I only own this fan fiction. May contain Out of Character moments.
Ground Gamma was, for a lack of a more creative description, an industrial nightmare. The factories, storage tanks, and innumerable pipelines were so packed together it made the place more like a metal labyrinth. Regular navigation and traversal would be next to impossible given how winding and claustrophobic the place was. Thus, this place favored those with Quirks that enhanced their mobility. And that's not going into the number of blind spots this place has.
Though Minoru doubts this was why this place was chosen for today's training exercise.
"Finally! A chance to show off our winter style! Am I cool or what?" Mina asked excitedly, striking a pose. Minoru looked over to the pink girl, noting the longer vest and fluffy collar that was now part of her costume. It was winter, so a few members of 1A had modified their costumes to suit the colder weather. Yaoyorozu had a cloak, Ojiro had furs and extra layers, Tsuyu, while not inherently obvious, had a different suit on that was no doubt more insulated. Even Bakugou had a costume change, since the cold was a logical weakness for him.
This did, however, leave Minoru wondering why Hagakure didn't request something to help her during the winter. She's still completely naked save for gloves and boots. Granted… Would a costume made out of her hair work the same way as Mirio's costume did? How would you even make and keep track of an invisible costume? Would stealth technology from the military help? Is it even possible to obtain said technology just for costume making?
Question like these made Minoru glad he wasn't in Hero Support. The logistics of it all sounds like hell to process.
"Mineta, even you got a costume change?" Shouji asked. This snapped the shorter boy out of his thoughts and turned to his multi-armed classmate and nodded with a small smile. He patted his new pants, having finally ditched the bowl-shaped thing he initially had for something closer to his original drawing. Functionally, it was practically the same thing as his old pair of pants… It was just 68% less questionable. Not only that, these new pants had pockets.
"You've got to get new pants when you feel like a new man. And I've done a color adjustment to everything, now I should be harder to spot." Minoru replied, looking down at his gloves. Instead of the standard yellow, his gloves, boots, and cape were a much darker yellow. His new shorts too were closer to grey than the original's white. Since the shorter boy had been taking the predator hero approach, Minoru needed to have a darker costume to make stealth easier.
He still didn't have the heart to give up his original color scheme though.
"Because that's what we need, a rat bitch that's harder to catch." Bakugou said with a scoff.
"You're just upset that you couldn't find Mineta-chan in last week's stealth exercise." Tsuyu replied, blankly staring at the explosive blonde.
"The little fucker cheated… Not being where I wanted him to be…" Bakugou grumbled, folding his arms.
Before anyone could react to Bakugou's rather humorously indignant expression, another familiarly arrogant voice filled the air. And turning to the source, 1A could see Class 1B, dressed in their Hero costumes; approach them with determination burning in their eyes. However, this impressive show of will was reduced by the ridiculous pose that Monoma was in.
"Do you hear it Class 1A!? How the tides are changing!? Today is the day we settle our rivalry once and for all!" Monoma shouted, his body somehow leaning back even more to further look down on 1A. He then suddenly straightened himself and pulled out a sheet of paper, the results to a survey of some sort. Though given that it clearly said it was researched by Monoma himself, Minoru doubted it was credible.
"But first, behold this survey I took during the culture festival! And lo and behold, the people prefer 1B's ultra-high-quality theatrics over 1A's pathetic little musical number! Read it and weep!" The arrogant blonde shouted, tossing the sheet in 1A's direction. Kirishima was the first to catch it and looked at the numbers, his eyes widening at the results.
"Oh man, we lost by 2 votes!"
"For real? I guess we weren't as good as I thought…" Jirou muttered, eyes casting themselves onto the ground.
"Come on Jirou, you know we rocked. The crowd loved the show and we had a good time with it. I'm sure that's worth more than some dumb numbers on a stupid paper." Kaminari said, placing a hand on the punk girl's shoulder. Before she or anyone else could react to those motivating words, Monoma once again killed the mood. And Minoru would've strangled him, right then and there, had Izuku's grip on him prevented him from doing so.
But he could tell his partner wasn't enjoying this windbag's insults either.
"Sure, rationalize your losses! It won't save you from your decline as we rise and take your throne as UA's most valued Heroe-in-Tra– HRK!?" Monoma shouted, sounding more and more unhinged before Aizawa's capture scarf tightly wrapped around his neck. Minoru could feel 1A's relief when Aizawa silenced him, more than a little tired of Monoma's tirades at this point.
"We've got a guest today, so quit making a fool of yourselves." The Erasure Hero said, still keeping a tight hold over Monoma. as 1B's homeroom teacher, Vlad King, walked up next to him.
"He's an aspirant looking to transfer into the Hero course, so show him how we do things here." Vlad King, homeroom teacher of 1B, said. The red clad hero moved his large body aside and all saw a familiar face, dressed in UA's winter PE jersey and had both a mask-like device and a copy of Aizawa's capture scarf hanging from his neck. Hitoshi Shinso of 1C was standing before them, his tired eyes carefully observing the members of both 1A and 1B.
Minoru recognizes that look… Mostly since it's something he would do when entering an unknown situation. Aizawa really did teach Shinso and the shorter boy knew his inclusion will make this exercise a lot more interesting.
"I have mixed feelings about this…" Ojiro commented as he appeared next to Minoru. The shorter boy meditated on those words, considered everything he felt at the moment, and resolutely shook his head.
"I don't. I'm glad he found his path forward and that we'll soon have a new friend to walk beside us."
"What if he doesn't want to make friends?" Ojiro asked, noting the unfriendliness emanating from Shinso. Minoru once again shook his head, knowing exactly how this sort of narrative will play out in the end. Bakugou and Todoroki went through this same nonsense before. One way or another, the joyous mayhem of the Hero classes will drag you in whether you want to or not.
"We'll see."
"Go on, introduce yourself." Aizawa said as he took a step away from Shinso. The general student's expression didn't change, his tired eyes stoically making distance between himself and the people before him.
"I encountered several of you at the Sports Festival… But that's just it, encounters. I'm not the kind of person who calls others friends just because we fought; displays of good sportsmanship are for others. So I'll just say it outright…" Shinso began, his glare turning more intense.
"I'm behind you all, so I'm doing everything I can to catch up. I don't have time to be friendly, mess around, or learn who likes who… I have to become a great Hero who will use his Quirk to help others, and you're just obstacles in my way. So don't try to be friendly with me, you'll waste both our time." Shinso said as his glare focused on Minoru. The shorter boy bristled a little, feeling the raw resolve of his old foe…
But Minoru couldn't help but return that glare, challenging Shinso to do his worst.
"Talk about intense, kind of reminds me of pre-upgrade Todoroki." Sero commented, glancing over at his dual colored classmate.
"I suppose this does seem familiar."
"Alright, settle down, we're starting. Today's exercise is a team battle between Classes 1A and 1B within one section of Ground Gamma. We'll decide teams by lots, with 4 students to one team." Aizawa began as Vlad pulled out two marked boxes, one for 1A and one for 1B.
"Wait, if Shinso is going to be part of our training, which teams will he be on?" Shishida, 1B's beast man, asked.
"He will be joining a random team for two of the matches, 1B in one and 1A for the other. This means those matches will be a 5-on-4. It sounds daunting, but Shinso inexperience will balance things out. The scenario for our exercise is 'Heroes trying to capture a team of Villains', the first to defeat four opponents win. Each team's home base has a jail and you're defeated the moment you're inside, completely restrained, or unconscious." Vlad explained, handing one of the boxes to Aizawa.
"Four to win… Is that some kind of handicap for the team of 5?" Bakugou asked, furrowing his brows. Now that Minoru thought about it, 'Defeat four to win' was a weird way to phrase that victory condition. Most teams will only have 4 members. So the wording must specifically be for the teams with Shinso, as Bakugou noted.
"Yes. Shinso is not only experienced… But the team he's on will still lose if the other 4 members are captured. That will more than balance out the numerical advantage those teams will have, so do be careful." Aizawa replied.
"Just what we needed, fighting while carrying deadweight. Great." Bakugou grumbled with a huff.
"Kacchan! That's a harsh way of putting it!" Izuku said, turning to the explosive blonde.
"He's not wrong though." Shinso replied bluntly. Minoru had to concede on that, mostly since he usually feels that way about himself. Despite all of his growth, the shorter boy was still not as capable as his classmates. It is why he must rely on underhanded tactics to make up the difference. And he's completely sure Shinso will be doing the same thing.
"Enough chit chat, let's get started." Aizawa said, holding 1A's box out.
"Take your pick kids; remember to start planning things out once we're done." Vlad added, holding 1B's box out. Minoru, Izuku, and their friends in 1A got on line with all the excitement and jitters they're known for. And while the shorter boy knew there was a chance he might not work with Izuku… They'll just have to deal with it as random chance is random chance.
Besides, it's not as though Izuku or Minoru were useless on their own. Those days were far behind them now.
So with all that said, the five teams have been decided.
Battle 1 features Mina, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, and Kirishima against Fukidashi Manga, Bondo Kojiro, Honenuki Juzo, and Tsunotori Pony.
Battle 2 will have Aoyama, Jirou, Iida, and Kouda fighting Komori Kinoko, Yosetsu Awase, Shoda Nirengeki, and Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu.
Battle 3 has Satou, Shouji, Kaminari, and Bakugou facing off with Hiryu Rin, Kodai Yui, Tokage Setsuna, and Kiabara Sen.
Battle 4 pits Sero, Tokoyami, Hagakure, and Ojiro against Tsuburaba Kosei, Kuroiro Shihai, Shiozaki Ibara, and Kamakiri Togaru.
And finally, Battle 5 will have Minoru, Izuku, Tsuyu, and Uraraka against Monoma Neito, Kendo Itsuka, Shishida Jurota, and Yanagi Reiko.
By some stroke of luck, Minoru has not only gotten his partner for this exercise, but two of their most trusted friends as well. The shorter boy had to hold back his elation though. 1B was already staring at him and Izuku in disbelief already, unable to process how the best coordinated pair ended up on the same team by chance. Monoma was hiding it through bravado by saying (shouting) how his team will crush them and prove 1B's superiority.
This earned him a swift chop to the neck from Kendo.
"Now you'll choose which team you'll end up." Aizawa said as he and Vlad presented their boxes to the Shinso. He reached inside, one hand in each box, and pulled what must've been the first ball he touched. In his right hand, Shinso will be joining 1A's Team 4. In his left hand… Was the ball for 1B's Team 5
That made Minoru wish his luck was more consistent. However, this did mean the shorter boy has a chance to have a proper match with the general student. He was curious as to how much Shinso had changed since their Sports Festival match.
And as Shinso looked at the teams he would be allying and fighting against… He gave an unnerving smile that was all-too-similar to Aizawa's.
"I'm in your care."
And that has been Chapter 121!
I apologize for the late update, but I was quite busy yesterday and today. However, I bring great news...
I am able to update bi-weekly again! So in two weeks, expect another chapter in this strange story about a boy changing to become better.
But that's really all I have to say. So...
Until Next Time. T1.