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It takes a moment of feeling around for his fingers to graze a round object. He quickly clutches it before it can roll away and pulls it out of the hole in the dark box. The box is meant to keep their picks random and avoid anyone cheating the system to get paired with someone specific which doesn’t make much sense to him seeing as a majority of them had only met a little over twenty four hours before.
Izuku turns the colored ball in his hand until he catches sight of an emboldened "A" printed on its surface. Being one of the last to pull many people had already found their teammate which left him with few options though not an easier time finding them with all the paired teams still mingling about.
“Hey, Midoriya! Looks like we’re teammates!” His classmate exclaims as she bounds up to him and shows off her matching ball, stumbling slightly as she does. For a moment she gives her costume's heels an annoyed look but it quickly changes back into a wide smile. Izuku thinks her costume suits her, bright and bubbly as he'd come to learn she is, but he also understands her discomfort with the design. He couldn't imagine wearing the skin tight suit she sports now both because some days he can hardly look himself in the mirror without disgust for his own body. He knows there's nothing wrong with his height and that he'd gained a considerable amount of muscle mass since the never-ending comments on his thin form but in time those insults stopped coming from his classmates and started being hissed to him by his own traitorous brain. It lead Izuku to prefer wearing clothes that hid the body they covered which is why he loved his jumpsuit which was tight enough to not be a hinderance on the field but loose enough to make him feel comfortable wearing it. There was another level of comfort it provided too in the fact that if his costume was anything like Uraraka's Izuku knows he wouldn't be able to think of anything but the too tight feeling on his skin. Despite his own theorized discomfort he does understand, especially with what he's seen of her quirk, sleek likely would work well for her but what really doesn't understand is why the support company would stick her in heels, they seem like they'd be a hazard to wear considering the job they are all training for.
“Yeah. I’m happy I got paired with you,” Izuku agrees and returns the smile. It's true, he honestly couldn't have hoped for a better teammate. Uraraka was loud and energetic but still soft and kind plus right now she's the classmate he knows best besides Kacchan. After he and his mom had returned home the night before he did text both Iida and Uraraka and the ladder suggested they coordinate so they could ride the train in together this morning. Still even with their half dozen interactions thus far, all of them positive and some of them where they acted like what he'd seen his past peers with each other Izuku couldn't call them friends yet. He'd love to be friends with the kind, energetic girl but if Izuku knew one thing about himself, besides his dream to become a hero, it would be the fact that he is too forward. Even those who didn't really mind his useless quirk would always be scared away but his eagerness and inability to shut up once he got himself going so eventually he learned he needed to turn down his normal self. It seems a bit ironic that the first thing Izuku learns from is something he can't fix because he can berate himself all he wants but the moment something catches his attention he'll be back at it with wide gestures, fast-paced talking, and assuming the victims he's found this time actually might enjoy his presence. So Izuku really likes Uraraka but they are only classmates, classmates who will never be friends if Izuku can't keep himself under control.
“Me too! We’re gonna make a great team, I just know it.”
“Settle down!” Their heroics teacher (All Might!!! Izuku almost fainted when the man had stormed into the classroom mere minutes before claiming that his slamming the door and loud exclamations were normal) bellows over the class’ noise. “Now that you have your teams I will draw for our matches and which team will act as the hero,” the man motions to a box labeled just that then to a similar box in all but writing, “and which is the villain.”
“First we have team D acting as the villains!” All Might announces and Izuku momentarily feels bad for whoever has to face his childhood friend, he also feels bad for Iida but with how poor Kacchan’s teamwork skills are that’s a given, until his heart sinks with the hero’s next words. “Defending against the heroes of team A.”
All Might reiterates the instructions for the training exercise but Izuku’s a little too numb to really listen. He's able to walk out of the observation room and to the designated building before anyone even realizes Izuku in a shock like state, fearing the battle to come.
“Midoriya?” His teammate calls his name with firm poke to his arm, pulling Izuku from his thoughts. Kacchan and Iida were still on their way into the building where they'd get five minutes to place their bomb while Izuku and Uraraka would have five minutes to make plans, time Izuku was wasting while fixating on the past. “Are you alright? You seem distracted.”
“Oh I’m sorry, I’ll focus now, I promise,” he waves off her concern but when her eyebrows furrow Izuku thinks he might not have done the best job at that.
“It’s fine but really are you okay?” Uraraka asks with such blatant concern its really embarrassing how quickly he breaks.
“Yeah it’s just Kacchan—Bakugou—and I know each other and he doesn’t exactly like me.”
“I guess we’ll just have to beat them and show him how dumb he is,” the girl answers with a determined smile and pumped fist then deflates slightly with a more thoughtful expression. “We are gonna need a plan for that though.”
“Right," Izuku nods and reminds himself of the train ride home yesterday, of gentle hands treating his prized notebook with care and questions about what she'd read or to specify answers he'd given. "Okay, so Kacchan is quick to anger, impulsive, doesn’t like working with others, and hates being told what to do. He also wants to be a hero to fight and win so I have no doubt he’ll try to face us head on and leave Iida to defend the bomb alone. At the entrance exam you used your quirk on me but can you use it on yourself?”
“Not for long, it makes me really sick. Using it too much also makes me sick but not as quickly as making myself float.”
“Do you think you could use it long enough to get us to the roof?”
“Mm it’ll be tight but yes, I can do it,” she says with a determined nod.
“Okay so we’ll enter from the roof and search the building from top to bottom. We’ll have to go quickly because Kacchan will notice something is up when we don’t come through the door after a minute or two. If we can get to the bomb before Bakugou finds us I think we can improvise based on how Iida acts but if he does find us I know him better so I’ll face him while you go after the bomb.”
“That’s a good plan, you’re really smart Midoriya!”
“What?! No I-“ Izuku waves his arms in front of his face with dozens of denials sitting on the tip of his tongue but a voice cuts him off, speaking to both of them through their earpieces.
“Your five minutes of prep time are over. Heroes, you are now free to act.”
Izuku takes a preparing breath and looks to his partner. “Ready?”
“Ready!”
The two quickly make their way around to the side of the building, making sure to stay low as they do. Once they get to the alley, Uraraka gives Izuku a five finger touch and he carefully leaps between the buildings so as to not overshoot and find himself flying through the sky with no way to safely get down. The second he is fully over the roof Uraraka releases her quirk then reactivates it on herself and quickly hops straight up, trusting Izuku to catch her. Overall it is a quick process and the two are entering the building through the roof access door in what Izuku would guess to be a little under a minute.
They wouldn’t have much time to search without the fear of having Kacchan on the hunt for them so the two split up to search the top floor as quickly as possible. After another two minutes, somewhere in that time he hears Kacchan begin to rage from one of the lower floors and begin stomping around on the lookout, their entrance from above proves to be the right call because Uraraka’s voice crackles through his coms. “I found Iida and the bomb or at least I think the bomb’s here, all I know is what he’s monologuing.”
“Monologuing?” Izuku confirms and is answered with a giggle.
“Yes. He is really getting into character," she says breathily, trying to hold in laughter at whatever she is hearing before sobering up enough to continue on to the information he needs. "We're at the end of the hall, furthest from the stairs. There's another short hall but you'll see me by then.”
“Copy, I’ll be there soon,” Izuku replies then goes radio silent so they don't attract any unwanted attention over something they don't even need to be talking about.
Following her instructions, he finds the door easily with his partner stationed outside it. She silently waves him over then the two arrange themselves in front of the door. He motions for her to take the left while he takes the right then using his fingers counts down from three, throwing the door open at the end of the countdown. The first thing he notices about the room is that the space is completely empty save for the boy and the bomb, a smart counter to Uraraka's quirk and one Iida undoubtedly thought of and executed alone. “Bakugou our position has been compromised! Both heroes are here, I require backup!” The ‘villain’ shouts into his own earpiece then turns his attention back to them. "You will not win today heroes!" Their quick quirked classmate claims with a serious tone and, if this is how his monologuing had sounded, Izuku understands why Uraraka found it so funny.
Iida steps closer to the bomb probably trying to lessen the space he has to defend and the openings they may find but they have the advantage of numbers. “Uraraka-“
“I got it!” She calls back and runs in an arc to the opposite wall so she can come at the bomb from behind while Izuku makes a straight shot. Iida may be fast but whoever he goes after will hopefully be able to grapple him long enough to give the other time to touch the faux bomb and win them the match. The boy finds Izuku to be his biggest threat as he is closer to the target and runs right at him. He is just as quick as he'd been the day before so Izuku is taken down in a blink of the eye but he doesn't go down alone. He grabs onto Iida's arm and keeps hold of him while Uraraka finishes her final stretch to the bomb.
"No! Stop hero!" Iida demands as he tries to escape Izuku's iron grip but his attempts get him nowhere.
"Haha!" Uraraka plays into the bit Iida had quickly developed although while Iida's seems more like he's trying to get into character Uraraka's jovial tone makes it obvious she's just having fun with the exercise. "We've got you now villain! Your reign of terror is-" she declares but before she can finish or get her hand on the bomb she'd almost reached they are interrupted by a deafening BOOM.
Out of the corner of his eye, Izuku can see the explosion's origin but what's more obvious is the heavy metal door flying off its hinges and into the far wall. The door itself slams into the wall, a safe distance away from any of the room's occupants but chunks of concrete spray from around what used to be the door, a piece of which hurtles toward Uraraka and, with it all happening so fast and unexpectedly, she has no time to move before it slams into her shoulder, taking her down with the force.
"Uraraka!" Both he and Iida call out in concern for their classmate who is already bleeding heavily. She tries to check on the wound with her injury free arm but the touch makes her cry out in pain. The ‘villain’ quickly forgets his role in favor of helping their hurt classmate and with his quirk he gets to her before Izuku can even stand.
“Deku," the source of the explosion spits and shoves him back to the ground. "You coward, you’re not getting away this time! Get up,” he seethes having just thrown Izuku to the ground but he's not thrown off by the opposing actions and words, Kacchan often gets like this when he's angry or rather, angrier than usual. Izuku does comply, though not because it's what he was told to do, his mind is focused on his injured partner rather than his raging childhood friend which Izuku would have realized is a mistake if he weren't so frantic with worry. "Don't you dare walk away from me!" The blonde screams and throws a punch hitting Izuku square across the face at which point he remembers Kacchan hates feeling ignored.
His face aches from the punch but he knows Uraraka is in more pain than him. “Kacchan stop! Uraraka’s hurt, she needs medical attention.”
“Don’t you dare act all high and mighty now, not after everything you’ve done!”
“What?-“ Izuku questions but he's cut off by another scream.
“Shut up! You made everyone believe that you were weak and pathetic our whole lives just so you could show me up now? Well I’m going to prove to everyone you really are the useless, worthless Deku you’ve always acted like!”
With a deranged grin the blonde swings at Izuku again but he at least has the time to bring his arms up to protect his face from the hit. Crossed arms don't stop Kacchan though, and neither do Izuku's attempts to calm him or at least get him to stop. Without a useable quirk, time between the continuous hits, or space to move having long since been backed into the wall Izuku can do nothing to change his strategy, he can only take the beating. He hears both Iida and Uraraka yelling for Kacchan to stop but the boy doesn't listen. "You're not even trying! Are you looking down on me again?!" He roars and grabs one of Izuku's tender arms. The hand encircling his forearm quickly heats up until the pain becomes excruciating. He cries out and rips his arm free to find it stained by a blistered handprint.
"Bakugou stop! Now isn't the time to fight." Iida tries to intervene but like Izuku he only attempts to de-escalate which makes it easy for Kacchan to throw him aside.
“Fine, I guess I'll do this the fun way!” A cruel smile finds its way onto his face and Izuku doesn’t like what that smile means. “You see these?” He asks and shows off large grenade-like gauntlets wrapped around his wrists. “They aren’t just for decoration, this entire time they’ve been storing up my excess nitroglycerin and with the pull of this pin I can release it all at once,” he explains and keeps his finger wrapped around the pin, like an executioner with his ax.
“Bakugou do not use that attack! You’ll kill him,” All Might yells into all of their ears but Kacchan's grin only grows.
“Not if he dodges,” he says and so many things happen at once.
“Bakugou no!” Iida yells as he scrambles to stand while Uraraka screams Izuku’s name, fear and desperation lacing her voice.
And in the middle of it all Kacchan pulls the pin.
Thankfully the gauntlets work more like true grenades than they do the boy’s quirk which gives Izuku a few life-saving seconds to act. He doesn’t think he’d be able to lift his burned arm if he tried let alone effectively use his quirk with it so he brings up his right arm, the one he, under no circumstances, should never use his quirk in, and just like the day before he activates super strength in his finger only this time he brings his pointer and thumb together and lets the built up power out in a mere flick. The building explosions are dispersed by the force and it throws the creator of the original attack across the room and into the wall. Kacchan falls bonelessly to the floor and doesn’t get up and Izuku knows he should check on him but he can’t focus on anything except the violent shaking in his hand but its not out of agonizing pain.
“Midoriya!” Uraraka cries as she slides down next to him and checks him over even with her own injured arm. “Come on, let's go.” She helps him stand on shaky legs and he tries not to rely on her too much but it's hard with how off he's feeling.
As they step through the hole where the door used to be, a slightly staticy voice cuts in, speaking directly into his ear, though he knows the others hear it too. “Heroes, are you surrendering?” All Might asks and Uraraka freezes in her place. Tears fill her eyes and her jaw drops. It looks like she's trying to form words as she gapes like a fish but nothing comes out, not even a wordless sound. Izuku understands though, he couldn't think of anything to say even if he thought he could utter anything out.
“No,” a shaky yet firm voice denies. “After seeing the careless actions of my partner I have decided to give up my villainous ways. The heroes win.” Iida says it in his normal robotic tone but Izuku can hear the disbelief in his voice. He knows he should probably be more upset, as Iida and Uraraka are. Izuku could have died and he just resorted to losing more if not all control of two of his fingers but right now he's having a hard time feeling anything.
He knows All Might calls the match in their favor, knows Iida goes to carry their final classmate out of the building, and knows Uraraka guides him out but all of it feels like a blur. It isn’t until a cool breeze washes over him and the warm rays of sunlight hit him once again that he’s somewhat alert and present. With that it all hits him like a bus, the confusion, the fear, the terror. It starts with a few tears streaming down his face but once they start he can’t stop the storm. Rivers fall down his cheeks and his breaths come in faster and leave as hiccuped sobs. He feels his already weak legs give out on him but he becomes weightless before he can fall to the ground and hurt himself further. Uraraka lowers them fully and releases him from her quirk. Arms wrap around him and it hurts, it rubs against the burn and broken fingers but he returns the hug, gripping onto the little purchase he can find on his friend’s tight costume and holding on like it's his last tether to the world; right now, he feels like it might be.