We're finally here, the end of the second book. It was fun, both writing this weekly and seeing the comments I would get. Sadly, I won't be releasing the sequel till next year, but I do hope you all enjoy the holidays as I know I will, and hopefully, I'll come back with more ideas for stories, some of which I'll post exclusively to patron which I hope grows in membership in the new year.
Chapter 18: Big 3
4 days after they moved in, the day finally came for school to reopen for the 2nd semester. Waking up in her bed, Izuku couldn't but find the entire situation surreal. Here she was, in the hero course of what probably was the best hero school in the country…yet training to be a heroine was not her priority. Getting up and stretching a little to wake up her muscles, she couldn't help but chuckle at that contradiction as the old her would have lost her mind at this opportunity, but then again, the old her still believed that society, as it stood, was worth protecting.
Deciding against brushing her teeth by herself, she went to the joint bathroom to wash up, meeting up with Yaoyorozu and Jiro, both being early risers. They passed greetings but didn't speak much as they got ready before heading to the kitchen to make breakfast, which was when she found Sato, Tokoyami and surprisingly, Shinso. The five shared some conversations as they made breakfast, making something for everyone while they were at it with the rest appearing as time went on till the entire class was downstairs, enjoying their breakfast.
Sitting in between Jiro and Sato, she found the atmosphere to be…pleasant. Despite the tragedies that seemed to keep hitting them, they were still full of joy and hope, talking like friends in ways that Midoriya felt left her as an outsider as most of the topics were 'normal' stuff that she had no experience with. At the very least, Shinso seemed to be in the same boat as here, leaving her with something to suffer while their classmates' made conversations look easy.
Walking towards the main campus, she spotted other students but noticed that most of them were actively avoiding them, as if they were the plague with the only exception being their sister class which was intermingled with them. More than once, she spotted someone looking at her or them with disgust. She…didn't understand it, wasn't this a primary hero-focused school? Shouldn't those in the hero course be seen as the most popular? Looking at the others, she saw that they didn't seem to notice, or if they did, it didn't bother them as they carried on conversations like it was normal for them to be despised.
Yaomomo seemed to be in conversation with a teal-eyed girl from class B, while Kirishima was in a passionate argument with his as-of-yet unproven brother from another mother, Tetsutetsu about something to do with wrestling, she couldn't say. The class gentle giant was in conversation with his counterpart in class B with the rest either sticking to class friend groups or remaining silent as they looked through their phones. Wishing to get answers, she approached Uraraka.
"Hey, Uraraka, do you have a minute?" The browned hair jumped at her words, seemingly having been in her world.
"Yeah, sure…what do you need?" Midoriya frowned at that, looking closely, she could tell that the girl hadn't had the best sleep if the Shinso impression she was pulling meant anything.
"I wanted to ask about the rest of the students…did you…we," She corrected herself, she was one of them now. "Do something to upset them?" Uraraka looked around as if just realizing what was going on.
"What do you mean?" She looked back at the taller girl, which caught Midoriya off guard.
"They're acting like we killed someone with how they're looking at us, Uraraka, is something wrong?" Midway through her statement, Uraraka froze for a moment, her eyes going wide before turning to pinpricks, her breathing ceasing for a moment before restarting. Midoriya stopped alongside her, waving a hand in front of her face while Uraraka looked like she had just seen a ghost.
"Sorry…I gotta go, see you later!" Uraraka didn't give her time to answer as she rushed on ahead, leaving her confused as they were in the same class, they were heading to the same place.
'What was up with that?' She asked herself, the others said nothing but good things about Uraraka and she wasn't bad per se, but that was something off about that, she could just feel it.
"That was a poor choice of words there, miss." She turned to see a taller boy she didn't recognise. He was a pretty good-looking guy with spike average-length beige hair, even if his pale skin and lipless face made him look like one of those zombies from a video game.
"Midoriya Izuku, and why were they poor? It was just a question." She introduced herself, his eyes widening just a bit at that but he didn't comment on it.
"You know about what went down in Hosu, right?" She had read up on it and nodded to state as such as he looked forward to where Uraraka had run to the front of the group. "She was close friends with Iida. He was a bit of a stiff guy, but he was alright. You mentioning death must have reminded her of his passing."
"So, I am so sorry, I should apologise when we get to class!" Oh…oh, she felt like such an idiot! Of course, she should have watched her words, now she felt terrible.
But Honenuki wasn't too worried about it. he had heard through the grapevine that she was seeing someone for it, though he supposed they'll be getting people for the rest of the class after the shit show that was their exam. But with Uraraka, he also knew that she was stronger than she looked, this was the same girl that forced the arrogant bomber, Bakugo into a corner and got him to acknowledge her strength.
"You should, but I don't think she'll hold a grudge over something like that, not when she's reserving all of that for Todoroki." He muttered that last part, as he didn't need to be in their class to pick on the hate boner she seemed to have for his fellow recommendations student.
His mutter wasn't soft enough as Midoriya heard it. "Why him?" she had asked Tsu about it a couple of days back after seeing how Uraraka's glare made the duel-quirked boy uncomfortable, so much so that despite Hagakure's pestering, he retired to his room early. But alas, Tsu just said 'She'll learn it sooner or later.'
"Not my story to tell, oh I haven't introduced myself yet, have I? It's Honenuki Juzo, class B." And again, people were dancing around the issue. What was so bad about it that she couldn't know? She was in the hero course too, dammit!
She frowned, but kept her slight irritation in check, if push came to shove, she'd just question everyone about it, or just demand that Todoroki told her whatever he did to earn his classmate's seemingly undying hate. "It's a pleasure, but could you then tell me what is up with the hostility? Was it like this at the beginning of the year?" She'll just have to settle on the reason she even spoke with Uraraka at all.
Honenuki looked happy that she wasn't pressing him. "Not really, when the year started, the hero course was treated like any other. Sure, some looked at us like we were them, but most didn't care about us enough to love or hate us." He liked that, as he didn't want to be treated like the crème of the crop before he proved that he was.
"What changed?" He looked back at her, his eyes serious.
"The League, with all these attacks, we're been forced to change into a boarding school, and I can tell you a lot of people don't like that, even if our dorms are pretty sweet." There was also the fact that his class were barred from work studies, but as angry as he was about that, he couldn't bring himself to take it out in his sister's class. After all, it wasn't like they were at fault for it, not even Monoma, who was all about antagonising them believed that and when Kaibara asked, actually got offended that they would assume he would.
"It's not helped by the fact with how bad things are, more than a few people were pulled from U.A. which means people have lost friends they could have known since first year." That was the part he guessed was the main thing, as he was pretty good at remembering faces and in the groups, he could see, he could make out that faces were missing. Sure, maybe some were in different groups, and perhaps a couple were just sick, but that couldn't account for all of them.
"That's hardly fair, it's not like the hero course went looking for a fight," Midoriya replied, her eyes narrowing at what sounded like victim blaming.
Honenuki agreed, but he waved it off. "I'll ignore it for now. It's just their frustrations seeking an outlet, give it time and they'll come around." He stated as the group of students walked past the path that led to the main entrance to the school, and kept on walking on one that led in a different direction.
"We're not going to class?" She asked Honenuki.
"Nope, it's the first day of the semester, so it's time for speech from the teachers." She leaned her head to the side, wondering why they couldn't just use the auditorium for that. A school like U.A. must have one more than large enough for them, though there was something else she picked up.
"Why are you smiling?" Despite having no discernible lips, the boy seemed to be amused by something.
"Let's just say that whatever you're expecting this to be, it isn't that." He knew that it wouldn't just be here, as class A had skipped orientation on the first day, but he couldn't wait to see their reaction to how their principal handles these kinds of things. "See you around!" He walked ahead, returning to his class, leaving her to ponder on what he meant by that.
"Hi there, it's the adorable small mammal you all know and love, the principal!" Nezu greeted the students, standing on a small stage that had been erected for this assembly. Before him, every student stood in line of their class, with lines organised by year and class order.
"As you might have noticed, the fur I am so proud of has deteriorated in quality over these last few weeks for I haven't been taking care of it." He continued, directing attention to how his fur was starting to develop split hands and get uneven.
"This is something that can happen to humans too, even if you eat a balanced diet of vitamins and minerals, you won't have a mane of lavish locks without lots of sleep!" While he talked, those in class A were dumbfounded by this, wondering just what the hell he was saying, with Midoriya realizing this is what Honenuki meant when he mentioned that this would be weird.
'What the hell is he going on about?' She asked herself, as she had been briefed by Curious that Nezu was known to be unpredictable and eccentric but she hadn't realized that the reports were a gross understatement.
"Alas, my sleep schedule has been affected by the tragedies that have befallen our country and our students. I find myself staying up long out of the night and into the day worrying about things, and how I can do more to not just protect you, but guide your growing buds into the great flowers I know you can all be." The mood fell a little with that, as while it was just the one class that was affected, they were still students of U.A. and they shared in the grieving.
"We have lost much, fellow students," Uraraka's eyes' burned while others looked away, remembering how they had to say goodbye to classmates whose parents didn't trust U.A. to protect them. "Friends, family, heroes that we looked up to. And I can only further chaos throughout our world shortly." Nezu, if nothing else, was blunt in his assessment, and as a being known for his intelligence, Izuku had ample reason to trust in that assessment.
"This will be more apparent to those in the hero course, who I encourage to approach their studies from this point with even greater zeal, but also caution as I care deeply for every one of you, the thought that I'll lose anymore would be nothing but turn my fur ragged and patchy." Nezu continued his beady eyes that gave nothing of whatever he was feeling fanned out over his assembled student body, taking in how diverse they were with quirks from practically all walks of life. Even with such a large crowd, he could still pick out the missing ones.
"The air always feels gloomy when we talk about such heavy subjects, but rest assured that I know that we'll see the dawn of better times. Your teachers and I are working hard to handle this, and ensure that the burdens we'll pass down to you when your time comes are as light as possible." The teachers who stood down by his sides remained silent, but he had faith in them.
"I want each of you to take inspiration from their work to become the kind of hero you want to be, no matter your course from the hero down to general. We all have a way to contribute to this world and make it just a little bit brighter than it was yesterday." He raised his arms, his smile returning.
"It's with that statement of hope that I officially begin the new semester." As he stepped off the stage, the students politely clapped for him while Vlad took his place.
"Well spoken, thank you principal Nezu that rousing speech. Now we hear from the extracurricular guidance teacher, please give a warm welcome to Hound Dog." The class B homeroom teacher stepped back to allow the pro in question to take the microphone. However, if class A thought Nezu's opening was strange, they were in for a knock-out as while the principal opened with talk about grooming, they could understand him, that couldn't be said about Hound Dog who got just the first two words out before descending into grunts and growls for a solid 20 seconds before huffing and walking off the stage.
"Did…did you get any of that?" Mineta asked her, the shorter boy having to stand on a wooden stool for him to see from behind her.
"Not a word."
"Thank you, Hound Dog for that," Vlad stated as those in the 2nd and 3rd years clapped like that was normal, leaving the 1st alone in their confusion.
'Wait, he wasn't just barking senselessly?' The entire first year thought to themselves before Vlad allowed a 2nd-year teacher to take the stand to speak.
Once the orientation ended, the class found themselves back in homeroom with Aizawa standing before them. "As I've already explained, first years have been banned from work studies, that hasn't changed." The class didn't react to the news as while they had hoped the commission would change its mind in the time since they moved in, none of them had been issued with a license to use so it wouldn't have mattered if they were allowed.
"However, while we can't get you that experience, we'll be increasing the difficulty of all your lessons. So, think of your first semester as a warm-up for the hell I'll put you through." He stated as Ashido leaned back to whisper to Asui.
"He can't mean that, can he?" The pink-haired girl remembered just how much of a taskmaster Aizawa was in the first semester, the idea that he could be worse than that was terrifying. That terror took shape as she felt his crimson gaze on the back of her head.
"Something to say, Ashido?" She turned around quickly but looked down at her desk with a sweat forming on her forehead.
"Nothing!" Thankfully for her, his attention moved toward Asui who raised her hand.
"Aizawa-sensei, I have a question." She asked him, his gaze vanishing as he turned to her.
"Go ahead."
"You've mentioned work studies more than once, and it came up during the orientation speech but what is a work study?" Asui asked, as she had been hearing that thrown around, but they didn't know what it meant.
"Oh yeah, I haven't explained that to you, have I?" Aizawa muttered to himself. "But to put it simply, it's work outside of class. Think of the internships you took after the sports festival, only when a student has a provisional license, they're treated with fewer kid gloves and are given more responsibility." He kept it short and simple, which was enough for most of them as Uraraka chewed over the words.
'Oh, I never heard about these.' However, the anti-gravity girl then realized something and jumped to her feet, frantically asking a follow-up. "Wait, then why did we have to work so hard to get internships at the festival?"
With her outburst, others realized the same thing as her as Sero spoke up. "She's right. With work studies, it wouldn't matter if you didn't get scouted during the festival."
"Incorrect," Aizawa shut that down quickly. "Recall that with internships, even those that didn't get scouted were given a list of agencies which they could intern with. While it was favourable to create your own list of offers through exceptional performance, it wasn't necessary." The class nodded here, with Midoriya being the only one in the dark, hearing all of this for the first time.
"That was how Mineta managed to get Mt. Lady." Kaminari joked, pointing towards the class pervert, who looked down at his desk, an aura of depression to him.
"Don't remind me of my time with that she-devil." He muttered, thinking back to how foolish he was to accept the offer. He had believed he was in for the life, a week with a hottie like her, a chance to see her up and close and personal but no! Not only did she never act sexy in the office, but she and that agency manager worked him to the bone, cleaning this, moving that! He barely had time to browse the internet for the finer things in life!
Aizawa continued his explanation of the situation. "Work studies are different as the school might review the agencies you'll select, but we don't supply you with any offers. Rather, you use the connections you made while on your internships to secure a work-study."
Hagakure raised her hand, an action none of them would have seen if not for how her uniform shifted. "So…it's like when you get a part-time job to get a foot in the door at the place you want to work at?" This sounded a lot like what her dad had to do to get his job at the accounting firm he first worked at. As he said in college, he would take part-time work, mainly intern stuff and other small jobs. He built enough of a reputation and goodwill with the managers that when he graduated and applied, he was accepted since they already knew him.
"It's the same idea." Aizawa nodded before he continued.
"This isn't part of your normal class work, but while the school doesn't help you, it's essential for any of you to become pros in the future as the experience you gain will prove invaluable." He informed them that while they would still get the same education throughout their time at U.A., there was simply stuff they couldn't teach them in class or a controlled setting. Experience would be essential for them as without it, they'll struggle in their second and third years, being lucky if they pass.
He continued, giving only a small pause to look over the entire class. "Not just in your studies, but in securing work after your graduate as those same connections you make in work studies are the most efficient way to gain either a side-job job or the investor capital and commission approval to open your own agencies, should you so choose." He already suspected a few would go sidekick for a while, while others would try to make it in the big leagues.
Todoroki and Yaoyorozu wouldn't have too much issue with that as the latter had her family's massive wealth and standing to use, while the former had his father's name which carried a lot of weight in the industry, so he could secure both far easier than the rest.
Shoji was the next person to ask a question. "Wait, but if the school doesn't give us any help, what do those who weren't scouted at the festival do?"
"You still had the internships, which I hope you didn't slack off at." He hadn't heard from their heroes about such, except for Mt. Lady who mentioned that Mineta's attitude was an issue as she caught him with inappropriate material at least 3 times. "But if you did, then you're in tough luck and my only advice is that shape up for your second-year sports festival." There was a reason he told them to work hard for the festival, he could recall how hard it was for him, Mic and Shirakumo to get them after they messed their chances with their first festival, and things had only gotten harder since.
"If that is everything, then we'll move on. You can come in, Mic, sorry for keeping you waiting." He turned to the door with slid only to reveal an extremely excited Present Mic.
"First period is English! I hope you all had a nice rest because it's 2nd semester which means I'm going to make sure you'll fluent speakers in no time!" Aizawa left him to it, having to handle other issues that needed his attention.
"Man, I'm beat." Mina fell onto the couch after a long day of classes, revisions and lectures. They didn't even have a hero class to blow off steam, just more math! With her, she was joined by Uraraka, Midoriya and Aoyama. The rest of the class around the area in smaller groups, or up in their rooms.
"He doesn't hold back, does he? Present Mic lost me halfway through, but I tried my best to take notes." Midoriya thought she knew English, having watched plenty of clips of All Might in the States, but she could safely say after that single class, she was but an amateur.
"You did better than me, I was out after like, 5 minutes," Mina replied as she felt like she had studied the wrong chapter with how Present Mic was handling things.
"Were we supposed to know all the grammar he was going over?" Uraraka asked, the girl in a better mood than in the morning, so much so that when Midoriya sorted her out at lunch to apologize, she smiled and told her it wasn't that big of a deal. Still, she insisted and offered to take her out for lunch sometime.
"What does it matter if we can identify this term of phrase or that tense? We just need to speak the language, right?" Aoyama huffed as he took a bite out of the piece of cheese he held, the boy having prepared a platter for the group which they were currently enjoying.
"Why are you complaining? You're already bilingual." Mina pointed out that Aoyama often mixed French into his words like it was nothing.
"And you think picking up a third language is easy? That mix-match abomination of a language called English is nothing like the elegance of French, madam." Aoyama held his chest, offended that they would imply such a thing!
Despite how hard it was, not the mention the rest of their classes, Midoriya giggled. "It wasn't so bad, I enjoyed it!"
"Then you'll be the first," Uraraka told her.
"It was my first real class in over a year, it was fun to be back with other students and not staring at my computer screen." She clapped her hands, missing how the three looked at her in pity, recalling what led to her missing so much school but shifting their faces before she noticed.
"Isn't it easier to cheat with online stuff?" Sero asked, having heard that last part as he walked by, to which it was Midoriya's turn to be offended, looking at the boy like he just asked she lick his boots.
"I would never do such a thing! Cheating only proves that you can't handle the workload." Midoriya was many things, a secret MLA agent, a mom, a daughter, and a murderer with a questionable hold on her sanity, but she was no cheater!
Yaoyorozu, who was also close by with Jiro and Asui, completely agreed with her, giving Sero a suspicious look. "She's right, cheating only hurts you in the long run." She scolded him while he raised his hands.
"(Gero)Says the girl that speaks 6 languages." Asui reminded them that thanks to her upbringing and high intelligence, Momo was fluent in Japanese; English; French; Spanish; Korean and Mandarin. The girl in question merely blushed at that reminder as she never struggled in Present Mic's class, being the one that raised her hand the most. Still, for the first day of school, Midoriya enjoyed it and couldn't wait for what came next.
"Morning students, we'll go into more detail as to what the work studies entail, which is why we have students who've gone on them explain it," Aizawa told them once the class started, the man being pleased with how he opened the door and found them all in their seats waiting for him.
"But first, head down to training ground Beta." He pressed a button and allowed the wall panels to move to allow them access to their costume containing briefcases.
While they got up from their desks to collect their cases, they couldn't help but ask a question. "Will they be there?" Todoroki asked.
"Of course," A booming familiar voice replied from the hall before the door was opened. "Because this is an impromptu hero class!" All Might laughed as he entered the class, ready to teach!
"All Might!" The class gasped, they had him for hero classes, but it was still amazing to see him, especially when they didn't have him till after lunch.
"That's right, so grab your costumes, little heroes. For what better way to learn something than through experience?" He asked them as the class cheered, happy that they were skipping straight to the exciting hero stuff. Midoriya was one of the quiet ones, as her love for the man had long been lost. She still respected him, for he was a great hero, but that was all.
As she got up to look for whatever case was left behind which could only be hers, Eraser approached her.
"Midoriya, your costume arrived the other day, and cleared the judgement process, but keep in mind that we'll be handling any minor repairs and modifications in-house." She nodded, as unlike what she assumed was the case with the rest of them, her costume and equipment were designed and manufactured by Detnerat who had only recently entered the support business. Also, while she knew it would be a walking advertisement for their equipment to draw in more clients, it was done so that they could handle details that may or may not draw unwanted attention to her.
"Understood, Aizawa-sensei." She grabbed her case and went off, following after the girls lest she got lost.
In the girl's locker, the group were in varying stages of undress as they took off their uniforms to put on their hero gear. "I wonder what they'll be like," Jiro asked as she removed her school skirt and reached into a briefcase to grab her pants.
"They'll probably be 3rd years; they'll probably have the best understanding of this," Hagakure replied as she had the easiest job of them all, having removed her uniform and just put on her gloves and boots, though she was hoping that the support department would come up with something better later as her living to see another day after her run-in with that flame villain was almost all luck. She had seen what his attacks did to others who hadn't had the devil's luck that day.
"But why the costumes, couldn't they have just come to class to explain it?" Mina asked, putting on her boots.
"You know U.A., they always go all the way," Yaoyorozu added, which Mina could accept for now before turning to the one silent member of the group.
"Say, Midoriya, this will be the first time…" Her question died in her mouth as she looked towards Midoriya, the others hearing this turned to see what the issue was before they fell silent. The reason was that Midoriya stood in nothing but her skirt and bra, which meant that they for the first time could see the extent of the e cruelty that Overhaul did to her, as her body from her legs up to her sides and back were covered in scars. Some small, some large, some short, some long. Most of which seemed to come from blades, surgical instruments that were used to cut into her like a medical cadaver.
The only real unique scar was the one on her side, a horrific-looking burn that while healing, was as obvious as an elephant in an empty room. Izuku picked on this silence and turned to see them all looking at her with some combination of horror, pity and disbelief.
"Is there something wrong?" What was their deal? They were fine talking while looking at each other dress, why was she the exception?
"Holy shit, you're covered in them!" Jiro was the first to break the silence, her eyes tracking almost every scar and seeing how they came full circle, being across her midsection as well.
"What?" Izuku was confused but then looked to where their eyes were before realizing what the issue was. "These? Yeah, I've had them for a while now, didn't you know?" She wore the short-sleeved shirt and skirt like the rest of them, and preferred to wear shorts and shirts while relaxing in the dorms, weren't they used to seeing her arms and legs?
"It's one thing to hear about it, it's quite another to see them," Yaoyorozu replied, they knew her story, it had been all over. They had seen her limbs when she first joined, but that was nothing compared to just how scarred she was, it was like there wasn't a portion of her that remained unblemished.
Uraraka took a few steps forwards, her hand reaching out to her stomach, but stopping midway, as if afraid to touch her. "How could someone do all that?"
"There are plenty of monsters in this world," She thought of Overhaul and smiled when she recalled what she had done to him as she turned to continue getting into her gear, opening her case to see what had been prepared for her. "And I'll destroy them all." The group were caught off guard by how menacing she appeared, her smile scaring them a little as it was akin to a shark's, filled with bad intentions.
But in an instant, it was gone as Midoriya awkwardly laughed. "Sorry, that sounded a little intense, didn't it?" She really had to keep that in check, lest she slip in front of a teacher. "I got my scars, but they don't define me and right now I'm training to ensure that no one else ever has something like this happen to them." That raised the mood a little, as they could all agree that heroes worked to save lives and protect people from harm, she just didn't include the part where she was training to be heroines like them as that would have been a lie.
When Midoriya finished, she looked at herself in the mirror and liked what she saw. her costume had been a passion project of hers since she was a little girl, having gone through countless redesigns as she for older. She had to scrap most of it since it was almost entirely based on All Might but it did give her time to sit with her mom and daughter and create something new, something that would speak of her in her present and what she wished to achieve in the future. Those designers at Detnerat had made some changes, but it was still functionally her designs.
That design was a green one-piece leotard which also covered her shoulders and the top of her thighs with a red apple design on the centre of her chest with red thigh-high socks held up by thick green brands, insulated to offer both good circulation from heat, but also some protection against debris and knives. On top of this, she wore black knee-length armoured heeled boots which had a little-known guard extension. With this, she wore grey elbow-length sleeves and blue gauntlets which when activated, could expand to cover her entire forearm for protection and increased punching power. Finishing off the look, she wore a red utility belt with a smaller set of her horns, red ones this time around, and a grey metal respirator.
Stepping onto ground beta with the rest of the girls, Bakugo immediately picked her out of the group and stomped over. "The hell is with the costume?"
"I needed to make some changes, or did you think I'd submit the stuff I drew when I was 3?" Midoriya brushed past him, not waiting for a response as the boy just spat to the side and turned to face All Might.
The symbol of peace smiled at his students before turning to the side. "Now that we're all here, why don't you come out and introduce yourselves?" The door to the faux office building opened and out, came three people.
"They're all 3rd years at U.A. the very top of the student body and are known as the Big 3!" He introduced them to the group, the three standing before them in their full hero costumes. The first one was a blonde with an extremely approachable demeanour, sort of like a golden retriever. His hero costume was the most, she didn't want to say common but it followed the formula of what was a hero costume the most.
That costume consisted of a white skin-tight top with the number 1000000 stamped across his chest in bold, yellow front, why he chose that she could only guess. The trimming on the top and shoulders were made in a matching fashion while on his waist, two green lines were acting as a belt, along with some line of similar appearance on his shoulders which dipped in places to form two V's. He also wore baggy dark blue pants and white knee-length boots. Completing the look was a red cape as well as thick gloves of matching colour with a white visor with yellow lenses.
The second of them, and the only girl of the three, looked as happy if not more so than the first one. She was the shortest of them but stuck out thanks to her periwinkle hair, which was so long that it reached her knees, twisting itself at her waist and curving inwards around her legs. Her wide blue curious eyes seemed to take in everything there was about them, never staying on one person for long before jumping to the next in a fashion that reminded her of Curious.
Her costume consisted of a royal blue skin-tight bodysuit with a high black collar, pale mint green markings covering her torso from over her shoulders to between her legs, framed with turquoise, a matching stripe of the same two colours around both of her upper arms. On her feet, she wore a pair of knee-high boots, a thinning flap buttoned on each thigh, with turquoise spirals around her ankles, matching the thicker ones above her yellow gauntlets and wrist guards. She also had a black strap around the top of each thigh, two small satchels attached, and two spiralling horns of hair protruding from behind her ears.
The last of them seemed to be brooding, with her barely able to make out his face underneath that hood of his, only able to see his narrowed gaze when he lifted his head. His costume consisted of a black bodysuit decorated with gold plating around the arms and shoulders. With that, he donned a white tunic, matching cape, and hood with more gold layering on the top. The cape connected a scarf-like collar with a silver front mask which did a good job of hiding his face as he just lowered his head just a little and one couldn't see what he was expressing. He also sported a purple mask over his face and a matching purple carrier vest with red straps. Finishing the look, he wore a mask over his eyes and was barefoot, which she assumed was necessary for his meta-ability.
"They're the best," Sero said in awe, seeing them like this, was like looking towards actual pros.
"Holy, just how strong at they?" Sato asked. He knew that their class and their sister class had some powerhouses, but they were still first years. what could close to 3 years of training do for someone like that? Just how much stronger were they compared to them?
"Of all the talented students there, they rank at the top? To reach such a peak…" Midoriya muttered.
"They're on a whole other level, still in school but practically pro heroes in all but name," Yaoyorozu noted, she had heard stories about them, of course, but had never seen one up close like this.
"I don't know, they don't look all that special to me, accept the girl, she's cute," Kaminari noted while Mineta was focused on less-than-heroic things.
'Target acquired, zoom and enhance.' The smallest student in the class focused less on the group or even their status as the top students, and more on the girl's chest, hips and legs, drooling like a hungry dog at the sight of which.
'Hold on…I recognise him, but from where?' Midoriya recalled a vague memory, only from before the fiasco with the slime villain. 'Of course, he was in the sports festival last year, but didn't he barely make it past the second part?' The blonde! He was the student whose clothes fell off him during the foot race! It was such a shock that neither she nor her mother turned off the TV as their brains fried at it.
Looking at the other two, she tried to place them and could also remember seeing them, but also recalled that none gave a performance close to what she was expecting, especially when compared to the first-year spots festival that she had watched with her class. 'Now that I think about it, none of them placed anywhere close to the top spots.'
All Might kept up the smile as he directed attention to the furthest member of the trio. "Why don't we start with Amajiki, give them an introduction they won't soon forget, my boy!"
With that, Amajiki's gaze turned fierce, washing over them like a tsunami, forcing every one of them to take a step back, even Midoriya had faced off against death, died and came back, and felt a need to put distance between her and this man. 'What's with that look?' She asked, his gaze only getting stronger as if trying to crush them with nothing but his eyes.
'It's like he's staring into your soul!' Kirishima thought to himself as he felt naked under the microscopic glare.
.
.
.
"It's no good…" And like a light, that feeling was gone, leaving a confused group of students and a shivering Amajiki, it looked like his legs could barely support him with how much he was shaking. "You two go, even if I try to imagine them as potatoes, I can see their human bodies…they're still people, my mind just goes blank." Wait…that look, was he just trying to see them as potatoes to keep himself calm? Shouldn't they be the nervous ones?
"I wanna…go home." And just like that, Amajiki turned around, too scared to face them while they tried and failed to understand what was happening.
"Wait…are you one of U.A.'s top heroes?" Ojiro asked, it was harsh, but not unwarranted.
"Come on, Amajiki! You need to have the heart of a lion, not a kitten!" The shortest of the trio pat his back, trying to encourage him but turned to face them before any answer could be given, if there was to give. "This is our kitten Amajiki Tamaki and hi, my name is Hado Nejire. I'm supposed to talk about work studies, your first years have a really exciting time ahead of you." She gave them a big smile, a massive contrast to her fellow 3rd year as she seemed to leak out confidence while he seemed to repulse it.
Then more confusion formed as before she could explain that work studies work, she got distracted by Shoji masks and leaned towards him. "Hey wait, hold on, why are you wearing a mask? Is it because you're feeling sick, or just trying to look cool?" The tentacled boy blinked, only getting out a single confused sound before she was gone, her attention jumping to the back of the class.
"Oh, and you must be Todoroki, right? How'd you get that big burn on your face?" Todoroki frowned, taking her question as extremely personal and none of her business, but he couldn't tell her that as her attention shifted to another random student.
"Ashido, if your horns break off, do you think you'll grow new ones?" Mina looked on wide-eyed as she reached for her horns, but Hado was already focused on another student.
"Mineta, are those balls your hair or what?" While Mineta's mind fell to its usual places of sin and perversion, taking her words in the lewdest ways possible, she was already asking another student another question.
"Oh, Asui, you're a tree frog, right? Not a gross toad?" Asui would have taken offence to that, but for some reason, she could tell that Hado wasn't trying to insult her, maybe because her question reminded her of how her little sister would ask questions straight with no malice. Hado seemed to be bouncing with energy, almost vibrating as she seemed to enjoy being in a class with new faces, new faces meant things she didn't know, and therefore things she could ask about, it was great!
"Oh my goodness, there is so much I want to know about every one of you, let's have a Q&A." After the extreme introvert that was Amajiki, the class didn't know how to deal with the extrovert explosion that was Hado for a moment, but that didn't last.
"She's a total airhead." Kaminari gushed, not only was she cute, but she acted in the cutest ways too.
"She reminds me of a little girl high on sugar to be honest." Mina smiled, as this was much more relaxing than she thought it would be. She had pictured their upperclassmen to be like Bakugo, loud and arrogant but she was the exact opposite, she was loud, but was bubbly!
"She wants to know everything about my balls!" Dark Shadow formed and smacked Mineta before he could say anything dumber.
"Not that kind, you sick pervert," Tokoyami muttered as they already had to deal with the fact the first-year business course girls thought them all mindless beasts controlled by lust because of a comment Mineta bad, even if they had gag and bag him, they'll do if to ensure that he didn't make the 3rd years think similarly unflattering things about them.
Thankfully, if Hado heard that, she didn't react to it and continued with her questions, focusing her attention on the resident martial artist. "Hey, Ojiro, can you support your entire body weight with that tail of yours?" The boy started to sweat a little but she didn't give him time to answer as she turned to the newest member of the bunch.
"Oh, Midoriya, I heard that you can bench press a car, is that true?" Midoriya wondered where the hell she heard that rumour. Sure, she could, but she had only used the gym a couple of times and there was rarely anyone there to see her set the weight to 600kg as a warm-up or when she changed it to 1,600kg once she was warmed up.
All Might coughed into his hand to draw the attention of the last member of the big 3. "As fun as this is, we are burning daylight. You still need to see class B after this." He gave the boy a look to remind him of his time limit, he couldn't spend it all with just one class.
"Oh right, sorry about that sir!" He replied before he turned to the class. "Alright, here's the idea that I came up with, you'll all gonna fight us!"
"What?" They collectively asked him, wondering if he was insane while Bakugo ground his teeth, already well aware that he probably was with how happy he could be. Tin-tin was like a golden retriever and was always there with a smile and a shitty joke. How Nighteye could tolerate him was beyond him.
"You want us to battle?" Sero asked him, looking at the three and while they weren't what they were expecting, they didn't seem all that strong either.
"But we outnumber you almost 7 to 1." Asui pointed out to him, but this was just the 3rd year laugh.
"Yup! It'll go a little something like this, 5 of you will go up against one of us. If you can either manage to hide for a full 20 minutes or defeat us, you win, it's that simple!" They looked at him for a moment, then towards the other two and finally towards All Might, trying to see when they'd tell them this was a joke but all of them were playing it straight.
"Is he…for real?" Mina asked.
"Oh yeah, tots real." He replied while he did some stretches to get his body limber. It wouldn't do for him to pull something after all!
"Stop looking a gift horse in the mouth, tape! This is gonna be fun!" Bakugo stepped forward, he had faced off against this more than once and was still pissed that he had lost every single time, but he had enough experience with him to understand his quirk, which means that this time, he'll win!
"I like the spirit Bakugo, let's see if you can back it up!" Togata's laughter, lacking any malice or arrogance only made him want to punch him all the more.
"Mirio, just remember to hold back, it'll help no one if you put them in the hospital for months." The students turned to Amajiki, surprised that he had chosen to speak up even with his back turned. Then the content of his statement caught up with them, he didn't seem like the type of guy to lie but surely this Mirio wasn't so above them that he could send them to the ER…right?
"The elf's full of shit," Amajiki's shoulders only fell more at Bakugo's brash statement. 'I've seen how he fights; he won't get catch me off guard with that teleportation quirk of his.' He had seen him use it enough times, he knew that he could move fast, as every time they sparred, he could avoid his explosions, punches and kicks and appear right in his guard, or behind him. But that was the trick, wasn't it? All he had to do was time it, if he could get him to move when he wanted to, then he could finally land a hit and he would make damn sure he'll only need the one.
"Let's think about this, you're obviously much further ahead than us, that is a fact, but we're faced against pros and villains alike," Tokoyami spoke up, ruining his fun as he reminded Togata that while they might be green compared to him, they weren't hopeless rookies, if they were then more of them would be dead right now.
"Maybe you should dumb it down to jus 1." Kirishima stepped up, to which Togata took a moment to think about it.
"Nay, that'll end it too fast." His statement, spoken without a hint of arrogance threw them for a loop. He wasn't just confident they'd demolish them; he saw it as an inevitable truth! "So, All Might, who will be the first group."
All Might, who had been silent, pulled out a little box and placed his hand in it, searching out for what they could only assume were slips with their names on them. "The first group who will face off against young Togata will be Asui, Mineta, Jiro, Midoriya and Tokoyami!"
The five that had been called stepped forward, looking towards their opponent who continued to smile at them. "You'll have 5 minutes to enter the area and find yourself a hiding spot, or come up with a plan of attack."
"Mineta if you don't stop staring at my legs, I'll kick you to the other side of the area." Midoriya looked over her shoulder at her teammate who had tailed before her and Asui to no doubt perv on them, making her question how the hell he not only lasted this long with something that was supposedly as strict as Aizawa but two separate villain attacks.
Mineta gulped when he saw how Midoriya was glaring at him, he could see she had some of the best legs in the class, scars and all, but he hadn't known that she could bench a fucking car and logically speaking, that meant her legs were even stronger and he didn't want to know what that would mean for his general health. Asui was a close second when it came to legs, but with both looking at him like that, he felt like his life might come to an end with Asui, he could never tell what she was feeling, but Midoriya looked at him like a bug she s badly wanted to crush, and not in the fun way.
"So, does anyone know what this Togata guy's deal is?" Jiro took the heat off him, less for his sake and more for the fact they didn't have time to handle Mineta.
"(Gero) I don't. I remember that they used to come by to check on us, but they never gave names." She knew that he and Hado had approached them after what happened with Iida, and she was grateful for it, but she had no idea at the time they were part of the big 3, having just assumed they were friendly upperclassmen who might have known what it was like to lose a classmate as they did.
"He must have a formidable quirk if he's this confident that he can handle the 5 of us," Tokoyami noted, as the man seemed nothing like how Todoroki and Bakugo were like. The former was a quiet kind of arrogance, at least in the beginning, while Bakugo was the explosive kind. But Togata was neither, instead his confidence seemed to have been on the solid foundation of experience.
"Most likely, but should we just avoid him them? No sense fighting when we don't know what he can do." Mineta gave his two cents to the discussion.
"But maybe that's part of the rest, I mean, heroes face off against villains with quirks they don't know all the time. Maybe we're supposed to fight him." Midoriya suggested that this did feel like it was an exercise in their willingness to fight.
Tokoyami nodded, taking her words into account as he recalled the final exams they did, and how part of it was the teachers judging their decision-making skills when faced against a prod that much better than you, some of them passed through combat, some through escape. "A test of character perhaps?"
In the end, they decided to fight him, it wasn't ideal, but if they were going to learn anything, they reasoned it would be better to face him and learn it through combat as Togata had said earlier. With what little time they still had, they decided to play to their strengths with a building being their staging ground, where Tokoyami had the advantage, already using Black Ankh, Mineta also set up traps leading into the space so that Togata would either have to take another way, or risk getting stuck. Asui would serve as a surprise if he tried to attack from another way, using her cloaking ability and the shadows to hide. Jiro would serve as their lookout while Midoriya was in charge of defending their rear, which meant she was closest to Mineta but one look was enough room to behave…for now.
Unknown to Midoriya, there were cameras everywhere which meant the rest of the class had a front-way seat to the action once the bell went off, with the result being something that only one of them could have predicted.
"Hey!" Togata spoke up, scaring the hell out of Tokoyami as he didn't even see him coming, none of them did! Turning around, he saw the 3rd year standing there like he had always been there!
"Dark Shadow!" He called out, his quirk racing towards the target, larger than normal thanks to the lack of light but to its confusion, when it tried to grab the blonde, he vanished. Tokoyami wasn't given time to question this as a sudden and powerful punch to his gut rocked him, he didn't even have time to wonder when and how before he was down for the count, leaving a shocked Asui, who had seen the short exchange to wonder just what happened. Deciding to leave to regroup with the others now that their heavy hitter was down, she jumped away, but Togata's keen eyes saw her, even cloaked.
"Neat trick, but you'll have to try a little harder than that." He moved to chase her down, but she didn't think he'd catch her, not when the entire path was laced with Mineta's balls. But she could still hear him close behind her, wondering how that was, she looked back.
"(Gero!)" She saw that he was running after her, not even bothering to dodge the balls but even when he stepped on one, nothing happened, it was as if his feet passed right through them! Wait, that was his quirk, wasn't it? "His quirk lets him pass through stuff!" She yelled out, knowing that if nothing else, Jiro would hear it and relay it to the others. That was all she got as Togata vanished again, he fell through the fall and shot out like a bullet, closing the distance between them in an instant and punching her in the gut, getting a croak out of her as she fell to the floor, defeated.
"He's already taken out Tokoyami and Tsui!" Jiro reported to the two, both stunned by the fact he not only had found them in less than a few minutes but had managed to get in without any of them noticing.
"Jiro, what the heck, I thought you could track him!?" Mineta yelled.
"I thought I could, but he kept vanishing and reappearing so quickly that I could barely hear him!" She yelled back as she had been plugged into the wall and floor, and had been using for vibrations and other sounds relating to movement. It hadn't failed her before but it had now as Togata seemed to teleport from place to place, not even in a straight line, most likely because he was looking for them before he figured out their location and bypassed the entrance and half their traps!
"Jiro, just get ready to blast the doorway, if he can pass through stuff like Tsu said, Mineta and I are almost useless." Midoriya kept a cool head, this guy was no joke, and she could see why he thought a 2v1 wouldn't have worked. But they still had a chance, dammit.
"Good plan," The trio jumped back when they turned to see the smiling face looking at them through the floor, just the face. Before Jiro could react with a sonic blast from any of her speakers, he vanished and appeared just as quickly, this time under her driving his fist right into her stomach. "Which is why I'll handle her first! Power!" He cried out as he landed, the third victim of his power defeated as he turned to them, now far more menacing than he had been when he was just a goofball introducing himself.
"What the hell, did he just come out of the floor?!" Mineta looked ready to cry, which only pissed Midoriya off. If he could face off against real villains, he could man up and handle a sparring session. It seemed that Togata agreed with her on his status as the weak link as just for a moment, she saw his eye turn to Mineta before he vanished again, dropping through the floor like it was never there.
"Move!" She didn't think, she just did as she leapt to Mineta's side and grabbed him by the cape, pulling him back right as Togata appeared, the fist that would have taken Mineta out instead hitting her in the gut and while it hurt far more then she thought, she managed to retain control as she bulked up, pulling back her other hand to try and return the favour.
For his part, Togata was surprised that she was not only still up, but already moving to counter him. 'Oh, she's still standing?' He had handled far larger villains with that punch, even those with enhanced strength, but then again, if the report on Overhaul's crimes that Nighteye got were to be trusted, then he couldn't expect less. 'Should have expected that, her pain tolerance must be something else.' He leaned back, letting her first pass where his head was as he jumped back, this entire exchange lasting only a few moments as Mineta just landed on his ass while a bulked-up Midoriya stood between the two of them.
"Mineta get out of here, if you last, maybe we still win as a group!" She didn't dare take her eyes off of him, lest he vanish again, she needed to watch him like a hawk, study him like she did Kai. 'He dodged that one, why didn't he just let it pass through him?' Her mind raced at that, trying to figure out a weakness of his quirk, of his fighting style, something she could use as this was turning into a wash.
'Does his meta-ability have a limit? Is there a cooldown between uses? Does how he uses it affect that cool-down?' She asked these questions and more in her head but got nothing as despite that cheery demeanour, it was clear that Togata was far superior to them, and the villains they had handled.
"Good plan," Togata complimented her, before dashing forwards. "But it won't be enough!" He ran as if she wasn't there, she prepared for him to try and tackle her, but when she reached for him, her hands passed through him like he was air, and in turn, he passed through hair.
'What!' He could warp through people too?!
"Oh Cr-!" Mineta was out like a light, with a victorious Togata standing over him.
"Power!" Again he did his cry.
"And then, there was one." He turned to her, and for the first time in a while, she felt herself start to sweat, her nerves fraying.
"Just…what are you…?" She had compared how she was fighting him to Kai, but this…this was worse. Kai barely knew how to fight, relying on his speed and his quirk, which was why she could even stand up to him despite no training of her own, just years of observations and predictions. Rappa fought with a plan, yes, but he mainly relied on power and speed which was why she could stand in the same ring as him.
Togata was an entirely different beast. She didn't know what his meta-ability truly was, it made it all but impossible to touch him, he was clever and fast, and could think on his feet to adjust to even the slightest change. At that moment, she understood why he chose to fight them 5 on 1, it wasn't even to give them a chance, it was just to drag out the time as with how he was fighting, he could have defeated all 20 of them in 5 minutes flat.
"Good question, but let's end things quickly so I can answer that later." Togata again rushed her, but this time he jumped towards the floor, falling through and leaving no trace of himself. Then he popped-no shot out into another wall, then the floor, then the ceiling. He was closing the distance, but she could barely keep track of him, he was everywhere and nowhere! Whatever traces she could see seemed to speed up as his body started giving off lighting, was this another part of his meta-ability?!
'He'll go for the gut, I have to-!' She tried to hold onto that one piece of info, that one constant, as she realized that if he had to punch her, that meant that probably had to turn his quirk off. And with her body juiced on venom, if his first attack could take her out, there was no way he could now! She just had to wait, wait for him to close the distance and when he did, grab him!
"Ultimate move: Phantom Menace!" She turned to where she heard his speaking, only to get the mother of all clothesline to the neck, robbing her of breath and flipping over.
She was out before she hit the floor.
9 minutes 11 seconds
1 minute 49 seconds
The match was over in just 9 minutes and 11 seconds, of that time, less than 2 minutes was spent on the actual fight. Seeing this, seeing five of their number go down like targets at a shooting range terrified the class as much as it amazed them. Not even Bakugo, who had battled in the past could speak as he had never seen the fight from the outside, and he suspected, much to his ire, that Tin-tin was putting more effort into Deku and the rest than when it was just him.
"Holy…he…took out all five like it was nothing," Uraraka muttered.
"Not only phasing but warping too?" Sato breathed, wondering just what the hell they had gotten themselves into.
"He's unrivalled…do we have any chance against him, against them?" Ojiro raised a good question, as they were a group. Looking to the side, he saw Hado waving at them as if she wouldn't be able to completely dominate them, while Amajiki seemed to have gained enough courage to glare at them, not at him specifically which made him gulp, not knowing what he had done or said to earn his ire and wanting to fight him even less.
All Might speaking didn't offer them much in the way of assurance, as they felt it was more akin to him announcing who would be their executioner. "All right, students we're moving along. The next group will also face off against young Togata and it will be made up of Aoyama; Hagakure, Shoji, Kouda and Kirishima. Good luck!"
"We're going to need it…" The five solemnly walked out towards the exit, as the robots were still busy retrieving the bodies of their already defeated classmates. As Hagakure passed by Todoroki, he reached out for her shoulder.
"You'll do fine…you're strong." He gave her a comfortable squeeze, which she returned with a small smile, a shame he couldn't see it.
"Thanks." She told him as he let her go, wishing her all the best while Mina gushed about the minor encounter, her future loss at the hands of their seniors forgotten and replaced with shipping fuel.
'Romance!'
In the end, the surprise hero class ended 5 minutes earlier than normal, with every group that went forward being defeated. Hagakure's team lasted a little over 8 minutes against Togata, who dispatched them even faster than the first group. Amajiki was up next and his group was Shinso, Yaoyorozu, Sero Bakugo and Kaminari. They lasted the longest, almost beating out the clock at 18 minutes and 2 seconds, but the human Kraken proved too much for even them, with his shy nature and lack of teammates making it impossible for Shinso to get an answer out of him, even when he mimicked Togata and Hado's voices.
Hado only had one group, which was Todoroki, Ojiro, Uraraka, Ashido and Sato. They also lasted pretty long, over half the time at 11 minutes 27 seconds. But she beat them through both her seemingly unending stamina and power. With the group now gathered once more, they stood before the big 3, two of whom looked far too happy for the situation while Amajiki was facing away from them.
"So, how did you like the taste of what it is like to fight us?" Togata asked them, many still nursing bruises.
"It feels more like you just us as punching bags," Midoriya muttered, holding onto her neck as she wondered how the hell he didn't send her head flying.
"So many tentacles…it was creepy as hell," Hagakure muttered.
"She…she just kept on coming, not she didn't even need to breathe." Ojiro shivered, recalling their match and how it didn't matter what they did…how much distance they put between them, she just kept coming.
"Right, so what do you think? Aren't our quirks strong?" And with that, most of them agreed with his question, calling it unfair that they all lucked out with powerful quirks, that they didn't match up and even wondering if they had more than one quirk, which made Togata laugh as they weren't far off with him.
"Nope, just the one." He replied.
"Oh! I know, I'll tell you what his quirk is! Can I, Mirio?" Hado jumped in, but she didn't give Mirio time to give permission or speak. "It's called Permeation!"
"Hado, please wait for Mirio to explain his quirk," Amajiki interjected, but she seemed to ignore him as she placed a hand on her chest.
"My quirk is Wave Motion and Amajiki's in Manifest!" She directed their attention to Amajiki, with the boy did not like the attention in the slightest.
"Yup, I got a sweet quirk called Permeation, what you all thought of warping and phasing through stuff was all just my using my quirk." Mirio took it up from there.
"But what, how did you warp?" Midoriya asked, her hands moving as if she were holding a pen and notebook.
"Easy, when I activate my quirk in my entire body, I can pass through anything, even the floor." Mirio tapped the ground, giving those who had fought him a chance to figure out what had happened.
"Wait, so that means all those times, that was you falling through the floor and walls?" Jiro asked, to which he nodded.
"Yup, and the reason I could move so fast is due to a funny thing called physics. You see, things with mass can't overlap, so when I turn my quirk off, I'm shot through floor, walls, ceiling, you name it and odds are, he'll shoot me right now!" He explained the reason why he would move about like a blonde, smiling cannonball, which helped them fill in the blanks for when he seemed to teleport.
"By adjusting my pose and direction, I can then control where I shoot out and how." He finished the explanation as the class sat on that for a moment, with Bakugo realizing just how wrong he had been with his assessment of his quirk.
"Sounds like a glitchy video game." Mina pouted, to which Togata burst out laughing.
"That's kinda funny and true!"
Asui took a moment to think about it. "To avoid any attack, and move wherever you wish in an instant, you really did get a strong quirk."
"Not true, my quirk is strong because I made it strong." His smile didn't change, but his words still surprised them. "While my quirk is active, my lungs can't take in oxygen, even if I breathe in, the air will just pass through. It's the same for sound, sight, hearing, touch. I might not be able to be touched, but in turn, I might as well be a senseless ghost forever falling through the earth." His statement made them all look on, wide-eyed as most couldn't imagine losing a single sense, but all 5, and the ability to breathe sounded terrifying.
Togata saw that concern and slight horror and continued. "That's why if I want to do something like say, go through a wall, I have to concentrate hard. I first have to activate my quirk on one leg and pass it through, deactivating it when it gets to the other side so that it can touch the ground. Then I do the same process with the rest of my body, and then my remaining foot. Even something as minor as this has many steps to it."
Hearing that process, Kaminari turned to Mineta, a little sweat on his brow. "Oh man, if I were in a hurry, I'd mess that up every time." He knew he wasn't the smartest person in the room, but he couldn't imagine someone doing that as easily as Togata was, especially when he used that ultimate move to take out Midoriya, how do you even time all those permeations? How would you know when you're about to hit a wall and when they bounce away when your senses are shutting on and off, each time you are in a different spot? That sounded like it would make you sick.
Hado took things up from there. "It was the same with me, my quirk allows me to convert my stamina into swirling blasts of energy, but they aren't that fast which you all saw, which I make up for with power. But because they rely on my stamina, it can quickly drain me even just to fly around, never mind when I have to fight like just now." She could see how some of them, especially that Yaoyorozu girl understood what she meant, now that she thought about it, what did she use to fuel her creations? Was it the same as her? Was that why she understood just how difficult it was for her to fight them?
Tamaki eventually spoke up, ending her mental question-forming session. "…Manifest works by allowing my manifest aspects of whatever I ate, but only so long as it's still in my stomach, which means I have to be careful with what I eat and when I ate else, I could lose my form mid-fight if I can bring it up at all as it takes a lot of focus just to do something like this," He held up a hand, turning his finger into a chicken's claw. "I lose that focus and…" His finger reverted once he stopped concentrating.
"I can tell some of you watched last year's sports festival, didn't you?" Togata asked, getting some nods, even if it felt like a distant memory at the moment. "Then you saw how much we struggled just to make it past the elimination round, growing up, we were always playing catch-up, barely managing to get past the finish line. I would even say we were lucky to make it into U.A. as I dropped my pants, Tamaki was barely able to fight and I know Hado fell asleep halfway through." Hado pocked his side at that last one, she didn't like telling people that because Aizawa-sensei always scolded her for that in training.
"So, we have to be smart, we had to adapt, if we couldn't last with just power, we had to make up for that by thinking, picking up a few tricks along the way and learning to make snappy combat decisions." Togata tapped his head repeatedly.
"And what all that possible was experience! In our work studies, we're not treated as guests or kids, but real sidekicks, or even a pro." He continued, with the students listening intently to every word.
"That can be super scary, pros can get hurt, pros can die, and they might even watch others die. This is something you all know first-hand. But this is an important experience that you can't get inside a classroom." They frowned at that, but they couldn't fault the man for it. and if what he was saying was true then…
"I turned that experience that I got into power, and while you can't follow my lead, I can ensure that through training with us, you'll get your hands on that same experience." He smiled at that, finishing his speech as the class clapped, despite the total wash they had just been put through.
"He even gives pep talks like a pro." Ojiro didn't feel so bad about their loss now, not when they could learn from it.
"I can't believe they went through all of this for us, even though they could have just told us," Yaoyorozu added, her respect for their seniors rising after they had gone above and beyond for them.
Later, the Big 3 were returning to class, having been excused to help with class A, they'll be called again after lunch for class B but they had their studies to get back to. As they walked, Hado asked a question. "Hey, do you think we got the point across?"
"They looked receptive, so there's that…" Tamaki was happy that they got out of their mindset of thinking them unrivalled, it would have only hindered them if they couldn't grasp why they had come this far.
"Hey, Mirio, about that Midoriya girl. We got a little concerned when you had to hit her twice to take her down, was she that tough?" Hado asked, with Tamaki also interested in the answer as she had known Mirio their entire lives, and once he got into his grove in their second year, he had always ended fights with a single strike. To he would be lying if he said he was surprised when Midoriya tanked one of his friend's famous gut punches.
Thinking back on it, Mirio couldn't but be impressed. He had known about her, All Might spoke fondly of her and mentioned that if possible, he would have chosen her as his successor. And after seeing what she could do, on top of knowing her character, he completely agreed with his predecessor about that. She was such a tough nut to crack that in that final move, he tapped into 10% of One for All just to defeat her. "Oh yeah, she was. I can already tell she's going to be one of the greats." He had to be honest, he wouldn't mind fighting her again when they were both stronger.
And that is the end of Book 2 and by God, did I go overboard with the length. I had thought it would just be like 8-9K, but here we are, sitting with a chapter at over 12K words. I should have spaced this out into two chapters, but I didn't want the hassle when I have other projects.
Anyway, book 3 will be out sometime in January, hope you all have a happy holiday season!
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