Chapter 4
Summary: Time for Izumi and Momo to make some first impressions...
-Recommended Exam Practical-
All Might watched through the cameras, sitting with Dean Nedzu as both of them observed the recommendation students running through the obstacle course. The first two groups had already run, with the second including a pair of standout performances. It was the final group, however, that the pair had been truly waiting for. For this group included All Might's successor. The two of them paid close attention as Yaoyorozu took her position. Unlike the others, she wasn't bothering with any sort of runner's stance, something Nedzu was clearly curious about.
"You did say your protégé had control of roughly 40% of One for All, correct? Why isn't she taking a stance?"
All Might grinned, cheerful at finally being able to get one over on the Dean. Clearly, Nedzu had no idea just what his successor and her girlfriend had cooked up.
"I did. But I also told you they'd come up with a way to deflect attention from young Yaoyorozu suddenly gaining a new or altered Quirk. You're about to see the fruits of their labor, an old project that originally failed, as I understand it. But was made viable again by One for All."
Clearly intrigued, Nedzu watched the screen closely as the countdown hit zero. The other five competitors in the group lunged forward, taking off at various speeds and with various uses of their Quirks. Momo, on the other hand, stood still as advanced composites, cybernetic weaves, and metal flashed out and over her skin. Her tracksuit was shredded into confetti as, in the space of just five seconds, a skintight suit of futuristic looking armor covered her from ponytail to toe tips. Then, in a burst of speed that passed every other competitor in the space between heartbeats, Momo was off down the track. Obstacles were run with a precision and speed that even All Might would have been hard pressed to better. He was still faster in a straight line, of course, but Momo was firing maneuvering thrusters from her back, elbows, and feet in order to corner in a brutal redirection of motion that not even he could manage without surfaces to bounce off of.
There were obvious rough spots in the rapid movement, at least to the eyes of someone trained by Grand Torino. But it was an incredible performance considering his successor had only had two weeks to practice with it. The remaining two before the recommended exams having been used up revamping and tweaking the design in the first place. And, regardless of the rough spots, it did the job. Momo crossed the finish line before any of her competitors even reached the second obstacle. A stunned Present Mic called out her time…which utterly blew away even that of the previous high scorer, one Yorashi Inasa, who had shown off a powerful wind Quirk. Dean Nedzu sat back with a calculating look in his eyes, barely paying attention to the rest of the competitors.
"Fascinating. Obviously, the appearance of the suit is meant to hide One for All by making the viewer assume it's the source of her speed and power. Yet, it was clearly functional. And I do have to wonder if it impairs the use of her original Quirk?"
All Might quickly shook his head at that.
"It doesn't. Or not much, at least. They'd worked that out years ago, apparently. They developed the original suit out of a material specifically designed to pass the specific energy frequency of Creation through. The suit truly acts like a second skin, from which she can create objects. There's some small loss of efficiency. But One for All boosted that efficiency by something like seven thousand percent anyway. So the loss is pretty irrelevant. Particularly given the advantages."
Nedzu made an approving humming noise of some sort, nodding as he pulled up a recording of her run and watched it in slow motion.
"Still new to using it, obviously. But it shows quite a bit of promise, despite that. The startup period might be an issue in an emergency…"
All Might waggled his hand.
"In theory, possibly. But she's been steadily cutting down on the speed needed to 'summon' it. And she's filed to use it as her Hero Suit anyway, so it's only really relevant if she's caught out in public while not on duty."
Nedzu nodded.
"Still a minor weakness to work on. But an acceptable one. It's a fine solution and a pleasantly unexpected one. I do believe this year should be interesting…"
Shivering at the tone the Dean used for that last word, All Might hoped it wouldn't be too interesting. Even if, somehow, he already knew that hope was doomed to go unfulfilled…
-1 Week Later: General UA Entrance Exam-
Izumi couldn't help the huge grin on her face as she cracked her knuckles and stretched. The written portion of the exam had been hilariously easy…but she was still looking forward to getting a chance to move. Noticing that she was literally the only one that had moved on to the practical exam hall so far, she looked around for something to kill time with. There was over an hour and a half left of the exam time, after all, and she'd go nuts if she didn't do something between now and then. Disappointed that there was literally no one else around, she sighed and was about to pull her phone out of her digital inventory when the doors opened. An energetic looking blonde entered, humming to himself as he shuffled papers…only to look up and blink at her in confusion when some instinct told him he wasn't alone. Izumi tried not to squeal as she realized it was Present Mic. Pulling a specific notebook out of her inventory instead of her phone, she darted up to shove it in his face.
"Oh! Oh! Can I have your autograph please? I totally didn't think I'd have a chance until school started!"
The man had actually taken a half-step back in surprise. Wait…she hadn't forgotten to keep her speed under control, had she? Crap. She might have. She was…sort of excited. This was Present Mic! She listened to his show religiously!
"Woah there, listener! Of course you can have an autograph!" His eyes darted down to her chest…no, down to her visitor's badge. "But, shouldn't you still be in the written exam? The practical won't matter if you don't score highly enough there!"
Izumi shook her head.
"Nope! Already finished! My Quirk gives me perfect recall that I can't actually shut off. So it was…kinda of super easy?"
The blonde hero's eyes sharpened at that, taking a better look at her.
"Oh! You're the one Nedzu mentioned! He did say we'd probably have an early finisher this year, I just didn't expect it to be quite this early. The test only started a half an hour ago!"
Izumi nodded eagerly.
"Yep! I finished it in about twenty minutes. And took ten more to triple check everything! Really, I would have been faster, but I kind of ran out of room on the ethics question at the end and had to stop to get some extra paper out of my inventory! I hope that was okay. Ms. Midnight looked at me a bit oddly for that…"
Annnd…now Present Mic was looking at her oddly too. She wasn't that strange, was she? Sure, she really only had Momo for a reference of 'normal.' Which probably wasn't a great reference, actually. But, she couldn't be that weird, right? Oh godmaybeshewasactuallysuperstrangeandeveryonewasgoingto...
"Woah there! Even I can't talk quite that fast, and I have supppper vocal cords! But if I caught that right, you shouldn't worry! All the best heroes are a little strange, you know! Now, how about I sign that notebook of yours! We've got quite a bit of time to kill before the prac…"
Mic had taken her notebook, only to pause as he realized it was open to a remarkably life-like image of him. The image was obviously a few years old, given that he looked a little younger and there were a few more recent tweaks to his costume that weren't present. But it was really very good, and it served to draw his attention to the analysis that was on the page next to it. And on the next page…and the next…and the three after that. Curious, he stopped flipping through them and looked up at her.
"Say, we really do have some time to kill, do you mind if I look at this? This almost looks like a professional Quirk breakdown…"
Izumi brightened.
"Oh! Of course, you can! And, Miss Nishimura helped me with the format! She's had me help with a few Quirks as a part-timer the last couple of years! She says I'm pretty good at figuring them out."
That name got Mic's attention. Surely she didn't...
"Nishimura? As in Nishimura & Croft? The Quirk specialists?"
"Yep! She helped me with my Quirk when I first got diagnosed! Sentient Quirks are rare enough that we ended up referred to them when we started digging for a better option that our first…um…questionable doctor?"
Right. Right. That was why Nedzu had originally needed to warn them about her. Along with that Tokoyami kid. Two sentient Quirks in a single year! Both of which could actively assist their users, so the observers all needed to know what to look for. That meeting had been a surprise to everyone, that was for sure. And it absolutely made sense for the kid to end up in the hands of a high-level specialist if she had a sentient Quirk. That just made Mic more curious about the notes in his hand, though. If she was good enough that the staff at N & C had her helping as a part timer, it could be interesting enough to kill some time with. Quickly pulling out a pen, he signed under his picture with a flourish, then gestured her to follow him to the table up front. She practically bounced as she did so, almost puppy-like.
"Well, let's see what someone from N & C would say about my Quirk! It's been quite some time since a professional has analyzed it! It's not something pros usually need done, after all. It could be interesting!"
He grinned as she blushed and protested that she 'wasn't really a professional!' He was already starting to like this one…particularly as she hadn't even seemed to notice that he slipped into English with his last response. Given the complete lack of acknowledgement that he'd done so, he guessed she must be completely fluent. Though he supposed perfect recall would help with that.
His amusement lasted through the first page of notes, which didn't have anything new, but slowly shifted to incredulity as he read through the more comprehensive breakdown that followed. As well as…ideas for support gear and super moves?! Some of these looked…huh would that actually? He was quickly lost in thought at some of the ideas there, only snapping out of it when he heard the girl who'd written it shuffling awkwardly. Well…the person who wrote this was right here. No reason not to kill some time asking about a few of the support gear items, right?
"This is amazing! But, this piece of gear on page 3? Could that actually be made? I'm a little lost about what 'Quirk Energy Resonance' would have to do with powering jump boots? The mobility would be super awesome! But what does that have to do with the sound amplification from my Quirk?"
The kid brightened…and immediately launched into a detailed explanation that left Mic with a headache from trying to follow it, right along with a firm determination to take the designs she'd sketched out on the spot to Power Loader to see what he thought. Jump boots would be crazy cool to add to his gear, after all…
...
Izumi bounced on her toes as she waited in front of the gate.
"Can you believe it 2B! It's finally time! How well do you think we'll do?"
2B's voice came from the pod hovering over her shoulder.
"I calculate a 96.8% chance of you taking first place, Izumi. No other student matched your QE levels."
Izumi rolled her eyes.
"You know that QE levels aren't everything, 2B."
"Yes. Which is why there is a 3.2% margin for error. It is possible, however unlikely, that someone has either superior training or a more specifically applicable Quirk. Though, of course, if you were willing to use our full abilities, that would not be possible."
Izumi's eyes rolled again and she started to reply, only for a blue-haired fellow with stiff movements to suddenly approach her.
"Miss! Stop trying to distract everyone! And what are you doing with that Drone. You know support gear has to be registered! And I'm quite sure that the UA staff would not allow-"
Annoyed, mostly at 2B being called a mere Drone, Izumi stopped the aggressive teenager with a firm poke to the forehead. Momo had taught her how to deal with this!
"Just because you're insecure and nervous doesn't mean you can be mean to people! 2B is part of my Quirk. Please apologize!"
2B spoke up before the confused…and slightly reeling from the poke…teen could do anything one way or another.
"I do not believe he has time. The gate is about to open."
"What? How do you…2B did you hack Present Mic's timer?"
"Of course."
Izumi groaned…but chose not to fight this particular losing battle again. Instead, she summoned her visor and copy of Virtuous Contract. She had considered, for a moment, using one of the Spears, actually having something of a natural preference for them. The truth was, however, that they were somewhat…overkill…for anything she was likely to fight here. Just like using a full transformation would have been. Particularly with 2B deployed in a Type B Pod for quick line-of-sight kills on pretty much anything.
Her timing was perfect, the gate beginning to swing open just as she reached the front and half bent one knee. An instant later, when the gate was just barely open far enough for her body to pass through…she pushed off at half power, shooting through the gate and up to a roof three buildings into the zone.
"2B! Enemy scan, please!"
The response was immediate enough for Izumi to suspect 2B had already been scanning, a rash of red dots in three intensities appearing all over her HUD. With an excited grin Izumi summoned a trio of knives and launched herself at the densest group, telekinetically flinging the knives into a set of three two-pointers even as 2B picked off a 3-pointer at the edge of the crowd with her laser. Then, Izumi was in amongst the, and the carnage became complete…
Toshinori Yagi ignored most of Dean Nedzu's random exposition as he tracked the various monitors. Long years of combat experience had taught him how to split his attention to multiple places at once, and he noted several students that were already standing out from their peers. A boy with an explosive Quirk and a vicious grin. A foreign student firing scales into a group of bots. A girl with size-expansion of some sort enlarging her hands and slamming two three-pointers together.
Even as he watched the other notables, however, he kept one eye on his second student. The one whose total combat potential even he had never seen. Yes, he'd seen her train a great deal. But young Midoriya had openly admitted that the training facilities didn't have a space tough enough for her to really cut loose in…and his successor had admitted that she hadn't been able to seriously spar with her girlfriend on an equal footing since they were twelve. He'd snuck them into his private gym at Might Tower after the first few tests of One for All had proven…dangerously destructive. But even there, they'd focused heavily on getting young Yaoyorozu's strength modulated and her new suit in working order.
What he was seeing now was eye-opening, to say the least. It had also, he noticed, attracted the attention of his future co-workers. Nearly all of them were glancing repeatedly her way as her numbers rapidly outpaced anyone else's. And the worst part of it was that Yagi knew from the bits of her training he had overseen, that the young woman was holding back, a lot. Despite that, only five minutes in, she'd already broken the record and was still accelerating. If she wasn't clearly targeting groups away from the other examinees, many of them inside buildings which the others hadn't even thought to check, he'd be genuinely worried that no one else in her testing group would actually have a chance of passing!
As it was, by the time the eight-minute mark was reached and the arena trap bot triggered, Midoriya had already hit the triple digits…and that's without calculating rescue points. He'd seen 2B save at least three students with precision laser fire, and Izumi had helped another in passing. All of those would go toward rescue points even if she got no more from the new challenge. Which…didn't appear likely, given that her speed had just doubled as she noticed another examinee in trouble. There was a flash of light on the zoomed in screen as the sword she commonly used vanished…only to be replaced by a spear? Moments later, it was all over, the drone having failed to even follow Izumi's movement.
The Dean was quick to key up a slow-motion shot of the Zero Pointer's head, and they all watched as Izumi seemed to be moving at regular speed while the Zero Pointer was slowed to a crawl by the high-speed camera. A leap had taken Izumi over the top of the trap's head and a half-visible burst of energy redirected her down, the young woman falling spear-first toward the head of the zero pointer. It's steel frame split before that spear like so much paper trying to deflect a charging rhinoceros…and then there was a much larger burst of that half-visible energy inside the zero pointer. Real-time returned to the image as Izumi moved away from the slumping Zero-pointer to help the trapped young woman, who seemed to have freed herself but was limping badly. Power Loader cleared his throat to get their attention.
"Whatever the hell she just did to that zero pointer, it totally wrecked the insides. That thing is pure scrap. I doubt we'll get any reusable components beyond base materials out of it."
Yagi shook his head, leaning back as he ignored both the Dean's cackling and his co-worker's disbelief. Up until this very moment, he'd been half-sure that young Yaoyorozu had been joking about Midoriya being able to go toe-to-toe with him. Suddenly, he wasn't at all sure that had been a joke or overestimation. After all, she still hadn't fully transformed to pull that off. Which meant she was holding back quite a bit. He was, in that moment of realization, extremely grateful for two things. First, that Midoriya was naturally rather gentle and extremely heroic. And second…that she'd turned down One for All in favor of her friend. The combination of her own Quirk and One for All genuinely might have been too much power in one person's hands…
-Exam Results-
Izumi clutched the unopened letter in white-knuckled hands, sitting on her bed, Momo looking fondly exasperated from her computer desk. It was Izumi's room, with hero merchandise on every surface…though it wasn't as cramped as it once would have been. Between the eventual settlement against a certain doctor and a number of extremely successful patents, the Midoriya family was no longer a marginal one. On the downside, it had led to the divorce of her parents when Hisashi's excuses to not come home from his 'overseas job' had run thin enough for Inko to hire a private investigator. An investigator that had turned up five other 'marriages' in three countries. Suffice it to say that her father was no longer in the picture.
On the other hand, the lawsuit over that issue had added to the malpractice settlement from that incompetent Quirk doctor. The improved financial situation of the family hadn't had much impact for a few years…until Izumi starting 'inventing' things with Momo and 2B. The fact that most of those things were hero-adjacent had ultimately required some increased security, leading to the small family of two moving into the Penthouse of a high-security condo not too far from Momo's…zip code. While Inko refused to take much money from the inventions herself, she did at least allow for a small portion to be used for continued upkeep of the condo, which had freed her from any need to work. Though, by some sort of personal magic or sheer stubbornness on Mitsuki Bakugo's part, Izumi's mother had ended up working part time for the Bakugo's fashion company. First as simply an assistant that wouldn't be driven off by her friend's personality. And then, much to Inko's adorable confusion, as a model for some of the fashion line's products.
None of which was particularly relevant at the moment, as Izumi dithered over opening her letter from UA. Sure, she was pretty certain she'd done well. But this was important! Her whole future rode on what was in this letter! What if she'd…actually she couldn't think of anything she could have messed up. Maybe if they were upset enough about the Zero Pointer she'd kinda…turned into a very large paperweight?
Her dithering apparently went on just a bit too long, since Momo finally prodded her.
"Izumi, if you don't open that right now to spare us both, I won't let you touch my boobs for a week."
Izumi's head snapped to Momo in horror…then back down to the letter. With fire in her eyes, she tore the letter open with one smooth motion, ignoring her girlfriend's giggles. There were several sheets of paper in the letter, but there was also a small disk that Izumi deftly caught before it could fall. She blinked as 2B, who had been sitting almost motionless nearby in the child-sized doll form Izumi had eventually all-but-forced on the android as a 'huggable' alternative to the Pods, spoke up for the first time since they'd returned to the room.
"Scans reveal it is some form of holo-device. I suggest laying it flat. I believe it will auto-play after you do so."
Silently, Izumi nodded and tentatively placed it a foot in front of her on the bed, where everyone would be able to see it. The moment she took her hand away, the holo-disk hummed to life and the image of a very familiar face popped up over it…
"I AM HERE…as a projection!"
Two startled exclamations from Momo and Izumi were joined by a put-upon sigh from 2B. After a suitable dramatic pause, the projected image of All Might continued to speak.
"Greetings young Midoriya! And likely young Yaoyorozu as well, I'd assume! While both of you are aware that I've been spending time here in Musutafu…what you didn't know until now is that my reasons were more than just general heroing! I came here to be the newest heroics teacher at UA University!"
Two more exclamations, and an uncharacteristic curse from 2B, were quickly overwritten by more from All Might. After another suitably dramatic pause, of course.
"To the surprise of absolutely no one, you scored a perfect grade on the written exam! Though, to the surprise and terror of everyone here, Dean Nedzu claimed he would have given you extra credit for your additions to the ethics questions, if he were allowed to! He claims he'll speak to you once the year has gotten underway a bit. Please don't take over the world!"
All Might seemed to actually think that was a legitimate concern, from his momentarily serious facial expression. But that moment passed quickly as he moved on.
"As for the practical…you scored 137 Villain Points! Which would have broken all previous records, even if that was the only metric we scored by. But, of course, what would a Hero University be if that was the only metric we score by? In addition to Villain Points, a panel of judges awards Hero Points, for actions that aided or protected your fellow examinees! Behold!"
A short series of video clips replaced All Might's face, showing either Izumi or 2B's pod helping various candidates out of sticky situations. The highlight reel ended in what Izumi had to admit was a pretty epic shot of her takedown of the Zero Pointer on behalf of a student trapped in the rubble. The image froze on a still of picking up said blushing girl to carry her back to the entrance, with All Might's voice returning to speak over it.
"After due consideration from the panel of judges, you were awarded a near-record in Hero Points as well, a total of 84 in fact. Only two others, both with healing Quirks, have ever done better…and neither came close to your 221-point total! A total which very nearly doubled the previous high score of 118 points!"
The image of her giving a helpful lift to the blushing girl vanished, replaced again by All Might's face. His trademark smile was flashing out as he finished up.
"With a score like that, I'm sure I barely need to say this! But, for the official record, you passed! Welcome to your hero academia!"
The holo went silent as All Might was once again replaced, this time by a floating image of a scoreboard. 2B's doll-form had silently moved from her spot on one of the room's extra chairs. Izumi and Momo, both still distracted from the revelations that had hit them one after another, jumped in surprise at her appearance as 2B tapped the holo-device with a finger. The image, which had just started to fade, froze in place. She turned to look at Izumi.
"I assume you probably wanted to see the scoreboard. And the device seems to be set to erase after it finished playing. Likely a security feature to prevent All Might's new status as a teacher from getting out. I've overwritten the erase command in case you want to keep the recording for sentimental reasons."
Grinning hugely, Izumi lunged forward, ignoring 2B's surprised 'oof' as she hugged the half-sized version of her oldest friend.
"Thanks, 2B! You're the best!"
Letting the android's slightly-blushing doll-form go, she turned back to study the floating scores with considerable interest, mentally filing the names on it away. It was only the top ten, but it contained a pair of interesting names despite its limits…aside from her own blazing at the top, of course!
Midoriya Izumi – 137 Villain Points – 84 Hero Points : Total 221
Bakugo Katsuki – 79 Villain Points – 14 Hero Points : Total 94
Kirishima Eijirou – 39 Villain Points – 35 Hero Points : Total 74
Shiozaki Ibara – 36 Villain Points – 32 Hero Points : Total 68
Kendo Itsuka – 25 Villain Points – 40 Hero Points : Total 65
Tetsutetsu Tetsutestsu – 49 Villain Points – 10 Hero Points : Total 59
Tokoyami Fumikage – 47 Villain Points – 10 Hero Points : Total 57
Awase Yosetsu – 50 Villain Points – 6 Hero Points : Total 56
Iida Tenya – 45 Villain Points – 7 Hero Points : Total 52
Kaibara Sen – 47 Villain Points – 4 Hero Points : Total 51
Momo murmured something about Izumi's score being more than double the second place, but Izumi herself had noted two familiar names in the list. Katsuki's, she was unsurprised by. Though she was glad to see he'd actually earned a few Hero Points. They hadn't interacted a great deal since Izumi transferred to another education track, but she knew through their handful of interactions and some small talk from her mother that her one-time friend had been forced into anger management at some point. Apparently, lacking a single target durable enough to ignore most of his…excesses…the school had needed to put their foot down in order to prevent lawsuits. While she doubted he'd ever be the most approachable hero, the Hero Points he'd earned were certainly a hopeful sign that he'd at least make a decent one in general.
That, however, was less interesting than the other name she'd identified on the list. Tokoyami Fumikage. They'd only met twice, and exchanged a few emails, but being the only two individuals their age in all of Japan with sentient Quirks had led to their being introduced to each other. Frankly, Izumi was grateful that she'd ended up with 2B. Dark Shadow was entertaining, but could be quite a bit of a handful, from what their scattered exchanges had revealed over the years. Not that 2B wasn't, at times. But that was in more of a trying-to-teach-her-not-to-hack-government-servers-to-protect-Izumi sort of way.
…
…
…
Actually, considering that she had yet to succeed in teaching 2B not to do things like that, Tokoyami might have gotten the easier Quirk to handle. Even if too much darkness tended to empower Dark Shadow to the point that he took over and went on berserk power trips. Particularity since the last 'berserk power trip' had merely resulted in the local combi being down 47 packages of Oreos, 11 apples, and three gallons of milk. Dark Shadow was more…chaotic…than actually violent.
Momo settling in behind Izumi, pressing her generous assets into her girlfriend's back as she picked up the papers that had come with the holo-disk, finally distracted Izumi from her thoughts. Though that was mostly to focus on the entirely-different distraction that those assets were causing. After all…Momo's threat had implied that she could touch her girlfriends boobs if she stopped delaying, right?
Chapter 5: The First Day
Izumi and Momo arrived together. Mostly because Momo had taken a loss in one of her frequent battles for more freedom from her parents' security concerns. They accepted her choice of career. They'd let up on spontaneous outings with Izumi and active visits to disaster zones. Indeed, they were even quite proud of their daughter for the latter. But outings where a lot of police and pro-heroes would be in the vicinity, or random unplanned trips that would be virtually impossible to intercept, were a very different animal to a daily ride along a known route between specific locations. In the grand scheme of things, if Izumi hadn't been aware of just how powerful Momo was now that she had One for All, she honestly would have been inclined to agree with her girlfriend's parents. After all, between being the heiress of a megacorporation and having a Quirk that could produce everything from gold to nuclear weapons out of nothing but cheeseburgers…
Suffice it to say, none of them were unaware of just how much of a target Momo was. It was, in fact, part of the reason that her parents had actively supported her desire to become a professional hero in the first place. For all the dangers that heroes faced, very people were stupid enough to target them for the sort of Quirk exploitation that they most feared. It was simply too difficult to make a 'limelight' hero disappear and too risky to try keeping one under control long enough to exploit for their Quirk. Short of spending her entire life stuck in a constant security cordon, which her parents didn't want to force on her, training to be a heroine was the best career path available to their daughter. They all knew that…but Momo wasn't a hero yet, and her parents were intent on protecting her as long as possible.
Which is how Momo and Izumi arrived at school together, in an unremarkable but heavily-armored car, a good forty minutes before class started. Even with the map of the campus essentially loaded into Izumi's brain, it had taken ten minutes to reach the Group A classroom, where they'd found only two other people already present. A silent boy with dual-colored hair and heterochromatic eyes regarded them cooly, but didn't bother greeting them. The other, a blue haired boy Izumi recognized from his extremely rude behavior before the exam, popped up out of his seat like some sort of jack-in-a-box. He moved with stiff formality as he greeted them with a loud voice.
"Hello! My name is Iida Tenya, from Somei high school!" he paused, seeming to recognize Izumi. His voice was slightly sheepish as he continued. "I feel I must apologize to you, miss. I misjudged you before the exam, only for you to go on and completely obliterate the previous record! You also bested me by realizing the true nature of the exam, earning so many Hero Points!"
Izumi, who had cringed a little at his approach, blinked a bit and looked him over. He seemed…very serious. Was he not an asshole? Just someone…overly rule-abiding? Well, he was apologizing. So she supposed he deserved a chance!
"That's okay! I understand everyone was a bit high-strung before the exam! Also, I'm afraid I didn't actually figure out the Hero Points thing. I was simply acting how I always do..." Izumi trailed off for a moment, then remembered she needed to actually introduce herself. "Oh! And my name is Midoriya, by the way! Midoriya Izumi."
Thinking quickly, she summoned up an extremely simplified Pod, with no weapons systems.
"And you already met my Quirk! Or, well, part of my Quirk! Say hello, 2B!"
The drone bobbled in place as 2B took control of it, a visual indication that they'd worked out years ago.
"Hello, Mr. Iida. I do hope that you will not be so quick to jump to conclusions in the future. As Izumi said, I am part of her Quirk."
Iida pushed his glasses up, staring at the drone.
"How fascinating! Are you simply a drone, or an actual sentient Quirk?"
"The latter. One of two in this class, actually. Though it will be up to the other if they wish to introduce themselves formally or not. And on that note, you may call me 2B, if you wish."
Iida seemed surprised at the new information, but didn't get too much of a chance to think on it as Momo smoothly stepped into the gap in conversation.
"Iida? Of the Iidaten agency and legacy hero family, no doubt, given the engines. It is a pleasure to meet you. I'm Izumi's girlfriend, Yaoyorozu Momo."
Iida's attention shifted to Momo easily and he rather stiffly introduced himself again. He hesitated, then confirmed her thoughts.
"I am of that Iida family, yes. Ingenium is my older brother. I would, however, request that you keep that to yourself for the time being. I would prefer to prove myself as much as possible before people make that connection."
Momo smiled and nodded in response, answering for both of them a moment later.
"We understand. Don't worry about us saying anything. I got in on recommendation myself, so I admit I feel some of the same desire to prove myself, even if my reason is different."
Iida nodded, but farther conversation was interrupted by the arrival of more people. Izumi and Momo moved away from the door, letting Tenya subject each new arrival to his loud introduction. Izumi filed away the names he got back in response, but she and Momo were content only to wave or nod acknowledgements to each new student. Given that Iida had already inflicted himself upon them, most of them seemed relieved that they didn't do the same…
Thirty minutes later, a girl that Izumi recognized as the one she'd rescued from the Zero Pointer was the last to arrive, only barely making it into the class before…a sleeping bag appeared, crawling on the floor? Izumi looked at it wearily, uncertain if she should be considering it a threat…before it stood up and unzipped itself. 2B automatically filtered his face through their administrative access to the Hero Scan Network, getting the codename Eraserhead back. He spoke before Izumi could do much more than check his name and Quirk.
"You're not wasting time gossiping. Better than I expected. I'm your Heroics 101 instructor, Aizawa Shouta."
A bundle of plastic-wrapped gym uniforms was tossed out of the sleeping bag.
"Put those on and meet me on the field just outside. Your training starts now."
With no more comment than that, the man turned, stepped out of his sleeping bag, and walked back out of the room carrying it. Everyone left behind in the classroom stared after him, before shaking themselves and moving to pick up the uniform marked with their name…
...
Some fifteen minutes later, they had all managed to change and meet the man on the field in question, still confused about what was going on. Izumi frowned when he dismissed the guidance sessions, a seriously important thing for the Hero course, given that it would cover the training facilities they had access to. The frown twitched uncertainly as he explained they would be taking a Quirk Assessment Test instead.
She schooled her features into neutrality as she was called up as the highest scorer in the entrance exam, to provide an example. She hefted the baseball she'd been handed and summoned her Visor to scan it. Taking into account it's durability, she shrugged and about faced. There was far more of UA's campus behind her than in front. And she didn't want to chuck this thing through the window of some random family. Winding up, she regulated her total output to roughly 40% to prevent the ball from leaving the Campus anyway…and threw. Long seconds later, the device in their teacher's hand pinged that the ball had come back down. He held up the results for everyone to see, displaying the 4.7km she'd expected. That was as far as she could safely launch it without risk of it leaving the grounds.
Aizawa ignored the other students' amazement, launching into an explanation of the 'irrationality' of the government and the need to establish a baseline. Izumi started feeling a little better about this…until the class got excited and he threated to…wait…what?
"Could you repeat that please."
Izumi's voice was so cold that it cut right across the objections of the other students. Across even their teacher's lecture about how life was unfair. He frowned at her for cutting him off.
"I said, whoever scores the lowest will be expelled as having no potential."
Izumi nodded, then shared a look with Momo, whose eyes had lost their usual energy to favor chips of ice.
"I see. That's what I thought."
Without any word between them, they both turned around and started walking away. Aizawa's voice rose, following after them.
"Where do you two think you are going? You have not been dismissed."
Both of them stopped in their tracks, leveling glares at him. It was Izumi that spoke first, however.
"I am going to the Dean's office. To request either a class change, or a transfer of schools. Whichever he will accept. If the best UA can do for a heroics teacher is to employee a bully who will determine 'potential' based on nothing but a set of physical tests that are irrelevant to half the Quirks present, than I was clearly mistaken to apply here."
Momo followed up with an even more brutal blow.
"And as the heir of the Yaoyorozu Group, one of UA's primary sponsors, I will be demanding an investigation into teaching standards along with my own transfer request. This is not the sort of 'heroic' behavior we believed we were supporting."
Both of them began to turn…but were surprised when Katsuki moved to join them.
"What the nerds said. I'm a complete asshole, and even I know that isn't how a hero behaves. Well, maybe Endeavor would. But I don't really want to be the next Number 2. I'm shooting higher than that."
The comment about Endeavor oddly caused the heterochromatic boy in the group to flinch…and immediately move to join them, though he didn't actually say anything. A second later, Iida did the same, a frown on his face. He was followed by a scowling pink-haired girl and a redhead that said something about 'unmanly behavior.' By the time Izumi and Momo had made it five steps, the entire class was following behind them. It was hard to say if they all agreed or if it was merely peer pressure at work. But, as they all left the field with Aizawa shouting that they would all be expelled if they didn't return, somehow…it felt like it was more agreement than pressure. Though several of their fellow students did look extremely nervous. Understandably so, Izumi admitted. This could go badly wrong, after all. Depending on how the Dean reacted. She promised herself that she would help all of them find spots in other hero schools if they really did get expelled for this.
...
Even with Izumi's mental map, it had taken twenty minutes to reach the Dean's office. There, they were met with a problem. He…wasn't present. He was, in fact, still giving a speech at the orientation, according to his secretary. She seemed a bit overwhelmed by the number of them, with most of the students spilling out into the hall. The fact that Momo was on the phone with the CEO of their largest sponsor, arranging that investigation regardless of how this went, only seemed to be making the poor woman even more nervous. Taking pity on her, Izumi convinced most of the class to swap turns returning to the changing rooms to get back into their street clothes. She made sure that either Momo or herself were there the entire time, but even they had gotten a chance to change properly before the Dean returned.
He didn't seem surprised to see them, nor intimidated despite all of them towering over his under-3-foot height. Izumi supposed he'd been alerted to what was going on by his secretary the moment he'd been free. Her thoughts were confirmed when he moved through them, pointing to Izumi, Momo, Iida, and Todoroki Shoto. He spoke to them as he gestured for them to follow.
"I have some idea of what is going on. To all of you, I will first say that no you are not being expelled. Aizawa was explicitly informed prior to the start of the year that he was not to expel an entire class again, as he did last year. At the very least, you will all be individually listened to and assessed. Beyond that, however, I need to hear your side of things first. Miss Midoriya, Miss Yaoyorozu, Mister Iida, and Mister Todoroki. As the two that instigated this, and the two most likely to have additional insight, please join me in my office. The rest of you may wait in the conference room down the hall. My secretary will let you in. Rest assured, each of you will also get a chance to speak."
There was a little uncertain grumbling, but the relief from the news that they weren't expelled, yet at least, was enough to get all of them moving. The equally relieved looking secretary took most of the class down the hall, even as the Dean took the named four into his office. He immediately climbed up onto a stool and began making tea, directing the four of them into chairs. Two in front of his desk and the other two at the sides of the room, which Iida and Todoroki shifted to look more directly at the Dean's desk.
"Now, while I make us some tea, why don't you begin by telling us your perspective of events and thoughts on this matter, Ms. Midoriya. You started the event, and I must admit that I am quite interested in your thoughts after reading the ethics portion of your exam myself, regardless."
Izumi, any nerves fully buried under a mix of anger and indignation, began recounting the events of the morning. She spared no details about her thought process, including her own mental observations that missing the guidance sessions they were supposed to have had was a terrible idea for hero course students. During her nearly twenty-minute recitation of everything that was wrong with what had just happened, the Dean served them all tea and waited patiently. Finally, he nodded as she finished and turned to Momo.
"Miss Yaoyorozu? Do you have anything to add?"
"Only that I have already gotten the wheels in motion to instigate an investigation on behalf of the Yaoyorozu Group. I'm sure you're aware that we've been one of the largest donors to UA since we began to push into the support technology field. This is not the type of behavior we expected from a University with one of the most widely respected Heroics programs in the world."
For the first time, Dean Nedzu actually winced. Clearly, he wasn't looking forward to dealing with the fallout of such a demand. Still, he didn't lash out, merely continuing on, asking the other two if they had anything to add. Todoroki declined with a shake of his head and quiet denial. Iida added several points…though most of them were a bit asinine. One or two were actually relevant, however, regarding the legal requirements of a teaching institution. Most of them were things Izumi hadn't actually known to point out. That realization had her mentally asking 2B to look into all relevant law code as a background process. When Iida finished, the Dean sighed and put down his now-empty teacup.
"Aizawa is, in truth, one of our better instructors. However, he is primarily an underground hero. This results in him having a somewhat…grim view of heroics and its dangers. He was, at his own request, placed with the first years two years ago. A similar incident last year, combined with what you have told me today, indicates that it was a mistake for me to agree to do so."
The Dean let that sink in for a moment, before continuing.
"As of right now, I am formally informing you that he will no longer be the primary instructor for Group A. It will take some rearranging, but I believe he will be better utilized as a resource for a module on Underground Heroics for all years, as well as some specific Quirk training sessions, given his particular Quirk."
Izumi pursed her lips, but nodded at that. Underground heroics was a different animal that undoubtably needed introducing. And his Quirk…
"I can see how Erasure would be vital to helping some students with control of high-end attacks. Or even to referee sparring matches to prevent them getting out of hand."
Nedzu's somewhat pained expression shifted to interest as Izumi easily identified Aizawa's Quirk. After a moment, however, he visibly put that aside.
"The question becomes what to do with your class now. I can tell you that, so long as the security feeds match with your story, none of you will be punished for your actions. You did the correct thing in bringing this directly to my attention. That, however, does leave your heroics group without an instructor."
The mammal-of-unidentified-origin tapped a paw to his chin, rubbing the other on the rim of his teacup as he visibly thought through his options. Eventually, he nodded.
"I will have to talk with my other instructors first, of course. I believe, however, that the best course of action will be to take one of the current year three instructors and exchange them with Aizawa. The year four instructors are generally part-time, as year four is essentially allowing our students to operate active agencies out of the UA facilities. The year three instructors, however, are fully time but typically only needed for a fraction of their actual hours, as their students are largely in Work Study programs by then. Putting Aizawa there will give him the free time for the Underground Modules, and I believe one of the current year three teachers is likely to be a better fit for your class."
The Dean's expression actually turned outright cheerful a moment later.
"Certainly, she will be a far more entertaining choice for me! She does tend to make this year's Practical Heroics instructor squirm a bit! Let us go talk to the rest of your classmates. We will give them the good news, and arrange for all of you to redo your first day again tomorrow. Minus my own stunning speech, I'm afraid, but including the guidance sessions specific to Hero Course first years!"
With that, Izumi finally relaxed. Somehow, it had all worked out. Hopefully she didn't have to deal with Aizawa again anytime soon…
...
A/N: So, I felt I should probably mention here that I actually DON'T hate Aizawa. I don't even think he's a terrible teacher, exactly. I DO think that he's an incredibly poor choice for their primary instructor, however. Essentially, my views on him are exactly as expressed in this chapter. That he would really be better utilized as a specialist instructor for specific modules, rather than a general heroics teacher. I will NOT be bashing him throughout the fic, so if you like him, don't worry about that.
Chapter 6: A Second First Day
The next day, Izumi was a lot less certain that it had actually 'worked out.' Mostly due to who had replaced Aizawa. Midnight was, admittedly, considerably more personable than Aizawa had been, and she'd done a pretty good job showing them around the campus. She'd shown them all the critical areas, gone over the rules required to use the various training facilities, and even arranged a short introduction to the support department. She claimed it wasn't quite as thorough as it would have been if they'd done the session yesterday, with some of the facilities already being in use and some teachers unavailable. It had done the job, however, and highlighted just how much of an utter fuck up Aizawa must be to not consider any of what she'd gone over important.
Overall, Izumi had to admit from a teaching standpoint, that Midnight-sensi had done an extremely good job. Unfortunately, she was also wearing her hero costume and had noticed Izumi and Momo both taking glances they shouldn't. The result had been a long few hours of teasing, only redoubled when they accidentally outed themselves as dating to her. Not that they were hiding it, having already mentioned it to Iida the day before…but it had turned the teasing in a new direction as she cooed over how adorable a match they were. Not to mention the suggestive comments about how fun threesomes were that had caused Momo to develop a stutter and Izumi to do an uncomfortably accurate impression of a tomato.
Thankfully for their sanity, Midnight had turned serious once they switched to practical things. She'd sent them to change into their gyn uniforms, just as Aizawa had, but had then directed them to a gym instead of out onto the field. Her teasing persona had largely disappeared as she faced them all with a bit of a grimace on her face.
"Alright, my minions!"
Most of her teasing persona had disappeared.
"As much as I don't want to give you flashbacks of your negative first impressions from yesterday, a Quirk Assessment Test is a standard and required part of UA's initial curriculum. To be blunt, we need to get a baseline for what your Quirks can do, as well as any obvious issues with them. While we have both your public registry files and an analysis of your Quirk usage from your recommended or entrance exams, those don't come anywhere close to actually covering everything."
Midnight paused to let them consider that, with most of them nodding along. The logic of having a Quirk Assessment hadn't been what any of them had an issue with yesterday. It had only been the way it had been done. Along with the ridiculous expulsion threat. When she saw that no one was protesting, Midnight went on.
"Each instructor has their own version of an assessment test. And, having actually looked over your files, I went ahead and secured permission to do ours here in Gym Gamma, with another instructor to help out. Cementoss?"
A man came through a side door at her call, with most of the students doing a mild double take. Quirks caused a lot of strange appearances. But this guy looked like a living block of semi-solid cement. Izumi, of course, already knew who he was and immediately saw why he might be called on for this. Others appeared puzzled, at least until the man himself spoke up in explanation.
"Greetings, Group A! I'm Cementoss…and Gamma Gym is my personal little territory on campus. I refer to it as Training Dream Land, since my Quirk allows me to freely manipulate Cement…which basically means the entire room."
The new teacher quickly demonstrated, making hand motions that raised several walls and pillars.
"Normally, you wouldn't see the inside of TDL until you started working on Super Moves. However, in light of reading the same files that Midnight did, I agreed with her that it was most logical to move the Assessment here. A few of you have extremely destructive Quirks. The nature of this facility will allow you to properly test them at full capacity, without causing collateral damage."
The blocky man stepped back, gesturing to Midnight to take over again. She nodded and thanked him, before returning her attention to the students.
"Right! As Cementoss said, I chose this facility because we're going to be putting it through some serious demolition! Though, as you'll see, I've had some specific equipment moved in along the right wall, as well."
Indeed, most of them had already noticed, though they all turned to look as she gestured. There, several devices, ranging from a punching machine and weight bench to a number of seemingly random blocks of materials, were neatly arranged.
"I believe in getting as many hard numbers on what your current limits are as possible. Specifically, in my Assessments I focus on Attack Potency, Unaided Striking Strength, Speed, Lift Strength, Durability, Stamina, Range, and Utility. The vast majority of you will have at least one area in which your Quirk shines. The few who do not…you need to know some of this even more than those that do, since there will be times you can't rely purely on your Quirk to get you through. I, myself, end up using weapons and unarmed combat nearly as often as I do my Quirk, since Somnambulist is better at crowd control than destruction, or even taking out a single person in a crowd."
Izumi nodded to herself at that. Midnight's Quirk was amazing, able to knock out nearly anyone that smelled the aroma she put out. It was also, however, an area-of-effect power. Specifically, an area-of-effect centered on herself. If she tried to use it on a city street to take down a single mugger, she'd likely knock out dozens of other innocents. At best. At worst she might knock out someone in a car and cause a wreck that could kill the driver and a large number of others. Despite most people thinking it was just a play on her dominatrix theme, Izumi knew that Midnight was a genuine expert with the whip she carried, and actually used it more frequently than her Quirk for solo take downs.
"Now! In order to let Cementoss get back to his regularly scheduled programming as soon as possible, we'll focus on the destructive stuff first! Attack Potency is a measurement of how much damage, of any type, you are capable of delivering to a given target. For some of you, this will be identical to your Unaided Striking Strength. For others…well…that would be telling~! Let's get started!"
The next twenty minutes was enlightening, with Midnight calling up people in what they quickly figured out was the order of their predicted damage potential. The first few individuals didn't generate much surprise, few of them managing to do much more than superficial damage to the wall of cement that their second instructor raised for them. The next few were individuals who didn't have much directdamage potential, but who managed to cleverly use their Quirks in some fashion to at least do significant damage. Such as Mineta Minoru, who actually beat out his predicted placement by building up speed via multiple clusters of his…balls. The resulting hit had actually busted through the first cement wall completely and, more shockingly, not actually hurt him. Apparently, he was extremely resistant to impact damage, sharing some of the 'bouncy' properties of his Quirk's balls.
It was when they'd gotten roughly halfway through the class that things started to get more blatantly destructive. Iida, preemptively provided with shin-guards, managed to completely shatter the first wall and damage a second. Aoyama punched through the first two walls, though ran out of steam and folded over before more than scorching the third. Sato rammed his way through three walls in a convulsive lunge…though they were introduced to his side effect shortly afterward.
Then the truly dangerous group started their turns and things went from 'destructive' to 'expletive inducing.' In the relative dim of the Gym, Dark Shadow casually carved his way through five walls before appearing to get…bored. Katsuki used a move he called 'Impact Shot' to punch right through four walls, doing enough damage to reduce the first two to rubble despite its focused nature. Thankfully, he'd actually forewarned everyone and Jirou, who had managed to shatter one wall with resonance frequencies earlier, asked for ear protection that Midnight readily provided. Todoroki stunned everyone…and nearly sent Asui into hypothermic shock when he shoved a glacier through nine walls.
That last one had caused a bit of a panic, with Momo rapidly creating a heat blanket as Izumi realized what had happened first and rushed the frog-girl outside. Todoroki himself had gone near-catatonic as he stared in what looked like betrayal at his own hand. Had he…never realized how dangerous his ice could be to certain people? Izumi almost said something…until she noticed Midnight staring at him with a frown. The teacher met her gaze and waved her off, silently promising that she'd find out what was going on there. The wordless exchange was one she'd experienced with paramedics many times during her help at disaster sites, and it actually served to solidify Midnight as someone trustworthy to Izumi, despite the teacher's teasing antics.
They had all gathered back together after a short break, save for Asui for the moment, who was out of danger but not up to going back into the still-cold room. Todoroki had melted the ice, but the Cement would take a bit of time to warm back up. And they were going to have that time, because Izumi had been called up. She'd summoned her scanner, taken one look at the line of ten walls, and shaken her head. Now, looking over at the two teachers she sheepishly informed them that their reality was in need of…adjustment.
"Um…sorry Midnight-Sensei, Cementoss-Sensei, but if I get even halfway serious these aren't going to be even close to enough. You're going to have to make walls out to my ranged energy fall off distance, which is about 20 meters. And, even then, you're going to get a range limit, not an Attack Potency measurement."
Both of them frowned at her, but it was Cementoss that spoke.
"We used the power output we measured from your destruction of the Zero Pointer to calculate your potential force. Are you saying that wasn't your max output?"
Izumi blinked. Then slowly shook her head.
"I wasn't even thinking of the telekinesis part. That would actually make things even worse. Twenty meters is the maximum I can get for a Shockwave before it breaks down. If you're talking about my actual maximum damage output…this building isn't large enough. Even if you filled it completely with the densest concrete in existence. Sorry, I'm not used to thinking in terms of total power output. Control has always kinda been…a lot more important?"
Both teachers were looking at her with incredulity. Enough so that Momo apparently felt the need to speak up.
"Sensei? She was tested against hyperdense blocks of both Tungsten and Titanium at Nishimura & Croft. She sliced through five meters of both before they gave up on trying to measure her upper range. You should consider her upper strength limit to be only a little lower than All Might's…and she can focus that into a blade that won't be harmed by anything short of a direct nuclear strike."
Okay, sure, that had been in her fully transformed state. Which Izumi wasn't intending to use here. But it did seem to make the two teachers take the issue seriously. So…thanks Momo? Even if maybe leaving that bit about All Might out might have been better…she was getting strange looks and hadn't really intended to advertise that little detail so soon. Possibly ever. Cementoss looked at Midnight, who leaned in to have a whispered conversation with him. Izumi pretended that she couldn't hear them as they debated what to do. Her enhanced senses were also something she wasn't really intending to advertise. Though that, she knew, would come out in time no matter what she did. Eventually, Cementoss shrugged and turned to Izumi.
"Twenty meters?"
When Izumi nodded, he shrugged again and put his hands to the floor, building more walls.
"I'll make it twenty-five and up the density just in case. Then you can show this 'shockwave' attack. It will have to do for this test."
Izumi nodded sheepishly, trying not to squirm as everyone stared at her. Trying to distract herself, she focused on summoning up a Type-40 Blade. It wasn't a sword she used often, as she considered the giant two-handed monstrosity too unwieldly despite her strength. It drew some exclamations as it formed, including a couple about how 'cool' or 'badass' that was. Those made her smile, at least. Her Quirk was awesome. And so were all the cool designs 2B had known!
Seeing that Cementoss was finished with the walls, she scanned them again, noting that he'd managed to somehow double their density. Very unnatural for concrete, which was likely why they were now heavily laced with QE. It was good attempt…but Izumi's ranged shockwave attacks were laced with considerably more dense Quirk Energy than was in those walls. They weren't going to do anything more than the regular concrete would have.
Taking a deep breath, Izumi positioned herself in front of the walls, pulled back the Type 40 Blade with a single hand as she balanced with the other, pumped QE into its edge, then used her whole-body to snap the blade forward at speeds no one else but Momo could even see. It stopped a whisker's distance from the first wall…but the shockwave that had been produces most certainly did not. The energy of the shockwave forming was so strong that the first five walls simply crumpled, with each wall after that instead being neatly cut in half at a slight upward angle. That angle and the backlash of the Shockwave caused each of them to slide off in a domino-like effect, with the closest falling forward over the rubble of the shattered walls. True to Izumi's predication, the Shockwave destabilized and broke apart at the end of twenty meters…though the dissipating energy actually took an additional wall out with it.
There was dead silence, save for bits of concrete breaking off from time to time and clattering to the floor. Nervously, Izumi looked back…to see everyone gaping at her. Including the two teachers. Or, well, everyone except Momo, who was looking smug. Eyes twinkling, Momo winked at her and started forming something from her Quirk. Izuku's eyes widened at what it was…and she slumped, knowing her girlfriend's rare competitive streak had been sparked. She turned to the teachers and broke them out of their stupor with a gentle reminder that she hadn't been the last student.
"Ah, Cementoss-sensi? Could you remake the walls? I believe Momo is feeling competitive. I'm going to go set up a couple of my Type 40 Blades as a backstop."
Cementoss looked at her strangely, but was apparently just done with disbelief, from his expression. Midnight, on the other hand, frowned and turned to Momo, seeing her…holding a rifle? Izumi listened in as Midnight spoke up, even as she went to set up the backstop Momo would need. They didn't need her accidently killing someone on the other side of the city, after all.
"Yaoyorozu-san…you are aware that you need specific licenses for gun-use, even these days?"
"Right, Midnight-sensi! But, did you know, that railguns don't qualify as firearms under the laws as written? I suspect someone may change it the first time I use one for real. Kind of like they did the costume laws after your first one! But for now, this is fully legal! I had my parents' lawyers check!"
Izumi chuckled, picturing the innocent bouncy look Momo was undoubtably pulling on Midnight. Despite how restrained Momo could be most of the time, when she got excited her personality changed a bit…and she had developed a serious case of destruction-related-excitement from her exposure to Izumi. Or, at least, she blamed Izumi. Since Izumi herself wasn't really that destruction inclined, she thought Momo had really been geared towards chaos-and-destruction in the first place and just hadn't admitted it until Izumi gave her an outlet…
Apparently, Midnight was no more immune to Momo's 'excitedly bouncy' energy than Izumi herself was, since 2B drily sent her a message from the non-combat Pod she'd been observing from, making sure she was clear. When Izumi responded that she was, her blades hovering horizontally well away from her and tightly gripped by her telekinesis, a countdown timer appeared on her HUD. She braced herself at '1,' and then grunted as something hit the lower blade HARD at '0.' The blade was pushed back a good three meters, despite her best efforts, nearly ripped from her grip. But it had stopped the tiny slug fired from Momo's shoulder railgun, the thumbnail-sized piece of alloy now flattened on the ground. Izumi retrieved it, dismissed the blades, and returned to the first wall. She dropped the flattened bit of metal into Momo's hand, even as she watched her girlfriend reabsorb the gun. That was something she'd only figured out how to do with the help of Izumi's visor and its ability to see what was happening with the QE involved. Thankfully, she had figured it out. Since leaving random railguns laying around was a bad plan.
"You made it through all of them and still nearly ripped the blade out of my grip. Just as you knew you would. Getting competitive on me, Momo?"
Izumi's voice was mischievous, completely ignoring their stunned audience as she booped her girlfriend's nose. Momo playfully bit at the finger, causing Izumi to laugh.
...
"My, how fierce! Come on, we've wasted enough time showing off. This was only the first test, after all!"
Despite Izumi saying that, it had taken several minutes to get everyone to calm down, once they'd broken out of their shock. The teachers hadn't even tried to get them to calm, still dealing with their own disbelief over what they'd just seen. Still, eventually, Momo and Izumi had mostly satisfied the group and Midnight had gotten the class's attention again. Not that it would prove to be the only incident as the rest of the tests played out.
For Speed, Izumi had ultimately need to slow down so that the high-speed camera could actually track her speed. For Lift Strength both she and Momo had maxed out the machine. Durability had horrified a few people as Izumi simply had 2B shoot her with a gatling-gun equipped Pod, to prove that, yes, Izumi was bulletproof even without her full transformation. Momo, with the chest-piece of her armor summoned this time, had done the same thing, proving that she was also bulletproof. At least in her armor. They actually weren't sure about that with just One for All and didn't want to risk testing it when Momo could still only use 40% of its power.
Unaided Striking Power had been another standout for Izumi, though Momo had deliberately taken a dive to keep up the illusion that her strength was from her suit. Stamina had once again seen her and Momo both on top, though both of them knew that Izumi actually had her beat so long as they stayed at low power. Izumi's stamina only became an issue if she started fighting seriously…in which case it was actually her primary limit. And the most likely way for her to get beat by someone like All Might or Momo. Range had seemed like a victory for either Izumi with 2B's Pod Laser, or Momo with another Rail-Gun…right up until Uraraka had simply gone outside and thrown a tracked baseball into orbit.
The Utility tests had been a lot more varied, with people like Hagakure, Jirou, and Shoji showing off things like stealth and tracking. Though, even for the Utility category, Momo's ability to make anything non-living and Izumi's ability to convert matter to data for inventory storage trumped most of what was shown. Unsurprisingly, they were getting a wild mix of admiring, terrified, and jealous looks by the end of the session. It wasn't unexpected, though the number of their classmates that seemed more scared of Momo in 'bouncy' mode than they did of Izumi at any point was a point of serious amusement for Izumi. Though when she'd brought it up to Momo, it had made her girlfriend pout adorably enough that several people seemed to want to give her head pats. Thankfully, as the girlfriend in question, Izumi was in charge of head pats and guarded them jealously. She might let that Jirou girl give Momo one, if she got to head pat Jirou in exchange. She looked very headpatable. They'd have to see…
For now, their second first day was officially over, and they had an armored car home to catch.