Chapter Text
The days passed in a blur for midoriya
The first days back in class where weird. A few students obviously missing from the classroom.... and from the looks of it... they weren’t coming back either.
The video gentle had posted went viral. Even if it was taken down it would just resurface on another account and be reposted all over the internet. He wished he could of seen it coming, he wished he would of seen the other videos and found out about the plan that gentle had boldly proclaimed to the whole world almost a full week before the festival.
He wished things had gone differently, he vividly remembers the worried phone calls melissa had gotten from her father and the utterly tired look on all the teachers, their eye bags almost rivaling aizawa’s
And the incident with kacchan obviously hadn’t helped their exhaustion...
He didn’t like to burden them this way... even if aizawa kept insisting that it was their responsibility as teachers.. he still didn’t like to. It took a toll on everyone involved. So he wasn’t particularly keen on sharing everything with hound dog... So every time aizawa talked about therapy.. he simply said he would think about it, and continued on his way. He didn’t need it. He was fine now anyway... so why burden them any more than they already where ?
What worried him most right now was his mom... it was only a question of time at this point. It had already been two months since he avoided the subject of classwork, his hero internship and the raid in general with her..
If he was honest he was a little scared of how she would react once she found out.. would she pull him out of U.A ? What would she think... He wasn’t sure...
He was happy he was able to not talk about it until the exercise though... at least once he finished it... at least once he got back into the hero course he could leverage that he was capable of being a hero despite being quirkless.
He didn’t know how it would end... but he sadly didn’t have time for that. The assembly hall called for him. The bright light from the windows on the ceiling illuminating the hall in a way that could only be called as grand and intimidating.
Right now he needed to take the first step. The student assembly calling to him, the exited chattering of the crowd could be heard. Excitement and apprehension bubbled up in his gut. Anxiety crawled up his lungs...
Would the two months of training be enough ? Would he be enough ?... he needed to pass, he had to pass, he needed to be a hero, even if he shared it.. the legacy was still his...-
Melissa stood beside him. Putting a comforting hand on his shoulder...
Taking a deep breath he stabilized his breathing.
Stepping in the assembly hall he shouted with all his might.
He didn’t scream it to the world... only keeping it to the confines of his mind. It was more of a promise to himself than to others
‘I am here !’
He would prove to them that they where here
In that instant he could almost feel the vestiges cry out with him. Their shouts echoing his bold declaration... no he.. was probably just imagining things..
Eventually he bid his goodbyes to melissa. Making his way to his seat number
———
"Good morning students ! You are all likely have many questions about the mysterious exercise you where called to participate in. But fear not ! All questions will be answered in time." Nedzu’s chipper voice rang out the auditorium
"Presenting ! The Unforeseen City Simulation Exercise. Or the NCSE for short !" Nedzu chirped again, the large screen behind him, revealing a cartoonish city not dissimilar to ground beta.
"This exercise has for goal to prepare our students from all courses to situations they will encounter in their future. May it be hunting villain groups or running businesses. This exercise will replicate the situations as well as possible. Before i answer any questions regarding any of you. I will let mister aizawa explain the roles." Nedzu spoke before stepping off the podium. Letting aizawa take center stage.
Aizawa stepped on stage. Not losing a second with pleasantries.
"First off, business owners. Their goal will be to recruit employees and make profit. The final goal will be to be the most successful and lucrative in their respective fields." Aizawa deadpanned to the auditorium. Not wasting a second shuffling through his papers
"Secondly, Most students not in the business or support course will have to apply for jobs, they will win with the business they work for. Choosing who you will work for is vital. As well as knowing what you can give to your employer and his team."
"Now. Heroes and villains." Aizawa took a deep breath. Looking more exhausted with every word he spoke
"The hero team will win if they survive until the end of the week. The agencies will work together but the one that wins will be the one that captured the most criminals and villains and stopped the most plans from the villains."
"The villains will do the same. The villain team that has the most takedowns and completed the most objectives. Will win."
That was an interesting twist. Both the hero team and the villain team could win the exercise... they just had to be the best of all the teams...
"Iida tenya and kendo istuka. Step up on stage. As class 1-a and 1-b’s representatives you will be the respective leaders of both your agencies. Recruit the heroes you want in your agency both of you have 7 spots. Don’t take too long." Aizawa deadpanned at them, cutting him from his train of tought
He sweat dropped seeing the nervous iida and kendo slowly making their way on stage.
Honestly he was glad he didn’t have to walk on stage. Being in front of literally everyone in their year... he probably would of shaken the whole way through !
He steeled back his train of thought as iida and kendo started taking turns enumerating each and every hero they wanted on their team.
The villains where at a natural advantage... they where more numerous and none of them where named while the heroes where all outed to everyone on stage although.... aizawa sensei didn’t specify if the villain teams worked together or not... if not there could potentially be allot of infighting.. if a team was too far ahead it would simply be easier to completely eliminate them as villains...
He ached for a pen and paper just thinking of all the possibilities... It promised to be a very interesting exercisse
He looked up and he saw the hero students for both agencies...-
-Iida tenya
Uraraka ochako
Asui tsuyu
Todoroki shouto
Yaoyorozu momo
Tokoyami fumikage
Koji koda
-Kendo itsuka
Tetsu tetsu
Ibara shiozaki
Nirengenki shoda
Juzo hunenuki
Shihai kuroiro
Neito monoma
Iida’s team was very well thought out. They had an ideal hero for, fast response, close quarter and long range combat, with additional recon and defensive options throughout the team, all the while picking students that went along with each other well.
He had clearly thought this through
"Good. Now that all is said and done, you have 48 hours to prepare. You students that weren’t imidiatelly chosen will be able to apply as interns if you so wish. Make the most of it. A rule book has been provided for the ones of you who want the finer details. If you look under your seat a letter has been given indicating each of your individual roles." Aizawa blankly said before quickly making his way to the back stage, his sleeping bag in hand.
After that, the ceremony slowly unraveled to a close. The rules where quite simple and obvious... no killing or permanent injuries. The student takedown system was much alike the combat trials at the start of the year, using the specially provided capture tape while they where pinned down would count as a takedown.
He shakily reached from under his seat and tucked the letter in his school uniform. Slowly walking away from the exited chatter of the assembly as it dispatched.
He made his way to the library... his nerves didn’t allow him to wait until he was back into the dorms before opening the letter. He didn’t know where he would fit in all this. The villains and heroes where quite clearly the hero course students...
As soon as he found an empty spot, he sat down and opened his letter harshly. Quickly scanning through the letter written for him inside.
"Dear midoriya izuku.
I am very pleased to see that you are still applying for the heroics course despite the current circumstances. It would of been a shame to lose such a bright mind to such an underwhelming incident !
As such, i wish you the best of luck in the up coming exercise as the official 3rd villain leader.
I will watch your performance with great interest. I hope to see you in our hero classes soon.
-principal Nedzu"
Well... that was a relatively simple answer to all his questions swirling in his mind...
But... who would team up with him ? Most of his close friends from his class where already in the hero team.. and he didn’t think anyone from 1-B would just team up with a random quirkless general educations student...-
"Hey izuku ! Guess who needs an assistant for their support company !" Melissa started appearing seemingly from nowhere, making him jump out of his skin.
"Oh.. sorry didn’t mean to startle you." She said sheepish upon seeing him jump. Sitting down in front of him
"N-no it’s fine." He said his heart rate refusing to calm down from the scare and the general nerves of the day
"You’re really nervous about it huh..." she trailed off
"what role did they assign you ?" She asked low
"I am villain leader..." he whispered
A look of understanding passed across her face. "I see that it’s going to be complicated..."
"We better start recruiting now then.." she trailed off before looking at him, her smile faltered a bit before she spoke up again
"It’s going to be okay. Even if you don’t get back into the hero course... i will be there. Okay ?" She reassured him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder
"yeah..." he trailed off before fixing his face. Taking hold of his determination again.
There was allot of work to do.
———
They went back to his dorm, and started their planning.
If they wanted to go anywhere with this exercise they needed a team.
They needed intel gathering. A heavy hitter, a shield, someone for transport, and someone to gather intel...
...within the remaining students they didn’t have many options for heavy hitters.
Bakugou was a no go. There was simply no way that bakugou would listen to him...
So they went through each and every student. Trying to assemble a team... but when melissa would meet them to try and recruit them...
"Sorry already got scouted.. it wouldn’t be manly of me to betray my friend like that !"
"Can’t. I am already on a team."
"Not interested."
"Sorry girl ! Maybe you should ask hagakure. As far as i know she hasn’t been scouted yet."
How would they do this alone ?...
Iida’s team was already quite well balanced. Each member of the team had a clear cut reason to be there and everyone on the team went along with each other quite well, the only thing really missing from the team was redundancies when it came to their intel gathering.
Kendo’s team was allot more blurry to him. He didn’t see 1-B’s quirks in action as often. But from the shallow perspective he had he could see her team was very well balanced. The quirk of shihai kurohiro could potentially be used for intel gathering. And if ibarra shiozaki could use her vines in a similar fashion that hawks used his feathers... she could potentially gather intel, monoma’s quirk also served as a guaranteed redundancy of any quirk on the team for at least a certain amount of time..
There was simply no way they could take them all head on...-
An idea popped in his head.
Why would they need to fight them ?... if.. if they where careful with the way they played their cards then maybe...
They didn’t need to fight them themselves. They could lay low and control things from the background while the other teams fought it out throughout the week. And once they where all weakened...-
They would strike.
It was a long shot... there was a lot of ways that it could go very very wrong.
But it was the best course of action given their current situation...
How it would unfold... well only time could tell.