Hero Training Basic Class (part 2)

"They say the clothes make the man, young men and ladies." All Might said excitedly as his voice boomed through the street. "Be fully aware.... From now on.... You are Heroes!"

"That's great, everyone. You all look cool! Now, shall we begin, you zygotes?"

Shion stood silently in a corner, her hands buried deep in her pockets, shoulders slightly hunched. The lively chatter of her classmates filled the air, but she was separate from it, as if a thin wall existed between her and the rest of the world. Everyone stood proudly in their Hero Costumes, showing off their personalized designs, adjusting capes, gloves, or boots. Even Midoriya, who still fumbled awkwardly with his, had something to wear.

But Shion had nothing.

The realization sat like a stone in her chest. It was stupid—she chose this. She hadn't finished the paperwork in time, so there was no costume waiting for her. And yet, standing there in her school uniform while everyone else was dressed for battle made her feel like a shadow in broad daylight, an outsider in a place she was supposed to belong.

Her mind drifted back to distant memories—cold nights wandering the streets, watching from the outside as families huddled together in their warm homes, sharing meals, laughing under holiday lights. Shion had always been just a spectator to things like that. Now, standing in the midst of her classmates, she felt that same bitter distance clawing at her again.

She clenched her fists in frustration, trying to shake off the feeling. Then, suddenly—

"Whoa, wait a sec! Why don't you have a costume?" Shion blinked, turning her head just in time to see no one. No, wait. She narrowed her eyes. There was a faint shimmer in the air, and then—Hagakure's gloves waved enthusiastically in front of her.

Shion stared at them for a second before exhaling through her nose. " Great. Just what I need."

Hagakure's voice was full of curiosity. "You're wearing your uniform instead of the sportswear and no costume? What's up with that?"

Shion remained silent for a moment, debating whether she should answer or just walk away. But Hagakure had a way of being persistent. "…Didn't finish the paperwork in time," she muttered.

Hagakure let out a dramatic gasp. "No way! That's so unfair! So you're stuck wearing that?"

Shion shrugged. "Better than the tracksuit."

Hagakure tilted her head, or at least, that's what Shion assumed from the way her gloves moved. "Why? The tracksuit's comfy."

Shion shifted uncomfortably. The last thing she wanted was to explain why she hated that outfit—why it reminded her too much of the past, of sterile white rooms, of cold steel tables, of the endless experiments that turned her life into a nightmare.

"…Just don't like it," she said simply.

Hagakure hummed, as if thinking about it, then perked up again. "Well, at least you can look mysterious like this! Like a secret boss character in a game before the real fight starts!"

Shion glanced at her, mildly surprised by the comparison then looked down again because she was a bit flustered. "....Is that so...."

Hagakure giggled. "You do kinda have that vibe, you know? All cool and quiet in the corner, like—" She suddenly threw a dramatic pose. "—'I was never meant to fight alongside you fools.'"

Shion let out a small, quiet sigh. " Shizoku, if you laugh, I swear—"

But it was too late.

"Pfft—oh, this girl is fun. Can we keep her?"

Shion rolled her eyes, ignoring Shizoku's amusement. Hagakure seemed unbothered by the lack of response and continued excitedly, "Anyway, don't worry! I'm sure your costume's gonna be amazing when it's done! I bet you'll look super cool!"

Shion blinked. The words weren't much, but for some reason, they made her chest feel a little lighter.

"…Thanks, i guess...." she muttered, barely audible.

Hagakure gave a cheerful thumbs-up—or at least, her gloves did. "No problem! Now, let's kick butt in combat training!" And just like that, she bounced away, leaving Shion standing there, still feeling a little sorry for herself… but maybe, just maybe, not as much as before.

"Now, it's time for combat training!"

"Sensei!" Ida interrupted All Might in the most polite manner and raised her hand when he had a question. As always. "This is a battle canter from the entrance exam, so will we be conducting urban battles again?"

"No, we're going to move ahead two steps!" All Might put up two fingers and started explaning. "Most of the time, fighting villains takes place outside, but if you look at the total numbers, atrocious villains appear indoors at a higher rate."

"Imprisonment, house arrest, backroom deals—In this society filled with heroes, truly intelligent villains hide in the shadows!"

"For this class, you'll be split into villains and heroes and fight 2-on-2 indoor battles. Because our class has 21 students, one will have a 3 vs 2 pair."

"Without basic training?" Tsuyu tilted her head and asked All Might curiously.

"This is a real battle to understand those basics! However, the key this time is that there's no robot you can just beat up." After All Might finished answering, Yaoyorozu asked.

"How will wins and losses be determined?"

Then came Bakudo again. "Can we beat them up anyway?"

"Will the punishment be expulsion like with Aizawa-sensei?"

"How shall we be split up?"

"Isn't this cape crazy?"

"I'll answer all your questions!" The students' questions made All Might laugh and cry at the same time, then he took out a stack of notes from his pocket. It's true that she's old and still hasn't retired, Shion could imagine those words even though Shizoku was giggling. "Now listen here. The situation is that the villains have hidden a nuclear weapon somewhere in their hideout."

"The heroes are trying to dispose of that. The heroes need to catch the villains or get the nuclear weapon back in the allotted time."

"The villains need to protect the nuclear weapong for the whole time or catch the heroes." All Might then gestured toward a large, gray building standing behind them, which had already been prepared for the training. He then held out a yellow box with the words "Lots" prominently written on it in black. "Teams and opponents will be determined by drawing lots!"

Shion, standing near the back, observed everything in silence. The rules were straightforward, but she already knew that some of her classmates would focus more on fighting than actual teamwork. She wasn't particularly thrilled about participating, but she didn't exactly have a choice.

All Might continued, "Let's do this quickly!"

One by one, the students lined up to draw their team assignments. As Shion walked forward to pick hers, she could already feel Shizoku's voice stirring in her head.

"Oh, this should be fun. Who do you think we'll be stuck with? Someone loud? Someone annoying? Ooh, what if it's Mr. Explosion himself? That'd be a nightmare."

Shion exhaled slowly, pushing aside the thought. Whoever she was paired with… she'd just have to deal with it.

Team A: Ochako, Midoriya, Shion

Team B: Shoji, Todoroki

Team C: Mineta, Yaoyorozu

Team D: Bakugo, Ida

Team E: Ashido, Aoyama

Team F: Koda, Sato

Team G: Kaminari, Jiro

Team H: Tokoyami, Asui

Team I: Ojiro, Hagakure

Team J: Sero, Kirishima

Shion reached into the box without much thought, fingers brushing against one of the slips before pulling it out. Unfolding the paper, she read the result—Team A.

Her eyes flickered toward the two names beside hers: Midoriya and Uraraka.

Shizoku groaned in her mind. "Oh, great. We got the reckless cinnamon roll and the bubbly airhead. What an absolutely balanced team this will be."

Shion didn't react outwardly, merely slipping the paper into her pocket as the rest of the class drew their lots. A few murmurs of excitement and frustration passed through the students as they checked their teams.

Kirishima grinned and high-fived Sero. "Sweet, dude! Team J is gonna rock this!"

Meanwhile, Bakugo's sharp growl could be heard as he crumpled his paper in frustration. "Tch. Why the hell do I have to be with Four-Eyes?!"

Iida, ever composed, adjusted his glasses. "I assure you, Bakugo, that I will act with utmost efficiency in this exercise!"

"Tch, whatever," Bakugo grumbled, stuffing the paper into his pocket.

Midoriya, standing nearby, looked at his own slip with a mixture of nervousness and excitement. "Uraraka-san, Shion-san… Looks like we're on the same team!"

Ochako smiled brightly. "Hehe, let's do our best, okay?"

Shion merely gave a small nod, but inside, she was already assessing the situation. Midoriya was intelligent and resourceful, but still inexperienced with his Quirk. Uraraka had a powerful ability but lacked offensive capabilities. Shion herself… well, she wasn't exactly a great team player.

"Honestly, our only real chance is strategy… and hopefully not getting paired against someone impossible."

All Might clapped his hands again. "Alright, young heroes! Now that you've got your teams, it's time to decide the match-ups!"

"The first teams to fight will be..." He shuffling the lots in the lottery for a while. The class watched in anticipation as he pull the lots out of the box. ".... these guys!"

"Team A will be the Heroes and Team D will be villains."

Silence.

"Eveyone else, head toward the monitor room."

"Yes sir!"

Midoriya visibly tensed. "K-Kacchan…"

Ochako frowned. "Oh no, this is bad…"

Shion, meanwhile, simply exhaled. "Of course it had to be Bakugo."

Shizoku chuckled darkly. "Ohhh, this just got a lot more interesting." Only with her....

"Villain team, go in first and set up! In five minutes, the hero team will break in and the battle will start!"

"Yes sir!"

"Young Bakugo, Young Ida, learn to think from the perspective of the villains. This pretty close to a real battle. Go all out, don't be afraid to get hurt." After instructing Midoriya's team, All Might continued to instruct Bakugo's team. "If things go too far, i will stop it."

As the three of them huddled together, trying to memorize the building's layout, Shion let out a sigh, her eyes scanning over the blueprints. "It's a lot of work to memorize the building's floor plan," she muttered, hoping to lighten the tense atmosphere that hung over their group. "But All Might is just the same as when he's on TV. Unlike Mr. Aizawa, it looks like there's no punishment, so we can relax—"

She paused mid-sentence, her gaze shifting toward Midoriya. His forced laughter and the beads of sweat dripping down his forehead told a completely different story. "…You're not relaxed at all," Ochako chuckled nervously, trying to be supportive, but the anxiety in the air was palpable. Shion tilted her head slightly, her crimson and blue eyes studying Midoriya more closely before finally voicing what had been on her mind.

"Feud?"

Midoriya flinched slightly at Shion's question, his nervous laughter coming to an abrupt stop. He rubbed the back of his neck, clearly struggling to find the right words.

"Uh… well… it's complicated," he muttered, glancing away. "Kacchan and I have known each other since we were kids. But, um… he's always been kind of…"

"Explosive?" Shion deadpanned, folding her arms.

Midoriya let out an awkward chuckle. "Y-Yeah… something like that."

Shizoku hummed in amusement. "'Feud' is a cute word for 'deeply ingrained childhood resentment that borders on obsession.'"

Shion chose to ignore her. Instead, she looked down at the blueprint of the training building All Might had handed them. The structure had multiple floors, with a central hall and several branching corridors. Their objective—the "nuclear weapon"—was likely placed deep inside one of the rooms or maybe on the top floor. While that Ochako patted Midoriya's shoulder in encouragement. "Don't worry, Midoriya! We got this! If we just come up with a good plan, we can totally win!"

Midoriya smiled at her enthusiasm, though his eyes still betrayed his nerves.

Shion sighed. "These two are too soft."

Shizoku scoffed. "Oh please. This isn't just a training match for that blonde rabid dog. If this broccoli head thinks that durian head gonna hold back, he's a damn fool."

Shion knew Shizoku was right. Bakugo wasn't going to treat this like a simple school exercise. He was going to treat it like a fight. And if Midoriya wasn't ready for that… Then this "training" would be a disaster.

"Now, let's start the indoor person-to-person combat training with Team A and Team D!"