Chapter 9: It's that time again, election time it is
(Outside U.A.'s main gate the following day)
"Hey, You!" A female reporter wearing a blue pants suit with brown hair called out as Midoriya reached the main gate of the school "How are All Might's Classes?!" she asked him with the microphone right in his face.
"The guy needs to take teaching classes." Was Midoriya's comment as he turned and skated further into the school grounds, imaging how All Might will have to dig himself out of that.
'Rude brat.' The reporter thought to herself as she and the rest of them waited for another student to come by.
.
"Will you tell us what the symbol of peace is like as a teacher?!" She asked as she spotted Tokoyami and ran up to him.
"I don't have time for your nonsensical inquiries, I must get to class." He answered with a glare as he walked past them into the school grounds, he was already late for class as is.
'Jeez, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.' She and the rest of them thought to themselves.
.
"What do you think of All Might as a teacher?!" they asked another student, this one seemed more willing to answer their question.
"I've only had the one class with him so I can't give you're a fair description of his skills as a teacher, try asking me in a week." Yui said with a straight face, flooring them as she took the chance to walk into the schoolyard.
'That was…rather descriptive.' Was the most common thought as the reporters picked themselves back up.
.
"What has been your experience in having All Might as a teacher?" she asked another student, however unlike the rest who at least turned to face them, this blonde one just kept on walking forcing them to walk to keep up.
"Get that fucking camera out of me damn face before I blow you and it all the day to fuckin Cairo!" Bakugo threatened as let off firecracker-level explosions in his palms, scaring them. Bakugo wasn't in any type of good mood, his loss to Midoriya was still on his mind after all.
'Scary kid.' The reporter thought to herself as she and her cameraman backed off.
.
.
"Um, About All Might?..."She began to ask but she and the rest were…put off by how Aizawa looked. "Wow, your scruffy…" She said without thinking as she could see the barely shaved facial hair, bloodshot eyes, and bags under his eyes. "What's your deal?!" She asked him.
"All Might isn't one duty today. Your disturbing classes, please leave." And like his usual self, he ignored the question about his appearance and just told them all to step off.
"I would like to speak directly with All Might-!" She started but was interrupted by another.
"I feel like I've seen him before though." One in the crowd said as Aizawa started to walk away.
"Don't you think you're too scruffy?!" She asked him again but unlike last time, he didn't see fit to answer.
'How All Might was able to do his job as a hero with the press breathing down his neck is a wonder to me.' Aizawa thought to himself in annoyance as this was the kind of media presence he worked so hard to avoid, heroes weren't celebrities, in his eyes, they were public servants and nothing more, by this logic of following heroes because they save people, the media should do the same with detectives, police officers, and doctors, as they've been doing that very same thing long before pros, came into the picture.
"Why you-!" The reporter fumed as she didn't talk being ignored well. "At least let me talk to him for a mo-!" she started as she attempted to walk into school grounds, only for a loud alarm to go off and a giant metallic wall to sprout out of the ground and block her off.
"What the hell!" she yelled in slight fear as she looked over the wall and saw a metallic wall just behind the regular concrete and brick walls.
"It is' the U.A. Barrier. That what we call it anyway." One of the reporters told her as he helped her up to her feet.
"That's so lame! What the heck is that?" She asked as he pointed to the sensors in the door which were green a second ago but now were red.
"If someone tries to enter without a teacher or student ID or visitor pass, the school security system kicks in." Her cameraman explained to her as he powered down his camera, they weren't going to need it for a while anyway.
"What?"
"There are sensors all over the place, so I've heard." Another said in annoyance at being blocked out like this.
"They think they're so high and mighty, they could at least given us a comment." The reporter raged as she wanted that interview.
"You said it, we've been here two days and we got nothing to show for it!" her cameraman stated.
As expected the news of All Might taking a teaching job at his old high school of U.A. surprised the nation. The news outlets descended on the school, thirsty for details and the usual hero gossip, and have been causing a commotion outside the school for days.
Everyone knew about it….everyone knew.
(With class 1-A)
"Good work on yesterday's combat training. I saw the video and results already. Bakugo?" Aizawa started before he turned his gaze to Bakugo. "Learn to communicate with your team more, it lost points for that."
"I know." Bakugo replied with a growl as he still wanted to knock Midoriya's teeth in.
"Tokoyami?" The pro hero said as he turned to the bird-headed boy "You need to be more aware of your surroundings, you got taken out too quick." He instructed.
"I understand." Tokoyami replied with a nod, he was angry at the results but he couldn't fault Uraraka for her effort either.
"Shoji?" Aizawa said as he turned his attention to the silent multi-limped boy. "As a student who relies on scout work and information gathering, it was shameful for you to not notice you weren't alone with the bomb. Learn to be more observant." He told him.
"Yes, sensei." Shoji replied as he turned one of his arms into a mouth to speak.
"Todoroki?" He turned to the double-quirked boy. "Your failure was a team result, it was both unwise and foolish to leave the bomb unguarded, you all arrogantly believe you'll win based solely on the strength of your quirks, a quirk is nothing more than a tool in a hero's arsenal, don't forget that." He told him bluntly, choosing to ripe off the band-aid so to speak rather than be gentle and it doesn't get through to him.
"I understand." Todoroki replied after a moment or two as he looked down at his right hand.
"Iida?" He said as he turned to the glasses-wearing speedster. "You got distracted far too many times. I don't care what Mineta was doing but as a hero, you will have to learn to focus on the task at hand." He warned him as all pros will have to deal with distractions. Some-(Like All Might)-more than others.
"I sensei, I will not make the same mistake again!" Iida replied loudly with a bow in slight shame.
"See to it that you don't, by the way," Aizawa's tone got a lot darker near-instantly, something the whole class felt as he turned his now red eyes to the shortest member of the class. "I got a complaint from Vlad King about you Mineta, Komori wasn't pleased with your unwanted attention. If I get another one from any girl, you'll be on bathroom clean-up duty for two months plus another month's detention, are we clear?" He laid down the ultimatum as his floating hair scared the crap out of them all but did allow Midoriya to see his yellow goggles and remember that this was Eraserhead-(he would have more shame at taking three days to see that but (1) the man was a hero who avoided the press so there were next to no pictures of him as most were too blurry or dark to make anything out and (2), he was scared for his health right now.)
"C-crystal" Mineta peeped out in fright at the devil's gaze.
"Good." And just like that, the tension was gone as Aizawa's quirk shut off and his hair fell back into place. "Now that that's out of the way, let's get to our homeroom matters. It's a little late notice but today, you all have to-" Aizawa started with his trademark serious tone, leaving the class in suspense.
'Not another special test!' Was the collective thought of them all.
"Choose your class representative and vice representative." He finished.
'A normal High school activity!' the class silently celebrated. Before all hell broke loose.
"I want to be Class representative, pick me!" Kirishima yelled out with both arms raised.
"Me too!" Kaminari said with a hand raised.
"I want to do it, too." Jiro started with a hand raised, soon everyone was calling for in in some fashion.
"It's a job for a m-!" Aoyama started but was interrupted by Ashido who climbed to stand atop her desk.
"I'll be the leader!" Ashido announced with her smile on full display.
"Elect me and all girls will have to wear mini-skirts 30cm above the knee!" Mineta called out, he wasn't heard over the yells over the rest of them but him being near to Midoriya, he could hear him loud and clear.
"You little pervert, didn't you just hear Aizawa-sensei!?" Midoriya yelled at him as he grabbed him by the face and threw him back into his seat, knocking the whole desk over. 'In a normal class, those roles would mean taking on daily activities but knowing U.A. it could be something else entirely.' Midoriya thought to himself as he sat back down with a huff.
"Let me do it!" Bakugo yelled out, by unlike some he was still seated at the very least.
'Here it means you get to practice leadership skills in leading groups of others, something noteworthy mentions such Best Jeanist and Ingenium have as they both deal more with leadership.'
"Silence, please!" Iida called out, successfully gaining everyone's attention and getting all to quiet down.
"Being class representative is a serious job with the task of leading others, it isn't something that you should want for the sake of wanting it but rather a duty that should be carried out only by those trusted by their peers to do so! To that end, we must use a democratic method of deciding who these two roles fall to. It would be more efficient to hold a class election to accomplish this!" Iida passionately explained the roles of the office, he would have looked more dignified but…
'He says this but he raised his hand the highest!' was the thought on just about everyone's minds as Iida's hand was still raised.
"Why'd you suggest it then?" Kaminari asked him as it seemed counterproductive to do so if he wanted to get it.
"We haven't known each other for long so how can we trust someone else to do the job properly?" Asui pointed out as he poked her cheek.
"Also if that's the case, wouldn't we just vote for ourselves?" Kirishima asked as that seemed like the biggest flaw for that kind of method, it wasn't like they had time to campaign like regular elections.
"That is true but that is why it should work out, all the winner would need is the vote of another along with their own and they would win. Even if it's one, the fact that someone in our class would trust said person to be class representative would show that they at least deserve a chance at the position." Iida explained as he quickly turned to Aizawa who as they were talking had gotten into his yellow sleeping bag for a quick nap. "What do you think, sensei?" he asked the man as he fell to the fall.
"I don't care how you go about so long as it gets done before the end of homeroom." Aizawa told him as he went behind the desk to take a nap, sometimes that man was a grumpy cat.
"Thank you very much!" Iida replied as he turned back to the class, directing them with his robo arms-(which he will deny).
(Sometime later)
Election Results:
Midoriya, Izuku: 4
Yaoyorozu, Momo: 3
Iida, Tenya: 2
"I got four votes?!" Midoriya shouted as he jumped to his feet after reading the results.
"How the hell voted for Deku?!" Bakugo was next to stand in fury, except in his class, he like the majority of the class, had 1 vote which he knew was his own.
"It's better than a vote for you, that's for sure." Sero joked as he looked at him.
"What was that?!"
"See what I mean?" Sero added before he turned away with a bit of sweat as Bakugo even if he wasn't going to maul
"It'll be super scary if Bakugo finds out?" Uraraka said to herself as he didn't want to deal with a super angry explosion right now.
"I knew that this would happen but..."Iida started, shaking in frustration at his loss in the election. "I'm nonetheless thankful two people saw fit to vote for me." He finished, actually wiping away honest to God tears from his eyes as he must have truly not expected another vote, never mind two.
"You mean you didn't vote for yourself?" Yaoyorozu asked with a slight frown.
"But didn't you want to do it as well?" Sato asked him with a bit of nervous sweat.
"Then the class rep will be Midoriya." Aizawa said as he got up and gestured for them to come to the front. "And the vice rep will be Yaoyorozu." He finished as he fell back down to the floor.
"I-I'm honored to be your class rep!" Midoriya got out, damn it. He will always be nervous in public speaking-he swears it is something he gets from his mom.
"It will certainly be difficult." Yaoyorozu said with a sigh as she took in Midoriya's stiff stance and jumpy expression.
"This might not so bad." Asui said after thinking about it for a second.
"Yeah man, Midoriya sure knows how to throw down when the going gets tough," Kirishima said with a fist pump.
"Don't forget Yaoyorozu was pretty great when we did the fight breakdowns and gave she was the VIP of her group." Kaminari added as it was super cool for Yaoyorozu to break down every fight like that.
(Later at Lunch)
"This place is so full right now!" Uraraka noticed as they walked around looking for a free table for their group.
"It can't be helped, all three years of hero, support, general studies, and management meet her for lunch at the same time." Iida told her as they found a table with some free seats for them.
"This rice is delicious!" Uraraka praised as she ate the lovely rice she had brought from Lunch Rush.
"Please don't speak with your mouth full." Tokoyami scolded her as he took a sip of his tea.
"Sorry." Uraraka apologized after she swallowed the food in her mouth.
"Still, I didn't think I would be elected class rep, how the hell am I gonna balance it out with everything else, not to mention that meeting." Midoriya said as he looked down at his food, already feeling tired.
"Speaking of which, how did it go?" Iida asked him.
"Yaoyorozu and I met with all the reps for all the first-year classes. We're going to our group which means after-school meetings and tomorrow we have another election." Midoriya told them as he took a bite out of his food.
"Another one?" Tokoyami asked, he didn't think they would be another so soon.
"Yes, apparently the grade as a whole needs a rep to approach the staff about issues affecting the grade so we all need to get together and pick someone." Midoriya explained which made some sense as they didn't vote for a class president or anything, just a rep.
"I did hear some of the 3rd years talking about the student council guess those grade reps make up that student political body." Iida said as he had heard talk about it but assumed it was only for the 3rd year since they were the oldest and wisest students.
"By the way Iida, can I ask yer something?" Uraraka asked as she turned to face him.
"Of course Uraraka, what do you wish to know?" Iida replied with his usual straight face.
"Are you a rich boy?" Uraraka asked him with a smile, surprising all three boys at her forward…ness.
'She certainly is forward.' Tokoyami thought to himself with a sweatdrop.
"I noticed you all those fancy words and the way you carry yourself is all stiff and proper, like Elsa." Uraraka explained her reasoning which didn't make Iida feel all that better.
'I'm not sure what's worse, the fact she caught on so soon into the school year or the fact she compared me to a Disney princess of all things.' Iida sadly thought to himself as t was degrading to be compared to a princess of all things, he can't be the only one who thinks that, right?
'Well, he's not Simba, too proper. Maybe Naveen, but he doesn't have that sway.' Midoriya thought to himself as to him, Uraraka's statement fit Iida quite nicely.
"It seems that I wasn't thorough enough as I didn't want to broadcast such but you are indeed right." Iida finally caved as he told them the beginning but paused in the middle, really increasing their curiosity on the matter.
"Are you going to elaborate more or just leave us hanging?" Midoriya asked him.
"Yes my family has been heroes for generations, I'm the second son." Iida finally told them with a proud smile and straight back.
"Do you know the Turbo Hero: Ingenium?" Iida asked them all, getting an answer near instantly.
"Who doesn't, doesn't he have over 50 sidekicks working for him at his Tokyo agency?" Uraraka asked as he was one of the most well-known heroes in the profession.
"It's 64 last time I checked." Midoriya corrected her as he too had followed him for years.
"He is my elder brother!" Iida told them, surprising them that he was related to him but he was rather clear now that they thought about it as they both had an engine speed-boosting quirk and had the same last name.
"He is a likable hero who honors the rules and leads with people. I set my sights on becoming a hero because I want to be a hero just like him." Iida told them with a smile as he thought about all the good his brother had been able to do with people but he coughed into his hand and sat back down. "But truth be told, I feel like the time for me to lead others isn't coming anytime soon which is why I voted for you, Midoriya." Iida revealed as he looked over the green-haired boy.
"You did." Midoriya asked him. So that is what Iida did with his vote.
"Yes, unlike myself, Midoriya sacrificed time he could have used to get more villain points to help Uraraka merely because that was what a true hero would do. That is why I thought you would be the best person to lead our class." Iida told them all as he continued eating.
"That's gotta be the first time I've seen you smile Iida!" Uraraka said as she spied a smile on the now revealed rich boy's face.
"Wha-! Really? I swear I smile more often than you think." Iida said as he thought he smiled more, he wasn't always frowning…was he?
However, before they could continue with lunch the school-wide alarm went off.
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
"An Alarm?" Tokoyami asked as he got up from his seat.
"There has been a level 3 security breach. All students please evacuate outdoors promptly." A fake automatic voice instructed
"What's 'level 3 security'?" Iida asked an older boy who was seated next to them.
"It means someone is trespassing on school grounds! I've never seen anything like this in the three years I've been here!" He said as he got up and run off but not before saying one last thing. "You should hurry!" It was soon chaos as everyone raced to the exit through halls that weren't designed for such levels of traffic.
"Don't push!"
"Wait, I'm falling!"
"I said don't push!"
"Ow! What's going on all of a sudden?" Uraraka yelled over the voices as she just got an elbow to the face.
"Everyone reacted too quickly and now it's causing a panic!" Midoriya told her as she struggled to not be forced off by the crowd. "Iida, get to the window, and what the heck is happening?"
"But what if it's a villain?" Iida asked him, keeping a hold on the smaller Tokoyami as to keep them together.
"I don't think they'll tell us to go outside if there was one, even if it is the teachers will handle them!" Midoriya told him as he pushed someone off him and help another who fell.
"On it!" Iida answered as he let go of Tokoyami and forced his way through the crowd 'Who in the world was able to get in anyway?' He asked himself as he got to the window and saw who it was that caused all this panic.
'The press?!' Iida thought to himself with shock as he saw the dozens of reporters on school grounds.
(Meanwhile with Aizawa)
"We know All Might's inside, all we want is one statement and that's all." The same female reporter from earlier told the two pro heroes keeping them from actually entering the building.
"And then you'll all want one and then another, we all know how it goes." Aizawa shot back.
"And we told you, he isn't in today." Present Mic added for what felt like the 13th time before he whispered something to Aizawa. "You know, they are illegally trespassing, we can beat them up and say they'll villains you know." He suggested as even he was getting tired of this.
"As much as that option is entertaining, we can't they'll just write up a bunch of half-truths and lies about you. We have to wait for the police" Aizawa shot down as he looked at Present Mic from the corner of his eye.
(With the students)
"Midoriya! It's the press, they somehow got in!" Iida reported back after forcing his way back to his small group who had been forced to the wall.
"Great, Uraraka!" Midoriya answered as he was getting sick of this panic as he and Tokoyami had taken the brunt of the smacks, elbows, and pushes to shelter Uraraka who was nursing a bruised-turning black eye from one, especially scared student. Both of them were covered in marks and scarps as is and Tokoyami looking like he'll lose it and just let loose Dark Shadow, something they both knew would just make things worse. "Can you make me weightless and Tokoyami, can you give me a good push towards the entrance?" He asked his two other friends.
"Why?" Uraraka asked as she covered her eye with a hand while holding on to them with the other.
"Just do it!" Midoriya shot back as he got elbowed in the back. That was going to hurt in the morning.
"This better work!" Tokoyami said as Uraraka reached out and made him weightless before Tokoyami threw him towards the exit. It went faster than he thought which to his credit, he didn't think Fumikage had that kind of upper body strength.
'This is gonna hurt!' Midoriya thought to himself just before he impacted with the wall. 'Ow! Goddammit, that's painful!' was his thoughts as he quickly shook off the cobwebs out of his mind before he took and deep breath and yelled as loud as he could.
"SILENCE!"
And just like that, for a moment everyone calms down to look up to the guy who yelled over them all. His position on top of the exit also made him very noticeable.
"Everyone needs to calm the hell down! There's no threat! It's just the press! So unless your camera-shy, there's no need to panic like a bunch of headless chickens!" Midoriya told them all as he used his free hand to point out the window, allowing those closes to them to look out and see he was right. "Look at you all, this is fuckin U.A. for crying out loud! A top-tier school and at a damn drop of a hat, you all start acting like a bunch of half-brained idiots, you should be ashamed of yourselves!" Midoriya admonished them all with a pissed-off frown as he looked over to his friends and how this mob had hurt them in their frenzied panic. At this, most of them bowed their heads in shame and whispered apologies to one another before they all returned to their seats. Much more silent than when they raced out of them.
Now…how was he going to get down from here?
(Afterwards in class)
"Let's us decide as a class who will fill the other class positions." Momo called out from the front of the class, along with Midoriya were standing before their classmates having a required class meeting to decide roles.
"Alright, who will do what?" Sato asked.
"I don't know who will take all what roles but I do have a suggestion for my assistant. I would like to nominate Iida for that role." Midoriya stated as he gestured to the boy in question.
"Iida from what I've seen you have great organization skills, are driven, and are more than willing to help make this class as efficient and enjoyable as possible, that's why I want you to be my assistant." Midoriya elaborated with a smile as he caught the questions coming off Iida's face.
"He is not wrong, it was you that was able to spot that issue with the press, if not for that, we would have been crushed by that unruly mob." To Iida's shock, Tokoyami spoke out in full agreement.
"I agree, Iida did get the same number as votes as I did if we don't count my own, it would rather be unfair to not grant him some recognition for that." Momo gave her consent as well as she did think it unfair that she was chosen, yes she got more votes but Iida could have tied with her if he didn't vote for another.
"It's not a bad idea." Kaminari said after a second to think. Iida at this stood up and graciously accepted his new role, only for Mina to burst his bubble.
"Iida, you do realize that Midoriya just pushed most of his work onto you, right?" She snickered as she tried to hold back the giggles when she saw he only just realized that.
"What!?" Iida said as he got back up and pointed to Midoriya with his robo-chopping arm. "Midoriya is this true?!"
"What can I say, I don't like paperwork." Midoriya answered with a shrug and smile, making some of their classmates laugh at Iida's expense.
"How villainous of you! How could you?" Iida asked him some literal tears-(though comedic)-as he couldn't believe he was tricked like this.
(As this was going on)
"I highly doubt that the press was able to get through our main gate like this." Nezu stated as he along with Midnight and 13 inspected the destroyed main gate.
"We checked all their quirks and not one of them is capable of getting past 40cm worth of reinforced steel like this." Midnight stated as she came forward and saw that whoever did this, didn't just break through it, they somehow…ate? Ate through the metal.
"But who let them in? Was this a declaration of war or something much worse?" Nezu asked as he thought about what this could all mean.
"Either way, Midnight, would you kindly speak with the head of security and see what he can dig up from the cameras?" Nezu ordered them as he turned to return to his office and plot about what this means for his school.
"Yes sir." Midnight said as she walked off to talk to her, leaving 13 behind to further study the mess before cleaning it up.
'Why do I have a feeling things are about to get worse?' Nezu thought to himself with a grimace, he could feel his scar shooting up some phantom pains.
.
.
.
(Later that day)
"Listen up heroes, don't come after me. If you do, I'll kill this rich family here!" The pink-skinned muscle bond humanoid clitoris threatened as he held three hostages close to himself. If Kamui Woods was perhaps a lesser man and off duty, he would ha laughed at this thug's strange appearance but now wasn't the time for such.
"Not on my watch you don't" Mt. Lady suddenly called out as her hand reached out from behind the thug and grabbed hold of his head, surprising him enough to let go of the three hostages which Kamui quickly grabbed and pulled them towards himself for safety. While this was happening, Mt. Lady in her giant form ad successfully subdued the thug by holding him tight in both hands.
"Good work Mt. Lady but what took you so long?" Kamui woods asked her as they handed the criminal over to the police.
"I had to find a good spot, the next street has a ton of over-ways and subway lines I had to avoid." Mt. Lady told him as her quirk wasn't very useful in places where there wasn't enough space to freely move around, not if she wanted to avoid property damage.
"Either way, I think we got it done." Kamui Woods said as he folded his arms as they both walked away from the place.
"But you don't look happy Woodsie, what the matter?" Mt. Lady asked him as he poked her cheek. They had been working together pretty well for the last couple of months and from time to time, Death Arms would assist but he was on the other side of town.
"I just find it odd, why today of all days are all these criminal scum deciding to go out and endanger lives like this?" Woods asked as that was the 8th incident today they had to solve. Last he checked Death Arms had to deal with 5 on his side. This was way more than the norm.
"Don't know, maybe they'll just stupid." Mt. Lady dismissed as she never really put that much thought into it, so long as they could capture them she didn't care for their numbers.
"That can't be right, some of them don't even look like they'll from around here." Woods reminded her as the 4th person they stopped was caught mostly because he didn't know the local terrain or maps and run right into a corner, most thugs-even street small-time thugs would know better than that, they knew the back alleys and dark corners of their towns like the back of their hands.
"So what, someone brought them here, why?" Mt. Lady asked him, she recalled that some of the ones she took down solo did seem lost.
"Isn't that the million yen question?" Woods answered as he continued to think about it, they turned a corner and Mt. Lady grabbed his arm before pointing up "Hmmm?"
"Hey, isn't that All Might?" Mt. Lady asked as they both saw the number one soaring across the skies.
"He must be heading to U.A. to teach, it is a school day." Woods said as it was open knowledge that he was a teacher now, as for why no-one knew.
"But….U.A. is the other way, where's he going" Mt. Lady counted as she had walked Midoriya most of the way that every morning so she knew if he was heading there, All Might would have to take a left.
BOOM!
"What the hell?" Mt. Lady demanded as both of them had felt that rumble from whatever caused that blast.
"I guess we know where's he's going, then. Come on, they need some back-up!" Kamui Woods yelled as he grew out some branched and swung over to where the trouble, leaving Mt. Lady to chase after him in giant mode.
"That's the fifth criminal I had to stop in the past 30 minutes! Where are they all coming from?" All Might said to himself as he had stopped a car-jacking by just landing in front of said car and grabbing the hood.
"Help! Someone barricaded themselves in a neighboring town!"
"Today seems to be busy." All Might thought to himself as he jumped towards where he was needed. He hoped Nezu wasn't too angry with him for being late.
.
.
.
(Back at U.A.)
"For today's hero basic training, you will have three instructors. Myself, All Might, and another we'll meet on-site." Aizawa told the class as he stood upfront without his sleeping bag.
"Excuse me sensei, but what will we be doing today?" Sero asked with an arm raised.
"You'll be doing rescue training for everything from disasters to shipwrecks and everything in-between." Aizawa stated as he held up the card reading 'rescue' for the whole class to see.
"Rescue…?" Kaminari repeated before he turned to Mina. "Looks like they'll be a lot of work this time."
"Right?" Ashido asked him.
"Idiot, this is the work of a hero, helping people in need." Kirishima told him as he leaned back into his seat. "My arms are rumbling with excitement!"
"No one will beat me in the water(kero)" Asui added, sounding excited though her face didn't give anything away.
"I'm not done." Aizawa told them with a bored glare, silencing the class. "You can decide if you want to wear your hero costumes or not this time due to the fact some of them might limit your abilities until you adjust them to account for that." He then finished as he used the remote to open the panels in the wall so they could retrieve their gear.
"The training will take place off-campus so we'll be taking the bus." Aizawa said as he began to walk towards the door.
"Get ready quickly, we don't have much time." He finished as he opened the door to leave.
"Sensei, will we be sharing a class with 1-B again?" Momo asked him just before he left.
"No, they already went this morning as Vlad King scheduled an earlier time spot." He replied as he closed the door behind him.
(Later)
"Midoriya, what are those attachments?" Tokoyami asked him as he walked over to where Izuku was standing. Like himself, he was dressed in his hero gear but it was different from the one he wore the previous day, namely the large packs he had attached to his waist and the large egg-shaped objects over his shoulders.
"Hmm, mostly medical supplies, searchlight, and a speaker." Midoriya replied as he gestured to each.
"A searchlight?" Uraraka asked as she came over as well.
"Yeah, there was a really old All Might video that I liked to watch where he saved over 100 people. I noticed that it was at night time and figured we may be trained for rescue in poor light environments too." Midoriya replied, slightly blushing at admitting he still watches that old video from time to time.
"Oh, you're right Deku! Knowing Aizawa-sensei, he'll throw something like that at us to see how we cope." Uraraka said as she agreed with him as she could see Aizawa making them sweat.
"Darker areas would suit me just fine, it'll help with control." Tokoyami stated, confusing Uraraka but being clear to Midoriya who knew about what Dark Shadow could do and his limitations.
PPPRRRTT!"
"Everyone, please gather up and form two lines to enter the bus!" Iida called out to everyone as he blew his whistle-(where did he even get that)-and directed everyone to the bus.
"He's really into being your assistant, isn't he?" Tokoyami asked.
"Yes, yes he is." Midoriya agreed with him.
(Later on the bus)
"Rats, I didn't think it'll be this kind of bus." Iida moped as he along with the rest of the class rode the unconventional seat arranged a bus to their destination.
"It's not all bad, it's the thought that counts." Uraraka said to help cheer him up.
"I say whatever comes to mind." Asui stated out of nowhere before she turned to face the boy seated next to her. "Midoriya."
"Yes, Asui?" Midoriya answered.
"Call me Tsu." Was a near immediate reply.
"Urg…wha-…..hmm…." Midoriya tried to form a response but was left tongue-tied as he wasn't expected her to be so…blunt.
"You are pretty dangerous." Asui said as she pointed to him.
"What?" Midoriya answered as he never thought she would once more surprise, maybe he should just expect the unexpected from her?
"You're dangerous, you don't have a quirk but you still manage to beat Bakugo and force Jiro to surrender. That's kinda scary if you think about the fact you have all those gadgets since you can fly while we can't." Asui pointed out, referring to his match-up the previous day and the wings he made for his suit.
"That's epic man, when you think about it my quirk doesn't stand out as much as you do." Kirishima stated as he held out an arm and harden it, giving it a rock-like appearance.
"Not true, your quirk would be very useful for a hero in several ways, like being able to take a real beat-down and dish one out." Midoriya told him with a smile, getting one in return.
"If we're talking about both flashiness and strength, my Naval Laser is already pro level." Aoyama stated with his usual sparkle.
"Shame your stomach can't take it." Ashido counted, getting him to grimace while the rest of them giggled at his expense.
"Well, we know who in the class have the flashy and strong quirks." Kirishima said as he gestured to the back of the bus where Bakugo was looking out the window while Todoroki looked like he was trying to nap, Jiro sat in between them listening to some music.
"It's kinda odd that even though both have strong quirks like being able to throw ice and explosions around the place like confetti, they both lost yesterday." Sato said as it was odd for them, after all they were used to the person with the stronger quirk winning but in both cases, the winners happened to be the smarter ones.
"Bakugo's loss just proves my point. Midoriya is like those hawks we see in TV just before they snatch up the little mouse." Asui said, imaging a mighty eagle swooping down and plucking up unfortunate victims.
"Dude, why the hell would you say that!" Ashido asked her, freaked out by that descriptive image she gave them.
"That's kinda dark Asui." Kaminari stated with a small smirk.
"What, it's true. Besides if Midoriya the hawk, Bakugo's the pissed off wolverine, he has the power but he's always mad and has a terrible personality to boot." Asui stated as she pointed to the boy who up till now had stayed silent but like most expected, blew up at the actual insult against them.
"What the hell frog bitch, you wanna fight!" Bakugo yelled, drowning out Jiro's music with his yelling as he got up to his feet.
"See what I mean?" Asui finished as all Bakugo did was prove her point.
"She's not wrong, we haven't known each other long but we already know your personality is like crap that been left in sewage for a month." Kaminari pointed out as not one person in their class would say otherwise, sure they'll phase it differently but in the end, they would all have the answer.
"The hell's with that vocabulary, you bastard? I'll kill you!" Bakugo yelled at him.
"Bakugo being roasted, I never thought I'll live to see this day." Midoriya said to himself as he wished he lived long enough to watch such a sight, added to the fact he lost his virginity to the woman he loves, he could die a happy man.
"What a vulgar conversation." Momo chastised as she was raised better than this.
"Yeah but I kinda liked things like this, you know?" Uraraka said with a smile and pep as she enjoyed how their class interacted with one another.
"We're here, stop messing around and get ready." Aizawa told them as they approach their destination.
"Yes, Sensei!"
(At the USJ)
"Everyone, I have waited for you." The pro hero who ran the place said as they walked over.
"The Space hero: Thirteen!" Uraraka gushed as this was her favorite pro.
"He's a rescue hero specialist, he's saved tons of people! I can't believe I'm meeting him." Midoriya said with his same old fan-boy eyes, say what you will but he will never get rid of that habit.
"Let's get inside without delay." Thirteen said to them.
"Looking forward to working with you!" Afterward, the class was lead inside the massive site, easily trice the size of a football stadium with a dome roof covering it all. They could see the different zones from here and each one was easily triced the size of the apartment complex Midoriya called home.
"Wow, this place looks like Universal Studios Japan!" Kirishima pointed.
"I know right?" Sero added as he was just as excited to be here.
"A shipwreck," Thirteen started as she pointed to the large artificial lake with a ship in the middle. "A Landslide," An area where most of the buildings were collapsed and buried in the dirt. "Fires," A closed-off section which they could imagine was filled to the grim with burning buildings. "Windstorm, etc." The other closed-off section might just simulate a heavy downpour. "This is a training ground of my design where you will all train for different types of disasters and accidents you might face as pros." Thirteen told them with what they assumed was a proud smile if they could see her face.
"I call it the Unforeseen Simulation Joint for USJ for short." Thirteen finished with a flare of what Aoyama was known for, clearly, they were proud of their work.
'So it is a USJ.'
"Thirteen, where's All Might?" Aizawa asked as he didn't see the number one anywhere and knowing him, he wouldn't hide.
"Yeah about that…"Thirteen started before she gestured for Aizawa to come closer before she whispered the details. "It appears he did too much hero work on the way to school and is resting in the staff room."
"That's the height of stupidity, he's a teacher first. He should have known that." Aizawa replied, pissed off-(though not showing it)-that the guy would be a no-show, though he couldn't say today had been usual by any means either. 'But there were a disturbing number of incidents today last I checked, we may have taken precautions but this is unusual.' He thought to himself as even he had to stop three separate crimes on the way to work, Midnight stopped two and ever loud and obnoxious Mic stopped four.
"It can't be helped, we'll have to start the class without him." Aizawa brushed off as to not alert the students of anything wrong and just played it off as a scheduling error, which happens all the time.
"Before we begin, allow me to say one thing, maybe two things…or is it three things, no I think it's four things." Thirteen started but fell into a pit where she would just keep adding.
'It's increasing.'
"Everyone, as I'm sure you're all aware, my quirk is Black Hole which lets me such up anything…or anyone and turn that object or person to dust." Thirteen started, knocking everyone out of their confused funk and bringing serious frowns to most of them and blank faces to others. "From that description, I can already tell that you all realize just how dangerous my powers can be. Some of you have quirks with the same issues such as Todoroki and Bakugo, same as Aoyama and Ashido whose powers can be lethal." Thirteen told them as she faced the students in question.
"In this super-powered society we live in, quirks are first identified when we're young, studied throughout our childhoods, then regulated to prevent accidents or the misusage of them. We pro heroes may be allowed to use our quirks but we don't get to just flash them willy-nilly either, in fact, we have to keep an even tighter leash on our powers and abilities as the populace looks up to us to be symbols and role models." Thirteen explained to them all, something Tokoyami thought made sense as no matter how smart and complex the minds of man got, the 'Monkey see, Monkey do' mentality would stick with them for millennia to come, and if people saw pros using their quirks how they liked, they would most likely feel compelled to do the same or complain and make a fuss when told otherwise.
"With Aizawa's test he had you all do in your first day, you've seen the possibilities of your quirks hidden potential and had some time to think about them, All Might combat test also showed you all how it feels like to use those quirks on others in a combat situation. Many of you I'm sure know that your quirks can injure if not kill yourselves or another by mistake." Thirteen told them as they all recalled how some of their quirks were extra dangerous, Aoyama could blow a hole through a person, Ashido would melt through flesh and bone, Kirishima and Sato could kill a man with a single blow and Bakugo could blow them to kingdom come.
"Now I'm not saying this to discourage you from using them, far from it. I am merely telling you that you should be responsible for how you go about it. This will be one of many, many classes you will have here at U.A. where you will learn to be creative with your quirks, their limits and kick-backs, and how to properly use them when the time comes for you all to save lives and protect those who can't fight for themselves." Thirteen continued as she gestured to the facility itself.
"I want you all to remember that you have your powers not just to beat up villains but to protect others that those thugs, villains, and monsters alike would harm. And Midoriya" They thought Thirteen finished but she merely turned to face the green-haired boy in question. "Your case is just as important if not more so than the rest of the class." Thirteen spoke, confusing most of the class.
"As U.A.'s first quirkless student and the first student ever to be accepted into a hero course in history, the world will look to you to see how you handle all that. As sad as it is to say is, the quirkless are a dying breed with many openly discriminating against them, hurting them, refusing them jobs and refusing to have kids with them and in some places in the world, opening killing them, I'm sure someone as smart as you can tell me the suicide rate of quirkless in Japan alone." Thirteen told him morbidly, making most of the class uncomfortable at best and sick at worst as they didn't think the world was that bad for the quirkless, could it?
"60% by their 16th birthdays, 74% by their 20th." Unfortunately for them, any chance of ignorant bliss was shattered when Midoriya told the pro hero the cold and heartbreaking statistics, he would have been on that route if not for the love and care he got from his loved ones, the threats of lawsuits his mother posed against his old middle school when it came out some teachers were either mistreating him or not helping him when he got harassed by other kids for being quirkless. The weekly visits to the therapists. He wasn't proud of the last one which was why he hadn't told anyone, not even Tokoyami about it. Bakugo was the only one in class who did know but that's a story for another day.
"Which is morbidly enough, lower than the global average. You have the chance to change that, to show that the quirkless are far from weak and are just as capable of ever. You have that shot to remind that empires from Rome to Great Britain were built by the quirkless because they used their brains and put in the blood, sweat, and tears to see their ambitions a reality." Thirteen told him as she come forward and laid a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Remember, you have that potential and you have shown both the staff and the entire first-year hero course that you have what it takes, don't forget that." Thirteen finished as she backed off from the lad and went back to their position in front of the group.
"That is all, thank you." And with that, she bowed to the class.
"That was the manliest speech I've ever heard!" Kirishima said as he clapped his hands, tears running down his eyes.
"It was wonderful!" Momo said as she applauded, though she would have to talk to Midoriya to find out if his situation was that bad. As his classmate and as vice-rep, she felt like she needed to do so.
'Yes, I have this torch of hope, I have the chance to shut up all the naysayers. Mellissa, Dave-sensei. I will show the world we aren't about the role over and die.' Midoriya thought to himself as he always knew the world will watch his every move, he knew what was at stake and he refused to back down, though it certainly was daunting. If he failed then he'll just be proving that bigots and racists right, if someone like Bakugo failed, people will forget about it in a month, two tops.
'That is a heavy burden, my friend, I hope that you don't buckle and crumple underneath such a massive weight.' Tokoyami thought to himself as he always suspected Midoriya was hiding something from him and if he was a betting bird, he would say it had something to do with his quirkless status, sure he was confident enough about it to confirm such in conversation but it was always too small groups he thought he could trust. He didn't want that getting out just yet.
And as his best friend, he'll support him.
"Okay, we will-?" Aizawa started but stopped when he and the rest of them noticed the lights flickering on and off, soon they all died which sparked concern as he knew Thirteen had this place built on a separate grid from the main U.A. one and it had three different backup generators. There was no way all three failed.
"What's up with the lights?" Jiro asked as he saw how it got darker, not enough that they couldn't see since the middle of the dome was transparent but it was a notable change.
"Sensei, is that part of the exercise?" Sero asked as this seemed…odd.
"Gather together and don't move!" Aizawa yelled, grabbing Midoriya's attention as he noticed the man pull on his goggles, this wasn't normal if the pro thought it necessary to do so.
"Thirteen, protect the students and call for back-up." Eraserhead ordered as he and the rest of them noticed a large black portal open in the center of the main plaza and front it, dozens upon dozens of people walked out, followed by a dude with disembodied hands all over himself-(one acting as a fuckin mask)-and some dark-skinned, super ripped bird….thing. Those eyes were seriously creeping him out.
"Is this part of the test?" Ashido asked, scared as they were told this was rescue simulation but the vibe they were getting off those dudes wasn't a friendly one, no it was more malicious.
"No…"Thirteen told them as she got in front of them while Eraser got ready for a fight. "Those are legit villains." She finished.
'Ironically enough, the day we were supposed to practise saving lives…we found ourselves fighting to protect our own.'
'Yes, that was how the USJ incident began.'