Chapter 51 - Aftermath

(a/n: slight retcon, turns out the trial conclusion was done in the monitoring room so they are going to go there instead of waiting in the battle site.

Also, just gonna say, that when I write about someone, I'll use their more recognizable name like Shoto Todoroki, I'll use Todoroki etc, etc.)

Koji lay Tokoyami's body down on the softer side of the ground and waited for Izuku to help walk Momo down. He saw the state of everyone and couldn't help but lament that only he finished the trial unscathed.

Tokoyami took much of the mental damage from Dark Shadow's scars, Momo pushed her quirk on overdrive, and Izuku himself took a lot of damage from the massive battle.

Although he joined at the last second, all he did was a single sneak attack at an unsuspecting Tokoyami who was too busy calling his quirk back. Koji couldn't help but feel disappointed in himself for being a deadweight to Izuku.

Though, with his disappointment, came a craving to improve himself. Even if he did not participate much in the battle, Koji had gained a lot. He had discarded his weak mentality and only wanted to work towards his goal, to become a pro hero!

Koji heard footsteps from behind and was a bit shocked and shy after seeing Izuku and Momo so shameless. In a princess carry, he was holding her in his arms just as much as she lay on his chest. Worse, the two had no reservations about being so close to each other, as if this was natural for them.

"How's Tokoyami doing?" Izuku asked Koji, who quickly answered that he didn't use much force and Tokoyami had just been lightly knocked out. 

Izuku nodded and said, "Good job out there. I didn't expect that," Izuku never thought Koji to almost be the deciding factor of the trial. Pity that had it not been for Momo's extreme preparations, among other things, it would have mattered.

'Well, at least he's got guts now,' Izuku thought, feeling a bit of glee after seeing the Koji's progress. He didn't know why, but seeing Koji grow after talking him up made him happy. 

In his previous life, he was always alone, and Izuku had never experienced or expected to feel this sense of accomplishment after helping someone. It wasn't a bad feeling.

Soon, Izuku saw a flash of yellow arrives beside the group with a few little robots trailing behind. They were carrying three stretchers for everyone but Koji.

"Good job out there, young heroes!" All Might congratulated everyone and praised each of them for what he thought was their best show of prowess. 

Usually, he would do the conclusion with everyone present, but seeing that three of the four would need medical attention, he decided to do it here while everyone in the monitor room listened in.

He commended Momo's ability to make the most out of the situation and utilize her quirk skillfully, Izuku for his level-headedness even in the toughest of situations, and Koji, who although had little impact, showed the biggest growth in his mental. They were after all doing the trial with the aim to improve, and what Koji showed was exactly that.

"Although I could understand and appreciate you for doing so, young Modoriya, it's best not to underestimate your opponent next time," All Might said, revealing Izuku's most obvious "flaw" in this battle trial. 

A one-sided victory wouldn't be beneficial for both teams, which was why All Might didn't reprimand Izuku and instead shared a piece of his thoughts.

"Even if you know you are much stronger than them, everyone always has an ace up their sleeve," He said.

"I understand," Izuku said. 

All Might didn't take any longer and finished the session after ensuring the three of them were fine in the infirmary. Koji, meanwhile, went back to the monitoring room where everyone congratulated him on a job well done. 

When Izuku met with Recovery Girl again, he saw her making a weird expression since it was the first time where she couldn't use her quirk on either of her three patients. Tokoyami simply needed to rest, using her quirk on Momo would make her condition worse, while Izuku would turn her office into mush.

In the end, she gave them three separate beds to rest on and a lot of candy for Momo to munch on while she waited for a meal to be delivered. Izuku meanwhile had his bleeding forehead bandaged after seeing it wasn't deep and that he would be fine with a long rest.

Laying down on his bed, Izuku began to process the last hour on his head. The battle with Tokoyami had given him his much-needed battle experience against a battle-oriented quirk.

If there was one thing Izuku gained or rather, reaffirmed from the trial was that quirks are too unique and versatile. Dark Shadow was just another quirk but its properties made fighting it a whole new learning experience.

There was no single way to prepare for a fight against a quirk user, it was too diverse for Izuku to try and make connections between one quirk and another. 

It was fine if their quirks were weak such as Koji's, but against quirks such as Endeavours, Hawks, and whatever strong villains are out there, fighting them without adequate information would be a huge life risk.

Not to mention, there might be quirks out there that directly counter his. While his weakness might not be as obvious as Tokoyami's, Izuku wonders whether there exists a quirk that could exploit his ability without him even realizing it.

Something such as a quirk that stores and shoots out whatever force was inflicted onto its body would fully negate Izuku's Shinra Tensei. And considering there was a quirk that is literally an earphone jack, Izuku was sure that such a quirk exists.

It was only a matter of time before Izuku met a quirk that counters his own. The question would then be whether Izuku is strong enough to overcome the odds and survive.

'The answer is just to get stronger…strong enough for their quirk to not matter,' Izuku thought. 

Silence filled the room until Momo, who had been staring at Izuku's contemplating face with one of her own, asked.

"I'm curious," Momo had her upper body up on her bed and candies in her hand asked, "Would it even be a fight had you not given us a chance?"

Izuku thought for a while and weighed the odds. The reason Momo's traps posed so much trouble to Izuku was because there was Dark Shadow to occupy most of his mind, and the opposite is true, Dark Shadow was only strong enough to match him because of Momo's traps and preparations.

In the end, the main problem lies in the room being as dark as it is, and there is an easy fix of destroying all the windows first. Even Koji could do so if he was heartless enough to command the birds to fly from outside and destroy the covered windows with their bodies.

"No, I'd just blast through everything and end it in a minute,"

Momo showed a wry smile, feeling a little down after hearing the truth from Izuku's mouth. She knew they were given a chance from the start, but she didn't expect the gap between them to be so wide.

'All that for barely a win,' Momo thought, feeling a bit bittersweet after realizing, or rather, accepting the truth she had previously chosen to sideline. She was happy about winning, but in the end, it was a win handed on a bronze plate.

"Izuku-kun, I'll win properly next time," Momo said, shaking off the doubts she had about herself. She didn't want to start her life in U.A. with being disappointed in her weakness. She wanted to use it as her motivation for the next three years instead.

"I look forward to it," Izuku said, encouraging her with a smile. He wanted to see what the limits of Momo's quirk were, and maybe, he could have her make an arsenal of nuclear weapons for himself someday.

Though, by that time, maybe Izuku could already be the nuke himself, but either way, he already made up his mind to rope Momo into his side. Tokoyami as well, but that all was for another time.

Momo was more excited about the future and thought to give even more of her all to surpass everyone.

"Yes yes, think about your future later, for now, eat this first," Recovery Girl suddenly came in and came in with a robot that carried many high-calorie meals.

Due to Momo's quirk, she had a higher and faster calorie intake than normal humans, allowing her to gain fat as easily as she lost it. A few meals would be enough to turn her pale complexion back into color. 

While she was very famished, her noble upbringing didn't allow her to munch as much as she wanted to in front of company, and could only eat at a normal pace.

Izuku laughed seeing her being so reserved and joined in. He took a meal set before turning on the tablet recovery girl gave them. It showed the current battle aftermath between Jiro and Kaminari against Sero and Toru. It ended with team Kaminari winning after Jiro found and knocked Toru down and Kaminari electrocuted Sero through his tape.

All Might then drew the next match between Todoroki and Ojiro (tail guy) as Villains against Bakugou and Shoji as the Heroes. 

"Who do you think will win Izuku-kun?" Momo asked.

"Depends on whether Todoroki is enough to take on Bakugou and Shoji. Ojiro's quirk doesn't look like it could take either of them in a fair fight," Izuku said. 

While Ojiro's tail is strong, Shoji has the upper hand in a physical battle while Bakugou's quirk is a bad matchup for the human body in general. That extra limb will just be another target. Especially after all the beating Izuku had drilled into him, he had trained his quirk to have much more explosive power.

"Each time I see Bakugou talk, he's loud and crass, meanwhile he'd never talked so to you, just silently staring," Momo said, revealing her findings over the few days the class was together, "You both were from the same middle school I believe?"

"You noticed that?" Izuku asked, surprised.

"Well, it's a bit hard to miss when Bakugou's stare at you has more intensity than his quirk," 

"Pfft," Izuku laughed. Maybe he got used to being glared at by Bakugou but it might be weird and scary for anyone else observing them, "We've had some scuffles, but it's nothing," 

"Mn, maybe U.A. can be a clean slate for you two," Momo said and didn't peruse further. Izuku was clear that he wasn't that interested in talking about it so she diverted it back into the current match.

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(A/N: Longer chapter today. Give me stones, and ggez T1 weeeeeeeeeee!)