"For the foundational skill of heroics we'll study today, it was decided you'll be supervised by a three man team comprising of All Might, myself and someone else."
"Sensei, what will we be doing?" Sero asked, raising his hand, his entire body seemingly shaking with excitement.
"Be the hero everyone needs, whether it's a flood or any other natural disaster. It's the trial of rescue!!" Aizawa yelled with a lot more energy than I or probably anyone else from the class expected from him, he also took out a red card with bold yellow letter which said, RESCUE.
Rescue.
I wondered how it was going to work exactly.
Maybe they had someone whose quirk allowed them to replicate terrain.
"Trial of rescue, sounds a bit more difficult this time around," Kaminari said, his usual carefree demeanor slightly tempered by what sounded like genuine concern.
"Totally," Mina added, bouncing slightly in her seat. Despite her enthusiasm, I could see the way her pink hands fidgeted with her desk - she was nervous too.
"If it's a flood, then that environment is my specialty, ribbit, ribbit." Tsuyu's matter-of-fact tone carried its usual confidence, but there was something else there. Pride, maybe? It made sense - having a quirk perfectly suited for a specific disaster scenario would be reassuring.
"Hey Tsuyu why is it that you say ribbit so much," Toru asked, her invisible form leaning forward with curiosity that I could somehow sense even without seeing her face.
I found myself genuinely curious about the answer too. It was one of those small details about my classmates or something more intimate in this case, something I hoped I could call a friendship, that I'd noticed but never thought to ask about.
Before we could get an answer, Aizawa spoke up once more, his tired voice somehow echoing in the room, it made him sound like Present Mic in some way, just a tired version of him.
"Don't get ahead of yourselves."
That shut us all up instantly.
"As I was saying," he continued, his gaze sweeping across the classroom, the tiredness returning to his eyes. "This time it's entirely up to you whether or not you wear your hero costume. Some of your costumes probably aren't adapted to the task at hand after all."
I thought of mine, the titanium alloy plate armor Nezu had designed. Sure, it was a bit bulky, but it wasn't as if it weighed me down thanks to my enhanced strength. More importantly, Excalibur and Avalon fit naturally with the medieval knight aesthetic. I simply decided to go with it.
"The training grounds for this trial are fairly far away, so we'll go there by bus. That's all, go get prepared."
We all went over to change ourselves, the locker room buzzing with nervous energy and excited chatter. I could hear fragments of conversation as everyone discussed what they thought the rescue trial would entail.
"I hope there's not too much swimming."
"Wonder if we'll work in teams"
"Bet Arthur's gonna show off again."
That last comment made me pause as I adjusted Excalibur's position on my belt. Show off? I'd been trying to restrain myself, to not overshadow my classmates too much. Was I failing at that? The thought troubled me as I secured the blue scarf around my neck.
We came out of the main U.A. building to find a bus waiting for us, it looked like any other school bus, yellow all around the most distinct thing about it was the symbol of U.A. at the front of it.
All of us had changed into our hero costumes aside from Midoriya, who was wearing a standard U.A. tracksuit.
"Ok," I yelled, trying to project the authority that apparently came with being class president. "Please file in line according to your number seats!"
"Shithead why should I listen to you!" Bakugo's explosive temper flared immediately, which made me want to sigh, I didn't but god did I want to.
I looked at Bakugo for a moment, meeting his glare steadily. For a moment, I wondered if he was going to try to start something right here, right now. A tiny, miniscule, teensy winsy part of me almost hoped he would, at least then I'd have a clear way to respond.
His ferocity suddenly muted as he withdrew from my gaze, he also muttered something under his breath. I caught the words fucking extras and show-off bastard, but didn't really mind it. Bakugo's anger seemed to be his default response to everything, as long as he didn't attack or injure one of our classmates in a non exercise activity I would do nothing.
With that, the doors opened and we all made our way in.
I was seated straight in the middle of Mina and Kaminari, I held Excalibur sheathed in Avalon between my knees, point facing the ground, mainly because it occupied part of the other person's seat space if I kept them at my waist.
The bus's interior was unsurprisingly comfortable, with plush seats and large windows that offered a great view of the passing groundscape.
The engine of the bus rumbled to life and we were off.
"Dude why didn't you just run there?" Kaminari asked, his elbow gently nudging my armored side. "I mean wouldn't it be much faster?"
The question caught me off guard. It would be faster, significantly so. I could probably make it to wherever we were going in a fraction of the time it would take the bus. But that wasn't really the point, was it?
"It would, but I wouldn't wanna leave you all behind now would I," I answered, and realized as I said it that I meant it.
Tsuyu spoke up with her usual forwardness, thankfully not to me, her large, froggish eyes fixed on Midoriya with an intensity that made him visibly squirm. "Midoriya, your quirk reminds me of All Might's."
I began to think about that observation.
I mean, All Might's quirk was a simple enhancement but at extreme levels. There were bound to be hundreds of quirks similar to it in principle, but then again, Midoriya's was on another level of raw strength, again, remarkably similar to All Might's.
Now that I was thinking about All Might, I couldn't help but compare him to myself, I suspected All Might might have me beat in pure physical strength. I might be able to match him if I used mana burst continuously, but as I was now, relying mainly on my base enhanced abilities, I didn't think I could compete with his raw strength.
My greatest advantages were my speed which I think I had over him and, of course, Excalibur and Avalon.
Kirishima, however, also said something that addressed a crucial difference between All Might and Midoriya, one that was clear as day to anyone who'd watched Midoriya use his quirk.
"But All Might never gets hurt when he uses his quirk, so that's where the likeness ends."
"Yeah, Arthur is more like All Might in that regard," Aoyama said, his eyes somehow managing to twinkle even though he didn't have a quirk that should have done that.
Kirishima sighed, his sharp-toothed smile almost falling. "I'm kinda jealous, I mean, I love my hardening quirk but it ain't gonna make anyone roar with excitement. I guess it isn't very flashy."
I found myself wanting to contradict him.
"Well I think it's a great quirk," Midoriya said earnestly. "Definitely a quirk that'll be of great use as a pro hero."
"Talking about pro heroes, you can't forget that being a pro hero is also a popularity contest," Aoyama interrupted, striking a pose even while seated. "So a quirk like mine, naval laser, is incredibly flashy and strong enough for a pro hero quirk."
"Too bad your stomach could collapse," Mina said, laughing at her own comment.
That comment however made me worry about Aoyama more than I wanted to admit. Quirks that harmed the user were always problematic in the long run.
"If we're gonna talk about flashy and strong, Arthur, Bakugo and Todoroki are also strong contenders," someone said, I think it was Kirishima again.
"I think Tokoyami's is also up there," I interrupted, glancing toward our perpetually shadowed classmate. To be honest, I found his quirk the coolest of our class.
Tokoyami himself suddenly sat up straight at my words, a look of surprise crossing his bird-like features, at least I think it was surprise, because you know... he had bird like features, it was hard to get a read on him.
"We're almost there, so all of you settle down," Aizawa yelled from the front of the bus.
We all came out of the bus to see a giant building, its doors opened wide in what seemed like a welcoming gesture. When we walked through, my classmates and I couldn't help but be amazed by the sheer scale of what lay before us.
The facility consisted of a dome-shaped building composed of eight main sections, with six of them emulating particular disaster scenarios. It was like someone had taken every possible emergency situation and created perfect training environments for each one.
No wonder we had to drive all the way here.
The entrance to the building consisted of a large blue gate located to the north.
The central area connected all the simulation areas as well as the main entrance, serving as a hub from which we could access any of the disaster zones. I began to take into account each section.
The ruins zone, located in the northeast, simulated a destroyed urban environment with buildings found in precarious conditions, some tilted at dangerous angles, others partially collapsed.
A landslide zone to the east simulated sloped terrain with assorted debris scattered about. The mountain zone to the south simulated a rocky, mountainous area filled with cliffs and narrow passages that would challenge any rescue operation.
The conflagration zone to the southwest simulated an urban environment that was constantly on fire, I didn't know how they had done that.
A flood zone to the west simulated a maritime environment complete with a lake, a ship, and even what looked like a waterslide. The downpour zone to the northwest simulated an urban environment constantly hit by heavy rainfall and strong winds, again I had no clue how they had built it.
Still it was incredible, a marvel of engineering, which made me wonder if Nezu had something to do with it.
In front of us stood one of the teachers for this trial, someone I actually recognized because I had seen her multiple times when I arrived at scenes ravaged by natural disasters. In fact, I was pretty sure she had been there during the snow avalanche that fell on that town in Akita Prefecture, the one where I had rescued Nejire.
"This is a practical training area I created to simulate all kinds of accidents and disasters, and the name is... the Ultimate Space for Jams!"
"It's Space Hero Thirteen!" Midoriya yelled, excited beyond measure.
"He's the gentlemanly hero who does phenomenal work with disaster relief," Uraraka added, almost as excited as Midoriya.
"She? Gentlemanly?" I said, more aloud than I would have liked. The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Uraraka turned to me, her round face scrunched up in confusion as if wondering what I meant.
"Uhm, is that private information?" I asked Thirteen directly.
"Not really, no."
"He's a she," I clarified.
"Impossible!" Uraraka yelled, her eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. "Then what about the gentlemanly reputation and the posters and the..."
She continued to ramble, no longer minding us.
"How'd you even know?" Thirteen asked me.
"I have really good ears." It was the simplest explanation, plus it was honest. Two points.
And those good ears also picked up something else at that moment, Mina's voice from somewhere behind me.
"Your nickname should really be Unfairquirk, like seriously."
"Before we begin," Thirteen said, her voice taking on a more serious tone, "just one thing or two... or three... or four. I'm certain you're all quite aware, but my quirk is called Black Hole. No matter what material may get sucked into its vortex, I'm afraid it turns it all into dust."
"Now that's a quirk that's perfect for removing wreckage and saving people injured by disasters," Midoriya yelled again, I wondered what made him stutter and what didn't, because this was most definitely the latter of the two scenarios.
"Yes, it is," Thirteen agreed. "However, it is also a quirk that can be easily used to kill people. In that regard, it's no different from any quirk from any other person in here. Naturally, in this society of superhumans, quirks are strictly regulated and the requirements for their lawful use are enforced. I'm sure some of you know that better than others."
I felt the gazes of my classmates settle on me
Yeah, yeah, I get it. I was a vigilante. I used my quirk without a license. The point was made.
She went on to explain the lessons from the previous two classes and what we were supposed to learn today, emphasizing that this lesson was about how our quirks do not exist to hurt others but to help people.
"That is all. You have my gratitude for listening so intently and patiently," she finished, performing a respectful bow.
It looked like she was expecting applause, which she did receive from Midoriya. She probably would have also received some from Uraraka, but she was still muttering the same thing over and over again under her breath.
"He is a she. He is a she."
Suddenly, I felt something was very wrong. It started as a prickle at the back of my neck.
An instinct.
And then I saw it, a black swirl materializing in the central plaza below us, dark like a moonless sky. Through that swirl, I could see beyond to a group of figures that made my blood run cold.
Villains.
BOOM
A/N: Yeah, sorry for the late chapter again, god, I'm getting these out way too late. Either way don't worry I won't leave you guys in a cliffhanger, it won't take me long to finish today's bonus chapter. 4 or 5 hours most likely.
Oh some of you may be wondering why the villain league didn't attack All Might before the USJ incident like in the battle trial for example since they got the curriculum much earlier.
Well the reason for that is because ground beta is much, much closer to U.A. so reinforcements would have come much faster.
That's all for now. Thx for reading. Author out.