Immortālitās

Chapter Eight

"I can't really scold you this time," I heard the nurse say as I feigned being asleep.

"I'm not so sure," All Might sighed from his bed in the nurse's office. "But I may have shortened the time limit for my hero form again. I hope to have at least an hour left."

Hero form?

"All Might," Izuku murmured.

"Ma, it can't be helped," All Might insisted. "These things will happen."

"Excuse me," a new voice announced from the sliding door. "All Might, it's been a while."

"Tsukauchi!" The number one hero yelped. "You're here too?!"

"All Might!" Izuku jostled his bed. "Is it okay for him to see you in this form?"

"It's fine," he assured. "Why, I'm sure you wonder? This is Naomasa Tsukauchi, one of my best friends."

"What's with that introduction?" Naomasa chuckled. "I'd hate to cut to the chase, my friend, but can you give me details about—"

"Please, wait!" All Might interjected. "Can you please let me know if all of the others students are okay? What about Aizawa and Thirteen?"

"Other than these two boys," All Might's friend started, "Only a few of the students had modest injuries, and both of the teachers are in stable condition for now."

"I see," All Might sighed along with Izuku. "Thank goodness."

"It's safe to say that if you three heroes hadn't risked your lives," Naomasa started quietly, "The students would have lost their lives."

"You're wrong about one of those things, Tsukauchi." The Symbol of Peace interrupted his friend again. "The students also fought and risked their lives. Has there been another class of first-years that have experienced a real fight so soon? Who survived, learned of fear, and the world of adults? Those villains did something foolish. This class is strong, and they will become powerful heroes. Of that, I am certain."

If I wasn't trying to pose as being asleep, I would have certainly teared up. All Might certainly had a way with words.

Our lesson today was a strong one. What the pro heroes like All Might deal with, and what they fight against. The world of evil... That was an experience we were not ready for.

I forced myself not to clench my newly forming fist.

There was a lot of work to be done.

The day after the League of Villains attacked our school, classes were cancelled temporarily.

But I could not rest.

All I could think about was how the villains, not the pissants that everyone fought, the actual villains, kicked us around with their malevolence and strength.

And, of course, the Nomu with its regeneration quirk.

It angered me that the quirk I've had for the past twelve years was so far behind. That the quirk that kept me alive in a burning vehicle couldn't compete with some bioengineered hack job.

It took over twelve hours for my arm to completely regenerate, and it angered me. So, I spent every hour, of every day training. I pushed my quirk to keep regenerating without rest. I forced my body to continue, even as my quirk begged for me to stop.

I wouldn't. I couldn't if I wanted to achieve my goals.

The night before classes resumed, I sat alone in my room and tested my quirk by chopping one of my fingers off.

I watched, captivated, as a bone grew from the bleeding wound. It was quickly followed by muscle, nerves, and tendons before being covered by unblemished flesh.

I smiled.

Progress.

"Ivan!" Ochaco hugged me upon my entry into the classroom. "I'm so happy to see that you're okay."

"Thank you for caring," I hugged her back before poking her forehead. "I'm glad that you were not injured in the fiasco."

She smiled at me and I walked her to her seat.

I listened as the class talked amongst themselves.

"Did you see the news last night?" Toru asked the class excitedly. "Everyone in class was on-screen for a second, though I didn't stand out at all."

"That's true," Mezu stated bluntly.

"It's hard to stand out looking like that, though," Mashirao made up for him.

"All of the channels made a big deal out of it." Denki gossiped.

"I was surprised!" Eijiro exclaimed.

"Can you really fault them?" Kyoka spoke with no care in the world. "The hero course the pumps out the best pro heroes was attacked."

"Who knows what would have occurred if the other teachers didn't arrive when they did." Hanta sighed.

"Stop it, Sero!" Minoru shrieked. "Thinking about it is enough for me to wet myse—"

"Shut up!" Bakugo had finally had enough. "Be quiet, scum!"

I continued to listen as everyone speculated at who was going to take over homeroom until Aizawa was back.

That was until Aizawa opened the door, wrapped in medical bandages.

"Good morning," he stated blandly.

"You're back too soon!" We all chanted together.

"My well-being is of no importance," he droned on. "More importantly, the fight has yet to be won. The U.A. sports festival is drawing near."

Ah. More normal schooling events.

"Is it okay to host a festival so soon after a villain attack?"

Valid point to you, Kyoka.

"And if they attack us again?"

Also, a valid point from Mashirao.

What says you, Sensei?

"Apparently," he started to answer. "The board thinks that it's an opportunity to show that U.A.'s crisis management system is impregnable by holding this event. Our security will also be five times stronger than that of previous years. Above all, it's not an event that we will cancel because of a few villains."

He stared out into the class.

"Our sports festival is one of Japan's biggest events." Aizawa continued. "The Olympics were once called a festival of sports, and everyone went wild for them. But with the changing times, their sizes have dwindled, and now, for Japan at least, the U.A. sport festival has taken precedence over them."

Let's not forget that Heroes also watch the festival in order to scout out some fresh talent.

"Joining a famous agency will get you more experience and popularity, of course," our teacher offered to the class. "But time is limited. If you want to go pro, then your future begins at this event. With one chance a year, a total of three chances, no one who thirsts to become a pro hero can afford to miss out on the U.A. Festival. If you understand this, then don't slack off on creating your foundation!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Ivan! Deku, Iida." I looked at Ochaco, a spirit of determination seemed to ooze from her body. "Let's do our best at the festival."

Ochaacoooo. Your face can get pretty scaryyy~

"She's PM—" I turned quickly and slammed my fist into Minoru's skull.

"Quiet you!"

"Everyone," she slammed her foot onto the floor and raised her first above her head. "I'm going to do my ultimate best!"

All right. That's it. My heart can't take it.

I laughed as we headed for our next class.

"Ne, Ochaco?" I asked as we walked to the cafeteria. "Where do you draw your determination from, to become a pro hero?"

"Oh?!" She stumbled with the question, rubbing her hands together. "To boil it down simply, well, it's for the money."

"The money?" I stopped, tilting my head to the side. "And if it wasn't the boiled down version?"

"Sorry!" She apologized. "I'm sure you have an admirable motivation, so it's embarrassing. My family owns a construction company, but we haven't had much work, so we don't have a lot of money. Though it's not something I should really be telling other people..."

"If you got licensed, then you could really help out with the company, right?" I questioned, pretending I didn't hear the last part of her reasoning.

"That's what I told papa when I was little!" She turned on me and looked down at the ground, a saddened look on her face. "But as my father, he doesn't want me to have to work for the family company. He wants me to achieve my dreams. I'll definitely become a hero and make money, that way my parents can take it easy!"

I smiled at her, seeing another side of the girl that has started to garner my feelings.

How could she be any more perfect.

"That's very admirable," I poked her forehead. "You must really love your parents."

"I do!" She smiled. "What about you?"

What?

"What motivates you to become a hero?"

Oh, okay. That's an easier question.

We stopped on a balcony that overlooked the school grounds.

"When I was a young boy, I met a hero that changed the way I looked at the world."

"How you looked at the world?" She asked softly.

I looked at her and gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Ochaco," I apologized to the girl who held my affections. "But I don't think I'm ready to talk about that part of my life just yet."

She searched my eyes before nodding, silently asking me to continue.

"Thank you for understanding," I looked over the ground before us and smirked. "The hero I met was All Might."

"You met All Might when you were younger!?" She turned to me sharply.

"Uh, yeah," I rubbed my head sheepishly. "Let's just say he rescued me from doing something really stupid and leave it at that for right now. But after that, we had a small conversation, and in that conversation, I found my conviction."

"I want to see a world where everyone can smile," I smiled, remembering as I screamed it to the heavens. "I don't like to seeing when people are sad, depressed, ashamed, or any other emotion that might constrict their ability to smile. There are events in everyone's lives that cause those emotions to occur naturally, sure, but even if I get the most miniscule chance to help someone smile, I will take it."

"Ivan," Ochaco breathed, looking up at me. "I want to see a world like that too."

"Thank you, Ochaco," I leaned in. "For seeing my conviction."

She closed her eyes and I leaned in a bit closer.

The gap between was just about to be sealed when it happened again.

"Ahaha!" We jumped apart quickly. "Young Ivan and Uraraka are here!"

"A-A-A-All Might?!" Ochaco looked ready to pass out.

"I was looking for Young Midoriya," he gestured towards his lunch. "When I heard you two out here on the balcony!"

My eye twitched as I looked at the hero in front of me.

You interrupted us on purpose, didn't you?

"Young Uraraka!" All Might pointed to the girl, and she gestured to herself, surprised. "It is an admirable journey to take, in order to take care of your loved ones! I believe your conviction will strengthen you as you fight towards your goal! You will be a fine hero!"

"Thank you, All Might!" She bowed to him multiple times in quick succession.

I smiled at her goofiness.

"And Young Ivan," I looked at him and we stared each other down, before giving one another large, toothy smiles. "I'm glad that you remember that day as vividly as I do, and I'm proud to see the man you are becoming has led you to this school so that we could cross paths again! Your conviction burns brightly, and I can still see the promising hero within you."

"Thank you, sir."

"But I must get going," the Symbol of Peace stated. "I still need to find Young Midoriya before the lunch period is over. Goodbye, young students!"

Then he vanished, like he was never there in the first place.

"So," I shuffled awkwardly and gestured back towards the cafeteria. "Lunch?"

"Lead the way, Class Rep," Ochaco giggled.

It was towards the end of the day that we started having problems.

"What business do you have with Class A?" Tenya asked a group of students standing outside our class door.

"We can't leave the room!" Minoru shouted. "Why'd you all gather in front of us?!"

"They're scouting the enemy," Bakugo muttered, walking towards the crowd. "Get out of my way, you second-class heroes."

He's certainly feeling aggressive today.

"I walked over here to see what this famous class was like," a new voice echoed from within the crowd. "But you look pretty arrogant to me. Are all of you like this? It makes me a little disappointed, really."

"Eh?" Bakugo growled as the purple-haired kid stared him down.

"Did you know that most of the other students enrolled into the other departments because they didn't make the cut for the hero course?" Purple-locks drawled on. "You see, depending on the sports festival, they'll consider transferring students into the hero course. Transferring them out as well. So, no, I didn't come over here to scout the enemy, I came with a proclamation of war."

I tried not to laugh from where I stood. This guy was just another bold person with lip service.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Another new voice barked out. "I'm from class B next door! I heard about your fight with the villains! Don't get full of yourself! If you bark too much, you'll really be put out with too little of a bite!"

Bakugo ignored the teen's words.

"None of your words matter as long as you rise to the top," he stated simply before walking away.

I'd hate to follow after a cool exit like that, but here we go.

"You all have two weeks," I announced to the crowd. "So, you better prepare yourselves before coming after my class with some petty declarations of war. The students you're looking at? Well, we're the top of the food chain, so you better believe our bite will back-up anything we have to say to the likes of you."

I don't usually take to making such confrontational statements, but we're all allowed to be a little bold at times.

Besides, I liked how Ochaco looked at me like I was a snack before I started walking away.

I laughed on my way out.

Hello, friends! Thank you for taking the time to read my little story! This was just a small chapter to fit in all the drama before the U.A. Sports Festival. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

TTFN.