Determined

Chapter 14 ~ Hope Doubted

Izuku cheered with the rest of the crowd at the energetic fight between Todoroki and his best friend, "Go Kachhan! Go Todoroki-kun!"

He wasn't sure who to support winning so he decided to cheer them both. The match was intense, and ended with an implosion that gave most of the audience black spots in their vision.

Similar to how his and Todoroki's match ended, Todoroki was out of bounds but Katsuki looked barely able to move. Miss Midnight took one look at Kacchan slowly pulling himself up, before waving her crop and declaring him the winner.

Izuku looked around him to see his classmates' mixed reactions to the match, most of which were in shock. He noticed however that one of his closer friends, a boisterous blue haired rule stickler, was nowhere to be found.

"Uraraka-san," he asked. "Where did Iida-kun go?"

Uraraka was still sporting bandages from her fight with Kacchan, but seemed to have somewhat resolved her rivalry with him following a small chat they had afterwards. What they talked about Izuku can't figure out no matter how much he asks.

"Oh, he got a call from his family I think. He seemed in a hurry to go somewhere so I'm not sure he's even in the school anymore."

Izuku started to think. In a hurry? After his family called him? Iida wouldn't leave his chance to prove himself to the hero world unless something grave happened. He quickly checked his phone and looked through the news.

Pro Hero Iida Tensei Critically Injured by Dubbed Vigilante "Hero Killer".

A heavy weight set into his stomach.

"Oh no," he mumbled under his breath.

Izuku swiped through his contacts at the speed of light before finding Iida's name and ringing him. No answer.

He must be at the hospital with his brother.

He clicked his phone off before slumping in his seat.

***

He watched Iida carefully in class the next day, whilst looking at the offers he had. Despite the internet already making conspiracy theories on his quirk, Izuku had still gotten a decent lot of offers. None of them were powerhouse heroes, but rather heroes with more versatile quirks, the most noticeably famous being Best Jeanist. He was momentarily paralysed with excitement to see such a great hero wanting to take him under his wings and as a result almost missed hearing Iida's conversation with Uraraka.

"I want to be taught by Normal Hero: Manual."

"Hehhh? How can a hero with a water quirk be relevant to yours?"

Iida's hand ticked, completely unnoticeable to anyone who wasn't watching him like a hawk like Izuku was.

"My main focus is to learn the rules and regulations heroes adhere to, along with the responsibilities heroes take on during patrols to keep the city safe. UA is only covering emergency situations so far, but I want to know the everyday life of a hero outside of that."

"Hmm, I guess that makes sense! I'm considering Gunhead because I want to get better at hand-to-hand combat."

Izuku quickly searched up where Pro Hero Manual was situated, confirming his suspicion.

Hosu.

"I didn't realise you were considering Manual too Iida-kun," the greenet casually walked up to the two, watching as Iida's eyes suddenly widened in panic. "One of the aspects of my quirk is to control water to some extent, although I can't create it nor can I manipulate it from a distance. It has to be in contact with my hand."