Shards of power
Chapter 8
-Izuku-
"King's pawn to E4." Nezu's firm voice declared, sliding the white pawn forward two spaces on the board. Classes were over for the day and right now it was the two of them chatting over a game of chess before Nezu got to his private, extra lessons.
"Pawn to E5." Izuku moved his black piece instantly, not taking a chance to overthink. He knew that way lay madness, and a trap of Nezu's making.
"Pawn to F4, King's Gambit." Neze, naturally, didn't even seem phased by the speed of Izuku's decision, so much for throwing him off that way "So, how have classes been for you Izuku? Enjoying your first week?"
"Accepted, Pawn takes Pawn." Izuku knocked the F4 pawn off the board "And they're pretty good, even if it is weird having Vlad Sensei trying to talk me and Mezo into petitioning to switch to class B."
"Bishop to C4." Nezu moved the piece "That's a surprise to hear. What's so weird about that? You knew about how much Vlad enjoys the 'rivalry' between the two classes."
"Queen to H4, check." Izuku decided to get aggressive "And it's weird because he keeps trying to use puppy eyes…and he's really bad at it."
Nezu snorted in amusement at that "I'll be sure to tell him that." The quirked albino stoat wiggled their fingers before selecting their piece "King to F1."
"Pawn to B5." Izuku's eyes were darting around the board, trying to see ahead to whatever Nezu's strategy might end up being "And that's just mean sir."
"Alright, you have my curiosity, Bishop takes pawn." Nezu sent Izuku's pawn flying away "And fine, Midnight then?"
"Less mean and funnier." Izuku nods pleased "Knight to F6."
"Thank you, I try. Also, Knight to F3." Nezu kept up and Izuku couldn't tell if Nezu was already twelve steps ahead, or was just reacting in the moment to keep Izuku from thinking twelve steps ahead.
"Queen to H6." Izuku moved back his strongest piece "But my class has been…mostly good."
"Pawn to D3." Nezu frowned "I assume it's Mr. Bakugo?"
"He's challenged me in every applicable task our class has done, and half of the ones where a challenge makes no sense." Izuku scoffed "And angrily demands a rematch whenever he loses. Knight to H5."
"And Aizawa hasn't stepped in?" Nezu didn't seem surprised, more probing for further details "Knight to H4."
"He only tells Bakugo to stop if it looks like he's going to try fighting outside of a spar, or if he feels Bakugo is wasting class time on it." Izuku shook his head "Otherwise he seems to think of it as good motivation to improve. Queen to G5." Izuku studied the board, wondering if Nezu would give up the Bishop at B5 or the Knight at H4.
"Of course he does." Nezu sighed "Knight to F5." Or Nezu could choose the option of neither, that worked too.
"Pawn to C6." Izuku noted that the bishop had been left hanging out, even if the Knight was protected.
Pawn to G4, you left your knight unattended." Nezu merrily copied Izuku's own thoughts and threw them back in his face.
"Knight to F6." Izuku's eye twitched a hair "But apart from Bakugo being…Bakugo and Mineta being a pervert the class is great."
"Has he crossed any lines?" Nezu's eyes narrowed, Izuku knowing how protective the principal got over students.
"Mirio Togata had a talk with him." Izuku promised "No idea what was said but since then Mineta's kept his pervyness to a few comments, so we'll see if it sticks."
"At least there's that." Nezu nodded and resumed the game "Rook to G1."
"Is it a common problem at UA?" Izuku hadn't really interacted with any students when training before, just the staff "Pawn takes Bishop."
"Pawn to H4." Nezu didn't even seem to be phased by losing a bishop.
"Queen to G6." Izuku felt Nezu was setting up for something but wasn't sure what.
"Pawn to H5." Nezu sounded extremely chipper which meant either the Stoat's plan was going perfectly, or he wanted Izuku to think it was.
"Queen to G5." Izuku moved his queen to safety "But everyone else has been great. We've even started to meet up after classes at times to train together as a group."
"Queen to F3." Nezu moved his own Queen for the first time "I'd noticed a request to use the training rooms after class hours. Was that your doing?"
"Knight to G8." Izuku moved the piece to allow his queen more room to maneuver later "No actually, I've been busy working on a proposal to bring to you. This was arranged by Todoroki."
"Now that is a surprise." Nezu looked up "That's not even remotely something I'd expect from someone trained and raised by Endeavor. That man's agency has a lot of sidekicks but it's very much 'you obey me' rather than actual teamwork. By the way, Bishop takes Pawn, threatens Queen."
"Queen to F6." Izuku moved instantly, silently thankful that he'd given himself that wiggle room last turn "That…actually fits with what I've seen now that I think about it."
"Knight to C3." Nezu moved "And what do you mean? Is the younger Todoroki working to turn your class into his future sidekick army like what his father has?" Nezu's eyes flit about the board "This is a new strategy for you I must say, you've developed nothing but your Queen."
"You're the one who's down a Bishop." Izuku shrugged, "Speaking of, Bishop to C5. And no, Todoroki is working on actual teamwork. Offering training advice that I think he got from lessons with his father or from his father's agency, and listening when we have suggestions for him as well. It's just…well I can tell he's not used to working with people, or trying to make friends." Even Izuku found it painfully obvious, and he wondered if it was due to Todoroki being sheltered before UA or just decided to change themselves.
"Knight to D5." Nezu moved their piece while nodding thoughtfully, "I see, I see. I remember you mentioning before that he said his Great Uncle had a quirk similar to your Cryostasis one?"
"Turns out that it's not just similar, it is the quirk from his Great Uncle on his mom's side. By the way, Queen takes Pawn at B2."
"Quite the aggressive move." Nezu blinked, seeming somewhat surprised by that although it could be an act "Bishiop to D6."
"Queen takes Rook, check." Izuku removed another major piece from Nezu's board, "He frequently challenges me and Mezo as well, but he doesn't seem as upset when he loses, and doesn't gloat when he wins." A far cry from Bakugo.
"Ah, a healthy rivalry then." Nezu nodded, seemingly understanding now "King to E2."
"Ooookay." Izuku frowned at Nezu's choices, not seeing where this was going "Queen takes Rook." Nezu's last Rook.
"Pawn to E5." Nezu seemed unphased by the lost pieces "And have you and your friends been handling being split well?"
"We still see each other during lunch so it's not a big deal." Izuku shrugged before snickering "And Neito says that Vlad sensei keeps pouting since Monoma isn't as invested in the rivalry as he normally would be due to the split. Knight to A6."
"Given that Vlad picked young Monoma just in the hopes of using their competitive spirit that is indeed amusing." Nezu chuckled as he poured them some tea, the kettle having finally finished "Knight takes Pawn at G7, check."
"King to D8." Izuku simply slid his most vulnerable piece one square away "I had a feeling that was why he picked up Neito over Mezo."
"Queen to F6, Check." Nezu moved the piece almost lazily while inhaling deeply from the scent of the fresh cup of tea.
"Knight takes Queen." Izuku moved his piece, he was sure Nezu was leaving these gaps on purpose, but it was either fall to checkmate or risk playing into the Principal's trap.
He saw what he'd fallen for right as Nezu's grin grew wider "Bishop to E7, checkmate. Good game Izuku, although you're not quite ready to beat me. Although to be fair, only one student ever has beaten me at chess and that was only the once."
"And who was that?" Izuku tilted his head curious.
"Your new Mentor, Miss Hado." Nezu chuckled "That young lady is a chaotic one and it took me a while to figure out how she thinks. By the time I had she'd managed to get me into a checkmate. To this day I'm still not sure if it was planned or accidental chaos."
"Something tells me she doesn't either." Izuku snickered, able to see his mentor doing that.
"Indeed." Nezu nodded, finishing their tea "Now, you mentioned having a proposal for me?"
"Yeah, I noticed that some of my classmates, and some that Neito had mentioned from 1B, had quirks that could have medical applications." Izuku nodded "I wrote up a proposal to share with you and the Board of Directors to recruit someone to help Recovery girl give lessons on medical quirk uses for active Hero Work in the field. Kaminari could use his quirk as a defibrillator, Sero could use his tape as makeshift gauze, and then there's Yaoyorozu. She could make any sort of medical tool needed, and that's assuming she can't just make medicine with her quirk or use it to make replacement organs or extra blood if there's an emergency at a hospital." Given his own history he'd given that last one a lot of thought.
"Interesting, very interesting." Nezu flipped through the typed-up proposal "I'll read through it and take it to the Board. For now, though, let's see how you work with the latest Analysis test I have prepared."
"Yes sir!"
-Todoroki-
"Welcome home Shoto!" Fuyumi smiled as he entered, slipping off his shoes.
"You're back late." Natsuo looked up from a bowl of ramen he was eating at the counter "What took you?"
"I was training with my classmates." Shoto was unphased by his sibling's confusion, and couldn't blame them either "We were working on ways to improve our quirks that my Rival proposed."
"Your rival is…helping you?" Fuyumi blinked in confusion.
"You're working with others?" Natsuo choose to focus on something else, Shoto's brother Fuyumi swatting him.
"Midoriya is Principal Nezu's personal student when it comes to analysis and seems to enjoy studying quirks and how to improve them." Shoto explained to his sister first "And…yes. Originally I just wished to get more information from Midoriya as he has Great Uncle Haku's quirk. But then I realized that working with others, making friends, that's the exact opposite of what he would do."
"Hah, fair enough." Natsuo seemed amused by Shoto's logic and went back to their ramen for about five seconds, "Wait, what do you mean your classmates has Grunkle Haku's quirk?!"
AN: If you want a visual for the chess game then look up 'Dragon Age Inquisition: Solas vs Iron Bull Chess Match'. I used the move patterns from that one)