Two weeks later,
Training Dining Land, UA
Booms and grunts rang out inside Gym Gamma, flashes of light blinding eyes here and there.
After two weeks of constant training, all students had already determined the general direction for creating their Ultimate Moves.
"Including Development Studio in all this was a good idea," Midnight said, standing next to Eraser Head. "After a year, it was about time the students experimented with changes in their costumes."
Aizawa eyed the students as Ectoplasm tested the primary form of all Ultimate Moves, pointing out possible flaws and weaknesses.
"That's the job of the Support Department," he commented. "We can't make the students waste time in filing applications for minor changes now, can we?"
Midnight smiled.
Suddenly, her eyes fell upon two particular students.
"I think you shouldn't have been so adamant about making the entire training of Ultimate Moves about the Provisional Hero License Exam," Midnight said. "It worked extremely well for almost all of the students. But… why did you think it would also work for Luke and Todoroki?"
Luke and Todoroki couldn't attempt the exam due to the punishment for their indiscipline during the Training Camp.
So, in that sense, they had no motivation for coming up with Ultimate Moves.
Aizawa looked in the direction where Midnight was looking and found Luke and Todoroki on top of a small, concrete hill, watching others.
He sighed.
"Even if they can't attempt the Exam this semester, they can do so in the next semester," Aizawa said. "I told them so before the training began. Also, the Sports Festival is coming up. I thought that, to not get left behind, those two wouldn't want to lose their momentum, either. I guess… I was wrong."
Midnight noticed the slight narrowing of Aizawa's eyes.
"To be honest," she admitted, "I'd expected this."
Eraser Head looked at her, raising his brows.
"Todoroki has already come up with an Ultimate Move," Midnight explained. "Even his normal moves feel like Ultimate ones. So, if he wants to create another move like Zero Bullet, he doesn't need time, but… inspiration. These things can't be forced."
Aizawa… nodded. "Reasonable. Still, Zero Bullet is a double-edged sword. Forget about using the move twice; he cannot even use it one time properly without losing his fingers for the rest of the battle. What's the point of having such a…"
He stopped.
Midnight had opened her palm, stretching out her fingers. "Five," she said.
"What?"
"He can use Zero Bullets five times," Midnight said. "One for every pair of fingers on his hand. He told me this on the first day. That's why I decided to leave him alone because I had nothing to teach him."
Aizawa's mouth slightly opened and remained like that for a moment.
Then, closing his mouth, he looked at Todoroki as the boy watched his friends improving earnestly.
Slowly, both Aizawa and Midnight's gazes fell, and they looked at Luke.
The boy was seated on the hill with his feet dangling, looking dead bored.
"…"
"…"
At least the two Pros had something to say about Todoroki.
When it came to Luke, their minds went blank, not even a statement coming up, despite their rich experience.
Ultimate Move?
It would take Luke only one moment to declare that he had somehow unlocked one more Quirk, instantly making that Quirk an Ultimate Move.
Even if the boy didn't unlock any more Quirks, using Raven, he could still access seven Quirks.
Seven…
As if the number itself wasn't shocking enough, it was the fact that every single one of Raven's Quirks was strong on its own. Even alone, they could lead one to the level of Pros. Together… it didn't even feel right putting Luke on the same pedestal as others.
And it wasn't just about Quirks.
Aizawa and Midnight knew very well that even a simple Quirk could become indispensable when it came to becoming a Pro. In the grand scheme of things, a strong Quirk meant nothing if the user itself wasn't capable of using it.
But, Luke?
He wasn't just smart.
Even to the Pros, it felt like he could outplay and outmaneuver the smartest of them, if needed.
The only thing that was stopping Luke from becoming a Pro Hero right here and now was… protocols.
"That's not the right way of thinking."
Aizawa and Midnight looked over their shoulders, and a shadow fell over them.
It was All Might, towering over them in his Hero Costume, smiling broadly as he looked on toward the students.
"How do you know what we were thinking?" Eraser Head asked.
"Haha!" All Might laughed boisterously. "I have known you two for many years. It was obvious. Anyway, my point is simple. No matter how excellent a student may seem, as long as he's in school, it's a teacher's duty to help him improve. It's a teacher's duty to help him better himself. If the teacher himself thinks that there's no room for improvement, then it wouldn't be the student's fault if he found himself lagging in the future… for lack of consistency."
Midnight's eyes glowed, and she fell into a thoughtful stupor. "I… have an idea," she said, eyeing Todoroki. "Thank you, Senior."
All Might gave her a thumbs-up as she walked away.
Meanwhile, Aizawa kept his eyes narrowed at All Might, feeling something amiss. "When did you become such an expert in teaching?"
All Might was the last person who one could call an adequate teacher.
He himself had admitted to having no idea how to teach a class of students, other than to look over them and motivate them from time to time.
Noticing Aizawa's skeptical stare, All Might cleared his throat. "Cough! I… I have been studying. With no Hero work to do, I was getting bored…"
"…"
All Might embarrassedly cleared his throat again. "Well…" he said, forcing the smile to return to his face. "I guess I should contribute, too. Perhaps, one of the students will get some inspiration from my off-handed remarks, you know."
Off-handed remarks? Eraser Head repeated the words as All Might walked away in Luke's direction. It wouldn't surprise me if you already knew exactly what to say to each student…
Sighing, he was about to look away when his eyes landed on All Might's back.
In his back pocket, All Might was carrying a small book titled "Even Dummies Can Be Teachers! - Easy Education Theory"
Aizawa put his hand over his face, his lips twitching wryly.