To Repel and Attract

Chapter 10: A Nose in the Air is Easily Bloodied

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to My Hero Academia

XXX

Walking out of the tunnel and adjusting his gloves, Bakugo looked over to the only competition he cared about; Deku. The nerd's friends were chatting with him and discussing their costumes. Eyes narrowing, the blond pyro scoffed and moved to the front of the class to catch what All Might had to say. He wasn't going to miss something because the nerd was sucking up the limelight.

'If he wants to play buddy-buddy with people and let his skills dull then so be it. It'll be all that much easier to put him in his place. I'll make him take me seriously and when I'm at the top, it'll be that much sweeter.' A wry upturn at the corner of his lips accompanied his thoughts.

Xxx

When they'd come out of the tunnel, Denki had been positively giddy over their new costumes. Almost tackling his buddy, he threw an arm over Izuku's shoulder.

"Man isn't this awesome?! We look so sick! So what do you think? Eh, Sir Izuku?" Izuku laughed at his friend, the exuberance infectious.

"Yeah I guess we do. I'm really happy with how my costume turned out. Yours looks great too. Are the vambraces sturdy enough?" Denki gave a wicked grin and let his quirk flow throw through one of the pieces of armor. A low hum filled the air and electricity danced across its surface.

"Ooh, yeah! I am so ready to give these babies a try! Especially in front of all the cuties in our class. I know I didn't say anything yesterday but did we luck out or what?" Izuku gave an embarrassed chuckle. Well used to his friend's antics when it came to the fairer sex, he scratched the back of his head with an exasperated look.

"Umm, while that might be true Denki, maybe don't be so loud. You don't want to give anyone the wrong idea do you?" Denki slapped a hand over his mouth and glanced around to see if anyone had noticed his comment. Luckily for him everyone seemed pretty enamored with their own costumes. Izuku gave a low laugh at his friend's expense, who was quick to stick his tongue out at Izuku. Their conversation was interrupted though by Aoyama coming over.

"Ahh, Midoriya-san! It is excellent to see another student who shares my appreciation for classical beauty!" Both Izuku and Denki were completely caught off guard by the remark and neither was sure what he was talking about until they got a look at Aoyama's own costume. The boy in question carried on, lifting up his cape as he did and twirling, let it wave behind him in grandiose fashion.

"Indeed there is nothing so noble or elegant as a knight coming to save the day! Perhaps yours is not quite so beautiful as my own but it is easily more stunning than anyone else here." Izuku was honestly out of his depth and couldn't help but blush at the complement. Denki had turned his back to the conversation and had shoved his fist in his mouth to keep from laughing. An act that did not go unnoticed if Izuku's glare was anything to go by.

Ignoring his doofus of a friend for a moment though, Izuku turned back to Aoyama.

"Thank you, Aoyama-san. I really appreciate that. This costume of mine will really help out with my quirk. Your costume is really something else too." Aoyama flipped his hair back and shook his head, making a tsking sound as he did.

"Such formality, Midoriya-san. You saved my life; that alone should be enough for you to simply call me Aoyama. But now I also find a kindred spirit? Pshaw! Please it is simply Aoyama." Even with how over the top the boy in front of him was, Izuku could tell the gesture was heart felt. Letting his smile relax into one reserved for a precious few, Izuku acknowledged Aoyama.

"Sure thing, Aoyama. Then just call me Midoriya." An elaborate bow, and Aoyama was sparkling with a grin of his own.

"Oui monsieur, it would be my pleasure." Meanwhile Denki had finally gotten over his giggle fit and was happy to see his buddy making new friends. Deciding that he didn't want to be left out of the conversation, he put his own two cents in.

"Well just call me Kaminari then, I'm friends with Izuku. I'm not big on formality anyways." Giving Denki a once over, Aoyama let his nose rise a teensy bit.

"Hmm, well a proper knight does require a squire to look after his things. A pleasure, I suppose. You're loyalty to Midoriya is commendable, even if your style leaves something to be desired." The tables turned as Izuku was now chortling at his friend's expense, while Denki's eye twitched. A strained grin shook, as Denki did his best to resist throttling the fruitcake in front of him.

"Sq-quire? Uh hehehe, I think you've got the wrong idea, man." The snort that followed was indicative that Aoyama knew full well what he'd said.

"Hey guys!" The three boys were completely thrown for a loop, when Uraraka announced herself. Their preoccupation with their own conversation had allowed the girl to sneak up on them.

"Oh man those are some cool costumes!" The topic brought up again, the boys puffed up a tad. Even Izuku was feeling a little taller, cheeks warming or not.

With attention brought to costumes the boys looked over to Uraraka's, rather snug costume. Catching on, Uraraka gave a bashful look and rubbed the back of her head.

"Yeah, I know. I wish that I'd been more specific with my costume request form. This one's so tight. I'm not really sure it's my style." Aoyama gave her costume a more scrutinizing glance.

"Mmm, it doesn't leave much to the imagination, mademoiselle. But I believe that you make it work for you. It evokes a friendly and approachable demeanor befitting someone so willing to help others. Still I might put in to have it made a little flashier. Look at my cape for example! Isn't it beautiful?" Aoyama swished his sparkling purple cape to and fro in demonstration.

Denki shook his head at how full of himself Aoyama was. Izuku and Uraraka on the other hand were both red in the face from the blatant manner that Aoyama had pointed out her issue with the costume. She had danced around it but Aoyama had put it on display flat out. Which left Uraraka stumbling.

"W-well thank you Aoyama. I'll keep the u-umm advice in mind if I ever take it to get worked on." Aoyama gave a pert nod and a one eyed grin.

"Of course, my lady. If ever you need assistance let me know. I haven't forgotten my debt to you either." Denki rolled his eyes at the display and turned to the new introduction in their conversation.

"Hi there, we haven't really been introduced but you can call me Kaminari. Heard you helped my friend here during the entrance exam. Thanks for that." Arm thrown around Izuku's neck again, Denki grinned at Uraraka, despite Izuku's protests at his weight. It was enough to snap Uraraka out of it. She waved her hands rapidly in front of her face.

"No, no, no, it's not like that at all! During the exam Midoriya saved me and then when we passed Aoyama, I just lifted the robot off him. Midoriya was the one to blow up that monster robot! It was totally amazing! It was just like BOOM and then WOOSH and then the robot just gave out this awful screech noise! Then its head just exploded! Seriously Midoriya, I can't believe how strong you were." Stopping to catch her breath, Uraraka moved closer to examine Izuku's face. Denki gave an impish grin and moved out of the way to give the girl an unobstructed view. To Izuku's credit his face didn't turn completely red.

"I-is there s-something wrong, Uraraka-san?"

"Just Uraraka, silly. You're face looks a lot better. We didn't really get to talk yesterday before you left. You weren't looking so good when All Might took you to the nurse's office. Oh and … I told Iida-san that what he said yesterday wasn't ok. He said he'd apologize." Touched by her concern, Izuku was able to reign in his blush.

"Y-yeah, all I had was a headache when I woke up. But I'm fine now, promise. And don't worry about Iida-san." Catching something behind Uraraka, he noticed the waggling of Denki's eyebrows which served to bring his blush back in full.

'Dang it, Denki. Don't mess with me!' Denki's smile only widened, when he noticed Izuku's flustered aggravation. But then Izuku was thrown for a loop when he noticed Aoyama. The wink and wave to carry on left Izuku flabbergasted.

'Not you too Aoyama!' Uraraka noticed Izuku's face and glanced over her shoulder, but the two boys were quick to cover their tracks, looking in opposite directions and whistling. Izuku took her moment of distraction to subtly shake a fist at the boys. But All Might spoke up, initiating his lesson and the group moved to listen to what they would be doing today.

Xxx

"Alright newbies! Gather round, it's time for battle training!" All Might stood in front of the class and waved them forwards. With the whole group gathered, he could start the class.

"Now then, who's ready to show me what you're made of?" A round of cheers broke out from the students. A few had further questions though, given what they'd had to deal with from Aizawa the previous day. Iida was the first to speak up.

"Sir will we be fighting robots again, like in the entrance exam?" Turning to the fully clad speedster, the memory of yesterday's introductions replayed in Izuku's mind.

Xxx

Standing at the front of the class Iida was finishing his introduction. Turning to his classmates Iida began to share his thoughts on how introductions should be handled.

"Firstly everyone should provide their name and the school they came here from. If there is any other information you wish to share you should keep it short so as to not inconvenience classmates that have obligations outside of school. For the purposes of speed we should go by row and –"

"Oh for fuck sake, shut up! Seriously let's get this over with already, I don't feel like sitting here and listening to some elitist, wannabe extra keep yapping on like he's in charge. So move on, and let someone else up there already." Bakugo obviously wasn't in the mood for this. Iida himself looked astounded.

"Such vulgar language! How on earth did someone like you get into U.A.? Surely everyone else here can see that I am just trying to move things along in a quick and orderly manner." Turning to the rest of the class, he was met with crickets for the most part as no one really wanted to get involved, but a few were certainly giving him impatient stares. Reading the mood, Iida's shoulders drooped as he slunk along back to his desk.

Standing up from his seat, Bakugo surprised everyone by going first. A number of them had been certain that he wasn't even going to contribute.

"My name is Bakugo Katsuki, I'm from Orudera. All you extras need to know is that by the time we graduate, I'll be number one." Without another word and amidst some booing, Bakugo left the class. When the door shut, Iida spoke up. Disdain evident in his voice.

"It figures that someone so uncouth would come from such a breeding ground for delinquents." A few classmates nodded in agreement, while others were put off by his words.

Orudera was rather infamous. While it was certainly not the worst school around, it was almost always in the top ten worst in terms of academic averages. To top it off, in the near one hundred years since U.A.'s founding, not a single student had been accepted into it from Orudera. Meanwhile Denki's eyes went a little wide as he looked over to Izuku.

For his part Izuku took the comment without balking. A slight narrowing of the eyes was his only immediate reaction. Taking a breath, he let his face slacken before standing up and moving to the front. Allowing his tried and true soft smile to leak over his features, he introduced himself.

"Good evening everyone, my name is Midoriya Izuku and I'm also from Orudera. It's a pleasure to meet you all." Iida and those that had agreed with his earlier comment froze. It was to complete silence that Izuku made his quiet departure. Denki glared at the perpetrators and walked up next.

"My name's Kaminari Denki and I'm from Saitama. As for my fun fact, Izuku is my best friend. Oh and it might interest you to know that one of those "delinquents" took first place in the entrance exam. Later." Denki rushed out to catch up with his friend, only to find him waiting just outside, a thoughtful look on his face.

"You didn't have to do that you know." Denki gave Izuku a melancholy smile, looped his arm over Izuku's shoulder, and started walking them towards the exit.

"Pfft, of course I did. Wingmen watch each other's backs."

Xxx

Izuku knew objectively that Iida wasn't a bad person, and that there was some truth to his comment. But he couldn't help but get defensive. Sure a number of his classmates from Orudera were a rougher bunch but none of them had been really bad people. At least not to him, in fact they were very careful to keep any unseemly habits or actions out of his sight. While he wasn't actually very close with any of them, Izuku's grades and amiable nature had made him an approachable option for his peers in need of assistance. As a side effect they would often share their thoughts and feelings with him. They might not have known Izuku, but it would be untrue to say he did not have a good judge of many of their own character. To Izuku, Iida's words had been a strike against all their memories, unknowing or not.

Lost in thought, Izuku missed much of the conversation between All Might and the rest of the class. He was broken from his reverie by a jab to the ribs from Denki. His friend's concerned look was waved off and Izuku focused back on the lesson.

It was still so amazing to Izuku that it was All Might teaching them. Sure he'd met the man before but it didn't in any way cheapen the experience. All Might was a mountain, towering over the entire class. He didn't just seem larger than life, he actually was. Standing in the man's presence was like taking a deep breath of fresh air without ever having known you were drowning in the first place. And it dawned on Izuku just what he was actually aiming for.

'How does he do it? How am I supposed to get to there, from here? It's like looking at the ocean and thinking "Sure I'll swim that".' Doubts swirling in his head, he only barely heard the lesson's description.

The class would be divided into teams of two at random. The urban grounds behind them held a number of buildings with fake missiles in them. For the lesson, two teams would go against one another in fifteen minute long matches with one team representing the heroes and the other villains. The heroes needed to either secure the weapon or capture the villains within fifteen minutes and likewise the villains had to either protect the missile or capture the villains. Obviously the set up was designed to put pressure on the heroes, placing them in a disadvantageous position. Each team would be provided with a roll of capture tape, in order to "capture" other players, and a set of ear pieces to communicate with their teammates and All Might.

"Now then, let's get to it!" All Might's exclamation was followed up with cheers, as the students moved forward one at a time take a random letter from a box to see who their partners would be. When all was said and done, the classmates got together with their partners.

Team A: Sato and Hagakure

Team B: Koda and Kirishima

Team C: Tokoyami and Aoyama

Team D: Shoji and Mineta

Team E: Iida and Todoroki

Team F: Kaminari and Ashido

Team G: Uraraka and Yaoyorozu

Team H: Bakugo and Midoriya

Team I: Jiro and Ojiro

Team J: Asui and Sero

When Izuku saw who his partner was to be, his eyes snapped to his old elementary school antagonist. Likewise Bakugo's eyes had flashed with rage and maybe disappointment, before looking the other way and all but literally spat fire to the side. Izuku took a deep breath and just did his best to contain his own irritation.

'There's no doubt that Bakugo is one of the best here. But he's not going to be easy to work with. I think we were both planning on trying to show each other up here today. But now ….'

Putting those thoughts aside for now he waited with the rest of the class for All Might to pull out the first teams to participate. A box stood to either side of him, one black and one white. The white for the hero team and the black for the villain team. Reaching into each he withdrew an orb in each hand, facing them towards his students he revealed Team C for the heroes and Team F for the villains. Meaning that Denki and Aoyama would be going up against each other first.

The two gave each other discerning looks, each doing their best to shake the other down, but of the two Izuku knew who he'd be putting his money on. Aoyama's quirk wasn't weak, but Denki had been training with him for years now. Denki had also mislead the class during the quirk apprehension test yesterday, giving them the impression that he held some kind of speed boosting quirk. Which was why when an impish grin sported itself on Denki's face as he was headed out the door to the testing ground, Izuku gave him a disapproving look. Keeping his voice low, he called after the walking taser.

"Denki, don't overdo it." For his part, Denki slapped his hand over his heart, faking pain and anguish.

"Oh, Izuku you, you got me right here man. Do you have so little faith in me, best friend of mine?" When he was answered with a deadpan stare, Denki let out a toned down cackle. The rest of the class, having missed their subtle conversation, leaned away from the disturbed looking blonde, young man.

Ashido, following after him, looked very uncertain as to what she'd gotten herself into. But as Denki moved further ahead she walked faster in order to catch up with him. As the two entered the building, Denki's amusement with Izuku wore off just enough to where he remembered he was walking with a cute girl his age. As they climbed the stairs to get to the top floor he spoke up.

"So Ashido, right? Sorry I didn't really get anyone's names yesterday since I … bolted and all that." He cringed towards the end. It wasn't that he regretted sticking up for Izuku but thinking about it now, Izuku might have been right about him being dramatic. Ashido looked up to the boy as they made their way up the stairs, recalling the incident in class yesterday her expression sobered.

"Yeah, Ashido Mina. And don't worry about it. What Iida said wasn't cool." Denki looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head and slapping his cheeks. Now at the top of the stairs he turned back to Ashido with his game face on.

"Anyways we've got bigger fish to fry." A grin returned to the pink hero in training, and she skipped up to beside Denki.

"Right! We've got to beat Sparkles and Mr. Crow!" Denki stopped midstep to crack up laughing, though Ashido wasn't quite sure why he was laughing.

"Ahh, Sparkles! You're alright Ashido. But I was actually talking about something even more serious." Finally arriving at the room with the fake missile, Denki's face turned unusually serious and eyes like flint caught Ashido off guard.

"W-what?"

"I seem to have lost my number, think I could have yours?"

…

…..

…

"PFFFFFFT! HAHAHAHAHAHA! OH MY GOD! HAHAHAHA!" Tears ran down Ashido's face as she howled. Gripping her sides, she bent while gasping for air. All the while a depressing cloud built over Denki's head as he sunk lower and lower. When Ashido was able to get her laughter under control she forced her head away from him. Just looking at him was proving to be too much for her.

"Oooooh that was too good. Seriously that was sooo bad. And your face, pfff, it made it even better." Finally back up on her feet she spotted a now pitiful Denki, drawing circles on the ground in the corner. Rolling her eyes to herself, her almost ever present smile resumed itself. Coming up behind him, she patted him on the head.

"Don't get down, who knows maybe that'll actually work on someone one day. You know, someone desperate." The cloud of depression collapsed on Denki's head like an anvil, the ground coming to his face. Ashido chuckled to herself at her partner's dismay.

Any further teasing was postponed when All Might's voice spoke up from the com pieces in their ears.

"Team F are you in position?" Ashido put her hand to the com piece and responded, while Denki picked himself up.

"Yes Sensei, we're both here."

"Good, good. You'll have fifteen minutes to set up and strategize before the other team is allowed to enter. Use it wisely."

"Yes, Sensei!" Both students responded into their ear pieces.

Xxx

Back in the observation room, the other students watched with All Might. Ashido and Denki looked to be in discussion but they weren't actually doing anything. Meanwhile outside the building, Tokoyami was trying to engage Aoyama in conversation without much success. Uraraka had sidled up to Izuku to watch the bout.

"So Midoriya, who do you think is going to win?" Izuku looked over to acknowledge the girl before turning his eyes back to the fight.

"I don't really know enough about Tokoyami's or Ashido's quirks to make a definitive call. But based on what I've seen of Aoyama's quirk, I'm leaning more towards Denki. In an enclosed space like that building, there just isn't enough room to avoid his quirk." Uraraka looked in puzzlement to her classmate.

"I thought that he had some kind of speed quirk?" Izuku shook his head.

"I know that he showed off yesterday, but it's actually really dangerous for him to do that too much. If he pulls that stunt here, he might lose." Uraraka hummed over his answer, a finger to her chin in ponder.

"But if his quirk isn't super speed then what is it?" Izuku answered with that patented grin of his.

"You'll just have to wait and see. I can't give out all of my friend's secrets."

Uraraka dropped the line of questioning, though her cheeks puffed out in childish disappointment. As they were going back to look at the screen, the class as a whole was distracted by the opening of the doors behind them. Glancing backwards Izuku was caught completely off guard by an unexpected guest sauntering up to him.

"Ichi? What are you doing here?" The black cat rubbed up against Izuku's leg and purred in satisfaction.

Izuku, and the rest of the class, looked down at Ichi in puzzlement, and some cooing from a few. But further pondering was stopped when another individual came through the doors. One that drew a much more pronounced response from All Might of all people.

"Principal Nezu sir!" A rapid bow to the well dressed, small, white furred, mouse… dog… bear caused the rest of the class to go wide eyed and follow the pro hero's example. Nezu merely waved them off, smiling as always.

"That's me! No need for all that now. I was merely on a walk with my new friend Ichi here. Yesterday he seemed content enough to lounge in my office with me but it seems he wanted to visit Midoriya-san today." Izuku and Uraraka had crouched down to give Ichi the attention he had been seeking, but when he heard his pet had been disturbing the principal he became mortified.

"I am so sorry Nezu-sensei! If I had known, I of course would have stopped him. He just has a tendency to go wherever he wants and – " Nezu raised his hand to stop the tirade coming from the young man.

"Now, now, he has been no trouble at all. Indeed it's been a rare treat to spend time with someone like myself. It is, after all, so rare to meet another animal with a quirk. Ichi has been very pleasant company." Ichi, who had been irritated with the momentary lack of attention, looked up at Izuku appearing all too pleased with the endorsement from the Principal.

Izuku could only sigh in exasperation at the feline's demeanor. Uraraka stood to the side, covering her mouth to try and stifle her giggles at the whole thing. Ichi noticed her though, and upon spying a potential new two leg to acquire, decided to work his magic. Walking idly over to the girl he purred and rubbed around her legs, being sure to let his eyes shine big and wide up at her as he did so.

Unprepared for the cat's manipulations, Uraraka fell right into the trap. Reaching down she scooped him up and cuddled him to her. Stroking his fur, and doting upon him. Jiro and Koda made their way over to closer examine and coo, or in Jiro's case try not to coo, over the black cat.

"Awwww he's so cute Midoriya!" Uraraka almost squealed. Izuku's put-out face betrayed his thoughts while looking at his four legged friend. Ichi merely returned his gaze with what Izuku knew to be an overly pleased look. The principal laughed to himself over the whole interaction.

"Hahaha what a little charmer. He accompanied me to the staff lounge at lunch today and I think he has most of them wrapped around his little paws." Walking towards All Might, Nezu clambered up the large man to sit on his shoulder and gain a better view.

"Now I believe I've disrupted your class enough All Might. Let us check in on your two students." The class as one turned back to the screen having totally forgotten about the bout between their classmates in the arrival of the principal and Ichi.

The fifteen minutes of prep time were almost up and it looked like both teams were having some trouble. Tokoyami looked to be struggling to carry on any conversation with his teammate at all, while Ashido and Denki looked to be in the middle of the argument. All Might decided to remind the students that they were on the clock.

"Alright teams, you have about thirty seconds. Get to your positions!"

Xxx

Ashido huffed, both at the announcement and her partner.

"This plan makes no sense! We're supposed to be a team. If you're going out there then so should I." Denki ran his hands through his hair in aggravation.

"Because our quirks don't work together. More importantly my quirk doesn't work with most people in general. Look I'm not a genius like Izuku, but he's beaten some sense of strategy into my head. My quirk discharges electricity everywhere. There's no option to turn off friendly fire." Ashido's eyes narrowed and she poked her finger out at him angrily.

"That's not what it did yesterday. All I saw was you using super speed. Why can't you just do that today? You better not be lying to me so you can be a glory hog." The sound of the timer going off interrupted their discussion and All Might's voice rung out.

"Alright teams! It's time to get started!" Denki looked back to Ashido as he rushed towards the door.

"Look I don't have time to explain, but I can't use that part of my quirk for very long. I promise I'm not lying. Just trust me alright. I'll keep you in the loop on the ear piece so just be ready to blast anything that comes in the room." Ashido reached after him in frustration.

"Hey wait a sec!" But Denki had already vanished down the stairs. Gritting her teeth she stomped her foot and paced the room. In her head though, Ashido was coming up with all the ways she'd make Denki pay for ignoring her. Unknowing that the other team was dealing with similar issues.

Xxx

"Aoyama-san we really need to come up with a plan. If you would just hold on for a moment I think I know how to beat them." Tokoyami tried to stop his more flamboyant partner. Aoyama continued his way on though, moving up the stairs to the floor above.

"Ahh my good feathered sir, we don't need to worry about that. Not when that fool Kaminari is on their team. That speed of his won't be a problem in a building, certainly not to me. All you need to do is watch out for Ashido-san." Tokoyami glared at his partner from behind.

"We can't assume anything about either of their quirks. You barely have any clue what mine is capable of. If we jump to conclusions based purely on what little we saw yesterday then we'll be caught flat footed when they use their quirks to their full potential." Aoyama laughed at his partner's concerns as they came to a break in the stairs.

It appeared the stairs in the building had been purposely destroyed at varying intervals to ensure the participants couldn't simply climb a single set of stairs straight to the top. Leaving the stairwell they were in, the two went to find another way up.

"You worry too much. My brilliance will outshine all that can be thrown at us." The obnoxious shine coming from Aoyama had Tokoyami hiding his shadow from the glare. Rolling his eyes, he continued to follow the armor clad fool ahead of him.

As Aoyama opened the doorway to a new stairwell the two came face to face with one of their opponents. Denki stood there, halfway down the steps to the door they had just opened. For a moment the three of them stood still, staring at each other in mute shock. Then Denki's face split with a grin and all those hours with his father came back in a rush.

"Show time. CQC!" One leap later and Denki had grabbed the top of the door frame, and slammed his feet into Aoyama's chest. Sending him flying back into Tokoyami. Twisting, Denki landed on his feet with his quirk flaring down to vambraces on his arms.

With that the fight was on.

Xxx

Back in the observation room the rest of the class looked on with interest and various amounts of incredulity. Kirishima was the first to speak up.

"Oh yeah! Now that was manly! I didn't think Kaminari had it in him." Several of the others murmured words of agreement while looking on. Uraraka meanwhile had turned to Izuku to see her new friend smiling.

"Where did Kaminari learn to do that?" Glancing her way for a moment, Izuku turned back to the screen as he watched his friend.

"His Dad is a police officer, and a former SAT operator. He's given Denki some lessons here and there. Honestly if we're not using our quirks, then Denki will beat me in a spar more often than not. I can tell you first hand that those batons of his are not for show."

Xxx

With his opponents on the ground, Denki reached for his two batons. Letting the weight of the weapons settle into his palms, he twirled them about, adjusting his grip. The hum of his quirk filled the air. The hum continued to grow more and more ominous. Tokoyami and Aoyama tried to untangle themselves and rise to their feet. But Denki's words gave them pause.

"So to save you guys some 'lovely' shock treatment, I'll give you two options. Option A, you try and get up and attack me, and I light you up like Christmas trees. Or option B you surrender and save yourselves a lot of unnecessary twitching while you wait for Recovery Girl." His words were cocky and accompanied by a grin that rankled the other two. Aoyama in particular was unwilling to comply.

"Or I could do this!" From one of his knee caps Aoyama fired a laser at Denki.

Denki flattened himself against the door frame to try and dodge the attack but there wasn't much room to maneuver and he still felt the sting of the beam as it blazed against his side. Stumbling back into the stairway he'd come from, the door closing after him, Denki was stalled just long enough for the other two to get to their feet.

"Ha! And you thought that we should worry Tokoyami-san." On the other side of the door the ominous humming had surged into a crescendo and Denki's voice called out.

"No he was right. You should have been worried."

"Aoyama-san move!" But Tokoyami was too late.

Arcs of electricity came from behind the door. The surge traveled up their legs, rooting them to the spot. A moment later and both boys dropped to the floor. Denki opened the door to look at his handiwork. Reaching down he wrapped the capture tape around Aoyama's wrist. On the other end of his ear piece he could hear All Might confirming the boy's defeat. But when he moved to Tokoyami, Denki knew something was off. He was proven right as a great force smashed into his side sending him flying down a hallway.

"That was rather close Kaminari-san. I suspect that had Aoyama-san not been standing in front of me, I would not still be standing. Now let's see how long you can keep grinning against Dark Shadow." Looking back to the now standing Tokoyami, he could see the boy's shadow quirk looming over his shoulder.

Without another word the beast flew forwards to assault Denki again. Rolling to the side Denki let his quirk travel through his hands to his batons, lashing out as the shade passed over. The shroud screeched and pulled away from the bright shock treatment. His hands slick with sweat, he stood, haggard but ready for whatever Tokoyami might throw at him.

Xxx

"He was talking big a second ago. But Pikachu's not looking so good now." Jiro's comment drew some idle nods as the class and two educators watched on.

Uraraka was watching with intense focus, hoping her new friend would be alright. Noticing her concern, Izuku spoke up beside her.

"It's alright. Denki's not out yet." Snapping out of her concentration, Uraraka looked in askance to the curly haired boy.

"But after that one attack he looks ready to drop. I thought you said if he didn't go all out he wouldn't beat them." Izuku shook his head.

"Mm mmm, I said that if he did what he did yesterday then he'd lose. What he did yesterday was essentially improve and speed up the electrical signals the body uses for motor functions. But it's dangerous for him to use his quirk like that. If he uses it too long it could burn him from the inside out. For the longest time his go to tactic was to just let loose and fry anything in range. But it leaves him open if he uses it to much. Pushing out that kind force is rather taxing. But just generating a current across his skin or those batons of his? He can do that for hours." Pondering his words for a moment Uraraka looked back to the screen.

"So do you think he'll win here?" Izuku narrowed his eyes at the image of the two boys facing off but movement on one of the other screens caught his eye. A smile crossed his lips when he noticed its intentions.

"He didn't take into account that armor of Aoyama's, it basically turned Aoyama into a lightning rod and spared Tokoyami the full force. So I think that Denki might have trouble here. But his team will still win, he is only half the team after all." Following his line of sight Uraraka spotted what he was looking at and grew a rather bewildered if impressed expression.

Xxx

Tokoyami's Dark Shadow rushed forwards, intent on either causing as much damage as it could or capturing Denki. Forcing Denki back time and again. It was all Denki could do to just keep dodging. While he'd certainly spent a lot of time training his quirk, he was still left sluggish after using it. But at least he was still cognizant. Which was the only reason he hadn't been captured yet.

Smacking another swipe from the Shadow to the side, Denki let his baton slam into the beast's head. Electricity dancing from the weapon to the Shadow, caused the creature to shriek in pain. But even as it screamed in pain it managed to bring a fist into solid contact with Denki's chin, knocking the boy straight back towards an empty window. His back slammed into its edge, head leaning out for a second before Denki orientated himself and dived to the side, dodging a follow up swipe from Dark Shadow.

Their fight had taken them to one of the window lined outer halls of the building at this point. Tokoyami had made several attempts to fall back towards the stairs but Denki would just chase after him. Getting trapped between two opponents was not an ideal situation, one that Tokoyami planned to avoid. Which ultimately lead to this stalemate. Denki being Denki though, couldn't really keep his mouth shut; even if he was out of breath.

"So do you sew him onto your feet every morning or does the soap trick work?" Tokoyami paused in question for a moment before realization dawned on him and responded in dry disbelieving fashion.

"A Peter Pan reference? Really?" Shrugging his shoulders, Denki caught his breath and gave a cheeky smirk.

"Hey got to work with what I'm given. Besides I just need to stall you." Tokoyami narrowed his eyes in aggravation.

"Dark Shadow. Morpheus is calling for this fool, help him along would you?" Grinning to itself Dark Shadow dove after its opponent.

Denki jumped back farther and farther, as the Shadow continued its attempts to throttle him. As it did Tokoyami followed, which ended up bringing him next to the windows as well. About halfway down the hall Denki's attitude changed and he started pressing back. Clashing with Dark Shadow, the two were locked. Batons and claws pressing against one another.

"Now Ashido!" Denki's cry confused Tokoyami for a moment before a shadow fell on him coming from outside the window Denki's head had leaned out earlier.

"Surprise sucka!" Ashido's form fell from above Tokoyami, strong legs sending the feather headed boy to the ground.

It was over in an instant. Pinning Tokoyami to the floor, Ashido whipped out her capture tape and slung it around one of Tokoyami's wrists. A moment later and All Might's voice called out.

"Tokoyami has been captured! Team F wins!" Horns sounded outside the building as Denki let himself sit down with a smile on his face and Ashido jumped to her feet cheering to herself.

Xxx

"Holy crap! That girl has got guts! I mean seriously, melting handholds into the side of the building to work her way down?" Sero spoke up in incredulity at Ashido's feat. He wasn't alone in his appraisal either. Kirishima too weighed in with his two cents.

"Oh hells yeah, Ashido has always been super manly!" A number of cocked brows met the redhead's particular choice of vocabulary. Mineta's face actually looked ashen.

"WHAT?! There's no way Ashido is a dude not with those big freaking boo-" A swift swipe to the side of his head from Asui's flail-like tongue cut off the grape headed boy. Kirishima wasn't sure what Mineta was talking about.

"What? No, Ashido's a girl. But there's nothing that says girls can't be manly too." A floating hand placed itself on his shoulder and a disembodied voice from Hagakure spoke up beside him.

"And that's totally awesome that you feel that way Kirishima. But maybe be careful about who and where you say it to. You might make someone upset. Just a thought." The blinking of his eyes and the tilt of his head indicated that the suggestions intentions may have been lost on him.

Both teams, minus Aoyama, returned to the observation room to the congratulations and applause of their fellows and teachers. Aoyama for his part was being sent to see Recovery Girl, carried by a pair of robots on a stretcher between them. Denki walked over to join Izuku while Ashido was engaged by Hagakure's praises. Izuku smiled at his friend and bumped his fist in congratulations.

"You did better than I thought you would Denki, congratulations!" Izuku's smile was genuine and Denki appreciated it. To the side though Uraraka wondered at the change in his smile from those he had displayed earlier.

"Hey! Come on, how could you ever doubt me?" Izuku put a finger to his chin in faux contemplation before answering in a teasing fashion while counting off his fingers at his friend's expense.

"Well going off with only half a plan, the desire to one up Aoyama, oh and the fact that you were on a team with a girl. I'm honestly impressed you managed to keep your head in the game with that last one. Though to be fair if Ashido hadn't saved your butt, it could have gone either way for your team." Denki face planted into the ground before looking up at his friend with teary eyes.

"That's so mean man." Uraraka stood nearby giggling to herself with Ichi in her arms.

The feline having spotted his blond two leg, hopped down. Coming over to Denki he rubbed up against the distraught boy. Picking Ichi up, Denki rubbed his cheek against Ichi's own in exaggerated gratitude.

"Only Ichi believes in me." Izuku rolled his eyes at his friend's dramatic antics. Uraraka spoke up through her giggles.

"But Midoriya, you said you believed in Kaminari at the start of the match." Denki's eyes shined and he was quick to pull Izuku into a hug.

"Aww, I knew you'd never give up on me." Izuku struggled to release himself from Denki's grip, even while he laughed.

"Get off Denki." Their celebrating was interrupted when All Might called out to the class.

Their teacher stood their grinning proudly. Principal Nezu had moved to his shoulder at some point and was smiling at the lot of them as well.

"Well now, that was a good showing for the first match. But we have four more to get to so without further ado, would teams B and J head to their building please." A hand raised in askance.

"Yes, Yaoyorozu? What can I help you with?" Taking her hand down, Yaoyorozu stepped forward.

"Sensei, shouldn't we discuss the previous match before moving onto the next? So as to keep the events fresh in mind and better form accurate criticisms I mean." No disrespect was evident in her tone, only sincere curiosity. Surprisingly it was Nezu and not All Might that answered.

"An excellent question dear. But sadly there are only so many hours in the day. Between the fifteen minutes for the villains to set up and fifteen minutes for the match itself, they will take two and a half hours to complete. Adding to that is the short time it takes for those teams to get to and from the observation room." Allowing his words to sink in for a moment, Nezu subtly tapped All Might to let him know to take over. Coughing into his hand All Might took the hint.

"R-right! Each of these matches is being recorded so that we can hand you all copies at the end. All of you will need to analyze what you see, then write a small report on each match detailing what could have been done better by each team. Those will be due next week."

Taking in her teachers' words, Yaoyorozu gave a short bow.

"Thank you for your explanation Senseis, I will look forward to the assignment."

Giving the girl a thumbs up and a smile, All Might was sure to keep his own thoughts to himself.

'Good thing Principal Nezu was here, or else I would have totally forgotten about that. I can't help getting caught up in the moment some times. These kids have so much potential!'

Letting his eyes slide over to a particular moss headed student, All Might's eyes shined in contemplation.

'Both of your opponents were raised amongst pros. I'm eager to see how you do against two adversaries of such caliber, young Midoriya.'

Xxx

A/N: ….. Umm Hi. My muse has been dead for a while. But I wanted to put this out so I could try and get some traction in my writing again. I also went ahead and scanned through my previous chapters to try and touch up any errors I could find. On a more important note I wanted to sincerely thank everyone for all your reviews, follows, and faves. Seriously thank you all.