Chapter 11: "Don't feed that bullshit to us Aizawa
Everyone turned to look at Hagakure, who wasn't saying a word. Thanks to her Quirk nobody could tell what kind of expression was on her face either. She simply stood there, perfectly still, or at least that's what most of her classmates believed, but a certain one amongst them had developed a knack for reading body language due to years of dodging the ire of Quirkist bullies and teachers.
Gently, Izuku placed a hand on her shoulder. He could be embarrassed about getting this close to a girl some other time, right now there was someone in front of him suffering and he couldn't help but reach out to them. "Hagakure, I'm sorry-"
"Hagakure." Aizawa's voice cut him off. "You placed last in the Quirk Apprehension Test. Midoriya, you decided to offer advice to her. In accordance with the rules I placed you two are to be expelled from UA."
Izuku bit into his lip so hard it nearly drew blood. He could hear Hagakure sniffling next to him, and noticed the ground at her feet was now wet in a few small spots, as if droplets of water had fallen to the dirt from her face. Around him most of their class watched on, most feeling bad for the duo, save for Todoroki who didn't seem to care and Yaoyorozu who seemed unconcerned. "Forgive me, I wish there was something I could've done." Said Izuku quietly to the crying girl who'd just had her dreams crushed.
"Quick, go to Toshinori! Maybe he can put in a word to the principal and have you re-enrolled!"
"What's to stop Aizawa from just expelling him again? And that's assuming the principal would even listen to him. He may be the Number One Hero but this is UA and it's also his first year teaching."
"But still, there has to be something-"
"Is what I would say if my threat of an expulsion hadn't just been a logical ruse."
"Eh?"
"What?" Asked Izuku, looking away from his classmate towards his teacher, who was now giving him the smile of a man who felt very proud of himself for some reason.
"I wasn't planning on actually expelling the loser, I just said that to get you all to bring out your best efforts." Explained their teacher.
"Honestly," Said Yaoyorozu shaking her head, "Use your brains everyone, it should've been clear that it was a ruse."
To Izuku's side, Hagakure abruptly collapsed to her knees in relief. Izuku barely noticed, his arm simply falling down and resting at his side as he continued to stare at the teacher.
"Congrats Izuku!" Cheered Ochako. "You get to stay at U- woah." She moved to his side, expecting to see a relieved look on his face, instead she saw something very very different. A look of pure rage and hatred was all that she could see on the kind hearted boy's face, she didn't think someone as kind as him was even capable of such an expression. He then started walking forwards towards the teacher, Ochako made the smart decision to step out of his way.
"Izuku? Kid? You all good?"
"Seventh, look at the face he's making and ask that question again, I don't even need to be in his head to see how the kid's feeling right now."
"Tread carefully Izuku, you narrowly escaped expulsion, it would be dangerous to test your luck."
'Quiet.' That single word from their successor was enough to shut all the vestiges up.
Aizawa then noticed the approaching boy. "Hm? Midoriya? Is there something you'd like to-?"
"Don't feed that bullshit to us Aizawa." Izuku practically snarled out, much to the surprise of the rest of the class. Much like Ochako, most of them were seeing this side of their classmate for the first time. Aizawa almost reflexively activated his Quirk and capture weapon before realizing that Midoriya had stopped moving as soon as he reached the front of the class. "The others might not know the truth but I sure as hell do. I know about how you expelled your entire class on the first day last year."
Surprise was stacked upon surprise there, as the color straight up drained from Yaoyorozu's face as she quickly learned that she misread the entire situation.
Aizawa's eyes narrowed at the boy. "Really Midoriya? Is that how you want to do this? Are you that dead set on being a problem child?" He asked drily.
Izuku barked out a humorless laugh. "What's the matter? Not used to having students stand up to you? Honestly I'm not surprised, this is 'the best hero school in Japan' after all, the place that All Might himself studied. I'm sure you've had lots of experience walking over and crushing the dreams of countless students since you began working here, it's what teachers do best after all." He gestured to Tooru, who had yet to stand back up and was simply watching Izuku. "Did you feel good about yourself? Get a good and hearty chuckle from making one of your students cry because you let her think that her future had been ruined within the very first day of her attending high school!?"
Katsuki sighed and shook his head. He knew Deku had been keeping a lot bottled in since middle school, and it looks like their shitty homeroom teacher was the dumbass who finally cracked the damn dam.
"Honestly I don't even know why I'm here. I came to this school because I had hope that UA would be different, but it's starting to become clear to me that no matter where I go, it's always the same, schools are just playgrounds for miserable bastards like you to single out and torment children." Izuku's breathing was becoming heavy, the kid was releasing so much pent up stress and anger all at once he felt like he was gonna pass out, but he refused to do anything other than stand his ground.
"So, that's the expectations of teachers that you've come to develop?" Asked Aizawa. Midoriya said nothing, only glaring at the teacher in response, which caused the man to sigh. "I can't say that I blame you, going off what I learned about what you went through in the past."
"What?" Asked Izuku, not entirely sure what the man was implying. Aizawa's response was to pull out a remote and point it at the main campus building. The outer wall of the building then opened up to reveal a large monitor to the students, who all stared at it in shock.
"They have a giant TV inside the school!?"
"How fucking rich is this place!?"
The television then flickered on, revealing a news broadcast to the students. Izuku and Katsuki's eyes widened as they realized what location was being filmed.
"We're here live at Aldera Junior High School, reporting on its permanent closing and arrest of all faculty for evidence of Quirkism and abuse towards their students, as well as a variety of crimes on a case by case basis."
"What. The hell?" Asked Izuku slowly as he continued to watch. He could see the police 'escorting' the teachers out of the school and into their vehicles.
"With us is Pro Hero, and UA Faculty member, Hound Dog. Mr. Hound Dog, would you be willing to share your thoughts on Aldera and its actions?"
"Positively disgusted." Snarled the dog man. "As the UA guidance counselorrr, I prrride myself in helping students worrrk thrrrough the trrraumas that manifest in the rrroad to becoming a herrro. To see fellow teacherrrs abusing theirrr authorrrity and torrrmenting theirrr students forrr such asinine rrreasons such as how they werrre borrrn makes me ashamed to even call them teacherrrs. That's why UA made surrre to uncoverrr everrrything we could about these villains to make surrre that even those who don't go strrraight to jail will have grrreat difficulty everrr finding employment again."
The reporter lady seemed like she wanted to say something else, but she was cut off by the TV going dark. "That was played on every TV on the campus just now, because the principal wanted a very important lesson to be learned by every student on the campus, from the Business Department first years to the Hero Course third years, discrimination is something that villains do, something that UA doesn't tolerate."
"Wait… Izuku, what's Aizawa getting at with this?" Ochako was the one to voice the fact that many of the students present were lacking context.
And Kacchan was the one who was 'kind' enough to provide it. "Deku and I were students at Aldera." Well, he provided some context anyways.
Aizawa looked at his students, deciding to pull their attention away from the problem child and back to him by speaking up, "If you want honesty, I'll give it to you. My intention wasn't to expel whoever came in last, rather that threat was your first test of many to make sure all of you were serious about becoming heroes. If any of you had made the mistake to not take this seriously, regardless of your placement, you would've been kicked to the curb faster than you could say, 'plus ultra.' But each of you gave it your all even when your Quirk wasn't suited for the challenge, that's why you're all still here. Being a hero is a dangerous profession and I'll be damned if my negligence is the reason a student manages to graduate only for me to see your names in the obituaries shortly after." He then focused his attention on Midoriya. "Midoriya, there's more that I'd like to discuss with you specifically, everyone else clean up and head back to class." Feeling the eyes of his students practically boring into him, he sighed before clarifying. "He's not in trouble, there's just things that I'd like to discuss with him in private and preferably away from prying eyes and ears."
Slowly the students all walked away, Todoroki being the first to leave and most others following close after, talking amongst themselves about the test, their performances, and probably their thoughts on the various bombshells that had been dropped on them all. Soon there were only four people left, Aizawa and Izuku obviously, but right behind Izuku was Katsuki and Ochako. Izuku sighed and looked over his shoulder at Katsuki. "I'll be fine Kacchan, you go head back with the others."
"Don't tell me what to do, Deku." Yeah, Izuku probably should've seen that response coming.
When he turned his head towards Ochako, he didn't even get the chance to say anything. "No way, I'm not going anywhere, I'm staying right here with you, Izuku."
Izuku sighed before turning back to Aizawa. "Well, if it's just my secrets you're talking about then whatever you have to say to me I suppose you can say in front of them too."
"You gave up pretty quickly."
'I'm too tired to try to fight either of them on this.' Izuku deadpanned mentally.
"If you insist." Replied Aizawa with a tired eye roll at the dramatics of his students. "It has to do with your Quirk. I'm assuming that what you displayed today is the most you can use without hurting yourself?"
Izuku sighed and nodded his head. "Yeah, it is. I'm doing my best to raise the limit though, the only way to really do that though is with practice."
Aizawa let out a hum and nodded his head. "Don't ever stop trying to improve because you think you're good enough. You have a lot less experience with your Quirk than your peers, I'd also advise we schedule you for Quirk counseling, since you almost certainly never received that as a child, right?"
Izuku took what he said into consideration. 'It's true that I need Quirk Counseling, but I'm certainly hesitant to trust him to do it." He thought to himself.
"Er… Izuku?"
"No no, let him keep going, I'm starting to find him ripping into authority figures entertaining."
"What, because it's a nice change of pace from him trying to take the piss out of you and Third?"
"After all, he's already proven that he's more than willing to lie for the sake of a 'lesson' so who's to say this isn't another elaborate trap?"
"Izuku?"
"Especially since he was more than willing to single me out in front of everyone else without any clear reason beyond potentially him committing to the bit, and with him being able to deactivate my Quirk I'm not sure what I'd be able to do if-"
"DEKU!" A smack to the back of his head snapped him out of the mumble storm he had trapped himself in. He blinked as he looked at Kacchan, who still had his arm half raised after he physically returned him to reality, and Ochako who was staring at him in concern.
He turned to Aizawa, who seemed to be wearing an expression of… guilt? It was hard to tell with the man.
"Twice in one day? Dammit Deku, you need to get a grip."
"…Fuck, I was talking out loud." It wasn't even a question, everyone with eyes or ears would've noticed Izuku go full motor mouth on them.
Aizawa sighed. "The counselling won't be with me, it'll be with Hound Dog and the principal, would that make you feel better." The man sounded like someone who'd just kicked a small animal by accident and was now regretting their existence.
Izuku nodded his head, keeping his mouth clamped shut lest he say something stupid again. Aizawa nodded his head in response. "Alright, you can head back to class now." After a moment of silence, Izuku turned and walked away, followed closely by Ochako and Katsuki.
Aizawa waited until they were out of earshot before speaking. "You can come out now, All Might."
From around the corner of a nearby wall out stepped Toshinori. "Given your track record, I couldn't help but want to see how you'd treat this year's Class 1-A." Admitted the man.
"Translation: you were worried about me trying to come up with a reason for Midoriya to be expelled simply because he's your student." The silence was very telling. "I will admit that even after you claimed he was a very different kind of person than you, I still had my doubts, especially after the incident with the Zero Pointer, though realistically that one can be chalked up to the rashness of the situation coupled with his own inexperience using his Quirk. I suppose I felt the need to test for myself what the successor to the symbol of peace had to offer."
"And how did young Midoriya do on that specialized little test of yours?" Asked Toshinori.
"The kid went positively Plus Ultra," Replied Aizawa, "absolutely refusing to back down from helping people that, for all intents and purposes, he should've been trying to compete against while also having the ability to not drag them down with him. For someone so inexperienced with his own Quirk, he's learning to master it shockingly fast while also being able to understand and aid others in using Quirks that they've had for at least two thirds of their lives."
"The boy's a genius when it comes to Quirks, take a look in one of his analysis notebooks and you'll see what I mean. A pretty good artist too to be honest." Aizawa could hear the proudness in the man's voice.
It was so wholesome it made him want to vomit. "I will admit though, being compared to the teachers from Aldera was certainly more hurtful than I expected it to be."
"Given what the boy's been through, you practically preying upon his personal traumas probably earned you that comparison." Admitted Toshinori.
Honestly, despite his opinions on the man, he was still the number one hero at the end of the day and hearing that from him of all people definitely stung. "I know I'm not the best teacher, but I have enough pride in the profession to be angry at educators who don't have their students' best interests at heart. And at that moment I lacked a convincing argument to separate myself from them."
There was a moment of silence between the two men, one that All Might eventually decided to break. "I'm obviously a far less experienced teacher, so I'm unsure whether or not you'd like to hear this from me, but if I'm being honest, when it came to teaching Young Midoriya how to use his Quirk, I was an absolute failure." Aizawa looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate. "Besides the muscle building training in order to prepare his body for his Quirk's activation, my advice for him using his Quirk was simply the phrase, 'clench your buttcheeks and yell 'Smash' from the depths of your heart.' Given the self destructive nature of his Quirk, I don't think I have to explain how horribly the Practical Exam would've gone for him had he not figured out how to use his Quirk at a lower output on his own." Toshinori felt slightly guilty about being indirect on how Izuku learned to use One for All, but he decided to still stick as close to the truth as possible for the sake of the message he was trying to convey to his fellow teacher. "Once he explained what happened, I've been throwing myself much harder into teaching. I've even been reading books about education. If what Midoriya said truly bothers you, try and fix it."
Eraserhead took a moment to digest All Might's advice before sighing, "Guess I have to go Plus Ultra myself…"
Toshinori chuckled. "They may say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, but I say you're never too old to keep improving."
"With all due respect All Might, I get the feeling you're much older than I am." Now it was Toshinori's turn for someone's words to hurt him.
The three students made it to the classroom at last and found everyone still there. Well, almost everyone, Todoroki was long gone by this point. Once they entered, their heads all turned to look at Izuku expectantly.
"Uh…?" Izuku asked as he looked at them in confusion worried he'd offended them somehow.
"This feels familiar somehow."
"Bro, are you okay?" Asked Kirishima.
"Eh?"
"Aizawa-sensei got really intense back there," Kaminari said, scratching the back of his head. "We were all kinda worried about ya."
Izuku sighed, the emotional exhaustion setting in. Katsuki rolled his eyes before making his way to his seat. "It wasn't anything as… intense as it was with the Q.A.T. Aizawa-sensei just wanted to schedule me for Quirk counseling. Which honestly I need."
This definitely surprised the class. Yaoyorozu, already having her expectations thrown out the window once today, was struggling with it happening again, "But you got first place on the test, and you broke All Might's record on the entrance exam! Surely you of all people don't need Quirk counseling at this age!"
Izuku shook his head as he elaborated, "I never had it before. My Quirk was dormant most of my life. I thought I was Quirkless until about a year ago. It wouldn't activate until my body was strong enough to handle its power, and I was only able to meet the physical strength requirement for it to awaken shortly before the written exam." It was deathly silent as everyone processed this, a couple jaws had dropped at that bombshell.
"You went to the entrance exam and you only had your quirk for a couple of hours?!" Ashido exclaimed in shock.
"Dude, that sounds metal as hell." Chimed in Jirou.
Iida hung his head, "If you were that inexperienced, of course you would be nervous. Now that I know this, my behavior towards you transcends rudeness into borderline bullying. Given that you were considered Quirkless, the argument could be made that I was committing a hate crime…" He was utterly devastated by the realization.
"N-no, Iida, don't be like that! You didn't know better, and I've already made it clear that I'm not upset with you over that." Replied Izuku, waving his hands as he tried to reassure his classmate.
"Wait… hate crime… Aldera… oh shit." Mineta said, seemingly coming to a realization. The way Izuku winced at the school's mention confirmed his suspicion while Bakugou went out the door, having gathered up his stuff he didn't see any need to stay for this conversation.
"Wait, what about Aldera?" Asked Ojiro looking towards the shorter classmate in confusion.
"Well, we have a school that was just shut down by UA and whose faculty was arrested for Quirkism and abuse of power towards students," Explained Mineta before gesturing towards Izuku, "and now we have a former student of the school in question who grew up being perceived as Quirkless. Put two and two together to make four, guys."
The tension that hung in the air after the explanation was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
"And that's why you were so… stressed out by Aizawa." Said Ochako, doing her best to nicely word Izuku nearly having a breakdown near the start of the Q.A.T. Izuku simply nodded his head in response.
"Frankly, if what little we heard about the school holds any weight, then it's a miracle that our peer here still walks the path of light rather than letting himself submit to darkness." Said Tokoyami.
"So that's why you've been having to use your Quirk at a lower percentage?" Asked Hagakure. "To avoid repeats of what happened with the Zero Pointer?"
Izuku nodded his head. "Yeah, I haven't had my power for long, so it'll probably take a while for me to draw out my full power." He clenched his fist a few times. "I only took things that far with my Quirk during the exam because I knew it was an all or nothing situation."
"Wait a minute, ribbit," Croaked out Asui. "What percent have you been using?"
Izuku paused before admitting, "So far? About nine percent, though I've been pushing to try and up it to ten today, honestly I probably would've been able to outlast Kacchan in the endurance test had I not overtaxed myself." He chuckled weakly as he remembered that long jog.
His attempt at humor wasn't enough to draw everyone's attention from the acknowledgment of how much he'd been holding back against them all so far.
"What the hell… if that was you at less than ten percent, you're gonna be a monster once you become capable of going all out." Commented Sero.
"Midoriya," Said Shouji, grabbing everyone's attention. "Bakugou mentioned that he was also an Aldera student, did he…?"
"No." Everyone was a little surprised by how quick he was to reject that notion. "Kacchan and I aren't… friends, but he was the only person in that damn school to take me and my desire to become a hero seriously. Plus we've known each other our entire lives thanks to my mom being friends with his parents."
Kirishima seemed kinda relieved at that. "Thank god, Bakubro seemed like a pretty manly dude, it'd suck if it turned out he was a bully."
"I dunno man, he seems cordial with Midoriya," Said Sero. "But when I tried talking to him he called me 'Tape Face,' what does that even mean?"
Izuku couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Kacchan isn't exactly one for names, known him my entire life and he still calls me 'Deku.'"
"Yeah I was curious about that actually, what kind of nickname is 'Deku?'" Asked Ochako.
"Oh, it uh… it was a nickname Kacchan gave me when we were kids to make fun of me. It's an alternate reading of my name, though it does also just mean 'Defenseless Izuku.' Which, given we thought I was Quirkless, well…" Explained Izuku with a nervous chuckle.
This earned him a few raised eyebrows. "Are you sure he's not secretly a bully?" Asked Satou.
"Using such a nickname to refer to someone you've known your whole life does not seem particularly heroic." Stated Iida.
"It just… kinda stuck, and even when bullies at school started calling me that, Kacchan refused to drop the nickname. It doesn't bother me when he uses it though." Admitted Izuku as he scratched the back of his head.
"Hm… well I think I like that name." Said Ochako. "Sounds kinda like 'Dekiru.' Gives off a real 'you can do it' vibe, right?"
"W-well, if you want to call me that, I won't stop you." Replied Izuku, and going off Ochako's grin she intended to do just that.
"Smooth as gravel, kid."
Once again, Izuku had to tune out the sound of Fifth getting his shit kicked in by the other vestiges. What he didn't tune out, was the sound of Ashido slapping her hands on the table. "Speaking of bullies, screw hobo-sensei amirite?" She declared. "If he's gonna be like that, then I say we all become friends just to spite the bastard, who wants to get some food together? I say that if we're all gonna be classmates going forward, we ought to get to know each other better!"
Izuku blinked in surprise at the suggestion before pulling out a bubblegum pink notebook from seemingly nowhere. Ochako practically leapt backwards in shock at the abrupt manifestation of the book. "Can I ask you some questions about your Quirk while we're out?"
Ashido blinked, just as thrown off as Ochako. "Uh, I guess? Where the hell were you keeping-?"
"Then I'm in." Said Izuku, a grin on his face at the prospect of learning more about his classmate's Quirk.
Some of the others exchanged glance, before Kaminari and Hagakure stood up. "Hey, if Midoriya's in then you can count me in too."
"Totally! There's no way I'd miss out on something like this!" Agreed Hagakure excitedly.
Izuku was surprised to see them of all people agree to join in, and even more so when one by one, everyone else voiced their desires to join in on the little group get together.
Izuku couldn't help but smile and wonder to himself, did having friends always feel this great?
Chapter 12: 'Alright Young Midoriya, Showtime.'
Izuku's second day at UA was a lot less… stress inducing than the first. Mainly because he got to experience weirdly normal lessons this time. Besides having Homeroom with Aizawa, there was English class with Yamada-Sensei, the Pro Hero Present Mic. There was something to be appreciated about how enthusiastic of a teacher he was compared to Aizawa. Apparently he was also the one in charge of the Reserve course students of Class 1C.
They had Mathematics with Ectoplasm-Sensei, Izuku had no idea what the Pro's civilian name was, which shocked the rest of his classmates given his status as a Hero/Quirk Otaku. He had to remind them all that no amount of enthusiasm makes him all knowing. Even then they seemed to have doubts.
There was also Modern Hero Art History with Kayama-Sensei, the Pro Hero Midnight. Despite such a… unique sounding subject, the teacher made sure to make it sound interesting for her students. When her outfit and mannerisms weren't making a decent chunk of the boys feel flustered.
"Why? Just. Why?"
"I'd argue that this could be a good lesson on helping prepare students for the real world. Villains will be willing to use plenty of dirty tactics to distract heroes, including… eh, flaunting their bodies. The sooner the kids get accustomed to these kinds through their teachers, the less likely they are to get screwed over by a villain deploying these tactics."
"You just pulled that out of your ass so that you could get Izuku to keep staring at her for your own amusement, you pervert."
"Oh, up yours."
"Pass, you're not my type."
Izuku subtly walled off the vestiges to let them have their fun(?) bickering inside his head so that he could actually focus on the lesson.
Once noon rolled around, it was time for lunch, class 1A made their way to the cafeteria to be served food by the school's chef, the Pro Hero Lunch Rush. The man was an excellent chef on his own merits, throw his Quirk into the mix and the class practically dined like royalty. Izuku was pretty sure eating Lunch Rush's food was the happiest he'd ever seen Ochako. Nearly the entire class wanted to sit together, unfortunately the tables could only accommodate up to twelve students at a time, so they agreed to split off into smaller groups. Izuku found himself sitting with Ochako and Iida of course, as well as Mineta, Hagakure, Sero, and Ashido. Katsuki and Todoroki both went off on their own, but Kirishima seemed oddly determined to befriend the explosive blond, and managed to convince Kaminari, who convinced Jirou, who convinced Yaoyorozu to go after and sit with him, much to Izuku's amusement and Katsuki's annoyance. The remaining seven students found their own table close by to eat at.
"Y'know Iida, I'm surprised you were so chill with Kayama-Sensei." Said Ashido between bites. "I know you've got metal in your legs, but I didn't think you were a full on robot."
If Ashido's words bothered Iida, he didn't show it. "I assure you, I am very human. As for why I can handle Kayama-Sensei's… eccentricities, it's simply due to the fact that she and my brother are friends who went to UA together." Iida had a reminiscent expression on his face. "I remember when I was younger she would come over to work with Tensei on group projects."
"Wait, your brother is a UA graduate?" That was news to their classmates.
Most of them anyways, Izuku decided to chime in, "Ingenium, right? Current head of Team Idaten? I recognized that you were his brother yesterday when you introduced yourself. Having the same type of Quirk helped too."
Iida nodded his head. "That's correct! Tensei is my inspiration, I wish to become the same type of hero as him!" He declared.
"Damn Iida," Said Mineta, a slightly resentful look on his face. "Brother of a pro hero, going to a fancy private school for Junior High, having a history with one of UA's teachers, being born with a cool Quirk, you're practically playing life on easy mode aren't you?"
That seemed to catch Iida off guard. "I-I assure you, it wasn't my intention to claim that I was better than anyone due to my upbringing, and I know Kayama-Sensei would never dare to show bias towards me just because she's my brother's friend. Please treat me as if I was just another student."
Mineta huffed before looking away. Izuku nudged the shorter boy with his elbow, giving him a disapproving look. Mineta stared back for a moment before sighing. "Alright, sorry Iida." He muttered quietly. Izuku decided to accept that for now. "Say, do you think your brother could hook us up with some… spicy pictures of Kayama-Sensei? If you catch my drift." And cue Izuku face palming while the three girls present at the table gave Mineta the stink eye. One step forward, two steps backwards.
"Hey, at least the kid has taste."
"The kid is also a pervert, same as you."
"Screw you too."
"You're not my type either, Fifth."
Izuku wasn't sure which he'd rather sit through, the vestiges' bickering or Iida's tirade against Mineta about the "appropriate conduct of a hero." Well, at least UA continued to be interesting.
Speaking of interesting, once lunch time passed, it came time for the most interesting part of being a Hero Course student: Foundational Heroics Studies, and Izuku could already hear their teacher coming from down the hall.
"III… AAAM… Entering the classroom like a normal person!" Declared All Might, as he dramatically walked through the door of Class 1A wearing his Silver Age costume. Izuku's class were all shocked and awed by the fact that All Might would be their teacher, though a couple students were able to keep their composure better than others.
The Number One gave the students a moment to get the excitement out of their systems before speaking up. Teaching inexperience aside, the man knew how to work a crowd if nothing else. "Alright 1A, for the Foundational Heroics Class we'll be doing exactly what it says on the tin: building up your heroic foundations! The means of which being through various trials that'll be meant to both test and teach you. Today's trial? The trial of battle!"
Izuku rolled his eyes fondly. He couldn't see Katsuki's face but he could easily tell the kind of expression he was making just by going off his body language. He was excited.
"And to go with your first trial," Continued All Might, "we've had special costumes created for each of you to accommodate your Quirks based on the designs you submitted!"
With the click of a button, five compartments came out of the wall, each one containing four numbered suitcases. "The suitcases are numbered based on your seating position, come and get them." Explained Aizawa tiredly. The students practically rushed over to grab their costumes before making a break to the locker rooms to get changed.
"Kinda curious to see what you designed for your costume, I'll be honest."
"Well it's his first draft, so I doubt we'll be getting anything particularly groundbreaking, especially since he submitted it before he even got One for All."
Izuku opened up the case to see the costume inside of it. He'd shown some of his initial designs to his mom and Yagi-Sensei, wanting to get a second and third opinion for what would make for a good costume. Yagi-Sensei had been relatively hands off with the process, saying that a hero student's first costume was almost always drastically changed by the time time they went pro. He had still been kind enough to answer Izuku's questions, which he had had plenty of.
'Sixth has a point, I'll definitely need to upgrade in the future, but this should do for now. At the very least there's one part of this costume I'm really looking forward to.' Responded Izuku as he finished pulling on the initial green under fabric of his costume before moving to put on his belt, shoes, and protective pads over his knees and elbows. Finally it came to his protective face guard and mask, once the guard was in place, he attached the mask and let it hang behind him like the hood of a jacket. He'd put it on all the way once he was heading out. The vestiges got a good look at the design though.
"Don't tell me you actually based your costume off of All Might."
Izuku decided to do as he was told, and simply remained silent.
"I think it's sweet. See, Eighth is flattered too."
"Yeah well you're obviously biased, to the rest of us that's just plain nerdy."
Izuku decided not to engage with the teasing. 'Now for the big reveal…' He thought as he grabbed the final piece of gear. It was the first piece of support gear he and Hatsume designed together, a pair of specialized gloves made to protect his joints and cushion his knuckles when he used his Quirk. Attached to them was a note.
Introducing Hatsume Enterprises first baby to receive field testing: the Green Wonder's Gloves! Made to serve as compression gloves and a layer of a proprietary liquid for cushioning, they'll make punching a breeze for those with strength enhancers that hit harder than the heroes can handle! Enjoy!
-Your support technician,
Mei Hatsume, CEO of Hatsume Enterprises.
Hatsume's antics put a smile on his face, it was very like her to make her note about the support gear they designed together sound like an advertisement. He pulled the gloves over his hands before moving out to meet his classmates, and together the twenty of them walked towards the field that would be hosting today's training exercise. As they walked, they could hear All Might's booming voice. "They say the clothes make the man, and I say these costumes certainly make each and every one of you kids Heroes!"
The kids stepped out, and Izuku got to get a good look at the kinds of costumes his classmates were wearing.
Conclusion: Everyone looked amazing! Ojiro was dressed in martial arts garb, Iida's outfit was clearly based off Ingenium's, Jirou's outfit looked very punk rock, Aoyama looked almost like a sort of knight, Ochako looked… uh… Izuku certainly wasn't expecting her costume to be so… form fitting. He was definitely doing his best to keep his gaze focused on her face though.
"Oh great, dealing with a kid going through puberty for the third time, whoopie fuckin' doo."
Maybe he'll look in a different direction, how does Yaoyorozu loo-?
"Good god what is that outfit!?"
Well, from what Izuku understood about her Quirk, she needed to keep her skin exposed for optimal use of her Quirk. That didn't change the fact that her costume left essentially nothing to the imagination. Maybe Izuku could recommend a poncho or something?
"I love this school." Said Mineta from next to him as he also stared at Yaoyorozu, though his shorter classmate seemed to be analyzing her in a very different way than Izuku was.
Izuku rolled his eyes and turned his attention to All Might, who had cleared his throat to get the class's attention. "The plan for today's training is an indoor battle. After all, while outdoor fights might be easier to witness, it can be argued that many more crimes are enacted indoors."Explained the teacher. "And unlike with the entrance exam, we won't be having you demolish robots. Instead you'll be splitting off into pairs of hero and villain teams to perform two on two indoor battles. Any questions?"
"How will we determine the victors of each bout?"
"Is it ok if we just blast the enemies away?"
"Are you going to threaten to expel us too?"
"How will you determine groups?"
"Doesn't this cape look positively fabulous."
Izuku could see that All Might's smile was strained a little as he lifted his hands up. "Alright alright, one at a time kids, I'm 'All Might' not 'All Ears.'"That seemed to slow down the questions. With a sigh he said, "To answer the questions I did hear, that'll be explained soon, no you need to have self restraint when dealing with people, even villains, definitely not, that will also be explained in a moment, and your cape looks wonderful Young Aoyama." His answers seemed to appease the students.
All Might then gestured towards a nearby building. "Within that building there is a fake warhead placed that will be guarded by the villain team, the hero team's job is to capture the bomb within fifteen minutes. Both teams will be given five minutes to strategize beforehand. If the villains either capture both heroes or fend them off for the duration of the battle, they'll win, if the heroes are able to secure the objective, in this case simply touching the fake bomb will count, then they will win." All Might quickly rummaged through his pockets before pulling something out. "On the subject of capturing, we'll be using this special white capture tape. If you can wrap it around your opponent's body part, they'll be considered 'captured' and thus out for the duration of the trial. As for how your teammates and opponents will be determined, we'll be using the old reliable," He then pulled out a large white box. Where was he keeping this stuff? "Lottery!"
"All Might-Sensei," Interrupted Iida, chopping his hands with every word. Izuku couldn't even see his face but he could probably tell what kind of face he was making under that helmet. "With all due respect that doesn't sound like a very efficient method."
"Think of it this way, Iida." Said Izuku, doing his best not to focus on everyone looking his way as he spoke. "When a crisis occurs, Pros won't always have time to pick and choose their teammates will have to make due with what's on hand." After a moment's pause he then added. "Come to think of it, the same could be said for villains, they're not always going to be an intricate team with great Quirk Synergy, so this can serve as a lesson on both of those fronts."
Huh, not even All Might had thought of that. The man had to admit he was impressed with Izuku's creativity. "I see!" Said Iida. "Forgive me for the interruption All Might-Sensei, please continue explaining!"
All Might chuckled. "Fret not Young Iida, it's a teacher's duty to answer questions after all! Now then, who's ready to draw some lots?" The teacher held the box of names with one hand as he raised the other, wiggling his fingers a little in anticipation as an attention grabber before plunging it into the box. Out he pulled two slips of paper. "Team A: Izuku Midoriya and Ochako Uraraka!"
Izuku blinked in surprise before turning to Ochako, who had a grin on her face as she looked towards him.
"Ima be real, I thought he'd be on Team I."
"Why…?"
"Uh, because it's the ninth letter? Duh."
"Fifth I think you're a little too obsessed with connecting Izuku to the number nine."
"It's not an obsession! It's an observation! I swear the number nine is legit drawn to this kid! Yesterday he was in a group of eighteen kids his age, and what's eighteen divided by two? Nine!"
Izuku decided it'd be best to block out Fifth's weird conspiracy theory for now as he focused his attention back onto All Might, who finished determining the teams and was now about to announce the matchups.
-
Team A: Izuku Midoriya & Ochako Uraraka
VS.
Team H: Hanta Sero & Tenya Iida
Team C: Shoto Todoroki & Mezo Shouji
VS.
Team F: Mashirao Ojiro & Mina Ashido
Team D: Koji Koda & Rikido Satou
VS.
Team I: Momo Yaoyorozu & Minoru Mineta
Team G: Yuuga Aoyama & Fumikage Tokoyami
VS.
Team B: Denki Kaminari & Kyoka Jirou
Team E: Tooru Hagakure & Eijiro Kirishima
VS.
Team J: Katsuki Bakugou & Tsuyu Asui
-
Izuku brought a hand up to his chin as he examined the list. There was certainly a plethora of fascinating matchups to be seen, partnerships with great synergy, partnerships with awful synergy. Matchups that definitely favored one team over the other, as well as matchups that theoretically were dead even. He was honestly a little excited to see how they would go. After his own of course. Most of the students split off to their partners to discuss strategy, save for the couple of lone wolf type personalities in their group, whose partners decided to leave them be and instead converse with each other since they weren't opponents.
Iida and Sero both entered the building to prepare for the battle trial while the rest of the students, sans Izuku and Ochako, made their way to a separate location that would allow for them to safely observe the match.
"So, Deku, what's the plan?" Asked Ochako.
"Eh?" Izuku looked towards her, awaiting elaboration.
Ochako held up the map of the building's layout that she'd been given by All Might before everyone had departed. "You're the Quirk expert here, I figured you'd already got a plan or three cooked up for how to defeat the Iisero Wonder Duo."
"'Iisero…?'" Izuku shook off his confusion before moving to see the map Ochako was holding. "Well, going off their Quirks and personalities, my guess would be that-"
"-I'll use my tape to create a web of traps that'll be impossible for them to just float through using Uraraka's Quirk." Explained Hanta as he carried more stuff out of the large room they were in. "And with nothing in here for them to use as projectiles, it'll make getting to us and the bomb even harder. Then you'll… you'll… are you even listening?" He pushed a button on the side of his tape-inspired helmet to move the visor away so he could see Iida, who had been pacing back and forth for a while now, a little better.
Iida froze in place like he was a machine when Hanta addressed him directly. "A-ah, yes. Apologies Sero. It's just… I suppose I'm struggling with this exercise. I'm training to be a hero student after all! Playing the role of a villain, even for an exercise, feels… counterproductive." He admitted, almost bashfully.
It was weirdly… cute? Was that the word Hanta was looking for? Whatever. "Dude. Iida. You need to chill." He said flatly.
"…Come again?" Asked Iida as he tilted his head to the side in confusion.
Hanta pointed at him. "You, good sir, are taking this way too seriously."
Iida actually seemed a little upset by that. "But this is our first real heroics lesson! Of course I am taking this seriously, we're at this school to become heroes are we not!?"
Hanta rolled his eyes. "Exactly, it's our first lesson. This isn't a final test, it's not do or die, we won't get expelled if we lose and we're not gonna graduate with honors if we win."
Iida crossed his arms in contemplation for a moment. "Very well, I will concede your point, even if I think it is good to give everything you do everything you have at every given opportunity."
"That sounds like a good way to burn yourself out." Mumbled Hanta under his breath as he shook his head.
"However!" Continued Iida. "It doesn't change how I feel about acting as a villain!"
Hanta stared at him for a moment before getting an idea. "Alright then, think of it like this. We're training to fight villains, to do that we'll need to know how villains think. Wouldn't playing the role of a villain and getting into character for it help us then mean we'll be better at beating them in the future? By that logic, this is a perfect lesson." To himself he thought, 'Geez, Midoriya makes it seem like those motivational speeches come naturally to him.'
There was a moment of deafening silence as he waited for Iida to say something. Then he heard a chuckle, much to his confusion. That chuckle then quickly developed into full on maniacal, nay, villainous laughter. "Mwah hah hah! I see I see Sero! You have swayed my heart to darkness! If what you are saying is true, then I shall devote myself to being a true villain for the duration of this trial!" He declared.
Hanta stared at his laughing classmate for a moment, a little lost due to the sudden shift in personality. He then ultimately decided to roll with it, returning his helmet visor to its original position and joining him in the villainous laughter.
"What… the fuck am I watching?" Asked Jirou as the students stared at the monitors that showed the laughing teens.
"I think they just became friends?" Said Yaoyorozu uncertainly.
"That's certainly a… duo of personalities." Said Kaminari as he scratched the back of his head, a confused but amused grin on his face.
"I think it's neat! Opposites attract after all and those two definitely feel like they're attracted to each other now!" Said Ashido. That caused a few students to look in her direction, unsure if she was aware of the way that sounded, but she was too busy watching the monitor to notice.
"Hm… so she's a fujoshi…" Mumbled Mineta to no one in particular, making Shoji regret standing as close to him as he did. First the comparison to an octopus and how that was, "sexy" and now this. It made the tall teen shake his head as he decided to go stand somewhere else.
All Might reached up and pressed a button on his earpiece. "Boys, I'm glad you're having fun, but you should know the trial will begin soon so I'd advise that you finish preparing soon." Students might not be able to hear what the current trial goers were saying, but he could thanks to the earpieces they all were wearing.
His words definitely got the reaction he was hoping for as the boys stopped laughing, and Sero seemed to actually panic slightly. "Aw, crap baskets! Er- I mean, thanks for the heads up sensei!" The two boys then got back to work. All Might then shifted his attention back to Midoriya and Uraraka, who'd been discussing strategy this whole time.
After a few more minutes passed, a small timer went off, he then reached up and spoke into his earpiece to all four students. "Attention students, the trial will now begin, best of luck to you all. Plus Ultra."
'Alright Young Midoriya, Showtime.'
Chapter 13: "Dude, I get you're a Quirk Savant or something but this is just getting ridiculous."
Ochako quietly crept through the building, doing her best to blend into the darkness while keeping her ears open for a potential sneak attack. Izuku was pretty certain that neither of their opponents would be able to sneak attack them, between Iida's engines and armor, Sero potentially could pull something off with the proper traps set up, but he was willing to bet that that wasn't the case. Going off what she'd seen her friend pull off in the short time they'd known each other, she was willing to trust in that judgement.
"So you have arrived, heroes." And it seems like she was right to do so, because it seems she managed to find Iida, waiting for her in the middle of a hallway, just standing there menacingly. "I hope you are ready to be felled by a truly villainous fiend!" After a moment of pause he then put a hand on his chin. "Wait, would 'fiendish villain' have sounded better." He mumbled to himself before loudly saying, "I hope you are ready to be felled by a truly fiendish villain, foolish hero!" He then put his hands on his hips.
Ochako couldn't see his face under that helmet, but she could tell he was positively proud of himself. "Pft."
"Eh?"
"Pfffa ha ha ha!" Ochako couldn't hold back her laughter, hands on her knees as she was practically wheezing. She couldn't help it! His acting was so earnest!
"You'll make a mistake underestimating me Uraraka!" Declared Iida before pausing. "Wait, where's Midoriya?"
Hearing Iida question the whereabouts of Deku allowed Ochako to collect herself. "Wouldn't you like to know, villain?" She asked with a grin on her face as she pulled out her capture tape.
"Hah, do you think you can beat me, hero?" Asked Iida, "In case you didn't notice, there's nothing around us for you to manipulate with your Quirk. Moreover, my costume grants me a significant advantage against you, as it covers my entire body. Touching me will only remove gravity from my armor, which will simply grant me all the benefits of a suit of armor without any of the drawbacks! Midoriya was a fool for believing you could win against me!"
Ochako grinned while tilting her head to the side, causing her neck to let out an almost nauseating crack. "Who said I needed to beat you? Perhaps Deku's plan is just for me to slow you down."
Iida gave another moment of silence before he moved his hand to the side of his helmet. "Sero, I have engaged with the enemy, be on the lookout for- gah!" His attempt to convey a message to his teammate was cut short as Ochako lunged at him.
"Sero, I have engaged with the enemy, be on the lookout for- gah!" Hanta winced as Iida's panicked shout rattled his eardrum. Sounds like speedy was a bit distracted. He kinda wished the guy could've at least specified what he was dealing with instead of giving him information as vague as, 'the enemy.'
Oh well, all Hanta could do was continue to pace in front of the bomb.
This room had been chosen because there was only one entrance. Which means that if the heroes wanted to get in, they'd have to use the door, and Hanta had made sure to shoot as much tape as he could to make this space nice and webbed up so that anyone who tried to get to the bomb would basically have to be a ninja. Iida's role was to stall the heroes even further outside of the room.
Iida argued that it would be more practical if they fought together to protect the bomb before Hanta gestured around the entire room to remind him that it'd be pretty hard for him to use his Quirk with tape everywhere to trip him up.
Iida conceded the point and wished him luck before departing to patrol the building for the incoming heroes. He had confidence in his classmate, the guy could be rigid, but he wasn't stupid, so he probably figured out his own way to deal with the heroes-
"Ohiooo…"
Hanta's brows furrowed as he heard a voice come from the adjacent room. What in the world…?
"SMASH!"
"Woah!" Hanta shielded his head with his arms as Midoriya came smashing in through the wall using his Quirk.
Stepping through his newly made doorway, Midoriya gave the room a once over. His entrance dislodged a few pieces of tape but the majority was still up. "I thought as much." He said. "I figured you'd use your Quirk to lay a series of traps to prevent Ochako or I from reaching the objective, while you send Iida to slow us down." He then looked towards Hanta. "A very well done plan, and it probably would've worked too if I hadn't predicted it, leading to me having Ochako use her Quirk to send me to the top of the building so I could make my way to you and the weapon while she entered through the front in order to handle Iida."
Dang, Hanta knew the guy was smart but this was honestly kinda B.S. Though there was something about that explanation that bothered him. "Why not just come together then? Iida probably wouldn't have been able to get here in time so all you two would've had to do is rush me and the win would be yours."
Midoriya let out a hum as he did a sort of half shrug-half nod. "True, that would've been the easy way, but then Iida wouldn't have gotten to do anything. Besides, I think fighting someone like him is exactly what Ochako needs." He replied.
The more Midoriya explained, the less sense he made to Hanta. There was one thing that he managed to take away from it though. "You're always trying to help others, aren't you Midoriya?"
"It's what a hero does." Replied Midoriya as he raised his fist, while green lighting began to crackle across his skin. "Now then, am I correct in my hopes that you don't plan on just surrendering?"
"Mmm." Hanta hummed as he put his hands behind his head. "I mean I doubt I've got a snowball's chance in hell of winning against you Midoriya."
He said before grinning. "But that doesn't mean I won't try!" He then fired a strand of tape from one of his elbows. Midoriya managed to duck out of the way before charging at him.
Left. "Will!"
Right. "You!"
Right. "Hold!"
Left. "STILL!?"
Ochako flexed her fingers. Iida wasn't making this easy on her, relying on a strategy of rushing her in this cramped space and attempting to snag her with his own capture tape. If it hadn't been for Izuku's advice on how Iida tended to telegraph his moves from the way he positioned himself prior to using his Quirk, she'd most likely have been overwhelmed by his speed by now. Instead she simply continued to dodge him, waiting for just the right opportunity to… now!
As Iida turned again, preparing to use his Quirk, he was surprised to see Ochako suddenly leap forward and smack him in the chest with her hand, his armor briefly glowing a faint pink as a sign of her Quirk's activation. Ochako then used Iida's apparent confusion to her advantage and put some distance between them.
Iida looked down at his chest, then towards Ochako. "Uraraka, I'm not sure what your plan was just now," He said, maintaining his villain voice, "I fail to see how removing the pull of gravity from my armor will benefit you, but as a villain it would be foolish to waste the opportunity you've given me. Prepare yourself, hero, I'll take advantage of this loss of weight in order to defeat you here and now!" Iida then fired up his engines as he prepared to attack.
Before the force of his Quirk suddenly caused him to fly and spin through the air out of control. Ochako sidestepped her incoming classmate before he could slam into her and then watched as he flew straight into a wall, back first and upside down. Ochako grinned as she pulled out her capture tape and started approaching her downed classmate. "Sick. Wicked Sick." She said as she wrapped tape around his leg.
"Young Iida has been captured." Announced All Might.
"Woah, nice!" Some of the students couldn't help but cheer as they watched Round Face turn the tide of battle in her favor, after seeing her constantly struggle against Glasses's onslaught.
"Can't believe Ingenium Junior didn't see that coming," Said Raccoon Eyes, amused by Iida's fumble, "what did he expect would happen if he tried using his Quirk in zero gravity?"
"Because he didn't think he was using his Quirk in zero gravity, obviously." Said Katsuki.
"Eh?" Raccoon Eyes looked towards him in confusion, but Katsuki wasn't planning to explain. She could figure the rest out on her own, a hero who isn't smart enough to notice what's going on around them is a hero who finds themself in an early grave.
"Uraraka didn't touch Iida, she only touched his costume." Explained Ponytail, a hand on her chin as she observed the screen. "From how she described her Quirk, which requires her to touch something with all five of her finger pads to remove its gravity, logic would dictate that Iida's armor would've protected his body from her Quirk, but it seems she's somehow defied that logic."
Katsuki scoffed. "Well, defying logic is what Deku does best." Speaking of the nerd…
"Gotcha!" Izuku adjusted his stance as he tried to resist the force of Sero's tape, which had snagged his arm like a lasso that his classmate was using to try and reel him in.
Izuku decided to grab the tape with his hand and attempted to pull Sero towards himself using his own Quirk, but Sero was able to react quickly and disconnect the tape from his elbow, leaving Izuku's left hand effectively useless with all the tape stuck to it. He then had to quickly jump to the right to avoid a shot of tape towards his feet.
Sero wasn't making this easy against him, he'd been using his Quirk to its full effect to limit Izuku's mobility inside the room, and was now trying to tape him up as well. And despite being called "tape," the stuff Sero created was definitely more durable than the type of stuff you'd buy at the store. Thankfully, with a spark of One for All through his body, he was able to free his hand from its sticky coffin.
"Heads up."
Fourth's warning gave Izuku the time to quickly twist his body in order to avoid another shot of tape. 'Thanks Fourth.'
"No problem."
It was no Danger Sense, but having the vestiges being able to see and process what was going on in his peripheral vision served as a sort of faux multitasking system.
"Quit dicking around and actually fight the kid."
Izuku frowned from underneath his mask. 'Look, I've never used my Quirk against someone, and given what I did to those robots, you can see why I'd be hesitant to punch a classmate.'
"Oh please, quit being a baby."
"Ignoring Second for now, and for the foreseeable future, you don't need to worry Izuku, this a training exercise and-"
"Left."
Izuku barely managed to avoid the tape by leaping through a gap in the web Sero made.
"Look, just don't punch him full force and have faith that Chiyo can fix him up, this is UA, I doubt any injuries that your classmate gets will be permanent."
Before Izuku could respond, he found his momentum halted and himself in another game of tug of war against Sero. But this time, he decided to take Seventh's words to heart. In his own way of course.
Right as Sero gave a good hard yank on the tape, Izuku leapt into the air, and used the momentum to pull himself towards Sero. His classmate made an alarmed noise and attempted to grab a wall and pull himself out of the way with his Quirk, but he wasn't fast enough.
'And now, for a Two Percent…' Thought Izuku before calling out, "Detroit Smash!" Activating One for All at about a fifth of his current limit, he threw a punch that connected with the helmeted head of his classmate. The punch sent Sero sprawling to the ground, and Izuku took advantage of his classmate being downed to quickly tear himself free of the tape before running towards the objective.
The moment he slapped his hand against the prop bomb, he could hear All Might's voice crackle through his earpiece. "The bomb has been secured, the Hero Team wins!"
With the announcement of the trail being over, Izuku sighed as he felt the tension leave his body, he then turned his attention towards Sero before moving to help his classmate.
"Well done, Izuku."
"Young Sero, would you like to go to Recovery Girl for treatment?"
Sero lazily waved off his teacher's concerns. "'M all good, that punch rattled me a little, but other than that I'm fine." He said with a tired grin.
It's true, Izuku did hold back a lot since it wasn't like he needed to render his classmate unconscious or anything to win the bout, just knock him out of the way long enough for him to get to the objective. Heck, thanks to his helmet Sero didn't even have any bruising. That didn't stop Izuku from apologizing multiple times, even when Sero tried to reassure him that it was fine.
All Might nodded his head. "As you wish, do let me know if you decide to change your mind." After a thumbs up reply, he turned his attention to the other two students who'd participated in the match. Iida seemed dejected while Ochako was smiling, it didn't take a mind reading Quirk to guess how the two felt when it came to their own performances in the Trial, he then turned to address the rest of the class. "Well then, would anyone like to guess who the MVP of this match was?"
The students exchanged glances. "Well, Midoriya secured the bomb, right? Shouldn't it be him, ribbit?" Asked Asui.
All Might hummed and nodded his head. "A logical conclusion that I can't blame you for reaching, young Asui. However I'm sorry to say that no, that's wrong." He then gestured to Ochako. "Instead, it was young Uraraka here who has earned herself the position of MVP for this match!"
"Wait, what?" Asked Ochako as she looked at All Might in surprise.
"I think I can guess why," Said Yaoyorozu, "While it's true that Midoriya was the one to come up with a plan that would not only secure the objective, but also allow for both villains to be apprehended, there are several minor mistakes that were made along the way that prevent him from being considered the MVP. For example, had he misjudged which wall the weapon was next to, he would have risked damaging it and if it had been a real bomb, that could have ended in disaster for everyone."
Izuku couldn't help but wince at that, she had a point. He had been operating under the assumption that Sero would put the objective as far away from the entrance as possible, so he attacked an adjacent wall instead. Had this been a real battle and he misread the situation, things could've gone differently…
"Secondly, he chose to confront Sero alone." Continued Yaoyorozu. "Had he brought Uraraka with him, the pair could've overwhelmed him and won well before Iida could arrive to provide assistance. Yes, sending Uraraka after him resulted in the capture of both villains but ultimately the weapon was the objective. And finally, Midoriya held back against Sero, clearly being hesitant to use his Quirk against his opponent until the end when, as seen from the fact that the moment he did use his Quirk, victory was immediately his. In a real battle, such hesitation would be dangerous." She then turned her attention away from the boy she just verbally dissected in front of the entire class and towards Ochako. "Uraraka meanwhile, played out her part of the plan seemingly perfectly. She prevented Iida from rendezvousing with Sero to provide him backup, heated him in combat, and seemingly even had a sort of Quirk Awakening in the process."
"Wait, yeah, that actually reminds me." Said Kaminari, cutting into the conversation. "What was that all about anyways? Because according to Bakugou, you shouldn't have been able to remove Iida's gravity because of his armor, but then managed to pull it off anyway, how?"
Ochako, who'd still been grappling with the fact that she'd been designated the MVP instead of Izuku, decided to take the lifeline Kaminari had unintentionally given her. "Oh! That was because of Deku! I wouldn't really call it a 'Quirk Awakening' though, more like he helped me expand my perception of my Quirk…"
"So, if my assumption of the… 'Iisero Wonder Duo's' plan is correct, then I'd say the best course of action would be for you to use your Quirk to send me to the top so I can go after Sero and secure the weapon while you go in through the front to handle Iida." Explained Deku, pointing at the map to show their intended points of entry.
"Wait, you want me to go after Iida?" Asked Ochako. "Wouldn't your Quirk be more suited against him? You'd be able to match his speed after all."
"Well, ignoring the fact that Iida is still currently faster than me," Replied Deku, "compounded by the fact that this is an indoor fight, not a race, and I'd say that between the two of us, your Quirk is way more likely to counter him than mine would. Without gravity to keep him grounded nor experience with moving through the air, his engines will just make him spin out of control, and you can use him being disoriented to your advantage."
Ochako's brows furrowed. "Wait, but how am I gonna remove his gravity?"
"Eh?"
"Iida wears full body armor, if I touch him I'll just remove the gravity of his armor, but Iida himself will remain grounded, that sounds like it'd do more help to him than harm."
Deku stared at her for a good ten seconds of silence before calmly saying, "Ochako, use your Quirk on me."
"Eh?" Now Ochako was even more confused.
Deku took a step back and spread his arms in a kind of, 'come at me' pose. "Go ahead, use your Quirk on me, I wanna test something."
"O…kay…?" Ochako hesitantly reached forward and placed her hand on Deku's chest. As expected, after a half a moment, the boy then began to rise up into the air.
"Alright, you can let me down."
Ochako was too confused to do anything other than press her fingertips together and say, "Release."
Deku then gracefully landed on his feet. "Ok, quick question, why did your Quirk work on me?"
"I… what?" Was Deku fucking with her or something? "I touched you, I used my Quirk on you."
"No, you touched my costume." Replied Deku. "Your fingerpads never made contact with my skin, just the fabric of my costume."
Wait. Wait a minute. Wait a diddly darn, god damn minute.
"I think your Quirk might be stronger than anyone's realized." Said Deku, reaching out and grabbing one of her hands, holding it gently and examining her fingerpads. "I think you actually have the ability to pick and choose what your Quirk works on, you simply have to perceive what you're touching as all being parts of the same thing. You were able to remove my gravity because you perceived my costume as being a part of me, and by that logic, your Quirk can work on Iida too. Heck, theoretically speaking this means you could remove someone's gravity simply by touching the air in front of them, if you are able to perceive that air as being connected to them. That'd probably take some training though. Inversely, you could think like this, everything is made of countless atoms and molecules, if you narrow your perspective and think that you're not touching a singular object, but rather the a bunch of unconnected atoms, you might gain the ability to comfortably touch things without the constant paranoia of unintentionally negating that thing's gravity."
Ochako was floored. Actually, screw that, she was positively fucking shellshocked. In the less than two days they'd known each other, Deku had managed to convince her to not only push past her limits when it came to her Quirk, but had also revealed a hidden layer to a power that she'd had for ten years that nobody else, not even her parents, had figured out.
Also he was still holding her hand, why is he still holding her hand and why is she suddenly very acutely aware of the fact that he's holding her hand!?
She quickly pulled her hand away, much to Deku's confusion. "Ah, sorry about that, I probably made you uncomfortable didn't I?"
Oh. Well now Ochako felt like a bitch. "N-no, I-"
Her attempt at reassurance was cut short by the sound of All Might's voice. "Attention Hero Team, the Battle Trial will begin in sixty seconds, stand by for the starting signal."
"Understood, All Might." Said Deku before turning his attention to Ochako. "Let's get ready, ok?"
Despite there being things Ochako wanted to say, she knew that she wouldn't have the time now, so she decided to keep it to herself and save it for later. Instead she simply raised her fist to him. Deku recognized the gesture and gave her a weak smile before meeting her fist with his own.
Once Ochako finished her explanation (while omitting certain details that would've only served to embarrass her) everyone turned their attention towards Izuku. "Dude, I get you're a Quirk Savant or something but this is just getting ridiculous." Said Kaminari.
"Eheh… c'mon, it's not that impressive." Said Izuku in embarrassment.
"'Not impressive' my pink booty!" Exclaimed Ashido. "I don't think anyone else would've been able to figure that sort of thing out, you gotta use those notes of yours that you took yesterday and see if there's any cool things that I can do with me Quirk too!"
"Me too!" Exclaimed Kirishima, knocking his fists together excitedly. "I gotta see if there's an even manlier way to apply my Quirk that I wasn't able to figure out before!"
Before the students could swarm the boy for Quirk advice, All Might decided to speak up. "Alright students, as much as I'm an advocate for growth and experience, do not forget that we're still doing the battle trials. Let's focus on that for today, young Midoriya can take notes on your Quirks as you use them and then share his advice after each of you has had their turn, is that alright?" The students seemed to accept those terms. With a satisfied nod, All Might then turned his attention to the first four battle trial participants. "Getting back on topic, let's finish up our overview of your performance. As young Yaoyorozu said, young Uraraka earned the MVP title for the first battle thanks to her excellent execution of her part of the plan. Speaking of plans, despite losing the match I'd still like to take a moment to appreciate the performance of young Iida and Sero."
That seemed to cause the boys to perk up a little. "Really? I mean I don't think anything I did was all that impressive…" Said Sero.
"Nonsense." Replied All Might. "You came up with a very efficient plan, a solid defense to keep the heroes at bay, and sending your ally out to patrol instead of simply having him wait alongside you in an area that he would be very ineffective at fighting in, your plan was solid and might have worked better had young Midoriya not figured it out in advance, moreover you were willing to stand your ground against young Midoriya even when he derailed your plan, so be proud of what you accomplished today and learn from where you failed, alright?" Sero nodded his head, it seems like he was able to absorb All Might's words of praise.
He then turned his attention to Iida. "As for you, young Iida. While it might have taken a pep talk from your teammate before you could fully get your head in the game, the moment you took his words to heart you were able to fully commit to your role and performed to the best of your ability, down to even choosing the optimal location to combat young Uraraka. If not for her leveling up her Quirk, you very likely would have won, be proud of yourself as well."Much like with Sero, All Might could tell his words touched the young boy's heart.
All Might then clapped his hands together. "Now then! Young Todoroki, Shouji, Ojiro, and Ashido, you're up next. You'll use the building adjacent to the one the first match took place in, so that way as to not have to waste time cleaning up and repairing the first battleground." Izuku and Sero both awkwardly chuckled at that.
"Yes sir." The four students departed and the remaining sixteen turned to watch the monitors, wondering what kind of match they'd see next.