Chapter 6: Fear of Return
"I'm doomed. There's no point in denying it," wailed Tetsutetsu.
Izuku looked up from his lunch, his attention now focused on his classmate who sat directly across from him at the table not touching his own meal. Rather, Tetsutetsu just sat there with his hands running through his hair as he stared wide-eyed into empty space. His expression looked like he had just seen all his worst nightmares come to life, combining themselves in order to throw the steel-hardening hero in training into a new level of terror. Midoriya was not the only one to notice this as several of the other people who sat there looked on with concern.
"Sir Tetsutetsu, come now," said Shishida politely, one of his hands gesturing to the steel quirk user as he did so. "There is no need to be so overly dramatic. It's only the second day of school and-"
"That's just it!" exclaimed Tetsutesu, interrupting his classmate while running his fingers through his hair. "It's only the second day of school and I'm already feeling lost. The classes here are harder than…Look, I barely passed the written portion of the exam! I had to guess over half the questions! I think I understood some of the stuff they told us in class. But only bits and pieces here and there! And it's only going to get harder as the year goes on! H-How am I going to pass the finals?!? Oh, man. They're going to kick me out."
That got a hum out of one of the last guys sitting in their section of that table: Honenuki. Izuku watched as the recommendation student closed his eyes while crossing his arms across his chest. Since the dodgeball game yesterday, Izuku had been eager to get to know more about the softening quirk user. A gesture that had touched Honenuki as he thought that it would take a while for some people to get over how different he looked. But Izuku hadn't been bothered by it. And, when he found out that Honenuki was bilingual, able to speak both Japanese and English, Izuku quickly introduced him to Pony who was happy to meet another person who could speak her native tongue.
Finally, Honenuki spoke. "Well, it's only our first day of classes. I'm sure sooner or later you'll get the hang of it. Maybe just spend more time studying."
"I guess" replied Tetsutetsu with a sigh. "But I suck at studying. I always get distracted and end up lifting weights or working out."
"Tetsutetsu, if you are having trouble you know you can always ask us for help," said Kendo, who was sitting next to Izuku, while waving a finger in the air. "We're your classmates. My dad has this saying: one who is truly strong knows when to ask for help."
At the same time, Pony, who had been sitting next to Kendo, leaned forward to look at Tetsutetsu with those wide, excited eyes of hers. "Oh! I know! I know! Ask Izuku to help you study! He helped me improve my Japanese big time. And made it fun too!"
That got Tetsutetsu's attention. Lowering his hands, he looked at Midoriya with hope returning in his eyes. "Really? Can you help? Dude, you would be a real lifesaver!"
Izuku didn't say anything at first, simply putting his utensils down as he adopted a thinking pose. It wasn't that he was against helping out his classmate as he was eager to have a fresh start and make more friends while on the road to becoming a hero. It was more like he didn't know if he could do the same for him as he did for Pony. He had used her interests to bridge the gap in her education. So could he…
"Well, if the problem is just that he gets distracted easily then maybe studying in a group might be the best solution," pondered Midoriya aloud in a low mutter. "More people around him keep him focused and on task. But will that be enough? Tetesutetsu did mention the gym and working out. U.A. does have several gyms that are open to all students after hours. Perhaps we could reserve one of them for an hour or so every night so we can go over what we learned while lifting weights or on the treadmill. Get a workout and learn at the same time. Might be a problem with our focus so divided, but as long as we don't push ourselves too much we should get in a good workout both mentally and physically. Though-"
"Is…Is he always like this?" asked Honenuki.
Caught off guard by the sudden interruption while in the zone, Izuku nearly jumped out of his seat. Looking around, the Divine Divider saw that everyone was staring at him. Kendo, for example, was resting her head on her fist as she watched him ramble on with a soft smile on her face that caused his cheeks to tint red. Pony had stars in her blue eyes while Honenuki seemed worried. Shishida had a hand on his chin as he looked at his classmate, his expression almost hidden. And as for Tetsutetsu…
"Dude, where were you when I was studying to get into U.A?" the teen asked excitedly, hands balled into fists while an open smile that showed off his sharp teeth was present. "That actually sounds like fun! I can't wait to get started!"
"Well, before you get too excited, we need to find out if it's possible," said Itsuka as she sat up straight. "We need to talk to the teachers about reserving time at one of the gyms and we might not be able to get it every day. But I am pretty sure that we'll be able to get some time in the library pretty easily."
"Right," agreed Izuku as he nodded at his orange-haired friend, his body relaxing as a smile appeared on his face. "We should also ask the rest of the class to see if anyone needs any additional help. Or, at the very least, wants to join. We have a group chat for our class so I guess one of us could post it there and-"
"DEKU!" A half second after the green-haired teen heard that familiar scream of rage, his face was slammed onto the table and into his food. Struggling to breathe the teen felt his body slide across the surface followed by empty air for a brief moment before finally crashing into the ground. Coughing, Izuku managed to turn his head slightly just in time to see the feral visage of his attacker, Katsuki Bakugo, as he had already leapt over the table. His brain was still processing what was happening as an open palm slammed into the back of his head, pressing down with great force while a knee pressed down on the Divine Divider's wrist.
It has been so long since he had been in this position. Not since he first activated Divine Dividing, standing up to his bully for the first time since the playground. But now, taken aback by the suddenness of the attack, Izuku found himself paralyzed with fear. He couldn't move, thoughts as complex as pushing him off were too complicated at this moment. He could only lay there, feeling like his old self as he looked up in the corner of his eye at the person who had made his childhood a living nightmare.
"You damned, useless NERD!" screamed Bakugo, viens already in his eyes as he spat down that the teen beneath him. "Worthless stain! Damned Deku! Did you think we were done?! DID YOU?! Did you think I wouldn't see how close you were to my entrance score? With damned RESCUE POINTS?! Still looking down on me? Trying to make me look bad?!"
More pressure was added to Izuku's face, squishing it further into the ground. His bones were feeling like they were put into a press with the potential for them to break at any given moment. Only now could he hear movement all around him, shoes squeaking against the floor. But his eyes refused to look away from the angry red eyes above him even as spit flew from Bakugo's mouth every time he yelled. There was no mistaking it: Bakugo was beyond angry or livid. It was something else. And it scared Izuku that there could be another level of anger within the teen. More fear was added as the teen tried to reach Baukgo with his other hand but to no avale. From this position, his attacker was out of his reach.
"Now, you are going to answer my question you pathetic waste of space," demanded Bakugo as heat began to emanate from him palm. Heat that Midoriya knew all too well despite not experiencing it in some time. "Then you are going that your worthless ass out of my school! Either by you walking out on your own two feet or in a body bag!"
"That is highly uncalled for," came Shishida's voice. "Cease this utterly barbaric behavior my good sir at-"
"Mind your own business sasquatch!" yelled Bakugo without taking his eyes off of Izuku.
"Well, we tried to do this the civil way," said Itsuka. Half a second later the sound of flesh hitting flesh filled the lunchroom as Bakugo was knocked off of Izuku, tumbling onto the floor before rolling into a crouching position. Looking over to his side, the teen saw that it had been Itsuka who had come to his rescue. Her normal-sized fist still extended, she looked down at the ashen-haired teen with contempt. Then, after glancing back at Bakugo, Izuku saw a large bruise forming while a trickle of blood escaped from his lips.
"You damned extra. If you want to die so badly then so be it!" growled Bakugo, palms open as several mini explosions began to appear in his hands.
Izuku nearly trembled where he was as he saw the flash in Bakugo's eyes. He also noted that the others who had been seated at their table had already risen, determination in their eyes as the silence filled the room. Thankfully, something came in the nick of time to prevent things from escalating. That thing happened to be long bands of some sort of white cloth. They wrapped around Bakugo, pressing the teen's arms against his body as he fell to the ground. Everyone looked up to see, at the other end of the cloth, a man with long shaggy black hair and glowing red eyes. At the same time, another person came running towards Izuku which caused a brief surge of panic in the teen. Though he did relax a little when he saw that it was the girl he had saved back in the entrance exam, her eyes filled with concern at what had happened.
"Oh my…I-I saw what happened," said the brown-haired girl with the permanent blush. "Are you alright Deku?"
As the other 1-B students looked at Uraraka in shock, Izuku felt his heart sink deep into an abyss. Tears threatened to form in his eyes as he looked up at her. This was supposed to be a fresh start for him, a new beginning. That he could go the next three years without anyone calling him Deku! Well, everyone but Bakugo. But now? If she was already calling him that, how long till everyone else started calling him Useless? He must really look pathetic. He was taken out so easily, froze in fear, and needed someone else to save him. Some hero in training he turned out to be.
Breathing quickly, Izuku did the only thing he could think of: get away from everyone. He was aware he said something, yet the words didn't seem to register in his mind as he got to his feet before charging out of the lunchroom. No doubt everyone was watching him, judging him harshly. But he didn't have the mentality to worry about that now as he left the room and only stopped when he got to the first intersection in the hallway.
Once he stopped, Izuku bent slightly as he panted while resting his hands on his knees. He could hear Albion trying to talk to him, but his voice was jumbled within his mind. With each breath, he tried to clear it. Tried to get his thoughts in order and to think clearly.
"I was right about you," came a cold, emotionless voice from behind him. "You don't belong here."
All sound in Izuku's head vanished when he heard those words. Slowly he turned to see a man dressed in all black, his long and unkempt hair matching his attire. Quickly Izuku realized that this was the person who had stepped in, the cloth in one hand as he led Bakugo with him. But now the man's gaze was upon the Divine Divider, giving him a look that Izuku knew all too well.
He was being judged.
"I saw that pathetic display of yours in the entrance exam," he continued, moving in closer to Izuku as his eyes flashed red. "You clearly have little understanding of how to use your quirk properly and wasted time figuring it out on the battlefield. Did you even practice it at all? And now this."
Izuku could feel his heart beating faster, his legs becoming shaky as the man continued to glare at him. Words tried and failed to form in the teen's mouth creating further annoyance in the man standing before him. Said man then took a step closer.
"The only reason you are still here is that you were not placed in my class," said the man, now almost directly in front of Izuku. "Believe me, I would have removed you on the first day for being a-"
"Aizawa, that's enough!" As the words were spoken, the large meaty hand of Vlad King slammed into Aizawa's shoulder. This act had surprised both Bakugo and Izuku, neither of whom even noticed the man approaching. But not Awiaza who simply turned to give the taller man an annoyed look. For a while, neither man said anything before the dark man began to walk away with Bakugo in tow.
Then…
"You know I'm right." And with that, Aizawa walked away from the pair with Bakugo in tow without looking back.
-x-
"Tea?" asked Kan.
Not trusting his voice, Izuku nodded his head as he kept his eyes on the small table separating him from his homeroom teacher. The young man just sat there on a couch in the teacher's lounge, his standard uniform replaced with his gym tracksuit. He was aware that the door was locked, giving them privacy that did little to calm the teen down. As he heard the tea being poured into their cups, his mind went to all of the worst-case scenarios. No doubt Vlad was going to expel him like how that other teacher had wanted. Just in a calmer atmosphere. Why wouldn't they? The school had just seen how pathetic he had handled a sneak attack followed by the way he had reacted. Clearly, they would say that he wasn't cut out for the hero course if he couldn't handle that.
And with Albion now going silent, he felt all the more certain that he was right. Perhaps even the soul of the ancient dragon no longer wanted anything to do with him.
Then, the tea was placed before Izuku.
"I want to apologize for what Aizawa said to you," said Vlad King in a gentle tone. One that seemed to contradict his very appearance. "It was certainly something you didn't need to hear after what you just went through. Though harsh, the man means well."
Izuku said nothing as he took up his cup and took a sip, his eyes still downcast. Then, after a moment, he spoke.
"Was he right?" began Izuku before pausing to swallow the lump in his throat. "Is the reason I'm even still here because you didn't place me in his class?"
For a moment, silence filled the room. Despite not looking up at the man before him, he knew there was no doubt a war going on in Vlad King's brain. To be honest, lie, or deflect. Then, finally, the man spoke.
"It…is possible," said Vlad with a heavy sigh. "Aizawa has a bit of a reputation for expelling students that do not meet his standards, regardless of how well they do in the entrance exam. One time he even expelled an entire class. But, despite this, he does not want to expel you."
Midoriya looked up in surprise, nearly dropping his tea as he stared at the man in disbelief. Now he saw that his homeroom teacher was holding the small cup in his hands, looking down at it with his eyes half lid as if remembering something.
"He was critical of how much time you wasted during the exam," continued the blood-themed hero. "How you did not use your quirk right away and, when you did use it, you began flying around out of control. With that said, he was mildly impressed that you managed to get some control over it in such a short amount of time. That as well as taking down the zero-pointer without getting hurt or putting anyone else's well-being at risk. So he recommended that you be sent into General Studies with the option to be moved into the Hero Course once you got a better handle on your quirk. However, myself, Principal Nezu, and the other teachers felt otherwise."
The large man then paused to take a sip from his drink. Then, when he looked at Izuku again, there was something of curiosity in his gaze.
"Now, I'm sure you know that U.A. does background checks on all of our students for obvious reasons," he said, Izuku simply nodding back in confirmation. "Normally, we scrutinize any reported misconduct ranging from quirk misusage to arrests. If we require a better understanding of the situation or that said potential student has learned and moved on then that student is called in so we can question them. Others we simply discard without a second thought. But perhaps some of us pay a little too much attention to that part and miss other things. Like, for example, both myself and Nezu noticed that you changed your quirk registration almost a year ago. And, originally, you were declared quirkless."
Izuku nodded again before going into the story he had told so many people thus far. How he had discovered that the reason everyone, including himself, had thought that he was quirkless was that his body hadn't been strong enough to handle his quirk. He intentionally remained vague on how he had discovered this, not wanting there to be more bad blood between himself and Bakugo. And, thankfully, Vlad never pressed the issue nor did he interrupt his student as he continued the story of how hard he worked to get his body into shape. About how, at the entrance exam, he wasn't one hundred percent sure that Divine Dividing worked on machines as well as wanting to see what he could do on his own. And that when he did activate his quirk was the first time he had discovered the wings and, well, the first time he had ever flown.
It was only when Izuku had finished his story that Vlad spoke once more, his voice filled to the brim with understanding. "I see. From what I am hearing, your quirk is still developing. No doubt due to coming in so late in the game. Well, considering that, I'm honestly a bit more impressed that you came so far in such a short amount of time. Now you have me curious to see what you'll be like at the end of the year!"
Izuku could now see an almost feral grin on Vlad's face. But, unlike Bakugo's feral expressions, this one held less of the murderous glint in the eyes and was replaced with excitement. Seeing it almost flew Izuku through a loop. But before the teen could dwell on it much longer, Vlad's expression softened.
"I'm sure it wasn't easy thinking you were quirkless for so long." said the pro hero shoftly.
"It wasn't…" Izuku's words cracked as he began to deny the truth of what it had been like. To dismiss it all like it had just been no big deal, a bit of rain that ruined what was supposed to be a sunny day. But his own voice had already betrayed him and already the pro hero sitting before him was giving him a look that said he already didn't buy that. So, Izuku spoke honestly. "Deku. I-I don't know if anyone told you, but that's the name Ka, er, Bakugo called me. It's the name a lot of people knew me as growing up. Useless. That's how I was made to feel for years. I was mocked for just wanting to have the same dreams as the rest of my class. For just wanting to help people. That's all I wanted to do. Yeah, I was stupid for not working out more if I wanted to be a hero. I realized that a while ago. I eventually did put in the hard work but…maybe I'll always be a Deku. If I freeze up like I did in the lunchroom, unable to fight back, then how can I ever be expected to do the same when I'm fighting a real live villain? Maybe Mr. Aizawa is right and I should just-"
Izuku was silenced when Vlad reached across the table to gently place a hand on his shoulder.
"Midoriya, you are certainly not the first student I've seen freeze up when taken by surprise," said the man firmly. "And you certainly won't be the last. I won't hold it against you especially since you were in a place where you thought you were safe. So go a little easier on yourself and we can work on it."
"R-Really?" asked Izuku.
"Of course," said Kan with a nod while removing his hand from Izuku's shoulder as he leaned back into his seat. "We train our heroes to deal with a number of different situations that can happen out in the field. That includes how to deal with unexpected attacks. Now, how are you feeling?"
Izuku blinked at that. Slowly, it began to dawn on him that he was feeling better. The panic he had been feeling was lessening, his mind now thinking far more clearly. Like how that girl had called him Deku. Of course, she didn't know his name as they had never really spoken. She no doubt heard Bakugo screaming it at the top of his lungs and, for some reason, assumed it was his name. Hopefully thinking it was his surname or something. Looking back at his homeroom teacher, Izuku saw a sad smile on the face of the blood-themed hero.
"I sort of know what you're going through," said Vlad King. "Believe it or not, I was bullied pretty bad back before I started my hero training."
Again, Izuku blinked at what he heard while his mouth hung open slightly.
"Y-You were?" asked Izuku, mouth slightly hanging open as his mind tried to process this. He knew a lot about the career of Vlad King. While not to the extent of All Might, but he did have several pages dedicated to the man sitting before him in a notebook back home. And in all the vidoes as well as pictures in articles he had seen the man in, Vlad King always appeared so strong. So powerful and focused. It was mind blowing to even consider that anyone would think to bully him.
Vlad King, however, nodded.
"A lot of people get unnerved by blood quirks," began the man as he looked down into his teacup. "It's a primal thing to grow uneasy when you see it, ten times more so when there's a scrawny kid that can manipulate his own blood. Got pushed around a lot, bullied, and called things like 'that creepy vampire'. One day I even found jars of pig blood stuffed into my locker, the people around me laughing it up and asking if that was my lunch."
Izuku gulped as a question burned in his mind.
"Did leaving that place help?" he asked.
"It did," replied Vlad King as he looked back up at his student. "When I started my hero training, I found that most of the people there were more accepting of me. Those that weren't didn't get very far. Some of them never made it past Sidekick when they graduated. But, some of that stuff stuck with me. Especially the things they said to me. There would be times when I could almost hear their voices in the back of my head. Then there were times when I would just snap at people when they made certain comments. It's…not as easy to escape that kind of stuff. It just seems to haunt you like a ghost, appearing and disappearing without a trace."
"C-Can I ask how you were able to…get past that?" asked Izuku.
"Of course!" answered Vlad with a smile, one that showed off his fangs. "The first thing I needed to do was admit that what they said hurt. Let it out. Then I found friends I could talk to, ones I trusted and who were willing to listen to me vent when I needed it. And, finally, I took the names they used to insult me and I owned them! It's the reason I decided that my hero name would be a reference to the inspiration of Dracula. Once I owed it, I took away all the power those people had."
Shortly after that, Izuku Midoriya left the teacher's lounge feeling infinitely better. He managed to head back to the classroom where a worried Itsuka and Pony were waiting for him along with the rest of the class. He was embarrassed yet glad at the same time to see that there were so many people who were worried about him.
"That ruffian!" declared Shishida as he adjusted his glasses. "Attacking anyone when their back is turned is the mark of a coward!"
"I knew he was bad news. Shroom," cried Komori, her own hands balled into fists. "I'm just glad he's in 1-A. Can you imagine what would have happened if he was here with us? Or if Midoriya was in 1-A with him? Shroom!"
Izuku smiled at their words.
"So, does anyone know what happened to Bakugo?" he asked as he turned to the rest of the class. "The guy who attacked me?"
Itsuka made a face that showed she wasn't happy. "Yeah. Tokage overheard some of the teachers while we were looking for you." As if to punctuate that statement, Tokage's eyes and ears separated from her body and began to move around on their own. Along with her mouth that was twisted into a sharp-toothed grin as Kendo continued to talk. "According to her, Principal Nezu was furious about the attack and wanted to expel that Bakugo kid. But that jerk Aizawa stepped in and managed to get him a suspension. He'll be back when they start rescue training in a couple of days."
"Oh, that's bullshit!" This statement by Awase was quickly shared by the rest of the class. Even Shiozaki seemed enraged with this, her hair slashing around like dozens of angry snakes. It seemed like too much of a slap on the wrist for attacking another student completely unprovoked. But perhaps there was going to be more to his punishment like he would be missing something important in class or something.
Some of the class even wondered if the reason they didn't expel the jerk was that the school feared unleashing such a ticking time bomb on the world.
However, their speculations had to be put on hold as Vlad entered the room, ready to give a lecture on proper heroing laws.
The next day, 1-B discovered what the angry blonde had missed out on as the door opened and All Might himself almost seemed to soar into the room before landing in front of Vlad's podium. Stars were in Izuku's eyes as he looked up at the number one hero. He stood there, dressed in his current hero costume while making a V for victory sign as a bright smile shone on his face.
"Greetings you bunch of newbies," announced the number one hero. "I, All Might, am here to teach you the ropes in what I like to call Heroing 101! And, just like your sister class, I will be pulling no punches as we start our battle training!"
Chapter 7: The Side Quest
Izuku stood on the roof of a building within Training Ground Beta as he nervously counted the seconds until their first heroics training lesson began. Glancing over at his partner the Divine Divider was glad to see that he wasn't the only one as Itsuka was doing some breathing exercises. Their objective in this exercise was simple: they were the heroes who had to break into a building housing a 'bomb' held by a pair of villains. All they had to do was either touch the bomb or capture both villains before the time ran out. Easy…at least on paper that is. They were going up against Tokage and Kuroiro. Not only that, but they were going to be the first group to do this exercise. With the entire class, plus All Might himself, watching them. Judging them.
"We got this," came the voice of the Big Fist user.
Izuku blinked, not realizing that Itsuka had closed the distance between them to place a hand on his shoulder while giving him a warm smile. Seeing this helped him to relax a bit as well, though he blushed a bit as couldn't help but notice how heroic and alluring she looked in her hero costume. Looking down and placing a hand on his chest, he too began to feel a little more heroic at this moment. After what his orange-haired friend had told him almost a year ago about making his smile his own, the teen had workshopped his old hero costume to remove All Might's influence. Now he wore the finished product: a green suit, its color a lighter shade than what he originally wanted so as to not clash with his wings, with white markings on the side along the sides. On both legs, he wore white knee pads that went up to his thighs. The teen had removed the hood that held the hair bangs from his original design as well as the mouth guard that looked like All Might's smile, much to the delight of Albion and Itsuka. Though Pony did sulk a little as she had thought that it looked really funny. In its place, now hanging around his neck, was a respirator shaped like a dragon's jaw.
Now he looked more like his own hero instead of a fanboy playing dress up.
"Yeah," agreed Izuku with a nod. "We got this."
As Izuku said that, All Might announced the beginning of the match. Wasting no time, the green-haired teen activated his quirk, the large wings appearing on his back before he blushingly picked up his friend to carry her bridal style. With his friend in his arms, Izuku flew across the street aiming toward one of the windows in the middle of the building while one of Itsuka's fists grew to its maximum size. Once they arrived at their destination, Kendo wasted no time smashing the glass into thousands of pieces with a single punch. However, rather than going inside, Izuku flew upwards at the highest speed he felt comfortable at before landing on the roof.
As Kendo used her enlarged fists to rip the roof access door off its hinges, Izuku deactivated his wings so that he could properly fit through the door. Their first plan had been simple: have Izuku fly around the building looking for the bomb and then the two of them could just crash through that window. However, both agreed that that sort of plan would have worked better had he not shown everyone at the dodgeball game that he could fly. No doubt they would expect something like that. The same would go for the roof. So, instead, their plan was to try and divide their opponents. Hopefully, after hearing that crash, one of the villains would go to investigate leaving the other to guard the bomb or the roof.
As the pair moved through the top floor they began to notice just how dark it was, the lights being turned off while all the doors were kept shut. It was so dark that the two had to move a bit slower while keeping a hand pressed against the wall. The two strained their ears as they listened for the slightest noise of their enemies approaching. As the two turned a corner they were met by…a floating eyeball? The two heroes stared at it, wide eye thinking that their own eyes were playing tricks on them.
That is until the eyeball blinked causing both hero hopefuls to scream.
As the pair backed away from what was the beginning of a horror movie, Izuku felt someone wrapping their arms around his neck. The fear of being taken by surprise filled the teen, his mind going numb as he looked to the side to see the haunting face of Kuroiro grinning at him while showing off all his teeth.
"Izuku!" As Itsuka yelled out his name, several small objects began to fly toward her. Quickly they combined to form a pair of hands that swiftly grabbed the Big Fist girl by the wrists. Kendo soon found herself being dragged and pressed against the wall by the severed hands across from the struggling Izuku. Then, several larger masses flew down the hallways along with a mouth that floated underneath the eye.
"Nice try with that distraction," said Setsuna's mouth. "Good thing I left an eye over here while the rest of me went to search the building."
Struggling to get a full breath of air, Izuku reached up his hands to pry off the arms denying him precious oxygen. Yet when he tried Kuroiro simply began to tighten his chokehold. To make matters worse, Izuku got a front-row seat to the fate that befell his partner. He watched as Itsuka struggled to push forward, to remove herself from the wall, to lower her arms so she could rip off Tokage's hands. However, much to the green-haired teen's mounting horror at the situation, the extra lumps of flesh began launching right into Kendo's gut. Itsuka like all the air from her lungs had been knocked out from the first attack, barely able to take another breath before the next piece of Setsuna stuck her. Over and over, these pieces struck before pulling back in a seemingly never-ending series of rapid-fire punches.
"It's over hero," said Kuroiro said as Izuku felt one of the arms let go. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it reach into the darkness where the rest of his enemy's body was most likely to be. Then, when he saw it next, in the dark villain's hand was the capture tape!
Seeing the tape brought a moment of clarity to Izuku's mind, the desperate need for air forgotten. Once that capture tape was wrapped around him, he would lose. He would have to lie there, unable to participate in the rest of the exercise leaving Itsuka to fend for herself again the two villains. Well, not if he could help it!
So, with gritted teeth, Izuku tightened his grip on Kuroiro arm that was around his neck. An action that surprised the dark teen. Then…
"Divide!" shouted Izuku as he activated his quirk, his wings extended to cancel out as much of the darkness in the hallway as possible. With no darkness for Kuroiro to sink back into, it was like he was being pushed out of the wall. Midoriya used this, adding his own strength to add to the momentum while spinning the darkly clad teen and tossing him to the ground. A second later, Kuroiro's body hit the ground with enough force that it actually bounced. But before he could land on the ground a second time, Izuku was around in motion to continue his attack. The Divine Divider had spun around, lifting his leg high into the air as he did so before sending his heel right into the gut of his attacker.
At the same time, Kendo was turning the tables on Setsuna. The orange-haired girl, despite the pain she had endured, began to push herself off the wall while growing her fists to their full size once more. With a fierce battle cry, she then began to swing both of her enlarged hands around creating waves of wind that knocked Tokage's body parts around while irritating the lone eye. Then SMACK! Ituska's hand came done, swatting several of the pieces in one go as though they were nothing more than a couple of annoying flies. Shrinking her hands, Kendo then ripped off the severed hands that still clung to her wrists before flinging them against the wall.
At that point, Setsuna's eye and mouth were the only parts of her still afloat. Seeing that there was nothing else they could do, they tried to make a break for it only to discover that Izuku was blocking their path as he had somehow gotten behind them. Tokage hesitated and, at that moment, Itsuka had enlarged her hands once more to swat the last of the villain's pieces.
With the fight over, Izuku looked over to see Itsuka holding her stomach with her once more normal-sized hands with a strained grin on her face. As she gave him a thumbs up, showing she was ready to continue, Izuku instantly returned the gesture.
From there, the rest of the exercise was pretty easy. They found the bomb along with literally half of Setsuna, looking like various chunks of her body were missing. She tried to put up a fight, pieces of her body flying out at the two heroes in a vain attempt to keep them from the bomb. However, both Kendo and Midoriya were easily able to avoid the attacks thanks to all the parkour training they had done, touching the bomb with five minutes to spare.
Once the match was over, all four were brought back to where the rest of the class was waiting for them. There All Might heaped praise on all four of them for a splendid job as both heroes and villains had good plans while also making good use of their quirks. And while he did criticize Izuku for hesitating as long as he did when Kuroiro got the drop on him, he was overall glad that he overcame this. As for Izuku, he just nodded as basked in the glow of his own achievement. That he had been able to save himself, unlike what had happened with Bakugo.
From there, the rest of the matches continued. Everyone in Class 1-B gave Izuku a look as he pulled out a notebook from…somewhere as he began taking notes on all the various quirks of his classmates and how they used them. The one that had impressed him the most was Pony who had attached the capture tape to her horns before launching them into the air, guiding them to her target like a guided missile. Not only that, but when the ground had been covered by her opponent's glue she had gotten over it by jumping on her floating horns and riding them over the obstacle.
All in all, it had been a good day despite All Might racing away once the class was over.
-x-
The next day, the students of 1-B found themselves back in Training Ground Beta. Dressed in their hero costumes, they followed their homeroom teacher as he led them down the deserted streets. With their footsteps seeming to echo all around them the place gave off a bit of a spooky vibe.
"Alright, class," said Vlad King as he led his class through the empty city. "Today, while 1-A is doing rescue training at the USJ, you will be learning how to deal with large-scale ambushes."
Izuku flinched when Vlad King brought up the USJ. They had all heard about the Unforeseen Simulation Joint yesterday after All Might's lesson from their homeroom teacher. A place that was designed to simulate entire disaster environments in a controlled setting for training purposes. When they heard this, the entire class had grown excited though less so when the blood-themed hero said that he was trying to get a joint class training going with 1-A. No doubt wanting to smooth tensions out between the two heroic classes. Well, obviously it didn't work out and Izuku couldn't help but feel like it was his fault. He could still remember the way Mr. Aizawa had spoken to him, making his feelings for the green-haired youth crystal clear. That, along with the fact that Bakugo was back from his suspension, his presence heard loud and clear, were the more likely reasons for 1-A's homeroom teacher to reject the idea.
"Hey," came Itsuka's whisper right into Izuku's ear, both the suddenness and the feeling of her warm breath almost causing him to jump. "Don't worry about it. We'll go to the USJ another time."
At that, Pony chimed in as she leaned close to whisper as well.
"Yeah!" she said, a little louder than Itsuka. "And we won't be keeping an eye out for that jerk!"
Glancing around, Midoriya saw that while they had been quiet the rest of the class seemed to have heard this. Many of them were either nodding in agreement or just giving the Divine Divider a reassuring smile. Seeing that made Izuku relax a little. Maybe he was just thinking about this too hard. Perhaps the reason the idea was rejected was that there weren't enough teachers to watch over them.
Vlad King, meanwhile, continued talking as if he had not overheard anything. "This type of thing can be one of the most terrifying aspects of the job. I'm sure that many of you noticed it in the entrance exam, examinees freezing or panicking when one of the robots suddenly appeared before them. It is that fear that you will be learning to overcome, to not hesitate when faced with danger."
"So are we going to be fighting the robots from the exam again?" asked Kuroiro. "No offense Mr. Vlad but we already know we can take them."
Vlad turned his head to look at his student, a sadistic smile briefly appearing on his face. "Yes, you did. But when you last fought them, you were in a group with the robots targeting whoever they first came across. This time, however, you will be facing a dozen or so robots alone that can appear at any time. Furthermore, we will be making those robots a bit tougher. All thanks to the Support Department."
As if on cue, a three-pointer robot came racing down the street towards them at a speed much greater than they had shown during the entrance exam. What's more, there seemed to be someone riding on top of it! It was a girl with pink dreadlock-styled hair, her jacket tied around her waist to show off her tank top, and her arms raised high into the air. Drawing closer, Izuku took note of the homemade steampunk-like goggles on her forehead along with the various blotches of oil on her skin. Eventually, the robot came to a halt right in front of the group which nearly caused the girl to go flying off.
"Class, allow me to introduce one of Power Loader's best first-year students in the Support Department: Mei Hatsume," announced Vlad King as he gestured to the girl who was now laughing her head off. "She's here to make sure that the robots pack a bit more of a punch than what they did during the entrance exam."
Mei suddenly stopped laughing, head snapping to look at the hero in red before blinking at that though her insane grin never left her face.
"Really?" asked Hatsume in a weird, cheerful tone. "Power Loader really said that about me? I thought he just wanted me out of the classroom after I blew it up for the eighteenth time."
Pony, as well as the majority of the class, blinked at that. "But we've only been at school for-"
"Not that I mind of course!" exclaimed Mei, waving a hand around while interrupting the American girl. "This is far more interesting than listening to another boring safety lecture. Now, if only I were allowed to really cut loose I could show all of U.A. the pure genius of Mei Hatsume!"
As she said this last part, Mei threw her head back to let out an insane laugh. One that sent shivers down all the students. And while the girl continued to laugh, Vlad King cleared his throat with a little cough.
"By the looks of it, I take it that you finished what I asked you to?" asked the teacher.
Hatsume stopped her laughing so fast that it nearly gave Izuku whiplash, and turned her head to look at the 1-B homeroom teacher while giving him a thumbs up.
"Just about done," said the Support Course teen. "Though I do want to go over some other improvements to make these babies a bit tougher to deal with. I can tell you all about it while you sign a permission form to allow me to use the Support Department's rocket fuel!"
"No." As Vlad King said this, his face went flat as it lost all the humor it had and was replaced with a more stony expression. If that bothered Hatsume, she didn't show it at all. All she did was jump off the back of the three-pointer robot while still grinning like a mad woman. Vlad just shook his head, turning to look at his students.
"Well then, while Hatsume finishes her job, I want to go over how this exercise will work. One of you will-" Vlad King got no further as the man's ringtone went off. Grumbling, he pulled his phone out while giving the device a nasty look. Yet that look quickly morphed into one of abject horror so powerful that his phone nearly slipped out of his hands. After catching it, he looked up at his students who all stared at the man who was growing pale.
"I…I have to go," he said, already on the move. "There has been an emergency on campus. All of you are to help Hatsume put everything away and then head back to class. Then, wait there till I return. That's final!"
And without another word, the man dashed off quickly disappearing from sight.
Once he was gone, Kendo quickly took the lead as she clapped her large hands together to get everyone's attention. Thankfully for the orange-haired girl, she received no pushback or outright refusal. They had all seen the look on the pro hero's face, recognizing that something serious had to have happened for him to act like that. The only one who proved difficult was the lone Support Student who spent the next five or so minutes fighting with Kendo as she did not want to undo all the hard work she had done.
Eventually, Itsuka wore the pink-haired mechanic down. As one the students began to move through the faux city to where Hatsume had stored the robots that she had tinkered with. And while on the move, the class began to speculate on what could have happened. Pony thought that an accident might have occurred at the USJ, one that needed all heroes on deck.
"Yeah," agreed Tsuburaba as he let out a dark chuckle. "How much you want to bet that blonde jerk caused it? I can just see him losing his cool before exploding on everyone."
Hearing that caused most of the class to let out a nervous laugh. Given what they had seen of Bakugo's temper it was a possibility. Not one they wanted to see happen of course. As for Izuku, the teen just scratched the back of his head as he looked away.
Then, in the middle of the street just ahead of them, came a swirling dark vortex made of mist. Instantly going on high alert, Kendo ordered her fellow classmates to hide. Everyone scattered at that, moving into the nearby buildings and down alleyways to take cover. As for Izuku, he along with Shishida, Pony, Mei, and Itsuka all made their way down into an alleyway.
After a moment had passed, a lone figure walked out of the portal. It was a tall, lanky man with pale blue hair that was completely unkempt. Yet what drew everyone's attention were the multiple severed hands on his body, holding onto his arms and face. And…there was something else about this person that put Izuku on edge. Just looking at him caused the hair on the back of his neck to rise.
"This is such a drag," complained the hand man, scratching his neck as he spoke. "Such a boring level to be on. I so wanted to be there when we defeated the final boss, not doing this side quest. If Kurogiri doesn't record the moment when Nomu smashes that man's skull in, I'm going to have to kill him. Hopefully, the loot and reputation I gain from this will be worth it."
As Izuku tried his best to process what the man meant, more figures appeared from within the portal. Three of them, each with an exposed brain! The first of these monsters had huge bat-like wings and a gas mask covering its lower face. The second had four eyes along with thin, lengthy arms making it look a bit like a skinny gorilla. The final one was the most muscular of the three, dark-skinned and eyeless wearing tattered shorts.
Staring at them, Izuku felt a cold sweat cover his body as he tried his best to swallow. Thankfully he wasn't alone. Shishida's jaw had dropped, his hairy form shaking in terror at the sight. Itsuka's face could not hide the fear she felt while Pony stood there frozen in fear.
"Sir Midoriya, w-why aren't the alarms going off?" whispered Shishida.
Izuku nearly jumped at the whisper so close to his ear, but he managed to keep himself still. He did not want to do anything that would catch the attention of those monsters.
"I-I don't know," admitted Midoriya, his mind trying to piece together a theory. Right now, he only had one. "M-Maybe it has something to do with the press from yesterday? I heard that while we were in class with All Might they managed to get onto school grounds. Perhaps there were repairs needed after that and the alarm was shut off?"
"No, that's not it." Mei's voice was just barely above a whisper as she looked at the monsters herself, a hand on her chin. "Power Loader went over that system late into the night. I know because he kicked me out of the Support Studio before he left at eight. It's more likely that they bypassed the system thanks to that warp quirk they got."
"That's a pretty serious flaw!" Pony whispered/yelled.
Izuku shook his head before glancing over at Pony. "Not really. Warp quirks are very rare and each one works in a different way. I heard that in order to detect when one is being used, the security equipment needs to understand the frequency of the warper in order to detect how they are warping time and space."
"That's right!" exclaimed Mei as she slammed her open palm on Izuku's shoulder before giving him a thumb's up. "Looks like you're not just a bunch of muscles there."
Meanwhile, back with the villains, the portal had closed leaving the four standing in the middle of the street with their leader staring off into the distance toward the main campus.
"Well, while the main boss Nomu is destroying the Symbol of Peace I get to destroy his precious society," spoke the person who was clearly a villain. His tone sounded like he was trying his best to convince himself that what he was doing was worth it. And by the way his voice rose, a smile forming beneath his disturbing mask, it was working. "Oh, how their reputation will drop when the public learns that an entire school was slaughtered!"
As the lead villain began walking towards the exit, the shattering of glass filled the air. Everyone looked up to see Tetsutetsu, his body hardened by steel, first raised as he shot downwards towards the villain. The teen had screamed something that Izuku didn't quite make out, but the intention was clear as day. Sadly, he never made contact as the eyeless monster grabbed Tetsutetsu by the arm before slamming him down into the street as though he were little more than a rag doll. Blood shot out of the Steel user's mouth as he bounced off the ground.
"NO!" screamed Izuku as his wings activated, sending him flying towards the villains without ever really thinking about it. The hand villain seemed to stare at him, letting the green-haired youth touch the monster still holding his classmate to use Divine Divide upon it. As soon as he did, however, Izuku felt more power running through him than anything he had ever felt before. So much so that there was pain before his wings shattered into nothing. Falling to the ground, he looked up to see all four villains looking at him.
"How nice," said the hand villain. Now that Izuku was closer, he could see the man's smile in all of its sickening glory. "The pathetic low-level scrubs are coming out to meet us. Good. Let's kill them all."