Chapter 14
Sasaki Mirai was ready. The first real test. Izuku was spot on, of course. After doing the basic battery of stress tests his young friend had designed, he had managed to manipulate probability with pretty good results. Of course only in matters of chance such as dice and cards. Now it was time to exercise the long term abilities of his quirk. He would activate his quirk before leaving home, and enter one of the strictest quirk suppressing establishments in the world. He took a long few weeks off, and flew all the way to the USA for it.
He definitely wasn't worried about being caught or chastised for breaking any rules. Places like this one only catered to the elite in the first place, and they would be extremely confident in their 'made by I-Island' quirk suppression field. Mirai touched himself while looking into his own reflection's eyes, and strained his quirk. Time for the moment of truth he thought as he put on his tailored tuxedo. Besides, even if things did go south he wasn't worried about any long term consequences. After all, he smirked and put on gold rimmed sunglasses, What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
Katsuki Bakugo just wasn't getting it. There was obviously something really wrong about that spiky-haired hunk loser. Every lunch when he passed Katsuki by in the cafeteria, Katsuki would subtly move an inch inward. Yet the annoying extra hadn't asked to sit with him yet! How much more explicit could a guy be?! If Red Hair thought that playing hard to get was the way to go, he was in for a rude awakening...
Katsuki looked at the loud table full of losers. Pink was grilling Round Face about Deku's dick or something, and round face ate her rice with a red face - Obviously embarrassed that her loser nerd boyfriend was endowed with a tool the size of a grain of rice. Super Cut Abs Shitty Hair was sitting next to her and laughing at Deku as well. Suddenly some explosive pops escaped his hands without his noticing... What the fuck was Hot Stuff Rock Quirk playing at? Making him jealous? Fat Chance... Katsuki could see through those childish manipulations from miles away.
"Come on Mina, don't tease her!"
His pink friend guffawed, "Oh come on Eiji, we're all super stoked for them, it's out of love. Love I tell you!"
Eijiro looked at his red faced friend, who was blushing enough to compete with his hair. It was like she was making sure to have a mouthful of rice in her mouth whenever there was a lull in the conversation, just to avoid having to participate.
"I for one, am not super stoked, I mean, Midoriya is off the market now, that's a heartbreak and a half!" Kaminari Denki sat next to Eijiro and shouldered his way onto the already crowded lunch bench. He was obviously saying it all in good nature, but it still hit Eijiro a little too close to home.
Suddenly he did a double take, and so did Mina, while squealing. "Waitwaitwait, Kaminari are you coming out? Is that what's happening?"
Kaminari grinned at them slyly, and Eijiro felt suddenly a little warm around the collar. "You know," Kaminari said, "Hot is hot, no matter what bits you got. Hot and smart is even better, whether you're the type that gets harder or wetter. Hot, smart, and kind? A one-in-a-million find." Everyone except Uraraka nodded along, she was too busy trying to get the blood to leave her face and return to the rest of her body.
"Of course," Kaminari continued, "Hot, Smart, Kind... and paternal? Now that's just..." He snapped his fingers and a small bolt of electricity jumped through his hand, "Electrifying!"
"Boo! Boo!" Hagakure threw crumpled pieces of paper at the electric teen, and he put on an offended face.
"Oof tough crowd," He said, and then out of no where he sent his arm over Eijiro's shoulder and leaned into him, "Alas! Not everyone can appreciate the art of pun and subverting expectations."
Many small explosions erupted from where Bakugou was sitting, and for once Eijiro was thankful to the jerk - His explosions made everyone look away, and miss how his face reddened at the proximity to his classmate. At least, that's what he initially thought.
The red in his face drained into chalk white, as he raised his head and saw self proclaimed queen of romance, Ashido Mina, look straight at him with a devilish grin.
His foes' eyes sharpened, obviously intimidated by his maneuver. Coming out of nowhere like that would knock anyone off their feet, but that was the essence of shadows.
"I... wouldn't do that if I were you..." The bird headed fool bluffed. Tokoyami really thought sending his quirk out to speak for him would work. He even pretended to panic and shush it with his third rate stiff acting. No way any woman would be attracted to such atrocious acting skills. Not that there was a specific woman who may or may not be attracted to such skills, but if there were, then surely she wouldn't be.
Shihai smirked, "I just did."
Tokoyami sighed in feigned relief from the seat in front of him. "Very well, in response to your indirect strike card [Black Flame Abbaddonn Beam], I activate my contingency legacy spell [Cursed Right Eye of Break Magic]. I have to discard half of my hand, and I skip every third card I would draw, but in return I can perform an immediate enhance reflect epic countermagic on any strike card except those from the [Divine Retribution of the Cybergod Techno] series." No way. It wasn't a bluff.
Shihai trembled in shock. Surely he wouldn't follow up with the combo... No one would be that cruel.
"I apologize Kuroiro-san. You are truly a worthy opponent, but I will engulf your hopes in a mad banquet of darkness." He prepared a card from his hand and then froze. "Of course... There is no specific hope that I'm referring to. I am talking about the general conception of your hopes. Whether they concern a girl or not... Or a boy. Or a place."
Shihai nodded. When his fated foe talked sense, there was no use in disagreeing on principle. "Of course. But it isn't over."
He shook his head at Shihai, "I'm sorry, but it is. My enhance turns your strike into [Blacker Flame Abbbadddonnn Beeeeeeam], which I ritual energy feed to summon [Dark Monarch King Abadon Darkflame IV]. Because of the summon method-"
"Oh are you guys partaking in a fated match to the end of Epoch Duel Battles?!" A soft voice asked with unconcealed excitement.
They both turned simultaneously to see their classmate, and definitely surely nothing more, Yanagi Reiko, standing with stars in her eyes looking at them.
Unfortunately for Shihai, it was Tokoyami that collected himself first, "Of course Yanagi-Dono. This game, nay, competitive art, is a perfect blend of the unending thirst for triumph, the acknowledgement of the arcane and hidden, as well as the utter dominance, that embody the ideas of darkness."
The girl nodded enthusiastically, "I must agree with you Tokoyami-san. I have constructed my deck to be very spooky indeed. Mayhaps I shall challenge the winner?"
The shadowed teenager felt his heart stop. Would she see him lose? He truly had no counter to [Dark Monarch King Abadon Darkflame IV], he was only using his hobby deck. "Ah, but I would gladly sink into the shadows and give up my spot for you - For Epoch Duel Battles will always remain, however it is only now in which you find yourself without a seat." He stood up and motioned for her to sit.
Their graceful, ghostly, classmate grinned like a haunting woman from a horror movie (oh how he wished he had a camera with him, his heart was truly bound in her chains of darkness), and from her bag cards floated out to circle around her, her quirk perfectly suited to the dramatic beginnings of the game.
Thankfully, Tokoyami was too excited to play to notice Shihai's deception. "I must warn you Yanagi-Dono, I play a third tier [Devouring Demonoid of Gluttony Darkness] deck, and I won't be going easy on you."
Almost instantly the girl deflated, the rings of cards around her coalescing into a deck. She removed a black metal tube from a compartment in her bag, and her face turned from dejected to determined. She snapped the rod forward and it extended to the length of a staff. "That is indeed a formidable deck, Devour Lord Tokoyami, However I play..."
Shihai and Tokoyami gasped at the same time, the staff was uniquely distinct. "Is that... No..." Tokoyami stuttered.
"It seems so, the staff must be one of the legendary seven," Shihai continued as the head of the staff opened, revealing the mythical seventy-seven pointed star.
"That were given to the seven finalists of the seventy seventh ultimate tournament." They finished together.
"Indeed my blackened foes. I play a unique [Phantom Eternalius Ghost-Wraith of Dead Hopes] deck! I hope you can challenge me together, perhaps that way... I will once again feel the thrill of a true battle."
Shihai didn't know how a woman could be at once so attractive and so terrifying. He only knew that something at that moment was unlocked within him, and as he felt Tokoyami's hand clench his, he also knew he wasn't alone.
"What a mad banquet of darkness."
"Are they... flirting?" Momo asked her, flabbergasted.
Jiro had her ear-jacks connected to a listening device and a transponder connected to their earpieces, all fabricated by Momo, but thought of by Midoriya. "I... Think so. Man, I can't imagine what it's like to flirt over a game of Epoch Duel Battles..."
Before Jiro could continue her sentence, She felt Momo stiffen next to her, "Yes indeed my friend Jiro. Truly a hobby that is not suited for couples, I agree."
Damn, Jiro thought, good thing she said that before I could open my mouth and say how nice that must be. "Yeah... haha..." She discreetly pushed her bag away with her foot, the last thing she needed was for Momo to see her [Deep Dope Duelers] exclusive cross over deck.
"Haha... I agree..." Jiro was too flustered to notice that Momo also pushed away her bag, and wouldn't find out for some time that it contained the heiress' own deck, [Perfect of Magus Academy Sky], made only of promotional cards signed by the artists.
David Shield was looking at the television and trembling. Melissa hadn't left her room since the morning, and now that he saw the I-Island news recap he understood why. GreenLotus was one of the most spoken about quirkologists in I-Island, whose theories and observations had led to many breakthroughs. That he remained anonymous and refused royalties was seen as an act of pure altruism. His Melissa was talented, no doubt, and she was often called 'a young GreenLotus'.
Now... It turned out that GreenLotus is younger than her. Not only that, but he's a heroics student in high school rather than a STEM prodigy at some university at age fifteen. The recap didn't forget to show clips from the event that brought him into the spotlight in the first place. It was some monstrous quirk that he had, though perhaps only such a monstrous and unique quirk was suited to such a unique and monstrous (in a different sense) person.
"Melissa, honey, please, can you come out of your room and we can talk?" David expected little from that feeble attempt at reaching out to his daughter, so he nearly fell over in shock when the door was flung open. Melissa exited with a fire in her eyes.
"Father, lets go!" She had two full suitcases trail behind her. "You can call Uncle Might on the way."
The baffled father collected himself, "Mel, aren't you... frustrated?" Did he misread her? "Where are we supposed to be going?" For a moment he worried that his brilliant daughter would give up her studies and ambitions in the field of quirk-tech.
Thankfully his anxieties didn't have time to blossom, as Melissa hastened to elaborate, "We're going to Japan, duh! Lotus is a Hero student!"
He wasn't really making any connections... "And?"
"Daaaad! That means he needs a support tech! I'll be his you to All-Might!" She pouted as if that would seal the deal (and they both knew that if she would pout long enough, it would work.)
"You'll be his me to All-Might? Can you help me parse that?" He had some idea where she was going with this, but needed to make sure.
His daughter rolled her eyes in a way that only teenagers can, some biological muscle that matures around the age of eleven, and stops working around the age of twenty, "If someone is an extremely talented support tech that is indispensable to a very powerful and influential hero, it's like they're David Shield and All Might. There, I fed your ego, are you satisfied? Can you call Uncle Might now?"
He smiled, "Yeah that was enough for today honey," He ruffled her hair as she shifted out of the way with an exaggerated scowl, "It'll take a few days though to organize everything and make sure my work is set up to do remotely. You can call Toshi meanwhile, okay?"
"Don't worry... I already did!"
Chapter 15
As class representative of 1-B, Itsuka took her duties very seriously, and one of those duties was caring for the mental well-being of her classmates. That was what led her to sit by the despondent Utsushimi Camie, placing a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. "Hey Utsushimi-san, do you... do you want to talk about it?"
The girl brushed a strand of fawn-colored hair our of her face, and responded while gazing straight ahead, "You know, I totes thought I had my quirk all figured out."
Itsuka nodded. Many of her classmates showed similar 'symptoms' as Camie. "I knew what I needed to work on, but then... he asked me, like, two or three really basic questions, and, like, it all came apart. Did'ya know that my quirk isn't held by not breathing? I totes thought that was it, y'know? But, like, it's something about the diaphragm and exhalation and the oral and nasal cavities and all sorts of stuff that I... I... don't..."
Before Camie started weeping, Itsuka already took her classmate's head onto her shoulder. Luckily she had a few spare shirts, since this was far from the first shoulder-sob she dealt with. "I know, I know. But think of it like this, Utsushimi-san, now we can be even better! Imagine it would have been a teacher helping you out?"
"Like, I lived with my quirk for fifteen years, and he saw it for a couple of minutes... Like, he suggested this thing that musicians do, where they inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth at the same time... so like, they never run out of oxygen, but the state of all of their... ummm... tubes... is always the same?"
Camie scratched her head awkwardly, and Itsuka had to ask, "Did Midoriya say tubes? Or some other word..."
The girl blew a raspberry but seemed to cheer up a little "He totes said tubes, like, super not profesh!" They shared a laugh.
She took out a piece of graphing paper and unfolded it, Itsuka looked over and saw some respirator-like device, "He called this a rough draft, of support gear, in case the breathing thing won't work. It should breath for me without me doing anything, so no matter what the exact trigger is for my quirk, I have options. He told me that my stamina is important and to keep training holding my breath, but that focus and creativity with illusions is 'a good direction to think about focusing'. He was too polite to tell me I trained the wrong thing my entire life!"
Itsuka wrapped an arm around Camie, and sighed. She saw Komori Kinoko etch circles into the grass with her fingers, an almost physical black clouds hanging over her head. Shiozaki hadn't stopped praying since the middle of the class. Setsuna was drawing plans to assassinate Midoriya's girlfriend (according to her that position needs to be earned with blood and honor, not shaking her... Itsuka shook the thoughts out of her head). It was going to be a long day.
"Really Izuku, this is fine! I'm having a great time! You know I don't have a good poker-face" She smiled at her boyfriend(!!!) and reassured him. The truth was, she was totally fine. He and Eri had to stay on school grounds for a while. His mom had Eri for the next few hours, Izuku made sure, but even so his hair was a little recognizable and people would be on the hunt for anyone that resembles Lotus.
That was how they found themselves having a picnic on U.A. grounds as their first official date.
She sat down on the blanket Izuku had spread out for them, and opened the basket to see what he prepared. She could swear her heart physically fluttered when she took out a dish with twelve different Mochi varieties, each clearly labeled with an explanation. He yelped in surprise as she wrapped him in a hug "It'sperfectwhendidyouorderitall?"
Ochako loosened her arms when she heard him sputter instead of answer. "I... I was learning to make them already. since I thought, you know, that you like Mochi, so-" She shut him up with a kiss on the lips.
"You learned to make mochi, for me. Izuku, there are so many flavors here... how did you do it? Oh my god... I don't know how I can match this!" It was histurn to shut her up with a kiss (he did have to fly a couple of inches up to do it fast enough).
"Ochako, I don't want our relationship to be like a scale where we each add stuff separately. I want it to be a plate that we both add to and both eat from. And... ummm... when something is on the plate... then you don't know who put it there?" The more he spoke the more he lost steam, and Ochako couldn't help but giggle. "Nooo don't laugh! The metaphor sounded so much better in my head!" His head drooped in mock frustration.
She stifled her giggles "No no, It's a great metaphor! We can" She snorted, "Set the table together." He groaned, "Is Eri the silverware?" Ochako was so absorbed in her laughter that she didn't notice him sneaking up behind her, "And what are we going to drink? Are there other thin- EEEEP"
Izuku flung her over his shoulder and flew up, twirling her around as she laughed and shrieked.
What she told him earlier was definitely true, even just having a picnic on school grounds was more than enough to have a great time with him.
Inko kept a poker face as her son went over various sketches and notes, two hopeful students in front of him. Eri was, of course, in his lap - She was fine being apart from him, which (he assured her) was amazing progress, but the moment he came back she hung off him like a Koala.
He had more meetings lined up, but they decided on two a day and the business course drew lots between anyone who was interested. These two were the lucky first.
"What are you basing these projections off of? And are you versed in the legalese? Eri is definitely not my sidekick, and using real-world mascots may not be covered if they're people." Izuku asked as he slid the folder toward the left student, a girl with shining red hair and six extra-articulated fingers.
She looked a little flustered, but cleared her throat "I'll state upfront that I'm not sure about that last bit, but as her guardian can't you give special dispensation? I mean... did you see the designs?"
Izuku looked conflicted, and Inko understood why. The sketches for the Eri figurines were incredible. There was one which could latch on to an articulated figure of him, and a chibi plush with a large head. It was more adorable than Inko could bear, and she would buy three the moment they came out. The first offer definitely focused more on displayable merchandise, even the wearable Lotus-crowns were designed to be premium products.
Izuku looked at Eri and took back one of the folders to show her, "Eri, what do you think? There's no wrong answer, and no matter what you think we might decide something else, but your opinion is important. Do you like these dolls of you?"
"They're highly articulated and collectable-"
The business course student closed her mouth quickly at the glare Izuku shot her, at least until Eri took the wind out of his sails, "Is it like the..." She concentrated a bit, cutely scrunching her eyes "the super-duper-rare-redacted Gal-Might figurine that you showed me?"
He sputtered a little, clearly not expecting his kid to remember something that he probably mentioned off hand. Maybe he didn't realize how contagious his passion would be to a girl who basically idolized him and saw him as a father. "Well, it won't be as rare, but it depends on what we can decide. We can make only one hundred, so only one hundred people all over the world can have one, or we can make as many as people want, so that everyone can have one. The Gal-Might figure is rare because there are only a handful that still exist."
Eri looked pensive, as if she was contemplating something really really important. She looked up at him with a furrowed brow "I want everyone to have a statue of you because you're the greatest hero ever, but I also want everyone who has a statue of you to think it's super important like you think that your statue is."
Her son was tearing up with emotion, the petals in his lotus-like sclera bouncing in his eyes. Inko felt moisture in her eyes as well. How could Eri say something so endearing so innocently. Izuku hugged her close and pushed the folder back to the business student, before realizing he lost the thread, "N-no Eri... The question was about statues of you... Would you feel comfortable with people having dolls that are based off of you?"
The child decided to give his heart a one-two punch, apparently, because her last response wasn't enough. "Only if my doll comes with your doll, so it stays safe in its new house."
At this point the business students were crying as well. The one who made the current proposals took back her folder and collected herself. "Well Midoriya, there's one other thing I wanted to talk to you about." She hesitated as Izuku looked at her, "That redacted Gal-Might... It wouldn't happen to be up for trade?"
Her answer was a glare as Izuku quickly took the folder from the next student, opened it, and slammed it shut so fast Inko thought she saw some lightning from his quirk. He slid it back with a glare stronger than he sent to the first girl. "No. Lewd."
Chapter 16
Iida Tenya was nervous and excited. It's been almost two weeks since Midoriya's hero debut, and after the shock everyone in class 1-A started to get to know the enthusiastic TA. Tenya would even go as far as calling them friends. But there were still a few questions that itched in the back of his mind. Questions that would be answered today!
--
"Kero, I usually say what's on my mind, so don't take offense Midoriya, but when we thought you died All-Might took it really hard. Like... Really hard kero." Tenya bit back an admonishment for that blunt invasion of privacy, if only because he was really curious as well. Like every time the topic came up, Uraraka and Kirishima 'remembered they forgot something in the bathroom while they got a call from their mom'.
Midoriya scratched his head and appeared pensive, so Tenya did eventually intervene, "Midoriya, please do not feel obligated to answer. We respect your privacy and non of us want to make you feel uncomfortable."
A raspberry from behind him was how Ashido decided to express her disagreement, "Speak for yourself Iida! Me and Toru are dying to know!"
The green haired boy chuckled and bounced the child, his child, on his lap, "Ummm, look, there's some stuff that isn't really mine to tell, but I guess that you'll all know sooner rather than later, so you have to be..." His intonation rose toward the end, as if prompting someone to complete the sentence.
"Patient!" "Patient..." "PATIENT!" An energetic answer from the girl on his lap overlapped with a despondent answer from their pink-skinned classmate, while both were nearly overwhelmed by Yoarashi's passionate exclamation.
"OOPS! I SHOULD HAVE REALIZED THAT YOU MEANT TO ILLUMINATE THE VIRTUES OF PATIENCE TO YOUR DAUGHTER!" Yoarashi stood and bowed at a ninety-degree angle, slamming his forehead on the table and drawing nearly every student in the cafeteria to look at them "I APOLOGIZE ERI-CHAN."
Eri hesitated slightly, but reached out and patted Yoarashi's head awkwardly, "It's okay. Izu says that if someone is really really sorry then we should forgive them." She then looked toward Ashido expectantly.
The teenager in question blushed so hard that she turned deep purple, "I'm sorry Eri-chan" Someone choked back a snort, "Yeah yeah laugh it up! He's our TA I'm used to answering his questions!", One by one, their friends burst out laughing.
--
That was three days ago, and Tenya assumed that this was the 'sooner rather than later' that Midoriya mentioned. All-Might stood in front of the class, by his sides and slightly behind him stood Aizawa-sensei, 1-B's homeroom teacher Vlad King, and Midoriya. "Ahem, I'm sure you're all wondering why we convened you all here."
An interruption came in the form of Asu- Tsuyu, as she preferred to be called (She actually preferred Tsu, but Tenya still struggled with that.) "Kero, is it to explain why you cried so hard when Midoriya was injured?"
All-Might sweat-dropped (along with most of 1-A and 1-B present for the combined talk) "Y-Yes, that is indeed part of it Young Asui. But first an announcement! Tomorrow we will take a field trip for a whole day training exercise between both classes, so please arrive half an hour earlier and meet up at the school gates."
Silence lingered in the large classroom after the announcement, and it was obvious even to Tenya (who sometimes struggled with social cues) that everyone was waiting for All-Might to continue.
Well... it was obvious to almost everyone, "Wait, are we done?" A pink haired girl from 1-B asked, "I really wanna get back to making babies!"
Tenya wasn't the only one who sputtered, but class 1-B's representative stood up to clarify. The girl looked... haggard. She had deep dark circles around her eyes. "Hatsume-san! We talked about this. I apologize for the misunderstanding. By babies she means inventions. Hatsume is a heroics and support dual course student." The chastised student looked unabashedly not repentant, and Tenya had a feeling this was far from the first time they had such a discussion.
It looked like All-Might was about to say something, but a smug sounding snort from the 1-B students' seats interrupted him. Again. "I have to wonder... How many dual course students does class 1-A have? Perhaps this may be a deficiency? Ho ho, it seems that 1-A isn't all that great after all!"
Before sitting Kendo enlarged her hand and chopped Monoma over his head. The blond snob was wearing a blindfold, and his face was bruised. He had to tissues sticking out of his nose as if he was quenching a nosebleed, and Tenya wasn't alone in ignoring the boisterous and overly competitive teen.
"Right. Thank you Young Kendo. Indeed, As Young Asui was saying, we believe that it is time to reveal some important information to you all."
Aizawa sensei stepped forward, "I want to remind you that you all signed extremely strict NDAs. Today you are going to learn why. We aren't kidding when we say that this information has the potential to cause widespread panic if handled incorrectly."
Muttering spread out across the students, and Tenya found his curiosity mingling with anxiety. All Might took a step forward, and a puff of smoke erupted from him. When the smoke dispersed all that was left was a skinny - skeletal even - man with All Might's hair and clothes.
Through all the cries of shock and fearful whispers, (and Monoma's frantic questions, he still kept the blindfold on) Tenya turned his head toward where the loudest exclamation of shock emerged from.
Slapping himself on both cheeks, mouth open in an exaggerated 'O', Kirishima exclaimed "This is SHOCKING, I am only now learning for the FIRST TIME about All Might's injury from five years ago."
The moment the words left his mouth, Eijiro knew he fumbled it. That was so unmanly that he couldn't help but cringe at himself. In his defense, Denki grabbed his arm in shock, and that did things to Eijiro's stomach. Flippy acrobatic things. But All Might didn't give any explanation yet. What was he supposed to say to Denki, how would he explain that he knew all along? Surely no one would be dense enough to beli-
"Oh MAN Kiri!" His electrifying (literally and metaphorically in the poetic sort of way) classmate shook him back and forth by the arm, "This is crazy, hold on maybe he'll explain more about what's going on!". Bless his soul, he was dense enough.
As everyone raised their eyebrows at Eijiro with looks ranging from mock-betrayal to exasperated amusement, he made contact with Mina. He shouldn't have. His pink friend was whispering to her invisible partner in crime while wiggling her eyebrows at him. Eijiro didn't know if he blushed harder from Denki shaking him, or his embarrassing fumble. Thankfully All Might took the spotlight back from him.
The moment the hero cleared his throat, every single head swiveled back. "Indeed, I was injured against a villain five years ago. This battle wasn't publicized, and suffice to say that the villain is no longer a threat, nor will they ever be again." All Might let his words linger, let the implications really settle among the shocked first years.
A low voice from 1-B asked "You mean, even after he injured you, you still reformed him?"
"Wait, he reformed him?" Denki perked up, the frown vanishing from his face, "Oh man I thought the implication was that he killed him. Man am I glad to have misunderstood." Okay, he was more than dense enough.
Eijiro patted his crush new crush wait no they were only fr- crush STOP CRUSH on the shoulder "I think that you got it the first time bro." Yeah, br- crushBRO! Definitely bro CRUSH... fuck. Fuck it. Admitting your feelings was manly. The Manliest. He would do something about that soon, probably asking Izuku and Ochako and... even Mina... for advice.
"Listen up," Aizawa sensei and Vlad King stepped forward, "It's an unfortunate truth that heroes come face to face with death. Sometimes your own life is at risk," he turned and glared pointedly at Izuku.
Vlad King saw that Aizawa sensei wasn't going to pick up anytime soon, so he continued, "You'll also find that sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you can't save everyone, or you arrive too late."
Every student reacted differently, but they were all taking it seriously. Clenched fists, bit lips, whispered curses. All Might filled the silence, "Sometimes though, hopefully rarely or even never for some of you, you kill a villain. Maybe you miscalculated something. Maybe they were a danger to civilians and you couldn't formulate a plan to apprehend them fast enough. Maybe there was no other way to actually stop them. That was what happened five years ago. The villain was amongst the worst in the world, active globally for decades. The amount of death he caused directly by his own hand dwarfs every villain I've ever heard of."
Izuku stepped forward, and clicked some remote he was holding. An overhead projector flickered to life, showing a series of detailed charts and graphs. "As you can see, since five years ado, there has been a gradual increase in All Might's average takedown time, as well as a reduction of in-person appearances - first press, then official, then charity. Even as they were replaced by online appearances and prerecorded statements, those declined too."
From over where 1-B was sitting, Monoma nodded along and muttering affirmations to Izuku's words. He was still blindfolded, and didn't notice that one of the tissues fell out of his left nostril, blood was pooling down his face. Meanwhile Denki leaned in and asked "Can... can you see that? What Midoriya said we can see?"
Again Kirishima patted his shoulder, "I see line go up I see line go down, I believe line mean what Izuku say line mean." Pride and satisfaction filled his chest when Denki laughed in response.
The next slide came on, and his green haired best friend continued "In short, All Might was, and is, running out of time." The moment it was made explicit, pandemonium broke loose.
Yoarashi flew up on a small hurricane "PLEASE CALM DOWN. AS THE CLASS REPRESENTITIVE OF 1-A I AM REMINDING YOU THAT WE NEED TO DIRECT OUR PASSION AND NOT LET IT HINDER OUR JOURNEY TOWARD HERODOM!" Somehow his class rep's voice was loud enough to carry, and everyone settled down.
Izuku chuckled grimly, the demeanor so foriegn on his usually kind and cheerful visage. "That was forty heroics students ready for something shocking. Imagine if that news leaked out to the public tomorrow."
This time the silence was deafening - Aizawa sensei's words about the NDAs echoed back to them. "Indeed Young Midoriya," All Might continued. "I myself didn't think about the implications, I was more concerned about finding a successor to train, someone to inherit my title as the symbol of peace, someone to prop up the world of heroics. In fact, I came to teach at U.A. to scout candidates among the students." The butloomed large over everyone. Some probably thought that Izuku was the successor, but most could intuit that there was more at play.
Apparently one of those who couldn't was loud and brash. Explosions erupted from Bakugou's palms, he looked enraged, rabid almost. "So the fucking ner- I mean, Grrrrr, Midoriya... Is your successor? Is that why his shitty quirk became so messed up?" Eijiro couldn't believe how someone so spiteful and angry was the one who was almost close to the truth.
"No Young Bakugo. In fact, Young Midoriya told me I was a fool!" Now that grabbed everyone's attention. Izuku's fanboy-ism of All Might was well known. "I happened upon Izuku by chance, and he confronted me with the facts. Although I disagree that my waning was obvious for everyone to see," He turned toward the obtuse graphs and elicited a chuckle from the crowd (and a grumbling blush from Izuku), "Izuku also approached me with a plan. With severalplans, because he wasn't sure about some of the details."
Years in the limelight had made All Might a riveting storyteller. Even with his thin skeletal frame his presence was larger than life, captivating. "A symbol of peace is not what society needs. I shouldn't have a successor." The number one hero let the confused whispers fade before continuing. "I could have died, in that battle. Any single hero, any successor, can die at any point in time. Even I am not immune to disease and acts of god." The somber cloud that spread throughout the room was suffocating.
"Instead!" The energy in his exclamation made everyone jolt, "Instead, I am here to make every single one of you into a symbol. That is what Young Midoriya explained to me, and even helped me work out a plan." He chuckled, "Part of that plan was to slowly let heroes and students know. So we can all prepare. So that we can live in a hero society, not an All Might society. And besides, on a... more personal note..."
Izuku looked confused, then gasped when All Might turned to him and bowed at his waist, "I want to apologize, Young Izuku. For a long while, I did see you as my successor. But," He turned back to face everyone, "I do not wish upon any hero to be a hero like me. As the symbol of peace I had no days off. No sick days, or rest. I truly believe in what I do, and have no regrets. But I find myself old and on the verge of retirement, going back to an empty house."
"A-All Might..." Izuku stepped toward his hero with tears in his eyes, and Eijiro heard sniffles among the crowd as well.
"Don't worry Young Midoriya. I am satisfied with my lot in life. With my legacy. I simply do not wish upon any other, especially one I care about so much-" Izuku started crying and rushed up to hug All Might, and Eijiro suddenly felt that he was intruding on a very private, very intimate, moment. "I don't want any of you to stop yourselves from finding love, having friends, taking breaks and indulging in hobbies. And I believe that if enough heroes are individually great, then each one can also be a person, not only a hero."
Everyone soaked in the implications, the meaning, the mission imparted on them. "Soooo... Can I go back to my babies now?"
Almost everyone.
"For the millionth time, he won't be there!" Tomura didn't know if he wanted to disintegrate the spiky haired villain in front of him, or himself. At this point in the operation the second option seemed more and more tempting. "I told you already, He's a second year, and we're going to a joint first year exercise." He shouldn't have recruited the mini-bosses from the yakuza event. One of them was paranoid, one was lazy, and the third tried to fight everyone.
He just... He needed lieutenants. He couldn't take another mook asking him if they could write off their overalls as a business expense.
At least tomorrow it would be over. Maybe, if he was lucky enough, things would go just wrong enoughthat they would kill All Might but all the mooks would get captured.
Hey, a murderous psychopathic villain was allowed to dream too.
The smug look on Monoma's blindfolded face was counteracted by the slight limp, bruises and black eye, and the crowd of 1-B students surrounding him, speaking in loud exaggerated tones and moving around frantically. Izuku was about to go offer his help when Tetsutetsu (Who really reminded him of Eijiro, even if no one else agreed!) Exclaimed loudly "WOW, IT'S REALLY TOO EARLY IN THE MORNING FOR ME TO TAKE THESE FIFTEEN AVERAGE SIZED STAIRS UP TO THE COURTYARD! YAWN!"
Their red haired class representative winced and hissed at him from Monoma's side "You're not supposed to say yawn!" Suddenly she stopped when she noticed Monoma himself freeze in place.
"Kendo-san. I can feel a slight shift in the amplitude of the wind's frequency, as well as the density of the earth's crust," They were standing on paved concrete. "After pondering the mysteries of the infinite patterns around us, I have come to the conclusion that we are approaching a set of stairs, between thirteen to seventeen, around average in size." Oh. Izuku understood.
Izuku would have sworn he could see the light slowly drain away from Kendo's eyes as she answered (but there wasn't any pattern, so it was probably his imagination) "Wow Monoma. That's incredible." What was really incredible to Izuku was how she could maintain a perfect monotone with no variation. "Surely the moment you remove that fucking blindfold your power will increase." Ah, perhaps thatwas where all her intonation went.
Instead of acquiescing, Monoma humphed "Please Kendo, even you admit the advantages of my training method. How can youuUU-" He tripped over the first stair, and Kendo pulled him back by his shirt as if it was ingrained in her muscle memory. Somehow, Monoma continued on, content to ignore his fumble. "Ask me to stop before I reach my peak."
Out of nowhere, Kendo enlarged her hands and started flapping them on her blond classmate. A fourth 1-B student, Shiozaki, glared at them all. Tetsutetsu nudged her "Come on Shiozaki-san, we're on duty today, we all agreed!"
The vine wreathed student bit her lip and nodded, "OH MY, WHAT AN ODD WIND. IT IS BLOWING DIRECTLY IN THE DIRECTION OF THE MEETING POINT IN FRONT OF THE BUSES. PERHAPS THIS IS... PERHAPS THIS IS..." She was clenching her fist and shutting her eyes tight, "PERHAPS THIS IS GUIDANCE FROM THE LORD!"
Izuku felt a tug at his tie, and saw Eri looking over at them curiously. "Izu, what are they doing? Is that a game?"
Monoma froze, licked the tip of his finger, and raised it into the air. Kendo was still flapping her hands. "Kendo-san! I can tell by the slight gravitational pull of the several ton vehicles, as well as the reflection of the sun off of the yellow paint," The buses were blue, "That the buses are in that direction!" At least he was pointing the right way. Izuku saw a single tear fall from Kendo's eye as she congratulated Monoma again.
So he did the only thing he could. He covered Eri's eyes. "Don't look Eri, just... don't look at them. Let's go find my mom." He hurried on, and quickly smiled as Eri cheered.
"Yay! Inko-san!" Eri and Inko had grown close, and Izuku couldn't be happier. He was dissapointed byappreciative of the fact that he had someone to leave her with during the more hands-on lessons and training, like the field trip. That said, he still found himself tearing up nearly every goodbye.
Indeed, his voice almost cracked when Izuku handed Eri off to his mother, "Be good Eri, I'll be back before you know it." Even with tears in her eyes mirroring his own, she nodded. She was such a good girl, Izuku felt a couple of tears escape, a prelude to the signature Midoriya family sobs (That Eri was showing signs of as well! He was so proud!), as the lotus petals in his eyes started bouncing around. He took her back and straightened out her shirt, "D-don't worry Eri, It won't be long. This is an important exercise so I can't bring you along this time, okay?" He handed her over again after kissing her on the top of her head.
He knew that he shouldn't get so attached, there was no way that they would let him actually adopt Eri. Even without being able to recognize his own patterns, he realized that a fifteen year old adopting a kid wasn't the brightest idea. But still, whenever anyone referred to Eri as his daughter, he definitely didn't correct them. Even when Eri slipped up and called him Papa he would stay quiet and hug her tightly (And maybe slip her a sweet as positive reinforcement). Selfishly, he hoped that if he simply didn't ask then everyone would just forget to do anything about it.
"Wait!" He took her again, and could see Ochako and his mother sigh. "Do you know where the help button is?" Eri nodded. "Do you know where your favorite books are?" She nodded. "Do you know how long to brush your teeth for after you eat breakfast?" Eri scrunched her face and looked back toward his mom.
The older woman smiled "I'll count for you Eri-chan, are you ready to have a girl's fun-day with me?" Eri nodded excitedly, and his mom reached toward his daughter his... temporary ward.
"Okay, do you know wh-mmphhmphmphmmm!" Simultaneously Eri was taken into Inko's arms, and Eraserhead's capture weapon wrapped around his mouth and waist. Eri giggled and waved as the scarf slowly dragged Izuku to the busses. Ochako hugged her goodbye and jogged after him.
Chapter 17: Stage 3: Coalescence Battle of Seven Realms Part 1 - Split of Myriad Groups
"Universal Studios Japan?! No Way!" The class chuckled, and Mina nudged Eijiro's side.
When he sheepishly looked at her she whispered, "Going from maximum genius to adoltable? Interesting choices you're making."
He blew a raspberry in response, then elaborated on that (very uninformative) answer, "Look, they both have a kind heart and open mind. Apparently that'smy type."
"That and-" She wiggled her eyebrows with increasing intensity "-Extremely good looks?"
At that Eijiro grew red as his hair, "Maybethattoo" he shot out quickly.
"Hey Kirishima, Ashido, are you okay? Everyone's off the bus already" Izuku brought them out of their conspiratorial huddle, and they both skittered off the bus while apologizing. When they joined the fairly large crowd of students, they found Thirteen, Vlad King, Aizawa-sensei, and Ectoplasm whispering between them.
Eijiro leaned toward Mina "Weird, I was sure All-Might was going to be here." Before she could open her mouth, they felt the shivery glare of their teacher shutting them up.
"-Learn control." They caught the tail of what Thirteen said, and Vlad King continued speaking as the first year hero students followed their teachers into the giant domed facility.
In a display of impressive (to Eijiro at least) coordination, Vlad King talked while walking backwards, "Even without a potentially destructive quirk, civilians are weaker than you think - You're going to spend more and more time among other heroes and heroic students, all of which will be in much better physical shape than most civilians."
The large double doors slid open just as class 1-B's homeroom teacher finished speaking. The staff allowed a few silent moments to let the students take in the expansive view - From their elevated position at the entrance they saw a large central platform, with seven paths shooting off from it. Directly across from them were a few tall, red, mountain peaks. To the right of the mountainous zone was a city-sized bonfire, an actual city on fire, Eijiro realized. From the other side of the city was a massive lake (or ocean?) with a few large ships in it. Between the flooded lake and the entrance where they were was another city, except instead of a burning conflagration it was veiled in intense rainfall. To their left were two more zones: A third city, this one with dilapidated buildings and skyscrapers tilted to the side; A single, sloped, mountain, covered in unsteady rocks and debris that looked to be on verge of avalanching.
"Woah..." Someone from 1-B that Eijiro didn't recognize exclaimed, "This place is enormous."
"Of course it is, I can sense the drafts of-" The blindfolded one, Monoma, started, but was interrupted by Ectoplasm splitting into seven - In the direction of each of the zones was a single clone.
The main body spoke "Indeed. The Unforeseen Simulation Joint is meant to test and train your rescue capabilities in a variety of scenarios-" "-A city in the midst of an intense storm, The DOWNPOUR ZONE!" "A rescue in the middle of the sea, The FLOOD ZONE!" The clones spoke one by one, each introducing their zones: Downpour, Flood, Conflagration, Mountain, Landslide, and Ruin.
There was a tense silence in the air. Ectoplasm stood, looking expectantly at the confused cohort of hero-hopefuls. Eijiro had to admit, the synchronization and choreography that the staff exhibited was impressive, hesitantly, he started clapping. Mina joined him, but the applause didn't have time to catch - Gasps and mutters erupted among the students as they started pointing to the central plaza.
That's the last time I ignore any mysterious sense of impending doom, Izuku swore internally. All day something was sitting on the back of his mind, irking him with no rhyme or reason. He found himself beside Aizawa, who held his head in his hands, exasperated by Ectoplasm's constant need for affirmation. Affirmation that the cloning hero was about to receive (Eijiro and Ashido were already clapping, while Yoarashi had tears in his eyes). Before anyone could join the duo, however, Izuku's premonition came true.
Completely at random, without warning, a purple smoke spread in the center of the central plaza. Within the cloud of smoke, a splotch of deeper purple flickered - Until it stabilized, and dozens of figures poured through it. Izuku felt a thrum in the air as everyone, hero, student, and invader alike, brought their quirks to the brink of activation.
"Midoriya! Leave this to us, get the students to safety." Eraserhead unraveled his scarf and while leaping forward, "You are authorized to use your quirk for self defense and in defense of others. Top priority evacuation, got it?!" Izuku wasn't sure his teacher could hear his response, but he gave it all the same. The other heroics teachers were jumping forward as well, save Ectoplasm who remained with the crowd of students, splitting off clones to surround them.
"Everyone, stay with me, we have to leave!" He began corralling his classmates/students back to the large entrance door, and to his relief, they obeyed without arguing. When they made it halfway, (when we got far enough from the teachers, Izuku cursed internally) the same purple mist from the central plaza spread from in front of them.
"I'm afraid I can't let you leave" A deep voice emerged from the mist. The deeper flickering form solidified, and in its stead stood a man made of purple smoke, with elongated yellow eyes above a metal brace that served as, shielded? hid? his neck. "Unfortunately, I must ask that you remain here and not fight."
Izuku felt the power vibrate in the air before he saw or heard the attack, but those other senses quickly followed, "DIE VILLAIN!" Katsuki, of course, Izuku grit his teeth as two other students jumped forth - Tetsutetsu, his body completely metallic, and Monoma, somehow getting the direction right even with his bizarre training blindfold on. The villain let out a disgruntled sound and reached their hand forward, purple portals swirled in front of the leaping students. I don't know how my quirk will react, but I have to save them. Izuku felt his quirk activate, and react to the half again hundred quirks in the facility. His eyes widened in panic, but the quirk wouldn't deactivate. Green lightning leapt out of him, arced through the air into the students, and through them forward to Ectoplasm and the purple mist villain, as well as backwards to the rest of the heroes and villains.
He could feel it so much more clearly than ever before. His quirk, some part of One For All, latched onto the multitude of quirk factors around him. It was the same with the villains in the Shie Hassaikai, with Eri. Some part of his quirk met those quirk factors, mingled with them, and altered them - Some of them minutely, some of them extensively. Simultaneously, another part of Izuku's quirk, the part that he was born with, identified their patterns, like it was giving instructions of how to modify them to fit in one single overarching pattern or theme.
"Wha- What are you doing?!" The purple mist villain cried, and Izuku cringed as the villain was scattered into a multitude of smaller portals. When he focused on the feeling, he lurched forward himself... The quirk had a really complex pattern. Really complex. Almost like it was several quirks together. Unfortunately, Izuku didn't have the time to ponder on that, since a tiny purple portal opened beneath his feet.
He wasn't the only one though. As he fell through the portal, he saw all of his classmates, as well as many of the villains in the central plaza, join him in his descent into the dark. The next thing he knew, he was falling a couple of meters to the ground of the central plaza, around him were a handful of 1-B students, Aizawa, and from his class Aoyama Yuga, Mezo Shoji, and Todoroki Shoto.
On the opposite side of the plaza stood villains; A tall lanky man with pale hair, and most notably, disembodied hands covering his face; A giant, bird-like person with an exposed brain; A woman with long silver hair bound in dreadlocks, and... six people dressed in overalls and wearing goggles. Wisps of green lightning flitted over them all as they looked around confused.
"Midoriya! What did you do?" Eraserhead glared at him with such anger that it morphed over to exasperated helplessness. One of the overall-wearing villains, with a large frame and four arms, ran forward toward them, only to slam into an invisible barrier in the center of the plaza.
"I-I don't know sensei!" Izuku was at least as confused and panicked as everyone else, "I think there were too many quirks around and thatcausedabiggerreactionthan-"
"KUROGIRI!" The hand-laden villain yelled, "Get over here! What did you do?!"
While Izuku was rambling, the mist-portal villain appeared in the center of the field, but he was different. Six purple circles appeared above the plaza, each of them expanding and revealing through them one of the six different disaster zones. Above even those six portals, a purple circle with long yellow eyes appeared. His voice echoed throughout the plaza, "I apologize, it seems that I cannot control myself anymore."
The pale-haired hand villain scratched himself violently, and screeched toward Izuku "YOU! You ruined the debut of the League of Villains! HOW DARE YOU?!" The moment he finished, energy flashed and above the villains side glowing red words appeared: LEAGUE OF VILLAINS!
"What the hell? What are these Neon-"
"-Signs?! My noble quirk, my perfect Blackwhip, has been reduced to forming NEON SIGNS?!" Banjo Daigoro was crying on his knees in the vestige space in Izuku's head. He heard Nana chuckle and turned to glare at her. "You wouldn't be laughing if it was your quirk being butchered like that!"
Nana was grasping her stomach "PFFFFTTTT I- PFFFFFFT HAHAHAHA I-" She panted for breath, and Daigoro learned an important fact of unlife - Ghosts had blood pressure, and it could rise to dangerous levels. "Sorry, sorry, you're right... Just... PPFFFFFFTTT."
He felt a hand clasp his shoulder. "It's okay, I know how you feel." Bruce, the spiky-haired user of Fa-Jin, comforted him.
Out of nowhere the first user jumped between them, one arm over each of their shoulders, "Chill! Ninth's quirk is bananas! Just sit back and watch the show! This is going to be so-"
"- Weird Kero." Asui Tsuyu looked around. "I wonder what we're doing here, Kero." She was on a half sunken ship, looking into the depths through a hole in the bottom of it. With her were Sero Hanta from her class (and probably Hagakure judging from the floating uniform). In addition to them were three students from 1-B; A kid with spiky auburn hair, a short kid with pale hair, and another short girl with a black bob-cut and a stoic expression.
"It's probably something Midoriya did," Hagakure cheered, "This should be fun!" All three 1-B students jumped from the voice that emerged from the air."Oh sorry! Hi, I'm Hagakure Toru from 1-A!"
"Sero Hanta" The black haired boy nodded his head.
"Kero and I'm Asui Tsuyu, but call me Tsu, please."
The kid with auburn hair stepped forward, "I'm Tsuburaba Kosei, these are Nirengeki Shoda and Kodai Yui." The short kid bowed, and the girl... made eye contact in an acknowledging manner.
"You said this was something that Midoriya-san did?" Tsuburaba asked.
Tsuyu tilted her head in thought. "I mean, probably Kero. His quirk does weird things with other quirks. We should probably play along."
"Ummm, what does playing along mean?" Nirengeki asked.
Sero pointed to the watery opening in the bottom of the ship, where lines and rows of glimmering golden objects glowed softly. "I don't know for certain, but I would bet it involves going-"
"-down there!" Iida Tenya looked down the tall mountain , toward the group of students with him, to the group of villains on the other side of the mountain peak, and back down the slope. "You cannot be serious! We should defend ourselves and wait for assistance!"
The infuriating pink-haired girl from 1-B, Hatsume, looked down and then at them again "I agree with Ashido-san! There is definitely a finish line at the bottom of the mountain, and obstacles placed strategically throughout."
"IIDA-SAN! I APPRECIATE YOUR PASSION FOR THE RULES, HOWEVER WE MUST STEP UP AND DO OUR PART!" Respect your classmates, Tenya kept telling himself, Every opinion is valid. Even when they are completely wrong. And also stupid.
Tenya took a deep breath to calm himself, when one of the villains called over, "Hey! Are we racing or what?!"
"What?" He responded in genuine confusion, trying to understand both what the villain was asking and why they all had the same uniform - Denim overalls and goggles.
"Racing!" Ashido Mina called back from his side, "Wait for the countdown!" After answering the villains, she leaned over to him, "Look, this is obviously something Midori arranged, otherwise why would our quirks be so suited to racing? We just need to participate-"
"-In this shit?! No way, I'm just gonna beat them up!" This was Katsuki's chance to impress Spiky Hair! He just had to leap over and beat up all the villains before any of the extras. There were Lizard Girl and Bunny Girl from next class, and also Hands and some jerk with silver hair and some shit around his eyes. Aside from him and Spiky abs Hair, Horse Girl was also with them.
They were seated on a bench surrounded by burning flames, and across a large expanse of ground was a parallel bench with a bunch of villains seated on it. Katsuki knew he could simply hop through the fire and go beat them, and the Silver Kid seemed equally pumped.
Just when they were about to jump forward, Hands grabbed them both by the collar and pulled them back, "We shouldn't act before we understand what's going on, Tetsutetsu, I expected better from you. Kirishima-san, what were you saying?"
Katsuki was about to explode Hands' face when he stopped. He definitely didn't stop to hear what Spiky Hair had to say. Nope. He also didn't stop because he felt sorry for the extra with the orange hair. He just... felt like stopping.
He saw Spiky hair send him a glare smouldering look, Heh, he's so in love with me. As if I'd date an extra. Maaaybe I'll throw him a bone and allow him to take me out. Katsuki was so lost in his head that he missed most of what everyone said, But he knew what he had to do...
He slapped away the oversized hand on his collar, "Don't tell me what to do!" He knew he nailed that passionate glare, "I'm gonna kill them, and don't stop me from-"
"-Figuring out what happened here." Intelli Saiko looked at the folders in front of them. There were six students including her, and luckily Thirteen was with them. They were in a dark room surrounded by papers and folders and maps. Outside they could hear rain falling in an intense downpour.
"Indeed it seems that Midoriya-san has sent us here to discover what the shadows hold," Tokoyami Fumikage from her sister class started saying, and swiftly turned to another student from their class, "To bring light to the darkness and banish it forever."
The target of his ire, Kuroiro Shihai, rolled his eyes and responded "Of course, that is what a simpleton would deduce from such a situation. It is obvious from the case files before us that these villains have used evil, no good, shadows to obfuscate themselves, and that we must hide ourselves in the pure darkness which is actually also a great cook in order to uncover their heinous crimes. Yanagi-dono, what do you think?"
The pale girl floated some of the folders in front of her, hiding her face from both boys. Saiko shrugged, and sat down next to the fourth student from her sister class, a girl with aux cords hanging from her earlobes that had introduced herself as Jiro Kyoka.
"You get used to it," Jiro preempted Saiko's question, "We're kinda just waiting for them to get together. Look at Yanagi's answer..."
"This is indeed spooky, Tokoyami-dono, Kuroiro-dono. I believe that... Both of your words... hold merit and truth within them... But neither of you understand the true dilemma. If the truth were a ghost, then it could equally find itself in the handsome embrace of darkness," Saiko slapped a palm over her face, "Or the gentle and noble caress of shadows."
Saiko asked the girl next to her in shock "Is she blushing?! Are they really doing this here and now?" She turned to Jiro and saw the shorter girl munching on popcorn.
At Saiko's incredulous look she tilted the small bag forward, "Want some?"
"No, I don't Want Some! I want to understand what's happening!" She snapped.
Jiro shrugged, "Then we just have to wait for Thirteen to come back from her scouting, I guess."
"Ummm, guys, we totes have a problem," Her classmate (of whom Saiko was starting to think much more highly, compared to the class 1-A weirdos) came from the direction of the door waving a note. "This says that, like, we have to solve the mystery to, like, rescue Thirteen."
At least that got everyone's attention. "Is there anything else written there?" Saiko jumped and strode toward the center of the room.
Utsushimi bit her lip, "Ummm, only P.S. Bring Banana."
In her anger, Saiko slammed her hands on the table, "Well what the hell are we supposed-"
"- to do here?" Ectoplasm asked her, and Yaoyorozu Momo blushed under everyone's scrutiny.
"Well, it seems that both us and the villains need to split up, into an offense and defense team. We need to climb their mountain, and they need to climb ours. The defense will be throwing obstacles from the top." Momo pointed to the peaks of the two debris-filled landslides and the shoddy elevators that were meant to take a few people (three at most, she reckoned) to those peaks.
Kaminari nodded sagely beside her, while Ectoplasm looked to be deep in thought. One of the 1-B students, Bondo Kojiro if she remembered correctly, spoke up. "I think I should be on the defensive team, I can shoot glue that would definitely slow down any pursuers."
Momo agreed, "I as well. My quirk would allow me to create more obstacles to throw. Rin-san, what is your quirk?"
The 1-B student with a short black braid lifted his arm, and it was suddenly covered in scales. "It's good for offense and defense, but mostly close combat, so I think I'll be on the offensive team."
"I can't do too much long range lightning yet, so I'll be attacking too. What about you?" Kaminari said and then asked the last student among them, a short girl with a brown bob cut who was standing barefoot.
"I will be on defense!" She shouted, and a giant mushroom spurted out from the ground in front of them. She had a deranged expression, "The mycelia have spoken to me! They have spread underfoot and given me sovereignty over that which I tread upon. The shrooms will grow, and I will be their idol!" She then spun around like a dancer, brought her hand forward, made a V with two fingers, and winked.
"That's your class' fault, by the way." Rin told her, "She's been like that ever since Midoriya helped her with her quirk. Don't get me wrong, she's still-"
Ectoplasm interrupted him "I believe, with what I know of Midoriya's quirk, that you are correct Yaoyorozu-san. I will join the attack team, as much as I loathe to -"
"-Leave you by yourselves, it is clear that Midoriya-kun, at least somewhat, tried to make things easier for us." Sekijiro Kan, better known as Vlad King, sighed. "We got a full view of these ruins, so we know that we have to defend our base and take over theirs, but I don't know how all of these weapons figure in."
"Hmph, that's all thanks to Izuku's awesomeness!" Uraraka pumped her fist. "His quirk aligned with ours to set the perfect stage for this contest! He's been working out hypotheses for days now, so he'll be relieved to know what is and isn't correct." Through all the stress of the situation, Kan was glad for Midoriya's relationship - His partner believed in him and supported him.
She was the only 1-A student with him, and aside from her were Shiozaki Ibara, Monoma Neito, and his personal protege, Himiko Toga. Shiozaki was the first of them to speak "I have to question the choice of... decor. It seems that there was a concentrated effort to make things as profane as possible." The religious girl crossed herself in trepidation.
They were in a ruined building (not surprising to Kan, since they were obviously in the Ruin Zone of the USJ), but it was transformed to look like a throne room, with demonic statues and fountains of blood lining the walls. "Whaaat? Icchan, this is obviously because Izukun" Uraraka's eyebrow twitched "Wanted me and Vlad-sensei to stay in the boss room! You guys can go do whatever you want though. You have some weapons there." Himiko pointed to the floor in front of the elaborate double doors.
Kan winced at her bluntness, but he thought she didhave a point. The blood and gloom really only fit his and Himiko's themes. Meanwhile, a large lineup of weapons lay where Himiko pointed - An array of swords, staves, axes of different sizes, and even a book. Uraraka went toward the biggest of them all, a giant axe that dwarfed the already tall girl, and lifted it with one hand.
Her eyes glinted, "Perfect for my quirk. Now, let's play this to-"
"- Win!" Shigaraki Tomura pointed at the six portals that showed the six zones. "Our parties are larger and more experienced, so even with home advantage, you can bet that we'll take more of the zones than you NPCs!" He would never admit to being excited, nor would he admit to being jealous, yet faced with that green-haired brat's quirk and the current situation, he was both.
The boy stood before him and glared, looking at the scattered groups of students with determination. "I trust my friends and classmates, we're going to win this! Don't underestimate U.A.!" When he finished saying that, energy flashed high above him and his hero friends, and glowed in blue letters U.A.
Then above both of their heads, that same energy flashed. Tomura's was red, and that Lotus brat's was blue. It was like the world slowed down, and Tomura's stomach fell in horror. Above Lotus' head the blue energy hovered.
P1.
That meant the worst case scenario. Something that he hoped would never occur.
He, Shigaraki Tomura, was... Player 2.