AN: Holy cow, it has been way too long! Honestly, I kept wanting to see how the manga was going to do things so that I could properly foreshadow stuff, but what I was waiting for never showed up… In addition, like many people, I was disappointed with the ending of the mange (no spoilers to people that haven't seen it, so I definitely already have plans to improve it (at least in my opinion, no hate if you did enjoy it). I ended up using wanting to see how the manga plays out as an excuse to put off writing this chapter, but eventually I sat down and got it done. If anyone is curious about "Viewing the Shifting Realms" that update should be coming in roughly two weeks, and it will be a longer chapter than the normal ones.
Reviews:
Alostdonkey: I love writing sassy Izuku, I'm glad you enjoy it!
OFARiolu: USJ is something I'm very excited to write, and I have a lot of plans for it.
fencer29: That was Izuku's first time really meeting Shigaraki, so that was just Izuku being Izuku, he had no way of knowing how Shigaraki would react.
Xerzo LotCN: They had no way of knowing that Eraserhead wasn't bluffing, Yaoyorozu even said she knew he was even though we now know he wasn't (kinda). I can't wait to write USJ and how those two will react to the reunion. Bakugou isn't going to replace Izuku, but I needed him to make some things happen.
Guest: I'm glad you like it, and Viewing the Shifting Realms will be updated within two weeks.
Chapter 10:
"I am here!" Bakugo perked up at the familiar sound of his idols voice, the ash blond allowed his eyes to slide over to the classroom door as they were flung and the Number 1 Hero leaned into the classroom, "Coming through the door like a hero!"
"Woah!" much of the class exclaimed, their eyes widening and sparkling at the sight of the famous Pro.
"I can't believe it's really All Might!" Denki Kaminari, the blond teen with a black stripe through his hair exclaimed as he broke into a smile.
"So, he is a teacher!" the red haired Eijiro Kirishima cheered as he pumped a fist "This year is going to be totally awesome!"
"Hey look. Is he wearing his Silver Age costume?" the frog like, verdanette, Tsuyu Asui asked as she poked her cheek, watching the living legend.
"I'm getting goosebumps, it's so retro!" a plain looking blond boy named Mashirao Ojiro said in excitement.
"Welcome to the most important class at UA High! Think of it as 'Hero-ing 101'." Toshiro bellowed once he reached the podium, a wide smile on his face. "Here you will learn the basics of being a pro! And what it means to fight in the name of good!"
"This is so exciting!" a bubbly voice whispered as the energetic, pink skinned, Mina Ashido bounced in her seat.
"Now, originally today, I planned for us to run some combat exercises-" Yagi explained as he struck a pose, speaking over the ecstatic whispers.
"Combat!?" Katsuki growled, a feral grin splitting across his face as some of his nearby classmates looked at him nervously.
"-but unfortunately, your class no longer can be split into even teams." The Pro Hero continued, causing the class to cringe as the sent saddened glances at the now empty seat "So instead we shall be running… 'Teamwork' drills!"
"… God damn it…" Bakugo groaned to himself as he glared at the empty desk, cursing the missing student's failures.
"Before that, though, one of the keys of being a hero is… looking good!" All Might laughed, trying to lighten the souring mood, as he pulled out a remote, pushing a button to reveal suitcases lining the walls "These were designed for you based on your Quirk registration and the requests you sent in before school started!"
"Woohoo!" The students cheered as they sprang for their suitcases before following their new teacher to the lesson.
"So, what exactly is special about this one?" Izuku asked as he poked the forearm of the charcoal titan, sending a sideways glance at the bar, as Shigaraki swirled a glass of amber liquid in irritation, when the beast did not react.
"Will you knock that off" the Decay user growled as he slammed his glass on the counter of the bar, pulling out the remote and quickly pressing the button and earning a yelp from the forest haired boy.
"Now, now, Tomura, there is no need to abuse the collar." The smooth, daunting voice of All for One rang out through a nearby radio, drawing everyone's attention "But, to answer your question, Izuku, that is an Upper-Tier Nomu, it possesses far more quirks and mutations than the typical Nomu."
"I've been meaning to ask," Midoriya began as he sat up, rubbing the sore flesh around the shock collar, "why give them both multiple quirks and mutations? Wouldn't one or the other work just as well?"
"Unfortunately, one cannot exist without the other." The man on the radio replied, his confident voice tainted with a hint of annoyance "Most humans have a limit to how many quirks they can handle without mutations, and a mutated body without any quirks will quickly begin to break down under the strain. Like a house of cards, the two opposing forces hold each other up so that we can build upon them."
"… I see…" the greenette mumbled to himself as he studied the monstrosity "Think I can beat it?"
Shigaraki scoffed, but froze when his sensei answered, "While it would give you quite a bit of trouble, I do believe you would be able to defeat it."
"Sensei you can't be serious." The blue haired man gasped looking at the radio in shock.
"I told you Tomura," the crime lord said curtly "Izuku will prove to be an immeasurable asset to you if you make proper use of him. Now, I believe it is about time for you to get ready for your first mission."
"… Yes sensei…" the fledgling villain mumbled through gritted teeth, glaring at his glass of alcohol.
"Kurogiri, please return Izuku to his room and Nomu to storage" All for one continued, his voice smooth and cold.
"As you wish." The man of shadow replied with a bow, the dark mist circling the bar as he activated his quirk.
"You know he can't see us, right?" the youngest in the room chuckled before his body went rigid as a thought occurred to him "Wait, can he see us?!"
"Oh, and Izuku" the leader spoke up once more, gaining everyone's attention "I want you to take a good look at the Nomu, because if you fail to prove your usefulness to Tomura, then you will be joining their ranks."
"…" Izuku ignored Shigaraki's cackle as he stared into the eyes of the creature, almost searching for any signs of intelligence, searching for anything behind those empty eyes. The young man kept staring as his world was consumed by swirling black until he found himself back in his cell, "…I see…"
"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Katsuki growled to himself. First, the Explosion user didn't even get a chance to show off his quirk in the last exercise, then he got stuck playing nice with Round Face, Glasses, Red Hair and Tails. Now the class just voted for the Class President and no one else voted for him, instead Glasses and Ponytail each got an additional vote.
"What? He looks like a class president!" Uraraka defended herself when she noticed the glare from Bakugo.
"What now? We can't have two Class Reps, can we?" Kaminari asked, scratching his head with a frown.
"We will simply have to hold another vote between Yaoyorozu and myself." Iida declared adjusting his glasses, standing in front of the class with a robotic, rigid stance.
"Agreed." Momo happily responded, gently laying a hand on her chest, her stance both regal and relaxed, glad that she had at least gotten one extra vote.
"Is that alright with you, Aizawa Sensei?" Tenya asked, looking at the desk that hid their sleeping teacher.
"I said to handle things yourselves, leave me out of it." A tired voice growled, and the students bristled, having learned not to poke that bear.
"R-right well everyone, please take out some paper and-" the Engine user began, only to be quickly cut off by the school bell.
"You'll have to do that later." The teacher sighed as he stood up, rolling his neck with an audible pop "Now, everyone, get to lunch."
Shigaraki grinned as he watched the UA Barrier crumble away, the schools alarm blaring as he slipped back into the crowd. The ravenous media, so eager to interview the Number One Pro Hero, never even noticed the young man in a black hoodie as they flooded into the school, eager to begin searching for their next scoop. The young villain filed in with the latter half of the swarm and immediately began to head for his target, their informant already told them where it would be and that this would be the best time to strike as it was lunch period, everyone would all be crowded together.
Tomura found the room he was looking for, sliding open the window, grinning as the arrogance of the heroes in their defenses led them to leave it unlocked. The chapped man climbed into the room, closing the window behind him and it didn't take him long to find what he was looking for: the teachers master schedule. Skimming the sheet of paper, he found his target's name and the perfect time to strike, a time he'd be even more isolated. As the young man took out his phone and took a picture of the paper, his eyes wondered the room, checking if there was anything that may prove to be useful. The villain's red eyes lingered on the student files before moving on, he had no need to learn about some hero wannabes, quickly taking a photo of the location's blueprints before dialing a number into his awaiting phone.
"… Kurogiri? I got it, get me out of here." Shigaraki ordered, smiling as he was enveloped by a cloud of mist, his ally having been tracking his phones GPS in case of a quick escape. Now it was time to prepare for USJ.
"Tch…" Bakugou clicked his tongue as his class celebrated their class president, Four Eyes having won after calming everyone down during the intruder alarm, earning the nickname 'Emergency Exit Iida'. The ash blond scoffed, that didn't matter, none of this mattered. Couldn't these idiots see what happened? Someone had broken in and it wasn't the media, they were just a cover. No matter how much they wanted to get into the school, none of them would go so far as to destroy school property, even if they had the ability to. The questions were, who did this and why did they do it?
"Congratulations, Iida." Ponytail said with a disappointed smile, choosing to take her loss with grace. Katsuki didn't pay them any mind, his eyes drifting to the empty desk of their former classmate, and like the vacant spot, he couldn't help but feel he was missing something.
"Really? That's your plan?" Izuku chuckled, leaning on the bar once more as the chapped man glared at him.
"You got a problem with it, brat?" Shigaraki growled, his hand subconsciously going for the control remote.
"I mean if a pilot was planning on crashing the plane would you buy a ticket?" The forest haired boy laughed only to be silenced by an electric shock.
"What the hell do you mean by that?" the fledgling villain demanded, glaring daggers at the younger boy as the boy's body spasmed.
"I mean it's pretty plain, and there are way too many factors that you just aren't accounting for." Midoriya said with a shrug, rolling his sore neck.
"Now, listen here you little shit-." Tomura growled, his glare hardening even more before he was interrupted.
"I'm listening." The younger boy supplied, cutting off the Decay user and earning himself another shock.
"What makes you think you can criticize my plan?" the older boy sneered, his body trembling with barely suppressed rage, the air filling with killer intent.
"That's enough, Tomura." All for One demanded from the radio "Why not give the boy a chance? Izuku, what do you believe Tomura's plan is missing?"
"Well, I'm glad you asked, Radio Man, we barely anything to go by. All we know for sure is what the place looks like, that there will be a class of hero trainees there, the teachers will be All Might, Thirteen and Eraserhead." Deku all but giggled out, vaguely noting Kurogiri bristle for less than a second when he said the final name "Not much is known about Eraserhead, but what we do know makes it so I can't fight him, and we don't know if any of the students have a quirk that can give us trouble or call for back up immediately. I mean, what if All Might just doesn't show up?"
"What do you mean?" Shigaraki protested, rolling his eyes at the child's naivety "He's scheduled to be there, and there is no way a goody two shoes like him would miss it."
"Didn't Lawyer Vader say that All Might is weakening?" Izuku rebutted, ignoring the glares of annoyance before continuing "What if he is low on energy or gets called away, I mean he still is the number one Pro Hero, so he's probably still on duty."
"He makes an excellent point, Tomura." The Leader's voice advised, ignoring the boy's jokes "It never hurts to be prepared."
"Ugh, fine!" Tomura relented before begrudgingly crossing his arms over his chest "I'll think of something if he's not there…"
"Excellent!" The crime lord applauded "Now, in the meantime, Izuku, I feel it's time for you to look a bit more… presentable."
"Presentable?" Midoriya squeaked, his body going ridged, his smile morphing into a nervous grin "I think I look just fine thank you very much!"
"As… debatable, as that is, I was talking about something that has been needed for far too long. Kurogiri?" as the man on the radio said this, the mist man stepped forwards, pulling out a pair of scissors "I think it's time for a haircut."
"Haircut?" The verdanette gasped, his hair had grown quite long during his time in captivity "Oh come on, let's talk about this! Not my hair, it's literally the closest thing to a pillow you people give me!"
"My apologies, Midoriya, but Sensei insists." The shadow man stated as he stepped closer to the boy, who stepped back in worry.
"I still don't get what you see in him, Sensei…" the blue haired young man sighed to the radio as he watched the green haired boy try to talk his way out.
"You will see one day, Tomura." All for One stated, causing the boy to turn his attention to the radio "He has proven himself in challenges even you are not ready for."
"…" Tomura didn't respond, instead turning his gaze to the boy as he was forced to sit in a chair, the older boy's teeth clenching painfully.
"Gather around Class 1-A!" Iida instructed whilst blowing a whistle, chopping the air robotically "Using your student numbers form two neat lines so we can board the bus efficiently!"
"Well, Iida's certainly take his roll seriously." Uraraka chuckled to no one in particular, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly as she followed the rest of her class.
"…" Bakugo did say anything, merely allowing a cold gaze to drift through his class. Everyone was dressed in pristine hero costumes, including the ashy blond himself, as they had yet to have any real combat training. The explosive teen felt a bubble of irritation at the lack of any chance to hone his skills, but bit that back down. Katsuki shook his head as he headed towards his spot in line, a gnawing feeling that something was about to happen eating away at the back of his mind, and looking upon his class, he couldn't help but wonder how his childhood friend would interact with them if the green eyed boy was there instead of the red eyed boy.