Chapter 13: The Sports Festival Approaches
Izumi woke up feeling sore. She wasn't used to sleeping with such a tight tuck, or even with a tuck at all. Worst of all, she opened her eyes to see she was pinned to the bed. Somehow, they had shifted positions in their sleep, and she found herself being nearly smothered by Momo's breasts, while Tsu curled up peacefully on her chest and Setsuna clung to her arm with a fanged smile on her face.
She felt the strain on the fabric of her pants, threatening to rip and expose her. She took deep breaths, trying to ignore the warmth and the softness of the contact. She looked to her side, where she saw Mina smirking at her. "Enjoying yourself, Midori?" She whispered.
Izumi shot her an unamused look and huffed. "Please help."
Mina giggled softly, which had the fortunate effect of waking the others up, with a cacophony of groans and sighs as they stretched and opened their eyes. Momo gasped as she noticed Izumi immobilised under her chest, while Tsu barely looked fazed by her position. Setsuna smiled as she woke up. "You're pretty warm, Midori. I wouldn't mind waking up like this more often."
'God, just kill me now, please.' Izumi gulped, her face erupting into a blush. "I, uh, I'm gonna take a shower." 'Preferably a cold one.'
She was fast enough that by the time the girls went to do the same, she was nowhere to be seen. Mina frowned once again as she saw the empty baths. 'Are you really that bothered by your scars, Midori? Why won't you let me in?'
—
Monday arrived soon enough, and the class was surprised to see Aizawa back in full health. "Sensei, are you sure you've recovered enough?" Eiko asked, furrowing her brow.
Aizawa sighed. "Yes, Kirishima. I have been sufficiently healed, and my vitals are all in order. Now, for our first order of business: you all faced an incredibly traumatic event last Thursday. While most of you were fine physically, we would be remiss to ignore the potential mental effects of such an attack. Hound Dog is a licensed therapist, and willing to help each and every one of you. However, for those with more particular issues, your Biology and Quirk Science professor has also supplied an alternative, vetted by Nezu." He pinched the bridge of his brow, still exasperated at the meeting he had been called to earlier that day.
"However, I must also inform you that your trials have just begun." The class suddenly stiffened at his declaration. They had just gotten through a villain attack and the discovery of alien life. What the hell could UA be planning next? "The Sports Festival is coming up in three weeks."
"Oh my God, sensei! Don't scare us like that!" Setsuna sighed, feeling the relief wash over her, as did the rest of the class.
Kaminari then raised his hand. "Hold on. Sensei, is it smart to keep the Sports Festival when we've just been attacked by villains?" Some of the students nodded, seeing sense in the boy's protests.
"Indeed, it is an especially notable event, televised nationwide. There could easily be another attack there." Iida commented.
Aizawa sighed. "I had the same reservation, as did Nezu. However, both UA's board and the HPSC forced his hand, though he did manage to get them to increase our security tenfold." He stated. "Nevertheless, the Sports Festival is a very important event to earn some renown, which will be essential for your internships that begin right after. So do your best out there."
"Wait, Aizawa-sensei!" Izumi raised her hand. Aizawa levelled a tired look at her. "What about our identities? Even if the Sports festival isn't directly attacked, they could still give villains essential information that could put our families in danger."
"You take too much after your mother, Problem Child." Aizawa pinched the bridge of his nose, absolutely done. "We had a meeting earlier today about this exact topic. Indeed, given that this class has been targeted by the League of Villains, who are still at large and possess a warping quirk, it has been decided that you will select your hero names earlier than usual." the class' mood seemed to completely shift from apprehension to complete elation at the reveal, their cheers echoed through the class.
"Settle down!" Aizawa huffed, his eyes glowing as he stared his students down. "Now, these names may be temporary, but they've been known to stick, especially if they're used at the Sports Festival. So you better pick carefully…"
"Or there'll be hell to pay!" Midnight burst into the room, posing sexily with a flogger in her hand and a huge grin on her face.
"Now, I've never been good with names." Aizawa admitted. "I had trouble coming up with mine until Mic suggested my current one. So, against every fibre of my being, I asked Midnight to assist with that."
"Aww, Sho, don't act like you don't looove me!" Midnight smirked, sauntering closer to him before giving him a tight side hug.
"You know this does literally nothing to me, right?" He raised an eyebrow at her antics.
"You're no fun." She pouted, causing most of the class to laugh, though Shiozaki and Iida seemed mostly appalled. "Anyways, students, Hero Names are a very important choice. Not only are they a way to get quickly recognised, they're also a way to build a persona. While this is something we work on later in the term, it's important that you consider what image you want to project through your hero name." She said, easily slipping into her professional tone.
"I'll use All Might as a prime example. His hero name and persona show him as someone dependable, who will do anything in his power to keep people safe. Gang Orca, on the other hand, uses his persona to project a no-nonsense attitude and intimidate villains. Thirteen also maintains an approachable and friendly persona, rather typical for a rescue hero." Midnight smiled. "So do keep in mind what image you wish to project through your hero name."
Izumi nodded. She had many hero names she had come up with over the years, though none she could really use without embarrassing herself. 'Mini Might and All Might Jr. will always be important to me, but I need to show I am my own hero. Still, I want to honour him for all he's done for me, as well as the Plumbers.' She smiled fondly at the whiteboard she had been handed.
Mina was the first to go, smiling as she skipped over to the podium. "I'll be the Acid Hero: Alien Queen!" Most of the class sputtered a bit at how brazenly she was declaring her extraterrestrial nature.
Midnight, however, denied it for an entirely different reason. "Ashido, not even considering the possible copyright issues, are you sure you want to associate your image with a murderous parasitic villain with acid blood?"
"Man, how does Universal still have copyright nearly 300 years after they launched the IP?" Jirou mumbled.
"Bribing Congress." Pony responded. "Though call it 'Lobbying'." She snickered.
"Maybe you could change it to Venus?" Ochako suggested. "'Cause Venus has an acidic atmosphere and it keeps with the alien theme… and Venus is also the roman goddess of love and beauty." Ochako blushed at the smirk that formed on Mina's face. "I like space, okay?" She curled in on herself. Izumi had to keep herself from cooing at how adorable the girl was being.
"That's perfect, Chako! Then I'm the Alien Hero: Venus!" The class clapped, though some still questioning her choice to broadcast being an alien.
"Great, who's next?" Midnight smiled as Tsuyu stood up, following the seating order.
"Ribbit, I've had mine since I was in elementary school. The Rainy Season Hero: Froppy." The class cooed at how cute the name sounded.
"Aww, that's adorable, makes you sound really friendly and approachable! Good job!" Midnight smiled.
Ochako was next, going to the podium with a smile. "I'm the Gravity Hero: Nebula!" The class cheered once again for the name.
"We're on a roll, very good, Uraraka!" Midnight praised as Ochako blushed.
"I was originally gonna go with Uravity, but I also wanted to go with more of a space theme." She said, before scurrying back to her seat.
Iida walked over to the podium, his usual stern face replaced with a proud smile. "I hope to live up to this name. I am the Turbo Hero: Celerity!" He said, slamming his whiteboard on the podium.
"Your father's name? Well, he did retire, and it's a fine way to carry on your legacy. Approved." Midnight gave him a thumbs up, to which he bowed.
Itsuka went to the podium and smiled, though it was subdued. "I am the Martial Hero: Battle Fist!" She declared, also gaining approval.
Izumi continued to brainstorm ideas as her other classmates went. Yui chose 'the Size Hero: Rule' and Kaminari went with 'the Stun-gun Hero: Chargebolt' after Kyouka had mocked him by calling him ChargeDolt. Eiko chose 'the Sturdy Hero: Red Riot', which Midnight approved despite warning that she might draw a comparison between her and Crimson Riot.
Kinoko decided to make her name a mushroom pun, keeping herself on-brand, naming herself the 'Forest-Witch Hero: Shemage'. Shiozaki had chosen the 'Pious Hero: Carnation', which none opposed. Pony went next, and while her original name of Stampede was already taken, she managed to get a pass with 'the Stampeding Hero: Rocketti'. Kyouka went next, originally choosing to call herself Earphone Jack, but later changing it to 'the Scouting Hero: Heartjack'.
Tokage grinned as she approached the podium. She had chosen to call herself 'the Splitting Hero: Lizardy', which was also immediately approved. Fumikage decided to name himself 'the Jet-Black Hero: Tsukuyomi', to which Dark Shadow called him a chuuni, once again.
Todoroki decided to name himself simply 'Shoto', which made Midnight sigh, but it was still his choice if he wanted to use his real name or not. Hagakure smiled at Izumi, though it was invisible. She had helped her understand her quirk better, and her incessant rants about heroes had helped her decide what she wanted to do as an underground hero. She wanted to put fear in the hearts of villains, and at the same time make people feel protected, even if it was by someone they would likely never notice. That had inspired her hero name, 'the Unseen Hero: Yokai'.
Yanagi Reiko pouted a bit as she saw another take a ghostly theme for their name, but her choice remained 'the Phantom Hero: Emily'. Izumi deferred to the other two behind her, still wondering about what choice would be best. Hitoshi settled on 'the Persuasive Hero: Mockingbird', which the class decided rather fit him. Momo smiled as she showed her choice, naming herself 'the Everything Hero: Creati', which made the list of the most adorable names in the class.
Finally, it was time for Izumi to present her name. She fidgeted with the whiteboard as she stood in front of the class. "W-well, I had a bit of a hard time with the name… I guess, trying to fit everything in a single name can be tough. I gave all my transformations names, and I still intend on keeping them… but I think that my own name should represent that totality. I'm something more than the sum of my parts… I am the Universal Hero: Omni."
"A very catchy name, Midoriya, though, again, one must be careful in setting too high a bar." Midnight teased.
Izumi blushed, scratching the back of her neck. "Well, uh, it's more aspirational than anything."
As they were finally done with homeroom, Izumi sighed as she sat down with a smile on her face. That's when she felt a strange pressure in the room. "Izumi, Mina, everyone… Let's do our best in the sports festival!" Ochako said with a rather frightening look on her face.
Izumi looked slightly afraid. "Ochako? What happened to your face?"
Setsuna looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "The hell, 'Chako? What's with that? You're usually so upbeat."
"Everyone! I'm gonna do my best!" There were some cheers as the other students agreed to give it their all.
"I said I'm gonna do my best!" She shouted, her competitive spirit radiating, as the class just stared rather awkwardly and did their best to cheer, though it sounded stilted.
"Dude, you okay? You kinda look like you're losing it." Eiko deadpanned.
With that affair finished, they went on to have their classes. It was Monday, so their day was mostly comprised of normal classes, and their afternoon would be a free study period, including for Izumi, since they were expected to train for the sports festival.
However, it was still first period, and it was time for a new class: Biology and Quirk Science. Some of the students were excited, especially Izumi's friends. She, however, was slightly dreading having her mother as a teacher.
Inko walked in with a smile. "Hello, class. A pleasure to see you all again! As I said last week, I am Midoriya Inko, and I will be teaching you all about Quirk Science and Biology, though in truth, some of this may appear to you as Xenobiology, since we'll be discussing specific biological adaptations caused by quirks themselves. Any questions before we begin?"
Kaminari immediately shot his hand up. "Uh, sensei? Will we be learning about… you know? Aliens?" Todoroki widened his eyes at the question. He had not been there for the reveal, but the wheels in his head began turning as his classmate's question began forming a new conspiracy theory. He'd be looking for evidence of the existence of Aliens for weeks, not once bothering to ask any of his classmates.
"No, Kaminari-kun. This curriculum is based on mutations and adaptations brought about by quirks." Inko responded. "Now, if none of you have any more questions, we can begin. Our first lesson will be about one of the very first papers published on the field of quirk science, and we'll be spending most of our term discussing why, exactly, it's completely wrong. Today, we're talking about Quirk Singularity theory." The class widened their eyes at the theory's mention, and at the fact that Inko had so dismissively stated that they would be proving it wrong. After all, many still believed in the doomsday theory proposed by Dr. Garaki Kyudai over two centuries ago.
"What? Professor, Quirk Singularity is adopted by many reputable scientific publications, is it not?" Iida questioned.
Inko grimaced. "Indeed, many 'quirk scientists' still sing its praises, most notably Dr. Ujiko Daruma and Tsubasa Kyoshi." Izumi winced at the mention of the second doctor, the one who had 'misdiagnosed' her. "However, the theory itself is based on little more than a few observations about the first two generations of quirks, and fails to take into account several key pieces of evidence which were discovered not long after the paper was first published." Inko explained.
"Now, the Singularity refers to a prediction that, as generations passed and people with different quirks had children, the hereditary factor present in quirks would produce stronger quirks. It's one of the reasons quirk marriages became a popular form of eugenics practice before it was outlawed seventy five years ago." Todoroki seemed to glare coldly at the professor. "The idea behind such an abhorrent union was to combine specific quirks through a forced pairing, usually by an especially power-hungry party." The class felt quite a bit of killing intent leaking out of the professor, and wondered how she came to have such a hatred for quirk marriages.
"These sorts of marriages still happen to this day, despite being outlawed. There is little our law can do against them, unless the evidence is overwhelming. Doubly so if the perpetrator is especially influential." Inko snarled slightly. "But, going back to Singularity. Its main proposition was that at some point, quirks would become too powerful for the human body to handle. Strength quirks would begin to break the user's body. Fire quirks would boil the user alive, and so on."
"However, the theory disregarded two basic biological facts that have been the foundation of modern biology since the nineteenth century: Natural selection and adaptation." The class seemed to consider what she meant by it, and she explained. "Since quirks usually manifest at a very early age, if a quirk that truly did overwhelm its user were to manifest, it would inevitably kill the child before it could pass on the quirk." The class winced at the grim image of a child dying from a quirk accident. It had indeed already happened. "It's unfortunate, but as with any radical mutation, it can indeed happen, even if it's not a quirk. Regarding adaptation, the theory failed to consider what began happening over the following generations after the rise of quirks: secondary mutations that made the human body capable of handling increasingly powerful quirks."
"What kind of secondary mutations?" Tooru asked.
"Well, we have some rather notable examples in this very class. Kaminari's nervous system, for example, has secondary mutations that allow him to withstand the incredible amounts of electricity that his quirk produces, with the worst backlash being a temporary period of reduced brain capacity, likely from the lack of bio-electrical charge to fuel higher brain functioning." Inko stated, drawing a rather surprised look from Denki.
"Another prime example would be Yaoyorozu, who possesses lipid reserves that are approximately three to four times as dense as a quirkless human, as well as an overly developed temporal lobe, which would lead to greater memory." Momo simply nodded. "Iida, too, possesses secondary mutations, mostly on the muscle density on his legs, and on his brainstem, leading to increased reaction time to deal with increased speeds." Iida seemed to consider the information.
"Even then, these mutations have limits, and if quirks were to truly become infinitely stronger, they would indeed eventually reach a point where not even these adaptations would keep up. However, there is one last error that this theory commits." The class raised an eyebrow, what else was it missing.
"The theory assumes that quirks would only get stronger. However, population data over the years have shown no significant increase on the overall strength of quirks, or at least not enough to cause any concern." The statement made the class gasp. Most of them had just assumed that it was the case. "Most quirks are quite minor, and would give their users little, if any, advantage compared to an average quirkless person. Different hair pigmentation, the ability to sense wind currents, changing the colour of one's eyes, slight mutation quirks, these do not, in fact, fade away over the generations. In fact, it is entirely possible that parents with rather strong quirks produce an offspring with a weaker quirk."
"It has been over two hundred years since quirks first originated, in 2042. Since then, although some notably powerful quirks have surfaced, their overall strength and the burden they place on the body has proved stable enough that the secondary mutations could keep up with their growth. And if an outlier were to appear, if it were to truly overwhelm the user, then it would not be passed on." Inko concluded her argument.
"Now, our first unit will cover primary quirk adaptations, the ones that comprise the main mechanism for quirks in general. Following that, we will focus on secondary mutations, and how they increase the user's tolerance for the effects of their own quirks. That will build the foundation for our second term, in which we'll begin studying quirk analysis."
She went on to describe the primary quirk classifications, also noting that all of them were technically mutations. She smiled as she saw most of the class was at least moderately interested in her lecture, and considered it a win.
—
Bakugou huffed. So far, UA had been nothing but busywork. It didn't help that they thought they needed to learn all this bullshit just to beat up shitty villains. His only solace was the fact that he would be able to blow up the extras after lunch, though it didn't help that Copycat and Bug Face were looking down on him the whole time.
For now, he just had to survive this stupid Biology class. 'Like I need to learn anything about quirks, like that creepy bitch Deku.' He clicked his tongue as the bell rang, and the door to their classroom opened, revealing a woman clad in strange dark blue armour. Bakugou widened his eyes, however, as he recognised a face he hadn't seen in over a year. "Auntie?! The hell are you doing here?!" He shouted, drawing the attention of the entire class.
"Bakugou." She stared at him, and all of the sudden nobody dared to breathe, as the air suddenly became thick with pressure. "Sit down and be quiet. I will not have you disturbing my class." Katsuki fell back and fought against his trembling hands.
'What the hell?! What even was that?' He shuddered.
Inko looked at the class and smiled. "Hello, class." The students were startled at how her demeanour changed so quickly. "I am Midoriya Inko, your professor for Biology and Quirk Science. You may call me Midoriya-sensei, or by my Hero name, Orbit."
Bakugou widened his eyes. "Since when were you a hero?! Your quirk isn't even good! It's worthless for a hero!" He shouted. Inko glared at him and he froze. The sheer amount of killing intent she was radiating towards him was enough to make him tremble. She raised a hand, and suddenly he felt a building pressure in his head.
"You will be silent in class, Bakugou. I may harbour some sympathy for your mother, as an old college friend, but I will not tolerate your yapping." She stated, none of the students rising to his defence. "As for my quirk, indeed, it is nothing much. Small Object Attraction isn't something you'd consider a threat, is it?" He tried to nod as the pressure in his head increased, until he had to clutch it in pain.
"What… what the fuck are you doing to me?" He growled.
Inko narrowed her eyes, her hand still outstretched. "I grabbed onto the capillaries of your brain, Bakugou." The class widened their eyes. "You'd be surprised how much of the human body my quirk considers a 'small object'. With the smallest effort, I could simply give you a stroke. Or I could dislodge your spinal cord and paralyse you for life. All with my worthless little quirk." Her sickeningly sweet smile made the whole class terrified of her.
Bakugou felt the pain subside as he panted, the pressure finally subsided. "You of all people should know, Bakugou, how easy it is to harm someone who can't fight back." She whispered to him. He narrowed his eyes. This wasn't auntie. It couldn't be.
"Now, if we have no more interruptions, I'll start us off on our first lecture. We'll start by discussing one of the first publications on the field of quirk science, the Quirk Singularity Theory and why exactly it is wrong." She stated, drawing some shocked gasps from the class.
"Sensei! Hasn't Quirk Singularity already been proven? How could it be wrong?" Sero Hanta questioned, to which many of his classmates nodded.
Inko paced around the front of the class. "While some notorious doctors continue to taut the theory as scientific fact, not only is it incredibly sparse in terms of scientific evidence, as it mostly analyses first and second generation quirks, and most of the following research has been anecdotal at best, it completely disregards the reality of Quirk Development over the generations, as well as basic biological reality." She said, sternly.
"First, it does not account for secondary quirk mutations that act in conjunction with primary quirk mutations to allow the human body to handle its strength." She stated. "Secondly, it does not account for selection pressures on humanity, meaning that if a quirk mutation did appear that was too strong for the human body to handle, it would simply kill its user before it could be passed along." The students shivered at the clinical way she had described a child's death by quirk accident. "And most important of all: there is no concrete demographic evidence that suggest that quirks are indeed becoming more powerful over the generations. In fact, the entire premise of Quirk Singularity completely disregards the biological mechanisms that govern heritable traits."
The students wanted to protest, but found they couldn't actually disagree with any of her points. "Pardon me, Madam. What do you mean by primary and secondary quirk mutations? And what do you mean by Quirks not becoming stronger?" Shishida raised his hand, politely.
Inko smiled at the fuzzy boy. "Well, Shishida-san, all quirks are, in essence, a combination of radical mutations to an individual's biology. As such, they are still governed by biology. In the first generation of quirks, most powerful abilities came with few, if any, additional mutations. This led to incidents such as children with pyrokinetic quirks burning themselves into a crisp. However, those that made it to adulthood had at least some sort of mutation that also allowed them to resist the backlash caused by their quirks." She explained.
"These are called secondary quirk mutations. Take Tsuburaba as an example. His x-rays show that he possesses two sets of lungs that work in conjunction to allow him to use his quirk and breathe without issue." The class looked at the boy, some rather put off by his mutation. "Or even Sato. While his primary quirk mutation allows him to convert the excess energy present in sugars into strength directly, he has a secondary mutation in his musculature and bones that allow them to handle the increased strength. For a more extreme example of a secondary mutation, Shoji has an incredibly strong regenerative factor, that produces stem cells at an alarming rate, allowing him to regrow lost arms and change their ends into any organ by turning normal cells into stem cells." Sato and Shoji slightly widened their eyes, as they had never really considered that.
Bakugou, however, couldn't keep his mouth shut to save his life. "Peh, of course these extras need those crutches. None of them could ever handle any power without some handicap." He spat.
Inko's now rather friendly demeanour once again changed to cold rage. "Is that so, Bakugou. In that case, you would be one of the weakest, from the sheer amount of secondary mutations you have." The class cackled as he stewed in rage.
"What damn mutations? I don't need that shit!" He growled.
Inko pulled out a page from the stack of papers she placed on the podium and glared at the boy. "Let's see here. Bakugou Katsuki. Quirk: Explosion. Heteromorh type, misclassified as Emitter." Bakugou widened his eyes at that. He only knew one person that would classify his quirk as a Mutant type. "Primary mutation: Secretion of nitroglycerin through sweat glands on palms, along with the presence of a nerve custer in the palm of each hand that allows him to spark the substance through bioelectricity." She said, with clinical indifference.
"Secondary mutations include: Increased muscle density on arms and legs, increased resilience of eardrums to account for loud noises, increased production of cortisol as a reaction to constant exposure to nitroglycerin. Last mutation necessary for survival, as lack of cortisol would lead to subject fainting and potentially dying from low blood pressure without appropriate medication." Inko stared at the growling bomber. "Shall I continue, Bakugou?"
As he said nothing, she continued to read from the page. "Strategies for neutralisation." She smirked as the class suddenly paid much more attention. "Cold temperatures reduce sweating and impair the effectiveness of the subject's quirk. No defence against telekinesis. Little defence against long range attacks. Sweat is soluble in large amounts of water. Quirk requires control of hands to use. Quick takedown recommended. Restriction of hands recommended. Taking control of hands allows for forced quirk activation. Overuse of quirk causes dehydration and possible fainting, as well as reducing sweat amount. Optimal time for takedown. Before five minutes and after twenty minutes of first activation. Not suited for prolonged battle. Destruction potential: High. Threat Level: Medium. Threat level considering Subject: Moderate. Additional notes: Subject is aggressive, highly reactive, and predictable. Always leads with telegraphed right hook, left cross, knee. Will retreat if blocked, attack with explosions until opening presents itself. If an opening is detected, the subject will immediately take advantage. Falls for feints in 65% of instances. Highly adaptable against attacks. Defensive fighting recommended. Subject is especially susceptible to surprise attacks." Bakugou was trembling with rage as Monoma tried his best to contain his cackling.
"How the hell do you know all that?" He whispered, his fists white from how tightly he clenched them.
Inko's face held no emotion. "I happen to know someone who is quite adept at quirk analysis." She saw Bakugou's eyes widen as his face contorted into sheer rage. "Unless you want detention, Bakugou. You will keep your comments to yourself."
Bakugou didn't pay any attention to the lecture after that, his mind simply stewing in rage. 'Damn shitty Deku!' He screamed in his mind. 'I knew you were looking down on me! I knew you were plotting against me in those shitty notebooks. When I get my hands on you…'
He took a breath. Deku wasn't in the Hero Course. She probably went to some no-name university, or just dropped out. 'Bitch probably killed herself when she failed.' He paused as the thought crossed his mind. 'Where the fuck did that come from?!'
Lunch was a blur, and soon he was getting dressed for his second Heroics class. "At least those extras in support fixed my fucking gauntlets." He grumbled as he opened his briefcase. However, before he could put on the gloves, he saw a note stuck to them. He ripped it out and examined it.
'Dear Hero student,
After reviewing the specifications on your gauntlets, we believe they pose significant risk of permanent harm both to the user and to anyone targeted by the explosion. We have opted to overhaul the storage containment units, which now contain six canisters each, totalling twelve shots of 250 ml charges of nitroglycerin, which should drastically reduce the chances of a fatal accident. We have also noticed that the limiter had been tampered with. However, the new design should remove the need for it entirely.
Sincerely, H & M.
Overseen by Power Loader.'
As he finished reading the note, he blew it into ash in his hands as he let out a garbled screech of rage. He then blinked as he looked at the gauntlets. 'A revolver design… No, it couldn't be! Goddamnit!'
—
"I'm afraid something will happen during the sports festival." Yagi mumbled as he arrived at the teacher's lounge. Vlad King looked at him, with a similarly exhausted expression. Inko raised an eyebrow at him, as did Nezu.
"I'm afraid I don't follow, Yagi-kun." The dean stated. "As much as I wish to avoid another attack, I believe we have already taken the necessary measures."
All Might shook his head. "That's not what I mean, sir. I believe we've made some miscalculations regarding a certain probational student."
"What did he do?" Nezu seemed intrigued by the possibility of dishing out some sort of punishment.
"Nothing that violated the terms of his probation. However, he was angry, more than usual. I was rather worried he'd do something drastic. I spent the whole class on edge, ready to jump in." All Might stated.
Inko hummed. "Well, perhaps that's my fault. He was acting rather disruptively in my class, and I did call him out on it."
Nezu cackled. "That's putting it quite lightly, Midoriya-kun."
"What did you do, Midoriya-san?" Vlad King sighed. "I already have enough trouble keeping that class from killing each other without somebody pissing off my most temperamental student."
"From the moment I entered the class, he began yelling and shouting. He then insulted me in front of the class for my weak quirk, saying that it wasn't fit for a hero, and then proceeded to interrupt my explanation to insult his peers. I saw no reason not to admonish him for it." Inko stood her ground.
"Look, I don't particularly like the kid." Toshinori stated. "He's obsessed with power, overly antagonistic, and has clearly been influenced by MLA ideology. But I still feel we're setting him up to fail here. Has he missed any of his appointments with Hound Dog?"
"Grrrr no, he hasn't." Hound Dog growled. "But he doesn't talk much eitherrrr."
Nezu hummed in consideration. "You bring a valid point, Yagi-kun. As educators, we must seek to correct behaviour we see as wrong, not simply threaten it out of the boy." Inko huffed, but relented. "Midoriya-chan vouched for him, however painful that must be for her. In that light, we must also make an effort to guide Bakugou-kun away from his current path. I will admit to a miscalculation on my part, however." Nezu stated, making the professors step back in shock. "I believed that he would mellow out if he thought Midoriya-chan was not present in the hero course. However, that has proved to be an error."
"What do you propose we do, then, sir. I will not place my daughter in danger again." Inko frowned.
Nezu let a small grin grow on his face. "Bakugou-kun's ego is his greatest enemy. UA has, so far, failed to truly help him in that regard. For him to begin to heal, that ego must be broken, and I have just the plan to deal with that and the situation regarding a certain grape."
Cementoss chuckled. "It's rather weird how you consider Mineta to be a lost cause instead of Bakugou."
"No, it really isn't." Vlad King said, sipping from his spiked cup of coffee. "That guy's the worst student I've ever had."
"Honestly, I'm still wondering why the hell the kid even applied for the Heroics course." Toshinori grumbled.
"You don't want to know." Vlad King took a deep gulp.
—
Bakugou's hands trembled with rage as his phone rang. When he heard it had been picked up, he shouted, in the privacy of his own room. "I need answers, Hag!"
Bakugou Mitsuki immediately shouted back. "The hell are you talking about, brat! And stop with the damn shouting. It's a miracle I'm not already deaf!"
"When the fuck did Auntie Inko become a hero?!" He demanded.
Mitsuki stood in shock for a moment. "She transferred into the Hero course after our second sports festival." She said, much more quietly. "She was invited to this weird elective she would never even talk about, and afterwards she began to train like crazy for the hero course. But after a few years, she quit after Hisashi pressured her while she was pregnant." She paused. "She never told me she went back."
"Well, now she's my fucking teacher at UA, and she's nothing like before! She fucking threatened me! I… I don't know what she did, but it was like I couldn't breathe." Bakugou whispered that last part, hating the feeling of weakness that overcame him.
Mitsuki nodded. "She wasn't like that after Izumi was born." Bakugou growled at the mention of the girl. "But when we were in college, she was by far the scariest girl in our grade. There was one time a guy was harassing one of our friends, and she used her quirk to twist his nuts until he cried." Bakugou winced. "But after she became a mother and left heroics… she mellowed out, though I wonder if she was just really good at hiding her rage."
"And why the hell did I not know until now?!" Bakugou snarled.
"Because it's none of your damn business, brat! Besides, I didn't know either. The last time she spoke to me about anything like that… was after Hisashi left. She told me… she almost killed him." Bakugou felt his breath hitch. "Something about pulling out the capillaries on his brain. She told me he came home after Izumi's diagnosis, and shouted at her over her quirklessness. That's when she threatened to kill him. I'd never heard her so angry." Bakugou froze, finally realising why Inko was so pissed at him. "I don't know what you did to piss her off, brat. You and Izumi used to be great friends."
He clicked his tongue, muttering under his breath. "Like I'd ever be friends with that worthless Deku."
Mitsuki widened her eyes as she caught his muttering. "Katsuki, what the fuck did you say?"
"What? I'd never be friends with a useless, creepy, quirkless bitch. Why would I even waste my time with her?" He said, not at all apologetic.
Mitsuki hissed into her phone. "How could you say that, brat?! You two practically grew up together!"
"Whatever! She kept following me around, thinking that her weak ass could be a hero! She was always writing shit in those creepy notebooks, looking down on me! She thought she could compete with me, and I had to keep reminding her of her place." He huffed.
Mitsuki looked absolutely horrified by what her son was saying. She knew he was temperamental, but to hear such a villainous thing coming out of his mouth. "That's not something to be proud of, you idiot! What the fuck were you thinking, treating her like that?!"
"What's the big fucking deal? Nobody cared about that shitty Deku! Not until that damn rat!" He growled.
"Fuck, this is what that was all about?!" Mitsuki shouted, shocked. "You were bullying Izumi for years?! How could you, Katsuki?"
"Why shouldn't I have taught her her place? She's the one who drove uncle Hisashi away, she ruined auntie's life, she's nothing but a waste of space! She's a worthless throwback!" He shouted.
Mitsuki, for once in her life, had absolutely no words. "I don't know how I didn't see it sooner." She said, her voice seeming lifeless. "You're a villain, Katsuki." The call disconnected as Bakugou screeched in outrage.
"How the fuck could I be a villain?! I'm the best, goddamnit! I'm gonna be number one!" He tried calling her again, only for her not to pick up. He tried over and over, calling his dad, his house, everything. Nobody answered. "I'm a hero! I'm a hero!" He felt tears pooling in his face for the first time in years.
—
Mitsuki felt out of breath while her phone rang. "Hello? Inko?"
Inko didn't expect a call that late, especially from her. Anan stirred in bed next to her, and she patted them gently before getting up from the bed to talk. "It's me, Mitsuki. How are you?" She said, her tone pleasant, but without being too genuine.
"Inko… I… You disappeared… you never returned my calls… I just… I just found out… I'm so sorry." Inko raised an eyebrow as she heard her old friend cry.
"Mitsuki, I failed too. I didn't notice it until it was too late. Izumi hid everything from me until a year ago." Inko's tone no longer sounded forced.
"But I should have seen the signs, Inko. I thought he was just hot headed like me… but he's talking like a villain, Inko. I couldn't believe the things he was saying!" Mitsuki wailed.
"I know, Mitsuki. Try as I might, I can't forgive what he's done to her." She stated, feeling her cold rage threatening to return.
"I wouldn't either." Mitsuki said. "I love that girl. She was always so happy and smart in my memory… What went wrong?"
Inko grimaced. "Aldera, Mitsuki. Nezu and I shut it down earlier this year. They were an MLA indoctrination camp. Izumi was the only quirkless student. We have countless hours of footage, proving all of it." She said, coldly.
"Goddamnit!" Mitsuki slammed her hand on a table. "How… how can we fix this? My son… what he's done is inexcusable… How is he still a student? I know the principal said he was on probation, but…"
"He hasn't violated his probation yet, Mitsuki." Inko sighed. "Believe it or not, Nezu wanted to throw him and everyone else in that school in Tartarus. He only managed to get the staff, though. However, Izumi… vouched for him. Convinced Nezu to allow him in on probation." Mitsuki gasped in surprise. "She said that she didn't want to crush his dream, not even after he crushed hers. Last year, right before the sludge incident… do you know what he said to her?"
Mitsuki was sobbing by that point. "He said that if she really wanted to be a hero, she should take a swan dive off the roof and pray she got a strong quirk in her next life."
"...What? I'm gonna strangle that brat!" Her sobbing turned into scorching rage, which quickly subsided. "Inko… how is she? I didn't see her name in the list of hero course applicants."
Inko smiled slightly. "Well, in the end, she turned out to have a quirk after all, but she needed a special support item to use it." Mitsuki sputtered at the information. "We discovered it after I pulled her out of Aldera. Nezu chose to omit the top five scores from your son's exam results… she got first place."
"Oh my god, Inko, that's amazing!" She said with genuine glee. "I… I know I don't deserve this after failing to stop my brat… but I really wanted to see her… to apologise… to congratulate her on getting into the hero course. I'm… I'm a terrible friend, aren't I?"
Inko smiled. "Eh, I've had worse. You're an angel compared to that asshole I married."
Mitsuki smiled. "Well, I should let you go to sleep, now. But I want to see you soon. I miss you."
Inko nodded. "I miss you too, Mitsuki."
—
Friday had arrived, and the class had spent most of the week training. Those that chose to work out with Izumi were clearly the most exhausted of the bunch. 'That girl is seriously a monster. Is she even human? Did she get her DNA permanently spliced with an Alien or something?' Jirou groaned as she took her seat.
Sure, she had improved considerably with regards to her physical conditioning and quirk use. But it really didn't seem worth it when she was wheezing on the floor. Ochako, Yui and Momo had also improved by leaps and bounds with training, as they mostly focused on the new aspects of their quirks.
From the testing they had conducted, Ochako finally figured out what caused her to become so queasy when she overused her quirk. Her quirk, instead of outright nullifying gravity, seemed to allow her to control the force and momentum of an object she touched. However, in doing so, she transferred the force into herself, where it would slowly dissipate. However, when she removed her own gravity, it formed a feedback loop that made her vomit after just a few seconds. Now, however, since she knew that she was in fact redirecting force, she could essentially negate her quirk's drawbacks by transferring that force into something else, mostly the air itself. It still had its limits, but her quirk became exponentially more versatile over the course of one short week.
Momo became more aware of the process involved in her act of creation, and abused her access to a large database to memorise and create many different types of materials and items that might reduce the strain on her own body's lipids. She had also requested firearms training from Snipe, and was already working along with Mei towards a certification.
Yui, funnily enough, had a quirk that worked in nearly the same way as Ochako's but acting on completely different physical properties. While Ochako's quirk governed force and momentum, Yui's controlled mass and density. She could grow an object while maintaining its density, up to ten times the mass of her own body. However, shrinking an object seemed to work in terms of a fixed percentage. As they tested her quirk, they discovered two very important features of her power. Firstly, when Yui shrank an object, then grew another one, she could add the mass of the shrunken object into the grown one. Essentially, if she were to shrink a hundred kilo mass to 25% of its size, her current maximum, she could add 75 kilos to another object. Afterwards, they began experimenting with her control over an object's density. She could still only add a limited amount of mass, but with enough control, she managed to make something shrink while preserving its mass, and increase its mass without growing, which could make for incredibly powerful attacks, especially if paired with Ochako.
Izumi herself had focused quite a bit on physical conditioning, finally managing to breach the 18% threshold for comfortable use. She had used only 10% during the exam, and had 12% available to her during the battle trials. However, it seemed the stress from the USJ had caused her to gain more control over her quirk. It seemed that actually using it in battle had quite a few benefits, so she often asked Eiko to spar with her, which also helped the red haired girl, as her own quirk got stronger the more she endured, and she was enduring quite a lot.
Izumi transformed into Mistral as the bell rang for lunch. The illusion of her not being in the hero course had been one of the few things that gave her some peace of mind. Plus, she was rather eager to meet up with Mei, since the girl had been regularly coming to their lunch table after she and Izumi got together, though they still didn't broadcast their relationship. Izumi needed time to sort out her feelings regarding her other classmates, and Mei was surprisingly understanding. Izumi didn't know if she was just absurdly lucky, or if Mei had caught feelings for her classmates as well.
However, as she was standing in front of the classroom door, she found her exit blocked by a horde of students.
Ochako pointed at them, stunned. "What the heck are you all doing here?"
"What's going on? We're trying to go to the cafeteria." Kaminari protested.
"If you would kindly stand aside, blocking the hallways is rather rude." Iida chided. "Do you all have some business with our class?"
"Don't you get it?" Hitoshi droned. "They're here to scout out the competition." Izumi nodded silently as her frame stood over the other students. "They all wanna see the class that survived a villain attack."
Suddenly, a dark haired girl with sharp eyes stepped in front of the crowd. "Yeah, and so far, I'm not very impressed." She glared at Izumi. "You think you can just lord your status as hero students over us plebs. I applied for heroics too, you know? Didn't make the cut, like many of the others, and I was forced into my second choice of major."
Izumi hummed as she met her glare. "So you wanna get in through the sports festival. A good strategy. Our professor and my mother both got in that way." The girl was rather surprised by that statement.
"R-right! So I'm here to tell you all to watch your backs, because if one of us manages to make it in, one of you will get thrown out." The girl continued.
Izumi chuckled, which surprised the students. "You know, two of my very dear friends almost didn't make it into the hero course. Their quirks, while super useful for heroics, were entirely useless against robots. Since the day we got here, our Professor has made it very clear that if we're not up to standard, we're getting the boot. We've fought tooth and nail to earn our places here, and we'll be sure to bring our very best." She then smiled a bit more softly at the girl. "I have a very dear friend who's hoping to make it in as well, so I'm honestly rooting for you. We need more women in heroics."
The girl seemed taken aback by what she had said, but quickly regained her composure. "I guess you live up to the hype a little, then. I'm Togeike Chikuchi. Consider this a declaration of war."
Mistral stood her ground and smiled. "Midoriya Izumi. Class 1-A representative. I accept."
However, she failed to notice the blond hair of Monoma Neito, who was grinning from ear to ear as he finally acquired the true name of his nemesis.
—
Izumi was certain that Mei would be the death of her. Not even accounting for the fact that nearly half an hour of their time in the workshop was spent making out, they had been getting increasingly risky over time.
Izumi had no idea how to sneak Mei out of her room before curfew, and, if she were being honest to herself, she was half tempted to just let her stay the night, no matter how much that would strain her tuck. Izumi felt Mei's hot breath on her neck as she ran her hands over the mechanic's impressive curves. Mei began to drag her tongue over Izumi's neck, before planting gentle kisses, moving up until she reached Izumi's jawline.
Izumi chuckled. "For someone who hadn't had her first kiss until last week, you sure are eager, Mei." She whispered into the girl's ear.
Mei pouted slightly, poking Izumi's side. "Hey, you're the one who keeps teasing me. You don't even let me touch those muscles of yours."
Izumi's eyes darkened for a moment. "Mei, please."
"It's not fair that I'm the only one without a shirt." The girl argued. Indeed, this was the third time their makeout sessions had led to Mei removing her shirt, and she had been growing more and more curious about Izumi. "Please? I just want to feel your skin on mine. You're so warm." She pleaded.
"J-just don't freak out, okay?" Mei nodded, her smile growing as Izumi began removing her shirt. Mei nearly gasped as she saw Izumi's chest completely covered in old scars. "I know… they're hideous. I'm hideous." However, before she could enter a self-deprecating spiral, she was interrupted by Mei kissing her, her arms wrapping around her and tracing her scarred flesh, before pinning the taller girl to the bed.
"D-don't say that, Izu. You're beautiful." Mei pressed their bodies together, grinding slightly against her.
"Careful, Mei… I might fall in love with you if you keep being that smooth." Izumi tried to joke, though the sentiment was entirely true. Mei once again pulled her into a deep kiss.
"That's the plan." Mei grinned as she hovered over the taller girl.
"Mei… I…" Izumi began speaking, but froze when Mei placed a finger over her mouth.
"I know what you're gonna say, Izu. I know that you want to date your other classmates along with me, and I'm on board, but you can't keep dragging this out." Mei said, softly, as she felt a familiar warmth turning into a blaze.
"I… I know, Mei… but it still feels so wrong… to do this to you." Izumi blushed.
Mei pouted once again. "Is it wrong because you think it's wrong, or because you're expected to be with just one partner?" Izumi didn't quite have a response to that. "Can I be honest?" Izumi nodded. "I think your classmates are hot. I mean, objectively. Do I like them like I do you? No. But I'm willing to give this a shot. If it works out, I get even more girlfriends. If not, I get several more friends. So why are you holding back?"
Izumi shook her head. "I'm just… not ready. But I will be." She stated. "Once the sports festival arrives, I'll ask them out."
Mei smiled softly. "The weekend before. It would be bad if you sabotaged them by surprising them during the festival." Izumi nodded.
Mei then noticed that her finger had been tracing a scar on her upper chest, close to her collarbone. It was a burn scar, in the form of a hand. 'Izumi, who did this to you?'
—
"The hell do you extras want?" Bakugou stomped into the common area of their dorms to see his classmates sitting around a circle. It was already Sunday, and Bakugou was tired of training under the professor's supervision, which unfortunately was required by his probation. His week had been hell since he'd called his mother. It had him second guessing every little thing. 'How could she call me a villain? What did I even do?'
"We're here because Monoma called us to devise a strategy in hopes of overcoming Class 1-A." Shishida stated, adjusting his glasses.
Bakugou immediately huffed, though he didn't move away just yet. "No way am I gonna let you extras ride on my coattails! I'm gonna blast everyone to kingdom come." He snarled.
Awase immediately rolled his eyes. "If we wanted to ride on anyone's coattails, we'd pick the guys who are, you know, actually top of the class." Bakugou glared at Honenuki, Monoma and Shouji, who had somehow managed to score higher than him in the quirk assessment.
Monoma shook his head. "If he doesn't want to strategize, it's his loss. Since neither he nor Mineta can be counted on for reconnaissance after that fiasco during the first week, I did some digging around myself." Monoma sneered as he remembered both of them getting detention, Bakugou for harassing 1-A, and Mineta for trying to harass the girls in 1-A.
"But I just wanted a feel of those heavenly peaches." Minera lisped, remembering the tall, black haired girl from the entrance ceremony. The other boys just looked at him with disgust, even Bakugou.
Shoda quickly interjected. "Suppose we were to follow along with this scheme of yours, Monoma, what would it even entail?"
Monoma smirked. "I'm glad you asked, Shoda-kun. I have managed to collect some details from both the USJ report and my own observations on 1-A. I believe that if we coordinate properly, we can eliminate them by the second round. If not, we can effectively counter them in the third and show our supremacy over them."
"Ashido Mina has a quirk that allows her to secrete acid. However, it's useless if it never reaches its target. Asui Tsuyu has a simple frog mutation, but she'd be effectively neutralised by one of her own classmates, who has an incredibly destructive ice quirk." Bakugou growled at the mention of a quirk that might be more powerful than his own. "Iida Tenya has engines in his legs, which can be easily disrupted by glue or softened ground."
"Uraraka Ochako's quirk lets her make things float. A rather useless ability, especially since it makes her queasy." Monoma not for a second questioned how she got third place, nor did he really look into her ability in detail. "Kendo Itsuka's quirk simply increases the size of her hands. She seems to have some martial arts training, but she has no counters for long range attacks. Kodai Yui, another rather weak quirk. She can increase something's size. Not really that much, I might add." He had in fact observed her using her quirk on a block of osmium.
"Kaminari Denki can release electricity, but it seems he has a penchant for shorting out. If he attacks once, he's effectively out of the fight. Kirishima Eiko has a quirk similar to Tetsutetsu, but instead of steel, it just turns her into rock. Evidently much weaker." Jurota, Shoda and Shouji all shot him a look, though didn't stop his rant.
"Komori Kinoko's quirk simply creates mushrooms, she's clearly the weakest one of them all. Shiozaki Ibara has vines that are easily cut or damaged, and seems to be averse to fighting. I suggest taking her down first. Tsunotori Pony has long range attacks thanks to her horns shooting out, but she should be fairly easy to take down as well, as she tends to rely on them a lot. Jirou Kyouka has jacks that she can use to scout. Again, a rather useless quirk." Some of his classmates narrowed their eyes at him.
"Tokage Setsuna can split herself into pieces, but they are rather weak as an offence. Tokoyami Fumikage has a sentient shadow quirk, which he insists is a real person. It should be easily taken down by Aoyama or Kuroiro." He said, earning a grin from the pitch black boy. "Then, we have Todoroki, he's our first problem. A very strong Ice quirk, though he seems very susceptible to it. Apparently, he gave himself frostbite at the USJ, how pathetic." Shoda and Shishida glowered at him for making light of the attack.
"Hagakure Tooru is just invisible. Since she'll be wearing a regular uniform, she won't even have that as an advantage. It'll be like fighting a quirkless person." He smirked. "Yanagi Reiko has a telekinesis quirk, but it seems to have a low weight limit. Last, we have three of our biggest problems."
He pointed to an image of a purple haired boy. "Aizawa Hitoshi. I've never seen him use his quirk. He's a complete unknown. It's likely a body enhancement quirk, since he is very agile and competent in a fight." He paused. "After that, we have Yaoyorozu Momo. She's clearly trained extensively, and her quirk enables her to create practically anything she could need."
Bakugou narrowed his eyes as Monoma placed the last picture in front of him, an image taken from one of I-A's training sessions. It was blurry, but they could clearly see some sort of red creature. "This, gentlemen, is the first place student from the entrance exam. Credited with taking down the zero pointer."
"What, she took that giant thing on?!" Tsuburaba baulked.
"Oh, shit, you're right, she turned into this huge rock thing and crushed it." Kaibara exclaimed. "It was sweet!"
Monoma scowled at him. "No, Kaibara-san. It's definitely not sweet. I did some digging, and it appears this so called 'Mistral' has access to many different transformations, some so powerful that she could defeat the USJ villain. However, she does need a support item to actually use her quirk." The class stood in shock as they looked at the photo, while Bakugou silently gnashed his teeth. "And Friday, I finally managed to figure out her name, since she clearly wants it hidden for some reason. Witness our greatest foe." Monoma said, dramatically. "Our first priority will be taking down Midoriya Izumi!"
Bakugou froze. For a moment, the name didn't register in his mind. It was just too absurd. Deku couldn't have passed the exam, much less in first place. Deku couldn't have a quirk, it was just impossible. "What the fuck did you just say, Copycat?" His classmates were surprised to hear his voice so low, as he had never gone under shouting since the term had started.
"I have a name, you bru-" Monoma was interrupted by Bakugou rushing him and grabbing his collar.
"What did you say her name was?" He whispered, his eyes fixed on Monoma's as he showed a cold rage.
Monoma scoffed. "Are you going deaf already? Midoriya Izu-" Bakugou's other hand exploded, though it harmed nobody.
"That fucking bitch!" He roared, startling the students, as even Bakugou had never acted this angry. "That useless, quirkless DEKU!" He panted, the rage coursing through him. "She was looking down on me… all this fucking time, she was mocking me behind my back. That bitch! I'm gonna fucking kill her." He yelled. "She's the reason Auntie turned on me, the reason I didn't get my perfect backstory, she waited all these years, just to stab me in the back. That cheating, scheming bitch!"
Shishida looked absolutely flabbergasted by the tantrum. "Midoriya? We met her Friday, during the representative meeting. She was rather nice, if a bit enthusiastic about out quirks." He said, freezing as Bakugou glowered at him.
"That's how she fucking gets you, Furface! Deku comes up with her nice, innocent act, and as soon as you tell her about your quirk she begins asking a million questions, and just like that, she has fifteen different ways to kill you!" He screeched. "She's a slimy quirkless parasite!"
"Dude, are you okay in the head? She clearly has a quirk. She just needs a support item to use it." Kaibara interjected.
"NO! I don't fucking know how she did it, but DEKU IS QUIRKLESS! That worthless waste of space was probably hiding it, laughing behind my back all those years. Waiting for the perfect moment to ruin my fucking life."
Sero raised an eyebrow. "You're not even making any sense, man. Why the hell would someone face being quirkless for, like, fourteen years just to get back at someone? Like, what's the point?"
"Oh, dear, it seems he's delusional." Monoma smirked, as they all saw Bakugou glare, roar, and stomp up the stairs.
"Well, now I see why she specifically asked that we not tell Bakugou." Shoda pinched the bridge of his nose, as his classmates looked at him and, after a moment of contemplation, nodded.
'I know what you want, Deku. You want me to go after you. To violate my probation. Well, it's not gonna fucking happen, you bitch!' He growled, balling his fists. 'And if we do fight, I'll break you just enough that they won't expel me. Just you wait.'