Chapter 2Chapter TextIzuku was watching the latest hero fight from the news. The villain had attacked a festival. He was a big guy, with orange hair and an obvious hardening quirk or so everyone thought until he started creating constructs out of his metallic skin, knives mostly, which he threw with great aim.
'Quirk: Metal shell(true name unknown)
Type: Emitter
Description: allows the user to create a iron like shell around themselves which can be formed into weapons or other constructs. Construct seem to have less durability than one would assume from a metallic alloy. Usage of the quirk seems to drain the user, as after only 10 minutes of fighting, the user fell unconscious. Perhaps drawing on the iron within the blood stream'
Izuku put his pen down, he had been analysing quirks all day and the day before and the whole week leading up to that day. It was his way of getting his mind off the soon to start again school year. He had a quirk now, he shouldn't have to fear anything, right?
But no matter how much he told himself that, he still flinched when his mind even graced the topic of Kacchan. His once best friend had turned into his biggest bully. He had been burned and beaten one too many times for his fear to vanish just because he had a quirk. He shouldn't be afraid, he had an A rank quirk now! Kacchan's quirk was only a high b rank, though much like Endeavor, he was on his way to training that up to an A rank.
'Die you damn nerd, Die!'
'Worthless deku'
'That's what you must call a weakling who can't do anything, a deku'
The pen in his hand snapped as he clenched his fist. Was he afraid? Yes. Frustrated? Most certainly. Angry? Absolutely. But above all he was tired of walking on eggshells around Kacchan.
What he had to do was face his fears, he decided. He couldn't let Kacchan's rage dictate what he did. If he wanted to become a hero, he had to face his fears, not run away from them. So, Izuku closed his notebook and took a shaky breath, "you can do this Izuku, you have power now"
Kacchan's home was not far away, so he walked towards it, his mind racing with possibilities of what could happen. But he never made it to his home, for, when crossing a street, a guy with a knife in his hand grabbed him, pressing the cold steel against his neck.
"Stay away or I'll gut this boy!"
Izuku froze in fear. Looking around, he saw Endevor and two of his sidekicks down the street.
As they stepped closer, the knife cut into his flesh ever so slightly. The cut burned as he shouted, "I will do it! I will fucking do it, back off!"
Izuku muttered, "fuck"
Endevor's quirk was not suited for situations like this. He saw the pro heroes step back but the villain didn't let go of him. They stood like that for a good minute before someone from behind them grabbed for Izuku, snapping his head around, he saw another sidekick behind them. The sidekick wasn't fast enough though, in a panic, the villain cut open Izuku's throat. Blood filled his airway, suffocating him in metallic tasting liquid. He tried gasping for air but all he managed to do was fill his lungs with more blood. In a panic, he transformed. And lo and behold, the wound closed and he coughed up the blood which had filled his airways. It was a painful process but he would live.
Next thing he knew, Endevor was standing over him, "that is quite the quirk you have", his voice was gruff and intimidating, "I thought you were a goner when that villain slit your throat"
"S- so did I sir" he slowly transformed back into his normal form, scales receding.
"Yes, I assume you had never had to transform from something so drastic", the flaming hero nodded, "if I may ask, what is your quirk exactly?"
"It's called Azure Dragon, it allows me to transform partially or completely into a blue scaled Asian dragon, which greatly enhances my body. I can also shoot a beam from my mouth when transformed and fly" he explained. He could've gone into more detail but he thought the hero wouldn't like being told his life story. Heroes were busy people after all.
"Well, it sure sounds impressive. You looking to be a hero?"
"Yes, more than anything", he nodded forcefully.
"Well then, I look forward to seeing you rise through the ranks. You have potential. I can see the fire burning in your soul", Endevor turned away from him and went to arrest the villain.
A little shaken but not dead, he continued to walk to the Bakugo's house. Nothing exciting happened on his way there, luckily. He didn't know whether his nerves could handle that. He stood in front of the house, shaking. Was this really a good idea?
Before he lost his courage, he rang the doorbell.
Now, there was no going back. He waited and eventually, Kacchan opened the door, "who the fuck- D- deku? The fuck happened to you?"
"W- well-"
"Don't tell me you have been taking steroids to get buff. It won't change anything. You are still worthless, quirkless little deku" Kacchan sneered, looking Izuku up and down.
"N- no! I-"
"You can't honestly think I would believe this is natural. Do you think I'm stupid?" Kacchan's palm crackled with small explosions, "if you lie to me-"
"I awakened my quirk", Izuku muttered.
"What you say? You are quirkless, we all know tha-" before he could finish his thought, Izuku transformed into his hybrid form, "w- what? You fucking need have been hiding your quirk from me?!"
He sounded pissed off.
"N- n- no! I'm just a l- late bloomer", Izuku stammered.
"Tell that to someone who will believe your bullshit", Kacchan slammed the door shut.
Chapter 3Chapter TextIzuku stood before the closed door. This hadn't helped his mental anguish. Kacchan thought he had been hiding his quirk all this time… if only he had found that strange fruit earlier, maybe then they could've been friends… but he didn't.
Then, something in his mind clicked, things would never go back to the way they were when they were kids and that was… strangely okay? It was as if a thousand ton weight was lifted from his shoulders. They weren't friends and he had to accept that.
Kacchan made his choice long ago.
When he turned on Izuku, bullying him for something out of his control. A good friend would've stood with him through the hard times, not thrown him to the dogs like Kacchan did.
Izuku clenched his jaw and walked off towards his home.
This day had been eventful. First his run in with the villain, who had almost killed him and then his enlightenment about Kacchan and their 'friendship'. He was mentally exhausted. So, he played some of his videogames. He was a collector of old pre quirk videogames. Some of them were even revived with fan servers long after their main servers shut down all those years ago. Back then, there had been so many diverse games. Nowadays almost all the games featured heroes from around the world. It was just another gear in the multi billion dollar industry that was heroism.
He booted up league of legends and hopped onto one of the fan servers.
He played for hours, up in the voice chat with his teammates. It was a good distraction from the horror he had lived through. After a particularly challenging game, he signed off and took a quick shower. The warm water cascaded down his muscular frame and he sighed, washing out his dried blood from his neck. It felt refreshing, washing all the grime off his body.
After drying himself off, the green haired boy fell asleep on his bed, his eyes closing and his mind drifting off into dreams.
He had no pleasant dreams that night, nor the following nights. Even as school reopened, he was still haunted by the feeling of drowning in his own blood.
When it was time for his third year in middle school to begin, he was very nervous. Would things be different now that he had a quirk? Would they be better or would their reactions be like Kacchan's? He nervously walked into the classroom. Everyone looked at him with shock. Was this really the same quirkless, scrawny boy that had been there last year?
"Mino, is that you?" One of his classmates asked.
Mino was another classmate of theirs who had a shapeshifting quirk.
"N- no, it's still me…" he didn't meet her eyes, sitting down in silence.
Before they could ask any more questions, their teacher walked in.
"Welcome students to your third and final year, here at Aldera junior high. This is the year in which you will decide which Highschool you want to attend. The world is open to those of you who apply themselves. Some of you might even become famous heroes. Who am I kidding, all of you want to be heroes" their teacher spoke at first serious, before he broke out grinning. The students around the room demonstrated their quirks and Izuku was reminded of their quirks, which he had analysed, 'Stone fist, transformation. Telekinesis, emitter. Frog throat, transformation. Green beast, mutation'
"Don't lump me in with these losers, teach", Kacchan jumped up on the table, "I aced all the mock exams last year and will be the only one out of all these extras to make it past being a sidekick for some d lister!"
The class erupted in outrage. People were shouting, throwing pencils and using their quirks in an explosion of chaos.
"Now now, quiet down. I know you have some pretty impressive quirks but quirk use isn't allowed in public, so please, stop before I have to report you. Speaking of impressive quirks, Midoriya shonen has awakened his quirk and it is an estimated A rank"
The whole outrage died down and everyone's eyes snapped towards him. An A rank quirk? Even Bakugo sama's quirk was only a B rank.
Izuku chuckled weakly, waving his hand, feeling extremely awkward. The stares bore into him like drills into the earth.
"Really?" One girl broke the silence, her curiosity peaked, "show us!"
"I- i don't-"
"Like I said, quirk use in public places is forbidden without a license, so he will not show his quirk", their teacher informed. Izuku felt thankful for being spared the attention, "now, let's go over this years syllabus…"
At lunch, the girl who had spoken up, walked over to him, "hey, De- I mean, Izuku kun, wanna sit with us?"
Izuku was just about ready to accept, when he realized what was happening. They wanted to be friends now that he had a quirk? As if. He wouldn't play that game, so, with uncharacteristic coldness, he said, "no, now screw off" and walked over to his usual spot, in the corner, where he could overlook the whole cafeteria. Even though it was technically illegal, during lunch, the students freely used their quirks, a great opportunity to analyse them. The new first years had some interesting quirks. White haired kid, his quirk had something to do with the floating, spectral hands that he used to eat, whilst having his actual arms behind his back. Green haired girl with a teleportation quirk, which she used to get around, blinking in and out of existence. A tall boy with some kind of lizard quirk. And so many more! Everywhere he looked, there were interesting quirks and he documented each and every one.
Chapter 4Chapter TextIzuku was writing down all the new quirks he had seen during the school day when, outbid nowhere, Kacchan stood behind him and snatched the notebook right from under his nose.
"Quirk analysis for the future? Pathetic", he mocked, a cocky grin playing on his lips, "what makes you think you can be a hero? Just because your quirk has a high potential, it doesn't erase that we, the other heroes to be and myself had had years to train our quirks. You probably don't even know how to fight. Muscle without technique is nothing, you should know that. I know you aren't dumb, delusional, yes but not dumb. So you will agree when I say that you have no chance. Now a little parting gift!"
He slammed his palm on the notebook and let an explosion loose, charring the notebook.
"My notes!" Izuku's eyes widened, first in fear and then in… anger. He let out a guttural growl and started transforming out of rage. But then, half transformed, he caught himself. He had promised to not let Kacchan control him any more. This was exactly what the blonde would've wanted. Him being labelled a villain for attacking a fellow student with his quirk. He gathered his things and left, whispering in his ear as he passed him, "I will surpass you"
Kacchan just snorted, clearly proud of himself. The blonde boy was almost upset that Izuku hadn't fought him, because, in his mind, he would've surely won.
Izuku flipped through the pages of his notebook, burned, charred and unreadable, "tch"
He threw it in the trash and walked towards his home. Kacchan was wrong that he couldn't be a hero but at the same time, he had some good points. He was now strong, stronger than most but his strength was nothing if he couldn't guide it. So, he went on r/proherotraining on Reddit and wrote up a post.
'Hello Reddit! This is not my first post here and some may recognise me as that quirkless kid who wants to be a hero… well one of those facts has changed. I still want to be a hero but I am not quirkless anymore. Turns out, I am a late bloomer.
My quirk -which I will not be explaining in detail here- has the side effect of making me super strong but I realised something, I have no way of using that strength. I know plenty of strategy and tactics but when it comes to martial arts or weapon training, I am a complete newbie.
So I am looking for some advice for what to train in in order to get me battle ready till in a year when the UA entrance exam is. Are Theresa's martial arts that are better than others? What about weapons? Could I maybe use a sword? Knives? I am at a complete loss here.
Thanks in advance,
SmallMight01'
When he was done writing that out, Izuku went to shower to clear his mind. He preferred bubble baths but those were impossible for him now, thanks to that fruit, so a shower would do. When he got out of the shower and looked on his phone, he saw a massive thread of messages on his post.
'Heroism101 writes:
Congratulations on acquiring your quirk. I have been studying hero fighting for over twenty years now and can say that for people with strength enhancement quirks, there are multiple options. mixed martial arts is an Allrounder which fits most strength quirks but I can say that boxing is also an underated choice, especially since you need to learn on a short timeframe. Hope it helps'
Useful to know and something he could look into.
'Black_mamba writes:
Quirks even of the simple 'strength enhancement' variety can vary from person to person. Not all strength quirks enhance every body part the same, so finding a martial art that fits is trial and error'
Not helpful.
'Her0es_Suck420 writes:
Why would you want to be a hero? Just get a real job instead of glorifying those show runts who just want to stroke their own ego. The world could do without them. Letting people use their quirks freely would create an equalibrium'
Delusional. It had been tried before, letting citizens freely use their quirks. That had led to the fracturing of the European Union almost fifty years ago. They made it union policy that everyone could use their quirks as long as they didn't break any other laws. That just wasn't something that could hold up. Yet, some idiots still thought like this. He shook his head.
'MartialMan writes:
I can only add to the sentiment that boxing will be your best bet. I can also see you wielding a hammer or club, they are easy to get a handle on fast and would pare quite nicely with a strength quirk'
A club huh? He could use one on his hero costume, though it would be awkward, walking around with a thing like that…
He read the rest of the comments. Most were helpful, though there was the occasional troll mixed in there. In the end, he had landed in boxing, that was what most of the comments recommended. Over the next few weeks, he researched different quirk friendly boxing trainers. It was harder than you'd think. There were few that had the capability to handle this kind of high intensity training needed due to the strength that his quirk gave him. Most capped out at D rank strength quirks and his strength, even untransformed, was sitting in the low C rank. Most of the ones that could actually cater to his strength were fucking expensive but eventually, he found the place for him.
It was a small building in a shady part of town but the reviews were stellar and the cost wasn't too high. He signed up for training immediately upon witnessing the instructor fight a student. Both of them had C or higher ranked strength quirks and they were going at it, trading punch for punch.
Chapter 5Chapter TextIzuku swung at the reinforced sandbag, striking it with all his might, right, right, left, uppercut. It had been a three months since school began, just six more months till the UA entrance exam. As he struck the sandbag, he was internally analysing the villain fight he had seen that morning when on his way to school. It was a good training in multitasking
'The villain seems to possess a gigantification quirk, which gives him great size and strength. Kamui woods' use of his quirk was fine tuned, trying to imprison the wayward villain. Had Mount lady not intervened, Kamui Woods would have captured the villain without any problem. Mount lady is a new hero, I wonder how her quirk works? Can she freely decide her size or is she stuck with normal size and super size? In theory-'
"Hey, Midoriya"
Izuku's head snapped to the direction of the voice. There stood Mach sensei. Eleazar Mach was a British pro hero who was no longer serving as one, he was retired. He had long, black hair and one of his eyes was milky white. After he had been partially blinded, he had moved to Japan and opened this little boxing dojo. By his side was a young boy, maybe ten, with fiery red hair and enchanting blue eyes.
"Hello Mach sensei", Izuku bowed to the instructor.
"I have a little favor to ask you", he explained, scratching the back of his head, "this is Toji Akuma, he, like you, has recently awakened a quirk and well, your two quirks are very similar, so I wonder whether you could help him figure out his quirk? You seem to have a good grip on yours, considering you had it for so short a time"
"Of course!"
"Great, I'll take you two into a separate room, where you can let loose, follow me", Mach sensei guided the two through the hallways and into a room. No windows, no mirrors, just the distinct humming of fluorescent lights above, showering the grey wallpaper in warm light.
"Okay- so what is your quirk?" Izuku asked, "or better yet, show me"
The boy nodded, concentrating. Within seconds, he began morphing into a human wolf hybrid. He stayed in that form for a few seconds before transforming into a wolf. Izuku's eyes widened. That wasn't just similar, it looked completely the same as his quirk, only that his allowed him to transform into a dragon, not a wolf. Could it be-?
"You don't happen to have eaten a strange fruit which tasted horrible just before awakening your quirk, do you?"
Toji Akuma slowly blinked, "actually I did! How did you know?"
"And let me guess, you can no longer swim, right?"
"Yes, again" the boy's brain gears were slowly working to connect the dots, "you don't think it was that fruit, do you? And even if you did, how- wait… have you also eaten a fruit like that?"
"I have", he nodded, transforming into his hybrid form.
"Awesome… so that means that there are other fruits like that in the world? We were quirkless but what if someone with a quirk eats one of those fruits? Do they get a second quirk? Is their first quirk overwritten? How does any of this work? Quirks are supposed to be genetic and yet, we have gained one by eating a fruit?"
"I have no answers to any of your questions but hey, why don't we exchange numbers. If either of us discovers more of us, we text each other, sounds good? My phone numbering XXXXXXXXXXX" he told the boy his phone number and he told him his'.
"Now then, let's train you in using your quirk!"
After a long day at the boxing gym, Izuku walked out of the building. It was late, the sun was going down, so, he decided to take a shortcut, under a bridge. He was contemplating what to do with this new information when he heard something behind him, a wet sound. He turned around and there was a monsterous villain made of sludge, "a medium sized invisibility cloak, just my luck!", his voice was distorted, like he was talking underwater.
The bill jumped on him, engulfing him and trying to enter his holes, his nose, his ears, his mouth.
Outbid panic, he transformed into his hybrid form. He was panicked, thinking he would drown only for that not to happen. His enhanced stamina was keeping him from drowning.
He could still move his arms, so, with his jet black claws, he ripped at the villains eyes.
"Ow! Fuck! Just let me enter you!" The villain gurgled, increasing the intensity of his attack.
"Fear not, for I am here!" Izuku heard the voice through the sludge, that voice which he had heard so many times, a voice that brought hope into the hearts of civilians everywhere. From the sewer grate jumped all might. Not in his hero costume but in civilian clothing, "south Detroit smash!"
The sludge was blasted off of him and he was finally free once more.
"Are you okay, young man?" All might asked as Izuku was gasping for air, slowly transforming back.
"I- I'm fine… where's my notebook?!" He frantically searched his bag as All Might bottled up the villain. When he found it, he handed it to All Might, "please an autograph?"
"Of course young man, anything for my fans" All might took the pen and wrote out his autograph.
"Thank you so much! This will become a family heirloom!" He bowed deeply as the superhero jumped up and away. Izuku clutched the notebook in his hands. He had All Might's autograph! How could he be so lucky? First he found that fruit, now he had met his hero. Things couldn't possibly get any better.
With a pep in his step, Izuku walked over to his home, humming a happy tune all the while.
"What got you so Happy, Izuku?" His mother asked.
"I just met All Might", he beamed.
"How wonderful"
Chapter 6Chapter Text"Kami grace us, is it real?" A group of students surrounded Izuku's desk. He was showing them a photo of his All Might signature. He wasn't stupid enough to bring it to school, not with Kacchan having it out for him but the picture was proof enough.
"Yeah, it is! I met him last Friday after school", Izuku grinned, "he saved me from a villain"
"A villain? Are you okay?" One of his classmates looked worried, scanning Izuku for any injuries, of course finding none.
"I am fine", he reassured her, "All Might saved me before anything bad could happen and-"
"You don't actually believe that bull shit, do you?" Kacchan's voice drawled as he walked over, a cocky smirk playing on his lips, his red eyes glinting with malice, his hands in his pockets, "All Might famously has his main agency in Tokyo. Why would he be here in Musutafu? Deku probably faked the signature because he knows he can never get attention without cheating"
"I mean… it does sound pretty improbable", the girl who had worried about his safety muttered.
"Well Kacchan I don't care what you think. It is real. You are just salty that you don't have his autograph", Izuku shot back. This confidence was gained through the months at the boxing gym. He was learning how to fight. He would no longer be-
*boom!*
Izuku flinched as Kacchan sent an explosion in the air. And just like this, his confidence was gone and he felt like the quirkless little kid again, "I have nothing to be jealous about", Kacchan sneered, his voice dripping with venom.
"He does have an A rank quirk", one of their more fearless classmates said, "yours is only B rank, right?"
"I- how dare you?! Die extra!" Kacchan threw an explosive punch at the kids face but then, Izuku intercepted it with his body. He didn't know why he did it, his body moved on its own. The adrenaline in his veins totally cancelled out his fear and he grew confident again.
"You can call me names, you can insult me, you can even punch me but I will not sit back and watch you hurt innocent bystanders. I don't know what your problem with me is but don't take it out on them", Izuku glared at the blonde boy. Kacchan's expression was unreadable, though internally, he was shocked.
"Tch", The blonde bully turned around and walked over to his desk.
"Thank you bro", the boy who had stood up to Kacchan patted him on the shoulder, "I owe you one"
"No problem. Kacchan is…"
"Aweful?"
"More or less, yes", Izuku chuckled, sitting back down at his seat.
After school, he went straight to the boxing gym. Toji was already waiting for him. After Izuku had changed into his work out clothes, they got to training. Well, he trained Toji. The young boy couldn't yet control his strength all that well. Izuku was the only one in the gym durable enough to help him learn. Sure the sandbags were plenty durable but they couldn't tell him when he punched too hard, so Izuku got to act as this young boy's personal punching back.
"Do you think there really are others like us?"
Toji asked as he punched at Izuku's gut.
"Well, we already know that there's at least two of us, why couldn't there be more? Our fruits gave us transformation type quirks but I wouldn't be surprised if there were others too, emitter? Most definitely, Mutation? That I'm not so certain about but I guess its possible"
"Do you think someone with a quirk could eat a fruit and gain a second quirk or is it only the quirkless who can gain these powers?" Toji took a quick drink from his water bottle before continuing his assault.
"Good question… we know too little about these fruits to accurately predict that. We don't even know where they come from" Izuku stroked his chin, contemplating, "okay, that's enough for now, I still have some homework to complete, see you tomorrow"
"Bye Izuku sama"
"Bye Toji kun"
Izuku walked into the changing room. As he undressed, he stared at the vertical mirror positioned in the middle of the locker wall. Looking at himself, he barely recognised himself. He was tall, way taller than he had been when this started, way taller than Kacchan. His muscles were defined and his six pack was cut. He had also grown bulkier over the months, no longer a swimmer's build but an athletic one. His shoulders were broad, his legs muscular and his arms buff. That fruit had worked wonders. In just four months, he went from a scrawny quirkless loser, a deku, to a muscular eyecatcher with an A rank quirk. From someone who couldn't protect himself to a boxer able to take a hit and dash it out too. He undid his pony tail. His green, messy hair had grown out to the top of his shoulders. He liked having long hair.
As he dressed himself, his mind wandered to the UA entrance exam in just six months. He had achieved so much in four. Another six and he would be a monster.
No one knew what the entrance exam was like at UA, it was a closely guarded secret and the heroes who went there never spoke about it. Whether they signed an NDA or they just wanted the mystique to stay alive, he didn't know.
Izuku walked out of the gym and towards their apartment complex, where he ate some dinner with his mom before doing his homework. It was laughably easy. He had never had a problem academically, it just came to him.
After completing his homework, he went on to analyse a random pro hero's quirk. He did so by using a random number generator and the public hero database, which recorded the top 100 heroes in Japan and analysing the hero which's ranking correlated with the number generated.
"Number 72… Ice queen it is"
Chapter 7Chapter TextTime flew by. Kacchan kept trying to 'put him in his place' but he never let the blonde ruin his mood. Even his explosions, once feared and dreaded, now had little effect on him. Toji learned how to control his strength and their training sessions became less frequent. Neither of them found another fruit eater, though they were always on look out. As the UA entrance exam came closer, he focused more and more on his training. When it finally came, he was ready. Izuku stood before the gates of UA, calming his nerves before stepping through. This was his moment to shine!
Izuku looked at the large glass building, which housed the classrooms. Only that wasn't where the exams would take place but the auditorium. The auditorium was a huge building, easily housing over 300 applicants. And that was only the hero course applicants. There were many hundreds more that applied for general studies or support or even business. Out of the 372 applicants this year, only 36 would make it into the hero course, with four additional students coming from the recommendation exams. How he knew that there were 372 applicants? Why the internet. The UA high website has a counter for how many students applied each year, divided by courses. Izuku walked into the auditorium, a huge hall with many hundreds of seats and desks, looking for his desk, Desk 221. He found it easily, only for the bitter realization that Kacchan was sitting at the desk to his right. He had expected this, though he had hoped he was wrong. Kacchan didn't even glance at him, for which Izuku was grateful. The tests were handed out. They had two hours to complete the five pages of questions. They tested everything, from common knowledge to hero law and even morality questions. It was a hard and demanding exam and many didn't finish it in time but Izuku felt confident about his results. He shined in the more hero related questions especially. When they were done, the papers were collected and the voice hero: Present Mic walked onto the stage, speaking, his voice amplified through his quirk, "Welcome one and all to my live show! Everybody say heeee! I've got shivers down my spine too, listeners! All right, Examinees…. I'm gonna give you the low down on how this will go down! Are you ready?! Now pay close attention, listeners! We'll be testing your mettle by running a ten minute practice run at our replica city districts. You can take whatever you like! Everybody gather at the designed meeting area after the presentation, ya dig?"
"They don't intend on letting friends or classmates cooperate with each other, huh? Bummer, I was looking forward to crushing you" Kacchan tsked.
"We'll be sprinkling a large number of 'Villains' over the battlefield and they'll appear in three different varieties, with point values scaled according to difficulty. Using each of your individual quirks, dispatch as many 'Villains' as you can. Your goal, listeners, is to rack up a high score!! And don't think about directly attacking any other competitors or any of that nasty antihero stuff, because that is against the rules"
"Excuse me, may I ask a question?" one of the examinees spoke up, a boy with blue hair and glasses.
"Yes, examinee 119, what is it?"
"On the handout, there are clearly four types of villains listed! Such an error would be the height of embarrassment for a top tier national academy of UA high's caliber! The reason we are seated here today is because we seek guidance on the path to becoming model heroes!"
"Okay, okay, thank you for the segue, much appreciated, examinee 119! The fourth type of villain you'll encounter is with zero points! Let's call them 'Arena traps'! Have any of you ever played the pre quirk era videogame series of super mario brothers? You remember the Thwomps? There's a thing like that in each area! Their 'Gimmick' is that they rampage!"
"Thank you very much! I apologize for being rude!"
"Well, that's enough from me! As a certain hero by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte once said 'A true hero never stops overcoming the misfortunes in life'. Now let's move to the main event 'Plus Ultra!' and may you suffer gladly the trials to come"
They shuffled out of the auditorium, onto the buses, which took them to the mock cities. When they were there, Izuku walked towards the front of the crowd and- in anticipation of the event to happen- transformed. He grew taller, more muscular. His arms and chest sprouted azure scales and horns grew from his head, as did fangs from his mouth. He now towered over all the other examinees. The next tallest was a half meter shorter than Izuku at 2 meters tall. He was rather imposing, looking sort of like a demon.
"And start!", the voice came over the speakers, "What's the matter?! Why aren't you going in? There's no such thing as a countdown in a real battle, Run!"
Izuku, as the words clicked into place, ran in, together with the others. He was at the front, clearly faster than most, only outdone by the blue haired kid from earlier. He saw a street full of villain bots, no examinee was in it yet, so, he decided, go big or go home. He opened his maw and gathered energy in it, "Blast breath!"
Fire and light shot from his mouth, annihilating a whole streets worth of robots.
The other examinees looked at him with shock. What kind of monster could destroy that many robots in such a short time? But Izuku was already on the move, smashing robots left and right.
62 points, 64 points… 73 points… 82 points. It was all too easy. These robots were all too easy to destroy and he had a headstart, having taken out 47 points worth of villains with that blast breath.
Suddenly, he felt the earth rumbling. Looking up, he saw the zero point villain, taller than the houses around them. That was the zero pointer? Were they crazy? That is what the examinees thought but all Izuku saw was an opportunity to test his might. When else would he get a chance to let loose like this?
He concentrated, his form growing and elongating as he became a giant, azure dragon. He flew up to the zero pointer and wrapped his body around the metal contraption, squeezing it into submission. Metal strained under his might and he positioned his mouth downwards, so that the blast would only hit the zero pointer and the ground beneath, "Blast breath!"
Back in the observation room, the teachers were stunned into silence. There had been applicants who had destroyed the zero pointer before, mainly All Might but this kind of destruction was on a whole 'nother level. What was left was molten metal, no longer resembling a villain bot.
Chapter 8Chapter TextIzuku was in his room, punching the reinforced sandbag in the corner. It had been built to endure a pro hero wailing on it for hours. His mind was on the entrance exam. Hadn't it been too easy? Was this the power that these fruits gave? Toji was stronger than the average person, yes, but Izuku doubted that he could've destroyed the zero pointer. Even though both of their quirks had come from those strange fruits, they were not equal in power. Izuku was an A rank, whilst Toji was high c rank at best. It made him shudder, imagining an even stronger fruit somewhere out there. Was his fruit the pinnacle or was there something even stronger out there?
"Izuku! It's here", his mother stormed into his room, a letter in hand, bearing the stamp of UA high. Izuku snatched the letter. It was heavier than he expected, as if it had been artificially weighted. Slowly opening it, he saw a few pieces of paper inside, next to a small metal disk. First, he read the papers. It was forms to fill out for a hero costume to be created. Did this mean he was accepted? Maybe the disk would reveal more… as soon as he placed the disk on his desk, a hologram shot out from it. There was…
"All Might?!" What was All Might doing in a recording from UA?
"Yes, it is I! All Might, here to present you your test results! That's right, I have accepted a teaching position at UA high! I will start teaching this year" He laughed and beside him, there appeared a leaderboard, "you, young Midoriya, have beaten 84 points worth of villains. But that is not all! What kind of hero school would this be if we didn't appoint points for heroic deeds. The hero points! You have received… 0 hero points. This makes the first year in which two of the top ten have received no hero points. And those two, you and the number two also come from the same school!"
The leaderboard revealed itself. At the top was Izuku 84 villain points 0 rescue points and right beneath him was Kacchan with 77 villain points and 0 hero points, "we welcome you into this, your hero academia!"
Izuku was close to tears. He had done it. He made it into UA and even better he had beaten Kacchan by a whole seven points.
He sat there in shock, not quite registering his mother crying her heart out in tears of pure joy. He sat like that for a few minutes before he jumped up and celebrated. His smile was bright and broad.
He texted Toji and the boy called him, "bro, you have got in? You are really becoming a hero?!"
"Hell yeah", he replied simply, "and you will make it too in a few years"
Toji wanted to be a hero, naturally, as did most kids. He had almost given up on his dream when he had eaten that fruit and his vigor was reignited.
That night, Izuku was up all night, sketching out his hero costume. A blue and black pair of lands with a utility belt and steel capped blue boots. His torso was uncovered but he had long, spiked gloves reaching down onto his elbows, with free fingertips, to allow his claws in his hybrid form to be used. Normally, with transformation quirks, you'd have to sew the threads of the costume out of the users hair but his quirk somehow resized all his clothes to fit him, despite how impossible that should be.
He also requested a large, metal club with spikes on it. The club he sketched was almost 1 and a half meters tall, as tall as he had been before he ate the fruit. Now, he was almost a half meter taller than club, even when not transformed.
The next day, at school, Kacchan cornered him after classes, "you fucking deku must've cheated to get in. Under no circumstances could you ever outshine me! I'm stronger! I'm better! I AM BETTER!"
Izuku chuckled deeply, "wororororo! Worororororo! You really are pathetic Kacchan. You are so far up your own arse that you can't accept the thought that someone else could be better than you. You know what, Kacchan? I WILL become the next number one, the next All Might and you? You will be the forever second place, the Endeavor to my All Might. You will never move out of my shadow, for you have not the maturity to grow. I wanted so desperately to be your friend but now I see how foolish you are. There is one big difference between us. When you got your quirk and I didn't, you chose to revel in the moment whilst I moved on. I grew up and clearly, you didn't. Wororororo!"
He walked past a stunned and fuming Kacchan. He had surpassed Kacchan's score in the entrance exam and with it, he had surpassed the need to cling to their once friendship.
And yet, something within him didn't fully let go. He still called him Kacchan, not Bakugo, not even Katsuki but Kacchan.
But he didn't dwell on that, no, he headed straight to the boxing gym. When he walked in, the lights were off and -as he stepped in- the lights came on, confetti flew and party horns sounded. His friends from the gym were all there, his trainer, his sparring buddies and finally, at the dead centre, Toji, "congratulations on getting into UA!"
"Aw, guys, you didn't have to-"
"Nonesense", his trainer waved his protest off, "we began planning as soon as Toji told us, we have cola, some pizza and even a few muffins"
Izuku smiled. These were his friends, people who celebrated this joyous occasion with him. He felt at ease, all the tension in his body eased away and he took a slice of the pizza which they had brought out. It tasted divine, not because it was pizza but because he shared it with his friends.
Chapter 9Chapter TextIzuku was walking through the halls of UA high, "1a… 1a… where is 1a? Ah- there it is"
The door was massive, easily 5 meters tall and with '1 A' boldly painted on it. From inside, he could hear someone loudly arguing and his mood immediately dampened. He knew that voice, it was Kacchan, unmistakably. He opened the door and saw Kacchan, feet on his desk and the blue haired student who had interrupted present mic scolding him, "remove your feet from that desk! Such an action is insulting to those who came to UA before us as well as the craftsmen who made this desk!"
"Like I care. What middle school are you from, extra?!" Kacchan exploded (not literally).
"I hail from somei private academy. My name is Tenya Iida", Iida explained, reaching out a hand.
"Somei? A stuck up elitist then? I should blow you to bits and-" Kacchan was getting too violent, Izuku decided. He had seen this before… if he let them continue to argue, then this would end violently.
"You already causing trouble, Kac~chan?", he walked over to him stood before his desk, arms crossed.
"Don't you interfere Deku! He might be a stick up his ass rules lawyer but at least he didn't cheat to get in", Kacchan barked with venom.
"How many times do I have to tell you? I got in fair and square", Izuku huffed, "just chill out"
"I'll shod you what it means to 'chill out'! In death!", he lunged at Izuku, ready to blow him to bits, only no explosion came from the palm pressed up against his face. Then, a strand of cloth entrapped him, forcing him towards the door.
"Already causing trouble? You are going to be the death of me", a homeless looking guy said. He had a scarf capture weapon, bright yellow goggles and wore all black. That, together with turning off Kacchan's quirk, made it obvious who he was to a hero fanboy like Izuku, "the erasure hero Eraser Head! Your quirk allows you to turn off the quirk of whoever you look at. You use it to level the playing field in one on one battles, which you specialise in-"
"And it also gives me dry eye, so would you please stop struggling?! Anyways, I'm your homeroom teacher, Shota Aizawa. As your classmate pointed out, my hero name is Eraser Head. Pleased to meet you", he pulled out a gym uniform, " quickly now, change into your gym outfits and head out to the grounds"
Once they were changed, Aizawa sensei explained what they would be doing, "a test of our quirks?"
"What about orientation?" A brown haired, pink cheeked girl asked.
"No time to waste on that stuff if you want to be heroes. UA is known for its 'freestyle' educational system. That applies to us teachers too. Softball throwing, long jump, 50 meter dash, endurance running, grip strength, side stepping and the seated toe touch… you did these tests in middle school, yes? Your standard no quirks allowed tests. This country still insists on prohibiting quirks when calculating the averages of those records. It is not rational. The department of education is procrastinating. Midoriya, how far could you throw in middle school?"
"Erm- sixty meters?"
"Great, now try it with your quirk, just don't leave the circle, otherwise, everything is on the table" Aizawa sensei threw him a soft ball, which he caught.
Izuku looked at it, contemplating for a few seconds before shrugging. He activated his quirk, growing larger and more muscular, his arms covering in scales, his horns grew. He gripped the ball with his clawed fingers, turned and threw with all his might. The ball flew into the distance, till it was so small in the horizon that they could no longer clearly make it out, "it is important for us to know your limits. That's the first rational step to figure out what kind of heroes you are going to be. Don't worry if you get a bad score, some quirks, like mine, aren't well suited for this kind of test", he rotated his phone showing the distance of 499.56 meters.
"Almost 500?! That is insane!"
"I'm surprised it isn't more"
"And why is that?"
"Haven't you heard what he did to the zero pointer, I saw it, molten metal after just one attack"
"That can't be right, can it?"
"Have you seen the zero pointer? There is no way a student could destroy that thing"
"I saw it with my own eyes"
As that discussion was going on the tests commenced.
During the 50 meter dash, Izuku saw Iida's quirk in action, engines at the back of his calves, as well as a few others, like Aoyama, who had a belly button laser… which he could only shoot for a second.
When it was Izuku's turn, he sprinted, reaching the finish line in 4.02 seconds, 0.11 seconds faster than Kacchan.
Uraraka -the pink cheeked girl- achieved a score of infinity on the ball throw. Her quirk deactivated the gravity on the ball, making it fly out into space. He wondered what the limit was. Was it a time limit? Size? Weight?
Over the next few tests, he observed more and more quirks, mentally categorising each quirk he saw. He had quite a few new pages to write at the end of it.
Aizawa sensei showed everyone's scores on a hologram. Izuku was at second place, only outshined by Momo Yaoyorozu. Her quirk allowed her to seemingly create things out of nothing. There was more to it, he knew but what was it? Anyways, she created canons for the ball throw, motorcycles for both the dash and the endurance run and so much more, it was quite the cheat.
Kacchan was fuming. 4th place? He was better than these extras, wasn't he? Why wasn't he in first place? They must've cheated, there was no other way!
The students filed back into the classroom after changing back. Kaminari(a kid with yellow hair and a black lightning bolt in it) and Uraraka were handing out the syllabuses to the students. Looking at it, they had heroics 101 tomorrow, after a few hours of normal classes.
Izuku put away the Syllabus and walked out, today was done.
Iida kun walked up to him, laying his hand on his shoulder, "Midoriya kun, I must say, your power is superior to mine. I hope we can help each other improve over our time here!"
"I'm not nearly as fast as you", he tried to brush it off but Iida kun would have nothing of it.
"You might not be as fast as me but you certainly are more powerful. I saw what you did to that zero pointer in the exam"
"Oh that?" Izuku scratched the back of his head. He had no way to explain that away.
"Hey, you two, wait up for me", Uraraka chan ran up to them, "hi, the names Ochako Uraraka, you are Tenya Iida and Deku Midoriya, right?"
"Deku?"
"Yeah, that's what that Bakugo guy called you, right? 'Don't you interfere Deku' or something like that?"
"My real name is Izuku. Deku is a name he gave me, it means useless", he chuckled weakly.
"How heinous! First he threatens me and now he is calling you names? Does he really belong in the hero course?!" Iida kun was appalled.
"Sorry, gotcha, I just thought it sounded kinda like Dekiru, 'you can do it', I kinda like it but I understand that it doesn't bring forth any pleasant memories."
"Yeah…"
"Then what's up with you calling him Kacchan? Is that a nickname too?"
"Yeah, when we were little, I couldn't pronounce Katsuki and it kinda just stuck"
"That's kinda cute actually"
Chapter 10Chapter TextUA was after all, still a school at its core, so they had normal classes, like English or math and then, in the afternoon, it was time for heroics 101. the students were chattering, "who do you think will teach us?"
"It could be Aizawa sensei, right?"
"Maybe but I would prefer someone else. Aizawa sensei is so intense"
Then, after ten minutes of waiting, the door swung open and All Might rushed in, "I'm coming through the door like a hero!"
"It is incredible! Will we really be taught by All Might?!"
"That's his silver age costume, isn't it, kero?"
"That entrance, it gives me goosebumps"
"Heroics 101, the class which will put you through all sorts of special training to mold you into heroes! And we'll begin with Battle training!"
"Finally", Kacchan grinned.
"Isn't that a bit… early? We have been here for one day…"
"There is no better test of your abilities than to throw you into the deep end but for that you'll need these", as All Might spoke, from the walls sprang forth cases, numbered to the class roster, "in accordance with your quirk registry and the special request forms you filled out after being accepted, these were created, your hero costumes! After you change, come outrun ranking order to ground beta. Looking good is very important ladies and gentlemen. Look alive now, because from today on you are all heroes!"
The class cheered as they grabbed their cases and marched towards the changing rooms. Izuku, as he changed, looked at the other's costumes. What caught his attention was Kirishima. The boy had a costume very similar to his' except it was red and black instead of blue and black and lacked the spikes on the gloves and the utility belt. He also had some red, gear like things on his shoulders, which Izuku didn't have. But the design was very similar. They must've both been sent to the same company. UA had contracts with a dozen different designers who helped their students get the costumes they wanted. Some designers specialised in transformation quirks, others in emitter or mutant. That wasn't the only criteria though. Style, support gear, theme, all those and more could affect which agency you were assigned to.
"Whoa, is that a club? So manly" Kirishima asked, looking at the club almost his size. It had been made with a quirk. He had heard about this quirk before. The designer was quite famous. His quirk was minimise. It allowed him to mark something. That marked thing could shrink in size to the size of a phone when a specific action was taken and brought back to original size when another action was taken. It didn't change the weight however. His activation key was drawing a circle three time clockwise and three times counterclockwise within 6 seconds to minimise it or turn it back, according to the piece of paper attached to the club. The user of the quirk couldn't control what the trigger was, it was always the same on any one type of object, all metal clubs would have that trigger and all rifles would have the same trigger to each other. Izuku was glad that the trigger was easy to do but not so easy that it would be done unintentionally.
"Yeah, it fits well with my enhanced strength"
Kirishima walked over, trying to lift it, without success, "damn bro, that shit is heavy! How can you even carry it?"
Izuku effortlessly raised the club and tested its weight, it was indeed heavy but to him, it was light.
Satisfied, he walked out of the changing rooms.
"Shall we begin, my wards? It is time for battle training!"
"Ah- Midoriya kun, that costume looks really cool. I should've been more specific when I requested mine. This thing is skin tight, not really my style"
"Being in the hero course is the best", A small boy with… grapes (?) on his head said, looking at the female students, most of which had rather revealing or tight costumes.
"Sensei, this is the same environment as the entrance exam, will we be fighting robots again?" Iida asked, he was in a full metal suit, which reminded Izuku of the Turbo hero: Ingenium.
"Nope. You will move two steps ahead for this exercise. Indoor antipersonel battle training! Villain battles are most often seen outdoors but statistically, the most heinous villains are more likely to appear indoors! Between confinement, house arrest, black market deals and drug busts… in this hero filled society of ours, the cleverest villains out there- lurk indoors! Now, you'll be split into villain teams and hero teams and face off in two against two, indoor battles! The difference to the entrance exam is that you won't be fighting against robots, which you can just destroy, these are real people we are dealing with here!"
"What determines victory?"
"Can I just blast everyone away?"
"How do you divide us into teams? Quirk matches? personality? Maybe on our scores?"
"Isn't my cape tres chique?"
"One at a time please, you know my quirk isn't super hearing! Listen up, here is the deal! The villains will be hiding a nuclear weapon in the hideout and the heroes have to go in and take care of it. The heroes have a limited amount of time to either capture the villains or secure the weapon. The villains must either capture the heroes or protect the weapon until the time is up. Your partners will be decided by… drawing lots!"
"Is that really the best way to do this?" Iida asked, perplexed.
"It makes sense, heroes often have to work together on the fly… though I have a suggestion for how we can better this, All Might sensei"
"Oh? I'm all ears"
"Heroes might need to work on the fly together but the villains, especially in this situation have time to prepare. So I say we draw villains and heroes. The heroes are randomly assigned and the villains get to choose who to partner with", Izuku proposed.
"Ah good idea in theory but that would skew the odds in the villains favor a bit too much" all might shot him down.
Izuku simply nodded, "makes sense"
The teams were drawn.
"And the first are these! Team A will be the heroes and team D will be the villains!"
Team A was Uraraka chan and Izuku whilst team D was… Iida and Kacchan.
"Finally, my time to crush that damned Deku!" Kacchans grin was feral.
"The villain team goes in first! The timer starts in five minutes when the heroes sneak in. The rest of us will watch from the observation room" All Might asked the villains to head inside.
In the observation room, the other students were watching Iida clear out the room from clutter so as to not give Uraraka any objects to float.
"Who do you think will win?" Kaminari asked, watching both the villain and the hero side strategising.
"Hard to say", Yaoyorozu cocked her head to one side, "Bakugo and Midoriya were on the number two and one spot In the entrance exam respectively"
"Moi money is on Midoriya. You weren't there but the way he destroyed that zero pointer… it was puissant!" Aoyama said, "molten metal and smoke, that was all that was left"
"Yes, but he can't very well use that here, can he? Not with a real person on the receiving end"
The heroes entered the building and almost immediately, Bakugo launched a surprise attack, throwing an explosion. Instead of dodging, Izuku transformed, taking the explosion head on, "Uraraka, go and get the bomb, I'll keep Kacchan busy"
"How often must I tell you not to call me that, you daft Deku!" Bakugo attacked with a right hook, which Izuku dodged.
"Predictable as always", he dodged more and more attacks. He had been studying Bakugo's attack pattern, he always began with a right hook and followed up by two shops, one from each side. As he dodged, Bakugo's swings became wilder, uncontrolled, "predictable? I'll show you predictable!", he jumped back, "you know my quirk, Deku, by now you should know how it works. I sweat a nitroglycerin like substance and can ignite it at my palms, the more I sweat, the bigger the explosion! You see these gauntlets? They have been storing my sweat. One motion away from releasing a devastating attack"
Izuku's eyes widened, as did All Might's, who talked into Bakugo's earpiece, "don't Bakugo shonen! It will kill him!"
"Not it he dodges it won't", Bakugo pulled the pin from his grenade gauntlets and everything they could see from the cameras was fire. A massive explosion shocked the mock city and -as the smoke cleared- they saw Izuku, burned severely but still standing, as he ran at a confused Bakugo. He had expected him to be knocked out after that blast. There was no way Izuku was that tough! He was just a Deku!
Izuku captured Bakugo before he realized it.
"No! I can't lose! I am better! I am better than you!" He was manic.
Izuku simply walked upstairs, to where Iida and Uraraka were having a standoff.
"Begone foul hero! My evil work will be- what happened to you?"
Izuku didn't say a word, rushing at the armoured 'villain'. He ran away but had forgotten that Uraraka was also there, so he stopped right next to her. She touched the bomb and the training was over.
"Need… nurse" Izuku waddled over to the medic bots and fell onto the gurney.
Chapter 11Chapter TextIzuku sat in the nurse's office, his wounds rapidly healing, even before Recovery Girl kissed him, though her quirk greatly accelerated it. He had a big scar on the middle of his torso. His scales had protected his arms and parts of his chest. His costume was partially destroyed at the front.
Back in the observation room, All Might was chewing out Bakugo, "what you did was entirely reckless and unwarranted. You are more than just lucky that Midoriya shonen is durable enough to survive that blast. Had it been any other student, they would be dead now, either from the concussive blast or from the fire. Had you killed him, this would be cause for expulsion! But- since Midoriya was only wounded, you won't be expelled and neither will we send the lawyers after you! See this as a learning-"
"You will be punished of course", a high pitched voice spoke from the door, "what am I? A mouse? A bear? No matter, for I am the principal of UA and therefore the highest authority within the school grounds. I have seen what happened through my cameras. Whilst I agree with All Might sama not pushing for you to be expelled, I am of the opinion that due punishment must be served. Your punishment will come in two fold, firstly, you won't be participating in the provisional hero licensing exams this year, even if your homeroom teacher recommends it and secondly, you will be going to a psychiatrist to deal with your anger issues, if you miss even one of your sessions, unless for a good reason, you will be suspended"
"Fuck you, you oversized rodent! I don't have anger issues! That Deku deserved every bit of it for looking down on me!", Bakugo stormed out of the room, fuming. All Might was about to go after his student, when Nezu shook his head, "let him be angry. If you tried to help now, you would only cause more harm. The mind is a fickle thing. Now resume the battling, I will be watching from my office, so none of you think you can pull any stuff like Bakugo kun did"
The next teams they drew were team B, Todoroki and Shoji as the heroes against team I, Ojiro and Hagakure as the villains. They expected another thrilling match but the power possessed by the dual hair colored teen was overwhelming. The cold teen froze the whole building.
"Bring it on but fighting without the soles of your feet will be painful", Todoroki said, the red lense imbedded in the ice of his costume glowing menacingly.
"Without harming his ally or the nuclear bomb, he immobilised them… the hero team wins! I think the MVP of this match seems undeniable. It is of course Todoroki shonen but I must add that this kind of tactic works against an opponent like Ojiro kun and Hagakure chan but if he were up against someone with a different quirk, this tactic would have been useless. It isn't a one size fits all solution but a good use of his quirk"
Next was team C, Yaoyorozu and Mineta as the villains against team J, Sero and Kirishima as the heroes. The villains build blockades with their quirks, sticky balls and metal sheets, to block all the entrances. If Kirishima got through the metal sheets, he would get stuck to the balls behind them.
"The villain team wins!"
Team E, Ashido and Aoyama as the villains fought against team G, Kaminari and Jiro as the heroes. Jiro plugged her earphone jack earlobes into the wall, locating the enemies and guiding her partner to them. Inside the weapon room, the two 'villains' were waiting one at each entrance of the room. When the two heroes came through one entrance, Jiro was hit with a naval laser, sending her into the wall, "Kaminari, let loose", Jiro coughed.
Kaminari grinned with a manic look in his eyes. He ran in the middle of the room, right past the still recharging Aoyama. He didn't get quite to the bomb before Ashido stood before him.
"You won't make it in time, hero, I will stop you!"
"Oh, I think you won't, vile villain! Electro shock, 1 million volt!"
The whole room was bathed in yellow lightning and the 'villains' were knocked out and Kaminari acting like an idiot. Jiro, after standing up, slowly walked to the bomb and touched it, "the hero team wins! This matches MVP is Jiro chan, for she got the villains location and made sharp decisions even after being hit quite hard"
The last teams were team F, Koji and Sato as the heroes and team H, Asui and Tokoyami as the villains. This match was fast, Tokoyami stalked them through the dark hallways, his quirk, dark shadow growing larger in the dim lighting and they bound their opponents in the capture tape.
"The villains win!"
"Well done everyone! Aside from Midoriya, there have been no serious injuries. Great teamwork though! You all did splendidly, considering this was your first training exercise. I must go now!" All Might sensei ran off, his time limit reached.
When Izuku got back to the class, the others were excited, "welcome back Midoribro! That efficiency after you were hit and that fierce determination to still win, it was super manly! We were all super pumped after that first round, and nervous too"
"Midoriya kun, you are all healed?"
"Yeah, it left a scar though", he lifted his shirt, showing the scar.
"Wow, so manly!"
"Hurts like a bitch… where is Kacchan?"
"He ran off to his first mandated psychiatric session with Hound dog. The principal was pissed with him for hurting you like that. Let's hope that helps. His personality is pretty shitty"
"I doubt it, he has been like that ever since we were kids" Izuku shrugged, "though there are still miracles that happen every now and then"
"Want to go eat some ice cream with us? Kaminari kun was inviting me" Uraraka chan asked.
"No thank you, I'm going to my boxing gym"
"You just got hurt, isn't it better to rest a bit"
"Boxing helps me relax", he shrugged, "see you guys tomorrow"
Chapter 12Chapter TextWhen Izuku was in the changing room, dropping his school uniform, a guy walked in, one he hadn't seen here before. He took one look at Izuku's scar and sharply inhaled, it was not pretty, though -thanks to his rapid healing- it looked like an old wound. Izuku could see him out of the corner of his eye, contemplating whether to ask about the story behind that scar but eventually decided against it. Good, he didn't want to talk about it.
Thinking about it sent chills down his spine. The scolding heat, his flesh burning, his skin peeling off as it healed. When he was waiting for Recovery Girl, he had even heard cracking as his bones snapped into place. Had it been painful? Yes. Was it traumatic? That too, yes. But it made him proud that Kacchan didn't kill him. He used his support item, which amplified his power several times and it didn't kill him, didn't even knock him out. The old Izuku was one well placed punch away from dying an embarrassing death but now? He took a blast which destroyed the building around them and after one trip to the nurse, he was fine, scarred but alive.
Izuku walked out, already seeing Toji practicing, "hey there, how are things going?"
"Izuku kun! Have you seen the news?" He asked, pulling out his phone.
"No, haven't had the chance, why?"
"Look at this", he showed him a video of a villain shooting lightning… well, until he got cornered by the heroes, then, he transformed into a beetle-human hybrid. Izuku's eyes widened, "you don't think…?"
"Yeah, it looks exactly like us. This confirms that it isn't only the quirkless who can eat the fruits. It also means that there are more out there and not all of them are good aligned", Toji nodded grimly.
They didn't get much done that day, as they discussed what this revelation could mean.
The next day, at school, the class sat in their homeroom, chatting. The conversation was on music when Aizawa sensei walked in, looking tired.
"Okay class, quiet down. Today, you have an important decision to make, one which will change everything…"
Everyone tensed, what could he mean? What kind of-
"You have to choose a class representative. I don't care how you do it, as long as it is done before my nap ends" Aizawa sensei slipped into his sleeping bag.
Chaos ensued, everyone wanted to be class representative. In a normal school, being the class representative just meant more work without any insensitive but for a hero school like UA, it showed that you could lead and that you could handle responsibility. Empty promises were flung around.
"Bean bag chairs instead of normal ones for everyone!" One person flung out, "I'll make dancing classes", said another.
"I'll make the female students wear miniskirts", offered Mineta, which earned him a slap by Jiro chan.
"We won't come to a decision like this", Iida spoke up after a few minutes of uncontrolled chaos, "I say we vote on our class president, whoever gets the most votes wins"
"But won't everyone just vote for themselves?"" Mina asked, cocking her head to the side, finger on her lip.
"Most will, yes but that only makes those with more than one vote stand out even more. Those who have gathered the respect of their fellow students in such a short time are truly worthy of leading us in this school", Iida kun chopped at the air, robotically. The students looked at each other, slowly nodding, "Just write the name of the person you want to be the class president on a sheet of paper and hand them to me. I will count them up"
The students looked around, some wrote their own names but some others knew that they wouldn't get chosen, they didn't have the time to shine yet, so their gazes travelled towards the most impressive students, Bakugo, Midoriya, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu. None voted for Bakugo, too volatile. A few voted for Todoroki or Yaoyorozu but Midoriya got by far the most votes, five votes, whilst Yaoyorozu and Todoroki tied for second place with 3 votes respectively. Some had one vote but most had none.
"You want this fucking Deku over me?!", Kacchan was fuming, grinding his teeth audibly, "I am way better than him! You fucking deku… Haven't had enough scars, have you? Well, let me change that!"
Kacchan rushed at him with an explosion ready, aimed for his face but the explosion never went off, "Stop making me use my quirk, my eyes get dry so easily", Aizawa sensei stood up, looking at Iida kun, "You have found your class rep?"
"Yes but we have a tie for the vice rep. Todoroki kun and Yaoyorozu chan both have three points"
"We will figure it out, for now, Midoriya, the hero course class reps are supposed to meet in classroom 302"
"On my way", Izuku jogged up the stairs, a pep in his step. His classmates had chosen him to represent them! It was a liberating feeling. Over the next hour or so, he got to converse with all the hero course class reps, 1b, 2b, 3a and 3b, class 2a was suspiciously missing, which he learned was because Aizawa sensei had expelled the entire class last year. It made him shudder, thinking the same could happen to them any moment. Aizawa sensei had supreme control over who stayed and who was forced to leave in his class. Kendo, the class 1b representative and Izuku exchanged numbers.
After the hour was over, Nezu, also known as Mr Principal came in and briefed them on upcoming training. The 3a and 3b students would be having urban battle training, 2b was to have information gathering in their schedule. 1a and 1b would both be having rescue training, though a week apart, with 1a going first. Nezu went over the layout of the USJ(the unforeseen simulation joint) and what kind of rescuing they would be doing, fire, landslides, shipwrecks and so on. That last one made Izuku nervous. He couldn't swim, a curse placed upon him in exchange for his quirk but surely they wouldn't force him into the water… right?
Chapter 13Chapter TextIzuku was sitting in the bus, thinking back to what had happened a few days earlier. The media had somehow broken through the U.A. barrier, whom had come here for All Might and caused a mass panic. Yaoyorozu chan had created a megaphone for him to calm the masses once he had noticed that it wasn't villains, just the media.
Tsuyu Asui (quirk: frog) was sitting next to Izuku, "I generally speak what's on my mind Midoriya"
"What is it Asui?"
"Call me Tsu and… your quirk resembles Ryukyu's doesn't it?" She stared at him deadpan, no emotion in her voice.
"I guess it does, doesn't it? Well, of course my quirk allows for my hybrid form and is an Asian dragon instead of a western one but yeah, I guess it does look very similar"
"Yeah, your quirk is really flashy! Not like my quirk, hardening . I'm good in a fight but it is really boring otherwise, no beams of fire like yours"
"I think your quirk is pretty neat. It is more than enough if you wanna go pro", Izuku praised him.
"Wanna talk about cool and strong? Three people come to mind, Midoriya, yes but also Todoroki and Bakugo"
"Yeah but with that shitty personality, he will never be popular", Tsu said.
"What did ya say, frog face?!", he barked like an angry Pomeranian.
"It's kind of telling that we've barely known each other for a week and we already know that your personality is absolute trash", Kaminari kun joked, "right Kacchan~?"
"I'll beat you senseless, you wanna be!"
"We are here, look sharp now", Aizawa sensei exclaimed.
"There is floods, landslides, firestorms and so much more! Every disaster and accident you can imagine!" Thirteen explained, " I made this facility myself. I call it… the unforeseen simulation joint or USJ for short!"
"It's the space hero thirteen! My favorite hero!" Uraraka chan squealed.
"Where is All Might? I thought he was supposed to be here?"
Thirteen whispered something in Aizawa sensei's ear and he sighed, "the height of irrationality… so be it. Let's get started"
"Before we do, I have one or two points, maybe three… okay perhaps four or five… as I'm sure many of you are aware, my quirk is called black hole, it can suck up anything and turn it to dust. I use this quirk to get people out of disaster zones, out under rubble and so on but my power could just as easily be used to kill! I've got no doubt that many of your quirks might be similar", though Thirteens space suit revealed nothing, Izuku could feel their eyes on his scar, "in our superpowered society, the usage of quirks is strictly restricted and monitored. It may seem that this system is a stable one but we must never forget that it only takes one wrong move with an uncontrollable quirk for people to die. During Aizawa's physical fitness test, you came to learn of your own hidden potential and through All Might's battle training, you learned the dangers that your respective quirks can pose to others. This class… will show you a new perspective! You will learn how to use your quirks to save lives! Your powers are not meant to cause harm. I hope you leave here today with the understanding that you are meant to help people! That is all, thank you for listening", they gave a quick bow.
A Portal of mist appeared in the plaza down the stairs. They were confused as villainous looking characters walked out. Wasn't this supposed to be rescue training? Why were there fake villains here?
"Don't move!" Aizawa sensei put on his goggles, "those are villains… real ones!"
"Thirteen and Eraserhead is it? According to the class schedule we… received the other day, All Might was supposed to be here…", the mist villain spoke.
Another villain, a thin man with hands all over his body asked, "where is he? We have come all this long way and brought so many friends to play. All might… the symbol of peace… where is he? I wonder if killing a few of those kids will… make him spawn. This is just the beginning of the level after all… A raid we have prepared for so long…"
"Villains? No way! What villains would be dumb enough to sneak into U.A. of all places? Sensei, aren't there intruder sensors?"
"There are… but are they only attacking this building or is all of U.A. under attack? If the sensors aren't working, they must have some quirk to interrupt it and our communications too! This place is far from campus and they picked a time when few people were here, so maybe they aren't as dumb as they seem. They must have some objective, seeing as how well coordinated their sneak attack is!"
"Thirteen! Begin evacuations and try calling the school! Even if one of these villains is jamming it, there must be some way to get through! Kaminari, try using your quirk to signal for help!"
"Sensei, you can't fight them all on your own! Your quirk isn't well suited against a group this large! You specialise in ambushes and one on one fights to maximise your quirks effectiveness", Izuku worried.
"No good hero is a one trick pony", he jumped down the stairs, fighting the villains.
As they ran away, towards the exit, the mist villain appeared "I can't allow you to escape! Greetings, we are the league of villains! Forgive our audacity but today we have come here to U.A. Highschool- this bastion of heroism… to kill… the symbol of peace! We were under the impression that All Might would be here today but it seems the schedule has changed? No matter… my role remains unchanged, begone!" The mist enveloped them, swallowing them in impenetrable darkness, cutting off none of the sounds of fighting down below and Izuku felt the ground under him disappear and he was falling… towards the water.