Shoes tapped against the tile floor, a restless rhythm echoed by Izuku's fingers drumming against his arms.
The newly revived God reported the possible location of All for One based on Nine's information. Yet nothing was done for almost two weeks. The HPSC was hesitant sending in heroes if Necromancy was a factor, like the USJ Nomu. Understandable. But they also didn't want to rely on The Hunters and other magical creatures if they could help it.
'Itsuka mentioned that my and Ochaco's attempts to become heroes made some high-ranking members uneasy, fearing that the magical communities might become public and take control,' he reflected. She started constantly reporting to him ever since she became his Chosen. Though he knew it was also to talk with him more.
Izuku's public reputation of becoming the next top hero and knowing he had a magical princess for a girlfriend didn't help matters either. Though the 'princess' was now Queen, and secretly his wife.
As such, they were tied to merely observing the building, watching for any signs of magic before acting.
Izuku sighed. It was one thing knowing where he was. It was another to wait for others to act. He really didn't want to deal with All for One while fighting the Outsiders, if he could help it.
He could go alone. That was tempting. But a God bulldozing a seemingly-Normie villain, regardless of their supposed threat, would not be treated the same as when he was a regular Evoker.
'It would've been one thing if I had a license,' he thought. It would at least let the HPSC save face if they could claim a 'Hero' beat the villain.
The others watched him radiating a strong impatient aura. His furrowed brows and his eyes glaring outside the window like he was about to fire a nuke at it made a few of them uneasy. Even Katsuki sitting in front of him felt like a boulder was pressing against his back.
Mina winced, the weight of Izuku's anxiety pressing against her consciousness through their Chosen link. She knew distraction wouldn't solve the underlying problem but seeing him spiral like this wasn't helping anyone. With determined steps, she approached his desk and sat on his lap.
"Daddy, you okay? Want me to help relieve your stress?" she rubbed her ass against his thigh.
Izuku felt her soft butt and couldn't deny the effect. "Thanks. How about after we got home?" he told her, his hand reaching to squeeze her buttocks, causing her to giggle.
Then his hand was grabbed. Beside him was Kyouka, wrapping his hands around her waist. "What's got you worked up? We're here if you need us," she told him with flushed cheeks.
His arm tightened around her waist. Kyouka's excited "Whoa" had barely escaped her lips when an invisible set of arms wrapped around his nape.
Having the girls around him calmed him down. At least a little bit, but enough to feel at ease.
Footsteps approached from the hallway before the door swung open. Eraserhead slouched in; his perpetual exhaustion clear as he greeted the class.
"Good morning, class." His eyes wandered to Izuku's group and was about to say something when Denki signaled him with a panicked expression. He considered briefly before dismissing the idea. 'Yaoyorozu's still gone. I'm not getting paid anywhere enough to deal with these problem children,' he thought.
"It was supposed to happen after the Provisional Exams, but due to schedule constraints, I'd like you all to meet the Big 3 of UA." He gestured to a group outside the door to enter.
A girl, whom Izuku already acquainted with, Hado Nejire, walked in with a bright smile. Her blue hair and eyes, her large bust, her curves, and the way she carried herself drew the boys' attention. She scanned the classroom, landing on Izuku. She waved her hand at him as she blushed, much to the disappointment of the boys.
Izuku chuckled and returned the gesture.
To her right was a boy. His blonde hair was a bit messy, and his sharp blue eyes were focused on the class. "Mirio Togata. Third year student, and third in class."
Then the other man's demeanor was the opposite of Mirio's. His black hair was a stark contrast to the blond. His face looked gloomy, as if it was perpetually stuck in a frown, and his gaze was focused on the floor. Then his gaze intensified at the class...before turning to the wall. "I...can't, Mirio. I went for potatoes, but they're still people neck-down. I wanna go home."
Nejire giggled before turning to the class, "He's got the heart of a flea, Amajiki Tamaki. And I'm Hado Nejire. Nice to meet you all."
She then launched into a long string of questions for the students, from Mezo's mask to Tsuyu's frog Quirk, mostly not giving them time to answer before asking the next student. The class found the natural airheadedness endearing.
She stopped in front of Izuku, her smile turning into a mischievous grin. "Quite the gathering of girls you got there, huh?" she teased before turning to Mina. "You seem happy. Is it that comfy?"
"Why don't you try?" Mina offered, sliding off his thigh with a playful smirk. She didn't know Nejire but wouldn't pass up the chance of having another girl added in Izuku's harem. 'The more girls love him, the better!' she thought.
Her reasoning wasn't as complex as Ochaco's, but the goal was the same regardless. She also felt like more girls would help calm him down once his Rage started acting up without the Anchor around to regulate it. At least, that was what The Voices told her.
"Don't mind me~!" she quickly took the offer, sitting on his lap. "Oooh! This is a nice feeling. Quite a strange feeling, isn't it? It shouldn't feel better than a luxury seat, but it's just so nice. By the way, are you his girlfriends? How did you meet? What's your Quirk? Do you also have you-know-what like him? What about the others? Do you know the..."
"Might be best not to overwhelm them, Nejire-san," Izuku told her.
"It's okay, Daddy."
She turned to Izuku, whether it was intentional or not, he saw her eyes turning a little sultry, "I know what I'd like to try on our next date," she told him, her hands rubbing his arm.
"Why not?" he returned her smile.
She then leaned closer to him, her soft chest touching his, and she whispered, "Can't wait. I'll leave the details to you." She bounced back to the front of the class.
Izuku felt his arm being pinched and saw Kyouka pouting at him in jealousy.
"Oh~ Kyou-chii is angy!" Toru teased.
"It's okay, Kyouka," Izuku reassured, his hands traveling a little downward, "Told you, didn't I? You're sexy too."
"Hmph!" she huffed, though her tone betrayed her as her cheeks flushed, "You're just saying that."
"Want me to prove it to you again?"
"Idiot! Not here!" she whispered, her voice trembling with a mix of excitement and embarrassment, her blush betraying any pretense of frustration.
"I didn't say here. Looks like you're more of a pervert that I am," he whispered back, a teasing smirk on his face.
Kyouka turned a darker shade of red.
"Now that the introduction's done," Eraserhead turned to his students. "They are here to let you know about work studies. Like I said, it was normally going to be after you've gotten your provisional license, but a lot of you are progressing faster than we expected. Unless something happens, you all are expected to pass."
The class cheered, their faces were bright, and smiles were all around. But they made too much noise, which promptly made Eraserhead erase their Quirks.
"But first," he continued. "Work studies are important because they're a chance to experience a life-long career. As you all are aware, this is the real world. Not a playground for kids. If you're going to be heroes, then you need to understand the consequences. And more importantly, how to deal with it."
"It's okay, Eraser," Mirio spoke up. "Since I'm the main act of the show."
This intrigued Izuku, his focus swapped from Nejire to him as his ears perked up from what Mirio's got to say.
Mirio shouted, "THE OUTLOOK'S LOOKING..." he cupped his ears towards the class.
When nobody said a word, he laughed. "GRIM! The answer's 'grim.' Well, that didn't go over so well."
The class began to whisper among themselves about the peculiar students.
"Hmmm...the talk's not going well, huh?" Mirio muttered.
"Right?" Nejire agreed.
Tamaki kept his silence.
"Hmm...since that's the case...why don't you all fight me?" Mirio announced.
"Hah?" the entire class was shocked at the sudden request.
"We've got to show off our skills, right?" Mirio grinned. "Also, it'll be a rational way to display the wealth of our experience," he turned to Eraserhead.
The teacher only turned his head away dismissively and sighed, "Do what you like."
As such, the class transferred to Gymnasium Gamma. The exact place where Izuku's classmates tried to come up with their ultimate moves.
Everyone changed to their PE uniform except for Mirio who changed into his Hero costume. For a while now, Izuku could feel Mirio observing him like a hawk.
Tamaki, who exchanged the classroom wall into the gym wall as his new hangout spot, muttered, "Mirio. Don't do this. It would be fine if we followed the manual. It wasn't like everyone's raring to go and aiming for the top. We wouldn't want them broken without fixing."
The class had a mixed reaction from that statement. Some, like Eijirou had his determination stoked by the statement while Minoru gulped at the implication. Fortunately, or not, it wouldn't be the first time they faced insurmountable power. And this time, they had Izuku on their side.
Meanwhile, Izuku was already considering if Mirio would be a valuable ally in the coming fight and if he would talk Ochaco into recruiting him when the time came. But most of all, he was just interested in how Nejire's friend fared.
"Hey, listen to this," Nejire said, her eyes shining. "Mirio's the strongest third-year. He's super famous for it. But there was once a kid who got discouraged and quit trying to be hero. It was quite a trouble. Better think long and hard about this, Togata."
Fumikage stepped up. Dark Shadow was feeling cooperative and mostly healed up. "We've fought against pros before, though we've mostly dealt with them having handicaps. And while we've faced overwhelming power before..." his gaze turned steely as he faced the upperclassman. "...we would not turn back."
"THAT'S RIGHT!" Eijirou shouted.
"I'LL SHOW YOU HOW YOU COMPARE, YOU EXTRAS!" Katsuki joined in.
"Interesting," Mirio noted as he rubbed his chin, though his gaze still locked on Izuku. "Whenever you're ready, come at me. Who's gonna go first?"
"I will," Izuku stepped forward, surprising his classmates.
"Dude, give us a chance here," Hanta protested.
"Don't worry. You'll have your chance," Izuku reassured him. He had a feeling that the person in front of him was more...capable than most heroes. Not magical, certainly. But not a pushover either. He sighed, 'It would be disappointing if I'm wrong, though.'
"Go Izuku! Go Togata!" Nejire cheered, wanting to support both her best friend and whatever her relationship with Izuku was.
Before even an instant could pass, Izuku's hair flared blue and green, lightning crackling in his wake. His fist drove forward, the distance itself between his fist and Mirio's face seemed to shrink—only to meet no resistance. The shockwave from his strike obliterated the wall behind Mirio, carving a conical crater in the ground that stretched to the horizon.
Izuku was surprised. The upperclassman, who wasn't even a hero, reacted and dodged his punch. 'No, it's more like...'
"Haha! That's some power!" Mirio asked from behind him.
Izuku did a high-kick, launching the roof, dispersing the cloud and launching it into space. Centuries later, it would be found floating near the Orion's belt, but that was a story for another time. But the blond stood still.
Izuku's eyes narrowed as Mirio phased through another attack. 'Intangible,' he mused. 'Could be projection, photon manipulation...or something else entirely.'
"Hnnn..." Izuku smirked. While the others expected him to follow up with another attack, he only walked slowly towards his classmates. But not before tapping Shoto's shoulders. "Why don't you light up the area? I'll Shield everyone."
Izuku was planning to know what Mirio's Quirk was. Unlike magic that could break the laws of physics at high enough output, Quirks were still subject to them, even if it could also be nonsensical at times. As such, from the distortion of Mirio's appearance, if ever, due to increased air temperature, to his lack of reaction would help him narrow down what exactly the third year's Quirk was.
Izuku played a Pair of Shield divided for each student and the teacher as the faint glimmer of power surrounded them.
Shoto's right foot moved to the front as he crouched down. He raised his left arm to the side before pushing to the ground. A massive wave of fire erupted, scorching the entire area.
"Don't hesitate to stand down if it's too much, Senpai," Izuku called as Shoto's flames roared. "This is just getting started."
"Don't go showing off, half-and-HALF BASTARD!"
"Daddy's having fun, huh?" Mina whispered to Kyouka and Toru. She felt him being down since Momo disappeared from the dorms. She tried to ask the Voices, but they offered no coherent answers.
Kyouka and Toru were shocked by what they heard, though they didn't know the specifics. And Izuku being so insensitive wasn't something they would have expected so they didn't know what to believe. But they were happy he was at least being distracted...for now.
"Haha!" Mirio laughed. "I may have found myself in a...toasty situation."
He then leapt to the side, his body phased through the ground, only for Kyouka to use her jacks to send tremors, cracking the ground and forcing him to reappear.
"Whoa! How'd you-"
"You're not the only one with tricks up their sleeve, Senpai," Kyouka smirked.
"You need more sparkling!" Yuga fired off a laser from his stomach, only for it to phase through the blond. But they weren't done, as Toru redirected Yuga's strike back to the blond.
"DON'T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!" he heard behind him, then a BOOM! was heard from behind him as Katsuki used his Quirk behind his head.
Then an acid splash.
Mirio's experience and tutelage from Nighteye led him to realize what they were doing and felt a shiver down his spine...his head was being targeted on purpose...
Izuku simply observed. Without seeing any distortions in the air, his hypothesis that it was some kind of projection and, for the most part, photon manipulation were thrown out the window at once. Which left simple intangibility from what he initially thought. He instructed his classmates to target the blond's head to see if the Quirk affected his ability to breathe.
Tamaki and Nejire looked astonished at the scene. They never saw Mirio struggle as much before. Sure, Nejire knew Izuku wasn't really...normal, but the rest of the class surprised her.
While Izuku studied his opponent, Mirio was already feeling the effects of their strategy. But Mirio wasn't normal either. He gained as much distance as he could while sinking to the ground...and launching himself up! He arrived behind Mina do a liver strike!
Yet he felt his fist sting with a burning sensation. "Ah!" He looked and it looked like part of his gloves melted. He looked at her, and saw her gliding using her acid, tongue sticking out as if to taunt him before sending a bucket-load of acid to his direction, which went through his head.
'If he ever struck, he'd need at least that part of his body to be tangible,' Izuku thought. Except for Mina and Denki, they wouldn't be able to counter the way she did. 'No, maybe Kacchan could if he learns to use his Quirk around his body.' The thought occurred to him. It wasn't completely logical as Katsuki never demonstrated using his Quirk outside his palms, but Izuku felt like he would be able to, eventually. It was either a random thought or just Sorcery. Again.
"Man, you guys are tough~" Mirio laughed.
Mirio adjusted his strategy, scanning the battlefield. Then he made his move, going to the ground again. He knew he had to be fast. While some of their Quirks could still force him above ground if he didn't go deep enough, it was limited. Unlike Izuku, whom he thought wouldn't have that problem. Though he doubted that he'd be comfortable letting out a large attack directly on the ground his classmates, and based on what he saw in the classroom, his lovers were standing on.
He also had an analytical mind and while Izuku was busy studying him, he was also studying the rest of the students. Targeting Mina was a miscalculation on his part, he knew his next target.
He appeared behind Aoyama, and before the rest of the class could react, his fist connected. 'First one!' he internally celebrated.
He looked at Izuku, who wore a displeased expression. It wasn't mad, considering it was just sparring, but it was obvious to him it affected the green-haired Hero.
"Aoyama!" Toru called out.
'It also removed her from the equation,' Mirio thought. As much as possible, he wanted to fight the girls that surrounded Izuku last, not knowing if he would remain calm.
He knew it was a losing battle. They weren't trying to hit him, only stalled him enough until he ran out of air. It was obvious, considering the way they were attacking, the timing, the locations.
He was already feeling the effect of oxygen deprivation. He couldn't breathe or he would pass out from the smoke around him if not get heatstroke.
He tried to strike Shoto but was met with the air pressure from Izuku's finger flick, deflecting the tiny part of his fist which was tangible to the side and making him miss.
Mirio was impressed by how fast he analyzed the Quirk he spent such a long time mastering.
In one last ditch effort, Mirio warped below Izuku, throwing an uppercut up his chin. But it was like tossing a feather to the moon. It didn't even nudge him.
Mirio staggered back, his breaths shallow. He raised his hands in surrender, a sheepish grin on his face. "I give. You've got me beat."
"Are you okay, senpai?" Izuku offered his hand.
"Y-yeah. Just tired," Mirio chuckled. His breath was ragged, and his vision was spinning.
"Mirio lost..." Tamaki muttered. "This is a disaster."
"Oh, Tamaki. You're always so gloomy," Nejire teased before turning to Izuku. "But I'm surprised! I thought you'd step back in eventually."
"That would defeat the purpose," Izuku mysteriously told her.
The Big 3 didn't know what he meant by that but leave it to Nejire to ask for further elaboration. "What do you mean?"
"I wanted to understand his Quirk and how he fought," he started. "I'm glad to have an ally like you," Izuku offered a handshake to Mirio.
He took the hand without hesitation, "I don't know what it's about, but I'm glad to have helped. And I'd love to learn more about your Quirk, too."
"I wanna join too!" Nejire put her hand on top of the two's joined hands. "Oh yeah!" she exclaimed before dragging Tamaki towards them before clearing her throat. "By the way, I wanna introduce you two to the guy I'm dating," she hugged Izuku's side, her arms barely able to wrap around him. This surprised Tamaki but Mirio already saw Izuku walking Nejire to her class dorms, so he already had an inkling.
"And Izuku, I want you to officially meet my two best friends!"
"Nice to meet you..." Tamaki's eyes darted between them before finding a new spot on the wall to examine, though he kept glancing back.
"Well, Nejire-Chan may be a little peculiar," Mirio patted her head, the gesture closer to an older brother, causing her to pout. "But she's got a good heart."
"Thanks, I guess?"
"Oh! I didn't tell you my name yet," he chuckled. "Midoriya Izuku. Pleasure to meet you."
"Alright. Why don't you debrief them, Togata," Eraserhead sighed.
"Yes, sir!"
The students gathered; the girls were quick to surround Izuku again. The boys, while jealous, were happy he stopped emanating that suppressing aura.
The debriefing continued, with Mirio explaining Quirk, its complications, and the training he did to get to his level.
"Is that why you're in your costume today?" Mashirao asked.
"Yeah. Haha! I had to wear this specialized costume otherwise others will see my willy!" he laughed. "Also, it would be predictable when I'm using my Quirk, though that didn't matter in the end!"
"Smart," Katsuki acknowledged, to everyone's surprise, before continuing, "You piqued the nerd's interest in Quirks enough for him to run an experiment, not just finish it in an instant."
"Bakugou said something nice!" Denki exclaimed.
"SHUT UP, DUNCE FACE!"
"Yeah, I gotta admit, his power's pretty scary, I might've been blown up otherwise," Mirio laughed while pointing at the missing roof and wall.
Minoru's body shook, "Midoriya, that shit was scary. What if your attack connected and senpai turned to paste?"
"I heard a little bit about Senpai, though it's just bits and pieces. The first was a trial. I knew the kick wouldn't connect."
"By the way, are you okay back there?" Mirio asked Yuga who was slouching.
"Oui...Midoriya-kun's power shielded moi from your frapper. I just had a stomachache."
"Wait! I got worried for nothing?" Toru cried out.
"So that's how his power works..." Nejire wondered, looking at her own hand. "He rarely used it at the Sports Festival..." she whispered to herself.
"What's wrong, Nejire-Chan?" Mirio asked.
"N-Nothing!" she denied, waving her hand in front of her before changing the subject. "Anyway, the work study. There are many ways to learn and develop your abilities as a hero, and this is one of them. But there's no guarantee you'll be placed with the same heroes you trained under. So, we were here to help."
"But you all have to make sure you got your licenses!" Mirio added. "Well then, that's all we have time for today! Glad to meetcha all. Go further beyond..."
"PLUS ULTRA!"
Thank you for reading this chapter!