Chapter 8

Hero School

Hero school was such a surreal experience. During the mornings they had ordinary lessons that one might find in other schools; English, Mathematics, Literature, and Modern Art were among these classes. Even still, the teachers were fully costumed superheroes.

Yet there an almost palpable aura if anticipation filling the classroom. Despite how important these subjects were, the reason everyone was here in the first place was for the Hero Studies that took up the school day's afternoons. Consequently, the tended to find the rest of the classes dull and boring.

For her part, Strelitzia found it rather relaxing. Schoolwork had never been much of a problem for her before, and this was no different. Relm, on the other hand, was like many of the other students, bored, only really paying attention in Modern Hero Art History (and unlike the others not because of how shockingly provocative their teacher Midnight was dressed). For the other classes, Strelitzia could occasionally find her friend doodling in her notebook instead of paying attention.
After the morning courses came lunch, the selections of which were far far better than what Strelitzia would have expected of a high school cafeteria. It seemed there was some sort of relief hero known as Lunch Rush who was in charge of the schools meals. Which was excellent, as for as good of an Mechanist as Artemicion was, he wasn't that great of a Culinarian, though Strelitzia was too polite to tell him. After a nutritious lunch, the students hurried back to the class room, eagerly to dig into the real meat of the day.

"I AM HERE! COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!" All Mights booming dramatic voice sounded as he burst into the room.

Unlike when she had seen him in the news or in acceptance letter, All Might was wearing a different costume, consisting of a red shirt, blue pants, and a white cape. He dramatically marched over to the teachers podium.

"Welcome to the most important class at U.A.! Think of it as Heroing 101! Here you will learn the basics of being a pro, and what it means to fight in the name of good! Let's get into it! Todays lesson will pull no punches. We're starting off with battle training!"

"Fight training!"

"Real combat?"

Already? Strelitzia wondered. Well, he did say they'd pull no punches.

"But an important part of being a hero is looking like it!" All Might gestured to the walls, whereupon racks slid out, holding briefcases numbered to the class numbers. "These were designed for you based on your Quirk registration forms and the designs you submitted before school started. Now, suit up!"

As she changed into her costume, Strelitzia struggled to not let her eyes wander across the locker room. She was already blushing hard enough as it was and she hoped it wasn't noticeable. Thankfully, the changing was brief so she didn't have to resist the temptation for too long, and from there came the comparison of everyone's costumes.

"Wow, that's actually very pretty!" Ochako said, looking over at Relm's costume.

Relm's costume consisted of a black tube top and red pantaloons along with boots. She had a sash around her waist and a capelet around her neck. The ensemble was decorated with various beads, bracelets, armlets and necklaces and was topped off with a red turban about her head.

"Thanks, I designed the entire thing myself! Yours is kickass as well." Relm said back. "Spacewoman. I like it!"

Ochako's looked loosely like a spacesuit, especially with the gloves, boots, and visor, though it was very skintight.

"I guess I should have been more specific. This bodysuit is so skintight. Oh well, I still like it."

"Nothing wrong with a bodysuit, ribbit." Asui said. Her costume was similar to Ochako's though more themed after a frog, which fit her quirk. Beyond the basic green suit she had webbed flippers on her feet and a pair goggles on her forehead.

"Yeah, thanks, Tsuyu."

"Call me Tsu."

"Huh, that's really nice dress, Strelitzia." Ochako said.

"Um, thanks. It's my favorite dress." Strelitzia said. Her own costume was what she had worn on missions before, the only change being a little more of a heel added to the boots for style.

"It's very nice, though lacking in inner spite." Reiko said. She wore a grey kimono with a fur trim around the neck, knee high socks and a mask over the lower half of her face.

"Huh, I just picked stuff out of my closet. Maybe I should have gone for something more fancy." Kyoka said as she approached. Her costume was a pair of black pants and a black leather jacket over a torn red shirt. She wore thick boots that looked like they had speakers in them. The final bit was red teardrop markings beneath her eyes.

"Nah, trust me, you look like a rocker, is that what you were going for?" Relm asked. "It's badass!"

"Well yeah but-"

"WHOA! Momo! And I thought I was being daring! Not enough I guess. Maybe I should have gone for a leotard too." Mina said.

Momo's costume was indeed a very daring red leotard with a plunging neckline, and a large yellow belt around her waist, and apparently a book attached to her back. Strelitzia found herself blushing and trying not to stare.

Mina's was more tame, consisting of a patterned bodysuit that showed cleavage and a sleeveless jacket with a fur trim.

"Well, I need lots of skin exposed for my Quirk to work. I wanted to wear even less but the school denied it." Momo explained.

"Well, I think you all look great! Way better than my cheapo costume." Said a giggling voice that could only be Toru.

Strelitzia searched around the room looking for where it could becoming from, only to notice a pair of boots and floating gloves. She then remembered that Toru's Quirk was invisibility and the implications thereof and then could actually feel her face turning pink. She quickly force the thoughts out of her mind, choosing to focus instead on what was coming up. The battle training.

As the classe gathered in Training Area Beta as per All Mights instructions, the boys and girls began comparing costumes.

Unsurprisingly, Momo attracted much attention, especially from the short purple boy who was wearing what Streltzia could only describe as a large metal diaper. The boys costumes were generally tamer than the girls, with the exception of Eijiro, who wore cargo pants but his chest was bare save for a harness and Strelitzia had to avoid staring again.

Other boys wore costumes resembling armor, like Tenya who looked like a knight combined with a race car. Yuga's was far more dramatic, with shiny reflective chest piece, a sparkling cape, and wild flaring glasses.

Much like Kyoka, Denki's costume was simple black pants and leather jacket. Also notable was Katsuki's costume, which had two grenade like gauntlets, or Hiryu Rin, who's costume had a Chinese bent to it, alonside the mask obscuring his upper face.

Izuku's was compared to the others simple, consisting of a green bodysuit and hood that looked oddly like rabbit ears, alongside a metal face-plate.

"Alright! You all look amazing! I'm getting fired up! Take this to heart. Now you all are officially, heroes in training! Now lets get started!"

As the students gathered near their teacher, Tenya raised his hand.

"Sir. This is the mock city from our entrance exam. Will we be conducting urban battles again?"

"Not quite. Most of the villain fights seen on the news happen outside. However, statistically speaking, most fights against evildoers happen indoors. Think about it! Backroom deals, home invasions, secret lairs. Truly intelligent criminals stay hidden in the shadows. With this exercise you will be grouped into pairs of heroes and villains to face off in indoor battles.

"Isn't this a bit advanced?" Tsuyu asked.

"Hardly! The best training is on the battlefield. But remember, your not fighting mere robots but actual human beings!"

"Will you be the one deciding who wins?"

"How much can we hurt the other team?"

"Do we need to worry about the losers getting expelled?"

"How far can we deface the arena?"

"Will you be splitting us up based on chance or skill?"

"Is this cape magnificent?"

"Alright, listen up!" All Might called out as he pulled out a script and described the exercise. The scenario that had been set up was that the villains had acquired a nuclear bomb and rigged it to go off. The heroes would have to make their way through the building the villains were holed up in. The heroes would win if they managed to apprehend the villains or touch the bomb. The villains would win if the heroes were captured or the nuke was protected for ten minutes. "Times limited! We'll choose teams by drawing lots!"

"But wait. There's not enough to have everyone face off against a pair. Will one team have to fight twice?"

"No, there will be two teams containing three members!"

"So they'll be fighting each other then!" Tenya said.

"Not necessarily."

"But wait, how is that fair?" Ochako asked.

"It's not, but that's the reality of being a Pro Hero. Fights won't always be fair. Sometimes you'll be outnumbered, sometimes you'll have many heroes you have to coordinate. Now, lets start."

The drawing process was quick, and Strelitzia found herself on Team H with Tsuyu. Meanwhile, the first teams to fight were teams A and D consisting of Izuku and Ochako vs. Katsuki and Tenya.

She saw Izuku flinch as the pairings was called out, glancing at Katsuki before awkwardly looking away. Strelitzia was about to approach him, when she was interrupted by All Might.

"Alright, now that the match is set, the rest of you head into the observation room. Bad guys, you can go inside and prepare. Heroes will enter after 5 minutes." Their teacher said. The students all began to shuffle out. Strelitzia was swept along with the crowd. She wondered if she should cast some sort of buffing spell on Izuku, but then she might get herself or Izuku in trouble.

"Kick Kacchan's ass Izuku!" Relm shouted as she walked away. Katsuki shot her a venomous glare, but did nothing else, instead heading into the 'villain's lair'.

The observation building turned out to be a dark room dominated by various screens showing cameras inside the building.

"Oh, this is totally awesome! It's like a theater!" Relm said. "I wish we had some popcorn though."

"Couldn't you just paint some up though?" Hanta asked.

"If you don't mind the taste of paint in your mouth, then sure." Relm said with a shrug. "Why not ask Momo? Her stuff sticks around."

"It would taste terrible. And it's kinda gross." Momo said with a blush.

All Might then loudly cleared his throat, indicating that it was time to pay attention.

"Alright, let's begin the indoor combat training! Team A! Team D! Your time starts now!" He called out before turning to the rest of the class. "Pay attention kids! Think about what you would do!"
Strelitzia watched as Izuku and Ochako, instead of going in through the main entrance, floated up into a window.

"Hmm… smart. Creeping in like a stalker. I like it!" Reiko said.

The pair carefully made their way through the hallways of the building, checking around corners before advancing. They seemed to be talking to each other, though as the cameras didn't have sound, Strelitzia couldn't make out what they were saying. At the same time, Katsuki rushed out of the room with the nuke. He left Tenya behind as he ran down the hallways towards where the hero team was.

It wasn't long before they met.

Katsuki opened the fight by leaping from around the corner and unleashing an explosion, forcing Izuku to grab Ochako and dive out of the way. Part of his mask was singed off in the process though.

The three were talking briefly, but again, there was no sound.

"A sneak attack, Bakugou? What kind of man pulls cheap crap like that!"

"It's a viable strategy. He's playing the part, acting like a true villain would." All Might explained.

"Not like it's a bad strategy otherwise." Hiryu said. "Sometimes you need to get the drop."

"Excellently ghoulish..." Reiko muttered.

"But it didn't work! Midoriya dodged it!"

"Look, he's attacking again!"

Indeed, Katsuki was on the offensive once more, charging towards Izuku. However, to everyone's surprise, Izuku countered, moving inside the attack and grabbing Katsuki's right arm. With a heave, he flipped Katsuki over, slamming him into the ground, much to everyone's surprise. Especially Katsuki's.

"Yeah, kick his ass!" Relm cheered.

As Katsuki recovered, Ochako fled, continuing through the building.

"Now that I think about it, there's only fifteen minutes and the heroes don't know where the bomb is. They're at a pretty big disadvantage." Mina said.

"Real pros have to outwit villains on a daily basis. That's life. Even when the odds aren't in our favor. We fight!"

"He's on the move!" Yuga said.

Back in the building, the Katsuki charged towards Izuku again, rocketing himself into the air to go into a flying kick. Again, Izuku caught him, this time attempting to use the capture tape. Katsuki fought back, aiming an explosive punch, which Izuku thankfully dodged.

Despite all his bluster and arrogance, Strelitzia had to admit that Katsuki was able to back it up with actual skill. His moves were more than just wild attacks, there was an actual thought process behind his moves. Izuku had countered his opening move and so he clearly had changed his approach in response to that.

Izuku fled from this clash, leading Katsuki to chase after him, though he was too slow on the uptake and lost track of his quarry. All the while, Ochako was making her way up to where the nuke was.

"Hah! Just as I thought. He mad." Relm said.

"He really does have some anger issues, doesn't he?" Hanta said.

"Yeah, he's completely lost sight of the objective."

"It's good for the hero team though." Strelitzia said. It seemed clear that Izuku was taking advantage of Katsuki's anger towards him, leading him on a chase to give his partner time to secure the bomb.

Indeed, Ochako had already made it up to where Tenya was guarding the nuke. It looked like she was radioing Izuku, but unfortunately, at that moment, Katsuki caught up to him.

He aimed his hand at Izuku. At first, Strelitzia thought he was going for another hand blast, and wondering how effective it would be at such a long range. Then she saw his grenade-gauntlet glow red. He pulled back on the grip, revealing a pin.

It was at this that All Might seemed to become worried.

"Young Bakugou! Don't do it! You'll kill him!"

He was either too late, or Katsuki was ignoring him as the pin was pulled and a massive fiery blast was unleashed, with such force that they could feel the shockwave, even from the observation room. The building shook.

"Young Midoriya! Come in! Come in!"

Thankfully, when the smoke and dust cleared, Izuku was alive and intact, though he was laying on the ground, his costume torn even further, while a trench torn in the floor led to a gaping hole in the wall of the building. As he sat up, Katsuki was stalking towards him, the other gauntlet now glowing.

"Sir, isn't this a bit too much? He looks like he's going to kill him!" Eijiro said.

Strelitzia had to agree.

"Not so! But still..." All Might then spoke in to the microphone. "Young Bakugou. Use that stored up power again and I'll stop this fight; Your team will lose! To use such a strong attack indoors is inviting the destruction of the stronghold you should be protecting! This is a poor strategy, whether you're a Hero or a Villain. The penalty will be a massive loss of points!"

Katsuki visibly snarled, before launching himself at his opponent. Izuku attempted a counter punch, but Katsuki twisted, and unleashed an explosion downwards, launching himself over Izuku's head to then blast him from behind.

The others were commenting on Katsuki's skill, but Strelitzia was fixated on the fight wincing as she saw Katsuki grab Izuku by the arm and flip him over, the slam being clear payback for earlier. Izuku partially rose and staggered away while Katsuki again stalked towards him.

"This is hard to watch."

"Deku's got this, don't worry." Relm said.

"Are you sure? He was doing pretty good at the start of the match, but it's clear Bakugou is on a whole other level." Eijiro said. "I don't like that he's running away, it's pretty unmanly, but when he's that outmatched, there's no choice."

"No. There's more to that boy than meets the eye. Don't count him out until he's out. Right Strelitzia?" Relm asked.

Strelitzia balked at suddenly being put on the spot like that, but it was clear that Relm wanted to show support for Izuku. She nodded. "Right!"

Everyone watched with baited breath as Katsuki and Izuku charged towards each other. There was a glow in Izuku's arm, and despite herself, Strelitzia flinched, worried at what was about to happen.

However, to everyone's surprise, Izuku didn't aim and Katsuki. Instead he punched upwards, the sheer shockwave from his strength blasting a hole through the entire building. The impact could be felt far more than Katsuki's blast as the entire roof of the structure was blown off. The entire city was shaking from the force of that singular punch. Was this the power that had destroyed a zero-pointer?

Ochako grabbed onto one of the pillars that had been damaged and, using her quirk, ripped it free to use as a bat to send bits of rubble flying towards Tenya. While he was distracted by the attack, she floated over the hole, grabbing onto the nuke and securing the victory.

"The Hero team WINS!" All Might proclaimed.

In short order, all of them were back in the observation room, with Izuku having been healed by Strelitzia. She resorted to using a Cura spell this time around, as while the burns were no issue, his entire right arm had been broken from the backlash of his Quirk.

And now they stood, receiving their results from their teacher. Thankfully, despite losing, Katsuki was quiet and sullen, as he had been since the end of the match.

"Well, despite the results, the MVP of this exercise is young Iida!"

"Huh? Why? Wouldn't it be one of the Hero team since they won?"

"Hmm, why did I pick Iida?"

Momo then answered, launching into an explanation of how Tenya was the only one who stayed on focus the entire time, acting within the parameters of the exercise. Katsuki had gotten distracted by his vendetta against Izuku and was reckless with his powers, Izuku had severely hurt himself, and his and Ochako's plan only worked because this was a training exercise and wouldn't fly in the circumstances were real, which Strelitzia had to begrudgingly agree with. At least Tenya seemed on top of the world with all the praise he was receiving.

"Alright, now for the next match!" All Might reached into the boxes, drawing out two spheres. "Okay, team B will be the Heroes while team H will be the villains!"

So that was her and Tsuyu against the team of three consisting of Shoto, Hiryu, Hanta.

So we've started the Battle Trials. This chapter ended up being longer than expected, so it's been divided and the second part will be up once I finish it.

~Dragonexx