Monoma Time Loop (MHA)

[iamawesome300]

"Five minutes until the raid", announced Mr. Vlad.

I look down at the target building. It didn't seem like much; you wouldn't guess that it's a headquarters for the Paranormal Liberation Front. Though I guess that doesn't mean anything.

"Finally,", said Tsuburuba, palming a fist, "Time to get some revenge on those villains."

Oh, that's right, Tsuburuba fought villains at the Forest Training Camp. I'm the only one here without any experience fighting them.

I look around to see what other heroes have arrived.

"Mr. Vlad, it doesn't look like a very large group. Are you sure we'll be okay clearing the building?"

"There's other raids going on all over the country, they couldn't spare the manpower."

"...So, this was one of the less important ones."

Mr. Vlad rests his hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry Monoma, it's not a slight against you, every single raid is necessary to bring an end to the PLF."

I guess.

I may as well get my quirks ready now. Not much else to do anyway.

Our group contains 3 U.A. staff: Snipe, Hound Dog and Mr. Vlad, and 8 members of Class B: Awase, Kaibara, Kamakiri, Pony, Tsuburuba, Bondo, Rin and me. I don't have time to speak to the other groups about their quirks.

Speaking of which, whose quirk do I choose? Rin seems like an obvious one, I can protect myself and fire projectiles. Tsuburuba's is simple to use, so it's another good choice. Heteromorphic quirks make me uncomfortable, so that's Bondo, Pony and Hound Dog out. Kamakiri's is a bit redundant with Rin's, but I'm not sure what else to use. Snipe's quirk will actively make Rin's worse and Mr. Vlad made me promise to never copy his quirk. I guess out of the process of elimination my fourth quirk is Awase's.

"Alright", said Snipe, "Let's go."

Snipe fires shots at the guards at the door. Rin and I follow his lead, firing scales at any villains still standing.

The close-range heroes rush down the hill dodging the villains' projectiles, everything from flames to shrapnel. Hound Dog is the first to make it to the building, ripping one of its doors clean off its hinges, before pushing further inside.

Mr. Vlad follows him, "Listen up! The hallway is narrow, so stick together! I'm going after Hound Dog!"

I turn to the classmates behind me, "Bondo, stay behind me and Tsuburuba, only poke your head out when you can glue a villain."

Bondo nods, as we set up Solid Air barriers before pushing down a side route.

Instantly, we are bombarded with an onslaught of various quirks. I can't even see in front of me anymore as the quirks have covered the barriers completely.

"I can't see anything! Why are there so many villains this way?"

Kaibara pushes up behind me, "I think I see a stairwell at the end of the hall, this must be the path to the roof."

"Out of the way." says Kamakiri brandishing his quirk, "Let me put my blades between the slits, so we can push back whoever's in front of the barriers."

"Alright, Pony, shoot your horns over the barriers to hit anyone that's left after that."

"Okay, I can't see anything right now, but I'll try."

We continue pushing down the corridor slowly, until we hit a bump in the floor.

Tsuburuba kicks his barrier, "What is this? I can't push!"

"I think it's one of the villains, unconscious."

Tsuburuba pushes up over the body, before setting his barrier on the floor again.

"I got it," says Awase, welding the villain to the building.

We were almost to the stairwell.

"Keep! Pushing!"

Eventually, we cornered the remaining villains. Bondo glued them to the bottom of the stairwell and the rest of us turned to see what was at the top.

"A door?"

"Kaibara was right, this is the path to the roof."

We climbed the stairwell and placed our ears on the door.

"There's probably, like fifty people on the roof."

"You're exaggerating Kaibara."

Rin motioned for us to step back, "Listen, I'm going to kick down the door. When I do, Monoma and Tsuburuba, you both need to create barriers, okay?"

"Okay."

Rin kicked the door off its hinges, and just as he did, quirks were fired on our position, blocked by the air barriers.

Tsuburuba turned to Rin, "Okay, now what's the plan?"

"Push up! Go from corner to corner!"

We moved forward. Pony shot a villain on our right side, while Rin and I shot one on the left. We pushed up further, allowing Bondo to glue another villain.

The villains were dispersing at this point, having lost too many of their members to fight a direct conflict.

"Break ranks!"

We all split up; I chased a villain to the edge of the roof. He had pointy hair, like Awase but with a much shorter haircut.

"All for One, you failed your promise!" he screamed

"Of course he failed! Have you ever heard of a villain that succeeded? Now come over here before you fall off that edge and die."

The villain laughed "Die? I am immortal!"

A quirk that makes you immortal? I grab his arm and copy it just in case. Strange, I don't feel any different.

All of a sudden, I am hoisted into the air. I struggle to look at my attacker, but I see that it is a winged Nomu. The Nomu is flying higher until I can barely see the building anymore.

"Monoma!" I hear Pony scream.

The Nomu drops me and my screams join hers.

 

[iamawesome300]

I wake up in my bed.

No, that's not right. I wake up in my old bed. The one in my apartment, not the one in my dorm back at school.

Why am I here? How did I get into my apartment?

I get out of bed; I'm not going to find answers lying in it.

I take my phone off the charger and the date flashes on the screen. It isn't today's date. It's a week after the U. A. entrance exam.

What is this? I check online thinking my phone is broken, but no, all the websites agree with my phone. I even check different news articles. It's news from months in the past.

All the evidence shows that I have somehow been transported into the past.

No, not "somehow", there must be a reason this has happened. Think Monoma, think. What was the last thing you did?

Last thing I remember is helping to take down that Paranormal Liberation Front headquarters.

Is there anything I did then that could have caused this?

I fought that Nomu, is that it? I remember it picked me up and-

I shiver. That wasn't a fight. I died.

Well, that's not correct. If I died, then why am I alive? I'm not immortal.

Wait, that villain said he was immortal, is this what he meant?

I don't really think going back in time when you die counts as "immortal", but then again, I'm not dead when I really should be.

That settles it. I have copied a quirk that allows me to go back in time whenever I die. Now the only question is what to do about it.

I need a moment to calm down, so I go outside to clear my head.

When I go to open the door, a letter comes out of the mail slot. It has the logo of U. A. on it. I know what this letter is. This is the letter that told me I was accepted into U. A. and placed into Class 1-B. I was so happy when I received this letter, because I could finally be a hero just like I wanted to be all my life.
Until Class A happened. Our sister class, Class 1-A, is obviously inferior to Class 1-B, but few seem to recognize that. Class A gets all the attention.

Now I know what I need to do. I need to use this quirk to finally defeat Class A.

But how do I do that? The earliest point of conflict with Class A is The Sports Festival. I need to make sure that Class B runs like a finely tuned machine to defeat Class A. We need to be of one mind, and one will for that to happen.

Let's get to work.

On the first day of school, I stood in front of the doors taking in the atmosphere. I've entered U. A. countless times before, but this represents a fresh start, a miraculous opportunity to defeat Class A.

When I enter homeroom, most of my classmates are already there. I take a moment to look at all of them. As much as I hate to admit it, it's still difficult to believe that I traveled in time. All of them seem just like they were at the start of the year, although I don't remember Komori recoiling at eye contact.

As Komori continues to try and bury herself in her seat, I decide it's time to take my seat as well.

"Hey! My name's Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, what's yours?"

I turn to my right to find my steel-quirked classmate, offering me a friendly handshake.

"My name is Neito Monoma," I say, offering a firm handshake, "Nice to meet you, Tetsutetsu."

"Let's be friends this semester, alright?"

"Of course."

We'll be more than friends Tetsu, after all, you're one of the strongest warriors in our fight against Class A.

The door opens and Mr. Vlad enters the classroom, though not before Tsuburuba pushes his way through, almost knocking him over.

Tsuburuba stares at Mr. Vlad, eyes wide with fear, well wider than normal anyway.

"Uh, I'm sorry Mr. uh…"

Ha, I remember when I was scared of Mr. Vlad.

"Take a seat, student."

Mr. Vlad writes his name on the whiteboard and turns to the class.

"Welcome to U. A. My name is Vlad King, but you can call me Mr. Vlad. I'll be the homeroom teacher for you all this year. I'd love to be able to tell you more, but right now we have a quirk aptitude test to take."

A couple of my classmates respond with murmurs of fear, but I don't care about that. Right now, the only thing that I care about is the Battle Trial with All Might.

The quirk aptitude test passes without issue, although I have no idea how someone could actually have an issue with it anyway.

When the time comes for our first Hero Studies class, All Might throws the door open and enters with a grand flourish.

"I am here! And as a Hero studies teacher!"

He gathers a lot of cheers from my classmates, but he raises his hands to quell the applause.

"Today you will be taking your first steps as a hero as you compete against each other in a Battle Trial! You will also be wearing your hero costumes for the first time."

All Might pointed to the wall where a compartment came out containing our costumes.

"Get suited up and follow me to the training area."

All Might took us to the same training area we used as last time.

"You will be split into partners and fight against each other, with one partnership playing the heroes and one playing the villains. The villains will have to protect the bomb, if it is captured, they lose. But if the heroes can't capture it in the time limit, they lose. And of course, if you defeat the enemy team in combat, they lose as well."

Honenuki raised his hand, "How will partnerships be decided?"

"Randomly!" said All Might, reaching for the box with our names.

Now this is interesting. I wonder if everything that was decided randomly will be different or the same.

"First Match: Monoma and Tokage as heroes with Kendo and Tetsutetsu as villains!"

Guess it's the same.

 

[iamawesome300]

"Kendo, Tetsutetsu, you will have five minutes to prepare before Monoma and Tokage enter the building."

Kendo nods to All Might before running inside with Tetsu. I turn to Tokage.

"Do you have any specific strategies in mind for right now?"

"My quirk lets me split my body into five different pieces. Capturing the bomb will be a piece of cake."

What? That doesn't sound right.

"Five? Not fifty?"

Tokage recoils. "Fifty? Where did you get fifty from? There's no way I could split myself into fifty pieces!"

Hmm. Tokage hasn't practiced as much with her quirk yet. She's weaker than what I'm used to.

"I see. Well, in that case, I'll distract Kendo and Tetsu, while you go for the bomb. Make sure you keep an eye at the basement door to check if they're distracted enough."

"Wait, how do you know they'll be in the basement?"

"Only one entrance. It would be harder to use your quirk to spy on them."

"Then what makes you think you'll be able to fight them both at the same time?"

I smile. "Just trust me."

Tokage gives me a strange look, as All Might's voice is heard over the intercom. "Battle Trial number one, start!"

Tokage and I rush into the building, turning at the entrance to the basement. I copy her quirk and jump down the stairs.

Kendo is in a corner, with the bomb behind her. She's looking in the air, probably for one of Tokage's hands.

Tetsu is much closer, only a foot or two away from me.

"Tetsu! Kendo! I'll be your opponent for this battle."

Kendo presses her back against the bomb. "Where's your partner?"

"I don't think you heard me. I said, 'I'll be your opponent.'"

Tetsu lunges at me as my disembodied hand reaches Kendo. I copy her quirk and grow the hand still attached to my body.

Tetsu throws a punch that I push off to the side, copying his quirk as well.

I throw my now large, steel covered hand, swiping the area in front of me, forcing Tetsu to back off.

Tetsu opens his mouth, before narrowing his brows, his look of shock replaced with a contemplative one.

I recall my other hand to my wrist, finally able to show Tetsu my full strength. I reach out to wrap my hands around him. He dodges, pushing himself further back until he hits the wall. Cornered, he pushes off the wall. I raise my hands, pressing them together to block Tetsu's strikes.

"Kendo! I need your help!"

"Tetsu, I need to watch so Tokage doesn't get the bomb!"

I push forward with the makeshift shield my hands have become, pressing closer, so the backs of my hands are almost touching my chest. After Tetsu's next attack, I push, slamming him against the wall.

"If he defeats me, we'll have bigger problems!"

I raise a fist, ready to throw a punch into Tetsu, before I am pushed out of position by Kendo. I turn, noticing that Kendo is holding her bleeding knuckles. Tetsu is pulling himself out of the imprint on the wall. I raise a hand to face Kendo and turn my body so I can see Tetsu clearly, deciding he is the greater threat. I throw a punch at Tetsu that he dodges, sidestepping to my left. I turn once more, so that I can block his counterpunch. I am successful, but I am once again pushed off balance by Kendo. Her attack hit less of me than the previous one, I assume she used her foot to kick me this time. I raise both my hands as Tetsu and Kendo raise their fists, preparing to attack me simultaneously, before the voice of All Might is heard over the intercom.

"Hero team wins!"

Kendo and Tetsu stop short as I lower my hands and turn off the copies. Both of them turn around slowly, grimacing as they notice Tokage's arms on the bomb. Tokage is floating above them, sporting her trademark shark-toothed smile.

The intercom speaks again. "Return to the viewing room, it's time to discuss the results of the trial."

The four of us drag ourselves out of the building, Kendo and Tetsu moving much faster. Tokage turns to me, arms behind her head in a relaxed pose.

"Nice strategy, Monoma."

It was your strategy. The only difference is that this time we didn't waste most of our precious few minutes by searching the higher levels.

In the viewing room, All Might stands before us, arms akimbo.

"Congratulations on your victory, Young Monoma, Tokage."

All Might turns to the entire class. "Now students, which of the competitors do you think was the MVP?"

My classmates shuffle uncomfortably in their shoes.

"Come now, students, this discussion exists to show you the takeaways from the trial."

Eventually, Kaibara steps forward. "It was Monoma, right? I mean, he fought off Tetsu and Kendo at the same time."

"Correct, Young Kaibara. Monoma is in fact the MVP. Now does anyone have any suggestions for how the two teams can improve from this trial?"

"The villains got distracted." says Kamakiri, "They shouldn't have allowed Monoma to make them forget Tokage."

"I don't think that's fair." interrupts Rin, "They had one stand on lookout for Tokage. Monoma simply forced them to focus on him."

"Both fair statements." says All Might, "Does anyone have any other takeaways?"

Shoda steps forward. "Uh. Kendo injured her hand when she punched Monoma. Maybe she shouldn't do that again."

All Might nods. "Striking heavy metal hurts even when you have a strength increasing quirk. It's better to use pushes and grabs to incapacitate a foe with such a quirk."

Kuroiro raises his hand, before speaking in a voice just above a whisper. "Tetsu was pushed into a corner by Monoma. He should have kept track of his position and maneuvered out of the way."

"Spatial awareness is difficult to keep track of in the heat of battle, but that's exactly why it's such an important skill in the hero's arsenal. Does anyone have any other suggestions?"

All Might was once again greeted with silence.

"Alright, that seems to be enough from this round, let's see who's up next."

All Might grabs the box with our names to decide the next combatants.

"Awase and Shishida as heroes with Kodai and Tsuburuba as villains!"

 

[Sono]

I'm a bit unsure as to what tone this story is going for. So far, I'd assume comedy considering monoma's choices and actions, but it's too early to tell.

 

[iamawesome300]

I try to remember how this match went last time. I think Tsuburuba lost but I can't remember why.

I look at the viewing screen to see how Kodai and Tsuburuba are setting up. Tsuburuba appears to be uncomfortable as his face is red when talking to Kodai. Kodai appears to, well she doesn't appear to be anything, but that's how Kodai normally is. Tsuburuba's face lights up when he begins to discuss his quirk with Kodai.

Tsuburuba creates a Solid Air barrier in front of the bomb. Afterwards, Kodai uses Size to make it much larger, enough that it reaches floor to ceiling. They both continue the process until the entire room is filled with barriers.

I can't see how Kodai and Tsuburuba lose this. Awase and Shishida shouldn't even be able to make it to the bomb, let alone capture it.

All Might picks up his microphone, speaking into the intercom, "Battle Trial number two start!"

Immediately, Shishida activates Beast, as Awase welds himself onto Shishida's back. Using his heightened sense of smell, Shishida runs on all fours to the bomb's location using the fastest route possible.

The time gained from locating the bomb immediately won't be relevant, as Tsuburuba's barriers will prevent them from reaching the bomb in the time limit.

Awase and Shishida soon reach the room where the bomb is located. Kodai and Tsuburuba are standing guard.

Well, Tsuburuba is standing guard, Kodai is just standing. As Shishida charges toward them, Tsuburuba readies himself to tackle Awase and Shishida. After Awase and Shishida make it to the door, Tsuburuba jumps at them, latching onto Awase, trying to force him off Shishida. Shishida is moving too fast for Tsuburuba to hold on, and Tsuburuba falls off, having failed to separate the two.

Awase and Shishida are about to reach the first barrier, they show no signs of slowing down.

I wince, fully prepared for a repeat of Pony at the Sports Festival.

Shishida easily breaks through the barrier, shattering it like sugar glass from a movie, before continuing on to the bomb.

I open my mouth agape. When in the fuck has Tsuburuba's barrier been so weak?

All Might speaks into his microphone. "Hero team wins!"

In the viewing room, All Might once again congratulates the winners, asking the class who the MVP was. I decide to answer this time.

"Shishida is clearly the MVP, he discovered the bomb's location instantly and smashed through Tsuburuba's barriers like they were nothing."

"Correct. Does anyone have any suggestions for what the two teams could have done differently?"

"Tsuburuba should have made his barriers stronger."

"Hey! I made those barriers as strong as I could! Not my fault Shishida is a literal Beast!"

All Might rests his hands on both our shoulders. "You did the best you could Tsuburuba, just make sure you train the strength of your quirk and one day your barrier will be indestructible. Any other suggestions for the teams?"

Kuroiro steps forward. "Kodai barely communicated with Tsuburuba. She didn't say much, and she stood there doing nothing when he tried to tackle Awase."

Everyone in the room turns to Kodai. Her face remains blank as ever.

All Might coughs. "Erm, Young Kodai, do you agree with his assessment?"

Kodai turns to All Might. "I used Size to make Tsuburuba's barriers larger, and when he tackled Awase I already realized we were going to lose."

"I… see. Well, let's decide the next match!"

All Might reaches into the box to grab names.

"Honenuki and Kaibara as heroes with Kuroiro and Komori as villains!"

The two partnerships leave the viewing room to go to the training area.

"Monoma, who do you think will win this match?"

I turn to Tokage. "Honenuki and Kaibara, Honenuki's quirk is far too strong for Kuroiro and Komori to defeat."

Tokage nods. "And" She smiles, "After all, he is the other recommended student. Besides, those other two don't seem to be working well."

Huh? I turn to the screen to see that Kuroiro and Komori haven't even moved the bomb to a different floor yet.

Tokage moves closer. "I don't think those two have even spoken to each other yet."

What? I take a closer look at the screen. Both of the two are avoiding each other. Kuroiro pressing his fingers together and taking glances at her, while Komori is completely focused on growing her mushrooms at the entrance.

Ugh. Kuroiro, you're not good with girls, that's fine. But I know you're capable of talking about mission objectives with them! And since when is Komori fucking shy?

I rest against the wall. Hopefully Honenuki will make it quick.

All Might picks up his microphone. "Battle Trial number three start!"

Honenuki and Kaibara rush inside, before splitting up, with Kaibara going to check the basement and Honenuki continuing up the stairs. Honenuki checks the first floor but skips the second floor to move on to check the third. I guess they can afford to split up like this due to the strength of Honenuki's quirk. Honenuki is about to pass the fourth floor as well until he notices the mushrooms in front of the door. He uses the communicator to inform Kaibara before entering the room.

Mushrooms completely cover floor four. Kuroiro stand just before the bomb with Komori close by. Honenuki uses Softening to send the mushrooms down to floor three before advancing on the bomb.

Kuroiro and Komori stand closer together, apparently no longer bothered by each other in combat. Honenuki stops advancing as he realizes they plan to attack him together before Kaibara arrives.

Kuroiro and Komori glance at each other, both hoping that the other gives an order first. But that doesn't happen, as Honenuki uses Softening in an attempt to send Kuroiro and Komori down a floor as well.

It works, of course, as Kuroiro and Komori sink into the floor like its quicksand, the only problem is that they are both close to the bomb, and it starts sinking after them.

Honenuki needs to stop his quirk or-

The bomb sinks through the floor, slamming into floor three, crumpling in on itself.

Or that.

"Honenuki has destroyed the bomb! Villain team wins!" speaks All Might, into the microphone.

"What?" screams the angry voice of Honenuki, "You never told us that destroying the bomb was a loss condition!"

All Might's smile drains from his face. He speaks into the microphone slowly and deliberately, in the most monotone voice he is capable of, "I shouldn't have to explain to you why destroying the bomb is a loss condition. Return to the viewing room."

Kaibara finally arrives on floor four to enter a screaming match with Honenuki, as Kuroiro and Komori pick themselves back up on floor three to return for the discussion.

Kuroiro and Komori enter the viewing room with looks of surprise on their faces. Honenuki and Kaibara enter after, visibly angry.

All Might coughs. "Alright students, which of the competitors do you think is MVP?"

"Well," I say, raising my arms in a dramatic flourish, "I think we can all agree that Honenuki was by far the most effective member of the villains team."

Most of the class laughs at that, Kaibara even starts to smile.

All Might coughs again. "Erm, well, does anyone have any criticisms for the two teams?" he says, before wincing at his own words.

Where to begin?

"Honenuki shouldn't have destroyed the bomb, obviously." I turn to Kuroiro and Komori. "You two didn't communicate at all, which is completely unacceptable."

"What's it matter? We won, didn't we?" Kuroiro says.

I stare at him intensely, "You didn't win, Honenuki lost."

"Hey!"

I ignore him, turning to Komori. "Komori, what is Kuroiro's quirk.?"

Komori gives a small "Eep!" at the attention before giving an answer. "Um, something to do with darkness, right?"

"Yeah, 'something,' that's right."

All Might jumps in between us three. "Okay! That's enough discussion of this match, now let's see who's in the next one!"

He reaches into the box to grab names.

"Shiozaki and Rin as heroes with Kamakiri and Fukidashi as villains!"

 

[iamawesome300]

"Heroes, Villains, get to your starting positions."

"Uh, All Might," reminded Kamakiri, "We need a new bomb."

"Oh, um, yes. I shall. Go get that for you!"

All Might sprinted out of the room as fast as he could.

Kamakiri shook his head before walking with Fukidashi to the training area.

"Monoma," Tokage asks, "Who will win this one?"

"I think," I say, putting as much emphasis on the "think" as possible, "that Kamakiri and Fukidashi will win, but given my track record for predictions today, I don't think that means much."

Tokage laughs before returning to look at the viewing screen.

All Might had returned with a second bomb and Kamakiri and Fukidashi were carrying it up the steps. They only stopped when they reached the final floor.

I see. They recognized that Shiozaki and Rin have poor mobility and are forcing them to climb the entire building to weaken them before combat.

After the five minutes of preparation are up, All Might speaks into the microphone, "Battle trial number four start!"

Shiozaki and Rin enter the training area and go down to inspect the basement first. Finding nothing, they leave the basement to go up, searching floor by floor.

It will take them a while to reach the top floor, so I switch to watching what Kamakiri and Fukidashi are doing. Both of them are standing at the top floor looking down the stairs, waiting for Shiozaki or Rin to poke their head out.

Ah, the good old waiting game.

Eventually, Shiozaki and Rin make it to the final corridor before the top and are talking amongst themselves. Rin evidently decides to go first, activating his Scales and running up the stairs.

He is greeted by a loud "BOOM!" coming from Fukidashi, knocking him down to the landing.

Shiozaki uses her vines to create a barrier in front of Rin. Fukidashi sends another "BOOM!" into the vines but retreats when the vines continue to advance toward him. Kamakiri steps forward, growing blades from his arms, and motions for Fukidashi to step back. Kamakiri attacks the vines, carving several of them apart, before Rin comes out of the vines and shoots him with a spray of scales. Kamakiri is knocked off his feet as Fukidashi shoots Rin with another "BOOM!". This time Rin stays standing but his armor is destroyed again. Fukidashi hurries to Kamakiri to help him back on his feet before turning around and shooting another "BOOM!" at the mass of vines. Kamakiri manages to stand without assistance and turns to focus on Rin. He sheathes his blades and moves to begin pummeling Rin with martial arts.

Wait, why did he sheathe his blades?

Fukidashi sees that Kamakiri has Rin covered, so he turns to the mess of vines and shouts "BOOM!" again. The vines move further into the room. Fukidashi shouts another "BOOM!" into the vines.

Again with "BOOM!"? Is that the only word Fukidashi knows?

Enough of Shiozaki's vines have been destroyed that she is now visible struggling to get up next to the bomb. She covers her body with what few vines she has left as Fukidashi again shoots a "BOOM!" into them. That "BOOM!" is large enough that it cracks the floor open. Fukidashi's speech balloon turns into a shout balloon as he screams to Kamakiri.

"Kamakiri! Help me move the bomb somewhere more stable! We don't want to end up like Honenuki!"

In the viewing room, all eyes turn to Honenuki, whose face is buried in his hands.

Kamakiri turns away from Rin, who is on his knees, and runs to the bomb. Both Kamakiri and Fukidashi push the bomb into a corner just as the floor that Fukidashi exploded starts to fall apart. Shiozaki and Rin use the opportunity to stand up and gather themselves. After pushing the bomb, Kamakiri and Fukidashi look at their two opponents before deciding to move toward Rin, who has used Scales to once again make armor. Fukidashi shoots a "BOOM!" into Rin, destroying his armor, as Kamakiri launches one final blow into Rin's sternum. Rin doesn't get up. Kamakiri and Fukidashi turn to Shiozaki, who turns to look from Rin to her disconnected vines to her two opponents.

Shiozaki lets out a deep sigh. "I surrender, I can't win from this position."

All Might speaks into the microphone. "Villain team wins!"

Kamakiri, Fukidashi and Shiozaki walk to the viewing room, Rin is placed onto a stretcher by a medical robot and carried off.

"Alright students, who do you think is the MVP for that round?"

Everyone in the class looks at me.

Ah, so I have their respect already?

"I don't actually know who the MVP is, both Kamakiri and Fukidashi performed well during the Battle Trial."

All Might turn to the class. "Does anyone want to make a guess as to who it is?"

Kendo raises her hand. "Fukidashi? He really did a number on both Shiozaki and Rin."

All Might shakes his head. "No. While Fukidashi did perform well, it is Kamakiri who is the MVP of this round."

All Might turns to the winners of the trial.

"Kamakiri was able to render Rin to such a state where he was able to drop everything and immediately help Fukidashi push the bomb to safety. Does anyone have any suggestions for the two teams?"

I turn to Kamakiri immediately. "Why did you sheathe your blades? They would obviously be helpful while attacking Rin."

"My quirk is incredibly easy to maim or kill with, I only use it to get in close, and use hand-to-hand to finish opponents."

I turn to Fukidashi. "Why did you only use "BOOM!"? You obviously have other words you can use."

"It's difficult to think of words to use in battle, I tend to stick to "BOOM!", as it's easy to remember."

"Young Monoma, while your suggestions are helpful, generally their purpose is to help the losing team improve."

I turn to Shiozaki. "You had a number of opportunities to attack Kamakiri or Fukidashi that you didn't capitalize on."

Shiozaki lowers her head. "I… don't like attacking people."

"I understand. But you still need to take every advantage you can in combat."


"I… I understand."
I turn to the class as a whole. "Rin isn't here, but my suggestion to him is to train his quirk, to make him more resistant to attacks."

"An excellent suggestion, Young Monoma. Now we already know who the final four competitors are, so this drawing is to decide what the teams are."

All Might reaches into the box to pull the names for the final trial.

"Shoda and Tsunotori as heroes with Bondo and Yanagi as villains!"

The final competitors head to the training area. Bondo and Yanagi set up the bomb on the highest floor. I guess they hope to have the same result as the previous match.

All Might checks the timer, then raises the microphone. "Battle Trial number five start!"

Pony and Shoda run into the building and up the stairs. They both continue like this past floor two into floor three. After reaching floor three, Shoda enters the room and picks up pieces of the ceiling Honenuki destroyed. Pony, however, continues past floor three up to floor four. Shoda finishes collecting the ceiling he needs and turns to the door. His face instantly becomes one of shock. Apparently, he had expected Pony to stay put while he gathered the ceiling pieces. Hoping to catch her, he runs as fast as he can up the stairs.

Pony is already far ahead of him and reaches the top floor. She runs on her hands and feet into the room, only to step on a puddle of glue, sticking her to the spot. She angrily tries to break free but fails. Looking at the room, she aims her horns at the closest person and fires. That person is Yanagi, who uses Poltergeist to freeze the horns in midair. She puts the horns on the ground and Bondo glues them there for good measure.

Shoda has made it to the top at this point. Seeing that Pony is imprisoned, he throws a piece of the ceiling at Bondo, activating Twin Impact halfway through. Bondo falls to the ground with a cry of pain as Yanagi readies herself to block more projectiles. Shoda throws another ceiling piece at Yanagi who telekinetically pushes it to the side. Yanagi advances on Shoda, pushing away another ceiling piece, until she closes the gap and knocks the rest of the pieces out of Shoda's hand. Unable to use projectiles, Shoda pushes Yanagi, activating Twin Impact to shove her to the floor, and notices that Bondo is rushing toward him. Bondo uses Cemedine on Shoda, preventing him from moving effectively. Bondo activates his quirk once more, this time gluing Shoda to the spot.

All in all, it was the second shortest match, only Awase and Shishida were faster.

All Might speaks into the microphone. "The heroes are incapacitated, villains win!"

After the glue dries away, the final competitors return to the viewing room for discussion.

"Now then, who is the final MVP of today's matches?"

"Bondo, for laying the trap that glued Pony and for defeating Shoda."

All Might shakes his head.

"Then Yanagi, for blocking both Pony's and Shoda's projectiles."

All Might shakes his head again. "No Young Monoma, the MVP is not on the winning team this time. The MVP of this match was Young Shoda."

The class turns to Shoda who seems surprised at the designation.

"Young Shoda continued fighting even after his partner was incapacitated, putting up a valiant effort to defeat Bondo and Yanagi. Does anyone have any suggestions?"

I turn to Yanagi. "You should have made an effort to block all projectiles headed for Bondo as well, not just the ones headed for you."

All Might nods. "Protecting your teammates is one of the most important goals for a hero."

Yanagi speaks up in her defense. "I'm not that good at controlling my quirk. It took all I had just to block the ones coming for me."

"Then control your quirk better." An obvious solution.

I turn to Bondo. "I have no criticisms for Bondo, I believe he played that as best he could."

Bondo stands up straight, wearing the praise like a medal.

Now to the heroes. "Shoda, if you need to stop moving for any reason, you need to make that abundantly clear with your partner, not just assume they understand."

Shoda looks down, before giving a nod of acknowledgement.

"Wudd abbowed mee?"

"Uh, you know, make sure that you don't abandon your partner."

Hearing Pony speak is disorienting. Her Japanese wasn't that broken at the start of the year, was it?

"Clear communication is necessary for any team to be at its strongest. Are there any other suggestions?"

At the response of silence, All Might looks at the clock.

"Excellent work today children! Your first hero training was a success, and with only one major injury! Well, see you next class! Bye!"

All Might rushes off to who knows where, like he usually does.

I change out of my costume and move on to my next class, already wondering what the next step to defeat Class A is.

 

[iamawesome300]

I sit down in homeroom and Tetsu turns to speak to me.

"Bro, you were amazing yesterday! You fought off me and Kendo at the same time!"

"Don't give me too much credit Tetsu, it's only because you two had such powerful quirks that I was able to fight you off."

"I think you mean, 'you three.' You never would have touched Kendo if it wasn't for my quirk."

I smile as I turn to the seat behind Tetsu. "Of course, Tokage. You were the reason behind our success."

"Weren't you just talking about giving people too much credit?"

We all turn to the seat in front of Tetsu. "But I'm giving her the exact amount of credit she deserves, Tsuburuba."

Tsuburuba tuts, before muttering under his breath. "Giving her a good ass-kissing more like it."

"Come now, be fair Tsuburuba. I know your quirk is just as strong as Tokage's."

"You saw how well I did yesterday. Shishida tore through my barriers like tissue paper."

"That just means you have to practice."

"Yeah, but my quirk is boring to practice with."

My smile drops from my face. I open my mouth to speak, before closing it again. Eventually, I find my words.

"Tsuburuba," I say slowly, "Isn't your quirk powered by your breath?"

"Yeah?"

I continue. "Now, I'm not sure where exactly the line for 'too lazy' is drawn, but I'm pretty sure, 'too lazy to breathe' is past that line."

Tsuburuba winces. "It's just boring, ok?"

"Then you need to discover a goal. One that can put your mind at ease even when training bores you to death."

"You have a goal like that, Monoma?" Tetsu asks.

"Absolutely."

Mr. Vlad enters the classroom. "Alright, everyone in your seats."

He takes a look around his class. Komori shrinks into her seat.

"I saw the videos of your training yesterday. Good work to everyone who won. Honenuki, remember to control your quirk, being strong isn't enough to succeed."

Honenuki shrinks in his seat, even smaller than Komori, if that's possible.

"Rin, are all your injuries healed?"

"Yes, Mr. Vlad, Recovery Girl fixed me up perfectly."

"Good to hear. Right, well, I didn't come here to just go over the results of your training. I'm sure you did that enough on your own."

I glance at Tsuburuba. The look on his face shows he didn't.

"Today you will vote for your class representative."

Yes. Finally, the chance to take the position that Kendo had mismanaged and help lead Class B to victory against those egotists in Class A!

"Everyone who wants to be a candidate, raise your hand."

Most of the class put their hands up.

"Alright, each candidate will have a chance to give a speech, detailing what they would be like as class representative. Monoma, you go first."

I proudly walk up to the podium. I already know what my argument will be: The only argument that's needed. I take a moment to look at my classmates, they all have expectant looks on their faces. I won't disappoint them.

"If you vote for me to be your class representative, I will do everything I can to make sure we finally defeat Class A!"

I look out at my classmates expecting surprised looks, but instead all I see are looks of confusion. I don't understand, what's wrong?

Shishida raises his hand. "Erm, Monoma sir, can you repeat that? I think we might have gotten confused as to what your message is."

I take a moment to compose myself before speaking again.

"Class 1-A, our sister class, is a class full of the most arrogant people you have ever met. They take joy in robbing us of opportunities, and they brag about their most minor accomplishments. If you vote for me, I will make sure they never stop us from achieving our goals ever again."

I once again look out to my classmates, only instead of cheering for me, they look worried, glancing at each other. I don't understand, isn't this what we all want, to finally achieve our dream?

Mr. Vlad places his hand on my shoulder. "Um, that was a nice, um, speech Monoma. Why don't you sit down?"

I take my seat dazed and confused. What went wrong? Do my classmates really think it's impossible to beat Class A? Do they really not trust in my abilities?

Kendo steps up to the podium to give her speech.

"If you vote for me to be your class representative, I promise to promote a friendly environment for everyone in our class. I also promise to help everyone who asks and help each of us train to be the best heroes we can be."

Kendo receives some light applause for her speech. I'm surprised at how little it changed from the last time she gave it; it might even be the same. I ignore the rest of the speeches. I know that in the end, this is just a race between Kendo and me.

"Alright," Mr. Vlad announces, "I'll tally the votes for class representative." He writes the results on the board as I stare in shock. Kendo won. No, she didn't just win, she won a majority of the votes. I only received my own. How is this possible? How could I receive less votes than I did the first time?

The bell rings as I continue to try to understand my loss. I decide to reach out to Shishida before he leaves.

"Shishida, why did nobody vote for me to be class representative? What went wrong?"

Shishida takes a long time to respond to my question. I completely understand, as I barely understand what happened.

"Well, Monoma sir, I believe that the class did not share the, erm, enthusiasm for your goal as you did."

"Well, I know that. But why don't they share it.?"
"Erm, well, you perhaps could have given additional reasons for the class to share in your, erm, goal."

"But I did! Were they not listening?"

"Monoma sir, the class is simply happy with things as they are, they do not see any need for competition."

"I see. Thank you Shishida."

So that's it. The class wants to have an easy time at U. A., unaware of the fact that an easy time at U. A. will lead to failure down the road in life. I motivate myself as I walk to Japanese class. My class doesn't want to work hard, so I just have to show them why it is necessary.

Japanese class passes by terribly slowly. It's hard to be interested in a lesson you've already learned.

After the bell rings, I notice Pony picking up her materials with a worried look on her face.

"Pony, are you all right?"

"Ah, Monmuh, Aym habbin probbums widd Japponeeds hohmurk."

Oh, that's right. Pony is a foreign exchange student; she hasn't had years of Japanese like we have. I have to help her. To do otherwise is to fail my duty to Class B.

"I'll help you practice Pony, as much help as you need."

"Yoo doo zat? Sank yoo Monmuh!"

During lunch, I do my best to help Pony understand the lesson from today's class.

"Hey, why are you guys sitting alone?"

I turn to and face a worried-looking Tsuburuba, holding a lunch tray.

"Heez helping me practice." says Pony

Tsuburuba stares at me suspiciously before laying his tray on the table.

"We really are just studying Japanese, Tsuburuba. I want to help Pony speak more fluently."

Tsuburuba drops the suspicious look with a sigh. "I guess I believe you. We wouldn't want someone teaching Pony insults or something, right?"
I chuckle. "Right, we need her to be able to communicate."

Wait a minute. Last time, I taught her insults. I bury my head in my hands, cringing at my previous actions. Here was someone who only wanted help, and I used her.

And for what? To play a cheap prank on Class A? How could I allow my hatred for Class A to overwhelm my common sense?

Just like I did today, I realize. When I gave my speech for class representative, I completely ignored the fact that I was the only student willing to do everything so we can finally defeat Class A. I completely ignored their feelings and focused only on my own.

"Monoma," Tsuburubu says with worry evident in his voice, "Are you okay, bro?

I raise my head and give him a massive smile. "I'm fine Tsuburuba. In fact, how would you like to train our quirks after helping Pony study Japanese?"

Losing the vote for class representative is only a momentary setback. I will press on from this, until I finally lead Class B to victory.

 

[iamawesome300]

"Okay, Tsuburuba, show me your strongest barrier."

Tsuburuba blows a Solid Air barrier. Pony stares at it with wonder, before poking it.

"Okay. Now Pony, smash it."

Pony pulls her fist back and launches it into Tsuburuba's barrier. It breaks easily.

Tsuburuba looks disheartened.

"Don't worry Tsuburuba, this is all part of the process. I want you to keep making barriers and I want Pony to keep smashing them."

I turn to Pony.

"Pony, every time you smash a barrier, I want you to count how many barriers you smashed in Japanese."

"Got it."

"We'll continue until Tsuburuba tires out."

Tsuburuba blows another barrier. "What happens if Pony tires first?"

"Then I'll smash the barriers."

The process continues. Another number, another barrier. And so on, and so on. We continue until Pony screeches in pain after breaking one.

"Ow! That one akshuhlee hurt to break!"

Tsuburuba is bent over, breathing heavily. "Ha. Finally. Ha. I was afraid. Ha. I would. Ha. Pass out."

"You're doing fine, Tsuburuba. Pony, kick the barriers to break them for now on."

The process continues until Tsuburuba calls it quits.

"That's. Ha. Enough. Ha. At this rate. Ha. I'll be too sore. Ha. For rescue training."

A pit forms in my stomach.

"Um. What was that Tsuburuba? I don't think I heard you correctly."

"The rescue training? We have it tomorrow after Class A."

No, we don't. Our rescue training was postponed because a group of villains attacked U. A. during Class A's session.

"You okay, Monnuhmuh?"

"I'm fine Pony. We should stop now. Tsuburuba is right. We have a big day tomorrow."

Pony and Tsuburuba leave as I wonder what to do about the attack on U. A. Do I convince Principal Nezu to allow Class B to do rescue training before Class A?

I shake my head. No, I will not steal Class A's experiences. I will not stoop to their level. But at the same time, I can't just do nothing.

Alright, I've figured out my plan. Unfortunately, the plan involves talking to Class A. I shudder, but ready myself for the task at hand. Nothing can get in the way of the mission.

I make my way to Class A with a fake smile on my face. I open the doors and search the room for the one I'm looking for.

There she is. The class vice representative of Class A, Yaoyorozu Momo. Kendo often tells me that she's "really nice" and "a good friend". Kendo's full of shit. I know Momo's just an arrogant rich girl who thinks she's too good to talk to Class B, Kendo excluded.

I gently touch her arm, copying her quirk as I do. "Excuse me," she turns and looks at me, "But do you know where Mr. Aizawa is? I was sent to ask him something."

"He's probably in the office right now."

I tell her "Thank you." I want to tell her "Please die."

I escape the lion's den and take a deep breath. That might have hurt me greatly, but it was worth it for her quirk.

I exit the school and quickly find an area where I know there are no cameras. I use Momo's quirk to create a voice changer, like Shinso had in joint training.

And then I double over in pain because I forgot how much it hurts to her quirk with low body fat.

Recovering from that, I put the voice changer in my bag and set out for a phone booth. I know the location of one that has no cameras around.

I stop in front of the phone booth before entering it, mentally preparing myself for the next step.
Alright, time to send a message.

I put on the voice changer and dial Principal Nezu's phone number.

"You've reached the number of Principal Nezu of U. A. Please wait and he will be with you as soon as possible."

I'll wait as long as it takes.

"Hello, this is Principal Nezu."

"I know that All Might is injured and losing his quirk." I say in Nezu's own voice.

Nezu is quiet, before responding after a moment.

"If this is a prank-"

"It isn't, and you're going to want to listen to what I have to say. Tomorrow, during the hero classes' rescue training, a group of villains will teleport into the USJ."

"Then we'll have to cancel rescue training."

"No. You need to let rescue training happen. The villains won't attack if it's canceled. Call as many heroes as you can prepare for the attack, but do not cancel rescue training. This is an opportunity to put a large number of villains behind bars."

Nezu again remains silent. "Is there anything else you wish to tell us?" he finally says.

"Yes. The leader of the villains is an agent of All For One named Tomura Shigaraki. His other name is Tenko Shimura. I'm sure All Might will be very interested to learn that information. In any case, his quirk allows him to disintegrate anything by touching it with five fingers on one hand. He is recognizable by his gray hair and the large number of hands he wears as accessories."

"Is that all?"

"Yes. Please do what I say with this information. There is more at stake here than just the lives of U. A. students."

I hang up the phone. Well, it's out of my hands now. I only hope that Principal Nezu will listen. It might not be the flashiest solution to the problem, but sometimes the simplest solution is best.

The next day I sit in class as the lockdown protocols activate, just like what happened last time.

Perfect. Nezu was willing to listen to me. Now all there is to do is wait until the lockdown is over. I wonder what heroes were called in for the battle. All Might raided the League of Villains hideout with Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods, so I expect them to be there. Endeavor is a workaholic, so he might not have the patience for something like this. Then again, he did take time away from being a hero to watch Todoroki in the Sports Festival. So, he might get involved just because he's a loving father.

I look around the room to see how my classmates are handling the lockdown. Komori is panicking. Kendo and Shoda are both trying to calm her down. Pony looks a bit nervous but is otherwise fine. Most of the other students just look bored, except for Kodai, who has no reaction as always.

The lockdown ends. Earlier than it did last time, which I take as a good sign. We push our way out of the classroom into the crowded hallway.

Everyone seems to be surrounding a single person. I push forward to try and see who it is. Once I break into the circle, I'm greeted with a Kaminari that's flirting with Shiozaki.

Some things don't change I suppose. Anyway, I'm just happy I can get the information by talking to the least awful member of Class A.

"I wasn't scared at all, you know? I could have defeated a whole group of those villains by shooting my electricity at them."

"So, you didn't actually fight any villains?" I interrupt.

The smile drains from Kaminari's face. "Well, no, but I still would have beaten them."

"Thank heavens you are okay." says Shiozaki, hands clasped in prayer.

"Did all of the villains get defeated?" I ask Kaminari.

"Nah. The leader of the guys teleported when he saw how many heroes he was up against. Wish I could have seen his face. Snipe said he totally freaked out."

Shigaraki escaped, how unfortunate. Ah well, at least my main goal was accomplished. Class A was prevented from receiving combat experience before the Sports Festival.

 

[iamawesome300]

I enter homeroom to the sounds of chatter. My classmates are talking about the attack that occurred during Class A's rescue training. I take my seat and wait for class to begin.

Mr. Vlad enters afterwards. He motions for us to quiet down before speaking.

"The Sports Festival is in two weeks. You all understand how important this is."

The class is even louder than it was before. Everyone grows in excitement for the coming festival.

"The festival will be an excellent test for our skills as heroes," says Rin.

Kamakiri stares at his palm before balling a fist. "I hope I get a chance to fight strong opponents."

"I will pray for our class's success in the festival." says Shiozaki.

"Thank you Shiozaki," announces Kendo, before turning to the class as a whole. "I know that Class B has been working hard in all of our classes, and I also know that we will have an amazing time at the festival. Let's keep working hard so that we grow to our best before the festival begins."

Her speech receives some light applause before we turn to Mr. Vlad and prepare for the day's classes.

After lunch, I return to class fully prepared to sit through some boring lesson I've already heard, when Tetsu enters the room with a furious look on his face. He stands in front of the podium, shaking with anger, trying to calm himself down enough to speak.

"Tetsu?" Kendo asks concerned, "Are you all right?"

"I… just went to Class A." he says, the words exiting his mouth like it hurts to speak, "To see how strong they were before the Sports Festival. And… The leader of the class… Didn't even think we were worth speaking to. He called us 'extras.'"

Shoda flinches. "Uh, he said what? We weren't worth speaking to?"

Tsuburuba turns his head to me. "Wait, didn't Monoma say that Class A was full of arrogant people?"

The whole class follows his lead and turns to me. I try to wipe the smile off of my face to stand in righteous anger together with Tetsu, but I'm too happy that the class has finally understood how right I am.

Kendo looks around the class before growing a worried look on her face. She raises her hands as some measure of defense. "Listen, Tetsu just had a bad first impression with Class A. They're probably a group of good people."

Kuroiro grunts "But then why call us worthless? They clearly think they're too good for us, just like Monoma said."

Kendo's look turns from worry to fear, she's obviously aware of how she's losing the class. "Like I said, it's probably just a bad first impression, I'm sure if we get to know them, we'll realize that."

"But why should we get to know them?" Kuroiro continues, "They clearly don't want to get to know us."

"Pride is a sin." says Shiozaki in the harshest tone she's capable of, what most people would still consider a gentle voice.

Kendo takes a look around the class, only to find a classroom full of angry faces. Even Bondo, gentle giant that he is, has a look of pure anger on his face. "Well, we should…" she falters, failing to find the words.

"What we should do," I say, standing with a palm on my head, "is come up with a plan to destroy Class A at the Sports Festival."

"Monoma's right." says Kamakiri. "The only way arrogant people ever learn is through failure."

Kendo winces. "I understand the need for competition but-"

"They think we're worthless." says Komori, eyes visible for the first time all year. Her eyes are filled with rage.

Kendo sits down, still in shock, probably because of the arrogance of Class A.

"Here's what we're going to do," I announce, "We're going to stick together at the Sports Festival. Any time someone from another class tries to stop us," I flash a bright smile to the class, "we're going to tear them apart."

I've been waiting so long for this Sports Festival. And soon enough, the day arrives.

We change into our gym uniforms before taking to the field under the commentary of Present Mic.

Midnight is standing on a raised platform. She swipes her whip to the side and gives her announcement.

"Representing the students is Katsuki Bakugo from Class A!"

My body is shaking. I already know what Bakugo is going to say and the knowledge that I will soon be able to break him down into nothing brings me infinite joy.

"Hey, Monoma?" Tsuburuba asks. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Tsuburuba. I just can't wait for the competition."

Bakugo steps up to the platform and speaks into the microphone.

"Make no mistake. I'm going to be number one."

The mood of the classes turns negative, as all of them scream insults at Bakugo. Class B becomes even angrier, if that's possible.

"You'll all make great stepping-stones." he finishes, before walking off the platform.

Midnight announces the obstacle race. No need to change tactics here, the plan was a success last time as well. We get the same result as last time. Every student from Classes A and B make it in, as well as Shinso and the girl from the support courses.

Midnight moves on to announce the Cavalry Battle.

The Cavalry Battle, as I understand, is secretly the most important part of the Sports Festival. It's important for taking out any bad matchups you foresee. Especially since it's so chaotic with everything you need to keep track of.

I motion for Class B to huddle up. "Listen, do you guys all see that guy with purple hair?" I point to Shinso so everyone can notice him. "He has a mind control quirk. It activates if you verbally respond to anything he says. Do not speak to him."

I hate to have to mess with Shinso like this, but I need Shoda working at his peak if I can defeat Class A.

We break up the huddle as groups start to form.

"Tsuburuba," I motion to him, "I want you on my team."

He nods and moves closer to me.

"And me too!" says Pony, also joining the team.

"Wonderful." Now all we need is a fourth teammate. I look around to see who's left.
The girls formed the same team as last time. As well as Tetsu's group. Kuroiro and Kaibara have replaced Tsuburuba and me with Shishida and Rin. Kamakiri joins Team Kodai, as it's the only other team with a free spot.

That just leaves Shoda. "Shoda," I speak to him, "Join up with us. We're the only ones left."

Shoda frowns, evidently not wanting to join my team, but a look around the field shows that we're truly his only option.

He sighs. "Alright Monoma, I'll join your team."

The buzzer sounds and all the teams take their place on the field. I take a deep breath before looking at the enemies I need to face.

Okay. I'm ready.

 

[iamawesome300]

"Start!"

The teams head for Midoriya first, same as last time. Also the same as last time, I take advantage of the chaos to grab the invisible girl's headband.

The combined points push my team into third place. I take a moment to survey the battlefield. Teams Bakugo and Mineta are still trying to take the first-place headband. Shinso is lying back at the edge of the field, having replaced Shoda with the frog girl. Team Kendo is running from him, having taken his headband. I have no idea how she managed that.

The last time, I lost to Bakugo because I underestimated his anger at anyone who ever injures him. So, this time I won't fight him. Not yet anyway. I know this round's target.

I look down to speak to my team. "Guys, go by Kendo."

We start moving toward her. I raise my hand as we get closer.

Kendo notices our movements and grows her hands to protect her headbands.

But my hand doesn't go anywhere near her, I move past her to touch Tokage.

"Hey! What are you-"

I turn to Team Todoroki and shoot my hand at him. I grab one of his headbands, sending him to fifth place. His eyes go wide in shock, before trying to freeze the hand. He fails, and I recall my hand, putting the headband with the others.

"Tsuburuba, make a wall!"

We create two big Solid Air barriers just as a wall of ice slams into it.

"Maneuver out of the way of the ice, we need to see where he is."

We get out of the way with enough time to notice Todoroki covering his team with a tarp that Momo created. Knowing what's coming next, I tilt my head up and create a Solid Air Prison around my team. Kaminari's electricity crashes all around us, as other teams scream from the electrocution.

"Whoa, Monoma!" Tsuburuba exclaims, "How did you come up with that move?"

You'd be the one to know.

I dissipate the Solid Air Prison as Todoroki throws off the tarp. Noticing that we're still uninjured, he narrows his brows and turns to speak to Iida. I make the next Solid Air barrier, as Iida prepares to charge at us.

"Pony, shoot Iida's legs."

Pony lowers her head and fires her horns at Iida, hitting one of his mufflers, bending it. It slows him down, but not enough. I stare at the advancing team through the Solid Air barrier, trying to think of a solution.

I wonder…

"Twin Impact!" I shout as the Solid Air flies toward Todoroki like a glass panel being shot from a cannon. The barrier slams into his face, forcing Iida to stop and help stabilize the formation.

Todoroki recovers from the blow, glaring at me with a bleeding forehead and messed up hair.

Perfect! Why not try that again?

I make another air barrier, firing Twin Impact immediately after creating it. Todoroki's face turns to fear as he sees it coming, raising his hand to and shooting it with his fire quirk.

Todoroki once again turns to me. This time, the angry glare being replaced with a look of raw fury. He turns to Iida, who again begins charging at us. Todoroki raises his other hand preparing to create more ice to-

"TIME'S UP!" screams Present Mic.

Iida stops charging. Todoroki gets off of him. My team lowers me down as we all breathe out now that the cavalry battle is over.

"LET'S ANNOUNCE THE TOP FOUR TEAMS RIGHT AWAY! IN FIRST PLACE, TEAM MIDORIYA!"

So Midoriya was able to keep Bakugo away from the first-place headband. Interesting.

"IN SECOND PLACE, TEAM SHINSO!"

What? No! Damn it, Tetsu! I told you what you had to do!

"IN THIRD PLACE, TEAM MONOMA!"

"Woohoo!" shout Tsuburuba and Pony, "Go us!"

"IN FOURTH PLACE, TEAM BAKUGO!"

I turn to look at Team Bakugo. They only have one headband, the one they started with. Those idiots really spent the whole cavalry battle only fighting each other?

"THESE FOUR TEAMS WILL ADVANCE TO THE FINAL ROUND!"

Todoroki comes up to me and grabs my shirt. "Follow me. We need to have a conversation. Now."

What does the half-baked prince want with me now?

He leads me into one of the stadium entrances, before turning around and leaning against the wall. He says nothing, only staring at me. If he thinks I'll break first, then he's wrong. I'm the most stubborn person I've met.

"I was overpowered." He finally says. "To the point I broke my pledge."

"What pledge?"

"Endeavor is my father. He has been stuck in the number two position for forever."

"So what?"

Todoroki grits his teeth before continuing. "He is a man filled with ambition. Because of his ambition, he created me to become number one when he couldn't. It's disgusting." Todoroki balls his fist. "I don't want to be a tool to scum like him."

Oh please. "Waah! Let's all shed a tear for Todoroki! Why, sometimes, his daddy has expectations of him! What's a poor spoiled little rich boy to do?"

Todoroki has a blank expression on his face. "He… caused my mother… to have a mental breakdown."

"I don't care. Go be a whiny little shit somewhere else because I don't want to hear it."

Todoroki's entire body is shaking. "She… She burned me."

"Oh, for fucks sake! Open your eyes! That eye does still work, doesn't it? It's hard to tell because I don't keep track of the details of such unimportant people."

"What's your problem? I just wanted to win the festival without using his quirk!"

"That's why you didn't use your fire quirk? To piss off your dad? You egotistical piece of shit! Don't you realize how many people would kill for a quirk like that?"

Todoroki is stunned. "I… I had to show that I don't need him."

"Oh, you want to show you don't need your dad? Why don't you leave his house then? Find somewhere else to live?"

Todoroki starts sliding down the wall, grabbing his knees and sitting. "I… I-"

"You don't actually care. You're just a little baby throwing a temper tantrum. Why don't you just grow up and realize how much better you have it than most people?"

Todoroki is clinging to the wall, completely unable to look at me.

"God, what a spoiled brat." I say, before leaving to find my classmates.

I sit down in Class B's section of the stadium. Tsuburuba turns to me.

"Hey Monoma, what did Todoroki want?"

"A shoulder to cry on."

I turn to look at Midnight. She speaks into her microphone, calling us down to decide the pairings for the tournament.

"If the first-place team-"

"Um, hold on a second!"

Everyone turns to face the interrupting student.

"I'm withdrawing from the competition."

Shit! I forgot about the tail boy!

"I'm sorry, I just can't stand amongst people who gave their all, when I don't even remember how I got there."

Midnight swipes her whip to the side. "I see. In that case a student from the fifth-place team will be moved up."

No…

We all turn to Team Todoroki.

Iida speaks first. "As class representative, it is my duty to support my classmates completely. I will allow another to take the spot."

Fuck! Why do you have to be so self-sacrificing, Iida?

Momo speaks next. "As class vice representative, I echo his sentiments."

You too? Kaminari, please. Don't just give it to him.

Kaminari kicks the dirt. "I want to compete and all, but I know that Todoroki would do way better than me."

God damn that animal-tailed prick! Why does he have to have a moral code? Why can't he just be a selfish bastard like most of Class A?

I slump my shoulders as the bracket begins to form. Am I the only person who doesn't want to give Todoroki one of the few things he doesn't have?

I shake my head and look at the brackets. Whatever, I can move on from this.

"Mina Ashido vs. Pony Tsunotori"

Hopefully, Pony will win. I don't think Ashido is too strong for her.

"Shoto Todoroki vs. Tsuyu Asui"

… I still can't believe they gave that bastard the spot.

"Nirengeki Shoda vs. Hitoshi Shinso"

Shoda already knows Shinso's quirk, so this is an easy victory for Shoda.

"Fumikage Tokoyami vs. Ochako Uraraka"

I don't care who wins, I'm just glad we're losing another member of Class A.

"Eijiro Kirishima vs. Izuku Midoriya"

I wonder if Kirishima has a chance of winning?

"Yuga Aoyama vs. Katsuki Bakugo"

I wonder if Aoyama has a chance of living?

"Hanta Sero vs. Kosei Tsuburuba"

If Tsuburuba uses his brain, then he wins. So, I'm predicting a Sero victory.

"Mei Hatsume vs. Neito Monoma"

Hatsume? I have to fight Hatsume? I don't know anything about Hatsume! How am I supposed to fight her?

I start forming a strategy for how I'll defeat Hatsume.

 

[iamawesome300]

"Monoma, do you have any advice for fighting Ashido?"

I turn to Pony. She has a look of worry on her face. I cross my arms, preparing an answer.

"Well, I know that Ashido weakens her quirk due to its lethality."

"Like Kamakiri?"

I nod. "Like Kamakiri. Normally, she only uses her acid on the ground, boosting her mobility like a pair of ice skates. She also squirts it at faces, more of an attempt to stun than injure."

"So, what do you think I should do?"

I breathe out. "Don't let her get close to you. Her acid allows her to move much faster than you, so it will be difficult fighting her at close range. Try and fight her with just your horns. You want this to be more of a fight between Ashido and your horns than Ashido and you."

"Okay. Thanks Monoma."

Pony takes her spot in the arena. Across from her is Ashido, stretching her muscles.

"READY?" comes the voice of Present Mic, "START!"

Pony charges hands and feet toward Ashido. Taking note of this, Ashido sprays her acid in front of Pony, causing her to trip, continuing toward Ashido in an uncontrolled slide.

Damn it, Pony! I said to stay away from her!

Pony reaches Ashido, who kicks her, sending her toward the arena boundary. Pony recovers enough to use her quirk, sending her horns out behind her to stop her just before the line. Realizing Pony isn't out of bounds, Ashido skates her way toward her, hoping to end this quickly. Pony moves her horns in front of her, sending them into Ashido. Ashido lands on her back, standing up as Pony's horns come back around around for another blow. Ashido notices the horns, melting them with her acid before skating back toward Pony. Before Ashido makes it toward her, Pony grows two new horns and shoots them into Ashido. Standing up once again, Ashido has a look of confusion on her face, soon replacing it with one of realization.

Shit, she figured out how Pony's horns work.

Ashido skates her way to Pony, dodging the horns before launching a punch that knocks down Pony. Ashido strikes Pony again, landing a few more blows, until skating away when the horns return. She dodges the horns, doubling back and continuing her attack on Pony.

Damn it. This is exactly what I was afraid of. Ashido is ignoring the horns and focusing entirely on Pony.

Ashido kneels on top of her, landing punch after punch on Pony, currently lying in a pool of her own blood.

Shit, Pony's horns won't make it to her in time.

Pony screams, growing a third horn from her bleeding scalp and firing it directly into Ashido. Ashido flies off of Pony, landing outside the arena.

"Ashido is out of bounds! Tsunotori advances to round two!"

The crowd cheers. I get out of my seat. I want to check on Pony before the next match.

I manage to get her just as she's leaving Recovery Girl's office.

"I didn't know you were capable of creating three horns yet."

"Neither did I. But I realized it was my only chance of victory, even if it hurt like hell to use."

She smiles. It looks awkward with the large bruise on her cheek.

"It's good to see you're okay. Let's go back and watch the next match."

We sit down just as Todoroki and Asui enter the arena. Present Mic gets ready to announce.

"READY? START!"

Todo waves his hand as a flurry of snowflakes fly by Asui.

Why such a minor attack?

Asui rubs her eyes and yawns, curling herself in a ball as she lies down on the floor.

"Asui has fallen asleep! Todoroki advances to the next round!"

"What the hell was that? She just fell asleep on the battlefield!"

Shishida coughs. "Erm, Monoma sir. I believe that I may be able to explain what has occurred."

I turn to Shishida, awaiting his explanation.

"Well, Monoma sir, you see, people who have animal quirks also have certain characteristics of the animal their quirk is based off of."

"Meaning?"

Shishida coughs again. "Todoroki sir activated Asui miss's hibernation instinct when he used his quirk. This is as to why she has passed out."

Damn it! Talk about an unlucky match up.

I sink into my chair. Whatever, at least a member of Class B is guaranteed victory in the next match.

Shoda's match ends as soon as it starts, with Shinso being unceremoniously dragged out of bounds. It was an obvious victory. Shinso had no chance of winning the second I told Shoda his quirk.

Shoda comes back to the stands to widespread applause.

"You did it Shoda!" Bondo cheers. "That's two members of Class B in round two!"

I nod. "Absolutely. Class B is gonna win the whole thing."

Uraraka and Tokoyami make their way to the arena. The winner of this match will fight Shoda.

"THE FOURTH MATCH, START!"

Uraraka begins by charging toward Tokoyami who manifests Dark Shadow to defend. Uraraka touches Dark Shadow with her fingertips, sending it floating upward. Tokoyami retracts Dark Shadow to dispel Uraraka's quirk, while Uraraka takes the opportunity to touch Tokoyami himself. Tokoyami manifests Dark Shadow once again, having it dig its claws into the ground, preventing him from floating away. Dark Shadow swipes at Uraraka, keeping her at a distance.

I had no idea that Uraraka would put Tokoyami on the defensive.

Uraraka touches Dark Shadow once more, forcing Tokoyami to rapidly retract and manifest it. Dark Shadow again attacks Uraraka, this time connecting. Tokoyami has gotten used to moving in this strange manner and advances on Uraraka, using Dark Shadow as makeshift legs. Dark Shadow dodges Uraraka's next attack, smacking her across the arena. Uraraka tries to stand, but she's too late, as Dark Shadow strikes her again, finally sending her out of bounds.

"Uraraka is out of bounds! Tokoyami advances to the next round!"

Kirishima and Midoriya take their spots in the arena. Superpower is a difficult quirk to predict. Midoriya can win this match easily if he goes all out. But that's the problem, if he goes all out, there's no telling how much damage he'll cause to himself. So, the question is, how much power will Kirishima force him to use?

"READY? START!"

Kirishima starts by running toward Midoriya, who seems to be thinking about something. Before Kirishima reaches him, Midoriya flicks one of the fingers on his right hand, sending a large wave of pressure to Kirishima. Kirishima, kneels due to the force, but is back up after a second. Midoriya flicks another finger at Kirishima, the first one broken from his quirk. This time Kirishima is knocked off balance, which Midoriya exploits by running toward him and launching a full force punch into Kirishima, sending him flying to the edge of the arena. Midoriya is breathing heavily, waiting to see if Kirishima is unconscious. Surprisingly, Kirishima starts moving, struggling to stand up after such an attack. Midoriya has a look of shock on his face, before growing a sharp look of resolve and advancing on Kirishima. Kirishima finally stands, preparing his guard and running at Midoriya, determined to finish the match. Midoriya pulls back his unbroken arm, throwing his final punch at Kirishima, knocking him to the ground. He doesn't get up.

"Kirishima is unconscious! Midoriya advances to round two!"

Midoriya falls to the ground, unconscious as well.

Heh. Really made him work for that victory, huh Kirishima?

Bakugo and Aoyama replace them in the arena. Aoyama has a look of abject horror on his face.

"THE SIXTH MATCH, START!"

Bakugo creates explosions behind him propelling him toward Aoyama. He moves his hands in front, preparing to fire at Aoyama.

He doesn't get a chance. Aoyama throws his arms over his head and ducks to the ground.

"I surrender!"

Bakugo stops short before Aoyama, a shocked look on his face. That face soon turns to anger.

"Aoyama has surrendered! Bakugo advances to the next round!"

"Who do you think you are, surrendering to me? Get back over here and fight me!" screams Bakugo, before continuing his flight to Aoyama.

Bakugo once again stops short, this time falling to the ground surrounded by Midnight's mist.

The crowd reacts in horror, but I just laugh. Bakugo's bloodthirst is merely comedic at this point.

Tsuburuba stand up to walk to his match. "Monoma, any last minute advice for me?"

"Hmm. Sero's tape grants him increased mobility. You'll want to cut him off from that."

"How do I do that?"

"Get up close to him. Only use your Solid Air to block his tape. You don't want to give him anything else to stick to. You're stronger than him, so don't let him fling you out of the arena."

"Got it."

Tsuburuba goes down to the arena. If he wins, then I'll have to fight him next round. I don't want to fight him, but at least a member of Class B will advance.

Tsuburuba stand across from Sero in the arena. They both have smug smiles.

I lower my head, I already know how this is going to go.

"READY? START!"

Sero shoots his tape at Tsuburuba, who creates a Solid Air wall to block it. After that, both of their smiles turn blank. They stand there for a moment, doing nothing, the telltale sign of someone just realizing that getting what they want will be harder than they thought. Sero recoils his tape, pulling himself toward Tsuburuba. Tsuburuba stands behind his wall watching Sero to see what to do next. Sero stares back at him before looking at the top of the air barrier. Sero smiles, before firing his tape to the top of the barrier pulling himself up. Tsuburuba panics, making an air barrier at the top, perpendicular to the one he already made.

No, Tsuburuba! You've boxed yourself in!

Sero climbs on top of the barrier, before jumping up and down on the see-through ceiling. Cracks begin to form on the barrier, as Tsuburuba continues his panic.

It's no use. If Tsuburuba tries to escape, Sero will use his tape to incapacitate him.

Tsuburuba looks up, raising his guard to prepare for Sero's attack. Sero breaks through the barrier, kicking Tsuburuba in the head, sending him out of bounds.

"Tsuburuba is out of bounds! Sero advances to round two!"

That match was a complete mess. If Tsuburuba didn't trap himself, or if Sero charged Tsuburuba from the beginning it would have been a much better showing on either of their parts. As it stands, that was a match decided by who failed less.

"Monoma," says Pony. "You're up."

I know. And now I have to figure out how to beat Hatsume.

Before reaching the arena, Hatsume turns to me.

"Hey! Monoma, right? I just wanted to give you these support items to make our match more fair."

"Yeah, right! More like make me advertise your junk!"

She flares up, offended. "These aren't junk, these are my babies!"

"Whatever." I say turning to the arena. "Make our match more fair." How did Iida fall for that shit?

I take my place standing across from Hatsume. She's wearing her equipment from when she "fought" Iida.

Present Mic's voice is heard all around the stadium. "READY? START!"

Hatsume jumps into the air with her jetpack and hover shoes as I use Scales to shoot a torrent of projectiles at her.

"These electromagnetic shoes allow for instant evasion!"

"Stop talking to them! I'm your opponent!"

I shoot my hand using Lizard Tail Splitter to rip the microphone off her head. She turns to look at me with an angry face, before firing her grappling hook. It hits the ground behind me as she uses its winch to pull herself to me, raising her gauntlets as she does. She clashes against Steel, creating a shockwave that causes me to stumble.

"I would have let you won, you know." She says pulling out her net gun. "All you had to do was help me sell my babies."

"And humiliate myself in front of the entire world? Not fucking likely!"

She aims her gun and fires the net. It travels quickly, but I catch it with Poltergeist before sending it back to her.

It catches her by surprise, wrapping around her to the point she can barely move. I grab the net and begin dragging her out of the arena.

"Congratulations Hatsume." I say sarcastically. "You truly have made a powerful support item."

"My babies! Why have you forsaken me?"

I toss the net over the line as Midnight swings her whip.

"Hatsume is out of bounds! Monoma advances to the next round!"

 

[iamawesome300]

I wake up in a bed in Recovery Girl's office.

"Hey, Midoriya! Don't you know it's rude to wake up after the guy you beat?"

I turn to the bed next to me.

"Oh, sorry Kirishima. I wasn't expecting you to push me that far."

"I'm glad I did. That fight was manly as hell!"

I think over the tournament so far.

Ashido was defeated by Pony from Class B, whose quirk lets her shoot and control her horns. Todoroki exploited Tsuyu's instincts to defeat her.

I shiver. Todoroki looked really scary when he came back from talking to Monoma from Class B.

Shinso was dragged out of bounds by Shoda. Apparently, Class B had somehow figured out he had a mind control quirk. Uraraka and Tokoyami fought each other, with Tokoyami taking the victory.

I'm disappointed that Uraraka lost, but hopefully the strong showing she gave against Tokoyami will help her find a good hero agency internship.

"Ah, Kirishima. What happened after our match?"

"Well, uh, Bakugo defeated Aoyama, but it wasn't pretty."

"Oh no, is Aoyama okay?"

Kirishima waves his arms. "Ah, no, Aoyama's uninjured. It's just…"

"Just?"

Kirishima swallows. "It's just, Bakugo kinda lost it when Aoyama surrendered. He got really mad about not being able to fight." Kirishima turns away. "He had to be knocked out by Midnight."

That's horrifying! Kacchan has always been really competitive, so a surrender must have made him furious.

"Sero managed to beat that air blowing guy." Kirishima continues. "He climbed on top of the wall and broke through it to beat him."

Interesting. He must have hit it really hard. They took a lot to destroy from what I saw in the cavalry battle.

"Ah, and the copy guy beat the girl from the support course."

"Really? How did he beat Hatsume?"

"He stole Tetsu's quirk and used it to block Hatsume's attacks. When Hatsume tried shooting him with a net, he used some kind of telekinesis to send it back to her."

Telekinesis? I wonder which member of Class B has that quirk. Fighting Monoma seems to be pretty difficult. You don't have to keep in mind one quirk, you have to keep in mind all of Class B's quirks.

Class B…

We never really thought about Class B before the Sports Festival. It turns out they're really strong. Especially that Monoma guy. He managed to take a headband from Hagakure when she was distracted and he even managed to take one from Todoroki of all people. He really looks determined to win the whole thing.

I'm snapped out of my thinking by the sounds of an argument outside.

"You really need to teach your students some restraint!"

"My humblest apologies. I wasn't expecting them to fight so hard."

"You weren't expecting that?" says Recovery Girl, slamming the door open, "How could you not? They only have three Sports Festivals in their lifetime! Of course they would fight hard!"

All Might enters the room in a hunched over pose. "Ah! Young Midoriya, you're awake."

"Yes, is something wrong All Might?"

"What's wrong," Recovery Girl interrupts, "is that both your arms are broken! Self-inflicted!"

I look down at both my arms. Wait, that sleep wasn't from Recovery Girl's quirk? That was just me?

"I'm going to have you taken out of the tournament."

"NO!" screams Kacchan, knocking down the office door.

"Bakugo, were you spying on us?" asks a concerned Kirishima.

"I was just making sure my next opponent was able to fight!" he says before turning around.

Recovery Girl turns to him "Midoriya isn't in any condition to fight a match, Bakugo."

"Well, can't you heal him? Isn't that what you do?"

"I'm strong enough to fight another match." I say before sitting up

"No you aren't." she says to me before turning back to Kacchan. "Using my quirk takes his energy. He'll be too exhausted to fight."

"Well, can't you give him adrenaline or steroids, or something?"

"I'm not drugging Midoriya so you can have a fight with him."

"Why not?" Kacchan wails at the ceiling.

"I'm perfectly fine with that."

Recovery Girl smacks the back of my head. "Stop encouraging him!"

I turn to All Might. "Help me convince her."

All Might crosses his arms in the "don't involve me in this" gesture.

Kacchan stomps his foot on the ground. "What am I supposed to do without a second round opponent?"

"What are you supposed to do?" Recovery Girl repeats, "Well, I assume you would win the second round without a fight."

Kacchan's scream could be heard from orbit.

 

[iamawesome300]

I exit the arena and climb my way back up to the seats. Turning a corner, I bump into a large man. Oh shit, that's Endeavor.

Endeavor narrows his eyes and turns to speak to me.

"You were the one who stole one of Shoto's headbands in the cavalry battle."

"Y-yeah."

Man, Endeavor really has an intimidating presence.

"You and my son are in adjacent brackets. I have no doubt that with such a powerful quirk, you will win and fight Shoto in the semi-finals."

Powerful? It's hard to think of any adults that have called my quirk powerful. Only Mr. Vlad comes to mind.

"Thank you! Hearing such words from the number two hero is high praise indeed!"

Endeavor twitches. "Yes…" He loses his words, staring off into the distance.

He turns back to me. "My son is currently in his rebellious phase. Fighting you might be enough to teach him a lesson."

I smile, hoping I realize what he's implying. "You want me to fight hard enough that he needs to use his fire quirk, the one he inherited from you? I can't promise he'll use it but I'll try my best to make that happen. I'll do what I can to make him see through his egotistical behavior."

Endeavor smiles back at me. I don't think I've ever seen him smile before. "It's good to know that there are students who understand the type of mentality necessary for being a hero."

Man, a lot of people who meet Endeavor always say he's a bit of an asshole in person, but he seemed really cool.

I'm greeted at the stands with a hero's welcome.

"Woohoo!" Pony shouts, "Go Monoma!"

"Congratulations." says a smiling Tokage, "You beat that girl handily."

"No, no. I don't deserve this much praise. It was only because of your quirks that I was able to defeat Hatsume."

"You won." says a downbeat Tsuburuba, "That was more than what I could do."

I replace the smile of my face with a stare of determination. "Don't worry Tsuburuba. I'll defeat that Class A bastard next."

Tsuburuba gives a small nod before returning to his hunched over posture.

Now that the obligatory celebrations are over with, everyone returns to their seat, except for Pony. She's pressing her fingers together and wearing an anxious look.

"Monoma, I'm fighting Todoroki next."

"Yes…"

She looks straight at me and balls her fists. "Do you have any strategies for beating him?"

"Hmm. When you start the match, use your horns to fly out of Todoroki's range. Like Hatsume with her hover shoes."

"Is that it?"

"Todoroki is very strong. You'll have to fight him with hit and run tactics."

Pony walks down to the arena, standing across from Todoroki.

"PONY VERSUS TODOROKI! START!"

Pony does as I told her and flies into the air using her horns. Todoroki raises his hand and shoots ice from it. He creates a glacier in the arena, with Pony as a centerpiece.

I smash my hand against my seat. I underestimated his abilities. I told Pony to stay out of Todoroki's range, but apparently, there is no "out of Todoroki's range."

"Pony is incapacitated! Todoroki advances to the third round!"

Pony is welcomed back to the stands with words of consolatory.

"You did the best you could, Pony." Kendo says, patting Pony on the back. "Any one of us would have lost to Todoroki too."

Not me.

Shoda turns to me with a look. He doesn't even need to ask.

"Tokoyami's quirk is weakened by the sun's zenith. Defeating him should be easy. Just make sure to treat Tokoyami and Dark Shadow as separate opponents."

Shoda nods before heading down to the arena.

"SHODA VERSUS TOKOYAMI! START!"

Both Shoda and Tokoyami start charging toward each other. Tokoyami manifests Dark Shadow but, just as I told Shoda, the sun has weakened his strength considerably. Shoda punches Dark Shadow, activating Twin Impact as he goes to punch Tokoyami himself. Another Twin Impact activation and Tokoyami is knocked off his feet. He doesn't have the combat ability he had when he fought in the joint training battle, so Shoda easily continues attacking him until he can no longer stand.

"Tokoyami is incapacitated! Shoda wins!"

Shoda is welcomed back the same way I was.

"Thanks everybody, I never expected to make it this far. I can't believe I made it to the semi-finals!"

Shoda's next opponent is Bakugo… It will be extremely difficult to beat him.

Wait, speaking of Bakugo, why is he heading to the arena? Midoriya was removed from the tournament after his fight with Kirishima, so what is Bakugo doing?

"ATTENTION!" comes the voice of Present Mic, "WE HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT!"

Huh?

"MIDORIYA WAS TOO INJURED TO CONTINUE, BUT BAKUGO STILL WANTS TO FIGHT! A PREVIOUSLY DEFEATED COMPETITOR WILL BE RETURNING TO THE TOURNAMENT!"

Ha, that desperate for a victory, huh, Bakugo?

"HOWEVER, TO KEEP THINGS FAIR FOR THOSE UNDEFEATED, IF THIS COMPETITOR DEFEATS ALL OF THEIR OPPONENTS, THEY WILL NOT COUNT AS THE WINNER FOR THIS TOURNAMENT. PLEASE WELCOME-"

What the hell? Who would be crazy enough to fight Bakugo for no-

"MEI HATSUME!"

Oh.
Tsuburuba shakes his head and smiles. "Man, that girl is determined."

Kendo bites her nails. "More like obsessed!"

What's the difference?

"BAKUGO VERSUS HATSUME! START!"

I lean back in my seat. I want to rest before my match with Sero.

I look back down to the sight of an enraged Bakugo ripping support items off Hatsume.

"Hey, you stay off of my babies!"

"Shut the hell up!"

A few explosions later and Hatsume is sent crashing into the stadium wall. She stands up, bleeding from her head, giving a thumbs up.

"For all of your support item needs…" she sputters out, "Choose… Mei… Hatsume."

She falls to the ground as Midnight swipes her whip.

"Hatsume is out of bounds! Bakugo wins!"

I stand up. Let's get this over with.

Sero has a determined look, a much better one than the smug he previously had. I await Present Mic's announcement.

"MONOMA VERSUS SERO! START!"

The instant the match starts, I blow a Solid Air Prison around Sero. His tape sticks to its wall, while his face grows confused as to what has happened.

I turn to Midnight. "He won't be breaking out of that, so you can call the match."

Midnight tilts her head, looking at the Solid Air Prison with a critical eye. "Sero has three minutes to break the barrier, otherwise the match will be called."

Fair enough. I turn to walk toward Sero, who is currently throwing himself at the barrier, trying to break it. He meets my eye as I reach the prison.

"Don't take this personally. I would have done this to anyone who defeated my classmate. You understand, don't you?"

He ignores me and continues attacking the prison.

"I had to avenge him; you know? You make his quirk look weak, and I can't have that. This is just what happens when you defeat a member of Class B."

"Sero is incapacitated! Monoma wins!"

"Monoma, you did it! You beat him!"

"Thanks Pony."

"Yeah man, you really beat that guy. Although," Tsuburuba starts rubbing his head, "It's a little embarrassing to have someone use your own quirk better than you."

"Don't worry, Tsuburuba. With enough practice, you'll be better at it than I am."

That's the final match of the quarter finals. There's only two rounds before the final match.

First, Shoda will fight Bakugo.

And then...

And then I will fight Todoroki.

 

[iamawesome300]

"Monoma," Shoda speaks to me, "You fulfilled your promise, we're finally equal with Class A."

"Huh?"

"Look at the bracket." he says pointing, "There's two students from Class A and two students from Class B in the final four."

I didn't even notice.

"Let's meet in the finals, Shoda. Show this crowd the strength of Class B."

Shoda looks down. "I'll have to beat Bakugo first."

"Bakugo is a strong opponent, I won't lie to you. But you have abilities that will help you defeat him."

"How? Bakugo will be right on top of the second the match starts."

"He'll try, which is why you need to keep him away at first. Use your quirk to throw projectiles, until he's injured enough to beat in close combat.."

"What projectiles? I only have myself."

"Make them. Use Twin Impact on your starting position and throw pieces of the arena at him."

Shoda thinks for a second before smiling. "Alright Monoma, I'll see if it works."

Shoda makes his way down to the arena as I think about his coming match. Twin Impact is a strong quirk, no doubt. But is it really strong enough to beat Bakugo?

I lean back in my seat. I've made it this far. All I can do now is support my classmate.

"SHODA VERSUS BAKUGO! START!"

Shoda stomps on the ground, activating Twin Impact as Bakugo comes flying toward him. Shoda grabs one of the pieces of rubble and throws it at Bakugo in the same motion, activating Twin Impact again. The rubble slams into Bakugo, knocking him onto the ground. A surprised Bakugo stands up, blasting Shoda's next piece of rubble with Explosion, as Shoda begins running toward Bakugo. Shoda throws another piece of rubble. This time Bakugo dodges instead of trying to shoot it. Shoda throws a punch at Bakugo, barely grazing him, before activating Twin Impact to knock Bakugo off balance. It isn't enough, as Bakugo manages to fire an explosion into Shoda. Lying on the ground, Shoda throws another rubble piece instead of standing up, requiring Bakugo to blow it up instead of advancing on him. Standing across from Bakugo, Shoda throws two rubble pieces at the same time, aiming a bit to his left, forcing Bakugo to dodge to his right, where Shoda lands a direct hit on Bakugo's right shoulder. Bakugo fires another explosion into Shoda before retreating, noticing that Shoda hasn't activated Twin Impact yet. Bakugo slowly advances leading with his left arm, clearly afraid of Shoda activating Twin Impact at an inopportune moment. Shoda picks himself back off the ground, slower than he did the last time. Shoda looks at the nearest piece of rubble before looking at Bakugo, weighing his options for the best plan of attack. Bakugo decides not to give him the chance and turns his right arm behind himself, firing an explosion to draw closer to Shoda. Shoda panics, ducking under Bakugo and jumping with his fists above him, landing a double uppercut on Bakugo's stomach right before Bakugo fires both his hands' explosions point blank into Shoda's back, sending Shoda face first into the arena ground.

It's hard not to wince at the injuries both Shoda and Bakugo have received. Both their uniforms have large holes in them, revealing the bruises Bakugo took from Shoda and heavy burn marks along Shoda's back.

Shoda struggles to flip over to his back, pain clearly visible on his face as he does so. He notices Bakugo coming back around and decides to fire all three of his stored Twin Impacts, sending Bakugo to the ground. Shoda struggles to stand up, landing on his knee the first time he tries. Bakugo is even worse off, needing to use his explosions just to get off the ground. Bakugo tries standing on his feet but collapses again. Shoda has this. He grabs a piece of rubble from next to him and throws it at Bakugo. Bakugo dodges it by fleeing up in the air, before turning to fly past Shoda, a look of fear evident on Bakugo's face. Shoda turns to follow Bakugo's direction and crouches down to prepare to follow Bakugo into the sky. Shoda jumps, activating Twin Impact and launching himself directly toward Bakugo, and preparing to land an overhead blow. Bakugo turns around to see it coming but it's too late! He can't shoot Shoda and fly at the same time! Shoda is going to make contact with Bakugo! Bakugo's face turns to a smile as he shoots below himself, flying over Shoda before firing once more to lower himself to the ground.

What? What was the point of entering the air if you were just gonna go back down again?

Bakugo gently lands sitting down in the arena as a panicked look washes over Shoda's face.

No…

Shoda doesn't have any way to control his movement in the air! He jumped at an angle, he's going to land out of bounds!

I get out of my seat, I need to be there for him.

Shoda's freefall continues with him landing on the ground in a crumpled heap.

"Shoda!"

It's not just me running to the field. Most of Class B has realized what happened and is following me down to the arena.

Present Mic's voice is heard over our heads, but it isn't the same loud bombastic personality he usually has, this time his voice is barely legible. "Sh-Shoda has fallen out of bounds."

"Damn it!" I scream as Present Mic makes obvious what was a subconscious thought.

How could Bakugo pull off something like that? He's always the first to go for direct attacks! Since when is he willing to pretend to flee?

I shake my head. I still barely understand what just happened. Bakugo lured Shoda into the air, only to double back, knowing Shoda would land out of bounds.

In hindsight, Shoda tunnel-visioned. He should have stayed on the ground and thrown rubble at the flying Bakugo.

But, it doesn't matter. Shoda followed Bakugo into the air in the heat of the moment.

Any member of Class B would have fallen for that.

I would have fallen for that.

Since when is Bakugo capable of strategy?

We reach Shoda as the medical robots place him on the stretcher. I turn around when I notice his limbs bending in ways they shouldn't. I hear the sounds of Pony vomiting behind me. Bakugo follows soon after, healthy enough to sit on his stretcher.

"We're… gonna take a break before the next match." says Present Mic.

Thank God.

We follow the stretchers into Recovery Girl's office.

 

[iamawesome300]

Recovery Girl lets us into her office after she gets done patching Shoda up. He has casts on all his limbs as well as bandages where Bakugo's explosions did their damage.

"He was heavily injured." Recovery Girl says. "He'll be asleep for the rest of the day."

No one says anything, we just stand there looking at Shoda. Eventually, Tetsu speaks up.

"Monoma," he says gently. "You gotta get ready for your match."

"I know, I just…"

I just, what? I don't even know what to say.

"Alright. Let's go beat Todoroki."

I stand across from Todoroki in the arena. His face is emotionless.

"MONOMA VERSUS TODOROKI! START!"

Todoroki creates a glacier just like the one he trapped Pony in.

But he doesn't get me.

The cheers of the crowd die down as they look over Todoroki's glacier.

"WAIT, WHERE'S MONOMA? I CAN'T SEE HIM!"

Heh. Aren't you in for a surprise?

I jump out of the ground after swimming behind Todoroki using Softening and quickly slam him in the back with a blunted Razor Sharp.

"WHOA! MONOMA USED SOME TYPE OF BURROWING QUIRK TO GET TO TODOROKI!"

Seriously? You haven't memorized my classmates' quirks by now?

Todoroki turns around preparing to shoot ice when I shout a "BOOM!" at him using Comic. I hit him once more with Razor Sharp before using Softening to swim back underground. I pop up on the other side of the arena, Todoroki turns to me wide-eyed. He blasts a wall of ice toward me, but I shout "MELT!" to quickly evaporate it into water, shouting another "BOOM!" right after. Todoroki is knocked to the ground.

"You know Todoroki," I say, calmly walking toward him, "you would have a lot better chance if you used your second quirk."

Todoroki turns around and glares, before shooting more ice at me. I swim under the arena and pop up behind him, meeting him face to face as he tries to freeze me.

"MELT!" I scream before striking him dead center with Razor Sharp. He falls to the ground spitting up to the side.

"Nice try, Todoroki, but I'm too good for you. Can you even comprehend what it's like to lose to someone who's holding back?"

He shoots another wave of ice at me. I swim under the arena once more, this time hitting the back of his head with Razor Sharp.

"It's humiliating."

I dive into the arena, making it to the other side just as Todoroki stands up. He screams, shooting ice spears into the sky.

"You plan to stop me by destroying the arena itself? That's not enough."

I charge directly at Todoroki as he creates an ice blade around his arm to protect himself. Our blades clash.

"I've got two of these." I say, creating a Razor Sharp in my other hand and striking his shoulder. "If only you had two weapons." Todoroki crys out in pain. "Maybe then this fight would be fair."

Todoroki has abandoned his plan to destroy the arena, standing at the edge, watching to see if I use Softening again.

"BOOM!" Todoroki guards by creating a shield of ice around him. Now he looks angry.

"I'm sorry," I strike another ice blade. "But it's considered very rude to not respond when someone speaks to you!" I shout "BOOM!" directly into Todoroki, who falls down. He screams again, launching another ice wall at me. I activate Steel just in time, lessening the distance I get flung. Todoroki runs to me, breaking an ice gauntlet on my face. I sink into the arena swimming to the other end, when Todoroki creates a layer of ice over it like a skating rink.

He thinks this is enough to stop me? All this will do is slow me down. I swim back to the other side using Softening to push the ice. Todoroki steps back, creating an ice wall in my path. I use Softening to push through it as well. Todoroki makes a mass of ice spears to slam me into the wall.

"MELT!" The wall, the spears, they turn to nothing. Enraged, Todoroki raises his fire arm before realizing what he's doing and replacing it with his ice arm. He sends another wall of ice into me.

I grit my teeth. "Why. Won't. You. Use. Your. Quirk?"

Todoroki speaks for the first time this match. "I don't need to use my father's quirk just to fight you."

"Maybe." I say, smacking him with Razor Sharp again. "But you're not just fighting me." I kick him in the face with a steel foot. "You're fighting all of Class B!"

Todoroki lands on the ground, unmoving.

"Todoroki is unconscious! Monoma wins!"

 

[Dorian]

Yup, taunting is not as effective at motivating others as protagonist-induced talk-no-jutsu. On Bakugo, on the other hand...

 

[iamawesome300]

The roar of the crowd is deafening walking back to the stands. Class B surrounds me as I come back to our section.

Tetsu grabs my arm in a manly handshake. "Monoma, you did it! You're in the finals!"

"Congratulations. The class is proud of your accomplishment." Kamakiri adds.

"Monoma!" Bondo shouts, wrapping me in a massive bear hug, "You're so cool!"

"Bondo," I wheeze out, "You're hurting me."

"Yeah," Tokage snickers, "Put him down. We wouldn't want him to die before his final match."

Bondo lets go of me before apologizing for hurting me. The whole class convinces him it's fine.

The final match. I've been waiting for this.

"THE FINAL MATCH! NEITO MONOMA VERSUS KATSUKI BAKUGO! START!"

It's not enough to defeat Bakugo.

It's not enough to humiliate Bakugo.

I need to break him down to nothing.

Bakugo aims his arms behind him and fires an explosion, launching him to the center of the arena. He tries to make another explosion, but fails. He brings his arms back in front to look at his palms.

Ha! That confused look on his face is priceless! He has no idea what's happened!

I run up to punch Bakugo in the face. No steel this time, I want to feel every blow I make. Bakugo can dance around me with his quirk, but without it I'm much faster.

After being punched out of his confusion, Bakugo recovers, swinging a fist that I brush off to the side. I counter by elbowing him with my right arm. Bakugo's fury has returned. He swings much faster with his other arm, forcing me to dodge to the right.

Present Mic finally figures out what has happened. "MONOMA HAS BLOCKED BAKUGO'S QUIRK SOMEHOW!"

Bakugo stands back, assessing the situation. I advance with a smile. I want to show him that he's nothing to be scared of. Bakugo throws up his guard, but I easily move past it with a feint kick into a right hook. Bakugo is stunned but he manages to stay on his feet. I follow up my punch by tackling him, knocking him on the ground. He's defenseless now. I slam my foot into the side of his head. He tries to protect himself from my attacks by curling into a ball. No! I will not let you recover! I stomp on his face again and again, my smile becoming a large grin when I see the blood pouring out of the side of his head. How does it feel, Bakugo? How does it feel to finally be on the bottom? In between stomps, Bakugo wipes the sweat off his forehead before grabbing my leg and activating Explosion. I'm forced to use Steel to protect myself.

"Damn you!" I scream pulling back from him. He figured out I didn't stop his quirk, only his hands!

I look down at my leg, it's uninjured thanks to Tetsu's quirk, but my pant leg is destroyed. I wanted to defeat him only using Komori's quirk and my hands. That bastard forced me to use my backup plan!

I turn to glare at Bakugo, who is already getting up from the ground. NO. You will not win this!

I use Komori's quirk to grow mushrooms inside Bakugo's lungs. He falls to his knees winded. If he has enough air to kneel, then he has too much air. I use Komori's quirk again, this time Bakugo falls to the ground. I stand over him, superior. Bakugo has tears streaming down his face, the sound of him struggling to breathe music to my ears. I continue my attacks from before, beating him into the arena again and again. I wish I could be like this forever, it's such a dreamlike experience. But my dream soon ends, as Midnight pulls me off Bakugo before medical robots drag Bakugo onto a stretcher.

"Monoma, stop! You won!"

"Let me go! I'm not finished with him!"

"The match has been called! Did you not hear Present Mic?"

Why would I listen for Present Mic when my greatest enemy is in front of me?

I try to calm down, but my body still thinks I'm in combat. My heart is racing and my breathing is heavy. I turn to the giant screen in the arena, the phrase "Neito Monoma winner" is beaming from it. I finally stand up and begin walking to the stands.

"Hooray for Monoma!" Tetsu screams, him and Bondo tossing me into the air.

After a few tosses, they put me down as Tetsu's face turns questioning. "How did you stop Bakugo's quirk like that?"

I point to Komori, who recoils. "I used Komori's quirk to create mushrooms in the sweat glands in Bakugo's palm. Unfortunately, he figured it out and used the sweat from his forehead toward the end of the match, requiring me to create them in his lungs."

"Komori," Kuroiro slowly steps toward her, "I didn't know your quirk could be so terrifying."

She panics. "Kuroiro, don't say mean things like that!"

He winces and jumps backward. "Ah, no. That was… meant to be a… compliment." he quietly mutters.

Kodai steps in front of me, the whole turns to her, wondering what she'll say.

"Hm!"

By Kodai standards, she's ecstatic.

Mr. Vlad appears behind me to tap me on the shoulder. "Congratulations on your victory Monoma, but right now you need to get to the stage, they're preparing the awards."

I make my way down to raising platforms under the arena, noticing that Shoda and Todoroki have already taken their spots on the third place podium. Shoda offers a weak smile to me, barely able to stand. Todoroki says nothing, only staring off into space.

Todoroki never did use his flame quirk on me. I don't know if I should hate him for holding back or admire him for keeping strong in his convictions.

Eventually, Bakugo makes his way to the second place podium. He's looking down at the ground, not meeting my eye.

The voice of Midnight is heard from above us. "And now, we will begin the award ceremony!"

Our platforms are raised to the sounds of a cheering crowd.

"The presentation of the medals will be made by this man!"

All Might appears on the top of the stadium, laughing. The cheers of the crowd grow deafening as he jumps in front of the podium, making his way to Shoda, delivering the third place medals first.

"Young Shoda, congratulations for making it to third place. It's easy to be caught unaware in the heat of battle, which is why keeping a clear head and looking at every option is an important part of being a hero."

Shoda yawns in response, he looks a step away from passing out.

"Young Todoroki, congratulations. Your quirk is very powerful, so your enemies will try to evade it at every opportunity. Try increasing its strength so you may break cover or even the ground."

Todoroki nods, accepting the medal wordlessly.

"Young Bakugo, fighting without your quirk can be like fighting without an arm. There are many opponents who will be capable of disabling it, or simply being unaffected by it. Training your physical strength is just as important as training your quirk."

Bakugo remains staring at the ground. He gives a nod of acknowledgement.

"Now then, Young Monoma. Congratulations for winning the Sports Festival! You clearly demonstrated your capacity for strategic thinking in all three parts."

"I don't feel that's the case, All Might."

All Might looks down at me studying my face.

"If I was really capable of strategy, I would have come up with a plan to bring all my classmates into the final part, not just my own team."

"Monoma," All Might says to me, kneeling down to give me the first place medal. "This medal doesn't just represent your personal victory, it also serves as something for others to aspire to. Your classmates will see this medal as a symbol of your drive. They will look at it and see your strength, and they will grow and work to match it."

I nod, accepting the medal. I don't know if I agree with All Might, but he has a way of making everything he says sound like cast iron truth.

In the days after the Sports Festival, random people would come up and congratulate me on my victory. It's a strange feeling, having so many people treat me like a person.

After the two days off to heal from our injuries, we return to class with Mr. Vlad informing us that it's time to pick our hero names.

I sit back while my classmates work out their hero names. I already know what they're going to choose anyway. Although I convince Shiozaki to change her name from Vine to Divine, because the pun is simply too good to pass up.

What I'm really interested in is the internship draft. Last time I didn't receive any offers, but this time I've received thousands. Shoda, Tsubruba and Pony, have also received more offers.

I flip through the pages. Man, there's a lot of popular heroes on here. Ah! Here's a good one. I've received an internship offer from Best Jeanist!

 

[iamawesome300]

I step up to Best Jeanist's hero agency smiling. I don't think anyone from Class A can do better than the number four hero.

Well Todoroki can, but that's only because of nepotism.

I shake my head. No, no negativity today! This will be a chance to see what it's like to be one of the top heroes.

The agency is bigger than it appears from the outside. You sometimes forget that Best Jeanist has a popular fashion line as well as being a hero. I wonder how he finds the time? Maybe he might teach me that. It's nice to finally be recognized.

I enter Best Jeanist's office, to find him and a group of his sidekicks, he's staring out the window.

He turns around. "Frankly, I don't like you."

My mind goes blank, I'm completely silent.

"You only chose my agency because I'm the number four ranked hero, correct?"

What… What is this?

I look around the room, all of Best Jeanist's sidekicks are smiling. They were expecting this?

"I watched you at the Sports Festival." He continues, "In your final match you used your classmate's quirk to implant mushroom's in your opponent's lungs."

"Yes, and I won!" I finally speak.

"Why did you not do that at the start of the match?"

I look around the room, realizing something. They don't care about me. I'm just a clown in their eyes. I'm just entertainment.

"I had to teach him a lesson. If I ended the match at the start he wouldn't have learned anything."

He tilts his head. "Who said you had to teach him?"

I grit my teeth. "The staff! His classmates! They weren't doing anything! I had to do it because no one else would!"

"While your opponents behavior was horrible, you absolutely crossed the line by torturing him."

"Torture? You think what I did was torture? Bakugo deserved worse than that! You don't get to stand there and lecture me like I'm the problem. Bakugo is the one who should be taught a lesson! I don't have to take this! I'm leaving!"

Just as I turn to leave, Best Jeanist wraps his strands around me, binding me in the air.

"Help!" I scream, but his sidekicks don't listen, they don't even think of me as a person.

"I will correct your behavior over this internship."

Tears are streaming from my face. I keep screaming but no one cares.

"Well then go ahead! Fucking kill me already!"

Best Jeanist takes a step back. "You think I want to kill you?"

"Of course you do! You noticed I was doing better than I should and decided to snuff me out before I became too strong to stop!"

"What… What happened to you?"

I look Best Jeanist in his eyes. He's afraid. Good.

"You think you're the first person to stop me? I'll defeat you like everyone else! You'll all acknowledge me! Me and Class B!"

"Class… What?"

"Finish it already! I'm not afraid to die! Whatever it takes for Class B to succeed!"

Best Jeanist drops me. I sprint out of the room and out of the building. I find my way to my apartment.

How dare that fucking bastard lie to me? He offered me an internship! He made me think he wanted to help! But all he wanted was to hurt me. I don't care how mad U. A. gets, I'm never going back there.

The people that hate me… They will do anything to stop me. I think about what's coming next. The forest training. I have to do whatever it takes to make sure Class B masters their quirks. I have to prepare for the villains as well. I never fought them, so all I have is hearsay. I have to hope that's enough to go on. I spend the rest of the week in my apartment, only leaving for food.

When I return to school next week, I'm sluggish. I don't want anyone to talk to me, I don't want anyone to ask about Best Jeanist. I know they'll ask anyway.

I take my seat and make myself as small as possible.

"Hey, Monoma!" Pony comes up to me. "How was your internship?"

I groan. Well, I won't lie to her. "Pony, I hated it."

Pony looks shocked. "Wha- what happened?

"The first day, Best Jeanist told me he hated me. Told me I was a monster for what I did to Bakugo."

Pony looks uncomfortable.

"I didn't go back after that. Spent the week in my apartment."

Pony looks confused. "Your… apartment?"

"Yeah, my internship was as bad as it gets."

I turn back to the board. My classmates happily chat around me. I wish I had a normal internship like them.

Mr. Vlad comes into the room and stands in front of the podium.

"Everyone please get in your seats." He says in a severe tone.

What's going on? Mr. Vlad never talks like that.

We all sit down and Mr. Vlad continues. "During your internships last week…" Mr. Vlad swallows before continuing. "Some of your classmates from Class A were attacked by a villain. More specifically the Hero Killer Stain."

I remember this from last time. But back then Mr. Vlad didn't sound so serious.

"Who got attacked?" Kendo exclaims. "Are they all right?"

Mr. Vlad swallows one more time before finishing what he has to say. "Iida and Midoriya from Class A were attacked. Iida was murdered. Midoriya was paralyzed."

I can see my classmates standing up and panicking in front of me. I can't hear a word they're saying. This did not happen last time. And only one thing has changed between that time and now. Me. I sift through everything I did that I didn't do last time. What was different? What did I do that caused this to happen?

Ok. Calm down Monoma. Think. What specifically did you do that affected Iida and Midoriya? Well, the only moments I've even seen them is in the Sports Festival, but I didn't speak to them at all.

Then how could they have lost to Stain? Didn't the two of them get saved by Endeavor? Wait a minute, it wasn't the two of them. Todoroki was there too. Did Todoroki just not show up? He would have absolutely done so for any of his friends. Unless they weren't friends.

I shiver. Todoroki fought Midoriya and Iida in the Sports Festival last time. Was that how their friendship formed? It's the only conclusion I can think of. That I fucked up and got someone murdered and paralyzed respectively.

I lay my head down on the desk. Maybe this is a nightmare and I'll just wake up.

 

[iamawesome300]

I ask a nurse where All Might is. She points me to a room off to the side.

Pushing open the door, I can see All Might sitting in a chair in his real form, his shoulders hung low. Gran Torino is next to him, leaning against a wall.

All Might's eyes are red, he's clearly been crying. I take a deep breath and speak slowly and calmly. "Tell me what happened. As best as you can."

He takes a moment to acknowledge my presence, finally raising his eyes and speaking in a soft, broken voice. "My successor, Young Midoriya, was paralyzed from a battle with the Hero Killer Stain. His best friend was murdered."

"You have to tell him to give One For All to Mirio."

"I can't do that to him!" he screams, sitting up, "Not after everything that's happened to him." He finishes, slumping back down in his chair.

I take a deep breath, this is going to be hard work. "All Might, the world needs your successor, and a child that can't walk won't be enough."

"He'll find a way! He's a determined young man. If he sets his mind to something, he can do it."

"All Might, I know how One For All works. If he can't use his legs it will be even more difficult to use One For All without hurting himself. You already told me about the damage to his hands. What happens if he hurts himself again? Do you want him to lose the ability to move his hands as well as his legs?"

He sits silent for a moment. "I can't do that to him." he finally says.

I turn to the eldest in the room. "Gran Torino, you saw firsthand how poor of a control the boy had over it."

"His name is Midoriya!" All Might interrupts.

I bite my tongue, this is a moment to be conciliatory.

"Yes, I apologize for referring to Midoriya in such a rude manner."

We both wait for Gran Torino's response.

The old man sighs. "I agree that his control over the quirk wasn't the best, but he was improving."

Non-committal, hmm?

"But now that's irrelevant. He can't use the quirk. He has to give it to Mirio."

"I can't do that to him!" He repeats.

"You have to!"

"I know, but I can't!" He shouts, tears returning to his eyes.

I give him a moment to calm down before continuing. "Tell me very specifically what it is you can't do."

"I can't see the look on his face when I tell him. I can't see that look of betrayal, that look of hopelessness." He looks me straight in the eyes. "It will break me."

I pull up a chair to sit in front of him. We're on equal ground now.

"You're strong enough for this. The hardest part about being a hero is delivering bad news."

He stares at the floor. "I'll do it on one condition."

We're making progress. "...What is it?"

"You have to tell me his future."

"All Might-"

"I need to know!" He shouts again, "I need to know that he'll be okay! I need to know he won't- he won't…" He returns to sobbing.

"All Might, what if you don't like what I see?"

"I already know I won't. I just need to know how bad it gets."

"...Okay."

The two of us leave the room, Gran Torino nods as we exit.

All Might stops in front of Midoriya's hospital room, his hands shaking as he pushes the door open.

"A-All Might?" comes the weak voice of the bedridden Midoriya.

He sits up, the words pouring out. "All Might, I'm sorry! I failed you! I could have saved Iida and- and the pro hero Native, if I was just- just a little stronger, then I could-"

"No, Midoriya!' All Might interrupts. "I'm the one to blame for your paralysis. If I was a better teacher then this never would have happened. Don't blame yourself when I'm the one to blame."

Midoriya looks down. "He killed them in front of me. He paralyzed me first, forcing me to watch." Midoriya turns to All Might. "It hurt more to watch."

All Might sits down next to Midoriya's bed. "My predecessor died in front of me. That memory hurts more than the wound that slowly drains my quirk."

All Might sits quietly for a while, unable to look Midoriya in the eye. "Midoriya, Nighteye here will see your future."

Midoriya grows confused. "But I thought you said you didn't like-"

"I know what I said." He interrupts. "I just… things changed."

Midoriya looks afraid, but turns his eyes toward me anyway. I view his future and turn to All Might.

"I won't lie to you. It will be painful. I see you struggling to learn how to use a wheelchair, I see every moment of self-loathing, every time you cry yourself to sleep."

All Might buries his face in his hands.

"You'll join the support course, your first major project to create new legs for yourself."

Midoriya gets excited. "So I will walk again?"

"...It will take a year."

Midoriya looks down.

"But you won't stop, you'll keep going. Past that, past every other thing that will happen to you. It's very rare to see someone who refuses to give up as much as you do."

Midoriya tries to smile. He fails, but I know he'll get that right too one day.

I turn to All Might, it's his time to speak.

All Might stands up and looks Midoriya in the eye. "Midoriya, because of everything that has happened to you… It would be best if… If we…" All Might sputters into more sobbing, incapable of finishing his statement.

He was telling the truth about it breaking him.

I speak to Midoriya myself. "We need you to give One For All to another person, an upperclassman named Mirio."

Midoriya's face contorts into a look of despair. "No! It's okay, I can do this! You said it yourself! It will only take a year, and then it'll be like nothing happened! All back to normal!"

I stand unmoving in front of Midoriya, preparing my response. "Midoriya, you know it needs to be done. You will still be a hero. You already have to learn how to create your own legs, you shouldn't also have to learn how to control the strongest quirk in history."

Midoriya's tears are running down his face, his teeth gritted. "I… I just wish…"

"I know Midoriya, we all know."

All Might and I exit the room, Midoriya's sobbing still legible outside.

All Might balls his fists. "I'm going to hunt down the Hero Killer."

"You know you can't do that. Mirio needs someone to teach him how to use One For All, and you are the only person on the planet who has enough experience using that quirk."

"I have to avenge Midoriya!"

I press my hand on his shoulder, as I did so long ago. "You only have so much time left with your quirk. You know that teaching Mirio is more important than finding the Hero Killer."

He's looking down at the floor, gritting his teeth. "He needs to be brought to justice."

"And the other heroes will do that. Every hero in the world will be looking for him."

"I'm the only one who can do it."

"Trust in them, you know what they're capable of."

He turns to me with a look of miserable acceptance. "What about my students? I can't just teach Mirio."

"Mirio is more important than them."

He shouts again. "I can't abandon them! They put their trust in me!"

"All Might if you need me to, I'll teach them."

He starts wiping the tears out of his eyes. "You would do that?"

We shoulding be fighting with each other. Especially not during a tragedy like this. I need to… make things right.

"I'm sorry." I tell him. "You were right about Midoriya. He would have been a perfect successor. I was angry you didn't choose Mirio and… and…"

My best friend hugs me for the first time in years.

 

[Apocryphon]

Damn this really went from semi light-hearted romp to darkest timeline real quick, the story summary says "sends him back to the day he was put in Class B every time he dies" sort of implying that the time travel will happen again, I hope thats true since this timeline is looking pretty terrible, maybe we'll get a Purple Days style redemption for Monomas character.

 

[Crusader Jerome]

It's really interesting that Monoma kept the results of his Quirk training. He seems like he's completely outgrown the time limit and inability to copy-stack he had when first introduced.

 

[iamawesome300]

The next few days are a blur. I vaguely remember some tests or whatever, but I easily complete them due to memory.

Mr. Vlad gives another announcement one day. We all stiffen at the sound of that.

"All Might has retired as a hero studies teacher."

What? How does this fit into everything? Was it guilt from the death of a student or is he going to hunt the Hero Killer?

"His former sidekick, Nighteye, will be replacing him."

I lean back in my seat. Wonderful, another deviation I barely understand.

We walk into hero studies class with Nighteye already sitting at his desk. A teacher that's there before us? That's a new one.

"Hello everyone, I will be your new hero studies teacher. You may call me Nighteye."

I take a look at the new teacher. He wears a gray suit and glasses. He looks like an actual teacher. By U. A. standards, that means he's weird.

"For your first assignment, you will make me laugh."

The class goes quiet.

Honenuki breaks the silence. "Huh?"

"You will make me laugh using all the methods at your disposal."

Is this guy fucking crazy? One of our classmates died, and another was paralyzed, and he wants us to tell him jokes?

Well, he was All Might's sidekick, and it's not like All Might was all there either.

Awase raises his hand. "Um, is this a prank?"

"Yes," Nighteye responds, pushing up his glasses, "You are allowed to use pranks."

Awase shrinks down. "Ah, no. I was asking…" He sits down, realizing the teacher is unfortunately serious.

The class starts looking around at each other, hoping someone else finds a way out of this nonsense.

Pony turns to me. "Monoma, do you have an idea?"

Damn it, Pony.

"Um, well, who's the funniest in the class?"

Tsuburuba stands up. "Relax. I got this, guys. I'm the funniest person I know."

Yanagi starts to speak. "No, you're n-"

Rin wisely clamps her mouth shut.

Tsuburuba walks in front of Nighteye's desk, where he's sitting with his hands clasped together.

"What do you get when you cross a construction worker with an air compressor?"

Nighteye remains stone-faced.

"Me!" Tsuburuba happily answers his own joke.

Nighteye doesn't respond in any visible way.

Tsuburuba's smile grows smaller. "You see, the joke is that my quirk-"

Nighteye finally speaks. "I am aware of your quirk."

Tsuburuba sits down, defeated.

Shishida stands up. "I believe that I may know a joke that our new professor will find comedic."

He walks in front of Nighteye's desk and clears his throat. "What did the Eurasian wolf say to the European jackal at the dinner party?"

He gives a beat.

"May I please have moreoticus wonderful food?"

Nighteye does not respond.

Shishida pauses before continuing. "You see, the European jackal's nomenclature is 'Canus aureus moreoticus.'" He pauses again. "And moreoticus is a pun on 'more of this.'"

Two for two, then.

"Make way, peasants!" Tokage stands up. "The comedy queen will show you a master at her craft!"

Tokage walks up to Nighteye's desk and offers a handshake.

"Hi there! My name's Setsuna Tokage! Welcome to the school!"

Nighteye accepts Tokage's handshake, who's smile turns blank. She begins screaming in fake pain, as she splits apart her body, her hand still gripping Nighteye's.

"I'm dying! I'm dying!"

Nighteye's face is motionless.

"Oh, come on! That always freaks people out!"

"I read over your quirks before teaching this class." Nighteye answers.

"No fair!" says Tokage's face from the floor. "That's cheating!"

That's three now.

The class decides to huddle together for strategy.

Kendo starts the discussion. "Alright, does anyone have any ideas?"

"Why don't we have Kodai stand in front of him and say nothing?" Kaibara asks. "The uncomfortable situation might force him into an awkward chuckle."

"The class might end before that happens!" Kendo shoots it down.

She turns to Pony. "Do you have any ideas?"

She shakes her head. "All of the jokes I know are in English."

Kaibara gently chuckles to himself. "We could tell him how Honenuki 'won' the Battle Trial."

"You'll never let me live that down, will you?"

"Wait!" Kuroiro shouts. "I got it!"

Kendo is surprised. "You remembered a joke?"

He shakes his head. "We're not supposed to come up with a joke. This is a test!"

Honenuki tilts his head. "A test? In what?"

Kuroiro smiles before giving his answer. "It happens in martial arts movies all the time. The old master takes a pebble and tells the wannabe student that he needs to take it from him, or he won't train him."

Kamakiri has a look of realization in his eye. "Oh, The pebble test! How could I have missed that?"

Rin covers his face. "Don't beat yourself up, I missed it too."

Kendo returns to the conversation. "Okay, so this will help us form a strategy?"

Kuroiro shakes his head again. "It isn't a lesson in strategy. The solution is to ask the teacher politely for the pebble. It's used to humble the arrogant."

The class smiles as we've finally realized the test we've been given. Kuroiro confidently strides to Nighteye's desk and clears his throat.

"Could you please laugh?"

Nighteye stares blankly. "What."

The confidence drains from Kuroiro's face. "Um, this is a test, right? We aren't actually meant to make you laugh, just ask for you to laugh as a lesson in humility, right?

Nighteye doesn't react for a second, before covering his mouth as a stream of snickers comes out.

"You thought- You thought I was giving you the pebble test?"

Kuroiro's face is filled with panic. "Um, yes?"

Nighteye's snickers turn to full on laughter as he beats his fist against the desk.

"That's so funny!"

The class looks at each other and the confused Kuroiro. Well, I suppose an accidental victory is still victory.

Nighteye takes us to the Gamma training area.

"Alright, your objective is to find me in the training field. I will be pretending to be a civilian in need of rescue. The winner is whoever reaches me first."

It's a little hard to go back into serious hero training, after the, um, "unique" start to the day's class.

"The first five will be Shiozaki, Shishida, Pony, Tokage and Monoma."

Same as last time. Was that decided beforehand, or did Nighteye and All Might both realize who the fastest five students in the class were?

I copy Tokage's quirk and split my hands off when the race starts.

I grab my shoulders with the disembodied hands and pull myself toward Nighteye. I only make it a short distance before Tokage passes me doing the same thing.

"Nice try, Monoma! But I have this quirk all the time!"

The race ends with Tokage winning. She parades around in the sash like a beauty queen.

"I'd like to thank all of my fans! Without them, I never would have made it to where I am today!"

I make second, with Shishida coming third and Pony coming forth. A tired Shiozaki makes her way to the finish line, clearly out of breath.

"I. Ha. Have not yet mastered. Ha. Climbing with my vines."

But you will one day, and you will be unstoppable once that happens.

"That reminds me," Nighteye says. "Quirk training will be coming up after your final exams this semester. You should be preparing for that."

I grit my teeth. The Training Camp. Where I sat back and did nothing, while my classmates fought for their lives, I'll make sure that doesn't happen again.

"You have an odd look of determination on your face." Nighteye interrupts my thoughts.

"Uh, yeah. I'm really excited for this quirk training, you know? I want to be the strongest I can."

I bite my tongue. I hope I recovered enough.

Nighteye gives me a look that shows he's aware I'm not being completely honest.

"From what I read about you, you seemed to already have great control over your quirk."

"Well, yeah. But you saw how I lost to Tokage. Copying the quirk doesn't give me the experience to use it to its fullest."

Nighteye looks at me for a bit longer before turning to the other students. He might know something's off about me, but I doubt "time traveler" is his first guess.

I take a deep breath. Alright, calm down, Monoma. You have to keep focus.

 

[iamawesome300]

Dear Principal Nezu,
I recently offered an internship to your student Neito Monoma. I had found his behavior during the U. A. Sports Festival to be unbecoming of anyone who wishes to be a hero and had learned that Monoma had copied the quirk of his classmate Kinoko Komori, using it in his final match against the runner-up Katsuki Bakugo. The control that Monoma had demonstrated over the quirk shows that he could have defeated Bakugo at any moment, as well as all other previous opponents.
Instead, Monoma chose to use this quirk to block Bakugo's sweat glands, necessary for Bakugo's own quirk usage, and attack him with nothing more than his fists. The only possible explanation for this is Monoma's desire to cause as much pain to Bakugo as possible.
However, I am not just writing this to warn you of possible sadistic tendencies. In my own experience with Monoma, short as it was, he displayed far more worrying behavior. When I asked Monoma for his reasons as to torturing Bakugo, his defense was that he believes he is the only person willing to discipline Bakugo.
I am not questioning the ability of U. A. to discipline their students, but Monoma's behavior is paranoid and fearful, also showing feelings of neglect. I had used my quirk to restrain him, after he turned away, ignoring my criticisms.
I have had many negative reactions from students that have interned with me, but until now I have never met a student that believed I would kill him. And what's worse is how he was completely accepting of this.
I understand that children say things they don't believe, but I ask you to listen to me when I say that when Monoma told me he was unafraid to die for Class B, I understood he was telling the truth.
The problems that Monoma faces are beyond my abilities. I recommend for him to be given counseling immediately.
Cordially yours, Best Jeanist

I put the letter down.

"So," Principal Nezu speaks to me. "What do you think, Sir Nighteye?"

I rub my brow. "Why wasn't I informed of this earlier?"

"U. A. has been in a disorderly state for the past few weeks." Nezu politely responds. "We were unwilling to distract you while you were getting acquainted with your role in the school."

"There have been many problems related to the students attacked by the Hero Killer." adds Aizawa. "It was considered a much more important issue."

"I see."

The group waits in silence for someone to speak.

"Mr. Vlad." Nezu says, turning to the large man. "What do you think about your student's behavior?"

Vlad crosses his arms, leaning back in his chair. "Monoma is the greatest student I have ever had in one of my classes. He has more of an understanding over his classmates' quirks than they do themselves, and he completes hero exercises like he's done them before." Vlad turns to look Nezu in the eyes. "And I mean that sincerely."

Aizawa speaks up. "We're all aware of Monoma's ability. But his behavior is what we're questioning."

"Monoma's behavior is fine. If you're referring to his actions during the Sports Festival, then you should understand that they were only due to the circumstances he was in. The incident between him and Bakugo, it's only natural when egos clash like that."

For a slight moment, Aizawa grips the armrest on his chair. You wouldn't notice it unless you were looking for it. "You can't blame this on Bakugo. I have disciplined him numerous times. If it wasn't Bakugo who set Monoma off, someone else would have done it. That's the type of personality Monoma has."

"Well, maybe you should have disciplined him more."

"Hold on!" I interrupt, wanting to head off the argument. "I have had both Bakugo and Monoma in my classes and neither of them have demonstrated the behavior you described. In fact, both of them seemed to be quiet and unwilling to speak."

"Really?" Nezu asks. "Mr. Aizawa, Mr. Vlad, have you noticed such a change in behavior?"

"Bakugo is driven by his rivalries with other students. Both Midoriya and Iida were two such rivalries he had in his class. It's only natural for Bakugo to become depressed after an event like this."

"Monoma's depressed as well. Without one of the strongest fighters in Class A, and without their class representative, he doesn't feel the need to constantly prove his superiority."

"I see." Nezu responds. "Do you believe that the tragedy that occurred has exacerbated their issues?"

"These specific issues?" Vlad answers. "No. But, I do believe that it may have created new ones."

Aizawa nods. "Having a goal that appears to be difficult to complete made irrelevant is certainly going to make them both feel empty."

"Hmm." Nezu thinks, tapping his paws together. "Hound Dog." He says turning to the only one who hasn't spoken during the meeting. "What is your suggestion as the school counselor?"

The man with a dog-like quirk sighs. "You can't force someone to go to counseling. They have to be willing to accept help."

Aizawa buries his face in his hands. "That… will be quite difficult. I don't think that Bakugo would be willing to admit he needs help."

Vlad slumps in his seat. "Same for Monoma. I don't think he'll admit that anything's wrong at all."

"Even so," Nezu replies. "Ask them anyway. We might be pleasantly surprised."

"Okay" Both Vlad and Aizawa agree to ask their students if they would like counseling.

"Which brings us to the other reason for this meeting." Nezu continues. "Aizawa you mentioned that one of the students from general studies wants to transfer into the hero course."

"Yes…" Aizawa responds. "I would be willing to accept Hitoshi Shinso into Class A now that the semester's over."

"Do you think that's wise?" asks a surprised Vlad. "Class A might not be willing to accept that, considering how they're missing two of their classmates."

Aizawa stares down at the table with a grim look on his face. "Sometimes classmates die. It's just something they need to accept as a hero."

 

[iamawesome300]

"How are you doing with that generator?" asks Kirishima.

"How's it look like I'm doing?" I grunt out in response.

"Does doing that really hurt you?"

"Just because I conduct electricity, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt!"

I take a break from the generator, too exhausted to continue.

"And what about you? How are you doing?"

Kirishima gives an awkward smile. "Well, uh, I'm kinda getting my ass kicked."

"I bet. And Bakugo?"

Kirishima turns to where Bakugo is, before turning back and putting up a hand to whisper in my ear. "Bakugo hasn't been training his quirk at all."

"What do you mean?"

Kirishima points. "Look. He's fighting Mr. Aizawa quirkless, while wearing that mask that restricts his breathing."

"Huh?" I turn my head to where Kirishima's pointing. "Why would he be doing that?"

Kirishima gives that look. You know, the look people give you when they think you're an idiot. "Come on Kaminari, what possible reason could Bakugo have to fight quirkless, while it's harder to breathe?"

"I don't know dude, why don't you just tell me?"

Kirishima sighs. "He wants to make sure he never loses like he did at the Sports Festival."

"The Sports Festival!" shouts Ashido from behind us, entering the conversation. "Man, I was so close to beating Pony! How was I supposed to know she could control three of her horns?"

Kirishima puts his hands up, trying to comfort her. "You couldn't have known that, Ashido. Momo spoke with Kendo, and Kendo told her that was the first time Pony ever did that."

Ashido groans. "Man, that sucks so much!"

"Well," Kirishima offers, "You could take it as proof of your strength. You were so strong that the only way for her to beat you was to do something she had never done before."

Ashido grumbles to herself. She's less mad, but still not happy.

"Okay students," Mr. Aizawa announces. "That's it for today. Anyone who's taking remedial classes, follow me."

Now we're all grumbling.

The five of us that failed from Class A follow him. Shinso also comes along.

After an hour or two of instruction, Mr. Aizawa leaves the classroom. "I'm taking a break. Make sure to continue your work while I'm gone."

Like hell we'll do that.

I toss my head back with a sigh, finally able to relax for once.

Shinso turns to speak to me. "Hey, can you help me with this problem?"

"Dude, don't talk to me."

Shinso puts down his pencil. "Man, what is with you guys? The only people willing to speak to me from Class A today were Momo and Tsuyu."

"You don't get to call her that." Ashido interrupts.

Shinso glares at her. "She told me to call her that."

"I don't care, we don't want you in our class."

Shinso turns to glare at me now. "No wonder Class A has so many people in remedial classes. Class B wouldn't act like this."

"Uh, in case you haven't noticed smartass, you're taking those classes too."

Shinso begins balling his fists. "I'm taking these classes because I wasn't in this class for the first semester. What's your excuse?"

I shrug as Ashido continues. "It doesn't matter what the reason is, Class B is filled with assholes anyway."

"You mean Monoma?" He responds. "Momo and Kendo told me he was a giant asshole, but I was able to talk fine with him."

Ashido laughs. "Really? And what did Monoma talk about? Was he asking you for information to beat us?"

"He told me how he was happy that he passed his paper final, and how him and Kendo captured Mr. Vlad during the hero exam." Shinso returns to glaring at us. "He also wanted to know how I was feeling after joining Class A."

Ashido laughs again. "Well that just proves that you're not in our class! If you were a real member of Class A, Monoma would have treated you like shit!"

Shinso raises his voice at Ashido. "Monoma is depressed because of the members from Class A that are no longer here! The only difference between him and you is that he isn't taking it out on me!"

Everyone in the room flinches. Getting told you're being more of an asshole than Monoma… It makes you stop and think.

Shinso continues, too angry to stop. "Did you think I wanted to join the hero course like this? Joining only because there was an empty spot? I would have loved to join Class A because of my hard work and ability! But I can't! You take the opportunities you're handed in life, even if you hate why they exist!"

Shinso sits back down, breathing heavily. The rest of us in the room have our heads down.

I talk to him after a few minutes. "We're sorry. We shouldn't have been treating you like this."

"It doesn't matter." He responds. "I'm used to this treatment. Even if the reason is different this time."

"No, we were still wrong. We just… We miss Iida and Midoriya. They were the heart of our class."

Ashido walks up to Shinso, head lowered. "Momo still hasn't gotten used to all the class rep duties." She gives a forced smile.

Kirishima adds to the conversation. "I haven't had a full conversation with Bakugo ever since…" Kirishima shakes his head. "He's only been giving me one-word answers."

"Uraraka has been devastated ever since she heard about it. Iida was one of her closest friends."

"When she saw Midoriya in the cafeteria…" Ashido trails off.

"She burst into tears, seeing him in that wheelchair. Tsuyu and Hagakure are trying to help cheer her up." I give a forced smile of my own. "They're not perfect, but they're trying."

"They're trying to say they're sorry." says Sero, finally joining the conversation. "You were right, we shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Sero's smile is the same one he always has. Somehow, I think it's real even though I know it isn't.

"Now" Sero asks. "What was the problem you needed help with?"

 

[iamawesome300]

I panic all throughout quirk training, but it all seems to be pointless. We never get attacked by villains.

What a waste, and even after I went through all that effort to create those gas masks with Momo's quirk.

Why didn't they attack? Did the number of heroes at the USJ scare them off?

It's weird coming to school afterward like nothing went wrong. I realize that because the villain's never attacked, we'll never have to live in dorms together.

Damn. I really liked being able to live with my classmates.

After class ends, Mr. Vlad asks for me to stay after. I have no idea what's happening anymore, so I just follow him.

Mr. Vlad's face turns serious for a moment. "Monoma, do you… have anything you want to talk to anybody about?"

Oh shit, he figured out I'm a time traveler.

"N-no Mr. Vlad, I'm perfectly fine right now."

A bit disappointed about the dorms, but that's it.

Mr. Vlad nods. "I see. But Monoma, you should always be aware that Hound Dog is willing to talk to anyone about their problems, no matter what they are."

Oh, okay. He doesn't think I'm a time traveler, but apparently, he's noticed I'm depressed.

"It's all right, Mr. Vlad, I can handle this on my own."

Besides, it's not like I can talk to Hound Dog about dying and coming back from the dead, then he'll think I have bigger problems than depression.

"If, you're sure." Mr. Vlad says before letting me leave.

Tokage's outside, don't know why she was waiting for me.

"So," She turns to me with a smile. "What did Mr. Vlad want to talk to you about?"

"It's not important."

"You sure?" She says tilting her head. "We're all worried about you; you haven't said anything about beating Class A for a while now."

"Oh man, is everyone going to be doing this today?"

"Nope!" She says, arms folded into a smug pose. "They're all worried about you, but I'm probably the only one brave enough to ask."

And thank fuck for that.

"But Monoma," She says, dropping the smile. "We are really worried about you."

"I understand Tokage, I'll stop worrying them."

She waves and leaves to go home.

Just another reason to miss the dorms.

But how am I supposed to stop worrying them? It's my fault Iida's dead and Midoriya's paralyzed. What am I supposed to do to solve the problem?

Well, I could just kill myself.

The thought stops me in my tracks.

Normal people aren't supposed to kill themselves, but I'm not normal, am I? If I killed myself, I could stop the tragedy that happened.

But…

Man, I just don't want to do it.

I don't know what to do for now, so I'll just keep going.

The next day Mr. Vlad tells us that it's time to prepare for our hero licenses. I don't have to worry about this, I already know everyone is going to pass.

After the hero license exam, Mr. Vlad starts giving out papers to all the people who have been offered work-studies. My paper only has one name on it.

"Mr. Vlad," I ask him. "Why didn't I get any more work-studies requests?"

Mr. Vlad bends down to whisper to me. "A lot of heroes heard how you ran from Best Jeanist. Best Jeanist is considered one of the greatest mentors out of all the heroes. If you ran from him, it makes other heroes scared about how well they can teach you."

Wonderful. So, the only hero willing to have me for work-studies must be crazy or stupid.

I look down at the paper. I wonder which one Slidin' Go is?

"Welcome, chum!"

Slidin' Go crushes me in a Bondo-level bear hug.

"I'll show you everything you need to know about being a hero!"

Crazy, then.

It's nice to have a hero that isn't a massive asshole like Best Jeanist. I already know most of how to be a hero from my last internship but Slidin' Go goes a bit more in depth with parts I never knew about.

For example, I never knew how tedious it was to work with the Hero Public Safety Commision. Slidin' Go says that they're the worst part of being a hero. I can only imagine how bad they are when I hear that. I would have thought it would be the villains.

"It's outrageous!" Slidin' Go tells me. "Anyone should be able to be a hero! The Public Safety Commision only lets a select few become heroes. And that makes it harder to fight villains."

"I remember at the hero license exam, the man from the HPSC said that they were understaffed."

"Outrageous! The HPSC are evil and incompetent! Quirks are a basic human right; they shouldn't be controlled by some shadowy institution! Especially not one that can't even fill empty job positions!"

Slidin' Go helps run me through some of the basic paperwork forms you need to fill out as a hero. Not the most interesting part of the job, but an important part of the job, nonetheless.

"You've got a powerful quirk, don't you, chum?" Slidin' Go tells me on the last day of work-studies.

I shift uncomfortably. I'm still not used to being praised this much. "Um, yeah, I guess. When I was younger a lot of people hated me for it."

Slidin' Go gives a solemn nod. "I thought so, chum. After hearing how you ran from Best Jeanist-"

I flinch at his words.

"I knew that there was something causing such behavior. Outrageous! The thought of a child like you being thrown away like nothing! And for what? Doing his best?" Slidin' Go says looking me in the eye.

"I wanted to help you the best way I knew how. So, hark! Have faith, chum! Your quirk is perfect just the way it is. It's the crimes of others that have caused you to be treated with such injustice."

I silently nod. It's a strange feeling to have someone validate you after so long.

"Here," he says, offering a book to me. "This will help you understand a few things about the world."

I look at the cover of the book. "Meta Liberation Army," it says.

"Read that book before the next round of work-studies." Slidin' Go tells me. "Once you do, come back to me and I can help you learn even more about the best way to be a hero."

Slidin' Go might be a bit weird, but he's still one of the nicer heroes I've met. Maybe I'll read the book sometime.