A Grey Thin Line

15

Izuku should’ve known this was the nonsense Nedzu would pull. The little rodent is an absolute bastard, of course he wants to see Izuku’s hopes for getting out of this with his sanity intact crash and burn. Misery loves company, after all. Ugh, Izuku can already feel the stress headache forming and he hasn’t even seen the training area they’re fighting in yet. God, even if he loses, he is getting one good punch in. He does not care if it gets him detention. It’s a practical lesson, anything goes. Izuku is well within his rights to punch the ever living shit out of his opponent, the fact it happens to be his rat bastard of a principal is just a fucking bonus. 

The only way this could have been worse is if he'd been paired up with Bakugou. Now that would have been a three-ring circus. Izuku forces himself to breathe and does a mental inventory of his gear. It’s like counting to ten, but with stuff he can beat people up with. Way more therapeutic

Izuku and Sero have been escorted into a large building and placed in a waiting room. The starting gate is sealed off by two thick slabs of metal. By counting the turns they took in the hallway, he knows the gate is facing the interior. On one hand: air conditioning. On the other: being inside makes it much easier for the teachers to control the environment. Izuku hasn’t paid much attention to how Sero uses his Quirk, but from what Izuku’s seen he’s more long-distance that melee, choosing to swing and outmaneuver. Just on the merit of fucking with them, Izuku is willing to put money on the fact Nedzu’s going to put them somewhere cramped.

Despite popular belief, the heroics course doesn’t focus on fighting ability. Strategy, teamwork, identifying weaknesses in yourself and others and playing to your strengths. All of those have had their fair share of focus. It makes sense that the practical would be an application of those concepts. Izuku’s not trying to assume too much, because if Aizawa’s got a copy of The Art of War then Nedzu might as well have written the damn thing. Misdirection is the name of the game, and Izuku’s gotta keep an open mind, consider all possibilities without weighing himself down by being indecisive. A delicate balance, and one he’s going to have to maintain under pressure and with what might as well be a stranger for an ally. 

Izuku stares at the gate, considering. Even with all of his complaining, there’s a part of him that wants to grin. He’s finally got something challenging to sink his teeth into. Something that (probably) won’t end with a body count if he fucks up. It’s pressure, but nothing he hasn’t felt before. More like playing a video game, really. In the grand scheme of things, having to take some supplementary classes is nothing compared to mutilation and straight up dying. 

Sero clears his throat, shifting from foot to foot. "So, uh...what d'ya think we're gonna have to do?"

"Depends." Izuku comments off-handedly, "Nedzu's a sociopath by any human standard, something that would cross the line for us might not even occur for him. Permanent physical damage is definitely off the table though, small mercies and all that." 

"You really think the principal's a sociopath?"

“Guy straight up admitted it to me during a meeting. Said it like he was talking about the weather." At least it explains some of the bullshit this school has going on. "Honestly? I feel like he needs an ethics assistant." Aizawa's done a decent job of it in the past, but the guy's gonna break his back at this rate, carrying Yuuei's staff. Not that Izuku will ever tell him that. He fiddles with his escrima, the uneasiness radiating off of Sero is starting to get to him. "Don't worry about me pulling my weight. I'm Quirkless, not invalid."