Chapter 4: Combat Training
Izuku Midoriya ate quietly in a cold room.
He'd performed well today, so he had the luxury of being served a three-course meal. Meals such as these used to be rare to come by, so he took full advantage of it, scarfing down his food in large, unrestrained bites.
The other occupant of their room stared at him reproachfully. She was battered and bruised all over, with dried blood coating her chin and fingers, and all she had in her plate was a thin slice of bread, undoubtedly put there to encourage her to achieve better results next time. The whole point of having a "winner" and a "loser" dine together was to encourage the "loser" to try extra hard in their next session.
Izuku's eyes focused on the bread. It was a pathetic morsel in the face of Izuku's meal, and Izuku found himself pitying the blonde girl. There had been days in the past where he went hungry, after all, and he knew just how harrowing an experience it was.
He split off about a third of his remaining meal and walked over to her, unceremoniously dumping it on her near-empty plate.
The girl glared at him. "I don't need your pity."
Izuku shrugged. "Suit yourself. I didn't want to eat it, anyways."
"Liar," she accused. "You're famous for how much you eat and how often you do, you know. It's all Kouzuki and Sayaka ever go on about."
"That's because they're sore losers. Half of my meals I get are because I out-perform them. Also, Kouzuki is dead," he pointed out naturally, as if that fact were something as simple as stating that the sky is blue.
"What?"
"You heard me," Izuku said, crossing his arms. "Kouzuki got fed up and attacked me, so I 'shot' him with a fork."
"Oh."
Both of them stewed in silence before the girl spoke again: "I'm glad you did. He was kind of annoying."
"True."
Silence. Then—
"A-are you sure that I can just… have this?" Her tone was a lot less hostile than it had been before.
Rolling his eyes, Izuku replied, "Yeah. No strings attached. Go on, eat it."
Izuku returned to eating his meal, wasting no time in shoveling it down. He didn't even bother to stop and taste the food. His Quirks took up a lot of energy to operate, after all, and there was no better way to replenish lost energy than eating.
On the other hand, the girl just poked at her newfound meal. She was still uncomfortable with accepting the act of kindness, and she couldn't be sure whether or not he wanted something in return for the food. It happened all the time; trades such as these. Food for an act of some kind—whether it be a request to throw the next match they had or to give them food on a day when they were lacking it, everyone made deals. It was how their world inside confinement worked.
But… not this boy. This boy, who the faceless man constantly bragged about, saying that he was his greatest creation, was different. After figuring out how to use his Quirks, he apparently had been obliterating his competition, earning meal after meal and developing a reputation for being merciless in the place that they had dubbed "the Arena." But… she couldn't see that merciless side anywhere.
Izuku had been the only person to offer her food without asking for anything in return—If he could be believed, she added mentally, but somehow, she knew that he was being serious when he said no strings attached. It had been the first nice thing anyone has done for her in… quite some time.
She looked at him. Really looked at him, looked at that stupid face of his shoveling stupid food down into that stupid throat like a stupid moron. His stupid green eyes focused on her staring at him, and so she looked away meekly.
Sighing, the girl decided to just eat the food that he'd graciously decided to give her. And while doing so, she may have, she just might have—
—she developed a little crush.
Unbreakable
Combat Training
"I'm sorry, everyone."
When they had left the P.E. grounds, Mina Ashido had quickly rounded up her classmates and promptly apologized.
"What for?" Ochaco asked, tilting her head.
"For what I said to Aizawa-sensei," Mina clarified. "I ended up nearly getting someone expelled, and I—"
Momo cut in. "No need to worry. I think he would've found a way to threaten to expel us regardless of what you said, just to make sure we did our best in the Quirk Assessment Test. You just played into his hand, that's all. I doubt he had any real intentions of expelling us, anyways."
Mina stared up at Momo like she was a saint, and she cried, "Thank you, Yaomomo!" Instantly, to the envy of some boys, she hugged Momo and buried her head into her chest.
"M-My… Yaomomo?" Momo asked in a small voice, turning red at the way Mina rubbed her cheeks against her chest.
"Wow…" Mina whispered so that only the two of them could hear, looking up at Momo, "these are some grade A weapons you've got here. Or should I say, grade double D—"
"W-W-What are you p-possibly talking about?" Momo demanded, shoving Mina away gently. Her face was quickly resembling a ripe tomato, and with the realization that all of her classmates were watching the scene unfold, she quickly hid her face behind two trembling hands.
Izuku thought he heard her count slowly to fifteen, and once she did, she lowered her hands, face impassive. It was impressive how quickly she changed from embarrassed to stone cold, actually. "Anyways, let's all get a move on. We wouldn't want to be late for class now."
The class murmured in agreement and dispersed, walking towards their classroom. Momo waited for a moment, making sure everyone left, before popping a quick seat down on the ground behind a nearby wall.
She took a deep, shaky breath. That had been too close. Any more from Mina and she would've—
"Yaoyorozu?"
"EEEEEEEEEEEEE—"
Wincing, Izuku covered his ears from Momo's unearthly screech. "Relax, it's just me."
Thankfully, Momo stopped screaming, but in its place a completely mortified and embarrassed expression made its home on her face. She didn't trust herself to speak, and seeing the girl remaining silent, Izuku went ahead and said, "When I looked back, I saw that you were missing and decided to come find you. I didn't mean to intrude…" He trailed off awkwardly.
When she still remained silent with mortification at having been seen by Izuku—again!—in an embarrassing state, Izuku pressed on, "Is something wrong, Yaoyorozu? You can always talk to me, you know."
Momo finally made a sound by sighing deeply. "I just, you know…" she looked up at him, "get nervous in front of crowds, so I needed a quick recharge."
"Ah." Izuku knew that feeling all too well. "Me, too. I wanted to thank you, by the way."
"Eh? What for?" she asked.
Izuku scratched the back of his back of his head. "For saving me yesterday night. If you hadn't interrupted the conversation and suggested that we all go to bed, it might've gone on forever. So… thanks. You got me out of a tough spot there." He held out a hand for her.
Momo blinked. Maybe she and Izuku had more in common than she'd thought. After hearing that he got the record for most points on the entrance exam and after he placed first in the Quirk Assessment Test, she had assumed that that was the type of unreachable existence he was, but now, she wasn't so sure. The smile on his face seemed too real, too human, and the hand she grasped was too warm for him to be unreachable.
As she accepted the hand helping her up, she desperately tried not to think about how this was one of the rare occasions she held another boy's hand. Momo had held hands before! Like, with cousins, sure, but she had held hands with a boy before, so this was nothing special.
After mentally calming down, Momo said, "No need to thank me." With a rather obfuscating expression, she willed herself to let go of Izuku's hand.
Izuku smiled kindly, looking back in the direction that their classmates went in. "Wanna head back?"
"Yes, that would be nice," Momo answered, and the two began to walk in the direction of their classroom. They passed the time in a somewhat strained silence, and Izuku, seeking to make the walk more bearable, finally gathered the bravery to ask her a question.
"So, what class are you looking forward to the most?"
"Foundational Hero Studies, for sure," Momo answered instantly, eyes glittering in excitement. "After all, it's taught by All Might! How cool is that—urk." Realizing her slip up, she faked a cough. Almost geeked out on him, Momo, she admonished herself mentally.
"Yeah, definitely!" Izuku looked blinding to behold, he was smiling so widely. "I wonder what costume he's going to wear. Silver Age All Might would be sick."
"Yes, that would be nice," she returned, mentally thinking: do not nerd out about Golden Age All Might. Do not nerd out about Golden Age All Might. Do not nerd out about Golden Age All Might.
"Bronze Age All Might wouldn't be as cool," Izuku stated, brushing his chin with two fingers. "And Golden Age All Might is just too gaudy for me. I definitely would prefer the Silver Age costume."
Momo stopped and stared at Izuku like he had just stabbed her in the gut. "W-What's wrong with the Golden Age costume?"
"Have you seen it?" Izuku said. "It's just… gold. Various shades of it, sure, but it's just one color. It would've been so much cooler if it had been like, I don't know… gold and black, for example. Black could go a long way in costume design, in my opinion."
Momo couldn't contain herself anymore. "But the gold is a message! It's a signal to the villains that he is there. It's bright, snazzy, and captures the attention of everyone who looks at it. You could take one look at him in the costume and be like, 'All Might is here to save the day!' It's also the very first costume he appeared in, and so it's also the most memorable, it brings back a wave of nostalgia and peacefulness that his Silver Age or Bronze Age costumes can't ever hope to accomplish, and plus, gold is the symbol of the golden future he wanted to deliver us to, so how can we ignore something like that? And it's not just one color, there's yellow, gold, goldenrod, pale goldenrod, dark orange, sienna, golden brown, pale gold and a lot more, I'm sure. Saying that it's all just one color is, quite frankly, a disservice to the costume designer, and—"
Momo stopped walking and stopped talking suddenly, and Izuku stopped with her. He watched, fascinated, as she slowly began to grow redder and redder as she realized she'd just ranted for a good minute.
Looking away from him , Momo said, "Please ignore everything that I've just said. I've embarrassed myself enough in front of you."
"What? No," Izuku quickly said, "you've never done anything like that, Yaoyorozu. Not once."
Momo stared at him incredulously. With no response, Izuku motioned for her to extrapolate further upon her train of thought.
"N-Never mind, I was being silly. It's nothing, let's just ignore it," she finally said.
Izuku watched her turn away to leave, but in a rare show of confidence, he reached up to grab her shoulder and twirled her around. "It's not nothing. You… you obviously feel like you've embarrassed yourself in front of me, but I'm here to tell you that you're wrong. You've done nothing of the sort."
Momo stared deep into his intense gaze before faltering, looking down. Deciding to be open for once, she said, "But I-I thought you were an errand boy, and I revealed all that embarrassing stuff about me…"
Izuku sighed. "The whole errand boy business was a mistake on All Might's part. I understand why he did it, but if you want, I can get him to apologize for that."
Before Momo could even get the chance to deny him, he continued. "Also, what embarrassing stuff are you talking about? I don't remember you saying anything bad."
"But I…" Momo trailed off, feeling like a fish out of water at being confronted so directly. Izuku didn't look like he was letting her off the hook that easily, so she said, "you know… gushed about All Might." Even her reason sounded lame in her ears.
Izuku let out a quick snort of laughter. "Yeah, like every person does. Oh nooo, you outed yourself as an All Might fan, the horror of it all. Just like every other citizen in Japan."
Momo puffed out her cheeks. "When you put it like that, it sounds ridiculous."
"Maybe because it is?" Izuku offered, chuckling lightly.
"I…" she attempted to start, but ultimately she ended up growling at him before falling silent. Izuku laughed at her reaction, letting go of her shoulder.
"Come on," he said, holding out his hand, "I feel like we got off on the wrong foot. I'd like to be good friends with you, Yaoyorozu. How about we start over?"
Momo took a look at his hand before tentatively shaking it. It was so warm.
Izuku tried to end the handshake, but he found Momo still holding onto it. She was looking down at her feet, and she asked:
"You don't think it's… unseemly? To like heroes?"
"Unseemly?" Izuku repeated, flabbergasted. "Definitely not. I'd say it's normal. Either that, or I'm the biggest degenerate on the planet."
"Right." She didn't sound convinced. Izuku could tell that she had some sort of mental block capping how much she could openly express her feelings for heroes. While he didn't know why that was there, he could at least start the process of removing it, if Momo were willing to do so, at least.
"Look," Izuku said, "I'll keep the fact that you like heroes under wraps, okay? But in return, I'd like it if you at least felt free to talk to me about that sort of stuff."
She considered it. It honestly seemed too good to be true. "You… really won't tell anyone?"
Izuku grinned. "Of course. A true hero never lies or commits dishonest acts!"
Momo couldn't help but laugh at that line. "Really? You really picked a line from Learning With All Might? What a throwback. I think I was still in elementary school when that book first came out."
"Hey, you're the one who recognized where that came from," Izuku pointed out.
Momo stuck her tongue out at him, but then she quickly retracted it, burning in shame at the childish act she just did.
Izuku just laughed good-naturedly at her action. "Come on, we're going to be late for the next class." He shook his hand free from her iron grasp on it and motioned for her to follow him.
As she did just that, Momo found herself thinking. Could she trust his words at face value? She didn't really know the boy, but something about him seemed trustworthy. He didn't seem to be the type of guy who could or would lie with a straight face like that.
Well, maybe she can just trust him a little bit, see if he's worthy of her full trust before gushing about heroes to his face. It made her giddy, the idea of having someone she could just let her guard down around, someone she could just be herself around, but it was far too early to do such a thing, in her opinion.
But… she thought, it surely can't hurt to try, right?
.:.
"Toshinori, you can come out of your hiding spot."
"Ahh, Aizawa," Toshinori said, coming out from behind the corner and wearing a sheepish smile. "How long did you realize I was there?"
The underground hero merely rolled his eyes. "I saw you poking out from behind a few bins during the Quirk Assessment Test, so I just guessed you had something you wanted to talk to me about. Either that, or you wanted to watch and see how your protege did."
Toshinori rubbed the back of his head, sheepishly laughing.
"I'm guessing it was the latter."
"Well," Toshinori said, "I just wanted to know what you think of him."
Aizawa looked at the number one hero. "Too early to tell. What I can see, though, is that he's either holding back or limited in the usage of his Quirk. For example, if he ran the kilometer at the same speed he ran the fifty meters, he would've gotten first place in that race. Now, obviously no person could be expected to sprint the full kilometer at the same rate they'd run the fifty, but there was just too big of a difference in speed."
He took a breath before continuing. "He ran the fifty in 2.3 seconds, meaning he was maintaining an average speed of 21 or 22 meters per second. That means, if my math was correct, he could run the kilometer, at full speed, in about 46 seconds. But he didn't; he got over twice the expected amount with a time of 99 seconds. That's just far too big of a discrepancy to justify with a sprint versus jogging argument. What that leads me to believe is that he doesn't quite have full control over his Quirk yet or can't handle the potential power output of it."
"Wow," Toshinori breathed, "you've put a surprising amount of thought into it."
"Not 'surprising.' It's simply my job as their teacher," Aizawa said. "Now are you going to tell me why this is the case, or are you going to tell me you don't know what's going on?"
Toshinori blinked at the direct way Aizawa asked him. Well, he thought, Shota's never been the type to beat around the bush. "Izuku can't control One For All in its entirety yet. I think that what he believes to be 100% isn't the Quirk's full potential. The most he's ever gotten to on its own is 30% of his breaking point."
"On its own?" Aizawa parroted, ears sharp.
His words gave Toshinori pause.
"I guess you ought to know about this, too, especially since you're his homeroom teacher." Toshinori swallowed heavily, preparing mentally for what he was about to say next. "Izuku has multiple Quirks."
He remained silent before saying, "That shouldn't be possible."
"But it's the truth," Toshinori insisted. "You've seen one of his other Quirks in action. The tendril of darkness that he uses is called Blackwhip, and it was one of the former users of One For All's Quirk."
Aizawa processed this information. "I assume this is all highly classified stuff?"
Toshinori nodded. "Yep."
"Best not to discuss this out here then," Aizawa wisely said. "Let's head back to my office."
The walk back to Aizawa's office was tense. Toshinori, in his deflated state, wondered about how much he should let the other hero know. Izuku's information was private and frankly his own business, but even Izuku himself did not know everything about him. Toshinori had withheld that information about his history and his other non One For All-related Quirks from him. They erased the boy's memory for good reason; who knows what forms of torture All For One subjected him to. Toshinori did not want to see Izuku suffer underneath the weight of something he was forced to do.
But, Toshinori thought, I can trust Shota. Toshinori needed someone to be there and guide Izuku through a new Quirk that popped up out of nowhere if he, himself, was not readily available.
As Aizawa shut and locked the door to his office shut behind him, Toshinori spoke: "So, as I was saying, Izuku has multiple Quirks. He has a bunch of them related to One For All; they were the previous owners' Quirks. One of them is called Blackwhip, you know, the black… whips that he can make."
Aizawa nodded slowly.
"I don't know how many of One For All-related Quirks he can manifest. I, personally, never manifested even one, so we'll have to watch out for those. But… there's a second category of Quirks that we have to be on high alert for."
Toshinori took a deep breath. He had Aizawa's full attention. "He was… given a set of compatible Quirks."
"What… does that mean?" Aizawa questioned.
"Exactly what it sounds like."
The two of them remained silent for a while.
"There is one individual who can take and give Quirks. He's responsible for the creation of One For All, a villain we only know as All For One." Toshinori all but snarled out that name. "Years ago, he abducted young Izuku along with a bunch of other children to perform experiments on."
Toshinori grit his teeth. He had always hated this story, mostly because it reflected on his failure to save innocent children. "We don't know for sure what his goals were, but it seemed like he wanted to create the perfect, obedient supersoldier. And so, he gave various Quirks to the children and trained them in their usage. Izuku was a product of his experimentation and training, the 'best' of the batch."
Aizawa said nothing, his dark eyes betraying no emotion.
Toshinori continued, "We know this because of the materials we found at the training site. They pitted the children against each other, against other humans, Aizawa. The winners were rewarded and the losers were punished, and Izuku became the most consistent winner of the bunch with his combination of Quirks. He became what they wanted: the perfect warrior."
"How old was he when he was taken?" Aizawa asked.
"Eight," Toshinori answered grimly. "He was made to fight, Aizawa. All For One stuck six Quirks inside of him, I think. The combined strain should've killed him, but it somehow didn't. He not only lived—he thrived."
"Do we know which six Quirks were placed within him?"
Toshinori nodded. "Yes, but I don't have them readily available right off the top of my head. We scoured the experiment site and found extensive notes on all of the children and their Quirks, so I could find that and get you a copy."
"Thanks, I'd appreciate that." The scraggly-looking man stared back at Toshinori. "But shouldn't he be taught to harness the power of the Quirks he was given? Sure, the way he obtained them was a tragedy, but the Quirks themselves aren't inherently evil. It can be used as an asset against villains. If they created a supersoldier, wouldn't it be nice if we can turn their work against them?"
"It's too risky," Toshinori immediately denied. "We don't know to what extent All For One's teachings have etched themselves into his brain, and we might awaken some part of him that's still under All For One's control if we stimulate him with memories of his Quirks."
Aizawa deadpanned, "So… you've essentially made a potential sleeper agent your successor."
Toshinori floundered in place for a while. "B-But—it's nothing like that! First off, I didn't know about all of that when I picked him to be my successor. I only found out a few years later, but! Even then, I still would've made him my successor. I know he has the heart and the spirit for it."
The other teacher stood silently, letting the thoughts ruminate in his head a little bit.
The risks were there. If Izuku regained his memory, who knew what would emerge out of the other side of that transformation? Yet, at the same time, having so much power sealed away was a waste in and of itself. Aizawa firmly believed that the Quirks themselves weren't evil.
"Is there any way to access his other Quirks without reawakening his memories?"
"Well," Toshinori said truthfully, "it seems to happen on instinct for him. For example, the third Quirk that he awakened that essentially allows him to 'freeze' parts of his body just developed instinctually for him. It's not likely that any memories awoke with it since he tells me everything Quirk-related about himself, so I think we're going to have to allow Izuku to figure things out, if he does that is. That's the Quirk that allows him to handle One For All, by the way, but he can only really use it like… three, four times before it gives out on him. I think that using that Quirk in conjunction with One For All lowers One For All's potential, but that's just a guess."
Aizawa nodded. "But what do we do when he asks about where the Quirk came from? He seems like a smart boy, he should be able to figure out that it's not normal to have multiple Quirks."
"I have a simple solution to that. We tell him that it's a Quirk gained from One For All," Toshinori answered.
"That doesn't seem like you," Aizawa observed. "Lying to a boy."
Toshinori stared down. "There are times where a lie can go a long way. I just don't want to run the risk of triggering any memories. Who knows if the wipe was complete? The risk is still there of All For One having implanted something during their time together."
"So, essentially, you want to just… wait and see, and when the time comes—if it does—that he reawakens a Quirk, you want to tell him that it's an One For All-related Quirk," Aizawa summarized.
"Yes," Toshinori affirmed. "Please, Aizawa."
"Fine. I'll go along with this farce," Aizawa said bluntly. "But I don't appreciate you giving me a potential sleeper agent."
"He won't be one. The possibility of it is slim, I just want to take no unnecessary risks," Toshinori admitted. "Thank you for hearing me out, Aizawa."
The other man held up a hand. "No need. I'm just interested in figuring out how to properly teach him. You've given me a lot of food for thought."
"Still—thank you."
"I told you that there was no need for that already."
.:.
The rest of the morning passed by quickly after the Quirk Assessment Test.
Izuku and his class sat through English, Modern Literature, and Mathematics before finally being released for lunch. Seeing as to how most kids went to the cafeteria on campus, Izuku opted to avoid the lunch rush by bringing his own meal from the dorm. It was nothing special—just three sandwiches with a protein shake.
Izuku was capable of making more complicated meals, but when he was just taking care of himself, he was more inclined to make something simple. The sandwiches and protein shake gave him enough fuel to last throughout the day until dinner, where he'd really eat up.
As he walked out of the classroom, he was approached by an energetic Eijiro Kirishima. "Hey, Midoriya! Wanna come eat with us?"
He gestured to a small group of kids including Katsuki Bakugo, Tenya Iida, Denki Kaminari, and Shoto Todoroki.
Izuku flushed a bit and responded, "I'd love to, but I, ah… I p-promised someone I'd eat with them."
"Ah, no worries," Denki said. Then, leaning in closer to Izuku, he conspiratorially whispered, "So. Boy or girl?"
For a brief moment, Izuku wondered if he should tell him the truth. "G-Girl," Izuku finally relented.
Denki whistled. "Completely understandable. From our class? If it's Yaoyorozu, I'm legally obligated to high five you and then kill you."
Izuku could swear he was about to burn on the spot from sheer embarrassment. "N-No, from outside our class. Class 1-C."
"Jesus Christ, you work fast. Doing God's work out here, eh?" Denki laughed. Then, turning to the other boys, he said, "Sorry lads, Midoriya's got a hot date. We shall wish him luck and then send him on his way."
"Good luck," Eijiro said. Tenya followed his lead, wishing Izuku luck, while Katsuki just laughed, amused at the whole situation. Meanwhile, it looked like the whole situation just flew over Shoto's head with how impassive his face seemed.
"Thanks." Now Izuku was burning a bright red. "I'd love to eat with you guys, though. Tomorrow?"
"Sure." Surprisingly, it had been Katsuki who spoke. "Hurry on to your little date, Deku. We can eat tomorrow." He spoke in a teasing tone, no doubt finding great humor in this situation.
With a hurried goodbye, Izuku left that embarrassing situation and high-tailed it to the entrance of U.A. University. With a relieved sigh, he pulled out his phone to text Himiko.
Izuku: Hey!
Izuku: I just finished my classes and have 1.5 hours for lunch. Would you like to meet up somewhere and eat?
Izuku: We can find some place close by or eat on campus.
Right as he sent the last text, a soft pair of hands obscured his vision. Surprised at being snuck up so effectively on, he was about to grasp the hands and tear them off when he heard a gentle, "Guess who~"
Relaxing, Izuku smiled. "Himiko?"
"You got me," came the reply, whispered sensually into his right ear. As Izuku shivered, Himiko giggled, hanging on to her position on Izuku's head. She pressed her body into him so that Izuku could feel every curve and swell of her figure, and eventually, she dropped her hands to wrap around his chest, giving him a full hug from behind. "How's the first day going for you?"
"It's going well," he answered, distracted. "Uh, Himiko, you can stop hugging me."
"No. Denieeeed," she drawled, squeezing him even tighter. "Do you… not want me to hug you like this? Say that you dislike it, and I'll stop."
Izuku blushed. "It's not that I dislike it."
"Oh? Then what's wrong~"
"I… we're in public, you know," he finished in a small voice.
"Fine," Himiko said simply, letting go of him. Izuku, finally free to move, turned around to greet Himiko properly, but he was instantly met with a raised finger to his lips. "But, before you say anything, we need to work on that. Get you to be more comfortable with PDA, I mean."
"PDA…?" Izuku parroted, confused. "What's a PDA?"
She laughed, snorting cutely. "PDA stands for Public Display of Affection."
"Oh," Izuku swallowed thickly. "Personally, I'd prefer Private Displays of Affection."
Himiko grinned. "What we do in private will be something else entirely."
"Oh."
Himiko lowered her finger, smiling wide in that cat-like grin. "Just kidding. Remember… at your pace, Izu. I'm ready for anything you wanna do~"
Izuku's face blossomed like a crimson flower.
The two walked off campus, milling about for a while before ultimately deciding on a fast food joint, Mc Ronald's, since Himiko didn't bring her own food. They ordered a grilled cheese sandwich for Himiko, which Izuku paid for, and received her food, sitting down in a secluded corner.
Izuku waited for Himiko to start before scarfing down his own, prepared meal, pausing at times to chug his protein shake. Himiko just watched him with a bemused expression, taking small bites of her own sandwich.
"So, Izu~" she hummed, causing Izuku to look up at her from his meal, "how's your first day going so far?"
"It's been really interesting!" Izuku immediately responded. "Instead of orientation, we had to test our Quirks in a Quirk Assessment Test. Our teacher said that the person with the lowest score would be expelled, but fortunately, he was just joking—well, I don't know if he was joking or not, since he didn't do that but just threatened the rest of us with expulsion… he's a pretty scary guy. I have no idea whether or not he's being serious."
Himiko picked up on something Izuku said. "It was scored? How'd you do?"
Flushing a bit, he said, "First place. But that's… ah—"
Himiko giggled cutely, reaching up to stroke Izuku's bangs with her non-dirty hand. "That's a good Izuku. I'm happy for you and proud of you."
Izuku turned a much deeper shade of red than he was previously. Being praised so directly, like he was a little kid, didn't feel as bad or embarrassing as he thought it would have been. Especially coming from Himiko, it felt rewarding.
The blonde grinned, still stroking his head.
… scratch that, it was embarrassing as hell. Face ablaze, he gently grabbed Himiko's hand and lowered it to the table, saying, "This is a bit embarrassing."
"Sorreee."
He quite enjoyed the feeling of her small, soft hand in his, so, in a rare showing of bravery, he held on to it, shifting to eating his remaining sandwich with his free hand.
Himiko watched all of this happen with a happy, wide smile on her face, the seemingly permanent blush on her face giving Izuku no indication of how she thought about his actions. If she was opposed to it, she certainly did not show it, instead curling her fingers around his.
They ate like this for a while, until Izuku was faced with the cruel reality that it was actually rather difficult to eat like this. Blushing even harder, he remorsefully let go of her hand… or at least tried to. Himiko just held on to it with a growing grin, shifting so that her fingers intertwined with his.
"And just where do you think you're going~" she hummed.
"… nowhere."
"Mhm, good. That's what I like to hear."
She was done with her grilled cheese and was now just focusing on him. Izuku, embarrassed (and, if he were being honest, a bit happy) to be under her heavy scrutiny, shifted in his seat, acutely aware of the rather suffocating silence that had suddenly developed.
Fortunately for him, Himiko broke the silence with: "So, Izu, what's your afternoon looking like?"
"Just Foundational Hero Studies," Izuku replied. "Though, that takes up the whole afternoon. I'm super pumped for that. How about you?"
"Anatomy 21a and premed 1," she prattled disinterestedly. "And we have some kind of… event later today? I don't know, but participation is mandatory."
Izuku was genuinely curious about Himiko's courses. The general course students had a lot more freedom in choosing what courses they could take as opposed to the hero course's rigid structure. "Premed? Are you looking to go into medicine?"
"Welllllll," Himiko drawled, "it's more like I'm interested in the human body." How to best cut up the human body, how to best drain the blood and where to make the incisions… well, best not to tell him that.
"Still, that's a neat idea," Izuku smiled kindly, adding, "Himiko-sensei. Has a nice ring to it, no?"
Himiko huffed. "You know how I dislike you adding honorifics to my name."
Though, she guessed she wouldn't mind being called Himiko-senpai by Izuku.
Izuku nodded. One of her first words to him were call me Himiko, after all. Thinking back on his earliest memories of her that he had, Izuku couldn't help but smile. She was his first true friend. That thought caused warmth to flood throughout his system. "It's been so long since we first met, hasn't it?"
That caused Himiko to blink. "Yeah, but what made you say that all of a sudden?"
"Dunno. Felt nostalgic for some reason," he deflected. "How long has it been since we met? Feels like forever ago."
"Ten years ago," Himiko answered instantly.
Izuku laughed. "Come on, it hasn't been that long. We met about four years ago, if I remember correctly." Meeting Himiko was closely related to Izuku becoming One For All's successor, since it had been Izuku's training by cleaning up the Dagobah Municipal Beach Park that led him to meeting Himiko in the first place. Neither of those two things were things he'd forget easily.
Himiko had an unreadable expression on her face; it almost looked like her expectations or hopes had gotten crushed ruthlessly. But it disappeared as quickly as it came, leaving Izuku to wonder if it had ever actually been there in the first place.
Her expression shifted, and she smiled coyly at him. "If you remembered, why'd you ask me in the first place?"
Izuku gaped like a fish out of water, floundering about for an answer. "Uh… just because, you know?"
Himiko giggled. "Do I?"
"No? Uhrm… yes? I don't know?" Izuku wanted to shoot himself for how inexcusably awkward he was being. He'd already metaphorically shot himself in the foot, might as well finish the job.
While Izuku was having his inner crisis and steadily turning as red as a tomato, Himiko gazed at him fondly.
So cute.
So cute. So cute. So cute.
So cute. So damn fucking cute, it should be illegal. He qualifies as a national wonder, at this point. How can someone be this adorable? Oh, I just want to squish his cheeks and pat him on the head and tell him that he's a good boy, and I remember his reaction when I told him I was proud of him, it was so fucking adorable, it makes me just want to eat him up, to devour him, to see him squirming underneath me; that would be euphoric, oh, it'd be so much better if he was bleeding—
Himiko pinched her leg, drawing herself back down to reality. She had a bad habit of letting her true thoughts roam "outside" every once in a while, but it didn't happen often enough for her to consider it problematic. In fact, it only happened when Izuku was involved, and she took everything that happened with him to be a blessing. She experienced so many new things thanks to him, and it all started with as simple an act as sharing bits of one's meal…
"Relax, Izuku~" she squeezed his hand. "You don't need to be so on edge around me all the time."
Izuku looked down at his lap. "I-I know. But, for some reason, it's just you…" Then, realizing what he'd just said, he flared bright red again.
Himiko grinned. "Should I count that as a confession?"
Izuku spluttered a mess of garbled, meaningless sounds, causing Himiko to laugh even harder. This is perfect, she thought. Just being able to eat a simple meal with her Izuku, being able to tease him and watch her Izuku's adorable expressions… it was bliss. For once, she could forget about all the other things that incessantly demanded her attention and focus on what was truly important.
The other things could wait.
She was with aizuku right now.
.:.
2:45 PM. It was finally time for Foundational Hero Studies, taught by none other than All Might.
Izuku sat in his seat, eagerly waiting for the class to start. Lunch with Himiko had wrapped up nicely, though he didn't escape her constant teasing and innuendo-making. To be honest, Izuku wasn't sure if he even wanted to escape her teasing. Call him a masochist, but he secretly enjoyed having Himiko's full attention on him like that.
A heroic voice suddenly shattered his internal reverie. "I AM—"
Everyone instantly looked at the entrance to their classroom, filled with anticipation.
"—COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON."
Even something as simple as that seemed spectacular to the future heroes. As All Might came in, he heard the jaws dropping. The man was dressed up in all his glory, buffed up and clad in his Silver Age costume. While he was slightly concerned for All Might since he knew that being in muscle form wasn't the greatest for his health, Izuku couldn't help but feel simple awe. He'd seen All Might tons of times in the past, but rarely was he dressed up like this.
He didn't give anyone a second to spare. "I am All Might, and I will be your teacher starting today! This is Foundational Hero Studies, the class where your foundations as heroes will be built up through countless trials and tribulations. For your first trial…"
He paused for dramatic effect.
"COMBAT TRAINING!"
Izuku could've sworn he heard a subdued fuck yes from Katsuki somewhere around him.
As the class bristled with anticipation, All Might continued. "They say that there is no rest for the wicked, so we, as heroes, can't afford to get complacent! Here, you will see that I have some boxes with numbers that correspond to your seat numbers."
Here, he pressed a button on the remote controller that he was holding, and on the wall behind him, slots opened up, each containing packages marked with a number.
"Ladies and gentlemen, a hero's costume is vitally important to their identity and effectiveness in battle," he said, "and so, thanks to the Quirk registry and the special forms you completed, we have managed to create your costumes! Get changed into these as soon as possible and meet me in Ground Beta."
Without another word, All Might strode out of the room.
A quick silence lasted in the room, some still in awe of seeing the number one hero up close. The silence was broken by Minoru, who suggested, "So, in the interest of time, let's change together, yea?"
"Nope. Ladies, see y'all soon." This time it was Eijiro who spoke, picking up Minoru by the back of his neck with one hand. "Kaminari, can you grab our stuff? I'll just be dragging this rat to the bathroom at the end of the hall."
Denki looked a bit sad that no one was listening to Minoru's suggestion, but he relented and picked up the three's clothes from the slots at the front of the room. "See ya," he directed at the girls before following Eijiro and Minoru out of the room.
Following their example, Izuku bid goodbye to the girls and grabbed his uniform, exiting the classroom and entering the first empty bathroom stall he found. There, he quickly undressed himself, pulling out his hero costume. The primarily dark green outfit, with lines of black arcing down the sides of it, was created accordingly to his specifications.
The near skin-tight nature of the costume was to prevent as much drag as possible, enabling him to run unhindered, but it was flexible enough to allow Izuku to perform high kicks and other acrobatic maneuvers. There was padding to protect his elbows and knees, along with the barest of extra cushioning arounds his ribs to reduce impacts there.
His wrist reinforcements were there to help him reduce the strain of his punches, and his fingerless gloves had bits of metal laced over his knuckles to make his punches hurt. Finally, his combat boots had iron soles and a steel heel to put some extra oomph in his kicks. Along with the dashes of white that could be seen in his costume, it all came together to create a simplistic yet sleek-looking costume that nicely accentuated his upper body muscles.
Looking at himself in the mirror, Izuku decided to add the finishing touch: the black breathing mask that Himiko had given to him. It wasn't officially part of his costume, but it had become something of a good luck charm to him.
Finally ready, he decided to head toward Ground Beta.
Along the way, he ran into Tenya, and the two decided to go to the grounds together. Tenya was clad in what appeared to be a suit of metallic armor for his costume, and Izuku thought he truly looked like a modern, mechanized knight.
As the two chatted mindlessly, they wandered into the truly massive Ground Beta. They were the first ones there, so Izuku decided to jog around just to get warmed up. Tenya offered to stay behind to help the other classmates with directions, and Izuku took off alone, jogging at a brisk 30%.
By the time he made five laps around Ground Beta, the rest of the class had arrived and were standing around All Might. Izuku slipped into the crowd, and All Might, counting that everyone was there, decided to start.
"Welcome to combat training!" All Might roared, instantly getting everyone to shut up and pay attention. "Today, we will be focusing on indoor anti-personnel combat. You might not think of it this way, but the majority of villain captures actually happen indoors. For this test, you will be separated into teams of two and be designated as a "hero" team or a "villain" team."
That got a few excited murmurs and comments from the gathered students.
"The villains will get to start inside and play defense while the heroes start outside. This is, of course…" All Might faltered, and Izuku sweatdropped as he pulled out a heavily annotated and bookmarked notebook, reading it really quickly before putting it away, "to simulate a real life raid, yes. The villains must protect this—"
All Might pulled out a black remote controller . "—while the hero must capture it! This is the remote to an ultra top-secret nuclear weapon and the detonation of it will result in millions of lives lost. All the heroes need to do is hold down this button for three seconds and they disarm the bomb, winning!"
He held down the button on the remote controller, and after three seconds, it started ringing. "Once you hear this ringing, it means that the heroes have won, so immediately cease all actions then."
The controller was still ringing.
"For the villains, all they have to do is protect this controller until the time runs out or "capture" the heroes by applying this tape onto their chest." Here, All Might pulled out bright yellow tape. "Heroes, remember that if a villain gets close enough to touch your chest, you are probably dead. This is to simulate the great care that heroes must have when dealing with villains. A dead hero is of no use to anyone."
The controller was still ringing.
Fed up with the incessant ringing, All Might crushed the controller in his hand. He continued without acknowledging it. "As you may have noticed, the heroes' win condition is a bit stricter than the villains'. This is, of course, to simulate a real life scenario. Sometimes, even when the villains are captured, the bomb is still armed and primed to explode. Therefore, in the interest of saving lives, your first priority is to find the remote. Capturing the villains is a secondary objective."
The students nodded in agreement.
"Alright, let's get this show on the road!" All Might said cheerfully. "Let's decide the teams."
He took out a mug with a bunch of sticks in it. Izuku, wondering just what All Might was doing, was floored when the man pulled out two sticks and saw that there were names written on the ends of the sticks.
"Villain Team A: Katsuki Bakugo and Minoru Mineta!"
Katsuki let out a brief grunt. He seemed displeased to be playing the role of villain.
The process went on for some time after that, All Might alternating between villain teams and hero teams. Finally, he got to Izuku.
"Villain Team I: Momo Yaoyorozu and…" All Might gulped. For a moment, Izuku could've sworn he saw droplets of sweat run down the sides of All Might's thick neck. "Izuku Midoriya."
Izuku's eyes found Momo's in the crowd and he smiled at her. Being a "villain" slightly bummed him out, but having Momo on his team opened up so many possibilities and different plays just due to her Quirk alone. He was glad to have been paired up with her—plus, this could be a chance for them to get over whatever weird misconception Momo had.
"Hero Team J: Tenya Iida and Shoto Todoroki. Villain Team A will be paired up with Hero Team B, Villain Team C with Hero Team D, Villain Team E with Hero Team F, Villain Team G with Hero Team H, and Villain Team I with Hero Team J." All Might paused and took a breath. "Whew, that was a mouthful."
The pro hero coughed. "Anyways, now that you know your teams, let's get started! Anything is fair game, just try not to kill each other, hehehe. Villain Team A and Hero Team B, head to your designated areas and you will get ten minutes to prepare before the training exercise begins. The rest of you, come with me. We will watch from the camera room."
As he turned to leave, All Might suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way—as per U.A. tradition, these initial training matches are watched by classes 1-C through 1-K. The support courses and management courses need to see heroes in action, while the general courses… well, I don't know why they need to see this," All Might said honestly. Under his breath, he muttered, "I heard lots of money are made in bets when this happens, so maybe it's for entertainment…?"
That made Izuku pause. Himiko was going to be watching him? That must've been the mandatory event she had talked about during lunch. Her words from earlier washed over him: I'm happy for you and proud of you. He burned slightly red with embarrassment, but Izuku couldn't deny the small bubble of happiness that sprouted in his chest. If Himiko was going to be watching him, then…
He had to win.
.:.
Himiko slowly filed into the auditorium with the rest of her classmates, wondering just what was going on.
As she looked around, she saw people from presumably the other classes gathered here as well. The auditorium had been transformed into a makeshift movie theater, with rows of chairs laid out in front of a massive screen.
Disinterested, she picked a chair furthest to the right and sat down in it. One of her female classmates from her premed course sat in the chair next to her, offering a meek "hello" before turning back and talking to the boy she came with in the opposite chair. Himiko didn't bother saying anything back. Making friends or even acquaintances apart from Izuku wasn't even on her mind.
When everyone got settled, Present Mic got up in front of the screen and started introducing what they were doing. Himiko naturally toned him out, staring at her nails. She should cut them soon. Izuku didn't seem to be the type of guy who cared that much about physical appearances, but Himiko just hated when they got long. It was a personal thing, and plus, she only needed one sharp fingernail to draw some of her blood in the case of an emergency.
Though, she wasn't sure. Did Izuku care about nails? Maybe she should ask him about that next time they met. If possible, she wanted to ask him about his taste in, well, everything, so she could tailor herself to match up with his preferences. But knowing Izuku, and Himiko knew Izuku, he'd probably say that she was perfect the way she was. Whether it was due to the fact that he'd default to that answer because he wouldn't know what to say or he'd say it because he truly thought so didn't matter to Himiko. The thought alone made her smile to herself.
"… and so, we will be watching Class 1-A's combat training first."
Himiko's attention snapped back to Present Mic. Two things caught Himiko's attention: Class 1-A and combat training. Both because they related to Izuku.
I've never really seen Izu's new Quirks in action before, Himiko thought to herself.
She began paying attention, but quickly zoned out when the people on the screen weren't Izuku. Instead of her Izuku, there was a pissed off looking blonde boy with spiky hair and a purple haired short kid facing off against two girls. One of the girls was a brunette with a round face and an energetic-looking pink girl. Again—boring. She knew she was technically going against orders by not "paying attention," but she just couldn't bring herself to care.
Izuku was the only one she cared about.
"Dude, is that guy really going to just stand there?"
"He's a madman. Either that, or he's ultra confident in his abilities."
Himiko's trained ears couldn't help but pick up the snippets of conversation that were going on around her. She really wanted to just zone out and wait for her Izuku's turn, but the incessant whispering was getting impossible to tone out.
She looked up. Might as well check it out.
On the screen, the blonde boy stood in front of the two girls, twirling around what appeared to be a remote device of some sort in his hands. What was strange was that this appeared to be the first room, so that meant the blonde boy literally just stood at the entrance and waited for the girls to come to him. The purple haired boy was seen cowering a fair distance behind the blonde boy.
"Wait, that's Katsuki Bakugo. Didn't he score second place on the heroics course entrance exam?"
"No shit, Sherlock. Or does this school just have a plethora of fire wielding blondes?"
"Yeesh. No need to be a dick."
Unimportant, uninterested. Himiko stared down at her lap. If the boy was confident enough to stand in the entrance and challenge the two girls to direct combat, he was either stupid or stupidly strong. Based on the limited sounds that the mic was picking up, it was the latter. A barrage of explosion noises assaulted her ear drums, and if they sounded loud from here, Himiko couldn't imagine how loud they were on site.
A few short moments later, the explosive noises ended, and the auditorium burst into noise.
"Jesus, it was like he was trying to kill them."
"Not gonna lie to you, the purple haired one high key didn't do jack shit."
"He didn't need to do anything, though. Bakugo wiped the floor with those poor girls."
"Quick reflexes on the brunette. She got the other girl out of the blast radius hella fast."
"Yeah, she definitely saved her there. The teams were slightly unbalanced."
"No, no… it's just that Bakugo kid is too damn strong."
"Yeah, yea."
And so ended the first combat training session due to the heroes fleeing the operation grounds. Well, based on everyone's opinions, the two girls should be praised for recognizing an unwinnable situation and withdrawing immediately. Live to fight another day, as they say. Bakugo's Quirk was just too dangerous to deal with in an enclosed space like that. If the girls fought him seriously, they probably would have gotten critically burned.
Himiko drowned out the rest of the matches, absentmindedly staring into space. Her thoughts, as they usually do, drifted to Izuku. His smile. His eyes. His voice. His hand.
The way that he blushed when she looked at him. The way that he smiled at her when he thought she wasn't looking. The way that he wolfed down his meals like every bite could be his last. The way that he spoke, nervous and unsure at times, yet confident and strong at others. The way that his eyes would glitter when he laughed. The way that he laughed. The way that he blushed, as if his whole face would suddenly light on fire. The way that he held her hand in his, flushing while he did so. The way that he felt underneath her as she straddled him last night. The way that he closed his eyes, leaving him vulnerable and defenseless. The way that he tasted. The way that his blood flowed through her lips.
She blinked. Almost lost myself there.
But—he was adorable. Her Izuku, her sweet, sweet Izuku… she loved him so much. Sometimes she really did just feel the urge to devour him whole, but who could blame her? He was just that cute.
Himiko drifted in and out of consciousness until, finally, it was Izuku's turn. Hilariously enough, he was a "villain" tasked with defending the remote controller. He was paired with a (frankly) skimpily-clad girl with big breasts. Himiko immediately disapproved, but she decided to reserve judgement. She instead focused on Izuku: how the skin tight costume accentuated his muscles deliciously. And, to her absolute delight, he was wearing the mask she'd gotten for him. Seeing those things together did poor things to her mental state.
She watched the screen, now captivated by the session. As the heroes entered the building—one stiff looking boy and another with interesting hair colors—they were immediately greeted by a room filled with a suspicious number of potted plants. They ignored the room since it was empty save for the large number of plants and continued forward.
In the second room they entered, the stiff boy tripped a wire of some sort. The two boys were sprayed by a fire hose, but when they recovered and the boy with interesting hair froze the water mid-air, they discovered that it was nothing more than a simple tripwire trap without an operator on site. They continued moving forward and entered the third room.
The third room was brightly lit. It was odd seeing it so bright, but Himiko didn't pay that fact much attention; after all, the show was about to begin. Izuku and the girl were standing in the center of that room.
The four seemed to have a conversation of some sort. Then, Izuku clapped twice, the room went dark, and it was all over.
"What?"
"The fuck just happened?"
Similar words were cropping up all around Himiko. She knew, instinctively, that Izuku had won. It was a shame she didn't get to see how he accomplished his victory, but it was likely that the two "heroes" had just been dancing in the palm of his hand the entire time.
As the emergency lights turned on, Himiko saw that her suspicions were correct. The two "heroes" had bright yellow tape on their chest and were sprawled out on the ground, leaving Izuku and the girl standing and victorious.
When she saw the two boys strewn out on the ground before them, the girl jumped up and down excitedly, clapping her hands together. She turned towards Izuku, and she—
Himiko saw red.
The girl—no, the bitch—
She was hugging Izuku.
A filthy fucking mutt was rubbing her dirty paws over what was rightfully Himiko's. She was pressing her slutty body against his, trying to entice him like a common back-alley whore.
The bitch peeled off of Izuku, face blazing red. She was evidently embarrassed. That was surprising to Himiko, since she didn't know that sluts could get embarrassed. Himiko took a good, long look at the whore that hugged her Izuku. Black hair, dark eyes, pretty tall. Objectively attractive. She drank in all of her details and memorized them, committing them to the deepest facets of her mind.
If Himiko ever got the chance, the bitch was fucking—
Surprised words erupting around her interrupted her from her murderous thoughts. It seems that the people around her finally processed what just happened and just began talking about it.
"Holy shit, what just happened?"
"I don't know, but the villains must've done something while the lights were shut off!"
"Once again, no shit, Sherlock."
"Suzaku. I ask you this again: why do you feel the need to be such a dick?"
"Wait, wait, wait. Wait. Wait. Isn't that Izuku Midoriya?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that is."
"One of my friends overheard some people from Class 1-A talking about it during lunch. They said he broke the record for the entrance exam!"
"No way, serious?"
Himiko took a deep breath. She was trying not to lose it. Going berserk in an auditorium full of people with her Quirks was a recipe for disaster—for the others, that is. It's just—Himiko hated sharing.
No, scratch that. She was fine sharing things with Izuku, for sure. But sharing Izuku was another thing entirely.
She didn't want other women over her Izuku. Himiko couldn't blame them; Izuku was attractive, sweet, cute, adorable, muscular, kind, nice, and more… but still. A wave of possessiveness washed over Himiko. Actually, no, that was an understatement. It was more like an utter tsunami of rage-induced possessiveness raged through Himiko.
That bitch was so dead. She'd make sure of it.
She took another deep breath. Calm. There was an order to these types of things. First, gather information. Second, isolate. Third, kill.
Alright; she had a game plan. Worst case scenario, she could ask him for a favor.
Himiko sighed. The auditorium was still abuzz with chatter, speculating just how Izuku and the girl achieved victory. It was distracting, so Himiko tried drowning out all the other noises. It was to be expected that Izuku made her feel new things, it's just…
She just didn't expect jealousy to be one of them.
Pathetic jealousy. Unfounded, probably. Himiko was pretty damn sure that Izuku only had eyes for her. That wasn't even her being arrogant; it was just a fact. But she felt jealousy nonetheless. She just did not like watching that filthy whore rub herself all over her Izuku.
She—
Just—
Did—
Not—
Like—
Himiko inhaled deeply. In through the nose and out through the mouth, she told herself.
Good God, she needed to see Izuku tonight.
.:.
As Izuku was walking out of Ground Beta, he saw All Might motioning to him to stay behind.
Since he didn't have any classes left in the day, Izuku happily obliged, waiting for the rest of his chattering classmates to leave and slipping out. This was a perfect opportunity; he had a few things he wanted to ask All Might, too. Mostly about that strange, Quirk-like ability that he demonstrated earlier that day when throwing the softball. The words visualize opposites still chilled him to his core.
"Young man," All Might greeted cheerfully, "good job on the combat training."
Izuku flushed from the praise. "I didn't do much. Yaoyorozu did most of the setup, actually."
"Oh? What are you talking about?"
"The plants in the first room, the water trap in the second room, and the extra lights in the third room. And the fake remote controllers," Izuku explained. "It was only thanks to her Quirk that we were able to set it up in time."
All Might grinned. "And what was the point of all that?"
"Well, the water trap was to dampen Todoroki so that he couldn't use his flames. It was just a guess, but I know that Ka—Bakugo's fire Quirk activates based off of his sweat, and he can't use it if he gets seriously wet. So, I was hoping that something similar would happen with Todoroki." Izuku was hitting his stride now. "That was vital to our plan in the third room. Get their eyes adjusted to the bright lights, and then shut them off when I attacked. I guessed that they wouldn't be able to react fast enough if I charged at them under the guise of darkness, and it was easy enough for me to guess where their chests would be. Plus, the water prevented Todoroki from using his flames to see. Either that, or he didn't react fast enough to use his fire."
"Okay, a good plan. What was up with the plants in the first room, then?" All Might asked.
Izuku smiled. "The real controller was hidden at the bottom of the third one. We made a bunch just to throw them off."
His mentor gave him an incredulous look.
"I figured that Iida is the type of guy to play by the book, so he wouldn't expect it to be in a place like that. He'd expect that we also played by the rules and that we'd have the controllers on our body. The one I had was a fake, though."
All Might sweated a bit out of nervousness. If what he was saying was true, then Izuku had his classmates read like a book on the first day of school. The observational powers of his protege were a tiny bit too fearsome for his own liking. If he hadn't been rescued, and had become a villain like All For One meant for him to be...
He didn't want to think about that possibility.
"By the way..." Izuku began, shaking All Might out of his thoughts, "I may have discovered another Quirk I have."
"Oh? Could it be Float? Have you begun floating out of nowhere?"
"What? Er, no." Izuku dimly wondered what "Float" was, though that could wait for later. "Uhm, the only thing I know about it is that I have to... visualize opposites. I used it to sort of shoot the softball from my hand during the Quirk Assessment Test."
"Ah," All Might said, "of course. That one."
Well, that wasn't very helpful.
"Do you have any idea what it might be?" Izuku asked directly.
All Might opened and closed his mouth.
"Well! Hahaha, I actually don't remember much of the previous One For All Quirks, I'll have to look it up in the archives! Ahahahaha! I'll tell you at a later date."
All Might was laughing a suspicious amount of times, but Izuku paid it no attention. "But the thing is... it doesn't feel like an One For All Quirk. It's hard to explain. I just feel like it has nothing to do with One For all."
"I assure you it does," All Might quickly said. "You might just have that feeling because... it hasn't fully awoken yet."
That... sort of made sense to Izuku. While his body's instincts were screaming at him otherwise, he decided to trust in All Might. "I see. Well, thank you, All Might! I'm gonna head back now if that's all."
"Yep! That'll be all. Run along now, young man," All Might said, letting loose a breath he didn't know he was holding as Izuku nodded and left the grounds.
All Might was gonna start balding if he had a couple more dangerous conversations like that.