"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Izuku asked aloud while Mirio laughed happily. "Wouldn't it make more sense for you to train for your own Sports Festival?" The verdette added cautiously.
"Hm, nah, it's a senpai's duty to support his kohai! Plus, Sir doesn't usually associate with anyone who can't make him laugh, but from what I hear, you managed to get him to open up anyways, so I want to see what kind of person you are!" Mirio declared, Midoriya barely avoiding as Mirio's fist nearly knocked his block off. "Besides, when All Might asks you for help, it wouldn't be cool to turn him down right?" Mirio asked rhetorically as Izuku glanced to the side at a watching All Might, buff arms crossed.
He paid for his distraction as he was sent bouncing across the dirt field by just one punch from Mirio, who flexed, announcing "POWER!" to the heavens.
"Don't worry about me, Young Midoriya, Young Togata, I'm merely observing what needs to be improved on, and how far Sir Nighteye has trained you." All Might announced.
"Yeah, so no need to hold back Midoriya! Let's give it our PLUS ULTRA!" Mirio declared once again, racing towards Izuku, who was struggling just to catch his breath.
He knew Mirio wasn't taking him seriously, well, maybe that wasn't the right way to look at it. Mirio certainly wasn't pulling any punches, but Izuku knew he hadn't used his Quirk yet. The young nerdette watched the U.A. Sports Festival religiously every year, so he remembered Mirio from the previous years, where the blonde had been eliminated in the first round both times due to losing his clothes.
Whether his Quirk allowed him to pass through matter, or displace it somehow, Midoriya didn't know, but the fact that a fully 'clothed' Mirio was bearing down on him was enough proof that the third-year student was holding back even if only incrementally. So Izuku placed a self-imposed challenge on himself, if he could get Mirio to use his Quirk even once in their sparring, then he'd consider it a win, regardless of how many bruises he ended up with.
Getting to his feet, he let his Quirk flow through his body, carefully controlling it.
"Full Cowling: 5%!" Izuku announced, small sparks of electricity shooting from his body as he raced forwards, Mirio actually jumping back just out of Izuku's range, always one step ahead of him as the hero-in-training chased after him.
Not one to be deterred however, Izuku spun on the ball of his foot, shooting dirt into the air as a cloud of dust covered part of the field, Izuku circling around the outside, leaping in behind Mirio. Just before he landed a punch however, Mirio pivoted, grabbing him by the wrist as he threw Izuku like a ragdoll several meters away.
The successor to All Might tried to right himself in midair, but before he could orient himself, he saw Mirio dive into the ground like a swimmer, bursting out way faster than he had any right to, fist buried into Midoriya's gut as the young boy was juggled, landing in a sprawled heap on the ground.
"Oww..." Izuku wheezed, slowly turning over as he stood up, Mirio using the falling dust to hide his nudity, the smiling boy quickly putting his pants back on, forgoing his shirt.
"Hm, I think that's enough for now." All Might stated, walking between the two. "Now then, what did you two think, did you notice anything about your opponent?" All Might asked as Izuku was still struggling to catch his breath.
"Midoriya started kind of slow, but once he POWERed up, he was way more of a challenge." Mirio admitted, as Izuku shook his head.
"You don't have to lie, even with my Full Cowling, you were still able to beat me, both in terms of strength and speed. I never stood a chance." Izuku admitted as Mirio and All Might frowned.
"Hey, don't be such a downer, you'll get there one day." Mirio tried to cheer up his newest buddy.
Instead, he got a very weird looking smirk from Izuku. "I know, all that POWER, speed, ability to think on your feet, even your reflexes, those all came from hard work and training just like this, not from your Quirk. Honestly, I don't know what wrong with me, it should make me feel way more depressed that you beat me without using your Quirk, but all I can think about is if you can reach that level without your Quirk, then I can too!" Midoriya cheered, earning a beaming grin from Mirio, and a much more sedated, but nonetheless bright smile from All Might.
"Yes, speaking of your 'Full Cowling', was this what you wanted to show me today?" Toshinori asked his protege as the boy nodded eagerly.
"Yeah, when I fell asleep last night, I had a dream about training with this old man named Gran Torino-" Izuku paused as he stared at a beaming All Might turn into a shaking statue, pale skin, teeth chattering, his eyes even looked more wide than normal.
"You were training with Gran Torino?" All Might questioned through his chattering teeth.
"Yeah, do you know him?" Izuku asked innocently.
"Y-Yes, he is-was my Homeroom teacher, he helped train me when I was younger." All Might revealed as both Izuku and Mirio had wide-eyes of wonder.
"All Might's teacher!" "I bet he was SUPER POWERful!"
"Anyways, he taught me how to use my Full Cowling, but I'm not very good at it yet. I lost control of it when he hit me." Izuku finished explaining as All Might shook off his nerves, nodding.
"Okay then, that gives us a place to start, as Gran Torino would always say: If you lose control after a little thing like that, then you'll never improve!" All Might quoted, or at least his memory of the quote. "So, get back in your places and we'll go again!" He ordered as the two boys nodded, racing back to opposite sides of the field.
"Now then-" 'A phone call is here! A phone call is here!' Toshinori's phone began to ring, interrupting him as he pulled it out, flipping open his Mokia, the only phone tough enough from when he got rough... when did this turn into an ad copy.
"Who? Oh, it's Sir Nighteye." All Might said, debuffing as he answered the phone, prompting both boys to race over.
Izuku had been surprised when All Might had shared the secret of his weaken form to Sir Nighteye's intern and sidekicks, not to mention the knowledge about Midoriya's seemingly prophetic dreams, but the green bean assumed if they were all going to be working closer together, then it made sense. All Might hadn't told any of them about One-for-All, but they'd have to be blind to not notice the special interest All Might was taking in a first-year student's development. Maybe they assumed it was due to the similarities to Sir Nighteye, but asking Mirio to help him train for the Sports Festival certainly didn't have that kind of feel to it." Izuku muttered out loud.
If Mirio thought anything about what Midoriya was saying, he didn't voice it aloud as they got close enough to hear what Sir was saying.
"After you left, I kept thinking about what you'd told me about that villain that attacked the USJ, Tomura... some of the things he was saying sounded familiar to me, so I got Bubble Girl to help me look into it and found something interesting. The dialogue was taken nearly verbatim from an interview given seven or eight months ago by that indie game developer, Tomura." Sir revealed as Midoriya reached for his phone which had been left on the sidelines to avoid it getting damaged from the sparring.
"The same one that created The Game?" Izuku asked, opening the app on his phone.
"The same, added to the shared name, and it starts to look suspicious, I was going to investigate myself, but I've been more isolated from such things, I know you have a connection with it, and they'd extended an invitation to Mirio as well." Sir kept talking as Toshinori started to tune him out, his attention focused on what Izuku was showing him, some event about Mirko and what was undeniably Nana's costume.
He felt a hand on his as Izuku stopped him from accidently crushing the phone in his grip.
"Sorry Sasaki, something just caught my attention, I'll swing by later to see what files you have, I need to make a phone call to arrange an appointment ASAP." Toshinori exclaimed.
Uraraka peeked through the door of one of several of UA's gyms, the sound of metal clanging and banging echoing down the hall. Each zone was devoted to certain kinds of training, from heavy weights in a far corner to a treadmill set into the floor with padding surrounding it. Most of it was in use already, no doubt due to the upcoming Sports Festival, everyone was cramming extra training in before the big day.
"Hey Uraraka, did you come to work out too?" Hagakure asked as she jogged over, a thick towel around her neck. She was barely visible otherwise, having traded her normal school uniform from a black sports bra and shorts, leaving her exposed midriff invisible. Uraraka idlily wondered whether she could secretly be ripped but couldn't show it off.
"Um, yeah, I thought with the Sports Festival coming up, and after the attack... but I don't even know where to start. Have you been here very long?" Ochako added as Hagakure shook her head, the towel shifting back-and-forth.
"Only about an hour, maybe two, I saw Shoji earlier over by the weight bench, I'm glad he's back. Iida stopped by to test out the treadmill, but he left right after, mentioned checking out the pool for resistance training, whatever that meant. Mina was upset about something, but I didn't get to ask. Other than that, I've been trying everything I could, I guess the advantage of being the weakest in the class is any kind of training is an improvement, huh?" Hagakure cheered as her gravity-defying friend frowned.
"Yeah, ohh, not that you're weak, I mean! I don't even know what half of this stuff is or what it helps workout, but I can't keep depending on others to save me... first Deku in the Entrance Exam, and then Yaomomo in the Battle Trial, and now Thirteen and Deku when the UA got attacked... I want to be the one saving others, helping to protect them!" Ochako declared, an aura of determination erupting around her like a bright light.
"Yeah, let's do it together!" Hagakure agreed, pointing towards the northern corner of the gym, which looked more open with less metal. "I was about to check out that, want to come with?" The invisible girl asked as Uraraka nodded, the two walking over, careful to avoid some of the other students working out.
It took a few minutes to get over, not just to reach it but having to go around some places as they got lost. The steady sound of a rhythmic thumping accompanied them, growing louder as they got closer until they could see the source, a young woman pounding relentlessly on a heavy bag, the equipment swaying as she bounced up, landing a tornado kick that caved in one side of the bag, sending it horizontal and nearly unmoored the chain, sending the whole stand rattling as it settled back in place.
"Wow." Hagakure muttered, alerting the woman to their presence.
"I'm done with it, you can have it, just let me change out the bag and she's all yours." The woman stated, her voice deeper than either girl expected. She casually lifted the bag up, replacing it on a nearby rack, each bag giving a weird noise as she bumped it, but that wasn't what caught Ochako attention. When the woman turned around, she got a good look at her face, as well as the rest of her. She was shredded with a well-muscled 8-pack, skin gleaming in the light from her sweat and...
"Uraraka, you okay? You're drooling." Hagakure whispered as the brunette went crimson, her mind shutting down.
'What the hell was that? I don't like girls like that! I'm not a pervert! I don't stare at girls, no matter how hot they are, NO bad Ochako, focus up! You like boys like Deku... what was that?!'
While Uraraka went through an existential crisis over her perfectly natural feelings, the woman walked over to the pair. "Hey, you girls first-years?"
While Uraraka was melting down next to her, Hagakure had to take charge, something that went right out the window when the supposed senior student towered over the pair. 'She's a giant, she could probably step on me without even noticing!' Hagakure worried internally.
(The woman was in fact, not a giant, but a healthy 5"8'.)
"Uhmm, yes senpai!" Tooru shouted, gathering attention from a few nearby students.
"Senpai huh, that sounds nice... it's about time someone showed me some fucking respect!" She shouted purposefully as the watching students went back to their business. "So, you hero students or Gen-Pop looking to break into the hero course at the upcoming Sports Fest?" The older student asked.
"I wasn't staring at you, I promise!" Uraraka came alive, admitting her fault as she covered her face, slowly floating away from her Quirk as the older student laughed good-natured.
"Aww, that's sad, I like it when people stare, especially cute girls like you two. I'm Bo, but you can keep calling me Senpai!" Bo teased, a wolfish grin on her face as Hagakure jumped up, trying and failing to reach the floating Uraraka.
"Senpai help me." Tooru asked as Bo laughed, jumping up and grabbing Uraraka's leg with ease as she pulled her down, getting the girl to release her Quirk as she silently stood on the ground again.
"You still haven't answered my question though." Bo pointed out.
"Yes... Senpai, we're first-year students in Class 1-A of the Hero Course!" Hagakure exclaimed, Ochako nodding beside her, refusing to meet Bo's gaze.
"Excellent, always glad to see more girls taking an interest in improving their skills, although you two look like you could use quite a bit of work. But that's okay, I didn't look like much either when I first started, so I'll get you ready for your big debut!" Bo declared with a beaming smile that made a few nearby students uncomfortable.
"Really, you'll help train us, but don't you need to do your own training?" Uraraka asked tentatively.
"Yep, but as you can see, I already finished my reps for the day, and besides, I'm going to be training you the same way I was trained... with sparring! You can never get too much practice against different fighting styles, so if I spent all my time beating up a bag full of rocks, then I really wouldn't improve as much." Bo exclaimed as Tooru and Ochako glanced at each other. Neither had a telepathic Quirk, but they didn't need it to share the same thoughts, 'this was a bad idea.'
"First I'll get you girls into fighting shape, and then you'll actually be a challenge for me, so I'll grow too, and then I'll beat that smiling moron in the Sports Festival, and then I'll get so strong that Mirko will accept my request for an internship!" Bo continued planning out her life plan.
"Again!" Aizawa called out, barely giving Shinso time to recover before sending his capture weapon at the lavenderette. He put up very little fight as the cloth wrapped around his wrist, Aizawa not cutting any slack as he swung the boy around, releasing him as the young student bounced across the ground, coming to a stop as he lay there, his chest rising and falling in quick succession.
Seeing Hitoshi wasn't getting back up, Mr. Aizawa dropped his fighting stance, wincing slightly at the aches in his new scars.
"Hey, I thought you knew the agreement was that I'd help train you in how to use my capture weapon, but you couldn't slack off in training. If this is all you have to show after nearly a month, maybe this isn't such a good idea. As it is, I'm still recovering from my injuries, if you're falling this far behind now..." Aizawa trailed off as Shinso slowly rolled over, pushing himself up, his eyes downcast on the ground.
Taking a deep breath, Aizawa started to walk over, scratching at the side of his face where the new skin had grown in a slightly lighter shade, the old lady had said it would stop itching soon as it settled in, but it had been two days and it hadn't stopped, setting his nerves on edge.
"Look-"
"I'm sorry!" Hitoshi said quickly, his head still staring at the ground. Small droplets of sweat were dripping off of him, turning the red dirt a muddy brown.
Sending a silent prayer to a higher power for patience, Mr. Aizawa said, "It's fine, really, you're getting better, it took me several years to..." He noticed how his 'protege' (as Mic had called him) shied away from looking at his face, or more specifically his missing eye. He couldn't see the empty socket, it was covered with an eyepatch, but it wasn't hard to imagine what was hidden behind the piece of material. "It's fine, it doesn't hurt that much honestly." The teacher tried to comfort his student.
"No, it's my fault, just like people always said." Shinso muttered as Aizawa gave a wry smile.
"That's a neat trick considering I got a pretty good look at the villains who did this, who hurt Thirteen and my students." Eraserhead joked, trying to inject some levity into the somber tone, but it didn't seem to work... big surprise, humor wasn't his forte.
"Yeah... I did too. It was my teacher." Shinso admitted, catching Aizawa's attention immediately.
"What did you say?" He pressed for answers as Hitoshi finally looked up, and Mr. Aizawa realize it wasn't sweat dropping off his face, but a slow stream of tears, and a little blood as the boy broke the skin on his lip from biting it so hard.
"It was my teacher; the leader was the same guy who told me I could be a hero. I mean, he wasn't the first, but my parents always supported me, but he was the first adult who didn't know me who believed in me, even helped me train some for the Exams. Suggested I try to train with you, and now..." Shinso trailed off.
It was silent on the field for several minutes as Mr. Aizawa processed the information, the only sound breaking the quiet was Hitoshi's occasional sniffle.
"Have you told anyone about this?" Eraserhead asked calmly as Shinso shook his head.
"I-I was scared... everyone always said I was going to turn out to be a villain, and now if they find out I was working with one, and a pretty big one too it seems, I just didn't want to have everyone afraid of me like that again." Shinso admitted tearfully.
"That's why we're going to tell Principal Nezu everything, and then... you're going to make up for this!" Mr. Aizawa stated authoritatively.
"Sir?" The student was confused as his teacher placed a hand on his shoulder, softly patting it.
"The fact you feel guilty about it is a good sign, the fact you admitted it, even if it took a while, helps too. I was an Underground Hero for years before I became a teacher don't forget, on the scale of things I've seen, you've hardly crossed the line, and I'll tell the Principal that too. So, once we're done, I'm going to double down on your training, understand." Eraser exclaimed as Shinso wiped his eyes.
"You mean, you're still going to help train me after what I did?" The boy queried.
"I'm going to do more than train you, problem child, don't forget that teacher of yours beat me, if you want to make it up to me, then you need to go even further beyond... got it?" The homeroom teacher of Class 1-A declared.
"Hehe, you can be scary sometimes, but Present Mic and Ms. Midnight were right, you have a really kind nature." Shinso said without thinking as Aizawa single eye twitched.
"Oh did they now, what else did they say?"
Mineta rolled out of the way of one of Zee's swings, her sword echoing across the ground with a resounding clang, her follow-up with her offhand missed by inches, thanks largely in part to Mineta's height. His success was cut short as her booted foot met his stomach, launching him like a soccer ball. He recovered quickly, using the distance as he jumped off the wall, bouncing around as Zee planted both swords in the ground, letting out a stream of fire, but it wasn't enough to catch the smaller boy as he closed the distance, landing a weak, but nonetheless solid kick to the back of her head, earning a growl of annoyance as she ripped one of her swords out, loosing an overhead swing at him.
He was ready, several balls attaching to the edge, dulling the impact as it sent him flying away largely unhurt. The wall, on the other hand, hurt quite a bit as he smashed into it, robbing him of his breath as he fell to the ground, his back on fire as Zee stomped over to him, kicking him over, holding a sword to his neck.
"Mercy?" Mineta begged, eliciting a sigh of frustration from his opponent.
"Do you really think anyone's just going to give you mercy like that?" Zee asked, breathing heavily as she dropped her armor to the ground, trying to catch her breath.
"I think you should both take it easier, Mineta you still have some vision problems with that eye, and Zee, I'm honestly surprised you can move around, but watching you it was clear that you're not at 100% yet, even that short spar left you breathless." Himiko stated, walking towards the pair.
"I tend to have that effect on women." Mineta said, Zee raising her eyebrow as Himiko chuckled wryly.
"Please, Ze would crush you if that were remotely true, she definitely has dommy mommy vibes." Himiko added as Zee titled her head to the side like a confused dog.
"Dommy Mommy?" The redhead questioned as both of the younger villains laughed.
"Get up Mineta, go grab a drink and rest." Himiko ordered, turning to Zee, "My turn..."
"Right, you made a strange request." Zee said, breathing steadily as liquid metal streamed down her arm, forming into a thin blade with a cylindrical cross guard. Finished, she handed it to Himiko who grinned toothily, holding it with one hand as she took what she thought was an appropriate stance.
"Turn more, it gives your opponent less to hit, and turn your feet like this." Zee instructed, her own sword in hand as she swung overhead, Himiko swatting it to the side.
"If you try swinging like that too much, that blade will snap like a twig, are you sure you wouldn't prefer something sturdier?" Zee asked, slowly retaking her stance as she attacked again, slow enough for Himiko to react.
"No, this is perfect, it's a nearly perfect copy of the sword she has in the show., I didn't expect it to be quite so heavy though, my arm is already tired." Himio whined as Zee smirked.
"That's because you used to your tiny potstickers you call knives, now you attack, get used to how the wight moves, let it carry you forward, it helps with penetration." Zee said, easily blocking the feeble attempts to penetrate her guard as the two girls fell into a steady rhythm.
By the end, Zee was no worse for wear save a few out of place hairs, while Himiko was on the ground, panting, her new 'toy' set to the side.
"Even when you take it easy, I feel like my body is crying in six different languages. Don't you think you might've gone a bit overboard?" The princess of the team complained.
"When it comes to weapons training, I have a duty to fulfill, but if you'd prefer to train with Tomura, I can get Kurogiri to send you over.
"Hmm, maybe if she was a Support class, it should be possible with her Quirk." I considered aloud, avoiding the desperate attempts to kill me.
"Hell no!" Himiko swore, gripping her sword as she stood up again, adjusting her stance. "Let's go again, I've caught my breath, I want to get this down as soon as possible with everything going on." She added determinably.
"Well then," Zee smiled ominously as her sword vanished as metal poured out, forming into a large scythe, "Consider this payback for making me watch so many episodes yesterday." The knight charged.
12 Days Until The Sports Festival
A/N: Hey guys, I finally got back to my story. Sorry for the extended break, things just weren't working out for me to write lately. But you didn't ask for a Tella'll book on my problems, so I hope everyone has a good Christmas.
P.S. I had a fun little idea for a scene...
...
Himiko yawned as she logged on to her stream, the slow comments giving her a soft smile.
"Hey chat, sorry it's so late, I've been working hard all day on my latest cosplay for the convention tomorrow and lost track of time." The blonde girl said, fiddling with the funbuns of her hair.
"So, I thought I'd ask you guys, whether you think I look better with shoulder-length hair, or maybe a pixie cut? I'm getting my hair cut soon and wanted your guys' opinion. Make sure and let me know, thanks." Himiko smiled.