Iida watched as all four of them came in, Suzuki smiling as if he had been commendable, Bakugou actually looking introspective and quiet for a change, Yaoyorozu looking proud, and Hakagure … he couldn't tell in all honesty. Maybe excited with her hands waving all over.
"Wow Iruma, that was great, and you didn't even use your quirk at all!" Uraraka was the first of the class to comment on what just transpired. "The way you were dodging, it was like BOOM, SWOOSH, BOOM, WHOOSH!"
"And Bakugou was just crazy, he went on like an animal and you survived it, it was amazing!" Kirishima spoke with sparkling eyes. "You were both so manly!"
"Alright students, now tell me, can any one of you tell me who was MVP this round?" All Might asked the classroom.
"Wouldn't it be someone on the hero team?" Asui assumed. That was a common error anyone would make. A reasonable assumption he himself would have partook in any other case. But this was U.A, there always had to be more than meets the eye.
"Sir, if I may!" Iida raised his hand high, waiting for permission like any good student would.
"Yes, Young Iida, go right ahead." At last, a time to put his appraisal skills to good use.
"I believe Hakagure-san was the MVP of this round." Everyone stared at him. "Yaoyorozu and Suzuki's initial plan backfired the moment they came into contact with Bakugou. Yayorozu was very unprepared and didn't create the necessary tools other than a smokescreen to gauge where the girl might be, and even then didn't produce the same substance during that fight. Suzuki, despite impressive evasion tactics, caused massive property damage and was terrible at communication all together. Bakugo was even worse as the sole owner of the unnecessary equipment. By process of elimination with the least mistakes, Hagakure was the one who was MVP."
Everyone was looking at him quite oddly. That was simply a short summary of everything that had transpired. Nothing unusual about that. "Thank you Iida-san, I promise I'll try to talk with people better!" Suzuki went ahead and took his words to heart, wonderful! Meanwhile Yaoyorozu looked down and Bakugo … still wasn't paying attention, great.
"Yes … well you could have also complimented Young Hakagure's strategy. Staying above, dropping down with surprise, and taking full advantage of close quarters combat. I didn't know you had the skill in you myself."
"I just threw punches and hopped for the best, sir!" Toru cheerfully exclaimed while putting her gloved hand in a salute position. "I probably should've gone along with Bakugo when he confronted Iruma-kun and Yaoyoyozu first. I could've helped hold him back and minimize damage."
"No, you did the right thing. Leaving the bomb alone would have spelled disaster for either side." Obviously, it was a bomb after all, it needed delicacy. " Anyways, I say that was a decent start to the first combat scenario. No casualties or major injuries despite property damages. Do try to minimize that as we continue."
==
Shoji held out his ears, listening for any noise he could get. "Alright, they're both outside, apparently Todoroki plans on doing this alone." Probably a cocky asshole, like Bakugou.
Kaminari had his arms folded while nodding. "The bastard. Thinking he's all that with the cold loner persona. Not every chick digs the silent type." Okay, his partner's priorities were slightly ascure, but he was at least amicable enough.
"How about we have a plan first and worry about the whole 'chick' concept later." Not that Shoji had any interest himself, got used young to the concept of … well being a loner.
"I do have a plan. Ice is just frozen water, which is conductive. I touch it and he goes zap." A semi solid strategy, they could build off that. "Mineta probably won't be too hard to deal with. His size might make catching him tricky, but he doesn't seem that strong."
"I've seen his grip strength, I can take him down in a hit." Alright, they could do this. They take out Todoroki, and on the off chance that Mineta follows, they counter themselves.
"And Begin!" And now they were frozen solid from the knees down. Along with the majority of the building.
"What the..he's that fast!?" Kaminari shouted in disbelief. "I can't move!" And he couldn't zap them either, or he'd get shocked.
"I might be able to get out if I tear off some skin … but looking outside it's clear he just covered the whole building, I don't feel confident in facing that with nothing but muscle." Shoji was out of his league.
"Man, now I'm gonna be the laughing stock." This time their priorities actually aligned, a shocker. It may have only been the second round, but Shoji had a feeling they'd be hard pressed to find anyone that did worse than them.
==
"Compared to the first fight, the second was pretty anti-climatic." Jiro heard Ashido giggle as they entered the building.
"Of course you'd say that, because clearly these are made for entertainment." Jiro said sarcastically, placing her ear to the wall, signaling her partner to be quiet. Of course she had to be picked alongside the excitable cheerer. "And they're on the third floor, tapping up the door."
"No problem. My acid can just melt through any obstacle!" She sent a small wave of it to her side, letting it eat up the portion of the floor it landed on.
"You say our classmates are scary, but I feel you probably could have taken on the ice boy like this." Jiro deadpanned at the girl.
"Eh, maybe I could've, maybe I couldn't, it's just the first day, no need to think about it too hard." She obviously didn't take Aizawa's threat on the first day seriously. "Just glad I didn't get grouped with Bakugo. That guy would've been insane to work with no matter what side you're on. And to think Suzuki didn't use his quirk at all."
"Suzuki doesn't have a quirk." The girl sent her a confused look. "We never talked to each other, but we went to the same school before U.A. His nickname was literally the quirkless helper."
"Well that can't be right, Uraraka said he took on the Zero Pointer with a quirk." He took on WHAT? "Yeah, he got the nickname 'One Punch Kid' and everything."
"No, that's...that can't be.." Like Jiro said, she never talked to Suzuki, and everyone in school knew about him because he was literally the biggest doormat everyone could take advantage of. Book carrying, wall painting, even crossing traffic during a rush hour to grab a nickel someone dropped in the middle of the road.
She thought he was just a generous person, but no, the karaoke night helped her see that he just can't say no to people. A problem he didn't even seem aware of, or concerned he had, especially with how he explained his 'mentorship' with All Might. "Well maybe you can get to know him better now. He doesn't seem like a guy who likes keeping secrets." Ashido offered.
"You do have a point." It just felt invasive however. If this guy just said yes all the time then he likely just would open up to stuff he didn't want to talk about. Fuck, it was a paradox! "Forget it, problem for later, we're here."
"Alright then, I'll shoot them with acid, and you play them a lullaby of butt whooping!" It wouldn't be a lullaby … it would be a rock out.
==
"Iruma is so manly, ya know?" Eijiro spoke to Uraraka, smiles on their faces as they went to the bomb.
"Oh yeah, super heroic!" The girl matched his hype. "I thought I would've needed to be more concerned considering his quirk's backlash, but he's totally capable of fighting without it! Can you imagine fighting someone like Bakugo quirkless? So tough and fearless!"
"Yeah, it was super manly of him to get Yaoyorozu out of danger like that too! Just makes me so pumped! Let's match Iruma's manliness together and go Plus Ultra!"
"I don't know about manliness, since I'm a girl, but Plus Ultra back!" She shouted, as they both smiled. Now came the hard part, finding the thing. "Do you know where to start?"
"Dunno, I guess we can just search bottom to top but-"
"Halt, weary travelers." They turned to the bird guy who's name escaped him, but he'd memorize all these cool guys soon. "To enter this land is to seek insanity and destruction. You should not walk farther into the shadows of the abyss, lest they consume you and your souls."
A beat of silence followed. "What?" They asked in union, not understanding at all.
"He's saying don't come near us or you'll pay for it." Speaks-a living shadow!? So manly!!
"Dark shadow, don't interrupt my introduction! I thought we agreed you'd stay the ominous and foreboding presence."
"I got bored, besides that's what we always go for in this situation." The shadow argued back. "Why can't I be the evil mastermind here and you by MY puppet for a change?"
"Because that implies something for councilors to get involved with, and that is something I'm not willing to get dropped on us."
"It's stuff like this that makes the Demon summoning contract rituals fail on us, you know." Demon what now?
"The rituals do not fail, it is clearly the fault of what we summon."
"Still afraid of that cheerful green mother?"
"Don't you dare mention Valac! She's aware of everything!"
"Um … so can we just get on with this?" Eijiro asked. "This is getting awkward and we're prepared to fig-" he turned and saw Uraraka sneaking away. "What are you doing? Running away isn't manly!"
"I'd rather be a coward than to get involved in that argument. No offense, um, never got your name."
"Tokoyami, and I don't blame you. Least you don't live with him." Ouch. "Now then, Dark Shadow, attack."
"Alright, now I'm prepared to fight that little guy!" Eijiro hardened himself, ready to rush.
"Little old me, why goodness, I must say you need to get your eyes checked! " Spoke the now giant creature. Jesus that was huge!!
"He gets stronger and more uncontrollable in darkness." Tokoyami helpfully explained far too late. "Soon you'll join me in the abyss. I await your arrival." Battling a Kaiju, the epithet of mainly!
==
Ojiro watched the boy fidget. "I can't believe I am stuck playing the role of the nefarious villain." Iida kept talking to himself the entire time. And here he thought he would prioritise making a plan above anything else. "How can I honor the Iida name by sullying it in the name of villainy, even if it's a mock sincerio?"
"Hey, I'm honoring a dojo by being here, ya know." Not many people appreciate martial arts these days, focused on emitter quirks and such. It was up to him to close the gap. "And I don't see it as that bad."
"But I'm supposed to uphold honor and dignity at all times! How can I portray that while I aim to be a hero?" This was getting them nowhere!
"Look just … view it as a mental exercise." Ojiro tried to reason with the boy. "Get in the mindset of a villain so you know how they think. That way you can predict what they do." Hopefully he would believe the bullshit.
"Yes, I do see your point. Getting into the mind of the enemy is the best way to understand them. I get it now." The engine user started chuckling a generic evil laugh. "In order to become the best hero I can be, I must temporarily devote my efforts into villainy! HAHAAHAHA!" Did the boy break that fast!? For fucks sake it's been less than a minute.
"And start!" Wait, he had a problem!
"Come now Ojiro, let us destroy the souls of these goody two shoes!" Why did this now sound like the beginning of a bad comic book plot?