17

Tsukauchi Naomasa waited till Atlas was comfortably seated in the meeting room before he began.

If he was being honest, the detective had been quite curious of the hero ever since he appeared out of nowhere a few months back. There were many new heroes after the Drift; people who now had stronger abilities and wanted to fight villains. Atlas, though, was something unique. From the clips he'd seen, the man was overwhelmingly strong, finishing most of his fights with a single hit and perfect control. And then there was his fight with Overhaul...

"First, some basic questions I'm required to ask. What's your name?" This part of the protocol was usually seen as useless since the answers were already in the file. But with Tsukauchi's quirk, they became a possible piece of evidence.

"Midoriya Izuku." Atlas responded.

"Age?" 

"40." Tsukauchi's quirk went off, a sharp ping in his brain. People lied about their age constantly(everyone wished they were younger, including him), but never in a police report. He glanced at the file-

-which for some reason, also indicated that Midoriya Izuku was 40.

"Blood Type?" Tsukauchi asked, hiding his reaction.

"O." 

"Quirk?"

"Titan." Another ping, this time a lot more concerning.

Why was the pro hero lying about their quirk? Atlas's quirk was known to be a powerful mutant enhancer(and Tsukauchi knew that this man didn't have One for All to cover for); powerful but simple. Was there some secret part to it?

At this point, Tsukauchi would have told the witness about his quirk; Lie Detector. But this time the detective didn't; there was clearly something going on here.

Despite that, Atlas seemed like a pleasant man, kind and curious. The hero was surprisingly a big fan of detectives, usually, it was the other way around.

Then he told him what happened in the USJ, and Tsukauchi's blood turned to ice.

All for One, apparently alive and healed, had attacked with his successor, a warper, a small army, and a 'Nomu.' The calm malice, manipulation, and of course the many quirks matched up with the terrible evil from so long ago.

And then Atlas eliminated him and his monster with ease, something that even All Might in his prime couldn't do. Not to mention that every villain, including the warper and successor, had been captured.

Toshinori had told him, of course, about his spar with Atlas. And Tsukauchi hadn't really believed him. How could a new hero best the Symbol of Peace? His long-time friend must have been exaggerating.

Tsukauchi had clearly been wrong.

Atlas spoke about his battle with the most powerful villain ever like a game. The fight had been 'exciting', especially seeing all the interesting abilities the man had. Overhaul(at least Tsukauchi knew where that quirk went) had been 'irritating', but made everything riskier, and therefore 'fun.' 

But Tsukauchi could see where Atlas went all-out, not willing to endanger his students in the battle. The detective was hesitant to believe All for One was completely dead, yet the ridiculous amount of destruction he could see from Atlas's final attack seemed to have done the job. 

And Tsukauchi's quirk still hadn't triggered a single time the entire tale.

A man came out of nowhere, powerful enough to destroy All for One with ease. Tsukauchi could only stare down at the incorrect file after Atlas left, confused.

Who, exactly, was Midoriya Izuku? 

Izuku dropped through the clouds, landing softly on the sidewalk, and the opening exposed the stars to the world below.

Aurora flew down next to him. Her magic vanished in a flash of violet, and her hair sparkled in the streetlight. 

Earth restaurants were familiar, somewhere they'd gone together for centuries. A new atmosphere, instead of just eating in. Of course, there hadn't actually been any cooks there.

This would be the first time they actually ate out since humanity came back, and the change was small yet jarring at the same time. There were now light conversations around them as they took their table, 

"I wonder if you're ever going to get tired of eating that." Aurora mused as Izuku instinctively ordered katsudon.

"I was so worried I would." Izuku laughed. "I think when the Drift happened, I ate it almost every day."

"I remember that. It was kind of tedious, getting you the ingredients every day. But I did get some every Saturday, and well, human food is wonderful." Aurora slurped up her soba from the chopsticks, letting out a pleased hum. How she could still look so elegant while eating soba, Izuku had no clue.

"You know, I don't think you missed a single Saturday back then." Izuku realized. "How?"

Looking back, the princess making every weekly meeting for centuries was pretty incredible.

Aurora shrugged. "It was guilt, at first."

"Over me being abandoned? You didn't make that choice."

"No, but it was still us as a whole, Heaven, that sent humanity away and left you behind-"

Izuku grinned. "I certainly didn't mind those centuries alone with you."

She continued like he hadn't spoken, cheeks tinted pink. "-the years before I moved in, especially. I can't even imagine what it was like to have absolutely no one. I could only show up once a week, so...that's what I did."

Izuku's teasing smile turned into something softer. "Every Saturday I would stare out on the beach and wonder if you would come. It's what I had most to look forward to, after all; you were the only thing that changed in a silent world. I never really had to worry about food, so you didn't have to warp to that beach every week. But you did."

"Soon you were more to me than just 'The abandoned human'. And in just half a century, I was in love with a dense dork."

"I wasn't that bad." Izuku protested, indignant even as his chest fluttered at the indirect confession.

"It took you literal years to realize that I did. I still remember that night the realization finally dawned; it was so adorable you were just like Huh-" 

"Aurora, please ." Izuku's face was completely red now, and Aurora laughed.

The sound was bright and warm, lighting up their little bubble, and Izuku couldn't do anything but stare into her purple eyes.

"I love you too, Aurora." Izuku murmured. She heard him, and her smile grew even wider.

"You two are so cute together!" The waiter exclaimed as she brought Izuku's katsudon. "How long have you two been married?"

"Almost 700 years," Izuku answered cheerfully.

The human paused for a moment before she chuckled walked away, most likely taking it as a joke. 

"It's been...a really long time since then. We're pretty old now, hu-ouch." Izuku winced as Aurora casually stomped on his foot under the table. She was wearing heels!

"We traveled so much those years," Aurora said. "You know, we still haven't explored all of Heaven yet. We could visit next time we both have a day off."

"Oh, like a date?" Izuku's eyes lit up.

"Exactly like that, yeah...just please don't beat anyone up this time." 

"What? I would never do something like that!" Izuku protested.

"Izuku, we're still banned from Kashima Village."

Izuku paused. "...okay, but that guy totally deserved it."

Aurora rolled her eyes, like he couldn't see the fond smile on her face.

The thunder god lived up to his title...a little too much. Izuku had finally got baby Akari to sleep when someone had decided to shake the sky with their magic for fun. So Izuku had asked him if he wanted to fight, and Kashima had arrogantly agreed. The fight didn't wreck much of the village...just the god's pride.

"Akari's with Eri and Kuro, right? I wonder how they're doing right now...Eri must be happy to spend more time with her sister."

"Yeah, they're at the dorms. Eri's completely fascinated with her new horn buddy," Izuku said.

"Horn buddy?" Aurora repeated, confused.

"One of my students, Ashido, has two horns on her head," Izuku explained. "They aren't really the same as Eri's, but, well, it's the concept that counts."

"That must be a mutation quirk, right? It's strange to get used to; we don't really have anything like horns on Heaven-" 

"Also, her skin is pink and she shoots acid."

"...What?"

Class 1-A dressed a lot quicker now, Izuku noticed, compared to that first day of class almost a week ago.

The class had gotten the day off after the USJ incident(and rightfully so). No students had been hurt in the attack, and Eraserhead and Thirteen only ended up with light injuries. But that didn't change the fact that everything could have gone much worse. 

Despite being heroes-in-training, they were still children who had to fight off murderers to survive.

The young students facing him seemed more serious now, with an actual desire to improve. The U.A Staff had made sure every student knew about the free counseling sessions, but only a few students seemed like they were considering it. 

Todoroki seemed stoic as ever, of course. And Akari was only angry that her little sister had been put in danger.

Izuku brought himself out of his thoughts, clapping his hands. The low sound echoed in the monitoring room, cutting off any lingering conversations.

"Welcome back, everyone! Today's exercise will be more strategic, and I got a pretty big space reserved for it."

The monitors flicked to life, glimpses of an entire fake city from countless angles. Hey, if the school was going to have a ridiculous budget, Izuku might as well make use of it.

"Atlas-sensei, this is where the Entrance Exam was conducted, was it not?" Iida asked. "Are we performing urban battles once more?"

"Nope." Izuku ignored Katsuki's huff. "Instead, we'll be playing Tag!"

"That sounds kinda fun!" Kaminari exclaimed. 

"Will we be chasing each other, Atlas-sensei?" Yaoyorozu asked. 

"Nope." Izuku grinned. "You'll be chasing...me!"

A pause. Then multiple voices started complaining at once.

"That's impossible, Sensei!" Sero protested.

"Seeing you fight was like a Hawks video," Fuji added. "We couldn't even see you move! How are we going to tag you?"

"Not me, specifically." Izuku corrected, waving his hands in a totally unnecessary motion. 

On-screen, a shape began to form, solidifying into a simple, human-like body. There were no features, like a mannequin, and he was as tall as Izuku. The figure waved a hand at the camera, his skin the bright purple of Izuku's mana, and the Uraraka gasped.

"Meet Cloudy, class. He's the one you'll be trying to catch today."

"Sensei, how are you doing this? I thought your magic was some kind of air manipulation." Asui asked.

Izuku blinked. "I don't have any kind of elemental abilities. I only use reinforcement magic."

"What! But that doesn't make any-" Yaoyorozu blurted, before covering her mouth, embarrassed at the outburst. 

"That 'air manipulation' you saw, Asui." Purple unicorns floated into existence, flying around the monitoring room. "That's just me reinforcing the air around me, and then changing its shape. Stuff like-" Izuku gestured at Cloudy. "-him are the same thing, just really complex."

Yaoyorozu was actually taking notes , her eyes wide. Where had she even gotten a notepa-right, her quirk. "But how are you reinforcing things that you aren't touching? Not to mention something so far away?"

"Who says I'm not?" Izuku smiled, not elaborating any further. Yaoyorozu glanced at the air clone, confused.

Izuku turned back to the rest of the class. "You'll be put into random groups of four, then enter the city. There is a five-minute planning period, after which you must capture the 'enemy' by wrapping your capture tape around him. The exercise ends if your entire team is unconscious, or if you exceed the thirty-minute time limit. Any questions?"

Katsuki didn't even bother to raise his hand. "Can I kill the fucking thing?" Akari snorted.

Izuku raised an eyebrow. "Hm. If you can destroy Cloudy, then yeah, that counts as a win."

Katsuki slammed his gauntlets together, a savage grin on his face.

"Sir, is it really a good idea to randomize the groups?" Iida asked.

"There's no way to know who you're going to be working with in the field. Random teams will set you up for that." 

Iida bowed low. "I apologize for questioning you, Sensei!"

"You...really don't need to bow to me." Izuku turned to the screen, letting four names flash.

"First group; Bakugou, Tokoyami, Kaminari, and Iida." 

On second thought, he definitely should have picked the teams, though...this would be a great learning experience for the students.

And pretty funny to watch, too.

They totally had this in the bag, in Kaminari Denki's humble opinion.

Bakubro(the man got angry whenever they called him that, but it just fit so well!) and Iida were both on his team. They had been so cool when they fought on the first day, moving so fast that Kaminari could barely see them. It was like an action movie!

Tokoyami had a strong quirk too...some kind of shadow demon? All these OP quirks combined with Kaminari's Electrification, and they were set!

Iida stepped forward to take charge, pushing up his glasses.

"We cannot underestimate this opponent! We shou-"

"Ha?" Katsuki interrupted. "Who died and made you king, fucking Four-Eyes?"

Iida sputtered. "How rude! And for your information, I am the vice-representative-"

"I don't give a shit. Here's a plan;" Angry red eyes glared at the three of them. "Stay the hell out of my way."

Kaminari couldn't help but ask. "But Bakubro...isn't this like a team thing?"

"Shut up, Pikachu. I'll beat that purple thing all by myself." With that, Bakubro stormed off into the city, his palms sparkling. A loud timer sounded, signaling the early end of their planning time. Iida was frozen for a few moments before dashing after him, leaving their remaining two teammates alone.

"What a mad banquet of darkness," Tokoyami muttered. Kaminari had no clue what he just said, but he agreed. 

"It seems that Bakugou isn't going to be working with us," Iida said when they caught up, his jaw clenched. Damn, no honorifics? Iida might as well have cussed. "We'll need to work around him."

"That replica is but a pale imitation of the real threat. While our foe is contending with the flames of wrath, we can force it to yield with our combined strength." Tokoyami said.

...What?

Dark Shadow laughed. "The looks on your faces! Fumi here's a chunni, you see. He means that he wants to attack the air clone while it's busy with the hothead, or something."

"Oh...that sounds good!" Kaminari gave the shadow creature a thumbs-up. This class really had some...interesting personalities. That only made it more fun to get to know them, though!

Iida nodded. "Simple and effective. We wait for the perfect moment, and..."

Katsuki flew above the buildings, explosions from his hands and fire from his feet propelling him forward.

He'd been waiting for a chance to fight, training harder than before(up till the fucking hag made him go to bed) ever since those bastards had attacked the USJ. Now he had a chance to test that out. 

Katsuki's eyes scanned the fake city from his aerial view. He'd picked the most likely path for the fake Deku to appear; a straight path from where they'd started. This wasn't hide and seek, so the target should be easy to spot...

-and then Katsuki did, a bright purple completely exposed against the dull grey buildings. 

Gotcha.

Katsuki grinned, sharply changing direction with a twist of his body. He blasted towards the clone, palm outstretched.

"DIE!"

Cloudy backflipped, landing smoothly on the next building over as Katsuki smashed through the rooftop. Katsuki reversed his momentum, feet flaring like thrusters as he flew back at his opponent. 

Cloudy sidestepped the punch, grabbing Katsuki's arm in an iron grip. Before he knew it the world turned on his head, and he was slammed down with a painful thump. 

The fucking nerve! 

Katsuki reacted immediately, mana flowing into his legs as he aimed at Cloudy's ankles. The bastard leaped up to avoid the attack, blocking Katsuki's next kick. A purple forearm took Katsuki's explosion-enhanced elbow like it was nothing.

Cloudy punched forward and Katsuki ducked in, getting close enough for both of his palms to hit the clone's head-

"Go to hell! Compressed Bomb!" The huge boom almost covered his yell, and smoke filled the rooftop.

A lethal technique created solely for monsters; a point-blank explosion between his hands. Katsuki readied another explosion, ready to finish the clone off.

The smoke cleared to reveal a cracked building, no opponent in sight. Where-

A kick hit him hard in the back, making him hiss. Katsuki's reflexes kicked in and he swung behind him.

The counter missed as Cloudy jumped back a safe distance, watching. 

Katsuki clenched his fist. His explosions affected the thing, dealing knockback, but Cloudy was super durable and could hit back strong. Not even a scratch had remained from his point-blank attack.

On the other hand, he was moving at only above-average speeds, instead of the insane shit that the white-haired bastard did. That meant Katsuki could still land hits--

Cloudy suddenly turned and sprinted away, skipping across the rooftops. Katsuki froze, before running in pursuit.

Shit, Cloudy had no reason to fight him, did he? All the purple fucker had to do was run, and Katsuki would lose.

"Get back here, damn it!" Katsuki shouted.

Cloudy wasn't too fast, and with Katsuki's speed he could catch up to him easily. But Cloudy was skilled, weaving through explosions and flames and dodging every attack he threw at him. That white-haired bastard was controlling him, wasn't he? The reflexes on the thing were irritating. 

Cloudy met his palm-strike with one of his own, and the sweat ignited harmlessly in his purple hand. At the same time, his knee nearly cracked Katsuki's chin, and the opening let him get away again. 

The counter-attacks were the biggest problem; if he wasn't careful that shit was going to knock him out. Katsuki needed to corner him somewhere...

Katsuki's leg swung in an arc, a blade of flame slicing through the air. Cloudy changed direction as the roof in front of him was destroyed, vaulting over the sudden fire. An explosion wrecked a building a few minutes later, keeping him moving in the same direction. 

Katsuki kept up his small explosions and fireballs as he herded the pest, keeping up the pressure. Actually hitting Cloudy was almost impossible though; the clone running gracefully over ledges and rolling under obstacles. If Katsuki wasn't so annoyed, he'd probably be impressed at Deku's parkour.

The debris everywhere from Katsuki's attacks had become weapons; anything was a lethal attack when launched with an explosion. Rocks and pipes had become unwilling projectiles, shattering against his purple enemy. 

Finally, Cloudy approached his cage; a ridiculously tall building marking the center of the city. In there, Katsuki could let loose, with no way for Cloudy to dodge in the confined space, and bring the entire thing down.

He blasted forward at top-speed and Cloudy whirled around, arms lifting to block a punch-

Only for Katsuki to feint into a dropkick, striking him full in the chest and sending the clone flying towards the skyscraper.

Suddenly, Cloudy twisted in mid-air and planted both feet on the side of the building. Instead of falling, the clone kept moving, running straight up as windows cracked below him. The fuck?

Reinforced air, Deku had said. Molded into a solid human, and running around with perfect agility. Of course, it wasn't affected by gravity; that would be too easy, wouldn't it?

"Damn, Bakubro's strong," Kaminari-san exclaimed, watching the blonde unleash pure destruction with his quirk and magic, chasing after Cloudy. Despite the wrecked building, the clone was still getting away, defying physics as it leaped between falling debris. It was even running faster than Iida without his Recipro. 

"But uh...how're we going to get up there, Iida?" Unfortunately, the rest of them couldn't fly or run up buildings. 

Iida only stared up at the skyscraper, speechless. Impossible. Had Bakugou really gotten that much stronger in such a short time? 

Or had the blonde just been holding back when they fought?

Cloudy grabbed onto the ledge, flipping himself onto the roof of the building...

Big mistake.

Katsuki soared up right behind him, rising higher, higher with a fierce grin on his face.

On the roof of the skyscraper, there was nowhere for Cloudy to run. All the clone could do was watch as Katsuki pulled out his trump card.

Katsuki stopped, now far above the clone, hovering in place.

Then he fell like a meteor, spinning faster and faster, explosions twisting the smoke around him in a spiral as a trail of flame pushed him even faster. 

"Howitzer..."

Katsuki broke out of his spin at the last moment, palm crackling with an explosion from all of his momentum. 

"...IMPACT!"

The blast was deafening, a sharp pain against his ears as the rooftop crumbled below him. Katsuki winced as the knockback hit his wrists. Fuck that hurt.

The heat left in a rush, bristling against Katsuki's skin. The shockwave knocked Cloudy high into the air, and the clone plummeted down, unmoving as the air rushed past his body.

He slammed into the street, the crash inaudible to Katsuki's ringing ears as he landed nearby, explosions slowing his descent. Did that do it? 

Cloudy was embedded in the concrete, stunned. The only damage from the massive explosion and resulting fall were thin cracks and the dust covering his body.

Katsuki made his exhausted body move, dashing towards his fallen opponent with his capture tape-

A purple fist suddenly shot out, catching him in the gut. The breath was fucking pushed out of him as he tumbled across the street, coming to a stop. 

Cloudy stood up, slower than before but moving nonetheless. Despite the fact that his enemy had no eyes, Katsuki just knew the fucker was looking down on him as he forced himself to his feet, panting. He could keep going, he wasn't done yet-

"Now! Attack!" An annoying voice shouted, somewhere to his side. Fuck, he'd completely forgotten about those idiots.

Cloudy's arm shot behind him, catching a kick from Glasses. Glasses's other leg slammed into Cloudy's ankle, putting the clone off balance. The armored boy rushed in to keep up his attack, but this time Cloudy sidestepped and he tripped.

Dark Shadow lunged, pinning Cloudy to the ground. Katsuki used the chance to fire off an explosion, but the clone was unfazed. The shitty shadow demon, though, was very scared of the explosion for some reason, leaping back to Bird Brain. 

The now free air clone had no problem fending off Glasses and Katsuki. The damn engine kid was getting in Katsuki's way, and it was so fucking frustrating; his missed kicks jabbing at Katsuki's strained arms as they jostled each other. Their styles didn't match up at all, and they were doing more damage to each other than Cloudy.

"Fuck off, Engines, Bird Brain!" Katsuki shouted. "I have this covered!"

Tokoyami tilted his head, glancing at the ruined landscape. "It does not seem to be so, Bakugou."

"Shut up!" 

Dark Shadow's next rush completely missed, making Glasses trip and face plant into the concrete. This would usually be hilarious, but the opening let Cloudy land another punch on Katsuki's chest that ached like hell. Dark Shadow moved to attack again, but Katsuki's next kick made him flinch back.

Was he...afraid of the light? The thing that Katsuki, with his explosions and flames, made constantly?

The sentient quirk nudged Glasses off-balance as it suddenly drew back, making him stumble. When Cloudy ducked, Katsuki's foot slammed into Glasses's weird helmet. 

Now that was satisfying. 

"Bakugou!" Glasses yelled as the blow knocked him to the ground. If he could see his face, the idiot would probably be glaring at him. Heh.

Katsuki threw another punch, battering against Cloudy's arms. Then something crackled, but the sound wasn't not coming from Katsuki's palms. Oh-

"Indiscriminate Shock: 1.3 MILLION VOLTS!" Pikachu screamed.

Fuck.

Electricity streaked across the street, enveloping up the entire area in a single attack.

Cloudy just leaped straight up, avoiding it completely. 

Katsuki pushed himself off the ground as well, but he wasn't fast enough. His legs took the brunt of the charge, an extremely painful jolt that made him bite his tongue as he fell to his knees. Bird Brain's eyes went wide as he was zapped, Dark Shadow retreating completely into him from the bright yellow light.

Glasses was the worst off; metal armor was an excellent conductor. He screamed, and Katsuki almost felt bad for him.

Dunce Face, the absolute dumbass, had fried his brain with that single attack. He slumped to the ground, unconscious, and the other two idiots followed.

Katsuki forced himself to stay awake, legs unresponsive. He fired off a final explosion that rolled harmlessly off the purple bastard's head before his vision went black.

The monitoring room stared at the screens, stunned at the absolute trainwreck they'd just witnessed.

"So...that was a pretty good example of what not to do."

Notes:

Fluff!

I didn't really have any team ideas for the exercise so I was like "hmm, what would be a terrible team?" and boom! Naturally, Katsuki would try to do it by himself, Iida would be unable to adapt, and Tokoyami's trying his best.

And...well, I love Kaminari, but he's an idiot,

I've never tried Katsuki POV before, that was pretty fun. Katsuki used Howitzer Impact for the first time at the sports festival, but with five extra years of training, it just fit.

Were there enough curses?

Discord: https://discord.gg/SVFFP5jXt5