Izuku Midoriya sat on a plush, comfortable couch, video game controller in hand. By his side, the Symbol of Evil rested, a similar controller clutched between his much larger hands.
What were the two—the world's most feared villain and his weapon in training—doing?
Why, playing Super Smash Heroes, of course.
All For One idly wondered how he got roped into playing video games with Izuku. The day had started out simple enough: a friendly, if a teensy bit violent, battle royale between the experimental test subjects. The promise of having a wish granted to the victor.
Izuku had won, of course. He was pretty creative about his methods, too. Somehow, he had recruited that one girl—Himiko Toga, if All For One was remembering correctly—over to his side and the two had utterly decimated the competition. With a combination of Crimson Hydrokinesis, Blood Counterbalance, and Blood Blade, Himiko had managed to catch all their opponents off guard and disable their Quirk usage. Then, Izuku cleaned up the mess by using Hydro Cannon and Electromagneta in conjunction with each other.
It was a truly inspiring display of teamwork. Even if the point of the exercise had been to force the experiments to duke it out, after such a show, All For One decided to let it slide, and Himiko surrendered obediently to Izuku. Creativity should be rewarded, not punished.
When All For One had asked the young boy what his wish was, Izuku quickly answered with: "I want to spend the rest of the day playing games with you, sensei!"
Oh, bless this innocent child's heart. All For One would have teared up at his wish—if he still had functioning eyes, that is. It had been a test, of course. If the victor wished to be set free or anything similar to that, they would have been subjected to a session or two. But Izuku passed his test with flying colors.
And so: the current situation. All For One hadn't played video games in a very, very long time, but the chance to kick back and enjoy modern entertainment was not an unwelcome one. He learned quickly, but if there was one issue that he had with this game, it would be—
"All Might saves the day again!" a voice called from the screen. Izuku cheered, and the voice followed with, "And he was aided by Crust!"
All For One was Crust, and Izuku was All Might. The game was basically a 2D fighter with both PvP and PvE elements, and the two were currently playing the game's main campaign. The main gripe that All For One had with the game was that it was all heroes.
Where was the villain representation? So many villains, some that he had even worked with personally over the years, could have made the game. Evil Eye would have been great, and The Juggernaut would have been inspiring. It was just like Japanese society to create a game that stroked the egos of its heroes without paying any respect to the villains that made them "great" in the first place.
"Izuku," All For One called out, a strained smile on his face, "why did you choose to play this game?"
Izuku, completely oblivious to his mentor's inner turmoil, answered with, "It was really popular when I was at school. Everyone was talking about how they played with all of their friends, and I…"
His voice trailed off, and All For One dimly recalled the circumstances that he'd found Izuku in before he took him. He was probably a victim of bullying and ostracization for not having a Quirk, which led to him not having many friends. All For One wasn't a certified psychologist, but he liked to think that he had become pretty good at reading people, especially children who weren't really trying to hide anything.
"I understand," All For One said warmly, patting the young boy on the head. Izuku likely did not have any friends that he could play the game with. "Anyone at home to play with?"
Izuku shook his head and looked down. "Mom was always working, and my dad…"
All For One watched Izuku closely, barely managing to suppress a growing grin. His tone, his voice, his down-cast gaze… they made his home situation far too obvious. This was far too good of a chance for All For One to pass up on.
"Your dad?" All For One asked, purposefully making his tone seem innocent.
"He just… I don't really know him," Izuku admitted, unaware of the trap he was falling into.
"That's terrible," All For One insisted, filling his voice with emotion. "Every child ought to have a father figure in their life."
The man didn't say anything more than that, but when he saw Izuku's face as he looked away from the ground and stared at All For One, he knew that he had said enough. Ingraining oneself takes time—he'd settle with sowing the seeds for today.
Naturally, All For One changed the subject. "By the way, Izuku—are your Quirks giving you any trouble?"
Izuku blinked, knocked out of his own thoughts by his sensei's question. "No, uhm… actually, I can't figure out how to use Regenerator."
All For One stroked his chin, thinking. "Well, when I had Regenerator, I struggled to use it to its full potential as well. On paper, it should be a strong Quirk. It basically constantly changes the body, the mind so that it returns to an 'optimal' state. The problem is that the process is too slow to be practical."
The young boy nodded, paying rapt attention.
"I gave it to you because I was hoping you could find some use for it in conjunction with Chrono Force," All For One revealed. "But it's a Quirk with amazing potential. If it worked fast enough, it could, in theory, create a person who is always at their peak, both mentally and physically. I'll leave it to you to figure out how to achieve that."
"I'll learn how to use it to its full potential," Izuku promised.
"Good, good," All For One smiled. "But, if you're looking for guidance on how to use Regenerator… just think of that video game that we played. Remember when you picked up that healing item and the number at the bottom of the screen kept on decreasing even though you weren't actively doing anything?"
Izuku quickly located that moment in his memories. "Yes, I do."
"It's just like that," All For One told him.
"Visualize passively healing, like in that video game we just played."
Unbreakable
Know More About You
On the eve of the internship's final day, Rumi walked Izuku back to his dorm.
Rather than going on a patrol, the two opted to train in Rumi's underground complex. That day, they had been training Izuku's usage and control of Blackwhip. They tried pushing Izuku's output to see if he could handle more strands of Blackwhip, and he was able to handle extending and utilizing ten strands… until they went berserk three minutes into their practice, nearly shredding the whole training facility.
Izuku remembered the bald man with goggles he had seen when he initially "unlocked" Blackwhip. The former One For All user claimed that he could only use five tendrils in the past and that it would be easier to bear if he decreased the power output, but that was easier said than done. Nowadays, he only really knew how to increase power.
Whatever the case was, it was obvious that he had not yet achieved full mastery over Blackwhip. That was aggravating, since it had been one of his Quirks that he'd been using the longest, but Izuku knew he just had to work at it—
"Hey, Izuku, you've been staring at the entrance for like, two minutes now."
Rumi's words cut him out of his thoughts. Blinking once, twice, Izuku turned towards her.
The rabbit woman put a hand over her mouth and grinned. "Don't tell me… you're that devastated that you won't be able to hang out with me? I'm flattered, Izuku, but—"
"Actually, yeah," Izuku said honestly. "I genuinely had a lot of fun, and I think I got a better idea of what it means to be a real hero. I don't think I would've gotten that if I interned at some other agency. So… thank you." Izuku bowed deeply.
Faced with the straight response, Rumi couldn't help but laugh, embarrassed, and rub the back of her neck. "Shit, man. I was trying to keep this parting light-hearted."
Izuku straightened himself out and looked Rumi in the eye. "This isn't a parting," he asserted, holding out a hand. "I think that'd make Eri too sad. So… see you later."
Rumi stared back at him, the verdanette's growth over this short week making itself very clear to her. When she first met him, he was nervous, shy, and stuttered a bit. While those traits weren't exactly gone, they moved to the background as Izuku's other qualities made themselves felt.
It seemed that, after fighting Stain and those three villains and after training with her, Izuku was able to gain some confidence in himself.
Rumi smiled—not her usual battle-crazed smirk, but rather a gentle one, a rare expression for the hero to have. "Yeah, that sounds better. See you soon, Izuku."
She took Izuku's hand and pulled him in for a quick hug, releasing him shortly after. "Oh, and… call me if you ever need anything."
Izuku smiled broadly. "Same for you. When you and I are free sometime, want to come over and hang out with me and Eri?"
"Sure, but," Rumi smirked, "that's rather bold of you, Izuku."
Izuku sighed, raising a hand to hide his embarrassed look. "You know I have a girlfriend."
She snickered. "Yeah, I'm just fuckin' with ya."
Izuku rolled his eyes, but the smile on his face betrayed his true emotions. "Whatever. See you later, Rumi."
"Same." Rumi turned around to leave, but then she suddenly stopped and turned around. "Also, go get your arm checked out because I know you haven't done so yet. And text me what they say."
Urk. Being called out like that, Izuku could only sheepishly respond with, "Yes, mom."
Rumi made a face.
"Never call me that again."
.:.
The next day, Izuku woke up late, having taken advantage of the fact that he no longer had to wake up early for the internship and that they were given a day off from school.
Spotting a slew of unread text messages on his phone screen, he gently moved a still-slumbering Eri off of his stomach and picked up his device. Briefly skimming them, he soon understood the gist of it. Mina had called for a class meeting now that internships were over, wanting to "gossip" about how internships went. Some discussion occurred about when and where to do it, and it was eventually agreed upon to have a group brunch at 11:30 AM… which was in ten minutes.
Momo had texted him individually asking if he was going to be there, to which he quickly typed out a response in the affirmative before getting out of bed to freshen up. His movements woke Eri, who blinked owlishly at him.
"Time to wake up, Eri," he said, smiling. "Do you have anything to do today?"
"I… think so…" she yawned, getting comfortable in bed again. "Lessons with Midnight…"
As she began to doze off again, Izuku asked her, "When was that, again?"
Eri half-opened one eye and murmured, "Ten."
"Uhh, Eri?" Izuku said, checking his phone to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating. "Eri, it's eleven twenty-two."
For a moment Eri remained in bed.
Then…
She bolted upright faster than Izuku had ever seen her move before. With a consistent wail, she rushed over to the closet and started throwing on clothes, ending up in a hilariously cute but mismatched combo of green and orange. He followed her to the bathroom, where she ferociously brushed her teeth. They both spat and rinsed their mouths at the same time, and as she was moving to open the door, Izuku called after her, "Do you know where you're going?"
"The big building in the middle!" she said, holding up a shaky thumbs up. Her face was a mess of emotions.
Well, he supposed that it was a good enough description of the U.A. faculty offices. "Are you sure you're fine walking there on your own?"
Ferocious nodding convinced him, and with a wave and a smile, he saw her off before getting changed out of his sleepwear into his casual clothes. After applying his usual deodorant and double checking in the mirror to make sure that he didn't look like a homeless bum, Izuku took the elevator and went to the dining hall to find the vast majority of his classmates already there, already deep in discussion.
"I'm telling you," Denki said, chewing on a churro of all things, "Stain's message isn't anti-establishment. It's anti… the modern system of heroics, whatever you call it."
A floating purple t-shirt seemed to take offense to this. "No, it's not anti anything, it's just stupid. It's nons—hey, is that Midoriya? Come over here and help settle this argument."
Called out all of a sudden, Izuku walked over towards where Denki, Eijiro, Koji, Kyoka, and Toru were sitting. As he approached, the others in the cafeteria naturally quieted down and turned towards Izuku. "What's this argument about?"
"Ignore them," Mina piped up from the right, where she had been enjoying some toast with Momo and Ochaco. "They're still hung up over what Stain said. Midoriya, have you been on social media lately?"
Izuku scratched his ear. "Uhm, actually, no. Thought that an internet cleanse could benefit me."
"What?" the pinkette said, astonished. "How could you not? Stain's 'message' has been catapulted into, like, infamy. All of Japan is talking 'bout Stain and you—oh."
An awkward silence descended upon the room, and Momo was the one to break it. "What the media is doing is downright awful, Izuku. Just ignore them."
Izuku offered everyone a small smile. "It's fine. What argument did you need settled?"
"O-Oh, yeah." Toru's facial expression obviously could not be seen by anyone, but her discomfort at breaching a potentially sensitive subject showed in her voice. "I—or, I guess we were just wondering what your thoughts on Stain's philosophy was. Since… you know, you were the one to beat him."
Izuku nodded. "There was actually a short time where we debated philosophy before we even began fighting." Ignoring everyone's expressions of shock, he continued, "My thoughts didn't change from then. His ideals basically revolve around purging society of 'false' heroes, heroes who are in the hero business for the wrong reasons. I basically told him…"
He paused, noticing how he held all of his classmates' attention.
"Well, regardless of reason, I thought his definition was too limiting. People all have different reasons to become a hero, and I don't want to invalidate any of them. He's demanding that everyone should be like All Might, which—while we should strive to be like him—is probably impossible. So," Izuku summed, "while I do see where he was coming from, I have to fundamentally disagree with him."
Plus, he added mentally, not even All Might is perfect.
"I can understand that," Denki said, piping up. "But, don't you guys see? That doesn't necessarily invalidate my point, it just…"
Seeing the conversation continue on without him, Izuku went to the kitchen to find himself a meal. Rikido had baked everyone a plethora of sweets again, and there was a fancy-looking Western tea set, as well. Picking out some cookies and pouring himself a cup of tea, Izuku turned around when he heard someone clear their throat.
Tenya stood there, rubbing his arm awkwardly. Izuku had heard about what Stain did to him and his mentor, Manual, but fortunately, it seemed that Recovery Girl had helped Tenya recover fully. He did not really have the time to check in with Tenya outside of a few text messages that were met with flat responses, so this was the first time that they had really spoken since their internships started.
"I just wanted to say…" Tenya swallowed, voice thick, "thank you for taking down Stain."
Izuku blinked. He was about to brush it off as no big deal, but then, Izuku remembered what Stain did to Tenya's brother, Ingenium. "Of course, Iida. He was a dangerous man. I'm glad that he's locked away now."
The two stood there, awkwardly. Izuku did not know what Tenya was thinking, and the taller boy did not seem to want to divulge his thoughts.
Eventually reaching his breaking point, Izuku moved forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, let's head back."
Tenya nodded, and the two exited the kitchen and returned to the dining hall. Izuku spotted Shoto eating alone, and he and Tenya sat down next to him after confirming that Shoto was fine with it. The three began to discuss their internships, and Tenya, rather than being evasive about the topic, was surprisingly invested in the conversation. He seemed to want to absorb everything that he could from other people's experiences in order to supplement his lost one.
Eventually, Momo, Mina, and Ochaco joined the three, sitting down nearby. The conversation shifted to their Quirks and what developments they made with them during their internships.
"Edgeshot trained me in martial arts, so I'm pretty decent with a sword or a knife now," Momo said, recounting her internship experience. "And I can produce some pretty fancy things now. Explosive caltrops, ballistic knives, the like."
It seemed that Momo's arsenal had gotten more and more dangerous. As the other five sitting at the table wondered just exactly what Edgeshot drilled into Momo's mind, she turned towards Izuku and asked, "How about you?"
Izuku, of course, was tight-lipped about his own Quirk, and he simply said, "I just trained with Rumi for the last bit of the internship."
Momo nearly did a spit-take at his words.
"Boring~" Mina joked, propping her chin up on her hand. "Though, you probably had enough excitement for one week. And, wait—who's Rumi?"
Izuku felt sweat begin to trickle down his neck. He'd messed up. He was just so used to calling Rumi by her first name. "I… think you misheard."
"I see the game that you're trying to play," Mina grinned, shrugging. "Whatever. I'll ignore that slip up. Tell us, Midoriya—"
Her grin grew wider.
"You said your Quirk gave you extra strength and speed and whatever those black things were back when we first met," Mina recounted. "So… what happened? Did you undergo a Quirk Awakening or what? When did your Quirk allow you to heal yourself?"
Izuku was taking a sip of the tea when he heard Mina's words, and he choked on the liquid.
"You noticed as well, Ashido?" Tenya asked, adjusting his glasses as Izuku ungracefully coughed.
Mina tapped a finger to her temple. "I mean, yeah. I always thought it looked like Midoriya was healing himself, but those videos that they have of you against Stain and—what were those other three villains called again? Nomus?"
That designation was news to Izuku, and it left a sour taste in his mouth. That meant that the villain at the U.S.J. was also considered a "Nomu."
After getting confirmation from Tenya in the form of a nod, she continued, "I watched it, like, twenty-two times, no cap. Your arm was bent the wrong way at one point, dude, and it looked like you snapped it back in place. What's up with that?"
Izuku blanked on what to say. Like a deer caught in headlights, he could only stare at her, mouth struggling to form words.
"Mina, that's enough," Momo cut in, saving him from his predicament. "Not everyone wants to reveal everything about their own Quirk."
When the table's attention turned towards Momo, Izuku gave her an appreciative smile. She returned it with a small grin of her own and redirected the conversation onto other topics, soon drifting into a conversation about the sorry state of Japanese soccer. Apparently, they were trying out some cutting-edge methodology in order to produce a prolific striker.
About thirty minutes into the brunch, Katsuki showed up in a foul mood, and anyone with eyes could tell why—his hairstyle was… well, it wasn't bad, it just did not suit him at all. It seemed that the hair gel that Best Jeanist used was a lot stronger than anticipated.
Izuku had a small laugh at that, and as he looked around at his classmates, his mind lingered on the dichotomy of his life as random thoughts began popping up in his mind.
One part of him… he could no longer deny. It thirsted to dominate opponents in battle. The stronger that they were, the more soundly he defeated them, the better he felt. The fight against those villains that they called Nomus, the fight against Stain…
He could have done better.
He should have done better.
Izuku had been pushed into using Limit Break, and while the fight was rather simple after that, it was not nearly as flawless as he had hoped for it to be. He had taken some hits, hits that never should have landed. It was not nearly as dominant of a performance as it could have been. As alarmed as he probably should have been about this aspect of himself, it felt like he was regaining an old friend.
And the other part of him simply sought to enjoy everyday life like this: hang out with Himiko, go to classes with Katsuki, Shoto, Momo, and the others. He wanted to spend even more time with Himiko, doing this and that, seeing various things together, and experiencing the unknown. Spending time with the other members of Class 1-A like this was fun.
Yet, still…
A battle maniac and a worshiper of the mundane.
What a mess, Izuku thought, wryly smiling.
Hopefully, those two sides of him could coexist.
.:.
In order to ensure Rumi didn't keep on pestering him about getting his arm checked out—the hero had taken it upon herself to text him at least twice a day to remind him—Izuku visited Recovery Girl on a bright Saturday morning a few days after his internship ended.
His arm already felt fine, without any numbness, but Rumi hadn't been convinced and insisted that he go and get it checked anyways. After running through a multitude of tests, questions, and procedures, Recovery Girl sat him down and delivered her diagnosis.
"This is what's confusing," she began. "Your arm shows no sign of damage, despite our knowledge of you being quite… liberal in your destruction of it. It looks like the bone has never even been broken before."
"Oh," Izuku said. "That's… good news, right?"
"Well," Recovery Girl deliberated upon how to answer.
She had seen some of his files that the villains kept on Izuku when he was kidnapped—more like demanded to see them, so that she could treat him more fully should he ever come in injured. They were truly meticulous, detailing heinous, unethical experiments to the point of insanity. Small font scrawled across parchment, each word more horrifying than the last. Chrono Force was perhaps the most researched Quirk out of them all, but there was another Quirk that was not as well researched due to the ambiguous nature of it: Regenerator.
If Chrono Force could be described as active healing, Regenerator could be described as passive healing. The short description in the files that the heroes managed to recover simply said: Regenerator is a Quirk that returns its user to its optimal state. However, its output is too slow. Further testing required.
"You came in here originally because your arm wasn't feeling anything a few days ago, correct?" she asked Izuku, who nodded in response. Placing a finger on her chin, Recovery Girl speculated, "Here's what I think happened. You said that you used One For All to enhance Chrono Force. Doing so must have caused your body to subconsciously prioritize what was important, the ability to fight, over what you didn't consider important, the ability to feel. How exactly that works, I'm not sure, but my previous point still stands."
Izuku started, "So, when I reconstructed my hand…"
"Your body chose to focus on reconstructing what it considered important in the heat of the moment," Recovery Girl finished for him. "I think so, at least. Could be wrong. Combining Quirks hasn't really… occurred in the past before, so this is all speculation and uncharted territory."
Izuku stared at his hand. "Wait, then how did I regain feeling…?"
"Have you ever heard of the Quirk Regenerator?" Recovery Girl asked him bluntly.
Izuku blinked.
"Visualize passively healing, like in that video game we just played."
Rather than fear, the words brought with them a warm feeling.
"The look on your face tells me that you remembered something," Recovery Girl observed. "Well, whether or not that's a good thing or a bad thing, I think it's up to you. Either way, Regenerator is passively returning your body to its 'optimal' state, whatever that means. That's how you don't seem to have anything wrong with your arm."
Recovery Girl leaned back in her chair and studied him closely. "You're in a unique situation, Midoriya. People don't have to worry about Quirk interactions within their own body because typically, people only have one Quirk. But you're different. Who knows how many Quirks you possess. I just—"
Her voice broke. "Be careful, Midoriya. We have no precedent, no knowledge. Who knows how your Quirks play off of each other? You're a promising hero, and I've known you for years at this point. We've had to bury far too many heroes that died because they didn't fully understand their Quirk."
Caught off guard by the sudden display of emotion, Izuku could only say, "Don't worry. I don't intend on dying any time soon."
"No one intends to," Recovery Girl sighed. "But, anyways. Enough of this dour subject. Point is: your body seems fine, but we don't know anything about the interaction of Quirks in your body, so be careful. Come see me if anything feels off."
"Thank you," Izuku said, bowing. "And I'll let you know if anything feels wrong."
After he thanked her and left, his mind lingered on Recovery Girl's words and the worry she exhibited. Whenever he had those quick flashbacks, recollections of the past, the people around him had been appalled or terrified if they noticed. But strangely, Recovery Girl was different. Her attitude indicated that she felt like it was up to him to decide whether or not it was a good or a bad thing, which was markedly different from almost everyone else who automatically assumed that the return of some of his memories was problematic. He could appreciate that.
When he pulled out his phone to text Rumi that everything was alright with his arm, he noticed a text from Toshinori. After he sent Rumi a quick message, he opened Toshinori's text, which told him to see Nezu in the principal's office, stressing that he wasn't in trouble and that it was just to discuss how to deal with the negative attention that he'd been receiving in the news lately.
Deciding to go see Nezu now since he did not really have anything else to do, Izuku quickly redirected his course and made his way to the principal's office. On the way, he passed a few students from Class 1-B along with some upperclassmen. They regarded Izuku warily, not really saying much, and Izuku gave them a brief nod.
Once he arrived at Nezu's office, he knocked once before immediately being instructed to come in. The diminutive principal was seated at his chair, and he jovially raised one of his arms to welcome Izuku in.
"Well," Nezu began as Izuku took his seat, "I'll make this quick, as I'm sure you must be studying hard right now for exams!"
Izuku froze. Right, exams. Given everything that had been happening with the internship, he completely forgot that exams were rapidly approaching, even when he was usually on top of these sorts of things. School was still happening.
The principal laughed upon seeing Izuku's reaction. "I'm sure you'll be fine. U.A. isn't known for having the hardest written exams—you should instead focus on the practical."
Izuku nodded numbly, thinking to himself: is he allowed to tell me that type of stuff?
"You're here today," Nezu said, breaching the main topic at hand, "because a few recordings of you fighting Stain and some villains known as Nomus have surfaced and caused quite the… kerfuffle, so to say. Quite a lot of negative press, I'll say."
Quite a lot was an understatement. Before he went on his internet cleanse, Izuku had yet to see one article from an official news source praise him for his actions. Sure, the public seemed to largely favor him, if the comments on any of the sites were indication, but the official outlets all detested him.
And, once again, the moniker of Nomu… for some reason, the name still irked Izuku.
"Some suspicious stuff, but that's not the topic of today's conversation," Nezu insisted, crossing his small arms. "We're in damage control, here. Don't worry, U.A. will help you take care of it. All you need to focus on is securing a Provisional Hero License. With one of those, the press will have no choice but to shut up."
Izuku nodded attentively. So Nejire had been right.
"We'll have you take the exam in early September," Nezu said, "along with the rest of the class. But until then, I'll have to ask you to refrain from doing anything public with your Quirks unless, of course, absolutely necessary."
"Got it," Izuku confirmed.
"That is all," Nezu said kindly, but as Izuku got up to leave, he quickly called out, "Oh, before I forget. Spoiler alert, but we will be bringing back the Inter-Class War exam this year. You'll find out soon what it means, but you can probably guess from the name. Vlad King had me swear to not allow you to participate unless you promised to not use One For All—he's just being protective of his students, that's all."
The implications hung in the air, heavy. Vlad King, Class 1-B's homeroom teacher, probably thought poorly of Izuku's ability to control his Quirk, and with the U.S.J. serving as evidence, Izuku could not really disagree with him. Even though he'd refined its usage through the sports festival and training with Rumi, who knew when it could potentially slip out of his grasp.
"You won't be penalized if you don't participate," Nezu told him. "This is just a special circumstance."
"No, no, I'll do it," Izuku said resolutely. After giving it some careful thought, he came to a singular conclusion: "Even without One For All, I can win. Are my other Quirks allowed?"
Upon Nezu's nod, Izuku smiled. "Great. There won't be a problem limiting myself, then. Will I be able to use my full strength for the practical?"
At his question, a sneaky smile made its way onto Nezu's face. "Oh, I think you'll need it, actually."
The practical exam was the same as all previous years, with one exception. This year's primetime matchup will feature All Might and Unbreakable in a solo, one versus one matchup as per Toshinori's own request. The former holder of One For All versus the current holder. Toshinori claimed that he had one final lesson to impart onto young Izuku Midoriya.
But Nezu couldn't tell him that, yet. That would ruin all the fun.
Izuku chuckled. "Really?"
A fire lit in his eyes.
"I like the sound of that."
.:.
The next day, Izuku was doing some light studying for his upcoming written exams when he received a text on his phone.
Himiko: heyyyy izuuu
Himiko: ik exams r coming up but i wanna see u one more timee today befpre them
Izuku: Sure, I'd love that. When do you want to meet?
Himiko: say less im already outside
Izuku grinned, quickly throwing on some clothes and running down the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. He passed by a few confused classmates and dashed outside to find a grinning Himiko eagerly waiting for him.
She looked great—well, she always did. Himiko was dressed in a white t-shirt with a bunny design and a black miniskirt with matching black thigh high socks. The bit of creamy pale skin that poked out between her socks and skirt had him delirious—
"You're staring an awful lot," Himiko smiled, spreading her arms for a hug.
Izuku swallowed, snapping his gaze back to her yellow irises. "I'm sorry," he barely managed, "y-you just look very beautiful right now. You always do."
The delivery was getting better.
Himiko made a noise, face rapidly reddening. "You're getting more and more dangerous by the day, Izu."
Izuku smiled broadly at this, pulling her into a hug. She sighed contently, saying, "Though I could get used to this, too. I love every type of Izuku, you know."
When she pulled away and saw the slight blush and dumb smile that Izuku no doubt was sporting on his face right now, Himiko hummed in satisfaction. "Hey," she whispered conspiratorially, "I wanna go bowling. You down?"
She didn't even have to ask. Anything that Himiko wanted to do, Izuku felt himself naturally wanting to do, as well.
It was truly dangerous—the influence that this girl had on him. But Izuku trusted Himiko.
They found a bowling alley after around half an hour of meandering through the streets, yet it was thirty minutes that Izuku enjoyed. She told him about her week, and Izuku told Himiko about his internship experience and the new modes that he came up with for his Quirk usage.
Her expression soured when Izuku started talking about Rumi too much, and this time, Izuku picked up on it, stating that they had a strictly professional relationship. Himiko didn't really seem to buy it, pouting, but the conversation quickly shifted towards Eri as they entered their bowling lane.
"So she's been staying with you," Himiko said, a frown etched onto her features.
"Yeah," Izuku confirmed, inputting their names into the system. "I'm really bad at bowling, by the way."
"Don't worry, so am I," the blonde said with a pat on his back. "Wait, wait, wait, don't sidetrack me. How am I supposed to feel about another girl staying over at your place all the time?"
"Himiko!" Izuku laughed, shaking his head. "She's like, eight, nine."
Regardless, Himiko muttered, "It's the principle of the thing. And, plus…"
She shifted slightly, and her eyes grinned at his own. "I can't do anything with you if she's always there."
Izuku froze.
That was a very valid point.
With a face that was being quickly darkened by a blush, Izuku responded, "… I'm sure she'd love to sleep over at All Might's place every now and then."
"That's what I like to hear," she said, quickly giving him a peck on his cheek. Izuku, thankfully, did not scream, though he was close. "How's it been, though? Taking care of her."
"I'm not really even the main person who's taking care of her," Izuku admitted. "We'll wake up together, eat breakfast together, and then she'll leave on her own to head to U.A.'s faculty offices. From what I hear, they've been training her to use her Quirk and teaching her so she has a basic education. She's practically every U.A. teacher's daughter, and they all love her to death. In the evening, she'll either eat dinner with a teacher or come back to eat with me."
Himiko hummed, gripping her bowling bowl hard and chucking it down the alley, scoring a perfect strike. "I'm… still jealous."
"Himiko, I thought you were bad at bowling."
"I am," she said. "Just venting some frustration."
Izuku smiled at his girlfriend's antics. "Look. I still meant what I said. After exams, for summer break, I'm all yours. I'll convince All Might and the school to look after Eri while I'm on vacation. Just you and me."
Her back was turned towards him, but Izuku saw the way her posture stiffened. "Promise?"
"Of course," Izuku said, reaching over to take a bowling ball into his hand. He tried rolling it straight for the first pin, but it ended up careening off to the side and knocking out two pins. The next time he rolled, he ended up with a gutter ball.
He turned back towards Himiko, who was now sporting a wide grin on her face. "Izuuu," she called, waving him over. "Let's put some stakes on this game."
Izuku looked at the score. Himiko: 10, Izuku: 2. "Depends on what type of stakes."
Himiko looked up at him through long eyelashes. "A bet. Winner gets to make the loser do anything they want. A-ny-thing," she repeated, stressing out each syllable.
Izuku's mind instantly went to the gutter. "A-Anything?"
Himiko smiled demurely and whispered into his ear, "Yeah, anything."
He couldn't help it; a blush started growing on his face. "Just for reference… what will you make me do if you win?"
"Simple," Himiko tittered. Then, in a low voice, she murmured, "I'll politely ask you to lie down, face up. Then I might… oh, I don't know, sit on your face or something. I really don't know."
Izuku realized something at that moment: this wasn't a win-lose situation. This was a win-win situation!
"Oh," Izuku croaked out. "Got it. I'll agree to the bet."
Himiko studied him closely. "No losing on purpose, by the way. I'm kinda curious as to what you'll make me do if you win. Will it be something wholesome… or something filthy?"
The way she whispered that last bit… Izuku sincerely believed that Himiko was going to be the death of him.
For the next hour, Izuku honestly competed to his utmost potential. But, try as he might, he could not come close to toppling the tower that was Himiko Toga. She had to have lied about being bad at bowling, because she was a woman on a mission. Izuku stood no chance, and at the end of it all, he lost by twenty-five points.
On their way out of the bowling alley, Himiko was all sunshine and rainbows. A bit nervous, Izuku asked her, "So, uh… about that bet—"
"I'll hold it in reserve for now," Himiko said simply, winking. "Look forward to when I redeem it."
Suddenly, an ominous ringtone sounded from Himiko's pocket. She whipped out her phone, cursed a bit, typed something, and shut it off before returning it to her pocket. Izuku, who had been watching her the entire time, asked, "What was that?"
Himiko's eyes wandered. "… study group."
"Oooh," Izuku said, pulling out his phone. "That's actually a really good idea. I should ask Momo and Iida if they want to make one. We should invite some others as well…"
As Izuku was lost in his thoughts and focused on his phone, he failed to notice, this time, how Himiko's entire countenance changed. Gone were the rainbows; instead, doom and gloom rolled off of her in waves. Before Izuku could pick up on it, Himiko put on an impressive poker face and asked, flatly, "You're going to have a study session?"
Izuku's eyes stayed on his phone as he typed out a few texts, but he smiled. "Yeah, you just gave me that idea. I think it'll be a good bonding session and learning opportunity."
"I see," Himiko said, biting down aggressively on her nails. Then, an idea came to her. "Mind if I join?"
"Of course not," Izuku immediately replied, beaming. "I'd love to have you there. But, wait… is the material the same?"
"Pretty much," Himiko said. She had no idea if they were or were not, but she was going to be there no matter what. The moment she heard that bitch's name come out of his mouth, it was already a foregone conclusion.
Himiko wasn't planning on doing anything drastic… yet. Just scope out the scenery, size up the competition, something something mark her territory. Nothing too crazy…
In front of Izuku, at least.
"The written exam should be on Wednesday, so I'm thinking of holding the study session tomorrow, on Monday," Izuku said. "Does that sound good to you?"
"Yep, just perfect."
.:.
So how was Momo spending her Sunday afternoon?
Studying? Relaxing? She would have been doing one of the former, but she received a mysterious text from Shoto: we need to meet up. Urgent. After deciding on the meeting place, Momo quickly made her way towards the location, opening a door and seeing Shoto already there, waiting. As Shoto and Momo stood outside, under an awning, a gentle rain shrouded them, giving them a greater sense of secrecy than their obvious location would suggest.
"So," Shoto began shortly. "Status report. How're things with Midoriya?"
Momo hung her head. "Really? I thought something was wrong."
"Something is wrong," he stressed. "Namely, your lack of progress."
A vein bulged on Momo's forehead. "You don't need to remind me, Todoroki. But what can I really even do? He has a girlfriend—"
"Have you tried the method I suggested?"
Momo's eyes narrowed. "What method?"
Shoto was acutely aware of the danger he was in, but he soldiered on regardless. "Showing up in his room in nothing but an apron—whoa."
He was not expecting the two incredibly sharp-looking knives that Momo created out of her forearms. She did not do anything with them, just holding them loosely, but the threat was clear.
"I was kidding, of course," Shoto said, face completely impassive.
"Ha ha ha," Momo quipped mockingly, twirling the knives with a practiced ease. "What a funny joke."
"I wasn't joking, by the way."
Momo really wanted to put her newly learned knife skills to the test. Deciding that it would be too dangerous (for Shoto and for her own rapidly deteriorating self-restraint) if she kept on holding the knives, she set them carefully on the ground and looked back at Shoto.
Well," she recalled, "he has invited me to study with him. Sent me a text about it a while ago. I don't know if that counts, though…"
Shoto choked on air and coughed suspiciously.
"What?" Momo asked, sharpening her gaze.
Shoto placed a hand on Momo's shoulder and said, sagely, "We must prepare ourselves for the inevitable."
"What's that supposed to even mean?"
The look in his eyes irked her. It was like a man looking down upon a pitiful child.
"You'll see."
.:.
At the start of the school week, a dreary Monday, Class 1-A was all gathered in their homeroom.
Aizawa stood at the front of the room, sporting eyes that looked like those of a dead fish. Izuku wondered if the teacher ever got any quality sleep. He said to the class, "The written exam will be in two days on Wednesday, but you all knew that already. Focus on that for now."
That was expected. However, his next few words got a greater reaction from the class.
"We're also holding a special exam: the Inter-Class War," Aizawa continued. "More details on that will come following the written exam."
A few surprised noises came from his classmates, but Izuku was not among them. He had known for a while that the Inter-Class War would be a thing since Nezu had spoiled it for him, but his classmates were caught off guard by the announcement.
"Sounds like we get to fight those Class 1-B fuckers," Izuku heard Katsuki mutter under his breath. " Fuck. Yes."
Aizawa sighed. "We can hear you, Bakugo. Stop cursing."
Katsuki gave the most insincere-sounding apology that Izuku had heard in quite some time, and Aizawa rolled his eyes, looking like he was completely over it.
"After the Inter-Class War, you will all undergo the practical exam. Times for that will be sent to your school emails, so check those." Aizawa rubbed his nose and sneezed. "You are welcome to watch each other's practical exams, as it is something that the U.A. faculty have determined as close to impossible to actually prepare for. So…"
Aizawa stared blankly at the students, and his eyes seemed to linger upon Izuku's. Izuku was becoming more and more curious about just what this practical exam was going to be, but for now, he was going to do as Aizawa suggested and focus on the written exam for now.
"Do your best."
.:.
To be fair, Momo wasn't sure what she was expecting.
When she saw the text from Izuku that invited her to study with him for the upcoming exam in one of the common rooms, she did not know why she expected it to be just them, alone. Just them, all alone, huddled together, working through practice exam questions. Now that she thought about it more clearly, nothing in the text (Hey, would you like to study together?) implied that it would have just been them two.
Momo was shocked out of her pretty dream by the cold reality: Izuku had evidently sent the text out to a few of their classmates, as evidenced by their presence in the common room. Katsuki, Eijiro, and Tenya greeted her, quickly returning to their studying. Her eyes passed over an impassive Shoto, but the ghost of a smile betrayed his internal feelings—he must have been trying his hardest not to chuckle. Momo really wanted to suckerpunch him; he must have already known about it when Momo "reported" to him.
She shook herself and cleansed her mind of violent thoughts. Spotting Ochaco, she made eye contact with the other brunette, and a sort of camaraderie passed between them. Momo knew, somewhat instinctively, that Ochaco probably had the same thoughts and misconceptions that Momo did—namely, this being alone time with Izuku. Her heart reached out to the other girl in solidarity. The girl looked distinctly uncomfortable with something, though.
Finally, Momo's eyes passed over to Izuku and—a blonde. She instantly picked up on how the blonde was utterly invading Izuku's private space, but before Momo could say anything, Izuku said, "Hey, Momo! Glad you could join us. Himiko, this is Momo Yaoyorozu."
"Oooo~" the blonde cooed, "nice to meet ya, Yaoyorozu. I'm Himiko Toga, Izuku's girlfriend."
Momo instantly put two and two together. The blonde girl before her was Izuku's girlfriend—the one she heard about at that girl's night after the sports festival. She instinctively began to assess the girl before her, eyes quickly scanning and soaking in her appearance. Himiko was shorter than Momo, but her proportions were well-balanced, with athletic-looking legs peeking out under a small skirt. Her face was admittedly pretty, as Momo was loath to admit, and her hair was honestly quite messy with strands sticking out at weird angles. Plus, her yellow eyes were—oh.
Himiko was smiling, but she was staring at Momo with dead eyes. Eyes that screamed of death. Eyes that promised pain. Eyes that swore eternal damnation. A shiver involuntarily passed down Momo's spine because…
She knew.
Momo knew that this girl wanted to absolutely murder her.
She didn't believe it when she read in books or saw on TV that characters could "sense" bloodlust. It was a load of hogwash, and Momo could never buy into it conceptually… until now.
It was so stupidly blatant that Momo almost laughed out of shock. If looks could kill, she'd already be in the afterlife right now—five times over.
"H-Hello," Momo barely managed, swallowing. This must have been why Ochaco had looked so unnerved. "Nice to meet you, too."
Izuku either had the cognizance of a three year old kid, or he genuinely could not see the obvious bloodlust before him. "I'm glad you two finally met—I was hoping you could become friends."
"Mhm," Himiko hummed noncommittally. Her eyes still chose the path of violence.
Momo did not know what she had done to make Himiko outright hate her. She had not even talked to this woman once in her life. Sure, she may have cursed her existence before bed, but nothing that Himiko would know about. Unless… Himiko had a reason to hate her? Maybe something from Izuku's side, something that Izuku had said, made the other girl wary of Momo?
If that was the case, Momo could afford to hold her head up a bit higher.
As she set her things down and took out her computer, Izuku asked her, "Momo, do you have the materials that Aizawa-sensei handed out?"
Momo, acutely aware of the death glare that Himiko was giving her from behind Izuku, tried her best to keep her voice from shaking. "Yes. English, Modern Literature, Modern Hero Art History, Heroics, and Mathematics."
After his terse announcements during the beginning of class, Aizawa had given them a list of materials that they needed to study for to do well on the upcoming written exam. It was awfully kind coming from their usually grumpy teacher, but Aizawa explained that it was only due to U.A. course policy, which dictated that teachers had to prepare study guides for the classes that they taught.
Not that anyone was complaining, of course. Everyone appreciated a straightforward exam. But… what Momo did not appreciate…
Over the course of her studying, while she spoke to Tenya and Ochaco about a few concepts in mathematics she did not quite understand, she did not get a moment to speak to Izuku. The reason for that was solely due to Himiko, who had at some point moved onto his lap. While the blonde was asking thoughtful questions about the material, Momo did not think that she even really paid attention to Izuku's answer; instead, she just craned her head to look appreciatively at Izuku, pressing light kisses to his jaw whenever he finished answering her question. She half-expected Katsuki to tell them to knock it off and cuss them out, but he was too enraptured in studying with Eijiro to really notice Himiko's flirting with Izuku.
That really just pissed her off… and made her feel depressed.
It did not even look like she was showboating. What Himiko had with Izuku seemed so natural, so lovely, that Momo could not stand it. The way Izuku's face turned red whenever she whispered in his ear, the way he smiled at her, the way she just looked at him…
As Izuku was explaining a linear algebra problem, Himiko's eyes met Momo's. Instantly, she saw the warmth in them disappear, replaced by death and hatred. And at that moment, Momo knew.
Himiko wanted her to see this.
She wanted Momo to understand the difference between the two.
He loves me, her yellow eyes screamed.
And, for some unknown reason, Himiko wanted her dead.
Momo tried shaking it off, but the drowning sensation in her gut was hard to get rid of. The rest of the study session passed without her getting anything substantial out of it.
.:.
The written exams passed without anything unexpected happening during them.
The questions were all covered by the study material that the teachers handed out before, so it was a relatively easy exam for Izuku. It seemed like the school probably wanted to keep the grade point averages high for the hero course.
Either way, after he had set down his pencil and turned in the exam, Class 1-A was asked to remain in their seats. After their proctor left, Aizawa came in—in a sleeping bag, of all things—and the classroom immediately quieted down, used to the way their peculiar homeroom teacher did things.
"I'm going to explain the rules for the Inter-Class War portion of your exams," he said, yawning. "It will begin Friday and conclude on Sunday."
The length of the exam caught some students off guard. Ignoring the reactions, their teacher continued, "The exam will be a search and retrieve operation, and it is designed to be a simulation of a raid scenario that you all will inevitably end up facing as pro heroes. The objective to retrieve this time is this."
Aizawa booted up their projector, displaying a flag with the U.A. crest on it.
"So it's basically capture the flag," Eijiro shouted out, earning a glare from Aizawa for speaking out of turn.
"The exam will be divided up into three rounds," Aizawa told them. "The first round, Class 1-A will be on offense, and Class 1-B will be on defense. The next round will be on Saturday, and the classes will switch roles. For the final round on Sunday, there will be two bases, and both classes will have to simultaneously handle offense and defense. Any questions about that?"
After seeing no one raise their hand, Aizawa resumed talking. "The exam will begin the preparation phase at 10:00 AM. Each class will have two hours to prepare—defenders will set up traps and decide where to put their flag, and attackers will plan out their course of action given a provided map. At noon, the operation phase will begin. In order for the attackers to 'succeed,' they must retrieve the flag and bring it to the extraction point. For the defenders to 'win,' they must protect the flag for five hours."
"Wait, isn't that way too hard for the defenders?" Mina asked. "They have to hold out for such a long time."
"They have the advantage of knowing the environment better," Tenya rebutted. "It is not an unreasonable task."
Aizawa cleared his throat, silencing Mina, who was about to fire back a retort. "Let me finish discussing the rules and then debate amongst yourselves. You will all be given a specialized suit for this exam."
He clicked a button on his clicker, and the next slide of the presentation was shown. Sleek blue and white equipment was displayed, reminiscent of their gym outfits worn for the sports festival. They seemed more high-tech, though, and Izuku spotted a large, blue circle right at the center of the chest area.
"Special modifications for the suit have already been made in order to synergize with your Quirks," Aizawa announced. "They also come with some natural resistances, like heat and cold resistance, blast resistance, et cetera, so think of it like a type of armor. These suits are designed to monitor your vitals and come equipped with both microcameras and microphones. In the hours that you are taking this exam, everything you say and hear will be closely monitored by U.A. faculty."
So basically, for the entirety of the exam, they were going to be watched by someone. Izuku felt that this was somewhat of an invasion of privacy, but he supposed that it was a sacrifice he was going to have to make.
"This blue circle on your suits," Aizawa pointed at the glowing blue circle in the suit's center, "represents your life. If it is broken or damaged, for the purposes of this exam, you will be considered dead. Your suit will lock down, making movement extremely difficult, and a teacher will come to collect you. This is another way that you can achieve victory—retrieve the flag, or annihilate the opposition. If no one on the other class is left 'alive,' victory will automatically go to the class left standing."
Katsuki grinned savagely. "Oh? This is getting interesting."
"Your grade on this exam will be impacted by two things," Aizawa said, ignoring the sinisterly laughing Katsuki. "The first: results. Whether or not your class wins. Second: personal performance. How do you behave on a team? How did you contribute? What have you done? Were you helpful or a hindrance? How many of the 'enemies' did you take out?
"Some special rules: attacks that may critically injure another student are strictly prohibited. As you will be watched by the cameras on your suits, if you perform any such attack, a teacher will come to collect you and you will be denied participation from the rest of the exam. Best case scenario: you get a zero. Worst case: you are expelled and get sued by the family of the person you injured. If you cannot control yourself, you should ask to be excused from this exam. Do I make myself clear?"
Katsuki, this time, at least raised his hand before speaking. "You say that's the case for attacks that may critically injure someone. What if—"
"We expect some injuries to inevitably occur," Aizawa cut him off. "We have the best medical team in Japan on standby for any freak accidents. But I must stress this—your opponents are not villains. They're people training to be heroes, just like you. Have some empathy."
Katsuki was left uncharacteristically cowed by his words.
"Some people-specific limitations…" Aizawa pulled out a crumpled up note from his pocket and read, "Yaoyorozu cannot use her Quirk to create duplicate flags—so no stunts like the one you and Midoriya pulled off during our first combat training session. Speaking of Midoriya, he is not allowed to use the strength-enhancing aspect of his Quirk."
"Wait wait wait," Minoru groaned, "that was our sure fire ticket to victory!" That comment earned some stink eyes directed at the purple-haired boy.
"It's for the safety of the other students," Aizawa said flatly. "Midoriya already agreed to it."
Izuku nodded in agreement. It was a good opportunity to test out some other Quirk synergies and not rely on the super strength and super speed that One For All gave him. Blackwhip was probably going to be the MVP of this event.
"Oh, right. Be ready for some…" Aizawa tilted his head, looking for the right word to use, "unexpected things to happen. Heroes must always be ready for the unexpected, after all."
Some chitter began to spread through the room at his words, but they were immediately silenced by a stone-cold glare. "That should be all about the Inter-Class War. Any questions?"
A hand immediately shot up. "Aizawa-sensei," Eijiro immediately asked, not even bothering to wait to be called upon, "what unexpected things might happen?"
"Ask your senpais," Aizawa responded flatly.
"C'mon," he pleaded, "surely you can tell us that much."
"No," was the short reply.
But Aizawa-sensei's words got the gears turning in Izuku's head. A senpai to gather information from… a certain bubbly girl came to mind. It might be risky, contacting her and especially given her disposition. It wasn't like she was a bully; she just slightly terrified him, and that was not something that happened that often.
Well, Izuku had to bite the bullet for his class.
.:.
"To be honest, I wasn't expecting this~"
Nejire Hado twirled a bit of her waist-length hair around a finger as she sat across from Izuku. She smiled prettily up at him, showing her white teeth, and resumed eating the ice cream he'd bought her.
"So," she said in between bites, "what is this supposed to be?" Another scoop of ice cream disappeared into her mouth. "A bribe?"
"Somewhat," Izuku said honestly. "Think of it as a thank you gift in advance."
Nejire made a cute noise, humming as she licked the ice cream cone. She made eye contact with him as she did so, darting out a pink tongue in the process, but she seemed more like a kid than anything truly adult or dirty. At least, that's how Izuku rationalized it to himself.
"Well, I'll bite," she grinned. "What's up?"
"We're having exams right now," Izuku told her. "Inter-Class War and the practical. We were told that there might be some… unexpected events in the class versus class section of the exam. Any hints you can give me?"
Nejire giggled. "Wouldn't that be cheating, Izuku? Not that I care, by the way."
"Well," Izuku said, "Aizawa told us to ask our senpais about what unexpected things might happen, so…"
The girl sighed, slamming her head on the table. "Bro… why is that gloomy teacher so much nicer to you guys than he was to us?"
"He was being nice?" Izuku deadpanned, shaking his head. "Anyways, regardless, it would be appreciated if you told me what you know."
Nejire lifted her head up from the table and glanced at him. "Fiiiiiiine, if you insist. For a price, though."
Izuku frowned, pointing at the ice cream cone in her hand. "I thought I already paid my price."
"This," Nejire said, brandishing the ice cream like a sword, "was the price for getting me to come. What I want from you is—"
Suddenly, she leaned over the table and placed her lips close to his ear.
"Your Quirk, Izuku~" she sang, warm breath tickling the side of his face. "I want to know what it is, how you used it to defeat the Hero Killer and those monsters… I want to know everything about you."
For a very brief moment, Izuku was slightly scared of the person sitting before him.
"Well, if that's what you want…" Izuku started after Nejire returned to her seat, "my Quirk just gives me more power—"
"Lying will get you penalized, y'know."
Nejire was smiling, but the expression did not reach her eyes.
"I'm… not lying," Izuku said lamely.
Nejire's expression did not falter. "Not telling the full truth counts as lying in my book."
Izuku remained silent.
"… I don't think you'd believe me even if I told you the truth," he finally said, eyes pleading at her to cease the line of questioning.
"What," Nejire said innocently, "about how you somehow have multiple Quirks?"
What?
Izuku froze.
Time seemed to stop.
Nejire watched him, the smile on her face growing wider and wider.
"That was a guess, by the way~" Nejire giggled, seemingly incredibly amused by her trick. "But your reaction sealed the deal. Poker faces, Izuku, you've gotta practice them."
Izuku frowned, looking around them. No one was nearby—they were all alone at the seats next to a fountain. Sighing in relief, he looked down, staring at the table. Nejire continued, a grin still plastered on her face. "Well, it was an educated guess. I've been pretty interested in you for a while now, and I've been watching you, y'know. "
Well, Nejire had warned him that he was bad at hiding things from the very first conversation that he had with her. Izuku cursed himself for not being more prepared.
"To be fair…" she hummed, "it would be prettyyyy obvious if it weren't such an outlandish concept. Tell me, what does super strength, black strands of energy, partial invulnerability, the ability to deflect things with your body, and—I'm pretty sure you were floating in the sports festival… what does all of that have in common?"
"Uhhh," Izuku smartly replied, attempting to quickly rack his brain for a suitable response.
"That's a rhetorical question," Nejire told him before he could make a bigger fool out of himself. "They have nothing in common. And I'm almost one thousand million billion percent sure that your Quirk is not called 'Not Sure Haha.'"
Izuku remained silent, wondering how he should respond to this sudden predicament that he found himself in. Should he just run out of there at one hundred percent One For All? He really wanted to do that.
No, he told himself. Izuku came here to find out more about the Inter-Class War, and he wasn't going to let a cute yet slightly terrifying senpai get in his way.
"Don't worry," she said, "I won't reveal your big secret to anyone. It's safe with me."
To Izuku's great relief, three girls took the seats right next to them. After sending a pleading look at Nejire, she relented, "We'll finish that discussion later. I got what I wanted anyways—confirmation."
She licked her ice cream a few more times, closing her eyes and humming in delight. "Well, the Inter-Class War hasn't happened since I was a freshman, but if it's the same," Nejire started, "then those unexpected events that Eraser Head was alluding to are gonna end up being weather dynamics and the presence of 'civilians.' Basically, U.A. teachers pretending to be a random ol' Joe walking on the street."
Weather dynamics Izuku could get the gist of, but how were civilians factored into the equation? When Izuku asked her about that, Nejire answered, "Well, the heroes always have to rescue civilians, right? Think about all the things you could do with that."
Izuku nodded. "I think I understand. Thank you so much, that was actually very helpful."
Nejire chuckled. "No problem. I got more out of this than you did, I think."
Izuku was not about to dispute that, and another question came to mind. "By the way, how can we get information on the other class's Quirks?"
"You mean you haven't already been doing research? Awfully lazy of you, Izuku." Nejire shook herfinger. "Don't worry. I know of just the perfect method to catch you up, but it'll cost ya~"
Izuku already came this far; he could not back down now. "What's the price?"
Nejire tapped the table. "Take me out to a restaurant some time soon. After your exams, probably."
Izuku swallowed. Anything for his class's success on the exam. "Okay, sounds good."
"Yay!" she squealed, laughing. "It's your lucky day, Izuku. I typically do my research on the new classes that we get each year to see if there'd be anyone interesting, so I actually know quite a bit about the freshman classes. I can probably recite to you everyone from Class 1-B's Quirk and a few basic facts about them."
A chill went down Izuku's spine as she began recounting Class 1-B's Quirks. Not only had she memorized their Quirks, she also knew their names as well. He quickly typed down and recorded all the information Nejire spat out, dimly aware that he was seeing a bit of the menace that lurked beneath Nejire's cutesy exterior. She seemed like an air-head, but in actuality…
When they were done and Izuku was about to hightail it out of there, Nejire grabbed a hold of his arm. "Good luck on the Inter-Class War. And—just to be safe—you never heard anything from me."
"Yeah," Izuku nodded. "Today, I went home immediately after classes ended."
"Perfect. And, don't forget about your promise. Sometime in June or July," she reminded him. Staring into his eyes, she leaned in and whispered:
"I'd love to know more about you."
.:.
At 10:00 AM on Friday, Class 1-A gathered at the waiting room where they were supposed to prepare for the operation that would be taking place in two hours.
They had all already changed into the special exam outfits that they had to wear, and Izuku was surprised by how light and breathable it was. There was a hole for a camera located directly around his collarbone area, and right under his throat, a microphone was inserted. The bright blue circle meant to represent the examinee's life felt sturdy, but Izuku did not think that it would remain sturdy in the face of any real force. It felt like a solid punch by a relatively active human would be able to break it.
"Before we start," Momo said, naturally gathering everyone's attention, "I thought that it would be best if we go through all of the Quirks in Class 1-B so we aren't caught off guard by anything."
"Wait," Denki held up a hand, "do we even have that information?"
"Midoriya managed to obtain it," Tenya supplied.
Half the class stared at Izuku. "Damn, dude," Denki said appreciatively. "How'd you pull that off?"
Izuku had flashbacks to that meal and talk with Nejire yesterday.
"I'd rather not talk about it," he admitted.
"What."
"Anyways," Momo said, clearing her voice, "Iida went out of his way to create a presentation, so please pay attention. A large part of how we perform on this exam is how we perform as a class. Iida, please."
Standing and stepping out in front of his classmates, Tenya turned on a TV screen and plugged in his computer, displaying a presentation. Back ramrod straight, he began, "Thank you all for coming to my presentation. Today, I will be presenting on—"
"Cut to the chase already!"
"Relax, Iida, no need to be so formal with us."
With a bunch of comments flying at him, Tenya panicked a bit, but he managed to pull it together and recover his composure. "Very well. First, we have Yosetsu Awase."
An image of a boy with spiky black hair and a headband appeared on the screen. "His Quirk is Weld, and we should be wary of him—he scored top ten in the entrance exam. His Quirk allows him to fuse together objects, possibly at the atomic level. Awase is proficient in the creation of traps, so keep your distance from him. Also, be wary of stealth attacks from him."
"Looks like a punk ass bitch," Katsuki huffed.
Ignoring him, Tenya went to the next slide. A picture of a plain-looking boy was displayed before them. "Next up is Sen Kaibara, who possesses the Quirk Gyrate—"
"Looks like a punk ass bitch."
"Please hold any questions and comments until the end of the presentation," Tenya professionally requested before moving on. "Gyrate, from our understanding of it, allows him to rotate parts of his body…
Tenya meticulously went through and analyzed the Quirks of their opponents in Class 1-B, making a few remarks on potential ways to fight them. Of course, the suggestions on how to fight their opponents all came from Izuku—he'd spent the better half of the night after meeting with Nejire going through Class 1-B's Quirks and drafting potential countermeasures. Then, he had sent the data to Tenya, asking him to put it in a presentable format.
Still, as Izuku followed along with Tenya's informative presentation, he found himself thinking about what the biggest problems for his class would potentially be.
Yosetsu Awase, Quirk: Weld. Sen Kaibara, Quirk: Gyrate. Togaru Kamakiri, Quirk: Razor Sharp. Shihai Kuroiro, Quirk: Black. All four were proficient in close quarters combat with some supportive capabilities.
When Tenya began talking about Itsuka Kendo, Izuku focused up. Although he had already seen her multiple times due to student council activities, she always stared at him, looking like she was trying to ascertain something. Her Quirk, Big Fist, made her a frightening opponent to face in melee combat, but she did not appear to possess many ranged abilities.
Next were Yui Kodai, Kinoko Komori, and Ibara Shiozaki. Their Quirks were Size, Mushroom, and Vines respectively, and they were excellent long ranged fighters. They were probably weak in close quarters, so most likely, they would have guards in the form of melee combatants.
Following that was Jurota Shishida. He was easily perhaps one of the most physically-imposing members of Class 1-B, able to transform into a rampaging beast using his aptly named Quirk, Beast. Add that to Class 1-B's vice representative, Nirengeki Shoda's Quirk, Twin Impact, and there was a recipe for disaster if approached without care.
Pony Tsunotori had a unique Quirk, Horn Cannon, that could be used in close quarters and long range combat as well. Izuku wasn't sure where exactly the other class would place her, but the next one was definitely going to be supporting the front lines—Kosei Tsuburaba, Quirk: Solid Air.
Then there was the one that was similar to Eijiro: Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Quirk: Steel. He would definitely be placed in the vanguard or at their most critical point of defense due to the straightforward and powerful nature of his Quirk. And after Tetsutetsu came a student who got in via recommendation: Setsuna Tokage. Her Quirk, Lizard Tail Splitter, did exactly what the name implied, and she was likely to be one of the most dangerous opponents that they would face alongside Jurota. The words APPROACH WITH EXTREME CAUTION were highlighted on her slide.
After that came two more long range fighters. Manga Fukidashi, who had the Quirk Comic, allowed him to manifest words midair by speaking them. Then, another student that got in on recommendation, Juzo Honenuki, possessed the Quirk Softening. He could essentially "soften" any non-living thing he touched, making him a high priority target.
At this point, Tenya sounded like he was developing a sore throat, so Momo took over for him. She summed up the following three mid-range combatants succinctly: Kojiro Bondo, Quirk: Cemedine, Reiko Yanagi, Quirk: Poltergeist, and Hiryu Rin, Quirk: Scales. The final slide was on Class 1-B's outright-aggressive secretary, Neito Monoma.
"His Quirk is Copy," Momo informed her classmates. "It does what it says it does: it allows him to copy the Quirks of people he touches. It's incredibly versatile—we aren't sure which one of his classmate's Quirks he'll have copied, so be careful."
She remained silent to let the implications sink in. "As such, we can not allow him to touch these three." She clicked, and the next slide was shown. Pictures of Katsuki, Shoto, and Izuku were displayed, with Izuku circled and three asterisks put next to his name.
"Especially Izuku," she stressed. "Do you want to fight Izuku? I don't. As such, he's been designated a high priority target along with these three."
She flipped to the final slide, where the top priority targets were listed. Jurota, for his physical prowess, Setsuna, for her proficiency using her Quirk, Juzo, for his ranged capabilities, and Neito, for his versatility.
Momo switched off the presentation and looked at Izuku. He stood up, drawing the attention of his class, and spoke. "Note that this information may be incomplete or outdated, so handle this first confrontation with the utmost of care. Go into this under the assumption that they know everything about your Quirk. Additionally, we have to play the long game here."
A few of his classmates looked confused, so Izuku began to elucidate his point. "This is an exam that takes place over three days. As such, I am perfectly willing to use this first day purely as a day to gather information about the other class: how well do they work together? How do their Quirks synergize? What are their strategies? Getting a solid grasp of these will be crucial to our success on the second and third day."
Seeing his classmates begin to understand his point, Izuku added, "So, as such, use today's battle to uncover information. The more, the better. Then, we'll debrief after the exam ends at five o'clock, if it lasts that long. How does that sound?"
After hearing their affirmations, Izuku continued. "We'll begin going over our plan of attack in a second. First, I want to tell you guys about what 'unexpected things' might happen that Aizawa-sensei was alluding to: the presence of 'civilians' and weather issues. We'll use this first day to determine what's up with those, as well."
"Wait," Katsuki said, looking incredibly confused. "They're letting civilians into the exam?"
Izuku shook his head. "Apparently, it will be the teachers acting as civilians."
"Bruh."
"Yeah, so we'll have to see what's up with that," Izuku said, looking around at his classmates. "Are you all ready to hear our plan of attack?"
Seeing a bunch of enthusiastic nods, Izuku smiled.
This was going to be fun.
A few notes:
1. Thank you all so much for reading this new chapter! Please let me know what you thought about it in a review, and be sure to favorite or follow if you've made it this far!
2. The thought of Izuku and All For One playing Smash had entered my mind, and I couldn't get it out. Now you have to be burdened with that image.
3. This won't be the last time you see Rumi. I have plans for her (especially with a certain sharpshooter), and she's too fun to write.
4. Well, at least Izuku is acknowledging that other side to him. And of course the name Nomu would bother Izuku, hahaha.
5. Regenerator's gonna be a pretty important Quirk later on. The key here is that it returns its user to the "optimal" state: both physically and mentally.
6. The practical exam will be facing a modification in this story. So instead of Katsuki and Izuku, it will just be Izuku solo versus All Might. Look forward to that~
7. Eri has been slightly aged up to match the aging up of the other characters. Nothing drastic, though.
8. Hopefully I made the rules for the Inter-Class War clear enough. Think of it as hardcore capture the flag split into three rounds.
9. Nejire played our poor Izuku like a fiddle. And, Izuku's got another date with Nejire lined up. Now, is that a good thing or a bad thing...?
10. There will be some fun interactions with "civilians" and the classes in the next chapter.
11. This was a win-win situation, Izuku. Can't wait to write that scene. What will Himiko make him do…?
12. Shoto and Momo shenanigans are so fun to write. I love their friendship. Similarly, the Himiko and Momo interaction was my favorite thing to write this chapter, and I cannot wait to write their future, uh, interactions. Ha ha ha.