Chapter 8: Midnight’s Lessons and New Friends
Summary: Lessons with Midnight and getting to know some of the other girls...
Chapter 8: Midnight's Lessons and New Friends
Their next morning theory lesson with Midnight had been interesting, for the most part. Surprisingly, several people who thought they had done well had gotten torn to shreds by her review. Todoroki, for example, had his performance ripped apart as Midnight pointed out that he had, in fact, actually damaged the bomb. Meaning All Might technically should have disqualified him outright. He'd also hit the building with the weight of several tons of ice, spread over the various floors. Which was fine in a reinforced practice building on the UA campus, but could lead to a potential building collapse in any more ordinary structure. His failure to work with his teammate had only been one more mark against an already terrible performance.
Others, who had thought they did somewhat poorly, like Sato and Iida, had been praised for several things they'd done right. And everyone, regardless of wins, losses, or general performance, had gotten feedback on the things they needed to work on. Even Izumi, who most thought had given an exemplary performance, had been lightly criticized for her choice to give Jirou a chance to shine. Midnight had been clear that, in this specific instance, it had likely been for the best. But that, ordinarily, slowing down just so a partner could have a chance to show off would be extremely bad form. Given Izumi's reasons and the specific purpose of the exercise, the reprimand had been extremely gentle. But Midnight had made sure to highlight it as behavior that would only rarely be tolerated.
On the whole, Izumi had found the review, with multiple perspectives and breakdowns of each match, to be refreshing! In fact, the positive vibe she'd taken from it had carried her through her incredibly boring Microelectronics Engineering class. The class was a prerequisite for the Nanotech and Meta Materials classes she actually wanted to take. And it was one that she hadn't been allowed to test out of. Unfortunately, it was also…hilariously behind Izumi's own, 2B taught, understanding of the material in question. Still, the teacher seemed to have already realized why she wasn't participating that much and was content to leave her be. Or perhaps they were simply used to Hero Course students being distracted? Whichever it was, Izumi wasn't complaining since it let her spend most of the class doing farther analysis with 2B.
That class had led into lunch, which Izumi was grateful for, since her pleasant buzz from the morning had been wearing off. Sadly, it didn't work out this time that she and Momo could break from classes at the same time…but she did manage to meet up with Jirou, Iida, and Sero. She'd known Iida was in an Engineering course himself, but was pleasantly surprised to discover that Sero was as well. Jirou was simply a case of lucky timing, with her own Music Theory course having a similar timetable to the Engineering track students. They all found an easy topic in Izumi's proposed changes to Jirou's costume, with Iida in particular having a very good foundation in Support Engineering. Perhaps they were all a little bit to obsessed with heroics topics…but it was still only their first week at UA. So they could probably be forgiven for being so excited.
That renewed excitement had been quite easy to hold onto through her first afternoon class, given that it was a Theoretical Quirk Sciences course meant to advance her own certification for working with exotic Quirks! And, after that, it was time for their first full Practical Heroics class with Midnight. Izumi was admittedly curious what that would entail…
... ...
"Alright, class! Today we put you through hell! Or, some of you at least…"
Midnight's smirk was…unnervingly sexy. Though the way she was practically fondling her whip might have had something to do with the effect. And the way she languidly stalked back and forth in front of the obstacle course she'd led them to absolutely did. Izumi privately wondered if she could manage to move like that, mostly for when she knew Momo was looking. She mentally took notes, just in case. Her legs were one of her better features...
"I'm sure some of you have already started to realize that you may not have made optimal choices in your hero uniforms. A few of them, frankly, shouldn't have gotten past the support company…as was pointed out to me by a student. Though I can see it's true now, myself. That issue is going to be investigated, obviously, but this class would have happened anyway."
Midnight looked annoyed for a moment, before shaking it off and continuing her explanation.
"One of the multitude of purposes All Might's Battle Trials served was to throw all of you into an environment where you'd get to test your costumes. That will actually continue in your next class with him, which will be more Rescue oriented. Until you get through that class, we recommend holding off on major changes to your suits, even if you've already had some thoughts. As it is, I'm betting some of you have been having some second thoughts. Which is partly what today is about."
Midnight stopped next to a set of displays, where multiple viewing angles of the obstacle course were shown.
"Today's practical heroics class has three primary purposes. One is to continue our early-term theme of establishing your Baseline. This and your next class with All Might will round that goal out, leaving us with a solid idea where you all are across a wide spectrum of heroics needs. The second and third are related. This course will force you through a full range of agility-required activities with your costumes."
This time, Midnight's grin was sardonic, rather than any sort of sexual. Her tone switched from a purr to amused as she got to the point.
"When I said that I suspect many of you have already have thoughts…I expect most of them will have been negative ones. You've likely had realizations that some part of your costume wasn't thought all the way through. You picked it for looks, or for Quirk compatibility. But you didn't think through all the potential mobility issues. Stiffer materials than you expected. Bulkier accessories. Weight. Lack of defensive or offensive help. Anything at all, really. Very few people get their costumes right on the first pass. Don't worry that you didn't. Today is all about getting you used to moving in your gear and figuring out what needs to change based on what you discover."
Izumi was beginning to realize just why UA was considered one of the very best Hero Universities. Not just in Japan, but in the world. Every single heroics class so far had been designed to be multifunctional. A carefully structured curriculum that wasted nothing. Like today, where getting more baselines would be combined with testing their costumes…and simply getting in some physical training. Which she suspected some of her classmates needed. It would even serve as a reality check to those same classmates. Extra purposes Midnight hadn't listed, but which were easy to see. Even if she regularly did obstacle courses of her own, Izumi was still a bit pumped to see how she did! And to watch the others as well, since it was a prime chance to learn about their Quirks! She ignored the odd looks she got as she pulled a notebook from her inventory and began scribbling away as Ashido was set running the course first…
... ...
Izumi frowned as she stood at the starting line. Seeing her fail to take a position, as well as her hesitance, Midnight cocked an eyebrow.
"What are you waiting for? If you've trained at N & C, I'm sure this is nothing new for you. And you are one of the only ones I'm expecting to have no costume issues with."
The question wasn't an acquisition, which Izumi was grateful for. It also helped her make up her mind to ask Midnight's opinion on her internal debate.
"Well…that is…I haven't actually used my Quirk fully since we started with these baseline tests. Oh, I used it to provide energy for a few things, like the Shockwave attack during the Assessment Test. But…I've refrained from actually using my complete transformation. I'm trying to decide if I should do so here or not, as there are arguments either way."
Midnight's expression was outright curious now, as were those of several people close enough to hear. Though fully half of the class was on the course at this point. In various stages of completion.
"Ah…I'm afraid that even UA's files on your Quirk are pretty incomplete. It's called 'Automata,' correct? Can you explain why there would be advantages either way you run it?"
Izumi nodded agreeably. She was quite sure Midnight was fishing for information. But she didn't actually mind. She had no intention of revealing everything she could do. But she didn't need to in order to explain the problem.
"At its core, 'Automata' is a transformation Quirk…though one with a lot of extra bells and whistles that confuse that issue. Specifically, it lets me transform into an Android. An extremely advanced one. Even 2B is, for all intents and purposes, A.I. support for running the various systems that my Android form gives me access to. It would be effectively impossible to use something like my Inventory without that A.I. support."
Midnight blinked, looking genuinely surprised. From the noises several of her classmates were making, she wasn't the only one, either. Izumi gave them a few heartbeats to process, before continuing her explanation of the issue.
"The thing is, that one of the many oddities of 'Automata' is its passive heteromorphic advancement. Instead of my body adapting all at once to the Quirk, my body adapts a little bit more each time the Quirk is used. By this point, my 'untransformed' body is stupidly strong, fast, and tough. Most importantly…it costs absolutely nothing to maintain. The changes are permanent and no longer drain Quirk Energy to use. The same is not true for my full transformation. Full transformation boosts my power a lot. But…running all out at full power, I'll be drained dry and pass out in less than half an hour. Probably less than fifteen minutes in active combat."
Midnight pursed her lips, nodding slowly.
"Your issue is that your full transformation is, at least for now, closer to an Ultimate Move than it is your 'baseline.' Measuring it would show us your true maximums…but not your day-to-day usage. Given how powerful you are without triggering this transformation of yours, ninety nine percent of the time you wouldn't need it. Making your effective 'heroic baseline' your untransformed state."
Izumi nodded. Midnight had gotten it quickly. Which didn't really surprise her. The question was what conclusion she would come to. And if that conclusion matched Izumi's or not. She waited patiently as Midnight mulled it over. After twenty seconds or so, her sensei sighed.
"I admit I'm really curious now. But I think you'd be better off running the course in your untransformed state. Both because it will be your day-to-day baseline…and also because I suspect I already know the answer to an important question. Would this course even tell us anything about your transformed state? Or would you just blow through it too easy to matter?"
Izumi grinned sheepishly.
"Probably the latter?"
Midnight sighed, but gestured her to take her place.
"Default form, then. Ready? 3…2…1…"
At Midnight's whistle, Izumi took off…
... ...
It was as the girls finished showering and redressing that Ashido, who somehow still seemed to have energy, proposed an idea.
"Hey! I know everyone is tired…but I bet that's not going to change anytime soon! And later in the semester, we'll probably be loaded down with homework, too. Why don't we all go hangout…unless some of you have night classes?"
The suggestion got the interest of the rest of the girls, though Asui quickly shook her head.
"I'd love too, but I have to be home to keep an eye on my little siblings before my parents go to work. They both work late shifts."
Uraraka was the next to bow out.
"Sorry guys…but I've got a pretty long commute. Maybe we could do something on a weekend?"
Ashido looked disappointed but turned hopefully to the remaining four girls. Predictably, at least to Izumi, Momo was the first to pounce positively on the idea.
"Oh! We could go out to eat! That way we could all recharge a bit! My family owns a restaurant near here. I could call ahead and have them book us a private room. No need to worry about the cost, since we own it."
Izumi knew she needed to get on top of that, quickly interjecting.
"This time! Momo's parents won't mind her hosting once or twice. But they might be a bit more annoyed if anyone abused it."
They would, too…if they noticed. Which they probably wouldn't. But it was best to nip the idea that Momo was a free ride everywhere in the bud. Her girlfriend was still, somehow, bad at understanding the value of money. At least in what Momo considered 'small amounts.' Which were…not actually small by normal people's standards. Izumi might be rich now herself, but she distinctly remembered being a person of modest means. Momo had never had that experience at all and would be easily taken advantage of if not for Izumi keeping an eagle eye out for that sort of thing. It was something Momo knew, too, since she nodded along with Izumi's statement, looking mildly contrite.
"We…wouldn't want to get you in trouble…"
It had been Jirou that put that forward, but Ashido and Hagakure echoed her quickly. Izumi smoothly answered for her girlfriend, not wanting to ruin this rare chance for Momo to actually make friends. Izumi was an introvert that was happy with just Momo and 2B. Her girlfriend, though…
"She won't be. When she says her family owns the restaurant, she means they own the entire chain. Along with a lot of other businesses. So long as no one is abusing their generosity, her parents won't care. So, for today or for a few study days, it's fine. Just not all the time, yeah?"
That got blinks of surprise from the two visible girls, but Ashido recovered quickly.
"Awesome! Then we can totally do that! I'm starving after running that course sooo many times…"
That was a statement the rest of them echoed wholeheartedly, even as they finished dressing and headed off campus…
...
"Um…Yaomomo…are you really sure it's okay for us to be here?"
Izumi was trying really hard to hide her amusement at the huge eyes on Jirou and Ashido. She even snuck a peak with her visor at Hagakure to confirm that, 'yes,' she was as stunned looking as the other two. The very-unlike-Mina tiny voice the question had been asked in almost undid her efforts to suppress her giggles. Particularly given her girlfriend's adorably oblivious response.
"Of course! Come on, they have the private room already waiting for us!"
Izumi outright bit her lip, trailing behind the other girls to hide her twitching expression as the others uncertainly followed Momo into the side-door of the extremely ritzy restaurant. The Blue Nova was, along with her sister restaurants The White Dwarf and The Event Horizon, the type of exclusive venue ordinary people would be lucky to go to once in a lifetime. All three of them were relatively new, having been one of many new ventures Momo's parents added to the Yaoyorozu holdings when the company moved into the Hero sector. That had only happened with the launch of the Hero Scouter Izumi and Momo had come up with, right around Izumi's twelfth birthday. The Yaoyorozus went on something of an expansion spree alongside the Hero Scan Network's launch, having quietly acquired several support companies in the lead up to launching the Scouter system and its support network. The wider spree after the launch had included offering deals to quite a few Heroes that Izumi and Momo had pointed them towards as being good choices for PR.
Despite only being around five years old, the three restaurants had been smash hits due to the partnership the Yaoyorozu family had offered The Space Hero: Thirteen. Thirteen might never have topped the hero charts, but she was extremely well liked and well known as a rescue hero. That partnership, along with the fact that half of all profits from the three exclusive restaurants went directly to support disaster recovery efforts, had made for incredible PR. It also meant they normally had minimum 3-month waiting lists. At best.
But the small, private dining room that they were quickly shuffled into was a little-known exception. There was one like it at all three restaurants, and it was reserved for specific purposes. Thirteen or the Yaoyorozus could request it at any time. But on all other occasions, it was provided to hero agencies that needed a neutral, clandestine, meeting point for inter-agency planning. The Blue Nova's private room wasn't used for that purpose often, since UA was nearby and usually hosted those sorts of meetings as a matter of course. But Thirteen was also nearby, so the room did see semi-regular use as she treated her coworkers or hosted various events. Thankfully, today it had been free.
Which left a bouncy Momo and extremely amused Izumi watching as their trio of guests gaped and gushed over the insanely high-fidelity rendering of the inside of a Nova, which wrapped around the entire small dining area. Even the floor was made of tough display screens, so it looked like their small platform was hovering in space, amidst the grandeur of the stella phenomena. It was actually, a tiny bit surprisingly, Hagakure who managed to recover first.
"This place is amazing! Holy shit was that a comet that just zoomed past?!"
Well, recovered her voice, at least. Though perhaps not her mental balance. Momo, bless her, simply went with it.
"It was! The room is programmed with 837 different cosmic events that can occur at random. Not quite as many as the main room, which can handle 1,012 so far, but some of them couldn't be reproduced on the smaller screens in here."
That was it, Izumi couldn't hold it anymore. She fell into a giggle fit, slumping in her chair. She quickly became the center of everyone's confused attention, which just made her giggle harder. Eventually, she managed to push past her wheezing giggles enough to explain.
"S-orry…s-sorry. Y-you're reactions to this place were h-hilarious. And Momo not even realizing it's anything special is even more priceless."
Jirou blushed, playing with her jacks, and Hagakure's clothing somehow gave off the feeling of embarrassment as well. Ashido merely grinned, her normal energy returning…particularly as she took in Momo's confused expression. She giggled for a moment herself, before coming to everyone's rescue.
"It is pretty funny. Sorry, Momo, but this place is waaaaay more than any of us expected. I mean, I think we'd all figured out you were rich. And I suppose Izumi's used to you…buuut…this place is sort of mind-blowing!"
Comprehension dawned on Momo's face. She turned to Izumi with a forlorn expression.
"I…did it again, didn't I?"
Izumi reached over to pat her on the head.
"You did. But I don't think anyone is complaining. Just keep trying to remember that things like this aren't normal for most people."
Jirou seemed to recover at the ridiculous scene of a hangdog looking Momo getting head pats from Izumi. Her own lips twitched as she spoke up.
"She blows people's minds with how rich she is, completely on accident, regularly?"
Izumi grinned.
"Yes. Though she's actually a lot better than she was about it. She at least called a regular cab for you guys instead of one of her family's limos, for example. And used the side door instead of just waltzing through the front like she owns the place…which she actually does, technically. They were one of the projects she was allowed to take on as a test of her business training. She succeeded so well that her parents made them part of her personal portfolio, instead of the main Yaoyorozu Groups' holdings."
That got another twitch of disbelief out of all three of their guests, but they were saved from any renewed shock by the food arriving a moment later. Seeing several carts of food being brought in clearly surprised them, but Momo quickly explained.
"Oh! Since I didn't know how much time we'd all have to hang out, I just had them prepare a bunch of samplers for us! Help yourself! Try a little bit of everything, if you want!"
After the waitstaff left, the hunger of famished teenagers overcame their remaining shock, with all five girls falling on the food like ravenous beasts. Momo most of all, given that she needed to recover quite a bit in the way of lipids as a result of her own runs on the obstacle course. She'd eaten one of her high-density power bars already, but those weren't a true substitute for real food. Which led to her piling favorites high on her plate, much to the other girl's shock. It took them a few minutes to notice, distracted by their own food and appreciative comments about how good it all was, but Ashido eventually did process what she was seeing. Only Jirou had eaten lunch with them previously, so her shocked comment wasn't too unexpected.
"Cheese, Momo! Where are you putting that all?! Actually, you too Izumi, even if you don't have quite as much as your girl does!"
Momo blushed, but Izumi just shrugged, seeing no reason to consider it embarrassing.
"It's our Quirks. Momo burns lipids for fuel to create objects, which means she needs a lot of food to replace losses. Same thing for me, really, but in my case it's just general high calorie burn from my altered body. Technically, I can get by without it, but it causes me to lean more heavily on QE and lessens how much I can use my Quirk as a result. So I eat stupid amounts of carbs and protein…and Momo needs lots of fats. Preferably healthy ones so there's less conversion loss."
All three girls consider that, with Jirou chiming in.
"That makes a lot of sense, I guess. I suppose it's just that none of us have adaptations like that?"
Izumi grinned, taking the opening for one of her favorite topics.
"I'd bet you actually do and just don't realize it. Take Ashido for example. I'm betting you really like acidic food? Citrus, pasta, soda and sports drinks?"
Mina blinked, considering the list for a moment, then nodded.
"Those are all some of my favorite things. You think it's because of my Quirk?"
"Almost certainly. Virtually everyone has minor changes to their needs to support their Quirk, even if most people never realize it. They just crave certain things and end up eating more of that because they crave it. Unless you have something really unusual though, or extreme quantity needs like Momo, it's usually just written off as a personal tastes thing."
That got a 'huh' from the pink girl…even as she grinned and took a helping of a pasta dish she hadn't tried yet. Everyone laughed at that and the conversation flowed naturally from there…
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A/N: A quick note here. I think you can see the pattern developing here in that I'm spending more time and attention than canon did to their training. When I said at the start that I'd thought through switching UA to a University, I MEANT it. Heroics in this story is treated like a degree program in its own right. Training will be shown in snippets like this throughout the story, with more complete explanations than the Manga or Anime gave about the reasons behind each step. That's not actually a criticism of the show or story. They are working with a visual media and need to keep the pace moving more quickly. In a more novel-like format, I have the freedom to expand on things a bit more completely and I'm fully intent on taking advantage of that. I'll do my best not to let it bog the story pacing down as I do so, though!