24

Chapter 24: Romp

Notes:

Mostly testings for this chapter. A bit more at the end, however.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

"So," Izuku began, "I was thinking that maybe... we could talk about this?"

Kaminari didn't reply, of course. It was a reaction from the boy that Izuku had grown accustomed to ever since the incident at U.S.J. Still, that fact didn't deter Izuku away; there was still a final exam to pass, after all.

"Look, Kaminari," Izuku said, "I know for sure that you want to pass this exam as much as I do. But we aren't going to get anywhere if we don't have any communication between the two of us, especially considering the fact that we're going against principal Nezu."

Izuku held a pleading look in Kaminari's direction for a solid minute. Kaminari didn't show any sign of relenting his stance.

However, Kaminari eventually sighed. "Alright. Lay it on me, Bug Boy," he said after a moment's consideration. "What do you have planned?"

Izuku smiled. "It's not much, but I have a rough basis of a plan. But I say that we don't rely on it if things get too hectic. We're going against a super genius, after all. You never know what he might have hidden up his sleeve."

"No plan survives first contact with the enemy, as the saying goes," Kaminari sighed. "I suppose I can work with that.

"Good," Izuku started, "because we still have ten minutes until the test starts. I'm sure we have time to think up some more plans."

 The desolate cityscape that the duo found themselves in was eerily quiet. Five minutes had already passed without sign of the principal, leaving them with just under half-an-hour to reach the exit. 

The towering buildings imposed themselves upon the two as they walked, keeping them on edge in preparation for an attack from any direction. 

A quick survey revealed to Izuku that the area was nearly devoid of any insects for blocks around. The few bugs that Izuku could sense numbered into a few hundred. Even then, a good portion of those bugs were relatively weak, barely being able to move. 

"I think that Nezu sprayed down the place with pesticides," Izuku informed. 

Kaminari tsked. "Well, there goes plans A through E."

"Yeah," Izuku agreed. "I can probably only get up to a couple hundred or so healthy bugs at this point. Nowhere near enough for combat capabilities."

Izuku took another look around at his surroundings. "But I've got to admit, it's quite an impressive feat, blanketing such a large area and being so successful in the extermination of so many bugs in so little time. Especially given the fact that the teachers only have ten minutes to set up whatever they wanted."

"Mhm," Kaminari hummed. "So we're going for Plan F?"

Izuku nodded. "Yeah. I already spread out my bugs as an early detection system. That way Nezu can't get the jump on us… hopefully." 

"And you act as bait right?" Kaminari asked.

Didn't even try to dissuade me on that one. "Yup. That way we'll—"

"Are you two done making up your plans?" echoed the voice of Nezu.

Both Kaminari and Izuku jumped at the voice, turning their backs against the other and taking defensive stances. Wherever Nezu was, the proximity of his voice made out for him to be close.

"I thought you said that you were watching out for him so he wouldn't get too close!" exclaimed Kaminari.

"I was!" Izuku retorted. "None of the bugs picked up on anything!"

"No need to worry, you two," continued Nezu with a chuckle. "You're just hearing me through the speakers I've set up throughout the city. Quite handy, don't you think? You'll never be able to tell where I'm coming from."

The two don't lower their guard, of course; Nezu's words were just as likely to be a trap as if they were truth. However, after further investigation, the two did find the speakers Nezu had told them about, a few or so placed haphazardly amongst the landscape. It was that reassurance that allowed them to calm down and relinquish their stances.

"Wait," Izuku interrupted, "you covered the entire test area in pesticides, and implanted a bunch of speakers, all in the span of ten minutes?"

Nezu laughed. "Of course not! I just predicted your route!"

"What do you mean you predicted our routes!?" Kaminari yelled.

"I mean exactly what I said," the principal chuckled. "It's quite a simple thing, really. With Midoriya being limited to a three block radius, all I needed to do was ensure there weren't any bugs within three blocks of your route. After that, it was just a matter of figuring you two out in order to determine your most likely path through the test area."

Both Kaminari and Izuku were both stunned silent at the principal's explanation.

"Anyhow," Nezu continued, "regarding those plans of yours, I can assure you that anything thing you've thought up so far will be rendered useless within the coming minutes."

An uneasy feeling grew in the pit of Izuku's stomach. He had the feeling that Nezu had them in a corner. Still, his own words betrayed his thoughts. "You're bluffing."

Nezu gave off another chuckle. "Am I?" 

A loud, metallic roar tore through the air after his words. The noise startled the two test takers into action yet again, scanning the environment for danger.

"What the heck is that?" Kaminari exclaimed.

"That," Nezu informed, "is over 135,000 tons of metal heading right in your direction." His words then devolved into deranged laughs. "I suggest that you run, humans!"

Izuku and Kaminari didn't need any convincing. They did just that.

"He's crazy!" yelled Kaminari. He was breathing heavily, leaning against the wall of an office building he'd taken refuge in. Izuku was in a similar condition, albeit being less fatigued due to his better physique. Still, both were quite winded, tired from their rapid escape and evasion of the destruction caused by Nezu's crane operation.

The building they found themselves in had its power completely cut off; the fact that the windows were covered in newspapers had it so the building was shrouded in darkness.The only reason that they were inside the building now was because the destruction had stopped a minute before. The two were still wondering if that was either a good or bad thing.

"We have… fifteen minutes left," breathed Izuku. "I think that I found… the exit. It's directly west of here. We'll... make it there in five if we run without any obstructions."

"Pfft. With that crazy principal out there? Fat chance!"

A distinct shuffling sound met the ears of the two, stirring them from their brief reprieve. The slight pitter-patter of tiny feet echoed in the darkness, becoming more distinct after each step.

"He's in here with us, isn't he?" questioned Kaminari. "He probably planned for us to go into this building too."

"I— Yeah, probably," Izuku admitted.

"We're screwed! He probably has the stairs covered already!"

"It's alright, just calm down. We can…" Izuku sniffed the air. "Is that smoke?"

Suddenly, the building's fire alarm went off, activating the overhead sprinklers and drenching the two in seconds. The shuffling sound arose again, this time accented with subtle splashes of water.

Izuku and Kaminari continued to peer into the darkness, yet Nezu had yet to reveal himself. 

"This water is a deathtrap," Izuku began. "I can't use my bugs, and you can't shoot out your electricity without shocking both of us… I say we defenestrate."

Kaminari's eyes widened. "You mean jump out the window?! But we're on the second floor!"

"...Better than the third?" The shuffling became louder and much closer than before. "Nope!" Izuku said. Then he jumped, shattering the glass and landing on the ground below. 

"Hold up a second!" Kaminari yelled, looking down from his position above. Suddenly, the hairs on his back rose; he could sense that something was behind him.

Turning slightly, Kaminari caught a glimpse of two glowing eyes from the darkness. 

"Kaminari-kun…"

He screamed on the way down. And he continued to do so as Izuku caught him in his arms.

 "He's just behind us," Izuku said, watching the moving form of Nezu with the sparse amount of bugs that he had. "But as long as we just keep on going at this pace I don't think he'll—"

Izuku stopped in his tracks. Kaminari stopped as well after noticing his partner's sudden stop. "What are you doing?"

"He's gone."

"What?"

A loud amalgamation of musical notes and splint wood suddenly erupted in front of the two. 

"A Bösendorfer 170!?! What even!" Kaminari exclaimed.

Izuku turned his head towards his fellow partner. "What?"

"A keen eye, Kaminari-kun," Nezu said. The principal sat atop the airdropped piano, merrily sipping from the tea cup in his hand.

"But how did you even get there?!" Izuku exclaimed. "You were just behind us! I was watching you with my bugs!"

"You mean with this little ant, here?" Nezu asked, taking said ant from his suit pocket and into his palm. "It's a trade secret, Midoriya-kun." Nezu said in a teasing tone. He then hopped off the destroyed piano, abandoning his tea cup at the top. "Perhaps one day I'll share my knowledge with you. You certainly have the aptitude for it." A feral grin slowly formed on his face. "Now, you two ready?"

"Plan Q, Kaminari," Izuku said.

"Great." Kaminari cleared his throat. "Don't come any closer!"

"Oh?" Nezu piped, stopping in his tracks. "What do you have planned?"

"I'll use my super move!" Kaminari supplied. "You'll be shocked into next Friday!"

Nezu tilted his head. "You'd shock all three of us? That would just leave you with a failed practical, neither of you able to continue."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong!" Kaminari exclaimed. "Midoriya told me something that he hasn't told anyone else! His suit is shock proof!"

The statement wasn't true, of course; Izuku's costume didn't provide any protection from electricity. Kaminari was stalling for time, aiming to trick Nezu with information he shouldn't have.

Meanwhile, Izuku was gathering a swarm — despite the fact that they were still within the confines of Nezu's planned route. 

Somehow, Izuku's range had increased ever so slightly, adding another half a block or so to his range. He didn't have a clue as to why that was, but he wasn't exactly complaining. He'd take whatever he could right now, even if the numbers of available bugs ranged only in the thousands.

"Midoriya~ Your expressions are showing~" Nezu smirked.

Ah. Shoot.

"'Shoot' indeed," Nezu said. "A few hundred bugs won't provide you with much to play with, I'm afraid."

He doesn't know!

Nezu rose an eyebrow. "What's with that look of hope, hmm?" 

"Oh, it's nothing," Izuku said. "I'm just lucky that I have a few thousand bugs at my command, rather than a few hundred." Clouds of insects filled the air above as he said this, blanketing the ground in the shadows of thousands of insects. 

Nezu shot his head up towards the sky, looking up in wonder. "Hmm… An interesting development… Did your range increase?"

How did he—

"Oh ho! Splendid! I'm up for the challenge!"

Izuku didn't wait, he ordered his swarm downwards, aiming to attack and slow Nezu down. When Izuku sensed Nezu lift up a manhole cover and jump into the sewers, Izuku simply grabbed Kaminari and ran.

"We're… almost there… right?" questioned Kaminari. He and Izuku were still running. Nezu was nowhere in sight, and his presence in the sewers rendered him unable to be tracked by Izuku's bugs.

"Yeah…" Izuku replied. "Just a little bit more. Though, I'm half expecting Nezu to jump out at us at any second with some crazy contraption. Something ridiculous like a mechanical rhino or a handheld cannon."

"Don't... tempt Murphy, man. Seriously."

They stopped talking, then. The exit was just ahead, a straight beeline being sufficient to pass through the doorway. But of course, it wouldn't be so simple as that.

Izuku's bugs sensed movement. "Kaminari, just run to the exit!"

Izuku moved himself in between incoming form of Nezu and Kaminari. Izuku tackled the principal to the ground, preventing him from reaching his target. 

"You two are getting close!" exclaimed Nezu, his eyes shining with feral glee. "Let's mix things up, hmm?" Despite his small size, Nezu showed immense strength by kicking Izuku off onto his back. Nezu immediately got on top on Izuku, his claws scratching and scraping against the reinforced spider webbing that kept Izuku's face safe. 

Instead of attempting to get Nezu off, Izuku held the principal in place, stalling to give time for Kaminari to run. It paid off in the end — though not in the way that he had expected. Rather than hearing the sound that signaled that his partner had crossed the exit, the form of Nezu buckled above him.

Kaminari interrupted Nezu's scratches with a kick to the principal's side. Kaminari struck twice more, his last kick launching the principal out of Izuku's grip. 

But even from the air, the principal landed on his feet. "There we are," said Nezu. He refrained from moving, however, staring down his opponents as if waiting for their move first.

"Plan U?" Kaminari asked, putting his hand out towards Izuku. 

"Sure." Izuku reached for the place where he kept his eskrima sticks, but instead retrieved a metal pipe that he'd found earlier.

Kaminari took the pipe. "Alright. Random pipe time."

Izuku took his cue, running forward towards Nezu. The principal followed suit, barreling towards his two students.

Much to Izuku's displeasure, Nezu ducked under the flurry of punches that came his way. In fact, Nezu wove through Izuku's defenses with ease and climb up onto Izuku's body. 

The principal made his way up and jabbed his paw into the crook of Izuku's neck. Izuku crumpled a bit, yet continued to hold himself up. He took the opportunity to throw a confused Nezu off.

"Seems I underestimated the strength of your costume, Midoriya. Though—" Nezu jumped, interrupted in the middle of his words. He had dodged Kaminari's incoming attack, an electrified swing of the pipe he'd been holding.

Sparks flew as the pipe missed its target and.hit the ground, visible arcs of electricity branching off into the air. "It may only be a minor shock," Kaminari began, "but it'll make an opening for us!" 

Izuku and Kaminari converged onto Nezu, aiming to knock their opponent down. Izuku's refined techniques and Kaminari's sloppy pipework did little to the principal, however. Nezu evaded every single attack.

However, this was just what the two test takers were aiming for. Eventually, Nezu took an anticipated evasion, and landed himself in the within the confines of a dead-end alleyway.

Kaminari immediately made his way to block off the entrance with his body, Izuku standing not too far behind him. "Ha-ha!" Kaminari cheered. "Now, don't you move, Mr. Principal sir! Or I'll unleash my super move!"

Nezu smiled, though this time it was in a way less maniacal than before. He then plopped himself down on the ground, delegating to sit where he was.

The two test takers adopted confused — yet weary — looks at the display. They refused to let their guards down, having seen firsthand just how crafty the principal was.

"What the heck is he doing?" asked Kaminari. "Its… not another trap, is it?"

"You think I would know?" Izuku said.

It was then that Nezu decided to speak up, his body moving slightly forward towards his students. "Well, what are you waiting for? You only have a minute left."

"ONE MINUTE LEFT!" came the announcement system, ringing true to Nezu words.

"Son of a—l"

"Shoot!" exclaimed Izuku. "Watch him, I'll go!"

"Right!"

Izuku shot off, going straight for the exit. No distractions, no obstructions, and — despite the risk — focusing only on his run and not on any bugs to watch Nezu.

However, it seemed as if his worries were for naught, as he passed the gate with a good twenty seconds to spare.

Despite the odds, they'd completed the test.

Izuku and Kaminari found themselves within the spectating room, standing side by side as they watched the screens showcasing their classmate's own tests.

"You were pretty resourceful back there, Midoriya," Kaminari suddenly said.

"Oh?"

Izuku watched on one screen as Todoroki and Yaoyorozu's match against Aizawa began. Yaoyorozu started off by pulling Todoroki to the side, seemingly detailing a plan she had for restraining Aizawa.

"Yeah…" Kaminari trailed. "I'm pretty sure that our test wouldn't have gone so well if it weren't for your plans."

On another screen, Uraraka and Bakugo argued away, the latter eventually deciding to split up without any feasible strategy in mind other than "destroy."

"Thanks, I suppose," Izuku responded. "You really helped too, with your electricity."

Yaoyorozu had just finished creating what looked like a copy of Aizawa's capture device. The view was then immediately blocked as Todoroki sprung up another one of his glacier walls. However, Izuku had a good idea at what Yaoyorozu had planned when the cloaks popped out.

Kaminari rose an eyebrow. "Even if it was just a couple bursts of electricity? That's all I really did, and not until up to the end, too."

Bakugo was having trouble with All Might, barely being able to dodge the hero's attacks. Bakugo eventually found himself embedded in the pavement with All Might standing above him.

That is, until an enormous construction beam struck All Might right in the face, careening him down the street. The giant steel beam fell to the ground with a loud thud afterwards.

Huh. Uraraka must have released her quirk right before the strike. Must've hurt real bad for All Might.

Bakugo got up begrudgingly, but otherwise relinquished himself and followed Uraraka to regroup. 

"I probably wouldn't have made it to the exit if you didn't have Nezu corralled into that alley," Izuku said.

"I suppose," Kaminari said. "Though that was mostly on the principal's part. If he actually decided to rush me he still probably would've been able to escape."

"Maybe. But as it went, he didn't. That means that he didn't have anything else in store for us. I'm just glad it's over, really. Facing Nezu was a nightmare."

Kaminari repressed a brief chuckle.

Looking back at the screens, Izuku was befuddled with how quickly Uraraka and Bakugo had set up. Once All Might was in sight, he was bombarded by hurtling, degravitized cars as they were launched by Bakugo's explosions. Like before with the steel beam, Uraraka released her quirk right before the cars made contact with All Might. 

The end result were piles upon piles or wrecked steel in the wake of their destruction. Once All Might went to take a breath, both Uraraka and Bakugo decided to make a break for the exit.

On the other hand, Todoroki and Yaoyorozu were wrapping up with their test, Aizawa captured and down for the count.

"You know," Izuku began, "I could ask my friend to whip something up for you quirk. Something that would allow you to direct your electricity so it doesn't just go everywhere."

Kaminari's eyes widened in surprise. "You'd do that?"

"Of course. She would love the challenge. Besides, having to resort to frying your brain like you do probably won't be good in the long run."

"Yeah, I was thinking about that myself… I suppose that you're not that bad a guy, Midoriya."

Izuku simply nodded in reply.

By the time everyone's exams were done, most of 1-A were in utter relief. The only exceptions to this were the ones who had failed their exams — a number which included Kirishima, Sato, Sero, Ashido, and Aoyama. 

However, when Aizawa had brought upon another one of his "logical ruses" and explained that everyone was still going to the camp — even if those who failed would be under heavier training — the class sighed in relief.

In fact, everyone was so excited with the revelation that when Hagakure suggested they go on a shopping trip to prepare for the camp, mostly everyone agreed. The only ones who didn't were Todoroki and Bakugo.

Izuku agreed as well, even if he had a few unvoiced stipulations on the matter. When all was said and done, he ended up having a brief talk with Yaoyorozu regarding an idea he had. She was rather impressed with the idea, instantly agreeing with it. The only thing that was needed then were a few calls to be made.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't Class 1-A! What are you lot doing here, hmm? I was told that— urk!" 

Monoma fell, experiencing another of Kendo's chops to his neck. Luckily for Monoma, Kendo grasped the scruff of his neck by the shirt before he fell. Behind Kendo, most of class 1-B stood with a knowing, resigned look at their classmate's antics.

"Come on Monoma," Manga said, coming along next to Kendo. "We already went over this with you, didn't we? How many times does Itsuka have to ram it into your head?" Kendo then handed over Monoma to Manga, already having become accustomed to the process many times over.

"Thank you, Manga," she said, smiling. She then turned to the individuals of class 1-A. "Sorry about that, you know how he is."

Aoyoma suddenly popped in between his class and the other. "Mon dieu! Is it by fate's hand that we meet our fellow class 1-B on this fine day?"

"He-heh… Uh, no." Kendo shook her head. "Your class reps thought this whole thing up. You know, having both our classes meeting up and that. Didn't they tell you?"

Upon hearing this newfound information,Class 1-A turned to look at Izuku and Yaoyorozu, both of whom looked a bit sheepish.

"I didn't really consider that," Izuku said, turning to Yaoyorozu. "I just assumed that you were going to do it."

"Me?" an embarrassed Yaoyorozu asked. "I thought you were going to do it!"

"Eh, it doesn't matter all too much," Kendo said. "Anyways, I'm glad to see that so many of you were able to make it! I'm sure that we're going to have a great time." 

It seemed that those were the words that signified the classes to split off. Izuku watched as the individual classes went on to merge into different groups. Some remained to their own, but there were a few who decided to mingle. One example was Kirishima and the guy from 1-B who had a similar quirk, but covered himself in metal to harden. The two confronted each other and seemed to form an immediate companionship.

Manga waved to him, though stayed in place. It seemed that he'd be staying with Kendo for the duration of the time.

One person that did catch Izuku's notice, however, and was making her way over to him.

"Izuku~" Setsuna crooned. "You thought of this?" she gestured to the two classes. "I'm impressed, though equally curious on what was going through your mind. What, you couldn't get enough of me? Needed to have an excuse to go out with me again?"

"Hi, Setsuna," Izuku said, ignoring her remarks. He was used to the teasing — a whole week's exposure to it would do that.

Izuku looked behind Setsuna, finding she was accompanied by Pony and four others he didn't know. "Hey Pony. And hello, um… Sorry, I don't know your names."

"Ah!" Setsuna exclaimed. "Well…"

Izuku watched on as Setsuna displayed the others before him. There was the seemingly shy Kinoko Komori, the more reserved individuals Reiko Yanagi and Yui Kodai, and Kojiro Bondo — who reminded Izuku a lot of Koda due to his size and his gentle nature.

After introductions were over, Setsuna leaned in towards Izuku, asking a question. "So, what do you have planned?"

"Planned?" Izuku repeated. "I, um, don't really have any?"

"What?! You decided to have our classes meet up and don't have any team-building activities planned?" Setsuna chided.

"I thought that we could all just interact, you know? Let natural conversations do all the work. It's already working, see?" Izuku gestured to one combined group of students, brought together by Kirishima and the metal transformation quirk user.

"That doesn't count. Tetsu and the red-head seem too similar. It'd be impossible for them to not eventually end up interacting."

"Oh. Uhh… oh well?" Izuku said.

Setsuna sighed, shaking her head with a smile. "Alright then! "Will anybody else be joining?"

Izuku thought off a few others, though said individuals seemed to be otherwise occupied. He eventually shook his head in the negative.

"Well, come on then! We can go shopping for supplies later. There's this nice bakery just further into this place."

Izuku had to admit, the Karepan he was having was unlike any he had before. It was equally parts sweet and savory, and quite a delectable treat. 

The treat was also a great parallel to use in explaining the past hour. Setsuna's friends were an odd mix of much more reticent and restrained individuals; quite unlike Setsuna herself. In a way, it made sense why she took an instant liking to Izuku, if this was what most of her friends were like.

Moreover, Izuku was having a blast getting to know everybody else, and he'd like to believe that he made a couple more friends that day, even if the others didn't outwardly show it.

But then came the unforeseen interruption.

It happened as he had gotten up to throw away his trash. He hadn't noticed the figure sneak up behind him; he only figured it out as a hand fell onto his shoulder, its grip tightening within moments of contact.

"Izuku!" came the cheery voice. "You're coming with me!"

"Wha—!"

Izuku was haphazardly spun around, his balance almost being thrown off. His arm was held in a tight grip, and when Izuku finally reoriented himself, he found that he was being forcibly dragged along by none other than Mei Hatsume. And it looked like he wasn't going to out of her grip anytime soon.

"Sorry guys!" Izuku exclaimed, turning to meet the gazes of the rapidly furthering group of newfound friends. "I'll catch up later!"

Izuku then turned back to the Mei, who was steadily bulldozing her way through the crowd.

"Mei! What are you— Why are you here? I thought that you said you couldn't come since you were busy with something?"

"I was busy!" she exclaimed. "But then I remembered that I needed to get some supplies for our trip!"

"Our trip?" Izuku questioned. "You can't come to camp with us, you know. It's a hero course trip."

"Well, duh," she relayed. "Why would I want to go to some random place out in the wilderness? We have an expo to get ready for!"