"I AM HERE…"

It was only his immeasurable control over One for All's fading embers that the door, its frame and surrounding wall didn't shatter, "…COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A HERO!"

"I can't believe it's really All Might!"

"So, he's a teacher? This year's gonna be awesome!"

"Lessons from All Might? Talk about first-hand experience!"

"Hmm…"

"Ugh…"

"Hey, look," as Ryuko's irritation melded with the excitement and enthusiasm electrifying the room, Tsuyu croaked, "Is he wearing his silver age costume?"

"Welcome to the most important class at UA HIGH!" strutting towards the lectern, All Might punctuated every word with boisterous exultation. He prefaced each syllable with another grin. Midoriya might possess One for All and would one day earn his mantle as the world's symbol of peace, but that day wasn't today and he didn't play favorites. Above all else, he was a teacher. There were plenty of talented students eager to spread their wings and soar through the skies as up-and-coming heroes! And there were students who required nudges in the right direction, "Think of it as Heroing 101! Here you will learn the basics of being a pro! And what it means to fight in the name of good and justice!"

This was the point he'd normally give an inspiring speech about honesty, integrity and always remaining true to oneself.

The speech was tucked in his belt.

"So, prepare yourselves – " unfortunately, he barely had an hour left in this form, no thanks to intervening in multiple crimes on his way to UA," – for genuine combat training!"

"Fight training!"

"Real combat?"

"But before getting our hands dirty, one of the keys to being a hero is…LOOKING GOOD!" there was perfect timing. Then there was voice-activation. Upon enunciating the necessary phrase, four shelves slowly emerged from the wall adjacent to the windows, each holding five cases not only sorted by seat number, but stamped with the student's name, just to be on the safe side, "These were designed for you based on your Quirk Registration Forms and the requests you sent in before school started!"

Another flex, pose and beaming smile.

"Now, it takes real talent to look as good as me," this time, he depressed a button, deactivating the electronic locks preventing anyone from opening their cases, "That's why UA only partners with the best of the best when it comes to designing costumes for up-and-coming heroes – Revocs!"

"Revocs!?"

Uraraka couldn't believe it. And from the stunned silence, she wasn't the only one, "Aren't they super expensive and ultra-exclusive?"

A few seats away, Momo Yaoyorozu blushed as she tried not thinking about her bedroom's walk-in closet.

No longer capable of containing herself, physically or emotionally, and downright giddy, Mina clasped her hands, "I've always wanted to wear something by Revocs!"

"Alright, students! Get yourselves suited up and then meet me at Training Ground Beta!"

He would have loved answering questions. As a teacher, it was his duty to educate young minds. But his time in this form was diminishing by the second and there were a few things he needed to finish setting up, "Now, watch how a pro leaves a room…AT FULL SPEED!"

And he was gone.

Out the door and down the hall before Ryuko finished yawning.

The silence following his departure lasted less than a second.

"At long last," extracting the case containing his costume with delicacy normally afforded to ephemeral shadows, Tokoyami nodded, "A chance to become one with the darkness."

"Talk about high-grade," Kirishima chuckled, a bead of sweat dripping down his cheek, "This stuff costs more than a computer!"

"What did you expect? Revocs is one of the world's leading producer of support items," Ida answered while examining his own costume. He'd assumed UA outsourced costume design to a small company. Perhaps a local manufacturer. One on-campus. Not an international conglomerate whose designs catered to both professional heroes and civilians, "It's logical they'd use only the best materials. Although, if I'd known Revocs would be designing my costume, I would have gone into more detail on the request form."

Conversation soon gave way to muttering as Class 1-A filed into the hallway.

"Aren't you going to look at your costume?"

Lingering towards the back of the group, unopened case tucked underneath her arm and tie looser than yesterday, Ryuko shrugged off Tsuyu's question, "Nope. Couldn't care less."

Several people – including Todoroki, for some baffling reason – reacted to her honesty in different ways. But by this point they were walking downwards and she was focused on not tripping. Again. She'd never cared about fashion. Not about buying new clothes, matching clothes, the whatever the pros advertised between Sunday morning cartoons. Spending so much time and money on stuff she'd only wear once sounded stupid. Incredibly stupid. She'd rather go outside, go to the movies or hang out at the mall. Something actually fun.

"What if Revocs got something wrong?"

"Who cares."

Less confused and more curious, Tsuyu tapped her mouth, "Then why are you sulking, Ryu?"

"I'm not – "

An embarrassed growl struggled its way towards freedom before she clamped her teeth shut, "Look. It's just a costume. It ain't like it's anything important."


My Bloody Academia


TWENTY MINUTES LATER

He'd faced numerous evildoers, villains and criminals.

International syndicates.

The worst of the worst.

Scum who'd toyed with the lives of others.

Yet they paled in comparison to a single annoyed teenage girl.

Maintaining his infamous grin, albeit strained by Ryuko's swirling emotions nobody other than himself appeared to notice, All Might pretended there was something interesting about the building in the opposite direction. Anything to not look at her. But as soon as he cast his gaze aside, he remembered he was supposed to be teaching. Twenty young minds waiting for instruction. Class 1-A was counting on him. He was the symbol of peace! The pedestal upon which society rested its hopes and dreams! He'd stared down the worst of the worst and emerged victorious!

"She's so angry!"

He hid his nervousness with a loud clearing of his throat.

Ryuko was annoyed. At something. That much was certain. That her ire wasn't directed at him was monumentally important, for it meant her grudge over his admittedly unorthodox method of nudging her into applying to UA had simmered to a more manageable frustration. No, she was frustrated with something else. But what? And as he wracked his brain, the answer became obvious. The twitching of her hands. Her slouched posture. Her intent on blaming anyone but herself. Yes, there was no mistake. For whatever reason, Ryuko wasn't particularly fond of her new costume.

Which was ridiculous!

It was a fantastic costume, neither showy nor provocative!

A semipermeable dark blue or black flexible armor covered everything below her chin. Crimson lines resembling suspenders connected her shoulders to a knee-length pleated skirt adorned with polished silver protrusions. Boots designed to not slip even on the slipperiest of surfaces.

Perhaps it wasn't as spectacular as David's handiwork, but Revocs didn't do anything half-measured.

"Right!"

Pushing those thoughts firmly out of mind, he resumed his prepared speech, "Now that you're suited up and ready, it's time for combat training!"

"Sir, this is one of the fake cities from the entrance exam," Ida raised his arm, interrupting the hero, "Does that mean we'll be conducting urban battles again?"

It was a good question.

"Not quite!"

Just not the right question.

"I'm going to move you two steps ahead! As you know, most of the villain fights you see on the news take place outside," prefacing his explaining with a deep grunt, he raised two of his fingers, "However, statistically speaking, run-ins with the most dastardly evildoers take place indoors! Back-room deals! Hostages! Home invasions! Drug rings! Secret underground lairs! Truly intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows!"

His smile faltered.

Home invasions?

Damn it, why did he have to say that?

Luckily Ryuko didn't appear to have noticed his slip of the tongue.

"Now, for this training exercise, you'll be split into teams of good guys and bad guys and fight two-on-two indoor battles!"

Tsuyu frowned, "Isn't this a little advanced?"

"Not at all!"

Her question was better than Ida's, but without sufficient time to explain, All Might clenched his hand, "The best training is what you get on the battlefield! You're not just punching robots this time! You're dealing with actual people! They'll fight back! They'll improvise, change tactics and seek any advantage to win! So, don't think victory is guaranteed because you have powerful Quirk!"

"Sir, will you be deciding who wins?"

"How much can we hurt the other team?"

"Do we need to worry about the losers getting expelled like earlier?"

"Will you be splitting us up based on chance or comparative skill?"

"Are we allowed to cheat?"

"Gah! So many questions!"

All Might suppressed a cough.

The next generation of heroes truly possessed boundless enthusiasm and curiosity. Their barrage of questions was nearly overwhelming! Of course, young Bakugo was eager to test his limits. And Ida wished to know how he'd divide the class into teams. Then there was Ryuko. Practicality and pragmatism were key aspects for any successful hero. A hero needed to make tough calls! And villains, no matter how polite or respectful, never played by the same rules. But there was a fine line between thinking outside the box and cheating.

"Now, the situation is this!"

His voice ended any further questioning.

"In a daring daylight raid, a pair of villains have taken hostages – the prefecture's governor and his daughter," All Might pointed towards a building down the street, "These dastardly evildoers are holed up THAT BUILDING! And are demanding the release of several dangerous criminals in exchange for their safe return!"

The students were listening.

"Which brings us to the point of today's combat exercise! The heroes must foil their plans! To do that, the good guys must either safely extract the hostages to a predetermined spot outside the building or catch the evildoers. Likewise, those playing the bad guys succeed if they capture the heroes or prevent them from rescuing their victims. There's also another objective! If, for whatever reason, the hostages are rendered 'deceased,' both teams automatically fail the exercise!"

Momo raised her hand, "Why fail, sir?"

"It's probably because the villains need the hostages," Midoriya explained without stopping to catch his breath, "Without the hostages, there's nothing stopping the heroes from just attacking. But at the same time, the hostages are important. Even if the villains are arrested, their deaths would be a major blow to the government."

"EXACTLY!"

All Might pulled a yellow box out of nowhere, "Now, since time is limited, we'll choose teams by drawing lots! NOW LET'S DRAW!"

Team A: Izuku Midoriya & Ochaco Uraraka

Team B: Denki Kaminari & Kyoka Jiro

Team C: Fumikage Tokoyami & Ryuko Matoi

Team D: Rikido Sato & Koji Koda

Team E: Yuga Aoyama & Minoru Mineta

Team F: Mina Ashido & Tsuyu Asui

Team G: Shoto Todoroki & Mezo Shoji

Team H: Katsuki Bakugo & Tenya Ida

Team I: Eijiro Kirishima & Hanta Sero

Team J: Toru Hagakure & Momo Yaoyorozu

He shuffled the orbs.

Then randomly split them between two boxes – one black and the other white, "I declare that the first teams to fight will be…THESE GUYS! Team A will be the heroes! Team H will be the villains! Now, let's get STARTED!"