I do not own My Hero Academia or any of its characters.
Race
"Good morning class," Aizawa said, walking into the room.
"Good Morning Mister Aizawa," the class responded, a few students glancing at Lee's empty desk.
"Sir, as Class Representative, it is my duty to inform you that Lee is currently absent," Iida said.
"Hm?" Aizawa asked, glancing at him. "Oh, him. He's not absent. He was helping me out with some paperwork. He should be right along."
"Huh!?" the class gaped.
"Sorry I'm late, Mister Aizawa," Lee said, walking into the room with a stack of papers and setting them on his desk.
"You're fine," Aizawa said. "Take your seat so I can get started."
"Yes sir," Lee nodded, doing as instructed.
"Now, since everyone's here, I should remind you that finals will be approaching soon," Aizawa said. "Now, outside the school's main gate and to the left, there's a forested hill, at the bottom of it is an industrial training zone. You'll be heading there for training with All Might today. Dismissed."
He crawled into his sleeping bag and lay down and everyone got up, walking out of the room.
"Hey Lee," Mina said, catching up to him as he was walking out of the door, Toru and Momo just behind him. "Are you alright? We heard on the news your pro was killed by villains."
"Mae wasn't just the pro I was shadowing, she was my cousin," Lee said. "I blamed her for abandoning me and my sister while we were growing up, and I told her as much. So she pushed herself during the fight to try to redeem herself, and as a result she died. I should have told her to run."
"It wasn't your fault," Momo said. "You had no way of knowing what you'd be up against. Um...what were you up against? Because Iida, Midoriya, and Todoroki apparently ran into the Hero Killer before getting saved by Endeavor."
"There were three," Lee said. "Stitch, Inkling, and one whose name I didn't get. Stitch controls cords that are stitched into his skin, both to hold wounds closed and just because. His cords are fast, durable, and versatile. He's the one that killed Mae. He managed to pierce her arms and legs with them, and then when he pulled them out, she just...unraveled. She turned into even more threads for him to use."
"That's so scary!" Mina said.
"And gross!" Toru said.
"He wasn't the worst," Lee said. "Inkling is covered in tattoos that she can freely manipulate at almost the same speed I can run. She can pull things out of them, like knives, for example, that are real weapons, and then when she's done with them, they explode. She can also create near-perfect replicas of people she's been...intimate with, willing or otherwise."
"Wait, did she..." Momo trailed off, seeing the rage in Lee's face.
"Not me," Lee growled. "My sister. All three of them, all week."
"Oh my god!" Momo gasped, covering her mouth.
"Is she okay?" Mina asked.
"Physically," Lee said. "Although she's probably pregnant, even though no one wants to admit it. Emotionally and mentally...she acts okay, but she's broken."
"What about the third one?" Toru asked. "The villain."
"He's been the star of a nightmare every night since the fight," Lee said. "He's faster than me, only instead of electricity from his eyes, it's fire, and he doesn't have the same fragile drawback. He's got the perfect version of my Quirk, and he's evil."
All three were silent while that digested.
"I'm just lad you're okay," Toru said, slipping her hand into his.
"Same," Mina smiled, taking his other hand.
"Agreed," Momo nodded.
Lee smiled and nodded.
"But, wait, was your exoskeleton broken in the fight?" Mina asked.
"Yeah," Lee said. "But it's alright. My sister finished my new one." He took his hands back to tug his sleeve up, displaying the sleeve of his suit. "Just gotta slip on the gloves and I'm good to go. It's a full body suit this time, and it fits inside my boots, attaches to my metal spine with super-magnets, and the gloves attach to the sleeves the same way and use them to transfer impacts."
"That is so cool!" Mina said.
"I'm so jealous you have something as cool as that!" Toru said. "I wish my costume could be that cool."
"Well that would kind of defeat your Quirk," Lee said.
"True," Toru said.
"Your friend Tatsumi is amazing at making materials," Momo said, inspecting one of his gloves.
"Oh, right," Lee said. "That reminds me. My sister sent the atomic data and structure for the materials, and the specifications for working on the suit. Tatsumi...blames me for what happened to Amy. So, he's done helping with my exoskeletons and anything similar. Actually, he's cut all ties to me, except Amy."
Mina frowned. "What, are they…"
"Yeah," Lee said. "For a while, apparently, and it took all of this for them to get around to letting me know my friend was boning my sister."
"That's not usually something people want to know about," Toru said.
"Well I obviously don't want details, but it'd be nice to know there's a threat of me walking in on them," Lee said.
"That's true," Momo said as they reached the training area and went to the separate training rooms to change. Lee stopped, staring at himself in the mirror. his black hair was as messy as ever, still permanently growing backward from his Quirk, his eyes had dark circles under them that the glowing of his neural implant helped to hide, and his exosuit was covered by a dark grey muscle shirt and a pair of tight black shorts with silver strips up the sides. He sighed, pulling his mask on and shot out of the changing room to the others, stopping beside his usual three companions. A few seconds after he arrived, All Might arrived.
"I am here!" All Might announced. "Hope you're ready to return to our lessons. Today it's Hero Basic Training! Feel's like I haven't seen you in a while. Welcome back! Now then, listen carefully for what's in store. We're going to be conducting a little race!"
The class groaned, looking to Lee.
"Take everything you've learned from your internships and apply it to this rescue training," All Might said.
Iida's hand shot up, even though both forearms were wrapped in bandages and were apparently so injured that he couldn't wear his armor. "If it's rescue training, then shouldn't we be at the USJ instead?"
"He did say it was a race," Lee shrugged, the entire class paling at the thought of racing all the way to the USJ.
All Might laughed. "No, no. That facility specializes in disasters. As I said earlier, this is a race, though not anywhere far from here. It's a race inside of this training ground. This is Field Gamma! Inside is an area full of factories that form an intricate labyrinth, so good luck finding your way around. You'll be competing in groups of five. Each group starts at a different location on the outskirts of the model city. I'll send a distress signal, and you do what you must to rescue me. Whoever finds me first wins! But try to keep a property damage to a bare minimum, please." He pointed to Bakugo.
"Why are you pointing at me?" Bakugo growled.
"Alright!" All Might said. "First group, get to your places!"
Midoriya, Sero, Iida, Mina, and Ojiro all entered the fake city, splitting up around the city. The others began to comment on the matchup almost instantly as they sat down to watch on the gigantic screen displaying footage of the race.
"I'd say Midoriya is at a heavy disadvantage against those four," Momo said.
"That's what I'm saying," Kyoka said. "Moving around quickly isn't exactly one of his strong suits, that's for sure."
"And whenever he uses his powers, he always gets badly injured," Momo added.
"Who's your pick?" Eijiro asked. "I'm betting on Sero."
"Oh yeah?" Denki asked, then thought for a moment. "I got odds on Ojiro."
"I choose Ashido, because she's got a super athletic bod," Mineta said.
"I know Deku will be last," Bakugo said.
"It's going to be Sero," Lee said. "The city may be set up as a labyrinth, but if you can just throw yourself over all the obstacles, it's a straight shot."
"Oh, good point!" Denki said. "Yeah, I'm changing my vote."
"I don't know," Uraraka said. "Even if he's still recovering, I think Iida's still got this one."
Su nodded in agreement.
"Is everyone ready?" All Might asked. "Begin!"
He pressed a switch on a remote and a horn blew somewhere. Everyone took off instantly. Mina was sliding around with her goo, using massive pipes and tubes like paths, Sero was swinging around, Ojiro was jumping off his tail and moving rapidly, and Iida was sprinting faster than ever. However, it was Midoriya that caught everyone's attention. When the camera finally found him, it was as he passed Sero, leaping around almost in a blur. He was leaping from the pipes, walls, roofs, and anything else he could land on. Lee grinned. He'd finally gained some measure of control. And lightning, apparently, as lime green electricity was coursing over Midoriya's body.
"What!?" half the class shouted.
"Midoriya!?" Eijiro gaped.
"No way!" Denki said.
"That's crazy," Uraraka said. "Those jumps...he looks just like...Bakugo!"
Then, just as it looked like Midoriya was going to win, his foot slipped off of a pipe and he fell. A few moments later, Sero had won. Lee sighed, resting his face in his hand. Leave it to Midoriya to get everyone excited, then slip up and end it prematurely. All Might congratulated Group One and called in Group Two. Lee, Bakugo, Todoroki, Uraraka, and Momo all walked into the training zone and spread out. Lee closed his eyes, mind returning to his fight during the internship. He was fucked in the air. He couldn't use his Quirk if he couldn't make himself move. He opened his eyes as the horn sounded and Electricity arced from his eyes. He shot forward, running the two hundred feet he had before he had to jump and leapt into the air, landing on the side of a wall and taking a few steps before jumping again. He landed on the underside of a pipe for a few steps before leaping forward and flipping onto a lower pipe in time to leap off of it to a walkway above himself. He shot along the walkway for three hundred feet, then launched himself off of it, flipping and landing in front of All Might about two seconds before Bakugo landed opposite him, Todoroki arriving using his flames about a second later. Both sighed just before Uraraka jumped off of a roof and streaked toward them before returning her own weight and landed at the same time as Momo, who had used a ridiculously long pole extending from her hand to reach the top of the pillar they were on.
"That was very impressive!" All Might said. "But in the end, the winner was Young Lee. Well done!"
He handed Lee a sash that read "Thanks for saving me" and congratulated all of them. They all headed back and Momo turned to Lee.
"You're as fast as ever," Momo said. "Even having to jump around and dodge a bunch of buildings, you still won."
"Thanks," Lee smiled. "I need a lot more training, though. I need a way to move around in the air. otherwise, I'm vulnerable."
"Well, yes, but unless someone can fly, so is everyone else," Momo said.
"The one that attacked me was able to use his Quirk effectively even in the air," Lee said. "I can still use my Quirk, but I'll still be falling at the same speed. At best, I'll just see attacks coming at me slower. But him..." He trailed off, sighing. "I'm pretty sure if I'm going to have anything similar to an arch-nemesis, it's this guy. Whoever the hell he is."
"You shouldn't worry so much," Momo said. "You're going to be fine. You won't be alone next time you have to fight them."
"I wasn't alone last time, either," Lee said. "Sorry. You're right. Thanks."
Momo nodded, forcing a smile but knowing he didn't really feel any better. The two of them headed back to the others, sitting with Mina and Toru to watch the rest of the teams go. After training, Lee changed quickly and left the changing room, slipping his exosuit's gloves into his pockets and waiting for the others outside. As he did, his thoughts once again drifted to the fight. His eyes narrowed instantly and his mood darkened.
"You should try to avoid thinking about it," Aizawa said. "There's nothing you can do by giving yourself an ulcer."
Lee sighed. "I suppose."
After a moment, he heard Mineta's voice scream and his frown deepened before he sighed. After a few more minutes, they all returned and headed back to class. Then, before they were released for the day, Aizawa made an announcement. A training-camping trip during the summer. Everyone cheered.
"A big sleep over!" Mina cheered.
"Baths!" Mineta said.
"Fireworks!" Su added.
"Springs!" Mineta added.
"And smores," Iida said.
"Skinny dipping!" Mineta said, practically foaming at the mouth as Lee held out a hand, Momo forming him a yard stick that he smacked Mineta on the head with, hard enough to sting but not hurt.
"No one is skinny dipping, Mineta," Lee said. "Chill out. It's camping, not a beach, resort, or hot spring. It's going to be dirty, bug-infested, and there are going to be bears."
Mineta scrambled to hide under his desk. "I was trying to look at the positives!"
"Well, I suppose one positive is that there won't be any tests," Lee offered. "I hope."
"There will be training, though," Iida reminded him.
"We've been training in cities so these will be very different conditions for most of us," Momo said.
"No matter what the environment, we must always remain vigilant," Fumikage said. "Yes, very wise."
"Hanging out with everyone all summer!" Toru cheered. "I'm so excited!"
"However," Aizawa said, eyes glowing for a moment and effectively shutting up the entire class. "Those of you who don't pass the final exam before the semester is over will have summer school."
"Everyone, do your best!" Eijiro and Denki both shouted, even though Denki was the lowest grade in the class during midterms.
"This is so stupid," Bakugo grumbled.
"All you girls better pass this thing!" Mineta said.
Aizawa dismissed them and they all headed home for the day, Lee immediately going to check on Amy, who was still recovering, even though she'd been released from the hospital. Once he was sure she didn't need anything, he began to study.
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