Here it is another chapter of Symbol of Life by unholy-creater. I'm not getting not that much reviews so I don't know what to do. Next chapter will be uploaded after getting some satisfied reviews.
CHAPTER 9 - STLEATH MISSION
It's now 8 am on Monday morning, and Izuku found himself lying on the sand after training Toru, who was also lying beside him, naked, thanks to his invisibility.
"Oh, you and your training, Midori. Every time I think I'm grasping everything, you just level up," Toru pouted. Yesterday, Izuku was blocking her attacks, but today, he sometimes countered, and his hits hurt like hell. She thought about asking Izuku's mom what she feeds him to make him so strong. While Izuku wasn't using OFA, his punches were still strong, thank All Might again.
Izuku laughed, but he was a bit awkward talking with a naked, invisible girl outdoors. However, he knew that in the future, he might have to work with her, so he couldn't be flustered by her lack of clothing, even though she was invisible.
"Something wrong Midori??"
Izuku looked to his left at the source of the voice but saw only sand. He replied, "It's a bit awkward when you're talking to someone and you can't see her, especially when the person is naked."
He almost laughed when a pink shade formed in the middle of nowhere with her muttering "pervert". "Bear with it, Midori. I've spent many years naked everywhere just to get used to it since my clothes can't be turned invisible, and with them on, I can't have full stealth. Though it's not like I want to run naked in public, but sometimes I wish people could see me and fawn over my beauty."
Izuku didn't reply for a moment before replying, "You know you're normally invisible, but maybe in infrared or ultraviolet light, you can be seen. Also, since your Quirk is mutant-type, you can make clothes with your hair to make them also invisible. You can ask Power Loader if he can make it for you."
"I didn't think like that, Midori, but you're not wrong," Toru beamed. "I'll ask him today if that's possible or not, but thank you, Midori, for the idea." To Izuku's embarrassment, the invisible girl hugged him, and his head was smashed between two fleshy globes of her chest. His whole body stiffened as his skin touched the girl's soft flesh, and his little Deku wasn't helping.
"Ahh!! Hagakure!! I appreciate you, but please release me." His hands flailed, but unfortunately, his hands touched her butt, causing her to yelp and clutch Izuku's head more tightly. "Pervy Midori, you smacked my butt." Though she was accusing him, her voice didn't give that idea.
Before Izuku could mutter a string of apologies, Toru continued, "But I like it, and I purposefully smashed your face where it is now. If you didn't get it, let me say it: I think I'm falling for you. From the first day, you stood up for me, trained me, made me smile, and suggested many things to help me. No one has done that much for me except my parents. Don't forget how cute, handsome, and manly you are. It's fine if you don't like me now, but I'll show you what I can do and make you look at me in that way."
Izuku blinked in surprise at Toru's confession, but before he could say anything, Toru got up and ran away as fast as she could without looking back. She was too embarrassed to look back after what she had blabbered out.
Meanwhile Izuku just stayed in his place still processing what happened just.
UA HIGH, CLASS 1-A -
"How are you feeling, Mineta?" Tenya asked the midget as soon as he saw him, since Mineta was the only one who was physically injured and didn't join their fun trip on Saturday.
The said midget gave a thumbs up to the stoic boy. "I'm just fine staring at the girl's perky boobs and round ass." He let out a pervy grin, causing Kyoka and Mina to glare at him. Tenya sighed, knowing he had no way to stop the pervert's ways.
The door of the class opened with a normal greeting of "Good morning." Izuku entered, accompanied by Ochako and Tsuyu, whom he had encountered at the station, and walked with them.
"Everyone"
A new voice just spoke from behind Izuku and everyone took their seats immediately before anyone could blink.
The voice belonged to a man with his whole face bandaged and black, messy hair rolling behind him, Shota Aizawa.
"Good, you all took 3 seconds to react," he grunted and stood at the podium with a tired yawn. Something would never change.
"Sensei!!" Tenya half-yelled before standing out. "It's good to see you recovered, Sensei."
"Are you sure that's called Recovery??" Momo thought outloud earning some chukhles from Shinso and Mina.
Aizawa grunted again, "I am mostly fine, thanks to Midoriya's healing or Recovery Girl was planning to wrap me in a body bag until I get totally fit." The bandages slightly moved from Shota's lips as a small grin showed that he owed Izuku in that one.
"Anyways," Shota started again with a glare, making the class gulp. "The danger isn't gone from you." His smirk had gotten bigger as the students gulped.
'Another villain attack??' Everyone thought together.
"The UA sports festival is coming"
Shota declared, making the students deadpan at him, thinking that it was a normal school event. Though, between everyone, Shoto glanced at Izuku, 'Just you wait, Midoriya. I don't have any option except beating you after my old man praised you.'
"But sensei," Mineta cried out. "Villains have already invaded our campus once, and the sports festival will be an open invitation to attack us again."
The ones who were excited for the sports festival suddenly shifted uncomfortably knowing Mineta was Right. No matter how much security the school have but they invaded once and it will be an invitation in a crowd to invade again.
This is an actual open invitation to them to attack us. The UA will be crowded with countless pros, including some top pros like All Might, Endeavor, Ryuku, Mirko, and more top pros. If they try to do something, they will be dusted in no time. Besides, the UA will show their strength that they aren't frightened by some villains. Besides, it's your opportunity to show the world what you can do.
"Yeah, after quirks appeared, the UA sports festival became more popular than the Olympics, and the whole country watches it. Every pro hero will watch us, and we might be picked by them as their sidekicks," Izuku muttered, though everyone heard him.
"Midoriya is right. The pros will watch you carefully, and it will be your chance to become a top hero with them leading you. Three years means three chances. If you lose it, you will regret. You have three weeks to prepare yourself, and don't forget that many general studies students will seek your seat here. Poor performance, and you will lose your place. Don't forget that Bakugo is there, who will try harder than anyone. So, be careful. That's it."
Within a moment, Shota went back into his sleeping bag, leaving the class in their thoughts. Some of them shivered, thinking of the vicious ash-blond who might try to kill someone actually to come back into the heroic course.
"Midoriya-chan, what are the chances that Bakugo will try to murder at least one of us to get back here?" Tsuyu asked bluntly, causing Mineta to gulp. Her question made almost everyone nervous.
Izuku let out a nervous chuckle. "Maybe he will try to murder everyone. His battle instincts are wild, and that's the only thing you can't match with Kacchan. He just wants the number one spot, but he doesn't care what stairs he has to climb. If someone blocks him, then he will just explode them from inside without any care."
"That's not very heroic per se. To be a hero, you need to help others. More than winning a fight, you need to protect those who need help. This is why All Might is the number one hero, not only for his strength but also for prioritizing the protection of those in need."
Izuku heard what Tenya said, and he also thought that before. Izuku knew Katsuki; if he left his ego behind, he would be one of the strongest heroes without any question. Maybe, in time, that will change.
"Hey, let's forget about that. Bakugo may be strong, but that doesn't mean we'll run. We'll fight, isn't it, Deku-kun?" Ochaco pumped her fist with a determined look on her face. She needed to prove herself, to Deku-kun and to her family.
Beside Ochako, Tsuyu gave her a glance; she was also thinking the same. The future strongest hero will need a strong heroine beside him to help him, and she wanted that spot.
"Three weeks are enough to get strong enough for the festival with Midori's training. I can feel some muscles forming on me," Toru said with a grin. There was a small thumping sound as she bumped her fists together.
"Last time I saw Midoriya-chan, he was chasing you before he grabbed you and slammed you on the sand many times," Tsuyu remembered the scene from the morning, and it was hilarious for her to see. Not that Tsuyu is hostile towards Toru, but she was her rival, and she was spending more time with Izuku than her.
A sudden pink tent formed in midair where Toru's face should be. Realizing Tsuyu caught her at an embarrassing moment, she countered quickly, "Ah, we were playing tag. If you get tagged, then you have to defend yourself from the attacker when he tries to hit you. Every time Midori tags me, he throws me like a softball, not giving me any chance to defend. But when I tag him, I never land any hits on him."
Everyone laughed much to Toru's dismay while Shota was also chuckling from his sleeping bag. Someday he will watch the training by himself even if he needs to cut some sleep.
"But that's not it," Toru's voice was heard smugly, and it went directly to Ochako and Tsuyu. "Today, for once, I captured him and choked him to death between two softballs." She grinned and folded her hands under her chest to make them look bigger.
"Hagakure!! Don't say embarrassing things like that," Izuku half-yelled with a red face, making everyone realize quickly what Toru meant by "two softballs."
"Midoriya, you lucky son of a witch!!" Mineta cried out with blood tears spilling from his eyes. "Damn, Midoriya, you exceeded my expectations," Shinso smirked, patting Izuku's shoulder. Momo stuttered something with a heavy blush on her face, and many in the class had similar expressions.
"Toru-chan!!"
"Toru-channn!!"
The girl gulped when she saw two pairs of red eyes smiling at her. One belonged to the green-haired frog girl, and the other belonged to the bubbly brunette, who wasn't in her usual bubbly mood. This scared even Tenya, who was going to say something but stopped.
The lunch hour passed without much problem, though Ochako and Tsuyu were glued to Izuku, much to his embarrassment, by the smug looks from his classmates and some upperclassmen.
After lunch the future heroes found themselves at Ground Beta again in their hero costumes with All Might grinning at them.
"WELCOME BACK TO GROUND BETA, MY DEAR STUDENTS. I HOPE EVERYONE IS FEELING WELL... HAHAHA," the number one pro hero gave everyone a thumbs up, which everyone returned positively, much to All Might's happiness. The pro hero could feel the usual positivity from everyone and was happy that they had recovered from the villain attack.
"What are we going to do today sensei??" Izuku asked first.
"Is it going to be same as the first class??" Ochako asked with a thinking pose.
"More fighting!!" Eijiro hardened his hands and bumped them grinning.
"Or we will do something new ribbit" Tsuyu also voiced her thought.
All Might facepalmed again at their eagerness and rapid questions, but he cleared his throat loudly to stop everyone before they got out of hand. "No. It will not be like the previous class. In your first class, you learned about your Quirk capabilities, then in your first heroic class, how to use them cautiously. Next, in USJ, you had to go through more practical uses of your abilities. Today, you will use everything—your power, intelligence, stealth, and decision-making—to protect this..."
All Might showed them a wooden sword, though it was colored gold. Then he explained, "This is a historic sword that you must protect from enemies, who will be everyone except you. This is a game for everyone, and your job is to protect this sword and deliver it to the designated place within 20 minutes. If you want to fail someone, you can steal their sword by fighting them. However, if your sword is stolen or damaged during the fight, you will also be disqualified. Even if you are disqualified, you can still fight to disqualify others, as everyone is your enemy. There is another rule: since it's an individual game, if you team up with others to complete the game, you will be disqualified. Did everyone understand??"
After explaining everything, he watched the students to see if they had any questions. He saw the students talking among themselves, and in the end, everyone nodded.
"Sensei, where do we have to deliver it?" Momo asked. All Might grinned. "You will know that in time. Pick a paper from the box and find the place; that will be your starting point. And one last suggestion: don't believe anyone or anything after the mission starts. There might be things you know right, but there can be something wrong because you will be in enemy territory."
"Now go and pick your place," All Might pumped his fist in a "plus ultra" sign as everyone followed to pick their places.
"Ah, excuse me, All Might sensei, but where are the swords we have to protect?" Tenya raised his hand and asked.
All Might raised his eyebrow "It's in enemy territory, find it and protect it".
The class blinked, wondering who had designed that, not knowing that Nemuri had come up with the idea while playing a video game with Anan last Saturday.
Izuku found himself at the same building where he had fought with Katsuki and felt like things might go that way. Entering the building, he saw a projector with something written beside it.
"Turn the projector on when the mission will start"
He read the paper, then walked around the building in hope of finding something. On the third floor, he found an open door where he saw a golden sword with Tenya's face carved on it, along with a projector hanging nearby.
"Why is Iida's face carved on it??" He found that a little bit shady, remembering the sword All Might showed had nothing special on it.
"BEGINNNN"
All Might's voice boomed throughout the entire ground, Beta. As Izuku was about to punch the glass to retrieve the sword, he stopped when he noticed some writing suddenly appearing on it.
"Caution : don't touch the glass"
Izuku blinked. "Why this caution? Shall I touch this or first open that projector?" he thought before focusing on the life energies around the ground beta.
"What?? Why is everything full of life energy?? I can't detect whose life energy is lingering around me. There is one, two blocks from me at Northeast and someone is coming straight to this building. He is coming too straight and at a very high speed, Iida," his eyes snapped open before he ran down, grabbing the projector, he quickly hid.
Meanwhile All Might, Shota, and Nezu were observing the whole ground Beta using hidden cameras. Only Nezu's eyes were fixed on the screens showing Izuku.
"Midoriya's Quirk versatility is helpful, and sensing people's life energy to locate them is very reliable. However, thanks to the Power Loader, we managed to create something that will release life energy waves to confuse him. He can still sense them, but he can't pinpoint who they are. What will you do when one of your senses is cut off like this?" Nezu thought out loud, looking at Izuku. He has high hopes for the boy, not because he is an OFA wielder, but because of his passion for heroism.
Shota grunted, thinking the hybrid animal principal was favoring Izuku, but he couldn't help it. The green-haired boy was very smart. He glanced at the others and saw Momo, smirking.
Momo was at another corner and hearing All Might's voice, she quickly grabbed the projector and activated it.
The projector showed the map of Ground Beta, and everyone's faces were marked at a point, but her face was showing at two places.
"It is showing my location at two places. No, it can't be. I'm at this point, then what is the other point marked for me?" She questioned herself when a statement showed up from the projector.
"You will know the item you have to find when you see the map. Don't trust anyone"
"Don't trust anyone, but the source was given to me. It didn't show where I had to deliver this," she muttered, continuously watching the map and the locations. The locations didn't move an inch. Why was everyone standing in one place?
'That's it,' she thought, and her belly glowed. A screen came out from there. She grinned and typed something, and it showed a map of Ground Beta with 20 dots, each having a name. "They must have created the system like that, so they are hackable. I knew they could see us or at least know our locations." She saw the dots were moving around the ground, showing everyone's location.
"I knew it," she held the screen in front of the projector and saw the locations through the projector and her screen. "The projector isn't showing our locations but something else's locations. Wait, could these be the things we need to retrieve? I've seen my face there, and it may be... The object I need to retrieve, and the other faces mean their objects."
Momo smiled, knowing she had solved half of the mission mystery, but now she needed to retrieve the object. She looked at her scanner screen once more and found Izuku and Tenya at the same point.
Meanwhile, Izuku was hiding since Tenya entered the building. The glass-wearing teen carefully entered the building where Izuku was, he had already taken the things that could make Tenya suspicious.
He closely watched as Tenya searched through the whole building until he entered the room where the sword was.
Izuku heard Tenya whisper, "I was right about the projector showing the locations of the object we need to retrieve. The glass shows that you shouldn't touch it if you don't know the pattern to open it." The teen swallowed hard, seeing 26 alphabets at the rear of the glass.
There is an alphabet code. Neither All Might sensei nor the projector gave us any clues, he mused, and thought for some moments. "Don't believe anyone except yourself," Tenya repeated aloud his thoughts before typing his first name and pressing the enter. To his relief, the glass box opened without any sound.
'Ahh!! I get it. The carved face was an indication of which object is for me to retrieve,' Izuku thought, still looking at Tenya, who had activated the projector hanging with the object.
"Deliver the object to the person at Block no. 72, 5th apartment"
"Block no. 72??" Tenya asked himself and watched the map through the first projector. Izuku could see Tenya's eyes widen for some reason. "That's the place where Midoriya's object is. Does that mean I have to deliver it to Midoriya? I don't understand it. We are supposed to be enemies, so why do I have to deliver it to my enemy??"
Meanwhile, Izuku's eyes widened, and he quickly went out of the apartment, not realizing that Tenya was looking back towards the entrance.
'Someone was here, but he or she left without saying a word. It's fine until someone wants to fight; it might damage the object, making me fail. I shall avoid fighting and reach the location.' Tenya thought to himself before strapping the object to his back and walking out carefully.
Meanwhile, Shoto's starting point was the same building, which was Tenya's delivery location.
After entering the building, he waited for the test to start. Activating the projector, he quickly realized that everything was wrong. He searched the whole building and found a mark showing Izuku's face in the same place.
Entering at the third floor shoto found Izuku's object was there in a glass box.
"What will you do, Midoriya, if I do this?!" Shoto muttered and slammed his right foot to create ice spears. His goal was to destroy Izuku's chances there and quickly get out before he arrived.
The moment his Quirk touched the glass, a loud siren rang throughout the building, making his eyes widen. He quickly realized it was a bad idea.
"If I touch the glass, sirens will ring. Dammit, I was careless, thinking only to defeat Midoriya, and now these alarms have made everything noisy. I need to get out." He gave the glass box another glance, which is now covered by ice spikes and walls, before he left. The lesson wasn't a fair fighting lesson, so he needed to do everything to make everyone fall behind him.
"How can you do that to me, Kaminari?!" Mineta cried out, seeing his object broken by Denki, who ambushed Mineta as soon as he retrieved his object.
Denki grinned, "No hard feelings, Mineta, but we got instructions to fail others, so why not?" His grin stopped the moment Mineta looked angrily at him and plucked out his sticky balls.
"Just stand still, Kaminari, and I'll return the favor," Mineta also knew he was not out. He could make some people join his failure, so he started to throw his balls at Denki in hope of sticking only one of them.
"Crap!!" Denki cursed and tried to run away from Mineta. But he wasn't lucky enough as a beam hit his back, breaking the object. "Owww!! What was that??" Denki cursed and saw Yuga at a distance. The other blond fired his naval laser to destroy Denki's object, but there was a price as well, as he was struck by Mineta's balls.
Meanwhile, not far away, Kyoka was hearing the commotion through her earphone jacks, holding an object in her hands. It was easy for her to avoid people with her Quirk, and the help she received from the projector was enough for her to understand almost everything.
'Deliver the object to your friend, and I have no friend in this training ground. I got the lucky and simple riddle not to give to anyone here, and there's no need to get in someone's way if I can just pass.' She thought and hid properly until the time runs out.
In another part, Fumikage groaned along with Dark Shadow to find Eijiro in front of his objective, waiting for him.
"Why are you here, Kirishima? Shouldn't you go get your object?" Fumikage asked, trying to find any opening to get past him. Though Fumikage knew he could stall Eijiro with Dark Shadow's long range and waste his time if he hadn't retrieved his object.
To Fumikage's surprise, Eijiro smirked, hardening his body. "I already found my object and delivered it to whom the projector said, but I stumbled across here and thought to stop. All Might said that we can fight, so why don't I give it a try??" The redhead quickly charged at the bird-headed teen, but Dark Shadow quickly intervened.
"Ain't going near Fumi before ya deal with me," Dark Shadow replied to Eijiro before headbutting him. The attack caused both of them to stumble on their feet. "I've no choice then but to fight you," Fumikage groaned.
Toru silently watched Shoji, who had just retrieved his sword, as the projector displayed it, ready to be delivered to Mineta.
"Everyone is here in the arena, enemy, so why do I have to give this to my enemy? Unless this is a deception. All Might said not to believe anyone until the training ends, so this must be a deception after all. I only have to protect this until I get out of the training ground," he wondered to himself, not knowing that Toru was listening.
Toru found herself in the apartment and watched Shoji enter not long after the exam started to retrieve his object. 'Thanks, Midori, for telling me how to hide myself from those with good hearing like Jiro and Shoji,' she thought, figuring out everything from Shoji's thoughts.
"Hey Shoji"
Toru flinched as soon as she heard a new voice calling the dupli-arms user.
"Who...?"
Shoji was stiff as soon as he answered.
Soon, it revealed Shinso wearing some kind of mask walking into the room, unaware of Toru's presence. The invisible girl flinched but quickly realized she hadn't been revealed, so she remained quiet. She would kiss Izuku next time for drilling some sense into her.
Shinso smirked and took Shoji's object before leaving quickly. He had quietly followed the big guy and called him from a distance, just as he had expected, the big guy panicked. Since he had taken out a competitor, he couldn't be the last, and that was his plan.
Toru sighed and activated her projector when Shinso was far enough. She looked at the screen. "Almost everyone took their objects. As soon as you take out the glass box, your object's mark will disappear. Only mine, Midori, Tokoyami, and Shinso remained. Only 7 minutes left, so I need to get out faster," she thought and walked out, not hurrying, knowing her only strength was stealth, and fighting was the last option.
Meanwhile, Tenya cursed his luck when, out of nowhere, Ochaco landed on him, making him float, with Tsuyu looking at him blankly.
"Where were you flying, Uraraka??" Tenya asked defeatedly, knowing that even though they were friends, Ochaco wouldn't let him participate in an individual event.
The brunette laughed nervously. "Actually, Tsu-chan threw me when we were fighting, and I somehow landed on you. Unintentionally, I made you weightless, but I'm not letting you go now." Then she glanced at Tsuyu, who was also glancing at her.
Both girls found they needed to deliver their objects to each other, but they realized quickly that it was a deception. They attacked each other as soon as they saw each other. Tsuyu managed to land the first hit on Ochako when she landed on Tenya.
"It seems I made a wrong decision to fight you Ochako-chan"
"Yes, same goes for me. We are ruining our chances to win. I was lucky, I guess, not to get in someone like Todoroki's way, or it would have been the end," Ochako finished and took a few steps back before quickly running away. She mentally cursed herself for doubting her decision. "I doubted my decision about the deception, and we attacked each other, mistaking each other for enemies in this battleground, on the brink of failure," she groaned but quickly sighed in relief, seeing Tsuyu wasn't chasing her.
"Oh!! Come on," both Ojiro and Rikido groaned as they found themselves trapped in a pillar of ice. Both teens found their objects and encountered each other, but they chose not to fight and ran away. Though luck wasn't on their side when an avalanche rushed towards them from nowhere.
Before the boys could do anything, the ice trapped them. Then, Shoto slid between them on his ice, without exchanging any words.
"Only 3 minutes left," Izuku let out a long breath, standing at the roof of his initial building. He returned to the building's roof after getting out, giving Tenya the thought that he had left.
From then on, Izuku just sat on the roof, sensing everyone. Since Tenya was near him, he quickly registered Tenya's life energy, even though something was jamming his sensing abilities. Knowing that Tenya was going to the place where he would go, he just waited for the right time.
He waited and finally sensed someone blocking Tenya. He drew a mental map to his objective, and since everything was brimming with life energy, it was easy for him to imagine a path.
He stood up, "Gearshift, One for All 15%." Instead of charging OFA at his hands, he charged it at his legs and vanished from his spot.
Next, Izuku was seen on another building's roof, a few blocks away. He used Gearshift to increase his speed and OFA to jump further. He repeated this combination until he reached the building. Upon reaching the room, he found that the glass box was frozen in ice.
'So it was Todoroki's starting place, of course he will try to prevent anyone from overtaking him, just like Kacchan, except Kacchan would seriously hurt them but Todoroki wouldn't do that,' he sighed and looked at the projector once more to see that only he was left to collect his object. He was a bit troubled when he saw the object's location was glowing red, but it turned off after some time, and now he knew because Shoto had tampered with the glass box, causing the siren to ring out.
Izuku touched the ice with his left hand, melting it quickly. He then retracted the object and ran out. He didn't need to know what the projector said; he had already figured it out. Izuku just needed to get out, and he did.
Izuku came out from Ground Beta unnoticed before a minute. He saw Momo, Shoto, Toru, Shinso, Ochako, Tsu and Koda there with their objects secured.
"Looks like we passed Deku-kun," Ochako chirped happily, swinging her sword. Tsuyu croaked in response.
"It was so scary, Shinso came out of nowhere and brainwashed Shoji right in front of his eyes," Toru mused, earning a small chorus of laughter from everyone except Shinso, who blinked in surprise. "What?? You were there, Hagakure? I didn't even realize you were there, even though you are invisible, but we can still hear footsteps or breathing and some panicking movements, but there were none." Shinso was impressed since his whole motto was to surprise others with sudden appearances, but he failed at surprising Toru but succeeded in surprising Shoji.
Everyone believed Toru gave Shinso a smug smile before answering, "I am not only training to be stronger but also stealthier, and you don't know how much Midori scares me every morning to train me not to panic. But thanks to Shoji, I got enough information I needed, and it was the perfect stealth mission for me, so how can I fail?"
Izuku gave Toru a smile while the others couldn't help but be impressed by Izuku's teachings. 'Midoriya is teaching Hagakure more than UA' Momo thought with an amused smile. 'If Midoriya uses that brain and becomes UA's heroic classes teacher, then the crime rates will drop even more. But how does he think so fast?' Momo could never get that answer.
"TIMES UP"
"EVERYONE COME OUT FROM GROUND BETA"
All Might's voice boomed through the entire area finally ending the training.
Soon, Class 1-A gathered with some defeated faces like Minta, Denki, Ojiro, and Rikido, or some relieved faces like Kyoka, Mina, Eij, and Tenya. Also, there was Fumikage, who had his objective but he didn't look pleased, and Yuga was as usual sparkling. While Shoji and Hanta acted neutral.
Everyone remained silent until All Might came to them with his usual grin. "Everyone did their best in the training, but I must say only five students passed: Momo Yaoyorozu, Hitoshi Shinso, Koji Koda, Toru Hagure, and Izuku Midoriya."
Silence filled the room, and Shoto and Kyoka looked more surprised than the others.
"But sensei, I delivered the object in time, so why didn't I pass??" Eijiro asked. Kyoka snorted, "You never use your brain, don't you?? The other delivery projector was a deception. Sensei already said that believe nothing, even the instructions. But I kept my object with me, so why didn't I pass??"
Both Eiji and Tenya paled, knowing they had followed the instructions without questioning anything. Izuku coughed, getting everyone's attention before speaking. "We were in enemy territory, and we had a fixed time to complete the mission. We had to come out of enemy territory on time to secure the victory. You won't know anything except for what was fixed about what would happen there, or they might know that you took something after the time limit."
All Might nodded. "What Young Midoriya said is true, but there's more to it. It was an intelligence-gathering and stealth mission. I thought you were all intelligent enough to realize that. Though I told you to disqualify others if you wanted to, I also said not to believe me blindly. You revealed yourselves to the enemies to take them down, which is unacceptable in stealth missions. Some of you tried to run away, while some stood in the light just to fight. What I meant by 'fight' was to sneak attack, not to draw attention. Only Young Shinso followed that rule. Young Hagakure used her Quirk intelligently to remain stealthy and calm in the most dire situations, as did Young Koda, who gathered information and executed his mission perfectly. Young Midoriya waited until the very end to execute his plan at the last minute to avoid running into anyone. And I'm impressed that Young Yaoyorozu quickly realized the mission."
The teens blushed at the praise from the number one hero, while others hung their heads for not using their brains more. Among them, Shoto glared at the five students who had outsmarted him and cursed himself for falling for that trick. He cursed Endeavor for thinking to trip others to get ahead.
'I was so fixated on defeating Midoriya and others that I didn't think properly. I am ashamed of myself for that,' he clenched his fists and glared at Izuku with a sidelong glance. 'Next time, I won't think about defeating anyone, but about winning for myself.'
"And now, among others, only Young Jiro was so close to win, but now you know how to operate in enemy territory." Seeing Kyoka nod, the pro hero turned to Ochako and Tsuyu. Both girls saw a slight disappointment in All Might's eyes. "And Young Uraraka and Young Asui, I'm disappointed with your judgments. Both of you understood the meaning of this training, yet you confronted each other, doubting your decisions, which led to your failure. Both of you are smart, but I want to know what caused you to fight?"
"I'm sorry, All Might-sensei, but I let my personal feelings come in there, which made me think irrationally," Ochako murmured in embarrassment.
"Same here, All Might sensei. I let myself think that I could defeat the enemies in front of me, even after realizing the real meaning of this training," Tsuyu also croaked in a low voice, knowing her decision was wrong.
While the class pondered why Tsuyu and Ochaco attacked each other, even though they were good friends from the first day, All Might quickly realized, along with Mina.
'Personal feelings meant their attraction to Young Midoriya, while I support having those feelings, but I can't let those feelings hinder their growth or wisdom,' the pro hero thought, and with a smile, he put his hands on their shoulders.
"Listen, Young Uraraka and Young Asui, it's fine to have those feelings, but don't let them hinder your judgments. You can pursue those feelings, but don't forget about your dreams and goals; they are the most important things. With time, those feelings will turn into a bond."
The two girls nodded with determination which made All Might happy. He hoped those two will work properly in future.
"Alright, everyone, this is for today's class. Learn from the mistakes you made, and one last piece of advice: don't talk to yourself, or others could hear you. Many students understood the real meaning by hearing your loud thoughts. PLUS ULTRA"
No one replied to All Might as he left. They face-palmed and cursed themselves for not keeping their mouths shut. Meanwhile, Izuku, Toru, and Kyoka whistled innocently, knowing they had obtained the information by eavesdropping.
"It ended finally," Toru chided happily before turning to Izuku. She jumped on him, hugging his head between her chest again. "Thanks for your training, Midori. Or I could have failed just from panicking."
"A-ahh, it's fine.. Fine. You didn't forget the.. The lessons," Izuku blushed as he squirmed to get out of the embarrassment while others looked at them with amusement.
Between them, Mineta cried out while Denki laughed, "At least one of the boys got a pair of boobs, OWW!!". He was jabbed in the ear by Kyoka as soon as those words left his mouth, with Kyoka glaring at him, "Don't open your perverted mouth".
Between the commotion Tsuyu and Ochako stood in back looking at themselves.
"I'm sorry, Ochako-chan, for acting like that, ribbit," Tsuyu apologized with a low tone so no one except Ochako could hear her.
Ochako nodded her head. "I should also apologize for that. In truth, I was jealous that Toru-chan had Deku-kun's attention, and you were trying your best to get his attention, where I couldn't do anything." She watched as Izuku praised Toru for her performance, while she lost her chance.
"Same goes for me, ribbit, but I can't let it go like that. Even in the same situation, Toru-chan didn't forget about her specialties and true goals. I'll show everyone my capabilities next time in plus ultra style."
Ochako nodded at Tsuyu's conviction, knowing she would show her capabilities as well, for her dreams. She still had a duty to her parents, and while achieving that, she would also get what she desired.
Meanwhile, unknown to them, only Momo heard the conversation between Ochako and Momo. While many in the class didn't understand their behavior, Momo quickly realized what was going on. She sighed internally for not doing anything foolish but knew she needed to try harder if she wanted attention. Momo blushed, wondering where that would come from.
That same night, Shoto found himself in front of the piercing gaze of Endeavor. The teen didn't need any time to realize why his "father" was giving him that look; he got the results of that day's hero class and about his failure.
"Shoto, I thought you were a smart child, so tell me what foolishness you did in today's hero classes?" Endeavor asked, surprising with his calmness. While Shoto and Natsuo didn't care, Fuyumi noticed that and saw the disappointed look in her father's eyes. It wasn't the disappointment of failure but something else, and Fuyumi thought it could start a new relationship if Shoto behaved better.
Shoto shot a glare at Enji. "Yes, I didn't use the brain you installed in me, or maybe it didn't work because you installed it. Maybe I got this from you, about making others fail so you don't have to think about winning."
Enji's eyes widened. He was thinking about where that came from. The number two pro hero knew his children didn't like him because he was harsh in his quest to create a perfect heir who would surpass All Might. He taught them how to become strong, but he never taught them to make others fail unnecessarily. He taught them to be greater heroes than him.
Enji sighed, "You're wrong, Shoto." His low and calm voice was surprising since Enji was known as a yelling person. "I always taught you to be stronger and a greater hero than me, but I never taught you what you are thinking. I dreamed of being the number one pro since I saw All Might almost three decades ago. I trained and climbed up to this place, and I did the same for you. I made you stronger so you could climb up faster in the ranks and then surpass me before surpassing All Might. I know you don't like my teachings, but I never taught you or will ever teach you to make others cast down. I taught you to protect others, and that's what I want you to do. I'm your parent, Shoto, and all I want is for you to surpass me and everyone before me to make me happy by doing what I couldn't do."
Shoto was shocked at Enji's words. He had never heard such kind of words from his father, but he said caring words just like a normal father should. Unfortunately, he never knew what a normal father would do.
And that made him angry...
"You're saying these kinds of things now after killing our older brother Toya. You are the one who hurt mother and me. It's not normal to act like what he used to see his parents do."
Shoto shot up from his seat furiously, Natsuo shot daggers to Shoto instead of Enji this time. 'So he has infected you to Shoto, ofcourse you're his favourite so it was a matter of time when you will also be infected by him' Natsuo thought angrily.
Enji didn't show any expression, but he stayed calm. "You are saying this with your perspective, but you don't know what I felt at that time, both times. I'm not saying I was right every time, and I made mistakes, but now you're too angry to listen to what I felt."
That was a shocker, Enji Todoroki, Endeavor, the most prideful number two hero who never admitted defeat, just said that he was wrong. What in the world was going on? All three children of the Todoroki family thought simultaneously.
Fuyumi opened her mouth to help Enji at that time, it was the best chance to get their family in shape and together. But before she could say anything, Enji spoke again, "You are having problems with Izuku Midoriya, so first I need to tell you who Izuku Midoriya is."
TO BE CONTINUED -