Rewind

Chapter V: The World of Pros

The minute Aizawa announced the trip, Izuku became tense. The USJ. This was one thing about his future that he had thought about a lot, mainly over whether or not he should prevent it or just change a few things about it. In the end though, Toshi-sensei had been right: the USJ Incident had made 1-A stronger and prepared them for the chaos that ensued, so he didn't even try to make sure All Might used less time today. However, there was no way he'd risk Tsu's life, or Aizawa-sensei like last time, not with his increased control of One For All. The worst part though was the thought that maybe All For One and Shimura had caused the multiple incidents that caused All Might to use up his time. Really, how long had All For One been working on this plot?

But the stressful part wouldn't begin until later, right now, he was excited to actually go through it in his costume, even if that was a small matter in the grand scheme of things. What wasn't so small was Tsu. "Your quirk, isn't it a lot like All Might's?"

Everyone leaned in closer to hear Izuku's answer. Fortunately, he had prepared for this ... though he had forgotten it had happened so soon. "While that would be nice, and I do happen to have the same quirk as someone at Might Tower. But his name is Yagi Toshinori, and he helped train my quirk last year." Izuku then grabbed his phone and pulled up a picture. "So, unless you think this guy is All Might, then no, I don't have All Might's quirk."

Everyone stared in shock at the picture, but only Bakugou said something. "That's your sensei? He looks more like a fucking skeleton!"

"That's from when I met him, before he started training me. He had a bad injury about five years ago and lost his stomach ... and I think his will to live. But apparently training me and meeting mom helped out."

Kacchan laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure Auntie Inko helped with that, she is one fine cook."

"All Might's quirk or not, must be nice to have such a flashy quirk," Kirishima stated. "My Hardening is super strong and can stop bad guys, but it doesn't look like much."

"Trust me, Kirishima, you've got what it takes to be a pro," Izuku replied, remembering what he had heard of the redhead's time with Fat Gum. "Hey, have you ever seen how hard you can get?"

"Not yet, but are you sure I could be a pro? I'm sure it would be easier if I had a flashier quirk."

"Kirishima, I've been studying heroes for years. Trust me, you can be a fantastic pro." Kirishima then claimed that the three obvious high-ranking heroes in their class would be Izuku, Kacchan and Shoto, though Tsu claimed that Kacchan's temper would be a problem. "Please," Izuku started. "If attitude was a problem, then Endeavor wouldn't be our number two. Kacchan just has an ego and temper problem, Endeavor is a piece of shit."

Everyone stared in shock before Sato said, "Are you sure you want to say that with Endeavor's favorite son right there?"

Shoto simply smirked and said, "I think I might actually come to like you, Midoriya."

Naturally that was when Aizawa announced that they had arrived. Thirteen once again managed to inspire the class with their speech on rescue training after informing Aizawa about All Might's situation. Suddenly, a surge of electricity went over the lights, and Izuku quickly turned to Kaminari. "Please tell me that was you," he asked, making sure to act like this was all new to him.

"Sorry, but no, I couldn't do something like that if I tried."

"Then try to get in touch with the rest of the school. Try anyone so long as they aren't here." Right on schedule, Kurogiri arrived, allowing the League of Villains to enter the USJ and Aizawa was quick to identify them as villains. Shoto, as before was quick to analyze the situation, recognizing the problem of someone jamming the alarms and that they were smart at choosing such an isolated location.

"Midoriya, I told you to stay back!" Aizawa stated as Izuku leaned forward, observing the villains to make sure nothing had changed there.

"Sorry, sensei, but this is going to be our job too, and I doubt you'll be able to stop all of them. But, good luck, Aizawa-sensei."

"You can't be a pro if you rely on luck, but thanks for the sentiment." Aizawa then charged at the villains, taking almost a dozen in no more than a minute.

Midoriya stayed and made several new mental notes for the future before Iida once again pulled him away. "Okay, Iida, I have some orders for you as class rep," Izuku said as Kurogiri arrived and started his monologue.

"Yes?" Iida asked, showing the utmost respect for the title at least, just as Izuku had hoped and expected.

"You're one of the fastest in the class, use that speed and escape so that you can let others know. Principal Nezu, All Might, Toshinori-sensei, anyone." By now, Kacchan and Kirishima had attacked Kurogiri, he needed to hurry!

"But I can't abandon my classmates!"

"You're not abandoning us, you are going to get hope and help," Izuku explained. "Sometimes that's what you need to do as a pro."

"You know, you really shouldn't discuss your plans in front of a villain," Kurogiri stated. "It makes it too easy for us to disrupt your plans. Now, let's make things interesting." Immediately, he descended and scattered those that he could, including Izuku, who was glad to see he ended up back in the shipwreck zone. If he had ended up somewhere else, then he'd have started worrying that he had caused some horrible ripple effect, but this gave him hope. Even better was when he saw Tsu and Mineta with him.

Once they were on the boat, Izuku once again explained how the villains had probably acquired their schedule, while Tsu started talking about how things could go horribly wrong. "It doesn't matter if they have a plan or not, we're heroes-in-training, aren't we? Those are villains, and it's our job to stop them! Let's show them that we aren't afraid, that we are here to stand in their way!" Izuku finished with a smile similar to All Might's. "Now, I've got the start of a plan, I just need to know how your quirks work to finish it." Once they had explained, Izuku quickly explained his plan. When the others were ready, Izuku got on the railing of the ship before jumping up and sending a Texas Smash into the water, allowing Mineta's balls to capture the villains while Tsu helped them escape the Shipwreck/Flood Zone.

"So, now what?" Tsu asked.

"The two of you are going to rejoin the others at the entrance. Tsu, if you can, jump over the plaza so Mineta can toss some balls to keep the villains here. If it's not safe for you to do that, then just get back to 13."

"But what about you, ribbit?"

"I'm going to go check on Aizawa-sensei, and it's going to be even more dangerous there than it had been on the boat. Now get going!" Tsu and Mineta were quick to agree, and Izuku arrived just as Aizawa started fighting Shigaraki, and watched as the skin of his elbow disintegrated. As soon as the Nomu started to move towards him, Izuku jumped into the air. "Stay away from my sensei! Manchester Smash!" he yelled as he sent an armored kick right into the creature's exposed brain. The creature collapsed as it whimpered in pain, allowing Izuku to save Aizawa from having his skull crushed again. With that done, Izuku grabbed Aizawa and rushed him to the staging area.

"Midoriya? What are you doing?" he asked.

"Saving you, sensei. Now stay here and watch over the others! I have work to do."

"Midoriya, protecting you is-"

But Izuku was already gone. The first thing he had done after he decided to let the USJ happen was decide on a plan to help with the Nomu. Even with Full Infusion, he knew he wasn't fast, strong or tough enough to take it head on, not without All Might to help him like the fight against Wolfram. "That attack of yours is pretty powerful. And it's a 'Smash' on top of that, are you one of All Might's disciples?"

"You have no idea," Izuku replied. "And you aren't going to kill him, not if I have anything to say about it! Kansas Smash!" With that, he charged at the Nomu, delivered a punch then bounced back before the Nomu could react. Then he did it again and again, faster and faster until all Shigaraki could see was a green blur. The Nomu tried multiple times to grab him, but it was just a little too slow to catch him.

"That's not going to work, Nomu has a Shock Absorption quirk."

"So what?" Izuku asked, not slowing down at all. "Every shock absorber has its limits!"

That was when Kurogiri arrived. "Shigaraki Tomura, 13 is out of action, but there were students I was unable to disperse and one of them escaped."

Shigaraki groaned at that. "Then it's game over for us! If you weren't a warp gate, I'd turn you into dust! We can't win against dozens of pros, recover Nomu."

Kurogiri attempted to do so only to realize "The wind pressure! I can't get close enough to either of them!"

Then the doors to the USJ were smashed open and from the dust came the one person everyone wanted to see then: All Might. "Have no fear students, I Am Here!" Within seconds, he had defeated the remaining thugs and was next to Izuku. "Young Midoriya, go back to the entrance with the others."

"Wait! You need to know, that creature has a shock absorption quirk. I must have hit him 400 times and he barely moved." All Might nodded, then looked at him and smiled before moving against the nomu. Izuku backed up, but only to the base of the stairs so he could keep a close eye on what was going on, and so he could jump in if necessary. Toshinori-sensei may have managed to increase his limit thanks to Izuku's mom, but he was still pushing things today. The worst part was that All Might was making the same moves as before, which resulted in him being caught by the Nomu while Kurogiri opened a warp gate! "Damn you, you warp gate bastard! Let him go!"

However, before he could even get close enough for Kurogiri to open another warp gate, Kacchan arrived and blasted him while Shoto froze the Nomu and Kirishima went after Shigaraki. Kacchan once again threatened the mist villain, but it once again set Shigaraki off, and he ordered the Nomu to free itself. "Shoto, Kirishima, protect Kacchan. Kacchan, get moving, and make sure Kurogiri goes with you," Izuku ordered as the Nomu regenerated.

"I don't need to be protected, Deku!" Kacchan complained, but he did as Izuku asked. The others also moved to defend the explosion user, only for the Nomu to try and attack them and be intercepted by All Might. They clashed with such force that everyone was blown back by the wind. Unfortunately, that also resulted in Kacchan being blown off Kurogiri as the two fighters moved so fast it looked like they had a dozen arms each. And while he may have been imagining it, Izuku was fairly certain it took All Might less time and blows to hit the Nomu hard enough to make it pull a Team Rocket.

Then All Might said something surprising. "I really have gotten weaker. Back in my prime, two hits would have been enough to finish him off. But today it took more than 100 mighty blows!" Wait, what? Izuku had been pushing himself, hitting the Nomu at 25% of his own power, and at 400 blows, that should have only taken off half as many hits! How much stronger was he going to be?

Then the steam started pouring off All Might, and the fear came back. Yeah, he trusted these three most of any other potential trio in the class, but it was All Might's secret not his own, it should be up to All Might to tell them himself, not let it get exposed like this, not again! "Hey, Tomura! How upset do you think your boss will be when he learns you lost that Nomu? How much time and effort did you just waste?"

"That's it! Kurogiri, take All Might, I'm going for that brat!" The two future archenemies charged at each other, Izuku sending a kick at the decay-user, only for Shigaraki to catch his leg. Snipe managed to save him, but he still lost a good amount of skin to the villain, and from then, things continued as before.


That evening, Tsukauchi Naomasa was just about to dismiss the students when he noticed one of the names on his list. "Todoroki Shoto? Any relation to Todoroki Enji?"

Shoto looked up in confusion. "He's my father, why? You don't look like one of the officers he works with, nor do I know anything about any of his cases."

Tsukauchi just smiled. "I've never worked with your father. Actually, I'm assigned to All Might, but your father is involved in a case I'm working. I need to speak to you in private."

"Wait, before you do, will you tell us how Aizawa-sensei is doing?" Ashido asked, as their teacher had collapsed soon after Midoriya dropped him off. "And what about Thirteen, Midoriya and All Might?" Uraraka added.

Tsukauchi had to think for a moment before realizing who Midoriya was. "They're all doing fine. Aizawa just collapsed out of pain and exhaustion. His arm is bandaged, and Recovery Girl will be healing him in the morning. Thirteen took some bad lacerations to the back, but they'll be back to normal in no time. All Might and Midoriya are also without serious injury. In fact, Midoriya will almost certainly be walking home on his own power tonight." Everyone, including Shoto sighed a breath of relief at hearing that. With that, Shoto walked off with the detective and the others headed back.

A few minutes later in the nurse's office, Toshinori's reaction to Tsukauchi's statement reminded Izuku why he let things continue mostly unchanged. "The students also risked their lives and they fought as hard as us. Has there ever been a class of students who experienced the world of pros so early in their training? I can't think of one. More, they not only survived, but they also learned what it takes to be a pro. Those villains made a mistake in attacking them. This class is strong, and such a challenge will only strengthen them further. They're filled with courage and drive. Mark my words, they're going to become great heroes, and it will be a great honor helping them become so." Izuku smiled, not because of the praise, but knowing that his sensei was right, and knowing that he had made the right choice. His classmates would need that strength to face what was coming.

A/N: I will admit, I had no plan whatsoever when I wrote Izuku asking Shoto and Kirishima to defend Kacchan. After two days of trying to solve it, I decided "Ah, screw it, I'll just skip that whole discussion and jump to the best scene in the season." As for why Aizawa didn't intervene again, let's be honest, the only reason he stayed awake as long as he did in canon is adrenaline and the pain. Once the adrenaline faded, he almost certainly would have crashed even if he had come out unscathed, especially since it seems like he keeps up with his hero work while also working at UA.