It was another peaceful morning when Izuku woke up from his slumber, the young man getting up groggily before he looked at the time.
'I have one hour until school.' He thought as he made his way to his dresser.
Reaching it, Izuku then looked into the mirror at himself, seeing his disheveled hair that he rubbed it.
"I am not going to look forward to getting my hair pulled apart again by Kokoa." The verdette said before his eyes caught a glimpse of his body.
Izuku saw the scars around his body, the young man's expression changing into a melancholic and sorrowful one when he traced his fingers across them.
Izuku remembered most of the scars, all of them being a part of a dark history that he would never want to remember. He hated seeing those wounds and burns on his body, a part of him angry that they are stuck on his body for the rest of his life. Izuku gritted his teeth in frustration as he looked at them until he noticed the huge scar on his left arm, looking at it as he reminisced on the accident that happened 3 years ago.
The scar that changed it all. The one scar in his life that he was happy to have.
A small smile went on his face as he looked at the scar, seeing it as a medal of honor for his heroism that day as he touched the scar.
'At that moment, I thought my arm would be gone from that incident. I could basically see my bone when I got it at the time.' Izuku thought before he took a deep breath and looked at himself again in the mirror. 'It was pretty horrifying if I remember correctly. It's been so long since then. Now I...'
Izuku then used his quirk, his body starting to glow before he noticed the scars around his body beginning to unleash an intense neon-green glow in comparison to his body. Focusing a bit more on his quirk, his veins on his hands started to bulge as they unleashed a dark green glow that stopped at his biceps.
'Basically, this new glow only shows at the part where I wear my gauntlets. Is it because of my reliance on Air Bullet and using my quirk with my hands?' Izuku thought before his arms fell down, his body stopped glowing. "But what does it mean?"
"It means you've grown." Izuku turned to his room doorway to see Naomi with a basket of clothes.
She put the basket on the floor beside his bed before she looked around the room, seeing posters of multiple heroes and baseball players which made her smile. She even saw multiple frames on his dresser, one of them being a picture with Izuku and the gang that they took after they passed the Remedial exams.
"Back then, you were so...lifeless. Almost like you lost your soul." She said as she put back the frame on the table.
She then looked at him, her mind going to the time when she first saw him, the woman seeing a little Izuku with long black hair that covered his face. She remembered seeing his soulless green eyes that almost looked like they made his eye color a darker shade of green than what it was. She remembered how timid and antisocial he was at the time, it took her months to get him to open up to her and Kokoa.
Naomi then blinked as she looked at him now, he's almost a different person as he had a more confident look on his face. His eyes that used to be soulless are now filled with life which made her proud.
"You've changed, kid." Naomi said as she patted Izuku's head, rubbing his hair with a smile on her face. "And don't forget that."
"I'm not a kid anymore though." Izuku said before she ruffled his hair with a grin.
"You're a kid to me. Now get yourself ready. It's almost time for school." Naomi said before she stopped by the room entrance. "Your mother would be proud as well. She hasn't been able to contact you lately but she tells me that she is proud of what you have become."
Hearing that made a smile come onto Izuku's face as he bowed to her, Naomi letting out a chuckle before leaving him to his lonesome.
'Wish she could tell me that upfront but knowing that she feels that way does not make me less happy.' Izuku said before he picked up his phone. 'I'll send her a text then. I hope I can talk to her soon and she doesn't overwork herself.'
After sending his text, Izuku went to bathe and prepare himself to school, determination emanating from his body. After a while, he was able to get himself ready, putting on his uniform as he was struggling with his tie.
"I really need to learn how to do this." He said as he failed again, letting out an exasperated sigh.
Leaving his room and getting Aoi to help him with his tie, Izuku immediately dashed out of the cafe and made his way towards the train station.
'10 minutes left.' He thought as he looked at his phone, deciding to take a shortcut through an alleyway, jumping onto the trash cans until he landed on a dumpster. Noticing a wall of garbage, he picked up a pole on the ground, slamming it onto the ground and using it to send himself over the wall. The verdette prepared himself for landing by doing a roll on the ground and getting onto his feet.
"Perfect." Izuku said before he made a mad dash out of the alleyway, seeing the train station across the road.
Checking the road, he sprinted across the street and slid into the train station, taking out his keycard and swiping the terminal before he saw his train about to leave. Not wasting time, he ran at full speed, managing to get into the train at the last minute.
"Safe." Izuku panted heavily, getting laughs from the people in the train, much to his embarrassment.
Trying his best to ignore everyone and the embarrassment, the young man looked at the city until he reached his stop. Making his way to school, the green-hiared teenager felt an ominous presence, looking around to see nothing which made him a bit confused.
'What on earth was that?' He thought before he continued on his way. What he did not realize was a black miasma with yellow eyes watching him from an alleyway.
Reaching his class, Izuku noticed that everyone is at the Ground Beta which he dashed to, changing into his P.E. clothes where he noticed that his classmates were there. What surprised the verdette was that class 1A was there with them as well as he went beside Monoma.
"What's happening?" He whispered to Monoma. "I'm not su-"
"It's time for our first Cross-Reference class between 1A and 1B!" Kan and Sekijiro announced to their classes before Sekijiro continued. "Since it's our first class, we'll go with something simple. How about we do a little sparring?"
"Don't you think we have been doing too much of that? In fact, you have been doing too much of that." Shouta said to which made Sekijiro twitch uncontrollably and look away. "We'll be starting our exercise soon. Get your gears and support items ready."
"Yes sir!" Everyone responded before they went to get their gear within the changing rooms.
While Izuku was putting on his gauntlets, he felt a pair of crimson eyes leering at him. Turning around, he saw Katsuki glaring at him which made him a bit bothered but Izuku regained his composure and looked back at the blonde who was surprised by his defiance.
'You damn...' Katsuki calmed himself down as he took out his stress ball and let out his explosions onto it. 'He's nothing to me. He's nothing to me. He's just a pebble that will be walked over. An extra. I'll show him how different we are.'
Meanwhile, on the girl's side, Itsuka was putting on a pair of black and orange armored gloves before she heard the conversation that was taking place in the room.
"I've been wondering for a while. What's Bakugo's problem with Midoriya?" Setsuna said while testing her clothes, happy to see them separating with her skin. "Dude been giving him the glare since the exercise started."
"Word from Kaminari and Shinso is that they were childhood friends." Mina said, fiddling with her shoes. This caught all of the girls' attention, making them look at her incredulously except for Ochaco, Kyoka and Toru. "SERIOUSLY?! How?!"
"Your guess is as good as mine." The pink-skinned girl shrugged as she checked her sneakers, seeing holes at the bottom of them. "I was shocked too. Weird friendship."
"Exactly. Midoriya is such an angel and Bakugo is just..." Momo paused, thinking of a word to describe her blonde explosive classmate. "Bakugo."
"She means he's an asshole." Kyoka said with a deadpanned tone while adjusting her headphones, getting a glare from Momo.
The girls of class 1-B were still taken aback by the information before Setsuna was the first to speak. "I mean, the nickname alone should've gave it away."
"Yeah. Deku isn't a nickname that you give to someone you like. Especially with what it means and how he uses it." Reiko spoke, getting a nod from Yui.
"This sucks." Kyoka muttered. "Two students and we're stuck with the angry Pomeranian."
"Yeah!" Toru said, slightly annoyed. "I would have preferred the green little cinnamon roll Zuku! He's like a rabbit! Plus he could have given great advice with how to use my quirk!"
"Ditto." Tsuyu agreed, Ochaco letting out a small giggle at her friend's straightforwardness.
"How about this? A deal." Mina said with a mischievous grin. All of the girls turned to the pink skinned girl as Itsuka crossed her arms. "Ok. I'm listening."
"We play a little contest. The class who gets the most wins gets to tell the loser whatever they want."
Setsuna was about to accept before Itsuka put her hand over her mouth. "I get the reward and everything but there has to be a reason that you want this. What's your terms?"
"If we win, we take Midoriya and trade him for Bakugo." Mina put her hands on her hips with a convincing grin.
"Fuck no." Setsuna said quickly, slamming her locker door and folding her arms. Itsuka looked at her in surprise along with the rest of the girls of class 1A. "Setsuna! Language!"
"Really? Come on!" Toru whined which received a disembodied hand pointing at her face.
"Not up for debate! I want to be recharged every morning with a smile that can cure cancer instead of being blown up to literally pieces verbally and physically." Setsuna folded her arms as her hand returned to her. "Just my preference."
"I kinda agree with Set on that one." Kinoko shyly raised her hand as she pulled out two spray guns out of her locker. "Mido is like that gold mushroom you find on the road. He's too precious!"
"I dunno." Ochaco said. "It's better if he stays in our classroom since he's friends with Shinso and Kaminari."
"He has friends in our class!" Setsuna shouted. "He hangs out with Awase and, as much as I'm surprised to say this, Monoma. Plus, he's a valued member of the green squad. He even manages to keep Monoma in check and that right there, makes him a permanent member of the class 1Brigade."
'Class 1Brigade?' Setsuna's fellow classmates looked at her with confused expression. 'What is that name?'
"Aww." Mina said before her eyes lit up. "What about if we get him for like two weeks or something?"
"I said it once and I'll say it again. Fuck. No." Setsuna said with no hesitation. "No amount of anything is gonna make me want to take the walking grenade in our class."
"I gotta agree with Setsuna." Pony chimed in, the others agreeing. Mina was about to speak until Ibara came into the room, the pink-skinned girl having an idea as she pointed at her. "What about you, Shiozaki?"
"Hmm?" Ibara blinked in confusion before Itsuka explained the situation to her.
"Heavens no. That would be like trading an angel for a demon." Ibara said while adjusting her hair. "I'm not giving up our little green fluffy bunny for that spiky haired disaster. He helps with the garden. No one helps with the garden. He may not be the most popular in our class but he's...Midoriya."
"See? Exactly. He's an odd one that works." Setsuna said with a mildly annoyed face. Mina and the girls of Class 1A gave up, the pink-haired girl sitting down on the bench with a pout. "Boo~"
"Well, class exchanges aside. I hope nothing bad happens today between them." Ochaco said which got the looks from the other girls as Mina and Toru shook her harshly as they shouted.
"You jinxed us, Ochaco! You shouldn't have said that!" They both shouted in unison, Momo and Itsuka sharing a nervous laugh before the latter put a hand on her forehead with a slightly worried expression. 'I hope so too...'
"We will be doing fighting simulations between the classes for you both to see your advantages and disadvantages and learn from each other." Shouta explained while pacing around the students.
"As for the battle simulation, we will be doing a group battle exercise. The goal is to-" Shouta took out a plastic disk from his pocket. "The goal of this practice is to take the plastic disk from the opponent. The round will be over once all of the members of one team have their disks taken or when they were unconscious."
Everyone nodded as they listened intently, some of them a bit disappointed by the exercise as Sekijiro took his turn to explain. "Think of it as an exercise for now to test your abilities. You will be paired in groups of five."
The white-haired man then went to each student and handed them a plastic disk.
"Alright, we will be starting with our first team." Shouta said as a platform showing the pictures of the first two teams that will be facing each other.
Izuku's eyes widened when he noticed the names. It was Team A1 consisting of Momo, Katsuki, Ochaco, Shoji and Sato against Team B1 who has Itsuka, Setsuna, Sen, Ibara and Pony.
Katsuki scoffed at the first match, putting on a pair of green and orange gauntlets as he and everyone for the first match went onto the field.
Both teams went to their side of the field, Momo checking out the area before turning to her team.
"Alright, we're going to need a plan. Although we know more about the terrain through our heroic exercises than Class 1B, it doesn't guarantee our victory." She said as she prepared a few telescopes from her arms.
After handing one to Ochaco and Sato, she gave one to Katsuki who clicked his teeth before he exploded the item, much to the creation girl's dismay.
"Dude! What's your problem?" Sato was about to approach the blonde but Momo stopped him.
"I don't know what your problem is but this is not the time or place for this. We're here to get the disks." Momo said which made Katsuki angered until he noticed a blade on front of him. "Any issues you have, solve it outside of this exercise."
Katsuki took a deep breath as he took a telescope that she handed him. With some of them keeping watch of their opponent. Momo decided to make a plan.
"We need to take the disks in one planned move. We can try to restrain their movements but with Tokage and and Pony on their team, that will be difficult."
"We can use Ochaco's quirk to subdue them." Shoji suggested. "With her quirk, she can limit their mobility and once they're immobilized, you can create something something for us to restrain them, Yaoyorozu."
"That's a great idea!" Momo said, about to proceed with the plan until Katsuki suddenly noticed something coming towards them.
"Get the hell down!" The blonde shouted, all of them quickly ducked which made them barely avoid a charge from Pony.
"We need to get her!" Sato shouted as he tried to punch the girl, Momo watched the situation in confusion.
'Why would they send only Pony to deal with us. They cannot be underestimating us because Itsuka does not like underhanded tactics or anything of the sort. Then maybe...' Her eyes widened as she looked out of the opening that Pony arrived through.
Meanwhile, Pony was dodging everyone's attacks for a while until she detached her horns from her head and leaped onto them before she went out of the opening.
"Don't follow her!" Momo shouted but it was too late when she saw Ochaco and Katsuki chasing the woman which made her a bit worried as she hit her nail. Seeing Sato and Shoji still with her, the woman was about to provide them with weapons before she noticed some vines coming out of the ground.
"Watch out!" Momo said but she was too late when the vines covered the building.
Meanwhile, Ochaco and Katsuki were chasing Pony, the blonde unleashing explosions to hit her but she avoided him as they travelled through the street. During the chase, Ochaco used her quirk to leap across buildings, using a barrel to position herself towards Pony.
"Lock-On." She said before she lunged herself towards the horse girl, about to tackle her until a vine grabbed in the air and flung her into an alleyway.
"Ochaco!" Mina said as she watched feed from the stands, seeing the brunette crashing into an alleyway, barely able to stop her fall with a roll. Izuku and Hitoshi, on the other hand, noticed that there was someone else nearby Ochaco who she has not noticed yet.
Seeing a shadow behind her, Ochaco barely avoided a punch before she threw away her attacker, realizing that it was Sen from Class 1B.
"Heh! Wasn't expecting you to be quick enough to avoid my punch?" Sen said as he cracked his neck and adjusted his spiral wristbands on his arms. "I don't want to hurt a pretty face like yours so I will make sure to end this quickly."
"..." Ochaco stayed quiet as she cracked her knuckles, much to her opponent's surprise. "A quiet one, huh? Alright."
"How do you think Uraraka is going to fare?" Izuku asked Hitoshi who folded his arms. "Unsure. We haven't gotten a lot of fight simulations since our training with our seniors. Also, since we were trained under Ms. Yukimura, she could have a different training method than me."
On the field, Sen dashed towards Ochaco who took on a judo battle stance that surprised everyone. Sen's hands began to vibrate before he went for a punch that Ochaco ducked underneath, retaliating with a quick jab that Sen barely dodged.
'Woah! She got some moves.' Sen said as he dodged a few more strikes until he grabbed one of her arms which shocked Ochaco.
"You're not going anywhere. Time to-" Sen was cut off when a punch connected to his face that sent him flying out of the alleyway and into a wall, much to everyone shock.
"Ouch!" Izuku was one of the shocked students while Hitoshi let out a whistle. "Or she could do that? I'm pretty sure she knocked him into next week."
"I guess he got knocked out in both ways." Kyoka said, Denki nodded in agreement before he squinted his eyes. "Is that his tooth on the floor?"
Ochaco went to Sen's unconscious body and picked up his drive before she restrained him and bowed in front of him and clasped her hands. "I'm sorry."
Shouta watched the girl dashing across the field, the man going on his phone with an indifferent expression.
"She's good. To knock out one of the heavy hitters of my class like that." Sekijiro commented as the raven-haired teacher looked back on the monitor. "It's a result of her hard work. She has earned her victory."
As Ochaco was looking for opponents, she noticed a vine coming towards her which she dodged before a hand came towards her, trying to grab her disk. Using her float to help her to leap onto the roof of her building, the girl took cover in one of the buildings as she tried to think of a counterattack. "This isn't good. I'm getting outnumbered. Momo, you there?"
At the other side of the battlefield within a vine infested building, there was silence inside the infrastructure as everyone watched Katsuki chasing Pony.
"Oh no, Momo." Toru said as she looked at the feed showing the building she is in before Kyoka heard something.
"Do you guys hear something loud within the building?" She said, getting the attention of her friends before they looked at the building. Banging sounds could be heard within the building, the sounds getting louder until a huge cannon ball ripped through the vines and was fired out of one of the windows.
Out of the building came out Momo who had Sato and Shoji connected to her through ropes coming from her arms.
"Darn it! She caught us off guard." Momo said before she used the vines to slide down from the building. "Shoji and Sato are out because she took their disks using the vines. I was lucky to have mine in a metal safe on my belt."
A huge hand came towards her which she dodged, Momo pulling out a riot shield to block the strike as she saw Itsuka walking towards her.
"I was waiting for this for a while." The orange-haired young woman smirked as she adjusted her armored gloves, Momo staying calm as she created a sword from her palm. 'Keep calm and watch her movements.'
"Prepare yourself, Momo!"
"Engarde!"
The two class representatives clashed with each other; sword meets fist as the two battled for a while. Itsuka tried to punch Momo but her opponent avoided the strikes until she tackled her back, trying to look for the disks around Itsuka's body before she spoke to Ochaco. "Uraraka, it looks like either Tokage, Pony or Shiozaki has the plastic disks. I'll hold back Itsuka and see if I can help."
"Wow!" The students of class 1B commented, Izuku making notes as he watched the fight.
"I know Yaomomo was skilled but this is just terrifying." Mina thought aloud when she saw the caliber of martial arts skill that Momo and Itsuka are showing.
Everyone watched as the two women traded blows with each other, both combatants showing extreme skill as Itsuka switches between palm strikes and jabs which Momo was able to skillfully dodge or parry. Itsuka went on an aggressive assault as she unleashed a flurry of punches against Momo was playing defense with her sword.
"Don't hold back on me, Momo!" Itsuka said as she enlarged her fist and went for a punch that Momo blocked with her riot shield before she went for a slash which Itsuka evaded.
'I need to waste the time on the clock. I can't afford to let Momo run amok because she will find out Ibara and Setsuna easily.' Itsuka thought as she blocked a slash with her armored gloves. 'Uraraka may provide some problems due to her quirk but she shouldn't be a problem for Ibara. Hope Setsuna and Ibara are able to deal with the other problem.'
Meanwhile, Katsuki was still on Pony's tail, the girl able to nimbly and quickly dodge his explosions, much to the spiky-haired teen's annoyance.
"Fine, you want to run away!" Katsuki growled angrily, the palms of his gloves getting brighter which made him smile. "I'll kick up the gear."
Before anyone could speculate what he meant, he unleashed a powerful explosion that made him able to catch up to Pony, about to fire a blast at her but she used one of her horns to push away his arm and redirect the blast. Not missing a beat, she spun around and went for a kick that Katsuki dodged, her foot hitting a building, everyone on the stands surprised when she created a crater.
"Just the force of her kick alone created that huge of a crater! Amazing!" Inasa shouted as he looked at Izuku and Monoma, the latter surprised by his enthusiastic behavior. "I mean, yeah. It is a byproduct of her quirk."
Izuku watched as Katsuki tried to fire a blast at her but she dodged until she jumped over him. The explosive blonde unleashed a powerful explosion that knocked back the horse girl into a wall but she dodged a kick from him.
'He's still as strong as ever. In fact...' Izuku thought as he watched the fight between the two before he noticed Katsuki's gloves. 'Those gloves look like they boost the power of his explosions.'
He then unleashed an explosion that knocked away Pony into a wall, causing the girl to be disorientated as he walked to her with sparks coming from his palms.
'I win.' Katsuki said before he looked at the monitor, seeing that the other team has more disks than his, much to his anger. "What the hell are they doing? They had one job?!"
The blonde then took the plastic disk around her neck before he dashed off to the next person. Meanwhile, Ochaco was dodging both the parts of Setsuna and Ibara's vines as she tried to find their locations.
"Couldn't this be easier?" The brunette started panting as she had to dodge another barrage of vines. One of the vines grabbed her by the leg and was about to take her disks before Katsuki burned them up, removing Ochaco from their grasp as they both landed on a rooftop.
Seeing what happened, Ochaco looked at the blonde with a smile before she opened her mouth. "Thank y-"
"Shut it, Round Face! If I weren't here, you would've cost us the damn match!" Katsuki made an outburst before he dashed towards his foes, getting an annoyed glare from the brunette. 'Screw. Him.'
Meanwhile, Momo and Itsuka were still having their match, the former trying to find a way to subdue her opponent and help her teammates. Momo tried to throw down a few ball that exploded into clouds of smoke but that did nothing as Itsuka enlarged her hands and made a clap.
"Thunderclap!" She shouted aloud, her clap blowing away the smoke and exposing Momo's location, much to the raven-haired woman's dismay. 'Itsuka is strong and it seems that she knows of my motive to help my teammates. She's not giving me a single moment to rest or think. What can I even do in this situation?'
She looked around the place until she knocked back Itsuka and went into an alleyway, Itsuka following her. Multiple dolls fell from her body as she ran away from the girl, Itsuka, on the other hand, picked up barrels and throwing at her which she slashed up.
"Are you gonna keep running, Momo?" Itsuka yelled until she felt her feet stuck to the ground, looking down to see a weird grey substance that is glued to her shoes. "What the?"
"It's glue. A little trick I learnt." Momo smiled before she pulled a string, causing the dolls to open before they exploded in smoke. Coughing through the smoke, Itsuka used her Thunderclap technique to blow away the smoke but she saw no one in the alleyway, much to her confusion. She then looked into her pocket to see that her plastic disk is missing which made her eyes widen.
"Where did she? Oh no!" She then pressed on the communicator on her ear. "Set, Ibara! Momo's coming your way! Be careful!"
"Really?! We already have one headache on us!" Setsuna said as she dodged an explosion from Ochaco before grabbing her by the collar and throwing her onto the ground but the gravity user was able to land safely before lunging at her.
As she continued her battle with Ochaco, Setsuna heard an explosion which brought her attention to her teammate, Ibara, who was fighting against Katsuki. Ibara had to use her quirk defensively against Katsuki who was having a hard time piercing through her defense. Everyone watched the chaos as Momo ran towards the confrontation, creating an arrow and bow before she fired them towards Setsuna and Ibara who dodged, making them open to be attacked by Katsuki and Ochaco.
"Get the disks!" Momo yelled as both her teammates rushed at their opponents.
"Die!" Katsuki yelled.
"C'mon!" Ochaco hovered towards Setsuna.
Suddenly, a bell rung, signaling the end of the first match of the exercise.
"Time is up! Class 1A wins!" Sekijiro announced, the results getting mixed reactions from the students.
After the match was declared, Kstsuki scoffed as he left the battlefield along with Ochaco and Momo, the rest of the people on the map being escorted by the medical bots. Watching the results, Izuku was scribbling in his notebook before Monoma nudged his shoulder and whispered to him. "Hey, Midoriya. How do you see our odds against the rest of the class?"
"I'm honestly not sure. If we play our cards right, we can snag a win. I mean...there's three more matches left. Why did you ask?"
"I mean, we're losing, man. Class 1A has so many powerhouses!" Monoma said as he glared at the battlefield.
"I mean it's one loss but yeah. We are not looking good her-Wait! This isn't a competition!" Izuku turned to the blonde with a puzzled, getting a groan from him. "Yeah. But I hate that we're getting overshadowed by them."
"Think about it like this, this is our first class, right?" Izuku asked to which Monoma nodded.
"So that means we're having more of these classes in the future. Which means that we can get our revenge in the next class. We just started. Plus..." The verdette's expression changed to a devilish smirk. "...it will be more fulfilling to knock them down."
All of Class 1B were taken aback by their usual kind classmate taking on a sinister face meanwhile Monoma looked at Izuku before he grinned and wrapped his arm around Midoriya.
"I have found an ally!"
"Don't corrupt him!" Setsuna quickly smacked Monoma on the head as the class dragged Izuku from him.
They all watched as the next two groups of Kuroiro, Yui, Kamakiri, Kosei and Shoda faced against Shoto, Mina, Tokoyami, Sero and Denki. Seeing this, Denki was excited as he looked at his hands with a smile on his face. "Nice. I can show the results of my training."
The two teams went on the battlefield, each person ready to show their abilities. As soon as the next match was announced to start, Shoto immediately unleashed a huge wave of ice that covered one side of the battlefield, much to everyone's shock. Seeing this, Shouta let out a sigh as Vlad had to announce another victory for class 1A as the recovery bots had to take all the people within the class 1B team.
"W-wow..." Izuku muttered when he saw the scale of the attack and the power of Shoto before he made notes and leaned towards Hitoshi. "I'm guessing that's Todoroki."
"Yep! The second-best student of our class." Hitoshi said with his arms crossed. "Shoto Todoroki."
Izuku looked back at the monitor, seeing the red and white-haired teenager before he heard the next match, seeing himself paired with Tetsutetsu, Monoma, Yosetsu and Kinoko. He then looked at his opponents, seeing that they are Ojiro, Kirishima, Aoyama, Tsuyu and...
"That's not good." Hitoshi said, surprising Izuku who was a bit worried. "What's wrong?"
"You're going against Inasa." Denki said, him and Ochaco giving him uneasy looks before the latter spoke. "He's also another powerhouse of our class. He basicall-"
"C'mon! Time's wasting!" Sekijiro shouted which made Izuku panic as he ran towards the battlefield. Seeing the screen again, his eyes focused on Izuku as he watched Inasa coming to the field. 'Good luck, man.'
As both groups made their way to the battlefield, Izuku adjusted his gauntlets and stretched his body as he analyzed his opponents.
"So what's the plan?" Yosetsu asked as he went on the lookout for their opponents. "I don't know about you but our opponents sound like they mean business."
"You're not wrong." Monoma said as he looked at their opponents from the monitor. "They have some good quirks so maybe I can get to copy some."
Kinoko was a bit uneasy at her opponents before she noticed Izuku mumbling to himself as he looked outside the window while adjusting his gloves. Izuku then looked outside for a while before he looked at them and their gear.
"Maybe we can ambush them." Tetsutetsu said as he slammed his fists together. "A full-frontal assault could work."
"That's not an ambush. Also, an ambush can work but we have to think about if we can restrain them and take their stuff." Monoma said with his arms crossed. "An ambush could only work if we have an idea of their quirks. You got any notes on them, Midoriya?"
"Yeah!" Izuku said as he looked at each one of the opponents. "Tsuyu's quirk is Frog, it's basically self-explanatory. Same with Ojiro and Aoyama since one has a tail and the other's quirk makes him shoot a laser blast from his belly button so either taking off that belt or a punch in the stomach should stop him. Kirishima's quirk works the same as yours but it hardens his body instead of turning it into steel. I haven't seen Inasa's but from what I've heard from Toshi and Denki, he can unleash tornadoes and make himself fly so it must be some form of air manipulation."
Everyone was surprised by Izuku's detailed explanation, all of them brainstorming for a plan until the green-haired young man had a determined expression on his face.
"I have a plan. Let me know of anything we can add."
Meanwhile, at the stands, Shouta made his announcement for the exercise to start, the team of class 1A students immediately went on the move as they searched the place for their opponents.
"You find anything, Inasa?" Eijirou asked, powerful gust of wind flowing through the street as Inasa hovered above the buildings. Looking down at the city, the wind user could not find anything as he answered. "Nothing at all!"
"Weird. Are they playing defense?" Eijirou speculated as he went through a street.
"It's possible that they might be trying to ambush us." Tsuyu said as she crawled up a building and perched at the corner. Searching the city, Inasa noticed Yesetsu and Monoma running towards his group before he quickly spoke to them. "Two are coming to you guys right now!"
Eijirou and Ojiro quickly dashed to intercept their enemies, Tsuyu about to follow them before a wall of mushrooms was created between her and them, separating them, much to the frog girl's surprise. "Uh oh."
"It was their plan." Aoyama said as he prepared to fire a laser but his belt was covered in mushrooms, much to his surprise. "Mon! What is this?!"
Watching the exercise, Itsuka and the other girls were surprised as they cheered for Kinoko. "Kino's popping off!"
Seeing mushrooms sprouting around the area, Tsuyu immediately dashed to a high point, watching as Aoyama was covered by mushrooms. Inasa descended towards his teammates, trying to save Aoyama but a huge mushroom sprouted from the ground and smacked him in the face that sent him back, both him and Tsuyu facing Kinoko who had a spray gun in her hand as she remembered the plan.
"Alright here's the plan. We are going to rush towards them and separate them. Their quirks surprisingly work well together and we can't allow them to have the luxury of exploiting that. Awase and Monoma, you guys will aggro them but once you do, stay out of sight." Izuku stated as he made drawing on the floor using his staff. "Once you do, we'll be able to take out each member one by one."
"Got it." Everyone said as Izuku explained who will be fighting who. "Tetsutetsu, you will be fighting Kirishima. You are the only one that will be able to hold him off for a long period of time while we carry out our plan."
"Nice! I get to go all out!" The metal-quirk user grinned gleefully.
While everyone continued to discuss the plan, Kinoko looked to the ground as she felt a bit left out, looking at the plan. The brown-haired girl gripped her shirt tightly as she felt like she was abandoned as she wondered if they thought her as useless due to her quirk not being combat based. 'I guess-'
"Ms. Komori?" She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Izuku's voice, seeing everyone looking at her. "Did you hear what I said?"
"W-what is it?" She asked in a quiet tone.
"Oh! Alright, you're going to be an important piece of this plan." Izuku said before he used his staff and tapped a certain area on the ground.
"Ms. Komori. There is a part in this plan that only you can do."
Kinoko opened her eyes as she pointed a spray gun at Inasa and Tsuyu, a creepy smile appearing on her face. "Your opponent is me."
Everyone was unnerved by the mushroom woman's except for Inasa who smiled when he saw the determined glint within her eyes.
"That look in your eyes. That's a lot of passion!" Inasa said as he unleashed a blast of wind. Kinoko outstretched her hands, creating a mushroom shield that withstood the gust. Tsuyu tried to attack her but she sprayed the mushrooms behind her which grew in size, stopping the woman in her tracks. She then changed her targets, leaping towards her teammates behind the mushroom wall but she was stopped when the mushrooms grew larger.
Falling to the ground, Tsuyu shot her tongue onto a satellite before she latched onto a wall. Walking towards Aoyama, Kinoko took out the plastic disk from Aoyama before she faced the two class 1A members with a determined expression on her face.
"I can't let you pass." Kinoko said quietly, her tone causing some of the onlookers to be a little creeped out. The two of them braced themselves as they saw Kinoko who hopped onto a mushroom in front of them.
"You will have to go through me."
"What's the big idea?!" Eijirou said as he saw the wall of mushrooms, about to punch it until he received a punch that sent him back.
Getting up, he saw Tetsutetsu approaching him, his arms coated in steel.
"Don't think you're getting through this easily." The metal user said with a scowl as his entire body turned into metal. "This is class 1B's counterattack."
Tetsutetsu then took a boxer's stance as Eijirou did the same, the two making eye contact and doing a nod before they rushed towards each other. Tetsutetsu went for a few quick jabs that Eijirou dodged before he went for a powerful punch onto his opponent's stomach.
Despite the strength of the attack, Tetsutetsu stood his ground and landed a strong blow onto Eijirou's face that pushed him back. The two traded blows with each other until the Hardening-quirk user was pushed back by a barrage of punches, the pain from them coursing through his body.
'Don't forget your training with Yukimura-senpai.' Eijirou said as he went for a few more blows that did nothing to his metallic opponent.
'Remember this feeling.' Eijirou remembered his senior's words as his body started to harden a bit more as he took a heavy blow to his chest, the redhead able to withstand the strike. Not missing a beat, he quickly countered with his own punch, his fist becoming more hardened as he landed a powerful strike that managed to push back Tetsutetsu, the two leering at each other.
"Now this is a fight! Nothing like those sparring matches." Tetsutetsu grinned as he wiped his mouth. "Glad that we're able to have this fight, Kirishima! You've even stronger since we last sparred."
"Yeah..." Eijirou smiled as his body began to harden a bit more. "I've been training a lot. Gotten my hardening to the next level. This will even the playing the field with you."
"Great!" Tetsutetsu said, both him and Eijirou rushing towards each other with their fists raised. "Our battle will be legendary!"
A loud collision echoed through the street as their battle resumed.
"What is this?" Ojiro said as he looked at the mushroom wall, touching it before he turned around. "No need to worry about that. I need to get to Awase-"
He paused when he saw Izuku walking towards him with his bat on his shoulder. 'If I remember, he is Shinso's friend, Midoriya. If he is my opponent, this will not be an easy wall to climb.'
'Ojiro's quirk is Tail.' Izuku thought as he readied himself. 'From what I've seen, his tail is super strong and almost strong enough to break and crush metal. He can use it as a third arm and even as a booster to his speed.'
Ojiro braced itself and dashed forward, his tail slamming the floor to increase his speed.
'Keep calm.' Izuku thought as he took a battle stance.
Ojiro was about to strike Izuku with his tail but the verdette nimbly dodged, surprising the blonde martial artist.
"He's fast and flexible!" Ojiro commented as he noticed that his opponent is gone. "Where did he go?"
"He's in the air!" One of the students pointed into the air, everyone looked into the air to see Izuku in the air which surprised them.
"What a jump!" Toru exclaimed.
"Did Midoriya have hops like that?" Sero asked in disbelief.
Katsuki was in pure shock, his eyes wide as dinner plates as he saw the verdette in the air. The blonde thought as he watched Izuku land on the ground, breaking his fall with a gust of air. 'How in the hell?'
Dodging a tail strike, Izuku threw a punch that was blocked by Ojiro who then threw Izuku away towards an alleyway, the verdette able to stop himself by taking out his staff and stabbing it into the ground. Before he could do a counterattack, he suddenly felt a powerful blow to his stomach, seeing Ojiro in front of him.
'I wasn't able to...react in time...' Izuku thought as he grabbed his opponent's fist only to receive a strike to his face that sent him skidding across the road. Barely able to recover himself with a flip, Izuku got up only to receive several quick jabs to the stomach by Ojiro before the assault was ended with a kick that sent the verdette back.
"Damn! Midoriya is getting the shit beaten out of him!" Kamakiri said, watching Izuku barely blocking a tail slam with his bat.
Ojiro was about to go for another strike until he noticed the bat right in front of his face which surprised the tailed martial artist. Barely dodging the swing, he quickly rushed towards Izuku who outstretched his hands.
'He's about to shoot a blast.' Ojiro said taking a defensive stance. Smirking, Izuku balled his fists and punched Ojiro in the face as he got close, much to his opponent's shock. 'What the?'
"A feint. Smart. Glad to see the kid hasn't lost his ingenuity." Shouta said before he turned his gaze to Kan. "Especially with your training."
"Ah, shut it! He's doing great and that's all that matters!" The white-haired man said before he cheered for Izuku, getting a sigh from his fellow colleague.
Continuing on his assault, Izuku swung his bat at Ojiro who blocked the strike with his tail before he retaliated by landing several strikes into Izuku's stomach before he ended it with a kick that sent Izuku back.
"You are quite strong, Midoriya. But-" Ojiro said as he lunged at Izuku who was using his bat to lift his body from the floor. Seeing his opponent running towards him, Izuku prepared himself as he tried to land a hit on Ojiro but his attacks were blocked until he received a kick to the stomach that made him fall to the ground. "-you won't be able to beat me."
Izuku quickly hopped back to his feet, panting heavily as he made a battle stance. Taking a deep breath, he lowered his bat as his eyes are completely focused on Ojiro.
"I forgot." Itsuka bit her fingernail as she watched the battle, everyone turning to her. "Forgot what?"
"Ojiro. The dude's very versed in martial arts." Hiryu said with his arms crossed. "He's a black belt."
"You do remember Midoriya was able to beat Rin despite being Rin being more skilled in combat than him?" Kamakiri stated matter-of-factly which Itsuka nodded. "Yes. I know that Midoriya is very tough but...Ojiro's on another level."
"Indeed." Momo nodded in agreement before she folded her arms. "Midoriya is extremely fit but he lacks the combat skill needed to deal with someone like Ojiro."
Ochaco understood what she meant as she looked at her hands. 'A gap in martial arts...is a very huge gap.'
Meanwhile, Izuku blocked Ojiro strikes with his bat before he was pushed by a tail strike that made him lose his balance. As he tried to get up, Izuku looked up to see Ojiro descending towards him with a kick that he dodged by rolling away. Thinking quickly and seeing Ojiro rushing at him, Izuku started dragging his feet on the ground before firing a wave of dust that made Ojiro have to shield his eyes.
"That move again." Hiryu said until his eyes widened in shock when he saw him running into the smoke. "That could work."
Within the smokescreen, Izuku took out a few rocks out of his pocket and batted them, hearing one of them make contact.
'There!' He thought as he rushed towards Ojiro, landing a powerful blow with his bat onto his opponent's chest that sent him into a wall.
Not missing a beat, Izuku aggressively swung his bat against Ojiro who had to evade his opponent's strikes. Dodging his opponent's attacks, the tailed martial artist was starting to get overwhelmed by the verdette's tenacity as he retreated.
'His swings. They're devastating however in the end, they are reckless. So I can be able to counter him.' Ojiro thought, going for a quick jab which Izuku easily blocked before countering with a kick, much to his surprise. 'What the?'
Shouta smiled as he watched the fight. "He purposely swung wildly to catch his opponent off guard...smart. Simple but smart."
This did not go unnoticed by Sekijiro who grinned and nudged the raven-haired man. "Is Eraser giving a student a compliment? I see you have a soft spot for the kid."
"None of the sort. I'm just making an astute observation." The man said while hiding his face before he leaned on the wall.
Meanwhile, the battle still continued between Izuku and Ojiro as they both traded blows with each other until Izuku got his bat knocked out of his hands, the teen tried to get the bat but he was interrupted by a punch that knocked him back.
"Midoriya, just give me the disk." Ojiro approached Izuku who was still on the floor.
"Don't...count me out...yet!" Izuku said as he lunged at Ojiro, his speed surprising everyone as he tackled his opponent into a light post.
"So that's how he did it..." Hiryu said when he noticed Izuku's hands behind his back. "He used his blasts to propel himself at a fast speed."
"Those moves..." Ochaco said as she watched Izuku letting out another blast to dodge a strike from Ojiro. "...they kinda look like..."
'My moves!' Katsuki thought as he watched the battle in disbelief, seeing Izuku slamming his foot on the ground to slow himself down. 'How? He can shoot blasts with those damn things?! I thought they increase his throwing strength!'
"Damn. Isn't that Midoriya guy's movements similar to yours?" Sato asked Katsuki who was shaking in anger.
"Can't say. I think Midoriya has a bit more finesse." Sero said as he watched Izuku shot two air bullets that hit Ojiro, unaware of Katsuki's reaction to his statement. After a while, Izuku was pushed back by Ojiro as Izuku lost his balance.
"I got you!"
"Don't count me out yet!"
Aiming his hands in the air and shooting a blast that flipped his body, making his feet collide into Ojiro's chin which sent the tailed martial artist into the air. Hearing a sound through his communicator, Izuku aimed at his blonde opponent in midair, turning the coil on his gauntlet. Izuku unleashed a powerful blast of air that was stronger than the last which sent Ojiro flying into the air, the blonde flying above the mushroom wall.
"What is he doing?" Hitoshi watched before he looked at the other monitors, seeing Eijirou still fighting Tetsutetsu and Kinoko facing off against Inasa and Tsuyu. His eyes then widened when he noticed something. 'Uh oh!'
Meanwhile, Izuku leaped into the air and landed an uppercut onto Ojiro before he positioned himself above him. The verdette's eyes and body began to glow intensely as his hair moved wildly.
'Jackpot!' Izuku thought as his arms glowed intensely, his veins turning green before he took a deep breath. 'Now!'
"Emerald Rocket!" Izuku unleashed a powerful shockwave that rocketed him towards Ojiro like a bullet, Katsuki being surprised by the power of the blast.
Ojiro could not get the time to brace himself as Izuku crashed into him, the tailed martial artist received a headbutt before they both started descending like a meteor, everyone watched as both combatants are still in the air.
"That Midoriya dude is nuts!" Sero commented as he watched the struggle as Izuku grabbed Ojiro's face while they are both descending at a fast pace.
'I'm almost out of ammo but I just need him to stay like this. He'll try to use his tail to reposition himself.' Izuku grabbed onto Ojiro's tail as he positioned for the blonde to be underneath him.
"You're not going anywhere!" Izuku said as the two started to descend. "You won't get to reposition yourself this time!"
Before they could hit the ground, Ojiro spun his body and grabbed Izuku's arm, pulling the verdette towards the ground but Izuku did not deter as he grabbed him and dragged him. The struggle caused the two to spin around as they fell to the ground until they collided into the floor.
Everyone watched as the smoke cleared, their eyes widened when they saw Izuku face first on the ground with Ojiro over him, the latter panting heavily as he barely stood on his feet. Seeing the result, Katsuki was about to grin before he noticed something.
"Wow! Despite all of that, he lost against Ojiro." Sero said, rubbing his hair.
"It's to be expected." Hiryu stated. "Ojiro was more skilled than him, both in combat and quirk."
"If you think that the result of the fight has been decided right now, then you all have not been paying attention and looking at the bigger picture." Shouta said, surprising the students as they turned to him before he spoke again. "You all have been looking at one thing, the fight and not the actual goal of this exercise."
"Sorry, Midoriya but it's your loss." Ojiro said, panting heavily as he held his shoulder. Turning to Kinoko who was holding her own against Inasa and Tsuyu, he stretched his body and readied himself to attack the girl until he noticed something. "The disk! It's gone. Where did it-"
"Monoma!" He heard Izuku's voice, turning to see the verdette firing a blast that sent his gauntlet into the air.
"When everyone is taken out, that's where you shine, Monoma." Izuku explained, looking at Monoma who was confused by his statement. "Hmm? What do you mean? I thought Komori would be fighting Inasa."
"Ms. Komori is the only one out of us to hold her own against Inasa however her quirk has a limit." Izuku put his fingers on his chin. "She can only use it defensively especially since if Inasa and Tsuyu were to fight here, they would do so from a distance. We need to plan in case they do that."
"Ok, I can face him but none of our quirks can really face him." Monoma said, everyone agreeing with him before Izuku smiled. "None of our quirks individually but with the right combination, we can."
Monoma was surprised by this before he had a sinister grin on his face. "You understand me well, Midoriya. Let's show class 1A our strength."
Hopping from mushroom to mushroom, Monoma caught the gauntlet as he flew towards Inasa. "Time to show you 1A guys that we are better!"
"I won't let you!" Tsuyu said but Yosetsu came out of the ground, hopped off a mushroom and intercepted her, welding their arms together as he took her plastic disk, much to her surprise. "What the?"
"Sorry, Asui but we have to get at least one win." Yosetsu said, welding himself onto a wall to latch himself to a wall.
"Fighting with me in the air? You're going to lose!" Inasa said as he started to generate a blast of air from his hands towards Monoma, blasting the blonde away. He was about to blast another tornado until he noticed several rocks coming towards that he dodged, seeing Izuku whose body was covered in wounds and emitting smoke.
"Fighting with passion, huh?" The wind-quirked user said as he directed the tornado against him. "I think it's good to fight with all your heart. Plus Ultr-"
Suddenly, something hit him in his face, the young man turning to see Monoma who was grinning as he flew towards him. "Even tornadoes fall!"
'What was that? It felt like an invisible bullet.' Inasa thought, quickly unleashing a gust of wind but it failed when Monoma created a mushroom to withstand the blast before he jumped off a mushroom that Kinoko created for him. The wind user tried to retaliate he was too late as Monoma tapped his hair, the blonde smiling wickedly as he used his quirk to fly above him.
'What perfect team synergy!' Momo thought, shocked by the team's display of cooperation.
Everyone in class 1B cheered as a tornado of wind went around the gauntlet as he aimed it at Inasa.
"Fall." Monoma said as he unleashed a powerful blast of wind from the gauntlet, sending Inasa crashing into the ground.
Being pushed into the ground by the gust of wind, Inasa tried to get up but Yosetsu quickly welded him to the ground before he took the plastic disk from his pocket. Meanwhile, Tetsutetsu was barely able to win his battle against Eijirou, knocking out his opponent before he picked up his plastic disk. Seeing his students winning, Sekijiro had a smile on his face as he announced the results.
"The exercise is over! Class 1B wins!"
Izuku's team left the battlefield, Tetsutetsu roaring as they got their first win as he and Yosetsu held up Izuku over their shoulders while Monoma held his arm that was smoking.
"Midoriya, how could you survive using your quirk?" Monoma asked as he massaged his aching arm.
They led Izuku to the medical bots who helped tending to his wounds. While the students were congratulating Monoma's group for their win, the verdette was unaware of a pair of crimson eyes leering at him. Katsuki glared at the green-haired teenager who had to get bandages wrapped around his face.
"Tch!" He scoffed with his arms crossed before he walked away. Covered in bandages, Izuku and Eijirou walked back to their groups before Izuku picked up his notebook with a smile.
Shouta sighed before he put the microphone to his mouth. "Alright, let's go for the last battl-"
Suddenly, the alarms went off, surprising everyone as they started panicking out of confusion.
"Woah! What's happening?"
"Is this a surprise exercise? That's super cool!" Eijirou said as he and Tetsutetsu were getting excited.
"Stop!" Shouta and Sekijiro shouted quickly as they turned to their students. They both then dashed at the entrance before they noticed villains wreaking havoc, much to the teachers' dismay.
"Everyone! Stay here and don't leave until we say so!" Sekijiro said to the troubled students. "Do not move!"
"Vlad, we need to clear the path." Shouta said as he put on his goggles while Sekijiro adjusted his gloves with a serious expressions. "Got it!"
Throughout the school, everyone is hearing the alarms, all of them starting to panic as the teachers and guards calm them down and lead them to protection centers.
Amidst the panic, there were the Support course students in the workshop, all of the students were terrified except Mei who had an indifferent face while she was tinkering with her devices.
"Mei! Aren't you scared?" A girl with dark-blue hair asked her.
"Not really!" Mei answered with no hesitation.
"Why?!"
Mei thought about her answer before she shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. I guess I'm not worried because I know that the heroes will save us. And they have our gear to do it!"
The girl beside Mei was surprised by the optimism of her pink-haired classmate. Despite her happy and optimistic behavior, Mei cannot shake off a weird feeling in her stomach for her friends, especially Izuku and Hitoshi.
'Those two should be ok. But just in case, I'll put in a tab to improve their gears. Oh! Pikachu said he wanted a pair of gloves! Or was it a Light Ball? I have it in my book so it's fine.'
Meanwhile, Eraser Head was making his way to the entrance before he heard an explosion which shook the area.
Suddenly, someone landed in front of him, out of the crater emerged a huge man who had the features of an owl.
"Greeting, hero. Do not hold it against us for this attack." The owl man said before several other villains hopped off his back and looked around the place.
"Where are the students?"
"Dunno but we gotta find our targets."
What they said got Eraser's attentions as he wondered what they were talking about. 'Targets?'
"Oh well. We have to take you heroes out before we can go for this." They all agreed as they face off against Shouta.
Nemuri was dashing through the campus, taking out any villain she could find as she lead the students to their protection centers.
'What is happening?' She wondered until she came across Ground Beta, seeing the hero classes of 1A and 1B in there.
"Ms. Kayama!" Some of the students noticed her as she ran towards them.
Before she could get close, an explosion occurred in front of her, knocking her back on the ground. Getting up, she saw that the entrance of Ground Beta was destroyed, now covered in rubble and debris.
"Shit!" Nemuri cursed before she quickly avoided a few shuriken, seeing a group of villains coming towards her. "They're not making it easy."
Taking out her whip and throwing off her heels, Nemuri concealed her body in smoke as she retreated towards the destroyed entrance of Ground Beta. "Class Presidents and Vice Presidents for Class 1A and 1B! You are both in charge! Make sure to ensure that your classes are safe!"
Momo, Tenya, Itsuka and Setsuna heard the woman's words before they nodded at each other and saluted the woman. "Yes, ma'am!"
"Good." Nemuri smiled before she noticed several villains approaching her, some of them being knocked out by her gas which cause the others to be wary.
"The leak was right. That bitch Midnight works here! Let's find her and kick her ass!" One of the villainesses said before a whip went around her neck, choking her.
"Language! We're in a school! I can't allow you all to continue like this." Midnight said as she knocked the woman before she turned to the rest of them.
"Class is in session."
Finally, the villains attacked. The young adults will experience their first villain attack. I don't have much to say about this chapter apart from being happy to write some of the class 1B members in action. Well, I hope you guys love the story so far and let me know your thoughts. Also, I hope that you guys enjoy the holiday. Stay safe, guys.
Enigma out!