Second Hunt

Izuku kept running through one single word in his mind. 

"Battle!"

That was what All Might decided would be best for their second day at U.A., and Izuku didn't know whether he should thank him or hate him. His opinions were still pending as, based on who he would be put up against, (wow I wonder who he wants to fight) he would either hurt a classmate he didn't mind, or he would be smashing someone's face into a wall. (All walls injured during this chapter have a contractual obligation to be repaired by Cementoss once the day comes to and end.)

Izuku continued to stew in his anxiety as he put on his hero costume. He also noticed that some of the other guys were wearing somewhat comical costumes. The best example of this was Yuga Aoyama and his unnecessarily bright cape. There weren't even any lights on it, it was just pure glitter.

Izuku sighed as he subconsciously began walking down the corridor to the entrance to Ground Beta. The light someone blinded him as he and his classmates stepped out of the hallway. He hadn't been paying too much attention before, but his classmates seemed to have a knack for costume design. Except for the new student who took that Mineta guy's place. This new guy was doing his best Aizawa impression, having bags under his eyes and a nonchalant attitude about him. He was just wearing his gym uniform and some kind of lover face mask.

Izuku took a moment to admire his own costume. It seems that the support department made it almost exactly how he wanted it. 

The boy wore a tight black shortsleeved undershirt and baggy black pants that tucked into black combat boots. Over his shirt, he had a blueish black chest plating that stopped just above his stomach. His shoulders were covered by pauldrons the same color as the chest plate. The color pallet was shared by his arm bracers, kneepads, and shinguards. All of these pieces shared a pattern, as well. The pieces looked like frozen black fire that shrouded parts of Izuku's body. The last thing he had on was a lower face mask of the same color and style as the rest of the armor platings. Where his mouth would be were two rows of sharp fangs stretched in a snarl.

(For his costume, just imagine the Ebony Odogaron armor set from Monster Hunter World Iceborne. His face mask is that same color but looks like the base World female version. Also, his hair is unchanged.)

As Izuku was adjusting his bracers, he heard a female voice call out to him. Upon looking up, he had to do a double take. Suddenly, he was glad the face mask covered up the lower half of his nose. There in front of him was Uraraka in her hero costume...which was skin tight...

'Oh how I love you, Photographic Memory'

Izuku had to forcibly move his own eyes to meet hers, though it wasn't much better as he was still physically looking down to see her.

"Wow, Midoriya, you're costume is so cool! I wish mine was like that..."

Before Izuku even knew what he was doing, he gave her costume (body) another once-over. Yep, burned into his memory for life.

"I think they missed some of my specifications, though, so now I'm stuck with a skin tight bodysuit, heh."

Izuku tried to speak before his mind could roam any further.

"I-I think you look great! I mean, your costume looks great! I-I mean..."

His stuttering was broken up by Uraraka squinting at him for some reason.

"Hey, Midoriya, did you put on some war paint over your eyes or something?"

Izuku looked puzzled as he felt at his face. It didn't feel like anything was off.

'War paint? What war paint-'

"Oh, you're talking about the skin on my face. Yeah, it was just in the corners of my eyes and over the bridge of my nose yesterday, but I woke up with the upper half of my face looking like this."

Indeed, Izuku's face had changed slightly. Apparently, nobody had noticed said change until just now. He didn't know what to think of that. In a thick, horizontal line, Izuku's skin fused with his blood, going across his eyes and the bridge of his nose. It faded back into the regular tan color as it nearly reached his ears.

"Huh... Well, it looks cool! Especially with your costume. So, how did you come up with it? Did you base it on anything?"

Uraraka didn't seem bothered by her costume anymore. Following her example, Izuku also tried not to pay attention to her costume. He clung to the topic change for dear life.

"A-Ah, I only came up with this design about three months before the entrance exams. I-I haven't seen anything similar, b-but I'm hoping this is an original design. I-I'd like it to be unique to me, y'know?"

Uraraka nodded in understanding. As she was about to say something, All Might spoke up.

"All right, listen up! Today's training will consist of indoor battles. The situation is a two versus two battle between two heroes and two villains. The villains are to hide a 'bomb' somewhere in the designated building. After five minutes, the two heroes will be allowed to enter the building in search of the 'bomb'."

All Might paused to make sure his students were paying attention. Surprisingly, none of them were raising their hands or speaking out. 

'Ah, Aizawa must already be getting to them.'

"The conditions for victory for either team vary. For the villains, the main goal is to defend the 'bomb' until the end of a ten minute timer. A secondary condition for victory is that the enemy team is unable to continue, be it them admitting defeat or being captured. For that, you must wrap each individual hero in this capture tape!"

Don't ask questions about where All Might pulled a roll of tape from...

"That same secondary condition also applies to the hero team. Their primary objective, however, is to capture the 'bomb' before time runs out. The 'bomb' is considered captured when either hero puts at least one hand on it."

All Might gave a laugh as he gave his students time to process the information. After thinking it through, Iida raised his hand. The reason you could tell it was Iida was by the way his entire body was stiff as a board.

"Yes, young Iida?"

"All Might, sir, how will teams be decided? And how will the teams be assigned their roles?"

"A good question! Right over there is a large box containing twenty slips of paper. Each paper has a letter on it going from A to J. The two who draw matching letters are a team. As for their roles, the small red box contains the letter for the villain team. The small green box contains the letter for the hero team. All ten teams have a letter in both boxes. If your team is drawn for both roles, we'll leave it up for the two team members to decide which role they will play. I will be the one to draw from both colored boxes, so there is no need to worry about one team being singled out by another."

All Might pointed to a small table with the previously mentioned boxes. 

"Now, one at a time, please draw a letter from the large box. After the teams settle, I'll draw two letters from the other boxes. After your team letter is called, you will either head into the building to place the 'bomb', or you will wait outside and devise a strategy until the five minute countdown ends."

X

Izuku and his teammate, Mina Ashido, are waiting outside of the building that contains the villain team and their cargo. The two had finalized their plan seconds earlier and had a minute to spare on the timer. Soon, they would enter the building to take down the villain team, said team being comprised of Katsuki Bakugo and Rikido Sato. 

Ashido's Quirk was called "Acid". The name was straightforward and pretty much explained everything. She was able to secrete acids from her body that varied in quality. For example, her strongest acid could melt through solid steel, while the weakest merely coated whatever it touched in a viscous acid no more harmful than water. 

After two days at U.A., Izuku had learned that Sato's Quirk was called "Sugar Rush". If he ingested sugar, his physical strength would grow. The downside was that he became temporarily...less intelligent...if he kept his Quirk up for too long or if he ingested too much sugar. 

If Izuku had to say, he'd say this was one of the best possible matchups. If Ashido played her cards right, she would breeze through her fight with Sato. The reason Izuku knew she would be fighting him was because Bakugo would probably only look for and fight Izuku himself. He was all too happy to dish out some pain towards his explosive classmate. 

"Hey, Midoriya, what do you actually...plan to do when Bakugo reaches you? I mean, even I know that I wouldn't stand a chance against him and his Quirk. The guy's literally a walking nuke. From what you told me, he basically has a sixth sense during fights."

Izuku nodded, a determined look overtaking his previously nervous expression. Why was he nervous, you may ask? Because his female classmate was doing a damn good job at competing with Uraraka's looks.

"If and when we meet, he'll send out everything he can at me. Like you said, there's no chance that any of you guys would be able to fight him equally, mostly because of the enclosed area and his lack of consideration for collateral damage. But today, I've got a score to settle with him. Even if he wins, he won't make it out without a few broken bones."

Ashido blinked at the hateful glare Izuku was sending towards the building. She could tell he held a grudge against Bakugo, but she couldn't tell why. Izuku seems like a decent guy with a pretty strong Quirk and a kind disposition, so she couldn't see why the two guys would hate each other. Then again, she couldn't find anything likeable about Bakugo. I mean, who tells you to "Fuck off!" on the first day of school? She shook her head at another mystery she vowed to unravel later.

X

With the countdown ending, Izuku and Ashido entered the building. Considering who they were up against, the two figured that making too much noise would instantly put them at a disadvantage. Funnily enough, Izuku's combat boots made almost no sound. Even so, they could barely get to the second floor before Bakugo found them.

"Ashido, head up to the fifth floor! I've got this covered!"

Izuku called out for the girl to run to the fifth floor, that also being the top floor. They had figured that the 'bomb' would be somewhere on that floor because if would make the journey longer. That meant Bakugo got more time to fight his classmate. And just like Izuku planned, Bakugo didn't even so much as give Ashido a glance. He just stared at Izuku with a look of irritation. However, the blonde missed the almost murderous look in Izuku's eyes. 

"Heh, I must be pretty lucky to get such a weak opponent. Really, I was hoping I'd be fighting you. I'm gonna enjoy beating you into the ground, Deku!"

Bakugo smirked as he looked on, taunting Izuku. 

"Let's do this, just like old times! Punching bag versus U.A.'s strongest first year student! Come on, Deku, give your old pal a good punch! Or is that Quirk of yours still as useless as always?"

Bakugo cackled at Izuku, taking pleasure in belittling the green haired boy. He noticed Izuku had his head down with his hair covering his eyes and smirked once again.

"Oh, what? Gonna cry, now? It really is just like old time, huh?! At least you still know your place, you worthless, spineless, weak piece of trash, Deku-"

Bakugo was cut off as Izuku moved in front of him before he could even blink. The next thing he knew, he was gasping for air and on the floor. He noticed the pain in his back and turned to see the wall he crashed into looked like it would crumble at any second. Bakugo got back on his feet slowly, heaving as he did so. 

"C-Can't say I didn't ask for that, huh? Oh well, one lucky shot won't be enough to beat m-"

He was once more cut off as his head smashed into the floor. Now, he was bleeding from a cut just above his eye. He looked back up to see Izuku staring at him, his combat boot pressing into his back. That wasn't what he was worried about, however. What set off the alarm in his head was the absolute fury of the supposedly weak boy. Never before had he seen such hatred in anyone, Pro Heroes and Villains alike. It was as if he was staring into hell itself. At least, that's what he felt Izuku's glowing red eyes were like.

Izuku let out a low growl as steam wafted from his skin. Never before had he been this mad. There he was, finally in his dream school and on his way to becoming a Pro Hero, and this lowlife piece of shit still had the gall to torment him. After all he had done to get to U.A., the torturous training, the physical and mental abuse from who were supposed to be his classmates and even some of his teachers, and the pain brought by his isolation, Bakugo still looked down on him. Izuku had enough. There seemed to be no better time for him to speak up for himself, anyway.

"Katsuki... Do you know what I did to get here? To finally make my way to the top? Do you know what I went through for so many years? It was Hell. All of it was pure Hell. Never once have I actually, genuinely smiled for anyone. Even my own mother, the only person in my life that was there for me, hasn't seen me be truly happy since I got my Quirk."

Bakugo looked on in confusion as to what Izuku was getting at. He honestly couldn't care less about what he was saying. Even so, he was rooted in place by Izuku's look and his tone. Something about the guy put Bakugo on edge for reasons he couldn't figure out. 

"Every single day, I came home with bruises, scrapes, and burns. That day when we were eight, you destroyed one of the few things my father has ever given me. You kept destroying what I had after that, too. Granted, I never brought anything else with me that my father gave me, but even those gifts were important to me. They were precious things that I cherished with all I had. It really goes to show how I was more concerned about a notebook than my own health. Just think about that for a second. What kind of kid would rather have his own body mutilated than have one of his personal belongings blown to pieces?"

Unknown to the two boys, the entire conversation was being recorded and broadcast to a surveillance room with All Might and Izuku's classmates. They could hear every word that Izuku was saying and felt pity. That was all they could feel, but even that didn't seem right to them. 

"I have endured everything you and those other bastards threw at me for over a decade now. All because I was too cowardly to fight back. I was scared. I thought that all I could ever do with my Quirk was hurt others if I decided to stand up for myself. I was so frustrated with myself. I was such a weak and worthless coward back then. And I hated it. I hated it all. I began to realize that every little thing that you and others did to me were things that I hated with every cell in my body. And I wasn't scared anymore. The only thing that any one of you sacks of shit actually did was make me hate you. If my mother wasn't there to support me, who knows where I'd be now, especially with a Quirk like mine."

A sudden wave of fear washed over everyone that heard him. Ashido and Sato also heard Izuku from their ear pieces. Needless to say, everyone was frightened by the implications of his words. If nobody was there for Izuku, he wouldn't be here now. And if he wasn't here...

"Consider yourself lucky I still want to be a Hero. I want to be a good person, even after everything this world threw at me. So I'm going to give you one chance. Surrender, and I'll make sure you only go home with a broken nose."

Bakugo, surprisingly, was actually weighing his options. In the end, however, he decided to not heed the warning and fight back. Coincidentally, a beep came from his grenade shaped gauntlets. He smirked evilly as he pointing it at Izuku.

"You already know what my Quirk does, so I'll make this quick. These gauntlets store my sweat, so you can probably guess what happens if I pull this pin."

Izuku's eyes widened as he backpedaled away from Bakugo. He couldn't evade in time, however. He was blasted by the mightiest of Bakugo's explosions without remorse. Even those in the surveillance room could feel the ground shaking from the explosion. Somehow, the building was still standing, only missing a chunk of the wall at the end of the blast. This had even All Might himself speechless, not even able to reprimand him in time to potentially save Izuku's life.

Bakugo looked around, coughing a bit as he waved away all of the smoke and debris particles. He got to his feet with the pain in his back now beginning to fade. His face was still in some pain, however. He continued his search for his opponent until he heard All Might call out over the radio system.

"This exercise has come to an end! All participants are to make their way back to the surveillance room immediately-"

The Number One Hero stopped himself as he saw what he thought was impossible. The smoke had further cleared, allowing the somehow intact cameras to see a figure that wasn't Bakugo.

"Kat...suki... I..."

It was Izuku. His entire upper body was now bare, revealing his toned and practically chiseled body. Nobody had any time to admire the boy as a loud roar came from Izuku.

Izuku looked left and slightly downward. A monstrous roar escaped his throat, mirroring the one at the end of the entrance exam. The roar continued as Izuku slowly turned his head upwards and then back down and to the right. Nobody was given time to blink as just before the roar ended, Izuku had already begun charging forwards. A billowing cloud of scalding steam followed his charge.

Izuku's fist made contact with Bakugo's chest, breaking some of his ribs and sending him back into the cracked wall behind him. This time, the wall gave out and crumbled. Luckily for the blonde boy, it only revealed another empty room. Izuku yelled at the boy, who he knew was still conscious.

"What in the actual hell is wrong with you?! That blast could've killed me, dammit! Are you actually trying to kill someone?! You're lucky I have a fucking tolerance, you insane bastard!"

Izuku was now glaring at Bakugo with wide eyes. Never in his life did he think he would almost die at the hands of his supposed comrade, especially when the Number One Hero was watching them. Izuku sprinted forward once more as Bakugo staggered to his feet.

Izuku's fist was shrouded by the steam, a crimson tint now dying the vapor. The flame markings glowed furiously, his eyes returning to their pure red glow.

Izuku sent his fist forward, hearing a snap as it made contact with Bakugo's face. The boy was sent through the floor, impacting with the concrete of the first floor. This time, Bakugo was down for the count. As durable as the blonde was, Izuku had to hold back most of his power to ensure he survived. He glared down at Bakugo, desperately wanting to break more of his bones for pulling such a stunt. Of course Izuku would also be reprimanded for attacking a student after the exercise ended, but he felt he had every right to do so and more. If anything, he took it easy on Bakugo.

Izuku let out a breath as Uraraka ran up to him, along with Ashido and Sato. U.A. medical bots were already nearing their location. 

"Izuku! Are you alright?!"

Seconds later, Uraraka wanted to slap herself for asking something so stupid.

"I... I'll be...fine..."

Izuku was indeed not fine. Most of his upper body was bleeding, his unmasked face sharing that effect. His entire being was shaking from the adrenaline running through his veins. The steam was no longer exuding from his skin, the markings also fading as he tried to settle down. Izuku was honestly just glad he could still breathe. He was also glad that Uraraka caught him as he fell, as he didn't want to deal with a headache when he woke up.

Seconds later, All Might arrived with a look of horror on his face. He saw the bloody form of Izuku laying in Uraraka's embrace. She didn't seem to notice her costume being stained by the boy's blood, however.

All Might would have been wallowing in self resentment if he didn't have a student to take care of. At least the steam signified that the boy was alive. 

'Wait, steam?'

Izuku was covered by a thin veil of slightly red steam, though it was lacking in heat. The steam eventually faded, revealing Izuku's body no longer covered in blood. Uraraka would have to get her costume cleaned, though, as the blood didn't evaporate off of her.

As hard as he stared at the boy, All Might could see no sign of blood loss. In fact, Izuku looked somewhat more...healthy? Or at least more healthy than he looked before the exercise began.

'Weird effects of his Quirk later, I need to bring him to Recovery Girl. And also this blonde brat, I guess.'

"Young Uraraka, I'll take the boy from here, along with his homicidal classmate. Don't worry, I'll get them to the infirmary as fast as I can."

The man took the two limp bodies and sprinted down the halls of U.A. before anyone could say anything. Uraraka was left there, crying from seeing Izuku in such a horrible condition. Ashido and Sato had to physically drag her disheveled form back to the other students. 

The other students waited for the three to get back so they could tell them that All Might called off today's class. As such, they had a lot of free time until they needed to go home. Uraraka looked at the main U.A. building with teary eyes.

'Please be safe, Izuku. I can't have you getting hurt before we even become Heroes. Make it through this so we can be Heroes together, so I can be a Hero at your side.'