Chapter Six

Octopus & Spirit VS Monkey & Ghost

All Might plunged his hands into the boxes, and after a second of deciding drew out the deciding letters.

"The heroes are Team B, Shoji and Todoroki! The villains are Team I, Ojiro and Hagakure!"

"Follow me, you four," All Might stated, striding towards the door. "Our last team destroyed their building, so we'll give you a new one to use."

Mezo followed the Symbol of Peace, walking behind his new teammate and his two opponents. Privately, Mezo was glad that he was part of the hero team. While he was sure that U.A. wouldn't allow any quirk discrimination on campus, years of facing abuse from people over his appearance had made him hesitant to open up to people. But even if some of his classmates turned out to be hard to make friends with, he was sure he could find common ground with his fellow mutant quirk classmates, be they True Mutant types or Heteromorphic types.

"Alright, you lot," All Might grinned at them, standing in front of the doors leading into their building. "As I explained in the Monitor Room, you're going to need these micro transceivers, a roll of Capture Tape, as well as a map of the building. Go ahead, take one each."

Each of them stepped forth, with the villains receiving their own unique maps.

"Alright, villains," All Might continued, "you have five minutes to head on in, find the bomb, make a plan, and set up your defences. Are you ready?!"

"Yes, sir," nodded Ojiro, the heteromorphic student with the tail nodded.

Beside him stood his teammate, and even though Mezo couldn't see her, her gloves that were pumping up and down helped to show her excitement.

"Yeah, we've got this!" she cheered before pointing one of her gloves at Mezo and Todoroki. "No hard feelings or anything, but you two are going down!"

"Ha ha ha!" All Might laughed, throwing his head back. "That's what I like to hear! Now, you two, head on in. Let's get this Battle Trial underway!"

The pair walked through the doors, disappearing from view as they rounded a corner.

"Right, now for you heroes," All Might said, turning to Mezo and his teammate. "Once the five minutes is up, you'll have fifteen minutes to locate the bomb or capture all of the villains. And I do ask that you try to keep the damage to a minimum. Remember, you both will be monitored and graded by your peers after this."

Both Mezo and Todoroki nodded, showing their understanding.

"Very well, good luck to the both of you!" All Might said, breaking into a light jog back to the Monitor Room, leaving the hero duo alone.

Glancing to the side, Mezo observed his teammate's hero costume. It was a form fitting robe, something that wouldn't be out of place within a fantasy game. Rather than a single piece of fabric covering the legs, his costume had loose fitting pants with the legs tucked into a pair of boots that he wore. His upper body was fully covered with the fabric, extending all the way down to his hands, covering them with gloves. He wore a hood over his face, casting it in shadow, but he also wore a mask that covered his face's right-hand side. It had a smooth, featureless texture, poking out from underneath Todoroki's fringe, and it was only because his fringe didn't go lower than his earlobes that Mezo was able to see the mask. His costume was coloured a pale, icy blue, and it seemed like something that one would see an ice mage wear, which given what Mezo saw of his quirk yesterday, seemed entirely fitting.

Mezo simply stood there, not entirely sure how to start the conversation he and his teammate would inevitably need to have.

"My name is Shoji," he started, forming a mouth on the end of one of his arms and reaching out a hand on another to his red-haired partner. "Mezo Shoji."

Todoroki simply turned his gaze, looking out the offered hand for a moment, then the mouth, then Mezo's face, then back to the hand, before extending his own hand and shaking it.

"Shoto Todoroki," he answered in a neutral tone.

Silence fell over them once more, and in the back of Mezo's mind he could almost hear the ticking of a clock, the time passing by while he and his teammate simply sat around without making a plan of attack.

"Look, I'm sorry if you feel off with having me as a teammate, but we should at least work together for the duration of the Battle Trial," Mezo said, deciding to bite the bullet.

Todoroki once again looked towards Mezo, but this time he had a slightly puzzled expression.

"Why would I feel off?" he asked, his brow creasing in confusion.

"Because of my quirk," Mezo explained, eyes, ears and hands forming on some of his arms. "It's kind of sad, but I have grown used to people finding my quirk to be distasteful and avoiding me. If you feel the same way, I'd ask that you tell me now, even if it's so I know why you avoid me in the future."

Todoroki turned to face the building, looking up at it. Even though he stood to the left of Todoroki, Mezo was still able to see it. Todoroki was now clearly frowning, his visible left eye narrowing as his expression changed from confused to visibly irritated.

"No one should go through that," Todoroki muttered to himself, and it was only from the extra ears that Mezo had formed on his arms that allowed him to hear it.

Todoroki turned to face Mezo, though this time his expression was much more firm and determined.

"Let's start again," Todoroki said. "My name is Shoto Todoroki. And no, I don't have an issue with you or your quirk. If I came across that way, I apologise. But I ask that you never insult me again by thinking so poorly of me."

Mezo was taken aback, but quickly recovered, chuckling lightly in response. "It's a deal."

Another silence fell over them, but this time it felt much less awkward.

"So, your quirk," Todoroki began, breaking the silence, "it allows you to create body parts on the ends of your arms?"

"That's right," Mezo nodded. "My quirk, Dupli-Arms, allows me to transform the tips of them into any body part that I desire; hands, eyes, ears, mouths, it doesn't matter."

"Do they become less effective if you create more of them?" Todoroki asked.

"Actually the opposite. If I create an eye or ear on the end of my arms, then they are more efficient than my natural eyes and ears."

Todoroki nodded, holding up his right arm as mist drifted into the air.

"My quirk, Half-Cold Half-Hot, allows me to create ice and flames from my body; ice from the right and flames from the left. My body is also resistant to extreme temperatures, and depending on which side of my body is touching something will determine if I can touch and hold it without risking injury."

"That's quite a powerful quirk," Mezo admitted. "Do you have a plan for how you want to do this?"

"I do," Todoroki nodded. "I'm not sure if All Might will allow us to use our quirks to find our opponents before the match begins, but I don't want to risk it. Therefore, once the five minutes are up, we'll use your quirk to locate where the villains are. One of them will probably be guarding the bomb, so we will head to the closest one if they are split up. We'll use your senses to keep a lookout for that invisible girl, while I'll handle the other one. That way you can keep an eye out for when she inevitably tries to sneak up on us."

"Are you sure you can take him?" Mezo asked. "His tail quirk seems quite powerful."

Todoroki only gave a light smirk as ice formed within his right hand, creating a staff of blue ice, quickly reaching the ground. Ice started to form all over his body, a chestplate, arm guards, greeves and gauntlet spreading across his right-hand side. He moved his ice staff into his left hand, placing his now free right hand onto his left bicep. Ice formed over the cloth, just the same as his right, before he repeated the process on the left side of his chest and his left leg. Finally, he placed his hand on his mask, the mist emanating from the hand moving his hair. He pulled his hand away, revealing that his mask now sported an image of a reptilian face, its lips pulled back in a vicious snarl. Todoroki's hero costume no longer looked like a form-fitting set of mage's robes; instead, it looked more like a suit of armour, with gaps allowing for the perfect balance of mobility and protection.

Mezo felt goosebumps form over his skin, his body reacting to the sudden change in temperature as the icy armour drained heat from the surrounding air.

"I'm sure I'll be fine," was all the icy student said.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

As Mashirao walked through the dim corridors of the abandoned building, many thoughts were going through his mind. Where would they be able to set up an ambush? How defensible would the room holding the bomb be? Could he take the heroes in a head-on attack?

However, the most pressing question he had was in regards to his teammate.

"So, um, Hagakure, right?" Mashirao started, lightly scratching his cheek in embarrassment. "My name's Mashirao Ojiro. Your quirk makes you invisible, right? And only your body, not your clothes?"

"Yep, that's right," Hagakure cheerfully said.

Mashirao turned his head to the right, noticing her gloves that were pumping in the air, showing her excitement.

"With my Invisible quirk, they won't see me coming until it's too late, literally and figuratively."

Mashirao nodded, glancing down at the map that they had been given. The building they had been assigned to was a five story office building, with a roof access at the top. According to the map, the weapon was located on the north side of the fourth floor, with only one doorway into the room. Perfect.

"This way," Mashirao said, walking up a flight of stairs with Hagakure close behind him. Keeping a close eye on the map, the villain duo made their way to the right room, opening the door to reveal the fake bomb standing there.

"Oh wow," Hagakure gasped, walking towards the weapon, "it's a lot bigger in person."

Her gloves reached over to the support struts of the bomb, attempting to pick it up.

"Woah!" she flailed, both her and the weapon tilting over from the force she exerted in trying to lift the bomb.

Mashirao was quick to rush over, using his tail to support Hagakure's back while holding the support struts of the weapon, his hands placed just above Hagakure's gloves.

"You alright?" Mashirao asked, gently placing the weapon back onto the ground.

"Yeah, sorry," Hagakure apologised. "I was expecting it to be a lot heavier, so I put too much of my strength into it."

Mashirao, now curious about the weapon they had to defend, rapped a knuckle against the side of the weapon, creating a hollow tok sound.

"It must be made of paper mache," he guessed, looking at the bomb from different angles. "It makes sense that the school wouldn't use actual bombs, and this way it's light and easy to make."

"So, um," Hagakure started, causing Mashirao to look in her direction. She was grinding the toe of her left boot against the floor, showing her nervousness. "I know what I said to our opponents, but do you think we can actually win?"

"What do you mean?" Mashirao asked. "You seemed really confident before."

"Well yeah, but that was simply banter, you know, hyping us up," Hagakure explained, her gloves rubbing what Mashirao assumed was her shoulder. "It's just, they seem to have really powerful quirks, and I don't. That octopus guy is super strong, and the redhead has a powerful ice quirk. I mean, yeah, we have your quirk, but I can't fight. I'm just invisible, I'm only good at hiding."

Mashirao shook his head. "I actually think it's the opposite. My quirk isn't all that impressive, I simply have a tail. But you, you could be our key to victory."

"Really?" Hagakure asked, her gloves balled up in front of her chest.

"Really," Mashirao smiled. "Here's my plan: When the heroes break in, I'll distract them, keep them occupied, while you hide out of sight. I might not be as powerful as they are, but I'm nimble and can hold my own in close quarters combat. Then, while they're focusing on me, you sneak up behind them and take one of them out with the capture tape. Hopefully that will throw the other one off their game, allowing me to capture them in turn. What d'ya think?"

"Oh, that's a good plan," Hagakure agreed, flashing Mashirao a thumbs up, before hesitating. "Wait, are you sure you can take them both on without me? This isn't you trying to be all macho, right?"

"I'll be fine, I promise," Mashirao chuckled, tugging on the gi that he wore as part of his hero costume. "This gi isn't for show, my parents run a martial arts dojo for those with heteromorphic quirks. While my quirk might be bland, my martial arts skills are anything but."

"Wow," Hagakure breathed, before slipping her gloves and boots off. "If you're willing to go Plus Ultra, then so am I! The gloves and boots are coming off, Ojiro, I'm going all out!"

"Right," Mashirao hesitantly said, glancing away. 'Even though she's invisible, I'm in a room with a naked girl. This feels wrong.'

"And look!" Hagakure said, causing Mashirao to look back over. Floating in the air was Hagakure's roll of Capture Tape, visible for only a moment before disappearing completely.

"My quirk makes my body invisible by bending the light around it. That means that if I have something held in my hands, I can make it invisible too!"

"Alright, then I'll wait here for the heroes to arrive," Mashirao said. "You hide somewhere nearby on this floor, that way you can stay out of sight but still be close enough to come and ambush them."

"Yeah, those heroes don't stand a chance!" Hagakure cheered.

"Indoor Antipersonnel Battle Training, Round Two, Start!" All Might declared over the building's intercom system.

"Alright, go find a place to hide," Mashirao said. "I'll stay here and guard the weapon. We can do this."

"Got it," Hagakure said, the only indication of her movement being the sound of her footfalls as she walked away. "I'll be close by, even if you can't see me."

Her footsteps stopped, and Mashirao imagined her looking back at him, a smile on her invisible face. "These heroes don't stand a chance."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

With All Might declaring the start of the match, Shoto watched Shoji start his part of their plan. The ends of four of his arms, the upper and middle arms of both sides, morphed, changing from nubs to an ear. He flexed his arms out at different angles facing towards the building, the ears twitching as they picked up everything they could. Shoji nodded to himself, morphing the ends of his left arms into mouths.

"We've got one on the north side of the fourth floor," he explained. "The other's somewhere on the same floor, barefoot by the sound of it. The invisible one must be planning to ambush and capture us."

Shoto nodded, his mind creating plans and strategies. "So we go for the north side, that's where we're likely going to find the weapon."

Shoto pulled out his map, looking over the schematics for the fourth floor. "Would you be able to guess where on the map the first one was?"

Shoji leaned his head over, giving the map a critical look.

"There," he said, pointing to a room near a stairwell. "That's where I heard the first set of footsteps. Ojiro, if memory serves me correctly."

"It does," Shoto nodded, focusing on the room his teammate had pointed out. "It's a one way entrance, no windows or balconies for us to sneak in. We'll have to attack head-on."

Shoto stowed away his map, walking to the front door of the building and holding it open for Shoji.

"I'll take the lead," Shoto explained, once again going over their plan. "Keep an eye out for the invisible one, Hagakure. If everything goes to plan, we should be the fastest team to capture the weapon."

Shoto and Shoji continued on in silence, Shoto leading from the front with his ice staff held in both hands while Shoji gave him intermittent updates on the position of the villains.

'So they have decided to stay in place,' Shoto thought, peering around a corner with his left eye. 'They must be confident in their plan. Against anyone else, I could see it working. It's just a shame I'm simply out of their league.'

The hero duo reached the fourth floor, and turning to his right Shoto saw the weapon, visible through the open, unguarded doorway. No one could be seen in the room, making it seem as if the weapon was left unguarded. Shoto knew it was too good to be true.

He glanced over to Shoji, tilting his head towards the room. Shoji's arms morphed once more, two ears forming on the topmost arms, with a mouth forming near Shoto's ear.

"One of them, the barefooted one, is behind us in another room," Shoji whispered, "while the other is hiding behind the door, waiting for us."

"So they want to play defensively?" Shoto rhetorically asked, not bothering to keep his voice down. "That doesn't matter to me."

Stomping his right foot down, Shoto left forth a burst of cold, watching as pale frost spread out from him to the rest of the fourth floor. The ice crystals that coated the ground caused the temperature to plummet, quickly dropping below freezing point.

Shoto took in a deep breath, enjoying the crisp, cold air the floor now had, before breathing out his misty breath.

While he controlled it to spare Shoji and the weapon, no care was given to his opponents.

"Ah, so cold!" a feminine voice cried out from behind him.

"Go take care of Hagakure," Shoto instructed Shoji, walking towards the bomb room. "If she's barefoot, her feet will be at risk of frostbite, so best make it quick."

Shoji nodded, cautiously making his way over the frosted ground to where Hagakure was shivering near the stairwell, her position exposed from the footprints in the ice and the steam from her breath.

Shoto stopped by the doorway, not having to worry about his footing from the grips on his boots, designed specifically to prevent him from slipping on his own ice.

"Are you going to continue this farce, or are you willing to fight?" he asked, ignoring the sounds of Hagakure struggling in Shoji's grip.

The sound of ice crunching underfoot echoed out from the room, with the source of the noise quickly revealing himself. Shoto watched with detached interest as Ojiro stepped out into the open, moving into a martial arts stance. But even though he projected a confident image, his shivering limbs and heavy breathing told a different story.

"Surrender, villain," Shoto ordered, stepping through the doorway of the room. "Make your life easier and just give up. You have no chance against us."

"N-never!" Ojiro declared, his teeth chattering. "We're not outnum-"

"Toru Hagakure has been eliminated!" All Might declared over the speakers, cutting Ojiro off mid sentence. "Also, if she could be brought down and checked for frostbite as soon as possible, that would be excellent!"

"Shoji, escort the villain out of the hideout," Shoto called out over his shoulder.

"Awfully confident, aren't you?" Ojiro asked, relaxing and clenching his fists against the cold. "What makes you think you can get past me alone?"

"I'll do more than get past you," Shoto corrected, gripping his ice staff with both hands. "After all, we're simply in two different leagues."

Ojiro dashed forward, moving to attack in a flurry of blows.

Or at least, that was what he tried to do.

Wearing clothing that wasn't designed for maintaining grip on icy surfaces, Ojiro slid forward out of control. Even though he maintained his balance by using his tail as a counterweight, he still wasn't able to control his movement well.

Shoto simply stepped to the side, leaning back to dodge a few opportunistic strikes that Ojiro made as he slid past.

The blond student caught himself on the handrail of the stairs, gripping the cold metal as he spun himself around, only for his eyes to widen as he saw Shoto effortlessly walking towards him at a leisurely pace.

"What are you doing?!" he exclaimed in shock. "You have a clear path to the weapon!"

"I'm not so foolish to turn my back on you," Shoto explained. "With the balance your tail provides you, I have no doubt you'd try another attack by launching yourself across the ice."

"You could just block off the room," Ojiro argued, slowly backing away from Shoto, trying to maintain the distance between them. "That way I wouldn't be able to get to you in time."

"Sure, I could," Shoto admitted before a cold smile grew on his face. "But as I said, I'm going to do more than get past you."

Shoto dashed forward, the spikes on the soles of his boots gripping the icy surface as he rushed Ojiro. He lashed out with his staff, striking Ojiro on the right arm and both legs, each hit landing on his opponent's gi rather than his flesh. Ojiro responded in kind, retaliating by using his tail to strike Shoto's staff, shattering it, before landing a hit with his fist on Shoto's torso, cracking the ice chestplate he had formed. While both combatants had landed blows, only one of them had been harmed.

"Ah!" Ojiro hissed, clutching his knuckles in pain as he slid back, eventually bumping against the windowed wall of the building. "What did you do?!"

"Nothing," Shoto admitted. "You're the one who foolishly hit a surface without knowing how cold it would be."

"What?" Ojiro asked, a bewildered expression on his face.

"Human skin cells start to die when exposed to temperatures of -50C," Shoto explained, another ice staff forming in his right hand. "What you just hit was ice that has a temperature of -80C. That's cold enough to freeze carbon dioxide. Is it any wonder you received ice burns from it?"

Ojiro glanced at his knuckles and tail, and sure enough red welts could be seen on his skin.

"This is what I meant when I said we're in two different leagues," Shoto continued, casually walking forward over the ice as his chestplate reformed. "You can't hit me without being hurt."

"Then I'll simply have to try harder," Ojiro declared, shaking out his injured hand and once more dropping into a ready stance.

Shoto sighed, realising his words wouldn't mean anything to his classmate. He could only be taught through action.

Dashing forward once more, Shoto used his ice staff to bat away Ojiro's tail, the pain from the cold causing the limb to recoil in shock. Leaning his head to the side, Shoto avoided a fist thrown at his face, retaliating by planting his right hand on Ojiro's gi. Ice spread out across the costume, locking Ojiro's limbs in place as they were trapped within his clothing which had suddenly become ridgid.

"Ow," Ojiro winced as he tried to move within his frozen clothing.

"I wouldn't recommend that," Shoto advised as he turned around, turning his back to Ojiro as he walked towards the room housing the bomb. "It would be hard to fight with frostbitten limbs."

Ojiro seemed to have realised his position, as Shoto didn't hear any other attempts from his opponent to break out of his bindings. Uncontested, Shoto walked up to the weapon, and without wasting any time placed his hand on the bomb, securing his team's victory.

"The hero team wins!" All Might declared across the building.

Satisfied with the results, Shoto knelt down, placed his left hand on the ground, from which burst forth a wave of heat, quickly melting the ice that had covered the ground as well as the ice that protected his clothes. Walking back over to Ojiro, Shoto placed his left hand on his gi as well, quickly melting the ice and freeing his opponent.

"You both made a good attempt," Shoto admitted, walking beside Ojiro as they made their way down the staircase to the first floor. "You simply had one of the worst matchups you possibly could have. Shoji was able to find Hagakure easily, and you couldn't hit me without injuring yourself. Take pride in knowing that you'd do much better against any of the other teams."

"Maybe," Ojiro admitted, a downcast expression on his face, "but it still doesn't feel great for our plan to have been defeated so easily."

"Then that's an easy problem to fix," Shoto said. "If you have an issue with how weak you are, simply strive to be stronger."

The pair arrived at the door to the Monitor Room, with Shoto going in ahead of Ojiro.

"After all, the weak never have any say in how their life turns out."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

'Well, that plan could've gone better,' Toru lamented. Ojiro had come up with a really good plan too. He would draw the heroes attention, fending them off while also keeping them away from the bomb. Then, she would sneak up behind them, loop some of the Capture Tape around one of their limbs, makin int 1. Hopefully, that would throw the other hero off their game, Ojiro would be able to take them out with sick martial arts moves like in an action film, and the two of them would win. Sure, it might feel strange to win as the villains guarding a nuclear bomb, but Toru didn't really care about that. For once, she'd be in the spotlight. For once, people would see her, see that she could be a hero, even with a weak quirk.

Of course, they had the rotten luck to go against the one team that had the perfect counter to anything they could come up with. The heroes had come up the stairs, and when Toru was getting ready to leap into action and assist Ojiro, the red-haired hero frosted the entire fourth floor, revealing her position and making her feel really silly for deciding to go naked.

Sure, her quirk couldn't cover her clothes, and sure, she found the idea of being naked in public kind of exciting, but the feeling of all sense of touch leaving her very very cold toes wasn't something she wanted to repeat. The large octopus-looking hero was quick to capture her with his own roll of Capture Tape, and despite his somewhat scary appearance, he was very gentle, always being careful about where his hands were at all times, and rushed her to Recovery Girl, the school nurse with a healing quirk whose personality reminded Toru of her own grandmother. She had given Toru a full checkup, saying that she hadn't suffered from any frostbite, merely having some mild ice burn. Toru was a little unnerved when Recovery Girl's lips stretched out to plant a kiss on her hand, but was amazed to feel the stinging sensation in her toes disappear almost instantly.

She and Shoji, apparently that was the octopus guy's name, checked on Midoriya, who was still out cold from the first fight. His arms were wrapped in bandages, and Recovery Girl said she would keep a close eye on him, so they should run back to class.

The pair exited Recovery Girl's office, with Shoji going back to the Monitor Room while Toru rushed back to the building their battle had been in, wanting to pick up her gloves and boots she had left there. Toru, now wearing her full hero costume, rushed back to the Monitor Room, hoping that All Might would remember she wasn't present rather than assume that just because he couldn't see her that she wasn't there, an issue many of her teachers had made in the past.

Slipping into the dark room, Toru was more than glad that All Might hadn't started without her, with Ojiro, Shoji and the other hero all waiting in line for All Might's feedback. But as she walked over to join the others, one of the Kurusus, the Centaur, backed up, completely oblivious to Toru who stood in the way.

"Ah, wait," she cried out, even though she knew it was too late, and she'd likely have to go back to Recovery Girl's office again. However, before her feet could be stepped on by a hoof, a hand grabbed her forearm, pulling her out of the way.

"Damn it, Sarah," the other Kurusu, the Arachne, said, "you almost ran her over. You really need to look behind when backing up."

"What?" the blonde Kurusu wondered in bewilderment before her eyes widened as she saw Toru. Well, saw her floating gloves and empty shoes. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. Hagakure, right?"

"Yeah, that's me," Toru chuckled, rubbing the back of her head to show her embarrassment. "It's no biggie, people often don't see me. Kind of the point when you have an invisibility quirk."

"Yeesh, I can only imagine how much of a pain that's got to be," the Arachne said, looking near Toru's face.

'Wait,' Toru realised, 'she's not looking near my face, she's looking, at my face?'

Even though the Arachne didn't have any pupils, instead having a solid red for each of her eyes, Toru still got the impression that she was looking straight into Toru's eyes, rather than simply looking where she thought they were. Wanting to test her theory, Toru removed one of her gloves, waving her invisible hand in front of the Arachne's face.

"Uh, are you okay?" the Arachne asked, her head following Toru's hand. "Why are you waving your hand in my face?"

"You can see it?" Toru gasped, excitement filling her voice. "You can, you can see me?"

"Of course," the Arachne said, acting as if it were the most obvious thing.

"Your quirk allows you to become invisible through bending light around you, right?" Sarah Kurusu asked. "Specifically the visible light spectrum?"

"Yeah, that's right," Toru said, absentmindedly nodding her head rather than using her clothing to express her movement.

"Well, Arachne heteromorphs like Kórinis are able to see into the ultraviolet spectrum," the blonde Centaur explained.

"Sure, you appear entirely violet, but I can see you clear as day," Kórinis Kurusu admitted. "I honestly thought your quirk required you to streak or something, since you weren't wearing any clothes. It took Sarah explaining that you were invisible to everyone else for me to piece it together."

"Young Hagakure, is that you over there?" All Might asked, looking in her direction.

"Oh, um, yes, All Might, sir," Hagakure stammered before turning back to the lavender-haired Arachne. "Did you want to eat lunch with me tomorrow?"

"I'll see you there," Kurusu replied with a grin.

Toru practically skipped over to All Might, filled with joy that someone, for the first time in her life, actually would see her at lunch.

"Alright, young Hagakure is here, so let's begin the post-battle analysis!" All Might declared, silencing the quiet conversations happening between students. "Our V.I.P. for this battle was Mezo Shoji! Anyone want to take a guess as to why?"

"Because he did his job," a voice cried out, causing the class to turn their attention to Kórinis Kurusu, who stood there with crossed arms. "While the villains made a good strategy, it fell apart instantly. Shoto on the other hand continued attacking the remaining villain rather than securing the weapon, like he should've."

Toru and Ojiro simply winced, while Todoroki clenched a fist, but made no retort.

"Very good, young Kurusu," All Might complimented, flashing the Arachne a thumbs up. "All very good points. However, Shoji also focused on locating the villains, as well as subduing one of them. He also retreated with said villain, allowing them to receive medical attention and allowing his teammate the option of going all out if needed. Simply put, young Shoji did everything he was meant to do well, even rescuing one of the villains."

"Remember," All Might continued, "a villain that you save might have a change of heart, even if it isn't immediate. Saving people is the job of a hero after all, no matter if you are a battle hero, rescue hero, or any other kind. All that's different is how we go about saving people."

Shoji seemed taken aback by the praise he was receiving, bowing his head to All Might while forming a mouth on one of his arms. "Thank you, sir."

"Mm, very good," All Might hummed, before turning back to the crowd of students. "Anyone else want to give their reasoning?"

The class was silent, prompting All Might to bring out his 'Hero' and 'Villain' boxes.

"Alright then, let's see who our next heroes and villains are, shall we?"

Surprise, I lied, you get the chapter now. So, fun fact, the day before I was meant to fly out to Australia, I tested positive for Covid-19. Such a nuisance, especially since it wasn't a great experience. Fever, sore eyes, coughing, and my nose flooding like Noah just got on his Ark. I fly out tomorrow on Monday, so I decided that you'll get this chapter now, you're welcome. Not only is it a week early, but also a day early. Lucky you…

As I expected, it was much shorter than usual, about half as long, though that's to be expected. Not sure how I feel about this one either. I'm sure I do dialogue scenes much better than fight scenes, and with Katsuki VS the Zero Pointer that was a different kind of fight scene. Either way, let me know your thoughts of the fight, brief as it might have been.

I decided to give Ojiro a better fight in this timeline, and not just for my personal reasons. As you saw, Shoto is fighting in a very different manner, and is using a MUCH colder ice than canon. In canon, Shoto was able to encase people in ice without issue, and all they get is cold. This tells me that canon Shoto's ice is not that cold, less than -50C by my guess. Sure, he told the villains at the USJ that they could get frostbite, but he also encased Hanta in an iceberg during the Sports Festival, so I'd place it close to -50, but not quite there. This Shoto has much colder ice, giving cold burns simply from contact. Yeah, those USJ villains are going to be in for a world of hurt.

FYI, these changes weren't arbitrary, there are plot reasons for this development, plot reasons that will be revealed. This is also why I changed Shoto's fighting style. In canon, Shoto fights like a mage; stand in the backlines, shoot off spells, that's about it. That's why he and Momo were paired together against Eraser Head during the Midterms; both of them suck without their quirk. This version of Shoto can't spam ice attacks willy nilly, as that's going to cause a lot of damage really quickly. So my solution was simply train him in melee combat. Is he a pure fighter? Hell no, he still has the same issue of relying on his ice in a fight, only this time he's more like an Eldritch Knight, kind of a blend of wizard and fighter.

Also, Toru getting more screen time will be happening. I find her to be one of the more interesting girls, though let's be honest, all of the girls of 1-A are interesting characters in their own right. I find having an invisibility quirk to be both a blessing and a curse. Blessing in the sense you can be all sneaky beaky like, but a curse because people overlook you a lot. For a teenager, that's probably not a good thing. In my mind, this is why Toru is so expressive; she has no other option to be noticed. Because she can't express her feelings through her face, she has to use her voice and body to make up for it. That and I liked the idea of Toru and Kórinis getting up to mischief and pulling pranks. Will anything come of it: idk, maybe? I'll see how it goes. What I will do is pop the bubbles of any Kórinis x Toru shippers. Not happening, Kórinis is already paired, that and I like the idea of the bubbly invisible girl with the plain looking but very functional student, i.e. Toru x Mashirao. That and you can't convince me there isn't something going on between those two.

Also, I decided that I wanted to do a review of each battle group, simply because why not. It pads out the chapter as well as giving some depth and expansion to the main premise of the story; the school and education. How can our class improve if they aren't learning from their mistakes?

Okay, review time.

Sakumon16, once again thanks for the reviews. Trust me, you're not the only one who got tired of MM after the NTRanch arc. After that it honestly felt like the author was trying to tick off every tag and kink. For crying out loud, one of the latest chapters had a Sphinx being into little boys. Standards exist for a reason! I also now have the vision of Suu and Enji standing next to each other and I love it. I might commission some art of it, who knows? As for your idea, I have one. I know who would be the main character, though I'm still 50/50 on whether or not I go through with it, I'll have to see.

Siarles, thanks for the reviews, let's get into them.

Yeah, Monster Musume isn't exactly what comes to mind when you think of lore rich crossovers. Having a quick scan through Fanfic and Ao3, they are either harem stories or smut. I kid you not, I have found one story that wasn't smut, while the other was an alt route of only Kimihito and Rachnera, so I'm glad to buck the trend. I'm also glad you like my story, and hope you stick around for the rest. Trust me when I say that the rating is going to increase later on, not everyone is getting out unscathed. Also, YAY, SOMEONE NOTICED! Yes, I decided to have an ATLA reference with Zuko and everyone's favourite uncle. Don't ask me why I included them in the story, I don't really have an answer. Now, will Zuko and Shoto meet each other: short answer, yes. When it will be depends on when it makes sense in canon, but I have two points in time I'm tossing up. I'm also glad you like how I've written Katsuki, trust me, you'll love what's coming up.

Also, woohoo, I called it. I had no evidence for Ochako's words, but I'm glad my gut feeling was right. In regards to your theory, you're close. Endeavor is very much against discrimination against mutant types and heteromorphs, but you'll have to wait and see why that is. As for Shoto's eye, well, just wait for the Sports Festival, mwahaha! Thanks for the clarification on the seating order as well, I wasn't able to figure out how it was arranged.

For answers to comments in the chapter, it is two fold. First is that I have seen that method done by others who I read, and I liked the style of it. Secondly, as you rightly guessed, this story is cross posted on Fanfic and Ao3. I can reply to comments in Ao3, but I can't for Fanfic, so I decided to do it all at once. I also see we have a vote for Sarah x Momo x Tenya. I won't say if you're right or wrong, all I'm saying is that the reveal will be after the Summer Training Camp. I'll be honest, I cackled reading your theory on chapter five. My brother was giving me the side eye while my mother asked if I was mad. All I'll spoil is that no, Endeavor isn't the grandson of MHA's Avatar, and he isn't Iroh's brother, though them being distantly related isn't a bad idea. I never thought about the connection with Pixie Bob and Inasa, but I can safely say there isn't one in this story. All I'll say is that family isn't necessarily who you share blood with. As for the title, I referred to Shoto as Spirit in the sense of a Yuki Onna, an ice spirit in Japanese folklore. As you'll see later on in the story, it's an accurate description.

Artorigus, thanks for your reviews.

I'm glad you like my craft, as you can tell I put in a lot of effort into the world building and lore, so I'm glad other people like it as well. And yes, most of Kimihito's children look very similar to their respective mother, I feel that would be pretty normal since normal hair colours in MHA were taken out back, shot, and then pumped in a lake. Though I do admit Hapi, Papi's eldest child and son, is one of my favourites, especially since he has a blend of his mother's hair colour with his father's shade. And while I did have the idea of there being a bunch of children, I simply didn't want too many of them. That and I feel that Rachnera out of all of the girls would be the least likely to want lots of children. Even in canon, Rachnera takes on the role of an older sister or aunt figure, and my headcanon is that due to having a rough childhood would be nervous to have one child, let alone many. And yay, another person saw the reference.

Now, for your ideas of the influence the Kurusu family has, trust me, some of them are highly influential. Just as a reminder, Mero is both a princess and a lawyer, Sarah is a generational pro hero (the significance of which will be brought up in a few chapters) and Suu is a world class actress with a highly influential mother. How influential? Again, you'll find out in a few chapters. Now with seeing Kimihito's wives in action, well, just remember that after a certain jailbreak, society in Japan does collapse somewhat, so Asaka city might become fortified. As for your ideas for M.O.N., trust me, I've got one. Will they be underground heroes? No, but they are going to appear. All I'll say is that Kuroko Smith hasn't changed employers, and I promise that all of the girls of MON are going to be making an appearance in the future. After all, a certain national event requires a security detail, right?

Okay, that's it for the reviews. For your sneak peak, next chapter is titled, 'Frog & Demon VS Stone and Spider'. We finally see one of the Kurusu sisters in action.

As a final sidenote, we reached 1,000 views on FanFiction and we're almost at 500 on Ao3. Not much of a number, but it's significant to me. Cheers to everyone who's decided to check this story out on either platform.

See you all next time…

- Jevm