"All right, class," came Aizawa's voice rang through. "You've been assigned special numbers within these two containers..."
They were standing in beta ground zero. The same training grounds that held their sentence exams.
Some looked around, awed at the perfected replica of a city.
The class and two teachers stood in front of one of the buildings, 5 stories tall.
Students gathered around the screens. Quiet murmurs filled the area as the looked around.
"... We will be selecting you all by random. By taking a random number from this box, and you'll be put either in a hero or villain team.
The rest will be with me and All Might in the monitoring room."
Aizawa they motioned for All Might to continue as he glanced to his side
"Hm... Yes with us in the monitoring room, as the villain team, you'll have to hold of the villain's or capture them n this special capture tape!"
All Might pulled put a few strings of tape showing it to the students.
They all hummed in response, understanding how to carry this out, some already planning for a scenario.
Meanwhile Gojo was looking at All Might while lost in thought on something he just remembered.
'The Symbol of Peace... the highest grade 1 hero currently in the world... and denied and rejected the ranking of special grade...'
Uraraka and Midoriya looked at him, Midoriya thinking Gojo was planning something with that look of thought on his face.
While Uraraka couldn't take her eyes away mesmerised by the bright blue eyes he had.
"And now, for the villain's we need you to either capture the heroes or to protect the bomb in the building for 10 minutes.
If you get captured or the heroes come in contact with it, you lose!"
Some of the students looked worried.
Some hoping that they would be paired with their friends.
"...And now, we have for the first game..." All Might put his hands in the boxes and pulled out the two random teams.
"Jirou with Sero as the heroes, and Sato with Koda as the villains. The rest, follow me and Aizawa!" He shouted as he lifted his first in the air.
The others left to follow them.
"Psst... Gojo, you good?" Uraraka asked.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be. I'm Gojo" he gave her a smile before laughing.
"Well just seemed like you're deep in thought."
"Well, I was just thinking... hero ranking and all... might just ask All Might himself."
Midoriya joined the conversation intrigued by what Gojo said.
"You're going to talk to All Might about hero ranking, like in Japan or...-"
"You'll soon see Greenie, you'll soon see." Gojo put his hands on his head and patted his head.
'Can I go one conversation with floaty over here with out you...'
A few minutes later, the rest of the class, except for the four in the Villain-Hero training building, they stepped into the observation room above.
Aizawa stood at the console beside All Might with his arms folded over his chest.
"First match," Aizawa said. "Sero and Jirou vs. Sato and Koda."
The screens across the walls flickered to life, showing the training ground, the faux city block under grey overcast light.
Some stood around while others took relaxing seats in the chairs.
"All good. And begin."
Jirou sent pit her earphone jack lobes against the wall while Sero was getting ready to fire a line of tape to the 3rd level of the building.
Gojo watched, arms folded. Sitting next to Momo, while Uraraka and Midoriya stood standing.
"Hm. Sero's plan is actually interesting, not bad. I didn't expect that move honestly." He muttered.
"Well, perhaps you and your small ego will have to accept that your classmates have potential." Momo said with a slight smug and prideful face.
Gojo didn't respond.
Instead he turned his head turned toward All Might, just slightly, and called out to him.
"Hey, All Might " he said suddenly, casually.
"Hm? Yes Young Saturo?" All Might replied.
"You see... I have a question about hero ranking... and my question is...-" He leaned forward in his seat.
"Why aren't you at special grade?"
The silence was immediate, slicing clean through the room. Aizawa blinked, slowly turning his head to Gojo.
The rest of the class all let out gasps, some surprised and yet st the same time curious at the question directed to All Might.
Midoriya was one of the most curious, not wanting to ask All Might this question, but thankfully that someone else did.
He just did not expect it to be Gojo to save him trouble in asking this.
All Might didn't respond right away.
On the screen, Sero was mid-swing in the corridor while Sato chased him down the hall buildings.
But neither Aizawa or the other students were watching the monitor anymore.
"I'm just curious," Gojo added, his tone too calm. "I mean, you are the Symbol of Peace. And yet you never got a classification that high?"
Aizawa exhaled, already feeling the tension creep up his spine.
"That's not something we normally—" Aizawa began before being cut off by All Might.
"It's fine," All Might interrupted, voice quiet. "Let him ask."
All Might stood quietly at the console and the screens at the front of the room.
For a moment, his expression didn't change. Then, slowly, he turned to face Gojo.
"…That's not a question I get often, Ill admit."
"Well, someone should've asked it sooner," Gojo replied, voice cool but curious.
"You are the peak of hero society, weren't you? The so-called Symbol of Peace. So why weren't you ever labelled as Special Grade?"
A pause.
Gojo leaned forward, smile fading ever so slightly. "Now I do know that Japan has asked for you to be classified as one. But you were denied it."
That's when Aizawa stepped in.
"Gojo."
His voice was flat. "That's sensitive information from a few years back."
Gojo didn't flinch. "All I asked was a question. Don't worry, I'm not writing a blog post."
All Might raised a hand gently, signalling calm. His voice, when it came, was quiet, thoughtful even as he sat down at one of the chairs.
"No, Aizawa. It's a fair question..."
"A few years back, Japan pushed for a reclassification of its elite hero system. We proposed tiers beyond standard Pro Rankings, meant to reflect international standards."
Gojo tilted his head. "Like the system the Americans use?"
The rest of the class now listening closely.
All Might nodded. "Exactly. Grade Four through One… and then Special Grade."
"But, what most don't get is that I wasn't denied," he said. "I was evaluated. And I was ranked Grade 1, the highest domestic classification under international law."
Gojo raised an eyebrow. "Still a 'not special,' though."
All Might didn't flinch. "There's only one Special Grade hero in the world," he said. "Star and Stripe. United States' number one."
Now even some of the students looked surprised. With Momo lifting her hand to ask a question. "They never approved any other?"
"No," All Might said. "And there's a reason." He turned fully now, voice firmer.
"The international grading system was designed to standardize hero ranks across the globe.
It's not like the local agency rankings we use here.
This system is run by the Global Hero Oversight Board mostly United Nations, international think tanks, safety commissions.
It grades heroes not just on power, but on independence, control, global threat handling, and political neutrality."
He began counting on his fingers.
"Grade Four: Local safety officers. Basic support heroes. Often limited to evacuation, rescue, or traffic control.
Grade Three: Standard combat operatives. Sidekicks. Capable in low-tier villain suppression, usually under supervision.
Grade Two: Fully certified independent heroes. Allowed to lead teams. They can contain city-level incidents with collateral awareness...-"
The class now listening attentively. Gojo taking mental notes on everything being said.
"Grade One: The top one percent. One of the other Japans Heroes fall here, although on the lower end.
Aizawa, being the other one. These are heroes capable of stopping national-level threats, or having quirks extremely valuable.
Most Number Ones in each country fall here. That was my rank."
"And Special Grade?" Gojo asked.
All Might's voice was quiet. "Special Grade means: If every other hero fails, they still win alone. They transcend far beyond us.
They're....anomalies at best. From their aura, to their quirks, they are absolute monsters.
Their reasoning to me not being that level was that I 'too geographically limited,' that I relied too much on public symbolism, and that my power, while great, wasn't absolute or adaptable enough compared to Star and Stripe.
In simple terms, I don't break reality, I just punch hard."
He shrugged.
"I never took offense. The world needs symbols. I was mine... Although the backlash Japan got from other countries after it had me denied, and the embarrassment we faced was... Intense..."
"Hence the sensitivity about that topic. They said All Mights power was immense and unmatched even...-" Aizawa continued, his voice serious.
"...But he worked within the system. He doesn't shatter it. He didn't change how the world operated. All Might supported the peace. He didn't threaten it."
"They feared Special Grades might be too independent," added Aizawa, tone turning bitter.
"Too unpredictable. The kind of people who make governments nervous, thats the simple definition."
The class now understood the story completely.
On the screen, Aizawa looked and called the Hero team the winners, Having Koda and Sato captured in the tape with Sero proudly standing above them.
Gojo sat there in through.
While the class gave All Might their own compliments, trying to lighten up the mood.
All Might let out a breath. "And you're asking this why exactly?" lookijg at Gojo.
Gojo didn't answer. His voice was quiet, the teasing gone.
Then, as if shaking off the tension, Gojo stood, stretching his arms overhead.
"Well," he said cheerfully, "guess I've got some work to do."
Iida looked confused , as well as the rest.
All Might raised an eyebrow.
"Answer the question All Might proposed Gojo."
Midoriya said, but in a curious tone, also wondering what Gojos response meant.
He let out a chuckle.
"I just wanted to know where the ceiling was."
Just as he said that, the next match appeared on the screen.
Izuku Midoriya vs. Katsuki Bakugo.
"Oh," he whispered. "Now this should be fun to watch."
----------------------------------------------------
End of Chapter
----------------------------------------------------