Chapter 9

They had taken the next day after the attack off, although they had been called by the detective to give statements. She had spent her day off after and before giving the statements hanging out with some of the girls in her class and analyzing the fight. In this world unscientific powers were aplenty and knowing how to counter them was paramount. She was also sure that those Villains would attack again seeing how invested they were in their goal. She had searched for them in various quirk databases, government databases and generally in the Internet. She had found nothing in official databases, her only source of information being the conspiracy theory forums Saten used to visit.

Stories about encountering someone that could destroy anything with his touch, or people being abducted to be experimented on and having their quirks stolen. She would not normally believe in these theories, but time and time again, it was shown that Satens' conspiracy theories had at least a shred of truth in them. If these theories helped her investigation then she would gladly follow their trails. There was however no concrete location or bigger theory, so she held herself back. She had seen what being unprepared could do, and she had no desire to go through it again, especially if there were stronger opponents. Thankfully she had found a way to control the Nomus' or they'd become an annoyance. She could easily kill them after all with her lightning's heat alone.

In a conference room inside the U.A High School a meeting with Detective Tsukauchi and all school staff involved was taking place.

The detective was giving his report on the attackers "The one with the Quirk that allowed him to disintegrate anything with a touch, called Shigaraki, and the <<Warp Gate>> user, Kurogiri were searched in our databases, with no luck though. It is safe to assume that they are members of the Underworld."

"So what you are saying is that we know nothing about them. I reckon we will have to learn fast, or their leader will heal and attack again." The Hero Snipe, teacher of Heroics gave his opinion.

All Might however looked to be in deep thought. "Leader, huh?" he muttered.

It was however caught by the principal. "What is it, All Might?"

"Nothing about this attack felt normal. It was especially daring and not only in the meticulous plans. He talked about some ridiculous ideology, and even if he didn't talk about his quirk, he was almost always talking about that Nomu guy's Quirks. And after his plan failed he started throwing a tantrum. He probably wanted to provoke me with all the talk about quirks." He sighed before he continued. "With all we have seen from him, his childish nature couldn't be hidden, in the sense that he does whatever he wants. He is in short, a man-child."

"A kid with too much power you say?" The Blood Hero Vlad King said.

"Maybe he didn't receive quirk counseling in school." The R-Rated Hero Midnight jokingly said.

"Does it matter?"

The bickering of the two was stopped by the detective continuing the report.

"A total of 72 Villains were apprehended at USJ. Though they were all back alley thugs the question still stands. Why would so many of them follow this <<man-child>>? In our hero saturated society, small time Villains like them are drawn in by that sort of pure, unaffected evil. Anyway… thanks to you Heroes and the student reports we will be able to focus on our investigation. We will do anything to apprehend the perpetrators."

"Thank you detective. Can you give me the student reports? For file keeping purposes of course."

"Of course Principal. I'll have them delivered to your desk."

As the detective left, Nedzu started thinking.

"A man-child huh… He reminds of our students in a way, he only needs a proper mentor. So difficult…"

With that the meeting was adjourned and the teachers were free to go to their classes.

Class 1-A

Ida was doing his job as the Class President trying to put the class orders.

"Everyone! Homeroom is about to begin. To your seats !"

"You are the only one up!" The irony of the situation had been exposed by a classmate.

The big door of the classroom suddenly opened. Inside the class walked their teacher, covered in bandages and his arm in a cast.

"Morning."

"You are back already, Aizawa Sensei?!!"

Aizawa wobbled to the teaching stand, as Ida continued talking.

"I'm glad to see you doing well Sensei!"

Having finally arrived at the stand, shaking as he was, the burden of his injuries clearly too much he started talking, cutting off Ida.

"My condition isn't important because your fight is still not over."

"Wha…."

"Don't tell me…"

"More Villains?!"

The class was shaken up from what they heard. They had after all just fought a battle for their lives and fearing the worst was only natural.

Aizawa suddenly looked serious.

"U.A's Sports Festival is approaching!"

"SO TOTALLY ORDINARY!" Everybody in the class shouted in shock. Everybody thought it would be a serious matter, but such a serious announcement had made them fear the worst.

"But we just had that Villain attack. Is this really safe?" Some students were concerned that the Villains would attack again and this would be a prime opportunity.

"I agree with you, but it's necessary to showcase that U.A can deal with emergencies… that's what they say apparently. And it goes unsaid even if there is five times the police presence, this will be the greatest opportunity you get. It won't be cancelled because of some Villains."

"Are you sure about that? It's just a sports festival?" Mineta who was the most affected of them all asked

"Mineta haven't you seen the festival?" Izuku who was sitting on front of him asked perplexed.

"Of course I have. I didn't mean it like that…"

Their talk was cut off when their teacher continued talking.

"The Sports Festival in of the biggest events in Japan. It is the one thing that has taken the place of the Olympics that are only a shell of their former self."

Discussions sparked around the class. For Mikoto it reminded her of the Daihaseisai, students showing off their abilities for the whole world to see.

"The top Heroes will be watching this right as scouts right?" The ever diligent Yaoyorozu asked.

"Yeah, and if we do well, they'll hire us as sidekicks."

"And a lot of them remain sidekicks forever, just like you, Kaminari, you dunce."

"Tch!" The afore mentioned Kaminari clicked his tongue at Jiro's dismissal.

This was the first big difference she noticed between the two. In the Daihaseisai if you impressed someone it was more likely to be some mad scientist who wanted to experiment on your ESPER power. Here though you got an apprenticeship and had a chance to become a star. She chuckled to her herself for so casually thinking about the reality of Academy City. She continued paying attention to the teacher though, eager to hear his next words.

"If you are picked up by a big shot it's natural that you will get valuable experience and popularity. Your time is limited though. Show what you are made of, and create your own future. You only have three chances, three chances you can't miss if you want to become a Hero."

Even the previously timid Mineta had been aroused by Aizawa's speech. Everybody went to lunchtime with excitement brewing.

"Everyone is so excited…"

"And you aren't Midoryia? This is our chance to join the ranks of Heroes. Of course we are in high spirits."

"Funny way of showing it, Ida." Tsuyu who was passing by commented, before she left.

"Yeah I get that!! But still…"

"Deku, Ida…" Uraraka started talking, her voice suddenly rising. "At this festival… Let's do our best!" A determined look had replaced her normal one, one aptly described as "Very not Uraraka" by Mina.

"I'm gonna crush this!!"

"Yeahhhh… but what's up with this change in personality?"

Sometime later when Midoryia and Ida along with Uraraka and Misaka were going to the cafeteria, Midoryia asked a question that had plagued his mind to both Uraraka and Misaka.

"Why do two want to become Heroes?"

Misaka answered first and truthfully. "To get rid of the Villains that plague our society."

Such a straightforward answer had caught Midoryia off-guard, but this reason was almost the same as his, to save the powerless people from people that want to harm them. Uraraka's answer was even more surprising.

"For the money?! You wanna be a hero for the money?" Midoryia was slightly surprised to say the least, but he didn't doubt that Hero work was certainly lucrative.

A blushing Uraraka was trying to explain her reasoning. "I know that it is kind of base, and embarrassing considering your noble aspirations and all."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting a comfortable lifestyle!" Ida who had so far remained silent jumped in and said, voicing his opinion.

"Yeah, it was just a little unexpected." Both Midoryia and Misaka agreed on that.

"It's just… my family's construction company is not doing well, and we are poorer than poor. Don't… mention that to anyone, okay?" Uraraka fidgeted as her voice broke down at the end.

The other three were in though having heard Uraraka's situation.

"Construction… You want a permission to use your quirk to cut costs right?"

"Yeah! That's what I said to my dad b ack then! But… he didn't want me to. However, I'm gonna be a hero, and with the money I make I am going to make sure my parents can have an easy life." Her previous depressed mood, was now back to normal.

"Bravo, Uraraka!" It was only natural for the enthusiastic president to congratulate her, and Misaka was moved too, even if she wasn't a really emotional person.

"OHH!! MIDORYIA, KID! HERE YOU ARE! WANNA… EAT LUNCH WITH ME??" It was All Might, who was carrying food, that had surprised everyone there.

"Sure."

Like a swift wind, All Might had come, picked up Midoryia and left. The three of them continued with their walk to the cafeteria. As they were waiting in line Uraraka wondered out loud why All Might had wanted him.

"It's probably because of their similar strength quirks, and because he attacked those Villains. Perhaps he's taken a liking to him." Misaka who was there answered. She knew that this wasn't the real reason though, but she was smart enough to not reveal their shared secret. "Ah, look the queue is free." Getting their food they sat down, the rest of the dinner spent doing small talk.

Break Room

"Young Midoryia, I really wanted to talk to you about the Sports Festival. Thankfully I can still maintain my Muscle form for an hour or two, thanks to young Misaka's efforts. To the core of the problem though, you still can't regulate One for All right?"

"Yeah… Ah!! There was one time, when I attacked that Brain Villain, there was no kickback."

"Ah! You did mention that! What was different that time?"

"… It was the first time… I used it on someone else."

"Hmm… it sounds like you managed to unconsciously hold back. It is certainly progress, and that's good to hear. To be honest with you, my time as Symbol of Peace is running out. And some with Villainous intent have caught wind of that. You are my Successor! The entire country will be watching! It's time for you to tell the world <<I AM HERE!>>"

"But… How will I do that?"

"You know how the festival works right?"

"Of course! We are all grouped according to our courses and years and…" Midoryia droned on explaining the tournament, clearly passionate about it.

"Exactly so! It's your chance to become popular!"

"Huh…"

"<<Huh>>… <<Huh>>, he says!!" Though All Might he had comically fallen down, Izuku continued his mumbling.

"You are so dedicated to your world of nonsense kid!"

"World of nonsense…?"

"The difference between those who make it to the top, and those who don't. It will resurface when you all emerge in society. I understand how you are feeling and I won't force you. But remember your drive when you were cleaning the beach."

Sometime after the classes had ended, the class 1-A faced a big problem. Their class door had been swarmed by what seemed to be every other student in the school. Uraraka was the first one to notice the people sea as she was the first to try to leave (except Misaka who had detected them) and was completely taken aback.

"What's going on!?" She shouted, surprise clear in her voice.

Misaka could have easily escaped by climbing the wall with magnetism, but when she saw Bakugo getting up to leave she decided to stay, after all with the boy's explosive personality, whatever happened was bound to be entertaining.

"Move aside, Cannon Fodder."

"Hey don't call them that Bakugo."

"Shut up, President."

From the gathering of the people, an indigo-haired boy, with dark eye bags under his eyes, who towered over the rest, walked up to the front.

"Wow… so modest. Is everyone from this course like this?" Sarcasm was dripping from his voice, and even if the rest of his class was frantically signaling for Bakugo to stop, he put more fuel in the fire, by not even regarding them.

"Huh? What ya want?"

"I have to say, this is pretty disappointing, if this is your offer. Those of us that didn't make Hero Studies, are stuck in the other courses, and there's quite a few of us. Ya know that?"

Bakugo was puzzled to say the least, but before he could come back, he was cut off by the boy.

"They might consider transferring us here if we perform well, but the reverse is possible for you. For us of the General studies, this is perfect chance to knock you off of your pedestal. After all we have nothing to lose and you have everything to lose. Consider this a declaration of War."

People from other classes chimed in, insulting them. However Bakugo faced them with his usual flippant nature and started shoving them out of his way. Even the normally bolsterous, and sometimes hot blooded Kirishima was surprised at this attitude.

"Wait, you jerk. We've got a whole mob of haters now. This is so unmanly!"

"I don't give a crap…"

"WHAAAAAAA?!" A surprised shout had escaped Kirishima's lips. After all, Bakugo was so nonchalant of making almost all the other first-years hate them.

"If I'm heading to the top, why should I care?"

In an instant Kirishima's along with some others opinion changed.

"Tch…! So manly!"

"Well, he isn't wrong."

Misaka had found herself agreeing with Bakugo even if her former self would not. The ones at the top, the ones who held unbelievable power, need not care about the opinion of the others.

Two weeks had passed since the announcement of the Festival. Everybody had trained the hardest they ever had in those two weeks, after all, it could be their big chance to become Heroes.

For Misaka this break didn't mean much as she didn't get stronger by using her power. It was also not a good idea to try to mess around with her body again, because her system could react negatively to it. So she spent her time gathering the last materials for a project she had in mind and doing her job as a Vigilante, trying to find information on the <<League of Villains>> that the attackers were part of. Though she had found many Villains that were talking about how they'd join it, not a single one knew where its hideout was. It was simply a stroke of unluckiness that she hadn't found anything useful, but she was certain that they would probably send someone to find her.

As for the project it was something she was intimately familiar with. It was an A.A.A. There were multiple reasons for it, the main one being her paranoia of somebody outmatching her. After all if she lost a battle against a Villain she was sure to die. And with the quirks she had seen so far, being caught unaware was easily possible. Another reason were her worries about Magicians. It was a fact that a force similar or same to Mana existed in this world, but she didn't know whether Magicians did. The A.A.A had proved to be instrumental in her fight against the stronger magicians she had faced, and even if there were no Magicians here, the firepower it provided was welcoming.

She of course had trouble with building it all up. First of all she had to build it outside the city so it wouldn't catch someone's eye. For that reason, she had splurged on a big plot of land just outside the city. Another problem was the obvious illegality of what she was building and the difficulty of obtaining what she needed. However everything was solved with a little bit more cash to find the right supply channels and keep the workers silent.

All in all it was a project that took her the better part of three months to complete. It was equipped with all sorts of weaponry, some new, some old, but perhaps more importantly it had Quirk-Destroying Bullets. She had found the original during a raid on some yakuza and because she had failed to recreate it, had sought them out. It had taken a lot of time but she had finally managed to buy a full magazine. Those were her trump card against all kinds of enemies with quirks. Even if they had an impenetrable defensive quirk they would still fall to her. Along with those quirk destroying bullets, the cost of the A.A.A had come to be around five billion yen, due to her having to use the black market to acquire most of them. She had once again tried to recreate the "black box", but her understanding of Magic limited her again.

Finally in the last days of the break it was finally ready. She made it take a bike form and rode it till the apartments. She was worried that she would run out of money while building it, but she had no such problems. When Mr. Haru saw the bike he panicked a little bit, saying that it was dangerous to ride bikes at her age, but with some persuasion and insisting that she knew how to ride one (she really did), he let her keep it there. She was actually surprised that U.A let them ride their own vehicles saying <<They are old enough to become Heroes, so they are old enough to drive>>. The bike form was like that of a classic bike, with some futuristic bits here and there, not so many that it would look out of place.

The day of the School Festival had come though, and she was intent on winning it.