Chapter 33: Practical Training

Izuku suited up with an excited expression. It was finally the time! Granted, he hadn't expected to be going into battle on the first day of school, but you couldn't say he wasn't excited. Because he was. Plus ultra.

The moment Izuku left the corridor, his eyes instantly zero-ed in on Kacchan. He licked his lips. He couldn't tear his eyes away. Kacchan looked amazing. He looked like everything and at the same time, nothing like Izuku had imagined he would look like. In fact, it was even better than he could have ever imagined.

Kacchan's designs let his explosive personality shine through, and Izuku could see that while there had been some upgrades made to the overall performance of the costume, the majority had been requested and designed by Kacchan himself. Izuku wished that he had been there while Kacchan had been designing his costume, but he would content himself with imagining Kacchan sitting by a table, twirling the pen in his hands while he thought about what he wanted in his costume.

The green-haired teen exchanged an excited glance with Kacchan, both their eyes shone with barely-contained passion. This was their childhood dream, and it was finally coming to fruition today.

He heard a gasp, turning his eyes to Ochako. She was bubbling with excitement as well as a tinge of embarrassment.

"Dekuuu, you look amazing! That costume looks really practical!"

Izuku felt Kacchan's Aura twitch with faint annoyance at the name his new friend called him. The green-haired teen squashed down the urge to laugh.

"I really wish I'd been more specific with my design! This suit's so puffy and curvy that it's embarrassing," she said, scratching the back of her head. Her Aura was lit up with embarrassment and shyness, and that just wouldn't do.

"Don't be embarrassed," Izuku said, smiling at her. "You look great! You should take pride in how you look."

Izuku felt happy when the tinge of embarrassment that had been whirling around her Aura receded a little, filling with pride and a sort of surprised happiness. Then, he twitched, because he felt a burning sense of lust brushing up against his senses. His eye twitched again.

Izuku looked down to see a short boy with purple balls attached to his head radiating lust. The look in his eyes made him feel upset.

"The Hero course is the best!"

The green-haired teen frowned, not liking the implications that his classmate was making. The other's Aura was filled with a dirty, muddy green. Izuku furrowed his brows, not liking this new classmate very much, but keeping his judgement to himself. It was too soon to judge, right? Maybe he would change along the way and not judge people by their appearances.

Izuku let it slide for the time being, but if the other boy continued down this road, then Izuku wouldn't hesitate to give him a stern talking to. It wasn't right to treat women or girls as objects or base them solely on their looks. The way he'd phrased that had also left him with a lingering doubt about why the other had entered the Hero course as well.

Kacchan brushed a hand against the back of his hand, soothing his nerves. His Aura was tinted with a slight worry and curiosity. A faint smile crept up on his face. Kacchan always knew how to make him feel better. Izuku bumped the back of the other's hand back, trying to convey that he was okay.

"Sensei! This appears to be the field that we used in the entrance exam. Will we once again be performing cityscape manoeuvres?"

Izuku took this chance to scrutinise his classmate's costume. Honestly, he felt a little plain here. Everyone's costume was just so cool!

"No! We will be moving on to indoor anti-personnel battle training! Villain battles are usually seen outdoors, but statistically speaking, the most heinous Villains…are more likely to appear indoors."

Izuku felt like rubbing his eyes at the Aura All Might was giving off. It was just as blinding as the man portrayed his persona to be. He was radiating a large ray of solemnness and determination so strong that he could almost physically touch it.

"Confinement, house arrest, black market deals… In this Hero-filled society of ours…" All Might cleared his throat slightly, recalling bad memories of the times he had been too late. He hastily suppressed the flashbacks, sinking back into the familiar role of his persona. "The cleverest Villains out there…lurk indoors!"

The green-haired teen hid a smile. He never realized, but when Toshinori-san played up the All Might persona, he took a lot of dramatic pauses. It was quite endearing, mainly because each of his classmates seemed to hang off his every word, even Kacchan. Every dramatic pause was followed by baited breaths and wide eyes. He could understand why Toshinori-san liked using them.

"Now, you'll be split into two teams. Hero and Villain, and will face off each other in a two on two indoor battle!"

Izuku hurriedly tried to reign in his senses when the full force of each classmate's shock and uncertainty hit him, heaving a little sigh of relief inwardly when the force of the emotions didn't overwhelm him like it usually did.

A classmate made a little 'ribbit' sound. "So no basic training?"

Izuku could practically feel his classmates crane their ears.

"Practical training teaches you the basics!"

Izuku sweated a little. Sure, practical training taught you basics, but that was only when you had an idea what the basics actually were. He didn't know if All Might had come out with this training plan himself, but what he was doing was practically sink or swim.

Many of them would be making potentially painful mistakes that they would remember in the future. In a way, this would kill two birds with one stone. On one hand, the students would remember the lesson, and on the other, the teachers would be able to quickly gauge a student's strengths and weaknesses.

Class 1-A fired a series of rapid questions at All Might, getting over their brief Hero-worship for the time being. Class came first. The thought of a battle was setting their nerves on fire. They were burning with competitiveness and glee.

Izuku sighed a barely audible sigh of relief. Good thing he managed to reign himself in before anything happened. Who knew what would happen if he ended up overwhelmed again. The many times that happened, it affected his individual judgement, causing him to make uncharacteristic decisions.

"Listen up!" All Might called, bringing all questions to a halt. He pulled out a tiny piece of paper with little instructions on it, written by Aizawa. He squinted at it, not sure if this was the man's passive aggressive way of getting back at him for confronting him yesterday about what happened with his protégé, but it was actually pretty effective. All Might gave him props for that.

"The Villains will hide a nuclear weapon in the hideout, and the Heroes have to go in and take care of it! The Heroes have a limited time to either capture the Villain or secure the weapon. The Villains either capture the Heroes or protect the weapon until the time is up."

All Might suddenly pulled out a box with the word 'LOTS' on it from some hidden space, shaking it slightly. "Battle partners will be decided by drawing lots!"

"Is that really the best way?!" A voice Izuku recognized as belonging to the teenager that had protested them kissing before the UA Entrance Exams was heard.

Izuku couldn't quite keep his mouth shut, wanting to defend his mentor. "Pros often have to team up with Heroes from other agencies on the spot during emergencies –"

The other boy immediately corrected himself, feeling chastised and genuinely remorseful. "I see! I apologize for getting ahead of myself! My mistake!"

All Might went around with the box, allowing each student to pick out a slip of paper.

Izuku drew out a slip of paper with the letter 'A' on it.

He looked around, his eyes landing on another classmate that had the same letter. It was the boy he had been looking at earlier. He'd been giving off a mix of sadness, rage, loneliness and detachment. Izuku had wanted to help him.

The green-haired teen shot a suspicious look at his mentor, eyeing him. The man was giving off a slight nervousness as well as a little guilt. Did Toshinori-san rig the lot drawing? How was that even possible?

All Might whistled, giving off an Aura that said he had nothing to do with it, all whilst not looking his way.

Izuku cracked a little grin. Looks like All Might wanted him to help the other teen as well.