Chapter Twenty: No Pressure
Katsuki Bakugo was irritated. This was not at all unusual; he was often irritated and the cause of his irritation was rarely the same twice in a row; there was just so damn much to be irritated about! Stupidity, ignorance, idiocy, wishy-washyness, denial, spite, outright evil and so much more.
And that was just the list of general topics, to say nothing of the specific incidents and individuals of whom the number of potential rage-inducing combinations may as well have been infinite.
This particular incident was unusual in one particular sense, though: Katsuki was not irritated at any one person in particular, nor was he irritated with any specific action or event.
He was just irritated and he knew that he shouldn't be.
After all, he along with the rest of Class 1-A had just learned that at least one session of Hero Training each week would involve no-Quirk sparring which was designed to sharpen their basic combat skills and develop their overall battle-awareness.
Being given the ticket to an all-the-ass-you-can-kick buffet was essentially Katsuki's definition of a good time, give or take one or two minor details. The first of these was that nobody was allowed to use their Quirks (it was kind of in the title) and the second was that they were under strict orders to try and avoid serious injury, since self-control was as important to Heroes as combat ability, if not more so.
"After all," All Might finished his explanation of the exercise, cape billowing as it always did when he was pontificating regardless of whether or not there was any wind present, "a Hero can just as easily cause harm as they can protect if they are not conscious of their Quirks as well as their circumstances. I believe that Thirteen said something similar to you all at USJ?" the students all nodded in response, with a few making verbal affirmations as well. Clearly satisfied, All Might spread his arms and declared, "Then let's get this show on the road! Everyone pair off in one of the squares on the floor and go a round or two. The main purpose of our first exercise will be to determine everyone's relative skill level in hand-to-hand combat, so expect to change partners often and don't worry if you have a hard time in the beginning; I shall use what we learn today to refine our lesson plan for next time. In the meantime, Plus Ultra!"
"Excuse me, Sensei!" Iida's voice caused several students to stop in their tracks as they were in the process of pairing up, "We seem to have an odd number of participants. How do you wish to proceed given this? Shall one of the pairs accept the third member, or will they simply rotate in and out?"
Odd number? That was weird. They hadn't had that kind of problem with the Battle Trial, had they? Katsuki thought back to a few days ago and concluded that he did not remember such an issue. Was someone missing? Or maybe it was because Deku still wasn't allowed to do this kind of stuff because of his injuries? Yeah, that made sense. Katsuki remembered him saying something about that. Mystery solved. Good, that had been starting to annoy him.
"Ah, don't worry, Iida-san," Deku responded, "I'm still not completely healed yet, so I'll be sitting this one out. You don't need to worry about there being an odd man out this time."
All Might nodded and gave Iida the thumbs-up to show his approval, "Nice catch, Iida my boy! Hopefully we will have everyone next time, but I shall make sure to come up with a contingency plan in the event that we do not! Everything will be All Might."
Huh? So Deku wasn't the one missing? That was weird. Katsuki took a quick mental inventory of his classmates and couldn't figure out who was missing. It seemed like everyone was there, but that obviously wasn't the case because there must have been twenty students in 1-A at one point or the Battle Trial wouldn't have worked out like it did.
As Katsuki took his place across from his first opponent (Kirishima, to absolutely no one's surprise) and they began to circle each other, he decided that he really, really wanted to know what he was missing.
"Oi, Kirishima?" Katsuki threw a couple of quick jabs to keep his opponent at a distance until he was ready.
"What's up?" Kirishima swayed back to avoid the jabs before quickly reversing his momentum and coming back with a step-in left uppercut.
"Who the fuck's missing?" the uppercut was so ridiculously telegraphed that Katsuki could have dodged it in his sleep, so he took the opportunity to counter with a sharp right hook that caused his opponent to stagger away.
Huh. That should've knocked him down. Must've held back too much. Can't forget this is Kirishima I'm dealing with here; durability is kinda his thing.
"What're you talking about, my man?" Kirishima shook his head and regained his stance, eyes as alive as ever. It did not appear as though he had taken any real damage in spite of the counter.
That settles it. I'm putting my weight into the next one.
"I mean there's a student missing and I can't figure out who it is." Katsuki took the offensive this time, steering Kirishima towards a corner with a series of jabs and the occasional low kick to keep him guessing. Ordinarily his style would have been to go straight for the finish, but he was unsure if that would work on a tough opponent like the Hardening Quirk user. Besides, he had to at least get his question answered first.
"Oh!" his opponent seemed to have caught on to what he was talking about as well as his plan because he was suddenly starting to make a conscious effort to hold his ground, responding with punches of his own that were either blocked or dodged, "That'd be Mineta."
"Who?" he purposefully whiffed a high hook and then followed up with a knee to the face when Kirishima ducked to avoid it, causing him to land on his ass just outside of the ring.
"Ring Out, Kirishima, my boy! Take your starting positions and then begin anew!" All Might shouted from off to the side, "And remember, no Quirk usage!"
The idea of the rings was a simple one: there would be times when you would be forced to fight in enclosed spaces or while surrounded by onlookers or bystanders. It was important to be able to keep a fight contained to avoid unnecessary damage when at all possible.
Kirishima grinned sheepishly, having activated Hardening at the last possible moment out of reflex before getting kneed in the face.
"Could've busted my nose there, Bakubro."
"Was pretty sure I wouldn't." Katsuki responded as he hauled Kirishima to his feet by the hand and returned to the center of the ring, "Besides, I don't think a busted nose would qualify as a serious injury unless it got caved in or something. Now who the hell were you talking about?"
"Dude, Mineta? You know Mineta. Little purple dude with grapes on his head? Got a little bit too handsy with Yaomomo at the Battle Trial?" Kirishima obviously knew who he was talking about but Katsuki was honestly drawing a blank. He just shrugged and took up his fighting stance again.
"I'll take your word for it, I guess. Now let's get back to it. Try and last a bit longer this time, yeah?" without waiting for a response, Katsuki charged his opponent with his right arm cocked back, ready to slam a palm strike into Kirishima's face if he didn't react quickly enough.
Kirishima had apparently gotten wise to the fact that Katsuki was faster than him in addition to being more skilled, as he had adopted a tight defensive posture and took the blow with his forearms, having to brace himself on his back leg to avoid being knocked over. He had clearly not expected this kind of physical force from Katsuki if his wide eyes were any indication. Katsuki capitalized on this moment by grabbing onto one of the arms that had blocked his palm strike and taking Kirishima's back with a quick pivot, allowing him to drive a sharp left jab into his opponent's kidney.
"JESUS FUCK!" Kirishima dropped like a sack of bricks and rolled back and forth a couple of times.
"Relax," Katsuki reassured him, "I didn't follow through, so you won't be pissing blood or anything like that. Probably still hurts like a bitch though."
"Agh! Yeah, that's fair to say." Kirishima's voice was a bit strained as he took Katsuki's hand and was helped to his feet. By unspoken agreement they took a breather to allow him time to recover, "How are you so good at this?"
"Me and Deku have been doing no-Quirk sparring for years now," Katsuki informed him, "we both always knew we wanted to be Heroes, but with Quirks like ours we couldn't exactly go too nuts practicing them. In the end we just decided to spar with each other. We used footage of Heroes as inspiration to try out different styles. Nothing too fancy but it gets the job done. Good time-killer too."
"Wait," Kirishima held up a hand, "are you saying that Midoriya's as good as you are?" Katsuki shook his head.
"Not quite. He can put up a decent fight, which you probably saw at the Battle Trial, but he's never been as aggressive of a fighter as me and, honestly, he doesn't have the right instincts for it. I usually just end up overwhelming him."
"I can see how." Kirishima massaged his side, "Has he ever beaten you?"
"A few times, yeah." Katsuki shrugged, "It's no secret that he's smart; tactics have always been his strong suit. Every now and then he comes up with a plan that and catches me off-guard. All it really takes is one good hit, after all."
What Katsuki had neglected to mention was that there had been more than a few close calls over the years. Deku rarely came up with bad ideas; he was simply not always able to put his own plans into motion well enough to use them against someone like Katsuki who could react at a moment's notice.
"You ever punched him in the kidneys?"
"Liver once. He threw up. His mom got really mad at me."
"All right! Everyone take a moment to exchange tips and find a new partner!" All Might's voice boomed from the sidelines.
"Well, since you kicked my ass so badly, any advice?" Kirishima asked with a sharp-toothed grin.
"Yeah, actually," Katsuki replied, "you leave yourself really open, probably because you're so used to your Quirk soaking up the hits for you. It's not a bad way to fight, given what your Quirk is, but if you're gonna be that way you really need to work on the accuracy and speed of your attacks. If you're dead-set on exchanging hits with your opponent, then you'd better make damned sure that your counterattacks actually land, otherwise you're nothing but a punching bag."
"Yeah, Ojiro showed me that at the Battle Trial." Kirishima nodded before perking up, "Hey! That gives me an idea! You should go spar with Ojiro! I bet he'd give you a run for your money!"
"Tailman, huh?" Katsuki looked over to where Ojiro was speaking to Sato, looking as though he were giving him a few pointers, "I guess his Hero Costume is a gi, so he must be at least a little good."
"Oh, trust me," Kirishima's grin widened, "he's more than just 'good.' He broke through my Hardening with nothing but his bare hands and I could barely touch the guy. He may have looked beaten up after our match, but most of that he did to himself; I just got off a lucky punch."
Katsuki had to admit, this was starting to sound interesting. At that moment, Ojiro caught his eye. Something of his thoughts must have shown on Katsuki's face because Ojiro smirked and gave him a nod of acknowledgement before gesturing to the ring he was standing in.
Well, he couldn't very well turn down an invitation like that, could he?
"I saw a little bit of your match with Kirishima-san," Ojiro admitted when Katsuki had drawn closer, "have you had martial arts training?"
Katsuki shook his head, "Not unless you count me and Deku beating the crap out of each other a few hundred times martial arts training."
Ojiro nodded, "I understand. So, you have no formal training, but quite a bit of experience nonetheless. Couple that with your natural battle instincts and I believe we have much we can learn from each other." he touched a fist to his open palm and bowed to Katsuki, "I humbly request your cooperation, Bakugo-san."
Katsuki resisted the urge to roll his eyes. If this guy was the real deal, then he could put up with a little bit of traditional BS.
"Yeah. Let's get going." he raised his guard and spread his feet slightly. He would take this seriously from the start; his fight with Kirishima had served well enough as a warm-up and if Tailman couldn't take the heat…
…well, that would be his problem.
Katsuki shot forwards, intending to either strike his opponent's head or grab his guard as he had done with Kirishima. Apparently seeing what he intended, Ojiro ducked slightly and guided his arm up and away before sending his right fist shooting towards Katsuki's gut. Katsuki diverted the blow with his left arm with a sharp block, leaving both of them with their bodies exposed. Katsuki immediately sent his foot shooting upwards, attempting to land a snap kick on Ojiro's chin and take him out of the fight.
Ojiro could not block or evade in time, so he simply allowed himself to fall backwards before the kick could connect, rolling along the ground a couple of times before flipping to his feet.
"I must admit, your reflexes are astonishing, Bakugo-san. I have seldom fought anyone with your reaction time." then he moved.
"I think I might be able to step up my game against you." his fist had buried itself in Katsuki's gut. Only his last-second step backwards had prevented it from knocking the wind out of him completely.
"HAH!" Katsuki let fly with an angular uppercut that he vaguely remembered was called a "smash" oddly enough. Ojiro knew better than to try and block such an attack outright and instead redirected it while sidestepping, forcing Katsuki to overextend himself. He then gripped Katsuki's wrist and pivoted while planting his other hand on the Explosion user's shoulder joint and using his sudden leverage to slam him into the ground.
"I have you now, Bakugo-san." Ojiro stated calmly, "You cannot escape my hold without having your shoulder dislocated and I would rather not resort to such a thing during training." Katsuki sighed and used his free hand to tap out. Ojiro helped him to his feet.
"Would you agree to another match? I am very much enjoying not having to hold back for the sake of my partner's safety."
"What, big guy didn't do it for you?" Katsuki grinned.
"Sato-san's strength is remarkable, but his speed and technique leave something to be desired." Ojiro remarked as he returned to his stance across from Katsuki.
This time Katsuki did not rush straight in. Instead he circled his opponent, looking for an opening.
"Oh, you need not worry about my tail," Ojiro assured him, "I have decided that, since my tail is my Quirk, that I will not use it for this exercise." his response was Katsuki charging at him in a zig-zag pattern, keeping himself low to the ground.
Ojiro aimed a roundhouse kick at Katsuki's head which was intercepted by a well-placed shoulder block. Before Ojiro could retract his leg, Katsuki trapped it in the crook of his elbow and leapt into the air, dragging the off-balance Ojiro with him.
There were a few things that Katsuki could have done from such a position. He could have tried to break Ojiro's leg, kicked him in the balls, grabbed his face and slammed his head into the ground or what have you. Unfortunately, none of these moves were suitable for a practice session, so Katsuki had to content himself with shoulder-checking his opponent into the ground when they landed. What he had not expected was for Ojiro to slam his knee into Katsuki's ribs shortly after their landing and remove his leg from his hold with a sharp jerk while he was distracted. He then reversed their positions so that he was mounting Katsuki and punched him once across the face to make sure he got the message.
Said message being, "Nice try."
Katsuki spat a small amount of blood onto the ground from where the inside of his cheek had been cut by his teeth and looked up at Ojiro with a small frown.
"Was that really necessary?"
"I could keep going if you would prefer? I am in an ideal ground-and-pound position."
"No, I'm good."
"You honestly almost had me there, but your finish was sloppy." Ojiro helped Katsuki to his feet.
"I couldn't think what to do." Katsuki honestly replied, "All I had were cheap shots or debilitating ones."
"A valid concern. One which I certainly appreciate you acting upon." Ojiro looked thoughtful for a moment, "I suppose you could have gone for a leg lock? The landing would have been a little rough, but it would most likely have been effective."
"Honestly I don't know much about wrestling." Katsuki shrugged, "In a real fight when would I ever use it? When I get ahold of someone like that my first move would always be to just use Explosion to do some damage."
Ojiro shrugged in return, "Fair enough. I suppose in that regard I am at something of an advantage, since for me this is my primary fighting style apart from the fact that I am not using my tail."
Apparently Deku's Quirk Theory senses were tingling because he walked over and started talking about how interesting it was that Quirks could change someone's fighting style to such an extent. Ojiro did not seem to mind the interruption and eagerly expounded on the topic of martial arts at Deku's request while the latter wrote in his ever-present notebook. Seriously, where had he been hiding that thing? They were only wearing their gym clothes!
It was then that Katsuki realized what had been bothering him: Deku had seemed really off all day. At first it had been easy enough to attribute this to whatever Uraraka's problem was, but when lunch had been over and Deku still looked like something was bothering him, Katsuki started to wonder if there was something else going on.
He hadn't even had the heart to chew Deku out for forgetting to tell him that he was leaving early that morning. He had only found out when he had gone looking for him because he was running late, knocked on his door and been told as much by Inko.
Then he had shown up late to class (which neverhappened) with his jacket rumpled and a big, damp blotch on his shoulder. It hadn't been hard for Katsuki to put two and two together at that point.
He had hoped that a day of classes and excitement would be enough to get Deku out of his funk, but when All Might called for the pairs to change again and his friend resumed his place on the sidelines, Katsuki saw his expression darken again.
That wasn't right. That wasn't how Deku was supposed to be. He was supposed to be the mumbling nerd who fanboyed over anything and everything Hero or Quirk-related. Having him stare at the group in front of him with a thousand-yard stare like he was looking at something that nobody else could see just…wasn't right.
The rest of the exercise went well enough. Katsuki had the opportunity to spar with Shoji, who gave him some serious trouble with his six arms, Iida, who was surprisingly skilled with kicks and reasonably fast even without his Quirk, though Katsuki won in the end, and Kaminari, who had attempted to perform an honest-to-god shoryuken on him. He had sidestepped and sent him flying out of the ring with a double palm strike while he was still airborne.
One particular highlight had been Todoroki sparring with Ojiro. Apparently, the Half-and-Half kid had received training in martial arts as part of his upbringing and had given Ojiro a good fight, though he still had no chance in the end. Tailman just dominated because he was in his element the whole time.
Throughout all of this, Katsuki had been working on a plan for snapping Deku out of his funk. He had a couple of ideas but had been unsuccessful in developing any of them past the "what-if" phase.
"Hey, All Might-sensei is about to tell everyone how they did!" Kirishima interrupted his train of thought, "Though I gotta say, this was seriously useful! How would you like to maybe get together this weekend and spar some more? I wanna be better for next time!"
"Hmm? Yeah, sure." Katsuki replied without much thought. It would at least make for a good time-killer and Deku would probably be happy to have other people to-
Wait a minute.
Wait. A. Minute.
That was a good idea.
"Kirishima I think you just gave me an idea."
"You aren't gonna punch me in the kidney again are you?"
"Not right now."
This could seriously work, but he would need time to put it together. He would need something to keep Deku occupied in the meantime…
Well, that wouldn't be hard. If anything, it'd be stupidly easy.
Satisfied with his plan thus far, Katsuki turned his attention to All Might, who was currently announcing the relative skill levels of the students.
At the very top, no surprise, was Ojiro. He had dominated in every match he had fought. All Might even went so far as to request his assistance in future exercises since, while the Number One Hero had oodles of experience and his skills were no joke, he had never needed to develop his actual skill level beyond a certain point and had little formal training in any true martial arts himself. Ojiro had humbly accepted, honored at his teacher's opinion of him.
Todoroki and Katsuki were both ranked highly, as were Shoji, Iida and Yaoyorozu. At the head of the middle of the pack was Ashido, her natural athleticism and reflexes lending themselves well to close-quarters combat. Also in the middle were Kirishima, Sato, Jiro, Sero, Asui, and, just barely, Kaminari.
Those at the bottom (or, as All Might so kindly put it, "those who need the most work") were Uraraka, Aoyama, Koda, Tokoyami and Hagakure. Deku was not ranked because he had been unable to participate.
Katsuki was initially surprised to see Uraraka so low on the list, but then he realized that she relied almost exclusively on her Quirk when fighting.
Speaking of Uraraka…
After class was over for the day and everyone was gathering their things, Katsuki made his move.
"Oi, Uraraka, Deku says he wants to hang out with you over the weekend."
"I said wha-mmph!" Katsuki muffled his friend's protests with a hand and used the same hand to nod his head.
"Oh!" Uraraka had gone a bit pink, "Well, sure! I don't really have anything to do so…"
"I mean, if you don't want to then-"
"No! No, I want to! I was just surprised is all. Is tomorrow okay with you, Deku-kun?"
Katsuki removed his hand and allowed Deku to speak for himself.
"T-that should w-work for m-me j-just fine!" he barely managed to articulate, "W-where should I m-meet you?"
"I'll think about it and text you later, okay?"
"Okay! D-deal!"
Distraction complete.
T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r
Izuku Midoriya found himself in an unexpected situation. This was, paradoxically, not in and of itself unexpected. After all, in a modern world full of Quirks the unexpected happened on a daily basis, to say nothing of what the lives of Heroes were like.
The fact that Izuku was on his way downtown with the intent of spending the day with a girl was certainly unexpected, but no more so than suddenly being attacked by, say, a Sludge Villain.
No, what currently had the inheritor of One For All well and truly perplexed was one simple question:
Was this a date?
Looked at from a logical standpoint, it had all of the basic characteristics of a date: he was going to spend time with a girl with the understanding that it would be just the two of them for an extended period, this had all been premeditated (even if not by him) and an invitation had been extended (even if not by him) and accepted.
But by that logic every time two friends arranged to spend time together it could count as a date and while Izuku certainly liked Kacchan a great deal, he had no desire to date him.
So, there went that theory. Back to square one.
Was this a date?
Having never been on a date before Izuku had no real frame of reference for what was and wasn't implicitly one. He understood that when a couple went out together then it was pretty much inherently a date, but he and Uraraka weren't a couple. Of that, at least, he was fairly certain.
If they had been going to a formal event of some kind then she would have been considered his "date" for said event whether or not what they were doing was a date in the conventional sense or not. But that was not the case today; they were meeting up at the station closest to Uraraka's apartment and were just going to walk around town and see what there was to see. She had told him via text that she would try and come up with some ideas in the interim.
Izuku had said that he would try too, but had shortly thereafter realized that he had no idea what this was actually supposed to be and so everything he came up with either seemed too date-like or not date-like enough. The only passable idea he could think of was that they could grab lunch at some point assuming she wasn't sick of him by then.
Was he dressed alright? Uraraka had told him to just wear whatever he felt comfortable walking around in and wouldn't mind possibly getting a little dirty, so he had thrown on a pair of dark cargo pants and a short-sleeved shirt that said "SHIRT" across the chest. His lighter went into one pocket while a notebook and pen went into another just in case.
Before he had left, Izuku had glanced into the mirror. Clothes? Not on backwards. Hair? An untamable mess. Face? Caught somewhere between anxiety and terror. Mom? Standing behind him and giving him the type of smile that said that she had gotten entirely the wrong idea about what he meant when he said that he was "spending the day with a friend."
Had she gotten the wrong idea?
Was this a date?
Izuku had considered texting Uraraka back and asking, but he had immediately put the kibosh on that plan upon realizing how incredibly awkward that would make things, especially if the answer was "no."
The train had stopped. It was time to get off. The station looked much the same as any other did; crowded and with advertisements everywhere for various things. The one notable difference was the brown-haired girl bouncing up and down on her toes and waving to get his attention.
"Deku-kun! Over here!" he made his way over to her and immediately noticed the differences in her attire when compared to her school uniform. For one thing, she was wearing shorts instead of a skirt and her usual black tights were nowhere to be seen, giving Izuku an unobstructed view of her legs. Quickly forcing himself to look upwards, he saw that she was also wearing a pale, pink button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to just above the elbows.
All-in-all, her outfit looked cute and practical to Izuku. She looked more natural and relaxed than she did in her uniform.
"Uraraka-san, good morning." he greeted her as he drew closer.
"Good morning! You found everything alright then? I know the stop comes up kind of suddenly after the previous one."
"Yeah, your warning from last night really saved me! Thank you for that. You were right about the name of the stop not matching the name of the area. If I hadn't been expecting it, I would have been totally caught off-guard!" she raised her arms into the air and let out an exasperated huff.
"Thank you! I don't know why they can't be bothered to fix the recording! Do you know how many times I missed my stop before I got used to it? Three! Three times! I was so embarrassed!"
They shared a laugh and Izuku forgot about his previous anxiety. The icebreaker had served to remind him that it didn't really matter to him what they did or what it was called; he was just happy to be spending time with a friend. He would have to thank Kacchan later.
As the pair exited the subway station via the stairs, Izuku decided to broach the topic of the day's activities. Uraraka blushed a little and rubbed the back of her neck nervously.
"Well, since I told you my story yesterday, you know that I don't exactly have a lot of money…so I usually don't do things that have a price tag on them unless they fit into the budget." she gave him an apologetic look, "I know that kind of limits our options, especially when we're in the city like this."
"It's alright, I understand." Izuku assured her, "My mom and I aren't exactly rich ourselves so I don't go out very often either. I have a bit of money on me that should at least be enough to pay for some lunch though."
"Oh!" she waved her hands back and forth frantically, "You don't have to do that, Deku-kun! I didn't say that to try and convince you to spend money on me! I'm sorry!"
"Ah!" he suddenly realized how that must have sounded and felt his face heat up, "No! No, I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry! Honestly it was the only thing I could come up with for us to do without…without making certain assumptions." he managed to catch himself before he completely ruined the mood, "So, it just seemed right that I would at least pay for that, since you're really doing all of the work here." he finished lamely, feeling like he was admitting to his own social incompetence.
Uraraka blinked at him a few times while she processed what he had said, her expression curiously blank.
"Wow." she finally said, "That's really, really considerate of you, Deku-kun. I guess I can't really refuse if you put it like that, huh? Alright then! Lunch is on you! Don't worry, I know a lot of cheap places around here." she gave him a smile that he had not seen from her before. It looked almost a little shy, "But, there is one thing I need to make sure you understand first, okay?" he could only nod, "I don't see this as a chore; I actually had a lot of fun coming up with ideas for today, so I don't want you to get the wrong idea and start thinking that you're being a burden or something."
She took his hand and started leading him in a seemingly random direction, beaming at him from over her shoulder, "Okay?"
"Yeah." he returned her smile without thinking and nodded his head emphatically, "Okay, Uraraka-san."
Shortly after that he had to warn her before she walked into a pole. That was weird. She usually seemed to have more situational awareness than that. He let this thought fade from his mind when she pointedly kept her face forward for the next few minutes and nothing remotely similar happened.
Was she a little red? Must have been his imagination.
T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r
Izuku sat down next to Uraraka at the small noodle stand she had pointed out to him when the pair had decided that they were hungry. He in particular had managed to work up quite the appetite.
Uraraka had started the day by asking him if he had ever been to this part of town before. He responded, quite honestly, that he had not. She had then decided that her mission in life that morning was to show him every interesting shop and landmark that she had come across since she had moved there just over a month prior.
And just like that it was three hours and some change later and Izuku was starving. As they placed their order he saw that Uraraka had been quite accurate about the affordability of the establishment: it would take just about a third of what he had on him to pay for their food. While they rested their feet and waited, a question occurred to Izuku.
"Uraraka-san?"
"Hmm?" she leaned forward and propped her head on one hand so she could look at him more easily, as the stools at the stand did not rotate.
"You mentioned that you've lived here for just over a month, right?" she nodded, her expression curious, "Classes only just started this week, so I was wondering what prompted you to move in so early?"
"You really can be curious about just about anything, can't you, Deku-kun?"
Crap! Had he asked something he shouldn't have? Had he made it awkward? Had he- why was she giggling?
"I'm sorry!" she managed through her laughter, "The look on your face was just so funny!"
"I…what?" Izuku was confused.
"Deku-kun, you didn't do anything wrong." she said, having mercy on him, "You can ask me anything, okay? I promise I'll tell you if it's something that I'm not comfortable talking about."
Izuku took a steadying breath. That was good to know, actually. It saved him a lot of guesswork.
"Thank you, Uraraka-san. You can ask me anything too." she nodded in appreciation and then proceeded to answer his previous question.
"Well, it's really nothing too interesting. Once we found out I got accepted into U.A., my parents and I knew that I'd have to get a place somewhere close by since it would be too time-consuming and expensive to take the bullet train twice a day every day just to get to and from school. We did some searching and it just so happened that the lease on my apartment was up a month before class started and the price was right." she shrugged, "Right place at the right time is all there was to it and I figured that if we were gonna be paying for the place then I may as well use it, right? Besides, it gave me some time to get to know the area and adjust to living by myself."
"How is it?" Izuku asked, legitimately curious, "Living on your own, that is?"
"It's…different." she said thoughtfully, "It's not bad or anything. There're plenty of perks to having a place all to myself for sure. I can pretty much do whatever I want whenever I want and there's always something to do in the city." she took a moment to sip her drink, "It…can get a little lonely sometimes though. When you get so used to having other people around you kinda take certain things for granted that you don't realize until they're suddenly just…not there anymore. Don't get me wrong, I still talk to my parents all the time but…"
"It's not the same as being face-to-face with someone." Izuku finished for her.
"Yeah." she agreed.
Their bowls were set in front of them at that moment, steaming hot and smelling like heaven to the hungry teens. As Izuku attacked his ramen, he took the opportunity to process what Uraraka had just said to him.
I've never really thought about it, but I can understand where she's coming from. I can only imagine how it would be if I suddenly had to move away and couldn't see Mom or Kacchan anymore. Of course she feels lonely. It's no wonder she was so eager to hang out.
Yeah. A sweet, cute, lonely girl who only wants someone to spend her time with.
You stay out of this, Other Izuku. Go back to your corner.
You gonna ask her if we're on a date or not?
No, I am NOT going to ask her that! We're having a good time right now and I'm not going to ruin it!
What if she says "yes" though?
What if she says "no?" What about that?
At least then you could stop worrying about it.
I'll have you know I was doing perfectly fine on that front until you brought it up again!
…You do realize that I'm you, right? You're about to start debating semantics with a little voice in your head while said little voice is trying to give you advice, which is in and of itself worthy of concern since, by definition, you cannot give yourself advice.
Great. Now he had a headache.
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Izuku had to admit as he paid for their food and they left that the bang for his buck at the noodle stand had been incredible. The food had been as good as anything he had ever had.
"Haah, I feel alive again." Uraraka sighed contentedly.
"Yeah, that hit the spot." Izuku agreed, "Where to now?"
"Hmm…" she took a moment to think before her eyes lit up, "Actually I have a great idea that'll also let us work off some of those noodles! Come with me!" she grabbed his hand again and off they went.
Instead of leading him towards a statue, shop or shrine, Uraraka seemed to be taking them into an older part of town where the number of derelict buildings was higher.
"You remember how I said that I don't really do things that cost money, right? Well, I still had to do something to kill time besides training and window-shopping." she said in response to his unasked question, "So, a lot of the time I just went exploring. Most of the time I didn't really find anything that interesting, but then I started to look at things from a new angle." she led them through an alleyway next to an abandoned parking structure that was littered with chunks of concrete and rebar, "My Quirk lets me explore in ways that nobody else can, you know? I can move debris out of the way or jury-rig an elevator. I can leap onto rooftops as long as I don't do it too much."
She let go of his hand and hopped onto an especially thick slab of concrete that seemed to have come from the roof and spread her arms wide with an expression of wonder on her face.
"Do you see, Deku-kun? With a Quirk like mine, the city is my playground! I can go anywhere I want in a place like this!"
She was so obviously excited to share this with him that Izuku felt bad about having to ask his next question.
"Isn't that illegal though? Using your Quirk in public without a license?"
To his surprise, she shrugged.
"Technically, yeah. Whose gonna care if I'm just playing around some abandoned buildings though? Everyone's practiced with their Quirk in public at some point, Deku-kun. Even you must have. As long as you aren't causing a disturbance or hurting anyone though, then the most you're likely to get is a warning."
Izuku was torn. On the one hand, what Uraraka was saying was the truth. If any form of public Quirk usage being a punishable offense was actually enforced, then there wouldn't be enough space in prison for how many small-time offenders they would get. On the other hand, it wasstill the law and a prospective Hero probably shouldn't be breaking it.
"Deku-kun?" he came to his senses to find her staring at him with a worried look on her face, "You aren't mad at me, are you?"
Oh, dear god that was simply not fair.
"No, Uraraka-san, I'm not mad at you. You're just giving me a lot to think about today is all. It's not a bad thing, I promise." Izuku gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile and it seemed to do the trick.
"Well, the reason I brought you here is because it's actually one of my favorite spots! Here, let me show you."
He climbed up onto the slab with her and was very surprised when she hopped onto his back and made him weightless, wrapping her legs around his torso.
"Up, up and away, Deku-kun! Right onto the roof!"
"Uraraka-san, that has to be at least ten stories high! I can't make that with a single jump!" not without channeling his flames and possibly breaking his legs, anyway.
"Hmm…what if you took a few jumps?"
He took a moment to examine their surroundings. The building next to them was only about two stories, which he could probably make since Uraraka was lighter than him and they were already a few feet off the ground. After that he could get to the fourth level, then jump and grab that piece of rebar, use that to make his fourth jump…
…that could work.
"Uraraka-san, this will take about five or six jumps, so hang on okay?"
"Right!"
"Smash!" the first jump was the most disconcerting. It was odd to have his center of gravity suddenly be further back than it usually was. That was fine. He could compensate by leaning forward when he landed.
"Smash!" the second jump was taken at a run and sent them through a hole in the wall of the fourth floor of the parking structure.
"Smash! Smash!" the third jump got him high enough that he could grab onto some rebar sticking out of the ruined structure and pull himself up onto it, where he used another smash to leap up to the eighth level and just barely managed to catch himself and crawl into it.
He was momentarily stumped until he saw that there was a convenient hole in the ceiling and roof above them.
"Smash!" with one final jump, they emerged onto the roof of the parking structure and Uraraka released her Quirk.
"Phew." Izuku took a moment to just sit and rest. Jumping was hard! All Might always made it look so easy! He needed to do more squats, "I wish I didn't have to go through each smash as a separate movement. It'd be so much easier to do this kind of thing if I could just fire them off one after another." he took the hand that was offered to him, noticing yet again how soft her skin was and the way the sensory pads on her fingertips were just a little squishy.
"Don't worry, Deku-kun! I'm sure you'll get there if you practice. Besides, I think you did a great job! We made it, right?" he nodded, unable to feel too bad when she was so obviously excited.
"Here, look, look!" she pulled him to the edge of the roof where the knee-high wall was still intact and Izuku's jaw dropped.
He was looking out over the cityscape from a hundred feet in the air and suddenly felt a surge of envy for those who had flying or gigantification-type Quirks. The view was nothing short of incredible. He had never seen anything quite like it before. Cars, people, rooftops and the very layout of the streets themselves were visible to him from this vantage point. It was equal parts fascinating and awe-inspiring as he understood on a visual level just how large the city truly was as it lay spread out before him.
"Do you like it?" her voice was closer than he had expected and under any other circumstances he probably would have jumped. As it was he turned his head to see the look of pride on her face as if she could read his thoughts.
"Yeah." he nodded, noticing that his voice was a bit lower than usual, "I can see why you like it here."
"Mhm. Open air, a great view and nobody to bother you." she hopped up onto the ledge and took in the sights around her, a contented smile on her face.
At that moment, seeing her silhouetted against the midday sun, Izuku was in complete agreement about the view.
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"Dude, for real?!" Kirishima exclaimed with a mixture of disbelief and excitement, "Are you sure this kind of thing is allowed? If it is, then this is going to kick so much ass!"
Katsuki Bakugo looked at his sparring partner as they took a break.
"If I didn't think it could work then I wouldn't have suggested it. I reviewed the school's policies and it looks like all we need is a minimum number of members and a teacher willing to be in charge of the whole thing."
"My man," Kirishima said after taking a long drink of water, "if you can get a teacher in on this, then I know for a factthat you'll be able to get however many members you need. Our class is full of hot-blooded manly types!"
Katsuki nodded in agreement, not being at all worried about reaching the required head count. Hell, if he wanted he could get six signatures basically on-demand and the school only required three or four.
"The only question," Kirishima continued, "is which teacher do you think would go for something like this?"
Katsuki's phone chose that precise moment to vibrate. Even though they were in a U.A. building, class was not currently in session so there was no rule against phone usage. Katsuki read the message and grinned, having gotten exactly the response he wanted. He showed Kirishima and watched as the redhead's grin grew to shit-eating proportions.
"That one."
The message read as such:
Bakugo, your request, while certainly an unusual one, does have merit. Your reasons for wanting this are logical and the fact that you made it a point to emphasize the lack of Quirk usage tells me that you have put some thought into the logistical side of things, so that would be one less thing for me to worry about. I will agree to be your faculty advocate for this as long as I don't actually have to do anything apart from sign some papers and it doesn't cut into my naptime. It also goes without saying that it will be disbanded immediately if you start taking things too far. I expect you to have a list of no fewer than four signatures on my desk by the start of class on Wednesday at the latest.
"YES!" Kirishima fist-pumped victoriously, "I can't believe you actually convinced Aizawa to go along with this! This is, like, every man's dream!"
"Yeah, it should be pretty sweet." Katsuki agreed. "We just need to get some signatures for Aizawa by Wednesday. I figure why stop at four though? We'll make the announcement during lunch on Monday and I bet you at least half the class will be chomping at the bit to sign up."
*Vmmm Vmmm*
It was Katsuki's phone again. He read the new message and couldn't stop himself from chuckling.
Troublesome. One of the other teachers found out about this and has expressed a large amount of interest in being an active participant. I hope you weren't planning on keeping this low-key because any chance of that just got shot to hell. He's already talking about setting up martial arts tournaments and streaming them on the internet and how many views they'll get. I'm going to try and talk him down but don't get your hopes up.
"Huh." Kirishima scratched his head, "I wonder who found out?"
*Vmmm Vmmm*
Greetings, Listener! This is everyone's favorite English teacher! I stole Shota's phone! You have to let me make this a part of my broadcast! Please? Pretty please? We can talk more about it between classes because Shota's catching up to me and he looks angrahdas;lkdhlasg;alf
"Well I guess if Yamada-sensei is still alive on Monday then you'll have to talk to him about that." Kirishima snickered.
Katsuki just shrugged and started planning ways to take advantage of suddenly having two faculty members involved while he wrote up a signatures page and inked in the label at the top in big block letters.
"What are you gonna call it?" Kirishima asked.
"What do you think I'm gonna call it, dumbass?" Katsuki looked at him like he was stupid and held out the page that he had just signed, "There's only one name that fits."
Kirishima let out a bark of laughter and signed his name below Katsuki's.
"Well I guess when you put it like that I have to agree."
The signature page only had a two-word label, but it got the message across just fine:
Fight Club.
T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r
It was just after four and Izuku and Uraraka were making their way in the general direction of the subway station. Izuku had, after all, promised his mom that he would be home in time for dinner.
They had spent at least an hour on top of the abandoned parking structure looking out at the city from every angle and chatting about miscellaneous things. After that they had taken the long way down by walking through the structure and trying to figure out how it had been damaged and why it had been abandoned. The working theory they had settled on was that it must have been the result of collateral damage from a Hero or Villain and the cost to fix it had just been too high.
As they sat together on a bench and waited for the appropriate train, Uraraka broke the silence.
"I had a lot of fun today, Deku-kun."
"Yeah. I did too." he responded.
And he had. For that one day he had almost been able to forget about his worries and the weight that was on his shoulders as the inheritor of All For One. Never in a million years would he curse that weight, but it was nice to just…forget. For a little while anyway.
"I'd like to do this again sometime." he heard her say.
"I'd like that." he responded.
And he would. He was a bit surprised at how very much he wanted to do something like this again.
But he needed to know something first.
"Uraraka-san?"
"Yes?"
"There's something that I want to ask you. Honestly, it's something that I've been wondering about all day but I didn't want to take the chance of ruining anything, but now…it's driving me crazy and I really just need to know." it had come out sounding a lot more serious than he had intended, but Izuku stood by his words. It was the truth, after all.
"Deku-kun, I said you could ask me anything and I meant it." he looked into her eyes and saw her nervousness. He imagined that he looked very similar at the moment.
"Was this…was this a date?"
There. He had asked. There was no taking it back now. He felt his face heating up and could see hers reddening as she processed his question. She mumbled something that he couldn't quite make out.
"What?"
"Did you want it to be?"
Of all the replies he had expected, that had not been one of them. Izuku was struck dumb, which prompted Uraraka to continue.
"I mean, at first I don't think it was. I just wanted to spend time with you and show you the town, especially after I found out that you've never been here before today! But then…I don't know. For some reason I started to wonder the same thing. I don't really have any frame of reference since I've never been on a date before, eheheh." she started playing with her hair in that way she did when she was embarrassed, "So I guess…you tell me, Deku-kun. If you say this wasn't a date, then I'll be fine with that. And if…" she trailed off, her implication plain for him to see.
She doesn't know either. She's in the same situation as me, but what should I say?
The truth. It should always be the truth.
That simple realization somehow made everything clear for Izuku. If it was up to him, then he knew, right then and there, what he wanted the truth to be.
He was terrified. His heart was pounding a mile a minute and his breathing felt shallow.
But he took her hand nevertheless.
"I-if it's up to m-me," he struggled to speak, "th-then…I want the answer to be 'yes.' I've never been on a d-date either, so I d-don't know how it's supposed to b-be, but…I l-like you, Uraraka-san. That's the t-truth. Whether this c-can become anything m-more or n-not I don't know, but I d-dowant t-to do this again." she listened to him silently, never breaking eye-contact, "Th-that's the t-truth." he repeated, not knowing what else to say.
He felt something happening with his hand and looked down to see Uraraka's fingers entwining themselves with his. He looked back up as she began to speak.
"It makes me really happy to hear that, Deku-kun, because I like you too." if he had not seen her mouth the words then Izuku would have thought he was suffering from an auditory hallucination, but she wasn't done yet, "I know that it must have been really, really hard for you to say that, so I want to say 'thank you.' I want to make sure you know how much it means to me that you feel the same." she was leaning towards him. Her face was getting closer.
Oh shit. She's not…she's not SERIOUSLY going to-?
Sure looks that way, doesn't it?
I'm not- I JUST confessed to her! I can't handle this right now!
Well unless you plan on shoving her away I don't think you've got much choice!
Like hell I'd do that!
Izuku closed his eyes but remained where he was, anticipating the very worst.
Then he felt something soft press against his cheek for a brief moment before pulling away.
It wasn't what he had feared, but it was still a lot to process right then.
"Don't worry," she really seemed to be able to read his mind right then, "I don't expect you to make it official or anything just because we've agreed to start dating. That was just a 'thank you,' so please don't feel pressured or anything."
Izuku let out a long sigh and sagged into the bench.
"Thanks, Uraraka-san. I needed to hear that."
He really didn't think he could handle anything else that day.
Chapter Twenty-One: How to Thank Friends; Surprise People
Izuku Midoriya was tired. After the day, no, the week he had had, who could blame him?
He had started high school, been subject to a Quirk Assessment under pain of expulsion (even if it turned out to be a "logical ruse"), almost severely injured at least one of his friends during the Battle Trial, been voted Class Vice-President against his will, fought against actual, honest-to-god Villains, nearly died, discovered that his friend had been emotionally traumatized because of him, gained a heretofore unimagined understanding of the darker side of Heroism and as if that weren't already enough, he had just gotten home from his first date.
His first date. Ever. With a really cute girl. Who he really liked. And who said she liked him too.
On an intellectual level, Izuku knew that it had all happened. He knew that he had just had an incredible day with an amazing girl, but somehow it didn't feel completely real.
Why was that? Izuku contemplated this question as he ascended the stairs to his and his mom's apartment.
It wasn't because he didn't understand what had happened; he understood it perfectly well. In fact, he was over the moon about it.
It wasn't because he was in shock; he knew what that felt like thanks to the League of Villains.
It wasn't because he had never expected something like this to happen…
…was it?
Sure, he wasn't confident like Kacchan.
He wasn't tall like Iida.
He wasn't funny like Kaminari.
He wasn't passionate like Kirishima.
He wasn't wise like Shoji.
He wasn't handsome like Todoroki.
He wasn't cool like Tokoyami.
He wasn't refined like Aoyama.
He wasn't casual like Sero.
He wasn't innocent like Koda.
He wasn't muscular like Sato.
He wasn't composed like Ojiro.
He wasn't…forward…like Mineta.
"…Oh."
So that was it.
He just couldn't understand how he had gotten so lucky.
That was what had happened, after all; there was no other explanation for it: he had gotten unbelievably, incredibly lucky.
How else could anyone be interested in him?
Does it really matter?
…Did it?
You're happy, right?
He was.
Then it doesn't matter.
That could be true. It was most likely true.
…But Izuku's brain didn't work that way. It never had; when he didn't understand something, then he did everything in his power to make it so that he did. Bad things, good things, boring things, interesting things, mundane things…
…and amazing things.
But Izuku was tired, so as he unlocked the apartment door and stepped through, he decided that, just for that night, he would let it go.
Just for that night, he would let it not matter.
Just for that night, he would just…be happy.
It had been a hell of a week, after all. And besides, if the way Mom was smiling at him was any indication, then it wasn't over just yet.
T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r
Izuku knew what was coming, but it had yet to happen. His mother had welcomed him home and they had proceeded to eat dinner, as he had arrived right on time. She had asked about his lessons in general, having already heard about all of the big events that had taken place that week.
Dinner was good and afterwards Mom had made the two of them some tea. They were currently seated across from each other at the table and Izuku braced himself; he knew how his mother worked after knowing her for over fifteen years.
"So," Inko Midoriya began after taking a sip of her tea, "how was your date?"
Izuku's first instinct, like many teenagers, was to deny that it was a date. He immediately quashed this notion due to the simple fact that it had taken a great deal of resolve for him to answer that question for himself.
Besides, Uraraka had said that it was up to him and his desire in that regard remained unchanged.
"It was good. Great, actually." Izuku felt himself smiling, "She showed me the part of the city that she lives in. There's actually a lot of interesting things to see that I never would've thought of. She took me to this one place and…the view was incredible." he closed his eyes, pleased to find that he could still remember how she looked against the midday sun, "…There's a lot more to it than I imagined, you know, Mom? I guess I ended up learning that about a lot of things this week."
Izuku couldn't help himself. He laughed, "And all this is only after my first week at U.A.! Imagine how I'll be after three years!"
"Izuku, are you alright?" Inko was staring at her son with an intense, searching gaze as though looking for some hidden sign that only she could detect.
"You know, if you had asked me that just yesterday, I might have said 'I don't know.'" Izuku answered honestly, his smile shrinking a little before returning full-force, "But now? Mom, I honestly don't think I've ever been better. I don't know if that's normal and I don't know if it's healthy, but right now…I'm honestly just happy. I feel really, really good about…well, about a lot of things." he had gushed without meaning to and reigned himself in as he started to feel self-conscious, "…I'm sorry if that doesn't make sense."
Inko stood, walked around the table and hugged her son.
"I think it absolutely makes sense, Izuku. You've been through a lot and I don't think it really started to sink in right away. I think you understand how fortunate it is that you and your classmates all made it through alright in the end. I think you may have found someone truly special right when you needed them most and I'm just so happy and proud!" he could hear her getting choked up, "You've grown up so much this past year…you're really turning into the strong, brave young man I always knew you could be and I know that you'll make a fine Hero one day. Just…don't rush into it, okay? What you did at USJ…I understand why you did it, but you shouldn't have had to and I don't want you making a habit out of that, alright? You said yourself that you've only been in the Hero Course for a week. Until you're properly licensed, I want you to avoid situations like that whenever possible. Understand, Izuku?"
Izuku did not like lying, especially to his mother, but he was just too tired to rehash this particular argument and he knew that it would just be a lost cause anyway. The fact of the matter was that Izuku had no regrets about the actions he had taken. Could he have come to the rescue faster? Been better? Of course he could have, but the same could be said for nearly any Hero or, heaven forbid, well-meaning Vigilante.
"I understand, Mom."
That, at least, was the truth.
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*Knock knock*
It was Sunday morning, and Izuku was rapping his knuckles on the front door of the Bakugo residence.
"Yeah, what do you wa- oh." Kacchan cut himself off when he opened the door and saw who it was, adopting an annoyed expression, "How many times do we have to tell you that you don't have to knock, Deku? Just walk your ass in whenever the fuck you feel like it."
"Sorry, Kacchan, but that's just not how I do things."
"Don't call me 'Kacchan.'"
"Don't call me 'Deku.'"
"Fuck you, I'll call you what I want."
"Same here, then. And I'll keep knocking too."
"Tch. Whatever. Just get your ass inside unless all you wanted was to knock on my door."
As tempting as that offer was, Izuku decided to follow Kacchan inside.
"Oh, Izu-kun. Morning." Mitsuki greeted him sleepily from the couch, "Want anything? Toast? Coffee?"
"Good morning, Mitsuki-san. No, thank you. I already ate and I don't really like coffee."
"Suit yourself." she went back to watching TV.
"Well, what do you want, Deku?" Kacchan asked.
"Can we go to your room first?" Izuku jerked his head in Mitsuki's direction. Kacchan nodded in understanding and took them upstairs.
Once the pair was in his room and the door was closed, Kacchan turned around expectantly.
What he had not expected was for Izuku to grab him in a brief but powerful hug.
Izuku had put a great deal of thought into this plan that morning. He had actually woken up early in spite of his fatigue just so he could have more time to decide how to approach it.
"Deku? What the-" Kacchan had stiffened up and seemed to be lost for words.
In hindsight, there was really no reason for Izuku to have put too much thought into it.
"Thank you, Kacchan. Just…thank you."
Honesty was always the best policy, after all.
"I know you did what you did to make me feel better and…it worked. You've always been there for me, but I feel like I've never really said it before, so…thank you."
"Eh?" Izuku took a moment to appreciate how rare of an occasion it was to see Kacchan well and truly dumbstruck, "What I did? But I haven't even told you about that yet! How'd you find out?! The only other people who know are Aizawa, Yamada and Kirishima!" Kacchan's eyes widened and his hands tensed and sparked like they always did when he was especially angry, "Son of a bitch! Kirishima! It was him, wasn't it?! He couldn't keep his mouth shut and texted you about it! I told him what the plan was! Damn it! He's too earnest for his own good!"
"Huh?" now Izuku was the one who was confused, "Kacchan, what are you talking about?"
"What?!" Kacchan seized Izuku by the shoulders and shook him, "What do you mean what am I talking about?! What the fuck are you talking about?!"
"Yesterday! You got me that date with Uraraka-san! We both had a really, really good time! Why am I yelling at you?!"
"I don't fucking-" Kacchan's face suddenly went blank, "…wait, 'date?' I did what?"
Okay. Now Izuku was confused.
"What do you mean 'I did what?' You basically asked her out for me."
Their prior stargazing engagement notwithstanding, of course, but that had technically been Uraraka taking the initiative and Izuku didn't want to tell Kacchan about that just yet. It just seemed premature.
"I…what? No! I was just trying to get you out of the way! I just needed you distracted for a day so I could set up my real plan! That…she…" Kacchan seemed to be having some sort of mental breakdown, "It wasn't supposed to happen like this! I mean, what the fuck?! It was a throw-away and now you've got a fucking girlfriend?!"
"G-girlfriend?! No!" Izuku waved his arms in a frantic set of motions that would have made Iida proud, "We've just agreed to start dating! She's not my girlfriend ye-" GAAAAAAAAAAAH, "She's not my girlfriend, okay?!"
Kacchan turned around, walked to his bed and plopped himself down onto it, letting out a long, deliberate breath.
"Okay. Alright. That's fine. I overreacted. Sorry."
Izuku considered giving his friend a moment, but his curiosity was far too strong to resist asking:
"So…what were you planning?"
"You seriously have no idea?"
"I promise I don't."
"Great. So I just blew my own surprise. Man, this sucks."
Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly feeling guilty.
"Well, I mean, I can always pretend I never heard anything? I still don't have any idea what it is, after all."
"Don't patronize me, Deku. If you want to know, then I'll tell you. You were gonna find out tomorrow anyway. Heh," Kacchan chuckled, "what am I saying? This is you we're talking about; of course you want to know, right?"
"I really do, yes." Izuku had to admit.
"Alright, then listen up, 'cause I'm only explaining this once."
As Izuku listened dutifully, he had to admit that this plan did indeed have Kacchan written all over it.
Who knew? It might be fun.
T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r
"You okay, kid?"
MItsuki Bakugo was standing in her son's doorway, having just seen Izuku off a moment prior. She had not heard everything, but she had the gist of what the conversation had been about from the raised voices that had carried down the stairs.
Throughout her life, Mitsuki held no illusions about the fact that she had been blessed. She had been given a Quirk that would keep her beautiful almost indefinitely, a loving husband with a great career and a son who had been blessed in his own right.
Katsuki. Her Katsuki. He was strong and smart. He had high ambitions and an amazing Quirk. He had the best friend that anyone could ever ask for and it seemed like he was well on his way to making even more.
MItsuki was proud of the man that her son was becoming, not that she would tell him. Not yet. Not until he had well and truly made it. Tough love was the name of the game in the Bakugo household and it was working well so far.
There was one thing though. One thing with which her son was struggling with; had struggled with for the past few years at this point.
Unfortunately, there was nothing that Mitsuki or her husband could do to make things easier on their son in regards to this. All they could do was to offer their support to him whenever he needed it.
Judging from Katsuki's most recent discussion with Izuku, it seemed that fate truly did have a sense of humor; it gave him everything that he could want or need except for this.
But he would persevere. He would remain unbowed and unbroken, no matter what happened.
Knowing this did nothing to make the sight of her baby staring at her with pain in his eyes any less heart-wrenching. All the more because she understood exactlywhat was causing it.
"The hell kind of question is that?" his words were just as she had expected, but there was no edge to them. There never was in moments like these, "Of course I am. I have to be, right? What choice do I have?" she could see his shoulders shaking, but no tears fell; he had gotten rid of those a few days ago, "I'm going to be the best. I'm going to stand at the very top. I will be uncontested and unassailable! No Villain will stand against me and all Heroes will aspire to be like me!" only his determination remained, "So I can't…I can't let something like this fuck with my head!"
He was correct. Her son was usually correct; he understood both himself and the world around him on an intellectual and instinctive level and his instincts rarely led him astray.
Being correct, however, did not necessarily mean that you were right and whatever else her son may be, Mitsuki simply could not bring herself to accept that her son was doing the right thing in forcing his feelings down like this.
The fact remained, however, that she was unable to think of anything better for him to do, save for the one course of action she knew that he would never take unless he was forced to do so.
Eventually, something has to give. He's far too intelligent and knows my son far too well. What will you do then, Katsuki?
…I guess only time can answer that.
T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r
Monday started off normally enough. After first period was over though, things started to develop in ways that made Izuku glad that he had been given some warning the day prior.
For one thing, Kacchan had shanghaied him into making a brief announcement during the few-minute break between classes that there would be something to discuss with everyone during their lunch break. After that, they were pulled aside by Present Mic who was practically bursting at the seams to discuss something with them.
"A week! I've had to wait an entire week to talk to you about this, my young Listeners! I'm telling you, it was almost more than I could bear!"
Izuku knew that Present Mic was the high-strung sort and more than a little hammy, it was part of his charm after all, but interacting with him face-to-face was still taking some getting used to.
"What did you want to talk about, Yamada-sensei? Is it about the F- er, that is, Kacchan's plan?" Izuku caught himself just in time as Kacchan glared at him out of the corner of his eye. He had to make sure not to ruin the surprise again.
"Ah, very astute, Listener! That is indeed one of the topics I wished to discuss, BUT! Before that! Yes, before that; there is the matter of your absolutely fantastic performance during the Battle Trial!"
"The…Battle Trial? What did we do that has you so excited, Sensei?" Present Mic looked absolutely shocked at this question.
"What, you ask? Do you mean to say that everything that you did…was just you being yourselves? None of it was planned? None of it was scripted?"
"He's talking about our banter, Deku." Kacchan translated for him, "That shit we did with Lord Explosion Murder, Dr. Vertigo and Infinity Girl."
"That? We were just having fun!" Izuku protested, "It wasn't anything special; we've always done that! Everyone knows that banter is an integral part of Heroism! A lot of Villains have shot themselves in the foot by spending too much time monologuing and letting the Hero's backup arrive, for instance."
Present Mic was staring slack-jawed at Izuku as though he had never seen anything quite like him before. He looked at Kacchan for confirmation and was greeted with a sigh.
"Yeah. He's telling the truth, Sensei. We've been doing stuff like that ever since we were little."
"…I think I'm in love." Present Mic said to himself, still plenty loud enough to be heard before he raised his voice again, "My dear Listeners, I would very much like your permission to take the recordings of your exploits and post them on the internet, edited for entertainment value, of course. That goes for the Battle Trial as well as potentially some snippets from your, *ahem*, organization."
Well, that was unexpected. Flattering too.
"Ordinarily, I'd be wary of something like this, Sensei." Izuku admitted, "After all, having our Quirks broadcast to the general public could make things difficult for us in the future, but I guess we only really had about three weeks before that happened anyway, huh?"
"Heh." Kacchan smirked, "Occupational hazard of attending U.A., huh?"
"Oh?" Present Mic dropped his theatrical façade for a moment and gave the pair a sly grin, "So you've already figured it out, have you? I suppose it's obvious to anyone who really pays attention, but students always end up surprised by it somehow." he then did a quick pirouette and made finger guns at his students, "So, does that mean that I have your consent, Listeners?"
"I'm fine with it as long as you show it to me first." Kacchan stated.
"I'm fine with it too, Sensei, but you should probably also talk to Uraraka-san and Shoji-san since they played a big role in the Battle Trial too. Then, when it comes to the matter of the F- *cough* the group, you should also get permission from whoever else decides to join up."
"Naturally, naturally." Present Mic waved a placating hand at the pair, "This isn't my first rodeo, Listeners; I'm fully aware of the steps that need to be taken and besides, you are my precious students; I would never do anything to defame you or cause you undue stress. I'm a Hero too, you know?"
With a smile and a wave, he was gone.
T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r
Lunchtime was upon them and that meant that it was time for Kacchan's big announcement. He made his way to the front of the room as soon as the bell rang and stood in front of Aizawa's desk, getting everyone's attention immediately.
"Alright, everyone quit your yapping and clean the crap out of your ears because I'm only going over this once." he slapped the sign-up sheet onto the desk for emphasis, "I wanna start by saying that I've already gotten official approval for this, so don't give me any shit about that." Iida adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat sheepishly, "So, you all know that no-Quirk sparring we did on Friday?" the class gave various forms of affirmation, "I'm basically taking that and turning it into a club. We'll be meeting at least once a week, but maybe more depending on how things work out. Club activities will consist of two main parts: beating the shit out of each other and then talking about how we could have done it better. Nobody worry about getting too fucked up though; my approval required me to promise that we wouldn't take things too far and just like in class, Quirk usage isn't allowed." he took a moment to survey his audience before concluding, "If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, then get your ass up here and sign the paper. Any questions?"
Predictably, Iida raised his hand.
"Am I correct in assuming that the purpose of this club is similar to that of the in-class exercise in that it is meant to improve overall combat ability and physical conditioning?"
"Mostly just because it's fun, but yeah, that too." Kacchan replied flippantly.
"Can't argue with that!" Ojiro cheerfully made his way to the desk and signed his name. He was followed closely by Sato, Kaminari, Jiro, Sero, Shoji and Ashido.
"Deku-kun, Kirishima-san, aren't you two going to sign up?" Uraraka asked.
"Already done!" Kirishima responded with pride, "You're looking at members two and three!"
"Oh!" Uraraka quickly joined the queue, followed strangely enough by Todoroki, who was followed in turn by Hagakure.
"I mean," the invisible girl said when Todoroki gave her a raised eyebrow, "I don't have a combat-type Quirk so any fighting I do is going to be hand-to-hand anyway. I may as well get better at it even if I plan on normally avoiding it, right? Besides, it seems like a good excuse to hang out with everyone outside of class."
Her explanation caused Asui and Yaoyorozu to join the queue, leaving Koda, Tokoyami and Aoyama as the only ones still on the fence.
"Oh, come on guys!" the ever-bubbly Ashido said, "Everyone's doing it and it seems like it'll be super fun!"
"Hell yeah!" Kirishima added, "Everyone's manliness levels are going to skyrocket after a few sessions of this!"
"Ah~," Aoyama sighed dramatically, "I suppose that improving my physical attributes would increase my desirability as a Chevalier, even if fisticuffs are not my forte. Add to this the fact that so many are participating and I would be sure to fall behind if I did not do so as well."
With that, the twinkling boy added his name to the list as well. He then looked towards Tokoyami and Koda expectantly.
"Koda-san dislikes violence and I do not fight myself." Tokoyami supplied.
"Yeah, he's pretty much useless." Dark Shadow added his two cents while poking his head out of his partner's stomach.
"…You know what, I'm joining just for that." the bird-headed student headed to the desk, "Koda-san, you join too. No matter how much you dislike it, it is inevitable that you will have to fight if you aspire to be a Hero. After all, those who would protect must endure more pain than anyone else."
Koda appeared reluctant, but after a moment of internal debate he wrote his name at the very bottom of the page, making it official: the entirety of Class 1-A were now members of the Fight Club.
T – o – r – c – h – b – e – a – r – e – r
After class that day, Toshinori Yagi had requested young Midoriya's presence in the lounge again and the boy had agreed to be there. The situation was very similar to that from their lunchtime conversation on Friday, except without the time constraint.
"Thank you for humoring me for two days in a row, my boy," the skeletally-thin Symbol of Peace inclined his head from where he sat on the couch, resting his elbows on his knees, "I am sure you have other things that you would rather be doing."
"No!" Midoriya shook his head a bit more forcefully than was strictly necessary, "All Might, I would never turn you down! You know that!"
That…that hit home. Toshinori knew that the boy idolized him and trusted him implicitly (a sentiment that was fully reciprocated), but even so, he was still caught off-guard by the young man's zeal.
"Be that as it may, I have no desire to take advantage of you in such a way. My purpose today is to finish the *hurk* discussion that I originally intended to *blegh* have on Friday." he took a moment to clean the blood off of his chin before continuing, "While we certainly ended up covering some very important topics, we were unfortunately not able to address my original reason for meeting with you as I did."
Midoriya nodded at him from his stool on the other side of the coffee table and was clearly giving Toshinori his undivided attention.
"What I really wanted to talk about was the upcoming Sports Festival, of which you are no doubt aware." Midoriya nodded again, "You are familiar with how it works, yes? You will be pitted against your classmates, many of whom are powerful in their own right. Why, I can think of a few from your class alone that could potentially give you trouble!"
"Yeah. Kacchan knows my style inside and out, not to mention his raw power, Kirishima-san could probably endure nearly anything short of lethal force, Iida-san would be difficult just to land a solid hit on and then you have the likes of Todoroki-san and Tokoyami-san with Dark Shadow where they're just plain powerful and those are just off the top of my head! I could lose to anyone in 1-A under the right circumstances. You don't need to worry about me letting my guard down, All Might!" he concluded with a fist pump and a determined stare.
"A commendable mindset, my boy, but that is not what I was driving at. I wanted to ask you how your control over One For All is progressing. You obviously have a good grasp on Flame Magnet, though there is always room for improvement with any Quirk, but from what I can tell you are still facing some fundamental issues when it comes to using the other parts of your powers, not the least of which are the injuries that you sustain when wielding them beyond a certain level."
"Well, my Hero Costume is designed to help mitigate the damage somewhat, especially when it comes to the burns." Midoriya explained, "From the limited use I've gotten out of it so far, it actually seems to do the trick up to a certain point. I haven't been able to pinpoint exactly how much is too much, but I would guess somewhere around twenty or twenty-five percent, maybe a bit higher but not by a lot."
"And what about the physical repercussions?" Toshinori prompted.
"I can use my basic smashes comfortably now, which I would estimate to be around five percent of my power. To use anything higher than that, I have to start burning fuel and the flames become a factor so, again, I haven't really had that much freedom to experiment. I would guess that I could use up to ten percent without doing any real damage, though that would probably be limited to just a few times. I can tell that it's getting better the more my body gets used to it though."
"You mentioned fuel. You mean the flames that you consume?" an affirmative nod, "How much can you store at the moment?"
"I can store up enough for a single attack at one-hundred percent and maybe have some dregs left over, but not enough to do anything with. It's possible that I could increase my capacity through training but, again…"
"Lack of freedom to experiment, right?" Toshinori guessed.
"Well, yeah." Midoriya shrugged helplessly, "It's not like I can just go outside and start playing with fire. Heck, the only reason I was able to contribute as much as I did at USJ was because there's an entire area that's…always on…fire…"
The boy had zoned out hard and Toshinori could practically hear the gears turning in his head.
"All Might?"
"Yes, my boy?"
"USJ is still considered a part of U.A., right? It's just a facility like any other?"
"It is indeed."
"Would it be possible for me to get permission to visit it outside of class for Quirk training purposes?"
I like how this boy thinks.
"Well, as you are unlicensed, unsupervised Quirk usage would be prohibited, especially in an area as hazardous as USJ. Now, say you were able to find a teacher who had a vested interest in your development and was able to spare the occasional hour or two…" Toshinori trailed off, letting the implication of his words sink in.
"You…you would do that for me, All Might?"
"Midoriya, my boy," Toshinori began, "I granted you my power so that you could succeed me! I will do anything and everything within my capabilities to help get you ready to do that. It may be slow and the day-to-day might not seem like much, but the time that I have left as the Symbol of Peace is running out. If the League of Villains has shown us anything it is that among those with Villanous intent there are some who have started to realize that. The rumors will only spread and the actions of such individuals will only grow bolder."
Toshinori took a moment to sip some tea in an attempt to stave off another fit of coughing.
"The Sports Festival is an event that the entire country will be watching and while that might sound intimidating, it also presents us with the perfect opportunity! We shall devote our spare time into improving your use of One For All and coming up with strategies to use when you are denied your Hero Costume, as will be the case for this event. Then, when all eyes are on you, you shall hold your head high as the next Symbol of Peace and you will tell them all one thing: 'I am here!'"
Midoriya closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath.
"I get it. If I'm going to make a big impression, this is the time to do it, right? Especially while the footage from USJ is still relatively new. There's a good chance that people might recognize me from that, so I need to capitalize and strike while the iron's hot, so to speak."
"And how are you going to do that, my boy?" Toshinori honestly hadn't thought quite as far ahead as his protégé, but he wasn't about to stop his train of thought once it got going.
"There's only one way to get people's attention at the Sports Festival and that's to make a good showing. I'll need to make it through to the final stage and then just do my best. I don't necessarily expect to win, but…"
"Then you're doomed."
"What?"
"My boy, you should always aim for the top no matter what. The difference between those who make a habit of it and those who don't may seem small at first, but it starts to matter in a really big way once you emerge into society as a whole. Just think about young Bakugo if you want an example of this sort of mindset."
Midoriya nodded.
"Right. You're absolutely right. I need to pull out all the stops and go at it with everything I have!"
Toshinori was pleased with his student's determination and was about to offer some final words of encouragement when an urgent-sounding series of knocks came from the door.
Toshinori quickly assumed his muscle form and opened the door to reveal a worried-looking Ashido.
"Sensei! Midori! Come quick! We need to stop them or there's gonna be a fight!"