At the end of the buzzer, the students who were captured started pulling themselves up and everyone began making their way to the exit and the participants were discussing amongst each other what they thought of the exercise.
When they reached the remaining groups and teachers back at the staging area the group was bombarded with questions. "Ok students, lets back off and begin the review, that should answer most of the questions anyway", commented Blood King as he tried to calm down a bunch of excited teenagers. "First, we will begin to discuss the important topic, how did "Wonder Team"," he sarcastically said, "Win the exercise? Izuku, if you would, explain how you got the flag out." He requested, it was something everyone except All Might seemed to be questioning.
"Well," as Izuku tried to start, then he suddenly realized everyone was focused on him, shrinking back a little, "I, put Kodai-san, in the, into the crowd." He whispered out. "I've been able to disappear myself for a while now, so I figured I could disappear her as well, and sort of put her out of the area so she could reach through the hat and take the flag." As the students pondered and tried to figure out what his quirk was their thoughts were interrupted by a raucous laughter.
"Bwahaha, just like the microwave Young Midoriya." All Might burst out. "In one place and out the other." He moved over to Izuku to pat him on the back. As the rest of the class looked at Izuku as if he had just grown a second, third and fourth head, those who were listening to his story at the entrance exam remembered him saying he was trained by a pro.
"Now before we start the next group, it's important to reflect on our actions and what didn't work and what did so, what are some ways any of you might have improved?", asked Aizawa. "As was mentioned earlier, learning from a failure is just as important on succeeding. We will begin with Honenuki-san," picking a student at random, "What could you have done better?"
"Well, it's a bit embarrassing but, I should have learned to work with my team better, Midoriya-san saw us for about a minute or so and already could tell we weren't working together nor to our fullest potential. It's kind of disheartening that after having my quirk for so long I never thought to try to use it in conjunction with other quirks." As he tapered off his response a few people started thinking of how their quirks can be used with other quirks to make them stronger.
"That's a good response and since you worked with Shiozaki-san, we'll go to her next." Aizawa continued. This group seemed to be less likely to disappoint him, he wouldn't admit that, but still they had potential.
"Honenuki-san was right, I never considered ways that my quirk can be used to supplement the powers of others, so our team work was not great. It was really admirable that Midoriya-san would be so willing to share advice on how to improve ourselves even if he was competing against us." Shiozaki finished the thought that Honenuki started.
As the rest of the students commented on their own thoughts for the exercise, one overarching theme was apparent, they needed to get better at working together. The remaining groups began thinking of how to work together, so as the other three games went the teams got more and more in sync with each other and started trying maneuvers, that didn't always work, but it got them experimenting.
At the end of the class, it didn't matter which teams won anymore, it was about how fun it was to use their quirks with people who they hoped in a few years to call friend. "Well students, I hoped you learned the important lesson we were trying to teach you," All Might stated with much vigor, "So next time when you get paired off, it becomes second nature to assess the quirks you have available to create a winning strategy. Now run along and enjoy the rest of your day, for those of you in the dorms it will be a good time to finish setting up your rooms." As the students filter out, with All Might waving them off, he was suddenly cornered by the three other instructors.
"Seriously All Might, what is that kid?", inquired Aizawa. "At the very least he doesn't have a traditional quirk."
"Yeah, he's a nice kid but do you really expect us to believe the explanation that he's "magic"," scoffed Midnight.
All Might shut the door and after making sure they were alone, exhaled and shifted to his natural state. "That's what he's always said, when I first met him the way he described his quirk, it reminded me of someone from my past, someone very dangerous." The serious tone he was taking with his colleagues caused them to shudder, anyone All Might would consider very dangerous is not someone they wanted to tangle with. "That's why I started "training" him. He was already very powerful, naturally inquisitive with the world and a bit head strong. He seems like a good kid, hasn't given me reason to suspect him of anything, but." There was always a but, they were pros they knew this. "I did some digging into the family history. Mother works as a grocer, met her on a few occasions, nothing out of the ordinary." He let out a sigh, "The father however, is an entirely different story."
"I was told by Mrs. Midoriya, that he was just working abroad, that topic gets avoided if I ever bring it up with Izuku. I tried using some contacts to track him down, bank deposits, company names. Came back with nothing, a monthly deposit from child services shows it looks like child support, but working that backwards, gets me nothing, it's shell company after shell company."
All Might gives a moment to let the information settle, "Nedzu-san has been helping me sift through some of this but it keeps leading to dead ends, abandoned warehouses and office buildings that haven't been used since pre-quirk days. This guy is a ghost, all I have is the name Hisashi Midoriya. Which to be honest, concerns me. It seems like his name is a joke, "It's been a while since I last saw you". I just hope I'm overcomplicating things, and the dad is just at worst a deadbeat. Otherwise…" he begins to trail off, "The world is going to go through some very tough times."
Despite how well the days class went, there came a separate problem, dinner. As the residents of the dorm started to remember, the school was only providing breakfast and lunch for them. This lead to a few discussions on what that even meant. Mostly about if they even knew how to cook or if microwave dinners would suffice. The discussions were starting to get a bit louder as they each tried to roll into one another, until a loud thumping noise broke through and caused them all to stop.
"Thank you, Jirou-san," said Yaoyorozu, "Now I think we all have a general idea of what the discussions we've been having are all about." Noticing nods around the room, "However that is just a smaller part of a much bigger problem we will be facing." As more people started to settle in around her, patiently waiting to hear her suggestion. "We are a bunch of teenagers together in one, albeit large, house. For the foreseeable future, we are going to be living aside one another, so we need to develop some rules or else this won't work."
After an hour of discussion, they created a fair way to divide up the weekly chores and daily tasks.
The next morning everyone had mostly settled in at the dorms and the general classes weren't too different from what they were doing at their middle schools, except these classes were much more advanced, to be the top school in the country, they couldn't just produce the best heroes, they also had to produce the best minds. This lead to a few of the students who were already struggling in the classes. It was agreed upon that study groups would be necessary to maintain good grades, since if they did not perform well academically they could be removed from the hero course as well.
After lunch they were instructed by their homeroom teachers to head to the gymnasium for the Rescue portion of their class. So a few of the students who made it in to the hero course using that category were excited to see what they would be doing.
Since their homeroom teachers mentioned not to take their hero costumes, this raised a few eyebrows from the students.
When the students all entered they noticed that they did not have All Might, Midnight or either of their homeroom teachers, instead it was the school nurse, Recovery Girl, Thirteen and Ectoplasm, they were each standing around dummies on the ground and had different sized and shaped red bags marked with white crosses.
As the students began to mill about, Recovery Girl spoke up, "May I please have everyone's attention." The chatter died down and everyone focused on the short geriatric. "Thank you, today is the first of many lessons, that I, consider more important that what you will learn from that meathead, because this course is to teach you something very important, Principal Nedzu calls this the Rescue Course, which is an apt name." She toddled over to a dummy and bag, her cane clacking on the wooden floor as she went. "It is very easy to forget that after the punches are done being thrown and the last of the rubble falls, there are still people that need help. And as heroes you will be trained to help."
As she stood next to the first dummy, she continued her speech, "Principal Nedzu was right to show you that video on the first day. There were too many heroes and not enough heroics. Just because they thought they couldn't do anything to stop the villain, doesn't mean there wasn't work for them to be doing."
"In today's lesson with me, you are going to learn CPR and what you can expect to find in different emergency kits. Please spread out to groups and then we will begin the lesson." It was roughly an hour and a half later when the students moved onto the second part of the lesson. "Now, we can go over the different types of emergency kits." As she gestured to the different bags.
"Each of these has an increasing number of items in them. It is not expected of many heroes to carry something like this," as she poked a large duffle bag with a D sized oxygen cylinder sticking out. "Since that would be carried by emergency services. However…" as she shuffled to the smaller bags, "These are simple first aid kits, that you could pick up at local stores, and you will know how to use something like this, to do simple field dressings." So as the students each got one of the small bags, Ectoplasm created a few copies of himself that went around and allowed the students to "patch him up". After learning how to properly apply a tourniquet and different dressings, Recovery Girl stepped aside so Thirteen could lead the next half of the class.
"Thank you for that very informative and hands on lesson Recovery Girl. I see there are more students who have taken an interest in learning more about this portion of being a hero." Said the slightly digitized voice of the space-themed hero. "I am Thirteen, I cover a different part of the Rescue course, I specialize in Search and Rescue as a result, a lot of what Recovery Girl will teach you, I put into practice on a regular basis." As she moved around the room, her lecture continued. "What I must deal with is something that many people may not remember, the debris left behind after a catastrophe and accident." Noticing a few confused looks, she knew what they wanted to ask, "Yes, it may sound strange but much of my job is actually not cleaning up after heroes. With U.A. and the other hero school turning out better trained and educated heroes, property damage from fights with criminals is down quite a bit over the last decade. But things like earthquakes, flood or other accidents, those can happen all the time or can be very predictable."
"So what I want to cover is less hands on for now, but I want show you some videos of different types of disasters so you may begin to familiarize yourselves with them, because a flood and a fire have very different and some very similar threats to yourself and those around you."
The rest of the class was spent seeing how some situations can be more threatening than people realize.
As the class broke off with the boarded students heading to the dorm, conversations about the days lessons started, and not just about the hero course. As some of the students paired off to form study groups. The group assigned to prepare the night's dinner, which consisted of Midoriya, Tokoyami and Kirishima, got to talking about the last few day's events.
"Soooo…," Kirishima trailed, trying to begin a conversation. "Can we talk about the whole All Might knowing you thing?" While chopping up onions for the stew.
"Huh, oh that," Izuku mumbled nonchalantly. "It's not a big deal, just sorta happened you know."
"No actually, I don't," Kirishima retorted. "How does one just casually know the number one hero?"
"If it is related to the story you told after the written exam, that would explain many unusual things," Tokoyami added, while stirring in the carrots and potatoes. "However, that doesn't explain the why's."
"What, what do you mean the why's?" Izuku asked, doing his best not to make eye contact, he could never lie if someone was looking at him straight on. He was busy adding the salt and pepper to the cooking beef chunks. The smell of simmering vegetables was wafting about the kitchen. "Isn't it about time to add the umm, thyme? Hehe".
"We have already added all the necessary spice Midoriya-san, so please do not avoid the question, or at least do a better job of it." Tokoyami dryly stated. "What I mean by the why is, why did All Might choose to train you, even if there is much experience to learn, your quirk is significantly different to his own, he should know others with a closer related quirk to your own to provide more focused training." As the pot began boiling Kirishima moved to close the door to the kitchen.
"There, now it's just the three of us." Kirishima leaned on the wall and faced the other two occupants. "Dude, if you don't want to tell us what your quirk is, I can get that. It might be one of those, if you know what it is, you know how to beat it deals. But if you got an inside with one of the top pros, you need to be honest, because if you aren't" he sighed, "A lot of people are going to start questioning how you got here and if you can't explain that, you are going to have some problems with people trusting you."
Izuku could only let out the breath he was holding. "You're right, All Might and I, we have a, it's kinda, it's complicated. Everything I told people about the slime villain and getting trained by a pro, it's true though. I just kept a few secrets, since they aren't mine, I can't tell anyone. Do you understand?" Putting the meat in the pot, setting it to simmer and then wiping his hands on a towel.
"Yes, it is understandable to hold a secret for someone else. But once it gets out, as all secrets do, where will that leave you, the holder of the secret?" Tokoyami added ominously, glancing at Kirishima.
"I'm not sure how much I can tell you. But I'll try. All Might, is a new part of my life, so is all of this." As he stirred the pot.
"What do you mean all of this? The school, the structure, the people?" Kirishima questioned.
"The quirks." Izuku answered. At this comment both Tokoyami and Kirishima tilted their heads. "I guess I should explain a bit, huh?" Seeing his two peers nodding he knew he would have to explain.
"Might want to get comfortable then," Izuku gestured to the boys. Seeing as they complied he started his story. "I'm not like you guys, everyone else out there," he motioned to the common room, "You and they grew up with a quirk, I grew up around them. I got mine when I was twelve."
"So your quirk triggered when you twelve?" Asked Kirishima.
Izuku shook his head at this, "No I mean, my I got my quirk when I was twelve, I didn't have one. One hundred percent, certified, quirkless." Kirishima and Tokoyami's eyes widened.
"How, that doesn't, you can't just." The bird headed boys demeaner and mannerisms failing under the information that drastically clashed with the current understanding of the world.
"Yeah, it's not as crazy as it sounds." Izuku continued. "Okay so it is, but I guess it's, well it's. Okay, this might be tougher to get. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be a hero. You know tie a blanket around my neck and pretend to be the number one." The boys nodded, that was common behavior for kids, they all wanted to be a hero, so they all used to do that when they were younger.
"Then I turned four and waited," he paused, "and waited. Then I turned five and I still didn't have my amazing power, the one that would let me be a hero, let me help and save people. So my parents took me to the quirk specialist, that maybe mine was a mutation and we just needed to find the right trigger for it." He began chuckling. "I didn't have one."
At this Izuku began a full-blown fit of laughter. Concerned Kirishima moved closer to Izuku, but the freckled boy just put up his hand and tapered off his raucous giggles. "It's funny really. That point was what changed so much in my life. I lost all my friends, my self-esteem and even my dad. Just because I didn't have what everyone else did." He wiped a tear from his eye. Now both boys were concerned but didn't know what to do. How does one help someone having an emotional breakdown and an existential crisis at the same time.
"And I just didn't give up; everyone took pity on the poor quirkless kid, even my mom." He hopped up on the countertop. "I started researching, ways people got quirks. Watching heroes and villains duke it out, to analyze they abilities. Got really good at it too, I'll show you my notes sometime, I even got some on our classmates." Seeing the looks of discomfort on their faces he clarified. "Not in a creepy way of course but remember how I told Honenuki-san and Shiozaki-san how to better work together, stuff like that. It's more like a practical application of a quirk doctor."
This let the boys relax as they didn't need to worry about their classmate being a deranged stalker, as much. "So, I kept looking and I found some interesting information, I can't say what I found or where I found it, but it led me somewhere and I got my own powers. Then a few years later I met All Might, it was weird circumstances, but it's kind of cool too, I know things about him and he knows things about me. Because of that I can't tell those secrets but you're right Tokoyami-san, there would be other pros better suited to help me learn, but for some reason he kept me aside, trained me specifically."
Izuku got off the counter and moved the pot off the stove to let the stew cool down, "I don't want people to think I got in because of him, he helped me, but in a way so did everyone who pitied me, bullied me or just ignored me. That drove me to want to be a hero and I learned not to give up, so even if All Might's and my paths never crossed, I think I would still have ended up here, or at least still doing this."
Both boys were shocked at the revelation but amazed at the resolution the small boy had. They couldn't comprehend what it would be like to not have a quirk and to struggle with how everyone treated him only to still turn into the outstanding young man who is currently top of their class.
"That's quite impressive," chirped Tokoyami. Kirishima could only shake his head.
"Impressive, dude that's," Kirishima stuttered, "It's, that's, phenomenal, amazing, it's so manly. You gotta tell us more." Kirishima was practically begging for Izuku to keep talking.
"It's really not, I just never quit, never really knew how." As he moved about the kitchen, Izuku was pulling out silverware and bowls for the stew. Cranking the oven to a high temperature he placed a long loaf of bread, seasoned with herbs and butter. "And time went on, then I got my power. Had to read my book a lot."
"Book?" queried Tokoyami. "What do you mean book?"
"Yeah, is it a really advanced quirk textbook," Kirishima guessed. "Maybe has some obscure knowledge on quirks that makes sense of your quirk. Or is it more like an owner's manual and the hospital forgot to pack it when you were born." He laughed out.
"Hehe, that's actually a really good guess Kirishima-san." Izuku chuckled. "Put them together and it's close to what it is but also kind of not. The only other person, besides my mom and the person I got it from, who knows about it, is Kaachan. But to be fair he just wants to take it and destroy it."
"What, that's preposterous a book that provides incredible knowledge that was able to teach you how to use your quirk to such a professional level," Tokoyami squawked out. "To want to destroy such a thing, is inconceivable."
"Well it's not like he wanted to burn it because of the information," Izuku added, "Honestly he didn't what it was or what was in it, he just didn't want me to have it."
"Wow dude, this Kaachan sounds like a real jerk." Kirishima stated, he didn't like bullies and this Kaachan sounded like a bully; also, Kaachan sounded familiar to him. Tokoyami shared this sentiment by nodding his head.
"Like I told Momo-chan and Itsuka-chan," Unknowingly switching to first names for the two girls he told part of his history to. "He's changed quite a bit already, the book was more of a goal for him to work towards, if he could get it that meant he beat me, so for about three years I did everything I could to keep it safe." Izuku turned to the oven to turn it off, so the bread could finish baking. "Think of it as an arms race. I learned new tricks to keep it safe and he developed new techniques to try to get it. He actually helped train me faster than All Might did, believe it or not."
Now the two boys were incredulous, a schoolyard bully, a better teacher than the number one professional hero. "What are you guys looking at me like that for?"
"You think this boy, who was your tormentor, was a more effective means of making your quirk more powerful than the, private, one-on-one, secret training you received from the greatest hero of our generation?" Tokoyami asked quietly, barely able to comprehend how his understanding of the world changed so drastically in just a few days, solely because of the actions and words of one, albeit incredible, boy.
"Well yeah, when I first got my quirk, I could do no more than simple levitation, then I got a few small tricks down, but Kaachan, he really pushed me. I got lucky the first time he tried to blow it up, teacher walked in and I knew I couldn't learn at my own pace. I had to learn at a hero's pace, one that Kaachan always held himself to. For the next few years it was always him escalating and me defending." Izuku pulled the loaf of bread from the oven, nothing like fresh bread to sop up the last remaining stew in the bowl.
"Then I started training with All Might," Izuku moving to the next part of his story. This part interested both boys immensely, the secrets of personal training with the Symbol of Peace. "It was definitely different. He had me clean the Dagobah Municipal Park Beach of all the garbage that washes up on the shore." He began chuckling again.
"Well not all of it, some of that stuff was a bit too heavy to move on my own, getting sidetracked." Izuku coughed, clearing his throat. "So for 10 months I work clean the beach and practice my tricks, but I really only developed a couple of new ones. After about the last year I haven't even opened another lid on my trunk."
Both of the boys listening were having the same thought, "What does he mean trunk?"
"So that's how I know I progressed more with Kaachan than I did with All Might." Concluding his tale, he began serving up bowls of the stew.
"Oh, Bakugo-san," Kirishima suddenly blurted out, "That's who you mean by Kaachan. Was going to go crazy if I couldn't get that. Seriously, I fought the guy just yesterday, how could I forget that."
"Wait, a member of this school," Tokoyami inquired, "Is or was your childhood bully slash rival?"
"Oh, now don't you start that too." Izuku chided. "I already had this discussion with Itsuka-chan and Momo-chan, him being here is good for him and I really think it will help him change his ways for the better, so don't go reporting his and my past to the teachers, unless he goes back to bullying people. He's just brash, not a villain."
Both boys could agree that what happened was between Bakugo and Midoriya, so they decided to let the two of them handle it themselves, unless it spilled over to becoming everyone else's problem.
As three boys walked out of the kitchen with the many bowls on serving platters, two of them realized their time at this school was going to be very different than they had imagined.
Author's Notes.
First thing, sorry for misnaming the chapter 8 with a confusing name. Imogen Heap, what was I thinking, their song was Hide and Seek, not what I had. So I had a brain fart and as soon as I published it, I realized my mistake.
Second thing I am retarded.
The order of poll choices is not important. When displayed, the site will randomly order the choices to remove any bias by the creator
I apparently cannot read. So my poll is all messed up in order. Which was not cool, by the way. Bad website, the order mattered, not because of bias but because now it doesn't make sense. Grrr
Next, Loving the reactions to Date Night Part 1, it will be a multi part mini series that will be updated when I can think of the proper way to as the kids these days say, make the panties drop. So I will add more, once I can get the best way, I have an idea. Additionally, in the timeline it has no concrete place, so it could be before or after the All Might v All for One deal, which I will definitely change up, don't worry, but in canon that was when All Might's identity became known so, I need to make the language ambiguous so it doesn't become a, "How did this happen in Date Night if, this hasn't happened.
I'm not going to allow continuity errors. Grammar, spelling, moral, immoral, immortal errors, but not continuity, no sir.
Now for some direct responses.
TO RandomDude Ahh, one of my most prolific reviewers. Some good thoughts. Regarding date night, I will take into consideration the lead up. Definitely going to do some strong hints from a certain sultry housewife.
As for your thoughts about the locker room, yes there is going to be a bit of air of discomfort between the girls and the guys, it will be brought up later, I intend to have some of the girls confront the boys about it. Thinking Pony should lead that group, most incapable of adequately explaining their greivance, makes sense.
You are right on the money with the Sports Festival though, the race is perfect for showing versatility in usage and thought, while I will change the Calvary up. The One on One's is staying, I have some really cool ideas about large blocks of ice.
To Tombs456 yes, a bunch of noncombatants would make excellent targets for those who have no problems hurting or killing children. Mwahahahaha. Someone is getting seriously hurt on that day.
To Chunnin33 The Date Night chapters will not have a definitive release, but I will try to not forget about them, I'm hoping that I could put one out after the USJ but at least before the Sports Festival.
To XProj-ArlyJX thank you, I hoped the role reversal would be well received, that Izuku would be the one to play the dad role to All Might. I thought it was light hearted enough but still had the same, "Touch her and you die" threat that every potential boyfriend gets. But with enough feelings that it was wholesome.
So now onto the discussion for next chapter, Chapter 10.
It will be the Utility class, so Izuku will make use of the notebook, but another book gets to make an appearance as well, then they have their first weekend. Yay, some time in the dorms, maybe I can squeeze in some outside UA time with everyones favorite Illegal Firework, Touch on some background details for the upcoming monday.
I guarantee no one's safety. If it strikes me, I may even kill some kids. If I don't Stain's body count is going to be a bit higher this time. It might still be, not being friends with some people could be detrimental to one's health.
But Monday will most likely be a direct tonal shift in the story. Whoo PTSD FTW.
Haha deuces.