Chapter Text
Kaminari Denki was called many things.
Stupid was a common one. Static-for-brains was another one he got not infrequently. Hah, get it? Because of his quirk?
Very funny.
Of course, he would laugh off every jab towards his intelligence like it was a simple joke- but it never was. Not to Denki.
But he knew better than to call attention to it. Last time he did that, he ended up with a broken arm from a bully in middle school.
“So you think you are better than us all of a sudden?” The bully had said.
Denki was barely able to dodge another punch being thrown his way as he tried to explain himself. “Just because I short-circuit sometimes doesn’t mean I’m dumb! I’m just as smart as anyone else!”
“Oh please! You can’t even read properly!” The kid tried to hit him again, but Denki shocked him before the hit connected.
“Tch. Such a coward you won't even properly fight me, huh?”
“What? No! Wait- Hey!”
Both of them froze at the sound of Denki’s arm snapping under the bully’s grip.
That was the moment Denki realized he would never let someone get to him again.
He learned to play along. Switching schools after his arm was broken to finish off his middle school years helped him create a new personality and name for himself. Instead of the Kaminari Denki who could speak multiple languages but couldn’t even read Japanese, he became the Kaminari Denki who only spoke in memes. He made himself the butt of the joke before anybody else had the chance.
And it worked– If people underestimated you, they wouldn’t think twice when you did something odd. Nobody knew he had a high grade in English because all the others were low, and why would a foreign language be any different? He faked his quirk’s limitations, too. He could aim his quirk if there was metal, and had more control of it than he let on. But, if people underestimate you, you aren’t a threat.
If you aren’t a threat, you aren’t a target. And Denki did not like being a target.
It still sucked though– instead of people just being rude to him for the sake of being rude, it was played off as a joke. Something to laugh at while they ate lunch around a cafeteria table. It was a hell of his own making.
But, there was one benefit to not being seen as dangerous.
People told him things.
Hell- he was popular.
He liked to study people– what made certain people laugh, what got them the angriest, what made them shudder when they thought nobody was looking. Getting close to people was always easy for him; you just smile and nod, say the right thing, throw in a joke here or there, and bingo. They liked him. So what if it was creepy he could read almost all of his classmates like open books. He knows that they could never read him, and he got a sick satisfaction from that.
But still, it was lonely.
Constantly putting a mask on for other people was tiring. Sometimes, all he wanted to do was scream at his classmates, yell at them to “get it together, goddammit!” or a “you are all stupid, how did you not see this coming?!?!”
Of course, he persisted. But damn, what if. A man can dream, right?
All he wanted was a chance, he needed something to happen to him or his classmates or someone else but if he couldn’t let loose soon enough he would go berserk.
Luckily, luck seemed to be on his side for once.
– – –
“This exercise only happens once every few years, so listen up while I explain it.”
Aizawa hated this exercise. In all of his years teaching at UA, hell, even when he was a student attending UA, the villain team had never won. The whole thing was rigged, he would tell Nezu. Of course, the rat-bear-dog-thing never listened, always insisting that all the villains had to do was “think a little harder” or some bullshit like that. It never worked.
Alas, Aizawa is nothing if not completely at the mercy of his boss, so here he is. Explaining the weirdest, most elaborate but ultimately useless “activity” to his class of hero-hopefuls, trying to hint to them that this is the most stupid assignment they could pour their energy into without outright saying it. That would be much easier.
“This assessment is to test how you respond in real-life hero vs. villain scenarios. It is a 7 day lock-down in one of UA’s largest training grounds. There will be two teams, each with randomly selected leaders- the hero team and the villain team.”
“Wait, Mr. Aizawa?” asked Sero, “Isn’t that just, like, every other hero vs. villain exercise we’ve done?”
“Yeah, Sero’s right,” said Asui. “It seems like the only difference between this activity and the others is the amount of time and scale.”
“I can’t help but worry that all 20 of us locked in an unspecified location would end in disaster…” Yaoyorozu mumbled.
Aizawa sighed before continuing his explanation, “It won’t be just the 20 of you. You will be combined with the 20 other students from Class 1B, as well as any other students in your year that wish to participate.”
“Woah wait, all 40 of us? And what do you mean by other students?” Kirishima questioned.
“All hero students in the selected year are required to participate, however, students from any other course can choose to participate, as long as they are the same year as the leaders.” Aizawa explained, taking another sip of his coffee. “Essentially, the villain team leader will have to persuade their classmates into joining the villain team, who will then face off against everyone else. However, I won’t go into too much detail about the team specifics now.”
“How come?” asked Midoriya.
“You will have a year-wide assembly with Principal Nezu tomorrow during homeroom. The leaders of the teams will be drawn randomly from a bowl of names. He will explain the specifics of the assessment, what the rules are, and address any questions or concerns.”
As the bell rang and his students stood up to exit the classroom, chatting excitedly about the lock-in, all Aizawa could think about was how this year’s exercise would have an… interesting outcome.
– – –
Nezu had to pick who the leaders of the hero team and villain team would be for this exercise.
Even though he claims that it is the luck of the draw, the leaders of the teams are actually picked after careful consideration from the Principal.
The hero team would be easy enough. He had to pick someone who could lead the group. Someone strong enough in combat for people (Bakugo) to respect. Someone level-headed and confident in their abilities, but could still gain some skill from the exercise.
Immediately, certain students came to mind. Asui seemed like a great fit, but what would she learn? Nezu felt like he could find someone better. Midoriya is a natural leader, and has shown on multiple occasions that he could lead the group to victory— but that’s the issue. He has had the opportunity to lead. The same could be said for Iida and Yaoyorozu. While yes, Yaoyorozu could use the confidence boost from winning, there is still a chance the hero team loses.
Kirishima could lead, yes, but, despite his quirk, he wouldn’t be hard enough on his teammates. That isn’t something this exercise could teach him. Bakugo has a short temper and can’t work well with others, even if he is a formidable opponent. Todoroki had quick-thinking skills, and was great at strategizing, but he lacked cooperation skills—
Wait.
This would be the perfect activity for him to strengthen his skills.
Everyone and their mother knew Todoroki was going to be a top-10 hero. But as a pro-hero, he would need to know how to lead a group. Sure, that’s a lesson Bakugo could benefit from too, but he has had chances to lead before, and he most certainly will have more chances in the future. And besides, a leadership opportunity like this would probably get to his head. Todoroki, on the other hand, would treat all of his opponents equally. He wouldn’t take the assignment more or less seriously depending on the leader of the villain team. Hopefully.
So it was decided. Nezu would “randomly” select Todoroki for the leader of the Hero group. Now it was time for the hard part, but the part that was arguably more interesting.
Who would lead the Villain group?
The leader for the Villains would have to be someone cunning– someone who could create a plan that would sweep the heroes off their feet. They have to be able to outsmart the heroes and face them head on.
Nezu thought of people like Iida, Midoriya, and, once again, Momo, who historically acted in “heroic” ways, but still had the intellect to lead an operation of this scale. He had to admit, putting one of them into the leadership position for the villains was intriguing, especially considering their strong moral compasses…
Then his mind turned to the more… difficult students in the hero course. Like Monoma Neito, for example. He had a powerful quirk, there was no denying that, but Nezu worried about how he would treat the members of Class 1-A. His hatred towards the other hero class was not a secret, and could cause problems if Monoma could not get it under control.
There were other students, like Tokoyami. Tokoyami would definitely play the role of the villain well, but he isn’t charismatic enough to persuade his classmates to fight against Todoroki.
In Nezu’s experience, the best villains are the people who can see the potential in everyone. The ones who will take in the underdogs and give them the chance to shine. The ones who recognize that everyone can be dangerous if you push their buttons enough.
The ones who seem just about ready to snap at any moment.
Nezu looked at the 40 options for the leader. This decision would determine everything about the exercise– the winning team lied in their hands. Who could fit the role? Someone powerful, someone who is charismatic and persuasive, someone who thinks outside of the box, someone who could do some serious damage, but maybe hasn’t had the chance to show their full potential yet…
Someone who would have something to gain or learn from this assignment.
…
As Nezu looked at his options, suddenly the answer became very clear to him.
– – –
He had to admit, a hero vs villain lock-in sounds pretty fun.
The idea of finally, finally being able to show up his classmates was a dream come true! The only caveat, though, was that he didn’t know who the team leaders would be. It could be any first-year in the hero course. If it was someone like Bakugo or Kirishima, he was screwed. He would join anyway, of course, if only to be around his friends, but this activity could be the moment he has been waiting for.
Truth be told, he knows exactly what to do to fuck with all of his classmates. What buttons to push and what to say to make them angry or upset. I mean, he lives with these people– it would be hard not to notice what ticks them off.
… Okay, maybe it’s a bit weird how he notices all these things, but whatever.
He hopes the leader for the villains is someone like Midoriya or Tokoyami, who won’t take the assignment as a joke and will put their all into it. And not just the planning part-- he hopes the leader really leans in to the whole villain thing.
Turns out, he’s the only one thinking something like that.
Walking back to the dorms after going to the library for a “mandatory study session”, he brings up the topic of the lock-in with his friends.
“What do you guys think about the heroes and villains thing that Mr. Aizawa was talking about?”
Mina sighed and rolled her eyes. “To be honest, I’m a bit bored of doing the same exercises over and over again. Besides, I’ve already fought most of the people in our class, so it’s not like I’d be learning anything new.”
“At least we will get to work more with the other class,” Yaoyorozu added. “We never really worked with them before the joint training exercise that we did not too long ago, so this will be a great opportunity for that.”
“Still, if they wanted us to work with 1B then they could have just had us, I don’t know, work with 1B. Like, how hard would it be for us to just train together or something?” responded Mina.
“I think that it is important to take each exercise given to us as something worth completing to the best of our abilities!” said Iida.
“You’ve been quiet, what do you think, Midoriya?” Denki asked.
“Huh? Oh, I’ve just been thinking about it…”
Well, no shit. “Yeah, but like, what are you thinking?”
“I just think that it's odd, y’know? Like, when something isn’t right, but you can’t quite place it.”
Iida looked at him confused (as did everyone else) and asked, “What do you think is weird about it, Midoriya?
“It’s just… Okay, well for one, isn’t it strange to you that they are giving us so little information about it now, but tomorrow we are having an assembly for the entire year? Also, why are they giving us a month to prepare? I looked ahead at the school calendar, and the lock-down doesn't happen for 4 weeks. Why will we need 4 weeks? What’s gonna happen–”
“Wait, it’s in four weeks?” cried Mina.
That changed some things for Denki.
“A month is a long time for something like this… huh,” said Yaoyorozu.
“That’s exactly what I thought, too. I even looked it up during lunch and I found a few old posts from UA graduates that talked about what it was like. Apparently, the villain team has never won.”
... never won, huh?
Midoriya continued, “I saw one that was from the perspective of someone on the villain team, and they said that their best friend was the leader. They talked about how the assignment was super challenging for the villains, especially because they were outnumbered by the heroes. They spent the whole time trying to recruit people, but could only get 9 people recruited, which left them no time to actually prepare for what they had to do during the simulation. The heroes won within 3 days.”
“3 days? Sheesh…” said Mina.
“So, what’s the lesson supposed to be? Why would they have us do this? What were they preparing for? What went down inside the lock-in that–”
“So the assignment is rigged and the villain team loses. What’s even the point if the odds are so shitty?” Denki responded. This is why he always asked for Midoriya’s opinion, even if he talks a lot. He can always get more information out of him.
They kept talking about the mysterious lock-in assessment as they reached the dorms. Alas, the elevator reached Iida and Denki’s floor and they waved goodbye to their company as the elevator doors shut.
“Goodnight, Kaminari. Rest well,” Iida said, opening the door to his room.
“Night, Iida!”
Upon entering his own room, Denki felt… weird. The energy was off or some shit like that, he didn’t know, but someone had definitely been in here. He scanned the room and found a single black envelope on his desk.
Walking up to it, he took in the look of the envelope. It was made with a shiny black paper that had embossed accents in the corners. He noticed the red wax seal with UA’s logo imprinted on it as he approached the mysterious letter on his desk. Picking it up, he was able to tell that this paper was definitely high quality, and as he flipped it over, he saw that it had his name written on it in fancy red ink that shifted in the light. Holding his breath, he opened the envelope and read what was inside:
“Dear Kaminari Denki,
You have been selected as this year’s Villain Team Kingpin.
This is not a role I assign lightly, so I trust that you will play your part for this activity. Your jobs for this exercise are as follows:
1. Capture enemy territory
2. Capture or “kill” heroes
3. Wreak havoc on the city.
Of course, this assignment is all in good fun, but I implore you to take it seriously.
Truth be told, I will lie tomorrow during the assembly. The names will not be drawn randomly– hence you getting a letter tonight. The leader for the Hero team has also gotten their letter tonight. Normally I would mail it to you, but with the dorms in place, this seemed like a more logical way to give you this letter.
I picked you for this assignment for a reason. I don’t know what secrets you are hiding, but like recognizes like. I know that you are smarter than you let on, but don’t want to share it with your classmates. I respect this decision, but I do encourage you to let loose with this assignment. You have good ideas, you just don’t see them through.
Meet me in the support course’s workshop tomorrow during your lunch period, and we can discuss further. I saw you submitted a form for new support gear, so your identity will not be compromised if you wish to keep it hidden.
I have a good feeling about this year, and I am excited to see what my villains will get up to this time.
Best of luck,
Principal Nezu.”
...
Holy crap.
This is exactly what Denki wanted.