Written by Aduubo, Buckichamp, and PikachuSpartan.
I OWN NOTHING. KILL LA KILL IS OWNED BY STUDIO TRIGGER AND KAZUKI NAKASHIMA. MHA IS OWNED BY TOHO ANIMATION AND KOHEI HORIKOSHI.
—
-8:23 a.m., 1-A Homeroom-
It was a soggy morning as the UA students returned to class. Both Matoi and Midoriya were immediately picked out by people on their train, congratulating them. Izuku was quick to blush as he was overwhelmed by the positivity from fellow strangers.
Ryuko noticed a few individuals that distanced themselves from her and sighed, knowing that it was because of her last match. Izuku saw this and was quick to reassure the girl. Once again, he dropped everything to make sure that she was okay.
Departing from the train, Midoriya pulled out an umbrella for himself and Matoi as they walked the rest of the way to the school. During their stroll, they found Iida jogging past them. He was trying to get to class early like always, so the two decided to follow him at the same pace.
Ryuko held Izuku's arm as they ran in. Neither of the two noticed how close they were to one another lately; Sharing an umbrella and now running together to get inside. Everything just seemed so natural to them now.
Izuku stopped to dry off his umbrella while Iida put his rain boots in his locker. Ryuko stood idly by, waiting for the two boys. Today was pretty much business as usual.
Izuku however, was put off by Iida's sudden return to form. He hadn't heard from him ever since the news of what happened to his brother. If Iida was doing what he was suspecting, the greenette couldn't help but worry.
"Uh, Iida? I-"
"If you're asking about my brother, you don't need to worry. He's alive and recovering," Tenya turned to Izuku and met him with a smile.
"I'm sorry if I worried you. I appreciate the concern, but I'll be fine."
Iida quickly left the scene before Izuku could say anything else. The greenette sulked as he failed to reach him. Ryuko saw the whole thing and was quick to console her friend.
"Hey. You okay? I saw what happened."
"Yeah. I'm just worried about Iida and what happened to his brother. I don't want to say I know what he's going through, but I umm… know what it's like to hide my emotions," Izuku responded.
Ryuko remembered that night when she tried to talk to Izuku and was met with a similar response. The two thankfully came to a compromise, but Izuku still needed time before he could fully open up. Situations like these were always messy.
"Yeah. I can kind of see that with him. But maybe we should wait a little bit longer. Give him some time," she suggested.
"Mhm. Y-You're right. I just hope that things don't get any worse from here," Izuku spoke before they both made their way to class.
In homeroom, everyone was talking about being noticed by people while on their way to school. It was a surreal experience for a lot of them, though a few students noted how some of the folks they passed seemed slightly unnerved as well.
It wasn't before long that the door slid open with everyone already seated.
"Good morning," Mr. Aizawa greeted the class. The first thing the students noticed was that he was no longer wrapped in bandages. Shota's right eye did have a scar underneath the bottom lid in connection to the USJ attack.
"Mornin', teach! About time you got out of those bandages. For a second there, I thought you were gonna tell us that you were going to America to work with Brendon Fraser or some shit," Ryuko snarked, with Aizawa giving a small, deadpanned glare.
Shota blinked once before letting a very light chuckle escape his lips. For some reason, Matoi's sense of humor got to him.
"I guess," he jested before giving a more serious expression. "The old lady went a little overboard in her treatment."
"Anyway, we have a lot to cover today. The topic is hero informatics."
That bit of news sent the room into a momentary panic outside of a few students. What were they in store for now?
"You need codenames. It's time to pick your hero identities."
Nearly the whole room went into a frenzy at the news. This was something a lot of them had looked forward to, putting several hours of thought into their names.
"Oh crap," Matoi whispered under her breath. "I don't have one."
Aizawa's hair shot up and his eyes glowed red at the sudden burst of activity. Everyone promptly settled down to not incur their teacher's wrath.
"This is related to the hero draft I mentioned the last time we were in class together. Normally you all wouldn't have to worry about that yet, but you guys are a different case," Aizawa explained.
"Anyway, here are the totals for those who received offers."
Shota clicked a button on the controller that connected to the projector behind the board, listing off names and numbers for everyone to see.
Bakugo - 4123
Midoriya - 3922
Matoi - 3764
Todoroki - 3556
Kaminari - 2045
Tokoyami - 402
Iida - 365
Jirou - 355
Yaoyorozu - 84
Kirishima - 68
Uraraka - 20
Sero - 14
A good margin of the classroom collectively gasped upon seeing the results presented.
"In past years, the results used to be more spread out. Obviously, you can see there's a big gap this time around," Aizawa pointed out.
"Holy cow! I-I got so many!" Kaminari stared in awe. He couldn't believe he was in the thousands with the other top dogs. "But I face planted into the wall!"
"Dude, you didn't notice, but you cut off the Festival's electricity with whatever your sonic boom was! That was so cool!" Kirishima cheered for his friend.
"Right? My cell phone was off!" Mina added.
"You still landed a hit on that 1-B student. I'm betting you're being scoped out cuz the pros see the potential and want to help you control your quirk!" Sero spoke up.
"Show off," Mineta grimaced.
"Huh, who would have thunk? Nice job, sparky," Jiro complimented.
"Wow, umm, thanks!" Kaminari responded bashfully, not expecting to receive this kind of response.
Midoriya overheard the praise Kaminari was getting, along with what may be the reason he was being chosen by pros. He felt a certain weight lift off his shoulders now knowing that he wasn't the only one with the task of controlling his quirk.
But, he then dejectedly slumped in his desk.
'Man, I wish I got that kind of positive support before…'
Ryuko spotted the sad boy and quickly turned in her seat to try and tend to him.
"Whoa… look at that. Bakugo got the most ahead of Matoi. What happened there?" Jirou inquired, which grabbed the attention of the two teens.
"Right? It's the opposite of how they placed in the festival," Kirishima also wondered.
"They probably weren't excited about working with the girl who lost her mind and broke an opponent's arm. She might have wowed everyone at the start, but that stunt definitely left a bad impression," Sero deciphered.
"And Midoriya got more than Matoi," Hagukure added.
Hearing this, Matoi now slumped in her desk in shame. She may have gotten over this emotional scene with Izuku, but man, it wasn't fun to hear again. She couldn't stop cringing.
"R-Ryuko!" Izuku called out softly, now trying to tend to her.
"If she scared a pro, they're just weak."
The entire class stopped in their tracks and guided all their sights on Bakugo. Even Midoriya and Matoi were stunned.
"What?" The ashe blonde tensed up in his seat from all the eyes on him.
"Did you…just stick up for Matoi?" Kirishima asked.
"Since when did you start being nice to your enemies?" Kaminari asked.
"Shut up! If pros can't stomach the hardships of battle, then it's no wonder why they're not even in the top ten! Tch!"
Bakugo forcibly turned his desk to the left so that he'd face away from everyone.
Matoi and Midoriya couldn't believe it. Even after the spats between her and Bakugo, and Matoi breaking his arm, he spoke in her defense. This was quite the development, albeit a confusing one.
"Umm…thanks, Katsuki?" Ryuko erred cautiously, which made the blonde scoff in response.
After a moment to think, Midoriya was able to understand why Kacchan spoke up. He might be an arrogant jackass, but he always played things fair. Wait-
'Huh? Where'd that come from?' Izuku scratched his head. Arrogant jackass?
"Well said, Bakugo. Despite these results, you'll all be interning with pros. Even those of you that didn't get any offers. Got it?" Aizawa reassured them. The students were shocked to hear that he agreed with the wild card student.
"Oh, so everyone's still interning?" Izuku asked.
"Yes. Your fight against the villains during the USJ attack made sure of it. It'd be a waste for you guys to sit out instead of watching the pros out there in the field."
"Then we'd better get started on our hero names!" Sato shouted triumphantly.
"That's right. Just know that you can change these names before you graduate, so no pressure. But take them seriously or-"
"You'll have hell to pay later!"
Class 1-A's male students, specifically Kaminari, Sero, and Mineta's eyes widened at the sight of Japan's XXX hero: Midnight.
"Oh no," Matoi sank into her seat and rolled her eyes.
'Just when I thought that I'd be absolutely through with Mikisugi. Now I gotta deal with UA's version of him.'
"The names you pick may define what kind of hero you will be for the rest of your lives. Be sure to pick something that best suits your style," The sultry hero instructed as she sashayed her way over to the podium.
"Midnight will pass judgment on your guys' creativity for the remainder of class. It's not my strong suit," Aizawa soon zipped himself into his sleeping bag and rolled over to the corner.
"Everyone!" Midnight pulled out a neat stack of markers and white boards before handing them off to the front row students. "You have fifteen minutes to brainstorm!"
'W-What? Already? Damn. I thought we would have had more time!'
Ryuko could feel goosebumps on her skin upon receiving her materials. Her mind had been in such a gutter the last few days, she had no moment to think about that. She didn't even consider why she wanted to be a hero in the first place.
And just like that, everyone was already scribbling on their boards. Ryuko sat at her desk with dumbstruck bug eyes.
"Matoi!"
"Ah! Er- Um- Yes?" The Kamui wielder nearly dropped her board onto the floor.
"Why don't you start us off since you're the star of the Festival?" Midnight encouraged.
"What? Hold on, it hasn't even been two minutes! I-I don't got anything yet!"
"Hmmm. Very well! I'll check back with you later! I have high hopes for you!" Midnight gave a thumbs up to the student.
"God, why is she singling me out?" Ryuko sighed and laid her head on the desk.
Almost everyone got cold feet about picking their hero names. If Matoi, the most bombastic person in the class, was struggling, how the hell would they manage?
Aoyama was the first to present his name; "I can't stop twinkling."
"You're kidding right?!"
"What the hell is that?!"
Ryuko and a handful of other students thought in unison.
Midnight then made changes and it was now just "Can't stop twinkling."
"SHE LIKES IT?"
The same group verbalized aloud.
Mina was up next to present her name and was rejected immediately. This brought up even more cold feet for the students. Thankfully, Tsuyu would save the class from stress as she went up to present her name.
"Rainy season hero: Froppy."
"Such a delightful name! I approve!" Midnight nearly burst with joy.
The entire class was now at ease, thanks to Tsuyu being the one with a normal title. One after the other, students stepped up and showed their ideas; Kirishima being "Red Riot," Uraraka being "Uravity," and to top it all off, Bakugo's "King Explosion Murder." Which was rejected immediately.
'Everyone has such cool names… I don't know if I can top any of it,' Izuku thought as he stared at his blank board.
"What? You're stumped too? Damn. I was counting on you as a confidence boost," Ryuko spoke from behind. "You came up with a lot of hero names even back then, right?"
"Well, unless it's something other than "Might guy, Mighty All-Man, and All Might Junior," I can't use any of them. Nor do I want to," Izuku chuckled and turned around in his seat to face Ryuko.
"PFFF, I remember how much of a fanboy you were for him. Heck, you still are. That hasn't changed."
"Well I remember that I wasn't the only one who came up with hero names," Izuku teased right back. "Damn, uhm… I can't remember what though."
"Lemme stop you right there. I don't need you roasting me on bad names I came up with when I was a kid. Some things are better off forgotten," Ryuko shrunk into her seat. But, the two laughed together.
"Looks like this is wrapping up a lot faster than I expected. All that's left is Bakugo, Iida, and Matoi. Oh yes, and Midoriya too," Midnight scoped out the classroom.
"Matoi, have you come up with a name yet?"
"Ah…shit. Alright, hold on," Ryuko quickly scribbled something onto her board and walked up.
"Ryuko."
"Your first name too? Not even sure what kind of hero you want to be?" Nemuri asked.
"W-Well… no. Not right now. Gimme a break, alright? We can still change our names later on," Ryuko spoke bashfully.
"Is that so? Is there a reason you're having so much trouble?"
Ryuko was stuck. The truth was that her love for heroes dwindled during her years at Gakuin Elementary School. But she obviously couldn't say that since it'd raise suspicions to why she even attended UA. And then it'd lead to her having to explain the true purpose of the transfer program.
And she didn't have the heart to tell Izuku.
"I just haven't figured it out. That's all, ma'am."
"Alright then. I look forward to hearing what you come up with later!" Nemuri gave a thumbs up to her student.
Tenya stepped up next and was the third one in the class that put their first name as their hero title. Not only was Midnight surprised, but Izuku and Ryuko were as well.
"Iida…" Izuku said softly.
Ryuko took a good look at Iida up at the podium. He was absolutely dispirited. He wasn't even facing the crowd, nor did he give an answer to Midnight's question. Tenya just nodded and went back to his seat without another word.
Izuku looked down at his board with a saddened expression on his face. His suspicions were coming to fruition; Iida was not doing fine at all. He partly felt responsible for it. Maybe if he pushed further… he could reach him? He was unsure of what his next move was.
The greenette looked a little over his shoulder to Ryuko.
'What would Ryuko do?'
"Midoriya, you're the last one. Are you ready?"
Izuku perked up once Midnight called him up.
"Oh! Yes!"
He stepped up to the podium, holding the whiteboard close to his chest as if he were embracing it.
'This is it. It has to be.'
Izuku flipped the board around and placed it so everyone could see.
His classmates were both confused and concerned about his choice. Ryuko was amongst the crowd that shared this feeling. Kaminari was the first to speak up.
"Whoa. Umm, are you sure about that, Midoriya?"
"Yeah. Remember that these names could stick for the rest of our lives," Kirishima added.
Ryuko felt like speaking up too, but smiled instead.
"Yeah. This name was something I hated for a long time. But things have changed in the last few months. Someone taught me that it could mean something different. Something more. And someone else helped me learn just how much more I can be. So now, I can't help but smile everytime I think about it."
"But you know what? I like "Deku." It could make a great hero name! Plus it sounds like "I can do it!" I like it!"
"You, Izuku Midoriya, are going to be the most badass hero the world will ever see. I can't wait to see you become just that."
A crooked smile wore itself on Izuku's face as he was starting to get emotional. But he tamed it so that he wouldn't cry in front of the class.
"Deku. That's my name. That's the name of a hero."
Katsuki looked up from his board with a befuddled expression. There was a sense of anger behind it too. Deku just undid something that greatly factored into Katsuki's superiority over him. The gap between them was continuing to widen.
Ochako's spirit lifted itself so high that she felt weightless. Ryuko too felt her heart simmer during Izuku's speech. But the two realized that Izuku spoke about the both of them and it added a different kind of feeling. A feeling that left a strange irk in their chests.
..~~~HLK~~~..
"Would you look at that? Offers for the first years are still rolling in. Not that it surprises me," Cementoss skimmed over the list.
"Here's one for Midoriya."
"Another one? Who is it?" Toshinori leaned down to peek at the computer before coughing up blood.
"WHAT? HIM?! OH NO!"
..~~~HLK~~~..
-Lunchtime-
"Hey Izuku! Matoi! Who's on your lists?" Uraraka asked.
"There's over 3,000 heroes who offered us an internship, so if I just place them into groups of specific specialties, I'll be able to narrow it down. Both Ryuko and I work best in combat, so I just need to see if there's anything else we can possibly improve on. Maybe kill two birds with one stone. Should we try to apply to the same internship together? Or-"
'There he goes again," A handful of the class thought together.
While that was going on, something else caught their eye. It was Matoi, who was unaffected while Midoriya went on his verbose joyride. It looked like she was happily listening to everything he was saying.
"Matoi? You… getting any of this?" Ojiro asked.
"Huh? Every third word maybe," she responded.
"You're not…weirded out by any of this?" Jiro inquired.
"No. What, are you?"
"Hey Midoriya," Tsuyu called out.
"Huh?! Oh, sorry! You guys say something?" Izuku blushed since he was caught in his mumble again.
"You've been thinking really hard about this, huh?" Asui stepped closer to Midoriya's desk and noticed he had two sheets of paper in front of him.
"Wait a second. You're having him go over your list too, Matoi?"
"What? Uhh…"
"Not very selfless, huh?" Asui asked.
"Um! Well, I-! Uhh-" Matoi raised her hands up defensively.
"It's okay guys. Really. We both have a lot to think about. So it made sense to try and help each other," Midoriya laughed as he jumped to Ryuko's defense.
Izuku's phone suddenly buzzed in his pocket. How did he forget to put it on silent?
It was a message from All Might.
"Hey kid. If you and Young Matoi have a moment, meet me in the teacher's lounge after school. Same one where we met before."
"What is it, Izuku?" Ryuko asked, startling him for a second before his jitters calmed down.
Izuku's eyes darted left and right to make sure nobody was watching them and showed his phone to Ryuko.
'Huh? Why is he showing his… Oh!'
Now she remembered.
..~~~HLK~~~..
"When you and Young Midoriya return to classes, we'll sit down and chat."
..~~~HLK~~~..
Ryuko nodded at Izuku to confirm that she understood what he showed her. Now that that was out of the way, they could continue with their look through the internships.
"Oh! Ryuko, check this out!" Izuku called. "You got an offer from Best Jeanist!"
"Jeanist? Who's that?" Ryuko inquired.
"Best Jeanist. He's a hero known for his quirk, fiber master. Where he could manipulate threads from his clothes as a capture tool or a weapon."
"Whoa, really?! Hold up, what?"
"Thought that would pique your interest," Izuku said with a chuckle.
"And he's the No. 4 hero!"
"And he's offering me an internship? Holy cow, Izuku. This could help with a lot of things!" Ryuko ran her hands through her front bangs, completely mind blown.
"He's the one I have to intern with, then."
Ryuko brought her hands down and clamped them into fists. She was all fired up. Izuku smiled, finding joy in her excitement as he handed the papers off to her.
This hero thing was now huge to Ryuko. Not only was she going to be on the front lines with the No. 4 hero, but it was also one that specialized in fibers. Life Fibers? Who knows? But this was a good start.
..~~~HLK~~~..
"Hey Izuku! Matoi! You guys wanna walk home together?" Ochako made a stop at the two teens' desks.
"Sur- Oh wait! We actually can't. Ryuko and I need to stay after class to go over our internships," Izuku answered.
"Aww, alright. What say you, Iida-"
The trio found that Iida's desk was empty.
"Huh," Ochako tilted her head.
"I'm betting that Iida already decided on his internship. But… it's still strange of him to leave without saying anything," Izuku focused on his friend's desk.
"Right. Sorry about that, Uraraka. You still down for tomorrow's study session?" Ryuko rubbed the back of her head and asked.
"Getting work done and eating good food while doing it? I wouldn't miss it!" The brunette cheered with her fist in the air.
"Sounds good. We'll walk over to Danchi tomorrow then! See you later, Ochako!" Izuku waved her off as she left the classroom.
Ochako smiled and walked down the hall before stopping in her tracks, feeling a little knot in her gut as she looked back to the entrance of the classroom.
'Why can't I shake this?'
Turning back forward, she journeyed to the train station alone.
-Four minutes later-
The two teens left the classroom to rendezvous with All Might, who happened to be around the corner.
"Oh! Hey there!" He greeted them but stopped once he saw Matoi.
"Oh-Um, Young Matoi. How are you-"
"It's okay, All Might. You don't need to worry. Whatever happened before, I'm over it. Umm, Izuku helped me out," She said rather bashfully. Once again, Izuku was the one to rescue Ryuko whenever she was in a rut.
Toshinori watched the two teens exchange smiles with one another. A grin soon wore itself on his face too.
'Young Midoriya. That's another person you've saved today. You're really something, aren't you?"
"Alright you two, enough sightseeing," he spoke up, which snapped the duo back to reality. They had mild blushes on their faces.
"Let's get going," Toshinori instructed the two to follow him down the hall until they stopped at a door and entered.
"So this is where you've been having your secret rendezvous?" Matoi peered at Toshinori as Midoriya closed the door to the teacher's lounge.
"It's somewhere with some privacy at least," Yagi chuckled.
"It's funny. I was sleeping here the first few days I attended UA before I pulled the trigger on the option to stay," the girl lightly scratched at her cheek.
The two guys didn't say a word. This was somewhat unexpected.
"If it makes you feel any better, I know Principal Nezu had people come in and clean up before I moved out," Matoi assured the pair, as everyone relaxed.
"Sorry. I never realized that happened," All Might apologized while grabbing a pot of tea. "Here, some lemon and honey tea while we chat."
He poured the pair a cup each as they took their seats on the sofa.
"So, where do we start?"
"How about the Quirk itself?" Ryuko pitched. "One For All, right?"
"Alright then, here goes. One For All is a crystallization of power that's been passed down through the generations to a worthy successor. The more users it's passed through, the more powerful it's become. Young Midoriya's going to end up stronger than me."
"Wait, for real?" Ryuko raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised. "But you're so strong already!"
She stopped, now with a new question in mind.
"Then why did you need to pass it on to Izuku?"
All Might let out a sigh and lifted his shirt, revealing a grotesque sight.
"GAHH!"
"That fight was from five to six years ago. My successor knew about this when we first met. This injury has sapped the time I can basically buff myself up each day. I'm limited to about 50 minutes now, give or take."
All Might lowered the garment back down as Ryuko gulped.
"Damn. Sorry about that."
"No need to apologize, Young Matoi. But you can imagine now why I needed to find a worthy successor. Someone I'm proud of."
Toshinori reached out to ruffle Izuku's hair, drawing a brief laugh from the inheritor.
"Okay…" Ryuko mulled over. "How did the power get transferred then? A surgery? Do other people know?!"
"Yeah, a few others do," Izuku jumped in quickly, realizing All Might was a touch flustered.
"Yeah. Obviously, Recovery Girl and Principal Nezu do. One of the cops who was investigating the USJ incident, Detective Tsukauchi, also knows. He visited after you left the infirmary."
"That guy in the brown coat and fedora?" Ryuko asked.
"How did you know?" Izuku wondered.
"I… vaguely remember passing by him down the hallway."
"Beyond the people I mentioned, only a couple of other close… confidants… know…" Toshinori continued before grinding to a halt.
"You paused there," Izuku noted.
"You got another offer from a mentor and former teacher of mine," All Might shook as his legs fidgeted.
"WHOA! REALLY?!" Midoriya's eyes sparkled.
"His name's Gran Torino, and he knows about One For All as well. He was entrusted to me a long time ago and taught at the school for a year."
"Any chance that you're scared of him?" Matoi immediately noticed.
"His ways of teaching me were… aggressive."
Midoriya immediately had thoughts racing through his head at that suggestion. What exactly did 'aggressive' mean?
"Anyway, here's the offer and then we're back on topic!"
A piece of paper quickly found its way into Izuku's hand before All Might continued on.
"The transfer didn't require surgery. It requires the wielder's DNA."
"Wait. DNA?" Ryuko questioned.
"Yep. And another thing. One For All can be transferred by force, even if the person it's getting transferred to doesn't want the power," Toshinori explained.
"I still don't get why I needed to eat your hair to get the DNA part of the transfer done," Izuku raised an eyebrow while Matoi laughed at her friend's misfortune.
"It could have been weirder. I could have kissed you."
Both teens suddenly found themselves on the floor in a heap, while All Might sat there laughing that they both took him so seriously.
"What the hell?! Why would you even say that?!" Ryuko huffed, her face a little red, as was Izuku's.
"I said it could have been weirder than eating my hair. Do you think I'd want to do that?"
"The kissing? No," Izuku shot back, with Ryuko snickering at the curt response.
"Well, you have your answer there," Toshinori chuckled.
Ryuko remembered something from a few days ago. If there was a time to ask, it was now.
"Anyway, this power can be passed on. And based on what you told us, you're not the first one to have it."
"Correct-"
"And Izuku didn't know much about any other wielders during the chat after our fight at the Sports Festival. Why didn't you tell him?" Matoi questioned.
The No. 1 hero gulped before sitting there in silence. It was enough to catch Izuku's attention, as his mentor suddenly looked uncomfortable.
"All Might?"
"How about… How about we save that for another time?"
Ryuko looked back to All Might, slightly disturbed by the hero's sudden silence.
"You good there, beanstalk?"
"It's nothing, Young Matoi. Like I said, it's a story… a very long story for another day."
Before Ryuko could pry any further, Izuku laid his hand on her shoulder, indicating for her to halt her search.
"So, how about we change the subject and move onto something a little more important. Your internships. You two have any clue on who you wish to shadow for the week?"
"I picked Best Jeanist for my internship," Ryuko said first.
"Jeanist, huh? Considering what your power entails, that's a great choice," Toshinori commended his student.
"That's right. Izuku and I have been going back and forth with the limits of what Senketsu can do. We already know that he can transform, so working with a fiber hero will help a lot."
"I've made it this far. I'll do whatever it takes to keep getting stronger. That way I can get back to Honnōji and beat Satsuki's face in," Ryuko tightened her fist.
All Might's smile faded with her last sentence.
"You have ambition, Young Matoi. I'll give you that. Buuuut it's definitely misguided," he said.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"You basically just told me that the whole reason you're here is to get stronger, so that you can get revenge. Is that right?" Toshinori leaned forward in his seat and looked Ryuko in the eyes.
"Well… I… um," she tried to speak.
"Now, I get it. The reason you're here is because of an arrangement from Nudist Beach."
"You know about that?" Izuku pried curiously.
"Yes, but I unfortunately can't get into further detail about that. Sorry, Young Midoriya," Toshinori shut down that discussion quickly.
Izuku sighed and plopped his chin on his knuckles, being left in the dark once again. He was starting to understand Ryuko's frustration with Mr. Mikisugi a lot more.
"Back on topic, Young Matoi. You didn't intend to apply here, but you made it this far. You've gotten so strong since your first day. Is that really what you want to build your legacy on?" he said as he gave a rather apologetic look.
"Do you want to become a hero, Young Matoi?"
Izuku looked to Ryuko, who sat in silence. She couldn't think of anything to say back to him. Toshinori analyzed her expression before finally easing up. He then leaned back into his seat.
"I can tell by the look in your eyes that there's a personal vendetta there, too. But it's not my place to pry for it without your permission. Maybe Young Midoriya or even your internship can help you get that straightened out."
Toshinori then raised his pointer finger.
"I want you to think about what you want to do once you graduate from UA. I'm assigning you a personal essay. Not about hero ethics. But about you. And what kind of person you want to be."
Ryuko blinked a few times to be sure that she heard him right. The entire time All Might had been in UA, he was the charismatic and fun teacher that everyone loved, while Aizawa was the straight-laced one. Seeing Toshinori be the opposite was so new. He was stern and confrontational. Not only was Ryuko surprised, but also intimidated.
"Yes sir," she responded as politely as possible.
"There's more to life than revenge, Young Matoi. I expect to see that essay finished by the time your internships are done," Toshinori clapped his hands together and stood up. "Alright, that's about it for today. See you guys in a week!"
Both Ryuko and Izuku nodded and said goodbye to him before standing up. As they were heading towards the door, Toshinori spoke up.
"Oh, Young Midoriya."
"Yeah, All Might?" Izuku responded.
"Make sure she works on her assignment," he said with a chuckle.
"O-Oh, umm, sure."
Ryuko hunched over in defeat, which was accompanied by a pouty whine. Just when she thought she could solely focus on studying her Kamui, she also had to do a study on soul searching. Man, she did not like homework.
..~~~HLK~~~..
-Honnōji Academy-
"Where's Jakuzure? She's normally on time for meetings like this," Gamagori wondered aloud.
"Just running a quick errand for Lady Satsuki," the pinkette's voice filtered into the Student Council room. "Never thought you'd be one to worry over me, Gamagori."
"If I'd known better, you were probably dusting up a few kids on the third floor," Sanageyama stated. He was wearing a green bandana over his eyes, smirking as the girl huffed.
'He's even more annoying now without his eyesight,' Nonon rolled her eyes.
"What did the punks even do?" Uzu chuckled. "C'mon, it's not like you had to lie. Now I'm curious."
"Ugh. If you must know…"
"We can save the conversation for later," Satsuki's voice echoed as she walked in with Inamuta and sewing club president Shiro Iori, along with the butler, Mitsuzo Soroi.
"About time you finished that data crunching. I thought it'd only take you a day," Jakuzure snickered.
"I'd like to see you analyzing all of that footage, Ms. Snake. I also had to make sure I grabbed the data from the destroyed nano-bots. The ones lost in the heatwave proved the most challenging to recover," Inamuta casually countered.
"Based on the preliminary findings shown to me before this meeting, we now have a basic, foundational knowledge of how much more powerful we'll need to make the Goku uniforms," Iori explained.
"UA has a lot of natural talent, and the numbers here," Inamuta threw the collected graphs and videos, along with other datasets up on full display, "Show that we're slightly less powerful with most of our Goku Uniforms, outside of the Elite Four."
"All I see are a bunch of whiny teenagers," Jakuzure demurred.
"Those are only the first years, you know," Inamuta shot back, raising Nonon's curiosity.
"If these kids are that powerful, then imagine their second and third year students. And even the pros that are better than them. If I were to say anything, we're only about on par with first and second year students right now."
The others in attendance gulped, save for Satsuki, who nodded.
"If our plans are to succeed, then I'm expecting each of you to step up and help recruit the highest quality members into our ranks. Am I clear?"
The Elites glanced back at each other before giving their leader a reaffirming nod.
"Good," Satsuki stated as she walked back to her seat and was served a cup of tea.
"Inamuta and Iori, time to get to work. Let's continue reviewing the rest of this data."
"How about we get this one out of the way: Ryuko Matoi," Iori stated.
"Really? We have enough data from when she fought Satsuki. Hell, even the other Two-Stars gave us some decent data," Jakuzure chimed in.
"Maybe so, but in the span of three weeks, her strength and overall battle prowess have drastically increased. And let's not forget her new enhancements," Inamuta explained, pulling up a video file of Matoi's fight with Class 1-B's Shiozaki.
"As you can see, Matoi's Kamui was able to morph itself to combat against her opponents' vines. This new form is shown to be the perfect counter for your Shackled Regalia, Gamagori. So be warned when the time comes to face her," Iori said.
"Are you saying Matoi has passed even us?" Sanageyama asked.
"Not quite yet, but she's leveled up considerably. She's basically on par with us," Inamuta stated matter of factly.
"That's absurd!" Gamagori's fist pounded the table, shaking the glasses a bit in the process.
"How could Matoi improve by that much? It defies all logic!"
"I agree with you Gamagori," Iori nodded. "She and the Kamui Senketsu haven't been anywhere near Life Fibers recently, with no way to absorb those since she left Honnōji."
"Her physical strength has jumped to a whole other level," Inamuta added as he pulled up a clip from Matoi's first round bout. "Right now, only Sanageyama and Lady Satsuki have the brute strength needed to battle back halfway decent. She didn't even need her Kamui to win."
"Lady Satsuki," Sanageyama started. "Do you think it's possible-"
"That's not happening right now," Satsuki looked over to Uzu with a slight glare. "Lest I remind you what our goals are."
"Of course," the athletic chairman apologized with a bow.
"Now onto our next contender, the fourth born of the Todoroki family, Shoto Todoroki," Inamuta continued, pulling up a still image of the student in question.
"Ah yes, the No. 2's prodigal son. He stirred up quite the storm during the tournament," Sanagayama said with a smirk.
"Understatement at best. Todoroki was able to unleash a tremendous amount of power during the first event of the Festival and still had enough stamina to compete the remaining two, while also taking leading positions," Inamuta explained.
"However, despite the obvious advantage throughout the entire event, he refused his greatest asset for the majority of the festival. His fireside. The only time he ever actively used that form of his Quirk was when he was melting the ice from his larger constructs and during his battle with Izuku Midoriya," Satsuki chimed in, earning knowing looks from her compatriots.
"So it's fair to say that while a threat to some degree, Shoto Todoroki is the least of our worries during combat. He lacks proper control of his power, so that will be a decent advantage on our part," Gamagori concluded, seeing the specified data.
"Now next up on the list is-"
"Your little gay crush!" Jakuzure interrupted with a snarky attitude and grin.
"I-you-you shut your mouth! Don't you dare make such baseless accusations like this!" Houka defended, whilst trying to hide the red hue on his face.
"Okay, I feel like I'm missing something. What is the pipsqueak talking about?" Sanageyama tilted his head.
"It appears that Inamuta has developed an…attraction to Izuku Midoriya, Matoi's compatriot," Gamagori explained to his blind classmate.
"Oh yeah, little mean and green! Man, haven't heard what happened to him after my fight with Matoi."
"And when you mean fight, you mean when she wiped the floor with you in front of her boyfriend. Also what's with the nickname? Don't tell me you got the hots for him too!" Jakuzure continued to egg both of her male associates.
"Hey! First off, I was just happy to see someone with some damn brains in that hero school. You wouldn't believe how many braindead idiots they pump out on a daily basis. Also, SHE CHEATED GODDAMN IT! SHE CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD WHILE THAT MOHAWK ASSHOLE WAS INTERRUPTING OUR FIGHT!"
"Jeez, don't get your panties in a bunch."
"Enough, both of you. Inamuta, if you could please continue," Gamagori said, wanting the meeting to get back into motion.
"Right. Back on topic then. Izuku Midoriya, Quirk registered as 'Superpower'. He has the ability to channel large amounts of energy and disperse it as a power amplifier on specific parts – and throughout his body."
"Okay yeah, so he's strong. What makes him such a threat? Last I checked he broke his bones during the Festival. And apparently he has had a record of doing that," Jakuzure tilted her seat back.
"The fact that in spite of having this power for a mere three months, he was able to stand on equal ground with Matoi," Satsuki chimed in once more, earning awed faces from everyone except Inamuta.
"Three months. That runt had power like that for three months and managed to stand toe to toe against Matoi?" Jakuzure straightened her seat immediately.
"How is that even possible? Quirks naturally come to its users at the age of four in terms of Emitter and Transformation. Such a phenomenon should be close to impossible!" Ira protested.
"That's something I wish to figure out at a later date. Late Quirk manifestation is not unbecoming in today's generation. However, the latest recorded manifestations were at the age of ten."
"We can discuss Quirk Theory another time. Inamuta, continue your analysis on Izuku Midoriya," Satsuki ordered.
"Why of course, Lady Satsuki. While holding this power, Midoriya is able to somehow unleash it at smaller 'levels'. This would explain his lack of broken limbs, and also explain why his output now is much weaker than before," Inamuta continued, comparing two pieces of footage of the boy in question. One from his fight with Todoroki and the other from Matoi.
"That's all well and good, but that still doesn't tell me why you have such a hard on for the guy," Nonon snided.
"Yeah, I'm still wrapping my head around that. I honestly thought you were aroace, dude," Uzu said.
"WILL YOU STOP WITH THAT?!...*ahem* As I was saying, Izuku Midoriya's greatest asset was never his strength," Inamuta stopped before whispering under his breath, "But God, do I love it!"
"No, his greatest tool… is his mind," Houka declared, garnering very few reactions from his allies.
"That's it? That's what you've been so excited about? That the runt is just super smart and shit? Okay, now I'm just disappointed in you. Like, there are plenty of reasons to like the guy and you choose what's inside his damn skull. Sounds pretty shallow," Nonon scoffed.
"If you want to know more, then stop talking and listen. This boy was able to close the gap between himself and Matoi in a matter of weeks. And he also managed to almost secure a victory against Matoi, someone who we ourselves had trouble with for some time. Look at his fights, he's so quick to adapt. Everytime he was in battle, he was able to calculate and mold said battles in his favor."
"So he's a strategist," Ira noted.
"More than that, Gamagori. To adapt and learn at such speeds is remarkable. And look at this," Inamuta pulled up an image of Izuku writing in his journal.
"Hero Analysis for the Future? He's got a cute little diary, so what?" An incredulous Jakuzure said, not at all impressed.
"Look at the volume number, Nonon," Satsuki chimed in, wanting her closest allies' attention.
"Okay, what are you…" Jakuzure stops herself to see the volume number of the journal.
Thirteen.
"Based on my findings, Izuku Midoriya had spent all of his adolescence studying everyone he came in contact with. From early childhood to now, he had done nothing but analyzed Quirked individuals. Such an activity isn't known for someone at the age of four," Inamuta continued, now having his allies' attention.
"Either he's got a lot of time on his hands, or he's a freak," Jakuzure huffed.
"Or both?" Sanageyama raised the question.
"Regardless, he's a threat," Satsuki said, causing three of the Elite Four to turn to her.
"Inamuta tried to sway Midoriya to our ranks once the Sports Festival concluded, but he declined. Not only that, he was aware of our "detention centers" when I made contact with him."
"Wait a minute, I thought we took care of everyone trying to leak that stuff out," Sanagayama said.
"It's not uncommon for information such as this to be leaked. However, the outside world tends to chalk it up to mere rumors and conspiracy theories. Even then, the Information committee tends to take care of those issues," Gamagori added.
"True as well. In order to not garner too much suspicion, I had my team bury it in various online forums regarding our reputation. So deep in fact, no news outlets or Hero Agencies have yet to contact us on the rumors," Inamuta noted.
"Yet Midoriya was able to find them," Jakuzure concluded.
"And wouldn't you know it, on the week of Matoi's enrollment…"
Inamuta proceeds to pull up Izuku's search history on the week of Ryuko's enrollment to UA. Nearly all of the searches range from the school's history to the darker sides of Honnōji's reputation.
"My god, this kid is… I don't know what to think," Gamagori said, in awe of the amount of effort this one boy put into learning about Honnōji.
'Hehehehe. Whaddya know, I was right about you, kid. But I gotta say, you're hella scary when driven,' Sanagayama thought with a smirk.
"Now you see why I wanted him here. Adaptability and anonymity are the key features he excels in the most," Inamuta said, turning toward the monitor.
'*Sigh* If it weren't for Matoi and her meddling, I can say without a doubt that you would be right here by my side, Midoriya. All that potential, just begging to be unleashed.'
"Had Matoi and the people at UA stood aside, Midoriya would have, without a doubt, been eligible for Three-Star status if he took my offer. Hell, I'd say he would've been eligible to replace me if the time ever came."
Sanageyama couldn't help but whistle at that proclamation.
"That's big coming from you, Inamuta," Uzu added, utterly surprised at the praise this kid was getting.
"Praise from me is something that could only be earned through dedication to craft. And Midoriya has done that and more. So in conclusion, while Izuku Midoriya is to be considered a threat on the same caliber as Ryuko Matoi-"
"We should still have the option of joining us on the table if the time should come," Satsuki concluded for her lieutenant.
"Next up, Katsuki Bakugo. The "other" first place holder of the Sports Festival," Inamuta continued, bringing up a picture of said boy on the projector.
"So we get to talk about Mr. Explody Bath Salts, huh? Honestly, I don't see much we need to discuss for this. The kid can make explosions and stuff, right?" Nonon snarked, not seeing much from the Explosion boy.
"On the surface, yes, Bakugo's abilities lack complexity. His Quirk allows him to generate explosions through the ignition of his sweat. Based on our data, his sweat's chemical composition is very similar to that of nitroglycerin. The only difference is that the potency of the sweat's ignition point is far stronger," Inamuta explained.
"The kid's got explosive sweat. Gross but pretty cool, I guess. What about power output? He's got to at least take out like a building or two to even scratch a Goku uniform," Sanagayama chimed in.
"Maximum output is still unknown, even with the amount of data I have collected from the tournament. So for right now, we will use the blasts he unleashed in his match with Matoi and Ochako Uraraka to scale," Inamuta said, pulling up footage of the two fights.
"Hmm, it appears that the large explosions have a much lower means of control. He needs to remain stationary in order to keep his footing. And look closer, to his face and arms," Gamagori said, instructing the Information and Strategy chair to zoom in.
The footage showed a slight grimace on Bakugo's face, small enough to be lost to those without a keen enough eye. An even closer inspection showed his arms were shaking.
"So those large explosions take a toll on his body the more he uses them. Kinda figured that. Quirks are still physical abilities at the end of the day," Jakuzure noted.
"Regardless, he's still talented enough to make it as the representative for Class 1-A for the Sports Festival. So in turn, he should be taken with caution," Satsuki concluded.
"To think these hero schools got kids like these as first years. Imagining these monsters as pros, they'd be an absolute nightmare," Uzu said with a slight grin, pumped up for the new competition.
"I wouldn't worry too much. Those brats don't have what it takes to handle the likes of Honnōji. All that coddling they got from their teachers and parents is gonna bite them in the ass," Jakuzure asserted while getting up from her seat.
"Truer words haven't been said, Jakuzure. Despite what was said, at the end of the day…" Satsuki also stood from her chair.
The members of the Honnōji hierarchy sported wild grins, their eyes glowing with anticipation.
"No one alive can prepare them for what's coming."
"We didn't know it then, but one of the greatest fights of our lives was about to unfold."
"And we were far from prepared."
To Be Continued…