on one sec." he said. He ran into the bathroom at the back of the room and emerged with two towels. He handed one to Yagi.
"In case you need to clean yourself up."
Then he gave the other to Aizawa.
"This should be more comfy than your capture weapon, and it will muffle a lot more." He spoke more quietly to Aizawa than he did to Yagi, making sure the comment was kept between them. Aizawa looked at the towel for a moment, then took it with a grateful nod.
Recovery Girl scooter herself closer to the edge of her seat, knowing she would need to get up and tend to multiple people soon. Even if she could do very little physically, she was determined to offer what comfort she could.
When everyone seemed to be ready, the next episode started.
