Go Beyond, Prince of All Saiyans!
Chapter 6 - Teach Those Kids Vegeta
Vegeta stayed behind his four disciples as they entered the room devoid of vigor. He had them stand in full display of their classmates.
"The hero team may have won the round, but Tenya Iida was the true champion!" He declared.
Just as the Saiyan expected, most of his charges were surprised at his proclamation, especially the aforementioned student.
"But why not Midoriya or Ochaco, didn't they win?" Tsuyu Asui asked as she stroked her chin.
As the students looked to their teacher for the answer, the latter only scoffed. "What are you all looking at me for? I told you to reflect, did I not?"
Yaoyorozu was the first to raise her hand. After giving her permission to speak through a simple nod, he listened to the girl's feedback.
"The reason is that Iida had the most adaptability out of everyone in this scenario. In comparison, Bakugo acted on his own mainly because of an obvious personal grudge. Just like you said earlier, sir, It's imprudent to use destructive attacks indoors. Midoriya's strategy was also rash. His last-minute decision to redirect Bakugo's attack may have given his partner a chance to win, but it also endangered the lives of both Iida and Uraraka."
"Speaking of Uraraka, her last attack was too risky, that's because she lost her focus halfway through the battle. She would've had second thoughts about doing something so dangerous if she treated the objective as if it were the real deal. Iida was the only one who formed an effective counter-strategy as he took the time to prepare for Uraraka's arrival. The primary reason why the hero team won was that they knew this was training, A poor excuse to act the way they did."
Even Vegeta had to admit the young lady knew how to examine every little detail. But still, Yaoyorozu still had more to say.
"Even the most skilled heroes, like our teachers, must always hone the fundamentals," She concluded as she placed her hands on her waist. "If we can't do that during our training, none of us can call ourselves pro heroes!"
A short period of silence followed Yaoyorozu's speech, save for Iida's tears of joy. Vegeta looked around the room, half-expecting someone else to provide similar feedback. When no one else spoke up, he decided it was time to take the initiative.
"I will say, well put young Yaoyorozu," The girl nearly replied with a 'thank you sensei' before the Saiyan turned to her with his unflinching glare. "But with that being said, If you've got that much talk, I will have higher expectations in your match. You got that?"
Yaoyorozu flinched in surprise before calming herself to bow. "Yes sensei."
"Good," He turned to Iida. "As for you Iida, don't let this appraisal get over your head. I may have declared you the 'MVP' but that was only through the skin of your teeth, you still lost the match, pathetically."
The spectacled boy had broken out of his joy, nodding towards his teacher in his usual stiff form. "Yes sir!"
"Midoriya!"
"Y-Yes, sir?" The Saiyan's apprentice winced at his name being called. Vegeta brought out a note to him.
"Take this note with you at the nurse's office and get those injuries of yours treated. Don't take forever, return as soon as you're done."
After Midoriya took the note in his hand, he left the room with a slight limp. Vegeta turned to face the class once more. "Now all of you have seen what I will be expecting from this course. Learn from the successes and failures of your peers, but also from your own. Next team, prepare for the match!"
Being a part of the first team was nerve-wracking but it had its benefits as well, such as getting it all over with so you could just simply watch the other matches. That's what Izuku realized as he watched in the monitor room.
It was a short trip to Recovery Girl's office. Though she wasn't too happy to see him, the elder heroine gave him a small pump of IV and basic first aid, thankfully without requiring a wrinkly kiss on the cheek.
Returning from his visit with the nurse, Izuku was surprised to learn what happened in his absence. Nothing too noticeable occurred in the second match, but he did learn that Yaoyorozu's team lost in the third match that followed. From what Uraraka told him, a glare from Vegeta was enough to humble the girl. Though her criticisms were harsh, a part of him felt guilty for having those expectations placed on her shoulders.
Out of the two, Uraraka had the most difficulty recuperating from the match even though she held a major helping hand in their victory. It only took a short amount of time to recover from her match, but Yaoyorozu's review stung her, though they both managed to talk it out to clear the air between them. Uraraka agreed that she acted too rashly and that was on her alone. Seeing the modesty and positivity in his friend was enough to make him smile.
"If all of you were trying to disappoint me, then I must commend you for doing a great job!"
Mineta, Sero, Hagakure, and Shoji visibly flinched. Izuku looked out of the corner of his eyes, the peers shared the same sentiment despite not invoking the teacher's wrath.
Vegeta now directed his attention to the rest of the students, "Someone help me out here because all I saw was a poor excuse of a match!"
Eyes frantically shot at each other, no one wanted to make the first move.
"What about Shoji sir?" It was Kirishima. "He at least put up a fight before his team lost."
The redhead wasn't wrong, Shoji and Mineta were in charge of guarding the bomb while Sero and Hagakure were part of the hero team.
"You mean when he got himself and Sero caught in the latter's tape? And even then he didn't even notice a single girl prancing about with all those eyes he could generate!" Vegeta retorted.
"To be fair, sir, Hagakure was completely naked and I didn't want to give her the wrong idea," Shoji replied in a meek tone.
"A poor excuse to have your team lose!" Vegeta rebuked. "Your 'chivalry' allowed her to slip away and grab the weapon!"
"Well, at least Shoji was well-mannered unlike Mineta here!" Hagakure's floating hands curled up and fixed at her sides, seemingly on her hips as she appeared to turn towards Mineta. Many of the other girls, even some of the boys, began to glare at the miniature boy.
"W-What're you all looking at me for?"
"Don't play stupid with us!" Sero said in a disapproving tone. "You know how everyone could see what you tried to do!"
"What makes you think that!? Is it so wrong of me to act rationally? Isn't that what Sensei Aizawa said?"
"Don't forget that I have ears too you know, especially when I could hear how you wanted to 'test your theory' on how your hair would work on Hagakure," Shoji replied in an annoyed tone, scowling behind his mask while lifting up an ear that materialized from one of his arms.
Mineta sped toward the teacher and got down on his knees, clasping his two hands together. "Please sir, you can vouch for me right?"
"You honestly forgot how I could hear every word coming out of your perverted mouth?" Vegeta asked in a coy tone while tapping the side of his ear.
Mineta's eyes shrunk to the size of grapes before he got up to walk back to his group, his head hung low in shame. Izuku nearly felt bad for his fellow classmate, if he wasn't so dead straight on distractions. He was confident there could be a turnaround.
"So, with that over with, I see that I have no choice but to give Mezo Shoji the MVP title," Vegeta said with a glare at the boy in question who only nodded. "And with that, will be our final round for the combat trials."
Everyone in the room turned to examine the final teams: Jiro and Kaminari against Koda and Todoroki. Koda was the most nervous of the four while Todorki kept an emotionless glare on Vegeta.
"It's time. Head on out, we'll be watching," The teacher ordered as he began to walk out of the room.
After a nod, the four followed Vegeta until they left the room. A short while after, he came back to watch all the cameras focused on the scene.
"Begin the final match!" Vegeta shouted on his microphone.
From what everyone could see, Kaminari and Jiro appeared to be talking to each other. Jiro kneeled down and pulled one of her audio jacks to the ground, Kaminari gazing with interest. Izuku shared the same sentiment, it looked like she was actually able to hear what was going on through the building. It was a perfect espionage tool.
Todoroki and Koda stood near the entrance. Without even turning, Todoroki looked like he was saying something that spooked the rock-looking boy so much he started to quiver to the point of retreating from the entrance. That was enough to make Izuku suspect something was off.
Todoroki then placed his hand on the wall while lightly setting his foot down. Ice quickly began to smother the walls and traveled to the entire building, even where Kaminari and Jiro were. Kaminari grabbed Jiro by her shoulders and pulled her back so her earlobe, which was stuck to the floor, wouldn't be frozen. She shrugged him off before the two were frozen up to their ankles, some of the frosts even sticking to their clothes and skin. The only one who wasn't affected, besides Todoroki, was Koda because he was outside the building.
The cold even extended to the room everyone else was in, most of them shivering. Izuku couldn't resist the urge to shudder from the lack of temperature. The only one who was closest to not being affected was Sensei Vegeta, though a slight shiver was visible either out of the actual chill or annoyance.
Todoroki began to walk through the building without apparent care for the world, right until he went to the room where the bomb was along with the hero team. Kaminari and Jiro must have realized it was fruitless to resist as they could only help but watch Todoroki place his hand on the fake bomb.
"The hero team wins," Vegeta said with grit in his voice.
Suddenly, steam began to emanate from Todoroki's hand and all the ice in the room began to melt, even all the cold dissipated in the monitor room. Disbelief was in everyone's eyes, especially Jiro's and Kaminari's. All Sensei Vegeta did was leave the room to retrieve the final teams.
Soon, the four came back to the control room with him.
"No doubt that has gone down to be the quickest round today. A record to be sure," Vegeta began. "With that being said, you all should obviously know who the MVP must be."
Asui was the one who rose her hand. "It's gotta be Todoroki. He basically just one-shotted Jiro and Kaminari. Koda, on the other hand, didn't do anything so it'll be hard to judge him."
The mentioned boy looked down at the ground despondent. Many of the others, even Asui, looked at him in pity. No word had come out of the boy even during the first day. On the other hand, Vegeta walked up to the boy with his arms folded.
"Have anything to say about that?" He asked as he looked up right at him. Koda only responded with a tremble.
"Talk! You got a mouth don't you?" Vegeta asked again. Izuku could feel his heart fall right down the pits of his stomach. He saw much of himself in his classmate. The teacher then huffed in frustration as he moved on from him to the losing team.
"I could almost give you two some credit for your loss, but it would be difficult for me to do given your lack of ."
"But sir!" Kaminari said in the girl's defense, much to her surprise. "We didn't have enough time to react! And even you heard Todoroki when he said that we'll just peel our skin off if we moved a single inch!"
"Still, your one and only opponent had his back turned to yours. It would have been a perfect opportunity for a last-minute attack had the both of you not given up."
That was enough to discourage the spirits from both of them. Lastly, Vegeta went to the winner. "And you, Todoroki, have won this match, but failed completely in teamwork that is comparable only to Bakugo. Constantly overshadowing those working alongside you will only make you blind to your shortcomings."
Vegeta then began to walk back to the group, but not before Todoroki's lips began to move.
"That's funny coming from the man who only got his position because his rival died."
The teacher skidded to a stop. Everyone set their eyes on the student who may as well have signed his death sentence. Izuku would have gotten a heart attack for even thinking about saying something like that. Vegeta slowly turned around and approached Todoroki with a furrowed brow and bared fangs, the latter not even moving a muscle.
"Say that again to my face." Todoroki just kept on staring at Vegeta who was now only inches away from his face. Was he even aware of who he talked back to?
"No?" Still, there was no response from Todoroki, silence filled the room. "Then keep your mouth shut."
Todorki just kept on staring at the teacher until the latter pointed to the exit. Izuku took the moment to take a glance at the corner of his eyes, the held-in breath just seemed to release from everyone.
"All of you head outside, class is almost over."
Slowly, the rest of the classmates began to leave. As all of them filed out, Vegeta stood in front of them to give his final address.
"Not bad, for your first training exercise. After what I saw in there, I've seen lower-level heroes perform better than you lot."
Izuku looked around to see the downed spirits in his peers. As much as he wanted to tell each of them, he knew that they will only get used to the hardened hero through time.
"And don't take me for a fool that I'm not aware of your opinion of my teaching methods," Vegeta continued. "We teachers at U.A. are free to put you through the wringer no matter how we do it because, by the time I'm through, you're going to wish Aizawa expelled all of you."
A beeping sound came from Vegeta's wrist before he quickly shut it off. "Change out of your uniforms and head back to the classroom, don't bother waiting for me, just leave for your next period.
Vegeta then flew sped his way out of Ground Beta, leaving a gust of wind behind. An awkward silence followed.
"Sensei Vegeta might be harsh," Kaminari said. "But there's no denying how cool he is!"
"I wish I was that fast," Ojiro sighed.
"I only had enough time for a single class, damn it!"
Vegeta was in a hallway recuperating himself, fighting back a heaving cough. He was right outside the door leading to Recovery Girl's office.
Vegeta had to resist showing guilt in seeing his apprentice in those bandages, it had Midoriya's second time at the nurse for his injuries. He knew that it was his fault as the boy's teacher. Vegeta stood straight back up and entered the room to see the older heroine at her desk, typing something on her dated-looking computer.
"I owe you an apology Recovery Girl."
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to!" She brushed it off. "It may not be as bad as it was from the Entrance Exam, but it's already becoming a habit now! I gave him some first aid and an I.V. drip, but for now, all we can do is wait for time to heal his wounds!"
"Listen Vegeta, I know you gave him One For All, but that doesn't mean you can go have him break his body all for your approval!"
Though he wasn't one to be lectured by older heroes, Vegeta knew the blame fell on him alone. "You're right. I've put a large amount of responsibility on his shoulders, not to mention that he specifically told me how I'm one of his personal heroes. Just one thing.."
"Can you keep it down when we're talking about you-know-what?!" He hissed.
"If you say so, 'your majesty.'" Recovery Girl retorted as she swiveled her chair back to whatever she was working on the computer.
"The limits to my power are common knowledge to the staff here at U.A.," Vegeta said. "However, besides you, only those closest to me know about this sacred power."
"Please don't tell me this is your predecessor's death is the reason why you decided to take the young boy in? He reminds me of him."
"It has nothing to do with Kakarot," Vegeta said in his own defense. "Many years ago, I made a grave mistake that cost the life of someone with aspirations similar to Midoriya's."
"Without a Symbol of Peace, society will fall to decay as it had all those years ago. One For All was the only light that brought us out of the darkness, that is the responsibility of everyone that has wielded this power."
Recovery Girl sighed. "Which makes it all the more important that you guide this young boy the right way, or else it will be too late."
Izuku walked down the hallway with downtrodden spirits towards Class 1-A's homeroom. It was late in the day, right after all the other classes were done, and he was going to have to explain to Sensei Aizawa the reason for all his bandages.
"He's really gonna let me have it."
However, when he opened the door, he did not catch sight of his teacher but Kirishima who was beaming with a bright smile.
"Hey, it's Midoriya! Welcome back, man!"
Quickly, Ashido and Sato ran up to him at an overwhelming close distance.
"We couldn't really tell what you were saying, but that was a badass battle!" Kirishima praised.
"Nice dodging! And those moves weren't that bad either!" Ashido said.
"That first round was enough to get us all pumped!" Sato said.
"Uhh, I don't want to be rude, but who are all of you again?" Midoriya asked in an innocent tone.
"I'm Kirishima!"
"Mina Ashido!"
"Tsuyu Asui, but just call me Tsu."
"Rikido Sato here."
"And I'm Mineta!" the short boy leaped up much to the surprise and displeasure of the others.
Izuku could see out of the corner of his eye that Iida was chastizing Tokoyami who was sitting atop his desk. Jiro voiced her own displeasure at the strict student while Yaoyorozu tried to calm Iida. The sliding door opened once more where Kaminari and Uraraka entered, carrying stacks of books.
"Hey after this, you wanna get a bite to eat?" Kaminari asked Uraraka. "What kind of food do you like to eat?"
"Hm, definitely if it's something sweet. But if anything I'll go for - oh! Deku!" Uraraka excitedly ran up to Izuku, not noticing Kaminari let out a disappointed sigh. "Is your arm okay?"
"Ah, not quite," Izuku responded in all honesty. "I'm pretty worn out."
As he scanned across the room, he noticed that not everyone is accounted for, mainly one certain blonde. "Where did Kacchan go?"
"Oh, you mean Bakugo?" Kaminari responded with little enthusiasm. "He just left a few minutes ago, he's been really quiet since the first match."
Izuku began to hurry to the door. "Thanks! I'll just be really quick I promise!"
Just as he went to the door he could hear Kirishima's voice cry out, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
No, it probably wasn't, but he had to try. Izuku raced down the stairway, hoping Kacchan hadn't left yet, this was his only shot. Much to his luck, the blonde was simply walking down the crimson brick walkway.
"Kacchan!" He cried out. The said boy only turned his head over his shoulder.
"I'm not supposed to be telling you this, but you should at least know this!" Izuku gulped. He didn't even have the courage to tell his own mother.
"Someone gave me my quirk recently, but that's only one half of the story," He began. "A great power within me has awakened. Why not sooner, I don't know. But what I do know is that I can't properly control these powers yet. I know that this sounds like a comic book, but please hear me out. I tried all I could to beat you without them, but I was barely able to do so. But no matter what, I will become a hero, and I will beat you one day."
All he got as a response was a look of incredulity from Kacchan, which is what he was least expecting.
"How stupid do you think I am?"
When he finally turned to face him, Kacchan's blonde hair hung over his eyes like a visor, covering his pained expression.
"'Borrowed power', What the hell is that supposed to mean? You already made a fool out of me in that stupid class by beating me in that exercise, that's why you're here right, to rub it in?!"
Kacchan then began to tremble either out of anger, embarrassment, or both. "That I lost to you out of everyone?! I got first place in the entrance exam, but it wasn't enough. When I watched that ice guy, I knew for a damn fact that I couldn't beat him one-to-one. And that pony-tailed bitch was right on how stupid I was! DAMN IT!"
"You better enjoy this win Deku," Izuku couldn't believe his eyes as he saw Kacchan lift his face to reveal the tears swelling up. "You won't get another chance after this because I'm going to be the number one hero! I'm the going who's going to beat you all!"
After a brief period of locking eyes with each other, Kacchan finally turned around to leave with tears still in his eyes. Izuku then let out a heavy sigh as the weight on his chest was literally out the door. Before he could even turn around to head back to class, a FWOOSH of air whizzed by Izuku's head before it stopped in front of him to reveal a certain figure.
"What is the meaning of this?" Vegeta demanded.
"S-Sensei! It's nothing, just-" Was all Izuku said before a sharp look from his master silenced him.
"Leaving class early young Bakugo?" the teacher questioned. "What's the matter? I thought you were avid for the heroics course."
No response came from Kacchan as his back was only inches from the pro hero.
"Just as I thought," Vegeta continued in his mocking tone. "You swell yourself in your own pride, yet crumble when you find out-"
"SHUT UP!"
The bones in Izuku began to shiver as he awaited what kind of immediate punishment his master would give. Instead, Vegeta remained silent as Kacchan used his sleeve to wipe his eyes as he turned to face the teacher.
"Don't even bother me with your useless pep talk. I'll be more famous than you've ever been, without your help!"
Much to Izuku's surprise, a short chuckle came out of his master.
"Is that so? Very few had the courage to say what spewed out of your mouth, none of them living up to those words. Well, if you have any little hope you have for surpassing me, here's something you should know."
Vegeta then slowly walked up to the blonde until his face was merely inches away from him and said in a low growl. "Get that damn chip off your shoulder."
Either thanks to his stubbornness or fearlessness, Kacchan stared at his idol with hatred until he turned to leave the school, for real this time.
"Man, being a teacher's hard," Izuku thought. Todoroki having that kind of courage or arrogance to talk back to Vegeta was one thing, but he'd never expect Kacchan to have that kind of gall even after he was saved from that sludge monster.
"So, Midoriya, what exactly did you tell young Bakugo?"
Izuku nearly blurted out a question before seeing that his master was now only inches away from him.
"Oh! Nothing too much!"
The scowl that never left his master's face was a sure sign of how convinced he was. "I will ask this again. What. Did. You. Tell. Him?"
"A-alright! I sorta told him that I borrowed my quirk," Izuku replied with a nervous smile.
"Does he know about One For All?"
"N-no, he doesn't," Izuku said with all honesty. "I only kept it ambiguous, sorry Vegeta I couldn't help it. I didn't want him to think that I wanted to trick him."
This was the part in training where Izuku would anticipate his master to give him the ultimate lesson, a sparring beatdown. Instead, the hero let out a heavy sigh, rubbing his temples.
"Midoriya, you understand that this secret is vital to the future of hero society!? The more people will find out, the sooner it will become information, no doubt jeopardizing all that we have built!"
Izuku hung his head. "I-I know. I'm sorry sensei."
Vegeta only sighed. "It's obvious you and this Bakugo have a history together. I won't pry for now, but do not allow this distraction to deter you from your goals. Do you understand me?"
Izuku then let out a confident nod. "Yes sensei!"
"Good, now get your belongings. You'll be heading home soon, it will be a busy day tomorrow."
"Y-yeah," Izuku said meekly. "I'll be looking forward to it."
With another gust of wind nearly knocking the boy off of his feet, Izuku saw Vegeta take to the skies. He never got over how awesome it looked, as long as he wasn't up there.
"This has to be a joke, Vegeta's a teacher?"
Tomura set his glass right on the phony hero's image, the precipitation from the cold coursed downward to soak part of the newspaper he was reading.
"I was wondering, what do you think would happen if all of a sudden, the mighty Symbol of Peace just finally got killed for good?"
Happy April everyone! Here's a shorter chapter to put a close on the Battle Trial Arc. Please let me know what you thought of this chapter, I wanted to experiment with doing my first draft where I just blurt out whatever's in my mind just to get it through and look back on it to edit. If anyone didn't like this chapter, I'll reconsider my methods into something that will produce a chapter with higher quality.