Izuku and Setsuna returned home where their classmates have been waiting for them with a mix of curiosity and fear. Even Bakugou and Todoroki were present, so they could at least learn what kinds of quirks they will have to deal with in the future. Midoriya took a deep breath and started explaining his plan.
"The first quirk is Sludge which ironically belonged to the man I met a little while ago. It's mutation type, so I imagine it would not be easy to use. Still, that villain managed to keep 3 heroes at bay, so there is potential. Anyone willing to try it?" He showed them the photo with the quirk imbedded in it.
"That guy was definitely bullied as a kid." Daigo said. "That often tends to happen with full body mutations."
"Not cute." Pony said.
"Sorry." Ochako said sheepishly. "I just can't imagine myself being like that."
"Why the hell not?" Fujimi raised his hand. "I experience full body transformations all the time, so this wouldn't be too different, right?"
"Of course a loser like you would need quirk handovers." Katsuki barked.
"What the fuck did you just say?!" Romero screamed and moved towards him.
"Calm down, both of you." Itsuka stood between the boys. "Carry on, Izuku."
"Right." Izuku pulled out another photo. "The next quirk belonged to Moonfish the cannibal. His quirk let him extend his teeth and control them to an extent."
"Ew!" Camie was disgusted. "Dude, you have a quirk that isn't dumpster fire?"
"Just say "No", Camie. You don't have to be so rude." Izuku was annoyed at a quirk being insulted.
"Fam, I know I asked for something that packs a punch, but this won't do."
"Is anyone else as picky as her?"
Hitoshi stood up from his armchair.
"I'm already used to the whole "villainous quirk" stigma. This can't be any worse." He tried to walk up to Izuku but green head put the photo away.
"Wait! I can't just hand it over right now."
"Why?" Shinsou went back to his armchair.
"You might hurt someone by accident. Remember how I blew up Bakugou because I had no prior experience with his quirk?"
"What did you say, Deku?" Katsuki screamed.
"We all know what he said." Itsuka deadpanned.
"Shut up, Ginger!" Now he shouted at her, causing the girl to roll her eyes.
"I suggest we create allocate time along with Eraserhead so he can neutralize quirks if they get out of control. It's important to prioritize safety before we get familiar with new quirks. At least, the ones that can harm other people."
"Sounds reasonable." Tenya agreed.
"Could you just take Mr Aizawa's quirk?" Pony asked.
"I'd rather not." Izuku shook his head. "Anyway, the third quirk is from a former hero Lady Nagant. It's a rifle that extends from the user's arm and lets them use hair as ammo."
"I don't like guns." Pony said.
"Neither do I." Itsuka crossed her arms.
"I refrain from partaking in this endeavor." Momo put her arms on her hips.
"I'll take it!" Daigo waved at Izuku.
"Wait!" Hitoshi stood up again. "Can I switch teeth quirk for this?"
"We'll see." Izuku showed them a pen. "The last quirk was a gift from one of Commission men. It supposedly suppresses all sounds around the user in a short radius. Would be useful for underground heroes."
"What is silence if not darkness for one's hearing?" Tokoyami said. "I am interested in it."
"Good. We should probably invite people from other classes as well…"
"No!" Monoma spoke up loudly. "Absolutely not. We need to focus on improving our class above all else!"
"What?" Izuku was baffled.
"Look, Izuku. We are like a family now, and family comes first. Bringing people from other class will take away from our sense of comradery."
"That is a very strange point of view." Ochako said.
"I don't think it is fair to exclude other classes for any reason. We should give everyone a chance to participate."
"But…" Neito felt Istuka's her hand on his shoulder.
"You should stop antagonizing other classes." She said is a commanding tone.
The boy removed her and left to his room. Momo and Izuku agreed to pitch his quirk testing idea tomorrow after classes, and other people went about their business. Midoriya decided to cook some katsudon for himself. Setsuna joined him in the kitchen.
"You know, Set…"
"Wait, I just came up with a cuter nickname. Call me Tsuna instead."
"Okay." Izuku rolled his eyes. "Tsuna, why did you want to date me? We barely know each other, and I don't have the best reputation around here."
"You are cute and I can tell that you are a good guy. Only someone really heroic would save a person they don't know even at the cost of telling on themselves. I called dibs to make sure other girls can't get you before me. Plus, I'm sure my positive reputation will outweigh your negative one."
"Positive reputation?" Izuku dip pork into the egg coating.
"Yeah. I was the most popular girl in middle school. Smart, attractive, charismatic, I've had it all. Everyone wanted to either be me or be with me. I'm sure things will be similar here."
"Sounds like Bakugou." Midoriya thought to himself.
"What about you and your loud friend?" Tokage showed quotation marks at the last word. "I mean, before you met the Sludge guy and showed him who's the boss?"
"We were good friends, then our quirks kicked in and we became centers of attention. Although, I pretended to have Fire Breath and Attraction. He let it get in his head, I didn't. That's it, really." He pressed meat into panko.
"Any ideas why you two became so different? Ochako said Katsuki is a jerk because of pride and being used to praise, but you two got the same amount, right?"
"I don't know. Maybe my parents were better at teaching humility, or maybe we're just different people at our core. *Sigh* I wish we were still friends." He gulped. "Tsuna, I have a question."
"Yes?" She walked up to him and whispered into his ear.
"Are you… not afraid of me?"
Setsuna started laughing like she's heard a great joke. She even had to send a hand and grab something to wipe her tears.
"Of course I'm not afraid of you, silly."
"Thank you." Izuku smiled as he put ingredients into the frying pan. "I know that some people in our school are nervous around me, so it's great to know you've got my back."
"Oh, I've got your back, alright."
Setsuna hugged him from behind and licked the back of his neck. Ochako walked into the kitchen a few minutes later.
"Smells nice." She said.
"You can have this portion." He put the food on the table.
"I don't want to be a burden…"
"That's nothing!" Izuku made her sit down. "Here. It tastes nice too."
Just as he turned around to prepare some more katsudon, a disembodied hand slapped his butt. Midoriya and Uraraka were red from embarrassment, while Tokage was giggling from satisfaction.
"The taste is great!" Ochako sounded cheery.
"Thanks. My mom taught me the family recipe."
Uraraka got a call, so she picked up her flip phone and left the kitchen for a bit.
"People still use those things?" Setsuna said. "I'm pretty sure nobody else in our class has such an old model."
"She told me her family was never well off. I think we shouldn't bring this up."
Ochako came back and the three of them enjoyed some well-made katsudon. Later on other teenagers came to make their own food. Katsuki prepared spicy mapo tofu, Fumikage and Pony made a big apple pie etc. Momo asked Tenya to teach her how to make his favorite beef stew. Apparently she never had to cook before due to having everything made by servants. Ochako spat her drink and Daigo grunted at something.
Izuku brought Setsuna to his room. It was filled with various hero merchandize, with Endeavor and All Might being the most prevalent. Midoriya began to explain how they are both great heroes and wants be like them once he graduates. His speech devolved into an incomprehensible mutter storm, but it was so cute that she didn't mind it. He also asked her to tell her about dinosaurs in case he ever needs to cooperate with Romero. Tokage gave him a little lecture, then kissed his cheek and wished good night.
Another day started with Fatgum coming into the dorms to pick up people for his morning jogs. Shinsou was complaining that his body was still sore but his teacher insisted on doing the routine anyway. Several other students joined to keep themselves in peak condition or for fun.
Another bunch of regular lessons. Pony clearly struggled with Japanese language and history. Art was the prerogative of Midnight, who tested Tenya's and Ibara's nerves the most. For computer science they had the latest laptop models. A figure in a cowboy costume entered the room.
"How's is going, fellas?" Snipe took of his hat for a second. "The hero who was supposed to be here had to move away due to personal issues. For now, I'll be the replacement."
"Sensei, who was that person?" Ibara was concerned. "Are they okay?"
"Thirteen the Space Hero. Her mom fell sick and was too stubborn to move out of family home. Real shame, if you ask me. Kurose deserved to be here, at the best school in Japan."
"WHAT?!" Uraraka jumped from her seat. "Thirteen was going to teach here and had to leave at the last second? The world is so unfair!" Her face fell on the desk.
"Worry not, partner. She already found a replacement for CS and rescue training."
"Who is that?" Izuku asked.
"Someone with a sparkling gaze." Sogeki chuckled. "Now, turn on the computers and…"
Time for a lunch break. Izuku sat with some of his classmates. They got to enjoy Lunch Rush's food. Some guys from other courses came to talk to Setsuna. They turned out to be her former classmates. Izuku got to see how popular she is even now, in a new environment. He noticed how averse other people were when near him, preferring to keep the boy at arm's reach. Oh well, he can deal with it.
Minoru came to flirt in a very unconvincing and disturbing way, which caused Tsuyu to slap his face and apologize on her class's behalf. Bakugou started yelling at people trying to pry him for questions, making his classmates face palm and apologize on their behalf. Romero also didn't help with his claims that he is better than the Gen Ed students because his quirk rocks. Denki sat near Itsuka in an attempt to bond with her and class 1A.
Yaomomo went straight to 1B tables so she could enjoy tea along with 1B representatives. Iida tagged along with her. Likewise, Camie wanted to hang out with Mina while they had a chance. Neito was going to tell them what he thinks about this but Pony distracted him with discussions of manga.
"Did someone say manga?" Manga Fukidashi materialized behind them.
"No!" Monoma almost screamed.
"Yes!" Pony actually screamed.
"That's great. Hey, I'm planning to draw my own manga series and I'm in a desperate need for inspiration. Do you guys know anybody interesting?"
"You should talk to Midori." The foreign students slightly butchered the name. "He is interesting."
"Umm…" His enthusiasm died down. "Maybe some other time."
Hitoshi went a quiet corner to enjoy food in peace. His former classmates found him and started bombarding him with questions and congratulations. Shinsou was seriously not in the mood, so he told them to leave him alone. They instead went to Daigo and Camie, the hot ones. Todoroki also told everyone from other classes to stay away from him.
It was time for another heroics lesson. All Might greeted his students near Ground Gamma, a simulated factory.
"Today's lesson is about recon and stealth." He proudly declared.
"Why the fuck do we need…" Katsuki started to complain.
"Language, Bakugou-shonen." The hero interrupted him. "As for why you need it, it's because heroes must be able to think like villains to stay several steps ahead of them. In this exercise 4 people will be assigned to the villain team and given three briefcases. Their objective is to get at least 2 of them through the designated doors. There are 3 doors at the different sides of this facility, as you can see on the map."
The screen showed them a large map, with red crosses in three spots on the outer wall and a green circle in the center.
"You could try beating all 12 heroes, but I don't recommend it. Heroes win if they capture all villains or if they can stall for 30 minutes until reinforcements arrive."
"Sensei, isn't this task skewed towards heroes?" Neito asked. "They have way more manpower and quirks to work with."
"That is exactly why villains should avoid direct the confrontation. Our four honorary villains are Midoriya, Bakugou, Yaoyorozu and Romero. Proceed to the starting position."
On their way to the objective villains tried to come up with a strategy.
"I suspect the enemy team will try to search for us and guard every exit at the same time." Momo said.
"We have a limited pool of quirks." Izuku muttered. "Attraction can help us take the cases back if they are stolen, fire breath will let us counter Todoroki's ice, Silencer will let us stay unhearable, Rifle could be used to fight but it's probably too dangerous right now, Sludge is off limits as we aren't used to it and Blade-Tooth is a decent combat quirk but also potentially dangerous. If we can split these among ourselves, then we should be able to take 5-7 people head on. Bakugou, your quirk is bad at hiding, so you would benefit from Silencer." He offered him the pen.
"I don't want this shit!" Bakugou pushed him away. "I'm going to beat those extras myself and win."
"I totally believe that." Fujimi said sarcastically.
"The fuck did you say, Forehead?"
"If you can't hear me, go to a doctor, moron."
"Fuck you!"
"We are wasting our time." Momo got everyone's attention. "We need to make a plan."
"Since exits are so far away from each other, I suggest we all go to one exit." Romero said. "They are probably spreading themselves thin over the area."
"Right. We should avoid being spotted at all costs to not let everyone gather up against us." Izuku took all of his extra quirks. "Now we need to see how many quirks each of us can handle. Keep taking them until you can't do it anymore. Bakugou?"
"Piss off, Deku!"
"Yaoyorozu?"
Momo turned her gaze away.
"I'd rather not." She whispered.
"Come on, people." Green head was getting irritated. "This is our only way to stack up against them. We must go Plus Ultra!"
Romero took Rifle but couldn't handle anything else. Yaoyorozu had a limit of three. Bakugou still refused to touch other quirks.
"So the plan is as follows." Izuku summarized. "Bakugou does whatever while the rest stocks up on quirks and gear, then goes to a particular exit as stealthily as possible. We make a mad dash through the finish line when near it. Hopefully the other team doesn't notice us too early. Let me explain how to use my quirks…"
Yaoyorozu made a drone to scout the area. The villain trio grabbed the cases and went to an exit. They periodically switched who had Silencer to minimize ear damage. Romero used his dinosaur tail to smash through walls so they could avoid walking outdoors.
Meanwhile, heroes had to make their own plan. Without class representatives, Itsuka had to step up as temporary leader of the group. Todoroki ran off, saying he doesn't need help to handle the villains. On the way to the center, he ran into Bakugou and ended up wasting time against him. It was hard to hit a guy who can fly in the skies, but eventually he won the war of attrition.
Kendou had to make the most out of whatever people she had. Tokage, Iida and Tsunotori were tasked to scout the areas near each exit due to their mobility. Shiozaki and Brando were stationed at door A; Tokoyami, Shinsou and Uraraka at door B; Utsushimi, Monoma and herself at the last door.
Yaomomo managed to see the B exit guards with her tech. Pony and Fujimi noticed each other after 20 minutes have passed. Now that heroes were given updated whereabouts, their opponents had no choice but to run to the exfiltration point. The trio retreated indoors for a brief moment, only for a Tyrannosaur with well-equipped teammates on his back to crash through the wall and run. He was admittedly slow, but his large size made Tsunotori second guess herself and keep distance. Momo created shields to block incoming horns, as well as gas masks and earmuffs and BB gun. Izuku tried to make Pony lose balance by attracting horns from beneath her feet. Romero began cosplaying a dragon by breathing fire from his gigantic mouth. His gas was useless at the moment since Pony was too high to be affected by it. It was also flammable, something that only he knew at the moment.
T-Rex ran towards door B. Ochako tried launching a big chunk of metal at him with help of Zero Gravity, but he shrugged it off. His flames were bright enough to substantially weaken Dark Shadow. Shinsou was unsure what to do. He could likely stop them, but he really wanted to keep his secret at least until Sports Festival. Hitoshi screamed a simple riddle, which was answered by with a weird roar. He then went for a hard riddle, hoping to stop Romero before he gets too close. Pony snatched 2 cases by landing on a roof and using her controllable horns, but Izuku took them back with Attraction. Shinsou managed to paralyze Romero, but got shot in the foot by Momo, who reluctantly used her BB gun. Pain distracted the purple haired boy from giving commands, so Ochako and Fumikage had to make the most out of the situation. Desperate, Izuku put Walk the Dinosaur into himself to transform into a Utahraptor (thanks, Tsuna) and quickly handed over Fire Breath to Momo. The two of them tried to make through the last few dozen meters, but being attacked by three people plus Tenya who just got there, they got overwhelmed and failed.
"The cases have been taken by the hero team." All Might announced. "Everyone, get back to my position."
Shiozaki came just in time to help treat everyone's wounds alongside medical bots. Shinsou told Romero he can go to not reveal his quirk's weakness. Midoriya had to put quirks in their designated spots. Ochako got curious and opened the cases. They were full of bricks.
"You know, Yaomomo, you are a lot heavier than I thought." Fujimi said.
"That is a side effect of my quirk." She frowned. "Why didn't you use your virus?"
"It is flammable."
"Then why did you ask for fire breath?!" Izuku was surprised.
"Because I wanted to look cool, okay? And I thought it would be better against Tokoyami specifically."
"There is logic is this assumption." Fumikage agreed.
"I wonder how I would look if I was a dinosaur." Dark Shadow popped out to comment.
All Might showed them the footage of two separate battles one more time.
"Looks like stealth was only a temporary measure, he he. Alright, who is the MVP today?"
"Me!" Bakugou said.
"Romero." Ochako argued. "He took a lot of hits for his team."
"Shinsou." Fujimi shook his head. "He actually stopped me."
"Yaomomo." Itsuka parried. "She made several gadgets."
"Shiozaki." Hitoshi pointed at his wounded foot. "She helped patch me up."
"Freckles." Setsuna rooted her boyfriend. "He made a good use of his quirk."
"Tsunotori." Monoma made a horn gesture with his hands. "She fulfilled her role as scout and fighter."
"No consensus, it seems." All Might was silent for a bit. "I believe Tsunotori-shoujo did the best given the circumstances."
Neito, Setsuna and Camie walked up to Pony and threw her into the air a few times.
"Congratulations!" They shouted.
"Fatgum will let you know what we think after we review the footage. Have a nice day!" The teacher ran off.
After the classes were over, Tenya went to Toyomitsu-sensei's office. Toshinori-sensei was also there.
"Hello." The student bowed down. "I wish to talk to you about Brando-san and Todoroki-san."
"I am listening."
"It appears they both had problematic pasts: The latter could be holding back due to past trauma and the former was involved in street fights! I ask you to investigate this as soon as possible!"
"What a coincidence. I was just to going to visit certain students for with suspected issues, those two included." Taishiro looked at Yagi. "All Might and I will get to it today."
"Thank you, sensei. I knew UA takes great care of its students!"