I'm gonna be real with you chief, this chapter wasn't supposed to be out till the next week, seing as 5 hours ago it wasn't even started, but I've decided to get my shit together and write this damn thing.
I kinda dedicate this chapter to 'thomaspheasant', who gave me the final kick in the butt for me to get to work and 'ta-da' here's the chapter!
Enjoy ;D
Many interesting things happened over the weekend. Izuku was away in America, but was kept updated via the 'First Year Class Reps' group chat that was started by Setsuna on Friday and they already started getting to know each other a bit more. Yaoyorozu also started another group chat called 'First Year Study Group' and invited many of their struggling classmates. After just a short session with them, Momo was drained and announced, that she was not doing another one without help.
"Just how bad was it, that even Yaoyorozu couldn't manage it?", Izuku thought once he read the private message, that she sent him on the Friday evening, before going to bed.
Bakugo and Todoroki moved in on Saturday and the Explosion Quirk user already started making 'friends'. And not only him. It seemed, that certain personalities showed up in both 1-A and 1-B. For example.
Bakugo Katsuki and Togaru Kamakiri.
"Oi, shut the fuck up you extras!", the blonde announced his arrival with a loud swear.
"Who the fuck are you calling an extra, you extra?!", he was met with another shout that came from the mandibles sporting 1-B student.
"Wait, you call other people extras?", asked Katsuki with less anger and a smirk.
"Yeah, what about it you extra?"
"I hate you already", the blonde extended a hand to his fellow hero in training.
"Likewise", the greenette shook it.
Mina Ashido and Setsuna Tokage.
"These people are going to be soooo fun to tease!", Setsuna exclaimed happily and threw her hands in the air.
"You tease people for fun?!", questioned passionately Mina.
"Yup! You two?"
"Totally!"
"We are like sisters!", the 1-B Vice Rep hugged the pink skinned hero in training.
"But from different misters!", she hugged her back and squealed.
Already established Eijiro Kirishima and Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu.
"Manly!/Metal!", they yelled as they exchanged blows, while training their Quirks.
"We are like brothers!", yelled the red haired 1-A student.
"From different mothers!", the grey haired 1-B student yelled back.
Izuku returned late in the evening on Sunday and went straight to bed, drained from the flying. And the fact, that he was arrested. Four times. Yeah… metal detectors become your mortal enemies, when you have metal inside your body.
The following week was… weird. Our green haired hero in training breezed through homework, assignments and whatnot with ease. It seemed as if he had a mental plan of some sorts that caused a spike in his efficiency. The change was subtle and sudden, but not unwelcome. Thanks to this, he had more time to work with Hatsume and finally get Full Gauntlet incorporated into his hero costume.
When Friday came around and students gathered for the study group, they were slightly amazed by the multitasking Midoriya. He took care of the bigger part of the group in order to give Yaoyorozu some rest. Surprisingly, even Kendo joined the group.
"I thought, that you were teaching them, Class Rep", wondered Momo.
"I'm teaching them etiquette if need be. And karate chop Monoma from time to time", the girl in question answered with a blush.
Izuku was happy, that he could use his intellect to help his fellow classmates and finally act like a Class Rep should, giving them something to look up to. But he couldn't shake of the feeling of something nagging him in the back of his mind. If he had to describe the feeling he would go with 'someone making a refurbishment inside his head'.
He was wondering what was all of that about and he was about to find out. Once he woken up on Saturday, eager to start his morning routine.
Only, he did not wake up in his room. Actually, the room didn't look like anyone's dorm.
"Oh, you're finally awake!", he heard a cheerful feminine voice and looked for the source.
His eyes landed on a curvaceous form of a black haired woman, that he had never seen before. "Do I know you?", he asked after he stopped staring at her.
"I'm your Non-Artificial Neural Archivist! But you can call me Nana!", she exclaimed happily and skidded over to him, stopping beside the bed.
"Neural Archivist?", he questioned and sat up.
"Yes. You see, with the latest augment, the Additional Databanks, your brain was transformed from an SD card to a big warehouse filled to the top with shelves containing every bit of information that you ever saw. I'm in charge of these shelves", she said proudly and stood just a bit straighter.
"So… are we in my head?", he continued his questioning while he stood up and looked around.
The room was quite spacious. There was the big bed he woke up in. A couple of bookcases a desk and a table with some chairs. Big, white and very fluffy looking carpet laid in the middle of it, making it cosier.
"Yup!", Nana spun around and continued. "I created this room so that we can hold little conversations like the one we have now!", she was really happy and had that 'nothing can bring my mood down' attitude, similar to how Mei acted on everyday basis.
"So… the feeling in the back of my head as if someone was moving furniture, it was you?", now it started to click into place. It still felt like a surreal dream, but became more and more real as time passed.
"Yeah… sorry 'bout that", she answered sheepishly and scratched the back of her head.
"And the feeling of being more organised was also your doing?"
"I thought that since I am the source of your mental discomfort I could at least help you with your day to day tasks"
"Then you don't have to apologize at all. I'm very grateful for your assistance and I hope, that we get along well", Midoriya smiled and extended his hand to her.
"No need to be so formal!", she exclaimed and hugged him tightly. "I'm in your head after all, you know?"
"So, can you send me back to the real world? I need to get my morning jog in", he asked with red cheeks and an embarrassed smile.
"Have fun! And come back once in a while!", she waved him off and suddenly darkness surrounded him. The next second he was back in his bed in the dorms.
Having someone inside your head that was watching your every move was making Izuku feel even more self conscious than before. Mainly, because Nana liked to tease him now and then if she caught him looking at his female classmates for a few seconds longer than needed.
Though the embarrassment was nothing when compared to the massive bonuses she provided. With her help, our hero managed to catch up to Momo in terms of academics and now they were actively competing for the top spot.
Yaoyorozu was quite surprised to see him climb so fast, but welcomed the challenge as in her opinion it motivated her to put even more effort in studying herself.
It was one morning in October, when their homeroom teacher decided, that they had rested enough and are ready for the next full scale combat training. The 1-A students were sitting in their class, when Aizawa rolled in in his sleeping bag and stopped next to his desk.
After over a month of watching their homeroom teacher's antics, the students mostly stopped reacting to his behavior, unless he really did something extraordinary. Like get a decent amount of sleep, for example.
"Alright, listen up. This Friday we will test how far you've come since the first day of your stay here. You'll partake in another combat training, similar to the one you had over a month ago. It'll help you see, what skills are you lacking in and what you excel at", his voice was tired as always, but he had the attention of his students nonetheless. Every one of the eager to test their power against their classmates.
Their excitement lasted for the rest of the day and the next one. And finally, came Friday.
Class 1-A changed into their hero costumes and walked out to the control room, that had an entire wall covered with different screens showing video feeds from their supposed battle zone.
It looked much more versatile than the ruined city from the last time. Majority of the area was covered in trees. There was sort of a highland area with different rock formations and a small village near a lake.
More interesting was the fact, that as they walked into the room, from the second hallway emerged class 1-B. Izuku looked at the Pro Heroes upfront and understood what was going on.
Eraserhead was talking to Vlad King, the homeroom teacher of 1-B from what Kendo told him. This could mean only one think. It was going to be a Joint Training (Arc).
"Oi, what are you doing here you fucking extras?!", Bakugo yelled, because of course he would. It was almost in his character bio.
"I could ask you the same thing you background character!", Togaru answered with a shout of his own.
"Settle down listeners!", Present Mic joined in on the screaming contest before things could escalate.
"Now that you all are here, it's time to talk you through today's training. It'll be similar to the last one, but with some major changes", started Sekijiro Kan.
"Instead of five teams of four, there will be eight teams of five. It will teach you how to cooperate with a bigger number of teammates and to deal with a bigger number of opponents at the same time. Something that can't be taught during simple duels or 2v2s", continued Aizawa and then turned to Snipe.
"Behind our backs you can see video feeds from the battle zone that you'll soon enter. As you probably saw already, this time you'll have more to work with. If you want, you can stalk one of the subzones and wait for an ambush opportunity. Or you can roam and look for an open 5v5. The choice is yours"
"The teams will be picked at random, from the whole first year of Hero Course", the Blood Hero stated and continued after glancing over the students. "Meaning that you will probably end up with teammates, that you've never worked with before. You have to overcome this obstacle and give it your all, Plus Ultra style!", he ended his speech and looked at Aizawa.
"Right, it's time to determine the teams", the sleep deprived Pro Hero sighed internally and pulled a box from his sleeping back.
"Is this a magician's hat or what?!"
"First up. Setsuna Tokage, Itsuka Kendo, Tokoyami Fumikage, Jurota Shishida and Midoriya Izuku", the five mentioned students walked out of the crowd and stood in front of the Pro Hero, waiting for further instructions. "You'll be Team A. Walked through the door over there and pick up your earpieces. We will be in constant contact, to avoid someone going overboard. You can also use it to communicate with your teammates. Once you've picked your starting position, mark it on the map near the entrance and head over there", when all was said and done, they made their way out of the room.
They picked up the earpieces and decided to start in the abandoned school, that was marked on the map. They crossed out the location, dialed Aizawa and after getting a green light, entered the battlezone.
"So, we are kinda screwed aren't we?", thought Izuku out loud, when they were making their way through an old market.
"Why do you say so, Midoriya?", asked Shishida politely.
"Well, since we are the first team to leave, we don't know any of the others compositions, while everyone else knows us", the Quirkless hero explained, but continued with his train of thoughts. "What's more, Team B will also have the information about our starting position. Which may be as good as it can be bad. If they decide that we are too strong for them, they'll try to position themselves away from us, but if they decide, that they can take us head on, then they'll probably start in the market that we just left"
"Wow, you thought of it all just now?", asked a bewildered Setsuna.
"Actually, I thought about it when we were still in the control room", he smiled and scratched the back of his neck.
"Do you maybe have a plan of action?", the question came from Kendo, that started to worry about their situation after Izuku explained it in detail. She thought that everyone had equal chance in this training, but now she was certain, that they were at a major disadvantage due to their lack of information.
"For starters, I think that we should first know our Quirk"
"My Quirk is called Beast. It allows me to transform into a beast which gives me more strength, speed and stamina, but causes me to go berserk if I use it too long", started Jurota.
"My Quirk is called Lizard Tail Splitter. It allows me to split my body into pieces and control them individually. I can also regenerate lost limbs if I lose them. I can control about twenty separate pieces at the moment", laid out Setsuna.
"My Quirk is called Big Fist. And it does… just that. I can enlarge my fists to a set size and it gives me a slight strength boost"
"My Quirk is called Dark Shadow. There's a true demon straight out of hell that devours my soul each time I type into its powe-", Tokoyami's speech was cut short when Dark Shadow himself emerged from him and smacked him on the head.
"Please don't listen to him. Tokoyami is such an edgy boi, that sometimes even I am left in disbelief"
Tokoyami coughed into his fist and muttered under his breath. "What a mad banquet of darkness"
"He would get along with Shihai just fine", thought the three 1-B students in unison.
"Midoriya, what is YOUR Quirk?", asked Setsuna and the attention was turned to him instantly.
"Might as well bite the bullet right of the bat", he thought and braced himself not knowing what kind of reaction he was going to get. "I am Quirkless", he smiled at them and studied their shocked expressions.
"A Quirkless hero? Isn't this putting yourself in too much danger?", the gentleman Jurota was the first one to speak up after hearing the news.
"Yeah, and wouldn't that make one a liability in a fight?", Kendo was the second one to voice her concern.
Tokoyami looked over at the still smiling Midoriya. His fists were clenched at his sides and he was slowly starting to grit his teeth.
"To be honest you are very nice guy and all, but… doesn't being Quirkless kinda… disqualify you from being a hero?", Setsuna hammered the last nail into the coffin.
Izuku stopped dead in his tracks in the middle of the street. Only now did the three of them realize, that they kinda screwed up. And badly. But before they had the chance to apologize, the boy in question spoke up.
"So that's how you feeling, huh?", he mused almost to himself. The forced smile he had on his face went slightly more natural. "It just means that I have to prove to you, that I can be just as good of a hero as anyone of you", his voice was steady and his gaze fiery; determination clearly visible in his posture. "Just you wait, I'm going to prove all of you wrong!"
I thought that we've had no real action in the last few chapters and it seemed like it's time for some butt-kicking to take place. And that's how my rewrite of the Joint Training Arc was born.
It'll probably be like 2 chapters long, maybe longer if there is enough action.
Stay tuned and remember to nag me if I take too long to update.
See you around my fans ;D