"So, I see you gave a child Outsider's Growth," Nedzu noted as he sat across from All-Might.
The latter could not read the former's tone. Was he excited, disapproving, or merely curious? The Mouse Atavist wore his motivations in secret, as always, and it was more frustrating than normal as they discussed his newly chosen protege. The only thing All-Might could think to do in response was to sigh and explain his reasoning.
"The boy has the heart of a Hero, and the mind of a strategist. He had everything going for him both mentally and emotionally to be one of the greats, to do some good for this world. But a twist of fate robbed him of his potential. It's the only way to use Outsider's Growth without making it a tool for gaining power and, I guess, 'cheating' at strength, to give those with no physical or unnatural potential what they need to succeed."
"I suppose that you see yourself in the boy," the mouse answered, sipping some tea. "That can be dangerous, choosing someone similar to you. It can blind you to his faults."
"That's the thing; he's not similar to me, except that he also wanted to help even when he couldn't. He has a way of analyzing things, of taking in information. I have no doubt that he'll surpass me, to do what I couldn't."
Nedzu put his tea down. "Well, you've certainly put more thought into this than I expected of you. Very well, I will trust you for now. I have high hopes for this boy, and higher expectations. Aizawa already sees potential, and that's a man who is easily disappointed, so I can't say we haven't already seen results."
--
As the students changed together in their gender-specific locker rooms, they made small talk and tried to get to know each other. Some found it awkward and difficult, while others fell into a rhythm right away. Mineta, Kaminari, and Sero were among the latter group, mostly united by their love of the female form and a private environment to discuss it.
"Damn, this class has got it going on. The girl with the lava slug was very well proportioned, I must say."
"Though not as much as that Yaoyorozu chick," Mineta interjected, having been so impressed by her that he actually bothered to memorize her name.
Sero frowned at that. "I don't know, I've never been into meta-girls."
"Even elves?" Kaminari wondered out loud.
"Believe it or not, they're actually the worst, because they look so human that the parts that are different are just, too different, you know. It's like the uncanny valley thing."
"I guess, but the ears are kind of cool for me, and they certainly don't stop me from noticing the…other assets," Kaminari answered.
"Hell no," Mineta agreed, "I'm not ignoring great boobs and a fine ass just because her ears are a little pointy or her cheekbones are set a bit too high. Or because she's covered in fur for that matter. The otter-girl, for example."
"Eh, I'm nőt a furry chaser, but I could see how one would be into her."
Shoji, changing his clothes next to them, scoffed in disgust, but said nothing. Sero, not fully certain what had offended their classmate so but remembering his comment about metas and the fact that Shoji was quite visibly an Ork…"hey, man, I don't mean anything about meta-people. I just don't find them appealing on a sexual level."
Hmmphinng, Shoji merely responded, "fair enough, I don't find you appealing either."
Sero laughed, assuming everything was good, and went on with his conversation with the other two.
Izuku was red-faced, trying not to listen in. This was not the type of conversation he normally engaged in, and felt on some level that it was inappropriate. On another, he was also a heterosexual teenage boy who had noticed much of the same things his classmates had, even if he hadn't been nearly as inclined to think so 'deeply' about it. Even about that Ururaka girl and her…no, he was a modern man, he respected women.
More relevantly, though he didn't like to think of it that way, his middle-school years had made it clear that no girl would ever be interested in him, and that it was disgusting and uselessly wishful to think otherwise. He was rubbish, he was a 'magikarp'…wasn't that before, though? How…should he react to women, considering his newfound status? Not that he had a 'new status' yet, but it was clear that he could actually improve.
He wasn't condemned to eternal worthlessness, so did that mean he was worthy of others attentions? Should he be joining and talking just like those three, or was that still disgusting? Shoji's and Iida's silent glares seemed to suggest the latter. But when what did he deserve? Come to think of it, what kind of friendship did he deserve? Actually succeeding at heroism would inevitably change his social opportunities, and that in turn meant that he had to figure out how interacting with others actually worked. Why was everything so hard?
--
When he eventually left the school, Izuku was surprised to see Iida walking next to him. "I must say, Midoriya, that you put on a fine performance today. I've never seen a pocket monster act quite like yours."
Izuku started panicking, wondering if Iida was onto his secret, until the other boy continued, "I really am afraid that we may have gotten off on the wrong foot, and was wondering if a fresh start might be possible. I would even be opening to you considering me a…friend."
A friend? Was Izuku about to make his first friend? Was that really how easy it was? Then why wasn't it easy like that before? Because before you had a Magikarp. Now you have a Gyarados. A part of him was bothered by that observation, but he suppressed it in favor of trying to get on with the first person to reach out to him.
As he did so, that pretty Ururaka girl that he had most definitely not been thinking inappropriate thoughts about during the boys' conversation earlier ran up.
"Hey, I don't think I ever got your name!" She shouted. "Other than that one boy shouting 'Magikarp.' Is that your name? It sounds like a pocket monster."
Izuku found himself crestfallen. "It is, or was, my pocket monster. It looks like a Magikarp, so everyone thought it was one, and, well, it's kind of an insult."
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Ururaka clapped her hands over her mouth in embarrassment.
Iida, saving her from any further mortification, glared in disapproval at the actions of Izuku's former school fellows. "Insulting you over a pocket monster, now that is most unbecoming. Even if it was a normal Magikarp, such behavior wouldn't have been warranted."
That truly shocked Izuku. Was saying that they would have approved of a…"I don't know anything about Magikarp," Ururaka interrupted his line of thought. "Aren't they a water-type? As someone whose pocket monster is weak to that, it sounds dangerous enough to me."
"Ponyta is also vulnerable to water-types," Iida agreed, "but I understand that Magikarp doesn't have a large pool of moves to use, at least not that have been discovered. I commend you, Midoriya, for not giving up and finding out your monster's true potential. I suspect that most would have made another choice."
Izuku really did not want either of them noticing the tears forming at the edge of his eyes. People his own age…praising him? What was this sensation? Why was it so rare? He didn't want them to see him cry. He didn't want them to see just how pathetic he could really be.
--
The beginning of a new school life full of excitement and adventure awaited him. He was going to take classes at UA, the premier school for unnatural talents, for fostering strange powers and studying what they could do. It was a school for Heroes, so the curriculum must have been just as heroic. He guessed it was, even if it didn't feel like. Heroes apparently needed math and English and history just as much as everyone else, or at least UA's teaching staff thought so, if his first set of morning lessons were anything to go by. They weren't bad, per se, or even particularly boring (at least, he didn't think so, though several of his classmates clearly disagreed), but he came here for something different. He came here to be wowed.
Said wowing would have to wait until the end of the week, when they held their first combat lesson. The students were excited to finally do something unique to Hero work, even if a few of the more realistic ones pointed out that it was likely just going over simple exercise and reviewing the basics. When All-Might entered the room, shouting about the fact he was 'entering through the door like a normal person' in the most dramatic tone possible, many started muttering excitedly. While, thanks to their acceptance videos, they knew that the Number One Hero had been hired as a teacher, they assumed he would be helping out the older kids, the special kids, the elites. Were they really about to learn from the best of the best as no-name first years?
"Every one of you has gotten into UA. That means that you already have some foundation. Mages and wizards already know some spells. Atavists already know how to hit. Trainers already know how to get their pocket monsters to use moves, and hopefully know a little bit about staying alive in a fight themselves. Rather than start out with some simple spars or exercises, I think that we should learn through hands-on experience. I'm going to create a scenario where some children will act as Heroes and others will act as villains. You're going to fight over an objective that I choose, using what you already know, and then we'll see what you have to work on. I know it sounds like a lot to start with, but learning comes from experience. So let's get you experienced!"
The students were just as wowed by the sight of where they'd apparently be tested as they were by the sight of All-Might. They were surrounded by a veritable city, a ruined one, but a city nonetheless. It wasn't even the one from their entrance exam. It was fascinating how many resources this school had.
All-Might called attention to a simple box. "You'll be drawing from this to determine your teams."
"Is that really the best way to do this?" Tenya challenged.
"Heroes often face unexpected team-ups on the field," someone pointed out.
All-Might, sweating a bit, quickly took back control. "Absolutely. Life can be unpredictable, and you don't always have time to prepare or choose who to work with when villains attack. This will show us how well you think on your feet, how you deal with the unexpected. Once again, we're just seeing where you already are."
Accepting the explanation, the students all went up one-by-one and picked out a number. When All-Might showed them a board clarifying which student was teamed up with which based on which number they drew, Izuku gulped.
He was with Ururaka. That was a good thing, wasn't it? She was his friend, sort of, and that meant they could work together, even if he had…other thoughts about her. Ones that he really didn't want to deal with at the moment. That wasn't the primary cause of his nervous gulp, though. No, that honor went to his opponents. Particularly, one Katsuki Bakugo.
--
Their scenario was to stop a villain from setting up a bomb. Bakugo and Iida, being the opposing team, had ten minutes to hide a 'bomb' in a nearby building. Afterward, Izuku and Ururaka would enter the building, having fifteen minutes to either 'capture' the villains by subduing them to All-Might's standards or disarming the bomb before it 'went off.' Bakugo and Iida won if they subdued the Heroes or if they managed to keep them away from the bomb for the whole time period. It was simple enough, even if favored the villain team, but Hero work was never fair in real life and they accepted that it would be same here.
What was a lot harder to accept, at least for Iida, was how stubbornly steadfast his fellow 'villain' was in utterly refusing to work as a group. When he brought up a plan, Bakugo merely snorted and said that he was going after the 'useless Magikarp,' and that 'glasses' could do whatever he wanted. 'Glasses' was not happy about being dismissed so easily, especially as he was certain that their opponents would be working together and being so uncoordinated would put their group at a disadvantage, but Bakugo didn't seem to care. The boy barely seemed to care about the exercise in general.
Something about him was hyper-focused on Izuku, and even if Iida couldn't for the life of him guess what it was, it looked like it was going to get in the way of his own performance.
Putting down the 'bomb' in a random room, Iida turned to lecture his temporary teammate until he was interrupted by All-Might's voice sounding over a nearby intercom, informing them that the Heroes were now free to enter the building.
"Finally," Bakugo grinned before summoning Voltorb and rushing out, ignoring Iida's continued protests.
Sighing, the only 'villain' who understood the concept of teamwork summoned Ponyta and, remembering what he could about both of his opponents' pocket monsters, went about the room and set things up to his advantage.
--
"So, do you have a plan? You know Bakugo better than I do," Ururaka deferred to Izuku as they looked over the building. "Though, I do understand that he has an electric-type, and I have a ground-type, so many I should handle him?"
"Bakugo's got plans for ground-types," Izuku shook his head. "Normally I'd still agree with you that you'd be better for taking him down, but if I know him properly he's going to go on the attack as soon as he can. Our best bet is for one of us to lure him out while the other goes for the bomb, which I'm sure Iida will be guarding dutifully. It's a little awkward, but I think that, with our history, he'd be more likely to go after me than you, so I'll be the distraction and you go for the bomb."
What he didn't tell her was that he also wanted to face Kacchan. He didn't know how to explain it to her, but it was necessary. The boy had been a staple part of his childhood of failure and hopelessness, and if he was every truly going to get past that, then, well, he didn't know what he needed to do but he knew that Kacchan was part of it. He could feel it in his bones. They needed to fight. Izuku needed to beat him.
--
For all of his aggression and complete lack of communication skills, Bakugo wasn't tactically inept. For all his single-minded focus on the useless Magikarp, or what he thought was one until last week, he still remembered the partner and her ground-type. Which was why he didn't rush up fully announced, and why his ambush of the pair didn't start by electrocuting them.
It instead, when Voltorb launched itself across the hallway, started with him shouting "sonic boom!" At the top of his lungs before either had a real chance to react. Or consciously, they almost dodged out of the way, enough that it only hurt them a bit. That was fine, he was more than capable of hurting them a lot more.
Round-face ran for it, while useless took cover. He left the girl for Glasses to take care of; the extra was probably capable enough, and went for his old childhood companion. The one that had been lying to him about his pocket monster all these years. The one that had to pay for that.
Izuku ran from a piece of rubble to another whenever Voltorb got close. "Thunder Wave," Bakugo uttered with little concern, ready to put an end to that right now. Useless, unfortunately, had the foresight to jump up onto a non-conductive piece of stone and dodge the attack. Fortunately, that put him on awkward footing and accomplished a lesser version of what he'd been trying to do anyway, lock down the boy's movements.
Picking Voltorb up and tossing him, Bakugo grinned like a madman as he uttered "Spark!" Izuku, rather than try to dodge it properly and perform the almost impossible task of maintaining his balance on the uneven stonework, instead merely let himself fall rather than take the sphere surrounded by arcing lightning directly to the torso.
--
The act of falling left him sprawled on the ground, which gave Voltorb the opportunity to jump on top of him. This time, the 'spark' didn't miss. Even as the painful volts coursed through his body, he found himself thankful for Kacchan's predictability. His childhood companion's aggressive nature meant he only went for non-damaging attacks when the situation forced it; had he used another Thunder Wave and paralyzed Izuku while he had the chance, the match would probably have ended right then and there.
Instead, Kacchan stuck to trying to paralyze only when his opponent was moving, and went straight for hurting when his enemy was down. This gave Izuku the opportunity he needed to concentrate his convulsing muscles and punch the spherical pocket monster right off of him. He could take cover once more.
"Where's that pocket monster of yours, Magikarp!" Bakugo shouted as his opponent took to running and hiding once more. "The one you've been hiding from me all this time? The one you've been using to mock me? Show it to me, Magikarp! Show me that monster, so Voltorb can destroy it with me! Show it to me so I can remind you that I'm still the best!"
Bakugo hadn't expected the kick that came straight for his head, nor the punch that immediately followed it, but one didn't seriously prepare to become the greatest Hero in history by letting one's self fall for every unexpected attack. Rolling with the kick to minimize the damage, the spiky-haired boy dove into the punch, gripping Izuku's arm as it tried to bury itself into his torso, and pulled Useless toward him, trying to grapple him so Voltorb could finish him off, at least until All-Might shouted that he was captured.
"Flail!" Useless shouted, that damn Magikarp smacking its tail right to where Bakugo's head had been before he jumped away to avoid the attack. This was almost more like it. The damn nerd was using his pocket monster after all, which would have excited Bakugo if it was the real one, that enormous monstrosity he had seen during Aizawa's tests.
If Uselss thought that a normal, underwhelming Magikarp would even be the slightest help against someone like him, then he really didn't deserve to be here. He didn't deserve to look down on Bakugo the way he had been, ever since that day at the pond…no, such memories were a waste of time. He made eye contact with Voltorb, trusting his lifelong companion to know what to do as he rushed toward Useless's latest attempt at cover.
--
Ururaka felt awkward running around the empty hallways, hearing the sounds of combat below but being utterly unable to do anything about them. She couldn't see Iida or the bomb, which was starting to concern her, until she heard what sounded like a B-Movie actor playing the villain in a film made in under three days. Was Iida…trying to get into character? Oh well, she could work with that.
Summoning Baltoy, she followed her friend turned 'villain's' voice until she did, in fact, stumble upon a room with a large fake bomb in the middle and Iida shouting out bond-villain one-liners. While she was fully prepared to sneak in attack from what counted for shadows, she couldn't help but listen in. And snicker.
"As I, the dastardly Doctor Destruction, do dare to determine this domicile's dazzling diminishment, destructively!" He thought it sounded quite frightening himself. Alliteration always helped with dramatics, in his informed opinion, and wasn't drama the basis of intimidation? That it turned out to be suppressed laughter that exposed his secret audience rather than gasps of terror did not turn him against that line of thought, as he was too focused on dealing with the apparent threat.
"Ah, a laughing lass loquaciously elucidates her location!" Ponyta reared up, neighing in a sufficiently dramatic manner for his character to work. Iida approved. "Fire Spin! Furiously flambé this flustering frustration!"
Ururaka managed to dodge, barely, and summoned Baltoy. "Psybeam!" She shouted desperately, even as Baltoy sputtered in failure and Ponyta flared up its mane for another strike.
--
The students in the observation room were captivated by the spectacle before them.
"It seems they went for the worst match-ups," Sero noted. "The fire-type is facing the ground-type, while the electric-type is facing the water-type. They should have stuck together to avoid this exact situation."
"While type-advantage isn't everything, it is weird that they don't seem to have a strategy for overcoming it. Especially when it looks like Midoriya chose to be the one to face Bakugo on his own. Sending the ground-type after the electric-type and the water-type after the fire-type seems like the more-than-obvious move, if they had to split up. And the villain team should have prevented a split-up for that very reason."
"Yeah," Mineta agreed, "and why would Midoriya want to split up from that Ururaka girl and that ass of hers-" someone slapped him.
"Young Jirou, violence is not the solution to inappropriate comments. Young Mineta, that was inappropriate," All-Might half-heartedly scolded them both, but his focus was on Midoriya and Bakugo's fight. His protege knew that Bakugo kid, and something told All-Might that this fight was important to the boy. This wasn't just a test; these two had to resolve something. Midoriya, in particular, had something to prove.
--
Izuku had spent a large portion of his childhood looking up to Bakugo. It was to be expected; many of his peers had done the same. Bakugo was amazing. His teachers said, his classmates said, Bakugo himself certainly wasn't above saying it, and so Izuku thought it. Izuku had always thought he was an ideal to look up to, but not to compete against. Never to compete against. Even he, when he was seriously trying to be a Pro-Hero with a mere Magikarp, wasn't that delusional.
There was a time when he wanted Kacchan to understand that. They weren't rivals, there was no fight between them. He need not feel threatened by Izuku's presence. Not that Kacchan would have ever admitted to being threatened, but Izuku long suspected that it was part of why the boy had targeted him specifically.
His drive to be a Hero, even when it was impossible, was the closest thing to competition Bakugo had ever faced at their old school, and the boy had reacted poorly.
As well he should, on some level, as Izuku came to a realization. He was competing with Bakugo. Bakugo wasn't an ideal to look up to, but a goal to surpass. Kacchan was amazing, head be one of the best Heroes out there on skill alone. So Izuku had to be better. And today was the day he'd show that he could.
Izuku knew that Bakugo had no respect for Magikarp whatsoever, which meant that he wouldn't bother with the fish until it became a nuisance. Therefore, Midoriya just had to make sure it didn't become a nuisance until the time was just right.
That was a bit of a problem with Voltorb and Bakugo both going at him, one of them capable of blowing up his cover and electrocuting him on whim, but Izuku just had to get them to the right location…Voltorb attempted another Spark, Izuku kicked the sphere (gritting his teeth as more electricity surged through and sent his muscles flaring in pain) toward Bakugo. Kacchan jumped out of the way without issue, but that put him in the air and thus unable to move out of the way of Magikarp's next Flail.
"Dammit, Useless," Bakugo spat out as he jumped back, his face bruised from the fish-Monster's attack. "It's time to show you what I can really do. If you won't use your Pocket-Monster to its fullest, then I don't have to worry about losing mine."
Voltorb rolled back until it was under Izuku's feet, following along as the boy dodged around it. "Voltorb, Explosion!"
--
Those in the observation room were shocked when the tiny spherical Pocket Monster started glowing, until several bursts of force issued forth and the thing just straight up exploded.
"What the hell, is he trying to kill Midoriya?" Kaminari shouted.
"It doesn't look good for his Pocket Monster either," Todoroki much more calmly noted.
All-Might was tempted to stop the fight then and there. Instead, he shouted, "Izuku Midoriya, are you alright?"
--
Izuku, upon seeing the Voltorb glow, had immediately pressed himself behind the nearest human-shaped bit of rubble he could find and hoped for the best. As such, he was just dazed and vibrating, with maybe a dislocated shoulder. Okay, that last bit was pretty bad, but he could continue. He still had a plan to show Kacchan that he wasn't running anymore, that he was going to catch up to his old rival.
"I'm fine," he barely squeaked out.
The same intercom that asked the question then reprimanded Kacchan. "Bakugo, taking out your own base and Pocket Monster is not good strategy for a villain! No using that move again!"
The way Voltorb was barely holding onto consciousness, it was doubtful that he could anyways, but Bakugo merely spat and shouted 'fine' before returning Voltorb to his pocket and charging Izuku with his fists.
--
"Mud-Slap! Mud-Slap! Mud-Slap!" Ururaka was shouting over and over again as Ponyta dodged each burst of mud her monster generated.
"Go for a Quick Attack after dodging the next one!" Iida shouted, dropping the villainous persona to stand by the bomb and make sure that Ururaka didn't run for it while he was distracted by the Pocket Monster battle. Ponyta moved perfectly; the small horse with the burning mane would have easily evaded all of her attacks and gotten a good strike in on Baltoy if it weren't for the building suddenly shaking. Whatever was happening below with Bakugo and Izuku's fight caused Ponyta to lose her footing and the unnaturally thrown mud to splatter right into it. Worse for her opponent (but great for her), the mud not only hurt her but caked around her legs, reducing the considerable speed that had given Ponyta the advantage before now. She was just about to seize the advantage when Iida charged forward and tackled her.
--
"Why do you keep looking down on me, huh?" Bakugo shouted. "Why would you hide your power? Was I not good enough?"
He slammed his fists into Midoriya as he shouted this, surprisingly not in an uncalculated rage; no, the boy was targeting Izuku's weakspots and breaking through or avoiding his guards.
It was all Izuku could do to finally grapple Bakugo's elbows before he had the sense of mind to respond, "kacchan, I can't handle my Pocket Monster. It's too strong for me, too disobedient. I've always looked up to you, but that's why I have to surpass you. You're right to think I'm trying to steal your thunder. You're right to see me as the obstacle to you being the best. Because I'm going to be a Hero, and I'm going to be the greatest Hero of all time. That's why I have to fight you, why I have to beat you. Because you're amazing!"
With that shouted, Izuku asked Magikarp to leap upwards, hoping against hope that Gyarados would stick to its last order and not just rampage. All-Might wouldn't let this continue if he lost control; he had one shot to make things work.
Kacchan, as expected, grabbed Magikarp's tail and threw it upwards, dismissing it from the fight, only for Izuku to finally activate Outsider's Growth, pushing straight through the flaring headache and radio static, and bringing Gyarados into existence right above them, right where it could rip through the ceiling and charge straight for the bomb.
--
Ururaka was fairly certain that, had Izuku and Bakugo not interfered further after the violent shaking, she still would have lost even with Ponyta's incapacitation. Iida's grapple was too strong, too well-trained, and he was just about to have her tied up. She had no idea how to best use Baltoy in this situation, not until Gyarados's roar shook the room once more and the head of the savage beast split open the floor beneath them before surging back downward.
Iida panicked, Ponyta panicked as well, and Ururaka was kind of panicking too, to be honest, but she shouted out 'Baltoy!" And the little clay doll took advantage of the confusion to float toward the bomb and, with none of the villains ready to stop him, 'deactivated' it.
--
"The bomb is deactivated. The Heroes win!" All-Might's voice shouted out from the intercom.
Bakugo had heard the words. He understood them. He just couldn't process them. He had lost to Useless. The pathetic little boy and his pathetic little Magikarp had beaten him. This shattered everything he understood about the world. This wrecked his self-image. His breathing intensified; trying to process Useless's victory over him was about to induce a panic-attack, and Katsuki Bakugo was not about to accept a panic-attack. Not in front of all of these extras. Even if they did beat him…his breathing hitched