ATOMIC STRUGGLE

5「race」5

(Last update for the day! Great job getting both comment goals~ happy reading and I'll see you all on the next update day!)

The rest of the internship period went well, and soon everyone was returning home. Twice had left the day before the end after promising to come back sometime so he and Mihoko could fan over the power puff girls together. Thus, when Shinso returned, nothing seemed to have changed and he was none the wiser.

And then Monday rolled around and it was time to reconvene at UA. "Did you really take down the hero killer with mister Aizawa?!" Several of his classmates asked excitedly when Izak and Shinso came walking into the classroom that morning.

"Yeah, why?" The maroonette raised an eyebrow at what the fuss was about, causing a few to groan at him from how stupidly dense he was.

"The hero killer was like the most notorious criminal ever! You got to take down an A-rank villain, that's not something that happens every day," Kaminari patted Izak on the shoulder.

"Villains have rankings?" The maroonette raised an eyebrow

"Yeah, and A is right under S-rank, so he was a totally huge haul," Sato informed him, drawing an intrigued hum from Izak.

"You guys were there too, right?" Ojiro asked, directing the question towards Iida and Midoriya. "Glad you're both okay, it must've been scary."

"He's scary, yeah," Kaminari remarked. "But did you see him in that weird video? It's all over the internet."

"I didn't even know there was a video of him," Ojiro said.

"Yeah," The blonde went on to explain. "Stain's a pretty evil villain but like super tenacious. He's almost kinda cool don't you guys think?"

"Kaminari!" Midoriya gaped at him, causing him to flinch as his eyes dragged over to Iida, and then he gasped as he recalled that Iida's brother had been critically wounded by the guy.

"Oh!" He slapped a hand over his mouth. "Dude..."

"No, it's okay, you're fine," the class rep assured him, reaching up to grip the shoulder that he so clearly recalled the hero killer stabbing through. There was no longer a wound thanks to Izak, but it wasn't an experience that one just forgot overnight, or ever. "It is true that he is quite a tenacious villain. I understand why people might think he was cool. But instead of helping the world, his beliefs led him to cold blooded murder. No matter his motives, killing cannot be condoned. To keep anyone else from suffering like me, well," He suddenly raised his hand and went full on class rep. "I promise I will strive to be the perfect hero!"

"Yeah, let's do it!" Midoriya agreed with an eager smile.

"It's time for class to begin, everyone please take your seats!" Iida called out, causing several people to sweatdrop.

"He's back.."

"This is your fault for talking about weird stuff," Jiro glared at the culprit.

"Sorry," Kaminari looked down. "I'll keep my mouth shut.."

As everyone did as their class rep said and took their seats, Izak recalled that Twice and Mihoko had shown him the video Kaminari had mentioned. It was really something, and both of them seemed to really agree with the ideals that were talked about. And then halfway through, the video was deleted, only for Twice to search it back up and bam, a new version popped up.

The government apparently didn't approve of the video, but most of the things it covered were actual problems in hero society. In fact, Izak agreed with most of the issues the video brought up. If this had been shown to him back at the lab, he might have actually done something about it, like getting rid of quirks as a whole from the DNA pool. But since he was being monitored now, he figured trying to do anything was probably a bad idea.

Classes started, and soon it was time for hero training. "I am here!" All Might grinned at class 1A as they all stood in front of him in their hero costumes. "Hope you are ready to return to our lessons! Today it's hero basic training. Feels like I haven't seen you in a while, welcome back! Now then," He went off from the greeting. "Listen carefully for what's in store. We're going to be conducting a little race, take everything you've learned from your internships and apply it to this rescue training."

"If it's rescue training," Iida raised his hand. "Then shouldn't we be at the USJ instead?"

"Ah, that facility specializes in natural disasters, as I said earlier," All Might smirked. "This is a race. So, prepare! You're about to step into field Gamma! Inside is an area full of factories that form an intricate labyrinth, so good luck finding your way around. You'll be competing in groups of five or six. Each person starts in a different location on the outskirts of the model city. Since young Morgan is still unable to participate, he will be the one you are trying to rescue! Whoever finds him first will win!"

"Yay," Izak said dryly.

"Try to keep property damage to a minimum, please," All Might ever-so-subtly pointed at Bakugo, who sneered.

"Why are you pointing at me?"

"All right!" The number one hero moved on. "First group, get to your places! Young Morgan and I will be going to the rescue area, so when I get back, the race will begin!"

"Understood!" The class erupted with excitement to show what they had learned as All Might and Izak headed into the fake city of factories.

"Make sure to stay put, and no using your quirk!" the teacher told his student when they arrived at the rescue area. "Also give this to each winner," He handed over a few sashes, causing Izak to raise an eyebrow but shrug.

"Okay."

"Then I'm off!" All Might headed back to the place where the students waiting to go were waiting, and then his voice boomed out. "Is everyone readyyy? Begin!" He pressed a button and the starting horn sounded in the distance.

Izak stood boredly for a while, then blinked as green sparks entered his vision. "You're safe now!" Deku grinned as he landed in front of him, now powered up to seven percent. Feeling his lips twitch upwards, the maroonette nodded.

"I can see that. Thank you," He held out one of the sashes, causing the boy's eyes to widen and his expression to brighten even more.

"Aw man, I was so close!" Sero complained as he finally arrived, and the others soon followed, all quickly sweatdropping at the sight in front of them. Izak had his arms crossed with an absolutely dead expression on his face as Midoriya hugged him and cried his eyes out, clutching the sash in his hand.

What a crybaby, Izak thought to himself with a slight sigh before he patted the boy on the back, but he's still my crybaby, so I guess I can let it slide.

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