Yeeeeey-! No school today! Let's get this chapter out!

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Midoriya was sent to Recovery Girl to be healed up as the first round ended. Uraraka was fatigued, but a otherwise fine. Bakugou had a few scratches and forming bruises, but nothing serious. Iida was practically unscathed.

The three of them, besides Midoriya, now joined the rest of the students in the observation room. They were dead quiet.

"Well..." Toshinori said awkwardly, "I'd say the MVP in this battle was Iida!"

At his name, Iida jumped. "E-Eh?!"

"Not Ochaco or Midoriya? Even though they won?" Asui asked.

"I wonder why that is?" Toshinori raised his hand. "Anyone know?!"

Yaoyorozu raised her hand casually. "I do, All Might-sensei."

"It's because," She started, "Iida was able to adapt to the situation. From what I could tell, Bakugou's every action was motivated by a personal grudge that clouded his judgement and rationality. And that one attack before, with his grenade gauntlet, using destructive attacks indoors is absolutely foolish. You may end up hurting your allies and/or the the weapon. Midoriya's performance as well suffered from the same facts."

Yaoyorozu glanced at Uraraka before continuing. "Uraraka lost focus halfway through, laughing and giving away her position and advantage of surprise. Her last attack was far to hazardous with too many cons rather than pros. She used the broken pillar of the building and, with the help of her quirk, hit the surrounding debris toward Iida to distract him. Such an attack would be unthinkable if the nuclear weapon were real, with Iida standing in front of the weapon in the first place."

Then she looked over at Iida and back at Toshinori. "Iida himself, however, formed an actual counter strategy and envisioned what the scenario would be like if it were reality. He adapted a villain-like mindset and did what he thought was necessary to protect the weapon. He was only late to react in the end. The hero team only won because they took advantage of the fact that this was only a training exercise with exploitable constraints. If it were a real situation, the villains would have been successful."

When Yaoyorozu finished, the class was at a loss for words.

Toshinori sweat dropped. "She said it better than I could've-!"

"U-Umm, I would add that Iida was also a bit stiff, but yes, you are correct!" He gave her a thumbs up.

Yaoyorozu put her hands on her hips and let out a sigh. "We must start from the bottom and make our way to the top. And if we don't learn to cooperate and learn from each other, then we'll never become pro heroes!"

Th students awed at her and Toshinori sweat dropped once again.

"Just what you'd expect from the number one recommended first-year."

He chose the next groups for the next round and sent them to a new building for the exercise. Toshinori noticed the unusual quietness of Bakugou's and, even though he hadn't known him for long, he could tell that he wasn't the type to be so quiet.

Everyone watched up on the monitor to to see group B, Todoroki and Shoji, and group I, Ojiro and Hagakure, start, with group B being the hero team and group I being the villains.

As soon as the timer started up, Shoji used what abilities he could to find out where group I was. When he did, he informed Todoroki who told him to step back. They watched as he put his right hand on the wall and immediately froze the entire building. It was so cold that it somehow ended up chilling the room the rest of the class and Toshinori were in.

Todoroki walked solemnly to the room where the weapon was being held, passing by Hagakure and Ojiro who were stuck in the ice without a second glance. He then put his left hand on the weapon.

"Without harming his ally or the nuclear weapon, he immobilized the enemy!" Toshinori said.

Beside him, Kirishima shivered at the cold. "H-He's so strong...!"

Steam came from Todoroki's hand and in a matter of moments, all the ice melted and the heat came back.

"Sorry," Toshinori heard Todoroki say. "We're on different levels."

With that, the hero team won. Toshinori looked back at the class and saw Bakugou with his head cast. He scrunched his eyebrows.

As the exercise ended, Toshinori gathered everyone outside and into a group.

"Well done, everyone! Apart from Young Midoriya, there have been no major injuries. Great teamwork, though! You all exceeded my expectations considering this was your first training exercise!" Toshinori praised.

"Coming after Aizawa-sensei's class," Kaminari said in the crowd, "such a straightforward class is... almost a let down."

Toshinori laughed at that. "We teachers can hold no-nonsense classes if we want to, Young Kaminari! Now, I'm off to give Young Midoriya his evaluation of the exercise! Change out of those costumes and head back to the classroom, everyone!"

Toshinori glanced over at Bakugou before rushing off to the infirmary.

"The most inflated egos are the most fragile ones," Toshinori thought. "Young Bakugou... As his teacher, I'll have to give him some guidance! But for now-!"

He held a hand up to his mouth and coughed. "Dammit, I barely even have enough time to get through a single class!"

Toshinori reached the door of the infirmary when a puff of smoke surrounded him and he reverted back into his true form. He reached a hand out for the door knob, and, as soon as he entered the, he was immediately scolded by Recovery Girl.

"This is the third time he's been here and it's only the second day of the 1st term! Why didn't you prevent this, All Might?!"

Toshinori coughed at her sudden outburst. "My apologies, Recovery Girl..."

"It's not me you should apologize to!" She shouted. "He keeps coming to me completely exhausted! This isn't something so easily healed! I've given him some first aid and an IV drip. All we can do now is wait for it to heal itself."

"But really!" Recovery Girl scolded. "I know you gave him your power and he's your successor and all, but you really have to stop that favoritism act! You're a teacher for all of those students now! You have to stop indulging him!"

Toshinori scratched his neck awkwardly. "I-I know... Yes, you're right. I was sympathizing with him too much so I... so I hesitated. But, umm... Could you please keep it down? At least when discussing One For All...?"

Recovery girl sighed. "Right, right. Sure, Mr Natural Born Hero. Mr Symbol of Peace."

"My injury and this form are common knowledge between the staff here at UA, but only you, the principal, Young Midoriya, and a few select others know about my quirk...! I'd gratefully appreciate it if you could keep down about it."

"So it's that important, huh?" Recovery Girl started. "You keeping up that 'Natural Born Hero' and 'Symbol of Peace' title?"

Toshinori nodded. "Without me, this superhuman society would fall into the hands of evil. This is the responsibility that those who wield this power must bear."

Recovery Girl sighed again and chucked a paper ball at Toshinori's head. "Then it's all the more important that you learn how to guide him properly!"

Toshinori looked over at Midoriya's sleeping form and nodded. "Right."

———————————————

Izuku woke up to the setting sun hitting his face. He carefully sat up on the hospital bed and looked at himself. He was still wearing his ripped and burnt costume and both of his arms were wrapped in bandages. His right arm, however, was placed in a cast and sling. Izuku sighed.

A moment later, Recovery Girl realized that he was up and swept the curtain out of the way, surprising Izuku. She then started scolding him on his recklessness and foolishness. After a few minutes, she took the IV drip out of Izuku's arm, replaced some of his bandages, told him to come in every morning so she could check his injuries, and finally let him go.

As he walked to class, he started wondering about what he'd missed. It seemed that Izuku was unconscious for the whole day and missed the rest of his classes. He'd have to go borrow someone's notes later. Maybe Iida's.

Izuku stood in front of the door of Class 1-A and sighed.

"Aizawa-sensei's probably gonna get at me, too..."

He opened the door and walked inside. At that moment, Kirishima noticed him.

"Ah- Hey! Midoriya's back! Hey, dude!" He exclaimed.

Izuku was taken aback as he was suddenly surrounded by some of his classmates.

"I don't know what was going on back there, but man! That was an amazing battle!" Kirishima said.

"Nice dodging!" Ashido shouted.

"We were all super pumped after that crazy first round!" Sato said.

"So noisy," Tokoyami muttered as he sat on his desk.

"Tokoyami! Please get down from there! Desks are not to be sat on!" Iida demanded, making stiff hand gestures.

"Geez, Iida. Don't get so bent out of shape," Kaminari said.

Uraraka then popped up in Izuku's face, making him stumble back.

"Deku-kun! Are you okay?! You're arm?! Are you alright?!"

Izuku opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"So it really was a one time thing, huh?"

Instead, he nodded his head. Uraraka sighed in relief and then put on a face of concern.

"So you can't speak again, huh?" She asked.

He nodded again.

"Eh? What do you mean, Ochaco?" Asui asked.

"Yeah, Midoriya can't talk," Kirishima said.

"I guess, but during the training exercise, he was able to speak for some reason," Uraraka shrugged.

"Ehh?! Really?!"

They looked at Izuku before turning back to Uraraka.

"Why? What did he sound like?" Iida asked from behind.

Izuku pouted. "I'm still here," He thought.

"Well, I guess it was the heat of the moment, maybe. I mean, he made a plan and told me about it over the communicators. That's how I knew to stay away from the middle when he used his quirk and made a hole in the ground. As for how he sounded like... hmm..." She turned to look at Izuku. "Well, your voice sounded pretty scratchy, probably from the lack of use, but it sounded nice! It was like comforting and warm! Totally shocked me!"

Uraraka grinned. "Too bad you can't talk though. Your voice is pretty!"

Izuku gave a small smile at that.

"'Pretty' doesn't sound very manly, though," Kirishima said.

"Ah, I wanna hear Midoriya's voice!" Ashido whinnied.

Izuku looked around the classroom to see what everyone else was doing. Aside from the group that surrounded him, some people were watching them from afar, others were working on home or school work, and the rest were on their phones. Izuku then noticed something and he walked over to the chalk board since he didn't have his journal with him. Luckily, though his right and dominant hand was wrapped in a cast, Izuku had some experience in writing with his left hand.

'Where's Kacchan?' He wrote in chalk.

"Eh? Who's Kacchan?" Kaminari asked.

"Oh! That's Bakugou, isn't it?" Iida asked.

Izuku nodded.

"Oh, that guy left just before you got here. He said something like, "This place is a fucking dump. I'm going home."" Kirishima recited.

Izuku sweat dropped. That was definitely something Bakugou would say. He bowed shortly in thanks, wiped the board off, and rushed outside.

"Eh?! Midoriya, where are you going?!"

———————————————

When he got outside, Izuku immediately spotted Bakugou heading for the gate. Izuku ran after him.

At the sound of his footsteps, Bakugou stopped and turned around with wide eyes.

Izuku stopped running and stayed just a few meters away from him. With his hands, he started signing.

'Kacchan, I know you can read sign, so just hear me out,' He stated firmly. Bakugou's eyebrows scrunched and his face grew stiff, but he didn't say anything.

Izuku hesitated. All Might specifically told him not to tell anyone. He didn't even tell his mom yet. But he didn't know what else to do. He didn't know what else he could say that could somehow explain his situation. All he could do was tell Bakugou the truth. Or at least the limited truth.

'I can't say much, but you should know this at least... I... I got my quirk from someone else.'

Silence. Very awkward silence. Izuku quickly started signing again.

'I can't say from who, but- ugh, this is like a conversation from a comic book. I can't use it right yet and this borrowed power is still pretty useless in my hands. That's why I tried to beat you without it, but I couldn't. I had to use it as a last resort. I've got a long ways to go before I can control it, but... but that's why I'm going to make it my own someday and beat you with my own power.'

Bakugou just stood there and Izuku started to doubt if he really did understand what he was saying. Suddenly, Bakugou's face turned red and Izuku swore he saw steam come out of his ears as he took a step forward.

"What the hell...? Borrowed power...? ...I don't know what you're talking about, but if you're just gonna keep messing with me..." Bakugou grit his teeth.

"Seriously! What the actual fuck?! I lost to you today! And as if that weren't enough- Ugh! That icy bastard! If I can't beat you, then there's no way I'll measure up to him either!"

"Dammit! And that ponytail girl said it all!"

"Dammit, dammit, dammit! Why?! You too, Deku! From here on... From here on, I swear! I'm gonna beat all of you!"

Bakugou turned around and stomped off angrily. "Enjoy your win, loser! Cuz' it'll never happen again!"

As Bakugou was about to reach the gate, Izuku let out a shaky sigh of relief. "That could've gone a lot worse..."

Something whizzed past him and towards Bakugou, startling Izuku. Behind him, All Might in his muscular form appeared and set a hand on Bakugou's shoulder.

"Young Bakugou!" All Might shouted. "Let me tell you something, that sort of self respect is important! Without a doubt, you've got the makings of a pro! From now on, you've just got to-"

"Let go of me, All Might," Bakugou cut him off. "I can't walk."

He swiped a hand over his eyes. "Needless to say, I'll definitely be a hero who'll surpass you."

All Might awkwardly let go. "A-Ah, right."

As Bakugou walked off, Izuku heard All Might mutter, "Being a teacher sure is tough!"

He then turned around to see Izuku standing there. All Might walked towards him.

"Midoriya my boy! When did you get here? What exactly did you say to him?!"

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck. 'Actually... I... may or may not have... told Kacchan... about getting my quirk from someone...?"

All Might stood there for a second before exploding. Not literally, but with the smoke cloud appearing around him, it sure seemed like it.

He reverted to his true form and coughed out blood a bit before speaking.

"M-Midoriya, I did tell you not to tell anyone, didn't I?"

Izuku nodded. 'You did, but I just needed to tell him something. As someone who grew up with me and basically knew me my entire life, he had a right to know! But I didn't tell him everything! I just said that someone gave me this quirk and that I couldn't control it well but I'd do my best to make it my own and beat him with my own strength for sure! Then he started shouting about how he'd do better and beat everyone and he wouldn't lose again!'

All Might made a face that Izuku couldn't quite describe. "Uh... you mind saying that again...? You signed a bit too fast there."

Izuku sweat dropped but did as he asked, just slower this time. When he finished, All Might nodded.

"Well, it doesn't seem like he took you seriously. He'll probably brush it off. You got lucky there, my boy. If it weren't Young Bakugou, the result might've been much different."

Izuku looked away from All Might and turned his attention to the floor. 'Are you mad...?'

All Might sighed and put a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "No. I understand why you did what you did. Just please don't do it again without telling me first... okay?"

Izuku glanced in Bakugou's direction to see his figure getting smaller. He nodded and All Might smiled.

'Right. Thank you, All Might.'

All Might shook his head. "It's alright. And please, call me Toshinori. Yagi Toshinori. At least when we're alone."

Izuku's eyes widened. He never even thought about what All Might's real name was in all the time he knew him personally. All Might telling him himself, though, made him feel extremely fortunate.

Izuku smiled softly. 'Thank you, Toshinori-san.'