Chapter 9 - Combat Trial

The next day, class began as it was intended. Before noon would be normal classes that taught all of the required subjects. Afterward would be lunch at noon, then is the class that everybody looks forward to most.

Foundational Heroics studies. As class was about to begin, a loud and familiar shout caught the students off guard.

"I aammm…!! Coming through the door, like a normal person!!!" All Might shouted out as the students all started to get excited when he appeared into the room with a flair.

"I can't believe it! All might's really gonna be teaching us!" Kirishima exclaimed.

"That Design's so silver age! That art style clashes so much it's giving me goosebumps!" Ojiro said, looking gushing at All Might's hero outfit.

"Foundational hero studies! For this class, we'll be building up your hero foundation through various trials!" All Might announced. "Let's jump right into it; combat training!!"

Instantly, Katsuki's eyes lit up as he grinned, almost just like a villain would… Meanwhile, Izuku was less confident as usual. Hiroto didn't really have any reactions, how would he? He already knew it was going to happen.

All Might continued on talking as long shelves protruding from the wall on the side of the classroom. "And to go with your first battle, we've prepared the gear we had you send in requests for to match your quirks!"

"Our battle gear!!"

"Awesome!"

The class shouted out in excitement. This also got Hiroto excited for once, as he was going to be able to wear his costume for the first time. This time around, he specifically requested for extra, EXTRA, durable red gloves.

"Get changed and we'll be ready to go! Everyone, gather at Ground Beta!" All Might announced, as everyone started to head towards the changing rooms and got into their costumes and battle gear.

...

After half an hour flew by, everyone was now gathered at Ground Beta which was a training course that emulates a standard urban area, with streets and buildings.

At the front was where Hiroto stood in all his bald glory, showing off his costume.

(A/N: Reminder for people cause, why not: Saitama's hero costume consists of a yellow one-piece jumpsuit with a short zipper at the collar and a black belt with a round golden buckle at its center. He wears red gloves that go 3/4 up his forearms and red boots that nearly reach his knees. His costume is finished off with a white cape, which is fastened to his shoulders with round buŧŧons.)

With his arms crossed, he stood there with his usual indifferent face as Mina and Kirishima approached him.

"You know, your custom somehow fits you really well," Mina said, wearing her own hero costume.

(A/N: I doubt I need to go into detail what everyone's hero costume looks like. Google is your friend)

"Yeah, she's right. I guess less really is more." Kirishima said.

"This is how I perceive heroes as," Hiroto answered. "I always wanted a simple design, since showing off too much isn't my taste. Plus, I think it's pretty cool."

"Hm, I guess. It'll probably grow on people." Mina said as the group turned their attention to All Might as he addressed the whole group.

"You're all looking great today! It is now time for combat training! Or as it is also called the battle trial!" All Might shouted out in his usual pose.

"For today, we will be conducting an indoor battle! We'll be separating into two different groups. The Villains and the Heroes group, for a two-on-two battle! This will also test how you will cooperate with other heroes on the same mission!" All Might stated as the group walked down the street following him.

He then goes on to explain the details of the combat training. In short, the Villains will have to guard a nuclear weapon while the Heroes have to stop them. If the Heroes capture the Villains or reach the nuclear weapon before the time runs out, they win.

If the Villains manage to keep the nuclear weapon the whole time or capture the Heroes, they win. To decide the teams, you would need to draw from a lottery.

Walking up to the box, Hiroto reached in and pulled out a ball, and on it was the letter C.

'So I'm paired up with Momo. Hm, shouldn't the results have changed because of the buŧŧerfly effect?' Hiroto thought to himself but put it to the back of his mind. (A/N: Too lazy to change everything up, plot armor ftw?)

Walking up to Momo, Hiroto nodded in greeting as she also did the same. Taking the initiative, Momo spoke up, "I never got to introduce myself, my name is Momo Yaoyorozu, you can just call me Momo since my family name is quite long. Nice to meet you."

Hiroto reciprocated the greeting as Momo began talking again. "While the other first teams are getting ready, how about we talk and share a bit about our quirks so we can come up with a strategy?"

"Sure, I don't really mind. But wouldn't you want to wait until our opponents are decided before deciding on an opponent?" Hiroto asked as Izuku and Uraraka got ready for their battle against Katsuki and Tenya.

"You might be right, but I can already think of a general strategy for when we are chosen as either Villains or Heroes. We can't forget that the main purpose of this exercise revolves around the nuclear weapon, the core. It is the objective of the Villain team to protect it, while the Hero team has to reach it. With this in mind, we can ȧssume that the matches will revolve around the core, so no matter what team we are on, the priority should be the core." Momo finally finished, leaving Hiroto to just stare at her blankly.

'I forgot how smart she was. If I don't respond or say something, it's going to make me look bad.' Hiroto thought, before clearing his throat and saying, "Y-Yes, you're absolutely right. Let's go with that. (even though I bȧrėly understood what you said)"

Momo just smiled as she explained her quirk to him, while Izuku's team began their infiltration into the building. The rest of the fight went exactly as it had done in the anime, with Izuku's team bȧrėly scraping by and securing the win, and Katsuki having gone ballistic as Izuku and him duked it out.

The last group to go was Hiroto's, as both him and Momo were up against team B, being Shoto Todoroki and Mezo Shoji.

"This is going to be a tough one," Momo muttered, as they were ȧssigned to the Hero team. "It's going to be difficult to deal with Todoroki's quirk. From what I heard he can control both Ice and Fire, but refused to use his fire quirk for some reason. Then there's Shoji. I know that he's quite strong and fast, but I'm not quite sure what his quirk can do just yet."

Hiroto just nodded his head as the both of them waited outside of the building until the 5 minutes timer ran out. Turning to Momo, Hiroto asked, "Say, you can create anything, right?"

"Yeah, as long as I understand the molecular structure of what the material or object is made of," Momo stated.

'That's way too confusing." Hiroto thought. "Then, do you have a plan to deal with them? I was just going to jump up to the top floor and just grab the core."

Momo blinked for a few seconds before saying, "Well, I guess if you can jump that high then that expands our options. Here, I have a plan."

...

After 5 minutes passed, the Hero team were allowed to enter the building. Inside, Todoroki and Shoji were guarding the core at the top floor. The entire building was covered with ice, including the core to prevent it from being easily captured.

Using his quirk, Shoji was listening closely for any movement made by Hiroto and Momo as he shivered slightly from the cold.

After a few moments passed, he was able to hear some footsteps, but they were from… "Todoroki! I can hear them, they're abo-"

*CRASH*

The ceiling of the building crashed open, as 2 flashbangs rolled into the room before exploding in a white light, blinding everyone inside.

"Argh! You won't get past me!" Todoroki shouted, as he threw his hands forward and used his ice quirk to surround the entire room including the ceiling. Shoji had to stick close to the core in order to avoid it, as Todoroki was attacking blindly.

However, Shoji was more susceptible to sounds due to his quirk, causing the effects to be even more effective.

Smashing through the ceiling, Hiroto landed on the ground as Todoroki's ice-covered his foot. Finally being able to see, Todoroki smirked and said, "I wouldn't take a step if I were you. The feeling of having your skin peel off your foot won't be too-"

Before he could finish, Hiroto just casually stepped forward, breaking the ice easily. With his eyes widened, Todoroki took this as a provocation and waved his hands towards Hiroto, resulting in a wave of icicles to charge towards him.

"It's quite a bit chilly in here," Hiroto said, as his body was then completely encased in ice.