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It all starts when Aizawa's assignment ends up with Snipe teaching Midoriya. The names are randomly drawn for the newest task, something about learning new fighting skills and working with different pros for a week in order to increase their skills, nothing entirely out of the ordinary. Midoriya has had a few interactions with the masked man, and he seems pleasant enough, he has a suiting cowboy aesthetic going on and an interesting Quirk. Midoriya doesn't work with projectiles for the most part, but he's sure he can incorperate some of Snipe's style into his Quirk with a bit of modification.
After everyone is dispersed, he makes his way to the location where the teacher is waiting for him and smiles nervously. "Hi, Mr. Snipe. Mr. Aizawa told me I was assigned to you for this assignment, it'll be nice working with you!" He holds out a hand and recieves a firm shake in return. The man is tall and a gun is clearly visible, but Midoriya isn't really that intimidated. He would probably be more shaken up if it was his first time meeting the guy, but he's seen him around enough to not blink an eye. "So, should we get started on the first lesson? My Quirk doesn't incorperate many projectiles, but I'm excited to learn whatever you want to teach me!"
"Alright kid, hold out your hands." He does so and blinks as something cold and metal is placed in them. He looks down and sees an entire gun in his palms. His face goes pale and he looks back up at Snipe. "You never know when you're gonna need to use one of these bad boys, so it's best to start early! Don't look so terrified, kid, it's modified and non-lethal." Midoriya feels like he might pass out as he grips it shakily, despite the last bit of information. He's never actually held one of these before, his mother has always told him to keep his distance from them, just in case. He can distantly remember his father having a collection of them, but they were always locked up and kept out of his reach because of his young age. It's weird to actually be using one.
Mr. Aizawa's gonna kill me is all he thinks as he's guided towards a row of targets.
They don't start right away, which he's glad for. He feels too jittery to start shooting at things automatically. They begin with Snipe teaching him about the mechanics and each part of the gun he's holding, one that matches the one Midoriya has. Midoriya finds himself impressed by the way he intelligently answers each eager question he asks, and relieved that he doesn't seem to get annoyed even when Midoriya mumbles the information to himself as he copies it down in his notebook. "Your writing is pretty thorough kid, i'm impressed." Midoriya's face turns bright red at the compliment. Once he's filled out a page and a half they move on to the next step.
Snipe mostly ends up standing near him, correcting his posture and the positioning of his hands. They've thankfully stopped shaking, for the most part. Once they're done going over all the safety requirements and the basics, he manages to get a shot or two in before the end of the day. They're shaky and not perfect, his Quirk doesn't come with the accuracy that Snipe's does, but he's still pretty confident he did alright for his first time. Once he leaves after thanking the man, he opens his phone and finds the chat with his friends, named the 'Dekusquad' by Uraraka. She's eagerly talking about how she's learning a lot while working with Midnight.
(Midoriya sends a that's cool, snipe's teaching me to use a gun and the chat explodes. It's mostly Iida.)
The rest of the week passes with more training, and by the end of it Midoriya's confident in his abilities. Snipe has complimented his knowledge and everything is practically burned into his mind. He's sitting in class listening to Kaminari talk about how cool it was working with Present Mic when Aizawa stands, still wearing his sleeping bag, and draws the attention of the class. "Alright, since it's been a week with your assigned pro, you're going to be demonstrating the skills you learned in battle matches with each other. Everyone grab your hero costumes and follow me." The class chats excitedly about the following battle as they change, and Midoriya's gut suddenly feels like it's tangled in knots.
While the first match, Kirishima and Uraraka, happens, Midoriya hastily looks over his notes again and again. A firm hand claps his shoulder and he looks up. "You'll do fine, kid, just don't freeze up and remember what I told you. Which should be easy since you wrote all of that down." He nods and takes a deep breath. This is just a practice battle, just to show off the skills he's learned. He looks out at the battle again, Uraraka seems to have a bit of a lead, but Kirishima is quickly catching up. Aizawa is watching, Shinsou stood beside him. He must be here to get another glimpse into the hero course, Midoriya thinks, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He's gonna do great once he officially transfers here!
Uraraka barely scrapes by and wins the first match. Todoroki wins his against Bakugo, and then Hagakure wins against Tokoyami. The rest of the matches pass quickly, and before he knows it he's up against Kaminari. "Wow Midoriya, is that a gun in your pocket or are you just that happy to see me?" Midoriya bites back a laugh at that as Kaminari grins, lightning sparking around his hands. Midoriya reaches down to his pocket and makes the blond boy raise an eyebrow slightly. Well, I am supposed to show off my new skills in this battle, he reminds himself. He catches a quick glimpse of Snipe watching him and turns back to Kaminari.
"It's a gun." He pulls it out and aims it so that it won't hit anything important if something happens. It might be non-lethal, but he still doesn't feel like accidentally firing something at his friend's face. Kaminari's confidence falters as he stares at the weapon, as if trying to comprehend it. "Hey, you're the one who asked," Midoriya shrugs with his free arm. He glances over at Aizawa, who has his head buried in his hands, and Shinsou, who's staring at him with his mouth slightly agape, closing every so often and making him look like a very suprised fish. "Kaminari- Kaminari please don't freak out I promise i'm not going to shoot you-" he backtracks quickly once he looks at his opponent again.
"Snipe" Aizawa hisses through clenched teeth, he sighs as he looks back at the battle scene. "Midoriya just- just use your regular Quirk. Don't break any bones, it might be my final straw." They both nod as Midoriya slips the weapon away, green energy surrounding him as he falls into a fighting stance. Kaminari, seemingly less terrified, copies him, electricity flowing around his hands. Aizawa walks over to where the other teacher is standing and crosses his arms. "Are you serious?" He mumbles, his brow furrowed. Snipe shrugs casually.
"You know what comes with my Quirk, Aizawa. Besides, I tought him how to use it properly and it's modified!" He replies. Aizawa takes a deep breath and then goes back to moniter the fight. Kaminari is on the verge of frying his brain and Midoriya is bruised up, but thankfully nothing is broken. Once the match ends, Midoriya using Kaminari's overly-electrified state against him, he lets the students have a bit of free time while he looks over the results. He looks over at Shinsou, who has his gaze locked on a certain green-haired student who's eagerly chatting with Iida and Uraraka about something he can't quite decipher.
"Why are you staring at the problem child?" He mumbles to his student. The teen looks over, eyes wide and starry, a faint red tint to his face, more expressive than Aizawa has probably ever seen him. With a deep breath, and another look towards Midoriya, he turns back to his teacher and speaks, just barely audible with the loud chatter of Class 1-A behind the two of them.
"Sensei, I think I'm in love."
Aizawa hides his face in his scarf and prays for an early retirement.