A Hero Who Saves Everybody

Chapter 5: The First Week of U.A. Pt. 2

As the fight between the two rivals ended, commotion began to stir in the observation room. Several of the students were impressed by the performance of their fellow students, while others were concerned by the aftermath caused by a particular explosive student. One girl with red-and-white hair was particularly impressed in addition to being curious. 'Midoriya seemed to have a pretty powerful quirk. It is almost similar to All Might's power. I wonder...' As the girl's thoughts trailed off, she subconsciously put her right hand over her heart, clenching it as she thought about the boy's powers.

...

All Might, stepping onto the scene to observe the damage caused to the two boys, was appalled by the performance of both of them. 'These kids were amazing. Young Midoriya managed to find a way to use one of the predecessor's quirks on command. He used that quirk to reduce the damage he took to his arm, albeit only slightly. And Young Bakugo's performance is nothing to scoff at either. He found a creative way to use his quirk to blind his opponent in addition to launching a counterstrike. These two could be dangerous someday...' Yet, despite All Might's high praises of them, they both ended up worse than they went in. Deku's arms were severely damaged in the fight, one being broken while the other was burned. As All Might looked over to where Bakugo stood, he could see Bakugo trembling in fear and anger. Both emotions raging inside him like a whirlpool of confusion and confrontation. 

'My attacks... Deku predicted them. He made me look like an idiot and somehow managed to win the exercise.' As Bakugo replayed the fight in his head, Deku's words suddenly stuck out to him. '"You've always been stronger, Kacchan. Can't you see? That's why I want to beat you! Because you are amazing!"' As these thoughts began to replay over and over again inside his head, Bakugo began to hyperventilate and panic. His eyes widening and his breaths becoming shallower and shallower as he began to realize something, 'Does this mean if we really fought, if we didn't hold back at all, Deku... would beat me with his quirk?-'

Before finishing his thought, All Might approached Bakugo from behind, placing a hand on his shoulder in a reassuring manner. "Young Bakugo, cool your jets. Let's go review your work. Whether you win or lose, you can always take something away from an experience like this, as long as you are open to learning." 

As everyone returned to the observation room, All Might decided to announce who the MVP of the exercise was. "Despite the results, the MVP of this exercise is Young Iida." The room became noisy due to the vast amount of people who were confused by this outcome. Why Iida? 

"Excuse me, sir, shouldn't it be one of the heroes instead since they are the winners?" The girl with goggles asked. 

All Might, instead of telling them the answer outright, approached it as any normal teacher would: they asked a student to answer the question instead. "Valid question. Why didn't I choose one of those two? Does anyone have a guess?" Suddenly, the girl with the onyx ponytail raised her hand, signifying that she had the answer. 

"Sir, I can tell you why. Iida embraced this challenge, he was the only one who truly adapted to his assigned role." When All Might didn't respond to that, she elaborated further. "I'll explain. Bakugo's judgement was clouded by a personal grudge against Midoriya. As you pointed out earlier, launching a large-scale attack indoors was a foolish move. It could have been disastrous. Similarly, Midoriya's plan was also poorly thought out. Considering the amount of damage he received, he rendered himself helpless. Not smart. As for Uraraka, she let her guard down mid-battle. And, her final attack was far too reckless given the stakes. If she'd treated the fake weapon as though it were real, she never would've risked such an imprecise move." Finishing, her explanation on the others' performances, she finally turned to Iida. "Iida was fully prepared for his opponent's arrival. He had a strategy and mission to protect the dummy weapon, even if he was foiled in the end."