Chapter 55
Homeroom class on the first day back to school was tension filled, mainly because after all of the excitement, no one had told anyone their exam results. There were no letters, calls, or even emails. It was a little odd, considering all of the trouble that had happened as a result of it. Then again, they had a nice and relaxing summer and the results hadn't mattered at the time.
The best part about seeing everyone again, was that things weren't awkward or weird between the students that had a bit more fun with each other during the summer. They were all friends and none of them let what happened get in the way of that.
“Settle down.” Aizawa said as he entered the classroom and he was only slightly surprised to see that they were all already in their seats. “I'll wait to explain the living arrangements until after I tell you all the exam results.”
The whole room tensed up to listen to what he said.
“You all passed...” Aizawa said without inflection and paused.
Nearly everyone started to cheer, except for two students.
“...except for Izuku Midoria.” Aizawa finished.
“NO!” All the girls yelled, except Tanya.
“We don't have to ask why, do we?” Tanya asked him.
Aizawa sat at his desk. “He failed the practical part of the exam and received zero points.”
“What? How? He beat All Might!” Mina exclaimed. “The whole point was to...”
“Be tested by facing your fears.” Izuku said. “They believe I failed, because I reacted with anger and lost control in their eyes.”
“Fucking idiots.” Tanya said and took out her phone. “If Izuku lost control, they would all be dead. He would have levelled the testing site and the entire UA campus.”
“What are you doing?” Aizawa asked.
“Initiating contingency plan Romero Papa Gamma.” Tanya said and sent the command.
“You need to explain...”
“Izuku has just filed a complaint with the school board and the government against Nezu and the teachers here for bias and unfair standards for the new Symbol of Peace, with accompanying footage.” Tanya said and her phone beeped. “I wonder if any of you will still have a job by the end of the day?”
Aizawa usually never reacted to things like that and his hand seemed to move on its own as his capture cloth snapped across the classroom to grab Tanya's phone. He needed to see what damage she had just done.
Izuku's hand grabbed the end of it and it stopped dead, as did Aizawa. “Assaulting a student?” He shook his head and thought about yanking on the cloth to launch Aizawa across the room. His fist glowed with anticipation.
“Izuku.” Tanya said and Izuku nodded as he changed tactics.
Aizawa suddenly felt very weak and tired and he didn't know why.
“You were our favorite teacher. Pragmatic, stern, and only gave us the essentials and had us learn the rest on our own. That was perfect for our personalities.” Tanya said. “Trying to strike against us? That was a mistake. A very big mistake.”
“What... are you... doing to me?”
“I'm absorbing all of your kinetic energy.” Izuku said. “After talking to Tanya in depth about it and doing a few experiments, I realized I can absorb all potential energy around me and not just an object's movement potential.” He gave Aizawa a slightly manic smile. “Like stop the electric current in a person's nervous system... and even in their brain.”
Aizawa tried to fight against his paralysis and he couldn't even blink his eyes.
“Nighty-night.” Izuku said as Aizawa fell unconscious and his head dropped to the desk.
“Oh, wow.” Mina whispered into the silence that had fallen in the room. “Izuku, you could...”
“Yes, I can.” Izuku said and let the capture cloth go as he turned to smile at her. “The best part about it is that I can also do the opposite.”
“What do you mean?” Mina asked.
Izuku held a hand out to her.
Mina didn't even think about it as she immediately took it. She fully trusted him and felt warm inside at his happy smile. A second later, the world seemed to make a whole lot more sense and her eyes went to Izuku's happy face and their eyes locked in an intense gaze.
“I want in.” Mina whispered. “Whatever I can do to help and support you, I'll do it.”
Tanya and Izuku exchanged quick looks and then gave Mina matching smiles.
“Thank you.” Izuku whispered and Mina beamed a smile at him.
The others in the class looked slightly confused at the exchange.
“What did you do to her?” Bakugo asked.
“It was Tanya's idea, actually.” Izuku said and let Mina's hand go.
“It's staying!” Mina gasped.
“That's because I unlocked the potential energy in your head.” Izuku said and held a hand out to Bakugo.
Bakugo wasn't stupid and he barked a laugh as he walked over and clasped onto Izuku's offered hand.
“I knew you always wanted to be as smart as me.” Izuku said with a grin.
“Fucking bastard.” Bakugo grinned back and then froze still as Izuku's power worked through his brain and made thousands of potential neural connections, which continued on and made millions more. “H-h-holy FUUUCK!”
“Isn't it a rush?” Tanya asked with a manic grin on her face. “It only worked a little bit on me and it still felt like the world just cracked open and became something new.”
Bakugo stood there and held on for several minutes, cursing under his breath the whole time.
“That's got it.” Izuku said and let his hand go. “How do you feel?”
Bakugo shivered for a moment and then let his own manic grin show on his face. “Like I could blow up the whole fucking world!”
The other students in the class were shocked by that admission.
“When were you going to tell me?” Bakugo asked.
“When we started the training we were supposed to get at summer camp.” Tanya said. “It wouldn't have worked for you before now.”
“Yeah, I get it.” Bakugo said and punched Izuku's shoulder. “Thanks for not making me an even bigger idiot than I was when we were kids.”
Izuku laughed. “It wasn't possible for anyone to be a bigger one!”
“Asshole.” Bakugo laughed as well and sat down.
“What just happened?” Momo asked.
“Do you want to try it and find out?” Tanya asked. “I should warn you, though. If you're already incredibly smart, it won't do much.”
“HEY!” Mina and Bakugo shouted.
“I didn't say you weren't smart, because you know you are. I said incredibly smart, as in the same level as myself, Izuku, and Momo.”
“Oh, that's okay then.” Mina said and smiled. “I'm as smart as Momo now! That's awesome!”
“How many acid compounds can you imagine making now?” Izuku asked.
“Thirty-seven as a base and a hundred and sixty with changes in viscosity, temperature, air reactions when produced, and material reactions when in contact with any surface.” Mina said and then gasped. “I really am as smart as Momo!”
Momo took Mina's words at face value and walked over to take Izuku's hand. She sucked in a sharp breath and her eyes almost lit up as Izuku's power worked through her well established neural network.
“Izuku?” Tanya asked.
“She hasn't tapped into her imagination very much and focused exclusively on physical sciences.” Izuku said.
“What does that mean?” Tsu, the frog girl, asked.
“He's bridging her analytical mind to her creativity.” Tanya explained. “It might take a while.”
“Another four minutes and fifteen seconds.” Mina and Bakugo said at the same time. They looked at each other and squinted their eyes. “Jinx!” They said and locked eyes. “Double jinx!”
Tanya slapped the top of her desk and made a bang sound to break the stalemate. “You're both smart enough to continue that on forever without topping each other.”
“That's true.” Bakugo said and crossed his arms. “I just realized I can detect lies reliably now. It was iffy before.”
“This is going to be so great!” Mina said and gave Tanya a pointed look. “Is that why you and Izuku always seem to know what was going on?”
“No.” Izuku said and let Momo's hand go.
“Oh, my god.” Momo whispered and climbed onto Izuku's lap and hugged him tightly as she started to freak out. “Oh, my god! OH, MY GOD!”
“What's wrong with her?” Todoroki asked, a little concern in his voice.
“She just realized how limited in scope she's been while using her abilities.” Izuku said. “It's okay, Momo. Tanya and I are here for you now.”
“Oh, god. Oh, god! Oh, god! My parents did this to me. They trained me to focus only on chemical formulas and to never experiment with my quirk!” Momo said as tears formed in her eyes.
Tanya was suddenly there and sat on her lap to hug her. “Shh, it's okay.”
“Tanya! Izuku!” Momo shouted as tears poured out of her eyes and she hugged the two of them while she cried and cried.
Mina and Tsu walked over and joined in on the supportive hug, which was quickly joined by Ochako, Jiro, and Toru. Momo cried harder at now having friends that she could have had years ago if she hadn't studied so much at the urging of her parents.
*
By lunchtime, everyone in the school found out that Tanya was only slightly wrong about President Nezu losing his job. He was actually arrested for all of the crimes he had committed against the students, despite the contracts they signed to attend UA, and the other teachers were grilled by a detective that could detect lies.
No one was surprised when most of the faculty were taken into custody. Whether charges would be made against them would depend on how much they cooperated. Of course, Tanya had arranged for all of the school computers to be available and unlocked, thanks to the hacking equipment she and Izuku had gained from the gangs and the government spies they had taken care of and then raided.
Several hero agencies were hired to send members into the school to watch over the students for the afternoon. Because it was now a boarding school, there had to be an adult presence in the dorms. By the luck of the draw, or a few specifically placed texts by Tanya that no one but her and Izuku knew about, their dorm gained a very special advisor and supervisor.
The Rabbit Hero, Mirko.
Her real name was Rumi Usagiyama and despite being ranked fifth on the country's top heroes list, under Endeavor, Hawks, Beast Jeanist, and Edgeshot, she was the top female superhero ranked on the entire list. For a reason. She kicked ass.
“All right, settle down you wimps.” Mirko said as she entered the classroom. She saw that all of the girls were hugging one very large young man and huffed at them. “You can get your rocks off on your own time. Break it up or I'll do it for you.”
The temperature in the room seemed to drop and Mirko felt her muscles freeze up. Her eyes widened as every single girl, except for one, gave her a hate filled glare as the group hug broke up and they returned to their seats.
“I believe you have mistaken good friends comforting a distressed classmate as a sexual encounter.” Izuku said with a flat tone. “I suggest you apologize.” He slowly stood up to his full height and glared at her as well. “Now.”
Mirko felt her muscles relax and didn't visibly react to the young man's intense gaze. Internally, she was freaking out a little. He was nearly All Might's size and the feeling of power that he gave off was making her shiver... in both a good way and a bad way.
I don't want to piss this guy off. Mirko thought and nodded. “I apologize for my assumption. I should have asked what was going on before I asked for you to stop.”
Izuku lost the glare and carefully sat back down. “Is lunch still going to be served in the cafeteria?”
“No, they're shipping meals to the dorms. The school is in a bit of a mess right now.” Mirko said.
“Was Lunch Rush involved?” Kirishima asked.
“No, he was traumatized by all the arrests and the police going through everything, even the kitchen.”
“I wonder if they found the traitor hiding in the sushi rolls?” Iida asked and his glasses glinted.
A few of the guys chuckled.
“No! He was hiding in the uncooked rice bin!” Aoyama said with a laugh and a sparkle by his face, which was his trademark move. It set everyone off and they all laughed.
Mirko let them joke about it, mainly because she was looking right at the large muscular student. He wanted them to laugh. She could almost feel it. When his eyes went back to her, she suppressed a shiver.
“We'll get everything sorted out, so if you have any special food requirements...” Mirko started to say and Tsuyu put up her hand. “Frog quirk?”
“Yes, ma'am.” Tsu said.
“I'll give your family a call and arrange...”
“No one is home.” Tsu said.
“Tsu, we've got this.” Izuku said and nodded at Tanya.
“Inko should have some ingredients left. I'll get her to bring them over.” Tanya said and sent a text.
“Get her to stop at the appropriate stores and pick up a bunch of stuff.” Izuku said. “We can cook up a bunch of meals when we go back to the dorm and...”
“COOKING PARTY!” Mina yelled and the other girls cheered.
Tsu looked really happy. “Thank you, guys.”
“It really will be okay.” Tanya said and took out something from her pocket to hand to Tsu.
“What's this?” Tsu asked and opened it up. She gasped and looked from Tanya to Izuku. “Is this real?”
“Tanya can carry a lot more than me around the country. Picking up your little brother and sister from school to bring them to the dorms is nothing.” Izuku said.
Tsu hopped out of her seat and landed on Izuku's desk before she kissed him pretty hard. “Thank you!”
Izuku's face went red. “It's the least we could do, Tsu. Hero school is supposed to be the best part of your life as you learn to become the hero you were meant to be, not cause you anxiety because you can't help your family.”
Tsu gave him another quick kiss, then hopped over to Tanya's desk and gave her the same two kisses. “Thank you.”
“We take care of our people.” Tanya said and glanced around the classroom. “All of our people.”
Nearly all of them looked happy about that and two of them looked a little sad. Tanya gave Izuku a hand signal and he made note of the two faces being forced to smile. They would check them out thoroughly when they had the chance.