"How long has it been since we've met, brother? Two weeks?" Todo's voice was low, as he sat down with Sukuna on a worn wooden bench beneath an oak tree. The park was quiet, save for the occasional rustle of leaves in the night breeze.
"I lost count." Sukuna muttered, on the phone texting a certain pink girl, barely paying attention to the muscular man beside him.
"You know, after some analyzing, I realized something. All Might really is getting weaker, just like you said a while ago." Todo brought up. Now that was something that reined in Sukuna's attention. Shutting his phone off, he leaned back against the bench.
"What gives?"
"I'm not sure. But his strength is going downhill, and his patrols are lessening by the week, not counting the fact that he's one of UA's faculty. I estimate that he'd be completely powerless by the end of this year."
"And no one's realized it yet."
Todo chuckled. "That's the scary part, you know? Eventually that man will retire, Japan will be chaotic once more, like the old days when Quirks only started surfacing. If I'm correct, then you're going to be in one heck of a school life."
Sukuna shrugged. "I don't mind. I'm capable under pressure. So long as my goals are still achievable, I'll do what it takes." A distant dog barked, then silence returned.
"Do you really think it'll work? Changing the way society works..." Sukuna muttered.
"Woah, is that doubt I sense from you?" Todo looked at Sukuna with a look of surprise. Sukuna raised an eyebrow.
"I'm merely asking for your opinion. I can't do that now?"
"It's possible with the right people. Thing is everyone has their own selfish agendas when becoming heroes, so finding people who want to join forces with you will be difficult, especially in UA."
"So you're saying UA is not the path for me then?" Sukuna glanced at Todo, the man then shaking his head.
"Who knows, brother..." Todo looked him straight in the eyes.
"The world might need Ryomen Sukuna sooner than you think..."
...
A few days later...
"For this heroics class, we will be conducting a special lesson, supervised by me, All Might and another hero. Today you all will be going through..." Aizawa wrote the word 'rescue' on the whiteboard. While he wrote, some senior Support Course students entered carrying briefcases of Class 1-A's hero costumes.
"The Trial of Rescue." The class was fully interested now. Finally, something other than purely refining their Quirks. Not that they're saying it's a bad thing to work on it, but learning more about the responsibilities of being a hero is a much better lesson.
"Each of a will be dealing with natural disasters, shipwrecks and stuff like that.This time, it's entirely up to each to you whether you wear your hero costumes, as some of your outfits may or may not be suitable for the task at hand. In addition to that, the training area is a fair ways away, so we'll be getting there by bus." Their teacher explained as he walked to the door. He stopped, looking back at them.
"Get changing. I expect you all to gather at the bus stop in 15 minutes."
"Yes sir!!"
...
"Oh? How come you're in your gym clothes?" Uraraka asked Izuku who was wearing the school's gym clothing, added with his respirator, red belt, white gloves, black elbow and knee pads, and his signature bright red shoes.
Izuku smiled a little, pointing at himself. "My costume got wrecked during the Battle Trial. The repairs are being handled by the Support Course, so in the meantime, I'm wearing this." He explained. Uraraka nodded, actually liking this look over his costume the other day(n-not that she thought it was cute or anything!!!)
"I heard Sukuna and this genius girl called Mei were tasked with fixing your outfit."
"Wait really?!" Both Izuku and Uraraka looked at Mina who nodded, a small smile on her face.
"Mei spilled the tea to me the other day when they were having the electives together. She said that she's never seen Sukuna so focused on a project, ever. Period." Mina grinned at Izuku, though internally she wished that Sukuna would make her an outfit, already pestering him for it, saying that she'd definitely treat it like it was Gucci.
"I see...." Izuku whispered, glancing at Sukuna, the pink haired boy having a serious discussion with the class vice president.
He was definitely indebted to him, not saying that he wasn't before, but he really couldn't let anyone down at this point, even the ones that supposedly dislike him(i.e Sukuna), were actually supporting him behind the scenes.
He clenched his fists, vowing that he'd do his best during this Rescue Trial.
" Izuku." Izuku jolted a little, turning around to look at Momo who had called him out of the blue. The black haired girl motioned him to come over. And so he did.
"I have a couple of questions for you." She started off, while Sukuna stood to the side, crossing his arms.
"Y-yes, ask away..." He nodded, a little unsettled at the seriousness to her tone.
"How's your Quirk training coming along?"
"O-oh, it's doing well." Izuku nodded, lips forming a smile. "I have found a way to use a percentage of my full power throughout my body, by letting the power course and flow through me instead of concentrating it all at once. So now I can constantly use my Quirk without breaking my body."
"I see, that's a good sign. We wouldn't want any mishaps during this trial. Though I have to ask, when you mentioned a percentage, how many percent of the full power can you use exactly?" Momo asked.
"Oh uh... about 5%... But don't worry! I'm still working on breaking that limit. And I can assure you that I won't cause any trouble that would let the two of you and sensei get blamed." Izuku nodded, full of certainty im his eyes.
"You better hold onto that then..." Sukuna grumbled. Izuku bowed a little before running off. Momo sighed, rubbing her forehead.
"Let's hope this trip doesn't turn into another fiasco, we've had enough of those for this month."
Sukuna didn't reply, as he and Momo led their classmates to line up before entering the bus.
...
"Did you all bring your walkie talkies?" Mina brought up, as some of them took out their walkie talkies to answer her question.
"Bakubro?" Mina looked at Bakugo who remained silent. The blonde scowled a little before taking out the device strapped on his belt.
"Happy now?" He grumbled. Mina smiled as the conversation continued. Sukuna stayed silent for most of the trip to the training area, though he did join in the conversation once in a while, mostly due to Mina finding ways to slide him into the conversation.
As they arrived, Aizawa led them into the facility through a large blue gate. "This is the USJ." He introduced as the group stopped to look around.
"Sweet, never knew Universal Studios Japan went through a renovation." Denki joked, Aizawa resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"The Unforeseen Simulation Joint is going to help you all in training for various disaster rescues, teaching you how to appropriately act through these different scenarios. I expect you to pay full attention, as this part is one of the most essential in your future work as a pro." He stated. Just then, a person wearing a white puffy space suit approached them.
Some classmates(mainly Izuku) gasped, recognizing the pro hero in their presence.
"No way! Space Hero: Thirteen is gonna be teaching us?" Izuku muttered, his fanboy mode on. Thirteen waved at them joyfully as Aizawa approached his colleague.
"Where's All Might? He's supposed to be here with us." He whispered to Thirteen.
"He'd been out doing hero work while commuting here, and his time was up. So now he's resting in the break room."
"Apparently he did too much hero work on the way to school this morning and used up all his power. He's resting in the teacher's lounge as we speak." Aizawa sighed, rubbing his forehead.
"That man is the definition of irresponsibility. Whatever, we should be okay with just the two of us. Let's get started, we don't have time to waste." Thirteen saluted before heading back to the group of students.
Sukuna dug his ears, pretending like he didn't eavesdrop into the conversation. 'So he has a daily limit on how much he can use his Quirk now? Todo was spot on.' He mused as Thirteen started speaking.
"Kids, before we begin, let me just get some things through with you all." She began. "I'm sure you're aware that I have a powerful Quirk, called Black Hole. I can use it to suck up anything and turn it into dust..."
Izuku nodded, speaking up. " Yeah, you've used it to save people from all kinds of disasters before, right?"
"Yup. But I must admit, my Quirk could also very easily be used to kill. I could very well be a villain if I had walked down that path." It got uncomfortable really quickly.
"In our superhuman society, all Quirks are certified and stringently regulated so we often overlook how unsafe they can actually be. I urge you to never forget that if you lose focus or make the wrong move, your powers can be deadly to the point where it might take a life. Even if you're trying to do something virtuous, like rescuing someone..." Thirteen spoke with a solemn tone as some of Class 1-A further realized just how much pressure a hero faces daily.
Izuku looked down after hearing the pro's words, memories about what happened during the Battle Trial resurfacing.
"Thanks to Aizawa's fitness tests, you kids have a solid idea of your Quirk's potential. And due to All Might's combat training, uou likely experienced how dangerous your powers can be when used against other people. I'd like you to carry those lessons over to this class, because today you're going to learn how to use your Quirks to save people's lives."
She continued. " You won't be using your powers to attack enemies or each other, your sole purpose today is to only help. After all, that's what being a hero is all about. Ensuring the safety of others... That's all for now, why don't we start with the first task at hand—"
"Oi sensei! The hell is happening over there?!" Bakugo pointed at the central area below them that connected to the rest of the simulation areas.
Aizawa looked at where his student was pointing at and widened his eyes in horror. At the plaza, and on various zones in the facility, multiple large portals opened as hordes of people rushed out from them, all clearly out for blood.
"You have to be fucking kidding me..."
To be continued...