Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1: Akira Kurusu:Origin

I watch as her broken body falls to the floor.

The rage eats away at my body, until it feels as if I’m being torn apart from the inside. 

And then, I am torn apart from the inside. The coat that surrounds my borrowed body is torn apart as my old form gives way to a new one. An ear splitting screech of agony fills my ears, and only after it ends do I realize it came from me.

But I don’t care.

The pain means nothing, not when the power I now feel means I have the chance to take revenge. Yes, Revenge on the ones that hurt her.

The ones that hurt me.

Thou art I

Yes…

I am thou

Grant me your power.

From the sea of thy soul I cometh

No more “what ifs”!

I am #$%@#!@% and my power is yours!

“Hey, Kurusu, wake up!”

A piece of chalk impacts my face like a bullet, and with a startled yelp I refocus my attention towards my teacher’s inquiry.

“Sorry Uchimura-sensei, what was the question?”

Uchimura scowls, but answers anyway,”Tell me what the Devil’s Dictionary defines as the Hider factor in the progress of the human race.”

This might surprise you, Teach, but I do actually do the assigned reading,”Malefactors, or villains.”

Ushimura’s scowl only grows deeper when I get the question right, but Lavenza’s smile from across the room is the perfect medicine for his foul mood.

Ushimura goes on,”Though in reality, villains only slow down humanity’s progress, which is why we have people like All Might to help keep us on the right track!”

Classic Uchimura, he’s as big a fan of All Might as anyone, almost makes him seem human, rather than an angry demon in a skin suit.

*RING* *RING* *RING*

“I’m really surprised you got that one ‘Kira.” Lavenza said to me with her mouth full of cookie.

I feigned a pained look and spoke in a faux-posh tone,”How could you say that to me my dear Lavenza? Your words wound me more than any weapon ever could!”

She giggled and spoke again,”Yur’ so weird ‘Kira.”

I glared at her a bit,”Stop talking with your mouth full.”

She swallowed and giggled again,”C’mon Akira, you’re not my mom.”

I chuckled,”And I’m glad too, having to put up with your antics all day would probably make me go insane.”

She shot me a sly smile,”Aww c’mon, you love me.”

I put my hand on her head,”Correct.”

“C’mon Deku! If you wanna be a hero so bad, take it back, take me out! C’mon already you quirkless wannabe!”

My smile turns to a Scowl.

Lavenza gives me a worried look,”You can’t do anything for him Akira, Bakugou’ll just kick you to the curb,and you’ll end up getting punished for it. All the teachers and staff have it out for you already! Just a few more months and we’re at UA! Don’t throw it all away now!”

I look to the ground and grit my teeth,”If I wanna be a hero I’m not gonna let a villain like Bakugou hurt someone defenseless!”

I Break away from Lavenza’s side and break into a run, until I hear…”Debilitate.” And hit the floor as all my strength leaves my body.

I groan,”Really Lavenza? Did you just debuff me?!”

She glares down at me,”Better a skinned knee than third degree burns and a criminal record, let’s just go.”

I try to pull myself away from the floor (Unsuccessfully) and growl,”But…”

She pulls me up and my strength returns, A look of concern and pity across her face. I stand up and brush myself off. She takes my hand and locks our fingers together, and a blush comes to my face.

“I understand Akira. You want more than anything to help people, but you just can’t yet. We can’t yet. We made a promise, we promised to become heroes. We’ll keep it, but we also promised to protect each other. That’s why I can’t let you go after him.”

I look towards the ground. I know she’s right. I do, but… It doesn’t matter. I’m not delusional. I know I can’t be All Might. Still though… How can I just stand by? How is that right?

I can’t risk it.

I can’t.

Not now.

I’m sorry…

I feign a smile and speak to her,”Yeah. Okay. Let’s just go to Leblanc.”

Afternoon:

*RINGRINGRING*

“Oh, welcome back, How was school, you two?”

Lavenza and I walk through the door, and Sojiro greets us the same as always. There’s comfort in things staying the same, and Sojiro has always been a great comfort to the both of us.

Lavenza and I are both orphans, and we grew up in the same orphanage. We spent most of our time together, neither of us really bothering to try to make other friends. And then there was a point where I thought I would lose her when she was adopted at age 10. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy for her, but I couldn’t imagine life without her. Luckily, I didn’t have to, Lavenza’s parents, the Narukami’s, had a friend named Sojiro Sakura who was looking to adopt, and they recommended me.So, that was how I came to live with Sojiro. The Narukami’s often had to travel for their job, so Lavenza would spend a lot of time at Leblanc, since she doesn’t like being home alone.

I smile at Sojiro as Lavenza goes to sit in one of the booths,”It was fine enough, nothing special really, what about you?”

“I’m fine, though that one couple came here again…”

I groan,”Four hours for a single cup of coffee huh?”

He lets out a small chuckle,”Every single time… Oh, yeah, I’m heading out, you two are free to stay here and use the equipment to make dinner, just have her home before dark, Akira.”

I nod,”Sure thing boss. See ya tonight.”

He leaves the store and puts on his hat. He's probably heading home for the night, though it's not like him to close early. Maybe he could tell I was uneasy. Eh, it doesn't really matter. I started working on a cup of coffee for myself and a hot chocolate for Lavenza. 

Ever since I moved in with Sojiro, I’ve been working under him as something of an apprentice. He taught me how to make his signature coffee and curry, and I help him out in the cafe sometimes. Over the years, I’ve fallen completely in love with cooking and making coffee. It's relaxing, and the feeling of making a delicious meal is one of the best feelings in the world, and it's even better to have someone to share it with.

Lavenza and I talked about a bunch of random things over our drinks and food, and then I began to walk her home.

It was a bit of a walk to the train station, but on our way there we ran into something.

A villain fight.

Fire dominates my vision as a villain who looks like he’s made of sludge tears up a city block, there’s a huge crowd, and I can spot a few heroes in the midst. I see Backdraft keeping the crowd at bay, but all the other heroes are just… standing there ! Why!? Why aren’t you doing anything!? I stand on the tips of my toes to get a better look at the villain, and trapped within his slimy body is… Bakugou? That certainly explains the fire. He’s probably been firing off explosions  ever since the villain grabbed him. I don’t like Bakugou much, but he's going to die if someone doesn’t do something! Even if he’s a huge dick he doesn’t deserve to die! Why aren’t they moving!?

And then someone does move. Not a hero, no, instead a small quirkless green-haired boy named Izuku Midoriya runs at the villain and throws his backpack at its eyes, blinding it momentarily. But it’s all for nothing, the villain grabs Midoriya as soon as he gets in close, and even now no ones moving!

I’ve let Midoriya down once today, I’ve let myself down today. I will not do it again. Not when the “pillars of our society” stand by and do nothing.

“Fine. I’ll do it myself.”

Lavenza look at me, shocked,”Akira what are you-”

I pull her close,”Sorry about this Lavenza, but I’ve got a promise to keep.”

And our lips meet.

I am thou

Thou art I

From the sea of thy soul I cometh

I am the Pillager of Twilight: Arsene!

I’ve never gotten used to transforming, feeling my limbs elongate and become thinner, to fit Arsene’s unnatural form. Arsene’s wings feel especially strange, having extra bones on my back took a bit to get used to, but they’ve been incredibly helpful, especially now. My wings launch me into the air and towards the Sludge villain. I dive and deliver a heavy punch to the villain’s eye, as he’s staggered, I’m able to pull Midoriya out of the sludge villain's body, since he had only just grabbed him and didn’t have a very strong grip on him. I put Midoriya down behind Backdraft’s barrier. Now, onto Bakugou. Now, I begin to channel icy energy into my palm, and then I release it, freezing the sludge villain's arm, and then Bakugou begins yelling at me,”HEY I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP! I’M FINE ON MY OWN!” I ignore the blonde idiot’s protest and shatter the villain's arm with a physical blast. The villain swings his arm at me, and I barely dodge it before counterattacking with another physical blast “YOU DAMN BRAT! I’LL KILL YOU!” 

I let out a chilling laugh at the villain’s half-assed threat,”Do you truly think you can? Last time I checked, you’ve yet to land a hit on me!”

Damn, I’m running out of time, and I’ve barely hurt him. I can’t just freeze his entire body without killing both the villain and Bakugou, Someone help!

And then a booming voice announces,”FEAR NOT CITIZENS, FOR I AM HERE!”

All Might himself stares down the villain and winds up a punch… but I’m still in the way.

Oh no.

“DETROIT SMASHHHHHH!”

A giant wave of wind pressure scatters the villain’s body all over the terrain, and sends me flying, but I’m able to stabilize myself and float back to the ground, and once I’m safely on the ground I release my transformation and return to normal.

There’s a split-second of silence before the crowd begins cheering, a cacophony of: ALL MIGHT! ALL MIGHT! ALL MIGHT! Lavenza rushes through the crowd and up to me, and she has a rather terrifying look on her face, I’ve barely braced myself when *SMACK*. 

Lavenza shouts at me,”ARE YOU STUPID!? YOU COULD’VE DIED YOU IDIOT! YOU’RE LUCKY ALL MIGHT SHOWED UP YOU-”

“Lavenza…”

“I was so fucking worried about you Akira, if you’re gonna do something stupid at least let me know first!”

She shakes her head and pulls me into a hug,”Now we need to make sure you don’t go to jail.”

Oh yeah, that.

Instead of jail time, all the heroes at the scene praise me and Bakugou for our quirks, while they scold Midoriya for jumping in without one. I should really talk to him later. For now, I take Lavenza home, and she explains how stupid I am for the entire walk to her house. It might’ve hurt coming from Someone else, but I know she only says it because she’s scared for me. The walk back to Leblanc is a bit of a long one, and I’m dreading what Sojiro has to say about this, because I’m sure he’s seen the news, after all it's running in the cafe all day. And suddenly there’s a blur, and All Might stands in front of me.

I let out a nervous chuckle,”So, am I going to jail now?”

Chapter Text

Chapter 2:Start Line

10 Months Later:

“So, are you ready, Young Kurusu?”

The end of my training. 10 months of absolute hell. And now, for what I’ve been waiting for. I can hear the waves crashing as my heart pounds in my ears, sweat runs down my strengthened body. Cleaning this beach has made me at least twice as strong, physically at least. And now… One for All

A triumphant smile comes over my face before I exclaim,”Yes sir!”

All Might laughs before plucking a hair from his head and holding it out,”NOW EAT THIS!”

“Sorry?”

“If you want to inherit my power, you have to ingest some of my DNA and this is the easiest way to do it!”

I mean, ew, but whatever. I take the hair in between my fingers and throw it in my mouth and swallow. I shiver at how gross it feels to swallow a hair. And… I don’t feel any different. And I say that to All Might.

“Well of course you don’t, it’ll take a few hours to kick in, and you’ve still got some time til’ the exam, so for now, clean and rest up. I wish you good luck.”

I close my fist and turn my back to him,”Thank you. For everything. I’ll make you proud.”

All Might’s smile grows wider and he lets out another laugh,”I know you will.”

*RING*

I walk into Leblanc and Sojiro takes one look at me before sending me to the shower, after I’m clean I walk back out and he has something to say to me.

“Today's the day huh?”

“Yeah.”

“You ready?”

“Without a doubt. I’ve been waiting for this day for years.”

Sojiro smirks and ruffles my hair,”I’ll be rooting for you.”

I begin to walk out the door and say before I open it,”I’ll make you proud.”

_________

“You already have.”

_________

The grand gates of UA tower up above me. I stand there and look up in awe, until Lavenza tackles me into an attack hug. After I recover from the attempt on my life, Lavenza asks a question,”So, did he give it to you?”

My smile grows wide and I respond,”That’s right.”

Lavenza hops up and down a few times in happiness,”That’s great! Do you feel anything yet? Are you super strong now, are you-”

I put my hand over her mouth quickly and her muffled voice tries its best to escape my hand’s seal,”Hey, Lavenza? Maybe you shouldn’t shout about that right now?”

She moves my hand off her mouth,”Uh, yeah. You’re probably right. Anyway, let's go!”

And so we do.

Walking through the halls of UA is surreal, even if it's just to take the entrance exam. First we’ll take the written exam, a simple aptitude test about various subjects. I'm sure neither of us will have any problem with it, since we’d both studied for months prior. Second, we take the practical, and while we don’t know the specifics of it, it's likely to be a mock battle of sorts. That was a cause of concern initially, since Lavenza and I need each other for our quirk to work. After sending an email to UA regarding our problem, the principal himself explained to me that in our special circumstance, we would be graded together so long as we’re side-by-side for the majority of the exam, though this didn’t extend to the written exam.

Once we were seated in the exam room, our test proctor (Present Mic himself!) gave us the usual instructions: an hour of testing time, then a short break, and then another hour. Plus the usual: “Don’t cheat” thing. The first part of the exam went mostly smoothly, most answers came to me easily, and I was only stumped on a few questions. I actually ended up finishing about ten minutes early, so I had time to check over my answers, and by the time when we turned our papers in, I was confident that I did well.

During the break, Lavenza and I talked about the test, sharing our feeling about our performance, and the general consensus was that we did pretty good, at least on part 1. I was sure part 2 would be more difficult. A few minutes later, we were called back in to begin the second part of the test.

I ended up being correct in my assumption of the second part being harder, as it was an essay. My topic was on the history of quirks, so at the very least I had plenty of material to work with. After choosing what information I wanted to use, the rest of the essay was smooth sailing, and I finished early again, giving me the opportunity to proofread. After fixing a few mistakes, I was confident that it was up to snuff, and turned it in with confidence.

“Wooh, that was rough, eh’ Akira?” Lavenza says while stretching as we walk towards the auditorium. I laugh a bit and pat her head,”Speak for yourself, I did great. What was your essay on?”

She groans and says,”Quirk laws, it was so boring, what about you?”

I nod in understanding,”Ugh, I feel for you, mine was on quirk history.”

She groans again,”That would’ve been a bit less boring I guess, but still…”

I say,”Alright, let’s forget about that for now, let's just focus on the practical.”

Her tired frown morphs into a frantic smile,”Right! Let's get moving!”

Once we’re seated in the auditorium, Present Mic explains the rules of the practical exam, he explains that there are 3 types of robots, each one granting 1, 2, or 3 points each. Suddenly, a blue haired boy stands up and calls out to Present Mic,”Excuse me sir. but I have a question!”

Present Mic points out the boy in the crowd and a spotlight shines above him before he continues,”On the printout it lists four types of villains, not three. With all respect, if this is an error on an official UA test material, it is shameful. We expect the best from Japan’s most distinguished school. Also, you with the unkempt hair-” He points to someone behind him who I can’t see,”-Could you please stop muttering!?”

I call out to the boy,”You’re making more of a racket than he is man!”

Present Mic then goes on to explain that the fourth villain type is worth zero points, and it's better to just avoid it rather than fighting it. Present Mic then closes out with this,”That’s all I’ve got for you all today, so I’ll sign off with this, make sure to go beyond, plus ultra!”

Lavenza and I are outside of test ground A, I spot Bakugou, looking as angry as usual. Hmm. Competing against him will be a bit troublesome. He’s fast, and strong. 

Guess I’ll just have to be faster and stronger.

A grim look comes over my face, and Lavenza takes notice,”Lavenza, right out of the gate, I want you to hit me with a heat riser. Can you do that?”
She gives me a nervous look,”I can, but do you really wanna go full throttle right out of the gate?”

I nod,”If we want a prayer of beating people like Bakugou, we need all the power we can get.”

“I understand. Are you ready?”

I smile and clench my fist,”More than you can believe.”

Present Mic calls out to all of us from a tower on the wall surrounding the testing area,”Right let’s start-”

He probably says more, but by the time I hear the word “start” Lavenza and I are already running, she jumps and I catch her, and then our lips meet.

I am thou

Thou art I

From the sea of thy soul I cometh

I am the Pillager of Twilight: Arsene!

With Lavenza now holding on to my back I leap into the air and begin to fly with Arsene’s wings. I feel the rush of power from Lavenza’s heat riser, and I feel her grip weaken. My words come out in Arsene’s grand voice,”Are you alright, Lavenza?”

She responds, strained,”Yeah, just give me a second, buffs take a lot more out of me than debuffs.”

I nod before responding,”I know, and that heat riser should be plenty, just get some rest for now.”

She responds sleepily,”Right.”

As I round a corner, a one pointer targets me and raises its gatling gun, but it doesn’t have a chance to fire before it's turned into slag by an eiha. That’s one, I think to myself, just keep moving. Next, I run into two 3 pointers, and blow them apart with a vajra blast easily. I take a few hits from the faux-villains every now and then, but Lavenza’s quick to heal me up with a dia or two. I catch a glimpse of Bakugou every now and then, and he shreds the bots even faster than I anticipated. I might’ve found some admiration for that, if he wasn’t a total dick.

_________

Principal Nezu sits in a dark room with several other teachers and speaks out to all of them.”Currently the examinees have no idea how many villains are present, or their locations. They have limited time, must cover a large amount of land, and must hunt down every target. Many interesting strategies are at play, some use information gathering to best hunt down their targets. Others use speed or raw strength, the most successful students use a combination of all these aspects, and those always score the highest.” Other teachers in the room remark about how promising this group is, mentioning specific students, but Nezu has eyes on 2 students in particular. An interesting case of a quirk shared between two people. The way their abilities worked together to create a perfect harmony was very much a curiosity to Nezu, and he certainly hoped he could help that power mature.

But, they still needed to pass, and more importantly, to survive.

“Majiima, please begin the zero-pointer activation sequence.”

_________

Suddenly, a large rumble sounds over the cityscape as a gigantic robot emerges from the ground. Lavenza exclaims,”That’s the zero pointer!?”

A nervous laugh escapes me, which sounds very strange in Arsene’s bombastic voice,”It would appear that’s the case.”

Many of the examinees simply choose to run, I can’t blame them, in fact I turn to do the same until I hear someone cry,”HELP! SOMEONE HELP!”

My eyes immediately lock on to the source of the voice, a girl with black hair that’s wearing a leather jacket. She’s trapped under some rubble. I swoop down and lift up the debris,”Go quick, I’m gonna take it down.” I say.

The girl thanks me and runs off. As I go to stare down the zero pointer.

Finally, I feel it, One For All coursing within me, begging to be let out.

And who would I be to decline?

I extend Arsene’s wings, and red lighting arcs all over my body.

Lavenza’s voice rings out,”Are you doing it?”

I nod,”Yes! I can feel it!”

She smiles and shouts,”Then give that villain hell!”

The power finds a hope inside the palm of my hand, One For All, FIRE!

A massive beam of energy blasts out of my palm and shreds the zero pointer, metal warps and melts as it crumbles to dust. And once the adrenaline fades, I realise my transformation has reverted, and that my arm hurts like hell.

Lavenza lets out a hysterical laugh and shouts,”THAT WAS SO COOL AKIRA! YOU COMPLETELY DESTROYED THAT THING!”

“Uh Lavenza?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you heal me please?”

It's at this point she notices my sorry excuse for an arm.

“Oh my god! Yep, one second.”

She claps her hands together and heals my arm, which exhausts the last bit of energy she had apparently. She was probably running off of adrenaline like me. She collapses and I catch her before she hits the ground. I hold her bridal-style and walk towards the crowd of people. A minute later a little old lady walks up to the group and points Lavenza out,”Is she hurt?”

I shake my head and respond,”No, she’s just exhausted. She overused her quirk a bit.”

She nods and just tells me that we can leave, and to make sure she gets plenty of rest.

After that, I carry her back to her house and place her in bed, as well as writing a note explaining what happened.

Then, I make my way back to Leblanc.

Sojiro’s there to greet me, and we eat dinner together before I head back to my room. When I flop down on my bed, and there’s a text from Lavenza

Lavenza:Thanks for getting me back home.

Akira:Of course, it's the least I could do.

Lavenza: So, can we meet up tomorrow? Maybe get ice cream? So long as you're paying of course.

I snort before responding.

Akira:Sure, we’ll just go after school.

I put my phone down and the second my head hits my pillow, I’m asleep.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Downtime

I’m running along the beach, searching for him. From afar, we lock eyes, and I started running straight toward him.

He calls out to me,”Young Kurusu! Young Kurusu!” As the skeletal form of All Might waves his arms.

I call back,”All Might!”

We each hold out our arms before we reach each other, and the moment before we embrace…

“TEXASSSSS SMASHHH!”

I punch him right in the side of his face and he falls down onto the sand butt-first.

He rubs his cheek and says,”I deserved that.”

I stand above him, a smug and angry look on my face,”Damn right you did! My arm shattered ! Good thing Lavenza healed me!”

He laughs a bit, which is mildly annoying, but he congratulates me all the same, and after I explain that I had plans, tells me to spend the rest of the day with Lavenza. We hug for real, and I run off to meet her.

I meet her in the center of the mall, where our favorite ice cream place is. She’s wearing a white T-Shirt, blue Jeans, and a pair of heart shaped sunglasses. I’m wearing a simple red t-shirt and black jeans. As I approach her, she dashes forward and pulls me into a hug, and a surprise kiss. I’m blushing furiously by the time she lets go of me, and she smiles deviously. She teases and admonishes me for being late for a good five minutes after that, before finally letting me cool down. After that, we head to get ice cream, I get coffee, she gets chocolate chip. We sit down on the bench outside and lick at our cones. I explain to her that the reason I was late was because All Might wanted to see me, and that I had punched him in the face for not telling me what would happen to my arm. (Which got a huge laugh out of her). After she had finished her ice cream, she rested her head on my shoulder for a bit and closed her eyes. She drifted off not long after, and I let her. Her powers tended to tire her out for several days if she overused them, and with how many heat risers and healing spells she used yesterday, she certainly had.

As her hair blows around in the wind, I just find myself staring at her and stroking her hair. What did I do to deserve an impossibly adorable girlfriend like her?

The world may never know.

*2 Weeks Later*

Sojiro comes bursting through my door with an envelope in hand shouting,”Akira! Akira! It's here!”

I pump my fists in the air,”IT’S HERE!”

I tear open the envelope, and a round metal puck falls out. I poke and prod at it, until suddenly…

“ I AM HERE, as a projection!”

“All Might!? But isn’t this from UA?”

“ Sorry for the wait, but with great power, comes a great amount of paperwork! HA HA HA! Now, I didn’t just come to this city to fight villains, in fact, I’m UA’s newest faculty member!”

“Wait, you’re going to be working at UA!?”

“ HA HA HA! I know you have questions, but this is a pre recorded message! So hold onto em. Now, you’re exam scores were quite high, you scored an 80% on the written exam, as well as 40 villain points on the practical. Congratulations Akira Kurusu, I’m looking forward to seeing you at UA. Now, a representative of UA will visit your home soon, bringing important news. So stay tuned for that! For now Young Kurusu, relax, and celebrate. I’m proud of you.”

And then the message ends.

I run down the stairs shouting to Sojiro,”I GOT IN!”

He shouts back,”YOU GOT IN!”

I’m halfway out the door when I shout,”I’m going to Lavenza’s!”

As the door closes I hear him call back,”Have fun!”

I burst through the front door of her house,”I GOT IN!”

She runs towards me, arms outstretched,”I GOT IN TOO!”

I pull her into a hug and quietly say,”I know, we were scored together.”

She lays her head against my chest,”I know, but I’m still really happy.”

I hug her tighter,”You should be. C’mon, let’s go to Leblanc.”

She smiles up at me,”All right.”

Soon after we arrive and get drinks for the two of us, a ragged looking man in a suit walks through the front door and introduces himself.

“I’m Shouta Aizawa, I’ll be Kurusu’s teacher at UA and- wait-” He points to Lavenza,”Your Lavenza Narukami, aren’t you?”

She nods her head and responds,”Yes, that’s correct.”

Aizawa nods his head,”Good, saves me the trip. I’m here because UA’s introducing a major change this year.”

Sojiro crosses his arms,”What kind of changes?”

Aizawa responds,”From this year and onward, students will be required to live in dorms on campus. Both for the sake of security, and to better facilitate a cohesive learning environment.”

Dorms huh? That’s definitely new, but I’m also definitely looking forward to it. All Sojiro had to do was sign some paperwork. I was worried that Lavenza’d have some problems with her parents out of the country, but as it turns out Sojiro has partial guardianship of her since they’re only home about half the year. After paperwork was collected, Aizawa left. He’s kind of unsettling, can’t say I’m looking forward to having him as my teacher.

Eh, it's whatever. I’m just happy Lavenza and I are in the same class, and even happier we live in the same dorm.

*1 week later*

“Akira.”

I look back over my shoulder,”Yeah Sojiro?”

“Before you go, one last thing.”

He places a suitcase on the counter and opens it. Inside is a tailcoat, white gloves and a white domino mask.

I look up from the suitcase and in to his eyes,”Is this-”

He nods,”It is. It’s probably not as advanced as something UA can make, and I’ll understand if you want something better, but-”

A tear drops down my face,”It’s perfect. Absolutely perfect.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 4: Let’s get going!

“So Akira?”

“Yeah?”

“We both know Bakugou made it into the hero course. Now we just need to pray we aren’t in the same dorm.”

“Yeah. There are two classes, he’s probably in the other one.”

“Definitely.”

…………

“Wow Kurusu, I'm surprised your quirkless ass actually passed the entrance exam." Bakugou sneered.

I glare at him,"I've been telling you for years, I'm not quirkless."

Bakugou rolls his eyes,"Whatever. At least you're not a complete weakling like doll face over there, or *snort* Deku."

Lavenza scowls behind me as Bakugou starts to walk away. Before I knew it my hand was on his shoulder.

"Apologize."

"Or what?"

"Surprise, surprise, Katsuki Bakugou getting in a fight on the first day." 

In my anger, I hadn't noticed the new arrival. Standing with his arms crossed was Izuku Midoriya, though definitely not as I had remembered him. He'd  easily gained a foot ,and he had an incredibly toned but still lean body, though his hair was definitely the same green mess as always.

" Deku?"

"Bakugou."

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I think we both know the answer to this question."

"How the hell did you pass the exam you quirkless wannabe?"

"That's simple, I just used my quirk."

Bakugou lunged as Midoriya said that, but Midoriya dodged effortlessly,"I'm not getting in trouble for fighting on the first day Bakugou."

"Fuck that! I'm kicking your lying ass now!"

"I can promise you that's an awful idea"

As the situation grew more tense and small explosions crackled in Bakugou's hands  a boy with bleached blonde hair steps in between them,"All right, all right, let's calm it down. I'm Ryuji Sakamoto. I can tell you two have a history, and I'm not gonna say you guys should hug it out or anything like that just, just keep the ass-kicking for class, OK? Also if you try anything I'll shock the eff out of both of you."

Bakugou growls but doesn't make a move. I don't know if Sakamoto scares him or what he said makes sense to him, but I'm not gonna worry about that right now.

"Why did he call you that?"

I nearly Jump out of my skin from hearing Midoriya's voice from behind me.

"Oh sorry, I didn't  mean to scare you."

"No, it's alright as long as you weren't trying to. Uh… what did you say?"

"Why did he call you that?"

"Oh, it's like when he calls you Deku. He calls me doll-face because I'm pretty, fragile, mindless, and can't do anything for myself."

"Do you actually believe that?"

"Do you actually believe you're useless?"

"Not one bit."

The satisfied smile on his face told me all I needed to know. I like this new confident, self assured Midoriya, he makes me feel at ease. His demeanor just says,”Everything’ll be okay.” He walks away, presumably to socialize with the other students. I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn to face the person who did it, Akira’s there, a small smile on his face.

“Midoriya huh?” He inquires.

“He’s different.”

“No kidding.”

“I’m happy for him.”

“Me too.”

After my short conversation with Lavenza, the two of us decided to turn in for the night. As I arrived at my door, I ran into Midoriya again who seemed to have the same idea.

“Hey Midoriya.”

“Kurusu.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?” He says with a puzzled look on his face.

“I let Bakugou kick the shit out of you daily. I could’ve stopped him.”

“You don’t have to apologize. You probably could’ve stopped him, yeah, but that doesn’t mean you should’ve.”

“What do you mean? What kind of hero was I to just stand by and let it happen?”

A bitter? Chuckle escapes Midoriya’s lips,”You weren’t a hero then Kurusu. You’re not a hero now. That responsibility never fell to you. I should’ve stood up to him much sooner.”

“Sooner?”

“Did you never wonder why I left Aldera?”

“I mean, I figured you just transferred to avoid Bakugou.”

Midoriya laughs again, resentment clearly shining through this time,”No, I got expelled for standing up to him. The day after you saved me from the slime villain, thanks by the way , He threatened me again, and I broke loose, I punched him in the nose, of course I was still the one getting kicked to the curb, but I was still the one who got expelled.”

“And UA still accepted your application?”

“Nezu fought tooth and nail to have me, he actually wanted to reject Bakugou, because he’d seen what he’d done. but the board shut him down. Apparently a volatile bully has the makings of a popular hero.”

“How did Nezu learn about Bakugou?”

Midoriya laughs again, but happily this time.

“Principal Nezu has access to pretty much every camera in Japan, I’d be more surprised if he hadn’t seen it happen.”

Well that’s disconcerting.

“Anyway Kurusu, I’m going to bed, see you tomorrow.”

I watch as he closes the door to his room. Well, time to go to bed. Actually I think I’ll go see Lavenza first....

A knock comes at my door,”Hello?”

Akira’s voice comes back a bit muffled,”Can I come in for a minute?”

I get out of bed to get the door before noticing my *Ahem* immodest state of dress. My cheeks go red as I quickly throw on a nightshirt and sweatpants.

“Sure thing, I’ll get the door.”

I open the door, he’s wearing sweatpants and one of his old, worn classic anime t-shirts. Cowboy Bebop, a classic we watch all the time.

“What’s up Akira?”

He walks in and closes the door,”Nothing much, just wanted to see you before bed.”

My cheeks go red again. Two can play at this game.

“Oh, why’s that? Huh Akira? Did you want to come sleep with me?”

Surprisingly, he isn’t flustered and comes back twice as hard with,”That sounds wonderful, but I feel like that’s probably against the dorm rules.”

And just like that, I’m wiped out. Is he serious? No, he’s just messing with me, wait what if he isn’t!???”

He lets out a big laugh, and hugs me basically picking me up since he’s like a foot taller than me,”I can see the wheels in your head turning in your head Lavenza, calm down, I’m just teasing.”

Oh thank god

Now time to turn the tables on him again, while our faces are close, I dash in for a kiss, and now he’s the one on fire.

“I win again!” I proudly proclaim

“She-Devil.”

“Aw you love me.”

“That’s true.”

My dreams make no sense. A man with a comically large nose rambles on about how I’m a fool, and that my journey is finally beginning. Maybe I’m just drinking too much coffee.

************

As I walk to the giant door to class 1-A I witness the sight of Iida yelling at Bakugou to get his feet off of the desk in front of him to no avail. Other than that, people are talking animatedly all around the room, in the center of it all is Mina Ashido, who is quite possibly the most loud and excitable person I have ever met. Over in her seat, Kyoka Jiro is covering her ears, her quirk gives her some kind of super hearing, so the loud conversation must be hell for her. I take my seat(Which is next to Midoriya and Sakamoto) and wait for our teacher to arrive.

“If you’re only here to make friends, you can leave now.”

Everyone practically jumps out of their skin as a quiet but authoritative voice shocks the room. Everyone looks around to find the source of the voice, and we all eventually land on the yellow caterpillar on the front wall of the room.

“It took you 8 seconds to stop talking. Do better next time.”
At this point, everyone’s in  a stunned silence,”Alright, you probably already recognize me. I’m Shota Aizawa. I’m your homeroom teacher. Now-” He holds out a red-white-and blue gym uniform,”-Put these on and head outside.”

Aizawa explains that we’ll be doing a quirk assessment test, a brown haired girl named Ochako Uraraka interjects, saying that we’ll miss orientation, but Aizawa shoots her down, saying that it’s just a waste of time.

“Bakugou, you got the most points on the entrance exam. What was your best distance throw with a softball in junior high?”

“About sixty seven meters.”

“Alright, now try it with your quirk. Anything goes, so long as you stay in the circle.”

Bakugou stretches a bit, before throwing the softball and assisting its flight with an explosion.

“705.2 meters!” Aizawa’s phone chirps.

“All of you need to know your maximum abilities. It's the most rational way of determining your potential to be a pro hero.”

A couple people gasp, and Ashido exclaims that,”This’ll be so much fun!”

Which was apparently the wrong thing to say, because Aizawa says that the person who does the worst overall in the various tests will be expelled.

Suddenly, no one’s very excited, except Bakugou. He actually looks way happier than before.

And then we begin, we start with a 50 meter dash. With a quick kiss to Lavenza (And a  confused stare from Aizawa, along with a large amount of blushing from the rest of 1-A)

I am thou

Thou art I

From the sea of thy soul I cometh

I am Arsene! Pillager of twilight!

I transform and take my starting position, I call out to everyone,”Sorry, but I need it for my quirk.”

Aizawa looks more annoyed by this, so I just take off, using Arsene’s wings I cross the 50 meters in…

“4.34 seconds!”

Iida blazes through the dash in 3.04 seconds with his engines, and Uraraka clears it in seven by lightening her clothes and shoes. Lavenza uses a sukukaja to clear it in 3.24 seconds. Midoriya simply blazes by with nothing but pure legwork, making it in 4.56 seconds. Next, we do the grip strength test, Mezo Shoji makes use of his multiple arms and hits 540 kilograms, and Midoriya hits a whopping 250! I use Arsene’s strength to get a cool 200, and Lavenza uses a tarukaja to hit 180.

Next is the standing long jump, which I simply fly over, and Bakugou does the same, one again Midoriya clears the whole pit perfectly. A short guy with purple balls for hair throws a few down and jumps off of them like a trampoline. Lavenza just jumps since none of her buffs would really do anything here and clears about half of the sand pit.

Next is the side steps, Arsene’s body doesn’t really help with anything here, so I just do my best, While Mineta uses balls of his balls to bounce back and forth super fast, clearing it in first place.

And finally, the softball throw. Uraraka uses her quirk to send it into the stratosphere, the number on Aizawa’s phone reading “Infinity” which riles up the class like crazy. Next Midoriya steps up, and in contrast from the previous challenge, green markings show up on his arms that kind of look like circuits, he throws it, and a massive explosion of wind pressure rockets it out of sight.

We wait a minute or 2, and then the phone chirps,”3254.34 meters!”

Wow. That’s a big number.

Lavenza throws it with charge and tarukaja active, sending it over 500 meters.

And finally, it was my turn. I square my shoulders, charge and-

My body returns to normal.

“What the hell?”

“I erased your quirk.”

I look at Aizawa, his hair floating upward and his eyes glowing red.

Midoriya steps forward,”That’s it! Your Eraserhead! You can disable people’s quirks! I knew I recognized you!”

“Erased… My quirk?”

“How do you expect to get anywhere when you always have to rely on someone else? If you can’t function on your own, you're worthless. Now, beat Narukami’s score, or you're going home.”

“But-” Lavenza protests.

“Shut up.” He looks back at me.” Figure it out. Surely you’ve got more than one trick up your sleeve. I’ve seen footage of the entrance exam. You’ve got more than just that transformation. Use it.”

I consider my options, or lack thereof. Either I destroy my arm with One for All, or he expels me. But, if he sees my destroyed arm, he’ll probably do it anyway!

So then… wait!

I flex my hand,”Alright Aizawa-Sensei. Hope you’re not scared of Recovery Girl! Because she’s gonna have some choice words after this!”

Aizawa’s taken aback, but I’ve already begun. I pour One for All into my finger!

“Because I’m not going home!”

I launch the softball with all my might, and after a few seconds,”805.32 meters!”

GOD DAMN THAT HURTS. But I fight through the pain. I hold my broken and bruised finger and show it to Aizawa.

“I’m no one trick pony. And now, I can save 10 people on my own.”

Aizawa shoots back with a manic smile,”Akira Kurusu. You stay. For now.”

Then he returns to normal,”Alright, here's the scores.”

A holographic screen appears in front of us, listing us in order from best to worst. Midoriya dominates in first, which leaves Bakugou seething, and in dead last, is Toru Hagakure. Poor girl.

She would probably look like she was about to burst into tears if she wasn’t invisible.

“Oh also, I wasn’t serious about the whole expulsion thing.”

“WHAT!!!!!!?????”

“It was just a logical deception to make sure you try your best. Pick up a syllabus in the classroom and the rest of the day is yours. You on top, keep it up, you're not hot shit because you passed a test. You still have a lot to learn. And you on the bottom… do better next time.”

We’re left in stunned silence and Lavenza walks up to me,”Want me to heal that?”

“Yes please.”

She kisses me and heals me, leaving me red and no longer in pain.

“I love you so much.”

“I know.” She says.

She then calls out to the rest of the class, ”Does anyone else need healing? My stuff shouldn’t leave you tired out like Recovery Girl’s.”

Mineta raises his hand and asks,”Do I get a kiss too?”

I walk over and put my arm on his shoulder, which is incredibly difficult by the way.

“Mineta.”

“Y-Yes?”

“You know what’ll happen if you say that again right? Or do I need to say it.”

“I understand.”

“Good. I’d hate to have to kill a classmate.”

Authors note: originally Midoriya and Bakugou were gonna fight in the dorms. I was gonna show off Midoriya's powers and it was gonna be awesome. And then I realized it made no sense in the context of the story and scrapped it. Besides, it’ll be better in the battle trial anyway.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: Show em what you're made of!

And so, I survived the first day, and everything’s looking up from there! Most of the class is pretty friendly, and I’m really happy they’re getting along with Lavenza too. Despite UA being a hero school, we still have normal classes like english and math. Those happen in the mornings. We eat lunch in the cafeteria, where Pro-Hero lunch rush makes us food every day. He makes some pretty awesome stuff, I hope I can get a hold of some of his recipes some day. I eat lunch with Midoriya, Iida, Uraraka, and Lavenza of course. We talk over lunch, mostly about our classes and homework. And once lunch is over, we move onto the main event, Foundational Heroics!

We’d all taken our seats, and the excited tension was so thick that no knife on earth could cut it, and all our expectations and dreams were blown out of the water when,”I AM HERE!-”

All Might confidently walks through the door!

“COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”

Everyone’s excited and talking as the number one hero stands in front of us, All Might begins,”Today, what you’ve all been waiting for!”

He holds up a plaque labeled,”Battle!” and goes on,”Today, Combat training! Now-”

He pulls up a remote and the side of the wall slides open to reveal suitcases marked with numbers. Oh hell yeah!

“Put on your costumes and meet me at training ground beta! Now get moving!”

We all get dressed in the changing room, I put on the mask coat and gloves Sojiro gave me and slip a knife into my sleeve where the support company placed a sheath for it. I’m glad they had that Idea, I didn’t want to have to worry about dropping it mid fight! Midoriya has a shirt that hugs his body, showing off his abs and toned muscles. He wears a somewhat loose pair of pants along with it. And to top it off, he has a forest green cloak that comes into segments, one on the top of his torso covering his arms and back, and the other starts at his waist going down to his knees. After everyone’s finished changing, we walk out into the training ground, with All Might proclaiming,”YOU LOOK LIKE HEROES!!” All Might gushes about how awesome we look, then saying,”Now, are you ready to get started? You bunch of newbies!”

Lavenza walks up to me and speaks to me from behind my back,”You look so cool Akira!”

I turn around and woah . She’s wearing this knee length dress, beautiful blue with light armor plating on the chest and arms, white gloves and tights, as well as a hairband with butterflies on it (These are actually throwing weapons). To top it off, she has  two stun batons strapped to her legs. 

I avert my eyes,”You look great too Lavenza.”

She gets up behind me,”Aww, am I too cute for words?”

“I have the right to remain silent, anything I say can and will be used against me like 2 hours from now. But yes. You are adorable.”

She looks satisfied with that.

“Oh yeah, Are you sure you can fight in that?”

“Of course, It’s super comfortable to move in, and my range of motion isn’t affected at all.”

Well, that must have been a serious feat for the support company to accomplish. Now, onto the trial!

The challenge is simple, two teams, one hero, one villain. Each team has two people. The objective of the heroes is to touch a weapon hidden inside of a building by the villains, while said villains simply have to wait out a ten minute time clock. Alternatively, you can win by wrapping your two opponents in capture tape, or making them unable to fight further. The teams would be chosen randomly.

Here they are,

Team A:Izuku Midoriya, Lavenza Narukami.

Team B: Akira Kurusu, Ryuji Sakamoto.

Team C:Katsuki Bakugou, Tenya Iida.

Team D:Tsuyu Asui, Fumikage Tokoyami.

Team E:Ochako Uraraka, Mina Ashido

Team F:Jiro Kyoka, Momo Yaoyorozu.

Team G:Mezo Shoji, Yuga Aoyama

Team H: Minoru Mineta,  Mashirao Ojiro.

Team I:Hanta Sero, Toru Hagakure

Team J:Rikido Sato, Koji Koda.

Team K: Eijiro Kirishima, Shoto Todoroki

“We’ll pick teams by drawing lots!”

Iida raises his hand,”Why would you leave something as important as teams to chance?”

Midoriya steps forward,”It actually makes a lot of sense if you think about it. Pro’s don’t always have a say in who they’re working with. It’s good to start getting used to that early.’

“Precisely, Young Midoriya!”

Iida bows furiously,”I see now! I apologize for my rudeness, please continue.”

All Might does, first up Team A as the villains, vs team C as the heroes.

Oh boy.

Hmm. The first fight, me and Narukami versus Bakugou and Iida. Narukami’s quirk is some kind of enhancer, as well as a healer. I’m sure Bakugou will seek me out to fight, I could use that to my advantage.

“Uh, Midoriya?”

“Narukami. What is it?

“You can just call me Lavenza if you want, most people do. But that’s not what I needed, do you have a plan?”

“I have a bit of one, Lavenza. I have no doubts that Bakugou will seek me out instead of the bomb.I plan to give him the fight he wants. Do you think you could handle Iida? I know you can increase your strength and speed with your quirk.”

She nods before responding,”Its true that I can enhance myself, as well as others, but I can also weaken people too. In fact, I can wipe out people completely so long as I can lay a hand on them.”

“Seriously!?”

She jumps at my exclamation.

“Oh sorry. It's just that that’s an insanely awesome ability! You’d be invaluable in stealth missions. But it might still be difficult with Iida, due to his speed. That is, unless you can get behind him, do you think you could do that?”

“Probably, plus I’ve got weapons as well. Several throwing knives and stun batons. Oh, what’s your quirk?”

I smirk. “Better to show you than tell you.”

Midoriya’s arm’s begin to glow with those green circuits again.

“I am the bone of my sword.”

What the hell was that? I think as two short curved swords appear in his hands, one a beautiful ivory white that reflects the little light in the room, and the other a black sword with a red diagonal cross pattern that swallows it.

“Lavenza.”

He says.

“Meet Kanshou-”

He presents the black sword.

“And Bakuya.”

He hands me the white. The craftsmanship is remarkable. I handed it back to him shortly after.

“These two aren’t too sharp, they’re only designed to give shallow cuts, after all I don’t want to kill one of our classmates. Would you like a pair?”

“What do you mean?”

“Part of my quirk is the ability to create weapons, so long as I understand how they’re made.”

“So you can make as many as you want?”

“Not exactly, I can only make so many of them before I get tired. I think my upper limit was… 15? Per day. But of course, different weapons take different amounts of energy. The larger or more powerful the weapon is, the more energy it takes. Say I was able to copy Excalibur, just creating a weapon of that magnitude once would probably send me into a coma as I am now.”

“In that case, you should save your energy. In case you need to make anything else.”

“Hmm. You’re right. Though there is something else I need to do right now.”

Next, he forms a beautiful silver bow in his hand. 

“Now, BEGIN!”

All Might shouts and Midoriya begins to move,”I’ll find Iida, you deal with Bakugou!”

“Go back here once you’ve taken him out, Lavenza.”

“Sure thing!”

….

…

…

….

Jeez this building is huge, how the hell am I gonna find him!?

I’m sticking to the shadows, even though I’m confident I can beat him, I don’t want to risk Bakugou catching me by surprise. He’s incredibly dangerous if you don’t know he’s coming, and for some people, even if you do know he’s coming. Hmmm. It’s likely Bakugou hasn’t changed his fighting style since junior high, Cocky bastard that he is, he probably would see no reason to. Gotta watch out for that right hook…

Oh there it is.

Bakugou’s fist comes crashing straight towards my face, I dodge to the left and grab his arm, once he’s off balance and sputtering, I slam him down on the ground with all my might. I hear his groan of pain, and I go to tape him down, but almost catch an explosion in my face. Playing dead… surprising coming from you Bakugou.

“Say something you damn nerd! Drop the strong and silent act!”

Fine . I’ll talk.

“I am the bone of my sword.”

Kanshou and Bakuya return to my hands and I slash at Bakugou, only for them both to be shattered with an explosion.

“I am the bone of my sword.”

The swords appear in my hand once more, and Bakugou stumbles in surprise, allowing me to attack with Bakuya and give him a cut on his arm, he recoils slightly, giving me another window, I slash with Kanshou this time, at his leg.

“God damn you!”

Another pair of explosions rips I dodge out of the way and It barely singes my arms, but it destroys my swords again.

“I am the bone of my sword.”

“Stop saying that!”

“What’s wrong Bakugou? Afraid that you’ve finally met your match.”

“DIE!”

I throw Kanshou and Bakuya at him, and he destroys them with yet another explosion.

“I am the bone of my sword.”

Now, a blood red lance rests in my hands. I thrust it at Bakugou to keep my distance, but then he uses explosions to blast himself into the air and behind me, before letting out a massive explosion that I just barely don’t dodge. My back is singed badly, I can’t let this battle last much longer.

“Why are you being so mean, Kacchan? If you don’t leave him alone… I’ll stop you myself!”

“AARRGHH!!!”

I fight through the pain, and shove the Gae Bolg towards Bakugou, and he shatters it like glass, and the burning rage only grows hotter.

“GET THE HELL OFF ME BAKUGOU!”

I catch him off balance from his half dodge from my thrust and punch him with a reinforced fist, blasting him backward.

“I am the bone of my sword!”

Now, my bow comes to my left hand, and a conical sword in the right.

Bakugou recovers quickly and doesn’t give me a chance to draw back my bow, he charges with explosions crackling in his hands and releases a giant blast right in front of my face, that I just barely am able to dodge, even when he rushes me head on and I have every opportunity to escape, he’s just too strong. I’m hoping, praying that Lavenza will show up and back me up, because on my own, I’m only getting weaker.  My legs are tired and screaming in pain, and my back is killing me. 

And my prayers are answered.

Bakugou’s eyes widen as a throwing knife from Lavenza finds its home in his back, which gives me just enough time to execute my final attack.

“I am the bone of my sword.”

I draw back my bow, the sword being stretched and broken as I prepare to fire.

“Unknown to death.”

The sword shines brilliantly with a blue light.

“Nor known to life.”

Bakugou rushes me again, but it's too late.

“So as I pray…”

“DEKU”

“ CALAD-”

“DIEEEEEEEEEE!”

“BOLG!”

Caladbolg, and all its energy are released, leaving Bakugou singed and unconscious.

“Villain team wins!”

Lavenza runs up to me,”We did it!”

“That we did.  How’d you take out Iida?”

“It was easier than I thought, I didn’t even have to sneak up on him. He just announced himself, rushed me, and got kicked to the curb. It was pretty embarrassing actually.”

I laugh a bit at the thought of Iida crumpled on the floor, and then feel kinda bad.

“Well let’s just head back. They’re probably waiting for us.

“So, who’s MVP?”

All Might asks, just after the participants (minus Bakugou) arrive. 

Yaoyorozu raises her hand,”Midoriya. He took this entire exercise completely seriously, and fought with all he had. He also displayed a good degree of versatility, even with all the times Bakugou destroyed his swords.” I blush a bit at her praise, though she’s wrong.

If I was taking this seriously, Bakugou would be dead.

“Oh yeah-” Sakamoto Interjects.

“-What is your quirk Midoriya? At the entrance exam it's like super-strength, and then you can create swords, and then a spear, and then a bow and an ‘effin nuke of an arrow!”

“Oh, I call it infinite armory. So long as I can see a weapon, I can recreate it using the carbs and lipids in my body.. The only problem is that because they’re not made of concrete materials, they’re rather fragile. And I can only make so much because they drain my energy. I can also use my energy to reinforce my body. What that has to do with creating swords, I don’t really know.”

Yaoyorozu gets excited and chimes in,”So it’s kind of like my quirk! But yours seems a lot more efficient, since you can recreate things after just seeing them. But, how did you recreate mythical weapons? I recognized your twin swords as Kanshou and Bakuya, and I recognized the sword you fired as Caladbolg.”

I cast a smile her way,” I’ll tell you when I figure it out myself. For some reason, a few weapons were kinda “Pre Loaded” when I got my quirk. There’s like 20 or more of them that were there when I got my quirk. And I’m glad too, Kanshou and Bakuya feel like they were made for my hands”

I could tell her the whole truth, but I see now reason too. Besides, who would believe that?

All Might starts again,”Okay, next battle! Team B versus… team K! Get going! Team B are the heroes, and team K are the villains! Get ready!”

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: Moving Forward.

Well that was embarrassing. The moment the match started, Todoroki froze both me and Sakamoto in an instant, and just like that, it was over.

At least the class didn’t laugh at us, I was honestly expecting that. “Jeez, I don’t know how you were supposed to avoid that!” Ashido says, and I definitely agree with her. How do I not even have access to my power without Lavenza, but he can freeze an entire building in a second? Just one of those things I guess. After my battle(if you could call it that) the rest of the battles play out, nothing really of note happens. Or maybe it does, I really couldn’t tear myself away from my thoughts. The feeling of inadequacy didn’t seem to go away for the rest of the day.

********

I feel like shit this morning. Do you ever just wake up and feel like the world’s laughing at you? I think I only got like an hour of sleep. It’s probably because I stayed up so late practicing with my knife. I don’t want to be a sitting duck if I’m caught untransformed. I’d studied some videos of an old-ninja themed pro hero that wielded a knife. The way he used it intrigued me, he mostly used it as a defensive tool. It’s rather effective against people fighting hand-to-hand, most people don’t want to get cut, so they’ll fight hesitantly and won’t take any risks. If they’re on the defensive, they’re easier to shake up. He also utilized an interesting strategy for offense, fight haphazardly, and sloppily to get your opponent to lower their guard a bit, and then surprise them with overwhelming force. I’d have to practice that with an opponent, so for now I just practiced holding it and ordinary slashes and stabs.

And I’m really paying for it now. Oh… I have to drag myself to homeroom now. A knock comes at my door,”C’mon Akira, we gotta get moving! We’re gonna be late!”

I throw a pillow at my door and groan,”Stop knocking, I’m awake. Regrettably .”

“Did you go down a rabbit hole and pull an all-nighter again?”

“Shut up…”

********

“What the hell is this?” I groan.

“Media. The news of All Might teaching here finally broke. Everyone’s going crazy.”Lavenza explains.

Just outside of UA’s gates is a massive wall of reporters blocking us in. One of them runs up to me,”What’s it like having All Might as a teacher?”

I respond with a smile,”I wouldn’t know, I’m the principal. Get out of my way please, I have lots of paperwork to get to.”

The reporter scowls,”Don’t get smart with me kid, I swear I’ll-”

A scarf wraps around the reporter's arm and they struggle against it.

Aizawa steps forward,”Keep away from my student. Kurusu, Narukami, get to class. I’ll be there in a minute.”

With Aizawa issuing a few threats to the reporters, they clear a path so me and Lavenza can get to class, he’s still threatening by the time I get past the gates.

Just as I pass, a massive metal barrier pops up, guess one of the reporters tried to run through. Wonder how that worked out for ‘em.

********

Aizawa walks through the door a few minutes after we arrive, and he greets us with a critique of our combat training,”Midoriya, your quirk is versatile, but you don’t need to use excessive force. That explosion you caused was entirely not only unnecessary, but risky. What if there were bystanders there? They could’ve been hurt by the explosion or debris. Don’t make that mistake again.”

Midoriya nods and remains silent,”Iida, make use of the element of surprise, don’t just announce yourself like an idiot. It may not be heroic, but sometimes you have to do things that are unheroic to protect people. Narukami, Good work, but be more observant, you should’ve noticed him much sooner. Bakugou, don’t let your grudge against Midoriya. get in the way. Don’t underestimate your opponent.”

Bakugou shrugs it off and Lavenza beams with pride.

“Now, what happens next will determine your future. You all need to pick a class representative.”

The worry from Aizawa’s first sentence melts away in an instant, and is quickly replaced with shouts of “Pick me! Pick me!” Until Iida suggests a vote, and everyone else goes along with it. When all is said and done, Midoriya is class rep, and Yaoyorozu is vice rep. That seems to be a pretty solid setup, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu are both smart and cool under pressure. After that, we head to lunch. I’m sitting with Midoriya Iida and Lavenza. I made curry last night for dinner, and me and Lavenza were eating leftovers. Iida had some as well, while Izuku had some of Lunch Rush’s katsudon.

“Congrats on class rep Midoriya. I'm sure you'll be great.”Lavenza says.

“Not exactly sure why though. I don’t see why people would vote for me over Iida.” Midoriya says, confused.

Iida chimes in next,”I think it’s because of your general ability to keep cool under pressure, plus your height and presence are likely also a factor.”

Midoriya stops eating for a second,”People vote for height?”

I talk next,”Yeah, a lot of people will vote for people that feel strong, and a cool demeanor and height make for a strong presence. And a strong presence makes people feel safe around you.”

He scratches his head,”Huh, guess I never thought about that. Still, I’m not exactly sure if I can handle this.”

Iida responds to him while chopping with his arm,”I’m sure you’ll do great Midoriya, and I of course will be there to support you every step of the way.”

“Thanks I-”

“WARNING! WARNING! LEVEL 3 SECURITY BREACH DETECTED!”

And then all hell breaks loose. Students are screaming and rushing for the halls.

“Level 3 security breach? What’s that?” Iida asks.

“It means someone broke in! We need to get moving!” Another student answers.

I look out the window and see reporters outside. Damn. they must’ve been the ones to trigger the breach! I have to tell everyone… But how? There’s no way my voice can reach. Unless…

“Lavenza! I need to transform!”

“Uh, alright, why?”

“You’ll see in a second, quick!”

I am thou

Thou art I

From the sea of thy soul I cometh

I am Arsene! Pillager of Twilight!

And with that I fly above the crowd and a few extra screams are heard.

“EVERYONE!”

They quiet down after that.

“WE ARE NOT IN DANGER. THE ALARM WAS ACTIVATED BY A REPORTER OUTSIDE. PLEASE STAY CALM. WE WILL ALL BE FINE.”

I land in front of everyone and relinquish the transformation. Everyone’s quieted down by now and heading back to the tables. Next, Midoriya walks forward,”Thanks for calming them down, though I feel like that should’ve been my job.”

“No problem. Besides, they probably wouldn't have heard of you. Arsene’s voice has a way of commanding attention like nothing else.”

“Oh, so that’s what you call it.”

“Sorry?”

“The demon you transform into. Did you name it after Arsene Lupin?”

“I didn’t name him. He told me his name.”
“You mean he’s alive?”

“Kinda, whenever he transforms he talks to me. He basically just announces himself as Arsene and keeps quiet from there.”

“That’s pretty interesting.”

“It is, yeah .”

********

“Alright class, today things will be a little different. You’ll have three different instructors.”

Kurusu speaks up,”Really? What's the occasion?”

Aizawa cracks a rare smile, and seems like he’s actually excited for something for once,”Rescue training. Me, All Might and another faculty member will be keeping tabs on you.”

Must be because of the break in, even if they’re sure it was the media, they’d rather be safe than sorry. And having All Might with us is probably the safest bet we have despite my misgivings with him.

I wonder if he remembers me.

“In rescue training, you’ll be dealing with natural disasters. Shipwrecks and stuff like that. What you wear is up to you, I know you’re all excited about costumes, though do keep in mind that you aren’t used to them yet. This special training is at a facility off campus, and we’re taking a bus to get there. That’s all I have to say, get moving, we’re wasting time.”

And with that, we begin to get ready. I elect to wear my costume, since it's pretty much just clothes with some extra reinforcement. Something akin to kevlar dominates most of the outfit, though it’s much more breathable. Plus, it’s boots are much more useful in natural situations than my normal shoes. Plus it looks awesome. So, so awesome. So much better than anything I’ve ever come up with. 

We load on to the bus, and Iida’s *brilliant* seating arrangement is ruined when we find that the bus has an open layout. He is visibly depressed because of this. Poor guy. We discuss quirks on our way, and as we’re going I forge a few weapons, just in case. Kanshou and Bakuya, as well as my bow and a few sword-arrows. Nothing on the level of my Caladbolg II but still more useful than regular arrows. Everyone seems to find it really interesting. 

“Oh Kurusu, could I see your knife?”

He hands it over,“Sure thing. Though can’t you copy it just by looking at it?”

“I can, but it works even better if I can touch it, plus I could reinforce your knife while I’m at it.”

“Really? That’s awesome!”

“It is yes, now be quiet for a second.”

Alright, Trace: On. Tracing basic structure, examining materials, enhancing components, reinforcing basic structure, increasing material toughness, alright. Reinforcement complete.

“Here you go.”

“Thanks Midoriya.”

“No problem Kurusu.”

“Hey Akira, can I see it?”

“Sure thing, just don’t cut yourself Lavenza.”

“It was one time!”

********

“Alright class, we’re here. Welcome to the USJ.”

Ashido jumps up with,”Universal Studios Japan!?”

Aizawa frowns,”No. It’s the unforeseen simulation joint.”

You can really tell they thought of the acronym first if the word joint is used in the name. Well whatever, Aizawa explains that the USJ is a dome built to simulate several natural disasters. Once we get inside, pro hero Thirteen greets us. I’m quite a big fan of hers, she wears a space suit reminiscent of the ones worn in the 20th century, back during the first moon landing, she’s an incredibly talented rescue hero. It also seems that I’m not the only one excited, Ururaka is basically jumping up and down in happiness. 

Thirteen gives a speech about how our quirks can be used to save and help, but can also be used to kill. Which, if I’m being honest, is kinda arbitrary. I mean, we’ve got:

1. The guy that turns into a flaming demon.
2. The guy who makes a bunch of swords and can punch with the force of a freight train.
3. The guy who can make giant explosions from his hands.
4. The guy that can freeze a building in half a second.

And that’s just a few of them! I think we get the picture. But it’s time to move forward and begin our training!

We walk inside and take in the various zones that simulate a disaster, there’s a zone depicting a shipwreck, another depicting a city on fire, as well as a mountain range and a landslide. Thirteen explains that we’ll all be going to different zones throughout the day. Aizawa whispers something in her ear that I can’t quite make out, and just after that an ominous purple portal appears. And out of the portal walk probably 100 people. Many of them have mutation quirks, and finally 2 more people step out of the portal. One covered in severed hands with teal hair, and the other looking like a super muscly bird who had his brain exposed, and the portal forms into a misty man with glowing yellow eyes.

Aizawa shouts,”Stay together and don’t move! Thirteen! Protect the students.”

Kirishima looks startled,”Is this part of our training?”

Aizawa slips his goggles on and responds,”No. these are real villains.”

It seems we won’t be practicing rescue today.

He begins to run down the stairs and towards the giant group of villains.

And I know there’s no way he survives like that. Aizawa is no doubt an excellent fighter, but he can’t fight groups like that, even if he nullifies all their quirks, his fighting style just doesn’t match up.

“Aizawa-sensei, let me assist from range. With my bow I can support you from here, and I don’t mean to doubt you, but you can’t fight all of them.”

“I can't let you risk yourself like that."

“How are they gonna get to me if they have to get through you?"

He runs down without another word and begins fighting, he takes out a few on his own before I even have the time to pull out my bow.

“I am the bone of my sword.”

My bow appears in my hand and a sword-arrow appears in the other. I let one loose and take down a villain with four arms, every time a villain almost reaches him from behind I take him out with an arrow, but every villain is replaced with another in a second. 

“Midoriya!” Thirteen shouts,”You’ve done enough, we need to get out.”

“Alright. But first, one last thing.”

“I am the bone of my sword. Unknown to death, nor known to life. So, as I pray: CALAD...BOLG!”

I loose the Caladbolg from my bow once more and decimated the small hoard of villains converging on Aizawa. And then I turn to run along with the rest of the class, as we run Kirishima says,”Why are we even running? Just throw out a couple more of those and take em all out!”

“Kirishima, I could maybe fire one more, and that’s if I don’t create anything else. I need to reserve my energy in case my swords break. But that doesn’t matter so long as we get out of here.”

But, my hopes are denied when the mist villain appears in front of us and introduces himself,”It’s a pleasure to meet you. We are the League of Villains.”

I draw my bow and nock a sword-arrow,”I hope you understand that means absolutely nothing.” I say before I fire. And my sword-arrow is swallowed by the villain’s body. I'm confused as to where it went, and then I am swiftly answered with gut wrenching pain.

I look down and find a sword sprouting from my stomach.

“Eh, I’ve had worse.”

“What!?”

Kanshou and Bakuya come to my hands as the sword-arrow in my stomach disappears and the wound knits itself back together. I charge at him before being swallowed along with the rest of the class.

******

And then I’m falling.

I splash into a lake, presumably in the shipwreck zone. As I struggle to get my bearing, a villain with a shark mutation. Luckily, I already had Kanshou and Bakuya in my hands, so I reinforced my arms and slash with as much strength as possible. From the sheer amount of force I put out, I turned air in the water into blades that sliced up the villain. Now, I reinforce my limbs and shoot out of the water and onto the nearby boat.

I’m breathing heavily, most likely from lack of air. I look up to find a few other classmates, Asui, Kurusu, and Mineta. They all look pretty shaken, but Mineta’s the only one outwardly terrified. I’m going to have to take charge if we’re gonna survive,”Ok. Are any of you hurt?”

It's a no from all of them,”Okay, that’s good, in that case we need to focus on taking out these villains so we can escape, Asui-”

“Call me Tsu.”

Really? Right now?

“Okay, Tsu, keep watch for now. You’ve done your part, but your quirk’s not super combat oriented.”

“Alright *ribbit*”

Kurusu steps forward,”Midoriya, I need to find Lavenza. I’m not of much use untransformed, unless you want to have to drag me around with broken bones.

“That’s kind of our main option, I want you to cause a whirlpool.”

“What makes you think I can do that?”

“Your quirk can generate immense amounts of wind pressure, if you fire a massive blast towards the water, it’ll cause a whirlpool.”

“If I do that, I’d lose my arm, because I can’t launch a blast with just one finger.”

“Then don’t, flick your fingers, like All Might’s Delaware smash!”

I’m an idiot. That should have been so incredibly obvious. I literally have All Might’s quirk, why am I not using it like All Might!?

“That’s genius, tell me when.”

Just as I say that, villains begin to surround the boat. Some attack the bottom to try and capsize it, but they’re mostly just swimming around passively.

Midoriya points out that they probably don’t know our quirks, and that’s why they’re so apprehensive to attack, and he says that we should take advantage of this, and I agree.

Alright, jump, flick, and get the hell out of there. Simple enough.

I jump off the boat, pour one for all through my thumb and middle finger on my left hand, and release, sending a massive blast of wind pressure that causes the whirlpool Midoriya wanted.

“Alright! Let’s get moving!”

Tsuyu carries Mineta across the lake, while Midoriya carries me, which is a little embarrassing if I’m being honest. Now we’re heading toward the center, to hopefully find Lavenza and help Aizawa. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 7:Awakening.

It’s a bit of a walk towards the center of the USJ, and it's not a smooth trip either. We run into a few villains, but Midoriya takes them out pretty easily. Midoriya is crazy strong, he’s got an immense amount of skill with pretty much any weapon he wields. I wonder if he could teach me sometime. 

Damn. My fingers still hurt like hell. Once I get to Lavenza I need to get healed and transform, then I can assist. God I hope she’s okay.

We’ve almost arrived and what awaits us is a grisly site, Aizawa’s beaten bloody on the ground, the bird-guy with the exposed brain. Oh god. This is bad. Even Midoriya looks shaken. Huh, that really says something about how much he’s changed. Back then, it would be weird if he didn’t look shaken.

“ I am the bone of my sword.” His bow appears in his hand, and he nocks one of his sword arrows and fires it at the bird villain.

He shouts at me,”Kurusu, I can handle this guy for a while. Get out of here and find Lavenza. Take Tsu and Mineta with you.”

I protest,”I’m not gonna leave you alone!”

And then the villain’s upon us, Midoriya fires again at him and knocks him back with a spray of blood,”GO!”

I don’t protest again and begin running.

I can only pray he’ll be alright.

I am 100% screwed. I’m already almost out of energy, and this damn thing just keeps regenerating! All I have to do for now is keep him off Aizawa. If I can do it for long enough, Kurusu should be back, and I’ll have some backup. 

“Nomu, stay back.”

The villain covered in hands orders the monster, who I know is named Nomu now, to stand down, and then he starts to walk towards me.

“And who are you?” I ask.

I don’t get an answer, instead he rushes me trying to grab me with one of his hands. I dodge, but the way he lunged like that gets me thinking. Ok, his quirk probably has something to do with his hands, from him using hands as an accessory, and the way he attacks. Of course, he could just be a grappler, but the way his hands were open and just trying to touch me rather than grab me tells me he isn’t. Now if I just knew who he was.

“God you’re annoying! You took out a bunch of my men with one shot, you cheater!”

He grabs for me again and I swing Kanshou at that hand, which he surprisingly closes. And when his hand closes around the sword, it turns into dust. I jump away, with that information in my head. Staying at range is now my best shot. But taunting him might come in handy, he seems like he gets mad easily. And he’s probably much easier to fight if he’s angry.

“Did you just call me a cheater? What are you, three?”

He just continues his onslaught of sloppy grabs which are all easily dodged.

“And you suck too, if you want to kill me, try shaking it up once in a while.”

He roars and continues his shitty attacks, They just get easier and easier dodge each time, and his stupid decision to send away Nomu has doomed him. If he keeps up like this, all I have to do is wait for Kurusu. Though I hope he hurries up, I have a feeling this guy will get bored soon.

“Lavenza! Lavenza!”

“AKIRA! I’M TRAPPED! OVER HERE!”

I spot her, her leg’s stuck under some fallen rubble.

“Ok, keep calm. I’m gonna get it off you, and then you can heal yourself.”

“O-Ok, just do it quick ok? Pretty sure the only reason this doesn’t hurt super bad is because all my nerve endings are destroyed.”

“Nothing a Diahahran can’t heal right?”

I say as I begin to pour one for all into my arm. I’ll probably break it, but she can heal me right after.

“Yeah, yeah, just keep talking okay?”

“Of course, what do you want to do when we get back? I haven’t baked anything in a while.”

I finished my preparations,”Oh, that’d be nice. You should make those red velvet cupcakes, they're amazing.”

“Everything I do is amazing, such as-”

I throw the rubble far away with one for all.

“Rescuing damsels in distress.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course.”

She heals herself, and then me.

“Alright quick, I need to transform.”

She jumps into my arms and kisses me, and I take the form of Arsene.

“I have to get to Midoriya and Aizawa. I’ll take you to the entrance-”

“No way! I need to be there to heal!”

I shake my head,”I’m not putting you in danger again.”

“God Akira! Get that stupid guilt out of your head! None of this is your fault and you know it, now pull yourself together and fly!”

She jumps on my back and grabs on tight.

“And there’s no way to convince you otherwise?”

“I think you know the answer.”

“Yeah, I do.”

I take to the sky and rush towards the center, as I fly, I see the wreckage caused by the villain attack. Tons of debris and blood splatters, but nothing quite measures up to the scene in the center.

Aizawa lies unconscious and bloody on the floor, while Midoriya fights the teal haired villain while the bird thing just stands there.

Well, here’s my chance.

I swoop down and launch the teal haired guy into the air, he lands with an audible thud. I set Lavenza down behind Midoriya and turn to face the guy I just thrashed.

“Surrender. And maybe you get out of this without any more broken bones. Though I might still do your legs. Payback for Lavenza.”

“NOMU! KILL THE GIRL!”

I turn as quickly as I can to face the bird villain, now known as Nomu, but he’s faster than my eyes can follow, and by the time that I dash for the throat, he’s already behind me. Midoriya’s smacked away like he’s nothing, and half a second later Lavenza’s in his hand.

No! No! NO!

And then…

I think I’ve been here before.

Maybe in a dream. This scene seems familiar.

I think it was different then though, I think It hurt a bit less at least.

I watch as her broken body falls to the floor.

The rage eats away at my body, until it feels as if I’m being torn apart from the inside. 

And then, I am torn apart from the inside. The coat that surrounds my borrowed body is torn apart as my old form gives way to a new one. An ear splitting screech of agony fills my ears, and only after it ends do I realize it came from me.

Thou art I

I am thou

From the sea of thy soul I cometh

I am Thanatos! and your rage is my own!

My body feels so wrong. Unlike Arsene, who felt strange but natural, this body is heavy and… Wrong. But it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters so long as Lavenza survives, even if there’s almost no chance she survived getting crushed like that. And if she didn’t… 

No. That's an impossibility. She’ll be fine. She always is for now… Just fight. Kill. Rip and tear their skin from their bones. Thanatos… Go all out. Stop for nothing.