I do not own My Hero Academia or any of its characters.
Difference In Experience
Lee watched the Big Three, the absolute best students in all of Japan, as they walked into the room. They were third-years who all scored perfectly in basically every subject basically every time. One was a blond guy with a powerfully built body and his hair standing up toward the front named Mirio Togata. Another was a girl with blue hair falling to the back of her knees with the hair in front of her right ear curling forward and the hair in front of her left ear curling back named Nejire Hado. The last was a lanky guy who was slouched forward and looked a bit gloomy with pointed ears and raven hair cut short, messy in the back with his bangs split into three sections to frame his face and fall in between his eyes, kind of reminding Lee of that anime character Sasuke Uchiha. This one's name was Tamaki Amajiki.
Aizawa said they were here to talk about the work studies in detail now that Midoriya was back in class, though Bakugo wouldn't get back until the next day. The class began to murmur about the three students, Mina being the most excited, as usual, But Lee contained his lack of excitement. He didn't particularly care how good of students they were. In the end, they'd all become heroes anyway. He didn't care much how good of students they were. Lee glanced at Mineta and rolled his eyes, seeing him drooling while staring at Hado.
"Get to it," Aizawa said. "Introduce yourselves briefly. Let's start with Amajiki."
Amajiki's eyes narrowed into a look of pure disgust and hatred that made the entire class cringe and shrink back. Then, Amajiki began to tremble. "It's no good. I just can't. You two go."
Both of the others looked over at him in surprise, Lee and the rest of his own class all staring at him in confusion, even more so after his next statement.
"Even if I imagine them all as potatoes, I can see their human bodies," Amajiki said. "I know that they're still people. No words are coming out. My mind's blank. And my mouth is dry. I can't say anything. I wanna..." he turned away from them, facing the wall, "go home."
"Okay, so um...are you really one of U.A.'s top heroes?" Ojiro asked.
Hado giggled. "Come on Amajiki! You need to have the heart of a lion, not a kitten! Ya know, even though you're human. Know what I mean?" She turned back to the front, smiling sweetly. "This is our kitten, Tamaki Amajiki, and hi, my name is Nejire Hado. I'm supposed to talk about work studies. You first-years have a really exciting time ahead of you!" her eyes widened. "Hey, wait, hold on!" She darted over to Shoji and bent down to eye level, cocking her head tot he side. "Why are you wearing a mask? Is it cause you're feeling sick?" She leaned closer, Shoji leaning away instinctively. "Or just...trying to look cool?"
"Uh...well..." Shoji wasn't quite sure what to say, but it didn't really matter.
Hado jumped up, eyes and smile wide with excitement. "Oh wow! And you must be Todoroki, am I right!?" She leaned to the side to look at the student in question. "Yeah! How'd you get that big burn on your face?"
Todoroki's eyes widened in surprise. "That's none of your-"
"And Ashido!" Hado said, moving on to the next student with her obviously child-like curiosity and attention span. "if your horns break off, do you think you'll grow new ones?"
Mina reached up to her horns self-consciously.
"Oh and can you wiggle them?" Hado asked, then turned to her next victim. "Mineta, are those balls your hair or what? I don't get it! How do you get a haircut? Oh, oh, Asui, you're a tree frog, not a gross toad, right?"
Su pointed at herself while Mineta was in a daze from being talked to directly, and kindly, by a girl.
"Oh my goodness, there's so much I wanna know about every one of you!" Hado gushed. "Let's have a Q and A!"
"She's a total airhead!" Denki fawned, smiling deliriously. "Even cuter!"
"Those questions make her sound so young!" Mina smiled.
"She wants to know everything about my balls!" Mineta grinned. "I'll spill my secrets! Come get up close and personal!"
"Calm down!" Sero groaned.
"Hey Ojiro!" Hado said, turning to her next apparent victim. "Can you support your entire bodyweight with that tail of yours?"
"Uh...well...you see..."
"Come on!" Hado said, leaning into his personal space, making him lean back. "Tell me! I really wanna know!"
Just then, Aizawa activated his Quirk, glaring at Mirio. "This is completely irrational!"
"O-Oh, there's no need for you to worry, Eraser Head!" Mirio said nervously, then began to jab a thumb at himself repeatedly. "I'm up next and I'll get the audience refocused." He leaned forward, cupping a hand to his ear. "The future's gonna be..."
Everyone stared at him silently, waiting for him to give in and just tell them.
"Gonna be what?" Denki asked.
"Awful!" Mirio said. "That's your part guys!" He stood up straight, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh crap! My call and response was a total fail!" He began to laugh loudly.
"Is it just me, or does it seem like each of them is a complete weirdo?" Sato asked quietly. "What's the deal?"
"Their strangeness is palpable," Fumikage agreed.
"Okay, you guys look like you have no idea what's going on," Mirio noted, now standing behind Aizawa's podium. "I guess we are third-years who just showed up in your classroom to explain a program that's completely voluntary. I can see how you'd be confused by that. Hm." He held a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "You guys got your provisional licenses as first-years, right? Huh. This new batch of students has proven to be pretty darn energetic." He paused for a second before nodding to himself. "So the problem is, you must not have a sense of humor. That's why my joke didn't land."
Hado, who was kneeling in front of Ojiro still, looked back at him as Amajiki turned to look at Mirio as well.
"Don't do it," Amajiki warned unenthusiastically.
Mirio punched a fist into the air. "Heads up! The rad no plan is all you first-years fight me at once!"
"Huh?" the class asked. "HUH!?"
"You wanna fight us?" Eijiro asked. "What, like, now?"
"Well if you want them to experience our experience, this is a pretty rational way of doing it, then," Mirio said to Aizawa, who was scowling at him. "Right Eraser Head? Rational."
"Do whatever you want," Aizawa said, Lee's eyes widening.
They all headed to Gym Gamma, everyone except Lee changing into their PE uniforms, since Lee wasn't allowed to do any kind of physical training until the day after his arms came out of their casts.
"Is he...for real?" Eijiro asked.
"Yeah, totes real," Mirio said, stretching his legs.
"Mirio, you're impossible!" Amajiki complained from where he was leaning his head against the wall. "It would have been simple enough for us to just tell them. This is what it's like. Here's what we learned from it. Not everyone has your level of drive. Plus think of how bad it'll look if some of them can't recover after fighting you. No one wants to spend a few years in a hospital bed."
"Huh?" Mineta asked.
"I bet he's just trying to psyche us out," Eijiro said.
"Hey, listen up, it's story time," Hado said, currently off to the side with Mina, using her finger to wiggle Mina's horns. "Long ago, a student got frustrated in class and quit being a hero, and it was terrible for everyone. Did you know that? So Togata, I know our job is tough, but you better make sure that you know what you're doing. Be careful, okay?"
"Please stop touching those!" Mina whined.
"Let's think about this," Fumikage said. "You're obviously much further ahead than us, but we've fought pros before."
"Not to mention we took down some legitimate villains," Eijiro said. "I don't think you need to worry about hurting us. We're not a bunch of wannabes."
Lee sighed. They were underestimating Mirio. He was top student for a reason. Plus, he'd definitely fought pros during his time at U.A. as well, and during his work study, he'd probably fought villains.
"Hm, heard, but you're going to have to show me that's the thruth," Mirio smirked. "Now who's going to start this party?"
"Mister Aizawa, can I please take part too?" Lee asked. "As long as I only use kicks?"
"No," Aizawa said. "Now pay attention. You're still here to learn."
Lee sighed, turning back to the impending beatdown as Midoriya volunteered to go first.
"View this as a learning experience," Aizawa called out. "It's a good opportunity for you."
"Oh the problem child!" Mirio grinned. "Yes, this is perfect! I've heard you got plenty of fire in ya!"
Midoriya moved to attack, only for Mirio's clothes to begin to through him, exposing his heavilly muscled and toned phisique, as well as other things. Lee's eyes widened. Intangibility. Kyoka shrieked in embarrassment, holding her hands up to shield her eyes, face scarlet.
"Why did you clothes just fall off!?" Sero demanded.
"Oopsy!" Mirio said, hurriedly trying to get dressed again. "My Quirk's kinda tricky!"
Midoriya leapt at him, falling from above and moving to attack, only for his foot to pass through Mirio's head harmlessly. He spun, skidding to a stop behind Mirio, who'd finished pulling his pants on, smiling confidently again.
"Went for the face, huh?" Mirio asked, just as a strand of Sero's tape, a stream of Mina's acid, and Aoyama's navel laser passed through Mirio's head from the back, equally harmlessly.
Midoriya dodged out of the way and they exploded against one of the stone pillars still filling the gym. However, when the dust settled and the three ended their attacks, Mirio was gone. Then, he shot out of the ground behind Kyoka, once again naked.
"I think I'll start by taking out the long-distance fighters," Mirio said.
Kyoka shrieked as she turned, seeing his state of undress, again.
"He warped?" Iida asked.
"His power isn't just slipping through things!" Sato said as he and Eijiro moved to attack him again.
"How'd he luck out with such a good Quirk?" Eijiro demanded.
"You're wrong," Amajiki said as Fumikage attacked Mirio, only for him to again drop into the ground. "Mirio's Quirk isn't what you should be jealous of."
"He's had too much experience," Lee said. "We won't beat him because he's had years more training and actual experience than us, allowing him a huge advantage."
Aizawa nodded. "Very good."
Suddenly, Mirio was in front of Fumikage, drilling a punch into his gut and dropping him, then, he sped past Sero, dropping him equally quickly.
"You should be envying his skills," Amajiki was saying as Mirio dropped Mineta just as fast. "That's what sets him apart, first-years. Mirio did a work study with a hero but didn't stop there."
Mirio dropped Aoyama, Su, and Mina in rapid succession.
"He kept building himself up," Amajiki said as Mirio popped out of the ground in the middle of Shoji, Kyoka, Momo, and Denki, dropping them all, using his Quirk to munch Momo through a shield.
Then, he pulled on his pants again and grinned, walking away from the thoroughly demolished students class. Lee glanced at them and his eyes widened as he realized Mirio had also somehow managed to use Kyoka's earphone jacks as ropes to tie her to Denki.
"Power!" Mirio cheered.
Anyone left standing stared at Mirio in shock.
"Mirio Togata," Aizawa said. "In my opinion, he's the person who's closest to taking the spot of number one hero. That's including the pros."
"He got more than half of them in an instant!" Todoroki breathed from beside Lee. "A student, but closer to being number one than most heroes."
"You're not gonna fight?" Aizawa asked. "You must be interested in taking the top spot yourself."
"I didn't even get my provisional license though," Todoroki said.
"I think that's it for the long-distance fighters," Mirio said, inspecting his work before turning back to the last handful of students.
Lee glanced over the group. Midoriya, Iida, Ojiro, Eijiro, Toru, Koda, Sato, and Uraraka. Todoroki, if he decided to fight after all. Mirio had won.
"All that's left are the ones who specialize in close-quarters combat," Mirio smiled.
"I have no idea how he just did that!" Eijiro said.
"It's one thing to be able to phase through stuff, but warping too?" Uraraka asked.
"He's unrivaled!" Ojiro breathed as Mirio took a martial arts stance. "Do we stand a chance?"
"Hold the flattery," Mirio said, smiling confidently.
"There's more to his Quirk than we're seeing!" Midoriya said. "Whether his Quirk is slipping through matter, or warping himself, he's still connecting his blows directly! We should be able to counter him in that moment he's about to make contact! Even if we can't tell what he's doing, we should theorize with what we do know and use that knowledge to find a way to beat him!"
"Yeah!" Eijiro grinned. "You said it! House arrest didn't put a dent in your fighting spirit!"
Mirio took off at a sprint, grin still in place. "Let's see if you can figure out how to win!" Then, he dropped into the ground.
Midoriya flipped, kicking back at Mirio as he popped out of the ground behind him, throwing a punch. Mirio grinned, moving to catch the foot, only for it to pass into his arm.
"Watch this!" Mirio grinned. "An ultimate move!" He moved to jab Midoriya in the eye. "Blinder Touch Eyeball Thrust!"
His haned passed through Midoriya's head harmlessly as Midoriya flinched and closed his eyes. Then, Mirio's other fist collided with Midoriya's gut hard, throwing him into the air as Mirio dropped into the ground.
"I discovered that most people try and launch a counter attack just like you did," Mirio said, then sank below the ground. "So naturally I've trained to work around such moves! Nice try though!"
Midoriya sailed backward, unconscious, and crashed to the ground hard, bouncing and rolling to a stop.
"Midoriya!" Iida shouted, only to spin as Mirio appeared behind him, his fist colliding with Iida's gut.
Eijiro was next, with Mirio somehow falling at him from above suddenly. Then Koda was up, with Mirio speeding past everyone else to land a blow. After him went Sato, Ojiro, and Toru and Uraraka together.
"Power!" Mirio shouted again, having finished off the entire class.
Lee shook his head. "The insane amount of training he must have put himself through...I can't begin to imagine."
Aizawa watched him for a moment before sighing. "Would you like a turn?"
"No," Lee said. "It would end the same way. I can't beat him."
Aizawa nodded as Mirio finished getting dressed and Class One A all scraped themselves off the floor, all clutching their stomachs in agony.
"I tried to make it so you wouldn't see my willy," Mirio said. "Sorry if you got a peek. But anyway, that's a taste of what it's like to fight me!"
"We all just got punched in the stomach without ever knowing what was going on," Midoriya groaned.
"Right, so what do you think?" Mirio asked. "Isn't my Quirk strong?"
"Yeah, it's too strong!" Sero shouted.
"That's not fair!" Toru complained. "Mine's nothing in comparison!"
"How can you slip through things and warp?" Mina asked. "Do you have two powers like Todoroki does?"
"It's not his Quirk that's strong," Lee said. "Useful maybe, but not his true power. His power comes from an incredible amount of training to make himself strong. As for the warping, I have a guess. He's able to slip through matter, but if his tangibility ends, there's mass from two objects overlapping, which isn't possible. My guess is that the matter that existed before he moved to that spot ejects him, allowing him to pass into the ground, then let it eject him to move at incredible speeds."
"Wow, you're good!" Mirio said. "You didn't even have to fight me to figure it out!"
"If I had, I'd be about to throw up too," Lee said. "What's it called?"
"Oh, I know, I know!" Hado said, raising a hand and looking to Mirio. "Can I say it?" She turned back tot hem without waiting for an answer. "Permeation! Cool right?"
"By adjusting the direction I'm facing, or the pose I'm holding, I can change the angle I come out at so I can aim at different spots!" Mirio said.
"That sounds like a buggy video game," Mina said, cheeks puffed out as she pouted.
Mirio laughed. "Hey, that's pretty funny!"
"You're able to avoid any attacks, and you're able to move in an instant!" Su said. "You were born with a really strong Quirk!"
"Not true," Mirio said. "Like your friend said, my power's only strong because I made it that way. While my Quirk is activated, my lungs can't take in oxygen. Even if I breathe in, the air will just pass through. In the same way, my eardrums don't work, and light can't go through my retinas. I can pass through everything, but that means I can't feel anything while I'm in that state. Even though I have a body, I can't stop falling. I could probably keep going down forever. Does that make sense? That's why, if I want to go through something, say, a wall, I have to concentrate really hard. I'll activate everything except one leg, then I'll release the other leg and land on it, and then the first leg is the last to go through. Even for a simple action like that, there are a bunch of steps involved."
"Oh man, if I were in a hurry, I'd mess that up every single time," Denki said.
"Seriously, if you can't feel anything, how are you supposed to move?" Mineta asked.
"Growing up, I was always behind, as you might expect," Mirio said. "In no time I dropped to dead last. I dropped my pants a lot, too. In order to get to the top with this Quirk, I couldn't just hope that things would get better." He pointed at the ceiling, then began to tap his finger against his forehead. "I had to think! I learned to make combat decisions and picked up a few new tricks. Above all, I learned to predict what would happen next. And what made those predictions possible in the first place was experience! I based those predictions on what I'd learned. This was kind of a roundabout way to get the point across, but that's why I wanted to fight. To show you through experience rather than words. In our work studies, we're not treated as guests like in our internships. We're regarded as one of the sidekicks, or even as a pro! That can be super scary. Pros can get hurts. And sometimes they end up watching people die."
Mae flashed through Lee's head and his gaze fell to the floor.
"But every scary and painful experience is an important lesson that you can't get inside a classroom, even at U.A.," Mirio continued, making a fist in front of himself. "I transformed the experience I got in my work study into power! That's how I got to the top spot! And that's why I think they're worth it, even if you're scared! You with me, first-years?"
Everyone began to clap.
"He even gives pep talks like a pro," Ojiro said.
"I can't believe he went through all of this for us, even though he could have just explained it," Momo said.
"So these really are different," Denki said. "I did kind of feel like I missed out on stuff in my internship."
"Yeah, they tried not to let us do anything too dangerous," Kyoka said.
"Guess it won't be that way during work studies," Sero said.
"Now that we've got our licenses, we'll be treated like pros once we're on the scene," Iida said, Uraraka nodding.
"We gotta prepare ourselves for that," Sato said.
"Just what I wanted!" Eijiro grinned, punching his hand excitedly.
"Yeah, this is great!" Toru exclaimed. "All of us came to U.A. because we wanna be pro heroes, right!?"
"That's true," Shoji said.
"Se la vi!" Aoyama said.
"We have to keep climbing," Fumikage said.
"And be Plus Ultra!" Koda added.
"Let's get back to class now!" Aizawa said. "Say thank you!"
"Thank you very much!" everyone said, bowing.
Then, they left to head back to class for the day.
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