Kurogiri pressed more of himself through the dimensional wall, and soon saw first hand what the Doctor meant. Few bodies were even close to fully intact, which would make salvaging Quirks from them difficult, if not impossible. He'd snatch some of the more intact bodies, then take samples from the rest before doing the same on other floors.
Even if the thought of what they'd be used for made the voices within scream in horror.
Katsuki stomped from the Principal's office for the second time in as many days, his mind a jagged mess.
Therapy. They wanted him to attend therapy.
The idea was galling. He'd always looked forward to regaling people with curated parts of his life story some day, but he'd sure as fuck never imagined he'd do it laying on a god damn chaise longue while a shrink prodded him until the juicy bits fell out. The idea was viscerally unpleasant to him for a variety of reasons.
Katsuki clenched his palms, sweat sizzling faintly as he burned away the thin film that had formed in the past few minutes. Nerves-induced sweaty palms were fantastic in the midst of combat, but were a nightmare in basically every other situation imaginable.
Naturally, Nezu hadn't outright said what the alternative to therapy was. That would have been far too direct for the cunning little bastard. However, given the subject of conversation had touched on several of his worst moments at UA, Katsuki had a few well founded suspicions. He didn't think the chimera would actually have the balls to expel him, given what he now knew, but Katsuki suspected the reverse was also true; Nezu knew, no matter how Katsuki felt, that he would never reveal what he knew about One for All in retaliation. He didn't exactly want a societal collapse even sooner than the one already on the way, and he didn't actually want Midoriya's death on his hands despite… certain things he'd said in the past.
'You'll have to face that at some point.' The bastard voice in the back of his head reminded him. 'If you're going to go through with therapy, it'll come to light eventually.'
He hated that it was right.
He'd known, with the kind of detached understanding that probably didn't say anything good about his mental health, that he'd done some seriously fucked up shit in his life. He'd been holding that knowledge at arms length for years now, judging it as though the sins belonged to someone else. He'd been safe that way, able to keep enjoying his dominance and power while insulated by his conviction that he'd be a hero some day. That he'd make up for it later by crushing villains into fucking dust and being the strongest hero to ever walk Japan.
That defense had always wavered around Midoriya, though. The scrawny little weekling that wanted to make things better now , even though he couldn't. The one who wanted to be a hero too, but who never put in an ounce of effort to actually prepare beyond making his notebooks, as though they'd save him when he couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag . The one who kept following him around, his mere presence threatening to tear down the dividing line in Katsuki's brain that kept him safe.
The one who'd brought out Katsuki's worst, because anything else ran the risk of proving the little fucker right.
Then, Katsuki had won the entrance exam, and was accepted to UA just like he'd always known he would be. The place where he'd become a hero. Where he'd finally be able to put the past behind him and prove everyone who told him how amazing he'd be right. Where he'd become the best.
Except he wasn't. Sure, he was better than just about everyone in the first year hero course, but he wasn't the best. And the more time that had passed, the more it had felt like everyone was catching up faster than he himself was improving.
Midoriya most of all.
It had been a kick in the teeth when Midoriya had played him during the battle trial, but he'd been able to write that off as a personal failing after a bit of mental contortionism. After all, he'd still been thinking of him as Deku, the useless weakling. Had he taken things completely seriously from the start, it would have gone differently.
Then had come the sports festival, when the little shit had self sabotaged his way to a loss despite clearly being able to defeat Todoroki if he just went for the win. Katsuki had been strategizing how to handle the fucking instant glaciers for weeks to debatable success, but Midoriya had trivialized them with his self destructive bullshit strength. He'd forced Todoroki to whip out the equivalent of an entire second Quirk with equal potency to his ice, and he'd STILL almost won. Then Todoroki had turned around and completely thrown their match, as good as saying Katsuki wasn't worth fighting after what he'd just gone up against.
That had been a staggering blow, but still one he could rationalize. Midoriya's power was absurd, but it had severe drawbacks that he couldn't seem to escape. He might have had more raw power, but that didn't mean he would be a worthwhile hero. It hadn't proved him right about anything.
Then Midoriya had defeated the Hero Killer, using a slew of abilities he'd developed in less than a week, his drawbacks suddenly nowhere to be found.
Then Midoriya nearly caught up to Katsuki in the race, despite the fact that he'd been going all out in an environment that favored him to the extreme.
Then Katsuki had learned the truth, with an unhealthy serving of gut-wrenching horror thrown in for good measure.
Each new development had struck Katsuki like a guided missile, blasting apart everything he'd thought he understood. The revelation that All Might had CHOSEN Midoriya to become the next him had punched a gaping hole right through all Katsuki's defenses.
Midoriya, who'd idealized instead of training. Midoriya, who put himself between people and what he perceived as danger, which often meant Katsuki himself. Midoriya, who'd apparently been acting like a hero the whole time, to the point All Might recognized it and CHOSE HIM to wield his power.
That had left only one role Katsuki could have been filling.
He hated it. He rejected it. He screamed the same old things he always did, pushed everyone away, then compressed everything he was feeling down into yet another jagged shard of fear-guilt-FAILURE to hopefully never look at again.
Except, with the protective insulation torn away, that blade of pain was lodged in his chest. Without that imaginary distance between himself and the person who'd bullied and abused his way through every school he'd ever set foot in, his loathing landed exactly where it belonged. He could blame his power trip on all the people who'd enabled it, but he couldn't pass the weight of it off onto anyone else anymore. Even if nobody had stopped him, he'd been the one who did those things. Him. His hands, his words, his Quirk.
He hated Midoriya with a passion forged from a thousand things he hadn't dared contemplate, for fear of what he'd really find at the heart of his rage.
All he had left was the knowledge of what he'd done, raw and painful and awful. Every acknowledgement was another stab of pain as a shard slid home.
Needless to say, 'Therapy' was just a fancy word for 'acupuncture with broken glass' as far as he was concerned. But, if he still wanted to be a hero…
"Kacchan?"
Katsuki's head snapped up, a sneer sliding into place as naturally as breathing. Midoriya and Inko had just stepped out from a side hall near the main entrance, and now both were staring at him. The sight of them made everything inside him twist up on itself, but he managed to bite back the vitriol sitting in his mouth like acid. Had it just been Midoriya, he might not have managed it.
But Inko was there.
Inko added a whole new fucking dimension to the complexity of what he was feeling. Unlike basically every other important person in his life, her belief in him hadn't felt like an oppressive mandate he had to live up to. It hadn't demanded anything of him. It hadn't been a challenge. It had been simple, quiet encouragement from someone who believed in him unconditionally.
He'd failed her more thoroughly than he had anyone else.
"Katsuki? Are you alright?"
Katsuki blinked, then realized he'd been staring. He wrenched his thoughts out of their spiral, then shoved everything back down to deal with later. Or never, if he could get away with it.
'That's not an option anymore, and you know it.'
"M'fine." Katsuki grunted, then pushed through the doors. Inko cocked her head at him as he passed, but he refused to focus on her again. He wasn't sure if he could take her looking at him with worry or sympathy right now without it triggering some kind of chain reaction. To that end, he decided to distract her.
"How're your legs doing?" He plastered on a smirk. "Hopefully not bad enough to make you give up."
"Her… legs?" Midoriya asked warily from behind.
"I, um, went to the gym this morning." Inko replied, embarrassment clear in her voice. "I talked to Nana last night, and decided to try exercising. I… um… I was going to join you this morning, but you and Iida weren't there. Katsuki helped me get started, though." Inko cleared her throat. "As for my legs, Katsuki, they're fine. I think the elliptical was a good starting choice."
Despite himself, Katsuki glanced back. He could see in real time as Midoriya processed what he'd just heard. Then, the damn Nerd smiled at him. It was hesitant, but more genuine than Katsuki had seen aimed his way in… longer than he wanted to think about right that moment. He was having a hard enough time keeping his balance in this conversation without actively digging through years of shit that definitely wouldn't help.
"Well, thank you for helping her!"
Katuski tsked dismissively, but didn't otherwise respond. Thankfully, Midoriya turned his attention back to his mother.
"As for joining me, I'd love that!" Midoriya looked genuinely excited at the idea. "I think our plan is generally to do warm up laps on the track, then move to the gym. You could join us for that if you'd like, or wait until we're upstairs."
"I wouldn't want to slow you two down on your morning run. That would defeat the whole point of it. I'll just wait until you get to the gym." Inko shook her head, then hesitated. Slowly, she turned to look at Katsuki again, and he felt himself tense. "Unless you're still planning to be there in the morning, Katsuki. Maybe I could join you for a bit as well, until Izuku is done with his laps?"
Katsuki damn near shot the idea down out of hand. Exercising with her around to keep reminding him of everything he was trying to avoid thinking about had been bad enough. There was no damn way he could tolerate Midoriya being there too once he moved to the gym as well.
But it wasn't like he could just cede the gym to them either. Sure, he could go for longer in the afternoon, but he'd been doing morning exercises for most of his life. That was leaving aside the fact that, even now, there was no way in hell he was going to run away just because someone was invading his space.
Which really only left one choice, even if it was picking between a bed of nails and a bed of rusty nails.
"I'll be there." Katsuki grunted, then picked up his pace. The sooner he got back to the dorms and was able to put a door between them and himself, the better. "Do what you want."
All things considered, Izuku's morning had been pretty pleasant. He'd slept well enough, and enjoyed his and Tenya's morning run. Their time in the gym afterwards had been… tense, but given that it involved being in relatively close quarters with Bakugo, that was better than he expected. The extra time spent with his mother had gone a long way to make the experience more enjoyable, and the determined glint in her eye had been a surprising delight.
Despite all of that, something was bothering him as he put on his school uniform.
The previous night, Toshinori's alarm had been a sharp series of beeps. That wasn't particularly unusual as far as alerts went, but given his usual penchant for… personalized ringtones, it seemed out of character. His request for a higher charge of Boon had been understandable, though requesting all of it had been a surprise. Given it was the end of the day, however, it was likely that Toshinori had just been running particularly short on time.
Then, he'd pulled Aizawa into it.
That had raised a few more concerns that were difficult to dismiss. There were countless situations where Eraser Head could be extremely helpful, even alongside someone as powerful as All Might. Given the sheer usefulness of someone who could nullify Quirks, not taking him along when he was right there and willing to help would have been a waste. But at the same time, a situation severe enough to have All Might actively recruit Eraser Head… that was concerning.
Regardless, it was All Might and Eraser Head working together. That combination was probably unbeatable. Barring a truly disastrous situation, it seemed unlikely anything would be able to meaningfully resist the two of them.
He'd checked for any indication of such an event, worried that the League of Villains might have made another move, but he saw nothing even remotely like that. Miruko had disassembled an organized robbery in Kochi. Pirouette had stopped a multi-car chase by using her Quirk to forcibly slow the vehicle's wheels. Edgeshot had spearheaded a raid on a drug den in Nagano. Wash had been involved in rescue efforts in Kobe, where a storm had turned far more destructive than forecasts had predicted. There seemed to be a general increase in hero activity, but that wasn't all that unusual. Otherwise, there hadn't been any significant events reported.
But there were also no reports of All Might in action, much less alongside an otherwise little known underground hero. The only oddity he found was a social media post, where they'd shared a video of an aircraft flying away from the Endeavor agency. There'd been a brief flicker of movement that he thought might have been All Might, but could have been video artifacting due to the aircraft.
Regardless, Endeavor's agency mobilizing for something had prompted him to look for anything similar happening around other top Pros. Among them, he'd found that Kamui Woods had been spotted getting in a helicopter and flying north, and that Hawks had been spotted making a beeline north as well.
Toshinori had also set off northward, if Izuku's barings were correct.
If that wasn't a coincidence, and it REALLY didn't seem like it was, then something had clearly happened. But the complete lack of information on what that something might have been was worrisome. Perhaps it had happened somewhere so remote there were no witnesses to spread information? Even then, the news would have likely gotten wind of that… unless the information was being actively suppressed .
Which was god damn terrifying to consider.
He'd sent Toshinori a message earlier, but hadn't received a response by the time he made it to the classroom. He'd resolved himself to ask Aizawa when the opportunity presented itself, though he honestly doubted he'd get an answer if the news really was being kept quiet.
Then Nezu had walked into class just before the bell rang, and all Izuku's fears had crystallized.
"Good morning, Principal Nezu!" Tenya popped up from his seat, arm raised in his usual greeting. "What brings you to our classroom? Is Mr. Aizawa unable to make it today?"
"Good morning to you as well, Iida." Nezu nodded, then stepped behind the teacher's desk. A moment later, he clambered up to stand atop it. "Mr. Aizawa and All Might were both tapped for an emergency situation last night, which is now under control. They're fine, but due to the sensitive nature of the event, they won't be able to teach today's classes. For the time being, I'll be filling in."
Slowly, Izuku let out a breath, then pressed his lips tightly closed. 'So it was something being suppressed after all. If they're being held that long, then it must have been something really bad. But if Nezu is telling us that something did happen… then there's probably an official statement coming soon.'
Anticipation laced with dread settled into Izuku's stomach. It was somewhat better than the undirected worry he'd been feeling before, given he at least knew both Toshinori and Aizawa were alright. Hopefully the news would break soon, and he'd be able to put that feeling to rest. Unfortunately, he doubted whatever would replace it would be much better.
Izuku was most of the way through a particularly complex algebra equation when One for All began pulsing.
That, in and of itself, wasn't particularly unusual. Normally, the Vestiges would keep the pulses under control if they weren't trying to contact him. But it was possible for them to slip through, as had happened back in the hospital with Tenya and Tensei. He tried to keep his focus long enough to finish the problem, but a realization struck him and completely derailed his train of thought.
He didn't recognize the pulses.
There was a sense of familiarity to them, but they didn't belong to any of the Vestiges. Izuku focused inwards, letting the barest thread of power clarify the connection. His initial assumption was that Tsubasa had managed to communicate, but that thought was proved incorrect the moment the voice resolved.
'It's fine, Yoichi. I was just a bit startled is all.'
Izuku jolted in his seat. 'Toshinori?'
'Ah, Young Izuku! Um… Surprise?'
'What happened? How are you here?' A cold spike of terror set every hair on Izuku's body on end. 'You didn't… You can't have…'
'NO! No, he's fine, Izuku! Don't worry!' Yoichi replied hurriedly, sending reassurance his way. 'From what I was able to figure out, I think you and Bruce were right about the Visitors being a function of One for All. I can sort of feel the link between One for All and Tenya through Engine, and I could feel Toshinori through Boon. Kinenkō and I have been trying to use that link to see if we could get a read on Toshinori's condition and help you relax… Only to accidentally drag him in here once he fell asleep.'
'Oh thank the gods.' Izuku relaxed with a sigh. 'Are you alright, Toshinori? Nezu said there was a highly sensitive incident last night, but didn't say what happened. Were you or Mr. Aizawa hurt?'
'We're alright, Young Izuku. I'm just well and truly out of time for the day.' Toshinori's voice was tired, but still comforting. 'Last night… I'll explain in full later, once you have some privacy. But I'm safely back at Might Tower now, and I'll be right as rain once I get a chance to see Recovery Girl. Just a bit of acid on my wrist.'
'So it was a Villain attack.' Izuku frowned to himself, brow furrowing. 'Acid strong enough to hurt you is rare, though. I can only think of a few villains that might be capable of it, but most of them were either last reported in other countries or… Oh. Oh holy shit DID SOMETHING HAPPEN TO TARTARUS?!'
'...how on earth did you manage to put that together?' Toshinori asked after a moment of stunned silence. 'I was told the information blackout would be in place until this evening. Were there leaks?'
'No, I put a few things together this morning when you weren't associated with any publicly resolved cases last night. Given that the only villain I could think of that was both in Japan and capable of hurting you with acid was Toxic Chainsaw, that indicated Tartarus, which fit with the LACK of leaks. But that's immaterial. What happened?'
'It… was likely All for One making moves.' Toshinoir sighed, though there was a growling undercurrent to it. 'President Iriyō the HPSC and I discussed it, and All for One's involvement seems like the best explanation as to how this could have possibly happened. He stands to gain from this no matter what, but God only knows what his specific goal might have been this time. Shake the public's confidence? Sneak something in or out of Tartarus? Use this as leverage somehow? Hell, was it all a distraction for something else?'
'What…' Izuku swallowed, unnerved by Toshinori's unusual demeanor. 'What happened?'
'The long and short of it is that one of the inmates was able to unleash their Quirk, which resulted in a prison wide riot. Tartarus took severe damage, and there were a lot of casualties among the inmates. I had to fight my way through a few floors worth to stop the B10 inmates from destroying the whole prison, which is where I had to fight Toxic Chainsaw again.'
Izuku's brain, which had juddered to a stop at the revelation, latched onto the last bit of information. 'You beat Toxic Chainsaw without blasting the prison to smithereens? How?!'
"Midoriya?"
Toshinori huffed a tired, grim laugh. 'Teeth.'
'...Teeth?' Izuku and Yoichi asked in near unison.
'Yup.'
"Mr. Midoriya?"
' … You're going to explain that in more detail later, right?'
'I can if you'd like.' Toshinori said, but… his words carried something more with them, like the pulses sometimes did. A moute of emotion. Regret. Horror. 'But I warn you, it won't be a pleasant story.'
Izuku wasn't sure how to respond to what he'd just felt. Before he got the chance to try, however, something hit the back of his chair. He startled, then glanced over his shoulder at Mineta.
Mineta cocked an eyebrow at him, then glanced pointedly towards the front of the room.
Izuku looked forward, then froze. Ectoplasm and most of the class was looking towards him, expectant. 'Oh god, I wasn't muttering all that, was I?'
"Mr. Midoriya, would you mind telling me the value of X?"
Izuku snapped his gaze to the board, where an entirely different equation was scrawled out, one just as complex as the one he'd originally been trying to solve. He'd be able to figure it out with a few moments to work, but with everyone already waiting for him? With everything he'd just learned still spinning in his head? Not a chance. He was on the verge of spitting out a random number out of sheer panic when his salvation came from an unexpected source.
'X equals 37.' Kudo grumbled.
Izuku blinked, then parroted the answer. Ectoplasm nodded, then turned back to the board. "Well done. Now then, the next question is…"
Izuku sighed in relief as the rest of the class turned back to face the front, though Uraraka, Tenya, and Jiro's gazes all lingered longer than the others. 'Thank you, Kudo.'
Kudo grunted, then began to pull away. 'The lot of you. Stop distracting him. This isn't the time or place for worldshaking revelations.'
Silence fell over the Vestige Realm as the last traces of Kudo's disapproval faded along with him.
'...Well.' Toshinori eventually ventured. 'He sounds… friendly.'
'For Kudo, that absolutely was.' Yoichi sighed. 'He's not wrong, though. The middle of Izuku's classes probably wasn't the best time to dump all this on him, even if it wasn't intentional.'
'Indeed. I apologize, my boy.'
'It's not your fault. You didn't exactly expect to be here, and you had no way of knowing what you said would clue me in to everything.' Izuku assured him. 'Get some rest. I'm sure you must be exhausted, if you were just getting to sleep.'
Toshinoir yawned audibly, then chucked wearily. 'I can't exactly argue with that. I'll fill you in later. Don't worry too much until then, if you can manage it.'
'I'll see what I can do about that.' Izuku turned his focus back outwards. A new equation was scrawled across the board, and he began copying it into his notebook. He doubted he'd be able to do it mentally, given everything now occupying his thoughts. 'No promises, though.'
"So, who do you guys think is going to be covering Heroics today?" Kaminari asked as he tugged on his gym top.
"Probably Principal Nezu again." Kirashima responded as he checked his hair in the mirror on his way to the door. "He said he'd be filling in for Mr. Aizawa and All Might, and they're usually the teachers for Heroics."
"Yeah, but we were supposed to do sparring today. He doesn't look like the type who could jump in and end a spar in an emergency like they are." Kaminari said, then grimaced. "Unless he's going to do the usual substitute thing and make us watch a documentary or something."
"I doubt that will be the case, Kaminari!" Tenya chopped an arm as he stood by the door, waiting for everyone to finish changing. "I imagine he'll probably just have us run drills of some persuasion, or perhaps Quirkless sparring to better ensure safety."
"That seems likely." Ojiro agreed.
Izuku nodded absently in agreement as he made sure his elbow braces were properly in place. From the way he felt them snag slightly, it might be about time to see about filing down the mufflers. It wasn't something he particularly looked forward to, but he didn't have much of an option.
Sure enough, they arrived at Gym Gamma to find Nezu just inside the main doors. Before long, the last of the girls had joined them, and Nezu nodded to them all. "Alright, everyone! I'm sure everyone is curious about whether or not you'll still be sparring today. Well, good news! You will be, though with a small alteration to the plan."
Nezu waited, eyeing the class. Across the group, Yaoyorozu hesitantly asked the question he seemed to be waiting on. "And what is the alteration being made?"
"I'm quite glad you asked!" Nezu squeaked. "Rather than each other, you'll be sparring with a special guest teacher! He's a retired pro, and a former UA teacher who's taken an interest in this generation of heroes!"
Izuku felt a chill. '...Oh. Oh crap, he was serious.'
Around him, he could hear the low buzz of students talking quietly amongst themselves. Several were trying to figure out who it could be, while others were wondering if this had been the plan to begin with. Underneath that, he could hear something else. A faint tapping sound, and the scuff of feet on concrete. A moment later, he saw the source.
Sorahiko shuffled through the doors, walking slowly and relying heavily on his cane. He wore a yellow and white plaid button down and blue jeans, along with western boots. Izuku could see a familiar vapid, mindless smile spread across his face.
The buzz of conversation died as more and more students noticed the tiny man. Once everyone had quieted, the only remaining sound was the click-shuffle-shuffle of Sorahiko's slow progress further into the gym until he'd reach Nezu's side. Slowly, and with a faint wobble that screamed of infirmity, Sorahiko's head turned to face the gathered students.
"...what are all of you doing in my bathroom?"
Silence.
"Well, now that Mr. Torino has joined us, we're ready to begin." Nezu said cheerily. "Todoroki, please step forward and take your position. Mr. Torino, please head to the other end of the gym."
Shoto edged forward, though he shot Izuku a flat look. Izuku raised his hands placatingly, and shook his head. This wasn't HIS fault. He didn't know about it either! Now that he looked, Uraraka and several other people seemed to be staring at him as well. Maybe they recognized Sorahiko from the reports of the Stain incident as well?
"Um…" Ashido, not among the ones watching Izuku, raised her hand. "I don't mean to question your decision, Mr. Nezu, but this seems… Kind of like a bad idea? I appreciate that Mr. Torino was willing to volunteer, but are you sure about this?"
"Oh, it'll be fine!" Nezu dismissed her concerns with a smile as Torino finished shuffling to the other end of the gym. "Are you two ready?"
"Yes." Shoto nodded, then fell into his usual stance. A chilly mist began to rise from his foot, while a haze of heat formed around his hand.
Sorahiko stuck a pinky in his ear, wiggled it around, then pulled it out. "What was that, Sonny?"
"Excellent." Nezu chirped. "Begin!"
A glacial wave of ice ripped forward from Shoto in a roar of displaced air. It spread until it spanned the entire width of the gym, then crashed into the far wall in a teeth rattling collision. The sound of crackling frost filled the air as the temperature dropped sharply, and several students immediately began to shiver.
"HOLY SHIT, MAN!" Kaminari screeched. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO ALL THAT FOR? HE'S JUST AN OLD-"
Sorahiko appeared behind Shoto in a yellow blur of movement. Shoto tried to turn and face him, but only received a brutal kick to his shoulder for his efforts. Shoto slammed into his own ice bulwark with a muffled grunt, then swung out with his left hand in retaliation. A wave of fire leapt out, briefly warming the watching students, but Sorahiko was already behind him again, kicking his legs out from under him. Shoto tried to roll as he fell, but Sorahiko grabbed his leg and fowled his attempt. In response, Shoto unleashed a blast of ice from the leg in an attempt to catch his assailant, but Sorahiko rapidly jetted to his left side, grabbing the front of Shoto's uniform on the way. Propelled by Jet, he whipped Shoto around and tossed him towards the watching students, then shot after him.
Shoto summoned a wall of ice as he rolled across the ground in a final desperate attempt at defense, but Sorahiko zipped around it easily. He stopped Shoto's roll with a foot planted in between his shoulder blades, then hopped slightly to press his other foot into the back of Shoto's dazed head. Shoto went extremely still, then weakly raised his hands in surrender. Or, at least he tried, given he was face down on concrete with someone standing on him.
"Not bad, zygote." Sorahiko grunted. "Should try to refine your small scale focused application of your Quirk, but you've got a solid base. You need a lot of work on melee, though."
Dead silence.
"First lesson of the day, students!" Nezu said as he gestured to Sorahiko. "Never, under any circumstance, judge a book by its cover. Villains come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. If you ever find yourself fighting an elderly villain, be careful. They likely survived that long for a very good reason. Furthermore, in our superhuman society, appearances are often deceiving. Be cautious at all times, especially when it seems like you can let your guard down."
Several students nodded. Many others were now eyeing Izuku with a mix of sympathy, wonder, and realization. Sato sidled up next to him, then leaned down slightly. "Was he, uh… like this during your whole internship?"
"Um…" Izuku tried to think of a diplomatic way to answer that question. "Well, he let me put my costume on when I first got there, so that was a solid three minutes… And he slept in a bit the second day… And we didn't spar as much after my time in the hospital… so technically not the ENTIRE internship. But yeah, most of it."
Sato stared at him for a second, as did what felt like everyone around them. "Well shit. No wonder you made three people's worth of breakthroughs in less than a week. That's a trial by fire if I've ever heard of one."
"He mellowed out a bit at the end, so it probably won't be-" A small chunk of ice bounced off Izuku's head, and he turned to find Sorahiko glaring at him.
"Don't go ruining my reputation, brat." Sorahiko griped. "I'm not a softie like the teachers here nowadays, and Nezu's given me carte blanche to drill some fast paced combat instruction into everyone's head. Don't make me use you as an example."
"Was I not an example?" Shoto groaned from the ground, still underneath Sorahiko.
"Multiple examples are often best." Sorahiko said cheerily, then hopped off the prone student with an unsettling grin. "Alright Nezu, who's my next plaything?"
Nezu's eyes gleamed as he swept them over the gathered students. "Who indeed…"
'...Oh, those two are a DANGEROUS combination.'
Izuku had to give Sorahiko a bit of credit. He didn't go all out against every student. No, he simply adjusted his speed to the point he was just outside each student's ability to properly defend against him. Some students made him work for it a bit harder than others, such as Kaminari with his newly developed ability to conduct shocks through contact, Hagakure's invisibility, and Kirashima's sheer durability. On the flip side, the vast majority of students struggled to do more than take the blows and stay upright.
Tokoyami and Dark Shadow had seemed to be doing well until Sorahiko had prodded Dark Shadow into a rage-fueled lunge, at which point Sorahiko had zipped in and struck Tokoyami down. Tenya had managed to keep their game of tag going for several minutes, but wasn't quite able to leverage his speed against an opponent so much more agile than himself.
Bakugo had done the best by far. He was clearly the most familiar with rapid midair combat, and was able to defend against Sorahiko's strikes with acrobatic dodges and well placed explosions. While he still hadn't been able to match Sorahiko in an aerial dogfight, it was closer to watching a falcon hunt a sparrow than a mouse.
The one who had struggled the most, however, had been Yaoyorozu. She'd immediately started generating something the moment the match had begun, but Sorahiko had appeared from nowhere and kicked the emerging object. Yoayorozu had been spun around by the force of it, while the object had popped off and clattered away, clearly incomplete. After that, she'd tried to create a few more constructs, but she'd been harried by blisteringly fast attacks until Sorahiko had finally put her down for the count. Izuku had felt awful for her as she limped her way back to the rest of the students, her face downcast and posture screaming of disappointment and embarrassment.
Then, it was down to one last student. Izuku himself.
"Been looking forward to a friendly rematch all day, Zygote." Sorahiko grunted, rolling his shoulders. For all the world, he looked like he'd barely broken a sweat despite having systematically disassembled 19 other people in little more than a half hour. "Think you can finally land a hit?"
Izuku sucked in a breath, then let it hiss out between his teeth as he pulled on Full Cowling. The buzz of its energy rushed through him, accented by the prickling sensation of Danger Sense awakening. "I suppose we'll find out, won't we?"
"I suppose we will." Sorahiko's smile turned outright predatory.
DANGER
Blackwhip sprung from Izuku's ankles and adhered to the ground. Firmly anchored, he leaned backwards at the knees just in time for Sorahiko to pass a foot through the space his head had been occupying. Izuku snapped out a punch, 6% reinforcing him to the point he could do so despite his awkward position. Sorahiko twisted around it, then clamped a hand around Izuku's wrist in the same motion. He used his anchor to drill a kick downwards, but Izuku was just barely fast enough to snap his head to the side and out of the way with a bit of forewarning from Danger Sense. The blast of air made Izuku's hair whip wildly, but other than that he was unscathed.
'Don't get cocky. He'll smell that from a mile away and pulverize you for it.' Nana cautioned.
'Oh, trust me, I'm aware.' Izuku replied as he flung himself to the side, Sorahiko streaking back downward to strike the ground. He could vaguely hear Tenya shouting something about Sorahiko not waiting for Nezu to start the match, and smiled slightly. 'That said, I want to see how I do without Boon. I won't always have it on hand to let me tank hits, so I should try to spar without it more often.'
'Picked a hell of a time to start, kid.' Daigoro snickered. 'Best of luck!'
'Thanks for the vote of confidOOFSHITOUCH-'
Izuku somersaulted through the air, his ribs aching. Sorahiko had pulled off a fancy piece of acrobatics, and had converted the momentum of a missed aerial axe kick into a roundhouse that slammed into Izuku's ribs before Danger Sense had even finished spiking. Another lance of mental pain alerted him to an incoming strike, and Izuku punched a strand of Blackwhip through the back of his shirt and towards the ceiling, then yanked. He arced up sharply and absorbed the impact with a low crouch, watching the area below him warily. More strands of Blackwhip shot out to anchor him as they had before, until Izuku could stand upside down with little issue.
"Taking to the rafters, eh?" Sorahiko called from below. "That's my domain, you know. Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Anywhere with a bit of open space is your domain! I was just trying to be in a different part of it than you." Izuku shot back, then carefully called Blackwhip to coat his arms beneath his sleeves. He doubted he could catch Sorahiko with the same trick he had before, but if nothing else he could use it to absorb some of the impact.
An idea snapped into place in Izuku's head just before Sorahiko's foot tried to do the same. Izuku whipped an arm up to block, but didn't send Blackwip out to grasp at the limb. Blackwhip thrummed in disappointment, but there was an undercurrent to it. It didn't like not grabbing when presented with the opportunity, but… it was willing to let Izuku try something. Izuku suppressed a smile, then formed a sheet of Blackwhip across his back, mostly hidden beneath what was left of his jacket.
Izuku let Sorahiko work him over a bit, fending him off as best he could while waiting for his chance. Then, just as he hoped, Sorahiko ended his assault with a kick to the back of the knees, in preparation to punt Izuku back down to earth with a blast from Jet.
In response, Izuku unleashed Smokescreen underneath the sheet of Blackwhip just as the elderly hero lashed out. The layer of Blackwhip shredded the back of his top as it ballooned out and absorbed part of the impact, vibrating with excitement as it tried to envelope Sorahiko. Unfortunately, Izuku was still shot downwards from the maneuver, though Sorahiko's startled cry was almost worth the bone-jarring impact when he struck the ground. His hands and feet felt like static from catching himself, but he was able to stand all the same. He reached backwards, but to his disappointment it didn't seem the sudden expansion of Blackwhip had managed to catch his opponent.
Then he felt Blackwhip thrum with satisfaction, and revised that assessment. But if he hadn't caught Sorahiko, then what…?
Izuku released Blackwhip and glanced back at what had fallen from his back.
'...oooooooooooooh fuck he's going to kill me.'
Nana burst out cackling.
DANGER
"IZUKU YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Sorahiko shot at him from the ceiling. "YOU STOLE MY FUCKING PANTS!"
"I'M SORRY!" Izuku scrambled away as Sorahiko landed in a blast of air, his shirt fluttering up to reveal, thank the gods, underwear that hadn't been stripped off him like his jeans and boots had been. Sorahiko hurriedly shoved the pants back on, sending Izuku the mother of all death glares the whole time. "THAT WAS MEANT TO CATCH YOU, NOT… NOT THAT!"
"I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHAT YOU MEANT, YOU'RE DEAD!"
Sorahiko shot forward like a murderous missile, and Izuku pulled out his only other possible trump card.
"Everyone hold your breath!" Izuku yelped, then sucked in a lungful of his own. He blasted out Smokescreen, aiming most of it in Sorahiko's direction. At the same time, he lunged toward the far side of the gym, hoping he'd spare his classmates the worst of it. Sorahiko shot past him by a hair's breadth, leaving a path of writhing smoke behind him. Izuku could barely see him punch through to the other side, where he started coughing.
"Oh, that's a vicious little trick." Sorahiko growled. "I can't use my Quirk if I can't breathe properly, so you're combating me by polluting the air. I guess I'll have to end this now, then."
DANGERDANGERDANGERDANGER
Sorahiko shot through the smoke in a dizzying series of movements that, even with Danger Sense, Izuku had a hard time registering properly, much less doing anything about. It became immediately clear that this, at long last, was Gran Torino's top speed. Even at 6% and in a larger room that was being filled with an ever increasing amount of smoke, Izuku just couldn't keep up. He held out far better than he had the last time they really sparred, but even so, the results ended more or less the same.
Sorahiko shot through the smoke cloud, dodged a Blackwhip strand with a tiny puff of air, then planted a foot in Izuku's gut. The impact winded him and carried both of them through the open double doors and out onto the P.E. Grounds, where Sorahiko rode Izuku's prone figure like a toboggan across the dirt. They slid to a dusty stop in front of Nezu and the rest of class 1-A, who'd evidently left the building to escape the smoke.
Both Izuku and Sorahiko panted heavily as they glared at each other. Then, Izuku let his head drop back onto the dirt.
"I give." He gasped out. "Good spar."
"Yer' a bit better, I'll give you that much." Sorahiko grunted as he released the front of Izuku's top and stepped off his chest. "If you hadn't given everyone a heads up, you might have actually gotten me with that smoke trick. Kind of had to, though. You can't go gassing out bystanders, even if it means your opponent gets a bit of an edge."
"Thanks." Izuku grunted. "So, did… that count as landing a hit on you?"
Sorahiko glowered at him. "Pantsing someone is not the same as hitting them."
'I'd argue that's actually WAY more impressive.' Nana countered, then briefly devolved into a fit of giggles. 'I know that was probably kind of scarring for you, but that was absolutely HILARIOUS for me.'
Izuku huffed, then hauled himself to his feet and stretched. He grit his teeth as the myriad of aches and pains distributed across his body lit up in brilliant detail, the sensations much sharper without Boon to act as a buffer. He tried to will the grime away, then felt foolish when reality didn't bend to his will as easily as it did within the Vestige Realm. He glanced around, then froze as he realized that the entirety of the class was staring at him in stupefaction. None of them said anything. None of them really moved. They just stared at him.
Behind him, Izuku heard the fire alarm in the gym go off. He glanced back, then winced at the sight of the sprinkler system spraying everything at full force.
'Warned you.' Came En's amused voice.
'...That you did.' Izuku mentally sighed. 'That you did.'
"Well, I think that was an excellent final spar!" Nezu said, finally breaking the silence. "Seeing as we wrapped that up early, and the Gymnasium is temporarily out of commission, we'll be doing some hand to hand spars until lunch. Everyone form up!"