Fanfic / Failure to Explode

1 Following

art by tunafishprincess

As a result of the Star Heart debacle, which got as bad as it did due to Heroes prioritizing glory over civilian welfare, the Hero Public Safety Commission went to U.A. Hero High School and mandated that any Hero Course applicant must have at least one rescue point before they can be considered successful. U.A. agrees, not expecting this to make any practical difference since even Endeavor, their most controversial alumnus, had rescue points to his name when he got in and in any event, they never had anyone who didn't manage to get even one rescue point due to how easy it is to get the first one.

In the very year U.A. implements this change, Bakugou Katsuki obtains a record-breaking amount of villain points but does not earn a single rescue point. With just that little bit more importance placed on rescue points, this results in the rejection of his application into U.A.'s Hero Course.

Failure to Explode is a My Hero Academia fanfic by Barid (Finale), who is also known for writing Build Yourself Up (Don't Let Them Break You Down), Crimson and Emerald and Think Before You Speak. It can be read on Archive of Our Own here.

This fanfic provides examples of:

• Adaptational Badass:
  • Inko Midoriya in this universe is revealed to be a lawyer, and one who works for a high-class firm at that. As a result, she is able to put Aizawa (who normally does not bows to anybody, not even All Might or Nezu) in his place by threatening to sue him if he does his typical Sadist Teacher stunts to Izuku, because he knows it's not an insubstantial threat.
  • Gran Torino approaches Izuku sooner, which means he grasps the basics of Full Cowling by the Sports Festival.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: In Chapter 5, Izuku encounters not only Mirio and Sir Nighteye but also Overhaul and Eri.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
  • Monoma and Izuku are on better terms than they were in canon due to Monoma being in 1-A with him, quickly becoming very close friends.
  • Collectively, Izuku, Iida, Ochaco, Monoma, Shouto, and Momo all also become fast friends, particularly with the Sports Festival where they work together against all other teams.
  • Aizawa has a more positive relationship with Izuku, after learning before the Quirk Assessment Test just how new his Quirk is, which makes him reassess how to treat the kid.
  • Sir Nighteye ruins his relationship with Mirio, and any potential one with Izuku.
  • Ochaco interns with Endeavour, and Momo with Best Jeanist.
  • Shinso makes a negative impression with Izuku and 1-A as a whole. Similarly with Mineta, including Izuku playing a key role in the former failing the first round of the Sports Festival.
  • Ochaco is the one abducted by a Nomu and saved by Stain, including with him publicly endorsing how heroic she is.
• Adaptational Karma: In canon, Bakugou getting zero Rescue Points was noted, but quickly became irrelevant later. Here, it becomes the basis for his rejection from U.A.'s Hero Course, leading directly to karma catching up to him for bullying Izuku and all his other acts of assholery.
• Adaptational Name Change:
  • Instead of reclaiming "Deku" as his Hero name, Izuku decides to call himself the Singularity Hero, Kyuubi, working off of how he's the ninth holder of One For All.
  • Rather than picking up his brother's name, Tenya goes with Engineer for his name.
  • Yaoyorozu opts to name herself Alchemy rather than Creati.
  • Aoyama decides to call himself D'Artagnan.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Monoma is far less arrogant and hostile compared to how he was in the show (likely due to being in Class 1-A), becoming friends with Izuku.
• Adaptational Sexuality: In canon neither Izuku or Monoma have expressed interest in men, and though it hasn't happened in the story yet, the tags reveal that the pair will date one another.
• The Apprentice: If a student can't get into a pro hero high school, one alternative way to become a pro hero is to become the personal apprentice of one. However, this very rarely happens; apprentices of pro heroes are usually family members, family friends, or young people who impress them—not kids who failed to get into regular hero programs. For this reason, Bakugou doesn't consider it as a viable option.
• Armor-Piercing Question:
  • While calling out Hitoshi for antagonizing Class 1-A for being attacked by villains, Monoma asks him "How much conditioning did you bother doing pre-Entrance Exam, or even in the month or so that have passed since then?" Hitoshi's embarrassed blush implies that he didn't do any training at all during either period.
  • Monoma and Izuku tag-team Nighteye with several of these while calling out the Control Freak:
    Monoma: I'm curious. Does Togata know you have such little faith in him? Since yeah, guy can barely keep his pants on, but he's clearly trying, and clearly is dedicated to trying to be a hero. Maybe he'd view this One for All thing as being a tool to being a hero. But it also is pretty fucking insulting in my opinion to imply he isn't good enough without it. On top of that, kind of creepy to want to mold the guy into an All Might 2.0 when they look decently alike. Did you even choose him for any other reason?
    Nighteye: I chose him, because he is the right choice.
    Izuku: Why?
    Nighteye: What do you mean why?
    Izuku: Why is he the right choice?
    [Nighteye freezes, unable to immediately answer]
    Monoma: I bet you know why. Control. I got curious before our Sports Festival and re-watched past years'; I've always watched them live but wanted a reminder. Watched again after it ended to compare. Togata did shit his first two Sports Festivals. Didn't make it past the second rounds due to not having good enough control of his Quirk. The public isn't big on public nudity and U.A. apparently doesn't give gym clothes that work with Quirks. But as of this year Togata can keep his shit together and even won. You took him on as an intern and helped him learn to control, to prove himself, and he's oh so devoted to you, isn't he? Willing to listen to anything you say. Willing to let you be in control of him, I'd bet. [smiles sharply] Think I hit close to the bullseye? Or are you going to bullshit us?
• As You Know: Justified as Aizawa opting to get snarky when the Hero Commission's agent alludes to the Star Heart Incident:
  Yokumiru: It's due to the mess six months ago with Star Heart.
  Aizawa: Oh, the one where several pro heroes decided to focus on attacking her for the glory of taking down one of Europe's most infamous villains, which resulted in a number of civilian casualties, and Legacy, who'd been sent by Europol to handle Star Heart, almost getting killed? Because she'd been busy trying to protect civilians and handle Star Heart, which was complicated by those idiots getting in her way?
  Yokumiru: [dryly] There is a reason why the Commission revoked their licenses.
• Ascended Extra: Due to Bakugou not being in Class 1-A, Monoma takes his spot, playing a big part in the USJ attack and becoming friends with Izuku.
• Asshole Victim: Hitoshi gets his butt nicely handed to him by Monoma during the Tournament round of the Sports Festival. No one feels even sorry for him thanks to his antagonistic nature towards 1-A and how he used his Brainwashing Quirk on others without consent.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: Izuku and Monoma form this during the USJ Attack with Izuku taking on the Nomu using One For All while Monoma uses his Copy Quirk to distract Shigaraki and Kurogiri.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: All his adolescence, Bakugou hoped that him getting into high school would mean that he no longer has to deal with Deku, who was the most consistent person in his life barring the starstruck extras. But now that he's in Aldera High, he no longer has Deku or any extras to keep him company, leaving him completely alone.
• Bewildering Punishment: For Katsuki, having the staff at Aldera actually intervene and stop him from bullying Izuku is this, as they'd always turned a blind eye towards his behavior before. Thus, he doesn't understand why his actions are suddenly being treated as bad things.
• Beyond the Impossible: Bakugou not getting any Rescue Points is treated as this; as Nezu points out, no one has ever passed the Hero Course entrance exam without earning at least a couple of Rescue Points, as something as simple as warning other people of danger will net a student one point. Even Endeavor earned a respectable fifteen Rescue Points during his own entrance exam.
• Big Jerk on Campus: Bakugou was this due to his behavior being enabled by the school and his social group, all of whom believed he would go far due to his natural talent and wanted to be in his good books. He loses his status as this once he fails to get into U.A. and loses the privileges that came with his presumedly bright future, becoming recognized as a Jerkass problem student as well as socially isolated.
• Blood Knight: Deconstructed with Bakugou and the hero system in general.
  • The Star Heart incident stemmed from how so many Pro Heroes were hyper-focused on ensuring they took down the villain that they paid no attention to other concerns, leading to catastrophic civilian casualties that could have easily been avoided had they been more considerate. This results in the new rule requiring applicants to the Hero Courses to earn at least one Rescue Point.
  • Bakugou's animalistic performance during the exam is met with critical views, especially from Noriko who is disappointed with his desperate need for destruction and causing more harm to the other participants as he tries to rake up Villain Points. She can tell that such blood lust is not suitable for anyone who would try to call themselves a hero.
• Break the Haughty: Bakugou's failure to get into U.A. when Deku succeeded is a huge shock to him. His arrogance-born refusal to have any backup plans in case he does not make it into U.A.'s Hero Course also bites him back hard as without a backup plan, he’s left with only Aldera High School.
• Broken Pedestal: Mirio loses all the regard he once held for Sir Nighteye after overhearing his argument with Izuku and Monoma, forcing him to realize his mentor only ever saw him as a means towards his own selfish ends. Notably, Izuku actually wanted to avoid this, hoping in vain that Mirio hadn't overheard them.
• Bullying a Dragon: Inko Midoriya is revealed to be a powerful attorney and makes clear that if Eraserhead exploits his power as a teacher to bully her child, there shall be hell to pay. A smaller example is Aizawa deciding he dodged a bullet by not releasing his assumptions that Izuku is All Might's son when it turns out that 1) it's a wrongful assumption and 2) Mr. Midoriya may not be the Symbol of Peace, but he still has a lot of money and power to unleash if needed.
• Cassandra Truth: One of Midoriya's old teachers at Aldera Middle tells Noriko that he was Quirkless. She believes they are lying in an attempt to justify how badly they treated him because they thought he had no potential.
• Continuity Nod: Aizawa mentions The Crawler, a vigilante from the My Hero Academia: Vigilantes spin-off who's evolved into an official Pro Hero. He also states that Knuckleduster is still around.
• Control Freak: Izuku and Monoma call Sir Nighteye out on this, with Monoma spelling out his theory that this is the real reason he specifically wants Togata to become the successor — that he's been grooming Togata specifically to be devoted to HIM and following HIS orders.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: Bakugou Katsuki and Monoma Neito (who takes his place in 1-A) are both bombastic blond boys who play major roles in Izuku's life. However, Katsuki's arrogance and self-absorbed attitude ensure that said role is primarily in Izuku's past — while they used to be friends, Katsuki torched that bridge long ago, and Izuku is more than happy to leave his bully behind him. Neito, meanwhile, swiftly proves to be a True Companion whose relationship with Izuku only grows stronger through adversity, as opposed to him causing said adversity and grief by being callously cruel.
• Contrived Coincidence: Discussed extensively in Chapter 5; faced with the possiblity of his dad being All for One, Izuku notes that it'd be the kind of contrived plot twist one might see in a comic book, prompting him and Monoma to come up with similarly contrived scenarios.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Monoma demonstrates the perils of this to Shinso as part of his Laser-Guided Karma during the Sports Festival. Specifically, he takes him down Quirklessly, through hand-to-hand combat, forcing Shinso to recognize that he was relying completely upon his Brainwashing to take targets out without having to fight them with his noodley arms.
• Deal with the Devil: Inko has a habit of comparing dealing with the HPSC to this, particularly while drunk.
• Didn't See That Coming: The staff of Aldera Middle School let Katsuki get away with bullying Izuku for years because they wanted to use Katsuki's status as a U.A. alumnus to get fame and prestige once he become a pro hero, assuming his powerful Quirk and top-tier grades would get him there with no trouble. They never anticipated the possibility that Izuku would make it to U.A., or that Katsuki wouldn't. Now, the only student from this year's graduating class who got into U.A. will have nothing good to say about the teachers from Aldera who let him be bullied mercilessly by their star student.
• Didn't Think This Through:
  • Katsuki was 100% confident that he'd get into the Hero Course, so he didn't bother signing up for any other tracks at U.A. or backup schools. This bites him hard when he's denied entry, forcing him to attend Aldera High School instead.
  • Sato Noriko derides Aldera Middle School's plan to ride on Bakugou's coattails as a poorly thought-out one. Even if he had become successful despite the toxic and cruel behavior they enabled, turning out a single successful alumnus wouldn't establish the prestigious reputation they wanted. They needed a history of successful alumni for that. On top of this, Katsuki turned out so self-centered that his own mother scoffs at the idea of him crediting anyone or anything else with his success.
  • Aizawa tries to directly fight against the Nomu during the USJ Attack and sustains serious injuries. Midnight chastises him after the fact for acting illogical, claiming that he should know that he's not skilled in direct combat and should have prioritized protecting and evacuating his students. Aizawa begrudgingly concedes the point.
  • Hitoshi and Tetsutetsu harass Class 1-A over the attention they garnered from the USJ Attack... and get reamed out by Monoma, Izuku, and Momo, who call them out on Blaming The Victims of a traumatic event. Monoma also points out that they're choosing to antagonize and make potential enemies out of twenty other students in one fell swoop, asking them outright "So what about that seems smart? To any of you?"
  • Sir Nighteye offers Monoma an internship solely to raise the chances of Izuku accepting his own offer, without bothering to learn anything more about who he is. It's only after Neito reads him for filth that he takes a look at his file and realizes he's the son of the Director of the European Heroics Centre.
  • Mirio berates himself for this in Chapter 5, furious at his own Skewed Priorities. In short, he takes Izuku and Monoma out on a patrol, knowing that provisionally licensed heroes like himself are not considered to be an appropriate level of supervision for anyone without provisional licenses... and that Sir Nighteye would be held accountable for the breach and potentially lose his ability to have interns. Mirio wanted Nighteye to be blamed and punished for his actions, but hadn't considered the very real possibility of running into a threat they couldn't handle.
• Disappeared Dad: Downplayed with Hisashi. Izuku doesn't have many fond memories of him growing up as he'd always be too busy running his business. It was even worse when his Quirklessness was confirmed which made it feel that Hisashi was purposefully avoiding him. Izuku also considers All Might to be more of a father figure then Hisashi.
• Dramatically Missing the Point:
  • Katsuki completely fails to comprehend why he didn't make it into U.A., or why Izuku succeeded where he failed.
  • He also doesn't understand why Legacy makes an appearance during the awards ceremony of U.A.'s Sports Festival, only recognizing her as a non-Japanese superheroine and thusly not somebody he cares about.
  • When his initial attempt to force Izuku to give up One for All fails, Sir Nighteye silently acknowledges that he fucked up... by offering Monoma an internship alongside his friend, showing that the Control Freak completely missed the point of everything they told him.
• The Dreaded: Star Heart is this, with it noting that Europe had to create an entirely brand new super-prison just for her, as she kept breaking out of every other one. Endeavour also frankly noted it was no guarantee that either him or All Might could have caught her. Even when captured, during her temporary stay within Tartarus she got higher security than AFO did in canon.
• Entertainingly Wrong:
  • When Bakugou sees Monoma and Uraraka using the exact same Quirk in the Obstacle Course of the Sports Festival, he rightfully assumes that since they don't look related, one of them must have a Copy Quirk, but wrongly thinks it's Uraraka that has it until the Cavalry Round proves otherwise.
  • Katsuki also assumes that Monoma must have immediately forfeited his match against Izuku because his copying Quirk wouldn't work against him, despite correctly realizing that this leaves them both fresher for their final fights.
• Even Evil Has Standards: It's noted in passing that Stain has never targeted any Pro Heroes under the age of twenty, and his POV section in Chapter 5 opens with him thinking about how much he hates having to fight kids. He also chooses to save Ochako when she's grabbed by a Noumu knowing full well this will result in him getting caught. Although by this point she and her friends had greatly impressed him more than most heroes.
• Everyone Has Standards:
  • The Star Heart debacle—during which several pro heroes prioritized the glory of capturing an infamous villain over civilian safety, resulting in multiple deaths—was so bad that even the HPSC, known for doing a number of morally dubious things, pulled the licenses of all the offending heroes. They also went to U.A. and all the other Hero Schools requesting that they modify admission standards in order to weed out other potential Glory Hounds.
  • Played With during Chapter 5 when Shouto wonders whether Endeavor's interest in his other intern, Ochako, stems from a desire to pair her off with his son. Shouto dismisses the possibility for two reasons: his father knows that Shouto is gay and still has some standards... and besides, he doesn't think that Zero Gravity would combine with Half Cold Half Hot in any useful fashion.
• Exact Eavesdropping: While Izuku and Monoma call out Sir Nighteye, Mirio happened to be listening and heard every word, including the part where Nighteye intended him to be All Might's successor without any regard for what he himself wants.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: After learning about One for All and All for One, Monoma remarks "How very French," then starts explaining the reference... but trails off in dawning horror after name-dropping the author, Alexander Dumas, causing both him and Izuku to realize what might have inspired the name of his father's company.
• Fair-Weather Friend: After learning that Bakugou failed to get into U.A., all the teachers start acting strict and harsh towards Bakugou while all the students avoid him at all costs. Izuku noticed Bakugou's lackeys are not with him when he confronted him.
• Famed in Story: Izuku and Monoma are credited in the news for fighting the League of Villains leaders and their bio-engineered weapon during the USJ Incident, all of whom are considered S-ranked threats.
• Fatal Flaw: Pride. Katsuki's arrogance bites him HARD when he's left with absolutely nothing to fall back upon after failing to get into his school of choice.
• Fights Like a Normal: Monoma is not a Squishy Wizard despite what his Quirk might seemingly imply, as Shinso learned to his detriment. He also wins by physically overpowering Mei, but he notes that she's considerably stronger than either he or Shinso so he had to be a Combat Pragmatist to win that fight. Nevertheless, the Sports Festival did drive home to him some of the flaws in his fighting style, and resolved to talk to Mei for some support gear to alleviate this.
• First-Name Basis: After the USJ Attack, Izuku and Monoma upgrade their friendship by using their first names.
• First-Person Smartass: Downplayed with Izuku; sections from his point of view include several of his less-than-flattering thoughts about his middle school, bullies, and other issues. Many of these thoughts are crossed out to show how he's trying not to acknowledge or focus on them.
• Flat "What": While Izuku doesn't say it, he mentally reacts this way upon hearing that he was the only one to be accepted into U.A.'s Hero Track.
• Gone Horribly Right: Played With during "What Makes Us Be?" In short, Mirio decides to take Izuku and Neito out on patrol with just himself for supervision, knowing he's not legally considered adequate enough. He's hoping to get Sir Nighteye in trouble, but this leads to them encountering Overhaul and beating him, saving Eri in the process. He muses to himself that at least this ensures everyone will be aware that they'd gone on patrol together.
• Head Desk: Akira barely resists the urge to slam his head into his desk after learning that Izuku got into U.A. while Katsuki didn't, fully recognizing just how bad this is for Aldera.
• Hero with an F in Good: Not only does Katsuki fail to score a single rescue point during the practical exam, he actually ends up injuring other students because he didn't warn them to get out of the way of his explosions (and he double-screwed himself over because warning them would have earned him rescue points). Some of the other students manage to score rescue points by protecting other students from him!
• Hoist by His Own Petard:
  • Masuru correctly guesses that Aldera Middle School has been ignoring his and Mitsuki's requests to help reign in Katsuki's ego, letting him do as he pleased in hopes that he'd boost their reputation by becoming a famous alumnus. This backfired when Katsuki arrogantly decided he didn't need to make any backup plans, having been coddled to the point that he took it completely for granted that he'd get into his dream school. As a result, he ends up with no other option but to attend Aldera High, leaving the school district saddled with the egotistical monster they'd created as he struggles to deal with not getting his way.
  • Aldera's staff are also terrified that they set themselves up further for this with Izuku. Since he was Quirkless, they saw him as practically worthless for their 'produce great alumni and leech off their success' plan. Now that he made it into U.A. rather than their intended 'star student', they know there's no chance of him singing their praises; if anything, he's poised to destroy their reputation simply by telling the truth.
  • In Chapter 5, Overhaul gets a taste of his own Body Horror medicine when Monoma copies his Quirk so he can fuse the yakuza's hands to his own body, effectively preventing him from using his Quirk.
• Hourglass Plot: Chapter 6 sees Katsuki reflecting upon how he used to be the Big Jerk on Campus while Izuku was a friendless outcast whom he believed was doomed to obscurity as a mere 'background character'. Six months after graduating junior high and failing to get into his dream school, he finds himself feeling lonely, isolated, and like the kind of extra he'd always accused others of being, while Izuku has found happiness and success and is living out his own dreams.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: Bakugo's entire character arc begins with him at the top of the world, assured he is destined for greatness. By chapter 5, he is referring to himself as a background character.
• I Coulda Been a Contender!: Everyone thought Bakugou would become a great hero, with his intelligence and strong Quirk. Then he failed to get a single rescue point during the U.A. entrance exam and was denied entry to the school, and since he didn't apply to any other hero schools or even U.A.'s Gen Ed track, his chances of becoming a pro hero are now slim to none.
• I Warned You: Mitsuki notes that she and Masaru both warned their son to have a 'Plan B' by applying to other places.
• I'm Standing Right Here: During the USJ Incident, Shigaraki yells at the brainstorming Izuku and Neito that "You know we can fucking hear you!" Monoma promptly tells him to "Eat shit!"
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • In Chapter 5, Tenya still interrupts Stain's attempted murder of Native, despite not actively looking for the supervillain.
  • The same chapter also has Stain choosing to save a young hero who'd earned his respect from the Noumu, leading to his capture. The only difference is that it's Ochako rather than Izuku.
• Instant Expert: Monoma has a limited form of this, being able to understand the basics of any Quirk he copies which in turn allows him to understand how to use Kurogiri's Warp Gate and later Overhaul.
• Insufferable Genius: Even people who hate Endeavour's dumpster-fire of a personality, will acknowledge in the next breath his genuinely incredible talent as both a hero and a mentor.
• Instantly Proven Wrong: Izuku and his friends briefly wonder if the Sports Festival will change the Cavalry Round for something rescue related in part due to the recent Star Heart Incident. To their lament, Present Mic announces the commencement of the Cavalry Round.
• Internal Reveal:
  • Katsuki's parents learn he has been bullying Izuku for years when the teachers stop covering for him.
  • Aizawa and the rest of 1-A learn of Izuku's "late bloomer" status when Monoma tries to copy his Quirk and realizes it's a stockpile.
  • In Chapter 6, Sato Noriko meets with Katsuki and Mitsuki and fills them in on the rescue point rule, prompting a Heel Realisation from Katsuki regarding why he failed the exam.
• Ironic Echo Cut: In Chapter 6, Katsuki realizes that it's not "too late" to make a new future for himself after talking things out with Ms. Noriko. It then cuts to Izuku who's thinking "too late" as the League of Villains successfully abduct Ochako during the summer camp.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: After Bakugou fails to get into U.A. or any other Hero School, the teachers at Aldera Middle School stop covering up for him whenever he tries to pick on Izuku.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: During the Sports Festival, Monoma immediately bows out of his match with Izuku so that they can both save their energy for the third-place and final matches, respectively.
• Laser-Guided Karma:
  • Bakugou chose not to apply to anywhere other than U.A.'s Hero Course. He wasn't ignorant. He didn't forget. That was his own choice born out of arrogance. So, when he fails to get into the Hero Course at U.A., he leaves himself without any good backups and is left with Aldera High School as his only option. He didn't even apply to U.A.'s Gen Ed, which would have given him the chance to earn his way into the Hero Course by proving himself at the Sports Festival. Again, he assumed that wouldn't be necessary.
  • One of the Aldera teachers thinks this is the case after it's revealed that Midoriya got into U.A. and Bakugou didn't, knowing that if Midoriya said anything about Aldera in the future, it definitely wouldn't be positive.
  • Tokoyami was forcibly recruited by Hitoshi's Brainwashing Quirk, and warns Neito about this before their match, ensuring that he gets utterly curb-stomped.
• Like Parent, Like Child: Implied. Now that he has little to no chance of becoming a Pro Hero, Bakugou considers going into the fashion industry like his parents.
• Mama Bear: Inko, being a professional lawyer, confidently assures her son that she’ll take legal action against U.A. if Aizawa continues to use his fake expulsion nonsense to administer order.
• May It Never Happen Again: Approximately 1,000 deaths and 3,000 injuries occurred when multiple pro heroes prioritized the glory of catching the infamous villain Star Heart over the safety of bystanders. The HPSC permanently yanked all the licenses of the guilty heroes and set new standards for hero schools so that getting zero rescue points during the practical part of the entrance exam resulted in an automatic failure.
• Medal of Dishonor: Katsuki is the first applicant to U.A. to ever get zero rescue points during the practical part of the entrance exam.
• The Mentor:
  • Gran Torino recognizes enough from the official USJ reports to realize Izuku is the latest bearer of OFA, and comes to give him some pointers. Upon learning how awfully Izuku's internship with Sir Nighteye went, he also takes over mentoring for the rest of the week for him, Monoma, and Mirio.
  • Ochaco has a surprisingly inspiring and informative time interning with Endeavour, including on being a rescue hero.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Mirio gets very upset with himself upon realizing that his grudge against his former mentor led to him unintentionally endangering Izuku and Monoma, berating himself for letting spite override his better judgment.
• My Greatest Failure: Masaru explains to his wife that the main reason he's so uncharacteristically pissed off is because he's frustrated at how both of them failed to notice just how inflated their son's ego had become until it was too late to prevent his fall from grace.
• Mythology Gag: Just like how Shouto believed that Izuku was All Might's illegitimate child, Aizawa also believed that he was All Might's son given the convenient circumstances of the Number One Hero becoming the teacher at the same time as Izuku entered the school. After Midnight tells him about Midoriya Hisashi, the very real and very powerful US-based businessman whom Izuku looks like, he gets rather embarrassed, saying it was probably a good thing he didn't say anything.
• Nepotism: Discussed; Toshinori is shocked when Izuku asks him if he'd told Principal Nedzu to let him into U.A. regardless of how well he performed on the exams.
• Never My Fault: Downplayed with Nighteye during "What Makes Us Be?" While he acknowledges that it was careless of him to bring up One for All without ensuring the area was completely secure, he still attempts to shunt as much of the blame as possible onto Izuku, complaining that he's unlikely to have the "good sense" to lie and cover his backside after the Pro Hero's slip-up.
• Noodle Incident: Most of the actual Star Heart incident is left unexplained, such as what Star Heart herself did to become so infamous, or how the Glory Hound heroes accidentally killed a bunch of civilians while trying to attack her. Regardless of the particulars, it left a thousand people dead, three times that injured, and a city wrecked.
• No Sympathy: None of the adults have any sympathy for Bakugou failing to get into U.A. or any other Hero School. His parents told him several times to at least have a backup, but Bakugou chose only U.A., and only the Hero Course at that, so he doesn't even get into the General Course at U.A. As his parents say, his plight is self-inflicted due to his arrogance. Sato Noriko considers that she might have had some sympathy if Bakugou bothered to have back-ups, but he didn't.
• Oblivious to His Own Description: Downplayed. During Katsuki's first day at Aldera High, all of the teachers stress the rules against bullying and using their Quirks; he disdainfully thinks that such warnings are meant for five-year-olds, not teenagers. He refuses to acknowledge the way the teachers looked directly at him while issuing those warnings.
• Offended by an Inferior's Success: Katsuki isn't happy that Izuku managed to achieve his goal of making it into U.A., or with any of his former victim's other successes, feeling that he doesn't deserve any of it.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • A more subtle example than most, but Aldera's staff as a whole has this reaction when Izuku passes the U.A. entrance exam while Bakugou doesn't, as they now try to favor Izuku over Bakugou. Izuku is very much aware that they're desperately doing damage control after their initial plan of banking on Bakugo becoming a U.A. student failed.
  • Mitsuki does her best to downplay her moment of thinking this upon learning that her son's teacher is a secret agent for the HPSC.
• Only Sane Man: During the Star Heart incident, Legacy was the only pro hero who focused on both taking down Star Heart and protecting nearby civilians (and almost died for it), while the other pro heroes collectively bungled the mission by using their Quirks to attack Star Heart without regard to civilians' safety.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Both Izuku and Katsuki are stunned by the sudden shift in how they're treated by the staff at Aldera after the school receives the news about which of them got into U.A. In particular, both are blindsided by their homeroom teacher yelling at the latter to "sit down right now!" when he threatens Izuku, and by another teacher physically intervening in his attempted assault and hauling Katsuki away to the Principal's office.
  • Something that highlights to All Might how concerning Katsuki not getting a single rescue and his overall conduct during the U.A. entrance exams is the fact that Nedzu decided to bring Katsuki to the HPSC's attention as an applicant-of-concern.
  • Masaru Bakugou, a timid man known for his gentle nature, becomes noticeably cynical after learning that his son failed to get into his dream school and didn't apply to any backup schools or programs. Masaru also expresses frustration at Aldera for not trying to temper Katsuki's ego like they requested and how they were unable to help their son directly. His wife is genuinely surprised by his shift in personality.
  • During the debriefing at the end of Chapter 5, Ochako points out that Tenya doesn't generally use the class's group chat to send messages like the SOS message he meant for Heronet.
• Parents as People: Mitsuki and Masaru are depicted as being both aware that their son had issues and unaware of just how extensive those issues were. While they'd attempted to talk to the school about it, all of those efforts hit a dead end due to Aldera's decision to coddle and enable Katsuki in hopes of riding his coattails later.
• Phantom Thief: When Monoma names himself the Copycat Hero, Phantom Thief, Midnight notes that she'd usually advise against including the word thief in a hero name, but allows it due to it being a recognizable literary genre that fits his costume's aesthetic.
• Plot Parallel:
  • Chapter 5 follows three different internships: Izuku, Monoma working with Mirio and Sir Nighteye; Ochako with Shouto and Endeavor; and Momo with Best Jeanist. Their respective experiences drive home just how horrible an excuse for a mentor Nighteye proves to be compared to his fellow Pro Heroes, and his utter lack of regard for any of his interns.
  • After learning that Sir Nighteye wasn't the man he thought he was, Mirio unintentionally takes a page from his mentor's book in a moment of pettiness. Unlike Nighteye, however, he swiftly realizes the error of his ways and berates himself for not thinking things through. By contrast, Nighteye's only regrets stem from not getting what he wanted.
• Point of Divergence:
  • Due to an incident seven months before the entrance exam where several Pro Heroes tried to take down an infamous big-name villain, leading to several civilian casualties and the Pro Hero that had actually been sent to handle the villain almost getting killed due to having to focus on handling the villain and saving civilians, the Hero Commission added a new rule where students have to earn at least one rescue point in the exam, leading to Bakugou not getting into U.A. due to him not getting any rescue points.
    • Several other works by the same author allude to a "Star Heart incident"; however, Failure to Explode is the only one where Star Heart came to Japan. Build Yourself Up has it happen in Paris instead, while it occurred in Edinburgh in the Sticks and Stones continuity. Said incidents were also less severe, comparatively speaking, though all involved PR-obsessed heroes with Skewed Priorities.
  • Monoma is placed into 1-A and ends up sitting behind Izuku. He subsequently learns that he can't copy Izuku's Quirk, and the resulting discussion means that Aizawa and the rest of 1-A know about Izuku's "late bloomer" status; as a result, Aizawa doesn't single him out for his poor control.
  • UA sets the number of students to make it to the second round at 40 instead of 42, which results in several hero students, including Mineta, not making it.
  • Because Iida went first in the third round of the Sports Festival, Ingenium learnt his little brother had lost and decided to head home early to comfort him, thus missing Stain.
  • Izuku winning the Sports Festival results in him getting a lot more offers than he did in canon.
  • And instead of reclaiming the name "Deku", while also having to talk about the heavy baggage related to the name, Izuku decides to call himself the Singularity Hero: Kyuubi!
  • As for the Internship Arc, Izuku and Monoma decide to intern under Sir Nighteye, while Ochako goes with Endeavor and Momo with Best Jeanist.
• Precision F-Strike:
  • Izuku responds to Sir Nighteye's declaration that he doesn't deserve One for All with a blunt "Fuck. You."
  • Sir Nighteye gets several mental ones — three 'fucks' followed by two 'shits' — in the aftermath of Izuku and Neito reaming him out, as he realizes too late just who Neito is... and then learns that Mirio overheard their conversation and wants a transfer to Fatgum's agency.
  • Endeavor drops an F-bomb upon seeing that multiple Noumu are attacking Hosu.
• Pride Before a Fall: Katsuki starts out excessively confident that he's going to get into his dream school. Then he doesn't. Things rapidly go downhill for him from there.
• Psychological Projection: Sir Nighteye fears that if the Hero Commission ever learns about the existence of One for All, they'll ensure that the Quirk is passed on to one of their "pet projects" like Hawks, or else turn Izuku into their Unwitting Pawn. This is, of course, exactly what Nighteye intended to do with Mirio.
• Punch-Clock Hero:
  • Reconstructed with, of all characters, Endeavor. Sure, the man might be a massive Jerkass fueled only by the desire to feed his own ego, but he's an excellent hero on paper: he's an efficient crimefighter who puts a lot of care into making sure civilians come out of his fights unharmed and keeping collateral damage to a minimum. While mentoring Ochaco, he gives a firm yet highly constructive lecture on how anyone dying, civilian or villain, is a failure on a hero's part; saving lives is the priority, regardless of who does it. How much of this he is just saying, and how much he genuinely means, can be up for interpretation, but either way he is well aware that being a Destructive Savior is detrimental to your career regardless of your ambition. As Nezu points out, he's been the #2 hero for such a long time for a reason.
  • In contrast to Endeavour, the Star Heart Incident highlighted just how many heroes are acting solely for the glory, with Legacy giving a public warning of how many are treating heroism as a game.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Monoma and Izuku don't mince words when calling out Sir Nighteye on being a Control Freak who acts entitled to his former partner's power, pretending HE has the right to decide who All Might's successor will be.
  • During "Forests of the Night", Sato-sensei reveals to Katsuki and Mitsuki just why Katsuki didn't make it into U.A.:
    Katsuki: I didn't get any rescue points.
    Sato Noriko: You didn't score a single one. You had the single highest villain point total U.A. has ever seen, but the utter lack of a single rescue point meant the school rejected your application. During the exam you showed a penchant for bloodlust and carelessness for your surroundings. The sort of showing that one of the failed heroes of Rishi City would have made.
    [Katsuki flinches]
    Sato Noriko: The U.A. principal expressed concern over that. It's one thing to score nothing but villain points, but it's another to score so many and not even get an incidental rescue point. Bakugou, you did not even shout proper warnings to your fellow examinees. You mocked, you taunted, but you never warned. You never used your explosions on another examinee, but you were incautious in what you destroyed, and on several occasions I watched others yank people out of danger from your destruction.
    [...]
    Sato Noriko: The problem, Bakugou, is that you seem to think heroics is a game. That the weak lose and the strong win. That is not what heroics is. Heroics, much like life, is Not a Game. There are no winners or losers. At the end of the day, frankly, the rating system we have in place is just a number. Endeavor is not suddenly a loser just because he's spent twenty years Number Two to All Might's Number One, and Hawks is not a loser because he cannot overtake either.
• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • Unaware of the man's abusive home-life, Endeavour comes off as this for Ochaco.
  • Despite never being shown on-screen, Gran Torino is this for Izuku. Not only does he go out of his way to show up after the USJ attack to help him get a better grasp on One For All, but also viciously comes to Izuku (and his friends') defense against both Sir Nighteye and Eraserhead.
  • As shady as they are, and how much Pragmatic Villainy can fuel their actions, the HPSC comes off as this overall, especially in their handling of Bakugo. One warned of all the glaring red flags of him becoming a potentially very dangerous villain, they assign an undercover agent to assess the possibility, and then when reassured it is unlikely, the agent then works to steer him to a productive, fulfilling career with a firm understanding of why he flunked out of the hero course.
• Respected by the Respected: Even though she lost, Ochaco's performance against Shouto impressed Endeavour enough to offer her an internship.
• Saying Too Much:
  • Played With; after Monoma tries and fails to copy his Quirk, Izuku lets slip that he's a "late bloomer" and that it only came in recently. This winds up benefitting him since Aizawa now has a reasonable explanation as to why he's struggling to control it.
  • Monoma learns about One for All thanks to Sir Nighteye telling Izuku he didn't deserve to have that Quirk.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: Mirio formally requests to be transferred to Fat Gum's agency after the Internship Week due to learning of his master's despicable intentions.
• Secret-Keeper: Monoma becomes one for Izuku after overhearing Sir Nighteye telling his friend that he doesn't deserve One for All.
• Secret Test of Character: Applicants to U.A. are not informed about the existence of Rescue Points, in order to ensure that nobody actually aims to accrue them. This allows the school to get a more accurate judgment of their character. Most applicants seem to understand how important it is to look out for both civilians and other heroes, as all of them throughout history managed to get at least one Rescue Point...except Bakugo, that is.
• Shaming the Mob: Unlike in canon where the General Ed students and Tetsutetsu got away with harassing Class 1-A, Izuku and Monoma manage to put them in their place by reminding them of how they could have died during the USJ Attack.
• Shoot the Dog: Discussed. Izuku and Monoma talk about how sometimes, heroes may have to kill a Villain to save someone else, but they never thought they'd have to actually consider it during their first week at U.A.
• Shot in the Ass: Happens to Stain courtesy of Yaoyorozu, who creates a gun and announces her presence in this fashion.
• Shout-Out: Both Midoriya parents have those in their workplaces:
  • Inko works at the law offices of Akimichi, Nara and Yamanaka.
  • Hisashi is the CEO of the Dumas Incorporated, you know, the one who created the "One for All, All for One" quote. Very subtle there, Hisashi.
  • Joyato is one of DeusVerve's OCs, and she appears as a Class 1-B student in the Sports Festival. Used with the creator's permission, so long as she suplexed someone, which she did off-screen.
  • The international school for hero costume design is named after Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
• Skewed Priorities:
  • Served as the crux of the Star Heart Incident: several of the Pro Heroes sent to help apprehend the villain were dead set on gaining the glory of being the one who brought her down, in hopes of boosting their status in Japan's Hero Rankings. This led to a thousand civilians getting killed, along with the near-death of Legacy, whom Europol had sent to ensure her capture.
  • After Izuku and Neito's "The Reason You Suck" Speech, Sir Nighteye shows that he completely missed the point by fixating on the idea that Monoma doesn't deserve to be a Secret-Keeper for Izuku, ignoring the tiny detail of how Neito only learned about it by overhearing him.
  • Mirio berates himself for being so upset over Sir Nighteye betraying his trust that he was willing to endanger Izuku and Neito by taking them out on a patrol without adequate supervision.
• Stern Teacher: Sato Noriko, Katsuki's homeroom teacher at Aldera High, is fully aware of his history and makes quite clear from the get-go that she will not tolerate any such behavior from him or anyone else in her care.
• Sudden Downer Ending: Chapter 6 focuses mainly on Noriko informing Bakugou about why he failed the Entrance Exam and how it's not too late for himself to make a career for himself that still involves heroism. Katsuki comes to accept the idea of being a hero designer and prepares himself to enroll in a designer school which helps him out of his funk and get back on the proper path. But then it ends with Izuku reacting in horror over Ochako being abducted by the League.
• Sure, Let's Go with That: Izuku accidentally lets slips he is used to dealing with explosions to his friends during the Sports Festival and lets Tenya assume that he only needed to deal with Bakugou's explosions when he was little since he wasn't interested in talking about his past history as a bully victim.
• Take a Third Option: Rather then allowing Bakugou a miraculous entry into a different hero program or abandoning him to a standard general education, Noriko encourages him to become a professional designer for heroes.
• Technically a Smile: Mirio forces himself to smile while staring down Overhaul, but is aware his attempt at a grin doesn't look right.
• Tempting Fate:
  • When they learn that Katsuki doesn't qualify to make it into U.A., Kan suggests that he can potentially clear another school's Entrance Exam. Aizawa privately doubts that, given how the Rescue Point rule has likely been instated at all the other Hero Schools but notes that "hopefully the kid had the common sense to apply to other places." He didn't.
  • After receiving his rejection letter, Katsuki consoles himself with the thought that if he failed, Deku must have failed as well. He soon learns otherwise.
  • Upon learning where Best Jeanist intends to take her for patrol, Momo asks about the rumors that Stain is currently there. Best Jeanist reassures her that everything will be fine, given how they'll be taking sidekicks along, along with noting how Stain has not attacked any Pro Heroes that are in the top fifty, who have long-range Quirks, or is below the age of twenty.
• Terminally Dependent Society: Jamie recognizes that the whole world is currently extremely dependent on All Might being the Symbol of Peace to keep everything from collapsing. Her friend Kestrel hopes All Might has a retirement plan that allows for a smooth transition, and/or that there is someone who could pick up the slack.
• This Is Gonna Suck:
  • Aldera's principal has this reaction after hearing that Bakugou didn't get into UA, and Izuku did, realizing that now the school is stuck dealing with the fallout of the mess they've created.
  • After Hitoshi and Tetsutetsu harass Class 1-A shortly before the Sports Festival begins, Momo sighs and sarcastically remarks that she suspects this is a good sign of what's to come. Izuku grimaces while silently agreeing with her.
• Unwitting Pawn:
  • As Monoma points out, Sir Nighteye groomed Mirio to serve as one for his own selfish ambitions — not only did he want to be the one who chose All Might's successor, he wanted them to feel completely indebted and loyal to him.
  • Mirio then demonstrates what he's learned from his mentor when he takes Izuku and Monoma out on patrol in hopes of getting Sir Nighteye in trouble for sending them out without proper supervision, since Mirio only has a provisional license.
• Villain Takes an Interest:
  • At the end of Chapter 3, Shigaraki Tomura plans on doing something to Ochako as part of his new revenge scheme against Yuuei. Later, during the Hosu Attack, his flying Nomu tries to abduct her.
  • Played With in Chapter 6: Sato Noriko reveals herself as an agent of the HPSC, who's interested in directing Katsuki towards a future as a heroic costume designer.
• Wardrobe Malfunction: Best Jeanist discusses this with Momo during her internship, recommending that she change her costume and incorporate zippers rather than run the risk of accidentally flashing somebody or something slipping while she's fighting.
• Wham Line: Chapter 6 ends with the reveal that the League of Villains successfully kidnapped Ochako from camp.
• What Would X Do?: While thinking about the Star Heart Incident, Bakugou wonders how Deku would have handled the situation if he was among the heroes involved. He soon realizes that he would have focused on keeping the citizens safe.
• What the Hell, Hero?:
  • Mitsuki's outraged to learn that her son attacked Izuku right in the middle of the schoolyard. His declaration that it never mattered before only makes her angrier.
  • Chapter 5 sees Sir Nighteye get a few of these. First from Izuku and Monoma, then from Mirio, who overheard the confrontation.
  • Gran Torino chews out Sir Nighteye, and then goes to UA to do the same to Aizawa for letting that internship happen.
• What You Are in the Dark: Applicants to U.A. aren't told that they get rescue points for helping other students during the practical exam, or that they will fail if they don't get a single rescue point. So if they get rescue points, it was because they decided to help others of their own volition.
• Who Would Be Stupid Enough?: Following his Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap! moment in Chapter 5, Monoma dismisses his own theory, declaring that it wouldn't make any sense for an immortal supervillain who's survived for generations to be so brazenly arrogant as to name his company after the author of the quote his name references.
• Worth It: Implied by Aizawa's thoughts in Chapter 5, which reveal Principal Nedzu stripped him of his ability to expel students after he expelled the entirety of his class the previous year. Aizawa notes that he doesn't regret this, despite how it means he isn't able to kick out any of his current 'hell spawn'.
• Would Hurt a Child: Downplayed; while Stain is willing to fight hero students, he doesn't particularly want to, regarding it as Dirty Business best avoided as much as possible. After immobilizing Iida Tenya, he remarks "Well. Guess you're going to see your first death," implying he intends to leave them alive.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Played interestingly in Chapter 6, as it's precluded by a "The Reason You Suck" Speech, but Sato Noriko goes on to encourage Katsuki and tell him she believes he has a bright future ahead of him in the world of heroic costume design.
• You Are Grounded!: After Katsuki's attempted confrontation with Izuku post-Exams, his parents ground him for the rest of the school year.
  Masaru: You are going to leave Midoriya alone for the rest of the year, and continue to leave him alone after graduation. Don't talk to him unless he says 'hi' first, don't text him, don't email him, don't anything in terms of him. If I hear a repeat of today, or you doing something similar to anyone else, that's it. You're done and we aren't even going to look for post-high school programs. Am I understood? On top of that, you are grounded until the end of April. No going anywhere after school, no hanging out with your friends on the weekend. Just come straight back home.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The entire staff of Aldera see Bakugou this way after he fails the U.A. Entrance exam. Since they can no longer use him to boost the school's prestige, they no longer allow him to do as he pleases, and actually discipline him when he bullies Izuku or breaks any rules.