Chapter 68: Reveals and Romance

It's back to class, and while they've all made improvements in some capacity, other things remain the same, some not liked but some well need, such as a certain Midoriya's whose ready to step in when he sees someone in need.

“Text” – Normal speech

‘Text’ – Thought

“Text” – Quirk Spirit speaking in the human world

“Text” - Attack

“Text” – Radio/Communication lines

“Text” – None Japanese speech

(text) – Subtext/meaning behind a spoken word

Line Break

The day for the students had gone as they typically did, with the only exception being that All Might's class, Heroic Law, was handled by Eraserhead, who proved much less forgiving when it came to the topic. Heroic Drama with Midnight was the same, though she seemed more enthusiastic about it, as now that they'd had time to see how her lessons were used in a real-world setting up close, she was more gung-ho on things. She had them discuss how their mentors handled things like the public and media.

When it came down to Foundational Hero studies, they hadn't spotted Eraserhead or Thirteen, with the PA system announcing that they were to suit up and head down to field Gamma.

Not knowing if Eraser was there and thus would be timing them, the class suited up and rushed there as fast as possible, only to find… no one. Iida was about to ask if there was a mistake, but right as the clock struck 10:20, a familiar laugh could be heard echoing through the air.

Looking up to its source, they saw the Symbol of Peace coming in like a human comet. “I am here…for class!” All Might declared as he smashed into the ground, performing an iconic superhero landing.

“All Might!” They called out as the symbol of peace stood to its full height, a hearty laugh on his voice.

“Yes,” All Might declared, before, with a burst of smoke, he vanished, and in his place stood the concerning skinny and emaciated Yagi. Pulling out a tissue, he coughed a little blood into it. “Sorry about that, I couldn’t resist.”

"Please, sir, do take your health into account." Iida chopped towards All Might, as with so much exposed, Nezu and All Might had seen fit, at least with the hero course, to reveal All Might's secret injury and its consequences.

Learning that the number one could barely hold his hero form for 3 hours a day was scary. Learning there was a villain who had the power to put a hole in All Might, which nearly killed them, was crap your pants terrifying.

But compared to learning aspects of people that could exist long after they died, that most could not see, hear, or hope, but could also kill you…Well, All Might's secret wasn't that big; he was a mortal, and mortals got hurt, simple, very simple, and normal.

"Yes, we appreciate the bit, but we really don't want you croaking over it," Kendo added.

"Besides, it would be best if you try to reserve a limited time for hero work," Tokoyami advised, all of which were good points that All Might wouldn’t dispute.

“Still, you gotta admit, it is a weird change. I don’t even know how your quirk can make you inflate like that.” Kaibara uttered, as he could still recall how many questions he and the rest had when they learned about that.

All…Yagi-sensei chuckled, the man somehow making his oversized, at least for his current form, hero suit look good. “It’s more accurate to ask how my quirk and diminished health led to my deflation. I was always a large man. Back in my time here, I was roughly the same height as Todoroki or Iida. But rest assured, Recovery Girl's already on my case about my health, and it's scary enough, so let's focus on your hero basic training!"

“What would it be this time? Another battle trial?” Shishida asked

“Factory rescue?” Midoriya added.

Yagi-sensei smiled. “A little bit of the second. As you must have noticed, your classes have shifted a little since your return from internships. That's no accident, we're testing you harder now that we have had the chance to both practice and see those lessons being used by real heroes out in the field."

"This is no different, as I want to see how much you’ve improved thanks to your time at your internships, so we’re going to have a race.” Yagi-sensei finished.

“Race?” Someone asked as Yagi-sensei nodded.

He gestured to the massive training field behind him, another example of just how much land and money U.A. had at its fingertips if they could be up to scale models of entire districts. "That's right. I'll be at the centre's most point, and in groups, you'll be assigned to try and reach me from spots of roughly equal distance. Field Gamma's perfect for this as it's a labyrinth of factories, pipes, warehouses, and other obstacles."

"Is that because in the field, we'll need to handle such things to reach those in need quickly?" Shouda raised his hand.

"Correct, however, while life is always your priority, you'll be docked points for any damage done to the field." Yagi-sensei was speaking to the assembled students, but his eyes went towards one in particular, someone who didn't take kindly to it.

"Why the hell are you looking at me?" Bakugo grunted, still pissed that he, Jeanist, hadn't let him do anything worth his time; instead, it was 'appearance this' and 'attitude that'. The hell did that matter?

Tsunotori was going to make a comment, but Ojiro stopped her before she poked the bear. “No, Pony, don’t even say it.”

"Bakugo, this is your first hero class back. I expect you to remember why you were barred for so long." Yagi-sensei warned him, as he might not be as strong as he once was, but he had plenty in the tank to handle things if they went too far. He just hoped that Bakugo wouldn't prove some of his nay-sayers right by forcing him to act when the whole point of this was a race, not combat.

“So, with that said-” Before he could continue, Komori raised her hand, to which Yagi gave her permission to speak.

“Pardon me, sir, but why isn’t Todoroki here?” She asked, addressing the elephant in the room, or more accurately, the lack of an iceberg.

“I was also a little worried about that. Was he injured while on an internship?" Iida asked as Yagi's face grew pensive, his frown deepening as he wondered how to explain, which did not go unnoticed by his students.

“Things in Oruto Purutonia weren't as clean as reported. It was decided that Todoroki would need special training due to his lack of skills with his fire compared to his ice." He didn’t lie, but he didn’t give details.

Ojiro paused to think it over. "Now that you mention it, he never used it in fights. Was he just bad at it?"

"Maybe, he seemed really good with his ice. Maybe he just trained that side too much?" Ashido suggested, though she did wonder how that could happen, considering Todoroki was Endeavour's son.

‘Something more is going on.’ Midoriya frowned as Yagi-sensei's response left many aspects unclear. One of which was why Todoroki would need separate training for his fire; they were all here to train, weren't they?

‘But All Might won’t tell us, so it’s probably related to Todoroki’s mood, so he’s going to tell us.’ Yaoyorozu sighed, as she knew they wouldn’t be getting any answers about this, not unless they got the socially distant Todoroki to open up.

“Anything else? No? Then let’s have our first group!” Yagi-sensei called.

Line Break

And that was how the selected 8 took to the field. At the viewing platform, the other 31 watched on a giant screen as Yagi-sensei set up a nice little chair for himself, while on 8 smaller feeds set to the sides of the screen showed Asui, Iida, Sero, Tokoyami, Kamakiri, Tsunotori, Tokage, and Yanagi all in the process of getting ready to take off.

“Damn, that’s a pretty good line-up," Honenuki noted.

“It’s just about everyone with good mobility in class.” Uraraka agreed.

“Almost, Tokoyami isn’t all that fast.” Awase counted, which elicited a hum from Momo, the girl, who, like many others, was seated as they watched. However, she ensured she sat in a manner befitting her upbringing.

Jiro had no such compulsions, sitting in whatever way felt comfortable, which so happened to be close to Midoriya. "True, if this were some sort of fight, he'll have a better hand to play here, but Dark Shadow's not much of a speed type."

“He also doesn’t strike me as the type to be in as good physical shape as someone like Kamakiri.” Kendo agreed with the assessment, as Tokoyami was like some of their classmates, someone who over-relied on his quirk.

Shishida glanced towards Midoriya. “Sir Midoriya, you interned with him. Any thoughts?" His reminder brought further attention to Midoriya, who pulled his hand to cup his chin, missing how annoying Jiro found it that her sneaky ploy to take his hand and hold it had been foiled.

Now, Midoriya could simply explain what happened to him and Tokoyami. At the same time, they trained under Hawks, but he wished to give his friend, whom he was pretty sure they were now, a chance to prove what he could do instead. “I think he’ll surprise us. Hawks put us through our paces.”

“You think he’ll win?” Komori asked, as that seemed like a real low chance to her.

“Hard to say, like Uraraka said, it's mainly people with good mobility, and with Tsunotori and Tokage in the tuning, they can always just fly over the obstacles that would slow down the rest." Midoriya smiled, shifting a bit so he could learn towards Jiro. “I think he has a good chance to, but it’ll be close.”

“Is that a fact?" Monoma questioned, crossing his arms as he thought of another person who could take first. "Well, I wouldn't discount Tsunotori; she's not especially competitive, but a race is somewhere she'll love to shine."

"Hey man, Sero's in this too, and he can swing around that place real fast." Kirishima countered, and with attention shifting off them, Midoriya reached over and grasped Jiro’s hand, the girl almost yelping as she looked at him, wondering how he…

Wait a second, he had fucking ghosts around him at nearly all times; they probably saw, didn't they? Well, she wasn't complaining as she leaned into him, as they had barely talked during their internships, their little throuple having been swapped with training or work.

“Gotta be Asui, she’s crazy athletic, have you seen her legs?” Mineta rebuked, which gave him a weird, slightly guarded look from the girls.

“Why is it with you, we can only tell if you’re being straight, or just being a massive pervert?” Jiro narrowed her eyes at the little pervert.

“Come on, you treat me like everything I say is a red flag, it’s true, isn’t it? Asui has some amazing legs, she’s part frog, after all.” Mineta pointed to her, right as the camera panned out, showing Asui's full body. As she crouched in preparation to take off, one could see how well-defined her legs were.

Ojiro sighed. “And we’re right back to the confusion.”

Ashido was the one who broke the confusion. “Despite the speaker, he’s not wrong," he ignored how Mineta yelled in protest, "Tsu trains a lot, so a place like this shouldn't be too much of an issue for her. Plus, she got a lot done during internships, stopping that smuggling op and all.”

Several others turned, as that was the first they had heard about that. “She what?!”

“All racers, start!” Before they could get any word on that, Yagi-sensei, seated and comfortable, fired off a signal gun.

Line Break

When the signal was given, the group had taken off with the usual suspects taking the lead. Tokage split into several pieces and took to the sky, floating towards All Might's location. Tsunotori fired off two horns, jumped onto them, and followed a similar example, rising high above the obstacles.

Yanagi broke off a piece of a nearby pipe with her quirk, which could cost her points, but she could and did use it like a hover board, skating towards All Might much faster than she could run. Iida took the simplest approach of the bunch, merely running towards All Might, but with his speed, he was putting up good numbers.

Asui jumped onto a wall, climbed it, and once at the top, jumped from building to building. If the distance proved too great, she would smack into the wall and climb it without issue. However, Sero was moving faster as he swung for the overhead pipes and poles, pulling himself towards them when he could to boost his travel speed, while Kamakiri was moving like an acrobat, his blades hooking onto ledges, pipes, and overhangs as he shifted his weight without, almost without effort, and lunged from point to point, wall to wall.

“See, I told you, Tsunotori’s already in the lead.” Monoma seemed quite smug about that.

"She's competing with Tokage, who, if needs be, could just send something small ahead if that's faster." Awase countered.

“Is it? I never see her do something like that.” Ashido asked, to which Awase shrugged, but it had to be easier for Tokage to send maybe a hand, right?

"Iida's also catching up; he's already passed Yanagi on the chart," Ojiro called as Iida’s name on the handy chat shot ahead of Yanagi’s.

"With how many obstacles they are, it's not a lead he can hold over her for long when she, too, can merely fly over them," Honenuki advised, as the area around All Might was the densest when it came pipes and buildings, Iida would neither need to get lucky and pick a route with as few delays as possible, or manage to get to higher ground like Asui and Kamakiri.

Speaking of, Yaoyorozu’s attention went to those two. “However, that doesn’t seem to be an issue for Asui and Kamakiri.”

As she said, both were maintaining a race for 2nd place, along with Tokage. Yaoyorozu was especially impressed that Kamakiri could think as fast as he was with some of his moves, and that he could create blades with enough curve and dullness to act as hooks and leave little damage around.

Of course, Asui was also giving an exceptional performance, even similarly using her tongue to Sero, allowing her to swing or latch onto faraway points and pull herself towards them in conjunction with her superhuman leg strength. At the rate they were going, she might just snatch first place as both Tsunotori and Tokage’s speeds weren’t changing, while the others were.

Line Break

“Hehe, this race is in the bag!” Tsunotori chuckled as she raced ahead, working to keep her balance.

"Don't count your winnings before the game's up, I'm taking first place," Tokage yelled, close on her tail and flying in 11 pieces, the foremost one being her head.

“Interesting, you speak like you’ve the only competitors.” Someone spoke up to their rear.

“Of cour-wait, the hell?!” Tokage realised mid-response that there shouldn't be anyone to their rear, and she and Tsunotori both turned to see something that should be impossible. Tokoyami was flying towards them like a bat out of hell.

“Did you think I was slow?” Tokoyami asked them as he was catching up, moving up the roaster.

“He can fly?!” Tsunotori called out That just seemed unfair.

“Don’t forget this is a race between 8, and none of us are willing to surrender.” Tokoyami reminded them as he kept a good handle on Dark Shadow, having perfected this technique during training for such conditions. It was because of that that he passed Tokage and a slack-jawed Tsunotori, his name moving up to the head of the pack.

“Wait, whose taken the lead?” Sero asked, having heard the change in spots as he swung towards All Might.

“But how? He’s never been a speed type opponent.” Iida, racing along the ground, asked.

Having finished a jump, Asui stuck to a wall and croaked. “(Kero) I need to hurry up.”

“No way in hell I’m letting him take first, not without a fight!” Kamakiri yelled as he forced himself to move faster, being a little more reckless with damage as he went, if he could shave even just a couple of seconds off his time.

Line Break

"Wait, since when could you do that?" Several of the students yelled in shock at what they saw, as it was like Tokoyami had sprouted wings made from Dark Shadow.

“Hold on…but how?” Ashido asked, as this didn’t make sense.

"It's Dark Shadow." Eyes shifted to Yaoyorozu, whose gaze didn't shift from analyzing Tokoyami, as those weren't wings, but rather Dark Shadow's arms. As for why his clock was wrapped around, I'm not sure, but it was because it was acting like a cradle. "He's always floating and moving about as if under Uraraka's zero gravity. So, if Tokoyami has Dark Shadow carry him, then…he can fly.”

Jiro turned to her boyfriend, who seemed incredibly proud of Tokoyami and unsurprised by this turn of events. “Midoriya did Hawks teach him that?”

Midoriya chuckled, a little awkward now that he was on the spot once more. "Weirdly, he mainly set things up so we figured it out ourselves and then helped us learn how to use what we learned."

Jiro’s eyebrow raised. “We?”

His grip on her hand tightened, just a little, as he let out a soft hum. "Let's focus on Tokoyami; he's already taken first, and the distance is increasing."

Bakugo could hardly care for the explanation, but he heard it nonetheless and was close to blowing a fuse. This… this was what a top 5 pro could do for someone like a side character when they tried, yet he got shafted for an entire week?! 'What the hell? He learned something like this, while he was stuck wasting my time?!' His fists clenched tighter, Bakugo almost setting off some small explosions as he watched the bird brain increase his lead with seemingly no effort. ‘Just how much have they improved?’

Line Break

“Finish!” Yagi-sensei declared as he handed a sash that read 'winner' to Tokoyami. The rest had arrived in time to see it. “Congratulations, young Tokoyami, you really surprised us with that performance.”

Tokoyami humbly accepted the reward, though he didn’t seem as excited about his win as he could have been. “Thank you, though I feel as if I wasn’t nearly as fast as I could have been. I wasn’t able to put all Hawks taught me into practice.”

Yagi might have taken that as arrogance, but he knew Hawks, at least how the man operated. If he had been taking this, even in his first year as a hero, he would have won without breaking a sweat.

So Yagi merely patted Tokoyami on the back. "That's fine, new skills take a while to become muscle memory, especially when it's something different from what you know." As Tokoyami nodded, taking his words to heart, the number one turned to the rest, his smile not diminished in the slightest.

“Still, I can say you’ve all shown some improvements from the start of the year. Your internships and training have done you well, but don't go slacking off just yet; you all have finals to worry about, and I can promise they won't be easy." He reminded.

"Yes, sir!" They all replied, though he could see some more pained and down about the coming finals than others, but that was just life as a student.

“Well then, you’re dismissed.”

Line Break

After a certain amount of time in the changing room, which started when Mineta found a peephole, Iida tried to tell him no. Still, Mineta, being himself, refused to listen and went on to discuss the features of each girl he wished to see. So, while Shishida held him down to keep him from such visions, Sero taped up the while. They reported it to the teachers, learning at the same time that the girls had heard Mineta's rant through the hole. Momo had already created a binding agent to fill it in.

Snipe, their next teacher, was not amused by it and handled Mineta's punishment for his lack of self-control, and the day went on as normal. It was as the last bell rang that things changed.

"Remember, read up on chapters 5 and 6, focus on the materials relating to the Crossfield case, it's important and will make up the foundations for chapters 7 through 9." Serenity called out as he cleaned up his desk, shutting off the greenboard and disconnecting his computer.

Jiro barely paid that attention, packing her things into her bag. Her plans for the day weren't big. Grab some shopping for home, get home, get some studying done, and then relax to not think about-

“Jiro.” She nearly jumped out of her seat at being called, her earphone at the ready to-

“Midoriya? The heck you doing here?” She asked, calming as she saw who had called her, and who seemed to worry him.

"I wanted to see you. Is this a bad time?" Midoriya asked as he took the empty seat next to her.

"No, no, just didn't expect it at all. Don't you have 7th period with Saffron? How’d you get here so fast?” She asked, as their two classes weren’t close.

"I rushed, but you weren't moving fast; you haven't even finished packing your stuff yet." Midoriya directed his gaze to her desk, which still held her notebooks, textbook, and pen case. None of which has been put away.

“Crap.” She swore as Midoriya gently started helping her get ready to leave, but as she zipped up her bag, he spoke once more.

“I figured you’ll be a little off,” Midoriya mentioned, as he hadn't seen her much, as they didn't share afternoon classes. Still, they did have Snipe's class as mandatory, and lunch for him to spot that she wasn't on her game.

“Why, because I got 4th place in my rescue race?” Jiro grunted.

“Because of what Mineta was saying…”

She shot him a glare, as she did NOT want to think about that. "Look, he's a dirty-minded pervert. I’m surprised he isn't on a watchlist, so why would I care about what he didn't say about me? Hell, I'm happy he didn't, as it means he's not gonna perv on me."

Midoriya was not an expert on women, but he didn't think he needed to be to realize that Jiro, the girl he was dating, was unhappy about Mineta's lack of comment on her. He could make a good bet as to why.

Setting aside any ideas on how to smack Mineta down a flight of stairs, as that wouldn't help anyone, he focused on the here and now. “Mineta’s just one person, Kyoka, and not the best when it comes to these kinds of things. Besides, take it from me, you’re one of the most beautiful women out there.” He reached for her hands, pulling her closer to him.

"Only one of? Whose the top?" Jiro tried to joke, but he could tell her heart wasn’t in it.

“My mom.” But he went along with it, getting a weird look from her.

“Of course she is, what, you’re a momma’s boy?” She questioned, as she hadn’t spent too much time around his mom, but the woman was pretty damn impressive.

“Pretty sure that’s the default answer for all guys. Well, except those whose mothers weren’t involved.” He would say Bakugo was a prime example, but…well, if Auntie looked like she did in their youth, she would be an unfair example, as even then, older kids called her hot.

Jiro didn't need to know that, besides, she couldn't help but snort as she considered his response and how goofy her dad could be about how much he loved her mom. "I'll have to ask my dad, see if he says my grandma is the prettiest woman he knows."

Midoriya wished he could just end things there, believe she's had a laugh, and that it was good. But it wasn't as he held onto her tighter. “Kyoka.”

She took a deep, frustrated breath. “It’s just…why? He had something to say about everyone else, even Hagakure and she’s invisible, but nothing about me…why?”

She hated this. Crossing her arms, she hated being reminded she didn't have a curvy figure or a large bust like some of the girls she'd shared a locker-room with. It had been like that since middle school, as some girls started to develop, and she…didn't. High school came and went, and in terms of body, well, she would sum it up as her taking a few steps while others ran a 100-meter dash. Being at U.A. only reinforced that, as just about every other girl in class was a bombshell, incredibly sexy, or cut, ot some combo of both.

She knew it was crazy. She knew it was stupid, but it still hurt.

Midoriya was quick to respond. Kissing her forehead, he murmured, making sure she could hear even without her enhanced hearing. “Because he's blind. You, Kyoka, are one of the most beautiful girls out there, and I refuse to let you stay down, both as your boyfriend and a hero in training."

"What do you intend to do? Read me a sappy poem?" Jiro asked him.

“I thought about that,” She turned a surprised look his way at that admission. Midoriya looked embarrassed as he held out his notebook, which contained half-finished poems that made her laugh at how cheesy some of them sounded. “But after nearly being caught writing it in Serenity and Lumiose’s classes, I decided to try something else.”

“You actually wrote poetry?” She couldn't keep the amusement out of her voice. She might have slept with him, been fucked stupid by him, but moments like this remind her he was still, at his core, a dork.

Midoriya seemed to flounder. “I tried, okay? You know it’s not my strong suit, and I couldn't just ask Aoyama for help."

Getting up, he offered his hand to her. "So we're going to a music shop, then grabbing a bite to eat, and finally out to the beach.”

Jiro didn’t take it, turning to look out the window, sounding unsure herself. “I don’t know…I do need to get home soon.”

Midoriya gently turned his back to face her and kissed her. Jiro let out a surprised sound, but it turned into a moan as they continued to kiss, keeping it soft, short, and sweet instead of a lust-filled make-out session. "Please, let me spoil you, Kyoka. Let me show you how much you are worth, how beautiful you are, and how much you mean to me."

"Who would have thought?" Both jumped in fright, turning to see Asui standing there, watching them with the same expression she always wore. “Congrats.”

“Tsu?!” Jiro yelled. Okay, how off her game was she that two people could just walk in and she didn't hear them?

“Hello.” Asui, for her part, was much calmer about this entire thing, just waving at them.

"How…long have you been standing there?" Midoriya asked, as he hadn’t seen her when he arrived.

"Not long, came to ask the teacher some questions, but he was already gone. Didn't think I would go unnoticed." Asui commented that she hadn't hidden, as that wasn't her style when it came to things like this. Still, she would be lying if she said she hadn't stayed because she was interested in the reveal.

"Just…just don't tell the others," Jiro asked her, trying to get her heartbeat under control.

“You mean that Midoriya is 2-timing and you’re the other woman?” Asui…was hard to read when she wanted to be. As they couldn't tell if she was judging them or not, they would like to believe she was, and probably moments away from taking action.

"He's not/I'm not." Both spoke to stop them, but seeing that the other was speaking, they took a moment to decide who would deal with this.

"He's not 2-timing, it's…she knows," Jiro muttered, to which Asui tapped her chin in thought.

“She does?” She asked, and seeing both nod, she let out a contemplative croak. "Dang, didn't think Midoriya had it in him to please both of you, impressive."

Both Midoriya and Jiro blushed at that. Even if it was true, this was not something they wanted to casually discuss. “Can we not?”

Asui shrugged. "It's fine, and I won't tell the others. But for what it's worth, I'm pretty sure Mineta's brain has been rotten by eroge and hentai of mutant girls and big tits. You shouldn't think too hard about what his preferences are."

“Keep that in mind…” Jiro set it aside that Asui had also heard that part as she grabbed her things, and in an act of boldness, grasped her boyfriend’s hand to lead him out. “See you tomorrow.” She called out to Asui.

"Remember, high school health class, use protection, you two." Okay, now they knew Asui was fucking with them. Jiro saw her lips twitch; Asui was hiding a smirk!

“Goodbye, Tsu!” Jiro, face red, turned and marched out to go enjoy some quality time with her boyfriend, which wouldn't devolve into sex, thank you very much. It was gonna be kisses, hugs, sweet words, and all that other romantic mushy good shit till they were both on cloud 9.

Line Break

And we've arrived, the first of the last chapters of the year, and I gotta say, it was…a good year. Aside from the dread of the forward march of time and fears that it brings, I'm happy with how the year went. I got to try out some cool ideas, read various good stories, spend time with friends and family, you know the drill.

Because of all that, I wanted this chapter to be a little more uplifting, a means of a pause between the drama that's to come, as this story's going to get really wild. So I hope you all enjoy it, if you do, leave a comment; if you don't, also leave a comment on what issues you had(except you A.I. channels, the comments and PMs were never welcome and are annoying as shit)