"What's your master plan now? Surely you can see that the path to victory is forever closed to you. Should you surrender, I shall grant thee mercy and record your valiant battles in the annuals of history as those who almost defeated me."
Izuku looked at his hand and into the confident eyes of his opponent, his actual opponent. Set, Pony, and Itsuka were not a threat. They were no longer an obstacle on his path to victory; they had too many cards left. It was down to him, and Reiko, her declaration of UNO, had laid the pressure at his feet; he knew he was the only one that could hold off the fierce warrior in her pursuit of victory. With a sly smile that made his opponent's lip tremble, "Wild Card Draw 4 color Green."
"You fiend, how could you?"
"Easily, my dear, UNO!"
Of course, they both lost as Itsuka went on a run leaving the two stoic combatants hanging their heads in defeat while Itsuka smiled. "There is nothing better than snatching victory from those who are so confident in their victory."
The group shared a laugh as the rest of the tables finished their rounds in the class 1-B tournament to crown the Grand UNO Championship. Detention was an exciting affair. In the end, Kinoko stood victorious, holding her plastic trophy over her fallen opponents.
"It's always the quiet ones," Set commented.
"And the Spanish Inquisition," Izuku added.
"NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION." Rieko and Pony added, looking at each other in surprise. Which immediately sparked the two talking furiously about the brilliance of Monty Python.
The two girls shifted their attention to Izuku as he filled out a form that Vlad Sensei had brought.
"What you go there, greenie?" Set said, peering over his shoulder. Her voice seductively whispered in his ear. He stiffened slightly and blushed, which was a victory for Set.
"I am filling out a club form."
"You're joining a club?" Rieko asked, her focus now totally on what Izuku was doing.
"Trying to start one," He replied. "I want it to be a culture club where students gather to share movies, music, and books. Then we talk about it and share out thoughts.
"That sounds like fun," Set said. "I was expecting you to do some sort of fight club."
"The first rule of fight club!" Izuku said in a mock-serious tone.
To everyone's surprise, it was Kinoko who responded. "YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB!"
Everyone was in shock; the Grand UNO Champion shrugged and smiled. "What, my grandpa loves that movie?"
Izuku laughed, "Yea, which is my plan for a club. I need to get some initial signatures and find a teacher to be our advisor. But you're right, Set. I did look into a combat club, but I have spent my whole life fighting and learning to fight. It's not as if the school will keep teaching us, and recently, I have been exposed to a whole different part of life, and I want to try to enjoy it as much as I can."
"So, you're creating a club?" she replied.
"Exactly; if any of you are interested, let me know," he said with a smile. Pony and Reiko blushed as if he was talking about them; little did they know he was.
Reiko immediately floated a pen over to herself and signed up, followed by Pony. Set sat there thinking about it and also decided to sign her name. She looked over at Itsuka, "What? You must admit that sounds like fun except for the reading part. I get to hang out and call it club activities. You going to sign up?"
"I don't know. I will think about it; it does sound like something fun to look forward to after the crap sandwich of the first week, and who knows how the rest of it will go."
After class, as the workout group was stretching and loosening up, Izuku mentioned the club to his friends from 1-A; Kyoka practically yelled yes, much to her embarrassment, Toru thought it sounded like fun, and even Momo said she would consider it.
Today Kyoka and Toru were working with Izuku on the quirk tests. Because their quirks didn't naturally give them an advantage in most trials, they focused on technique and tests. Momo and Pony were working on their hand-to-hand combat under the watchful eye of Hiryu, who was walking them through some of his family's martial arts techniques. The entire group decided to end the exercise with a run which was definitely in Pony's favor. They agreed that they would focus all their remaining sessions and just the quirk assessment testing to improve the girl's score. Toru and Kyoka were nervous but found hope in seeing that they had already improved.
Kyoka was finding it hard to concentrate as the proximity was proving distracting; Izuku was struggling, having to be pressed up close to both girls to adjust forms.
The next day when class started, Vlad sensei called the course to attention before he turned to the door and called for someone to enter. The class watched as the girl who had attacked Tetsu and thrown acid at Midoriya entered, followed by the girl who smacked Itsuka.
The second girl stepped forward and bowed deeply. "I am Ochaco Uraraka, and I want to apologize to the entire class for my actions in the lunchroom, especially to you, Itsuka Kendo. I had no right to smack you; I don't even know why I did it. I was embarrassed and humiliated for my actions during that day. Izuku Midoriya, I also would like to offer my apologies for even being part of the fight, you stepped forward and saved me during the entrance exam, and I never even had a chance to thank you properly or tell you how excited I was to see that you made it. I humbly ask for everyone's forgiveness and the opportunity to show you the type of person I am and the hero I hope to be one day."
The pink girl stepped forward, fighting back tears, and bowed profoundly. "I am Mina Ashido, and I am just an idiot. I should have stopped Eijiro from doing anything after the fight started. Instead, I jumped on Testutesu's back like an idiot and fired off my acid at you, Izuku Midoriya. I reacted instead of acting properly and how a student at U.A. should. I have no words to justify my actions. All I can do is beg for your forgiveness." She sank to her knees and bowed her head to the ground. The class turned and looked at the affected students; Itsuka got up first, followed by Tetsu.
Itsuka walked over to Ochaco, "I forgive you; we all could have handled that day better, me included. I don't know you, but as a class member has said before, "Everyone deserves a second chance but not a third."
Tetsu walked over and knelt before Mina, "Hey, it's ok; I am guessing that dude is your friend, and you were just reacting. I get it. But try to see what's happening before jumping in next time. Your friend was in the wrong in a big way. You seem like a good person. Do better, all right." Mina looked at him gratefully as she wiped a stray tear, Ochaco doing the same to Itsuka. They both stepped aside and up walked Izuku.
"Stand up, please," he said to Mina, who almost reluctantly did so. "Ochaco, you have nothing to seek forgiveness from me for, Itsuka forgave you, and that is who needed to do it. I want to get to know you better, and I hope we can put all this behind us and maybe be friends. I am glad you also made it in; I wish our reunion would have been under different circumstances." Ochaco managed a smile and nodded her head.
"I would like that too."
"Mina, you threw acid at me that melted a table. Do you even realize the damage you could have caused had I not ducked out of the way? I don't know you either, but Toru speaks highly about you, and I can see the contrition on your face and the emotion in your words. I will give you a second chance."
"I am so sorry, Midoriya; I promise you won't regret it." She said. The two offered their apologies to the class again as they made their exit.
Next in walked Eijiro,
He stood at the front of the class and bowed, "Sorry for escalating an incident that should not have grown to the proportions that it did. I was dumb and not thinking. I ask for your forgiveness and the opportunity to put right what went wrong that day and to ensure we can all work together to better our future as pro heroes. Sorry for attacking you, Midoriya."
Izuku looked at Eijiro and could see the false sincerity; he didn't apologize for his role, and Izuku was sure that Eijiro still supported Bakugo's actions. With a shrug, Izuku responded that works for me. As much as he wanted to put the whole thing behind him, he knew it wasn't over yet.
With those out of the way, they continued with their day; Izuku devoured his lunch before stepping away to try and meet with a few teachers about sponsoring the new club he was looking to form; it was on his way that he bumped into Ida who asked if they could meet after detention, Izuku sensed not malicious intent agreed to head to the faculty area.
Thankfully he managed to find Midnight, who had been his counselor since the incident in the infirmary, being to avoid an encounter with Aizawa as the man was asleep was in both parties' interests. Professor Midnight sat, listened to his proposal, and looked over his application, a slight grin on her face.
U.A. had some clubs, but most students didn't look for them; they mainly consisted of Future Leaders and other such things or clubs that solely seemed to focus on quirks. On the other hand, this one focused on culture and experiencing new things with other students. In her opinion, everyone has a passion or something they had a fandom for, and sharing those with others wasn't done enough. Midnight was pleasantly surprised that Izuku was attempting to form the club, as his attention had been mono focused on fighting and surviving due to their conversations. But something had changed after what had been described to her as a friend's trip to the mall. She would make sure to ask more in their next session.
"I will be your group's advisor," she said, looking at the hopeful teen. "Everything must also be submitted to me, and I will provide things for the group to look at and read. All groups must do some school service and will also have to host and run a booth during the culture festival and submit something for the festival. I will file this and notify you when I have a room assignment." She took the papers and sent Izuku on his way.
It was the class after Lunch that had them all excited, it was their Heroics, and it was their first class with All-Might. After hearing from Ibara and Manga about their missed lesson, all the other students were excited to get into it.
True to form, the Number One hero entered with a booming voice and dressed to impress in his silver-age costume. Revealing the metal cases that held their hero costumes and calling for them to get to the training ground Delta. The class did their best to contain their excitement as they grabbed the cases and headed off. With the course already aware and having dealt with the issue of Izuku's scars, it wasn't such an ordeal this time, and they were able to get changed quickly.
Izuku dressed with a slight melancholic look in his eyes; the costume resembled an ensemble that his master once had.
Izuku stood in black armored and reinforced pants, a matching titanium weave compression shirt, and a dark green leather armored vest. The cloak was a matching dark green with a hood. The cover was armored and reinforced to protect it from fire, bullets, knives, and other bladed weapons. He left the respirator hanging around his neck, securing a staff of what appeared to be black walnut with a twisted knob at one end and a sharpened blade at the other Izuku felt his hand linger on his former master's favorite weapon. A few hidden blades and some not so secret, then he outstretched his hand, and the black sword appeared; securing it, he made his way out of the locker room.
(All other costumes cannon)
Reiko and Pony spotted him first; as he exited, "Thou looks like a most formidable warrior of the days long ago, Izuku; I like the cloak. Perchance do you happen to look favorably upon my choices as well." Reiko asked.
"Yes, I like the fur trim at the collar, and the boots best suit you, Reiko. And yours is also cool, Pony. It matches your personality and quirk." Izuku said, complimenting the girls before he turned and saw Hiryu approaching, "Dude, you look cool. Are you ready for this?"
"Unlike you others, I was born ready," he said with a false mocking tone, causing Izuku and Pony to laugh and Reiko to hide her smile behind her arm.
"If only you all wanted to proceed into battle looking so…" Nieto was saying, moving his hand in a circular motion. "Barbaric. When of course, elegance is what is called for."
Shihai, also dressed in all black, walked over and slapped Izuku on the shoulder, "Good color choices."
Eventually, they were all just gathered together, complimenting each other's costumes; Set was about to try and prank Izuku by pulling the sword when he made her main body eep as he grabbed her hand that was floating over. "I wouldn't do it, Set; it doesn't like being touched."
Itsuka, who was talking with Yui and Kinoko, looked over as Set was blushing slightly; looking past her, she saw Izuku had captured the Lizard Splitter's hand and was lightly and suggestively stroking Set's palm. One of the few times in Itsuka's life, she saw Set tap out in the middle of a tease and ask for her hand back.
All Might stepped emerged, calling everyone back to attention before giving them the rundown and their 2v2 battles, hero, villains, bomb, etc. He expected a flurry of questions and concerns as he had received from 1-A but instead was greeted with "YES, SENSEI!" They all stepped forward and drew their lots.
Team A – Yosetsu Awase & Jurota Shishida vs. Team F - Yui Kodai & Setsuna Tokage
Team B – Sen Kaibara & Nirengeki Shoda Vs. Team G – Kinoko Komori & Manga Fukidashi
Team C – Togaru Kamakiri & Pony Tsunotori Vs. Team H – Izuku Midoriya & Reiko Yanagi
Team D- Shihai Kuroiro & Kosei Tsuburaba VS. Team I – Ibara Shiozaki & Juzo Honenuki
Team E – Itsuka Kendo & Tetsutetsu Vs. Team J – Nieto Monoma & Hiryu Rin
-Match One-
Yui and Setsuna walked into the building, moving to the area with the bomb; Setsuna seemed to be talking as Yui was quiet. But they saw a wicked grin spread across the girl's face, and Setsuna threw her head back and cackled loudly.
Awase and Jurota decided to take the head-on approach; Jurota went beast mode, ripped some handrails off, and passed them back for Awase to weld together as an improvised weapon. Jurota began to surrender to the animal side and raced off ahead. As he burst into the room where the girls were, he had no concern with the bomb choosing instead to attack Yui, who was standing in the center.
Awase chased after his teammate and burst into the room. Suddenly, Yui smiled and placed her fingertips together. Awase immediately felt a moment of dread as the room was completely bare. Though it did not stay that way for long, as office furniture, oil barrels, and crates appeared above them and came crashing down with thunderous force, Awase attempted to find shelter only to find the door locked. In the chaos, he felt his arms wrenched behind his back as he tried to free himself from the rubble and the capture tape slipped into place. All-Might announced his capture, and he fell to the ground in defeat.
Jurota was able to free himself and began to throw the rubble around wildly, he couldn't locate Yui, and when a vial collided with his face, he roared at the liquid as the smell of jasmine invaded his nose, rendering his sense of smell useless. Due to the effect of his quirk, he just rampaged wildly till time ran out.
Yui emerged from a room on the first floor where she had sought shelter, and the Set reassembled herself, floating the bomb down from the rafters.
After the teams regrouped in the observation room, Set and Yui received praise for their well-crafted plan and successful execution. Set was named the MVP for her exceptional ability to develop the strategy and flawlessly utilize her classmate's quirk. It was imposing.
-Match 2-
This match was more of a demolition derby, with Sen and Niren just running at their opposition with devastating effects; just when it looked like Kinoko and Manga were on the verge of defeat, the room covered in dust exploded into an assault of mushrooms. Kinoko had hidden her spores all over the room, and now, with them not only airborne but in the respiratory system of their opponents, they began to choke and panic as their breath was being denied them.
Manga then dropped the "BOOM" on them, literally and figuratively, when he rushed to try and capture them though Niren twin impact exploded, knocking him and Manga unconscious.
"Now, hero, either thee surrender or my precious spores will make their way to your brain where you will become my servant for life, hahahahaahahah" Kinoko threw her head back and laughed manically.
"Can she do that?" Nieto asked from the safety of the observation room.
"Dude, Kinoko is kind of scary," Izuku said.
"And kinda hot," Togaru said much louder than he intended prompting the class to turn and stare at the blade creator. He blushed furiously as he realized why they were staring at him. "IF ANYONE OF YOU SAY SOMETHING, I WILL FUCKING CUT YOU!" He yelled.
"Now sleep, hero; when you awake, it will all be ok, today the city, tomorrow the world," Kinoko said menacingly. Most of the boys in the observation room had to agree, they couldn't understand it, but it was pretty hot.
With the last breath, Sen attacked Kinoko, sending the girl flying back. Unfortunately, the lack of oxygen caught up, and he passed out. Kinoko was named MVP, and All-Might pulled her aside to talk to her about the mind control thing and came back looking pale and writing furiously on the notepad.
-Match Three-
"Do not take your defeat to heart, my friends." Pony said as they made their way out of the observation room. "I WILL not lose." She said, but the statement seemed to be directed more toward Reiko.
"Neither will I, dear Pony, but fret not when Izuku celebrates our victory. Later I will send you a photo," Reiko responded.
"You me fight," Togaru said, pointing at Izuku.
"Oh, yea, Togaru. Bring your best blade. I already have mine," Izuku retorted, patting his sword handle as they hit the cityscape. "Good luck, Pony."
"You as well, Izuku." The girl replied with a smile.
Rieko smirked at Pony, where no one else could see; she latched onto Izuku's arm, causing the quirkless boy to freeze momentarily as two lovely, round squishy orbs pressed around his arm. "Come, Izuku, let us depart and form our plans for victory."
"Sure, Rieko," Izuku managed as the girl pulled him into the building.
"That bitch" Pony muttered in English.
"What?" Togaru said.
"Nothing; I do not want to lose this match. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!" Pony said with a fierce competitive tone.
Izuku and Rieko
"What do you believe should be our plan, dear Izuku?"
"I think they will come for us after that exchange, but I don't know if Pony's horns would count as her touching the bomb, so I believe we should hide it from sight just in case. We should see if we can separate them from tagging team them."
"I can symbolize Pony if you can capture her; Togaru might be too large for me to do the same."
"But if I draw him in, you can use the capture tape to take him out of the fight; I don't know if he can cut it off. But taking out Pony first will give us the advantage, at least in numbers."
"If all else fails, we can probably goad them into direct combat and see if we can obtain victory that way."
"I can work with that, try to separate and capture, or one v one, and if we can secure victory, we help our teammate," Izuku said.
Togaru and Pony
"We go in and kick their asses," Togaru said.
"Yes, but the backup plan is good. Or I attack Izuku, and you deal with Rieko." Pony offered.
"Can you handle Izuku?"
"I do not know, we have trained together a lot, and he is very adept in the training room. But I have not engaged in much combat with him." Pony replied.
"Rieko is going to be the difficult one with her quirk. She may be able to immobilize you, so we should focus on her first before taking out Izuku. I can beat him, so we don't have to worry." He said confidently.
When the buzzer sounded, Togaru made their entrance; being careful to avoid ambush, Rieko and Izuku would launch range attacks from around corners, thanks to Rieko's quirk. Pony fired her horns in retaliation, but the corridors made it hard for her to control them.
Pony and Togaru were making their way down a corridor when suddenly a door flew open, and Pony was yanked inside violently; the door slammed shut, leaving Togaru separated from his teammate as he heard a loud crash on the other side of the door like a large cabinet crashing against it.
Pony rolled to her feet as Izuku launched a kick into her side; she gasped for breath but immediately brought her arm down to trap his leg to deliver a potent counter kick. Pony's kicks were devastating in part to her quirk Izuku was thankful for the body armor as he was positive it would have resulted in broken ribs without it.
As Izuku tumbled away, Pony fired her horns, hoping to disable him, but she saw a wicked glow around them and sent them crashing into a wall instead. She felt her body stiffen as the glow wrapped around her as Izuku speared her in the gut with his shoulder driving more air from her lungs. She struggled as best she could but felt her arms pressed behind her back. She could see a blade tear through the door as Togaru attempted to cut his way in. Quickly she fired her horns at Rieko, forcing the girl to focus on the projectiles, meaning she could no longer hold Pony in place. As Izuku was driving her to the ground, she threw her arm over his head, wrapping around his neck as she pulled her legs up and around his waist, hoping to catch him in a guillotine choke.
Izuku immediately moved to counter her attempt to bring her other arm in to complete the submission as he took his other arm and grabbed at the nerve cluster in the lumbar and sacral plexuses, which broke her leg lock and allowed him to take a take the mount and pull his head free. Pony's arms were immediately removed above her head in a suggestive pose that caused them to blush momentarily as the capture tape wrapped around Pony's wrists and her capture was called out. Izuku immediately scrambled off the girl as the top of the door was cut away.
"You know what to do, Rieko," Izuku called out, and she braced herself and pulled the cabinet away as Togaru burst in to get met by a drop kick from Izuku, sending him back into the hall.
Togaru rolled with the kick and came to his feet, two blades forming from his hands, "Draw your blade so you may be measured." Izuku smirked, hoping to goad his classmate; he drew the staff.
"You must prove worthy of my blade, hero, as I am now unimpressed," Izuku replied, doing his best to sound superior.
"Then prepare for new lessons to be carved upon your body so you remember me," Togaru bit back as he rushed forward.
Izuku tossed his reinforced cloak towards his attacker, causing a momentary distraction that he used to strike at Togaru's chest with a thrust; Togaru was able to quickly counter back with a horizontal swing that forced Izuku to step back as Togaru pirouette to close the distance with another swing of his blades as he went to into attack mode. His duel wielding was off-balanced, Izuku noticed, having seen a Master of It for many years up close and personal.
Izuku let him press his attack till he saw the opening he knew was coming from the boy's swings; he then began to push back, the sharp edge of the staff providing point cuts to drive Togaru back as he faltered. Rieko used the distraction to grab Izuku's discarded cloak and whip it out to tangle Togaru's legs, sending the boy crashing back; Izuku sprang forward and drove the pointed end of the staff down, stopping inches from Togaru's throat as All-Might screamed out a warning. Togaru looked up at Izuku and saw no killing intent from his classmate; he knew that Izuku was in complete control.
"Your dead," was all Izuku said.
"FUCK, I yield," Togaru spat out.
Izuku pulled the staff back and offered his hand; Togaru reluctantly took it as he got to his feet. "You weren't pressed, were you?"
"A little, but I could tell you were off balance while duel-wielding and knew you would give me an opening and what I had to do to force that. Once we got you onto the defensive, you had forgotten about Rieko, and that was the plan." Izuku said. "My teacher was an expert at that technique, duel wielding. If you like, I can give you some pointers with your quirk. I can only imagine how great you could be at it. Nice pirouette, btw."
"Dance class, my mom made me," he said as Pony and Rieko rejoined them in the hallway.
"Don't feel too bad. I had to learn some ballet," the girls stopped and giggled. "What it requires incredible balance, and that shit is hard."
As Pony and Togaru walked ahead of Rieko and Izuku, talking about the match, Reiko quickly pulled Izuku into a room. She blocked the cameras and rose and kissed him. He tenderly returned the kiss. "That was for the Aquarium," she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him with much more fire. "That was today," with a smirk, she walked away, leaving Izuku with a dazed and goofy look.
In the observation room, though she protested, Reiko was named MVP as it was pointed out that Izuku had a plan, but I would not have worked without her and her execution. Thankfully nobody seemed to notice the far-off look in Izuku when he walked in, and after he had a quick talk about All-Might and weapon safety for some reason, it was enough for him to regain his composure.
-Match Four-
Shihai and Kosei were able to work out a solid plan, but one that left them snatching victory with a mere second left on the clock. Kosei would knock out lights to give Shihai more areas to move, but Ibara's Vince and Juzo Softening became a slog in every aspect of the word. Shihai desperately struggled against Ibara's vines, her ability to have them attack from so many angles really had him on the ropes, but he was also able at times to drive her back due the being immobile while attacking, and the other two were a game of cat and mouse. In the end, Kosie managed to lay a fingertip on the bomb to give his team the win.
Kosei was MVP for securing the win, as both teams had flawlessly put their plans into motion.
-Match Five-
Hiryu would harass and force Itsuka and Tetsu to take cover and methodically make their way through the building; when Tetsu finally rushed forward, Neito stepped forward and touched the ground trapping him in the ground with Juzo's quirk. For Itsuka, it was when his hair turned into vines and the assault from Hiryu that was her undoing. When Hiryu slapped the capture tape on her, she hung her head in defeat.
"That was some bullshit, Neito; how did you copy their quirks?" Itsuka said.
"I asked, All-Might allowed it as I was a villain in this scenario; I would have come in prepared for what heroes I would know that would be in the area due to patrol routes, etc."
"I DON'T CARE. CAN YOU GET ME UNSTUCK NOW," YELLED Tetsu?
Nieto was MVP.
-Detention-
For class 1-B's detention, they reviewed the footage with their teacher from the combat training as he gave them pointers and tips.
Class 1-A had to draft a report on the significance of Raven's law and its application in the modern world.
-Izuku and Ida-
Izuku met the speedster of Class 1-A in a private room as the classes emptied from Detention.
Ida bowed. "I apologize for kicking you and for not having a better handle on those of my class that not only attacked you but those who escalated the brawl to levels it should have never risen to."
"Honestly, Ida, you have no reason to apologize. There was no way you could have known that Bakugo was going to attack another student, despite his sunny disposition randomly. And I did punch you first."
"Yes, but I would have reacted the same way you did due to the information you had due to the actions of my class. I find it not only admirable that you are in the hero course as a quirkless student you also placed first in the entrance exam. I was there and acted terribly to you, and you showed me that there was more to the exam with your actions to save Uraraka. You reminded me and showed me what it means to be a hero. I wanted to find you and thank you for that. So, if you would allow me now, Thank You."
"There is no need to thank me, Ida; if you genuinely want to thank me, let us ensure our two classes' joint training goes off without conflict."
"Yes, let us do that; I would like to get to know you better, Izuku. You seem to be interesting."
"You seem rather nice yourself, Ida, and you pack a mean kick."
Ida forced an envelope into his hand, and as his family insisted, Izuku tried to protest, but he could see this was important to Ida, so he just put it into his pocket as they exited the room.
"Hey, you wouldn't be related to Ingenium by any chance, would you?" Izuku asked.
A huge smile broke out on Ida's face. "He is my brother. I am very proud of him."