Schnee: Hero or Huntress (RWBY/MHA)

Do your Best Omake

A/N
Written by Triton0501 on Spacebattles. Known as Calder05 on AO3

"I'm going to win of course. I suggest you all do your best to prove that you deserve to be in the Hero Course. See you tomorrow."

Plenty of times Izuku felt stupid, but never before now did he feel absolutely and completely moronic to the point of frustration.

"I need you to tell the world, 'I am here!'"

All Might had entrusted such a goal to him with such clear confidence. Confidence that Izuku felt undeserving of. But from his perspective, who could blame him? The very role he's meant to fulfill, the attitude that All Might is asking from him is being emulated by none other than Weiss Schnee.

Personally, Izuku has nothing against her. Of course, the cold glares and dismissals stung a bit but it's not anything he hasn't dealt with before. Contrary to what most people would say, Izuku is NOT that fragile. He doesn't know why she seems to hate him, but at the time it wasn't drama he wanted to deal with. So like with Kacchan, he kept his distance. Stayed close to Iida and Uraraka who actually seemed to want to be his friends. But even from afar, Izuku's eyes still worked.

It wasn't him that left a decent enough impression that the class would make him a representative, it was Schnee.

It wasn't him that was bold enough to stick up for their class in the face of the entire school, it was Schnee.

It wasn't him who was fighting side by side with All Might against those villains, it was Schnee.

Again, he carries no resentment towards Schnee for her own accomplishments; he would never be that petty. But still, looking at her, he feels a stinging sense of disappointment within himself. He's been taking things too easy, moving too slow, letting others fill the shoes that were given to him by the 'Symbol of Peace' himself.

He has to change things. He has to follow through on All Might's request no matter what, even if it means going through Schnee herself.

But Izuku has to be realistic; he stands no chance against her in a fair fight as he is now. His control over One For All is still garbage and he doesn't have enough time to suddenly go from barely scraping by to surpassing her level. But he's still been paying attention. Her control is excellent, the elemental versatility rivaling even Pro's, only falling short in comparison to the likes of maybe Snatch or Endeavor. And her speed, as much as he means no offense to Iida or Kacchan, but she's easily the fastest in their entire class.

But he doesn't have to win, just announce himself to the world. His Deleware Smash should have enough force to keep her away for as long as he has fingers. He also hasn't forgotten not breaking his arm against that giant brain monster when he tried to save Asui. If he can find a way to replicate that and apply that concept to his legs, maybe he can stay in the game long enough to not get embarrassed in front of the entire nation.

He has a goal now with multiple steps: Make an impact in the festival, even if he doesn't win; improve his control over All Might's Quirk, he can't stay stagnant; and reach Weiss' level and prove to everyone that he's worth something. Those steps are how he can say "'I am here!'" to the entire world.

But still, even if they're going to eventually go against each other, he hopes that those flashes of grief he catches will eventually go away. He hopes he'll be able to help one day even if she hates him, maybe not today or tomorrow, but sooner is better than later.

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"I'm going to win of course. I suggest you all do your best to prove that you deserve to be in the Hero Course. See you tomorrow."