Chapter 5: The Trials Begin
The gender gap of 1-A was once again felt in the locker rooms. Whereas a normal school would have about a 50-50 split among students, and one might expect a lower ratio of women in heroics due to long standing societal expectations, the male students soon noticed the overwhelming minority they represented in their class. The locker rooms felt noticeably empty.
On the girl's side, the majority was also felt, but it didn't bother them at all. They were, in fact, expecting to be the minority, so the large number instead came as a pleasant surprise. Still, they were much too worried about putting their new gym clothes on as quickly as possible to actually think too much about it. Mina was amongst the first to finish putting on her clothes, and began looking around the room. 'I have to admit, I was half expecting to be the hottest one here, but hot damn .' She threw on her winter coat over her clothes, to make sure she didn't freeze out there. She grimaced, feeling torn between her desire to show some skin and the overwhelming chill she felt when she did so.
Still, something looked off to her. The scene was noticeably missing a certain tall, green beefcake. "Hey, has anybody seen Midori?" She asked the girls loudly, interrupting their hurried changing and conversations. They all looked at her, then at the room, and shook their heads.
"She was the first one here, so maybe she just changed quickly and left." Itsuka supplied. They then heard a thud coming from one of the shower stalls, along with a grunt and a cuss. They all panicked at the perceived intruder.
"Who the hell's there?!" Jirou sprung to action, banging on the stall door. They heard a startled yelp from the other side.
"Oh, uh, it's me, guys! I dropped my jacket and bumped my head. Sorry…" Izumi rubbed the sore spot on her head. Her intention was originally to get dressed as inconspicuously as possible and leave as soon as she got dressed, but as the girls caught on to her absence, she got distracted and let go of her jacket in a panic, hoping to stay hidden.
"Midori? What are you doing in there?" Tooru questioned. In a moment, Izumi opened the door, slightly flustered at the sight of some girls still half undressed. She was fully clothed, her jacket zipped up completely. She had ordered it the next size up, so it looked rather large even for her already tall frame.
"Ah, well, we better get going, right? Aizawa's gonna be pissed if we get there late!" She deflected her friend's question. Mina and Tooru narrowed their eyes. They would get to the bottom of Izumi's shifty behaviour, and that certainly wasn't just an excuse to see their muscular friend half nude.
Izumi squeezed her way out of the changing rooms and made her way to the field, having seen it once or twice on the occasional tour Nezu had given her of the UA facilities. "Yo, what the heck was that about?" Setsuna asked nobody in particular.
Izumi arrived alongside Hitoshi, seeing Aizawa already waiting with a bored expression. "Sixteen minutes and thirty eight seconds. I guess the dorms are further away, but you still have a ways to go." From the brief interactions she'd had with the professor, she believed he was just straight up allergic to positive reinforcement.
The rest soon arrived, and as Kinoko arrived last, Izumi felt a little bad for the diminutive girl. She was going to get singled out from the start. "Eighteen minutes and fifty three seconds. In that time, hundreds, maybe even thousands, could have already died in a villain attack. You need to do better. If you came here to make friends and relax, you're definitely in the wrong place." He said, glaring at Kinoko specifically, who cowered. He then noticed Ashido was wearing a winter coat over her sports gear. "Ashido, why the hell are you wearing a coat?"
"Well, sensei, my quirk makes it so I have a much higher heat and acid resistance than most, at the cost of feeling really cold. My 'room temperature' is around 65 degrees Celsius, actually." She explained, making Aizawa sigh. In truth, her comfortable temperature range was lower than a full blooded Kraaho, which was quite a relief for Mina, who didn't want to fathom how cold she would be if her preferred temperature was over 250 degrees.
"Uh, sensei, what are we doing here?" Kaminari asked, looking around the sports field.
Aizawa gestured to the pitching area. "Midoriya, what was your softball pitch record in high-school?" He asked, not really answering his student's question. All Might and Nezu had made her do the usual fitness tests to measure her progress as she worked to bulk up, so she went with her last recorded number.
"Uh, something like 96 metres, sir." she answered. It was a rather high number, even considering that the average human was stronger than 200 years ago.
Aizawa hummed. "Decent. Now, throw this softball, but use your quirk this time." She nodded. His quirk assessment test had already begun. He handed her one of the balls. She felt its weight and balance, smiling. "Oh, and be sure to choose your form wisely. You may only use one." He said, eyes narrowed at her.
She frowned slightly. She'd like to give a few of her forms their time to shine, but she wasn't about to dispute him. "Of course, sir." She considered her options. There was, in fact, a clear choice. Her strongest form overall. She would be perfect for the tests. Her personality, however… it profoundly irked Izumi. She turned back to the class. "Everyone, I'd like to apologise in advance."
Aizawa sighed. "Midoriya, what on earth are you going on about?" He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just get on with it. You're wasting time."
Izumi shook her head. "No, sensei, it's just… I'm about to turn into a form that has some… personality issues." The professor raised an eyebrow at the comment. "So I just wanted to give everyone a heads up." She turned to her classmates. "Everyone, if she says anything mean or cruel while I'm in that form, please don't take it personally." The class looked at her in confusion, including her friends.
She went to the pitch and carefully selected her form. Empress, her Atasian sample… a species also known as the Highbreed. She grew to an even more impressive height of about three metres, reappearing from the green flash as a plant-like being. Unlike the modern Highbreed, who were nearing extinction due to centuries of inbreeding and the resulting genetic conditions, Empress represented them at their prime.
Her skin was moss green and beige, with orange accents. Her limbs were black and root-like, with spike-like nails on the tips of her fingers, and her face was purple and inhuman, with five emerald eyes and black spiked leaves forming a ring around it.
The class stared in awe of her transformation, the majority not expecting something quite so alien. Empress then let out a sigh of contentment, her back and shoulders opening up to form cape-like wings, which she opened and closed, as if stretching them out. Most of the students were curious and amazed. Mina, however, paled. She'd heard stories of the Highbreed from her father, a fearsome supremacist race, known for believing themselves above practically every other being.
"Ah, how exhilarating, to be free of that worthless human body." Empress said, her cavernous voice making the other students, even Eraserhead, shiver. She then looked back at them and grinned. "You would be wise to step back, wretched little humans. You are about to see perfection at work." Everyone then understood why Izumi had apologised in the first place. The shift in personality was like night and day.
Izumi stepped up to the pitch, curling her large fingers around the ball. Her body became wreathed in green lightning. Empress was currently the only form who could use up to 60% of One for All, and she didn't really know the definition of holding back. She reeled her arm back, pausing for dramatic effect, and let loose a throw that shattered the sound barrier and threw up a massive cloud of dust. The students all shielded their eyes. Jirou clutched her ears in pain from the sound of the sonic boom. Aizawa showed the result on a tablet. 542,456 metres. The ball was likely lost at sea.
The students looked stunned at the giant plant being. "Remember this moment, vermin." Empress said, scowling at them, before tapping the hourglass symbol on her right leg. Izumi reappeared, looking horrified at her stunned classmates.
She immediately bowed. "I am so sorry, everyone! I tried to reel it in, but… whenever she opens her mouth, I can't stop her." There was a tense silence as she maintained her bow. Then, all of a sudden, a few cheers erupted.
"Damn, Izumi, way to wreck the curve, girl!" Hagakure cheered.
"That was insane! Over five hundred kilometres? That's, like, as strong as All Might!" Kaminari added.
"While she was indeed awfully rude, it was an impressive showing." Momo nodded. Izumi felt her eyes tearing up. "But how come there was such a personality shift? It was still you, yes?" She asked.
"Ah, well, my quirk overhauls my entire biology on a genetic level. Some of my forms also hardwire instincts and personality into my head, and they can be hard to control. I managed to reel her in a bit… but I'm really sorry about her attitude. She's almost as much of an ass as Endeavour." She let that last comment slip, before covering her mouth in horror and looking at Todoroki. Much to everyone's surprise, the boy didn't become outraged about the insult towards his father. Rather, he chuckled, breaking his stoic expression for the first time.
"Aizawa-sensei, I know you asked me to pick a single transformation, but could I be allowed to switch to another going forwards?" Aizawa seemed displeased by the request, clearly not wanting to give her an out.
However, considering the issues that could arise with that particular transformation, especially during a period where her relationship with her class was still uncertain, he relented. "Fine, but be sure to select just one."
"Thank you, sensei. I have the perfect one in mind, actually." He said nothing, just staring her down until she returned to the group of students, the ones less familiar with her were still shaken from her previous transformation. "I swear the next one is much nicer." She gave them a nervous smile.
"Alright, enough." Eraserhead cut them off. "As you can see, with the usage of one's quirk, one can overcome any so-called limit of the human body. The current ministry of education likes to pretend everyone is still equal, and thus fails to accommodate the many, many differences between each of you. So today, you will be undergoing the Standard Physical Exam, but with the use of your quirks. This is the Quirk Assessment Test." He explained, his eyes piercing each of his students.
Immediately, there was a commotion. "Whoa, we really get to use our quirks?! Manly!" Eiko cheered, pumping her fist.
"Aw man, that's awesome! This is gonna be so much fun!" Setsuna exclaimed. As soon as she said that, Mina, Ochako and Tooru rushed to put a hand over her mouth. They remembered what Izumi said about Aizawa having expelled his entire class last year, most of them during the first day, for not taking things seriously. Izumi looked over to Shinso, the colour completely drained from their faces.
"Tokage you idi-" Mina was about to chide her new classmate, before being cut off by overwhelming pressure. Her words died in her throat as all the students turned to look at their professor, the scarf around his neck began floating up along with his hair, his eyes glowing a deep crimson.
"Oh, you think this is fun?" His hoarse voice sent shivers down the students' spines. "You have four years to become proper heroes. Will you have that same attitude for the whole time? If so, how's this for fun? The one who comes last in today's Quirk Assessment Test shall be judged to have no potential and will be expelled on the spot." The students all panicked.
"What? We just got here! That's not fair!" Itsuka challenged, her balled fists expanding out of reflex.
Aizawa scowled. "Oh? And is life fair? Are natural disasters or rampaging villains fair? It's a hero's job to overcome that unfairness. Welcome to the UA hero course. Get ready to earn your places here." He announced. Izumi was reminded of the quote Present Mic said right before the practical. She felt a blaze of determination welling up inside her.
She overcame the pressure emanating from Aizawa, looking him dead in the eyes. "We all worked tooth and nail to be here, sir. None of us are going to give up without a fight." That managed to lift the others' spirits slightly. 'This stinks of a logical ruse. He is proven to expel students, but apparently only does so if they don't work to improve themselves constantly… as long as everyone does so, we might just be fine.'
Aizawa grinned. "Well, then. You best be ready to put your money where your mouth is." He gestured towards a large screen, indicating the exercises they would be doing. "We'll start with a fifty metre dash. Asui, Hagakure, you're up."
The two girls stepped up to the starting line, Tooru got into a traditional running stance, while Tsuyu's position seemed more like a frog preparing to leap, fittingly enough. Izumi readied her notebook in order to take notes, the rest of her friends surrounding her. "So, Midori, what are you going to transform into? The Kinece- I mean, Kinesis?" Mina whispered, not wanting to draw Aizawa's attention.
Izumi shook her head. "I can only choose one transformation, remember? So I can't choose such a specialised form… no, I have to go with an all rounder. But you'll see soon enough." She said, grinning.
"Getting threatened with expulsion is really scary though… I doubt I'll do that well." Ochako grumbled.
Izumi placed a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder. "You'll do great. Just keep a level head and an open mind, all right? At the very least, you'll get first place in the softball throw." Ochako looked at her with complete confusion.
"What? How the heck am I supposed to beat your score?" Aizawa called up Iida and Tokage next.
Izumi arched an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right?" Ochako still looked at her, confused. "You can turn off an object's gravity, Ochako. If you don't release it, the ball will probably just float out of the atmosphere."
Ochako facepalmed, though raising her pinkie to avoid floating herself. "Right. I was going to do that anyway, but I hadn't really thought that it would just keep going."
Mina chimed in. "Heck yeah, 'Chako, yeet that ball into the Sun!" The race had ended. Iida had been the only one so far to get under three seconds.
Aizawa looked at them. "Midoriya, Ashido, get over here and stop chatting." They both immediately nodded, going up to the starting line. Izumi carefully selected her form and pressed the hourglass symbol. A green flash once again covered her form for a brief moment.
She emerged as a large, red, four-armed being with long, nearly black green hair tied in a singular braid that ran down to her mid back. Tetra was noticeably bulkier in her new form, but not overly so, and had black and green accented armour over her chest and waist, leaving her midsection, her arms and her legs exposed. "Right, sensei, I'm ready. Let's do this!" She flexed her four arms confidently, grinning widely. She looked at her Kraaho friend, who seemed transfixed by something. Tetra looked down and noticed that she was staring at her exposed abs. She smirked and whispered to her. "My eyes are up here, you know?"
Mina's face went lilac, and Tetra failed to stifle a chuckle as they both got into position. Instead of the red lines and green lightning that appeared when she used her quirk as a human, the colours were inverted as a Tetramand. Mina removed her shoes and instead of a typical runner's stance, she looked like a figure skater.
As soon as the blank round went off, they shot forward. Mina's increased strength and agility as a Kraaho, combined with using her acid to skate over the ground made her surprisingly fast. However, she understood that against even a normal Tetramand, she would be in for a challenge. She could potentially win, but with Izumi's quirk powering her up, it was a long shot.
The robot at the end of the track read out their scores. "1.25 seconds… 3.29 seconds." Tetra smiled as her friend arrived at the finish line.
"Great job, Mina! You were awesome with that skating!" Mina smiled cheekily, though she was soon unable to resist looking at her abs again. Izumi usually covered up pretty thoroughly, so it was a rare sight, one Mina definitely appreciated.
"Well, you blew it out of the park again, though." Mina laughed as they went back to the group. Izumi once again tapped the dial located on her left shoulder, returning to her regular form.
"Yo, greenie! That was super cool! That red chick was much nicer than the other one." Tokage commented.
"And it looks pretty strong with those four arms." Itsuka added.
"Indeed, it reminded me of a berserker of sorts. Your clothing especially made you seem like a sort of warrior." Momo chimed in as the next pair was called over.
Izumi scratched her neck and blushed. "Ah, yeah, Tetra's one of my favourites. She may lose out in pure strength to Empress, but she's close and can be even more versatile in combat. Plus, she doesn't change my personality too much. I do become a bit competitive, but not in a negative way."
"Yaoyorozu, Aizawa, you're up." Aizawa stated boredly.
As they reached the starting line, Hitoshi turned towards Momo, who had just finished making a pair of skates and two odd looking tubes on her back. "Hey, so, no matter what happens, no hard feelings?" He asked.
Momo quirked an eyebrow. "Excu-" Her reply was cut short as his quirk activated. He looked a bit conflicted at his action, but he knew he wouldn't get a free pass from Aizawa, even with their relationship, or rather, especially because of it.
"Sorry, Yaoyorozu. Make me a pair of skates, size 11." He commanded, and the other students looked at the scene strangely as she did as he ordered. Aizawa had an unreadable expression, but he didn't object, so neither did they. Izumi looked at the scene rather sadly, hoping that Hitoshi wouldn't be singled out afterwards.
He quickly put the skates on and stepped onto the starting line, releasing his hold on Momo immediately. She looked confused, the fog in her mind having lifted. She felt slightly more tired than she would have expected, still wearing her skates and her boosters, but she narrowed her eyes as she saw Hitoshi wearing similar skates. 'What just happened?' She rolled up next to him. "What did you do?" She asked, her tone sounding a bit harsher than she had intended.
Hitoshi flinched. "I… Ugh. I'll explain after the race, okay?" She nodded, furrowing her brows. The blank shot fired and they were off. They then discovered that the two cylinders on Momo's arms were in fact rocket boosters, as she tucked her body and shot forward to the finish line.
"2.41 Seconds… 4.21 Seconds." The robot declared as they crossed the finish line. Immediately, Hitoshi approached Momo, before she could head towards the group.
"I'm sorry. I used my quirk on you, and had you make me a pair of skates. Sensei would have been pissed if I hadn't. But still, I did take advantage of you." He apologised, bowing.
Momo waved her hand. "Please, no need to bow. I was surprised, perhaps a little shocked, but I cannot really hold that against you, Aizawa-san. In another setting, I would have made them in a heartbeat if you would have asked, so no harm done." She said.
"Ah, thanks, Yaoyorozu." He paused. "I heard your quirk burns through your lipids… Izumi always carries some energy bars on her. Maybe she has them." He offered.
Momo smiled brightly. "Thank you, Aizawa… just don't expect me to fall for it so easily next time." They both chuckled. As they returned and Eraserhead indicated the next exercise, Izumi approached them with a nervous smile on her face.
"So, all good?" She asked them. Hitoshi shrugged, and Momo nodded slightly.
"Ah, yes. While I was surprised, I must admit it was a rather ingenious solution to the race." She paused. "But I did hear that you would have some protein bars. Might I have one?" She asked as they made their way to the sand pits for distance jumping.
"Ah, sure. I always keep a few on me." Izumi smiled as she handed one to Momo. The heiress widened her eyes, unsure where she had gotten it from. She hadn't even seen her dip her hand into her pocket or anything.
"Where did you-" She was interrupted by Aizawa calling the first teen for the jump. Hitoshi was out of luck for that one, since he couldn't just command someone to throw him, so he just did his best as he was. Same with Hagakure, who was certainly more athletic than most people due to her training, but nothing outrageous. Mina stretched as she jumped, and with her increased strength just barely cleared the sandbox.
Kendo punched the floor and expanded her hands as she jumped, the expansion granting her impulse, but not enough to clear the pit. Granted, the pit was 10 metres long, so that was expected. Yanagi floated her own clothes, able to achieve a semblance of flight, but it proved to be difficult to maintain. Tokage just split into small pieces and flew over the pit. Ochako floated herself, something that she knew might hurt her in the long run. After she landed, clearing the pit and then some, she heaved. Even a few seconds made her sick to her stomach. Izumi was immediately by her side, keeping pressure on certain points to reduce the nausea.
Iida boosted his jump with his engines. Pony used her horns as skates to fly over the pit. Tsuyu managed to clear it with the sheer strength of her legs. Some others went and it was soon Izumi's turn. Tetra took her position and got a running start before sparking with lightning and jumping, She only lost to those that were directly flight capable. Todoroki, who went right after her, just created a platform of ice under his feet that propelled him upwards, and landed on a slide he made as he approached the ground. It reminded her of Shard and she thought that technique might be a good way to increase her mobility in that form.
Izumi and Momo tied for grip strength, both of them destroying the measuring device. Momo made jaws of life which maxed out the reading and continued on to break the measurer. Izumi's strength as a Tetramand, as a base, already gave her a base of 600 Kilogrammes of force. With One for All, only a small percent was enough to crush the measurer as well.
Izumi didn't even need to use One for All for sit ups and push ups, though having four arms certainly helped with the latter. However, she did make an effort to incentivize Ochako, Kinoko and Jirou, who had fallen behind on those exercises. She pushed them over their limits, just enough so that they wouldn't be hurt. Still, she was worried about Kinoko. She was currently doing rather poorly. Even though it was a rather close contest, and she had come up with some ingenious uses of her quirk, they hadn't made that big of a difference.
Izumi began to second guess herself about her previous assumption, that Aizawa was just looking to push them beyond their limits, and that getting last place wouldn't matter in the end. That he was just going to expel everyone who wasn't taking it seriously, and so far all of them were. Still, seeing the face of despair on Kinoko made her dread being wrong, for once. 'Fucking logical ruses. Definitely my least favourite part of training with Nezu, and now we get even more with Aizawa.'
They were back at the pitching field for the second to last event. Komori was the first to go, and although she had the smart idea of using a mushroom on the ball to act as a sort of parachute, it didn't really make that much of a difference. She looked at her score and hung her head in defeat. "Amanita miracle at this point…"
Izumi approached her quietly and smiled. "Komori-san, don't count yourself out just yet. No matter what, you did your best. Your quirk wasn't suited for any of these tests, but you still managed to use it well." Kinoko turned to the green haired girl, surprised, and despite her own worry, she managed to find it within herself to smile along.
The rest of the students also did their best, Momo surprising everyone by creating a rifled cannon that managed to launch the ball over 6 kilometres. Ochako, as Izumi had predicted, just straight up floated the ball out of orbit, getting a score of infinity, though it was, in practice, calculated as 1 centimetre over the highest score. Aizawa told Izumi to redo the test with Tetra, since he had expected her to only use one alien. Her new score was just shy of three hundred kilometres, only being able to handle 48% of her quirk, as well as being slightly weaker than Empress. Maybe, as a female Tetramand, she would be able to take on the typical modern Highbreed, but Empress was not only a healthy specimen, she was also a prime example of the species.
The last event before they would go back to the dorms, sans one classmate, was the endurance run. Iida, Momo, Hitoshi and Todoroki led the pack. Iida with the boost from his engines and years of running as training, Momo with a solar powered bike she created, Hitoshi with the skates he had commanded Momo make during the first event, which he kept, and Todoroki by sliding on ice. Izumi, despite being fully capable of being up front, chose instead to hang in the middle of the pack and encourage the other's who weren't doing that well.
Jirou, Kaminari, Ochako, Kinoko, Ibara and Yanagi were suffering quite a bit with the exercise after the first laps and the exhaustion from all the work they had done. Still, Izumi pushed them to do their best. However, in the end it proved to be too much. Jirou dropped out, then Yanagi, then Kinoko, who had hung on out of sheer desperation, then Kaminari and Ibara. Ochako, however, refused to drop out, managing to get into a steady rhythm of running.
Izumi then allowed herself to speed up, quickly catching up to the front, only occasionally dipping back to encourage Ochako to keep going. "Come on, Ochako! Just one more lap, you can do it!" She repeated for about fifteen laps. Eventually, only a few people remained, Izumi, Ochako, hanging by a thread, Itsuka, Iida, Momo, Hitoshi, Todoroki and Mina, who was still wearing her winter coat, to everyone's surprise.
Aizawa called it after nearly an hour of running, and called everyone over to reveal the results.
Midoriya IzumiYaoyorozu MomoTodoroki ShoutoMina AshidoIida Tenya…
Aizawa HitoshiUraraka OchakoHagakure Tooru…
Jirou KyokaKomori KinokoThe mushroom girl looked absolutely despondent, and Jirou, despite also feeling bad for her, had to admit she was rather relieved. The day had thoroughly drilled into her the fact that she was physically weak, and with Komori out, she was next on the chopping block. "By the way, I was never going to expel anyone. That was just a logical ruse to make sure you all did your best." One could hear a pin drop as the students processed.
"What?!" The students, save for Izumi, Hitoshi and Momo all yelled.
"Ah, I thought everyone had figured it out… Should I have said something?" Momo put a hand to her chin, managing to somehow make that sound generally innocent instead of condescending.
Then, to everyone's surprise, Izumi, who had been sharing looks with Hitoshi, finally cracked and let out a laugh. Aizawa's eyes glowed red as he glared at her. "Care to share what's so funny with the class, Midoriya?"
Izumi met Aizawa's gaze. "Sorry for laughing, Sensei. But seriously, after all that talk about not coddling us, do you really think we can't handle knowing the truth?" She challenged.
"What do you mean, Midoriya, ribbit?" Asui questioned, hopping over. Immediately the air tensed again.
"What I mean is, Aizawa-sensei expelled all of his class last year." They all immediately paled. "Some of them got re-enrolled, but still, they were twelve people short for the sports festival." Izumi explained.
"No, it can't be…" Momo felt shaken to her core, so sure she had sussed out the ruse.
"He would have expelled as many of us as he felt weren't taking it seriously. So we must've done at least something to impress him." Hitoshi added, nodding.
Aizawa sighed deeply. "Problem children…" He grumbled, looking at his new students. "They're right. You're only staying here because you've proven yourselves to have at least a modicum of potential. But if I feel at any time that you are squandering your opportunity, you're out." His tone was deadly serious. "Welcome to the Hero Course." The wicked grin he gave afterwards caused a few students, including Momo, to collapse from nervousness as he went away.
"I was so certain…" The heiress looked like her soul had left her body, as the rest comforted her.
Itsuka was the one to finally cut through the tension between her conflicted classmates, who were trapped between relief and anxiety. "Hey, guys, let's hit the showers, we still have a whole weekend to rest and prepare before term actually begins."
Izumi helped Momo get up from her thought spiral on the ground. "I know it's a shock. Aizawa has a reputation for being stricter than almost any other professor here, but remember: We all proved ourselves today, and we're gonna keep doing it, right? Plus Ultra!"
"Plus Ultra!" The others shouted, some more enthusiastically than others.
—
Izumi, once again, stealthed through the changing room, avoiding her classmates like the plague. She could hear the girls making small talk as they changed, and felt the pang of jealousy in her heart being drowned out by her fear. She had an opportunity to start anew. She knew the hell that had come with being trans at Aldera, and she believed that if they found out, everything would come crumbling down there as well.
While the girls were changing, Jirou suddenly jolted, seeming startled. The girls looked at her confused, while she looked at the wall suspiciously. "Everybody, put your clothes back on now! There's a peephole!" They all scrambled at the revelation, rushing to get dressed. Jirou then held up a hand and they all froze. "Girls, it's fine, they aren't looking. Huh, pleasantly surprised. Except for Kaminari, he's on thin ice."
"Boo! He wanted to peep? What a perv!" Hagakure stuck out her invisible tongue.
"Ugh, yeah, but he's at least decent enough to not try to look." Jirou huffed.
"Pretty low bar to clear, though." Setsuna commented offhandedly. Due to the panic, they had all gotten dressed faster, all except for one girl, who was still in the showers.
"Well, allow me to make that a non-issue for us anymore." Momo stepped over to where Jirou had identified the peephole and with a glowing hand covered it with plaster. "There. Now, we must still be alert. It might not be the only one." The girls looked around, unnerved by that assertion.
Meanwhile, a certain Kraaho went to investigate her friend, who was taking a suspiciously long time taking a shower. "Midori? The heck are you still doing in there? Everything okay?" Mina asked, knocking on her stall's door. Izumi felt every muscle in her body tense up. She couldn't bring her clothes into the shower without getting them wet, so that left her no other choice but waiting for the rest to clear out. However, that wasn't an option anymore.
Izumi struggled to think of any way to avoid the fate that now seemed inevitable. She wracked her brain. she could wrap herself up in her towel, but that wouldn't completely cover her up, and she would eventually have to remove them to dress herself.
"Oh, uh, Mina, no, it's fine. I just forgot to get my clothes. Could you help me out?" She prayed that Mina would just go along with it. However, she wasn't that lucky.
"Izumi? What are you on about? We're all girls here, no need to be shy." Izumi cursed internally, resisting the urge to punch the wall in frustration.
"Mina, please , I don't need this right now. I'm really not comfortable changing in front of people yet." She tried to be as vague as possible, but made it clear that it was not up for discussion.
Mina drooped slightly at that. It was clear that her friend had some issues, and as much as she wanted to help, she realised her usual tactic of pushing people outside of their comfort zone might do more harm than good in that scenario. "Oh, uh, okay. I'll get them for you."
The pink alien scurried back to the main area of the changing room, where the girls, having finished getting themselves dressed, looked at her in confusion as she picked up a neatly folded set of clothes. "Mina? Is Izumi-chan all right?" Ochako asked, concerned.
Mina simply nodded, though her expression betrayed her uncertainty. "Ah, yes… she just doesn't… She doesn't feel quite comfortable changing with us."
Most of the girls felt that it was a bit odd. Izumi had been generally friendly, if slightly shy, during the tests. They didn't understand why she would refuse to be near them all of the sudden. "Have we… Have we done something to upset her?" Komori was the first to speak up.
Mina waved her hands, holding Izumi's clothing. "Uh, no… she's just… not used to changing in front of people yet."
Itsuka raised an eyebrow. "But wouldn't she have had to change in front of others in high-school?" Tooru shot her a rather dirty look, not that the rest could see it.
"Just drop it, Kendo." Her cold tone, unlike her expression, was clear for everyone, and Itsuka just silently apologised, while Mina went to give Izumi her clothes.
"Hey, Midori, I got your stuff. Want me to come in?" She asked, out of habit.
Izumi once again nearly jumped, blushing madly. "Mina?! No, just… just pass them over." She reached a hand over the stall, grabbing onto the clothes as Mina raised her hand to give them over, also blushing as she had basically suggested going into a shower with her very naked friend. "Uh, thanks… I'll be out in a sec."
Mina began hearing her fiddling with cloth, and her curiosity reached a breaking point. She stretched her neck, hoping that Izumi was facing the other way. Thankfully, the pink alien was in luck, and managed to catch a horrifying peek at her friend's torso. 'What the hell?!' The tall girl's body, far from the beautiful, pristine muscles Mina had expected, was littered with scarred tissue and burns. She still thought Izumi was beautiful, but it was quite shocking to see that she was hiding such a thing.
Izumi, unaware that she was being spied on, let out a sigh of relief as she tucked into her underwear. Since she was facing her back towards the stall door, Mina was unable to see just what she was doing, increasing her curiosity. In a moment, Izumi had put her sports bra and compression shirt on, along with her jacket. It finally made sense to Mina just why Izumi refused to show off much skin. She was clearly self conscious about the scars. 'I'll have to work on that… but could I tell the others without offending her trust?'
Izumi was soon out, and faced with the rather curious gazes of all the other girls. "Uh, what are you all doing here?" She said with an even tone. "I bet everyone's waiting for us back at the dorms." They all seemed to realise that they still hadn't received orientation about the dorms from Aizawa or Hado, and began scrambling.
Ochako ran alongside Izumi. "Izumi, was everything okay?" She asked, furrowing her brows. Izumi looked at her exasperated.
"W-were you all really waiting for me?" She asked, nonplussed, internally cursing. 'Shit, I won't be able to change without being spotted if they keep waiting for me to exit the changing rooms. Or maybe I'll just take a bath back at the dorms…' She strategized silently as they made their way back
"Uh, yeah. I mean, we were kinda worried. You were acting pretty weird." Ochako commented absentmindedly. "We won't pry, okay? And we'll stop anyone who does… but just to be sure… you're not uncomfortable with anything we did, right?" Izumi lowered her eyes. It wasn't so much something they did, it was who they were that made her uncomfortable… but how to say it without also coming out…
"I… uh, well, remember how I was misdiagnosed? …I was bullied all throughout school, and I just got into the habit of changing away from people… for my own safety." Izumi went with a twisted fragment of the truth, leaving out that she was also forced to change with the boys, which further incentivised her to hide.
Ochako, on the other hand, looked at her friend with a devastated expression. "You… you don't think we're like that, right?" Izumi blinked. "You don't think the girls would bully you, right? If any of them even try… I'll yeet the bitch into the sun." Her eyes glinted darkly, making Izumi wince at the imagery, remembering her mother's commonly used threats and killing intent.
"No! It's just… I feel very uncomfortable being so vulnerable in front of other people, okay?" Izumi quickly explained. 'Fuck, now I'm really regretting not just running back to the dorms.' She looked at Ochako pleadingly. "Can we drop it?" the brunette nodded sheepishly.
They arrived back at the dorms to see the boys and a rather ticked off Aizawa, as well as a cheerful looking Nejire. "Care to explain why it took you nearly thirty minutes to come back?" The tired professor chided, Mina taking the lead in the situation.
"Sorry, Sensei. We noticed that there was a peephole between the changing rooms. So we took the time to cover it up and checked to see if it was the only one." She half-lied, though they had indeed checked for another hole, they had, in fact, just been waiting for Izumi and speculating about her shyness.
Aizawa eyed them suspiciously for a second. "Hm. The peephole was brought to my attention by your other classmates. Smart of you to look for others, but it would be easy to accomplish with two or three people. There was no need for all of you to wait." He grumbled. The students began to wonder if he was just incapable of giving compliments.
"Whatever." Aizawa sighed. "So, before you can settle in for the weekend, I need to go over a few ground rules about the dorms." He said, and the students went fully quiet. "First of all, the dorm has four floors, the boys will stay on the fourth floor, while the girls will stay on the two lower floors. The third floor has essential services, like the laundry room, the showers, and a secondary common area. The ground floor, as you can see, has a common area and the kitchen. During school days, Lunch will be provided, but you are expected to procure your own meals otherwise. The fridge will be restocked constantly with healthy food, but anything special must be specifically requested. There is a monthly stipend for amenities. Any expenditures must have my prior authorization, or else…" The students froze as his eyes glowed menacingly. "You are expected to resolve your issues by yourself, but if you think you are in over your heads, talk to your RA, and she'll help out, or call someone who can." He gestured to Hado, who smiled and waved.
"If you want to use any facilities outside school hours, you must first request permission from me directly. Hado does not have the authority to reserve gyms or other facilities." He sighed. "Also, if anybody sets fire to the dorms, I will personally kick you out of the gates." He threatened, though this time it was taken with a bit of levity. "Any questions?" He saw Izumi's hand immediately go up, and sighed deeply. "What is it, problem child?"
"Uh, I wanted to use a gym… right now, if possible." Everyone looked at her like she had a few screws loose. She had just gone through those tests, why the hell was she looking for even more exercise.
Aizawa sighed. "Why?" He simply asked.
"Uh… quirk training, sir. I needed to test some new forms that I recently got access to… I don't really know what most of them do, yet." Her classmates all blinked at once.
'She has more forms? Just how many are there?' The teens all thought.
"Uh, Midoriya, just how many transformations do you have, ribbit?" Tsuyu asked, placing a finger on her chin.
Izumi blushed and mumbled inaudibly. As the room turned its attention onto her, she sputtered. "Forty five!" She blurted out, louder than she intended. The others looked shocked at the number.
"And they all have different abilities?" Setsuna asked. Izumi nodded sheepishly, really wanting to just disappear into the gym already.
"Holy shit." Kaminari's eyes seemed glazed over.
"LANGUAGE!" Iida shouted, chopping his arm robotically. Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose, realising right then that the year would be dreadfully long with this class of hellions.
"Fine, Midoriya. I'll just check which ones are available and suitable. Are there any especially large or volatile transformations that you'll be using?" Izumi shook her head, though it was slightly uncertain. He decided to get one of the larger gyms, just to be sure. "Fine. I'll come grab you in an hour." He turned to Nejire. "Hado, keep the hellions in check."
Nejire noticed that she might have bit off more than she could chew. "Uh, alright, guys! If any of you have any unpacking to do, I'd recommend doing so now. Also, Aizawa didn't mention it, but you will need to keep the dorm in order. I'd recommend a rotational schedule, but since some may be more inclined towards certain tasks, a more permanent division could work. Just don't overload your classmates." Hado switched into a more serious tone of voice, the tone Izumi recognized as the one she used when she was on a mission.
'People tend to underestimate her because of her bubbly personality, but there's a reason she's part of the big three, and the top new Agent in the Plumbers.' Izumi mused. She then raised her hand sheepishly. "Uh, I can volunteer to cook most days." The others remembered the breakfast she had served and began salivating internally.
Itsuka, however, raised her hand as well. "Well, it wouldn't be fair to make you cook all the time. Let me help." She offered, immediately stepping into the 'big sister' role she had taken during her time in high school.
"I often volunteer at my church's soup kitchen on weekends, allow me to assist as well." The thorn haired Shiozaki followed Itsuka's lead.
Izumi nodded. "Well, then, let's get crackin'. Aizawa's test really worked up my appetite, I don't know about you guys." She figures she was spot on from the nods. "Any requests?"
Surprising everybody, the usually silent Todoroki spoke up immediately. "Cold soba." He stated with some finality, his expression glacial as always.
"Uuuuuh, sure? Anybody want something else?" Even if they didn't especially adore cold soba, nobody really challenged the proposed meal, aside from one person.
Momo raised her hand, blushing slightly. "Well, since my quirk requires that I use up my lipids, I have a rather large appetite." She stated with a degree of embarrassment. "So if I could request a larger portion…" Her face was flushed, hoping that someone would take the attention away from her, having regretted not asking later.
Izumi, in response, flashed her a blinding smile. "Sure thing, Yaoyorozu-san. My quirk really does a number on my appetite too, so I totally understand it. I was already planning on cooking more than necessary." That managed to ease Momo's consciousness slightly. "So we're having cold soba, then. I'll make some sides as well, since it isn't really a balanced meal." Todoroki felt a bit miffed at the offhand remark.
Izumi immediately began preparing the stock for the soba, while Itsuka prepared the noodles themselves, and Ibara worked on the sides, adding quite a few vegetables to the meal. "Thanks for helping, you two. Cooking for so many people can be hectic…" Izumi admitted, preparing the daishi for the mentsuyu stock.
"Ah, don't mention it, Midoriya-san. But, yeah, even a simple dish can get complicated when making such a large amount." Itsuka stared at the sheer amount of noodles she was preparing.
Ibara looked away from her cutting board. "Well, there is a reason most soup kitchens keep to serving, well, soup. Not exactly the most balanced meal, but manageable for large groups."
With three sets of hands working on the meal, it barely took half an hour to whip up a meal for twenty one people, including the extra large portions. "Eat up, everyone!"
Each of the students took their portion and scattered into groups, the largest one consisting of Izumi's friends, along with Eiko, Yaoyorozu, Asui and Jirou. "Forgive me for being blunt, Midoriya, ribbit, but your quirk really reminded me of All Might." Izumi nearly choked as Tsuyu casually remarked on the resemblance.
Mina patted her on the back until she recovered. "A-Asui-san!"
"Ribbit. Call me Tsu!" The frog girl interrupted.
"S-sorry, T-Tsu-san. I-I just… All Might?" Izumi asked, not noticing Todoroki staring at her from the other side of the room.
"Uh, I'm pretty sure All Might can't transform into a bunch of creatures." Izumi was incredibly grateful for Jirou's intervention.
Tsuyu barely seemed to react. "Ah, yes, I meant with regards to strength and speed, ribbit. It was impressive, ribbit."
Izumi blushed profusely. "I-I doubt they would come close to him… And most of my forms are nowhere near that strong." She deflected.
"I must admit, I am rather interested in seeing some of them." Momo chimed in.
"Oh, right, you weren't in our testing area, Izumi-san used a whole bunch of them. She made me a weaponized bike out of scrap." The girls that hadn't been there widened their eyes at Hitoshi's remark.
"Oh, and there was that raptor, she was really fast." Tooru added.
Izumi's blush only grew worse. "Guyyyyys…" She slammed her face into the table. Tsuyu croaked, chuckling.
Nejire decided that that moment was the perfect time to bounce into the conversation. "Oooh, did she turn into Clockwork? Shard?" Izumi's friends shook their heads. "Ooo, Zumi, Zumi! Turn into Shard! No, Frostbite! Wait, turn into Riya!" Nejire pestered the blushing girl, poking her shoulder.
"Senpaai… PLEASE …" She groaned.
"Come on, Midori! We really want to see your transformations!" Mina cheered, wanting to know more of the aliens her friend could turn into.
Izumi huffed. "Okay, okay. Just one." She fiddled with her watch briefly, pressing down on the button. She was engulfed in green light, being replaced with a slightly taller version of herself, with slight cat-like features and blue, black and white striped fur, wearing a brown robe, her Revonnahgander transformation. "Are you happy, now?" Most nodded, causing Izumi to sigh.
"Oh, I remembered what I came here for! Aizawa managed to get Gym Gamma for you!" Nejire seemed to recall after getting her junior to transform.
"Ah, most appreciated, Nejire-senpai. If you all do not mind, I shall be going promptly." Izumi said, before turning back into a human, the extreme formality of her speech not going completely unnoticed. As she got up, she looked at the others, puzzled that they had gotten up themselves. "Uh, why'd you guys get up?"
Ochako raised an eyebrow. "What? I thought we were going to Gym Gamma." Izumi blanched, looking at their confused faces.
"Oh, um, you don't need to waste your time for my sake, though?" She rebuked, then felt something hit the top of her head, a chop from Mina's extended arm.
"Geez, Midori! We wanna go because we're your friends!" The others nodded, though Jirou was slightly less enthusiastic about it. "We wanna spend time with you."
"Oh… um, t-thanks." Izumi didn't really know how to respond to that, opting instead to blush and stutter.
"This girl can fit so much anxiety!" Tooru patted her on the back, drawing chuckles from everyone.
The nine girls, plus Hitoshi, arrived at the large Gym building, all of them marvelling at the amount of equipment for quirk testing. "Right, kouhais, this is Gym Gamma, the main facility for quirk testing! It's pretty hard to reserve, but since the term hasn't properly started, we've got two hours for ourselves!" Nejire cheered, lifting herself off the ground.
"Hado-senpai." Momo drew her attention. "I believe the UA student guide stated that Quirk Gym usage needed to be supervised by a Professor. Will Aizawa-sensei be here?"
Nejire's smile widened. "Nope!" She then stared directly at Izumi, only breaking eye contact to look at the entrance. "She is!"
The students turned their heads, seeing a small woman with a kind face and green hair enter the building. Mina, Tooru, Hitoshi and Ochako grew excited. "Mamadoriya!" Mina cheered.
Inko waved at the students. "Hello, everyone. I'm so happy to see such dedicated students, especially if they're friends with my baby girl."
Izumi, meanwhile, began to run through every possible scenario where she could escape the embarrassment. " Moooom! " The others chuckled.
"Oh, my! Midoriya-san, you never mentioned that your mother was a professor here." Momo looked slightly surprised, though she could see the resemblance.
Tsu croaked. "You're much taller than your mother, Midoriya." She remarked.
Izumi's gaze darkened slightly. "Yeah, I know." The ones who had heard her explanation winced slightly.
"Sorry if I offended. I just thought the difference was strange." She dropped it after that.
"So, Izumi, you told me you had unlocked some new transformations this morning, ready for some tests?" Inko's voice became more professional.
Izumi straightened her back. "Y-yes, Ma'am." The others, besides Nejire, found her rigid posture strange.
"Then begin, Field 1." She handed Izumi the order of the transformations, and watched as her daughter jogged over, with her friends settling into the nearby bleachers. Inko herself entered the observation deck, Nejire following her out of habit. "Hado, I need you down there, in case we need assistance with the tests." The Plumber cadet nodded, turning on her heel.
Izumi selected her first alien, the Glyminopithecus. Her body became ape-like, her fur yellow and green, and she grew to nearly two and a half metres. "Hmm, I think I'll call this one Aperage, eh?" She stated. Then, suddenly, some targets appeared, along with some loose objects.
"Izumi, what are this form's abilities?" The intercom sounded with Inko's voice.
"Electricity projection, I believe, Ma'am." Amperage stated, raising her palm and aiming at a target, letting loose a bolt of electric energy. "Directional." She then placed a hand on the floor, and generated a stream that travelled through the ground and shocked another target. She then got up and concentrated, flexing her core and sparking, before releasing a large electrical pulse. "And an electrical forcefield."
"Good, very good, anything else?" Inko questioned.
"Hmm, let's try this, eh?" Once again a stream of electricity flowed from Izumi, though instead of just zapping one of the loose objects it hit, it enveloped them, allowing Izumi to telekinetically move them, much to everyone's surprise.
"Damn, that's overpowered, that Kaminari guy's in for a lot of quirk envy." Jirou commented, to which the others nodded.
"Next one, then, Izumi." Her daughter was used to this sort of test, and did exactly as commanded.
"Yes, Ma'am." She fiddled with the Omnitrix, flashing green once again as the field replaced the targets and objects. Her new form was sleek, her hands forming into pincers, the same shape as her shoulders, between which her now metal head was suspended. "Sensei, I believe this one can manipulate magnetic fields." She demonstrated by moving the metallic objects in the field, slamming them into the target dummies. "I'll name this one… Lodestar."
"We'll work on fine control, as with the last one. Very good. Moving on to the next one." Inko stated, curtly.
"Uh, shouldn't we run some more tests?" Izumi hesitated to turn into the next alien on the list.
"We must focus on the base abilities of the transformations, we'll circle back afterwards." Inko responded. Izumi nodded at her mother's reasoning, turning the dial on her waist and transforming once again.
"Man, it's really crazy just how many different powers she has with those forms of hers. Is there anything she can't do?" Tooru cheered, though feeling a slight pang of jealousy.
"Yeah, she's totally strong! So manly! I'm kinda surprised she doesn't have a massive ego." Eiko smiled broadly, giving a thumbs up.
"Yeah, much the opposite…" Mina sulked, locking eyes with Ochako, who seemed to have had the same thought.
Izumi was now a large red creature with a dark green face. "Kinda looks like a manta ray." Tsuyu noted, which the transformed girl managed to hear.
"Hmm, then perhaps I'll call this one Jetray!" She leapt out of the ground and to everyone's surprise began to fly around the gym. Then, to further shatter their expectations, she completely destroyed the targets with energy beams from her eyes and tail.
"Hey, no fair, why does she get to shoot out straight beams?" Nejire huffed, flying to meet her junior. "Meanie!" She knew Aerophybians had those abilities, but it still annoyed her.
"Man, that quirk is bullshit. Flying and laserbeams, really?" Shinso deadpanned.
"That's enough, Izumi. Next one, please." Izumi landed and did as she asked, noticing the ones her mother had left for last.
Izumi turned into the first of the Hylian species, the Zora. She grew smooth red scales, becoming tall and fish-like. "Hmm, this one can breathe air..." She muttered. "I… don't really know what this one does." She admitted.
"That's fine, Izumi, we'll run more tests in the water, okay?" Inko felt the uncertainty in her daughter's voice and tried to placate her. "Let's try out the next one." Izumi took a deep breath and turned into her Rito transformation.
Standing nearly the same height, though slightly shorter, Izumi was now an anthropomorphic bird, with dark green plumage and a break resembling a raptor. "Whoa, she's kinda like that Tokoyami!" Ochako marvelled.
"Can she fly with that form as well?" Hagakure wondered.
"Perhaps not, the wings that replaced her arms seem too small." The girls looked at Momo, who had been mostly silent.
Inko's voice sounded from the PA system once again. "Izumi, try gaining some lift like that."
Izumi jumped, not gaining much height. Flapping her wings seemed to do nothing as well, though she began to glide down as she opened her arms. "I don't think this one can really fly, more like glide… though perhaps with an updraft." Her feathers bristled, the sensation of still wind bothering her.
"Well, that's a shame, shall we move on?" Izumi felt frustrated, the second form also seeming not to have much use. In truth, the way her mother had dismissed her after that had wounded her otherwise non existent pride.
"Wait, let me try something!" Inko paused, unused to her daughter being so contestative.
"Very well, Izumi. Whenever you're ready." The bird-woman nodded, proceeding to crouch and spread her wings, grazing the floor. She then leapt with a twisting motion, creating a small updraft that let her gain some height. It wasn't true flight, yet, but it gave her a better sense of that form's ability, a sort of wind current generation or manipulation. "Well done, now, for the next one, we'll have time to go in depth for the more complicated forms later."
Izumi nodded, her bristled feathers lowering as her form's pride was sated. She then touched the dial, turning into a large, rotund being, whose backs were covered with rocks. "Hmm, I dunno what this one does, goro, but I've suddenly got a huge craving for volcanic rock." She bellowed, her voice gravelly.
"Well, from the body shape, it might be able to… roll?" Momo suggested.
'Like Cannonbolt? Another seeming copy of another one of my aliens…' She nodded towards her… friend? Placing her hands onto the ground, she pushed herself into a roll, her body curling into a sort of wheel. With her eyes closed, she noticed that the form had a form of seismic sense, which was quite useful for manoeuvring. She unrolled and travelled briefly through the air, coming to a stop as she slammed her fists onto the ground. Then, to their surprise, a column of earth rose from the ground, streaked with red lines of molten rock.
"Hmm, a sort of rudimentary earth manipulation, we shall test that further." Inko's voice once again interrupted Izumi's thoughts. "Could you attempt to lower the column?" Izumi tried to do so, though was unsuccessful. Once more frustrated, she clenched her right fist, flinching as the column of rock exploded into molten bits. "Ah, well, it seems we'll really have to take our time with these last forms."
Izumi grinned. "Sure thing, goro!" The other's blinked at the strange interjection, reminding them of Tsu's ribbits. The alien then turned into the next form on the list, one that certainly had an effect on the girls. Whilst the Goron had been generally unappealing aesthetically, the Gerudo was quite the opposite.
Standing over two metres tall, with a muscled, tan body, her dark green hair flowed like silk. Her clothing also left very little to the imagination, and gave the girls a show of her perfect abs, which ended in incredibly flared hips, extending into thick muscled thighs. Ochako and Hagakure, who had at that point been tentatively bicurious at best, certainly abandoned that notion. Mina didn't even try to hide her ogling, while Jirou and Momo averted their gaze, the latter failing to hold back from peeking. Inko smirked, thinking of the grandbabies in her future.
"Now, Izumi, what do you think this one does?" She decided to interrupt the moment, mostly so the other girls didn't die of thirst. Izumi placed a hand at her hip and thought, fiddling with her nails as she did.
"Hmm, once again, this one's abilities are a mystery." Her voice was rich and deep, causing the girls to shudder. The only one who seemed immune was Hitoshi, but that was mainly because of his utter lack of sexual interest in women. "Mother, may I perform Drill number 3? I believe that might help."
Inko paused, she had intended to have her daughter do more in depth drills later, but in this case it might help. "Please, do so at your own pace." She assented.
Izumi began moving, getting into a combat stance and following through with her movements. Drill number 3 was based on Baguazhang, and her circular, fluid motions reminded the audience of a sort of dance. After running through a few of the basic forms, something seemed to click for Izumi. As she finished the sequence, she snapped her finger, directing the energy that had been accumulating inside her. Kyouka once again had to shield her ears, as the snap summoned a bolt of lightning a few minutes in front of the transformed girl, near one of the dummies. "Ah, to see a martial dance turned into such a thundering force, a wondrous power indeed."
"Hmm, we'll need to work on aim." Inko commented, Izumi merely nodded, transforming into the last of the unknown forms, much to the girl's relief and slight displeasure. Standing at about the same height, Izumi's hair became white, while her skin turned dark green. She looked at her clawed hands, then touched her head as she felt her long ears. The others thought she looked a bit like a rabbit, aside from her face. All in all, she was reminiscent of quite a few animals.
The strangest thing about her, however, was the closed eye in the middle of her forehead. She tried to open it, though it resisted. 'Perhaps there's another requirement for me to open it.' She clenched her hand. The fact that the plumbers had no records of these species made it so she had to figure them out without any information. As much as the possibility excited her, it made her incredibly frustrated. "So, what's this one do?" Tooru asked, seeing that Izumi had been concentrating.
"Again, not sure… I can tell it's kinda complicated. Sensei, may I move on?" This time, she admitted to herself that it wouldn't do her any good to insist. She didn't wait to hear her mother's confirmation, rather, her word of caution, as she turned the dial to the second to last alien on her list, not really thinking about the implications.
"Whoa! She's a frog, like Tsu!" Ochako mentioned cheerily. Mina was frozen as she recognized she was standing before an Incursean. She hadn't had much contact with most alien species, but her father had made sure to inform her of the most dangerous ones. She would be remiss to forget the atrocities committed by the Incursean empire, even if Izumi looked kind of adorable as a frog.
Tsu, however, had been silently looking at the alien, before they both began croaking. Inko sighed, she knew it would have been a bad idea to turn into an incursean with another frog like being nearby, especially during the rainy season. "Izumi, dear, please turn back into a human." She asked, though her request fell on deaf ears.
"In a minute, ma." She began approaching the bleachers. Everyone was surprised as, for the first time, she had outright refused a request from her mother. "Ya know, Tsu, I thought you were pretty cute before." The girls all looked at Tsuyu, whose otherwise neutral expression was betrayed by a burning blush as she continued to ribbit. "But now I'm seein' you in a whole new light." Izumi placed her hand on the bleachers, behind the frog girl's shoulder, leaning in, forgetting that everyone was watching. "Those big round eyes, those cute ribbits, that indifferent expression."
"W-what can I say?" Tsu croaked. "I'm just naturally cold blooded."
Izumi grinned broadly. "So, how's about after this we do some trainin' in the pool, just you an' me?" She then felt a hand slamming against her chest, and she transformed back to normal, immediately erupting in a mad blush. "A-A-Asui! I-I'm s-so s-s-s-sorry! I d-d-don't know w-what c-came over me!" She squeaked.
Nejire, who had learned the sequence to deactivate the omnitrix, chopped the top of her kouhai's head. "Geez, Izumi, you can't just disobey an order from sensei like that!" She chided, though without any real bite to it.
"It… d-don't blame me, blame this DNA!" She curled into herself, as the other girls slowly recomposed themselves, some of them wishing they had been the target of her flirting.
Jirou decided to cut the mounting tension she felt. "Ugh, that's what they all say." The others fell into rolling laughter, as Izumi only became redder.
"She looks like a tomato! So adorable!" Mina cackled. Izumi just wanted to crawl into a hole.
Inko interrupted them, having appeared from the observation room. "Alright, that's enough." The room silenced. "Good, now, if you wish to train, we can begin properly now. If not, I'd like to ask that you kindly return to the dorms." None of them did, including Jirou, the one who was most tired after the Quirk Assessment.
Seeing the questioning looks from the other girls, she became defensive. "I nearly came last in the Test… I don't particularly like training, but I need it."
Hitoshi chuckled. "Same. Though without training, I would have never passed the exam. It really does make a hell of a difference. You can't just rely on your quirk."
Inko nodded approvingly. "Well said, Aizawa-kun. Well, since you're quite familiar with quirkless fighting, I'll have you help Jirou with her training."
Hagakure raised her hand excitedly. "I can help too! I studied a lot of takedown techniques for UA!" Inko nodded.
With that, she directed the other teens to work on specific abilities. She had Ochako working on grappling with Tooru, who had experience with that kind of fighting. Momo trained with Eiko, the latter defending against the former's blunt or bladed weapons. Inko quickly noticed that Momo had quite a bit of trouble deciding her next move in combat, as she quickly lost the spar whenever Eiko did something unexpected. She would have to work on that, and made a mental note to bring that up with Aizawa.
Tsu and Mina mostly did physical training, though they would also spar against each other. Izumi had been moving around the facilities, trying to figure out her new transformations. They had decided to prioritise the ones they knew less about, to at least bring them to a competently usable state.
While Izumi was away at the pool, Tsu decided to ask the pink alien some questions about what had happened. "Ribbit, you've known Midoriya for a while, right?"
Mina nodded, splitting her focus from their sparring. "Yup! I met Midori and the others during the entrance exam, we kept in touch after!"
"Her quirk is pretty absurd, ribbit, and she's kind of weird." Tsuyu wasn't one to mince words.
Mina became defensive, putting a bit more oomph than usual on the acid jet she launched at the frog girl. "What do you mean by that?"
Tsuyu managed to dodge the acid and the lash that followed. "The people I've met with powerful quirks don't act like she does, ribbit. They're usually much more arrogant, ribbit, especially if they're conventionally attractive."
Mina grimaced slightly. "Yeah, she's got some major confidence issues…" She paused, hesitating to say any more. "Her quirk needs that support item to function, and she was misdiagnosed as quirkless when she was young… so she's only really had a quirk for a year."
Tsuyu paused, not really expecting that explanation. "Oh, ribbit. Then her behaviour makes a lot more sense. She was probably bullied too, ribbit." The use of the word 'too' wasn't entirely lost on Mina.
"She never talks about it, only mentioned it once, back when we met, but she's clearly still hurting." At that point they had practically stopped engaging in the spar. "I was bullied for my mutant traits in middle school, but I can't begin to wrap my head around what it would be like for someone quirkless."
"Ribbit… But when she transforms, is that what she would be like if she hadn't been bullied?" Tsu wondered.
Mina paused. "Maybe, but her personalities are too different. I guess what happened earlier was mostly, you know, hormones?"
Tsu blushed slightly, as did Mina. "Ribbit, it is the beginning of the rainy season…" Then a weird glint flashed in her eyes. "But it still wouldn't explain the reaction… Why would I react to her mating call if we're both girls?"
Mina shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe they're putting chemicals in the water that turn the freaking frogs gay." Tsu snorted, ribbiting with amusement as Mina cracked a grin at her own joke. Tsuyu, however, began to turn the gears in her head, though the answer would evade her for some time.