Chapter Text
Izuku had heard about the project. It was something Nedzu liked to do every year for the year one hero students. On the surface it seemed like a simple game of cops and robbers, but more extreme. That’s what Izuku thought too, until he had a conversation with Nedzu himself when his turn to participate neared.
The rat mouse bear explained that the heroes could join the villain team if they wanted, and the villains were allowed weapons and other forms of combat. When he questioned why have such a dangerous project he was met with an answer he should have expected from someone who trained a bunch of teenagers to be heroes.
“Heroes in training need real-life experience of course. That’s why the villains are allowed to use weapons and other means to incapacitate the heroes.”
“Then why are some hero students pretending to be villains? Isn’t that counterproductive? It might convince someone to become a villain. Not to offend you, I’m just curious.” The rat just smiled. Izuku had little experience reading Nedzu, but he was fairly certain that this was an understanding smile.
“Don’t worry Midoriya. Whatever side you may choose you will continue to train to be a hero after all is said and done. No hero student has ever turned to villainy after this exam. The leaders are picked randomly, but we do take precautions as to who is picked. We would never put someone we thought may turn in a villain position.” A lie. Nedzu’s facial expressions may be hard to read, but his tell was as clear as day. Nedzu interlocks his fingers on top of his desk whenever he was lying, not telling the whole truth, or hiding something. It was hard to tell which statement he had lied about though. All he could do was hope it wasn’t the second one.
“I have one more question.” He paused and wait for his principal to nod. “Who is allowed to spectate the exam?”
“The teachers grading you have a specific room to watch from to ensure no distractions, but there is a separate room for anyone with a connection to any of the students who wish to watch.”
“Thank you for your time sensi. I have to get back to class now.”
Izuku walked into the dorms with the rest of his class ready to relax after classes. A few days ago they had been informed that their next assignment would be the project, and it would be considered a final exam for the heroics class. They weren’t given a date though. Izuku assumed the surprise of when exactly it was announced who would lead the heroes was a part of the whole thing. It was like Nedzu to add little inconveniences like that.
Izuku didn’t know what team he wanted to be on yet. Well, that is if he had a choice in the matter. He knew morally that it would be right to join the heroes, but the voices in his head always wanted otherwise. This would be the perfect time to let them have their way. It might quiet them down for a little while if he let go of control for a few days.
Izuku felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He could already tell who it was just by how gentle it was.
“Hi, Todoroki-kun. What’s up?” Ever since the sports festival Todoroki had warmed up to Izuku. He even likes to think Todoroki sees him as a friend, but he knows that he might not even know what a friend is.
“Which team are you planning on joining for the exam?”
“I don’t really know yet. I want to wait until we know who the hero leader is. I think that will be my determining factor.”
“Please tell me when you decide, I want to be on whichever team you're on.” Izuku knew that he shouldn’t be this happy over Todoroki just wanting to be on the same team, but here he was on cloud nine.
“I text as soon as I know.” Todoroki nodded and then walked over to the couch to sit down. At least he would have Todoroki when this whole mess played out. As long as the odds played out in his favour, and his one in twenty chance for being picked as a leader of a group, he could just focus on passing with Todoroki. It would be easy, and he would get to spend time with his friend.
Izuku left the common room to head to his own. He had picked up some interesting details about Iida in math and he wanted the write them down. He knew he should probably wait until after dinner, but there was no one there to stop him.
He burst into his room not even bothering to get changed before he started to scramble for his notebook.
He sat down at his desk, grabbed a pen and opened up to the five pages he had for Iida.
If lacking knowledge in a certain area, the subject will go mute. Once an understanding of the concept is obtained, the subject will continue as normal. Example: today subject didn’t understand a question in math and refused to speak until the question was explained and understood.
It wasn’t much, but it could be used. Putting him in a situation where he lacks the knowledge to execute a functioning plan would incapacitate him. That was something to keep in the back of his mind.
All of a sudden he got a text.
Todoroki: Aizawa wants everyone in the common room for an announcement. I think it’s about the exam.
Midoriya: I’ll be right there.
Izuku went down the elevator to see his entire class crowded around who he assumed to be Aizawa. When he pushed through he saw that he was right.
“Now that everyone is here we can continue. Tonight envelopes will be put under the villain and hero leaders’ doors. They will explain the objectives of each team and all that jazz. From eight until nine I ask that you all stay in your own rooms. At nine tonight the hero leader will reveal their identity and if the villain leader wishes they can too. Sign-ups start tomorrow. You must be registered on a team within the next week. Each team has two weeks of prep and the exam is five days long. Classes will be cancelled until the end of the exam.” One hour. That’s all he needed to last without having anything unplanned happen. Easy enough. Only it wasn’t easy. Izuku had a feeling Nedzu letting him ask direct questions was more than just that he felt bad for Izuku. Something was up, and he really wished he didn’t know exactly what it was.
Izuku made his way back up to his room. He had about three hours before they handed out the envelopes. Izuku would need to make plans. Who he wanted on his team in the not-so-odd case he was a leader of one.
He would have Todoroki obviously. Everyone else, he wasn’t so sure. They were all here to be heroes, but some might join the villain team anyways. Tokoyami might want to join, maybe Yaoyorozu as well. They weren’t always talking about being a hero, so they might consider it.
Then there was class 1-B. They might have an interest as well. Monoma would take whichever side had the least extravagant leader. The others, he wasn’t so sure. Izuku never really got the chance to talk to them. That would change though. Whether or not he ended up being a leader of a team he would be stuck with them for almost three weeks.
He started to write down his thoughts, creating a profile on everyone he knew well enough. There ended up being about five people he knew would join the villain team. Todoroki, Tokoyami, Yaoyorozu, Ojiro, and Jirou.
Todoroki would follow him through fire quite literally, Tokoyami was the closest person in their class to a villain minus Izuku, Yaoyorozu was smart enough to want the mental challenge, and Jirou would go with Yaoyorozu. The only thing that would stop these people would be if they received a leadership position on the hero side.
Izuku picked up his phone to check the time. He was expecting it to be five, maybe six o’clock, but no. He had been working for two and a half hours on profiles for who might join the villain team without any confirmation that was even the leader. Stupid Izuku.
“Looks like you’re finally going to break.” No. It was too early for this to start now. He had worked so hard to keep the voice quiet.
“I can't be that monster. Not yet.”
Izuku had been resisting the temptation to give in ever since he was four. He liked seeing how people reacted to stuff, and how they squirmed under pressure, but when his mom found out about his little experiments his fun was ended. She told him that people need to help other people. He didn’t want to disappoint her, so he did his best. He used heroes as an example of what to be. Everyone loved them and they helped people, so if Izuku could become a hero then no one would hate him. He discovered All Might and the rest is history. It took a few years to gain control, but he did it and now it was all going to crumble. He was going to fuck something up and never be able to become a hero.
“No! You can’t let it get to your head. That will make it worse, Izuku.” He said to himself. He had to keep up the sunshine smile for the sake of his friends. He couldn’t falter. They would all hate him if he did.
Katsuki didn’t give a fuck about this exam. Just make sure Deku was on the hero team and everything would go fine. It would just be another dumb test keeping him from being number one.
The goddamn reveal was past his preferred sleeping time. He would have to stay up until fucking nine for a project. He was going to yell at someone for this. School shouldn’t be outside of school hours.
“Shitty Hair! What the fuck do you want in your ramen? Also where the fuck is Deku? I’m not cooking for him if he’s not here.” Katsuki was probably just paranoid about what happened when they were kids, but he needed to know if Deku was planning something. Deku was really creepy when he planned, almost like he was holding back information at any given moment.
“Whatever, as long as there’s meat in it Bakubro. And I think Midoriya’s in his room.” Deku was probably just watching All Might vidéos or something, he always did that in his free time. The nerd couldn’t keep himself away from those things. Everything was going to be fine. He would beat Shity Deku by being the best hero on the team.
When they were all sent to their rooms Katsuki was half tempted to sleep for the entire hour and not care who got to lead a bunch of extras through a bullshit exam, but then again he was curious how bad it could be. If Pikachu was put in charge he might just leave for the villain team, or kill the dumb ass and take it for himself. He would probably be able to sleep in tomorrow too since classes were canceled.
He turned on a show on his phone and just waited for the hour to pass. Maybe for once, it would actually be quiet. No shitty extras following him around.
He was about thirty minutes into his show when he heard something be slid under his door.
“I swear to god if you extras are out now just to annoy me I will fucking kill you all.” The length they would go to sometimes.
Katsuki looked to see a blue envelope with a yellow-orange wax seal. This better not be another fucking prank.
He opened the envelope to read what it said.
Dear Katsuki Bakugo,
You have been randomly selected as the leader of the hero team. Your goal is to recruit, train, and help your team take down the heroes in the exam. As a member of the hero team, you are not allowed to use violence unless provoked and do not have access to weapons. Your team must solely use their quirks. If you capture the villain leader for over ten hours, kill the villain leader, force the villain team to surrender, or the villain team is unable to do any damage, you win. Please note that there are rules not covered in this note. To make this exam realistic there will be bots acting as random civilians. Your job as heroes is to protect these bots from harm. Letting large amounts of them die will have a bad effect on your mark, and everyone else's on your team. The rule book will be given upon request at your meeting with your homeroom teacher.
Best of luck
Nedzu
The extras were too dumb to write this, this was real.
Katsuki came to a realization.
How the fuck was he supposed to recruit and train a bunch of extras?
Izuku was staring at the door. Each second felt like an hour. He swore it was 8:20 but when he checked it was only 8:03. He heard multiple footsteps during the hour they were supposed to be in their rooms. He figured it was to throw them off in case he- the villain leader wanted to keep their identity a secret.
“Well, they would have given some indication that it was me by now.” He sighed in relief. It was all going to be fine.
He waited ten extra ten minutes, just to be sure. Nedzu liked to play games, and this could easily be one.
He picked up his phone, about to turn on an All Might video. Then he saw a text from Todoroki.
- I think Bakugo is one of the leaders. He was screaming about something and then went silent. Whatever team he’s on we should go on the other. I think it would be best for you.
After the sports festival, Todoroki seemed to obtain a distaste for Kacchan. It seemed to only get worse when they became friends. It started out as Todoroki would stand between him and Kacchan. Then he started ushering Izuku away from him once he entered a room.
- I’m sure it will be fine if we’re on the same team. Don’t worry too much Todoroki
Izuku didn’t care if Kacchan was the leader of the villain or hero team. He was competent enough. He would rather have him as a leader than Kaminari.
He tossed his phone on his bed and went over to his dresser to change.
He barely opened the closer when he heard what sounded like paper slide across the floor.
His heart dropped.
This was probably one of the last moments that he could hold back. Continue to be the sunshine child.
He bent down to pick up the envelope but stopped. There was a red rose that matched the colour of the seal. Did it mean something?
He opened it and started to read the continents.
Dear Izuku Midoriya,
It has come to my attention that you are aware that the choice of who leads which team is not random. You may not disclose this information to anyone. As the leader of the villain team, your score will be based on how well you complete the tasks listed below this note. They are meant to challenge you mentally and physically. You need to recruit people for your team, whether you wish to do so in secret is your choice. The ways you win the game is if you kill the hero leader, kill over one-third of the hero team, complete all the tasks, or last the full five days without surrendering. You must complete a task every twenty hours. If you go twenty hours without completing a task you lose. Completing two tasks at once does not count as forty hours. Your team must constantly be disturbing the peace for you to be considered active villains. Bots are something we use to make the whole experience seem more real. These bots can be used as hostages, and you may kill them if you wish. As a member of the villain team, you may not invoke true severe bodily harm to others. It’s gone more in-depth in the rule book that will be provided in your teacher-leader meeting.
- Kill twenty bots at once
- Kill three people on the hero team
- Destroy the bank
- Steal nuclear weapons from the government operations building
- Take three bots, hostage, for more than three hours
- Take one of the heroes, hostage, for more than one hour
- Steal the bento box office building seven
- Steal files from office building three
- Steel blue prints from office building five
- Kill fifty bots in the span of twenty minutes
- Take a support item from a hero
I look forward to seeing how you perform
Nedzu
The rules would need to be dissected. He would need workarounds. He was sure that every plan going through his head right now was in some violation. He would consult someone about loopholes later. Right now he needed to find possible candidates for his team. He was going to keep his identity a secret, so he had to be one hundred percent sure they would say yes before asking. Well, there was one person he knew who would say yes.
- We’re joining the villain team.
Todoroki took no time to respond.
- What if Bakugo’s the leader? He would just try to hurt you more if he was acting as a villain.
-He’s not the leader of the villain team.
-How do you know?
-The only way I can before the hero leader is announced.
-Okay. I look forward to working with you boss.