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The first time Izumi saw All Might since their meeting on Dagobah Beach all those months ago was as he burst through Class 1-A’s door in his silver age costume, ready to lead the class off to their first lesson in practical heroics: Battle Training.
Everyone in the class, Izumi included, was excited to see All Might. The number one hero was really going to be their teacher! UA was amazing!
All Might didn’t address Izumi directly or even hint that they’d previously met, but she could feel his pride in her coming from their string as he talked to the class. It was enough for her to know that she had his support.
Izumi grabbed her costume case with the rest of the class and hurried down to the locker rooms, eager to see what the support company had done with the designs she’d sent in.
First went the all-black bodysuit. Sleeves down a few inches past the elbow, leggings all the way to her ankles, and a modest neckline just above her collarbones. If they’d followed her instructions, it should allow for the flexibility she’d need to fight and parkour, but still be durable and flame retardant.
Next were the boots. The soles were like those of her parkour shoes, designed for flexibility and grip, but unlike those shoes, these went up to just below her knees. Izumi made sure to test the range of motion to be sure the boot design wouldn’t impede her ability to move. The boots were mostly green, a few shades lighter than her eyes, with black accents wrapping up around her calves.
After her boots were on, Izumi shrugged into the three-quarter sleeve half jacket. It was more durable than the jumpsuit but didn’t restrict movement too much. The important feature, however, was the loops built into the material to hold her tonfa, removing the need for a harness like she’d worn in the entrance exam. The jacket was the same green as her boots, with black accents along the seams and front.
The belt went on next. Its design was one that Izumi had debated over for a while, but she’d finally settled on something that had both form and function. She’d wanted something of her costume to reflect her quirk in a way, and the belt presented the best opportunity for that. As she buckled it on and positioned it, Izumi was pleased with the way it had turned out. It was a standard utility belt—green with silver clasps—settled around her hips with pouches for basic first aid supplies, but attached to the belt were three lengths of thin, green rope that rested elegantly over her hips both above and below the utility belt. They weren’t long enough to get in her way or to be of any practical use. They were purely for the aesthetic.
Because the belt sat where Izumi would normally sheath her sai, she’d requested thigh holsters instead. They were pure black and blended in almost completely with the jumpsuit. They were surprisingly comfortable considering she’d never used thigh sheaths before, but she definitely wasn’t complaining.
Last on was the headpiece. It was a simple laurel wreath and she’d included it for aesthetic purposes, an homage to the hero name she wanted to eventually go with. The leaves were a very light yellow-green and rested just above her ears once the wreath was in place. She silently thanked Shouchan for having braided her hair during lunch, so it was already neat and secured and she didn’t have to worry about it.
Checking the time, Izumi determined she had just enough to add the finishing touches. A thick stripe of dark shadow across her eyes worked like a mask to slightly obscure her features, and black lipstick coated her lips.
Ready, at last, Izumi jogged out of the locker room and caught up with Uraraka as they made their way to the training grounds. Uraraka looked great, but the girl seemed slightly uncomfortable with the tightness of her bodysuit.
“You look great, Uraraka, but if it bothers you, you should see if the support company can redo it. You’ll never know unless you ask,” Izumi suggested.
“I’ll give it a test run today, and send in the request if I need it,” Uraraka agreed.
“At the very least, maybe request shoes that don’t have a heel?” Izumi cringed at the, frankly, ridiculous design of Uraraka’s boots.
The other girl pouted, “You think I should?”
“I’d bust ass and break something if I tried to freerun or parkour in those, but if they work for your style and you like them, then ignore me. Just keep in mind that disaster areas and high heels don’t typically mix well.”
They joined the rest of the class as Uraraka mused over Izumi’s comments, and Izumi immediately took note of everyone’s costumes, excited to see what they’d come up with. Several jumped out right away, for various reasons, but Izumi didn’t have long to catalog everyone.
“Michan!” Kacchan's costume was pretty much exactly what Izumi expected. Loose-fitting cargo pants, black tank top with an orange X across his chest, his favorite boots, and an artfully tattered domino mask held on by decorative over-earpieces that looked like comic book explosions. The gauntlets were as enormous as she’d feared they’d be, but there had been no talking him out of them.
“You look great.” Shouchan gave her a soft smile as he approached with Kacchan. His costume was a deep, rich blue that Izumi loved. The fabric was meant to withstand both fire and ice so he wouldn’t damage it—or himself—with his quirk. Other than the jumpsuit, he had a harness and a utility belt, both of which carried various first aid supplies in a multitude of small pockets, and his snow boots.
“Thank you,” Izumi replied. “Your costumes come with any surprises? Uraraka said hers was tighter than she’d pictured.”
Kacchan glanced over Uraraka’s costume and shrugged. “Pink Cheeks looks fine,” he blithely ignored Uraraka’s objectionable squeak at the nickname, and continued, “you’re the one with the hazard. What the fuck are these?” Kacchan grabbed one of the ropes on her belt and tugged.
“Let her go, Bakugou,” Shouchan ordered quietly.
“Yeah, ease up, she looks awesome.” Uraraka cheered.
Before anyone could say another word about it, All Might began the lesson. The hero had decided to throw the class into the proverbial deep end with paired team fights for their first practical heroics class. Izumi hoped she’d get partnered with one of her friends, but she wouldn’t mind one of the others either. There were definitely a few she’d love to see work their quirks up close.
“Team A will be Midoriya Izumi and Yaorashi Inasa!” All Might declared and Izumi waved to her friends before walking over to Yaorashi, keeping an ear open to note which teams they wound up on.
Yaorashi was the giant boy she’d noted the first day of class, a recommendation student, and he had a powerful wind manipulation quirk if she recalled correctly. She barely came up to his chest, and he was easily twice as wide as she was; they were certainly an odd-looking pair.
“I don’t believe we got the chance to introduce ourselves yesterday; I’m Midoriya Izumi. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you!” Yaorashi was very loud. Several students hushed him as All Might was still calling out teams.
“Team D: Bakugou Katsuki and Todoroki Shouto!”
Izumi winced. Whoever went up against them would be in for one hell of a match. From the general murmuring from her classmates, they seemed to agree that none of them wanted to be the ones to face the overpowered duo.
Yaorashi seemed content to stand next to her in silence as the rest of the teams were called, but Izumi caught him looking at her curiously from the corner of her eye. She tried not to think anything of it, but the scrutiny was a little unsettling after a while.
Once the teams were decided, All Might drew balls from two boxes to decide which teams were heroes and villains and which pairs would face off.
“First up, we have Team D as the heroes! Verses! Team A as the villains!”
“Oh man,” Kaminari chuckled. “That’s some bad luck, Yaorashi. Hope you’re ready to carry your team.”
“Shut the hell up Dunce Face, you don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kacchan snapped.
“Aww, that’s sweet, you’re defending your girlfriend,” Mina giggled.
“What?! She’s not my girlfriend, Raccoon Eyes!”
“She doesn’t need Bakugou to defend her,” Shouchan added calmly. “Of the two of them, Yaorashi isn’t the threat.”
Most of the class looked surprised and glanced skeptically at Izumi, but All Might called the class back to order before any more discussion could break out. Those not participating in the first round were shown to an observation room before All Might returned to give the two teams further instructions. He handed Yaorashi and Izumi earpieces before letting them get set up inside. They’d have fifteen minutes to hide the weapon and formulate a plan.
“Yes, Sir!” Yaorashi bowed deeply to All Might before gesturing broadly to Izumi to lead the way into the building with a wink. “Ladies first.”
Once they were out of earshot, Yaorashi remarked, “You are certainly carrying a lot of weapons.”
“Yeah,” Izumi shrugged with a what-can-you-do smile. “I can’t use my quirk to fight, so I had to adapt.”
“I was unable to tell what your quirk was during the assessment test. Would you share it with me, as we are to be partners?”
“I call it Soul Strings,” Izumi said quietly. “Essentially, it allows me to see a representation of peoples’ connections to each other. No good for fighting, but it does allow me to find people as long as I can follow a connection, which means I’ll know where both our ‘heroes’ are at all times.”
“An interesting quirk. Thank you for sharing! Is it fair to assume they know how your quirk works?”
“They do,” Izumi agreed.
“So they probably won’t go with a stealth approach,” Yaorashi surmised.
Izumi chuckled. “They wouldn’t have even if I couldn’t track them. Stealth isn’t really Kacchan’s style.”
“It seems you know them well, and they consider you a threat. In that case, I will defer to your judgment! How do you believe we should proceed?”
Surprised, but pleasantly so, Izumi considered her options quickly before asking, “How much control do you have with your quirk?”
~*~*~
At the end of the fifteen minutes, All Might’s voice came over the intercom declaring the hero team’s start. As soon as they were given the signal, Kacchan’s string shot up as Shouchan’s advanced only a few steps into the building. As Izumi predicted, they opted to split up.
Izumi gave Yaorashi the signal and soon she, Yaorashi, and the bomb were held aloft by a powerful current of air. It was difficult for him to control, so she held onto his cape while he held the bomb in his hands to keep them from blowing away. He didn’t need to hold it long, just a few moments.
In a few seconds, the entire building—floors, walls, and ceilings—was coated in a layer of ice from Shouchan’s quirk. He’d no doubt hoped to trap them, but Yaorashi’s quirk kept them safe. Once the ice covered everything, Izumi told him to let them down.
They’d survived the initial assault.
“Kacchan’s coming from the roof and Shouchan’s making his approach from the ground,” Izumi reported.
“Go, I’ll keep the bomb secure.”
Izumi saluted him with a grin and bounced out of the room, following Kacchan’s string up to the top floor. She drew her tonfa as she stalked her prey, silent as a cat, and thanked the extra grip in her boots that kept her steady on the ice. It didn’t take her long to find him as they rounded opposite corners of the same hallway.
“Figures you found a way around IcyHot’s trap. I told him it wasn’t gonna work.” Kacchan’s palms popped with rapid mini-explosions as he strode toward her.
Izumi dug her heels into the icy floor, held her tonfa in a defensive hold braced against her forearms, and put her guard up. On unsure footing, the less moving around, the better. Let Kacchan risk slipping and sliding across the ice; she was content to wait for him to close the gap.
Kacchan was a good fighter, skilled and adaptive, but no matter how many times Touya-nii scolded him in training, he always opened with a right hook. Izumi was ready for it, so when he came at her with a quirk-powered punch, she sidestepped and drove the butt of her tonfa into the bottom of his enormous gauntlet. The force of her hit pushed his arm up—though thankfully the gauntlet would protect his arm from breaking—and his explosion went off over their heads.
Izumi dodged the follow-up attack by jumping out of range of his knee, hitting her back against the wall. Not the best spot to be in, so Izumi switched her grip on the tonfa to give her a little more reach and aimed for his solar plexus. Kacchan wisely backed up but sent an explosion at her in retaliation. Izumi’s suit was fire-resistant for a reason, though, and she took the hit on her arms without hesitation and came back swinging. Hooking one tonfa in the space between the gauntlet’s body and trigger, Izumi swung herself into Kacchan’s space and elbowed him in the nose. He went stumbling back and she divested him of the gauntlet in the process.
As he cursed, nursing his nose, Izumi tossed his gauntlet down the hall. “I told you they were ridiculous.”
Kacchan growled and fired blast after blast, forcing Izumi on the defensive. She backed down the hall, avoiding the brunt of the explosions until she could duck into an open doorway. There was a chance Kacchan didn’t see her retreat through the fire and smoke, so Izumi returned her tonfa to their sheaths before jumping up and grabbing hold of the doorframe. Thanks to Kacchan’s explosions, most of the ice in the area had melted, so she didn’t have to worry about slipping. Hoisting herself up, Izumi flipped so she was hidden above the door, legs spread against the ceiling. Superior grip strength and balance kept her in place as she waited for Kacchan’s string to tell her he was in position.
While she waited, Izumi took the time to track Shouto’s string to check his progress.“Shouchan is almost to you,” Izumi warned Yaorashi.
“I’m ready,” He confirmed. He sounded confident, even eager. Izumi hoped he wasn’t underestimating his opponent.
Once Kacchan reached the doorway, Izumi swung down, planting both of her feet into Kacchan’s arm and shoulder in a brutal kick. The momentum from her swing sent Kacchan into the opposite wall and she landed crouched in front of him.
Unfortunately, Kacchan recovered faster than she expected and Izumi wasn’t fast enough to dodge the sweeping kick, knocking her feet out from under her. Kacchan jumped on her as soon as her back hit the ground and he tried to wrap her wrists in capture tape. Fortunately, he hadn’t bothered to trap her legs so Izumi fought him off with a swift kick to the back of his head. Dazed from the hit, Kacchan paused long enough to give her the time she needed to push him off.
“Ah! There you are, Todoroki!” Yaorashi’s voice was very loud through the earpiece, but Izumi appreciated the confirmation that Shouchan had found him.
Shouchan had obviously reported as much to Kacchan because the blonde snapped, “Fucking take him out and get the bomb, dumbass! I’m busy !”
“Busy getting your ass kicked,” Izumi smirked.
“You wish!” Kacchan’s grin was feral. He was definitely enjoying himself.
Izumi was having fun too. Sparring without having to hold back was exciting! Normally, she’d worry she’d hurt her friends if she didn’t. The sai and tonfa were non-lethal weapons, but they were still weapons. Fortunately, with Recovery Girl on-call for injuries, she didn’t have to worry so much.
Both of them were back on their feet and circling, looking for an opening when Yaorashi’s voice came back through the comm.
“I was ready to give you the benefit of the doubt, Todoroki. I hoped that Midoriya’s high opinion of you meant you were different. But you’re not, are you? I can see it in your eyes.” Yaorashi sounded angry, and Izumi wondered what the hell he was talking about.
Kacchan managed to land a solid punch to Izumi’s jaw while she was distracted, but she paid him back with a kick to the back of his knee.
“I met him once, you know? I could tell he was rotten; definitely wasn’t surprised when he was arrested. I shouldn’t be surprised to see that same cold malevolence in you. Like father, like son, right?”
Izumi stumbled, thrown completely off-kilter by the baseless, abhorrent, utter bullshit coming over the comm. She felt a wave of ice-cold shock sweep down her spine, replaced in the next breath with an overwhelming, searing, incandescent rage. She felt Shouchan’s distress over their string, and it only fed the flames of her ire.
Kacchan was between Izumi and where she needed to be.
Taking a firm mental hold of their string, Izumi yanked as hard as she could on her connection to Kacchan. He’d never been able to articulate exactly what it was like to feel her pull on the strings that connected her to other people, but he had said a hard enough pull gave a sense of danger and urgency.
A move like this wouldn’t work against anyone she didn’t already have a strong connection to, but she hoped it would throw him off just a little.
Kacchan inhaled sharply, momentarily distracted, but it was all the opening Izumi needed. Two rapid jabs to his diaphragm left him winded and hunched, followed by a knee to his nose—she was pretty sure she heard and felt it break that time—and Izumi finished the job with an elbow to his temple. Kacchan went down, barely hanging on to consciousness, and Izumi bound his wrists in capture tape.
“Sorry Kacchan,” She apologized before sprinting for the stairs.
Izumi didn’t bother with steps, launching herself over the railing and catching herself on the handrail one story down. She pushed off again, repeating the process until she was on the right floor. Izumi blew through the door, racing full tilt for Shouchan and Yaorashi.
When she arrived, she could see that Shouchan was not doing well. He was still fighting, still holding his own against Yaorashi’s assault, but he looked like he was ready to crawl into a hole and hide until he could master his emotions again.
Izumi drew a sai and threw it as she ran. The weapon embedded itself in the ice wall next to Shouchan’s head, startling him. He turned to face the new threat, but she was already there and tackled him to the ground. He landed on his back with an “oof,” arms instinctively going up to cradle Izumi so she didn’t get hurt as if she’d just given him an aggressive hug rather than attacked him.
“Izumi…?”
“Hold that thought,” she crooned softly, before breaking free of his loose hold and binding his hands together with capture tape.
All Might’s voice rang out over their earpieces, “Villain team wins!”
Izumi broke the capture tape with a ruthless snap and climbed off of Shouchan as Yaorashi rounded the wall of ice. Her partner smiled hugely at her and boasted, “That was impressive, Midoriya! I hope I can review the video to see how you–”
“Shut up,” Izumi seethed, glaring daggers at the asshole who had dared to say Shouto was in any way similar to his father. She closed the distance quickly to keep Yaorashi as far from Shouchan as she could. “You arrogant, self-righteous, loathsome, prick !”
Yaorashi doubled over nearly in half, wheezing, clutching his family jewels after Izumi decked him with an unrestrained punch. With tears gathering in the corner of his eyes from the pain, Yaorashi had the gall to look up at Izumi with confusion.
“Midoriya!” All Might scolded over the comm.
“You heard what he said to Shouto, All Might.” Izumi snapped back, heedless of any potential repercussions. She plucked the earpiece from her ear and held it to her mouth, “Sorry, not sorry.”
Izumi turned the device off and stuffed it in one of her belt pouches before turning her back on the still-wheezing Yoarashi.
After coaxing Shouchan to his feet, Izumi wrapped him up in a hug, whispering soft words of comfort and support as he clung to her. As much as she didn’t want to move him before he was ready, they needed to melt the ice and leave the building so they could find somewhere more private for the panic attack she could sense overtaking him.
She poured her feelings of comfort and safety and home through her and Shouchan’s string as she held his left hand and pressed it against the ice, “Fight’s over, Shouchan. Time to clean up, come on.”
Once the ice had melted and Izumi had collected her sai, she and Shouchan met the rest of the class in the observation room. All Might looked down at her with a disappointed frown over his crossed arms as they entered.
“Midoriya, assaulting another classmate outside of appropriate training scenarios is unacceptable. Given the context, I won’t push for the maximum penalty, but you will be punished. Understood?”
“Yes, Sensei.” Izumi figured she wouldn’t get away with it without punishment, but she honestly didn’t care.
“Bakugou,” All Might turned to Kacchan, “escort Todoroki to Recovery Girl so she can see to your injuries.”
“Tch,” Kacchan put up only a token protest, but since his nose was obviously broken and bleeding, he caved quickly. “Get moving, Half-and-Half.”
That was remarkably gentle for Kacchan.
Izumi watched as her friends left the room, forlornly. She would have liked to go with them, but she understood that All Might couldn’t reward her behavior. Instead, she sat through the rest of the class quietly, observing the other teams as they completed the training, and ignoring the curious looks thrown her way from the others.
After class, the girls practically bombarded her with questions. Without audio, they had no idea what Yaorashi had said, but they were dying to know what had been bad enough to warrant her outburst.
Izumi kept it simple. “Dicks get dick-punched.”