Chapter 19: Battle... Again
"Are you ready to go?" Izuku asked Uraraka as he watched her enter the kitchen, bag in hand – a brand new bag from her and Rei's outing over the weekend -, his own bag already slung over his shoulder.
"Yes!" She responded, slinging the bag across her back and joining him at the door to the balcony.
As he slid it open, exposing them to the chilled morning air, intensified as it was this high up, Rei called out at them from her spot in the living room, curled up in front of the tv.
"Have a good day, you two!"
"You too!" Uraraka called back, waving as Izuku shot his sister a small smile.
Once they'd made it onto the balcony, Izuku lowered himself closer to the floor and Uraraka wasted no time climbing up onto his back. As per usual, he had to ignore the crawling sensation that crept up his spine at having someone so close and touching him. Despite this being the routine since Uraraka had started living with him, he still hadn't quite gotten used to it.
Without a word, he took off into the air, angling himself towards Yueii once he was high enough.
After all the excitement on the day of the Foundational Heroics training exercise, both during and after school, everything had finally begun to steady into a pattern. In the mornings, after breakfast and after readying himself for school – which really only consisted of grabbing his bag, seeing as how he was already showered and dressed after being out all night as Oni – he would fly himself and Uraraka to Yueii. Once there, he would sit through a couple hours of boring classes until it was time for Foundational Heroics. And while there hadn't been any more big training exercises since that day, Yagi had been teaming up with Aizawa to begin teaching basic hand-to-hand combat to those that didn't already have experience, while those that did sparred against each other without quirks.
From there, he'd fly the two of them back home, fly back out alone to address any errands he needed to, then return once more to get to work on his analysis, occasionally even chatting with Nezu, depending on the day. After dinner, once the sun fell and everyone was asleep, he would head out as Oni. He'd patrol as he normally would until it was time to meet up with Shadow, then the two of them would rain hell on whatever unlucky Triad asset they decided on, then he'd end the night by lightly patrolling as he made his way back home, where he'd shower, get dressed, and sit down at his computer to work on his analysis until it was time to start it all again.
Aside from having to sit through his classes, it really wasn't too bad. Actually, it was almost enjoyable; he appreciated the structure of a rigid schedule. He was a fan of routine.
And even the classes weren't but so bad. Especially since he'd come up with the idea of taking his analysis with him to Yueii.
It wasn't quite the same as when he sat down at his computer to fulfill requests. When he did that, it was mostly only to think of ways that it could be improved, shore up weaknesses, point out different uses, and augment strengths. It was more training advice than it was true analysis.
But with this, he was looking at it more like he was looking at one of his own. Which meant that he was doing what he normally would, just considerably more in-depth. What's more, is that he was taking the time to break down, to the best of his ability, how the quirk even functioned in the first place. What did it do, specifically, in the user's body in order to work.
For example; his metal claw quirk, the second quirk he ever took. When it was active, his hands held a certain amount of metal in the hollows of his bones. Then when he brought the claws out, the metal focused at the tips of his fingers, extending outwards as blades, and remaining partway fused into his bones, ensuring stability.
'Spectrum' actually caused the rods and cones within his eyes to change and shift to perceive different types of light beyond the normal visible spectrum. Or changed the cornea itself if he were using simple magnification.
This is what he was doing with the quirks he had decided to analyze in class; picking them apart down to their roots. He wrote them all down with paper and pen, at a normal speed so as to not burn through them as he would at his computer. That and so he didn't draw attention during class. Like this, it looked as though he were simply taking notes. And so long as he payed any amount of attention to whatever was being taught, it was enough to answer any questions.
It didn't take them long to catch sight of the massive Yueii campus. The main building stood out like a shining beacon in the morning light.
The two of them drifted down towards the ground, angling towards the main gate. He made a point of touching down outside of the gate whenever he arrived. He wasn't sure how Nezu's security systems would react to someone flying over the border, or if it would even register him as a student, so he settled for traveling through the gate on the ground to avoid potential issues.
Of course, it seemed like he was going to run into issues either way. As the ground drew closer, he noticed the mob that was crowded around the gate, the noise already reaching them.
'Reporters." He thought to himself with a not small amount of disdain.
Izuku really didn't care much for reporters. The media outlets they worked for usually weren't completely beyond hope, as they could prove somewhat useful in certain situations – every source he looked at after the incident with Stain and Alloy had absolutely thrashed the former hero's reputation in less than a week – but reporters themselves were very rarely anything more than greedy scavengers, searching for the next scrap of information.
As he and Uraraka landed some distance away from the mob, the fluttering of his wings drew the attention of some of them, and they immediately made a bee-line straight at him.
He just sighed when he saw this, before raising himself up a few feet so that he and Uraraka sat well over the reporters' heads.
As soon as the reporters were on them, they were surrounded, and the vultures were shouting questions at them, each one striving to be the first to receive anything.
"Are you two in Yueii's hero course?"
"Is it true that All Might was brought in to teach?"
"Can you tell us what it's like having him as a teacher?"
"Why is she riding on your back? Are you siblings?"
"You were seen talking to All Might over the weekend. Is this because you're in his class?"
"Doesn't flying here break public quirk use laws?"
"Just ignore them." He said over his shoulder. "If you give them anything, then they'll demand more. And they'll twist everything you say until it fits whatever narrative they're pushing."
Izuku moved forwards, looking past the vultures. They all moved out of his way as he did, continuing to hound him from the sides. Obnoxious as they were, they were at least smart enough not to stand in the path of a several-thousand-pound snake.
He faltered, almost freezing entirely, when he felt one of them lay a hand on his tail, too light and remaining there too long to be anything but deliberate. As close as they all were, 'Proximity' wasn't able to give him any advanced notice to the intrusion. Looking down, he saw some random female reporter, almost completely indistinguishable in his eyes from the others crowding him, staring at his tail with curiosity in her eyes while her hand was still there. He fought back the sudden, violent urge to remove the offending appendage and throw her into one of the buildings across the street, choosing instead to pick up the pace towards the gate, his wings shuffling with his agitation.
As he did, his attention was caught by some of his classmates attempting to work their way through the crowd. He saw the floating uniform that revealed Hagakure, the invisible student slipping through the crowd easier than others. Bakugou and Tokoyami were moving through almost together, both of them shrugging off the reporters' attempts with expressions of absolute apathy. He also noticed Eraserhead standing at the gate, keeping the reporters at bay and doing his best to get the students through.
Then there was Iida.
Iida wasn't trying to get through the crowd. He was instead giving some long-winded answer to whatever question he'd been asked, no doubt going on about how much of an honor it was to attend Yueii.
The crowd parted for Izuku as he continued forwards, and he angled himself towards Iida.
"Iida." He called out calmly over the incessant shouted questions, extending a hand towards his classmate. "Take my hand."
Said student paused for a moment, looking over at him, before taking it, confusion clear on his face.
Without another word, Izuku lifted him into the air, over the reporters' heads as he moved.
"It's best not to give them anything, Iida." Izuku said. "They don't deserve anything from you. Especially not when there are plenty of proper channels they could go through to get information, ones that don't involve being desperate assholes that accost students."
That last bit was said a bit louder, intended more for the vultures around him. And maybe it was a bit harsher than it needed to be, but he was still irked that one of them had touched him, and that more of them were brushing up against him now that he was in the larger crowd. These were more unintentional with how tightly packed they were, but it was irritating all the same.
Judging by the reporter's response, they didn't much care for his jab at them.
"Hey! We have a right to know what's going on!"
"We deserve to know what All Might is doing!"
"Give us back the blue-haired one! At least he was answering our questions!"
Once he was finally through the gate, he deposited Iida back on the ground, next to Eraser. He lowered himself back towards the ground right after, allowing Uraraka to hop off.
"I appreciate the assistance, Etsumi!" Iida exclaimed. "But as future heroes, it benefits us to get used to the presence of the media!"
Izuku shrugged. "Maybe. But there'll be plenty of opportunity for that later. Besides, they aren't supposed to be here anyway. I'm pretty sure Nezu has threatened their stations with legal action in the past, but All Might being here must be enough incentive for them to ignore that."
"You're not wrong about that." Eraser cut in. "These parasites get to be beyond logical thinking as soon as anything about All Might is mentioned." He sighed. "Now get to class. I need to keep them out until the police can get here to escort them away."
They all nodded, turning to head down the path towards the main building. They barely made it a few feet when Izuku froze in place.
One of the reporters was being a bit braver, or stupider, than their colleagues. He could feel them moving forwards with 'Proximity.' Straight at the gate that was unofficially known as the 'Yueii Barrier.' The one that would slam shut the moment it detected someone unauthorized trying to pass through.
The one his tail had yet to make it through all the way. Over half of it was still on the other side.
He spun around, muscles tensing as he pulled his tail towards himself. Metal was spreading just under his skin, transforming bone and muscle as he pulled on 'Metallum,' ready to try to withstand the gate.
Just as the reporter was about to reach the point of no return, and Izuku was tensing in anticipation of the blow, Eraserhead seemed to materialize in front of them. The hero extended an arm, hitting them in the center of the chest and shoving them harshly back into the crowd.
The reporter – the same one that had touched him earlier, he noticed – looked up at the hero with shock in her eyes and, much smaller, some amount of triumph.
"What was that for!?" She shouted at him. "You can't just attack us for trying to get answers! We have a right to know!" She huffed as she stood back up. "Who are you, anyway!? You look too scruffy to be a teacher here!"
"First off," Aizawa responded, a surprising amount of fire burning in his eyes, even while the rest of his face remained impassive, "You all are trespassing here. Nezu has warned you all in the past, but you've decided not to listen, and the police are already on their way. Second, I have every right to attack you when your actions put students at risk. There are cameras here at the gate, meaning that Nezu already has your face. If I were you, I'd hope that he doesn't choose to press additional charges."
The hero turned to look at Izuku. "Etsumi, from now on, just land inside the gates. I'll talk to Nezu about it later."
He turned back to the crowd. "Go. Get to class."
Izuku stared at him for a moment with a quirked eyebrow, storing away the knowledge of how protective Eraserhead apparently was over his students, before shooting him a smirk.
"Alright. Much appreciated, Eraserhead."
With that, he turned to continue towards the building, rejoining the other students that had paused at the commotion. He let the metal beneath his skin fade away.
"What was that about?" Uraraka asked as they moved.
"Yueii's main gate has a sort of defense mechanism." Izuku answered. "When the sensors around it notice someone unauthorized attempting to pass through, it has a massive wall that will extend from the top and bottom of the gate, closing it off."
"So with your tail still in the gate, and the woman about to trigger this defense mechanism…" Iida said.
Izuku nodded. "I very easily could've been cut in half, depending on how strong the gate is. And since my quirk changes my biology, that would've cut through several organs that are fairly important to my continued survival."
Uraraka and Iida fell into silence at that, drawn into their own thoughts at the realization that he had apparently been pretty close to receiving a mortal wound.
Really, Izuku wasn't even sure if his meager healing quirk would be enough to keep him alive in that circumstance. His best option would likely be to attempt to deactivate the snake tail quirk to shift back, and hope that Yueii had the capability to keep him alive while he healed.
But whatever. It wasn't like he didn't put himself at risk every time he went out at night. He'd just have to make sure he's careful around the gate in the future, not that it would really be an issue anymore though.
---
Izuku followed the rest of the students out to the training site, everyone having donned their hero costumes.
They'd all gotten settled in the classroom for the last class of the day, only for All Might to arrive and announce that they would be conducting another training exercise, similar to the one on the second day, and ordering them to report to the training site.
They all gathered around All Might, just outside the entrance to the site.
"Welcome back, young students!" All Might greeted. "As I've already said, today you will be taking part in another training exercise. This one will be very similar to the first one, with a few key differences. First among them, you will be fighting outdoors, and with no objective to protect or retrieve."
"Like before, you will be separated into heroes and villains, but this time, the matches will be one villain versus a team of four heroes."
There were a few quiet murmurs from Izuku's classmates, mostly about how they hoped they didn't get stuck as the villain.
Seeing that there were no questions yet, All Might continued.
"The situation for this exercise is this: Heroes have gotten wind of a plan for someone to commit acts of villainy with a city. However, this attack could happen at any second and they have no idea where this villain is located. The heroes will be forming impromptu teams to search the city and subdue the villain before it is too late!"
"The heroes' objective is, of course, to subdue and capture the villain, and to keep damage to the environment as minimal as possible. While the villains' objective is to avoid capture for the duration of the exercise, defeat the heroes, or escape the testing site. And to make things more interesting, there are mannikins scattered across the site, simulating civilians. The villains will be judged positively the more damage they deal to the environment and these mock citizens. At the same time, the heroes will be judged for how much they limit destruction, or how much damage they fail to prevent."
"Sir!" Iida called out, as Izuku had been expecting to happen at some point. "Do these rules not put the heroes at an unfair disadvantage?"
"Precisely, Young Iida!" All Might responded. "This exercise serves to emphasize how unfair real life can be. As heroes, you will be weighed down by the expectations of society. You must constantly be doing your best to save as many as you can, limit destruction as much as possible, and subdue villainy as quickly and efficiently as possible. Villains do not have any of these expectations, and thus automatically have that advantage in any confrontation. You must be ready to act to overturn any situation into your favor. This is part of the reason that the heroes will be acting in groups of four. To balance the scales a bit for the exercise and to give you experience in working in groups."
"Not only is this exercise meant to show the unfairness of heroics," he continued, "but also to help give you a greater understanding of your quirks. You've already learned the basics of their physical limitations with Aizawa's apprehension test, and with the first training exercise you have begun to learn about the damage your quirks can deal to others. Now, with this test, you will begin to understand the destructive potential your quirks hold, which is extremely important for any hero to understand. Take me for instance, with my quirk, I could very easily knock down entire buildings during my fights. It was only after extensive training and experience that I learned to limit myself. Now, not all of you might have a great deal of destructive potential, but it is important nonetheless for you to see what your classmates can do and understand this lesson as much as them."
"Now for the groups!" He said. "We shall be deciding the hero teams the same way we did before. With random lots."
Cutting off any questions about it – Iida was already raising his hand again – he continued. "As for the villains, they have already been selected. They were purposely chosen beforehand because they possess the power, speed, destructive capabilities, or some combination therein to further exacerbate the unfair situation. And to keep things exciting, only I will know who belongs to what team until it is time for you to fight!"
Izuku smiled. Free reign to cause destruction, and a fight against four people at once? He hoped he would be chosen to play the villain; it sounded like such fun.
"To get us started off, we shall have Hagakure, Mineta, Yaoyorozu, and Jiro as the heroes. They will go up against Todoroki as the villain!"
Almost immediately, Izuku heard complaints from Hagakure and Mineta. Jiro looked almost as bothered by the selection, but was keeping silent about it, and Momo looked more thoughtful than anything else, though Izuku could still see some amount of apprehension in her eyes.
"Now then! The time limit is thirty minutes! You may go anywhere, so long as you remain in the confines of the site. The villain has ten minutes to get to where they want and perform any preparations they wish to. Everyone not participating in this round, follow me to the observation room! Due to the nature of the exercise, we will be set up outside of the site!"
Izuku followed the remaining students to a large tent set off to the side of the testing site. At the same time, Todoroki entered through the gates.
He considered the exercise as they all watched Todoroki make his way to the center of the site. Going by All Might's explanation of how the villains were chosen, he and Bakugou would likely end up in that role. Izuku knew the power he'd displayed thus far; It fit all of the criteria. And as far as quirks go, Bakugou had everyone beat in raw destructive power.
That left the fourth villain. No one else quite matched up to combination of power that Izuku, Bakugou, and Todoroki held, but there were other possibilities. Iida and Uraraka were capable in their own rights, as was Momo, but she'd already been chosen as a hero. Other than that, only Tokoyami and Ashido seemed to fit; one with a sentient shadow quirk and the other with acid.
His attention was drawn back to the screens as Todoroki finally made it to the exact center of the site. He stood there with his eyes closed, and extended his right hand out slightly, parallel to the ground. With a slight exhale – visible with the sudden condensation of his breath, a clear sign that the air temperature around him just plummeted – ice began to spread from his foot, creeping outwards in an expanding circle.
Izuku noticed that the ice was spreading much slower than it had been during his fight against him. Maybe it was an attempt to lessen the severity of the drawback, in anticipation for a potentially longer fight.
He suppressed a slight shiver thinking about the bone-deep cold he'd fought through when he'd gone up against Todoroki. Whatever role he would fill in this exercise, he was glad that he wouldn't be fighting Todoroki again just yet. Rei hadn't had much luck yet in locating a cold resistance quirk. There were a few floating around in the hands of civilians, but those were obviously off the table.
Speaking of his sister, it was a shame she wouldn't be able to watch the exercise. She was awake currently, still yet to switch back to her normal sleep schedule, but he hadn't known ahead of time that they would be having this exercise, and his phone was with his uniform back in the locker room. She would probably enjoy watching it, and it always made him feel better; having her voice in his ear when he was in a fight.
Actually… There was one way he could contact her. It was rather simple, and was limiting in the level of communication it allowed, but all he had to do was let her know to connect to the earpiece he already had in.
It was a quirk he hadn't used – hadn't had much reason to – in a little over five years. 'Dinner Bell.'
He pulled it from his chest, feeling it settle once it was active. Once there, he used it, and heard a very distinctive high-pitched noise in his head. It was somewhere between a bell and a triangle; high in pitch and resonating ever so slightly. As he used it, he knew that Rei was hearing the exact same sound in her head.
It was a quirk that – for lack of a better word – linked him to another person. Giving him the ability to set off that noise in his head and theirs from anywhere, at any time. As far as he could tell, there was no range limit. There was, however, a limit on the number of people that could be linked. It only allowed him to link with one other person at a time.
He could only produce that one sound with it, and Rei couldn't make any sound in return, but what he could do was drag the sound out ever so slightly. Meaning that he could talk to her using Morse code. It wasn't much, and obviously didn't allow her to communicate back, but both of them had learned Morse code anyway; it was useful for him to be able to send her messages when he had no other way to communicate, like right now.
He sent two more basic noises through, ensuring that she was paying attention, before he started sending his message through.
[Non-emergency. UA training site E camera.]
He kept it as short as he could, in order to limit how much he was setting off that noise in her head. He also made sure to start it off in that way specifically. In the past, the only reason he would've used that quirk would be if they were separated and he absolutely had to contact her for one reason or another, usually an emergency. He didn't need her panicking.
Izuku waited a minute, before repeating the message. Halfway through it, the earpiece crackled to life, and her voice sounded out.
"Right, right. I got it. I'm here. You can stop with the chime in my head."
He let off one more chime as he halted the message, giving a small smile at her grunted "Fucker."
Faint sounds of her keyboard carried over the connection, and she spoke back up a few moments later.
"Alright. I'm in the cameras. It looks like you're having another exercise, which I'm guessing is why you called. Looks interesting. But if you don't mind, since I'm guessing you can't talk back to me wherever you are, I'm going to wait until you're up to give any sort of commentary. I've got something I want to wrap up before then."
That worked for him, especially since she was correct in that he couldn't speak, so he stayed silent. He focused his attention on the screens. All Might had announced the start of the fight, and the hero team wasted no time in charging in.
---
Todoroki won easily. It was barely even a fight.
In the heroes' defense, they had a fairly well-thought out plan, especially for one formulated on the fly. It just wasn't quite enough to overpower Todoroki.
They'd found him easily enough. Between Jiro's hearing, Hagakure scouting ahead with her invisibility, and the ever-increasing layer of ice on everything around him, they'd located him not long after the start.
From there, they'd separated. Jiro and Hagakure remained on the ground while Momo and Mineta circled around Todoroki to one of the buildings behind him, climbing up to the roof. Using her quirk, Momo created a cannon, pointing down at her opponent, then made use of Mineta's quirk in combination with a net she'd created in order to fashion a special piece of capture equipment. One probably meant to stick to Todoroki and then trap him against the ground.
The plan was even executed almost perfectly. At a signal from Momo, Jiro used her quirk to launch a blast of sound at him. It caught his attention and drew him to counter, and the moment he'd shifted to attack, Momo fired the net at him.
Unfortunately for the heroes, their plan didn't account for whatever training Todoroki had undergone, which had apparently prepared him for sudden attacks to his blind spots.
Despite the sound of the cannon being mostly covered up by Jiro's attack, and the net coming at him from above and behind, the attack that he'd been in the process of launching halted entirely and a small glacier exploded behind him, intercepting the net.
From there, it only continued to go down hill for the heroes. In a mirror of the move he'd used against Izuku, Todoroki froze the building that Momo and Mineta had set up on, immobilizing them to such an extent that All Might had immediately announced them as removed from the fight.
The other two fared only slightly better. Jiro's sonic attacks were managing to break apart the ice being thrown her, while Hagakure attempted to sneak around to ambush Todoroki. He caught her just as she was about to attempt to wrap him in capture tape, freezing her in place. After that, he easily overpowered Jiro once he no longer needed to conserve strength to deal with her other teammates.
---
Once the fight was over, the ice thawed by Todoroki and the heroes carted off to Recovery Girl for any frostbite, All Might announced the next match.
Bakugou as the villain, versus Iida, Aoyama, Satou, and Ojiro.
This fight went even quicker than the first. The heroes charged in with no plan beyond fighting and subduing Bakugou, despite that being the best possible scenario for the explosive teen. At the very least, they did make an attempt to fight together. But even then, they didn't last long. Iida and Ojiro managed to hold their own for a short bit because of their own experience, but Bakugou overpowered them both, walking away with barely a scratch.
The third match was probably the most interesting yet, both in the people selected and in the outcome.
Ashido was chosen as the villain, against Sero, Kouda, Kaminari, and Uraraka.
Just under fifteen minutes into the match, Ashido escaped the site. Her acid allowed her to skate across the site at impressive speeds. What's more, is that because her acid left a very obvious trail, she purposely circled around from the back of the site, occasionally doubling back, leaving the heroes to waste their time following it.
It wasn't until Uraraka, seemingly on a whim, turned back and headed for the main gate that the heroes made any headway. She used her quirk on herself to fly back through the mock city, reaching the gate at the same time as Ashido. She even managed to lay a hand on her opponent to send her floating through the air. But by some amount of luck on Ashido's part, Uraraka only got to her just as she passed through the gate, giving Ashido the victory.
Then, finally, it was Izuku's turn. After the students in the third match had gathered back in the tent, All Might announced the lineup that Izuku had been expecting for the final match.
Izuku as the villain, versus Tsuyu, Tokoyami, Shouji, and Kirishima.
As he entered through the gate to make his way into the site, he heard the earpiece crackle to life once more, and Rei spoke to him.
"You versus four classmates. What're you going to do?"
He hummed to himself as he moved, considering his answer. When he spoke, he did so in a way that would make it sound like he was thinking aloud. Despite Izuku not having a teammate in this exercise, All Might could still communicate with him in order to make announcements, meaning that he could also hear everything that Izuku said.
"I fully intend to turn this into an outright brawl for victory." He said, almost murmuring to himself. "Tsuyu, Kirishima, and Shouji are all primarily close-quarters fighters, albeit with their own unique styles; Tsuyu with agility and the potential to attack at range, Kirishima with his defense, and Shouji with his bulk and extra limbs, not to mention his sensory boost. Tokoyami is the only real unknown. From what I've seen, he's the least physically imposing of the four, but it seems like his quirk is more than enough to make up for it. I won't know his actual capabilities until the fight begins."
"Depending on what they decide to do, I'll want to deal with Tokoyami first, followed by Shouji, Tsuyu, then Kirishima. But then that's only based on how easily they can be overpowered. That'll most likely change when I see what they do."
"Well it's good to see that you have a plan." Rei responded. "Do you think they'll try to be smart about how they come at you?"
"They've seen me fight before in the first exercise, Tsuyu even had a front row seat." He said. "They know I can hold my own in a fight. They'll probably come to the conclusion that their best option is to ambush me in an attempt to subdue me before anything can really start. With how open this area is, I'm guessing that they'll try to circle around me."
He made it to the center of the site, right where Todoroki had been. Crossing his arms, he settled himself, looking off in the direction of the gate. A smile broke out on his face as he sat there, waiting for All Might to call the start of the match.
"I can't wait to see what they try to do."
---
Yagi gulped as he listened to Etsumi's thought process as the student made his way to wherever in the site he was headed. He'd known before how smart Etsumi was, and he very recently learned just how strong he was, but until this very moment, Yagi had not considered how terrifying those two attributes were when they were combined.
As the timer on the screen counted down to the start of the match – only about two minutes left –, Yagi saw Etsumi's smile take on a darker edge. He couldn't quite describe it, but the sight gave him a slight chill down his spine. Then he heard the boy speak.
"Villains are judged on how much destruction they caused, right? I know that-that was probably meant to include things like cars and the mannikins, but I wonder just how overboard I should go with that?"
Yagi gulped again, but stayed silent. He had no idea what Etsumi was planning, but the heroes had yet to enter the site, and one of the goals of this exercise was to give them an understanding of what their quirks could do in an urban environment.
Suddenly, Etsumi raised a fist in front of him, seeming to flex the arm. A few moments later he abruptly turned to his side and threw the fist forwards, the action blurring out of view for a split second. The resultant shockwave that exploded outwards was reminiscent of Yagi's own attacks. It struck one of the buildings, and he watched in shock as massive chunk of the structure collapsed in on itself, bringing the rest of it down soon after.
"What the fuck!?" One of the other students shouted from behind Yagi – Kaminari, if he wasn't mistaken –, clearly surprised by the show of strength. "Why the heck is he so strong!? He literally just knocked down a building! He didn't even fucking touch it!"
Yagi found himself agreeing with the sentiment, though not so much with the language used. Etsumi was full of surprises, from his identity as Deku to his mysterious strength. He was once again struck with slight disappointment that Etsumi had refused his offer of One for All.
He tensed ever so slightly when he saw Etsumi about to throw another punch, eyes trained on a different building.
---
"Are you done?" Rei asked in his ear, her voice some strange combination of amused and exasperated.
Izuku smiled as he looked around him, admiring the damage he'd caused, or at least as much as he could with all the dust in the air. It wasn't too bad – the buildings were fairly small after all – but he couldn't see much farther than the clearing he'd settled in.
He'd knocked down five of the mock buildings before All Might finally announced the start of the match and he decided not to go any further lest his opponents be put at risk. He hadn't realized before how satisfying it was to not limit his strength and just cut loose like that.
Whenever he went out as Oni, he always had to be careful with the criminals he fought. Though he didn't show them any mercy, it was a balancing act to keep the force behind each one of his attacks right on the edge of being too much. It was nice to be able to experience something like this, however briefly.
"Yes. I think that'll do quite nicely." He responded. "And who knows, maybe with the dust they'll be more confident in their planning."
He blinked, switching over to thermal to be able to see through the dust. His grin widened when he caught sight of a single oddly shaped limb sticking out from around the corner of a building some distance in front of him. He couldn't quite make out if it had an ear or an eye in place of a hand, but either way, it meant that Shouji knew where he was.
He pretended not to notice as the four heroes made their way around the clearing, moving behind buildings to stay out of view as much as possible. It seemed like he wouldn't have to wait long for things to get started.
"Heads up." Rei announced a minute later. "They're now directly behind you. They're standing there watching you, it looks like they're coming up with a plan."
"Wait. Scratch that. They already have one. The big one is picking up Kirishima and Asui. It looks like he's about to throw them."
Izuku's grin turned feral as he kept his gaze forwards. He cracked his neck, and his wings shifted as he dropped his hands to his sides, flexing them in anticipation.
Time to get started.
---
"He knows they're there." Yagi heard Yaoyorozu from behind him. "He's known the entire time. They're about to walk into a trap."
Looking a bit closer, Yagi noticed what she'd seen. Etsumi's smile had turned into something frightening. He'd gone unnaturally still, his wings shuffling on his back and his hands clenching into fists and opening again were the only signs of movement. His entire body seemed to have tensed, ready to leap into action at a moment's notice, and that notice would be coming soon.
The fight would begin any second now.
---
The world around Izuku had gone silent as he focused solely on the four opponents behind him. His heartbeat was about the only thing he was hearing.
He felt the exact instant the heroes launched their plan. Right when Shouji started throwing his teammates. He knew even before Rei announced it to him. It wasn't even anything tangible that informed him, simply instincts that told him something was happening.
The moment the first opponent crossed 'Proximity's border, he reacted. Judging by the size of the person, Shouji had thrown Tsuyu first. Once she reached him, he had three seconds, max, until Kirishima would follow. And then another eight until Tokoyami, assuming he would be thrown as well.
Spinning around, he launched himself in their direction, aiming for Tsuyu first. He savored the surprise that appeared across her face in the split second before he reached her. His hand flashed out, closing around her neck. Following with her momentum so as to not snap her neck, he threw her behind him and up into the air, sending her in the same direction she'd been heading, just much higher than she intended.
As soon as she left his grip, Kirishima came sailing through the air at him. He was glad to see that the teen had already hardened himself with his quirk. That meant he didn't need to be nearly as careful.
Ducking beneath the fist that Kirishima attempted to throw when he saw that Izuku wasn't as unsuspecting as they thought, he brought his own fist to Kirishima's side, sending him flying off into one of the buildings he hadn't knocked down.
Keeping up his assault he charged straight at Shouji. The multi-armed student had barely enough time to bring all six up to guard before Izuku was slamming into him, knocking him back into a building.
Being the last one left, Tokoyami had more time to react to the sudden change in plans. Izuku caught the shadowy hands of Tokoyami's quirk when it rushed him, grappling with the beast as it roared at him. His smile remained in place as he pushed the quirk back; he was ecstatic. In terms of raw strength, Tokoyami's quirk more than matched up to most of the muscle brained, enhanced-strength brutes he'd encountered as Oni. It was a wonderful defiance of physics, as shadows had no reason to be tangible – though Shadow's… shadows were just as tangible at times so maybe he shouldn't be so surprised ��� and because it was exerting strength that Tokoyami didn't seem capable of providing a base for. With as hard as the quirk was resisting Izuku, Tokoyami would need to be just as strong in order to not immediately be pushed back, yet he wasn't.
"You are so very fascinating." Izuku said to the quirk, who's face was just inches away from his own. "I would love to study you up close at some point."
It faltered slightly at his words, losing its focus. Izuku took the opportunity to throw its hands to either side, before throwing a punch directly to the side of its head, hard enough to send it screaming as it retreated back within Tokoyami.
With the threat dealt with, Izuku approached the bird-headed student.
"Unless you have another meaningful way to fight back," he said, "I'm just going to wrap you in the capture tape. I've no interest in causing undue damage to an opponent that can't properly defend themselves."
Tokoyami just huffed, before holding his hands up towards him, wrists together.
A moment later, All Might announced Tokoyami's removal from the fight.
At the same time, Shouji charged at him through a particularly dense cloud of dust. Izuku barely reacted, catching one of the thrown fists in his hand and tossing him off to the side again.
"You know." He said to Tokoyami. "You'd benefit quite a bit from learning martial arts, beyond what All Might and Aizawa have been teaching us. It would give you a way to fight back in situations like this."
Tokoyami nodded at him. "Perhaps. I have been considering it since the sparring matches on the first day. I've realized that I rely too heavily on Dark Shadow alone."
At least he knew that he was too reliant on his quirk. It was good to hear some self-awareness.
"I'm not too clear on how your quirk functions, but you might want to consider having Dark Shadow wrap around your body like a suit of armor, assuming that's even possible. It would augment your offensive and defensive capabilities all at once."
He turned away at that, leaving Tokoyami with a surprised expression, or at least as surprised as one could look with an avian head.
"Somehow I'm not at all surprised that you would give someone advice on how to improve themselves in the middle of a fight." Rei said in his head. "Oh. Also, look out."
Once again, Shouji came charging at him, this time with Kirishima coming from the opposite side.
Izuku sighed. "How many times are you going to repeat the same thing before you realize it won't work?"
He reached out and caught Kirishima's fist, before yanking him right into Shouji's path. The two collided, the larger teen unlucky enough to hit his head on Kirishima's hardened body, dropping unconscious immediately. Still holding onto Kirishima, Izuku pulled him closer, planting a fist into his hardened head. He dropped to the ground an instant later just as Shouji had, his rock-like skin already fading away. All Might announced that they were out a moment later.
"That just leaves Tsuyu." He said to no one in particular, turning to look in the direction he'd thrown her.
"Above you." Rei warned.
Sure enough, he felt her enter 'Proximity's range almost directly above him. Judging by the angle, she must've jumped at him from one of the buildings. It wasn't much better than what the other two had done, but at least she was doing it from an unexpected angle. And had she timed it just a bit better, she would've caught him while he was still dealing with them.
Looking up at her, he pulled on 'Quick Thinker,' slowing the world around him to a crawl. As she came down at him, a leg already extended to strike at him – the top of his shoulder most likely – he shifted to the side, moving out of her path. Pulling out the capture tape, he wrapped it around her ankle as it passed right next to his head.
He released his hold on the quirk, letting the world speed back up. Despite how close she'd been to the ground when he moved, Tsuyu reacted immediately to the changed landing zone. She twisted in air in the instant before she landed, putting her legs back beneath her, letting them absorb the force of the impact.
"Asui has been captured!" All might announced. "Etsumi wins!"
"Nice try." He said to Tsuyu as she stood back up. "Had you been just a little quicker, you could've landed a pretty solid hit while I was dealing with Shouji and Kirishima."
"I tried, kero." She responded. "I misjudged how long it would take to fall."
He shrugged. "Either way, it was a good attempt."
Looking down at the two fallen students, he sighed. "I suppose I should at least carry them to Recovery Girl. I am the one that put them there after all."
---
Yagi felt sweat running down his back as the match came to an end. Holy shit the kid was scary.
The fight between Etsumi and Todoroki the week before had been an impressive display of strength, but this was something else entirely. This was applying skill to that strength.
He'd timed it; in less than two minutes from the point that the heroes had launched their attack, Izuku had completely taken them out. The way he moved and how he reacted spoke of years of experience in fighting, the type Yagi had really only ever seen in heroes. Maybe it had something to do with Etsumi being Deku, or with how smart he was in general, but he had no doubts whatsoever that Estumi was a force to be reckoned with.
He wasn't sure if he should be frightened or excited for how the kid would turn out after three years at Yueii.
Turning his attention back to the screen, he saw Etsumi sling the unconscious forms of Shouji and Kirishima over his shoulders. A smile crept onto Yagi's face as he watched Etsumi chat with Asui and Tokoyami as they moved towards the gate.
For now, he'd go with excited.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone