Morale

A week had passed by, and things went relatively normally. During that time the students of UA had continued their preparations for the school festiva. His class specifically was preparing to put on a concert and dance. Occasionally he would give them pointers where it was needed, mostly when it came to acoustics and the practical effects they intended to use. But aside from that they did it almost entirely by themselves, and considerably well too. Ashido was the one charged with organizing the dance routine, managing to impress him with her almost natural ability to teach others the moves they needed to know even if it was only a matter of memorization. As for the music and instruments, Jiro was the one handling it. On top of writing and performing the main vocals for their song she was also teaching the other members of the class whatever instrument they were assigned. Of course a few of them already knew what they were doing from the beginning, but extra guidance wasn’t something that hurt to have. Especially when coming up with something original. Aurdel meanwhile continued to teach them during the day, ramping up the intensity of their education as time went on. If they were to become truly great Heroes then they would have to constantly rise to meet new challenges. Of course now he essentially had someone new to teach. A partner. “Didn’t you say that you could keep up with me?”

“Shut up and keep fighting!” Mirko said back, a wry smile on her face. The previous night they’d decided that they would wake up early the next morning, and take part in a small sparring match. That small sparring match had then turned into a half an hour long brawl. Her quirk, Rabbit, meant that most of her strength was focused on her legs, allowing her to land devastating blows in the form of incredibly powerful kicks. He didn’t doubt that, with the right effort, she could easily shatter someone’s femur with a single kick. But that’s not to say she was lacking in upper body strength though. In fact, from what he’d heard and seen she actively tried to get them to the same level. It was sort of impressive, as he would have expected anyone else to just focus on what they were good at and nothing else. Of course he still had to go easy on her. Despite how strong she was he still dwarfed her in size, on top of being stronger and much more durable even while outside of his armor. He did have to give her some serious credit though, because when it came to tenacity and ferocity they were almost equal. Both of them refused to back down in a fight, not until either they were dead or if they’d taken down the enemy. A pair of people like that made for some interesting training. Aurdel swung his right leg in a roundhouse, aiming for her head. She grabbed his leg and pushed it over her head, then used the opportunity to try and kick towards his crotch. He quickly fell back, guarding as she feigned her blow and jumped into the air. Nearly reaching the ceiling of the gym they were training in, she came back down with a flurry of kicks. He raised his arms to defend himself in response. Welts formed on his arm and on her legs after the strikes, and after a moment she took a step back as they stared each other down. By the time this fight was over they would probably both be completely covered in bruises, but to them that was just what it took to get the most out of a training exercise. There was something on his mind.

“What do you think about the Nomus?”

“I said to shut up, but I’ll bite. They’re tough, not completely braindead. Though I haven’t exactly had many chances to fight them thanks to you.”

“I wouldn’t be too broken-hearted about it,” he attacked, throwing a punch towards her face as he stepped forward. It was a blatantly telegraphed move that she could avoid. “But they’re getting stronger, at least according to what I’ve heard and seen. Know any place that might have the capability to make monsters with multiple quirks?” Just as he expected she sidestepped the blow, that allowed him to suddenly swing his arm back towards her.

Mirko ducked under and grabbed his arm, locking it in place. “Well you’d want a doctor, for obvious reasons. But you’d want one that specializes in quirks since they know more about how quirks work together, alongside genetics. From what I know the majority of doctors that know that crap do stuff for kids, pediatric care. Of course there are a few for adults, but they really only work with Heroes since they’re the ones that still have changes with their quirks.” She yanked his forward and swung her left leg towards his feet, trying to knock him down.

In response he shoved her forward, instead causing her to suddenly be thrown from the one leg she stood on. Then he threw her over his shoulder and slammed her towards the ground. “Makes sense. And if that is true, then it leads me to believe that someone making them would have an easier time by working with kids rather than adults. Parents would bring their kids in to see if they have a quirk, and if they see something that they like or want then they can easily take it through some additional procedure with smokes and mirrors. Or, if it’s later on, they could arrange for kidnappings through false emergencies and ‘deaths.’” At the last moment Mirko was able to land on her feet, kicking back up and striking him in the jaw. She let go of the grip on his arm.

“That’s a pretty serious accusation, it makes sense though. Only problem is you have absolutely no proof to try and start kicking down doors. Find something to give you a reason, then do it.” She went in for another kick to face

“They say to practice what you preach, especially if you’re telling it to the choir..” Aurdel sidestepped the attacking leg, grabbing it and throwing her back. “You’re not wrong though, I have no leads. And if I just started kicking down the doors of every children’s hospital, I’d probably get charged with another of crimes and lose the chance to catch the person really behind it all.”

“Okay then big guy, what are you suggesting? You don’t exactly seem to have a plan.” He pushed forward after throwing her back, striking her in the stomach with his knee before elbowing her in the face.

“Nothing yet, right now I’m going to try and just narrow down the scope of what I’m looking for. There’s not much left of the Nomu that I've Fought, but there have been others before. I’ll have their quirks separated and the DNA tested, then run the data against a database of people who were either kidnapped, died during medical treatment or died under mysterious circumstances. From there it will be a matter of looking into connected individuals, and if they were involved with several of the same situation. From there it will be a matter of tracking them down and bringing them in.” Mirko gave a powerful front kick to his gut as he pushed forward, but he powered through it.

“Well when that happens, I’m in.” Powering through it forced one of her legs off the ground, and he quickly followed up by grabbing the other leg and dropping her with one arm. Then he put his other arm around her neck, locking her in a submission hold.

“Looks like that’s my win.” He closed his legs, knowing fully well she’d kick backwards given the chance. Mirko gave him a smug look.

“Hatsume, don’t you think you’re going a little overboard?”

“Why do you say that?” Hatsume took her goggles off for a moment, revealing that the only part of her that wasn’t covered in dirt and grime was the space immediately around her eyes.

He let out a tired sigh, “I understand that you’re just as thrilled for the festival as anyone else, and that you want to be able to proudly show off your inventions. But you have been working non-stop.”

“It was just an all-nighter, I’ll be fine,” she waved away his concern.

“You’ve been having ‘just an all-nighter’ for a week straight, as far as I’m aware you have gotten absolutely no real sleep since the festival was announced. On top of that, I’ve heard that you were falling asleep in your normal classes, barely eating anything, haven’t bathed and haven’t even changed your clothes. That all combined is a walking time bomb of bad habits, though it can be taken more literally given the tendency your equipment has of blowing up.”

“Really? Can’t say I’ve noticed any difference in my performance. I’ve got all I need right here in my workshop, no need to ever leave.”

“Do you mean the several rows of energy drinks and coffee cups?”

“Exactly! I just need a few of these to keep me going and to stop myself from crashing, it’s no big deal.”

He took a deep breath, “Alright, enough is enough.” He would take things into his own hands now. “As a teacher it’s my responsibility to make sure that all students are properly taking care of themselves, even if they aren’t ones that I’m directly in charge of.” He walked over to the side of the room.

“Huh, what are you talking about?” She looked over, “I’m perfectly fine at-“ Her questioning was instantaneously quieted as Aurdel pulled a water hose off of the wall, cranked on the cold water and blasted her with it. The pressure of the water was high enough that it caused her to be thrown to the ground. Evidently when he checked the hose to see who had designed it, he found that Hatsume was in fact the one who had designed it. “I think I need to work on that one a little bit longer, the tank is too pressurized,” she coughed as she stood up. Cold water was good at waking people up, especially when they were blasted with it without any warning. And evidently it had obviously worked. Hatsume rapidly blinked and looked around the room.

“I’m giving you the choice between going to your dorm and willingly caring for yourself, or I’m going to drag you out of here by force.”

“What are you talking about? The workshop is basically my dorm room. And besides, you woke me up plenty and cleaned me so there’s no reason to- Hey, what are you doing?” Her train of thought quickly changed as he closed the water, set down the hose and walked over. “Hey, put me down!” Without hesitation he picked her up and carried her out over his shoulder, ducking so she wouldn’t hit her head on the doorway. “I said put me down, I need to work on my babies!”

“Your ‘babies’ can wait, especially since they’re almost guaranteed to present a danger to anyone else in the workshop. You can work on them later once you’ve properly showered, eaten and gotten at least eight hours of sleep.”

“You already gave me a shower! And all I need is one of my drinks to keep me going.”

“I didn’t give you a shower, I blasted you with cold water the same way police officers would hose down drunkards. And with the way you’re taking all those energy drinks and cups of coffee, you’re drastically increasing the chance of having a stroke or heart attack at a young age.”

“I know what my body can and cannot take, so put me down so I can get back to working on my babies!” She thrashed around, trying to get free, but with her positioning and his strength it was impossible. Several students from the other classes walked by with looks of concern, a few other teachers did as well. And normally they would be right to be concerned, as if they saw a student being dragged around by a teacher that would raise several questions. However upon realizing who he was dragging away they paid no mind. Hatsume had made herself quite infamous across the school with her inventions and rather intense personality, with the people that came into contact with her only doing so out of necessity due to the constant work the support class was taking part in..

“Hmm? What’s going on?” One of the students stopped to ask. He wore the school uniform, had a full head of purple hair, bags under his eyes but curiously also wearing the same binding cloth that Eraserhead used like a scarf.

Aurdel thought back for a moment. “Hitoshi Shinso, Eraserhead’s apprentice.” He looked back at Hatsume, “I’m forcing Hatsume to go back to her dorm, she’s been focusing more on her inventions than her personal health..”

“What a coincidence, I was just on my way to the workshop. Hatsume was preparing some equipment for me.”

“Oh right, here you go,” Hatsume said almost excitedly. She pulled out a pouch he hadn’t noticed before, retrieving a device and dropping it into Shinso’s hands. “You’ll have to fiddle with the knobs and dials a little bit just so it’s calibrated correctly, after that it’ll work just fine.”

“I see, thank you,” he took the device, “Is there any way that I can help in this situation?”

“Yeah, get this teacher to put me-!” Hatsume suddenly stopped, Aurdel lifted an eyebrow behind his helmet. Then he realized what had happened. Hitoshi Shinso, his quirk was brainwashing. If someone replied to him, and he consciously desired to do it, they would be brainwashed. The brainwashing then allowed him to command whoever it was to do whatever tasks were asked of them, though the exception was those that required more complex brain activity.

The boy looked to Aurdel, “I can handle her for you.” Aurdel set Hatsume down, a blank look on her face. Then Shinso spoke. “Hatsume, go back to your dorm, take a shower, change into a fresh set of clothes and sleep for eight hours. Then once you wake up, get a proper breakfast.” Hatsume walked away without uttering a word, “She’ll snap out of it once she completes everything, it’ll be fine.” Aurdel thought back again.

“Right, you’re the one that’s joining us for the joint exercise training soon,” he shook his head, “You know, you’re somewhat of an interesting character.”

“Is there something wrong with me?” The boy asked.

“No, in fact that’s why I find you interesting. The average person is relatively simple minded, and when given a quirk like yours they would first think about how they can use it for themselves. That would also be reinforced by the people around them, but it’s a horrible generalization.” Shinso looked at him, almost shocked by his words. “In fact, your quirk is probably one of the better ones suited to Hero work. Being a Hero isn’t exactly all about fighting, even if that’s prioritized. You could easily succeed in negotiations with Villains who have hostages, you could keep people who planned to take their own lives from doing the deed. You can save lives and be a Hero with your quirk, even if some people save otherwise.” Shinso remained silent after hearing his words. “Even if you’re not a part of my class, I’ll still be rooting for you out there. Just like I root for everyone else.” He seemed… Happy, with what he’d said.

“Then I’ll make sure to perform well enough to justify rooting for me then, maybe I’ll even do well enough to take the place of one of your students.” The boy had a grin on his face, speaking genuinely. “You won’t be disappointed.”

“I know I won’t.”

Fostering Stronger Bonds

“All of you have been performing well in your training so far. You’ve learned some of the fundamentals of close quarters combat, alongside the basic ability to mix all of those moves together and perform quick takedowns on targets. Ideally the best way to continue practicing is by either performing them on each other or by going out into the city and actually fighting criminals on the streets. However the school decided that handing you real knives to stab towards each other, with the purpose of learning to handle the threat, was too dangerous, and that even if you all had your licenses that it would be too dangerous to set you loose.” Bakugo was annoyed by that statement, he and Todoroki were the only ones that failed the licensing exam and he didn’t want it to be reminded of his failure. Todoroki didn’t look unhappy about it being brought up though. As far as Aurdel could tell, he was using his failure during the licensing exam as a learning point to keep improving himself. “So instead, I managed to come up with a happy little compromise between me and the staff. I’m sure that you’re all familiar with training ground Beta?”

“Obviously,” Kaminari said, “But how is fighting there going to help us? I mean, not all of us have the strength or power to punch robots. You know, even if a guy like me has a quirk that can deal with them.”

“Yes, you’ll be fighting robots,” Aurdel said, “Putting you all up against me or one of the teachers would hardly be fair, and it’s hardly legal to pull criminals out of prison and use them as training dummies. But you’ll be sorely mistaken if you think that the robots you’re going to fight today will be the same ones that you’ve fought in the past.” They looked confused, so he elaborated. “The robots you will be fighting are something that I worked on on the side. Officially I’m going to call them the Holo-Training Dummy Mark One, but you can call it whatever you want.” He broke open the crate he’d stood up next to him, revealing its contents. “This dummy is a robot, and it has been modeled to simulate the average strength and durability of the common criminal or Villain you will find on the streets. Of course, if it doesn’t look the sort then the training won’t feel complete. That is where holograms come into play.” He tapped a button on his wrist pad, “On the dummy, and around the mock city, I’ve placed a number of hologram emitters. Where I’m from holograms are used constantly for simulating environments and the many moving parts in them, no matter the detail. For example.” He tapped his wrist pad again and the hologram projectors activated, coating a perfect copy of him in his armor on top of the dummy. “However, the robot will not mindlessly rush you. It is designed to respond to your actions accordingly, so if you’re going to beat it then you’ll need to think on your feet. Are there any questions?”

“Yeah,” Bakugo said, angrily, “I’m sick of us not being able to use our quirks for these training exercises. Are you going to let us use them or what?”

“Yes, you’ll be able to use your quirks. But don’t think for a moment that just because you can use your quirks it’s going to be easy for you. Each dummy has been modified and programmed to be able to face each of you, brute force alone won’t be able to get you through this.” Midoriya raised a hand, “Yes Midoriya?”

“Will we be going with partners?”

“Yes, and they will be the partners you initially chose. So I suggest that in the time you’re getting to the training grounds, and in the time before the fight, you spend some time getting to know each other.”

“G-Getting to know each other?” The boy stammered back.

“Yes, getting to know each other. Talk, learn things. Knowing the people that you work with, especially when in a smaller group, is key for proficient work. Besides, the dummies are able to take any form with the hologram projectors. So if you get separated from your partner then it will be a hell of a lot easier to tell the real person from the fake.”.

“I guess that does make sense…”

“Are there any more questions?” He looked around, nothing. “In that case, I’m going to hand out a series of cards. The card I hand to you and your partner will tell you which section of the training ground to go to. Once you know where you’re going, head there right away.”

“Doesn’t this all seem kinda weird?” Uraraka asked Midoriya, he wasn’t sure how to respond, “I mean, the whole setup for this is all just a little bit odd.”

“It is, but I guess that things in the real world don’t make much sense either. We’ve already accepted and gotten past the fact that one of our teachers is a soldier from the future where aliens are real.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Still, isn’t it a little awkward even how he originally got us to choose our partners?”

“A-A little,” he still remembered it and how embarrassing it’d felt, instinctively his face blushed red. “A-Anyways! We’re here.” Soon enough they finally arrived at the section of the training ground that was assigned to them, it being walled off from the rest. After a moment a gate opened up and they were able to walk in, and they were amazed by the sights that they saw.

“Woah…” They looked around, this section of the training ground was populated like it was an actual city. Holograms wandered the sidewalks and spoke with each other, each and every single one of them looking almost uncannily realistic. There were even mock-ups of cars driving around the streets, following the rules of traffic. Even after all that they’d seen, this was really impressive. “He really knows his stuff if he can do something like this.”

“Yeah, and seeing that he knows things like this makes me wonder just how much he can teach us.” He took a good look around. Were it not for the fact that they were told the environment would be mostly fake, he probably would have been fooled by it. “We should start walking around and looking for the dummy, we don’t want to fail this exercise.” The two of them then began to wander around, and the weirdness of the situation really began to set in. Seeing all the fake people around him made him wonder just how it was accomplished. Were they randomly generated by a computer? Were they people who were selected from a database and recreated? Or had Mr. Aurdel specifically chosen a set of people to recreate and program? It was also hard just to grasp the fact that they were programmed, as they reacted almost exactly like people would. Some gave them random glances, some would step out of their way and apologize if they were about to collide and others even gave them idle greetings.

“What kind of questions do you think he wanted us to ask each other?” Uraraka spoke, “I mean, he obviously has certain questions in mind that he wants us to ask each other. In almost every test he’s given us so far he was looking for us to do certain things.”

“I’m not sure… Maybe why we picked who we did?”

“But don’t we already know the answer to that? He said to pick people we got along with and could trust, and that’s what we did..”

Midoriya put a hand on his chin, “Maybe he wanted us to figure out why we’re nice to each other? It would make sense…”

“I-Isn’t that too awkward?!” Uraraka said, flustered.

“Y-yeah, but it’s like you said. He’s probably looking for us to ask specific questions. So I’m not sure if we can avoid talking about it. He’s probably also listening to what we’re saying, so he’ll know if we lie about saying we did something that we didn’t.” The moment was extremely awkward between the two of them, and neither of them could really begin. They walked around for nearly seven minutes before either of them spoke again, breaking the uneasy atmosphere

“Um… So, if we’re going to answer that question… Why don’t we both say our answers at the same time? That way it won’t be awkward when one of us tries to go first.”

“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea…” A nervous sweat trickled down his head. What was he supposed to say?! He shook his head, trying to think of what he might say that wouldn’t embarrass himself in front of Uraraka or the others. It looked like Uraraka was having the same problem. “Are you ready?” She nodded, he counted down. “Alright… Three, two, one!”

“Because you helped me during the entrance exam and I’ve looked up to you ever since then!” The both of them shouted their answers, and upon realizing that they said the same thing their faces went cherry red. They quickly turned away to hide their expressions and regain their composure. What were the chances that they could have said the same thing?! His eyes darted around rapidly, as if something nearby would give him the answer that he needed. Nothing. Both of them were quiet, too embarrassed to say anything.

Then, at the very moment that he was about to speak, he noticed that something was wrong. “Wait a minute… Where did all of the people and the cars go?”

“I- Huh?” It seems that Uraraka hadn’t noticed either until he’d pointed it out, “Hey, you’re right! They’re all gone. Maybe he didn’t set them up over here?”

“I don’t think that’s it. He walled off this section of the training ground, and we haven’t even reached the other edge. So we can’t have gone that far from where we started.” The two of them backtracked a little, then stiffened. The area that they’d previously been in was now completely devoid of anything, something was definitely up. The two of them faced opposite directions, scanning the area. “Do you see anything?”

“No, I don’t,” she said cautiously, “Do you think that maybe we walked by the dummy, but the holograms were able to recognize the dummy and fled the area?”

“Maybe… All this stuff is really advanced, so I don’t know everything that it can do.”

“I think we need to get a better view of the area. Maybe if we go up to one of the rooftops we’ll be able to see them?”

“I think you’re right, come on.” Uraraka touched her hands together to start floating up, Midoriya activated Full Cowling and used it to scale the building. As he jumped up he turned away and looked off in the distance he saw the missing holograms, they’d effectively fled the area like he’d thought. They were all gathered by the gate they’d entered from..

“Do you see anything?” She asked.

He was caught off guard by her sudden question, he hadn’t even heard her take a step onto the roof or even deactivate her quirk. “I can see the holograms from before, they look like they’re acting strange. The dummy Villains must be nearby if they chose to run away.”

“Then we should stick close, or else we’ll get separated and we won’t know who is who. Here, give me your hand.” He turned around, and Uraraka extended out a hand towards him. Behind her helmet she had a warm smile on, and it helped him to relax. But he knew it wasn’t right. When he gave her his hand he pulled her in, using the opportunity to elbow her in the face while using about twenty percent of One For All

The hologram being used to make up the fake Uraraka flickered and disappeared, and the familiar form of the robot dummy appeared in front of him with a small indent in its head. The dummy then attacked him in response, throwing a forward jab with its right arm. Midoriya bobbed underneath and grabbed the right arm from below, keeping the dummy from using either of its arms to attack him. Then he drove his knee repeatedly into the dummy's midsection, causing what felt like significant damage. After dealing those blows he used his hold on the dummy to spin around with its back facing towards him. He then kicked out one of its legs and lifted it up into the air over his shoulder, dropping it back down onto the hard roof they were fighting on. But the moment that he released his grip on it the dummy managed to land back on its feet and properly. Seeing that made him consider tossing the dummy off of the roof, but considering the fact they were supposed to be treating them like real people that wasn’t exactly an option. The dummy came at him again, this time attacking him with a kick from the side. Midoriya arched back just outside of its reach, then grabbed the dummy’s leg with both arms before twisting it and forcing it onto the ground.

If this were supposed to be an exercise about reinforcing the things they’d learned in class, then he was going to do something he didn’t particularly enjoy the thought of. Quickly he sat down on top of the dummy, wrapping his legs around its right leg to put it into a knee bar. Then he used One For All, using it to amplify his strength as he pulled on and broke its leg. The dummy then stopped moving, either being broken or designed to go into shock after suffering enough damage.

“Uraraka!” If he’d been separated and had to fight a dummy, then Uraraka likely had too. And when he went back down to ground level he saw just that. Uraraka fought defensively, using the extra padding on her costume's arms and legs to take the blows as they came. Then out of nowhere, and with a shout, she suddenly kicked the dummy in the side with her right leg, forcing it against the wall. She then kicked it in the back, using her heel to dig in. With it stunned she then grabbed its arms and restrained them behind its back.

“Deku, are you alright?” She asked, concerned.

“I’m fine, what happened?”

“That dummy grabbed me while I was going up! I would have called out to you, but I was just too surprised by how sudden it all was.”

He looked around, were there any more? Given just how quickly the fight had started and ended, he expected there to be something else. But as it turned out they were done with the exercise. “Good work you two,” they heard Mr. Aurdel’s voice from a speaker in the nearby dummy, “Return to the classroom, we’ll go over the results once everyone gets back."