Chapter 22: Lessons learnt
1A students were given a 3 day break from classes to recover from the villain attack. Some of them spent that time on leisure, while others decided to act on mistakes they noticed during the incident.
Yaoyorozu was walking towards the support department office, along with Shouji and Jirou. She was determined to provide the best possible equipment for herself and her partners. Just as the trio got close to the door, an explosion sent them flying backwards. Kyoka's ears suffered the most damage, so Mezou had to accompany her to Recovery Girl. Momo entered the office, fighting the urge to smite the cretin who hurt them.
"Hello. Sorry about that blast." Power Loader greeted her. "Hatsume's gizmos tend to do that fairly often."
"Why do you keep her around if that's the case?"
"Because usually her machines are top shelf."
"Really? Hm, I guess I could work with her."
"I'd like to discuss some things with Hatsume-san."
The teacher pointed at a pink haired girl working on a jetpack. Yaomomo approached the girl to say hello, but was promptly ignored. She only a got a proper reaction after shouting.
"Hi, I'm Mei Hatsume. Are you here to discuss support equipment?"
"Momo Yaoyorozu." The genius was evaluating the machine. "I and my… friends require improvements for hero costumes, as well as special gear for our other classmates. Here is the list of requests."
Mei scans the paper and stops at a particular point.
"Highly intensive UV rays? Hey, you are the girl who blasted that green haired boy!"
"Indeed. I figured he'd come here to request a more thorough protective layer. Considering how powerful he is, I'd like to stay ahead in our little Arms Race."
"That's funny. I recently finished making an improved version of UV absorbing material he requested."
"I'll give you anything you want if you help me stay ahead of him."
"Right now I want to know who your supplier is. It's certainly not the support course itself, otherwise I would have seen you here before."
Momo grinned and created a matryoshka doll in her hand.
"I am my own supplier." She proudly exclaimed.
"Say what?"
She explained the intricacies of her quirk.
"That's awesome! I have so many ideas and blueprints that got shot down due to expensive or rare ingredients. Your Creation can help me make all the babies I could think of!"
"Babies?" Momo got confused.
"Did I come at a wrong time?" Mezou entered the room.
"No, come here."
"I suppose baby is a metaphor for invention?" Raven haired girl scratched her forehead.
"Metaphor? Oh right, it is."
"So the deal is as follows: you create the most efficient and SAFE to use gear for my circle, and in exchange I'll make materials for your personal projects. Make sure you put me at the top of your priority list. Deal?"
"Deal!" Two geniuses shook their hands. One of them made a mental note to wash it later.
"Is Jirou-san alright?" Momo look at Mezou
"Yeah, she is fine."
"Good, let's go visit her." Two of them left the support course office.
"What do you think of that girl, Shouji?"
"I think she is crazy."
"Me too. Thankfully, she is the useful kind of crazy. Plus, she'd be attractive if she took regular baths. Say, do you think I'm crazy?" She stopped to look him dead in the eyes. The giant gulped before answering.
"No, you are just spoiled."
"That's a fair assessment." She smiled at the confused mutant.
Katsuki did not like interacting with people, especially if they were outside of hero course. But the new gear wasn't going to request itself, so he went towards the Power Loader's classroom. The inevitable explosion barely fazed him, as his body was naturally resistant to blast force. He silently approached the Power Loader and put a filled form on his desk. The sooner he could get back to training the better.
Izuku went to talk to Snipe-sensei about a license. Turns out, guns could only be used after passing a specialized test. This test included a written exam on firearm safety and handling, as well a shooting range, cleaning exercise and repairs. A lot of work just for pair of revolvers. He saw Shouji passing a similar exam for semi auto pistols. When asked about his choice of a gun, Izuku let Killer Queen put a bullet in the chamber, shoot it a target dummy and explode it. It would be harder to "cook" individual bullets in a magazine based pistol. Besides, 6 shooters look cool. Midroyia could only imagine how much work Yaomomo had to do to use all of her weapons.
The entire UA hero staff was summoned into principal's office. It was time to discuss the USJ fiasco and figure it out what to do next. Everyone had a cup of tea in front of them.
"It appears that none of the students suffered any permanent injuries. All of them will be able to return to studying in a few days." Nezu began.
"But one of the teachers had to go through a life changing experience." Present Mic pointed at Eraserhead. His looked completely healthy, except for pale skin.
"It's fine, Hizashi."
"Are we sure that's irreversible?"
"Despite Recovery Girl's best effort, it appears vampirism is a permanent state. Patient Zero being the only exception."
"What a weird guy. First he destroys a thing that was allegedly on par with All Might, and then he grants pseudo immortality to his dying teacher. That kid gives me the creeps." Snipe admitted.
"I've known Midoriya for years." Midnight argued. "He might act strangely sometimes but I know he has a heart of gold."
"Now, let us discuss the attack itself. Someone managed to jam our communications, figure out All Might's schedule and send all those villains for attack."
"By the way, All Might, why weren't you present at the complex?"
Yagi sighed. He could not think rationally when it came to heroics. Whenever he saw a crime, his body moved on its own, even when the situation could be handled by police or other heroes.
"I, uh, got involved in solving a certain crime."
"You have obligations towards this school. You don't get paid to skip on classes. Not to mention, you effectively left the class to fight off the attack without you."
"I know and I'm deeply sorry for that. This will not happen again."
"By the way, were there any notable villains who got arrested?"
"No, everyone was identified as either small time villain or first time villain. It appears only the leader, Nomu and Kurogiri person were actually dangerous. None of the people we interrogated knew anything useful." Rat took another sip.
"That's a shame. What now?"
"It's difficult for me to admit this, but we may have a spy here at UA. That would explain how villains prepared so well. I'm not going reveal my suspicions right now, but I encourage you all to be observant."
"Does this mean we'll cancel the Sports Festival?"
"No. We can't publicly admit defeat like this. I'll hire every Pro Hero in this country as guards if necessary, but we will still have the festival."
Everyone except Yagi left. Principal wanted to discuss something with him.
Class 1A finally returned to school to have their normal classes. Eraserhead's new appearance took some of them off guard. Tsuyu asked if he is stuck like this forever, getting a slow nod as a response. Mina wanted to joke that his new look suits him. The homeroom teacher told his class that Sports Festival will be conducted in a few weeks, and they all should prepare for it. As the students try to leave the room, a hoard of other teens blocks the exit. Some of them are from 1B assessing competition; others are general studies students rambling about entitlement. Bakugo ends up screaming and pushing people away, much to dismay of others in class 1A. A guy with purple hair declares war on hero students before rallying the rest of the mob to leave. Principal tells green head to go to his office. Nezu and All Might were waiting for him.
"Toshinori-san! I am glad to see you."
"You don't have to pretend, young Midoriya. I know he is All Might, he told me everything."
"Understood. All Might, I wanted to ask you about your quirk. How long can you last?"
"Damn, that sounded dirty."
"About three hours. In a few years I will likely become completely powerless."
"Hopefully, by that time I'll be on the field. Why weren't you present in the class? Did you waste all three hours on petty crime?" Izuku frowned. He respected All Might, but he couldn't overlook the man's potential flaws.
"*Sigh* Yes, and I apologize for that."
"Apology accepted. Good thing my quirk is out of this world." His mood quickly improved. "By the way, may be I can turn you into a vampire too? That'll help, right?"
"Perhaps physically, but… I couldn't be the Symbol of Peace anymore. You see, the public has a very specific image of All Might in their heads. If I were to become a creature of the night, people might lose trust in me and my ability to maintain peace. Not to mention, there is unfortunately a stigma against such mutations. An underground hero can get away with this because they are rarely seen anyway, and in your case it's a transformation, something much easier to swallow. But it won't work for me. They wouldn't care if I became twice as strong in the process."
"That's sad. And dumb if you ask me."
"We can't all be clever, Izuku." Rat let out a small laugh.
"Midoriya, there is something I need to tell you too."
"I'm listening."
Toshinori relayed the whole story behind AFO, OFA and All Might.
"Ever since I got this injury I've been thinking about someone inheriting my quirk. A part of me wants this torch to get carried along…"
"But?"
"But I fear that power of One For All might be too much for anyone to handle after me. The quirk might become so strong that it kills it user, especially if that person already has a quirk."
"If only there was a quirkless and suicidally selfless guy nearby." Izuku joked.
"We can't always get what we want, young Midoriya. By the way, my former sidekick Sir Nighteye wants to meet you."
"Why?"
"He is interested in your quirk, especially King Crimson. He considers you a potential candidate to inherit OFA."
"I thought you didn't want to give it."
"I don't, but it may be necessary as a last resort. The chances of that, however, are pretty low. I am willing to let OFA die with me now that AFO is dead."
"I'll meet him IF you get me some good All Might merch!"