Chapter 16
The next day, they had normal classes in the morning. It was weird to have regular subjects like Science and History taught by heroes. After lunch was going to be the best part of the day, however. Hero Training.
“I AM HERE... COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!” All Might said as he slid into the classroom and struck a superhero pose.
“That wasn't normal, was it?” Tanya whispered to Izuku, who chuckled and shook his head. “Now we know why the door is so big.”
Izuku nodded and All Might gave a little explanation about the hero training today and it was called Battle Trials. The other students asked a bunch of questions, clearly flustering All Might.
“We'll learn about it when we get to the training facility.” Izuku said and cut everyone off.
All Might gave him a big thumbs up. “That's right, Young Midoria!” He said and looked at the other students. “Grab your hero outfits and head onto the bus!”
“They're ready?” Uraraka asked as she jumped up from her seat.
All Might waved at the side of the room and eighteen of the twenty drawers opened up. “Some of them were a bit of a challenge to get right; but, they are all complete to your specifications.”
“YAY!” Uraraka and the pink skinned girl named Mina shouted together.
“Why is there only eighteen?” Iida asked as he took the large metal case that had his hero costume inside.
“We already have ours.” Tanya said and took hers out from under her desk. It was a much different shape than the rectangular cases the others had, because of her rifle and the small backpack that provided constant air pressure.
“We are going to kick ass again today.” Izuku said as he stood with his own case.
“No doubt.” Tanya said and they walked out of the classroom with the other students. They were soon on the bus and were getting out at the same training facility that they had their entrance exam in. “Yes, definitely more ass-kicking today.”
“I wouldn't be too sure of that. We might be in the same place but we won't be doing the same thing.” All Might said, a little cryptically. “Everyone! Get changed and meet back here in ten minutes.”
The students did just that and came out of the locker rooms in their full hero costumes. Some looked like they were just wearing normal clothes, just in a different and more versatile style, while others looked completely different. Izuku and Tanya had been the first back and they turned to look at everyone.
“Tanya, forgive me in advance for this.” Izuku whispered to her as his eyes locked onto Uraraka.
Tanya chuckled at him. “Only if you forgive her for staring at you in the shower after the exam.”
“Wh-what?” Izuku asked as his head whipped around to stare at his best friend, clearly shocked.
“Here she comes.” Tanya whispered and turned his head back to face the brown-haired girl.
Izuku wasn't sure he wanted to tease the girl now, and sighed mentally. He was committed to it and let out a wolf-whistle of appreciation. “Uraraka! Woooow!” He said and winced internally.
Uraraka's face flushed to a deep red and walked over to them. “I... um... wasn't quite specific enough and... well...”
“Spandex fits very well, doesn't it?” Tanya asked as her hand reached out and she ran it down Izuku's chest to his abdomen.
Uraraka's eyes followed her hand and her eyes widened as that hand reached Izuku's belt. She let out a little 'eep' sound when it looked to be going down farther. She looked back up at his face and saw that he was blushing, too.
“Mine's great!” Mina, the pink skinned girl said and walked over to them. “It's exactly what I wanted!”
They looked at her and she turned around for them to show off her purple spandex outfit that fit her like a glove. It left nothing to the imagination and she turned back to grin at their surprised faces.
“Yep! That's the look I was going for!” Mina said, happily.
“Okay. Wow.” Uraraka whispered. “I don't feel so bad about mine now.”
Izuku swallowed audibly and nodded. “You both look v-very n-nice.” He said, his voice cracking.
Mina laughed and hopped up towards him with her arms out. Izuku reached automatically and caught her at the same time. She grinned at him only grabbing her by the waist and planted a kiss on his cheek, which startled him.
“You can put me down now.” Mina said and Izuku did so. “Tanya, you're so lucky!”
Tanya had watched the whole interaction and she appreciated that Izuku hadn't grabbed the girl's ass, even though he had just seen all of it jiggling in front of him. She nodded to Mina and the girl grinned.
“I see everyone is here.” All Might said as he came out of the observation booth. “Come inside and I'll tell you what's going to happen.”
The students followed him inside and he told them about the mock battles they would be having against their fellow students. They would be broken up into two person teams and lots would be drawn to match them up. They could be heroes or villains and wouldn't know which until the lots were drawn.
“The first pair of heroes are Izuku Midoria and Tanya DeGraff.” All Might said and looked at his hand. “Huh. I could have sworn I put Tanya's name in the other bag.”
Tanya gave Izuku a pointed look and he nodded slightly.
The other pairings didn't really matter, because they all thought whoever went up against the power couple, they were going to lose. The first match was Momo and Mina as heroes versus Todoroki and Kirishima as villains. It was over in seconds as Todoroki unleashed his ice blizzard and covered the entire building except for the room he and Kirishima were in.
“Wh-wh-what a w-w-waste.” Mina said as she shivered from the cold and Momo bent down and used an ice hammer she made to chip Mina's feet out of the thick ice covering her boots. “Wh-why bother p-p-playing if you're g-g-going to d-do th-that?”
“That's my thought exactly.” All Might said. “Todoroki, you were supposed to coordinate with your partner and devise a strategy to...”
“It worked. I won in three seconds and I used my quirk to the best of my ability.” Todoroki said. “Mr. Aizawa said to never hold back. Why are you complaining?”
All Might sighed. “Because none of you actually learned anything. This was an exercise in planning, coordination, and teamwork to achieve a goal. We have to use another building now because of your ice barrage.”
“It's a good thing you have hundreds of them practically next to each other.” Todoroki said.
“You don't have to be such a jerk about it.” Uraraka said with her arms crossed under her chest. That just happened to push her breasts up even more than the spandex normally did and it was a distraction to a lot of the guys.
“I got in on a recommendation and didn't have to do the practical exam.” Todoroki responded and ignored Uraraka's blatant distraction attempt. “I think I deserve the MVP slot.”
“I th-think you d-deserve a kick in the b-butt!” Mina said, still shivering.
Momo sighed and stood as she finally got the girl free from the block of ice she was in. “I had a recommendation as well.”
Izuku looked at Tanya and she shook her head only enough for him to see it.
“You weren't the only students here to be recommended.” All Might said and Tanya gave him a glare to shut him up. He sweated slightly at the intense look and then smiled. “Two others in Class 1-B also got in with recommendations.”
“We've met. They are terrible choices for candidates.” Todoroki said and leaned against the wall. “The girl can divide herself into multiple pieces that fly around, which is of limited use. The guy... uh... he makes things soft.”
“Wait, what?” Tanya asked. “What do you mean?”
“He makes anything he touches, or an area, softer. The ground becomes like sand, metal becomes like sponge, etcetera etcetera.”
“That's it? That's all he can do?” Tanya asked, anger filling her.
“Tanya.” Izuku whispered.
“NO!” Tanya asked and her body started to glow as her eyes changed to gold. “I lost my recommended spot and some idiot with a quirk that is only good for rescues, gets in without having to do the entrance exam to prove he is hero material? How stupid is that?!?”
All of the other students were shocked by her words and now by her hissing anger that was lighting up the room.
“Unfortunately, that's out of your control.” All Might said.
Izuku took Tanya's hands. “Hey.” He whispered for her ears only. “Sweetheart.”
Tanya caught her breath and her angry gold eyes snapped to his. “Izuku! There were dozens of students at the exam that had great quirks and they didn't get in! Any of them deserved that recommendation!”
Izuku lifted her hands to put them on his shoulders, then he stepped close and put his arms around her. “You deserved it and they took it from you.” He said and bent his head slightly to kiss her cheek. “You know the people in charge are all idiots. You can't blame them for more bad decisions.”
Tanya held her anger for only a few moments more, then the glow faded from around her and her eyes went back to their normal ice blue. “Yes, I can. I can also hold them responsible.”
“Well, we can find out who's next on the list. If they are hero material...” Izuku's words trailed off.
“You will not hurt or maim another student to bring someone else in.” All Might said, his voice stern.
“It just warms my heart that that was the very first thing you assumed I would do.” Tanya said and glared at him. “Thank you for the vote of confidence, Mister All Might, Symbol of Peace, sir.”
All Might visibly flinched and Tanya's face showed part of her manic smile.
“You had a recommendation?” Momo asked. She was a tall black-haired young woman that wore a very revealing costume that was like a red one piece bathing suit with most of the front removed. She also had a thick belt of pouches around her waist and a thick chemistry book strapped to her back.
“I had it since I was five and passed the expert flying course for the military.” Tanya said and the other students kept staring at her, their eyes wide.
“E-e-expert?” Momo asked, shocked. “No one passes that course! It's rumoured to be impossible!”
“I've flown through worse.” Tanya said with a shrug. “They had me to do it twice, the second time slower, just so they could see me doing it.”
“At five years old.” Momo said, her voice barely a whisper.
“I wanted to do it before then; but, they said they couldn't make a flight suit that small.” Tanya said.
The room was completely quiet after that revelation.
“Now I see why you didn't want it revealed. You didn't want them fawning over you as much as I do.” Izuku whispered in her ear, which made her laugh softly.
All Might coughed loudly to get everyone's attention. “On to the next match-up!” He said and drew two balls. “Team A as the heroes and Team D as the villains.”
“We forfeit.” Uraraka and Iida said at the same time.
All Might sighed. “You can't forfeit. I already explained that this is a team building exercise.”
“We're the villains, right?” Uraraka asked and he nodded. “Then we surrender to the heroes! Arrest us!”
A few of the other students laughed, some uncomfortably.
“You need to wait for the actual event to start before you can do that.” All Might said with a sigh. “You have five minutes to prepare your defense and the heroes will be coming for you.”
Uraraka looked at Iida. “This is going to be quick, no matter what we do.”
“At least all of our speeds are reduced in enclosed spaces.” Iida said and followed Uraraka out of the monitor room.
“Do we follow and decimate them?” Izuku asked.
“I think we would insult them if we didn't go all out.” Tanya said.
“I agree. Let's kick their butts in the most humane way possible.”
Tanya nodded and they left the monitor room as well.
“I can't wait to see what they do!” Mina said, excitedly.
“It's going to be unexpected.” Bakugo said and stared at the monitor. “I just know it.”
“How?” Kirishima asked.
“I used to bully Izuku when we were kids because I thought he was quirkless.” Bakugo admitted and a few of the others stared at him like he was a bug. “Then Tanya showed up in our class five years ago, taught me a lesson about illegal quirk usage by not using her quirk to defeat me while I tried to use mine, and I went to psychotherapy for two years.”
That made the glares change to looks of understanding.
“It took me that long to realize I hated that I was given free reign. No one tried to give me rules to follow or disciplined me when I did bad things, like bullying others and using my quirk all the time, and it was all because of my powerful quirk and they didn't want to get on my bad side.” Bakugo said. “I also learned that Izuku had an unrivalled analytical mind and Tanya had a tactical one. Combined, no one can touch them, either mentally or academically.”
“You have come a long way, Young Bakugo.” All Might said and lightly touched the boy's shoulder.
“I'm going to go further.” Bakugo said and lifted his head, proudly. “I'm going to be a great hero. Not necessarily number one, because that can change every year and I'll always have a chance to take that spot.”
“That is a great attitude, young man. Good for you.” All Might said. “Let's watch the round, even if it's going to be quick.”
“It will be. They never take mercy on anyone.” Bakugo said and looked at the large monitor. “Never.”