Classes begin in earnest! All Might wants to make certain the class is ready for the eldritch horror that is OFA, and makes sure they experience it. Tsuyu likes protective predators. And someone challenges Izuku to a fight.
The trio managed to stumble out of Ochako's room together, yawning and half-asleep in Ochako and Himiko's case (Izuku was clearly superhuman, they were perfectly fine and Himiko was reminded how frustrating morning people were sometimes). Making their way down to breakfast, they ran into Ashido, Yaoyorozu, and Sero in the elevator…which from the way Ashido was suddenly giggling Himiko really did wonder what she found so funny, but decided to ignore it in favor of food.
Of course, now she remembered that she hadn't had any blood in a couple days, which meant she'd have to actually use some of the blood bags in the fridge…which made her realize that she wasn't sure if any of her classmates had noticed the special small fridge for the trio's spare blood packs and she was now very worried about their reactions.
Izuku didn't seem to care though…they sat Ochako and Himiko down firmly, and were already at the coffee machine brewing some for the duo. Himiko couldn't stop the smile on her face, even as she buried her face in her arms and watched Izuku with a sleepy gaze. Izuku wasn't a big fan of coffee, preferring tea, but they were making coffee for Ochako and Himiko because the girls preferred the kick in the morning…and then she flinched as Izuku walked to the small, locked fridge next to the main one and pressed their fingertip to the scanner, the fridge opening quickly and revealing a half dozen blood packs in their.
Himiko watched and waited with bated breath, to see what her classmates did and how they reacted to Izuku pulling three packs of what was clearly blood out of the fridge and tossing them in the microwave to warm. Not all of the class was there, but enough were that it couldn't be missed. Himiko was ready, for the judgment, the fear, the sudden visceral hatred, her chest tight and shoulders tensed, ready to flee…but nothing was happening.
"That your blood?" Sero asked, tilting his head to the side in question.
Izuku nodded absently as they bustled around the kitchen, tossing together a small breakfast for the trio (the same food Ochako was set to eat they were making, figuring if all three were eating it it'd make selling the diet easier if asked). "Yeah, with classes starting up now it's not a great idea to drink each others, so we have donor blood that Recovery Girl restocks for us."
"Makes sense," Sero replied, turning away and hunching over as he opened the fridge, looking for something.
"Is it okay to ask about like, what it's like?" Ashido asked quietly.
Izuku hummed. "I don't mind, but I can't speak for 'Chako or Himi."
"No questions till coffee," Ochako muttered, facedown on the table.
Izuku let out an indelicate snort. "Just a minute longer, 'Chako." The brunette didn't bother replying beyond a grunt of acknowledgement, but Himiko was…finding it difficult to respond. The class hadn't reacted at all, but still…Her winding thoughts were cut off by a mug being slid into her hand, the scent of coffee making her glance up to meet Izuku's eyes. They leaned down and whispered softly in her ear "Remember…we're here for you." They straightened up as they placed her plate before her, Himiko watching silently as Ochako managed to raise her head from where it was planted on the table and taking a deep drink of her coffee, shoulders relaxing as she hummed happily.
Himiko clenched one fist beneath the table, but…she was tired of being so afraid. She'd made a promise to try not to be, to try to stop letting herself be defined by her parents fears, and maybe her best chance was with this class…so far, other than Bakubrat, everyone had been really kind…so she'd give them a chance. "You can ask stuff if you want."
"I was just kinda curious about like, what's it like? Does it taste icky?" Ashido shrugged as she asked.
Himiko paused for a moment, idly realizing Izuku had set another glass in front of her, one that contained the blood they'd heated up in the microwave. She felt the familiar fear running through her once more, but she shoved that down and picked the glass up, taking a sip from it while watching the reaction from Ashido. The pink-skinned teen just watched her with what looked like idle curiosity, making Himiko feel so much better. After a moment, she drained more of the blood, setting it down and shrugging. "The bagged stuff is kinda bland. Fresh tastes good though. We're pretty sure it's entirely cause of my Quirk…before the accident these two tried it when we were kids and said it tasted awful, but now they say it's delicious."
"Mmmhmm," Ochako hummed in agreement, sipping at her own glass. Himiko was choosing to ignore the way Ochako's hands were shaking as she slowly picked at her food, understanding how difficult it was for her and that she didn't want attention drawn to it. "It also tastes different depending on who it's from," Ochako added, yawning as she spoke.
"That's rather intriguing. I wonder why that would occur," Yaoyorozu murmured, seemingly interested as much as Ashido.
"From our experiments so far, my best guess has been it is a combination of who the person is and their genetics, since the flavors we get seem to at least partly match an individual's personality. Of course, it could be entirely psychological. Truthfully, it's difficult to tell, butIvedonesomestudyingonitand-" Izuku began to speak more and more rapidly, devolving into near incomprehensible muttering as Yaoyorozu blinked at them.
Himiko waved dismissively. "They do that, it's okay. They'll snap out of it in a sec."
"Ah, good morning everyone! Are we ready for our first full day of classes?!" A voice called out from the stairs, Ida striding forward with a wide smile.
Ochako grumbled in his general direction, draining the rest of her coffee. Himiko giggled, gently pushing her half-full mug towards Ochako…she had enough caffeine for now, plus the blood was what really woke her up. Ochako hummed happily, sipping at Himiko's mug as Izuku rolled their eyes, preparing another cup for Ochako. Ida tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Did you not sleep well, Uraraka?" Himiko felt her spine stiffen as she remembered the nightmare once more…it was her fault the other two were tired and-
"She's always like this in the morning, it's okay," Izuku replied, pulling attention to themselves. "We all slept fine, no one really moved at all."
The room went silent for a moment, the sudden lack of noise making Himiko glance up at her classmates in confusion, seeing confused faces staring at Izuku and then back at the trio. Yaoyorozu cleared her throat. "You mean you assume no one moved?"
Izuku looked as confused as the rest now. "No?"
"Wait, how do you know whether anyone moved?" Ashido asked.
"...cause we were in the same bed? Kinda hard to miss?" Izuku replied, shrugging as they placed Ochako's new mug before her and sat down with their own plate.
"You shared a bed?!" Ida practically shouted, eyes wide as he slammed his hands onto the table.
Himiko could already see where this was going, and she had no desire to have this argument, so she was going to cut it off now. "Yeah, we did. We're adults, there is no regulation against it, and in case you forgot, we share our emotions. Izu's not being entirely honest, I had a bad dream. And when someone has a bad dream but you share emotions, it means they feel all that shit too. And then cause they are feeling it, it comes right back to me. It's a loop and it sucks and holding each other helps, you got a problem with that?" She hadn't even realized it until Ochako's hand was on her shoulder, gently pushing her back down, but she'd risen to her feet and was practically hissing at Ida at this point.
Ida looked taken aback, before letting out a deep breath and bowing towards her. "You are correct, I am being far too judgmental, nor is it my business. My apologies. Are…are you alright now, though? I do hope whatever dream you had is not too upsetting."
Himiko was now the one taken aback by Ida's immediate concern for her…she was pretty sure the teen couldn't lie to save his life, so she was rather sure he was being genuine, and something in her chest loosened from the moment he'd seemed so accusatory. As she glanced back at Izuku and Ochako, the other two looking at her with their own concern, she felt the faintest glimmer of joy in her chest as she drained her glass of blood, grinning back at Ida. "I've got them…I'm doing much better. But thanks for asking." Ida nodded, accepting her answer, as she made certain to send her feelings of gratitude across the bond…and enjoying the internal squirming from the other two when they were forced to accept her genuine feelings. This was kinda fun…maybe she'd have to push positive feelings across more often.
Izuku and Ochako were a bit concerned by the sudden surge of what the two of them could only label Himiko's inner 'gremlin' joy coming across the bond, wondering what dastardly plan she had now…and honestly? Looking forward to it. She sure made sure things were interesting, that could not be denied.
Izuku wasn't entirely surprised by how normal classes felt…what was really surprising was how rigid it was. Most universities Izuku knew of allowed students more freedom in choosing their classes, but the UA Hero course apparently followed High School conventions more than they'd realized. Their classes were all decided for them initially; Aizawa had informed them that in the third and fourth years they'd get more freedom in choosing specific classes…but for the first couple years, all Hero students got the same course.
Lunch was an…interesting affair. Ochako's diet had been communicated to Lunch Rush, the pro already ready with her smaller portion, which with some clever finangling, Izuku blocked anyone else from seeing what she had and made sure no one noticed, and with smiles and easy communication, made sure no one noticed Ochako's hands shaking, or Himiko's gentle, quiet encouragement towards her from the other side. It helped that all Izuku had to really distract was Ida and Yaoyorozu…Ashido had drawn a ton of attention to her with her bombastic personality, so it was pretty easy to engage the two who weren't distracted by Ashido into a quick discussion about their Quirks.
And then…hero foundationals, with Toshinori himself. Izuku had to bite their lip to not let it slip that they'd already known he was the teacher, but they pulled it off without issue, leading to them needing to get changed and Izuku's first real challenge of the day…not letting anyone else see the scarring. Luckily, they'd prepared for this, wearing a skintight undershirt they claimed that helped with their Quirk and no one bothered asking beyond that. The scarring on their legs was high enough up that it was covered by their boxers, so that wasn't going to be an issue either hopefully.
The costume though…that was a bit of a pain, as this was the first time Izuku had to deal with getting their damned tail through it, and since it was considered a failure point, apparently the costume had a whole specialized fabric for that region and it was not stretchy. Still…they managed, with as little embarrassment as possible, and managed to catch a glimpse of themselves in a mirror.
A dark green jumpsuit, with black accents along the sides. Slim but steel-toed boots, a red harness that held various bandages and first aid equipment, and gloves that could retract to expose their fingertips for use of Zero Gravity. They'd originally had a respirator and hood, but they had to keep their costume simple if they intended on using Transform at all, so the entire thing was made of a specialized DNA infused material that would allow it to stretch with their body changes…to a point. If they grew too large or shrunk too small it would fail, but it should handle most moments they needed to transform.
They joined back with everyone else, taking a quick note of everyone's costume…Ochako's was a fitted jumpsuit not unlike theirs, but black and pink as the color combination instead. Pink bracelets on her wrist to put pressure on her, a similar neck structure, to help reduce the nausea from her Quirk. She had larger boots than Izuku's, since she didn't intend on fighting with kicks as often, she went for ones better suited for her landings as she liked floating herself for attacks from the air, as well as small air jets in her boots to propel her further.
Himiko skipped over to them, clad in a matching red and black jumpsuit to the other two, but covering it with a long, dark red coat where she was storing her knives, since she still preferred fighting with those than Izuku's more kick focused style or Ochako's heavy grapple preference. All three of them had small plastic vials hidden in various pouches on their person, holding a few vials of donated blood from their various teachers for use. They'd considered asking their classmates at one point, but decided against it for now.
Idly, Izuku noted some of the other costumes…Ida, in a full set of armor that Izuku wondered what it was made of considering how easily Ida was moving about. Yaoyorozu, a jumpsuit very similar to theirs, save her arms were entirely bare and she had a visor wrapped about her head. They…had no clue what Hagakure had on, because she was completely invisible, but whatever it was it seemed to work with her Quirk. Kirishima had a red harness around a nearly skin tight black vest beneath it, another DNA costume as far as Izuku had heard, and…what the hell was Todoroki wearing? They couldn't help but blink at the weird ice(?) covering that was over their left side.
Their musings were interrupted by Toshinori, the bombastic hero drawing everyone's attention to him with some comments about how they looked in their costumes…Izuku couldn't help preening slightly as their hero complimented everyone…only to suddenly be wracked with nerves as they, along with Himiko and Ochako, were called forward.
"Now, as you are all aware, these three had a Quirk accident and it allows them access to each other's Quirks as well. But it also had one other side effect, and as you're all going to be classmates together, it's important you all learn how to deal with it. Midoriya, please activate your Quirk for me." Toshinori asked, making Izuku realize what he intended on having the trio do.
Izuku bit their lip, unsure about causing panic first thing, but did as was asked, activating Full Cowling at 20%. Not their cap, but more than enough for this demonstration and yeah, it was obvious right then and there. All but three people flinched as the lightning sparked around Izuku…Todoroki, Tsuyu, and Tokoyami all seemed unaffected…but then Ochako lit up at Toshinori's insistence, and both Todoroki and Tokoyami flinched, while the rest of the class seemed even more unsettled. Ashido was now trying not to look like she was hiding behind Kirishima, who had subconsciously moved in front of her and Aoyama. They couldn't see it, but they heard Hagakure let out a squeak and a shuffle of noise as she clearly stepped back.
Toshinori waited for a moment to see if they could calm themselves, waiting until everyone seemed to slowly get back to a more stable position, before speaking softly. "The effect multiplies as each one of them activates their power. Now, in a moment, I will have young Himiko activate hers. This will frighten you. But it is important to learn how to manage this fear. Many other people have Quirks that can cause similar effects, and with a strong enough will, you can defeat some of them. Some cannot be so easily dealt with, but it still will be good practice. Now, is everyone ready?" Toshinori waited for the rather hesitant acknowledgements, before turning to Himiko and giving her a nod.
As the golden strands lifted off her skin and the blood-red threads intertwined amongst them, Izuku themselves flinched as fully half the class took multiple steps back…Aoyama fell backwards onto his rear, Sato almost tripped trying to backpedal, a half-hearted wall of ice began to grow up from Todoroki's feet as he reacted to the surge of power. And yet, Izuku's eyes were stuck on the one person who had yet to flinch or react poorly…Tsuyu, still standing there, a placid expression on her face as she reached down to help lift Aoyama to his feet.
Toshinori was apparently as surprised as Izuku, tilting his head at her. "I'm impressed, young Asui! Are you unaffected, or is it something else?"
"I've got some animal instincts myself, ribbit. And mine say they are predators, but not ones that are going to hurt me. Honestly, I feel safer when they do that, ribbit. It reminds me of how you feel to be around," she replied with a shrug.
Toshinori barely held back a cough, Izuku's eyes widening as they glanced to the side, Himiko's barely audible giggle making them elbow her gently in the side, Himiko turning around and sticking her tongue out at Izuku in response. And that little moment of levity seemed to break some of the tension in the room, the others finally seeming to get themselves under better control, though it was clear they were still hesitant.
Toshinori clapped his hands. "Well then, now that we're all established this will occur, it's time for some training! Now, I imagine most of you have not had a ton of combat training, and that's fine. We're going to start today by figuring out your baseline, with one on one sparring! It's alright to win or lose, what matters is figuring out where you are at and we'll be able to work from there. How many of you have had actual combat training?"
The trio raised their hands, as well as Yaoyorozu, Todoroki, Ida, Kendo, Shinso, and Ashido. Toshinori nods. "Nine of you, not bad, we can-"
"Ten!" Hagakure's voice calls out. "I raised my hand too!" There was a beat of silence in the room as everyone contemplated that, and then they heard a sheepish giggle from her. "...right. Forgot I wasn't in my uniform. Um, yeah, sorry. I took mixed martial arts classes growing up. Mom said beating people up while invisible would be really useful if I wanted to be a hero!"
"Well…she wasn't wrong," Toshinori replied with a hearty guffaw. "Still, this is excellent then! Ten of you means we'll pair you up, and we'll have the rest of you pair off with one another! So let's see…"
Todoroki raised his hand. "May I request a spar?"
"By all means, do you have someone you'd like to challenge specifically?" Toshinori asked. Todoroki silently pointed towards Izuku. Izuku blinked, taken aback, a bit confused as to why he would challenge them right off the bat. But…well, they may as well see how well they did against them. Toshinori clapped his hands together. "That works for me! Let's see…we'll have you two go last, in fact, as I want to test each of those without training first. Let's have…hmm…Kirishima, you and Sato first up. Let's see how you do!"
The spars had gone fairly well, Izuku felt. They'd really enjoyed getting to watch everyone's Quirk's in action too! Kirishima managed to outlast Sato, but Sato could really pump out some hits apparently, nearly wrecking an office building next to their sparring location in the Battle Ground B they were at. Sero was…pretty much destroyed by Tokoyami, Dark Shadow apparently being utterly overpowering with how quickly it wrecked the entire area. Aoyama gamely held his own versus Tsuyu, but she quickly outpaced his ability to fire multiple shots.
Koda…really couldn't do much versus Jiro, the shorter teenager able to drown out his calls for help with her Quirk. Shoji was able to resist the big blast from Kaminari, just barely managing to stay standing when he captured the electric blonde.
When it came to the ones with combat training, it was much more even so far. Ida took on Yaoyorozu, and though he was able to outspeed her, she managed to catch him up with a clever trap she laid while defending herself from his incessant attacks. Ashido took on Hagakure, and to say the match was a close one would be underselling it. Ashido had spun about, flinging as many droplets of her Quirk out as possible to try and catch Hagakure, and just enough landed that she negated Hagakure's main advantage…but the invisible teen had not been lying about her training.
Izuku was able to piece together that Ashido had trained in some sort of fighting style that was heavy on mobility and almost dancelike motions, but Hagakure had focused on something fast paced and direct, maybe a style of kung fu? They weren't sure, they never really studied specific disciplines closely, but it was super interesting to watch the two of them duking it out! They were so fast and fluid it was hard to tell who was winning, but eventually, Hagakure managed to catch Ashido just as she stumbled slightly over an upturned brick in the road and pin her, winning the match.
Shinso versus Kendo was one of the most interesting ones to Izuku, because it wasn't until the last few seconds that Shinso actually used his Quirk. Kendo, to be blunt, had been trouncing the purple haired boy…he had some moves, but Kendo had previously mentioned she'd been training since childhood and it showed. Of everyone there, she probably seemed the most comfortable with martial arts, but near the end Shinso made some comment, Kendo replied, and that was it…they all got treated to how Shinso's Quirk worked and gosh Izuku wanted to ask a thousand questions about it!
And then…Himiko vs Ochako. All three of the trio had sparred together multiple times, but Toshinori had pulled them both aside and quietly asked them to really go in. He wanted to show the rest of the class what they could do after some more training, and this was a golden opportunity…so the girls did not disappoint. As they both lit up and half the class shuddered while the rest tried not to look impacted, Izuku could only grin at watching them go at it. It being a simple sparring match, they weren't going all out, but still…
Seven minutes later, a third of the battleground lay in ruins, both of them panting, sweat dripping down their brow as they slugged it out. The air around them was wavering under Ochako's Quirk pressure, as Himiko kept flipping Aizawa's Erasure on and off (to conserve her blood supplies) as she canceled out the effects. Idly, Izuku couldn't help but think that their friends looked amazing out there, so strong, so skilled, so powerful (so beautiful). The girls would have continued on, but Toshinori called the fight so they had time for Izuku's bout vs Todoroki…and so they had some of the training ground left, he muttered beneath his breath to Izuku, making the teenager have to hide their snort at the comment, carefully making their face blank as Himiko and Ochako returned back, the feeling of their adrenaline rushes still filtering across the bond to Izuku. It had been breathlessly exciting for them, feeling the other two's determination, joy, and a bit of cockiness in both of them as they taunted each other in a friendly fashion. Always so competitive, Izuku mused to themselves.
Still, that left time for one more fight, and Izuku had spent the entire time wondering why Todoroki had been so determined to fight them. The entire class, Todoroki had spent staring at Izuku, the one visible eye narrowed as if he were mad, but no anger seemed to be coming off him. Izuku was concerned…but decided not to let it impact them. Ochako and Himiko had shown off what they could do, and now…it was their turn. Toshinori sent the two teens off to the training grounds, the duo walking in silence as they reached the spot where the match was to take place. As they turned to face one another, waiting for the indicator to start, Izuku focused on their opponent. They didn't know why Todoroki wanted this fight, but if he wanted one…he was gonna get it. Time to see what Todoroki was made of.
So I have lost my backlog, and am struggling to keep up my weekly posts, but I'm gonna do my best! It's a tough time at work, the teams are shuffling about and the business statement has changed, but I'll do my best to keep going, and I hope you guys enjoy the chapter as I keep hitting canon with a baseball bat!