After having lunch at his house, Ochako decided that she really didn't have anything better to do, and just hung out at his house. She'd asked if she could see his room, which…well, he wasn't really embarrassed to show off his All Might collection, but he was certainly apprehensive. Thankfully, she took it very well, and engaged him in conversation about Thirteen, once she saw his Thirteen-branded space poster.
Who knew that would come in handy?
Anyway, after that conversation petered out, they began talking about other subjects. He'd found out that she lived in Mie all her life, and only came to Musutafu to apply to U.A. Her parents also ran a construction company, and…he learned that they weren't the most financially well-off. He didn't really know how to react to that, and said he'd do whatever he could to help her out. She'd also asked about his life, too.
And that was how they got to talking about their Quirks. He'd asked her about her Quirk, and suffice to say, he felt like the explanation she gave was…incomplete.
She'd said, "My Quirk removes the gravity of whatever I touch, and I can make it float! I tap it with all five fingers to make it float, and to release it, I bring both my hands together."
"Okay, but I remember that you were making those robots float more than 6 meters high during the entrance exam, while I was just hovering above the ground. Is that a conscious thing, or…?"
"I mean…I can control when something floats up, or just stays in place, but I always thought that was how my Quirk works."
Izuku hummed in thought. "Ochako, do you think you could increase the gravity on something, too? I just want to see if there's more to your Quirk than anybody thought."
"Well..I can certainly try? Do you have anything you might be willing to lose?"
Izuku grinned. He'd bought a few cheap figurines for Quirk testing a long time ago, and there were some woods relatively close by. They could do some testing over there. He absolutely had to bring his notebook, too.
They'd walked to the Tython Woods. Hardly anybody came out here, and it was a designated municipal Quirk training ground, so they wouldn't get in trouble with the law for using their Quirks out here.
Izuku held out a figurine to Ochako, and said, "Can you try increasing its gravity? If you can't, that's fine, I just have some theories about your Quirk and want to test them out."
Ochako took the figurine, and concentrated on using her Quirk on it. She dropped it, and it crashed into the ground, shattering the figurine into pieces.
Izuku grinned. "That was the first test, and it was a success! So, you can alter the strength of gravity, not just remove it or counteract it. Do you mind if I ask you some more questions?"
Ochako shook her head.
"Alright, so could you feel any noticeable discomfort when you did that?"
Ochako thought for a little bit. She eventually said, "I mean, a little bit? It was about the same as if I had removed the gravity of the figurine."
"Alright, now I'd like to do another test. This time, could you increase the gravity of one figurine and decrease the gravity of the other?"
Ochako took one figurine in her left hand, and it dropped to the ground, a bit more softly this time. It didn't break on impact. She took another one in her right, and it floated to about 4 meters high.
"How are you feeling?"
"Honestly, not bad. I think the strain lessened, but it's still there!"
"Alright, and now for the last test that I had planned. Can you try and see if you can change the direction that gravity pulls this figurine? Like not straight up or straight down, but sideways?"
Ochako tried doing that, but it seemed that she simply couldn't do it.
"That was still pretty productive, wasn't it? You discovered an entirely new side to your Quirk which probably has a lot of applications in hero work!"
"I…I don't think I could have done it without your help."
They continued practicing with Ochako's Quirk for some time after that. They'd had dinner together, and Himiko had teased them mercilessly. Izuku walked her back to her apartment, and waited for the next day.
The next day was fairly normal, with no more tests. However, according to the schedule, they'd be having their first heroics lesson today.
Izuku's tie came undone in English, so he sneakily used Renovate to make it look like the tie was tied for the rest of the day before heroics. He'd just use it again to take it off whenever he needed to.
It just had to last through Math 1 and Computer Science, and then he could take it off for Heroics Lesson #1!
He was excited for his first heroics lesson.
"I am…coming through the door like a normal person!"
"Wow, he really is our teacher!"
"That's a costume from the Silver Age, right?"
"Let's get right into it, students. You've all come here to learn to be heroes, and I will be your teacher! You'll take the most units of this class, and today, you'll be doing some combat training! You all submitted your costume requests after your acceptance letter came through, and they should be ready now! Change into them in the locker rooms near Training Ground Beta!"
He was excited to finally look at his costume. He'd sent in the design earlier, and it seemed the support companies had delivered!
He had green pants, which were reinforced with fine metallic mesh, and a vest which he could keep some samples of rare elements in. He didn't have any, but he could definitely get some. The vest was also mesh armored underneath the outer material, and it had many, many pockets. He'd kind of been inspired by the chūnin vests from Naruto, but they were useful for him! He also had a long-sleeved shirt that he put underneath the vest. He also had a breathing mask and goggles, in case he encountered dust or smoke.
All in all, he thought it was a very nice ensemble. He was planning on adding more to it as he refined his skills, but for now, it would suffice.
He hadn't looked at the others' hero suits yet, but he was excited to see them!
"Wow, Izuku! Your costume's pretty nice! I didn't really specify what I wanted, so I ended up with this skintight bodysuit…" She picked at her costume, which…well, it made her look really, really good.
He was tempted to ask her out right then and there, consequences be damned, but he refrained. There was a time and place for everything, and this was not it.
He already knew what Himiko's costume was going to be like, as they'd gone over each other's designs beforehand. Himiko had originally tried to go for a Victorian-inspired ball gown with plenty of room for knives, but Izuku had pointed out that her fighting style (they'd sparred at a local gym - he still needed to figure out a proper style) relied a lot on mobility and stealth, and the ballgown wasn't suited for either of those things, although he could admit it looked really cool. Himiko had eventually gone for something closer to a tracksuit with a long skirt, but overall kept the aesthetic of the ballgown. It was colored black and red, but Izuku thought the color scheme went well with what she had in mind. She'd also specifically requested the support department to make a suit from her own DNA, upon his suggestion. She also had plenty of hypodermic needles stored in her suit, and a utility belt for quick band-aids.
Himiko had completely vetoed the All Might bunny ears, saying it didn't go with his aesthetic or something equally blasphemous.
And…oh boy, he could already see some alterations that needed to be made. The invisible girl was already being taken care of by Himiko (what were the support companies thinking!? Were those just gloves and boots? That was an insult to heroic costumes everywhere!) And the creation girl…had these support companies ever heard of DNA-keyed costumes? He needed an opportunity to talk with her.
If he was paired up with either of those two, he would certainly combust on the spot.
"Sir! This is one of the battle centers for the exams. Are we going to be conducting urban battles again?" asked Iida.
"No! While most villain fights take place outdoors, the truly intelligent villains mostly meet indoors! Think about it: home invasions, backroom deals, and underground lairs are all hallmarks of villains. You can't just beat up robots to pass this trial."
"How will we win, then?"
"Can we beat them up anyway?"
"How will we be split up?"
"Truly eager to get going, aren't we! Listen up, all your questions will be answered!"
Finally, some quiet came over the class.
"Let's get started then! Each of you will be paired up. One pair will be a hero team, and the others will be the villain team. The villain team will have hidden a nuclear bomb somewhere inside the building, and the two ways the hero team can win are by capturing both villains, or wrapping capture tape around the bomb. The two ways the villain team can win are by running out the timer, or capturing both heroes. Aizawa wanted you to go all out, but here, I'd like you to show some restraint! Heroes try to minimize collateral damage, but as for the villains…well, somebody has to pay for the repairs to their hideout. Anyway, teams will be decided by drawing lots! Remember, pros often need to make ad hoc teams in the face of a crisis, so this emulates the real world! Now, come up and choose your team!"
Here, All Might handed out a box full of twenty balls. Izuku went and grabbed one, and found that he was being assigned to team H.
Who was his teammate going to be?
"Heeeeeeeey, Izuku. Seems like we're paired up, as the villain team, no less. Are you excited?"
"Yeah. Do you know who we're up against?"
"Your girlfriend and the creation girl!"
"Himiko, she's not my-"
"COMEONWEGOTTAFINDALLMIGHT!"
"WHY ARE YOU DRAGGING ME LIKE THAT?! I'M CAPABLE OF WALKING!"
"Well, young Midoriyas, you are the villain team. You should take this bomb into the building and hide it somewhere. The hero team will be given the signal to enter in five minutes. Think like a villain!"
He handed them two radios, and with that, he sped off.
"So, Izuku, where are we going to keep the bomb?"
"Well, it seems to be a standard office building, with cubicles…hmmm, Himiko, what's the bomb made out of, again?"
Himiko rapped her knuckles on it. "Looks like papier-mâché. Why?"
"Cubicle walls would make a good analog to that, right Himiko?"
"What did you have in mind?"
"Let's make some fake bombs. That'll cause them to run around trying to figure out which one is the right one, and hopefully waste their time. This building has five floors, so we should hide on the…third floor. That way, it won't matter whether they come through the roof or ground floor. We can fill the second and fourth floor with fake bombs, and I'll blow out the stairs between each floor. Himiko, you still have that good night vision, right?"
"Yep!"
"Alright, I'll switch off the lights once the hero team enters. Anything else you want to add?"
"Yeah, if we do this, then…"
Showtime.
Himiko was waiting on the fifth floor, and she had radioed to him a confirmed sighting of the hero team entering the ground floor. So far, so good. Izuku wasn't quite proficient enough to control an entire building, but he could focus on doing one thing at a time. So, using Renovate, he cut off the main power to the building.
He then radioed to Himiko that he was moving the bomb up to the fourth floor, and that she should come down and see if she could follow the heroes.
So, he touched the wall, and the ceiling opened up. It moved down to grab him and the real bomb, in a manner reminiscent of honey. He'd never get used to doing things like this. He carefully closed up the hole in the ceiling, and had an array of eight fake bombs around him, taken from the fourth floor.
If he recalled correctly, he'd made about 40 decoy bombs. There were now 13 on the fourth floor, eight on the third, and 20 on the second.
"Come in, Izuku."
"Izuku here."
"The heroes completed their exploration of the first floor. Creation girl made Uraraka take a rope and float herself up to the second. I'm watching from a hallway, and they can't see or hear me. Should I engage?"
Izuku thought for a moment.
"Follow them and don't get caught. I'll be above the room with the 20 fake bombs. When they enter that room, attack them, but tell me first. We're going for some shock and awe right now."
"Understood. Himiko out."
Their plan was working perfectly. The heroes had already spent 3 minutes searching the first floor. Hopefully, they could capture the heroes here, or delay them long enough that they wouldn't have enough time to go on the third and fourth floor.
"Izuku, I'm in position. They'll enter the room in 5 seconds."
"Roger roger."
He made the floor and the ceiling of the room below him slightly porous so he could hear what happened. He also put on his breathing mask.
The door to the bomb room slowly opened, and the creation girl and Ochako gasped in shock.
Himiko attacked them from behind.
Izuku just dropped in the room, making sure not to destroy the ceiling to deprive Ochako of any rubble she could use.
The hero team was paralyzed with indecision, it seemed. They didn't know who to deal with first.
Himiko quickly baited Ochako into dealing with her, which left Izuku with the creation girl.
"Surrender, villain!"
Really?
"What a nice, heroic spirit. One part brave, three parts fool."
There.
He slammed his palm onto the ground, and made blunt spikes under her feet. She leaped aside, but the floor was his to control. He opened up a small hole where he thought she might land, but he missed. She made - was that a wooden doll? It could be an attack. He opened up the floor and it fell down to the first floor. She created some kind of staff and tried to close the distance, but Izuku just dodged to his left and she missed. He slammed his palm to the floor, once again making spikes. She dodged, but this time he created spikes in the middle of the path. Her legs got tangled up in them, and he took the opportunity to completely encase her in the floor. The only part left aboveground was her head. He did loosen up the floor around her torso so that she could breathe, but that was all.
He didn't hear a capture announcement, so he wrapped capture tape around her head.
"The villain team has captured Yaoyorozu!"
Now, to see if Himiko needed help-
"The villain team…wins!"
Apparently not.
"Villain team, if you could kindly bring the real bomb to the observation area so we can start on the next round, that would be all."
He freed Yaoyorozu from her floor prison, and shook hands with her.
She began by saying, "You took advantage of our surprise at the number of fake bombs, didn't you?"
Izuku nodded, and scratched the back of his head. "I mean, I was kind of going for that. I didn't know if you would come through the fifth floor or first floor, so I had decoy bombs on the fourth floor as well. I destroyed the stairs of the building beforehand, to hamper your mobility. I also had Himiko observe the path you took, so we could set up the surprise attack."
"Which floor was the bomb on?"
"Originally I put it on the third floor, but when you came in through the first floor, I moved it to the fourth. Anyway, I'm going to get the bomb, and we can go back. Oh, and I'm sorry for implying that you were a fool, earlier. I just said the first thing that came to mind…"
"It's alright, Midoriya. It was just an act."
She didn't seem too convinced of that fact. Suspicious.
Once he had the correct bomb, they all trooped back to get their debriefing.
"Does anybody care to guess who the MVP of this match was?"
"It was Midoriya, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, he came up with the plan and those fake bombs!"
Here, Izuku cut in. "Actually, it was Himiko. Without her, my plan simply wouldn't have worked. I didn't know which floor the heroes were coming from, Himiko told me that. The only way I would have known when to take advantage of the hero team's surprise was if I had someone tail them, which Himiko did perfectly! She had the most dangerous position out of us all, but she performed the best out of all of us!"
"Er…Yes! Exactly what I was going to say, young Midoriya! Good job all around! Now, on to the next battle!"
When the battles were finally over, he approached Yaoyorozu, and asked if he could speak with her.
"So…not to sound like a creep, but I noticed that your costume…kind of sacrifices protection everywhere for access to your Quirk."
"Yes…I was actually looking for suggestions about that, I'd rather have a more protective costume," said Yaoyorozu.
"I know my sister Himiko has a DNA-integrated outfit that lets her keep it on whenever she uses her Quirk. Maybe you could look into that?"
"Thank you for the suggestion! I will probably submit a costume change form as soon as I can."
"O-oh, you're welcome Yaoyorozu, really! It was nothing."
"Please, call me Momo."
Oh no, she was cute too!