Izuku pondered as the blank gray walls of towered above him. He was both excited and perplexed at the current activity he was doing.
The hero team training had begun.
After dinner, they all suited up but were surprised that Cementoss was also there in Gym Gamma. All Might and Eraserhead said they required his assistance today and he was happy to give it. Aizawa started the lesson by explaining he wanted to get something out of the way before they could get serious about this training.
Cementoss then took out a piece of paper and studied it for a few seconds before kneeling down to touch the ground. Slowly, many walls started to raise up throughout the building's floor. As it did, All Might spoke up, "Today we'll be doing a simple one on one battle training with a twist."
Aizawa nodded as he said, "You will all be assigned one of six entrances to the maze that Cementoss is currently constructing. I will also be secretly giving you a certain color."
"Your first objective will be to find someone of the same color assignment. Once you do, you must fight them until we feel satisfied with the results," Yagi explained as he opened a box. He then pulled out body cameras and handed them out to everyone but Hagakure. The former pro hero then said, "We will use these to monitor your progress but to make this fair for Hagakure-san, she will be without one."
Tooru was quick to ask, "You mean I can go all out?"
Toshinori grinned as he answered, "Yes, it's what we want. Our desired result of today's training will only come if you all push yourselves past the new challenge we will be presenting you. So for that to happen, you need to be fully invisible."
Hagakure cheered and then proceeded to take off her gloves.
Midoriya noted at the time that since Tooru had received her new boots, she only had her gloves to tell everyone where she was during training. He wondered what she felt about having to hinder her quirk's effectiveness during most training exercises to prevent accidents. A question for later.
Izuku shook his head as he brought himself back to the present. He then took a peek around a corner to see if anywhere was there. Nothing, but there were three options offered to him. Right. Left. Forward. Midoriya's current tactic was to get as far to the center he could. He figured it would increase his chances of encountering anybody. By using the lights above, Izuku had been using them as a guide to making sure he was heading the right way despite all the twists and turns the maze was offering.
As Midoriya walked forward and took a right, he went over his attack plan. The corridors were thin; only about the width of three people standing side by side. He figured this would make fighting quite limited if it came to fists. The walls themselves Izuku guessed were about three meters tall, and there was an open ceiling. It would be easy to scale with his quirk, but they were barred from going over the walls by their homeroom teacher. Midoriya guessed this was mainly said so Uraraka wouldn't easily float above the maze to find people. Another rule was that they weren't allowed to destroy the walls to find someone and had to limit damage during combat. It was another indoor exercise to push the fact that collateral damage should be avoided as much as possible.
Just as Midoriya was going to take a left, as it was his only option here, Ojiro came from around the corner.
The two immediately went into a fighting stance. Izuku recognized Mashiro's position as the traditional Muay Thai stance he used against Neito when defending Koji so many months ago.
Ojiro was first to speak, "My color is blue. How about you?"
Midoriya relaxed as he responded, "Yellow."
Mashirao dropped his fighting stance as he stated, "Darn. I wanted to fight you for real for once."
"Maybe soon," Izuku stated while giving a thumbs up. He then said, "This training will most likely have us go head to head eventually."
"You're right. But I wish it would have been today," Ojiro groaned. He then started to walk forward and as passed, said, "I haven't seen anyone else yet, but I think I heard Ida-kun talking earlier. I have no idea what he was saying and who he was speaking to though as he was far away."
Midoriya cupped his chin as he stated, "You're the first I've seen too. No sign of anyone else." He then mentally crossed his tailed friend off of possible people he might fight today. Izuku's main concerns were Momo and Tooru. The former cause of their versatile quirk prowess, as it was hard to strategize how to react to it besides acting before she could create anything. The latter was not wanting to hurt his girlfriend. Midoriya figured it was a possibility it might happen and was ready to do so if it did, but he knew would have hated every moment of it.
The two then wished each other luck and parted ways.
It wasn't long after that when Midoriya started hearing a scuffle happening to his left. It was muffled, but from pressing his ear against the wall, he was for sure it wasn't happening right next to him. Izuku then heard a loud grunt from what sounded like Ochako. Who was she fighting? Either way, it meant she wasn't his target.
Midoriya sighed as he continued down what seemed like an endless maze. He didn't like his chances here.
Just as the sounds of the fight became almost too faint to hear anymore, Izuku suddenly stopped in his tracks. He smelled something. It took a moment to recognize what it was, mint, and what it meant.
Tooru was nearby!
Before Midoriya could react, he felt a sudden hard blow to the stomach. As he activated Full Cowl, he felt something sweep his right foot, and it threw him off balance. However, before dropping onto his back, Izuku stopped the fall with his hands and feet. He then backflipped and put some distance between him and his opponent. Midoriya then coughed before asking, "So have you been tailing me before or after I ran into Ojiro-kun?"
"After," Hagakure replied reluctantly. She then explained by saying, "I found Ojiro-kun first and waited to see if he ran into anyone else to confirm his color or anyone else he ran into."
The pain from the punch Izuku received had already subsided by this point. It was a good punch, and if he hadn't expected an attack the moment before it would have made it easier for Tooru to knock him off balance. Her strategy made sense to Midoriya up to the point of what to do if he had fallen. Would Hagakure pin him down? Retreat to make another attack? The latter wouldn't make sense cause that would give him the chance to activate his quirk and be at an advantage.
Izuku then took a deep breathe and focused for a second. He thought, just a light kick to knock her down. No need to do anything drastic. Midoriya then lunged forward towards the spot he had heard his girlfriend was standing with a forward kick.
Nothing connected though, and Izuku immediately ducked down and did a sweeping kick as he landed.
Still, there was no contact.
Was Hagakure keeping her distance to find another vantage point to attack him again? Either way, Midoriya knew 5% Full Cowl wasn't cutting it. Tooru was too fast. Perhaps it was time to bump it up to 8% the next opportunity he got, Izuku pondered. Though would he be able to switch back to 5% quick enough as to not damage Hagakure too severely? Midoriya then rubbed his temple. Was he too soft about this? Eraserhead did say to go all out, but 20% was out of the question.
Izuku then had an idea. Maybe 20% was exactly what he needed!
Midoriya upped his power output to 8% and started sprinting back the way he came. As he rounded a corner, for a few seconds rose his power to 20% and grabbed the edge of a wall and ripped off a piece of concrete only to crush it in his hand into dust. Izuku then lowered back to his previous level and continued down the maze. Once he found what he was looking for he stopped running and prepared mentally what was about to happen next.
A dead end. There were many of these throughout the maze, and now Midoriya had a use for them. He walked as far as he could and turned around to see nothing in front of him. But Izuku knew Tooru was there as he heard soft panting.
"See I told you should have used your quirk on our little run at the end of our first term. It's much more fun to chase you like this," Hagakure eventually said as she caught her breath.
"We'll have to have a nice jog with each other again sometime," Midoriya said with a grin. He liked the idea, but he was hoping the conversation was bringing her closer. Izuku then asked, "So you were using Ragdoll's teachings back there earlier?"
No response.
Hagakure must be closing in then, Midoriya figured. This was his chance. Izuku then brought out 20% of Full Cowl and stomped the ground with his right foot. Cracks and fissures appeared everywhere in front of him as cement crumbled. He heard his girlfriend gasp as the floor beneath her fractured.
Izuku then enacted the final phase of his plan and threw the cement dust from earlier towards the sound he heard before. The dust connected and seemed to hit Tooru on the chest. Even if he had missed the idea was that she wouldn't be able to move without exposing herself. The broken concrete would shift if Hagakure tried to move and the dust was to pinpoint her location to leave out the guesswork.
Midoriya figured he would need to use his full power to make this work. Sure he could damage the ground with his lower power settings but he needed it to be as hazardous as possible, and it seemed to have worked. Plus he needed to crumble the concrete in his hand as best he could and 20% did it just fine.
Hagakure then said, "Okay you got me. Now what?" The tone in her voice was a teasing sort, and it threw off her boyfriend.
Midoriya took a few steps forward and grabbed her shoulder. Before he could say anything, a voice chimed in his earpiece and gave instructions.
"That's all we need to see Midoriya-san. You and Hagakure-san can exit the maze once Cementoss makes a path for you."
It was Aizawa. After being assigned his color, Izuku was given an earpiece by his homeroom teacher and was told this was how they would find out when the exercise was over.
Within seconds the dead-end behind Midoriya began to lower as did the walls behind it revealing a path outside the maze.
"Looks like I lost then. Come on let's go," Hagakure said as she put a hand on the victor's shoulder. Her voice sounded cheerful despite the loss.
As the two began to out of the maze hand in hand, Izuku asked, "Those new shoes work like a charm. I couldn't hear a thing as you sprinted around with them."
Tooru replied, "I know they're fantastic!" She then chuckled and said, "Though the best I could do was just get one good punch on you and almost knock you down on your butt."
"Still it's progress. I mean it's better than just being strictly a support hero. I think you should be able to fight as well," Midoriya stated.
"I know. But even then, I'm not that strong physically; there's still a limit to how much I can do," Hagakure answered with a sigh.
Izuku struggled to think of what to say next. Though he didn't get much more time to brainstorm a response as All Might stepped up to the two as they exited the maze.
"Good job you two. You both completed the objective," Toshinori stated with a thumbs up.
Tooru then asked, "What was the goal then? I was cornered and had lost. So how did I pass, Yagi-sensei? I don't understand."
Yagi answered, "You'll find out in due time. Anyways both of you can change back to your normal clothes and return here once done. We'll discuss the results then."
Midoriya and Hagakure thanked their teacher and separated as they went to change.
Izuku entered the locker room to find Tenya taking a shower. He figured his friend's fight must have worked up a good sweat and then asked, "You're done already Ida-kun?"
The class president remained focused on washing his hair as he answered, "Ah hello Midoriya-kun. And yes, Ochako and I finished our skirmish with haste but it was quite a brawl."
So that was who he heard fighting Ochako, Izuku thought. If that was the case, then Mashirao and Momo were battling each other right now. He noticed a pattern here but put it aside to ask, "So what happened?"
Ida sighed and rinsed his hair before turning off the water. He then explained, "Our teachers called it off before there was a clear winner."
"You too huh? I had Tooru exposed, but our exchange was also halted," Midoriya replied.
Tenya then asked, "Exposed? What do you mean?"
Izuku then explained his encounter with Tooru as his friend dried off his body and got dressed. As he explained, Midoriya noticed that without his glasses and with his hair back since it was wet, the class president looked very different than his typical look. Anyways, just as Ida was about to explain what happened in his fight, Ojiro opened the door to the locker room looking exhausted.
Tenya was quick to ask, "How did it go?"
"I lost, but I'll talk about it later," Mashirao responded as he opened a locker and took out his clothes to change.
Ida then asked, "You sure you don't want a shower? You look pretty sweaty."
"Nah. I can wait till we get back to the dorms. Besides, I want to know why I passed despite losing," Ojiro answered as he started undressing.
Tenya and Izuku exchanged looks but then shrugged at one another.
It wasn't long until the three left to meet back up with everyone else. Ida kept a towel over his shoulders and left his hair as it was. The boys also learned Ida had broken his glasses again and didn't have a spare on him. So with a hand on Izuku's shoulder, Tenya was guided back to the gym. The class president explained that Ochako had landed an excellent kick to his helmet, knocking it off and breaking his glasses. She led him to the boy's locker room after their match as a way to make amends.
Cementoss had already left by the time they returned, and the gym looked normal again. The girls were all there waiting. Izuku glanced at Momo, and she looked tired but cheerful. Perhaps from the win? Ochako was looking at Tenya with interest, a blush on her face. Midoriya couldn't argue that Ida's more handsome look was probably hard to miss by his girlfriend.
Either way, once the boys arrived both teachers got up from the table, they were sitting at. It had multiple laptops on it, and Izuku figured this is how they were watching the fights.
Aizawa spoke first by saying, "Today's results were satisfactory. But the main objective was fulfilled by all of you so we can continue with this training going forward. We will be sending you a video of how your classmates fared later this week. Be sure to watch them on your own time to pinpoint the mistakes that were made."
That was a very different tone than All Might's positivity from earlier, Izuku noted. His mentor was currently looking over at the homeroom teacher with an eyebrow raised.
"Anyways, the goal of today tackled a certain problem that could crop up during this training or just school work in general," Yagi explained.
Eraserhead then said, "And this problem is unique to your group."
Midoriya had a good idea of what it was and looking over at his friends, Ida and Yaoyorozu did too as both nodded almost in unison. The other two that he could tell had confused looks on their faces, and he guessed Tooru was probably clueless as well.
Shota sighed as he said, "I've already told this to Midoriya-san, but I might as well repeat it since you are all here." He paused before continuing with, "I have no problem with my students dating as long as it doesn't affect school work. And so far you haven't let that happen, but one concern I've had is what might happen if you were forced to work against one another for an exercise. It hasn't happened yet, but in this training and at school it's an eventuality. So today's objective was to see if you were willing to fight seriously against your beloved partner."
"And for the most part you all did that quite well," Toshinori said with a grin.
With a grunt, Aizawa stated, "For the most part yes. Though there were some signs of hesitance." He turned his head towards Ida as he said, "Twice you could have had an advantage against Uraraka-san but stopped mid-attack Ida-san. It wasn't until after you lost your helmet did you get serious."
"You are correct, and I apologize sensei. I was having second thoughts about how much power I had put into my kicks then and pulled back," Tenya said with a bow.
With a shrug, Shota responded with, "Uraraka-san is tougher than you think, remember that. Besides, there are always alternative ways to take down an opponent if you're afraid of the power your quirk being too much in a certain situation."
All Might held up his index finger as he said, "On that note, look no further than Midoriya-san's strategy against Hagakure-san as an example of this when reviewing the videos we will be sending. He used a mostly non-violent method to locate and corner her despite the nature of her quirk."
Eraserhead scratched his right cheek as he stated, "I guess if we are giving out praise we might as well get that out of the way before we get back to the issues." The teacher looked over to Tooru as he stated, "Out of everyone here Hagakure-san, you were the most direct in attacking your opponent. Even if the attempt failed I cannot deny you embodied the goal of today's lesson the most."
"Thanks, sir. But I was mostly being gung ho about it cause I figured I wouldn't do that much damage to Izuku anyways," Hagakure stated.
Aizawa nodded before saying, "We will address your combat skills another day, but for today's lesson, you did well." He then closed his eyes before speaking again and said, "Ojiro-san and Yaoyorozu-san, you both showed good endurance today."
Both students' grins soon turned to frowns though as their homeroom teacher explained, "But you both lacked drive after your initial exchange, hence why your battle was so drawn out compared to the others. Although That last push you both showed is what made me and All Might decide to pass you."
"Yes sir," both teens said in unison.
"And for last, Midoriya-san. That was excessive damage with that stomp of yours. If you had not been on the first floor of a building, it would have lead to disastrous results."
Izuku gave a nod as a response, which seemed to satisfy Shota. He thought he kept it to a minimum but forgot to consider that he wouldn't always be on the ground when fighting.
Tooru then spoke up and asked, "Can I ask a question about today's lesson?"
Eraserhead sighed before giving a nod.
Hagakure then asked, "So if today's exercise was about us being willing to fight our boyfriend or girlfriend, doesn't that mean it was a waste for Ojiro-kun and Yaoyorozu-chan since they are not dating?"
Both students mentioned fidgeted upon hearing this question.
Aizawa grunted and rubbed his temple as he said, "This is not what I signed up for."
Ida and Uraraka gave confused looks, but Midoriya heard his girlfriend hold back a chuckle. Before he could ask her what she was planning, he noticed Ojiro give Yaoyorozu a particular look. She sighed before giving a few nods. Mashirao then scratched the back of his head as he turned his head back towards the group and said, "Well, Aizawa-sensei was correct in his assumption cause Momo and I went on a date last night."
Ochako and Tenya were quick to congratulate the two with Tooru not far behind. Izuku shrugged and joined in, figuring it might as well appear like it's news to him as well.
Uraraka then asked how this had started, and as Ojiro explained, Midoriya began to reflect on what was happening. While the reveal was similar in the timeframe to how he and his girlfriend told his friends, this was more forced. Tenya and Ochako had been more gradual, revealing their relationship to their friends slowly as weeks passed. But how would this play out when telling the entire class? Izuku had his relationship unceremoniously announced by Mashirao, and the class president's by his girlfriend kissing him in front of everyone on his birthday. He figured they would want to date more before revealing such a thing.
Midoriya then looked around and noticed Aizawa was nowhere to be seen. He then looked to All Might and asked, "Where did Aizawa-sensei go?"
Yagi exhaled as he answered, "Well he gave me a small wave and took his leave. I guess teenage romance is not something he cares to wait for. Besides, we're done here so not an issue minus not formally ending this."
After things calmed down and Toshinori explained Shota's absence, Momo then asked, "All Might-sensei, do you know how Aizawa-sensei knew of me going out with Mashirao?"
The former pro hero nodded before replied with, "When any student exits or enters the front entrance of U.A. a timestamp is made as well as a photo with the security cameras. Aizawa-san makes it his business to know when and what his students are doing on their time off. He never told me exactly what he saw, but I guess he saw you two leaving and arriving at a similar time and assumed you were dating."
"Makes sense. We left and came back to the dorms at different times but were together going both ways at the school entrance," Ojiro said.
Yaoyorozu sighed as he stated, "I thought my plan for us to remain a secret was going to work too."
Mashirao put a hand on his new girlfriend's shoulder as he said, "These things happen, don't be too hard on yourself. And hey, at least we got the whole awkward telling our friends shtick out of the way early."
Momo smiled and nodded before saying, "Yeah I guess you're right."
Tenya then spoke up and asked, "Sensei if our homeroom teacher only found this out last night, then this training must have been done last minute, right?"
"You are very much right Ida-san. I got a call from Aizawa-san last night asking to change our original plan for today. We then both asked Cementoss if he would assist us this morning before classes and he was happy to help. The initial lesson we planned will occur on next Monday, I can assure you." Toshinori explained.
Ochako then asked, "What would have happened if we failed?"
Yagi crossed his arms and thought for a few moments before responding with, "Well we would have put this off for a bit. Aizawa-san wanted to be sure this issue wasn't gonna show up in class or this training. If there were any major problems, he would have delayed this, and we would have focused on whoever was having trouble with it. But thankfully, minus a few hiccups as Aizawa-san mentioned, you all did very well."
After looking at his watch on his right hand, All Might stated, "Well, it's about time to call this. I'll see you all in class soon."
Everyone then congratulated the new couple once more and said their goodbyes to All Might. As they started walking back to their dorms, Tooru began to lag behind the group which Izuku noticed quickly. The others were in a hot debate about the training and what it meant to see.
Midoriya slowed his pace until he was beside Hagakure and then asked, "What's up?"
"Just marveling at what I see in front of me," Tooru said in a cheery tone.
Izuku was confused but looked forward to his friends. It took a second, but then he saw it. Momo and Mashirao were holding hands. This however spurred a thought in Midoriya's head and looked back at his girlfriend and asked, "So why did you bring up that question to Aizawa-sensei to expose them as a couple? That was purposeful wasn't it?"
Hagakure laughed softly before saying, "You caught me red-handed. As of late, I wondered if those two were interested in each other. I wanted to confirm my suspicions since I had the opportunity. It turns out I was right!
Izuku scratched his head as he asked, "But what tipped you off? I thought they had been pretty subtle about it."
Tooru stopped in her tracks and then asked, "Wait you knew? Since when?"
"Well, I was there when Yaoyorozu-chan asked Ojiro-kun about studying together once school resumed. Plus he's kept me mostly up to date about his interactions and feelings about her. Though nothing about what happened with the date yesterday," Izuku explained. He didn't want to be pushy about it, as curious as he was.
Hagakure sighed as she began walking again and said, "Man I wish I was you. I've wanted to know the juicy details for like two weeks. Yaoyorozu-chan, I think accidentally, let it slip she was teaching Ojiro-kun while we chatted once. She didn't act weird or anything, but I had my suspicions."
"Now you sound like Ashido-chan," Midoriya stated with a chuckle.
"I at least had the courtesy not to ask her upfront. She would have been hounding her about it forever after like she did Uraraka-chan and I not so long ago," Tooru explained with a huff.
Once Izuku cleared his throat he said, "I was just joking."
"Izuku, you joking is odd enough as is," Hagakure said as Midoriya felt her poke his face.
"Hey you two lovebirds, we're about to head inside," Mashirao called out. They were standing in front of their dorms at this point. He was no longer holding Momo's hand, which made sense to Izuku. They probably weren't ready to tell the entire class yet.
The couple in unison said, "Coming!"
Izuku was laid back in his bed looking at his phone. He was currently looking at footage from Ochako and Tenya's fight from Monday.
It was very early Thursday morning, and a lot had happened since Monday.
On Tuesday, Aizawa had announced the upcoming U.A. cultural festival, which was to occur in the first week of November. The class couldn't decide what program to do during homeroom and were forced to figure it out that evening. Midoriya couldn't attend the discussion as he and the other interns still had supplementary lessons to attend. Eventually, they came up with the idea of doing a live music performance with dancing. Izuku, that morning, had been intrigued by Mina's breakdancing so when he received the text from Tooru about the decision he was elated.
Midoriya still had other things on his mind as he watched his two friends fight. During his supplementary lesson the day before, Aizawa told him that Eri had requested to see him and Togata. And that was where Izuku was Wednesday afternoon. Both boys were quick to notice that Eri was still traumatized about her experience. Inspired by how Aoyama tried to cheer him up last week, Midoriya asked Aizawa if she could attend the upcoming cultural festival. The homeroom teacher said he'd discuss it with the principal and both Eri and Mirio were excited at the idea.
Later that night and into this morning, the class discussed the specifics of the live performance. The band would play club rock in the style of new rave and consist of five members: Jiro doing the vocals and playing bass, Kaminari as the lead guitarist, Tokoyami as the rhythm guitarist, Yaoyorozu on the synthesizer, and Bakugo playing the drums. The rest of the students were then either on the dance or staging team. Izuku and all his close friends, besides Momo, were on the dance team and he was pumped to learn beside them.
And while everything as of late was exciting, Midoriya was currently focusing on the training from Monday. Aizawa had emailed members of TAC with files containing the video footage yesterday during classes. Izuku was compelled to watch them, but regular and supplementary classes got in the way. He and the other interns came back to the dorm to see Tenya frantically try and organize everything, so that was another obstacle.
Midoriya was tired, but he wanted to watch the footage more than anything now. He was currently watching the fight from Uraraka's point of view. Their initial exchange had Ida try and rush his opponent. Ochako was able to retreat behind a corner and then used her quirk to make herself airborne to become out of reach. Tenya struggled to round the corner but then used his momentum to kick at the walls to jump from between them to grab his girlfriend and bring her to the ground.
This was the first moment Ida hesitated.
Tenya paused as he held Ochako to the ground and she used this moment to try and grab at her boyfriend to make him weightless, as he only had her by the shoulders. Ida backed off in time to not be touched but soon met a flurry of punches and kicks from Uraraka. He was backed into the wall as he blocked the attacks but gave no offense. Ochako then yelled at Tenya to fight back.
Izuku figured it was this point of the fight he heard when he was close.
Ida responded with a quirk boosted kick that sent her flying back. Uraraka gave a thumbs up but then retreated behind another corner. Midoriya heard her countdown before sticking her leg out up high, to be met with Ida's helmet.
Izuku cringed as he saw Tenya's helmet fly off. But before he could see his friend get back up and resume the fight, a knock came from the door. Midoriya groaned as he paused the video. It was so late, he wondered, who could want to see him at this hour?
Izuku opened the door to find Kyoka with a stern look.
"Morning," Jiro stated.
"Uh, good morning," Midoriya replied as he scratched the back of his head. He then asked, "Can I help you?
Kyoka proceeded to walk forward into the room, and Izuku sidestepped in shock. She took a look around before turning around and saying, "Was it you who convinced Koda-kun to act the way he did?"
As Izuku closed his door before he asked, "The way he acted?"
"You know. When Koda-kun and Kaminari-kun were trying to motivate me to go along with this live performance thing we're doing for the school festival," Jiro explained with crossing her arms.
Midoriya was drawing a blank. He remembered his girlfriend mentioning something along these lines at lunch on Wednesday but not the details. He then asked, "When was this?"
"Tuesday after school. I know you weren't there cause you were busy with supplementary lessons but there's no way Koda-kun did that without outside help," Kyoka stated as she took a step forward and pointed at her Izuku.
Midoriya took a second to think before saying, "What's wrong in believing Koda-kun spoke for himself and not from me giving him advice."
"You've given it to him before," Jiro bluntly said.
Oh right, that, Izuku remembered. Not long into staying at the dorms Koji had asked for help with dealing with Kyoka being suddenly chatty. Midoriya wondered how Jiro knew though. Perhaps it was brought up in one Koda's conversations with her? Izuku then took a deep breath, "That time was just him wanting some help dealing with you trying to be friendly with him. I never told him to be more assertive or anything."
Kyoka stepped away before asking, "You're sure?"
"Positive," Midoriya answered with confidence.
Jiro sighed before letting her arms fall to the side. She then walked over to her host's window before explaining, "Sorry. It just seemed out of character for Koda-kun. Sure he's more talkative now than ever before, but he never starts conversations or asks questions. It's always me and Kaminari-kun driving the conversation and Koda-kun just following the motions. Which is fine, I mean as you told me on the summer trip, I shouldn't rush things with him. But then out of the blue, he tries to back up Kaminari-kun when trying to convince me to do the live performance. It just felt like you or that dunce had pushed him outside his comfort zone. But Kaminari-kun said he never spoke to Koda-kun about it, so I figured it had to be you Midoriya-kun."
The last sentence felt off to Izuku. He then asked, "Is everything okay with Koda-kun?"
Kyoka pulled on one of her jacks as she responded with, "He's been avoiding me since that day. I haven't tried to be upfront with Koda-kun about it, but the whole situation is getting on my nerves. It just feels like all that time we spent talking was for naught."
Upon hearing this, Midoriya started to ponder. Perhaps Koda felt like he went too far. But he still didn't know what the large teen even said. Maybe it was time to talk to Koji again and see what was up, though discreetly. Kyoka was already on edge here, and it seemed ironic to Izuku. Back at the school summer training camp, Jiro seemed annoyed her tactics to "help" Koda wasn't working, and now she was afraid of pushing him too much. Guess that means she's just grown to understand him better since then, Midoriya figured.
Kyoka then asked, "What are you plotting?"
Izuku was quick to raise his hands in defense as he explained, "I still stand by that he needs time. Whatever he said to you sounds quite bold, so he's probably still coming to terms with it is all. Give him a week or two, and I bet he'll be back to normal."
"I hate waiting but, you're probably right," Jiro stated as her shoulders sagged slightly. She then looked up at Midoriya and said, "Sorry I kind of barged in here. I let my feelings get the better of me, and I'm better than this normally."
Midoriya shook his head as he stated, "It's fine Jiro-chan. I bet all this stuff having to do with the school festival has been stressful for you. And there's nothing wrong getting overworked about worrying about a friend. It just shows how good a person you are."
Kyoka cracked a smile as she said, "Hagakure-chan chose right when she asked you out."
Again with the praise, Izuku thought as he felt a blush start to form on his face. As he thought of how to respond, a thought crossed his mind. Midoriya then asked, "Hey, how did you know I would be up right now? I mean, yeah, we stayed up late to figure out our parts for the live performance, but it's been half an hour since we called it a night."
"Hagakure-chan has mentioned you stay up late either studying or on your phone," Jiro explained as she walked past Midoriya. She then opened the door and looked back, "And it looks like she was right. Anyways, thanks for the chat but it's getting late. You got dance lessons tomorrow with Ashido-chan, and I have to wrangle in my ragtag team of musicians. Night."
Izuku didn't even have time to respond before Kyoka shut his door. I guess I need to talk to Koji soon, he thought. Midoriya then took out his phone. The video was still paused, and the urge to press play was high. He then looked over at the time, nearing 2 am. As much as Izuku wanted to watch the rest of the footage, he needed to get some sleep.
After turning off his light and setting his alarm, Midoriya brainstormed ideas of what to discuss with Koda until sleep claimed him.
Hagakure asked, "You ready for some dancing today?"
"Sure, just have to get through the entirety of school today first Tooru," Midoriya responded with a tired tone.
It was Friday morning, and homeroom hadn't started yet.
Tooru was giddy about the training after school that was about to begin. Tenya and Momo decided that, after dinner each day, 1A would work on the live performance. The principal announced earlier in the week that until the festival, Saturday would be an off day with no school, to give the students guaranteed time to work on their programs. Sunday would be a rest day; Momo even said she would hold off her morning lessons for now. Izuku wondered though if she was still going to get Mashirao private lessons though.
The two continued to chat as more students arrived in the classroom. Once Aizawa came, Hagakure returned to her seat, as did the rest of the students who were talking, and homeroom began. A few minutes however before the end of the class, the teacher said, "Well that's all I have to say for today. Ida-san you take it from here."
The class president stood as he asked, "We received permission to do it?"
"Yes. Next Sunday will be the time. So make your announcement and be done with it before class ends," Eraserhead responded. He then proceeded to lean against the whiteboard behind him and closed his eyes.
Tenya grinned and got up, and Momo was quick to follow. Once at the front of the classroom, he said, "Good morning everyone. We both have been working behind the scenes sometime now to set up something entertaining I think most of you would enjoy."
The vice president then spoke up and said, "Well actually Sato-kun was the one who came up with the idea, to begin with. Shouldn't he tell everybody."
Ida nodded before saying, "Great idea! Sato-kun, why not give everyone the news?"
Sato nodded before standing up and explaining, "As you already know we don't exactly have the best impression to other classes in our school. I'm happy we get the chance to share our talents and express our passion at the upcoming school festival, but for some time I've been thinking of a way we could specifically bond with class 1B."
There were a few murmurs upon hearing this. Izuku saw Mashirao fidget at this. It had to be about Neito, he figured.
"Traditionally both classes have always been highly competitive with one another as they are both in the hero course. So far that hasn't changed during the last term or the current one. But I think we can do better. I want us to be more like friendly rivals than vengeful opponents," Rikido stated as he started to walk to the front of the classroom.
"At the start of the term, I got in contact with the class president of 1B and we discussed ideas of what to do for us to better bond with each other. We eventually came up with the idea that every once in a while we should do something social together. And this Sunday we wanna try and make this work," Sato explained.
Bakugo then spoke up and said, "And what if we don't wanna be a part of this?"
Ida sighed before saying, "We haven't even told you what it is yet."
"Just answer the question," Katsuki replied with a scowl.
"We're not forcing you to go to this. Though I highly recommend you at least give it a try," Momo said with confidence in her voice at the last statement.
Kaminari then asked, "So what is it? Like a movie night? Or we all going to a big buffet to pig out? Nothing says getting to know someone than stuffing your face."
Ida cleared his throat before saying, "Ideas we might consider for the future, but for now, we have something else in mind."
Sato raised an arm with a fist as he said, "Yeah this first event we're gonna do some karaoke!"
The class response to hearing this was mostly positive. The only real objections Izuku could see was Katsuki groaning, Fumikage looking not amused, and Koji with a spooked look on his face. He was interested in the prospect though from the start. While Midoriya knew he would never sing karaoke, he was intrigued to see others in his class would do. However, the sudden ring of the bell brought such thinking to a close. Izuku needed to focus on the rest of the day for now.
Mineta groaned as he said, "Today was tougher than I thought it would be."
"Well, you did vote in favor of dancing, so you got what you wanted," Kaminari stated. He then sighed before saying, "I thought you were gonna back me up with my maid cafe vote dude, what gives?"
"You have to think outside the box, man. I mean sure my first thought was a titty bar but I mean that's not feasible. And while your idea is great I thought of something more practical," Minoru responded.
Denki then asked, "Alright what you got planned in that little noggin of yours?"
"Two words," Mineta replied. He then said slowly, "Wardrobe malfunction."
"Huh, clever," Kaminari said with intrigue.
Midoriya sighed, this wasn't what he wanted to hear right now.
It was late Friday night. The first day of training for the live performance was over.
Izuku and some of the guys were currently showering. To his left were Minoru and Denki chatting it up. On the right was Yuga, who had been quiet minus his initial greeting. Midoriya tried to drown out Mineta's conversation by lathering his head soap, though it helped little. While his short friend had been getting better with girls when around them he was still up to his usual self when just with the guys, especially Kaminari.
"Still I wish I could have been part of the band," Minoru stated with a pout.
Denki chuckled as he said, "Well no offense dude but you either can't reach the instrument, or it's too big for you."
Mineta sighed as he said, "Yeah and my singing is no good."
"Well you were mostly just yelling nonsense," Aoyama stated.
"You don't have to rub it in," Minoru replied with an annoyed growl.
"Pardon. Just telling the truth," Yuga stated in a sigh.
"Well regardless, I can't wait for the Karaoke next Sunday! I can't see myself singing at it, but it sounds like a lot of fun," Kaminari stated with glee.
Mineta then said, "I'm going to try and sing at least one song. It can't be as bad as last time."
Midoriya felt compelled to step in as he thought no one needed to suffer such a thing again as he said, "Maybe you can ask Jiro-chan for advice. If you're genuine, she'll at least give you a pointer or two I think."
Minrou held back a laugh as he said, "No offense Midoriya-kun but I think out of all of the girls in the class she hates me the most. That would never work."
"It wouldn't hurt to try," Izuku stated.
There were a few moments of silence before Mineta turned off his showerhead. As he exited his stall, he said, "I'll think about it."
Kaminari was quick to finish and catch up with his friend.
"Paix et tranquillité," Aoyama stated once the two exited the room.
Midoriya then asked, "Say what?"
"It means peace and tranquility. Those two can be quite loud sometimes. A shower should be a place to relax and wash off a day's worries and stress. Not such crude talk as those two often converse in," Yuga answered with disgust in his voice.
The two then continued their showers in silence. As Izuku continued to wash, he felt short bursts of pain in his hands. Before dinner, he had another lesson with All Might. Their first meeting since the raid on Overhaul's base of operations. Toshinori first asked his pupil to join him in the teacher's lounge for some tea. Once they had caught up, All Might asked for a change in scenery. The two then went into the forest behind U.A. to train. The school's gyms were now hosting all the students preparing for the festival, so training there in secrecy wasn't an option.
Earlier, Yagi asked Midoriya what he felt he had lacked in his fights during the raid. The boy answered that he wasn't able to counter the long-range attacks Chisaki was barraging him with. All Might then asked to see Full Cowl 20% as an attack. Izuku did as told and was surprised to find that his punch was able to cause damage to his surroundings, nothing major, but enough. Toshinori noted that until now his student had only been using this new level defensively to increase his speed and endurance. He then revealed that even at 15%, Midoriya should be able to use his attacks that cause a wave of wind pressure. All he needed to do now was to continue fine-tuning his control of the higher power and get used to using his more fragile parts, like fingers, to make full use of these long-range attacks.
Izuku sighed then turned off the water to the shower and walked out of his stall to dry off. He was taking quite a while to get dressed, however. His current thoughts were focused on the "other" training he wanted to do. Ever since Sunday, Midoriya had pondered how he was going to have more opportunities outside of dates to practice kissing with Hagakure as well as learn how her hair feels enough to start cutting it on his own. The latter he initially wanted to be a surprise but after thinking it over it wasn't really feasible as he would need to feel out her hair enough times. Izuku's main issue now was trying to convey his want to do this without sounding like a pervert.
Suddenly Aoyama's face was in front of Midroiya's, and he stated, "You're thinking about Hagakure-chan."
Izuku almost fell off the bench he was sitting on. He had his boxers and shirt on but had been working on getting his shorts on when this occurred. Yuga was standing in front of him wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Midoriya finished putting on his shorts and then took a few breaths before asking, "What makes you say that?"
"Oh you and Uraraka-chan are a cinch to read when it involves the one they love," Aoyama said while giving an odd chuckle. Once he finished, he continued the explanation with, "During our first term final exam Uraraka-chan and I were in quite a pickle against Thirteen-sensei. She was acting out of her element and had this particular look on her face. The same you have now."
Midoriya then asked, "And how did you know for sure she was thinking about Ida-kun."
Yuga replied, "Well at the time we were holding on to dear life on some railing so as not to be sucked into Thirteen-sensei's quirk." He then put a hand over his mouth to hold in a laugh as he said, "That's when I asked her if Ida-kun was on her mind. She then proceeded to grab her cheeks in embarrassment and let go of the railing."
Izuku wondered, why was he focusing on Ochako's face during a time like that?
Aoyama then stated, "Anyways, you two are very easy to read when it comes to love. So am I right or what?"
Midoriya sighed and nodded.
"Je le savais! My observation skills are unmatched," Yuga proclaimed with a dazzling grin. He then looked to his friend asked, "So why are you thinking of her? You look so concerned my friend. What has happened? You can tell me; I can keep a secret!"
Izuku shook his head as he said, "Nothing's wrong. I'm just trying to set up something up with her is all."
"Ah! So you need advice! I'll be happy to help ami," Aoyama proclaimed while striking a pose.
"Uh-," was all Izuku could say before being interrupted by his flashy friend.
"Oh right, sorry. I have a bad habit of slipping in French at times, but it's such a beautiful language it's hard to ignore. Anyways, ami means friend. But lay it on me Midoriya-kun, what are you trying to set up?"
Midoriya cleared his throat before replying with, "Well I'm trying to figure out a way for me and Tooru to have private time outside the dates we can have on Sunday." He didn't want to have to go into any more detail then he had too.
Aoyama nodded as he said, "Ah I get it. Alone time to do the kiss of my people."
"How did you guess...you know what nevermind," Izuku said as he sat up, grabbed his clothes, and began to walk away. This was too awkward to talk about as they only became friends last week.
"The roof," Yuga said with a serious tone.
Midoriya stopped in his tracks and turned around to ask, "What?"
"Why not try the roof of the dorms? No one goes up there. It should give you plenty of privacy to make out with your girlfriend in peace." Aoyama answered with a smirk.
The idea sounded plausible in Izuku's head. He then said, "Thanks Aoyama-kun. I'll give it some thought."
"Je vous en prie. I'm happy to help," Yuga stated with a bow.
Izuku leaned against the railing of the roof and sighed loudly.
It had been a long Saturday.
Yesterday's dance lessons with Ashido went along with no problem. However, she had ramped it up quite a bit today, and Midoriya was struggling to keep up.
Also, Eri made a surprise visit. Izuku was happy to hear that her coming to the festival had been approved. Though it was decided it would be best for her to come at least once before the event to ease the change in environment as to not overstress her. Togata and Midoriya spent the early afternoon showing her around. They caught glimpses of 1B practicing a very odd play, Nejire in a dress as she prepared for a beauty pageant, and one of Mei's robot projects catching fire. Eri was unsure how to feel about everything, but she had been moved by everyone's hard work. She wanted to see how it was going to turn out. This excited both Izuku and Mirio as it was some progress at least.
Midoriya groaned. The night air was starting to become chilly. He was kicking himself that he didn't bring a jacket.
Suddenly the door to the roof opened.
It was Hagakure. She was wearing a yellow jacket with jeans. As Tooru approached her boyfriend, she pulled the hoodie over her head. She then asked, "Meet me on the roof at ten? And no response to me asking why? Did something serious happen?"
Izuku shook his head as he stated, "Nah I just wanted this to be a surprise."
Intrigued, Tooru leaned on the railing next to him and asked, "Okay then, what do you have for me Izuku?"
"I want to cut your hair from now on," Midoriya answered in a quick burst of words.
Hagakure stayed quiet for a few seconds before asking, "So is that why you came to my place last Sunday?"
"I mean I wasn't sure if it was feasible or not until I saw your mom cut your hair. Even then I wanted to ask her for advice for committing to the idea," Midoriya replied with confidence. He then felt his girlfriend put an arm around his left arm.
"This such an odd surprise but it's so you," Tooru chuckled. After calming down, she said, "But um, how are you gonna get used to cut my hair? My mom's advice couldn't have been enough to make you an expert."
Izuku pulled on his collar before responding with, "Uh, well." He paused for a moment then said, "I'm gonna need to start to... to get a f-feel for your hair for this to work. M-Multiple times. To best gauge how and when to cut it."
Hagakure held back a snicker as she asked, "You realize what you made it sound like right?"
Midoriya's head sunk a bit upon hearing this. He had planned this scenario many times and in his head but he ended up blurting it out. Izuku then suddenly felt his hands being grabbed and placed into his girlfriend's hoodie.
"I know you mean well, so it's okay," Tooru stated in a kind voice.
Hagakure's hair felt so much smoother than Midoriya remembered. Had she been following his advice to use conditioner more often?
"So um I thought we could also do something on top of these s-sessions too," Izuku asked in a nervous tone.
Curious, Tooru stated, "Go on."
Midoriya exhaled and then suggested with confidence, "We could practice kissing up here. You know, so it's not exclusive to our dates."
"An interesting proposition," Hagakure said. She then asked in a suggestive voice, "Why not do both at the same time right now?"
"S-sure," Izuku answered as his courage started to waver. He thought he could get familiar with her hair first, but he couldn't say no to such a request from Tooru.
Midoriya cupped Hagakure's head from just above her neck as he brought her towards a kiss.
Suddenly the door to the roof opened and out stepped Ida and Uraraka.
There was silence as each couple stared at each other.
Eventually, Tenya spoke up and said, "Indecent behavior while on school grounds is strictly-."
Ochako had elbowed her boyfriend on the side of his chest. She then said, "We were about to do the same 'indecent' things dummy. Don't try and hide it."
Tooru pulled away from Izuku as she asked, "Wait you guys come up here to make out?"
"For about a month," Ida said as he rubbed his side. He then said, "And it's worked pretty well so far. Only Aoyama-kun has found out so far, as he walked in on us last week."
Midoriya held in a groan. Aoyama's advice failed to mention that his other friends were also using the space for some private time. And it was the source of his idea in the first place. A conversation for later, Izuku told himself.
"Well, we were here first tonight! Come back in a few minutes," Tooru said as she hugged her boyfriend.
Ochako pulled Tenya forward as she proclaimed, "We came up with the idea first! You two can wait downstairs until we are done."
As the girls bickered, Ida and Midoriya looked at one another and then smirked. No way were they going to step in between these two. It wasn't a winnable fight for the guys.
Completely threw out the first scene and it was moved to chapter 26. I thought to focus on the "couples having to fight their loved one" plot out of the way first cause that would have been meh to drag out. Plus it would serve as a nice warm-up for future fighting in the team training coming up. Again the fights were short here but the next chapter will be a bit more lengthy.
So the new ship confirmation I wanted to be different than the other two, and I thought doing this training exercise would be a neat way to do it. I am still trying to figure out how I want the new couple to tell 1A about them but I can say it won't take as long as the others. And about the ship itself, I don't ship it personally (it's even crazier than IzuTooru), but it fit the story I wanted to craft. The idea was for the main six to fall in love with someone in the group since the start. Surprisingly, two doujin involving these two are already in existence. I was told this from discord friends when I brought up this pairing during a writing discussion. Weird. Anywho this brings the ship count in this fic to three, with two more to go but will be much more minor.
Speaking of those other ships, I finally got to use Jiro again. Been waiting for the school festival to have a reason for her in the story once more. We'll see Koda again eventually concerning the development brought up in this one.
And yes, Sato and Kendo's plan is to have karaoke! This idea was spawned during spring break earlier this year. I was having trouble sleeping one night in a tent cause of a windstorm, so I tried to brainstorm ideas for the fic as a way to fall asleep. I had already figured I wanted Sato and Kendo to run an activity together between the classes, just no idea what. It will take up the latter half of the next chapter as I plan to go all out with it. And no I won't be doing any lyrics or anything, but expect a reference here or there. The event more about character interactions and having some fun with it than the actual singing anyways. Thank the stars to Hori for the Joint Training arc as it's getting a lot more ammo to work with here than I originally envisioned many months ago.
The only difference here with Izuku's meeting with All Might post-Overhaul arc is that he already had a good grasp about controlling the percentage of OFA. Sure it was just a summary, but I thought I might as well point that out. Again the point is to better transition his power jumps than out of nowhere as the manga has done thus far.
And another minor character appears, Aoyama! I was glad he finally got some screen time at the start of this arc and even became friends with Midoriya. I felt I could use him as someone for Izuku to get advice from for once, cause as of late it's mostly been Izuku that's been dishing that out. Of course, it didn't work out as expected, but Yuga tried!
At this point, I feel I should share my Twitter account (I mean it's the same as my username here, but you might have not known its existence). Before it would have been spoilers for the last major ship I revealed (even if it was obvious for some time for you peeps). I use it as my commission dump. I've had a lot of art done for the three main ships in Cubicity (nearing 20 pictures), as well as many others as gifts to friends or just my own personal tastes. Even if have a neat art of my vision of Tooru and Mashirao's parents. I even want to do Momo's parents and her butler one day (if they ever open up commissions again). So have at all the extra content!