Shinso ducked behind a brick wall, panting heavily from the exertion. While he was no slouch in physical combat, he was nowhere near insane enough to think that he could beat All Might. Bakugo was just barely managing to hold him off, and he had a quirk that allowed him to have a strong offense and maneuverability. Shinso's quirk did work best in situations that caught his opponents off guard, but since All Might knew his quirk already, that option was almost completely off the table. And there was another problem, since Bakugo was trying the same thing over and over again without listening to Shinso when he tried to get him to formulate a plan. If they kept on like this, they would run out of time before they escaped or cuffed All Might.
Bakugo finally let out an explosion so large that it sent all kinds of rubble and smoke flying everywhere, giving them the perfect opportunity to regroup and form an actual plan. His hot-headed teammate, however, was obviously trying to get back to All Might and put into action some incredibly unlikely to work scheme. Shinso had to grab his arm and partially drag him away from the section and into a secluded building.
"Just what do you think you're doing, eyebags? You think that I can't do it?!" Bakugo had this enraged flare to his nostrils that made Shinso want to take at least one step back, just so he would be out of the direct line of fire. However, he did have a job to do, and he would pass this exam if it was the last thing he did. I really hope this isn't the last thing I do...
"No, I do not think you can do it. At least not the way you're doing it right now. This is All Might we're talking about. The #1 hero. Symbol of peace. If we're going to be him, we need a well thought out plan that isn't just hitting him over and over again while nothing happens. There is a chance that we might have to give up on getting the cuffs on him and focus on escaping through the gate."
Now Bakugo was even angrier. "No way in hell I'm giving up. We're oing to kick the crap out of All Might. That is the only way I'll accept victory."
"Well, then we need a plan." Shinso thought for a moment, mind racing as fast as it could. What would Izuku-sensei do...?
Shinso's mind flashed back to a week ago, when they were doing an assignment in Analysis on what would be the toughest opponent they would face and how they could overcome that. While the others were all pondering, Shinso immediately knew what opponent would be the most difficult for him, but he wasn't really sure on how to get past that difficulty. Izuku-sensei had walked over, and discussed with him a moment on what to do in that situation.
"Izuku-sensei? I know what my weakness is, but I don't really know how to overcome that. I mean, if someone knows my quirk that pretty much makes it ineffective against them, hence why my hero name is something that doesn't give it away. I can't beat them if they are physically stronger than I am."
Izuku-sensei had smiled, leaning against the desk with his arms hanging at his sides. "But just because people know what your quirk is, does that mean that they won't answer you? At any point in the fight?"
"They obviously wouldn't. If they know what my quirk is then they have a clear counter. There is just no way around it."
"Really? There hasn't ever been a time where you have answered a question without thinking about it, or even answered a question with a question unintentionally?"
Shinso remembered pausing and thinking it over before he realized Izuku-sensei was right. Just because somebody had greater physical strength and prior knowledge of what his quirk was doesn't mean that it is the end of the road for him. He just had to think of what the best solution is.
Bakugo elbowed him in the side, the blunt edge of pain snapping Shinso back to their current surroundings. He estimated that they had maybe another minute before All Might found them again and started beating the crap out of them once more. If they really wanted to win this, they would have to come up with a plan. And fast.
"Bakugo, I know that you want to beat All Might by using the tactics that already have not worked, but I think our best chance is something a little more sneaky. We also want our plan to place us near the escape, so even if we can't beat All Might in the time constraints, we can get out of there. You good with that?" Shinso really didn't care, but he supposed communication was important.
Bakugo glared at him just a tad more frustration than his expression usually had, obviously mad that someone else was telling him what to do but not arguing. Shinso allowed himself one moment to think before a plan popped into his mind. It was a long shot... but it was likely their only way to win.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All Might finally broke out of the rubble that was holding him down, wrenching his ankle free with one last mighty tug. He surveyed his surrounding with a critical eye, fully aware that the two students could come out at any time and try to use a surprise attack on him. That was, after all, the purple-haired boy's specialty. It was almost a little cruel for Izuku-sensei to have him attack someone that was so much physically stronger than him while his quirk was completely ineffective. He was already holding back quite a bit, using both weights and just dialing back his strength and speed in general. There was also the fact that he just was not as powerful as he used to be, especially since he had started the transfer of One for All to Young Togata, having less and less time in his muscle form every day.
All Might turned just in time to see a large explosion hurtling toward him from behind, leaving him almost no time to react. Bracing himself, he took the attack head on, feeling the overwhelming heat wash over him before the think black cloud of smoke appeared, blocking his line of sight. Bakugo wasted no time, immediately jumping in and sending several small-scale blasts directly at his face.
Did he really think that would best him? All he had to do was dodge to the side and land yet another counterblow, hitting his student directly in the gut. When Bakugo was launched into a building pretty far back, All Might had to consider if he had maybe gone a bit too far. Wait, what was the school's policy on hitting their students again?
...Eh. It was probably fine.
The battle continued like that for some time, with Bakugo attempting to relentlessly attack and All Might beating him back consistently. He was starting to feel the strain, though. It was a good thing that this match was only thirty minutes, because otherwise he might've lost just due to the fact that he would change back. And Izuku-sensei would have been really disappointed with him if he showed his true form to a bunch of first-years because of a final exam. The last time Izuku-sensei said he was disappointed...well, suffice it to say it was an experience that he would not like repeated.
He grabbed Bakugo by the arm and threw him into a pile of- wait that wasn't glass, right?! He had to pause for a second as Bakugo crashed into the- thankfully- glass-free ground.
It was harder holding back than he had initially thought, and he probably should not be throwing his student into piles that have a chance of having sharp objects clustered inside. All Might had to remind himself to use only less than 25% of his power, that last attack had a little more oomph than he intended. Bakugo snarled as he got back up to his feet, fully enrapturing what All Might imagined a feral pomeranian would look like. Yes, that was something that Aizawa had grumbled in the staff room to Present Mic, but All Might couldn't help but listen in. It was a perfect comparison, and if Bakugo was a pomeranian, Shinso was some sort of cat, like his black-haired father.
Wait.
Where was Shinso? He hadn't appeared in the past two minutes he had been fighting Bakugo, and he hadn't heard the buzzer announce that they had escaped and won, so-
BOOM. Bakugo's explosion hit him in the leg, forcing him down to his knee for a moment. But even if it was just for a moment, that was all it took for the blonde to start raining hits down upon him, not giving the hero a second to breathe. It wasn't like the hits were doing that much damage. At this point, Bakugo was starting to run on fumes, his attacks becoming smaller and smaller with every passing second. All Might turned and held him up by the arm, preparing to toss the boy as far as he could while dialing back his strength, and that was when the voice called out.
"ALL MIGHT!!! WILL YOU SAVE ME?!?"
He couldn't control it; the response was instinctual. He turned and gave his bright, muscly grin to whoever called out, his eyes widening but his voice not stopping as he saw who it was. "Of course, for I AM HERE!"
Bakugo hung limply in his arm as All Might froze, mind screaming but body not moving, a prisoner in his own body. Through unblinking, unfocused eyes he saw Shinso walking smugly over, a smirk firmly in place. The silver cuffs dangled from his hand, light glinting off of them. All Might couldn't do anything to stop him when he snapped them into place, effectively winning the match and passing the exam.
Shinso glanced over to where Bakugo was in serious danger of having an outburst if he was left there any longer. All Might had a sinking feeling in his gut when Shinso slowly looked back over to him and smirked once again, looking like a mirror image of his father when he was about to do something that many would consider sadistic. The purple-haired boy grabbed the other half of the cuffs All Might was hooked up to, and shook the metal roughly, sending a jolt up All Might's body and giving back control of his limbs.
The problem with that was when he was given muscle control again, his arms immediately stopped working, dropping Bakugo unceremoniously onto the ground. The boy had a twitching eye and opened his mouth, probably to yell something, before being cut off by the arrival of Izuku-sensei.
"Well done, to the both of you! Shinso, I'm glad you figured out how to use your quirk in a situation where your opponent already knows what it is. And Bakugo, great job working collaboratively on a team and allowing your teammate time to put in place a plan that isn't just pure violence and has a strategy attached. I know that you were already capable of doing this, but others need to know that as well." Izuku-sensei's smile turned a little less happy and a bit more... foreboding. "Both of you go up to where Recovery Girl and the rest of your classmates are waiting, I need to have a word with All Might right now."
Shinso turned a curious look back at them before following Bakugo, who had stomped out at the first opportunity he got. All Might's heart sank deep into his chest as he met Izuku-sensei's eyes, reading the only slightly concealed disaproval in them. Why couldn't he have been knocked out instead of having to deal with the scariest teacher he had ever had...?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recovery Girl watched in exasperation as All Might showcased his complete inability to hold back, throwing Bakugo into what very well could've been a pile of metal. She had been pleased with the lack of serious injuries that this practical exam had had, but now her hopes had been completely dashed. When she first accepted a job at UA, never in her wildest dreams could she have predicted just how insane this place would be. The amount of injuries that these students sustained was enough to keep a small hospital busy, and every single course had them, regardless if they were training to become heroes or not.
The support course had explosions going off at least twice a month, and that was before Mei had gotten here. Now they were a daily occurence, and all she kept wondering was how Power Loader hadn't managed to stop her yet. She would have to have a talk with him later about that. The health and wellbeing of the students came first, after all.
Then there was the general studies course. Those students should not be getting hurt as often as they do. Whether it is a freak accident with a classmate's quirk that causes loud sneezes coupled with a quirk that, when surprised, causes temporary color change for those around them, surprising the kid that makes paper turn pointy, or just a student goofing off and somehow managing to get a pencil stuck in their hand, something always seemed to happen. And the business course, who were admittedly a lot less accident prone than all of the others, who came in with constant papercuts- only a few of which were caused by the general support students- and colds caused by staying up too late looking at statistics, not getting the proper amount of rest required for students of their age.
Don't even get her started on the hero course. None of them grasp the concept of holding back, they actively seek out trouble, are actually taught to disregard their injuries to help others, and they don't know how to take proper care of themselves. She couldn't count how many times each of the hero students had ended up in her office just this year. Once, almost half of class 1-a had ended up in her office all at once because of a training exercise that All Might did. Luckily, she got Izuku-sensei to speak to the blonde oaf about it before class 1-b met the same fate.
And Izuku-sensei was in a league of his own. It wasn't even surprising anymore when he got hurt, just exasperating. And the fact that he didn't know he got hurt until someone pointed out how his arm was supposed to be facing the otherway, or how they didn't think arrows were supposed to stick out of shoulders, that was just ridiculous. How does one even do that? How did he get such a high pain tolerance? No mattter how curious she is, she knows that she probably will not like the answer.
Izuku-sensei had actually been the one to convince her to work at UA, along with principal Nezu. It had been before even All Might and Endeavor had gone there, back when she was still working at a hospital. The two teachers had been searching for someone to treat the injuries that their hero course had kept sustaining. Apparently, it was taking serious time out of their schedule to keep going to hospitals to take care of the minor burns and cuts that had been dealt by training accidents. With a hero school, you were bound to get some injuries, so Nezu had been looking for a capable nurse to take care of the students when they were injured.
She could still remember exactly what had happened that day, and the ultimate reason that she decided to go to UA instead of continuing her current work at the hospital. And Izuku-sensei had played no small part in that decision.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recovery Girl washed her hands, scrubbing out after looking after some patients for the day. Her quirk, Recovery, was extremely valuable for healing others, being able to speed up the process enough that the injury could sometimes be healed in mere seconds. She had been working at this current hospital ever since she graduated from a hero school in the west that specialized in making heroes that could heal others in the field of battle. There weren't very many of those nowadays, so she devoted her skills in helping others in the hospital. It was a very rewarding job.
She grabbed her bag and started to walk out, waving to the receptionist as she passed. Or tried to pass.
"Ah! Chiyo, don't leave just yet! There are these guys who want to talk to you, something about UA, I think? One of them looks like he can't be much older than a second-year student, and the other is a... mouse... bear... something? Anyway, he is the principal of the school. They're waiting for you in the office to the left. Tell me how it goes!"
Recovery Girl just stood there for a moment, not really sure what to make of the situation. She cautiously made her way to the office, not scared or anything like that, but rather apprehensive of what she would find there. What business would the principal of UA and his student have with her anyway? It wasn't like she had done anything with heroes and villains ever in her life. Well, she would occasionally heal a hero who ended up at this hospital, but something tells her that is not what this was about.
She reached the solid oak door, not pausing to take a breath before knocking. Whatever they had to say, better to hear it quickly. There was no point in sitting around, worrying or trying to come up with possibilities for what might happen when she could just open the door and find out.
A thump marked the door hitting the wall, shiny yellow doorknob making contact with the stopper. Two people turned around, a young boy with green hair and bright eyes, and this... mouse-bear-thing. The receptionist couldn't have said it better if she had tried.
She already knew the principal of UA, so she took the few seconds before they spoke to look at the younger of the two. It was true, he didn't look like anything more than a student, appearing much too young to be anything but that. His practically glowing green eyes studied her right back, and she was struck with the sense that he was older than he appeared, an old soul trapped in a young body.
Whatever the case, she still had to figure out why they were there. She stood there awkwardly until the principal of the school spoke up, whiskers twitching in what she thought was excitement. "Hello! I'm Nezu, the principal of UA! Please feel free to take a seat right there in front of the desk. The hospital was kind enough to let us use this office while we talked to you."
Recovery Girl eyed him a bit as she slid into the comfortable chair, sinking into the leather. The green-haired enigma was sitting right next to her with an amicable smile, feet crossed at the ankle. She let her bag clunk to the ground, setting her hands somewhat nervously on her lap. "Yes, about that. What did you wish to speak with me about? I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything recently that would merit UA's principal and... student... meeting with me."
The young guy sitting next to her slumped down and pouted a bit, seeming put-off about something. The principal in front of her chuckled when he glanced over at his counterpart, amusing gleaming in his beady black eyes. "Ah, nothing that you have done. We came to speak with you about joining UA, as a member of the staff." Recovery Girl's eyebrows shot up in shock, mouth dropping just the slightest bit. "It has come to our attention that our students are getting hurt a bit too much, and we need an in-house nurse to help them. We have been looking over staff records in several hospitals, and we think you would be the best fit."
Recovery Girl had yet to say anything. She was- well, shock was too little a word for what she was feeling right now. When she woke up this morning, this was not the plan she had in mind for the day. And she really wasn't sure that she wanted to leave the hospital to go and work at a school. The work she did here was great, and she didn't think that she could leave that, at least not yet. She told Nezu as much, not really paying attention to the student beside her at this point.
That's why she was slightly startled when he spoke up, voice sounding like sunshine, just really bright and optimistic. "You don't want to leave the hospital because you feel like you are doing the best work you can here."
That was surprisingly insightful for someone who looks like they are sixteen. And... he wasn't wrong. She just didn't feel like the good she could do at the school could measure up to the good she was doing now, at the hospital. She nodded slightly, not really expecting the conversation to go any further than that.
But she was proven wrong when the teen's eyes lit up and he leaned forward, hands rising from his lap to clasp together on the desk. "But you can do just as much good there as you do here! You do amazing work here, that's true, but you can do so much more at UA. It is where the next generation of heroes is being taught, and you have the opportunity to help them all grow and flourish and become the pillars of society that we need. It is so important that we help the young minds of today make the future of tomorrow better. Helping those students at UA is going to help so many people. You will still be healing them, but please, consider doing it at UA, where we could really use your amazing skill and expertise."
Dang. Recovery Girl found it hard to not agree with that, in part because of the sound logic in which the speech was based on, but also because of the passion and emotion that the boy said it with. You could see just how much he believed in what he was saying, voice just bursting with the need to say everything on his mind. That, more than anything else, was what truly won her over.
"...I'll do it. When do you want me to start?"
"The beginning of next week, if that suits you! We already have everything you'll need there, so don't worry about that. Welcome to the UA staff!" The... whatever, was rubbing his paws together excitedly, pulling out a briefcase and passing some papers over to her. "These are all the papers that we need to make this official. If you would just sign here, here, and here, after reading through of course."
Recovery Girl gave the papers a cursory glance, already having made up her mind to sign them. She still had one question to ask before she left, however. "If you are the principal of UA, then who is he? Did you really need to bring a student along with you?"
The green-haired boy pouted again, and Nezu gave a chilling laugh. "No, no, no! That is Izuku Midoriya, UA"s oldest staff member. He has a quirk that lets him live forever, and I brought him because not only did he have a few things he wanted to ask you, he is also likely the person you are going to be treating the most." This made the... fellow teacher? grumble even more, glancing away resentfully before perking right back up, staring at Recovery Girl with an intensity that might have been frightening under different circumstances.
"Yes, that is part of the reason I came here! I have a few questions to ask you about your quirk!" Out of nowhere, a notebook appeared in his hands, pencil held at the ready as he asked question after question, getting even more animated with every answer provided. He asked questions that she hadn't even thought of yet, and was firing them off of the top of his head. She ended up staying there almost an hour more than necessary, and the discussion continued when she started at the school that monday. She started calling him Izuku-sensei, just like everyone else in the school. It was the beginning of a beautiful era.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recovery Girl smiled at the memory, watching through the cameras as Izuku-sensei walked at a brisk pace towards All Might. Their teacher had told him to hold back, not to throw students into piles of rubble without checking what was there first. That was a good way to give Recovery Girl more work than they needed to.
The door swung open, letting Shinso and Bakugo in. SHe directed the blonde towards a cot, where she checked to make sure there were no broken bones, then kissed him once on the cheek and healed him. The students all breathed a sigh of relief when the aggressive member of their class didn't yell once before passing out, his body needing energy to heal itself.
"Um, Recovery Girl?" Hagakure's glove moved up in the air, the only way to tell that she was raising her hand. "Why was Izuku-sensei acting so weird before he left? He wouldn't really look at me or Yaoyorozu."
Reovery Girl snorted a bit, and a few eyes widened when they looked over at her, obviously surprised by the response. "Ha. Well, Izuku-sensei may be over two centuries old, but he is still one of the most innocent people I know at heart."
The class still looked confused, so she tried to elaborate. "When you and Yaoyorozu were battling your teachers, there were a few moments that the cameras caught that made him a bit... uncomfortable." The teens furrowed their brows as they tried to figure it out, thinking back to their battle simulations. The only reason that Recovery Girl found this okay to share in front of everyone was she knew that the girls did not care at all about that. They just viewed it as a way to make their quirks work, Hagakure especially. And that was a great mindset to have, but Izuku-sensei... he was just too innocent.
"Oh! You mean when I was making the alloy to beat Aizawa-sensei?" Recovery Girl nodded, still stifling a giggle. Izuku-sensei face when he saw that was just... there were no words. He was just so innocent and pure at heart that when someone made a dirty joke, he took it completely serious, not having any clue that there was any hidden meaning to the joke. Basically, he was the exact opposite of Mineta.
"Yes, Izuku-sensei is just... I'm not quite sure how to describe this. Wait, another hero actually told me this story. There was once a raid on a villain organization, and Izuku-sensei was participating, as well as several other heroes. It was your older brother who told me this, Ida, but apparently there was this one villain who saw Izuku-sensei and just made it her mission to throw in as many dirty jokes as possible in the fight." The students were a bit puzzled, not really sure where this story was going or what it was supposed to show. "And Izuku-sensei had absolutely no idea. Tensei said he was practically dying laughing because this women told some of the most raunchy, most adult jokes ever that made even him uncomfortable, and Ida, you know what your brother is like."
The class stared at Ida in shock as he bowed his head. "Yes, it is true, my brother does enjoy the most... interesting of jokes. I can see how Present Mic and him are friends."
Recovery Girl rolled her eyes and nodded, continuing on. "He was dying laughing not only because of the jokes, but at the fact that Izuku-sensei would just answer them truthfully. Her quirk had to do with... something about getting stronger off of the shock of others, and she had apparently learned all of those jokes so she could beat anyone in a fight. It turns out that Izuku-sensei was the perfect person to counter her, because he had no idea whatsoever that she meant anything other than what she said on the surface level."
Uraraka giggles, and then the entire class started laughing, especially those who had seen him at the USJ, because the image was in such stark contrast that it was absolutely ridiculous. The class was still practically in tears when Izuku-sensei walked through the door, a sheepish All Might in tow. "Is everyone all right in here?"
Mineta smiled creepily, then opened his mouth and said, "Hey, Izuku-sensei, I have a question for you."
Izuku-sensei smiled and nodded to him. "Why did the squirrel swim on its back?"
"Hmm. Well I don't see what this has to do with the exam that we just did, but I would have to say that if this squirrel was injured, they would have to float across on their back. Is that right?"
The class just stared at Izuku-sensei with amusement, just waiting for the punchline of the joke that Mineta had already told all of them a thousand times over. Sero and Mina were looking at Izuku-sensei with disbelieving expressions, so Recovery Girl was going to guess that they thought he would get the joke once the punchline was told, but they would just have to watch. "No, it's to keep their nuts dry."
Izuku-sensei's forehead tensed as he thought about it, and the entire class leaned in, even Ida curious to see what their teacher would say. About half of them looked like they thought he would get it, and the other half looked like they were having the time of their lives, Jirou even recording the moment on her phone.
"Huh." All eyes were on Izuku-sensei as he started to answer, focusing on the teacher with baited breath. "I suppose that would make sense. Some squirrels may have developed the survival instinct to not let their food source get wet and moldy. They need it for the winter. But just what was the point of that question?" Izuku-sensei's face was confused, looking at the rest of them as they all completely lost it. Even Recovery Girl was chuckling, stopping once to cough. "Seriously, guys. What was that question supposed to mean?"
Only one person in the class, besides Todoroki, managed to stop laughing long enough to tell him. "Revelry in the dark."
That just confused him even more. It was like looking at a lost puppy. Recovery girl heard several of the girls 'aww' at the expression on his face, like he was the cutest thing in the world.
...She would have to get Jirou to send her those videos later.