A quick question to answer- Blaze1992 and anyone else who's wondering, the Sludge Villain/Slime Villain exists in this universe, but because Izuku was unconscious on a rooftop rather than meeting All Might at the time he was delivered to the police without any real incident, so Bakugo didn't spend several minutes being suffocated. Hope that clears that up.
As always, I hope you enjoy.
Mina hit the ground with a thud, groaning dramatically.
"What the hell, Midori? What happened to 'I'm still adjusting, go easy on me'?"
Izuku, standing above her, laughed and offered her his right hand. Mina took it, groaning again as he pulled her to her feet.
"You're still too eager with the roundhouse," he told her, letting go the instant she was on her feet, "It'll work on most people but I'm used to your tells. You're getting a lot better at hand to hand, though! And you'll mostly be using your Quirk, anyway."
Mina rubbed at her back, grinning.
"Yeah. Yeah, I guess that's true. Hey, Kiri! You want a shot at this?"
Kirishima looked across, a bottle of water still in his hand.
"Not even a little, Mina," he called back, although he was already walking over. Izuku stretched, rolling his shoulders and neck. He'd somehow been drawn into sparring with the two of them after he'd made the mistake of pointing out that there was a combat round in the Sports Festival. Not that he minded too much, but fighting one-handed was starting to wear on him. It just made everything more difficult.
"Do I get a say in this?" he asked. Mina looked at him, cocking her head to one side and apparently thinking.
"No."
Izuku sighed, folding his left arm behind his back to avoid using it as best he could. Kirishima gave him an apologetic look.
"Sorry, man."
Izuku shrugged, leaning down to his own bottle of water.
"Don't worry about it."
His arm flicked up, the bottle whipping towards Kirishima's face. Kirishima yelped, bringing his arms up to block and Izuku darted forwards, throwing a straight kick into Kirishima's stomach and following it with an elbow to the jaw when Kirishima bent over, his arms coming down. He pulled the blow enough that his elbow only touched skin, but Kirishima still went down, wheezing. Mina whooped with laughter.
"You hardened your arms, but not your face and stomach, right?" Izuku asked. Kirishima wheezed on the ground, curled up, and Izuku rubbed self-consciously at the back of his head.
"Sorry."
"Don't worry about it," Kirishima croaked, repeating Izuku's earlier words. Aizawa, who was supervising, wandered over.
"Good surprise attack, Midoriya," he approved, "Kirishima, work on your reactions. It might not matter in the Sports Festival, but in real life villains aren't going to let you know that they're coming."
Izuku helped Kirishima up, apologising again, but Kirishima shrugged it off as Aizawa slouched off, heading towards some other poor victim in the class.
"Nah, man. It's like you said to Yaoyorozu, right? Some people don't have the luxury of being nice. If we're really gonna be a Hero, you might not be able to be nice all the time."
"Well, you might be able to," Izuku said, rubbing his hands together nervously. The metal of his prosthetic was cold against his skin, but he ignored it as much as he could. Kirishima stretched out his arms, groaning faintly.
"Yeah, I guess I can run a little more limelight than you, huh? Although I think you could be good at that too, man. I've seen some of those things Hatsume's been making."
Izuku shuddered. It had been a week since he'd almost lost his other arm to the vice-grip of an excited Mei Hatsume, and he'd been afraid every time he'd gone back to the laboratory. Even Power Loader was intimidated these days, with Hatsume getting more and more manic as the Sports Festival drew nearer. Izuku had been hard pressed to avoid being used as a test subject for some of her inventions, although the jetpack and hover-boot combination had actually been quite fun. He wouldn't want to use it himself- not nearly stealthy enough- but it was good for high mobility combat.
"Well, I…I don't really think that guns are a good look for a limelight hero. Even if Snipe is around, he's got a much older aesthetic that makes him draw a lot less negative attention. It's a good idea, really, his use of revolvers and the cowboy style. It might not have been intentionally crafted to make him seem less dangerous to the general public, but if it was it's a piece of very clever marketing. My armour is much more modern, and even if it's more practical in a lot of ways it comes off as threatening."
Izuku managed to end his sentence there, looking to the side before clearing his throat and turning his head back.
"So, um, yes. There's that. Also, I guess, one of the most major heroes to use guns a lot was Lady Nagant, and she…sort of…started killing people."
Which reminded him, he had a few questions about her. Izuku wondered what the best way to research would be- he had a suspicion that there was something funny going on there. Generally, people didn't just go insane and start killing. There was always a motive, even if sometimes they were paper-thin.
An enormous explosion rocked the training ground, shattering Izuku's train of thought. Mina and Kirishima turned to glare at the forest that the explosion had come from within.
"Can't believe he's still at it," Mina said, "It's all he's been doing for days."
Izuku rubbed at his shoulder, shaking his head.
"He must be trying to push himself further. Probably expecting to take on Todoroki again."
"Jeez," Mina muttered, "That'll be something to see. Bakugo needed his gauntlets last time, though. You think he could actually put up a fight?"
Izuku shrugged.
"He's always pushing himself, I guess. I don't know how far he's gotten. He might even have some sort of supermove already."
Mina twirled a thoughtful finger through her hair.
"Kiri, you got any idea? You were still trying to make friends with him, right?"
Kirishima looked away.
"Uh…"
Mina squinted at him and he shrugged.
"I…nah. Honestly. I gave it a go, but…he's really not interested, you know? I thought he was pretty cool, and he kinda is, but. You know. He's really not interested in making friends. He's only really interested in being number one. If he changes his mind, then I'm not gonna tell him to leave. But I'm not gonna force it either, you know?"
"Yeah," Mina muttered, "I get that, Kiri. It's kinda sad though, you know? He's so focused on being the best that he doesn't have time for anything else. Even if he's a bit of a dick, it must be…lonely."
And, from an objective point of view, Izuku could see that. Kacchan was so aggressive, so driven, that Izuku had never really thought of it. But no. What friends had Bakugo really had? Plenty of hangers-on, but genuine friends? Izuku didn't know if he could say Bakugo had any.
"Has he always been like this?" Mina asked, looking at Izuku. Izuku blinked.
"Sorry, I didn't catch that," he said. Mina patiently repeated her question and Izuku sat down on the grass, folding his arms onto his knees and thinking. He opened his mouth, pausing as another massive explosion rang out, then started speaking.
"He…when we were younger, he wasn't. Our parents are friends, so we knew each other from when we were just babies. Bakugo wanted to be a Hero. Well, I guess everyone did, then. Everyone wanted to be All Might, you know? And when he got his Quirk…"
Izuku shook his head again, looking back to misty, half-formed memories, more impressions of colours and shapes than real, solid things.
"His Quirk is really good, at least for combat. So everyone said that he'd be a great hero, right? Everyone. Teachers, other kids, his family…me. I guess he got a bit of an ego, maybe, but who wouldn't? We were still friends, I guess. I still followed him around, talking about how he'd be the best Hero ever and how I'd be his loyal sidekick, just like All Might and Sir Nighteye. And then, I didn't get a Quirk."
Izuku laughed, a harsh and bitter sound.
"This doctor, you know, he told me to give up my dreams of being a Hero. At first, I think Kacchan might have stuck with me. But as time went on, we just drifted apart, I guess. All of his hangers-on told him how I'd be a liability, and I guess he thought that made sense. I…it's been a long time, you know. A long time."
Izuku shook his head again, smacking his hand against his calf to knock away some clinging grass. Another explosion sounded, even louder than before, and he sighed.
"Wonder if he's got some good moves going," he mused, choosing to just move on from the words he'd spoken just a minute ago, "He'll need something big to punch past Todoroki. Maybe he's working on his stamina, too."
Mina made a scoffing noise, plonking herself down next to him.
"We're just going to move past that whole 'we were childhood friends until I didn't get a Quirk' thing?"
Izuku glanced at her as she lay back on the grass, her arms folded underneath her head and her eyes sharp.
"Well, I was going to," he said, hoping that she didn't contradict him. Mina eyed him through narrowed eyes before letting out a slow huff of air.
"Yeah. Yeah, alright, if that's what you want. I'm not your therapist."
"If I had a therapist they'd have to see their own therapist," Izuku muttered, barely loud enough to be heard. Mina nudged him in the side with her elbow- he'd noticed that over the last week she'd gotten slightly more touchy-feely with him. Maybe she'd realised that he didn't object to being touched as much when he knew the other person.
"What was that?"
"Nothing, Mina. Speaking of supermoves, have you and Kiri got any lined up? Or Tsuyu, even?"
Mina looked up at the sky, snorting.
"Well, I've got something. Don't know about Kiri. Tsu is just working on everything else I think- besides, that whole thing she did the other day, when she pulled you in with her tongue and went for a drop-kick, that counts as a supermove, right?"
"Right," Izuku grumbled, patting his ribs. Tsuyu had pulled her hit at the last moment, but it'd still left a bruise. Izuku could still beat her on skill, but it was getting closer. Super-strength was a bitch to fight against, even when it was comparatively limited. Yet another person who'd be hell to take on in the Festival, if he even got into it. He was starting to suspect that, even if he talked his way into it, Recovery Girl would make him compete without his prosthetic, to avoid damaging it. At that point, he might as well just accept his fate and stay on the side-lines.
"But yeah," Mina continued, "I've got a sort of…like, an acid spray from my hands? It's a bit more diluted, but it covers a lot of ground and it'll be a good distraction. I call it Acid Shotgun! What've you got, Midori?"
"Well," Izuku said dryly, "Now that I'm getting closer to being certified to carry a gun, I've got one I like to call 'gunshot'."
Mina nudged him again, slightly harder this time. Izuku smiled faintly.
"I wonder what sort of supermoves Mr Aizawa has? His Quirk isn't really suited to them, either."
Kirishima laughed from above them, re-joining the conversation.
"I bet he just says 'Erasing Kick' and then uppercuts whoever's closest."
Izuku snorted with laughter at the thought of his deadpan teacher doing just that, burying his face into his arms to hide it. Mina laughed beside him.
"Oh my god, he really would do that."
Izuku took a moment to imagine it before shaking his head.
"In all fairness, most Heroes do that. Look at All Might, his Smash attacks are half just different kinds of punch."
"You ever wonder if he feels kinda dumb doing it?" Mina asked. Izuku shrugged.
"I guess that's true," Kirishima agreed, "Look at that newer hero, Mount Lady. Her Canyon Cannon is just a dropkick with her Quirk activated. I can do that, easy. I'd just have to call it, I don't know, Red Rush or something."
"And you've got a costume nearly as revealing as hers, too," Mina agreed. Kirishima waved a hand in front of him.
"I need it for my Quirk!"
"Yeah, yeah. Sure, Kiri. If you just want to show your chest off we won't judge you."
Izuku nodded solemnly. Kirishima shook his head.
"You going to stay down there, Mido, or are you gonna give me a real workout?"
Izuku smiled, popping to his feet in a single motion. Kirishima grinned widely, shark-like teeth glinting in the sun, and brought his fists up into a loose boxing stance, skin turning rocky across his forearms. Izuku bounced on his toes, beckoning to Kiri with his left arm before he tucked it behind himself.
"Use your supermoves!" Mina called. Kiri grinned.
"Red Gauntlet!" he shouted, leaping forwards and swinging a punch towards Izuku's stomach. Izuku skipped to his left, outside the line of attack- Kiri needed to use his left hand more, force Izuku into dodging in a way that put Kiri on his left, where he couldn't counterattack properly- and brought his right hand up, driving his palm into the bridge of Kiri's nose. Kirishima grunted, rough rock scraping Izuku's hand and Izuku skittered back, away from the backhand that Kirishima threw.
"Everybody has all these supermoves," he mourned, "and I've got none. Both of your moves have red in them, too. You have a name picked out already, Kirishima?"
Kirishima surged forwards, throwing a series of heavy jabs that Izuku weaved around.
"Ah, yeah," Kirishima said between breaths, keeping up the rhythm of punches, "I've been thinking about it for a while, wanted to go with Red Riot! What about you, Mido?"
Izuku ducked under a swinging fist and hooked a foot behind Kirishima's, driving his shoulder into Kiri's chest and forcing him to stumble back. Izuku glanced at his gym uniform shoulder, grimacing briefly when he saw the scrape from meeting Kiri's armoured chest.
"I've got something," he admitted as the two of them circled each other, sizing each other up again, "I'm going to go with Red Hood."
"Red Hood? Like your costume, right? Although that's more like a helmet…"
"Well, Red Helmet sounds a bit stupid."
"You know what, I've got nothing to say to that."
Kirishima lunged forwards again, having caught his breath, and Izuku went back to dodging. He couldn't keep it up forever, but neither could Kiri. Kirishima was an aggressive fighter, offensive to the point of recklessness. He left a lot more openings than Mina did, although his Quirk compensated. But there was always an angle. Izuku ducked a right-handed backhand and struck a single blow at Kiri's left arm. The arm went limp from the nerve strike, bouncing off Izuku's shoulder and Izuku stepped into Kirishima, a second nerve strike at the right thigh and Kirishima staggered. Izuku grabbed his arm and hip-threw him to the ground, planting a foot on his chest hard enough that Kiri heaved out a harsh gasp.
"Do you give?" Izuku asked, as Mina whooped in the background. Kiri let his head thump back onto the grass and laughed.
"Yeah. Yeah, man, I give."
Izuku stepped away, taking his foot away.
"The numbness will go away in a few minutes," he said, "Just give it time."
Kiri hauled himself into a sitting position, nodding. He looked down at himself and a rueful grin split his expression.
"Man. Here you are, only using one hand, and still beating me. Damn. Guess that if I want to get through that I'm gonna have to harden my whole body, aren't I?"
"Probably," Izuku agreed, "Although if you can reach a point where you can harden fast enough you can use it to injure people. If you harden a moment before impact they might even break a finger."
Kirishima grunted in agreement, slowly flexing his arm.
"Where did you even learn that, Midori?" Mina asked. Izuku shrugged, spreading his arms in an innocent gesture.
"Uh, just here and there I guess."
Batman had been very thorough in teaching his proteges, especially when they were young. Nerve strikes took a lot of practice to pull off, but they didn't need a lot of strength. Izuku had only become confident in his ability to pull it off in the past few days.
"Here and there," Mina repeated, shaking her head, "I guess. So…if all of our class had a martial arts competition, who do you think'd win?"
Izuku squinted at her, trying to work out if she was actually planning to organise a competition. Mina smiled innocently at him and Kirishima made a faint noise from the ground.
"She's been arguing with Hagakure recently," he said, "About who's the best. Mina thinks you, Hagakure thinks Ojiro. She's just trying to stack the deck."
"Mina, um, I don't think Hagakure will just accept that I would win because I think so."
Mina pointed at him.
"Don't care. Come on, you know I'm right, don't you?"
"I…well, um, I haven't seen that much from Ojiro. Mostly just what he showed in the Battle Training. But he seemed quite skilled. I don't think I could beat him in a karate competition?"
Kirishima heaved himself to his feet with a groan.
"Yeah, Mido, but she wasn't actually asking about just karate."
"Eh…" Izuku muttered, looking away. Mina bounced in place.
"I know that look! That's the 'I'm too embarrassed to tell the truth' look!"
They'd only known each other for two weeks, Izuku had no idea how she'd gotten that idea. That said, he was fairly certain that yes, he probably could beat Ojiro in hand to hand. Or, could do once he got used to his prosthetic. At the moment he'd struggle, regardless of being able to beat Mina and Kiri.
"He's not gonna say it, Mina," Kiri said, "It ain't manly to boast like that."
Mina waved him off.
"Yeah, but I know what he thinks. Now we just need to test it out!"
"I'm still down an arm," Izuku mildly protested. Mina squinted at him again.
"Oh. Yeah, that's true. Well, once you're back to full strength then!"
Izuku sighed.
"I suppose," he said, resigning himself to it. It probably wouldn't be that bad, actually. Might be a good workout. There was at least one person in class 1-B who knew martial arts too, if his half-hearted snooping was true. Maybe they could get something together. A club wasn't that likely, since the Hero courses already ran longer than all the others, but maybe. And that further reminded him that he needed to flex his informational muscles and start checking up on the people who would be likely to pose a threat in the Sports Festival. Call it class pride, maybe, or call it paranoia. He'd heard a few people talking about the boy who had confronted Bakugo a week ago, too. He was worth looking into.
"So, do you have much more training to do? Or are you going to head off to see Hatsume?" Kirishima asked, checking his watch. Izuku glanced at his own- the final period of the day was almost over. It had been given over to training for the last few days, but most of the class chose to stay afterwards, taking advantage of the training ground access. He shook his head.
"I've got to meet Snipe, to work on my gun safety certification," he said, "So I need to get going."
"Where is that?" Mina asked, midway through a stretch. Her voice became slightly muffled as she touched her toes, but she was talking loudly enough that it was still intelligible.
"It's close to the Support laboratory," Izuku explained, "Further down, just in case. Apparently it's so testing can be done without having to go too far? I know that Hatsume has been using it a lot, to test things."
Mina straightened slowly from her stretch.
"I didn't think she was really into that sort of thing- guns, I mean."
Izuku shivered.
"She's trying to get those neural disruptor rounds of hers to work. She's on version four now…version one and two just exploded on impact."
"Version four?" Kirishima muttered, "Didn't she only make the first ones last week?"
Izuku nodded.
"As far as I can tell, she took a handful of caffeine pills and went on an inventing bender. Power Loader said it needed three tranquiliser rounds to put her down. He's even started work on a stronger blend- I think he was crying while he did it."
"He's probably going to retire when she's finally done," Mina said, a grin curling the edges of her lips, "Too much stress."
That wasn't entirely unlikely. Power Loader was proud of what Hatsume could achieve, Izuku believed that, but it drove him up the wall regardless.
"Actually, I might come along," Mina said, "I wanted to check up on my costume. Power Loader mentioned that someone had made some suggestions for it."
She looked at Izuku, who shrugged.
"Wasn't me," he said, completely truthful. Mina nodded thoughtfully.
"Could be Mineta or someone suggesting that I change it into a bikini, but I think it was more like a Support suggestion? Maybe they've even found a way to get that one-way membrane into my whole costume, instead of needing my arms bare. That would be pretty useful."
Izuku spent a moment worrying over whether people could just make anonymous suggestions about costume design. He thought it was a joke that Mineta might have made a suggestion, but he couldn't be completely sure. Then again, Mineta had behaved himself for the past week. Apparently whatever Aizawa had said had really put the fear of god into Mineta. Or the fear of Aizawa, which in this case might as well be the same thing.
Personally, Izuku still thought that most of the class could do with more armour. He made an exception for Kirishima, who's Quirk sort of made up for that, but even then a grapple or something would increase mobility massively.
God, he was turning into an old man.
In an attempt to get away from thoughts that were probably far too close for comfort to what Batman must have thought when looking at the early Justice League Izuku said his farewells and headed out, getting changed back into his uniform and meeting Mina outside the changing rooms. They set off for the support workshop at an easy stride, not really hurrying.
"So that guy who almost got into a fight with Bakugo," Mina said, glancing around to check that nobody was there, "He's called Shinsou."
Izuku turned his head to her and she grinned at him.
"People gossip all the time," she cheerfully told him, "And he made a bit of a splash with his declaration of war. I haven't managed to find out what his Quirk is, but some people know a little bit about him. He keeps to himself, though, so there's not much. He wasn't wrong about a lot of people being in General Studies because they didn't make it into the Hero Course, but I don't think they're all as hungry to move up as he says."
"Makes sense," Izuku said softly, "Almost everyone dreams of being a Hero. That doesn't mean they're really committed to it. I wonder how many people really care about being moved up. Although, I wonder…no. Never mind."
Mina tilted her head at him.
"What? Come on, Midori, don't leave me hanging like that."
Izuku shook his head.
"I was just wondering how many people genuinely realised that they didn't want to be a Hero that much, and how many have just resigned themselves to not being heroes and can't bring themselves to try again."
Mina winced.
"Wow. That's…a bit dark. But it's fair to say that Shinsou isn't one of those people. He wants to take a place in the Hero course, and he's going to gun for it. Also it kinda sounds like, well, like I said he doesn't really say much. But it sounds like his Quirk wasn't good for the Entrance Exam and he's kinda salty about it."
Izuku hummed.
"I suppose I can't really blame him. It must be hard to create an Exam like that that isn't biased, but it was heavily skewed towards combat Quirks."
"Yeah, I remember you talking about all the research you did before it," Mina muttered. She clicked her tongue and shook her head.
"I know that the Exam was biased, but…man. You haven't got a Quirk at all. It just shows that your Quirk isn't what matters."
Izuku felt a warmth spread through his chest at that acknowledgement, but didn't say anything about it. Instead he spread his hands.
"Heroism has become more about Quirks, though. Look at Kiri- he worries about his Quirk all the time. And I guess I can see why, when flashy Quirks are filling the top ten more and more. I can't really blame someone for thinking that they could get by on Quirk alone. But I wonder if his Quirk just wasn't well suited, or if it's not very strong? If it wasn't well suited, that might imply that it works mostly on humans, or at the least living beings. That could be a lot more suited to the combat rounds of the Sports Festival, although if he hasn't worked on his physical abilities he might be at a disadvantage in the first rounds."
Mina had managed to keep up him, even as his already quick speech degenerated into half-mumbling.
"If he had a Quirk like that, you'd think people would talk. Unless he hasn't spoken about it? I mean, it's not too hard to avoid talking about your Quirk. Everyone likes to ask, but if he's as good as you are…I mean, no offence Midori, but I don't think any of us would have known that you were Quirkless until Bakugo told us."
Mina paused, a strange hesitancy in the usually forward girl.
"Mi- Izuku. I, um, are you okay with that? I know that you wouldn't have wanted it to be revealed like that, and you were pretty worked up at the USJ, but I haven't really had a chance to, well, ask about it."
"I…"
Mina shook her head, waving her hands.
"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine! That's fine. But just, you know, if you feel like it, I'll listen."
Izuku looked down, metal fingers scraping gently over skin as he rubbed at his collarbone.
"I…thanks, Mina. I really appreciate it. But not…not yet."
Mina nodded.
"Alright. No problem, Izuku. So…you want me to change the subject?"
"If you don't mind."
"Alright! So, you're only really using one arm now, right? Your reflexes on the other haven't caught up? How do you reload with only one hand?"
"Carefully," Izuku muttered, drawing a laugh out of Mina. Somehow the bright sound drew a smile onto his own face.
"I'll show you, if Snipe doesn't mind. So long as Hatsume doesn't have too much to test. I've probably distracted her, plus she's working on a lot of gear for the Sports Festival, but there's always a chance that she's gone on a caffeine fuelled rampage and built a modular sniper rifle or something."
Not that Izuku would object to a sniper rifle that he could carry around easily. He had some preliminary plans for a modular system that would use his pistols to put together a larger weapon, but he was a little wary of doing something that would effectively take away his primary means of defence for even a small period of time.
"Does she do that often?" Mina wondered. Izuku held a hand out level and wobbled it from side to side.
"Now and then. She's gotten worse as the Sports Festival gets closer, she really wants a good internship to make connections. I guess I can't blame her…"
"Hmm, yeah. We all want to do well. Are you…do you think you'll be in the Festival?"
Izuku rubbed at the forearm of his prosthetic, thinking.
"I…I don't know. I'm sure the teachers would like me to be, just to drive home that the USJ wasn't really a big thing, but Recovery Girl is insisting that I pass a reflexes test before I get my second prosthetic, the one that can actually take damage. I don't think…I'm not sure that I can pass it. And without it, either I can't enter the festival or I enter without my prosthetic."
"You can't really enter with only one arm," Mina said, worried, "I know you've been doing okay…hell, better than that. Yeah, you've been kicking my ass with one hand, and Kiri's too- Tsu's too sometimes- but the Festival's gonna be…people get hurt every year."
"I know," Izuku said softly. He reached out, pushing aside his own stand-offish tendencies, and gently touched her arm.
"I know, Mina. It's not really meant for someone like me. Given the usual…with one arm, I'm not sure I'd even make it past the first round. It's not really made for someone like me, right? But if I can make it through, get my other arm in working condition…even then, I'd be at a disadvantage. No equipment, in a small area…but I'd like to try, if I can."
"But if you aren't ready?" Mina asked. Izuku stopped walking and turned to her- there was a faint wrinkle of worry across her forehead, and her eyes were locked on him. She wasn't that easy to read, but he could tell that she was worried.
"Then I…I won't compete. Sometimes, you have to know…you have to know when you've hit your limits, right? There's a time to…there's a time when you can't afford to give up, but I don't think this is it."
Mina nodded, a small, sad imitation of her usual beaming grin flickering across her face.
"Yeah. I know what you mean, Izuku."
They didn't speak any more as they walked the rest of the way to the Support laboratory. Izuku entered first, cautiously: Hatsume was completely absorbed in something, sparing nothing more than a wave. Izuku crept over to Power Loader with Mina in tow.
"Um, is Hatsume okay?"
Power Loader, hand hovering close to his newer tranquiliser rifle, shook his head.
"One of the equipment pieces that she wanted to use in the Festival failed this morning. She took it pretty badly- she's been reinforcing everything. I'm actually worried, this time. If she doesn't snap out of it soon…"
Power Loader sighed softly and shook his head again.
"I'm not a therapist, you know? She's never been this bothered by a failure before, but I think it shook her up."
"What was it?" Mina asked. Power Loader pursed his lips.
"One of her newer Hover Boot variants. It went off with quite a bang."
"She wanted me to test the new version," Izuku offered quietly and Power Loader clicked his tongue.
"Yeah, that might have done it. She comes off as pretty nonchalant about safety, but she's never actually hurt anyone. I saw it the other day- she tested one of those snap-freeze bullets you designed, Midoriya, and she had three heat-packs tucked away in the mess on her desk. And a manual on how to treat frostbite. It's not all luck."
"But if she tested the boot before I did, then she was following proper safety procedures," Izuku muttered, "Unless it was because it was a mistake that she made. If she didn't expect anything to go wrong at all, then it could have shaken her confidence that it was something she'd done wrong, rather than a teething problem, as she calls them."
Power Loader grunted in agreement.
"I think that's what it is. Don't worry about it, kids. I'll make sure she's alright. You've got some shooting to do, right?"
Izuku nodded.
"Yeah. Thanks, Power Loader."
"Just doing my job, kid," the teacher answered. Izuku and Mina left him, both of them glancing worriedly at Hatsume, although Izuku was fairly sure that she'd snap out of it. There was something to the set of her shoulders and tenseness in her jaw that told him she'd just been shaken. Once she got some sleep she'd be better- at least, that was what he thought. He made his way across the workshop and through another heavy doorway, down a short flight of stairs and onto the firing range. It was a wide, open area, made for practice with numerous items that fitted even the most generous descriptor of firearm and, like almost everything else in U.A., supplied with the most lavish equipment possible. About the only thing they couldn't do was simulate a complete revolution, although if a training ground could be set aside that was certainly possible. In fact, if Snipe was telling the truth then the armed police unit in the local area sometimes used the training ground and range equipment to conduct whole hostage simulations.
"Howdy, kids," Snipe greeted, strolling over from the side. Snipe was a tall man, his face covered by a long-muzzled gas mask and a Stetson, a long red cape wrapped around his frame. He untucked a hand from his belt, shifting the cape to wave. Izuku and Mina returned the greetings and Snipe leaned against his desk.
"Here for more training, Kid? And you, Miss, you joinin' in?"
Mina rubbed at the back of her head.
"I…uh, actually, I just wanted to see how Midori reloads with only one arm."
Snipe tilted his head back and laughed, rich and amused.
"Well, points for honesty lil Miss. But if your wanting to watch, you can run through the same safety protocols as Midoriya. Ain't something that won't come in useful."
Izuku had been doing this for almost a week, and still wasn't sure if Snipes drawling accent was natural or an affectation. He suspected the second, but it never slipped. He supposed that he could have asked, but that would spoil the fun. Mina scratched at her chin then shrugged.
"Sure!"
Snipe laughed again, this one lower and deeper.
"Well alright. I like a student who's eager to learn. Midoriya, you lead yourselves over to the normal area, and I'll go and pick up your guns."
Mina wasn't usually the most attentive of students- not really her fault, but it was noticeable- but she paid attention to the safety briefing that Snipe gave. Izuku wasn't sure if it was because the topic was more interesting, or because it had such obvious applications. When it was over she answered pretty much every question Snipe asked correctly- the man seemed more and more amused every minute.
"Well alright Miss Ashido. If you're so eager to get to shootin', let's give you a go. Are you thinkin' of usin' a gun, later on?"
Mina bounced slightly as they followed Snipe back to the main range.
"I hadn't really thought about it," she said cheerfully, "Is it usual? Do a lot of heroes use them?"
Snipe shook his head.
"Not usually," he said, reaching up to tip his hat back, "Some people like to use 'em as a long-range option. It ain't that common, though. Mostly Heroes who've got some sort of suitable Quirk. Maybe with Hatsume and Midoriya comin' up with those fancy adhesive bullets they'll get more use. By the by, Midoriya, they're lookin' good. I used some of those prototypes you and Hatsume put together the other day, they worked real good. Nice to have a few more options in my holster."
"Oh, they worked? That's good, I didn't know if they'd function properly with the different bullets you use."
Snipe nodded.
"Nah, they're good. Real good. And those snap-freeze rounds, they've got potential. Hatsume nearly fainted when I told her that I knew some boys who'd be real interested in 'em, could spread the word a little. She wanted to talk to you about it first though, since you're pardners and all."
Snipe strolled through a door, gesturing.
"Welcome to the firing range, Miss Ashido. We'll be takin' it easy for today, but you want to try out some gunfire?"
Mina stared at the long range, blinking.
"Can I?"
"Sure thing, Miss. Ain't my habit to stop people from gettin' a good whiff of gunpowder. Here, put these earbuds in, protect your ears. Now, we'll stick with the pistols Midoriya there uses. They're pretty well designed. Bit on the heavy side, since I cain't persuade him that gun-kata ain't a thing and I 'spect no deity or government will do better, but they're real nicely balanced. Now. Run me through the safety checks, if you please."
Mina went through them with only slightly corrections needed, and Snipe nodded.
"Alright. This one's nice and easy. Ten targets'll pop up, at varying ranges. Just hit them as best you can, there's ten bullets in that there magazine. Well, they're duds, but they'll give the same kick and flight pattern. Paint rounds, you know? Took a lot of effort to get them right, or so I'm told. Don't rush, Miss Ashido, you've got all the time in the world."
The blank, empty space of the range shifted as targets rose from hidden slots. They weren't shaped like humans- not these early ones. Instead they were rectangular, evenly spaced out. Izuku watched Mina as she squinted, biting her lip. She was holding the pistol in the normal, approved grip, two handed, but he thought her grip was too tight. She flinched when she pulled the trigger, the muted boom echoing, but she fired all ten shots. Snipe gave her a thumbs up as she put the gun down- Izuku knew that it took a moment for the reactive earbuds to return to normal.
"Three good hits and one winged. Not bad at all, Miss Ashido. Not bad at all."
Mina beamed at the praise.
"How do you do, Midori?" she asked. Izuku smiled, taking her place and running through the same safety protocol as he reloaded. Snipe chuckled.
"Just watch, Miss."
Izuku closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and settling himself into a mindset that was just a little different to usual, just a little sharper, a little harsher. A little more deadly. A little more Jason.
The targets popped up and Izuku opened fire, all ten rounds whipping downrange in half the time Mina had taken. He set the gun back down, his hearing returning to hear Snipe chuckling again.
"Ten out of ten, Midoriya. Not to put you down, Miss Ashido, but your friend here's got a real talent for gunplay."
"Ten out of- are you kidding me? And it was one handed?"
Izuku gently set the pistol down, smiling.
"I, uh, yeah. It comes easily to me, I guess."
Mina bounced on the spot, hands clenched in front of her.
"You know, Midori. This might sound super rude, but I'm pretty glad you don't have a Quirk, because you'd embarrass us all at the same time!"
Izuku laughed. From another person he might have been offended, but the honest way Mina said it took all of the sting from it. She ceased bouncing and pointed at him.
"But you promised me that you'd show me how you reloaded with only one hand!"
"Uh-huh?" Snipe said, sounding far too amused, "Well, I guess I did say I liked your honesty before. Go ahead, kid."
Izuku sighed, but it was less actual exasperation and more for effect. Snipe leaned back and started whistling a tune- Izuku wasn't completely sure, but he was reasonably certain that it was an old song. Something about an Arizona Ranger, maybe, which was pretty on-brand. Almost alarmingly so, in fact. Izuku pushed away the question of what his brand might look like in the future in favour of just demonstrating. He took the empty magazine out and set it on the table in front of him.
"Safer this way," he explained, "Now keep an eye on it."
With a single motion Izuku tossed the pistol into the air, the gun slowly revolving as he snatched up the magazine, bringing his arm up, sliding it into place as the gun fell back down and his fingers closed around the grip, trigger finger carefully outside the guard. Mina threw her arms up.
"Are you kidding me? That's a movie reload! Is it even safe?"
Izuku looked at Snipe. Snipe looked at Izuku. In unison they shrugged.
"Safe? Naw, not really. Had to take out a couple of safeties to get the magazine to slide in, an' if you ain't paying attention you could end up pulling the trigger. Looks real purty though, don't it?"
Mina stared at them both.
"I still don't think guns are really my thing," she said, "But that was awesome! Can you teach me how to do it?"
Snipe snorted with amusement and Izuku pressed the cool metal of his prosthetic to the bridge of his nose.
Two weeks to go before the Sports Festival.
If there was one thing about U.A. that Izuku would never have anything but praise for- and to be honest, there was more than one thing that filled that criteria, but it didn't have the same ring to it- it was the training grounds. They were incredible, and if you wanted something in particular it was always there. Which was why, when Izuku finally felt up to doing some more intensive parkour, once he was sure that his arm wouldn't fail him at the worst possible time, he managed to locate a building in the city training ground they were all using that was full of scaffolding, rails and ledges. It wasn't realistic, but it was glorious nonetheless. And he intended to make full use of it.
Izuku hit a sprint along a raised path, maybe ten feet off the ground, jumping onto the railing and springing off. He soared through the air, a grin curving his mouth, grabbing a hanging pipe with his right hand and using it to slingshot himself. Two steps on another railing, a second jump and he hit scaffolding, his arm curling around the metal bars just long enough to bleed speed before he jumped, down this time, ledge to ledge to ledge and onto the ground, landing in a roll and smoothly rising to his feet.
"Enjoy your warm-up?" Tsuyu asked, a faint smile touching her face. Izuku beamed at her.
"It's been weeks since I could do that," he told her, "It's nice to be back."
Tsuyu hummed.
"You haven't been keeping up with your practice?"
Izuku shook his head.
"I can't, really. My reactions aren't fast enough and trying to parkour with one arm is a lot riskier. I wouldn't be doing it now if you weren't here."
His smile, having dipped briefly as he explained, returned in full. Tsuyu dipped her chin.
"Just your reactions?"
Izuku shrugged, reaching up to take hold of the bar above. He tensed his muscles, lifting himself off the ground with one hand, performing a one-handed pull-up. Tsuyu made an appreciative noise.
"It can take your weight then."
Izuku nodded, still holding himself off the ground.
"Yep. Would only be a problem if I was falling and grabbed something, putting a lot of force onto it. I'm just slow at the moment, don't want to try and grab something and be seconds too late."
He let go of the bar, dropping to his feet and rolling his shoulder. Tsuyu nodded, her eyes tracking along the scaffolding to the roof.
"I'm glad I could help, Izuku. You want to race to the top, ribbit?"
Izuku's beaming grin sharpened just a little.
"Well, I'll do my best to keep up."
Izuku didn't wait for her to count down. Tsuyu's ability to jump completely eclipsed his parkour skills, he'd need every advantage he could get. He went up the nearest scaffolding at full speed, taking risks in return for more speed, hurling himself up with his legs and right hand. Scaffold to ledge to scaffold, jumping, breath hammering in his chest and he heard a faint croak as Tsuyu jumped. She hit the wall an arms-length away from him, sticking to it with padded fingers and bunched herself to jump again. Izuku kicked off a ledge, flipping over in mid-air to grab a scaffolding bar, swinging around it to slingshot himself further up. Tsuyu made a noise he didn't spare the thought to characterise as he landed on a platform, rolling and coming up running. She jumped again and Izuku set his foot onto the barrier around the platform, jumping again, fingers closing around cool metal, muscles straining to haul himself up. He took a ladder four rungs at a time as Tsuyu jumped again, springing onto a ledge, adrenaline spiking as his balance wavered before she swung himself forwards again and jumped one last time, both hands latching onto the bottom of the topmost platform. His left hand was still so much slower than his right, almost a second behind as he heaved himself up in one smooth motion.
"Not bad, Izuku," Tsuyu told him from her position, crouched on the platform, "Good try, cheating like that."
Izuku stayed on one knee, drawing in deep breaths and resting his left arm on his leg.
"That's why I have the grapple," he said, taking one last breath as his heartbeat started to slow again, "Makes up for things like your jumps."
Tsuyu nodded, still half-crouching. Izuku let out a slow huff of air, turning and sliding into a sitting position. He let his legs slip over the edge of the platform, dangling in mid-air. Tsuyu came to crouch next to him.
"It's a long way down," she noted. Izuku smiled.
"I like it up here. Easier to think."
Tsuyu hummed.
"Have there been any more problems? With the reporters?"
Izuku sighed, scrubbing his flesh hand across his face.
"Yeah. Yeah, you could say that. I don't think they've managed to talk to anyone else, seems like whoever found me out is keeping their cards close to their chest- either that or they really were just guessing- but the whole debate is starting to get out of hand. Really out of hand. There's probably going to be a whole protest at the Sports Festival."
"A protest?"
Izuku chuckled.
"Yeah. There's a whole manifesto going around. Mostly the same thing as before, accusing U.A. of favouritism, corruption, saying that there's a conspiracy to bring the Quirkless back into dominance, that sort of thing. I was…I'm pretty sure that there's something going on. Half the talking points being used are from Destro's manifesto."
"Destro?" Tsuyu muttered, before she cocked her head.
"Mina and Kirishima just arrived. We should continue this on the ground, ribbit. Unless you don't want them to hear it?"
Izuku shook his head.
"I don't mind, really. Besides, at least this way it won't be a surprise."
Izuku reached down, planting both hands against the edge of the platform. Tsuyu turned her head to him.
"What are you-"
Izuku pushed off from the platform and savoured the feeling of free-falling as he plummeted towards the ground. Someone screamed from below- Izuku was pretty sure that it was Kirishima- and he heard Tsuyu hiss through her teeth. He felt the shock through his legs as he hit the structure again, descending far faster than he had gone up, bouncing from place to place. He slowed quickly, although he was still moving far faster than anyone sane would have considered safe, and he could hear Tsuyu landing a short distance behind him. Izuku landed on the last platform, let his legs to limp to take away the last dangerous part of his speed, and performed a double somersault on his way down, purely to show off.
In retrospect, the fact that Mina grabbed him by the shoulders and started performing some combination of shaking him and checking him for injuries the moment he landed shouldn't have been as unexpected as it was.
"Oh my god, dude, what is wrong with you? You could have died!"
"I would have caught him," Tsuyu helpfully added, landing with a considerably heavier thud than Izuku- probably the result of her stronger biology being able to withstand harsher impacts. Izuku's head lolled slightly as Mina shook him again, both hands on his shoulders. Kirishima had his hand pressed to his chest, over his heart, and had gone as white as milk. Izuku silently wished for a camera.
"Tsuyu jumped as well," Izuku muttered, sulking slightly. Mina looked him in the eyes and nodded.
"Right. She did."
She let go of him and immediately moved over to Tsuyu, who croaked in surprise as Mina took her by the shoulders and repeated her shaking. Izuku barely muffled a snort of laughter and Kirishima smiled, colour starting to return to his face.
"Seriously though, I thought you were gonna hit the ground. Not manly at all, Mido."
"I-yeah. I hadn't thought of that. Sorry, Kiri."
Kirishima clapped him on the shoulder.
"Just don't do it again, 'kay? Or at least, not where I can see it. You do that sort of thing much?"
Izuku shook his head- he could faintly hear Mina scolding Tsuyu. The phrase 'don't expect better of Midori' had been used, to his secret amusement.
"Not really," he said, replying to Kirishima, "It's not really that safe. I only did it there because I knew Tsuyu could catch me. It the sort of thing that I use my grapple gun for."
"Oh, yeah. How's that going? You said you were upgrading it, right?"
Izuku nodded.
"It's almost finished, actually. It should work well. I'll need to find time to practice with it, juts to make sure, but I was helping Power Loader and Hatsume yesterday and I think we've got the adhesive that'll let it stick to everything done."
"Nice, man. Nice."
The scolding behind them had settled down and both Mina and Tsuyu came back over to them. Tsuyu hopped up onto a platform, crossing her legs and looking down at Izuku.
"So, Izuku. You told me there's an anti-Quirkless protest planned for the Sports Festival? How do you know that?"
Oh. Right, yeah. Izuku had almost been hoping that he could avoid being asked that question. He glanced away from the three of them and mumbled an answer.
"What was that, Midori?"
Izuku sighed.
"I sort of…infiltrated the forum they're using to plan it."
"What, ribbit."
"Yeah, I, um, I was curious? So I did a little bit of research and looked around, and I found some places. I sort of convinced them that I was a General Studies student with a fairly bad Quirk, and that I was really angry because I heard that someone without a Quirk had gotten in and I hadn't? So, yeah. They've been talking about it for the last week."
Mina had put her head into her hands and Kirishima looked up as though praying for strength. Tsuyu just tilted her head.
"Do they say much?" she asked. Izuku shrugged, folding his arms in front of him.
"Not…really. They're mostly just…I've read through Meta Liberation War recently…just to see what he thought, you know? And they just quote a lot from it. It's a lot like a cult, actually, it's quite worrying. Could just be a few people who don't really have anything better to do, I guess."
"Yeah, but can you take that chance?" Mina asked, her voice slightly muffled from her fingers still being clamped over her face, "They're, like, they're opposed to you just because you're you."
Izuku sighed and shrugged.
"I guess. But in some ways, it's not really their fault. Destro's ideology is almost custom tailored to draw people in and radicalise them."
Kirishima stirred.
"Sorry, man, you're gonna have to elaborate on that."
Izuku let out a long breath, sinking back against the wall as he started to explain.
"Destro's Mom was murdered by anti-Quirk protestors, if his book is true. I wouldn't really be surprised if it wasn't true…attempting to change the government by force, writing a book in prison and then committing suicide isn't really the mark of a stable mind. But if it is true, then…I guess…the original ideal of the Meta Liberation Army makes a kind of sense."
Some of this, Izuku knew, was Jason. In his world, meta-human powers were barely regulated. And Jason had known that a lot of the time, doing what was right and doing what was lawful weren't the same thing. Even more so when you started getting into differences of morality. And even more. Here, in this world, the line between Hero and Vigilante was clear. In the world that Izuku had such scattered memories of, they were all but synonymous. To Izuku, in a lot of ways, they were synonymous. So maybe, if it hadn't been for those memories, he wouldn't think like this.
But he did have those memories. He did have this opinion. So what mattered more was getting it out correctly.
"What I mean is," Izuku said slowly, "That when it comes to Quirks, they…a criminal is going to use their Quirk anyway. If they're willing to assault someone, using their Quirk won't bother them. And people use their Quirks all the time, anyway. It's not…a big thing. But it just means that people with Quirks that could be useful, like Yaoyorozu, or Uraraka, can't use them without, well, without being a licensed Hero. It cuts off so many of their choices. Uraraka's Quirk is, is incredible. She could do so much with it, but she has to be a Hero to want to use it. If there was an easier way to get licensed, get checked that she can safely use it, I don't see why she shouldn't be able to use that."
Izuku paused to take a deep breath. He met Mina's gaze and smiled, a little shakily.
"But then, after this ideal, the Meta Liberation Army decided that they couldn't wait. They couldn't get people to agree with them…maybe it's not surprising, back then. There were a lot more Quirkless people around. But instead of politics, they decided that they were going to change the laws by force."
"And then that made it worse," Kirishima said, "Because all the people who already didn't agree with them saw them using their Quirks to try and overthrow the government and just became more convinced that Quirks needed to be heavily regulated."
Izuku nodded.
"Yeah. They did. But to the MLA, it was just more proof of government tyranny. It turned into an all-out war, almost, but Destro lost and got thrown in prison. The problem is that not all of his followers were."
Mina sucked in a sharp breath.
"You think the MLA's still around."
Izuku shrugged.
"I don't have any solid proof, really. But I've got…call it a feeling. I've got a bad feeling about some of the people who've been especially offended online. Radicalising people isn't that hard, and the MLA…if they're still around, there's a good chance that they've only gotten more fanatical. A Quirkless hero would be…it would be pretty offensive to them, I think. And they're going to hold a protest march at the Sports Festival. Not that I really care…if I'm in the Festival then it won't even matter. But there's still something about it that I don't like. It's almost as if the people I'm in contact with, like they're being manipulated by someone."
It wasn't as though fanatics were hard to mislead- it could well just be a criminal group that wanted a distraction ready just in case. But somehow Izuku wasn't convinced by that. There was something about it that just rubbed him the wrong way. Tsuyu made a thoughtful noise.
"There've been neo-MLA groups before, right? There was that gang a few years ago, they called themselves the Hand of Destro or something?"
Izuku nodded.
"Yeah, and there've been a few more. This might be the same thing. But I'm still a bit…worried."
Mina patted him on the shoulder. He glanced at her and saw that her other hand was clenched into a fist, her jaw set in a scowl.
"You shouldn't need to be," she said sourly, "Bastards."
"You should tell Mr Aizawa," Tsuyu added, "He might not know about the protest. And even if he does, it can't hurt."
"I know," Izuku muttered, "I was going to tell him soon. Once it was certain whether I'm going to be in the Sports Festival or not. But I guess you're right, I should just tell him anyway."
The door behind them hissed open and they all swung around, closing on each other to provide a united front. Aizawa, suddenly the recipient of four combined glares, stopped and raised an eyebrow.
"You know, I usually don't have to worry about conspiracies until the second year," he drawled, his voice slightly less grainy than usual but still sounding like gravel in a woodchipper. Izuku narrowed his eyes at the man. Aizawa eyed him back.
"I was just coming to check you were all alright. But is there something I should know?"
Izuku saw Aizawa's lips move. He wasn't perfect at lip-reading, but he was fairly certain that it was something to the effect of 'what problem have they found now'. He thought it over for a few seconds and took the plunge.
"I, um. I've sort of been recruited by a cell of MLA sympathisers?"
Aizawa opened his mouth, sighed, closed his mouth. His eyes half-closed, he held up a hand in a request for patience and pinched his lower lip between finger and thumb, squeezing for a moment before he nodded.
"Alright. I'm going to assume that you haven't actually joined an organisation based around something you don't have. What happened?"
Izuku took a step forwards, away from the protective wall offered by his friends. Aizawa wasn't going to do anything.
"I, um, I noticed quite a lot of internet posts being made in a very similar fashion? So I followed them back to their source and found a forum that all the posters used. I was curious, so I made an account and managed to convince the moderators that I was a General Studies student here at U.A., and that I wasn't very happy with the rumours of there being a Quirkless student."
"And they bought it?"
Izuku nodded.
"Yeah. They're…really happy to have someone to ask questions. I've been avoiding them as best I can. It turns out that they were coordinating the hit pieces, in the hopes of drumming up a lot of controversy when they carry out an anti-Quirkless protest at the Festival? And also, uh, they've been asking a lot of questions about the…the students. I think…um, I think…"
"You think they're looking to spread pro-MLA sympathies in U.A. to recruit," Aizawa said, his voice flat and hard as asphalt. Izuku swallowed and nodded.
"Yes."
Aizawa pinched his eyes shut, running a hand over his stubbled chin.
"Alright," he said, very softly, "Alright. Midoriya, I can't say I'm pleased, because you are a student, but unfortunately you haven't really done anything wrong. And, I suppose, it's well in the tradition of underground Heroism to go poking your nose somewhere and uncover something that might be big. You said that they're going to hold a protest?"
"As a smokescreen, yes," Izuku said. Aizawa nodded. Kirishima waved a hand.
"Is that even...legal? Protesting like that?"
Aizawa shook his head.
"Not if they're saying 'Quirkless get out' or whatever. But there are always protesters at the Sports Festival. They turn up every year, usually not the same either. All different arguments. They say that we're training child soldiers, that it's unhealthy to have children on the biggest stage in the world, that we're propping up a regime that isn't any less tyrannical because it's supposed to be benevolent. And then there's always a couple who accuse us of facilitating blood-sports. If I was going to guess I'd say that they'll pick that one. Lean on how dangerous it is for someone without a Quirk to compete. And then they'll quietly remind everyone they see that hey, if it's that dangerous shouldn't someone with a Quirk take your place?"
Aizawa grimaced.
"And of course they'll want to meet their General Studies informant. God damn it, Midoriya. When Recovery Girl tells you to take it easy, she doesn't mean like this."
Mina stirred as though to say something and Aizawa waved at her.
"Don't worry about it, Ashido. I told you, he's not in trouble. Despite my better judgement. God damn it. Can't even cover this up, Nedzu must already know. And I already know what he's going to say. Well, Midoriya, this makes one thing almost certain."
Izuku blinked at Aizawa, receiving a grim smile in return.
"No Sports Festival for you, kid. How do you feel about sting operations? And have you ever worn a wire-tap before?"
Izuku sucked in a breath.
"Sir, are you saying-"
Aizawa's grin was sharp and mirthless.
"You want to be an Underground Hero, kid? Let's see if you've got the chops for it."
One week until the Sports Festival.
I'd hoped to reach the Sports Festival this week, but apparently it's not meant to be. Everyone who brought up the MLA a few chapters back, congratulations. Y'all gave me the idea for this plotline, now you reap what you sowed. More pertinently, I'm going to reap what I sowed, in that I now have to come up with names, Quirks and everything- and believe me, I am terrible at naming things. Either way, I'll do my best.
As a little bit of explanation- I didn't really want to put Izuku in the Sports Festival anyway, because it doesn't really do anything for his character. In canon, of course, there's the whole announcing himself thing, and then Todoroki and his issues- and when I watched the episode where Todoroki dumps his backstory believe you me, I couldn't stop laughing at Izuku's 'Please stop telling me this and see a therapist' expression. But in this case, that isn't really here. He's not really interested in announcing himself, and he doesn't have the power to punch sense into Todoroki. Not in a flat, open area with very little cover. So this whole MLA cell thing...a bit of providence, really.
Either way, I hope you enjoyed, reviews are always appreciated and, as ever, I'll see you in the next chapter.