Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Alright, listen up, hellspawn, today is going to be different than usual,” Shouta announced from the front of the classroom. 

“We will be starting our mandatory stealth unit,” Shouta held up his hand when some students opened their mouths to complain. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shinsou smirk, obviously thinking this would be easy.

“Just because a lot of you want to become limelight heroes doesn’t mean that you don’t need these skills. Eventually, you will find yourself in a situation that will require stealth. These missions are not exclusive to only those going into underground heroics.” He stated, glancing around the room to make sure the students understood.

“Anyways, we will be playing a game of hide and seek.” The class started to murmer amongst themselves, but one quirk-fueled glare had them quickly shutting up. 

“Do not misunderstand me, this is still an assessment, and you will be graded so I suggest you try your hardest.” Shouta paused, letting that information sink in. “It will take place at Ground Beta. Once we get there you will have exactly 15 minutes to hide and the assessment will last 3 hours. Any student that lasts the entire three hours will be given bonus points and extra credit on the next assignment. Any questions?”

Uraraka raised her hand. “Sensei, isn’t this a little unfair? I mean, most of us don’t have quirks suited for stealth so we’d be at a disadvantage against the ones that do.” Aizawa barely held in the urge to roll his eyes. Not everything is about quirks!

“You won’t always be at an advantage in the field. Many times you will find yourself in situations where you won’t be able to use your quirk. Besides, what about the sports festival and the entrance exam? Many of your classmates’ quirks were not very helpful in that situation and they managed just fine.” Uraraka blushed and ducked her head sheepishly.

Shouta glanced around the room. “Any more questions?” Surprisingly, Midoriya raised his hand. 

“Um, I have a few questions. Are we allowed to move around during the assessment at all or do we stay in our hiding place the entire time? Are we immediately out when we’re found? Who will be seeking? How will we be graded?” 

Shouta’s eyebrows raised. He had to admit, those were good questions and he was surprised that anyone had thought to ask them. He quickly shook off his surprise and answered.

“You may move around, however, I do not advise it as you may be caught faster that way. You also must be in a hiding spot by the end of your 15 minutes and stay there for at least 5 minutes, or points will be deducted. To be considered ‘out’ you must be captured completely and brought back to the starting point. You will be graded mainly on the effectiveness of your hiding spot, successful escapes, and time spent in the game. Oh, and as for who will be seeking?” Shouta’s grin sharpened and his class shivered. 

“Your teachers will.” 

With that he looked around the room one more time, waiting to see if there were any last questions. When there weren’t, he turned and led his class out the door and towards Ground Beta. 

Izuku found himself lost in thought as he followed his class to Ground Beta. He was kinda excited about this exam. He was pretty good at hiding and staying unnoticed, you couldn’t survive being quirkless without developing some skill in the subject, after all, but this would be different. This time he wouldn’t be hiding from bullies and teachers that definitely did not have his best interest at heart. No, this was UA where he actually had the ability to show off the skills he’d cultivated without punishment.

Izuku shook himself out of his thoughts as they arrived. No one moved, but Izuku noticed Aizawa subtly setting a 15 minute timer. Realizing that this was most likely one of Aizawa’s logical ruses, Izuku quickly slipped away from the crowd. 

Izuku surveyed the area for cameras, making sure he was out of the line of sight, before he slipped into a nearby building. He knew it was probably unnecessary, but Izuku wouldn’t put it past Nedzu to reveal their locations for fun. Not that Izuku planned to stay in one spot, of course. Smirking, Izuku unscrewed the vent cover of a nearby vent on the ceiling, and slipped in. He made sure that the cover was screwed tightly into place before moving further into the vents.

When the dorms had first been implemented, Izuku had taken his time to explore all the vents and hidden passages he could find. You never knew when someone could turn their back on you and you’d need to disappear quickly, after all.

Don’t get him wrong, Izuku knew UA was different from his previous schools and he liked to think he could trust his classmates and the staff, however, he was paranoid after many incidents and it didn’t hurt to be careful.

Distantly, he heard explosions and the sound of running and panic. He checked his watch, there were only 7 minutes left to hide. The class must’ve realized Aizawa wasn’t going to tell them to start. Izuku silently made his way through the vents to a hidden alcove. It was small and dark and his teachers most likely wouldn’t be able to fit in it. Another glance at his watch told him that the 15 minutes were up and the exam had started.

Shouta sighed as he dropped Aoyama off at the entrance. Not even 25 minutes in and he had already caught 2 students. First, his class had lost 8 minutes of their hiding time waiting for him to tell them to get started. He had noticed that his Problem Child had snuck off at some point, as well as Shinsou. Shinsou he had expected but Midoriya came as a surprise, especially when Shouta had realized that the green haired boy had snuck off before Shinsou.

Hizashi nudged his shoulder as they slipped through the streets. “Hey, it’s only two. I’m sure they’ll get it together and work harder.” Shouta opened his mouth to reply when he heard explosions nearby. The pair shared a look and darted off towards the noise.

Apparently, Bakugou had gotten annoyed with Todoroki after they had found the same hiding spot, and set off explosions. The students managed to fight the two heroes off for a few minutes before they were inevitably captured by Shouta’s scarf. Bakugou shouted expletives at the fire and ice user the entire time as they were dragged off. 

An hour and a half passed and the teachers had managed to capture half the class. Now the only ones left were Kouda, Shouji, Jirou, Hagakure, Tokoyami, Kirishima, Shinsou, Yaoyorozu, Asui, and Midoriya. 

Speaking of Midoriya, there had been no sign of the boy since the game had started. Shouta was impressed but a little confused. Normally kids with flash quirks like Midoriya would have been caught by now, not thinking to put in much effort because they believed that their quirk could get them through anything, but Midoriya was still going. It frustrated Shouta.

Why would someone put such little effort in their quirk but cultivate other skills? The boy was clearly hardworking, that much was obvious, but he’d had such poor quirk control in the beginning, and even then he was quickly gaining control. Nothing about the situation made sense. 

Shouta quickly shook himself out of his thoughts, resolving to look into it later. 

Almost two and a half hours had passed. Izuku had spent a good chunk of his time tracking his teachers and gaining information. That’s how he found out he was the last one left in the assessment. Hagakure had been the last one taken out after she had unfortunately sneezed just as Aizawa happened to pass by. 

Immediately Izuku exited the vents. He didn’t think any of the staff realized the vents here were real, but he knew Nedzu would leak his location soon and he would rather not have his actual hiding spot revealed in case he ended up needing it one day.

Izuku was proven right when not even five minutes later, the building was surrounded. He snuck onto the roof. He knew there was no way he’d be able to sneak past the staff so he prepared himself to fight. His analysis notebooks came in handy as he had already analyzed all of the teachers weaknesses and had plans in case he ever needed to fight or incapacitate them.

He slipped into a fighting stance as his teachers closed in on him in a tight ring. It was only Vlad King, Aizawa, Present Mic, Midnight, and Snipe who were taking part in seeking. 

“YEEA-” Mic started, about to use his quirk to blast Izuku into the other heroes’ arms, but Izuku immediately darted forward and slammed his fist into his throat, making the man choke and his quirk cut off. It stunned the heroes for only a second before Snipe started firing at Izuku and Aizawa threw out his capture scarf. 

Hiding a smirk, Izuku jumped and twisted his body mid air, dodging both the paintballs and the capture scarf. Snipe, however, did not dodge in time and ended up wrapped in Aizawa’s capture scarf. Vlad King threw a punch and Izuku ducked under it, delivering a hit to the man’s ribs. Midnight tried to knock him out with her quirk but Izuku quickly maneuvered out of the way and threw her into Present Mic who was trying to sneak attack him.

The heroes quickly bounced back and attempted to corner him. Izuku had planned for this, though. He backed up all the way to the edge of the roof. Vlad King grinned smugly, thinking they finally had him cornered. Izuku noticed that Aizawa’s eye narrowed and his homeroom teacher reached for his capture scarf again. Izuku just grinned and raised his hand in a mock salute before taking a backwards step off the edge. 

His teachers cried out in alarm and tried to grab him, but were too late. Izuku landed easily and immediately bolted. He heard the sounds of their footsteps behind him so he pushed himself faster. Izuku turned a corner and quickly slipped down into the old sewage system. It wasn't real, but it did lead around the whole grounds and even connected to the vents. He heard the teachers’ footsteps sound above him and held his breath. Luckily they passed right over him. 

Izuku glanced back down at his watch. 15 more minutes. He sighed and began his trek back to his old hiding spot. He could do this.

Shouta was in shock. Somehow Midoriya had made it all 3 hours and had even managed to evade capture. And he didn’t even use his quirk once! The kid easily could have had a career in underground heroics if he wanted. He’d need to bring it up at some point. 

He looked up as Hizashi used his quirk to announce that the assessment was over and Midoriya could come out. His voice was slightly hoarse and Shouta winced internally. 

Midoriya practically appeared out of thin air and the class screamed. Shouta ducked his chin into his capture scarf to hide a grin. The Problem Child immediately went up to Hizashi. 

“I’m so sorry, Yamada-sensei! I didn’t mean to hit you that hard!” He apologized. Hizashi just blinked before patting the kid’s head. “Don’t worry about it, little listener, it’s all good! Great job by the way, you did amazing!” The man reassured Midoriya. Midoriya blushed and thanked him, scurrying off back to his friends. Shouta gave him a few minutes before he addressed the class.

“Good work, class, You all did pretty well.” He paused and sent a glare to the students who had been out before the first hour. “Well, most of you, I mean. There are a few things all of you need to work on, but overall it was much better than we’d expected. Oh, and Midoriya, stay behind.” Midoriya stiffened slightly. His friends sent him worried glances as they left to change back into their uniforms.

Midoriya looked at him, apprehensively. He obviously thought he was in trouble and it made Shouta’s heart ache. He definitely needed to look into Aldera. Shouta ruffled the boy’s hair and smiled slightly, making the boy relax. 

“I just wanted to say, you did an amazing job out there, kid, and I think if you ever decide you want to go down a different path of heroics, you have the potential to become one of the best Underground heroes.” Shouta stated, a hint of pride in his tone.

Midoriya stared up at him, eyes wide and slightly teary. “Thank you, Sensei…” Shouta jolted as the boy rushed forward and hugged him. Shouta hesitated before wrapping his arms around the teenager. He felt a grin grow on his face. Midoriya pulled away and thanked him again before running off to the rest of the class. 

Hizashi raised an eyebrow, a knowing grin on his face. Shouta glared at him with annoyance.

“Shut up.”

“Hey, I didn’t say anything!”

“I don’t care, shut up.”

“You’re so mean, Shou!”

Shouta shook his head at his husband’s antics as they walked back to the teachers lounge. They had a lot to discuss.