"So, despite what happened the other day, you're all still going on the field trip," Aizawa muttered as the class cheered, "Midoriya, you're the class rep, so make sure they behave."
"Yes, Sensei!" the teen replied.
"Huh, is it just me, or is Midoriya more confident?" Jiro asked as they collected their costume cases, "I wonder what happened?"
"Oh, he put some points in Charisma," Ochako explained, "That's probably why you noticed."
"Huh," the dark-haired girl hummed, looking at the casually chatting boy for a moment, "That explains it, I guess."
"Ooh, does Uraraka-chan have competition?" Mina chuckled as she bumped her hips against the shorter girl.
"W-what?!" Jiro squawked, hiding her bright red ears behind her costume case, "How can you ask something like that?!"
"Competition?" Ochako blinked, "For what?"
"Nothing," Mina cackled as she hurried out of the room with the rest of the students.
------
"Okay, so the bus has non-standard seating," Izuku called out, "So, I guess you can sit wherever you like?"
"My seating plan," Iida muttered defeatedly behind the boy as they stepped onto the bus last, both sitting in the centre area, Izuku beside Ochako, with Iida on his other side as the bus began to move.
"So, what's it like basically being a video game character, Midoriya?" Kaminari suddenly called out, making everyone look at Izuku, "I mean, you upped your Charisma, right? Did it feel weird?"
"Uhm…" the boy paused, before nodding his head, "Yeah, at first at least. It was sort of like my head was tingling and stuff. Then I just felt…more confident, I guess?"
"Your head?" Yaoyorozu asked, "Hmm, that's somewhat worrying. Maybe you should get yourself checked by Recovery Girl just in case your quirk did something to your brain."
"That's true," Izuku nodded, "I hadn't thought of that, actually. Thanks for the advice, Yaoyorozu!"
"You are most welcome," the tall girl smiled happily.
"Looks like Uraraka-chan has more competition than she thought," Mina chuckled under her breath.
------
"I only count nineteen students and do not see All Might," the mist Villain hummed, "Did the schedule change? Never mind, I still have a job to do!"
Izuku blinked at the screen that appeared in front of him as the mist man started to spread his body out.
Name: Oboro "Kurogiri" Shirakumo
Level: 39
Stats:
Strength: 19
Dexterity: 58
Endurance: 18
Intelligence: 21
Wisdom: 34
Charisma: 28
Skills:
[Clouds]
[Gaseous Form]
[Portal Body]
"Not on my watch!" Thirteen shouted as they activated their quirk, starting to suck in some of the mist.
"How annoying," the Villain growled, opening a portal behind the Pro, "Have a taste of your own quirk, then!"
"Sensei! Look out!" Izuku shouted as he tackled the Pro to the ground, just barely avoiding the suction through the portal behind them.
"Midoriya! What do you think you're doing?" the Pro shouted as the teen jumped to his feet.
"He has a quirk that lets him open up portals with his body!" the teen shouted as he turned back to the Villain, "He was about to use your quirk against you, so we'll have to fight him carefully!"
"My, a confident one, aren't you?" the Villain chuckled, spreading his form out once again, "Now, scatter and die, young Heroes-in-training!"
"Oboro!" the shout made the Villain hesitate for a moment, just long enough for most of the class to scatter away from him, before shaking his head and enveloping the few that weren't fast enough.
"Who are you calling for, brat?" Kurogiri growled, turning his glowing yellow eyes to glare at Izuku.
"I don't know," Izuku swallowed nervously, "Why don't you tell me, Shirakumo?"
"That name…" the man blinked, shaking his head again, "How do you know that name?"
"None of your business," Izuku shouted, glancing at Thirteen as they edged around behind the man, "Now, Sensei!"
"Wha-?" the mist man was cut off as the powerful suction suddenly yanked him backwards, straight towards the Rescue Hero as the metal bracer around his neck started to disintegrate, "Damn you!"
The Villain vanished into a cloud of his own mist, the remaining students all letting out a breath as they looked at who was still with them.
"What do we do now?" Mina asked, Izuku blinking as he looked at the screen that had just appeared in front of him.
"All of you, get out," he replied, turning towards the stairs, "I…I have to go save them!"
"Midoriya!" Thirteen shouted as the teen shot off, "Get back here!"
------
"Too many!" Kirishima grunted as he fended off another of the Villains that charged at him, just barely managing to knock the man away as he was pressed further into a corner, "Dammit dude, why'd you have to end up like this?!"
Behind him Kaminari staggered around, his face strangely simple as he just let off a quiet "whey" while giving a double thumbs up.
"Kirishima!" the shout sent a feeling of relief through the red head as he looked around for its owner, spotting Midoriya charging into the back of the group of Villains that had him surrounded, punching, kicking, and throwing them around, "Are you okay?"
"With you here, never better!" he shouted back, punching a surprised Villain in the nose with a hardened fist, "But Kaminari messed himself up pretty bad! We gotta get him out of here!"
"Got it!" Izuku shouted as he tossed another Villain into a wall, cratering the brick and mortar under them, "Grab him while I clear a path! Get back to the entrance!"
"You got it!" Kirishima shouted as he grabbed the still wheying blond, tossing him over his shoulder and charging down the gap Izuku had made in barely a few seconds, "Damn bro, you really are strong!"
"Just get him out of here!" Izuku shouted as he held of a few of the more ambitious Villains, before sending them flying.
------
"Come on, little ladies," the Villains cackled as they slowly approached the two girls, steadily shrinking the circle around the pair, "Drop your weapons and come along quietly. We promise not to hurt you too bad!"
"This isn't good," Jiro muttered as she brandished the machete Yaoyorozu had made, the taller girl wielding a staff.
"We promise to treat you nice," another Villain laughed, "If you show us a good time, we might even let you live!"
"SHUT UP!" the shout startled everyone as the boy landed heavily on the ground in front of the man who just spoken, jumping up to deliver a devastating uppercut to his jaw, sending him flying over the crowd, "Yaoyorozu! Smoke screen, now!"
"What?" the girl blinked, before seeming to understand what he wanted, quickly making a cannister on her arm that shot into the air, blanketing the area in smoke.
The two girls gasped as they were suddenly scooped up, finding themselves under Izuku's arms as he charged forwards, jumping at the last moment. They erupted out of the side of the smoke screen, Izuku skidding to a stop as he put the two girls down before turning to the smoke cloud and sliding into a combat stance.
"Both of you, run! Get back to the entrance while I hold them off!"
"What about you?" Jiro asked as Yaoyorozu started pulling her away.
"I'll be fine," Izuku said, shooting her a confident smile over his shoulder, making her ears turn slightly red as she started to run.
------
"Tell me everything you know about this attack," the two-toned teen growled to the frozen Villains.
"W-we don't know shit!" the tengu-like man said through his chattering beak, "C-come on kid, you ain't really g-gonna leave us here to f-freeze, are yah?"
"Maybe," Shoto replied flatly.
"Todoroki!" the shout made the boy turn his head, watching as Midoriya awkwardly slid across the ice Shoto had covered the area in, "Are you okay?"
"Yes," he nodded, "What are you doing here?"
"I got a quest to find everyone," Izuku said as he got his balance back, "You're the last one left. Come on, we have to get to the entrance!"
"The main attack in in the plaza, though," Todoroki said, "Shouldn't we go help there?"
"No!" Izuku barked sternly, "Are you crazy? That's probably where the leaders are!"
"Exactly why we should-."
"No," Izuku repeated as he grabbed the other teen by the arm, pulling him away from the still frozen Villains, "We're going to the entrance right now!"
"Oh," Shoto muttered as he let himself be pulled along, "Okay."
------
"Dammit Kurogiri," Tomura growled as the misty man slumped on the floor beside him, dark blood dripping onto the concrete, "If you weren't our warp gate out of here, I'd kill you right now!"
"I…apologise…Tomura Shigaraki," the man replied, "I had not…expected them to be so…organised. Especially that one boy."
"Who cares," Shigaraki grunted as he watched the small figures running up the staircase to the entrance, two more just starting the climb, "Nomu!"
The hulking figure beside him suddenly twitched, having not moved an inch since they'd arrived, Shigaraki giving a sick smile as it shivered in anticipation of receiving an order.
"Go kill some of those brats," he chuckled, watching as Eraserhead slowly fought his way through the crowd of nobodies he'd brought with him, "Maybe that'll get All Might to show up!"
------
"Everyone else should be almost out," Izuku said, panting slightly as they sprinted up the stairs towards the entrance, "So we just have to-."
He was cut off as the massive beaked monster slammed into the ground in front of them, slowly turning to stare at them with blank eyes. Instinctively, Izuku checked its Stats, his face going pale.
Name: Wazukana "Nomu" Jikan
Level: ???
Strength: 500
Dexterity: 100
Endurance: 800
Intelligence: 4
Wisdom: 7
Charisma: 1
Skills:
[Super Strength]
[Super Speed]
[Super Regeneration]
[Shock Absorption]
"Oh shit," Izuku muttered, glancing at Todoroki, "We can't fight this guy! He's way to strong!"
"Then I'll just freeze him," Shoto hummed, ice shooting out from under his right foot, encasing the creature in moments, "That should hold hi-."
The ice groaned as the thing inside visibly moved, sending cracks spiderwebbing across it.
"What? How strong is he?" Shoto blinked in surprise.
"Five hundred," Izuku said, grabbing Shoto by the arm and dragging him around the escaping creature, "So run!"
They had barely made it halfway up the stairs when the ground beneath them shook, both looking back to see the hulking form right behind them, fist raised as it swung a punch at Todoroki. Thoughts raced through Izuku's head. How could he save them? Should he use his [Override] Skill, like in the Entrance Exam? But that would leave him a liability if it didn't work. He had to find a way to stop, or at least slow down, the thing behind them.
Izuku blinked as he realized that he had just moved between Shoto and the incoming fist, crossing his arms in front of his face as he prepared for the impact. It would probably kill him anyway, but he had to try and save Todoroki. He had to try save at least one person. He had to try.
[Heroic Act Detected. Hero Point Gained.]
[Would you like to spend your Hero Point to unlock a new Skill? Yes/No?]
Izuku could only stare as the world around him froze, fading out into a familiar white void, only the screen floating in front of him. He quickly selected yes, staring in amazement as the list of Skills appeared in front of him. They were broken down into groups based on his different Stats, with more powerful and advanced Skills being available for a Stat the higher the number was. Shaking his head, Izuku quickly began scrolling through the list in an attempt to find something that could help him. He spent several minutes, finding a range of interesting abilities, but nothing that suited the situation.
"I need something to slow that bug guy down," he muttered, half remembering something, quickly scrolling to the end of the list, to a section marked 'Extra Skills'.
Swallowing, he found what he was looking for, selecting it, relieved to see it only cost one Hero Point to unlock.
"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" the voice surprised him, the teen turning around to see a man with a thick diagonal scar across his face stalking towards him, "Just taking my quirk like that?!"
"Taking…your quirk?" Izuku asked, shaking his head a moment later as he glared back at the man, "I need it to save my classmate!"
"I don't give a shit!" the ash blond roared, "You can't just activate it like that! It's a massive power drain! You'll just end up killing yourself!"
"And I'm fine with that!" Izuku shouted back, even surprising himself, "If I can…If I can save just one person…even if it costs me my life, then I will!"
The earnest expression stunned the man for a moment, before he let out a quiet growl.
"Fucking hell, you're just like him, aren't you?"
"Him?" Izuku asked, blinking at the man in confusion, "Who are you talking about?"
"Never mind that," the scarred man grunted, stepping forwards, "You need to know how my quirk works, and I can't get out of here until I teach you, so listen up good, brat!"
Chapter 7
Shoto Todoroki watched as the world seemed to slow down around him, his classmate and representative leaping behind him as the fist bore down on his back. He wasn't entirely sure, but if what Midoriya had said was true, then this person was far too strong for either of them to survive a hit. So why was the green-haired teen throwing himself into the path of the attack? Shouldn't he be trying harder to escape? Would Shoto have done the same if the attack had been going for Midoriya instead?
Shoto did not like that question.
Instead, he planned, throwing a ramp of ice up the entire length of the stairs, and opening his arms to catch his classmate when he was hit. The Nomu's fist slammed into Izuku, a sickening crack echoing through the air as the boy was launched backwards into Shoto's waiting arms, the monster's movements suddenly slowed to a crawl. Shoto coughed as he was slammed into the ice ramp, shooting up it from the sheer force of the punch. Suddenly, they were in the air, then they were hitting the ground at the top of the stairs, rolling across the paving as Midoriya cried out in pain.
"Are you okay?" Shoto gasped, eyes going wide as the other teen staggered to his feet, his left forearm entirely purple as it hung at an awkward angle, "Midoriya?"
"I-I'm fine," the boy gasped through gritted teeth, barely standing, "Help me get out of here, that…thing, will only be slowed for a few more seconds."
"Right," Shoto nodded as he hurried over to the boy, hooking his unbroken arm over his shoulders and basically dragging him towards the open door.
An angry howl echoed through the air, sending a shiver up Shoto's spine as the beast suddenly slammed into the ground in front of them, cracking the flagstones as it landed, turning to face them once again. Shoto immediately froze it in place, hurrying around it as the ice groaned and broke, the creature freeing itself almost immediately, ripped skin healing over in seconds. Shoto flinched as the massive hand reached for him, just as the gust of wind brushed against his face.
"NEVER FEAR! FOR I AM HERE!" All Might's strong voice rang out over the USJ, Shoto looking up in awe as the man held the Nomu's hand back in his iron grip, "And I am ANGRY!"
------
"Kurogiri," the pale-haired man said as he looked up at the entrance to the building, "Bring All Might down here. Now."
"Are you sure, Tomura Shigaraki?" the mist Villain hummed, seemingly recovered from his earlier injuries, "Would it not be better to let the Nomu tire All Might out first?"
"I said bring him down here now!" the man shouted, "I want him to know who killed him, and he won't if he never meets me!"
"Very well," Kurogiri sighed, opening up a portal in the air, a number of surprised shouts coming from the figures as they fell through, "Hmm, it would seem I brought two students with as well."
"Whatever," Tomura giggled, stepping forwards as All Might jumped back to his feet, almost immediately re-engaging the Nomu in a battle of strength, "It's pointless, All Might! Nomu was made to be your equal! You'll never be able to beat hi-!"
His victory speech was cut off as the wave of ice shot at him, making him shriek as he leapt back, barely dodging the attack.
"What the hell?" he growled, looking at the two students still lying on the ground, one lifting the other up as ice emerged from the ground around his foot, "How dare you interrupt me!"
"All Might, do you need help?" the red- and white-haired boy asked, ignoring Tomura completely as he started to pull his apparently unconscious classmate away.
"Don't ignore me!" Tomura shouted, darting forwards as he reached for the two students, laying his hands on each of them, "Huh…so cool, Eraserhead."
The Villain looked over his shoulder at the man staring at him, eyes glowing red as he charged forwards, throwing a punch at Tomura's jaw. The Villain danced back, ducking, and weaving as he cackled, counting down under his breath.
"You know, I noticed something interesting while you were fighting my minions," Tomura said, "The intervals between when you activate and deactivate your quirk get shorter with each use. Which means…"
Aizawa hissed as the man blocked his elbow strike with his hand, his hair falling as his quirk deactivated, pain lancing up his arm as the sleeve of his jumpsuit and his skin started to rot away. Aizawa leapt back, activating his quirk again, the pain thankfully lessening as his arm fell limp at his side.
"Thought so," Tomura chuckled, "Well? Aren't you going to try again, Eraserhead? You need to protect your precious students, don't you?"
Aizawa glanced to the side as he spotted Todoroki dragging Midoriya away, the green-haired teen's arm obviously broken.
"Looking away is a bad idea," Tomura cackled as he shot forwards, grabbing the capture weapon that was thrown at him and reaching for Aizawa's face, "Nomu! Now!"
The two Pro Heroes blinked as the monster vanished from in front of All Might and appeared behind Aizawa, grabbing the man by the back of the head, and slamming his face into the ground, blood splattering out onto the concrete. The beast lifted him up, about to do it again when the punch slammed into the side of its head, making it drop the Pro as All Might caught him.
"That's not going to be enough, All Might!" Tomura cackled as the Nomu immediately rushed back at the blond, forcing him onto the defensive as he tried to protect the injured man in his arms, "You're going to die today! And there's nothing you can do about it! Kurogiri!"
"What?" All Might blinked as the floor seemed to fall out from under his foot, sending him toppling backwards, looking over his shoulder to see a black void opening beneath him as the Nomu pushed him into it, "Shit!"
"DIE, ALL MIGHT! DIE!"
"ALL MIGHT! NO! [OVERRIDE]!"
The shout startled them as the green-haired boy seemed to appear from no where in front of Shigaraki, swinging his unbroken arm in a punch straight at the man's face. Time seemed to slow as the Nomu abandoned its post of pushing All Might down, racing over to block the punch with its body, succeeding as it took the blow, the shockwaves pulsing repeatedly through its body as it seemed to struggle to stay upright, falling backwards in slow motion.
"Dammit!" Shigaraki screamed, "Nomu! Kill this brat!"
"Young Midoriya!" All Might shouted as the beast loomed over the teen, dashing forwards, "Get out of there! Now!"
"You have to…hit him now, All Might," the teen muttered as he fell backwards, his eyes sliding closed, "Go…Plus…Ultra…"
"Dammit!" All Might screamed as the teen hit the ground, his face a furious snarl as he drew back his arm, "Detroit SMASH!"
The punch smashed into the Nomu, which was reacting far too slowly as a second punch slammed into it, followed by a third, then a fourth, then half a dozen more, followed by another dozen. The creature could barely get its arms in front of it as its body started to swell, heat building inside it as its massive muscles tried to compensate for the sheer barrage of force hitting it.
"And to finish it off," All Might growled, sweeping his fist low as he swung into a massive uppercut, "DETROIT SMASH, PLUS ULTRA!"
The Nomu groaned as the punch slammed into its gut, its body bulging unnaturally as it let out a pained whine, before it was launched into the air, slamming into the roof of the USJ and smashing straight through. All Might panted as he stood, glaring at the Villain in front of him, the pale-haired man staring in disbelief as the blond knelt down to scoop up the unconscious boy at his feet.
"You…you beat Nomu?!" the man shrieked, "How?! It was made to fight you in your prime! And you're definitely not that strong!"
"It's true," All Might chuckled coldly as he cradled the teen gently, steam beginning to rise from his body, "It took me about two hundred and fifty more punches than it should have to defeat that thing, but that was enough. I still have some gas in the tank, but I think it would be better for us to part ways and lick our wounds for now."
"You…You…" Tomura snarled, leaping forwards with his hands outstretched, "DIE, ALL MIGHT!"
The gunshots echoed across the plaza as the Villain cried out in pain, bullet wounds appearing in his hand and shoulder as he collapsed to the floor. The other Villains all looked up at the Pros gathered at the top of the stairs, grinning down at them as they posed for a moment, before descending onto the crowd.
"Dammit!" Tomura screamed, "Kurogiri! Get us out of here! Now!"
"Right away, Tomura Shigaraki," the mist Villain said as the black mist enveloped the young man.
"All Might!" Shoto called as the man held Izuku gently in his arms, the teen wanting to run over to him to take his unconscious classmate, but unable to leave his bleeding teacher.
Suddenly, a wall of concrete shot up around the man, Cementos lumbering into view as the other teachers dispatched the remaining Villains. Inside the wall, Toshinori Yagi deflated in a blast of steam, collapsing to the ground as he held the unconscious boy to his chest.
"Dammit, Young Midoriya," He muttered, "What were you thinking?"
"I wasn't, sorry," Izuku replied, making Toshinori startle as he scrambled to pull the teen upright, looking him over in surprise, not a scratch on him, even his shattered arms healed.
"What?" the blond said in disbelief, "Young Midoriya, what happened to you?!"
"Oh, uhm…" the teen said sheepishly as he scratched his cheek, "I guess I levelled up?"
------
"I think we're all overlooking a bigger problem," Mic growled, leaning back in his chair, "We may very well have a traitor!"
"What makes yah say that pard'ner?" Snipe asked, looking around at the rest of the teachers present, "I mean, it's not like it could be any o' us, right?"
"Snipe's right," Midnight said, "We can't start accusing or suspecting each other all of a sudden."
"Mic's not saying it's definitely one of us," Aizawa grunted from the seat beside the blonde-haired man, scratching at the thin layer of bandages wrapped around his head, "It could be one of the students."
"That is unfair, Aizawa-san," Yagi said, "We cannot just accuse someone without any evidence!"
"Very true, All Might," Nedzu nodded, getting the room's attention once again, "But we have other information to cover before that, namely, the potential identities of the two ringleaders of the attack on the USJ."
"What?" Midnight gasped, "You have them already, sir? But how?"
"One from a piece of evidence that was…ahem, acquired by Snipe-san in the fight," Nedzu explained, holding up a folder with a photo of several blood splashes attached to the front, "And the other from the report of one Izuku Midoriya."
"Whoa, wait," Mic said, "Midoriya knew one of the ring leaders? Do you think that means he's the mole?"
"IMPOSSIBLE!" Yagi suddenly shouted, jumping out of his seat as he glared at Mic, "Young Midoriya would never cavort with such people!"
"And how do you know, All Might?" the other blond asked.
"Because I…" Yagi trailed off, before sitting back in his chair with a huff, "Because I just do, trust me."
"Trust isn't exactly something we can have a lot of right now, All Might," Aizawa grunted, "Mic does have a point. Who was Midoriya able to identify?"
"The portal Villain, alias "Kurogiri"," Nedzu replied, opening the first folder to show a familiar smiling face under light blue cloud-like hair, "According to him, his quirk showed the man's true name to be Oboro Shirakumo."
"What?" Mic, Aizawa and Midnight said as one, Midnight continuing as the other two stared blankly at the folder on the desk, "But Oboro died years ago, Nedzu! This is impossible!"
"Perhaps not," Nedzu shook his head, "I interviewed Midoriya-kun myself after reading the initial report, he was entirely honest and sincere in his answers. I even called in an associate to ensure that."
"And the other person?" Snipe asked, looking worriedly at Mic and Aizawa as they sat in shock, "Who're they?"
"We don't have an exact identity just yet," Nedzu explained as he opened the second folder, "But DNA evidence does show a relation to a known individual in the HPSC database."
"A criminal in the system?" Snipe asked.
"No," Nedzu shook his head, flipping over a picture to reveal a smiling woman in a Hero costume, "A Hero."
"What?" Yagi blinked as he looked at the familiar face in shock, "But…no…how?"
"You know her?" Midnight asked the shaking blond, "Who is she, All Might?"
"She is…was a woman by the name of Nana Shimura," he replied softly, "My Master."
Chapter 8
"All Might!" Izuku called as he chased after the skinny man down the empty corridor, startling him out of his thoughts, "I wanted to talk to you quickly if that's okay."
"Huh? Young Midoriya?" Yagi muttered, shaking his head slightly to clear his mind, "Of course, what's wrong? Is it to do with your quirk?"
"Sort of," the teen replied, looking away for a moment before a screen appeared in front of Yagi, making him jump slightly, "I just added you to my Friend List, please accept."
"Friend List?" Yagi hummed, accepting the offer, "Interesting. And what does being on this list do?"
"Oh, it lets me message you," Izuku explained quickly, a screen popping up in front of Yagi with the message Hi, All Might on it, "And you can message me as well. We can also talk as long as we're within range of each other, though only between each other."
"Wow, that is…quite the ability," the man said.
"Yeah, I'd been meaning to add you to my Friend List for a while, but couldn't find a time to ask," Izuku smiled, "But after the USJ…well, I figured it was best to just do it, right?"
"Ah yes," Yagi nodded, "You would have been able to contact me far faster had we had this, I suppose. Though I must ask, what's the range on this ability of yours?"
"Oh, uhm…currently about a kilometre," Izuku said, "But that's only for the Voice Chat portion. The Text part doesn't seem to have a range limit, Uraraka and I tested it out the other day after school and we could message each other easily even when we were both at home."
"Uraraka?" All Might chuckled, patting the teen on the shoulder, "Good to see you're getting on with your classmates, Young Midoriya. Though do try to keep focus on your studies."
"What do you mean, All Might?" the boy asked, blinking for a moment before his face went bright red, "N-no! It's not like that! We're just friends!"
"Not to say that there won't be developments later, of course," Nedzu chirped, dropping down from the vents onto Izuku's shoulder, making the other two stare in surprise, "Though I must say, this communication ability of yours sounds quite impressive, Midoriya-kun. Would you mind adding me to your Friend List as well?"
"Oh, of course, Principal Nedzu!" Izuku nodded, quickly adding him, "There we go. That's four people so far."
"Only four?" Nedzu hummed, the teen nodding, "I would have thought you would have added your entire class by now. Maybe you should do that come the new week."
"Add my whole class?" Izuku blinked, "I mean…I suppose I should."
------
"Which is why I'd like to add you all to my Friend List," Izuku explained to the class, Aizawa standing to the side, yawning through his bandages.
"Wow! That sounds so cool!" Mina said excitedly, "So we'd all be able to talk to each other with our minds?"
"Uhm, not exactly," Izuku shook his head, "As far as I can tell, you'd only be able to contact me, but I could relay information between everyone."
"That's still pretty manly," Kirishima chuckled, "I'm totally in!"
"Fuck that!" the shout echoed around the room as the class looked at the blond, "I ain't doing shit with Deku or his shitty quirk!"
"You don't have a choice, Bakugo," Aizawa sighed, "This is an order from Nedzu himself."
"Uhm, actually, the people I invite have to be willing to be on the list," Izuku said, "Otherwise it automatically declines the offer. I've already tried sending Kacchan a request a couple of times."
"You what?!" Bakugo snarled, "You used your shitty quirk on me without saying anything, Deku?!"
"Bakugo, sit down," Aizawa growled at the blond as he jumped up, the explosions that had been crackling in his hands dying, "Now. I don't want to have to report this to Nedzu."
"Tch," the blonde clicked his teeth, falling back into his chair as he crossed his arms.
"Anyway," the teacher sighed, "Let's get on with this. Midoriya."
"Yes, Sensei," the boy nodded, looking away for a moment before the screen appeared in front of the man.
"What? Why are you inviting me?"
"Because Nedzu told me to?" Izuku replied, making the man groan before accepting.
"Of course he did," the teacher sighed, leaning against the wall as he watched the students.
Izuku quickly sent invitations to the rest of the class, smiling as each person accepted.
[10 Friends Detected. [Party] System Skill Unlocked.]
"Huh?" Izuku blinked as he stared at the screen that had just appeared, "What?"
"Is something wrong, Midoriya?" Aizawa asked, "Can you not add any more people to your Friend List?"
"No, that's not it," the teen shook his head, "I just got a new Skill for having ten people in my Friend List, though."
"A…new Skill?" the teacher sighed, "Well, you can check what it does later, just finish adding the rest of the students first."
"Oh, that's done," Izuku hummed, opening his Stat Screen, and checking the new Skill immediately, "I wonder what it means by "Party"?"
[Party]: Allows for the formation of a party. Party size is equal to Charisma/5. (Current Maximum Party size: 4)
Sub-Skills:
[Party Chat]: Allows for messages to be sent to the entire Party.
[Status Share]: Allows the Team leader to view Party Members' Status.
"Oh, of course," Izuku chuckled, "I should have guessed."
"Guessed what, Midoriya?" Aizawa sighed.
"I think my new Skill allows me to form a Party with anyone in my Friend List," Izuku explained, "It also lets everyone in the party talk to each other with my quirk."
"Most interesting," Nedzu's voice came through the speaker, making the class jump, "Your quirk is becoming more versatile by the moment, it would seem, Midoriya-kun. Most interesting indeed."
Aizawa just groaned as he gave Izuku a pitying look, the teen staring back in confusion.
------
"It was decided that, after the last couple of…incidents, that occurred during your Foundational Heroics classes, that we would do a simple activity today," All Might said as he stood beside Aizawa, reading from the cue card in his hands "A capture the flag game! You will be sorted into teams of four, with one of you being designated the "leader", who will play a special role in the group!"
"And what is that role, All Might?" Iida immediately asked, his hand shooting into the air.
"We'll tell you after the teams and leaders are decided," Aizawa grumbled, yawning loudly as he pulled out two familiar boxes, "Teams are random, so come draw a ball."
"But why teams of four? There will be five groups then?" Yaoyorozu cut in, the other students all nodding.
"It's a round-robin style contest," All Might explained, checking the card in his hand again, "The winners of the last round will stay on, while the losers wait for their next turn. Think of it as an endurance test as well as a game of skill!"
The class nodded along as they each made their way forward, drawing a ball and separating into their groups. Izuku soon found himself standing with Aoyama, Jiro, and Sato, nodding to each in turn as they nodded back. He quickly looked at the rest of the teams, checking everyone's Stats at the same time. Mina, Kirishima, Kaminari and Ojiro stood to one side, discussing who should be their leader, while Koda, Shoji and Tokoyami tried to ignore Mineta's wails about there being no girls in their group. While both teams had potential heavy hitters, it was the other two teams that worried Izuku the most.
Bakugo had ended up in a team with Todoroki, Sero and Iida, meaning they had two people with high mobility in Sero and Iida, two with high capture capability in Sero and Todoroki, and two general powerhouses in Todoroki and Bakugo, the blonde currently shouting that he was the Leader. The final group consisted of all girls, Yaoyorozu, Asui, Uraraka and Hagakure talking quietly. Honestly, this team worried Izuku more than Bakugo's, as they had a near perfect stealth operative, great general manoeuvrability and probably most dangerous of all, a good strategist.
"Make sure to pick your "Leaders" quickly," Aizawa muttered, yawning once again, "We don't have all day."
"That shall be moi, non?" Aoyama said, tossing his cape dramatically behind him.
"That'll have to be you, right Midoriya?" Jiro said, the green-haired teen looking at her in confusion for a moment.
"What? Why?" he asked.
"Well, you have that "Party" ability now, right?" Jiro continued, "Which means you can talk to all of us and keep track of our condition or status or whatever."
"I shall gladly take the position, should you not wish, mon ami!" the blond said loudly.
"Jiro does have a point," Sato nodded, "I mean, we have a pretty balanced team, I think, so having you as the Leader to help us communicate would be best."
"Oh, okay," Izuku nodded, "Hold on, let me activate [Party] quickly."
The screens appeared in front of the other three, each accepting, Aoyama doing so in mild disappointment. Izuku blinked as new screens appeared before him, quickly shrinking into his peripheral vision as they faded away. With a little experimentation, he found he could call up the general information on each of his team members with just a thought, making him smile as he nodded.
"Okay, now to test the [Party Chat]," he said, activating the Sub-Skill, "Can you all hear me? Reply in your heads."
"Loud and clear," Jiro nodded.
"Yeah," Sato replied, "I can also hear Jiro. This is kind of weird, but also pretty cool."
"I am hearing you all sparklingly clear!" Aoyama added, "Though not as sparklingly as moi!"
"Excellent," Izuku replied, looking at each of them in turn, "Now that we know how this works, we can use it to plan our approach."
"Midoriya!" the shout startled the four of them as they turned to look at Aizawa, the man scowling back at them, "Who is your "Leader'?"
"Oh, uhm…me," the teen replied, Aizawa just nodding as he turned to the rest of the class.
"Right, and now the big reveal," he said with more than a little sarcasm, "The "Leaders" are the flags."
The room remained silent for a moment before the class spoke as one.
"Huh?!"
"I said what I said," the teacher sighed, reaching into one of the boxes and pulling out a ball, "It's capture the flag, but the "Leader" of each team is the flag. You have to capture them and bring them back to your base to win the round. First team to go up is…Team Mineta."
"And they shall be facing…Team Bakugo!" All Might said as he drew the second ball, "Please make your way to the training grounds quickly!"
------
"No way!" the short ball-haired boy whimpered as the other three marched him up to their base, "We're all going to die! Did you even see who's on his team!"
"We did," Tokoyami replied, Dark Shadow leaning on his shoulder, "That does not mean we shouldn't try."
"But we're going to die!" the boy whined again.
"I highly doubt Bakugo would cause a repeat incident," Shoji sighed, "It wouldn't do him any good to get suspended again."
"But-," the boy continued.
"Enough," the two of them growled, "Just stay behind us if you're so worried!"
"Begin!" All Might's voice boomed through the earpieces they each wore, the four looking up as they heard a series of popping sounds in the sky, eyes going wide.
"FUCKING DIE!" the scream echoed over the base as the blond slammed into them.
------
"Ahem," All Might cleared his throat as the rest of the students watched the screen, "Team Bakugo wins."
"One flag went and captured the other," Yaoyorozu said, looking at the teachers, "Doesn't that defeat the point of the exercise?"
"Not really," Aizawa muttered, simply pulling another ball out of the box, "Next group, Team Midoriya, get going."
Chapter 9
"Next team is in position!" All Might's voice came through the earpieces, "Begin!"
The class watched the screens as Team Midoirya just looked at each other, occasionally making faces but not talking at all.
"I know it's probably Midoriya's quirk," Hagakure said as they watched the silent team, "But that's actually kind of creepy."
The silence of the one team was interrupted by the yelling and shouts of the other, all four members charging straight towards the other team's base.
------
"Back the fuck off, Half-n-half!" Bakugo screamed, "I didn't need you extras in the first round, I don't need you now!"
"That is not in the spirit of the exercise, Bakugo!" Iida shouted through the earpieces, racing down the straight roads as fast as he could, "You need to stay back and-."
"Shut the fuck up, Glasses!" the blond roared, letting off another powerful explosion to propel himself forwards faster, "I'll deal with those chumps and bring Deku back before any of you can fucking blink!"
"Jeez dude, we're just trying to help," Sero called.
"I don't need your shitty help!"
The four of them arrived at the plaza that marked the other team's base almost as one, Bakugo flying through the air, Shoto sliding along on his ice, Iida running and Sero swinging. Just as they cleared the buildings a wave of sound slammed into them, shattering Todoroki's ice and making the other three stumble slightly. They looked at their opponents just in time to see the four silent teens nod as one, moving with unnerving coordination.
Izuku jumped towards Sato, who caught him in his large hand, and hurled him with all his might straight at the still reeling Sero. The smiling boy barely had a chance to react before the punch met his gut and sent him sailing back down the street.
Jiro twisted a dial on her boots, focusing the sound onto Todoroki as he tried to raise a wall of ice, causing it to shake violently, falling apart almost as quickly as he could produce it. A sudden burst of concussive light smashed through the weakened barrier, hitting the teen in the chest, and throwing him backwards into a storefront. Shoto could only lie dazed as he tried to figure out what had just happened to him.
As soon as Todoroki was taken out, Aoyama twisted his body, drawing a sweeping arc across the ground right in front of Iida, cutting off his straight-line sprint towards the group. Skidding to a stop, Iida blinked as a shadow loomed over him, looking up just in time to see Sato charging straight at him, slamming powerfully into the armoured boy, and sending him flying.
As one, the three students turned to Bakugo, who had just finished shaking his head to clear it, blasting him with sound, light, and hurled rocks as he was forced to dodge around them, screaming insults the entire time. He was so focused on the incoming attacks, that he failed to notice the green-haired teen sneak up the building behind him, leaping from the roof and tackling him from behind.
The sudden extra weight saw the blond react too slowly, getting hit by a blast of sound and a light beam at once, a large rock slamming into him a moment later as he flailed in the air, the figure on his back squeezing his neck in a chokehold. The two fell, slamming heavily into the ground as Bakugo tried to beat his attacker off with elbows and kicks, each strike getting weaker and weaker until he finally fell still.
The standing team remained motionless for a moment, before Izuku jumped to his feet and hurled the unconscious Bakugo into the large cage in the centre of the plaza, Jiro and Aoyama slamming the door shut a moment later.
"Team Midoriya wins!" All Might called out, the four students finally letting out a noise as they all cheered together.
"We did it!" Jiro laughed, falling back as she panted slightly.
"We are truly sparkling, mes amies!" Aoyama said as he twirled around.
"Yah," Sato grunted, slowly coming down from his sugar high.
"We really did do it, didn't we?" Izuku said almost in disbelief.
"Oh, come on, Midoriya," Jiro chuckled as she stood and walked over to him, "Don't be a downer. Anyway, the next match will be harder, I don't think that the next team will be kind enough to deliver their flag right to us."
"True," Izuku nodded as they watched the medical bots wheel Bakugo out of the cage, Sero, Iida and Shoto able to walk under their own power after being given a moment to rest, "I wonder who we'll be up against?"
"Next," Aizawa's tired voice came through the earpieces, "Team Hagakure."
------
Izuku groaned as he slowly came to, staring up at the white ceiling tiles of the Nurse's Office in confusion.
"What? What happened?" he asked, trying to sit up as a sharp pain pulsed in his head.
"You took a nasty fall," Recovery Girl said from the other side of the room, looking over to him as she hopped off her chair and walked over, pulling a small flashlight from her pocket, "Three stories right onto your head, you were lucky to get out of it with only a mild concussion."
"I…fell?" Izuku muttered, the memories coming back to him as she shone the light in his eyes.
His team had gone on the offensive, using his quirk to keep in contact as they split up and moved. It was Izuku's job to stay back and out of the way, running along the rooftops to help coordinate the others. It had been going well, Sato tearing through most of the basic traps the other team had set up, and Jiro managing to locate Hagakure quickly. They'd managed to hold off Asui and Yaoyorozu long enough to corner the invisible girl, then Izuku had been hit in the back by something and had fallen off the roof. Everything after that was blank.
"So…we lost?" he asked Recovery Girl, the woman giving him an unimpressed look for a moment, before just shaking her head.
"I don't know, but that's hardly important," the old woman huffed, "I mean, really? Caring more about your victory than your health? What is it with you kids these days? What would you have done if you were more seriously injured? Badly enough that you had to drop out?"
"Oh, uhm…I suppose…find another way to be a Hero?" Izuku replied, his head still fuzzy.
"Find a…? Are you serious? You're almost worse than Toshinori," Recovery Girl sighed, stepping back from the bed, "Anyway, you're mostly fine. I was just waiting for you to wake up before I healed you. I tend to do that with minor injuries, just to make sure people have enough energy to heal them properly. Here."
Izuku blinked as she kissed him on the cheek, the dull throb in his head fading quickly as he began to feel slightly more tired. With the pain gone, he could think clearly again, thanking Recovery Girl as he got out of the bed, realising he was still in his Hero costume.
"How long has it been?" he asked.
"About four hours since you were brought in," Recovery Girl hummed.
"Ah, the lesson is probably over then," Izuku sighed, blinking in surprise "Wait! Four hours? That means it's after seven! My mom will be so worried!"
"Don't worry, we called her and explained everything," Recovery Girl hummed, hopping off her chair as moving over to a large box, "One of the other teachers will drive you home shortly. As soon as you help me move this box, of course."
"Uh, sure," Izuku nodded, looking at the books inside the box, picking one up to read the cover.
Basic First Aid.
[Skill Book Found. Would you like to consume Skill Book? Yes/No?]
"What?" Izuku blinked, "Consume? Skill Book?"
"What's wrong, deary," the old woman asked, giving him a concerned look, "Feeling lightheaded?"
"No," Izuku shook his head, dismissing the screen, "Just a, uhm…quirk thing. I'll get these to the storage room now."
"Thank you," Recovery Girl nodded as he lifted the heavy box with relative ease, carrying it out of the door and down the hall.
Once inside the storage room, he slid the box onto an empty shelf, turning away for a moment, before looking back at the box. Nervously, he reached inside, picking up one of the books and reading the cover again. Just as before, a screen appeared in front of him.
[Skill Book Found. Would you like to consume Skill Book? Yes/No?]
"It's just one book. It's not like it'll actually be destroyed, right?" Izuku said as he accepted, blinking as the book suddenly began to glow, the weight of the object vanishing from his hand a moment later as the light vanished, leaving him standing in the storeroom in confusion, "Wait…what just happened?"
The speakers in the hallway crackled to life a moment later, Nedzu's voice coming through as chipper as always.
"Would Izuku Midoriya please report to the principal's office? Thank you."
------
Tomura growled as he flexed his hand, the bullet wound already healed by a quirk Sensei had, but the appendage still aching.
"Are you alright, Tomura Shigaraki?" Kurogiri asked as he cleaned a glass behind the bar, "The Doctor has already seen to your wounds, but are you still in pain?"
"I'm fine," the man snorted, turning back to the television in the corner of the room, "Sensei just hasn't contacted us in a while."
"Are you worried?"
"No!" Tomura barked, shaking his head as he glared at the television, "Sensei already said it wasn't my fault! It was the damn Heroes! And those Hero-wannabe brats!"
"Quite right," Kurogiri nodded, trailing off at th end of his sentence, "They certainly proved more…adept, than expected. Especially that one…"
"Huh?" Tomura grunted, "What was that? Who are you talking about?"
"Nothing, Tomura Shigaraki," the bartender hummed, picking up a new glass and cleaning it, quiet returning to the room.
"Girran hasn't gotten back to us yet, either," Tomura muttered, glancing at the door before returning to his watch on the television, "What's taking him so long?"
"It has only been a day since we initially contacted him," Kurogiri replied, "It is obviously not that easy to find help of the quality we desire. These things take time. And we have plenty of that right now as we wait for your wounds to fully heal."
"Right, time," the young man snorted, still staring at the TV.
The two fell into a familiar silence once again, Kurogiri simply cleaning glasses as Tomura stared at the television, tapping his fingers against the bar.
"Don't think I've ever seen this bar before," the unfamiliar voice said as the door opened, a group of people stumbling through, obviously drunk, "It's in a shitty part of town, so maybe the barkeep won't cut us off like the last asshole!"
The rest of the group laughed loudly as the made their way to one of the booths, not paying attention to Shigaraki as he glared at them.
"Barkeep! A round of beers!" one of the men shouted as they flopped onto the seats.
"I'm sorry, but we are currently closed," Kurogiri hummed, bowing his head in apology as the group fell silent.
"What? But the sign was on!" another of the group, a woman, shouted, "We saw it and everything! That means you're open!"
"We don't have a sign," Kurogiri replied curtly, "This is something of a private establishment. Please leave."
"Private establishment?" one of the men slurred as he staggered to his feet, obviously the most drunk of the lot, "Then what about that asshole? How come he gets to be here but we gotta leave?"
"Asshole, huh?" Tomura growled as he stood from his seat, turning to face the drunk man, "You were told to leave, so get out!"
"Fuck you, brat!" the man shouted, throwing a sloppy punch at the pale-haired man, blinking in surprise as it was easily caught, a scream shooting from his lips as his hand started to decay.
The others stared in shock for a moment, before the woman screamed, desperately running towards the door. A portal opened in front of her just as she reached it, making her stumble as she ran right back into the bar, looking around in confusion.
"Honestly, I needed some stress relief," Tomura chuckled as he stepped towards the woman, grabbing her by the throat before she could react, her eyes rolling back in pain as her throat began to rot, "Looks like you'll have to do."
"G-get off her!" one of the other men shouted, grabbing a bar stool, and swinging it at the man, blinking as the object vanished into a dark mist, "What?"
"Just shut up and scream," Tomura grinned, dropping the woman, and stepping towards the man, his hands outstretched.
Chapter 10
Shota looked around the quiet street, the sun shining down on him as he tugged at the still slightly uncomfortable capture weapon around his neck. He may have had the thing for almost a year already, but that didn't mean he was used to wearing it. He looked over at his buddy beside him, the two young Hero students smiling at each other as they walked along the patrol route, Shirakumo waving to some kids watching them from a nearby Nursery school.
The ground suddenly jolted, screams and shouts filling the air as Shota looked around in surprise. Clouds filled his vision, their edges tinged black as he was pushed back, the building falling around him, dark clouds above him holding back the rubble. He crawled out of the collapsing building, tears pouring from his eyes as he stumbled into the too bright light.
He stared at the arm. Sticking out from under the rubble as though reaching out for help, the other Heroes desperately trying to lift the massive blocks of masonry off the body. But it was too late. Shota knew that. He stared at the body as it was lifted from the rubble, placed on a white sheet, another being placed over the bloodied face.
"Oboro," Shota said, just staring at the body as the world around him faded, "Oboro."
The black mist rose slowly, engulfing the body in thin tendrils as Shota found himself pinned to the spot, unable to move even as his friend's corpse was lifted into the air. Cold, empty eyes stared at Shota as he stared back, the mist washing over the face, two blazing yellow eyes replacing them as the body turned in the air, standing in front of him.
"Shota," the voice that was so familiar said, "It should have been you."
Aizawa snorted awake, scrambling slightly as he slid off the sofa that he'd fallen asleep on, catching himself just before he faceplanted into the floor. Shaking his head, he pushed himself up, sitting properly on the couch and rubbing his face with his hands as he tried to drive the dream from his mind.
"You have the dream again?" Hizashi asked from the nearby chair, putting his book down as he stood, Shota noticing the blanket that had probably been draped over him now lying on the floor.
"No," he grunted back.
"Don't lie to me," Hizashi sighed, sitting next to Shota as he slipped an arm around the man's shoulders, "You were saying his name. You only do that when you have the dream."
"It wasn't the dream," Aizawa muttered, standing up and stepping away. Technically it wasn't, the dream had never ended that way before.
"Shota," Hizashi sighed, standing behind him, reaching out, but pausing at the last moment, "Do you want to talk about it?"
"There's nothing to talk about," Aizawa growled, shaking the last of the sleep from his mind, turning to the door, "I need to go on patrol."
"You don't have a patrol tonight," Hizashi said soothingly, finally placing his hand on Shota's shoulder, "Nedzu changed your schedule, remember? Come on, let's get you into bed for once so you can sleep properly."
"I…no," Aizawa muttered, shaking Hizashi's hand off, "I…I need to go on patrol."
"What you need is sleep, Shota!" Hizashi said pleadingly, "Please!"
"No!" Aizawa shouted back, "I can't! I'll see him again if I…!"
"So, it was the dream," Hizashi sighed, before cracking a slight smile as he stepped towards Shota, "You always get cranky after having it. Come on, I'll be right next to you."
"I said no!" Aizawa growled, pulling away from the other man, "I just need to go on patrol!"
"For what?" Hizashi asked, "To distract yourself? To pretend like we don't know? Shota, you have to stop! You have to rest! You aren't the only person who misses him, but-!"
"It should have been me," Aizawa yelled, spinning to face the other man as he shouted, "We both know that it should have been me that day! At least then the two of you wouldn't have to…to feel like this!"
"Shota," Hizashi blinked, his brow furrowing as he slapped the other man across the face, "Is that what you think?! That we wouldn't feel for you? That Iwouldn't feel for you?"
Aizawa blinked as he lifted a hand to his cheek, before turning away and walking silently to the door, grabbing his capture weapon as he left.
"And where the fuck do you think you're going?!" Hizashi shouted, leaning out of the door as Shota stormed down the hallway.
"On patrol," the man replied, climbing out the window and jumping into the darkness.
Hizashi sighed as he slumped against the door post, sniffing as tears began to leak from his eyes.
"You know, you idiot," he muttered, "You know that he would miss you even more."
------
"Woah," Izuku said as he opened the door to go to lunch, "So many people. What's going on here?"
"Scoping out the competition," a boy with tall purple hair said as he stepped to the front of the crowd, "Did you know that if you do well enough in the Sports Festival, then even a General Education student can move up to the Hero Course? So, that means we're all coming for your seats, Hero students! This is a declaration of war!"
"Oh!" Izuku said, "Uhm…well, good luck then?"
"Hmmph," the boy snorted as he turned away, Izuku quickly checking his stats.
Name: Hitoshi Shinso
Level: 5
Stats:
Strength: 12
Dexterity: 11
Endurance: 12
Intelligence: 18
Wisdom: 15
Charisma: 25
Skills:
[Brainwashing]
"Huh," Izuku muttered as he watched the teen disappear into the crowd.
"What was that, Midoriya?" Ochako asked, startling him out of his thoughts, "You were staring into space for a second there. Were you checking his stats?"
"Oh! Uhm…yeah," Izuku blushed as he rubbed the back of his head, watching as the crowd slowly dispersed, "I probably shouldn't do that to random people, should I?"
"It may be seen as an invasion of privacy, yes," Iida nodded as he joined the two, "Now, we should head to lunch quickly! We have Basic Heroics this afternoon, and proper nutrition is a major part of being a Hero!"
"Oh, that reminds me!" Izuku gasped, quickly moving down the hall as he called back to them, "I have to go see the principal now, so go ahead without me!"
------
"Astounding as always," Nedzu hummed as he sat in his chair, "Your Quirk really is a thing of miracles!"
"I wouldn't really say that," Izuku chuckled, "It's just…really useful, I guess?"
"Useful isn't the word I would use," the Principal grinned, "But that's beside the point! You have already used half a dozen books today, are you feeling well?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Izuku said as he called up his Stats Screen, looking over it in mild amazement.
Name: Izuku "Deku" Midoriya
Level: 11
Stats:
Strength: 120 (999)
Dexterity: 23
Endurance: 60
Intelligence: 35
Wisdom: 21
Charisma: 20
Free Stat Points: 5
System Skills:
[Analytical Eye]
[Inventory]
[Friend List]
[Override]
[Party]
Extra Skills:
[One for All]
[Basic First Aid]
[Basic Electrical Engineering]
[Basic Structural Engineering]
[Basic Mixed Martial Arts]
It had only been a week since Izuku had "accidentally" used the Basic First Aid book to gain a new Skill and had been called to the principal's office, but in that time Nedzu had practically showered him with Skill books. Of course, they had started slow, only using one at first, then two the next day, and three the day after. Now he had just finished using six in a row, his head starting to feel like it was about to burst.
"It's interesting that all the Martial Arts manuals you gave me combined into one skill after the tenth one," Izuku hummed, opening the Skill description, and reading over the dozen or so fighting techniques he now knew, "It's a pity that I can't perform them that well yet though."
"True," Nedzu chuckled over his cup of tea, "But then again, that would make you absolutely terrifying!"
"I suppose," the teen nodded, recalling how, while he had the theory of how to perform the various martial arts, his body wasn't used to actually doing them, making his movements stilted and slow, "Guess I'll just have to keep practicing."
"That you will!" Nedzu laughed, pressing a button on the intercom on his desk, "Now, time for our next test! Eraserhead, if you would kindly come in."
"What's going on?" Izuku asked as his homeroom teacher entered the office.
"Just a simple experiment, Midoriya-kun," the principal chimed, "I have a theory about your ability to use Skill Books and would like to test it. Now, if you could invite Aizawa-san to your party, please."
"Okay," Izuku shrugged, inviting his teacher, the man immediately accepting, "Now what?"
"Now, he takes this," Nedzu said as he handed the older man a leatherbound book, "Can you use it as a Skill Book, Aizawa?"
"Yes," the man replied, looking at the book in mild surprise, "There's a screen asking if I want to."
"Then use it," Nedzu chirped happily, Eraserhead just sighing as the book began to glow, then vanished, "Now, Midoriya-kun, if you would check Aizawa-san's status, please."
Izuku nodded as he looked at his teacher, activating his [Analytical Eye] Skill.
Name: Shota "Eraserhead" Aizawa
Level: 48
Stats:
Strength: 46
Dexterity: 54
Endurance: 24
Intelligence: 31
Wisdom: 47
Charisma: 18
Skills:
[Erasure]
[Capture Weapon]
[Basic Strategy – Chess]
"Aizawa-sensei has a new Skill!" Izuku gasped, "It's called Basic Strategy – Chess!"
"Wait…" the scruffy man groaned, looking at Nedzu in dismay, "You aren't thinking of making me-?"
"Play chess with yours truly?" Nedzu grinned, "Why, what a brilliant suggestion, Aizazwa-san! And if you do so, I may just be tempted to increase the number of patrols you're assigned."
Izuku saw the teacher's eyes widen slightly at the mention of more patrols before he schooled his expression back into neutrality.
"Well, that proves the theory," Nedzu hummed, "So now to put it into practice!"
------
"This is Midoriya," Kan said as the class looked at the smiling green-haired teen, "He's going to be helping you all learn Basic First Aid today."
"Wait, isn't he one of the kids from 1A?" a blonde sitting at the back of the class sneered, "Why do we need his help for anything?"
"Because, Monoma," Kan sighed, "Either you can learn the skill the hard and old-fashioned way, or we can use Midoriya's quirk to speed up the process by months. 1A have already done this, so we know it works."
"What's the method?" the red head asked, putting her hand up as it grew slightly, "And what's his quirk have to do with it?"
"My quirk is called System," Izuku suddenly spoke up, "Or, at least that's what I call it. It allows me to see stuff about people like in a video game, so stats and skills and things. I can also form a party and, we just recently discovered, use Skill Books to gain new Skills. By combining those, others can also learn new Skills far faster than they would otherwise."
"Aptly put, Midoriya," Kan nodded, before looking back at the class, "Of course, this will only be theoretical knowledge, which means you'll be having practical lessons with Recovery Girl at a later date. But this will speed the whole process up substantially."
"Wait, like a video game?" one of the boys asked, "Seriously? That's pretty cool! What are my stats?"
"You'll all be receiving a printout with your stats on them," Kan interrupted, "To let you see your strengths and weaknesses compared to others. Not that you have to share them if you feel uncomfortable doing so."
"Cool," several of the class said as Kan stepped back.
"Alright, the floor is all yours, Midoriya."
"Thank you, Kan-sensei," Izuku grinned, looking out over the class, "Okay, so first I have to add you all to my Friend List."
Chapter 11
"Yaoyorozu."
The tall girl looked up from her meal as Izuku sat in the seat opposite her, Iida and Ochako taking the seats to either side of him.
"Yes, Midoriya-kun?" she asked, "Is there something I can help you with?"
"Yeah, I was hoping I could talk to you about my Stats," he said, "Or, well, stats in general, really."
"Of course," she replied, "I would be happy to help, though I don't know if I can. I'm not that well versed in video game mechanics."
"That's actually perfect," Izuku smiled at her, "I want to get an outside opinion on some things."
"Very well, ask away."
"Okay, so I know that I can increase my Stats just by working hard on them, but I've been having trouble with some of the non-physical stats," Izuku explained, "Namely Wisdom."
"Wisdom?" Yaoyorozu asked, "So why come to me?"
"Because you're the smartest person in the class," Izuku shrugged, making the girl blush slightly at the compliment, "You have both the highest Intelligence and Wisdom out of any of the students I've encountered. I wanted to know how."
"Well," the girl said, "I do study a lot. Mostly because my Quirk requires a great deal of knowledge on chemistry."
Izuku nodded, quickly checking her Stats.
Name: Momo "Yaomomo" Yaoyorozu
Level: 12
Stats:
Strength: 17
Dexterity: 18
Endurance: 19
Intelligence: 35
Wisdom: 24
Charisma: 16
Skills:
[Create]
[Advanced Chemistry]
[Basic Engineering]
[Basic First Aid]
"Yeah, I can see that, you even have an advanced Skill in Chemistry," Izuku nodded, "But I was wondering how that translated to a higher Wisdom stat?"
"Well, what do each of your stats represent?" she asked.
"Well, Strength, Dexterity and Endurance are pretty self-explanatory," Izuku shrugged, "I'm pretty sure Intelligence is linked to how much I know, because it goes up when I study new information, and Charisma is my social skill, though I still haven't managed to increase that without using my Free Points, either."
"And Wisdom?" Yaoyorozu asked.
"I have no idea," Izuku shrugged, "Honestly, it seems to go up randomly."
"Are you sure?" the girl asked, "I can understand the rest of your stats, though Wisdom does seem a little odd. You see, a person's Wisdom is often conflated with their knowledge, but not simply how much they know."
"What do you mean?" Ochako asked.
"Well, how to explain it?" Yaoyorozu hummed, pausing for a moment to think before continuing, "Wisdom is often seen as a person's ability to use their knowledge to its fullest. Simply possessing a lot of knowledge is useless if one does not understand how best to use it in an active situation."
"Active situation?" Izuku muttered.
"Take my quirk, for example," Yaoyorozu said, holding up a hand as a small matryoshka doll emerged from her palm, "I not only need to know the chemical composition of something to make it, but also how to shape it and it's inner workings as well."
"Inner workings?" Izuku said, his eyes going wide in amazement, "Wait, so when you make things with mechanical parts, you have to know how those parts all fit together?"
"Exactly," the girl smiled, "As well as possible chemical reactions, for things like flashbang grenades, and the chemical composition of the materials themselves, to avoid them from breaking too easily."
"Amazing," Izuku said, staring at her in awe, making the obsidian-haired girl blush slightly, "So that means that I need to learn to apply my knowledge to raise my Wisdom? That actually makes a lot of sense! Oh!"
"I'm glad it does," Yaoyorozu nodded, "Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"Not right now," Izuku grinned, "In fact, you've helped me plenty! My Wisdom just went up a point just from this conversation!"
"That's great!" Ochako laughed, "Just don't let it go too high, or you might turn into a monk!"
"I don't think that's how it works, Uraraka," Iida said as Izuku began muttering to himself, his food all but forgotten.
------
The next couple of weeks passed in a blur for the students, each working hard in class and equally hard out of it to train for the upcoming Sports Festival. Izuku trained after school with Aizawa, slowly mastering his new [Mixed Martial Arts]Skill, getting his body to become used to the movements, and even combining some to create new combinations of moves. Doing so actually helped to raise his Wisdom a few extra points, making Yaoyorozu's theory that Wisdom was linked to his understanding of his knowledge seem all the truer.
Izuku had even managed to get the older man on the back foot at one point, before the teacher had become more serious and easily thrown him across the room. His private "lessons" with Nedzu also continued, though they weren't using Skill books anymore, rather trying to raise Izuku's mental stats as much as possible.
Now the class sat in their waiting room at the UA Stadium, waiting for the First Year Sports Festival to begin. Izuku checked his Stat Screen one more time before they went out.
Name: Izuku "Deku" Midoriya
Level: 11
Stats:
Strength: 124 (999)
Dexterity: 26
Endurance: 62
Intelligence: 36
Wisdom: 27
Charisma: 20
Free Stat Points: 5
System Skills:
[Analytical Eye]
[Inventory]
[Friend List]
[Override]
[Party]
Extra Skills:
[One for All]
[Basic First Aid]
[Basic Electrical Engineering]
[Basic Structural Engineering]
[Basic Mixed Martial Arts]
He still had the five Free Points from his last level up available but had decided to keep them handy in case he needed a boost in a Stat for whatever reason. His Endurance, and thus Strength, had also gone up a bit from his practice with Aizawa, as well as his Dexterity. The biggest difference was in his Wisdom, which had jumped a whopping six points in the last two weeks as he started to use his knowledge to the fullest, rather than simply letting it sit in his head. Overall, he had the highest total Stats of his entire class, even beating out the students that were higher level than him like Katsuki and Todoroki.
"Midoriya."
The room went quiet as Todoroki spoke, standing in front of Izuku as he closed his Stat Screen.
"Your Quirk is strong, and your Stats are quite high," the red- and white-haired teen said, "But I will win."
"Uhm," Izuku blinked, looking at Shoto in mild confusion, "I'm not sure what this is about, but I don't plan on holding back, Todoroki-kun."
The other boy just nodded, turning to walk away as the announcement that the Sports Festival was starting came over the loud speakers.
"That was…odd," Izuku muttered as the class all began making their way to the door of their waiting room, heading out towards the field.
They emerged into the sunlight to the sounds of hundreds, if not thousands, of people cheering, looking up in amazement. Izuku felt a pang of panic for a moment, before it was quickly overpowered by a new feeling, excitement.
"Wow, that is a lot of people," Ochako said from beside him, "Kinda makes you feel nervous, doesn't it?"
"Yeah," Izuku nodded, "But also weirdly excited."
"Yeah," the brunette grinned, "Come on, let's hurry to our places!"
The students quickly lined up, Mic announcing the classes as they emerged, before calling Bakugo to the stage. The blonde simply announced his intention to win the entire Sports Festival, earning him a series of shouts and jeers from the other students as 1A just sighed. After a few more announcements, Mic declared the first event, the students all watching the massive screen in anticipation.
"AN OBSTACLE COURSE!" the man yelled over the loudspeakers, "PRETTY MUCH ANYTHING GOES AS LONG AS YOU STAY ON THE TRACK! SO, USE YOUR QUIRKS TO YOUR HEARTS CONTENT!"
"Just don't overdo it," the still lightly bandaged Aizawa said from beside the man.
The students gathered at the starting line, jostling for position as they tried to get in front of the others, Izuku hanging back a bit.
"Deku," the growl made him turn, watching as Bakugo approached him, "I'm going to win this whole thing, so don't think that you or your shitty quirk stand a chance!"
"R-ri-," Izuku paused as he began to stutter, before clearing his throat and looking the blonde in the eye, "No, Kacchan. I'm going to do my best, whatever you say. I'm also aiming to win this. I'm not the weak Deku you once knew anymore!"
"Tch," the blonde clicked his teeth as Izuku blinked, a screen appearing in front of him as he stared at it in shock, "Whatever, you'll still lose."
Izuku shook his head as the blonde walked away, shoving to the front of the crowd as Midnight called for the students to get ready. Izuku glanced at the screen again, before dismissing it, it wasn't time for him to get distracted.
"Ready?" Midnight shouted as the lights turned yellow, before flashing green as a loud buzzer sounded, "GO!"
------
"Why are we watching this?" Tomura growled as the screen showed the horde of students rushing out of the stadium, almost half of them struggling to free themselves from the quirk of one of the front runners, their feet frozen to the ground, "It's stupid."
"Because, Tomura Shigaraki," Kurogiri hummed, "It is useful for you to learn of your possible future enemy's abilities. Perhaps you'll learn some of their weaknesses as well."
"I'd prefer to be playing my game," the pale-haired man growled, "I almost have that stupid boss down."
"Now, now," Kurogiri hummed, "You need to focus on your recovery, still. And the stress of playing that game won't help."
"Whatever," the man huffed, leaning against the bar as he glared at the television, his eyes going wide after a moment, "Wait…it's that brat!"
"Which one?" Kurogiri asked, looking at the screen as it focused on a green-haired teen who had charged into first place, already crossing the second obstacle, "Ah, him."
"He's strong," Tomura growled, "And he did that thing to the Nomu that made it slow down, allowing All Might to beat it easily. I wonder if that's his quirk?"
"Not entirely," the familiar voice said as the image on the screen changed, showing a shadowy figure, "Rather, it may only be one of his Quirks."
"Sensei!" Tomura gasped, "What do you mean one of his quirks? Is he like a Nomu?"
"Somewhat," the man replied, "Though also something more. Yes, definitely something more. How interesting that we were able to find the next inheritor so quickly."
"Inheritor?" Tomura mumbled, "What are you talking about?"
"Just something from the past," Sensei hummed, "But that is for later discussion. No, now you should only know that he is potentially the most dangerous person you could face. I want you to avoid him at all costs for the time being."
"What?" Tomura gasped, "But Sensei! He ruined my plan! I want to kill him for that!"
"Of course, Tomura," Sensei replied calmly, "And in time you will. But first you must become stronger. Much stronger."
"How?" the pale-haired man asked.
"First, by acquiring a team," Sensei said, "One that you can trust, and use to your own advantage."
"I understand," Tomura said as he grinned cruelly, before a knock on the door made him look up, the door opening to reveal Giran, "And it seems that the first members have just arrived."