Chapter 7 - Battle Training
Sakura awoke slowly as her alarm gradually increased in volume while a flute played a soft melody. She was tempted to curl up into her covers and pillows to enjoy it a little longer, but she knew she had too much to prepare before leaving for school.
After a good stretch and wiggling of her limbs, she got up and moved to her wardrobe, grabbing some exercise clothes. Once they were on, she went into the washitsu and moved some of the furniture to give her room. She needed to find a better place to exercise, as she couldn't get what she needed from such a small room, but it would have to do for now.
She had already talked to Chiyo about what to do regarding proper exercise, but her location needed to be better for easy access to the wide open spaces she would prefer or the local woods. It wouldn't be much of an issue if she didn't have to restrict herself on her speed or had alternative means of transportation, but she was out of luck on that front. She spent an hour trying to generate some sweat while avoiding damaging furniture.
Once she was done, she made her way to Chiyo's room, knocking on the door softly.
Chiyo's voice rang out, "Yes, Sakura-chan?"
"I finished my morning exercise, so I was going to start on breakfast before I do a cold wash, Shuzenji-sama. Is there anything you need before I start?" Sakura said through the door.
"Thank you, dear, but no. I should be out shortly."
Sakura started the morning meal of rice, soup, fish, and a few sides. Being fast and intimately familiar with sharp objects, preparing and cooking the food was accomplished quickly. Once everything but the rice was ready, she saw Chiyo enter the kitchen dressed and prepared for the day. She took the plates and bowls, putting them on the table as Chiyo fiddled with the rice maker.
"I'll be right back, Shuzenji-sama," Sakura said before she left for the bathroom.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Ranma sighed as he entered the front door of his apartment. He was glad his guardians had staked out this spot near some decent-sized woods, giving him ample space for morning workouts. It wasn't as good as sparing against his pops in the morning, but it was sufficient.
The fact he missed having his pops throw him out the window into the pond as a wake-up call for morning sparring sessions had surprised him. He really did miss the old panda. He wished he could have found
anything about his family, old records, or even family graves. But in the past year, they had found nothing. Not even a photograph of them or the Tendo family. The ward of Nerima had been horribly impacted by the arrival of quirks, just as many other places in the world had been.
None of the homes in the area had looked even remotely familiar. There was no Furinkan High School, no Ucchan's or Cat Cafe, and not even the Kuno family plot was there. Ranma had attempted to go to the Saotome and Tendo family graves, but even those sites had been damaged, and no records remained of either family.
It wasn't until after he had visited the places he used to be familiar with and then shown pictures and video of the destruction that had followed in the last century and a half that Ranma was no longer so dismissive of the dangers of quirks. Martial artists could get destructive and cause problems; it was a simple fact of life for someone of his caliber. But quirks were like guns, more dangerous with minimal training or misuse, even if the higher tiers of martial arts could outperform most weapons or quirks.
Taken out of his introspection, Ranma knelt before the small family shrine he had set up. It listed his Mother and Pops, the Tendo family, Ukyo, Konatsu, Ryoga, Akari, and even Koron, Shanpu, and Musu. As much as there was antagonism between many of them, they were still his loved ones, family, and friends. Ranma spent twenty minutes meditating in front of it, helping him to acquire the focus needed for the day ahead.
Once done, he took a quick cold wash in the bathroom before she went to the bedroom. After the tests yesterday, she asked about what to do regarding her uniform. She had been handed a skirt and told all students were required to wear the designated uniforms... for their gender.
Since it had already been agreed upon that she would alternate almost every day, she would need to wear one to school. She really was not a fan of skirts or dresses, but she could wear them.
Ranma had called and tried to chew her Guardians out for not warning her beforehand. But Shino had pointed out how she would have tried to find ways around it in advance or not to attend at all. Ranma wanted to deny it, but Shino and the others pointed out specific instances in the past where she did
just that. Repeatedly.
She put on her uniform, glad the boy's and girl's uniforms only had minor differences. Her uniform had been altered to allow for size changes, especially since it wasn't under her control if water found her. She was just not looking forward to the looks she would get if she did change while dressed like this. Yawara's lessons helped deal with the logic, but experiencing it was a separate matter.
Now appropriately dressed, she grabbed some onigiri from the fridge and left for the day's lessons.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"Morning, Pete!"
Peter perked up at hearing Melissa's voice come through the speakers, almost as much as his morning coffee did for him. He turned to see the blonde girl giving him a bright smile, having been connected via the wall monitor they had set up. "Morning to you as well, Mel. Any results on those iterations from last night?"
Melissa sighed in disappointment, "Those new iterations didn't work. I swear, trying to reverse engineer something to an earlier model seemed easier in the planning stages."
"Yeah, we're getting close, though. The containment unit was stable in the last twelve iterations, so I think we solved that. We are still stuck on mostly the ignition sequence and stabilization. We'll get it eventually," Peter said. "How's your Dad?"
Melissa smiled, "He's doing well. We have more buyers lined up for the M.P.S. from some of the support companies that recently visited. About twenty are being ordered for now as a limited supply, but they wanted ten times that. Tony estimates they'll be ready for shipping within two weeks. The fabricators are getting serious attention, especially since they can work with almost any material. You saw the look in their eyes when they saw the combination of the two systems."
Peter chuckled, "Yeah, like holding a juicy steak in front of a dog."
Melissa giggled at the analogy but decided to continue with the news. "Dad's gotten more push-back from the board again. Their recent attempts to fill his position have failed. Sam's been trying to hold things together, but he's been fighting Dad about shifting to running the company, claiming that it isn't important."
Peter sighed. Samuel was a nice guy, but they were limited on who they could inform of Stark Industries' fundamental goals. In fact, the number of people they had on staff was the three of them and the engineers that had initially evaluated Peter's 'debut.' Detective Tanaka suggested it after doing thorough but discreet background checks on them. The fact they were still staying quiet about his suit made it more of a reward than anything else. Peter loved seeing their faces light up like kids on Christmas.
Peter saw Melissa's eyes shift to the side briefly before smiling and turning back to him. "Tony just confirmed that the school will receive a few M.P.S. shipments later this evening. They expect you to showcase it after your final class tomorrow."
"That sounds great! I can't wait to show them," Peter said.
"Peter, you have four minutes before you need to leave to make the train," Karen said over the speaker system.
Peter jerked as he realized he had lost track of time. Melissa had heard her, so she said her goodbyes and killed the connection.
Peter hurried and got his school jacket from one of the chairs he had set it on. He opened his bag to add more supplies and verified his regular costume was present. Closing the bag, Peter grabbed a few extra slices of toast and made for the entrance. As he put on his shoes, he looked at the picture frames he put up after everything else was finished.
After his outside shoes were tied, he smiled at the photographs. "Wish me luck, you guys!" Peter gave one final wave to the pictures of his Aunt and Uncle, M.J. and Ned, Tony, Happy, and his 'brothers.' Peter then left the house to start his new semester of classes.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Izuku sighed as Present Mic left the classroom; their English classes had finished for the day. They only had one more class left before lunch and the far more exciting second half of the day. Sadly, Izuku lacked classmates he could speak to easily, so it was difficult to pass the few minutes before their next teacher entered.
Ranma was on the other side of Todoroki, but Izuku didn't want to disturb the quiet boy by speaking past him. The boy with red and white hair did not seem interested in conversing as he usually sat there, staring ahead and ignoring most of his classmates. There was also another boy, Tokoyami, the one with the mutation that gave him the head of a bird, that sat in front of the boy with dual colors. While he didn't seem nearly as unapproachable as Todoroki, he still had this feeling of him wanting to be left alone. Speaking to Hagakure, even if she was invisible, didn't seem like a wise move. He had put her life in danger, which still upset him when he thought about it, but the more significant reason was that she was a girl. Not to mention Yaoyorozu would be just as challenging, if not more so, as she sat behind him.
He wasn't even going to entertain the idea of speaking to Kacchan. Especially since he had heard him growling in front of him several times throughout the day.
The door opened, and their next teacher stepped into the room. He recognized the hero Ectoplasm, making Izuku smile at another well-known hero teaching them. The hero teacher introduced himself as Honenuki Kaito, better known as Ectoplasm, and would be teaching them Math 1. It would entail quadratic functions, trigonometric ratios, sequences, permutations and combinations, and probability. The students were looking between their books, what Kaito was writing on the board, and their own notes.
Their teacher started quizzing many of the students on several equations to get a feel for who knew what. Izuku was okay in math but was left in the dust by a few classmates, like Yaoyorozu and Haruno. Both of them had already known the answer to the more problematic questions, showing their aptitude and knowledge was above the rest of the class.
But as they were twenty minutes in, most of the class had noticed that their teacher hadn't asked even one question to the only student not paying any attention to the class: Parker. It had started slowly, but over half the class eventually kept glancing his way and wondering why their teacher hadn't called him on it.
Kaito sighed; he was glad he had predicted this and came prepared. He knew that just telling students to leave it alone would only eat at them and make them feel Parker was given special treatment. They would resent him and cause trouble if it wasn't nipped in the bud as soon as possible.
Kaito spoke a little louder, ensuring he had the entire class's attention except for Peter's. "Alright, since most of you cannot concentrate on these questions, I will throw up four questions on the board. All of you are invited to try to give a correct answer, but it will not count against you if you get it wrong. Extra credit if you
do get any of them right. Write it down on a piece of paper and bring it up to me. You may leave your seat if you wish to get closer."
He saw the inquisitive looks he received but quickly turned his attention back to the whiteboard behind him. Kaito grabbed the sheet he knew he would need as he quickly wrote the equations and graphs on the board. It took him nearly ten minutes, and he had to triple-check all of his work, but eventually, he had them all written up. He had already noticed a few students leaving their seats to look at the board closer before returning to them.
With less than ten minutes left for the class, only Haruno and Yaoyorozu gave him answers. Bakugo, Midoriya, and Iida had been trying to figure it out before giving up a few minutes earlier. Most of the rest of the class had been lost the entire time while still looking at Parker as he sat there, not paying attention.
"Good attempts, Haruno and Yaoyorozu, but the mathematical and chemical equations are wrong for the answers to the first and second questions," Kaito said to the disappointment of the two girls. What he said next put smiles on their faces. "You will still receive extra credit for making good attempts."
"Now, to show you
why I put those questions on the board," Kaito said, getting the class's attention again before turning to the last student. "
Parker!"
Peter looked up from the calculations he had been doing, startled at hearing his name yelled, before turning to look at their teacher. "Yes, Sensei?"
"Please come up and answer these questions as quickly as possible. We have about seven minutes left."
"Umm, sure," Peter said as he got out of his chair and walked towards the first problem while the teacher handed him a marker. He spent a few seconds looking at it before quickly writing down the answer and moving on to the next question until all four had been answered. And there were still two minutes left on the clock.
The rest of the class had been looking on in wonder, many thinking there was no way he could possibly know the correct answer to all of them. But when he finished the last one, and the teacher glanced at his paper again, he stunned them all. "All of the answers are correct. Thank you, Parker."
Peter smiled and nodded, before glancing toward his seat, wanting to finish the last set of equations he was working on to give to Melissa later. He turned back to their sensei, however, to check for approval. "Do you need anything else, Sensei?"
"Please stand next to me. I need to explain why I had you answer those questions," Kaito said as the young man stood beside him, wondering what this was about. Seeing how his class was looking at him, he started to get an idea.
"The first question was from Tensor Calculus and was an equation dealing with General Relativity, specifically with positive spacetime curvature for orbital reentry. The second problem was the chemical process to make synthetic Palau'amine. The third problem was for Fusion Physics, for fusing deuterium and tritium to create helium and how much energy is outputted. The final problem is from Quantum Field Theory and a problem for polarization vectors of a massless vector field."
Kaito noted that most of the class was glassy-eyed as it was well above their current knowledge. Still, the brighter students, especially Yaoyorozu and Haruno, seemed to grasp what he was talking about as their eyes were near the size of dinner plates. The bell wrung, signifying lunch, but no one got up yet as they were still paying attention.
"None of the fields of science or mathematics we teach here at U.A. will help young Parker here as he is well past those. He has been given permission by the Principal and our Mathematics and Science course teachers to do self-study during those sessions. He will occasionally be out of class during those times at the request of other teachers. If you want to know further, that is up to Parker if he wants to answer. Class dismissed."
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Peter made his way through the food line, glancing around the room as he tried to spot Pony. He spotted her horns and blond hair just before the cafeteria staff asked what he wanted. Quickly giving his order, he progressed through the line, grabbed a root beer, and approached the cafeteria tables.
He spotted Pony as she had sat down with a pale-skinned boy with beige-colored hair, large dentures, and no lips that reminded him of their mathematics teacher. He made his way over to her. Seeing as her back was to him, he called out to her when he got close. {"Hey, Pony!"}
Pony turned to look at him, smiling widely. {"Peter!"}
{"Got somewhere I can sit?"} Peter asked as he looked at a few of the available chairs.
Pony looked at what was available and pointed to one across from her, {"Sure, sit over there!"}
Peter took the offered spot, putting his tray and drink down before smiling at his friend and her acquaintance. Peter decided to kick off by greeting the acquaintance, especially since he knew Pony's grasp of Japanese could have been stronger. Peter bowed his head and said, "Nice to meet you; I am Parker Peter."
The boy smiled and bowed back, though it was odd to see a smile without any lips, before he stuck his hand out towards Peter for a handshake. Surprised, Peter shook it as the boy spoke his own greeting. {"Nice to meet you, Parker. I am Honenuki Juzo."}
{"Is Juzo your given name? Sometimes when Japanese people speak back in English, they still give your family name first, unlike most Western cultures,"} Peter said with a slightly cocky grin.
Juzo grinned back, {"Yep, and good point. I'll have to remember that for next time."}
{"And your English is pretty good!"}
{"Thanks, I haven't been out of Japan before, but I have relatives in the States."} Juzo said. {"California, specifically."}
{"Raised in Queens, New York."}
{"So, what brings you to U.A.?"}
{"It was where my guardian recommended I go,"} Peter replied, picking up his chopsticks and shoveling a little rice into his mouth to start eating.
Jezo and Pony looked curious, primarily as she hadn't heard why he was attending U.A. yet. {"Why would he do that, Peter?"} Pony asked.
{"It's complicated, but he has several contacts at U.A., so it fits the bill better. Also, because Edgeshot is an alumnus and a friend."}
That surprised them both. Having Japan's number-five hero as a friend boosted their potential for getting in. {"But you weren't in the Recommendation Entrance Exam?"} Juzo asked, curious as to the reasoning.
Peter was stumped until he remembered the other way to attend the school was through recommendations from known Alumni or influential public members. {"Yeah, the whole reason I was with a guardian is part of why I left the States. My Aunt had died in a villain attack, and all of my records in the U.S. got wiped. So I officially didn't exist. I couldn't take the Recommendation Exam without those records."}
Pony and Juzo both winced in sympathy. {"I'm so sorry, Peter. I didn't know,"} Pony said, saddened that her first friend at U.A. had such a traumatic experience. Juzo nodded his head in agreement.
Peter wore a sad smile as he paused in his eating. {"Thank you, Pony. And it's fine. I haven't told very many people about it yet."}
"Parker!" Another familiar voice said to their side, taking them out of their introspection.
Peter turned to the new voice, smiling again as he saw two other new friends arrive with trays. "Kirishima, Koda, nice to see you both! Grab a seat!"
The two boys did just that, with the redheaded Eijiro and rock-headed Koji sitting beside him. "Kirishima and Koda, you remember Pony, right?"
The two boys smiled. Eijiro gave a wide and toothy one, while Koji's smile was shy and accompanied by a small wave. "Sure, and I hear you got into the Hero Course, Pony," Eijiro said excitedly.
"Yep!" Pony said in excitement, nearly jumping in her seat after accomplishing her dream. "I take it you made it as well?" Pony asked.
"Sure did! I crushed those robots. They didn't stand a chance!" Eijiro said as his grin returned.
"Pony," Peter said as he got her attention again. "You technically already met him, but let me introduce you to Koda Koji. Unfortunately, my Japanese Sign Language isn't ideal yet, but I'll do what I can, Koda."
Koji made a few signs with his hands, trying to keep it simple so Peter could be able to translate.
"He says it is nice to meet you, I believe," Peter said, looking at Koji for confirmation. He received a shy but happy nod.
"It is nice to meet you as well, Koda," Pony said as she smiled at the boy.
Peter got the last greeting out of the way before he could resume eating. "I would also like you to meet Honenuki Juzo," Peter said before he decided to get a little clarity from him. "He is also from the Hero Course, Class 1-B, if I am not mistaken?"
"Correct. Nice to meet you, Kirishima-san and Koda-san," Juzo said as he nodded to both boys.
They nodded in return, but Eijiro didn't turn to his lunch like Peter had. He instead grinned as he turned to Peter with a burning light in his eyes. "What you did yesterday was freaking awesome, Parker! But what you did at the end of Math class was unbelievable!"
Pony and Jezo looked up while they ate a few bites, wondering what he was getting at. They noticed both of the boys were looking at Peter in wonder. Swallowing her mouthful, she asked her question. "What happened?"
Peter sighed, a little shy at the praise he was getting, but he didn't stop his redheaded friend. Eijiro told them the story about what had happened, some of which Peter had only guessed at since he had been a bit distracted.
Juzo looked shocked; that was well beyond what he had expected. "What were the equations on? You didn't explain that part."
"Calculus, chemistry, and physics," Peter said easily enough.
"That doesn't sound impressive enough for your class. Give specifics, please," Juzo said. "Uncle Kaito would not let you ignore his class if it was entry-level."
"Uncle?" Peter asked, with Eijiro and Koji looking curiously at the boy, though he supposed the teeth showed a family resemblance. Juzo gave a nod of confirmation while still waiting for an answer.
Eijiro spoke up again, excited to explain things further. "Sensei said something about the first question being about orbital reentry or whatever. The second was for some synthetic chemical, and the last two were about fusion and quantum… something. I couldn't even tell what any of that meant from those equations, just a bunch of letters and numbers to me. I noticed the chemical one, but that was all I could tell. It all looked like alien writing to me!"
Peter sighed before giving a more accurate answer. "Tensor Calculus for precision orbital reentry that included the curvature of spacetime, a chemical equation to create synthetic Palau'amine, the energy output for a fusion reactor with a given quantity of deuterium and tritium, and an equation for quantizing massless vector particles."
Pony, Eijiro, and Koji looked lost at his description, but Juzo was astonished. While he didn't know enough of the needed fields to understand the equations, he was smart enough and knew enough that those equations and fields of study were highly challenging. While it wasn't inconceivable for some in the support classes to be able to do some of those equations, to do all four in minutes was so far outside his understanding. "
Holy shit!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Izuku got back early to his seat after lunch was over. His excitement was hard to restrain. His mind had jumped between what happened at the end of math class and his anticipation for the first class after lunch.
Most of his classmates sat together during lunch to discuss what Parker had done. It would have included Koji and Eijiro if they hadn't decided to grill Parker instead. Yaoyorozu and Haruno had begun to talk about the complications of the equations their Sensei had put on the board and where they had been wrong. Just listening to them discuss it was enough to give him a headache.
But the one universal conclusion among them was that Parker was a
super genius
. He wasn't the only genius in their class, as shown by Yaoyorozu and Haruno's discussion, but even they were awed by his completing all of those equations so quickly. They hypothesized he was dealing with cutting-edge theoretical physics, chemistry, or quantum field theory research in his notebook. The rest of them listened attentively as they got a better appreciation.
But now he was waiting for the one class he was greatly anticipating, not just for what it entailed but also for who was teaching it, as he knew more than most of his class what was coming. He sat in his seat as the rest of his classmates streamed in the five minutes before class started.
When Ranma entered, she still got some odd looks as she was in her girl form and wearing the skirt. Izuku had overheard a few female classmates talking about her, but Ranma ignored them. Most of what Izuku had overheard was his classmates' confusion about treating Ranma as a girl or a boy. The girls weren't the only ones, but the boys discussing it were fewer in number and just as confused as the girls.
The class finished getting into their seats as there was one minute left. The conversations started to die down as the seconds ticked. Izuku was far from the only student excited as they waited to see who their teacher would be.
"
I HAVE…" a loud baritone voice said outside the room, barely being suppressed by the wall. Then the door opened quickly, and a figure stepped through. "... Come through the door, like normal!"
All Might stood in the classroom, his broad muscles shown off with the red skin-tight shirt and blue pants, with some white lines and circles forming on both. He wore a yellow belt with yellow gloves and boots, though they were accentuated with winged flairs. He also had heavy clasps on his shoulders to hold his blue cape. His hair sported his usual yellow antenna right above his forehead. It was a look everyone in their class had seen at various points.
The students were excited and talked loudly with their neighbors or to themselves. They had not been expecting All Might to be teaching them. They watched All Might walk to the front of the class, showing off some minor poses as he grabbed an object from his belt.
All Might looked his students in the eyes, looking between them and glad to have their attention, though he was nervous as it was his first time teaching. He was careful not to show it as he put his world-famous smile on and began his prepared speech. "Hero Basic Training! The class that'll put you through all sorts of special training to mold you into heroes!"
All Might paused momentarily, letting it sink in as the students waited for him to continue. "No time to dally. Today's activity is this!" He removed the object from behind him, a considerably sized plaque with engraved writing. The students read it, many getting excited at what it entailed. "Battle Training!"
"And for that, you need these!" All Might said as he pointed to the side wall opposite the door. A clicking noise was made, and some cupboards with numbers attached to them popped out. "In accordance with the 'Quirk Registry' and the special request forms you filled out before being admitted…," All Might said, letting the students jump to the conclusion themselves.
Most of the class got out of their seats excitedly, all saying the word All Might had been leading them to: "Costumes!"
The students left their desks to each get their own costumes. Izuku didn't get out of his seat. Instead, he hugged his bag to him. That also let him see he wasn't the only one not getting up. He noticed Ranma hadn't bothered to move, and Parker was still sitting. Both had grabbed their bags like he had. He wasn't the only one that already had their costume.
"Grab your bags! We're going to Ground Beta! You'll change in the locker rooms there."
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Izuku got off the bus and headed towards the locker rooms. As he made his way, he noticed that Ranma was walking towards the girl's side. Some girls seemed hesitant, but no one appeared to say anything.
Izuku entered the room, quickly found his designated locker, and removed his school uniform. He then took out the costume his Mom had made him, one made from a full-body jumpsuit with elbow and knee pads. It took him a bit, but eventually, he got everything on, including his mask. When Izuku completed, he noticed he was the last to leave. He hurried towards the grounds, hearing All Might's voice just past the entrance.
"Looking good is very important, ladies and gentlemen! Look alive now because from today on, you're all heroes!" All Might said as Izuku stepped into the stadium. "Shall we begin, my young wards? It's time for Battle Training!"
Izuku looked at his classmates' costumes, finding them a wide range of looks. Some looked simple, like everyday clothing, with a few attachments that set them apart. Others looked like obvious fashion statements for heroes. Most of his classmates were easy to guess who they were, with a few of the girl's costumes making Izuku rather glad for his mask as a full facial blush formed as he started looking at them.
"Ah, Izuku! Cool costume, very practical!" Ochako said to one side, causing Izuku's eyes to expand at how form-fitting hers was. She looked embarrassed after Izuku realized he was staring a little too long.
Uraraka wore a black, form-fitting, full-body suit with a light-pink line down the front and a bright pink collar. Around her wrists were light-pink giant bulbs that he couldn't tell their purpose at this time, with the more brilliant pink on some handles. Her feet had rather large futuristic boots that enclosed the entire leg and were light pink.
Izuku approached where All Might was standing and waited for them together. "We're all here then? Looking good!" All Might said as he looked his students over. Though, Izuku was a little confused why All Might covered his mouth and looked to the side after looking at him.
"Sensei! This appears to be the same testing grounds used in the entrance exam. Will we once again be performing cityscape maneuvers?"
This question came from one that looked like a mixture between a samurai and a biker from the future. He had a white helmet with a full white face mask. He wore a black jacket under heavy white metal armor for his torso that had what looked like pipes that went from the back to behind him. His arms and legs also had heavy metal coverings, leaving him with some black gloves. On the back of his legs were more of the pipes. It took him a bit, but he ended up placing him as most likely Tenya since he remembered him having odd legs during yesterday's test, and the voice was familiar.
"Nope!" All Might said, his smile returning. "You'll move on to step two: Indoor Anti-personnel Battle Training! Villain battles are most commonly seen outdoors, but statistically, the most heinous villains are more likely to appear indoors."
All Might continued his lecture as he put a hand to his chin. "Think about it! Backroom deals, home invasions, and secret lairs! In this hero-filled society of ours, the cleverest villains out there lurk indoors!" All Might shifted his posture again, fists on his waist. "You'll now be split into Villain and Hero teams and face off in two-on-two indoor battles!"
"So, no basic training? Ribbit," Tsuyu asked.
"Practical experience teaches you the basics!" All Might replied, "The distinction here is that you won't fight disposable robots."
Several students' hands went up, but they started speaking anyway.
"What determines victory?"
"Can I just blast everyone away?"
"Are you threatening to expel someone, like Aizawa-sensei did?"
"How do we proceed to divide ourselves into teams?"
"How fabulous is my cape?"
All Might struggled as he realized he was losing control. "One at a time! My quirk isn't super hearing!"
After they stopped, All Might continued after reading a small slip of paper from a pouch. "Listen up, the villains will be hiding a nuclear weapon in the hideout, and the heroes must go in and take care of it. The heroes have a limited amount of time to either capture the villains or secure the weapon. The villains must either capture the heroes or protect the weapon until the time is up."
"Your battle partners will be decided by…," All Might said as he reached over to a small box, grabbing it before turning back to the students and showing him what was written on it. "Drawing lots!"
"Is that really the best way?" Iida questioned.
"Makes sense; Pros often have to team up with heroes from other agencies on the spot during emergencies," Izuku noted, relieving All Might.
Iida turned to look at Izuku before turning back to their Sensei, "I see. I apologize for getting ahead of myself. My mistake."
"It's fine! Let's just get to it!" All Might said as the students approached and reached into the box.
The students began lining up and drawing their lots. When Izuku's turn came, he drew an A, marking him for Team A. The other person that had drawn an A was Ochako! Izuku stared at Ochako as she smiled at the team they had formed. Izuku was once again thankful for his face mask.
He saw a few other teams getting together, but his attention was pulled back to All Might as he brought out two boxes, one marked Villain and the other Hero. "Moving on, first up are these!" All Might then pulled two balls from the boxes before calling them out. "The hero team is Team A! The villain team is Team D!"
Izuku looked over to see who was– Kacchan. And Tenya. This wasn't going to be pretty.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Katsuki stood in the room with the 'nuke,' seeing as it was just a giant paper mache when Tenya inspected it. They had both inspected the room some but found there wasn't anything special about it. It was just a bunch of columns and windows to the outside.
His hero costume was composed of a jagged black mask that flared orange in the back, a black tank top with an orange x over it, some sort of metal neck brace open in the front, dark black pants with heavy black boots, and metal shin guards. On his wrists were some large accessories that looked like grenades.
Katsuki was glad he would have the chance to face off against Deku, both to see what his strength was and to finally call him out for lying about being quirkless for so many years. But Katsuki also wanted to win because he already knew he was behind compared to several classmates.
"Hey, so Deku has a quirk?" Katsuki asked his fellow villain.
Tenya looked at the blonde in confusion, "Who is Deku?"
Katsuki grunted in annoyance, realizing the boy wouldn't recognize him by that name. "The male extra we're facing."
It took a moment for Tenya to figure out whom Katsuki was referring to, but he did have enough to narrow it down. The fact the boy didn't use his name confused him, but he opted not to investigate that for now. "He has a monstrous strength, but it appears he had difficulty controlling it until yesterday. Saotome-kun appears to have been a great help to him."
Katsuki growled, but it matched what he had seen and heard. Though he immediately discounted the 'monstrous' part of the explanation. From what he had seen, it was a minor boost compared to the genuine monsters in their class. He planned to confront him about it, but the priority was to ensure he won. Deku was low on his list of threats to deal with.
"Since you seem familiar with him, do you have a plan?" Tenya questioned.
Katsuki took another look around the room and considered the rest of the layout of the building. "Yeah, I'm out of here. Fighting in here is stupid." He turned and began to walk away.
"I'll come with you."
Katsuki grits his teeth in a snarl. "Just stay and guard the bomb. I don't need your damn help."
Tenya stepped closer to Katsuki, though he avoided getting too close. "That may be, but you'll have it anyway. This is a team battle, so there will be more than one opponent you will be facing. While I do not know if you can defeat them alone, working together significantly increases our chances of success."
Katsuki paused at that. He could handle Deku on his own, and the girl wouldn't be an issue either. But while he
could fight them himself, there was always that chance it would become too risky if they could put up a better fight than he anticipated. The girl Extra was a sideshow but could become a problem if he ignored her. If this had been the day before yesterday, he'd forget Extra here and just go crush the bugs. But yesterday
did happen, and he
knew he wasn't the best. Not anymore. Not with Parker, Forehead,
or the Pigtailed Bastard being present. He couldn't just coast along to be the strongest like he had previously thought, even against a bug like Deku.
Deku…that nerd had hidden
something from him for years. What
could he do? Katsuki didn't know, not for sure. Which meant the nerd could try to pull some stupid trick. Katsuki would still win, but he didn't just want to win. He would
crush him. And he could use Extra here to ensure it.
Katsuki thought further, visualizing how the fight might go, and developed his plan. "Alright, here's what we'll do."
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Izuku and Ochako made their way toward the building as they looked at its blueprints. Ochako was excited; she couldn't wait to start, especially with the difference between yesterday's and today's tests.
"I'm so glad there's no punishment for failure like Aizawa-sensei had," Ochako said before glancing at Izuku. She looked with concern at Izuku after noticing that he was shaking badly. "Are you okay? You're shaking some."
Izuku paused, realizing she was right and his mind was running away. He was glad Ochako mentioned it. He used Ranma's previous advice to start to calm his nerves. He started planning ahead for what was to come, but that required him to think of what Kacchan would do, mainly because of his reaction to his passing, and he would probably be pissed about him having a quirk.
"Sorry, I was just nervous about having to face Kacchan," Izuku said as he began to calm down.
"Kacchan?" Ochako asked, recognizing the significance of what the name meant. "Is he an old friend?"
Izuku winced, visible to Ochako since the lower part of Izuku's mask was down. "Kind of. We've lived near each other since we were kids, and I always looked up to him. But he's also kind of been bullying me."
Ochako looked on with surprise, though from what she had seen of the boy, it wasn't too surprising. He was loud and called people names, calling most of the class 'extras' whenever he would address them.
"He's strong, confident, and his quirk is powerful, and he knows how to use it well. But I also don't want to lose to him," Izuku said as his resolve firmed up and his plans began to settle. "He believed I was quirkless, so he would be mad at me. He will hit us hard and fast, but he'll probably leave you alone to start. He also doesn't tend to work with others, preferring to show he is the strongest. He'll focus on me, so you must stay back until I have his attention, then move on toward the objective. He's too tenacious and difficult to target, and your quirk won't be of much use against him because his explosions would still allow him to move freely."
Ochako looked on with surprise at how well thought out the quick analysis was and how well he knew his reaction. She nodded along, thinking of who she would have to take on. "Iida, we don't know him as well, but from what we have seen, he seems straightforward and fast. He… I think he'll stay near the bomb. But he would also have to get close to me to attack, which could allow me to use my quirk on him and buy me the time to get to the bomb."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll take point, so when Kacchan attacks, I can create an opening for you to get past him."
"Right! Let's do this!" Ochako said, pumping her fist as she psyched herself up.
The two heroes entered the building and snuck inside through a window. They began going through the hallways towards the next set of stairs as they made their way up. Izuku approached corners carefully, trying to detect or anticipate Kacchan's attack. Ochako was several meters back, more than enough distance to keep her safe from an initial blast while checking their backs.
On the second floor, Izuku crept up to one of the corners as he prepared to peak when he heard a rush of movement. Izuku threw himself back as Kacchan bounced off one of the walls above them, his glove pointing in his direction. Izuku braced himself as the explosion added more momentum, sending him flying backward and smoking, landing near Ochako's feet.
Ochako gasped in surprise at the sudden attack but quickly tried to get Izuku back on his feet, his mask damaged and showing part of his face. They didn't have time to discuss what was happening as Katsuki charged their position. He had leaped to the hallway wall again before diving at them with both hands pulled back.
Izuku grabbed Ochako and dove below the attack as it was too powerful to do anything but dodge. When they stood again to face Katsuki, he turned back toward them more calmly than before. Izuku pushed Ochako behind him, seeing this as their chance. She stepped back as Izuku held his position, keeping their eyes on the dangerous target before them.
"Nice dodging, Deku," Katsuki said calmly before his face became enraged as his voice raised in volume. "You piece of shit! Have you been lying about being quirkless all these years?"
Izuku put his hand behind him, trying to wave Ochako on to go on ahead. "It's complicated, Kacchan!"
Ochako was only a few meters away from the hallway Katsuki had come from when he yelled even louder than before. "I'm going to kick your ass,
Deku!"
They watched as Katsuki brought both fists back and slammed them forward at the same point before him, creating a large and deafening explosion. Izuku and Ochako had to look away momentarily as it was so bright. It also spelled disaster for them, as they didn't hear the rapid footsteps behind Ochako.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"Watch closely and try to learn something, everyone!" All Might said as the rest of the students stood in a nearby building with many 2D projections instead of monitors. The projections showed all the different floors, usually one to three cameras for every room or hallway. The rest of the students stood around, watching over the displays.
A few had more vested interest than most of the class, seeing as they had become involved with the students.
"That's low, Bakugo! Sneak attacks are so unmanly!" Eijiro yelled as his eyes were glued to the display.
"Yet it is a valid strategy. This is practical experience, after all!"
"Midoriya can definitely dodge!" Mina said, glancing between Eijiro and the displays.
"Both sides did well," Sakura said, grabbing a few interested parties attention. "Both anticipated the coming battle and planned accordingly. Bakugo remained silent before springing his ambush, which was well executed for his level. Midoriya expected something like this, so he was the point man to make sure they wouldn't be caught in an ambush like that. If he had been more careless, that could have taken them out of the fight."
They watched as Bakugo followed up the attack, nearly jumping over them as they dived beneath them. Most of the rest of the class gave approval as Midoriya dodged beneath it, grabbing Uraraka down in time. Sakura smiled, recognizing the possible strategy involved with that maneuver, though she wasn't the only one who noted the purposeful clumsiness of it.
They watched as Ururaka slowly backed up even as Bakugo stalked forward. Izuku had given some signal before raising his fists as he prepared for the next attack. Bakugo shouted something before setting off a large explosion in front of them, louder and brighter than expected based on what they could see and the other two's reaction.
That was when they saw Tenya step around and use a burst of speed to hit Ochako in the back, grabbing her and nearly shoving her into the ground in complete surprise. His hands moved fast as he put the capture tape around one of the limbs, indicating she was sufficiently captured and was now out of the fight. Tenya had accomplished all this before Midoriya could finish getting his eyes and ears re-adjusted. Sakura smiled in approval.
"Another ambush! So unmanly!" Eijiro cried out, his hands pulling on his hair in anguish. No one noticed the slight twitching the redheaded Ranma went through.
They watched as Midoriya finally noticed Iida lifting Uraraka. He was shocked and sprinted after the other boy but was too slow to stop him. Especially as Bakugo used that time to close the gap.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Izuku realized too late how
stupid he had been! His ears and eyes still hurt from that flashbang Kacchan had set off, but he had chanced a look behind himself to check on Ochako to make sure she was alright, only to see her on the ground with Iida holding her to the floor.
He panicked and sprinted for her, hoping to prevent her capture. His uneven lunge was thrown off due to unfamiliarity with his quirk and the previous flashbang, making it clumsy and slow. Iida had already picked her up and was carrying her off when he had recovered.
He was lucky his hearing had returned enough to hear the extra explosion from behind that reminded Izuku that Kacchan was still there. He turned and twisted just in time to catch the right arm he knew would be coming for him. He twisted his body, putting his shoulder up near Kacchan's, and then lowered himself and threw his childhood friend into the hallway floor. The boy skidded forward a little but quickly recovered.
Izuku looked up and was heartbroken to see Iida had already escaped with Ochako. They had captured her. He had let her down, and now he was alone against his childhood tormentor and friend. Winning this trial just got significantly more challenging. He watched as Kacchan got to his feet quickly and turned to leap, another explosion prepared in his right hand as it reared back.
But Izuku had better control of his quirk now. He could use it without hurting himself. He wasn't the same as before; he had a way he could win. Izuku tracked Kacchan's motion, used a bit of strength in one of his legs to push himself forward faster than expected, and closed the gap. His hand reached out and grabbed Kacchan's elbow, then Izuku spun him around by his arm, spinning him behind him until he released him toward the wall that had been to Izuku's right so that the blonde boy would crash into it with his back.
Kacchan still crashed into it, but an explosion he set off behind himself reduced his momentum and thus his impact, though it cratered the wall before he hit it. He pointed both hands down, creating more explosions to send him flying above, and avoided an empowered punch that finished the wall.
"You piece-of-shit
liar!" Kacchan screamed as he kicked off the ceiling, redirecting his motion as he dive-bombed Izuku, bringing both arms forward for another double explosion and aimed for his back. But Izuku dived through the hole to avoid the hit. He got his feet from under him as he skidded along and bleeding his momentum.
Izuku looked up into Kacchan's rage-filled eyes, his own determination present. He wasn't the same pathetic Deku he had been a year ago. But there was one thing about Kacchan's accusations that stung Izuku badly. He
wasn't a liar. He hadn't hidden a quirk from Kacchan for all these years, but how could he hope to tell him without revealing the truth? That his quirk was literally All Might's quirk. A hero that
both of them had looked up to as they grew up. While Kacchan didn't go to such extremes like himself, he knew All Might was his goal and his hero.
Izuku briefly considered what Ranma had told him, using that as some excuse to explain his change. But that thought
would be a lie, and it didn't sit well with him.
"I'm
not a liar, Kacchan!" Izuku pleaded, "But I can't tell you
why! I'm sorry!"
He hoped he would be believed but knew he wouldn't and was quickly proven right as it angered the boy even further. Kacchan flew forward with another burst of explosions, his right arm cocked again. Izuku responded in kind as he shot forward as well, shooting to intercept the cocked fist yet again.
This time, Katsuki was ready as he brought his left palm forward, shooting a minor explosion right in front of him, catching Izuku by surprise, disorienting him, and throwing off his aim. Katsuki grabbed Izuku's outstretched arm with his right hand, grabbing around his wrist with his entire glove.
Katsuki's previous explosion had also reduced their momentum, so they didn't smash into each other. He then set off a short series of explosions with his left palm as he used it to generate momentum; he pivoted around the arm, dragged his arm behind his back, and corkscrewed in the air, with the other boy dragged along behind him.
Izuku went flying over Katsuki as his arm felt as if it was being ripped out of its socket, and found himself flying towards the ground for a horrible crash as he was released. Izuku strengthened his legs and arms just as he got them beneath him. The impact hurt, but not as much as it likely would have if he hadn't pulled that off in time.
Izuku looked up just as Katsuki was making his own landing and made a move to dive after him yet again.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
The spectators were going crazy as they watched the two go at each other. The two boys quickly proved to be adaptable and instinctual. The back-and-forth fights with the occasional breaks where the two yelled at each other continued. Both sides landed hits, but neither could take out the other since they mitigated the more punishing blows.
All Might kept his smile up but had grown worried as he watched the battle with Izuku. He was
very proud of his successor's performance, especially as he had only gotten enough control of his quirk to not injure himself just yesterday. He showed a great deal of talent for fighting. His opponent was also highly talented, creative, and instinctual in his fight. The two of them could readily grow to be outstanding heroes in the future, and he was looking forward to that possibility.
But what worried All Might was what he heard during the two young men's battle during the occasional verbal outrage they would spew. He realized why Katsuki was so angry at his protege. They had grown up together, so for Izuku to suddenly develop a quirk out of nowhere without Katsuki learning about the truth would make the temperamental boy angry not just for being lied to but angry at himself for not realizing the truth.
He was glad that Izuku was opting not to reveal the truth, but he now knew this was eating him up. He didn't know how to help them without telling the truth. But the truth was too dangerous; he couldn't reveal it to Katsuki without putting him at far more risk than what the truth would alleviate. He would have to think about it. A talk with the Principal later this week could help him figure out what to do.
The two boys continued as the time dwindled, neither getting the upper hand. Both would need to see a healer after this, All Might was certain. He wasn't sure about using Haruno for that task, but the girl had been cleared to provide on-site medical treatment.
When his stopwatch started beeping, warning that time was quickly running out, All Might sighed as he knew Izuku would be heartbroken. He watched the last few seconds dwindle before he moved his hand to the microphone as the time finally ran out.
"Time's up!" All Might said through the speakers, bringing the listeners' and the combatant's attention. "Villain team wins!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
The four combatants stood before All Might and the rest of the class. Ochako looked depressed, having been taken out before she could do anything. Izuku's suit was nearly unsalvageable, having torn in multiple spots. His face and arms sported bruises that were becoming visible and made more than one classmate wince in sympathy. His bangs covered his eyes as he looked down in total defeat.
Tenya looked pristine and held his head high as he waited. Bakugo was also similarly banged up like Izuku, but despite winning, he looked pissed. After All Might called it, he had almost restarted the fight and kept looking at Izuku and gritting his teeth.
"The V.I.P. in this battle was Bakugo!" All Might said aloud. Only a few of the students weren't surprised. Seeing the confusion, All Might decided to test his students. "Does anyone know why?"
"Well, Bakugo fought the longest and hardest, and he started with that ambush, ribbit," Tsuyu said, trying to reason it out. "But Iida captured Ururaka and got away with her…." She wasn't sure how to treat it and was not the only one.
"Shouldn't it have been Iida or Midoriya, sensei?" Jiro asked after raising her hand. She ignored the glare she received from Bakugo for that. "Iida trailed after Bakugo captured Ururaka and kept a level head." She continued to ignore the even harsher glare from Bakugo. "And Midoriya planned well but had not anticipated Iida's ambush."
"No, though I can understand how it could appear that way," All Might said. "Anyone able to explain why it isn't?"
"While Iida is smart and
can think tactically, it is not something he is used to putting into practice just yet," Sakura said, "Once a plan of action was decided on, he stuck to it completely. When Bakugo could not subdue Midoriya as fast as they anticipated, he didn't assist because that wasn't their plan. Iida ensured he didn't get in the way after Uraraka was down while also getting her out of the way of any potential stray shots."
Sakura smiled at Tenya with a bit of pride in her eyes. Tenya noticed it and gave his own subtle smile in return.
"So the one who came up with the ambush plan was Bakugo. Everything about that initial charge was planned and improvised. He needed to get past them while ensuring he had their complete attention. The second attack was purposely set up so they would dive beneath him to escape." She looked at Bakugo as he smirked at her before asking him a question. "Bakugo, your signal was the last sentence you said before you used the flashbang, correct? It was to let Iida know to attack after the next use of your quirk, right?"
He raised an eyebrow as his smirk dropped a little but nodded. "Yes."
"The plan had been to set up a scenario to hit them while their attention was on him; improvisation was needed. Once the scenario was primed, then they attacked. With one down, Bakugo was to hold Midoriya there or defeat him. Iida being nearby, might be able to help but could end up in the crossfire. So the plan involved Iida making one attack and then retreating, with or without Uraraka. This also set up subsequent attacks by Bakugo. With Uraraka neutralized, Iida was the last line of defense while Bakugo fought it out."
"Well stated, Haruno!" All Might said, trying to figure out how she knew all that. He only knew because he had access to the full voice comms. He then looked at the rest of the class, "Anything else to critique?"
They noticed Parker's arm was raised, several students lowering theirs as they grew interested in what he had to say. "The place to fight was also well chosen. Explosions are more easily focused in smaller quarters, meaning you have less maneuverability to dodge or suppress their impact. Not to mention that sound reverberates in a closed environment more easily, so the air pressure from the blast waves is more effective."
"Then there is the fact that the room with the bomb would offer too many opportunities for a quick turn changing the battle in their favor. Not to mention that bombs usually don't react well to other explosives. The only chance it might not set off the nuke was if it was an unarmed military-grade nuclear weapon."
That surprised the entire class, as explosives near a nuke sounded like a
horrible idea! All Might decided to ask since even he didn't know the answer. "What do you mean by that, young Parker?"
"Military-grade nuclear weapons come with multiple series of protections against an accidental detonation. Nuclear bombs combine fission and fusion; you cause a fission reaction that compresses everything into a fusion reaction. This causes a chain reaction causing fusion and fission detonations. There are multiple safeguards in place preventing the mixing of materials. If not deactivated properly, those safeguards will prevent the components from mixing. All safeguards have been deactivated when someone 'arms' a nuclear warhead. If the villain team had armed it, any impact or jostling could set it off."
"Okay… that is… good to know, young Parker." All Might said while the rest of the class just stared. "Anyone else?"
"Bakugo and Izuku's techniques were adequate for being untrained," Ranma added. "Bakugo was more instinctual and had good creativity, while Izuku was calculating and anticipating his opponents' attacks."
"Thank you, Saotome," All Might said. He was sweating a little, being shown up so well by his students. He decided it was time for the next match, "Teams B and I are up next!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Ranma looked over the room that had the fake weapon. They were on the top floor, much like the previous battle. It had enough maneuverability that several different options were on the table. From what she had seen of the hallways, while she could easily fight there, it would be difficult for Toru. Not to mention who their opponents were. Mezo's arms would make it impossible for Toru to fight him adequately due to the distance he could cover and his senses. Todoroki could put out ice, but Ranma needed to figure out how much he could generate or control.
Ranma looked at Toru, who was only wearing a pair of light blue gloves and brown-gray shoes. Toru was also inspecting the room, and his senses told her she glanced her way occasionally. Considering she had done that throughout the day, Ranma decided now was the best time to deal with that issue. Ranma was glad for the lessons she had gotten on politeness from her guardians.
"Hagakure-san?" Ranma asked, getting her full attention. "I apologize for the confusion before the practical exam began last month. It had not been my intention to touch you inappropriately. I sensed you entering my personal space after I backed up and attempted to hold you by your shoulder to prevent a collision. I didn't calculate you attempting to straighten up at that time," Ranma said before bowing to her. "Again, I apologize."
Toru looked at Ranma, who was wearing a short-sleeved red shirt in a Chinese style, with some clasps holding the front of the shirt. She also wore some black silk pants, with the middle being tied by a dark cloth belt and some slippers.
Toru considered the other girl– boy– girl's words, and she was leaning toward believing her. Ochako had informed her what she had learned yesterday, making more sense than before. But having been invisible for so long, someone being able to sense her so accurately was not something to which she was accustomed. She decided to find out how good she was. "You can sense me? What does that mean?"
"I can sense your Ki. While my normal senses are better than normal, I can't visually see anything. I can hear, smell, and feel you around me like a blind person might have their other senses enhanced somewhat. It can also sense emotions, especially strongly felt ones. I don't always have it on 'full' since it can be distracting, but I always have it partly on within a meter or two. My Ki sense lets me get more of an actual image of you than those senses, so I can detect your body and where you are at. Including limbs and other things."
Toru considered her words but decided to test things. She took off her gloves and raised her left hand. "Which hand am I holding up?"
"Your left."
"Can you see my fingers?"
"Yes."
"How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Two… four… three… five… one– oh, that's just rude," Ranma said with a glare at her.
Toru giggled, suitably satisfied. "Thank you, apology accepted," Toru said, her tone lighter than before.
Ranma smiled in return, glad that snafu was behind them for now. Best to concentrate on the battle now. She started trying to play different scenario's out in her mind. Unless Todoroki or Mezo were much more powerful than they showed, she could finish this test rather quickly without showing more advanced techniques. But this was training.
A few years ago, she probably would have done it so she would win, her ego demanding nothing less. But she had matured some before becoming younger again and had become a Sensei. She looked toward Toru and noticed she was taking her boots off and leaving her gloves off. "Why are you taking everything off?"
"I figure it is best to go full stealth against them. I might be able to capture one of them from behind," Toru said as she looked for a place to store her equipment.
While not a bad strategy, Ranma knew that against Mezo, it wouldn't be very effective. Against Todoroki, there were a few unknowns. Best to get what information she could fill in for now. "How are you against cold temperatures?"
Toru looked at her, wondering why she was being asked that. "No better than most anyone else."
Ranma narrowed her eyes before deciding her plan wasn't usable at this time. "Put your boots back on at least, and possibly your gloves. You don't have anything else to keep you warm right now?"
Toru blinked a few times, surprised at the suggestion. "Why?"
"Against Mezo, your being invisible won't be of much use. He has even better-enhanced hearing and other senses than I do. The only thing I have on him is my Ki sense. He'll know where you are and is smart enough to ensure he tracks you the entire time."
"Mezo?" Toru asked.
"Oh, uhh, Shoji. Sorry, I don't normally use honorifics or family names. I usually save those for my Mom and others I respect."
"Not your father?" Toru asked, wondering why one would be respected and the other not.
Ranma snorted, "Hell no! My old man doesn't get that respect unless he does something super awesome. At least until he does something stupid shortly after."
Toru giggled again before turning back to the subject at hand. "Okay, so Shoji-kun, I won't be able to sneak up on him. Todoroki-kun has ice powers… oh, I get it now. If he's got ice powers, the area around him or near his attacks will be cold. That also means the environment will get cold!"
"Yep," Ranma said, glad she was catching on. "Mez– Shoji will also make it part of his mission to watch his back, knowing you might threaten him. So your invisibility isn't going to be particularly effective at the start. During the fight, we'll learn more about what Todoroki is capable of and how cold it will be, so you can know whether you can withstand his impact on the environment. They will expect you to wear what clothes you can, so when you are certain you can withstand it, you can take them off and use them as a surprise action."
Toru nodded as she grabbed her gloves and boots and started putting them back on.
"For now, stay back and out of sight and out of the line of fire. I'll watch your position so stray shots don't go your way. Let them concentrate on me, and I will keep them occupied; you try to move towards them occasionally. If you see an opportunity, go for it. I'll force their attention on me when I sense you making a move."
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"They're both in the same room on the north side of the fourth floor," Mezo said as he kept several ears pinging to their location as another limb created a mouth for him to speak from. "I recommend we be careful. While Hagakure is not a real threat to us, Saotome will be a nightmare to fight."
Mezo glanced at his current ally after giving his evaluation above. Todoroki Shoto's costume comprised a white dress shirt, off-color white pants, and white boots. It looked very plain, save for this left side was covered entirely in what looked like ice, save for his boots. The ice also covered his left eye and glowed, making it a little eerie looking.
Shoto didn't even look in Mezo's direction, instead giving a dismissive snort at the suggestion that Ranma would be a threat. "It won't matter. Get outside; it's going to get cold."
Mezo considered his suggestion but noticed he didn't seem to think his warning about the dangers of Ranma was sufficient. Mezo didn't know how powerful Shoto was, but Mezo got at least a decent grasp and knew to take it seriously. "What do you intend?"
Shoto glared at the other boy, finally taking in his appearance after dismissing him earlier. Mezo still had a face mask and was sleeveless, but his mask was larger and midnight blue, going over his light-blue tunic and light-blue pants, with some buttons on the front that looked more like eyes and a dark blue belt with a golden eye sitting prominently on it. He also wore dark blue boots.
"I'm going to freeze the building," Shoto commented. "Their feet will be trapped in the ice."
"That might work on Hagakure, but it won't even slow Saotome down," Mezo said, crossing his arms as he looked Shoto in the eye.
The boy glared back at being challenged but opted to consider his words. "I can freeze him more completely when I get to the floor he is on."
"How fast can your ice move? How strong is it?"
Shoto narrowed his eyes a bit, answering honestly. "I can attack in the blink of an eye. The ice can enclose someone and is stronger than normal ice."
"The speed, I don't think, will be a challenge for Saotome, and neither will the strength," Mezo said, who received another glare from the boy. "I observed Saotome in yesterday's assessment tests and the practical exam. He is fast and strong, has some enhanced senses, and could do other things that I still don't understand how he did them. Like flicking small rocks a hundred meters away that destroyed robot heads in a metal shower."
Shoto paused. That last one spoke of experience, likely something from the practical exam most of the class had to take, and it was not something he had seen in yesterday's tests. That made him a threat as he accepted that the boy knew what he was talking about. "What do you propose we do then?"
Mezo concentrated as he thought of how to fight someone like Saotome. "First, can you control your ice to be more thorough on a specific target?" Mezo asked.
"Yes."
"We start with your initial attack. Hit Saotome as hard as possible, and I will help determine its effectiveness. If it is not effective enough against Saotome, then if it can at least negate Hagakure and you can hold Saotome long enough, I can go for the weapon. If not, we must work together to create an opening to attack."
Shoto paused as he evaluated the initial plan, finding it sufficient. "Tell me where he is, and then get outside."
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Ranma paused as she followed the two several floors below. It was still tricky, but her senses let her get enough of a read on the two's emotions. She was reading quite a bit of arrogance from Shoto and annoyance from Mezo. She knew Mezo had a good head on his shoulders, so if he was getting annoyed, the other boy probably wasn't listening to what he was saying. Shoto was annoyed because of the discussion, meaning he didn't like being questioned or slowed down.
Ranma tilted her head as she worked it over, quickly going over what information she had. She knew Shoto had seen her at yesterday's field test, so he should know how strong and fast she was. So for him to still be that arrogant meant that he thought he was strong enough to take her on anyways. His physical capabilities could have been more impressive, meaning his ice was his focus and more powerful than previously shown. That meant fast or overwhelming attacks, probably both if he was that confident. He also had to avoid damaging the bomb and not permanently hurting them, so he thought he had solid control.
As Shoto seemed to pause, Ranma observed his arrogance, confidence, and impatience cutting out, and Mezo's aggravation was satisfied a moment later. Mezo got through to the other boy, it seemed. Ranma ran a checklist of all the attacks Mezo might have seen her do, and there were a few that he might have used to get through to Shoto. Nothing super impressive to Ranma, as she hadn't used anything spectacular in her mind. But there were a few that made identifying what she
could do to be more confusing. Ranma then saw Mezo reluctantly walking back outside while Shoto just looked directly at her spot after Mezo had pointed her out.
Ranma smirked as their likely plan of attack formed, and an idea came to her. She waved at Toru to get her attention as she mimed using a zipper on her lips and stayed where she was. Toru seemed to understand as she nodded and gave a thumbs up.
Ranma then removed her silk shirt, revealing the exercise bra she wore underneath, though it was longer than most she had seen and could almost be considered a tank top. Toru's mind shifted to jealousy for a boy to be so well endowed, but it was brief. After all, Ranma wasn't as impressive as another classmate of theirs. Ranma tossed the silk shirt at Toru, confusing her even as Ranma mimed putting it on. She became further complexed even as she put on the shirt when Ranma removed her pants to show… boxers? She wasn't sure why she wore that, but after being tossed the pants, she didn't require any additional instructions before she put them on.
Ranma then continued the game of charades, trying to explain the game plan to her as quickly as possible. Toru was confused but caught on quickly enough that it made some sense, making her smile and nod. It was an odd sensation to nod and have someone realize she was doing it.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"Thank you, Haruno-san!" Izuku sighed with relief as the pink-haired girl finished healing his bruises and cuts. He was the first to receive her treatment, with Kacchan and Ochako next in line. His embarrassment of being treated by a girl was at the back of his mind as his body wasn't screaming at him about his pain.
"You're welcome, Midoriya," Sakura said with a smile before turning her attention to her grumpier patient.
Izuku walked away to leave her to her task. He looked back as Katsuki came off all abrasive as he regarded her, but he seemed willing to let her do her job without a fight. Izuku looked back and returned to the rest of his class as he saw both teams preparing. His body seemed to feel phantom pains but they were brief and went away quickly.
Izuku watched the monitor as the next match began. It had also been eye-opening for him as he had seriously misjudged Kacchan. He had not expected him to actually work with Iida. At first, he had thought Iida had just taken the initiative himself, but what Haruno-san had said made too much sense.
He felt awful for letting Ochako down. He was going to have to apologize to her after school, but there was something else niggling at his thoughts that he needed to deal with. He strode up to their teacher as he stood off to the side.
"All Might?" Izuku asked softly, trying not to attract attention.
All Might almost replied with his usual boisterous voice but quickly realized what Izuku was doing and spoke softly. "Yes, young Midoriya?"
"I…" A thousand things to say ran through his mind. Most of them were some form of asking forgiveness for failing his idol, but something firmed in him. He had stood against Kaachan, an incredible fledgling hero, and held his own! At least a little. So his mind fell on an older thought. "I learned something about Saotome-san yesterday, something I need to talk to you about. It's important."
All Might blinked in surprise, not having anticipated that at all. He had expected disappointment and an apology from Izuku, so this came out of left field. "All right. I'll find you after class is finished."
"Thank you," Izuku said with a smile and more cheerful than before. Then his eyes widened in shock as cameras showed a world of ice appearing, and the temperature drop was felt even in the control room.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Shoto sighed after he completed his task. He had taken Mezo's warnings with enough care to go beyond what he usually would. The building was covered in his ice like he had planned, but he put more effort into the spot Mezo had said Ranma was at. That section should be covered in two meters of ice, thick and sturdy. He waited until Mezo returned and was shivering.
"Well?"
"They're talking and panicking. Their breathing shows they are cold. Saotome says she's trapped and can't get any leverage to get out. Hagakure had her boots on and was able to get out. She's trying to free Saotome now," Mezo said as he tried to keep his body temperature up.
"Good. I will go up alone; stay outside where it is warmer." Shoto commanded. "Inform me on comms if anything changes."
Mezo considered voicing his concern, but Shoto didn't seem interested in listening as he started walking away toward their goal. He decided to let him go but had a bad feeling about it. Once outside, Mezo tracked Shoto's progress as he climbed the floors and reached the room with the objective. He was a little concerned as Ranma stopped talking, and the ice was absorbing too much noise for him to differentiate her breathing from Toru's. The cold made it hard for him to concentrate, and he kept a hand near the button for their communications equipment.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
The class watched. They had been wondering what Ranma was doing, giving her clothes to Toru to wear and Ranma's miming. More than a few classmates quickly followed what Ranma had mimed, though even fewer of them understood the trap she was setting.
When Shoto attacked, they were all startled to see how strong and controlled his ice was. But when they looked at the monitor, they saw that Ranma had avoided it entirely, having leaped towards the ceiling and landed on the new block of ice that had formed where she had previously stood. They then saw her shouting and touching the ice with her hands, and while they couldn't hear her, they did see her smile. Toru escaped her own trap, though her boots were left behind, as she ran to the side of the block of ice next to Ranma. She was shouting as she hit the ice with her arms in futility while hopping around due to her cold feet. After a minute, Ranma gave her shoes to Toru, making it easier on the other girl as she continued to hit the ice pointlessly.
They watched as Shoto approached the room before Ranma disappeared as Shoto neared the room with the bomb. Only those with exceptional perception saw the blur of motion on the monitor; the cameras had barely picked it up. They watched Shoto finally enter the room, only to see Toru standing there. His blank expression became confused momentarily before shocked understanding took its place as his body stiffened. But it was too late; Ranma dropped from above, and with a single chop to his neck, Shoto fell to the ground.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
All Might suppressed a chuckle as he stepped up to the line of students. After Shoto was downed, Mezo tried to get inside to get at the bomb, but the cold and Ranma's interference made that impossible, and he was captured.
"So, Young Todoroki, do you know what happened?" All Might asked.
Shoto stared ahead, not looking at anyone, continuing to think over the situation while rubbing his neck as the soreness lingered. He knew the basics, just not the details. "I underestimated them. Even after Shoji's warning."
"That is true, and you did take steps to account for it. But what happened?"
"I don't know."
"While Shoji did warn about Saotome's enhanced senses, you did not consider the possibility of you being observed in return," All Might pointed out. He wasn't the only one curious about how Ranma could do all she had. But he was the only one in the room that had seen Ranma's quirk registry, which still only said he changed into a girl and back.
Shoto and Mezo both looked at All Might before they closed their eyes in realization. Shoto said, "She sensed us well enough to learn what we would do. They faked being trapped."
Shoji picked up the thread. "And Saotome knew of my capability to hear things further away, just like I knew of her abilities to a degree. They made it sound believable that Todoroki had trapped them, even with our additional precautions, causing us to drop our guard. When Todoroki got close enough, Saotome moved into a place to ambush while Hagakure remained in place to draw our attention."
"And I wasn't expecting Hagakure to be wearing clothes. Instead, I was looking for Saotome, and my eyes were drawn to her clothes. I took too long to realize it was Hagakure," Todoroki finished as he glanced to the side where Ranma and Hagakure were standing.
Toru was still wearing Ranma's shirt and pants as the temperature was still rather cold, and Ranma didn't seem to care about it. Toru wore a smile that no one could see at the twist she got to play. She never expected to play the role of the
visible person!
Ranma had a bit of a smug grin because the arrogant boy had underestimated them. Especially when he expected to just steamroll them both. However, she figured it was a good lesson for Mezo to be cautious of what his senses told him. She'd have to ensure he didn't take it too hard later.
"Does anyone else have anything to add to the evaluation?" All Might asked.
Momo held her hand up, indicating she did have something to say. "While the Hero team made some mistakes on assumptions, their plan was still good, and they did listen to each other. They improved on their initial plan, with Shoji-san's excellent senses pinpointing Saotome-san's position, and Todoroki-san's control and power were exceptional. Those facts should not be overlooked."
"Indeed," All Might said, realizing he had forgotten to praise them. He then decided to get the show on the road again. "The M.V.P. of this battle was Saotome for a well-thought-out plan and execution, especially considering the opposing sides' abilities. Hagakure understood and followed the plan well, even when Saotome used gestures to fill her in. Todoroki's biggest mistake was underestimating their opponents and not taking his teammate's advice seriously enough. Shoji failed by relying too much on what his senses told him."
He waited until the four acknowledged his grade. "Next up, we have Hero Team G and Villain Team C!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Sakura looked around the room. Each team was using a different building, but the interiors all seemed similar, with a large room where the bomb was located and then tall hallways and a few larger rooms throughout the building. They were empty shells and many without doors to them. The most significant difference between the previous battles was that their bomb was on the middle floor, not the top.
Sakura was wearing the same outfit she had for the practical exam but with one exception: she had a replacement Hitai-ate, her forehead protector, with the symbol of the Leaf on it, resting on the top of her head as a hairband. It made her feel nostalgic and returned a piece of her old life to her.
She was saddened that her forehead protector had been destroyed in Kaguya's fire dimension, even if it was the one created for the Shinobi army instead of the one that marked her as a member of the Leaf. While wearing one created by anyone but her home wasn't the same, it at least gave her a link to her home and her profession. She would wear this one proudly.
Sakura looked over at Yaoyorozu and was not put out by her outfit. She wore a sleeveless, high-collared, crimson leotard with a large yellow belt and some crimson boots. The fact that there was a cut in the leotard from the top to her navel, showing off her impressive bust, barely registered. She wouldn't be surprised if she gave some boys a nosebleed. But after becoming friends with Anko, it was mild compared to her old friend's casual clothes.
"So, Momo, what do we know about Jiro and Kaminari?" Sakura asked, as it was best to compare their information before making a plan.
Momo looked at Sakura, pausing as she considered what she knew. "Jiro uses sonics, considering both her ear lobes and her boots, which have speakers. Hypothetically, she could use it for both attack and sensing. She may be able to detect our position either from noise or sonar."
Sakura considered what she knew about Jiro Kyoka and found it lined up. Kyoka wore a light red shirt, black leather jacket and pants, and boots with speakers built into them. She also wore some white, fingerless gloves. Her long earlobes ended in stereo jacks that could extend, and she could control them like prehensile tails.
"I agree, and she's intelligent enough. I think she will be leading the two of them." Her thoughts then turned to their other opponent, Kaminari.
Kaminari Denki looked more like a rockstar, with a black jacket with lightning marks in white blazed along it and his black pants. He wore a white t-shirt beneath the jacket, visible since the jacket was wide open, and some fancy glasses. Denki also wore a communication device on his right ear with a small antenna sticking up.
"Kaminari struck me as too laid back and will follow her lead. His costume and abilities appear to stem from electrical attacks. Do we know if it is just by touch, or can he project them?"
Momo considered it, but they had no way of confirming it. "We don't know, so best to assume the worst."
"Agreed," Sakura replied. She had many ways to fight this with little to no risk to herself, but she also wanted to include Momo. "Can you give me a basic overview of your quirk? I know you can create things from your skin, but what are your limitations?"
Momo explained to Sakura what she could do. After she finished, Sakura smiled. "I have an idea."
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Izuku looked on as they watched Kyoka and Denki enter the building. Kyoka used her earlobes to plug into the walls as Denki was lit up, prepared for any attack. Knowing the speed and strength of Haruno made them very cautious.
Izuku looked to the side, seeing Ranma not actually observing the displays. She was tapping her chin with one of her fingers while looking up at the ceiling. He didn't have to blush as much when he looked her way as she had pulled a second pair of clothes from her bag, allowing Toru to continue wearing her outfit.
He wasn't sure how to treat Ranma when she was like this. She was a boy and a girl at times, which confused him. She was also tied with Tsuyu for being the shortest in the class at hundred and fifty centimeters, compared to Ranma's male height being nearly equal to his own hundred and sixty-six centimeters.
Izuku then noticed Mezo stepping up behind her. "Ranma, well done on the fight."
Ranma looked behind her and up at Mezo before answering. "You did well, Mezo. Todoroki was just too sure of himself. I noticed your frustration and his confidence and pieced together what would happen from what I knew of you two. Getting people to work as a team can be hard, especially when one is too sure of themselves. I should know; I was in his shoes once. And yours."
Mezo nodded. He knew he had made some mistakes and let his guard down. Shota's overconfidence just made it easier to be fooled. It was a good lesson for both of them. "Thank you for that. I hope to not repeat such mistakes in the future."
Ranma smiled widely, "Sure thing! That's what training is for, finding your weaknesses and correcting them before you go into a real fight."
Izuku nodded along with Mezo, understanding her point. Though, Izuku was curious about whether there was anything he could have done differently in his own battle. "Ranma-san?"
Ranma and Mezo glanced his way, "What's up, Izuku?"
"During my fight, was there anything I could have done differently?" Izuku asked.
Ranma paused, thinking, "Well, before the fight, sure. Training and other things on how to fight. I saw your moves were not ingrained and a bit clumsy, but not bad for lack of sparring practice. Further control of your quirk might have helped, but that can be dangerous to practice on your own for now. As for during the fight, your primary issue was underestimating your opponents working together, right?"
Izuku nodded, agreeing with all of her points. "Yeah, I've known Kaachan for years, and I never would have expected him to actually work
with someone."
"Well, suppose you had expected them to work together; what could you have done differently?"
Izuku thought about it, trying to visualize how the fight would go differently if he had expected them to work together. "I could have had Uraraka-san just start running towards the objective instead of inching towards the hallway to sneak away while I attacked Kacchan."
"That's one possibility, but it has dangers for Ochako being able to take on Iida. Her quirk allows her to negate the gravity of objects she touches, right?"
"Yes."
"Well, in the hallways, that would be bad because there are surfaces all along the hallway Iida could use to push himself where he might need to go. And that assumes he doesn't grapple or take her down, preventing her from getting away."
Izuku nodded again, "What could I have done then?"
Ranma crossed her arms as she turned to look them both in the eyes. She smirked as she looked both boys in the eyes as she prepared her explanation. She still had fun doing this to her Guardians at times. "My family has a secret technique that has been known to strike fear and confusion in the hearts of many. It has won us many battles that were on the verge of defeat. People cannot hope to understand its strength until they see it in action."
She grinned wider as Izuku and Mezo both had her utmost attention. She noticed a few other classmates were listening in, as well as the ear of their teacher.
"What– what technique is that, Ranma-san?" Izuku asked. It sounded powerful to cause that kind of reaction.
"The secret technique is founded upon the tenets of motion, contemplation, and opposition. The technique's name is
Fast Break!"
"So… what do you do?"
Ranma stood up, closed her eyes, and said, "You move forward to attack and then…," Ranma said as she paused for dramatic effect and pointed a finger into the air, "You
run away!"
Izuku and Mezo blinked at that, thoroughly confused and not expecting a... cowardly suggestion like that. "
What?"
"Dude, that's so unmanly!" Eijiro yelled from where he had been listening. It once more made Ranma's eye twitch.
Ranma dropped the facade and relaxed, seeing that her listeners had been caught in its trap perfectly. "You listened to how I built it up, expecting some terrifying technique, right? But when I explained it, it confused you, didn't it?"
"
Yes." Both boys responded, giving her a bit of glare for that.
"That is part of the point of the technique," Ranma said as her grin returned. "It throws your opponent off guard because it contradicts what they anticipated from you. It takes them longer to react than if you had just run away without saying a word. And even when they do start to react, their emotions are out of place. If you don't know what to do during that time, keep yourself in motion while devising a plan. That gives you time to evaluate the situation."
Ranma then turned to Izuku. "In your situation, it would have gotten you out of that ambush faster and safer because it puts your opponents off-guard for first anticipating a devastating attack and then realizing what was actually happening. Any additional steps in their plan would fall apart due to it."
Izuku started to nod rapidly as he understood what Ranma was saying. He really wanted his notebook handy so he could write it all down. The other observers looked far more skeptical, though they had come around some.
"After that, you had two ways you could have used it. If you could get outside with Ochako, she could use her quirk on you or both of you while you carry her. You then scale the outside building faster than they could run up the stairs, or they would try to follow. Iida could beat you back there if they realize what you are doing in time, but that would make it a two versus one to get to the bomb before Bakugo arrives. The only downside is trying to find where the bomb is located."
Izuku and Mezo both blinked at that, not having considered that to be an option. "The other method also has Ochako using her quirk on you, but instead, you run through the hallway carrying her again. With your quirk, you would be faster than her, and with her negating your gravity, it would be easy to move around. It would be tougher, but you should be able to maneuver faster and get closer to the bomb. Your primary concern would be Iida catching up and stalling you long enough for Bakugo to catch up. At that point, one of you buys time for the other to get to the objective."
Izuku thought about her suggestion, realizing those were both better options than just letting Ochako try to fight Iida by herself. Izuku bowed to the girl as he thanked her. "Thank you very much, Ranma-san!"
Ranma grinned and bowed back. "No problem, Izuku."
She then looked back at the displays, showing Jiro and Kaminari had started making their way through the bottom floor. Then her eyes widened, and she smacked a fist into an open palm like a hammer driving a nail. "That's it!" Ranma shouted.
"Huh? What is?" Izuku asked as the rest of the class looked her way, including All Might.
"I was trying to figure out Haruno's training, but it seemed like a jumbled mess, and I couldn't tell what she was grounded in. I finally just figured it out!" Ranma was giggling now, pleased with herself.
"Ummm, what is it?" Izuku asked.
"Yes, young Saotome, what is it?" All Might asked as well. The entire class was curious.
"She's a Ninja!"
"...
What!?"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Jiro was getting irritated as they went along. Someone had created a white noise generator that threw her off her hearing. Considering how intelligent the two girls were and Yaoyorozu's quirk, it made sense.
But she was diligent about being careful. The two previous trials had shown ambushes and trickery. She did not want to underestimate them and knew about Shoji's senses being fooled. After grilling Kaminari about his quirk, she had him constantly have his quirk ready to stun, so if Haruno tried to pull a move similar to Saotome, she would get a shock.
She also had one earlobe plugged into the speakers in her shoes, ready to go immediately. She had just put an earlobe into the wall when she heard sprinting footsteps ahead of them. Two sets, meaning they were both rushing forward. "Get back and get ready! They are both coming down the hallway!" Jiro growled. As she backed up herself, moving the other earlobe to her other shoe, both prepared themselves.
That was when Yaoyorozu came around the corner. She had some contraptions in her hands that looked like balls and rope. But she didn't seem like she was winding up to throw them. Instead, she calmly faced them down, prepared for anything.
"Uh, where's Haruno?" Kaminari asked, confused.
"She's still around the corner; I heard two sets of footsteps. They must be preparing some sort of amb–" At that point, Jiro paused, having heard an extremely faint gurgling sound behind her.
She turned her head to look behind her to see what was wrong, only to become terrified as she found Kaminari struggling and then losing a fight to stay conscious as an arm was wrapped around his neck and a hand to the back of his head to keep him there. It was Sakura! She was standing on the wall above them and leaning down, holding Kaminari upside down in her choke-hold. It might have surprised her that Sakura wasn't being zapped if it wasn't for the insulation cloth covering his head and her arm, preventing contact. The worst part was the blank, upside-down stare Haruno was giving her as she did it.
Jiro recovered from her shock, only to hear motion behind her. She twisted around and tried to dive away, but the capture net was too broad and fast for her to do anything, and she went down, her feet not pointing in a helpful direction due to the twisting of her fall. She also noticed that Kaminari had fallen unconscious and been set down before Haruno approached her.
"
Shit!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"See? Ninja," Ranma said with smugness in her voice.
Everyone else could only look at the screen with terror after seeing Sakura appear from nowhere. The fight was quickly over, and the match was called.
"They can be so annoying to fight, popping up out of nowhere with lethal intentions," Ranma said, nodding before turning to the rest of the class. "What's wrong with you guys?"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
All Might was impressed and terribly confused by what he had watched on the screens. He needed to understand Sakura's quirk better, but it was beyond his expectations of how quirks work. She seemed to have multiple quirks, but her quirk listed she could achieve numerous effects with just one. Either way, she was highly versatile.
"Young Jiro and Kaminari, I can say you did nothing wrong. You were up against two extremely versatile and intelligent people. They set up the situation to counter your abilities and your teamwork, preventing almost any means for you to win. You were operating with too little information to counter them," All Might said, even though they both looked depressed and glanced at Sakura multiple times.
"How did she get behind us?" Jiro asked. "I heard her coming down the same hallway as Yaoyorozu. Even with the speed she showed yesterday, she couldn't have gotten behind us in time.
"She was never there, young Jiro," All Might said, a little confused as he hadn't seen anything on the cameras to indicate what had happened. "In fact, she avoided the camera's altogether until she appeared by Kaminari and placed him in that hold."
Jiro looked at Sakura again, her face showing both amazement and fear. And it seemed Sakura had no inclination to share her secrets. Luckily for the rest of them, someone else knew them well enough.
"She clung to the ceilings and purposely avoided the cameras from every angle," Peter said, catching their attention. "You saw her ability to adhere to the wall, so spotting and avoiding the cameras would reduce any risk of detection. Beyond that, I don't know."
The class nodded in appreciation but turned their attention to Ranma as she spoke up. "She also reduced her presence significantly, so your senses would have difficulty detecting her. So even if you glanced her way, your brain and other senses would discount it as irrelevant."
"As for why you heard her coming up the hallway," Ranma said as she rubbed her chin in thought, "I think she did something to trick your senses. She sent a pulse of energy toward you right before you heard them coming up the hallway. The energy caused a minor change in your own, near your brain, which probably explains why you heard multiple sets of footsteps."
Sakura raised an eyebrow at that accurate assessment while the rest of the class stared between the two of them. All Might asked, "And how do you know this, young Saotome?"
"I felt her from here, though it was harder to track from this distance. But then she suppressed herself well enough that it was hard to detect her. It was subtle but well executed."
"Is this true, young Haruno?" All Might asked.
Sakura gave a minor glare at Ranma for revealing her secret on that front but opted to be truthful. They weren't enemy shinobi or villains, after all. "Yes, it is true."
"Impressive," All Might said, "And terrifying!" He smiled, letting Sakura know he wasn't counting it against her. "Well done, Haruno and Yaoyorozu. A perfectly executed ambush and takedown. You took significant steps to reduce the abilities of your opponents and strong tactics to take them down quickly. Sakura is the M.V.P. this round."
The four combatants nodded, accepting his assessments.
"Now, for the next trial! Hero team H versus Villain team J!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Besides minor differences, Peter found their building the same as the others. Their bomb was on the fourth floor, but it had the same building structure and the same bomb. The room and hallway layouts were different. Some rooms had pillars, while others didn't.
He looked at his teammate for this, Eijiro. His costume consisted of the absence of a shirt, showing off his muscular body. He did have some shoulder pads that were red and looked like gears, but that and a wired guard around his face were the only things on his upper body. He wore dark pants, a red half-cape with jagged ends, and some heavy black boots. He did have a sizeable English R over his belt buckle.
Peter was wearing his regular suit, the black and red one he had made before he fought Beck. He had gotten a few compliments on his costume, and some were eyeing his lenses, especially after they saw the focus system working. But the only one that seemed to be observing with a critical eye was Yaoyorozu, though she had not said anything.
"So, Eijiro, I don't think I actually heard what your quirk is. All I could see was some sort of hardening if I had to guess. Considering your results from the other tests, you also get enhanced strength with it?" Peter spoke up and attracted his attention.
"Hmm? Oh, yeah, my quirk is hardening. It gives me enhanced durability and some strength. I can even break concrete with enough effort," Eijiro replied. "What about you? Anything else I should know?"
"Well, I already told you what my quirk is, but one thing I left out is a sixth sense I have that warns me of danger." Peter then pointed at his wrists, "My suit also comes with some additional features if I want, but I'm not going to have all of them active for this. I have that support gear that allows me to shoot webbing I told you about."
Peter shot a line of webbing to the ceiling, gripping and hanging from it to show the strength and tension.
"Wow, man. That is wicked!"
Eijiro continued to smile before his features turned more serious. "So, how should we do this?
"Well, I figure we've got a few different ways," Peter looked off to the side as he considered their options. "From what I observed, Asui appears to have a mutant quirk. I would say some sort of frog, so she might be similar to me in abilities. Frogs are also known for long and powerful tongues."
Eijiro thought hard about it but couldn't fault Peter's reasoning. "Yeah, that sounds about right. And Tokoyami has something going on with those dark arms under his cloak."
Peter dropped to the floor, tilting his head as he thought of it. "Yeah, we don't know enough about his quirk to make a proper evaluation. But I think a bigger question is, what kind of tactics are you open to?"
"I prefer head-to-head battles," Eijiro said with a grin as he smacked his fists together. "Like what Midoriya and Bakugo did."
"Okay, but I don't think our opponents will do that," Peter said, deflating the other boy.
"Yeah, I know," he said as he looked towards the floor. "I just can't get into this mindset of being a 'Villain.'"
"Then don't."
"Huh?" Eijiro jerked his head to look at Peter. "What do you mean?"
"Instead of thinking of it like a Villain, think of it as a Hero trying to protect a nuclear weapon from falling into the hands of some villains. You called for some backup, and it's on the way, but you only have a little time. So you are trying to hold them off."
Eijiro blinked before his grin returned. "You're right! Thanks!"
Peter smiled, though the other boy couldn't see it due to his mask. "So think of it like this: you are trying to protect the objective, but you know the villains might use underhanded tactics to neutralize or get past you. Would you let your pride let you make a mistake and allow them to get it and possibly kill thousands or millions of people?"
Eijiro deflated again, as that did not sit well with him. "No. I can't allow that."
"Nothing wrong with wanting to be straight and honest," Peter said. "But recognize not everyone is going to be like that, and when you encounter them, be prepared to use different tactics."
"Okay, so what do you suggest?"
"Well, nothing says we can't use a straightforward and honest approach, but we need to shape the battlefield until that is the only way they can move forward. If all other avenues are cut off, or there are too many roadblocks, and they don't have the time, they will be forced to go straight at you."
Eijiro was shocked before his grin grew slowly. "Tell me more!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Tsuyu and Tokoyami went through the building and were on the second floor. They had already seen every trial had included some sort of ambush or trick by the villains, so they had prepared several tactics. They had an idea of Eijiro and some of Parker's abilities, but there were still some unknowns. There was also the intelligence Parker had displayed, so they were cautious of underestimating it.
Tsuyu was sticking to walls, crawling along at a fast pace. She wore a bright-green and black bodysuit, beige gloves and belt, and darker green thigh-high leg coverings. It didn't look like she wore shoes or boots on first inspection since her shoes looked like a frog's foot. Closer inspection would have revealed the three large toes in front acted more like flippers for swimming, and the back toe was a flexible heel. She also wore some oversized goggles above her head.
Tokoyami Fumikage was running behind and near her, ready to respond to any threat. He had Dark Shadow, an independent entity attached to him, sticking his arms out of his cloak in preparation. Fumikage's costume was a black cloak with black pants and boots underneath it. The oddest thing about him was that his head closely resembled that of a black eagle-hawk mixed with some slight human features. His enlarged, piercing red eyes peered over his hooked yellow beak. Swept-back black feathers completed the look of a bird of prey.
They tried to listen and sense anything coming but detected nothing. Tsuyu did find something unusual as she rounded the corner. She paused as she stared ahead at it. Fumikage was concerned for a moment, but she didn't seem tense, so he looked around the corner and saw what had confused her.
Ahead of them, by a few meters, was a wall that shouldn't be there. But it wasn't a typical wall; instead, it looked more like a spider's web. "I don't think Kirishima did that, ribbit."
"No, I don't suppose he would," Fumikage said. They both hesitated to get closer, fearing a trap or ambush. "Is there another way around it?"
Tsuyu took a moment to remember the blueprints they tried to memorize. "Yes, ribbit. But I suspect they might have done the same thing there."
"Agreed, let's see if Dark Shadow can get through."
His quirk shot forward out of his cloak, closing the distance to the impromptu wall in a moment. The being, mainly a deep black with some midnight purple shading, also looked like a bird but with large, yellow, and glowing eyes. It also had two long, misshapen hands that seemed to shift, as did his body as it shot forward. It reared back a fist and hit it as hard as it could.
Tokoyomi was surprised to only see it stretch.
"That stuff is
strong!" Fumikage said as Dark Shadow continued to punch and shove it to no avail. The walls it was connected to were taking more damage than the webbing itself. He decided to see what else he could try, so Dark Shadow moved back and shifted one of its hands into claws and then sliced at it.
He was shocked when it sliced right through with minor resistance.
"Okay, cutting force works against the webbing, but not punches or kicks," Fumikage said as he recalled Dark Shadow into his cloak and prepared themselves. But after waiting for several seconds, nothing happened. "They might not have expected us to try that here."
"Or they thought we couldn't get through it," Tsuyu added, unsure. "Let's move, but be careful. Ribbit."
Fumikage nodded as they moved out with Dark Shadow prepared again to guard their backs. The fact they reached the stairs without anything else getting in their way surprised them. "Were they expecting us to take the alternate route?"
"Maybe," Tsuyu said as they went to the next floor, and she continued clinging to a wall.
They reached another hallway, and another web was in their path. "Are they just trying to slow us down? Ribbit." Tsuyu asked.
"Quite possibly. Let me tear this one down as well." Dark Shadow shot out again towards the new wall.
It was only because of how attentive they were that they heard the sounds of running. But what confused them was that it was coming from the wall to their side. Fumikage retracted Dark Shadow as fast as he could while jumping forward and barely avoiding the rampaging form of Eijiro as he burst out of the wall, creating a large hole in it. The fact that he didn't stop and burst through the other wall surprised them as the boy disappeared. They heard him smash another wall and heard him running.
"What the hell?" Fumikage asked, trying to look through both holes to figure out what was going on. They still heard his distant footsteps as they tried to understand.
"Leave it, ribbit," Tsuyu said as she approached the spider web.
"Right," Fumikage said as he followed along. Dark Shadow once again cut through the webbing, and they made their way toward the last turn before the stairs. But as they turned, they saw another web blocking their path. Dark Shadow prepared again, but more footsteps were heard from behind!
Fumikage leaped back the way they came as Tsuyu prepared to try to tag Eijiro, but he just plowed through both walls without stopping. Tsuyu jumped down as she saw Eijiro tear through another wall and was out of sight before she could use her tongue.
"What are they doing?" Tsuyu asked. Obviously, they had something in mind, but it only made a little sense other than distractions and slowing them down.
Fumikage thought about it and wasn't liking the conclusions he was heading toward. "I think they are trying to separate us. Maybe try to get one of us to follow Eijiro ." He leaned to look at the walls beyond but didn't find anything unusual yet. "He'll be back soon. Let's get to the next floor!"
Dark Shadow tore the webbing again, but to their surprise, it wasn't a singular wall; the entire area was filled with spider-web gunk. Fumikage's eyes widened as he realized too late that they were in the trap, "
Ambu–!"
He was cut off from his warning as he was suddenly jerked backward, flying down the hallway with Dark Shadow dragged along. He flew halfway before he started skidding, his speed slowing down before he impacted the far hallway, knocking the air out of him. Dark Shadow finally caught up to him and pulled off a rope attached to his back. It looked like more of that webbing. He looked towards Tsuyu to see her hopping towards him, but then he finally spotted Parker as he exited the hole Eijiro had made earlier in the wall before he pointed his arm towards Tsuyu.
"Duck!" Fumikage shouted out, startled to see Peter had already gotten so far down the hallway. He was further surprised to see that instead of the web line he had expected, the shot expanded over Tsuyu's ducking head to create another wall, and he lost sight of her.
He stood on slightly shaky legs, preparing to have Dark Shadow tear through the webbing again, when his eyes widened as he heard more sprinting. He turned in time to see Kirishima charging straight at him with a big grin. Dark Shadow moved to intercept but couldn't stop the juggernaut that was Eijiro, and Fumikage was still too winded from the earlier impact to dodge. He was picked up and carried forward, rushing past the first entrance Eijiro had made, only to be thrown backward.
He was glad he didn't smash into a wall or the hard floor but instead into another bouncy web wall that hadn't been there before. The only downside was that he barely got his hands and knees under him when he rebounded to lessen the impact. Dark Shadow hit Eijiro from behind, knocking his head forward a little from its strength but doing little else before returning to Fumikage's side.
"Sorry about that, man, but I don't think you would have just gone for a straight-up fight or that Asui would stay out of it. So we needed to separate you two. Now it's just the two of us. I'm not going to give you a chance to get out. So if you want out, you'll have to go through me first!" Eijiro said, punching his fists together as he anticipated the coming fight.
Fumikage looked around, seeing the web wall behind him, additional walls blocking the hallway they had just come from, and the opening Eijiro had created earlier. They were trapped, and the only way he could get out was to cut through the webbing.
Fumikage started getting to his feet as he got his breathing under control. "You're right. I wouldn't have fought fair. But I guess I have to if I want to get past you."
Eijiro's grin widened. "That's the spirit! May the best man win!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Tsuyu was in a bit of a panic as she was cut off from where Fumikage was. She tried to shove or do something against the web wall, but it did nothing. She looked behind her and found only one way out of the area. The original path to the stairs was still covered in webbing, and she had no hope of getting past that, and a new wall blocked off one of the holes Eijiro had made. Her best bet was to try to get to Fumikage through the one opening.
She was extremely hesitant as she went through the hole; Tsuyu was already hearing the brawl Fumikage was in with Eijiro, meaning she was stuck dealing with Peter. She had only caught a glimpse of him as Fumikage was pulled down the hallway before he shot around the corner.
He could be anywhere in here and was probably waiting to ambush her. She slowly made it through the room by crawling on the ceiling as the fight got louder and louder. She checked all the corners regularly and tried to stay hidden, but she still didn't detect him. And that concerned her. She made her way to the hole in the wall and crawled down before peeking through it, her lengthy hair dangling beneath her. Seeing nothing, she looked back into her current room and also found nothing. She turned to start walking through the hole but came face-to-face with Peter's red mask with the large lenses.
"Boo."
It was so sudden and unexpected that even her calm composure failed as she shrieked and hopped away, her leap being a little clumsy as she barely got a foot under her to stop her from making a bad landing. However, one knee still had to touch the floor to prevent her momentum from causing her to fall over.
Unfortunately for her, it also gave Peter time to shoot more of his webbing at her and catch her leg, trapping it to the floor even as she tried to lift it to dodge. Her other leg was captured as Peter flipped into the room, pointing another hand at her.
Tsuyu knew she had little chance now that she was trapped and had nothing to get her out, so she shot her tongue out as fast as she could as he prepared to hit the wall. But Peter contorted his body, so it missed his torso and flipped away as her tongue tried to redirect and tag him. But he was so fast and agile that he avoided it no matter what she tried. He went behind a pillar, making it more difficult to follow him with her tongue, and she didn't want him to web it as well. Tsuyu retracted it to shoot it off again when she had a chance.
Peter capitalized on that as he shot a small ball of webbing at her, blocked visually by her reeling tongue. She couldn't react in time as it caught her over her mouth, preventing her jaw from opening again. The sudden surprise made her panic as she tried to pull it off, but Peter struck again, and his webbing trapped her arms. She could barely move now. She watched as Peter stepped towards her.
"Sorry about that, Asui-san. That tongue was too dangerous for me not to block it."
Tsuyu grunted, acknowledging that it was a valid tactic to block her best weapon. When he stepped closer to her, he got one of the capture bands and put it around her wrist. She was now officially out of the fight.
"Here, I'll get you out in a second," Peter said as he reached behind himself and pulled something out.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
"Well done, young Kirishima and Parker. That was an excellent display of shaping the battlefield," All Might said as he addressed the four returned students.
Eijiro had a wide grin, ignoring the scrapes, cuts, and bruises on his body and a few on his face. He was in an excellent mood since, in his opinion, the fight with Fumikage and Dark Shadow had been fantastic. Fumikage had almost escaped at one point, but he was left too vulnerable, and Eijiro could hold onto him and get the capture tape tagged to his arm, ending the fight.
Fumikage was similarly roughed up, as he had a few tears in his cloak and seemed a bit sore. Because of the feathers on his head, you couldn't see any bruises or cuts, but he did rub one spot occasionally. He had a neutral expression and gave a good account of himself.
Tsuyu had no injuries, though she still occasionally was spitting to the side, much to Peter's embarrassment, as apparently some of his webbings got stuck to her tongue. It had been problematic to get it to dissolve, but they had finally gotten it all out. The after-taste, however, still lingered. She didn't seem to hold any of it against Peter and had praised him after the battle.
After completing the trial, Peter removed his mask and smiled softly at his classmates. They had put up a pretty good fight and had been cautious of traps. From what Karen had reported afterward, Fumikage had even figured out their plan near the end. Still, they needed more information about his abilities and how his webbing worked in order to properly defend themselves.
"Young Asui and Tokoyami, you both did well and took lessons from the previous battles to heart. I heard some of your plans, and you were prepared for ambushes like the previous trials," All Might said. "Do you know what went wrong?"
Fumikage and Tsuyu thought hard, though Fumikage looked down as he crossed his arms while Tsuyu looked up and tapped her chin with a finger. Fumikage got there first. "That first wall was a test, wasn't it?"
"Indeed it was. The intent was to discover your abilities since your quirk wasn't well known then and whether either of you had anything to get through it. But you never saw them observing you, did you?"
"No. So how did they know?"
"Parker, would you mind showing them?"
"Sure," Peter said and then looked down at his chest. The rest of the students were confused about what he was talking about when the spider-like symbol on his chest suddenly popped out and started hovering in the air.
"What the hell?" Many of the boys in the class exclaimed.
"Oh, how cute!" This came from the girls as the drone hovered around until landing in Tsuyu's hands. They were surprised by how it behaved, seeming to appreciate the attention it was getting from the girls as they all crowded around to look at it. Tsuyu was also trying to pet it, curious about how it worked.
"How does that help them?" Kaminari asked while inspecting it from behind the girls.
"Yes, young Parker, how does it help?" All Might requested an answer as well.
"It has cameras and other sensors built in, so the video gets relayed to my suit, and I can see the video feed," Peter responded, smiling as the girls continued to coo and aww at the tiny drone.
"How do you see the video? I don't see anywhere you can display it on your suit," Momo said, looking up from the drone.
"My lenses can display full video and more," Peter said. "It stayed out of sight and started tracking them from behind so we could observe them. We put our plan into motion once we knew how Tokoyami's quirk worked and that Asui had no easy way to get through the webbing."
The drone began flying again and rushed to Peter's chest before settling in, much to the girls' disappointment
.
"Parker gets the M.V.P. for this round for developing a well-executed plan that played to your allies' strength. Well done!" All Might said, with Eijiro, Tsuyu, and Fumikage all patting him on the back or shoulder.
"Last group is Hero Team F versus Villain Team E!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Mina was excited to get started. All the other matches had fired her up, so she looked forward to proving herself. The other fights had shown the importance of tactical thinking and not underestimating your opponents, so she thought hard about what they should expect.
That Sato guy wore a simple, bright-yellow, full-body suit, except for the holes for his eyes, mouth, and hair in the back. He also had white gloves, boots, and a belt. She hadn't interacted much with him, only the shared lunch where they listened to Sakura and Momo discussing what their Sensei put on the board. He seemed like a straightforward brawler type. She had seen him eat something a few times, and his muscles bulked up for some of the tests yesterday, so she had a loose idea of his quirk.
Koda was similarly strong but was very shy. His costume was also a yellow suit, but it only reached his knees and elbows. Up and down the front of his torso was a red section with an image of a mouth with simple teeth. He wore yellow shoes with a red stripe on the bottom and top. She had no real idea what his quirk was.
She knew her teammates' quirk since his was pretty straightforward, being a laser beam from his belly. Aoyama was also the most flamboyantly dressed of their class, wearing what looked like medieval armor, with his belt present for his laser beam that came from his navel. Parallel twin ports were visible at his knees, where he wore metal boots over his black cloth pants. He also had black gloves and metal wristguards. His face sported fancy-looking red glasses that looked more like wings and went well past the sides of his head. To finish the look was a long purple cape.
Mina tried to work with him about what they should do, but Aoyama either came up blank or talked about himself in a heavy French accent. She didn't think he could help much, so she tried to think of their strengths and weaknesses and what they could do to succeed.
In terms of physicality, neither she nor Aoyama had a chance against the other two boys. They didn't have enhanced strength, while the others did. They also didn't appear to have any ranged attacks, which Aoyama did. While she had a means of attacking from range, she was very hesitant since her acids could be dangerous to living beings.
One thing she knew, when you were up against foes that were bigger and stronger than you, it was essential to be quick and agile instead, to prevent being grabbed in the first place. She decided they would use that. Their plan was to rush to the objective as quickly as possible.
Mina used her acids to make the ground slicker as she moved along, hopping onto walls and jumping around to present a difficult target. If they encountered a roadblock, she would use her acid to make new doors to get around it and just keep moving. Aoyama was to pin one or both of them down with his lasers, buying her time to get past.
She was also delighted her own costume had proven up to the task of being acid-proof, and the look was fabulous! She wore a sleeveless, purple, and turquoise bodysuit in a camouflage pattern that ended just above her bust, a white face mask over her eyes, and some heavier boots. She wore a cropped, tan, sleeveless waistcoat with a rich white fur collar.
They sped through the floors, not encountering resistance. They were just outside the door where the bomb was, so instead of using the regular entrance, Mina ran outside the room and splashed acid to melt through the walls to create many new doorways. She had been able to peek inside and catch a glimpse of surprise on both of their opponent's faces. They were scrambling to accommodate for the extra entrances, which was when Aoyama made his presence known as he shot a laser at Sato, catching him on the side and knocking him down.
Mina noticed that Koda had looked alarmed, moving to Sato's side to get him up while trying to keep an eye out for more laser beams. She used that opportunity to rush inside, sprinting for the bomb.
Sato was getting to his feet and was still groggy when Koda moved to try to intercept her. He might have made it if another laser hadn't been shot into his path, making him pause. This allowed Mina to finish her sprint and touch the bomb.
"The hero team wins!" All Might shouted through the speaker system.
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Mina was all smiles as she stood in line. Aoyama wasn't any different than usual, but no one paid him much attention. Koda and Sato both looked saddened and depressed, though not as bad as they had earlier. Mina had been friendly with them after the match ended.
"Well done, young Ashido and Aoyama. You are the only Hero team to succeed today, so well done," All Might praised the two, glad that one Hero team had succeeded. "Ashido gets the M.V.P. for this match for developing a plan of attack based more on speed and creating openings. You knew neither of you had the strength or size to compete with your opponents, and only Aoyama had a reliable attack against them. But your speed and ability to create new doors were decisive in the battle."
All Might turned back to the rest of the class. "You all have done well today. Mistakes were made, but this is why we train: to learn from our mistakes before going out to the field. Take to heart what you learned in your own trials as well as those of your classmates. Class is dismissed!"
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
Izuku watched as his classmates swarmed each other as they talked about some of their favorite parts of the day's trials. He had already received praise for his fight against Kacchan, but his mind was elsewhere, and most of his classmates recognized it. They all streamed back toward class after they finished in the locker room.
Izuku looked sadly at his damaged costume. His mother's hard work was ruined as the damage made it impractical. He had been told the costume departments could fix it, but it would take some time.
He was the last to leave the locker room and walk toward the school. Though, that plan took a pause as his attention was grabbed.
"Young Midoriya!"
Izuku looked to the side, seeing All Might in his weakened form. He would have his chance to talk to him now, so he walked over to him behind the locker room. Izuku looked around carefully before addressing the man. "All Might."
"You said you wanted to talk to me?" Toshinori asked, "Something important about Saotome?"
"Yes. Uraraka-san and I caught him before he left the school yesterday as we were curious about his quirk. It didn't make sense that changing into a girl and back allowed him to do what he did, especially when both forms could seem to do the same things."
Toshinori paused as that had been a similar question the staff had. His quirk registry only ever mentioned the shift change, nothing about his or her other abilities. They had discussed needing to address it, but Principal Nezu eventually shut it down and said to leave it. That had confused many of them, but Nezu had gained their trust for good reasons.
"Did young Saotome explain what was going on?"
"Yes," Izuku said and seemed to struggle with something. "He said that his only quirk was the shape change."
Toshinori blinked at that. His first instinct was that he was lying. But Saotome had been blatantly displaying their capabilities, so lying about it did not make much sense. Especially after interacting with them, they had seemed honest.
"Did he explain how he could do what he did?" Toshinori asked.
"He said it was training and using something he called Ki."
Toshinori blinked, not having suspected that claim. "Ki?"
"He asked me if I was familiar with it from old legends or manga. I mentioned one, Fist of the North Star, and he said it was similar in concept. He said everyone had access to Ki; it only took training."
Toshinori sighed. He had heard the word before, as it was often mentioned in some mangas or animes he had read or watched himself when growing up. There was also the odd colleague or two convinced they were onto something. But he didn't know anything about it outside of that. "I've heard the word before, but I am unfamiliar with it being remotely possible."
"After I got home, I looked it up. It stems from old legends of martial artists from Asia, with China or Japan being the most well-known."
Toshinori thought about it and came up blank. It was clearly causing problems for young Izuku, making him question things. "Why are you so concerned with it?" Toshinori asked softly.
Izuku was silent for a moment before answering. "I wonder if I might have been able to do something, to become a hero, without you sacrificing your power."
Guilt. Toshinori was familiar with that feeling, having questioned that himself when his master had given him her powers. If she hadn't, maybe she would still be alive. In the last year, he had come to more closely understand his old master and her choices. It hurt, but he also felt closer to her. Toshinori spoke softly, "Do not beat yourself up over this, kid. From what it sounds like, if it is true, Ki is a scarce and almost unknown ability.
I was unaware of it, and it seems most heroes are unaware of it. You lacked knowledge and likely could not learn about it if it is limited to such small circles."
Izuku nodded but was glad to hear it from his hero. He felt guilty for the other question he was about to ask. "There was another reason I wanted to talk to you about it, All Might-Sensei."
"Yes?"
"I… I had talked to Saotome-san about how he was so good at explaining things to me yesterday, and he said he had been training his guardians and some others." Izuku then looked up at Toshinori, "I was thinking of asking him for training."
Toshinori blinked, surprised, but he did not take offense. Instead, he smiled, as he knew he wasn't the best teacher at this time. "I have no problem with that, young Midoriya. If you are looking for my permission, you have it."
Izuku smiled; the guilt washed away. "I'll ask him-er her after class is over!"
"Good! Saotome is a good match for you for now, so let me know how it goes. In the meantime, I will research Ki and try to dig up what I can about it."
"Alright, Sensei!" Izuku paused as he realized they had spent some time talking, and he was way behind the rest of his class. "I need to hurry back to class! I'll talk to you later, Sensei!"
Toshinori smiled again as he saw his successor run back to the school, using his quirk to speed up. But his mind turned back to young Saotome. He had performed feats of speed and strength that neared his own at times, at least more so than most other heroes or quirks. And if it wasn't due to a quirk, then that was even more spectacular. He hoped Saotome decided to train his successor, helping young Midoriya get stronger and better.
In the meantime, he would do his due diligence and find out what he could about Ki. He got out his phone and used one of his contacts. He was glad to hear a response shortly after. "Naomasa, it is good to hear your voice. I have encountered a complication and hope you can point me in the right direction."
-o-0-o-O-o-0-o-
A/N - I tried to have this ready for Sunday, but ran into a slew of issues:
1. Boldish convinced me on a few points of the story needed further adjusting. I ended up writing two new sections and some edits to other parts. The story was stronger for it, but that added to the delay.
2. My weekend was completely shot, since I had to help transport a new vehicle to another state. I had hoped to have some time to work on the story, if not for the other two problems that popped up.
3. I only had a few hours of sleep the night before we traveled, so it wasn't pleasant. An extra person went with us to switch on/off with me on driving, so it wasn't dangerous, but it did make any chance of working on the story inbetween nearly impossible.
4. Forgot my ADHD meds, making it harder to concentrate even when I did try.
So I've been slaving away at it today when I can and finally got everything done. Still waiting for another pass from my beta-readers, but can always edit in those changes here or you can read he final draft on FF/AO3.
Chapter 8 and 9 are shorter than the previous 3, at least in their current states. 8 grew when I extended some scenes that needed them or ones I had thought I could cut out, but it is still smaller. 9 Is expected to grow as I have some more I plan to do to it, but currently sits as the smallest chapter of the Arc. Really hope I get 8 done before Sunday!
)
