"Papers to the front, please," Aizawa announces as he walks into the room. He hears a few panicked whispers erupt in the ensuing silence and already knows he's going to get one or two late submissions. He smothers a sigh, walking over to his desk.
He goes to pick up the pad for the projector in one hand, going by and collecting the small stack of papers his students had written with the other, depositing them on his desk as he pulls up his presentation for the day. A projection of the words Hero Duos lights up the front of the room. A few of his students make interested noises as he finally looks up at them.
"So, as you can see, this week we're talking about hero duos. Does anyone want to explain what hero duos are?" he asks. There's a long moment of silence in the room as everyone shifts uncomfortably before Midoriya's quiet voice pipes up.
"It's, um, an official partnership between two heroes, right?" he begins, warming up as he isn't immediately shot down, even though all eyes turn to him. "They sign contracts as a duo and are always dispatched as a pair. Most of the time heroes have to work with whoever is nearby and do the best they can with whoever that is. Duos know each other's strengths and weaknesses already, and have experience working together. I think there are some benefits to acting as a duo instead of as a solo hero, too?"
"Very good," Aizawa acknowledges. He eyes the green-haired student for a moment. "Did you do some research on the subject previously? Duos are rare, so there isn't a lot of common knowledge out there about them."
Midoriya rubs the back of his head for a moment, glancing down at his desk. A slight frown crosses his features for a second before he plasters on a weak smile over it and looks back up.
"After, ah, the whole thing with Kouta and Muscular I looked into it a little bit," he explains. "His parents were the Water Hose Duo, and it came up in our fight. I looked them up later, and there was a brief mention about duos there."
That would explain things, Aizawa realized. Also, that explains why the topic was a little uncomfortable for the boy. Still, it showed that at least one of his kids was doing research on their own into the wider world of heroics, which could only be a good thing.
"Moving on then, here is a list of requirements about what it takes to become a duo," he says, clearing his throat to dispel the awkward tension that had begun to permeate the room. The image shifts to a short list. "The first is obviously finding someone to duo with. From there, you have to undergo extensive amounts of training and counseling to ensure familiarity with each other's fighting style, and to make sure that your personalities match enough to get along and trust each other."
"Being a duo requires extra training?" Uraraka exclaims, looking a little surprised. "I just thought duos… teamed up and kept going."
"A common misconception," Aizawa assures her, unsurprised at the misinformation. "It's actually incredibly hard to be classified as an official duo. The level of compatibility needed is generally pretty uncommon, but combining that with the fact that most heroes want to go solo instead means that very few duos ever become fully official."
"What kind of stuff would be involved?"
The quiet question from the back of the room is enough to take most of the class by surprise. Aizawa blinks at the red-and-white-haired boy for a moment, a little surprised at the genuine curiosity and interest Todoroki is showing in the topic when he's usually so reserved.
"Well," he finally continues, shaking off his surprise, "for the physical training, it's a lot of practice fighting with and against each other until you know each other's fighting inside and out. There's also a lot of trust and familiarity exercises too so that you get comfortable being around your partner. For the counseling, your compatibility and mental health are measured, and more trust exercises are done, since the most effective duos trust each other implicitly. Each of those two steps needs to be signed off on by a qualified professional before you can even apply to become a duo with someone."
"That sounds like a lot of stuff to do, just to become a duo," Asui comments, putting a finger to her chin as she looks at the list being projected. "Why do people do it, if it's so much work, kero?"
Aizawa motions briefly to the screen, where he switches the slide to one labeled Benefits of Hero Duos. There are two parts, one labeled Heroes and the other labeled Society, splitting the screen into two columns of information.
"For heroes, it means a higher paycheck, for one," he says, gesturing at the bullet-point saying 15% pay increase before moving on. "It also means a lower injury and mortality rate, since they have practice working with the hero they're fighting with rather than fighting with a stranger and unfamiliar Quirk. Sometimes duos pair up because their Quirks complement each other, making them both more powerful and effective together than separate. Duos also tend to have a higher success rate in capturing their targets, meaning it's often worth the extra training to those who can complete it.
"For society though, the benefits are a little broader. As I said, there's a higher success rate in capture, so crimes are dealt with more efficiently. However, statistically duos tend to cause less property damage as well and do a better job of protecting civilians nearby. As you are also probably aware, due to their rarity, duos tend to become something of a symbol to the general population. Not as much as the Symbol of Peace, but they are well-known and often one of the faces of heroism while they are active, serving a similar role."
There's a silence after that as everyone takes in all of that. Aizawa waits to see if there are more questions, but when none are voiced he nods and switches the slide again. This time there are three photographs lined up side by side, each with a different pair of heroes.
"Here are some examples of influential hero duos," he begins, beginning by pointing to the heroes on the left. "This photo is of the very first official duo nicknamed the Solarion Duo. The woman on the left is the hero Sunspot, and the woman on the right is Prism. They're a classic example of duos becoming stronger together: Sunspot created light and heat, while Prism could bend light and change its intensity and color. Individually they were good heroes, but average at best - until they had a chance encounter with each other and realized they could be a powerhouse together."
Aizawa glances at his students, seeing interest on many of their faces, and a deeply contemplative look on Todoroki and Midoriya's faces. Bakugou, on the other hand, looked more surprised than anything, though even that was disguised well as bored disinterest.
"In the second photo we have a man and a woman who were good friends and decided to become a duo together: the Balanced Duo. I know, creative name," he smirks in response to a few huffs from his students. "But it suited them well. The woman was Shrike, absorbing any force that struck her, only to be able to turn it back on them with pinpoint accuracy either in one small spot or dispersed, making her perfect for close-range combat. The man was Derecho, named after the weather phenomena he was able to create on a large and small scale, making him perfectly suited to long-range combat. They balanced each other out, making their fighting abilities much more rounded-out and much more successful as a result."
Finally, he gestures to the last pair, a man and a person with no clear gender presentation.
"Here is our last set, the Connection Duo," he says, glancing at the class briefly. "The man is called Evolution, and has an adaptation Quirk that changes his body to suit his needs, while the other hero is called Capacity, and their Quirk is a combination of low-level hypnosis, telekinesis, and telepathy. Between the two of them, they were able to combat both mental and physical Quirks pretty easily, and they are one of the highest-ranking duos in terms of success due to how well they worked together and were able to compensate for each other's weaknesses."
Turning back to the class, he sees that most of them look rather impressed. Aizawa suppresses a smile at the sight, glad they're seeing what makes hero duos so impressive. It takes time and hard work to happen, but he's been lucky enough to see one or two in his career that have blown dozens of solo heroes out of the water.
"Alright, if you have any further questions about hero duos, feel free to ask me after class," Aizawa segues, after a quick look at the clock. "This week for your essays, pick a hero duo and talk about them - why did they make the decision to team up, why did it work for them, and how successful were they? They'll be due this time next week, as always."
There was a quiet grumble from the students at the assigned homework, but a little less than usual. Likely, that was because they were fascinated by the topic - he'd be surprised if they weren't. Duos are uncommon, and they are still hero students. Huffing his amusement into his scarf, Aizawa turns and begins to write the plans for their next lesson on the board.
