the copycat hero: Deku

Chapter 41

Izuku was exhausted. He'd been running between the various members of his class and class B all morning, copying their quirks and joining in on their exercises. His body ached, his head pounded, his stomach churned. He felt a hand slap against his shoulder, looking over at his best friend, the blond not looking much better than he felt, both nodding as they hurried to the next student.

"Hey Hi-chan," Izuku gasped as they staggered up to the boy, Shinso just grunting at them as he clutched his head, "You can take a rest for a bit longer, we'll handle the next group."

"Fuck my life," the purple-haired teen muttered, "My head hurts so much I want to die."

"Mood," both copiers said in unison, shuddering as they heard the shrill whistle.

"You take the group first," Neito groaned.

"No, I insist," Izuku shot back.

"Go to hell," The blond growled, shoving him weakly towards the running students.

"You all look as exhausted as I feel," Izuku sighed as they stopped in front of him, the students all nodding as they shouted out a simultaneous "Yes."

Izuku grabbed at Hitoshi's quirk, feeling the strings between his mind and the others pull tight, his brain protesting as he held it for as long as he could. The pulsing headache returned in full force, barely giving him a few seconds of control before the strings snapped, the green-haired teen dropping to his knees and retching. He heard a slap behind him, glancing up to see Neito stride past him, saying something loudly as the group responded with another "yes!", before the boy collapsed next to him, also clutching his head.

"Dadzawa wasn't kidding when he said we'd feel like dying," Izuku muttered, Neito simply groaning in response.

"Midoriya, Monoma!" the shout made them both wince, looking up as the two teachers approached them, "I think that's enough general training. Time for your specialized training."

"Specialized?" the two groaned, staggering to their feet, "What specialized training?"

"Both of you have copy quirks," Vlad started, Aizawa continuing, "But they function differently. As such, we've decided that you'll work separately for the time being. Monoma to increase the time he can hold quirks, and Midoriya to improve his range and perfect his new technique."

"New technique?" Neito blinked as he looked at his friend, "What new technique?"

"I figured out how to copy quirks without the person having to be around," Izuku hummed as he stretched, wincing at the pain in his head and body, "So I guess I have to get out of range of everybody else to do that."

"Exactly," Aizawa grunted, turning away, "You're with me for now. Come on."

"Later, Nei-tan," Izuku smiled tiredly as he staggered after his teacher, "Prepare my grave for me!"

Izuku shot a glance at the treeline as he walked away, smiling slightly to himself as he saw the two horns poking out from behind the tree.

Four pm could not come fast enough for the exhausted students as they walked tiredly to the courtyard area in front of the lodge.

"The pampering ended yesterday!" Pixie-bob shouted as they staggered towards her.

"You want to eat? You have to cook it yourselves! Today is curry!" Ragdoll said beside her, her arms flapping excitedly.

"Yes ma'am," the two classes said quietly, staggering forwards as they began to gather the ingredients spread out in front of them.

"Hey," Ochako said, looking around, "Where's Izuku?"