Chapter 10: To Return Back Home
Shigaraki sneered at the photo in his hand. It was the stupid purple and green wannabe heroes/END agents when they were fighting in the Sports Festival. In the heat of battle, their faces were cold and determined — just like you'd expect from assassins. Deep, burning hatred bellowed up in the pit of his stomach, and before he knew it, the photo was disintegrating under his fingers.
"Oh no," a voice called out. A voice he really wasn't in the mood to deal with. "Someone looks grumpy. Did we come at a bad time?"
The new recruits were infuriating. It was embarrassing they had them at all, but Sensei insisted. Since Stain left, his impact was...something Sensei didn't want to pass up on. All of these new villains were coming out of hiding, preaching what Stain said. The problem was that Stain was a damn END sympathizer.
"Why do we have to go after the END kids too? Stain said they're just another result of heroes' failures. They're not much different than us," Spinner argued once. Shigaraki almost disintegrated his face off, but Kurogiri stopped him.
"They're hardly innocent," Sensei explained for him, knowing his student would lose his temper if he tried. "Whatever the reasoning behind it, they're a known obstacle for our mission. If you wish to accomplish what Stain tried, you must accept that they'll be the first to get in your way. That's where Stain failed, and that's how he got taken out by them."
"What do we even know about them?" asked Dabi, the most infuriating of them all.
"Agent President is so dreamy on TV. I want to meet him so badly!" Toga gushed like the creepy school girl she was.
"The most problematic are these two brats," Shigaraki flicked away the ashes of the photo. "But their two commanders are also annoying, especially the red one."
"Ah, yes, Agent Devil," Mr. Compress said. "He seems like quite an interesting character. So hard to get a read on him."
"What's it matter? They're all annoying and I want them taken care of."
"And how do you suggest that? If I recall correctly, END's kicked your ass every time without really trying," Dabi pointed out. Normally, the comment would send Shigaraki into a fit. Instead, he slowly pulled out his secret weapon — a prize, left for him by the purple honeypot.
"Don't worry. Sensei's already taken care of that."
-.-.-.-
"So what you're saying...about All For One…"
Izuku stewed over the information Toshinori shared with him. Of a time when a previous villain claimed the title of Number One. A villain that could steal quirks from others and ruled by inciting fear and oppression. A villain that accidentally created One For All, and has spent decades trying to destroy it and its users. A villain that gave All-Might the wound that would soon end his career.
"There's no doubt about it," Izuku mumbled, his brain moving faster with every passing second. "All For One must be the contractor behind all the Nomu experiments. He must be the one who hired Shiro years ago, who supplied all the quirks that created Korosensei and the Reaper and all these new Nomu. There's no one else who could be behind it, he must also be the one pulling the strings for the League of Villains like Hitoshi speculated. I've got to tell Karasuma and END about this, they need to know — but wait, I can't tell them about One For All, I have to find evidence first without blowing your secret—"
"Kid!" Yagi interrupted, gripping Izuku's shoulders. "Calm down, you'll stress me and yourself out."
Izuku blushed sheepishly and took a deep breath. "S-Sorry. It's just...a lot to think about. If my theory is right, and All For One really is the mastermind, the chessmaster, then...it just answers a lot of questions we've had for a while."
Yagi huffed. "Certainly sounds like it. You really think All For One was the one who commissioned for the Tentacle to be...created, so you said?"
"He must be. Korosensei told us that, back before he became the Tentacle, he was a quirkless assassin. He was forced to become Shiro's lab rat, but he said someone else was giving Shiro the quirks and funding for his research. It has to be All For One."
The blond Pro-Hero shook his head, laughing breathlessly and staring out the window. "To think the Tentacle, the one who dethroned All For One in the eyes of the public, started out quirkless, just like All For One's brother...justice does have a funny way of being born from evil, huh?"
Izuku nodded. It was amusing to think that twice All For One created powerful beings capable of challenging his strength. But the only problem now was that one of those beings was no longer alive to stop him.
...but that doesn't mean he was gone.
"We'll stop him together, All-Might," Izuku declared, staring into the man's sunken eyes. "You carry the weight of One For All, and I carry the legacy of Korosensei. Our powers are destined to stop him."
Yagi blinked incredulously. "Kid, I don't think you understand how powerful this man is. I barely survived last time; in my weakened state, there's no way—"
"Then we'll just have to find you a successor to carry on your work, like Korosensei did! He wasn't granted enough time to stop All For One himself, but that doesn't mean he won't be there when he's taken down. He's always here—" he placed a hand over his chest, over his scar and his heart, "—and I know you'll be doing the same, if you have to pass down your power to your successor. It's just all the more reason for us to focus on looking. I've been looking at the third-year students…"
Izuku rambled away, pulling out his quirk journal and flipping through the pages, brandishing his favorites. All the while, he missed the deep, contemplative, and conflicted look in Yagi's eyes. He missed the fact that All-Might wasn't looking at the pages in the hero journal.
He was looking at Izuku.
-.-.-.-
While they were a little late on upholding the promise (between the League, Nomus, Stain, and hero training, it was understandable), they eventually set up a time for Hatsume to check out some of END's tech.
"You're sure this isn't some lowlife trying to steal our designs and sell them on the black market?" Itona grumbled, hugging the box of support items close to his chest. Shinsou snorted while Izuku laughed meekly.
"No, Hatsume's not like that, we promise," Izuku swore, but the brainwasher shrugged sarcastically.
"Well, she might copy some of your ideas to sell them to hero agencies, but not on the black market." Izuku glared and elbowed his best friend because such commentary was not needed.
"I'm sure it'll be fine, Itona. Who knows, maybe you'll even get new support item ideas from her," Isogai said cheerfully. He was assigned the duty of 'chaperone' since this was END tech being shown here, and Karasuma and Ms. Jelavić were out on 'undisclosed business' — a term everyone in E-class has well come to understand meant 'Karasuma's family issues.'
("I heard they're taking in Karasuma's nephew," Nakamura gossiped when their handler agents abruptly left the base. Mimura rolled his eyes.
"Okay, of all your 'bets' Nakamura, that one is by far the craziest. Karasuma and Bitch-sensei? With a little kid? Are you hoping the Earth is going to blow up again or something?"
Izuku had to agree. Even though he knew they were together, he couldn't imagine his two teachers ever having kids, much less adopting one so soon. But if it was true, he wondered what the family issues were. Wasn't there some rumor about a cousin no longer being able to take care of the kid? What happened there?
Nakamura shrugged nonchalantly. "That's just what my sources tell me."
"Oh yeah? What are your sources? Fuwa's fanfic collection?" teased Okajima. The boy was swiftly kicked in the face and the balls by both girls.)
They met Hatsume in one of the Support course labs. Surprisingly, the girl didn't immediately attack Itona or his tech, instead staring intensely at Isogai, and not in the star-struck fangirl way.
"Isogai Yuuma...I thought you were done with the hero support world?" she asked tensely, her eyes wild. Isogai, E-class president, elite combatist, top marksman, professional agent and assassin, flinched hard.
"You know each other?" Shinsou asked incredulously, sounding exhausted. Honestly, Izuku could relate. The last thing he needed was another weird connection between his old and new classmates. Karma and Todoroki were enough, okay?
Trying to compose himself, the P.R. head nodded shakily. "We met a couple years back, at a hero support conference — which was the last one I ever went to because I have no intention of ever going into hero support!"
It was strange watching Isogai, the most fawned over boy in E-class, not instantly be loved by everyone he met. But finally, Hatsume let up, seemingly satisfied with the answer, and turned her attention to Itona. Her bubbly personality returned, and Izuku blinked. What happened at that support conference?
Unsurprisingly, Itona and Hatsume actually got along super well. While Itona seemed a little put off for her loud personality at first, he warmed up once they started taking engineering and design. They bounced off each other, bringing up bigger and better ideas and concepts, and Izuku's brain hurt trying to keep up. Shinsou didn't even bother and opted for taking a nap in one of the chairs.
"What about the capture item puppet rings? Do you have those?" Hatsume pestered, and Shinsou jolted out of his nap. He gestured widely behind Hatsume's back, begging Itona not to say anything—
"Huh? They're Shinsou's special weapon; he came up with the initial concept and version himself. Why don't you ask him?"
The terrifying aura reappeared around Hatsume, and Isogai cowered underneath a desk. The pink-haired girl turned to the brainwasher, a mad look in her eyes.
"Is that so…"
Izuku sweatdropped and ducked next to Isogai. Rest in peace, Hitoshi…
(In the end, after Hatsume chased down the brainwasher for ten minutes using every support item in existence, Shinsou agreed to demonstrate his capture rings' abilities and let Hatsume touch them under some intense supervision and promises to not hurt his 'babies.')
-.-.-.-
animatedthinker
My Thoughts on the Emergency National Defense, A Post
So, like post people, when I first heard about this 'END' group made of child assassins that managed to kill the Number One Villain, I was scared shitless. I'm a goddamn university student that can barely tie my shoes, and there's children out there that could kill literally anyone. I was terrified. I didn't like hearing about them, nor thinking about them, and I couldn't believe there were kids out there going to school with them.
But then I actually saw them.
Alright, I've seen END multiple times through media outlets and news coverage and PR conferences — my whole family watched every second of the mountain raid news coverage. But it wasn't until the U.A. Sports Festival that I really saw them, and I saw...children.
Maybe it was the context that changed by view; seeing END next to terrifyingly powerful hero students the same age as them, or maybe seeing them with those ridiculous t-shirts and signs while cheering on the underdogs, or maybe seeing them play around during the intermission games, but it wasn't until the Sports Festival that I finally realized that they're...children.
They're children who repeatedly save the world (likely against their will, since I doubt the government gave them an option joining), and I'm a goddamn university student that can barely tie my shoes and treated these poor kids like shit and feared them for no reason and contributed to the problem.
And it's not okay.
aoitsubes
This. Everyone needs to read this because it's so true.
superduperherofan
#SaveEND #ItsNotTheirJob #LetThemBeKids
-.-.-.-
Before Izuku knew it, the end of term exams had already arrived. There was a distinct lack of Korosensei doubles rushing around the classroom, trying to individually assist every student at once. There was no competition with Asano and 3-A, or bets to take out tentacles, or promises to rank in the top spots of the grades. The only thing that was on the line was making the summer training or not.
It hurt a lot more than he expected.
At U.A. for exams, they didn't even create a final ranking between all of the classes like Kunugigaoka; which, in a way, made sense. The workload covered the Business course was different from the Hero course, so their tests were different and therefore non-comparable. But it was still weird to think that the only competition for rankings would be between 1-A. He brought this up with Uraraka in class (who was a lot more open around him after the Sports Festival and her hero internship), and the brown-haired girl sheepishly admitted she was relieved.
"Kunugigaoka was always so serious about rankings, I thought I was going to die every time exams came around. Every time I got my results back, I was so scared I would be dropped to E-class — ah, no offense of course!"
Izuku waved her off; that mindset was the reason Principal Asano created 3-E, after all. He was more surprised by her nervousness. "Really? But...weren't you in 3-B? Shouldn't your rank be higher…?"
Uraraka looked away and awkwardly scratched her nose. "Um, no, not really. I was usually in the lower half for exam rankings, but they kept me in 3-B because they knew I wanted to go to U.A. and said my quirk had a lot of potential."
Ah. It made sense, given how many students they sent to hero schools, that they'd made exceptions for students that showed interest and had the potential.
"Ughhh, I'm totally doomed," Kaminari lamented, leaning against an equally miserable Ashido. The duo received the lowest scores in the class on the written midterms earlier in the year. "I didn't have a second to study last time because of all the events, and now they expect me to pass a written and practical exam? Wasn't the entrance exam enough?"
Tokoyami and a few others hummed in agreement while Shinsou snorted bitterly and Izuku smirked. At least they didn't have to experience the hell that was Kunugigaoka's practical exams in middle school.
The electric blond noticed and pouted. "Eh, why are you guys so unbothered? Aren't you the busiest out of all of us?!"
Logically, that would be the case. Between END missions and training, classwork, homework, and hero training, there shouldn't be any time in their schedules for studying. And if they're being honest, there isn't. But…
"When you go through Korosensei's cram sessions," Shinsou explained, brandishing his midterm results that displayed him #1 out of 1-C. "You never need to spend hours studying for tests again."
Kaminari and the rest of 1-A gasped, gobsmacked. Ashido turned to Izuku, shaking in disbelief.
"I-Is that—?" she sputtered. Izuku looked down at midterm scores and held it up, smiling sheepishly. The pink girl looked faint. While the class knew Izuku ranked first on midterms, this was the first time they saw that he got a perfect score.
"To think...I was bested in the one thing I'm confident in...so effortlessly," Yaoyorozu lamented as if the soul just left her body. She's been a lot more down on herself ever since her less than satisfactory performance against Tokoyami in the Sports Festival. Izuku thought she was being way too hard on herself; doesn't she know how amazing her quirk is?
"I wouldn't say effortlessly," Izuku sweatdropped, thinking about how much studying he had to do to prepare for exams last year. Korosensei was talented, but he was also ruthless with his teaching techniques.
Bakugou growled and exploded his midterm results, which listed him in fourth, while Kirishima fearlessly leaned over the explosive boy to talk to Izuku. "Still, I'm really jealous, dude. I bet you've got some awesome studying tips now."
Kaminari perked up at this and suddenly latched on Shinsou's arm, startling the brainwasher out of his chair. "Study tips! That's it! Please share your Tentacle-gifted study tips, Shinsou!"
The brainwasher sputtered and tried to shove the electric blond away ("Didn't you hear me? I don't have to study for tests anymore, that's not a tip!") Yaoyorozu suddenly perked up. "You know, it would be fun to host a class study session. While I may only be second—" Why does she say that like it's not an accomplishment? "—I'd be more than willing to share a few of my studying tips. You can even meet up at my house."
Ashido squealed and clapped her hands. "Yes! Study session with Shinsou and Yaoyorozu! I'm in!"
A couple students voiced their interest, while Shinsou grumbled, "I never agreed to this." However, he stopped resisting Kaminari's clinging.
Kirishima grinned. "Sounds pretty cool! Want to join in, Deku? I could really use your help."
Izuku grinned and opened his mouth to agree, but then Bakugou shot up in his seat and pulled Kirishima back. "Stupid Shitty Hair! You don't need his study tips! I can help you just fine!"
Despite being held by the collar, Kirishima didn't even look fazed. Izuku blinked. When did those two become casual with each other? Now that he thought about it, they were teamed up for the Cavalry Battle…
"Geez, calm down, Bakubro. You can join in, you know?"
"Why would I want to do that?!"
Izuku grimaced. "Ah, it's alright if you want to join us, Kacchan…" he muttered, to which Bakugou replied, "I don't need your stupid help!" and Shinsou grumbled, "It is?" Izuku glared at his best friend, who just arched an eyebrow challengingly.
In the end, their study group consisted of Jirou, Sero, Ojirou, Kaminari, Ashido, Shinsou, Yaoyorozu and him, with Kirishima popping in at the end after escaping Bakugou's tutoring. Yaoyorozu's home was better described as a mansion, the biggest he'd ever seen. It was extremely intimidating to be around so much wealth, and Izuku was technically a millionaire.
A week before the final exams arrived, they had gathered for their study group when Yaoyorozu announced, "A close business partner of my father and his son are stopping by sometime today, so you might see them around. They should ignore us, though, but I just wanted you to be aware."
The group shrugged it off and got back to studying. Izuku worked on algebra with Ashido and Ojirou while Yaoyorozu covered chemistry with Jirou and Sero — thanks to her quirk, the girl's chemical compound knowledge was as extensive as Okuda's. Kaminari and Shinsou were conversing with each other in English, which was both of their best subjects.
This went on for about an hour. Yaoyorozu's comment was a distant memory at this point, so Izuku was very surprised when the butler announced the guests to them and they turned to find Principal Asano and his son standing there.
"Gakuhou, great to see you again," Yaoyorozu's father greeted before gesturing to the teens behind him. "I'm sure you remember my daughter, Momo. These are her classmates from the U.A. Hero course."
Izuku's classmates bowed their heads obliviously while the green-haired boy sat frozen, feeling oddly caught in the act. Shinsou resigned himself to pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes. Asano Gakushuu was pitifully attempting to smother his smirk behind his hand. His father, who had a much better poker face, looked absolutely delighted by the scene in front of him.
"Ah, Hitoshi, Izuku. Good to see you're making friends in high places," the school principal commented, and Shinsou's head dropped to the table with a resounding smack. Kaminari squawked.
Everyone in the room was visibly taken aback. "You, uh, know some of these students?" Yaoyorozu's father questioned, and Principal Asano grinned.
"I suppose you could say that. Hitoshi and Izuku both attended my school, and legally speaking, Hitoshi here is my ward."
"Heh?!" the group echoed, and Izuku sunk lower into his chair. Yaoyorozu's father was at a complete loss for words, so Principal Asano delightfully elaborated, "Yes, he's Toshio and Hikari's boy. I'm sure you remember them?"
Yaoyorozu looked pale. "Toshio...Shinsou Toshio, the famous neurosurgeon is your father?!"
Ashido turned to Shinsou in total disbelief. "Eh, Shinsou, are you filthy rich too? No fair!"
They were unknowingly approaching a very touchy subject, and both Shinsou and Izuku tensed. He knew he needed to interfere before it got out of hand, but he wasn't sure how. Thankfully, Asano had it covered. During the commotion, the cynical teen made his way so he was standing behind Shinsou's chair. He leaned over to see what they were working on and scowled.
"Hmm? Out of Kunugigaoka for a few months and you're already back to the basics, are you, Shinsou?" mocked Asano, but it lacked the spite it had a year ago. Now it was just a teasing distraction that Shinsou eagerly took advantage of. He lifted his head off the table and lazily gazed at the other.
"No, I'm helping other people study, Assano. I'm sorry if that's not a concept you're well-acquainted with."
Kaminari, awkwardly stuck in the middle, glanced back at Asano. "Hey, so you're like Shinsou's unofficial brother, right?" The two boys crinkled their noses at the description. "Nice to meet you, dude. I'm Kaminari Denki."
The electric boy held out his hand, and there was an awkward moment where Asano just stared at it, a playful smirk on his face. Izuku tensed, wondering just what that boy could be plotting, but then Shinsou elbowed Asano in the stomach and glared. The principal's son sighed and very briefly shook Kaminari's hand.
"Nice to meet you too. I'm Asano Gakushuu." The playful glint returned to Asano's eyes. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be the boy Shinsou fought in the first round of the tournament, right?"
A harsh blush flashed across both Shinsou and Kaminari's cheeks and Izuku smothered a laugh. Korosensei, if only Karma were here to see this trainwreck…
"U-Um, yeah, I am! Why do you ask?"
"Oh, no reason…"
Eventually, the Asanos left with Yaoyorozu's father, and the group got back to studying. Shinsou proceeded to glare at anyone and everyone who tried to ask about what happened for the remainder of their study groups.
-.-.-.-
The written exam came, and all of 1-A succeeded in passing it, to everyone's delight. Izuku grinned as they celebrated, getting flashbacks to 3-E again. Shinsou leaned against his shoulder, a nostalgic look on his face, and it was clear the brainwasher was thinking the same thing. But the exam process still wasn't over, their right to attend the summer training camp still not earned. Now they had to pass the practical exam. There were rumors flying around that their obstacle was just to defeat robots, but their hopes for an easy exam were suddenly crushed when Nedzu popped out from the capture scarf around Aizawa's shoulders.
This could only mean bad news.
Instead, due to the recent increase in villain attacks, the U.A. faculty decided to make the tests much more realistic. They were going to be paired off into teams of two and fight a U.A. teacher. Izuku didn't think it was possible, but U.A. somehow managed to make their practical exams even more insane than Kunugigaoka's.
"This is crazy! There's no way we can take out Pro-Heroes!" Sero argued, and All-Might, one of the teachers some poor soul would have to fight, grinned.
"Of course not, and we wouldn't expect you too. Instead, you can pass by either apprehending your opponent with these handcuffs, or by at least one team member escaping the battlefield. And, to even out the playing field, all the teachers will be wearing these super compact weight bracelets that—" the Pro-Hero put one on, and his arm drooped, "—are a lot heavier than expected! Who designed these things…?"
Izuku glanced at the bracelet and sweatdropped, recognizing it as the device Itona and Hatsume were collabing on. Well, at least he knows they'll work…
Aizawa announced their pairings, and Izuku suspected that they weren't randomized. What were the chances that Shinsou would be assigned to take down Midnight? There's no way the busty teacher didn't arrange that herself, especially if her sinister grin was anything to go by. Shinsou looked ready to forfeit the test before it even started.
And then Izuku's pairing was announced, and he knew, no way was this randomized.
Because his opponent was All-Might, and his teammate? His teammate was Kacchan.
-.-.-.-
"This is total bullshit," Shinsou muttered before they were sent off to their respective exam areas. "They can't make you do this. They can't."
"C-Clearly they can, Hitoshi…" Izuku sighed, already accepting his doom. Bakugou was livid whenever their pairing was announced and has been avoiding Izuku since, not giving them a chance to discuss strategy at all. And you can't just go up against the Number One Hero and not have a strategy.
"The dude fucking hates you. He basically tried to kill you at the beginning of the school year. He's nothing but an asshole to you twenty-four-seven. This is a disaster waiting to happen."
Izuku nodded mindlessly. "Maybe...maybe that's why they did it. Maybe they're testing to see if we're capable of getting over our issues and work together to take down the strongest opponent possible. They don't exactly make these practice exams to be easy…"
Shinsou scoffed and adjusted the Artificial Voice Chords around his neck. It was the first time in his hero costume in front of the class, Izuku noted fondly. He looked like he fit right in. (It probably helped that he didn't have a giant crescent moon on his chest, but that's because they haven't seen the interrogation mode Korosensei smile on the mask yet.)
-.-.-.-
Surprisingly, his fight against All-Might with Bakugou was...uneventful. Bakugou ignored him 99% of the time, but Izuku had the quirk advantage, especially now that his reduced speed kept him from choking on blood. Bakugou set off a few explosions to distract All-Might, Izuku used his stealth training to sneak up behind and put the cuffs on the Pro. There was a small hiccup where All-Might almost got away, but Bakugou's quick thinking knocked the hero off balance and led to their ultimate victory. Then the blond stormed out of the arena without saying a word.
"Thank goodness you're not coming to me coughing up blood anymore," Recovery Girl said when giving his formal checkup after the fight, and Izuku sheepishly blushed.
Besides him and Bakugou, the only other team to finish this early was Todoroki and Yaoyorozu. Izuku was surprised Shinsou wasn't done yet. It was hard to tell through the monitor, with Midnight's sleep aroma fogging up the area. Sero, Shinsou's teammate, was knocked out from the start, but the brainwasher was nowhere in sight.
"Oh, Shinsou," Midnight said, cracking her whip. "Why won't you come out to play with your favorite teacher? It'll be so much fun to put your special skills to the test. What did your old mentor call it — honeypot assassination? Mmm, sounds delectable."
Yaoyorozu hummed as she observed the battle. "Midnight's aroma must've consumed the arena by now. If he's not already out, it won't be long before Shinsou's taken down; there's no way he can hold his breath much longer."
Todoroki nodded, and Izuku hid a smirk. Because he knew that wouldn't be a problem for his friend — Itona was way too thorough in his designs for that.
A shadow passed behind Midnight, and she moved to strike with her whip, but the Pro-Hero was distracted by Sero shouting, "Look out, Shinsou!"
Everyone in the room jolted, and Midnight spun around, sputtering. "How are you awake—?" She cut herself off, however, when her eyes landed on Sero's unconscious form. Midnight's eyes widened as she realized her mistake, but by then it was too late.
"I wouldn't call it delectable," Shinsou said into Midnight's ear. The Artificial Voice Chords mask worked as an air filter too, because Itona was thorough and paranoid. The brainwasher held a nerve-knife to Midnight's throat. "Deplorable, bothersome, to name a few. I mean, it's not like I enjoy exploiting this side of people."
The knife lowered, swiftly nicking both of Midnight's arms. Her limbs immobilized, it was only seconds before Shinsou put the special handcuffs on the Pro-Hero. Recovery Girl went on the announcements to declare that Sero and Shinsou passed while Midnight grinned up at her ex-student.
"Ah, I'm not surprised you're so handy with handcuffs. Maybe I should ask your little blonde mentor what other tricks she's taught you."
Izuku prayed for Shinsou's sanity.
-.-.-.-
"Why me?" Kirishima bemoaned, leaning against Izuku's shoulder. The green-haired boy awkwardly patted his friend's back.
In the end, everyone passed the practical exam except two groups: Kaminari and Ashido, and Kirishima and Sato. Izuku felt particularly bad, knowing how hard they all worked to make sure they passed the written exam, only to get shut down by the one they weren't as worried about.
"Man, and I was really looking forward to the trip!" Kaminari sulked, and Ashido nodded miserably.
The classroom door suddenly slammed open and Aizawa walked inside. "Everyone's going on the trip," he declared, making the entire class scream.
Apparently, claiming failure on the test would exempt them from the trip was a logical ruse to get everyone to take the exams more seriously. Those who ended up failing were just going to have to complete extra intensive training courses. Izuku just hoped Aizawa's version of 'intensive training' wasn't anything like Karasuma's.
(But then again, given how similar the two teachers were, it probably was.)
"Where is this lodge even at? This paper doesn't even say…" Shinsou muttered, glaring suspiciously at the trip guide Aizawa just handed.
"Yeah, and where are we supposed to get half of this stuff?" Sero added, which was a good point. Some of the things on this list were downright bizarre. Why would they be expected to own paintball helmets? Or better yet, why did they need them?
Since no one owned most of the stuff on the list, Hagakure suggested they all head to the nearby mall. Which is how all of 1-A, minus Bakugou and Todoroki, found themselves at the Musutafu mall together. Shinsou wanted to stay back too ("You've heard of online shopping, right? It's way easier than walking around a mall," he complained), but Izuku didn't give him a choice. He needed to start socializing with his new classmates, and this was a good way to start.
"Let's split up!" Uraraka suggested, and the class agreed. Izuku and Shinsou wordlessly stayed by each other's sides, not ones to separate when they didn't have to.
"Where do we want to start first?" Izuku said, glancing down at the list. "There's a lot of basic camping stuff, so maybe we should start at an outdoor supply store?"
"I guess, though we might want to start with the more bizarre stuff since it'll take more time to fi—" the brainwasher stopped so abruptly, Izuku ran straight into his back. The green-haired boy frowned and looked around, instantly on edge.
"Hitoshi, what's wrong?" he said, instinctively reaching for a nerve-knife, only to realize it wasn't there. He came straight from school, and he didn't think to grab a weapon from his hero suit before he left. Didn't think they'd find danger here of all places.
"Izuku…" Shinsou said cautiously, fiddling with his capture rings. Izuku was grateful at least one of them was paranoid. "Remember how I fought Shigaraki and Kurogiri in Hosu City?" Izuku nodded tersely, not liking where this was going. "Well, did you know that I knocked off Shigaraki's mask during the fight?"
A wave of nausea hit Izuku with the words, but he resisted the urge to start looking around. He needed to avoid suspicion. He leaned into his best friend's side and whispered, "Where is he? Has he seen us yet?"
Shinsou visibly gulped. "He's standing about fifteen meters behind you, and he's staring right at us."
Paranoia made it so it was like Izuku could feel the eyes staring at his back. "R-Right. We...We need to tell Ritsu, notify Karasuma."
"No." Izuku jolted, and his friend continued, "He's in civilian clothes and he looks like he's alone. If we tell END, they're going to send a whole unit and the situation could escalate; innocent people could get hurt. We need to hold off, find out what Shigaraki wants, and then make our judgment call from there."
Izuku didn't like the sound of that plan at all; didn't like the idea of approaching a dangerous villain without backup, especially with all of their classmates so unaware of this unforeseen threat. "Hitoshi, I don't know, I'd feel better if we called in an END unit—"
"Izuku, we are an END unit."
Oh. Right.
It was easy to forget that he and Shinsou made up Sigma, the failsafe unit. They never got deployed as a unit, only occasionally helping out their teammates on missions. But Shinsou's right, they are an END unit, they've been trained to deal with situations like this.
"C'mon," Shinsou said, moving towards Shigaraki. "Let's go see what the bastard wants."
-.-.-.-
ALL MIGHT IS MY DAD @tinymighty135
New poll: Do you guys think the government should disband END?
Yes! They're just kids! No child soldiers! (78%)
No. They still need to be monitored. (8%)
lmao who would keep us safe if they disband? heroes?? (14%)
-.-.-.-
"Two against one?" Shigaraki rasped when the duo approached. "That seems hardly fair. But then again, you'd have to be a fool to ever expect assassins to play fair."
They didn't answer. Hitoshi brushed his fingers against his capture rings, trying to soothe his nerves. Every instinct screamed to attack this man before he could attack them, but he resisted. It'd be foolish to start a fight that might not even need to happen, especially with so many civilians around.
"Why are you here, Shigaraki?" Hitoshi snapped, wanting to get straight to the point. Instead of answering him, however, the villain arched an eyebrow and pursed his crusty lips together. Well, at least he's learned his lesson, for better or for worse.
Midoriya finally repeated the question. Shigaraki's intense red eyes narrowed in on the green-haired boy.
"You know, I really hate you," Shigaraki responded bluntly, and Hitoshi resisted the urge to retort because the feeling was very mutual. "I hate your little assassin group, I hate you little hero classmates. I hate everything you stand for, everything your damn Korosensei stood for. And I hate that the stupid Stain guy supported the annoying octopus."
The villain scratched at his face, and in that moment, all Hitoshi could see was Takaoka. "Well, you guys knew the octopus bastard pretty well. Tell me, what made him so great, huh? What made him so worthy of all the recognition, all the respect? What made him the Number One Villain?"
He wasn't a villain, Hitoshi wanted to shout, but he restrained himself. They needed Shigaraki to talk, to give them information, and he wouldn't say anything if Hitoshi was the one talking.
"He didn't want it, you know; he didn't want to be the Number One Villain," said Midoriya, and Hitoshi nodded along. "Everyone was always more obsessed with his villainy than he was. All he cared about was being a teacher. We know that more than anyone. Like Stain, he didn't do things to cause chaos and scare people, he had a different goal in mind — a goal of justice. Their ideas were very, very different, but I can still understand them because of it. But you…"
Shigaraki sneered and the scratching intensified. "What, do you think I don't have a goal? I thought I made it very, very clear what it was — I'm going to be the one to kill All-Might and tear society apart. That's all the justice I need."
The goal was so short-sighted, so selfish that it made Hitoshi's stomach churn. After spending a year with the supposed Number One Villain, it's become hard to remember what real villainy was like. Real villains were the people Korosensei fought — Takaoka, Shiro, the Reaper. Real villains were monsters like this man.
Shigaraki suddenly started cackling. "Ah, look at your faces! So horrified, so pathetic! What, can you not stand being around a villain that's not so self-righteous?" Shigaraki scoffed. "You know, I think I finally understand what I hate most in the world — self-righteous people. Korosensei, Stain, All-Might, they're all disgusting in my mind. I just can't stand them; I want to destroy everything they represent, everything they care about."
Like hell, Hitoshi glared, using his eyes to say the words he couldn't speak. Like hell we're letting you anywhere near E-class. Near our classmates, our friends.
Having heard enough, Hitoshi reached for his Ritsu-watch. Unfortunately, Shigaraki tracked the movement and sneered.
"Sending the battalion, are you? No need, I'll stop interrupting your...shopping trip." When Hitoshi didn't move, the villain's eyes narrowed. "I'd choose your next move very carefully unless you want blood on your hands."
He flexed his fingers threateningly, and Hitoshi relented, shoving his hands in his pockets. The villain smirked and stood up to leave.
"Keep your guards up, brats," he said, walking away. "Next time, we'll see who the better killer is."
-.-.-.-
Karasuma: So let me get this right, problem children. You spot a known wanted hostile at the mall, and you decide to approach him without informing END and without securing backup. And you thought this was a good idea why?
Karasuma: You're lucky the police know has a task force to deal specifically with the League of Villains now. When I get back to the base, we are going to have a long talk about protocol.
Shinsou: aye aye, dad
-.-.-.-
The day to leave for the trip finally arrived, and Hitoshi couldn't be more relieved. The class cluttered together, waiting to get on the bus, and the brainwasher idly listened in on all of the gossip.
"I heard they changed where our training camp is being held," whispered Hagukure. "Apparently it was supposed to be with the Wild, Wild Pussycats, but they changed it last minute for some reason!"
"Awww, really? I would've loved to meet the Wild, Wild Pussycats!" Ashido pouted. "I wonder why they changed it?"
"Probably didn't want to waste their time with pathetic wannabes like you," Monoma, a condescending, 1-A hating kid from 1-B, mocked. "You guys think you're big and bad because you guys made it farther in the Sports Festival, but we're going to show you up! We don't care if you have END agents on your side!"
In all honesty, Hitoshi didn't have much of an issue with Monoma. Sometimes, he even found him amusing, especially before he joined 1-A himself. But if there was one person in 1-B that Hitoshi genuinely, truthfully adored, it was Kendou Itsuka and her 'no-bullshit' self.
"Leave them alone, Monoma," the orange-haired girl said, using her large hands to pick up Monoma and drag him away. "We apologize for him."
"Her and Kataoka would get along," Hitoshi muttered, temporarily picturing the two of them meeting. Immediately, he brushed off the thought. The last thing he needed right now was for more of his new friends to meet his E-class friends. His brain wouldn't be able to handle it.
-.-.-.-
Honestly, they should have caught on a lot sooner than they did. It was embarrassing it took them so long; Korosensei would be ashamed.
"Hey, we're getting close to where I went to junior high!" Uraraka commented, peering out the window. They've been on the bus for a few hours now. Hitoshi, who was scrolling through his phone, nodded absentmindedly before it hit him that — wait, we went to the same school. He jolted up in his seat and, sure enough, they were driving along a very familiar street. In the distance, you could see the Kunugigaoka main campus, and even further from that was the E-class mountain.
Hitoshi exchanged fond glances with Midoriya at the sight. He wondered if any of E-class was there right now on the base, hanging out over the summer break. Now that he thought about it, the class group chat has been quiet all day, and he doesn't recall seeing any mission alerts for other units. Maybe they're actually taking time off for the break? They deserve it.
"Wait, if that's where Uraraka went to school then — whoa, is that the mountain?!" Kirishima exclaimed. "We're going to pass the place where the Mountain Raid happened?!"
"Oh, we're going to do more than pass it," Aizawa mumbled. Suddenly, the bus came to a stop right at the base of the mountain and the doors opened.
"Cool! Pit stop!" Kaminari cheered, racing outside with 1-A close behind. Hitoshi stood up much more slowly. It was an odd sensation, standing in a place he's been so many times before with a new set of classmates. His heart felt heavy.
He barely took a step outside before his instincts started tingling, and instantly he was on edge. He looked around, trying to assess where the threat was, and could see Midoriya doing the same. He pinpointed it at a particularly dense part of brush and reached for his capture rings when—
"You better stop right there, Shitsou," a voice called out, and three figures walked out into the opening. Bitch-sensei rolled her eyes at her pupil. "Props to not being totally oblivious and all, but if you still haven't pieced it all together yet, then I'm embarrassed."
Pieced it all together? What did that—
Like a slap in the face, it all made sense. The sudden change in trip plans. The secrecy on their destination. The random stop in Tokyo. The communication silence from END. And while Hitoshi felt like screaming because Korosensei, why was this his life, Hitoshi was much more preoccupied with one small other detail going on in the moment.
"Who the hell is the kid?"
Standing behind Bitch-sensei and Karasuma like a pouting puppy was a small child, probably around 5 years old, with spiky black hair covered by a red hat. He stared at the class like they were the bane of his existence. Hitoshi wondered if it was healthy for a child to glare that much.
"Good to see you too, Shinsou," Karasuma greeted dryly. "Midoriya, please breathe."
The green-haired boy in question was performing some odd mime routine, frantically swatting at the air and silently struggling for words. "Kara- Ms. Jel- How, why, wh-who…?"
"Welcome to the Mountain Base," Karasuma greeted, ignoring his students in favor of the whole class. "I'm Special Agent Karasuma, and this is Irina Jelavić. We'll be overseeing your training during the camp."
"Huh?!" 1-A was openly confused — not that Hitoshi could blame them. It felt like his brain was splitting in two.
"After some safety concerns were raised due to the increased villain activity, it was decided we change the camp's location to here," Aizawa explained. "Not only are there more people to keep an eye on you this way, but this training experience will be very...unique."
Hitoshi did not like the sound of that.
"Unique? What is that supposed to mean?" Sero mumbled to himself. Unfortunately for him, Karasuma heard. A playful smirk, the same one whenever he was planning some insane P.E. exercise, dawned the agent's face, and 1-A sweatdropped.
"Since your teacher decided he wants your class to get some extra-special instruction, we'll start out with what I like to consider a classic. The E-class building is located at the top of the mountain. You have an hour to make it there. Fail to do so, and you can expect severe punishment."
"Hike up a mountain? That's it?" mumbled Satou, oblivious to the hell that was about to come.
"Ha, give us a challenge. I remember hiking up this stupid mountain for that fall festival; this'll be a piece of cake," Bakugou grinned, cracking his knuckles. 1-A buzzed with anticipated success. Midoriya pulled out a notebook and started scribbling.
"What are you writing?" Hitoshi questioned; he didn't see anyone using their quirk.
Midoriya looked up at him with large, mournful eyes and said with genuine sincerity, "Their eulogies."
-.-.-.-
It didn't take long for 1-A to realize they were completely, utterly unprepared for what was on the mountain.
Within seconds of starting on the path, a volley of paintballs rained down on them. Todoroki and Tokoyami used their quirks to shield the class from above, but that only left them more vulnerable on the ground. Iida ran ahead using his quirk, but he got caught in a hidden net.
"I'm getting deja vu," Kataoka said, popping down from her hiding spot in the trees and grinning at Ingenium's brother.
"Ah, shit, it's END!" Ojirou warned as if it wasn't blatantly obvious from the beginning. He attempted to swipe at Okano's side with his tail, but the girl bent in half to dodge.
"Hi there! Long time no see!" she cheered, flipping through the backbend and kicking Ojirou in the face.
Jirou tried to use her heartbeat trick to pave a path for them, but the sound was canceled out by Terasaka's roar. Isogai stole all the weapons Yaoyorozu created for the class and merged them into some crazy superweapon that he pawned off to Kimura. Kirishima and Satou tried to protect everyone from the entourage of baseballs being chucked at the class at lightning speeds by Sugino. Hitoshi, hiding in the trees with Midoriya, watched the whole fight go down. As much as he wanted to go down there and protect his classmates, if they were going to make it through this together, he needed to come up with a plan.
"It's just Alpha Unit right now," Midoriya pointed out. "They probably divided the mountain between all the teams. Alpha Unit to slow us down at the beginning, and I bet Gamma is right after, watching this happen and gathering data to give to the other units. Beta will probably be after that, with Delta defending the top."
It made sense, but Hitoshi still felt uneasy. "If that's the case, then where is—"
He ducked out of the way of the knife, and it embedded in the tree next to Hitoshi's face.
"C'mon Shinsou, Midoriya. Aren't you going to join in on the fun?" Karma mocked, jumping onto their tree branch. Hitoshi and Midoriya retreated to the ground; they may be giving Karma the high ground, but the farther away from him, the better.
"You know, if you run ahead on your own, you could probably reach the top in minutes without ever getting hit," Karma pointed out, twirling his knife. Hitoshi smirked.
"And leave our classmates on their own? That doesn't sound very hero-like."
The red-haired boy grinned, clearly pleased with the answer. He jumped down and, as if to test their reflexes, swiped with his knife. The two hero-assassins easily dodged. "Well then," Karma said, glancing over at the chaos that was 1-A. "You better start saving them; they look like they could use a hero right now."
He had a point. Midoriya sprinted away to cut Iida free of the net, while Hitoshi used his capture rings to immobilize Sugino's wrists. Bakugou screamed and jumped at Kimura, but for some reason, his explosions weren't working.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" he screamed, his whole body tense. "Why is it so cold? Why am I not sweating? You better cut it off, Half-n-Half!"
"It's not me," Todoroki growled, also struggling with maintaining his body temperature, ice slipping up his skin. He looked back, locking eyes with Karma, who was casually leaning against a tree. Todoroki's eyes narrowed.
"Aww, are your quirks not working for you? How ever will you fight now?" Karma mocked apathetically. Hitoshi shook his head; this was exactly what END wanted. They wanted 1-A to get preoccupied with fighting so that they'd forget the objective at hand — getting up the mountain.
"C'mon, let's move!" he ordered, jumping in front of Kimura and disarming him with a few quick moves.
Slowly but surely, the class surged forward. Like Midoriya predicted, Gamma Unit was next, greeting the hero hopefuls with an abundance of clever and annoying traps. Facing Beta was by far the hardest and most frustrating portion of the mountain. Between Hayami and Chiba's constant sniping, Okajima, Muramatsu, and Yada's distractions, and Nagisa's general existence, Hitoshi wasn't sure they'd ever make it through.
"How is that little blue guy everywhere — AHHHHHH!" cried Kaminari, trying to run away from Nagisa, only to somehow run directly into the Beta team captain hanging from a tree.
Midoriya and he jumped around, trying to save all of their classmates from utter embarrassment and tragedy. Hell, was this what Korosensei felt like all the time, dodging all these attacks? The man really was superhuman if he never got annoyed by it.
At the top was Delta. By now, 1-A was exhausted, having expended their endurance early on. To make things worse, his E-class thought it would be funny to have Kanzaki use her quirk to create a hologram of All-Might waiting for them.
"Oh, thank goodness it's over—" Uraraka breathed, running forward obliviously.
"Uraraka, look out!" Midoriya called, dragging his friend to safety. Seconds later, Yoshida came zooming through, almost running them over. Ashido pulled on her hair and wailed.
"Whyyyy?!"
Fortunately, the people on Delta, like Kurahashi and Hara, were a lot nicer and less mischievous than most of E-class. Kouda was able to use his quirk to counteract the animals Kurahashi teamed up with, and Sugaya's camouflage was outmatched by Shouji's senses. The hero class trudged to the top, all but collapsing outside the old 3-E building. It had taken them nearly two hours to reach the top of the mountain. Hitoshi braced for whatever 'punishment' Karasuma had in mind.
The dark-haired man glanced down at his watch and hummed. "Honestly, I expected you to take longer. I applaud you on your teamwork and ability to stick together." 1-A seemed surprised to be receiving praise, and Hitoshi smirked. He knew how Karasuma worked, and a 'but' always followed. "But, I couldn't help but notice how heavily you relied on Midoriya and Shinsou. Now, this could be accredited to the boy's distinct advantage for this challenge, but I question how different the results would have been if those two weren't there."
Hitoshi winced and eyed his classmate's reactions. There were some (Bakugou) that looked furious, while the majority just looked sheepish. Todoroki stared at his left side as if he was expecting it to suddenly ice over again.
"Of course, I couldn't help but notice that Shinsou and Midoriya were never outright attacked, giving them ample opportunity to assist their classmates," Karasuma continued, this time staring where E-class was gathering, looking much too smug and cheeky.
"We saw it as a calculated strategy," Nagisa explained, smiling lightly at the two hero students. "If we focused on stopping them, it'd probably take away too many of the forces that we needed for 1-A. We figured it was best to keep them busy fighting us inadvertently."
Karasuma hummed, pleased by the reasoning. Aizawa took the pause as his chance to finally address the class.
"I know this isn't what you had in mind for your summer training, but I hope you can see there's a lesson to be learned here. Today was a glimpse of what we Pro-Heroes experienced during the Mountain Raid, how woefully unprepared we were despite having years more of training and experience and, above all, stronger quirks." Aizawa paused so he could look every single one of them in the eyes. "My goal for this camp is that you learn the importance of skill and technique over power. Because, as we learned that day, just being stronger isn't enough to guarantee you'll win."
While it was nice to hear him say that, standing here, in front of their old classroom, hearing a lecture so similar to Korosensei's but not… It hurt more than Hitoshi could admit. He tried to focus on everyone else around him, not wanting to deal with the growing pain in his heart. Bakugou looked ready to blow a fuse, but he wasn't the only one who looked skeptical. Like, even after getting their asses handed to them on the mountain, they couldn't fathom being beaten by nothing but a strategy and a knife.
Oh, how they'll learn.
-.-.-.-
Before any hellish training could commence, they were first given time to settle in and wait for 1-B to arrive in a more sane manner (lucky bastards). The END building barracks were extended to accommodate everyone, separating the girls and boys into different living spaces. It was insanity, cooping the hero students and 3-E in the same space, but Hitoshi was just grateful he could talk to his old friends easily. There was some serious shit that needed to be addressed.
"Okay, is that kid who I think it is?" he asked the moment his teachers were out of earshot. The rest of 1-A and 1-B were setting down their stuff, so the brainwasher made a beeline for 3-E's side of the barracks. He flopped onto Terasaka's bed. The lion boy growled but didn't push him off.
"You mean the mysterious child that's apparently Karasuma's orphaned nephew that he's now obtaining guardianship over that Nakamura's been telling us about but no one really believed her?" Mimura asked. "Yeah, and my empty wallet can testify. Why do I even bother making bets against her? She knows everything, I swear."
"I mean, she is the captain of the intel unit and E-class' best gossiper. What else would you expect?" teased Sugaya.
"He seems really upset," Midoriya commented, eyeing the child in question. The boy stood next to Karasuma, slouching and scowling like he hated the world. "Do you think he's upset about living with Karasuma? Didn't Nakamura say he was originally staying with a cousin or something?"
"I don't think that's it," Nagisa said thoughtfully, looking just as concerned. "He's angry about something, but it's gotten worse ever since all the heroes and U.A. students arrived."
"Hah, guess he hates you uppity heroes too. Looks like he's got a good head on his shoulders," snorted Terasaka. Hitoshi kicked him off the bed. "Hey!"
"Maybe he just doesn't like being around all these strangers? We should go introduce ourselves," Midoriya suggested. Hitoshi, who's been through many foster homes and experienced many angry orphans, tried to advise against it —"Jolly Green, wait!" — but the green-haired boy was already gone, approaching the grouchy kid.
"Hey there! We didn't get to really meet earlier, so I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Midoriya Izuku from Class 1-A — hey, what are you- OOOF!"
Without warning, the kid tried to punch Midoriya right in the balls. Being a trained agent, the green-haired boy dodged the first attack and reached down to stop the boy, but he left himself vulnerable to the follow-up attack. The grumpy kid kicked Midoriya right in the nose and sent him sprawling.
...don't laugh, don't laugh, don't laugh...
"BWAHAHAHAHA!" cried Terasaka, falling off the bed again. "Looks like the little brat really is related to Karasuma!"
Hitoshi couldn't hold it in, muffling his laughter with his hand. Karasuma spun around, grabbing the boy's arm. "Kota! What are you doing?"
"Not bad, kid. You took down one of our best agents, I'm impressed," Karma commented, grinning devilishly. Surprisingly, the kid's scowl dropped to one of confusion.
"Agent? I thought he was one of those stupid hero kids," he grumbled, and Hitoshi finally composed himself enough to answer.
"He is, but he and I are also in the U.A. hero course," he explained, walking over to help his best friend stand again. Kota's scowl returned and Hitoshi took a step back, not wanting to get kicked in the face too. What was this kid's deal? Did he have a problem with hero students or something?
"You're wasting your time, wanting to become a stupid hero. What good would it even do you if you're already an agent? It's stupid." Okay, correction, it seemed he had an issue with all heroes in general. But why? Weren't kids supposed to be All-Might obsessed and endlessly optimistic? Just what happened to this kid?
Midoriya seemed to notice the same thing, glancing back at Nagisa to confirm his suspicions. Before Kota could complain anymore, however, Karasuma picked the kid up and silenced him with a glare.
"I'm sorry about that. I'll address the situation in full tomorrow, I promise," he said to the E-class boys before raising his voice to address all the students in the male barracks. "Training will begin tomorrow morning. Curfew is at 22:00 sharp, but until then, you're welcome to explore the mountain. Feel free to ask the agents for an escort; I'm sure they'd be happy to help you."
He glared, silencing E-class' complaints before they could even come. There was a long, awkward silence after the teacher left; the three classes stared at each other, daring someone to break the silence. Thankfully, with the high concentration of idiots in the room, they didn't have to wait long.
"Soooo, tell us, END agents," Monoma said, grinning like a maniac. "Where are the 'best' places on this horrid mountain?"
Isogai, the Prince Charming saint he was, took the liberty to answer. "Um. There are some really amazing stargazing spots we could take you to. Oh, and there's also a swimming area in the river if you want to go there."
"Swimming?! Dibs!" Kaminari and Sero cheered, scrambling to get their swim trunks.
-.-.-.-
When they woke up for training the next day, the last thing Hitoshi expected was to find Aizawa and Karasuma practice sparring.
It was... intense. This made his fight against Midoriya in the Sports Festival look like child's play. The two teachers spun and parried and flipped and struck so fluidly, it was like a well-choreographed dance. Every student, both END and hero course, watched in slack-jawed awe. After going on forever, it ended in a draw.
"You've improved a lot," Aizawa said, handing Karasuma a water bottle. The agent smirked.
"Well, I'm not the same kid I was when you graduated, senpai."
"HEH?!"
Both classes blanched. Hitoshi did the math. Karasuma would have been a first-year while Aizawa was a second-year student. Their fighting styles always did seem eerily similar... It made sense in retrospect, but it wasn't any less shocking.
The teachers quickly redirected their attention. Aizawa started out by explaining his objective for their training. While they've grown a lot emotionally and technically, they still had a long way to go with their quirks and, above all, their versatility.
"The Sports Festival opened my eyes to how one-sided a lot of you treat your quirks and your fighting," Aizawa explained. "While some of you may be more creative with how you use your quirk, take it away, and you're severely stunted. If you want to become a Pro, you need to carry more than one weapon. That's why we invited Karasuma and his agents to help us out."
Vlad King nodded. "As I'm sure many of you are aware, the members of the Emergency National Defense, while the same age as you, have undergone elaborate training to respond to a variety of scenarios, but what makes their training so unique is that it emphasizes minimal use of quirks. The focus is to keep the agents comfortable with their quirks while not treating them like a crutch."
"Who's to say we're treating them like a crutch?" Bakugou gruffed. The moment the question left his mouth, Karma grabbed his arms and judo-flipped him.
"If you weren't using them as a crutch, that wouldn't have happened."
Bakugou bristled and tried to attack, but Aizawa stepped in, his eyes glowing red. "That's enough. You can let your frustrations out in training."
Karma relented, letting Bakugou stand back up. Karasuma eyed his student disapprovingly.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself — this training camp isn't a one-way streak." All of E-class tensed. "Just like I expect the U.A. students to learn non-quirk fighting from us, I expect you to learn quirk-fighting from them. This was Korosensei's goal in the long-run, was it not?"
The explosion of protests was instantaneous. "No way! That's not what you told us when we agreed to help out!" Terasaka protested, and Karasuma grinned.
"I know. That's why I'm telling you now."
Hitoshi smothered a grin and cracked his knuckles. Training both his quirk and his combat skills for a week? Give him a challenge, at least. He couldn't wait to see the faces on everyone's faces when the new transfer student kicks their ass—
"Oh, and Shinsou and Midoriya?" Karasuma cut in, smirking. That was never a good sign. "Since this is nothing out of the ordinary for you, you'll get special training specifically with me."
Trying to not show too much emotion (E-class was cracking up and the hero kids just looked confused as to why this was a big deal), Hitoshi turned to his best friend and gripped his shoulders.
"Jolly Green," he said. "I hope you wrote our eulogies too."