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…
Class 1-B stood before the massive gate of Field Gamma, their expressions a mix of nervousness and anticipation as they glanced at the towering man standing with arms crossed.
All Might smiled broadly, his eyes scanning over the entire class—who now looked noticeably more experienced.
The internships may not have been full-blown hero work, but they had certainly given the students a taste of what lay ahead.
And that was enough to make the once-anxious group take another step forward on the path of heroism, and shed a bit of that insecurity that characterized students.
Nodding in approval, All Might coughed into his fist before finally addressing the young heroes.
"Long time no see, boys and girls. It's been a while, hasn't it? How were the internships? From what I can see here, they seem to have been quite educational."
There were a few nods and murmurs of agreement, making All Might's smile stretch slightly.
"Well! For today's Hero Basic Training class—and since you've all just returned from your internships—we'll be having a little fun with a Rescue Training Race!"
He gestured behind him, and the gates opened, revealing the expanse beyond.
"This is Field Gamma!" he announced grandly, letting everyone take in the chaotic metal sprawl beyond. "A dense area filled with factories, laid out like an intricate labyrinth. You'll have to navigate it during the next hour."
Surprised hums rose from the group, along with a few sparkles of excitement in their eyes.
Since this was their first time seeing Field Gamma, the class couldn't help but feel a mix of excitement and curiosity. After all, this was Hero Basic Training. And aside from the occasional lessons about hero-related laws, this subject was never boring.
As anticipation settled in, All Might pointed at them.
"For this exercise, you'll break into four five-person groups and do the training one group at a time." He then pulled a remote from his pocket and clicked a button, activating a nearby screen mounted at the entrance. A visual guide began playing as he continued. "When I send a distress signal from somewhere inside the Field Gamma, the five people will start from the outskirts of the field and come 'rescue' me, wherever I might be. Basically, a race through this chaotic zone to see who gets to me first."
Tense silence followed as his words settled in. Eyes darted from student to student.
Once again, they were pitted against each other. Competitive spirits lit up across the class. No one wanted to mess up the chance to prove themselves in front of the Symbol of Peace.
Of course, not everyone was equally fired up.
{"5 lifehacks that will amaze you, part 302!"}
"Very interesting…"
"Suzuki, put down your phone," came Vlad King's voice from the back of the class.
"Tsk." Begrudgingly, Suzaku shoved the phone into his pocket, glancing back toward All Might, whose ever-present smile twitched slightly at the scene.
Still, he let it slide. "Anyway, let's begin right away!"
With a click, the screen changed, displaying all their names. Another click, and the names began flashing through different colors.
Finally, five names lit up in bold.
"Setsuna Tokage, Kinoko Komori, Kojiro Bondo, Kosei Tsuburaba, and Ibara Shiozaki—you're up!" All Might called, stepping aside to let them prepare.
The five students stepped forward, some clearly nervous to be the first ones in.
"Haha, sucks to be you guys... -Munch, munch-"
Only to almost trip when they all heard Suzaku's voice come from behind.
When they turned to look at him, they saw him munching on snacks he'd pulled from who knows where, smirking at them.
Immediately, Vlad King spoke up. "Since you're feeling so funny, how about you join them, Suzuki?"
"Huh?"
…
°
°
°
|Minutes later…|
…
Each student had taken their position across the vast training ground, waiting patiently for All Might's signal to appear at any moment.
Suzaku, in particular, lay sprawled lazily on the ground, moving his head to a rhythm only he could hear. He showed no urgency or alertness despite the imminent signal.
Suddenly, he felt someone's gaze on him, and after lifting his head, he saw Ibara, who looked dissatisfied about something.
He raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"
The girl held her gaze on him for a few seconds before closing her eyes. "While I understand you may not feel much enthusiasm for this exercise, I believe you should at least wait for All Might's signal standing—or at least seated. Seeing you lying there like that might come off as disrespectful to me and our classmates."
Suzaku nodded but didn't move. "Perhaps, perhaps…"
She glared at him, her eyebrow twitching in hidden irritation.
Before she could reply, a hand landed on her shoulder.
Setsuna appeared behind her, flashing a toothy grin. "Alright, alright, Ibara. I think everyone knows how Suzaku is by now. If he doesn't want to stand, then let him be."
"But—" Ibara began, only for Setsuna to cut in again.
"If he wants to lose so badly, I say we let him. Who are we to judge, right, Suzaku~?" she added, looking at him with a grin.
Suzaku didn't react. Instead, he massaged his chin like he was grooming an invisible beard. "Perhaps, perhaps…"
Even Setsuna's eyebrow twitched at his nonchalance.
But before anyone could say more, the moment they had been waiting for arrived.
–Hooonk!–
A signal came through the wrist devices they all wore, and All Might's location lit up on their maps. Eyes widened across the field.
Immediately, everyone sprang into action.
Setsuna split into several pieces, each flying swiftly toward the signal's location.
Ibara's vines stretched out like extra limbs, lifting her effortlessly and propelling her through the course while she maintained her prayer stance.
Kosei ran forward, conjuring solid air platforms beneath his feet whenever a gap appeared or a precise landing was needed, moving smoothly through the chaos.
Kojiro and Kinoko… well, their Quirks weren't exactly made for this kind of trial, so they just bolted forward as fast as they could.
As for Suzaku—
"Hngh—damn, I'm getting old."
He was just standing up.
And even once upright, he started stretching leisurely, as if he had all the time in the world.
From outside the field, Vlad King clenched his fist, a thick vein bulging on his forehead.
"That brat… he came back at least ten times cockier than before."
Monoma laughed maniacally from the sidelines. "Does he think he can still win even with that kind of head start? How laughable! I'll admit he's decent at speed and agility drills, but this is too much—ack!"
Unfortunately for Monoma, his rant was cut short by Itsuka's signature karate chop.
Back with Suzaku, the annoying redhead had finished stretching. Now he was bouncing lightly on his toes, scanning his legs with sharp focus.
After a few more test jumps, he smiled in satisfaction, eyes still locked on his seemingly unchanged limbs. "Yeah… this degree of transformation should do."
With that, he lowered into a racing stance. His classmates were already far ahead, but his expression remained calm.
Then, out of nowhere—
–Bam!!!–
He kicked off the ground, his body rocketing forward faster than a bullet.
Everyone watching from the entrance stared in stunned silence, eyes wide at the sheer speed he unleashed.
"W-What is that speed?! He was never that fast before!" Sen stood up from the floor in shock.
Jurota, the ever-furry individual, adjusted his glasses, also staring at the screen wide-eyed, though trying his best to keep composed. "Indeed. He hadn't shown this level of speed before."
"Just what did he go through during his internship?!"
"Look at him go! At this rate, he'll catch up to the rest in just a few more seconds!"
All eyes were glued to the monitor, where Suzaku casually weaved and jumped through the chaotic terrain with terrifying ease.
He even threw in a few backflips now and then—just to show off.
"That brat…" Vlad King's eyebrow twitched, but even he had to admit he was impressed.
With this level of speed, Suzaku's earlier slow start was… somewhat justified—JUST A LITTLE!
Back on the field, Kinoko and Kojiro had already been left in the dust. As Suzaku passed them, he even ran backward for a few seconds just to stick his tongue out at them.
They both tried to grab him in petty retaliation, but he was already long gone, speeding ahead until he caught up with Kosei.
The orange-haired boy was too focused on generating solid air platforms with his Quirk to notice Suzaku right behind him—using those same platforms to rapidly vault through the air.
"Huff… Huh?!"
It wasn't until Kosei created a platform in front of himself—and Suzaku suddenly vaulted over him to land on it first—that he realized the redhead had reached him.
"Careful there."
Startled, Kosei nearly lost his balance. But Suzaku grabbed him by the collar, steadied him, and then took off again—leaping off the platform toward a spot that seemed just a bit too far for a regular jump.
Still, Suzaku landed cleanly, despite the rough distance, and didn't lose a beat.
Accelerating further, he began closing in on the next two targets: Ibara—and Setsuna, who still held the lead thanks to her ability to fly, even if chopped up in pieces.
All Might wasn't far now. Maybe one or two more minutes and they'd reach him.
Cracking his neck a few times as he ran at blurring speed, Suzaku decided it was time to go a bit more serious.
Slowly and deliberately, his legs began changing again—their musculature and structure shifting subtly.
Normally, he'd be worried the transformation would be too noticeable, especially since his gym pants were just simple fabric. But with his current speed, he doubted anyone would catch the difference, even if his legs looked bulkier now.
And with the change—came another surge in speed.
In seconds, he began accelerating again, his surroundings bending and stretching like a warped lens in response to the sheer force of his movement.
In mere moments, he reached Ibara.
The faithful girl opened one of her eyes as she sensed him passing, frowning slightly and biting her lip. Her vines sped up in response, letting her move faster.
But it wasn't enough. All it did was delay the inevitable.
"It seems your faith was not enough to best mine."
In just seconds, Suzaku passed her with ease, imitating her praying pose as he went by and speaking with a devout tone. Earning annoyed glares even from the ever-calm and composed vine girl.
Having created yet another sworn enemy, Suzaku dropped the pose and kicked off the ground again, resuming his full-on sprint.
All Might was now just about a minute away.
Setsuna still remained ahead, zipping through the air effortlessly thanks to not needing to worry about terrain—her disassembled pieces flying in perfect, high-speed coordination.
But second by second, Suzaku closed the gap. A blur of red and blue to anyone watching.
Eventually, All Might came into view.
Both Suzaku and Setsuna squinted at the figure ahead—then briefly locked eyes with each other.
The final stretch had arrived.
With a smirk, Suzaku morphed his legs completely to their Mirko mode, triggering another powerful boost in speed.
Setsuna, noticing this, visibly tensed. Her floating pieces pushed harder through the air, and her mouthpiece gritted its teeth somewhere among the cloud of body parts.
Still, the difference was clear.
In the final few meters—with All Might now just seconds away—Suzaku took the lead.
His speed was dizzying.
Then, as he neared the Symbol of Peace, he kicked off one last time—with everything he had. Shooting forward with incredible speed, and officially leaving Setsuna in the dust
Thus, having established himself as the indisputable winner, he untransformed his legs and prepared to hit the brakes to the blurring speed he was carrying right now.
That... may have been a mistake.
He didn't consider that his untransformed legs weren't used to handling that kind of velocity.
So, the instant they made contact with the floor to stop his momentum, they buckled immediately, and instead of stopping, Suzaku began spinning wildly like a boomerang.
Fortunately, before he could crash into anything dangerous, a hand reached out and snagged him by the collar—snatching him clean out of his chaotic tumble.
Then, after a few moments of swinging like a ragdoll to burn off leftover momentum, Suzaku finally came to a stop.
He looked up at his savior.
All Might was holding him by the collar like he would a cat by the scruff of the neck, staring down at him with a puzzled expression.
"Thanks, man."
"Uh… no problem, young Suzaku."
With that, All Might finally set him down.
Back on his feet, Suzaku let out a huff.
Maybe he should practice a bit more with that ability. Wouldn't want to mess up like that near actual villains.
As he nodded to himself, Setsuna finally arrived—her body snapping back together as she reformed and stumbled to a stop, breathing hard and glaring at him in frustration.
"Damn it! How the hell can you run like that?!"
"I've always been able to," Suzaku grinned, smugly wiping a finger under his nose like an anime protagonist.
Setsuna jabbed a finger at him. "Nuh-uh. You were fast at the Sports Festival, sure, but not this fast! Not in any world or parallel universe!"
"Duh. I was holding back," he said, tapping his temple like it was obvious.
"Nuh-uh."
"Yeah-uh."
"Nuh-uh."
"Yeah-uh."
"Nuh-uh."
Suzaku raised an eyebrow. Clearly, his advanced persuasion techniques weren't working.
Still, he wasn't out of cards yet.
"Alright, alright, you got me." He raised both hands in surrender, a wry smile tugging at his lips. "Mirko taught me a few tricks during the internships."
Setsuna opened her mouth to argue—but then paused.
That… kinda made sense?
Still, that boost in speed had been way too ridiculous, so it kinda didn't?
As Setsuna silently questioned the laws of physics and fairness, the rest of the group arrived, all panting, sweaty, and shooting exhausted, judgmental glares at Suzaku.
Faced with a wall of collective disdain, Suzaku knew he had to ease the tension.
"Uwah, that was easy. Too easy. I barely even sweated! Are you sure you're my classmates? Maybe you're, like, robot copies or something? Otherwise, I simply can't explain how this was such a breeze! I didn't even have to use a single ounce of energy for this—"
A hand tapped his shoulder.
It was All Might.
He stared at Suzaku with a flat expression.
"Young Suzaku, I think that's… quite enough."
Suzaku shrugged.
What could he do?
The voices were stronger.
…
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|Minutes later, back at the entrance…|
…
After a long walk across the training field, the group finally returned to the platform at the entrance, where the rest of the class was waiting. Most of them looked tired and dissatisfied about the results—except for Suzaku, who wore his usual nonchalant expression like nothing had happened.
Immediately, a group of boys swarmed him.
"Man, what the hell was that?! When did you get so fast?!" Sen asked, eyes wide with a mix of awe and frustration.
"I've always been this fast…" Suzaku replied coolly. Then, feeling Setsuna's gaze burning into his back, he added, "…but my time interning under Mirko might have helped a little."
"A little?!" Yosetsu, the dude who could fuse stuff, cut in from the other side, glaring at him. "You call that shit a little?!"
Suzaku just shrugged.
As the interrogation dragged on, with many not buying the excuse of Mirko, All Might called for the next group, making 5 people from the class head inside the field.
With the exercise resuming, Suzaku's interrogators eventually dispersed, giving him room to head off to a corner and plop down with a quiet groan. Maybe he'd pushed it a bit too far during those final seconds of the race.
As he rested, Tetsutetsu walked up and flopped down next to him. "Yo, dude. I heard you were part of the team that captured Stain. Is that true?"
Immediately, ears across the class perked up.
After all, it wasn't every day you overheard details from someone who'd helped take down a notorious serial killer.
But when Suzaku answered, many of those ears immediately drooped.
"Pfft, participate? I beat the guy to a pulp," Suzaku scoffed, rolling his eyes behind his glasses.
Tetsutetsu blinked. "Eh?! But the news said you were just part of it! That Mirko and the cops were the ones who really beat him!"
"That's 'cause I'm unlicensed," Suzaku said, voice dripping with annoyance. "They didn't wanna admit a teenager did the job they'd been screwing up for months... Or however long that guy had been running around."
"So you were the one who beat Stain?!" Tetsutetsu leaned in, practically yelling in his face, and completely oblivious to the concept of discretion.
As such, Suzaku didn't respond—just gave him a look.
Around them, the few students who'd overheard started whispering.
Most just rolled their eyes, believing it was just another bluff by Suzaku.
He was kinda known for blurting out nonsensical stuff.
But a few others hesitated. They remembered the raw speed he'd shown earlier, and then the brutality combined with the skill he had displayed during the sports festival.
If it was this guy… He might actually be telling the truth.
Almost nothing was known about the Hero Killer, except he had—well, killed heroes.
So, maybe… there was a chance this guy had actually done it?
While the class played 4D chess in their minds, trying to come up with an answer, Tetsutetsu looked uneasily at Suzaku. "So… what was he like? Was that dude strong? I heard he killed tons of heroes."
"Eh, so-so," Suzaku said, waving his hand dismissively. "He rambled a lot about fake heroes or whatever, but I forgot most of it. As for his strength, I admit he had some skill—but not enough to keep his teeth."
Tetsutetsu winced. His tongue instinctively ran across his own teeth like he was making sure they were still intact.
Then Kamakiri, ever the mantis-shaped youth, jumped into the conversation. "I heard someone from the other class was there too."
"Ah, yeah. The one who runs fast... Iida, I think?" Suzaku nodded. "He had some beef with the hero unaliver. I saw him getting his ass handed to him while I was patrolling with Mirko, so I ran in to help. The rest is history."
"Why the hell was he fighting Stain?" Kamakiri asked.
"Something about his brother getting attacked. I dunno. I didn't ask."
"That's crazy…"
Suddenly, Manga walked up and pointed at Suzaku. "Hey, by any chance, weren't you also at that same place where the giant red monster popped up?"
Tetsutetsu's eyes went wide again. "That too?!"
Suzaku shrugged. It had been quite the eventful internship. What could he do?
Kamakiri's eyes lit up as he smacked a fist into his palm. "Ah, that's right! I saw it on TV! Mirko got wrecked by that thing, and I think they said something about her intern being trapped inside a burning building just before it showed up."
All eyes turned to Suzaku.
He blinked at the sudden attention, then shrugged again. "Yeah, I was busy saving lives, like the hero I am. Then the building decided to collapse on me mid-rescue. The people I was helping made it out somehow, but I had to be dug out a few minutes later."
"Then how are you even fine?! It's only been like two or three days!" Sen shouted from a few meters away, surprised that no signs of such a thing happening to Suzaku could be visible right now.
"Hey, I almost got burned to death." Suzaku shot back, clearly annoyed. He lifted his sleeve to show a light burn on his forearm. "See?"
A wave of unimpressed deadpans followed.
Suzaku sighed, raised both hands, then looked around at the group. "But hey, enough about me. How did your internships go?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
Not a single word.
After hearing everything Suzaku had gone through, their own internships suddenly felt like nothing special.
"Come on," he said, smirking. "Don't leave me hanging."
…
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°
|Hours later…|
…
During the last hour of school, with the sky already tinted orange, Suzaku strolled down the hallway with both hands in his pockets, heading back to the classroom for the final class of the day as he observed the landscape outside the school.
He'd just visited the bathroom during recess, which explained why he was out in the halls now.
'I wonder if I still need to use the bathroom while transformed…'
And as usual during these quiet walks, philosophical questions began to pop into his head.
Not that anyone could answer them. And honestly, he wasn't about to test it.
'For starters, I don't even know how long that transformation lasts... or if it even has a time limit. Depending on which, I could have a good window to see whether my stomach stops doing its job, or if I suddenly let out a shit mid-roar.'
He laughed at that thought before recalling the moments he'd spent transformed.
"It's not definite, but I'm pretty sure my rage and strength increase the longer I stay in that form… Which should mean there's a limit, right? The whole gimmick of my power reaching its peak during the last moments of the transformation could be pretty badass."
If not, that would imply he could grow endlessly stronger the longer he remained transformed.
'I doubt it's that overpowered…' Suzaku's eyes squinted. As much of a God that the Impostor was, there had to be limits—at least for him, who was still a puny mortal.
He was mortal, right?
Aside from in his first life, he hadn't died so far, so he had no way of knowing.
He could be immortal!
Sadly, Suzaku couldn't continue dwelling on his delusions, as soon, a figure appeared ahead—and then another. Two people walking together.
For a moment, Suzaku disregarded them—for the most part, as one of them was a bit too big to ignore completely—, but when he saw who they were, he couldn't remain as indifferent as he planned.
"..."
""...""
It was All Might, along his little minion, All Might Jr, or Midoriya, as a few may know him.
The moment both parties met, a deep silence ensued. Eyes darting to one another.
All Might to Midoriya, Midoriya to All Might, the two to Suzaku, and Suzaku to the two.
It was indubitably a clash of gazes.
At least, until Suzaku slowly raised his hands and flashed a beautiful smile that clearly said. "Not my business."
With his intentions made clear, he simply gave them a curt nod and then walked right past them without a second glance.
Whatever anime-tier plot those two were about to unravel, that was their deal. He had a class to attend and fall asleep on.
And so, he left the duo behind and continued his walk through the hallway, his thoughts touching diverse topics to keep himself busy, until he finally reached his classroom.
Once there, he sat at his desk, making time until Vlad King arrived.
In the meantime, he chatted with Tetsutetsu, who was hyped to talk about his internship and brag about the hero he worked with.
Every now and then, Suzaku also went out of his way to annoy Monoma—visibly pleased by how close the blonde seemed to snapping. Others joined in too, clearly in it for the chaos.
Then, at some point, a fight broke out.
Monoma couldn't hold it anymore and threw a punch at Suzaku.
Suzaku dodged.
The punch hit Sen.
Sen retaliated with a swing.
Monoma dodged.
The swing nailed Tetsutetsu.
Tetsutetsu lost his shit and barreled at Sen, knocking down half the room in the process.
At that point, the battle became all vs all.
And Suzaku? He hit a few more people on purpose just to keep the fire going.
Why? The question is, why not?
"All of you. To your seats."
Fortunately, the flames of battle were extinguished instantly as Vlad King entered the room, glaring down at the mass of students yanking hair and throwing elbows.
Everyone scrambled back to their seats—no one wanted to get on Vlad's bad side.
Once order was restored, he nodded and walked to the front, slamming both palms on the desk.
"Summer vacation is coming." He said curtly.
Instantly, the class erupted in cheers.
Suzaku remained indifferent. He was rich, everyday was like vacations to him.
At most, he wouldn't need to wake up early.
'Hold up, that's a big deal, isn't it?'
As Suzaku reconsidered his life priorities, Vlad King continued:
"However, we can't just let you waste an entire month. As Heroes, you need to keep training and preparing at all times… So, during that break, we'll be going to a training camp in the woods!"
The class exploded with excitement—some more than others.
'There goes my vacation…' Suzaku sighed.
But before he could mourn his freedom properly, Vlad King dropped another bomb.
"However, before that, you all need to pass the…" His gaze locked onto Suzaku. "...final exams for this semester."
Suzaku blinked.
"The what?"
…
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-To be Continued…-
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(A/N: Yet again, Suzaku faces his greatest nemesis, academics.
Will he survive this harsh and fearsome wall, or will he perish? Discover it in the next episode of Sussy Baka in MHA.)
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