Chapter 27: Laying the groundwork
As they were getting ready for lunch, the students of Class 1-A began to hear a commotion outside the door to their classroom. Unfortunately for the rest of the class, Katsuki was the one to reach the door first, opening it to reveal a crowd of first year students. Class 1-B made up the majority of students, but there were a number of first years from the general studies and support courses as well.
With the door open, the rest of class 1-A was finally able to make out what was being said.
"So these are the guys getting all the attention huh?"
"Why does the media have to focus on them, bunch of vultures?"
"What makes them so special?"
"Yeah, there's more students than just them here!"
Katsuki just looked annoyed at the crowd in front of him. "That's because they know who's the best. Now out of the way, you extras."
Without waiting he began to shove his way through, only to be stopped by a sleep-deprived student with purple hair.
"You know, the sports festival gives us general studies students a chance to join the hero course if we do well enough. And if a student from the hero course does particularly poorly, they could be kicked out."
Katsuki responded with a sneer. "Tch. You're threatening the wrong person, because I'm the best this school's ever had." He then continued shoving his way out of the crowd.
The students in the crowd grew agitated by Katsuki's behavior until they heard a gasp from the front of the crowd, drawing attention back to the classroom, and the next student standing in the doorway.
Moving quickly, Izuku rushed to the door and began to bow deeply. "I'm sorry about my classmate's behavior, he doesn't represent the rest of our class. However, as class representative I take full responsibility for his actions. Bakugo has always been this way - he antagonizes everyone around him to purposefully back himself into a corner. He somehow has convinced himself that proves he is better than everyone else. I want to reassure you that the rest of us aren't like that!"
Behind him, he heard Eijiro speak up. "Isn't that a super sad way to live though?"
"Who cares, if that's how he chooses to live he only has himself to blame!" A gray-haired student from class 1-B responded.
"At least the rest of you 1-A students know your -" The blonde-haired student's insult was cut off by a giant fist karate chopping him on the back of his neck, sending him to the ground.
"Sorry about that! As you see, we have our own hothead to deal with, so we understand what it's like!"
Izuku straightened and smiled at his fellow class representative. "Thanks Kendo!"
Izuku then turned towards the crowd to address the larger issue. "I know it's not fair for the media to give us so much attention, everyone at UA is trying their best. Why do we get put on a pedestal for being attacked by villains? Why is that praiseworthy? Just because we were allowed to fight back without fear of vigilantism laws?"
The crowd was silent at his questions. Izuku found himself releasing a breath he didn't even know he was holding as he stepped away from the door. "We can't control what is said about us. I just ask that you judge us by our own actions, rather than what you hear."
He was pleasantly surprised to feel the tension dissipating, and actually saw several students from class 1-B enter the room to try talking with his classmates. It seems his attempt to prevent his classmates from getting caught up in Katsuki's nonsense worked. The rest of the students, seemingly satisfied by Izuku's speech, began to disperse.
Izuku, however, was curious about the purple-haired kid, who was sizing up the hero course students once more before walking away. Hoping for answers, he pushed his way through the thinning crowd to follow him.
"Hey, what is your name?"
The student turned and gave him a look of indifference. "Why do you care?"
"Some of us actually are trying to help people."
He scoffed at that. "My name is Hitoshi Shinso."
"I'm Izuku Midoriya, nice to meet you. Um, if you don't mind me asking, why do you want to be a hero?"
The question seemed to catch Shinso off guard. "To prove everyone wrong. In middle school, my classmates told me that because of my quirk I was going to become a scary villain."
Izuku's face fell. "Oh. I'm sorry."
This seemed to anger Shinso. "What do you have to be sorry about?"
"Just that you were treated that way. It's not right."
"Why do you care? You are already in the heroics course, which means you obviously have a great quirk. It's not like you would ever understand."
This caused Izuku to laugh bitterly.
Shinso stepped forward menacingly. "What's so funny?"
"If my quirk came in any later, I would have been taking the entrance exam quirkless." Izuku's demeanor shifted as he gave Shinso a serious look. "So I know a thing or two about having a rough time at middle school."
Shinso seemed to deflate. "Wha- how?"
"My quirk didn't come in until I had enough muscle mass." Izuku sighed. "And it was hard finding someone who was willing to give me a chance and train me properly when everyone thought I was quirkless."
"Hmph." Shinso gave a neutral response, but looked like he was considering Izuku's words.
"If you don't mind me asking, what is your quirk?"
Shinso sighed, resigned to finishing the conversation. "My quirk is called brainwashing, I can use it to make people do things for me."
"That sounds super useful! I can think of so many uses for that as a hero!" Izuku paused for a moment, his eyes going wide as realization set in. "You failed the entrance exam, didn't you?"
"Isn't that obvious? Because my quirk doesn't work on robots, I never stood a chance."
"I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry about that?" Shinso once again felt himself getting angry, he didn't need pity!
"This is going to sound weird, but I'm sorry I didn't know you earlier. I um." Izuku swallowed. "This is also going to sound weird, but I'd like to help you join the hero course."
Despite himself, Shinso found himself smiling. "You're right, that sounds weird."
Izuku rubbed the back of his head. "Y-yeah, I get that a lot. But if you don't mind, I would like to mention your name to a few people. After I was finally given a chance, it just feels right to help someone else?"
"Honestly, if you think you can do something, be my guest. I won't hold my breath though."
Izuku smiled at Shino. "Thanks! If this doesn't work, I'm sure we can think of something after the sports festival!"
Shinso let out a small snort. "You're a real weird one."
He turned around to leave, but raised his hand to wave goodbye. "Maybe I was wrong about you hero course types."
After his talk with Shinso, Izuku returned to the classroom only to see several students from 1-B were still talking to his classmates, and once again sighed in relief. While he knew Katsuki had the skill to back up his attitude, he wished he would at least be more considerate of how his actions affect those around him.
Then again, if he was more considerate, maybe they would still be friends.
With one crisis averted, Izuku returned to his desk to finish packing his bag before heading towards the cafeteria. While he would normally join his friends for lunch, he wanted to check if All Might was back yet, and to see if they could talk. Fortunately, it seems like All Might had the same idea, and found him first.
"Young Midoriya! I was wondering if we could have lunch together?" All Might asked, holding a bag of food that looked tiny in his hands.
Izuku smiled. "Yeah! I was actually looking for you."
That earned a soft laugh from his mentor. "I am not surprised, after what happened the other day, I am sure you have many questions."
Izuku nodded. "Yeah, I do."
"Follow me, I believe there is one other person we should be talking to, and his office will be good for this conversation."
Without another word, All Might led Izuku to Nezu's office. Once they were inside, the principal locked the door and set the room's anti-surveillance countermeasures.
"I'm sorry I haven't been around the past few days, young Midoriya. After the attack on the USJ I agreed to help with the investigation. I am afraid that what we have learned is troubling."
"What do you mean?"
All Might gave Izuku a sad smile. "It would seem that even beyond death, the ghost of my nemesis still haunts me."
This seems to surprise Izuku. "You mean the League of Villains?"
"Indeed! You see, after I defeated the man who wounded me six years ago, we of course tried to dismantle his organization with the help of the police. However we were never able to catch several key members of this organization. When the trails went cold, we were left to wonder when we would have to deal with them again."
Izuku thought about it. "The Nomu?"
"Precisely! No such creature should exist, but it reeks of the experiments we found in the aftermath of the incident."
This caused Izuku to pale a bit.
"It appears my initial hypothesis was right, and that they were in fact, targeting All Might specifically." Nezu chimed in. "And that you students were merely caught in the crossfire. Fortunately for us, your class put up a strong showing. Many of the villains that were arrested admitted that they were under the impression you would be easy targets. Their plan was to use your class as a distraction - after all, if All Might was forced to protect students, that means he could not devote his entire attention to dealing with that creature."
All Might smiled proudly at Izuku. "And ultimately, your class proved them sorely mistaken!"
Izuku rubbed the back of his head. "T-thanks. When you had arrived, I got the impression that you knew something."
All Might frowned at that. "No, at the time I only knew that the students under my care were in trouble, and it angered me - how could someone stoop so low as to attack children! What's worse, they were trying to attack children as a way to get to me! It was only afterwards, when the investigation began, that I learned the truth."
"I see."
"Although, now that I know that there are likely ties back to my nemesis, I will dedicate the rest of my remaining strength to finish the job I began six years ago."
The way All Might phrased that concerned Izuku. "What do you mean, the rest of your remaining strength?"
All Might and Nezu shared a look, before All Might sighed heavily. "As you are keenly aware, I can only be a hero for a few hours each day."
"Y-yeah."
"Well, there is more to it, that only a few people know. If I reach into my reserves too heavily, the amount of time I can spend as a hero will shrink even further."
That shocked Izuku. "W-wait, does that mean…?"
"Unfortunately, yes. Remember when I explained how One For All was an accumulation quirk? As it accumulates power, it has to store it somewhere. And even though I have passed it on, that doesn't change the fact that I have been storing its power for forty years. This is why I am still able to perform my duties as a hero even though I have passed my quirk on to you."
Izuku pondered that. "I was wondering about that. Obviously you have been able to continue being a hero despite the fact that I now have One For All. I just didn't put the pieces together." He admitted with some embarrassment.
"However, now I must carefully manage the embers of power I have left. If I draw too heavily on them, then I risk using them up, and that will leave me with less power to draw upon in the future. If I do this too often, I will eventually have nothing left, and will be rendered quirkless."
Izuku looked down at his partially eaten meal, suddenly losing his appetite. "I-is this because you gave me One For All? If you still had it, wouldn't you still be able to draw upon its full power?"
He felt a hand on his shoulder. "You have it backwards young Midoriya. Ever since my injury six years ago, my body has been getting weaker. Even if I had not given you One For All, I would merely be delaying the inevitable."
"Indeed. Do you remember all of your training, Midoriya?" Nezu asked. "About how you needed to prepare your body to handle One For All's strength? All Might is unfortunately in the opposite situation. As time goes on, his body is slowly becoming less suitable for One For All."
Izuku looked at All Might with wide-eyes. "S-So no matter what, you will eventually be quirkless?"
All Might nodded gravely. "Indeed. Within the next five years, whether I like it or not, I will not be able to fight anymore. Either I will have spent the last embers of my strength that have been left behind, or my body will be weak enough that I simply cannot handle One For All's power anymore." He gave Izuku's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "For that reason, it is far better that you have One For All, and gain mastery over it, than it is for me to continue holding it."
Izuku nodded. "I get it. It's just - it's a lot to process. While I knew you would be retiring eventually, it just suddenly feels a lot more real?"
"That is understandable. Just remember young Midoriya, I am not going anywhere." All Might assured him.
"Thanks" Izuku smiled at All Might.
Nezu cleared his throat, before moving onto the next topic. "While we were preparing for the eventuality of All Might's retirement, in light of the news about the League I am afraid we may have to move up our timetables."
All Might sighed heavily. "Unfortunately that seems to be the case."
This shift in conversation broke Izuku out of the gloomy thoughts in his head. "Timetables?"
Nezu folded his hands behind his back and began pacing in front of his desk. "Yes. We had planned to gradually revise our curriculum for students, but in light of this new threat, we are going to begin implementing more dramatic changes. Some of these will impact your classes as a whole, however others will be more individually tailored. One of those changes would be of particular interest to you."
Eager to help in any way he could, Izuku turned to Nezu. "What do you have in mind?"
"In the past, when we have particularly talented individuals we have arranged for additional lessons for them to cultivate their talents. As part of the revisions, I am looking to expand these courses into more regular offerings, and begin aggressively recruiting students from among the hero courses, before eventually branching into the other tracks as well."
Nezu retrieved a folder from his desk and handed it to Izuku. "After reviewing your hero analysis notebooks, I had always intended to launch one of these extracurricular courses specifically to further develop your hero analysis talents. This was only reaffirmed by your actions during the attack on the USJ facility two days ago."
Izuku rubbed the back of his head nervously. "I-I just got lucky though."
"Nonsense!" Nezu responded. "At your current skill level, you were able to determine a strategy to handle the Nomu. And I must point out that other than Katsuki Bakugo you had only known your other classmates for three days. Imagine what you could do if you continued to cultivate those skills and were able to apply them whenever you worked with other heroes."
Izuku felt his face heat up in embarrassment. "I-it was nothing, really!"
"No, it was indeed something young Midoriya." All Might told him. "With your current talents, you were able to help me preserve the secret of my condition from those villains. You have a sharp mind, and it would be a waste to not develop that further. After all, as we have so recently been reminded, there are some foes in which simply punching them harder is not the right answer."
Izuku looked down at the folder in his hands, then back to Nezu and All Might "I-if you two think so, then I'll gladly do it!"
"Excellent! While you are the obvious choice for this class, I am aware that there are other students in the hero course who also have some experience in quirk analysis, as well as numerous students in the support course. If you have any recommendations for the class, I would love to hear them."
Izuku put his thumb to his lip as he thought about it. "The most obvious choice is Emily Song, from class 2-B. Her focus for analysis is different from mine, but she is extremely talented. Unfortunately I don't know anyone among the third years or either class 2-A or 1-B." He looked at Nezu. "I am not sure what she would think of the offer, but Momo Yaoyorozu from my class also would be a good candidate. She doesn't have any background in quirk analysis the way Song and I do, but given her intelligence and the sheer versatility of her own quirk, she would be a natural fit for the class."
Izuku momentarily paused, as if considering something, before continuing. "Depending on the other courses you had in mind, I can think of several students in my class that I would recommend as well. Tenya Iida, for example, shows leadership capabilities, and his family has a history of running a hero agency."
This earned a soft chuckle from All Might. "Always seeking to go above and beyond, I see!"
"I will keep this in mind." Nezu offered. "We are still working out the specifics of the additional course. The lessons on quirk analysis merely had the benefit of being prepared ahead of time, in anticipation of offering them to you."
"I see. Is there anything else I can do to help?"
"At the moment no. Once we have more solid information, we will be asking all of the class representatives for suggestions among their classmates, but I believe that is all we have at the moment."
Izuku nodded. "T-thank you for trusting me with this."
After they had finished their meal, All Might began to pack up the remains of their lunch, before taking his leave. Izuku however, lingered behind, waiting until All Might had left before turning to Nezu.
"Is there something else, Midoriya?"
"Actually, there was. There is a student I wanted to talk to you about. One of the students in General Studies - Hitoshi Shinso."
"Oh? What about him?"
"I actually just met him before this meeting. He has an amazing quirk, one suitable for a hero, but due to the entrance exam he was at a disadvantage compared to everyone else."
Nezu sits down and pulls up Shinso's file on his computer. "I see. Yes, that does seem like quite the particularly useful quirk."
"I am starting to think that the entrance exam is flawed." Izuku admitted. "The only reason my sister was able to pass was because of her training under Kan-sensei, a hero in his own right and a teacher at this school. And the same for myself - while we were intending that I had One For All for the exam, we all know how that turned out." He answered glumly.
"There is also the fact that had you not met All Might, you may have been passed over entirely." Nezu admitted. "Unless you had found another teacher that was willing to give you the necessary training to overcome the challenge presented."
Nezu spun his chair and hopped out, walking to a window. "I had originally thought that the addition of a hero point score would be a sufficient compromise for the entrance exam. After all, if a potential student didn't have the right quirk to deal with the robots, they could always seek to impress the panel. However, even that line of reasoning is flawed, due to the nature of the exam itself."
"And here is more evidence pointing out the problems with the exam. This student - Shinso - is yet another data point showcasing the flaws of the system. You are right that he could be a wonderful hero, and yet we have denied him his opportunity simply because he was facing the wrong type of test."
"Exactly! After all, you teach us the variety of roles we can specialize in as professional heroes, why is there a standardized test?"
That got a laugh out of Nezu. "Well, we have standardized tests in the interest of fairness. But I understand your reasoning - as the premier hero school, why have we not designed our test that allows for a wider variety of quirks to compete. After all, if we focus too heavily on combat quirks, we risk becoming complacent and losing our reputation."
"I haven't thought about it that way." Izuku admitted.
"Well of course, you are merely a student, while I am the one who is supposed to handle matters such as this!" Nezu turned to Izuku. "I will have to think further on this, but thank you for bringing this student to my attention. I am sure you will know when I have made a decision. Was there anything else?"
"N-no, I think I've had enough of your time."
"Oh it was no trouble at all! I think we have had a very productive conversation."
Nezu sat back down in his chair as Izuku gathered up his things. "Have a good afternoon, Midoriya. I can't wait to begin our lessons next week."
Izuku could tell that Himiko knew something was wrong as soon as she spotted him after school. She was always observant, and that was before she spent a year at UA. So when she saw him after school, he saw her expression change instantly.
At least she waited until they got home before she ambushed him. They walked to the train station without incident, and once again, Izuku and Himiko had to assure Ochako that it was still ok for her to come have dinner with them. She gave less resistance today, although Izuku began to suspect that it was going to become part of a daily routine.
However, Himiko's attitude changed the moment the three entered their apartment. Izuku could feel Himiko's eyes on him, and knew there was no escape. Once they removed their shoes and made their way to the living room, Izuku turned towards his bedroom.
"I'll be right back Uraraka, just let me unpack my bag!"
"Ok!" Ochako replied quickly as she sat down at the table, beginning to pull out her own books.
Izuku slipped into his room, and walked over to drop his bag on his desk, waiting to hear the door close behind Himiko.
"Ok Izu, talk."
"But Uraraka's out there!" Izuku weakly protested.
"So talk fast."
Izuku turned around to face his sister, seeing the concern etched on her face. "It's going to sound really silly."
She crossed her arms and leaned against the door. "Don't care, it's bothering you."
Izuku sighed. "So over lunch today I was meeting with Nezu and All Might. It was really good and I should probably tell Emily about it, actually!"
"But."
"But I suddenly came to the realization that All Might is going to be retiring eventually?"
"Wait, seriously? That's what's bothering you?" Himiko had a look of disbelief on her face.
"Y-yeah." Izuku felt his shoulders slump.
"I mean, I get it." Himiko waved her arms as if showing off his room. "But he has been a hero for how long?"
"Forty years."
"That's a long time! He deserves a break."
"You're right. I guess, he just has been such a cornerstone in Japan for so long, it's hard to imagine a world without him."
"Plus there's your personal hero worship." Himiko muttered under her breath.
Izuku winced at that.
Himiko looked down. "Sorry. That was mean. I know how much he means to you personally." Himiko crossed the room and pulled her brother into a hug. "But you know what, Japan's going to be ok when All Might retires. And you want to know why? Because they will have you." Himiko felt her lips tug into a smile as she added. "And they'll have me."
Izuku couldn't help but smile as he returned the hug. "And they'll have all of our friends?"
Himiko laughed. "Yeah, I guess they will help too." She ruffled her brother's hair. "Leave it to you to blow that out of proportion. It really is silly."
Izuku laughed back, and felt a weight lifting. "I think I just needed to hear it from someone else?"
"Good!" Himiko pulled away and stepped towards the door. "And if you need to hear it again, I'll keep saying it. Someday we're gonna be great heroes!"
Izuku nodded. "Yeah!"
Seemingly satisfied, Himiko turned to leave. "We should probably get back, don't want to leave Uraraka alone with mom for too long~"
Izuku couldn't help but laugh nervously. "Thanks, Himi."
Chapter 28: Week's End
Aizawa arrived early at UA with a groan. He already wasn't a morning person, and the injuries he was recovering from only made it worse. Honestly, if it wasn't for Emi he may have been late, but her seemingly endless energy was always helpful on days like today.
He just hoped whatever Nezu wanted him for was quick so he could take a nap before class.
Not even caring about formality, Aizawa deposited his sleeping bag in one of the chairs as he sat down in the principal's office, a not-so-subtle reminder to Nezu of what he is missing right now.
"Ah, Aizawa, right on time!"
"Spare me the formalities, what do you want?"
"I will get right to the point then." Nezu hopped out of his chair and walked over to Aizawa, handing him a student's file. "Recently, it has come to my attention that there is a student in general studies who would be ideally suited for the hero course, but his quirk was a poor fit for our entrance exam."
Aizawa sighed. "If you wanted me to lecture you on how unfair our entrance exam is, again, couldn't this have waited until later in the day?"
"While I could have waited, I feel this matter is time-sensitive. You see, I am starting to come around to your arguments, and so I have a proposition for you."
The admission caught Aizawa off-guard, but he found himself suddenly feeling more awake. "What kind of proposition?"
"I have become open to the idea that our concept of hero score is not enough of a counter-weight in the entrance exam. However, to properly push back against the HPSC, I will need evidence showing how we are missing promising young heroes due to the structure of our exam. This is where you come in. If you can show that this student deserves to be in the hero course, we can transfer him over next semester and use him in our case to modify the entrance exam."
"And if this succeeds?"
"Well, then we would begin exploring ways to update our entrance exam, of course. Of course, if you assist me in this matter, I would ensure you were on the committee to revise our exam. As the most vocal opponent of the current system, your input would be invaluable in helping reshape it."
Aizawa thought about that - there were already several students on thin ice in his class, so he wouldn't be surprised if he had new students after summer break. There are definite advantages to grooming someone for his class ahead of time, even if it meant extra work for him. There was also the matter of the entrance exam itself.
After reviewing his options, he opened the file to see the student in question.
Hitoshi Shinso, Quirk: Brainwashing.
"Well I can immediately see the problem with his quirk when it comes to our entrance exam." Aizawa quickly scanned over his file. "And I agree with you that his quirk sounds incredibly useful. He could be an amazing underground hero if he had a chance at it."
"Indeed! Which is why, when Midoriya brought him to my attention yesterday, my first thought was to refer him to you. After all, there would be no better teacher for this assignment."
This elicited a groan from Aizawa. "Of course, Midoriya had to be involved in this. Can I at least speak to him before I make a decision?"
"Of course! That is why I called you here early. In fact, he is already waiting for us."
Nezu returned to his desk and pushed a button. A few moments later, his secretary let Hitoshi into the office. Aizawa took one look at him, and couldn't help but smile when he saw that Hitoshi seemed to be just as annoyed about being there early as he was.
"I think we're going to get along nicely."
In classroom 1-A, the students were sitting there nervously, wondering where their teacher was. Their normally punctual teacher was actually late this morning, with no news as to where he was.
Several minutes after homeroom was supposed to start they finally heard the door open, and Aizawa shuffled in, already out of his sleeping bag. He quickly deposited the bag behind his desk and looked at his class.
"Midoriya, what have you done?" He asked, staring at Izuku.
Izuku swallowed the lump in his throat and returned the look with a nervous glance. He could only guess this was related to the conversations from yesterday.
"J-Just putting your lessons into action, sensei!"
"Hmph." Aizawa was glad for the bandages covering his face, since it let him display a satisfied smile without his students seeing it. "Well, I am going to have extra work now, so that means I am going to be pushing all of you harder as well."
This elicited a groan from his class, and earned Izuku several glares from his classmates. Aizawa, meanwhile, was already busy crawling into his sleeping bag. He still had some time before homeroom was over, and planned to use the time to catch up on a few minutes of sleep.
Himiko found herself quickly eating lunch, before excusing herself early. She had hoped she could track down Kan-sensei earlier, but the week had gotten away from her!
The encounter over break had bothered her enough that she wanted to talk to him about it. After all, he was a professional hero, so he would have better ideas of how to handle fans - both the good and the bad kind. While she didn't feel any malice from the lady, she still didn't know how she was supposed to feel about the whole situation.
Luckily, when she arrived at the faculty office she saw her old teacher sitting at his desk, doing some work. She couldn't help but smile seeing her mentor, and walked up to him.
"Kan-Sensei!"
Kan spun around in his chair, a smile on his face. "Little Midoriya! Did you miss your old teacher so much that you couldn't go a week without seeing me?"
Himiko shook her head. "N-no! I actually." She took a deep breath. "Something happened over the break that I've been meaning to ask you about."
"Is it serious?" Kan's face immediately shifted into a look of concern.
"I don't know." Himiko admitted. "I don't think so? But it's weird enough I'd like some advice. I just - I'm not sure if it's a problem, but I don't know what I should do."
"Come, let's go find someplace more comfortable to talk." Standing up, Kan led Himiko to the teacher's lounge, where they sat down across from each other. "Now then, what happened?"
"I met someone over break." Himiko began. "A lady. She claims to be a fan of mine. I actually first saw her in Tipoca when I was interning with Mr. Brave, but over break I actually ran into her right here in Mustafu.
"On the surface there doesn't seem to be any issue, it could just be a coincidence. But something tells me there is more to this. Where in Mustafu did you run into her?"
"Right outside of Tatooin Station, so it could entirely be coincidence." Himiko admitted. "In Tipoca she looked like she was simply out jogging while we were on patrol, but when I saw her here in Mustafu she actually approached me."
"And how did you feel during these encounters? Obviously you felt like something was off, otherwise you wouldn't be coming to me about it."
"It was unsettling." Himiko admitted. "Not so much like I was being threatened, but like I was being judged?"
Kan looked thoughtful. "That is an odd way to describe things. What gave you that impression?"
Himiko looked down as she recalled her piercing gaze and her words. "Well, first it was her look, and then it was what she said to me. First she said that she claimed to be a fan of mine, praising my quirk, and then she asked me to remember what's important about being a hero."
Kan thought over her words. "Well that part at least makes some sense. I wonder if this woman was a fan of a former hero that turned to villainy."
That confused Himiko. "Heroes can be bad?"
Kan merely laughed and gave Himiko a sad smile, before pulling out his phone and searching for something. Finding what he wanted, he offered the phone to Himiko. "This may explain it. It's a lesson I wish I didn't have to teach someone as young as you, but in this era of peace there are those who want to use their title of hero for personal gain."
Himiko took the device and saw the article title.
Agent Ice arrested due to ties with Trigger smuggling ring.
"That article was dated around six months ago." Kan explained as Himiko began reading the article.
Over the past year the drug Trigger was being smuggled into Japan from South-East Asia through the ports in Tipoca City, and the villains were skilled enough to stay one step ahead of the police. Due to the severity of the situation, a team of heroes was called in to work alongside the police to root out the criminals operating inside Japan. One of the heroes on the investigation team was Agent Ice, due to having an established agency in Tipoca.
However, in a recent battle with villains there was an incident where his ice powers went out of control, in ways consistent with Trigger usage. In the investigation that followed, the drug Trigger was found in his bloodstream. Further investigation led to the discovery that he had been acting as an informant, feeding the smugglers information which allowed them to avoid the other heroes of Topica City in exchange for a regular supply of Trigger.
He used this supply of Trigger to fight villains that were previously out of his league. When questioned, he admitted that he was hoping to fight higher ranking villains in a bid to increase his own hero ranking.
Due to the nature of his crime, he was stripped of his hero ranking and reclassified as a B-Rank villain, and is currently serving out his sentence.
When she was done reading, Himiko handed the phone back to Kan.
"I am sorry, little Midoriya."
Himiko shook her head. "It's sad, to take people's trust and break it like that. So you think that this woman may have been a fan of Agent Ice?"
"If not him, then another hero who has similarly descended into villainy. If she happened to be a fan of yours, and she just so happened to spot you, perhaps she wanted assurance that her trust wouldn't be broken again?"
Himiko found the idea frustrating. "But I'm just a student! I don't even have my provisional license yet! How could I have done anything?"
"While your quirk is not one that would be traditionally seen as heroic, that doesn't mean it is not incredibly powerful in its own way. Think about all of the havoc you could cause if you put your mind to it, and had the right samples of blood."
Himiko buried her face in her hands. "I'd prefer not thinking about that, if I can help it." She was reminded of the numerous nightmares she had, lasting even into her early days at UA, where she would hear about a villain in the news and then that night she would dream that she was that villain, committing the crimes that she had heard about. It made her shudder.
"I know this isn't an easy conversation." Kan offered. "And I know you would never do something like that. But if someone merely knows about you from the Sports Festival and your internship, they wouldn't know that yet."
"I don't exactly like telling people what I've been through." Himiko sighed and pulled out her phone, staring at her lock screen. The image of her and a little girl both giving toothy grins a happy reminder that she was already doing good in the world. "Besides, if I did something like that, that would mean my birth parents were right about me."
Kan gently puts a hand on his shoulder. "While you and I know that, it is up to you to prove that to the public at large. That is your motivation for becoming a hero, after all!"
Himiko found herself nodding in agreement. "You're right! I guess I just need to show this lady that I'm not going to turn out like that, huh?"
"Exactly! She is a good reminder of the path you are on."
However, even with Kan's assurances, something still tugged at the back of Himiko's mind. "And if it turns out she is following me for a more sinister reason?"
Kan's face took a much more serious tone. "Well, if you have another run-in with her that worries you, let me know. As much as I would prefer this to be a case of a worried fan, after the events of this week we are all on edge. As an upcoming hero you are expected to be able to handle yourself, but as a student under our care for two more years, we will protect you with all of our resources at our disposal."
"Thanks, sensei." Himiko felt reassured by her mentor. "If she turns out to be some creep I'll just have to let you destroy them for me!"
That earned a laugh from Kan. "Now, now, hopefully it doesn't come to that!"
"I hope so too. But knowing that you're there for me does make me feel better."
With everything that happened since the year began, Amaya and Rin decided that their get-together was even more important. And so as the first school week drew to a close the fourteen girls of class two had plans to meet up after school and go out to dinner to celebrate the new school year.
At the end of the school day Himiko packed her bag and waited for her friends. As had become tradition among her group, a get-together meant that the four of them would all head to Atsuko's apartment to change and hang out before heading out for the evening. When everyone was ready they left the school, meeting up with Izuku and his friends in the courtyard.
Unfortunately for Himiko, just like she was able to read Izuku well, he also had developed an almost uncanny ability to tell when something is off. When their two groups met up, she saw his look of concern immediately. As the seven of them left the school and began walking towards the station, she felt his hand tugging on her arm, and the pair fell back from the rest of their group.
"Is everything ok?" Izuku asked quietly.
Himiko looked at her brother. "I just had an interesting conversation with Kan-sensei today. Why didn't you ever tell me heroes could become villains?"
Izuku's face heated up. "I don't really like those stories, and I don't think you would either. Why?"
"I just found out about them today. I'll tell you all about it when I get home, ok?" Himiko gave a reassuring smile to her brother.
Izuku nodded. "I'm holding you to that!"
"You'd better!"
Himiko couldn't help but smile as the two finished their conversation and hurried to catch up with their friends. Sometimes it was good to be reminded that Izuku had her back as much as she had his.
When they got to the train station, Ochako waved at Izuku. "See you on Monday, Deku!"
"Wait, Uraraka isn't coming over tonight?" Himiko asked.
"N-no! I promised my parents that I would video call them today! They want to know all about how my first week went."
"Uraraka told me last night." Izuku admitted.
"N-not that I don't appreciate everything your mom is doing for me! It's actually been nice having dinner with you guys! But I can't let the food I already have go to waste, either!"
Himiko gave Ochako a pouty look. "Aww, but you could have had a nice evening with just mom and Izu!"
This caused both of the first year students to start blushing, causing Himiko and Atsuko to laugh.
"I-I really should get going." Ochako squeaked out.
"I'll see you on Monday, Uraraka! And I'll see you when you get home Himi!" Izuku said before turning and practically running down the stairs into the terminal.
Sakura could only smile at her friends' antics before turning to Ochako. "You know, tonight is just going to be the second years, but you should come along when it's just the four of us."
"M-maybe, that could be fun!" Ochako said, starting to recover.
"And you can bring friends too, the more the merrier!" Emily added.
Ochako smiled and nodded at the second years, before the group split up.
Himiko collapses on the couch in Atsuko's living room, having already changed out of her school uniform into a pair of simple black leggings and a t-shirt, with an oversized cardigan thrown on top. Atsuko sat down next, having changed into a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt in her own room.
"It's been quite a week, hasn't it?" Atsuko asked.
"It has been worse for some of us than others." Tomoe added.
"Being a big sister is hard, none of you understand." Himiko made sure that her tone sounded as painful as possible.
"As if you wouldn't do anything for Izuku." Atsuko teased.
Himiko responded by glaring at her friend. "That's it, our friendship is over. I have decided that Uraraka's my new best friend."
That caused Atsuko to laugh, and eventually Himiko broke and began laughing as well.
"Who would have thought Izuku would have been such a trouble magnet?"
Himiko just gave Atsuko a look. "Have you met him?"
Her friend laughed in response. "Ok, fair!"
"But it's the weekend now! Your brother can handle himself for one night, it's time to relax!" Emily exclaimed.
"Yes!" Himiko cheered. "He's probably going to be sitting at home, just working on his notebook."
That seemed to excite Emily as she reached for her bag. "Oh! Speaking of that, Nezu's going to be holding special lessons for us starting next week!"
Himiko rolled her eyes. "Of course Izu would get you into that."
Emily stuck her tongue out at Himiko. "He also recommended Yaoyorozu, so it wasn't just me!"
"That poor girl, isn't she going to be lost?" Atsuko asked.
"She can handle it! She's super smart, she'll catch up!"
"She just has to survive getting tossed into the deep end with you two?"
"Exactly!"
Tomoe sighed wistfully. "I almost wish that I had something like that to look forward to."
"Maybe you will!" Himiko offered. "Izu said there's more courses coming, this is just the first course of its type, and they will have more soon?"
That caused Tomoe to smile. "Hopefully, that would be nice."
"You're also super smart, it wouldn't be fair if we were the only ones getting lessons because nobody else cares about quirks the way we do!"
The answer seemed to satisfy Tomoe as she stood up to change. "I guess we'll see, won't we?"
"Yep!" Emily finally pulled the folder out of her bag and set it on the table, going through the papers and talking to herself about the materials Nezu provided her.
"Looks like we're going to hear about this even if we don't want to." Himiko complained dramatically.
"Aww, don't be like that! You love us and you know it."
"I already cut ties with Suko earlier, don't make me find more friends from Izu's class."
Himiko was confused by the expression on Emily's face, lasting only a brief moment before she returned to her usual self. "Oh please, none of them are as lovely as we are!"
Himiko responded by sticking out her tongue, causing Emily to laugh.
Tomoe came back in a pair of patterned gray-and-black leggings and a green t-shirt, sitting back down on the couch as Emily grabbed her bag and left.
"So what is the plan afterwards?"
"Arcade?"
"Works for me!"
A few minutes later Emily returned, having dressed up compared to her friends. She was now wearing pink leggings with a nice white skirt over top, and a white dress shirt that hugged her figure. The most significant feature however, was the crimson lipstick she was wearing, her lips painted a deep red.
Himiko couldn't help but find it distracting. It wasn't the color of blood, of course, but it was close enough to grab her attention. After her earlier confusion this week, she found this new addition wasn't helping at all. It was doing quite the opposite in fact, as despite her best efforts, Himiko was finding her eyes drawn towards Emily's face.
"P-Pretty." She stammered out, without realizing it.
"Looks like you're out to impress someone." Tomoe said pointedly.
The attention caused Emily to blush. "S-shut up!"
"She just wants to one-up her rival." Atsuko said, smirking. "Since Fuwa's going to be there, of course Emily has to go all out."
Himiko finally managed to achieve some level of composure, shoving the traitorous thoughts away for her to figure out later. "That's our Emmy, always trying to one up everyone."
Emily crossed her arms. "It's not a crime if I want to look cute sometimes!"
"We're just teasing." Tomoe said, before glancing at the others in the room. "Although you do look good, right?"
"Yep!"
"Y-yeah!"
Emily sat back down and continued going through the papers, while the rest of the girls continued to chat about the upcoming school year until it was time to leave and meet up with Amaya, Rin, and the other girls.
Chapter 29: Quirks 101
When the time came for his new class, Izuku gathered his quirk analysis notebook and other materials before quickly exiting the classroom, meeting Momo outside the door.
"I'm glad you decided to join us." He told her as the two began walking down the hallway towards Nezu's office.
"Thanks. I was unsure about the offer at first, but decided that it was a wonderful opportunity. I just hope I don't hold everyone else back." Momo replied.
Izuku offered her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry if you're lost at first, I'm sure Nezu has accounted for that. After all, if he plans to expand it, he will have to plan for different levels of experience."
Momo smiled back, relief evident on her face. "Thanks."
The two continued their journey in silence, until Emily intercepted them in the hallway. "Izuku! This is so exciting!"
"H-hey Emily. It really is, isn't it?"
Emily stopped in front of them and shot Izuku a flat look. "Seriously, where is your enthusiasm?"
Izuku laughed nervously. "Do I need it when you have enough enthusiasm for all three of us?"
While Izuku was excited for the opportunity, right now he felt more nervous than anything. He was aware that Nezu had high expectations of him, and he didn't want to let him down. Not after all of the help Nezu has given his family over the past two years, both directly and indirectly.
The three continued along until they entered Nezu's office. "Ah, right on time! Please, sit down." He gestured to a table that had been arranged with four chairs surrounding it, a folder filled with papers sitting in front of three of the chairs.
"I had thought to start the course off with a simple exercise, to establish a baseline of your knowledge. So for today, we will be going over your classmates' quirks."
The three students sat down and opened the folders in front of them, and Izuku flushed in embarrassment. The page consisted of his school ID photo, as well as the school's writeup for his quirk. His quirk profile consisted of the official description on file at the quirk registry office, along with an additional paragraph of notes that the school appears to have added.
"We're starting with m-me?" Izuku looked up.
"But of course! When going over your classes, what better place to start than the three of you. I would hope that, if nothing else, you each should have extensive knowledge of your own quirk. Besides, it is helpful for me to know how you think about your own quirk, compared to how you three analyze someone else's quirk."
Izuku looked down at the profile. He knew what it said, of course, but it helped get him in the right mindset - he didn't want to slip and say something about One For All. "At its most basic level, I have a somewhat generic energy storage and enhancement quirk. Essentially, my body burns slightly more energy than average, and that excess is stored for later use. Whenever I am in a resting state, such as when I am sleeping, my body obviously stores more energy than when I am active, such as during heroics class. Then, when I need to, I can tap that energy, directing it to my limbs to strengthen them, giving me temporary super strength and durability."
"A concise explanation of your quirk. Now then, what else can you tell me about it?"
Izuku looked at his hand. "Due to the fact that my quirk has come in late, I have several major drawbacks at the moment. One is that my body has excess energy stored, due to the fact that even though I only recently was able to use it, I have been storing energy since I was young. The other is that I lack the level of control I would have if my quirk manifested earlier. These two facts combined form a major weakness of my quirk, in that if I make a mistake I could easily hurt myself, or even incapacitate myself if I break all of the bones in a limb. Over time, I should be able to overcome both of these problems, as I gain more control over my quirk and build up my body."
"Indeed, those are serious problems for the time being, especially if you face someone who is aware of them and could exploit them. Now then, Miss Song, what do you have to add?"
Everyone turned their attention to Emily, and she lit up. "Izuku failed to mention the fact that when he punched the Nomu at the USJ he did not feel any of the usual feedback. This has me wondering about the specific mechanism behind how his limbs are being strengthened. After all, even if two quirks operate in essentially the same way, there are usually fundamental differences between versions of the same quirk. If the energy is being used in such a way that a shock absorption quirk is able to nullify it, it should be possible to build some support items that allow Izuku to punch and kick at higher strengths then what he is currently able to, temporarily offsetting some of his current issues."
"Excellent idea!" Nezu said. "Now then, Miss Yaoyorozu, what are your thoughts on Mr. Midoriya's quirk?"
Momo looked like a fish out of water as she stared at the profile in front of her. "I-I'm not sure what I could add that these two haven't already discussed."
"It's ok, Yaoyorozu." Izuku said. "I know Emily and I have spent a lot of time analyzing our own quirks, but that just means we can tell you if your thoughts are right or not!"
"Yeah! In science, you only learn through failure! The same goes here, if you don't start somewhere, even if you get it wrong, you're never going to get anywhere!"
Momo looked up, and hearing everyone's encouragement a look of determination filled her own face. She looked back down at the profile. "I have noticed that Midoriya has a distinctive indication when he is using his quirk, and you can use that to know which limb he is currently enhancing. If I were to be facing him, I could use that to anticipate his attacks. While I suspect someday that may not matter, for now, you can use that window to either block his current attack, or counter him by targeting another, more vulnerable, area."
This earned a cheer from Emily, while Izuku's face was heating up from embarrassment. "See! That's important to know!"
"Indeed!" Nezu was taking notes. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"
"No." Momo admitted. "It just took me some time to think about it. Time that I'm not sure I would have in the middle of a fight."
"Well, that's why we're here! Do you think Izuku and I started as fast as we are? No!"
"Emily is right, it's just practice. Once you get the hang of it, it gets easier and faster." Izuku added.
"They are correct, which is why I agreed to bring you in for the class. After all, what is the point of school, but to learn?"
Momo smiled at the three. "Thanks. I'll do my best!"
"Excellent. Now then, let's move onto the next profile. Miss Song, if you would do the honors."
The three all flipped the page to reveal the school's profile for Emily. Once again, Izuku and Emily scanned it quickly, confirming what they already knew, while Momo read the document more thoroughly. "So my quirk is registered as light arrows, which is a bit of a misnomer, but it's close enough! I can generate orbs of light of various sizes and intensities, and then "fire" them in a straight line towards a target."
Izuku jumped in. "The problem with your quirk is immediately apparent, in that your projectiles, despite all appearances, actually have surprisingly little kinetic energy behind them - it is mostly light and heat. While this is fine stopping anything coming at you - you can either incinerate the object with intense heat, or you abuse physics by having an object's kinetic energy counteracted by running into a ball of energy traveling in the opposite direction, it poses a problem if you want to gain distance from an enemy. You have no way of pushing them back once they are in close quarters, and are forced to rely on your own physical abilities to gain space."
Emily grumbled at that. "Way to remind me I suck in close quarters."
"There is also the scaling issue. The larger an orb you generate, the less strength you can put into it."
"I'm actually working on that!" Emily exclaimed. "Just like you need to build up your body to enhance your limbs more, I have to exercise my quirk to increase the power I can put behind it!"
Momo finally broke in. "How does your quirk handle something that is designed to be heat-resistant? There are ceramics designed to withstand intense heat, would they counter your quirk?"
"Probably." Emily complained. "My support gauntlet helps me offset some of my quirk's drawbacks, and was constructed primarily out of heat-resistant materials, so if you had the proper materials you could likely counter it to some degree."
"Is it possible to dial up the light without increasing the destructive force? One of the blueprints I have memorized is how to create stun grenades, and I could see the ability to generate an intense light to blind your opponents being useful."
"Not that I have found, no, but that's a feature of my support items!" Emily grinned. "My gauntlet actually has a flash bomb setting! Where I capture an intense orb of light and basically siphon off the destructive energy to either use later, or discharge after the fight, but when I discharge the gauntlet it emits the blinding flash of light!"
Momo thought about that. "Using support items to offset your quirk's drawback…"
"See Yaoyorozu, you're already getting the hang of it." Izuku said.
Momo blushed at that. "T-thanks! It is easier now that I am in the right mindset."
"Now then, since you appear to be thinking about it already, Miss Yaoyorozu, why don't you tell us about your quirk."
The group turned the page in their packets and revealed Momo's profile. "Y-yes. My quirk is creation. I can essentially transform the lipids in my body into any non-living object, provided I know the right molecular structure and have a blueprint of the object in my head. The obvious drawbacks are that I am limited by my lipids - if I push myself too far, my body will begin consuming more important cells, and I am limited by the size of an object - I cannot generate something that is larger than the surface area of my body. If I wanted to, I would have to create multiple smaller pieces and assemble it."
"So the obvious drawback is how many fat cells you have in your body. Do you know how your body stores excess fat? After all, our bodies should have natural adaptations to handle our quirks - like Emily has some inherent heat resistance, to protect herself from burns when she creates a miniature star in the palm of her hand."
"N-no." Momo admitted. "I have always had a carefully curated diet."
"That would be the first thing you could experiment with, see what happens if you eat extra calories and find out how your body stores them. My question is how complex of an object can you make? Like you said you could make a stun grenade, could you make something as complex as a computer? Or a robot?"
"I-In theory I could? But the complexity of something would be the problem." Momo admitted. "For a stun grenade, the most complex part is the firing mechanism, which is still relatively simple compared to something like a computer."
"If you are merely limited by what you can keep in your head, then your ability to counter quirks is endless! Can you duplicate quirk-suppressing cuffs? That would be huge!"
"I could try, but I would need pretty detailed blueprints of how they work."
"I believe I can handle that." Nezu offered. "I will reach out and speak with some people. Because I do agree that if you could create something such as that, it would be quite useful in your line of work."
"I would be up for the challenge." Momo responded confidently.
"Excellent! Now then, those were the easiest entries. Let's continue by examining the rest of Class 2-B next, as Midoriya and Song have the most experience with those students."
The group flipped to the next page and began to review the next student as the lesson continued.
"Do you mind if I sit here?"
Izuku and his friends looked up to see Hitoshi standing there, a tray of food in his hands.
"N-No, go ahead!"
"I do not have any problem!" Tenya announced, while Ochako and Tsuyu merely nodded their approval.
"Thanks." Hitoshi sat down with a groan, and only then did Izuku notice that he appeared even more exhausted than he did last week. "Since I was wrong last week, I thought maybe I should actually take some time to learn more about you hero course types."
Izuku smiled at that, and looked at his friends who seemed surprised. "I don't mind, anyone else?"
Seeing everyone agree, they went around the table and introduced themselves. Feeling welcomed by the group, Hitoshi seemed to grow more comfortable as he picked up his chopsticks.
"I don't know how you hero students do it." He complained.
"Do what?" Ochako asked, confused.
"Put up with Aizawa-sensei's training. I've only been training under him for five days and it's been hell."
"It is necessary to stay in top form to fulfill our duties as a hero!" Iida exclaimed.
"Y-yeah, you don't think any villains would take it easy on us, do you?"
"Hmph." Hitoshi just looked down at his food. "I guess I underestimated the hero course after all. If this is what you go through regularly then it's no wonder I failed the entrance exam."
"Being a hero is about more than just your quirk, kero."
"Yeah! Some people may be able to get by on just their quirk, but there's also a lot more to it!"
"More than just your quirk, huh?" Hitoshi was looking at his food, but Izuku could tell he was staring far away.
"Remember what I said about how I almost ended up taking the exam quirkless? I went through ten months of intensive training to prepare for that."
"I guess I never really thought about it that way before." Hitoshi took a bite of food. "I just took the standard pre-hero PE courses that they offered in middle school."
"Ah! That simply wouldn't have been enough to handle those robots! At least not without a strong physical quirk to compensate, such as the one Midoriya has!"
Examining his face, Izuku felt a flash of familiarity. Hitoshi had already admitted that people wrote him off as a villain in middle school, and he had internalized that. It was similar to how he and Himiko had internalized the prejudices that they had faced. And unlike the two of them, Hitoshi never had someone in his life to help him grow past those assumptions.
Until now, that is.
"Sadly I agree with Iida." Izuku said. "While it is possible to pass the exam with your mental quirk, it would have required extensive additional training."
"Hmph. Yeah, I guess I learned that lesson the hard way." Hitoshi says wistfully.
"Do you regret agreeing to Aizawa's training?"
Hitoshi looked at Izuku like he was crazy. "Are you kidding? Sure the training is rough, but I feel myself getting better every day. You all are going to have to watch out by the time the sports festival arrives."
The students laughed at that. "I gladly welcome the challenge!"
"Yeah, if you want to be a hero, you'll have to give it your all, because we're going all out too!"
"We won't go easy on you, kero."
Izuku smiled at him. "If you pull it off, you'll have earned your spot in the hero course!"
This earned a chuckle from Hitoshi. "I guess I need to get ready for all of the work you hero course students put in, if I want to join you."
Tenya slammed his fist into his palm. "Of course! You shouldn't expect anything less from an institution such as this!"
Because the sports festival was coming up, the hero course students were given open study periods for several of their heroics classes in the two weeks leading up to the event. This gave them extra time to work on specific areas they wanted to improve before the festival. For the first years, these were mostly used for general improvement. For the second years, however, they had a much better idea of where they wanted to focus their training.
For Himiko, she was using it as a chance to further work on her natural speed and agility, as she was leaping from building to building in the training ground. Each training ground had several preset courses mapped out that were used for races and training, and Himiko was currently racing through the most difficult course available.
She was panting heavily by the time she reached the finish line, looking at her stopwatch to check her time - she had managed to shave a full five seconds off of her personal best from last year already. She let out a small cheer.
"Hey Midoriya, dial it back, you're going to embarrass the rest of us!" She heard Amaya call out from the sidelines, where she was greedily drinking a bottle of water.
Himiko responded by sticking her tongue out. "Just because I can't use a quirk to get around doesn't mean I'm going to let myself fall behind!"
"Good!" Amaya walked over with a grin on her face and handed Himiko a water bottle. "If you don't push yourself I may get complacent, and that would be terrible."
Himiko rolled her eyes as she drank some water. "I'm sure someone else would have kept you on your toes."
Amaya laughed. "Probably! But with you it's personal! I still owe you from last year's sports festival. I won't lose to you this year!"
"We'll see in two weeks!"
Himiko gave her a predatory grin before waving goodbye, as she walked across the training ground to where some of her other classmates were sparring. She arrived just in time to see Tomoe knocked to the ground, before her opponent offered her a hand back up.
In an effort to expand her skills further, Tomoe had recently been trying to copy Himiko's stealth technique. While she now carried around smoke grenades, that wasn't always an option for her. So she was trying to incorporate other moves into her fighting style.
Unfortunately for Tomoe, so far she was unable to replicate Himiko's stealth technique. After a few more minutes of trying, she finally gave up, waving Himiko over as her opponent moved on.
"You still can't figure out how my stealth trick works?"
Tomoe shook her head. "I think I might just not be able to do it."
Himiko's face fell. "Why not?"
"I think it has to do with my quirk. Because I am processing so much extra sensory information, I am having trouble clearing my head properly. I could show you sometime? I can just boost your hearing and you can try being sneaky."
"Oh."
Tomoe put her arm on Himiko's shoulder. "That's ok though! Thanks to Izuku and Emily I have my own fighting style, between the tasers and the blind fighting. That just means you get to keep your special move for yourself."
"I still hate the fact that they gave you the idea to learn how to fight while blinded." Himiko grumbled.
"What, just because I'm the one person who can break your stealth move?"
"Exactly! What if I have to stop you someday."
Tomoe laughed softly at that. "You'll just have to find some other way to deal with me. Although you have been getting better - even Atsuko's having a hard time keeping track of you, and she's had the most practice out of all of us."
"I wonder if it will be enough for the sports festival this year."
"Look at you, all concerned about the sports festival all of a sudden."
Himiko blushed at that. "Shut up! I just don't want to fall behind is all!"
Tomoe smiled at her. "I thought you hated the idea of rivalries? I get it though - now that there's two full classes we have more competition."
"Yeah, and all of the extra attention Izu's class has been getting from the media circus." Himiko frowned.
"We just have to show them up, won't we? Remind everyone that there's more than one class at the school."
Himiko grinned. "Yep! We'll teach them a lesson for underestimating us!"