"Welcome back Young Heroes!" The booming voice of All Might echoed through the large observation room where all of the students from 1-A were now gathered. Well, all the students minus one that is. Izuku, Raphtalia, and Ida were now standing off to the side, all of them looking a little beaten around the edges but nothing more. As for Bakugo, the explosive teen had been taken to the nurse's office, just like All Might had said, by two medical robots. The hero team looked on at their classmates who stood in the center of the room, both appearing a little embarrassed as all the eyes were on them. Ida, on the other hand, had his head hung low in defeat. As for All Might, the giant of a man stood with his back facing a large screen that was replaying the fight.
"Well now, that was a really intense first match!" declared Japan's Number One Hero, fists on his hips with a broad smile on his face. "It's got me all revved up! Now, can anyone tell me who was the MVP of this exercise?"
"Dude, it's got to be Raphtalia," exclaimed Kirishima with a toothy smile. "No offense to Midoriya. I mean, the way he protected both himself and his teammate was super manly. But I think the fight with Bakubro would have lasted longer without Raphtalia's speed and strength. I mean, did you see that blow she landed? She hit Bakugo so hard that Midoriya's shield shattered!"
"Yeah, you've got a point," said Sato, nodding. "Bakugo had the speed advantage over Midoriya. Without Raphtalia there, with her illusions and speed, there was no way the hero team would have been able to reach the bomb in time."
"Hey now, it wouldn't be wise to discount what Midoriya brought to the table," said Ojiro, folding his arms across his chest while keeping his eyes on the monitors. "While it is true that Raphtalia contributed to the majority of the attack force, Bakugo's blast would have hindered her without Midoriya playing defense. Not just that, but he also kept Bakugo off balance by messing with the surroundings. Like when he created that barrier right behind Bakugo when he tried to gain some distance from the hero team. That move took him by surprise, allowing Raphtalia to deliver her own attack."
"Yeah, as much as I want to agree with my horn buddy, I think Midori helped out way more," added Ashido, bouncing slightly where she stood. "With the way Bakugo was flinging all those explosions, without Midori, she would have been way more banged up before they reached Ida. Not to mention how he not only used his shields to protect them both from Bakugo's last blast but also using it against him was super cool!"
"Y-Yeah, well, Raphtalia was the one who touched the bomb," said Sero.
"Only because Midoriya made a sandwich out of Ida," countered Kaminari. "The guy was prepared for Raphtalia and if things looked bad he probably could have just picked up the bomb to run off with it."
"I have a question for you Midoriya," said the frog girl Asui as she raised her hand. "Why did you trap Bakugo in that prison? Ribbit. Couldn't you just use it on your team and protect yourself better?"
Izuku blinked before scratching the back of his head, a crestfallen expression on his face. "You're right, I…I could have done that. It might have even held up to Kacchan's explosion. I could have even reinforced my defenses with an Air Strike Shield and a Second Shield just to be on the safe side. But, when I heard about how those gauntlets were storing up his sweat I was worried about how much damage it would cause. The floors and ceiling could have collapsed. And if there was a gas pipe in the building or if that bomb had been real…"
Izuku's words trailed off, a shudder ran through his body while barely noticing that Asui was nodding in understanding. As he had been talking, the images of himself, Raphtalia, Kacchan, and even Ida buried under rubble waiting for the class to dig them out flashed through his mind. He might have been able to protect him and his partner, but the rest… He really didn't like to think about it. And, when he looked up at the rest of the class, he could see that their expressions had changed as well. While the talks about who was the MVP of the match had been light-hearted and upbeat, now their faces all seemed to pale.
Then, Yaoyorozu spoke up.
"I believe that assessment is correct," said the raven haired girl with a nod, the tone in her voice sounding much like a teacher preparing for a lecture. "Treating this exercise as if it were a real-life situation is the correct mindset to have. However, even if we remove the possibility of a gas line rupture, had the building's structure been damaged by Bakugo's explosion and the bomb gone off, there is no telling how widespread the damage would have been. Not only would the heroes and villains been injured or killed, but so too would countless civilians. With that said, the hero team as a whole should be considered the MVP. Both made good use of the tight space the hallways provided, using their quirks to manipulate the area and deal with their foes. They also took advantage of the villain's lack of teamwork."
Yaoyorozu then looked over at Ida. "As for the villain team, however, Bakugo was a loose cannon. He went off on his own, refusing to work with his teammate while trying to take on two heroes alone. Had they worked as a team, their combined speed and strength would have overpowered the heroes. And while his quirk is powerful, Bakugo was overall blind to his team's objective. Even if he hadn't caused the detonation of the warhead, at worst he would have destroyed their base of operations or alerted more heroes to the scene. In short, he was reckless. In contrast, Ida remained focused. Rather than chasing after Bakugo, he stayed with the warhead to guard it. He even created a crude method to detect any attempt by Raphtalia to sneak in."
All Might, for his part, looked at the dark-haired girl with something akin to surprise. But that look only lasted for a moment before he burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! Very good Young Yaoyorozu," exclaimed All Might while clapping his hands. "Very good. However, I would like to add that had the hero team made more of an effort to capture Young Bakugo with the capture tape I gave them, they could have avoided that nasty explosion. Also, Young Ida could have relaxed a bit more and not fallen for such an obvious ploy. Then again, given the nature of Young Raphtalia's quirk, there was a chance that she was, in fact, right behind him. So I will not fault him for that."
The number one hero then turned to look at the three students, each of them looking back at him expectedly.
"I hope all of you take these comments to heart," All Might continued. "Remember, whether you win or lose, there is always something that you can take from the experience. That is, as long as you are willing to learn from it. And that will go for the rest of you moving forward. Remember! Being a true hero means that you are constantly improving in order to combat the forces of villainy!"
Izuku beamed at the words as the mighty man that was All Might flashed them all a smile and gave them a thumbs up. Glancing to his side, he could see that Raphtalia was also smiling while Ida looked moved to tears.
"Now then, as for the MVP, I believe that-"
"WHAT IS GOING ON DOWN THERE?!"
The entire class, minus All Might, jumped as the face of the former healing heroine, Recovery Girl, appeared on the large screen taking up most of it. They all stood there, staring as the elder woman's face was turning red right before their eyes while she glared down at the back of their teacher. Speaking of All Might, his body seemed to shake and quiver slightly under the woman's gaze as he slowly, very slowly, turned to look at her.
"Ah, Recovery Girl, I'm in the middle of class right now so-" began All Might only to be cut off by the clearly livid nurse.
"The first day! Your first day of teaching and I already have a student in the infirmary in serious condition!" screamed Recovery Girl, her face turning a slight shade of red as she did so. "Burns across his body, broken bones, loss of blood! That boy is going to have to spend the night here at school while I use my quirk on him! He's just lucky that some form of healing was already in the works. But that I'll look into later. What were you thinking letting him go out there with such dangerous support? Well? ANSWER ME!"
"Well, ah…" The older woman just let out a growl of frustration as All Might stood there in silence.
For the rest of the class, everyone gave it their all…but did their best not to go too overboard as none of the students in class 1-A wanted to be on the bad side of Recovery Girl right now. Or ever for that matter.
-x-
"Good morning class." Those dull words were the first thing Mr. Aizawa said the next day, having finally made his way past all the reporters standing outside the school. Those reporters had been there since early morning, pestering everyone who tried to enter the school in the hopes of getting something on how All Might's career as a teacher was going. Thankfully, none of them could get into the building thanks to the security…but all the same, it was a headache and a waste of time. How that man or any of the other pros dealt with the press was a mystery to the dark-haired man.
As he walked to his desk, a stack of papers under one of his arms, he could hear the rustling of feet as some of his students made a quick dash towards their desks. Only briefly did he glance towards the rest of the classroom, thankful that everyone was here and not being held up by the press.
Once he was in front of the room, the tired teacher's eyes fell on one student in particular: Bakugo. The hot-headed teen still had some bandages wrapped around his body, courtesy of Recovery Girl, making him look like a half-finished mummy. A step up from last night when he had gone to visit his student, handing him a flash drive containing recordings of all the matches he had missed due to his injuries. His words to Bakugo were simple: watch everything he had missed as well as his own fight and be ready to discuss them the next day. After getting some form of acknowledgment that the boy heard him, Aizawa had gone to talk with Recover Girl to both ask if she could supply him with a laptop to watch everything as well as to seek assurances that Bakugo would be ready for his classes the next day. The old woman had been annoyed by the speed that Aizawa wished for his student's recovery, but still assured the tired teacher that she would be able to make it to the classroom. However, that was all she could promise. Due to the extent of the injuries, she would need to administer her quirk on him at least three more times the next day: before the start of class, after lunch, and after school. Only after that would he be completely healed and ready to do more physical training once more.
"I reviewed the footage from yesterday's matches," Aizawa began, starting homeroom off right away. As he stood behind his desk, the tired man looked towards his green-haired student before shifting towards the tanuki-girl. "Midoriya. Raphtalia. I understand that the teams were picked at random, but All Might should have made an exception for both of you. The two of you need to learn how to work with the rest of your classmates. But, with that said, I am pleased to see how much the two of you have improved since the entrance exam."
The two young heroes voiced their thanks while saying that they would make an effort as he asked. After nodding, Mr. Aizawa then turned his gaze towards the rest of the classroom.
"As for the rest of the class, some of you worked decently well," he said while his gaze glanced over at another two students. "Jiro. Kaminari. From what I could tell, you both made good use of your prep time to figure out duties and came up with a plan. Neither of you were as in sync as Midoriya and Raphtalia's team, but seeing as this was your first time working together, you both did well. As for the rest of you, your ability to work in teams needs work. We'll discuss it more in-depth later today, but there are a few of you I'd like to bring up now." Suddenly, Aizawa's eyes hardened a bit as he looked over at the dual haired colored teen. "Todoroki, while it was impressive that you can use your ice to immobilize everyone in the building like that, it came at the cost of the point of the exercise. You need to learn to rely on your fellow heroes. There will be times when you cannot rely on tricks like that." After that, Aizawa looked over at the shortest student in the room with eyes that had become so sharp that they made the boy let out a cry of fear. "Mineta. You barely did anything other than staring at Yaoyorozu's chest and rear. If I see that again, you will be lucky to get sent to General Studies and barred from ever returning to the Hero track. And Bakugo…"
As Mr. Aizawa's eyes moved from the horrified expression of the grape-haired youth to Bakugo's, a wave of annoyance washed over him. Bakugo, who had been staring at his desk, looked up with a sour look on his face.
"I double-checked our records and confirmed that you and Midoriya went to the same middle school," said Aizawa after a moment of pause, his eyes looking more like they had when he had stared at Todoroki. "That as well as what I saw in the footage showed that Midoriya knew how you fought, and knew what to expect up until near the end when you used your support gear against him. You didn't take that into account nor did you factor in the strength of his quirk. Instead, you rushed in, thinking you could just destroy whatever stood in your way with an explosion."
There was a short pause in the man's speech, the man's tired eyes focusing on the blond who began to look more and more agitated.
"I won't deny that your quirk is strong and that you have great talent," the pro hero said at last. "But…that will only get you so far. You need to stop looking down on everyone else or else that arrogance of yours will be your undoing. It may even lead you to an early grave."
With a heavy sigh, Aizawa then turned to look at the class as a whole. "Now, as much as I'd like to start going over the lesson in full, there is something that cannot be put off any longer. Something that may affect you for the rest of your lives: picking class representatives. I don't care how you do it, just don't take up too much time or wake me up until you're done." With that, Aizawa pulled out his sleeping bag, crawled into it, and went to sleep.
Once the class could hear their teacher snoring, a loud commotion broke out as everyone wanted the job. Not because they wanted the extra work, but because it would help you get scouted by hero agencies and show that you know how to lead a team. Everyone was just throwing out sales pitches over each other.
"I believe I would be best suited for this," claimed Yaoyorozu. "Due to my high performance in the recommendation exam, the quirk assessment trial, and my all-around high grades shows how competent I am. What's more, my quirk allows me to be more versatile and knowledgeable. I am positive I would make a great class rep."
"No way, you should all pick me!" exclaimed Ashido as she began jumping up and down. "I promise to keep everything chill and make sure the class is super friendly!"
"There's nothing to discuss," yelled Bakugo, shit flying out of his mouth as he stood up. Though he did so much slower than he would normally rocket out of his seat. "You either pick me or I'll kill you."
"Dude, are you seriously threatening us?" asked Sero.
"Guys, I'm your pick," exclaimed Mineta before Bakugo could answer, jumping onto his desk as he did. A wide, perverted grin appeared on his face as he caught everyone's attention. "Because, if I become class rep, I will work endlessly to make sure that all the girl's uniforms become far more revealing." As he said this last part, a slight bit of droll escaped his mouth as a faraway look filled his eyes. This, thankfully, didn't last long as Jiro's jacks jammed into the grape-themed 'hero's' eyes. The small, diminutive teen screamed in pain, falling to the ground while flailing his arms and legs for several long seconds. It was only when he calmed down that he realized that the room had gone eerily quiet. Looking around, he could see that the guys were giving him a look of disgust while the girls were giving off a cold, murderous aura. One so powerful that, if there was a quirk to make it physical, it would put out all of Endeavors' flames for life!
As a whimpering and sobbing Mineta scurried to a corner to get away from everyone, Ida stood up while slamming the palms of his hands onto the table.
"This is no way for U.A. students to be behaving!" he said, no doubt referring to the choice of class rep. "I say that the best way to decide who shall be our class representatives is to do so fairly with an election!"
"Yeah, but won't everyone just vote for themselves? Ribbit," asked Asui, tilting her head to the side while pressing a finger in her cheek.
Izuku found himself nodding at Asui's words, finding that they held merit. Ida tried to justify his stance, claiming that whoever did get more than one vote would prove just how ready they were to lead. But for Izuku, it was a hard sell as everyone wanted the job for themselves. Maybe one person might get more than one vote, but two might be pushing it. And if everyone did vote for themselves they would just waste time doing this all over again. Though it wasn't like they had any better ideas so…
"I think Asui has a point," said Izuku loudly, getting everyone's attention.
"Call me Tsu, ribbit," corrected the frog girl.
"Oh! Ah, right!" said a slightly embarrassed Izuku as he looked at Asui. Then, as he turned to face the rest of his class, the broccoli haired teen couched into his fist before speaking once more. "I think Tsu has a point about everyone voting for themselves. So, how about we just lay down a single rule: no one is allowed to vote for themselves."
The class thought about it for a moment before slowly, one by one, they began to voice their agreement. Well, all but two. Ida, who was upset that his impassioned reasoning was being disregarded, and Bakugo because…well…
"I don't know any of these extras' names!" he yelled.
From there, things went remarkably smoothly. Everyone took out a piece of paper, quickly writing on it before depositing it on Mr. Aizawa's desk. Once all the votes had been turned in, they were counted by several students with the names and number of votes written on the board. Very soon, it became clear that Asui had become the Class Representative. While the frog-like girl's face didn't show it, she did tilt her head while pointing at herself in confusion. And soon after that, Izuku found himself winning the Vice Representative role by a single vote.
"Me?" asked the shield user, pointing to himself as he sat at his desk.
"Congratulations Izuku!" cheered Raphtalia.
"HEY! HOW COME I DIDN'T GET ANY VOTES?!" screamed Bakugo, almost foaming at the mouth as he did so.
"YEAH! SAME WITH ME!" shouted Mineta, jumping onto his desk once more while shaking a tiny fist in rage.
At that, most of the class gave the grape-haired teen and the walking explosion a look that screamed 'Seriously? How are the two of you surprised?'
Not long after that, Izuku found himself sitting in the cafeteria, still a little surprised at how their class election had turned out. Sitting next to him on his right was Raphtalia with Tsu following right behind her and sitting to Izuku's left a few moments later. They were also joined by two other students: Uraraka and Kirishima. Both of them sat directly opposite of Izuku.
"This still feels unreal. I never thought I'd get that many votes," commented Izuku before taking a bite out of his food.
"To be perfectly honest, I voted for you. Ribbit," croaked Tsu as she turned to give Izuku her full attention.
"You…did?" Izuku turned to look at his classmate in surprise, watching her nod before pressing one of her fingers against her lower lip.
"You were the only one who agreed with me about the problem with voting," she said. "At least out loud. And you came up with a good solution. Ribbit. Also, I was impressed with how quickly you thought about all the damages Bakugo could have done and moved to act."
Izuku smiled at that before taking a quick bite out of his food.
"Thanks, Tsu. That means a lot," he said after swallowing. "And, honestly, I'm glad you got the job of Class Rep. I think a good leader needs to ask questions and point out flaws when other people make suggestions. It's not easy, but someone has to do it. Also, you just seem very calm and collected. That's why I voted for you." While Tsu's expression didn't change, Izuku could see the grateful look in her eyes right before she nodded her head.
"Thanks. Ribbit," she said at last before returning to her own meal.
From there, the group got to talking about who voted for who. No one was really surprised that Raphtalia had voted for Izuku, saying that he was really reliable. Though, the young shield user was a bit surprised when Kirishima agreed with her. He had thought that the way he cared for Bakugo after the fight was 'super manly'.
"I also know that Kaminari voted for you too," continued Kirishima. "Said he likes the idea of having someone in charge who can cage up Bakugo whenever he gets out of hand. But be careful. The guy wants you to start calling that move 'Shield Time-Out'!"
That got a good laugh out of everyone.. The image of an enraged Bakugo slamming his fists against the Shield Prisons walls as everyone else carried on with class like nothing was happening was just too hilarious.
"I, well, voted for Raphtalia," said Uraraka. "Don't get me wrong, I think Asui and Midoriya are good choices as well. I just thought that, after seeing her fight with her sword like that, she looked really cool."
That got a blush from Raphtalia. However, before she could say anything, an alarm began to sound creating panic throughout the school.