Chapter 59: Work Studies
Summary: Work studies are announced...and super move training!
Chapter 59: Work Studies
The click of Midnight's heels, when she was in full strut, was quite a distinctive sound. Most couldn't have picked it up out of the background chatter of the classroom, but there were three members of Group A who both could and did. Izumi, Jirou, and Shoji all stirred as the sound, glanced at each other, then nodded as Jirou used her jacks to project a tiny series of pops into the air. That got the attention of the rest of the class and she gestured a warning at the door, causing everyone to scramble for their seats. The last of them, Kaminari this time, got situated not a moment too soon, as Midnight burst through the door wearing an excited grin and swaying in a way that made even the straight women in the room follow her with half-hypnotized eyes.
"Good morning, Minions~! We've got a special treat today!"
Everyone blinked as it finally registered that Midnight had someone with her…an older student who looked half dead in her grip. Izumi instantly recognized him as the shy member of the Big 3, though only Jirou and Momo among the others did the same, as they'd all met him during the Water Terrain Training Camp. Midnight was holding him by the scruff of the neck and, thankfully for poor Amajiki, a cheerful Nejire and widely grinning Togata trailed in after the pair. Mirio caught his best friend when Midnight dropped him to stand in her favorite hip-cocked pose, addressing the class.
"We have a special session today! While the rest of your theoreticals this week will start catching you up on things we skipped over to prep you for your provisional licenses…today is for revealing what you can do now that you have those licenses!"
Needless to say, she had everyone's attention at the mention of their provisional licenses, even if most of the Group was clearly still bewildered by the presence of the Big 3. Unlike most of them, Izumi, with her encyclopedic knowledge of everything UA, instantly saw where this was going.
"Work studies!"
Midnight's grin broadened as her riding crop snapped up to point at Izumi.
"Correct! As most of you should know since it's a major part of every Hero Academy, once you achieve your Provisional Heroics License, you are theoretically eligible to spend a portion of your time at a Hero Agency, directly learning the ropes as an apprentice of sorts."
Her riding crop had come back down and she stilled with a mischievous smile, just waiting for someone to ask the obvious follow up. This time, Asui managed to get a one-word question out before Kaminari could put his usual foot in it.
"Theoretically?"
Midnight nodded, grinned, and produce the projector remote. It powered up, displaying a simple breakdown of the usual class schedule on the wall. Three days a week of Heroics, both theoretical and Practical. With two days a week of more regular classes. The weekends were shaded as extensions of the regular classes, as some people did choose to cram more in by taking advantage of the highly-flexible UA education model to attend some classes over the weekends.
"Under ordinary conditions, First Years rarely have Work Studies. That, unfortunately for the less academically inclined among you, isn't purely due to them not being ready for the license exams. The First Year is, after all, also the most intense for your other Heroics classes, such as Heroics Law or Heroics Ethics. Many of your theoretical classes are knocked out in Year 1, specifically in order to free up time for Work Studies in your later years. After all, while Work Studies is considered able to take the place of a certain number of hours for your Theoretical Heroics and Practical Heroics classes, the same isn't true for any other class. As seventy five percent of you also take classes in other departments, whose material you'll need to cover regardless of Work Studies…things get complicated."
Dawning comprehension filled a lot of faces, with the less academically inclined members of the class such as Mina and Kaminari suddenly looking worried.
"Now, if you're truly determined, don't fret! UA is known as the best Hero University in Japan, in part, because we put a lot of time, effort, and resources into making sure our class schedules are extremely flexible. Every single one of your classes, even those in non-heroics departments, has existing policies and flexibility to allow you to work out time adjustments. For most courses, it's as simple as making use of online classes and materials, with only exam days having required physical attendance. For a few, such as Support courses, it gets a bit more complicated. But the general rule is that they have added timeslots where you can access the labs and workshops outside normal class hours."
The projector had moved forward through a series of slides as Midnight spoke, showing suggested adjustments methods for a number of courses. Her tone was light as she brought a few hopes crashing down a moment later.
"Buuuuttt…you have to be doing well, averaging at least a 3.0 in any class you seek adjustments for. Worse, for all of you, is that you can't let even a single Heroics class fall below a 3.5 or you'll be instantly pulled from Work Studies until you correct it. Since the largest number of extra Heroics classes are in First Year, doing Work Studies in your First Year is brutal for most students."
She let that pronouncement of doom settle over the class for just a moment, hanging above many of the students like the Sword of Damocles. Then she clapped her hands twice and pointed to her three…kidnapping victims?
"Which is why this year's Big 3 are here today! Each of them were among their year's exceptions, who took the Provisional Exam early and passed. All of them did at least some measure of Work Study their First year, and can help you get a feel for what it will be like and if it's for you! Take it away, Elder Minions!"
Moments later, Nejire, who had been bouncing with excitement the entire time Midnight was speaking, hit Group A like a whirlwind…
... ...
There was a half excited, half worried murmur of discussion at their lunch table. Izumi blamed Momo entirely that they had somehow become the core of half their Group eating together on Heroics days. She was also pretty sure the only reason that wasn't true on non-heroics days was that the class schedules were much more chaotic and varied on those days, preventing more than a handful of them being at lunch at the same time. Not, she supposed on farther reflection, that she could really blame them for being drawn to Momo. Her girlfriend was awesome, after all! So of course everyone else would recognize that too. So long as no one other than Jirou tried to steal head pat privileges, it was okay, she supposed. And at least the topic being discussed was something new, even if Izumi had already sorted her own Work Studies out with a quick shuffle of her schedule and an HSN message to Ryukyu.
"I just don't know if I can juggle the extra time with Mei, along with classes and Work Studies…"
That was Kaminari, and Mina seized the distraction to avoid her own frustrated staring at her schedule.
"Ooohh? Mei is it~?"
"Of course. She is my girlfriend, after all."
Kaminari's reply snapped several sets of eyes to him, even as Mina's jaw dropped. They snapped toward Momo instead, a moment later, as he added a bit more.
"Thanks for that, by the way, Yaomomo! She was totally not getting any of my hints!"
Momo laughed, shaking her head even as she smiled.
"Mei is completely oblivious to anything outside her toolbox unless you practically rub her nose in it. Thankfully, I've gotten used to dealing with that. Though, now that she'd gotten hold of the idea properly, you might be in trouble."
Kaminari laughed ruefully.
"Don't I know it. Still…I think I really like her." He blushed, then redirected attention to their bigger problems. "Which is why I'm not so sure about how I'm going to get work studies in. I mean, I'm not taking an insane course load like you or Midoriya. But I've been taking some basic electrical engineering because of my Quirk…"
Momo hummed, reaching across the table to pull his schedule to her. She tapped her lips as she looked it over, then nodded.
"Okay. How much are you learning just from trying to keep up with Mei, versus in your classes?"
Kaminari blinked, then stopped to consider that.
"Ummm…honestly I'm mostly picking stuff up from Mei? I'm better at kinetic learning…"
Momo nodded, seeming to have expected that.
"Drop the electrical engineering classes, but arrange to get the online course material for them. At the end of the year, take a week to study the theory and sit the course finals. UA allows us to do that, since they don't care so much about how you got the knowledge as they do that you have it. Since these classes are all introductory courses, I'd bet your time with Mei and a quick review will let you pass them. And next year won't be as rough a schedule."
Kaminari accepted the schedule back, considering that.
"That's…actually, yeah. That should work. Without having those classes to worry about, I think I can do it. So long as whoever I work study with is okay with less than the max number of hours…"
Izumi perked up. This was her time to shine! Even if it meant social interaction!
"Actually, I have an idea about that! Given your new equipment, what do you think about Airjet as a possible option…"
... ...
"Welcome back, students! I apologize for my recent absences, but dastardly villains called me away!"
There was almost as much excited murmur today as there had been their first day with All Might. He hadn't been able to do more than poke his head in on a class since the attack during the Terrain Training camps. He'd been too busy in meetings trying to keep a lid on the government and military response, along with hunting down All for One as full-time as he could manage with his current limits. With All for One now dead, however, the government had eased off. The JSDF presence wasn't fully gone from around UA, but it had been scaled back to a third of what it had been. If they could manage to track down the rest of the League, it just might be possible to get back to normal. Or something close to it, anyway.
"Now, while my colleagues have done a fantastic job of pushing you hard so you were ready for the Provisional Exams, that does mean that you've skipped one or two lessons while you doubled down on strong fundamentals! Today, we're going to get you thinking on one of those skipped lessons. Super Moves!"
The excitement in the group only redoubled at that, even as many of those present suddenly realized why they were back in Cementoss's specialized domain. The hero himself was off to one side, looking on with a grin as All Might introduced the topic.
"Let me be clear, because this is important and commonly misunderstood! Super Moves are not just about looking cool. While they do serve a PR purpose, the truth is that they serve a practical one as well. Super Moves are intended to be momentum shifters. In this respect, the fact that they are well known actually works as a double-edged sword, one you have to be careful with wielding."
Several of the students were looking confused now, their childhoods having blinded them to an obvious issue. Others, including every single one of the natural combat talents in the class like Izumi, Momo, and Bakugo, were nodding along.
"Super Moves are known. Which means that, the more well known you are, the more likely it is that someone will know its weaknesses. If you're unlucky, they might even have prepared a specific counter for it. What the vast majority of villains don't understand, however, is that such a thing is actually a part of the reason Super Moves exist at all. You see, by forcing them to react to what you're doing, even if it's in a way that they think is advantageous to them, you've shifted the momentum of the fight. The villain is reacting now, instead of actively acting, and that is the start of you dragging them into your pace and letting you contain them."
More people were getting it now, though it looked like the revelation might have broken a few world views, much to Izumi's amusement. Cementoss-sensei's too, from the amused smirk on his face. Clearly, a lot of the students hadn't thought through just why Heroes would let some of their supposed 'best-moves' be so well known that they appeared in every promotional source from movies to video games. Sometimes even including breakdowns of how they worked.
"Today, with the help of Cementoss to provide you whatever sort of target you think you need, I want you to work on coming up with a Super Move. Many of your classmates already have at least one, from young Bakugo's Stun Grenade to Iida's Recipro Burst. As you work, I want you to keep in mind two things. One, they don't have to be attacks. As with young Iida, they can be a movement ability. They could also be an ultimate defense, a combo chain, and so on. Two, they need to be something you can chain. They will be countered and anticipated eventually. That's part of the point. Make sure whatever your move is, it's something that can lead into a follow up. Even if that follow up is as simple as an unexpected punch!"
The entire Group split up after a few more words from All Might, and Izumi drifted off the same way all the others had. Technically, she knew she had several moves that could be considered Super Moves already. However, all of them, such as her Modes, were really just differing ways to get around her time limitations. They worked as Momentum Shifters, as All Might had called them, as she could force nearly any opponent to react to wildly different ability sets.
Yet, even so, ever since the reveal that there were Villains out there capable of hurting even All Might, Izumi had been trying to come up with an ability that actually boosted her 'Beyond Plus Ultra' as it were. Without leaving her crippled afterward from energy loss. Nothing she currently had could do that but, after long hours of going over all the YoRHa data that had been copied to 2B before she became Izumi's Quirk, she thought she might have something in mind now.
"2B…please bring up the files on A2's Berserk Ability. We have some work to do…"
She could feel 2B wince at that request, but her partner brought the files up nevertheless. The difficulty here would be to figure out how to use it without suffering side effects that would disqualify it from All Might's declaration about the need to be able to follow up. But Izumi had some ideas about that, even if they might not be particularly pleasant…
... ... ...
A/N 1: Another bit of side-effect from the fact UA is a university is showing in there scheduling woes. Both the advantages and disadvantages. Ultimately, I think it actually makes more sense than their ability to somehow skip out on high-school general education...
A/N 2: So, I always thought the idea of super moves as they are traditionally depicted is...blatantly moronic. You're essentially telegraphing what you're going to do, and the better known you are the more likely some villain has worked out a counter to your 'super move.' Here, I've tried to create an actual logical reason for them to exist. Essentially, factoring that thought into the Heroes planning from the start. Adding a bit of nuance to the whole thing (I hope) in the process.