"U.A. really is ridiculously well-funded…"
Struggling slightly as she climbed up to the third floor of an abandoned roadside building, Konata Izumi finally stopped to catch her breath.
Even though this place was just a disaster relief training zone, it was almost disturbingly realistic in its recreation of a post-earthquake urban landscape. At least, from the perspective of a layperson like Konata, there was nothing to complain about—though it would've been perfect if the rubble also included scattered bills like after real disasters.
"Alright, I'll just wait here for someone to come find me. If I climb any higher, getting back down will be a pain."
Finding a relatively clean spot in the still-intact stairwell, Konata was just about to sit and rest—when footsteps echoed loudly up the stairs below. Whoever it was made no attempt to hide their presence.
"Already? That was fast."
Mildly surprised, she peeked down from the stairwell landing—and saw a tall, muscular figure in a mask walking up from below.
"Finally, I've got my chance! Today, you're all goin—Wait, wait, wait! It's me!!"
Seeing Konata show zero interest in chatting and already reaching into her pocket, the masked figure—who had planned to joke around a bit—panicked. He quickly pulled off his mask.
"All Might… sensei?"
The blue electricity flickering around her hand slowly faded as Konata stared in disbelief.
—
"So yeah, that's the deal. It's basically just a little… test from me."
Inside the partially collapsed building, All Might explained the situation to Konata.
Long story short, the Symbol of Peace had suddenly gotten a wild idea: wanting to confirm that the previous League of Villains attack wasn't just a fluke, he decided to use this opportunity to pretend to be one of the remnants of the enemy group and stage a surprise attack to test the students' reactions.
"Of course, this is just a mock assault! I'll be very careful with my strength!"
He gave a gleaming smile and held up a reassuring hand.
"Uh… but if this is supposed to be an attack, why are you telling me beforehand?"
Scratching her cheek, Konata silently offered a few seconds of mourning in advance for her classmates, then raised an eyebrow.
"Because I need to make sure you don't do anything crazy."
All Might's expression turned serious.
Isn't that kind of backwards…?
Konata tilted her head slightly, not entirely understanding his point.
"If I suddenly showed up pretending to be a villain, you'd activate your Quirk on instinct, right? And that would be a problem—"
"I wouldn't."
She cut him off without hesitation.
"Ahem… Let's just say, I need a hostage."
All Might coughed and redirected the topic.
"My main goal is to evaluate how the students react to real danger and work together. Your Quirk is too unpredictable—it'd throw off the test. So I need you out of the equation."
"...So I look that much like a hostage?"
Recalling her recent string of hostage roles, Konata's mouth twitched.
"All Might-sensei, have you ever heard a very famous piece of wisdom?"
"Wisdom?"
"If we take out the hostage ahead of time, the enemy loses all leverage."
Konata spoke seriously, without a hint of irony.
"Likewise, to prevent the enemy from committing suicide, we should eliminate them first."
All Might: "???"
—
Elsewhere, on a broken street, Uraraka Ochako and Midoriya Izuku were moving in pairs.
Originally, Midoriya had suggested they take a moment to coordinate—after all, they only had eight minutes total to find the remaining sixteen students. It was a near-impossible mission.
But within ten seconds of starting, Bakugo Katsuki shouted "Keep up!" and blasted off solo using his palms as propulsion. Todoroki Shoto, cold and aloof as always, also left without a word.
That left just Midoriya and Uraraka.
In a way, Uraraka—with her Zero Gravity Quirk—was the ideal rescue hero. If she were strong enough, she could single-handedly lift entire sections of debris. Her Quirk gave her a natural edge in scenarios involving collapsed structures.
The real challenge in this kind of rescue exercise wasn't in clearing rubble—it was in finding people. The eight students allowed to call for help were easy to locate. But the other eight, who had to stay silent, were extremely difficult. Especially when some of them deliberately hid too well.
Take Mineta, for example. That grape-head glued himself upside-down to the back of a hollow crevice formed by a collapse. Unless someone crawled in and looked up, he'd never be found.
"Midoriya, I feel like you've changed a lot lately."
Walking beside him, Uraraka beamed.
Just earlier, Midoriya had lifted an entire car to save Jiro Kyoka, who was trapped underneath. Uraraka, who had been about to help, stopped in her tracks—shocked speechless by the display.
As someone who often walked home with him, she noticed the difference immediately: Midoriya had gained something new. A quiet confidence.
The old Midoriya could never have done something like that.
"Uh… I've just barely started getting the hang of using my Quirk. It's gonna take a lot more time before I can use it normally without strain."
Lowering his eyes to his hands, Midoriya's thoughts drifted—unintentionally—to someone else.
"Uraraka! Midoriya!!"
Just then, a panicked voice rang out from up ahead—Tenya Iida's. Midoriya and Uraraka looked up, only to be tackled flat to the ground a moment later.
"Ow—ow ow ow…"
Sitting up and rubbing her back, Uraraka was about to scold Iida when she noticed something far more shocking.
A massive figure was walking slowly toward them—tall, masked, and clearly not another student. But what truly caught her attention was what the figure was carrying.
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
"It's an enemy!! We have to run!!!"
"It's from the League of Villains—"
But Iida didn't get to finish.
Before he could even explain, a green blur dashed past him—Midoriya Izuku, charging straight at the masked figure with all his might.