"One more thing, Principal Nezu sir." The chimera turned to Aleister, who snapped his fingers. Nezu's recliner suddenly had a built-in tray attached to it and there was a steaming cup on a small plate on top of the tray. "A fresh steaming cup of Earl Grey from my personal collection. If you want any type of tea, you'll have it in an instant."
"You have wonderful taste and thank you, Mr. Sinclair." Nezu took a sip of the Earl Grey. "This is marvelous."
"How do you make it so fast?" Present Mic asked as Aleister raised his glass to the principal.
"I don't reveal my secrets." Aleister said.
"The food is instantly made but the tea is brewed by a server. But other than that, Aleister brews his own tea." Giselle said, making her husband sigh.
"Is there anything you don't drink?" Midnight asked.
"I'm not a big fan of coffee though I still drink it." Aleister answered in a nonchalant tone. Aizawa turned to look at the time spirit.
"You're not a big fan of coffee?" Aizawa asked.
"Coffee is more of Giselle's liking than mine." Aleister said. "She needed the caffeine when she would work on her designs late nights."
"Don't act like you never needed the caffeine as well back in grad school. We both needed it." Aleister chuckled at that. "It's 11 AM. Let's start the show." Giselle pressed a button on the remote and the lights dimmed. She turned to look at you, the reader.
'Six months. It took six months for this to be updated. While these children watch the show, Aleister and I will be reading the manga.' She pressed play and the episode started. She made two tablets appear and gave one to Aleister, taking her heels off and putting her feet up on his lap.
'Always the carefree one.' Aleister shook his head and began reading from where he left off from last time.
The episode started with a recap of episode six. "Hey, do you really think Deku has a quirk?" Katsuki asked.
"You saw how he threw that ball." Tenya stated.
'Was he seriously tricking me all these years?' Katsuki thought as his body shook from rage. 'I'm gonna roast that damn nerd today!'
"I didn't need to see that scary look on Bakugou's face again." Toru said, rubbing her arms.
"He can be a real pain, sure. But his strength and his confidence and his ambition. Not to mention his quirk. They're all so much greater than mine" Izuku said solemnly. "But that just means that I have to do better." He put his respirator on. "I refuse to lose today."
"Alright, let's begin the indoor combat training!" All Might's voice boomed through the speaker. "Team A and Team D, your time starts now!"
Katsuki appeared from one of the hallways and charged at Izuku with his arm back, preparing his attack. The greenette dove out of the way from the extended arm and explosion from Katsuki's surprise attack, tackling Ochako out of the way.
"There's Midori's awesome dodging again." Mina said.
Katsuki waved away the smoke from his explosion, a crevice in the building from the use of his quirk. "What's the matter, Deku?" The Explosion user taunted. "Afraid to stand up and fight me?"
Katsuki ran towards Izuku, pulling his right hand back. "I won't hurt you so bad that they'll have to stop the fight. Just close!" Izuku grabbed Katsuki's arm. "Wow! Look at those moves!" Ochako exclaimed excitedly.
'Impossible. How'd he know?! He's not that good!' Katsuki thought. Izuku did a judo flip on the blond, who spit out saliva.
"The correct term is you underestimated Midobro, Bakugo." Tetsutetsu said.
"You can call me Deku but I'm not the same helpless, defenseless kid anymore. You hear me?! I've changed! From now on, Deku is the name of a hero!"
Ochako smiled as she heard Izuku's declaration again. "I'm glad that I inspired you to turn that insult of a nickname into what it means to you now."
"You always inspire me, Ochako."
The opening plays.
"New lovebirds. I want details." Giselle demanded, looking up from her tablet and making the majority of the audience laugh. "Who confessed first?"
"Here we go." Aleister said, putting his tablet down.
"Are you putting your feet on Mr. Sinclair's lap?" Tenya asked, making everyone facepalm. "That is highly inappropriate."
"Tenya Iida, are you telling me what I can or can't do in my own home?" Giselle asked, her eyes narrowed in a non threatening way but the class rep didn't need to know that.
"No ma'am." Tenya said and bowed. "My apologies."
"I thought so." Giselle said. Aleister pinched her leg through her leggings. She smacked his hand in response, getting another chuckle out of him.
"Don't scare the children, dear." Aleister said.
"Not another interrogation." Izuku said, covering his face.
Ochako giggled and raised her hand, while patting her boyfriend on the arm with the other. "Izuku did technically confess first, which I told him about. But he said I can take this one. I didn't know if he was going to confess first so I took the chance to explain a few things then I confessed that I love him and everything that I love about him."
"I'm glad that she confessed first. It made me realize how oblivious I was all this time to Ochako's love for me." Izuku said, removing his hands from his face. "I confessed after her."
"You're still young, Izuku." Giselle said. "I didn't start dating until I was eighteen only because I was naive when it came to the dating shtick."
"Then there was also the family." Aleister said, making Giselle smack his hand again.
"Next question, who asked who to be the boyfriend or girlfriend?" Aleister asked.
Izuku and Ochako raised their hands. "I think it was already implied when we kissed and we said 'I love you'." The latter said, making Giselle squeal.
"I'm going to have a heart attack from the cuteness." Giselle hugged herself, making Aleister shake his head.
"You're a time spirit. You don't get heart attacks." Aleister said, making Giselle cover his mouth this time. That made their audience laugh again while the time spirit looked at his wife with a sideways glance.
"You talk too much, darling. I'm asking the questions from here." Giselle said. "Who made the first move?"
Ochako raised her hand. "He asked if he could kiss me but I wanted to kiss him first for being my hero and saving me from the zero-pointer."
Aleister smirked from behind Giselle's hand. 'I'm pretty sure that's not the only reason you kissed him first.'
"And the interrogation is over. It's showtime." Giselle said, taking her hand off Aleister's mouth and she went back to the manga. He gave her a deadpan look before going back to reading.
'I am so gettin' you back for that.' Aleister thought.
The screen showed Katsuki on the left and Izuku on the right. "Kacchan and I grew up in the same neighborhood so we've known each other since we were little kids." Narrator Izuku stated.
Little Izuku was nervously looking at a gate which had signs that warned, "No Trespassing" and "You can't go in there!"
"Come on! Let's fight bad guys!" Younger Katsuki said as pointed toward the forest. The boy with the long fingers, the chubby boy with wings and another boy with dark hair cheered excitedly.
"Oh! Yeah!" Younger Izuku cheered nervously.
"Bakugo, you shouldn't break the rules. You won't set a good example to the future generation and to your peers." Tenya said with his usual robotic movements.
'Says the one who went after the Hero Killer.' Shoto and Izuku thought.
"So you guys knew the lackeys from middle school since you were little kids." Denki said. "But what happened to the kid with wings?"
Katsuki shrugged. "He said something about his family moving to a different city. I haven't heard from him since."
Aleister and Giselle looked at each other before taking a sip of their Scotch.
"All the other neighborhood kids followed him around. It seemed like he could do anything." Izuku continued to narrate. "And no matter what he decided to do, he was always so confident. I thought he was the coolest person I'd ever met. However, after his quirk manifested, he started to change."
"You're shaking in your boots, you're so scared. But you want to fight me anyway." Present Katsuki said and activated his quirk in his right hand into a number of tiny explosions. "THAT'S WHY I HATE YOU!!"
"Here's the sad truth. All men are not created equal. When I was four years old, I learned that some kids have more power than others."
"It's Midori's famous line again." Toru said.
"But why is he repeating it?" Minoru said.
"To remind us of the sad truth of our world today." Aizawa said and the other teachers nodded.
"Episode 7: Deku vs. Kacchan"
"Bakugo, come in. Give me a status report. Where are you?" Tenya ordered.
"Just shut up and defend the weapon!" Katsuki ordered. "I've got more important things to worry about."
"Are you forgetting what our mission is?" Tenya asked. "He hung up on me! This isn't the time for radio silence! We're supposed to be partners!"
"This is the first time we saw you this frustrated, Iida." Mina said.
"I apologize." Tenya said.
The other four teenagers involved in rescuing Katsuki didn't say anything.
"Hey, who's Bakugou talking to?" Eijiro ased. "I'm not hearing anything. Can we get any sound with this video?"
"At least we now get to hear what's going on." Eijiro said.
All Might pointed to his earpiece. "He's got a radio in his ear so he can talk to his partner. I gave it to him before the match started along with a map of the building. Also this, a roll of capture tape. Wrapping this around your opponent means you've apprehended them and they're out for the rest of the game."
"So there's a fifteen minute timer and the good guys have no idea what floor the nuclear weapon is hidden on, right?" Mina asked.
"Correct!" All Might stated.
"Then the heroes are clearly at a disadvantage here, a big one." Mina pointed out.
"Real pro heroes have to outwit villains on a daily basis. That's life. Even when the odds aren't in our favor, we fight. All Together!" All Might boomed, hoisting his arm up.
"PLUS ULTRA!" The students in the theater yelled out with the onscreen sixteen students.
"Monsieur, he's on the move." Yuga said, looking at the screen.
"Hm?"All Might asked, turning back to the screen.
Katsuki blasted forward and tried to plant a kick, which Izuku blocked.
"Uraraka, go!" Ochako ran off in the other direction.
"Ballsy move." Katsuki taunted. "Think you can take me alone?"
He looked at Izuku in shock. 'He's using the capture tape.'
The majority of the audience looked surprised, especially Class A since they saw that move from their homeroom teacher yesterday in the sixth episode.
'Hero Notebook No. 10, page 18.' Izuku thought as a picture of the said notebook appeared. The notebook opened to a page on Aizawa. 'Luckily, I got to see Eraser Head's moves in action.'
"You saw how his scarf worked just once and you copied it to a tee?" Mina asked.
Izuku scratched the back of his head shyly. "Well I got some notes on Mr. Aizawa before he went underground. I mean he's so cool with that scarf."
'I can't argue with that.' Hitoshi thought.
Aizawa always tried to stay out of the media and this was Izuku's tenth hero notebook while he was on thirteenth in his last year of junior high. 'He used my moves just by seeing them once? You're full of surprises, Problem Child.' Aizawa thought, looking at Izuku.
"I know that look, Shota." Midnight said.
The erasure hero sighed and said, "He really did surprise me." He looked at Izuku. "Honestly. I don't even know if he'll ever stop surprising me."
"Are you playing favorites now, Sho?" Present Mic asked with a sly grin.
"I don't know what you are talking about, 'Zashi." Aizawa said blankly.
Nezu suddenly cackled in his seat and the teachers shuddered at the sound of it.
Katsuki let off another blast and Izuku dodged. 'I was right!'
"Little guy's really good." Rikido said in the monitoring room.
"He's holding his own and he hasn't even used his quirk yet." Hanta exclaimed.
"Thanks guys."
"No sweat, man." Rikido said
"Yeah man." Hanta said.
'Not surprised. He's always been pretty good at taking action in crisis situations.' All Might thought. The scene flashbacked to the Sludge villain attack. Another flashback was shown of All Might carrying Izuku on one shoulder while reading his hero analysis notebook. 'Plus he spent years taking notes on different heroes. He internalized everything he learned, those lessons are in his blood now. That fanboy knowledge is paying off. And driving him forward.'
Izuku yelped and turned to his mentor. "You read through my notebook?"
All Might chuckled. "Of course my boy. I had a little bit of curiosity when I saw your notebook so I couldn't help but read it. Your notes are quite fascinating. How do you think I signed it?"
Izuku had his hands covering the lower part of his face, having a fanboy moment. "All Might read my notebook. He actually liked it."
"Do you have other signatures, Midori?" Mina asked.
Izuku looked bashful. "I got the autographs of the teachers and a few heroes."
'He kicked first this time. He's switching things up so I can't predict his moves. Does that mean he's worried?'
"I wasn't worried! I was sick of you predicting my moves!" Katsuki yelled.
"Seriously, can you not ruin the vibe?" Giselle asked. "You know that you were worried."
Izuku started running away. "Get back here, Deku!" Katsuki yelled after him. The ash blond growled in frustration and ran after him.
"A game of cat and mouse. Smart move, Greenie." Setsuna said, nodding in approval. "It gives you enough time to make a plan."
'I'm not going to be able to fight him at close range now. I need some kind of plan.' Izuku thought as he was running.
Katsuki ran through one of the hallways then into another hallway and into another hallway. "DAMN IT!! You were tricking me for years by acting weak! Bet you were laughing behind my back huh?!" The blond growled in frustration. "So where's that flashy power of yours now?!" Izuku looked shocked momentarily before clenching his teeth.
"I mean technically you could say it was a misdiagnosis and it would be hard for you to use because it's a stockpiling quirk even at a young age but hey I'm just rambling." Mei said.
"Let's see how it compares to mine." Small Explosions appeared from Katsuki's hands. "Quirk or no, you'll never beat me, Deku."
"Famous last words, Bakugou." Mezo said.
"That guy has some real anger issues. It's kind of scary." Denki said.
'Midoriya told me that young Bakugou thinks very highly of himself. But this level of pride is something else. It may end up being his demise.' All Might thought while Katsuki blew up a door and looked around for Izuku with fierce determination.
Eijiro patted Katsuki on the shoulder. "Don't worry Bakubro. You've gotten better since then."
"Most of the time." Kyoka said.
On the second floor, Izuku was breathing heavily. ' Good, He's completely forgotten about my partner just like I thought.' The scene shifted to show Tenya standing next to the fake weapon. 'If they wanted to send someone out to stop us here, it should've been Iida. He's way faster after all. That probably means Kacchan's gone rogue, the two of them aren't working together as a team. If we had to take those two on head-to-head, our chances of winning would be pretty low. They've got such strong quirks.'
"Teamwork isn't Kacchan's forte." Denki teased.
"Shut it Sparky and don't call me that. Did you forget about the Licensing Exam?"
"You knew you had to work with us." Denki pointed out. "If I can't call you that, why do you let Midobro do it?"
A visualization of video game caricatures appeared. The first visualization showed 'I can't go after the weapon right now or Kacchan will follow me and if we both try to take him down, we'd probably run out of time. So we stay split up for now. I have to trust Uraraka. She'll find the weapon and Iida and then I'll join her for a two-on-one fight. That's how we'll win.'
"They look so cute." Mina gushed. "You even visualized Bakugou's scowl."
"I don't think I visualized it like that." Izuku said.
Katsuki blasted open another door. 'I just have to capture Kacchan down here… on my own. I can do it as long as I don't get too close to his hands.'
"STOP HIDING!!" Katsuki's yell snapped Izuku out of his thoughts. "COME OUT AND FACE ME, YOU COWARD!!"
'By the way, I've been meaning to tell you, Kacchan.' Izuku thought.
Izuku flashbacked to that fateful day in Aldera Junior. "You're even worse than the worst of these rejects." Aldera Katsuki taunted. "You really think they'd let someone like you in when they could have me?"
"If they knew about your past, they probably wouldn't even let you in." Tsuyu stated bluntly.
"We have already discussed this, Ms. Asui." Nezu stated.
"No wait. I'm not trying to compete against you, Kacchan." Aldera Izuku said, trying to appease the sneering blond. "You got to believe me."
'I take back everything I said.'
"You tell him, Greenie!" Setsuna exclaimed as she and the other students cheered.
As he was walking through one of the hallways, Katsuki flashbacked to when he pinned Izuku against the wall in Aldera when the former found that his former friend got into UA High. "Like it or not, you can't stop me!" Aldera Izuku exclaimed with fierce determination.
"From now on, Deku is the name of a hero!"
"If I'm right, we will see more from Bakugou's perspective now." Nezu stated.
'He's just a little bug.' Katsuki thought.
"A little bug that defeated you." Momo corrected.
"Didn't you criticize Izuku for being reckless with that last hit?" Ochako asked.
Momo blushed in embarrassment. "True but had I known that Midoriya had a plan, maybe I would have been less judgmental and I would've decided him as the MVP of the match."
Izuku chuckled. "I appreciate it, Yaoyorozu but that last hit did happen. I'm just curious though how badly you criticized me."
"Wow, you're so awesome!" Younger Izuku's excited voice exclaimed.
"That's baby Midori's voice." Toru said.
Younger Katsuki was bouncing a rubber ball as younger Izuku watched excitedly.
"Whatever, this is nothing." Younger Katsuki bragged.
Younger Izuku suddenly exclaimed in pain as the rubber ball he was holding rolled away.
"Geez Izuku. You really can't do anything right, can you?" Katsuki taunted as Izuku rubbed his head.
"Does everything have to be a competition for you, Bakugo?" Tetsutetsu asked.
Katsuki pointed at Izuku's name on the pail. "Look, you can read the last part of Izuku's name as Deku."
"Katsuki." Mitsuki growled angrily in her seat.
"Whoa so you can read that?" Younger Lackey number two asked excitedly.
"Well obviously." Katsuki said proudly. "Deku. That must be what you must call a helpless loser who's completely useless."
"So that's where it came from." Mina said in disdain.
'Strike One.' Ochako thought and squeezed her boyfriend's hand in comfort as he began to tense up seeing these memories again.
"Why are you being so mean, Kacchan?" Izuku asked.
"Why don't you understand?" Younger Katsuki's voice echoed as the screen turned black.
"Understand what?" Hanta asked.
Katsuki skipped a rock across the water. "Dude, that has to be a new record." Younger lackey number two said.
"I bet it is." Katsuki bragged.
"Why are kids so dumb?" Kyoka grumbled as the other neighborhood kids praised younger Katsuki.
"Where's yours?" Katsuki asked Izuku.
"Well uh it sank." Izuku said dejectedly.
"More like brats." Itsuka grumbled as the kids laughed at younger Izuku. "It's just a rock."
The screen went black again. "Why can't you do anything right?" Younger Katsuki's voice asked.
The scene transitioned to Katsuki and Izuku's preschool. Miniature explosions were popping from the former's hands.
"Awesome!" The younger version of the lackey with elongated fingers said.
"You're so lucky!" Younger Izuku exclaimed in excitement.
"You gotta be kidding me." Izuku growled when he saw the preschool teachers.
"Izuku, is everything okay?" Ochako asked.
"Out of all the people that I have to see again in these flashbacks, she was the last person that I wanted to see." Izuku said, his tone the same, making everyone realize that he was talking about his preschool teacher.
"Impressive. I bet you that it's going to grow into an amazing quirk." The male preschool teacher said.
"Definitely." The female teacher agreed with her colleague. "A flashy quirk for a future hero. It's perfect."
"Didn't Midoriya say that in the conference room?" Present Mic asked.
All Might nodded. "It appears that when Young Bakugo manifested his quirk, it added to his arrogance. The constant praise that he must have received certainly didn't help matters."
The screen went black once more.
'Yeah you're right.' Younger Katsuki thought. 'I am amazing. In fact, I bet that there's no one as great as I am.'
"Well someone certainly had his head stuck in the door." Momo said.
"I don't know, Yaomomo. You seemed rather stuck-up the first few days." Kyoka said.
"I had an excess of pride but I wasn't that bad was I?" Momo asked. Izuku and Ochako shook their heads.
"All rich people seem like that. You get used to it." Giselle said.
"Hey." Aleister said in an offended tone.
Giselle poked her husband's chest. "You are a different case, mister. Despite all the gossipers, nobody in grad school knew you were rich. You were always formal and proper."
"Can we go back to our business?" Aleister asked. "It's a little early to be talking about my money status."
The scene flashbacked to Izuku and Katsuki walking in the forest. "Wow. You're so lucky. Your quirk is amazing, Kacchan. When I get mine, I hope it's just as cool." Izuku complimented his childhood friend.
"Whatever Deku." Katsuki said. "No matter what power you have, you'll never be able to beat me."
"Now we're back to Bakugo thinking he's more superior than anyone else." Kyoka snarked.
'A worthless bug for me to smash.' Katsuki thought before he walked up the stairs to the next floor.
"Hey did you hear? Deku doesn't have a quirk. Like none." One of the kids said as younger Izuku sat on the floor almost catatonic.
"What? Really?"
"It's called being quirkless."
"That's dumb."
"What a loser."
"He's so lame."
"Don't worry about it, ok Izuku?" The preschool teacher said, trying to reassure the sad child.
"Maybe you should be reprimanding the other children instead." Aizawa said, his hands on his capture scarf.
"It's in the past, Shota. You can't change it." Midnight said.
'You're a total failure, Deku.' Younger Katsuki thought.
The students grumbled upon seeing Katsuki putting down their classmate so much.
Izuku's anger flared hearing his rival calling him a total failure. He was seriously thinking about taking back what he said about Katsuki being a hero.
"Katsuki." Mitsuki growled in her seat. Seeing this made her realize how much she failed as Izuku's auntie.
'Strike 2.' Ochako thought. "You're not a failure, Izuku."
"Hm." Izuku said, not wishing to say much since four days ago, he felt like a failure.
"Forward march and here we go. Members of the agency Bakugo." Katsuki chanted as he led the march with the three neighborhood kids and Izuku behind him. "Sound o.."
Despite their dislike of Katsuki, the majority of students couldn't help but gasp in shock at the younger version of the blond falling into the creek.
"So this is where it all started." Aizawa said.
"Kacchan!" Younger lackey number two said
"Hey, you okay down there?!" The pointy hair kid asked.
"Oh don't worry. Kacchan is super tough." The dragon winged kid reassured.
"Were you okay, Bakubro?" Eijiro asked.
"Of course I was. That fall was nothing." Katsuki said.
'I was just fine on my own, Deku.' Older Katsuki said as his younger self shook the water out of his hair.
"Hurry up and get back up here."
"Sure! Just give me one second."
'I didn't need your stupid help.' Present Katsuki said while the sound of footsteps were heard which younger Katsuki noticed.
Younger Izuku put his hand out. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"Aww. You were such a sweetheart, Midori." Mina gushed.
"Bakubro, tell me you didn't reject his hand." Eijiro said as he watched the expression on his friend's younger self change. The Katsuki sitting next to him didn't say anything.
"I was worried you might have hit your head or something."
A light shone down on Ibara who had her hands in her usual praying position. "May this boy's light continue to shine regardless of the hardships he faced and prosper to become a great hero."
Everyone looked at Ibara in shock wondering how she got a light to shine on her in this dark room.
"Where is that light coming from?" Setsuna asked. "First during the Sports Festival and now here."
"There is no possible way that there should be a light shining in here but the Lord knows how to work in strange ways." Aleister said as he and Giselle were looking up in confusion. 'Really, author? A light shining on Ibara? Are we doing this? Here? Right now?'
"But you looked at me like I was some kind of weakling."
The grumbling increased and glares were shot toward Katsuki.
Mitsuki looked enraged. "Are you crazy, Katsuki?! Izuku tried to help you and you thought he was looking down on you?! You bullied him just for that?!"
"Kacchan, I couldn't just stand there and watch you die." Aldera Izuku said when he tried to save Katsuki.
'Like you. But I'm not. I'm so much better than you are.' Katsuki thought as he walked through the hallway of the building with a livid expression.
"Yet in the end, here you are because the puny, weak, defenseless quirkless Deku you and everyone else used as a punching bag so you can scare him into not being a hero tried to save you while you were a damsel in distress. I must have been so pathetic compared to the heroes that were there." Izuku said bluntly. At this point, he was tired of Katsuki's pridefulness and arrogance in these flashbacks.
Everyone turned to look at Izuku in shock except Katsuki. The way the greenette said his hero name was with disdain they never heard from him before. Then they remembered it was a derogatory nickname he fought to change. Giselle paused the show.
'Things just got dark really quick.' The Sinclairs thought.
Tenya looked at his friend. "Midoriya, you shouldn't…"
"Iida, unless you have been through what I have, I suggest you don't say anything." Izuku snapped, interrupting the class rep and creating a gloomy and tense atmosphere. Nobody would ever understand the hardships he's been through. Ochako squeezed her boyfriend's hand lightly in comfort.
"My apologies." Tenya said.
'He's not lashing out but he's still harboring some frustrations from the past.' Aizawa thought.
"Eyes back to the screen." Giselle said and she unpaused the show. Everyone turned back to the screen.
The scene transitioned to Ochako watching Tenya behind one of the pillars in the weapon room. 'Found it. Now I just have to tell Deku and try my best to stay out of sight until he gets up here.' The former was about to contact Izuku when the Engine hero spoke out.
"Bakugou definitely has a villainous side and that's exactly what we need to succeed in this mission. I need to temporarily devote myself to criminal intent. Yes I won't fail this trial and risk bringing shame down on the Iida family name." Tenya clenched his fists. "That means I must now embrace evil.. to become a hero."
"Oh no." Ochako giggled. Tenya looked embarrassed.
"Behold. I am the personification of villainy." Tenya said as he did a horrible villainous laugh.
Onscreen Ochako was not the only person to burst into laughter at Tenya's evil laugh. The gloomy and tense atmosphere disappeared as the majority of the audience started laughing at the sudden change of the class rep. Even Izuku, who was suddenly moody, went back to his cheery self and started laughing at his friend's 'villainous' act. "So this is what I missed while I was downstairs?"
Ochako nodded. "Iida definitely played the part."
"Even if I lost the match, I thought that I'd put some effort into the role I played." Tenya admitted.
"Like I said, villains thrive on chaos. They're not evil just to be evil." Aizawa said. "Kayama, if the next words that come out of your mouth is that we should start an acting club for hero students after classes, you will be buying a new whip when we get back to UA."
Midnight immediately shut her mouth with a small pout.
"Uraraka, is that you?" Tenya asked in his villain voice.
Ochako stepped away from the pillar nervously.
"Uraraka, if I was in charge of this training exercise, I would deduct points for not remaining stealthy as a hero." Aizawa said.
"But he already heard me, Mr. Aizawa." Ochako countered.
"Then you remain silent and continue to stay hidden." Aizawa explained. "Make him seem like he's going paranoid."
"Yeah Kirby. Even heroes gotta play a little dirty." Setsuna said.
"Kirby?!" Ochako spluttered. Most of the students started laughing, even Izuku. "Why does Izuku get a better nickname than me?"
"He's a green bean like me. Plus when you pout, you look like Kirby especially with the blush marks." Setsuna said with a toothy grin. Ochako pouted, proving her point.
"I knew you would come here alone the instant Bakugou ran off by himself and engaged with Midoriya. Your quirk allows you to float anything that you touch but I prepared for that by hiding every object in this room for you to have nothing to use against me, do-gooder." Tenya pointed at Ochako. "My dastardly tricks have rendered you helpless. You blundered, hero."
"That's a smart move." Itsuka said. "Kind of like what Yui did."
"He really is playing the part." Ochako said.
"Um Deku?"
"I'm here. How's it going?"
"Iida knows that I'm here. Sorry." Ochako said through her comms. "But now he's monologuing."
"Monologuing," Giselle said. "A hero's worst nightmare."
"Where are you?"
"Near the middle of the fifth floor."
Izuku looked up. "Right above me."
'We probably don't have much time left now. We have to finish this fast or they win.' Izuku clenched his fist and stood up, extending the capture tape. 'I won't give up yet. I can capture Kacchan. I won't lose.'
"I'm all loaded up."
Kyoka cringed."Did you really have to say it like that?"
"What does that mean?" Izuku asked.
"Why aren't you using your fancy quirk? Don't tell me you're underestimating me, Deku." Katsuki said with a maniacal look in his eyes. "Get over here and show me what you're really made of."
"You would be dead if he did use it." Mezo said.
"I didn't know that at the time."
"He threw the softball ten meters farther than you with one finger at full power. What did you think was going to happen to you if he used it on you instead of the building?" Denki asked.
Kyoka rolled her eyes. "Bakugo thinks that he's some hotshot main character that has plot armor."
Aleister and Giselle smirked at that statement as they read the manga but didn't say anything.
'I have no choice. I have to face him, Right now.' Izuku thought in determination.
"Kacchan, I'm not scared of you anymore." Izuku said.
"I knew I should have put him in a session with Hound Dog at some point." Aizawa said.
'Like you would actually do anything when it comes to the Angry Pomeranian.' Giselle thought, rolling her eyes.
"Since you're such a stalker by now, you probably know how my quirk Explosion works." Katsuki said in a smug tone. "I secrete nitroglycerin like sweat from my hands and make it blow up. Imagine what I could do if I had a lot of it. That's right, these gauntlets aren't just for show. They've been storing up my sweat for one monster blast."
"Those gauntlets probably reek." Mei said in disgust.
'No he's going too far.' All Might thought.
"Young Bakugou. Don't do it! You'll kill him!"
"Wait Midoriya. Didn't you say something about Bakugo's gauntlets ruining how cool his costume was?" Itsuka asked.
"Yeah you're about to see why."
"He'll be fine as long as he dodges!" Katsuki exclaimed with that maniacal look in his eyes. He took out the pin and a giant Explosion was released from his gauntlet, destroying the walls towards Izuku.
Everyone's eyes widened in shock except the Sinclairs, Class A and All Might. Ibara prayed that she would never have to face the blond since fire is her quirk's greatest weakness.
"Katsuki, were you trying to kill Izuku?!" Mitsuki asked in anger.
"Give an emotionally unstable teenager gauntlets to store his sweat." Giselle snarked at the teachers. "Did any of you bother to look at his costume design? I'm looking at you, EraserHead since you're his teacher."
The Explosion made the building quake that Tenya and Ochako felt it from the floor above them. Everyone in the monitoring room felt it as well.
"Come in! Come in, Midoriya!" All Might called out to his successor.
"Is that.. even allowed?" Izuku asked in disbelief.
"It shouldn't be." Aizawa said, glaring at the retired pro hero. Him and Nezu wrote it down in their list of 'things they need to talk about'. Giselle looked at the erasure hero with disdain.
"Giselle calm down." Aleister had his hand on his wife's leg. "You can't change what happened despite knowing Katsuki's symptoms."
"That's the theme of this episode, isn't it? Not changing the past." Giselle said, going back to reading.
Izuku tensed up at Katsuki's maniacal laugh. Ochako looked at him worriedly when his hand clamped up. "Izuku, are you okay?"
"He looked and sounded like Shigaraki at that moment." Izuku said quietly as he put his free hand to his throat, remembering when the four-fingered grip of the villain got tighter. His mind made him disassociate from what was in front of him. 'Breathe Izuku. Calm down. Don't panic. He's not here.'
"Hey, what's happening to Midobro?" Tetsutetsu asked.
"Not sure." Itsuka said. "But it looks like Bakugo's acting triggered something in him."
Ochako cupped Izuku's face and turned him towards her. "Shigaraki is not here and he can't hurt you."
Izuku and Ochako's friends, the parents, the teachers and the Sinclairs smiled as the new couple shared their first public kiss.
Once they separated, Izuku smiled and pressed his forehead to Ochako's as the transition screen appeared. "Thank you."
"Bakugou, answer me." Tenya asked, "What is going on down there? Did you cause that blast?"
"Really Iida? After a day of seeing Bakugou, you're asking that?" Kyoka asked.
"I didn't expect him to do something that rash."
'Now's my chance.' Ochako thought as she ran forward. 'If I can claim that weapon, that means we win.'
Tenya noticed and ran towards her. "Not so fast, hero."
Ochako used her quirk on herself and jumped. 'I just have to touch the weapon. In one move, this will all be over.'
"Since when can she make herself float?" Tenya asked.
Ochako looked embarrassed. "That's how my quirk appeared. My parents found me half a meter above my bed on a school day. Thankfully it was during the winter, otherwise I would've floated out the window."
Ochako put her hands together and yelled, "Release!"
'This special move is hard, but it's worth it!' Ochako thought as she was a few centimeters from touching the fake weapon.
But before Ochako could touch it, Exhaust pipes came out of Tenya's legs, as he used his Quirk to secure the weapon and rushed off with it to the other side of the room, keeping it from her reach. She let out a small scream and rolled on the floor until her lower back hit the wall.
Several of the students winced.
"Ouch. That looked like it hurt." Mina said.
Ochako laughed. "Yes it did."
"Admirable attempt, but your quirk's no threat if you can't touch anything. I can easily keep this weapon out of your reach until time runs out." Tenya said and did a villainous laugh.
'It's not over. I won't let Deku down.' Ochako thought with a frustrated look.
"I guess you were trying to impress Midori since the first week, huh Ochako?" Toru teased.
"Toru!" Ochako exclaimed.
"Did you think you were free from the teasing just because you're dating Midori?" Mina asked with a smirk.
"Oh man, I didn't stand a chance, did I?" Denki asked.
"No you didn't." Kyoka said. "Ochako and Green were a sure deal. Most of us saw it coming."
"I didn't!" Minoru exclaimed.
"Now Midoriya has his eye on you like a hawk." Yuga reminded him. The smaller boy gulped at the reminder.
The majority of the audience were so busy listening to the conversation that they almost forgot about what was in front of them.
"Come and get me." Katsuki taunted.
'The gauntlets make it so he can use his powers at long-range. I'm not safe even if I stay away from him. So what do I do?' Izuku thought in frustration.
Izuku put his hand to his comms. "Come in, what's the situation?"
"It's not good!" Ochako exclaimed in panic.
Katsuki looked unhinged. "Are you ignoring me again? I'll get your attention."
"Says the classmate who ignored his partner since the start of the exercise." Tenya huffed, exasperated at how hypocritical Katsuki was acting.
"Sir, isn't this getting out of hand?" Eijiro asked. "That Bakugou is acting real crazy. He's gonna kill him."
"Thanks Kirishima for your concern." Izuku said.
"Nah it's nothing man. Me and Bakubro might be best friends, but I'm not gonna simply watch him kill you because of his pride and grudge." Eijiro said reassuringly.
"Not so." All Might stated. Eijiro looked confused.
The scene flashbacked to what Katsuki said at the beginning of the episode.
'Despite his fierce posturing, he's not actually trying to kill Midoriya. But still.."
"Bakugo." All Might called out into the mic. "Use that stored up power again and I'll stop this fight. Your team will lose."
"Huh?!" Katsuki exclaimed in shock.
"To employ such a strong attack indoors is inviting the destruction of the stronghold you should be protecting." All Might stated. "That's a poor strategy whether you're a hero or a villain. The penalty would be a massive loss of points."
"Do you want to win or do you want to beat Midoriya to a pulp?" Neito asked sarcastically. "Choose one, Bakugo."
'I know that as a teacher, I should stop this fight now. But…'
"But what? Wait until Midoriya has to be taken to Recovery Girl for major injuries." Aizawa asked with narrowed eyes.
"I wanted young Midoriya to gain some self confidence. Let him stand up for himself."
Even though Aizawa wanted to argue his case, he couldn't help but agree. Izuku was standing up to his bully more in this exercise than he ever did in his life. Even though these two teenagers were trying to prove something in this exercise, Izuku had so much to prove than the other.
"The pillar by the window. Get there now." Izuku ordered Ochako when he noticed Katsuki heading towards him.
"Fine then!" Katsuki yelled out as he rocketed towards Izuku with his explosions. "We'll fight hand to hand!!"
"I feel sorry for his voice actor. Both of them." Giselle whispered. Aleister chuckled, nodding in agreement.
'It's no good. I can't dodge this. I'll have to counterattack. Like this!' Izuku punched forward but before it could land, Katsuki blasted an Explosion into the former's face vaulting over him. Then he hit Izuku with another blast, making Izuku wince in pain.
Most of the audience members winced.
"I don't want to be saying this but I got hit much worse than that and not by Kacchan so don't give him the evil eye." Izuku said, remembering the Midterm exam and All Might's New Hampshire smash. Aizawa glared at All Might.
"What was that move?" Eijiro asked.
Shoto narrowed his eyes slightly. "He doesn't come off as a guy with a strategy but he's actually quite intelligent."
Eijiro turned to Shoto. "What are you talking about?" The redhead asked.
"He changed his trajectory while in midair using a blast that doubled as a smokescreen." Shoto explained while a playback of the scene was shown. "Very clever."
"A feint attack like that requires an extreme amount of precision. He had to calculate the physics and demonstrate control over his quirk." Momo stated.
"Holy water." Giselle said under her breath.
Aleister shook his head knowing that Giselle was ready to unleash her wrath on the small purple balled boy. But he knew that this was nothing compared to what would be coming up in the later episodes. 'Women.'
"It's clear that Bakugo had practice before getting into UA." Nezu stated. "It reminds me of when you were a student, All Might. A prodigy when it comes to his quirk."
'Just how old is Nezu?' All the students thought.
"Compared to him and Izuku's other classmates, his quirk is perfect for Heroics unlike him. Their quirks are simply garbage. That imbecile in the first episode gave those other students false hope." Giselle said, partially agreeing with the chimera.
"And Deku? What about him?" Katsuki asked.
"I think everyone knows it already, including you. He is a hero and He didn't need a quirk to prove that." Aleister said.
"Ugh, Bakugo is uber talented. I hate it." Denki complained.
"Then maybe you should train more, Sparky." Katsuku snarked.
"Well maybe you shouldn't be a big jerk all the time." Denki countered.
"Here it comes, nerd! The famous right hook you were whining about!" Katsuki exclaimed while slamming his gauntlet into Izuku's elbow, making him wince in immense pain.
"Deku!" Katsuki grabbed Izuku's arm and spun him around with his explosions before slamming the latter into the ground. "Don't you ever forget what you are! A weakling!"
"Come on Midoriya! Show Bakugo that you're not a weakling!" Itsuka yelled out. The other students cheered for Izuku.
'He's not giving me any time to form a strategy. I can't beat him without a quirk after all. He's too good.' Izuku thought. 'I have no choice. I have to use it.'
"This is hard to watch. All he has to do is wrap tape around him, not kill him." Mina said fearfully.
"Yeah no kidding. What were you thinking, Bakugou?" Tetsutetsu asked.
"Shut it, Steelshima." Katsuki grumbled. "I told you that this might show what I did to the nerd."
"Bakugo's certainly acting like a villain." Fumikage stated.
"I thought Midoirya was pretty amazing at the start of the fight but he's completely outmatched in terms of combat power. Not to mention that Bakugo seems like a natural at all this stuff."
"My bad Midobro." Denki apologized.
"Don't worry about it, Kaminari." Izuku reassured the Electrification user.
'I should end this. But.. for his sake I'll let it go on.' All Might thought.
"You should have, All Might." Midnight said. "Bakugou was going too far at this point."
"All Might, I'll let this slide since it was your first day. If it happens again, I'll have to fire you. Understood?" Nezu said in a serious tone. All Might gulped and nodded.
"Be lucky that this only happened once." Aleister said.
Izuku got up and started to run away.
"He's running away." Mina said as Izuku was shown on a screen fleeing from Katsuki in the monitoring room.
"Not very manly, but he doesn't have a choice. He's outgunned. Unless he has got some kind of plan. It's possible." Eijiro said.
The green haired boy was standing in front of one of the broken windows. Katsuki was walking towards him. "Why won't you use your damn Quirk against me? Still think you can stop me without it?" Katsuki asked, marching toward his former childhood friend.
Itsuka scoffed, shaking her head. "Talk about a one track mind."
Izuku looked down, his hair shadowing his eyes. "That's not it." He said.
"You have been hiding your true power for years. What's the deal, Deku?! Did you think you were better than me this entire time?!" Katsuki demanded.
"You definitely had a screw loose if you think Midobro would go through everything being quirkless just to mess with you."
"That's what you think?" Izuku asked. Flashbacks of their past were shown. "You idiot!"
"I couldn't say it better myself, Midori." Toru said.
"I guess Bakugo's attitude rubbed off on the listener." Present Mic said with a chuckle.
Izuku looked up at Katsuki. "You have always been stronger Kacchan! I know that you're better than me!" He clenched his fist. "Can't you see?! That's why I wanna beat you!! BECAUSE YOU'RE AMAZING!!!"
"You're even more of an idiot than I realized. COME AT ME!!!" Katsuki said.
'Here it comes!' ' The students thought except Class A.
'The only other time I hear that much passion in his voice is when he talks about being a hero. In order to achieve his dream, he has to do this. Not for me, but for himself.' All Might thought while Izuku was running toward Katsuki.
The two jumped in the air and pulled back their right hands. Izuku's right arm glowed with red veins as he activated One for All in his right arm, while Katuki popped small explosions in his hand till it became glowing hot.
Izuku shouted "DETROIT!!!", while Katsuki yelled incoherently.
"Wait what?! We saw that punch tank a zero-pointer! How is Bakugo still alive?!" Setsuna asked in shock.
"You don't think I can take one of those punches?" Katsuki asked.
"No." The majority said, including his own mother.
"That's because I wasn't aiming for Kacchan, Tokage." Izuku pointed out.
"They're gonna kill each other! Sir!" Eijiro exclaimed.
All Might was shown to be hesitating while the two teenagers were yelling incoherently. "Both of you Stop!!" The number one hero ordered.
"URARAKA NOW!!!" Izuku shouted, surprising his mentor.
The audience were shocked when the onscreen Izuku suddenly called out an order to his partner in the midst of battle.
"Right!" Ochako said as she grabbed onto a pillar.
"Was this part of the plan, Muscles?" Mei asked.
"Yep." The couple said in unison.
'I can't beat you. Not in a one on one fight like this. But I can win!!' Izuku thought. He changed the direction of his fist downward, screaming, "SMASHHH!!!" while Katsuki launched an Explosion at him at close range as the former did an uppercut. The uppercut released a lot of air pressure that caved the floors and ceiling above it, thus destroying the structure of the building, surprising the blond.
Once again, the audience watched the scene in shock.
"He destroyed three floors with one punch." Kosei said in surprise.
"What's happening?!" Tenya asked in shock
"Oh, I see. Since I had removed all the objects that Uraraka could use her Quirk on, you planned to use One for All to break the ceilings so that she could use it as projectiles. That's an impressive plan."
"Thanks Iida." The couple said.
Ochako used her Quirk on the pillar she grabbed and used it. "This is it. Sorry Iida." She swung the pillar like a baseball bat, while shouting, "Improvised Special Move: The Comet Home Run!" and the debris shot forward towards Tenya.
"In the name of villainy, I demand that you stop this!" Tenya shouted.
While Tenya was distracted by the debris flying at him, Ochako jumped across the chasm. She called out "Release!" while in mid-air, grabbing hold of the fake weapon and saying, "I got it!"
"No! The weapon!" Tenya shouted.
The audience cheered and congratulated Izuku and Ochako for their win. The latter blushed a bit at the compliments while Izuku tried not to faint at the attention he was getting.
Katsuki looked up as he trembled in rage. "This was your big plan… from the very beginning, wasn't it?" He looked towards Izuku. "You were playing me this entire time, you bastard."
"I wasn't… going to use it. Because I can't control it," Izuku said in pain. The smoke was clearing up, showing his broken arm. "My body just can't handle… the backlash of my power yet. Mr. Aizawa said I'd be useless." The smoke finally cleared, showing the result of Katsuki's blast. The sleeve covering Izuku's left arm was torn off, showing his burnt arm. "But this was all I could think of. This is the only way.. I had any chance at winning."
Everyone except All Might, Class A and the Sinclairs could only look in shock at the state that the onscreen Izuku was in. Inko was tearing up while the Bakugos were speechless.
"Now Bakugo sees how dangerous his quirk is." Neito said solemnly.
In the monitoring room, the timer hit zero. Most of the students looked stunned.
"You did it." All Might said.
All Might announced, "The Hero Team WINS!!" as Izuku collapsed.
The ending starts to play.
Everyone relaxed in their seats.
"That was intense. Even more than when we were actually there." Mina said.
"Yeah no kidding." Kyoka said.
"I bet you thought you had Midorbro all figured out huh Bakugou?" Tetsutetsu asked.
Katsuki growled but didn't say anything.
All Might's music began to play.
"You kids still have a lot to learn, but I'll help you hero up!" All Might exclaimed.
"Next time: "Bakugo's Start Line"!
"Young Bakugou's going to get all teary-eyed on us!" All Might stated.
"Go Beyond…"
"Plus Ultra!" The students yelled out.
The timer started.
"Same as yesterday, ladies and gentlemen. You have fifteen minutes." Giselle announced.
"That's the first time I heard Midoriya say Bakugou's last name." Minoru said.
"I think that's just the episode title, Mineta. I-It doesn't count as me saying his name unless I actually say his family name out loud."
The people involved in the conversation yesterday and the ones that Izuku told in the dining hall didn't say anything. Everyone got up to stretch or use the bathroom.
"Are you okay, Izuku?" Ochako asked as she and Izuku stood up.
"Yeah I'm okay, Ochako." Izuku reassured his girlfriend. He walked over to Tenya. "Hey Iida. I'm sorry about what I said. I let my frustration get the best of me and I took it out on you."
"It's not your fault, Midoriya." Tenya said. "Remember what I said yesterday. We now know how much you've been through so I can't blame you for getting angry."
"Thank you." Izuku went to the back to grab water.
"Young Midoriya." He turned to see his mentor walking towards him.
"All Might."
"Are you okay, my boy?" All Might in concern.
"I'm okay." Izuku reassured the former hero. "With everything that has been happening, I guess those flashbacks brought something out in me that I didn't expect."
"It happens. Are you going to be okay?" All Might asked.
"Yeah. I will. Thank you." Izuku went back to his seat and Ochako rested her head on his shoulder.