Chapter 23
A little while later, it was a rather dejected Momo that was making her way through the halls back towards the stands.
The tournament had been proceeding apace. After Midoriya's round, that Hatsume girl from support had defeated Shishida by letting him charge her in his wild form and hit him with the staff she had used as a lightning rod against Kaminari. Turns out, the thing had been storing his electricity all this time and had unleashed it to great effect. Kaminari was understandably rather displeased at that, grumbling something under his breath about copyrights, but frankly Momo had been paying more attention to how the girl had become a lot more vocal after the match had been called in her favor, saying loudly to the crowd that this was just a little taste of things to come, while looking towards their class' stand, as if singling out someone in particular with that statement. Odd.
The next match, which the pony-tailed girl had watched by herself from her prep room for her own bout immediately after, didn't really have much that could be considered remarkable about it, except perhaps by how swiftly it had ended. Having been part of his team in the previous event, Tokage had been clearly aware of how the general course boy's quirk worked, all but confirming Momo's own suspicions on the matter when the usually quite chatty girl had not said a single word, despite Hitoshi's best efforts to goad her into it throughout the 10 or so seconds it had taken her to pin him down with a hold he clearly had no combat training nor physical conditioning to break out of. The class president couldn't help but imagine that Midoriya would probably be grumbling something about not being allowed to get even with the guy right about now, which was probably a bullet Hitoshi didn't quite realize he had dodged for the time being…
Then, it had been her turn. Her first actual fight in the tournament, after Iida's forfeit. Momo had steeled herself as best as she could, had ran through so many different possibilities in her mind for how to stand up to Todoroki's ice. Flashbangs to throw him off, ice picks and snowshoes or ice-skates for mobility, which specific chemical compounds would be optimal to break free should he manage to trap her like he had with Tokoyami. While she had been understandably quite nervous at that possibility, Momo had felt going in that she was as prepared as she would ever be…
…And in the end all her plans and possible counters had not mattered one bit, because her bout had ended even faster than the previous one. Mercifully, Todoroki hadn't dropped an iceberg on her (unknown to her, because the teachers had explicitly forbidden him from doing so in between rounds), but him using a smaller, surging ice wall as a battering ram to knock her off the arena before she could mount any sort of significant defense didn't make her feel any better about it.
Momo couldn't help but sigh, trying hard to keep tears at bay. How could she have been so slow? How was it possible that in the moment, with all the ice coming at her, all her plans and counters just seemed to leave her mind until it was far too late?
Surely, she was better than this underwhelming performance. Right…?
As she got back to the others, their kind words of support seemed to indicate that her friends believed so, but for some reason, Momo didn't really feel better for it.
/
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, with a far faster ice clean up this time around, let's get the next round started with a ba-"
Present Mic's bombastic announcing was suddenly cut off by a loud noise that sounded suspiciously like a door slamming open, everyone in the stadium looking towards the announcer's booth as the sound system intermittently gave the idea that there was some sort of argument going one, with little tidbits such as 'no, we can't just cancel' and 'do you not understand the calamity' faintly carrying over before there seemed to be sounds of a brief scuffle, and then the teacher's voice was back with a slight cough.
"Right, uh, sorry for the interruption, folks. I was just… politely reminded by a concerned member of our staff to avoid certain terminologies in order not to encourage some of our contestants to act on them."
Having actually witnessed the specifics of the altercation via their video surveillance, and how Power Loader had to be dragged off from the booth by nurse bots in a rather neurotic state, Nezu made a mental note to send the man to see Hound Dog and then give him some vacation time once the festival was over. He had really underestimated how much the stress had been getting to the Support teacher…
"Anyway, let's bring in the contestants! From class 1-A, the absolute menace that has been relishing everything that's been thrown at him so far, ya'll know him by now, it's Izuku Midoriya!"
Izuku couldn't help but grin widely, positively preening at the announcement. It was always good to feel acknowledged.
"And in the other corner, the last girl standing from Class 1-H and the support course in general, can Mei Hatsume keep surpassing the odds as she's done so far? Well, I for one can't wait to find out!"
Izuku gave his opponent a considering stare. He remembered this girl's sneaky sneak move at the end of the last event, nearly snatching his victory away from him if not for army boy's sharp senses and quick reactions. Now able to see her up close, it wasn't really hard to miss all the extra hardware she had on her, from the really big white boots, to the many pouches around her belt, to the weird backpack thingie, all the way to the goggles with the pipe-like horn thingies. The girl clearly knew a thing or two about gizmo building, and that had certainly caught his attention.
"Hey, you!"
Izuku blinked, as his opponent loudly called out to him, yellow eyes with weirdly scope like markings giving him a piercing stare.
"Me?" He replied, causing her to grin widely in return.
"Yeah, you! Mr. King of the Hill. The one that made me change my plans!" She proclaimed loudly, and Izuku couldn't really react to that with another, owlish blink.
"Wot?"
"This Festival is as big if not even bigger of a deal for us Support students, you know! It's our chance to show the world what our babies can do, and the first opportunity to catch the eye of sponsors." The girl continued, apparently without a care about his question.
"Wot?"
"I've been waiting for years for the opportunity to be here, to show the world what my inventions, my precious babies, can do! And I'd be quite happy to dip out once I was done and let you hero students go at it like you always do!" She continued, once again completely ignoring him, her wide grin and bombastic demeanour not changing for a second. "But then I found out about you!"
"…Wot?"
"When I found out one of you hero students didn't file for any kind of costume or support gear, I couldn't believe it. Who could possibly think they could do without? And then I looked into it, found out about you and what you could do. The things you could create with the crutch your quirk provided. I spent many a sleepless night trying to figure it out, and I just couldn't figure it out. And that's when I decided!" She kept going still, her grin widening as she kept looking at an increasingly more nonplussed boy. "I had to stay in this tournament until I could face you. Now I will get the best publicity, showing the world that your shoddy stuff is not match for my babies!"
Silence fell in the stadium after the girl's proclamation. It was so quiet, in fact, that if one strained their ears, they might have almost heard the sound of cracking glass as the boy froze.
…
…
…
"…What did you just say?" Izuku asked, his expression no longer confused, but rather oddly blank, his voice calm, measured, but with a very clear edge to it.
"I said your stuff makes no sense and looks so ramshackle it should be physically impossible for it to not break apart!" The girl replied with the same wide grin and eager demeanour. "And me beating you in this round will prove how you'd be much better off relying on properly build support gear, like my babies!"
Now, credit to Hatsume, she didn't really mean any of this spiel in any sort of malicious way. Quite the contrary, besides the desire for recognition for her own work, the pink-haired girl was moved by a genuine desire to ensure that all future heroes, especially any prospective future clients of hers, had the best possible support gear available so could do their jobs to the best of their abilities and with the least amount of risks involved. She honestly just wanted to help.
It was just kind of unfortunate that her complete lack of tact sent the wrong message.
"…I see." Izuku replied simply, with an understanding nod, before pulling his goggles down over his eyes and then slowly reaching for his pocket. "Guess I'll be committing some infanticide, then."
While the grin never left her face, the girl blinked once at the oh so casually spoken dark statement, not quite realizing where that had come from, before she too pulled her goggles down. Midnight on the other hand, was significantly more concerned, but not quite in any position to do anything about it just yet.
"Alright kids, you've had your time to trash talk, we really need to get this moving along. I will however, remind you both that this I expect a clean fight, and that any attempts at grievous injury will result in an immediate disqualification and severe consequences besides. Looking at you, Midoriya." She said, emphasizing with a serious stare towards the boy. "Anyway, if both contestants are ready," neither of them said anything to the contrary. "Then begin!"
With the call given, Mei proved to be quicker on the draw. Quite literally, as she pulled out a flintlock looking pistol with a wide, funnel like barrel, completely missing how the boy's eyes seemed to narrow in aggravation at the thing, before she fired it, launching a projectile that broke apart into a massive, red net that wrapped around Izuku, who despite that managed to brace himself and remain standing.
"Hatsume brand capture pistol!" The girl declared loudly. "With up to 5 shots before it needs reloading, it is ideal for capturing villains!"
Izuku grunted in annoyance at the sale's pitch, before pulling out his power klaw and slashing himself free, leveling an unimpressed glare at the girl as the net fell to ribbons around him.
"Ah, I see you brought that thing out. Seriously, how are you even lifting it? With the amount of metal around it, your right arm should be a lot more muscled than your left by now." She inquired in genuine curiosity, earning her only an aggravated growl in return. "Oooooh, a feisty one, aren't you? Probably wanna rush at me like you did with your previous fights. Well, that's too bad, because with the Hatsume brand hover soles and jet-pack combo, good luck catching up to me!"
And just before Izuku could indeed charge at her, Hatsume's boots and backpack roared, launching the girl up into the air, where she stayed floating in place, safely out of power klawing range. An aggravated growl escaped from the boy's lips, made all the worse by the knowledge that the git was looking mighty shootable right now, but Mah, All Might, and Eraserhead has all vetoed his shootas against other students. Concerns were raised, especially by the latter, that using those particular weapons, even the ones with rubber rounds, in a crowded stadium was "illogical and an accident waiting to happen", which was zoggin' bogus.
If only he could bring the Grapey Boy down with here with him for the grapply hook to work, but that had also another thing his teacher had vetoed. Zogging bogus too, that was.
So, he couldn't reach her, he couldn't shoot her, what else was there…?
As he mused about his option while glaring up at Hatsume, however, the girl did not remain idle, pulling some sort of tube from a slot in her backpack.
"And now safely out of range from danger, it is a simple thing to use another Hatsume brand capture method for an easy capture!" She proclaimed, aiming the tube down at him, which just angered him all the more. What sort of zogged up double standard was this?!
Hatsume pressed the trigger, and with a distinctly and insultingly un-shoota-like 'whoomph', the tube shot a big blue ball down at him, so pathetically slowly that he easily dodged out of the way. When the thing hit the ground however, it shattered with a crack, and with a hiss of rushing air, and equally blue foam began spreading and growing.
"Hatsume brand capture foam, for when nets simply aren't enough! Once it touches you, there is no escaping until it naturally decomposes in two hours' time. Better move fast!"
And with that she unleashed a barrage of the bloody things, forcing Izuku to run and weave around the arena to avoid the growing blue sludge, growing increasingly more annoyed by the whole thing as it went.
"At the rate this is going, you're going to run out of running space way before I run out of ammo, Mr. King of the Hill. But don't feel bad. When you lose, I'll look forward to your patronage!"
Oh, that was zoggin it!
Time to test out that thingie that he hadn't been able to finish in time for the entry exam!
As he kept running, Izuku placed his power klaw back in his pocket, stumping those who say it happening as to how it managed to fit, before rummaging around in his pocket, grumbling in incoherent aggravation as he went.
"Oh, think you got something in that magic pocket of yours that can match my babies, do you? It'd love to see you try! If you can do it before I catch you that is!" The girl once again declared, and really her continuously loud and cheery demeanour was starting to get on his nerves.
And that was the moment when his hand clasped around what he was looking for, and a wide, feral grin spread across his face.
"Oh, we'z gun see about that." He growled as he pulled out his gizmo for all the world to see. And none to understand what it was.
At first glance, it seemed like a contraption not too different from the previous one, one that completely covered his hand in yellow painted metal. But where the previous contraption had wickedly sharp claws in a human-like configuration, this one had four blunt, thick, curving metal arcs spread in a cross pattern, each ending in a metallic orb, while at the center a thick metal tube jutted out, decorated by four spikes and a larger orb at the tip.
"And now that I have a lull in the gear exposition, it seems like Midoriya's pulled out another trick. Is it some sort of canon? A laser gun?! Will this be the trump card that'll let him stop Hatsume?!"
"Oh, ya can bet on dat." Izuku grunted with a downright evil grin, as he brought the contraption up towards the girl, and pulled the trigger. A low thrum of power filled the arena, as the five orbs of the contraption suddenly lit up in a bright blue light, electricity sparking and arcing between them.
Having enough experience with machinery to realize that there was some sort of energy build up happening that was likely about to be discharged, Hatsume immediately made to change her position and dodge the incoming attack… only to realize with a blink that she couldn't. Try as she might to get her jet pack to change course, or whichever way she tried to throw her legs to move out of the way, she suddenly found herself stuck in place. Heck, if anything, she was… losing altitude?
"Hey, what gives?!" She called out, and Izuku simply kept grinning.
"Midoriya brand Trakta Blasta!" The boy bellowed out in sarcastic mockery. "Real handy tah catch me all sortz'a annoyin', slippery gitz. LIKE SO!"
Then he cranked the power all the way up. And Hatsume could only yell in surprise as the gravitic forces in play suddenly shot her towards Izuku at top speeds, completely unable to do anything to fight the pull.
Izuku waited until the very last second before shutting down the weapon, and far too late for the girl to be able to pull any other tricks to avoid, he swung his head forward.
A loud SMACK echoed throughout the stadium as the two opponents' heads collided in a devastating headbutt. After a few more seconds, Hatsume hit the ground, bleeding heavily from a crooked nose, and quite clearly knocked out.
"Hatsume is unconscious! Midoriya wins!" Midnight immediately called out, and immediately the nurse-bots rolled into the arena to take the quite likely concussed girl away (giving Izuku a wide berth for some reason).
"…Well, with that quite literal interpretation of "using your head", Midoriya takes the lead. And now we're gonna need Cementoss to clean up the arena again cause we can't wait too hours for this foam to clear. Been a while since we needed him so much in a tournament."
Chapter 24
"Well, at this point I am starting to understand that it's gonna be a common thing where the kid is concerned, but still," Kaina commented, sounding like she was still flabbergasted by everything that she had witnessed up to this point, but at least slightly less so than at the beginning, which all things told, was the kind of adaptability one would expect from a veteran like her. "Can't say I saw thatcoming. Also, what was up with that interruption up in the booth?"
"I know what you mean…" Toshinori replied with a commiserating sigh as he looked down at the arena bellow where his blocky colleague was in the process of clearing out mess. "And that would be Power Loader. Apparently he had been dreading the thought of young Midoriya meeting that support course student of his."
"I'm not sure if I want to know, but dare I ask why?" The heroine replied, eyebrow raised curiously as she turned to the emaciated man.
"Power Loader… well, let's just say that trying to understand the boy's technology did a number on him. Young Midoriya is considered persona non grata in the support studios and nothing Nezu says or does will sway him on that matter." He replied, trying to find the words to phrase it as diplomatically as possible. "And from what I understood, that girl has a similarly… free-spirited reputation among her own course. I think he had concerns about the results of such a meeting, though I have no idea what he'll make of how it turned out…"
"…Uh. So even the support eggheads couldn't figure out his gadgets? I guess I can understand that. I mean, not even considering how they're made out of trash, just today I've seen energy barriers, inertia dampeners, an honest to goodness tractor beam, and that's not even counting the other things on the file you sent me. That's stuff that even after a couple of centuries of quirks existing is still considered science fiction, except in a select few places like I-Island." Kaina conceded with a slight nod, before looking around the crowds observable on the booth's windows with the eyes of an experienced sniper. "Just checking the audience from here, I can pick out who's a support company rep just from how they're drooling at the thought of getting their hands on that stuff. If the kid wasn't as dead set on being a hero as you say he is, and managed to work out the limitation of his quirk, he could change the world with that kind of tech and never have to work another day in his life. I'd hazard the guess he'll be getting more invitations from those companies than hero agencies when this is all done."
"Picked up on that, did you?" Toshinori replied knowingly, to which the heroine replied with an equally knowing smirk.
"That's what you brought me here to judge, isn't it? Kid's got a method to his madness, I'll give him that. Every insane stunt he pulled throughout this whole thing was done with purpose. Behind that eagerness to fight and jolly belligerence is a cunning mind. The most competent of us watching will pick up on that, but most of the glory hounds and money-grubbers are just gonna see a walking hazard, a lawsuit waiting to happen. And the civilian audience may be entertained now, but out in the field it's gonna be a whole other matter." The heroine concluded, before turning towards the boy's mother apologetically. "No disrespect meant, Midoriya-san, but your kid's gonna have a rough road ahead of him in this line of work. Most people are not gonna see past the crazy to the person beneath."
"Oh, none taken, Tsutsumi-san, I know my son." Inko replied pleasantly with an amused little chuckle. "Not to worry, though. Izuku has never backed down from a challenge, after all."
/
Well, that hadn't taken very long at all.
After wrecking that incredibly rude git, Izuku had been told that it wasn't worth it to be heading all the way back to the stands again, as there was only one match left before the final, and to make his way back to his waiting room instead. Which turned out to be more accurate than even the teachers thought, cause he had waited in that room for all of five seconds.
He had to admit, he had had every expectation that that phony frosty git was gonna get another half-assed win in his own fight, but it turns out, there hadn't even been a fight at all. That splitty girl from class B had forfeited the fight before it could even begin. Izuku could hazard the guess that she had figured she was too outgunned in that match-up, but it still disappointed him. It truly felt like all the best gits, the ones that understood the point of a tournament, had been taken out too soon to have good fun with. On the whole, in the boy's opinion, this whole thingie had been off to a great start, but past the first stages it had been going downhill fast…
Still, unlike some other people, Izuku was no lazy half-ass, and he certainly was no quitter. He was gonna see this through.
And he was on his way back to the arena to do just that, when someone suddenly dragged him out of his grumpy musings.
"Ah, here you are. I have been looking for you." A harsh, strict voice called, and the boy turned to one of the side galleries, to see none other than the number 2 hero standing there, staring back at him with the near perpetual, flaming scowl that was his trademark.
Where these any other circumstances, Izuku would've been quite excited to meet the man. Sure, All Might was the best hero ever, but Endeavor had an awesomeness all his own. Most of his designs for incendiary weapons had been inspired by the awe he felt whenever he'd watch the man's quirk in action on the news, after all. At any other time, he'd have pulled out his notebook to ask for an autograph already.
Right now, however, having learned what he did, he couldn't really find it in himself to feel the hype.
"Oh, it'z you'ze." He grumbled, dissatisfied with the interruption. "Wotchu want?"
"…You lack respect, boy." The man replied sternly, eyebrow raised, sounding less offended and more mildly surprised at being snapped at. "Discipline too. You are wild, chaotic… Things that normally I would say no self-respecting hero should be, but credit where credit is due, you have managed to make it work to your advantage. It makes you unpredictable. Perhaps you can be the what my son needs."
"Say wot?" Izuku replied, eyes narrowing.
"Shouto has what it takes to be the best hero in the world." The man proclaimed, less bragging and more like it was a mere statement of fact. "The sheer potential my son holds is something I have sought to cultivate from the moment of his birth. It is his duty, his destiny, to surpass me, to surpass All Might, and stand at the top of the hero world. But for that, he needs to let go of the limitations he insists on shackling himself with, and for that, he needs to be pushed to his limits. So I am here now, to tell you to be that challenge, push him past his foolish rebellion so he can be the hero he was meant to be."
"The hero he wuz meant tah be." Izuku repeated, frowning deeply. "Accordin' tah who?"
"What?" The number two hero replied, his frown deepening in confusion. That had not been a response that he would have expected.
"Who got tah decide wot Frosty's destiny wuz gun be? Cuz from where I'z standin', it sure as zog wuzn't him." Izuku replied with a shake of his head. The flaming hero made to reply, but to his continued surprise found himself cut off. "Unlucky fer you, I ain't nice enuff tah be coddlin' either a'you'ze. Like I said tah yer lad, I'z gonna give him onechance tah show me he's takin' this serious, and if not, Imma end thingz roigt there. Dere's a time an' place tah be sortin' out yer issues, and dis ain't neither."
For a split second, the fires surrounding the hero's body flared at the words, matching his rising temper, before reason kicked in and the man settled for a stern glare, to which the boy simply stared back, unmoved. Grudgingly, the hero had to acknowledge some merit to that, as grown men and veteran villains alike had crumbled and quailed before his anger frequently.
"There is only so much disrespect one can tolerate, boy." He replied in a cold rebuke. "You are still speaking to the number two hero of Japan."
"And if dat title meant what it should tah you, ya woulnd't be tryin' tah break yer boy into doin' bettah."
…
…
…
Without waiting for further comment, Izuku stepped around the quiet hero resumed his walk into the final match, paying no mind to the piercing, judging stare that followed him.
/
"And here we are, Ladies and Gentlemen! It has been a wild ride this year, but at long last, we have arrived to the end stretch, the final match of the tournament! Can you feel the excitement, Eraser?!"
"Absolutely."
"Oh, don't be-Wait, really?"
"The sooner we are done with this, I sooner I can go sleep."
"…Ah, what a relief. For a second there I thought you weren't gonna be a grump. ANYWAY, Ladies and Gentlemen, without further ado, we all know what's coming, but still, bring in the contestants!"
The crowd all over the stadium roared louder than they had at any previous point in the day, worked into a frenzy by the hero's expert goading and the general mood of the event. Given everything that had been witnessed today, all spectators, civilians and heroes and company representatives alike, were looking forward to the culmination that loomed ahead.
"IN THIS CORNER, A BOY WHO HAS BEEN SURPRISE AFTER SURPRISE AFTER SURPRISE. THE AMAZING, THE STUPENDOUS, THE probablyslightlyinsane, IZUKU MIDORIYA!"
And once again, the crowd roared, if some a bit more cautiously than one might expect, but this time, the green-haired boy hardly paid it any mind, red-eyes firmly set on the one standing before him.
"AND IN THAT CORNER, TEARING DOWN ALL BEFORE HIM WITH COLD PRECISION, THE CALCULATING, THE MIGHTY, THE INCREDIBLE, SHOUTO TODOROKI!"
On his end, the dual-haired boy simply stared back, heterochromatic eyes cold and determined.
"IT IS A TRUE CLASH OF THE TITANS, FOLKS! STEEL VS COLD, MACHINE VS FROST! WHO WILL COME OUT ON TOP?! LET'S FIND OUUUUUT!"
Heedless of all the uproar around them, the boys simply stood, glaring at each other.
"Remember, Frosty." Izuku called out, voice oddly calm under the circumstances. "One shot."
Shouto said nothing, the intensifying of his glare his only response.
As was the case in every fight, Midnight stepped forth, demanding a clean fight from both, and asking if both contestants were ready. Neither replied with words, each instead taking a stance, which spoke volumes. Silence fell over the stadium, a sense of anticipation filling the air.
"Very well then," The heroine said, tense from the general mood despite herself as she stepped slightly back. "Then… BEGIN!"
Shouto wasted no time. The moment the word was out, he swung his arm forward, and a surging wall of ice and snow was sent barreling against his opponent, less than the glacier he had tossed at Tokoyami, but still more than what he'd thrown at Yaoyoruzu, because he too had a point to prove.
But Izuku, upon seeing the veritable avalanche surging towards him, simply… sighed, disappointment overtaking readiness. He should have expected as much, but a small part of him had still been hoping…
"Have it yer way, then." He muttered softly, reaching for his pocket and pulling out… something too small for all but the most keen-eyed of the audience to make out. It was a simple, plastic tube, like the hollowed out carcass of a hand lantern, with a red button at the tip.
One moment, the goggled boy pressed his thumb on the button. The next, the surging ice was upon him. It happened so, so fast, that nobody noticed the brief flickering. Only one girl in the whole stadium, feeling a sudden itch at her fingertips, realized something was off…
"Holy crap, Midoriya seemed to be trying something, but he got swallowed up by the avalanche! Is this the end?!"
Shouto sure wanted to believe so, but as much as it had stung his pride, the bout with Tokoyami had taught him not to presume victory. And so he stood, waiting for any sign of activity from his opponent, fully expecting Midoriya to dig himself out of the ice and ready to-
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGH!"
-It wasn't the bellow that shocked Shouto. It was the fact it had come from behind him.
The boy immediately turned, eyes wide as for a split second he looked into that red glare, desperately trying to freeze…
…And then the shoe struck his groin, and all thoughts of reacting were abandoned as the only thing crossing Shouto's mind was how could there be so. much. pain?
After the split-second in which the kick had lifted him off the ground, the dual-haired boy bent over, a wheeze of agony the only sound that could escape his lips, the entire stadium, and spectators the world over, wincing as if they had felt the blow themselves.
Naturally, in that hunched position, Shouto never saw the hands coming down on the back of his head in a hammer blow, knocking him into merciful unconsciousness.
"Todoroki is down! Midoriya wins!"
…And just like that, it was done.
Chapter 25
"Well… damn," Kaina said, finally breaking the silence that had settled over the booth, and the stadium in general, after Midnight's calling of the fight. "I'm not sure if I am the best person to judge this, but I kinda get the feeling that might go down in history as the shortest final of the U.A Sports Festival, ever."
"My son does have the tendency to break a lot of the school's records, or so I have been told by the Principal in my time working here." Inko replied, calmly reaching for a tissue and dabbing it at the corner of her eye, which had started glistening. "I am so proud."
"Not quite the approach I would have used to take advantage of an opponent's surprise, but I suppose I cannot argue with the result…" Toshinori commented with a weary sigh and a light cough, as he got up from his seat. "Also, I must apologize, Midoriya-san, but I'm afraid that with the end of the tournament, there are several logistic issues that I and the rest of the staff must see through, so I must take my leave. Have to get in touch with All Might to handle handing out the medals and all that. Do give the boy my congratulations when you can, please?"
"Of course, don't worry, Yagi-san, I will." The woman replied with that indulgent little smile of hers. "Off you go, then."
"Much appreciated. Oh, and before I go, Tsutsumi-kun," The emaciated man said, turning his attention to the heroine. "Have you given it some thought?"
Kaina couldn't help but snort at the question, giving the man a dryly amused look.
"Yeah, yeah, you can tell the big guy I see what he was getting at. I will see about filing for an offer to the kid. If nothing else, it might help me figure out why he feels so bloody familiar if he accepts it…"
That last bit was more muttered to herself than it was meant for him, but it still earned her a raised eyebrow before Toshinori nodded and once again excused himself, leaving the two women alone in the booth.
"By the way, Midoriya-san, you sure you don't wanna go see your kid?" The heroine took the opportunity to inquire, curious despite herself when the senior Midoriya shook her head.
"Not just yet. You heard Yagi-san, just because the fighting's done doesn't mean there's not still a lot of thing that need to happen before this is all wrapped up. There'll be time to show him how proud I am later. And besides," She explained, glancing down at the stadium beneath. "I get the feeling he too has more to do before it's all said and done."
/
The first thing he noticed upon returning to consciousness was the soreness on two distinct parts of his body. Blearily, Shouto opened his eyes, and it didn't take him long to realize that he was lying in a bed in the infirmary. After that, it took even less for him to recall the exact string of events that had led him to be here, which needless to say, made him feel even worse than the soreness.
He had lost. He had been beaten. And logically speaking, there probably were more painful and humiliating ways in which it might have happened, but right now, Shouto found himself struggling to come up with any.
He had tried so hard. He had wanted so badly to show his father that he didn't need his damned flames… And in the end it was all for nothing, undone at the hands of the one he had singled out as the target to overcome.
And so the boy just lied there, staring blankly at the ceiling, stewing in his own failure. Recovery Girl was nowhere in sight, and frankly, part of him found that to be a small mercy, not really wanting to hear a medical report given his current circumstances…
However, he didn't lie alone for long, the noise of a door opening and closing heralding as much.
"Ah, there ya iz."
…Looking to the side, Shouto saw none other than Midoriya, standing there. The green-haired boy seemed… distinctly uncomfortable. Not in the sense that he seemed to feel any kind of awkwardness about their current situation, but rather like he seemed nervous about their current location. But then, Shouto was forced to concede, that would hardly be the first oddity about the guy, and far from the weirdest.
And Shouto, Shouto wanted to be angry. Wanted to be furious. Wanted to hate Midoriya, to be outraged that he'd so casually show his face after what he'd done, to demand that he get out and leave him be… but he just couldn't find the will to do any of that.
…
…
…
"How long have I been out?" And so he opted to ask instead, for lack of anything better to say.
"Not much, dey'z just cleanin' up yer mess and settin' up dah podium tah hand out dah medals. Ya shuld be gettin' someone comin' by soon tah see if yer up tah getting' yerz." Midoriya replied, with a slight shrug.
Oh, yeah, he supposed he was technically still second place, but the realization didn't bring him any sort of satisfaction, nor any inclination to actually participate, which in fairness, with all the soreness, he probably really couldn't anyway…
Midoriya didn't say anything else, and the silence dragged on. And on, and on, and on… Until finally Shouto found himself forced to sigh in defeat.
"Why are you here, Midoriya?" He asked tiredly. "Have you come to rub it in, to gloat?"
"Well, a spot'a gloatin'z always gud fun." The green-haired boy replied, as if he was genuinely pondering the sarcastic remark. "But nah, I'z here cuz I wanted tah check somethin'."
"That being?" Shouto replied, in that tone of someone who would really rather not, but who simply had no energy to resist.
"Mah says dat sumtimes people dun get wot'z tryin' tah say, so I wanted tah check if ya finally got yer head outta yer own arse and listened."
"…So you're still trying to convince me to use his fire." The dual-haired boy replied, with a mirthless chuckle. "Even after everything I told you?"
"Dis ain't about yer bogus thinkin' about yer powah somehow bein' someone else'z. It ain't about wot yer lot wuz eithah. Those be problemz yer gonna have to deal with yerself, like it or not, with or without help, and I ain't dah one tah be messin' with dat." Midoriya replied, his red-eyed stare turning stern. "Dis is about you usin' all'o dat as an excuse. Do ya really think you'ze dah only git in dah whole wide world tah be havin' it ruff? Yer not. And even if ya were, you'ze trying tah bring all dat into a line'o work were dere'll be people dependin' on ya, who will be hurt if you'ze not puttin' yer all into it. Juzt as there'll be people dat'll use yer hang ups against ya without hesitatin'."
Silence once again fell in the infirmary, as Shouto considered the other boy's words, the anger and frustration at his current situation not loud enough to pierce through his exhaustion to keep him from hearing them. After all, the fact that he was here at all made the point perfectly clear…
"…Why must it be this way?" He finally asked, his tone weary, sad, defeated, vulnerable in a way he hadn't allowed himself to be in a very long time. "Why must it all matter so little…?"
"Perhaps dah queshtoon ya should be askin' yerself is, if it really matters dat much, why still do all'a dis." Midoriya replied simply. "Why be a hero?"
…
…
…
Seeing that no answer was forthcoming, Midoriya gave Shouto a nod, and walked off without another word. Once again leaving the son of the number 2 hero alone with his thoughts. Thoughts that, despite himself, kept circling back around to that final question.
Why be a hero…?
Memories came unbidden to his mind. Of his mother, of that fateful day when he saw her last, on the day he was branded with this scar… Only, for the first time that he could recall, for that memory to fade and give place to other, previous memories. Warm memories of a simpler, happier time, when she wasn't broken, when an innocent child asked a simple question…
Oh… that's right, because she believed I could…
Slowly, Shouto lifted his left hand and stared at it. He had enough presence of mind to know better than to try to fully activate the quirk in his current surroundings, but still, he allowed that hand to grow warmer. And imagined it to be a warmth he hadn't felt if a long, long time.
/
While the tournament was over, and Izuku had clearly and unambiguously taken the first place, the results for the second and third place were left a bit more muddled, mainly because their respective claimants, Todoroki and Hatsume, who actually fought their fights despite losing, were too injured to properly attend, and so that ball was passed further down the road.
Now in the podium, the green-haired boy stood tall in the number 1 spot, oddly quiet and calm in the face of all the commotion. If anything, he seemed to be frowning slightly, almost like he didn't really want to be here. By his side, on the second place, Tokage stood, the last of the contestants that reached the semi-finals, waving back to the crowd with wide toothy grin, if one that looked slightly awkward if one looked closely enough.
Third place was, if anything, even harder to determine, and in fact doing so took most of the prep time for the ceremony. All the potential substitute candidates were approached, and things were discussed, most of them deciding they did not wish the position for one reason or another. Shiozaki had no wish for the spotlight, Shishida was too polite to claim it, and Yaoyoruzu did not feel like she had done anything to truly earn it. And, in the end, it ended up being a thoroughly mystified Shinso that found himself occupying the lowest place, looking torn between wide-eyed surprise at even being here, and nervous uncomfortableness, which may or may not have had something to do with the occasional glares from above that the number one spot was throwing in his general direction.
And it was to this, that, with a roaring of the crowd reaching its peak, the number one hero landed on the field from above.
"I AM HERE," All Might declared with his ever present grin. "TO DELIVER THE MEDALS TO THE AMAZING WINNERS OF THE FESTIVAL!"
With that, almost as if by command, the crowd fell silent, and all three of the teenagers found their attention solely on the approaching Symbol of Peace.
"You have surprised people today, young Shinsou." He said, addressing the third place, even as he placed the bronze medal around the boy's neck. "It's been a long time since a student not from the hero course has made it into this podium. You should be proud!"
"…I am only here because someone else couldn't be." Despite looking like a deer caught in headlights, the purple-haired boy couldn't help but let slip before his mind caught up to him to remind him to keep his bitterness in check.
"That may be, but you shouldn't consider this to be a hand-out. You have made enough of a mark to be noticed. Now you simply need to keep pushing forward." The hero replied encouragingly as he patted the boy on the shoulder and gave him a hug, taking the chance to more quietly add. "Preferably without needlessly antagonizing other people, young Shinsou. Don't fall into the trap of acting first for fear of what others might do. That'll just guarantee you'll stand alone when you need help the most."
The boy couldn't really find the words to reply to that, his mind too overwhelmed between the genuine praise and the honest advice to do more than nod stiffly, as the hero let go and turn his attention elsewhere.
"As for you, young Tokage, throughout this tournament," He said, as he gave the girl her own medal and congratulatory hug. "You have displayed the same keen mind and solid strategizing that earned you your recommendation into this school. Some might hold your forfeit against you, but knowing when not to fight is sometimes, one of the hardest things for a hero to do, a situation that can only be measured case by case. In this one, you made the right call, just make sure you can keep making it even when the circumstances are different."
"Thank you, All-Might-sensei." The girl replied humbly, her usual carefree demeanour restrained by the seriousness of the moment.
And lastly, the man turned to the first place. All traces of grim annoyance had left the boy's face, those deep red eyes now beholding the hero with almost puppy-like excitement.
"Didja see dat, All Moigt?" The boy said eagerly. "I won dah whole thing!"
And despite himself, All Might couldn't help but laugh at such pure excitement.
"Indeed, young Midoriya," He simply said, as he repeated the process on third and final time. "Yes, you did."
/
Elsewhere, far from the crowded stadium, a TV was broadcasting the ongoing event, to an audience far less enthused than the one on site.
"I don't get it." A raspy voice stated, thick with contempt and frustration.
"And what in particular seems to be frustrating you about this, young Tomura?" The voice from the TV replied patiently.
"This, all of this, all this farce." The villain replied, getting so worked up as he spoke that he started scratching at his neck, dry, flakey skin swiftly turning raw. "Look at them, all of the sheeple eating this shit up, singing All Might's praises and joining him in cheering for the little brats. Especially that green-haired little shit! How can they be cheering for him!? How can they not see that nothing he did even looked like the heroic slop this society keep getting fed?! Look at the way he fought, look at the way he acted! None of that was heroic, he looked more like-"
Suddenly, the ranting stopped, and so did the scratching.
"…Like one of us." Came the raspy, pondering whisper. "One of us…"
As the seeds of an idea begun taking root on his young charge, the man behind the voice in the TV could only grin.
Chapter 26
"Well, that was a thing." Mina commented, with an uncharacteristic but understandable tiredness to her usual, chipper tone.
It was the end of the Festival, and after all the ceremonies and time taken to check the stalls and festivities, the exhausted students of class 1-A were now making their way back to the dorm. The only ones not currently present in their group were Bakugou, Todoroki and Iida, none of whom anyone had seen since their disappearances during the day.
"Tell me about it," Tooru agreed, only the faint movement of her clothes indicating the accompanying nod. "And that was just the first one. We got two more waiting for us in the next couple of years. Makes you wonder just how much crazier things will get in the future, doesn't it?"
"I'd really rather not think about it…" Mineta muttered, looking more dead on his feet than any of them, and verypointedly walking on the opposite end of their group from Midoriya. And he wasn't the only one that what occasionally looking the green-haired boy's way, with various glances of bemusement, confusion, and some mild concern.
Not that Midoriya had even noticed. Even now, hours after being handed his medal, the boy was still proudly wearing it around his neck, occasionally looking down at it and grinning widely. This was probably the happiest Momo could recall seeing him be since back at USJ once he had realized they'd been surrounded by villains. She promptly tried to not think about that particular memory too much.
"By the way, did anyone hear anything about what's gonna happen now?" Sero inquired curiously, looking specifically in Momo's direction, probably due to her position as class president. "I mean, we all know how Aizawa-sensei can be, but even he wouldn't expect us to just show up to class bright and early tomorrow, right?" The boy paused, briefly considering his own words. "Or well, he probably would, but surely the rest of the faculty would step in, for once?"
"Honestly, I wasn't informed one way or the other." The pony-tailed girl replied, before pondering slightly. "One of Ectoplasm-sensei's clones did say that our presence was required at the dorm right about now, which was why I had us all meet up to get there, but that's about it."
"Oh, that's why?" Kirishima commented in realization, before concern briefly flashed across his face. "Shouldn't we try to get a hold of Bakugou, Todoroki and Iida one more time, then? If everyone got called for this, then they should be there too, right?"
"Well, I can't speak fer Stuffy or Frosty," Midoriya interjected, as the dorm building was looming at the other end of the courtyard they were currently crossing. "But I told ya before, knowin' Ol'Katsu, he'z prolly already back dere. Like as not spent dah day sulkin' in his room and… and…"
The whole group suddenly stopped, all heads turning to look at Midoriya with surprise, and no small amount of alarm, as the class's resident crazy suddenly stopped talking and stood still, staring ahead intently.
"Midoriya?" Momo inquired, understandably concerned as to what might have cause such behavior. "What's wrong?"
Midoriya did not reply, instead raising his head slightly and… sniffing at the air, once, twice. Making everyone else start looking at each other, bewildered. What in the…?
But again, the boy didn't really seem to register their reactions. Instead, an eager, happy grin bloomed on his face, not unlike the one he'd shown when All Might had handed out the medals, and with the same, puppy like excitement to match.
"Oh, zog yeah." He muttered, voice thick with a sudden want, and he started walked again, with all the speed and renewed sense of purpose of a man who'd just found an oasis in the middle of the desert.
Confused, and still slightly concerned, considering that prior precedent showed that things that made the boy react this way weren't necessarily good by any sane standard, Momo still hesitantly followed, and the rest of the group followed with her.
As they approached, the class president couldn't help but notice that the lights were on. And as they were just at the door, suddenly a thought sprang to mind.
Something was smelling good.
And that was all the consideration she had time to make before Midoriya kicked the (clearly and mercifully unlocked) door open, walking inside without hesitation. As Momo did the same, her eyes widened, as everything was made clear.
Waiting for them inside was a smiling Midoriya-san, and right beside her, in the lounge's large dinner table, was a veritable feast. All sorts of dishes, from Japanese to Western, from the entrees to the desserts, were arrayed before them, each and every one looking cooked to perfection, a multitude of delicious aromas flooding the room and her senses.
Momo was mortified to realize that the sudden growling that could be heard in the room was her own stomach, but fortunately for her the rest of the entering students were too caught up in the appetizing sight to notice, heck, most of them had their own stomachs contributing to the chorus.
It was only at the last moment that it registered to her that Midoriya-san wasn't alone, sitting at the sofa were Bakugou and Todoroki, the former with his usual constipated look of grumpiness, and the later looking somewhat uncomfortable in a nonplussed way.
"Surprise." Midoriya-san said once everyone was inside, looking particularly amused at everyone's faces. "I figured you all must be hungry after all the effort you made today, so I took the liberty of preparing a little celebration snack. A reward for all your hard work, if you will."
A little snack? Not even her family's in house chef would've been able to come up with such a staggering spread in so short a time, and that man had worked in some of the most famous restaurants the world over before they'd hired him. If she hadn't already seen it in action, Momo would have wondered whether the woman's quirk truly was minor telekinesis…
"Aaaawwwww, thankz, Mah. You'z dah best!" Midoriya cheered, earning a chuckle from his mother.
"And before anything else," She replied, stepping forward and hugging her son. "Congratulations, Izuku. I am so, so proud of you."
"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh…" The green-haired boy groused with clear embarrassment, but didn't really make any effort to break free from the embrace. From him, it felt like a surprisingly human reaction, Momo couldn't help but think, and neither could the others considering all the amused looks now being thrown his way.
The most violent and combat-eager boy in the class, a total mama's boy. Go figure.
It was at this point that Kirishima broke off from staring at the feast and the family, turning his attention back towards the two teens in the couch.
"So this was where you guys were. Guess Midoriya was right about Bakugou." He said, earning him an aggravated growl from the ashen blond. "But how about you, Todoroki? Gotta admit, kinda surprised to see you here. You haven't been the most… social guy in the class so far."
"Well, after Recovery Girl saw me off, I was kind of intending to stay in my room for the night, pondering some things, and so was Bakugou, as I understood it. But Midoriya-san was having none of it, and despite our protests she insisted that we be here for this" Todoroki replied, giving the redhead a mild stare. "Midoriya-san can be… scarily persuasive, I have realized."
Bakugou gritted his teeth in a grimace, as if the mere notion of agreeing with the dual-haired teen was causing him physical pain.
"Really?" Kirishima couldn't help but ask dubiously. Scary was never a word he would have associated to the woman that had been all smiles and sunshine from the moment he met her…
"Think of it this way." The dual-haired boy retorted, looking back to the mother and son duo, still in an embrace. "She can reign him in."
"…Yeah, fair point, I guess." The shark-toothed teen conceded the point. Bakugou, if anything, looked even more aggravated by the whole thing.
"I don't see four-eyes around to have to deal with this crap…" He muttered lowly, although it didn't escape the other boys' notice how he too was throwing sneaky glances at all the food.
"Language, Katsuki." Midoriya-san chided lightly as she finally let go of her son, startling the explosive teen at being caught out, and her smile took a slight downturn. "As for Iida-kun… Unfortunately, he won't be here for the next couple of days. There's been a family emergency, though I am not privy to the details."
That drew Momo's attention, as well as that of most everybody present. It certainly explained his sudden absence from the tournament, but what could've possibly happened…?
"But on that note, while Aizawa-san cannot be here personally, I was asked to inform you of a few things. You kids have the next two days off, to rest and recover from the tournament. If you'd like, you can take that time to visit your families, just bring it up with the faculty tomorrow morning and it'll all be arranged. After that, when you get back to class it'll be time to pick out your internships." The woman, swiftly picking up on the concerned mood, continued, smiling as always. "And with that said, let's not let all of this food go cold, shall we? Please, dig in. You've earned it."
"Yeah!" Mina cheered, swiftly joined by Hagakure. "Time off and good grub! Three cheers for Mamadoriya!"
The others were swift to join in, beginning the festivities in earnest. They had, indeed, earned it.
/
The next day, while the kids were enjoying their respite, other people were working. Contrary to what some of the students might have thought, Aizawa would not have denied the children this time off, as much for his benefit as it was for theirs. These two days were perfect both to catch up on a bit more sleep than the average and to take care of the needed paperwork for what came next.
After the festival, the internships, the same old song and dance, and naturally, as the homeroom teachers, it fell upon both him and Kan to screen all the students' nominations. And honestly, things hadn't been going too bad. About the one anomaly had been the huge stack of nominations from the support tech companies, all addressed to one particular kid. Which was fair enough, considering the kind of things Midoriya could literally pull out of his pockets, but a) if the kid had wanted that kind of attention he'd have gone for the support course, b) Aizawa was busy enough attending to the hero nominations as it was, and c) he wasn't enough of an asshole to have Power Loader exposed to the trigger of his recent neurotic breakdowns, nor risk that happening to anyone else, so that pile was promptly put the side, bound for the shredder.
Sure, someone was bound to try to reach out to the kid eventually, but Aizawa saw no reason to facilitate that given how little they still understood of what exactly was the deal with Midoriya's quirk. That weird voice from the first day still echoed in the back of his mind at the thought…
It was then that one particular paper proved to be a good distraction for the hero's musings, making him double take to make sure he was seeing the name right.
"Everything alright, Aizawa?" Kan inquired, having swiftly noticed his colleague's uncharacteristic reaction.
Aizawa, for his part just stared at the paper for a little bit, before giving off a weary, annoyed sigh, and turning to one of the few other people currently at the office.
"All Might."
The number one hero, currently in his emaciated state a couple of desks away, had asked to be present for this process, ostensibly as part of his learning experience as a member of the staff and to provide what assistance might be needed, but Aizawa now had a sneaking suspicion that hadn't been the only reason.
"Yes?" The man replied simply, looking up from his own stack of papers.
"You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with this, would you?" The erasure hero inquired mildly, pushing the nomination towards the other man.
"Hm?" Was the reply, followed by a quick check. "Oh, yeah, I invited her to watch the Festival with me, and to send this if what she saw impressed her."
"…Of course." Aizawa replied resignedly, rubbing bridge of enough just to ward off the prospect of all the future headaches this would cause.
"Ok, I'm sorry, but what's the problem here?" Kan asked with open confusion, prompting All Might to push the paper his way. "…Oh, I see."
"Just to be clear, you are aware of the kind of attention it'll draw if this nomination makes the cut and the kid picks it, correct?" The Erasure hero asked, giving the number one hero his usual, unimpressed stare. But to his mild surprise, for once All Might didn't falter under it.
"Aizawa, I assure you, I have considered this verycarefully." He said, suddenly very serious. "Young Midoriya has the right spirit, but he is going to need some very specific kinds of help to make it as a hero. And out of all the heroes available, I have little doubt that she is the best suited for the job. There are risks, I won't deny it, but considering who we are talking about? The pros far outweigh the cons."
For a few moments, there was only silence, as both teachers simply stared at each other. And for once, it was Aizawa who folded first, grudgingly acknowledging that there was a certain logic to it.
"Fine," He conceded. "I suppose there could be worse choices."
Chapter 27
Just like that, their days of respite had come and gone, and it was time for things to start moving again. Momo had to admit, one of the unexpected benefits of dorm life that she had found herself enjoying was the ability to go to school with friends and enjoying the chatter, as short as the commute may be. Nothing against the limousine rides from home, but there was something to be said about the companionship that she hadn't really felt much of up to this point.
That being said, for once, the pony-tailed girl had opted to forgo the company. She had some duties to attend to as class president, so she had left the dorm a bit earlier. And now she found herself sitting alone in the classroom, and funnily enough, the situation brought her back to the first day of school, when she had found herself in the very same situation. When one stopped to consider it, it was almost staggering how much had happened and how many things had changed in so relatively short an amount of time. And not all of it pleasant…
Her musings were interrupted however, when the door to the room opened. For a split-second she wondered if the first day was repeating itself and it was Midoriya arriving, but then she registered that the door hadn't been loudly slammed open and promptly disregarded the possibility, before she recognized who it truly was.
"Oh, Iida-san." She said, at once happy to see him after his absence, and incredibly concerned.
The news had broken out, during their break, of what had happened to his brother, the hero Ingenium. Ambushed, crippled and left for dead by the hero killer, Stain. It had been a huge shock when the class had found out, a deep silence on the dorm lounge after the tv reported it. Many of them had tried reaching out to Iida afterwards, but none of their messages had seen a reply.
"Yaoyoruzu-san." The spectacled boy replied with a polite nod. "Apologies for my absence."
Momo hesitated. Even by her standards, Iida had always been a stickler for rules and protocol to an excessive degree, but the detached, calm veneer to his usual, rigid demeanour did not feel natural to her, even with her somewhat lacking social graces with people her own age.
"That's not important, Iida-san. We've… heard what happened." She replied, with a slight bow. "I am so sorry."
"Thank you, Yaoyoruzu-san. It was… a harrowing period, I won't lie, but at least Tensei is still alive. That is more than most others that suffered what he did can say."
Momo fretted, worried by the almost casual, dismissive tone of his words, but before she could say more, the rest of the class started arriving, in groups, pairs and alone, most of them sharing their own condolences and well-wishes with Iida, who replied to all with the same polite, but dismissive demeanor. Something about it all was seriously concerning her, and she made a note to keep a close eye on her friend. His behavior was worrying.
That said, not long after it was Aizawa-sensei that walked in, free from all the bandages and looking much better than when they'd previously seen him, which helped to lift the mood as they took to their seats, while congratulating him on his recovery.
"Appreciate the concern." The man replied lackadaisically, (but, Momo couldn't help but notice, without it sounding in anyway as forced as Iida had…), as he dropped a stack of papers at his desk and grabbed a bit of chalk, scribbling on the board as he spoke. "Now then, let's get down to what matters. As you know, after the festival, your hero internships are coming soon. Needless to say, your performance was being watched, and many heroes have sent nominations to those who caught their attention. Normally, these are fairly uniformly spread, but considering how… different from the norm this festival was, you'll see that there's some discrepancy."
He turned as he finished talking, revealing a list of names and numbers. A ranking of the students with the most nominations, the class swiftly realized, and Momo could barely suppress a wince. Not counting her colleagues who hadn't even made it in, her name was sitting at the very bottom, with a number of nominations that could be counted on the fingers of one hand. The part of her that felt some surprise at even getting that much was not helping matters…
And also surprisingly, the name at the top was not the one some have expected, chatter breaking out over it.
"Wow, Todoroki really stole the show, uh? To get that many nominations while at second place."
"Probably a mix of that, his family fame, and the final critical hit to the nads scoring some sympathy…"
"Uh, would've expected Midoriya to have more…"
Indeed, despite being the winner of the festival, Midoriya's name was second in the rankings, and unlike Todoroki's didn't even break into the quadruple digits. Despite herself, Momo couldn't help but feel unsurprised by this development, glancing at the boy in question, who while frowning and grumbling softly under his breath, looked distinctly less bothered than she would've expected. By contrast, Bakugou was glaring at the board so fiercely one might think he was trying to evolve his quirk into allowing him to explode things by eyesight alone. The others decided it wasn't worth ribbing him on his name not being on the list at all.
"With that said," The teacher quieted them all by continuing, as he once again took the stack of papers and handing them over to Aoyama. "Here are your nominations, in seating order. Spread them out."
The students proceeded to do as ordered, and the teacher allowed them a little bit of time to check their listings.
"For those of you that didn't get any nominations, you will have to pick from one of the agencies that have agreements with us for just that purpose. You have a week to decide, and I really recommend that you give this a thorough think, because your choices will have an enormous impact on your progr-"
"GASP."
…Aizawa blinked at the sudden interruption, most students equally caught off-guard as the looked around, trying to figure out the perpetrator… and most eyes landing on Midoriya, who was looking at the sheet of paper, held in his trembling hands as if it was something fragile that he feared breaking, a wide-eyed, slack-jawed look of pure wonder in his face, so much so that one could almost see sparkles flashing all around it. Aoyama grumbled something in French under his breath about copyright infringement.
In the blink of an eye, before anyone could question what was going on, the green-haired boy had grabbed a pen and started to frantically scribble, bringing to mind thoughts of a novel writer desperately trying to make a deadline in a caffeine-induced haze. And in the next blink, he was up and rushing to the front of the room, loudly slapping the sheet at their teacher's desk.
"DONE!" He declared, with the sort of smile of a kid who's had every single birthday and Christmas happening all at once.
Aizawa after a moment to process all of this, before picking up the document, crudely but still properly filled out, of the boy's internship choice. And then he saw who said choice was.
…
…
…
After a long moment of just staring, the hero slowly closed his eyes, and let out a long, weary breath through his nose. Only Jirou picked up on the quietly whispered 'Of course…' that escaped him.
"Duly noted, Midoriya, get back to your seat." He said, the boy obeying with nary a word, all but skipping as he went. "Now, as I was saying, I expect everyone else to properly think this through. And with that, it is time for something else of vital importance to your future as heroes. Of course, I am talking about-"
"TIME TO PICK SOME HERO NAMES!" The door to the classroom suddenly slammed open with a loud proclamation, as in sauntered Midnight like she owned the place.
Aizawa barely reacted, other than the faintest twitch of his eyebrow. Today was a day for being interrupted, apparently. But on the bright side, less hassle for him, as he stepped back and quietly lied down in the corner, letting his co-worker take the reins.
"Yes, you heard me right, ladies and gentlemen, time to come up with your hero names." The woman repeated with a grin, taking in the excitement as the children realized the implications, before taking on a calmer, more patient tone. "Now, if you've been paying any sort of attention to any of my classes, you already know why this is such an important step. Your name is gonna be a symbol of everything you will represent as a hero, and how it is viewed will have a huge impact on your careers. But there's no need to feel too much pressure just yet, while it'll leave a mark, the first name you pick is not necessarily the one you will keep when you've found your footing in this job." She gave them all a wink then. "And that's why you have little ol' me here to help. You'll have 15 minutes to decide on a name, present it to the class, and then I'll be evaluating whether it'll be appropriate or not."
Some of those present found that there was a great deal of irony to that, but they all knew better than to voice it.
Once again, papers where handed out to the students, and they were allowed the time to figure things out for themselves. Some stared at the sheet, mulling over their options in quiet introspection. Others had giddily written their choices within moments, and were now just eagerly awaiting for the 15 minutes that seemed to stretch forever to finally end. And others still seemed to still be working on the writing with deep focus.
"Alright, that's 15 minutes, kids, pens down." Midnight called out, looking around inquisitively, curious despite herself. "So, who wants to go first?"
A fair few hands made to go up at that prompt, but as was becoming frequent in that particular class, one of them was faster.
"Oh, oh, oh, me, me, me!" Midoriya said, with all the excitement of a sugar rush, all but standing up from his seat, hand as far up as he could physically lift it, and then before anyone could say a word otherwise, promptly moved towards the front, holding his sheet up high above his head, for all to see. "Dis be mah hero name!"
The paper had something written on it, alright, crudely drawn, but still somehow legible. It was in hindsight unsurprising that calligraphy wasn't one of the green-haired boy's strong suits, but the thing that had probably occupied most of his 15 minutes had been the explosions drawn all around the words, and leering, stylized skull that accompanied it…
…
…
…
"The… Waaagh Hero: Mekboy?" Midnight inquired after a moment of deciphering what she was looking at.
"Yup!" Midoriya replied chipperly, completely failing to catch her confusion, or the general quiet reaction in the room. "Been wantin' it like dis fer years."
"And what is your… reasoning, behind it?" The teacher once again prompted. She had no idea what she had been expecting, but this was… well, she had no idea what this was either. It sounded simple enough but… she had the feeling she was missing something here.
And Midoriya's reply didn't shed much light on the matter, the boy simply blinking owlishly at her before giving a slight shrug.
"It'z wot I am, it's wot I do." He said, as if that explained everything. "I did make me a list'a othah options when I wuz a wee git, but Mah sed dis wuz dah least likely tah be censured, fer some reason."
…At this point, Midnight was far from the only member of the school's staff to get the sneaking suspicion that the world owed that woman a great debt, and that helped her make the decision to approve the name. She shuddered to think of what else might have been on that list…
Chapter 28
"Sooooo…" Ochaco asked, looking around inquisitively. "Anyone else already decide where they wanna go for the internships?"
It was lunch break, right after the class where they had picked out their Hero names (or most of them, at any rate, Bakugou had been left behind to try to sort it out with an increasingly more exasperated Midnight), and the students of 1-A had spread out in their own little groups in the cafeteria, chatting away as they ate.
"I have to admit, I am unsure." Shoji replied, with a light shrug, glancing down at his own list. "In a way, it is not so bad that my options are not many, but still, I will need some time to think about it."
"I know what you mean." Momo commented with a nod, before the curious thought that had been in her head for a while couldn't be kept to herself any longer. "By the way, Midoriya, just who did you pick that had you so… hyper? Couldn't have been All Might-sensei…"
Having read through the rules and regulations, Momo knew for a fact that heroes working as teachers weren't eligible for the internships, as that'd defeat the whole purpose, which left out the possibility of it being the number one hero, who the green-haired boy very clearly idolized, making his odd behavior in class even odder than the norm.
At her words, which had clearly been voicing what everyone at the table had been thinking, all eyes fell curiously on him, who had been too preoccupied with ravaging his meal to pay much attention up to now.
"Uh? Oh yah, no, no it wuzn't All Moigt, but I'z got dah next best thing, tho." He said as he looked up in realization he was being addressed, his face a total mess, made all the worse by how widely he grinned at the question. "I'z got an offer by Lady Nagant! Ain't no zoggin' way I wuz gonna miss dat chance!"
…As usual, Midoriya completely failed to pick up on the impact of his words, as the whole table feel completely silent, staring at him with wide eyes. The hero business was so extensive that it was all but impossible for all but the most dedicated of fans to know every single one operating in Japan by name alone. But that name… that name was one that everyone knew, and not always necessarily for the best reasons. After all, while the industry did its best to not draw too much attention on the matter, it was difficult to not hear about a name with that kind of body count attached…
"Lady… Nagant?" The pony-tailed girl repeated, struggling to reign in her surprise.
"Yep." Midoriya replied chipperly, once again completely clueless.
"…It didn't cross my mind that was possible, ribbit." Tsuyu commented, a pondering finger to her lip. "I didn't even know she was still in activity."
"It makes some sense, honestly," Shoji provided, sounding the least surprised out of them, an oddly knowing tone in his voice. "I heard mention she became an underground hero, who tend to be far more private, and people have since moved on to the next big thing."
"It's certainly a… bold choice." Momo noted, really not quite certain what to make of it. "Why her?"
"You'ze kiddin'?" He replied, sounding genuinely flabbergasted at the question. "Ain't no hero out dere dat is bettah than her when it comes to dah shootah. Heck, even Snipe-sensei'z said as much in dat one interview once. And ain't none of dah ones dah use dem come as close as her tah having enuff dakka. Why wuldn't I pick her?"
…
…
…
Momo wasn't really quite sure at which point of her acquaintance with the eccentric boy had she started picking up on enough of his weird, personal jargon to understand he was talking about guns and ammunition being the basis of his choice, but understand she did, and with that understanding came a total lack of surprise that that was his reasoning…
"…Fair enough." She conceded, realizing that trying to bring up any potential future problems with that choice was likely a lost cause.
"Well, I guess there's nothing wrong with wanting to improve at a particular area. Heck, that's what I was thinking myself." Ochaco, both to move away from the topic and to keep the conversation going. "If the tournament showed me anything, it's that I really need to work on my combat skills. Out of everyone in my list, I was thinking of going with Gunhead."
"Oh, great choice dere, Floaty." Midoriya commented, with all the demeanour of a connoisseur. "Gunhead knows his way around all kindz'a foigtin', from dah dakka to dah punchin', with a knack fer pining baddies down in close quarters. A git-of-all-tradez like dat'z a pretty gud startin' point tah gettin' gud at a scrap, and work pretty gud with yer need tah get close'n personal fer yer quirk tah boot."
Once again, the boy seemed cheerfully oblivious of how everyone was staring at him.
"Uh, yeah, that was more or less what I was thinking." The brunette confirmed somewhat bashfully. She really needed to remember more often that just because the resident maniac was crazy it didn't mean he was stupid.
"I was thinking about going with Selkie myself, ribbit." Tsuyu threw in her own opinion. "Since I am good in water environments, I think learning to work in those scenarios will be good for me."
"I thought dat frogs didn't do too hot in saltwater, tho? And he'z usually out at sea." Midoriya pointed out in confusion, earning him a blank look from the amphibian girl.
"Actual frogs don't," She conceded. "But I'm not an actual frog, just a human with some frog-like traits, and the one that makes that a problem isn't one of them, ribbit."
"Fair, den it'z a great choice fer wot yer after, Froggy." The green-haired boy replied, earning a satisfied croak. "How'z about you, Boss Lady? Got anythin' in mind?"
"Oh, uh," Momo hesitated, suddenly feeling somewhat self-conscious in her uncertainty. "Well, out of the heroes that offered me internships, I was considering going with Uwabami-"
"Hhhhm, not so sure dat'z dah best idea, Boss Lady." Midoriya interrupted with a pondering frown, earning him a surprised blink from the pony-tailed girl. After all the gushing and praise the others' choice had gotten, such a response felt like a complete 180º turn…
"Why not?" She prompted, naturally feeling the need to defend her choice. "She is a highly respected and well-regarded hero. Surely, there is much I could stand to learn from her."
That she was also the highest rated hero to even bother sending her an offer after her lackluster performance went unsaid.
"I mean, yah, she does do her roundz as a hero and is gud at wot she does, no mistake," The green-haired boy conceded the point with a slight shrug. "But othah than her experience at findin' gits due to her quirk's snek senses, she'z mostly a hero who'z more about lookin' gud fer dah camerahs and appealin' to tah crowds, not fer bein' in the thick'a things when dah foigtin' starts. She can teach ya stuff, sure, but I dun really think it'd be anythin' ya need."
…
…
…
…Momo couldn't help but look at the others at the table with a raised eyebrow, everyone quietly wondering if the boy had even realized the implicit compliment in his explanation, and concluding that probably not. Still, it was an explanation that, despite her misgivings, the pony-tailed girl had to admit made a certain amount of sense. Perhaps just looking at it from the perspective of ranking had been somewhat shortsighted of her, and she did not like the sinking feeling the realization had left her with…
"I suppose…" She ventured with some hesitation, bringing up her own list, and then pushing it his way. "So, who then, do you think would be a better option?"
"Hhhmm…" Midoriya took up the sheet, and gave it a quick skim over, before slapping it back down at the table and tapping his finger over a name. "Dis one roigt here."
Momo checked. It wasn't even one of the heroes that offered her internships, but rather one of the basic options for those who didn't get any offers.
"The BMI Hero: Fat Gum?" She read, before looking back up at him, prompting him to elaborate.
"Yep, not only is he darn zoggin' gud at foigtin', with a specialty fer trappin' and pinin' down baddies, his quirk is a lot like yerz, since ya both require eatin' tah be at yer best. Sure seems like dah best choice tah me."
Momo did not immediately reply, pondering uncertainly. Once again, his reasoning was simple, but it was sensible. Logical even, despite its source. Some might even think it obvious. She could really not think of any reason as to why she should not heed the advice.
But still, the sinking feeling persisted, for what did it say about her, that she had failed to realize any of this until it had been pointed out to her…?
/
Once again, the waiting period came and went, and the time for the next, big step was here. The whole class gathering at the Musutafu train station, chattering away as they eagerly awaited for the trains that'd take them all to their respective internships, under the supervision of Aizawa-sensei and Midoriya-san.
But Momo wasn't finding it in herself to be able to join in the excitement. There was a variety of reasons for her current disquiet, she knew, but right now, she felt like she needed to prioritize the ones that she could address.
"Say, Midoriya." She called out to the boy, the two of them slightly to the side, unnoticed by the rest of their classmates.
"Yeah, Boss Lady?" He replied promptly, with a swiftness that almost threw her off.
"I understand that you'll be around Tokyo for your internship, correct?" She inquired, to which the boy nodded after a moment.
"Dat'z roigt. Why?"
"If it's not too much to ask, could you keep an eye on Iida-san?" She inquired, glancing at the class vice-president standing alone on the other side of the station, still with that unnatural rigidity after all this time. "I know you two don't get along, but I worry he's… not been quite himself since what happened to his brother. I'd keep an eye on him myself, but I am not going to be anywhere near Tokyo, so it'd help me be a bit more at ease if someone could, and out of all of our classmates going to Tokyo, you felt like the only one I could ask…"
Midoriya, apparently realizing the seriousness in her request, also glanced Iida's way, frowning somewhat distastefully, before nodding.
"Aight, I guess," He replied, somewhat grudgingly. "Won't be in dah same district, I dun think, but I suppose I can be near if anythin' happens tah Stuffy."
"Thank you, Midoriya, truly." Despite everything, Momo couldn't help to smile slightly at that. Sure, he didn't seem too pleased with the idea, but at least he seemed willing to heed her request despite that, and that did help assuage her worries somewhat.
Soon after that, the trains started arriving, and after a few stern words from Aizawa-sensei, and some more encouraging ones from Midoriya-san, the class said their farewells and went their respective ways.
The internships awaited.