39

Chapter 39: Heroics – Surprising PlansNotes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Izuku watched as the exercise continued, occasionally answering to the banter happening around him. The matches were an easy and entertaining way to assess his friends' growth. 

The three Pros hadn't specified if the groups had been randomized or not, but it was fairly obvious to see that most of the fights had been planned for one reason or another. The first weeks of shared Heroics were always testing, both for the students and for the teachers. Aizawa and Kan had to get as much insight as possible on the kids of the other before they could start to feel satisfied. 

The four girls who had the luck of going first had done just as well as Izuku had expected them to do. A fiery one on one between Ochaco and Itsuka had quickly turned into an even more intense two against one. He couldn't blame them, as it had been a smart choice: Momo had proved herself to be a formidable opponent. Tsu wasn't outdone either and would have probably won her own bout if the timer hadn't run out on them. Ryukyu's Dragon style and Mirko's Luna techniques were great assets to have, and their clash was bound to be an outstanding spectacle. Overall, it had been a good fight, and he was sure that they would see more of the same kind soon during training. 

Izuku had expected to see Momo and congratulate her for the win, but she had yet to come back to the monitoring room. Hopefully she was just waiting for the others to wake up. 

The second match had started with Tenya, Hanta, Shihai, and Juzo fighting all around the building. The four met early, but separated as soon as they did, the latter three taking their distance from the runner. They all knew that Ida was the fastest of the group—especially since everybody had seen his Recipro Burst move—and that he could hit harder than any of them. But they also knew that he couldn't be careless with his speed in enclosed spaces, so they all opted for different tactics. 

Juzo was in his element, so he only rarely came out from the ground, creating large puddles for his enemies to fall into. Hanta didn't benefit from the usual freedom of movements he gained in open spaces, so he had opted to repurpose the sticky traps he had used back during the battle trials. Shihai hid for ages, lurking in the shadows and waiting for a good moment to strike. 

They were all expecting Ida to take the most straightforward approach and rush them, but the legacy teen surprised everybody, effectively turning the tables on his adversaries. Seeing that many traps laying around, he had stopped his running in favor of using his brain. Tenya knew that nobody could win the exercise without taking him out too, so he simply exercised some of the patience his brother had managed to instill into him. Vivacity stood in an open and well-lighted room, with a window behind himself and a full view of every entrance, making it impossible for anyone to get the drop on him. When twelve of the fifteen allotted minutes had passed the remaining three had ended up reaching that same room, starting a free-for-all that had ultimately resulted in Tenya's win. Vantablack had been the closest to binding him, but his luck had run out when the light coming from Tenya's pipes had forced him to appear between Mudman and Cellophane after. Izuku would cover Kuroiro's weaknesses soon enough. 

The third match was far simpler. Tetsutetsu and Eijiro had met in the middle of the area and started a brawl so loudly that Denki had been drawn right to it. The guys had discovered that [Hardening] and [Steel] weren't good counters to the blonde's [Electrification]. The two gym enthusiasts had managed to endure the blast long enough to rush Denki, the trio ending up in three-way fight of punches and shocks. It had actually been a good show of the fighting tips they had gotten during their internships, but the whole thing had ended rather undramatically, as none of the boys had noticed the spores flooding the area until it had been too late. Kinoko had waltzed in, said she was sorry with a giggle, and tied them all up. They could work on their situational awareness. 

The fourth match was rather short as well, ending in just seven and a half minutes after a quick series of eliminations. The first two to meet each other had been Magnifique and Tsuburaba. Kosei had discovered that the walls made by his [Solid Air] couldn't take the laser rays without breaking apart, got startled, and was captured by Yuga. The blonde was then suddenly lifted from the ground and knocked against the wall on his face as an unseen force pushed him and kept a hold on him. His bracers were pulled behind his back before Reiko's capture tape was tied on his wrists. Emily had just enough time to breathe out in relief before two blades were placed over her neck and on her back, giving her no choice but to surrender to Prism. Toru's training had paid off handsomely, thought her perfect stealth was gone the minute she started celebrating her win. He made sure to congratulate her as soon as she came back, and the smile in her voice lighted his day a bit more. 

The fifth and last match of the first round ended with no victor, as the two fights that occurred within it lasted from start to finish. The four contestants had all tried to avoid the central area, but in so doing had met in pairs on opposite sides of the building. Rikido and Jurota had started a brawl not unlike the one in the third match, but with less punches and a lot more grappling. The two kept slithering out of each other's hold using both their strength and some interesting moves that neither would have been able to pull had they been victims of their Quirks' issues. On the opposite side of the structure, the conflict between Nirengeki and Pony had caused some of the most intensive damages of the day, as their Quirks let them attack from a distance and with enough strength to easily break many layers of drywall. Still, as their new techniques meant that they were also faster than the opponent's projectiles, neither had managed to land a decisive blow on the other.

"Alright, time for round two," Kan called as he clapped his hands and made the students get up. "Follow Aizawa once you're outside." 

The yawning teacher brought them to the same spots their classmates had occupied before leaving them with one earphone each and a "Get ready, one of you will be called soon." 

The group began to chat as soon as the man was out of sight while Izuku began to stretch, letting a higher percentage of [One For All] dance around his body to warm it up faster and generating a few flashes of green. 

"Man, we sure are lucky," Minoru sighed, starting to imitate the greenette. 

"Why?" Sen asked as he gave them a look before deciding to loosen his joints for good measure. 

"Isn't it obvious?" Hitoshi uttered with a tired tone despite having yet to start. "Midoriya's here." 

 "Oh, yeah, Broccoli's here," Setsuna smirked. "Which means he ain't gonna show up in one of our matches and destroy us." 

"Come on," Izuku chuckled, "it's not like I'm invincible." 

"Debatable," Hitoshi grunted as he tried to reach his calves with his fingers. 

"I mean, everything's possible," the smaller teen thought aloud. "But you've got to admit that our chances wouldn't look that good." 

"I'd still try," Sen stated as he rotated his fingers, "but I wouldn't go at it one on one." 

"That makes sense," the lizard girl nodded. "I think we'd need a good strategy first... which wouldn't be possible in this exercise." 

"Sucks for his opponents," Minoru snickered. "Who do you think it'll be?" 

"Oh, it's my turn," Sen interjected when Kan's voice reached his ear. "Wish me luck," he said before stepping forward. 

The remaining four waved him off before going back to talking, expecting to hear sounds of destruction soon after. 

"So?" Mineta reproposed his question. 

"The teachers have made pretty well-balanced groups until now," Setsuna pointed out. "It wouldn't make sense to put Broccoli against anybody that can't pack a real punch." 

"Which means Bakugo and Todoroki at the very least," the indigo-haired teen commented. 

"Uh, a repeat of the battle trial?" Minoru asked, wondering if that would be the case. 

"Mm, no. I don't think so," Izuku said, shaking his head a bit. "I'll probably get only one of them." 

"Who else could it be then?" the girl questioned, reviewing the whole list of their classmates. "Ibara's probably the most likely from our class... and Kamakiri's a close second since Honenuki and Shishida already had their turns." 

"It could be either or both of them," the greenette said with a shrug. She was probably right on Ibara's account. 

"Didn't Tokoyami almost win against Bakugo in the tournament?" Hitoshi boredly pointed out. "[Dark Shadow] may do just fine since the fight is happening indoors." 

"We'll just have to wait and see," he smiled. "I have a hunch I'll be going last." 

"Mm, I can see that," Minoru nodded before the banter moved onto other possible matchups for them.

"Come on! Kaibara! Rin! Stop fighting each other and get him!" Tsuburaba screamed at the screen. 

"Why are you shouting? It's not like they can hear you," Honenuki pointed out. 

"It's just frustrating!" the brunette complained. "They could take that guy two on one!" 

"That wouldn't be very manly," Kirishima huffed, keeping his eyes on the fight. 

"It may not even work," Kendo commented with a shake of her head. "Ojiro may not be the strongest, but he has more fighting experience than either of them." 

The girl's statement was confirmed by the actions happening on screen, where Ojiro had just slammed Kaibara on the floor after parrying a kick from the Chinese student with his fifth limb. 

"He told me that he started practicing martial arts when he was three. Rin only begun at eight," Shoda nodded, adding his own knowledge to the discussion. 

Tsu brought a finger to her lips. "They're all good on their feet, ribbit." 

"Not as fast as Ida is, but fast enough," Kaminari said. 

"They don't kick as hard either I bet," Sero chuckled as he rubbed a spot on his back. 

"Many apologies. I am terribly sorry," Ida bowed his head, making the [Tape] user tell him to stop apologizing, since he was only joking. 

"They can fight as much as they want. The bigger guy is going to win," Kuroiro interjected, his voice carrying a touch of amusement. "Those three morons are just going to lose to good tactics." 

"It seems like I may not be the only one to forget about the presence of a fourth participant," Yanagi hummed, shaking her head lightly and making Toru giggle. 

"They've got their hands full," Sato said with a shrug. 

"But it will be their undoing," Yaoyorozu claimed, just in time to anticipate Shoji entering the fray. 

Only a few minutes remained, but the giant's advantage was clear cut. Shoji hadn't spent the last ten minutes fighting, so he was in peak condition, and his sudden entrance managed to surprise the three tired enemies at once. The teen's arms formed a tight net around the others, catching them all and keeping them in place long enough for Shoji's hands to wrap the capture tapes around their bodies. 

"Octopus was smart," Pony nodded as they watched the scene unfold. "He turned their fight into advantage." 

"And he's once again proved that reconnaissance is a skill that we'd better learn," Uraraka chuckled. 

Itsuka analyzed the second fight while feeling a bit bad for Shinso. The teachers seemed to be doing their damned hardest to put him in the most unfavorable condition to use his Quirk in... especially in the case of its fake version. 

The martial artist knew how [Brainwash] worked since their short time training for the festival, but she had also sworn that she would keep her mouth shut about it. It was a great Quirk, but its requirement made it something that couldn't be used repeatedly on the same target. Enemies would get the hint after the first time. 

In this battle getting that first chance from his opponents would be trickier than ever since he had been pitted against Koda and Kodai. Their names might have a similar pronunciation, but their silent disposition was the very same. Fukidashi was the easier target, but making the student that could turn sounds into destruction speak wasn't always a smart move. Itsuka didn't even know if one could speak under [Brainwash]'s influence, so Shinso couldn't even take advantage of the guy's Quirk. 

The fight soon devolved into another free-for-all in the central rooms of the building. Yui kept blocking passages or throwing stuff that would grow before impacting, Koda gathered a small army of rats and sent them everywhere, Manga turned himself into an environmental hazard, and Shinso just tried to close in without getting himself caught. They were all showing little tricks they didn't possess before, but nothing that could drastically change the outcome. None of the four managed to get the upper hand in the fight, the fifteen minutes ending with no victor and a trashed building. 

She sighed, a tad disappointed by the match's resolution. Things might have gotten interesting had they chosen to form temporary alliances, but it was an unlikely prospect for at least three of them. 

- Should I propose some group fights for our next trainings? -

"Ashido and Bondo are making a mess," Komori commented playfully, seeing the two competitors fill room after room with glue and acid in their attempt to catch the other. 

The pinkette evaded a waterfall of white substance by launching herself back and sliding out of range before releasing a volley of tiny acid balls over the boy's head. Bondo managed to quickly block most of the incoming attack with a large wall of glue, but it was apparent that damage was piling up on him. 

"Bondo can't keep up," Honenuki analyzed. "He hasn't gotten in a single hit yet." 

"Did Mina get even better at dodging?" Uraraka asked. 

"Yeah, she totally did! Go Mina!" Hagakure cheered happily. 

"Horn Buddy going strong!" Pony joined in with a smile, making Kirishima laugh at their shared nickname. 

The fight went on as predicted, with the pinkette being able to outrun the bigger teen after getting behind his numerous defenses. When Bondo's last attempt was melted away the guy surrendered and got captured. 

"You should be paying more attention to Tokage now," Monoma said, making the students look at the other half of the screens. 

"Is she trying to get Jiro to follow the sound straight into a trap?" Sato questioned. 

"She's crafty," Kuroiro smirked. 

"She's got the perfect opponent too," Tsuburaba chuckled. 

"Her deceiving tactics are praiseworthy, but you couldn't be more wrong on that assessment," Yaoyorozu nodded before shooting down the idea. 

"Why? Isn't Jiro the perfect target for a sound-based trap?" Tetsutetsu asked as Tokage's pieces started to close in around the punkette. "She's gotta be confused by that much noise." 

"I believe we might be underestimating Miss Jiro," Shishida countered. "She doesn't look surprised by the outcome." 

"Causing a ruckus might have worked for anyone but Kyoka and Shoji," the heiress agreed. "I think she might have known perfectly what she was getting into." 

As if she had listened to the talk, the punk girl smiled and grasped the weapon she was keeping strapped on her back: a steel tuning fork. 

"Uh, that's new," Kaminari commented before whistling as the object became more visible. "That's so cool!" 

"Wait, is she gonna-?" Uraraka cut her words off as the two girls on screen started moving. 

Tokage rushed in from every direction, trying to get in as many hits as possible, while Jiro stood her ground and started trying to swat the pieces away as if they were pesky flies. Lizardy was faster and managed to get quite a few hits on the other girl before Heartbeat's jacks could manage to catch one of her biceps, blocking it and making it the primary target of her blunt weapon. 

The lizard girl probably though that she could take some hits, since the bat-like object seemed metallic and she had already experienced fighting with Tetsutetsu, but soon found out how wrong she was. 

The first hit seemed to send a jolt of pain through the greenette's body, giving a nice window for her opponent to exploit with a heavy blast of sound from her speakers. Tokage was stunned for a moment, and that was all Jiro needed to rush in. 

Each piece hit by the weapon stopped moving and squirmed in place, as if something was keeping them still. The effect soon seemed to expand even to untouched parts, and Setsuna's control on her body suddenly started to come apart as her face scrunched up into a pained frown. 

"What's happening?" Kendo asked, preoccupied for the unforeseen circumstance. 

"Tonic vibration reflex," Yaoyorozu explained. "The vibratory stimulations are making her muscles contract strongly upon impact and, since Tokage's pieces aren't entirely separated even when they're apart, the effect is spreading. I believe that Tokage might be feeling as if her whole body was cramping." 

Every student in the room made horrified expressions, the worst being shared by the gym aficionados, the bluenette runner, and the girls. 

"I think I'd prefer death," Kirishima gulped, followed by a whispered "Goddamn" from the steel teen. 

Tokage gave everything she had to leave the scene, but Jiro was relentless in her hunt. Catching two flying parts with her jacks and keeping them hostage under her vibrating bat, she followed the retreating girl until Lizardy couldn't take the vexation anymore. The lizard girl's last attempt at a surprise attack was swiftly intercepted, as Jiro didn't even bother looking the other way as she blocked it. The takedown wasn't easy, as Tokage kept trying to split and hit back, ending up causing more than a few bruises, but it worked. 

The remaining competitors soon found each other, but their fight was short. Queen Venus had decided to keep her distance from the weapon after seeing the last bit of Heartbeat's first bout and, despite her spatial awareness, Jiro wasn't as fast as Ashido and couldn't close the gap between them. Neither managed to score a good hit on the other and the timer run out on them before they could finish their own fight. 

"Remind me not to make Jiro angry ever again," Kaminari muttered, receiving an understanding nod from Sero. The others knew that he was doomed to fail, but they would try to help him out in keeping his mouth shut before he said something too stupid. 

"Huh, that's unexpected," Sero commented as the cameras framed the fourth match's participants entering the arena. 

"I guess I can see Bakugo against Kamakiri," Kaminari shrugged. 

"Ribbit. In a screaming match, maybe," Asui croaked, being met with nods of assent all around. 

"Kamakiri had a grudge against Bakugo since the day of the entrance exam. Something about 'kill stealing' his bots or something," Tsuburaba snickered. 

"Typical," Kendo sighed. 

"They're both strong melee fighters that may cause extensive collateral damage," Shoda observed. 

"I'm grateful that our teachers have been clear on causing as little destruction as possible," Shishida muttered. 

"Let's just hope they don't bring the building down on their heads," Honenuki said, expecting the worst. 

"Or for them to not meet until it's too late," Sato chuckled. "I'm sorry for Awase and Mineta, but they got unlucky." 

"Not happening," Pony said, pointing at the map. "They meet in center." 

"Poor bastards," Tetsutetsu huffed, seeing that the four were indeed going to collide sooner rather than later. 

"Language!" Ida chastised. "And don't take their defeat as a given! Everything may happen in battle!" 

"Ida is right," Yaoyorozu commented, her eyes analyzing the scene as the fighters drew closer. "I believe we might be surprised." 

Minoru and Awase were neither stronger nor faster than their opponents, but they had two advantages over Bakugo and Kamakiri: they knew how to work together, and they both had a new trick up their sleeves. 

A single glance was enough for the two to understand each other. They both moved towards the other and away from the starting clash, escaping an explosion by the skin of their teeth. The loud bang had partially eclipsed the fourth guy's scream, but Kamakiri soon made himself known by charging against the blonde. 

The heavy hitters probably thought that they would just fight among themselves in the nearest room, but they were wrong. They had just bought themselves enough time to strategize. 

"We can't take them both," Awase scowled. 

"I know," Minoru grumbled. "They would just turn on us to blast us away before going back to their own thing." Strong guys like them hated to be interrupted during a fight, if common tropes were to be believed. 

"Do we wait until they're done?" 

"No. Even two on one would be hard if they can fully focus on us," he shook his head. "Are you confident that you'd be able to dodge those explosions or get close to those blades if they were serious about putting us down?" 

"Nope, not a chance," Awase chuckled somberly. "Alright, let's go as they're trying to kill each other. Do you have a plan?" 

Minoru smirked. "I do," he said, raising his arms to show the slight change in attire: the yellow gloves were longer and thicker, now being closer to gauntlets. 

The wait for a costume modification had been long and the project was still far from complete, but he had something he could use. 

Awase smirked, taking several of his steel logs and joining them together to make two staves. 

Two minutes later Rock Lock's interns ran out of their hiding place in different directions. 

- We only get one shot at this, - Minoru tried to spike himself up, though his fear wasn't showing signs of receding. 

The duel between monster was interrupted as he threw half a dozen of his balls towards the fighters. Unsurprisingly Bakugo and Kamakiri evaded them with ease, but the whole point of his actions had been separating the two, so it counted as a small victory. 

Minoru would have never been able to run fast enough to reach Bakugo before the blonde could blast him away on his own, so he received a little kickstart from Awase. The black-haired teen threw him forwards, making him bounce on three of his Quirk's creations and quickly end up right in Bakugo's face. 

The angry teen looked at him with a fiery gaze and moved to strike him, which was the reaction he had expected. Minoru knew that, despite his gruff attitude, Bakugo was a smart guy, but he had also often shown how he acted on instinct when provoked. There was also the fact of Minoru being... well, himself to take into consideration. His opponent wouldn't "waste" a big explosion on a weak shorty like him, because Minoru had never given him a real reason to be wary. 

So, when Bakugo's fist found Minoru's chest, the smaller teen remained stuck on it instead of flying away thanks to the sticky liquid he was already covered with. The pain was bearable, which let him move on to the second phase of his plan as fast as he could, clenching his palm to kickstart the trick hidden in his new piece of tech. 

He let out a pained hiss as he felt the needles pierce his skin. The process would probably hurt less as he got used to it, but he would still curse his rotten luck for having a power that required fresh blood. Still, beggars can't be choosers and a red pint was an acceptable price for the win he wanted. 

The crimson fluid moved out of his open palm and splashed Bakugo, the blonde being barely able to stop it from hitting his whole face by covering himself with his other arm. Minoru didn't waste any time, hurrying forward to press the teen's arms together and against his torso. With another press of a button on his gauntlets the outer layer of his costume's torso fell, letting Minoru propel himself away from the blond with a kick. The blood-covered teen stumbled back but remained on his feet. 

- Oh my god, I did it! - he thought, almost incapable of believing that his plan had worked. 

"You little!" Bakugo swore as he tried to unstick his arms with no success. "The fuck is this shit?!" 

"C-Clinging Crimson," he stuttered with an uncertain smile on his face. "Can't make explosions with your hands covered, can you?" 

The angry teen seemed to realize the truth behind his words. Also, with his hands blocked so close to his face, trying to produce any kind of explosion would have been detrimental. 

"Shut it!" Bakugo screamed, opting to charge even in his condition. "I don't need my Quirk to beat you!" 

And he wasn't wrong per se, but he had forgotten that this wasn't a one on one. 

Minoru turned back just in time to see Awase run away from a partially stuck Kamakiri. Given the soles welded on the floor, the greenette's shoes had probably been torn apart from the inside out, and the number of sticky spheres and random rubble on his arms and legs meant that his theory was correct: whenever Kamakiri retracted his blades, the objects stuck on them would be moved onto his body. His companion's staves had probably been cut apart and rewelded together a few times before they got to touch the greenette's body. 

Awase threw himself at the blonde and, as the guy's ability to keep his balance was already skewed because of Minoru, Bakugo fell to the ground with a grunt... right over the two balls Minoru had just left for him. 

The explosion-maker could scream as much as he wanted now: he wouldn't be able to move an inch. 

"HA! That was worth waiting for," the fourth fighter's voice called loudly, his laughter echoing on the walls. "Let's start round two!" 

The allied duo turned towards Kamakiri, wearing small smirks on their faces. 

"Can't believe that fucking worked," Awase snorted as he grasped a new steel log. 

"Me neither, but here we are," Minoru joked to contain the fear of seeing the battle-junkie teen run towards them. 

Despite his apparent problems, Kamakiri would butt heads until he collapsed rather than give up. 

Minoru didn't know if he would win or even if he could at all, as he would have to improvise from that point onward. But, strangely enough, he found himself thinking that he didn't mind the fighting, nor the ideas of getting bruised or losing. 

He had just bested Bakugo of all people. With help and a strategy, of course, but he had done it. 

- Is this how winning feels? - he thought, reveling in the sensation that made his heart beat faster. 

For once, he just wanted to do his best and try to feel that way again. 

Izuku, the only one left in the waiting zone, smirked to himself. The fourth bout had been one of the longer ones, but the sounds of Katsuki's explosions had disappeared after only eight minutes. He couldn't wait to hear about what had happened inside and congratulate whoever had managed to subdue him. 

A light ring in his earpiece preceded Vlad King's words. "Your turn. You have fifteen minutes, starting now." 

Izuku rushed inside, almost bouncing on the walls because of how thrilled he was at the prospect of a challenge. He had a solid guess on which of his classmates he would face, but just going at them one at a time would have been no fun. The exercise had no rules that kept him from making himself a target either, so he would opt for luring them in all at once. 

Standing in what was probably the center of the building and the most spacious room, Izuku raised [One For All] to ten percent and clapped. The resulting sound should have been loud enough to be heard from anywhere in the structure. 

His waiting didn't last long. Four students entered the hall from every direction but his starting one, turning the situation in a Mexican standoff with him in the center. He'd have to thank his teachers for putting him in the only five-people match. 

Ibara was on his left. The girl looked wary, but she was ready to strike with the dozens of vines that were slowly creeping away from her, enveloping her side of the room in a green curtain. 

Fumikage was on his right. He waited in his Black Abyss form, keeping both sets of eyes squared on him. The sentient Quirk was settling nicely in the cover of the interior, away from the Sun's light. 

Shoto and Neito were in front of him. The two-toned teen was already releasing his elemental powers, but the blonde had yet to do anything more than look at him with a frown. 

He wondered if they had come in together, since the building had only four entrances, and if Neito had been allowed to copy more than one Quirk before entering. Improbable, but still a possibility. [Vines] and [Dark Shadow] weren't the best kind of powers that Phantom Thief could copy, but he would surely be using [Half-Cold Half-Hot]. Emitters were easy to work with. 

Izuku could have begun by exchanging a quip or two with his friends, but he also wanted them to take him as seriously as possible. It was a good chance to add some teamworking experience in the mix. He wouldn't give them enough time to think about fighting each other. 

He powered up to fifteen percent and flapped his wrists as if he was slapping the air. The movement sent two gusts of wind to against the students on his sides and propelled him forward, halving the distance between him and the remaining duo in an instant. 

Shoto and Neito were ready to receive him. Their feet unleashed a wall of ice that he had to break apart with a kick, the force sending the blonde back and against the wall. Shoto didn't move, as he had blocked himself to the ground, and countered his attack by releasing a stream of fire in his direction. 

- Good output, subpar control. - 

Izuku evaded by flying to the side and then up as soon as [Danger Sense] alerted him of the problems incoming from behind. 

Fumikage swiped, his claw meeting Izuku's sole and grabbing it. The moment he needed to get himself out of the grab was enough for numerous vines to fall from the ceiling, covering him and his feathered classmate under a dome. The coldness that enveloped it a second later was certainly due to Shoto's aid. 

- Not bad for something put together on the fly. - 

Putting Fumikage in a secluded space would have worked wonders against anybody who had no means of producing light, but Izuku wasn't among those people. 

The air wavered as he countered [Dark Shadow]'s assault by shooting forward, blasting them both out of the cage in a flash of green light. [Vine] wouldn't let him go easily though, given how he could still feel several lianas clinging on his legs. The plants pulled him, letting Fumikage shield himself and jump back to create some distance. He immediately felt the incoming blasts of the fire users and smirked. 

- Bad combination, that's going to cost you some points with the teachers. - 

He produced another gust to extinguish the flames as soon as they had reached Ibara's hair, getting himself free in the process. The girl couldn't feel pain through the plants, but she had her right to flinch if she ended up on fire. 

"A cat playing with mice," the voice in his head laughed. 

- Shut up, - he mentally growled. 

Izuku assessed the situation as the four rushed at him again. His classmates were working well together, so perhaps it was time to increase the challenge for them.

"Revelry in the dark..." Fumikage muttered as the others frowned.

"It's that whip thing again!" Tetsutetsu boomed, making Jiro and Shoji flinch. 

"And there's two of them now," Honenuki observed. 

"Isn't that nice," Kuroiro's showed a sinister smirk. 

The group stared in awe as Midoriya used two weird, whip-like weapons to restrain Shiozaki's vines and repel Tokoyami's incursions. The teen seemed to use them well, but the smile that he had previously shown had been replaced by a deeply focused expression. 

"Damn, that's impressive," Kaibara commented as a whip cut a glacier in half with the same power of one of the greenette's kicks. 

"I thought those were only for moving around," Shoda frowned, confused by the sudden change. 

"Like Sero's [Tape]?" Sato asked. 

"Hey! My [Tape] is more than that!" the black-haired teen replied. 

"Right, sorry. But the analogy still works." 

"Yup. They don't look as 'free' as Ibara's [Vines] are," Tokage clicked her tongue. 

"Since when has Sir Midoriya been able to do that?" Shishida questioned. 

"Ribbit," Asui croaked, "we have seen those-" 

"We've seen them at the U.S.J.!" Kirishima interjected, yelling for the excitement brought forth by the fight. 

"Right! He used those on that Nomu thing!" Kaminari added, smirking at the show. 

"Huh, that long ago?" Jiro asked, looking more interested. 

"I wonder why he didn't use those during the Sports Festival," Kendo thought aloud. 

"Me and you both. It would have saved us some trouble," Shinso grumbled. 

"He said something about them being very hard to control," Mineta explained, making many eyes had turned to him. "What? I just asked!" 

"He's not wrong. He only used one back there, ribbit," Asui shared her memory with the group. 

"He might have gained more insight during his internship," Yaoyorozu hypothesized. 

"... We could ask?" Rin proposed. 

"Guys!" Ashido yelled, grabbing onto the chair in front of her chair and tilting forward to get closer to the screens. 

"Holy-" Kaminari's mouth was covered by Ida's hand before he could curse. The bluenette couldn't stop Kamakiri's and Awase's "Shit!" though. 

Midoriya was breathing heavily, but he had just managed to catch three of their classmates in very quick succession. Turning a fireball into an opening against Tokoyami had been the first move, swiftly followed by using Todoroki's ice to freeze Shiozaki's hair for the second he needed. The two-toned boy had been next when the two whips had captured his wrists, bringing his hands together behind his back. 

Tsuburaba broke the silence with an impressed whistle. 

"It's the first time I've seen him so tired," Fukidashi commented, his speech bubble showing a tense smile with a drop of sweat. 

"He was kinda out of it after fighting Yaomomo, but this seems worse," Hagakure thought aloud. 

"Look! he's retracting the whips," Uraraka pointed at the screen. 

"Mm," Kodai shook her head. 

"Ah, you may be right..." Shoda replied, mouth agape. "Is he turning his Quirk off?"

Neito was tired, and very much so. 

Running after Todoroki, as he had been instructed to do by Vlad King, had been hard, but keeping up during the fight had been worse. 

He had a couple of theories as to why he had been placed in the same fight as four of the strongest Heroes in training, but it certainly wasn't because he was on their level. Shiozaki could tear apart cement while standing perfectly still and Tokoyami could cause the same destruction with little effort. Todoroki had even more power in his veins and years of training under his belt. And Midoriya... Damn, the guy could actually back up any boasting with hard facts. 

Neito heard a little voice in the back of his head that told him that Midoriya hadn't tried to be an asshole since their first meeting and that—if Kendo and Shoda were to be believed, and they usually were—he was rather amicable. 

He could see it. Despite his immense power, Midoriya wasn't even half as brash as he would have expected him to be. Which was strange in and by itself. Their society wasn't one were people with Quirks like his could step away from the spotlight, and Neito had seen what effects a privileged treatment could have on people. Kids could become such shits at four years old, and growing up usually didn't do much to dull their spiky attitudes. Either it was all fake, or Midoriya was one of the few decent ones out there. 

Then there was the strangeness of his Quirk. [Copy] didn't make every Quirk an open book, and Neito had made his share of mistakes—never, ever copy two Quirks at the exact same time if you don't want to feel your head splitting open. But, even with all of his experience, Midoriya's case had been a first for him. Trying to analyze it had him stunned for longer than normal, and he had almost nothing to go on. The Quirk was called [Stockpile], and worked like a sort of power storage, just as expected. The problem came with the multitude of substrates compressed inside the Quirk, which he had been completely unable to identify. If Neito had to use a metaphor... they felt like planets revolving around a sun: each beautiful and unique but infinitesimal when their mass was compared to the star. 

Neito had seen dangerous Quirks before, but this one took the cake. He had no idea as to how Midoriya had managed not to kill himself with it, and he felt damn lucky for not being able to copy the stockpile. He could even say that he admired the guy for that accomplishment. 

He wondered about what Midoriya had gone through to reach that point, since it wasn't likely that a child could muster enough will to tame that kind of power, and about how he had managed to do so while remaining... human? Despite his power and superiority Midoriya acted like someone who liked to be in the presence of others and didn't treat them like they were underneath him. 

What an enigma. 

Still, his apparent friendliness apparently hadn't deterred him from kicking their asses in a four vs one. 

Neito sighed as Todoroki was captured. Their forced collaboration probably hadn't worked as their teachers had hoped it would, but it hadn't been too bad. 

- Guess I'll have to think of a strategy for next time, - he thought as he prepared to endure Midoriya's last assault. Instead, the green lightning surrounding the other slowly disappeared, the two long, black strands being retracted into his gauntlets. 

- Wait, what's happening? - 

"You're almost out of time, aren't you?" Midoriya called as he breathed heavily. 

Neito blinked twice. "How do you-" 

The other pointed a finger at his belt. "I'd suggest changing those clocks for something that only you can see. Oh, right, they might be a gimmick..." the greenette thought aloud. "Ahem, anyway, you do have a time limit, don't you? Around five minutes I'd say, since you had to stay close to Yanagi before Monday's race." 

Neito mentally grimaced, keeping a calm expression. "Rather perceptive of you. But how would you know if I'm close to my time limit?" 

"I worked to separate you and Todoroki from the start so that you couldn't touch him again," Midoriya explained. "You haven't been able to touch anyone since we started." 

He wouldn't easily admit it, but he could admire that kind of strategizing. 

"Ver well, you're right. I only have about a minute left... and I now realize that you had me talking for most of it," he grimaced. 

"Sorry, didn't mean to trick you," Midoriya chuckled lightly. "But now we're on even ground." 

- What?! How is it even ground?! - Neito didn't get time to think about anything else as he realized that the other guy was rushing at him, having crossed the distance that separated them in a few long strides. But he had seen him go faster before, and the absence of his sparks... Was he coming at him Quirkless? 

The blonde evaded Midoriya's first punch and blocked the second with his forearm, but his own attempt at an attack was easily parried and turned against him. The greenette grabbed his right arm and used it to throw Neito on the ground, making him roll to cushion his fall. He was back on his feet a second later, but his adversary didn't waste any time and got in his face again. 

"You're quick on your feet and precise in your movements," Midoriya said. Why was he praising him? "But you lack formal training." 

One second Midoriya was right before him, and the next he was keeping Neito's face pushed against the floor. He had barely felt the movement before hitting the ground. 

"W-What was that?" he sputtered, feeling the weight on a knee on his back as his hands were getting bound. 

"Something I could teach you," Midoriya chuckled, softening his hold. "If you'd like to learn, that is." 

Neito felt too stunned to think clearly about the offer. 

"... And why would you?" he asked, confused. 

"Because Quirks aren't everything, because we'd both improve, and because I want to help," the other replied with a quiet but friendly tone. 

Neito wasn't someone who appreciated empty platitudes, but at the same time he couldn't deny that the offer was appealing. 

It was easy to see how his classmates had benefitted from Midoriya's meddling. Most of the special moves he had admired today had been nowhere to be seen a few days before. The guy clearly had analytical skills to rival his own... and enough charisma and intellect to be a leader. 

Midoriya's expression changed for a second, as if he had suddenly remembered something important. "Oh, I also don't like being alone on stage. Success means nothing if you can't share it." 

Neito felt his heart miss a beat at that declaration. 

- Does he understand? - The question echoed in his mind. 

Midoriya was a perfect "main character" in the play of their life, but he also seemed to have enough range to take a "supporting role" whenever he wished to... or even the spot of the "director." But could he always fill every role by himself? 

Right then and there, Neito realized Midoriya's way, why he gathered everybody around himself, and understood what he was to do. 

No theatre could be run by only one man. All Might had tried, but his recent numbers spoke the truth: the one-man show was falling more and more. Even the Number 1 needed support. Neito had heard a bit about Midoriya's previous speeches, and he knew that the teen understood the problem. 

Midoriya was gathering his own troupe, the entire personnel needed to operate the greatest theatre in the world and pull off the most magnificent performances. And it was working. 

"Monoma?" Midoriya's preoccupied voice brought him out of his thoughts. 

- Well, if you can't beat them... play your part as well as you can, - he mentally snickered. 

"I accept, Midoriya," he said as he turned on his side to face him. "Thanks for the offer." 

The greenette smiled fully like a child who had just received a candy as he shook his hand. "That's great! I promise you won't regret it!" 

Neito chuckled as he was helped to his feet. "I certainly hope so." 

- Let's see this play of yours, Midoriya Izuku. -

Notes:

Oof, longer chapter.

The next three aren't on the short side either...

I didn't want to turn this into 10 chapters of fights (since most things were talked about during internships or gym chapters), so I cut things short and showed only a few new gimmicks.

Kyoka got her tuning fork, yay! (Sorry Setsuna, you'll get your time to shine)

Minoru now works part-time as a squid. He may or may not be the anti-Toga.

Despite his shitty attitude towards 1-A (which is sadly almost everything we see), I think that Monoma can be a very good character. I see him as taking the worst of two words: bad gags from Mineta, and less screen time from 1-B. Hopefully things will change a tad here, as his Quirk is incredibly interesting and he's the closest student to understanding what living as Quirkless means.

Up next, Hurt/Comfort and too much fluff.