Chapter 116 - 14-17

Chapter 14: "Pardon?"

It turns out that the next kind of match Class A would see next would be the kind that barely qualifies as a match.

"Shouji and Todoroki actually make for a terrifyingly effective team, with Shouji being able to pinpoint the location of their opponents Todoroki was able to use his ice to incapacitate them both. Ojiro was taken out of play immediately thanks to being barefoot. Ashido tried her best, freeing herself with her acid and attempting to get the drop on Todoroki, but unfortunately her acid, no matter how corrosive, is still a liquid that Todoroki was able to freeze, ultimately finishing her off as well before securing the weapon. That of course makes him the M.V.P. of round two."

"…Er, yes, it's exactly as young Midoriya deduced." Said All Might with a cough. Izuku couldn't help but give the man a strained smile as he realized he wound up taking the wind out of the man's sails by explaining the entire exercise himself.

He also chose to ignore the feeling of Yaoyorozu's eyes boring into the back of his skull.

"Actually, circling back to Ojiro." Said Izuku as he turned his attention towards their tailed classmate, who winced under having the spotlight on him. After how the match went he couldn't exactly blame the poor guy. "I know you're dedicated to the martial artist aesthetic that your costume is going for and I can respect that, but I hope that if you can take anything away from this match it's the fact that your costume is very ill equipped to protect you in any sort of treacherous terrain. Invest in a pair of shoes that allows you to still use your fighting style but doesn't compromise keeping your feet safe."

"Understood…" Said Ojiro quietly. Izuku gave the boy a comforting pat on the shoulder before turning his attention to Ashido. "Like I said before, Ashido, you did the best you could you were simply at a disadvantage when it comes to your Quirks."

Ashido let out a weak chuckle and scratched the back of her head. "Gee, well when you put it like that I guess it makes me feel a little better." She said before grinning and winking at Todoroki. "Can't say I particularly mind losing to the frozen prince of 1A though." She was ignored.

"And Shouji," Said Izuku, turning to the largest member of the class, "while Todoroki was the one to actually claim the victory, your involvement cannot be understated, without you Todoroki's plan wouldn't have worked nearly as well, having to forgo the strategy entirely to avoid risking damaging the weapon."

"Thanks Midoriya." The response was short and to the point, Izuku nodded his head in acceptance of the thanks before turning back to their teacher. "Anything else you want to add, All Might?"

"No my boy, I think you handled the breakdown quite nicely," Replied All Might, "I think we're ready to move onto the third match: Koda and Satou vs Yaoyorozu and Mineta." The next quartet of students departed in order to prepare.

"We saw one of the recommended students run circles around his opponents, can't help but be curious to see what the other one has to offer." Commented Jirou.

"Yeah, especially since this one's a total babe." Said Kaminari with a grin. "I'd totally let her kick my butt in a match." 

Jirou's head slowly turned to look at her teammate, a flat look of judgement on her face. Kaminari then flinched as her jacks began to start jabbing him his arm and side. "Ow! Ouch! I kid! I kid! Uncle!" He cried in pain. Izuku felt kinda bad, he knew those things were sharp.

"I give it five months until those two are swappin' spit."

"I'll take those odds. Personally I think the purple one is getting very buddy buddy with the rich girl."

"Huh, she does seem to give off closeted bisexual-slash-lesbian vibes."

'Must you?' Asked Izuku tiredly. Like, he knew they were probably right but that doesn't change the fact that he didn't want to hear the adults living in his Quirk discussing the potential love lives and sexualities of his classmates.

"Those two would make for the most Nonbinary couple of all time, they've got the color palette for it and everything."

"Holy shit they totally do."

Izuku rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to the screen to see what the Hero and Villain Teams were up to.

Momo was confident. She was going to win this match. She knew what her opponents' Quirks were, thanks to accompanying her class to the outing yesterday. Anivoice and Sugar Rush were certainly wonderful Quirks in their own respects, but they stood no chance against her Creation!

Besides, neither of her opponents even placed in the top ten yesterday during the Q.A.T. and Koda's selective muteness was sure to be a hurdle for the pair since she doubted that he was capable of understanding JSL.

In fact her teammate had placed the lowest amongst the four of them, hence her asking to simply stand by and leave setting up the defenses to her, which he complied with. Mineta might be a bit of a degenerate but at least he understood that he could leave the planning to her!

This was the perfect opportunity to show her teachers her skills, it was the perfect chance to prove that she was better than that attention seeking nobody Midoriya!

…Where did that come from? Momo shook her head as she went back to work, she couldn't afford to get distracted, she could simply compartmentalize and forget think about that later.

Rikido watched as the pigeon resting on Koda's finger cooed at him a couple times before his classmate nodded his head. "Thank you my friend." He said.

It was still strange to actually hear his classmate's voice, the guy was selectively mute and communicated in almost only sign language, something Rikido didn't understand in the slightest. But hey, that just meant they'd have to do their best in spite of that hiccup and it would make victory, however unlikely if he was being completely frank they were up against a recommended student after all, all the sweeter.

Rikido held up the map they'd been provided. "Alright Koda, I'm guessing you've got the weapon's location down?" He asked. Koda nodded, hesitantly stepping forward. Rikido simply stood there, letting his shy classmate get close before watching him point at the map.

Rikido nodded his head. "Right there?" Koda nodded. "Are both villains there too?" Another nod. "Alright then… Do you have any other animals you can ask for help? I think I might have an idea, but I'll need you to cause a distraction." Koda was quiet for a moment before turning to look at what seemed to be an opening to the sewers, Rikido had to admire the attention to detail UA put in to even include something like that for training grounds. Koda quietly approached the opening before saying something into it. After a moment a fuzzy little head peeked out from inside.

Rikido grinned.

Perfect.

Momo had had complete confidence in her plan. First, the Hero Team would need to figure out which room they were in, then the barricades she created with her Quirk would almost certainly hold her enemies at bay, and on the off chance that they managed to get in, she'd be able to use the weapons she'd created to outmaneuver her opponents. Those three things together would be more than enough to stall Koda and Satou until time was up.

Oh, and Mineta could… throw his hairballs at them or something.

The victory was as good as hers!

Er, theirs…! Yeah…

Unfortunately, Momo forgot to take one thing into consideration: a good plan rarely survives first contact with the enemy.

Her first indication that something was wrong was the sound of squeaking and skittering. Had she been more attentive towards her partner, she would've noticed where he was looking and she would've noticed the rapidly approaching miniature swarm of rats before they'd reached her and began crawling up her legs.

If she'd paid better attention to her teammate she would've also seen the way he winced in sympathy as Momo screeched in terror as she tried to smack the rats off of her, unfortunately a Bo staff isn't isn't the best weapon for swatting away a swarm of smaller creatures.

"I don't need help from a loser like you."

After being dismissed by Yaoyorozu, Minrou had elected to simply sit on the side and watch her work.

The girl was certainly easy on the eyes, though given how fixated she currently was on her task and him knowing that the video feed didn't carry over audio, he elected to hold off on the leering. He had to admit, her plan to barricade the entrance and walls with large metallic sheets was a simple, but effective one. And going off the way she placed them, in a near impossible to find location would only serve to buy them more time.

Minoru figured that in a direct confrontation, Satou would definitely give them trouble thanks to his Quirk being able to buff himself up through sugar. Koda meanwhile would struggle without any animals around to call on for help… is what Minoru would say if he hadn't noticed that pigeon earlier. Their location was likely compromised, but Yaoyorozu likely already knew that, but had decided to stick to this location regardless, she probably lacked the time to set up the defenses all over again and instead she'd simply pretend that she didn't know that they knew where they were. She was smart like that, way smarter than someone like him.

Though Minoru had to admit that doubts began to form when Yaoyorozu failed to notice the rat swarm until it was too late and they began to attack her.

Well, maybe not attack, they seemed to be content simply crawling on and clinging to her costume. Koda probably told them to avoid doing anything that'd actually hurt her. He was nice like that.

Next came a loud banging sound, it seemed like Satou was trying to force his way in, but was failing thanks to the barricades pressed against the door.

Minoru's eyebrows raised in surprise as he heard the sound of the door suddenly giving way. Oh, I guess if he couldn't smash through the door, he'd just pull the thing of its hinges, Minoru barely covered his ears in time to avoid being nearly deafened by the sound of metal hitting the ground as he saw Satou's yellow clad foot kick the metal sheet that was blocking the Hero Team's entry from the wall. They were in, what was their plan now?

"Flee, my friends!" Called Koda as Satou charged Yaoyorozu. The rats all fell away from the rich girl, who had been left an exhausted and disoriented mess from fending off the swarm of small opponents, leaving her hair and what little clothing she had disheveled. She quickly manifested a shield to protect herself from Satou's first punch, and did her best to stand her ground as Satou continued his attack.

With those two distracted, that left Minoru to deal with Koda. He watched the animal user hesitantly approach him, attempting to say something in sign language that Mineta couldn't understand. With a sigh, Minoru simply stood and held his hands up in surrender before stepping away from the weapon. Koda stared at him, clearly confused. "I know I can't win, so just go ahead…" Was the most he was going to give for an explanation.

Hesitantly, Koda stepped forward and placed his hand on the weapon.

"The weapon has been secured, the Hero Team wins!" Announced All Might.

Minoru looked over at Yaoyorozu, tired and panting from combating Satou, a look of distraught confusion on her face.

Huh, looks like she couldn't do this on her own after all…

"Young Satou, Koda, an excellent job securing the win!" Said All Might proudly. Satou had an awkward grin on his face while Koda was blushing and staring at the ground, though still with a smile on his face. Clearly these were two boys who weren't used to being the center of attention, much less being praised by Japan's greatest Hero. "Class, which of these two do you think deserved the M.V.P. title?"

Izuku had to admit he felt a little bad for Yaoyorozu and Mineta from the way All Might phrased that, their teacher basically made it brutally clear that both of them had shown a subpar performance and he had yet to even give them a proper assessment.

"I think they could stand for a little humiliation after that display"

Harsh, but not exactly wrong, even if the idea of agreeing with Second on something made Izuku feel like he bit into a lemon.

"It's hard to say, both of them contributed a lot to their victory." Said Iida, a hand on his chin. "Satou was the muscle who held Yaoyorozu back and got them into the room where the villains were, plus it was his plan for the most part."

"Meanwhile Koda was the one who located the weapon and sent the initial attack, had Yaoyorozu had her wits about her it's possible she could've held them both at bay." Said Todoroki, surprising just about everyone. The ice (and fire) user kept to himself so much that his classmates sometimes forgot he was there.

All Might and Izuku both individually nodded their heads in approval at the assessment, their thoughts more or less being the same. "Yes, ultimately I think the best thing to do would be to have both boys share the title of M.V.P. I hope that's alright with you both?"

Koda frantically nodded his head while Satou held his thumb up. "Hey, I couldn't have pulled this off on my own, I know that for sure." Said Satou.

All Might then turned his attention to Mineta and Yaoyorozu, the former having just been quietly watching and listening while the latter seemed to be staring off into space, a shellshocked expression on her face. She hadn't even bothered to fix her hair on her own, Jirou had done it for her.

There was a heavy silence as All Might did his best to try and formulate his words. "Mineta, Yaoyorozu, what happened out there?"

"We lost."

All Might sighed. "Thank you young Mineta, but I think we both know there's more to it than that. Why didn't you put up a fight? Why didn't you try to help your teammate?"

Mineta tsked under his breath before saying. "Yaoyorozu said she didn't need help from a loser like me, so I sat on the side and let her work." He said, then he smirked, "gotta say, it was quite nice getting to watch her flaunt her butt while I just had to sit on mine."

"I take everything nice I said about this kid back."

"That little grape headed fuck! I hope Toshinori punts him to the moon!"

"Wow, some real hero material this one is..."

 Izuku frowned at Mineta's words, there was something about his words that seemed… off, but he wasn't sure what. Meanwhile the majority of his classmates seemed to be sharing similar sentiments as the vestiges, voicing their displeasure at Mineta, though he didn't seem to react to it. "Young Mineta, I'm going to politely ask you to not talk about your classmate in such a manner, understood?"

After getting a half-hearted, "yes sir," from Mineta, All Might turned his attention to Yaoyorozu. "Yaoyorozu," Hearing her teacher address her directly seemed to help her regain some of her focus, "What possessed you to sideline your teammate and act on your own accord?"

"W-well," Stammered the heiress heroine, "I was confident that my plan would be able to hold the other team at bay, and I couldn't think of a way for Mineta to assist in the setup so I simply asked for him to standby while I prepared."

"And did you explain your plan?" Asked All Might. "Your reasoning? Because to me it seems like you simply came up with a plan for yourself and then acted alone while disregarding your teammate." Yaoyorozu didn't respond, instead simply staring at the floor. "Think about the two matches before you and why the two teams that won were able to obtain victory, yes young Midoriya and Todoroki were the ones to secure the objective but they were only able to do so thanks to the support of their teammates. Similarly, young Koda and Satou won because they acted as a team and played to each other's strengths." All Might sighed, deciding that he made his point clear before placing a hand on Yaoyorozu's shoulder. "Listen, it's only your second day as a Heroics student, I'm not going to expect perfection, you're here to learn after all, not show off what you already know. Don't be discouraged by this loss, use it as a learning experience."

Yaoyorozu might not have been able to meet his gaze, but she was at least able to give All Might a response, "Yes sensei…"

"Next up is Hero Team Young Aoyama and Tokoyami up against Young Kaminari and Jirou," Said All Might, moving the lesson on to Match Four, "let's go Plus Ultra for this match as well." 

"Yes Sir." The four students departed, Aoyama and Kaminari chatting up their partners as they made their way to the trial grounds.

Once they were gone, Izuku set his sights on Mineta and Yaoyorozu, both of whom had moved to sit near the back of the room, able to still view the match while being separated from the rest of the class. Izuku looked from one to the other, contemplating which one he should go talk to.

"The girl obviously! I feel bad for the poor dear, being forced to work with that ball haired butt muncher!"

The other vestiges all voiced a similar opinion, Izuku could even feel Eighth nodding along with them. Well, the majority ruled he supposed. Izuku walked over and took a seat next to Yaoyorozu.

The pair sat together in silence for a moment, Izuku unsure what to say and unsure if Yaoyorozu was even aware of his presence as she hugged her knees to her chest.

Eventually, he was able to break the silence. "Have you considered a cloak?"

…

"Pardon?" Asked Yaoyorozu, looking at him in confusion. Izuku could see her eyes were red, as if she was trying her best to hold back tears.

"Once I took some time to… get used to your outfit, I realized the practical element you were going for," Explained Izuku, "leaving as much skin exposed as legally possible in order to use your Quirk to maximum efficiency. Unfortunately it also leaves little protection. After some consideration I thought that a cloak could be a good workaround, a thick material that can protect your body better, and also do a better job of protecting your reputation in the inevitable event of a… wardrobe malfunction."

"Offering advice to a loser in order to feel better about yourself?"

"Eh?"

"I haven't seen you take the time to sit down and discuss this sort of thing with any of the winners so far." Explained Yaoyorozu. "So I can only assume you're here to flaunt the fact that you, the record breaking student who has been placing first in practically everything, even breaking All Might's record in the entrance exam, have managed to outdo me, the recommendation student rich girl."

"I don't think any of the other losing teams have taken their losses, nor were reprimanded for their choices, as harshly as you and Mineta have. And don't forget, I might have been on the winning team for Round One, but Ochako was the one to be crowned M.V.P." Said Izuku, staring down at his gloved hand. "Yes, it may seem like I'm doing an incredible job, but I'm only here because I've had the support of those around me. You were there when I revealed that I was a late bloomer. I'm only a part of this class because I had a teacher who was willing to recognize my potential and push me hard enough to reach that potential, and even now I'm still playing catch up. I have to constantly hold back to avoid breaking myself and my opponents."

"…Why are you trying so hard?" Asked Yaoyorozu. "Trying so hard to help your arrogant classmate who ignored your advice during the Quirk Apprehension Test, who had so much confidence in herself that she then ignored her teammate and cost them the match? Why?"

Izuku was quiet for a moment before a smile formed on his face. "It's funny, your partner asked me the same kind of question yesterday." He replied, noticing out of the corner of his eye the way Yaoyorozu's frown seemed to deepen at his words. "So I'll answer your question the same way I answered his, I want to become the hero who saves everyone. Be they friend, foe, or just a random civilian that I'm meeting in a different country that I'm visiting for the first time."

"That sounds oddly specific." Interrupted Yaoyorozu.

Izuku couldn't help but chuckle at her words before continuing. "Maybe, but yeah. That's my dream. And for the record I don't think you're arrogant. If you want arrogant, you should've seen what Kacchan was like when we were kids, he was the most arrogant brat in the universe!" He made sure to say that last part loud enough for the others to hear, Kacchan didn't even dignify him with a proper response, simply opting to flip him off while continuing to watch the monitor.

Izuku chuckled at that, then he stood up before turning and crouching in front of Yaoyorozu, offering a hand towards her. "It's like All Might said, we're still students and we're still learning. It's ok to mess up, it's good even! Making a mistake in class means you're less likely to make the same kind of mistake after you've graduated. Now c'mon, Jirou and Kaminari are participating this time and I'm sure you'd feel bad if you couldn't cheer your friends on."

After a moment of silent contemplation, Yaoyorozu reached out and took Izuku's hand.

Chapter 15: "I'll be the best goddamn friend you've ever seen

"This round was definitely one that seemed like it would end differently upon first glance. With Tokoyami being one of the top scorers in the Assessment Test, a Quirk as mighty as his would be perfect, especially when fighting in a dark, enclosed area. If it weren't for the fact that two of the other participants in the trial had Quirks that produced light, Dark Shadow's main weakness." Explained Izuku. 

"That," Added Yaoyorozu, "coupled with Jirou's Quirk being able to not only grant constant awareness of her opponents' locations and her support gear speakers giving her plenty of ranged options, it's unsurprising that Kaminari and Jirou were able to keep Tokoyami and Aoyama on the back foot long enough for time to run out."

All Might gave the two a proud nod. "Indeed, you boys did your best, and perhaps against other opponents victory would've been more assured, but sadly for you today's victory instead goes to young Kaminari and Jirou."

"Now make them kiss."

All Might continued, blissfully unaware of the sound of Seventh gut checking Fifth, "Since young Jirou was the one to come up with a plan of defense, as well as being in charge of enemy surveillance and guiding young Kaminari, I'd say it's only fair to declare her the M.V.P. Are there any arguments to this decision?"

Kaminari was the one to speak up. "Psh, nah. I know if these were one on ones I would've been toast. Without Jirou tellin' me what to do I probably would've just jumped in and either been sniped by Captain Glitter's laser or been folded like laundry by Dark Shadow, and that's assuming if I hadn't made myself go stupid with my Quirk first." He put an arm around Jirou's shoulders. "Jirou here totally deserves the ekkk…!" Whatever he had to say next was cut short by Jirou jabbing one of her jacks into his ear, taking him down and out.

The purple haired girl, her cheeks now pink, then walked away from the prone blond, and decided to go stand next to Yaoyorozu instead. Sero and Ohiro were nice enough to help Kaminari stand back up, villain team solidarity it seemed. 

Actually, on that note, Iida, Sero, Ojiro, Ashido, and Yaoyorozu had been the most vocal in their congratulations towards Kaminari and Jirou for their victory. Izuku supposed that after three losses in a row for the villain teams, they had appreciated someone from their side finally managing to win.

Mineta… had chosen not to join in, instead opting to remain where he was seated in the back, alone. The vestiges were still opposed to the idea of Izuku even giving him the time of day.

"Let the brat sulk, don't waste your time helping someone like him."

"Maybe we'll get lucky and his ass'll get expelled so we won't have to listen to his crap anymore."

"It's time for the fifth and final match, students." Declared All Might, giving Izuku something to focus on rather than the voices in his head.

…That sounds really bad out of context now that he thinks about it.

"Hero Team Hagakure and Kirishima will be facing off against Villain Team Bakugou and Asui, be sure to go Plus Ultra like your classmates have all done today!"

The Hero Team both loudly, and happily voiced their agreement while the Villain Team simply nodded her head and rolled his eyes before cracking his knuckles. Izuku could tell that Kacchan had been getting antsy waiting for his turn. He couldn't tell who he felt more bad for, Asui for having to be his teammate or Kirishima and Hagakure for having to be his opponents…

"Alright Frogger, here's the plan. You stay here and guard the weapon, and I'll go out and blast the two extras outside to hell." Said Katsuki while performing some stretches to warm his body up.

Frogger looked his way. "Uh… no, ribbit." She replied bluntly. 

Katsuki met her gaze, an eyebrow raised as she stared at him with a blank expression. "Hah? You wanna run that by me one more time?"

"I said no, ribbit. We're teammates, I'm not your sidekick." Replied Frog Girl. "Yaoyorozu and Mineta already were kind enough to show us what happens when teammates can't coordinate."

"Ponytail and Grapefruit were a pair of extras who fucked around and found out, same as their pair of extras who think they stand a chance against me." Replied Katsuki, lifting one of his hands up and allowing it to crackle with a series of small explosions. "And you're an extra too, just like them, I think we both know who'd win in a fight between the two of us. So, are you gonna listen or are we going to have to do this the hard way, Frog Girl?"

Despite his threats, his classmate's expression remained the same. "Try me, ribbit."

Katsuki smirked at that before swinging his hand towards her head. "Young Bakugou, what're you-!?"

All Might's voice got drowned out by the sound of the explosion. Katsuki lowered his hand to his side to admire his handiwork, a palm shaped burn mark now on the wall next to Frog Girl's head. In spite of his "attack," she didn't move an inch, instead simply staring up at him flatly. "Ouch, my ear." She deadpanned.

Katsuki scoffed. "Don't be a baby, that was nowhere near loud enough to give someone tinnitus." He said with a roll of his eyes. He then focused his gaze back on her. "Gotta admit though, you've certainly got guts, was expecting you to run away there, but you stood your ground instead."

"I was willing to bet that you weren't stupid enough to actually attack me, ribbit, especially with All Might watching us." She replied.

"Ha!" Katsuki laughed at her words. "Please, like I care what that fossil thinks, he's just another teacher, here to be amazed at how badass I am." When her only response to his statement was a flat stare, it made him roll his eyes again. "Ugh, whatever, thing is is that there's not a chance in hell I'd ever work with some weak extra, and while the jury's still out on whether or not you can hold your own in a fight, that display of yours was enough to at least get me to give you a chance…" He trailed off before gesturing a hand to her.

After a beat of silence, she realized that he wanted her name. "My friends call me Tsu." She replied, introducing herself before walking past him. "So you can just call me Asui, Bakugou."

That made Katsuki's eye twitch. He then raised a hand, flipping her off while shouting, "Well screw you too! I'm not here to make friends anyways, Asui!"

Izuku couldn't help himself, letting out a laugh as he gave a short applause. He might not be able to hear what's going on, but he knew Kacchan well enough to figure it out.

"Y-you wanna clue the rest of us in, Midoriya?" Asked Kaminari.

"Yeah, what's got you so happy, Midori?" Asked Ashido, looking at him in upset confusion. "Bakubitch nearly took that poor froggy's head off!" That earned a laugh from Fifth.

"'Bakubitch!' Oh that's a good one! Hahaha!"

"Guys, if you think Kacchan's intentions were ever malicious, I think you're sorely underestimating him as a person." Replied Izuku before pointing at the monitor that had a picture of the burn marks left by Kacchan's intimidation explosion. "We all were there for the Q.A.T. yesterday, compared to the explosions he let off then, this was basically a sparkler. He wasn't trying to attack Asui, something she understood, hence why she remained still and didn't try to avoid the attack, or even counter."

"Maybe she was simply betting on the fact that there was no way he'd genuinely attack her when a teacher, All Might no less, was watching?" Suggested Yaoyorozu.

Izuku shook his head. "Now you're underestimating Kacchan in a completely different way. After all, All Might did try to stop him, he just didn't listen." He explained. "Kacchan always has and always will move to the beat of his own drum, which means you've got only three options to deal with him: Harmonize with him, Don't bother playing at all, or find a way to outplay him and make him become willing to cooperate with you. Asui managed to check the third box when she passed that little test Kacchan gave her, earning his recognition. Don't be surprised if you hear him referring to her by name while he still sticks with nicknames for the rest of you."

"So what you're saying is that if we want 'Kacchan' to acknowledge us, we just gotta do what Asui did?" Asked Kaminari with a teasing grin.

Izuku let out a thoughtful hum. "I wouldn't advise that, it might work for one or two of you, but Kacchan doesn't use the same method for everyone and if he figures out you're just trying to copy someone else's method, he'll just respect you even less. Maybe even blow your face off for real." He replied. "And trust me, even as a kid those explosions stung like you wouldn't believe, Kacchan going all out nowadays could probably introduce your gray matter to the pavement."

Kaminari blanched at that and stepped back. "It is alarming how much you were able to gleam from a short interaction that you could not even hear." Said Iida.

Izuku shrugged. "I've known Kacchan for a long time, I know what makes him tick, that's all."

Ashido laughed. "Yeah, I hear you, going to UA with someone you knew in Middle School probably comes with some advantages, right horn-buddy?" She asked herself, looking at Kirishima on the monitor. Everyone then saw Kirishima let out a sneeze, and given the way All Might flinched, it must've been a loud one.

"My manly senses are telling me that someone's talking about me behind my back." Mumbled Eijiro as he rubbed his nose with the back of his wrist while he and his partner made their way through the Villain Team's hideout.

"I'd say something about how 'manly senses' aren't a real thing but I get the feeling you'd just ignore me." Commented Hagakure.

Eijiro gasped as if he'd been offended. "It's not manly to ignore someone!"

Hagakure moved her hands so that they were on… where he was pretty sure her hips were. "So you're saying that you're gonna take my words to heart and not call them 'manly senses' anymore?" She asked.

"I never said that!" Argued Eijiro. "I just said that I wouldn't ignore your words! I can still listen to what you say and decide to continue as I am! A man doesn't let himself be easily swayed by the opinions of everyone around him!"

"The mental gymnastics you do to always find a way to describe whatever choice you make as manly is equal parts confusing and admirable." Said Hagakure with a dry chuckle.

"It really is, ribbit."

Eijiro chuckled at the words of Hagakure and Asu- wait a minute. Eijiro's head whipped around and he hardened his body as quickly as possible in order to prevent himself from being captured, but all the durability in the world is kinda useless when your opponent can take you out just by tying a ribbon around your arm.

"Young Kirishima has been captured!" Said All Might through the earpiece.

"Dammit, run Hagakure!" Shouted Eijiro, only to see a small pile of discarded socks, shoes, and gloves next to him.

"Don't worry, ribbit." Said Asui. "She ran the moment she noticed me capture you. Sorry for the unceremonious defeat ribbit, but Bakugou and I both knew that I wouldn't be able to beat you directly, so a sneak attack would be the most efficient plan."

"Then why not capture Hagakure and let Bakubro fight me?" Asked Eijiro as he sat on the floor.

Asui leaned on the wall next to him. "That was my original idea, but he decided that that would be 'too easy,' ribbit. He does have a plan though. Which reminds me." She reached up and pressed a button on her earpiece. "The plan worked on my end, Hagakure is running your way, good luck Bakugou, ribbit." Eijiro couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, wondering what kinda plan Bakubro was cooking up.

"-good luck Bakugou, ribbit." Katsuki took his finger off the earpiece and moved into the hallway he'd stationed himself in. Psh, 'Luck.' That shit's just bootleg Skill, and he doesn't ever settle for bootleg…

He knew this way had no other doors or windows, and if Invisibitch tried to go for the vents she'd make too much of a racket for him not to notice her, so now he just needed to wait, and listen.

With an ear pressed to the ground, he shut his eyes, and listened closely. It took a few seconds, but eventually he heard the noise he was looking for. It was quiet, girl clearly put her skill points into stealth and had made she to make her movements as silent as possible when she wanted to, but she was a highschool girl, not a ninja, she couldn't negate her noise entirely, and he could hear the faint sound of footsteps running his way. If she'd stuck to walking he might not have heard her, but Fro- Asui's sneak attack caused her to panic and be reckless, something that had been planned for and was now going to be capitalized on. He moved his head from the floor and put one leg up so that he was only on one knee, while keeping his palms hovering right above the ground.

"Hey Invisibitch, choke on this!" He shouted as he fired off a series of explosions into the ground. From an outsider's perspective, they'd probably be confused to what his plan was, after all he was essentially firing blind and not even in Invisigirl's direction, however his intentions began to become as transparent as his opponent as the hall began to fill with smoke from the blasts. His eyes narrowed as he waited for the smokescreen to reveal his target.

Then, he saw it, the smoke swirling around something, as if trying to clear space for an object, or rather a person, that could not be seen by the naked eye. "Bullseye!" He shouted as he swung his left arm, clotheslining the invisible girl and knocking her on her back.

"Ack!" She grunted in pain, before coughing on the ground due to a combination of being knocked on her back and the smoke.

Katsuki walked over and put his foot on her, allowing him to avoid losing track of her. "You give up?" He asked calmly as he stared down at her. Or at least in her general direction.

She coughed again before shouting, "Get your damn boot off my boobs you dick!" 

With a raised eyebrow, Katsuki moved his foot a little to the left before pressing his foot into her stomach. "Better?" He asked in annoyance.

"Let it be known that even if you can't see me, I amflipping you off right now." 

"Duly noted." He said, flipping her off in return. "Now, I'm gonna tell you to surrender, because I think the last goddamn thing anyone wants is for me to get into a wrestling match on the floor with a naked girl."

"Speak for yourself, I'm sure there's plenty of guys who'd love to wrestle a naked girl…" Muttered Invisigirl from the ground.

Katsuki decided that he was not going to engage with that line of conversation, instead opting to ring All Might up on his earpiece. "You catch all that All Might? I've got her pinned and her partner has been taken out, you mind calling the match so I don't have to deal with putting capture tape on her?"

"Er… very well, young Hagakure has been defeated, the Villain Team wins match five!"Replied All Might over the earpiece.

"Good job on the capture."

"FUUuckin' hell…" Said Katsuki, nearly leaping out of his skin as Asui's voice from behind managed to scare the living daylights out of him. How was she able to move around so quietly like that? 

After Asui handed over the few articles of clothing that constituted Invisigirl's costume, she turned her attention to Katsuki. "See, wasn't working together like this way better, Bakuchan?" She asked.

Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Tch, whatever. I still could've taken these two Extras on my own without your…" He paused, his brows furrowing as Asui's question caught up to him. "The hell did you call me?"

"Bakuchan, ribbit." Replied Asui, completely seriously (Katsuki thinks, it's hard to tell since her face isn't that expressive,) "Midoriya calls you 'Kacchan' right? I figured I'd give you a nickname too."

"…No. That's not happening."

"No, it definitely is Bakuchan, ribbit."

"Oh, but I'm assuming I can't call you by your nickname?" Asked Katsuki in annoyance.

Asui hummed. "Well, only my friends can call me 'Tsu,' so if you're not my friend then you still can't call me that."

"But you're gonna keep callin' me Ba… that, even if we're not friends?"

"Yup, ribbit."

"Then dammit I'm calling you Tsu!"

Asui looked over at him. "Does that mean you're gonna be my friend, Bakuchan?"

"If that's what it takes to get even with you for that nickname then dammit you better believe I am!"

Asui smiled at him, catching the explosive blond off guard. "Ok then, Bakuchan, I'll happily be your friend."

Thankfully, Katsuki was able to quickly compose himself. "Well that's fuckin' spectacular, Tsu! I'll be the best goddamn friend you've ever seen!" He declared angrily.

From the sidelines, Tooru and Kirishima watched the two talk, a look of confusion evident on one of their faces. "What… am I watching?" Asked Kirishima uncertainly.

Tooru watched Asui give Bakugou a small smile as she talked while he shouted and cursed. "Amphibian mating rituals, I think." She replied tiredly.

There was a beat of silence between them. "Amphibian whatnow?" Asked Kirishima as he turned to look in her direction. 

Tooru sighed and shook her head. "I'll explain when you're older."

"…Manly?"

Tooru sighed. UA was turning out to be exhausting for all the reasons she didn't expect.

When the four students returned, the moods of the two teams were vastly different. The Heroes were quiet, likely mulling over humiliating defeat that had been delivered to them. Meanwhile, the Villains were having a very… lively conversation.

"Alright Tsu, you have my number and I've texted you which days I'm free," Shouted Kacchan, "You'd better not wind up falling behind in hero classes, because there's no way in hell I'm gonna remain friends with a damn weakling. Any questions?"

"You didn't have any friends in Middle School, did you?" Asked Asui.

"Of course I fuckin' didn't!" Retorted Kacchan loudly. "Aldera had nothing but a bunch of weak losers who had to gang up on and pick on losers even weaker than them to feel better about themselves! Or Deku, but we know how that went!"

Izuku cringed a little, Kacchan's social skills definitely left something to be desired at times.

"Like you're one to talk…"

Still, this was certainly a sight to behold. This was his first time seeing someone else able to keep up with Kacchan being… himself, Izuku had nothing but respect for Asui's abilities.

"She's probably an older sister." 

'Eh?'

"The boomer brat is an only child, right? If I'm remembering what you've said about him correctly anyway. Frog girl gives off the vibe of someone with younger siblings, boy never stood a chance."

'You're… being weirdly talkative. And knowledge for that matter. You have experience raising kids, Third?'

"…No. I don't."

There was silence in One for All after that. Izuku could tell there was probably a story there, but he wasn't going to pry.

All Might cleared his throat, halting the conversation between Kacchan and Asui. "Young Asui, Bakugou, an excellent performance in the Battle Trial. You were able to work together and claim a swift victory against your opponents on the Hero Team." He said, earning a small smile from Asui and a smug grin from Kacchan. "Kirishima, Hagakure I think the main takeaway here is that you need to be more aware of your surroundings. If you hadn't been so engrossed in your own conversation you might have noticed Asui coming before Kirishima was captured. And Hagakure, if you hadn't panicked and ran when your partner was captured, you might have been able to sneak past Bakugou rather than having played right into his hands."The Hero duo definitely seemed embarrassed by the experience, and Izuku hoped the lesson would stick. "Now then, who would you say was the M.V-?"

"Asui." Said Izuku immediately and without hesitation. "Not only was she the one to capture Kirishima and send Hagakure into a panic, allowing for Kacchan to capture her, but she was the one to get Kacchan to cooperate with her, had she not gotten a handle on the situation during the preparation stage Kacchan likely would've forgone any planning and simply charged in headfirst, which certainly might have worked but that's not a plan, that's being foolish."

"Tell me how you really feel nerd." Said Kacchan drily.

"Well… yes that is just about the long and short of it," Said All Might, managing to recover from being cut off by Izuku relatively gracefully, "Congratulations young Asui for earning the title Round Five's M.V.P. Students, can we get an extra round of applause for the six M.V.P.s of this year's first proper Heroic's Class?"

Eleven of the students applauded the six M.V.P.s, the three who didn't applaud were Todoroki, Kacchan, and Mineta, due to the first two feeling the need to continue being brooding loners while Mineta continued to brood alone in the back of the room. Though as they clapped, Izuku realized that there was something else that he wanted to bring up that All Might had neglected to talk about. And if he could power through this conversation with Yaoyorozu then he could do it with Hagakure too. "All Might," He said politely while raising a hand, bringing everyone's attention to him and causing the applause to die down. "Is there someone you could contact to get Hagakure a better suit?"

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing now?" Asked Hagakure.

Izuku turned to look at her. As in, actually at her, not just in her general direction. Hagakure wasn't sure how, but she somehow felt seen by the boy. "Hagakure, I understand that you're dressed like that for the sake of maximizing your Quirk's usage and due to being invisible you can access a lot of loopholes in the law since you're not technically showing any skin, but just like with Ojiro and his lack of shoes you're leaving yourself vulnerable to a lot of things. What're you going to do if you're on a stealth mission, you decide to abandon your shoes, and you step on a rusty nail or something." Hagakure flinched at the mental image. "I'm guessing UA doesn't have the means to create a costume that can become invisible like your body, but with All Might as our teacher, perhaps he can reach out to someone who can make something that helps you. I doubt any of our teachers want one of their students to be walking around naked and defenseless."

Hagakure didn't say anything, but Izuku could tell from the way her gloves were positioned that she conceded the point. "That's not a bad suggestion Young Midoriya, I'll see what I can do." Said All Might. "Now then, why don't you all head back to the locker rooms to get changed, I'm sure you're all ready to change out of those sweaty costumes by this point. Excellent work today 1A, I look forward to your next lesson."

With words of confirmation at his instructions, the students departed. All Might sighed as he felt his muscles begin to let out steam. 'Well, that wasn't too bad if I say so myself. I just hope the 1B's lesson tomorrow will be similarly headache free… Hope you were watching me teach them, Na- Seventh. Hope I made you proud…'

Chapter 16: "That's a bar so low the devil's using it for his weekly game of limbo."

"Gotta say Iida, you had one hell of a villain laugh." Said Sero with a grin as everyone was changing into their school uniforms in the locker room.

"I- I was simply committed!" Stammered Iida in embarrassment, "Commitment is a valuable trait for someone to have! Especially a Hero!"

Sero laughed, "Dude relax! I'm not making fun of you!" He said, before pausing for half a second. "Ok, maybe I'm slightly teasing you, but it's just some playful jabbing between buds." He gave his blue haired classmate a grin, "Besides, your 'commitment' was good enough to get me to join in, so don't sell yourself short."

Sero's words seemed to flatter Iida, who put a hand on his chest. "'Buds…'" He said to himself, as if the concept of friendship was a foreign one.

The wholesomeness sadly was cut short when Kaminari spoke up, "Hey uh, guys, I found something weird." Everyone looked his way to see that Kaminari was lifting a poster away from its spot on the wall, revealing a hole.

Izuku's eyes traveled from the hole to the wall as a whole. "Doesn't that connect to the girls locker room?" He asked.

"Oh that is unmanly!" Said Kirishima, clearly aghast at the implications.

Iida seemed to have snapped back to reality once the implications were put out for everyone to see. "I-I cannot believe that our upperclassmen would do such a thing! This is UA! Spying on girls in the most prestigious hero academy in Japan is absolutely abhorrent!" He exclaimed.

"Outta my way gay boy, I wanna see!" Said Mineta as he moved past Iida and towards the wall. When he noticed almost everyone staring at them, he gave them a smug grin in return. "Aw don't give me that, just admit that you're all curious too! Just picture it in your mind!" Now he was practically drooling. "Ashido's perky pink skin… the way Hagakure's leggings hug and give you insight into the shape of her thighs, 's absolutely beautiful behind, Yaoyorozu's mega milk melons, Uraraka's- OW, FUCK!" 

Mineta brought his hands up to the spot on his forehead that now stung, as Izuku lowered the hand that he used to flick him. Hard. He was staring down at Mineta, unamused by his classmate's antics. 

"Deserved."

"Man screw this little fruit, somebody needs to report him and get his ass expelled."

"That's homophobic."

"Homoph- NOT THAT KINDA FRUIT YA JACKASS!"

Rather than waste time focusing on the purple degenerate, he instead addressed his other purple classmate. "Jirou, I know that you're still listening. I'm gonna assume that Yaoyorozu's Quirk will be an excellent means of sealing the peephole up, so I'll leave that to you girls. Sorry about the disturbance." He then turned his attention to Mineta, who was still rubbing the sore spot on his forehead which seemed to already be bruising. Izuku hadn't even used One for All when he did that. "Be thankful that that's all you're getting, anyone who had been stupid enough to look probably would've had their eye gouged out by one of Jirou's Jacks.

A couple of the boy's flinched and put a hand over one of their eyes at the mental imagery Izuku's description invoked.

Izuku then turned his attention to Kaminari. "And thank you Kaminari for bringing this to our attention. I'm glad you made the responsible decision and didn't choose to violate the trust and friendships you'd built with your female classmates."

Kaminari flinched at that, likely imagining the disapproving looks of two of his female friends in particular, before awkwardly laughing and scratching the back of his head. "Y-yeah, absolutely." He replied nervously, "I definitely was being responsible and wasn't interested in peeping in the slightest." Izuku put a hand on his blond classmate's shoulder who felt too ashamed to meet his eyes.

"Tch, liar." Said Kyoka as she retracted her jack from the wall.

"Now don't be like that," Said Yaoyorozu, "Even if he contemplated doing it, ultimately Kaminari didn't act upon his impulses to look."

"Yeah because Midoriya guilt tripped him out of it and revealed the punishment lying in wait for whatever jackass was stupid enough to try and be a Peeping Tom." Argued Kyoka with her arms crossed.

"I mean, he could've not brought it up with the other guys and just looked first." Pointed out Hagakure.

"True, ribbit," Said Asui, "Maybe he wanted a second opinion before doing something like that." 

Kyoka didn't bother responding, simply huffing and looking back towards Yaoyorozu. "Well, you heard what Midori said, you think you can seal that up?"

Yaoyorozu brought a hand to her chin. "Theoretically yes, I could create the necessary materials, but I don't have any experience repairing holes in walls." She said.

Uraraka then brought everyone's attention to her when she interlocked her fingers and cracked her knuckles loud enough for the entire locker room to hear. "You can leave that part to yours truly."

Then, almost as if through the power of divine intervention trying to protect Kaminari from the boys' judgement, the crackling of the P.A. System served to change the subject. "Attention Students, would Izuku Midoriya be so kind as to visit the Principal's Office?" 

Everyone looked towards the loudspeaker, then towards Izuku. "The hell'd you do this time, Deku?" Asked Kacchan drily.

Izuku sputtered. "What makes you think it was something I did? Maybe the principal's just calling me up for a lovely chat!" He exclaimed. When Kacchan raised an eyebrow at him, Izuku sighed and slumped forward. "Or maybe it's the Quirk Counseling Aizawa mentioned…" He quickly finished getting changed into his uniform before packing up his Hero Costume. "I'll see you guys around, gotta drop this off and get going." He then took off through the door.

"Must feel exhausting being that popular." Commented Satou. Koda nodded his head in agreement.

Izuku jogged towards the Support Course First Year Lab to drop off the case holding his suit and then, almost as if triggered by his very presence the moment he raise his hand to knock on the door, an explosion instead knocked him on his butt. He groaned as he realized his vision had gone dark and a familiar softness was being pressed into his face. "Well well well, how lucky that my favorite baby maker and crash pad came by at just the right moment." Said Hatsume as she used her arms to prop herself up and remove her chest from his face.

"Hatsume, for the love of all that is holy in this world," Came the tired voice of her teacher, Higari Maijima, "and all the unholy things in this damn school, please never refer to a fellow first year as a 'baby maker.'" The Pro Hero Power Loader tossed the fire extinguisher he was holding over his shoulder and into the classroom behind him as he stepped out to meet the two students. Within the classroom, one of his students managed to catch the extinguisher with little difficulty before moving to put it away. It seems that despite it only being the later half of the second day, Class 1H was already well practiced in putting out fires. More accurately, Hatsume's.

Power Loader gave Izuku an appraising look before turning his attention back to his student. "I'd ask if he was a friend of yours but I don't think you're the type who's particularly interested in making those." He said dryly.

'Is that kinda thing ok to say about a student you've known for less than a week?' Wondered Izuku.

"This here is my first work partner and personal babymaker that I met right before arriving at UA," Explained Hatsume, breezing right past her teacher voicing his desire for her to stop calling him that for a second time, "Izuichi Aoya."

Power Loader raised an eyebrow at Izuku. Or at least he's pretty sure that's what he did, going off the way his head tilted. Izuku couldn't see his face under that helmet of his. Understanding the silent question, he said, "My name is Izuku Midoriya, it's nice to meet you Power Loader sir, can I have your autograph?" He held up a notebook for the teacher, as well as a pen for him to use.

"Uh… sure." Said the teacher as he took the pen into his large fingers before taking the notebook in his other hand and signing it. Izuku grinned at the autograph as he took it back before putting it away.

"Woah, how'd you do that!?" Exclaimed Hatsume.

"Eh?" Asked Izuku, looking towards her in confusion. "Do what?" 

"You pulled that notebook out of nowhere and then put it away in that same 'nowhere!' Is there some sort of storage aspect to your Quir-?" Her face met Izuku's hand, which he put up to keep some distance between them before she could close in and start taking more… 'measurements.'

"Not when there's a teacher watching." Said Izuku tiredly.

"Mashima-Sensei I need you to turn around." Said Hatsume, continuing to struggle against his arm, while also giving it a few good squeezes, much to Izuku's embarrassment.

"That's not the problem here…" Said Izuku in exasperation.

Power Loader leaned down a little to whisper into Izuku's ear, "You sure about this one? I could get you a different Support Course student to work with before you end up selling your soul away to the pink devil here."

Izuku took a moment to choose his words before smiling at the teacher and giving his answer, "Your concern is appreciated sir, but unnecessary. Hatsume here was the first friend I made before coming to UA. She believes in my dream and I believe in hers." He looked down at his pink haired engineer, who had stopped struggling to hear what he had to say, with a warm smile, "There's no one I'd rather have work on my gear."

There was a beat of silence before Power Loader relented. With a pat on the back from one of his large hands, he said, "Alright kid if you're sure, I'll be leaving her in your care then." Looking towards his student he said, "You found a good one Hatsume, try not to blow him up."

"Y-Yes Sensei!" She replied, standing up straight. With a chuckle, Power Loader went back into the workshop.

"The man talks less like a teacher about his student and more like a father blessing a relationship between his daughter and the boy she likes."

"I think it's sweet! I wish Izuku could have a homeroom teacher who cares this much!"

"Between his classmate with her physics breaking Quirk and the super genius in charge of his support gear, I have no idea how this lucky dog's gonna choose." 

Izuku paid them little mind as he held up the suitcase he'd been carrying. "Speaking of Support Gear, I came by to drop my costume off before going to the Principal Office for… well, whatever reason they felt the need to call me up."

"My baby!" Exclaimed Hatsume excitedly as she took the suitcase from his hands and opened it up before pulling the gloves she made out and tossing the suitcase back to Izuku, who was able to catch it with little difficulty thanks to his quick reflexes. "How did they do? Did they work? Did you damage yourself at all? Did you damage my baby at all!?" She demanded, firing off rapid fire questions so quickly you'd think her mouth was a Gatling Gun.

Izuku smiled at her. "They worked great, Hatsume. The gloves reduced the backlash of using my Quirk when I hit things, I was able to punch my way through a wall and barely felt a thing!" He then lifted one of his legs up so that his knee was level with his stomach. "We should start making plans for some leg based equipment too, I had to rely on my legs a lot during the Entrance Exam and that made me realize that being able to utilize all four limbs in combat would be a smart idea. Especially since the human leg is, on average, three times as strong as their arm."

A mischievous grin crossed Hatsume's face as she let out a devious giggle. "Oh, I'm already coming up with ideas. I can't wait to get started on blueprints, I'll catch you later Izuku!" She then snatched the suitcase from his hands a second time and ducked into the workshop. A few seconds passed and suddenly Izuku could hear wails of Despair coming from the students of class 1H. He was about to head in when the loudspeaker crackled to life.

"The first year Support Students will be fine, Midoriya, the Principal is still awaiting your arrival."

Izuku, and by extension the vestiges, stared at the speaker.

"Ok, that's just creepy."

"For once, we agree on something."

With a sigh of acceptance, Izuku jogged away towards the principal's office. As he moved, a thought crossed his mind. 'Wait… did Hatsume actually call me "Izuku?"'

Meanwhile, from within the 1H Workshop, as Mei worked on her newest set of blueprints, she subconsciously brought a hand up to her chest and squeezed the fabric of her tank top. It was strange, for some reason whenever she imagined Boy Won- Izuku, using the gear she made, it caused a weird tight feeling in her chest. Was this heartburn? She may subsist off energy drinks but she's fairly certain that fifteen was still way too young to experience symptoms of heartburn. Well, she'll worry about that later. For now, she had a baby to build!

"Am I a mouse, a dog, or a bear? What's important is, I'm the principal!" Izuku observed the Chimera who was seated at his desk in the center of the room. "Greetings, Izuku Midoriya. Welcome to my office. Have you been enjoying your time here at UA?" Izuku looked over his shoulder at the door he's entered through, just outside was Hound Dog, who'd been nice enough to give him some words of clarification that he wasn't in trouble or anything before going in.

"It's been… an experience." Admitted Izuku with a shrug and a weak smile. "The teachers have had a variety of personalities. For… better and for worse."

"Ah yes, your first impressions of Aizawa likely left a lot to be desired." Izuku could tell it wasn't a question.

"Well…" Izuku sighed, unable to find a way, or honestly even a reason, to speak in Aizawa's defense.

"Why the hell would you want to in the first place?"

'…Reflex?' Was the best response Izuku could think of. 

"Too nice for your own damn good, I swear…"

Nedzu chuckled before replying, "Rest assured, while he may come across as a harsh taskmaster, because he is, Aizawa most certainly has his students' best interests at heart, I've had the man in my employ long enough to know this to be true."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Well, he seemed to care enough to be willing to keep a distance between us for these counseling sessions." Said Izuku, before looking over his shoulder again. "Speaking of counseling…"

"Why is the school counselor waiting outside my office instead of being a part of the counseling in of itself?" Asked Nedzu, guessing what the boy was thinking. Izuku nodded his head. "Well I have him on standby on the off chance I say something upsetting, between my difficulty understanding humans and your negative experiences with teachers, I figured it'd pay to be prepared."

"Well…" Said Izuku with a weak smile. "It's nice to see how much effort you're putting in for one of your students."

"That's a bar so low the devil's using it for his weekly game of limbo."

Izuku barely stifled a laugh. "Oh? Did one of your predecessors say something amusing?" Asked Nedzu.

Izuku coughed into his fist, "Y-yes, I apologize, I-" His eyes widened as he realized what Nedzu said. 

"Midoriya, I am one of, if not the smartest creature in the world, of course I know about One for All, All Might originally became a teacher here in order to search for a successor and if he ever thought he could do that without my permission, he would have been in for very rude awakening." Explained Nedzu. "Of course I was more than willing to let him when he asked, only for him to find a successor ten months before even starting his career as a teacher, quite an amusing turn of events, no? And circling back to your earlier question, I also had Hound Dog sit this conversation out so that I could freely discuss One for All, which is very much a confidential subject even amongst the Faculty, Recovery Girl is the only other one in the loop in that regard, though I am aware that your childhood friend- apologies, rival Bakugou is also in the know, yes?"

Izuku nodded his head. "My mom and Kacchan are the only ones who are aware of the true nature of my Quirk. I knew trying to lie to them would be foolish at best and have severe consequences down the line at worst." He replied.

Nedzu nodded his head with a smile. "A smart one you are, I like it." He then brought a hand (or was it more of a paw?) to his chin. "Speaking of smart, your predecessor has sung your praises about your skills as an analyst, do you perhaps have one of those notebooks of yours on hand?"

And then Izuku managed to genuinely surprise Nedzu, something the rodent didn't think was possible anymore in this day and age after everything he'd seen, by seemingly manifesting a notebook from the aether, one with pictures of tea leaves and teacups on it.

The Principal managed to keep his composure however as he took the Notebook from him and quickly skimmed through, absorbing all the information held within it about Quirks that belonged to people of various walks of life, from pro heroes to villains to even random civilians. Each entry was very detailed, and while he was hardly a connoisseur of the subject, Nedzu could see that Midoriya was indeed a skilled artist. If his mouth was capable of such a thing, the chimera would've let out an impressed whistle.

The boy had put in a lot of work cultivating his skills and knowledge, and for a teacher like Nedzu that was probably his third favorite thing in the world. After tea and tormenting humans. "Impressive. Very impressive young man." He said, before taking note of the way the boy was staring at him, seemingly deep in thought. "Is something wrong? Does my appearance perhaps seem off putting to you?"

Izuku's brows furrowed in confusion, seemingly surprised by the question. "No, that's not it, I was simply thinking of the question you asked earlier."

"My question?" Asked Nedzu.

"'Are you a mouse, a dog, or a bear?'" Izuku parroted Nedzu's little greeting back to him. Nedzu blinked, having been surprised by the boy for a second time in quick succession. "I doubt you're a singular species, especially if what I've heard about your origins is to be believed. Though even if you're several species spliced together, you must have one that served as a figurative 'base.' It's unlikely to have been a dog or a bear, given your body proportions, but 'mouse' sounds like an easy way out kind of answer, though it's likely that you are some sort of rodent, the question then becomes what kind? Rodents range from mice to beavers after all, so there's a long list of options, like weasel or mustelid. Can't be an ermine, your fur doesn't turn brown in the summer-"

"I do believe that you will make for quite a fascinating student, young man." Nedzu cut the boy's ramblings short, much to Izuku's embarrassment.

"I-I apologize if that came across as rude, I just let my thoughts kind of spiral and once I started going I just didn't stop and I-"

"And I am not bothered." Nedzu cut him off a second time before he could wind up getting stuck in his own head. Amusing as it was, there were more important things to focus on. "I definitely would be delighted to have more talks like this in the future, as well as be able to further develop your skills as an analyst. I would say you have a talent but I believe that would be a disservice to the work you have put in." Midoriya seemed to lack a comeback to his words, so instead the chimera simply smiled. "For now, why don't we move on to the proper counseling portion of this meeting?" Nedzu was serious when he said he wanted to teach his boy, he was a fascinating specimen. He would definitely need to revisit what humans did and did not consider ethical. Do humans still consider it unethical to be brought into mated couplings based on the likely physical attributes of their potential offspring? Bah, he could worry about such things at a later time…

Chapter 17: "Nice to meet you Pot, I think I overheard you talking about your dear old friend Kettle?"

"Midorrriya, how has UA been trrreating you so farrr?"

Izuku smiled at Hound Dog. After his talk with Nedzu, the chimera called in Inui-Sensei so that the pair could have a more proper counseling session, to let the Pro talk to and get an understanding of the boy. They could go over his Quirk at a later time. "UA has been wonderful, most of the teachers have been very nice to me, and those who aren't are at least trying to be less…"

"Harrrsh?" Suggested Hound Dog, knowing fully well which teacher the boy was referring to.

"'Harsh.'" Repeated Izuku. "Yeah, 'harsh' definitely sounds right. Thankfully there wasn't any incident today like with what happened during the Q.A.T. yesterday. And if the principal is really going to vouch for Aizawa, then I suppose I can at least trust his word."

"Just don't think you have to push yourrrself to get rrresults rrright away Midorrriya, you'rrre still a student afterrr all." Replied the teacher.

Izuku nodded his head again, doing his best to let the counselor's words sink in.

After a few beats of silence, Hound Dog decided to change the subject. "Have you made any frrriends yet?" 

"W-well," Said Izuku, stammering over his words a little as he tried to respond, "I don't know how many of them would go as far as to call me their 'friend' per say… I know there's Och- Uraraka, she insisted that she's my friend. Kacchan's my rival though I don't think that really counts. Most of my classmates seem to at least be willing to listen to what I say, which is certainly an improvement from Aldera."

"Again. Bar. Hell. Devil. Limbo."

This time Izuku managed to avoid having to stifle a laugh, though the corners of his mouth did twitch a little. "I did join the rest of the class in the group outing that Ashido proposed."

"Oh? And would you be willing to tell me how that went?" Asked Hound Dog.

"Well…" Said Izuku as he thought back to the previous day.

The location had been one that Yaoyorozu proposed, and one that none of her classmates had been prepared for. She said that she knew of a casual eatery within walking distance that would take them all, and that she would treat them. That translated to her booking a private room at a restaurant that most of the class's families would be able to eat at once a year, possibly, if there was a really special occasion. Izuku would later learn that Ochako had been raised by construction workers, as an explanation for the chain of expletives she uttered under her breath that was so creative and disturbing that it probably would've made Kacchan blush if he'd been present to hear it.

Of course Ochako wasn't exactly the only one to react this way, everyone was various levels of shocked at the setting of their little get together, but Yaoyorozu's earnestness ultimately won out and everyone made their way inside.

Once everyone made it inside, Izuku could see friendships beginning to form as certain classmates began gravitating towards each other. Ochako and Iida both seemed insistent on staying by his side, which he definitely appreciated.

Shouji, Tokoyami, Asui, and Koda all sat together, which made sense since none of them seemed particularly talkative.

Meanwhile Ashido, Kirishima, Hagakure, and Aoyama were all chatting amongst themselves with energy and enthusiasm to spare.

Satou, Sero, and Ojiro seemed to have found some seats near each other, enjoying talking about a variety of topics from martial arts to baking.

Jirou and Yaoyorozu had somehow wound up together and had begun a discussion about different genres of music.

Kaminari and Mineta rarely stayed in one group, both flirting around to different spots to try and chat up those present. Eventually Kaminari settled down with Yaoyorozu and Jirou, though Mineta kept trying to hit on all of the girls at various points.

The food had also been tasty. It wasn't his mom's katsudon, he was always going to love that more than any other meal, but he wasn't going to say that the food this place served wasn't absolutely delicious. He made sure to thank Yaoyorozu, even if she insisted that this trip wouldn't even make a dent in her monthly allowance, a reply that Ochako definitely took in stride and was completely normal over, no she did not threaten him to say this he doesn't know what you're talking about.

As everyone ate and continued to talk, Izuku took what he saw as a golden opportunity to further investigate the Quirks of his classmates. Each one was fascinating to him, and he wanted to know everything he could. He couldn't really experiment with their Quirks since they were in a public place, a fancy restaurant no less, but he could still try to pick their brains and learn insight to their Quirks. He made a note about how they'd definitely need to reserve a training field for a day or three so he could really experiment with their Quirks.

He already had so many questions that he had to get answers to, he was just absolutely fascinated by each and every one of them, and he was also doing his best to not push their boundaries too hard. He didn't have much experience interacting with others but he was all too familiar with how to recognize looks and sounds of discomfort…

After everything was said and done, the class exchanged numbers with each other before parting ways. Izuku had spent a good amount of time staring at all the new contacts he had saved to his phone.

For the last ten months he'd only had six contacts saved and before that it was only five, it was nice to actually have his classmates' contact information for once since unlike previous years, that didn't mean he'd have to change his number or have them spam hate-texts at him. He might've actually cried a little…

"So, what's your verdict?"

"He's a good kid." Said Hound Dog. "Way morrre good than the worrrld deserrrves given the way it's trrreated him. Rrrealistically he would've wound up becoming a villain. If his desirrre to become a Herrro wasn't so powerrrful, we wouldn't be talking about how to trrrain a kid with a self destrrructive Quirrrk how to masterrr his powerrr, but instead how to capturrre a grrreen hairrred villain who was going on a bloody crrrusade against a worrrld that had wrrronged him."

Nedzu nodded his head. "I agree, Inui. This young man is very capable, and so brilliant it's almost blinding, surpassed by a desire to become a hero that's so powerful I would almost rather describe it as being more akin to a feral hunger."

The counselor let out a breath. "Ferrral is corrrrect, I could feel the kid's eyes on me, like he was sizing me up and analyzing my Quirrrk. It honestly was a little intimidating. He has the potential to become eitherrr an incrrredible Herrro, orrr a merrrciless villain."

Nedzu chuckled. "Then I suggest we do our duties as teachers and nurture this boy to become the former."

"Agrrreed."

"What kind of lessons does All Might teach!?"

"Is personal space a foreign concept to these people or something?"

"As if a flock of vultures would give a rat's ass about something like that."

"Eh…" Izuku made a face of severe discomfort as he tried to lean away from the three different microphones being jammed into his face. "He's very… enthusiastic?" Was the best he could manage.

"Aw c'mon, you spent an entire class with him, right? Surely there's gotta be some juicy details that you could be kind enough to divulge to the public!" They were relentless.

"Don't waste your time talking to them, if you give an inch they'll take a mile before twisting your words into something they can print on the front page in big bold letters for a nice paycheck."

"Geez Sixth, tell us how you really feel."

"From one Pro Hero to another, you know what dealing with this is like."

"Good point, just run Izuku."

Thankfully, Izuku didn't have to run as a hand suddenly grabbed him by the back of his uniform before lifting him up and pulling him through UA's entrance. "You're disrupting our students' learning environment." Izuku knew that voice. "Leave."

"We just want to get a word from All Might, I'm sure everyone in Japan was shocked when they learned that the number one Hero decided to join UA's faculty to help teach the next generation of Heroes! Japan deserves to know his reasons!" Demanded the reporter.

Aizawa sighed as he put Izuku down on the ground before using his hand to half heartedly make a shooing motion. "The man is off duty right now anyways. Now I'd suggest backing up if you wish to keep your fingers."

"Eh?"

With a beep, a large metal door suddenly came down, sealing the entrance to UA from the press. Izuku could hear a few alarmed screams from the reporters, but nothing that sounded like anyone being hurt.

"I can't believe I'm agreeing with Fifth on something, were I alive I'd probably ask to be put down-"

"Hey!"

"But you are too nice for your own good sometimes."

'I'm going to be concerned about the wellbeing of others.' Replied Izuku. 'Even if they are "vultures."'

"You alright, Midoriya?" Asked Aizawa, not bothering to look down at the boy.

There was a beat before Izuku replied, "I'm fine, thanks for the save." He didn't look his way either.

"It's what Heroes, and teachers, are supposed to do." Aizawa then turned around and started walking towards the main building. "Let's go, unless you want to be late for class."

Izuku didn't say anything, instead simply gripping the straps of his backpack tightly as he jogged into UA after Aizawa.

"I took the liberty of reviewing your evaluations when it came to the battle trials." Explained Aizawa, tapping a stack of papers on the podium at the front of the room. "I'll keep things brief since I doubt there's much for me to say that All Might didn't already cover and it'd be illogical to beat a dead horse."

Izuku was pretty sure Koda's expression became a little more sickly at Aizawa's use of the figure of speech. Not exactly surprising for the guy who can talk to animals, it'd probably be in the same vein as someone talking about beating a human corpse.

"How about we put the breaks on that train of thought before it winds up even more grotesque?"

'Sorry.'

"Those of you who won, well done. Those of you who lost but tried your best regardless, you also deserve congratulations. Those of you who only have yourselves to blame for losing, I hope you learn from the experience and do better." Said Aizawa in his usual dry voice. Izuku could see Yaoyorozu's gaze travel towards her desk at that last part. Mineta meanwhile seemed to just stubbornly cross his arms, but otherwise remained silent. "And Bakugou, try to refrain from threatening your classmates."

"Tch, yes sir." Kacchan grumbled from his seat with a roll of his eyes.

Aizawa gave the boy a tired glare before sighing and shaking his head. "Now I hope you're all well rested, because your next challenge is already here."

"Do you think it's another test? Or perhaps some sort of wilderness survival training?"

"You'd love that, wouldn't you hermit?"

"Absolutely."

"You need to elect a class president." Explained Aizawa.

"Oh."

"That's oddly… ordinary."

'Something School-like could be a nice change of pace.' Thought Izuku right before the entire class erupted. Looks like everyone wanted to be president. Izuku considered the position, after all "this is UA's Heroic's Course, there was probably more to being President than the mundane responsibilities at an ordinary school, this would be someone's first venture into leading a group, which can translate into experience with being a hero leading sidekicks- aaand everyone is staring at me." Izuku's train of thought got derailed when he noticed twenty pairs of eyes presently on him.

"Maybe the pink devil can make you a mask that filters out your mumbling?"

"Are you really gonna use that nickname?"

"Yes, because it's funny."

"Thank you for grabbing the class's attention, Midoriya." Said Iida as he took a stand. "This allows me to put forth my proposal: a class wide vote."

"A vote?" Izuku raised an eyebrow, interested in what he was suggesting.

"It's as you said, Midoriya." Explained Iida, "This is UA's Heroics. Think about where you are right now, think about the responsibilities that a role like this would come with. The only fair way to determine such a position would be through a democratic process."

"But most of us have only known each other for less than a week, ribbit." Pointed out Asui. "Is that long enough to get a proper grasp on each other? I feel like most of us would still simply vote for ourselves."

"Well, we could always add the rule that you can't vote for yourself." Suggested Kaminari.

"Hm, I think that might actually go against the point though." Said Izuku. "After all, if we take away our ability to vote for ourselves, that'll simply leave the winner with feelings of self doubt."

"Eh?"

It looks like some of the class didn't get it, so Izuku elaborated. "'Do I actually deserve this?' 'Did they actually want me to lead or did I just happen to win because they didn't vote for themselves?' Those kinds of doubts would linger with the winner if we implement this rule into the vote."

Iida nodded his head. "It's exactly as Midoriya says, so I will not say that you cannot vote for yourself. Instead I implore each of you to ask yourself three important questions. One, 'Do I really want these responsibilities?' Two, 'Can I fulfill these responsibilities?' And Three, 'If not me, then who?'" Iida then looked at Aizawa. "Is this method alright, sensei?"

Izuku looked to see the man crawling into that yellow sleeping bag of his. "Do whatever you like as long as a decision's made before the deadline." The man said tiredly.

"Bruh."

"Bruh."

"Bruh."

"How the hell did all three of you manage to do that in perfect sync?"

"Born in the grimdark era that is the Dawn of Quirks."

"That explains everything and nothing at once."

Izuku stared at the chalkboard. He reached up and rubbed his eyes a couple times to make sure he wasn't seeing things before checking again. Nope, that was accurate. He did in fact have nine votes. A fact that Fifth seemed absolutely ecstatic over. 

'How. The Fuck?' He couldn't help but wonder to himself. 'I didn't even vote for myself!'

"I'm not surprised, honestly I figured you would've gotten more."

"I wish you'd voted for yourself so that we wouldn't have to listen to this idiot."

"You all doubt me, but the proof continues to present itself!"

"You need a hobby."

"Oh yeah, because there are looots of ways to find entertainment when you're living in the head of a teenager!"

"It seems I've been bested by you once again, Midoriya." Said Yaoyorozu dejectedly as the two stood at the front of the class.

"I didn't want this to happen," Izuku whisper-shouted at her frantically, "I voted for you for crying out loud!"

That seemed to only deepen the lines of dejection on her face. "I cannot decide if that makes me feel better or worse."

Izuku hung his head in defeat. A reassuring spectral hand on his shoulder from Eighth managed to pull him back to reality though. He gave both of his cheeks a quick smack before addressing the class. "Well everyone, you all voted for me for… some reason so I suppose I'll just have to do your best not to disappoint you."

"All hail President Midoriya!" Screeched Dark Shadow. Tokoyami sighed before explaining to his other half that that's not how it works, much to the amused laughter of most of the class.

"I just… how? Why?" Izuku was still left questioning even into lunch break. 

"Well, simply put Midoriya, they took those questions I asked to heart." Explained Iida between bites of rice. "After all, given your performance in both the Quirk Apprehension Test and then the Battle Trials, you've shown yourself to be intelligent, reliable, and determined. Even as your opponent who didn't face you directly, you still managed to earn my respect enough to obtain my vote."

"You voted for me!?" Exclaimed Izuku. 

"He's not the only one." Said Ochako with a giggle. "I mean, seriously Deku, the Battle Trial showed that you've got the ability to outthink your opponents strategies and with how much you want to help us learn with our Quirks, you've definitely got the makings of a good class leader." If to prove her point, Ochako placed a hand on her food try, causing it, and all the food on it, to start floating into the air.

"Uraraka!" Exclaimed Iida, "Don't use your Quirk in the cafeteria! That's a recipe for disaster!" 

Ochako couldn't help but laugh at the unintended pun there. "Recipe! Hahaha!" She quickly released her Quirk before her food got too high, gracefully catching the tray in her hands when it came back down.

"If it makes any difference, Dark Shadow wanted me to vote for you." Said Tokoyami, making Izuku flinch slightly. His classmate had been so quiet the entire time he'd almost forgotten he was there.

"Is that right?" Asked Izuku weakly.

"Well after I told her that she couldn't really be president, she decided you'd be the next best choice." Izuku was fairly certain he could sense some dry humor in his classmate's voice.

Izuku looked towards his classmate's chest, knowing that was the area that his other half generally resided. "Thanks for that, Dark Shadow."

"No problem." Came her voice, albeit very softly, "It's nice to have someone who actually acknowledges me! When I eventually drown the world in darkness, I'll be sure to leave a nice light spot for you to be safe in."

Izuku gave a nervous chuckle as Tokoyami sighed and shook his head. "I appreciate that." He couldn't help but smile as he watched his friends talk. Besides the four of them, Sero, Ashido, Mashirao, Shouji, Hagakure, Aoyama, Satou, and Koda were all seated at the table and talking (or signing) amongst themselves.

Kacchan, Kirishima, Kaminari, Jirou, Yaoyorozu, and Asui were all sitting at a second table. It seems Kirishima and Kaminari were both still insistent on befriending Kacchan and Kaminari was insistent on dragging Jirou and Yaoyorozu into it. Asui had now joined the group as well. Izuku was glad Kacchan was on the road to making friends, lord knew he needed them.

"Nice to meet you Pot, I think I overheard you talking about your dear old friend Kettle?"

Mineta and Todoroki both left to sit on their own, it seems neither of them were particularly interested in being friendly with the class still, much to Izuku's concerns.

"Maybe they're just loners? I can certainly relate."

'No, Mineta was more than willing to sit with us yesterday, it seems the Battle Trial has really been getting to him…' Thought Izuku.

"Honestly I still don't get why you care so much."

"Honestly I'm surprised that you still don't get it."

"The hell is that supposed to mean?"

Before an answer could be given, the deafening sound of an alarm suddenly tore through the cafeteria.

"Security Level Three Has Been Breached. Students Please Evacuate." Came the Automated voice over the speakers. 

Suddenly the entire cafeteria exploded into a frenzy as all the second and third years began to panic. "What is this? What is 'Security Level Three?'" Demanded Iida. 

"Someone's infiltrated the school! This hasn't happened in three years! We need to get outta here!" Exclaimed a third year.

"Shit, everyone's panicking."

"Damn, so much for the 'greatest Hero School in Japan.' Moment an incident occurs and everyone goes off the rails."

"Not helping dammit!"

"Ack!" Izuku couldn't avoid being swept into the chaos, nor could any of his classmates. He could hear sounds of pain and distress. Iida had his face planted against a nearby window, poor Koda looked scared for his life, Tokoyami was hugging himself, with black arms coming out of his body and writhing about. It looks like the chaos was distressing Dark Shadow. Izuku continued scanning the crowd for classmates, he was worried that they were going to get hurt. He didn't want his classmates- his friends, he didn't want his friends to be hurt!

"Ow!" A cry of pain caught his attention. He recognized that voice… Hagakure! Shit, this was the worst possible situation for her, panicked teens weren't going to notice an invisible girl until they were literally trampling her.

He had to act now! 'One for All… five percent!' He kept the charge on the lower side to avoid causing any unintentional injuries before forcing his way through the crowd. He used his eyes to search the crowd as he moved, and soon found what he was looking for, an "empty" uniform on the ground. He was able to calculate the location of her arm and reached out, grabbing her off the ground and pulling her close to him.

"Wh-what? Midoriya!?" She exclaimed.

"Hold tight." Was all he said before leaping into the air and out of the crowd. He used one hand to hold her close to him while rearing the other back. 'And now for a five percent… Detroit Smash!' He slammed his fist into the wall, embedding it to create a hold for himself while planting his feet against the wall. Basically he was performing improvised wall crawling. "Any injuries?"

"N-no… I'm fine. Th… thanks, Midori-"

"IT'S OK!"

The abrupt shout caused both of them to flinch as their heads whipped around to see the source of the shouting. In the process Izuku could feel Hagakure's hair brush against his face. It was short and fluffy, he realized. The pair then noticed Iida standing on top of the emergency exit sign. Izuku was curious how he even got there.

"IT'S JUST THE PRESS! THERE'S NO NEED TO PANIC! YOU ARE UA STUDENTS, SO ACT LIKE IT AND EXIT IN AN ORDERLY MANNER!" 

"Huh, not bad kid."

Thanks to Iida, the students were able to calm down and actually organize themselves instead of trying to rush out the door in a panic. The teachers were able to hold the Press off until the police could arrive to… politely remove them from the premises.

Now Izuku was left pondering something. Despite being the Class President, he'd barely been able to do anything, meanwhile Iida had managed to calm the entire student body down and get them to evacuate properly.

Maybe it'd be better if-

"No."

Eh?

"Your classmates chose you to be their leader, so you don't get to pawn the responsibility off onto someone else."

"Speaking from experience aren't you?"

"Tch, Bruce didn't let Kudo quit even when leadership was thrust upon him without his consent, and I'm not letting this brat run from his responsibilities either."

'"Bruce?" "Kudo?"' Izuku's questioning was left unanswered. However what Second said stuck with him. Perhaps there was an alternate solution. He'd need to talk to Yaoyorozu first though…

"Before we initiate the ceremony for the new class president, there's an announcement we'd like to make." Said Izuku as he anxiously stood at the front of the class alongside Yaoyorozu.

"Due to his performance during the… crisis earlier today, we'd like to offer a position amongst the Class Representatives to Iida. Perhaps something along the lines of Secretary? Or in general a third voice of reason to turn towards." Explained Yaoyorozu.

Iida seemed surprised by this development. "A-are you certain?" 

"You voted for me because you trust my judgment, right? Admittedly my first plan was to simply step down as president and let you take over, but I was talked down from that idea, and after conferring with Yaoyorozu, she agreed that we should still offer a position to you." Explained Izuku.

"Hey, I'm all for it." Said Kirishima. "Iida was super manly in the lunchroom."

"He reminded me of one of those emergency exit signs." Joked Kaminari.

"Is this alright, sensei?" Asked Yaoyorozu.

"Do whatever you like." Said Aizawa flatly. "Just don't quickly, it'd be illogical to waste more time than necessary."

"Hm, well if it's a request from both class representatives, then I cannot turn it down!" Declared Iida proudly. "I shall do my best to lead alongside you both!"

Izuku smiled at his friend, happy for him as he walked up to join the two of them at the front of class. He was happy with how things were. Too bad this day was about to take a turn for the dire…