Chapter 10
Class 1-A followed their homeroom teacher as he led them towards a pair of dirt tracks running parallel, separated by a white line.
The tired man turned back to them, pulling what looked like a small gun from his pocket. Izuku recognized it as a starting pistol used in old pre-quirk track racing tournaments.
"We'll be starting with the 50 meter dash. Tenya Iida and Tsuyu Asui." The two individuals perked up at Aizawa calling their names. "Get to the starting lines, you'll be going first."
"Yes, Mr. Aizawa!"
"Okay, ribbit."
Izuku watched as his friend and the blue haired man walked up to the starting line. He paid special attention to Iida as he rolled his pant legs up, drawing attention to what looked like mufflers growing from his calves. Each leg had 3 of them pointing behind the man.
"Possible speed enhancement quirk? Do they enhance his muscles? What if they function like little rocket boosters? Or maybe their being shaped similar to the mufflers of a car means that his speed functions similar to a vehicle? Can he increase his speed like a car shifting gears?"
Those standing around him looked on in wide-eyed bewilderment as he mumbled into his notebook, pencil flying across the page.
He was too engrossed in his analysis to notice. His gaze was latched on the two at the starting line, ready to catch any details as they ran.
Tsuyu crouched down, hands on the ground and legs bent in a position reminiscent of a frog ready to leap.
Iida got into a standard runner's position, one leg bent forward, the other behind him. He set his hands on the ground as he prepared to run.
Aizawa raised the starting pistol, starting a countdown. At the firing of the gun, they bolted.
Tsuyu hopped forward, her thick leg muscles propelling her forward.
Izuku knew that her leaping was better suited for vertical movement, but they had spent the last two years training to make up for their weaknesses. She shot her tongue forward, sticking to the ground further down the track. She then used her tongue muscles to pull her towards the ending line at a rapid pace.
As she jumped forward, Izuku's eyes were drawn to the other racer. Iida launched forward, his leg mufflers spewing out fire and smoke as he sprinted down the track. A dust cloud trailed in his wake as he burst past the finish line.
As he sped past the line, a small drone with a camera called out "2.85 seconds!"
Tsuyu followed behind him, her tongue unable to match his speed, the drone calling out "4.61 seconds!"
Tsuyu returned to the praise of her two best friends, Himiko cheering loudly for her. Izuku turned away from his notebook long enough to congratulate her on her time, before continuing to write about the speed quirk he just witnessed. Tsuyu just smiled.
Next up were Uraraka and Ojiro. Izuku watched as the brunette touched her clothes, likely trying to make herself as light as possible without removing her own gravity. Ojiro crouched, planting the tip of his tail against the ground.
It was unfortunate that Uraraka's quirk wasn't well suited to increasing her speed. While removing the gravity of her clothes surely helped, she still lagged well behind the blond man. He used his tail to bounce forward down the track a couple of seconds ahead of her.
Izuku continued to watch the rest of his classmates as they did their race. From a man who propelled himself down the track using a laser her fired from his stomach to Ashido, who removed her shoes and slid along the ground as she secreted some form of viscous liquid from the soles of her feet.
He made special note of the sizzling and smoke the fluid she left behind made as it sank into the ground.
"Is it some weird reaction it has with the dirt? Is it melting the ground? Is she able to create some form of acid? I wonder if she can control the PH levels of what she creates. Does it have to be a form of acid that melts things, or can she create something more benign like citric acid?"
He watched as Yaoyorozu made rocket propelled skates to speed her down the track, making more notes about the potential her ability to make things could have.
Aside from a few exceptions, most of his class didn't seem to have quirks that enhanced their speed for this test.
Himiko transformed into him, using his longer stride to sprint down the track. Izuku was too engrossed in his notebook to notice the inquisitive glances the rest of the class gave him.
Of particular note was Todoroki, who let out a blast of ice behind him. The track froze as he was propelled down it, not losing any speed until he crossed the finish line.
"It looked like he could create ice. I wonder why it only came from his right side. Does that mean he can do something else with his left side? Most with a quirk like that would have frozen the whole track before sliding down it, whereas he froze it as he rode down it. That must require some incredible control."
Eventually it was Izuku's turn. His face scrunched up as he realized he was paired up with the bombastic blonde man, Bakugou.
Izuku stretched, looking to loosen up his muscles. He told himself that he wasn't doing it to ignore the other man's glare. He smiled as he heard Himiko cheering loudly for him. He pointedly ignored any chanting about "crushing that pompous Pomeranian."
He watched his teacher, taking note of the odd look the older man was giving him. As the gun was raised Izuku let the familiar transformation take over, shining in a brilliant silver. He shook himself as his wolf form took shape.
Behind him, a shouted "I knew I wasn't crazy!" was ignored.
Izuku's muscles tensed as he awaited the starting shot.
The instant he heard it, he burst into action. Paws pounded into the ground, claws digging into the dirt as he ran.
Faster than he expected, he heard a droning voice call out "3.02 seconds!" He stopped, nails dragging at the ground as he stopped his sprint, sliding to a stop. He turned back to the track, surprised he had finished so fast.
The muted "3.65 seconds!" was ignored as he made his way back to his friends, transforming back to his human form halfway to them.
The next test was the grip strength test.
Izuku called forth his partial transformation, a glow suffusing his arms as fur sprouted from his skin. He unconsciously growled as he clenched his fists against the machine he held.
He looked down as the machine dinged, showing his score.
'160 kg'
It was high for someone his age, but it was easily beaten out by a couple of his other classmates.
The man with six arms seemed to mold multiple of his appendages until they wrapped the handle of the grip strength tester, scoring a surprisingly high 670 kg.
Izuku could feel his fingers itching for his notebook as he watched the woman who had pulled a pair of earmuff from her arm create some sort of hydraulic press that pushed the device until it broke.
Aizawa marked the score as 999 kg.
Next were the repeated sidesteps. Izuku scored decently using his partial transformation's reflexes.
Izuku used his partial transformation to make the standing long jump, clearing most of the pit. It was unfortunate he wasn't aloud to get a running start, otherwise he would have used his wolf form.
Several of his classmates easily cleared the sand pit. The man who shot lasers from his stomach launched himself across. Bakugou released several explosions to land on the other side.
Uraraka looked queasy after she landed past the sand, having removed her own gravity to float across.
"Her quirk supposedly removes gravity, but with the speed at which the earth moves, anything she removes the gravity of should essentially rocket off into the sky or crash into the ground at about the speed of 107,000 kilometers per hour. Instead, anything she touches just floats in the air unless some outside force moves them. I wonder…"
Izuku used his enhanced flexibility to make it through the seated toe touch and sit ups with relative ease.
He was wide-eyed as he watched Ashido practically fold herself in half on the toe touch. Izuku thought Himiko had the best flexibility of their class, but she couldn't hold a candle to the pink-skinned woman.
Izuku really hoped the test accounted for those who had longer legs like Tsuyu. Her score was unfortunately reduced by the length of her legs making it harder to reach as far.
During the long distance run Izuku was able to let lose a bit in his wolf form, easily keeping up with the creation girl and Iida.
Iida easily kept ahead of the pack for a while, his engines running at speed.
The tall girl with the ponytail had created a scooter that easily let her race down the course longer than anyone else, Izuku coming in close second, Iida's quirk eventually stalling just behind him.
The final test brought them all back to the ball throwing field.
Izuku was very interested to see how his classmates used their quirks to overcome this obstacle.
Unfortunately, not all of them had quirks that assisted with this test. Most throwing the ball with all of their unenhanced strength.
Iida was able to use his quirk to kick the ball with enough force that it reached a decent distance.
The tall, black-haired woman lifted the shirt of her sports uniform dropping, of all things, a cannon. Izuku watched on in awe as she launched her ball almost as far as Bakugou did.
He laughed as he watched Uraraka remove the ball's gravity and throw it up into the air, never coming down. Aizawa turned the device towards the rest of the class, showing off an unbelievable score of 'infinity'.
Eventually it was Izuku's turn to throw. He rolled his shoulders as he walked up to the pitch, inhaling and exhaling deeply to ready himself for the throw.
He tossed the ball up in the air, intending to catch it in his wolven teeth. He glowed, initiating his transformation, readying himself to catch the ball-
Intense, sharp pain tore a scream from his lips as he felt his bones breaking, his skin tearing apart. He felt like his organs were being torn apart and rearranged as he fell to the ground. He could barely hear voices shouting as he curled in on himself.
Almost as soon as the pain began, it stopped. Izuku slowly raised an arm, seeing that he was in his human form.
He looked around, his vision fuzzy from the pain, seeing his two friends running up to his prone form. His eyes turned away from them as he noticed his teacher crouched next to him.
Aizawa seemed to examine Izuku's health before giving him a deadpan stare.
"I thought your transformations didn't cause pain or physically rearrange your form."
"They don't!" Himiko fell to her knees next to the greenette. He could clearly see the worry as she bent over, bringing her face close to his.
"Or at least they shouldn't, ribbit." Tsuyu stood nearby, hands reaching towards him, as if hoping her touch could help somehow.
"W-what-" Izuku cough, his body still sore. He could feel his body fighting to heal from the injuries caused by the botched transformation. "What h-happened…?"
"That would be my fault."
The three of them looked up to their tired looking teacher.
"I saw that you were about to use that howl of yours to launch the ball, so I stopped your transformation to give you a warning about going overboard. I believed that you would simply change back as your quirk's energy dissipated. I was unaware that disabling it mid-transformation would do that."
They watched as Aizawa bowed his head slightly, but as he brought his head up his eyes glowed a dangerous red.
"Why does your quirk registration state that your transformations are energy-based?"
"W-what? They are energy based. I mean, I glow silver and then I'm in the wolf form!" Izuku's head was reeling. His body was still tingling as the recovery aspect of his quirk worked to repair the last bits of his aches and pains.
Izuku's head snapped up as something else crossed his mind.
"Wait! Those eyes. You said you stopped my quirk… You're Eraserhead!" His eyes lit up in excitement. He pushed himself into a seated position. "I've been trying to find out more about you, but there's been so little information on your work as an underground hero. I've only been able to find 3 photos of you, but they've all been too grainy to make anything out. Just two weeks ago, you took out that drug ring two towns over! Heck, a couple of years ago you even-"
As the young man continued to mumble, Aizawa brought a hand up, gripping the front of his scarf.
"Hm. Three photos huh?" The green haired man snapped out of his mumbling at those words. "I guess I'll need to do some more digging, I only know of two of them…"
Silence met his muttering.
"Yeah, kid. I'm Eraserhead. Not sure how you know so much about me. As an underground hero, I pride myself on not getting recognized by anyone I bring in."
Himiko turned towards Izuku, a proud smile on her face. "Izu-kins is a bonafide hero nerd! If there's a hero out there that he doesn't know, I'll eat my shorts!"
"You don't own any shorts, ribbit."
"Impressive as that all is, wasting more time on this is illogical. Midoriya."
"U-uh, yes?"
"Why does your registry say your quirk is an emitter, when it is clearly a transformation type?"
Izuku's eyes furrowed. "What do you mean? It's not a transformation type, I expend an energy like similar to an emitter to bring about my wolf form."
"Kid, I've erased a lot of quirks in my time as a hero. Plenty of people have had emitter types that change their forms, but the only time I've had someone's body physically go through a change back to their default state like you did is when I erase transformation types. So I ask again, why is your quirk listed as an emitter quirk. Wrongfully classifying your quirk can lead to further incidents like this, possibly causing permanent harm to your body."
Izuku looked down, uncertainty clear on his face. "I-I don't know, sir. I've never felt the transformation like this, nor have I ever felt any pain switching between any of my forms."
Aizawa stared down at Izuku form a few moments, before he let out a resigned sigh. "Fine. I think we're good to call an end to these tests, I'll call the nurses office so you can be brought to Recovery Girl to get looked at."
"No!"
Izuku's teacher gave him a glare as he shot to his feet.
Aizawa's eyes glowed red, his hair rising into the air. "Midoriya, you clearly do not understand how your own quirk works. What would happen if you came across someone else with a quirk similar to mine? While very rare, I doubt it's the only one that could disable a quirk. While most quirks shutting down simply limits one's ability to fight, disabling yours cripples you for a period of time."
Aizawa kept the young man's gaze.
"Another thing to consider, is that I shut my quirk off as soon as I noticed something going wrong with your transformation. What would happen if your quirk were disabled for a longer period of time? Would your transformation back into humanity have kicked in? Would your ability to heal make up for it, or would your broken body survive long enough for the villain to be disabled?"
Aizawa's glare passed over the rest of his class.
"This is something we at UAU will beat into your bodies and minds, so you may be prepared to face the world at large. It will not excuse ignorance, and neither will I." His gaze turned back to Izuku. "If you cannot adapt to meet my standards, I will not let you waste my time or that of other heroes."
Izuku's fists clenched at his sides, his brow furrowing in determination as he met his teacher's gaze.
"I have no intention of wasting anyone's time. I don't understand a part of how my quirk works, fine. Than as you said, I'll adapt. I'll figure out what I'm missing and learn to adjust how I train to make up for it, but I will never let it stop me from achieving my dream. Please, let me show you that I can make it as a hero!"
The scraggly-haired man held the greenette's gaze for a few moments before he released his quirk. His hair fell back down as his eyes lost their glow. The scarf around his neck rose, reaching down to pick the ball up before dropping it in his hand.
"Fine. You have one shot to prove to me you have potential." He tossed the ball to Izuku, who grabbed it out of the air, his eyes not leaving his teacher until he moved to the throwing circle.
Tsuyu and Himiko watched him, worried.
As Izuku stepped into the circle, he started tossing the ball up and down a few times, taking in deep breaths as he readied himself.
He turned back to his class. "I know I mentioned needing hearing protection for those with stronger hearing, but I suggest anyone else who wants hearing protection to get it now. What I'm about to do isn't just loud, it can be a little… piercing."
He turned forwards, not checking to see if his classmates heeded his warning. With a few more upward tosses, he threw the ball up into the air and a familiar glow suffused his body.
In his place stood his large wolf form, catching the ball out of the air between his jaws.
He took a few more breaths before took in one large, deep inhale. His chest expanded to proportions unnatural for a normal wolf.
He loosened his grip on the ball as he released an empowered howl.
The ball, being so close to the source of the sound wave, was launched forward. Izuku kept the howl going, using the extended exhale to give the ball extra air time.
He didn't notice the effect the howl was having on those around him. The shockwave that was released was strong enough that his classmates had to cover their faces as dust was blown about.
The six-armed man reached out, catching a few of his smaller classmates, them being blown back with the force of the sound wave.
Izuku panted, his chest aching. He didn't taste any blood, so he considered that a good sign.
He turned back as he changed back to his human shape. He blinked when he noticed everyone else. Several students had been blown back; most everyone's hair was thrown about like they were hit with some kind of wind attack. They were all staring at him with wide eyes except for his two friends.
They were smiling at him, even while they were tangled up on the ground, having been closer to him than anyone else.
He was surprised to see his teacher seemed largely unaffected by whatever had happened. When their gazes met, Izuku smiled.
"I'm not incapacitated, I can keep going." His words may have been interspersed with light panting, but it did little to take away the pride in his voice.
"Hmph." Aizawa turned the device towards the class, '1011 meters' displayed on its screen. "Maybe you have potential after all."
Izuku could have sworn he saw a smile beneath the man's capture scarf.
He made no outward sign that he had noticed as he walked towards his two childhood friends.
"Are you two ok?"
He reached his hands towards them on the ground. They each lifted a hand, and he hefted them up. While Tsuyu got her feet under her, Himiko overcorrected and fell into the wolf man.
"Izu-kins, that was amazing!" She beamed up at him with one of her signature wide smiles, her right cheek pushing into his chest. "I know you really let loose in the entrance exam, but that was crazy!"
"Yeah, ribbit. Since when were your howls so powerful?"
Izuku turned his gaze to Tsuyu. She had her head tilted with a finger resting on her chin. He noticed her tongue poking out, no doubt struggling to not shoot out and stick to his face. He scratched side of his head in embarrassment.
"Yeah man, that was amazing!"
"So MANLY!"
That's what that loud noise was in the entrance exam?!"
Izuku was startled when his classmates ran up to him, raining praise and questions atop him. He struggled to deal with all the attention when-
"ENOUGH."
Everyone went silent as Eraserhead activated his quirk, his eyes glowing balefully.
"We are still in class, not some friendly trip to the park." Everyone had the good grace to wince at his words.
After realizing they had stopped disrupting his class, his eyes stopped glowing.
"Now, it's time to show the results." His words said, he turned the tablet he held towards his students. It showed a leaderboard of where everyone scored on the assessment test in descending order.
Izuku was happy to see that, while he hadn't scored at the top, he was still held third place. Just beating out Bakugou in fourth.
He heard a wail of despair from nearby as he noticed the name in last place.
Tooru Hagakure.
He turned towards the invisible woman as she fell down to her knees as she realized her career as a hero had been crushed. He was about to reach a hand out to console her when Aizawa spoke.
"No one is being expelled today. That was just a logical ruse to make you all put in your 100%."
Izuku's gaze snapped up to the man, his eyes wide. He shivered as he registered the absolutely sadisticsmile on the man's face that spread from ear to ear.
"But don't think that means you're all safe. You all are here to be hero, and I expect you to continue to meet my standards. Once you've all changed back into your uniforms, head back to the classroom to get your syllabi and the documents going over what you've missed in the orientation. Read them."
The man started walking away, turning his head to give them one last comment.
"Get some rest, tomorrow will be your first Foundational Heroics class. You'll need it."
No one noticed the man as seethed at the leaderboard.
"Fourth place, beneath that damned Deku-mutt?! How the hell did he manage to get third place?!"
He continued to rage internally at the slight, throwing his hands into his pockets as he walked back to the locker rooms.
"If that damned teacher wasn't there, I'd have shown him his place…"
In the boy's locker room, the men of class 1-A were talking animatedly.
"Midoriya, that ball toss was so MANLY!"
Izuku chuckled at his red-haired classmate, Kirishima's, praise.
"Yeah I pushed it a little hard on that one." Izuku's slight rasp was a bit more pronounced. He rubbed his throat. "Maybe a little too hard. Might have irritated my throat with that move. Normally my howling is just strong enough to through around a strong gust of wind."
Now that Izuku thought about it, there was an unusual bone-deep sense of exhaustion coming from somewhere within himself.
"Now that I think about it, this feels similar to how I felt after using that attack against the Zero Pointer. I thought it cam from the healing Recovery Girl gave me with her quirk, but what if it's from something else?"
Izuku felt a bump against his shoulder, distracting him from his introspection. He turned to see Sero grinning at him.
"That was seriously amazing, man. The fact that you could launch it so far by basically just yelling really hard. Your quirk is really powerful." The black haired man smile ruefully as he rubbed one of his oddly shaped elbows. "Unlike mine. It didn't do much to help me on most of the tests. Pretty much had to toss my ball like an Olympic hammer throw."
"What? Your quirk is incredible!" Izuku stared at the tape man with obvious excitement in his eyes. "It would be perfect for scenarios where you need to subdue a villain! Just wrap him up a bit and they're down."
Izuku grabbed a notebook from his locker, taking down notes.
"You could use it to hold a crumbling building together, set up traps to catch villains unawares, and with enough practice you could probably even make web-like nets to catch falling debris or civilians! Heck, maybe there's a way to apply effects from different types of tape. From double-sided, to less adhesive for quick removal, or even mix the adhesive with other substances to irritate the bodies of villains you catch…"
Izuku paused in his mumbling. He looked up to see Sero staring at him wide-eyed.
"Sorry about that, didn't mean to drop that all on you." He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Nah man. You just gave me a lot to think about." Sero got a far away look in his eyes. "I never really thought about changing the type of tape I can make. Double-sided tape, huh?"
"Oh! Well, that's good then. If you come up with ideas or make a breakthrough, feel free to come to me. I love to analyze quirks."
"That's so manly! Do me next!"
Izuku turned back to Kirishima, flipping to a different page in his notebook. "Let's see… Your quirk lets you turn your body into that rocky texture right? I assume it's some kind of transformation that lets you make your body tougher?"
"Yeah! It's called Hardening. It lets me turn my skin hard as rock!" He proceeded to pose, flexing his arms as he used his quirk on them. His skin turned rigid with jagged, stone like crags grow along the surface of his body.
"Only your skin?" Izuku continued to make notes.
"Well, yeah! I've been training to try and spread it across my whole body, but it's pretty tough. Hopefully training here at UA will help me work on that!"
"Wouldn't it be easier to manage the spread if you could spread it through your whole body?"
The man paused his excited flexing.
"My whole body? I mean, that's what I I've been trying to do." He shrugged.
"No, you mentioned only hardening your skin. I'm talking about your whole body, not just your skin. Your muscles, your bones, heck even your organs." Izuku tapped his pencil against his chin in thought. "Might have issues when it comes to your joints, though… would you be able to bend your limbs in that kind of state?"
Izuku looked at the spiky-haired man.
"When you harden your arms, are you able to bend your elbows and wrists?"
"W-well, yeah! They're a bit stiff, but I can move my arms like normal."
Izuku started writing furiously.
"Reduction of motor functions negligible while quirk is active… If it's possible to harden the muscles, would the quirk become more effective after exercising similar to how healing microtears strengthen the muscles? Would need extensive testing while being checked by a medical professional to make sure it doesn't have a detrimental effect to the quirked state…"
Izuku continued to mumble into his notebook as those around him continued to change back into their school uniforms. He was broken from his contemplations by a voice on the far end of the locker room.
"Guys, look at this! Someone made a hole in the wall to the girls' locker room. Must have been left here by a senior at some point!"
"Kaminari! To peep on our female classmates would surely be a crime!" Izuku saw Iida walk up to the blonde man, his arm chopping up and down robotically. "We must report this to faculty so it can be repaired at once!"
"W-well it's not like I was actually going to do it! I'm not some kind of pervert!" Kaminari waved his arms in front of him as if to ward off the accusation. "But I'm still a man. I mean just think about it! Just on the other side of the wall are women in various state of undress. Don't act like you all hadn't thought about it!"
Iida and several of his classmates stammered, blushes clear on their faces. Izuku's own blush grew as he considered what kind of view he could see through that hole in the wall. Of two specific people on the other side.
He had seen plenty of Tsuyu and Himiko's skin over the years, from visits to the beach, to Himiko choosing to lounge around the house in loose clothing, claiming that the sunlight beaming through the windows felt better the more skin she exposed as she napped.
Something about the sight of them undressing brought certain thoughts to Izuku's mind that he promptly boxed up and shoved down into a deep dark spot in his mind. He struggled to bottle up a certain thought though.
The idea that any of his classmates might peep on his two friends, the only friends he ever had since he got his quirk.
He felt his lips curl up, his fists clenching. An awful feeling sprouted in his stomach at the mere thought that someone else would dare look upon them during such a vulnerable moment.
He stalked towards Kaminari.
Kyoka Jiro was livid. She had just finished getting changed, intently avoiding glancing at any of the women changing around her, when one of her earphone jacks picked up a noise coming from the far wall.
Voices, to be precise.
She plugged one jack into the wall, hearing that blond idiot talking about having found a peephole, and trying catching a glimpse of the girls in their class changing.
She quickly found the hole on her end hidden amongst a poster on the wall, blending in with the artwork on display.
She had just sent a jack through the hole to stab the pervert when a noise stopped her in her partway.
A growl, unlike anything she had ever heard, emanated from the other side of the wall.
It was like a lion having caught someone entering its territory. It promised pain and suffering for whoever had dared to cross into its home turf.
And it was getting closer to the wall and the blonde man, who had immediately shut up when the noise started.
Kyoka felt a cold sweat run down her back at the sound.
"Jiro, is something wrong?"
Kyoka whirled around at the voice. She saw her very tall (and very beautiful) classmate, Momo Yaoyorozu, giving her a concerned look.
"You look like something is bothering you."
"W-well, I heard that blond idiot, Kaminari, had found a peephole between the men and women's locker rooms. I was just about the stab the idiot for even considering looking when, well…"
By that point, a crowd of all the other girls had gathered around her, curiosity clear on their faces.
Himiko stared at the wall, a large smile on her face, a heavy blush clear on her cheeks. Kyoka tried not to stare at the fangs on display.
"Izu-kins is having a growly fit right now, isn't he?"
"Uh, yeah. How did you know?"
"He usually does this whenever someone gives me or Tsu weird glances or says anything bad to us." The blond brought her hands up to her cheeks and started to wiggle in place. "Ooh~ it just makes me want to be wrapped up in his arms as I listen to his rumbly chest!"
"He never seems to notice it when he does it, ribbit." Tsuyu rolled her eyes at the blonde's antics, almost like it was normal for her friend to gush so openly about the wolf-man. "Though it is nice to know that he feels so protective of us. Makes us feel safe."
Kyoka watched as the pink-skinned gossip machine dove at the two with question after question when-
"Jiro."
She startled as the voice called out her name. It didn't come from any of the women present. She turned back to the peephole she was listening in on. She barely recognized the voice belonging to Midoriya.
His voice sounded strained by the growl still emanated from his chest.
"Jiro, can you hear me with your quirk?"
Kyoka hesitantly snaked her earphone jack the rest of the way through the peephole. As it exited the other side, she shook it up and down in the facsimile of a nod. She suppressed the shiver running down her spine as the man spoke.
"I wanted to warn you about the peephole, but it looks like you already found it, good. No one intended to peep on you, even if Kaminari did a fantastic job of implying otherwise. Just to make sure, I let everyone on this side know that there would be… consequences, if they tried to peek."
Kyoka suppressed the shiver running down her spine at the man's implied punishment.
"Would you mind asking if Yaoyorozu would mind sealing this up on your end? At least until UA can get this fixed."
She once more nodded the jack up and down, before retracting it.
She turned back to her fellow heroes-in-training, ready to have Yaoyorozu seal up the affront to female privacy, her face swiftly scrunched up in confusion at the sight nearby.
"Tsu, why is Mina wrapped up in your tongue?"
"She was asking too many questions, ribbit."
Izuku was on his way to the faculty office, prepared to inform the teachers of the peephole, having waved the rest of his class off saying he would meet them back at the dorm.
As he entered, he was met by the sight of several heroes sitting at desks spread throughout the room.
He would have gushed at the sight of so many heroes if not for the mission he set forth for himself.
It took him a moment to locate his homeroom teacher, but instead of doing any paperwork, the man was curled up under his desk, wrapped in the yellow sleeping bag he showed up to class in.
He was just wondering if he should wake the him up when the man cosplaying as a caterpillar spoke.
"What do you want, Midoriya?"
Izuku's eyes widened in shock as Eraserhead rolled over, revealing an annoyed look on his face.
"It's the first day of school, and I'm in the middle of my afternoon nap. What could you possibly need to bother me about."
"I'm sorry to bother you sir, but I wanted to inform the school that there was a peephole found between the Men and Women's locker rooms."
The homeroom teacher groaned in irritation.
"Cementoss, we found another one." Aizawa called out.
Izuku turned to see a gray skinned man with a square shaped head slump in his chair, a sigh escaping his lips. "Again? How many is this, 47? I swear, I've almost reshaped half the building by now."
Izuku turned back to his homeroom teacher. "Again? Does this happen often?"
"A few years ago, a student managed to weasel his way into our heroics course. He was expelled for sexual harassment a few months in, but not before leaving several little surprises hidden around the campus. From peepholes to little tunnels to hide in, we keep finding his peeping spots."
The man groaned again.
"It's like, for every one we remove, another 2 take its place. We made absolutely sure no other school for heroics would ever take him in after that."
"I see. I'm sorry to bother you with this."
"Don't worry about it, you're supposed to report stuff like this. Not sure how there is another peephole, I swear I've rebuilt those locker rooms three times." Izuku turned as Cementoss rose from his chair.
"Even still, I'm sorry to take up your time." Izuku's eyes widened as he realized where he was, and who was in the room with him. "Uh, sorry to bother you, but uh, before you go… can I get your autograph?"
He thrust a notebook towards the man, the page showing a well detailed drawing of the cement hero.
Cementoss chuckled good naturedly, reaching a hand towards the book. Before he could grab it, however, a speaker on the wall nearby crackled to life.
"There will be time for autographs later, young Midoriya." Izuku stared up in surprise as he recognized the Dean of UAU's voice coming from the speaker. "Would you mind terribly coming to my office? I wish to discuss something with you, if you wouldn't mind."
As abruptly as the speaker came on, it turned off, leaving the green haired man standing in silence, his notebook still held in his outstretched hand.
The hairs on the back of his neck raise as he felt a glare raised towards the back of his head. He turned, seeing red filled glared leveled up at him.
"What did you do, Problem Child?"
Chapter 11
In a dark room, a man faced a glowing screen, contemplating the events it showed him.
Many had grown to fear the man over the course of his unnaturally long life.
He fought back a fit of laughter as he remembered those that he had been required to teach the error of their ways. Very few were foolish enough to draw his attention a second time.
Those that did would never be able to draw the ire of anyone else ever again.
His attention returned to the screen before him. With all the patience a being of his intellect driven into the action, he slowly reached towards a button nearby… and pressed it.
The screen flashed as a video played.
Earlier-
Shota walked away from his class as they reveled in his reveal, entirely unprepared for just how difficult their next four years would be.
Now if only he could think of an easy way to deal with that incident…
He stopped as he turned the corner of the nearby building.
"So how long were you planning to skulk about, watching my class?" He glared at the figure attempting to hide nearby.
The tall, emaciated form of Toshinori Yagi startled at the man's words. "W-when did you realize I was here?!"
"About when you showed up. After Bakugou threw his ball." Shota noticed the man flinch.
"I-I see, and here I thought I had done a decent job of hiding this far away…" The large man scratched the back of his neck.
"Just because you aren't blown up, doesn't make you any better at hiding. You're just as easy to spot as when you are in the field." The tired man took a moment to revel in the fact that he had the man sweating nervously. "What do you want, All Might?"
Most of the staff at UAU had been brought into the secret that the Number 1 hero had been injured and running on a limited time every day when the man had been brought on as a teacher.
It hadn't been revealed to them exactly what had caused the big man's injury, and Shota had every intention of finding out what it was. He didn't like being left in the dark, especially about something, or someone, that could harm the Number 1 hero in Japan so heavily.
It also annoyed Eraserhead to no end that the blond man refused to better manage his time as All Might, tending to continue to push that timer to its utmost limits.
The man spent more time catching small time criminals that other heroes could handle than preserving what time he had left before he was forced to retire. It was a regular occurrence for All Might to show up to Recovery Girl's office after pushing himself beyond his time limit, leaving himself unavailable if an actual emergency were to occur.
He had been lucky so far, but Shota didn't believe in luck holding out forever.
How the man still had his shins after each time Recovery Girl got a hold of him, Shota would never understand.
He watched as the number one hero considered his question, an eyebrow raising as he watched All Might square his shoulders and struck Shota with a look more befitting a villain he was preparing to detain.
"I had heard some horror stories about your teaching methods, so I wanted to see them first hand. I will admit, while harsh, you seemed to do a good job getting them to focus. However, I do not agree with threatening them with expulsion."
Shota kept the man's gaze as he spoke. "They're here to learn to be heroes, if they can afford time to goof around and play games, they have time to focus on training."
"And they have four years to do it. While they are technically adults now, they are still young. Fresh out of high school. Let them have a little bit of fun while they're here from time to time, before they are thrust into the stressful life of heroics."
Aizawa shook his head. "I will not give them false expectations; the hero life is not fun and games. If they start treating it as such, it's only a matter of time before they get themselves or someone else hurt… or worse. Not that you would understand."
The blond man's expression softened some at that. "I understand more than you might believe… Ultimately, I can't tell you how to teach your students. I haven't even had my first class, after all. And let it not be said that I don't understand that a little tough love never hurt anyone. That said…"
The hard look was back in his fellow teacher's eyes.
"How you handled young Midoriya's quirk malfunction is not something I agree with. Not only did you use him as an example, painting him as a target, you caused him great physical harm then berated him for not perfectly understanding his abilities. Implying that he would be expelled for something outside of his control. I will not accept such blatant abuse of their efforts to get here."
Shota's eye twitched as smoke rose from the other man's form, his muscles expanding until he was in the form most villains cowered in the face of. Before him did not stand the beaten down form of Toshinori Yagi, but the number one hero in Japan.
Eraserhead's glare intensified, tempted to activate his quirk at the potential threat in the man's words.
"I am not abusing their efforts; I am encouraging them to put those efforts to full use. Are my methods harsh? Yes. I am not here to coddle them, and they need to understand that I will take them to task if they do not put in their 100%. If that means I must be the one that they all direct their frustration at, then so be it. When they leave this school, they will be ready to face anything and everything."
Shota's glare lessened, a tired sigh escaping his lips.
"As for Midoriya… I am aware that I will face some form of fallout, and that something will have to be done about it. They need to understand that I will not apologize for how I train them, and that I will push them far outside their comfort zones. They will get hurt, and they need to realize that. That said, I will be talking to Midoriya at some point."
He raised a hand to forestall any words from All Might.
"And no, it will not be to berate him or expel him. I will make up for hurting him, but not right now. Not when I am still establishing my position as their teacher. If I apologized right now, they would believe me to be a soft-hearted idiot. They are training to be heroes, and I will not baby them anytime they get cuts or bruises."
Shota watched as All Might processed his words. Before the man could respond, he continued.
"Like I said, I already plan to pull him aside about help him understand his quirk. Just need to give them a little time to let the lesson set in."
"H-huh?" All Might leaned back in surprise, eyes widened. In his surprise, he had deflated back to his skeletal form.
"What, shocked that I actually intend to teach them how to better use their quirks? How illogical. They will hate me for it, but after four years under my tutelage, they will know more about themselves and how to use their powers as heroes than if they spent their whole lives teaching themselves."
All Might seemed to consider his words, gaze turning into the distance, towards his retreating students.
"Just don't take too long to talk to Young Midoriya. He's smarter than you might think." The large man's eyes returned to his fellow teacher. "Even now, I bet he is considering the implications of what it meant for a forced cancelation of a transformation causing him so much harm could mean."
Then his eyes hardened again.
"But please understand, he has been through a lot in his young life. While he is figuring this new puzzle out, it is just as likely that he may be criticizing himself too harshly to accept that he is not at fault here. While you are not entirely to blame, being unaware that canceling his quirk would do that to him, not everyone will agree."
The blond man's features softened somewhat.
"If you want my advice, speak to him sooner rather than later. You'd be surprised by what he can do with a little bit of positive reinforcement."
Aizawa grunted non-committally as the number one hero smiled kindly to him.
He watched All Might as he walked away, likely off to squander more of his remaining time as the strongest hero Japan had ever known. One thought nagged at his mind as he considered the large man's words.
"The way he talked about the Problem Child…"
His eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"It's almost as if he knew the kid personally."
The man stared at his computer screen as the video finished. He hummed as his mind raced, sipping from a nearby cup of tea.
He rewound the video to when the green-haired man stood defiant against his teacher, staring intently at Midoriya as the video played.
"Curious…"
An alert in the corner of the screen brought him out of his silent contemplation. He swiftly reached for a nearby button, the lights to the room turning on to reveal an office and a small man in a chair far too large for someone his size.
"One might almost consider it a throne, considering my position here."
He pressed another button, the only door into the room swinging open to reveal one Izuku Midoriya, a hand raised as if preparing to knock. He locked eyes with the man, a look of surprise clear on his face.
"Mr. Midoriya! Do come in, we have much to discuss…" Nezu, the dean of UA University spoke, a cheerful note in his tone.
Izuku was surprised, to say the least. Although now that he considered it, he should have guessed that the Nezu would know when someone was approaching his office. He quickly entered the room, only jolting slightly when the door slammed closed behind him.
"Please, Mr. Midoriya, have a seat. Would you like some tea? Maybe a snack or two?" The small rodent waved a hand towards a nearby table, ladened with several steaming teapots and platters of various types of crackers.
Izuku almost reached for what looked like All Might themed graham crackers, before he shook his head. He bowed respectfully to the dean of his school. "No, thank you sir. I'm good."
"Fair enough. Come, come. We have much to discuss, and my job as dean of this school can only afford me so much free time, and I intend to make the most of it here."
Izuku stood and stiffly walked to the proffered chair and took a seat. He gripped the armrests tightly in his hands as his mind raced.
"What could he want to see me about? Is this about the Quirk Assessment test? Did I not do a good job on it? Is he about to make good on Mr. Aizawa's promise to expel us?"
"While this meeting is partly to do with the QATs, I assure you I have no intention of expelling you."
Izuku jolted in his seat as if struck, only now realizing he had been mumbling his thoughts aloud.
Nezu just chuckled at the nervous man's reaction.
"Don't worry, you're not in any trouble. I was just hoping we could have a little chat." The small man took a sip of his tea. "Tell me, how was your first day in school? Are you adjusting to the campus life well?"
Izuku blinked, completely unprepared for the question.
"U-uh, it was alright? Good, actually. I spoke to a few of my classmates and already got so many ideas for their quirks!" Izuku pulled his notebook out, flipping to the most recent entries. "Kirishima's Hardening, Sero's Tape, Uraraka's Zero Gravity, Yaoyorozu's Creation! They're all incredible for heroics!"
Izuku looked up, seeing Nezu shaking slightly. His teacup covered his mouth, so Izuku struggled to understand the man's reaction.
"Sir, are you alright?"
"Heh, hehehe… Y-yes, I am quite alright." He set his cup down, revealing a smirk.
Izuku quirked an eyebrow as he watched the corners of the man's muzzle twitch upward.
"It is good to hear that you are doing well." He paused, his gaze meeting Izuku's. "Tell me, what did you think of your first class with Eraserhead?"
Izuku looked down at his notebook. He felt a small smile grow on his lips.
"It was actually kind of fun! Being able to let loose with my quirk during the tests was so exciting." Izuku raised his head, meeting the dean's gaze again. "While I trained with it for the entrance exam, there was only so much I could do. My quirk was pretty limited for most of the exercises, but being able to run for so long uninterrupted felt so liberating!"
"And what about the ball throw?"
Izuku hesitated. "It was… It was nice to test how much power I could safely put into my howl attack. I couldn't really practice with it a lot, for obvious reasons."
"Too much risk of collateral damage?"
"Y-yes! I always wondered how far I could push it without hurting myself." Izuku's smile turned rueful. A hand coming up to his neck. "I still put a little too much into it, strained my throat a little."
He grimaced as he felt a scratchy sensation.
"Is that offer of tea still available?"
Nezu smiled widely. "Of course! Do you have a preference? I'm partial to Golden Tips Imperial myself."
"Oh! Um… Whatever you would suggest I suppose. Is it possible to get one that's not too strong?"
"Ah, because of your heightened senses yes?" At Izuku's hesitant nod, Nezu chuckled. "Yes, I can imagine. I suffer from the same. It took me some time to adapt my own senses to some of the stronger pleasures in life after I escaped."
Izuku's brow scrunched in confusion as he watched the smaller man step onto his desk, hop over to the nearby table, and start pouring a cup of tea from one of the kettles.
"Escaped?"
"Yes, escaped." Nezu said cheerly, hopping back to his desk, carefully setting down the cup in front of Izuku, not spilling a drop. "But that is a topic for another time."
Izuku took a sip of his tea, humming pleasantly at the taste.
"How did you feel when Eraserhead stopped your transformation?"
Izuku choked on his sip of drink. Nezu watched on with unending patience as Izuku coughed, trying to clear his airway of the hot fluid.
"S-sir?"
"I saw the moment he erased your quirk. How you collapsed in pain, your body mid-transformation, trying to put itself back together." Nezu's eyes shifted to the nearby computer monitor before moving back to Izuku. "Your discovery that your quirk may not function as you once thought it did. I found it quite fascinating and was hoping to discuss it with you."
Izuku's eyes shifted nervously, his thoughts racing.
"I'm sure you've been considering the implications."
"W-well, I've put some thought into it, but with locker room and you calling me here right after I reported the p-peephole, I haven't had the chance to analyze it the way I usually do…"
Izuku could have sworn the brow over one Nezu's eyes rose, but considering that the man didn't have what humans would consider "eyebrows", it was hard to tell.
"Oh? How do you normally analyze quirks? I assume it has something to do with those notebooks I regularly see you pull out when you meet someone new?"
Izuku felt a nervous sweat run down his forehead. "Y-you've been watching me?"
Nezu just chuckled at the question, a dark undertone clear.
"Mr. Midoriya, I watch everyone. Especially those present on my school campus. As Dean of UAU, it is my responsibility to keep an eye on any and all who enter these grounds. You never know when some ne'er-do-well comes onto my territory with some silly ideas like spying or other acts of subterfuge."
Izuku failed to suppress a shiver arcing its way up his spine. The casual way the man spoke of himself spying on his students and faculty scared him slightly. A part of him almost respected the man's actions, for some reason.
"Weird… Why would I respect it?"
"But enough about me and my role as ruler here.-"
"Ruler…?"
"I believe you were going to explain your methods? I admit, I myself am a bit of an enthusiast when it comes to analyzing the hard to understand. Nothing like a good mystery to get the brain juices flowing, as they say!"
Izuku coughed into a closed fist, trying to refocus his mind. He reached behind him with his other hand, pulling out a familiar notebook. On its face was written "Hero Analysis for the Future #16".
"I really like quirks, so it helps me figure them out when I write down what they are and can do in here. I usually start new editions once I've run out of space in an old notebook or gather new information, requiring updated entries." He flipped the book open to a recent page, showing a well detailed drawing of Tenya Iida in his gym uniform. The engines growing from his legs were a prominent feature of the image. "I've even considered ways people could improve on using them, even the types of support gear they could use to improve their effectiveness in the field."
Izuku smiled proudly down at his hobby on display.
"I've even considered ways people could benefit from their use outside of heroics. Where most people can't be heroes because of the limits of their quirks, there are still plenty of ways they can be used to benefit the populace at large. From beauty care, to construction, or to even assisting with everyday chores!"
Izuku met the other man's gaze, a sparkle in his eyes. He coughed lightly, realizing he might have been rambling.
"Well, most people may not be able to benefit from these ideas, quirk laws being what they are right now, but I just love breaking them down. Quirks vary so wildly that it seems like no two quirks are ever the same. The possibilities are endless!"
Nezu hummed into his cup of tea, eyes glancing at the green-haired man's notebook in consideration.
"Mr. Midoriya, would you mind at all if I could take a look at your notes?"
Izuku blinked, not expecting the man to want to look at them. He nervously passed his notebook to the smaller animal. He was afraid his anxiety would show if he just squirmed in his seat, so he distracted himself by drinking the rest of his tea in silence.
He watched the furry man as he read through Izuku's notebook. He felt his nerves continue to fray as the man hummed as he read.
"What does he think of my notes? They must be bad. There's no way THE Nezu would be interested in my analyses. He's probably the smarted man in Japan, if I could think of something, surely he would."
He was snapped out of his thoughts when Nezu spoke, having finished sifting through the pages.
"This is actually quite impressive, Mr. Midoriya. I dare say, if you weren't looking to become a hero you would make a great career out of being a quirk analyst!"
Izuku waved his hands, as if to wave away the man's praise.
"There's no way they're that good. It's just something I do as a hobby. Most people would be more freaked out by this level of detail…"
"Nonsense!" Nezu smiled at the man. "These notes are actually very good. We normally teach a class on proper methods of analysis to assist our students in learning how to react to sudden villain attacks when they are lacking information or for long term investigations, but these notes go well and above that class's standard for even its highest grades!"
Izuku blinked, not quite comprehending the man's words.
"You've even caught details of hero's quirks actively kept hidden from the populace at large. From Endeavor's penchant for overheating himself, to Ectoplasm's limit on the clones he creates going well beyond what is listed. You've even noticed the severe lack of any heroics performed by the Rank 7 hero, Wash."
"Of course, I noticed! There is literally no footage of him fighting villains or saving people outside of those clearly forced promotional videos posted to media websites. Any press conference he goes to, he just shouts out that stupid catchphrase of his, 'Washa!', whenever he is asked a question. How he is even in the Top Ten is a mystery that has practically cause my ears to bleed from racking my brain to the point of overheating!"
Izuku was so deep into his tirade that he hadn't even noticed as he leapt out of his chair, pacing back and forth in front of the Dean of UA.
"I swear, he does more of those damn poster signings and meet-and-greets than any other hero combined, and that includes the ones All Might has done! I swear, if I ever meet whoever-"
Izuku was abruptly cut off as the man sitting in the desk nearby roared out into a fit of cackling.
Izuku's eyes darted around as he realized the position he was in, pacing back and forth and ranting about a Top Ten pro hero like some kind of crazy person in front the arbiter of his future as another hero.
He tried to stammer out an apology, but it seemed to go unheard as Nezu continued to laugh as if he, himself, was a crazy person.
It took the small man several minutes to calm himself, yet even when he did his breaths were interrupted by short bursts of laughter.
"Y-yes, ahem. As I said, quite good. To notice the Hero Public Safety Commission plant in the highest rankings at such a young age is impressive."
"HPSC plant-?!"
"And while we will be discussing these notes of yours at a later date, we must stop letting ourselves be distracted."
"Distracted-?"
"I believe we were originally discussing what you have figured out in the face of this new information regarding your quirk."
Izuku's mind swirled at the implied subterfuge by the company charged with the safety of Japan as a whole. At what it meant that they would need to "plant" someone into the Top Ten Heroes Ranking.
He let himself be distracted by the change of topic, lest his mind delve too far into topics best left forgotten before he could even start his career as a hero. He used the time it took to retake his seat to reconfigure the track his thoughts were on.
"W-well… my mind was kind of all over the place at the time, but it's pretty clear that my understanding on how the transformation aspect works is lacking." Izuku brought a hand up, cupping his chin in thought.
"Considering that it getting turned off didn't undo the transformation, but simply cut it off partway," Nezu chimed in. "This causing you tremendous pain and revealing your crippled form as the silver light faded away, it's almost as if-"
"As if the light has nothing to do with the transformation aspect of the change." Izuku's eyes widened as a possibility crossed his mind. "What if the transformation is not an emitter, but an actual transformation quirk?"
His brows furrowed as further questions crossed his mind.
"But then why do I glow when I transform? Where do my clothes go if my quirk isn't an emitter? The glow, heck my howls imply that my quirk is an emitter type."
His mind swirled at the onslaught of question after question, when he was brought out of his revery by Nezu swinging his computer monitor so that Izuku could see the screen.
"I have my own theory, but maybe this video might provide some insight?" Nezu spoke.
On the screen showed a zoomed in view of Izuku laid out on the pitch of the Ball Throwing test. He cringed as he took in his form. His limbs were twisted in various directions, blood pooled beneath him, pouring out from great rents in his skin.
He watched as Nezu hit play, and he relived the events of the final event in the Quirk Assessment Tests. He watched as he screamed out in pain, his teacher immediately cutting off his quirk. He felt his eyes begin to water as he watched his two best friends run up to him in a panic. He gulped as he watched himself rise, the look in his eyes-
"Wait. Rewind the video." He barely registered the words escaping from his own mouth as he leaned closer, focusing directly on the injured form of his past self playing on the video.
His eyes narrowed as he watched his wounds… glow.
He continued to watch as a familiar silver light drifted off of his broken limbs, his split skin. His eyes widened in realization as his arms and legs were reset, his bleeding stopped, and they closed.
He watched as previous wounds disappeared, revealing unblemished flesh. The silver glow persisted until the last of his injuries vanished, somehow even the lingering blood on his body flaking off as embers flaking away from a fire.
…He hadn't even realized he had bled at the time. Had any of his classmates noticed? With how much blood he was covered in, surely someone had to have noticed, right?
"The light… That's the same glow I have whenever I transform, but why did I glow as I recovered? Does… does that mean the glow really isn't the transformation, but my body healing from the transformation as it happened?"
He rose from his chair, unconsciously grabbing his notebook from Nezu's desk, and started to write as he paced again.
"I glowed as I healed from the botched transformation. I don't glow when I heal from scrapes or bruises. Maybe the strength of the glow is dependent on the severity of the injury? No, I've been hurt pretty bad, but I have scars from them. This didn't leave any scars. Maybe it's because they were created by the transformation?"
Izuku paused his writing, bringing his pencil up to his lips, lightly chewing on it as he brought it between his teeth.
"That would make sense if the transformation was emitter based, but all evidence implies that it's physically changing my body. What if…"
Izuku turned back towards Nezu, mind running too fast to acknowledge the feral grin spreading on the man's face before he looked back towards the video.
"When did the glowing start?"
"Why, I believe it started right around when Shota started to berate you." Nezu's grin seemed to widen somehow.
"Possibly intent based? Did it heal faster because the damage was caused by the transformations, or was it driven by a need to stand up that sped up my usually slower healing, shown by the visible glow? But if the glow is my body healing, what does that mean for the other aspects?" Izuku's writing sped up. "If the glow is the healing, what happens to the clothes I where? They seem to vanish whenever I've transformed. Possible assisted transition into the fur? Extradimensional storage? Exchange into some form of energy kept within the body?"
Izuku looked back towards the Dean of UAU.
"Sir, I apologize if this seems rude, but, uh…"
Nezu waved a hand, his other pressing a nearby button. The door behind Izuku swung open.
"It's fine, Mr. Midoriya. I can see that you have reached some form of breakthrough, and likely wish to run some tests. We've gone over everything that I wished to talk about, so you are free to go. Best of luck with your experimentations!"
Izuku quickly stepped towards the door, still writing furiously in his notebook. He caught the rodent's last words as he exited the room.
"Do keep an ear out. I would love to continue our discussions on analysis. I do believe I have a few pointers that might assist you in the future!"
Izuku barely managed to stop himself from running into someone as he turned a corner. He turned his gaze up to apologize, but froze he took in the form before him.
Shota Aizawa watched in irritation as the swiftly-becoming-number-one problem child stepped out of the faculty office.
He rolled over, trying to fall back asleep, but the blond oaf's words kept rattling around inside his head.
"You'd be surprised what he can do with a little bit of positive reinforcement."
Shota brought a hand up to rub one of his eyes, an itch refusing to go away behind the ocular organ. He wormed his way out from under his desk with a groan.
As he rose he unzipped his sleeping bag, stepping out to leave the room where he and his fellow teacher's spent most their time outside of teaching or doing their routes as heroes.
He pointedly ignored the gazes sent in his direction. He prided himself on keeping a specific pattern when it came to catching up on sleep or teaching his students, meaning he was aware that his leaving just after a particular student from his class had left would stand out, so he pretended as if his departure from the faculty lounge was just a routine jaunt through the campus.
He was self-aware enough to acknowledge that his trip was clearly motivated by the recent arrival of one Izuku Midoriya, and purposefully acted as if the fact mattered little.
Shota strode around the school campus using the familiar tactic of leading a winding trail to mislead any who were watching him, one skillset of many that he employed regularly during his time as an underground hero. You never knew who was watching, and leading a villain back to one's home or people they cared about was one of the biggest faux pas a hero could make, in his opinion.
It wouldn't be the first time he's had to deal with the nosiness of his two oldest friends. He dreaded the day they discovered the location he'd designated as his den of relaxation.
Thoroughly convinced he had lost any potential annoyances; he turned his path towards the dean's office. Shota felt his eyes itch as he considered what the devious rodent could possibly want with his latest Problem Child.
This wouldn't be the first time he had used the moniker to refer to one of his students, but something about Izuku Midoriya told him he would be a special kind of headache.
He was just considering how he would word his latest request to resign when he nearly bumped into his green haired student as they both turned a corner in the hallway.
Midoriya was distracted by a notebook he held in one hand, a pencil furiously writing on a page with the other. His attention was so focused on the book that Shota figured that he wouldn't even be noticed even if they had bumped into each other.
That possibility was dashed when the young man's eyes snapped up, something dashing through Midoriya's eyes as if he were about to act upon some deep seated instinct, when they softened to their usual green.
"O-oh, Mr. Aizawa, sir! I almost didn't see you there." Midoriya snapped his notebook closed, his pencil holding the page, as he bent down to bow to his teacher. "W-what are you doing here? Are you here to see Mr. Nezu? T-that's if you don't mind me asking, of course!"
"That depends on how this conversation plays out."
Shota had been referring to his attempts to quit his job as teacher, not that he expected his student to understand. These continued resignations, and their immediate rejection, had become an almost ritual thing between him and the dean. It was how he vented his frustrations as a teacher towards Nezu in a failed guise of not outright complaining.
Sometimes Nezu made a fix to his curriculum. Other times… he shuddered as he remembered the mad cackling the mad genius was prone to doing.
His attention was quickly brought back to the student standing before him. Something about his expression as he heard Shota's words set off alarm bells in his head. It held a deep seated suspicion, no, a certainty, that whatever he had to talk to him about would be nothing but bad news.
He held his suspicions to himself as he thought over how to start this conversation. He would have to be careful here.
"I'm not here to punish you. Part of why I came to find you was to thank you for informing us of that… peephole… in the locker room."
"O-oh, really? There's no need to thank me for that, I just did what anyone would've done!"
"You'd be surprised." At Midoriya's confused look, he elaborated. "Many students would have left it alone, even if they didn't use it."
"What? Why?!"
Shota sighed. "A lot of people would see something like that and think, 'That has nothing to do with me, I would never use it' or get it in their head that they might want to use it at a later time, forgetting it even existed after a while."
"W-what? But everyone is hero to a hero, right? Why would they even think about using something like that to- to spy on their classmates?!"
"Midoriya, something you will learn very fast when you become a pro hero; is that not everyone is as altruistic as All Might or as focused on defeating villains like Endeavor."
Midoriya flinched at his words, almost wanting to refute the claim, but Shota noticed a hint of understanding clear in his expression.
"Our job here at UAU is to teach you not only how to comport yourself as a hero, but to also recognize that it is not all sunshine and rainbows. There are people who join the industry for reasons like money, fame, and even to take advantage of their places in the leaderboards to gain positions of power. Not everyone is in this business for the sake of helping people."
He watched as his student's expression seemed to darken, clearly getting lost in thoughts he probably should have lain on the man's shoulders this early.
He's smarter than you think.
"…Damn it all."
Shota considered his next words carefully, hoping a slight redirection would keep his student from falling down a rabbit hole only the most experienced heroes properly understood.
"My teaching methods will seem harsh to you all. It is to push you to give it your all and then some, it is to remind you all that there is more to this line of work than fame or fortune. It is my not only my goal as your teacher, but also that of UA, that any who manage to graduate from our classes will go above and beyond all those who came before them."
Shota watched as the young man standing before him stood straighter, his fists clenching, and a fire alighting in his eyes.
"I couldn't care less about less about money or fame, Mr. Aizawa! I only want to help people. I'm not here to give any less than my 100%!"
Shota made sure to hide the smirk he felt growing on his lips behind the capture scarf wrapped around his neck.
"Good. I will be keeping an eye on you to make sure you live up to that promise."
Problem Child's nod in confirmation was enough to set Shota's mind at ease.
"All that said, have you been able to put any thought into what I asked you about? About how your quirk might actually work?"
Shota watched as Midoriya's green eyes lit up in excitement. He pulled his notebook forwards, opening to the page he had marked with his pencil, turning it towards his teacher.
"Yes, actually! I managed to come up with a working theory, thanks to some advice from Nezu!"
Eraserhead fought to keep his eyes from twitching at the mention of the demented mammal's "advice".
"Oh?"
Shota read through the presented pages as Midoriya spoke.
"Yeah! I didn't realize at the time, that as my injuries from the botched transformation were healing, they were letting off the glow normally shown during the change. It made me realize that, if the glow itself didn't initiate the shift to wolf form, that maybe they were supporting it!"
Shota continued to listen to the young man's words, his eyes widening as he continued to read.
"And the fact that my body showed evidence of a physical change in those broken bones and split skin, then maybe the glow is actually tied to the healing aspect of my quirk. It's entirely likely that my body is actually breaking itself apart to facilitate my transformation into a wolf, and the healing is kicking into overdrive to keep my body together and negate any pain from the change!"
Shota took the notebook in his hands as he read the multiple pages dedicated to this string of theory. He noticed Midoriya proceed to pace back and forth, holding and elbow in one hand, bring his other up and resting a finger against his chin as he spoke his thoughts aloud.
"This has so many implications! Normally, my healing is just a minor sped up recovery, but what if I can consciously make it heal my body faster. What if I can use the healing to redirect my transformation, augmenting my partial shifting? Can I use it to completely change the form I change into? So many questions, so many tests to perform-"
Shota's eyes snapped up.
"There will be no unsupervised testing of your quirk, is that understood?!"
The greenette flinched at the ferocity in Eraserhead's words, a look of fear clear on his face.
"u-uh, sir…?"
Shota realized that he had unconsciously activated his quirk, his eyes glowing their menacing red, his hair floating into the air. He took a few breaths to center his thoughts and deactivate his quirk.
It helped that this little flare up showed that there were no adverse effects on Midoriya while he wasn't mid-shift.
…He tried not to think about to think about the fact that a very similar ignorance led to the very incident requiring this conversation he was having.
"Just because I didn't know that would happen to him, doesn't excuse the mistake."
When he felt his emotions were better under control, he spoke.
"It is clear that there are many unknown factors when it comes to how your quirk's functions. If you are not careful while experimenting, a single mistake could cause you grievous harm, possibly even damage that cannot be undone. There will be no testing of this newly understood aspect of your quirk unless both I, and Recovery Girl, are present. Is that understood?"
"B-but, sir-"
"No buts!" Shota activated his quirk, consciously this time, making sure he had his student's attention. "We are still in the early stages of understanding how your healing works. If you rush into it unsupervised, there is a great risk of you healing your body incorrectly, or worse, forcing a change onto your body than you can't undo."
Shota sighed as the blood seemed to drain from Midoriya's face, his mind catching up to the implications. He reached a hand forward, resting it on the wolf-man's shoulder as he released his quirk.
"Don't focus too hard on it. You're here to learn, and our jobs as teachers at UA is to make sure that any chance of permanent harm to you as our students is practically zero. Recovery Girl's medical knowledge will be a great help in making sure the training goes well. So don't get bogged down in the negative what-ifs, that's our job. You've already done well enough with these notes for now."
Midoriya blinked at the man in surprise.
"I-I have?"
"Yes. I have to admit, I'm not sure even the damn rat could come up with this level of detail in… when did you say you wrote this?"
"After I left Nezu's office. Why, d-did I take too long to come up with all of this? Oh who am I kidding, of course I did."
Shota stared at the man, dumbfound. "Problem Child-"
He cut himself off, rubbing the bridge of his nose in exasperation.
"Midoriya, your notes are fine. Better than fine, in fact. How long do you think it would take for you to make a copy of this?"
Midoriya scrunched his eyes at the tired man in confusion.
"P-probably not even as long as it took me to make these, maybe ten minutes at most, why?"
"I want a copy of these on my desk as soon as you can make them. These will benefit our planning of your quirk training greatly."
Midoriya's expression lifted, a smile spreading on his previously dour face.
"R-really? Then I'll get working on them right away! I'll even work through dinner to make sure I can get down any other ideas that come up. I'll make sure you have them before the day is over!"
Shota clenched his eyes shut, suddenly even more tired than before he had his morning coffee.
"Problem Child… I think we've all had enough excitement for one day. Don't force yourself to rush the copy, just spend the rest of the day relaxing. Besides, don't you have friends waiting for you at the dorms?"
Midoriya's eyes widened.
"Oh crap, Himiko and Tsu are still waiting for me to come back." He brought his hands up to the sides of his head. "And they don't know Nezu called me to his office! They're probably still waiting for me, wondering why I'm taking so long! Himiko is going to be so mad…"
Shota couldn't suppress a chuckle at his student's expense. He extended the notebook in his hand towards the green-haired man.
"Go on, and again, don't worry about getting those notes to me tonight. Just make sure they're on my desk by the end of the week."
Midoriya grabbed his notebook from the man's hand before running off. He turned back, waving a hand.
"Thanks Mr. Aizawa, I get those notes to you as soon as I can, have a good one bye!"
Shota reached a hand up to grasp his capture scarf, hiding his face in the folds as he watched his student run off.
"And you like to pretend that you're not soft on your students."
Shota glared up at a nearby speaker on the wall.
"Shut up rat. You better have that damned notice of resignation ready for me to sign."
"Already printed out and stamped 'Rejected'. It just needs your justification for resignation and a signature, then we can promptly throw it into the trash!"
Shota could only shake his head in exasperation as he walked towards the dean's office, fighting not to shiver at the final words playing over the speaker.
"Then we can discuss the… disciplinary actions that will be taken for what occurred during the tests you find to be more important than my mandatory orientation."
As Shota walked towards his doom, one thing continued to bug him from the edge of his mind.
"When I erase a quirk, I can't erase the inherent resistance that comes with the body. Even transformation quirks undo the transformation instead of locking their body in whatever form they are in whenever I erase it. Their bodies are adapted to the shapeshifting."
The edges of Shota's lips tipped down in a deep frown.
"So why did it stop his mid-way? Why does his body act as if the physical transformation isn't natural to it?"