Class B's Cinnamon Roll

by JayTheStar

Summary:

Izuku Midoriya was so happy, he had finally made it into UA, and his dream of being a hero was starting to seem more like a reality. Now all he had to do was pass all of his classes, but first he'd have to see who he'd be dealing with for the next three years in Hero Course Class 1-B.

Sekijiro Kan was pissed because 1-A's homeroom teacher Shouta Aizawa had deemed Midroiya as useless, he'd help cultivate Midoriya into a great hero and prove the asshole wrong!

Neito Monoma was curious of the nervous ball of wonder that was 1-B's most destructive unit.

And Reiko Yanagi had to admit, Izuku Midoriya was the most interesting person she had ever met.

1-6: UA Beginnings
7-8: USJ
9-16: Sports Festival
17-21:Internships
22-27: Final Exam
28-30: I-Island
31-33: Summer Training
34-35: Kamino Incident

Chapter 1: First Day at UA!

Summary:

Izuku was so happy, he had finally made it into UA, and his dream of being a hero was starting to seem more like a reality. Now all he had to do was pass all of his classes, but first he'd have to see who he'd be dealing with for the next three years in Hero Course Class 1-B.

Izuku gulped as he arrived in front of UA, his class letter in his hands. "Ok, t-this is it! Hopefully I'm not going to be in the same class as Kacchan, or that glasses guy, maybe the nice girl!" Izuku smiled to himself as he prayed for certain people to not be and to be in his class.

Though he had still not taken a step on campus. He had just stayed at the gates and hadn't moved a single step. 'It's now or never!' He psyched himself up and let out a breath, smiling as he gazed upon the buildings of the school. "This is my Hero Academia.." He remembered All Might's words, and how he had passed.

Not a single villain point to his score. But that was fine really, he passed with just rescue points, which he was still reeling at the fact that they existed. And that seemed oddly fitting for him. He smiled as he nodded to himself and took a step.

And tripped.

'IS THIS GOING TO HAPPEN EVERY TIME I COME HERE!' He yelled in his head as he braced his face for impact. Only to hover right before he hit the pavement, 'IS THIS GOING TO HAPPEN EVERY TIME TOO! WAIT- I'm not falling, maybe it's the nice girl!' He smiled at the thought of having someone nice to talk to for once.

"Perhaps you could lay your bottom limbs on the ground so I could stop using my power, it's quite straining." He heard a voice, which sounded nothing like the nice girl's, but it still wasn't rude like what he had been used to. He listened and put his feet on the ground, the feeling of being held off the ground disappeared and he heard a quiet, "Thank you."

He turned around and found someone who was in fact not the nice girl, he already knew that but seeing it made him sigh. But she looked interesting, short grey, borderline white, hair that draped over one of her eyes. A cerulean eye was visible on her face and her wrists holding her hands as if she was a zombie, and floating off the ground as well. Ok that last one was weird and Izuku wanted to write it down in his notebook. "I- um t-thank you.." Izuku got out as he looked at her, communicating was still not his strong suit.

The girl looked at him, her bottom lip dragged down leaving her mouth open. "Your stuttering shows signs of inner demons, are you alright?" She cocked her head to one side, it was actually kind of cute.

Izuku blushed and waved his hands in front of his face, "Y-Yes! I'm fine!" He practically yelled. He felt his palms getting sweaty. Just because he had told Kacchan off at Aldera didn't mean he was suddenly amazing in terms of all the damage that had been done over the years. And it'd probably get worse if they were in the same class. "Um I-I'm Mizuku Idoriya! I-I mean Izuku Midoriya!" He yelled as he went ramrod straight in a bow.

The girl tilted her head again, a finger on her chin, "You are cursed with nervousness, also I go by Reiko Yanagi." She said. "If I may inquire, what class has fate put you in?"

Izuku locked up, he patted his clothes a couple of times before realizing his class letter was in his hands, he opened it up and read a couple of lines before looking back at the girl, "I ah- am in Class 1-B.." He said without a stutter 'SCORE!'

The girl cocked her head again, "Well it seems outside forces have willed us to meet, I am designated to that class as well." She spoke as she floated past him, Izuku's eyes following her, "We should set forth on our quest of darkness, best not keep whoever our sensei is waiting, UA is free, cruelty can come and no one will bat an eye." She kept on walking.

Izuku nodded, a little confused but getting the basic gist of it, and followed her inside. They wandered the halls, Izuku hoping she knew where she was going because he had no idea where they were going at all.

The girl looked around the halls, placing a finger on her chin, before looking back at him, "Do you have a navigation device for this maze?" She asked and Izuku sweatdropped before pulling out a student handbook and giving it to her. She inspected it for a second before turning around and walking in the opposite direction they'd been going.

Izuku let out a sigh and a chuckle as he followed Yanagi. He watched her as she looked at the doors they passed, none of them having "1-B" on them. They began walking faster, or Yanagi floated and Izuku followed by walking, but they didn't talk at all. However, the girl did seem very nice, it would be nice to befriend her, Izuku thought so.

So he swallowed all of his courage and opened his mouth "S-So, Yanagi-chan, h-how was your.. trip.. to.. campus...?" He hated himself, he wanted to smack himself upside the head so badly right now. Was that the best he could come up with? Sadly, yes. It was. And he hated himself for it. But at least he didn't ask her about the weather!

The girl turned to him, as they were side by side, "My journey was fairly normal, though my parents shed many tears at my departure." She turned back to look at the map as they searched for the classroom. Izuku nodded, he understood that, after all his mother seemed like she was going to drown the house they were in.

"Y-Yeah, I can relate to that, but I'm sure they were h-happy tears, they must be really p-proud.." Izuku added in.

Yanagi took a glance at him and nodded, before turning back to the map. She squinted her eyes before nodding, looking up at that moment, "We've arrived at our destination." She said, unknowingly mimicking a GPS.

Izuku looked at the door in front of them, and the sign above it did in fact say "1-B" and he gulped. 'Please, please be different. Please let me make friends for once, please let me talk to people without being laughed at, please!' Izuku prayed as Yanagi reached for the door and slid it open.

It was loud, not too loud as Izuku had dealt with explosions before, but a moderate amount of noise. So much that no one had noticed them when they entered. Yanagi floated in, Izuku gulping and swallowing his nerves before following suit.

Izuku took glances at his classmates, seeing no familiar faces. He both sighed in relief and sadness. On one hand, the engine guy wasn't in his class and Kacchan wasn't either. But the nice girl wasn't-

SHE WAS HERE!

Oh no, no she wasn't, just someone that looked really similar was all. Izuku deflated a lot, there were no familiar faces but at least that was kind of a good thing. No one he saw was from his exam area, or at least he hadn't remembered seeing any of these people in his exam area.

There was a high chance that someone from his exam area was here, since he hadn't really been paying attention after the zero pointer fiasco. Now the entire event was all really a blur to him, besides his final stand against the beast of metal.

He noticed Yanagi was moving to find a seat and he figured he should do the same, he found one near a window and sat there, it was the second to last seat near the window and he found it comfortable as he sat down. The window wasn't open but the sun was coming in through the class and it made Izuku smile, it was calming.

Izuku was going to open his notebook up to write down stuff about Yanagi's quirk but his attention was cut off by the sound of two claps coming from the front of the class. Izuku looked up and a blonde boy was standing at the podium, he had periwinkle eyes and a slight smug look that reminded Izuku too much of Bakugo.

The boy sighed as all the attention finally came to him, he laughed and brushed his hair back, "If I may inquire." His smile seemed to stretch the more he talked, "How many of you here made the top ten?!" He asked with a crazed look.

The class hummed, the kid was kinda weird so far, slowly some people put their hands up. Izuku saw a girl with vine hair do it first then a girl with ginger hair. He swallowed and wondered if he should put his own hand up, he was in the top ten after all.

"I DID!" A loud yell cut through the class as a boy with grey hair and weird eyelashes shot his hands up and yelled.

Izuku shivered, the guy was intense, Izuku didn't like intense. But he seemed nice, if just overexcited. After all his crazy yell was just loud, it didn't hold the same cruelty that Kacchan's did.

A boy with black hair and a headband put his hand up, though he looked rather angry, maybe that was just how he looked? Izuku sighed and his right hand shook as he slowly rose it. His left hand clenching his pant leg in fear and worry.

'Come on, it's not that big of a deal, you can do this!' He yelled at himself as clenched his hand into a fist. 'You want this to be different, don't you?! Do something about it! Please!' He clenched his teeth and willed himself to shoot his hand up.

Only for the door for the class to slam open.

All of the students looked to the doorway, seeing a giant of a man with snow white hair and blood red eyes with an underbite. Izuku's eyes gained stars as he instantly knew who the man was. The man shifted his gaze to the podium where he saw the blonde. "Take a seat." He bit out and the boy laughed.

"Of course!" The boy said.

Many of the students rose a brow at the boy's odd behavior before he moved and sat in front of Izuku. The greanette sucked in a breath at that. The man moved as he stood in front of the podium, his gaze moving across the sea of students, his eyes landing on Izuku for a second before he shifted his view to the entire class.

Izuku was confused at the action as the man grunted. "My name is Sekijiro Kan, I'm the blood hero: Vlad King." The man said. Some of the students gained eyes of recognition though most didn't. Izuku was one of the few that did however.

Izuku started drawing a picture of the hero as murmuring arose between the students. It was of him standing behind the podium, with his arms crossed, basically just how he looked in the moment. It wasn't something you could do everyday after all! Though both Monoma and Yanagi, who were sitting in front and behind him respectively, turned to him because of his mumbling as he drew.

Monoma turned around and rose a brow as Izuku mumbled about Vlad King. Yanagi peaked over Izuku's shoulder and watched as Izuku sketched more. The boy stuck his tongue out as he got to the man's face, which he was having a hard time drawing.

"Midoriya!" The strong voice of the pro knocked Izuku out of his musing. Izuku's head shot up as he looked across the classroom, everyone was looking at him, waiting for him to say something. What they wanted him to say? He didn't know.

Izuku shot out of his seat, blushing a bit. "Y-Yes Kan-sensei!" He stood rigidly and dropped his head as he heard snickering to his right.

The man narrowed his eyes a bit, "Introduce yourself Midoriya." He said as he crossed his arms. The man wondered why the boy's nerves were so high, he had a strong quirk, which usually meant an enormous amount of confidence, though maybe it was because the quirk broke him while using?

Izuku nodded, bowing to the class, "H-Hi, my name is Izuku Midoriya!" He got out of his bow and went to sit down.

"And your quirk?" A kid with claw-like mandibles on his face asked with a fierce voice and crossed arms.

Izuku locked up, he'd never had to introduce a quirk before since he didn't have one. But now he did, and kids always gloated about quirks during introductions, trying to one up others while trying to make their quirks sound cooler than they usually were.

"M-My quirk is superpower and it gives me super power!" He yelled quickly and equally as quickly sat back down in his chair. He heard more chuckles and he grimaced. Even with Kacchan interfering, Izuku doubted he would make any friends this year.

Well he had made an acquaintance of Yanagi, so hopefully that was worth something.

He heard said girl get out of her own seat behind him, "It is a pleasure to make an acquaintance with you all, my name is Reiko Yanagi, my ability is poltergeist, allowing me to move objects freely through the air." She sat back down but in the small amount of time between her finishing and sitting down Izuku's mind had already started blasting.

'Telekinesis! That's how she made herself float! That was so cool!' Izuku almost went on a self indulgent nerd rant before Vlad King spoke up.

"Alright! All of you out of your seats, we're going to orientation, after we'll be taking a test! So get up and move it!" Izuku heard much of the class groan in annoyance and disappointment , a test on the first day?! It was horrible. But they complied, getting out of their seats and grabbing their bags, Izuku did so as well, throwing his yellow backpack over his shoulder.

The boy felt a tap on his shoulder and he turned to see the blonde guy from earlier, he wasn't paying attention so he didn't get anyone's names..

"Um h-hi…"

"Monoma, Neito Monoma, it's clear you weren't paying attention during introductions." The boy said with some flair and a grin as he rustled his hair.

Izuku looked down in embarrassment, was it really that obvious? He just liked heroes a lot, but was it that much of a distraction to him? Apparently so because he didn't even know anybody's names, well besides Yanagi.

"S-Sorry.." Izuku mumbled, already setting back into the motions that he had become used to in Junior High.

The boy waved a hand. "Do not worry about it Midoriya, to make up for it, why don't we sit together at orientation, get to know each other a little bit?" He asked as he let out a hand for Izuku to shake.

The greanette stared at it for a second before shaking it. "S-Sure, Monoma-kun!" The boy felt another tap on his shoulder and turned around to see Reiko tilting her head at him. It made him yelp, he couldn't deal with girls.

"Midoriya-kun, I would like to acquire if I could accompany you at orientation as well." She asked as Izuku stiffened as he nodded slowly.

"Um, y-yeah sure, you can.." He got out as the class began filing out. They walked through the halls and the trio of Izuku, Monoma, and Yanagi didn't make much, if any, conversation. Though both of the people Izuku had met were stealing glances at him, for different reasons of course.

They all followed Vlad King as they entered an auditorium. Taking their seats where the man said to sit, Izuku noticed that there were empty seats in front of where they were sitting and by the time the lights went off no class had arrived to take the spot.

"There's a class missing.." Izuku muttered from between Yanagi and Monoma, the girl on his right and the boy on his left. The two turned to look at him, Yanagi with a face of confusion and Monoma with one of understanding.

"Yes, I do believe that class is supposed to be 1-A, though I don't know why they aren't here. Honestly, it's truly deplorable to skip an event as such, they must be a group of heathens." Monoma whispered so they could hear as the orientation started.

It was much of the same, where certain classes would be taking place and when they would be taking place as well, except it was presented by Nezu, the principal. Which Izuku totally didn't nerd out about.

They'd have hero course classes in the morning and then normal classes in the afternoon, the opposite of what 1-A was going to be having with hero course classes in the afternoon and normal class in the morning.

There was an announcement of a mystery teacher who'd be teaching their hero course classes, Hero Foundations 101, but they'd have to wait until their first heroics class for that.

Izuku took the pamphlet that had all the information on it and any other information that wasn't on it he wrote down. Eventually the presentation ended and Nezu congratulated them all on making it in before bidding them farewell.

The lights turned back on and once they were allowed to leave Vlad King told them to head back to class.

They all followed, but Izuku wondered about the mystery teacher. His letter was presented to him by All Might, but so far he hadn't seen the man anywhere. Not in the halls, not at orientation either. Was he going to be the Hero Foundations 101 teacher?

"What was that Midoriya?" Monoma asked as Izuku realized he had been mumbling.

"A-Ah! N-Nothing, just wondering who was going to teach our heroics class is all…" He covered up, letting out a chuckle afterwards.

"I have been inquiring about that myself. I do hope it is someone we may gain much wisdom and knowledge from." Yanagi added in as they entered the class.

Vlad waited for all the students to be seated, after which he nodded. "Alright, now it's time for your test." The gruff man announced as they all sat in the class. Izuku heard some groans but he didn't mind all that much. As long as it wasn't quirk based, he still had to learn how to use One For All without breaking himself. "We'll be having a quirk assessment test outside at Training Field B, there should be gym uniforms in your desks, take them, change, and meet me outside. Do not be late!" He yelled as he strode out of the room.

Izuku wallowed in self pity. "Of course we would have a quirk assessment test on the first day…" He said sadly.

Both of his.. acquaintances noticed his mood but didn't comment on it. The class filed out as they all had grabbed their gym uniforms.

In the locker room Izuku had taken off his uniform shirt and had begun putting on the one they had received from Vlad King when he heard a yell. "WOAH BRO, ARE THOSE SCARS, THAT'S MANLY AS HELL!" Izuku flinched at the loudness and turned to listen to whoever was talking, instead he saw a guy with silver hair looking at him.

"Eh?" He froze, he didn't know how to converse with someone who was so direct in their speech. Especially when he thought about the subject matter.

"HOW'D YOU GET 'EM?!" The guy was standing in front of him with enthusiasm and was grinning like a madman. Izuku's mind broke and he silently yelled.

He had gotten used to not wearing a shirt whenever he would clean up the beach, when he was alone. Because no one would be at the trash filled area to see the burns and bruises that littered his body, caused of course by his best friend Kacchan.

The slip of mind now led to this. A group of random people seeing the product of Kacchan's way of showing he cared.

Izuku thought about it, should he really tell this random guy about all the scars he had gotten because of his childhood friend? No, probably not. So instead he'd say something else. "Ah, I um.. got it from training for the entrance exam…" He put the gym shirt on and rubbed his neck.

"You must have trained hard to develop such terrible scars." A giant, hairy looking boy with glasses approached both Izuku and the silver teen, "I must admit, it's commendable, to go so far-" He stuck a hand out, "-Shishida, Jurota Shishida." The big beast introduced himself.

Izuku looked at his hand before shaking it, "A-Ah, nice to meet you Shishida-kun, I'm Midoriya.."

They filed out of the locker room, some of the boys talking amongst themselves. Izuku's eyes widened when he saw a group of boys coming from the other end of the hall towards them, though they looked like they were heading towards the locker room. But that wasn't important, what was?

Kacchan was at the front of the group. Izuku shivered at the sight of the blonde teen, he looked pissed.

"Hey Bakugo, you did awesome man, your ball throw really pumped me up for the rest of the test!" A red headed teen congratulated Bakugo and slapped him on the shoulder, wearing a smile.

Izuku gulped, you didn't touch Bakugo unless you had a death wish.

"SHUT THE HELL UP SHITTY HAIR, NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO YOU'LL NEVER COMPARE TO ME. YOU'RE ALL JUST STEPPING STONES IN THE ORIGIN STORY OF THE NEXT NUMBER ONE HERO!" Both groups of boys heard Bakugo's declaration.

Monoma sneered, such arrogance. He was about to tell the blonde off when a hand landed on his shoulder. He smacked away the hand and turned to see who it was. It was Izuku. And he looked horrified, "D-Don't, just- I know what you're going to do, but don't. Just ignore him if you can Monoma-kun…" Izuku whispered low enough for just Monoma to hear.

The blonde squinted his eyes before sighing and nodding. After all, Midoriya looked truly horrified. He turned his attention back to the blonde, Bakugo if he heard correct, and decided to just observe for now.

Bakugo was too angry and busy yelling at the redhead to notice that Izuku was in the group of boys, which was good. 'He'd probably kill me if he saw me…' Izuku thought grimly as the group of boys arrived outside.

Izuku saw Vlad Sensei messing with a tablet device and occasionally the pro would look at Izuku, he didn't know what it was about either. The girls arrived soon after and the pro announced that they would begin.

Vlad King waited until all the students were here before clearing his throat, "ALRIGHT! WE'LL BE HAVING A QUIRK ASSESSMENT TEST USING THE SAME TESTS FROM YOUR JUNIOR HIGH, NOW LET'S BEGIN!" His loud and rough voice vibrated through the teens. Izuku gulped, he still hadn't had even the slightest clue on how to use 100% without breaking himse-

'Wait, why am I trying to use 100%?' Izuku asked himself as the class was led to the 50 meter dash. 'Of course I wouldn't be able to use 100% off the bat, my vessel was made in a hurry, I need to train more to use more, but I should just focus on the small amount I can do right now, shouldn't I?' Izuku asked himself another question as the class started the event.

The first two up were the kid with a headband and a guy with dark brown hair, Izuku wasn't paying much attention though as he had his revelations. 'But All Might was able to use 100% off the bat wasn't he? But what if All Might's vessel wasn't made in a hurry? That's not to mention the growth I stunted by overworking myself six months in…' Izuku was thinking too many thoughts as he finally just decided to focus on his original thought.

'Why am I trying to use 100%?' He repeated the thought as he pulled out a notebook. The nearby students rose brows at Izuku as he mumbled, some deciding that he was weird, others just being curious about it but focusing on the test.

Vlad King peaked in curiosity. He had chosen Midoriya because Aizawa called him a liability, he wanted to prove the bastard wrong. But first he needed to get Midoriya to not break himself, and for that he needed the boy to be pushed into a situation where breaking himself wouldn't help at all.

He didn't think this test would work, that they'd need to do something later in the year. Perhaps during the training for the Sports Festival or even the event itself. But he could tell the kid's mind was running like a bullet train, trying to think of some way to not break during this test.

It was exciting, he had to admit.

Izuku creased his brows, 'I have a feeling for 100%, but I think I should just activate One For All, focus on the egg not blowing up, then lower the heat in the microwave. Lower it until it doesn't feel like my body's creaking. If I don't move with 100% then that's fine, just stay still until I lower it to a good percentage, in whatever part of my body I need to use!' Izuku nodded, the plan wasn't perfect, but it wasn't horrible either.

He nodded to himself as he lifted his head, observing as Monoma lined up with a large boy with an odd shaped head. The robot at the end of the finish line blared a horn and both boys ran, Monoma smirked as he sunk into the ground as it softened, going fast and appearing at the end of the track soon after.

"5.35 seconds!"

The other boy finished a little bit later, "8.47 seconds!"

A skull headed boy looked on in shock at Monoma, "That was my quirk.. how did he do that?" He asked no one, but said it loud enough for other people to hear. Izuku listened and instantly thought about the implications.

'Maybe Monoma-kun has a sort of copy quirk? They're rare but not unheard of..' He wanted to ask, to write down notes, but they were in the middle of a test. He doubted they'd have the time.

"MIDORIYA, YANAGI, LINE UP!" The yell of the pro cut through the crowd, Izuku squirmed as he scrambled to line up, Yanagi floating over and setting up next to him.

Izuku got into a runner's stance and closed his eyes, Vlad saw and decided he'd be the gunner for this one, so he disabled the robot at the end line and held his own timer.

Izuku called upon All Might's quirk, the warmth and power washing over him as he focused it in his legs.

His class flinched and gasped as his pant legs tore, wind whirling up. Yanagi had to focus her telepathy to not be blasted away, which she was failing at as she was being pushed away from the start line.

Monoma rose a brow in wonder and smirked. "The difference between your personality and power is astounding Midoriya!" He yelled as he cackled.

Vlad King began to sweat, the kid was going to break himself again..

Izuku grunted as pain invaded him, but nothing was broken just yet. He took deep breaths as he focused on the egg in the microwave and lowered the heat. He didn't have an exact percentage, he had only used his full power once so far so he couldn't properly gauge himself just yet.

But he pushed it as low as he could, the wind dying down as his legs, his feet to his knees, began to glow with red like veins. The veins disappeared as small, essentially unnoticeable, green sparks of lightning birthed. Izuku nodded to himself as he slowly opened his eyes, focusing everything he had into keeping the power on.

Vlad King smirked just a bit, "I can't wait until the Sports Festival when I get to show you up with this kid Aizawa.." he muttered under his breath.

Yanagi retook her position next to Izuku, with no wind she could stand next to him now. "ALRIGHT!" Vlad King yelled, almost making Izuku lose concentration. "ON YOUR MARKS!" Izuku closed his eyes, ready to shoot off in a straight line, "GET SET!" He clenched his fists, "GO!" And shot off.

It wasn't too much of an improvement, nowhere near All Might's speed, but it was progress. Izuku felt lighter as he ran and he crossed the finish line with a smile of triumph. 'I DIDN'T BREAK MYSELF!'

"Midoriya! 5.11 seconds!" The blood hero called out. Yanagi crossed the finish line soon after, "Yanagi! 7.53 seconds!" He added.

Izuku gasped for air as he finished, he was speechless, too happy right now. He clenched his fist as he smiled, tears threatening to break out of his eyes but he wiped them away. 'I did it! It's not much, but it counts!'

"Alright, let's move on!" Vlad King yelled and the students followed. They next had to do a grit strength test.

Shishida had grown larger and growled as he flexed his arm, getting a score in the mid 500s, the vine haired girl used her quirk on the device and got a pretty good score. Izuku watched as a ginger haired girl stepped up and enlarged her fist, she grunted as she attempted to crush the device, getting a score in the low 200s.

Izuku gulped, One For All was all about strength, so he would do his absolute best in this test.

He sat down and gripped one of the devices, he closed his eyes and focused One For All into his right hand, the quirk birthing with a red veins and then a glow. Izuku had put it to the lowest output he had, but he shook his head. 'I need to do more, just a little bit more, it's fine, I can handle it!' He grunted as he upped the output by the smallest amount he could.

His entire arm felt like there were little knives stabbing at it, like how one would be when they were sore, except about five times worse. He grunted as he held the device as hard as he could before sighing and letting go. The device read 93.0 kgs. Not the best, but not the worst at all.

"ALRIGHT, STANDING LONG JUMP!" This one was going to be harder.

Izuku knew that his legs were in pain, despite using the smallest amount he could he was feeling the after effects of doing so, his body still wasn't used to All Might's power.

But he could go to Recovery Girl after, right? So he could go to the limits he had now and have her heal him, that would be fine, right? He nodded to himself as he watched a green haired girl split her body apart and float herself to the other side of the pit.

Izuku's eyes gained stars as he studied her quirk, or at least what he knew of it. More people went up and eventually it led up to Monoma, who did the same as the green haired girl. With a little bit less of the grace she had.

It basically confirmed what Izuku had thought earlier. He had a copy quirk. Which was so cool!

Now it was Izuku's turn, he stepped up and squatted. He knew the amount he used for the dash wouldn't be enough to clear the sandbox, he'd have to push the output past its limit if he wanted to.

He grimaced as he closed his eyes and let One For All flow throughout his body. He didn't notice, but he didn't activate it at 100% and lower it, he just activated it at the low percentage to start off. He grinded his teeth as his knees wobbled in pain.

He squatted lower and then unleashed his power as he jumped. And yet he still didn't get past the pit, he landed in the sand with a thud. He punched the ground.

Vlad King raised a brow at Izuku's actions, but the boy got back up and got out of the pit, though looked a little sad.

Yanagi moved up and used her quirk to easily clear the pit. When she was done she turned to where Izuku was. He was staring at a clenched fist and eventually he shook his head as Vlad King called for the next test.

They did the flexibility test and Izuku didn't use One For All on this one. And he scored decent, about in the middle.

They moved onto the sit ups and Izuku decided not to use One For All again. All Might's training plan had decimated Izuku's body with hundreds of exercises every day. The basic push up and sit up didn't seem all too bad now.

Izuku scored pretty well on this test and he moved onto the next one with a smile.

The repeated side steps…

He didn't do so well. With how pain was vibrating through his legs it made the test horrific for Izuku. He scored quite low on this test and he was quite disappointed in himself at that.

A girl, the one that looked like the 'nice girl' Izuku had met during the entrance exam, used her quirk to help her with the test. Apparently she could make mushrooms. The ones she made were very bouncy allowing her to get an impressive score on the test.

They got to the second to last test, the ball throw.

Izuku watched on as his classmates each did their best on this one. Since it was the second to last test and was short, everyone decided that this one was either go beyond or go home.

The ginger from earlier enlarged her fist and threw it like a catapult, an idea that Izuku decided he might use. A girl grew in size, about one and a half All Mights, and threw the ball like that, though the ball did look like it had shrunk as well, getting a good distance.

The vine haired girl tied the ball in her hair and swung it around before letting go, Shishida entered what Izuku was calling his "Beast" mode and threw the ball with a yell.

A blonde haired girl that spoke broken Japanese disconnected her horn and balanced the ball on them before sending them off, getting a really good distance. The green haired girl disconnected her arm and basically did the same.

Monoma copied the green haired girl's quirk.

And now it was Izuku.

He stepped up to receive his ball from Vlad King but the man placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Midoriya, I know you have a problem with your quirk, as from what I saw during the entrance exam, your quirk is a form of super strength, right?"

Izuku nodded stiffly. "Alright, you've made some good progress today, but I want you to go all out on this one." He lifted his hand off of Izuku's shoulder and handed the boy the ball.

Izuku gulped as he nodded, "But do try to minimize the damage, you don't want Recovery Girl getting on your case." He said and Izuku nodded stiffly.

The ginger girl rose a brow. "What was that about?"

The green haired girl shook her head. "No idea honestly, wonder what's so special about greenie."

Monoma cackled, Yanagi turned to him and rose a brow. "What about our mutual acquaintance makes you feel such joy, Monoma-kun?" She asked.

The boy calmed his laughs as he messed with his bangs. "Midoriya holds a deep amount of power, but it seems that he can't use all of it to its fullest potential." Monoma stated, the class remembered the wind during the 50 meters dash.

"MAN, FIRST IT'S THE SCARS, NOW HE'S STUPID STRONG, MIDORIYA'S SO MANLY!" The silver haired teen yelled with a wide smile. The girls turned to him in confusion.

"D-Did you say s-s-scars?" The small girl that looked like the 'nice girl' asked. But she asked so quietly no one noticed, and thus she was ignored.

"He doesn't look like much." A bug looking teen stated with crossed arms.

"Now, don't downplay our peers, Midoriya has done very well during this test." Shishida stated to the bug teen.

"Tch, whatever." The boy scoffed.

"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is bug boy." Monoma sneered at the teen, but he didn't take his eyes off of the one doing the ball throw.

The boy grit his teeth, "Why you-"

"Just shut up and pay attention." Monoma said coldly and calmly. The class a little wide eyed at the action, they didn't want some of their classmates fighting on the first day. And the boy had been nothing but loud and proud the entire day. But the class paid attention, Izuku was in the throwing circle as he closed his eyes, holding the ball as he focused on his right arm.

'Kan-sensei wants me to go all out, but to limit the damage, how can I do that?' Izuku huffed for a second before an idea came to mind. 'Last point of contact, it won't go as far as it normally would, but it won't damage me too much either!' He nodded as he finished his plan.

Monoma grinned a bit and softly chuckled.

Vlad nodded, it was only the first day and the boy had already proved Aizawa wrong in so many ways. But there was still the question, if pushed to his limits could he still assist afterwards? Or would he be too broken to do anything?

The image of two broken legs and a broken arm, laying unconscious in the middle of the street came to Vlad's mind. The boy had a heroic spark, yet Aizawa called him idiotic and a waste of time.

He grit his teeth, Aizawa would be proved wrong.

Izuku pulled his arm back, activating One For All, pushing the quirk to the maximum output. 'ONE FOR ALL: 100%' his arm crackled as red veins appeared on it as Izuku grit his teeth, his emerald eyes shining with determination.

A large and dominating pro peaked his head around the corner, seeing his protege fill his arm with the maximum amount of power he could hold, he grimaced. "Young Midoriya…." He hadn't been able to see the rest of the test due to being in a meeting with Nezu about not acting like Aizawa, skipping orientation to traumatize his students, he had been busy, so he wasn't sure how well Izuku had done so far.

But he knew that his successor was about to overdo it, he almost felt the urge to intervene. But that would reveal their relationship, he couldn't do that.

Izuku would have to do this on his own and deal with the consequences. "Just don't get Recovery Girl too mad, please Young Midoriya…."

The edge's of Izuku's lips turned up as he transferred the power from his arm to his finger, he remembered All Might's words from the day of the entrance exam.

"Squeeze your buttocks and from the deepest part of your soul yell-"

"SMASHHH!" He let go of the ball as he pushed on with his pointer finger, wind upturning, some students being sent flying, Vlad King closing his eyes as sand whirled around. Monoma cackling as everyone's hair was rustled. And Yanagi tilting her head in wonder at Izuku.

The dust began to clear and everyone looked at where Izuku was, still covered by dust, in shock, though Vlad and All Might were worried he had broken himself.

"Kan-sensei…" The voice of Izuku was heard as the dust finally cleared, revealing a standing Izuku with a broken right index finger. "I limited the pain, just like you said!" He smiled with tears in his eyes, he had adrenaline in his system but he still felt it.

Vlad nodded in recognition, chuckling a little to himself. "The kid is going to prove you wrong Shouta.."

And All Might.

'WHEN THE CRAP DID YOU GET SO COOL, YOUNG MIDORIYA!' Was gushing over his student.

END

 

 

Notes:

This is my fan fic of Izuku being in 1-A opposed to 1-B. I wanted to see how things change and first I wanted to make it so Izuku doesn't always use 100% like a dumbass. I don't know the exact reason why he always uses 100% at the beginning of the show, but he won't do that here.

And I wanted to see what Izuku would do if he actually had a good teacher. Now I love Aizawa, hell he's done some dope stuff in canon like USJ and trusting his students in the forest, but he's not a good teacher. He literally just tells Izuku "Stop breaking yourself." But in no way actually helps Izuku. I mean, everyone in canon did that to Izuku, but Aizawa is his teacher, he's supposed to help Izuku with stuff like that.

But he doesn't.

So I want Vlad to be a better teacher than Aizawa and actually help our favorite cinnamon roll.
So that's gonna be it for now, anyone who likes this, thank you, and if anyone has any ship ideas please tell me. I honestly don't know.

This is a Fic that I originally had up on just FFN, however, I thought it would be smart to upload it to here as well, I'll just do this one chapter for now and will upload the others at a later date, I really hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 2: 1-B's Thoughts

Summary:

With Izuku pushing himself in the ball throw and interacting with his class, what will they think about him?

 

The class watched as the dust cleared, Midoriya was seen standing with his hand held, his index finger a morbid purple color. Monoma cackled wildly as the rest of the students gasped, Yanagi let a small smile come to her face, Izuku truly was interesting.

"Kan-sensei…" They all heard Izuku's cracking voice, a sign that he was in pain. "I limited the pain, just like you said!" The boy cheered with a smile on his face, loud enough so the class could hear. Vlad nodded at the boy, a slight smile on his face.

"Alright! Midoriya! 705.3 meters!" He yelled out as the boy went to stand on the sidelines, Yanagi moving to take up the ball throw next.

Vlad talked to him for a second, handing him a note to go to Recovery Girl after class and telling him where he could get replacement pants as his were torn during the 50 meter dash.

"Midoriya my friend! Wonderful, that was absolutely wonderful!" Monoma clapped him on his left shoulder with a smile. Izuku smiled a little at the praise. "Though you didn't go all out, did you?" Monoma asked with a smirk.

The class gasped at the statement and Izuku rubbed the back of his neck with his non-broken hand. "W-Well.. Kan-sensei wanted me to minimize the damage, so I only used my finger to throw the ball, a-and that cost me distance on my throw.." He trailed off.

Monoma laughed again as he clapped Izuku's shoulder once more, "Very well Midoriya!" He laughed.

The nearby students stared at Izuku with wide eyes, he didn't go all out!

The ginger stared at the greanette with wide eyes, she wasn't sure who between them was stronger. He couldn't go all out without hurting himself, it seemed, but if he did he could end any fight in one blow. She wanted to ask, yeah it was rude but he didn't give a real good explanation earlier. "What's your quirk?" She asked the boy, cutting off the murmuring of the group of students as Yanagi finished her throw.

The ghost looking girl wasn't mad about the attention Midoriya was getting, even if no one had noticed her ball throw distance which was decent because of her quirk. Midoriya was interesting, he wasn't cocky and had a quirk that seemed amazing.

Though it broke him, his quirk was a form of super strength. It was almost as if his body wasn't used to his quirk, his strength was too much for his body. It was strange, but interesting, she decided.

Izuku turned to the ginger girl and began to sweat nervously, "M-My quirk is super power and it gives me-"

"Yeah yeah greenie, we heard ya in class. But how?!" The green haired girl with shark teeth interrupted him before he could finish.

Izuku squirmed under the combined gazes of both girls. And that was because he didn't have a better explanation, but he would do his best to come up with one. 'One For All is a crystallization of energy, right? That's what All Might described it as… so the strength would be me using that energy in my limbs so power up.. it's better than anything else I've got!' Izuku let out a shuddered breath, he could do this.

He could lie. He lied to his mom when she asked about his injuries all the time anyway.

Izuku sucked in a breath, "W-Well, I don't exactly know.. b-but my quirk is like a giant battery of stored energy… whenever I get my super strength I'm just using that energy…" He explained.

Monoma took the information and stored it away in his head with a smile.

The girls and most of the class were enlightened but still rather confused. It was rather weird for a simple enhancer quirk. But quirks were rather confusing in and of themselves, each one was unique and different so it made sense.

"DISTANCE RUN, WE'RE NOT DONE YET!" Vlad King yelled, the class halted what they were doing and all lined up for the distance test.

Izuku did decently, he would have done better but he had to nurse his broken hand for much of the event. He crossed the finish line with a huff for air, he looked across to see that Shishida, the girl with horns, and a couple of other kids had already finished.

Everyone else trickled in and finished. They lined up and waited for Vlad King to say what he needed to.

"Alright, we're all done here so you can go home after you get your stuff from the classroom." He announced for the first time not yelling, "Be mindful of your scores, be mindful of the way you used your quirks, be mindful of the things your quirks cannot help you with, and be mindful of your weaknesses and work on increasing your strengths." He nodded, dismissing his class.

Izuku sighed, he finally had time to rest. His body was screaming at him because of overuse. He finally had time to gauge his percentage output too, having a more accurate feel of 100% because of the ball throw, he estimated he had used 2-3% for most of the events, pushing it to four for the standing long jump and the grip strength test.

It was a little annoying at how little he could use, but he could use it. He focused on that part, he could actually use the quirk now. The thought made him smile just a bit. It took a year after his initial meeting with All Might, but his dream of being a hero seemed actually attainable now.

Izuku left soon after, deciding that he needed to go see Recovery Girl because of his broken finger and the stabbing pain his entire body was experiencing. Well it was mostly his legs and arm but that was neither here nor there.

The class had gathered after changing in the locker room, though Izuku was still with Recovery Girl. They were just talking with each other, the bell hadn't rung yet so they still had to be on campus.

It was mostly quiet, some people were trying to talk with other but none of them knew each other and they all were kind of tired. "So what's up with that Midoriya guy?" A boy, Sen Kaibara, asked a loud to the rest of the class as they all went to get their stuff before going home.

It finally stirred up a conversation for the drained students to grab onto.

"I don't know, he's kinda weird but he's stupid strong." The headband boy, Yosetsu Awase, said, "Had him in my practical during the entrance exam and ooh boy, he's fucking strong, but also has some serious anxiety."

The ginger, Itsuka Kendo, walked over, "What do you mean?"

"I mean besides that lame ass stutter." The bug boy, Togaru Kamakiri, not so subtly coughed out.

Monoma sneered a little, this bug guy was really starting to get on his nerves. Yanagi frowned a bit, "It is unbecoming of a hero to be so rude, or perhaps it just shows how narrow your mind is. While Midoriya-kun has a stutter it should not dissuade anyone from befriending in, nor should it be used as a reason to bully him, Kamakiri-kun."

Midoriya seemed nice, he hadn't called her weird or anything of the sort that most people at her old school did. And this boy decided he was weird or lame just because he had a stutter.

"I didn't ask for your pale ass' opinion!" The boy yelled back.

Monoma found himself frowning alongside Yanagi.

"Now, why don't we all calm down. We're classmates, so we're going to have to put up with each other the whole year. Let's not make any enemies of each other." Shishida tried to placate his classmates.

Kamakiri scoffed and left the class. "Well, that coulda gone a bit better." The green haired girl with shark teeth, Setsuna Tokage, commented with a smile. "But that ain't important-" She whipped her hand around and pointed it at Awase, "YOU! Band, tell us about Greenie!"

Awase put his hands up, "Fine fine, calm your tits!" He huffed. The boy crossed his arms as he recounted the entrance exam, "I didn't really notice the guy at all, he was really plain looking, but then the zero pointer came out and started wrecking shit."

"Zero pointer?" Tokage asked. "What's that?"

"My green haired pal, you must have gotten in through recommendation." Monoma laughed a little, Tokage made a face, Monoma was weird. "The zero pointer was a colossal sized robot about the size of a 6 or 7 story building, it was advised we turn away from it during the test, as it was worth no points."

"Yeah, but Midoriya went to fight it anyway."

"HE WHAT!" Kendo slammed her arms down on Awase's desk. "Why?! Why would he do something so stupid!"

The headband teen rested his head on his arms. "Some girl was trapped under some rocks, the thing was gonna go right over her." He let out a sigh, "He took the thing out with one punch"

The class shivered at the thought. Most of them had seen the zero pointer and the thing was ginormous, the fact that Izuku beat it with one punch. It was scary…

"Completely wrecked his arm though. The entire thing was purple all over, saw some bone sticking out too.." Awase added as he remembered the guy after the exam. He was completely broken.

The class shivered at the thought. They had seen how Midoriya's finger was, and imagined his whole body like that.

Tetsutetsu clenched his fist as he closed his eyes. "Man…that's….so….. HARDCORE!" He yelled and activated his quirk, "MAN MIDORIYA'S SO COOL!"

"Not if it breaks him!" Kendo yelled back. He was sacrificing his body for points, that wasn't good. And no one even knew about the rescue points, so he just threw away his body for nothing.

"Not if what breaks who?" The entire class froze as they turned to the doorway, seeing Izuku now in his school uniform instead of the gym clothes and a bandage around his finger, a brow raised.

The ginger straightened, looking for an excuse. "I- uh nothing Midoriya.." Kendo rambled.

Izuku kept his eyebrow up in confusion, but did feel a bit happy that someone had remembered his name despite his horrible introduction. Monoma walked up and clasped his hand on Izuku's shoulder. "Midoriya! You truly are magnificent, absolutely wonderful!"

Izuku smiled a bit, "Ah t-thanks Monoma-kun..!" He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment at the out of nowhere compliment. "Um.. c-can I get my stuff?"

"Ah yes of course Midoriya!" Monoma cackled as he let Izuku go.

The greanette smiled a bit, Monoma was weird but he was nice, at least nicer than 99% of the people he had met throughout his life. He grabbed his bag, smiling at Yanagi as he saw her and turning back around and heading for the door. "Midoriya, mind if I accompany you?" Monoma asked without the crazy for a second, Izuku of course nodded, "Wonderful! Yanagi, will you be accompanying us?" The blonde as the girl from across the room.

Yanagi nodded after a second, floating her bag which was on her chair to her hands and joining the group.

They all turned towards the class, "Farewell for now." "Goodbye!" "U-Um..bye!" The three each said as they left. The class looked at the empty doorway, Kendo scrunching a brow wanting to run off after them.

"Izuku Midoriya… he's so strange.." She muttered under her breath. The class filed out as the bell rang, the sound going out through the school and the halls coming to life soon after.

Izuku smiled to himself as he, Monoma, and Yanagi chatted on their way off campus. "It's quite surreal, is it not?" Monoma asked a loud to the both of them.

"W-What is Monoma-kun?"

"I believe he is referring to the fact that we are at UA." Yanagi told Izuku to which Monoma nodded. "And I will agree, it still does feel like a dream." She added.

Izuku nodded at that, "Y-Yeah, I understand that… sometimes I feel like I'm g-going to wake up, and it all would've been for n-nothing…" He trailed off, getting quieter the more he went on. Meeting All Might, learning the pro's secret, being saved by him twice, being offered a quirk, and then being personally trained by him? It was a scenario that he could only imagine in his wildest dreams.

Both of his friends looked at him with wonder and confusion. His voice sounded so sincere and a tiny bit broken as well. "Well unless we're all dreaming at the same time and sharing said dream, I do believe it is unlikely that it is so. So you do not have to fret about waking up Midoriya." Yanagi said to make her new friend feel better.

Izuku smiled a little, "Thanks.." He said without a stutter.

"There is no need to thank me, Midoriya, it's simply what friends are for, no?" She asked with a head tilt.

"Yanagi is correct Midoriya, it's simply what friends are for." Monoma laid his hand on Izuku's shouder with a smile.

"I- yeah.. thanks.."

"There is no need for that Midoriya." Yanagi reminded him.

"R-Right sorry!" He smiled and let out a small chuckle.

UA was everything it was chalked up to be and more. For once, Izuku felt like he actually had friends. And that was because he did have friends. 'Everything is different now…' It was surreal, but not unwelcome.

"If I may inquire, how is your finger?" Monoma asked as they passed the gate.

Izuku showed him the bandaged digit, "It hurts, but it's not broken. I'll have to go in for healing tomorrow though, I was too low on energy for Recovery Girl to fix it all." He explained, getting nods from both of his friends.

"Well don't forget to do that then, you won't be able to do much in class with a broken finger."

"Monoma is right Midoriya."

"T-Thanks.. I won't forget, promise." Izuku had a lot of fun talking with these two, they were a lot of fun and they actually wanted his input as well. Just being able to talk with people was so nice for him.

They all arrived at the train station and they went their separate ways. Izuku smiled to himself as he arrived at home, his mom wasn't home yet, clearly still at work but he couldn't wait to tell her about his new friends.

Friends… that was nice.

Next Day

Izuku smiled as he met his friends at the gate, the three of them walking in together. "S-So what do you guys think we'll be doing today?" He asked the two of them as they went through the halls.

They hadn't run into Kacchan yet, which he was thankful for. But he knew that it'd eventually happen. Either during a school event like the Sports Festival or just randomly while wandering the school. Of course he was incredibly nervous for when that would happen, but he felt confident in his ability to fight back.

Plus, UA had been different from his other schools so far, so the teachers would surely do something if Kacchan got out of hand, right? "I hope…"

"What exactly are you hoping for Midoriya, if you don't mind my inquisition?" Yanagi knocked Izuku out of his mumbling.

"Oh- uh n-nothing, I was just t-thinking is all…" He rubbed the back of his neck as he had a blush. Being caught in his mumbling was always so embarrassing.

"You know Midoriya, my friend, I do believe you have to break that habit. What if villains heard you and were able to get information?" Monoma rhetorically asked him as he flipped his bangs away dramatically.

"R-Right, I'll try my best Monoma-kun!" He'd never thought about it like that, but Monoma was right. If someone was able to get information because he had a big mouth then that'd be bad. He'd need to learn how to keep his mouth shut and information to himself.

Monoma nodded a bit, "Alright, well as I was saying, the principal mentioned that our first heroics class with the mystery teacher would be Wednesday morning and 1-A's would be that afternoon. So today we'll probably do something with Kan-sensei." The thing is, the blonde didn't know what they'd do. He'd spent a lot of time thinking but he couldn't come up with anything. "What do you think he'll have us do if it's an exercise?" He asked them both.

Yanagi placed a finger on her chin as she thought, but she couldn't come up with anything besides basic introductions. They did that yesterday, but they were kind of rushed as they had orientation. "I'm not entirely sure either, what are your thoughts Midoriya?"

"A quirk showcase." He answered quickly.

Monoma rose a brow with a smile, "And how did you come to that conclusion, my friend?"

Izuku had a hand on his chin, his brows scrunched, with his eyes looking ahead in thought. "Just think about it, if we're going to be having an exercise tomorrow in class then it'll be with each other. We know a little about each other's quirks but not a whole lot. We need to find out what each other can do, limitations, abilities, then we'll be able to have teamwork in our course exercises."

Izuku felt an arm wrap around his shoulder and he was dragged into Monoma, "That was absolutely wonderful Midoriya! You truly are magnificent !"

"E-Eh?! M-Monoma-kun I think y-you're o-overreacting!" He blushed at the praise. "R-Right, Yanagi-chan?"

The Silverstein tilted her head at him, "The thoughts you had hadn't crossed my mind at all Midoriya, so it is impressive to me as well."

Izuku deflated as Monoma laughed, the three of them walking to class. They entered, the class wasn't full but it wasn't empty either. The three of them sat in their corner of the class, to Izuku's right Kendo was talking with Tokage at the green haired girl's table.

"Yeah, it was some spiky blonde asshole. He called me a pebble! A pebble! Jeez the nerve of some of these guys.." Tokage huffed as she looked out the window, Izuku in the way of her vision. Though she noticed he was incredibly stiff, almost like a statue. "Hey greenie, what's up?"

Izuku squirmed as her attention went to him. "N-Nothing, just was listening to your c-conversation…"

Tokage smiled a bit as she observed Izuku. He looked deep in thought, it was kind of cute. "You know something about the spiky blonde asshole?" By the way Izuku locked up, she was guessing that he did know something.

Monoma turned around in his chair, "Midoriya, is this the same hooligan that we saw in the hallway the other day?" He asked. The four surrounding waiting for Izuku to answer.

He sighed, "Yeah... Bakugo Katsuki, quirk: explosion, he wants to be the number one hero, but he doesn't know what a hero is supposed to be…" Izuku muttered quietly and sadly.

Tokage raised a brow, Izuku was acting different. He had so much emotion in his voice yesterday with his stutters, with his smiling and crying during the test. He sounded so lifeless right now.

"What does he think a hero should be?" Kendo propped herself on Tokage's desk as she asked her question.

Yanagi watched as his back hunched, he was nervous, that much was obvious. She wanted to make him feel better. It was obvious that this Bakugo person was the cause of inner demons for Izuku. But she didn't know anything about Izuku's situation, there was nothing that she could do.

It made her frown.

Izuku kneaded his hands together, thinking about his answer to Kendo's question. It was obvious, the same thing it had always been. 'Heroes save people with a smile..' But..

Wasn't it more than that?

He'd been thinking about it for a while, All Might had saved him twice a year ago, and he did save Izuku with a smile. But he also made Izuku feel safe with just his presence. All Might was a hero, he protected people, he made them feel safe, he saved people with a smile.

He opened his mouth before he knew what to say, "A hero… should be a protector, he thinks heroes just beat up villains, but that's not it. They don't look for trouble, they just protect people in trouble. T-They should make people feel safe. At least…that's what I think.." He looked at Kendo with determined eyes, it was the first time he had stared at anyone like that.

The ginger felt shred of respect grow for him as she nodded, "A-Alright, I think that's a good answer Midoriya." She felt a smile come to her lips, she didn't even mean to smile.

"That is wonderful Midoriya!"

"Sure is greenie!" Tokage cheered.

"G-Greenie?" Izuku asked about the nickname.

"Your hair's green, dum dum."

"B-But so is yours." Izuku pointed at, staring at her hair.

Tokage smiled, standing up and ruffling Izuku's head. The boy blushed but didn't shove her away, it was kind of nice actually. "I guess we're green buddies then, alright?"

"O-Ok.."

"Alright, that's enough! Homeroom will now begin!" Vlad King yelled as he strode into the room. Tokage huffed and went to her seat, Kendo leaving to take hers. "Alright today we will be having normal classes for you all later in the afternoon, but for now we will be having an exercise. Put on the gym uniforms and meet me at training Gym Alpha!" By how much the man yelled Izuku would've expected him to have lost his voice, but he hadn't.

The groups went to their own changing rooms, quickly getting into their gym uniforms before and heading out for gym Alpha. It was decently hard to find, after all UA was like a maze, but Shishida had pulled out a map of the school and had led the boy to the gym.

Except Kamakiri, he went off on his own, and was now probably wandering the halls looking for the gym.

The boys entered, finding that the girls were already there, and apparently they had been waiting. Going by Tokage's impatient tap at her foot.

"It's about time! What took you guys so long!" Tokage huffed as she crossed her arms.

"My apologies, we got lost and Kamakiri's protest held us back some time." Shishida apologized with a bow.

Vlad strode into the gym, a nettled Kamakiri on his shoulder, and a bag in his other arm "Alright! We're going to be conducting a quirk showcase so your classmates can get a firm understanding of your abilities! We'll be going in alphabetical order, Awase you're up!" The teacher called out. Kamakiri flinched a little from how loud the man was, being right next to his mouth didn't help.

Both of Izuku's friends stared at him with wonder as he smiled and pulled out a notebook to write down notes. The pro put the boy down as the class gathered, Awase stepping out of the group. "Uh sensei I need items for my quirk." Awase was handed a bag.

"If anyone needs items for their quirk, collect something from this bag." The class nodded.

Awase reached in and grabbed a coin and a baseball bat. "My quirk is called weld, I can bind any two items together but I need to be touching both items for it to work." He put the coin in his palm and placed his hand on the bat, the class heard a noise and then he retracted his hand to show the coin stuck on the part, a part of it now.

Izuku's eyes lit up as he wrote down the quirk in his notebook, Monoma and Yanagi questioning where he even got it from but not asking as they were interested in what Izuku was saying.

"Does he need to use five points or can it be any point of his hand? Does he just use one hand or can he touch different items with each hand and then will they be magnetized to each other then connect? Is there a weight limit? Or a time limit? Does the binding wear off or is it indefinite? Can it be used on living organisms? Does it take up energy from him, if so how much, and how many times can he do it?" Izuku listed off as he scribbled in his notebook. It was kind of impressive how fast he could go without oxygen.

He kept his questions to himself, he knew it'd waste time if he asked every question he had, so he decided not to voice them. He could find out more during the year, he just had to wait.

The class moved on, Kaibara going on and showing his quirk "Gyrate" which allowed him to rotate his limbs at high speeds.

Next, was Kamakiri.

The bug looking boy laughed as he stepped up. "So are you dumb-asses ready to see my quirk!" He said it stated more like a statement than a question, he raised his forearm and from it a blade came out.

Izuku shivered, 'He's too much like Kacchan…' He clenched his pencil, making it crack. He shook the thought away. He didn't want to think of one of his new classmates that way, it was rude. He grumbled before raising his hand, "Kamakiri-kun, I have a question!"

The boy looked at him for a second before sighing, "What is it, stutter?!"

The class went wide eyed, the nerve that Kamakiri had was amazing. Kendo was going to slap him in all honesty. And she wasn't the only one either, Monoma also wanted to as well, hell he'd copy Midoriya's super strength and then do it. And Yanagi was messing with her hands to keep her emotions in check.

But Izuku smiled instead, after all it was nowhere near the worst he'd ever been dealt.

"Can you only grow blades from your arms or can you do it from any part of your body? Also, how long can you make your blades?" He had to restrict himself to two questions, lest he want to get into a mutter storm.

Kamakiri was surprised at the questions, but a little mad, "I can do it anywhere, and only about a foot and a half right now…" He seemed pissed at how short his blades currently were.

"And how strong are they?" Izuku wrote down the information in his book as he looked up after asking the next question.

Kamakiri felt like he was being broken down, observed and analyzed like a lab rat. He grit his teeth and answered, "I can't cut through concrete or brick, I've tried, it makes my blades dull."

Kendo had the nerve to laugh at his face, Izuku's quirk seemed more useful now that Kamakiri's was broken down.

Izuku nodded to himself. "Well… you need to focus on forcing your blades out even if it hurts, the more you do it the more natural it will be, you can develop a fighting style of focusing on your forearm blades and throw in blades from other parts of your body to throw off your opponents. And if you keep on cutting things like rocks or concrete I believe your blades will go stronger, most likely they'll adapt to the stone, and you'll eventually be able to cut through it." The sentence finished in sync with Izuku's writing stopping, a small bit of smoke coming from his pencil lead.

The bug boy stared at the boy in wonder. He thought Izuku was kind of worthless, super lame. But he figured out recommendations and then smiled an almost eerie smile, "I- alright." Kamakiri went back to the group, staring at the smiling Izuku, it was official. Midoriya was weird, but not the bad kind.. just creepy..

Kuroiro was next, and his quirk was cool, if situational. Black allowed him to any dark colored object, be it shadows or black pants. Though right now he couldn't move the things he entered.

Next Kendo moved up and showed off Big Fist. She could grow the size of her fist and had incorporated it into a martial arts fighting style. It was genius really, she'd fight normally and enlarge her fists mid punch or post punch to throw off opponents.

Izuku's hand shot up, "Kendo-chan, how strong are you? Are your bones and muscles enhanced as well?"

The ginger tilted her head and was also a little thrown off at being called chan. She was always referred to as a tomboy, it was strange. "Uh, I don't know exactly how strong I am, and I don't know if my bones and muscles are enhanced either."

Izuku wrote that down as he creased his brows.

"Uh why do you ask?"

He looked up and tapped his chin with his pencil, "Well, how do your fists enlarge? Are new muscles created or do you have enhanced muscles that expand when you grow your fists? If so, then are your muscles when your hands are normal thicker than normal? If so that'd make your normal fists stronger, as you'd have more muscle density." He explained.

Kendo gaped as she thought about it. "I'll get back to you on that."

"Ok, thank you Kendo-chan!" Izuku smiled and Kendo winced at how bright he was.

Kodai, Komori and Shiozaki went next. Their quirks were interesting. Kodai could grow her size and the size of things she could touch. Komori could create and modify the properties of the mushroom, though she needed a good environment to create them. The more humid, the better. Shiozaki could control and manipulate her hair, which were vines.

Izuku wrote down his questions for all three of them. But he would wait to ask them. Though he noticed that Komori was more nervous and shy than he was. And he wanted to make her feel better. But she was really shy, so approaching her out of the blue probably wasn't the best.

Next was Shishida, who's quirk "Beast" was really interesting. He had two forms, his normal and beast form. In his beast form he had increased strength but lowered intelligence. Izuku had some hypothesis that he'd wait to find answers to.

Then there was Shoda, who Izuku hadn't seen much of so far. But his quirk, twin impact, was amazing in Izuku's eyes. He could make a second impact of any hit he caused, which was usually stronger than the first.

Then there was the foreign exchange student of the class, Pony Tsunotori, who's quirk was amazing, but her Japanese wasn't good. Which could cause problems for her, Izuku surmised. 'Maybe someone could give her tutoring lessons to help her? Communication is vital on the field during big events.. like the sludge incident.'

Then there was Kosei Tsuburaba who could create wind structures with his breath. "Breathing exercises to increase lung capacity, doing cardio exercises as well as swimming would help to do that." He wrote down, deciding to tell his classmate later.

Then there was the overexcited Tetsutetsu… Tetsutetsu….

"His first name and last name are the same…" Izuku dumbly wrote down, slightly imaging being called Midoriya Midoriya.

He wrote down the information for his quirk "Steel." He could transform the entirety of his body into a metal like substance, though Izuku wasn't sure of the properties. Honestly the name was misleading.

And then it was Izuku's green buddy, whose confusing quirk "Lizard Tail Splitter" was both amazing and confusing.

"Tokage-chan, I have a question!" Izuku had his hand raised.

The girl pointed at him and winked, "Shoot!"

"After you disconnect your limbs from your body they float, so can you float?" He was shaking with anticipation.

"Ah no, can't." Izuku wanted to ask why, but he would wait and see if there was a better explanation for why not.

He lowered his hand with a sigh "Ok…" He sounded a little disappointed actually.

The class had all realized that when it came to quirks, Midoriya was the guy. He had broken down Kamakiri's and had spoken about the theoretical science behind Kendo's. They all wanted him to analyze their quirks to see if there was anything interesting about them, but he hadn't opened his mouth since.

Fukidashi, Honenuki, and Bondo came up next. There quirks were all interesting, Fukidashi had his quirk Manga which allowed him to make manga like speech bubbles come from his head. Honenuki, one of the two recommendation students for the class, Softening, allowed him to soften and sink into things. And Bondo's quirk Cemedine acted as basically a very strong glue.

He wrote down everything, finding nothing important to note, though Fukidashi's had an amazing amount of potential.

"Alright… now Monoma-"

"IT'S MY TIME!" The blonde yelled as he strode to the front of the class, though he didn't touch anyone. The boy took an elegant bow, something an old time European noble would do not a traditional Japanese one, as he smiled at his class. "As many of you saw yesterday, my quirk is Copy, allowing me to copy anyone's quirks who I touch, though I cannot copy mutations."

He explained simply, rising from his bow and reaching a hand out to the crowd, "Do I have a volunteer?"

None of the class moved up, the majority not comfortable with their quirks being copied and others being mutant type quirk bearers. "I see, what about you Midoriya?" He turned to his green haired friend.

The boy choked up, the class turning to him, "I-I don't know Monoma-kun, my quirk b-breaks my body I don't think it's such a g-good idea…" He trailed off, looking at Monoma with eyes of contemplation.

"Well we do have Recovery Girl for a reason, don't we?" Monoma smirked slightly, "Right, Kan-sensei?"

The giant pro sighed, "Monoma-kun, I would not recommend going out of your way to break yourself. It's not a good idea, it's not beneficial, and all you'll do is gain the old lady's ire."

"But perhaps it could help Midoriya with his own quirk, isn't that something we should take into account?" He spread his arms wide, as if making a grand presentation.

Vlad bit his lip. He wanted Midoriya to succeed a lot, to stick it to Aizawa. He wanted that to happen so bad. Any insight into the boy's quirk would be wonderful, but this wasn't the way. "Monoma-kun, pick someone else-"

"A-Actually Kan-sensei, I don't think it'd do anything." Izuku stated as he went to a page in his notebook. A page on his quirk, though it was named "Superpower" instead of "One For All" and it didn't cover anything on the transferring aspect of the quirk.

Vlad rose a brow as well as the rest of the class. Yanagi tilted her head, "Would you mind if we seek your knowledge in this instance Midoriya." She asked. It was interesting to see how his mind worked, she wanted to know more. More about him, about what he liked, how he thought. Just more.

Izuku nodded, skimming through his notes. "W-Well, like I said yesterday..m-my quirk uses a form of energy. And.. that energy is what enhances my body. T-Though…" Ok, he'd need to explain how the energy stockpiled without it seeming like he just magically gained a quirk from someone else.

Thankfully, he'd been working on it.

"I believe that this energy has had to s-stockpile overtime, building up until it actually became useful. It took so long that for the first fifteen years of my life, I was thought to be quirkless." He closed his notebook and waited for any sort of reaction from his class.

Though he didn't get any from his most of his classmates, it just seemed like a passing statement, Monoma's eyes widened. And Vlad King didn't seem to be doing much better.

Izuku continued, "So I believe if you copy my quirk, you won't have any of the energy I use to power up, thus rendering it useless to you." He explained, getting a stiff nod from his blonde friend. Monoma felt a little bad. Izuku didn't know that his quirk copied the target's at an equal level of power, just without the knowledge to use it effectively, so he most likely would gain the energy his friend was talking about.

"Alright, Monoma go back to the group, since Midoriya already explained his and his quirk has a glass cannon like nature, Yanagi you're up." The ghost girl nodded and explained her Poltergeist, Izuku took notes like usual.

Though there was the blonde, his teacher, and a couple other students sending Izuku worried stares.

Quirkless, the ire the quirkless gained simply for existing was astronomical. So they had to ask, how much pain had Midoriya endured?

Vlad cleared his throat, gaining their attention once again. "Alright, class dismissed, go change back and then go to lunch, after that you'll have your normal class then you can go home. Eat a good meal for dinner, you'll have your first heroics exercise tomorrow!" Vlad yelled as he strode out of the gym, the class leaving soon after.

Sekijiro Kan was walking with a purpose as he strode into the teacher's lounge, practically slamming the door open. "AIZAWA!" He yelled in anger.

The teachers that were there shook in fear at the random jump scare, Midnight spilling her tea. "Kan! What the heck!"

The teacher growled as he stared at the caterpillar sleeping on the floor. He went over and forcefully opened it up and brought the hobo looking man out of it.

"Hey partner, why don't we calm down eh? No reason to get all cranky with each other." Snipe stood up and tried to placate Vlad, the man growled in response. The cowboy hero backed off as he put his hands up, showing he wasn't a threat to anybody.

Finally, the hobo looking man decided to wake up. "Vlad, what are you doing?" He asked in a dead voice.

The white haired pro turned to Aizawa with a glare, "Arrogant! You called him arrogant, Aizawa! He's the exact opposite of that crap!" He shook Aizawa as he had him by the collar.

"Who are you talking about.." Aizawa narrowed his eyes, having a small idea of who was being mentioned, he was starting to get annoyed. Being so emotional when being a pro hero, it was illogical. Letting your emotions get the better of you when you were in such a profession. It was something only a fool would do.

"Midoriya damn it! You called him arrogant for not training his quirk! He thought he was quirkless for fifteen years damn it!" Vlad grit his teeth, Aizawa could clearly see how much anger was held in his eyes "You judge anyone you deem unworthy of being a hero! But you didn't know anything about Midoriya! How many other hero hopefuls have you deemed unworthy, and how many of them have become villains!"

The pros which were resting were now invested in what was happening. Yamada was quietly sipping his coffee, staring at the two.

And Nezu was in his office, watching the whole display with a smile, "Though Sekijiro is being a little more violent than I expected, I do believe this will be a humbling experience for Shouta.." He quietly sipped at his tea, a content smile on his face.

His eyes glinted happily as his smile stretched just a bit, seeing Aizawa start to get a little annoyed was a joyful experience.

The white haired man bit back a growl, "His quirk requires an energy that his body generates over time, he was treated as a quirkless for fifteen years, do you have any idea what kind of torment he could possibly have received!" He brought the man closer till they were centimeters apart.

Aizawa narrowed his eyes, "And how is that my fault?"

"You're a teacher at UA, you're supposed to do background checks. You said you would take care of the top 10 examinees! Nezu gave you those because you said doing the rest with us was too much of a hassle, and you couldn't even handle that!" He shook the man a little, his anger was overtaking him, even he knew that.

Aizawa clenched his fist, "Well I'm sorry that I'm busy when I'm not in school, unlike the rest of you I take my patrols seriously." He stated monotonically.

"IT WAS TEN PEOPLE, DOCTOR REPORTS, PAST SCHOOLS, GRADES, BEHAVIOR REPORTS, AND RECORDS! THAT'S ALL YOU NEEDED TO DO, IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!" He felt his hands clenching harder at the man's collar.

"What if it is? I don't need to waste my time with someone who can't even use their quirk right." Aizawa said through clenched teeth.

Vlad was about to punch him in the face.

"Excuse me, Aizawa-kun?" The tension was broken when they all heard the high pitched voice over the intercom. Vlad clenched his teeth, there was more to do, more to say, but he dropped Aizawa.

The man brushed his clothes. "What is it?" The man looked up towards the intercom in the corner of the room

"Can we talk for a moment in my office? You don't have afternoon classes so I believe you'll be free." They all could hear the smile in the rat's voice.

The messy man sighed as he stepped past Kan, sending him a glare and briefly activating his quirk, before leaving.

The remaining teachers all looked at Kan.

"Ayo, so what was that abou-"

"CODE VIOLET IN THE CAFETERIA, CAN WE GET ONE TEACHER TO THE CAFETERIA PLEASE." A robotic voice came over the intercom, it was distinctly monotone compared to Nezu's overly joyful tone.

The pros on break all sighed. "Of course.. that one annoyin' kid every goddamned year. I swear partner…" Snipe leaned back in his chair. Many of the rest copying him. "Not it."

"Not i-"

"I'll handle it." Midnight stood up and sighed. She loved kids, she really did, but they could be so annoying sometimes.

"I'll go with you, Nem." Yamada took a drink of his water, getting his throat ready if he had to yell.

The two left the teacher's lounge and Vlad fell onto the couch with a sigh. "You good partner?" Snipe sipped his drink, how he did that through his mask I have no idea.

Vlad stared at the sharpshooting hero before sighing, "No."

END

Ok, so that's the end of chapter 2, real quick I wanted to ask what pairs people wanted for the Battle Trials? I think I want to pair Izuku with Tetsutetsu, because I want him to have a bro, not that Monoma ain't cool but he ain't exactly a bro. He's like Iida and Tetsu's like... well Kirishima, they're both cool but different kinds of cool.

As for who I'd have him up against, right now I think I wanna try having him fight Monoma and Kamakiri, I definitely wanna have Kamakiri on the enemy team but I'm not sure on Monoma, any suggestions would help a ton!

Anyways, I'm probably not gonna get to the Battle Trials next chapter... sorry, we have character stuff to go through!

Chapter 3: Return of the Deku

Summary:

For once, Izuku Midoriya felt like a normal kid, finally having people he thought he could call friends. However, what happens when his old middle-school friend Katsuki "Kacchan" Bakugo finds out that he managed to get into UA?

Return of The Deku

Izuku hummed happily as he and his friends walked to the cafeteria. This time though they were joined by Tokage and Kendo. The greanette had said something about green buddies sticking together and the red head followed her friend.

They all got lunch and sat together, and it was weird for Izuku. He'd never had something like this, never had a group of friends to call his own. But Yanagi had never once been rude to him, even though she basically knew he had problems with his stuttering and nervousness.

Monoma was overly friendly, and was always complimenting him, it was nice.

Tokage seemed really cool, like the one friend that everyone wanted to be like, even if they weren't the best role model but because they were just awesome.

And while he hadn't seen much of Kendo yet, she seemed respectable. She seemed kind to him, and she had a warm face to her. She didn't seem mean at all.

They got into line and Izuku gushed over Lunch Rush and asked for the man's autograph.

"Hey, can someone tell me where greenie got that book from?" Tokage asked the rest of the group as Izuku was too busy compiling all of the Cook Hero's accomplishments, the pro blushing a little at the praise.

"As much as I would like to inform you of the origins of Midoriya's notebook, I'm afraid to inform you that I have absolutely no clue as to where he derives it from." Yanagi answered as Izuku smiled happily as he took his book back from Lunch Rush.

The greanette happily got lunch and the rest of the group did as well. "So does anyone else notice that Midoriya just seems to brighten anyone's day?" Kendo asked as they looked for a table, Izuku smiling at any passersby and making them smile back.

"You'd think it's a quirk or something…" Tokage muttered as they found a table. They all sat down, Izuku and Monoma on one side and the girls on the other.

They had all started eating when they noticed Izuku staring at another table, his entire focus on it. "Midoriya, is something the matter?" Monoma asked his friend as he grabbed his shoulder, Izuku's focus seemed to return.

"S-Sorry Monoma-kun, give me a second." Izuku drawled on as he got out of his chair and left the table.

"What's he doing?" Tokage watched him leave towards a table with only one girl sitting at it. She grumbled before detaching an eye and an ear, sending them over to see what was going on and listening. "I'll tell you guys what's going on."

"Tokage you can't do that!" Kendo chastised but it was too late, she could already see the smile on her friend's face as her ocular and hearing devices tracked Izuku.

The greanette approached a table with a lonely brunette, her long bangs covering her eyes, her mouth set in a frown. He locked up, a bit nervous at going out of his way to talk to a girl, but he sucked it up and took a deep breath.

He steeled his nerves before sitting down in front of Komori at her lone table. The girl squeaked in surprise at someone sitting down with her. She got ready for mocks or anything of the sort, but then she noticed it was Midoriya. The only person who was as shy and nervous about stuff as she was.

"H-Hi, K-Komori-chan." He cursed his stutter, he thought he had been doing better but it all came back with a vengeance, but he kept a friendly smile on his voice.

"H-Hi Midoriya-kun….h-how… is the weather..?" Komori wanted to hit herself over the head with the hardest mushshroom she could make.

"It's ah.. pretty good, not too hot, not too cold…"

"W-Well, that's good…" She smiled a little. He didn't laugh at her terrible conversation skills, so that made her happy. She saw Izuku's face locked up in contemplation, he was kneading his hands too. She gulped and decided to go for it. "Is s-something b-bothering you?"

She kept her hands in her lap, she was messing with them. This was the longest conversation she had held with any of her new classmates, it was nerve wracking.

Izuku locked eyes with her, they looked like ones of understanding to her. "D-Do you want to s-sit with us?" He motioned towards the table with everyone else at it.

"He's got the movessss." Tokage smacked the table.

"What do you mean?" Kendo squinted her eyes as her friend grinned.

"I'll tell ya later."

Komori locked up, speechless at the question. "R-Really?!" She shot up out of her chair and almost fell as she reached over and grabbed Izuku's hand. Tears spilled out of her eyes, though Izuku couldn't see because of her bangs.

The greanette blushed but nodded, "Y-Yeah.. you looked lonely.. and I didn't l-like that.." He responded as she let go of his hand, realizing how forward it was. "B-But only if you want to…"

"I-I want to!" She immediately said. Izuku smiled, making her heart thump, as he grabbed her plate, "Come on."

Tokage laughed as she smacked the lunch table. "I didn't know greenie was so smooth!"

Kendo and Yanagi were still wondering what was going on, but Monoma had pieced together what he could. "Though knowing Midoriya, he might be doing everything by accident and not even realize it.."

Tokage stopped and deflated, "You're probably right on that one blondie…."

They all turned to see Izuku and Komori walking over, the two awkwardly making conversation as they both weren't sure on how to have a conversation with someone as equally bad at conversation as they were.

And then Izuku heard the distinct sounds of explosions. Before he knew what was happening he threw Komori out of the way and felt the force hit his side and then the coldness of the floor.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING YOU DAMN DEKU!" The yell cut through the cafeteria. Komori, who was now on the floor after Izuku shoved her away, looked on in horror as Izuku looked on in fear at his tormentor.

"It's that hooligan!"

"That blond prick!"

Both Monoma and Tokage yelled in sync as their group got out of their chairs, Kendo going to help Komori.

"Are you ok?" She asked the shorter girl as she helped Komori up, the brunette nodded but was solely aware of Izuku and how afraid he seemed to be.

"H-He's shaking…" She pointed out, Kendo looking at her in confusion before looking at Midoriya. He was more than shaking, he wasn't moving to defend himself, he was just going to take it.

Monoma came to them and quickly tagged her on the arm before running to his friend in danger. It took a moment but Kendo realized what he had done. "Monoma.."

The ash blonde picked Izuku up by the collar, "WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO THINK YOU CAN SIT IN THE SAME ARENA AS ME! YOU'RE NOTHING!" He sent his arm forward, hitting Izuku in the stomach, and then activating his quirk.

The greanette winced, feeling the familiar sensation of his clothes tearing and his skin being burned. He was sent backwards and hit the floor once more. He brought his hand up and felt his stomach, the muscles that were there were definitely bleeding, he felt it.

'I-I'm b-bleeding! Please don't be too bad!' He looked up and saw the crazed red eyes of.."K-Kacchan…!" He squeaked out, his voice clearly showing his fear with it's high pitch.

He saw the manic smile scared him, but he was ready to receive anything that the boy would do.

And then Bakugo was hurled away by an enormous fist.

Monoma, and Tokage stood defensively in front of Izuku while Yanagi made sure he was ok. "Are you insane?! Attacking another student unprovoked in the middle of the day!" Monoma's fist shrunk down as he tapped Tokage on the shoulder.

The greanette nodded as she understood what Monoma was doing., "My quirk's hard to use, be careful." She muttered, the blonde nodding in return.

Bakugo stood back up and glared at Monoma, "THE HELL, GET OUT OF MY YOU BLOND FUCK!" He had his hands out in fury, his quirk showing off with popping explosions.

The surrounding students finally started reacting, a blue haired boy from 1-A coming up behind Bakugo. "You hooligans! What are you doing, ganging up on one of our students!" He yelled.

Kendo glared at the boy, "If you actually paid attention, you'd realize he attacked one of our students out of nowhere!" She yelled, feeling the urge to use her quirk on the bespectacled blue haired boy.

Komori ran to Izuku's side, kneeling next to him and producing a mushroom. "Midoriya-kun, eat this, it acts as a painkiller, it'll make you feel better." The boy managed to sit-up on the floor and took the mushroom, their handing being connected for a brief moment before he ate it.

'They shouldn't be getting involved in my mess..' He looked at the two standing in front of him, defending him. To the side to see Komori looking worried at his bloody stomach. And then to Yanagi who was holding him up to make sure he didn't slump down to the floor. He sighed as he stood up, Komori yelping in protest and Yanagi telling him to rest, but he stood up anyways.

He grabbed Monoma's shoulder, the boy looking back to see Izuku smiling bitter sweetly. "It's fine, Monoma-kun, don't worry about it." Izuku's smile stretched a bit, so obviously fake.

"But Midoriya-"

"I-It's fine.." His voice seemed to break as he walked past his… friends.

That was still strange, but it was nice. They were willing to defend him, even if he didn't want them to.

"THE COWARD'S COME TO FIGHT ME HIMSELF!" Bakugo laughed as his quirk made more explosions, with each one Izuku flinched and folded in on himself, remembering a distinct beating each time.

It was now that the glasses-wearing blue haired teen realized what was going on, and found the contestant that had completely outperformed him in the entrance exam. "B-Bakugo-kun, it's not well to start fights with our peers!" He tried to fix it.

Kendo bit back a laugh, only now was the guy trying to be useful.

Bakugo didn't pay attention as his manic smile only seemed to get bigger as he prepared to launch off and show Deku his place. The smell of his smoke was so familiar, seeing Deku's crying face, it was nostalgic.

And then he caught the faintest smell of some perfume before it expanded and he felt his eyes closing. "..the fuck..?" He got out before falling to the floor.

"Alright!" A distinctly feminine voice made the hormones of the surrounding boys to go wild, the sound of a whip cracking against stone followed soon after, making a shiver run down their spines. "What's going on?!" The R-Rated Hero Midnight stood in the cafeteria, the Voice Hero: Present Mic by her side.

Both of the 1-A students had passed out, as they were the closest to the pro. Though she didn't send out much of her quirk, as to make sure not too many people passed out, it was enough to make them fall asleep.

Izuku was frozen, Midnight was one of the coolest heroes! Of course now wasn't the best time to gush about pros but he knew he was about to open his mouth and gush, before Monoma stepped forward.

"Ms. Kayama." Monoma bowed, his voice oddly formal for once. He rose from his brow, "This-" He had to bite himself back from calling Bakugo a hooligan or worse, "-person attacked my friend, Midoriya, when he was returning to our table." He explained. "Midoriya was accompanied by someone else, he pushed her away, and then he was hit by this boy's quirk which seems to allow him to create explosions."

They all saw Midnight wince at the last part, her eyes traveling over Izuku and finding his bloody stomach. She pinched her nose and sighed, "Alright, Midoriya go to Recovery Girl, we'll take care of Bakugo, what about this other boy, was he involved at all?"

"He wasn't ma'am."

"Alright.. Zashi you handle everything here, make sure nothing else happens." She said to her fellow pro, the blonde nodding as she left with Bakugo under her arm like a surfboard.

"Midoriya, right?" Present Mic stepped up to the green haired one. "Here, a slip for the nurse's office." He handed Izuku a pink slip, though he noticed how happy the kid looked, "You alright-"

"CAN I HAVE YOUR AUTOGRAPH?!" He was in a 90 degree bow, with a book that came from who knows where outstretched, opened to a page of Present Mic doing his famous, "YEAHHHHHH!" Pose.

The pro laughed, ringing a couple of people's ears in the process before signing, "Sure thing little listener!" The blonde smiled a bit at the kid. "Now go to the nurse's office."

"Yes sir-" Komori bumped Izuku's arm, bringing the surrounding attention to her.

She blushed a bit before turning to Present Mic, "Um sure, I h-had Midoriya ingest a mushroom from my quirk, w-will I need to talk to her as well about that?" Her voice was quiet but the blonde pro heard her easily enough.

He scratched his cheek, "Probably yes, I'd go just to make sure."

"O-Ok!"

The two turned towards the rest of the group, "Worry not my friend! Just go make sure you are alright! And perhaps we could go get food after school since you weren't able to finish your lunch, you're welcome to come as well Komori-chan!"

They both nodded, Izuku smiling a bit at the change of pace from middle school before leaving, Komori hurrying to follow after the taller boy.

They were walking the halls, Izuku already knowing where the office was so he didn't need a map. Komori fiddled with her hands, glancing at Izuku, his smile was gone now. He didn't look sad, just kind of dead.

She raised a hand, retracting it before steeling herself and grabbing onto his sleeve. The greanette stopped in his tracks and turned to her, "Is something wrong, Komori-chan?" He sounded so quiet, but still kind like he had always been.

"I- um… what does Deku mean?" She decided to ask that question. But she felt terrible when he seemed to deflate. "I'm sorry if it's sensitive for you!"

He shook his head as they kept on walking, "It's fine… really." He sighed as he thought about it. He didn't know much about Komori, but she seemed really nice so far. Maybe he could tell her. He wanted to find people that he could trust, that he could be friends with.

He wanted friends.

And seeing Komori's banged face, it reminded him of the nice girl from the entrance exam. She was friendly and she smiled. 'I haven't seen Komori-chan smile like that..'

Komori didn't smile, that much was obvious to Izuku. 'I'll make her smile…' He turned to the brunette and let out a small smile, "It's just an.. old nickname. You could read my first name like that.. it means.." He trailed off, not wanting to say it.

"Useless..?" Komori asked and he nodded, they returned to silence as they kept on walking, "W-Well, I think that's the farthest from the truth, for what t-that's worth.." She spoke quietly as she needed her hands.

Izuku looked at her, tears brimming at her words before smiling widely, "Thanks.. Komori-chan…"

"Y-You're welcome.." Komori responded as they arrived.

Izuku sighed before sliding the door open. "Recovery Girl…"

"OH FOR-" Both teens heard the old lady's yell as she hopped off of her chair and strode to the door, Izuku flinching as she readied her cane to smack him, "Give me one good reason not to smack you right now!"

"M-Midoriya was attacked… please… don't…" Komori stood in front of Izuku like a shield. She flinched at the cane but the old lady huffed and put it down.

"Alright, get in here you buffoon. You forgot to come into my office for your finger this morning. Izuku went rigid as he remembered what he was supposed to do, he even told Monoma and Yanagi that he wouldn't forget. He sat down on the bed, "So is there anything I should know, why are you here?" Recovery Girl turned to Komori.

The brunette squeaked, "I can make m-mushrooms… I gave him one that was b-basically a painkiller." She explained.

Recovery Girl nodded, "Alright, that shouldn't mess with my quirk at all." She walked to her desk and pressed a button, a robot with clothes in its hands came in, "For you Midoriya."

The boy took them, a little sad that they were the perfect size. He let out his hand, the nurse kissed it and his index finger returned to its original state, 'I didn't even realize it was in pain… that's a bad thing..'

His stomach healed as well, the blood wiped away by Recovery Girl with a rag. "Alright, now change and get out."

"Yes ma'am…" Izuku seemed deflated as he took off his clothes, hearing a yelp in the corner. He perked his head up in that direction, coming eye to eye with Komori.

"I-I'll get out!" The girl squeaked, slamming the door as she left.

He gaped for a couple seconds, looking at the closed door before he slowly and quietly put on the new uniform, handing the broken one to the robot on duty, it rolled away after. 'I'm so dumb…' Recovery Girl didn't comment on his stupidity as he robotically made his way to the door, only briefly saying, "Don't come back this week." To which he made no promises.

He exited and found Komori leaning on the wall, a small blush on her face. "I-I'm sorry, K-Komori-chan…" He was as quiet as a mouse, the girl shook her. Head.

"I-It's f-fine, Midoriya-kun.. let's go back to c-class.." He nodded and they quietly walked back.

They entered the class, Ectoplasm was up on the board teaching math. "S-Sorry we're late sensei." They both bowed and class resumed. Though there were just more questions up in the air.

From the quirk showcase to the incident in the cafeteria, there were just more questions to ask. What was up with Izuku Midoriya?

The day ended and Izuku sighed as the final bell for the day went off. The class all got out of their seats, either stretching, talking with someone, or leaving was what everyone was doing.

"So, where do you all wish to convene for some cuisine?" Yanagi inquired as their group all got together. She tilted her head at the group.

Tokage wrapped her arms around Monoma and Izuku's shoulders, "I don't know, don't really care, maybe some pizza, but it would be gentlemanly of you guys to pay, right?"

"Tokage.. don't be like that.." Kendo muttered, the greanette didn't budge though.

Izuku was too busy blushing to actually respond while Monoma sighed, "If that's what you wish for I could very much pay for dinner, though you'll have to pay next time, do we have a deal?"

"Deal!" Tokage exclaimed, letting go of both boys.

"Alright, you all have told your parents or families why you'll be out, correct?" Monoma asked the group. They all heard a choking sound as Izuku hastily pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

Tokage smiled as a devious idea came to mind.

Izuku heard barely one ring go off and the phone picked up, "Izuku sweetie, is something wrong?! You almost never call!" She sounded worried. All of the group heard her despite Izuku not having it on speaker.

The boy winced from the loudness, "Y-Yeah mom, I'm fine, I was just going to go with some friends to get some food and h-hang out. I just wanted to let you know." He sighed in relief at hearing her calm down.

"Oh ok, w-well have fun sweetie, ok?" She sounded really happy. In all honesty, she was overjoyed that he was making friends. And was relieved that UA wasn't the same as Aldera.

"I will, thanks mom." He smiled at how happy she sounded. Had he not bringing friends over worry her that much? He was going to hang up until Tokage pounced on him.

The shark teeth girl threw her arm around Izuku's shoulder, "Alright, come on Izuku, bye Mamadoriya!" She smiled and hung up for Izuku, though the split before the line went dead they all heard a scream and a thump.

'Mom passed out…' Izuku sighed as he stuffed his phone, he knew she didn't have work today, maybe sleeping would be good for her? Hopefully? He turned to Tokage, not even noticing that he still had a blush on his face. "T-Tokage-chan… w-why?"

The greanette put her hands behind her head and smiled, "What? We're friends, it's fine if I call you Izuku, right?" She seemed completely carefree at the fact that she most likely had made his mom pass out from… surprise? He wasn't sure the exact medical cause.

Izuku rubbed the back of his head, and he still had a blush on his face. No one had ever called him Izuku before, well besides his mom but that didn't count. It was kind of embarrassing…

But he had never had friends before either, was this just something friends did? He didn't know, but he wasn't afraid to try. "S-Sure, if you w-want to…" He looked away, trying to hide his tomato face.

Yanagi tilted her head as she floated beside him, pushing him so they could start walking to leave the building, "May I refer to you as Izuku as well?" She asked.

The boy went ramrod straight but nodded his head.

"They're gonna kill him, poor guy.." Kendo sighed as the group left out the doors, Monoma shooed both girls away, Tokage pouting and Yanagi moving to float next to Monoma so she could still be near the greanette.

"Worry not Midoriya my friend, I'm sure your mother will be alright, and if Tokage here goes too far, come to me." Monoma advised as he tapped Izuku's shoulder a bit.

Izuku smiled a bit, "W-Will do, Monoma-kun."

They found a pizza place, it was cheap for a group like them and offered a lot of variation without much cost. Monoma had gotten a cheese pizza, Kendo and Tokage got a normal pepperoni, Komori got one with mushrooms on it, Yanagi ordered a special called "The Mystery Pizza" and Izuku got-

"Ok, the fuck, what is that?" Tokage cursed as Izuku got his food.

The greanette rose a brow as he started eating, "W-What? Is something wrong?"

The recommendation student deadpanned at his food of choice. "No, nothing at all. Just me realizing you're a psychopath." She commented.

Izuku now noticed that everyone was looking at him weirdly, "W-What d-did I do?!" He asked with a slight raise in his voice, honestly worried that he had done something to ruin his new friendships.

"Nothing too bad my friend.. but really? Pineapple on pizza? I doubt even 1-A would do something so heinous." Monoma commented and Izuku looked dumbfounded.

"But pineapple on pizza is good!"

"How could you say that! It clashes with the pre established texture and flavor!"

"But that's what makes it so good!"

"It's official! Greenie's insane!"

Izuku found himself smiling as they bickered. They weren't trying to make fun of him or his tastes, it was just friendly banter. It wasn't something he had a lot of, but it was something he hoped to have more of in the future.

Earlier at UA

Aizawa sighed as he entered Nezu's office, he was grateful that he was able to get out of an illogical situation. Izuku Midoriya was a glass cannon and would be useless in the field, but apparently Kan didn't see it that way. He was living a fantasy.

"Nezu, what did you need-"

"CODE VIOLET IN THE CAFETERIA, CAN WE GET ONE TEACHER TO THE CAFETERIA PLEASE." The alarm blared in the small rat's office, said being having a growing smile.

"Well, I do wonder what that is about, shall we check, Aizawa-kun?" The man tilted his head and he could audibly hear his employee gulp. 'I have him on a rope… you are quite the fun one Aizawa, though you don't realize when you've gone too far…'

The man shook his head, "No, if it's alright with you I'd rather not waste time-"

"Oh no! Please, I do insist, it won't take up too much time." Nezu pushed a cup of hot coffee over his desk, the hobo looking man instantly began eyeing it.

"Fine…" He sat down in the chair opposite Nezu's desk and he swore he saw the rat's teeth glint.

The mouse pulled up a video on one of his monitors, turning the device so Aizawa could see. It was security camera footage of what was currently going on in the cafeteria. And it was focused on one person in particular.

"The illogical and useless glass cannon…" Aizawa sighed. Was Nezu trying to teach him a lesson or something? Because nothing was happening, he was just talking with some girl, nothing important. "Sir, I value my time, I'll be leaving."

"Oh but you'll miss the best part Aizawa-kun!" The pro swore that the principal's smile stretched just a tad bit again.

He decided to entertain Nezu for a bit, even if it was a waste of time. Both Midoriya and the girl left her table, going to anyone where he presumed Midoriya's friends were. And then all hell broke loose. He saw a distinct piece of blonde hair come out of nowhere and attack Midoriya.

The principal had even graciously turned the audio on so he could hear their conversation.

Yells, cursing, the word Deku, that and more was thrown around, the smaller boy shaking in fear. His friends went to help him and Iida chastised them for attacking Bakugo. 'I swear that kid…' He could tell Iida was going to be a handful.

He acted like a superior to everyone, but he wasn't. But that wasn't anywhere near Bakugo's superiority complex. The boy thought he was the best of the best, the next number one hero. But he had a strong quirk. So Aizawa was willing to overlook any behavioral flaws.

Midoriya had a strong quirk but it broke him and on top of that he was completely reckless, he had a heroic streak but couldn't back it up.

But from what he was seeing right now. Bakugo and Midoriya were the complete opposite of each other. Midoriya had a heroic streak, and Bakugo had a villainous one.

He glared at Nezu, "What's the point of this?"

The rat's smile dropped and he sighed, "Aizawa-kun, you have cost my institution many applicants, you expelled your entire class last year."

"They weren't worthy of the hero track-"

"And you were?" Nezu stared at him and his smile began to form again, "If I remember correctly, you were in general studies when you first began, no?" He was prodding, and he knew that. And it was oh so fun to do with Aizawa. "And in the entrance exam you weren't able to do much of anything as well."

Aizawa's face was getting dangerously close to a scowl and he loved it! "Those tests are geared towards people with combative quirks. Mine does nothing against robots." Aizawa bit out.

"Ah yes of course! However, you could have gotten rescue points like many of our other applicants, like Midoriya did." Nezu smiled, he knew he was getting the underground hero riled up. "But you didn't Aizawa-kun…"

"I'm done with this-"

"Nezzuuuuuu~" Both occupants heard the cheery cry as Midnight strode into the principal's office.

"Ah Miss Kayama, how's Bakugo-kun holding up?" The principal turned his attention away from Aizawa as they all stared at the passed out blonde in the R-Rated heroine's arms.

"Well, he hasn't woken up, so that's good." She smiled as she plopped the boy down in a chair next to Aizawa.

"Thank you Miss Kayama, you're excused so you can go now if you want."

Midnight slowly nodded"I think I will.." She sent Aizawa a glance before sighing and taking her leave. 'Shouta… you're digging your own grave…'

Nezu's gaze turned back to the tired hero as the door to his office shut, "Aizawa, please wake him up for me!" Nezu ordered and the pro obliged. He knew he was on thin ice already and he didn't want to make his situation any worse than it already was.

He stared at the boy for a second before sighing and blowing some air into Bakugo's ear, the boy jolting awake. "FUCKING DEK- where in the fuck am I?" His voice still sounded angry but also held confusion as well. He turned to the side to see his weird ass hobo teacher and to the front to see a creepy looking rat thing. "Who in the fuck are you?!"

"There is no need to yell Bakugo-kun, I can hear just fine." Nezu commented as he smiled widely. "And who am I? Am I a mouse, a bear, a dog? I'm the principal of UA, Nezu!" The mouse's grin showed his satisfaction as Bakugo's eyes widened. "So, you will behave with me." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"I don't have to do jack shi-"

"Bakugo." Nezu interrupted, his smile stretching once again, he was having so much fun today! "You're seat in the hero course- no, your spot at UA is at risk here. You attacked another student unprovoked."

"It's just Deku!" The blonde yelled back, like it was an answer. To him, it was. It always had been and in his eyes, always would be.

"That's not a good enough answer I'm afraid…" Nezu wanted to smoke right now. The boy was so… childish. He was a child, so it did make sense. But he was acting like a spoiled five year old and not a 16 year old who was already on their way to adulthood. "Is there any other reason you might have, Bakugo?"

"Why do I need a reason to put Deku in his place!" The blonde's yelling was getting annoying, but his face made Nezu chuckle.

'He looks more like an animal than I do..' He nodded, "Because attacking someone unprovoked like you did, as well as using your quirk with a license, can put you in prison. I do have a detective friend on speed dial, should I give them a call Bakugo?" The principal smiled so wide you could see his canines.

Bakugo felt a shiver go down his spine as he flinched back. 'WHAT?! GO TO PRISON FOR JUST- God damn you Deku!' He shook his head. He couldn't, he wouldn't go to prison just for putting Deku in his place! He didn't know why this rat bastard cared but he wouldn't let it jeopardize his hero career. "Ok! Now keep quiet, the adults need to talk." Nezu turned to Aizawa.

The man sighed and Nezu continued, "Now Aizawa-kun, I'll be willing to forget about your little incident with Kan, however you will have to make sure Bakugo-kun here behaves better. And no expelling students for the rest of this year on your own, any expulsion requests go through me, is that clear?"

Aizawa gruffly stared at the principal's beady eyes. You couldn't find any emotion in the damn things, it felt like they were staring through you. Well with Nezu's quirk he was staring through you, pulling you apart and finding what made you tick. He often made a game of it.

And Aizawa hated it.

"Yes, understood." The gruff man got out as he stared with disinterest, though inside he was sweating. He couldn't expel people anymore!

"Good, and Bakugo-kun?" The mouse turned towards the student in the chair, the boy was grinding his teeth. He very clearly wanted to say something but held himself back, he didn't want to get expelled or arrested. 'Well look at that, it can be respectful, well that's too much of a stretch.' Nezu thought passively, "If you pull anything like that again, you will be put in General Studies. Anything after that and we will expel you and convene with other hero schools to make sure you can never apply to them, that is of course if the police don't decide to pursue you for criminal activity."

The boy finally showed a different emotion besides anger, surprise. Nezu knew his type. Great and grand during the early stages of their life, everyone saying that they would be the greatest and so on and so forth.

And then they got to the real world and learned what it was like. 'This is probably, no most definitely, the first time he's been reprimanded in school' He could audibly hear the grinding of the boy's teeth as he grit them, eventually he nodded, wallowing in defeat.

The principal clapped his hands together on his desk, "Alright! Now as fun as this was, I do have business to attend to, so please return to your business boys."

Aizawa grunted in displeasure before standing, "Bakugo, come you have your lesson to attend to." Just a normal period where he had the kids do whatever they wanted outside since their first heroics class was tomorrow.

The blonde stood up and left with Aizawa, a scowl on his face the entire time, the door closed behind the two and Nezu's smile dropped.

He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, jumping out of his chair and standing at the window behind his desk. He let out a puff of smoke and sighed, "Computer, pull up the school record of number six applicant Izuku Midoriya." He spoke aloud and his monitor changed before Izuku's record was shown.

He turned to look at it, the previous school shown being listed as "Aldera Junior High." Izuku had many admonishments from his teachers. Too loud in class, causes too many fights, disruptive, the list went on. The mouse hummed, so far Midoriya had seemed like none of the above.

"Computer, pull up the school record of number one applicant Katsuki Bakugo." The screen changed and the saddened face of frowning Midoriya was replaced by the cocky and prideful face of a smirking Bakugo, the same school being listed.

He read and his eyes widened.

Bakugo had a clean record.

He let out another puff of smoke as he thought aloud, "No no no no no, that can't be right, that can't be right at all…." He gazed out his window again, staring down the city of Musutafu, absentmindedly in the direction where Aldera Junior High was located. "Computer, call All Might in."

A few minutes later, came in the Symbol Of Peace himself. Now most would expect a giant man with biceps the size of Elastigril's a-

Something relatively big like a truck or Bakugo's ego.

But instead, what came in was a skeleton of a man who, was giant in terms of heights, but looked like he had suffered from malnourishment on top of being using surgery to cut his fat off his bones.

"Ah Nezu, did you need something my old friend?" All Might asked as he took a seat at a pair of couches, Nezu came over with a cup of tea and sat opposite him after handing the cup to him.

"Yes, yes in fact I did. You picked Midoriya, correct?" The mouse smirked as All Might sputtered, choking on his tea. "I will take your reaction as a yes." The mosque smiled as All Might cleaned himself up.

All Might cursed himself, of course Nezu knew. Nezu knows everything! But he did have to wonder what gave it away, 'Thoughts for another time..' He sighed, "Y-yes, Young Midoriya is my successor, why do you ask?" Had Midoriya done something to catch Nezu's eye? If so the gaunt man would hold a cross and pray for the boy.

"I just have a few questions to ask about your time with him leading up to my entrance exam, if you don't mind of course." The mouse stirred a cup of coffee, caffeine was horrible for his body but he knew he'd be spending a long time awake today.

The tall man waved a hand, "Of course, ask away."

Nezu nodded as he stared at his reflection. "Did Midoriya ever mention his schooling, how his education was going?"

The mouse stared as All Might developed a look of thought, putting a hand on his chin. He shook his head eventually, "No, I don't recall him ever mentioning anything like that. Why do you ask?"

The mouse hummed as he took a sip of his coffee, instantly feeling a surge of energy due to consuming too much for his small body, but it didn't matter. "There was an incident today."

"D-Did Young Midoriya get in trouble?!" All Might instantly asked and Nezu shook his head.

'He's very protective of Midoriya, and they've only known each other for about a year, intriguing.' He shook the thought away and opened his mouth, "No, the incident revolves around another student which attacked him-"

"SOMEONE WHAT!" The buff form of said hero took the skeleton's place as a cerulean orb stared Nezu down, "NAMES, I NEED-"

"The student has already been admonished for his actions and he knows very much the trouble that lies should he continue the path he's going down." The principal answered instead, staring at the pro with his dead eyes. It was funny seeing All Might angry, but now was not the time for it. "They went to the same school, I checked their old records, and they don't make sense."

The pro in front of him shrunk down and looked much more interested as he bent forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands together. His brow was creased to show his obvious anger. "What did you find, Nezu?"

The mouse smiled, "Midoriya had a file filled with marks for disrupting class and even starting fights."

All Might narrowed his eyes, that couldn't be right at all. Izuku was the most heroic soul he had ever seen, besides his master, there was no way in hell he would be starting fights in school, "And?" There had to be more.

"His attacker, not a single mark." Nezu smiled as he saw All Might scowl. "He's shown large signs of anger issues as well as a superiority complex in my short meeting with him, so I know for a fact there is no way that boy would have a clean record."

All Might nodded as he creased his non-existent brows. "You suspect foul play?"

"Yes."

The pro nodded again, "I'll see how Young Midoriya's doing tomorrow after our heroics class, and ask him about his old schooling-"

"You can't do that you buffoon! He'll realize we're on to something and then deny anything about his attacker!" Nezu raised his voice. "Midoriya was going to take a beating to defend his new friends, there's no way he'd tell us anything…"

All Might wanted to curse. "This is so infuriating..!" He wanted to punch something.

Nezu sighed, "I know, but allow me to handle it. If there's anything you can help with I will let you know. Now go, you have a patrol to do."

The Number One stood, straightened out his suit and nodded, his face showing his displeasure in not being able to do anything, "Alright, have a good rest of your day old friend."

"To you as well, Number One." Nezu found himself smiling as the blond left his office, but he also felt himself deflating, the blond giant hadn't been of any help at all. He knew nothing! He sighed and moved towards his desk, sitting himself comfortably in his chair and pulling up his seven monitors.

He narrowed his eyes as he stared at both Midroiya's and Bakugo's records, "Aldera Junior High… you have much explaining to do, perhaps your camera system will help me?"

The entirety of UA staff heard the cackling coming from the top floor of one of the towers of their prestigious campus, All Might shivered as he walked away from his old friend's office.

You never wanted to gain the interest of Nezu, it most times ended in pain or humiliation, sometimes a combination of the two, but it was always bad.

"Izuku Midoriya, once quirkless and now the disciple of Japan's top pro." Nezu smiled as he began to read more into detail into the boy's file. "You are so very interesting…" It always ended badly if you incurred Nezu's interest. But sometimes for the ones surrounded instead of the target of interest.

END

Chapter 4: Midoriya's Mettle!

Summary:

With the end of their Quirk Assessment test and Quirk Showcase, the students of Hero Course Class 1-B must now participate in Battle Trials! Who will Izuku befriend, who will he face, how will he make it out of this?!

Izuku smiled as his mom cried about him making friends. She was awake when he had gotten home, so that was a good thing. She had also mentioned wanting to talk to the person that called him Izuku and constantly asked if he had already gotten a girlfriend on the second day of high school.

"Oh my baby boy's all grown up! Next thing I know he'll be married and have a big house and two- no three kids!"

"M-Mom! I told you it's not like that! Tokage-chan just likes to tease people!" It was something that he had learned about her. She found a lot of fun in teasing people, she liked getting reactions out of people. Which for him meant that he was usually her target.

'Darn my terrible social skills and easy embarrassment..' He thought as he observed his hero costume sketch.

He had already gotten his costume, his mother had made it with everyday materials and lots of love. But it was most likely going to break if he ever wore it in a villain scenario. He had felt the material, it was thin, and skin tight when he wore it. And it didn't leave much to the imagination either, and he knew that it could've just been more full for Tokage to use against him.

A thrown rock would most likely tear the fabric also.

So he was designing an updated version of his decade old original design. He had his pencil in hand as he went over his old design, trying to draw it with his better drawing skills that he now had. From there he would update parts that he didn't like.

But he found himself stuck.

He creased a brow. "Hmmm, what can I change?" He stared at the design before sighing, "I'm not getting anywhere…" He closed his notebook and rolled back in his chair, staring at the ceiling with tired eyes. "I should get some sleep, we do have our first heroics class tomorrow."

He got into bed and smiled as he went to bed, content with the softness of his bed.

Monoma sighed as he still couldn't go to sleep. He had been thinking a lot about the ball of interest that was Izuku Midoriya. He had the power of seemingly a god yet he was as humble as they come. He was a bottle of contradictions…

And then there was what he mentioned during the quirk showcase.

"I believe that this energy has had to s-stockpile overtime, building up until it actually became useful. It took so long that for the first fifteen years of my life, I was thought to be quirkless."

Suffering, that was something that Monoma knew a lot of. Not having a power to call his own had led to a lot of less than favorable instances for the blond. But at least he had something. Being thought to be quirkless? He couldn't imagine the amount of pain his friend must have gone through.

The blite of the quirkless was something that had long since become the norm, from before he had even been born. He sighed as he sank further into his bed. Then there was the boy's quirk hobby. He had perfectly understood all of their quirks even from just a little showcase and had ideas on how to improve them, was that hobby due to never having one to call his own?

And then there was the bully, Bakugo Katsuki…

He had attacked Izuku out of nowhere for no apparent reason, or no reasonable reason at least, and it seemed like the norm. Izuku was ready to take a beating to defend them as well, as if he had been programmed or brainwashed to do so.

It- it wasn't right…

Monoma sighed as he closed his eyes, he needed to sleep for tomorrow. He had done enough thinking as is.

Yanagi couldn't stop thinking. Thinking about how to help Midoriya. She wanted to help him with his stuttering issue and have him smile more. Help him get used to having friends and perhaps help him with his quirk as well. He did smile a lot, but it was always small, hidden and nervous. She wanted him to be able to let out a wide and bright smile, but she didn't know how to do that.

She stared at her empty hand, she had held him with it, when he was on the floor in pain. She wasn't able to do much, she didn't help him like Komori did. It made her frown as she messed with her wrists, a habit she had formed when she was dissatisfied with something.

She pouted and floated a pillow over to her body and crushed it in a hug to find some comfort. She continued to massage her wrists, trying to think of something that could make him feel a bit better whenever he was sad.

She sighed as nothing came to mind and put the pillow aside as she sat up in her bed, still messing with her hands.

Her gaze drifted to her limbs as she continued to massage them. She rose a brow as a small idea came to mind. "Perhaps a friendship bracelet would help to remind him that he's not alone, that he can come to me or Monoma for help…" She nodded to herself and decided that she'd make one first thing in the morning, hopefully her mother could assist her.

She fell back into her bed, for the first time that night her grey and white pajamas feeling extremely comfortable and soft as she closed her eyes.

Next Day

The trio all felt content as they met at the gate of UA. Though none of them felt like mentioning the things that had happened the past day, it was clear that Monoma and Yanagi weren't going to get much more from Izuku about this Bakugo person. Or as Monoma had taken to calling him, "That blond hooligan."

Despite this, both of them wanted to help their new friend and Yanagi wanted to give him the present she had made.

"So, what do you believe our first heroics exercise will be?" Monoma asked as they entered the class. Unlike yesterday, almost everyone was in the class when they arrived and they were all chatting with each other just like the trio was.

Yanagi placed a finger on her chin as she scrunched her brows. "Perhaps a team exercise? Though I cannot say for certain that's what it will be. What do you think, Midoriya-kun?"

The greanette didn't like being put on the spot, but he did know they were trying to include him, which was nice. "Um, I think a team e-exercise too, just so we can get to know each other m-more.."

The three nodded as they took their seats, ready for anything that would be thrown at them.

Tokage smiled as she saw Izuku nervously sit down, stealing glances at her to see if she was going to say something. She waited until he finally sat down to open her mouth. "Hey greenie, how's your mom doing?" Tokage asked with a smirk as Izuku sat down. The boy sighed and threw a half hearted glare her way.

"She's… doing good." He muttered, pulling out his notebook so he could take notes during their exercise. Tokage pouted at his lack of reaction, he was learning and she didn't like that.

Yanagi watched what the two were doing and tightened her hold on the friendship bracelet she had made.

"Alright!" Vlad King strode into the class with a yell. "Today you'll be having a heroics exercise with Nezu's mystery teacher. For now however, spend homeroom as you all wish." The man crossed his arms at the podium, staying still as conversation broke out between the students.

"So who do you believe the mystery teacher is?" Shishida asked the boy who sat behind him, a boy called Shoda.

"I don't really know.. but it can't be anyone we've already seen.."

More conversations sprouted like this as more of the hero course students tried to think of who the possible mystery teacher was.

And Izuku was sweating.

He hadn't seen All Might for the past two days. Now that didn't necessarily mean anything, but he hadn't seen him at orientation either. You'd think they'd want the number one hero and symbol of peace to be there, it'd be a humongous announcement that the Number One Hero was teaching at the Number One Hero school, but he wasn't there... there was no announcement of it either, like it was purposefully being kept a secret...

"That couldn't be random, could it?"

"What couldn't be random, Midoriya?" Izuku blinked as he heard Yanagi's voice, he wanted to bonk himself on the head as he realized he had been muttering, Monoma was right about what he said about his muttering. He turned around and rubbed the back of his head.

"N-Nothing Yanagi-chan, I was just thinking again…"

The girl tilted her head as she had a finger on her chin, "If you are absolutely certain Midoriya-kun.."

Izuku nodded as Kendo and Komori came to talk with the group. "So Midoriya, how a.. how are you feeling after…" Kendo trailed off as they all realized what she was referring to. The group sent worried glances at Izuku but he smiled instead.

"I'm feeling really good actually! Recovery Girl's quirk is amazing, she patched me up perfectly, I didn't even feel a thing, well actually I did feel a little tired, but that's just because her quirks takes a person's energy to instantly heal them!" He pulled out his book and was going to count off as much information as he could, but it was snatched by a dismembered floating hand.

"What's even up with this book anyway, Greenie?" The arm came back to Tokage.

Izuku's eyes dilated as he closed and opened his hands, not feeling his book in them, looking up very slowly he saw it in Tokage's hands. "Give it back." He said in a low voice. Monoma flinched at how Izuku sounded silently pissed and Yanagi's eyes widened as well. They both also noticed that he didn't stutter at all.

"Ah come on Greenie, I just wanna know., plus we're green buddies aren't we?" Tokage smiled as she began to flip through pages, not noticing Izuku's instant mood change.

What is that? His diary? Man, what a loser.

The boy blinked as he heard voices, "I'm kind of curious too Midoriya, Tokage let me see." Kendo said as she looked over her friend's shoulder, trying to peak at Midoriya's notes. Perhaps he had written more about her quirk.

Have you heard of his book? Seriously, what a stalker.

"T-Tokage, give Midoriya back his book." Komori muttered as she saw Midoriya clench his hands, clearly wanting his book back. Monoma and Yanagi stared as they heard Izuku start breathing rather raggedly, clenching and opening his mouth as air was pushed in and out of him. He heard more voices, they wouldn't stop!

NO DAMN BOOK IS GONNA HELP YOU DEKU! YOU'RE USELESS! THAT'S ALL YOU WILL EVER BE!

Useless….

Worthless…

Quirkless…

IF YOU WANT A QUIRK SO BAD, TAKE A SWAN DIVE OFF THE ROOF AND PRAY FOR ONE IN YOUR NEXT LIFE!

Izuku grit his teeth as he remembered the day he met All Might, more importantly Kacchan's words to him when school ended. His book being burned to a crisp and being thrown away like trash.

He never let anyone take his notebook away now.

No one.

"GIVE IT BACK!" The class quieted as Izuku yelled.

Yanagi and Monoma stared with wide eyes as Izuku stood and yanked his notebook back from a gapping Tokage. He seemed stiff, and partially regretting his yelling, as he went back to his seat.

The class was quiet and even Vlad King was a little wide eyed at his spot at the front of the class.

"Oh shit, Midoriya's the quiet kid… you don't get the quiet kid mad…" A boy with brown hair named Kosei Tsuburaba muttered, though everyone was so quiet everyone heard it. Eliciting a chuckle and snort from a couple of the students.

Tetsutetsu activated his quirk and folded in on himself to not burst out laughing.

Before anyone could ask questions they heard a powerful voice from behind the closed door. "I AM COMING THROUGH THE DOOR-" The doorway slammed open, revealing All Might with his cape fluttering into the class, "LIKE A HERO!"

The class stared dumbfounded as the Number One Hero stroded to the podium, Vlad scooting out of the way with a sigh. 'You have impeccable timing All Might…'

The giant pro smiled as he put his hands on his hips. "This is Hero Foundations 101! And I'll be your teacher!" He yelled elegantly, though he was confused by the lack of reaction from the students. It was just silence. The man began to sweat when the class didn't say anything, staying as quiet as dead- well really anything that was dead.

"HooooollY FUCK, IT'S ALL MIGHT!" The class all heard Awase's yell and soon everyone else was gushing over the fact that the number one hero would be teaching them.

"It's his silver age costume!"

"Is he bigger than he is on TV?"

"His hand is probably the size of my head!"

Izuku found himself smiling and sighing in delight. All Might's abrupt entrance had gotten him out of an embarrassing situation. But also, how could you not be at least a little bit happy when you were in the same room as the Symbol of Peace!

He glanced down at his notebook and held it to his chest before looking back up and smiling at his hero.

All Might found himself mentally laughing at how excited Izuku looked at his entrance, 'I've known the kid for a year now and he still gets excited every time he sees me like it's his first time doing so, truly a fanboy.' His smile stretched as he pulled a card and smacked it on top of the podium. "TODAY WE'LL BE HAVING-"

"Battle." Kamakiri smiled widely as he read the word in bright crimson letters on the blank white card. "Training!" Tetsutetsu smiled as he activated his quirk and pumped an arm into the air.

Izuku smiled to himself as All Might's signature smile widened. This was it.

Their first heroics exercise!

"We'll be meeting at Ground Beta for the exercise! But before that, you'll need to look the part!" The pro gestured to the side of the room where cupboards opened up, displaying suitcases with their suit numbers on them, though one was missing.

"Midoriya, where's your case?" Monoma asked as he noticed number 19 was missing,

Izuku smiled, "Don't worry Monoma-kun… I have a costume…"

The blond stared at him for a second before nodding, "If you say so."

Vlad stepped up to the podium as All Might moved aside, then cleared his throat before yelling, "HEAD TO THE CHANGING ROOMS WITH YOUR COSTUMES AND MEET All MIGHT AT GROUND BETA IN 10 MINUTES, DO NOT BE LATE!" His yell vibrated through the students as Tetsutetsu and Kamakiri jumped out of their seats and grabbed their cases before racing out of the class.

"Let go!" Pony cheered in broken Japanese as she ran out of the class with her own case.

Izuku watched as more and more of his classmates followed, "Alright…" It was time, and he couldn't be more nervous and excited.

Ground Beta

"Haha! They say the suit makes the man! And you all look absolutely wonderful!" They all heard All Might's signature laugh as they exited the tunnel into Ground Beta. Vlad wasn't around, having business to attend to, but he would be back for the end of the exercise. 'It's just me today… I can handle this..' The new teacher sweated as he knew he was alone.

The class all cheered as they got into the light, looking over each other's costumes.

"You look dazzling, Yanagi!" Monoma yelled as he looked at Yanagi's costume, a knee length kimono that was a pale shade of purple that had sleeves that covered her hands. (since it isn't winter and I only know what her winter costume looks like I'm having small changes)

"I must say Monoma-kun, your choice of attire is.. strange." She replied.

The boy smiled and played with his hair, posing in his suit. He wore a black suit with long sleeves with a white undershirt and two belts, one brown and one white, a teal tie and long coat tails. "It is quite magnificent, is it not?"

"Just straight weird dude, how's a suit going to help in the field?" Tokage asked as she approached, wearing a skin tight blue costume with black boots and black gloves with gold forearm bands, the suit seeming to have scales on it.

Yanagi tilted her head, "Your outfit is a little.. revealing, is it not?"

The green haired girl smiled, "Yeah, but I can use that against villains! They get embarrassed and flushed, next thing they know they get punched by a floating hand to the face!" She grinned.

"Whatever you say Tokage.." Kendo muttered as she and Komori came up, Komori wearing a cute red and white mushroom themed dress and Kendo wearing a turquoise sleeveless qipao with a black corset with a domino mask. "But, where's Midoriya?"

"S-SORRY EVERYONE!" All the students heard the cry from the tunnel and out came running Izuku Midoriya.

"Oh man first it was his scars then his quirk, now he's doing the late entrance thing that main characters do! I WANNA SEE HOW COOL HIS COSTUME IS?!" Tetsutetsu found himself involuntarily activating his quirk again as he cheered.

All Might himself was waiting in anticipation as the food steps became louder and louder until the boy finally emerged from the tunnel.

It was lackluster to say the least.

But it was skintight which showed off his impressive frame, Tokage even licked her lips.

"The hell is that abomination!" Kamakiri yelled and the class sweatdropped.

"Now Kamakiri, someone at a company put a lot of work into making Izuku's costume, to dismiss their hard work is rude as a hero in training." Shishida interned.

"A-Ah, actually…" They all heard Izuku start talking and turned to him, "…my mom made it…"

And the laughing started, it wasn't the worst honestly, he'd been through more humiliating things before. Awase held his sides as he laughed and Sen was already on the floor. Izuku winced but it really wasn't that bad, it was moderate compared to what he was used to.

All Might frowned as he watched the display. He knew that he shouldn't be playing favorites, but Midori- Izuku was like… like a… 'I have no idea but something special, that's for damn sure…' The boy had found a way into his heart and seeing him laughed at.

It hurt.

Yanagi frowned as the laughs of more people got louder, Kosei finding himself joining in as well as Kamakiri, Shishida remarking at how rude they were being. She walked past all the boys and found herself in front of Midoriya. "I believe accepting a costume from your mother is very honorable, she must have been very proud when she heard you made it in and gave it to you as a gift, no?"

The masked face of Izuku blushed at Yanagi's outfit, it wasn't anything near the levels of whatever Tokage was wearing. 'SERIOUSLY, WHY'S IT SKIN TIGHT' But Izuku found it cute. He rubbed the back of his neck at her words. "Y-Yeah, she was really proud of me… and I couldn't just throw this away, but it'll probably get messed up today.."

The girl tilted her head and prodded at his costume, she didn't know he was so... buff, Izuku blushing as he wasn't wearing anything underneath and it was skintight. She stopped and looked at him before grabbing his hand and placing something in it.

Izuku rose a brow as she let go of his hand, allowing him to see a bracelet. It was a black leather band with a green gem held in a silver container, specks of gold dotting the band. "W-What's this Yanagi-chan?"

The girl looked at him, "It's.. a token of our friendship Midoriya, I want you to know that whenever you are in a dire situation you can always come to me and Monoma…"

Izuku gaped at the ghost girl and found himself tearing up, he instantly put the bracelet on and held the decorated arm to his chest, "T-This is the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me… t-thank you…"

Yanagi found herself smiling underneath her mask, "There is no need to thank me, it is what friends are for, is it not?"

Izuku chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, "R-Right, I keep on forgetting."

They all heard a throat clear as All Might drew the attention back to himself, "If I may! We have a class to get to!" The students scrambled up and prepared themselves mentally for their first assignment. The man smiled as all the students had looks of determination.

"Alright! Now-" All Might pulled a script out.

"Is he serious?"

"-We will be conducting urban battle demonstrations, a duo of villains have hidden a bomb in a five story building, it is the hero's job to reclaim the weapon before 10 minutes have expired or capture the villains in the allotted time!" He smiled as he put the script away, and saw his disappointed students. "I-Is something the matter?"

Shishida exchanged glances with his fellow students who were shaking their heads in disappointment, "N-No sir, not at all."

The pro held a thumbs up, "I'm glad! Now, any questions?"

Shoda threw a hand up and All Might told him to ask, "How will teams be picked?"

All Might's smile stretched as he pulled out two boxes. One labeled teams and the other labeled as designations. "We'll decide by drawing straws! That will determine your team and if you're playing a hero or a villain!"

"To be forced to act in villainy, such a sinful act…" Shiozaki muttered.

Shishida raised a hand, "Sir, is it really wise to decide in such a haphazard manner?" The beast boy asked.

"A-Actually Shishida-kun, during incidents heroes don't tend to know who they're working with, they just have to work with whoever's on the scene…" Izuku remembered the sludge incident.

Those heroes weren't used to working with whoever was on the scene, rather working by themselves, their teamwork was terrible and thus someone almost died. He shook the thought away and brought himself back to what was happening.

"Ah, I see! Thank you Midoriya, my apologies All Might-sensei."

The giant man waved a hand, "Worry not, Young Shishida. Now, any other questions?"

Kendo through a hand up, "I have one sensei!"

"Give it a shot, Young Kendo!" The man laughed.

It was weird seeing All Might so casually that she still almost couldn't believe it, "Um, are we going to rate our performances and will we see each other's performances too?" She asked.

The man nodded, that was a great question! "Yes Young Kendo! We will be picking a MVP for each match after they conclude through peer evaluation! Anything else young heroes?"

No one spoke up, so the man nodded to himself and let everyone pick their lots. Izuku gulped when it was his turn, seeing a smiling All Might hold the box towards him eased his worries a little and he clenched his eyes closed and grabbed a lot.

He got letter A, he looked around, "Ah um.. does a-anyone else have an A-?"

"I DO!" The loud and excited form of Tetsutetsu was standing in front of Izuku in less than a second, making the boy gulp. Tetsutetsu was a little too… hardcore for his taste. "Alright! I'm on a team with Midoriya!" But he didn't seem to be a mean guy so that was a plus.

Everyone else grouped up, Monoma and Tokage were on a team, Komori was partnered up with someone called Kuroiro, Kendo was paired with Shishida, and Yanagi was with Bondo.

Izuku thought about how their groups could work together. Monoma and Tokage could use Tokage's quirk to confuse the enemy or maybe Monoma could use his opponents' quirks against them in conjunction with Tokage's quirk? 'How many can he copy at a given time?' Questions for later.

If Komori could make black or dark mushrooms then they could have Kuroiro hide in them in a labyrinth of the fungi. Kendo and Shishida were a full brawl pairing, they'd need to go all out and win that way.

With Yanagi and Bondo, that was interesting. Bondo could make traps of glue and Yanagi could use her quirk to tug their opponents into them, or she could have Bondo produce glue and she could use it as projectiles. Or, if they were villains, they could just cover the bomb in glue so the heroes weren't able to touch it.

"..that's actually a really good idea…"

"Yo, earth to Midoriya!" The boy squirmed at the loud yell and turned to his partner. "We got our match dude!"

Izuku turned to All Might, seeing him display two balls, one black and the other white with letters on them.

On the white ball a letter A was displayed.

On the black one a letter E was displayed.

"Who's team E?" Tetsutetsu looked around, trying to find their opponents.

Izuku was sweating, he had been paying attention to team formations, not matchups, so he knew who team E was. "Kamakiri-kun…" He wasn't excited about this. His partner was Tsunotori, which they could use to their advantage. "They might have communication problems…"

But they both had really strong quirks. Tetsutetsu could counter Kamakiri's quirk, and maybe Tsunutori's, but he doubted there would be an occasion for Tetsutetsu to take both out.

Not if they worked well together, but Kamakiri showed little signs of cooperativeness.

Izuku took a chance to glance at the bug looking boy to see his grin, one that reminded him too much of Kacchan. He gulped.

"So, you got a plan, Midoriya?" Tetsutetsu asked as they arrived outside of the building, they had a five minute planning phase and ten minutes to capture the bomb.

The building was 5 stories tall, the greanette presumed that they'd probably place it on the top floor. Tsunotori seemed normal but excited, and Kamakiri seemed battle hungry. "Kamakiri-kun will probably leave the bomb to come for us, Tsunotori-san may or may not follow." He spoke aloud, Tetsutetsu nodding along.

"Sooo….. what does that mean?" The boy smiled.

Izuku adopted a thinking look, pulling out his notebook, "W-We… should stay together. That way if Tsunotori-san goes with Kamakiri-kun then we have a chance to counter. If Kamakiri comes alone then I'm going to rely on you, your quirk counters his…" He wrote down their plan and tore out the pages and handed them to Tetsutetsu who stuffed them into his shorts.

"Anything else?" Tetsutetsu asked, honestly, Midoriya was super smart. That was obvious to see, and it was really cool too. He wanted Midoriya to see if there was anything he could learn about his quirk too.

Izuku scrunched his brow as he nodded, "If we can't resolve it quickly then in just a few blows… I'll deal with Kamakiri and you can go get the bomb. You might be able to run through Tsunotori's horns so go straight for the bomb."

"Might? I don't like how that sounds man!" Tetsutetsu yelled

"W-Well I don't know how strong her horns are, or how strong your metal skin is! Is it actually steel like the name of your quirk? Or is it something else entirely? What's it's melting point? Does it rust? How much force can it take? T-That's the type of questions I need answers to…" Izuku sighed as he pulled his hood up, throwing his mask over it, the smile glimmering as he stared into the dark entrance of the building, "…I don't have any answers right now… s-so.. this is the best we have."

Tetsutetsu shook with excitement, "I'll totally tell you then! It's melting point is- huh? I don't know…"

Izuku sighed, "I-It's fine Tetsutetsu-kun-"

"You can just call me Tetsu, my name's kinda a mouthful." The steel teen interrupted.

Izuku blushed but nodded, he had never called anyone by a nickname before. That's something friends did, right? Were he and Tetsutet- just Tetsu friends? He didn't know, "O-Ok, but it's fine, r-really. We can figure that out after if you want…"

"Totally! Mind giving me some pointers for my quirk too, sorry but you're super smart and I wanna be as manly as you Midoriya!" The boy exclaimed.

Izuku turned to him and his blush was visible under the mask, "I-I'm not manly at all! Y-You got it all wrong, Tetsute- Tetsu-kun."

The boy waved a hand, "Nah man! Your quirk is totally metal! It breaks you but you still use it like it's nothing! And your scars are awesome!" The boy exclaimed, invading Izuku's space just a bit with his excitement.

Izuku gulped and nodded, "O-Ok.. I can help…"

"Thanks man!" Tetsutetsu got situated afterwards, waiting for the countdown alongside Izuku.

Izuku closed his eyes and activated One For All, putting 2% of the quirk into his legs, he opened them and they glowed a radioactive green.

Tetsu activated his quirk and pumped an arm into the air! "DO OR DIE TIME!"

"STRATEGIZING TIME IS UP! HEROES, MOVE IN!"

Kamakiri smirked as he ran out of the room where they had set the bomb in. "Defend the bomb horny!" He yelled as he made his dash around the halls.

Tsunotori huffed, she had understood half of what the boy had meant, but she didn't like being left behind. She crossed her arms and pouted, "Well that's just mean, leaving me behind like that…." She'd show him!

The American smiled as she dashed out of the room, she'd capture both of the heroes and then laugh in Kama- "Ka…ma…ki..li-ri….Kamakiri…." Kamakiri's face!

Izuku and Tetsu ran through the halls as they continued through the halls.

Kamakiri cackled as he went straight to the first floor.

Tsunotori grumbled while she searched the top floor, seeing if the heroes had found a way up quickly, "Four floor next." She muttered in broken Japanese before heading down to the next floor.

Tetsu and Izuku ran up to the next floor, not bothering to check. Izuku knew for a fact that Kamakiri would be loud and make a lot of noise. He was like Bakugo but he hadn't displayed the battle instincts the boy had.

Izuku had watched the blonde for years, he knew what he was capable of, Kamakiri showed none of those abilities. besides the same level of rage. So the fact that they didn't hear his footsteps meant that he was on a higher floor.

They entered the third floor and were approaching the stairwell when Izuku saw a glint of silver in the darkness of a passing hallway. The form jumped out and he saw a smiling Kamakiri.

"Get down!" Tetsu grabbed Izuku and threw him to the floor, Kamakiri slashing him across the chest.

And doing nothing…

Tetsu grinned as the bug looking boy recoiled and backed up, a grimace on his face. Izuku looked back as he stood up, seeing Tetsu standing like a guardian. 'One For All: 2%' Izuku charged up All Might's power into his fist and charged at Kamakiri.

"SMAASSSHH!" Izuku's yell cut through the building as he launched his fist at Kamakiri, the boy blocking using his forearm blade as a shield, the force launching him into a wall. He smiled, they could go get Tsunotori now.

"I'M NOT DONE!" They both heard him yell.

Izuku gulped, having Kamakiri tailing them would alert Tsunotori to their location, which wasn't good, he nodded to himself, "Tetsu-kun, go for the bomb!" Izuku yelled.

"Are you sure-"

"Yes!" Izuku nodded as he massaged his wrist, he powered it up too fast, didn't get a good feel for the amount, 'It may have been 3 or 4, it hurts…'

"A-Alright! Good luck bro!" He heard Tetsu yell before the boy ran off.

Izuku nodded as Kamakiri stood back up, a scowl on his face. 'Ok… he doesn't like me… wonder what I did?' Izuku dodged under a horizontal slash that was sent his way, before taking a jump back to gain distance.

Kamakiri closed the gap with a leap and sent another slash Izuku's way, the boy dodged. '2% SMASH'. He quickly retaliated, sending Kamakiri skittering back again. 'I can't get in good hits and I can barely dodge… I'm fighting a losing battle…' He needed strategies, an idea, more ideas than just punch and evade.

"I can't cut through concrete or brick, I've tried, it makes my blades dull."

Izuku's eyes lit up as he ran down the hall.

"DON'T RUN STUTTER!" Izuku heard a yell as he ducked around a corner, quickly turning around, 'ONE FOR ALL: 4%!' He charged up his power and saw Kamakiri come around the corner.

They got into each other's personal space, Kamakiri bringing his right arm up to strike Izuku, his left arm moving as well. Izuku dodged the first but got nicked by the second in his side, though he persevered and punched the boy's right arm, redirecting it and sending it crashing into the wall. The blade scratching against the wall roughly, sparks being seen.

Kamakiri winced as he felt the familiar feeling of his blade dulling.

Izuku ignored his own familiar feeling of blood escaping his body from the cut in his side as he stepped forward, using his left hand as his right hand throbbed in pain, '2% SMASH!' He punched the boy in the stomach and the boy rolled away.

"DAMN IT!" Kamakiri got up and glared at Izuku. "I'LL KICK YOUR ASS STUTTER"

"-Hey uhhh Midoriya, I got a problem.." Izuku heard Tetsu's voice through a comm link they were given.

He pressed the comm link, "W-What is it, Tetsu-kun?"

"SHE'S NOT AT THE BOMB, SHE'S ON LEVEL FOUR AND SHE'S STRONG-OOF!" The line went dead and Izuku waited a couple of seconds, he didn't hear any announcement on Tetsu being eliminated so he concluded the boy was still up and kicking.

And Kamakiri was the same.

He slashed Izuku across the chest, the boy's costume easily tearing at the blade, even if it was dull. He winced. 'I knew it'd be too thin!' He yelled at himself as he dodged a vertical slice from Kamakiri.

He dodged a barrage of slashes from Kamakiri, gritting his teeth and ignoring the pain that he was feeling.

"GIVE UP STUTTER!" Kamakiri yelled as he sent a strike to Izuku's face, the successor ducking and wrapping his capture tape around the boy's arm, pulling the tape and forcing Kamakiri to stumble.

"…I-I… WON'T!" He yelled, angry that he had stuttered. He let go of his capture tape and punched the boy again, this time in the cheek and making him wince. This was plus ultra! "GIVE UP!"

Viewing Room

All Might flinched as Izuku took strikes from his classmate. He wanted to stop the match, to protect his successor, but he couldn't play favorites! "Damn it…" He clenched a fist to stop himself from doing too much. But he did loath this feeling of helplessness.

Yanagi frowned, Midoriya was taking a lot of damage, it was superficial cuts but they would eventually add up. "He's acting so rash…" She spoke aloud.

Tokage, who was standing next to her, smiled. "You worried about Greenie, huh?" Tokage asked coyly to the ghost girl as she leaned towards her.

The girl squinted her eyes, trying to get as much detail from the screens as she could, "Yes…" Yanagi kept her eyes focused on the screen, it was.. strange. He was always so nervous, so scared. But he looked so ferocious right now. He was cunning and calculating, he led Kamakiri to around a corner and used that second where he wasn't seen to charge up for an attack. Not only that but he was trying to dull the boy's blades. "But.. I also trust him to be ok."

Tokage pouted, that wasn't was she was looking for! "Alright, what about you blondie?"

Monoma huffed, he had a name. "I believe Midoriya can handle himself, though I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried." He fixed his sleeve cuff as he stared at the screen, Izuku punching the boy away after ducking. Monoma wanted to kick Kamakiri's ass real bad right now.

Komori quivered, seeing Midoriya get injured, it made her scared.

"Komori, are you alright?" Her partner, Kuroiro, asked.

She squeaked, not used to being talkative with her new classmates yet. "A-Ah! I-I'm fine.. just- nervous is all!" She lowered her head to hide her eyes behind her bangs.

Kuroiro smiled, his smile was kind of strange to her. It wasn't like Izuku's, Kuroiro's was kinda creepy but it was still nice in its own way. She found it reassuring, "It'll be fine, just rely on me and no darkness will take you, alright?"

She was confused by his speech but nodded, "O-Ok shroom.." Kamakiri squinted his eyes, as if he was staring at something brighter than the sun before turning away. Komori blinked at his strange behavior.

Kendo felt agitated as she watched Izuku redirect more of Kamakiri's slices into the surrounding walls, trying to dull his blades. She wanted to give the bug looking boy a piece of her mind. She switched her gaze to another one of the cameras, seeing Tetsutetsu hiding behind a pillar as horns rained down on him. She sighed. "Tetsutetsu-kun…"

The boy squirmed as he tried to look out from his pillar, a flying horn zooming and hitting the rock he was hiding behind and almost his face as well, making him hide behind the pillar again. "MIDORIYA! HER HORNS FLY HARD AND FAST DUDE!" He yelled into his comm.

His comm turned on and he heard the sound of something hitting the ground, "T-Try to get into her personal space and grab her horns, I think that might stop her from using her quirk, I-I'll try to finish as soon as I- I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS STUTTE-" the comm died and Tetsu gritted his teeth.

Her horn had hit him fast, cracking his metal, though her horn had also taken extreme damage, almost breaking on impact. Which was good for him, it almost made him celebrate, but she regrew new horns almost instantly..

Her power was replenishable, his was finite to the amount of iron he ate. "Alright, grab her horns! Plain and simple!" He psyched himself up as he bounced in place.

He yelled out a battle cry and started his assault.

Izuku cried out as he got assaulted by a barrage of blades.

He backed into a corner and ducked, Kamakiri's blades striking the concrete wall behind Izuku, dulling even more as sparks flew off and lit up the dark hall. The greanette charged and punched the boy away with a punch to the stomach. He didn't use his quirk; not having nearly enough time to charge it up.

'I can't risk staying in his personal space too long.' Izuku thought. Kamakiri could create blades anywhere, it'd be too risky to stay close for prolonged periods of time. But he couldn't just keep playing cat and mouse either. 'I have to take him out of the match…' The problem was his capture tape had long since been torn to shreds by the bug boy after Izuku had discarded it.

So he'd have to use brute force.

He'd have to push One For All to a percentage he couldn't handle, even if it would break him it was the best bet he had. But he'd have to gauge it, so as to not hurt Kamakiri too badly as well. He winced, getting caught up in his thoughts gave his opponent a chance to strike his side, a deep cut now residing there.

"YOU'RE SLOWING DOWN!" Kamakiri yelled.

Too many cuts, too much damage, he needed to end this!

He ducked under another slice from Kamakiri and ran under the boy's arm, getting partially behind him, he tripped the boy's foot, his opponent now falling forwards into the ground.

He turned around and charged his fist, 'One For All: 15%!' He felt his bones crack from the force as the power tore his glove to shreds, thankfully this hand didn't have his friendship bracelet. He ignored the pain, he'd be paying Recovery Girl a visit later and she would not be happy about it. "SMASH!" He yelled, caving in Kamakiri's back with his fist, the other boy coughing out spit as the force met him.

Izuku huffed out a breath as he backed away, Kamakiri didn't make any movements of getting back up.

He wanted to cheer but the pain of his arm snapped him back to reality. His arm throbbed, his bones were most likely broken but they weren't pulverized! Still though, he held it as he wanted to cry. He took deep breaths, he was getting slightly dizzy from the pain.

The class in the viewing deck watched with worry.

"A-All Might-sensei, you should pull him out!" Kendo yelled. She, and most of her classmates, realized Izuku had gone straight past his limits and was most likely needing medical attention right now.

They had seen a spark of green lightning come from his bare arm when he pushed his quirk. Now seeing him grip it in obvious discomfort. He needed to stop.

All Might nodded, grabbing his microphone, Izuku's comm coming to life in the room so everyone could hear what he would say, "Young Midoriya, you have been eliminate-"

"TETSU-KUN, WHAT FLOOR ARE YOU ON?!" His yell came into the room. All Might gripped his microphone, losing his voice in his throat. He wanted Izuku to win, to keep on going until he succeeded, but he knew that the boy was in a major amount of pain now. But the boy's voice held conviction, and yet it held pain as well..

They weren't able to hear what Tetsutetsu said but they saw him on the camera, yelling into his comm as he tried to get Tsunotori's horns, the girl dodging out of the way pretty easily however.

"Y-You're increased weight when you use your metal form makes you slower, it makes it easier for her to dodge! I think she has increased leg strength because of an added bonus of her quirk!" They heard him yell as he ran up the stairs, All Might still having trouble opening his mouth.

Monoma was tapping his foot, he wanted his friend to succeed and Midoriya was showing much resilience and aptitude in on-the-go planning, but there would be a point where he would crash and burn, "Midoriya…"

"S-Sensei, please, stop the exercise and administer Midoriya to Recovery Girl's office." Shishida spoke his mind, All Might turning to him and eventually nodding.

He gulped, 'I'm sorry Young Midoriya…' He thought regretfully. "YOUNG MIDORIYA, YOU HAVE BEEN- "

"STOP RUNNING STUTTER!" The yell came through Midoriya's comm and the class watched as he was being chased by Kamakiri through the halls.

"Are you serious?! That guy's resilient!" Sen yelled in surprise. The class had to agree.

"Dude, how hard is his hate boner for Midoriya?" Awase asked aloud. All Might heard snorts and he had to sigh, he had to remember that these heroes in training were still kids.

He turned off the microphone.

"All Might-sensei, you're going to let Midoriya keep on going?!" Kendo was nettled, the green haired boy had to stop at some point!

The pro nodded, "Yes, Young Kendo."

"W-Why? He has to sto-"

Monoma laid a hand on the redhead's shoulder, the girl turning to him with a glare. He had to hide his shiver. "Kendo, even if All Might were to tell Midoriya to stop, do you believe he would?"

The question threw her for a loop, she didn't know Midoriya that well, none of them knew him too well. So far the boy was kind of a mystery, the only thing being known is that he had a stutter and was good at breaking down quirks. But, if she had to guess, "No…"

Monoma nodded, "You see, Midoriya's quirk damages him, and I believe that the first time he used it without breaking himself was during our quirk test. He was going to take a beating from that Bakugo fellow for us, he told us to not get involved, despite us going out of our way to help. He follows his own rules, Kendo, even if All Might-sensei were to tell him to stop, he wouldn't." Monoma smiled a bit as he saw Kendo deflate, and hearing most of the class go silent.

Midoriya was… strange to most of them.

His quirk had a glass cannon nature, and he could barely use it. He had a stutter and showed signs of anxiety. That guy in the cafeteria attacked him for no reason.

But right now, he looked to be in the zone.

"Tetsu-kun, switch with me!" He yelled into his comm as he arrived on the fourth floor.

"Alright, tell me when you get up!" Was what he got as a reply.

Kamakiri was still hot on his trail, the screams of profanities alerting him to so. He ran around a corner and saw both Tsunotori and Tetsu. "SWITCH!" He yelled.

Tetsu turned to him and nodded, activating his quirk and running to Izuku. Passing him the silver haired boy grinned. Izuku activated One For All in his legs at 2%, giving him more mobility while Tetsu activated his own quirk, metal skin bursting to life.

Tsunotori turned to him and he saw her smirk as her horns launched off of her head, coming straight towards him. He strafed to the right, barely dodging. He smiled as he was getting closer, but then he saw her smirk grow wider.

"GOTCHA!" She yelled in English and Izuku felt something impact his back.

'CRAP, THINK THINK THINK…' He was flying towards the blonde American, she had redirected her horn and was using it to bring Izuku towards her. He could use that to his advantage…

He readied a leg, his fists took too much damage from earlier and he knew he couldn't use them, he charged 3% into each of his legs before hitting Tsunotori with them. The girl let out a gasp as he collided with her stomach.

He rolled onto the ground afterwards. 'She can telekinetically control her horns after firing them..' He noted that as he got up, Tsunotori was still getting up and Tetsu was dealing with Kamakiri, so he could go for the bomb!

Tetsu turned to him and realized it as well, "GO FOR IT BRO!" He yelled, before taking a blade to his side. It slid off his skin as it couldn't pierce and Tetsu sucker punched Kamakiri in the stomach.

Izuku nodded, turning around and making it for the next floor.

He heard the sound of Tsunotori huffing and charged One For All into his legs, they were in pain though so he kept it at 2%.

Two horns flew past him before turning around and coming for him, he ducked. He found the staircase and jumped up them, wincing as he upped the percentage to three. 'K-Keep on going!' He yelled at himself as he arrived at the fifth floor.

"No run!" He heard Tsunotori yell but he ignored it, bouncing around the halls as he looked for the bomb. He blasted into a room and smiled as he saw the paper mache structure.

And then he felt objects cup around his armpits and he was floating towards the far wall. 'How much weight can her horns hold!' He thought as he realized Tsunotori was using her horns to pin him against a wall.

He smashed against the structure with a thud, wincing as the horns locked him in place high up on it. He opened his eyes and saw Tsunotori a couple feet below him smiling, his vision was going dark as well.

He coughed, his breath clouding his smiling mask, 'Maybe a combination of blood and oxygen loss' He thought passively as he charged One For All into his legs again and placed them against the wall. He pushed off and quickly came down on her, grabbing her horns, his hands throbbing in pain. She yelled and tried to shake him off but he held on.

"t-…t-TETSU-KUN, I need you in here!" He yelled with as much strength as he could, which wasn't much. He heard scrambling and yelling before Tetsu came in from the doorway, "G-Go get the bomb!"

He smiled, "ALL RIGHT!" He yelled as he activated his quirk. Kamakiri came into the room but Tetsu quickly turned around and decked him, Kamakiri's quirk doing nothing to protect him from the force of the punch as he fell to the floor.

The metal boy ran for the bomb and Tsunotori could only struggle in vain to get out of Izuku's grip as Tetsu reached the device.

And touched it.

"HERO TEAM WINS!" A robotic voice was heard and the students collapsed.

Tetsu fell against the fake bomb and sighed in relief and victory, turning around he was going to congratulate Midoriya to find him passed out, being held by Tsunotori. "Bro!" He ran over.

Tsunotori looked distressed as she held the passed out boy, they could clearly see blood covering some of him, many tears in his costume. His hood was gone as well, torn to shreds (most likely) by Kamakiri's blades. His hand looked wrecked, though nothing near as bad as what Awase described the other day.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuck" He heard her mutter in English, he didn't know what it was but he knew it must've been bad.

"Fuckfuckfuckfuck!" He yelled as he took Midoriya from her arms, holding him over his shoulder as he ran through the halls to get him to someplace that could help. And then he ran into a pair of robots.

"Hand him over." And he felt like he was being mugged. He gave the bots the unconscious boy, they placed him on a stretcher, and they left, the whirring of their wheels getting quieter as they got away.

"S-Students, please make your way back here." They heard All Might over their comm links.

Tetsu had gone and woken up Kamakiri, the boy had passed out after he took a sucker punch to the face before Tetsu had to go get the bomb. He did not seem happy in the slightest.

He was a pure conglomerate of anger and rage, screaming purely profanities as the three of them walked back to the viewing deck.

Tetsu sighed, "I hope Midoriya's alright.."

Recovery Girl's Office

Recovery Girl had been having a good day so far. No students had come in at all, which was always a really good thing. But she had also been on edge throughout the entire day. "It's never this good.." She muttered.

She kept on whipping her head around to the door, to see if it would thrust open and she would have to deal with a disaster.

Nothing had happened..

She sighed as she pulled out her phone. Maybe she could call Gran and tell her that Toshinori had picked someone? Maybe he could help train the boy, because she did not want to deal with him breaking himself anymo-

"He had a situation."

She sighed as she heard the familiar robotic voice of her med bots say behind her. She had forgotten today were the first heroic exercises for the first years. Of course there would be a couple of students that were ruffled up.

She sighed as she turned around, grabbing some gummies to give the student afterwards. And her eyes landed on a familiar tuft of green hair.

"FOR CHRIST SA-"

END

 

Notes:

Alright, that's the end of today's chapter. How'd you guy's like it? Honestly, I liked it quite a bit but I know it's not perfect. With my other story I realized I hadn't had much interaction with people outside of Izuku's little group, even in the Battle Trials. So today I decided we'd bring in Pony and Tetsu. And I liked that choice a lot.

Also, again to those that don't know, the rest of this story is already published on my FFN, there I go by JayTheStar, so if you wanna get ahead, then check it out!

Chapter 5: Midoriya's Effect

Summary:

After the battle trials, the class reflects on Midoriya, and his presence is beginning to have profound changes on his newfound friends.

Midoriya's Effect

The class was dead quiet when Tetsu, Tsunotori, and Kamakiri had entered. The air held a weight in it and Tetsu felt it in his stomach and his throat, he felt like he couldn't breathe. His eyes went across his classmates, more so the people he knew Midoriya was friends with and he saw all their reactions, all of their anger, all of their sadness.

Monoma had his arms crossed and was tapping his foot, he had a scowl on his face. His eyes every now and then drifting towards Kamakiri in a glare, the bug boy crossing his arms and scoffing when he caught the blonde's gaze. Yanagi was frowning, wringing her wrists, why was she doing that? He had no idea. But Tetsu had never seen the girl frown before, she had always looked impassive, seeing a negative emotion on her face was… concerning. It wasn't that hard to know that she was also at least a little angry with Kamakiri.

Everyone else was one of the two, either angry at Kamakiri or sad with the events and Midoriya's current situation. Though the steel teen noticed that Kendo looked like she was fuming, albeit silently, or as silently as she could.

"Ehem, allow us to move on, Young Monoma and Tokage as the villains against Young Shiozaki and Kodai as the heroes." All Might interrupted, his voice and words doing nothing to alleviate the mood. The duo that knew Midoriya left, both having tension in their shoulders as they walked out the door, the stoic faced duo of Shiozaki and Kodai leaving soon after as well. Tetsu looked around the room, he was squirming, he felt terrible right now, he needed to voice out his thoughts.

He saw Yanagi, but the girl was terribly quite in class and she spoke with a voice of… something.. he couldn't figure out what exactly. But there was an flair of something in her voice that kinda made him feel dumb, he looked around more and his eyes landed on Kendo.

She was friends with Midoriya, right? Maybe he could talk to her about it? She definitely seemed approachable and she was pretty manly also. He walked to her and stood next to her as she was watching the screens. She glanced at him, "Is there something you need?" She asked with a raised brow.

Tetsu took a look at her as well and he nodded, "Yeah, you're friends with Midoriya, right?"

"I think so, but I'm not as close as Monoma and Yanagi are." She responded. "Why? Did you need something?"

"No, well yeah, but-" Tetsu tripped over his words as he thought of what he wanted to say, "Midoriya's kinda hardcore, but too hardcore ya know?!" He exclaimed as if it made sense.

"Eh?"

This was going to be a long conversation.

Tokage sighed as she lifted the bomb to the roof, All Might didn't say the area was off limits so they figured it was fair game. She used her quirk and was surprised that the bomb was surprisingly light. They set up on the roof and Monoma sat on an edge facing the back of the building so the heroes wouldn't see him.

He looked like he was thinking, going by his creased brow, he clicked his tongue and made a "Tisk" noise as he stood up. "Alright, I believe it would be best to split the two of them up, how we go about that, I'm not sure…"

Tokage put her hands behind her head as she hummed. Her brain train went choo choo and after a couple seconds she smiled. "Blonde, I got an idea."

The boy huffed, "I have a name, Tokage."

"Yeah whatever, I got a plan, now are you in or not?" She let out a hand as her smirk grew, the blond boy sighed as he shook it.

"Very well, I do want to win so tell me, what idea has your genius blessed us with?" His smirk matched Tokage's as they decided to reign hell and confusion on their opponents.

Kodai and Shiozaki entered the building after the planning phase had ended, it was different from the first round but they both assumed that the bomb would be on the fifth floor just like the last round. "Alright, stick together little lamb and allow my holy light to guide you to victory." Shiozaki said, her hands together for a prayer, her partner merely nodded.

She was a little nettled but let the jab slide for now. They walked into the first connected hall-

And heard laughing. Two different voices, one male, one female, cackled and giggled. One going both ways, left and right, from their intersecting halls. Shiozaki sighed, such a sinful tactic.

Her gaudy hair grew in size and went both ways, traveling throughout the building as it searched for her opponents. She sent it after the laughs, but she didn't hit anything. Her eyes narrowed as she searched the locations, she didn't find anything. "Kodai, it's time to search for some black sheep." Their confusing tactic was sinful.

Monoma and Tokage laughed as they floated their mouths and one eye around the building, getting Shiozaki to follow the body parts before they hid them away, making them invisible and making the religious girl angry.

Their bodies were still on the roof and their bodies still had one eye in them. Tokage's body was flailing on the floor, while Monoma was standing and disconnected his arm. 'Time for me to strike.' The boy sent his hand out, ready to gain a couple of quirks to use.

Kodai had reached the third floor, they had already wasted half of their time following Monoma and Tokage around, it was getting old. She remained impassive however as she jogged through the halls, long since had she left her partner behind.

She decided to climb the floors instead of looking for their opponents. They were either trying to distract them or Shiozaki was bad at using her quirk, either or she didn't really care.

She got to the fourth floor and found… nothing. "Fifth floor." She muttered under her breath.

Shiozaki was getting frustrated. She couldn't find the little lambs that were causing her ire. And then, she felt a tap on her arm, turning she saw a floating hand, before it zipped away from her.

Her eyes widened as she followed the limb, her vines crawling like a spider as the limb floated down many halls. So many times her vines barely missed catching it. She finally thoughtshe had it when it found its way into a corner, only to see it go out a window.

She pressed her comm, "Kodai, I believe-"

"Ah hello Shiozaki! Kodai isn't here right now, actually in just a second-"

"YOUNG KODAI HAS BEEN ELIMANATED!"

"-there it is!" Monoma cackled. "Good luck Shiozaki-san!" She turned off her comm and huffed. She spent the rest of her time searching endlessly, every floor, every room, every nook and cranny. But found nothing.

The time ended and she felt like she was going to blow a gasket. And heard laughing from above her, she was on the fifth floor. "How sinful." She muttered.

Recovery Girl's Office

Izuku cried as the Youthful heroine bonked him with her cane. "I ASKED FOR A WEEK, A SINGLE WEEK, AND YOU COULDN'T EVEN DO THAT!" She had already healed him, as much as she could do for the day. But now that meant she had free reign to tell him how reckless and stupid he was.

Which was fair… "B-But we had a h-heroics exercise…" He lost his voice as the old hero glared at him, he decided not to open his mouth anymore.

Recovery Girl huffed, "That's no excuse you buffoon, push yourself past your limit and your body won't be able to keep up. You're lucky your hand wasn't too broken." The nurse sighed as she gave him some gummies. "You don't go plus ultra on your body with that quirk, you have to get used to it, sonny."

Izuku quieted as he chewed on the given gummies, he knew he didn't have good control but he couldn't just not participate in class. He clenched a fist. "B-But All Might was able to use 100% from the start…"

Recovery Girl turned to him and sighed. "Toshinori trained for a long time to inherit that quirk, and he had two teachers, you only had one. And on top of that I doubt he was a good one.." She sighed again, just thinking about how much of a terrible teacher Toshinori must be, it made her remember her age.

She looked at Izuku who looked as if he was contemplating something. "…I need to get better…" She barely made out. His brow was creased and it looked as if he was shaking slightly.

'It's too much… too much pressure. Damn it Toshinori, you've put too much on his shoulders. He's just a child for god's sake!' Recovery Girl instantly knew that was it. Having to carry the legacy of the Symbol Of Peace, having to carry on the torch of One For All, on top of whatever else was going on in his life. She was surprised the boy didn't have any white hairs.

She went to her desk and tore out a piece of paper, quickly writing a number on it. 'Either he'll make it a lot worse or a lot better, there's no in between with him.' She sighed and approached the bed that the successor occupied.

"If I finish my homework during lunch and in between classes, maybe also during homeroom, I can get in a lot of hours to work out time, but I'll have to get used to it or just push through, that's about 7 hours of workout time a day, 8 hours of sleeps, an hour for everything else, 8 hours for school. Yeah this could wor-yOW!" Izuku yelped as a cane hit his head.

"Good, I got your attention."

Izuku rubbed his head in discomfort. "T-That hurt…" It reminded him too much of his old teachers.

Recovery Girl looked at him and huffed, "Well how else am I going to get it into your thick skull that you need to stop breaking yourself? Anyways, I'm not here to argue, so take this." She handed him the piece of paper.

Izuku rose a brow but took it. "W-What's this?"

"Someone who can help you, who can actually teach you. Just focus on what you can do for now. No crazy work out plans or anything of the such, just call or text this number when you have the time and when you aren't in the process of healing after one of your stunts." She sighed and walked away, "You can go back to class, just come back tomorrow to finish your treatment."

Izuku nodded and pocketed the paper, he stumbled out of bed and thanked her again after getting into a gym uniform. His arm was wrapped in a cast, but it was more of a lot of bandages than a full cast. The limb hurt but not overly so like during the entrance exam.

So….that was a plus?

He left, thinking about the number. Could the person that used this number help him? And if so, how? He shook his head and made his way to the viewing deck of Ground Beta, he remembered the route and hoped that he would be able to see at least a few of the matches.

Izuku walked through the halls and was about to leave the main building. "Midoriya." He knew that gruff and rough voice anywhere, he turned around and his eyes landed on his homeroom teacher, Vlad King.

"A-Ah! Kan-sensei!" He bowed quickly. He stood back up nad realized something, he had no idea how to make conversation with someone older than him. So he opened his mouth before his brain started working, "H-How's your day been?"

The man sighed, it sounded like he was tired, or maybe angry? Izuku couldn't put a finger on it. "Interesting to say the least, Midoriya." It had definitely been interesting. That was for sure.

The first thing that happened after he left the All Might to deal with the students was head to Nezu's office as he was called up to do so. And he learned more of Midoriya's unique situation.

"Yes, there's evidence that his middle school wasn't the best, and I still do not believe it has improved at all. They discriminated against Midoriya, all because of his "Quirklessness". I need you to assist Midoriya in getting up to speed with everyone else, Kan."

He had been given a job, and he would do his best to fulfill it. Just like he knew Nezu was going to do his best to tear Aldera to the ground. Honestly, all that he had learned was infuriating. He had never seen such things that angered him so much through such shitty cameras. "But I wanted to talk to you about something Midoriya, if you don't mind me taking too much of your time." He wasn't yelling, which he figured was good when talking to the boy. He flinched when too much noise happened, he had noticed that whenever Tetsutetsu yelled that would happen.

Izuku waved his hands, "N-No, it's alright Kan-sensei! I don't m-mind at all!" He answered hastily.

The giant man nodded and motioned Izuku to follow him, "Come, let's walk. The class will be done by the time our conversation is over so we can just head to the cafeteria now." Izuku nodded and started walking next to his teacher, wondering how much time he had taken up in the infirmary.

The hall was quiet as Vlad King thought about what to say. He wanted to be blunt but being too blunt had a chance of hurting Midoriya's feelings. It was clear his self esteem was low, taking a blow to it would be bad. "So, Midoriya, tell me. Are you training to use your quirk?" Vlad King hoped that was an appropriate question.

Izuku paused, he hadn't really had the time to do so. He had been working out but not using his quirk. "N-No sir, I haven't b-been able to…" He answered.

Vlad King easily noted the disappointment in his voice as he answered. "At UA we don't have traditional extracurricular activities. We have social activities to help students get away from the stress of their classes but there's also others to help assist those falling behind." He noticed how Izuku looked disappointed when he mentioned falling behind.

"Midoriya, I read your file and I know you're a late bloomer, on top of what you told the class during the quirk showcase. It's clear that you are behind everyone else." It might've been a little too blunt.

Izuku clenched a fist. "I-I know, sensei…" He answered in a sad tone.

'OK, definitely too blunt, damn it..' Vlad chastised himself. He probably hurt the kid's feeling, though indirectly. "Well…" He wasn't a talkative guy, he didn't talk to people. He wasn't like Mic or Midnight, he was more like Aizawa (which did piss him off just a bit) So he was struggling talking to the kid, struggling being an understatement. "Don't.. feel too bad. It's a given because of your situation…"

Izuku nodded. "I know…" He sounded a little annoyed. Perhaps because he wasn't making progress with his quirk, or maybe something else. "S-So you want me to take an extracurricular activity to h-help me catch up?" He asked as he put the pieces together.

Vlad made a so-so motion with his hand, "Sort of. In reality kid, I'm just going to be doing my best to help you catch up with the class and it'll be listed as extracurricular. But this isn't mandatory, so I came to ask you if it'd be something you want."

Izuku kinda wanted to cry. Is this what teachers were supposed to be like? Were they supposed to help you when you struggled? He looked at Vlad King, his vision was blurry, 'Dang it.. stupid tears…' and nodded. "Y-Yes, I'd like that."

Vlad King smiled as he stopped walking and let out a hand for his student to shake, "Alright, every day after school. I'll be located in Training Gym Gamma." Izuku shook his hand and noticed the difference in size. Vlad King was no All Might but he was still huge.

"A-Alright sensei, I-I'll do my best, I promise!" Izuku swore.

His teacher grinned, "That's all I ask Midoriya, now go get some lunch, you'll need energy for later today." He began to walk off.

Izuku froze, "W-Wait, we're starting today?!"

The greanette ate his food quietly, when he had sat down his class had entered the cafeteria, just finished with the exercise. He watched as they all wondered about and Monoma caught a glance of him and sat down next to him as soon as he got his food.

The rest of the group joined after that. Though Tetsu was also sitting with them and Kuroiro was too. Though Kuroiro was only talking to Komori. 'Huh, wonder why that is…' So far, nothing really interesting had happened. Just asking how everyone's day was going, which was a weird question considering they all knew how each other's days had gone.

And then Izuku realized, 'They're all nervous about something…' Yanagi was wringing her wrists, Tokage's carefree grin was slipping, Tetsu wasn't as loud as he made conversation with Kendo, the red head herself acting more reserved, and Monoma kept opening his mouth to say something but never got it out.

The only ones who were acting normal were Kuroiro, who Izuku guessed didn't care, and Komori because she was always nervous.

So he decided to spark up a conversation with his totally existent social skills!

'Ok… I don't know anything about anyone really…' This was going to be tough, wasn't it? Despite having friends now, he knew nothing about them. Was that how having friends worked? He didn't think so. "S-So, umm." The group turned to him as he started talking, "..how were your guy's matches?"

No one really reacted, they were all still kind of nervous. Until Tokage smiled and detached her upper body. It floated over the table, slinging her arm around Monoma, and also kinda bringing his head into her breast, "We kicked ass! Didn't we blondie!"

Monoma pushed her face, trying to get her off of himself, "Yes, I suppose we did, now please unhand me!"

"Aww come onnnn~ a lot of guys would love for this to happen to them!"

"Well I am not one of them!" The boy yelled back.

Tokage huffed and sat back down, reconnecting to her lower half. "Fine, be a party pooper then." She grumbled. Monoma straightened out his clothing and sighed.

Izuku looked between the two of them, "S-So… how w-was everyone else's?" He was completely appalled at the fact that he was the one initiating the conversation. With so many people too. At Aldera, he never could've imagined talking to two- no even one person! But here he had a whole group of people he could talk to, and it was nerve wracking!

Komori blushed before entering the conversation, "Kuroiro-kun and I did w-well, shroom.. we won our match…" Said teen simply nodded along with Komori. None of them knew exactly why he was here, but they weren't going to kick him out.

Izuku turned to Yanagi, the girl sitting next to him as well. "W-What about you Yanagi-chan?"

The entire group, excluding Izuku, had seen that the girl had been frowning since the moment Izuku first entered battle with Kamakiri. But now, she had a really small smile on her face.

She put a finger on her chin, "My teammate and I conquered our opponents, though they were zealous in their desire to achieve victory. Despite that, we came out victorious in the end." She said.

Izuku nodded, he wanted to ask how they won but decided not to. He knew he'd get into a mumble fit and that creeped people out.

"What about you K-"

"MIDOLYA!" They all heard the yell of Izuku's last name, although it sounded a little.. scuffed. (For those who don't know, I heard somewhere that the Japanese "Ri" is often the parallel for the letter "L", for an example "Krillin" From Dragon Ball is actually Kuririn or Kurririn in Japan.)

The group turned to see Pony approaching their table, smiling. It was heart melting. And now Izuku knew how much looks could be deceiving, 'Tetsu-kun struggled fighting her, I only won because grabbing her horns is a weakness that I just guessed on…' And now here she was, making them all scrunch their eyes at her brightness and cuteness.

She turned to Izuku, "You ok?" She said with an accent. It was clear that she meant to say "Are you ok?" But none of them would fault her. Japanese was a difficult language to learn and being a hero course student gave her a lot of duties and responsibilities.

Izuku briefly remembered the final moments of their battle trial, he was holding onto Tsunotori's horns and then he passed out. At least that was the extent of his memory. So that begged the question. What happened after? Did she catch him? If so then he was going to explode into a blush. 'No no, just- keep your cool' He took a breath and smiled, "I-I'm fine Tsunotori-san."

He saw the girl scrunch her brows. Perhaps his stutter was making it harder for her to understand him? It made it seem like he was adding more to his words when it was just him being bad at talking.

"I'm fine Tsunotori." He said in English, the American's eyes widened.

"YOU CAN SPEAK ENGLISH?!" The group looked between the two of them as they made conversation, none of them really knowing what they were saying. Though Tsunotori looked happy that she had someone she was able to talk at a normal speed with.

Izuku explained that he had picked up English as a pastime. He didn't really want to explain that he learned because all the articles about All Might's time in America were in English, and while there were some Japanese translations there were interviews done with both All Might and his partner at the time, David Shield, that Izuku wanted to understand firsthand.

So he got a book, learned which phrases translated and eventually picked up the language. But that's besides the point really.

Tokage looked between the two and smiled, opening her mouth she was going to embarrass that crap out of the green teen. Sadly she found a floating hand blocking her mouth and was met with a glare by Monoma. "Just don't."

She pouted, "Fine…" She'd get the blond back for this. Eventually, she just had to play the waiting game.

The bell rang and the students sighed as they went to throw their food away. "Can you teach me Midoriya! I'm really struggling with Japanese." Tsunotori got into a bow as she asked.

Izuku blushed and waved his arms, "Y-You don't have to boy Tsunotori, and y-yeah… I can try." He could try, because 1. He wasn't sure if he could teach someone something so difficult and 2. He wasn't sure if he could teach someone so bright and cute without being blinded by said brightness and cuteness.

"THANK YOU!" She glomped him with a smile.

Izuku blushed but nodded, "Y-You're welcome! B-B-B-B-B-B-" And he was broken. Yanagi used her quirk to separate the two, Tsunotori blinked at the weird feeling of being moved without wanting to move as well as floating mid air.

The group made their way to class with Tetsu and Monoma helping Izuku walk as his brain was still crashed.

Tokage smiled as she held her head with her arms behind it, "All that over a hug, what do you think'll happen if someone ever kisses him? Or if Miss Midnight goes too far during class."

Kendo and Yanagi sighed, "I don't think Miss Midnight would go that far Tokage-Chan." Kendo chastised.

But Yanagi hummed instead as she pulled out her phone, "Actually, I've heard quite the contrary. There are numerous posts on hero forums of recent UA alumni that have been, for lack of a better term, scarred by Miss Midnight. Though I hope that Midoriya does not become one of those."

Tsunotori looked between everyone, she wanted to feel included but didn't really know how to enter a conversation with her limited speech. She sighed and let herself just follow along with everyone else as she tried her best to understand what they were all saying.

All the while, Komori and Kuroiro were still holding a conversation with each other.

"Who's your favorite Nintendo character?"

"A-Ah…. T-Toadette….you?"

"Bowser is quite fierce, but Dark Link is very mysterious."

They were basically just learning more about each other.

After School

The main trio walked together as they left the class. They were just chatting, and Izuku felt happy about that. Just talking to them was nice. He idly played with the bracelet that Yanagi had given him.

The bracelet strap was leather so it was secured tightly around his wrist, he honestly had no idea how he didn't lose it during the battle trial but he loved the gift. It also had each of their hair colors incorporated into it. The black band had specks of gold, most likely gold glue, on it. Then there was the green gem held in a silver container. It was just-

It made him happy.

"Midoriya, you're going the wrong way.." Monoma commented as Izuku was walking towards Training Ground Gamma.

The greanette rubbed the back of his head, "A-Actually Monoma-kun, I have an extracurricular activity to do… s-sorry that I won't be able to-"

Monoma waved a hand, "Do not apologize, you don't have to. I hope you have a good time with whatever you are doing. Yanagi, are you coming with me?"

The ghost girl looked between the two of them and eventually she floated over to Izuku, "I hope you don't mind, but I would like to accompany you, Midoriya." She tilted her head.

Izuku gulped, it was actually kind of cute. He had a weakness for girls, he knew that, he didn't know how to deal with them. "S-Sure, Yanagi-chan.." They both turned to Monoma, "S-See you, Monoma-kun."

Monoma gave them both a bow, "Farewell for now my friends, good luck to you both!" The boy turned around and flinched when he heard the yell of "BLONDIE!" He booked it to get off of campus as fast as he could.

Izuku smiled a bit, though Yanagi got into his vision, "Shall we go?" She asked. He nodded, though with a blush as she was very, very, very close to him. It was nerve wracking. He turned around and made his way around the campus. Yanagi followed behind him, floating and observing the surrounding areas. "So Midoriya." Yanagi decided to spark up a conversation. "What does this extracurricular activity involve?"

"Ah, Kan-sensei said he was going to help me with my q-quirk… since I still don't know how to use it that well…" He explained as they walked around, there were other students about the halls. A couple pointed and whispered, others glared. Izuku didn't know why.

"Hero course…" He often heard but he and Yanagi kept on walking, well in his case, Yanagi was still floating. Was that quirk training for her? If so, it was impressive, as she did it all the time. Should he do something like that to train his quirk? Perhaps? He should talk to Kan-sensei about that-

"Midoriya, you're muttering." Yanagi poked his cheek.

Izuku yelped and backed up, 'TOO CLOSE!'

"If you two are done then get in here. You don't have time to slack off Midoriya." Izuku turned to see that they had arrived at Training Gym Gamma. The one who talked to him was Vlad King himself.

'Just how distracted do I get with my muttering?' Problems to deal with later.

The pro motioned them inside and the two obliged. The gym was massive, it was quite spacious though it was completely flat. "You two are lucky, this place is usually a mess. But since no one has had a chance to use it this year it's completely clean." The pro grinned and readied his vocal chords. "Ishayama!" The size of the gym gave way to an echo, and Vlad's voice vibrated throughout, shaking Izuku up a little.

They heard footsteps and a sigh as the Cement Hero came into the gym. "Cementoss! The cement hero!" Izuku had already gotten the man's autograph as he was their Modern Literature teacher, but still!

The man chuckled briefly at Izuku's excited nature before turning to Vlad King, "So, what exactly did you need me to build Kan? I do have lesson plans to get to work on." The pro said as he squatted and put his hands on the ground.

"I had an obstacle course in mind as well as some concrete blocks that the second years use for their super move training." Vlad answered, his fellow pro nodded and the ground shook.

Izuku smiled as he pulled out his notebook.

A wave of cement moved as an obstacle course was formed from the ground, the blocks Vlad talked about being formed away from the course. Cementoss stood up and sighed, "Alright, good luck you two, and Kan? Please don't get carried away.." And left.

Vlad grinned as he looked around, "All right! Midoriya there's a changing room around the corner, go do that and then come back and we can start."

"Y-Yes Kan-sensei!" The bow bowed and left as quickly as he could to change into a more fitting set of clothes for training.

Vlad placed his hands on his hips. 'Well.. someone's certainly energetic about this..' He turned to the more subdued partner that Midoriya had brought along, "So… what are you doing here Yanagi?"

The girl turned to him, "I merely wanted to spend more time with Midoriya." She answered plain and simply.

Vlad King raised a brow but decided not to press further. 'Merely wanting to spend more time with someone' yeah sure, maybe that was the extent of it. But maybe it was something else. He didn't want to ask but he did decide one thing, 'Never let Kayama see them together…' The woman would lose herself over the cuteness of the two and do whatever she could to get them together, which in most cases didn't end well. He swore he'd never let it happen.

"I-I'm back!" Izuku called as he arrived in a gym uniform.

"Welcome back Midoriya." Yanagi said as Izuku smiled, he was excited to be taught by Kan-sensei.

Vlad King crossed his arms, "Alright, Yanagi back up, Midoriya I want you to activate your quirk at your maximum. Not 100%, the max amount you can handle. If you get what I mean." Izuku nodded and Yanagi floated over to Vlad to make space between them and the green haired boy.

He closed his eyes and summoned One For All into his arm. Red veins appeared across his arm before disappearing, his skin almost glowing, and small, miniscule sparks of green lightning arcing every now and then. It wasn't instantaneous, not even close, but it was coming to him slightly easier than before. He grit his teeth as he upped the percentage until he felt his bones start to creak. "T-This is it, Kan-sensei!"

Yanagi and Kan both saw the flashy properties his quirk had. For a simple enhancer, Midoriya's quirk was very unique.

Kan had a small grin on his face, "Alright Midoriya! How much would you say this is?!"

Izuku closed his eyes and felt the power for a second before responding, "I w-would say about 4% sir."

Honestly, Vlad had to hold himself back from shaking in excitement. The kid's full power would be 25 times stronger! It was amazing! He would totally be able to show up Aizawa with this kid. "Alright, for now, let's gauge your max for now, go do the obstacle course."

"Yes sensei!" Izuku yelled.

The two watched as Izuku ran the course, a cheerful bounce in his step. It was quite nice to see, since he was always a ball of nervousness, but it made them wonder why he was so happy in the first place. Was it because he was getting help with his quirk or something else? They didn't know, but both of them silently decided to themselves that they wanted to see him like that more often.

The course was mostly just running with minor parkour jumps here and there. It was sets of walls and pillars that one had to jump off of and climb up. The structures grow in size to get to the tallest one. The greanette fell a lot, either from not being able to do certain jumps because he was underestimating or overestimating his quirk's power. Every time he would go back to the start and do it again. Though he was getting some scrapes on his body, which Recovery Girl would not like at all.

Vlad smiled as Izuku took up another attempt, he had a feeling about this one. The boy activated the quirk in his legs, the limbs glowing for a second, opened his eyes and ran off, he took 5 steps before jumping onto a wall, then he used his quirk to climb to the top of the wall in a couple leaps.

He jumped from the top of it to another wall and ran across that one before leaping off to a surrounding pillar, the process repeated until he reached the top point of the course, or what was the end.

He gasped for air. "O-Ok… done…" He made his way down and was drenched in sweat, the entire process had taken 30, maybe 40, minutes. "A-Alright, what's next sensei?"

The man smirked. "That." And pointed to a concrete block that Cementoss had made.

"That?" Izuku asked dumbly.

Vlad King nodded, "I want you to punch it, get a feel for how strong you are, the last thing you want on the field is accidentally overusing your power and killing someone." The pro explained.

Izuku paled at his words, he would never kill somebody! Wait Kan-sensei said accidentally, so of course he would never purposefully do that, but it was entirely possible to do it accidentally. Especially if he didn't get a feel for his strength like Kan-sensei was talking about.

He nodded, "Y-Yes sensei!"

Yanagi watched as Izuku charged his quirk into his arms and punched the pieces of concrete. Small cracks were formed and Izuku didn't seem to be damaged. "Perhaps his quirk also increases his durability? If so it's not to the same extent as his power and speed, if so he wouldn't break himself every time he used it." She mumbled.

Vlad glanced at her and sighed. 'Midoriya's rubbing off on her..' Of course that wasn't a bad thing but it was even more of a reason to keep Kayama away from them.

Izuku sighed as he charged his quirk into his arm one last time, gritting his teeth, powering it up quickly, and punching. The stone cracked, a spiderweb forming from the epicenter that was Izuku's fist and spreading throughout the stone block.

He panted as he regained his breath, 'It's only so broken because I was able to get so many repeated attacks, but I can't kill anyone with his power output.' It would definitely leave bruises but four percent wouldn't kill anyone, he had even used it on Kamakiri earlier and the boy was still alive.

He looked back to see Vlad King nodding approvingly, it… made him feel happy. "You have a basic grasp of the limitations your current output has, but how long does it take you to activate your quirk?"

Izuku closed his eyes and focused, summoning the power into his arm again, he opened them back up, "Ah.. about 4- maybe 5seconds?" He answered.

Vlad nodded, "I'd say we focus on burning that time down to 2 seconds or less." How were they going to do that? Vlad had a couple of ideas really. "So, get ready, Midoriya."

"R-Ready for what?" He only got a wide grin in return.

Izuku was not ready. The plan was to attack him repeatedly until he could use his quirk to efficiently dodge out of the way. Going by his analysis, Izuku knew that his teacher was holding back a lot, Vlad wanted Izuku to actually get better. But still! This was a little too much!

He jumped out of the way of a punch from the pro, his legs were burning from how much he had been using his quirk. But he was getting better at summoning his quirk, now it was definitely lower but he wasn't sure if he had lowered it to 2 seconds like Vlad King had wanted. Maybe 3 at the least.

But he had gotten better on not having to focus so hard on keeping his quirk activated, which was good. And then he slipped and fell.

Vlad winced, "Alright, I think that's enough for today, Midoriya."

Izuku got up as quickly as he could, "B-But I can keep going!"

Vlad could see a look of pleading in the boy's eyes, 'He wants to get better.' He smiled a bit. "Overworking your body won't help you right now, plus I think you can catch up to your classmates within the month."

"B-But I don't want to just catch up! I-I want to excel!"

Vlad looked at the boy with sympathy in his eyes, he laid a hand on his shoulder, "Then bring your best tomorrow. I'm counting on the fact that I'll see you here Midoriya. I find your drive admirable, but I don't want you going too far as to break yourself or your body. Yes, Plus Ultra is our motto but there is a fine line between Plus Ultra and overworking."

Izuku sighed and nodded, "I- ok… I understand sensei…"

It hurt to see the kid sad but it was needed, he couldn't overwork himself. "Alright, Yanagi you're always welcome to come join us, I could perhaps even assist you in anything you need next time as well."

The ghost girl shook her head, "While I do appreciate the offer sensei, I realize that Midoriya does need help. Speaking of, we should get going Midoriya, it's getting late."

Izuku rubbed his eyes with his forearm and grabbed his bag, "Y-Yeah, ok.."

They left, leaving the training gym quiet and leaving Vlad to deal with his thoughts. "DAMN IT! I WAS TOO ROUGH ON HIM!" The pro wanted to tear his own head off. He sighed, "I'll review the footage of the battle trials, tell get kids what they need to work on, maybe that will help him…"

It was just the beginning but Vlad knew there was going to be a long road ahead of him if he wanted that kid to reach his peak. But he swore he would get the kid there. To shove it to Aizawa, for his pride, and to help the kid out too. He clenched a fist, "I will do this!"

END

Notes:

Thank you all for reading and sorry it took me so long to transfer over this chapter.

Chapter 6: The Class Representative

Summary:

After the battle trials and showing the class what exactly he was made of, Izuku is now thrown completely out of his comfort zone.

Izuku grunted as he got out of bed. His body was still feeling terrible from yesterday. On top of the fact that he wasn't fully healed yet, he had trained with Kan-sensei and perhaps made it even worse. But yet, he was a little happy. He got to train with Vlad King! How many people could say that they've done that. After all, Vlad King wasn't the most social pro hero!

It was also something to check off his bucket list, 'Train with a pro hero' And while of course All Might had trained him, it wasn't the same. All Might stood at the side lines and observed, and while Kan also did that, he got to spar with Vlad King!

Of course the pro wasn't trying and completely stomped Izuku but it was still awesome!

He winced as he threw on his uniform after showering, his body was in pain. 'I need to see Recovery Girl as soon as I can…' He left the bathroom, not even trying to brush his hair, and went to the kitchen to get breakfast. He saw his mom, running around and making an American style breakfast for him. He had gotten a cookbook from All Might and he gave the book to his mom, all of the recipes were foreign dishes as a result of the man's stay in America at the start of his career.

He found a smile coming onto his face. "Hey mom, do you need help?"

The bubbly woman perked up and turned to Izuku, "No, I'm alright, you just focus on getting ready for school sweetie." She was smiling.

Izuku didn't really know the last time he had seen her smile so genuinely but he nodded, "Alright, love you mom."

"Love you too." She said.

Izuku went back to his room and got all of his stuff together, he made sure he had everything. He grabbed his hero analysis that had his new sketch of his costume. He had managed to finish the sketch after he had gotten home. Experiencing the drawbacks of what he now dubbed his "Alpha Suit" he knew what areas needed improvement.

The new costume had the same basics, but it looked thicker compared to the skin tight one his mom had made, and dark green was written off to the side. The respirator didn't have a smile on it anymore and off to the side he made a note for it to be metal. He shoved his stuff into his yellow backpack and went to the dining room with it where his mom had put out the food. "Thanks mom."

"No problem sweetie, I have to go but have a good day at school." She kissed his head and left.

He ate his food alone, enjoying how good it tasted, and just felt happy. He had never seen his mom filled with so much joy since he was a kid. Maybe that was partially his fault, but it was behind them now. They could move forward to something better.

He left his house with a smile on his face and got off a train to UA. He had a slight pep in his step as he approached UA, and…

"Why are there so many people crowded at the gate?" Izuku asked himself as he observed a massive group of reporters at the gateway to his school. He tilted his head in confusion, and gulped a bit. They were like a pack of rabid dogs in a cage trying to get a piece of meat. They were yelling, shoving, and just being rude to anyone coming into the school. He didn't want to deal with that, he honestly didn't think he could.

"Hello Midoriya!"

"WOAH JESUS!" He jumped high into the air, landing in the same spot he turned to see Yanagi on his left.

"No, it's just me actually." She replied calmly.

Izuku held his chest as he tried to calm his heart down, she just came out of nowhere! He didn't even hear her! She just appeared, almost like a ghost. 'Speaking of I still need to ask why her telekinesis is called "Poltergeist" it's kinda spooky…' After he calmed down he turned to her, seeing her tilt her head.

"Is something the matter?"

'C-C-C-CUTE!' Izuku chided himself, "N-No, nothing's wrong.. I just don't know how I'm going to g-get on campus with all of the r-reporters…" They both turned to see the reporters yelling at Present Mic and some hobo looking guy at the gate, they both looked kind of nettled. Which was surprising because Present Mic was the most joyous hero Izuku knew, well besides All Might of course.

Izuku sighed. He really wanted to find a way around them if he could, but nothing came to mind…

Yanagi tilted her head as she thought of ways to help him. She wanted to be able to assist him, to find ways to make him feel better, to smile, and this would be the first step onto that journey. She turned to the reporters and then to Izuku. No plan coming to mind. She pouted, why wasn't anything coming to mind?

Izuku sighed, "W-We should just go Yanagi-chan…" While he didn't want to go through whatever the crowd was, he did need to get to class on time. And he had to go see Recovery Girl to finish his healing process.

They both looked at the crowd, seeing a group of students go in, consisting of yellow, black, red haired boys, and get separated as they were rammed with microphones and yelled at by adults wanting a scoop about whatever was going on at the school. It looked like hell on Earth.

Izuku shivered. He really didn't want to go through, and he'd get separated from Yanagi from all of their prodding. He didn't want that, he didn't think he could handle it on his own. He'd cave in and just sink into the floor into a fetal position and start crying, he knew that.

He felt arms wrapped around his own left one and turned to see Yanagi holding onto him. 'Eh?'

"It would be detrimental if we were to get separated, so I hope that this is an alright action to take given our circumstances." She stated as she pulled him along, the boy's brain was fried.

'TOO CLOSE! EVEN TOKAGE HASN'T DONE SOMETHING THIS- ok that's a lie, Tokage has definitely done something worse, but still!' He blushed as they reached the reporters, his head resembling a strawberry or a tomato. The sea of reporters turned to the two students, or in their eyes "Fresh Meat", and grinned.

"Excuse me, do you have any statements regarding All Might being a teacher?!"

"Have you been taught by All Might?!"

"How is it being taught by Japan's symbol of peace?!"

"Are you two dating?!"

Izuku blushed and Yanagi huffed as she pulled them out of the crowd. "Please just make a single statement!" A reporter yelled. The two students stood in front of Present Mic and the hobo looking man, the man narrowing his eyes at Izuku, making the boy gulp.

"Get on in Little Listeners, we'll deal with this mob." Present Mic ushered them in. Yanagi still held onto Izuku's arm as she nodded and dragged the boy into the building.

Present Mic turned to look at them and sighed, "Never let Nem see the two of them." He told himself.

Aizawa smirked, he knew exactly how to get Kan back for being an ass. Having one of his students constantly being pestered by the R-Rated Hero? It was perfect. Now he was by no means a petty man, but he was annoyed with Kan. No one saw him take a picture of the two retreating students, and no one saw him send it to Midnight either.

He smiled and turned his phone off and pocketed him. 'Take that Kan, I'm losing precious sleep hours now because of you.'

Izuku blushed as the two walked through the halls, he hadn't been able to get out because he was still too brain broken to do anything.

"You need to go to the Nurse's office, correct?" Yanagi asked him and he nodded, stiffly. "Are you alright? Would you appreciate it if I let go of you?" He nodded again and she did so. "I apologize if I made you uncomfortable Midoriya." Her voice was still semi-monotone but Izuku could tell that she really was apologetic. It was nice.

He shook his head, "N-No, it's ok Yanagi-chan, don't w-worry about it." He regained the ability to speak.

The girl nodded, "If you say so, now let's get you to the Recovery Girl's office." She turned around and led him throughout the halls. He followed behind, trying to calm his blush.

They arrived at the office and Izuku entered. "Hello Ms. Recovery Girl." He said. He heard the woman sigh as she turned around.

She scanned him up and down with an intimidating stare, it made Izuku shiver. She hopped off of her rolling chair to address him,. "So, how are you feeling? Anything hurting?" She asked as she sat him down at one of the beds.

He rubbed the back of his head, "I'm a little sore all over and my arm hurts but other than that I'm alright." He said. Recovery Girl sighed and kissed his arm, Izuku instantly felt his body return to normal, no soreness and no pain. He smiled. "T-Thank you.."

"Thank me by not coming in for a week. If you do, I swear I'll kick your butt." She grumbled as she kicked him out of her office. Izuku sighed a little bit but he knew that she was right. He also knew that she could definitely kick his butt. After all, All Might had warned him about getting on Recovery Girl's bad side. The Number One Pro must've learned from experience not to do that.

"Well that could have done a little better, don't you agree?" Yanagi asked him and he nodded. "Is she always like that with you?" He nodded again.

Izuku looked down and sighed, "She's had to heal me, three maybe four times this year. That's including the entrance exam." He rubbed the back of his head. "So that's another reason why I need to get better with my quirk…"

Yanagi nodded, "Well… I'm sure you'll get there with time."

'Yeah… but how long is 'in time'….' He shook the thought away as they arrived at their classroom, they both entered to see mostly everyone was already there.

"Ah Midoriya my friend!" Monoma waved over, he was mid conversation with Tokage but he clearly wanted to be doing anything but that. Izuku could relate to that.

"Hey Monoma-kun."

"Greetings Monoma-san."

They both greeted the boy and took their seats. "So, how was your extracurricular yesterday, Midoriya?" Monoma turned in his seat to talk to Izuku.

"I-It was good…" He had learned a lot, and while he did want to do more they did have to stop. He knew that he was already injured but could they have just done a bit more? Maybe it was for the best that they stop but still…

"So greenie, what do you think we're doing today for heroics?" Tokage asked as she propped her feet onto her desk, if Monoma or Midoriya moved their heads enough they might've been able to see up her skirt, and she knew that.

Izuku blushed and opened up a notebook to divert his attention away from Tokage. "I-I don't know… m-maybe we'll review the matches from yesterday? Actually that'd be really interesting! And I'd be able to take notes on everyone's performances too!" The boy gleefully started rambling.

Tokage pouted as his lack of a reaction, she thought that'd work! She turned to Monoma to see he was looking at anywhere but her.

His friends sighed, already kind of used to his antics. "That would be interesting, we only picked MVPs yesterday so dissecting each match would help us learn what we did right and how to improve in places where we didn't do as well." Monoma added his own two cents.

"That would be the most helpful." Yanagi spoke.

The conversation died down as Vlad entered the room, he strode to the podium and looked out towards all of his students. Honestly, he wanted to make the choices, but Nezu said it'd be good to allow the students to choose. It gave them a sense of freedom if they'd pick someone they'd trust instead of Vlad picking whoever he thought was the most suited.

"Alright students! Today you'll be doing something that will affect you for the rest of the school year, and perhaps even years after! This will let two students shine above the rest of the class!" He yelled, Izuku squirmed, he was a little too loud for his liking...

But his words were intriguing, and not just to him but the majority of the class as well. An opportunity for some to rise above the rest? Now that was interesting. Izuku personally didn't want to seek out whatever it was, since he knew that he was behind most of the class and he wouldn't like the attention either. He wasn't used to getting attention so when he did get it he just felt uncomfortable. But also, everyone else was ahead of him, he didn't deserve to get such an opportunity. After all, they were already running the race, while he was barely granted the right to be at the starting line..

"You'll be picking class representatives!" Vlad King yelled and Izuku was knocked from his musing.

'Class… representatives..?' That wasn't what he was expecting.

The man grunted, "In the previous years I've been the one to select representatives, however Nezu has convinced me to allow you to select them yourselves, you'll be voting democratically." He crossed his arms. "Select before homeroom is over, after that we'll be doing something different for your heroics class, and I'll have an announcement for tomorrow's heroic exercise as well." He continued, the class looked around as he quieted and then they exploded into chaos.

"Yo, I'd totally be the best pick for a rep!"

"I do believe that I'd be the best pick."

"My holy light is best equipped for guiding little lambs to a better tomorrow."

"I'd be the best fucking rep for class!"

Izuku folded in on himself as the class descended into madness. Vlad sighed, this is exactly why he always picked the reps instead of allowing the students to do it. They were still too immature. They weren't ready for serious stuff like that.

"Alright never-"

CLAP!

The class quieted as a loud clap sound was heard, they all turned to see Kendo with her hands enlarged. She let out a sigh, "You heard Kan-sensei, just vote for however you want and quit all the yelling, it's unnecessary. If you want votes so badly then vote for yourself, but that won't get you anywhere." She sat back down.

Izuku looked on in wonder, she expertly controlled the situation, now everyone was quiet. They were all given paper to write their votes on and Izuku was split. He didn't know if he wanted to vote for Kendo or Monoma.

Kendo was really nice while Monoma showed he could get a little unhinged by his display on their first day. But he knew more about Monoma, however Kendo handled the situation very well…

He tapped his pencil on his desk. He didn't know who to choose. Honestly, maybe it'd be easier if he knew more about Kendo? Monoma was a really good friend though..

Monoma was one of the first ever people to be kind to him. And there was the fact that maybe he knew a little bit of what it was like for Izuku to live as a quirkless. Having a copy quirk and all..

But Kendo showed signs that she was strong and smart. Maybe she was fit to be a leader? She definitely had the quirk for it. Izuku sighed. He didn't know what to choose.

Plus, what if people didn't respect Monoma because of his quirk, that's the way the world worked. People only looked up to those with strong quirks, that's partially why All Might was Number One, he had virtually the strongest quirk, now that was Izuku's. It made much more sense for Endeavor, he didn't seem nice, he didn't have a good on screen personality, the only thing he had going for him was his strength.

The strong were respected, and while Monoma's quirk took a lot of skill it required the help of others….

Izuku sucked in a breath, 'I-I-I'm sorry… M-Monoma-kun…' Izuku apologized as he wrote down Kendo's name on his piece of paper.

Yanagi instantly knew who she was going to vote for. It was Midoriya, her choice was a no brainer. The boy may have had a little bit of trouble talking to people, but she believed him getting an opportunity such as this would help him. But, she also believed that he would be a good leader. She had observed him during the Battle Trials, they won all because of his planning. And he sacrificed his own body to win as well. He was… strange. But it was a good kind of strange.

He was very interesting, that was the best way to put it. And perhaps having him in this position would allow everyone to see how interesting he was? 'Izuku Midoriya..' She tapped her pen and looked up, seeing the back of his poofy head of hair. She wondered how it felt to touch it, it looked really soft. Would he be alright with that? Well she grabbed him by the arm and walked him around today, so maybe he would be?

Monoma himself was also split between picking between two people. It was quite ironic, Midoriya and Kendo were his choices. Tokage was also a choice, but he ruled her out as she was too carefree, he couldn't see her in a position such as a class representative. The duty had a lot of responsibility and she'd just descend the class into chaos.

He knew Midoriya would take it seriously, but would he be able to handle it? He'd have to deal with everyone constantly pestering him about things and he didn't know if that'd help the boy with his self esteem or not. It was a gradual slope until he got better, they couldn't just rush it. So making him the rep seemed like a bad idea.

Kendo on the other hand, well she had a good quirk, she seemed to be reliable, and she seemed nice as well, but... there was their battle trial. But then again, while Midoriya had won, he had also been incapacitated. Monoma sighed, he knew his choice but it left a bad feeling in his heart. Kendo Itsuka was what he wrote down.

Vlad collected everyone's votes and tallied them on the board. It was obvious most people had voted for themselves, but there were those that didn't even have a single vote. Like Shishida and Shiozaki.

Then there were those that had multiple votes, two that stood at the top. "The Cinnamon Roll" and "The Big Sister" had the most votes. Izuku Midoriya had four votes and Itsuka Kendo had three votes.

Izuku's brain had stopped functioning, people voted him to be a class rep! He couldn't do that! And he got four votes too! What the heck!

Kendo had a much more subdued reaction, her eyes widening just a bit for a second before she smiled. Tokage pouted, she thought she'd at least get vice rep, but it looked like that wasn't going to be the case. The amount of pranks she would've been able to get away with..

Monoma looked down in regret, Midoriya had gotten four votes. If he didn't vote for himself then that meant four people trusted Midoriya more than Monoma did. Was he a bad friend? He didn't vote for Midoriya and he had known and hung around the boy a lot more than some others had. Maybe…

Vlad cleared his throat, "Alright! We have Midoriya as our Class Representative with Kendo as his vice, are there any objections?!" No one said anything so he nodded, "Alright, both of you come up here." Izuku got out of his seat looking embarrassed, he was still surprised that so many people had voted for him. Him of all people! He and Kendo stood side by side at the podium. "Do you two have any words to share with the class?" Vlad asked.

Kendo smiled, "Thank you all for the opportunity, I promise I'll do my best to help all of you!" A couple of people clapped and then they all turned to Izuku.

Izuku opened his mouth only to close it. He was locking up, 'No no no bad time!' He was nervous, too nervous. They were all expecting him to say something. He looked at them all, staring expectantly at him.

And then his eyes landed on Tokage, she was giving him a thumbs up… and so was Tetsu. Komori and Yanagi had smiles on their faces. They… trusted him. He didn't know how but he knew that they voted for him. He found strength, he found confidence, and opened his mouth.

"I-… I know I'm not the best choice… not by a long shot…" His words caught all of their attention. Yanagi creased her brows, she didn't like it when he put himself down like that. Tokage raised a brow in interest and Tetsu seemed to lose the smile that he always had on his face. Komori seemed to get a bit sad as well. "But… other people have confidence in me, s-so I should have confidence in myself as well! I-I promise I'll do my best to live up to all of your expectations and more!" He yelled with as much resolution as he could.

The class was quiet, they weren't clapping for him like they did with Kendo..

Monoma smiled and shot out of his seat, clapping as if he'd just seen the best movie to come out in the past two centuries, "Bravo Midoriya! Absolutely splendid!" He yelled.

"Yeah dude! Manly as hell!" Tetsu cheered, activating his quirk and smiling as much as he could.

"We're all counting on you greenie!" Tokage cupped her mouth with her hands as she yelled and smiled.

"There's no one I'd rather have taken up such a position." Yanagi said. Izuku barely caught it because of how quiet she was. Or how normal she was compared to everyone else's loudness.

Komori hadn't said much but Izuku saw her smiling just a bit.

Izuku found himself smiling, he had friends now. Actual friends.

"Alright, go sit down you two. We need to move onto the next part of class." Vlad ushered them to their seats. Both of them did so.

Izuku caught Yanagi smiling at him before he sat down and he smiled back. The girl cheered in her head. 'He's smiling! I made him smile, though it was with the help of a couple others through all of us voting for him, it still counts does it not? Now I just need to make this happen more often.'

Vlad smiled, "Alright, today for your heroics class we're going to be going over your Battle Trials from yesterday" Tokage, Yanagi, and Monoma sighed. Izuku hit it right on the head again. The boy himself pulled out his notebook, ready to take notes. "All Might will not be joining us today sadly, but I have another announcement."

The students perked their heads up. "Usually we wait until later in the year, when all of you have gotten used to the proper rescue protocol and have gotten it drilled into your heads, but this year Nezu decided to change it up. Originally we were going to have rescue training today, and 1-A would have it tomorrow, both in the evening so you could have as much energy as possible after lunch without the grogginess of it being early in the morning." His words caught the interest of the students, after all rescue training sounded super cool!

But Izuku caught the word 'originally' meaning plans had changed.

Vlad sighed, "However, due to… circumstances-" Because certain events that happened between him and Aizawa, Nezu decided to change it up a bit, "-we've decided that the winners of the Battle Trials get a sneak peak at rescue training, everyone else will perform it at the point we usually have it later in the year."

The students that lost all grumbled and pouted. Kamakiri was seriously pissed, he really wanted to shout something right now, most likely a profanity. Izuku cheered, he was one of the winners so he'd get to go!

'Wait...no no no no no!' He put his hand up as quickly as he could.

"Midoriya, do you have a question?" Vlad raised a brow at the boy in question.

He nodded, "Y-Yes, Kan-sensei. You said winners… I'm assuming that means the winners from 1-A as well…?" He asked, trying not to sound too wobbly, but his voice did so anyway.

Vlad sighed, "Sadly yes, ten from each class. Aziawa will be with you all as I'll have to cover for the students that are going to be staying behind. So I expect all of you to be on your best behavior." It was all Nezu's idea of course. Kan wasn't sure if it was because the rat knew about the situation with Aizawa and Midoriya, but he just had to roll with it now. As much as he didn't want to.

Izuku put his hand down. Kacchan was going to be there. There's no way the blond wasn't going to be there. There was no way that he had lost in the battle trials. He gulped.

"Alright, now we'll start with the first match. Midoriya and Tetsutetsu versus Kamakiri and Tsunotori." Vlad King announced and the students looked as a recording started playing on the front wall from a projector.

It showed the first match and it went up until Tetsu and Izuku met Kamakiri before pausing. "Alright." Vlad King sighed as the image of Tetsu leaving Izuku behind was frozen for them all to see. "Tell me where they went wrong here."

Izuku seized up, was his plan really that bad?

Vlad saw out of the corner that Izuku had locked up. He wanted to yell at himself. He had to remind himself not to be too hard on Midoriya. Tetsu looked stumped, it was clear that he wasn't a thinker, as he had left most of the work to Midoriya, but it wouldn't help if Midoriya was the only one commenting on his own mistakes.

The greanette did put his hand up however.

"He decided to fight me alone like a dumbass!" Kamakiri yelled, Izuku seizing up again and putting his hand down.

Vlad instantly saw a couple of students get pissed. "Now Kamakiri! That's hardly any realistic criticism. After all, you did lose." His voice was as even as steel and he could see the boy was about to pop a blood vessel. "Now does anyone else know what they could've done a bit better?" He asked, trying to rectify his mistake from earlier.

He saw Izuku put his hand up with more confidence this time, no one else had any clues but it did look like the cogs in their brains were turning so that was good. "Alright, Midoriya what do you have?"

Izuku seemed deflated, a bit sad, and a bit tired as well. "W-We should have switched, or taken Kamakiri out together…"

Vlad nodded, "Would you care to elaborate on that?"

The boy nodded, "Y-Yes sensei. T-Tetsu-kun's quirk was a perfect counter to Kamakiri-kun's quirk, and I could use my quirk to evade Tsunotori's. It would've been better if our roles were swapped, or we could've taken the time to eliminate Kamakiri so we'd have an easier time later on…"

Vlad nodded and Izuku put his hand down. He looked disappointed in himself for not doing that instead. "Well, now you know with the gift of hindsight. We make mistakes so we can learn from them, so don't feel too bad, alright Midoriya?"The boy quietly nodded and Vlad sighed, that'd have to do for now. "Alright, now onto the next match. Tokage and Monoma versus Shiozaki and Kodai. Now what could the heroes have done better?"

They played the next match and Izuku watched as the hero team split up, well that was their first mistake. They should have stuck together, perhaps even used their quirks in tandem. Wait, Kodai's quirk didn't work on living things, did that include Shiozaki's hair. He wasn't sure..

Kendo came to the conclusion that they shouldn't have split up, and that Shiozaki should've been more extensive in her search for the bomb, but the question did arise, was putting the bomb on the roof allowed?

Shiozaki put her hand up, "Shiozaki, did you have anything to improve upon?" Vlad called on her.

The girl was frowning, she turned to her left and stared at both Monoma and Tokage before turning back to the front, "Was placing the bomb on the roof really a fair thing to do Kan-sensei? I heavily doubt that something such as that is fair, as it is such a sinful act." She stated with a straight face, though her creased brow showed that she was slightly angry.

The teacher dragged a hand over his face and sighed. The world wasn't black and white, but the religious girl seemed to think that it was. The pro caught Izuku wiggling out of the corner of his eye. "Midoriya, you seem to have something to add so please tell the class." He did his best to make it seem like he wasn't calling out the boy or picking on him. He semi did it.

The religious girl turned to Midoriya, "What do you have to add, little sheep?"

Ok, Izuku learned something, he did not like being called "Little Sheep", it felt very insulting for some reason.

Tokage and Yanagi looked at Midoriya and they both decided that "Little Sheep" fit Izuku very well. Especially because of his head of hair. Yanagi really wanted to run her hands through it, it looked so soft.

Izuku opened his mouth, "W-Well, Monoma-kun and Tokage-chan were playing the roles of villains, s-so of course they weren't going to p-play fair. V-Villains don't play by the rules…. Umm… if anything i-i-it showed that some of u-us still have a l-lot of work until we b-become h-h-h-h-heroes…" His last words were harsh and he barely got them out, he didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but it was true.

Shiozaki stared at him with blank eyes and nodded before turning away from him.

Vlad nodded, "Exactly Midoriya! Good eye, now let's move onto the next match…"

The class continued, Izuku learned that Yanagi and Bondo had played villains and had rather easily contained the heroes using their quirks in tandem with each other. They didn't cover the bomb in glue like Izuku had thought but that was just a random thought Izuku had.

They fought Awase and Kaibara, they managed to negate Awase's quirk using their powers in tandem. Bondo made glue, Yanagi shot it and hit the welder's hands, then Bondo hardened it. Kaibara could break the glue but they didn't give him a chance as they focused their efforts on him. Awase seemed lost now that he couldn't do much, not even use his hands to help. So the heroes had lost.

Kendo and Shishida were the heroes in their match and had lost to Honenuki and Fukidashi. Mostly the recommendation student using his quirk and intelligence to get the jump on the heroes. Shishida's lowered intelligence in his beast form had not helped the situation at all.

Izuku was surprised that the redhead had lost, she seemed saddened by the fact as well. He knew it wasn't her best performance but he also knew she could do better. Now that she was one of the class reps she could show that fact.

They needed to work on their reaction time and minimize their quirk drawbacks, mostly in Shishida's case with the quirk stuff.

Komori and Kuroiro had covered the halls in Fungi as villains and the boy had entered the dark fungi and got the jump on the heroes. Shoda and Tsuburaba's quirks couldn't do much as Kuroiro had so much area to move around in with all the black mushrooms that Tsuburaba's air walls were useless and Shoda couldn't land a hit, negating his quirk.

It was honestly amazing. The heroes needed to work on making plans on the fly when they were pushed into a corner.

So the people going to rescue training would be Izuku, Tetsu, Monoma, Tokage, Yanagi, Bondo, Honenuki, Fukidashi, Komori, and Kuroiro. Kendo could maybe watch over the 1-B students that were going to be staying behind? Izuku sighed, he wanted to go to lunch.

Vlad brought the class' attention back to himself, "Alright, so you know who'll be going to do rescue training, you know who's going to be staying behind. You know where you fell short and you know what to do to improve, now do it." He didn't need to elaborate any further, he knew they knew what to do. "Now, the period's over, go to lunch."

Vlad left the class and the students all got out of their seats.

Tetsu stretched his back and grunted, "Man, I hate sitting down for so long. I mean man come on! If we have a hero class period then let us do something!"

"I totally get you…" Tsuburaba said from in front of him. He felt something in his back pop when he got up and stretched.

Izuku put his things in his bag, he had written down so many notes! All of his classmates were so interesting, it was just- they were all so cool!

"Midoriya." Izuku turned to Monoma as he called out his name.

"Y-Yeah, Monoma-kun?"

The boy looked sad, or maybe regretful was a better way to put it? Izuku wasn't sure, he wasn't good with people. But he knew something was wrong. "I… I just wanted to say congratulations, on becoming our class representative I mean.. It's a very big duty and holds a lot of responsibility." Oh jeez Izuku was getting nervous now, how much would be on his shoulders now? Everyone would be counting on him to lead the class and he wasn't sure if he could do that! "But I know you can do it Midoriya." Monoma said with a smile.

"A-Ah! T-Thank you Monoma-kun!" Izuku smiled just a bit. It seemed to relieve Monoma's regret too.

"We are friends Midoriya… no need to thank me."

"R-Right.." He kept on forgetting. How many times had they reminded him of that.

"If you two boys are done talking hurry up! I don't wanna be last in line!" Tokage started pushing them to exit the class.

"Fine fine Tokage, but please calm down, will you?"

"S-Sorry Tokage-chan, but there'll still be food, right?"

Yanagi floated over with her bag, "While that is true, I do believe it'd be best if we hurry over, that way we can maximize conversation time and consuming time, killing two birds with one stone." Her words didn't register with the surrounding students but Monoma and Izuku had gotten used to her speech. Chatting while eating, it was just more reasonable.

"Hey guys wait up!" Tetsu and Kendo followed after the group, Kuroiro and Komori following not so far behind, Tsunotori as well coming along because she didn't have anyone else to hang out with.

They arrived at the cafeteria and began to eat. Izuku was rather joyful as he had found a bowl of katsudon that Lunch Rush had made. Somehow he didn't find it as tasty as his mother's cooking, which made him a little sad. But that didn't mean it was bad, it was good! Just not as good as he expected.

"Hey Midoriya?" Izuku looked up as Kendo spoke to him. "I was thinking we should go find the reps for Class 1-A , introduce ourselves and talk to them a bit, do you think that's a good idea?" She asked him.

Izuku stared at her blankly. On one hand, no, it was a terrible idea because Izuku didn't know how to properly socialize. On the other hand, it was probably good to build connections with 1-A, especially after the whole scenario that happened the other day. But what would happen if he ran into Kacchan? 'No! I can't worry about that..I...can't just live my life in fear of him...' He sighed as he looked at Kendo, "I-I.. think that's a great idea Kendo-chan..." He responded.

The redhead smiled. "Alright, then let's go!" She stood up.

Izuku scrambled and got up as well, "I uh.. s-see you guys!" He said to the table as they left.

Tokage smiled as Izuku was out of earshot and turned to the rest of the table. "So can we talk about how "Little Sheep" is just the perfect nickname for greenie?" She was so going to use that nickname with him now.

Izuku sighed as he and Kendo walked around. They asked Class 1-A students, differentiated by the singular buttons that they had on the shoulders of their uniforms, about who their class representatives were and that they wanted to meet and greet them. They learned that they were one Momo Yaoyorozu and Tenya Iida.

"The girl has black hair in a spiky ponytail, the guy's has blue hair and he's a square. You can't miss the dude." They spoke to a member of their class, Kaminari Denki, and he told them the information. "Now I was wondering is I could get your-"

"Thanks, alright Midoriya let's go!" Kendo quickly turned around and walked away, Izuku waved and left nervously.

"It's alright dude..." Sero gave Kaminari pats on the back.

"Thanks man..."

Izuku and Kendo finally found who they were looking for, and they both realized that when Kaminari said "He's a square" he was being literal. The boy was so... geometrical? They didn't know how to explain it, but he kinda seemed like a robot. Then they both realized they'd met this boy before, Izuku during the entrance exam and Kendo during Izuku's incident the other day in the cafeteria. To say these feelings were negative was an understatement. Izuku felt an immense amount of fear. The boy was overly rude, loud, and he made Izuku feel like an idiot and unsafe during the entrance exam. Kendo was just angry, this guy thought they'd attacked that Bakugo guy the other day when it was the other way around, honestly!

So, they both turned away from him and instead to the girl with the spiky ponytail sitting next to him.

"Excuse me, you must be Yaoyorozu-san, correct?" Kendo decided to spark the conversation, with Izuku's current skills and anxiety she knew that he wouldn't have the confidence to do it. Both of the 1-A members looked up from their conversation and gazed at them, the ravenette nodded at Kendo's question.

The Iida boy pushed his glasses up and had a frown, "Excuse me! We are having a private conversation! It is incredibly rude to just barge into one that is still currently happening!" He was weirdly chopping his arms to accentuate his words.

Both Kendo and Izuku tilted their heads, 'Maybe he is a robot...' Kendo sighed and turned back to Yaoyorozu. "It's nice to meet you, we heard you two were elective to be the representatives for your class and as fellow representatives we thought to introduce ourselves." Kendo gave a small bow, "My name's Itsuka Kendo, it's nice to meet you Yaoyorozu-san."

Izuku did the same, "L-Like what Kendo-chan said, n-nice to meet you." He didn't stutter that badly, score!

Yaoyorozu got out of her seat and bowed as well, "It is nice to meet you as well, Midoriya-kun, Kendo-san. Iida-san, come introduce our fellow representatives." The glasses boy was shocked, he was supposed to greet such rude people!

Kendo waved a hand, "Actually don't worry about that, we already know of Iida-san, however I'm sorry to say it wasn't the best first impression." She tried to say with as little bite as possible, though Yaoyorozu definitely heard it.

She seemed a little sad, "Oh, well I'm very sorry about that. I'll make sure Iida-san does his best to treat you and your class properly from now on." She smiled and clapped her hands together. The glasses boy didn't even get a say in anything of this, and that was something he was a little angry about.

Kendo smiled, "Thank you Yaoyorozu-san, though I do have one more request that I'd like you to keep, if it's not too much trouble." It was clear that Izuku was afraid of that Bakugo boy, and whatever was going on between them had negative effects of him. So she'd do her best to limit the interaction between them as much as possible.

Yaoyorozu tilted her head, "What could it possibly be?" She asked.

"Well you see, a person in your class has not been the kindest towards Izuku, and it's not Iida over there." Kendo pointed at the blue haired boy and glared at him, he seemed to shrink under her gaze. "It's someone by the name of Bakugo. I'd like it if you kept him as far away from my class as possible. He's already caused most of my classmates to develop hatred for not only him but your entire class."

"WHAT! S-SURELY THIS IS SOME KIND OF MISTAKE, HE HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING WRONG! AND EVEN SO, BAKUGO'S ACTIONS DO NOT REFLECT ENTIRELY ON OUR CLASS, TO THINK SUCH IS A LEAP IN LOGIC!" Iida finally made himself known as he yelled, now standing besides Yaoyorozu, and did his weird arm chopping thing.

Kendo sighed and crossed her arms, staring at the boy with no amusement in her eyes, "Well, it's not just that one student. You as well Iida." The boy recoiled in shock, "The other day when Midoriya was attacked by Bakugo, may I remind you for no apparent reason, you were yelling about how we were terrible for grouping up on him." She huffed and placed her hands on her hips, openly glaring at the glasses boy. "You knew nothing about the situation and made an assessment based on your limited knowledge, not the best performance for someone in the hero track."

Iida took a massive blow to his pride and Izuku was shocked. Maybe, just maybe, Kendo had gone just a teeny tiny bit too far. Ok, she definitely went too far and by the looks of it Iida wasn't taking it well. "K-Kendo-chan, d-don't you think you're being just a b-bit too harsh?"

The red head turned to him, "Well not entirely-"

"LEVEL THREE SECURITY ALERT, ALL STUDENTS PLEASE CALMY MAKE YOUR WAY OUT OF THE BUILDING AND TO SAFE AREAS OUTSIDE." A robotic voice sounded over a blaring alarm for all of the students to hear. Izuku winced and put his hands over his ears. It was too loud!

Yaoyorozu caught a second year that was already running towards the exit to the cafeteria, Izuku noted that the student wasn't doing so calmly. "Excuse me, but what does a level three security alert mean?!" She had to yell to be heard.

"It means someone managed to break onto campus!" The student yelled and quickly left, many more coming after him and taking the group of four with them.

Izuku and Kendo found themselves being taken in by a crowd. Izuku was too cramp, having elbows and shoulders shoved into him, it was extremely uncomfortable, this is exactly what he didn't want to happen this morning with the press! He collided with another person and winced, opening his eyes they landed on a familiar brunette from the entrance exam, 'It's the nice girl!' He quickly turned away.

"Hey... do I know you?" He heard her say, but he didn't respond. Instead he looked around, looking for one of his friends, maybe someone had an idea. He and the brunette were at the window of the hall, they could get a look of the outside. And Izuku's eyes landed on the reporters.

Kendo was really not enjoying herself currently. She was pressed again the wall and was being squished too much! She caught the sight of Midoriya and a girl pressed against the glass not too far away and sighed. Fate was too cruel to the boy. She glanced outside, trying to see anything, maybe a cop taking a villain away in handcuffs? Only to see the press. 'Oh you've got to be kidding me!'

"So... what's up Red?" She almost yelped at the air being blown into her ear. She turned to see a floating mouth and a floating ear.

"Tokage?"

"The one and only!" The mouth smiled. "So, do you need help with any of this stuff or...?"

Kendo sighed, yeah she did need help. She had a couple of ideas, she could maybe clap and draw attention to her and then tell everyone to calm down like she did in class? But she couldn't' bring her hands over her head because of all the people pushing her. Her arms were without a doubt stuck to her waist. She turned to look at Midoriya down the hall, he had more space but also...

Maybe this could help him with his confidence a little..?

"Yeah, I do need your help. Do you see Midoriya down the hall? Wherever you are, can you spot him?"

The mouth closed and hummed before smiling."I got eyes on Greenie!"

Kendo nodded, "Alright, I need you to tell him it's just the press, see if you can detach your upper body and pull him above the crowd so he can tell everyone." Kendo didn't see it but Tokage tilted her head.

"Why not just have me do it? I could do it pretty easily ya know." She asked in a questioning tone but then she gasped and smiled. "Or do you want Greenie to have all the limelight like a pro hero? Oh you're so nice Kendo! But what's the catch? Do you like him or something, is that why you wanna do it? Because if so, I'm gonna have to fight you on that one, he's MY green buddy, ya can't have him."

Kendo sighed, "You look into things way too much, I thought it'd just be good for confidence." Tokage huffed.

"You're no fun."

"And you're being annoying, now go do the thing."

"Fine.." The shark teeth girl groaned, her mouth and ear flying off to reconnect with her body. She grinned as her upper body, waist and above, disconnected, the surrounding people staring at the action with wide eyes. "Alright! Come on Greenie!" She flew around the crowd and found Izuku in a very compromising pose with a girl. She smirked as a prank came to mind. She flew down and landed on Izuku's back, throwing her arms around her shoulders, essentially hugging him from behind. "Izuku~ I can't believe it! Are you cheating on me?"

"T-T-T-Tokage-chan! What are you t-talking about?! W-W-W-W-W-We're n-not like that!" His face exploded into a tomato due to his embarrassment.

The brunette turned to both of them. She was interested in what was going on, and also wanted to know more about the person that saved her during the entrance exam. She'd be a little disappointed if he turned out to be a cheater since he seemed really cool during the entrance exam.

Tokage smiled, "Not yet~" She cooed into his ear. She giggled at his reaction. "But anyways, Kendo wanted me to pull you above the crowd so you can tell all these idiots it's just the press!" She yelled to make sure she was heard.

Izuku shook his head to get out of his stupor and nodded, a slight blush still on his face, "A-Alright!" He needed a distraction, something, anything, to stop thinking about Tokage. Especially because she was pressing her body against his back. "S-So, y-you're going to pull me up?" He asked, his mind completely forgetting about the nice girl next to him.

"Yup, so don't freak out, and do your best Greenie!" She cupped him from under his armpits and pulled up. She would admit, he was heavier than she imagined, and sturdier as well. It made her lick her lips.

WIth a pop, Izuku was above the crowd and hovering above everyone, though no one seemed to notice at all. "You got this!"

Izuku nodded, thanking her a little before looking at the crowd under him. It was so much worse than the press this morning. He could see Komori and Kuroiro stuck, the taller teen trying to protect the shorter mushroom girl. He saw Yanagi at the end of the hall, not trapped in the chaos, tilting her head at the crowd. And he spotted Tetsu standing strong with his quirk activated.

"YOU ALL CAN'T MOVE ME, I'M TOO MANLY! JUST TRY IT!" Izuku sighed at the steel teen's words.

He took a deep breath, he could do this, Kendo trusted him to do this, he had to do this. He was the Class Rep for 1-B, he had to show they could count on him, that they had a good reason to pick him.

He gulped. 'J-Just…. do your best…' But how good would his best be? He closed his eyes, the doubt was seeping in and he wanted to cry.

He couldn't, he wanted to but he knew he couldn't. Why? That's how it'd always been. He'd never had any faith, or courage, not even himself. He couldn't do anything, he couldn't do this…

"You are worthy of inheriting my power. I've been looking for a successor for years, but I've never found one that embodies my hopes and ideals until you. You, Young Midoriya, you remind me of myself and my mentor, for better or for worse. This road will be tough, but I have absolute faith in you, my boy."

It was just a random memory, or bits and pieces of memories throughout his 10 months with All Might, but… those were real words his idol had told him. He…

'I'm worthy…'

Useless Deku!

'I embody his hopes and ideals'

You can't do anything right, can you!? I mean seriously, you're so pathetic!

'He has absolute faith in me… no… it's not just him anymore…' So many people had faith in him, the four that voted for him to lead the class, Vlad King, even now.. his own mother. He smiled just a bit, 'Tokage-chan is right, I've got this!'

He opened his eyes and they glowed radioactive green as he activated One For All, why and where? To his throat, so he could yell without his vocal chords shredding. He knew One For All gave him a slight increase in durability, so hopefully this would help.

He sucked in as much air as he could, "EVERYONE BE QUIET RIGHT NOW!" The chaos stopped and everyone froze. Tetsu's even deactivated his quirk in shock.

Many turned to see Izuku being held up by Tokage.

"Oh shit, I knew it, he is the quiet kid."

"Fuck…"

Izuku gulped as hundreds of eyes landed on him, he took a deep breath and calmed himself. He- He could do this! "It's just the press! So stop worrying! There's no villains or anything like that! So just calm down!" He yelled and gasped for air when he was done.

Everyone seemed… alright now.

The students left through the doors and Tokage brought Izuku down. "Well, that was once heck of a show, didn't know you had it in you to yell like that, Greenie!" She smiled as she reconnected with her lower body.

"N-Neither did I…" Izuku placed a hand on his chest, his heart was beating so fast! He could hear it in his ears! It was so nerve wracking!

Tokage smiled and patted him on the back, "Well good job!"

Izuku smiled, that was a big step out of his comfort zone, but it was nice!

The rest of the day past without incident and they had regular classes. Izuku stumbled into his home with a smile on his face and ate a good dinner, after all he'd need it tomorrow for rescue training!

He flopped into bed, "Tomorrow's going to be amazing, I already know it.."

 

Chapter 7: The USJ

Izuku grumbled as he got out of bed, he had become a morning person over his ten months with All Might but getting out of bed was still a chore. He yawned as he entered the shower. He finished quickly, he didn't like taking up too much time in the bathroom. He exited and stared at himself in the mirror. He could see scars over his body, blemished areas of skin that were shaped like handprints.

They weren't too notable, yet they were all noticeable. Tetsu had easily pointed them out on their first day of school. He sighed, he knew that they'd never go away. He threw on his school uniform and stepped out of the bathroom.

He saw his mom cooking up three meals. Two for them to eat for breakfast and one for when he was done with rescue training. It was very considerate and it made him smile. "Hey mom.." His mother turned to him and smiled, pausing her cooking.

"Hi sweetie, I'm almost done with breakfast, and I'm working on something for you to eat after your big.. hero... training assignment today." She was still a little uncomfortable with the entire hero thing and Izuku knew that. He sighed and his smile dropped a bit.

"M-Mom… it's just rescue training today! And that's what I wanted to do! I go and help after all the action's done!" It was true. For a while he never focused on the combat portion of heroics, just the rescue part. After all, his favorite video of All Might was a rescue operation, not any of the heroes' hundreds of thousands of fights.

Inko sighed, "I know, now eat your breakfast you'll need the energy for today." She placed the food at the table and Izuku resigned himself to eating as told. It was quiet, she was obviously thinking about him being a hero and the dangers of it, but she eventually sighed.

They didn't make conversation but Izuku knew that she was coming to terms with the fact that there was just going to be trouble sometimes, and that it was part of the job.

He placed his dish in the sink and grabbed his backpack. He put his shoes on in the doorway and smiled at his mom as she stood in the hall. "Well…" He stood up and placed a hand on the doorknob, "I guess I'll see you later…"

Inko couldn't find any words to say so she just nodded and smiled, Izuku left and the house was quiet. She sighed, "I said I'd support you but… I need to do better!" She would do better, for Izuku.

The hero student hopped off the train and walked the rest of the way towards UA. He was thinking about what the rescue training would entail for today. Would they just be going over the protocol? No, Kan-sensei that's what students usually do and do the training later in the year. So it wasn't protocol..

Then what was it? The correct way to handle a person when in a crisis? Perhaps. Maybe they'd just be in one of the gyms and they'd be using dummies for that? But then why call it Rescue Training as if it's something huge? Unless it is something huge… "Maybe they have a facility? No, that'd be way too big and how would they even pay for it? That's just unrealistic." He muttered to himself as he passed the gate of UA. He tapped his finger on his chin as he walked into the building.

Izuku yelped as he walked into someone, wincing as he looked up and saw Iida from 1-A "You!" The boy yelled and pointed at Izuku.

He was shivering, his legs were shaking, and he was scared. This guy, he was too intense, very rude, and thought he was always in the right. "M-M-Me?" He pointed at himself, already knowing that Iida was referring to him, but he needed the confirmation.

The boy was chopping his arm, as if he was a butcher working on a cow, Izuku felt like the cow. "Yes! Indeed!" He yelled, making Izuku lock up. The guy was too loud. "I've been meaning to talk to you!" He continued to yell, drawing attention to the both of them as the surrounding students all turned to the noise.

Including one brunette who knew Izuku.

"A-About?" Izuku asked as he closed his eyes, waiting for the boy to be mad or. Yell at him again like he did during the entrance exam. The next thing he knew, the glasses bow was in a deep 90 degree bow. "Eh?"

"I apologize for my behavior! Especially during the entrance exam! I didn't know anything about you and I constantly made assumptions about you, I apologize!" Iida yelled out, the sound vibrating through the halls.

Izuku was so confused.

"I realize how my actions have reflected ill will on my part and I apologize!" Iida yelled even more, not getting out of his bowing form. Izuku shook his hands, it was ok really! He wasn't even that bad compared to Kac- Bakugo. It was tolerable! He opened his mouth to voice those thoughts, but he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Monoma. "Eh? Monoma-kun?"

"Hello Midoriya, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with this 1-A scoundrel here." Monoma commented with a laugh as he messed with his bangs. Everyone around could see the tic on Iida's head, though the boy was still in a bow.

"Um.. y-yeah… but he was apologizing! So it's fine right?!" Izuku asked with a strained chuckle. It only served to make Monoma sigh.

The blonde laid a hand on his friend's shoulder and looked into his eyes. "Midoriya my friend, you do realize why he is truly apologizing, do you not?" He asked rhetorically, he knew Izuku didn't know the real reason. So he'd have to inform him.

Izuku shook his head, "I-I don't.." Iida said he was sorry…

Monoma sighed and looked at the bowing Iida boy, letting out a small scoff. "He only apologized once he realized that you were somebody important, somebody special. I heard how he treated you during the entrance exams. Do you believe he would have apologized for his actions if you had not placed so well, had you not defeated the zero pointer. No, he wouldn't have. He's worried about his image, Midoriya. Not about your feelings." Monoma stated, glaring daggers into Iida's head.

The bespectacled boy hadn't moved, though he had begun sweating. Because as much as he hated to admit it, the 1-B boy was right. 'B-But I'm not that shallow!' He swore he was a good man, a man that lived up to his brother's ideals. He wasn't the terrible person Monoma was making him out to be! Still, he had nothing to say.

Monoma hummed. "He has nothing to say, it's best we leave Midoriya. This boy is not worth our time."

Izuku glanced between the two. While he couldn't see Iida's face, he knew the guy was hurt by Monoma's words. And Monoma, he looked angry with Iida. Izuku could understand that, but was Monoma right? Iida had done a lot, a lot to make Izuku feel unwelcomed. Would he have apologized if not for Izuku placing well? He talked about 1-A's image yesterday when they met in the cafeteria too..

The greanette sighed and followed Monoma as they walked away. Leaving Iida with his thoughts.

The duo walked in silence for a while, until Monoma sighed, "I'm sorry about that Midoriya. However, I felt like that boy was trying to manipulate you, trying to touch your heart strings and get sympathy points with you…"

Izuku waved a hand at his friend. "It's fine Monoma-kun… really… thank you for looking out for me." He smiled just a bit.

Monoma smiled as well and crossed his arms, "No need to thank me Midoriya! It's what friends are for! And it is my sworn duty to be the greatest friend in the history of friendship! No one will ever outshine me, I promise you that!" He yelled with absolute certainty.

"You don't need to go so far…" Izuku chuckled a bit. Monoma was really energetic.

Monoma simply smiled and nodded as they found their way to class. Opening the door they found Tokage and Kendo chatting happily away in their seats, Yanagi nearby but not entering the conversation. "-and it was totally wicked! The square just stood there and didn't do anything, Neito was just that damn scary to him!" Tokage chatted aloud.

Both boys raised their eyebrows at what she was talking about. The greanette caught both of them with her eye and she smiled, "Hey boys!" She waved energetically.

Kendo smiled as well, "Hey guys, so your morning has been busy, huh?" She asked rhetorically.

Monoma sighed, "Alright…" He placed a hand on his hip, "How exactly did you hear about mine and Midoriya's morning? If you don't mind me asking." He said nonchalantly. He heard Tokgae whistle as she looked away not so subtly.

Izuku saw the way the blonde's eyebrows creased. He chuckled as he sat down in his seat and turned around in his chair, deciding to spark a conversation with Yanagi. The girl had her phone on and had earbuds in, she was listening to something that was for sure. "H-Hey Yanagi-chan?" He didn't get a response. He saw the girl's brows knit together and her eyes squint as her interest in whatever she was watching grew. Izuku peaked to see what she was watching, it seemed to be a Ghost Adventuresk show, the main guy even had glasses and spiked hair.

Izuku's interest was piqued as he pulled his chair next to her desk and leaned in to watch. Though Yanagi still had not noticed him, she was too immersed in the show. Izuku wished he could hear what was happening but she had earbuds in. Though he could guess the guy was saying something along the lines of "I felt a chill go up my spine.."

The episode eventually finished, and it still wasn't time for class to end. Izuku felt hands kneading through his hair, making him go stiff as he turned to Yanagi. The girl's arm was up, obviously it was her hand in his hair. She seemed to look…. really happy. Yanagi's smile was never too big, but now it seemed to stretch. And her eyes glowered with joy as well. Izuku blushed, having someone touch his hair felt really nice actually…

"Yo Ghosty! Let me get in on that!" They all heard Tokage yell and soon Izuku had another hand treading through his locks. The duo of Kendo and Monoma turned to see Izuku resembling a tomato as two pairs of hands assaulted his fluff head.

"It's so soft! Like a sheep's wool!" Tokage smiled as she rubbed his head.

Soon enough, the entire group had joined in and they all felt delighted as they felt the floofiness that was Izuku's hair.

"It's like a cloud…"

"I swear, even my bed doesn't feel this soft."

"I know right! Man, I would kill to have a pillow made of this!"

Yanagi didn't say anything, but merely enjoyed the moment. And this moment is what Vlad King walked in on when he came to start class on this fine morning. 'I… just- let them be Kan, it's not your problem…' He told himself. He cleared his throat and gained the class' attention. The students all moved to their seats, though the ones with Midoriya did so reluctantly. The boy looked relieved though, but embarrassed.

"Alright class! Today we'll be working on a reverse schedule! That means you'll be having your normal classes now and then the winners of the Battle Trials will get to have rescue training after lunch! Those who did not win will be with me and the rest of Class A, we'll be going over proper infiltration strategy! Understood?!"

"YES KAN-SENSEI!" The class yelled, though Izuku flinched a little at the noise. Vlad sighed, he remembered what Nezu had found yesterday evening.

With all the recordings that the rat had found through surveillance camera footage, on top of that to Midoriya flinching at loud noises and yelling. Vlad dragged a hand over his face, 'The rat already said he'd give him a second chance before he figured everything out, he can't go back on his decision but god damn it!' He wanted to break something right now. Unfortunately, he had a class of kids to teach.

"Alright, homeroom is left to you, Midoirya and Kendo, come with me." He called out. The two mentioned got out of their seats and followed Vlad to the hall.

The pro turned around and fixed the two with a look, "Alright, I'm going to inform you that you both have many duties today to perform as the class representatives." The man pulled out some papers and read them before sighing, "Alright…. Kendo, you'll be assisting me with keeping the students in check today in our heroics class. As for Midoriya…" He felt so bad for the kid, he really did. "You'll be in charge of watching over everyone at the USJ, along with Class A's representatives, make sure everyone is following Thirteen's instructions and that no one is doing anything unnecessary. If trouble arises you are to assist in any way you can." Vlad told him.

Izuku gulped but nodded. He'd have to look over 19 people. He… could do this. He took a deep breath and smiled nervously at his teacher. "D-Don't worry sensei…. I can do this!" He exclaimed.

Vlad nodded just a bit. Midoriya's confidence was growing, bit by bit. 'This… this is good…' The pro patted Midoriya's shoulder. "I know you can, I'm counting on you. Now, both of you get back to class." Kendo and Midoriya nodded and scurried off, joining back with their friends and engaging in conversation. Vlad smiled just a little.

PING

He heard his phone go off and he pulled it out. Surprisingly, it was a text from Kayama. He sighed and opened it up. Instantly, his face filled with nothing but despair.

It was a picture of Midoriya and Yanagi walking into the campus building together. Their arms were locked together and Midoriya's face was beet red, it was surprising that Vlad could tell since he only saw the back of the boy's head but the steam coming off of it was evidence enough. "No…. I promise myself I wouldn't let this happen…. who…. why…." He grabbed his head in despair.

The entire class saw Vlad King come back inside, his face fallen and his eyes blank, devoid of any happiness or joy.

"Hey, what's up with Kan-sensei?" Awase muttered to Kaibara behind him.

The gyrate teen shook his head, "No idea man, but he looks really messed up."

"Yeah, like he just had a really bad hangover." Awase replied as he turned back to the front. "He looks totally fucked."

Their normal classes began and eventually it was time for Modern Hero Art History. Izuku caught it out of the corner of his eye, but he saw that Pony looked distressed. They had just finished english and she was probably breezing through that. She would always answer questions for Present Mic, but she would also look like she was really busy and focused.

"She's probably taking notes on Japanese…" Izuku would have to start tutoring her as soon as he could. She needed help and he'd do his best to help her. Though he'd need to organize times in which they could study. So he'd have to approach her, just whenever and on his own. 'That's so embarrassing…' He hid his face in his book.

He would suck it up though, he already promised that he'd help her. Plus if she smiled at him then he knew he'd cave in. Pony just had this thing to her, as if she was a princess. You just couldn't say no to her.

The boy went ramrod straight as the door slammed open with a lot of force. All the male students felt chills go up their spines as their teacher for this period walked in. The sound of heels on floor, a whip being smacked, the fact that they could feel her devious grin. The R-Rated Hero: Midnight made her way to the podium and smiled at all her cute little students. Her eyes drifted to the far back corner, the pale girl and the little green boy. 'Yanagi and Midoriya, oh they even sit next to each other! This is perfect!'

Izuku squirmed as Midnight's eyes drifted over him, her grin stretching just a bit. The class all saw the action and they all promptly turned away. He was on his own for this one. No one wanted to mess with Midnight.

Midnight turned away and started class as if nothing had happened, Izuku released a breath he hadn't known he was holding. Yanagi creased her brows, Midnight-sensei was weird and she was making Midoriya uncomfortable. She didn't like that.

Midnight peaked out and barely caught Yanagi's reaction, it made her giggle. 'That's adorable, she cares about him.'

This continued for a while, Midnight's eyes would drift towards Yanagi and Izuku during class, the boy would get uncomfortable and Yanagi would get worried about him. The class didn't do anything, as Midnight was known for being very… unique when students did something she didn't like. Even the girls didn't try to step in. Though Tokage was taking notes on everything the teacher was doing while she sat in her own uncomfortableness, maybe she could use them on Monoma?

Eventually class ended and they finally could go to lunch.

Izuku sighed as he got all of his stuff together, he was mentally drained. He didn't know why Kayama-sensei was doing all that weird stuff during class and it made him uncomfortable. He had never felt so rigid before.

"Yo greenie." Tokage said gaining his attention as she put all of her stuff away and swung her book bag across a shoulder. "What was all that stuff about? Gave me the heebie jeebies." She shuddered just a bit.

Izuku looked at the podium and squinted his brows, "I… don't know really…"

Monoma huffed as he threw his bag over his shoulder, "Well, let us get some food and we can all just forget about this. If Kayama-sensei's behavior continues to make you uncomfortable we can tell Kan-sensei or even the principal." He said.

Izuku waved his hands. "Y-You really don't have to Monoma-kun! Really! I'm sure it's nothing anyways, so don't worry about it!"

Yanagi pouted, Midoriya was too… kind. He was very clearly uncomfortable with Midnight's actions. Being constantly stared at, seeing her smile to herself, since it was the R-Rated hero they were dealing with it was extremely uncomfortable. She walked up and patted his shoulder. "Midoriya... "

The boy turned around, "What is it, Yanagi-chan?" He asked with a small smile.

She was grateful that he was trying to look happy for his friends but she sighed nonetheless. Midoriya Izuku was so very interesting. She raised her arm and planted it in his head, she was floating using her quirk so it was easier to reach. Izuku shuddered at the touch as it felt nice. "As your friends, we do not want you to feel uncomfortable or unwelcomed, especially in a place such as UA. The institution's purpose for merely existing is to fester young minds such as ourselves into heroism. However, we cannot do that if we feel unsafe in class, if Kayama-sensei's actions bother you then speak up. I will not have my friend crush himself from the inside." She spoke firm and monotone, yet there was an emotion in her voice that Izuku couldn't quite put his finger on.

The greanette merely nodded and looked away in embarrassment, since her hand was still carding through his hair, "O-Ok… Yanagi-chan…"

Tokage, Kendo, and Monoma all sighed in relief as they pulled the other two along to the cafeteria. Tetsu and Pony joined them but it seemed like Komori and Kuroiro were going to be sitting by themselves today as they split off from the group. That was fine with them as they all gathered at their usual table.

Kendo had spotted both Yaoyorozu and Iida sitting apart from each other, both in their separate groups. Iida looked terrible, hunched over as if he was contemplating something, "Man, Monoma got to him that bad, huh?" Tokage told her as she pointed out how terrible Iida looked. Maybe she should apologize for Monoma's actions? She could, but from what she heard, Monoma wasn't exactly wrong… however it was kind of rude. She'd decide later.

Izuku sat next to Pony and started talking with her about when and where she'd like to start tutoring.

The girl hummed, "How about… Tuesday? If that would be alright with you.." She asked with a tilt of her head.

Izuku's heart squeezed a bit as he nodded. "T-That works! So… after school, yeah? Or maybe lunch? Or would you prefer in the morning? I can go whenever you want, but if it's after school then it'll have to wait a bit. I have an extracurricular…" He explained as he wrote down a schedule for tutoring in one of his notebooks.

Pony creased her brows and puffed up her cheeks as she thought for a second, "Hmm…. I can wait for you to be done after school if that's easier. I don't like waking up early and I think it'll take a while so after school is the best…" She rubbed the back of her head, letting out a small chuckle.

Izuku smiled a bit, "Is it the time difference? Have you not gotten used to it?"

Pony shook her head, "It's not that, I've always woken up really early but when I moved I just got used to sleeping in… it's a habit I'm trying to break." She answered. Izuku nodded. So… it basically was the time difference. When she moved here she got used to sleeping in, since she was still working on her old internal clock.

He closed his notebook and hummed with a smile as they started eating with the rest of the group. After this they'd get to do rescue training! It was so exciting but so nerve wracking too! 'I wonder who the teacher will be for rescue training?' There'd be one teacher alongside whoever 1-A's teacher was and All Might.

Tokage looked between Izuku, Pony, and Yanagi and hummed. She had been thinking a lot about her green buddy but could not come to a decision about a certain thing. So, she decided to kick Monoma, who had made the mistake sitting in front of her, from under the table. The boy grunted and squinted his eyes at her, as if saying "What do you want?" To which she smiled.

Tokage made a "Let's go!" Gesture with her hands, making the boy sigh. "Is something wrong Monoma-kun?" Izuku asked after hearing his friend sigh.

Monoma shook his head, "Nothing at all really Midoriya." He said as he stood up, "Tokage and I just have something to discuss."

Izuku winced. "W-Well.. Alright… see you and good luck."

"Thank you Midoriya." He'd need that good luck. Monoma grabbed his bag and left with Tokage, the two walking to the halls back to the class as they decided to make conversation. "So, what did you have to drag me away from the group for?" Monoma asked with a little huff. He did not enjoy spending time with Tokage, she was just too… Tokage for his taste. The teasing, the laughing, the energy, the pranks, it was just annoying for the blond. However he would admit she was smart and at least a little attractive.

The greanette smiled and hooked an arm around his shoulder, making him sigh again. "Who do you think Greenie looks cuter with, Ghosty or Pony?" Tokage asked with genuine wonder.

Monoma sneered, "Tokage… you brought me out of the cafeteria and away from our friends to ask who I think Midoriya looks better with?" He rhetorically asked, seeing the girl nod he pinched the bridge of his nose. "That's… that's not just something we can meddle in! If Midoriya wants to pursue a relationship with someone it should be on his own terms and not just forced into it because someone else thinks they look cute together!"

Tokage pouted. "No one said anything about that, I was just asking who you thought he looked cuter with! Come on man!"

Monoma shrugged off her arm and walked away a few steps before turning around and pointing at her, "How would you feel if someone said you looked cute with someone you don't have feelings for Tokage?!"

The girl tilted her head and smiled a wide smile, Monoma felt a shiver go down his spine. He messed up. The girl tapped her chin playfully as she hummed, "I don't know Neito-kun…."

The boy choked. "N-Neito-kun?! What are you playing at?" The boy blushed a bit as he took a step back. No one had ever called him by his first name. Well only his family but that's how it was with family, but never a classmate!

Tokage's smile grew just a bit more as she took a step forward toward Monoma. "Playing at?" She tilted her head, pursed her lips, and creased her brows. Eventually she giggled, "I'm not playing at anything, Neito-kun." She took another step towards him. "What are you blushing for though?" She took another. "Are you embarrassed?" Another, "Excited?" Another, "Maybe a combination of both?" She was standing right in front of him.

Setsuna was five inches shorter than Monoma, standing at 5'2" opposed to his 5'7" but that didn't matter right now. She didn't disconnect her torso to float above him, she was merely greater in the moment.

"Ya know, Neito-kun…" She placed a finger on his chest, she felt him tense just a bit. This was the moment she had been waiting for. She had her fingers walk up his chest. "I think we look pretty cute together." She smiled.

"Wha-"

RING RING RING

The bell system went off, signalling it was time for them to return to class. And that's what Tokage immediately started doing, she walked past the blonde boy and began to make her way to the classroom. A stumped Monoma gaped at her. Tokage looked at him from over her shoulder and she grinned. "What wrong, Monoam-kun? Are you coming or what?" She asked with smugness.

The boy grumbled and followed after her, eventually the two walked step in step and side by side. Tokage smiled as Monoma stole glances at her. Eventually he opened his mouth. "What was that about Tokage?"

"Uh uh uh!" The girl said as she shook a finger in his face.

The boy raised a brow, "What?"

"No Tokage anymore Neito-kun." She smirked, "It's Setsuna now, got it?"

She saw the boy go stiff but he nodded, "Fine…. Setsuna."

"Alright! Now come on, let's get back to class!"

He didn't get answers, but he did get something else. And he wasn't sure how he felt about that. He felt embarrassed, but not really mad. And that scared him.

They all arrived at the class and Vlad told the ones who were going to rescue training to either get into their hero costumes or their PE uniforms if they weren't comfortable with them yet.

Izuku got into his PE uniform, though it had certain adjustments. Knee pads, elbow pads, a belt, gloves, and a face mask. Testu was just in his hero outfit. The duo of Monoma and Tokage used their outfits. Yanagi was in her costume, but Bondo was in his gym uniform. Komori and Kuroiro were both in their outfits, Honenuki was in his hero outfit but Fukidashi was in his gym uniform just like Bondo.

The class, or half of it, was gathered outside at an area where Kan-sensei told them a bus would come to pick them up. They were waiting for Class 1-A to arrive as the bus was already here and waiting to be boarded. Izuku was fixing his glove to his arm, making sure it was in place, under his glove he had the friendship charm that Yanagi had given him. He had debated on bringing it but decided that he would.

Since they really wouldn't be doing anything too serious and the bracelet seemed fairly sturdy. Plus, he liked having it on him.

The class heard footsteps and they turned to see a hobo looking man walking up with 10 children. 'Class 1-A….' Izuku gulped. He'd have to be a leader now, he'd have to instruct Class 1-B…. He let out a deep breath, he could do this. He walked up to the man who he guessed was the homeroom teacher of the class and gave a bow. "H-Hello sir, my name is Izuku Midoriya and I'm the Class Representative for my class." He got out of his bow, "T-The other rep isn't here today… and neither is Kan-sensei… so if you need help d-dealing with 1-B you c-can ask me for help!"

The man's eyes looked dead as he narrowed his eyes at Izuku, his brows creased. He looked angry, or rather annoyed. "I doubt you'll be of much assistance to the teachers, just let us handle it and stay out of the way." He sighed 'Giving kids, especially a reckless one like this, a position of power such as a Class Representative? Completely illogical.'

The man turned to his class, "Alright, get on the bus." He said unenthusiastically as he went into the vehicle himself. Izuku sighed, he really wished that the man would've been nicer, but he was kind of rude. 'Though everything else seems to be perfectly fine for now.'

"DEKU"

'I need to keep my mouth shut' His back straightened and he turned to the group of 1-A students, he spotted Yaoyorozu and Iida. Their costumes were cool, although revealing in the girl's case, and then his eyes landed on…. "K-Kacchan…" He strained to put a smile on his face, to seem as obedient and non-threatening as possible.

Class A was confused about the amount of fear in Midoriya's voice as he said one simple name. Class B seemed to know who Midoriya was talking about and dealing with, and they weren't happy. All of their eyes landed on the ash blond, he simply had a look of rage on his face that made Midoriya shrink under his gaze.

Maybe Kacchan wouldn't beat him up? Maybe he wouldn't go home with a limp? Maybe he wouldn't have to lie to his mom today about why he was coming home with bruising and having to patch himself up while crying in the bathro-

"Midoriya." Monoma's hand was on his shoulder as he glared at 1-A. "Please allow me to handle this." Before Izuku could respond, Monoma already stepped forward. "I will only say this once and once only!" Monoma announced.

Aizawa popped his head out of the bus, the students were talking too long. He saw Bakugo looking pissed as he was clenching and unclenching his fist. That Midoriya kid was looking nervous and a random blond was standing in front of him and yelling. His eyes narrowed, 'Wasting time…'

He stepped to get them to hurry up, however the blond didn't take notice.

"You will not harass Midoriya again! You will not bully him again! He will not have to receive medical treatment because of you ever again!" Monoma yelled.

Class 1-A all looked at Bakugo in shock. A red head looking ever so slightly betrayed. "Bakubro…"

"That's enough!" Aizawa yelled, he was done with this childish behavior. All the students turned to him and he walked up to Monoma. "Stop wasting our time and get on the bus. If you do one more thing I will have you removed from the hero course…" Expulsion wasn't in his deck anymore.

Monoma glared at the man.

Izuku stepped in and patted Monoma's shoulder. "A-Alright everyone! Class 1-B, p-please make your way onto the bus!" He sighed as the class moved, though it seemed as if all of them were glaring at not only the blond of 1-A but the entirety of the class.

'Great, just great….' Aizawa drawled in his head, he stared at his class. They all went stiff under his gaze. He sighed, "Get on the bus." He said with no enthusiasm as a glare. The students quickly cooperated. Iida didn't even have a chance to chastise them for entering in such a haphazard way.

When they got on the bus each class took one side. Class A took the side that was behind the driver seat and Class B took the side that was closer to the door. They were all quiet as Aizawa started the bus up and took them to wherever they'd be doing rescue training.

Izuku was fixing his gloves onto his suit, he kept on glancing at his friendship bracelet as well, making sure it was still there. "Excuse me, but Midoriya, right kero?" He looked up to see one of the members of Class A looking at him with an arched brow. The girl had green hair and looked a lot like a frog, she even had a tongue protruding from her mouth.

"Um.. yeah?" He responded a little meekly. His friends that were sitting with him, Yanagi, Monoma, Tokage and Tetsu, all seemed to still as they stared down Class A across them.

The frog girl didn't seem to mind though as she continued. "My name's Tsu and I tend to be really blunt, what happened to your costume, kero?"

Izuku sighed in relief, he could explain the simple costume away, if they asked anything about Kacchan though then that'd be different. After all, he was within hearing range, no, he was within beat down range. He audibly heard Tetsu's grin as the steel teen threw an arm around his shoulder. "THIS GUY RIGHT HERE'S HARD CORE! FOUGHT A GUY WITH SWORDS FOR A QUIRK, BROKE HIS BODY AND STILL WON, HONESTLY IT'S SO MANLY, BUT HE LOST HIS COSTUME IN THE PROCESS!" He yelled loudly for all of 1-A to hear.

The redheaded boy from 1-A touched his heart with his fist and let out crocodile tears. "So. manly…. So so manly…."

Izuku blushed a bit and he felt another arm wrap around his other shoulder. He turned to see it was Tokage this time. "Yeah, he's cool alright! But you can't have him! He's MY green buddy!" She smiled widely and pointed to herself with her thumb.

Izuku noticed a blonde and a guy with balls for hair in the corner, idly peeking at Tokage and then going back to whispering with each other. He noticed a girl with long earlobes scowl in their direction. He noticed that… they were just kids. They were just normal kids that were taking hero classes, they weren't evil, they weren't curel, they weren't like Kaccha-

Kacchan isn't evil either…

Izuku quickly reprimanded himself, honestly how could he think that about Kacchan! But there was no reason for his class to hate all of them, even if there was a bad one in the bunch. He'd have to talk to his class about that, about not hating 1-A just because of Kacchan, but the question was, could he actually do that? He'd figure that out later.

"So Midoriya, how'd your extracurricular go yesterday?" Monoma asked, trying to get 1-A out of their little group.

Izuku turned to him and smiled, "It was good! I'm getting to know the limits of my quirk better, he even brought a punching machine so I could see the maximum amount of force a punch of mine makes. However I'm still around 4% of what I feel when I do a max punch, but still I'm getting bet-" A finger was placed on his lips and he found himself looking at Tokage.

"Geez Greenie, breath for once." She said with a chuckle.

Izuku took a large breath, "But I'm still getting better!" He said happily. "I still need to work on more applications and perhaps an actual fighting style, maybe I could ask Kendo-chan to help, that could work! But other than that, everything's going really well!" He seemed so excited as he pulled out a notebook and started listing off facts about his quirk that he'd figured out yesterday.

Of course this notebook had all of his classmates' quirks in it, the data he had gotten regarding all of their quirks in it. But it also had his own quirk, of course not referred to as "One For All" but instead as "Superpower" , very original and magnificent. As well as not talking about any of the transfer aspect of the quirk.

Class A stared in shock and confusion. The blond turned to the earlobe girl next to him, "Hey, where'd he get that?"

She slightly turned to him, still staring at Izuku in confusion. "Honestly, I have no idea. Kinda freaky."

Iida looked at the Rep of 1-B in regret.

You in the back with the green hair! Quit your mumbling this instant, it's annoying and distracting!

She looks like she's getting ready. Are you trying to interfere with her preparations?

You hooligans! What are you doing, ganging up on one of our students!

Those three moments kept playing through his head. And Monoma's words as well. He didn't deserve their forgiveness. He hadn't done anything to earn it from them or Midoriya. Midoriya was such a kind soul as well. He still remembered the boy's display from the entrance exam. He looked up to see the boy blushing as Tetsu hugged his side and yelled about his accomplishments.

'I will earn it… I will earn his forgiveness…' Iida vowed to himself. He would do it, no matter what!

Silent conversation continued. But neither class made conversation with the other. They stuck to their own groups. However in the back of the bus, on the side with 1-A, Katsuki was scowling.

'DEKU HAS A FUCKING QUIRK! HOW? HOW?!' He had to stop himself from blowing the damn nerd off of the bus. He so badly wanted answers but the damn rat's voice was still stuck in the back of his head. He only had one chance here, and that was it. And he wasn't losing it because of a useless Deku.

He gritted his teeth and breathed out heavily, looking at the window and staring at it so intensely it looked like he was trying to blow it up with his mind. It was so annoying seeing that waste of space smiling all happy and shit. It was so infuriating, but there was nothing he could do.

He breathed out through his nose as a thought came to mind and he smiled manicaly, catching his amazing reflection in the window just made him feel that much better. "Just wait for the sports festival, you useless Deku."

Izuku's notebook vanished as the bus seemed to come to a stop. Kaminari squinting his eyes at the greanette and whispering "what the fuck…" to himself, though Jiro heard it and snorted in laughter, covering her face as she did so.

"Alright, off the bus.." Aizawa drawled as he got out of the driver seat and left the bus. Izuku got up and patted his clothes, making sure he had all of his stuff. He checked his wrist and nodded to himself as he saw the bracelet there. "A-Alright, Class B off the b-bus…" He announced as the class followed him off of the bus.

"Class A, follow Class B." Yaoyorozu said and the class did so.

Both classes got off the bus to see a person in a costume resembling a spacesuit. Izuku gasped as his notebook was once again in his hands. "IT'S THIRTEEN!" He smiled as he instantly recognized the pro.

However before he could ramble off a pair of hands covered his mouth.

Tokage sighed as she put her handless arms on her hips. "Just calm down for one second greenie…" Izuku seemed to deflate as his shoulders slumped. One of the hands moved from his mouth and patted his head. "There there little sheep, you can nerd out later." She felt him stiffen and had to hold in a laugh.

The space themed hero laughed as she walked to the group, "Hello everyone! It's about time you showed up!" The pro called out. Izuku was practically vibrating from under Tokage's hand, as it was still on his head.

Aizawa sighed as he marched up to Thirteen, "Where is he?"

Thirteen leaned into his and whispered, lifting three fingers. "Ran out of time doing patrols this morning, he might make it for the end of the lesson but that'll be it."

Aizawa sighed again, of course that buffoon had used up all of his time. 'That man is the height of irrationality.' He turned to his students, "All Might will not be here for the training. Now, Thirteen has something to say."

The students turned to thirteen, the pro clapping as she finally got to say her speech. She'd been waiting for this all day, making sure the USJ was perfect for the students. "So! As you can see behind me, we have a facility for doing rescue training!" She announced as all the students turned to the giant facility, she began to walk towards it and the students followed.

"With your homeroom teacher's test you learned the limits of your quirks, with All Might's battle trials you all learned how your quirks can be used to hurt others, and with this!" She made a ta-da gesture to her greatest pride and joy. "You'll learn how to use your quirks to help others!"

She stopped and took a sigh, her eyes drifting across the students, "Quirks are things that can be used for both righteous and cruel things, after all look at my quirk-"

"You can make black holes, or at least suction vacuums that delete matter! The way you use it in rescue operations is so amazing!" Izuku finally had an opportunity to gush over the pro as he got away from Tokage's hands. The girl connected them to her arm stumps and sighed.

Thirteen looked at him and nodded. "Well, looks like we have a fan, and you're right. But quirks can easily be used to hurt and even kill others." She said, catching the students slightly off guard.

Izuku creased his brow, and thought about it. His friend's quirks weren't that deadly…. well Yanagi could snap someone's neck without any real force and only a thought, Kendo could definitely cripple someone, same with Tetsu, Tokage wasn't as bad but if she got creative…. Komori could grow mushrooms (theoretically) anywhere, could she grow them inside a person? Tsunotori had pretty destructive horns that could produce a lot of force.

And on top of that he had One For All. A brief memory of him wrecking a ginormous robot from the entrance exam played through his head. 'Y-Yeah… she's right…'

"So, all we're going to be doing today is getting you guys used to using your quirks for rescue instead of combat!" She announced as they finally entered the facility. The classes gaped as they saw all of the different areas within the USJ. "The Unforeseen Simulation Joint or USJ for short is a facility designed to assist heroes in training with rescue protocol!"

She gestured to the many zones that the facility held. "With the USJ's wide variety of emulations of disasters, we can make sure you all are prepared for anything!"

Both classes clapped after her performance. Aizawa sighed, "Alright! Hurry up." He yelled as he walked towards the fountain at the center, from there they would distribute the students between the zones. 1-A and 1-B would be mixed to try and fix the relations between both classes.

He looked at 1-B as both classes walked to follow him and Thirteen. His eyes landed on the green haired class rep of theirs. He bit his tongue and sighed. "He already has control over four percent…" He had some thinking to do about the teen.

Izuku was smiling happily as he put his book away, a sketch of Thirteen being his new addition for the day. He paused as he felt… something… in the air. Something wrong, something dark, something evil. He looked around with a look of worry. Yanagi floated over, "Midoriya, is something the matter?" She asked him.

Class A looked at him. "Is something wrong, Midoriya-kun?" Yaoyorozu asked him.

Izuku looked at both classes before he heard a noise. Turning to the fountain he saw a purple mist tear open. "Y-Yeah…. that…" He muttered.

A redheaded boy stepped up to his teacher. "Aizawa-sensei, is this part of the lesson?" He asked with slight urgency.

Aizawa instantly caught on to what was happening. "No.." The man replied as he quickly grabbed his capture scarf. He narrowed his eyes as he saw figures come out of the mist. 'It's a portal…' A wave of people came out, all of them looking less than nice. "Those…."

"Are villains.."

Notes:

OK OK OK, that's it. Part one of the USJ. So as some of you may have noticed. Ochako is not at the USJ, for those of you who wanted to see her interact with Izuku, I am sorry. But I wanted to keep the same teams in canon as much as I could. Unfortunately, that did not happen. I replaced Shoji, who was partnered with Todoroki, with Kirishima. And I feel like I've sinned because Shoji is so damn cool.

But, I feel like it is important for Kirishima to be at the USJ, after all he's one of the main boys. Like when All Might fights Nomu the ones who are there are Bakugo Todorki and Midoriya, which makes sense, but Kirishima is there too. And he's never felt on par with them, but he's just as important. Or that's how I see it.

And sadly… Shoji is a "side character" side character. If you know what I mean.

Anyways, that should be it, but I will leave you with the question of the day.

Should Izuku get stomped trying to fight some villains or should he persevere? Or should he do some sneaking to get back to the fountain?

Chapter 8: Can You Survive, Future Heroes?

---

"Those are villains.." Aizawa placed on his golden goggles as his scarf began to float ominously off of his shoulders. The students tensed up, all of them looking over the edge of the staircase to the villains that were occupying the fountain area, a giant villain with dark skin and a bird mouth seemed extra frightening to all of them.

Izuku looked at the monster's eyes, they looked… lifeless. They were still and red. Looking nowhere but forward. All of the villains held this menacing feeling in the air that made the students shiver, but the bird beast held an aura of death.

It made all of the students afraid, well all except one.

"SO?! BRING 'EM ON, I'LL KILL ALL OF 'EM!" Bakugo yelled as he knocked his fellow students around to get to the front of the group and stare down the villains.

A man, with pale skin, light blue hair and hands covering and littering his body stared back at Bakugo. Crimson meeting crimson, the hand man cackled quietly to himself. Aizawa sighed as he activated his quirk and placed a hand on Bakugo's shoulder, activating his quirk had become a precaution with this certain student.

Though none of his students knew who he was even with his quirk so that was a plus.

"Bakugo, get back now!" He ordered with a firm voice, the underlying message of his expulsion very clear.

The boy clicked his tongue and rolled his shoulder to get Aizawa's hand off before standing back, no need to risk his hero course spot. Still, he hoped he'd get to see some action, he needed to vent out his frustrations on something and he couldn't use Deku.

The teacher nodded. "All of you go back to the bus with Thirteen." He ordered the students.

Izuku quivered, with the golden goggles, all black attire, and combat scarf it was obvious who the teacher was. The Erasure Hero. "B-But Eraserhead, your combat style is primarily to focus on singular opponents while they're confused about why their quirks aren't working, you can't fight so many at once!"

Class A looked at Izuku in confusion, after all they had no idea who Eraserhead was as a hero. But this guy knew all about him, and apparently his fighting style too.

Tokage whistled. "Quirk nerd doesn't even cover it."

Yanagi placed a finger on her chin, "Perhaps a hero otaku would fit the bill better, no?"

The teacher looked back at the greanette, they couldn't tell due to his goggles but his eyes were wide. None of his students this year had known who he was as a hero, but this kid did. He was strange, but interesting…

The pro eventually let out a sigh, "To let you know Midoriya." He crouched, Izuku was a little surprised that Eraserhead had addressed him by name and didn't sound angry or annoyed with him like usual, getting ready to jump into the sea of villains. "No hero is a one trick pony."

He jumped and instantly began taking out villains as he erased their quirks and beat them down in their moments of confusion. Even those with mutant quirks were easily taken out by him as he used his combat scarf and skill to overpower them and their quirks.

He grit his teeth as he put extra force into a throw and knocked a villain unconscious, "I need to keep this up for as long as I can." He muttered to himself.

Izuku clenched his fist, he nodded to himself, he'd follow Eraserheads orders. "A-Alright! Class B back to the bus!" He yelled. He needed to assume a leader role for this, he'd do his best. Kan-sensei believed in him, Aizawa needed the students out of here. He was being relied on and he wouldn't fail.

The students were still in a stunned state however. Tokage smiled, "You heard the man, Class B move your asses!" The class shook out of their stupor and began taking off, 1-A followed after them despite neither Iida or Yaoyorozu telling them anything.

The students ran to the metal door, until a mist covered their path. The purple smoke had yellow eyes and it made Izuku shiver. The eyes narrowed a bit as the villain seemingly laughed, "I apologize on the behalf of our union for breaking into a place such as this facility, but we've come here with a mission-"

"-The Symbol of Peace dies today."

Izuku quivered as he clenched a fist. They had a teleporter. That's probably how they got in, so it would be beneficial to take out the teleporter so they couldn't make it out and when the heroes got here they'd be able to-

'Do the heroes even know what's happening?' He wondered. He turned to one of the 1-A students, the blonde who seemed to have a radio device on his ear. He was tapping at it furiously with a look of worry. 'Ok, communication systems are cut off.' Izuku concluded as he turned back to the mist.

"Now, do you mind telling me where the man of the hour might be? He's not here and that does put a slight damper into our plans." He asked with a voice of elegance.

Thirteen stood in front of the students as she pointed her finger at the villain. "He's not here!" She yelled, ready to use her quirk. Sadly she didn't get a chance to use her quirk as three hero students jumped in front of her.

"LIKE YOU'RE STRONG ENOUGH TO KILL ALL MIGHT YOU SHITTY VILLAINS!" Bakugo yelled as he jumped at the villain using his quirk.

"Attacking a bunch of students, totally not manly!" Two voices said as Tetsu and Kirishima both charged towards the villain with their quirks activated.

Monoma cursed under his breath, "Those idiots!" Tokage activated her quirk to try and pull Tetsu back to the group.

However before anyone could do anything they were all covered in a deep smoke. Izuku coughed as he felt his feet stumble and then he felt like he was sinking. 'W-What's happening?' He wondered as he felt himself enter a free fall.

The next thing he knew he was falling into a rainy city, he yelled and closed his eyes, waiting to hit the ground. But the pain never came.

"Hey, you alright Midoriya?" He heard a male voice say as he opened his eyes. He was lying down, half stuck in the ground that for some reason felt kind of like a water bed and looking up at a boy in a black and orange hero costume, however without his helmet he could clearly see Honenuki's skull resembling face.

He sank further into the ground he was in, gasping for air before nodding, "Y-Yeah.." He said with a little bit of confusion before he shook his head. "T-Thanks for the save, Honenuki-kun…"

The boy gave him a nod as he grabbed his helmet, which was held next to his waist, and put it on. Looking out into the streets. Izuku got up and noticed that the ground was soft, allowing him to enter it like quicksand which was how it broke his fall. 'He used his quirk…. Cool!' Softening was a very interesting quirk and had many applications, that's why Honenuki was a recommendation student.

"I think we should walk around for a bit, see if there's anyone else and then head back." Honenuki said to which Izuku nodded.

The boy stood next to each other as they walked around. Throughout the rainy city they hadn't seen any signs of life, no sounds of people being around and no signs of any of their fellow classmates. So far at least.

It was just… rain. That's all there was for a while. Izuku brushed his glove over his face and then checked to make sure he still had his bracelet. "Still there.." He muttered. He still had it.

Honenuki walked around and Izuku followed but it was obvious that they weren't going to find anyone or anything. "I think it's about time to head back then, there's nothing here." He sighed and started walking in a different direction.

Izuku moved to catch up and looked to the sky and saw the dome barrier of the USJ, he followed it with his eyes until it was a wall, he looked in the opposite direction and guessed that the fountain plaza was that way.

He looked at Honenuki and swallowed before tapping his shoulder. The boy turned to him, "Is something the matter, Midoriya?"

Izuku pointed to where he knew the fountain was. "We need to go that way… the fountain is in that direction." He answered.

The boy looked at him and even though he was wearing a helmet Izuku could tell he was raising an eyebrow in confusion, "You want to go to the fountain?" Honenuki asked, "We're heading to the stairs, isn't that a better place to go to?" He asked.

Izuku sighed as he looked around the rainy city, his hair drenched in water. He didn't get to say anything as they heard laughing coming from an alley. Honenuki grabbed him and both of them behind a car as a group of what they assumed were villains came out of the alley.

Honenuki covered Izuku's mouth and put a finger to where his lips would be on his helmet. Izuku nodded.

They peaked out quietly from the car and observed the villains. A small lone figure came running out and was followed by other figures. A bunch of them. There was the girl in a sort of rocker punk outfit, she was fighting all of the others on her own.

Izuku remembered seeing her on the bus, she had earphone jacks connected to her ears. He didn't know exactly what her quirk was but he knew that it didn't help her much as she looked like she was fighting a losing battle.

Izuku gripped the car they were behind. "We have to help…" He muttered as he charged One For All into his fists at three percent, cracking the car's shell a bit. Something changed as his brain clicked; the situation he, and all of the other students, were in. They'd have to adapt, they'd have to change.

They'd have to become more than what they were now and go beyond their limits. 'We have to fight back…' Izuku thought as he looked out. The girl was losing the fight, she was vastly outnumbered as at least two dozen villains tried to attack her.

She was using sound based attacks to keep them away, yet the villains were pushing through it. He stood up to go and help, but Honenuki laid a hand on his shoulder. "Those are real villains Midoriya. We can't." The boy said.

Izuku looked at him and shook his head. "If we can't help those who are in trouble then how can we call ourselves heroes?" He asked. Honenuki seemed to flinch. "Go to the fountain, assist Eraserhead, if you can get someone out of the building and have them run back to the main campus then go that instead." He said before he took a breath and charged.

The small glow that his quirk created showed where he was as he charged into the group of villains and began punching them. He ran to one and punched their chest before dodging a retaliation strike and punching them again, this time in the face. They stumbled and got ready to attack again before they were hit by a sound wave that forced them to their knees, Izuku took one more strike with as much force as he could and knocked the villain out.

He turned to a new one as they leaped at him with what seemed like kangaroo legs, he ducked and grabbed their leg before straining his muscles and throwing them into a big group of villains.

His strength and All Might's quirk hurt the villains badly, making up for his lack of a fighting style. It took him a while but he had managed to take down two.

He and the earphone jack girl stood back to back as the villains circled them. "T-Thanks for the save. 1-B, right? Midoriya?" She asked as she gasped for breath between each sentence. Staring at the villains.

Izuku nodded. "Y-Yeah…" He muttered as he wiped some rain off of his were still dozens of villains that they still had to take care of.

"Alright boys!" A man with red skin and a stature the size of Endeavor stood at the front of the group. He smiled with shark teeth as he yelled. "CHARGE!"

Izuku tightened his fists and upped his percentage to four. His body could handle it, he could do this!

"Not so fast!" Before they took even two steps forward all the villains began to sink into the ground.

"W-What!" The red skinned villain yelled, his partners yelling out similarly.

Izuku looked around, a path of concrete was visible that didn't look like quicksand, and Honenuki was there. "Come on!" He yelled, having a hand locked on the road.

Izuku and the earphone jack girl both left as fast as they could. Honenuki let go of the ground and the ground seemed to harden, trapping the villains in it.

Izuku smiled a bit as he collected his breath, "Thanks again… Honenuki-kun…"

The boy was silent as he slowly nodded, "No problem.. Midoriya…" Honenuki turned away, "So, to the plaza, right?" Izuku nodded. "Alright.." The recommendation student started walking away, "Then we better hurry."

Izuku smiled a bit in relief and followed after him, the earphone jack girl doing so as well. The girl raised a brow at the two "So, Midoriya and..?"

"Honenuki, Juzo Honenuki.." The helmeted boy responded as they jogged through the streets. "You?"

"Jiro, Kyoka Jiro." She said, "Thanks for helping me by the way."

Honenuki nodded. "No problem… after all it's what heroes do…" He said, turning to stare at Izuku for a moment. "So Midoriya, what's the plan?"

Izuku raised a brow. "W-Why are you asking me?"

The boy shrugged. "You've always got plans. Just figured you'd have one for now too." He responded. Midoriya was a strategist, by his plans in the Battle Trial and the way he broke down Kamakiri's quirk and analyzed Kendo's during the quirk showcase, that was obvious. "Do you?"

Izuku chuckled and rubbed his neck as they neared the fountain more and more with each step. "I'm halfway there with one…" He muttered. They needed to relieve stress that Eraserhead was facing. His quirk was strong but he couldn't keep it up forever.

Or they'd need to get someone out of the facility, need to restrain both the mist villain and the giant bird, and assist Eraserhead in any way they could, perhaps by gathering all the students and making sure everyone was safe?

Izuku nodded. "Honenuki-kun, I need you to go to the entrance actually. I need you to help someone escape or escape yourself and then run back to the campus to call the heroes. If someone has already escaped then stay there and offer assistance to those who are there. Jiro-san, I need you to help cover Honenuki-kun and with his help set up a safe space for everyone to come to, use your quirk to listen out for anyone in trouble as well."

"Alright- wait how'd you know my quirk improved my hearing?" Jiro asked.

Before Izuku could answer, as he was rather embarrassed, Honenuki did. "When it comes to quirk analysis, Midoriya is unparalleled. He broke down one of our classmate's quirks in front of the entire class and I'm sure he's done the rest of the class in private."

Izuku simply blushed in response.

"So, what's your part of the plan, Midoriya?" Honenuki asked.

Izuku's face turned serious as his blush disappeared. "I'm going to see if anyone around the fountain area needs help, or even Eraserhead himself, though I'm a bit reluctant to do that. I'll gather all of them and bring them to the entrance while hopefully also taking out villains, getting some pressure off of Eraserhead" He answered.

Honenuki nodded, but he also wondered. 'He's so… intense… he's so different from before. You're a strange one Midoriya, that's for sure … but that's not a bad thing' He stared as Izuku wiped his face, getting water off of it as they approached the entrance and the plaza. "Alright, let's do this."

Izuku nodded as he stared at his friendship bracelet, he closed his eyes and breathed slowly. "Please… be ok you guys…"

---

Aizawa had no idea how much time had passed, he just knew that he was fighting right now. Punch after punch. Kick after kick. He was taking down villains and hoping that his students had made it out.

He lost sight of one specific villain, one that seemed to be the portal that got the rest of the villains here in the first place, and he cursed. What if he got to the students? What if he kidnapped them? He was so angry with himself that he put more force into his blows against the villains.

He punched a long haired lady in the face and captured her in his scarf before throwing her into a group of villains.

What the annoying part was though was the two standing in the back. Small thin, pale guy covered in hands and a giant bird monster. They exuded an aura of danger and Aizawa knew he had to take care of them as quickly as possible.

Thankfully he was almost down with the small fry.

He winced as his eye stung. 'Damn quirk overuse, if only I could use my eye drops!' He blinked for a second, one mere second, and the hand villain was on him.

"Eraserhead! It's Player 1 v Player 2, and I'm looking to get a high score."

---

'So yeah, don't I feel stupid and useless.' The steel teen felt terrible. He had done the unmanliest thing of all. He had gotten his teammates trapped by acting rash and stupid. And now he was trapped in an area with two 1-A guys while getting ambushed by villains. Well ambushed was a stretch. He was punching villains in the face, so at least he got to iron out his anger. "Heh, iron…" He chuckled.

He took a blow to the shoulder courtesy of a thin villain with sunglasses, but shrugged it off and smirked as he threw the villain over said shoulder. "These guys are kinda chumps.." He said with a sigh.

"Yeah, I know what you mean.." The red version of him replied as he sucker punched a villain in the gut, the man slumping over onto the ground and holding his stomach. "What about you, Bakubro?" He called out to the ash blond of the group.

"SHUT THE HELL UP SHITTY HAIR!" The blond yelled in return as he used his explosion quirk on the face of a villain.

Tetsu winced, 'Man, that guy's an ass…' He thought in his head as he decked a villain in the face, ruining the man's teeth and jaw. Of course, he already knew that. The idiot had attacked Midoriya in the middle of the cafeteria. But still, seeing it first hand, so up close, made him realize he was an ASS ass.

He sighed, he needed to get back to the main plaza, see if he could help out, he wasn't doing anyone any favor by sticking around here. Being here and not doing anything to help his classmates who he had put in danger, that was unmanly. He looked at the two 1-A students as they pounded more villains in, the blond guy seemed to be enjoying it actually. "Yeah… they got this!" He said before running out of the building.

"Just you guys wait!" He yelled as he ran through the streets. Decking stray villains now and again. He'd get back to the main plaza and help out as much as he could, after all that's what heroes did!

---

"Of all the people to get trapped in a life or death situation with… it had to be you…" Monoma sighed as he got up and stretched. He had fallen on his back and now he wasn't feeling the best.

"Aww come on, ya know you love me!" Tokage pouted as she dusted off her outfit. Monoma huffed as he turned away, Tokage grinned at his reaction. She was getting to him and she loved it.

The last member of their group deadpanned, "Would you two please stop doing that kero, we're in trouble." Both of the 1-B students turned to a member of 1-A, the girl looked like a frog, Tsu.

Monoma sighed and straightened himself out, "You're right, now where are we?" He looked out to see water. Lots of water. He looked down to see a wooden deck. He put two and two together. "We're on a boat."

"That's kinda obvious kero." Tsu added.

Monoma grumbled as he fixed his jacket sleeve. "I was just making observations."

"And those observations are obvious, Neito-kun." Tokage smiled as she slung an arm over his shoulder. "But anyways, got any plans in that big head of yours?"

Monoma scrunched his safe. "My head is not big!"

"I'm talking about your brain blondie." She said and tapped his forehead with her index and middle fingers.

Monoma sighed and creased his brows as he started thinking, he liked to think himself as smart and a strategist so he hoped he could think of something. "Tokage, we could just use your quirk to float away, carry Tsu while doing so." He said while looking out into the water. Seeing a bunch of villains leering at them.

"Come on, let me eat you!"

"Hurry up, I wanna kick some ass!"

"I call dibs on the blonde!"

Tokage deadpanned as she and Monoma looked away from the water. "We could do that… I don't see any other solutions.." Tokage muttered.

"Well, I can just swim away, pretty fast too kero. But I think you guys will be kind of noticeable if you just float away." Audi was blunt, it was just how she was. If she saw a flaw in something she would immediately point it out.

Tokage grinned and threw a shoulder over Monoma again, "Don't worry Froggy! Just let us do our thing!" She smiled.

"Our thing?" Monoma asked.

"Yeah!" Tokage cheered. "Now, let's get started." She grinned as her entire body split, forearms, biceps and triceps, torso, pelvis area, thighs, calves, head and all. They were all separated. "They'll be too distracted with all the parts to realize it's us!"

Tsu tilted her head, "Well, that works kero."

---

The telepath of 1-B was not having a good time. "Stay back." She said in monotone as she used her quirk to push villains back as they attempted to come up the stairs. They had to deal with both these guys and trying to get someone out of the USJ. They needed to call the heroes.

"T-Thirteen, are you alright.." Komori was checking over the pro. She had been injured. The mist had used her own quirk against her.

The pro nodded albeit slowly. Bondo had used his quirk to patch up Thirteen's suit, it was haphazard at best but it was the only solution they had for now.

Now both Bondo and Iida were standing, ready to face the mist villain, while Yanagi couldn't do anything to help as she was busy with the staircase. She was pushing back more and more villains as time went by, it was obvious that 1-A's homeroom teacher was getting tired and he was distracted by what seemed like one of the main villains.

Iida shivered as the villain seemed to laugh. "Your teacher is a fully fledged pro hero and is now in need of medical attention, what do you think you can do?" He asked.

Yanagi moved a hand towards him and activated her quirk, she expected it to be in vain as gases were something she couldn't really do much with using her quirk. However, she felt the familiar hold of something. She looked at the man and squinted her eyes, seeing shines of something metal under the smoke.

The villain himself squinted his eyes as he felt something tug at his metal collar, but he ignored it. After all, these hero students couldn't do anything against him.

Yanagi turned back towards the staircase and focused on all the villains and pushed. It wasn't doing much, too much attention spread around, too much power needed. She looked back at Iida and Bondo.

"Bondo-san, if you don't mind, would you assist me by swapping places, I believe I have an idea." She called out, the boy nodded and soon they were running to swap places with each other. Passing by him she whispered. "Shoot the mist villain when I give you a signal."

The boy nodded with a thumbs up.

She stood with the 1-A boy against the villain, not something she was too joyous about but it was the situation they were in. "Run for the gate." She said, getting ready to use her quirk on the villain.

The boy flinched, "How can you expect me to do something so cowardly! To leave behind my fellow students in a moment such as now!" He yelled back.

"No, you are to get help from the staff for us, nothing about that is cowardly." She responded. The boy was stubborn, he just needed to do what she said and they'd be fine. 'I hope Midoriya's alright..'

Iida seemed to think about it for a second before he nodded. "Alright… very well." He muttered.

Yanagi nodded and they both stared at the mist villain. "How foolish, to say your plan right in front of me, so very foolish!" He yelled as he got ready to expand. However he felt something constrict around his collar and he felt like he was choking.

"Bondo-kun, now!" Yanagi yelled and the boy fired his quirk. Yanagi used her own to assist the trajectory and accuracy, the glue hit the collar and solidified.

The villain's yellow eyes widened. "What is this?!" He had been too distracted by this feeling of pain that he hadn't been able to teleport the glue away when they shot it at him.

Iida nodded as he activated his quirk and quickly ran out, the villain was too occupied with his pain and Iida easily made it out. The mist seemed to get angry as it turned to Yanagi and Komori. "You, you're not going to live another day-"

"Not so fast!" Two figures appeared out of the floor, it looked weird like it was see through, it hardened back to normal and in front of Yanagi stood Honenuki and Jiro.

The 1-A girl plugged her jacks into her shin amps and blasted, the villain wincing as the sound hit him. He ended up teleporting away soon after.

Honenuki panted as he placed his hands on his knees. "Tired me out a bit, using my quirk for so long." Jiro nodded, massaging her jacks.

"Same feeling, took a while using my sound wave attack for him to get the hint and leave." She said as she looked at Komori and thirteen, she saw Yanagi standing and then Bondo holding off the villains. "I'll work on the staircase, make sure no one else is in trouble. Go head down and help Midoriya."

Honenuki nodded as he took his helmet off and threw it to the side.

Yanagi perked up, "Is Midoriya in trouble, did something happen to him?" She instantly asked.

Honenuki waved a hand, "No, but he went to the fountain plaza on his own. I know you're rather attached to Midoriya, do you want to come with me?"

Yanagi instantly nodded, "Yes, I want to make sure Midoriya is safe." She said as they both turned towards the stairs, trying to spot his green locks anywhere, while others would say he looked "plain" . His green hair was something that made him stand out from the crowd. That and his freckles. And his smile.

It took a while but they found him. Both him and Tetsu. "Down there, on the north east side of the fountain area, near the lake." She pointed out the location. Honenuki looked there and squinted before nodding.

"Alright, let's go."

"Yes, let us assist our friends."

---

The duo of men had found each other when Izuku had come to the fountain to see if Eraserhead had needed help; he had seen most of the villains already taken care of and Eraserhead fighting one on one with another villain. He didn't want to interfere as the man's quirk was a tricky one to use in group scenarios. Tetsu had run in one direction for a while and had ended up here as a result.

"Midoriya! Oh man am I glad I found you!" The steel teen yelled out to the greanette after decking a villain in the face.

They were both located in the plaza.

Izuku smiled a bit, "T-Tetsu-kun, I'm glad you're alright, do you know where the other two are? Kacchan and t-that guy with red hair that's sorta like.."

"Me..?" Tetsu asked with a raised brows.

Izuku sighed, "yeah."

"Yeah, they're both in the ruins area, they're fine. Just beating up a bunch of villains to iron out their anger. Or anger in the blond guy's case, the red dude seems pretty chill." He saw Izuku nod as the boy looked at the closest zone, which was the shipwreck zone.

He motioned Tetsu to follow him as he walked a bit to the shoreline. He pointed at the boat. "Three people are up there, from the looks of it I think it's Monoma-kun and Tokage-chan along with someone from Class A. I think they're going to leave the boat soon and come here, we need to be here when they do and take them to the staircase."

Tetsu nodded but he had to wonder. "Why do we gotta do that, just wondering?"

Izuku looked at him, "Well, Monoma-kun can get a little unhinged and with all these villains around I believe he'd try to fight by copying a bunch of their quirks. While Tokage… I think she'd follow him into the fight, they seem close to I think she'd want to make sure he's ok. As for the 1-A member, I think they'd go to help their sensei. But that's a bad idea, we need to formulate a plan before we go in, make sure they don't do anything rash." Izuku explained.

Tetsu just.. nodded. "Y-Yeah alright. You know Midoriya, you're kinda freaky."

"F-Freaky?!"

Tetsu smiled, "Yeah, but not the bad kind, like scary freaky, or scary smart!" He said with a smile, making Izuku sag in relief. He thought that Tetsu meant he was weird.

The boy shook his head as he looked at the boat. Dozens of small silhouettes were visible and Izuku instantly figured out what the plan was. Monoma and Tokage were using Lizard Tail Splitter and were floating all of their body parts to the shore separately.

He didn't know what the third person was going to do to get back to shore but he saw a third, bigger, silhouette jump off the boat and fall into the water.

"Let's do this Neito!" Tokage smiled as their body parts soared across the sky. The villains looked on in confusion as dozens of limbs and other assorted body parts flew across the sky, they were so confused that none of them noticed the frog swimming past them to shore.

That and on top of the fact that Tsu was using one of her frog abilities to camouflage herself, changing her color to blue to match the water of the man made lake. The frog croaked with a smug tone as she passed all of the villains, none the wiser to her doings.

Izuku let out a breath, they'd have to be ready to make a getaway as fast as they could, on top of that they'd have to make sure to not get into trouble with the people in the fountain area. They were sandwiched in a hard spot and he didn't have the best idea of what to do.

"I win!" Tokage smiled as she reconnected her body.

Monoma huffed as his own body reconnected itself. He dusted his suit. "It was neither a competition nor a race, thus you cannot "win" Setsuna…" He said.

Tetsu whistled and raised his eyebrows before looking at Izuku and whispering. "Setsuna…."

Izuku's own eyes went wide before he shook his head. 'No time for that right now..' He muttered before they moved to join their two friends. The duo of strength teens ran down to where Monoma and Tokage had arrived on the shore. Soon after a third figure joined them.

And out of the corner of his eye, Izuku saw that more figures knew where they were. A group of the lake villains were racing towards their location. 'God….freaking darn it…' There was no cussing in this household.

Izuku pushed three percent of One For All into his legs as he went to his friends. He grit his teeth, he knew what he'd have to do to get the villains away.

No one had the kind of power to get a group like this away. Plus they were too strong, too bulky for Tokage's quirk to be of much use taking them down. Escaping, probably, but taking down? No.

Did they have to take them down, yes, because then they would have less villains to worry about coming to the plaza. "Get away from the lake!" He yelled. The trio of hero course students turned to him. "Get away from the lake!" He yelled again.

Monoma creased his brows but nodded, grabbing Setsuna's wrist and pulling her along.

Izuku stopped in his tracks and turned to Tetsu. "Get back." He said. The steel teen nodded as he stepped away from the lake. Izuku took a breath, he could feel his heart beating in his ears. He felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins as he put an arm forward. All of his fingers out before curling his middle finger and pulling his thumb in and pressing the two together, his fingers ready to do a flick.

He charged up and felt the power go to three percent before he forced it to do more. 'One For All: 100%!' He grit his teeth as he felt the bone and muscle strain. Then he looked at the coming villains, they were coming for his friends.

And he wouldn't allow it. He smiled just a bit before yelling. "SMASH!" A gust of air came from the small movement he did, tearing the lake in two and taking the villains with the wind. Izuku gasped for air as his finger throbbed. "Definitely…. broken…" He muttered.

Recovery Girl would have his head. He turned to his group of friends and the one 1-A student. "We need to go… now!" He said, grunting as he clenched his broken finger into a fist, biting the inside of his cheek to ignore the pain.

The three 1-B students already knew how bad Izuku's quirk could mess him up but the one 1-A student didn't. She turned green, like her costume for a second, before swallowing. "That's disgusting, kero."

Izuku chuckled to hide the pain, "Y-Yeah.. it is…" He shook his head. "L-let's go!" He yelled.

The students nodded and began moving towards the stairs. Izuku caught sight of the plaza and froze. They had Eraserhead pinned on the ground, he had… lost. More than that, the man was…broken. His bones looked pulverized.

AND THE HAND GUY WAS RUNNING TOWARDS THEM!

Izuku knew he was the only one with possible ranged attacks so he ran forward without uttering a word. The guy was fast, crazily fast, Izuku thought he had a speed quirk. The man reached for Tokage as Izuku tried to get closer, but he wasn't fast enough and the man gripped her arm.

Tokage gritted her teeth and immediately disconnected her arm and jumped away. Izuku saw the girl's arm in the man's hands as it slowly turned gray and then to dust.

"He… disintegrated it.." Monoma muttered before gritting his teeth in anger.

Tokage put a hand, or the one she had left, on his shoulder. "Hey, don't worry. I can regenerate it just fine.." She whispered to him. Monoma looked at her and nodded but still glared at the villain before them.

The man cackled a bit before dropping the dust that was Tokage's arm onto the floor. "Next will be your head! Oh how will All Might feel when all his precious students are nothing but dust!" He ran towards them again.

Izuku moved and did another finger flick before he could reach them. The outcome was the man being knocked away. Izuku gasped as both his right index and middle fingers were broken and hurt a lot. He gasped as the man got up with a wince. The man dusted himself off as he glared at Izuku.

'I didn't put as much power as I did power… why?' He clenched his fist, thanking the adrenaline that was in his system. 'Is it because I'm using my quirk on a person?'

He remembered Thirteen's words, his quirk could easily be used to kill. Was he subconsciously holding himself back so he didn't kill this person? It didn't matter because he started running at them again, gaining Izuku's attention.

Behind him Izuku could see the giant creature from earlier still beating down on Eraserhead. He wanted to help the save, to save him, to do something, anything, to make everything end but he was useless right now. He couldn't do anything.

On top of that there was another villain, the mist one, though he seemed to be staying out of fighting. And from the way his eyes were bulging and the small amount of glue Izuku could see, it looked like he was in pain.

The man was cackling and running at them again, he just wouldn't stay down! Izuku clenched his right fist, two fingers were already broken, so what did the rest matter? "E-Everyone behind me now!" He yelled. The group did so, Monoma starred as Izuku raised his right hand up.

"Tetsutetsu! Please, let me use your quirk!" He asked.

The steel teen instantly nodded before letting out a hand. "Whatever you need it for, I trust you Monoma. You're a manly man." He said.

The blond took the outstretched hand before activating the quirk and grabbing Tokage. Using his body as a shield for her. He knew what Izuku was about to do, and the wind that his quirk produced was strong, amazingly so.

Tetsu activated his quirk and did the same for Tsu.

Izuku stepped forward and activated One For All. 'Go higher, past my limits, beyond it. Go to 100%' His forearm to his palm to his digits glowed with red veins as the man covered in nothing but dirt and hands came closer.

Izuku gritted his teeth. "S-Stay away!" He yelled, silently cursing his stutter, and pulling his arm back. He remembered how All Might told him to use the power when he first got it.

Squeeze your buttocks and from the deepest part of your soul yell!

The villain was as close as could be as he was reaching his own arm for Izuku, but he wouldn't get the chance to use his power as Izuku threw his own arm forward. "SMASH!" He yelled, closing his eyes and waiting for the familiar pain to invade him.

But he didn't get it. With hesitation he opened his eyes only to see a pair of black abs. 'E-Eh..?'

"Great job Nomu." Izuku could feel the smile in the man's voice as the black beast that he called Nomu raised his own fist. The thing towered above Izuku and it made the boy weak in the knees. He peered into it's dead eyes and it made Izuku shrink even more. The beak of the monster seemed to grin, as if was going to enjoy Izuku's demise.

Monoma wanted to help his friend but he was frozen as well.

Tokage couldn't do anything while being down an arm.

Tsu knew they couldn't win.

And Tetsu was already moving to save his friend.

"Honestly, wasting your life becoming a hero with such a strong quirk.. how pathetic." The man's words were the last Izuku was going to hear.

"MIDORIYA!"

"MIDORIYA!"

Two yells were heard at once as both Izuku was pulled out of the way of Nomu's fist by an unknown force and the beast began to fall into the ground as if it was quicksand.

The villain and the groups of hero students turned to see Yanagi and Honenuki near them. The girl's hands outstretched and Honenuki's arms on the ground. "Stay away from him!" The boy yelled.

Izuku smiled just a bit, idly noticing that his arm wasn't broken, his two fingers still were but his arm wasn't, and thankfully his friendship bracelet was still there too. The leather strap that was the actual bracelet part was very sturdy. He had no clue what his still workable arm meant but it wasn't something to think about now.

Before Nomu could get out of the ground Honenuki hardened it again. "Get away from him!" He yelled. Yanagi used her quirk and clenched down on the other villain covered in hands and threw him away. He landed on his feet though and recovered quickly.

The students got away, Monoma covering for Tokage as they hid behind Honenuki and Yanagi. "Midoriya, what the hell happened, why didn't your quirk damage it?!" Monoma yelled. "Your strength is beyond imagination!"

Izuku gulped, there were two answers really. Either one, he pulled his punch without knowing it or two, the villain had a way to counter his super strength. "I-I don't know.. he might have a quirk that cancels out mine? Or t-that may have been my f-fault…"

Tetsu turned to him as he activated his quirk and got in a stance, "What are you talking about man?"

Izuku got into his own stance as the hand villain seemed to finally get up. He idly glanced at Eraserhead, they needed to get him out of here and to someone that could help him. He was broken, bleeding, and most likely on death's door.

He turned his attention back to what was in front of him while thinking who could help Eraserhead the most. "I… might have held back.. I don't know. I've never used my quirk on a person at full power so my brain might be limiting me… I don't know if that's the reason though, it's just speculation.." He answered.

His classmates all nodded as they each got ready to fight. Tokage was still focusing on her arm and Monoma was still acting as her shield.

"Midoriya, Aizawa-sensei needs help kero." Tsu said as she gazed at her broken teacher.

Izuku sighed and nodded along. "Tetsu-kun… go with Tsu-chan and get Eraserhead to the entrance, see if anyone can help him there."

The steel teen's eyes widened. "W-what! But- I can't just!"

Izuku stared at him and smiled, "Please… he needs a hero right now Tetsu. And I know that you can help him.."

"B-But…"

Honenuki cleared his throat and Tetsu and Izuku looked at him. He turned to Tetsu. "Tetsutetsu-kun, would saving a pro not be the manly… thing to do?"

By the way he shook and clenched his fist both Izuku and Honenuki knew that the words had gotten to Tetsu. The boy nodded, "Alright, fine.. but I'm coming back as soon as I can, come on frog girl!" He yelled as he turned and ran towards the pro.

"Call me Tsu kero!" The girl followed after, glancing at Izuku for just a second before focusing on her teacher. 'What a weird guy…' She thought.

The villain straightened himself out, but he didn't go after the two. He stared intently at Izuku and Monoma. "A copy quirk….very similar to Sensei's… and a strength quirk like yours… you remind me of that bumbling blond Symbol of Trash!" He yelled.

The students didn't flinch but that didn't mean they weren't afraid. "Monoma-kun… take Tokage-chan and go…" He muttered as the villain laughed.

"Oh, you all reek of this hero sickness! You're all so annoying, just a bunch of NPCs, no you're worse than that! Tutorial minions for me to kill!" He yelled. The beast next to him remained impassive as it stared them down with its dead eyes.

Monoma held Tokage as she grit her teeth, "I can't just leave! Especially when there's a creep like this around!" She yelled at Izuku's back.

Izuku knew what she meant. She didn't want to sit back and watch when her friends could be getting hurt. When there was a chance that they could die. Izuku knew that feeling all too well.

He remembered the fire, the green sludge, the feeling of his body moving without him telling it to do anything, throwing his bag, clawing at the sludge. Kacchan's face of desperation…

And then All Might made it all go away.

All Might wasn't here… not yet. They needed to stall as much as they could and wait for reinforcements. Honenuki was done here so that meant that someone had managed to get out! Now it was just a waiting game…

"Tokage-chan…. I'll be fine, I-I'm your green buddy after all…" He smiled just a bit at the villain who hid behind a hand.

The man sneered at that smile.

"And Monoma-kun… just like you promised to be the greatest friend you could to me… I-i promise to do the same..!" He crouched down and activated his quirk, in his legs, and then his arms too, 'Do it all… do all of it…! Maximize both my ability to fight back and my ability to dodge, up my durability too, come on One For All!'

Yanagi's eyes widened in shock.

The smell of ozone filled the air as green lightning birthed off of him. 'We need to stall, but I can't fight them, but I can't just dodge either. I need to both dodge and fight back at the same time… with the way I've been using All Might's quirk I can't fight them… I need to adapt!' His body felt lighter, but he felt stronger.

Every part of his body had the quirk active and he knew even the slightest slip in concentration would deactivate the power. "B-But I want you two to be safe… you guys… are in no position to fight right now… so please…" He begged as he spread his arms, feeling the power in all his limbs, in the entirety of his body.

Monoma grit his teeth but conceded with a nod. He pulled Tokage back, and the girl looked back at him. "You can't be serious…"

He shook his head. "Midoriya's right…"

"B-But-"

"Setsuna.. please…."

Yanagi raised a brow. 'Setsuna? Since when are they on a first name basis?' She wondered before shaking the thought away and returning her attention to the task at hand.

The girl huffed as she conceded, "I- alright… be safe Izuku… I won't forgive you if you die on me alright!" She wiped her face with her one good arm, clearly tearing up. Izuku looked back and smiled, his quirk died as he lost concentration as he stared at his two friends.

"I wouldn't do that to you, either of you, now… go…" He turned back and activated his quirk again and pushed it to five percent, all over his body. Yanagi and Honenuki stood up to stand by his side.

Monoma sighed and picked up Tokage in a princess carry. "Good luck… my friends…" The next second he was running away.

The hero students had no time to think as the villain in front of them yelled, "NOMU!"

On pure instinct Izuku jumped back, thanking Kacchan's countless beat downs that had built that instinct in him as he saw a crater where he had just been. His body hurt but he knew he could handle it.

He saw the beast called Nomu get back up, ready to charge, only to fall into the ground again.

Honenuki hardened the ground and they put space between them and the monster. The hand villain rushed again and Yanagi used her quirk to push him away, Izuku dodged using his new power, and Honenuki used his quirk on the man, sinking him into the ground.

Soon Nomu broke out of the ground and jumped at them.

Izuku had a slight plan. 'It appeared when I attacked the hand guy… and it doesn't seem to have any free will. It doesn't speak, it doesn't do anything except for when that guy says "Nomu."' His face scrunched as he nodded.

He jumped at the hand guy and threw his arm forward. "Smash!" And just like he thought Nomu appeared there too. He felt his body get grabbed by Yanagi's telekinesis and was thrown away before Nomu could hit him.

He rolled to a stop and got to his feet, Nomu didn't charge them and instead seemed to wait for the hand guy to tell him what to do. Izuku smiled just a bit. But he knew they couldn't keep this up forever. Prolonged uses for emitter types quirks when they weren't trained to handle such things was never good.

He could already feel his body protesting at prolonged usage of his new technique and five percent. He had no idea how the others were fairing but he figured it wasn't good.

"Nomu!" He heard the yell and tensed, ready to dodge at a moment's notice. The man looked at him before harshly turning to Yanagi. "THE GIRL!"

Izuku cursed as Nomu rushed her, he wouldn't be fast enough! 'Go for the hand guy! Nomu will rush to save him instead!' His plan set in motion he pushed off with his foot, putting more power into it than he could handle and feeling something cracking.

Honenuki was trying to stop Nomu by softening the ground under him but he was leaping, not touching the ground as much.

Yanagi was trying to push the villain away but he was pushing through her telekinesis!

Izuku pulled his arm back as he winced, his foot wasn't broken, but something was definitely wrong! "Sma-"

"SMASH!" Izuku's yell was cut off as a louder, much powerful voice said the exact word he was going to. He landed on his foot and jumped away, noticing that Nomu had paused in his attack against Yanagi.

He looked to the entrance, where the yell came from, and smiled.

The familiar tuft of blond hair in the shape of a V, the giant figure that was tearing the clothes that constricted it, the….smile… that was absent and replaced by a scowl. A scowl that showed nothing but pure anger. The Symbol of Peace did not have a smile on his face as he tore off his suit tie.

"Everything is fine now, why? Because I am here!" He yelled, but without the usual enthusiasm. Izuku blinked and he was suddenly by the stairs with Honenuki and Yanagi. All Might was walking away towards Nomu and the hand villain.

He took a step toward the pro and winced as his foot protested, "A-All Might!" He yelled. The pro turned to him. "I punched him with 100% of One- of my quirk! And it didn't do a dent!" He corrected himself quickly.

The man smiled and gave a thumbs up, "Thank you Young Midoriya, but this is a fight for the pros so please stay out of it from now on." He turned to Nomu and the other villains. Those who Eraserhead took out seemed to be getting up, even the mist villain seemed to have recovered now.

Yet in a second the villains so seemed to be just minions were down again, leaving the three that Izuku deemed important. Izuku gulped, he didn't know how much time All Might had left, or if he had any at all. But this thing, Nomu, took a punch from him at full power and if the power got stronger with each generation then it could definitely take a punch from All Might.

But he still backed away. Grimacing as his foot and fingers throbbed. His digits were doing much worse but they both still hurt.

"Midoriya… we should retreat, you're in pain, we cannot be of much assistance here." Yanagi said. Izuku knew she was right but..

His thoughts cut away as large gusts of wind came at them, barely able to open his eyes he saw All Might making battle with Nomu.

With each punch each fighter made gusts of wind were spawned, the two seemed to be equals. All Might's suit jacket tore easily as his bulging muscles were pushed to their maximum. Nomu's skin rippled as All Might's punches made contact but it moved through it and attacked the pro.

Izuku grimaced, 'Just… like I thought..'

All Might's punches were strong, Izuku knew that each could be changing the weather if he wasn't enclosed in the dome that was the USJ, he punched Nomu in the face, the beak and most of the head caving in as it was thrown away.

All Might smiled as he felt blood building up in his throat. Sadly the feeling of triumph didn't last long as the villain got back up, it's face.. regrowing. "W-What?! I thought his quirk was a form of shock absorption or nullification!"

"You're right!" The blue haired villain yelled, attention turning to him as the mist villain appeared to get ready for something behind him. "He definitely has shock absorption, but that's not the only quirk he has, Nomu's not just a tank, he's a healing tank!"

As the man finished Nomu rushed forward again and All Might grinned. "Fine, if punching won't work then I'll have to do something else!" He ran forward, his pants stretching and tearing at his power as he got behind Nomu and got ready to suplex him.

"Midoriya, Yanagi is right, All Might has this handled." Honenuki's words didn't reach Izuku as he saw All Might pick up Nomu from behind and start the motion.

Only for a portal to open up under him. "YANAGI PULL HIM AWAY!"

The ghost girl was startled at the sudden yell but did so, grabbing onto All Might and pulling him apart from Nomu. The pro was confused as he was suddenly thrown to the side. He got up to see Nomu getting out of a portal on the ground.

"Tsk… well plan B failed… thought combining our skills with that mindless puppet could be useful. Looks like it wasn't…"

The pro turned to his students who still hadn't left. He knew the voice that yelled, he'd spent ten months with it, "Young Midoriya, I told you to stay out of this!" He yelled.

Izuku seized up, he knew what his mentor said but… He cleared his throat, "It was a trap All Might!"

"I can see that now, but students should not get involved in the affairs of their teachers!" Nomu got up and was ready to charge in again. All Might crossed his arms, ready to take the monster's punches and strike back with his own.

He could feel his body steaming, begging him to stop, to give up. But he wouldn't do that! He was the Symbol of Peace!

"NOMU!" At the yell the beast started to move, only for it to be trapped in ice.

"Alright, glad I got here in time.." A cool and elegant voice said as the surrounding people looked to find Todoroki a ways away. Not a second later explosions were heard and Bakugo had tackled the mist villain.

"Nomu! Kurogiri!"

Well they had one of the villain's names now.

"HAH! I GOT YOU, YOU MIST BASTARD!" Bakugo was ecstatic with himself as he grinned manically at the yellow eyes that widened in what looked like fear. He was so fucking happy right now.

"Hey Bakubro… that's not… manly…" Kirishima arrived and sighed out. Bakugo wasn't that manly at all. It was kind of depressing how unmanly he was. And on top of that what he did to that Midoriya guy.

It was making Kirishima second guess his offer of friendship to the blond.

"And I'm back!" Tetsu yelled as he fell down the stairs. Standing up to stand by Midoriya. "Sorry, I took so long. That Aizawa guy's heavy…"

Izuku creased his brows. 'Explosion, what looked like an ice quirk, Softening, Poltergeist, Steel, whatever the red head guy had which might've been similar to Steel, and two One For All- Two For All?' He shook the thought away.

"Young Todoroki, thank you for your assistance but I must ask that you leave, you as well Young Bakugo and Young Kirishima." The pro stood up as Nomu seemed to be breaking out of the ice that Todoroki had trapped him in.

Though it seemed to be… breaking him.

Izuku narrowed his eyes. 'Todoroki-kun's ice is damaging him, it skewered him. But also… breaking out of it too is causing more damage. Maybe because the limbs are trapped in place and to move them he has to break them? Perhaps…' Pseudo plan initiated.

"Honenuki-kun, sink him into the ground and trap him! Todoroki-kun, once he's done that, overlay it with your ice and trap whatever is still sticking out of the ground! All Might once he breaks out do the most you can, he'll be regenerating so that'll be your moment of opportunity!"

"B-But Young Midor-"

"EVERYONE ELSE KEEP THE OTHER TWO OCCUPIED!" He yelled, he felt adrenaline pumping through his system, making him act on thoughts that he would always have but that he'd always keep in. This time, it was thoughts on leadership and plans that would always form.

Honenuki did his part quickly, the beast falling into the ground and only his upper torso sticking out. It clawed and bit trying to escape. The dual haired teen, Todoroki, sighed with a mist of frost as he decided to do it anyways, despite not wanting to take orders from anyone but a teacher, All Might not counting.

He slammed a foot down and swiped his arm forward, a miniature glacier spawned and raced towards Nomu, skewering it again and trapping it in ice.

Bakugo clicked his tongue, when the hell had Deku grown a fucking spine! But he was enjoying himself standing over this piece of crap villain. He'd just have to wait. 'For the Sports Festival….' He smiled.

He wasn't sure when it'd be, he didn't care about the date, he was just waiting for when he'd get to ki-

"Bakubro! Watch out!"

A sudden yell made Bakugo jump back, a pale hand swiping at where he was just at. He clicked his tongue, "Fucking damnit.." He got too distracted in his day dreaming about beating the shit out of Deku.

He stood up and glowered at the pale guy. "You good Bakugo?" He heard someone ask, he didn't care about damn extras though. A hand landed on his shoulder and he shrugged in forcefully before pushing the person onto the ground, all without looking at them. He still glared at the hand guy.

"I thank you Tomura Shigaraki. Now, what's the next course of action?" The mist, Kurogiri, asked. They were running out of options, that much was clear.

Tomura, though, didn't respond. He stared intently at the ice Nomu was trapped in, it began to crack and so did the ground around him.

"It's getting out, All Might get ready!" Izuku yelled as he stared at the other two villains. 'Ok, think, think, think, think! A disintegration quirk and a portal quirk equals…. Oh….' Izuku realized "That's not good.."

Yanagi turned to him, "What isn't Midoriya?"

Izuku's brows creased and she didn't like his look of worry. He turned to her. "I-If you see a portal I need you to push." He said, his stutter coming back slightly.

Yanagi raised a brow and tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"Just… trust me… if you see something that looks like a portal push." He said before turning back to the villains. 'One For All: 5%' He winced as he covered his entire body with the body, just in case anything would happen. Though he doubted he'd be able to fight right now.

All Might sighed as he got ready to strike Nomu, he saw Young Midoriya getting his own power ready for something, he wanted to ask what but.. he had greater matters to attend to right now…

So with a grimace as blood and pain in his side invaded him he ran forward. "NOMU! KUROGIRI!" At the yell the ice seemed to crack more and then it exploded. All Might smiled as he pushed One For All to his limit and then beyond it.

He didn't notice the portal in front of his abdomen. "Yanagi now!" Izuku yelled.

The ghost girl nodded and grabbed onto the hand and threw it back. The portal closed soon after. "The fuck?!" Tomura yelled as his hand was thrown back at him. "Kurogiri again!"

"Yeah, not happening fuck face!" Bakugo yelled as he stood away from them. His arm forward with his one gauntlet, his finger on the pin. "DIE!" The explosion rippled and both villains were caught in it.

The dust and smoke cleared for Bakugo to see a large portal covering the villains. "WHAT THE FUCK!" He yelled.

"Young Tomura, are you alright?" Kurogiri asked the other villain.

"I'm fine Kurogiri- SHIT!"

Nomu and All Might finally clashed, the blow that All Might sent to the villain's chest produced large winds, pushing all the spectators away.

Tetsu stood his ground as best he could, which wasn't that good, using his quirk while grabbing onto Midoriya and Yanagi to make sure they didn't get blown away. Honenuki sunk into the ground and hardened it. Kirishima did the same as Tetsu but was being blown away easier as his weight wasn't increased like Tetsu. Bakugo was blown away as his explosion couldn't counteract the winds as they were too strong. And Todoroki was blown a little bit away before he produced an ice wall behind him to make sure he wasn't pushed away more.

All Might continuously landed blows, one after another, each shaking Nomu. Tomura simply cackled. "Didn't you hear me earlier?! Nomu has shock absorption!" He yelled over the gusts of wind.

All Might simply smiled, "Yeah? So what about it!" He yelled with a grunt as he ducked onto a retaliatory strike from Nomu before thrusting an arm forward, blowing the beast into the air. All Might crouched down and blasted off the ground, leaving a large crater.

"A hero must always be ready to go beyond what they can!" He yelled, the scream vibrating throughout the USJ, as a yellow streak climbed into the sky after a black one.

All Might grappled the villain and threw him into the ground before landing in front of him. "I don't know if you've heard these words before but let me remind you!" He pulled his arm back and grit his teeth, even as blood came out. His arm caved in Nomu's stomach as All Might pushed One For All past what it was capable of, "GO BEYOND, PLUS ULTRAAAA!"

And then the villain was gone and a new sky light was installed into the USJ, courtesy of Nomu blasting through it. All Might smiled as he tried his best to keep the blood in his mouth. He turned his head to the villain, knowing that if he moved he'd be done for. "So? Give up?"

Tomura clenched his teeth, they felt like they were going to crack. Slowly he lifted his arms up to his head and scratched just under his jaw, fiercely. They all saw red adorn his fingers as he tore into the skin. "No! Nonononono! Sensei said you were weaker! He lied!"

The words made All Might and Izuku pause. Izuku was wondering who this 'Sensei' was and how he knew All Might was weaker while All Might was grimacing, there was only one person who both knew that he was weakened and evil.

"Young Tomura, he seems tired. I'm sure we can still use the combination you came up with, or you could simply use yourquirk. He seems tired." Kurogiri whispered into the man's ears, making him pause in tearing his skin off.

The man stared at All Might, he wasn't moving, his smile was strained, he was shaking. Tomura giggled before breaking out into a full laugh, "YOU'RE RIGHT KUROGIRI! YOU DIE HERE, SYMBOL OF TRASH!" Tomura yelled as he ran forward.

'ONE FOR ALL: 10%' Izuku winced, he felt it breaking, all of his body creaked and he was sure that small fractures were birthing across his bones as he jumped.

"W-Where'd Midoriya go?!" Tetsu yelled.

Izuku's speed matched Tomura's and even surpassed it as he ran in front of All Might and went to meet the villain. "STAY AWAY.. FROM ALL MIGHT!" Izuku's fear was great, immense, more so than Kacchan had ever caused him, but he smiled.

Tomura felt like throwing up when he saw that face.

Izuku made a finger flick with his right ring finger as his full body One For All died and he charged 100% into his arm. "SMASH!" A gust was born and Tomura was blown away, Izuku winced seeing his three purple fingers.

"Y-Young Midoriya!" All Might wanted to move to help his student but he knew he couldn't.

Izuku stood defiantly in front of All Might as Tomura got up. He brought his arms up and activated his full body One For All again, though it was at two percent, he couldn't handle any more than that now.

"I'll kill you SMALL MIGHT!" Kurogiri opened a portal and Tomura threw his hand forward.

BANG BANG

"SHIT!" Tomura retracted his hand, seeing bullet holes in his body.

"Yeah! That ain't happenin' partner!" Izuku smiled as he and all the students looked toward the top of the staircase seeing Snipe there spinning his revolver.

Iida was standing off not too far, "I've-" He gestured to the other heroes, including Midnight, Present Mic, Ectoplasm, Cementoss, Vlad King, Nezu and more of the UA teacher. "-brought backup!"

Snipe brought his gun back up and fired off more shots at Tomura, the villain retreating soon after but with a couple more gift bullet holes in his body than before.

Nezu cleared his throat. "Alright! Teachers! Clean up all stray villains and bring the students here!" The pros quickly moved out, running to help all of their students.

Izuku smiled dumbly as he felt his body sway. His face was filled with confusion as his legs gave out from under him, his eyes closing, his arms losing all of their strength and will. The last thing he saw was All Might looking at him in worry but also pride.

"Good job, Young Mido…."

With a thud Izuku passed out, from pain, overexertion, or exhaustion he didn't know. Maybe it was a combination of all three. But he knew one thing for sure.

Recovery Girl was going to murder him.

Notes:

Ok, so haha. Izuku used Full Cowling. Though with not nearly the amount of finesse he does in the show. He's still a newbie with it and it needs a lot of concentration which is why he didn't do much. And he lost control of the percentage he was using. Which will lead into what I have planned for training to get to the Sports Festival, but I might not do that.

But I probably will take a small break from uploading, I want chapters saved up again so I'm sorry about that.

I am sorry that this is very similar to canon in some aspects but even with Izuku at the point he's at I can't see any large changes I could've made.

Anyways, with the sports festival do you guys want to go straight to that or do you want to see Izuku training with Gran Torino? Or maybe even the entire class training with the old geezer?

Let me know.

Chapter 9: The Old Master

Izuku's eyes fluttered open, he expected to be in a world of pain on the ground of the USJ while crying, or maybe in his bed at home with his mom offering a ton of pain killers as soon as he woke up, but he stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling that was pure white. His body felt completely fine as well.

He slowly blinked his eyes as he turned his head to the left and then to the right. He saw All Might in a hospital bed too.

The blond noticed he was awake and sent him a smirk and a thumbs up? Izuku tilted his head, wondering what that was about. After all, he ended up in Recovery Girl's office again. He wondered how many times she had hit his unconscious body with her cane.

All Might nudged his head down, basically telling Izuku to look there and the boy did so, with some effort, and made a noise of surprise. Yanagi was there, sitting in a chair, resting her head on the bed he was on, using her arms as a pillow.

He heard All Might snicker. "She came in soon after you got here… she was very worried about you, Young Midoriya." The man smiled wide and it made Izuku blush.

The boy looked down at Yanagi, 'She really is the best…' She was his first ever friend. Real Friend. She even made him a bracelet to always remind him of that, and here she was watching over him because she was worried. He smiled as he felt tears leak out of his eyes, he rubbed them, noticing one of his hands was covered in bandages.

All Might smiled at his successor before he saw the boy go rigid and turn his head to him. "D-Does she know!" He whisper-yelled.

All Might shook a hand, "No no, I just told her I was one of Recovery Girl's regulars, she seemed to buy it." The sentence made Izuku sigh in relief.

The greanette smiled at his friend and looked out the window, seeing the sun descending over the horizon. 'Shouldn't I wake her up so she can go home?' He thought to himself as he glanced at her. He wanted to, but she seemed really comfortable. But, it wouldn't be good for her back either. He hummed and sighed before tapping her shoulder with his bandaged arm. She seemed to stir and her eyes opened slowly. She felt her chin was wet and a bit of her sleeves too.

She grumbled as she lazily got up and closed her eyes, rubbing them with her jacket sleeve, as she was still in her school uniform. She opened them up and saw Midoriya, smiling with bandages covering his arm, one on his cheek and some in other places like his legs, but he was smiling.

And that's all that mattered.

The next second she leaped and wrapped her arms around him, making him wince as pain invaded him at the contact but he hugged back, with a red face. And because of the hug he was staring right at All Might who was giving him a thumbs up and a wide smile.

"I- am glad that you are alright.." She parted from him and cleared some tears out of her eyes and what she now noticed was drool off of her chin. Izuku frowned, he didn't know that he worried her so much. He felt bad, she shouldn't be getting so sad over him. But then she smiled. "You are… crazy Midoriya.."

"I-I'm sorry…"

Yanagi shook her head, "It's not a bad thing at all.."

All Might smiled and decided to leave them to it. He huffed as he sat up and got out of his bed, it took some effort but he did it. His wound twinged a bit as he walked out of the room, he huffed a bit as his lungs, or lung, tried to suck in as much air as he could.

Eventually his coughing fit died down "Now, to Nezu's office.." He had an odd request for the principal of UA, and one that made his legs quake with fear. "Damn it… I thought I got over this…"

---

The ghost girl peaked over her shoulder as the blond man walked out of the infirmary. He was… strange. His voice was… very familiar to her and his hair was too. But it didn't matter that much to her, at least right now.

She sighed, "I'm just.. glad that you are in good health. After all, with your quirk… I expected things to be worse. But Recovery Girl stated that the worst of your injuries was in your right hand and it'd be fine if you came in Monday for some extra healing. Your leg is already healed and everything else should be alright, for now…"

Izuku sighed in relief, "W-Was she mad..? She keeps on telling me not to make this a repeating thing, but.. that's all I'm doing at this point.." He clenched his not broken hand.

Yanagi nodded, "Yes… she was a little.. heated, but she was also proud that you helped protect others though she did call you a little thick skulled." The girl recounted.

Izuku chuckled a bit. That did sound like Recovery Girl, the fact that he had only been at UA for a week and had a good basis for what the nurse would and wouldn't say was a bad thing. "Sorry I… passed out on you, I'm glad you guys are okay though. I- wait, where's my bracelet?!" He just realized he didn't feel the weight on his wrist and began looking for it, though he couldn't do much as he couldn't, or rather wouldn't, get out of his bed.

Yanagi giggled and grabbed his face, turning him to her. "Don't worry, I have it, though it is a bit damaged. So I'm going to take it home with me so I can repair it, I hope you don't mind."

Izuku blushed a bit, "N-No.. not at all.."

"Good, now I better get going, my mother should be here soon." She stood up and pulled her chair away, putting it next to the wall. She walked to the door and turned to him, "Get better soon Midoriya.."

Izuku nodded and smiled a bit, rubbing the back of his neck. "I-I'll try my best."

---

The Symbol of Peace sighed as he sat down on one of Nezu's couches, falling into it like one would do after a long day of work. Something felt like it was choking his only lung as he coughed some more.

"Toshinori… that was very reckless of you.." Nezu chided as he sat on the couch across from him. "And it turns out that I was right, you really should stop wasting your time patrolling. You're taking teaching time away from your students."

All Might sat up and looked at the ground, ashamed. "I… know, I know, old friend.."

They had gotten into an argument about him using up his remaining time doing patrols. Nezu said that it was a waste of time, there were other heroes, they could patrol, and All Might was needed at UA to teach his students. The blond had come up with only excuses and now he knew that what Nezu said was absolutely correct. "I could've been there from the start and protected them… I've failed as a teacher.."

Nezu simply hummed. "Yes, so it would seem.."

All Might looked Nezu in the eye. "I've… come with a request. About Midoriya…"

The mouse smiled a bit. "Ah, so how's he progressing? I hope he's coming along well because he's been trying his hardest to get control of that quirk. All on his own might I add…" All Might saw the glint in Nezu's eyes.

All Might sighed, "He's… progressing well. He even displayed a new ability at the USJ I believe.."

The mouse tilted his head. "Oh? And what might this new ability be?"

All Might tried his best to remember so he could accurately describe it. "It seems like.. he used One For All across his entire body. See.. he's only been using it on singular limbs, at most both his legs, at a single time."

The mouse nodded, "Yes yes. To both be able to dodge and fight back at the same time. The fact that he created this while in a disaster scenario is nothing to sneeze at. It seems that your boy adapted All Might. He realized the situation and rose to what he needed to be. You picked a good successor, Toshinori." Nezu sipped some of his tea, he had taken a liking to Midoriya, especially after all he found.

Aldera did have cameras after all, and soon it wouldn't, because it was going to be torn down. He'd make sure of it. He'd seen a lot, Midoriya had been endlessly bullied and verbally assaulted, even told to kill himself by a few of his classmates, yet he still wanted to be a hero. He was quite intriguing, Nezu had to admit.

"Yes… I did. But, I do not believe I am a good enough teacher to bring out all of my successor's potential, so I wanted to make a request of you." All Might placed a hand on his leg to stop his jittering, he sucked in a breath. Nezu found his reaction to be quite entertaining. "I wanted to ask if my old teacher could come to UA and teach Midoriya…" The man got into as much of a bow he could do while sitting down.

Nezu sighed and smiled just a bit, "Very well, your request is approved." All Might got out of his bow with a smile. "However-" All Might's smile dropped. "-You'll be the one to call him and bring him here."

"Wh-What.. b-but you know how-"

Nezu put a paw up, "Now Toshinori, don't tell me you're afraid of a senile old man who's long past his prime?" The principal knew what he was doing, and his smile even seemed to come off as smug now.

"W-Well no.."

He clicked his paws together. "Then there should be no problem!" Nezu bounced out of his seat and walked towards the doorway, before opening it. "Well, good luck!"

"W-Wait, right now!"

"Absolutely!" The door shut and All Might wallowed in his own self pity and fear.

The Symbol of Peace pulled out his phone and scrolled through his short contact list before landing on "Gran Torino." He sucked in a breath, "Ok… Toshinori you can do this… he's old, he's senile, he can't hurt you anymore.." He let out a breath and pressed the call button. "H-Hello sen-"

"TOSHINORI YOU STUPID-"

This was going to be terrible and his shaking was already back.

---

Izuku sunk into his bed, he had to wait for Recovery Girl to come in and clear him, then he'd be able to go home on the train, he could already feel his bed and drift away into dreamland. He was both happy and worried that they had already called his mom but it wasn't something he wanted to think about right now. He was already thinking about how much he worried Yanagi.

He reached for the ceiling with his left hand, which wasn't broken, and clenched it. He closed his eyes and imagined One For All sparking across it. A couple of seconds later he opened his eyes and saw the green sparks of lightning there.

He dropped One For All and dropped his hand onto the bed as he thought about the technique he used. "A full body use of One For All…" Switching between using his legs and using his arms had been quite annoying and time consuming, and the technique made up for that. However it was hard to keep going, but then again he hadn't had much practice with it at all so maybe given time it'd be easier to use.

The door slid open with a slam and Izuku tensed, he was ready to face Recovery Girl's wrath. The sliding of a chair on the floor was heard and it made Izuku close his eyes, awaiting to be smacked with her syringe walking cane. However he heard a sigh as someone sat in the chair. "You can open your eyes Midoriya, I'm not gonna smack you like the old lady does.." Said a rough voice that Izuku instantly recognized.

He opened his eyes and saw Vlad King sitting down. "K-Kan-sensei! W-What are you doing here?!" He asked as he sat up.

The man smiled, or at least tried to with his teeth and mouth shape it was hard, "I came to see how you were doing Midoriya, and tell you that I'm proud of you. Some of the other students told me what you did and you certainly acted like a class rep." The man patted Izuku's arm, his bicep area so as to not touch his broken hand.

But then the man grinned, different from a smile, it looked like he had just won a bet or something, "Yanagi also told me about your new technique, we're going to be working on that, alright? So meet me at Training Gym Gamma on Monday."

Izuku nodded, "Yes sir."

Vlad stood up, "Alright, I have to go now I'm afraid, but if you don't mind, please look into that new technique before Monday. Find out all of its kinks so you understand it as much as you can."

Izuku saluted with his bandaged hand, "i-I will do my best!

Kan chuckled, "That's all I ask Midoriya." And then he was gone.

Izuku sat up in his bed and looked around, on his bedside there was a table with items on it. He quickly found out that they were his own personal items, with one of them being his notebook that he took with him and the other being his phone. He reached for the electronic device, wincing as his arm protested but he grabbed it and pulled it towards him, he opened it up and flipped through his contacts and they landed his most recent edition.

"Recovery Girl said he could help with my training…" He nodded to hismelf before he taped it.

---

"-So you see.. that's why I called you-" The sudden sound of the line disconnecting was heard and All Might pulled his phone away from his ear to see the blinking red words of 'Call Ended'

"S-sensei why…" He wallowed in more pity. He'd have to call him again. And that terrified the Symbol of Peace.

---

The phone rang two times before the person on the other end picked up.

"Hello?! Hello! Is this the cable company! Are you finally gonna fix my damn TV!" A loud and cranky voice yelled into Izuku's ear, making the boy wince. He pulled the phone back and he didn't even have to put it on speaker to hear it.

"Um n-no sir, I-I'm a student at UA, and Recovery Girl gave me this number to call you for training with my quirk." He responded with a shaking voice.

There was three seconds of silence, Izuku thought the guy was taking into realization that someone had wanted to train with him, however.. "Who're you?"

'Oh god..' Izuku sighed, this would take a while.

Eventually he was able to explain who he was, and introduced his name. The man seemed to acknowledge it because he went silent for a couple of seconds after he said it. Though that could've just been him instantly forgetting it. Izuku surmised that the man was old, if not old and senile as well. Or perhaps just very, very forgetful. But Recovery Girl said he could help with his training so it'd be worth it.

Izuku asked if the man would be able to train him and Izuku mentioned that Recovery Girl gave him the number, "S-So, I was wondering if you'd be able to train me, sir.." Izuku hoped the man would agree, even with all of Kan-sensei's training he still felt like he was behind. Plus, why else would Recovery Girl give him this number if the guy wasn't good at training people?

There was a beat of silence, "Sure thing kid… training will start on Monday, after all I saw what happened on the news."

Izuku rose a brow, the guy was showing a lot more intelligence now then he displayed earlier, perhaps the old, senile thing was a facade? That could be very interesting. "It'll give you time to recover, be ready for hell though. I don't go easy on training." And just like that, the line died.

Izuku was a little sad about that, he wanted to get a little work in with his new technique before Monday, but he would have to do that on his own now. He could do that but it would've been easier if he had a teacher to help him while doing that. Soon enough the backbone of UA came and Izuku was cleared by Recovery Girl to go home, though he would need more healing on Monday, for his arm.

Monday would be eventful but he tried to make the most out of the weekend. He got his percentage up to a base of five percent so it no longer hurt that badly, it still hurt but it was a dull pain, but he still had trouble with concentration concerning his new ability which he decided to call "Full Cowling."

He was at Dogaba Beach and cleared his breath, "One For All: Full Cowling 5%" He grit his teeth as green lightning danced across his form, he felt like he was being weighed down by water but that analogy didn't make complete sense as he was ridiculously fast, he did kicks and punches and he felt the power fluctuate as he struggled keeping the power alive.

He panted as he rested for a bit, the sun was finally coming up and he decided to ditch his shirt again as he summoned All Might's power again. "One… more time.." He blasted off, doing punches and kicks, imaging an opponent in front of him, a pale hand reached towards him, he jumped back and lost his footing before falling into the sand.

He winced and opened his eyes, beginning to stare up at the now blue sky; he sighed. "At least I'm at five percent now…" He panted out as he stood up, his body didn't feel too bad either, except his arm. That still throbbed a lot because it wasn't fully healed.

Clouds moved across the sky and he smiled as he got up and looked across the clean beach. It was pristine. It was beautiful. And he did it. His hard work was what brought this beach back into prime condition. He still remembered falling off of a giant garbage pile after yelling his heart out. It all started with this beach. His story.

"Well, not really, it all started with me meeting All Might, or maybe me being diagnosed as quirkless, but this beach is definitely a milestone. The entrance exam is probably one too, maybe the battle trial, oh but definitely the USJ.." He ended his muttering as he felt his skin heat up under the sun. He grabbed his shirt and waved it around, getting all the sand out, before putting it on.

"I'm making progress.. that's all that matters…"

---

He slung he bag over his shoulder and was ready to leave. He sighed as he walked towards the door, seeing his mom on the couch, a look of clear on her face. She didn't like what happened at the USJ one bit. Izuku was sure she was reconsidering letting him go to UA at all, but… she knew it'd crush him.

And so now there little home had an awkward atmosphere, one with a terrible amount of weight in the air.

The school day arrived and Izuku walked up to the gate, seeing a lot of his classmates there. He smiled a bit as a pep in his step was gained.

"Oh hey Midoriya!" He heard Tokage yell as she waved at him, with both arms too!

"H-Hey!" He waved back.

His group of friends ran to him and they all smiled, "Midoriya, my friend, I'm glad you're ok!" Monoma threw an arm around him, "I was so very worried, your actions were so reckless, yet so awe inspiring as well! Truly magnificent, my friend!"

"Yeah man, you broke your bones again! That's so- so rad!" Tetsu grinned as he reenacted Izuku's performance, trying to mimic his smash and then crouching down and acting like he was using Full Cowling.

"G-Guys, it's no big deal, r-really…"

"Nonsense." A monotone voice came through and Yanagi appeared behind them. "You fought against villains while using your quirk that breaks you, in the process breaking a couple of fingers, then your entire hand, and injuring your leg, on top of creating a new technique to better use said quirk." She stated. "I do believe that is what you call a "big deal." She said with air quotes.

Izuku found himself smiling, "T-Thanks guys.."

Another arm wrapped around his shoulder and this time it was Tokage. "Alright! Now onward! To victory!"

"I believe you mean to class Setunsa.."

"Whatever!"

Izuku forgot how nice it was to finally have friends. He laughed as they made their way out the classroom, more of their classmates joining them on the way before they finally arrived. They all took their seats and continued to talk with each other.

"So.. how's your arm, Tokage-chan, how did you-"

The girl smiled and did the "nice" thing with her arm that should not have been there. "Lizard Tail Splitter, why'd you think Lizard Tail was in there? Why not just call it Splitter?" She asked, waiting to see Izuku's face of realization.

The boy took a few seconds but then he gasped. "That's so cool! That's incredible Tokage-chan, oh that's just- there's so many applications, that opens so many possibilities, could you make an army of floating limbs, that's just-" A hand from behind him carted through his hair.

"Breathe Midoriya.." Yanagi chastised.

Izuku blushed and smiled, "S-Sorry.. I keep on forgetting…"

"That's kinda impressive Greenie."

"Only you would forget how to breathe Midoriya." Monoma sighed, "It's truly fascinating how different you can be sometimes."

Izuku tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you were so focused during the USJ, and now you're a blushing mess, Midoriya. It's almost amusing." Monoma answered.

"A-Ah, well.."

"Umm Midoriya…" The shy and skittish voice drew the attention of all the group as they turned to Komori, Kuroiro standing behind her. She seemed to be crying as tears came out from behind her bangs. "Y-You're ok.."

Izuku got out of his seat, "Y-Yeah, I'm alright. I'm g-glad you two are alright.."

Komori took small steps before barreling into his chest. "I-I thought something bad h-happened to you! I was so w-worried! I saw you p-pass out and then you didn't get b-back up!" Despite the redness of Izuku's face, he felt horrible. He had just worried his friends with his recklessness, he did the same with Yanagi. That's why she stayed to see if he got better.

He awkwardly patted her back, "It's… ok.. I'm here…" He said.

Tokage chuckled at the words, 'Just had to go with All Might's catchphrase…'

Eventually Komori let go and Izuku slowly put his arms out, as if presenting himself. "See?, I-I'm fine…" He said with a small, nervous smile, Komori inspected him and found nothing wrong, besides his arm which was still covered in bandages.

"D-Does that… hurt?" The class seemed to be watching their Class Representative as he rolled up his sleeve and showed his bandaged arm.

Yanagi creased her brows in worry as she had a frown on her face, she wished she could've helped him at least a little more. She didn't like seeing him hurt. Any of her friends being hurt.

Shishida and Tetsu looked on in astonishment at how their Rep behaved. They found it sort of inspiring, especially considering that Midoriya was usually a nervous wreck. They both had thought, "If he can do it, I can too!"

Kendo sighed, she should've been there to help too. It was her job as the Vice to protect and help their classmates. Izuku was one of those classmates. She should've been there to help him.

Izuku clenched his damaged fist, wincing a little as he felt some pain. He looked at Komori, "It.. does hurt, but it's w-worth it.." He remembered the old All Might rescue video he always watched as a kid, seeing All Might come out of danger with dozens of rescued civilians covering his body, his laugh, his presence, everything about it.

"E-Even if it's just one person, even if I just save one person, any amount of pain is worth that.." He said with a reminiscent look.

Kuroiro and Komori both nodded. The white hair teen stepped forward and smiled, "That's very noble Midoriya."

The boy waved his hands, "N-No! I-I'm not noble, nothing like that!"

Komori smiled and clapped her hands, "I thought it was noble, shroom!"

That just caused Izuku to blush more. "I-I-"

"ALRIGHT, EVERYONE TAKE YOUR SEATS!" Vlad King yelled as he strode into the room, a clipboard in his hands. Kuroiro, Komori, and Izuku quickly did so. Izuku wasn't as startled at the yelling as he usually was, he didn't know why though.

Kan nodded as all of his students quieted. "Alright, good. No important news for homeroom so instead we'll be going over something else, something more interesting." The man sighed, "Despite recent events, you all will be participating in this year's Sports Festival."

"I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THAT!"

"I watched that a bunch as a kid!"

"It's where we make a name of ourselves! Totally cool!"

"I'll win, I'll beat everyone!"

Through the cries of excitement, one hand went up, "Do you have something to say Shishida?" The pro pointed out.

The beast boy sighed, "Kan-sensei, is it really wise to hold such an event after what transpired last week?" He asked with confusion. "What if villains decide to strike again?"

Izuku locked up, that was a possibility…

Kan nodded, "A good worry, and I had the same worries. However Nezu promised that security would be bumped up this year, essentially, it would be suicide for any villain to strike the tournament grounds." Kan saw looks of unease on his students' faces, he sighed, "I swear on my title as a pro hero that no villains will enter the tournament grounds."

That seemed to ease them a bit.

"However, leading up to the festival, which is in two weeks, you will use each and every hero class period for training." He said, some of the students groaned. "And today we have a.. special lesson." He sighed.

Kendo through a hand up, "What do you mean by that, sensei?"

"We'll be having a special guest who will be working with some of you on improving yourselves." He said in return. The class nodded though they were confused about what he meant by a special guest. "So, get ready, get in your gym uniforms, and meet me at Training Gym Gamma."

The students all changed into their uniforms and walked to the gym, Izuku wondered what all this was about. He briefly thought about All Might's teacher, but shook the thought away. After all, that was kind of a leap in logic..

They entered the gym and saw Vlad King tapping away at his tablet. Izuku noticed that the gym looked a lot more used than when he had come in. There was a small rock formation and pillars used for super move training littered about. Some pillars were broken, others were not. Kan looked up as the students entered. "Okay, now that everyone's here…" he gestured to Gym Gamma. "This is Gym Gamma, where regular training periods for students are spent, at least in my class…." He whispered that last part.

"Like I said earlier, you'll be conducting training here everyday leading up to the Sports Festival. You can do extra training on your own if you wish, but that's not mandatory." He looked around, "Now, any second now…"

The students looked around as well after their teacher started doing it, they all wondered what they were looking for but none of them saw anything. Tokage pouted and looked at her wrist while tapping her foot, even though she didn't have a watch.

Kan sighed before stepping out for a second, "There you are! Get in here!" They all heard the man yell before he came back in, an old man being held by what seemed to be a scarf was in Kan's hand, a walking-cane in the old man's hand as well. "Alright." He plopped the man down in front of the class. "This is our special guest today, he's an old UA teacher and Nezu authorized him to help teach class today at All Might's request." He patted the old man's shoulder, "Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"

The man turned to him, "What was that?!"

Kan dragged a hand over his face. "Introduce yourself."

"What?!"

"INTRODUCE YOURSELF!"

"SPEAK LOUDER, I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

The class sweat dropped as the two essentially got into a shouting match and the old guy seemed to be winning too, going by the deep breaths Kan-sensei was taking. That fact was surprising because, while Vlad King was no Present Mic, he still could be very loud for long periods of time and act like nothing was wrong. The man had an iron throat and could yell for hours on end.

Kamakiri clicked his tongue, "Fuck this shit, this old fart wasting our god damn time!" He turned to walk away.

BLAM

And then felt a boot impact the back of his head. He fell forward onto the ground. The students stared in shock as they saw the little figure of the man disappear in a burst of wind, they all looked around, looking for him. Izuku squinted his eyes, seeing gusts of winds sprout from the walls. The boy bounced back and snarled "OH, YOU'RE DEAD OLD MAN!"

"Careful! He's everyone, bouncing across the entirety of the gym, he can attack you at any time!" Kendo yelled as she got in a fighting stance. Tetsu activated his quirk and Monoma did the same after copying it.

The group all tensed, Shishida hadn't yet activated his quirk as he knew that he might attack his fellow students if he did so. Yanagi closed her eyes and tried to grab the man but whenever she felt him she'd quickly lose him too. He was too fast for her to grab, she needed to focus harder.

Honenuki placed his hands on the ground, waiting for an opportunity where the man would hit the ground so he could sink him with his quirk. Tsuburaba was ready to use his quirk, Solid Air, to make shields to defend himself, as did Shiozaki with her hair. As was Kaibara and Kamakiri ready to attack the first chance they got.

The sound of rustling wind was all they heard as they looked around. Izuku could feel the old man grinning. He squinted his eyes, looking through his memories, through his notebooks, to see if he had any files on this guy. He drew a blank.

"ONE!" they heard his gruff voice as one of them went down.

"AWASE NOOO!" Kaibara yelled to his seat buddy as the boy flopped onto the ground face first, most likely very knocked out. He reached for his friend only for another burst of wind to happen as he was taken down as well. "TWO!" They heard again.

Izuku looked around, trying to find him, but he couldn't. The man was moving too fast for Izuku's eyes to track. What didn't help either was that they were grouped up, and that was hindering each of them at countering him. At finding gaps in his fighting style, because they were blocking each other's lines of sight.

"THREE!" The man yelled as Kodai went down, falling forward, she didn't have any objects to use her quirk on, but Izuku didn't think the old man knew that. "FOUR!" Fukidashi went down following Kodai, also falling forward onto his face.

Izuku crouched down, "Full Cowling: 4%!" He yelled, Monoma and Yanagi glanced at him as they saw green lightning spark off of his body. Vlad King watched from off to the side, grinning at Izuku's technique. Gran Torino smiled in mid air, 'You picked a good one Toshinori, now let's see if he fights with the quirk as well as he's figured it out!'

More bursts of wind rustled up the class's hair, Kendo narrowed her eyes, she was sort of getting this guy's fighting style, in the confusion of everyone he would pick off people by going for knock outs moves. Going for heads and that sort of thing to knock them out, but he also always aimed for backs. He never came at someone from the front.

And Izuku had figured that out too.

A final burst of speed was hurt as the man came crashing down for one of them, 'Show me your resolve!'

Izuku felt the air change around him, telling him, screaming at him, that he was the old man's target. 'NOW!' He whipped his head around and jumped up to meet the old man, the hero's widened a bit as he smirked. Vlad King and most of the class did the same, though the pro was inwardly cheering in his head. Midoriya was showing to be a very good student, despite starting behind most of the class he was meeting them now, and even running past them in some cases. Kendo nodded to herself, her deduction had been right after all. "SMASH!" Izuku threw his arm forward but the man was gone again, the boy's eyes widened in shock and then pain as something crashed into his side, throwing him into the ground.

The entire class winced as he skidded to a stop as he clutched his side, Kamakiri laughed just a bit too which earned him a neck chop from Kendo. And then the old man stopped his assault, landing on the ground. The pro was a little surprised when he sunk into it, via Honenuki's quirk but not much else, he simply got out using his quirk before the teen could harden the ground again, and made sure to grab his walking-cane.

"Midoriya, you alright man?" Tetsu asked as he helped Izuku get up.

"Y-Yeah.." He clutched his side, it stung a lot, and it was just one hit that he took. Who was this guy? Awase, Kaibara, Kodai, and Fukidashi all got up, groaning a bit. Though the one girl of the four did so quietly as she stared at the old man intently, probably hoping she had laser vision instead of her current quirk.

"Well, that last one was surprising, why don't you introduce yourself?" The old man barked out as Izuku finally got his bearings.

The boy blushed in embarrassment at being called out and he bowed, "A-Ah! Izuku Midoriya sir!"

"Sir makes me feel old! Gran Torino, my old hero name."

All the students deadpanned, this man- was clearly not in his prime. Far past that point in fact. They all agreed not to call him old but they all acknowledged that he was. "Ah! Yes, Gran Torino sir!"

Monoma sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Midoriya…." He groaned.

For his stupidness, Izuku got a boot to the face, "Ah!" He clutched at his nose. Gran Torino was fast, too fast, that speed gave him more force in his attacks and Izuku didn't like it one bit at all. Man, why did All Might ask for this guy to come in? Did he hate them?!

Tokage patted his back, "That's what you get for being an idiot…" She said as Izuku groaned, he thought it was broken.

"I'd say referring to someone of higher status as "sir" is quite the contrary, it's respectful." Shishida interrupted.

Vlad King decided to take the floor, "So, you now know the difference between you all and an experienced pro. He took down a fourth of the class like nothing, and none of you could counter him. The Sports Festival is coming up and you'll be scouted by pros, they need to see that you can react, fight back, and win!" He announced He saw determination fill all of his student's eyes, they either wanted to prove themselves to the pros or get revenge on Gran Torino, either way he grinned. "So, let's get to work!"

"ALRIGHT!"

Gran Torino ended up taking the students that he had utterly decimated with him, while Kan was working with the rest of the class. So currently, Awase, Kaibara, Kodai, Fukidashi, and Izuku were all subject to the scrutinizing gaze of the old man.

"Band and Girl." The man said, both of them grumbling a bit, though Kodai was definitely more quiet than Awase was, merely frowning just a millimeter. Awase was quietly muttering a couple of profanities. "From what underbite told me, you both need items for your quirks, well go and grab something and start practicing! As many times as you can use your quirk, for as long as you can, I don't care if you suffer from quirk exhaustion, do that stat!" The two scrambled to do as told, not wanting another boot anywhere near them.

He looked at Fukidashi and Kaibara. "You two are different from the other two, but the same principle can be applied, alright, plain-looking one." Kaibara sighed, and Izuku winced in sympathy, 'I know how is feels Kaibara-kun...' a kindred spirit, "Spin all your limbs and your torso as much as you can in fast intervals, if you get dizzy suck it up, if you throw up too bad, get back up and do it again!"

"Yes si- I mean Gran Torino!" Kaibara instantly spun his limbs and torso.

Gran Torino set his eyes on Fukidashi, "Pull out your phone and read a bunch of manga, you need to widen your arsenal, boy." The boy saluted, his speech bubble becoming a thumbs up as he walked off, pulling out his phone, Izuku deadpanned, wishing that he could do something like that but with videos of heroes instead. The man then turned to Izuku, "Alright kid, come with me." He said, walking off very slowly with his cane.

Izuku followed the man. "So, Gran Torino, w-why'd All Might request you to help with our training?" Getting to know someone that All Might personally requested to help their class, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity! But what was so special about the old pro? He wanted to know! Even if the man was just here to kick his butt, which he had been doing wonderfully at so far.

"So, Toshinori finally picked a successor, eh? I'm glad that you don't seem as thick-skulled as him when he was a youngin." The man commented, Izuku paused.

"...you were All Might's teacher…"

The man turned around, "What? Old Toshi didn't mention me?"

"Nuh uh."

"Not even once?"

"Nope."

The man sighed, "That stupid baffoon, well alright. Name's Gran Torino, I trained Toshinori ever since he was about your age kiddo. Kicked his ass every time I had the opportunity, and now, I'm gonna do the same to you."

"P-Please, have mercy."

The man simply smiled, his old face cracking as the unusual expression made its way onto his face, "No."

The man's cane clacked onto the floor and Izuku was hit in the back of the head and thrown to the ground. "GET UP! TRY AGAIN!" Izuku did so and felt his feet get swiped out from under him, he fell on his back. "AGAIN!" He got up only to take a hit to the back and skid to the ground. "AGAIN!"

Kan's group looked on at Izuku in sympathy, while the rest of his group simply was pushing their quirks to their limits, which sucked in its own right, he was getting his ass kicked by an old man. Eventually the onslaught stopped and the man sighed as he picked up his cane. "You know in a fight, you're supposed to fight back." He said, looking at the downed boy.

Izuku panted as he got up, he could feel all the bruises forming across his body already. "I-I couldn't concentrate!" He said as he stood up on shaky legs. Gran Torino didn't like that answer.

"Your quirk should come naturally to you! Now we're doing this until you can summon it on a whim." The man smiled before throwing his walking-cane to the side. "Either you use One For All, or you'll be seeing Chiyo very, very soon." In a burst of speed he was gone, bouncing around the gym again but solely targeting Izuku.

The boy sweated as he observed the man with his eyes, 'No, my eyes won't be of any he- "OW!" Weight crashed into his shoulder, he grabbed it with a wince. He crouched down, "One For All: Full Co- GUH!" He skidded to the ground, bouncing a bit as he collided with a cement block used for super move training.

He got up on shaky legs, his back touching the cement block. A plan formed in his head, 'He'll have to come at me head on now!' He put his arms in an x formation and his eyes glowed radioactive green 'One For All-' He heard the sound of whirling air as yellow blurs danced around in his vision, "Full Cowling!" The blur finally jumped at him. "Five percent!"

Green electricity arced off of his body as the man collided with his arms, he grit his teeth at the force. It hurt a lot and he could feel his arms straining from the pressure but he pushed! Gran Torino was sent hurtling back and Izuku lunged, however he felt it slip. His control. He wanted to get better, to win, and unconsciously he pushed the percent higher.

Gran noticed the raised speed as Izuku appeared in front of him. 'He jumped up mid battle, impressive. I'd say he jumped from five to around seven.' Still it wasn't enough, and as Izuku felt the strain from going over his limit he saw Gran disappear again before he was plowed into the ground.

He felt the pros weight on his back as he groaned, the man simply chuckled, "You're fifty years too young to land a blow on me, kid."

Notes:

Alright, Gran Torino's first appearance, Izuku displaying his new Full Cowling, and impressing Gran a bit, and showing off that Kendo deserves her Rep Position as well. I didn't include the class as much as I wanted to, but that's because this chapter was dragging on, so I'll have one more training chapter and then it'll be the sports festival, maybe, probably not..

Anyways, I was having an idea, Izuku jumping up percentages mid battle to throw off his opponents. Like how he did in his fight with Bakugo at the end. But instead, he'd just do it throughout the whole fight, shifting his output of One For All. Kinda like how canonically, Darth Vader would change the length of his lightsaber to trick opponents in battle.

Anyways, that's all for now.

Chapter 10: Training Time!

Summary:

With The Sports Festival coming up, Izuku has to kick his training into high gear!

Oh but god, Gran Torino's so tough!

Yanagi wanted to help Izuku so badly, but there was nothing she could do. With this situated as "training" the boy just had to take it. Though it appeared that he was actually fighting back now, if the sparks going across his body were telling enough. That made her happy, though she focused back on her own training. After all, she needed to improve as well, as much as she could.

She had gotten a large number of small rocks as was focusing on moving all of them at the same time, it was taking a large mount of concentration to not drop any of them and she could feel a headache coming on. "Maybe- I can ask Izuku for help la-" She paused and the rocks fell to the ground.

"Izuku?" She asked herself, "Where did that come from?"

Tetsu winced as Shishida crashed into him, Kan had decided the two would train together, to strengthen each of their transformed states. The beast teen was definitely strong and Tetsu could feel his metal skin wanting to recede, but he pushed on, "Come on Shishibro!"

"RaAHHHH!" The boy yelled back at him.

The boy crashed into him again but he held his position and flipped the furred teen over his shoulder, "Come on! I thought we were fighting! I barely felt that!" A complete lie but it made Shishida roar in anger. Tetsu smiled, "Plus Ultra!"

Kendo had been wanting to fight Gran Torino, with how fast he was she wanted to see if she'd be able to react in time to his strikes. After all, she seemed like one of the few that actually had combat training unlike most in her class. But here she was, practicing her fighting style and watching Izuku get pounded by the old pro.

She'd be able to land a blow, she knew it. The speed of her strikes increased. "I know I can!" She performed a punch and enlarged her fist halfway through it before pausing.

"Well, how do your fists enlarge? Are new muscles created or do you have enhanced muscles that expand when you grow your fists? If so, then are your muscles when your hands are normally thicker than normal? If so, that'd make your normal fists stronger, as you'd have more muscle density."

Humming to herself, she thought about Izuku's analysis, was she stronger than normal people? She had no idea. Did she have more muscle density? Again, no clue. She shook the thought away before getting in a stance again and striking forward, sweat falling off of her fist. "Plus Ultra."

Tokage smiled as her body parts moved through the air, avoiding glue that Bondo sent her way. She felt her body tiring and she felt the need to reconnect, but she huffed and continued. "Tokage, Bondo, stop!" Kan-sensei yelled. The girl huffed and reconnected as she landed on the ground.

"Sensei! I was just getting into it!" She groaned.

The man sighed, "Tokage, it's good that you're pushing your quirk, but why don't you get a little creative?" He saw her raise a brow. "You don't always have to have your quirk on to fight well. Your quirk isn't a combat quirk like Tetsu's so having it on all the time won't help as much as you think, try mixing it up a little."

She crossed her arms and grumbled a bit. "I mean, think about Monoma, he only uses a quirk when he needs it, not all the time. He has to get creative with what he can do, though he hasn't had the best opportunity to showcase that yet, I'm sure he will at the sports festival" That got a slight reaction from her.

"F-Fine…" She conceded.

"Alright, you and Bondo get back to it!" They resumed as Bondo started firing glue, she wasn't using her quirk though. Kan wondered if she would get the lesson or not. Firing three shots in quick succession, Tokage dodged the first two and the second was about to hit her, when she split in half, making it miss.

She smirked slightly before reconnecting. "Ooh! Missed your shot Bondo-kun! Come on, come at me Plus Ultra Style"

Kan smiled, she'd be fine.

Monoma was not having a fun time. Kan-sensei had him run around and copy as many of his classmate's quirks as he could, and now he was fighting a group of them on his own. Switching between them as fast as he could since he couldn't use two at once. "Over here blond fuck!" He heard Kamakiri yell before turning around and activating Tetsu's hardening.

He smiled as Kamakiri's blade just slipped off his skin like a droplet of water. "I remember from your battle trial!" He turned off still and activated Big Fist, punching Kamakiri away, "That your quirk is useless against Tetsutetsu's quirk." Kamakiri grit his teeth and cursed at Monoma.

The blond simply taunted him again, until. "Horn Cannon!" He felt something impact his back and he yelped before skidding onto the ground. Pony smiled as her quirk had made an impact. "Let's go!" She danced in place.

Monoma grumbled as he got back up and activated Yanagi's quirk, pulling the girl's legs out from under her and making her fall on her butt. He got the desired outcome and dry chuckled. And then he noticed he was stuck halfway in the ground. "HONENUKI!"

Komori was researching mushrooms, trying to come up with the best ones she could. Kuroiro was entering black mushrooms that she was making, trying to move around while in them, trying to make them move as if sentient. Though he was having little luck with that.

Tsuburaba and Shoda were working together. The shorter of the two punching Tsuburaba's air constructs and using his quirk, the taller of them used his quirk as long as he could while trying to make sure the barrier didn't break. It was cracking and wavering, but it was still yet to break and that made him smile. Ibara was soaking in the sunlight and reciting bible prayers as her hair grew in length, she had different groups of strands do different tasks. Trying to improve her control and multitasking at once. "Oh dear heavenly lord.."

Izuku panted as he had fallen on his face for the 50th time in the past couple of hours, he grunted as he tried to lift himself up but his body ached. "Come on! Get back up, we're not done yet!" He heard the old man yell and he got up on shaky legs. He hadn't managed to land a hit yet but he was trying something new.

He was thinking about his friends and their fighting styles and how he could apply attributes of them to his own. His thoughts eventually brought him to Kendo and her quirk. Her fighting style was normal martial arts, and every once and a while she would enlarge her first to throw off her opponents. It was genius really.

And it made Izuku think about how he could apply that to his quirk, because he knew that there was a way to apply the principle to One For All. And it clicked. 'Stay at five percent for the majority and then kick it up when he thinks I'm done for..' He nodded to himself as he crouched down, dodging a hit from the man.

It made Gran Torino grin as he saw green lightning dance off of Izuku's form. "Nice dodge kid! But you still haven't hit me!" The man bounced around the area, other students watched on as they wanted to see the old fart get a taste of his own medicine.

Izuku himself wanted to try out his new thought. So he jumped towards a concrete pillar used for super moves and then jumped off of it, soaring into the air, 'Watch out for everything around you, you're vulnerable in the air, he can change directions when fighting' He steeled himself and took a deep as he heard Gran Torino zip around him.

'Rookie mistake kid!' Gran Torino came crashing down from the sky, ready to hit Izuku on the head. And then the boy pushed his quirk to eight percent, reached up, and grabbed onto Gran Torino's boot. The pro's eyes widened "What!"

Izuku threw his arms forwards and sent Gran Torino into the ground, producing a small dust cloud "SMASH!" He fell but landed on his feet, Full Cowling acting as a cushion by making his durability higher. Izuku looked at where he threw him and saw that Gran Torino was still on his feet. "C-Come on.."

And then he got a boot to his face and was flat on his ass. "Good thinking kid, you adapt better than Toshinori would." The man got off of him and grabbed his cane. He looked at his wrist that didn't have a watch, "Well, time's up." Izuku got up wincing, massaging his face. "Looks like you're using that technique better."

Izuku looked at All Might's mentor in surprise. "Y-Yeah.. .I guess I did." It didn't take as much concentration as before to keep up Full Cowling, it wasn't instantaneous but it was a start. "Thank you, Gran Torino."

The man paused before tilting his head. "Who are you?"

---

The class gathered as the class period was ending. Izuku was barely standing as he wobbled over the group, his body was aching all over. His ghosty friend came over, a look of worry on her face. "Midoriya, are you alright?" Yanagi was in front of him, with her head tilted, floating off the ground like she often did.

"Y-Yeah, i'm fine…" He'd been through worse, everything would be okay.

She put her feet on the ground, "Do you need help? It seems that you are having trouble staying afoot. I would not mind if you leaned on me for support." The next thing she knew, Izuku collapsed in her arms. She was surprised by how firm he was and she had to use her quirk to make sure she didn't drop him. She smiled to herself, he'd have to go to Recovery Girl again.

Monoma panted as he finally got a break, having to fight all his classmates for so long was very tiring. It made them work together and some of them even came up with combo moves, like Pony bouncing off of Tsuburarba's barrier and crashing into him using her horns. But he was a target, and it was tiring doing it for so long.

"You alright, Neito-kun?" He already knew who it was just based on the giddiness of the voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine Setsuna." He straightened himself out and looked at the girl with shark teeth that annoyed the crap out of him. She was grinning in pride. "Guessing you had an easier time than I did?"

"Looks like it!" He turned away with a grumble and found his eyes on Izuku and Yanagi. "See, I was right! They are cute together!"

Monoma sighed, "Perhaps you are correct, but-"

"No buts, no nuts, not coconuts, shut up! Just look at them!" She was smiling wide and he decided to let her have her fun.

Kan cleared his throat and yelled, making all the students wince, some of them noticed that the old man didn't seem affected at all. "Alright! Those of you who need it, go to Recovery Girl, everyone else make your way to the locker rooms and change into your school uniforms. You have lunch to yourselves and then normal classes, tomorrow and the rest of the time until the Sports Festival will be much of the same. Gran Torino will be here each and every day as well!" The students groaned and the retired pro grinned widely, "You're dismissed!"

The students cleared out soon after.

"Food, my heavenly savio-OW SHIOZAKI I WAS KIDDING!" Kaibara nursed his head which had been wacked by the vein girl.

Kendo followed everyone out, looking at Izuku as Yanagi helped him to Recovery Girl, Monoma going as well as he also wanted to be tended to by the nurse. "He can't even stand anymore…" How hard was he working? What was pushing him to the point of collapse? Why did he try so hard? She looked away and walked with the rest of the class.

"How's Midoriya doing?" Monoma asked as they walked through the halls.

Yanagi was holding onto Midoriya's upper half, while his legs were floating off the ground, sort of like an old balloon. He wasn't touching the ground, but he wasn't gaining height either. "Not well I suppose, he's tired himself out." They arrived and Monoma slid open the door. "Recovery Girl, I have your favorite patient."

"Oh dear god…" They both heard her groan as she hopped off her swivel chair and stared at the limp Midoriya in Yanagi's arm. "That one's on me, I told him to train with the old goon." She sighed and kissed his forehead. The boy's eyes fluttered open before he blushed, yelped, and fell out of Yanagi's arms.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Yanagi said with a smile.

"T-Thanks…" Izuku said as he got up off the floor. Monoma got his own healing and they walked out, Izuku didn't want to stay any longer than he had to.

Monoma swung a shoulder over Izuku's shoulder, "Midoriya my friend, I must thank you for landing a blow on that sleazy old man for us. He was truly, very infuriating."

He rubbed his neck. "I-It wasn't a full blow though… I don't think it counts."

"Well, I'm sure you surprised him nonetheless." Yanagi interrupted. "And I do believe that counts for something. And even if it doesn't, at least you have found out a way to use your quirk without harming yourself. I, for one, am very glad about that." She smiled just a tad.

Izuku felt his eyes water up and he brushed then away with his sleeve, "S-Sorry, just- not used to this much positive encouragement is all." He dry chuckled.

"Well, you better get used to it my friend, because it will not be dying down any time soon!"

"Exactly as Monoma put it."

It was great having friends. It was the most wonderful thing in the world and Izuku was glad that he could count on these two when he needed it. "Ah! Umm Yanagi-chan, about my bracelet?" He loved the bracelet and was honestly missing it.

"It is not quite done yet, I am making some more additions if you don't mind."

"A-Ah, not at all!" He waved his hands. It kind of made him happy how much she was putting effort into it. It showed that she cared.

---

Izuku sighed as their final classes finished up for the day, he still had his extracurricular and he'd have to figure out what he was going to do to help Pony with her Japanese lessons starting tomorrow. He wrote down basic jots of information that he was going to tell her about, how to better articulate words and thoughts and certain tricky translations between English and Japanese that he had found when he was learning.

"Are you ready, Midoriya?" He turned to Yanagi as he heard her voice, raising a brow.

"R-ready for what?"

She tilted her head, "You have your extracurricular, do you not?" Izuku had to squint his eyes, she was being really cute, 'N-No! Bad thoughts Izuku, you can't think that' He chastised himself before sighing. "Yeah, I do…"

Yanagi used her quirk and floated her bag over to herself. "Then we must get going, time is of the essence Midoriya." Izuku closed his notebook and followed her outside, grabbing his bag and shoving everything inside of it as quickly as he could.

"Wait Yanagi-"

"THE HELL IS THIS?!" Izuku winced as he heard Kamakiri yell. He had been getting better with loud people but Kamakiri was still a lot like Kacchan, too much for his taste. "Who the hell are all of you?!"

"Quiet down, bug for brains, they're scouting the competition." Tokage smiled as she strutted to the front. "Anyways, all y'all, nice to meet ya!" Izuku had no idea how Tokage could be so calm. They could literally not leave the classroom because of the amount of people cooped up at their door.

"Oh yeah, we did the same thing with 1-A during lunch…" Tetsu mumbled.

"Y-YOU WHAT!" Izuku yelled, grabbing the boy by the shoulders, "Tetsu-kun, it is my job as class representative to tell you to never do that again! Honestly, that was such a horrible thing to do, I mean he could have done something to you or worse. I know you have steel skin but still, his explosions are very strong, on top of that you shouldn't anger other students, that just makes us seem like delinquents! Please, Tetsu-kun, promise me to never do anything like that ever aga-" Izuku cut off as he got smacked in the head.

"Calm down Midoriya, I was there with him, nothing bad happened." Kendo chastised.

Izuku rubbed his head, despite being a measly chop it hurt a lot. Maybe she did have enhanced muscles and by proxy enhanced strength after all? "Ok…"

"You guys talk a big game, but I guess you're just the same as 1-A….." Izuku perked up as he heard a monotone voice in the crowd of students , he moved and found himself standing next to Kamakiri. He saw a boy slightly taller than himself with just as unruly hair that was colored purple. He had terrible bags under his eyes and it sort of reminded him of Aizawa.

Politely, he bowed. "S-Sorry, Kamakiri-kun is a little anger prone!" He heard said boy growl in response. He stood up and let out a hand. "I-I'm Izuku Midoriya, Class B's representative, I hope we can get along." Finished off with a nervous smile.

The boy looked at Midoriya's hand before looking back up at his eyes, not even bothering to shake it. Tetsu silently gasped in the background and whispered about it being "totally unmanly.." The boy narrowed his eyes. "You know, all of us tried for the hero course, but we didn't get in. You guys did, an anger filled asshole and a guy who's nerves are higher than his skill. It's so disappointing." The boy shook his head.

Izuku frowned, that wasn't very nice or heroic at all. "But that's where the Sports Festival comes in, depending on how we place, some students can transfer into the hero course, and that means some will have to be transferred out." The boy took a step back. "If you're not careful, your spot will find its way into my hands."

And then he was gone, the rest of the mob was staying but no one was stepping forward to do a display like the lilac haired boy. Izuku found himself being pushed forward by Yanagi. "We haven't time to waste, we must hurry if you wish to make the most of your extracurricular."

Izuku nodded. "R-Right!" Before they had to push their way through the crowd. Eventually they got through and walked through fairly empty halls. Izuku guessed that most of the students were either bothering hero course students or training. Still, he wondered why everyone disliked them so much?

Or if it was just that one boy that stood out from the crowd and everyone else didn't hate them? But there faces held anger and frowns so that probably wasn't the case. He sighed, too much thinking to do, and he had to practice more with his quirk. He wanted to rest, take a break, but he knew that when he got into it he'd still push himself without resting at all.

"Do you know what you'll be doing today?" She floated alongside him as they approached the gym. He shook his head and decided to just focus on her.

Rubbing his neck he responded, "Not really… maybe…" He sucked in a breath as he shut his eyes. "Maybe Gran Torino will be there…?" He muttered.

The girl's brows knitted slightly. "Well, I surely hope he isn't." Yanagi said. She didn't want Izuku to have to spend a second more next to the old man.

"Well too bad kiddies."

"JESUS!" Izuku leaped into the air before landing on his feet. "Y-You can't just do that!" He yelled, grabbing his heart. "Coming out of nowhere like that is terrifying…" He muttered to himself though both of his guests still heard it.

"Can't be a hero with that wussy attitude now git on in, we're not done with your training just yet." Izuku was smacked with a cane and ushered inside. Internally he hoped that old people smacking him with their walking devices wasn't going to become a trend in his life because so far he had not liked it one bit.

Yanagi walked into the gym as Izuku went to get changed. "This is going to take a while.." Yanagi muttered to herself.

---

The boy dodged under a kick from the more experienced of them and rolled to the side, he tried looking with his eyes but saw nothing as a force hit his back sending him tumbling forward. He quickly got up and jumped away, Full Cowling was still active, and dodged a second strike as Gran Torino crashed into the ground.

"He's trying to murder me.." Izuku whispered quietly to himself as the old man shot off again and started bouncing around the gym. It'd be even worse if the area was smaller. It would've given Izuku less time to think about how he could fight back.

WHOOSH!

'Behind!' He screamed to himself as he turned around, "Smash!" He launched his fist but missed his target by just an inch. It made Izuku wonder if he was really getting that close or if the old man was taunting him by letting him get so close only to get away. Receiving an uppercut to his chin, he winced and fell on his butt.

"Good hustle kid." Gran Torino sighed as Izuku moved to get back up, "You know if you constantly push yourself you won't see any growth."

Yanagi and Kan were off to the side and it made them remember Izuku's first time training with Kan. He had pushed himself, and got back up every single time.

"I don't just want to catch up, I want to excel!" Yanagi smiled slightly at the memory.

Izuku got himself to his feet and summoned One For All, the quirk spreading across his body as his skin seemed to glow. Red veins pulsed before fading away and green lightning took its place as it danced across his boy rubbed his chin, he had bitten his tongue and blood came out of his mouth, "N-Not yet… just a bit more…"

Gran Torino smirked slightly, seeing a young Toshinori in Izuku's place. "I'm not done yet Sensei! I can keep on going, I promise!" The old pro sighed, "Just one more, and that's it. You really are a knucklehead just like Toshinori though." He blasted off, making Izuku's hair rustle in the wind that kicked up.

Kan sighed as he crossed his arms. "Kid's pushing himself too far…"

"Well, would you prefer to have him get his extra round here while in the supervision of adults, or have him try to improve on his own and risk endangering himself?" Yanagi asked as she kept her eyes on the "fight."

Kan glanced at his student, where the heck had that come from, before smirking slightly. "Yeah, guess you're right. The kid's a little energy monster though, it's like he never runs out."

Yanagi would have agreed if she hadn't remembered the USJ. Izuku was completely gassed out at the end, he passed out on the spot. While it was probably from a majority of pain, he had also been doing a lot. That was on top of the Battle Trial where the same thing happened. So far, Izuku hadn't managed to get through a battle without passing out, it made her worry about what would happen at the upcoming Sports Festival.

Izuku sucked in a breath as he closed his eyes, they were useless when fighting Gran Torino. So he focused his hearing, the sound of wind rushing past his ears, Gran Torino's boots hitting the walls, floor, and ceiling, the sound of an attack coming from right above him! 'Five percent leap!' He crouched down with his legs and felt them like a spring before releasing and going up.

Gran Torino smirked before moving his legs, having his jet redirect him somewhere else, sending him to a wall, jumping off the wall, and redirecting towards the boy's back.

But Izuku's leap didn't stop where he knew Gran Torino had been seconds prior. He kept on going upwards and he went up until he hit the ceiling, crouching down on it he pushed his quirk, "Full Cowling: 8%!" There was an increase in lightning as he shot off the roof and Gran Torino's eyes widened as a missile shot down towards him. "SMASH!"

A dust cloud settled down on the ground as both combatants landed, Gran Torino and Izuku both jumped away from each other. The latter panting heavily and the former smirking as he rubbed his cheek with his hand. "Well kid, you did it." The blood now on his glove was a testament to that. Inwardly he was smiling like a madman, 'That kid copied my technique and used it against me!'

Kan smiled, "LET'S GO MIDORIYA, THAT'S MY STUDENT!" Yanagi opted for a simple small smile instead.

One For All died off as Izuku fell onto the floor, sweat pulling from under him. "I- I did it- I actually did it." He said between gasps for air. He had actually managed to land a blow against All Might's teacher, how cool was that! Sitting up took some effort but he did it and smiled at Gran Torino.

The old man picked up his cane and walked over. "You're a nitwit like Toshi, that's for sure." He said making Izuku's face fall a little. But then he tapped the boy's forehead with the end of his cane, "But you got a good head on your shoulders. You're able to think smart, at least when you want to."

Yanagi definitely agreed, Midoriya could do very stupid things when he felt like it.

Izuku felt water pull in his eyes before wiping them away, "Thanks Sensei!"

---

Smiling widely, Izuku opened up the door to his home before ditching his shoes nad leaving them at the entrance. He walked further in and looked around for his mom, but he didn't find her. "Maybe she turned in early…" His face fell as bit and he walked into the dining room, seeing dinner on the table. A note was alongside it,

Heat it up when you get home, love you.

That made him smile. "Thanks mom.." He muttered to himself as he took the food the the microwave to reheat it.

Getting in bed after eating and showering he looked over at his notebook that contained his notes for a costume upgrade, he grabbed it and put it in his bag, deciding that he'd have to take it to the support course tomorrow so that his new costume would be the way he wanted. He smiled as he thought about it.

Everything was going great, he couldn't wait for the sports festival!

---

"The Sports Festival is going to be ten times more grueling, come on!" Kan yelled at Izuku and Tetsu as the two were in a spar. The unstoppable force versus the immovable object. Both of the combatants hadn't seemed to damage the other in any meaningful way. Izuku's blows didn't do much against Tetsu's metal skin and Izuku kept on dodging Tetsu's strikes with his higher speed and agility.

They couldn't do too much against each other though.

And that made the fight fairly boring to watch for the class. Tokage was fighting herself in a thumb war, her arms disconnected from her body with her tongue sticking out in concentration. Kamakiri was getting antsy, he wanted to fight too! He thought about trying to get a round in with the old man but… he looked off to the side of the gym, seeing him eating fish sticks at a prop up table. "The fuck!"

Monoma was thinking about who would come out victorious, who's quirk was better handled for combat? But he couldn't draw any decisive conclusions. Yanagi was hoping for Izuku to pull through and win, perhaps with a grapple or throw? But that had still yet to happen.

And Kendo was wondering, who was the better fighter between her and the rep? In the end, who would triumph, her skill or his raw power? She wanted to know, she needed to know. Badly.

"Alright, that's enough!" Kan yelled. Both boys panted, Izuku's lightning died off as Tetsu's metal skin receded. "Good job, now everyone get into sparring sessions, find partners!" The man glanced at Gran Torino who had gotten dipping sauce spilled on his shirt and was now wiping it off with his scarf. "Dear god…"

Izuku got up and began to look for a partner, he didn't have to try long though before Kendo was standing in front of him. "Come on, we're doing this."

"Oh um ok..?" Izuku tilted his head and Kendo pondered reconsidering, after all she didn't want to hurt Izuku, but she shook the thought away. This was training, they were being told to spar with each other, this was fine.

They made some space between them and Kendo took a deep breath as she closed her eyes, assuming a fighting stance she opened up her eyes and let out her breath. "Ready…" Izuku gulped as he did the same, but with less tact, he summoned his quirk and green lightning danced off of him. "R-Ready.." Mentally, they both counted down, 'three, two, one…'

"GO!" "G-go!"

Leaping at Izuku, Kendo enlarged her fist to try and grab him, Izuku jumped back before running around. She shrunk her fist back down. Izuku leaped at her and attempted to land a couple blows but she dodged and redirected his blows using her martial arts skills. She knew she couldn't block them.

The boy winced as a fist slammed into his chest, and he felt like gasping. He grabbed onto her and threw her away. When he had breathing room he grabbed his chest, "T-That…. Hurts…."

Before he could situate himself, Kendo was upon him again. He used his superior speed to dodge her strikes and tried to retaliate but his blows didn't land. 'I can't match up to her technique, I'll use it!' He tried to catch one of her fists only for it to enlarge, he skitted back as she sent him flying.

The boy landed on his feet and crouched down. Gran Torino glanced at the fight out of the corner of his eye and saw the look of determination on the boy's face, it was the same one as when he landed that singular blow. He knew the idiot was going to try to use his new strategy. 'No! It's best to keep those techniques secret! At least until the Sports Festival you buffoon!' Though his wisdom wasn't heard by Izuku.

The boy leaped, and then got kicked in the face by Gran Torino. "Alright, gather up, we're going to see if you can land a blow!" He yelled and then coughed. His old man lungs were catching up with him.

Kendo puffed her cheeks up, Izuku was about to do something interesting, she could tell! It was in her fighting instincts, she just knew the boy was going to do something! And the old man interrupted! Come on!

Izuku locked up as the entirety of Class 1-B grinned. Tetsu pounded his fists together as he hardened. Tokage wiggled her fingers like some sort of demented forutne teller, Kamakiri grew his blades as far as he could as he grinned manically, Kaibara readied his arms for his quirk, Awase for some reason had a bat on him. "Go for the legs…." He chanted to himself, Kodai pulled something out of her pocket and enlarged it, twas another bat and Izuku realized that was where Awase had gotten his from. Fukidashi did an angry manga bubble and the rest of the class cheered.

However, now, they were flat on their asses.

Gran Torino had gone for every single one of them this time instead of a fourth of the class like he did last time. And not a single one of them landed a blow. Izuku had been targeted first and the boy quickly realized that the old pro had turned it up a notch, but there was also the fact that they were in a group.

Still, they were crowded, bunching up, afraid of standing on their own, and that was a detriment! It didn't allow Izuku to concentrate on his opponent as if it was a one on one match, and Kendo was much of the same.

No one landed a strike, even Shiozaki and her luxurious hair hadn't managed to catch Gran Torino. Nor Yanagi and her poltergeist.

The boy grunted as he sat up with some effort, noticing Tetsu sprawled out, rubbing tears off of his face. "Even if he's not the manliest with his personality, he more than makes up for it with how manly he is when he fights."

"Is- is he having a manliness overload?" Tokage asked as her upper half floated over.

"No, I think it's whiplash." Awase commented as he still laid down. "He thought the old bastard was "unmanly" then the asshole kicked all of our asses showing he is "manly" or whatever. Tetsu didn't expect it, and now he's coming to terms with it.." He cursed the old man under his breath.

Shoda stood up and rubbed his middle back. "Man, he packs a nasty punch…"

"You have no idea…." Izuku sighed.

"Hey beansprout! Get up, I can tell you still have energy in you, can't have that!" They all heard Gran Torino yell.

Izuku folded in on himself. "B-Beansprout could be anyone, it doesn't have to be-"

"We all know it's you Midoriya, now go kick his ass for us!" Awase cheered as he raised a fist into the air. "Go all out and blow that sorry old man back to the stone age where he belongs! I"

"You know, I don't condone his language, but I agree." Shishida sighed as he put his glasses on, noticing a crack. "After all, it is going to take a bit of money to acquire a new lens."

Izuku blushed as he stood back up and rolled his shoulder. He saw Gran Torino's cane fall onto the ground and his eyes went radioactive green. "Full Cowling 5%!" The power came easily to him now.

"Woo! Let's go greenie!" Tokage's upper body cheered. "You seem to have energy left in ya too! Have to fix that!" And then it was promptly on the ground. "Ow…."

Monoma resisted the urge to laugh as he bathed in his own sweat, still laid out on the ground. He hadn't been able to do much and that did anger him, but he knew that this was how it was going to be with his quirk. "Just, hold out until the festival and then show your skills, show what you can do…"

Kamakiri sprang back up and summoned his blades, "NOT YET! NOT DONE YET OLD MAN!" Izuku turned to him and thought of an idea.

"Kamakiri-kun, get back to back with me!" Izuku yelled as he saw the entrails of Gran Torino move through the air.

The bug looking boy looked at him like he was crazy, "Huh, why?!"

Izuku gulped, seeing Gran Torino bouncing around, "We can cover each other blind spots! It'll be harder for him to hit us!"

"Hell no-" "And it'll make it easier to land a blow against him!" "-Fuck yes!"

The two boys stood back to back, Kamakiri temporarily forgetting about his slight disdain for the green haired class rep as his one and only goal right now was to hit Gran Torino. Kan chuckled to himself, "The only thing that can make them work together was Kamakiri's hate for Torino being greater than his dislike for Midoriya…"

"I'M NOT DONE EITHER, THAT'D BE TOTALLY NOT MANLY!" Tetsu forced himself to stand again and found his way into the small duo, now a trio, with all their backs facing each other. The boy activated his own quirk and his skin turned to metal as he grinned. "ALRIGHT!"

Izuku winced at how loud he was. "YEAH, WE'RE GONNA BEAT UP THIS OLD FART!" Kamakiri wasn't much better.

Gran Torino bounced around the room, the sound of his air jets scaring the students that still had the gall to stand. "Metal skin, eh?" He chuckled. The runt certainly had a lot of energy, and a strong quirk, but he'd show him pure pain and terror. The other one's quirk was dangerous also, but he didn't hvae the skills to properly use it.

So….

"Sorry Small Might but I've gotta take you out first.."

Izuku heard a boom and saw Tetsu wince out of the corner of his eye. "Tetsu-ku-" And Gran Torino capitalized on it. Izuku slumped over as he held his stomach, he almost felt like throwing up his breakfast. 'Note to self… getting hit in the stomach is horrible…' Kendo winced off to the side, knowing what it was like.

Soon enough, Tetsu and Kamakiri were both taken care of and the class did not get their revenge.

Izuku lifted himself off the ground and held in the contents of food, silently releasing a prayer that he had not thrown up in front of the class. For some reason he felt like someone was praising him for doing that.

"So… bad idea…." Tetsu grunted as he was totally wiped out on the ground.

"Sometimes it's okay to be unmanly if it means you're gonna get your ass kicked…" Awase sighed, "Really wanted that old man knocked the fuck out.." He sighed as a single tear came out of his eye. "We'll get him one day, I swear…!"

"While you three didn't manage much." Kan stepped in as the class period was about to end, "That was a good idea, you all need to know you can rely on each other, you're going to be stuck with each other for the next three years, and you'll work together as pros, might as well get used to it now."

Izuku smiled at the roundabout compliment. But he knew that there was no way that Kamakiri would ever want to willingly work with him again, since the plan failed…

"Alright, off to lunch!" Kan yelled, and the students slowly but surely got up. All of them groaned as their bodies felt like hell incarnate.

Though Awase smiled. "The blessings of the go-SHIOZAKI IT WAS A JOKE, CALM THE HELL DO-OW GOD DA-SHIT FUCKING CHRIST-" The boy folded in on himself as he was repeatedly wacked by the class' religious fanatic.

"Poor Awase-kun…" Izuku dry chuckled as Yanagi helped him up, using her quirk, "Thanks, Yanagi-chan."

"Do not mention it.. now I am quite famished." She touched her stomach and felt it growl

Then Tokage wrapped her arm around her shoulder, "Yeah, let's hurry ghosty, let's make it a race, boys against girls, me and you against greenie and blondie, go go go!" Without being able to get a word in, Yanagi was dragged off by Tokage, leaving behind Monoma and Izuku.

"Well, I'd say she seems quite excited about eating." Monoma patted his back, "Well, why don't we go and join them?"

"Y-Yeah…" Izuku sighed, he was pooped.

The boys hurried to the changing room and began sorting out, getting back into their uniforms and trying to make themselves smell not as bad as they were. Izuku winced as he pulled off his gym uniform, he dried himself off with a towel, getting all of his sweat off before using deodorant. He put on his normal uniform and sighed.

"Kaibara, dude is that axe! Wait, I think I have a lighter in my bag somewhere." Awase began scavenging through his bag. Izuku looked to see Kaibara holding his axe can away from Awase.

"Oh no brochacho! You are not getting that anywhere near my precious- YOINK- can of- AY WHERE'D IT GO!"

Monoma sighed and pinched his brow, "Midoriya, I think it's best if we leave now."

"B-But don't I have to deal with this? I'm the rep…" Monom sighed and nodded, that was something that Izuku had to do.

The boy politely defused the situation, "Awase-kun, I-if you don't stop… then…. I'll have Kan-sensei make you spar against Gran Torino all day tomorrow for our hero course class." Awase immediately stopped and gave it back. Everyone was afraid of the old man.

"Thanks Midoriya!" Kaibara smiled and Izuku waved a hand.

"I-It's my job as class rep, no need to thank me…" Izuku joined Monoma and the duo walked to the cafeteria.

"You know…" Kaibara started as he watched the two leave, "Midoriya's kinda weird, like he can't take compliments at all, ever notice that?"

"Now that you mention it…" Tetsu thought about it, "Can't really remember, I'm dumb as bricks."

"Gah! You're so useless, man!"

"Hey! I offer manliness and fun! Not brains!"

Izuku and Monoma arrived, seeing that Tokage and Yanagi had shown up before them with Kendo with them as well, something the girl was no doubt going to shove into their faces. "You know, just don't care about it, that's the best way to handle it, Monoma-kun."

"Well, yes, but Setsuna always makes me care about it somehow…"

Izuku noticed how he had called her Setsuna, he had been doing that for a while actually, ever since the USJ. "I-If you don't mind me asking Monoma-kun, why'd you start calling her Setsuna, and why'd she start calling you Neito?"

The boy coughed into his hand. "Nothing, no reason, nothing at all."

"So.. you just decided to do it?"

"Yes…."

"Well alright.." Izuku wasn't going to press into the situation but he was very curious. But, was he allowed to be curious. Friends gossiped, right? Well Izuku didn't really like to gossip, something about it just always seemed off to him. So he was more interested in being allowed to gossip for once with his friends.

The two sat down and began eating. After losing all of your energy getting beat up by an old man, food tasted ten times more amazing than usual. Just like how water tasted good after a nice workout. Izuku ate happily, honestly Lunch Rush's cooking was delicious. He understood why Awase called it the blessing of the gods now.

"Midoriya." Hearing Kendo whisper to him, Izuku paused in his eating and tilted his head at her. The girl jerked her head to his right and it made Izuku turn.

It was Pony, she was trying to make her way to their table, since she probably didn't have anyone else to hang out with, but she was stopped by two boys from another course. "Oh no…"

"So, you're the transfer student, woo wee! Aren't you quite a looker.." Pony looked very uncomfortable, despite not being able to tell what they were saying perfectly, just from their expressions he could get enough.

"I-I-"

"Don't you wanna hang out with us?"

"We're from Business, we could help boost your rating when you go pro.."

Both the Big Sister and Cinnamon Roll got out of their seats, Kendo cracked her knuckles and Izuku's body sparked with electricity as he used Full Cowling at a measly two percent.

Tokage cheered, "Give 'em a good one for me!" Monoma and Yanagi sighed, clearly Izuku didn't have a good experience with bullies and now as the class rep he had the job of protecting his classmates from them. Kendo was into martial arts, she was a fighter, a warrior. She was about honor and pride. So bullies weren't really her thing either.

"Tsunotori, are these guys bothering you?" Hearing his voice, the girl looked past the bullies to see the rep and vice of her class. She nodded.

"What is this? You guys are shrimp!" Izuku and Kendo were the same height, standing at five foot five and a fourth. These two were at least five eight.

Still though, they didn't really care.

"You're messing with another girl in my class, can't really look past that…" Kendo's fists grew.

Izuku sucked in a breath and closed his eyes. He needed to be threatening, he needed to be scary. He could be scary, he knew he could do it. They made Pony uncomfortable, a friend of his. They were bothering her, tried to make her hang out with them when she didn't want to, they ogled at her. She wasn't something to be ogled at! 'Just… act like Kacchan would….'

One For All pushed to seven percent, hurting a bit like knives stabbing at his body. The lightning grew rapid and untamed as he opened his eyes, showing off a dead green. No shine, nothing of the sort. He smiled. "I suggest you two leave." He took a step forward and placed a hand on both of their shoulders, flexing his hands. They felt just a tad bit of his strength, "Or are we going to have a problem?"

They both shivered as their shoulders began to keel in pain. "NOT AT ALL!" They both yelled and left.

Kendo gaped because, "How can you be so threatening, you are the least threatening person I know!"

Izuku looked back at her and shivered, "I can't believe I just did that! That felt horrible! I feel like a delinquent, Kendo-chan am I a delinquent?! I don't want to be a delinquent, it feels wrong!" Izuku had to take a shower, he had to clean himself, he felt dirty.

Pony giggled, Midoriya flip flopped so easily between almost cool and a total mess. It was funny. "Thanks Midoriya."

The boy remembered Pony and turned to her, nervously smiling a little. "Y-You're welcome, but you shouldn't be thanking me, I just threatened someone! No, I threatened two people, that makes me two times as bad!" Ok, a long cold shower then.

For the rest of lunch, Izuku rambled about being a bad boy. Tokage thought about Izuku being an actual delinquent and broke down laughing, "Just imagine, metal poll or no! A baseball bat, yeah! Spiky gelled hair, leather jacket! I can't see it at all!"

Monoma creased his brows, "How about slicked back hair? Actually, have you ever tried styling your hair Midoriya?" He found himself asking.

Izuku rubbed his neck. "N-Not really… my hair is kind of a mess… I've never really been able to style it at all, so my hair style's never really changed.." He had also done something wrong when trying to style it, so he just didn't try anymore.

"Ohmygod! We should totally have a sleepover, you could let me do your hair! After the sports festival is done, since we're all busy with training, we are having a sleepover, no ifs and or buts about it!" Tokage smiled ear to ear as she thought about doing Izuku's hair. "You could even let us cut it, we could try to make you look like a badass!"

"T-Try…?"

She shrugged, "Hey, there's no guarantees that it'll look good, but I guarantee we'll have fun!"

Izuku thought about it, he never really had a sleepover before, because that happened at friend's houses. And he didn't have friends, but now he did. And if he was being honest with himself, he wanted to try it. So he nodded, "I'm alright with that…"

"OKAY!" She cheered, "Kendo, Ghosty, Blondie! Answers now please!" Izuku asked Pony in english if she wanted to go and the American instantly answered yes.

Monoma was going to decline but Tokage hit him with puppy dog eyes and Midoriya seemed really excited. 'God damn it…' He sighed, "I.. suppose… I could find time in my schedule for an event such as a sleepover…"

Tokage giggled, "Look at that, he's being all tsundere…" She whispered not so subtly.

"I am not!"

"You totally are!"

Yanaig nodded herself, "A sleepover could be a very enjoyable event, especially after the stress that the sports festival will no doubt cause us. So I guess "I am in" so to say." Kendo nodded, saying much the same but without the level of class that Yanagi spoke in.

---

Izuku stumbled out of the locker room for the second time today. "Ok, tutoring time…" He sighed as he threw his bag over his shoulder and walked to the cafeteria, that's where they had agreed to meet. Izuku found his way there and saw Pony at a table, flipping through a book, he smiled and sat down next to her. "Watcha reading?"

Pony flinched and closed the book with a blush. "N-Nothing!"

Izuku pouted, "Come on.. Please..?"

She relented and showed him her book. "It's Larry Botter…" She muttered as she showed him the cover. It was the second book. Larry Botter and the Cave of Wonders."I really like the series and my sister gave me her copy of this one since I lost mine before I left so I read it a lot…" She hugged the book to her chest.

Izuku smiled before pulling a laptop out of his bag. "I tend to use my laptop a lot for hero research so I bring it with me to places." He said as he opened it up. Clicking onto his browser he went to a library website before pulling up the same book, but in Japanese. "Maybe this could help? You could translate phrases between the two to get a better understanding of certain sentences and proper grammar."

Before he knew it he was being glomped again, "Thanks Midroiya!"

'Don't pass out, don't pass out, don't pass out!' He repeated his montra before letting out a breath and patting her back. "N-No problem, now let's start."

She let go and smiled, pumping a fist into the air. "OKAY!"

Two weeks later

Izuku sighed as his heart was stuck in his chest. He threw his bag over his shoulder and tried to calm himself but to no avail. "Come on, you've trained all you could, just go. This is it, you can do this…"

"This is where you tell the world you are here, Young Midoriya." He had a talk with All Might, and the talk put so much weight on his shoulders. But, he knew he could do it, he just had to push himself to his limit and go beyond it. He sucked in another breath and pushed the door open.

"Mom! I'm off!"

"Wait, Izuku!" The boy turned to his mom in the hall, she walked over and smoothed out his clothes, "I-I'm scared… that you're going to get hurt, and I know that's not going to help you but…" Her eyes watered a bit as she smiled, "Good luck, I know you can do it Izuku…"

Izuku choked his mom in a hug, 'That's… what I wanted you to say…' He sighed as he stepped back and wiped his mom's tears away. "Thanks… mom… I'll do my best, I won't let you down."

"Oh Izuku… you could never let me down. Now, g-go kick some butt! And break a leg! Actually d-don't, don't do that, don't break anything, please don't break anything, I don't think my little heart can take it!"

The boy smiled and hugged his mom one more time before heading out the door. 'I can't make that promise… I'm sorry mom'

 

Notes:

Alright, Sports Festival is going to be the next chapter, sorry this took so long to come out but we're here.

Also, this will probably be the last update for a while for two reasons. One, Sports Festival is always a hassle for me and takes a lot of planning, usually I can just write and whatever comes to mind is usually good enough but for the festival I have to remember who's doing good in standing, tournament bracket, everyone's arcs and how they're developing, it's just a hassle. Two, school started back up and I have not had time to write. I'll try to get more writing in when I can but It won't be consistent uploads anymore, maybe even once a month, I'm sorry about that but i can't do anything about it.

As for the question of the day, is Izuku going to befriend people in 1-A, is he going to befriend Shinso?

Chapter 11: The Sports Festival

Izuku did breathing exercises as he sat in the corner of their waiting room, his nerves were getting the best of him and he didn't want that. He knew it'd only get worse from here if he couldn't control himself now. He sucked in another breath before feeling someone pat his back. He turned to see it was Monoma, "Nerve Wracking, isn't it?" The boy asked with a slight smile, Izuku nodded with a nervous smile, "This is the price for being heroes."

Izuku smiled, the pats were oddly comforting in a way, "Yeah, just a bit, how are you doing?" He asked.

"Quite well actually." Monoma grinned a bit, "Oh how excited I am to squash 1-A. Just imagine how satisfying it'll be once they react to my quirk, perhaps I could use it on that Bakugo fellow, give him a taste of his own medicine, oh that'll just be so wondrous!" He said with stars in his eyes.

Izuku waved his hands, "D-Don't do that…! Please…"

The blonde put his hands up in protest before smiling widely, "I make no promises.." Izuku groaned.

The intercom turned on and Izuku instantly covered his ears. Present Mic was always the commentator for the sports festival. "ALRIGHT LITTLE LISTENERS! You've got five minutes until it's time to come out so get yourselves ready because you're gonna have an explosive entrance, YEAHHHH!" The intercom shut off and Izuku sighed as he uncovered his ears.

"Midoriya." Kendo came to sit in front of him, looking slightly nervous as she messed with her hands. "I um… I wanted to do a speech, to get everyone's hopes up but… I don't know if it's a good idea or not." She sighed. Not being able to tell who was the stronger of them was really bugging her, she wanted to know so badly that it was stressing her out. Making her nervous when she otherwise shouldn't have been.

Izuku smiled though, "I think that sounds great. I'm really nervous right now and I think a speech would help. " He rubbed his neck. "Plus, you're really inspiring, with your fighting skills. I-" Izuku took a breath. "Quirks are everything to people, and that's all some heroes need or use, b-but you use your quirk and your martial arts skills. You're someone I admire. You're inspiring Kendo-chan.. So I think a speech coming from you would mean a lot." His smile widened until both Kendo and Monoma had to look away or ris being blinded.

The redhead smiled, his words actually meant a lot to her. She took a breath, "Thanks Midoriya!" She stood up with confidence and walked to the door and clapped her enlarged hands. To gain everyone's attention. "Okay everyone! We're about to go out, but I have a couple of words for you all!" She seemed to have gained everyone's attention as all eyes turned to her. It was a little nerve wracking, but also really exciting!

"Today, we are going to be in the spotlight!" Kamakiri smiled, and Izuku gulped. Everyone would see that, people all over Japan, no- the world! "Cameras and eyes will be on us! And we have to show the world that we are here!" She placed a hand over her heart. "Show them that we are future heroes!"

Kaibara smiled, "Alright, I'll admit, I'm feeling this!" He smiled.

Tetsu jumped out of his seat, "KEEP GOING, YOU'RE BOOSTING MY MANLINESS!" Tetsu yelled as he felt like tearing his shirt open, he barely managed to restrain himself.

"Is that how it works?" Awase muttered to Tsuburaba to which the boy shrugged. "Dunno, he never really specified."

Kendo smiled, "We have a big challenge ahead of us, 1-A is strong, but I know that one of us can win! One of us can be at the top, and I believe in each and every one of you!" Izuku clenched a hand, no doubt Kacchan would be aiming for the top. 'But… so am I!' Kendo threw a hand into the air, "Let's go to the top and past it!"

Pony, Kuroiro, and Komori threw their own hands in the air. Izuku nodded to himself before he joined in with his friends. Tokage disconnected both of her arms and let them float in the air and Monoma put his arm up as well.

"Go beyond what we can today!" Kendo yelled as she felt her heart beating like crazy. Shishida, Shoda, and the rest of the class joined in, Tetsu yelling "YEAHHHH!" As he cried alligator tears.

"Go PLUS ULTRA!"

Izuku smiled as the class calmed down and Present Mic told them to come out, he walked to the front and held onto the doorknob, "This is it-" He pushed it open. "UA's Sports Festival…" Walking out of the tunnel, the crowd cheered and Izuku felt like passing out. "T-There's so many people…"

He could practically hear his mom crying as she watched him come out of the tunnel at home. 'I hope the apartment will be intact when I get home…' It was a long shot, but it was worth it to hope.

"I know, awesome, right?" Tokage smiled as she made peace signs at the crowd. "Look! They love me!"

"Awase, we're gonna be famous, man!" Tsuburaba threw an arm around his seat buddy. "Hell yeah!"

Izuku did his best to control his nerves as all of the first year student body came out. There were so many people, and all of them were his competition. It made him gulp before he took a deep breath, "I can.. do this…" He reminded himself.

Kendo smiled as she felt pumped up, this reminded her of all of the martial arts tournaments she had gone to growing up. Of course, this was on a much, MUCH larger scale and there was almost no correlation. But just like her old tournament, she was getting excited!

The rest of the class basked in the celebration as they stood in front of a stone platform. 'I wonder who the umpire will be…' He heard the clicking of heels on stone. 'OH NO!' The boy instantly seized up and he knew most of the other boys did as well.

There were a couple that he knew weren't, one of those being Kacchan. "The fuck's up with this bitch?" Bakugo asked as he stared at the R-Rated Hero. A noticeable tick grew on her head but quickly went away as she smiled and waved at the crowd. They seemed to get louder when she came out which made her more lively.

Her energy had caused her… assets… to bounce. "Someone should tell Kayama-sensei that her attire is a tad inappropriate for this event." Shishida said as his glasses shone over as he pushed them up.

Awase coughed into his hand, "nice." He got a slap courtesy of Shiozaki's vine. "How sinful..." She commented with a "hmph" as she turned away.

Midnight finally turned to the students and smiled, and it scared all of them. It wasn't a nice smile at all, it was a devious grin and they all knew that it was one that promised pain and suffering. Izuku gulped and tried his best to smile in return, something he had practiced ever since he was a kid because even when All Might was in trouble he would always smile.

"Now, a speech from the entrance exam's top scorer! Bakugo Katsuki!" The R-Rated hero announced as the crowd died down.

"You have got to be kidding me…" Tokage gave the blond the stink eye as he walked up to the podium. Monoma wasn't doing much better, he had a couple choice words that he kept to himself however. And then Izuku. 'He was the top scorer…..' Kacchan was at the top. And that's where Izuku had to be as All Might's successor. He was thinking, thinking about someone he'd have to beat.

The boy took a deep breath before letting it out, "Whatever happens today…" Some of the class peered at him as they heard him talk. Izuku looked up at the podium as Bakugo finally reached the mic. Izuku knew that Bakugo hadn't seen him, after all he was just a pebble in the boy's eyes, but right now he didn't feel like that at all. "I'm going to win…"

The blond growled as the mic echoed his sounds. "Just to let you all know-" He smirked, looking at all the extras that were gonna get their asses handed to him today. "I'm going to win."

…

"THIS GUY FUCKING SUCKS!"

"A-Awase-kun, NO!" The rest of the student body joined in, yelling about how arrogant Bakugo, and Class A, was in general. Iida was trying to yell over them, saying that Bakugo's words did not reflect on the entirety of Class 1-A. Sadly he wasn't heard at all.

The blond laughed and eventually Midnight had to shoo him back to the crowd, where he was yelled at even more by other students, but he used his quirk to make them back off.

Something that made Nezu sigh. "Really, he hasn't seemed to have make much improvement with his anger management, perhaps his sessions should be moved to three times a week after all." He wrote in his tiny notebook as he sipped a glass of tea.

"I thought he'd be taking this seriously, but it appears not." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Perhaps expulsion will be a necessary action to take after all." Humming, he shook his head. "No, instead I'll let him go on an internship and see if a pro can whip him into shape." If not well then… expulsion would be needed.

"Man Aizawa, your kid's kind of blow…" They all heard Present Mic say over the speakers in the stadium to which Bakugo gained a tick mark on his head.

"Aren't you supposed to be an unbiased party?" Aizawa glared at the man that had forced him into doing commentating duty, with all of his injuries he couldn't deny the man the chance as he was dragged to commentate.

The man shrugged, however, "Eh, I say it how I see it." Monoma smiled to himself at Present Mic's words.

"Alright, now allow us to introduce you to the first event!" Midnight yelled, trying to move past the bad atmosphere that Bakugo's "speech" had created. The student body begrudgingly decided to move on and Midnight was thankful. "Now, Present Mic, what will our first event be?!" She asked with glamor.

They all heard the man suck in a large breath as he audibly smiled, "IT'S GONNA BE AN OBSTACLE COURSE, YEAHHHHH!" Izuku covered his ears at the man's yell, he still didn't like loud people, despite getting more accustomed to them over the time he had been at UA.

His wincing stopped as he let out a breath, 'Obstacle course…. Ok…..' He had done research, watched as many prior sports festivals there had been as he physically could. He had been preparing for this moment his entire life, everything he had ever done had come to this moment. And as the stadium wall came down, to lead them to the course they had to run, Izuku realized one thing. "I'm not ready-"

"GO!" With the yell, Izuku's instincts kicked in as he felt elbows and bodies shove into him. It reminded him of when the press broke into school, though this time he was going to get out of it on his own. He wouldn't have his friends there to help him every time after all.

The tunnel suddenly became cold as he looked to the front, seeing a mass of ice. "Someone has a strong ice quirk, cool… NO, nerd out later!" He charged up Full Cowling and jumped up, not even noticing his impromptu pun, hitting the ceiling of the tunnel before blasting out of it entirely. 'Just like how Gran Torino would do it…'

"WOAH, CLASS B'S IZUKU MIDORIYA COMPLETELY BLOWS PAST CLASS A'S SHOUTO TODOROKI'S ICE TRAP!" Izuku lost himself for a second, the name Todokri was very familiar but he threw the thought away as he ran forward. And felt fear wash over him, the goliath that had required him to use One For All for the first time, "BUT WILL HE GET PAST UA'S TRAP, THE NEXT PART, ROBOT INFERNO!"

"Zero pointers!" There were other robots strewn about but Izuku wasn't focused on them. He instead gazed at the giant Goliath before feeling wind push past him, seeing many applicants moving to finish the race.

Yaoyorozu, Iida, Tetsu, Tetsu but Red, Honenuki, Tokage, and "Kacchan…." Izuku's power increased to his five percent base as he charged. "MANLY MY MAN!" Tetsu yelled as Izuku easily ran past him with his increased speed. Izuku smiled, he liked Tetsu's compliments. They felt nice and helped lift him up.

However what he didn't like was the zero pointers stopping in place as they were trapped in a glacier. He squinted his eyes as he heard them creak, they weren't…. "T-They're not stable!" He yelled as he pushed his quirk from five to seven and put as much force as he could into his step.

It was probably safer to just stay behind, but Izuku wanted to win! "To tell the world that I'm here!" The robots crashed down and Izuku sighed as he felt himself be pushed forward by the excess force created by the crash. Landing on his feet, he relaxed.

He looked ahead, seeing the one that he guessed was Todoroki staring back at him as he situated himself. His stare was… cold. Like it was rather angry that Izuku hadn't been crushed by that robot. It reminded Izuku of a villain if he was being honest.

With the rest of the group, no one had moved forward, wondering if anyone had gotten trapped in the rubble. The casing of the zero pointer pushed out until a red man busted out, "IF THAT HAPPENED TO ANYONE ELSE THEY WOULD'VE DIED!" Kirishima yelled as his uniform was torn.

And then suddenly, Tetsu bursted out of the same zero pointer not feet away from Kirishima, "IF THAT HAPPENED TO ANYONE ELSE THEY WOULD'VE DIED!" He yelled, his uniform much the same.

Monoma looked between both of them and sighed, "Perhaps there are more similarities between our gracious class and the scoundrels of 1-A than I thought." Though then he remembered that it was someone from 1-A who had caused the zero pointers to crash and almost hurt dozens of contestants, "But then again…" He smiled and started to run, he was going to win, no. He was going to beat 1-A!

The greanette heard the familiar sounds of explosions and cursing behind him and he had to swallow down his fear. Flashes in his mind, explosions, smoke, burning light, his skin being torn, crying as he patched himself up in his bathroom. "No…" It was different now! He had a quirk, he had friends, and nothing was going to stop him from achieving his dream!

Izuku dodged all the other robots that were along the track, smashing into ones that he couldn't avoid and smiling as he tore them to shreds. "Plus Ultra!" He would win! Because All Might told him to!

---

The Symbol of Peace smiled to himself, seeing Izuku blast through robots. It was exciting and a little nerve wracking. "He's made so much progress in just the couple of weeks he's been here at UA." He sighed fondly to himself as he looked at his successor on one of the jumbo screens they had in the stadium. The boy's eyes held determination that was unrivaled by anyone else in the tournament.

"With no help from you!" All Might froze and robotically turned to his right, before looking down and seeing his old mentor. "Nice to see you too, Toshinori." The old man said.

The Symbol of Peace coughed blood before wiping his face, "Y-You too… sensei…" He stared wide eyed at his old mentor. Why was he here?! What was he doing here?! "W-What are you-"

"Came to watch the kid."

"But you never watched my sports-"

"Like this one more than you." All Might hung his head at his mentor's words. "He's smart, creative, and can think on his feet. He's not as gifted at using the quirk at full power like you so he has to think his way out of situations." All positives in Torino's eyes.

Gran Torino thought back to a news report he had seen years ago on his busted up TV. A UA student that had blasted through the Sports Festival with ease, got first place with virtually no risk of losing at any point in the thing. Of course he knew it was Toshinori but still, it made him wonder. "You grew cocky because of your power, that's how All For One wounded you, you weren't used to being hurt, to someone being an equal to you." He thought about a day that had long since passed.

All Might sighed and looked down in shame, feeling his wound twitch at the name of his old nemesis he grabbed it with a wince, "I'm sorry.. sensei…"

Gran Torino shook his head, "He also used Nana against you, for that.. I can't blame you." Gran Torino sighed as he stared at one of the large screams in the stadium, displaying Todoroki before going to Izuku. The old pro smiled at the eyes of determination on the boy's face. "But what I can blame you for is the stupidity you've shown all your life, ever since then all you've done is make horrible choices."

The Symbol of Peace nodded along, not resting after his battle with All For One, decreasing his time limit because he thought the public needed him, risking the lives of his students because he was out and about with the public.

"But still, choosing that boy, it was one of your few good decisions." Gran Torino smirked a bit to himself as Izuku charged through another bot before blasting forward with power. "What wasn't one of your good decisions was telling the boy to tell the world that "he's here" honestly so laughable."

"H-He told you…?" All Might asked.

The pro nodded, "It was one of the reasons he wanted to improve the most." All Might looked on in worry as his gaze shifted from his mentor to his successor on screen. "The boy's got tenacity though, he never gave up. Even when I planted him in the dirt with my boot." He smiled at the memories.

All Might did smile a bit at that too. "Yeah, he's always been like that…" Even when training, he pushed himself far past his limits. Despite it being detrimental to him in some cases, All Might did admire that drive that the boy had.

"I just hope that it doesn't cause the end of him, like it did you." All Might hoped for that too.

---

Izuku smashed through a final robot before charging forward after Todoroki. "WOAH! FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD PLACE HAVE ARRIVED AT THE FALL! OR AS I LIKE TO CALL IT THE PIT OF DOOM- ow hey! Shouta not cool!" The boy smiled to himself. Yamada-sensei was always fun even if he was a little over the top.

"For legal reasons, I must state that was an exaggeration and we have systems in place to make sure no students die." The monotone voice of Eraserhead was clear for all to hear.

The man only paid attention to Hizahi's words. So far, he actually hadn't been paying attention to the festival all that much. Because of his new injury under his eye, just keeping it open hurt like hell and for once he had time to rest.

Izuku gulped when he arrived right in front of "The Fall" though, even with Eraserhead saying no students would die. It looked like a bottomless pit! "H-How is this real..?" He asked himself before smacking his cheeks. No falling into an endless line of thinking about how much money UA had and how they did things that no other institution could, or would, do.

Seeing Todoroki already skating pass on what seemed like a wave of ice, and then Kacchan soaring over while yelling about how he would kill Izuku and "Icyhot" made Izuku snap into "Game mode."

The boy grabbed onto one of the connecting ropes that lead to one of the standing stone formations and hung onto it as his legs dangled over the void. He felt a little fear. "It looks endless…" He quickly looked up and charged One For All into his shoulders and arms before climbing forward. "I will.. show them I'm here!"

---

Monoma powered through the group of robots, dodging and running forward. With how the beginning had gone in the tunnel a lot of time was wasted, he had no reliable quirks right now. He was grimacing in anger as the blond of 1-A just flew over everyone while screaming. "DEKU, GET BACK HERE YOU BASTARD, YOU TOO ICYHOT! I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Uncouth fool…" He whispered to himself as he saw almost all of his class and 1-A pass him. Even going into this, he knew he'd be at a disadvantage, it still stung though to see it put out so blatantly in front of him.

He stumbled a bit when he felt something impact his back, looking he saw a floating arm giving him a thumbs up. Staring at it in shock, he laughed before grabbing it. "Thanks… Setsuna-chan…" Feeling the familiar power of her quirk spread throughout his body, he smiled.

The hand floated out of his grasp and opened itself up for a fist bump. He sighed and indulged it before it floated away. "That girl…" He grinned to himself.

He disconnected his torso and floated over groups of robots, easily evading them now. No muscle pain or muscle exertion either. "I love this quirk.." And perhaps the person that had it as well. But he'd never admit that. "Plus Ultra..!" He yelled to himself as he charged forward.

---

Bakugo easily blasted over the rest of his so-called "competition." In reality, they were just a bunch of chumps, not even worth the dirt under his shoes. He caught sight of the green haired bastard as he soared right over him, his teeth clenching and feeling like they were about to crack. "DEKU! GET BACK HERE YOU BASTARD, YOU TOO ICYHOT! I'LL KILL YOU!"

He wasn't going to lose to them! No way in hell! He refused to acknowledge Deku and Icyhot was just another stepping stone that needed to learn their place. No one at this school was on his level, they were all below him damn it!

Feeling his forearms twinge in pain from overuse he grit his teeth, "SHUT THE HELL UP!" He yelled, as if his arms could hear him, as he started losing altitude.

"WOAH LOOK AT CONTESTANT BAKUGO KATSUKI, LITERALLY BLASTING THROUGH THE COMPETITION!" Present Mic smiled at his own joke as he turned to Aizawa, only to see the man deadpanning at him, "I thought it was good…"

"I am gonna blast through these extras!" He yelled as he rolled onto the ground, his wrists and forearms were twinging, beating in pain, and he hated it. He hated everything about it, he wanted his gauntlets, they gave him so much power. And he loved that power.

"WOAH, LOOK OUT FOLKS, CONTESTANTS BAKUGO KATSUKI AND TODOROKI SHOUTO ARE ENTERING THE MINDFIELD!" Present Mic yelled as Bakugo looked up to see a dirt track. "THEY DON'T HURT TOO BAD BUT THEY WILL THROW YOU FOR A LOOP!" Bakugo welcomed the challenge.

Izuku panted as he pulled himself off of the last rope connected to land, falling onto the ground as he looked up to see the minefield, Todoroki and Bakugo off a ways away. Iida was around too, slowly walking around the mines, some few other contestants were strewn about too. Everyone was doing that. No one was going fast.

And that made Izuku smile. "The purpose is to slow everyone down so people behind have a chance to take the lead…" He quickly realized. He had lost his placement with the Fall, climbing the ropes took a considerable amount of time and gave some people the opportunity to pass him.

But he could earn his spot back right now.

---

Gran Torino laughed out loud as the last obstacle of the course was shown, All Might turned robotically towards his old teacher. "S-Sensei.. what's so funny?"

The pro crossed his arms and grinned as he sat back in his seat, which was rather large for his small body. "With my training-" Or as Toshinori and Class B liked to call it, hell, "-he's hyper aware of his surroundings now. He includes them into his strategizing, or-" They watched as Izuku crouched down as his body sparked with Full Cowling, "-He knows how to expertly avoid things."

All Might tilted his head as he watched the big screen, the camera they had was focused on Bakugo and Todoroki, but you could still see those at the beginning of the mind field. They were focused on Izuku.

Who took off like a bullet.

The boy smiled with glee as he expertly ran over all the mines with Full Cowling at five percent. There was just enough difference in the dirt they were under that they were noticeable to the naked eye, and Izuku's eyes were far above normal. Well not really, but he tended to focus on seemingly unimportant things sometimes. He was surprised that it was coming in handy for once.

Iida looked up as the green blur passed him, he barely caught sight of the familiar green locks. "M-MIDORIYA?" He yelped.

Izuku's heart was in his chest. He- He could win! "I'LL KILL YOU ICYHOT!" Or maybe not. He felt himself slowing down as fear invaded him, his body wanted to shrink in on itself. Explosions, the popping sound of Kacchan's explosions made him quake.

"HEY, CONTESTANT KATSUKI BAKUGO, WHAT THE HECK MAN! USING YOUR QUIRK ON CONTESTANT SHOTO TODOROKI! NOT COOL!" The boy clicked his tongue before continuing forward, not risking getting penalized.

Todoroki gave Bakugo a glare as he also continued forward, trying to go faster than his opponent. He wasn't using his quirk, if he did it'd give other people a path to the end and he didn't want to help anyone. He wasn't here to make friends.

The explosions stopped, and Izuku took a deep breath. The wind was rustling his hair, his feet were leaving and touching the ground, his heart was pumping loudly in his ear, adrenaline flooded through his veins. "I…." He gulped, his throat was dry, Todoroki and Bakugo were in sight, he could reach them. "I…." He let out all the air, his feet pounding the ground, "I…." He felt One For All rising, from five to eight percent. "Will…. WIN!"

One Final step and Izuku exploded forward, he was faster now, even the three percent jump was noticeable. He had trouble controlling it, and hit some land mines, but he was gone before the explosions could hurt him.

"WOAH, LOOK AT MIDORIYA IZUKU OF CLASS 1-B, HE'S GO-GO-GOING!" Mic yelled, drawing everyone's attention to the boy.

Gran Torino grinned.

All Might gaped.

Vlad King cheered.

And Aizawa, "H-How…?" The kid, he wasn't that strong, he didn't have that much finesse with his quirk a month ago. Where did it come from? When did he get so… "Useful.."

Mic turned to his friend as he shut off his mic. "Something wrong Shou? You're injuries acting up again?" The blond asked and reminded Aizawa of his current state of mummy hood. Though he got a head shake in return. The blond tilted his head before returning back to commentating. "WOAH! LOOK AT MIDORIYA GO!" The man yelled and Aizawa was brought back to his thoughts.

Izuku Midoriya had passed both Shoto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugo. Two of Aizawa's top students. "How…" He muttered quietly to himself. The boy passed both of his students and didn't slow down. It took both of them a moment to realize and they stopped their fighting and started using their quirks to catch up. Seemingly not caring about the rest of the competition now.

Bakugo shot off using his explosions and Todoroki rode a wave of ice. But they weren't fast enough. The boy, Midoriya, was still ahead of them. "How." He asked himself once more.

This wasn't supposed to happen, he had seen it with his own eyes. The boy's.. uselessness. He was a liability, a hindrance at best. So how was this happening? How had he improved so much? And in such a short amount of time too? They'd barely been at UA for a short while, not even halfway through the first term.

"CLASS A'S TODOROKI AND BAKUGO ARE TRYING HARD BUT THEY CAN'T SEEM TO CATCH UP TO CLASS B'S MIDORIYA! LOOK AT HIM GO! WOAH WOAH WOAH!" He didn't even get mad at Hizahi's loudness, he was just… confused.

They passed the minefield and Izuku's power was starting to lower in percentage, that didn't mean he still wasn't giving it his all though. "Come on—" He could picture All Might smiling. "Don't stop—" He could see Gran Torino huffing, trying to hide a smirk. "Keep going!" And Kan-sensei giving him a wide grin filled with pride.

Explosions and ice forming were happening behind him, but he couldn't hear them at all, the tunnel, the end, it was so so close. He could taste it. Victory. He could win! He paused as he entered a crouch, getting low on the ground.

The crowd paused, WHY WAS HE STOPPING NOW HE WAS SO CLOSE! "WHAT'S MIDORIYA DOING!?" Present Mic yelled as he grabbed his head. Aizawa narrowed his eyes.

Though Gran Torino smiled and Toshinori looked at his mentor with eyes of confusion, "He…. He's copied your fighting style?" The old man didn't answer, but instead.

His grin widened.

Izuku's mind was whirling, everyone was slow as his thought process shot off. 'A much larger concentration of power than I can normally handle, my burst style but at a greater scale, but for a shorter instance of time. Just like what Gran Torino-sensei does…' He pictured the old man. Hitting a surface and a great amount of force being produced from his boots as he shot off again like a bullet, the air from his boots only being there for a fraction of a second.. 'One For All: 15%' He felt his body creak, but…

If he was telling the world he was here, then he was going to do it showing gratitude to someone who had helped him the most.

"GRAN TORINO STYLE: AIR BURST!" Like a rocket, Izuku shot off in a trail of green lightning, however the power was quickly scaled down from 15% to 5%. The amount was only needed for the initial burst as he still had the momentum. Bakugo's eyes widened. WHEN DID DEKU GET THIS FAST?! Todoroki was surprised as well, he thought he was the strongest, but then this boy showed up out of nowhere. Who was this kid?

Izuku smiled as he shot into the tunnel and out into the stadium, a wide smile on his face. The crowd was silent. And then Present Mic sucked in a breath. "IN FIRST PLACE WE HAVE CLASS B'S IZUKU MIDORIYA!" He yelled, and the crowd joined him in celebration.

"I- did it…" He panted as his lightning died off. "I-" He looked at the stands, spotting All Might and Gran Torino far off in the crowd., "I DID IT!" Izuku cheered, smiling while crying slightly.

"HE DID IT!" Inko Midoriya was elated as she flooded her apartment building and cheered on Izuku from the couch at their home. Already on her third box of tissues, she estimated that she would be needing a couple more.

"DEKU!"

'Oh no… I did it…' Izuku waited but the explosion never came. He looked back to see the boy passed out in Midnight's arms. "W-Wha-"

His teacher smiled, "We know the situation between you and Bakugo, Midroiya. You don't have to worry about anything." She promised with a smile. But it wasn't her usual one that sent shivers down the spines of all male students. It was a genuine one that actually made him calm and remember that she was a hero. "Relax for now, we have to wait for everyone else." She walked away leaving Bakugo passed out on the ground, though gently.

He probably wouldn't like being shown held like a baby by the R-Rated hero on national television. Todoroki stood, switching his gaze from the prone Bakugo to Izuku. He squinted his eyes slightly before shaking it off. "Next round.. is mine…" He whispered.

Izuku smiled to himself as all of his friends came in, Tetsu's metal skin receded as he panted for breath and cheered with all the energy he had left. "Midoriya! You were first! Dude, that was so MANLY!"

The boy rubbed his neck, "T-Tetsu-kun, it's not that big of a deal… really…"

"MIDORIYA MY FRIEND!" In came Monoma, his body disconnected at the waist. The boy floated before he was standing in front of Izuku, he reconnected his body and smiled. "Truly splendid! Sticking it to those 1-A scoundrels! I've- I'VE NEVER BEEN MORE PROUD!"

The trio laughed and smiled until the rest of their friends came in. Tokage came in right after Monoma, a little miffed that the boy had done it faster than her with her own quirk. But he may have picked up extras on the way too after observing the competition. Kendo and Yanagi arrived after that, and soon after Pony did too.

The quartet of girls approached them, drenched in sweat and panting for breath. "Ok, that- was a little tough, I'll get 'em that." Tokage sighed as she sat on the grass of the stadium. "But- we made it through."

"For some it was harder than others…" Kendo sighed, her quirk had helped with the robots but other than that she had a rough time.

"We all made it through our conquest and that's all that matters." Yanagi stated as she was for once on the ground and not floating. "Though I do wish that it hadn't been as.. grueling as it was." She massaged her head.

Pony just looked at all of her friends and smiled. "Proud of you guys!" It warmed their hearts.

"ALRIGHT, HURRY UP AND GET UP! THE FIRST 42 CONTESTANTS MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ROUND OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL! EVERYONE ELSE, BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!" The students all winced, not being prepared for Present Mic's screaming with all of their exhaustion.

"Still feel bad for that guy's parents…" Awase muttered.

"Oh yeah, didn't he make them go deaf?" Tsuburaba asked. "Yup."

The students all gathered once more, those that didn't pass had left to go sit in the stands in designated seating areas. All of Izuku's class had moved onto the next round which made him really happy. They were his class, not just a class that he was in because he had to go to school.

He wasn't afraid of them, they were friendly, they were his friends. And he was happy that they were succeeding. He knew most of, at least half, of Class 1-A moved on as well. Seeing familiar faces from the bus they took to the USJ. But other than that no one else really stood out to him.

"ALRIGHT! LET'S MOVE ON, WITH THE START OF THE NEXT EVENT WHICH IS GONNA BE-" A big screen that was situated within the stadium came to life as a wheel began to spin. Different names of events on it, the students watched with bated breath as it spun and began to slow until it eventually landed on- "CAVALRY BATTLE, LET'S GOO!"

Izuku nodded at himself, "..okay, but what else? There's always something more to the second round…" He remembered watching old sports festivals. There was always a catch in the second round.

Midnight took her spot at the umpire's stand once more. "Students will receive placements based on their performance in the last round!"

"Oh…" Izuku muttered. He'd have a target on his back. But at least other top placers would too.

"They will increase in increments of 5 points, last place has five points, 41st place has 10 and so on!" Kendo winced and looked at Izuku in sympathy. Everyone would be gunning for him, Todoroki, Bakugo, and anyone else near the top. "BUT FIRST PLACE-" Midnight struck her whip and smiled. "WILL HAVE TEN MILLION POINTS!"

"Oh no…." Izuku whispered to himself as he felt an immense weight situate itself on his shoulder. "Midoriya, my boy…" All Might prayed for the boy from his spot in the stands. Gran Torino sighed and his eyes took on a more serious look. "Now he'll know what it's like to be you.."

All Might turned to him with raised brow. "To be number one, to have everyone watch your every move, to have a giant target on your back." His mentor said. He nodded, remembering the USJ.

"You can do this Young Midoriya…" All Might said with hope and dread.

Yanagi and Monoma looked at their friend in worry. Even without it being directed at them, they could feel the weight of everyone's eyes as they gazed at him. The boy gulped and looked down, trying to hide as everyone's eyes were on him.

He sighed before looking back up. "If everyone's gunning for me.. then so be it." Izuku whispered to himself, trying to psych himself up and help himself deal with the nervousness he was feeling.

"ALRIGHT, YOU'LL HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES TO FORM YOUR TEAMS! GOOD LUCK!" Fifteen minutes of no Present Mic screaming in their ears, they would all savor it.

Izuku instantly walked to a group of students from his class, Shishida, Kaibara, and Tsuburaba. "G-Guys I-"

"Ya know, I do feel bad Midoriya, but….." Kaibara turned around, "Can't really team with you." The rest followed him. Izuku sighed, he understood, he really did. Didn't make it hurt any less though.

Then his eyes landed on a piece of blond hair. "M-Monoma-kun!" The blond turned to him and locked up a little. "Please team up with me, I promise I won't drag you down with my ten millions points!" He bowed.

Monoma sighed, "Midoriya, I have no qualms with your points." He said and Izuku got out of his bow. The boy looked regretful, "However-" He clenched a fist in front of him, "I see you as a rival, I want to challenge you, I want to be equal with you. So, please allow me to do this."

Midoriya sighed as he nodded. He understood it, sort of. But still. "I- I get it Monoma-kun… g-good luck! I hope you make it to the next round!" He tried to muster a smile, but he just couldn't….

Monoma smiled sorrowfully as he nodded. "To you as well, my friend." And walked away.

Izuku understood why people didn't want to team up with him, he understood how people felt about his points, he understood that Monoma saw him as a rival and wanted to compete with him. But… it hurt.

"M-Midoriya!" At the stutter, Izuku's attention was drawn to the voice that he instantly knew was Komori. He turned and his eyes landed on her. Though Kuroiro wasn't anywhere to be seen, that was a little weird, the two had been attached at the hip ever since the Battle Trials.

"Y-Yes? Komori-san?" He tilted his head a bit.

The girl gulped before nodding to herself, gathering confidence, "D-Do, you want to team up?"

Izuku made a choking noise before his eyes exploded with tears. "R-Really?! You'll team up with me?" He asked. She was a walking angel!

The girl nodded, "I- you were one of my first friends, and Kuroiro-kun already teamed up with someone else, so I wanted to team up with you shroom!" She found enough courage to smile widely.

Izuku nodded, rubbing his eyes with his forearm and clearing his tears with a smile. "A-Alright! Thank you!" UA really was the best, for once he had friends.

Speaking of, "Midoriya." The monotone voice made him jump as he turned around and his eyes landed on Yanagi. She seemed to smile slightly, "Did I scare you again? I apologize."

Izuku huffed before waving a hand, "I-It's fine…." He smiled awkwardly, "S-So what are you doing here?"

The ghost girl tilted her head, "I wished to partner up with you if it was possible. After all, it is most advantageous to partner with those you get along with, is it not?" The waterworks came back tenfold.

"YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!" They simply smiled as they waited for Izuku to get control of his tears. Eventually the tears stopped coming and he calmed himself down, "O-Ok." He looked at the two of them, many plans forming, however… "I think we should get a fourth member, if we can…" No one would want to team with him, but having another member would be really useful.

It would widen the arsenal of plans they could come up with which would be really useful and it would even the playing field. Mostly everyone would have teams of four, they needed one too. But still, no one would team up with him because of his darn ten million points.

"TEN MILLION!" A pink blur crashed into Izuku and grabbed him by the shoulders, rattling him a bit. He straightened out enough to see a crazed smile and a pair of equally crazy eyes. "Team up with me!"

"O-ok….."

---

Izuku sighed as he tried to calm his breathing and get used to the feeling of carrying Komori. She was the smallest so they all agreed that they'd have her as the rider and they'd be the horses. Yanagi and who he learned was Hatsume were the back legs and he was the front horse.

Hatsume was… interesting. They had learned that she was from the support course and had brought a bunch of inventions to display, that's why she had teamed up with Izuku. She needed publicity.

It was kind of funny if he was being honest with himself. They were allowed to use her inventions so they had Yanagi and her using hover boots, Komori with a jetpack. They were heavy, but with Izuku's strength and speed the weight was slightly negated.

They also had a sort of special rope connecting them, Izuku could boost his speed to the highest degree and they would still all be connected. They could use the hover boots to group and stay together too.

Komori flushed as she stood tall, seeing all the other teams staring at them, it was nerve wracking. "Komori-chan…" She heard Izuku mutter and she glanced down at him, "You're amazing…" She smiled at his words and nodded to herself, a little confidence coming to her. "Thanks shroom!"

Izuku smiled as he activated Full Cowling at five percent. They would need it, and he could keep up five percent for a very long time thanks to Gran Torino's training. "They'll be gunning for us from the beginning, so all we have to do is run. Yanagi-chan, you deflect targets and projectiles that come at us with your quirk if you can." The ghost girl nodded, she knew what she had to do.

"Komori-chan, if you can use your quirk on our opponents to trip them up." The mushroom enthusiast smiled as she thought about all the trouble she could cause with her precious mushrooms.

"Hatsume-chan-" Izuku could feel her grin, "-let your… b-babies cause havoc." He had blushed a lot when she first said that Izuku could use her babies. Took a while for him to figure out she meant inventions.

The support course student saluted. "Got it bossman!" She was strange, but a nice type of strange Izuku thought.

They all took time to prepare themselves for the chaos and mayhem that awaited them in their next trial, but Izuku knew that with these three, he could do it. They could do it. "ALRIGHT!" Present Mic yelled, "TIME LIMIT IS UP, HOPE YOU'RE ALL READY, BECAUSE WE'RE STARTING IN THREE!"

Izuku took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"TWO!"

His body relaxed and he felt calmness take over him.

"ONE!"

His eyes shot open and shone radioactive green.

"GOOOOO!"

Three teams instantly came for Izuku, of course one was Kacchan, the other was the boy who he knew as Todoroki, and the final one was Kamakiri. "WOAH, THREE TEAMS INSTANTLY HAVE IT OUT FOR THE TEN MILLION POINT TEAM! THEY BETTER WATCH OUT!"

"Komori! Spore field!" The mushroom girl nodded before dozens of mushrooms were made, they didn't do anything because of the amount that was made in such a short amount of time. But the other teams didn't know that and Kamakiri stopped. He knew that Komori was dangerous despite her appearance.

Though that didn't stop either of the 1-A teams. "GIVE ME YOUR DAMN POINTS DEKU!" Izuku fought the urge to shrink in on himself as he found his voice, luckily he won the inner fight.

Kacchan's team was strong, it had Red Tetsu (he still hadn't learned the boy's name) who was a perfect horse for the bomber boy, being able to handle the force of his explosions. Todoroki's team wasn't anything to sneeze at either, he had both of the reps of his class on his team! That- that should be illegal! And both of those teams were coming for them!

Izuku instantly knew that they needed to get out of there. "Hatsume-chan, we need to fly!" He was in game mode right now. And his mind was clear, they needed to stay away from other teams, they needed to survive.

The pinkette nodded and activated the hover boots as Izuku jumped. He smiled when he didn't feel the familiar effect of gravity bringing him down to the ground. "WOAH, WHAT'S TEAM KOMORI DOING, SOARING INTO THE SKY!" Present Mic yelled and the crowd watched as they flew.

"Midoriya, it's reaching the limit, we have to land!" Hatsume yelled. She'd need to work on that as soon as the festival was done… oh screw it! She'd work on that as soon as this round of the festival was finished!

Izuku nodded and upped his percentage a bit, Yanagi used her quirk and held onto all of her teammates with her quirk to soften their fall. They landed and Izuku winced as they sank into the ground. "Honenuki!" He yelled and looked up, seeing the skull faced boy.

Hatsume quickly turned the boots back on and they barely got out. "Midoriya! They need to cool down, they're burning up badly, they'll be out for a while!" She yelled with a whimper, her poor babies!

Izuku nodded, and looked at Honenuki before getting an idea. 'Just like the ball throw, but not as much percentage, lower it to something smaller but still something greater than I can handle. Don't break it, but create enough force for something dangerous.' He sighed as he nodded. "I'm letting go, keep hold of Komori!"

Yanagi nodded as Izuku brought his right hand up, using her quirk to keep Komori up. He got his hand into a flicking motion and charged up One For All. "Twenty percent Smash!" He flicked and a large amount of wind blew forward, knocking Honenuki away.

"GAH!" He put his hand back and gasped as Komori's foot was placed there, it hurt! He didn't think it'd be as bad as 100% but nope! His bones weren't pulverized, but they throbbed in pain.

It was probably worse because it wasn't broken, there was a certain feeling of emptiness when his bones had broken during the entrance exam and ball throw, but he didn't feel that now.

"Midoriya, are you alright?" Komori asked and he nodded as he focused on the other teams, taking quick deep breaths. She looked on in worry and quickly produced a mushroom and placed it in front of his face. "Eat, it acts as a painkiller."

Izuku smiled, remembering being in this situation before, he took the mushroom and quickly munched and swallowed it. "Alright, let's go!" He yelled and they ran away from an approaching team. Komori smiled slightly.

"TWENTY MINUTES LEFT!" A third was already done, they could do this!

---

Bakugo growled as Deku ran away, the fucking coward! He smacked the extra that was his front horse. "GO AFTER SHITTY DEKU, NOW!" Kirishima winced and nodded as he turned to bring Bakugo there.

However, before they could another team stood right in front of them. The grinning face of Monoma was clear to see. His team consisted of Tsuburaba as his front horse and Kaibara and Shishida as his back legs. "Bakugo Katsuki of Class 1-A, how very match I hate to see you here!" He yelled before his team charged forward.

They ran forward as he formed a plan, Midoriya wasn't the only strategist. "Rotate!" Quickly, his horses threw him up slightly and switched positions; they now had Shishida at the front. "Shishida-kun, full beast!"

With a yell the boy transformed, "RAH!" He smashed into Bakugo's team and the blond gritted his teeth as he hit them with an explosion, one which was blocked by Tsuburaba straining his quirk's range to block the blast.

"THE FUCK!" He yelled, before he felt a punch. Monoma grinned widely as he socked Bakugo. "Bastard…" He said through clenched teeth as he went to strike back.

Only to get an explosion to the face. "W-What?" He asked. Because his own quirk was just used against him!

Monoma smirked, he had to admit that this quirk was powerful, his shoulder stung a bit, and he did like it a lot. However, he did not like the person attached to it. He brushed his hand forward and touched Kirishima's hair. Remembering the boy was a carbon copy of Tetsu.

Bakugo grit his teeth and went for a retaliatory explosion, only for it to be blocked by Monoma using Kirishima's quirk. He smiled and he reared an arm back and shot it forward, before it began to spin like a drill.

Class A's blond winced as it tore into his stomach before his team pulled back. Monoma smiled, "Courtney of my classmate Kaibara." He said with a slight bow. What could he say? He liked putting on a performance.

Bakugo looked up with a glare. "I'll kill you…"

"I'd like to see you try." Monoma returned with a glare of his own.

---

Izuku ran with his team, Komori was using her quirk on everyone, sprouting mushrooms on opposing teams and causing them to freak out. "Ok- Ok, come on!" Izuku dodged another team, Yanagi and Hatsume using the hover boots to catch up, they weren't on full blast so they could last longer than earlier.

He jumped over a team that was composed of students from 1-A and Yanagi smiled as she used her quirk, taking the headbands with her. She quickly handed them to Komori, the mushroom girl took them with a smile as she traded out the ten million on her head for one of the ones Yanagi had gotten.

It was part of the plan, however the suggestion was made by Yanagi to make it harder to get. Everyone would think that the Ten Million would be on her forehead, and since they were pretty far away from each other it'd be hard to tell with their eyes.

The boy was panting, eyes shooting in every direction, hyper aware of his surroundings. No one was coming close, they were wary, which was good for them. But it took him a while to realize they weren't wary of him. No- they were scared of-

"LOOK AT TEAM TODOROKI GO, IN HOT PURSUIT OF TEAM KOMORI'S TEN MILLION POINTS! ENDEAVOR'S SON, BOTH OF CLASS A'S REPS, DO THEY EVEN STAND A CHANCE?" Ok, Izuku didn't like the favoritism, but he finally realized why Todoroki was so familiar to him.

It was Endeavor's last name. But Todoroki Jr. displayed an ice quirk?

He shook the thought away, he needed to stay focused. AND HE DEFINITELY NOTICED THE GLACIER THAT NOW BLOCKED THEIR RIGHT.

His team quickly turned around and came face to face with team Todoroki, now that Izuku had a chance to look at the boy, he realized the boy's quirk. "White side produces ice, the left produces fire. He doesn't seem to use his fire, or at least he wouldn't risk hurting someone with it, so… Guys! Stick to their left, our right!"

Komori and the others nodded and ran to stay on the boy's left. Todoroki narrowed his eyes at the team. "How does he know..?" He whispered.

"Todoroki! Is something the matter?" Iida asked as the boy's front horse. Todoroki sighed and shook his head. "Just focus on getting the band." The bi-colored hair boy responded with a cold voice to which his team nodded.

Iida faced Class B's representative, the boy had been… different. He held himself much differently than he did during the entrance exam, and he was raising his fist to them, "SMASH!" A blast of wind smashed into them as Izuku's left index finger now matched his right, Komori quickly made another mushroom for him to which he ate with speed.

Todoroki's team almost lost hold of their rider but they managed to hold on. Just barely.

Izuku breathed deep as they circled Todoroki's team, staying on his left side. They needed to bolt as soon as they could. "TEN MINUTES LEFT!" They were two thirds done with the time, almost done. The final stretch. "We can do this…"

There was also the fact that other teams were swarming for Todoroki. They were fighting in a corner, Izuku's team closer to the edge, so Todoroki's team was acting as the perfect shield for them. Along with the fact that they had their backs turned, they were an amazing target.

"Kaminari!" Todoroki yelled and the blond nodded as Momo created an insulated sheet and covered the rest of their team.

Izuku looked on as sparks danced across the blond. "Indiscriminate Shock!" He yelled as they suddenly danced with more vigor, more force, more power, "1.3 MILLION VOLTS!" The surrounding teams were toast, but their headbands remained.

"Yanagi…." Izuku whispered, she understood and was happy that the bands were barely within her range as she tugged on all of them.

Team Todoroki only saw them pass overhead as Komori threw them around her neck.

"WOAH, TEAM TODOROKI TAKES OUT A BUNCH OF OTHER SQUADS BUT IT'S KOMORI WHO GETS THE POINTS!" Izuku starred as the other team conversered.

"I can get us those points, but you'll have to be ready, I'll also be completely useless after I do this." Iida told his team as they prepared themselves. Todoroki nodded, no matter what was happening today, he was going to win.

He'd win by only using his mother's side. "Do it." He said and glared at Midoriya.

The boy could feel a shift in the air, something changing, this battle had just gone up a level. He tensed his body. "Full Cowling: 7%" The small change sparked more bolts across his body. His teammates felt the power, the heat, the warmth, and they trusted him.

"I can use my capture net Midoriya!" Hatsume yelled as she prepared to pull it out.

But before she could, wind passed them by, and headbands were ripped from Komori's face. Notably, her face and not her neck.

Izuku didn't have any chance to waste, they needed to get away.

Todoroki looked down at the points he had acquired, "95….60…..25…." He clenched his teeth, "None were the Ten Million, go back!" He yelled, for the first time his class heard actual emotion in his voice. Anger.

"Todoroki! My engines are stalled, I can't do much!" Iida yelled as they turned the horse around, but Midoriya's team was already getting away.

"I don't care.." He responded, before they knew it a second glacier spawned and swung around to trap Izuku's team from escaping, combined with the one Todoroki made earlier, they were boxed in. "Get them…"

Komori's team turned around to face Todoroki. Izuku gulped, before smiling. "Come on! Todoroki!"

---

The fight between Monoma and Bakugo had been at a stand still. Bakugo was outmatched by a level headed Monoma, one who wasn't letting his anger and complex get to him, but the boy's rage kept him going despite that.

Bakugo jumped away from his team to try an aerial assault, Monoma copied Tsuburaba's quirk and made an air shield using it, blocking the attack. Before Bakugo could curse at all, Sero shot out his tape and brought him back to his horses.

A complete standstill, and Monoma would keep it that way and more. He needed to take the boy's headbands, his points. He needed to make sure that Bakugo would not go onto the next round, for Midoriya's sake.

He promised to be the greatest friend he could, this was his chance to be so. However, he couldn't get the upper hand, no matter how much he tried!

Bakugo retaliated and threw more explosions, to which he used Tsuburaba's quirk again, but he was losing breath. His lungs weren't as developed as the boy's who the quirk belonged to.

The barrier cracked and he quickly switched to Kirishima's quirk, blocking, before decking Bakugo again. But the boy blasted back.

They weren't getting anywhere.

But Bakugo had had enough. The boy launched into the air and Monoma got ready to block again, however the boy seemed to dance in the air, quickly moving around as he used his explosions to change his trajectory. Monoma's eyes soared around, looking for an opening to block.

Bakugo grinned before he used his explosions before getting behind the opposing team.

Monoma cursed and turned around, quickly activating hardening, but Bakugo aimed for his horse, Shishida. The boy growled and tried to attack back, but Bakugo was gone with more explosions as he flipped in the air and sent a blast towards Monoma's face, one which also sent him back to his team.

Monoma rubbed his eyes, even with hardening, the light was blinding. "Damn it!"

"HEY, ASSHAT! LOOK WHAT I GOT!" The blond of 1-B opened his eyes as best he could, and caught headbands that were in Bakugo's hands. "They'll be a nice addition to what I've got going on here! Next one is DEKU'S TEN MILLION POINTS!"

Monoma growled and prepared to run after however, "SMOKESCREEN!" Bakugo used his quirk and created a giant smokescreen.

"Shishida-san, are you alright?" Monoma asked quickly.

"While the damage hurts, I can continue."

"Alright! We're going after him!"

---

Izuku stood defiantly as Todoroki's team closed in, thinking of what he could do. And that's when he heard it, "DEKU, YOU BASTARD!" Turning around, he saw Bakugo's team in the air, jumping over Todoroki's glacier barrier using a combination of Sero's tape and Bakugo's explosions. "Those points are mine Icyhot!"

"Hatsume-chan, the net!"

The pinkette smiled widely as she finally got to use it, aiming at Bakugo's team she fired. "Like that'll stop me!" Bakugo blasted it, but then was sent back by a force of wind, courtesy of Izuku.

"Midoriya!" Yanagi and Komori fretted over their friend who was now sporting a broken finger after using his index again. "It's fine…" He gasped for breath as Bakugo's team pulled him back.

The boy himself looked shocked, "Deku… hurt me…" He was still comprehending the situation and how much it angered him.

They didn't get a break though as Todoroki was instantly upon them again. He was reaching for Komori with his left hand, trying to get their points, "Keep Komori up!" Izuku yelled as he reached forward with a hand.

'Don't let it explode!' He charged up One For All quickly, too quickly, he could feel the power fluctuating, but his team was in trouble! He grabbed Todoroki's hand and swatted it away, both of them could see the flames that danced in the air afterward.

"He does have fire…"

"I-I used it…"

Izuku winced as his arm hurt a bit, but it was nowhere near as bad as his fingers. So that was good, it meant he hadn't used too high of a percentage, maybe around twelve if he had to guess. "Yanagi push!" The ghost girl did so and Team Todoroki was sent sprawling back.

Izuku ran Full Cowling making them a lot faster than other teams, including Todoroki and Bakugo's. Some people may have called it cowardly to run, but they had no other options, they didn't have the power to fight both Bakugo and the son of Endeavor at once.

They had to wait it out. It was their only option.

Bakugo readied himself again and Todoroki's team took charge, both closing in on them. Izuku squatted, "Hatsume!" He yelled. "On it!" She responded and he jumped, soaring into the air again.

'I didn't know if they had cooled down enough or not.. thank god they were…' It would've been horrible if they weren't.

But he still heard explosions, looking down he saw Bakugo chasing them into the air. "THOSE POINTS ARE MINE DEKU!" He yelled like a rabid animal as he chased them. Yanagi pushed with her quirk but that didn't stop him, Hatsume didn't have any more nets to use, and Komori couldn't do anything against the explosions with her mushrooms.

"YOU'RE DO-"

"AND THAT'S TIME! THE CAVALRY BATTLE, THE SECOND EVENT OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL HAS ENDED!" They all heard Present Mic scream as Bakugo froze mid air, staring straight at Izuku.

He could see the hate in the boy's eyes, the want to destroy Izuku. The crimson eyes told him everything that Bakugo was feeling. All the rage, the desperation, the pride, the hate, he could see all of it. And it made him quake.

But he looked back with his own glare. He had earned his spot at UA, and he was here to stay.

Bakugo flinched at Deku's eyes, that- it wasn't supposed to be like this! He felt himself get tugged on his back, probably Soy-Sauce Face using his quirk again, but he kept his eyes on Deku as his team came back down.

What the hell happened to the quirkless freak that cowered whenever Bakugo opened his mouth?

---

Izuku cheered with his friends as he smiled and slightly cried after the cavalry battle ended. Yanagi smiled, "Good job Midoriya, I knew we could do it." She smiled as she saw him smile, it was something always great to see.

"You two did great too!" Izuku said.

"Thanks shroom! I can't believe we got into the tournament!" Komori smiled widely, shaking with excitement. She didn't think that she'd get this far into the Sports Festival, it was a little bit nerve wracking if she was being honest.

"And Hastume-chan, you're… babies… helped a lot." The inventor gave him a thumbs up, as she was already working on the hover boots again. Izuku sighed, but then smiled, maybe she could work on his new hero costume?

Yanagi floated over, smiling as she pulled on Izuku's arm. "Come, we have to see our placement, but we have most likely gotten first place." She said, to which Izuku nodded and let himself be dragged.

It was a little embarrassing, and it hurt a bit as his arms still thumped in pain from using too much of One For All, but it was worth it. His friend was smiling, and that was really important to him.

"IN FIRST PLACE WE HAVE TEAM KOMORI WITH OVER TEN MILLION POINTS!" Present Mic yelled, the students and crowd winced as they covered their ears. But his shout was replaced by cheering, the crowd congratulating the four of them.

He could practically hear his mom crying in his ear, congratulating him on getting so far. Because she always was happy when he did something, not with how close he was to something. She'd be happy even if he lost in the first round of the tournament, because he had still gone so far during the entire ordeal.

"Those are my students!" Vlad King yelled over the railing as he congratulated the three of 1-B that were on Komori's team. "Kan-sensei seems quite proud of the three of us." Yanagi smiled as she heard Vlad King.

"IN SECOND PLACE, WE HAVE TEAM BAKUGO!" The blond of 1-A silently seethed as he glared at Izuku's team, he wanted first place damn it! Second place meant nothing to him! It was worthless!

"IN THIRD, WE HAVE TEAM TODOROKI!" The son of Endeavor narrowed his eyes at Midoriya as he clenched his left arm. "He… made me use it…" He hated it, he'd have to have a little talk with Midoriya. No one had made him use his fire, not a single member of his class.

So how did this guy from 1-B do it? How was he so strong and where did he come from?

"AND IN FOURTH WE HAVE, WOAH! TEAM SHINSO, WHO'S THIS GUY?" Present Mic exclaimed as no one knew who this contestant was, he wasn't from the hero course. He was a complete mystery to most of them.

Izuku stared at their team, the purple haired boy and his team. The three, Shoda, a boy with a tail that looked rather plain, and then….. Kuroiro. "Kuroiro-kun…" Izuku muttered slowly to his team.

Komori turned to him and sighed, "Y-Yeah, that's the team that Kuroiro joined, I wanted to team up with him but he quickly left after the one with purple hair talked to him." She frowned a bit.

Midnight smiled on the podium, seeing those that had moved on showing such excitement was rewarding for her. "We'll allow a small break before the official-"

"TOURNAMENT, YEAHHHH!" Present Mic yelled, his favorite part of the Sports Festival every year had always been the tournament. After all, it was the round that he got to do the most commentating in, it was always awesome for him.

Izuku nodded to himself, the tournament was always the last part of the Sports Festival. It was always a fan favorite too. However, two students had something to say. "Umm Miss Midnight," The tail boy raised a hand. "I-I would like to resign from the tournament." He said with a dejected sigh.

"O-Ojiro-kun, what are you doing? This is an amazing opportunity!" Iida yelled with arm chops.

Ojiro nodded and turned to his Vice Rep, "I know, but I can't remember the last round at all. I- I didn't earn it, the right to move on…" He looked back up to Midnight, "I won't regret this, I resign!"

Before the R-Rated hero could say anything, Shoda opened his mouth, "I would like to resign as well!" He yelled. "For much of the same reasons, Miss Midnight." The Twin Impact user said.

Izuku widened his eyes as he walked over, "S-Shoda-kun, you can't-"

"I've already made up my mind Midoriya." Shoda smiled, "Please, let me do this."

The successor of One For All frowned. "I- ok…" He didn't like it, at all. He stared at Shinso, the team's leader, as he saw Kuroiro looking around with confusion. "Komori-chan, I think the same happened with Kuroiro." He told the mushroom girl.

"I-I'll go talk to him…" She left to go talk with her friend. Izuku simply nodded.

"Do you think something bad happened?" Yanagi asked. Despite her monotone voice, Izuku could tell that she was worried about her classmates. Izuku didn't answer with a resolute answer. "I don't know…" was all he said.

Yanagi frowned and let go of his arm. "I hope everything will be alright." She said, "Me too.."

They were silent, Hatsume had left to go work on her inventions, and Komori had left to go talk with Kuroiro. It was just them, both worried about their friends, but they didn't know how to properly talk about it.

Izuku had never had to do something like that before, worrying over friends, as he had never had any. But now he had, and it was weird. Yanagi was just more reserved compared to most of her classmates, and while she was relatively open with Izuku there was something else that she also wanted to talk about as well.

She found her mouth opening before she could think about what to say. "Izu-"

"Midoriya." The two froze and turned behind them to see Todoroki, the boy's eyes held a cold glare for Class B's rep. "We need to talk."

Notes:

Alright, so that's the end of the first part of the Sports Festival, sorry that this took so long but school is really kicking my butt, and Cross Country is taking up even more of my spare time. I'll try to have the next chapter out soon, but other than that I don't have anything about me to talk about, so let's talk about the chapter.

Originally, I was going to have each round be its own chapter, but I finished the obstacle course and it was only 5K words, and each of my chapters are at least 7 thousand, or that's the average I've been hitting. So I said screw it and did both rounds, so yeah. I hope you guess enjoyed the longer chapter I guess.

Now, onto the question of the day, do you guys want Izuku to win the tournament? Now, I always get frustrated when Izuku beats Todoroki in the Sports Festival because it's usually done in a horrible way, but I do have an idea for it to be actually believable. Just let me know what you guys think!

Chapter 12: The Tournameent: Part 1

Summary:

After having just placed in the second round of the Sports Festival, now Izuku has to deal with Todoroki, while his friends seem to have been under a strange effect.

And he has to fight someone with mind control???

All the while, Monoma deals with his rage about not being a good enough friend, will someone be able to comfort him?

Tetsu has to fight a copy cat of himself?! Will he be able to pull through?!

"We need to talk." Izuku froze as Todoroki stared at him expectantly, his eyebrows knitting in confusion. What did the Son of Endeavor want to talk to him about? He didn't know, and he didn't really want to find out either. Inching closer to Yanagi, he wanted to grab her arm or hand or something, but his fingers thumped in pain. He needed to go to Recovery Girl.

"I apologize for intruding, however Midoriya needs to go see Recovery Girl." Yanagi floated in front of them and pushed Izuku away. "It is a matter of utmost importance and we cannot waste time."

Todoroki grit his teeth and the little slight, "Waste time? Why-"

"Isn't that right Midoriya?" Yanagi asked, cutting off Todoroki. The boy scowled. Izuku simply nodded. "R-Right!" And was dragged away to Recovery Girl's infirmary, they had time until the tournament stage was set up so they could afford to take some time to head to Recovery Girl. Todoroki narrowed his eyes and followed them.

They arrived and Yanagi opened the door for Izuku, not wanting him to use his wrecked hands. She would be lying if she said she was alright with the way they passed on to the next event. She hated Izuku breaking himself. "Miss Recovery Girl, I have a patient for you." She said monotonously, masking her emotions.

The nurse simply turned, and sighed. "I knew it was too much to hope." She cursed under her breath as she walked over and gave Izuku a peck on his cheek with her extending lips. Afterwards, handing him some gummies. "Please, I don't want to see you again today." She stared at him blankly as he simply smiled. The smile made her sigh, "I'll get a bed ready for you…"

"Thank you…" Izuku simply said. "We'll leave now..." He didn't want to bother her anymore, especially when she had to put up with him so much already.

The two students walked out, only to see Todoroki waiting in the hall. "We can talk now." He glanced at Yanagi. "Alone, preferably." His voice was flat, but it held.. something. Something that made chills go up Izuku's spine. His eyes were also cruel looking, and the way he spoke felt off to Izuku. But... there was something else in them too, it looked like pain, and Izuku wanted to help.

Izuku glanced at Yanagi, the girl's eyebrows were knitted in either anger or annoyance, he couldn't quite place it. It was kind of cute. 'N-No! You can't think that!' He admonished himself. Silently, he patted her shoulder, and smiled. "It's okay, Yanagi-chan, just a small talk."

Yanagi looked like she wanted to argue, but she kept her mouth closed. "I'll be waiting for you in the stands with the rest of our try, please try your best to not be tarty." She said before floating away.

After she left, Izuku turned to 1-A's recommendation student before gulping.

They stood in an empty hall, Todoroki staring at him with narrowing eyes. "You made me use it…" He said quietly, lifting his left arm. "Eh?" Izuku was confused, he knew nothing about Todoroki after all. The boy was a complete stranger to him. "My fire." Todoroki clarified, "I swore to never use my fire in combat, but you made me use it." He glared at Izuku, like the greanette was the reincarnation of the devil.

"You, someone who came out of nowhere, not even admitted through recommendation, made me use my fire." Todoroki shook his head. "What's so special about you, to make someone like me break my promise?"

Izuku squirmed under Todoroki's gaze, but he still opened his mouth. "I-I'm not all that special at all…" He was only the successor of Japan's Number One Hero and Symbol of Peace, no big deal, but honestly, besides that there really was nothing special about him "B-But, why would you hinder yourself like that?" He asked, trying to stir the conversation.

The opposing boy recoiled, "Hinder?" Todoroki seemed to be angered, "Why would I be hindered, I'm not using that man's power. Why would I be hindered by that, Midoriya?" His voice was icy cold.

Izuku quickly understood that Todoroki didn't seem to like his father. But he did have to wonder why, after all they seemed to be very similar. But he found words to open his mouth. "W-Well, what are you going to do even if someone's freezing to death in a snowstorm? Or if your ice is ineffective in a fight because someone can perfectly counter it with their quirk? Or if your ice is hindering you in a fight-"

"Stop talking." Izuku immediately shut his mouth and stared at the silent Todoroki. The boy seemed to ponder Izuku's words before shaking his head, dismissing his thoughts. "Have you ever heard of quirk marriages?"

Izuku noticed he was diverting the topic. He didn't want to think about what Izuku had said, but Izuku didn't know why. Though the topic of quirk marriages had slightly interested him, he had of course heard of them, it was a booming topic on the news when he was a little kid. But it had been a while, he needed a refresher. "N-No…"

Todoroki nodded, "Marrying someone to get the simple product of a child with a strong quirk." He answered before looking down, spacing out. Or maybe remembering, pain, misery, sorrow.

Izuku understood. He had done that a lot sometimes, he would zone out and remember all of his life up until meeting All Might. Sometimes it happened because he thought of his old friend, other times it happened for no reason at all. But, he just knew that he didn't like it. He didn't like remembering the past, he wanted to move forward towards a brighter future.

Todoroki blinked, seemingly remembering where he was before continuing. "I'm the fourth child, my father's "successful" one." Despite Todoroki speaking in monotone, Izuku could clearly tell he was being sarcastic. "So, I was forced to endure living hell, what he referred to as training, the only solace I had was my mother. I wasn't allowed to be around my other siblings, those he deemed failures."

Izuku felt himself frowning alongside Todoroki. It was horrible, still though, he had to wonder. "W-Why would Endeavor go through all this?"

Todoroki's eyes widened, registering he realized he hadn't told Midoriya the reason why. "He wants to beat All Might, to surpass the Symbol of Peace." Izuku went rigid. Something that did not go unnoticed by Todoroki. Though the two toned haired teen continued "He knew that he couldn't do it, so he passed it onto his child, to me…"

"I-I see…" Izuku muttered. He felt clammy now that Todoroki had mentioned All Might. That made things a little bit more personal, though he wished that Todoroki didn't realize that. Actually, the boy probably didn't even know, so that was fine, everything was fine!

"But then he took my mother away after she poured boiling water on my face.."

Izuku gaped, the conversation was nowhere near a lively one. It was depressing, extremely so, he didn't think it could get any worse. How? How could he be so wrong? "W-Why'd she… do that…? I-If you don't mind me asking." He tried to seem polite, but he didn't know if he did. He didn't know how to talk about… anything going on in this conversation.

Todoroki brought up a hand and rubbed his scar, as if remembering the day he had gotten it and the experiences that he had with it since then "She hated my father, she hated being trapped in our house, but she loved me." His stone faced facade seemed to crack as he clenched a fist. "But.. I reminded her of him, she couldn't take it anymore… and…." He ended with silence, letting it sink in.

Izuku frowned. "I'm sorry that happened to you. No one should go through that, especially not at the hands of someone who should give them unconditional love."

Todoroki glared at him, "I didn't need your pity Midoriya. I just wanted to inform you that even if you're strong, even if you made me use my fire once, it won't happen again. I'll use only my right side, only my mother's power, and I'll defeat you. You're my stepping stone to All Might. I'll beat the Symbol of Peace without using my fire and stick it to my old man…!" For once, there seemed to be emotion in his voice.

All Might's successor nodded, creasing his brows, thinking about Todoroki's words. "So… a declaration of war then?" The Son of Endeavor nodded. "Well then…" He'd admit, he was nervous as heck but… he met Todoroki's eyes with ones that were filled with determination. "I-I made a promise to someone… that I'd tell the world that I'm here! I can't break that promise, Todoroki. So I apologize but… I'm going to win! And I won't lose to you!"

The stone cold boy remained impassive however and simply turned away, "It's futile, no matter what happens, no matter how hard you try, you're still going to lose…" The green haired boy felt chills, but he wouldn't cower!

"Todoroki.." The boy barely glanced at Izuku by looking behind his shoulder, only to see Izuku smile. "Good luck!"

He paused, not expecting that part "I.. um… you too.. Midoriya…" And awkwardly walked away. Todoroki left and Izuku let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding in. "OHMYGOD! That'ssomuchtotakein! I mean, quirk marriage! Endeavor! I mean he always looked mean or at least annoyed online and on TV, but to think he'd do something like that! The number two hero! And his siblings and mom too! Oh my GOD!" He panted, "I-I don't even know what to say!"

Needless to say, Izuku had a hard time keeping quiet about it, but he managed.

The boy sighed as he entered 1-B's seating area, his entire class was already there. He was just here to say bye, since it looked like he would have the first match. But he noticed that Monoma wasn't around, the boy wasn't seated in the stands.

"Hey where's-"

"HITOSHI SHINSO AND IZUKU MIDORIYA, PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY DOWN TO THE STADIUM SO WE CAN GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" Izuku winced at the volume and sighed. He thought he had more time. "Well.. never mind I guess…" He muttered. "See you guys!"

"Midoriya wait!" Nirengeki Shoda shot out of his seat and stalked towards Izuku, he seemed to have his words caught in his throat before he shook his head. "I need to talk to you about Shinso.. I thought I'd have more time though, what were you even doing this entire time?! But! Just- don't respond to him, no matter what he says, alright?"

Izuku nodded dumbly, "A-Alright, but what's-"

"Midoriya." The monotone voice was obviously Yanagi, and it came from behind him. He flinched, because she always did that and it scared him! He turned around and came face to face with her, "I... wanted to give you something. " She said before she softly grabbed his hand and put something in it.

"Eh?" Izuku clenched it and looked at it, it was his friendship bracelet. But there was more now. Orange and Dark Green trims were on the leather band and it had little circles of red neatly ordaining it. On top of a pair of little horns that surrounded the gem. "Y-Yanagi-chan… this.. it's awesome." He didn't know what else to say so he quickly put it on his left hand.

It was tight, firm, and reassuring. He loved it. He smiled and looked back up to his ghosty friend. "Thanks Yanagi-chan." Izuku glanced at the stadium screen, a timer showing when the first match was going to start. "Umm I have to go now but I'll…buy you lunch or whatever you want, promise." He got to the top of the steps and waved. "See you!"

Yanagi smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. He liked it! She was so glad that he said liked it. She was worried that he wouldn't, but he did. So everything was a-ok. "That was a nice thing to do Yanagi." She turned to Kendo and tilted her head.

"Well, what else are friends for?"

Kendo smiled and shook her head. "Friends, right, right.."

The ghost girl perked up. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

Meanwhile….

"DAMN IT!"

SLAM!

A familiar blond punched a wall before wincing and grabbing his hand, he didn't think that punching a wall would hurt so much. "Stupid! Stupid hand! Stupid.. me…" His voice lost all of its rage as he sighed before leaning against the wall. He placed his hand against his foreheads, it felt like it was thumping.

From either quirkoveruse or a headache because he was about to start crying, he didn't know "I'm so dumb…" He fell to the ground. "For once, I thought I could do something. Help someone, be a hero…" Monoma chuckled. "What an idiot…"

"I don't think you're an idiot..."

"OH MY GOD!" The boy yelped before turning to his left, seeing a familiar floating head looking for once, not happy. He panted, his heart was racing. "Please tell me you didn't hear all of that?" Monoma asked with a mortified look.

Setsuna winced before the rest of her body came from around the corner, her head reconnecting before she sat down next to him. "Sorry, but I heard everything.." She pulled her legs to her chest and hugged them. "I know I should've minded my own business, but I was worried about ya." She turned to him, and he could see it in her eyes. "Are you okay?"

Monoma flinched, for once someone was worried about him. UA was very different from Junior High. Back then no one gave him a second glance, because he was "The Copy Cat" a freak, a loser, someone always playing catch up. But no one had seen it that way at UA, he just had some really great friends. "No… I'm afraid I'm not…" He sighed and leaned his head back on the wall.

The shark toothed girl felt her heart tighten up, she was a jokester, a clown! She made people laugh and smile with her pranks, kind of like the Smile Hero: Ms. Joke. But she didn't know how to make someone smile in a situation like this.

She sighed before she leaned onto his shoulder. She just trusted her gut and opened her mouth. "I think you're a hero…" Setsuna heard him sigh.

"You don't know what you're talking about. Setsuna.. I'm not like you. I don't have a power of my own. No matter how hard I try, I will always be behind everyone else. I could never be someone like All Might, someone like Midoriya. I don't possess that brightness." Monoma dry chuckled. "I just- I wanted to win, to take Bakugo out of the Sports Festival so Midroiya wouldn't have to face him… and I couldn't even do that"

Setsuna's face fell as she sat next to her friend. What could she do? 'Think! Come on! Neito needs help, so help him, oh but how!' Monoma's quirk required contact with the individual whose quirk he wanted to use. She could be smart and use smart words when she wanted, so what could she do?

Suddenly, a glorious idea popped into her head, and some of her hair popped off of her head as she used her quirk. Her hair that previously went past her shoulders stopped near her ears as she grabbed the long strands and braided them.

Monoma raised a brow and looked at what she was doing. "What are you..?"

"Shoosh." She said and pushed a finger to his lips, making them squish up. Monoma sighed and nodded. She retracted her finger and continued working on whatever she was doing. With her brows knitted and her tongue sticking out, it was clear that she was concentrating.

The boy simply looked at her before turning away, wallowing in his own self pity a bit more. Though he didn't get to for long before a floating finger was poking him in the cheek. "What is it?" He asked.

Setsuna didn't say anything except, "Here." Monoma turned to her to see a very large braid that was basically a bracelet. He tilted his head at the object. "Take it." She insisted.

"Em.. alright…" He grabbed the hair bracelet and put it around his wrist, and instantly felt the warmth of a quirk being added to his arsenal. Monoma's eyes widened in realization. "Wait! Did you just-"

"TADA!" Setsuna bounced onto her feet and smiled as she placed her hands on her hips. "With this bracelet, you'll always be able to use my quirk, even when I'm not around!" She smiled and let out a hand to help him up. "So I'll always be with you, I'll always help pick you up, promise blondie."

Monoma put his hand in hers and she hauled him up, he looked down at her and smiled a little. "Thank you Setsuna. I- I don't know what to say."

She simply grinned wider, "Don't say anything then, we've gotta go cheer greenie on, isn't that what a good friend would do?" She asked with a raised brow as she bounced on a foot.

"Yes, I suppose it is." He chuckled as he moved to retract his hand, but he found it kept in place, holding onto Setsuna's. "Eh?"

"Come on! Let's hurry!" She tugged and dragged him through the halls, heading back up to the stands. "Little Sheep's match is going to start soon, Neito!"

"Alright, alright!" The boy conceded himself to his fate and glanced down at the bracelet of hair now wrapped around his arm. "Alright… Setsuna"

---

"FROM THE NORTH TUNNEL WE HAVE HITOSHI SHINSOU, A MYSTERIOUS DARK HORSE FROM THE GENERAL COURSE THAT IS HERE TO PROVE THAT HE'S GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO MATCH UP TO THE HERO COURSE!" He heard Present Mic yell.

Izuku calmed himself as he walked through the halls of the stadium. He felt his heart bouncing in his chest, wanting to be let out as it was about to explode. But, he already told himself that he couldn't prolong it, he had to do this, here and now. There was no turning back.

"…AND FROM THE OTHER TUNNEL, WE HAVE IZUKU MIDROIYA FROM CLASS 1-B, THIS CLASS' TOP STAR THAT GOT FIRST PLACE IN BOTH PREVIOUS EVENTS!" Izuku felt his hands go clammy before rubbing them on his clothes and smiling as he walked out of the tunnel.

Cheers, overwhelming cheers, he felt like it was too much, but he kept his head held high. "It's now, or never…" Izuku stepped onto the stone stadium platform, locking eyes with the lilac haired boy from the Cavalry Battle.

"Kuroiro-kun was on his team too, but they all seemed confused afterwards…" He remembered what Shoda said to him, to not respond. "I'll do my best.."

Midnight smiled as the cheers reached an all time crescendo. "Quiet down!" She cracked her whip on stone and felt giddy as the crowd immediately piped down, she enjoyed having so much power over people. "Do both contestants understand the rules of the tournament?!" She yelled loudly.

Shinso lazily glared at Izuku and nodded. Izuku closed his eyes, took a breath, let it out, opened them, and nodded. "I do."

Midnight's smile grew to manic levels. "THEN LET THE FIRST FIGHT OF THE TOURNAMENT BETWEEN IZUKU MIDORIYA AND HITOSHI SHINSO BEGIN!" She cracked her whip before they all heard the familiar yell of Present Mic.

"START!" The yell shook the stadium but not either of the combatants as they both started, each in their own unique ways.

Izuku quickly activated Full Cowling and sprinted towards Shinso, feeling the familiar wind in his hair was invigorating but then he heard Shinso speak. "It must be so easy for you, having such a powerful quirk." Izuku stumbled before coming to a stop, meters away from Shinso.

Gran Torino narrowed his eyes as he watched on. "What's that kid doing now…"

"Is something the matter, sensei?" All Might asked. Gran Torino simply shook his head. He didn't know what his latest student was doing, but he was definitely intrigued. And he most certainly knew that the zygote facing off against his student was up to something.

Izuku gulped and shook his head. He had to remember what Shoda told him.

His opponent, Shinso, raised a brow and smiled. "I guess they told you about my quirk, huh? It doesn't have as much combat ability as yours. I wasn't able to get into the hero course because we had to fight robots, but I'm sure you got in easily."

Izuku shook his head, he hadn't gotten in easily at all. He got zero villain points and only got in because he blew three of his limbs off and somehow acquired 60 rescue points in exchange.

However, Shinso wasn't done yet, "But I mean seriously, instead of someone like me, they chose a rotund fat kid who chose to drop out because of his pride, how stupid." He spat out.

And Izuku felt something crack. "…what did he just say….?" He said numbly, staring off into space, to seemingly no one. It wasn't a response, and he didn't feel anything take over him like he was led to believe.

Shinso smiled, "Oh? Did I hurt a nerve? What are you thinking? Defending someone like that? They're in the hero course but they don't deserve it, neglecting their body like that."

Before Izuku knew it, Full Cowling was sparking and he was stomping with fury toward Shinso, "SHUT YOUR MOU-" Both his voice and his quirk cut off as he stopped his charge, seemingly freezing in place.

"WOAH, WHAT HAPPENED! MIDORIYA'S TOTALLY GONE FREEZE FRAME ON US!" Present Mic yelled, signaling the audience to start muttering and whispering about what was happening on stage.

"Young Midoriya!" All Might yelled, wondering what was happening to his student. Gran Torino sighed, "That idiotic buffoon…." The other boy was clearly responsible, but he trusted the boy to get out of the situation he had put himself in.

"Greenie, what are you doing, he's right there!" Tokage yelled as she grabbed the railing, having gotten up just minutes before, yelling at Izuku to get moving, but he didn't budge at all.

Yanagi and Monoma shared a glance. "Something out of the ordinary has occurred, for once Midoriya's not charging in head first. Something's wrong…" Yanagi stated to which Monoma nodded.

"It's probably his opponent's quirk, Shinso. Not much is known about him since he's from general studies, which is fortunate for him." With first year hero course students being in the limelight due to the USJ, some of them were highly researched. People sought to find anything on them and make a scoop on it, that included quirks.

But Shinso didn't have that, he truly was a wild card.

Shinso's smile widened as he stared at Izuku's motionless standing form. "Great, now turn around and walk off the stage." The boy simply obliged and turned around before taking a small step, and then another.

"WHAT'S MIDORIYA DOING? HE'S GOING STRAIGHT FOR THE GRASS, FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT DON'T KNOW, WHO PROBABLY WENT TO TAKE A PISS WHEN WE WERE EXPLAINING THE RULES, THAT COUNTS AS A LOSS!" Present Mic's screams echoed through the stadium as Class B began to yell, trying to get their rep to go back, to get out of whatever funk he was in, but it didn't work.

"Gah! I told him too!" Shoda grimaced as he buried his head in his hands, believing Midoriya had already lost. Shishida patted his his friend's back, telling him that there was nothing that he could've done.

Yanagi's hand clenched as she hoped for Izuku to do something to turn the match around, she just didn't know what that something had to be. "Shiozaki! Pray or something for him!" Awase yelled before turning back to the stadium, "COME ON MAN! FUCK UP THAT TULIP LOOKING GUY!"

But nothing worked.

And everything was going similarly for Izuku.

"STOP, GO BACK!" Izuku ordered his body, but it didn't listen. It's like he was a back seat driver in it. He didn't like this feeling at all. Izuku tried planting his feet, to root him to the ground, but that didn't work either.

He was well and truly going to walk out of the arena. "Stop… please…." He'd reached the point of begging, he couldn't make demands so it was his only choice. But even so, nothing changed.

But then…

"Midoriya, My Boy,Ninth…" Tons of unknown voices exploded in his mind and his eyes locked onto something. Where he was walking, a tunnel, full of nothing but darkness, held... figures. Izuku had no idea who they were, but be felt something, something, a feeling. A shock of electricity travel through his veins. A new burst of power. And then One For All exploded.

BOOM!

"WOAH! WHAT'S WITH ALL THIS WIND!" Present Mic screamed as loads of air shot into the stands, messing with people's hair, food, and even sending a certain short member of Class 1-A flying. Monoma's eyes widened as the wind cleared, "He didn't…. or did he?" He smiled as familiar green locks became visible.

Tetsu smiled. "NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MANLY!" Tetsu's screams caused all of 1-B to start cheering for their rep as the air cleared, revealing Izuku. He was barely standing within bounds. "NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL SUSPENSE!" Present Mic cheered, "IZUKU MIDORIYA OF CLASS 1-B STOPS INCHES BEFORE THE OUT OF BOUNDS LINE! WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW?"

Izuku turned around and winced, his right index and middle fingers were broken. But… "How! How're you moving!" Shinso yelled as Izuku looked up and into the widening eyes of the now scared Shinso. "No one's ever broken out of it before…" Shinso grit his teeth as Izuku crouched down, not saying a single word, and charged up Full Cowling. Plan B then "It must be nice for you!" He yelled.

The Successor leaped forward, rushing Shinso, keeping his mouth shut and focusing on his goal. "Having such a strong quirk!" Shinso continued. "Not being looked down on because of the thing you were born with!

The green haired boy felt bad, he truly did. He didn't know what Shinso had been through, but from what he could gather, they were similar. Izuku was looked down on like Shinso, but for something he wasn't born with. A quirk.

SLAM!

Izuku's fist collided with Shinso's face and the boy tumbled back, the blow hurt a lot and drew blood from his nose. He tried to ready himself to fight back but Izuku was in front of him within a second. BAM! A blow to Shinso's stomach made the boy hold it and look down, trying not to throw up. Then he bit his tongue as Izuku hit him with an uppercut.

With a roundhouse kick, Izuku sent Shinso tumbling away.

Izuku stared at Shinso as he panted for breath, One For All still danced on his skin even as he heard Present Mic screaming about the combo he just did and Midnight began counting to ten. Shinso didn't get up. "MIDORIYA'S THE WINNER!" They cheered, especially his class, it made him smile. People were rooting for him, he turned to look at All Might and Gran Torino, giving them a smile and a thumbs up, before turning back to Shinso and walking towards him.

The crowd quieted down and Midnight raised a brow in interest. "What's he doing?"

"Neito, what's Greenie diong?" Setsuna asked the blonde.

The boy shrugged, "I'm not too sure.."

"Hey, Shinso-kun.." Izuku smiled as he stood in front of the boy, the general course student winced and looked up, seeing Izuku looking down on him. He grit his teeth in anger, before a hand was laid out for him to take. "That fight- it was amazing! You're quirk is so cool too! I've never seen one like that before, it felt so weird too, but a funny kind of weird! Can you tell me about it- Ah! L-later of course!" Izuku blushed and shut up.

The lilac haired boy tilted his head in confusion as he, with caution, put his hand in Izuku's, the boy easily lifted him onto his feet. "I um… yeah…" He stumbled over his words, lost in confusion.

Izuku smiled, stars filling his eyes. "Thanks Shinso-kun!" The boy squinted as Izuku's face was way too bright.

"Y-Yeah…." Shinso replied.

Monoma sighed and smiled to himself as he propped his elbows on the rails. "Of course Midoriya would make friends with him.." He couldn't believe his rep sometimes. "I swear, he'd try making friends with Bakugo if they were in the same class, even though he doesn't deserve it."

"That does sound like something our mutual friend would do.." The end of Yanagi's lips turned up as Midnight cooed about the display of sportsmanship that Izuku had shown as the two boys walked together to one of the tunnels

None of them heard all the compliments some of the pros were throwing Shinso's way, but the lilac boy wouldn't have been able to even process those compliments because he was already getting too many from the green boy in front of him.

"It would be so good for heroics, you wouldn't even need to fight! Of course, if they know what your quirk is then that would be a problem. But you could circumvent that with support gear that maybe changes your voice? Or perhaps being an underground hero would help better?"

"I uh… Midoriya." Shinso butted in, snapping Izuku out of his rambles. "That's.. you think I could be a hero?" He asked.

Izuku smiled and nodded his head rapidly. "Of course, especially with your quirk!"

Shinso clenched a fist, "You… don't think it's villainous?"

"Eh.?" Izuku paused and scrunched a brow. There really was no such thing as a villainous quirk per se, there was no heroic quirk either. It all just really mattered how they were used. "No, not at all."

"Why..?" Shinso didn't get it, Midoriya was so weird, so different, from everyone else he had known for all of his life. The boy just didn't make sense.

Izuku stopped walking and turned to Shinso, tilting his head a bit. "Well… I… analyze quirks a lot, since I used to be quirkless…" Shinso's eyes widened at that tidbit of information but he didn't say anything, but now he truly did feel horrible for what he had said during their fight. "But… from what I've seen, there really aren't any "villainous" quirks, just the way people use them."

Shinso just stared dumbfounded before nodding. "A-Alright…"

"Anyways, wanna come to the 1-B seating with me? I really wanna ask you more about your quirk, Shinso-kun!" Izuku smiled.

Shinso grumbled, "can I even do that..? Sit in the hero course area..?"

Izuku looked up and thought, "Well, I don't know, but I'm the class rep for my class and it's alright with me!" Shinso sighed at the loophole and decided to just go with whatever Izuku wanted.

The two arrived at the seating area for 1-B, chatting happily. Izuku was asking as many questions about the boys quirk, it's limits, what needed to be done for activation, all of the such.

"Does it work on you? Like can you ask yourself a question?"

"I've never tried that before actually.."

"It'd be really cool if you could!"

The Dekusquad stared deadpanned as Izuku came in, chatting with his previous opponent. Shoda seemed to be a little annoyed, but Kuroiro found the situation really funny.

"It seems like Midoriya has mastered the power of friendship and has used it to vanquish some darkness in Shinso's heart.."

Komori turned to her black skinned, literally, and white haired friend. "Did you say something, shroom?"

"Ah, no, n-nothing at all." Kuroiro shook his head, and turned away. The two sat down at the front, Izuku sitting next to Yanagi, before the greanette noticed something, "Where's Tetsu-kun?"

Kendo responded, sitting right behind him, "He went down already, his match is about to start." They all saw Izuku's bounce in excitement, ready to analyze his friend's quirk.

Shinso wondered if Midoriya was like this all the time.

---

Both boys stepped out onto stage, unlike the last match which was hero course versus non hero course, this was Class A against Class B. Something Monoma was very excited for.

"SHOW THEM HOW MARVELOUS WE ARE IN COMPARISON, TETSu-" Setsuna laughed as Kendo chopped Monoma on the neck, knocking him out.

"Quiet down you…" The redhead sighed.

The rest of the class sat in anticipation, even Shinso was a little excited with the little energy he had from being an insomniac. Izuku, well, everyone knows how he was. The two combatants stood staring at each other, grinning, itching for a fight. "THE MATCH BEGINS IN 3, 2, 1, STARTT!"

"ALRIGHTTT!" Tetsu cheered, metaled up, and charged. Kirishima did the same, but just went for a war cry instead. "RAAHHHH!"

Thuds of hardened feet and metal ones on ground before they both met and slammed fists into each other's faces. Despite the simultaneous attacks, neither of them moved.

"Woah… they're completely even…" Izuku commented as he started writing in his notebook, using a bit of One For All to make his writing speed faster. He was using the strongest quirk in the world, given to him by the Number One Hero: All Might, to take notes. Yes. After all, quirks were just tools, and he was using it as one, even if it was the most special tool in the entire world.

"As this rate, neither of them will win, they'll gas each other out and that'll be it…" Kendo enjoyed observing fights and taking them apart. But she didn't enjoy seeing the two of them going at each other with the outcoming being a stalemate. "If Tetsu wants to win he'll have to come up with something else, do something different, he won't get anywhere with what he's doing now.."

"Now, that'll be hard, he's not really much of a thinker." Setsuna said as she, or rather her arms, put an unconscious Monoma in the seat next to her. "Unless he's changed? But I doubt that.."

Izuku perked up. "Why, you don't think people can change?" He asked.

Setsuna shook her head, "People are just.. opposed to changing I guess."

Well Kacchan hadn't changed since he got his quirk almost eleven years ago so Izuku guessed that she was right, but there was also All Might. So went from saying Izuku couldn't be a hero, to saying that he could be one and bestowing upon him One For All, all within a day.

People could change, and Izuku believed that Tetsu could change the way he fought and win this.

---

The two had been at it for minutes and were still at a complete standstill.

"RAH!" Kirishima took a punch to the face and skidded back, "You're done!"

"Not yet!" Tetsu received a punch in retaliation.

It'd been going on for a while, and the crowd was starting to get bored, and the two combatants were starting to get tired too. Neither ready for a battle of stamina.

Tetsu winced as the hardened fist connected with his face. 'I can't get more blows in! We're completely even!' If it ended up carrying on like this, then there was no telling how long this fight would last.

Tetsu jumped back, but made little ground due to his steel form's weight. Kirishima was upon him and slammed a fist into his face, making him wince. 'WHAT WOULD MIDORIYA DO IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS!'

Y-You're increased weight when you use your metal form makes you slower!

He was slower… in his metal form, to counter that…. Brain capacity 100% reached, 'BRAIN BLAST Don't use my metal form!' IT WAS SO OBVIOUS!

Kirishima grit his teeth and powered through his exhaustion for one final blow. "RED GAUNTLET-" Only to hit air.

"DOWN HERE!" Tetsu yelled, drawing Kirishima's attention, the teen smiled as his normal skin steeled up in a second, "THIS- IT THE POWER OF MY FRIENDSHIP WITH MIDORIYA, STEEL IMPACT!" Tetsu sent a fist careening up, an uppercut that perfectly landed on Kirishima's jaw.

The boy went up, fell back, and stayed down.

Tetsu panted for breath as his steel skin instantly went away, he staggered on his feet for a couple of seconds, hearing nothing but his breathing, until the crowd exploded into cheers.

"Damn, I should've tried to get harder…" Tetsu heard his opponent curse as he tried to get up.

He walked over and let out a hand, "Hey!" At the yell, Kirishima looked up, "Good fight!"

"AND IN A BEAUTIFUL DISPLAY OF SPORTSMANSHIP, JUST LIKE MIDORIYA, TETSUTETSU TETSUTETSU, SERIOUSLY MIGHT WANNA CONSIDER CHANGING THAT LAST NAME, GIVES HIS OPPONENT A HAND, HOW BEAUTIFUL!" Present Mic yelled into his microphone as the two walked off stage.

The students of 1-B, plus Shinso, all sank as the excitement danced out of their bones. Making some of them feel a little lighter than before. "Man, that was fucking cool.. boring as hell for a while though" Awase smiled, pulling off his headband and wiping his forehead, a bit of sweat collected there during the match.

"I know! I thought it was never gonna end considering they're both…"

"The exact same just, but just recolored?"

"Yeah…"

Izuku finished scribbling in his notebook, letting One For All die out as he didn't need it anymore. "He limited his use of his metal form so he could move faster. It's the same principle with my Burst Style…" He muttered as he tapped his pen on his book.

The boy looked around to notice that both Kuroiro and Komori were gone. "What happened to Kuroiro-kun and Komori-chan?" He asked aloud.

"Kuroiro's match is next, Greenie, he went down to the waiting room. Shroomy just went with him." Setsuna responded, a sleeping Monoma sitting next to her still, well he was knocked out but that was neither here nor there. "You seriously have terrible special awareness."

---

The two sat in comfortable silence, Kuroiro making sure that he wasn't getting too nervous, "T-Thanks.. for coming with me.. Komori…" He muttered quietly.

Komori simply looked up and smiled, her grin reaching high, and her eyes peeking out just a bit. "You're welcome, shroom!"

The white haired teen shivered a bit as he stood up, "W-Well, I better get going then… I'll see you later." Komori simply nodded as the sound of the door slamming closed resounded through the very quiet waiting room.

Her hands clenched under the table, scrunching up her gym pants. "G-Good luck… and please don't get hurt…"

Kuroiro made his way onto stage, if he was being honest, at least a little nervous. Yaoyorozu was one of Class A's recommendation students and his quirk was very situational . With how long the tournament had been going on, he had no shadows in the stadium to use. "Damn sun…."

Yaoyorozu stood across from him, Midnight on her podium smiling and holding her whip high. "The third match of the first round, will now-" "STARTTT!" Present Mic finished for her.

Kuroiro immediately broke into a sprint towards Yaoyorozu, if he could get into her hair then he would win.

However, before he got too far, Yaoyorozu pulled out a net gun and fired it at him. "W-What!" Kuroiro stumbled as his legs and arms got caught in the net before he tripped and fell forward.

"Yikes…" Setsuna winced. "It's alright man!"

Kuroiro cursed and put his hands on the ground, attempting to get up, before looking up and seeing the end of a sword pointing directly into his eyes. Yaoyorozu's own eyes staring down at him. "Surrender."

With the blade pointed at his head, he gulped and smirked "Shouldn't have gotten so close." Kuroiro said, jumping into her shadow.

The Yaoyorozu heir yelped as Kuroiro disappeared. She looked around, trying to find him, but to no avail. Until a hand grabbed her leg. "AH!" She yelled and stared down, seeing him coming out of the shadow.

"Kekeke... how are you going to fight a shadow?"

Yaoyorozu's brows clenched before she smiled, "By simply getting rid of it!"

"Wait wha-AHHH!" Kuroiro yelled as a blinding light overtook the stadium, he fell out of her shadow as it disappeared and she ran away from him.

Kuroiro quickly stood up only to see two flash grenades in her hands. "Like I said earlier, surrender."

He winced and sighed, he knew he wouldn't be able to beat her. "I yield."

"It's alright, it's alright, it's alright!" The crowd didn't quite cheer, but they muttered as Kuroiro deflated as Midnight declared Yaoyorozu the winner.

The raven haired beauty left soon after, content with her win, while Kuroiro left throughout his own tunnel, a little downtrodden. "T-that match ended so fast… damn it…"

---

"That's going to have an effect on his confidence for sure…" Kendo winced, remembering matches from when she was little. Losing to older, bigger kids and crying about it for hours afterwards. Of course she got better, but for a while her confidence was down by a lot.

"So it would seem…" Monoma grumbled as he finally woke up, "Note to self, fear Kendo-san…." He rubbed the top of his head, feeling the ghost pain of the chop.

Setsuna smiled and dragged his head down to her shoulder, where she rubbed the spot he had been hit, "There there, Setsuna's here to make it feel better."

"This is a hundred times worse."

"You know you don't mean that." She teased with a big grin, and she didn't get a response either. Just the boy sighing and making himself comfortable on her shoulder.

"The next match is between two people in 1-A, right? They got a lot more people into the tournament than we did…" Tsuburaba sighed, "Man, one of you guy's gotta win, alright?!"

"LIKE I'D LOSE AFTER MY MANLY DISPLAY EARLIER, I MUST WIN NOW!" Tetsu yelled, activating his quirk in excitement.

"Wouldn't be so sure about that one metal man, you're going up against fucking stutter in the next round." Kamakiri muttered as he crossed his arms.

Izuku blinked, 'Was that a compliment?' He wondered. Though he didn't try to voice these thoughts, preferring to keep them to himself. Still, even if it was on accident, the compliment made him smile.

Tetsu looked over at him and smiled, "TODAY'S THE DAY I BEAT YOU MIDORIYA!" He yelled with excitement, some wincing at his volume, "AND THEN WE'LL BE EVEN-"

"Tetsu duck!" Kendo grabbed him with a giant hand and pulled him down as a giant glacier appeared in their viewing area.

Izuku shivered, breathing heavily, and observing mist coming from his mouth at the cold volume. "Todoroki…."

This was the power of the son of Endeavor?

Notes:

Sorry it's been so long once again. School has been breaking my shit in and I have just not had the time or inspiration to write. I wanted to get more chapters in since I'm on break, but I think I could only maybe do one more, and that's a big maybe.

But this was the first four matches of the sports festival, the next four of round one will be next chapter, all of round two will be after that and so on.

So Monoma and Tokage are closer now, and yes they might be moving fast but seriously it's Tokage whaddya expect?

Izuku knows more about Todoroki and has befriended Shinso. What I like about Izuku is that he influences other people, he pushes them to be better,

Now, Izuku pushes people to be better without even trying, but with him being more positive I want him to go out of his way to help Shinso, and with him knowing what it's like to be bullied and stuff, they have a way to connect.

OK, i think that's all and again, I'm sorry it took so long, please don't take my head.

Chapter 13: The Tournameent: Part 2

Summary:

After witnessing Todoroki's immense power, Izuku confronts Endeavour

Bakugo totally pummels Komori

And next he's gotta fight one of his best friends?!

"Todoroki….." Izuku's heart raced in his chest, an icicle inches away from piercing his face, his body was freezing and he could see his own breathe, practically hear the beating of his chest in his ear. So this was the power of the Son of Endeavor, huh? Yeah, it scared Izuku a bit. And by a bit he meant a whole lot.

Awase's face fell, "Welp neither Tetsu or Midoriya are moving onto the finals then…. Fucking shit man, this is bull!" He thanked god that Ibarra wasn't around, since her match was next she was down in the waiting rooms, she would've slapped the hell out of Awase for that one.

No one else wanted to say it out loud but many were thinking the same thing. After all, even if Izuku could break those glaciers with 100% of his power, he'd be breaking himself, and his limbs were limited.

But All Might's successor wouldn't let that stop him, "I made a promise to win, I'm going to uphold it…" Izuku simply said, closing his notebook with a huff, "I'll overcome any opponents in front of me, I have to."

"Just don't break yourself Greenie!" Setsuna smiled and Monoma chuckled at her words.

"You know he won't be able to keep that promise, right?" Monoma asked her to which Setsuna laughed.

Izuku deflated at their words, Shinso raised a brow before noticing Izuku's broken fingers. He had yet to go to Recovery Girl. Izuku shook his head and sighed, seeing Todoroki free his opponent from the glacier he was trapped in.

It was kinda of funny, the crowd chanting, "Don't worry about it!" For the poor boy. At least Kuroiro put up a fight against Yaoyorozu. And speaking of Yaoyorozu, her match was interesting because- "Ow!" Izuku winced, finally feeling his broken fingers.

His new lilac friend turned to him, "I-I was gonna tell you, but you seemed focused .." Shinso muttered. "Do you do that often..? Break them, I mean."

Before Izuku could answer, Yanagi did. "He does more than he should, which is at all." She pouted. "It is reckless and might I recommend, not beneficial for your health at all."

Izuku blushed. "I-I know! I'm trying to get it under control, but I don't know if I can… umm anyways, I have to go see Recovery Girl again…" She was going to be so angry with him. But then again, he did deserve it, if she was still young her hair would still be gray, all because of him.

Yanagi began to float up and out of her seat, "Want one of us to go with you-"

"No, no it's ok." He cut her off with a wave of his hands, before blushing and smiling. "Recovery Girl's probably going to yell at me, and I don't want anyone to hear…." Izuku rubbed the back of his neck with his not broken hand. "So I'll deal with this on my own…"

Yanagi pouted but she understood his decision, she wouldn't want anyone to know Recovery Girl yelling and calling her an idiot or buffoon, "Very well then, make haste and come back soon, Ibarra's match is commencing in a short while."

Izuku nodded and smiled, "I will, don't worry!" There was no way he was missing her match!

---

Izuku sighed, stepping out of Recovery Girl's office for the second time that day. Her admonishing really did get to him, he felt bad for making her work so much, but was also reminded of how little control over All Might's quirk he really had. Despite developing Full Cowling and his Burst Style, there were some points where he couldn't solve problems with it, and he'd give in and use 100%. He was weak, he knew that, and he was angry because of that.

The Successor stalked through the halls, he hadn't heard Present Mic's voice yet so he figured he still had time before Ibarra's match. They were probably still dealing with Todorki's glacier, after all. Which was crazy. Izuku gulped, feeling clammy all of a sudden. Someone with that kind of power declared war on him?! That was crazy, he felt all sweaty and hot, his nerves really were getting to him.

Oh, or maybe it was because the Number Two Hero was standing in front of him. "E-Endeavor!"

The pro, much taller than Izuku, much wider, giant, with piercing blues eyes and facial hair of fire that burned around him, had just actually been passing through the halls, maybe looking for his son, turned to Izuku. "Boy…" He spoke in a deep voice, one that sent shivers up Izuku's spine, the look made Izuku think of what Todoroki had told him about.

How could he ever look at the Number Two Hero the same way ever again?! "Y-Yessir!" Izuku quickly yelled.

Endeavor let out a sound, reminiscent of a growl, before speaking, "Your power, it reminds me of All Might's…" Izuku was sweating, and he hoped that Endeavor thought it was because of the fire. "My son's duty is to defeat him, surpass your next opponent and give my son a challenge…"

The gruff man walked past Izuku, thinking they were done. They would've been too, but words just had to come out of Izuku's mouth. "Sir, I'm not All Might…."

"Hm?" Endeavor turned around to see Izuku's back, the hero in training sucked in a breath, cursing himself for opening his mouth. "Of course you're not All Might, boy." The man raised a brow at Izuku's words. "You're weak, still a child, nothing like the...Symbol of Peace...."

Izuku let out his breath and nodded, turning around to meet Endeavor's gaze. "You're right, I'm not All Might, I'm nothing like him besides our similar power. And the thing is, Todoroki-kun isn't you either, I'll fight him, I'll give him a challenge, but not because you want me to. Because I want to know Todoroki and understand him and his pain."

Endeavor narrowed his eyes at the boy. 'Pain….understand….?'

Izuku's thin mouth stretched into a wide smile, "Anyways, enjoy your day!" He turned around and jogged off, he didn't want to miss Ibarra's match after all!

The Number Two Pro watched as the small green child went off, grumbling under his breath in confusion. "What a strange child.." He said to no one before turning around and walking through the halls. "How strange indeed, but…strong."

He remembered the wind the kid had kicked up in his first match, it extinguished his flames. "But, so unknown? He's not recommendation, with that kind of power you think he would be…" Endeavor shook his head, deciding to focus on something else for now.

But, he would remember the boy's name, Izuku Midoriya. Unknown to him, the Successor of All Might.

---

Izuku gasped for breath, barely making it back into the stands on time as the match was about to start. He rushed down the steps before taking his seat between Shinso and Yanagi. "Did I miss anything?" He asked excitedly as he bounced in his seat.

"No, they're just about to start…" Shinso told him.

"Great!" Izuku smiled, pulling out his notebook. Leaning forward, he got ready to take any and all the notes that he could on both Ibarra and her opponent's quirk. Speaking of, the girl she was facing had pink skin and pink hair, almost as fluffy as his own, and he swore he remembered her from somewhere. Maybe the USJ?

Shinso leaned back and looked at Yanagi, who he could see because Izuku was leaning forward in anticipation,and raised a brow. "Do you know where that book came from?

"I haven't the slightest clue." She said with a small smile that was directed at Izuku.

Shinso simply nodded. "Alright." Hero course kids were weird, that was for sure.

Present Mic gripped his microphone as he grinned widely, "ALRIGHT, THE MATCH BETWEEN 1-B'S RELIGIOUS EXPERT- IBARRA SHIOZAKI- AND 1-A'S PINKY- MINA ASHIDO- BEGINS IN 3- 2- 1- STARTTT!"

The pink girl bounced on the balls of her feet, grinning widely. "Alright, let's have some fun!" She yelled and ran off, seemingly skating on the ground.

Izuku narrowed his eyes and stared at the ground she was skating on, noticing..smoke….or some sort of gas "That… doesn't make sense at all…." But he also noticed the special shoes that she was wearing. "Most definitely her quirk." He noted.

He'd have to wait and see how the fight progressed though to see more.

Ibarra closed her eyes and put her hands together, and the crowd would swear up and down that a shining light rained down on her, before her hair grew and expanded.

Mina raised a brow before a giant mass of vines shot out at her, "OH MY GOD-" The vines seemed to get even bigger as soon as she said "God." Mina quickly threw out a large goop of acid from her skin right in front of her, it tore a hole threw the vines let her get out unscathed.

Izuku's eyes narrowed, "Acid… it burnt through the vines, maybe that's how she's sliding across the floor? But they're both at different levels of acidity obviously, or else she'd be sinking into the ground…."

Shinso stared at Izuku's notes, the graphite of his pencil had already been burnt through, but he was still writing notes with it. "Jesus…..these hero course kids…"

Ibarra pouted as her vines didn't get their target, so she'd have to try something else. "Perhaps instead of all at once, we could go from different angles, all angles?" She let out a slight smile and her hair grew once more before splitting and surrounding Mina.

"W-Woah! What's going on?!" The pinkette yelled.

"And then, cage the little sheep…" All the strands of veins shot towards Mina, the pink skin girl smiled as she began rapidly spinning in place, shooting acid out all around her, turning the veins to nothing.

When the veins stopped coming, she stopped and smiled at her opponent, panting slightly for breath. "That all you got? Cause I can keep going!" She grinned, wiping a bit of sweat from her forehead.

Ibarra simply smiled, "I did say from all angles…"

Before Mina could piece together what that meant, a mass of veins erupted from under her, locking around her, before flinging her out of the stadium. "AHHH- ooh!" She yelled as she fell on the grass.

"AND WITH THAT, THE RELIGIOUS QUEEN OF 1-B IS VICTORIOUS!" Present Mic yelled, signaling the crowd to cheer, Ibarra let a grin take place on her face. She bowed to the crowd before making her way out.

Up in the stand, Izuku smiled. Ibarra's quirk was very versatile but that match up seemed like one that she couldn't win. Yet, she found a way to win anyways. He looked at the big screen in the stadium, seeing the next match up.

"Hatsume-san versus Iida-kun…"

---

Class B all sweat dropped as the match between the two ended. "She…turned it into a giant commercial…" Kendo sighed and grabbed her head, pulling out a couple hairs. "How did she even do that?"

"No idea, kinda cool though, she just hijacked the Sports Festival." Setsuna smiled. "I mean really, how many people could say that they'd done that?"

"Not many I suppose…." Monoma mumbled.

"Damn right, not many!" She laughed and patted his head, just making him grumble.

Shinso just shook his head, it wasn't just Hero Course students that were weird, he added Support Course to that list too.

Awase finally woke up, he had begun taking a nap because the match had become, in his own words, boring as fuck, "Guh, is it finally over?"

"Yeah…."

"Finally, damn that match was boring as fuck!" He yelled.

Izuku nodded along with his class, taking a couple of notes about Iida's quirk. "I wonder what he uses as fuel though….?" He wondered aloud.

But, besides that, it was time for the next match.

"M-Midoriya." At the call, Izuku turned to the top of the stairs, seeing Kuroiro. The boy looked... nervous, his face confronted in such a way that discomfort was apparent, obviously so. The boy stumbled down the stairs before standing in front of Izuku. "D-Do you think Bakugo would go all out on a girl?"

"Oh most definitely." He answered without missing a beat.

Apparently that wasn't the right answer, because Izuku was being shook by his shoulder. "He's gonna kill her!"

Izuku yelped before grabbing Kuroiro's hands. "K-Kuroiro-kun, who are you talking about?" Who was Bakugo going to kill?

The boy calmed down enough before opening his mouth, "Komori."

---

The entire class watched, all silent, as their favorite mushroom loving brunette came out into the arena. "FROM CLASS B- WE HAVE THE GIRL THAT'S EVERYTHING MUSHROOM, IT'S KINOKO KOMORI!" Present Mic yelled, doing nothing to relieve the stress that Class B was feeling.

"AND FROM THEIR SISTER CLASS- WE'VE GOT THE KING OF EXPLOSIONS HIMSELF, KATSUKI BAKUGO!" From the tunnel strutted out the King of Douchebagery himself, Katsuki Bakugo. He smiled, basking in the praise, the glory, and cracked his neck. He was going to have so much fun. It was apparent by the smug smile on his face.

Izuku didn't like the look that the blonde held, and neither did Komori as she gulped. Bakugo was, to put it simply, terrifying. She still remembered the day she first became friends with Izuku, the day of the Cafeteria Incident.

She felt so useless then, she hadn't been able to protect Izuku at all. A fist clenched and scrunched her gym pants as she held onto it. 'I….don't want that….I want to protect my friends….' Even with her thoughts, she was still scared, terrified even, to fight Bakugo. But she was already here, she couldn't turn back now-

"YOU CAN DO THIS KOMORI!" A mass of voices yelled from behind her, she turned to see all of Class B leaning on the railings.

"Give em hell, Shroomy!" Setsuna cheered.

"YOU CAN DO THIS KOMORI!" Tetsu screamed, for some reason with his quirk activated .

"Just take it slow!" Kendo said, trying to give the girl motivation and advice. "Don't get caught up in your own head!"

"Don't give up, Komori-san!" Izuku added in.

It was Kuroiro's turn and the two friends locked eyes, despite the boy's emotionless face, she could see his nervousness, his shoulders were hunched, and he looked like he was stuffing himself in a box "We- I-I believe in you!" Kuroiro yelled with all his might.

Komori didn't know what to say, but eventually she smiled and gave her friends a thumbs up. "Thanks!" She turned back to Bakugo, a little bit more courage in her heart.

Midnight let out a small smile, remembering herself forming some of the deepest bonds she still had, in highschool. She hoped that the group of Class B students would stick together for as long as her, Shouta, and Hisashi. "Alright! The seventh match of the first round between Kinoko Komori and Bakugo Katsuki will now commence!" She cracked her whip at the same time Mic yelled. "STARTT!"

"Explosive speed turbo!" Bakugo yelled as he shot off towards Komori.

The mushroom girl yelped as she quickly activated her quirk, hoping that it was humid enough around her, "Spore Field!" She yelled, mushrooms coming into being with a pop noise all over the field.

Though they weren't that big, and many of them didn't have any special properties because she made them so quickly. She only saw the scowling face of 1-A's rabbit dog before she ducked.

However, it did nothing to protect her as Bakugo flew by her, grabbed her by the back of her shirt, did a flip mid air, before finally slamming her down onto the ground. She gasped before she felt a weight pressing into her stomach, not letting her stand up. Komori presumed it was the boy's boot.

With a wince, she opened her eyes, everything was a little blurry but she could see one thing very, very clearly. His maniacal smile, it looked crazy, it was terrifying. And his eyes, the crimson bore into her. He looked so...happy, and that terrified her. She was scared, but she needed to stand up for herself here, and take Bakugo out of the tournament. For her friend, Midoriya!

"Got anything to say, shortie?!" He yelled.

She simply smiled, "Shroom!"

"Huh? The fuck does that-*POP*" He didn't finish his sentence as a mushroom popped onto his face. Pop, pop, pop, over and over. Double, to triple, to a dozen. Mushrooms began to cover Bakugo's body and he stumbled back, ripping them off in anger. "THE HELL?!"

Komori propped herself up on her forearms, smiling a bit. Maybe she actually did have a chance to win this. She stood up on shaky legs. "I…have to beat you, for Midoriya!"

That was the wrong thing to say, because Bakugo stopped trying to tear off the mushrooms and just glared at her, even as his vision started to get a little blocked from the mushrooms.

"…god…..Damned…..DEKU!" Two arms were thrusted forward and more pops were heard, but it wasn't coming from Komori's mushrooms this time. Small sparks of light and heat came from Bakugo's hand before they expanded into something greater

BOOM!

A giant explosion came straight from his hands and he grimaced at the pain in his forearms and shoulders. The smoke cleared, and embedded in the wall of the stadium, was Komori.

Bakugo huffed, before breaking out into a smile. "HAHA! I WIN!" He yelled, feeling so….fulfilled. And Deku was nex…..ne….. "The…. hell…?" Bakugo muttered before he face planted, falling into slumber due to the gas wafting around the stadium, courtesy of Midnight.

---

They were all silent, no one knew exactly what to say. They didn't think that Bakugo would go so far, to do something quite so rough with someone that was so small and looked so frail.

"KOMORI!" They all heard the yell, from two voices, but they all were still fixated on what their classmate had done.

None of them saw the green haired boy jumped down to help his friend, or the group of students run across above them to head down to the tunnels. They were solely focused on what Bakugo did.

He gulped before speaking, "I….didn't think Bakugo would go so far…ya know?" Kaminari muttered, kinda numb, a little dull. Not as cheerful as usual.

"Y-Yeah….it was really scary!" Toru shook her arms wildly around, really the only person that seemed to have energy right now, but they all knew that she did it because she couldn't be seen.

Iida pushed up his glasses and they shined a bit, "I must admit, I'm unpleasantly surprised by this as well…." It was…horrifying to say the least.

Ochako shook with a little fear as she stared at the girl, seeming a doppelgänger of herself, in the stadium. Her savior from the entrance exam was helping pull her out of the rubble, picking her up like a bride, which would've been cute had she not been passed out, before running off, presumably taking her to the infirmary. "W-Why would Bakugo do that?!" She suddenly yelled,

"Because he's insane and an asshole? I mean you saw what he did the first week in the cafeteria, right?" Jiro asked with a scoff.

Kirishima winced, obviously he wanted to think that Bakugo was a cool guy but after everything that happened, he was starting to doubt that. Heavily. Just.. after everything, the incident in the cafeteria, the guy's overall just rudeness (even though Kirishima thought it was manly, everyone else didn't) and then what just happened.

It was cool not to hold back against an opponent, even if they were a girl, but…there was no holding back and then going too far. Bakugo did the latter.

"I'm going to go down and make sure that she's alright, I'll be back." Momo stated, using her elegant voice that made everyone else just feel dumber by hearing it. She left the seating area, and left many of her classmates to think.

And so far no one had voiced their thoughts.

They were all just quiet, mulling over things in their head.

"Bakugo's an asshole…." Ojiro muttered, a fist clenched. No one could do anything but nod along. "He's so prideful, but he has no honor…"

"I hate to agree, but I think Ojiro's right…" Mina sighed. She, like Kirishima, thought there was a little bit of good in him. But, there didn't seem to be any.

"G-Guys, come on! Just…give 'em a chance! It's not manly to not give the guy a chance!" Kirishima, against his better judgement, decided to intervene.

Iida just pushed up his glasses, and turned to see where Midoriya had jumped from the stands to the field, "I will get you to accept my apology Midoriya, even after all I did. After letting Bakugo torment you, and chastising you for it…"

"Hey Iida, did you say something man?"

"Ah- no Sato-kun, just thinking is all…"

---

Izuku gasped for air, closing the door to the infirmary and collapsing against the wall. "God…oh….my god….." He gripped his head, he felt sweaty, nervous, anxious, he should've done something to help her fight him. Give her a strategy or something, anything.

She was thrown into the lion's den…and they just watched…

"I should've stepped in…" He did before, at Aldera, it was the reason for some of his beatings sometimes. It wasn't bad, he had gotten used to it. So why didn't he? "I should've done something…"

He clenched a fist, Komori was so small, she looked so scared when she walked in, seeing her get launched into the wall of the stadium. It was horrible. Izuku frowned. "What do I do….?"

"Wish to speak of your problems?"

He didn't jump at her voice this time, he simply looked up and saw Reiko floating right in front of his face. Doing her little head tilt she did whenever she was curious. Izuku smiled a bit. "Yes please…"

Yanagi floated down before sitting next to him, wrapping an arm around him and burying his head on her shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, you had nothing to do with it at all. There's nothing you could've done, even Ms. Kayama didn't do anything, and her job is to intervene." She said, her voice soothing Izuku just a little bit.

Izuku nodded, that…that did make sense…but..

"And no buts, if a pro hero couldn't have done anything to prevent the travesties that occurred, then what could you have?" Izuku pouted, she was right, he knew she was right.

"I…couldn't have done anything…" He admitted, to which Reiko simply nodded. They sat there, in quiet, for a bit, before Reiko cleared her throat. "Well, I must be off now, as my match was to follow Komori's, they gave us some time due to the circumstances but it's best not to make the people wait anymore."

She floated up, the pink glow illuminating the area, and turned to Izuku. "If you need a shoulder, then just ask, Midoriya."

A minuscule smile broke out onto his face. "Thanks…Reiko…."

She perked up, before stiffly nodding, "You are welcome, now cheer me on."

"I will!" He said with a faint smile, the small grin made Reiko's confidence soar, combined with the fact that he used her first name, though probably by accident.

---

The two contestants of the final match of the first round made their way to the arena, Kaminari of Class 1-A feeling light as can be, cheerful and a little excited, why you ask? Because he was getting to fight a girl! "Maybe I can ask for her number after I beat her? Take her on a date maybe to say sorry for beating her in the festival? Yeah, that's so on!"

Yanagi was having different thoughts, solely focused on Izuku and how he would be doing. The boy had seemed better, but still distant, not completely there, she hoped that there was a way she could help him.

And she still couldn't ignore the light feeling in her chest when he said her name.

"NOW, THE MATCH BETWEEN DENKI KAMINARI OF CLASS 1-A AND REIKO YANAGI OF CLASS 1-B WILL NOW-"

CRACK

"COMMENCE!" Midnight yelled, the sound of her whip ringing throughout the stadium as both contestants still simply stood on either side of the arena.

The blonde did some arm stretches with a smile on his face, trying to think of something smooth to say before words clicked in his head "I hate to waste a pretty girl's time, so… this'll be over in a second!" He smiled, before thrusting his arms up, the crackling of electricity behind heard all around.

"Indiscriminate Shock: 1.3 Million Vo-WO-WOAH!" He stumbled on his words as he felt himself get pushed by an invisible force, his control slipping, before electricity ran all around him.

Stupefying himself, he couldn't protest to Yanagi simply pushing him out of the ring even further.

The ghost enthusiast hummed, "It truly was a good match, you didn't waste my time at all…"

---

Tetsu smiled, watching one of his new buddies win and get to the next round of the festival was awesome, all of their hard work was paying off! His smile stuck onto his face until he looked at the scoreboard.

His tin head brain had totally forgot how a bracket system worked, so the person he'd be fighting next would be.

"Midoriya….."

Notes:

All right, well this took a minute, there is a reason and that's family issues that I won't get into here because it doesn't really concern you guys. I've been trying to write stuff and I have gotten some things done every here and there but never full chapters

I finally got this done at least, and I'm sorry it took so long.

Izuku and Reiko are getting closer but oh dang, bros gotta fight bros.

I hope you're happy to see that in like…a bit. Again I'm sorry and I'll try to speed it up but to be honest, I'm still not fully into it yet, I still feel very drained so if the next chapter takes a while, I'm sorry

Chapter 14: The Tournameent: Part 3

Summary:

The next round of the sports festival kicks off and Izuku has to deal with an emotion he's unfamiliar with....

Rage...

Notes:

Hello, yes, it's been a MINUTE, and i'd like to apologize, school kicked my butt, and I promise you guys itreid to write I just never had any motivation between everything else I was doing, but I'm getting this chapter out now, I'm sorry it took so long, Semi-finals and finals will be the next chapter. Thank you all for reading

Izuku sighed, letting his head fall back onto the cold wall of the hallway, going by the cheers he had heard, Reiko had won. "R-Reiko…when did I start calling her that? Is it alright for me to do that? Did I accidentally say it earlier? Does she think I'm weird?! But- NO- calm….down…."

He placed a hand on his chest and felt his racing heart, he willed it to beat at a slower rate, taking deep and calming breaths before sighing. "It doesn't really matter…..just stop calling her that, easy!"

It wouldn't be easy, but he didn't know that.

The successor bounced up onto his feet and stretched his arms, in truth he did feel a whole lot better compared to earlier. Just sort of drained now, a little tired, exhausted maybe. But they still had the festival to finish, and his next match would be up soon, right….?

"CAN WE GET CONTESTANTS MIDORIYA AND TETSUTETSU UP AND ONTO THE STAGE PLEASE? TO START THE SECOND ROUND OF THE SPORTS FESTIVAL! YEAH!"

Well, going by that screaming, yes he did. Very very soon.

"Well, I better get going then." He turned down the hall and started walking, slow steps, he didn't really want to leave. After all, his heart was still fretting over Komori. "Please, be okay…."

He would just have to wait and see on that one, and he hated that.

---

"You lost control."

He silently fumed, he couldn't do anything. He had just woken up in this room, one of the waiting rooms for the festival, after his match. And now he had to put up with his overly strong hobo looking ass hero who had been in here since he woke up.

Aizawa raised a brow at Bakugo's silence. "Do you have nothing to say about your actions?" He had just been asking the same question over and over, and Bakugo had yet to respond.

Bakugo grit his teeth.

"You're a student, but you're still a person, you're allowed to speak your mind, Bakugo." Aizawa narrowed his eyes.

He boy grit his teeth before finally letting all of his built up anger explode like a dam, "FINE! IT'S A FUCKING TOURNAMENT, WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO! PUNCH HER WITH PILLOWS, NO! MY QUIRK IS FUCKING EXPLOSION! IT EXPLODES THINGS DUMBASS!"

The blonde glared at Aizawa and the pro was not impressed. "Bakugo, when you're a pro hero you have a lot more to worry about then just taking down the "bad guys"." He said as he pulled up a chair and sat down, across from Bakugo.

The man let out a long sigh, "You have to worry about the press, because as annoying as they are, they have a say in how people see you. You do something like what you did to that girl out on the streets with a license? They'll crucify you. And that could lead to your license being revoked."

Bakugo's eyes widened and he growled before sighing, "That's such horseshit…."

"But it's reality Bakugo." Aizawa cut in, "And there's nothing you can do to change it, so get a better attitude before your actions come back to bite you." The tired pro stood up and let out another long sigh, pushing his chair in and walking to the door, "Just think about what I said Bakugo….."

Bakugo growled before sighing, "Such horseshit…"

---

Izuku let out a breath, the echo of his footsteps ringing throughout the empty hall before he heard the explosion of cheers as he exited into the sunlight. "WE'VE GOT THE CINNAMON ROLL FROM 1-B, IT'S IZUKU MIDORIYA!" The cheers grew louder and Izuku had to fight back a blush.

"AND FROM THE OTHER SIDE WE GOT THE METAL MAN WHOSE GUTS IS UNRIVALED, IT'S TETSU TIMES FOUR!"

Tetsu sighed at Present Mic's commentary as he stared at Izuku from across the \area. "Letting you know now Bro, I'm not gonna hold back!"

Being truthful, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Tetsu knew that his friend was in pain, but this fight was something he had been looking forward to for such a long time. Midoriya was strong, and the only thing he ever wanted to do was fight him, and see who would come out on top. In a real one versus one matchup.

Izuku let out a breath, gulped, and allowed a shaky smile to make its way into his face. "Thank you Tetsu-kun! I wouldn't have it any other way!"

Midnight smiled as she raised a hand. "The Match between 1-B's Izuku Midoriya-" The boy crouched and let One For All activate, the lightning dancing across his body, "And 1-B's Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu-" Said student instantly activated his quirk, grinned, and crossed his arms. "WILL NOW BEGIN!"

"STARTTTTT!"

With Mic's yell Izuku shot forward and threw a bunch at Tetsu, the boy blocking with his crossed arms. Izuku grimaced, Tetsu hadn't even skidded back an inch.

"I know how to fight you now Midoriya! You've got speed, I don't, so I've just gotta be so good at defense that your offense does nothing!" Tetsu yelled.

Izuku laid a foot on the group and jumped back. Out of Tetsu's reach before he could do anything.

'Even so, I don't have much iron left after my match with Kirishima….' Tetsu knew that he couldn't do this forever.

All Might's successor grinned, "You've gotten way better Tetsu-kun! I don't think I could dent you at all if I fought like I usually do!" The metal man grinned in satisfaction. "So….I guess I have to change how I fight, and go plus ultra! Right here, right now!"

Tetsu's grin grew ten times, "Come on! Show me your manliness Midoriya!"

Izuku clenched his muscles, feeling One For All's output double from five to ten and then even a little more. 'This…..this is my limit.' He grinned, more lightning birthing over his form. 'One For All: Full Cowling 12%!'

His bones were creaking, and his muscles felt like they were being stabbed, but like an incredibly strong soreness, not pain. He could handle this. "Come on! Tetsu-kun!" Izuku yelled as he leaped.

"Alright!" His metal friend responded.

Izuku impacted Tetsu with his legs, kicking, before being repelled into the air. He landed on the ground, and then jumped again, the processing repeating, Izuku going over and over, slowly but surely wearing Tetsu down.

He landed on his feet and skidded to a halt, panting, and wiping a bit of sweat from his face, "Tetsu-kun, you look tired!"

His friend did indeed look tired, panting, much harder than Izuku was, visible rising of his shoulders and chest. "No way bro, I can keep on going!" But that was a lie, he knew that he was going to run out of energy soon, his quirk would stop working, and he'd have nothing to fight against Izuku with.

An idea popped into Izuku's head, one that allowed both of them to give their all, one final push, and if Izuku was being honest with himself, it made him excited. His grin stretched as words came out of his mouth "How about one more push, Tetsu, put all you got into one attack and I'll match it."

Tetsu didn't need to say a response, his own grin widening as well, telling Izuku all he needed to know.

He pushed One For All to fifteen percent and charged in one bound. For once, Tetsu didn't cross his arms to defend but instead pulled back to punch. "COME ON!"

Izuku met with his own and released with all of his might, a metal fist slammed into his face, but soon receded, a sign of his opponent losing the last of his energy, before Izuku's own fist impacted Tetsu's face, sending him flying back. "SMASH!"

A small gust of air came from the impact, right before Tetsu hit the ground, staying there as still as a stone in a vast field, and not getting back up, just like the crowd right before they erupted into a chorus of cheers. The green haired child gasped for air as the lightning that adorned his skin died out, though despite how tired he was he still smiled as Present Mic yelled.

"THE WINNER IS IZUKU MIDORIYA!"

---

Izuku took a large gulp of water, his adam's apple bobbing as the water ran down his throat before he stopped and handed it back to his new friend. "Thanks a bunch, Shinso-kun, I really needed that!" He let out a smile.

The lilac haired boy nodded in satisfaction, "You're welcome…." Said Shinso with a small smile.

The water helped Izuku relax, and he was going to need it because he was going to take a lot of notes on the next match, glad that he had been able to visit Recovery Girl rather quickly this time and that the damage wasn't as bad either. But the next fight was 1-A versus 1-A, recommendation students against one of their own, Momo Yaoyorozu and Shoto Todoroki.

Izuku gulped as the two came onto the stage, each showing emotionless faces. Though if he could see closer, he would notice the nervousness on Yaoyorozu's face. The heir gulped as she stood across from Todoroki, her hands felt clammy, and her mind clouded.

'Oh, what to do, what to do, I don't know what I can do, maybe…ah yes! A flamethrower!' With a small smile, she nodded to herself, as she developed a plan. Of course, this wouldn't work with anything too big, but she was sure that he wouldn't. He could only do things like that a certain amount of times after all. And he'd already done it multiple times today.

Still though, the idea of a flamethrower reminded her of Bakugo's explosions, and her mind went back to the small girl she had gone to see earlier.

Momo walked through the halls, seeing the Class Representative for 1-B slide down the door to the infirmary and put his head in his hands. It was clear he was terrified, and that made her believe Bakugo had done even more damage than originally thought.

She gulped, the boy seemed to be entering a state of increased panic, she wanted to go comfort him, but then one of his friends arrived.

As much as that did to ease her worries, the damage done to Komori made her think back to the USJ, and what Thirteen said, their quirks really were dangerous. They could cause so much damage, they were deadly.

And now, she had to face probably the most deadly one of their entire class.

With a raise of her head, Midnight yelled. "Ready!" Turning to both combatants before nodding to herself. "BEGIN!"

Todoroki let out a cold sigh, frost coming out of his mouth as he rolled a shoulder. Momo smiled widely, knowing that he wouldn't push his quirk too much.

But frankly, Todoroki didn't care, he only wanted to fight Midoriya and prove that he was stronger, so he pushed his quirk until he felt himself shivering and created a giant glacier.

Yaoyorozu's eyes widened quickly, she wasn't expecting him to go all out, she just felt herself pulling the trigger of her weapon, but it wasn't enough and she was consumed by the ice.

Izuku gulped, seeing the giant result of Todoroki's power, the boy walking out of the stadium as his victory was called, though it didn't appear that he cared all too much. He frowned, knowing what he needed to do. "Todoroki…. I promise. I'll save you."

Only a few minutes passed until the next combatants came down to the arena, their own Ibarra against 1-A's Iida. Izuku pulled out his hero notebook, Reiko and Shinsou shot him a raised brow, both wondering where he got it from, but they both decided not to ask. Instead Reiko asked, who do you believe will win Midoriya?"

The green haired both jerked up, furrowing his brows, "It depends on who makes the first move honestly." Their class tuned into the conversation, they all enjoyed seeing the depths of Izuku's mind. "Iida has speed, Ibarra has defense, they both have a good offense, but Ibarra's vines are heavy." Izuku also pondered the move Iida had used earlier, "And then there's that move Iida used in the cavalry battle, if he uses that then….."

"STARTTTT!" Mic's yell cut Izuku off as the match started.

"RECIPROOOOO BURST!" They all heard the yell as blue flames came out of Iida's engines instantly, Ibarra's vines already shooting towards him, however in an instant he was gone, behind her, and then she was out of the ring.

Izuku frowned, both because of how down Ibarra would be, but also because of Iida's next opponent. "Bakugo…" That was only if… Izuku turned to his right to see that Reiko had disappeared. He quickly shot out of his chair and ran to the entrance hall.

"What's up with him….?" Tsuburaba asked.

Awase smirked, "He's gonna go wish his girlfriend good luck."

"SO I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO SEES IT?!" Setsuna yelled with a smile.

Izuku ran through the halls and eventually caught up to Reiko. "Reiko!" THe ghost looking girl turned around and quirked her head, placing a finger on her lips. As if asking him "Yes? What is it?" He gulped, it looked.. Cute…. But now wasn't the time. "I- I just… I wanted to say… good luck. You can do it. I believe in you."

Reiko paused before smiling a bit, "Thank you Midoriya…" She turned around and made her way to the arena. Under her breath she whispered. " I will win….so you don't have to face him…"

The two opponents entered the crowd to a chorus of cheers, Izuku watching from the tunnel, anxiety eating at him and he wasn't even the one fighting. "THE MATCH BETWEEN 1-B'S RESIDENT GHOST GIRL REIKO YANAGI AND CLASS 1-A'S HOTHEAD KATSUKI BAKUGO WILL NOW, BEGIN!"

Bakugo instantly raised his arms behind him and exploded, "GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!" He thought about what Aizawa had told him and frankly, it had made a bit of sense, but yet, still….. He had so much anger to work out of his system right now. Reiko quickly flew away to gain distance but Bakugo was much faster than her, she could just evade, using rubble from the previous matches to try to hit him.

It had worked the first few times, but then he learned, and he dodged and exploded any rock shards coming his way. Reiko had to admit, he was good at fighting, frighteningly so.

THe process repeated over and over, her not getting any hits in, while Bakugo was getting some and they hurt. A lot. But…. "Just keep on giving me ammunition…." She muttered.

Izuku looked on with worry, this was too similar to Komori's match for his liking, but… he believed in Reiko.

Kendo didn't like what was going on, she too was frightened of 1-A's villain in disguise, "Come on Yanagi…." She said as she gripped the rail, almost breaking it.

The ever tired looking girl began to sweat, Bakugo's hits had been getting closer and closer, she felt her arms burning, her eyes stung, and her ears were ringing, and yet she saw and heard him. His manic smile, his vicious grin, his yells from hell. "I….will…beat you..!"

"SAY THAT AGAIN YOU EXTRA!" He put both of his hands together and let out a massive explosion, Reiko getting caught right in the middle.

"REIKO!" Izuku yelled, gritting his teeth.

The smoke covered her body, no one knowing what had happened, and suddenly all the rubble around the arena began to glow a bright pink. Izuku's eyes widened and he smiled, "Improvised Move: Stone Storm!" She yelled with a bit more theatrics then she would usually do as all the pieces of rock shot for Bakugo.

The blond grinned and set both hands out, one on either side, he felt his forearms twitch in pain but there was no way he was going to lose in the quarter finals! "GET OUT OF HERE!"

Izuku's hair ruffled, his emerald eyes staring at gold explosions, all encompassing the arena. He didn't hear anything else, the winner, Present Mic, anything, the next thing he knew he was running through the halls, a soot and burned Reiko in his arms. "Recovery Girl… Recovery Girl!" He yelled helplessly.

Why? Why did this always happen to his friends?!

He slammed the door open, panting helplessly, "Recovery Girl!"

The old lady twitched, annoyed by his presence once again, she turned, and saw that for once he wasn't injured. "Well you saved my robots the time, but still you shouldn't tire yourself out before your next match." She chastised as her medical bots took Reiko to an empty bed.

Izuku collapsed into a chair, looking at the motionless Reiko. "She-She'll be ok, right…?" He asked without even looking at the nurse.

"Yes, she should be alright, at least after my healing, but she will need to rest for a few hours." Izuku sighed in relief but that was immediately replaced with something else. Something he wasn't used to. Something he hadn't felt since Middle School, the day he got his quirk.

Anger…..

Notes:

AGAIN, I'M SO SO SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG. School kicked my butt…and i'm sorry this chapter is shorter than they usually are i just wanted to get this out for you guys, i am working on some other projects so if you wanna see chapters for those i'll release them, though i probably won't put much effort into continuing them, so if someone wants to take them then go for it.

Thank you so much, J out!

Chapter 15: The Tournameent: Part 4

Notes:

Nothing to say, let's jump in

Izuku shook with the unfamiliar feeling he was experiencing, his teeth grit and his hands held so tight he felt like they were going to start bleeding. He had always given Bakugo a pass, but only when it came to him, never others.

"Damn it…." Why, why couldn't he go easy on her…

"How could he…" How could he hurt her….

"I'll….I'll get him…" He would make Bakugo pay for what he did. But first, he would have to defeat the Son of Endeavor. "No matter what, I will beat you Bakugo…" He muttered under his breath as he stared at the motionless Reiko. "I promise you Reiko-chan…. I'll get him."

He shot out of his chair and left the room before Recovery Girl couldn't even say a word to him, all she could do was huff and sigh, glancing at the bed with an unconscious Reiko. "Be careful you buffoon."

"That runt better not do anything stupid Toshinori!" Gran Torino yelled at his disciple as they watched Cementoss ready the Arena for the first match of the semi-finals.

All Might sweated as he pleadingly defended himself with his arms. "He won't!"

The mentor turned away, "I hope…." Gran Torino muttered. He had seen the boy's face on the Jumbotron when he ran into the arena to grab the girl from his class, he'd never ever seen him filled with so much… rage. He was worried about what he would do. Would he go too far, would he break himself again? What was he going to do… "Don't go too far, runt…."

Class 1-B looked on, waiting for the semi-finals to begin when an announcement was made. "ahem, SORRY EVERYONE, DUE TO A FAMILY EMERGENCY, TENYA IIDA WILL NO LONGER BE COMPETING IN THE SPORTS FESTIVAL, COULD IBARA SHIOZAKI COME DOWN TO PREPARE FOR THE SEMI FINALS SECOND MATCH, THE FIRST MATCH WILL START SHORTLY, YEAH!"

All of 1-B perked up as Ibara's eyes widened in surprise, "I suppose the lord is looking out for me today." She smiled. She left and made her way to a waiting room.

"Jesus fuck I can finally curse…" Awase drawled, "She's going to die…"

"As much as I hate to say it, yeah…." Shoda frowned.

Kamakiri clicked his tongue, "That pomeranian bastard will get what's coming to him." He referred to Bakugo.

Tsuburaba quirked a brow, "But from who though? It's definitely not going to be from Shiozaki." It definitely wasn't going to be from her, Bakugo was way too hardcore

Kamakiri glanced at the other boy, noticing most of the class had tuned in on their conversation. He looked away before silently uttering. "Midoriya."

"AWWWWW you believe in him!" Setsuna teased the boy.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU SHARP TEETH!" He barked back.

Monoma grumbled, though didn't say anything, 'If you wanna kill her you'll have to go through me first….'

Kendo sighed, sitting down and resting in the comfort of her chair, closing her eyes and thinking about Midoriya. How he had performed during training. During the Sports Festival so far. Yeah, he was good, but he wasn't a powerhouse like Todoroki and Bakugo. He and her were on the same level. And if she couldn't beat them, which she doubted she could, then Midoriya wouldn't be able to either. "But, first Midoriya will have to make it through Todoroki…" And Kendo honestly didn't know if he could, yes he had skill and power, though it broke him, but Todoroki seemed to be much more powerful than all of Class 1-B combined.

Monoma opened his eyes up, "I find it very disrespectful that you don't believe in our Class Representative."

"I-It's not that I don't believe in him." Kendo defended herself. "It's just… Todoroki is really strong." She got quieter.

Monoma got off of Setsuna's shoulder and looked Kendo dead in the eye, "I believe you'll find that our friend Midoriya is full of surprises." He smiled.

"Maybe…"

" CAN I GET IZUKU MIDORIYA AND SHOTO TODOROKI TO THE ARENA SO WE CAN START THE SEMI FINALS!"

"Well I guess we'll see." Monoma sighed, tired out of his mind.

---

Yanagi stirred awake as she opened her eyes, the bright white of Recovery Girl's room helping wake her up as she sat. "Where….?" She looked around before her eyes landed on Recovery Girl The old and tired nurse came over, using a stepstool to be on eye level with Yanagi. "Midoriya brought you here, TV is up on the wall, his next match is about to start." She sighed and dragged a hand down her face, she knew she was going to have to do some major healing.

Yanagi raised her head, as Present Mic called out who was coming in to the arena "FROM CLASS 1-A, THE KING OF COLD HIMSELF, THE SON OF ENDEAVOR, WE HAVE SHOTO TODOROKI!!" She heard many cheers, it was clear that he was favored to win, but….

"You can do this…."

---

"AND FROM CLASS 1-B, THE REP OF HIS CLASS, THE CINNAMON ROLL, THE UNLIKELY TOP DOG SO FAR, IT'S IZUKU MIDORIYA!" Izuku noticed that he had much less cheers compared to Todoroki, but that didn't dissuade him from giving it his all.

He knew that in terms of raw power, Todoroki was stronger, at least using what he could safely. However, he wouldn't give up and if he was right then everything that Todoroki was doing was taking its toll on him, quick overuse, and Izuku would exploit that as much as he could. He would win this fight, and then face Bakugo. He grabbed the friendship bracelet Yanagi had made for him. 'I will win- for her.'

"The match will end when either combatant is unable to battle, is pushed out of the ring, or if either I or Cementoss deem the battle over!" Midnight yelled, Izuku crouched, closing his eyes.

'I can do this'

"We begin in 3-"

'I must do this'

"2"

'I will do this'

"1–"

His eyes shot open and shone a radioactive green 'I will win!'

"STARTTTT!" Mic yelled, shaking the stadium, the crowd, and the two combatants who spurred into action.

Full Cowling sparked and Izuku pushed it to ten percent and in a burst of wind jumped to the side, avoiding a giant glacier. "It hurts… but I can manage it…!" The soreness and stabbing at his muscles weren't as bad and he knew that he could keep this up for a bit, he had to. "TODOROKI!"

His opponent narrowed his eyes, though he didn't care, only spawning another miniature glacier, however it was much smaller than the ones he had been using previously in the tournament, the quirk strain was getting to him. 'Damn it…'

Izuku circled Todoroki, avoiding all the glaciers the frosty teen had made, soon enough the field was covered in ice, and Izuku was using the glaciers, and the soft white mist they had created, to hide. Todoroki rapidly looked around for his opponent, not seeing, not even hearing any sounds of him walking or running. Just gusts of wind, and whenever he turned in those directions Midoriya was gone.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH, MIDORIYA'S COMPLETELY HIDDEN FROM VIEW!" Present Mic yelled.

Todoroki turned, not seeing him anymore, and then a sound of buzzing, a static sound of electricity, alerted him as he turned around, seeing Midoriya leaping for him. He reached to grab Midoriya, only for the boy to flip in the air, grab his face and slam him into the ground.

"OOH MIDORIYA GETS A VICIOUS STRIKE ON TODOROKI!"

"I told you, believe in him." Monoma commented, leaning on his knees as he watched the match. Setsuna glanced at her friend, a little sad she got off her shoulder, but followed him and focused on the match.

Izuku then, in a burst of wind, was gone. Todoroki got up, only to feel something hit his back and send him reeling forward, but he didn't hit the ground as something hit his chest sending him back. "Damn it…!"

All Might glanced at his mentor, only to see the old man smiling, "Well I'll be, it's a little sloppy but the runt's copying my fighting style!"

Todoroki grit his teeth and spawned a giant glacier on his right, sweeping his arm around and aiming for Midoriya, the boy aimed a right finger down and was suddenly in the air. Izuku winced, "Dang it, 20% is still too much!" His finger wasn't broken yet, but it was on the cusp of being broken. Izuku landed on the top of the glacier and ran down, Full Cowling sitting at 8%.

"TODOROKI!" He yelled, crouching and using a 15% burst he collided a fist with Todoroki's stomach, sending the boy sprawling back. "STOP HOLDING BACK!" Izuku was gone once more in a flash, right in front of Todoroki, punching and kicking him, his opponent would raise his arm to attack but Izuku would bat it away. "EVERYONE IS GIVING IT THEIR ALL TO WIN, AND YOU THINK YOU CAN FIGHT ONLY USING HALF YOUR POWER?" He punched the boy in the face once more. "YOU'RE DISRESPECTING EVERY HERE WHO CAME TO WIN!"

Gran Torino narrowed his eyes, they could hear everything from the jumbotron. "What's that boy think he's doing…"

All of Class 1-A looked on in wonder as their strongest student was pummeled by Izuku.

Bakugo grit his teeth and felt a tooth crack from all the pressure, "When the hell did Deku get so strong….!"

Endeavor narrowed his eyes, "Shoto you must use my power if you desire victory!"

Shoto grit his teeth, creating an ice wall behind him so he wouldn't fall, his mind was breaking, Midoriya was getting to him, "I WON'T USE HIS POWER!" He was quaking, freezing, on the verge of passing out, all from Midoriya, who was this guy?

Izuku yelled with all of his heart, remembering when he first met All Might.

MY BOY, YOU HAVE EARNED THIS POWER, ONE FOR ALL IS NOW FOR YOU TO COMMAND!

It was his power now, not All Might's and in that same sense. "IT'S YOUR POWER, NOT HIS!"

Todoroki froze, breathing heavily, his face contorting into confusion, grief, and pain. "My power…?" He didn't know what he was feeling, this mixture of emotions was too unbearable. And finally… a memory came to his mind, one long forgotten. It's okay for you to become who you want to be. With a final breath of acceptance a raging inferno birthed from within him, rising high and lighting up the arena.

The inferno rose towards the heavens as it rustled Izuku's hair, the boy feeling the heat of Todoroki's flames, and killed the frost on Todoroki's body.

"He's using his fire!" Ochako yelled, feeling the heat of the arena.

"He didn't…." Kendo muttered.

All Might looked on in worry. "Young Midoriya… were you trying to save Young Todoroki!"

Gran Torino huffed but let out a small grin 'How are you going to get yourself out of this one runt?'

"You must be crazy! Helping your enemy, even though you want to win!" Todoroki yelled, for once with a smile on his face. He felt… conflicted, but strong. He felt a weight that he didn't know about leave his heart, as if his flames had killed darkness within him "I will be a hero!" Todoroki yelled with conviction.

"SHOTOOOOO, FINALLY, ACCEPT YOURSELF AND WITH YOUR FLAMES CARVE A PATH TOWARDS VICTORY!" Endeavor screamed from the stands, a smile that looked very out of place adorned the pro's face, but neither of the combatants gave him an eye solely focusing on each other.

"Endeavor shouts words of…encouragement I guess? What a weird dad." Present Mic for once didn't yell.

The camera for the jumbotron zoomed in on Midoriya's face, and everyone around the world was shocked to see that Izuku Midoriya—

Was smiling.

The boy smiled as he watched the flames dance in the air,"Todoroki! I can't really use all my power because it breaks my body!" He crouched and more lightning came off of him in waves. "But for you! I'll push myself to my limits and then beyond even that!" He felt his bones creak, the stabbing come back full force, but he was still smiling. "Full Cowling: 15%"

Gran Torino glanced at All Might, "He really is like you, you buffoon." The pro hung his head, "But in a good way." All Might glanced at his teacher before letting out a small smile. "Yes, yes he is."

"You know Midoriya… you're crazy, helping your enemy!" Todoroki had a crazed smile, "But, fine, I don't apologize for anything that's about to happen." Todoroki crouched as well, a massive glacier spawning as he finally wasn't succumbing to his frostbite anymore.

"This is all I've got..!" Todoroki threw an arm forward, sending his glacier forward. Though Izuku stood his ground, 'Don't face it head on!'

Izuku sprawled on his back as he once again failed to land a hit. He got up and rubbed the already forming bruise. "What am I doing wrong…?" He muttered under his breath.

Gran Torino huffed, "You don't always have to face things head-on you numbskull." He berated, hitting Izuku with his canse. The boy whimpered but quirked a brow, egging his mentor to continue. "Sometimes you'll have to be tricky to land a hit on your opponent."

Izuku powered everything he could into his right leg, and winced as he felt the bones break a lot, but they weren't purple! He would still have to see Recovery Girl though. "I can't go for a straightforward attack, I'll lose, so instead!" He jumped, and went- "I'LL GO UP!"

The stadium watched as Izuku soar into the sky. Midnight gulping and tapping her microphone. "Cementoss, be ready to step in!" She yelled as Todoroki's glacier slammed into the stadium wall, his eyes widened, he didn't see Midoriya anywhere.

Izuku aimed his already broken finger upward and flicked, sending himself careening downwards. With the wind pressure he could barely make out Todoroki's figure but he was on a crash course towards his opponent. Todoroki finally looked up and saw his opponent and raised his left hand. "Midoriya…." Flames lit up climbing towards the sky, as green lightning fell, "Thank you…"

Izuku brought his other leg up and brought it down, hard. "Manchester Smash!" All the wind, canceling Todoroki's fire and creating an explosion of dust and concrete.

The dust cleared. Todoroki was on the ground, and Izuku Midoriya was somehow standing, barely, as he staggered left and right, wincing as he felt his legs were extremely weak. He shakily lifted an arm into the sky before standing triumphantly, smiling at Todoroki who passed out, "Thank you Todoroki, for giving me your all…"

"IZUKU MIDORIYA IS THE WINNER!" The crowd exploded into surprised and unexpected cheers. Monoma glanced at Kendo to see her mouth agape. He smirked but decided to not say anything this time. The rest of 1-B exploded into cheers as 1-A looked on in absolute shock.

"Todoroki-kun lost…?" Yaoyorozu muttered in surprise.

Kirishima gulped, "That Midoriya guy is really manly…."

Kaminari crossed his arms. "I'm not sure if you'll be able to beat that guy Bakugo."

"Shut up Pikachu!" The ash blond yelled, his hands popping in anger. 'What the fuck! You shitty Deku! When did you get this STRONG?!'

Finally, Izuku fell forward, passing out from pain and exhaustion.

Awase smiled, "Man as awesome as that was to see… Midoriya's gonna get his fucking ass kicked in the last round…"

"Yeah, his body is completely wrecked…"

"Hate to agree, but I think Greenie's done.." Setsuna muttered.

Monoma closed his eyes and grinned a bit. "Perhaps, or maybe he'll get a second wind."

---

Reiko frowned, seeing Midoriya pass out and robots bring him towards the infirmary, she was fine now but she was worried for his well being, breaking himself like that was very detrimental to his health and she didn't like that he had to resort to it to win. Suddenly in bursts Vlad King as he came in with Midoriya, fretting over the boy at his side before Recovery Girl pushed him out of the way.

"Out of my way!" She used a stepstool to get onto Midoriya level, putting an IV in his arm. It contained the same level of nutrition as her gummies so she would be able to heal him soon. "Hmmm." She looked over his body, definitely not as bad as the entrance exam…. "Perhaps, but it's a very low chance that he'll be cleared to fight." She said to the 1-B homeroom teacher.

Vlad King clicked his tongue.

"And no matter what you do-"

"It's not about what I'LL do!" He looked at his unconscious student, remembering every training session they had, every extracurricular, "It's about what he'll do." He remembered the pleading form of Midoriya, barely able to breath but still forcing himself to stand for just a bit more training time, But I don't just want to catch up! I want to excel! He smiled thinking back to their first training session, the boy had a fire in him that could never be tempered, "He has something to prove, and there's no way in hell he'll let some broken bones stop him."

Recovery Girl could only sigh in response, "I know but if this continues–"

"It's been two weeks! And you've seen the progress he's made, the only reason he visits your office now is because of how rigorous Torino's training is! With a bit more training this could be the last time he'll need anything major like this!" Vlad King jumped in. "I know your worries, I understand them, I have the same ones. But if you stop him now then he'll push himself farther than he can handle in the future, and we both know how that'll go."

The old nurse hated to admit that he was right, "Fine but… if he visits my office one more time with broken limbs, your life's on the line!" She barked before ordering her robots around, "Now move! This is going to be an extensive process!" She ushered the hulking hero out of the room and closed the blinds surrounding Izuku's bed.

Yanagi closed her eyes and grabbed the pillow on her bed before squeezing it. "Please…do be okay…"

---

Bakugo growled as he stalked into the arena, he was so pissed off, he had so much anger waiting to be let out, and he couldn't even beat the crap out of four eyes! He'd been looking forward to doing that one for a long time, ever since the battle trial. "He's so damn annoying…." He grit his teeth. But he would still enjoy this.

"-AND FROM 1-A WE HAVE THE MENACE– KATSUKI BAKUGO!"

Bakugo tuned out the stupid commentator, focusing on his opponent. "Her vines are tricky, stay away from the ground, watch out they'll try to grab me…" He narrowed his eyes. "You're just a stepping stone….."

"STARTT!"

With the go ahead he blasted into the sky, avoiding the vines that came out of the ground where he had just been.

Shiozaki narrowed her eyes, "Vine Prison!" Her vines climbed into the sky to try to grab Bakugo and the boy blasted towards them, avoiding all of them expertly and causing them to tangle as they tried to grab him.

"LIKE YOU'LL CATCH ME WITH THAT SHIT!" Bakugo growled before exploding himself in front of her, "Eat this!" He sent an explosion towards her face as she blocked her face with some vines, he cursed and went around, dancing around her in the air, exploding her, dodging, going higher into the air, each time just barely dodging her vines.

Shiozaki thought it was luck but it wasn't that at all she soon realized, as much as she hated to admit it, Bakugo was skilled.

No matter how fast she sent her vines towards him he dodged, her vines were heavy, and Bakugo was skilled in mobility and agility. She grit her teeth and wrapped herself in a ball. "Vine Prison!" She needed a breather, and this would give her the time she needed.

Bakugo grinned and landed on the ground, placing both of his arms forward, "Take this, Class B Bitch!" Even though he knew his arms would thump he just wanted this over with and he let forth a massive explosion, though nowhere near his planned super move. His hands popped and his forearms hurt, but he grit his teeth and cursed. "GO TO HELL!"

An explosion ripped forth and hid Shiozaki's vine prison from view, when the dust cleared there was a ball of black smoke, and inside a Shiozaki as her burned hair disconnected from the small amount that wasn't charred. Bakugo smiled as the prison vanished. Ready to do something else, before Shiozaki raised a hand, "I…I yield…"

The crowd cheered as Bakugo massaged his forearms, Shiozaki hanging her head in defeat.

"He always finds his way out of a tough spot…!" Kirishima said with a simple smile, pumping his arms in excitement.

"He always finds his way out of a tough spot…!" Monoma said with gritted teeth, holding his head in anger.

"Sadly…" Shishida said as he pushed his glasses up.

Awase grumbled "It's just too much to ask for Bakugo to get his face kicked in?"

"Apparently…." Tsuburaba muttered.

Kendo frowned. "Just… let's hope he doesn't go too hard on Midoriya.."

Monoma narrowed his eyes. 'She keeps on comparing herself to Midoriya… what she can't do, she doubts he can too…' He clicked his tongue, and waited for Kamakiri to say something rather rude about his dear friend, however the comment never came. Monoma turned around to see that the seat that Kamakiri had been occupying was empty. 'And I wonder what his plan is….'

---

A darkness, vast, limitless, and all encompassing held Izuku as he stood, looking around, and seeing nothing but black and dark clouds of grey. He looked around, not noticing as he didn't seem to have any limbs besides his eyes, the rest of his body covered in a deep green smoke. He turned, hearing voices, mutters, from all around him. They grew, getting louder and louder, before he turned and saw blinding lights, they began to increase in glow as he heard four words, "Not yet, but soon…"

"GAH!" Izuku jerked up, before being slammed back down to the bed by Recovery Girl. "What are you doing!? Don't get up too fast!" She chastised. Izuku gulped but nodded, rising slowly off of the bed. She huffed before stepping down off the bed, "After all the healing I did you should be able to participate in the last round, do be careful however! You're pushing yourself too far…."

Izuku gulped, falling back down onto the bed. He felt sore all over, like he could barely move after his first couple of days with All Might, but… he won.. "I can do this…"

"Though, just because you can doesn't mean you should."

"HOLY JESUS!" Izuku yelped and almost fell out of bed as Reiko had once more frightened him. "You gotta stop doing that Yanagi-Chan…" it took extreme effort not to accidentally call her Reiko. "Plus, what are you doing here? You should be resting." He said with a face of worry.

Yanagi knitted her brows, "I should be saying the same to you.."

Izuku gulped because as much as she meant to seem a little angry, she was still really cute, 'N-No! Stop, bad thoughts!' He shook his head and dispelled what was in his mind. "I-I know…. But I just have one more round, now please Yanagi-chan go lay down. It's important that you rest…"

The girl sighed, looking down a bit, before whispering, "So are you.."

"E-Eh?!"

The girl shook her head. "It's nothing Midoriya… they're waiting for you. Since you made it to the final round, Bakugo's match finished up and you're in the finals though.." She stared at the bandages covering some of his body, mostly his fingers. "I… am not quite sure if it is ideal for you to go out in the state you're in, or even participate at all." She frowned.

Izuku smiled and grabbed her hand, giving it a tight squeeze. "I promise I'll be okay."

The ghost girl could only sigh as she nodded her head. "Please don't violate this promise, please keep your word…"

Izuku gave her hand one more squeeze before nodding. "I promise I'll be alright Yanagi-chan. I'll beat Bakugo and I'll be okay." He let go of her hand.

She finally looked at him and smiled slightly, "Alright…just one thing before you go." She got up and leaned in, wrapping her arms around him, and bringing his head to her shoulder. It felt nice, his fuzzy and soft hair rubbing the side of her neck, she enjoyed the feeling a lot. "Good luck…Izuku.." She spoke softly, only so he could hear.

The boy blushed, he wanted the moment to continue, but he found himself being let go only a few seconds later. "Thank you.." He stepped off of the bed and made his way towards the door, turning around briefly only to turn around and give her a smile and a thumbs up, "I'll be ok, I promise!" With that he finally bid her farewell and left the infirmary.

Reiko let her smile fall, "Please keep your promise…"

Izuku stalked the halls, rubbing his arms, and the bracelet Yanagi had given him. He wasn't sure if he was ready to be honest, if he would lock up, what would happen to him. But he knew that no matter what, he was going to beat Kacchan. After what he did to Komori…and then Reiko… There's no way he was going to lose.

"Midoriya!" At the sudden call Izuku stopped and turned, locking eyes with Class B's resident bug king, Kamakiri. The boy opened his mouth to say something before shutting his mouth. Izuku waited as he stared at Kamakiri, the boy wanted to obviously say something so Izuku wasn't going to be rude and dismiss him and his thoughts.

The mantis-looking boy grit his teeth and stared into Izuku's eyes, "Don't… lose to that ass clown, show him what you're- WHAT 1-B is made of, Midoriya."

Izuku's eyes widened, a little in surprise and shock, before his mouth split into a massive grin, "I'll do my best Kamakiri-kun!"

The bug looking boy winced at the brightness before looking away, "Whatever, just go away!"

"Will do!"

---

Bakugo clicked his tongue, making his way into the arena for the final time that day, he felt a vein bulging and anger rising up, his forearms tensing as they wanted to pop. "Damn you, you goddamn piece of shit…" Thinking about the boy's stupid smile, that stupid river from when they were kids, he felt his anger bubble and rise even more. "I'm gonna kill you…"

He walked into the stadium, hearing deafening cheers, but the only thing he was focused on was the stupid bastard that was facing him.

"FROM BOTH 1-A AND 1-B, WE'VE GOT TWO TITANS WHO HAVE SHOWN TO BE A STEP ABOVE THE REST OF THEIR ADVISORIES, FROM 1-A WE GOT THE EXPLOSION KING HIMSELF, THE BRIGHT BLOND WITH A DARK PERSONALITY, IT'S THE BOMB HIMSELF, BAKUGO KATSUKI!" Izuku gulped as Bakugo sneered at him, lifting a hand and dragging it across his throat.

"AND FROM 1-B WE'VE GOT THE MAN THAT'S BEEN ON TOP OF THE ENTIRE SPORTS FESTIVAL, WINNING THE RACE AND THE CAVALRY BATTLE IN FIRST PLACE! THE STRONGEST-" Bakugo grit his teeth in anger. "-NUMBER ONE–" He clenched his arms in anger, "-THE ONE AT THE TOP! IT'S IZUKU MIDORIYA!!"

All Might's successor closed his eyes, feeling his heartbeat in his ears. He had never had so much anxiety before, felt so nervous before, but he made a promise to Yanagi and himself. No matter what happened in the next few minutes, he would win!

Midnight took note of the tense atmosphere, "A fated battle between rivals…" She muttered to herself. She cleared her throat before yelling, "The match ends when either combatant is unable to battle, forfeits, or lands outside of the arena! If myself and my partner Cementoss deem it necessary we will step in and end the match! Do you understand?" Bakugo gave a short nod, Izuku gulped and followed along. "Alright! Then let the battle-"

"ssssSSSSTARTTT!" With Mic's yell shaking the arena Bakugo blasted off towards Izuku while the boy activated his Full Cowling, however due to everything he kept it at a low 5%.

'I don't know if it's enough!' Izuku dodged blows from Bakugo, the boy was much slower compared to Gran Torino.

Katsuki cursed as none of his explosions hit their target. "When'd you get so good at dodging!"

His opponent smirked and Bakugo was confused before a force hit him in the face, he went tumbling backwards and hit the ground before rolling to a stop. "WOAH WOAH WOAH, MIDORIYA LANDS A FIERCE BLOW-WOAH!"

"I don't just dodge!" Izuku spoke, from his punching position before standing at his full height, "I can hit too!"

The blond grit his teeth and stood up, wiping blood that came from his nose. "Lucky shot!" He yelled before charging at Izuku.

"We'll see about that!" Izuku leaped and met Bakugo's explosions head on. He charged forward and pushed it to 7%, Bakugo's eyes widened as Izuku soared past him, his instincts yelled at him and he turned around, spinning mid air with his quirk, seeing Izuku, only for the boy to disappear a moment later.

Toshinori smiled, "He's copying your style to a point!"

Gran Torino frowned, "Yes, but he's going to have to find his own style as well… he isn't me, and he isn't you either." Izuku needed to find himself, not just be a copy of his mentors.

Toshinori looked away before sighing, "We'll work on that.."

Izuku bounced around, picking up rocks and throwing them at Bakugo, hitting the boy a bit but he knew he couldn't keep this up. Bakugo's reaction time was insane, and he hadn't been able to land any blows. "Stop dodging!" Bakugo put a hand on each side and popped his hands before spinning, creating a smokescreen around him.

Izuku clicked his tongue before grabbing a small rock from the ground and crushing it with his hand, creating a bunch of shards. "Take this!" He launched the rock shards at the smoke screen and felt success when he heard Bakugo yell. The blond exploded going upwards, exiting his smokescreen, and shooting directly for Izuku.

The green haired boy rolled out of the way, getting to his feet, as Bakugo took a punch at him, he blocked with his forearm. Wincing as he felt the familiar explosion hit him. Izuku grabbed Bakugo's wrist and then the front of his shirt before bringing him over his head and slamming the boy into the ground behind him.

Bakugo went to stand only to be kicked in the stomach and sent back a few feet. 'DAMN IT!' He held his mouth, feeling something rising. 'I'M GONNA KILL HIM!' He shot up and was upon Izuku in a second. Izuku crossed his arms to tank an explosion, grabbing Bakugo's arm and spinning before throwing him away.

"K-Kacchan!" Even though he stuttered, he was determined. He stared at the hate filled red eyes that bore into him. "I'm not the same Deku! My name is Izuku Midoriya, and I'm going to win!"

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!"

They both cleared the gap between them, trading explosions and fists. Bakugo's rage was increasing more and more as each second passed. Izuku found his resolution increased the more he fought, Bakugo wasn't invincible. It was different. They weren't kids anymore. He could do this!

While he was getting tired, he found Bakugo getting much more tired than he was, signs of All Might and Gran Torino's training. There was one thing that worried him though, "The more he sweats the more powerful his explosions will be…"

The blond was pissed, wishing he had his gauntlets right about now. If he did there was no way that Deku would be doing so well right now.

"Get here Deku!" Bakugo threw a large right hook, his hands sparkling with explosions. Izuku ducked and punched Bakugo's arm with an uppercut, sending the explosion upward. Izuku gulped as the explosion was giant. 'He's got a lot…' He kicked Bakugo to the side and chased him, not giving him a moment to think.

"LOOK AT MIDORIYA, NOT GIVING BAKUGO ANY BREATHING ROOM!" Aizawa narrowed his eyes as Mic commented on the battle. He had no idea how the boy had improved so much since the entrance exam, but he was definitely going to interrogate Vlad about it..

Bakugo kept sending explosions Izuku's way but the boy easily dodged using Gran Torino's fighting style, zooming around the arena before landing a blow on Bakugo's head. Izuku smiled before his wrist was grabbed, he was whipped around and slammed into the ground, explosions pummeling his body and tearing his UA sweatshirt.

"JUST LIKE OLD TIMES DEKU!"

Izuku grit his teeth and kicked up, Bakugo rising high into the air and grunting, using explosions to keep him in the air. Izuku panted and removed the tattered sweatshirt, his plan black shirt underneath. Bakugo crashed down, Izuku barely rolling out of the way and seeing Bakugo crash into the ground. The red eyes whipped towards him, making Izuku shiver.

He right himself and stabilized himself with his explosions, before giving Midoriya an eerie smile. "TIME TO DIE DEKU!"

Izuku charged up Full Cowling and jumped away, Bakugo's explosions were bigger and he intersected Izuku tackling him to the ground, they both rolled with Izuku kicking the boy away. He winced, grabbing his side and noticing a tear in his shirt. "Dang it…"

Monoma sneered. "While Midoriya has tenacity and drive, that Bakugo scoundrel's pure anger is enough to meet Midoriya's will!"

Kendo gripped the railing, "Come on…" She begged as the rest of the class cheered Izuku on.

"KICK HIS ASS!" Awase screeched only to get smacked by Shiozaki.

"KNOCK HIM DOWN A FEW BEGS MIDORIYA!" Tetsu called to the heavens, surely hurting his throat.

"Midoriya, take it slow and easy, you've got this!" Shoda yelled.

"He will win." The class turned to the staircase behind them to see Yanagi, having patches of bandages here and there but otherwise looking not too bad. "He promised…" She slowly made her way down and sat beside Shinso. The lavender hair boy didn't know much about Midoriya but he could make a guess. "He doesn't go back on his promises, I'm assuming?" He only got a nod in return.

Kamakiri grit his teeth and shot out of his chair. "Come on Midoriya! Show that clown what you're made of, you said you wouldn't lose!"

Before Setsuna could even say anything Monoma clapped a hand over her mouth, which made her pout before she smiled and licked his hand, making the blond retch.

Kendo returned her focus to the match below, and noticed something. "He's got more lightning than before…"

Izuku dodged an explosion and palm striked it away, 'Just like Kendo!' The misty clone's eyes widened at the action. Izuku punched Bakugo in the chest, dodging under an explosion, hitting his chin with an uppercut. Bakugo cursed as he bit his tongue and felt blood come out of his mouth. 'HOW IS HE FASTER NOW?!'

He didn't get a chance to think before Izuku crouched and grabbed his leg before launching him into the air. "Show me what you've got Bakugo!" Izuku wouldn't just beat Bakugo, he would do it at the blond's best, though he felt like that was a mistake as Bakugo climbed into the air, and began to spin.

'What's he doing..?' Dust smoke, power, began to collect and Izuku knew that whatever it was it would be big. 'No way! I won't let you use whatever you're planning!' He raised a finger, Full Cowling died, and the finger charged up to 15% of One For All. 'It's shotty at best, but I'll risk it!' He shakily aimed it at the figure of his old childhood friend and smiled.

Just as Bakugo reached his peak he heard a battle cry of "SMASHHH!" as a fierce pressure or force smashed into him and ruined his build up of explosive power. Izuku winced, feeling his strained finger, before charging forward with Full Cowling starting up in an instant thanks to Torino's trying, he soared into the air as he leaped off of the ground.

Bakugo winced and opened his eyes, to see Izuku in front of him with a fist raised, "It's over Bakugo!" He released it. All he could handle at that moment crashed into Bakugo's gut and Izuku went down with him, Bakugo tried to reach up to explode or something only to find a second fist knocking him in the face. He tried to grab onto something but couldn't get any leverage.

'Damn it.' They both fell from the sky

'Damn it!' One with happiness in his heart.

'DAMN IT!' The other, with pure rage.

"I promised…" He stared into the emerald eyes of his once childhood friend, he didn't see the cowardly quirkless loser he had known for so long, he didn't see the pebble beneath him. "I would beat you.." He saw Izuku Midoriya.

CRASH!

They slammed into the ground, kicking up a geyser of dust and concrete. The smoke cleared and stood Izuku, for once not smiling but with a look of regret on his face. 'I just wish things could have been different..'

The crowd exploded into cheers, none more so than his class, though the loudest of all were his three teachers, though since All Might and Gran Torino struggled with cheering as loudly due to their bad lungs and old age in each of their regards, Vlad King more than made up for it. A smile split onto Izuku's face and he had to admit. Finally being able to do that felt nice.

"AND THE WINNER OF THIS YEAR'S FIRST YEAR SPORTS FESTIVAL IS NONE OTHER THAN CLASS 1-B'S IZUKU MIDORIYA!"

All the cheers, the adrenaline, the exhaustion caught up with Midoriya as he fell to his knees and arms, but he didn't pass out. "I… did it…" All with minimal injuries too.

---

All of the students gathered around the stadium viewing areas as finally it was time for the medal ceremony. Kirishima and Kaminari cheered on their friend Bakugo, Mina and Sero also doing so but not quite as fierce as the other two. The rest of the class cheered for the more approachable, not by much but still an improvement, Todoroki.

Though none of them were as loud as 1-B

"YEAHHHH MIDORIYA, YOU WERE THE MANLIEST TODAY!" Tetsu yelled loud enough for Kirishima to hear, making the red boy cry crocodile tears as he remembered Izuku's acts of manliness.

"Of course my good friend Midoriya bested 1-A, I mean REALLY did you expect any other outcome?!" Monoma's loud cheers annoyed 1-A to a high degree, despite two members of 1-A being in top 3 it didn't matter since 1-B was in the only spot that mattered, number one.

"Never doubted you for a second Greenie!" Setsuna cheered with a wolf whistle.

"HE DID IT!" "HE REALLY FUCKING DID IT!" Tsuburaba and Kaibara both cheered in unison, Awase smiling, "He's like the second coming of Christ–" Not getting to finish his sentence and Shiozaki simply smacked his head with her hand since her hair was so short.

Shishida and Shoda both smiled, Komori slightly grinned in happiness making Kuroiro awkwardly smile, Kamakiri clicked his tongue and turned away. Kodai silently clapped while Pony loudly cheered. Fukidashi made a "YEAHHH!" Speech bubble, Bondo clapped, and Juzo gave Midoriya a nod of respect.

Kendo, with a sigh, admitted to herself that Izuku was better than her. Watching as the podiums rose. A smiling Izuku on number one, a pondering Todoroki on number two, and a spaced out and bandaged Bakugo on number three.

Gran Torino smiled, the boy had actually done it, though with a few idiot mistakes that he would surely iron out later, but he had done it. He turned to his other pupil only to find him gone. That made him sigh as All Might crashed down into the stadium with a loud smile, making the crowd explode into cheers. "Gah that buffoon… always has to be so flashy…"

All Might laughed loudly as he basked in the cheers, "YES YES, IT IS I, ALL MIGHT!" He quieted down and cleared his throat, "But! Enough about me! We're here for these students, who have shown incredible prowess, strategy, and strength, and for all of that I would like to say one thing–"

Everyone anticipated it, hyping up to join him–

"GOOD JOB!"

"PLUS UL–"

Everyone went quiet as All Might sweated. "Ah yes that would've been more fitting…" All Might cleared his throat again and embarrassingly cheered "Plus Ultra!" To which no one joined.

"Top Ten blunders in Anime history, number one All Might…" Kaibara muttered.

"Just All Might in general?"

"I mean yeah just look at him!"

All Might cleared some sweat as he laughed, trying to avoid his blunders. "NOW! Let's award the top three of the day, the ones who showed the most promise and surprise! Who rose above their competition and truly embodied this school's motto!" He seemed to get the crowd back and sighed in relief.

He jumped up to Todoroki's pedestal, laying a hand on the boy's shoulder, handing him the medal with his other hand. "You did wonderful today Young Todoroki."

The scarred teen stared at the medal before grasping it, humming and squeezing the award. "But I didn't win, so what's it matter?"

All Might sighed, "My boy, please look at me." Endeavor's son did so, "Just because you didn't achieve first doesn't mean you did not win, you tapped into a part of yourself that you had long since forgotten, and I believe that to be an astounding victory. Today you won, in terms of personal turmoil, and that's the biggest victory any hero can have." Todoroki regarded his words before nodding and putting on the medal, wearing third place with not pride, but acceptance.

All Might in approval before moving to second place. He was more apprehensive as he stared at the lifeless eyes of Bakugo. "Young Bakugo." The boy didn't move. He sighed and placed the medal around Bakugo's neck, only for the boy to scowl.

"Get this shit off of me!" He yanked the medal and tore it off of his neck, "It's not worth anything…"

All Might frowned. "You learned a valuable lesson today Bakugo."

"And what the hell is it?!" The boy lashed out quietly.

"You can't always win sometimes. Sometimes heroes lose, and as much as the outcome does matter, it's how you deal with that loss that matters more." He said in a stern voice, patting Bakugo's shoulder. "If you can't learn that then you won't make it far, Young Bakugo."

The boy grit his teeth and cursed, shoving the medal into his pocket.

All Might slightly grinned and hugged Bakugo, "It's a start, my boy!"

Finally, All Might moved to the last and tallest Podium, where his protege stood with a beaming smile, one which All Might instantly matched. "I'm proud of you my boy." Izuku felt his eyes well up before he quickly rubbed them. All Might lifted his arms, the shining golden medal glinting in the sun as he lowered it around Izuku's neck. "You earned this Young Midoriya."

There's a difference between being lucky and earning something, my boy, and trust me, you've earned this power.

Izuku smiled at the memory of when he received one for all, he reached a hand up and grabbed the medal, smiling with a wide grin. "Thank you… All Might..!"

Chapter 16: A Long Requited Break

The blinds of the room that belonged to one certain successor drifted open as Inko Midoriya woke up her son, his face scrunching as the light hit his face. He gripped his covers and pulled them over his head, with a lot of effort as his body was incredibly sore. He grumbled, "I don't wanna go yet…." He bemoaned. Inko sighed and sat on the edge of his bed, patting where she thought his head was. She glanced to his desk, seeing the first place medal for the Sports Festival there. When she had seen him win she had flooded the apartment with tears in pride and joy of her little boy.

But she also felt bad, remembering what she had told Izuku so so long ago when he was actually just a little boy. She was glad that whatever happened in that year before UA, it had reignited the fire that she had killed in his eyes all that time ago. She dispelled the thoughts and broke into a smile, leaning down to where she guessed his ear was. "Your friends Tetsu and Monoma are here…"

Izuku's eyes shot wide open and he jumped out of bed, quickly going to his dresser and grabbing a pair of pants and a plain white shirt. "TellthemI'mintheshower!" He quickly yelled before running to the bathroom.

The mother smiled before leaving his room and going to the entrance. Seeing two boys that she had remembered from the Festival. "He's going to be a minute, he's in the shower, do you boys want to come and sit down?" A blond and a silver haired boy, both Izuku's classmates.

Monoma and Tetsu accepted the entrance into the Midoriya household, Tetsu had a black shirt and white sweatpants on while Monoma had khaki shorts and a short sleeve light blue button up. They both had big bags with them as they followed Midoriya to the living room. They both looked around, noticing the family photos, Monoma raised a brow at the lack of a father in all of them.

They both sat on the couch and watched as Inko Midoriya moved to the kitchen. Tetsu sighed falling into the couch, "Man…. these couches feel good…" They soothed his sore muscles from the Sports Festival.

Monoma nodded along, leaning his head back into the cushion of the couch. "It is quite relaxing.." He had been drained ever since the end of the tournament, so he was more subdued than usual.

Inko came back, a plate of drinks in her hand, she set them on the table and sat in a single chair to their right, Monoma sat up and reached for the drink, noticing a notebook on the table. The title read "The Applications of Superpower"

The name of Midoriya's quirk.

Monoma grabbed his drink and then glanced at Inko. "Mrs. Midoriya, is that Izuku's? The notebook I mean."

Inko glanced at the notebook and smiled, "Yes, as soon as he came home yesterday he started taking notes on things he could have improved on with his quirk and things he found out during the festival." She sighed, she still couldn't believe that her baby had a quirk! "He didn't go to bed until really late because of it. But it was nice seeing him so excited, though I could've done without the bandages across his body…"

Tetsu's face broke into a smile, "But they show off how strong he is!" He yelled, "That's what I admire about him, things get tough sometimes, especially since we're training to be heroes, but Midoriya always finds a way to do things no matter what!" Tetsu clenched a fist, "He's awesome!"

The woman exploded into tears and the two boys shot out of their chairs and surrounded her, fretting over the woman and holding tissues for her to grab.

"Mrs. Midoriya are you alright?!"

"Mamadoriya?!"

The woman waved a hand,blowing her nose, "Yes, yes boys, I'm… I'm okay." She blew her nose again. "I'm just.. I'm so proud of him." Her eyes watered a bit, "And I'm so happy he's found such amazing friends." Monoma grinned and Tetsu smiled proudly.

"We're happy to have him too, ma'am.." Monoma said with a kind look.

---

The trio of boys walked through the prefecture, heading towards the beach. Izuku had a bag filled with a bunch of things that was smaller than the ones of the other two and traded the pants he had grabbed for swimming trunks. Of course they were All Might themed. He considered some other ones but they were green with pineapples on them and he didn't think that was a good idea after the pizza store incident.

"So, everyone is there?" Izuku asked with a quirked brow. He didn't know about any of the plans the other two had told him about.

Tetsu smiled, "Yeah, Kendo said she was doing some research and found out about a trash beach that got cleaned so she wanted us to come and have some fun after all the tough training we've been doing." He said with a rolling of his shoulder.

Izuku joined Tetsu in grinning, "That's considerate of her.." He left out the part of who cleaned the beach.

Monoma swung an arm around Midoriya, smiling alongside them, "I'm proud of you my dear friend, you truly have started overcoming that stuttering problem!"

The boy made of look of thinking, "Yeah… I guess I did!" He hadn't even realized it. though last night he did remembering stuttering a bit, so it was probably still there, but he was glad it was reduced. The Sports Festival truly had changed him, for the better. He moved Monoma's arm off of him before tapping both of his friends, they both looked at him before he grinned. "Race you there!"

"Oh you are on bro!"

"Very well!"

None of them used their quirks, just having a nice friendly race as they ran the last couple of blocks to the beach.

---

The girls set up umbrellas, towels, and a grill, Kuroiro and Komori were looking at sea shells along the shore, and Shinso stood there awkwardly, not really sure about what to do, he had just been invited along, he didn't really know anyone. That's when Yanagi came over and gave him the tongs, "Here, you can do the hotdogs for us."

Shinso felt some nervousness going away, finally having something to do. He got started on the grill while Tokage and Pony sat under the umbrellas, Yanagi and Kendo joining them soon after.

"How long until the rest of the guys get here?" Tokage pouted.

"I don't know, hopefully soon." Kendo replied.

"Guys guys!" Komori cheered as she and Kuroiro came back, a bunch of shells in their arms. "Look!" She laid them all out for everyone, they each grabbed one, listening to the ocean, grinning as they heard the waves.

Pony pouted, "Broken, it's just yelling, not the ocean…" She spoke clearer thanks to Izuku's tutoring. The rest of the group raised brows before the yelling got louder.

Kendo chuckled, "I don't think that was the shell." The group turned to the steps they had come from, seeing three figures jumping down, a piece of green hair in first place.

"Gah! I was so close!" Tetsu cursed.

Izuku smiled, "Next time Tetsu-kun!" The group of three boys walked over, all panting for breath but with smiles on their faces. The rest of the group stood up and ran towards the three boys.

"About time you showed up! We were waiting for you!" Tokage yelled.

Monoma sighed, "Well, we had to wait for Midoriya."

Izuku raised his hands, "Hey, don't blame me!"

"I mean he's got you there man." Tetsu commented.

"Ganging up on me isn't cool guys!"

"But this will be." Izuku didn't have time to say anything to the monotone voice before he got splashed in the face with water. He sighed and dragged a hand down his wet face to see a bucket floating in front of Yanagi. "Now you are cooled down."

In response, all Izuku could do was laugh, seeing Yanagi joke around was always a welcome delight. He looked around seeing they had water guns, balloons, buckets, the whole gig, a whole variety of things to use. Izuku smiled, activating Full Cowling and quickly grabbed two water guns.

Yanagi used her quirk and grabbed water balloons as Izuku started spraying the entire group.

They all grabbed something, spraying each other, nailing each other with balloons, not even Shinso was free from the fun as he got dragged into it as well, despite not wanting to be.

Izuku sprayed Tetsu in the face and laughed, only for a ton of water to fall down on him, he turned to see Yanagi with her arms up, slightly grinning. He admired her, she was wearing a one piece swim suit, much more time compared to Tokage's and Pony's bikinis that he refused to look at. She looked absolutely amazing in her's though. Before he could say anything Tokage nailed him with a water balloon in the face.

"Stop gawking Izuku! This is war!" She yelled at him.

Monoma sighed, plopping next to Shinso as they did the hotdogs. "Too much energy for the weekend…" Shinso sighed. Monoma just nodded in agreement, ESPECIALLY after the Sports Festival, his body was killing him!

Kendo ran towards the shoreline and cupped water in her hands, firing it like a catapult at her friends, the two tired boys could only sigh as the water landed on them.

They were all drenched after half an hour. It took work to get the grill going again, but they were all smiling as they sat in the shade, moderately tired, especially since they were all so sore.

Izuku laid in the sand, not worried about the sand getting into his bandages. While he was hurting it was more sore, he wasn't broken. He sighed, basking in the sunlight as he was proud of himself that he had started conquering All Might's power.

"Midoriya." The boy sat up and stared at Shinso, the boy offering a hot dog. "Here." Izuku smiled and took it, smiling as it tasted really good, Shinso sat next to him and ate his own hot dog. "Thanks for letting me come along…"

All Might's successor glanced at him, raising a brow, half the hotdog still in his mouth. He finished chewing and swallowed before chuckling and rubbing his neck. "It wasn't my idea. Kendo-chan set this entire thing up."

Shinso perked up, looking back at the red head before looking to the ocean again, staring as if contemplating something. "You should finish your hotdog before it gets cold Shinso-kun." Izuku commented.

"You're right." The boy went back to eating his food. "But which one is Kendo again?"

Izuku chuckled, "The girl with red hair."

The General Course student nodded, "Got it."

The rest of the group looked on as the two chatted with each other and ate. "Greenie's changed…" Tokage commented.

Yanagi glanced at her before looking back at Izuku, his back was straighter, he was smiling more, he seemed more cheerful, "He does appear to have gained more confidence in himself, as if a large darkness was lifted from his heart." She smiled.

"That's really good." Kendo smiled, leaning back. She knew how important confidence was, especially when being a hero.

Monoma sighed, "I just wish I could've gotten rid of that damn Bakugo for Midoriya…." He sighed. Komori and Yanagi both joined him, as they had both tried to do the same but they had failed alongside him. "I really hate that hooligan…" Monoma cursed.

Pony frowned, "Question…" She muttered with a thinking pose as her mind went back to the Sports Festival and one key detail between Bakugo and Midoriya. Everyone turned to her. "What does Deku mean…?"

They all flashed back to the cafeteria incident, that Izuku was a lot more timid than the one they had now. He was… in a box, he had help but he didn't want to accept it, as if he didn't believe it was real. Like it would be stripped away from him if he tried to reach for it.

Kuroiro perked up, "I'm not entirely sure but…. It's probably a really rude insult."

Komori gulped, "H-He told me…about it, and what it meant.." She thought back to taking Izuku to the infirmary.

The group glanced at her. Yanagi opened her mouth in shock, "Could you elaborate on the meaning of the term "Deku" for us Komori-san?"

The mushroom girl rapidly nodded, "He just said it was an old nickname from his childhood, that it was a different way to read his first name." She sighed thinking back to that memory, how sad Izuku had looked back then. "He said that it meant useless…"

Kendo cursed, clenching a fist, "That….that…."

"Asshole.." Tokage finished. Glad that Shiozaki wasn't around to hit her.

Pony frowned, thanks to Izuku's tutoring she knew exactly what the others were talking about and she wished she didn't. "He's not a hero…." She muttered, feeling bad about the topic she had brought up.

Kendo patted her back, "You're right, Bakugo isn't a hero…"

Yanagi frowned, holding her legs close to her chest. How could someone be so cruel to someone so bright? So kind? To be so mean, you truly had to be a horrible person. Especially to someone who always pushed through and did things, who always got things done, with a smile on his face. Even in the worst of circumstances "Wait a second…"

Monoma through a look her way, "What's the matter Yanagi?"

Yanagi narrowed her eyes in through, looking up at Izuku's back, seeing his drenched shirt, seeing him basking in the sun, it reminded her of his mindset, always giving his all to do things, no matter what, and no matter how bleak things seemed. "Well, why don't we turn it into something positive for our friend? So it won't hurt him anymore."

Kendo and Tokage raised brows, "What are you talking about Ghosty?"

She looked at them before writing symbols in the sand. "Well.. Deku is similar to Dekiru." She wrote both symbols in the ground. She pointed to the one on the left, "And well Deku is rude, as it means "useless" and seems to damage Izuku." Then she pointed to the other one, "On the contrary, Dekiru means "you can do it" which I believe perfectly encapsulates Izuku." She raised her eyes and glanced to all of them.

Kendo smiled and nodded, which the rest of them copied, "Yeah! That's perfect!"

Tokage put a hand between them all. "Alright, team! Operation Greenbean is a go!"

Monoma sighed and put a hand in.

Tetsu grinned widely and followed.

Kuroiro grinned and Komori had a determined look as they both put hands in.

Pony smiled and enthusiastically put both of her hands in.

Kendo and Yanagi exchange a look and a smile before joining.

"Break on 3! 1, 2, 3, —"

"BREAK!"

Izuku and Shinso glanced back at the group as they heard the yell. "Everything okay?" Izuku asked.

"My good friend Midoriya!" Monoma yelled, sliding along to sand to sit down next to Izuku before slinging an arm around his shoulder. "I've been meaning to ask a very very VERY important question!"

That had Izuku raising a brow, "What is it Monoma-kun..?"

The blond had a scowl on his face, "What with the term "Deku"…..?" They had to naturally bring it up to Izuku and then try to configure it into something else, good thing that Monoma was naturally blunt so this would be alright.

Izuku's face fell, looking like a kicked puppy. "N-Nothing good….nothing good Monoma-kun."

Yanagi appeared on the other side of him, "Why does this term have a negative connotation?"

"What do you mean?" He asked perplexed

"W-Well" he looked up to see Kuroiro and Komori as the girl started speaking, "Deku is similar to Dekiru." Kuroiro spoke. They both stepped to the side to reveal kendo, "Which means you can do it!" She cheered.

Izuku felt a weight on his back, "And…" Pony spoke. "That fits Midoriya a lot!" She spoke with confidence thanks to Midoriya's lessons.

Yanagi reached for his hand and held it, "What…we are trying to say is…" He looked up to her, seeing her slightly smile, he felt Monoma laying a hand on his shoulder. "Deku…you have inspired us, all of us. To push ourselves, to try to be greater heroes, to be better versions of ourselves." She gave his hand a squeeze. "And so, in return, we want to rid this sadness from your heart."

Izuku twisted his hand to hold hers, giving it a squeeze back. "You can do it…huh..?" He chuckled, looking down into the sand, he could never imagine having friends like these before, they were amazing and he didn't know what he would do without them. "I like how that sounds…"

With a blinding smile he looked up to all of his friends, his true friends, the ones that always had his back no matter what. "Thank you guys.."

Tokage put her arms behind her head, "It's what friends are for broccoli head!"

"W-What Tokage-san said shroom!" Komori said with a smile, Kuroiro nodding alongside her.

Tetsu grinned, letting a hand out for Izuku to grab on, the greanette was dragged to his feet by the steel teen, "You're a manly man! And you push me to me manlier, and for that you can always count on me bro! No matter what!"

"Thanks Tetsu-kun!"

Shinso gulped and stood up as well, "Midoriya…" he gained the boy's attention and with all his confidence he spoke, "I am going to be a hero.." He clenched a fist, " So when I do, let's fight again, and push each other forward. I won't fall behind, that's a promise!" He yelled with conviction.

Izuku smiled widely, "Don't break it."

"I won't."

"None of us will, Midoriya." Kendo smiled, "We're all going to be the best heroes we can be."

"Though, assistance with insight into our quirks would be quite helpful." Yanagi said referring to Izuku's notes. "They are quite helpful."

Izuku perked up, stars in his eyes, "I can do that!" He ran towards their things and reached into his bag and pulled out a notebook, though his ears dropped at the name, "Dang it, this is the wrong one.." He sat down and flopped it onto his lap and Monoma got a good look at the title "Applications of Superpower"

The group all sat down, staring at Izuku and the book. "Midoriya, what's that book for?" Kuroiro asked what everyone else was thinking.

The greanette sighed somberly, "It's for my own quirk." He opened it up to the first page, a detailed description of his quirk adoring it, "I only discovered my quirk recently, so I needed desperately to understand it as best as I could to catch up." He flipped to the next ones, how he had used the power and how it had changed over time, mantras that he kept to help him visualize and control it. "Even now, I can barely use a tenth of what I have."

Burst of 100% or 0, and then Full Cowling at a minimal percentage, it growing, his being able to use it faster, the burst style he had developed with Gran Torino, and finally, finger flicking.

"Finger flicking, what's that?" Monoma asked.

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, "It's this thing I've been working on, I used it a bit in the tournament." He put his right hand in a finger flicking motion, "If I use my quirk while doing this then a large gust of wind comes out, well depending on if I use a high enough percentage." He stopped and looked back at the page. "Right now I'm only a close range fighter, so having some long to mid range attacks would be helpful."

The group's eyes widened in surprise, they didn't even consider that, since none of them had options like that. They didn't think Izuku did either but he had proved them wrong once again.

The boy flipped one more page and a drawing of a pair of gloves appeared.

Tokage whistled at the drawing, "Mind explaining that Greenie?"

He blushed trying to close the book before a hand landed on his, "Could we please see it?" Yanagi whispered, in his flustered state he resigned and nodded.

"S-Sorry, I'm just not used to showing people my drawings…" Izuku gulped before nodding to himself, "S-So.." He cursed the stutter, he had been doing good today too, "The finger flicking, it's uncontrolled, so I was drawing designs of gloves to go with the rest of my redesigned costume, they're meant to help me aim better."

Pony cooed, "Cool…" The idea was really awesome, however…

"Sorry bro but you need a better name than "Finger flicking"."

"Yeah."

"Yup."

"Mhm…"

"I know…" He sighed, "But I couldn't come up with anything cool sounding!"

Tokage put on a thinking pose, "What about… wind shots?" She offered.

"No."

"Gust blast?"

"No."

"Tempest arrows?"

"Ehhhh cool but I don't think it fits Tokage-chan…" The group all followed trying to come up with names, throwing out suggestions, all of them getting shot down. For the life of them they couldn't come up with anything. None of them truly FIT Izuku.

They all sagged to the ground. "You can always go with tempest arrows if we can't come up with anything…?"

Izuku sat up, sighing. "Wind… gust… tempest….aero…air…AIR!" Shinso joined him in thinking, snapping a finger and shooting the greanette a look, "Force..?"

That made Izuku smile, "Air Force! I like it!"

Monoma nodded, "I do believe that fits rather well."

"Let's just hope you don't get sued by Nike." Tokage joked.

"I do believe that with the removal of that final s he shall be fine" Yanagi replied, shaking her hand and dismissing the concern.

Izuku grinned, "Now, I just need to get these gloves made…"

Komori and Yanagi both exchanged a look, remembering the support course student they had teamed up with, "Why not ask Hatsume-san, I'm sure she'd love to do something like that." Yanagi commented.

Izuku smiled, closing his book and putting it back in his back, "Y-Yeah! That's a good idea, thank you."

They had fun, talking about support ideas, things to improve themselves as heroes, helping Shinso with designs and ideas as well. And for the first time in a while Izuku felt lighthearted, the weight of One For All off of his shoulders and the pain that his childhood had long forgotten.

---

"H-Hey mom..!" Izuku yelled, opening the door, hearing giggling behind him that made him grimace. He heard creaking on wood before the bubbly woman stood in the hall that led to the door.

She looked confused, seeing heads of hair behind Izuku, "Yes, sweet….ie…?" She felt tears bubble up in her eyes.

"M-MOM!" Izuku fretted over his mother as she started to cry about her little boy having friends, much to Izuku's embarrassment. Eventually, he got her to calm down and she invited his friends inside. The entire group sat in the living room, Kendo, Tetsu, and Yanagi taking up the big couch. Komori and Kuroiro sat on a smaller couch. And much to Monoma's embarrassment, he and Tokage shared a love seat.

Izuku grinned as he passed around some drinks, "So mom.." He trailed off looking at his plump mother, "I was wondering if it was okay if everyone stayed over tonight..? We wanted to have a sleep over…"

The older Midoriya's eyes filled with tears as she nodded, not trusting her mouth for the moment. She was so happy that her son had made so many friends at UA, she did have work to do in her office so she decided to let them be. After a few moments she spoke, "Of course sweetie.. have fun…!" She smiled and crushed her son with a hug before running off to her room, a wide smile on her face.

Izuku sighed with a wide smile on his face, "Thanks mom…" He muttered under his breath.

His class watched on as he smiled and Reiko's eyes gleamed as his eyes glistened in happiness. 'I never realized, but I rather enjoy his smile quite a lot…'

Setsuna smiled and yelled, "Come on Greenie! You made a promise to us and you have to keep it!"

Said boy raised a brow and turned to her, "What promise…?"

They all gulped at the evil look in her eyes as she opened up her bag. "Oh? So you don't remember, do you..?" She said ominously. Her eyes sent a chill down Izuku's spine, reminding him too much of their R-Rated teacher.

He slowly and hesitantly shook his head, "N-No… I don't remember…"

Her cheshire smile stretched as she reached into her bag, "Well… I guess I'll have to remind you then.." She said sully, making Izuku gulp. And in a few moments she pulled out…

…hair clippers..

Izuku's pupil's shrunk and Setsuna's smile widened.

YOINK

With a pink glow the clippers disappeared from Setsuna's hand and found their way to Reiko's. "I do not trust you with Midoriya's—" it feels wrong saying Midoriya "—hair." The ghost girl stated.

Setsuna pouted, "OH! But c'mon! He promised!" She pointed an accusatory finger at him.

Tetsu grinned, "You did promise man."

Izuku looked offended, "Tetsu-kun! You're supposed to be on my side!"

"He's decided, Green bean~" Setsuna smiled.

All Might's successor flushed with embarrassment before turning towards the blond, "A-And what about you Monoma-kun?" He asked with hope.

The boy raised his hands in defeat, "I've learned it's better to let Setsuna do what she wants."

Izuku gaped in betrayal before looking at Kuroiro and Komori. "You would look nice with a different haircut shroom!" The mushroom girl said and Kuroiro nodded along. He turned to Shinso and the boy shook his head, making Izuku sigh in relief, at least Shinso was on his side. Lastly he turned to Kendo, she simply shrugged, not knowing which to pick.

Setsuna grinned, "Hah! You got outvoted!"

The Class rep fumed silently before it all dispelled as he sighed. "Ok…but!" He shot up and smiled, before pointing at Reiko, "Only Yanagi-chan—" That felt…wrong "—can do it."

"EHHH?!" Setsuna whined, "B-But c'mon! I was so looking forward to this!"

Izuku crossed his arms and shook his head, "I don't trust you with my hair!"

Monoma grinned and wrapped an arm around her, "Come on Setsuna, just let it be. He's still gonna get his hair cut." He muttered tiredly. Today had not been his day. Setsuna sighed and melted into the contact, not caring that they had an audience. She grumbled but conceded.

"Fiiiiiiiiine…."

Izuku smiled and sighed in relief before making his way over, "And when it's time to sleep I'll move the couches so you all can set up your sleeping bags." He scratched the back of his neck and looked away for a second, "S-Sorry… the apartment is a little small so it'll be cramped.."

Kendo sighed, "Midoriya you're too modest, this is perfect."

Shinso nodded along, "What Kendo said… this is the first sleepover I'm ever gonna have and so far it's been perfect." The lavender hair boy smiled.

Izuku joined him in grinning, "Mine too..! So.. thank you all for coming." He smiled brightly.

They group all grinned and smile before getting up and moving about. "Ok, so let's order some pizza!" Tetsu cheered as he and Kendo went about doing that. Kuroiro Komori, Setsuna and Monoma went about picking movies to watch. Pony set about getting everyone drinks, making her american styled tea. And Shinso and Reiko were getting Izuku ready for his hair cut.

"It's gonna be alright…" Shinso tried to calm the anxious boy.

Izuku nodded, albeit hesitantly, "Y-Yeah…just weird I suppose."

"Whaddya mean weird, man?" Tetsu called from the kitchen, grabbing chips and sodas from the fridge.

Izuku rubbed his neck. "Well… I've had the same haircut since I was a kid…"

"Ehhhhh?" Pony yelled, "So long..?"

Monoma hummed, "I can concur, from these pictures, our good friend Midoriya has had the same haircut since elementary school." He spoke, observing the family pictures covering the walls, staring at one of Midoriya as a child, entering elementary school. He looked rather nervous, a strange wobbly smile on his face as he wore the traditional bright blue uniform for his school, an All Might action figure in his hand.

Setsuna cooed over baby Izuku, "Awwwwwww you look SOOOOO CUTE!" She smiled while holding her cheeks, "I want baby Izuku!" She yelled.

Said boy blushed at the praise, before smiling and looking at Reiko. "Are you ready, Izuku…?" She whispered into her ear.

The boy's back went rigid. Something about her being so close made him nervous, especially because she used his given name. But, would he really be able to go through with this? Yanagi was really the only one she trusted not to mess up his hair. While Monoma was also very trustworthy, he was also very eccentric, and he caved into Tokage's commands a lot, so Yanagi was the only option. But still, her being so close, right next to him, like this? He could only gulp in response before dumbly stuttering out a yes.

Yanagi mustered up her courage, "And you're sure about this..?"

Izuku slowly nodded, "I did make a promise… and I don't break my promises."

Shinso looked and sighed, "Alright, Midoriya."

"Yes Shinso–" Izuku cut off as Shinso's quirk activated. Reiko looked alarmed but Shinso waved a hand.

"Stay still until Yanagi-san finishes your haircut." He looked at the ghost girl. "I didn't want him to move too much and mess it up.." Shisno spoke rather bashfully.

Reiko regarded him with a smile. "Thank you, that's very considerate of you."

"No problem…"

And for the next two hours everyone gathered around, some making suggestions of where to cut, others staying out of it completely, but they all agreed that they wanted to leave the top alone and just cut the sides, maybe a bit of cleaning up on the top. Yanagi used her quirk and made precise cuts, sweating while doing so. She really didn't want to mess this up.

Izuku – Midoriya… we are only friends –had trusted her specifically to do this and she didn't want to betray his trust, she wanted to get this right just for him. She couldn't afford to mess up, she would feel incredibly guilty if she did. After all, Midoriya had been her first friend at UA, and she had to do right by him. She wouldn't mess up, she would succeed, just for him.

She cut the sides short, not too short where it was just fuzz but relatively compared to the rest of his hair. From the bottom up, at the bottom was the shortest and it continued that way and gradually there was more hair until they reached about 4/5s up to the top where there was a good amount, the top had been completely left alone and they liked how it had come up.

They all looked on in….surprise.

Without the sides, Izuku's face looked more defined, more angular, the puffy hair he had before accentuated his puffy cheeks but now without it they could see how defined his jaw was. Due to his hair before he looked rather round but now he looked sharp, in a good way. He looked more…well borrowing from Tetsu's vocabulary…manly.

Pony smiled, "He looks…. COOL!"

"I agree Shroom!" Komori smiled.

"He looks quite…. Fearsome." Kuroiro grinned.

Kendo walked around him, looking pensive before nodding and smiling, "This is different, but he looks amazing!"

Yanagi sighed in relief, sinking back into the couch with a smile. "I'm relieved…."

Monoma grinned and turned to Shinso. "Alright Shinso, do your thing!"

The boy nodded before looking at Midoriya, said greanette gasped as his eyes returned full of life, he looked around and felt…strange. Looking around and seeing everyone staring at him didn't help, at least they were smiling though. He raised a brow before smiling and moving his hand towards the back of his neck like he always did. "Is there something on….my….." His words died in his throat as he didn't feel the familiar curls he had had all of his life. "It's…shorter..than I expected." He muttered.

Yanagi gulped before floating a mirror towards them and handing it to Izuku. "Here…" She hoped he liked it..

Izuku slowly and shakily took the mirror, and brought it to the front of his eyes, though his eyes were closed shut. He was… nervous, very nervous, about how this would look. "You can look…Izuku…" Reiko whispered into his ear. And as much as it made him nervous and clammy, it also helped him relax. He trusted her.

He slowly fluttered his eyes open, the sides and back were short but not too short and the top was still as long as he had it. Though it looked more cleaned up than he had it.

Izuku was speechless.

"I…I…" He couldn't find the words as his friends all gazed on with smiles, "I love it…" He smiled. "I love it!"

Reiko smiled as Izuku went on about how good it looked, feeling an intense amount of anxiety fall off of her shoulders at his praise of the job she had done on his hair. They all stopped when they heard the doorbell ring. Tetsu grinned and bounced to his feet. "PIZZA TIME!" Izuku grinned and got up to help Tetsu with all of the food.

They all gathered together and watched movies, talked about heroes, more potential gear designs. Shinso asked what their heroics courses were like and they all explained to their best extent. And then Izuku ran to his room, coming back with a large white packet. "Shinso-kun, here." He handed it to the lavender hair boy.

Shinso raised a brow, "What's this…?" Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan?

Izuku smiled and sat back down, "It's a packet, it has all the training I did for ten months leading up to the UA entrance exam." He opened up his phone and found a picture that All Might had taken, him crying on the sand with his stick limbs, and showed it to Shinso. "This was me at the beginning of training."

"Woah woah, lemme see." Setsuna dragged Izuku's arm towards her and eventually everyone got to see.

And they were shocked.

HE WAS TINY!

"M-Midoriya… my friend…" Monoma spoke emptily, "You filled out a lot… in the course of just ten months."

"I'll say…" Kendo said with wide eyes.

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, "I didn't have a quirk, so I had to work harder than anyone else if I wanted to get in…" He said somberly.

"What do you mean?" Pony asked with a head tilt.

Izuku blushed before fumbling over his words, sighing, putting his head in his hands, and looking up. "I… couldn't use my quirk for the longest time, it uses energy and I had to get that energy over the course of time." He felt bad lying, but All Might told him not to tell anyone about One For All. "But I didn't know, and at a certain point the energy became too much for my body to handle, so my quirk locked it away, so I wouldn't break myself." He sighed looking up and leaning back into the couch. "So… for the longest time… I thought I was quirkless, it wasn't until the entrance exam that I discovered my quirk."

Setsuna spit out her drink, drenching Monoma, the boy looked pissed and dragged a hand down his wet face. "Two times… In one day..?"

"YOU PLANNED ON TAKING THE EXAM QUIRKLESS?" Setsuna yelled, she hadn't been there since she was recommendation but she had heard how bad it was from her classmates the first couple of days of school.

She got a sheepishly smiling Izuku in return, "Yes…?" He answered.

Reiko smiled and…giggled quietly. Izuku blushed hearing that and turned towards her. "You really are a crazy one, aren't you Midoriya?"

He chuckled. "Y-Yeah… I guess so." He smiled.

They continued to talk, Izuku showing Shinso how the plan worked and some adjustments to make to it. When it was time for bed Izuku got to moving the couches, pushing them against the far wall with ease, after all he had somehow carried All Might at the start of his training, so couches were nothing. Some would sleep on them, others had sleeping bags, of course Izuku would be staying here with them, he didn't want to be in his room in a bed while everyone else was sleeping on the floor.

He got to helping Reiko with her sleeping bag, smiling with a blush on his face. What is this feeling? He didn't know, he had never experienced this before. The fluttering in his chest, how his throat locked up whenever he looked at her. How he just wanted to be next to her. It was all so alien to him.

"I'm going to get some drinks, Midoriya." She said before getting up.

"Alright." Izuku nodded as she left and straightened out her pillow. "Everything seems good–"

"BREAKING NEWS!" The sound caught Izuku's attention, the urgency in the voice made him turn towards the TV, where he saw a woman standing in front of a hospital. The rain coming down was hard and she appeared to be sad as she held up an umbrella to keep herself dry.. "We are here in front of Hosu General Hospital!" The woman seemed shaken up as she shed tears, "And we are sad to report that the Tensei Iida, known to the world as the Turbo Hero: Ingenium has been admitted into the hospital yesterday in critical condition after an ordeal with the Hero Killer Stain!"

Izuku paused with the sleeping bag, dead eyes staring at the TV, "Iida….?" He instantly connected the dots.

The woman croaked out some tears. "His current condition is unknown as both the hospital and the Iida family have refused to give a statement, however we give them our prayers that he makes a full recovery." She brushed a stray lock of hair out of the way of her face before nodding, "We promise to keep updating everyone about the situation, thank you for your time."

It cut back to normal hero news after but it left Izuku thinking. "Iida-kun's big brother…." Is that why he left the festival? He didn't know but… he would find out and make sure that Iida was okay. After all, that's what a hero would do.

Notes:

Not much to say right now, I was considering putting Izuku's dream about the vestiges here because I want to give him Blackwhip… but I decided I will give him a bit more training before that happens. Also, since Izuku has such good control over One For All who will he be interning with? Gran Torino still? A certain Bunny Hero that picked up on his kick during the Sports Festival?

…just kidding, a lot of people do her and it's kinda boring at this point.

But I do have someone in mind, and i'll give you a hint, it's a guy.

Until next time

Jay out!

Chapter 17: Internships?!

Reiko drifted awake as she heard snickering and laughing, her eyes fluttered open as she stared at Setsuna, her phone in her hands as she took photos of whatever she was laughing about. She finally noticed that the camera was pointed right at her. "W-What..?" She tried to get up but felt herself held down by something, or more appropriately, someone.

She blushed slightly and looked up, seeing Izuku, snoring softly and mumbling in his sleep. She tried to move but the action only caused him to hold her tighter. 'How did this happen?!' Reiko was for once, not composed, she didn't have her mysterious voice, she was just a girl who was flustered because the boy that made her heart skip beats was holding her tremendously close.

The ghost girl wiggled, trying to escape, but again he just pulled her closer, until their faces were centimeters apart, she could feel his breath as she stared into his closed eyes. It made her gulp.

Setsuna grinned as she took one last picture before putting her phone away. "Setsuna, come on, help us put the sleeping bags away." Kendo chastised her. "And let those two sleep." She grumbled.

Shinso took a glance at the red head, for once she had her hair down, and he had to admit, she looked rather nice that way. He shook his head before rolling up his sleeping bag before hanging said head. 'Just do it…' The boy turned to Kendo and with all of bravery made his way over. "Hey.. Kendo.."

The redhead looked up towards him and tilted her head, "Yeah?"

Shinso looked up before looking away and rubbing his neck, "I just wanted to say… thank you… for inviting me and everything. It means a lot." He stole a glance back towards her to see her smile.

"No problem! It's what friends are for." That damn smile….

"Ok.." Shinso mumbled and went back to putting his sleeping bag away.

Tetsu came back, finished throwing out all of the trash from last night. He turned to Izuku and saw that the boy was still holding onto Reiko, he whistled in response, "Man, he's holding onto her like a lifeline."

Pony smiled, "It's cute!" She whispered, not wanting to wake up Izuku.

The greenhead grumbled and mumbled, "I'm gonna be… a hero…" He got out and trailed off back into quiet snoring. That made the group smile and laugh.

Reiko had given up trying to get out and just made herself comfortable, though being here was already quite comfortable in and of itself. She got…closer…laying her head on his chest, she forgot how muscular he was. She could feel how defined his pecs were through his shirt, and she could hear his heartbeat too. It was soft and gentle. She loved all of it. "I could find myself getting used to this.." She muttered with a smile, bringing her arms up and wrapping them around his midsection.

Setsuna smirked. "She's daring!" She whispered to Monoma, "I told you, they are adorable together!"

Monoma admitted with a sigh that she was quite right, though it wasn't anything official yet, "Just don't push them together, let it happen naturally." He advised the shark toothed girl. Surprisingly she nodded along to his advice.

The group of friends helped wrap everything up, throwing all of their trash away and putting all of their sleeping bags away before finally gathering around the two. Reiko blushed as she glared at her friends, Setsuna still smirking like a madwoman. "Do something, will you?" She said.

Komori smiled, "But you two look so comfortable!"Reiko flushed once more and turned away.

"Awww come on, don't be embarrassed Ghosty!" Setsuna said just a tad too loudly.

The noise caused Izuku Midoriya to stir and his eyes flexed in discomfort at the noise as his brain finally told him to get up. His eyes fluttered open, wincing at the brightness of the room as he looked into the gazes of his friends, they were all smiling widely, Setsuna was certainly giddier than usual. The boy blinked in confusion, "Something… on my face..?" He asked tiredly before feeling the weight in his arms.

With a small glance down, Izuku let out a squeak as he gazed at Reiko in his arms, she looked absolutely adorable. Yet, he knew that despite him enjoying this, he couldn't do this, they were just friends. Quickly, and messily, he let her go, backed up, and smacked his head on the wall. "Gah!"

The group winced as Izuku grabbed his head, Reiko got up and helped him massage, "Please do try to be more careful."

"I-I'll try.." Izuku blushed.

They all laughed and helped Izuku up, Pony getting him an ice pack from the fridge.

The entirety of the group went back to the beach to enjoy one more day of fun before they went back to studying. "Hey, Midoriya?" Izuku and the rest of the group turned to Shinso as the boy seemed confused, flipping through the pages that Izuku had given him on the Aim to Pass: American Dream Plan.

"Yeah?" Izuku asked.

Shinso flipped to a certain page, the plan talking about cleaning a beach. "Well here it mentions cleaning a beach, Dagobah…" He looked up as they just arrived, seeing the pristine sands of the beach, not a speck of trash in sight. "Did…. did you do all of this..?" All of them looked at Izuku to see him sheepishly scratching his cheek.

"Maybe…?"

Monoma clapped Izuku's shoulder, going on about how truly amazing he was while Tetsu began shaking him, calling him a manly man, Izuku overloaded from the praise. The rest were in awe, cleaning up an entire beach worth of trash? That was crazy!

"Crazy…" Komori smiled.

"Awesome…!" Setsuna grinned

"Insane…" Kendo sighed.

Everything was back to normal and Izuku couldn't' be happier about that. They chatted to their heart's content, had fun as they drenched each other in more water, even getting Monoma and Shinso to join in more this time, raced out into the distance and back to the beach, and eventually his friends departed as they still had to go to school the next day. And from the sinking feeling in his chest as he went to bed, it was going to be big.

Or well, bigger than it had usually been.

---

Izuku smiled as he walked onto his train stop, getting on to make his way to UA High. He glanced around, a bystander lifted his head up and stared at Izuku, blinking, before yelling. "HEY, YOU'RE THAT KID FROM THE SPORTS FESTIVAL!" And so the hell storm began. Everyone on the train crowded around Izuku, asking for autographs, pictures, asking if he was single or taken, all of it made Izuku blush as he wasn't used to so much attention. Eventually, the train doors opened and he exploded out with Full Cowling. "Thank you for your support!" He said with a smile before running off.

He blushed, looking like a tomato, not used to all of the people crowding around him. He slowed and stopped using Full Cowling, not wishing to get into any kind of trouble, before a person ran past him, with a yellow raincoat on. Though due to the robotic movements, Izuku made an educated guess, "I-Iida-kun!"

The figure stopped and turned, allowing Izuku to see a neutral face on the robotic boy. "Oh, Midoriya… I didn't recognize you... Did you need something?"

Izuku paused before speaking, "I wanted to say I'm sorry about Ingeniu–"

"It's fine!" Iida yelled, before coughing and pushing his glasses "Everything is fine, though, thank you for your condolences." Before Izuku could say anything else Iida sped off to UA, making the Class B student frown. "There's definitely something wrong…" But he would have to find out another way, unless prodding and prying was his only solution, he'd rather not try that.

Izuku now found himself in his classroom, sitting with a sigh as he enjoyed the familiar location. He was one of the first ones there and he decided to pull out his notebook and get to writing more notes on his quirk, which he had referred to as because there were people that didn't know about One For All, SuperPower.

He finished the rough sketches for his Air Force gauntlets, the name still made him smile, before moving onto the rest of the suit. While he had the same concept as the original, which he was calling Alpha, the new suit, Beta, had been much more defined compared to the last one. Izuku had researched all kinds of things that he had needed to prevent his quirk from breaking his arms. And he had found certain ideas that he hadn't quite translated to any drawings yet, but he would ask his designer, whoever it would be, about them.

He just hoped that, if it turned out to be Hatsume, that she didn't go crazy with it. In the back of his mind he sighed, knowing that the mad scientist was most definitely going to go cravy with whatever he was going to give her to work on.

Though, that left him with one last idea.

"My legs…" Izuku muttered. His mind traveled back to his match against Todoroki. Once his fingers were done and he knew they couldn't handle One For All anymore, he had switched to his legs. And despite the fact that he had overcharged his leg, the limb seemed relatively fine compared to his arms when he had overcharged them, so that begged the question. "Can my legs take more..?" That would make sense…they were larger compared to his arms, more muscle, more power spread evenly throughout…

Tapping a pencil on his desk, Izuku moved and got to writing, "But.. if my legs can take more then… Instead of just using punches I should try using kicks too, that would change a lot of adaptation, a complete change in fighting style would be necessary, but it would be very beneficial." He took a look back and then immediately started sketching, "Big, they need to be held tight onto my legs, and so they can take all the shockwaves from when I kick, rough material for the boots…" He muttered and nodded before adding, "Steel tipped and toed, there has to be a lot of reinforcement on them…"

"Hey prez?" Izuku stopped his musing and looked up to see Kaibara standing there, "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt, but that Todoroki guy is at the door to see you." The representative raised a brow before shooting out of his seat and heading for the doorway, where he saw the son of Endeavor standing there, his bag on his side, clearly showing that he hadn't gone to class yet.

"Is something the matter, Todoroki-kun?" Izuku asked as he stepped outside and then closed the door to the classroom.

Todoroki had pulled out his phone and looked at Izuku before sighing, bringing his cellphone up and handing it to Izuku, the screen displayed a contact screen, the new contact reading "Midoriya" as the blank space for the number remained blank, Izuku looked up to Todoroki with a raised brow "You want my phone number?"

The boy nodded, "Yes."

Izuku obliged, typing his phone number in before handing it back. Todoroki held onto the device with both hands before typing, Izuku's phone in his pocket vibrated and he pulled it out, the basic black phone pinged as a notification popped up, on the screen it read an unknown number as Izuku tapped on it. On the screen read a basic

Unknown: Hello

Izuku smiled and looked back up to Todoroki before typing back.

Midoriya: Hi o/

He grinned as he saw Todoroki perk up, Izuku saved the number and put his phone away, letting out a hand for Todoroki to shake, "So, wanna be friends?"

The half and half boy took Izuku's hand and gave a firm shake. "Yes…"

"AHEM!" They both paused and turned back to see Aizawa standing there, his arms crossed. "I suggest you both get to class." The Erasure hero said. Izuku and Todoroki both nodded and Izuku smiled, "I'll see you around, Todoroki-kun!" He raised a hand for a high five and Todoroki raised a brow and a hand as well, to which Izuku smacked with his own, "High five!" He grinned.

Though Todoroki was even more confused.

Before he could ask any questions Aizawa cleared his throat again and Todoroki moved along, "Bye Midoriya, and… nice hair." He waved as he walked away with Aizawa leading him. Izuku grinned at the compliment as they both turned the corner and returned to class, when he got back in, he saw that most, if not everyone, was there already. He quickly took another seat and paused as his eyes landed on Yanagi.

His mind went back to yesterday morning and a blush crept its way onto Izuku's face. Just remembering what had happened was enough to make him flushed. He still didn't even know how it happened! 'I mean yeah our sleeping bags were right next to each other….' That was probably a bad idea, well at least he knew for next time.

Setsuna grinned as she looked at what was going on, Izuku's blush, Yanagi's as well, god she loved it so much. Her torso disconnected and floated before a shoulder wrapped around Izuku's head, "We should totally have another sleepover!" Setsuna smiled at the blushing Izuku.

"WELL!" The door slammed open with a harsh thud. "Your next sleepover is gonna have to wait because for the next few weeks you lot will be interning with heroes!" Vlad King yelled as he entered the room. He grinned as all of his students quieted down, Izuku and Setsuna were both intrigued and moved to their seats rather quickly. "Alright, good!" He made his way to the podium, "During the Sports Festival heroes from all over Japan scouted you all to see who they would want to take in as interns!" He pressed a button and a ranking showed up on the board behind him.

Izuku gulped as he was at the top, a solid 4692 sitting at the top. "This is just our class. However, in both A and B combined, Midoriya gained the most offers." Kan commented with his usual gruffness, it made Izuku blush. People wanted him at their agencies! Though, he noticed that the rest of the class didn't have quite as many. Even the next one, Shiozaki, had barely 256 offers.

"That's the difference…" Izuku heard the class mutter around him, "With first place!"

Kan smiled as Izuku blushed, hiding his head in his notebook. "Yes! You'll see the difference between the rest of you and first place, but don't worry, we will find all of you a place to intern at!" He yelled before pulling out massive stacks of paper. All of the stacks of paper varied in height. "Alright, now! Allow me to pass these out!" Kan walked around the room, handing everyone a different stack, seeing all of his students either seize up in nervousness or grin in determination.

However in the case of Kodai doing nothing as she held her usual emotionless face.

"These are lists of all the heroes that asked you all to intern with them." The class turned to Izuku's desk, seeing a ginormous stack there. Kan couldn't help but grin in pride, "I want a decision in two days!" He yelled and his class all nodded with a shout of "Yes sensei!"

The man couldn't help but grin as all of his students got to sorting through their papers, looking for the perfect choice, what he didn't expect however was for Midoriya to shoot a hand into the air, it being barely visible from behind the massive stack on his desk. "What is it, Midoriya?" Kan asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

Izuku simply smiled in response as he grabbed the notebook that he was always taking notes in, "Kan-sensei, I was hoping to make some changes to my costume before we leave for internships, so I was wondering if I could go to the support studio during our heroics period or lunch to get those changes in."

Their teacher smiled widely, "HAHA!" The man's laugh shook the entirety of the class, it was even greater than All Might's iconic laugh. "I like that Midoriya! Already improving upon your costume to be a better hero! Yes, you can go to the support studio." Kan crossed his huge arms and smiled in pride.

Smiling with a wide berth, Izuku immediately got back to sorting through his picks. Taking out all of the lower ranking heroes, which thankfully the papers were organized by hero rankings, so Izuku didn't have to do that himself. It's not that he didn't think lower ranked heroes weren't capable, they definitely were, but Izuku needed to get as much experience as he could from someone good, someone strong, and hopefully high ranked.

So when throwing out all the lower ranked ones, stumbling upon one without a rank definitely tripped him up. The page had a label at the top in big bold letters. "Underground hero…?" He didn't even know that underground heroes could participate in internships. Looking at the page, and the name labeled as well as the picture of a gruffy man made Izuku pause, "Eraserhead…" Izuku mumbled with wide eyes.

His mind traveled back to the USJ, seeing the Erasure Hero fight with all he had, it had definitely earned Izuku's respect and awe. All Might's successor decided that he'd keep that page for consideration. The rest of 1-B went throughout sorting their choices as well.

Tetsu grinned and slammed a hand down on the table, "I'm going with Fourth Kind!"

Izuku regarded his steel friend with a smile, "That's a good choice! He'll definitely help you become a better hero!"

Kendo followed Tetsu's example and showed Izuku hers. "I picked Uwabami!"

However, she did not get the reaction she expected. Izuku seemed… confused. "Really…?" He asked with a head tilt and a raised brow before coughing into his hand, "I-I mean… she's a good hero, but she mainly focuses on her modeling career, so I don't think she'd be a good choice for you." He got up and moved to her table, sorting through her stacks of internship offers. "Here look at this one!"

Vlad grinned as his students moved about, Izuku helping some of his friends with picking internships, he felt a bit bad before he yelled, "Alright!" The class locked up and turned to him, "Before you all go to your classes we have something serious to discuss." Okay, now that locked onto their attention. "IT'S TIME TO PICK HERO NAMES!"

"HELL YEAH!" Awase pumped a fist into the air and instinctively dodged under Shiozaki's vine smack, causing Kaibara who was right behind him to get smacked instead. "Fuck!" Manga's head turned into an exclamation point in his excitement and the rest of the class cheered.

Vlad King grinned before coughing, "Now now, alright, so–" Glancing at the door, expecting something but getting nothing, Vlad coughed again, "So!" …nothing, "God damn it…" He cleared his throat before yelling, "SOOOO!" With a quick yelp, the door was pushed open and Present Mic strode in. "Mic I swear! Pay attention!"

"Sorry Kan! I was looking at the ratings for my podcast–"

"I don't care!"

Eventually the two teachers stopped bickering before Mic stepped to the front, "Alright Little Listeners!" Present Mic grinned as Kan passed out white board and markers, "Today marks one of the biggest decisions you'll have to make as heroes! Picking your name!" Mic wanted to scream louder but he didn't want to damage anyone's hearing. "If you wanna do a test-run with a name you will be able to change it later! But–!" He pointed at the crowd, "Be careful with what you pick! You get too famous and you'll be stuck with it!"

With a tired sigh, Kan stood next to Mic, arms crossed, "I believe you'll all make good choices, now, let's get started!"

"YEAH!"

---

"Yeah, no, that's stupid."

"YOU'RE STUPID YOU–" A vine slapped Awase before he finished speaking, his name "Welder" being rejected. With a huff he returned to his seat. Kaibara moved up next with a wide grin, the class waiting for the terrible name he was going to spew out, "I choose, The Twisting Hero: Spiral!"

…

"Boo..!"

"Oh screw you Awase!"

It was… decent. Still a tad boring, but it was acceptable.

Next up was Kamakiri, who with a wide grin slammed his board down, "The Slicing Hero: Jack Mantis!"

Now that one, while a little stupid, was interesting. Izuku entered a thinking pose, muttering aloud, causing everyone to turn to him. "Ah yes, a play on those Jack The Ripper and Praying Mantis, one because he uses blades like the famous murderer but also because of his resemblance to a praying mantis, hmmmmm while the connection to the murderer might be a bit troublesome I believe it could work…"

"Shut up stutter!"

"Ah! SORRY!" Izuku yelled with embarrassment.

Monoma chuckled, despite everything he had told Izuku, the boy still hadn't gotten that stutter under control.

The next couple of names passed in a blur, with Kuroiro proclaiming himself as the Scheming Hero: VantaBlack, which was one of the first actually kinda good one in most of the classes' opinion. Though, Kendo's name "Battle Fist" was a tad lackluster. As was Kodai's "Rule" which was a reference to a ruler, since her quirk dealt with the size of things.

However, "The Mushroom Hero: Shemage!" Komori proclaimed with a wide smile.

That one made Izuku grin, the first amazing one, a reference to a type of mushroom, while also sounding like "She mage" or a female mage, she did make mushrooms pop out of nowhere which was certainly magical, and…

With a bonk on his head, Izuku paused, looking up to see a floating hand which made him turn to Tokage, "You done nerding out Greenie?" He was, but still it was a good name. And all of the class agreed, proclaiming, "SHEMAGE!" loudly, much (or should I say mush) to Komori's embarrassment.

Next was Shiozaki, "Maria" which must have been some sort of reference to the bible that Izuku didn't understand. And then it was Shishida with, "The Beast Hero: Gevaudan!" Izuku would have to do a bit of studying for that reference later, but it would be interesting for sure.

Then there was Shoda with "Mines'' which was a tad boring, or as Kamakiri put it, "That name is almost as ass as you look!" Which earned him a smack from Kendo and a scolding from Shishida for being so rude. After Pony's "Rocketti" there were a string of pretty good ones, Tsuburaba's "Aeris", Tetsu's "Real Steel", "Lizardy" was kind of lackluster though, "Comicman'' was pretty good though, having a classic comic book feel to it.

Next up was the other recommendation student, Juzo Honenuki's "Mudman" was similar to Fukidashi's Comicman. Bondo's "Plamo" was interesting, being a reference to something plastic, Izuku needed to write more notes on Bondo's quirk.

"Now!" Monoma stood up with a lot of bravado, "It is my turn!" Monoma stalked to the front of the room and slammed his board onto the podium, "I am the Phantom Thief!" With a small bow, he added, "Pleasure to make all of your acquaintances." Izuku grinned as the stereotypical character definitely fit Monoma.

And now, it was his turn. Izuku sent one last glance back down to his board before nodding to himself, "Now or never…"

"Alright, Midoriya, your turn!" Vlad King yelled as Izuku shot out of his seat.

The boy squared his shoulders, stood tall, and walked forward with a grin on his face. He had been thinking about it a lot, almost as much as his costume and what kind of hero he wanted to be. But, after what his friends had done for him, and knowing how many other people had gone through things as he did.

How powerless some people have felt.

How weak.

How useless.

Izuku Midoriya decided to be a light for those people, even if people made fun of his name, it's origin was a bad one, but his close friends had helped mold it into something better. Something that he hoped would inspire others, whether it be hope, or happiness. With a wide smile, Izuku placed his board down.

"Woah, you sure about that one Prez?" Awase asked.

"Midoriya, did you misspell your choice…?" Shishida wondered.

They were worried and confused, but some smiled, as Izuku brightly yelled, "I'll be the Unyielding Hero: Deku!" He would never give up, he would always do his best, and show everyone that he could do it, that he could be a hero, and he would inspire as many people as he could.

Present Mic and Vlad King mumbled and glanced at each other in alarm, "Are you sure about this one little listener?"

Izuku regarded his English teacher with a nod, "Yes Yamada-sensei! I've never been so sure of something in my life."

Kan nodded, "Well, if you're absolutely sure about this Midoriya, then alright, we'll allow it."

"Thank you sensei!"

---

"You're sure you wanna use Deku as your hero name?" Kendo asked with a raised brow as they all got ready for lunch, slinging bags on their shoulders, pushing chairs in, and tidying up their desks.

Izuku nodded, placing his notebook on Superpower in his bright yellow bag, zipping it shut with a smile, "I thought about it a lot last night." He paused and rubbed the back of his neck, "Really, thank you guys a lot, I haven't been able to stop smiling since you guys did that for me."

Yanagi smiled and gave him a nudge, pushing him towards the door, "Tis what friends are for, just like Monoma said all that time ago."

"Yeah!" Tetsu joined in.

Izuku thanked them, "Do you guys mind if I head to the support lab? I need to get some changes done to my costume."

Monoma waved a hand, "Not at all, Midroiya, do you wish for any of us to accompany you?"

"A-Ah no! It's okay! You guys should go and eat!" Izuku protested, after all he didn't want to waste their time, lunch was rather important after all.

"Are you sure, Midoriya?" Komori asked with a head tilt, "We wouldn't mind."

That made their class leader smile, "I know you guys wouldn't mind, that's why I want you guys to go eat, lunch is important, you guys need the energy, I packed lunch today so I'll just eat it in the support studio while I'm talking with whoever is going to handle my costume."

Well they couldn't protest to that, so they agreed, although Yanagi was of course reluctant, but eventually she conceded.

Izuku left class in the opposite direction his friends went and went for the support studio, what he didn't expect to come across was–

"YOUNG MIDORIYA!" An enthusiastic All Might in a terrible suit, though Izuku thought it looked good since he had no fashion sense (however he was still confused since that suit was destroyed at the USJ, unless All Might had multiple suits of the same design? Which was rather unpractical, it was almost like he was a cartoon character in a tv show.)

"A-All Might!" Despite knowing the man for months, Izuku was still excited and surprised every time he showed up. "What are you doing here?"

The man grinned widely before holding up a brown paper bag, "Lunch, wanna join….. Me…?" The man tilted his head, "Young Midoriya what happened to your hair…?"

Izuku smiled at the man's behavior, "My friends cut it during a sleep over the other day."

"OH! HAHA! Well, I think it looks very good on you, my boy!"

The boy's smile just grew more at the compliment, "Thank you All Might! And about lunch, I have to go to the support studio, but we could walk together and eat on the way."

"Very well!"

The two fell into step together and made their way to the support studio, chatting about how they had been doing since the sports festival, before All Might reached into his pocket. "S-So, Young Midoriya…" All Might coughed into a hand and pulled out a small piece of paper. "For your internship, Gran Torino wanted to train you… so, here's his address and–"

"Actually." Izuku cut off his mentor, "I've already decided who I'm going to intern with, All Might." He stated matter factly.

"Oh?" The giant pro regarded his pupil with a raised brow, "And who might that be, Young Midoriya?"

"Eraserhead."

"PFFFT!" All Might deflated in a cloud of smoke, spitting up blood in the middle of the hall in shock "A-A-Aizawa?!" He yelled, the red liquid still in his mouth, seeing his student nod only left him with one question, "W-Why?"

Izuku's brows clenched as he thought, "After the sports festival, while I was revamping my costume, I realized something." He had been too busy trying to copy All Might, only relying on his fists, yet Gran Torino showed him he had more than just that. "I tried emulating you, but I'm not you All Might, and I'll never be you." Toshinori perked up and his eyes widened at his student's words, "I'm going to be my own hero, I have to be my own hero, and I've already made steps towards that with my new gauntlets and boots, but I want Aizawa-sensei's help." He thought back to the USJ, and remembered what Eraserhead said before jumping into the sea of villains.

No one is a one trick pony

"I… I need to find my own way, All Might, my own strength, I've gotten by so far with emulating you and Gran Torino, but I need to find out who I am as a hero." Izuku gazed at his mentor, emerald eyes filled with determination and grit. "So please, allow me to do this." His mouth sat in a firm line and showed his seriousness.

Seriousness that All Might had to commend his student for. With a bow of his head, All Might nodded, "Alright, I wish you the best of luck Young Midoriya." God knows Aizawa wasn't going to go easy on the boy.

"Thank you!"

All Might chuckled and patted the boy on the back, "You're very welcome, Young Midoriya, now let's get you to the support studio."

"Alright!"

They quickly made their way to the support studio and Izuku walked up to the giant metal door that was the entrance to the support studio and knocked, "Hello! Can anyone help me–"

BOOOOOM

"YOUNG MIDORIYA!" All Might yelled as the giant door crushed him.

"DAMN IT HATSUME!" Powerloader yelled as the dust covered the entire hall.

The dust cleared and All Might stood in shock, seeing the door embedded into the wall of the hallway, however an undamaged Izuku standing in the middle. "Y-Young Midoriya…? How are you fine!"

Izuku perked up and turned to his mentor, "O-Oh! I forgot to tell you, I've been applying my quirk in a bunch of different ways leading up to the Sports Festival, they're still pretty experimental though." He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, "I honestly didn't think that one was going to work, it was only in theory…"

"What was…?" All Might asked dumbfounded.

His student only grinned, "Well, my quirk not only gives me super strength but super speed as well, so I was wondering how fast I would have to move to cut something, I found that if I have a high enough percentage and if I have my hand in a knife position then the wind produced can cut through things!" Izuku said with a chipper smile.

'S-Scary….'

"Anyways!" Izuku turned and made his way into the support studio, "Hello? I was looking for some help on my costume!"

"DID SOMEONE SAY COSTUME!" In a blur, a pinkette covered in dust stood in front of Izuku, looking like she was on something as she shook him by his shoulders. "Let me work on your costume!" She had a crazed smile on her face, and it was one that Izuku matched as he pulled out his notebook that he had his sketches and designs ideas in.

"How do these work?"

Her smile only seemed to grow, "Oh, this is going to be the start of a beautiful partnership!"

---

Izuku and Small Might left the support studio, one with a giant smile on his face, the other with a horrified expression. "Young man… your mind really is terrifying…" So many ideas on how to improve his quirk usage and yet there was still more that couldn't be incorporated into a suit just yet, "I mean, you wanted to add a blade to your hand!"

His student could only scratch his cheek in embarrassment, "Well, it would have been an improvement on that wind pressure cutting idea I had…" He chuckled in embarrassment, "Plus, don't heroes use blades? I mean I know Eraserhead uses a knife."

"Yes, but he's an underground hero."

Izuku nodded, the difference between daylight heroes and underground ones had become very interesting, he knew he wouldn't be one, but he could learn a lot from them. An entire new world of heroics was at his fingertips and he was going to get as much as he could.

"I know."

They continued their walk until they arrived back at the 1-B homeroom, "Well, thank you for lunch Yagi-sensei, I'll talk to you later, and I'll let you know how my costume turns out!"

"You're very welcome, Young man!" The sickly blond smiled at his pupil, proud of the growth that had happened already in such a short time at UA. He was almost unrecognizable from the small and frail boy he had met a year ago in that alleyway. He couldn't help but feel pride at that, he laid a hand on the boy's shoulder, "Good luck with Aizawa, he'll put you through the ringer, that's for sure."

Izuku couldn't help but smile, "Wouldn't have it any other way!"

"Facing challenges head on! I wouldn't expect anything less from you!" He patted his shoulder before chuckling, "Well, I best be off, after all, while a hero's number one enemy is villains, a teacher's is paperwork."

The two shared a laugh as All Might departed.

The ninth wielder of One For All smiled to himself, knowing that whatever he faced with Aizawa, he would do it with everything he had, and that he would rise to the occasion and become the best hero he could be.

---

"Alright class!" Kan yelled as they once again entered Training Gym Gamma, his yells shook the giant building and Izuku could only gulp at how strong the man's lungs were. Seriously, how did he not lose his voice all of the time? "Today, we're going to be focusing on applying your quirks in ways previously not thought about, for example if your quirk only works for fights, perhaps focus on mobility."

Tokage whined, stretching and popping her back, "I mean alright teach, but some of us got pretty versatile quirks."

"Then just focus on improving what you can today, things you're lacking in."

"Phooie, okay…"

"Alright! Break!" At Kan's yell, the class dispersed and Izuku found his own corner, after all he had some testing to do.

"Legs…" He muttered to himself, pulling out his phone. There were a couple heroes that had piqued his interest, the Ingenium family, Mirko, Gran Torino, and the youngest Iida himself, Tenya. "The key is balance…" They perfectly knew how to balance the core of their body when they were only on one foot, or even in mid-air in the case of Torino and Mirko.

"Now.. how do I go about doing that…." Well first, he could get used to what Gran Torino did, bounce around, that would help him control his balance. Then after that he could try incorporating kicks, although… "I could ask Kendo for help on the basics."

For now though, parkour basics.

Izuku climbed to the top of one of the small mounds before jumping to a wall. 'Now…how do I do this…?'

Yeah…. He didn't really think it through…

Izuku smacked into the concrete and gasped before sliding down the wall and hitting the ground. "Okay… this is going to take a while." But he wouldn't give up.

He took to the walls over and over, hitting them, sliding down, smacking his face, collapsing to the ground, falling again and again until one time where he jumped off the wall into another, and then fell down that one…

It was gradual but as the period progressed he had improved, just from one piece of stone to the next, adjusting his footing the moment before he landed and jumping to a new area, great leaps that made him feel like he was soaring. Well that was until he slipped and promptly fell around 30 feet.

"MIDORIYA!"

He just heard the yell and scrambles before he saw that he was surrounded by familiar faces. "Are you okay..?" He felt someone grab his back and help him sit up, though he winced.

"Someone, go get Recovery Girl!"

He blinked and felt his back tighten as he tried to get up, "W-What?! N-No I'm okay!"

"Midoriya, stay down." He felt a rough hand press on his chest and he coughed at the pressure, "Ah!"

"I'm *hack* okay…!" He tried but it was unconvincing. Then, Izuku felt soft hands on him, he knew these hands. They had protected him before, and they cut his hair, "Reiko-chan, I-I'm okay..!"

He could almost feel her frown in response, "No you're not, you fell from a considerable height, the only reason you aren't damaged more is because of the durability that your quirk gives you, now please, stay down, so you don't make it worse…please…"

Despite wanting to protest, to convince everyone he was okay, he found himself conceding at her pleads.

"Is he alright?" Komori asked as she kneeled next to Yanagi.

"That was quite a fall…" Shoda muttered.

Izuku grimaced, he did not like being crowded. "Give the guy some space." Setsuna complained, pulling some people away. "He needs it."

"Clearly…" Monoma crouched next to his friend, "What hurts Midoriya?"

He shook his head, "Fine.."

His friend could only sigh, "Clearly not." Izuku Midoriya had made leaps and bounds since getting to UA, he had improved drastically from the quiet and shy boy they had all met. Even so, it was still clear that some scars from his past still haunted him despite all of their best efforts. 'I mean of course just a couple of months at UA wouldn't be enough to get rid of all he's had to go through…' But was it too much to hope that it did?

"Y-YOUNG MIDORIYA!" The sound of soft footsteps entered the gym as a skeleton looking man bursted in, looking distressed and coughing a lot. He was wearing a yellow pinstripe suit and looked scared for his life, "W-Where's Midoriya?!"

Kan looked at him in alarm before hiding his expression, "Mr. Yagi! He's right over here!"

The gaunt man ran over before kneeling next to him, noticing the bruises coating his body from smacking into the wall so many times, "Young Man!" Toshinori gave a disapproving look.

"M-Mr. Yagi!" Izuku stammered.

The skeleton man's face turned serious, his eyes holding a look of anger,"What did I tell you during your months leading up to the entrance exam! Don't push yourself too far! That'll have the opposite effect of what you want!" He scolded the boy like a father would.

Izuku looked away and chuckled. Remembering when he collapsed leading up to the entrance exam. "Oh no! Do NOT play that card right now young man!"

Yanagi coughed and the duo looked at her. "Excuse me, but would you mind explaining who you are?" She remembered this man, from after the USJ, she was in Recovery Girl's office with Izuku, one of the heroine's regulars, he said. Yet, there was still something nagging her about him. His voice was just too familiar. And his suit..

The man stammered, "O-Of course! I'm Toshinori Yagi, I was Young Midoriya's personal trainer leading up to the UA entrance exam."

There was a pause.

And then a scream.

"YOU MADE GREENIE INTO THE BEEFY BOY HE IS?!" Setsuna yelled as she pointed at the thin man, "B-But…"

"I'm so thin…?"

"Yeah…"

The man chuckled a bit, though his smile was disgusting to everyone there, "I lost my stomach and a lung a long time ago, can't really get muscle because of that, but I was quite strong back in my day, as muscular as Young Midoriya here!" He flexed an arm under his suit with a wide grin. "But, it was his hard work that got him to where he is. Though…" He turned back towards his student, "He tends to work himself too much sometimes.."

Izuku managed to sit up despite his friend's protests, "I-I'm okay…"

"I'll be the judge of that!" The gathered students watched as Recovery Girl stumbled over, looking at Midoriya with a lot of ire and slight rage. "What did I expect….. Barely a day back and you're already in trouble…"

"Sorry…" He got out.

That made her smile, "It's alright, honestly you youngster." She extended her lips and kissed him, Izuku glowed for a brief moment before it went away, "You need to learn to be more careful, stop pushing yourself so much."

"But…" Izuku looked down, "I.. need to be as strong as I can."

Those few words struck a chord with a lot of the class, and it made them curious as well. Kan crossed his arms and glanced at Yagi, 'Why does he need to be so strong, All Might…?'

Yagi patted his head and smiled, "You have three years at UA to become the best hero you can, young man, take some time to rest every once and a while."

"A-Ah yes sir!"

Recovery Girl smiled at the interaction, their relationship was the complete opposite of Toshinori and Torino's. "Well, I'll be on my way now, be careful, please. Kan, make sure he doesn't do too much more than this please." The blood hero nodded.

Izuku gave her a small grin, "I'll do my best!" He grinned as she walked away and jumped from his sitting position, landing on his feet, turning around and facing the small mountain that was located in Gym Gamma. "Kan-sensei!" He yelled without looking at the man, "May I try one more time!?"

Yagi sighed, "Is that really wise young man..?"

And Kan grinned, "Do your best! Go for it!"

"Midoriya…" Yanagi groaned as Izuku squared his shoulders. The class stood back as sparks of lightning danced across his skin, some wary and nervous, others excited. "Be careful.."

Izuku looked back and nodded with a wide smile, "You got it, Reiko!"

"I- um.. Thank you.."

Izuku faced the mountain and sucked in a breath, "Full Cowling…" He crouched, the sparks growing in intensity, he could smell the ozone around him, filling the air, the static making his hair stand on its end, the power, the feeling of his body being lighter than usual, the strength that encompassed him. He started at five…then ten…. And finally.. "Fifteen percent!" His body felt like it was creaking, but he could handle it!

"Let's do this!" In an instant, a bunch of air hit his class as he vanished, jumping around the mounds like a rabbit jumping in a field. He was fast, ridiculously so, Kan and Yagi were the only ones that could completely follow him. The rest of the class could barely make him out before a giant green light appeared in the air, "WOOO HOOOOO!" They heard him yell.

Tetsu grinned and crossed his arms, "Nice to see him havin' some fun."

Kendo did the same but sighed, "But he has to be more cautious."

Izuku aimed a finger at the sky and let out a Delaware Smash that sent him careening down, producing a small smoke dust cloud as he landed on both of his feet. He couldn't help but let out a mad smile at the result. "I did it." It was a small step towards where he wanted to get to, but anything counted in his eyes.

Kan could only grin, "That's the way!"

Toshinori couldn't help but smile, 'Just like that!'

"That's my rep right there!"

"Our rep Awase!"

Reiko couldn't help but smile, despite her anxiety, "You're improving at an alarming rate." It was astounding. And..attractive..

---

The class all gathered on the train station platform nearest to the campus, Izuku looking around for something as his class and class 1-A got ready to head out for their internships. "Midoriya." Vlad King walked up to the boy and looked around, "Where's your costume case? Everyone else has there's but you don't have one." It was true, while everyone else had their normal school bags, a bag of clothes, and their designated hero course costume case, Izuku only had the first two.

Izuku rubbed his neck, "I sent it in for upgrades at the start of the week and I still haven't gotten it back.." He hadn't heard from Hatsume at all since he sent his costume in.

His teacher grumbled but nodded. "Well, your classmates will be leaving, best to say your goodbyes now and go get your uniform after."

"Got it Kan-sensei!" Making his way to another part of the platform, Izuku found his group of friends all sitting around each other. as they talked, trying to get rid of their nerves. They all held their cases with them. No one had made as many improvements as he did, that's why they were ready to go unlike him. The support company had already finished the costume, yet Hatsume's alterations were taking time. "Hey guys."

Monoma perked up and grinned, "Ah! Midoriya… I… where is your costume…?" He asked perplexed.

The group turned to him, seeing the lack of a case.

"Yeah, what's up with that Greenie?"

"Hatsume still hasn't finished, I'll have to head back to school to get it, grab whatever she's finished and use that…" He was a little disappointed but it didn't matter too too much.

Yanagi grumbled, "Well, that's quite unfortunate…"

Izuku smiled at her, "It's okay Reiko-chan." That seemed to alleviate her mood.

Setsuna wiggled her eyebrows, though it was unseen by Izuku and Reiko, before Kendo told her to stop.

"But alright." Izuku grinned and bowed, "Good luck to all of you!" He rose back up and gazed at all of his friends. "Our first experience as true heroes. Do your best guys!"

"You already know I'm gonna knock some heads!" Tetsu yelled, steeling up for a second.

"We'll do our best shroom!"

"That we will… kekeke…"

"Got it Midoriya!" Pony pumped a fist into the air.

Monoma smiled and got up, walking to Izuku, with Reiko right next to him, "Future heroes?" He raised a fist.

Izuku glanced at it, breaking out into a smile bigger than any one All Might had ever made. "Future heroes!" They bumped their fists together.

"FUTURE HEROES!"

And just like that, they were gone, and Izuku was by himself in an empty train platform. Silence cut through the train station as all the hero students disappeared, yet Izuku couldn't help but feel excitement as he got ready to head back to the school to pick up his hero costume. As he was making his way to the exit, he felt a crawl up his skin, a feeling of dread, and a sound, something cutting through the air, clothlike….

In a jump, Izuku activated Full Cowling, jumping over where Aizawa's capture gear passed right where he had been. However, as he was about to land, he felt Full Cowling slip away and he landed in a fighting position without his quirk active.

Eraserhead stepped out of a shadowed part of the station, holding his capture weapon with one hand, his goggles over his head. "Good, you were able to react, but what will you do now without your quirk?"

Izuku gulped, without his quirk he knew there wasn't much he could do, they both knew that. Despite that, despite how outmatched he was, he still raised his fists, ready to fight. "I'm ready for whatever you're going to throw at me, Eraserhead-sensei!"

The Erasure Hero nodded, "Then let's begin!"

Notes:

There isn't much I want to say, just that I've just started the Final Exams arc on FFN if you guys want to catch up to that point on there, it's been really slow but I'm trying my best to write these chapter, I promise

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed

Chapter 18: The Erasure Hero

Summary:

Izuku Midoriya finally gets to start his internships with the infamous and illusive Aizawa Shota, otherwise known as the underground hero Eraserhead, and has a run in encounter with a serial... stalker?

All he knows is that he doesn't want her to cut him up!

Izuku and Eraserhead stared down at each other, Izuku not being able to see the pro's expression as his eyes were hidden under his golden goggles. It made him shiver but he didn't back down, he couldn't, especially not now. It was the time to prove himself. Izuku flinched and the next moment he was ducking and picking up his duffle bag full of clothes that he had dropped earlier as the capture weapon passed by where his head had been. 'He's going easy…' It was obvious, still, Izuku had to push himself.

With a quick pivot on his foot, Izuku took off running down the corridor, thanks to Gran Torino's training, Izuku's spatial awareness let him dodge the capture weapon as Aizawa ran after him, at a much faster rate than Izuku due to his build and not having any bags on. 'Can't outrun him, take him head on!'

Eraserhead grumbled, slightly disappointed, as he let out his capture scarf again, the boy well within his range. What he didn't expect was the boy spinning on his foot, allowing the scarf to wrap around his arm. However, he kept on spinning, and with the continued momentum he pulled Aizawa towards him. 'Smart… but…' Aizawa flipped over the boy, dodging a punch. 'Not enough.'

Striking out with a punch, he was once again surprised when his arm was blocked with a kick. "I know I'm not as good at fighting as you are!" A thrown bag was easily caught by Aizawa, the following punches and kicks were as well. The words made Aizawa grin, he knew he was fighting a losing battle yet he was still continuing, it was illogical in a normal fight, but this wasn't a fight, this was a test.

A second bag, a small pencil bag, hit Aizawa in the face, making him flinch, "But I won't give up!" With the flinch, and eyes closed, Izuku activated Full Cowling and rammed into the pro's stomach, tackling him into a wall and holding him in place.

Aizawa quickly used his quirk again and the boy's quirk died, however he was quickly smacked with a headbutt.

The student tried to get in as many body shots as he could while he had Aizawa pinned, though it wasn't many as the man expertly got away, bringing up a leg and landing a solid kick that knocked Izuku away and onto the ground, though the boy continued his momentum into a roll and got up, throwing his backpack. Aizawa had to admit, even as he ducked under the bag, that he was impressed.

With his expertise in using the weapon, he wrapped it around the boy's leg and pulled hard. Making his opponent lose balance and fall on his back. Before Izuku could do anything else, Aizawa pinned him to the ground, his hidden knife scarily close to his cheek. He puffed for breath as he smiled, "All the videos I've found on you to do analysis do not do you justice Easerhead-sensei."

Eraserhead's hand to hand skills were crazy, better than even Kendo's, and she'd been studying martial arts for most of her life!

The pro grinned, "None of my students this year knew who I was…. Even the most studious of them, so how do you?" It had been eating at him ever since the USJ.

Izuku gulped, the blade too close for comfort. His eyes shifted from it to his opponent, his new teacher and mentor for internships, "I didn't know I had a quirk for a long time…" The words made Aizawa remember his stand off with Vlad in the teacher's lounge before the sports festival, "It was too strong for my body, I needed to be in peak physical condition to use it…or else my limbs would have blown off." Aizawa imagined the bloody imagery, green tufts in a sea of red, "So I thought I could make up for it by using my mind, I researched all kinds of heroes, big ones, small ones, strong quirks, situational ones, rescue, combat, and even underground."

Aizawa nodded and got off, allowing him to get up. Izuku stood and dusted himself off, sending a smile at the pro, "You were always one of my favorites."

"Me?" It was honestly a surprise at the confession.

The child's smile only grew in size, "Yeah! You basically fought quirkless and took down villains with nothing but skill once you got them on an even playing field, that's amazing!" So the kid was a hero nerd, he wasn't sure if that was good to know or not.

Aizawa's scarf fell and hung limply on his shoulders as he pulled his goggles down, his eyes onyx in color, "Skill is important, both with your body and your quirk, which I see you've made a good deal of progress with since the entrance exams." He commented.

Izuku gathered his bags and nodded, "Kan-sensei and Torino-sensei helped me a lot with developing my quirk! I'll forever be in their debt!"

The gruff man nodded and handed Izuku a case, a silver one with a big red "19" on the side. "Here, you'll be needing this while you work under me."

Taking the case, Izuku held it close with a wide grin, already knowing what Aizawa had done. He had intercepted Izuku's case getting here so he could make sure the boy was alone while everyone else left, allowing Aizawa to test Izuku with no one around, while also giving him no time to prepare. It was a pure test of his reaction times and working when ambushed. 'All Might wasn't lying…. Eraserhead is hardcore.'

Aizawa called the boy as he was already at the exit of the station, "Come on kid, time is precious, don't be irrational and waste it."

Izuku yelped and quickly ran to catch up, 'I didn't even hear him walk away!'

This internship was certainly going to be interesting.

---

The two were in a small beat up black car as Aizawa loaded Izuku's stuff inside, once done he entered the car and sighed as the boy was scrolling through his phone, "So–" Midoriya's eyes shot up to meet his, attentive, good, "-I don't have an agency like normal pros due to being underground, while I do have a few cities in mind we can set up in for our internships I thought I would ask you if there are any cities you'd be interested in."

Izuku blinked at the rather kind gesture, before nodding, there was definitely one city that came to mind. One he had been thinking about ever since he heard the news about Iida's brother. "Hosu."

The hobo looking man couldn't help but raise an eye as he started the car up, the revving of the engine moving the car for a moment, the drive would take a while, a bit longer than he would like, but it gave him more time to learn about his new student. "Why Hosu?"

Izuku's fist clenched around his phone, "Iida." Something had been irking him about the Vice-Rep of Class 1-A for a while now. He met Aizawa's eyes, not seeing any confusion, he most likely knew, "Who did Iida-kun intern with?"

"Pro Hero: Manual–"

"Who is based in Hosu."

Aizawa nodded, "Correct." Did the kid just know that off of the top of his head? How much did he know about heroes? If the kid knew about Eraserhead then he certainly knew a lot. "Where are you going with this?"

Izuku looked down and sighed, "Hosu is the last known active site of the Hero Killer: Stain, his last known target was the Turbo Hero: Ingenium, or Iida-kun's older brother…"

The pro had already known what had happened, he'd seen the news as soon as the Sports Festival was finished, and he had to admit deep down in his heart that it hurt, a lot, to see one of his old classmates taken down in such a way. He wasn't dead, but still, having to retire and be paralyzed for the rest of your life because of one masked crazed lunatic? It was almost a fate worse than death. On top of that, it just brought back too many memories.

"..I-I'm worried about Iida-kun, sir… I feel like he's going to do something reckless… I mean he could have interned with his family's agency! But… he chose a much smaller pro for seemingly no reason…" Manual wasn't a bad hero, he just didn't compare to the Iida family in any way.

Aizawa nodded, gripping the steering wheel tighter as he focused on the road, "You're worried he'll do something reckless and irrational, you're worried he'll go after Stain himself."

Izuku nodded, "Y-Yessir…"

"Hosu it is then…" The car's engine yelled as the vehicle sped up, taking a sharp turn before hitting an empty road that would lead out of the city towards Hosu, "Even if you aren't right about this, why go out of your way to do this?" What was the kid planning to accomplish?

The boy only quirked a brow, "What do you mean?" He asked in confusion, "Isn't it a hero's job to meddle even when they aren't asked?"

Aizawa grimaced at the words, 'Damn it, All Might…'

The rest of the ride was silent, Izuku was left wondering if he had said something wrong to offend the man and kept his mouth shut so as to not further anger the pro.

It took hours for them to arrive at the city, dark skies ran over, and the only thing that Aizawa could hear besides the pouring rain was the, admittedly very quiet, snoring of the child next to him. He grunted as he came to a stop at a seemingly random building. "Wake up." He shook the boy's shoulder and Izuku woke up slowly but surely.

"E-Eh…?" The boy muttered as he cleaned drool off his face.

"Let's go."

They both stepped out of the car, Izuku following quickly, scrambling to do so, as he woke up in alarm, walking around the parking lot, getting drenched in rain, as they entered the building. The lobby was small, with bright white walls that looked like they were peeling and ruined floors, at a small wooden desk sat a woman reading a novel. "Follow me."

Keeping in step with Aizawa, Izuku reached the front desk, holding all of his things, which he found rather easy due to all the muscle he had. The woman that sat there looked at Aizawa and raised a brow, lowering her tiny glasses.

"Caretaker protocol." He answered her look.

The receptionist just shot him a smirk and handed him two keys.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it, Eraserhead." She said with a laugh.

With a grunt, the man led Izuku down a hall to an elevator that shook as they stepped in it creaked a bit before the elevator went up the shaft. "Eraserhead-sensei, why is this place so run down?" Izuku asked in confusion.

The man turned back and gave him a lazy grin, "That's the cover."

Izuku raised a brow as the elevator opened, his eyes shot open at the beautiful state the halls were in, clean and crisp dark, rich wooden walls, a soft and exquisite ruby carpet over rich dark wooden floors, pictures of pros all over the walls. "W-What is this place?"

"Underground Hero centers." Aizawa answered as he walked down the halls, "There's one in each city, made specifically for underground heroes to use while they're stationed somewhere."

"Woah… I didn't know that…"

"You're not supposed to."

They found their way to their rooms, side by side, and Aizawa handed Izuku his key, "Put your uniform on and meet me back out here in five minutes."

"Y-Yessir!" Izuku quickly opened his door after fumbling with it for a couple seconds and quickly shutting the door behind him.

The boy ran to his bed, throwing his duffel bag with clothes on it and dropping his school bag on the floor as he dropped the case on the bed and opened it up, opening each latch with a satisfying click with a smile as the case popped open.

Compared to the old one, the new one was much more interesting. He quickly took it out and began putting on the dark green jumpsuit, smiling as it had a nice snug fit. Though he raised a brow and knocked on his abs and chest, "Reinforced plates?" He glanced at the case and looked through it for a second before finding a note.

Hey Muscles!

I noticed that you kinda didn't have any sort of protection, yeah being able to fight and all is good, but still I'd thought something would be better than nothing! So I added some plates within this fabric, they're carbon fiber, so they'll help against blunt objects and knives!

The gloves will respond to the motion you showed me for that Air Force thingy you talked about, they'll enter what I call "Air Bullet Mode." Whenever you enter that motion, the gloves will automatically enter that mode, the rest of the time they'll be in rest mode, so don't worry about accidentally setting off a bunch of Air Bullets!

The future CEO of Hatsume Industries!

Izuku grinned at the letter and zipped up the suit and then went for the boots, they slid on pretty well and when his foot was all the way in he felt them lock into place, being pretty snug but they felt good, right. "Hatsume-san outdid herself." Izuku couldn't help but grin as he hopped in place.

Finally, the forearms and gloves were a good fit, just like the boots. The gloves, Izuku loved them, they slid on pretty well, and he analyzed the holes on the knuckles. Izuku grinned and walked around, looking at himself in his costume before noticing a mirror.

He stood tall, feeling confident with his new hair and costume, feeling like a true and proper hero-in-training.

Izuku quickly made his way out of the room, sliding his phone into a secure pocket, and standing nervously in the hall. "Good, you're rational." Izuku spun around, seeing Aizawa on the floor in a yellow sleeping bag, "Time is important." He could only nod at his strange teacher, the man got up and slid out of the cocoon before beckoning Izuku to follow Aizawa throughout the halls before they exited the building through a back door that led to an alley. Izuku looked around before he heard a whoosh, glancing at where Aizawa was to see that he was gone.

"E-Eh?"

"Get up here." Izuku looked up to see Aizawa looking down at him from the top of a rooftop.

"E-EH!"

---

Izuku gasped for breath as he and Aizawa jumped from rooftop to rooftop, looking for trouble within the vast city that was Hosu. They'd only mean running around for a short period of time before they heard a cry that disrupted the sounds of cars and streetlights. Before Izuku could even turn to the sound of the noise, Eraserhead was already running towards it, his mobility and experience putting him far ahead of Izuku. 'Come on!' Izuku yelled at himself as he ran after the pro, 'Gotta keep up!'

By the time he had gotten down, the criminal had been dealt with and was wrapped in Aizawa's capture weapon, a botched robbery apparently where the criminal tried to rob a frail old man of his wallet. Aizawa returned the items to the old man that was getting mugged before turning to his intern. "For now just focus on keeping up, this is an internship, not a work study, you are only authorized to watch. Do. Not. Engage. Unless specifically allowed to, or attacked first, am I clear?"

With a gulp and gasp for breath, Izuku nodded. "G-Got it sir!"

"Good, now let's wait for the cops."

The two waited around, Izuku keeping Full Cowling active in case anything happened. 'I need to keep up…!'

Once the cops arrived and had taken the criminal away, the two set out once more. Aizawa scaled the wall of the building and landed on the top of the roof, Izuku quickly followed him as they once again set out on running across the rooftops, Eraserhead always ahead of him.

They had worked for five hours straight, Izuku always showing up as soon as Eraserhead had dealt with the criminals. It was infuriating and tiring, and Eraserhead hadn't given Izuku a single minute to breathe. The movement was constant. But by the end of the night he had begun to adjust to it.

"Alright, last one before we head back for the night." Aizawa announced as they came to a stop. He had to admit, he thought the kid would have kept up more, but it was a little too much to expect, after all he was going all out. Still, 'Thought he would have had a little more drive.'

Meanwhile, Izuku was thinking.

'What can I do….' Anything, something, nothing, a couple things, a bunch of ideas that were being shut down, brought up, closed, thought about, rejected, denied, before he finally came up with himself viable, 'Explosive speed turbo.'

He had seen Bakugo use something he called Explosive Speed Turbo during the Sports Festival, using explosions to propel himself through the air.

Izuku knew exactly how it had worked, because well, he had come up with it. Back when they were kids, before their relationship had soured so much, and even after it did, he still studied the move and other possible ones relentlessly, all of Explosion's possibilities were within his mind. He knew that quirk more than any other, and now, he could apply those theories to his own.

Though it wasn't exactly the same, it had the same premise, with Izuku using his Air Force, 'It's still unpracticed but maybe this can work….' He clenched his fists before entering them into the motion he used during the Sports Festival, 'Just like that, at the same time, fifteen percent should be enough to do the trick, I don't need high power, just enough.'

Eraserhead glanced at the kid, watching as he muttered at high speeds. He couldn't make out anything he was saying, all of it sounding like gibberish, and that look in his eyes…. 'Do something interesting.'

The two finished their resting and were off once more, Izuku staying cool and calculated, pushing his quirk to stay with Aizawa but not too far as to get ahead. The main difference between them was not speed, but experience. Aizawa expertly knew how to scale buildings, jump across them, and take big leaps that at a glance didn't seem possible to make. Izuku was still a novice at that.

But he picked up quickly.

"HELP!"

Aizawa turned towards the yell in an instant, another alleyway crime. The pro pivoted his foot towards the scream and leaped off the building he was on, ready to barrel towards the villain.

And so was Izuku.

The boy leaped high into the air, his arms hanging behind him, "DOUBLE DELAWARE SMASH: AIR FORCE!" With two simultaneous smashes, Izuku was sent hurtling through the air at high speeds, passing Aizawa before tackling a shady looking figure in the alleyway, a giant burly man. Aizawa quickly followed, Izuku jumping back as the pro wrapped the villain in capture tape.

"You're under arrest for–"

"Oh god, thank you!"

"-criminal… what?"

The man placed a hand on his side, where he was visually bleeding, "That- that FREAK! Little thing came out of nowhere with a knife! Said I'd look more beautiful covered in blood!" The man panicked as his breath picked up pace.

Aizawa glanced at Midroiya as he sat with the man, "Move to intercept, hold and wait for me while I administer medical assistance."

Izuku quickly nodded before running down the alley, "It'd be faster to travel like Gran Torino-sensei." He kicked Full Cowling up to ten percent and bounced from wall to wall, an electric green blur to those that saw him. "Come on…" He took a hard turn down an alley and saw a figure, small, petite, "Little thing…." Just like the man had said, "HEY!" Izuku bounded towards her with a start.

The figure spun around, and next he knew, something silver was thrown at him, "AGH!" Izuku cried as a knife grazed his cheek. Before he could wipe the blood off of his face, the person had jumped at him. He quickly dodged, fighting against Kendo and Gran Torino had helped him develop his dodging skills. 'Fast, skilled too!'

With a palm strike that hit the attacker's gut, they were sent skidding away.

The thin figure slowly got up, piercing cat-like golden eyes gazed into Izuku's emerald ones. They made Izuku pause, the amount of fear, hate, disgust, and sadness in them. The overwhelming amount of negativity caused him to freeze, "Miss, are you okay–"

She didn't respond and instead ran straight for him, pulling another knife from a holster hidden under her skirt and swiping at him relentlessly. "Stop!" A knick that barely cut his costume, "I just–" A dodge at a stab aimed for his head, "Wanna help!" He grabbed her wrists and applied pressure to the tendon making her wince and drop the knife.

The girl flinched before jumping, their arms still connected, and wrapped her legs around his neck. "Don't lie to me!" Izuku winced as she started applying pressure.

'Dang it!' He cursed as he felt his airways locking up, 'A-Air!' Izuku tried to get in as much as he could but only made pained gasps as the girl squeezed tighter. 'Think! An…. idea…!' With barely any air getting to his brain, Izuku's instincts took over and he did the only thing that he could come up with, "HRMPH!"

"AHH!" The girl yelled and let go before smacking Izuku in the head, "You bit me!"

The hero-in-training greedily sucked in air, "Y-Yeah…well….that wouldn't have happened…if you didn't…try to choke me…" He grabbed his neck and gasped, "That…hurt…a lot.."

"So did you biting me!" The lady yelled back.

Now that they weren't fighting, Izuku had a chance to analyze her. Looking up and down, she looked around his age, maybe a year or two older than him. She had hair like Bakugo in color at least, piercing golden eyes, and had a school uniform. "I apologize, I was fearing for my life, but alright let's calm down…" Izuku raised his hands placatingly.

That didn't seem to calm the girl at all, so instead Izuku sat down, "I'm here to help." He could see her shaking, and her eyes seemed almost unfocused.

Before she could respond, they both heard the sound of police sirens, causing her to lock up. "I…" She took a step back before running.

Izuku got up to follow her but stopped when a hand was laid on his shoulder. "Leave it." The gruff voice of Eraserhead stated.

"Eh? B-But why?" Izuku asked as he looked back at the underground hero.

The pro glanced at where the girl previously was, as if mulling over some thoughts, "She's a serial killer, or I guess serial stalker would be better, Himiko Toga, I knew as soon as we arrived at the man. She's a B-Rank villain, her file states that she always attacks on site, but you managed to talked to her." The man then looked at Izuku, "What did you see when you saw her?"

Izuku was shocked at the information about her, but then he mulled over Aizawa's question and frowned, "A scared girl." The shaking, her eyes, they all pointed to that.

Aizawa nodded and began to walk away, "She'll seek you out again, that's how she operates, she doesn't let someone go until she gets their blood." His words made Izuku shiver as he followed the man back to where the police were so they could head back to their headquarters soon, "But… maybe you can save her. After all, a hero's job isn't to just beat up thugs, we fight the unfairness of the world, and I believe she was dealt an unfair hand."

His student looked in awe before nodding to himself, "I promise, Eraserhead-sensei, I will save Toga!"

"Not how you are now."

"Eh?!"

The pro sighed, "You need more hand to hand training, you've been learning with people that have that, trained against people to the point where your reflexes and dodging are pretty decent, but you need to be able to fight well on an equal playing field." They arrived at the police cruisers, seeing a medic tending to the man, "On top of that, you're still a hero-in-training, an emphasis on training, you aren't a pro yet, so until then, rely on us to deal with it."

With that, they reported what they found to the police, Himiko Toga had fled the scene, though before they could leave the paramedic walked up to Izuku, "Hey, do you want us to patch up that cheek of yours?" They asked to which Izuku grazed his cheek with this glove.

He remembered their short fight, Toga managing to cut his cheek, 'Why does she use knives..? Perhaps related to her quirk? Maybe, more research needs to be done.' Shaking his head, he replied, "No, sir, thank you though, I'll take care of it."

"All right, kid, thanks for the help."

"You're welcome!" And as they returned to where they were staying, leaving Izuku to mull over his thoughts and what Aizawa had told him.

Sitting at his desk with his laptop open and multiple notebooks laid out in front of him, Izuku continued to work into hours of daybreak. Since he had slept during the day, he didn't feel too tired when they were patrolling but his exhaustion was getting to him, and his sore body made him want to crawl into bed.. Letting out a yawn, he groaned. Plenty of research had been done, he didn't find too much public information, as it seemed that the information was trying to be struck down, but with what he did find he came up with plenty of notes on her quirk.

"Transformation depending on blood intake…" It was truly an interesting quirk. "I mean the infiltration applications are endless, and the fact that she gains other people's muscle mass, even if she might not get their quirks, using other people's muscle mass is extremely useful…"

But that left him with one thought.

"That knife she cut me with…" She got him, that blood, it had his blood, his…DNA… "One For All….!" Izuku quickly pulled out his own and scrolled through his still short contact list before hitting a name.

The Number One Hero All Might enjoyed many things in life, one of those being sleep, after all who didn't? And after the stress that the school year had been placing on him so far, who thought teaching would be so hard, he finally had a break that he could exploit while his students were at their internships.

So, the pro snuggly fit into his mattress as his mind was trapped in the depths of bliss.

"A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE! A PHONE CALL IS HERE–"

And with that noise, everything was ruined. The skeleton man jolted up in alarm before blinking at his phone, grabbing it and turning it over, he saw the caller ID. 'What…? What's Young Midoriya doing calling me so early in the morning..? It's not even five yet…' All Might blinked at the brightness before answering the phone. "Hello…?" His hoarse voice spoke from lack of water.

"A-A-ALL MIGHT?!"

The man winced and pulled the phone away, 'Kid…' With a sigh he spoke, "Yes…?"

"S-Some girl with a blood digestion quirk cut me today, w-w-will she get…" Izuku lowered his voice, "One For All…?"

The pro sighed, this was honestly on him for not explaining more of the quirk, or its origins. He should do that. 'I guess when he comes back from internships, that would be the best opportunity to do it…' The pro rolled over, snuggling into his pillow, "One For All cannot be forcibly taken, it must be willed to the next user…"

"Oh…so I'm good?"

"Yes, you are "good" Young Midoriya, now please, it's early in the morning."

"A-AH! I'M SORRY ALL MIGHT, GOODNIGHT!"

With a click, the call ended and the number one hero tossed his phone to the side. The man couldn't help but let a small smile grow on his face as he thought about his successor. "Midoriya's a good kid."

---

Eraserhead grumbled as his alarm blared, set to 5 AM. He had a plan for this kid and he was gonna make sure it was realized. With a groan, he rolled out of bed, hitting the floor before pushing himself up. He grabbed a black shirt and threw it on before going over and grabbing his capture weapon. "Hand to hand combat training." That was the plan for today.

Exiting his room after putting his shoes on, Aizawa knocked on his student's door, however he didn't hear anything. "Child, come out, it's time to work." Nothing, he groaned and knocked again. 'God damn it…' He sighed and was gonna walk in before hearing someone clear their throat. Turning to see one of the cleaning ladies. "Ah sorry… I'll keep the noise down."

"Thank you." She spoke before pushing her cart, the wheels turned and screeched before halting, "He's down at the training gym."

Aizawa paused, 'He's down already…?' Quickly making his way to the stairwell, he jumped down the steps, heading for the underground levels. "How did he even know where the underground gym was…?" With a final leap, Aizawa opened the door to the gym level, walking in to hear the sound of grunting.

He turned before hiding behind a corner, seeing the boy doing push ups… just on his hands… his body upright in the air. "Come on…!" Due to gravity his face was red, he lowered his body before grunting and pushing up. "Ninety…seven!" Aizawa blinked in confusion. Ninety-seven…? Of those kinds of push-ups? "Ninety….eight!" He almost couldn't believe it. "Ninety-nine!" If someone told him he wouldn't have. "HUNDRED!"

With a final push, Izuku leaped into the air, landing on his feet, before starting the kicks that he had been developing for his new Shoot Style prior to leaving for their agencies.

"He did that all without his quirk…" Aizawa grumbled. "What is Kan feeding this kid?"

Finishing fifty kicks with his right leg, Izuku moved onto his left, yelling the count for each one.

"He's dedicated…" Aizawa couldn't believe how wrong he was. Seeing the kid as arrogant? As just another kid that had a big head cause he had a strong quirk. He wasn't that at all. The kid had gotten up before even him to start working on his body. And comparing how he looked now to his ID photo from his application for the entrance exam… the kid filled out a lot in less than a year.

Izuku Midoriya had clearly put in a lot of work into his body, so why was his quirk so far behind during the entrance exam?

"Was he really thought to be quirkless..?" Thinking back to his confrontation with Kan in the teacher's lounge that first week of school. It had been happening over and over, his mind going back to it ever since the USJ. The anger Kan felt towards him, he could understand it now. Yeah, the kid was reckless and naive, but he was definitely worthy of being a hero.

As Izuku finished up another set of kicks, Eraserhead stepped out, clearing his throat and causing the young student to focus on him. "Good, you're up early, saves me the trouble of waking you up myself." The pro stopped before tossing his capture scarf to the side and entering a fighting pose, "Now, show me what you've got."

"A-Ah!" Izuku yelped before blocking as best he could. The boy quickly admitted, just like the day prior, he was far outmatched.

Eraserhead moved with a quickness and grace that Izuku simply couldn't hope to match. Compared to Eraserhead, his moves were ungraceful, sloppy, and hesitant. His teacher didn't waste a single movement, not giving any chance for Izuku to capitalize on or a moment to breathe either.

On top of that, Izuku didn't have a good fighting style fleshed out to mesh with his build, and while he usually relied on speed, he lacked that speed when not in Full Cowling, something he couldn't do when facing off against Eraserhead.

Yet, he knew he needed to do something, he couldn't keep fighting on the back foot. With a grunt, he threw a fist forward, Eraserhead moved his head out of the way, but then Midoriya slammed his wrist into Eraserhead's face, something hurting a lot more than it was supposed to. The man flinched and stumbled back before eyeing his student.

Izuku raised his arms, entering a fighting stance as he displayed his friendship bracelet on the arm that hit the pro's face.

"A bracelet…?"

"Friendship bracelet."

Eraserhead blanked as the kid was literally beating him with the power of friendship. Running forward, Izuku threw quick and strong strikes that he hoped would land, however, none of them even grazed his opponent. "You're going to have to try harder than that kid." The words challenged Izuku, beckoning him to come to Aizawa with all he had.

"Yeah, I know!" The verdette ran at Aizawa, jumping off a piece of training equipment, getting in the air and raising a fist. "SMASH!" Aizawa raised his arms to block but what he didn't expect was both of Izuku's legs to crash into him, sending them both sprawling.

Izuku quickly got to his feet and ran at Aizawa as he was getting up, the man did a spin and launched to his feet. The boy wasn't ready for the kick that hit his chest, he fell onto a piece of equipment, a bench, and coughed. "God…that hurt…"

Relaxing his shoulder and calming his breathing, Aizawa approached the student and gave him an arm to grab. "Not terrible, not great either, it's clear you're focused on speed, and so, we'll start working on your punches, since you already have a good idea of kicks and dodging. All I'm going to do is show you better how to take and throw punches."

His student could only grunt as he got up, nodding and barely getting out a "Yessir…"

The two got to it, with Aizawa showing the boy basic punching forms that would mesh well with his kicks, ones that he could easily enter from his kicking stance. It took time for Izuku to get adjusted to them, but to Aizawa he was doing much better than his own students.

After that they focused on speed and accuracy, Izuku needing to move his arms as fast as he could, and Aizawa strictly banned quirk usage for this. The boy would need to get used to doing it without his quirk, and only then once he had gotten a good hold of it would he be allowed to activate the power.

Though, that made the experience less enjoyable for Izuku as he was constantly berated for going too slow. Punching the exact same part of the bag, which they had marked with a small pad that his fist would barely fit in, was rough. With the bag moving as soon as he hit it, landing in the same spot was harder than the boy had imagined. However, he slowly and surely got the hang of it, emphasis on the slow part.

It was now a break, as Izuku was getting exhausted. Said boy sighed as he fell onto the matted floor with a sigh.

"Sorry….we gotta…slow down…" Izuku apologized.

That made Aizawa raise a brow, "Don't apologize, running yourself ragged will only have the opposite effect you want, it's beneficial to take breaks." He was even more curious when his words made the boy smile, as if he was recalling a memory that had been activated by Aizawa's words. "Now, go get some lunch, the rest, you'll need the energy for later."

"Got it!" With a lunch break that they were taking before Izuku would be instructed to gain energy for their nightly patrol, Izuku took out his phone and started shooting texts to his friends. "I wonder how they're doing."

Kendo grinned as she and her opponent circled each other on a mat, the one opposing her looking much like the novice she was. The bumbling brunette was sweating, standing in a shaky stance with not much confidence as she squared off against Kendo.

The redhead could only grin as she moved forward, easily dodging all the attempted strikes sent her way, before slamming a palm into her opponent's stomach, the brunette coughing up saliva and stumbling back. The reaction made Kendo wince as she immediately got out of her fighting stance to instead fret over her peer. "Ah, I'm so so sorry Uraraka-san, are you okay?"

The gravity girl gave a shaky thumbs up, "Yeah..! Just.. need a second…" She coughed and held her stomach

Off to the side, Gunhead looked on in approval, 'Kendo not only has good fighting skills, but honor and kindness as well, a good balance for an aspiring hero, Uraraka needs some work but she can definitely get there, honestly putting her up against Kendo is unfair at this point.' The pro clapped his hands and drew their attention. "Alright! Break time! You guys have fifteen minutes, after that we'll come back and you both will run through the motions of my martial art style, got it?!"

"YES SIR!" They both answered.

The two walked off to the side where benches sat, Uraraka collapsed onto one while Kendo grabbed her water bottle, a towel, and her phone. She threw the towel over her shoulder and took a sip of water before opening her phone and heading to the group chat she and her friends shared.

Cinnamon Roll: I just got my butt kicked by Eraserhead!

Kendo spit out her water and devolved into a flurry of giggles at the message

Uraraka perked up and glanced at the girl. "What's so funny, Kendo-san?"

The misty clone showed Uraraka her phone, to which the brunette giggled. "Who's cinnamon roll?"

Kendo had to admit, not everyone knew about Midoriya and she forgot about that fact. He was a little plain looking now that she thought about it, but that wasn't a bad thing. "Oh, that's Midoriya!"

Uraraka blinked, Midoriya, she knew that name, "The one with green hair, right?" Kendo just nodded and went back to texting her friends. 'Cinnamon roll, huh?' She thought back to the practical portion of the entrance exam, mainly the boy's final stand in the last few minutes. Taking a small sip of her own water, she thought, 'He seemed pretty hardcore to me.'

Reiko wanted to collapse as she felt a massive headache coming on, she knew she couldn't hold for much longer but she would push for as long as she could. "Just five more seconds." She told herself as the weight she held forced her to keel. "Just…a little….AH!" She felt her control slip and was forced to stop, the massive weight of a dragon that was released from her hold fell, creating a dust cloud as it hit the ground.

The dirt departed and left standing was the smiling form of human Ryukyu. "Good job, not many telekinetic users your age can hold for that long."

Reiko nodded at the praise as she grabbed her head, her mentor walking over. Helping the girl to her feet, Ryukyu slung an arm around her shoulder. "Come, let's get some food and medicine for that headache, you earned it."

That made the ghost girl smile just a tad. "Thank you, though I wish I could have done a little more."

Ryukyu sighed and smiled, understanding the feeling wholeheartedly, "It'll come with time, that's why you're here, in the time I have you we'll do our best to help you cultivate your powers, fighting style, rescue ops, and deduction techniques. You won't be a pro right away, it takes time to get good, and everyone has a starting line."

"You are correct, Ryukyu-sensei…"

"That I am, now let's go eat!"

Reiko smiled as she followed her teacher, pulling out her phone and glancing at her notifications. She couldn't help but smile at Midoriya's message, and giggle a little at Kendo's follow up one.

Big Sister: I'm kicking butt! Get over here Midoriya, you're next!

Her friends truly were wonderful, she definitely had to thank Midoriya again for recommending she come to Ryukyu instead of who she had planned. The Dragon Hero was helping her immensely. "And I won't stop improving, I shall keep going so I can fight and protect those I care about…"

Tetsu groaned on the floor, his body creaking and aching all over, bruises surely forming on his skin. He had just sparred with Kirishima, his red haired counterpart was doing the same as him, sprawled out on the ground and gasping for air as he nursed his wounds. Fourth Kind, the pro he had interned with, stood over them and grunted, "Ya two tired from just a little spat! That's pathetic, back on ya feet!" The man picked them up by their heads, to which they both had activated their quirks, before placing them back on their feet. "Again! Until ya both can't stand!"

Ignoring the fact that moments before they were both heaps of jelly on the floor because they couldn't stand, the two slowly faced each other on shaky legs, slowly picking their arms up and having to balance themselves, they gave each other looks of determination before getting back into their brawl.

"RAHHH!"

"AHHHH!"

Over and over, despite their collapsing multiple times, Fourth Kind always picked them back up to duke it out again. Tetsu lost count of the amount of times he had gotten up. He was just going through the motions. He both felt his body aching and didn't, as if it was entering the back of his mind. He still felt the fatigue, it was ever consuming, and eating him whole. Making him still at just how tired he was.

Once again, they fell to the ground, though this time, Fourth Kind stayed back and clicked his tongue at the two..

Tetsu clenched his teeth, his utter exhaustion keeping him glued to the floor, yet he rolled onto his stomach. "Not….yet…." He gasped.

Kirishima bit his tongue as he tried to flex his core muscles to sit up but barely managed to move at all. "Just… a little more…."

The metal teen slammed a hand onto the floor and with burning forearm muscles tried to push himself up.

The hard teen fell onto his back before yelling and trying to force himself up.

"NOT YET!" They yelled in sync, trying with all their might to get up, but they just couldn't. Tetsu's fist clenched as he tried with all his might to push himself up but he still just fell to the floor at the same time as Kirishima's back hit the ground.

Silence shook the room as the two basked in their disappointment, to which it was quickly replaced by laughter.

"ALRIGHT!" Fourth Kind yelled with a massive grin, making both his students look at him, "THOSE THE GUTS I LIKE TO SEE BOYS, BRAVO TO YA BOTH!" The man couldn't be more proud as he grabbed both students up once more and plopped them on their feet, "Go get some food ya two, ya earned it!"

The two teens traded a look before breaking out into smiles, "YES SIR!" They desperately needed the food.

Monoma walked the halls of UA, the quiet scenery keeping him nice and calm as he found himself heading to Gym Gamma, the hero he interned with had been Vlad King. The man had been working on getting Monoma to switch between the quirks he was using rapidly, getting third years to assist in this endeavor for extra credit. As well as using quirks that he hadn't had the best of luck with, like a student called Togata whose quirk made him intangible.

At first, it seemed cool, and then Monoma realized how hard it was to use.

Now, Vlad King was focused on getting Monoma to use complicated quirks quickly and from switching from one to the other.

But, on top of that, Vlad King was also teaching someone else, someone that Monoma knew. To Monoma's understanding, this was a favor to another teacher. So, as he walked into Gym Gamma, he found himself face to face with Shinso, "Didn't think you'd be here so early."

The Gen Ed student sighed and rolled his shoulders, trying to stand straight, "It's part of Midoriya's plan, gotta get up early to do morning exercises." His body had been incredibly sore, after all the plan he had been given was not easy, he was almost half tempted to quit at some points, but he pushed through.

And, somehow, had gained the attention of the homeroom teacher of 1-A. The man had assisted him in training and had even begun showing him how to use his signature capture weapon.

Though, since the man was gone, Shinso was taking lessons from under Vlad King.

As such, he and Monoma had begun training together, even using Shinso's quirk quite a lot and pushing it to its limits. It was intriguing to be sure, and it helped Shinso truly learn more about what his quirk could do.

"Ready for the day?" Monoma asked, doing some stretches.

"Course not."

"Still gonna do it?"

"Obviously."

Monoma choked out a laugh, "Midoriya certainly has rubbed off on you."

Shinso grinned and gave his peer a look, "Says the so called "Greatest friend in the world."" The two gave each other challenging grins, a spark igniting between the two, a competitive spirit burning to life as they locked eyes.

"ALRIGHT!" Vlad King walked in with a shout, startling the two students, "Twenty laps around the gym, get to it!"

"GOT IT!"

---

Well, Aizawa certainly could say that he was impressed by what he was seeing.

His student stood in the center of a large room, a basic t-shirt and pair of basketball shorts on, tennis ball cannons that were randomized set along around the room. Ones that were on the floor, others on the walls, and even more on the ceiling. The reason? Midoriya was tasked with hitting the balls mid-air, but not with his limbs.

No, he had to do it with those gloves of his.

Izuku had told Aizawa of what he called "Air Force." Which was a style of fighting where he used his special gloves, apparently made by a support course student, to fire pressurized air from his fingers using his quirk.

With that, Izuku's task of hitting all the tennis balls with his air bullets was going rather well, the boy worked fast, and he had a good eye. There were a few that slipped from his grasp, but he had gotten around 70% of them, if Aizawa had to take a rough guess.

The machines stopped firing and Izuku entered a normal stance with a sigh. Grabbing a rag, the boy wiped down his sweat. Aizawa had pulled him out of bed around half an hour ago, so that he could run through his Air Force. Having a misfire in the middle of a battle would be terrible after all.

Turning to his mentor, Izuku raised a brow, "How was that Eraserhead-sensei?"

The gruff looking pro approached and looked around before eyeing his student, "It was serviceable, no lowly crimínal, or at least a small amount of them, will be able to dodge those bullets of yours."

Izuku grinned and gave his mentor a thumbs up, "Thanks sensei!" After all, Air Force was a little hard to use, having to swap his percentage the moment he fired was a little tricky, but he had spent time researching certain aspects of quirks or the mind that could help with that, online he found "Parallel Processing" where the brain did two, or more, separate actions at the same time. He was still working on it but it was serviceable for now.

The pro grabbed his scarf and dug his face into it, that damned smile was too familiar, gave him too many emotions, too many memories. Shaking his head, he dispelled the thoughts. "Go get your suit on, after that we'll be heading out." His student only nodded before running back to his room, "If only you were here…" Aizawa muttered, remembering a time that best be left forgotten.

An hour later

Basking in the night sky, Aizawa was glad that they hadn't seen any sight of the Hero Killer, Midoriya's hypothesis about Iida so far being incorrect. He made sure that they patrolled the same routes that Manual's agency did, so just in case something happened they would be able to follow. Though, thankfully, Iida appeared to only be doing daytime patrols, and wasn't leaving the agency on his own at night. He was thankful.

That did leave him with his intern, who appeared to be insanely focused, rapidly adapting to the atmosphere of hero patrols. His eyes were careful and calculated. At any sound of noise Izuku quickly made his way over, even though he wasn't allowed to engage, not beating Aizawa every time, but perhaps around half. That Air Force was certainly helping.

'Honestly, his development of range tactics was pretty smart, I'm just surprised he was able to figure something like that out.' Overcoming such a weakness was amazing and it made Aizawa curious of what else the little might had cooked up.

So far, they hadn't found anything, only accompanied by the cool breeze and the sound it came with. Aizawa stopped on a rooftop, pulling out a juice pouch and throwing it to his student who half-hazardly caught it. "Take a rest for a bit."

The greanette nodded and downed the pouch in one go, he was exhausted after all. He couldn't help but regard his new mentor with a look, after all, it wasn't every day you got to train with an underground hero. They were different from normal heroes, a little darker, they'd seen the worst of society after all. Izuku had too, with his upbringing, but from a very different perspective, it made him wonder what his teacher had seen. But he believed that questions like those were better left unasked.

"Any word on Iida-kun?" He asked instead.

Aizawa glanced at the boy, finishing his own pouch, "None, he seems to be acting within the ordinary for him, sticking to the rules, all of the such."

That didn't make sense to Izuku, the amount of rage he had seen in the boy's eyes just weeks ago, why was it there if he wasn't going to do anything with it? People always found ways to expel their rage, Izuku knew first hand from his childhood friend. It didn't make sense, rage wasn't like sadness, you couldn't hold it inside. "Okay."

Nothing else was said, as the two got back up to continue their patrol, Izuku focusing on observation and analysis, getting his mind to work quickly in the middle of action. It was a quiet night, not at all points but most, and it was enjoyable.

He hoped tomorrow would be like this too.

---

Todoroki grit his teeth as he punched a wall, done with the words of his oh so dear father. Getting upset that he had lost to Midoriya in the Sports Festival, calling him worthless, saying he could have won if he had more experience with his fire, he was tired of it! He'd admit, maybe he should practice with his fire more, but still it was so aggravating!

So here he was, training himself to the point of exhaustion. Just to prove that old bastard wrong.

And yet, when he got a buzz on his phone, his mind was taken elsewhere.

Midoriya: Hey Todoroki-kun, are you busy?

He hadn't messaged Midoriya, not since they had traded numbers, he was what people would call introverted. Yet, he found himself responding.

You: No, I'm not, why?

After seeing the dots that indicated his friend was responding, he received another message.

Midoriya: Well, I wrote a bunch of notes on your quirk and I was wondering if you would want them? I've already converted them to a PDF that you can download.

Todoroki could only raise a brow at the news, certainly not what he was expecting to hear from the Class Rep of 1-B.

Todoroki: Can I see?

Elsewhere later that night…

It was a dark and dingy alley, blood coating the building walls and ground as a man stood in blacks and reds, his face mutilated with a cut off nose, his eyes wide and rabid. Below him, a man with eyes devoid of life, the red liquid of life coating his body, the only strange thing with the scene however… the man's blades were clean. The man grunted and looked around, searching for who could have done this.

Before he had a chance to question what was going on, a portal opened down the alley, a door to darkness birthing from nothing. The armed killer quickly turned to the source and readied a blade, startled by the random occurrence.

Out stepped a man wearing all black clothes and red shoes, thin and sickly looking, a hand covering his face, light blue hair seen underneath, crimson eyes of madness staring at the hero killer.

"You're a hard guy to find…Stain…"

Notes:

I'm introducing Himiko a little bit earlier, I've always been interested in how she can affect the cast, mainly Izuku but also other characters like Ochako but she won't get that attention in this story, so I've brought her up sooner than she comes in canon, but that leaves me with a quick question though, for all of those watching, should Izuku try to save Toga?

And even more concerning, how would you all feel if I killed off one of Izuku's mentors? I won't say who just yet :)

Chapter 19: The Hero Killer

Hosu city stood dark and quiet, yet not quite still. The night sky kept the vast city stuck in an allure of darkness that hid the most heinous of villains in its shadows. In one such shadow, in one dark alley of the city, stood the Hero Killer: Stain. The man had been searching, looking for someone or something, who had been on a purge, littering bodies around wherever they went. Sometimes they were dead, other times they weren't. The strange part was the cuts that covered the bodies were purposefully done to cause the most amount of bleeding possible. However, on his search, he ran into someone.

Someone…dark…

"What is this?" Stain grunted, his crazed red eyes gazing at the stranger that had come before him. He looked at the newcomer, wearing dark clothes to hide in the shadows, though the hand on his face was…menacing. Stain could tell that it was a real hand, decaying, thin, pale, but it was real, it had once belonged to someone, and that was… strange.

The man that stood before him stepped forward, only to pause as a knife flew past him. "If you value your life, you'll stay right where you are." Stain threatened, raising his blade and pointing it at the mysterious newcomer.

Tomura Shigaraki could only click his tongue in annoyment, but he knew this is what he had to do. To make the League of Villains stronger, they needed more men, more fighters, and having Stain join them, well he would be an invaluable asset. One that could act as a lieutenant or a second in command. "Kurogiri…"

At the muttering of those words, another portal opened underneath Stain, he had tried to jump but he found his feet sinking into the ground. Flipping his sword in his hands to stab the ground and stay where he was, he cursed when his blade didn't touch the ground, instead sinking with him as the portal expanded and took him whole.

Tomura smirked as he kicked the body that stood in the alley, "How depressing, such a sad sight." The villain could barely get the words out before laughing, "So much for this hero society." With that, Shigaraki made his way back to the portal, walking through with a satisfied smirk on his face.

The portal closed, leaving the alley empty with only a dead man laying in a heap on the ground.

Only for a blonde head to poke its way out from the dumpster that stood nearby, looking in alarm at what she had just seen, or rather heard. She shook in worry and sunk back into the container of trash, "Oh that's not good… not good at all…" Himiko Toga muttered to only herself and the person she had murdered earlier.

---

The blank hospital walls were getting annoying.

A step down a corridor, looking for the room, that damned room.

He remembered it, seeing his brother, the great Ingeniun… on life support…

A tooth was going to crack from how hard he clenched his jaw.

Long strides, down a new hall.

But he couldn't find the damn room!

All because of some crazed lunatic.

A lunatic that… was right there… in front of him.

Tenya Iida could only freeze, within the hall, blinking lights hiding the man's face from view, all he could see was a smile and crimson eyes. He froze in place, glancing back to see that the way he had come from disappeared, now replaced by a wall. With a quite loud gulp, he turned back to Stain, only to see him gone.

The lights flickered once more before completely shutting down, the night sky from outside providing very little light for the hospital.

He took a step, a cautious plant of his foot.

"TENYA!"

A yell cut through the blank and dark halls, reverberating around him, and despite his fear, Tenya took off running down a hall. After all, that was his brother's voice. And he would be damned if he let anything happen to his dear older brother. So he ran and ran, finding dead ends, winding halls, and not finding the damned hospital room! He couldn't remember when, but at some point he had started using his quirk.

The only thing he knew was that he was trusting his legs to carry him, to propel him forward.

Turning, straights, jumping over pieces of furniture, he didn't know how long he had been going for, he just knew that his legs felt like lead. Picking up his leg one last time, he turned down one last hall, seeing an open door, the only shine of light visible in the entire hospital coming from the open door, golden angelic light birthing from within the room. "TENSEI, I'M COMING!" Tenya yelled, forcing and willing his legs to move.

Getting to the door felt like it took ages, in reality it only took a few seconds, but with his heart beating in his ears, his anxiety taking him whole, and his mouth going completely dry, it felt like so much longer. He had never heard his brother scream with such fright in his life. "TENYA!" With a yell that made the younger Iida brother fear for his life, he threw the door open.

Standing, in the room, was Stain, holding his brother up by the throat. The Turbo Hero flailed in the grip of the person that paralyed him, his legs not moving as he hung in the air. Desperately, Tensei tried to claw at the arm holding him up, but it did nothing, all he could do was stare at his young brother in horror.

The twisted face of Stain slowly turned to the younger Iida, his sickly smile growing as he tightened his hold on Tensei, with a sick CRUNCH, Stain's grin grew. "You're… NEXT!"

"GAHH!" Tenya flailed in his bed, jumping up in fright. Cold sweat dripped down his body, his breathing rapid as he looked around his room at Manual's agency. The cool moon light of the night invaded his room from the window, barely allowing him to see as he looked over his body, seeing he was alright. He folded in on himself and held his head in his arms, "Tensei….!"

He couldn't get over these dreams, seeing visions of Stain in every single one, his poor older brother being at the man's mercy. It made his blood boil, and he felt rage like he had never felt before. Stain would pay, one way or another, and it would be at his hands!

Despite the fact that he knew he was outmatched, the boy didn't care, he would bring Stain to justice, for his older brother!

---

Shoto Todoroki was a boy of many things, perhaps you could call them talents, but he wouldn't say so. Being trained from the age of five left a mark on him, expert mastery of his quirk was one of those things. Yet, as time had passed, and he resented his father more and more for the things he had done to his family, the more he let his fire lay to waste, not bothering to cultivate it into the calm but fierce inferno it could become.

So, looking at all the notes Midoriya had made left Shoto wondering.

"Can I really do all these things..?" Right now? Currently? At this moment? No. He knew that. After all, his skill with his fire was equivalent to that of a middle schooler without quirk counseling. Curse him.

But yet. "With some training… I can do this." The emotionless teen said as he scrolled through the online notes that had been forwarded to him. It certainly was intriguing, looking at all the things that Midoriya had made. Even mentioning that if he had reached his level of mastery with his molding of fire as he did with ice he would essentially be able to use it as a sniper.

It was all so interesting, and yet it made Shoto disappointed in himself. For being so rebellious for so long, for rejecting that part of himself. He couldn't help but remember Midoriya's words to him at the Sports Festival.

IT'S YOUR POWER, NOT HIS!

It was his power, and his new…friend..? Acquaintance? Whatever Midoriya was, had to literally beat that fact into his thick skull.

Though, there was one thing Todoroki knew for a fact, getting to the point where he could use all of these abilities would take a lot of hard work. And he was ready to work as hard as he needed to to get to that point. "Plus Ultra…" The boy muttered as he got up and turned his laptop that he was using to look at the notes off, he stretched before looking to his door, hearing the loud footsteps of his father coming his way. "I will be a hero, my own hero." And there was no damn way he would let his old man take that away from him.

---

Izuku grunted as he punched a big bag filled with sand. He had been doing so for an hour or so and his fists were beyond sore at this point. Essentially all he could do was focus on this as he readied for another night of patrolling, his nervousness and anxiety growing with each night that passed. He could only practice the blows that Eraserhead had taught him, over and over, committing the moves to memory. Making sure that his muscles knew exactly how to throw these punches.

Eraserhead had shown him that his fighting style was far from decent, the way he fought was unrefined, he had speed and power, but not the control and accuracy to make the most effective use of it. Eraserhead didn't waste a single movement when fighting, Izuku knew he wouldn't get there overnight, but one day he knew he could.

With a final grunt, he threw his fist forward, a small shockwave shaking the punching bag as it broke off of the hook it was attached to, falling to the ground. Izuku drew deep and greedy breaths, staring at the bag on the floor. Finally coming to a realization, "I didn't even use my quirk for that…" He knew he had gotten a lot stronger even without his quirk, but this much?

"You've gotta control it."

Startled, Izuku whipped around to see Aizawa, the man holding Izuku's costume case. "Your strength, you gotta be able to measure it, to make sure you never go too far, worst case scenario, you accidentally kill someone." The underground hero handed the boy his case, "Get this on, we'll be leaving soon." Izuku gulped and grabbed it as Eraserhead left.

The words stuck with Izuku, reminding him of his first training session with Vlad King where the blood hero said much of the same. Izuku always knew to hold back with One For All, only pushing it if he knew it wouldn't hurt whoever he was facing too much, but having to hold himself back as well, his own body, that was new.

Leaving the training area to head back to his room, the successor of All Might could only think about everything that had come in his time with Eraserhead.

---

"Wow you can float just like me! How do you do it? Is your quirk like mine? Why are your hands like that? What class are you in? Have we met before? Why do you do your hair so short? Why do you look so tired?" Reiko was not an angry person, after all she endured a lot in middle school due to her appearance, yet this one person was getting her really close to crossing that line.

"Nejire, stop pestering the girl, we have to get ready for patrol." Ryukyu chastised with a small smile as the three of them entered the locker room-esk quarters that were contained within her agency. However, it looked much higher class. The lockers were giant, with a walk-in area for each person to change into their uniforms.

Reiko was very intrigued by all of it the first time she came and it took a lot of adjustments and getting used to, yet here she was, completely not focusing on it and instead sighing in relief as Nejire, Ryukyu's own personal student, one of UA's Big Three, a third year, finally stopped her pestering.

"Thank you, Ryukyu-sensei."

Her teacher looked at her and shot her a smile, "Don't mention it, get changed, we'll be heading to Hosu when we're all ready."

Reiko could only wonder why, due to the late time and how out of the way Hosu was from them, however she didn't ask and instead just started getting changed. Unlike her dear friend Izu–er Midoriya, her costume had remained unchanged since the USJ. She hadn't seen any reason to change it, though she probably would when the seasons got colder.

Unlike her costume which was a cloth made dress, Nejire's costume was a very thin body suit, seemingly made of latex or spandex, which left nothing to the imagination. She could never imagine doing something like that.

Ryukyu's costume seemed to be a combination, the cloth was thin but durable and she had it in a dress shape. Though, that did leave her wondering what material the piece was made from, since it stretched with her when she transformed into her dragon form.

Finally, finishing getting dressed, Reiko readied herself for a patrol, she hadn't done many in her stay at Ryukyu's agency, and they hadn't been for that long. However, she focused more on improving her quirk, something that they had been lacking in at UA. Perhaps that is something they will visit at a later date?

"Alright, Emily, Nejire-chan, gather, we'll be flying to Hosu so get ready for a long ride."

"What are we going to Hosu for? Ooh ooh, are we gonna look for that evil guy?!" Nejire asked, ever bubbly, as she began to float using her quirk.

The question did certainly peak the ghost girl's interest. "Whom is Nejore referring to when she mentions an "evil guy" Ryukyu-sensei?" Reiko asked.

Their teacher paused in her steps, turning around to address the two of them, for once she didn't have a nice smile on her face like she usually did, instead a small frown, but Reiko could see the rage hidden in her eyes, the fury, fury that was unbridled. It was frightening, "Stain…" She bit out.

---

The Hero Killer could only stare at the two in front of him in disgust, after having been transported here, to some rundown bar, against his will, he was given a proposal by the two of them. "You want me to join your so called "League of Villains..?"" He bit out with great vitriol.

"Yes, it's a great offer, you help us hit the mainstream and your message gets out to more people!" Shigaraki smiled an odd smile, throwing his arms wide.

Stain narrowed his eyes at these… bastards. "What is your goal? Why do you do the things you do?" What was their conviction for the things that they do? He couldn't help but think of everything about this so-called League of Villains. Trying to pull them apart, what was their end game?

After all, he wasn't completely clueless, he had seen multiple new sources covering the attack on the USJ, with the League being behind the attack. Yet, the only reason ever noted was that they wanted to kill All Might. Which made Stain's blood boil. All Might was one of the only true hero's of this society, he stood at the top, and he was the model for everyone to abide by and follow, and these disgusting sewer rats wanted to kill the Number One Hero?!

"All Might, the pillar that holds up this terrible society, must be dealt with." Shigaraki claimed, acting relaxed despite being in the presence of one of the most dangerous men of his time.

"Such filth!" Stain yelled, pulling a sword from his sheath, "What is the meaning of killing if there is no conviction behind it! No message to spread!"

Kurogiri narrowed his eyes, remembering what his master had told him, to not step in, to leave it to Shigaraki, that the boy needed to mature. Yet, he still felt the temperature in the room drop by several degrees. 'Do not step in… listen to what the master said…'

Stain moved faster than either could expect, one of his many daggers pierced Kurogiri's arm, the shadow man winced before Stain leaped at him from across the bar, yanking the blade out and dragging it across his tongue. Kurogiri flinched before locking into place. "W-What?!"

Shigaraki leaped for Stain, but the Hero Killer jumped away before throwing more daggers and lodging them into Shigaraki's body, "G-Gah! I just got those gun wounds healed!" Though Stain didn't care, he pulled on a string attached to the daggers and pulled, all of them being yanked out of Shigaraki's body, he grabbed one midair and licked that blade as well.

The leader of the League couldn't even curse as his body crumbled on himself.

The Hero Killer stood triumphant, ready to cull the two pieces of trash in front of him.

"KUROGIRI!"

Just as Stain jumped at the man child in front of him, a portal opened, and he tumbled out into the streets of Hosu once more, the moon of the night sky illuminating the city and allowing Stain to see the broken society below him. "My mission must continue, my message must be spread, the heroes of this age must be culled!"

Stain drew one of his katanas and pointed it skyward, "I swear on my life and conviction, a new age of heroes will rise by my hand!" One that wouldn't allow such trash as the League of Villains to even think about existing.

---

"Alright, it's getting dark so how about we start heading back to the agency?" Manual said with a smile, doing a bit of stretching as his soreness was starting to catch up with him.

Iida glanced at the pro he was interning with, not saying anything and not giving any emotions away with his helmet on masking his face. They had been out for a while, and it was finally just about getting dark. That pissed him off to no end. "Yes sir, I'm pretty tired too, I must admit." He lied through his teeth, he was so angry that they hadn't seen a single sign of Stain at all, and it had already been a couple of days. So why wasn't he showing his disgusting face?

Throughout the few days they had been patrolling, Iida would catch small glimpses of things in alleys, report to Manual that he thought he saw something, and then run after whatever it was. Most of the time it wasn't even a criminal, sometimes it was an animal, sometimes it wasn't even anything, just his mind playing tricks on him.

He had long since come to realize that Stain probably operated mostly at night, using the shadows that the time provided to hide in. Like the dirty snake he was.

Iida had to shake his head as he realized that the both of them had begun walking back, still keeping an eye out for any trouble that might arise in the dark of Hosu though. Iida was hoping that in the final moments they would find Stain, yet as they inched closer and closer to the agency, the possibility of that seemed to shrink more and more.

His fist clenched and he felt so much rage course through his veins, it wasn't right, Stain had to be brought to justice! 'This isn't fair, where is he hiding?!'Step by step, the agency was within sight. 'Tensei…!'

CRASH!

Iida barely had a second to cover himself before a figure crashed into their agency, "Ah!" Manual flinched as the figure grabbed onto the surrounding rubble and pulled itself out. Iida's mind flashed back to a memory he would rather forget, the thing that he had seen at the USJ, an exposed brain, with the upper half of the face missing, the bottom jaw holding the brain in place, rotting decaying teeth, no eyes, and massive amount of scarring covering extremely muscular black skin. "Nomu…." Iida could only mutter in fear.

Before he could even react, Manual yelled, "Iida, go!" The pro shoved his student away before dodging a punch as the Nomu leaped for him.

Manual cursed as he got to his feet, seeing the faceless thing turned to him. "What the hell are you!?" He didn't get a response, only a screech, as the monster leapt for him again.

Everyone had seen it, all the news stations covered what happened at the USJ for an entire week, and they certainly didn't skip over the freak that was "Nomu." At the time, Manual certainly was discomforted, but now? Having the thing in front of him? He was downright terrified. It didn't react to his calls, nothing registered with the damn thing! Was it even human?!

He could only dodge once again before glancing to where his student had been, "Iida-" Manual paused, not seeing him there, not seeing a single sign of him at all throughout the street. "Damn it!" He yelled as Nomu readied himself to strike once more. "I'm not going to go down without a fight!"

"FLASHFIRE FIST" A yell cut through the city and a torrent of blazing fire crashed into the Nomu as Manual paused in horror and awe. He could barely move his head as he saw Endeavor in the flesh stalking towards him. The man only clicked his tongue in annoyance, Manual didn't know why until he heard the screech of the creature once more.

"It's still alive?!" He yelled in horror.

The Number Two hero stepped forward, the clunking off his boots shaking the ground as he and the Nomu seemingly sized each other up, "Not for long." Endeavor growled out as he approached it.

While the Number Two hero went to deal with the bio-engineered freak that was Nomu, Manual was left with other problems. "WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO, IIDA!?"

---

Izuku and Aizawa bounded across buildings, looking for any signs of activity, so far they had seen nothing, but still they were both on edge. The city was… quieter than usual, and that silence was louder than anything else they possibly could have heard. They moved faster, looking for any signs of alarm. It turns out that they didn't need to look, the trouble would come to them.

"WRYYYYYYYYYY!"

"The hell is that?!" Aizawa yelled, pausing on the rooftop and gazing into the sky and seeing that far away was a man, or something resembling a man, soaring throughout the sky, giant wings allowing it to do so. After the yell, hell broke loose down on the streets, screaming and shouting as masses of people woke up in alarm from the noise, blocks away, the two could see fire sprouting from buildings and they wasted no time before sprinting over.

"Deku, this might not be Stain, but still take it just as seriously!"

"Yes, Eraserhead-sensei!" The two did one final leap before jumping off the building, landing on the streets of Hosu. "Eraserhead, if I encounter anything, am I allowed to engage in combat?!" Deku asked as the two ran side by side, entering more damaged streets.

Hero students typically weren't allowed to engage in combat, it was something Izuku had learned when researching about internships, however, there were a couple case scenarios when they were allowed to engage in combat. In self defense due to their life being on the line, or if their instructor gave them express permission to.

The Erasure hero had to pause for a second, truly losing himself in thought as he mulled it over, he grit his teeth and cursed himself, "I give you express permission to engage in combat under the condition that your primary objective is to protect the civilians, do not go looking for a fight!" He didn't need any more problems tonight.

"In that case! I'll go look for Iida-kun!" Izuku yelled, Iida was technically a civilian since he wasn't a hero.

Aizawa could only grit his teeth, Iida was probably looking for Stain in all the confusion, but still, would it be suicide for Deku to go follow him? The kid was fast, and could cover ground much faster than Aizawa could, but… curse him, "Fine, I'll allow it! Just be careful damn it!"

Izuku regarded his mentor with a grin before throwing his mask over his face, his eyes clouded in black as only his green pupils were visible, and putting his respirator on. 'One For All Full Cowling: 15%' The lightning that danced on his skin increased in magnitude and with a single step Izuku burst off the ground and landed on a roof, "I'm coming for you Iida-kun!"

Skidding to a halt, Aizawa had to admit, he was amazed at the kid's raw power, but power needed to be backed up by technique, and his technique was still developing. "I can't lose someone else, don't do anything too risky, problem child." He muttered to himself before pivoting and running to where the majority of the chaos seemed to be concentrated.

If Iida really was looking for the Hero Killer, then they'd be in deep shit, but Aizawa would look for Manual first, if Iida wasn't there then he'd join in the search for his most rule-abiding student. "Good luck, future heroes!"

---

He couldn't waste a single second, he had to find him.

A left down an alley.

There was too much ground to cover though.

Straight and then a sharp right.

But he knew he couldn't stop.

He kept going and going, even though his legs felt like lead.

And then he heard it.

"PLEASE, DON'T, PLEASE!" A cry of help, and a sickening slash. 'THERE!' Iida did a sharp pivot and took down another alley, the bricks of the walls passing by in a blur, his vision focusing on a single goal, everything else following away as he grit his teeth. 'FOR TENSEI!'

The youngest Iida burst onto the scene, seeing a tall man dressed in dark drag clothes standing over a man in browns, Iida didn't even pay attention to the victim, only focusing on the man in front of him. "STAIN!" With a leg raised, Iida flew with a kick aimed for the hero killer's mid section.

Only to hit air.

"What a disgusting sight!"

CLINK!

"Guh!" Iida grunted as a slash hit his helmet, cutting through it with ease and exposing his eye, shaking with rage and fury, shrinking as through the hole in metal it saw the crazed figure, with robes of black, the red scarf, the lack of nose, the burning red eyes, the man that was known as the Hero Killer, the man known as Stain.

This was the first time he had seen the man, photos and videos were scarce, usually blurry, they knew the basic shape and outline of the man, but now, but here, Iida knew the man's face. It was etched into his memory. Long lines, indicating his age and stress, the lack of nose and the slits that allowed him to breath, his ragged teeth, the long unkempt hair, the long lanky limbs, that was Stain.

The hero in training found his footing before quickly rushing the man again, the sound of his engine burning echoing throughout the alley. His kicks swiped, trying desperately to land on Stain, yet none did. Stain was much too agile, and Iida's eyes held desperation and pleading as one of Stain's katanas struck forward.

Quickly throwing his arms up, Iida blocked, the blade entering his armor. Stain frowned at the boy, inching his face closer to him as he tried to press his sword farther into Iida's armor. "Such a disgusting little fake!"

Iida wanted to yell, to scream, to hurt Stain, but all he could do was grit his teeth as the blade came closer. "You remind me of that other one I encountered not too long ago." Stain continued, his frown turning into a smile, "What was his name again?"

Tenya felt his blood boil as Stain continued to talk. "His name was Ingenium, he was an amazing hero and big brother, and you–" His voice got stuck in his throat as he felt tears sprout in his eyes, "-you took away what he loved most, you bastard!" His engines roared and he soared a kick that hit Stain in the gut and sent him flying.

Despite landing a solid blow, when Stain landed on his feet, he was still smiling, "You're really not observant , are you?"

"What are you talking about?!" Iida yelled.

Stain's sit smile only grew and a snake-like tongue came out of his mouth, saliva dripping from it. The appendage grossed Iida out to no end, but he stood transfixed as Stain lifted a small dagger to his tongue, one dripping with a bit of blood. "What are you–" Iida felt his body seize as the tongue touched the blade, his body fell slack and he hit the ground with a loud thud. "W-What?!" He yelled from the floor.

Metal clunked on stone, as Stain took long, overexaggerated steps over to Iida's prone form, "You didn't even try to save the other fake." Stain chided him, Iida barely being able to look up, seeing disgust in the man's eyes, as Stain squatted down to his level "You're no hero, you don't deserve the title of being a hero, now perish your filth."

The long Katana hovered over him as Stain returned to his full height hovered over Iida, and Stain's eyes narrowed, "The world will be better off without you."

He couldn't watch, he couldn't think that this was actually happening, he shut his eyes in fear and waited for the dreaded moment, for the sound of his flesh being pierced, for the pain to shoot through him as he screamed and cried, begging for his older brother to save him. But the pain never came, and Iida was left wondering if he had already died, but as he cracked an eye open, and looked up towards Stain, he saw something dark wrapped around the man's body, coiling around his arm, keeping it locked in place.

"W-What is this?!" Stain choked out, trying to pull and get out of this trap.

"It's a carbon fiber and special metal alloy, you're not getting out of it." Iida's eyes widened in shock, looking past Stain, a man stood, grunting in exertion, as he held on tight, yellow goggles, long dark hair, and black clothes, stood Aizawa. "By the time we get out of this Iida, you'll have detention until you graduate."

Eraserhead had made it, and he'd be damned if he let his student down.

---

Izuku sprinted through the streets, not slowing down but making sure to check every corner of each and every alley. He couldn't let Iida down. His cowl billowed in the wind, his legs moved quick, leaving small cracks in the ground as he bounded through the city. "Come on!" He changed to himself as the sound of crackling echoed through alleys.

Iida might have been a little rough around the edges, and he might have been rude a lot of the time, but he was still someone that Izuku respected, he had made it into UA, and that alone was enough to earn Izuku's respect. There was also what he did at the USJ, which allowed the teachers to get there so soon, there was also the fact that he got so far in the Sports Festival, he had a future, he had so much he could do, and Izuku was not going to let him waste it.

"COME ON!"

His pace picked up, his speed increasing even more as he bounded on walls, jumping off of them to cover more ground easier. Just like Gran Torino would do. He began to get tunnel vision and he couldn't focus, and couldn't see, as he crashed into a figure in an alley.

"AHH!"

"-UFF!"

Two voices yelled as they both went tumbling, Izuku quickly situated himself, grabbing whoever he had hit and holding them close to his chest as he hit the ground and began skidding across the concrete floor. "GUH!" Izuku coughed as he hit a wall and fell to the ground. "That hurt…"

"Yeah, it did!" He heard a feminine voice yell before he got hit in the gut as the girl kicked herself off of him.

The hero in training blinked his eyes open, and a couple feet away saw Himiko Toga standing with a knife trained on him. "A-Ah, I'm sorry!" Izuku immediately cut One For All, the lightning dying away immediately. The action perplexed Toga, "I didn't mean to run into you, Miss!"

The cat-like girl tilted her head, raised a brow, and dropped her arm, "Hmph." She pouted, walking around him, "You're a strange one, cutie, do I know you? You look familiar…" She squinted her eyes.

Izuku perked up in confusion before blinking in realization and quickly lowering his hood and pulling off his respirator. "Y-Yes!" He stammered, raising his hands to seem non-threatening. "We met the other night, my name is Izuku Midoriya, but you can call me Deku!"

Himiko placed a finger on her cheek, her cheshire smile growing, "Okay, Useless-kun!"

Izuku couldn't help but feel a tad damaged at her words, though he didn't show it. "Your name… is Himiko Toga, right?" He asked as he slowly got up, noticing how her smile grew just a tad.

"What are you, a stalker? OOH, you're stalking me?! I usually do that, it's fun being on the other side for once!" The ash blond smiled with a wide, creepy, and unnerving smile that stretched like a creature from wonderland.

"W-What? N-No! I'm not a stalker!" Izuku defended himself, "I just did a bit of research…" He mumbled as he scratched his cheek.

"What was that?"

"NOTHING!"

The two stared at each other, Izuku with trepidation, and Himiko with curiosity.

Deku knew he needed to get going, each moment he wasted not moving was another that Iida could be closer to death, yet he also wanted to talk to Toga, to do something, to try something, to save her. But he didn't know what he could do.

Besides their brief conversation, he didn't know anything about her, yes he knew facts about her, but he didn't know her as a person.

"So, whatcha doing here cutie?" Himiko asked suddenly, throwing Izuku for a loop as he looked at her.

He couldn't help but gulp, noticing how dry his mouth was at that moment, and when he opened his mouth the words came out with a stutter, "I-I'm looking for a f-friend.." Why did it come back? Why now? Maybe because he was confronted with a killer? This was his first confrontation with death in a while, "He's in danger… and I want to save him…"

"Like you wanna save me?" The quizzical blonde asked. Izuku paused before nodding. "Even though you're scared of me?"

The young hero couldn't help but gulp as he gazed at the girl in front of him, he swallowed all of his fear, all of his nervousness and anxiety, before uttering the simple word, "Yes."

---

Aizawa was getting more than a little pissed, and he had to admit that Stain was very skilled, maybe even more so than himself. And it was getting on his nerves.

He flipped back as Stain sent a horizontal slash his way, he had been able to stay out of Stain's range for so long but he had gotten close to getting caught a few times. Yet, he couldn't get close to Stain, the man's instincts were off the charts.

The Hero Killer snarled at Aizawa, sending a barrage of slashes his way, and though it looked rapid and wild, each blow was carefully calculated, and Aizawa had to be extremely careful not to get hit.

Stain pulled his blade back once more and sent it forward for another strike, Aizawa this time wrapped his capture scarf around it, yet Stain just grinned, pulled his sword back, grabbed the scarf, and pulled.

Aizawa cursed, as he was yanked forward, despite how thin Stain looked, the man had a lot of muscle. He quickly pulled out his emergency knife and lifted it to meet Stain's blade. "He's just a kid!" Eraserhead yelled in desperation as he keeled on the force that Stain produced.

The Hero Killer didn't care for what the pro had to say however, "He wanted revenge! Is that what should make a hero?! No! I should kill him now so he can't taint the profession of heroism in the future!"

Their ideals clashed as their blades unlinked and they backed away. Aizawa had to admit that Stain was a lot more skilled than he thought previously, definitely more than himself.

It didn't help that his quirk seemed to be useless against Stain.

Iida himself had to just sit and watch as Stain and his mentor battled it out, praying that his teacher managed to pull through once more. Just sat like he did at the USJ at the start of the year.

But as they continued, as Stain and Aizawa clashed more and more, something was evident, immensely clear.

Aizawa was slowing down.

'Crap!' The pro held his breath as blows continued to be traded, 'Even though I'm fully healed, I haven't completely rehabilitated yet!' He hadn't had enough time to train back to full condition, he wasn't at his peak condition, and he was falling behind now.

Stain didn't waste a moment and tried to capitalize on it immediately.

And that put Aizawa on the back foot.

The forces behind the blows were so much stronger now, and Aizawa had to take steps back to dodge the simplest of blows. That only fueled Stain to try even harder. "You're slowing down, hero!" The Hero Killer bit out. "You should just give up!"

Aizawa only grit his teeth, "I'm a hero, giving up isn't part of the job!" He went for a low sweep, only for Stain to jump high, pulling his katana up and preparing to strike as he fell, Aizawa cursed and pushed off the ground, rolling back as the blade took part of his shirt.

"Tch" The man clicked his tongue and grabbed his arm, pulling it back and observing blood on his hand. "Damn, he got me…"

"That I did." Aizawa looked up at Stain's words, seeing the man's tongue whirling like a snake as he brought his blade up to his mouth. The action left Aizawa perplexed as he licked the blood off his blade.

Before he could ask why Stain would do something so strange, Aizawa jerked forward before falling, his own body out of his control. 'DAMN IT' He yelled at himself, 'So that's his game, he can paralyze people!' The pro grit his teeth as he slammed into the floor.

Stain grinned as he walked forward, getting ready to purge some fakes. "You posed an adequate fight, and for fighting to protect another, I will let you live." This Eraserhead had gained his respect, so he would give him a chance to survive and spread the message of Stain.

But what he didn't expect was for the man to rise up and send a punch across his face, sending him sprawling back.

"W-What?!" He yelled as he got back to his feet.

Eraserhead's hair was floating as he grabbed his capture scarf. "Now you know why they call me the Erasure Hero!" He scowled at the Hero Killer, "I'm taking you in." It wasn't a statement, it was a promise, 'I swear on Tensei's life, I will do this…'

To his surprise, Stain began laughing, almost cackling, "That was a very neat trick, Eraserhead! I acknowledge you as a true hero!" He exclaimed with what seemed like glee to Aizawa, "But I will not let you end my purge of these fakes, an example must be made of them, so true heroes can rise in their place!"

Eraserhead cursed, his red eyes burning under his golden goggles. He beckoned Stain to come at him, 'I don't have much time… I have to make the most of the moments I have, and minimize my time blinking.'

"You really are amazing, Eraserhead, but you've interfered too much, and for that you will be culled!" Stain grinned savagely and leaped towards Eraserhead.

"We'll see about that!"

---

Reiko couldn't help but feel nervous as they flew to Hosu. The wind was chilly as they made their way there, and it sent shivers down her spine that wouldn't go away no matter what she did. "What is this odd feeling reverberating through my mind and body…"

She hadn't been able to shake it, even with Nejire's pestering, it still lingered in the back of her head, and that worried her.

She had only felt this feeling of worry a few times in her life, on some major tests back before she joined UA, at the Entrance Exam, and whenever Izuku was involved with something dangerous.

She hoped it wasn't that last one.

"Ryukyu-sensei, how long until we arrived?" She asked through a communicator placed in her mask.

The dragon hero responded by speaking aloud, "Fifteen minutes at most, but we could cut that time in half if we hurry."

Reiko nodded, "Then, I ask for permission to speed along so we may arrive at Hosu faster."

Ryukyu glanced at her intern before nodding, in her deep draconic voice saying, "Permission granted, we shall all hurry."

"Thank you!"

Nejire grinned at the two, floating in front of them, "Ooh ooh! Is it a race then! I love races!" She grinned and pushed her power up and blasted ahead. Reiko frowned before pushing her quirk on the object she was using to fly, essentially riding it like a hoverboard.

She could float herself, but it was much too strenuous to completely fly, though hopefully with enough training she could get to that point.

'I do hope that this terrible feeling is just due to something bad I ate and not what I presume it is…'

---

The city was covered in fire as the pros fought, some buildings having giant holes inside of them, others showing signs of crumbling, the light lit up the sky as the pros did their best to defeat the so-called Nomu and protect the citizens of the city.

Shoto had been sidelined due to his role as just an intern, not being allowed to engage in combat with villains, instead he was tasked with helping civilians, not fighting the creatures that had come out of nowhere and had begun wreaking havoc on Hosu, and it was pissing him off to no end.

He was a hero in training, he was meant to fight, that's what being a hero was all about wasn't it?

"Hey kid!"

At the call, Shoto turned around to see a pro beckoning him to come, he had to oblige. "What is it?" He asked quickly as he ran to them.

The man, he looked to be wearing a fish helmet of some sort, that was a tad familiar, ran towards a building that appeared to be smashed into, "This building, the Nomu hit it earlier, a fire sparked and I managed to put that out but I'm worried about the integrity, there are people in there and all the surrounding building could be seriously damaged if we don't do something about it!"

Shoto immediately knew what to do, "I'm on it!" He created an ice platform for him to skate on and quickly made his way to the building, grinding to a halt in front of it.

The boy sighed and closed his eyes, kneeling and touching the ground with his right hand, 'Leave the people inside alone, just the ground, reinforce the pillars, if there's a gap in the support system then fill it in, be strong, don't crack…' He breathed out and mist came out of his mouth as his eyes shot open, his gray eye baring into the building.

A sound cut through the city, like glass cracking, as ice exploded out from Shoto's hand, crawling up and into the building, making new pillars, creating walls and beams, the entire building was coated in a layer of ice that managed to hold up the entire thing.

The pro grinned at Shoto's actions as he finally caught up, "Thanks hero! Now, let's make sure everyone gets out, I'm Manual by the way."

The youngest Todoroki got up and began to regulate his temperature with his fire, glancing at the pro as he called Shoto a hero. 'I'm a hero… heroes help and protect people, they save people, it's not all about beating villains…' He returned his gaze to the building and his eyes solidified in determination, "Then I'll save everyone I can.." He muttered to himself.

"You ready?"

"Yes."

Shoto knew his goal, and he knew what his father would do. All Endeavor ever cared about was villains and bringing them in, even though those villains were of Endeavor's own convoluted definition.

Shoto wanted to be different, so as he climbed into the people and helped carry people out, he felt something inside of him spark. It was something in his chest, a feeling that he hadn't felt in a long time.

Not since… he would watch the news and see what All Might had done whatever day of the week, whoever the giant of a man had saved, had protected, he remembered that feeling, and he remembered watching it with… his mother.

"Hey you alright kid?" Manual asked as Shoto rubbed his face with his sleeve.

"Yes, the leftover smoke was just getting in my eyes." The dual eyed teen stated.

Manual just grinned, "Yeah, tell me about it, it's getting everywhere, just try not to breathe too much in."

"I won't." He felt good, better than he had in a while. "Once we're done with this building then let's get more pros and move to another one."

The water using pro behind him perked up and smiled, "Yeah, good idea! Say, what's your hero name?" Two different eyes looked back at him in thought before stating, "I haven't really made one yet, but you can just call me Shoto."

"Well then Shoto, thanks for the help!"

"You are welcome."

---

The wind was chilly this high late in the night, yet down below was hot with burning fire littering the city before them. "Kurogiri." Shigaraki Tomura breathed out as he stared at the little heroes below trying to destroy the Nomu's and save themselves.

"Yes, Young Tomura?" The butler made of mist asked as he stood beside and behind the one he was entrusted to look after.

Wind continued to brush past them, ruffling Tomura's hair and carrying Kurogiri's fog with it. The moment between them was silent as Tomura clenched a fist, "While we did deal with our little pest problem." Kurogiri obviously knew that was referring to Stain. "I don't feel as… satisfied as I thought I would be…"

He felt empty, or perhaps hollow was a better way to put it, yes he was causing destruction and showing that little shit Stain what being a villain truly meant.

The Hero Killer had gotten him thinking, "Why do we do what we do?"

Kurogiri's eye bulge, implying a raise of the brow, "What do you mean Young Tomura?"

His blue bangs drifted in the wind and the man leaned back, "What's our message? What's our end goal, I know that I want All Might dead, I know I want to bring down this retched hero society and everyone that supports it, but why?"

The butler stood still, sighing before walking next to his student, "That is something for you to discover Young Tomura, you must look inside yourself for the answer."

"Look inside myself, huh?" Tomura questioned aloud, "Sounds like a load of bullshit."

Kurogiri chuckled at the language, "Perhaps, but it's a least worth giving a shot is it not?" The man asked rhetorically.

Tomura didn't answer, instead basking in the chaos and destruction he had caused this night. Watching as heroes tried to get people out of crumbling buildings, as civilians ran for their lives, as filth continued to mingle down below him like ants.

He hated all those people.

---

A slash here

Another cut there

An attempted hit with the blunt side

A second secret knife

And yet, Izuku Midoriya was still cut free.

The boy long since admitted that Himiko Toga was skilled, especially for her age, she moved around like a ballerina, none of her moves were wasted. She was trained, a trained killer.

Her skills had earned Izuku's respect.

Yet even with that skill, Izuku still outpaced her with his quirk and combat experience. Izuku's instincts gave him just enough of an edge against her to dodge most of her blows, the ones he couldn't dodge were instead blocked with his gauntlets that were pretty thick so they weren't pierced by the blades.

"Why are we fighting?!" Izuku asked as he jumped back and got into a crouch.

Toga narrowed her eyes, "Because you wanna "save me!" You think there's something wrong with me!" She spat with anger, pointing a knife at him, "You heroes are all the same, hating me for living the way I want to live! For being myself!"

Izuku looked confused as he stood back up and walked forward, seeing the girl shaking as she pointed her knife at him, "You think that's how it is?"

"That's how it always is!" She yelled, running forward and jumping, wrapping her legs around his head and squeezing as she brought her knife down. Izuku rammed her into the alley wall, making her yelp in pain, before kneeling and making her fall off his shoulders.

The girl moaned in pain, "Are you okay?"

She blinked her eyes open and stared at the boy in front of her, how familiar that face looked, how different it was from everyone else she had met in her life, how warm it seemed. "Get away from me…" She got out.

Izuku frowned, "Do you want me to go?" He asked genuinely.

"Get away…"

His frown deepened as he reached into his back packet, pulling out nutrition bars, all the ones he had, and a notepad. He wrote something down before tearing it off and putting it on the ground, placing the bars on top to make sure the paper didn't fly away.

"This is my phone number, in case you ever change your mind. And these are nutrition bars that are pretty filling." He couldn't save someone that didn't want to be saved, for now this was all he could do.

Himiko looked at the items that were placed as Izuku got up, the boy smiled sadly at her, and she was… confused by that expression.

"I hope next time we meet it's not like this Miss Toga. Until then please stay safe." He walked away slowly, looking back at the girl as she stared at him with something akin to wonder or curiosity, "I'll always be a call away."

And in a burst of lightning he was gone.

The blood quirked teen continued to look perplexed as she grabbed one of the nutrition bars and tore the wrapper off, shoving the whole thing in her mouth. "It's so…. Good!" So much better than what she had been eating.

Maybe…

But still…

He's a hero

And heroes couldn't be trusted, they were all frauds, none of them were true, they all wanted to force her to live the way they wanted her to live, not how she wanted to live. But that look… it was so genuine…

Maybe…

---

Stain had only gotten faster and better as the fight had continued on, or perhaps Eraserhead was just getting that much slower. 'Crap!' Aizawa weaved his head back, barely dodging a knife that went by his nose, taking a few hairs off his beard.

"You're slowing down!"

Eraser didn't give in to the chit chat, instead just continuing the battle no matter how tired he was. Everything started to blur, and his movements became repetitive, for the brief moments he blinked before reactivating his quirk, all he saw was Stain's abhorrent smile in the darkness.

And when he opened his eyes back up all he saw was those crazed crimson eyes.

"Die hero!" Stain grabbed three knives with one hand and through them at Aizawa, with little time to dodge, Eraserhead lifted his forearm in haste to make an attempt to block, cursing and holding his tongue as they pierced his blade.

Stain paused at the action before smiling, "That hurts, doesn't it, Eraserhead?"

The man grabbed the handle of one of the knives before pulling it out, "It doesn't matter if it does, a hero has to fight through any pain, no matter how overwhelming."

"Yes, yes! You have the conviction of a true hero!" Stain roared into the sky with laughter, before the sound slowly died out, "It would truly be a shame to remove the world of you, but if I must eliminate whatever is in my way to bring justice to this terrible world."

Eraserhead grit his teeth, "That's not peace, whatever world you envision could never be peace!" With that, he jumped forward to fight once more, not caring for the pain in his arm, or the thumping in his eyes, he had people to save, both Iida and the other pro behind him, no one was dying tonight.

Stain grinned, pulling his arm back, seeming yanking something, yet Aizawa didn't see anything.

"Gah!" A yell escaped his lips as he felt pain shoot through him from his side before a knife sound it's way to Stains' hand. Aizawa grabbed his wounded side with his undamaged arm, wincing as he felt the warmth of his blood pool on his hand.

"A simple knife attached to a string, quite the trick, isn't it?" Stain asked as he ran up, grabbing Eraserhead by the face. "I'll let you live to see the beauty and peace of my vision!" Stain turned Eraserhead around, getting the man in a headlock to keep him in place. "But you will also witness the fate of this boy, this seeker of revenge."

The pro had no energy left to scream as he felt a blade pierce his back, and he couldn't help but blink and feel the paralysis take over his body.

The Hero Killer threw Aizawa to the wayside, his eyes facing the wall, and his body not allowing him to turn to Stain and disable his quirk.

All he heard was the loud thumps of Stain's boots as the man approached Iida, the boy himself beginning to cry in desperation, trying to move or at least turn away as Stain got closer and closer. "Don't! Get away from me!" Iida yelled.

His attacker chuckled, "You're the one that came after me, if you didn't seek revenge then none of this would have happened." Stain spoke bitterly as he raised a katana.

Aizawa yelled, on the verge of begging, for Stain to let Iida go, that he was just a child, that he had time to change. Yet, he couldn't move, no matter what he did, and he couldn't even watch, only listen to what was going on. The clunk of those metal boots as Stain approached Tenya's prone form.

The youngest Iida could only grimace in the darkness as the blade hovered over him, the manic red eyes gazing at his prone form, the sadistic smile on those lips sending shivers down his paralyzed body. He had been scared before, as a child, but this… this was true unbridled fear coursing through his very bones. "Don't worry…." The sickly voice of Stain muttered, "I'll make it quick."

"IIDA!" Aizawa yelled in desperation.

All Tenya saw was the blade's edge coming right for him, before–

"DELAWARE SMASH!" In a burst of wind, Stain was sent skidding away, and while he was still in mid-air, a green blur of energy whisked through the sky and caught up to the soaring villain before decking Stain in the face, sending him flying even further away. The villain hit the ground and came to a halt as a figure in green took a defiant stance against the hero killer.

"W-What?" Iida gasped.

"Problem child!" Aizawa yelled.

The man wrapped in red and black grunted, forcing himself back onto his feet, a crazed red eye gazing at the child in hatred and disgust."What are you?!" Stain asked, spitting out the words in rage, as he raised one of his long katanas. "Another fake seeking fame and glory?" He narrowed his eyes in accusatory rage.

Izuku grimaced, raising his fists and standing with a smile, "With express permission from Pro Hero: Eraserhead, I – the Unyielding Hero: Deku– have been authorized to engage any enemy to protect UA student and hero in training– Tenya Iida!" Lightning danced off of his skin as One For All was pushed to its limit, "I won't let you lay a finger on him or my sensei!"

Stain's eyes narrowed in a questioning manner, "Why did you come to save this fake…?"

The crimson eyes that spoke of death bore into Izuku, sending fear shaking through his body, but he stood despite himself, "It's a hero's job to save those in need, to meddle even when they aren't asked to! What kind of hero would I be if I ran away right here and now?!"

His response only made the hero killer's constant frown set into a manic grin that was discomforting despite itself, "Maybe you are a true hero!" The man pulled his katana forward and leapt towards Izuku, the boy throwing his hood and respirator on and doing the same, refusing to back down when so many people were in danger. 'No matter what' He swore to himself, 'Everyone will make it out of this alive.'

Notes:

SO SO SORRY this took so long, between moving and starting my senior year I forgot to upload chapters.

But on a side note, how did you guys like the chapter? I tried to stick Stain and Himiko as close to their canon portrayals as I could and I'm not sure how I did with that, so let me know.

Also, Shigaraki, his head is already turning at this point, he's already thinking about the reason behind his attacks, which took a lot longer in canon, so I'd like to see how that plays out.

We also have Reiko's and Shoto's side stories happening at the same time. How will they collide with Izuku's current story? Well you'll have to come back in half a year to find out...

I'll try to have the next chapter out before then, but with sports coming up in a month I honestly don't know when I'll have time to write, but I'll do my best to get it out soon.

I believe that's all I have to say, so I'll leave you guys with a question, want some Reiko and Izuku fluff next chapter?

Jay out!

Chapter 20: The Unyielding Hero

Summary:

I'm The Hero Deku

The sun was scorching, with the year progressing more and more, getting closer to the summer with each passing day, and with being on the sand so much, Izuku was starting to get tired with all the heat. He was already having to ditch his shirt each day and drink loads of water to stay at least a little cool, though it didn't help much, but now he had to take breaks to make sure he didn't pass out from heat exhaustion.

Today was no different from any of the other days from the past couple of months, working at Dagobah had become a repetitive task for him, and Izuku delved in head first each and every day no matter how mind numbing it was. He was already a few months in and he saw the progress he made every day. The finish line was practically in sight! And he continued to push through any and all exhaustion.

All Might would come and go as he pleased, sometimes the pro would come check to see how Izuku was progressing, other times he wouldn't. There wasn't a rhythm to how often he would come, just whenever he could, but he would always remind Izuku to never overwork himself.

Today was one of All Might's check in days apparently as Izuku heard the sound of the pro's old beat-up truck, the engine's roars, as it approached the beach, the sound died as All Might turned the truck off and made his way down to the shore from the stone path at the base of the sand.

All Might grinned at the boy's progress and Izuku felt warmth wash over him at his mentor's smile. "Hey All Might!" He yelled with a wave.

The pro laughed as he arrived at his pupil, "Young Midoriya, my boy! You seem to be doing really well!" He glanced at the muscles that were developing extremely nicely, before moving his eyes to his student's eyes. After all, he had to make sure Midoriya was resting, "No eye bags, good, how's your body been feeling, my boy?"

Izuku raised a brow, moving his body around and stretching a bit, "Just a bit sore that's all." Just a bit for him was a lot more compared to most people but All Might expected that since the American Dream Plan was very demanding. Izuku's pain tolerance was also ridiculously high.

"Well alright, think you can keep on hauling trash for the day?" All Might asked.

"Of course!" Izuku smiled.

The pro smiled at his student's excitement, "Then get to it you zygote!"

Izuku continued for the day, lugging trash around, stuffing it in piles and dumpsters, and doing his best to not die of the heat. His mentor had gone to get him even more water bottles, even bringing a pack of ice so they could both keep cool. At one point he placed the ice on Izuku's back and watched as it melted from how hot the boy was.

However, eventually the heat turned to cold, as day turned to not quite night, and Izuku sat on the beach with his mentor standing beside where he sat with the sun slowly descending in the sky. "I think I can finish before the entrance exam." He huffed aloud.

All Might laughed, "Perhaps, you'll be cutting it quite close though Young Midoriya." All Might looked down at his student, in deep thought, seemingly thinking a million different things before deciding on one singular thought. "My boy, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Izuku perked up and turned to his mentor, quirking his head. "W-What is it All Might?"

The old man sighed, stuffing his hands into his giant pants, looking up at the sky and imagining his own mentor flying, thinking back to simpler times. "I want you to promise me something." All Might said abruptly, turning back to his student.

That confused Izuku even more and he could only ask, "Y-Yes All Might?"

So innocent . All Might thought, thinking more about when she was still alive, how they would often have moments like this, he shook the thoughts away. Sitting down, All Might wrapped an arm around his student, pulling him close so that they could look eye to eye, "I want you to promise me that no matter what, no matter how strong you get, no matter how many villains you defeat, no matter your rank, that you will always hold true to the morals you have now."

Izuku's eyes shone in amazement as he grinned, "I will All Might!"

The Symbol of Peace smiled a bright wide smile, "That's all I ask, now let's get you home my boy."

---

Deku breathed deep, One For All flowing through him as he clashed with Stain, 'No matter what!' He jumped back, making sure not to collide with the injured Iida or Eraserhead, and that third person who he thought to be the hero Native but he would have to double check, 'I will stay true–' Deku crouched and felt One For All built up as he released the power into a leap, pulling a fist back he threw it forward with a yell 'MY IDEALS!'

Stain jumped over the attack, ready to swipe down with his blade, only for Deku to disappear right when Stain was about to stab him. "What?!"

Green Lighting bounced around the alley, jumping into the air before careening down towards Stain, the assassin barely had a moment before he raised his blade to block, still feeling the force of such an attack. The blow sent Stain backwards as Deku landed on the ground once more, the hero killer looking at the boy in front of him with strong curiosity. "What is your name, boy?"

Deku paused at the inquiry, "Like I said before, I'm the Unyielding–"

"No! Your real name!"

The boy almost tripped and gulped at the look on Stain's face. "I'm Izuku Midoriya…"

Stain grinned and pointed his blade at Izuku, "I will make sure to remember your name boy, when the new world rises with true heroes like yourself!"

The two jumped towards each other to once again engage in melee combat. While Izuku wasn't quite as skilled as Stain was, his quirk and training that he had done with Eraserhead had given him enough to meet Stain just a tad, there were still some close calls, but his costume was very durable.

Any attempted slashes at his arms were failed as his gauntlets were made of a strong material, his legs were out of the question due to the durability of his boots, so that only left a couple spots for Stain. His torso and his face, which were much harder to land blows on.

Though there was still a problem. Aizawa was stabbed, and the longer he lay there the worse his injuries would get, and Izuku didn't know how much time he had. "MIDORIYA, GET OUT OF HERE, THIS IS MY FIGHT!" Iida yelled, trying to force himself to get up with no avail.

"Shut your mouth, boy!" A blade flung at Iida, Izuku's eyes traced the blade and his hand shot out and caught it, 'Just like the ball throw…' he spun in place and charged up One For All in one digit, powering the quirk up to twenty percent, "SMASH!" Izuku threw it at Stain with all he had, the blade became a blur of silver as it shot out.

"WHAT?!" Stain tried to move in time, but the blade managed to graze into his side, not deep but still painful. The hero killer panted and touched his wound, looking in wonder at Izuku. Not even Eraserhead had managed to get such a good blow.

But Deku wasn't letting up, he charged at Stain in the man's moment of thought. The only problem for Stain was that he seemed to be faster than before. More electricity seemed to spark off of the boy's body in waves, lighting up the alley with its brightness. Izuku jumped back and pulled his hood over his head, sealing his mouth with his respirator, needing as much protection for his face as possible.

He also had to hide how much using more of One For All was hurting him.

The hood covered his eyes in darkness, the only thing visible was his emerald eyes. Stain could see how calculating those eyes were, "STAIN!" The boy yelled, though the sound was muffled due to his respirator, which made it sound slightly more threatening, before shooting towards the Hero Killer.

Iida was shocked at the speed at which Izuku fought, greater than even his own current output, though that was excluding his Recipro Burst. Though what he didn't expect either was for Izuku to pull his phone out while Stain was jumping at him, he seemed to do something on it before shoving it quickly back into his pants.

Iida didn't know what that was for, but he needed to get up, this was his fight. Midoriya and Aizawa-sensei shouldn't have gotten involved. But he couldn't move! No matter what he did, his body wouldn't respond, he prayed this wasn't permanent, and for now all he had to do was try to force himself up.

Because he would be the one to kill Stain.

---

They didn't expect Hosu to be in the state it was. Fires, some crumbling buildings, heroes doing their best to save some civilians that were trapped inside said buildings, and more of those things that had been reported at UA just a couple months prior were strewn across the city destroying everything.

Ryukyu instantly set her intern into clearing debris to allow more people to escape. While Emily did that, Rykukyu and Nejire-chan were engaged with one of those Nomus. The one she had currently engaged had wings and appeared to be mindless just like what was reported from the one that had attacked the USJ.

The Nomu was surprisingly nimble, evading all of her attempts to catch it and dodging all of Nejire-chan's attacks.

While they were dealing with that creature, Reiko, hero name Emily, continued her work with helping civilians escape buildings that had been damaged. There were lots of debris that she had to levitate using her quirk, and while she did that someone would trap the debris in place.

"Done." The monotone voice of Todoroki breathed out as he locked all of the debris in place with his ice. "I'll stay here and continue to strengthen the beams just in case anything happens." Despite him trying to sound confident, there was a slight strain in his voice, he had clearly been putting a lot of effort into keeping the building from falling.

"Got it!" Manual yelled as he and a group of pros entered the building to assist any trapped civilians.

Reiko couldn't help but notice that Todoroki seemed to be shivering, an obvious sign of overuse of his ice side. Izuku's analytical skills have begun rubbing off on the rest of them, they all had become more observant of slight things or signs related to quirks. Like Tetsu in his match against Kirishima in the Sports Festival, the boy had noticed he was slower due to his steel form so he turned it off to move and turned it back on at the moment of impact to win that fight.

As such, she knew that Todoroki's ice was too much for him, and even though he seemed more used to his fire now he wasn't using it for some unapparent reason. Though that's when it clicked, 'He can't use both at the same time…' She quickly deduced.

Sadness filled her heart, Todoroki was pushing himself to make sure everyone got out, even though he was likely getting frostbite from his overuse of his quirk. That on top of the cold night was terrible for his health. And she couldn't even do anything for him, she just had to leave him to his suffering as the pros pulled people out.

"Are you alright?" She found herself asking as she pulled off her kimono and placed it around him, revealing the black suit she had underneath. It stretched from her shoulders down to her legs acting as shorts, while it was cold without her coat she knew that Todoroki needed it more even though it wasn't much, it was the least she could do.

Todoroki nodded, the motion cracking some ice that had crawled up his neck.

Her frown deepened but she resigned herself, turning to the building and trying to hold some of it up as well to assist Todoroki from the strain. It was clear he wasn't the most social, even quieter than she was, but she would still try her best to befriend him as much as she could.

"Come on!" She quickly turned back to the building, seeing Manual come out carrying a little boy that couldn't be any older than eight. The boy was passed out with a cut above his head, "I need first aid!" The pro yelled.

Her body moved before she thought about what she had to, quickly pulling up first aid equipment that she had in her costume. Cleaning the blood off of the boy's head and applying alcohol wipes before bandaging it up, it wasn't the best but they hadn't fully covered first aid yet in class.

Manual grinned at her as he made sure everyone made their way out of the building. "Thanks!"

A smile came to her face, "I'm joyed to be able to offer assistance to those in need."

The pro nodded and started to do a headcount of all the people that had made their way out, finally nodding to himself he yelled, "That's everyone!" Todoroki finally shut his quirk off, his ice instantly cracked and the building fell once more. Flames slowly but surely sparked off of his body as he tried to get some sort of warmth.

"Are you okay?" She pushed herself to ask again as Todoroki gasped for air.

"Yeah–"

PING

Both of their phones went off in unison, and they shot each other confused glances as they both pulled them out to inspect them, on each screen was a message from Midoriya, the only thing attached was his current location. "Did you get a message from Midoriya?" Todoroki asked quickly. "Yes." Was her only response.

Manual glanced at the two, making sure none of the gathered civilians were wounded like the little boy was, inspecting their faces he knew something was up.

"We got a distress beacon from our friend."

"Can we go check it out?"

The pro looked distressed, thinking about his own intern who had been lost in all the chaos. Was it Iida that sent them that distress call? Iida was also a UA student, just like these two kids, they all had been shown on TV during the broadcast of the Sports Festival. They were all in the hero course.

On top of that, most, if not all of the buildings so far had been cleared thanks to these kids' help, surely they didn't need them for the last couple of buildings, right? They could go help Iida wherever he was stuck while they finished up rescue efforts?

Against his better judgment, Manual nodded, "Under express permission from Pro Hero Manual, interns Shoto and Emily are allowed to go assist and engage in rescue efforts on their own to inspect this beacon." The two students looked shocked that he actually gave them permission to do so, "Though they are NOT allowed to engage in combat!"

They once again exchanged glances and nodded, hoping that they didn't have to.

"Now get going, we have lives to save!"

Todoroki nodded and instantly began skating on his ice to the location of the beacon, despite his frostbite, while Reiko ran and grabbed a sewer grate and used it as a platform to fly on through the air. The two zoomed by streets and alleys, their hair brushing past their faces and making it hard to see, but they both found themselves not caring for that. "Do you think Midoriya could have found Iida?" Todoroki asked loudly over the sound of his ice being created and wind as they rushed to their friend.

"Perhaps, most likely, he does seem to be a magnet for trouble." She regretfully admitted.

Izuku always had to be at the center of something. During the battle trials he got more injured than anyone else in class, at the USJ he sustained the most injuries out of everyone besides 1A's homeroom teacher and had fought his way to the plaza where that Nomu was, he had gotten beat up by Gran Torino more than the entire rest of the class combined but saw the most rewards from doing so, he had to fight both Todoroki and Bakugo in the Sports Festival, had Eraserhead as his pro for internships, and now was off who knows where?

Izuku Midoriya was definitely a trouble magnet, maybe that was actually his quirk? Shaking her head, Reiko dispelled the thought. After all, it was ridiculous, though he did mention his mother's quirk attracted objects to her, so perhaps instead of attracting objects his quirk attracted danger? No, that was impossible, unless…

"Focus!" Todoroki chastised her as she almost hit a pole, still not used to soaring at such high speeds.

"Apologies, I was lost in thought."

The Son of Endeavour looked at her before looking back to the front, "Maybe Midoriya has rubbed off on you more than you previously thought." Wow, she didn't know Todoroki had sass.

---

'Damn it.'

Midoriya and Stain's fight had amped up to even higher levels that his eyes couldn't keep up.

'Damn it!'

How had Midoriya changed so much from the boy he had met at the entrance exam?

'DAMN IT!'

How was he fighting Stain one on one when even he couldn't! Iida's blood was boiling as he tried his damndest to get up, but his body just wouldn't move! It was like there were chains wrapped around him, holding him down and not letting him move at all. Just what was Stain quirk!

"Iida!"

The Vice Rep blinked at hearing his mentor's voice. It sounded strained, the man was obviously in pain, all because he had come to stop Iida from dying. Was that his fault? No! Aizawa had come on his own choice, Iida didn't make him come fight Stain!

That sounded extremely shallow now that he thought about it…

"Yes sensei?!" He yelled, being unable to look at his teacher. Before Eraserhead could respond, Iida felt his entire body go slack, and for the first time in the past half hour, he could move. The words of his mentor were tuned out as bile and rage built up inside him. It rose like smoke out of a chimney as his engines roared with power and fury. "STAIN!"

Red fire came out of his exhaust pipes as he shot forward towards Stain, yet no matter how fast he was it wasn't enough. Stain dodged under the swipe, Iida's leg passing by where the bastard's nose SHOULD have been, yet it was clear that the hero killer just didn't have a nose!

Izuku grimaced as Stain smiled, quickly trying to grab Iida to pull him backwards, "IIDA-KUN!" Knowing he wouldn't be able to reach in time, his hand entered a familiar form, "DELAWARE SMASH!" The force of wind sent Iida flying, fast enough that Stain's blade didn't reach the boy.

The Hero Killer chuckled as Iida got up after a shaky landing, the man being sandwiched between the both of them. "Well well well…" He pulled a second katana out of its sheath, "Things just got all the more interesting."

The man jumped high, avoiding a blow from Iida that Izuku didn't even realize was going to happen, the taller boy crashed into Izuku and sent them tumbling. Izuku cursed and threw Iida off and to the side, catching one blade between his hands, "What about the second one!" Stain yelled before sending the other one down.

That was when Iida came in and kicked the man in the mid-section, sending him sprawling down the alleyway.

Izuku winced under his mask, his body was starting to feel heavy, and it felt like he was being stabbed all over. He was slowing down… 'I overdid it with One For All….' Izuku could only hope that his body would keep up for the rest of this fight, and if he needed to push himself over his limit then so be it.

"Iida– stop fighting this instant– GAH!" Aizawa coughed, talking was too exerting.

Iida didn't listen, speeding down the alley and trying a number of kicks on Stain. Izuku knew they wouldn't land, Iida's costume was too reliant on cosmetics over practicality, while Izuku did have cosmetic aspects of his costume, a lot of it was to help with his quirk and make him stronger. The armor around Iida's legs were too much, they made him slower and his fighting style was too obvious.

It gave Stain too much to capitalize on.

Izuku didn't so much think as he did move. One For All burned inside of him, compelling him to move, to fight, to protect, and Izuku's body responded in kind, he disappeared from space and reappeared in front of Stain, lightning sparked off in waves as his fist shot forward, sinking into Stain's gut, the man wretched as Izuku twisted his fist, his fist did hurt, probably due to an overflow of One For All.

Stain felt his vision blur for a moment before he grit his teeth, but before he could do anything, a leg slammed into the back of his head.

'What the….' His mind was blank as he felt weightless for a moment, in front of him was Deku, the boy's eyes were wide in surprise at the fact that the other boy had gotten him in the back of the head. Stain could feel his mind slip, like a rope that went slack as he lost hold on it. 'No…' His eyes rolled into the back of his head, 'NO!' The rope was tight as he grabbed back on it and pulled.

His eyes were blank but held pure rage as, on pure instinct, he pulled a knife from his thigh holster, and threw it forward. With little distance, Izuku didn't have time to react, it didn't cut him, but it cut his respirator, detaching one of the sides and causing it to hang limp on his face.

Now he could see the face paired to those emerald eyes, that face, only the mouth and eyes he could see, held fear. But even though they held fear, Stain could see hope. And that smile, he expected it to be twisted in fear and surprise, but no, it held firm and strong.

Izuku's arms reached out and wrapped around around one of Stain's like a snake, Izuku pushed forward while turning around, holding onto Stain's arm with a firm grip before flipping the man onto the ground!

While Stain was trying to get up, Iida rushed past and readied a kick, though he didn't expect Stain to spin on the ground like a breakdancing turtle, causing Iida to miss his mark as a knife stabbed into his leg. He tumbled and fell onto the ground from the blade, getting ready to stand and fight again but his body seized and he fell slack. "NO!"

Stain was manic, his eyes shaking, he stood up and Izuku froze. Killer intent came off of Stain's body in waves, he could barely make out the man's features in the darkness of the alley, only the floating bandana, a glinting katana, those creepy teeth, and those eyes that held an indescribable amount of fury.

His throat was dry and tight, and finally Stain's white teeth shifted into a smile that reached his eyes, "There's that look of despair I've been waiting to see…" He completely ignored the downed Iida and instead focused completely on Izuku, red and black waves of death coming off of him.

Izuku felt like the reaper's scythe was on his throat.

But there was also a hand on his back, pushing him forward, no that wasn't right. It wasn't a hand, it was numerous hands. One… no two…. No five… no. Eight distinct hands, eight different people pushed him forward, whispering in his ear, egging him on.

Show him what a true hero is….

A true hero? Izuku knew what that was. It was someone that fought until the end to protect people, that always fought with a smile no matter how dark things looked, someone that always won because there was no other option. Today, this dark and stormy Hosu night, Izuku vowed, "Everyone's going home…."

He didn't think but his body entered the stance that Aizawa had drilled into him, he calmed his breath and sucked in a deep amount of air, he shut his eyes and felt his heart slow, One For All buzzed underneath his skin like a growing flame. Izuku's eyes shot open and his lightning roared.

And on his face was a smile that blinded Stain.

---

"We're approaching the beacon." The monotone of Todoroki's voice shook Reiko out of her musing, she swallowed deeply and nodded, getting ready to do whatever she had to do to protect her friend. "Remember, no combat." Almost whatever she had to do.

But… if he was in danger shouldn't she protect him from whatever villain was attacking him?

"SMASH!" The sound was familiar to the both of them, but also different, even so they quickened their pace. They couldn't afford to slow down, despite the exhaustion they were both feeling at this point. Ice spurred onto the scene as Reiko pulled back.

In the flesh, they both saw Izuku engaging a figure, a long and lanky man decked head to toe in blades and other sharp objects. He looked disheveled and crazed, but also infuriated. Because Izuku was holding his own, his blows had increased in speed and intensity and more often than not he was landing blows to Stain's body.

"Almost like a boxer…" Reiko muttered.

Todoroki shook his head and slammed his foot onto the ground, Stain jumped back as he saw a flurry of ice come towards him. The ice cut off and separated the alley in two, protecting them from Stain. Izuku gasped at the break of the motion and turned back with a smile that they were barely able to see due to his mask and hanging respirator, "Todoroki-kun! Reiko-chan!"

"Midoriya!" Todoroki yelled before noticing his classmate and teacher, running towards him and kneeling beside him, "Iida, Sensei, are you two alright?" Iida didn't look too damaged at all, some bleeding on his leg and his arms, but Aizawa had a knife sticking out his back, thankfully it wasn't near his spine. But that didn't mean it wasn't bad.

Aizawa grunted in his paralysis, "We'll be fine, but get Iida out of here!"

"Izuku!" Reiko moved to join her classmate, but the ice guarding them seemed to crack as she got closer.

Izuku's eyes widened as lightning sparked over his form once more, "No way…."

From the ice burst forth stain, his red eyes brimming with bloodshot rage, "When will you damned kids stop interfering with my purge!" The villain bounced off the ice to the wall of the alley, before jumping for Todoroki.

"REIKO!" The ghost girl instantly knew what to do and felt the familiar pull of her quirk as a pink glow appeared around Stain, the hero killer was launched backwards and into the ice, cracking and breaking it as he flew.

Izuku's mind ran a mile a minute as he thought of everything they could do, he could hold Stain off, while they got Iida, Native, and Eraserhead out. That would be the best option, Izuku could hold out until the pros arrived, the only problem was that Eraserhead was injured and probably shouldn't be moving around right now.

'But still, getting Iida and Native out is a huge help!' One For All sparked across his limbs as he prepared to fight, despite his body telling him to let up, "Get Iida and Native out of here, if you can get Eraserhead out too!" Stain got up and before he had a chance Izuku jumped through the alley, meeting the Hero Killer with a fist as they clashed.

Reiko gulped at her friend's behavior, fighting the hero killer?!

"Come on!" Todoroki's yell snapped her out of it and she picked up Iida with her telekinesis.

"No, let me go! Stain's mine to deal with!" The boy tried to squirm out of her hold but it was useless.

The ghost girl deadpanned, "Ingenium is your brother, correct?" That made the younger Iida stop and nod, "And not even he could take down Stain, do you believe you're better than him?"

"W-What, of course not!"

"Then what gave you the idea, the mere thought, that you by yourself could take down the Hero Killer!" She chucked him onto an ice sleigh that Todoroki had made, the other moving teen had already put Native on there. "Get them out of here, I'm going to check over Eraserhead and then try to get him out of here."

Todoroki frowned, "That's not the best idea and you know it, Midoriya will be able to cover him." He remained firm in his standing, even with the sounds of Izuku and Stain decking it out not too far away, "We have to go!" Quickly grabbing her arm, he got them moving and out of there as fast as he could, blocking off parts of the alley with ice walls as they left.

"Todoroki go back!" Iida yelled in his paralysis on the floor, and Reiko hated that she also wanted to go back despite the danger.

"I'm not going back, I'm not letting any of us get killed." Todoroki's monotone voice had some bite in it as they reached a main street. The majority of damage had been dealt with, some buildings had fallen, but gladly no one was dead, though there were a lot of ambulances strewn about, some streetlights were knocked over, yet all the fires were put out. That left the main street they found rather dark.

Despite that, they could clearly see the flying dragon coming towards them, the flapping wings producing a great amount of wind as Ryukyu lowered herself to the hero students. Reiko was happy to see their mentor coming towards them, but she still couldn't help but feel worry for her dear friend.

She had to take a page out of Shiozaki's book and pray for him to be okay.

Izuku hated to admit that he was starting to get tired, while he had used One For All for prolonged periods of time before, using it for this long in a fight where he had to be hyper focused for every little detail was quite tiring. Doing his best to not slow down or at least to keep up with Stain wasn't the easiest thing to do. And him pushing One For All at points definitely didn't help either!

But a hero always found a way to pull through! Iida and Native were safe now, but Eraserhead was still in danger. Izuku couldn't let that man get hurt, not after all he had done for Izuku and his friends, protecting them at the USJ, showing Izuku so much about what it meant to be a hero, the underground tactics, a fighting style. He wouldn't let Eraserhead down!

'Come on!' His arm stung as Stain hit it with the blunt of his blade, in a moment where Izuku parried the blade to the side.

Don't get tired!

A mixture of voices spoke in his ear and he found his focus tightening. Moving to the side to avoid the blade, Izuku struck a hand out, catching Stain in the face. But the killer's endurance and durability was crazy as he managed to stay in place. No, it was just from sheer willpower.

Don't give up!

A diagonal slice going up grazed Izuku's hanging respirator, chipping the blade slightly and sending sparks flying. Izuku winced at the sparks invading his vision but he had to press forward no matter what!

Ignore your pain!

Stain tried to bring his blade back down for another strike but Izuku pushed the man's arms up and struck him in the chest, making him slide back a couple feet.

FIGHT

One For All increased in magnitude as Izuku bounced off the alley walls and caught up to Stain, the villain's eyes widening and his face turning into a sneer as Izuku appeared in front of him.

TO PROTECT

But that sneer turned into a smile. In one moment of lapse in judgment, the Hero Killer grinned.

"GUH!" Stain surprisingly went for a simple kick, decking Izuku across the face and sending him flying back and landing on the floor. Throwing something random in had been quite effective. Izuku scrambled as he got up with a flip but he heard Stain yell, "NOW FALL!" With all the strength he had in his arm, Stain pressed his blade into Midoriya's stomach, waiting for the river of blood to flow out from the wound.

Instead he was met with his blade breaking in half. "W-What?!"

'NOW!' Izuku's arm drew back and One For All flooded the limb, overflowing to a point where he couldn't handle, 'One For All: 20%' Red veins and a glow appeared across Izuku's arm as the sleeve torn and Izuku stepped into Stain's defense, "DETROIT" His waist untwisted like a coil, sending all the force from his fist crashing forward into Stain's face, "SMASHHHHH!"

The group of two hero students and a number of pros approached the mouth of an alleyway, including Ryukyu and Endeavour. With Reiko and Todoroki manning the front. The son of Endeavour took up the role of speaking for the two of them, as Reiko was too far into her worry to really vocalize her thoughts."This way! Midoriya was over here–"

Todoroki paused as Stain came flying out of the alley, flying with enough force that sent him across the intersection and into the storefront of another building, breaking all of the glass and crashing into some shelving units, collapsing onto his back and for once not getting back up. His bandana had fallen off and it left his face exposed, allowing all to see his noseless form through the broken window.

The gathered pros and students paused as footsteps echoed from the alley, standing with a torn and tattered right sleeve and glove was a figure covered in green. Reaching up and pulling his hood off, Izuku Midoriya gasped for breath, "Is he…. Is he finally down?" He was covered in sweat, his eyes were still shaky, but he was standing.

Silence struck the pros, only the crackling of Endeavour's fire alerted them that the world had in fact not stopped. "H-He took down Stain…" One of them muttered, Reiko was exactly sure who.

Izuku's breathing was deep and greedy as he smiled, "That extra plating Hatsume added really helped…" He patted his stomach, feeling the extra plate that Hatsume had added, the material had been strong enough to completely snap Stain's blade in half. He took a step towards them before the world got blurry. "Oh boy…."

Before he could hit the ground he felt himself be caught by someone, slender arms wrapped around his shoulder and kept him grounded, Izuku couldn't help but smile, "Thanks Reiko-chan…" He huffed, being able to hear her sniffle as her grip around him tightened, "You're so reckless Izuku…"

"I'm sorry…" His voice was barely a whisper but for her it was all she could hear. Izuku wanted to hug her back but he could barely feel his arms at that moment. "Please… get Aizawa-sensei help…" He couldn't pay attention but he thought he heard Reiko telling the heroes to grab Eraserhead who was in the alley.

He heard the bustling of heroes, something akin to sirens, and then he felt himself laying on something soft, white around him. Izuku's bleary eyes looked up and all he saw was Reiko's face, tears leaking out of her eyes. He tried to lift a hand to clear those tears from her face but he couldn't do it. His eyes shut under the pressure of exhaustion as he mused to himself, 'Thank you for everything… Reiko.'

His mind went blank, everything around him was dark. The ground was hard stone but he couldn't see far past him as darkness encompassed wherever he looked. Wind pushed past his hair and messed up his already messy mop. Izuku, for some reason, was alarmed. He gasped for air, or at least he tried to, it was hard to do that when you didn't have a mouth.

It was a strange feeling, but he couldn't open his mouth, as if it had been sewn shut, or maybe as if had never been there at all. When he tried to reach up to feel for it he couldn't move his arm.

His emerald eyes looked around with alarm before landing on a group of people. Seven distinct individuals that he felt like he knew, he felt like they mattered to him, but he had never met these people before.

They all looked like heroes, but their gear was so… retro. Like something that hadn't been in circulation for a long time, at least 50 years but for others it looked like a lot longer. They were in a line, all gazing at something else, their faces in straight lines. Izuku could only see four of them, the other three were too far away for him to see. Izuku followed their eyes and saw two people facing each other.

One was kneeling, looking on the verge of passing out, while the other stood tall and calm, an air of arrogance around him.

Their features were similar, or at least the only features he could see was white hair. They appeared to be brothers, the kneeling one was small and weak looking, he wore a thin light blue long sleeve shirt and gray pants. The other brother, in a black suit, well he sent shivers down Izuku's spine for some unknown reason, all Izuku knew was that he had fear coursing through his veins as he watched the much bigger of the two brothers approach the smaller one.

A hand shot out and grabbed the kneeling brother by the head, lifting him off his feet. The smaller one seemed to struggle, grabbing onto his brother's arm and pulling, trying to get him off, but it was all for naught as his hands fell limply to his side.

Izuku reached out with his hand, trying to help the smaller and weaker one, and suddenly a hand was reaching out for him too. The tiny frail brother stood in front of Izuku as their fingers intertwined, and in a small and breaking voice the man spoke. "So youre… the ninth…"

The gazed at each other, and Izuku felt power coursing into his arm, before something–

CRACKKK!

Izuku looked up with wide eyes, sweat dripping down his body, breathing deep and greedy breaths as One For All crackled across his right arm. All of what appeared to be medical devices around him were broken due to some unknown reason. Small alarms were blaring wherever he was and Izuku tried to sit up but found his stomach hurting and he fell back onto the bed he was on.

Where was he? What happened to Stain? Was Iida okay? What about Eraserhead? Where was Reiko, he remembered being with her?

Before he could descend into madness, he heard a flurry of footsteps before the door to the room was thrown open, in walked a doctor with a man that looked like a pro hero and a man with the head of a dog? Izuku blinked his eyes as he felt his racing heart calm down.

The doctor came to his bed and looked around it in surprise and shock, "My goodness, I've never seen something so peculiar like this happen before!" His gaze landed on Izuku, "Are you alright? Did anything land on you or hurt you?"

Izuku shook his head, "N-No, I'm fine sir." He was still shaken up about One For All, and it was barely now that he realized the amount of bandages covering all of his body, but other than that he was fine. Well… his body was in incredible pain now that he thought about it. "If I can ask, how is my body doing?"

The man sighed and pulled a clipboard from a table nearby, "All in all, it's definitely not great but not terrible either." Grabbing a chair, the man sat with Izuku. "You are suffering from extreme quirk exhaustion as well as miniature tears along some of your muscles. Nothing too bad, Recovery Girl should be able to take care of that."

A smile graced the man's face as he tapped the top of Izuku's head with the clipboard, "You'll have great fatigue for a while, you probably shouldn't lift anything too heavy and I recommend against any straining activity." Though he stopped with a sigh, "Knowing you hero students you probably won't do either, but at least check in with Recovery Girl or your personal doctor once every two weeks to make sure you're progressing fine."

Izuku blushed, that probably was something he would do, but nodded nonetheless, "I will sir!"

Humming, the doctor got up and pulled a wheelchair close, "Thank you, moving on we'll get another room ready for you, for now we can visit your friends." The doctor patted the seat of the wheelchair. The hero and dog headed man helped Izuku into the wheelchair and followed as the doctor pushed him to another room.

Rolling down the halls, he could see that he was definitely in a hospital, not one he recognized but in one nonetheless. He didn't know what day it was, but through the sun coming in through the windows he assumed he had been out for at least twelve hours, since Stain attacked in the middle of the night.

"Alright, here we are." The kind doctor spoke as the detective opened the door, wheeling Izuku in and placing him next to a bed with a familiar student in it. "Hey, Iida-kun!" Izuku smiled, unable to wave.

The boy perked up and made a small wave. "Hello, Midoriya-san…" Iida sounded sad.

Izuku's eyes traced the boy's body, he wasn't injured too badly, unlike his own body was, but he did seem more damaged. His posture showed a lot of disappointment, how tired Iida was, and it made Izuku worry. The boy's eyes were dull under his glasses and Izuku noticed that Iida wasn't looking him in the eyes.

Iida sucked in a breath before continuing, "I apologize for my actions against Stain, I know you have no reason to accept my apology, even after everything I've done to you and your class…" Iida's hands clasped around his sheets, small almost unnoticeable tears leaking out of his eyes, "I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

A hand landed on Iida's, and he looked up to see Izuku smiling, that smile made him feel warm, like he was under the sun, like his mother was holding him after a bad day when he was a child, like he was talking with Tensei about being a hero and all the cool things his brother did while out on duty, "I already forgave you a long time ago Iida."

"W-What?"

Izuku nodded, "Ever since the USJ, you got the teachers there. If they had gotten there later then our classmates could have gotten hurt a lot worse than they did, or maybe even died. And they were only saved because of you. You saved my friends, Iida." Izuku's arm fell, it had taken him all his strength just to place it on Iida's, "I just paid back the favor."

The glasses wearing teen felt his chest grow tight as more tears leaked out of his eyes. Before he knew it he was wailing, sobbing as tears cascaded down his cheeks like miniature waterfalls. Izuku smiled sadly as Iida cried, feeling guilty for how much sadness the boy had built up inside of him.

The detective smiled at the interaction, hearing the door crack, he turned to see two more teens entering the room. One was the son of Endeavor, and the other was another UA student. He took that as his moment to speak, "Good, come in come in you two." The two uninjured students perked up and nodded, Yanagi walking next to Izuku and fussing over him while Todoroki sat in a chair beside Iida's bed.

Todoroki took the time to place a hand on Iida's shoulder, despite not being the most social he knew that knowing someone else was there was a good feeling to have. 'Just like Yanagi-san did for me when we were getting people out of the buildings.' His gaze shifted and landed on the 1-B students.

Yanagi was fussing over Midoriya, being careful to not touch him as to not aggravate his already overused muscles. Though Midoriya just smiled up at her. Todoroki let a small smile grace his face as well, 'They look sweet together.'

"Ahem." The four students froze and finally looked towards the entrance, seeing the pro that all of them knew and the man with a dog head. "Doctor, can you give us some time and space, I have something to discuss that is rather private, woof." The man nodded and stepped out of the room, telling them to alert them if anyone was having trouble with their injuries.

With a click and thud, the door shut and the man's eyes furrowed, Izuku didn't know a dog's eyes could do that. "I must speak with all of you about the recent detainment and arrest of the Hero Killer, one individual known as Stain." The man's face was straight and serious, "I also must inform you that I am the police chief of Hosu's police department, Kenji Tsuragamae."

The teens' faces fell, but the Chief's own held firm. "Well you all had a role in taking down Stain, the law still stands." His eyes held no emotion as he dug into them, "None of you have provisional license, what you did was illegal, vigilantism."

Izuku perked up and shook his head, "No, it's not."

The dog turned to him, and somehow raised a brow? Izuku still wasn't sure how he managed to do that, "And why do you say that?"

"I received express permission from Underground Pro Hero: Eraserhead to engage in any actions, search, rescue, or battle, to protect Tenya Iida." His face held determination as he gazed at the chief. "I was acting as any hero should, sir. Within the bounds of the law."

The two stared at each other, Izuku felt his determination waiver but still held firm, "That still doesn't excuse the actions of the other three." Tsuragamae looked away, still remaining impassive as he gazed at the rest of the hero students. "They still acted outside of the bounds of our law."

"Actually–" Todoroki said as he stood up, sending a glare the chief's way, "Yanagi-san and I were given permission by the Pro Hero: Manual to engage in search and rescue efforts to investigate a beacon Midoriya sent us." His eyes held a steel gaze as cold as ice, "Try again."

"That still doesn't exclude the actions of Young Iida, who went on a personal manhunt, looking for the Hero Killer." The man's voice turned cold as he looked at Iida, the boy wilting under the chief's gaze. "Actions like that have no place in our society.

"So we're going to ignore the fact that he saved Native's life?" Izuku asked.

"He broke the law."

"In a time of crisis, all active individuals must work to protect and save."

"He's a student."

"He's a kid." Izuku's brows furrowed, "Who lost his idol, his big brother, you're an officer, you see horrible things every day, don't you have any compassion?" Izuku braced his arms on the rests of his wheelchair and flexed his legs and core, wincing at the immense pain that overcame him, 'I put up with All Might and Gran Torino's hellish training, I can put up with this for a bit!' With a suck in of air, he forced himself to his feet.

"Izuku." Reiko helped him walk, acting as his shoulder to lean on, as he moved to stand in front of the chief.

"Aizawa-sensei already said that he was going to be punished for his actions, isn't that enough for you?"

"Young Iida sets a bad example to all other heroes in training, all other citizens who want to freely use their quirks."

Izuku hummed, "Then don't release his name."

Surprisingly, Tsuragamae grinned, "Oh? And what's your thoughts behind that action, Young Midoriya?"

All Might's successor looked around in thought, "W-Well–" He took a breath, "If you keep Iida-kun's name in the public eye then you'll have to keep Eraserheads name in as well, which will only hurt his role as an underground hero, on top of that taking out Iida-kun's name also gets rid of the bad example for other students and civilians. Just keep my name in and say that I went to look for Native."

The chief smiled and barked, "A great idea, one that I already came up with, Young Midoriya." Tsuragamae let his gaze trace each of the hero students, "You did a good deal last night, Young Todoroki and Young Yanagi, you saved many civilians by working together for disaster relief." The two quiet teens perked up, Todoroki was surprised but nodded, Yanagi let a small smile grace her face, "Young Iida, despite your… less than heroic actions, you still have a pro's life, and for that our community thanks you." Iida nodded, quelling tears and not trusting himself to talk, "And you, Young Midoriya."

Izuku let his eyes lock with the chief once again, "Yes sir?"

"You've done something that many pro heroes couldn't do, allow me to ask you, how did you defeat Stain?"

Thinking back to it, Izuku had some answers but nothing concrete, "Mostly, I had really good teachers, Vlad King, Gran Torino, Eraserhead, they all helped build me into a great hero, the costume that Hatsume-san made me was really durable and the plating she added helped immensely, on top of that…"

He remembered the fear he felt when Stain had taken Iida down again, the amount of killing intent behind Stain's actions, the rage and fury. It was all so encompassing, yet something pushed him forward.

"As much as it was a clash of bodies it was also a clash of wills and ideals." Stain's views were twisted, corrupted. "I needed to prove that my ideals were true, and I needed to show him I had the strength to back up my ideals, there were lots of points where my body wanted to quit, but I knew I couldn't."

The emerald of his eyes seemed to shine as a new confidence entered his body and the pain he felt faded to the backside, "I needed to him to know that even though I was in training still that I wouldn't let him hurt innocents, even if I was meddling, a hero's job is to meddle even when they aren't asked."

Tsuragamae woofed, "You've got a good head on your shoulders Midoriya, though restrain yourself from doing something that destructive again, if not then I'll contact UA and see if you can get a punishment just like Young Iida here. Speaking of–"

"What were you thinking, you moron?!" Manual shook Iida by his shoulders, "Running off like that! Fighting Stain?! I thought you were one of the smartest kids in your class!"

Izuku laughed to himself as Reiko helped place him back in his wheelchair, which he was grateful for. But there were still a few things that we weren't looking forward to.

---

"YOU FOUGHT THE HERO KILLER?"

Izuku felt bad, he really did, worrying his mom like that, but he also had to admit something she got a little overzealous, 'Well I fought the hero killer who killed lots of pros, okay yeah she's justified….' He chuckled to himself. "Y-Yes mom… I'm sorry, but no one else could do it." He felt bad about scaring her so much and worrying her, yet there was nothing else he could do.

"B-But what if something happened to you–"

"Mom…" Izuku cut her off, trying to sound soothing, "Nothing happened to me, I'm okay, the only thing that happened is that I'm really tired and need to rest, that's all. Please don't think about all the what ifs, that's not healthy…" She worried about him too much, the stress wasn't good for her.

"I know Izuku… but as your mother I can't help it."

Izuku smiled, he knew she cared and it was sweet, "As soon as I'm discharged from the hospital I'll head back home, I know you're busy with work Mom so don't worry about taking time off, I'll come to you when I can." He kept his voice light and kind, helping to ease his mother's worries.

"I– Okay… but you better call everyday until you get discharged, alright?"

"I will mom, I promise.."

"Thank you Izuku, I'll make katsudon when you get back."

That made him smile, "Thanks mom, I'll talk to you later, I love you."

"I love you too, Izuku." The phone cut off and left with a ringing as the call ended. After finally hanging up and (hopefully) quelling his mother's worries, Izuku checked his call log and text logs, but there was nothing from any unknown numbers and he found himself frowning, "It looks like Toga-san didn't message or call…" He only hoped that he had managed to plant a seed in the girl's head, but he had no way of knowing.

There was too much to do, and Izuku couldn't do anything, all he had to do was rest. Leaning back on his hospital bed and looking towards the ceiling, he let out a sigh. 'FInally…' Izuku thought to himself, 'Time to rest…'

Little did Izuku know, as he succumbed to his exhaustion, numerous news reports spread across the country, going across the world.

"UA High School Student defeats Hero Killer!"

A pale hand grabbed a bottle at a bar, opening it and taking a sip. With a click of the tongue, the channel was changed.

"Are heroes really so useful? A kid took down the Hero Killer!"

The hand that held the bottle tensed as the news reported the same thing as the other channel before changing the channel again.

"Fifteen year old boy takes down a bloodthirsty murderer!"

"GAH!" The bottle laid, embedded in the television, as Tomura Shigaraki sat in rage, his fists shaking as he paced around the room. "That damn brat!" A couch flipped, "After everything I did!" A thrown bar stool. "He takes down that little shit Stain and now he has the attention of the entire world!" Decayed future sat across the room as Shigaraki fumed.

Kurogiri himself, the assistant to the face of the League of Villains, sat behind the bar, continuing to clean whatever glass he had his hands on and ignoring the tantrum that Shigaraki was throwing.

Though, something unusual about this anger fit compared to the ones that usually happened is that Young Tomura calmed down rather fast.

In the middle of the bar, with dust and knocked over furniture around him, Tomura suddenly smiled, "He has the entirety of Japan on him…" A small cackle, a little giggle, a chuckle, and then a chorus of laughter. Kurogiri didn't know what was going on in the young master's mind and he'd rather not ask.

"He has all of Japan eying him!" Tomura swept his arms wide with glee, "He's their hope, their glee, their next Symbol!" Tomura cackled in realization, "Take that brat down and then their hope will be dashed!" The villain stilled and sighed with happiness, "Kurogiri." The man made of mist turned in acknowledgement of the young master's voice, "Get in contact with Giran."

"We're going to be needing extra players."

Notes:

SO, this one took a while but I kept on wanting to add to the Stain fight, originally Iida didn't even get back up to join Izuku and I thought it would be cool to add Iida in. But what did you guys think about it? Honestly, the hardest part was making Izuku too OP at some points, but he does have access to more than double the amount of One For All he did in canon, so I thought it'd be justified.

While his training has made him a lot stronger, the stress of the internships and overuse of One For All finally caught up to him, luckily Reiko could catch him before he fell.

Speaking of One For All, how did you all feel about the dream sequence :)

DON'T READ THE NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T WANT MANGA SPOILERS

While it might seem early, Izuku has already used 20% of One For All like he did in canon. But what quirk should he get first? I think Black Whip is the best choice, since Fa Jin and Gearshift are too OP for this point in the story, (and the second and third don't like Izuku still.) Danger Sense is cool but I think I want to save it for later, Smoke is kinda….pointless (En is cool tho) and Float doesn't feel like it should be the first one unlocked.

OKAY YOU CAN READ NOW.

Next time we're gonna have a chill chapter with the race the students take and everyone getting back from internships, but I wanted to ask you guys something.

After the final exams should we get straight into the Forest Training Arc or should we go to I-Island and do the events of the Two Heroes Movie? I have an idea for the plot but let me know what you guys think!

Jay out!

Chapter 21: Rising Popularity

Summary:

After Stain's defeat, Izuku has time to rest and recoup with his friends by his side.

"What are you talking about mom?" It had been a few days since the incident with Stain, Izuku had officially ended his internship while being in the hospital; still recovering from his injuries, which was rather mind numbing. After the first couple of days, Recovery Girl was finally able to come down from school to assist him.

The kind nurse of UA had taken the time to both visit and berate him for his actions, though even she had to admit that taking down the Hero Killer was an amazing feat for his age.

Such a thing was almost unheard of.

Recovery Girl had repaired his body and informed him that there was minimal damage to his bone structure, so much so that it was essentially irrelevant, though if he caused repeated damage then it would be a big problem.

That left Izuku wondering, 'My vessel was made in a hurry, I can still improve it, make it better, make it stronger!' He thought as he remembered the training he did with All Might. So, he was currently in his room, lifting weights to make his body stronger, with his mother in the doorway, a comment she had made confusing him.

"Hundred…ten …hundred eleven!" He had a small headphone in one ear, and listened to music from a local singer in the area, Mika Jirou. The woman's voice was beautiful, and the background music was just as amazing. It helped keep Izuku calm and allowed him to push himself when doing basic workouts.

"I'd expect you to know more than anyone Izuku." Inko said once again, as Izuku curled his back, stopping as he got to one hundred and twenty, placing his weights on a small rack he had against the wall. His arms felt like jelly but he didn't care as he fell to the floor and began doing push ups. "One! Two! Three!"

Inko Midoriya let out a sigh as she stood in the doorway to Izuku's room, "You're the talk of the nation sweetie." a small smile came to her lips as she looked at her son working out, "I'll get to work on breakfast, I'll tell you when you're done!" With that, she made her way to the kitchen to start working on breakfast.

Izuku had no idea what his mother was referring to. Ever since his hospitalization he had only focused on his recovery, and while he heard whispers from people as he passed by on the streets, and from the doctors as he was recovering, it wasn't all too big.

Though, maybe he should check the news?

With that thought, Izuku finished his push ups and got to his feet, "I can do more later, but still I need to eat." He quickly grabbed some clothes, his class "T-shirt" shirt and a pair of black basketball shorts before heading to the shower.

As he entered and relaxed his body, cooling his muscles. 'Still… I wonder what that dream was about…' Sometimes he thought it was just a strange dream, something that his mind had come up with during his exhaustion, yet as he thought more and more about the dream, the explanation he thought of didn't make sense.

After all, there were seven heroes standing with him, eight including himself, and what looked like a man facing off against a villain, so including that man there were nine "good" people in his dream. 'I'm the ninth holder of One For All….'

Was that dream related to the ancient quirk? But he didn't see All Might in his dream, however there were those people that were farther away that he couldn't see, maybe All Might was one of those people?

"Mayb–AHH OH JESUS THE SOAP GOT IN MY EYE!"

Later...

After his little mishap in the bathroom, Izuku got out of the shower and quickly changed into some new clothes, making his way to the dining area afterwards. Sitting down with a smile, forgetting about the dream for now, and enjoying an American style breakfast high in protein was all Izuku wanted to do right now.

'I'm really happy she's using the book Toshinori gave me.' Izuku thought as his mother set a plate down for herself across from him. "Thanks mom." He spoke as he put his hands together, "Thank you for the food!"

Inko smiled, "You're welcome Izuku, now dig in!"

Izuku did just that as his mom turned on the television, "Hello Japan, and welcome to J News With Akira Toriyama!" Izuku's head perked up and drifted to the TV, "Today we have more coverage for the incident from a few days ago in Hosu!"

On the screen, Izuku's face from the Sports Festival popped up, causing the greenette to choke on his food. "Gah! W-What? Why am I on the news?!" He heard his mother snicker and that made him gulp as he forgot his food and focused on the news.

"More news of the recent defeat of the Hero Killer has come to light! The hero in training responsible for taking down the illustrious Hero Killer has finally left the care of Hosu General." The man smiled a wide grin at the news, "It appears that the boy has made a full recovery! We here at J-News are excited to see just what that boy will do next!"

Izuku gulped and grabbed the remote, changing to another news channel. This time a woman appeared, blue skin and purple hair, the white of her eyes was black instead and she had piercing emerald eyes, "Chitose Kizuki here, an update on UA High school student Izuku Midoriya, or Hero-in-Training: Deku. The boy has recently left Hosu General Hospital, with a statement from both the hospital staff and UA's own nurse: Recovery Girl, we've found that the boy has indeed made a full recovery, what will he do next is the real question everyone is asking."

The woman let out a big grin, "Frankly, I'm quite excited to see what he'll pull off."

Izuku had long since left the dining table and was now sitting on the couch, looking rather focused on whatever was on the news. Inko thought that maybe it was too much for him, after all he was never that good with being the center of attention.

"UA teen finally discharged–"

"The Hero of The Hour, Izuku Midoriya–"

"That damn teen, Deku–"

Izuku went through each and every news station he knew, each one commenting about his actions against Stain, it was all too much, too overwhelming. He dropped the remote and held his head in his hands.

"Izuku Midoriya has been UA's star student as far as first years go for the new school year. The Hero Commission has refused to comment on the boy's actions, however mass amounts of the public are pushing for the boy to be allowed to take the licensing exam a year early!"

The youngest midoriya's eyes widened as he looked up, first years taking the licensing exam was almost unheard of! The licensing exam was typically reserved for second years or older. "They really want me to take it already…?"

Suddenly, the screen turned to black, causing Izuku to blink rapidly and turn to his mom, who held the remote in her hand. "Come on sweetie, overthinking won't do you any good, you have to eat." She said with a kind and motherly smile.

Izuku found himself nodding along to his mother's instruction, ignoring the dryness of his mouth and how empty his stomach was feeling now, he joined her back at the table. Izuku was already on his second serving before the news started so he continued with what he had left, now the food felt a lot heavier as he ate and though his appetite was a tad smaller now. His mother's sigh brought him back to reality. "Something… up mom?"

Inko could only shake her head. "Nothing sweetie, just… how are you feeling? I know the doctor cleared you but it's been bugging me." Truly it had, her anxiety had been almost crippling from the moment the hospital had called her, telling her that her son had engaged in battle against the hero killer?!

Still, when she found out that he had defeated the man, one that had taken out dozens of pros, while she did feel anxiety and fear, she also felt pride. And now, looking at her little boy while he ate to his heart's content, she couldn't help but let out a sigh with a small smile.

Izuku smiled, glad that his mom was finding a distraction for him. "I've been feeling good mom." Izuku waved his arm around, "Nothing feels broken, and all that resting really helped with my sore muscles." After all the training, endless drills and sparring matches, those couple of days of pure rest were wonderful.

Inko smiled, "I'm glad sweetie." She really was, of course there was also anxiety and worry wrapped within there as well, but she was also happy that her little boy was happy.

That's all that mattered to her.

Days Later

Izuku gulped as he threw on his uniform for the first time in a while, making sure that all the pieces were in their proper places. Despite how much he wanted everything to look perfect, the mess that could be called a tie really ruined the entire look.

Though, as he looked at himself in his mirror as he tried to fix the monstrosity wrapped around his collar, he couldn't help but admit how much he had changed since starting at UA, ever since meeting All Might.

Of course, he was much bulkier than before, and dare he say a little taller too, but there was also his confidence. His shoulder didn't sag in fear and apprehension all the time, he held his head high, and his new hair gave him a more confident aura surrounding him than what he had before.

Yet, the damn tie still looked so ugly. "Gosh darn it…"

It was moments like these where he was envious of Monoma, his friend's skill with folding a tie was amazing and Izuku wished he had that amount of skill, instead his fingering kept on getting stuck together and jamming.

A chorus of giggling took his attention and his head swiveled to the doorway. Seeing his mother standing there with a wide smile on his face. "You certainly didn't inherit your father's tie skills."

Izuku blinked, surprised at the mention of his father, though his Inko certainly didn't notice as she approached and grabbed his tie, folding his collar up and undoing the cloth, "I'm sorry I haven't properly taught you how to do this sweetie."

He couldn't help but smile at his mother's words, "You don't need to apologize mom, I should've learned by now."

Inko's face mimicked his as she folded the cloth, making it look pristine on his uniform, "I know honey, but still." After finishing her handiwork, she folded his collar once more and patted his chest, "There you go." Looking up, she still couldn't believe how much her boy had changed ever since starting at UA, even though it scared her, she couldn't be more proud.

"Thanks mom."

"You're welcome Izuku, now you better get going to school."

Glancing at his phone clock, Izuku nodded, it was getting rather late, "Alright–" Quickly giving his mother a hug, Izuku gave his mother a tight squeeze, "Thanks for everything mom, I'll see you as soon as I get back." Letting go, he flashed a million-watt smile, "Don't wait up for me, if you need to eat then eat."

Grabbing his bag and lunch, Izuku went towards the door, "Izuku!" pausing for a moment in the doorway, Izuku looked at his mom, raising a small brow, she smiled at her son, "You look really cool."

His heart clenched a bit, joy flowing through his body at his mother's words, with a final smile and thank you, Izuku said, "I'm off!"

Train...

Izuku never really liked riding the train to UA, it was too cramped for his liking, too many people around, as well as the fact that with everyone cramped into such a small space there were usually elbows being shoved everywhere.

It often reminded him too much about middle school, being crowded as he got beat up, getting thrown into lockers, jumping into fights when people were being bullied. Being on the train was too reminiscent of those memories.

Though, today that wasn't what was bothering him most.

"It's him!"

"The kid who beat Stain!"

"It's Deku!"

As soon as he stepped onto the train, every single person, no matter age, height, gender, or quirk, knew who he was. Izuku was bombarded with questions, people wanting autographs, compliments, and some jeers. In his opinion, it was way too much attention, but then again… 'This is what All Might has to deal with on a daily basis.' So perhaps this would just be practice for the future?

At least that was his thought as he signed people's things, took pictures with others, and gave hugs to some. He had expected himself to be rather, or extremely, nervous, and while he was practically feeling the anxiety building up within him, getting ready to explode, he was also able to manage it well with a smile on his face.

The train finally came to a stop, and Izuku had to force himself out of the cramped train. With a small wave to the people inside and a blinding smile, Izuku spoke, "Thanks for your support!" Turning away from them, he finally got to head to UA.

The giant gate stood tall over Izuku, and he smiled as he breathed in the air, feeling slightly taller in the alma mater of All Might, with a singular step he crossed the gate onto campus. Izuku felt right at home, stopping to admire the building, the famous "H" looking glass structure. "It's good to be back!"

"It sure is Bro-doriya!" Izuku smiled and whipped around at the voice, seeing Tetsu standing there with just as big of a grin on his own face. "Heard you kicked some ass during your internship!" Tetsu said as he walked towards Izuku, "That was totally manly!"

A chuckle climbed its way out of his throat, "Thanks, but I was shaking in my boots the entire time!" The two laughed and fell into step together, the conversation quickly turning into them asking each other about their internships. "So, what'd you do during your internship, Tetsu-kun?"

His friend hummed, "We mostly just trained, me and Kirishima from 1-A. Fourth Kind was tough, pushing us past our limits even when we were dead tired, and making us do community service." Tetsu thought back to his training with Fourth Kind and Kirishima, they were pushed into the dirt everyday, to the point of exhaustion where they could barely stand on their own feet. Yet they continued to be stronger, pushing past their past selves and becoming even better versions of themselves.

'And to reach his level…' Tetsu thought to himself as Izuku smiled, "That's great Tetsu-kun!" His hand went up and he rubbed his neck, "Sorry for not answering my phone the last couple of days, I've mostly just been recovering and working out."

"Nah, don't worry about it bro." Tetsu waved a hand, "You needed it after all you did."

It was all over the news, everyone around the country knew what his friend had done, and he felt bad that he wasn't able to help him. The community service was good and admirable, Tetsu understood why Fourth Kind had made them do it, but he felt it was unfair that while they did community service Midoriya was fighting for his life.

"You think everyone else is already in class?" Tetsu blinked as Izuku's question knocked him out of his thinking.

"Probably." He replied.

Suddenly, Izuku's smile turned a little mischievous, after all Tetsu was one of the most competitive students in his class, "Race you there?"

The steel teen met his smirk with a crazy wide smile, "You're on!"

The two quickly secured their bags onto their backs before taking off into a sprint to race through the halls, earning themselves glares from other courses, with mutters of "The Hero Course is up to it again!" But they didn't care, they had just come back from internships and now they were going to enjoy themselves!

"No running in the halls!" A familiar looking Tenya Iida yelled as the two passed him on his way to homeroom, though they made no such efforts to stop. The youngest Iida sighed, though he let out a small smile as well.

"Wow Iida-kun, I didn't think you could smile like that!" Ochako Uraraka commented as she walked with her friend to class. "What's got you smiling like that?" she asked with a head tilt.

Iida turned to her and pushed his glasses up, truly thinking about her question. It was an easy answer, Midoriya truly had lifted a darkness that had been on his heart for a long while, and for that he owed the boy everything. "Midoriya-san, our sister class' Representative, he's quite infectious."

"You're friends with Midoriya!" Uraraka exclaimed.

The glasses-wearing teen thought for a moment before nodding, "I suppose you could say that."

She hummed, placing a finger to her chin before looking at him again, "Could you introduce me?"

Izuku grinned as he saw the sign for his classroom after turning a corner, though that didn't mean he was going to win. Both him and Tetsu were running side by side, the metal teen gritting his teeth as he tried to outpace Izuku, but it was clear he was more focused on muscles and not cardio.

Pulling ahead, Izuku grinned as he flew into the class just a couple of feet before Tetsu did as well.

"Alright!" Izuku cheered as he panted for breath, "I win!"

"Gah!" Tetsu held his head in his hands, "You're just too fast for me, even without our quirks!" The two exchanged grins as they tried their best to suck in as much air as they could. It was clear Tetsu wasn't going to quit, he would catch up to his friend.

"Well, that was quite the spectacle." The two turned to see their friend, Monoma, grinning with a tilted smile, "I heard about your crazy adventure my good friend Midoriya!" Monoma laughed as he walked up to Izuku and threw an arm around him, "Truly! You are an insane one!"

"Hey, Midoriya's here!" Shoda grinned as the class all gathered around Izuku.

"Midoriya, what you did was out of this world!" Awase grinned and slugged him in the shoulder, "How cool can ya get?!"

"It was totally amazing, shroom!" Komori yelled, with Kuroiro nodding along to her words.

"Really cool!" Pony patted him on the back, her accent thick to everyone that was around.

Izuku chuckled and rubbed the back of his head, "Thanks you guys."

"That doesn't exclude the fact that it was reckless!" The crowd split and allowed Izuku to see Kendo, with Setsuna by her side, the redhead had her arms crossed, the gaze she sent at Izuku had his skin crawling, "You could have died!" She chastised.

The fact wasn't denied, as Izuku felt that he was close to death's door multiple times throughout that fight. He clenched a fist and ground his teeth, "You think I don't know that…?" Setsuna's eyes trained on his own, seeing how different they looked from before they left for internships, they were…hardened. Izuku just let out a sigh as his hand relaxed, "I did everything I could to make it out of that, after all I couldn't let other people just die." His own glare matched Kendo's, "After all, what kind of hero would I be if I did that?"

Silence stretched out over the class, realism before optimism clashing before them. "That's what makes you so different." A monotone cut through the empty classroom as the door slid open, Yanagi standing there with a small smile on her face.

"R-Reiko-chan!" Izuku smiled a large smile that encompassed the entire class and blinded them.

Reiko quickly found her way to Izuku's side and gave him a pat on every side, inspecting him for injuries or scars. "You don't seem to be too heavily affected by the effects of your giant obstacle you faced during your time with Eraserhead." She frowned and looked him in the eyes, "Do you have pain anywhere?"

Izuku let out a grateful sigh, "No, I'm all healed!"

"Well, I am quite relieved then." Reiko smiled.

Kendo let out a sigh and smiled, "I'll admit it was impressive, but you've gotta be more careful."

"We can't risk losing ya Greeny!" Setsuna spoke up, looking relieved that her friend was alright.

Before any conversation could break through, a yell cut through the class. "ALL RIGHT, QUIET DOWN!" Vlad King yelled to the already quiet class, not expecting their silence since they were always so loud, "Ahem, sorry wasn't expecting you all to be so quiet. BUT GET TO YOUR SEATS!" His commanding voice bellowed.

Each and every student quickly followed, Izuku smiling as he sat in his seat with Reiko behind him and Monoma ahead of him. "Today to showcase your improvement in your skills, all of you will be participating in a rescue training race inside of the industrial district, or Field Gamma as it's known!" The class all leaned into their seats, wondering what this race was all about and how hard they'd have to push themselves.

"The terrain is hard to maneuver, being made up of pipes, pillars, and a ton of other things that can get in your way." Vlad King implored as he shouted to his class. "You'll be racing in groups of five to a distress signal activated by All Might himself." The entire class seemed invigorated, almost excited, at the prospect of today's class. "Now, everyone go and get changed! We'll meet All Might at Field Gamma!"

The students quickly got up and left, leaving Kan in nothing but silence. The giant of a man huffed before smiling, "Let's see how much all of you have improved."

All of Class B rushed to their changing rooms, Izuku being the fastest out of them all, after all with his costume wrecked he was excited about seeing what Hatsume had cooked up. "Hey man, wait up!" Kaibara yelled as he tried to match Izuku's pace.

"You really shouldn't be running in the halls!" Shishida chastised them.

"Come on Shishibro! Don't be such a party pooper!"

The boys quickly arrived at the changing rooms, each went to their lockers and started opening their cases, changing into their costumes with newfound ease and confidence thanks to their internships.

Easily, Izuku clicked his case open to see a copy of his costume from during internships, he smiled and took it out, throwing the green jumpsuit on first. He quirked a brow at the feeling, it felt like it was stronger than before, or at least more durable, he knocked his stomach and felt a plate there like before. His hand moved up to his chest, feeling two plates on his pecs as well, though on his left one there was something a little bigger, maybe Hatsume left a note for the changes?

Grabbing the boots and shoving his legs into them, Izuku grinned at the fit, as they locked into place. Then were his gauntlets that slid on rather comfortably. His gloves were good as well, looking just as good as before. Finally, he grabbed his respirator that was connected to his hood, clicking that around his neck and securing it on his face.

Looking inside the case once more, he had found a note, one that was from Hatsume.

Hey again Muscles!

So, after the fight with that freaky guy about a week ago, I got sent your suit, or what was left of it. YOU TOTALLY TORE MY BABY TO SHREDS!

Well, I guess I'll just have to make it even better this time! The cloth is made of a carbon-fiber alloy that Teach was able to get through some of his connections, it's apparently the same thing that hobo looking guy that teachers 1-A uses for that scarf of his.

On top of that, even more plating was added to the suit, titanium plating, making it much stronger than the ones previously. There's also a heart monitor so I can track your vitals, can't have my number one customer dying on me!

Ooh ooh also, I MAY have made a couple extra costumes! Each one has variations, more plating, testing with the gauntlets, even different colors! So if you want to test them out come visit the support course!

Other than that, everything else should be the same, if there are any modifications you need then let me know! I LOVE making babies!

The future CEO of Hatsume Industries!

A smile slipped its way onto his face as he pulled his hood over his head, the skin around his eyes fading to black and only his emerald pupils being visible, 'Those are some great changes, wonder what other upgrades she can make.'

Gazing around the locker room, he saw everyone else was ready, "Alright guys! Let's head out!"

Field Gamma

Izuku did his best to stretch up as he was led to a secluded area by a robot, the people who he was racing against included Shoda, Shiozaki, Setsuna, and Kaibara. In terms of maneuverability then he had to worry about Setsuna and Shiozaki the most. He wasn't sure about how Kaibara could apply his quirk to travel, but Shoda did have options. He could punch places and then activate Twin Impact, using it to launch himself.

Though, he wasn't sure if Shoda would come to that conclusion or not.

Shiozaki's quirk was amazingly geared towards both defense and mobility, and while she could use it for offense, Izuku doubted that she would do so. She was very much a pacifist, using her quirk more to trap opponents rather than trying to damage them.

Setsuna could essentially fly with her quirk, though she wasn't amazingly fast, she had maneuverability but it was more geared to traversing strange areas and not getting from place to place quickly.

"We stop here." The robot spoke as Izuku came to a stop, knocking the boy out of his thoughts. "Wait for All Might to tell you to go."

"Got it, thank you." The robot seemed to stare at him strangely before going back to wherever it came from. It was rather strange to thank a robot after all.

"Alright, is everyone in their positions!" The voice of All Might boomed throughout Field Gamma, the industrial district was covered in pipes, causing the voice of the Number One Hero to echo throughout the entire field.

Izuku felt so small here, with the pipes and towers easily being the size of Mt. Lady, yet he still knew he could traverse this area with ease, even if it was a lot different from Hosu, Aizawa's teaching stuck and Izuku knew to remain vigilant. "Well even if you're not! It's go time!" A bell rang soon after and all five students started running, or using their quirks.

Monoma watched all of his friends through the cameras set up across the field, trailing each of them. Setsuna was doing different than what he expected, only splitting up when she needed to get to better areas for running. She was conserving her stamina rather well.

After all, using Lizard Tail Splitter so frequently, Monoma knew how much of a stamina drain it had.

Shoda was also different, Monoma had expected him to just run, however, the boy surprised them by smacking areas and using his quirk for an extra boost for distance.

Shiozaki was doing about what he expected, moving rather quickly, almost impressively so. She looked like a crawling spider, it made his skin crawl.

Kaibara was doing what Monoma himself would be doing in this situation, just running, something he would use Gyrate to climb up certain structures, quickly easily allowing him to make leverage in the stone and metal structures of the industrial district to get to higher points.

Though the most impressive, was his dear friend.

"What the…"

"Just what the hell is that bastard doing! He's barely even touching the ground!" Kamakiri yelled, obviously pissed off.

"No way! He's even faster than Shiozaki-san!" Shishida couldn't believe his eyes, Shiozaki was one of the most mobile in class thanks to her quirk, while Izuku was fast, the terrain should have been too much for him to bare.

Reiko couldn't help but smile, "How interesting."

Izuku was soaring through the air with his arms behind him, firing off air bullets to propel himself through the air, occasionally he would land and use his quirk to leap, either for airtime, to reach higher areas, or to pivot to change direction.

At this rate, he was much faster than everyone he was racing against. He was almost like a rabbit in that regard.

"Well… now that I think about it…." Monoma muttered off, maybe Shiozaki's 'Little Sheep' nickname wouldn't hold up anymore? Maybe 'Big Rabbit' would be a more fitting title for his green themed friend.

Izuku was in the zone, One For All, pushing up his reaction time and allowing him to see everything around him in clear detail. He pushed his quirk for a moment as he landed again and soared straight up into the air.

Reaching the peak of his jump, he shot his arms out behind him and yelled, "AIR FORCE: SMASH!" The power of his air bullets sent him shooting forward, and being so high up he could easily see the entire area, including where All Might was.

It didn't take long for him to land.

"YOUNG MIDORIYA WINS!"

Monoma snapped himself out of his thoughts as All Might yelled, blinking and looking up to see his friend had arrived at All Might's location. The rabbit looking boy grinned and pulled his hood and respirator off, allowing the world to see his million-watt smile. "That felt great!" Izuku grinned as he stretched, relaxing his muscles.

Monoma's smile mimicked his friend's. "Just what are you going to get done, I wonder?"

Tsuburaba clicked his tongue, "How are we supposed to keep up with that?! The dude can basically fly!"

"Falling with style, actually." Awase corrected, only to be smacked by Kaibara.

"Fall behind then, mouthbreather!" Kamakiri yelled at Tsuburaba, "Meanwhile, I'll be working to beat Midoriya's ass!"

Awase's face just split into a grin, one that made Kamakiri regret what he had said. Sucking in air, "GAY!"

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU, SHITSTAIN!"

Before Awase and Kamakiri could murder each other, the next round for the race was called, halting their fight. Reiko hummed, knowing that none of the other races would be as interesting as Izuku's, but she was hoping for some surprises.

Hopefully at least some other interesting things would happen today.

Elsewhere...

A small, frail, thin-looking boy stumbled across an alley, using the shadows to hide, their short black hair covering his head and eyes as he tried his best to stay upright, however, it proved to be increasingly difficult. Steps echoed before he spoke, "What was his name….?" The boy asked himself.

The boy held a piece of paper in his hands, a number scrawled across it, "Izu…Mido…." He mumbled. The dead eyes of the boy suddenly turned to panic as they grabbed their head, "No, NO! NOT YET!" The male voice had become slightly feminine, as the skin began to slip and fall off of the boy, "Please! Just more time! I need more!"

The, now, young girl tried to hold onto the clumps of gray that had once been skin, smashing it into her face to attempt to force it to remain where it was. Yet, her efforts were in vain as the gray substance slipped off her body.

Still, she held the number, it was her lifeline, everything about her life could change with this number, but she didn't have the courage to call it.

She cried, and cried, and hid the tiny, crumpled piece of paper into her backpack, and then collapsed onto the bag as she balled more. Why wasn't she brave enough? What was wrong with her? Maybe they were right, maybe she was just a freak.

"It's not fair…." She just wanted to live her life the way she wanted, what was wrong with that?

Silence echoed and stretched through the alleyway as the cries and pleas of a little, lost girl went unanswered.

But, other things echoed as well, shoes on stone, breathing, puffing, and chuckling. When at your lowest, that's when the devil came out to pay his visit. "Well, well, well." A deep, rich voice spoke as the man paused in front of the girl.

Himiko Toga looked up with puffy red eyes and saw a scruffy looking man with gray hair with grinning pink eyes. "Who….?"

"Ah, sorry about that, name's Giran, kid." He grinned and blew smoke out of a cigarette before pulling the lung destroying piece out of his mouth, allowing Himiko to see that he had a gap in his teeth. "I'm looking to make a team, kid, one with freaks like you and me."

"Like me…?"

Giran grinned, it looked disgusting to Himiko but she still listened, "A place where people like us can belong, where we aren't judged for what we were born with." He blew more smoke as the girl's eyes widened.

"I can live… how I want..?"

Giran nodded and kneeled in the dirty concrete, his purple suit getting dirty, "You can say to hell with all these heroes." He let out a hand for her to grab, "Come with me, and we can change this world, where you can live however you please."

Himiko's eyes broke and tears poured as she grabbed onto Giran's arm, to build a new world? One where she could live however she wanted? "O-Okay! I'll go with you!"

The smile on Giran's face widened, "Welcome kid, to the League…of Villains…"

UA High

Class 1-B found themselves back in their class, school just about to end as they had finished up their normal classes. The races finished rather quickly, and none were as interesting as Izuku's. Shishida came close, as he was rather fast, but he had trouble getting places with his lowered intelligence in his Beast Mode.

Someone else that did surprisingly well was Komori, the girl had made spongy mushrooms that she could use to jump her way across the field, sometimes she struggled with the low moisture in the air but she managed.

However, now the race was over, and school was almost over too.

The Dekusquad sat together, conversing about what they wanted to do after school, "Well, I heard that there's gonna be a big test coming up." Reiko and Izuku perked up and turned to Shoda, who was conversing with Shishida. "I heard about it from a couple of second years during lunch, it sounds tough."

"Did they tell you what the test was about?" Fukidashi, the living speech bubble, asked as a question mark replaced his head.

Shoda shook his head, "No, just that it would be–"

"ALRIGHT!" Vlad King swung the door open with a loud crash, startling some of his students, Komori especially so, but Izuku didn't look as fazed as he had been at the start of the school year. "Now, you've all seen how you've improved under the guidance of other heroes, now it's time to get back on the roll because in just two weeks we'll be having your FINAL EXAMS!"

The class all cried, knowing that they were going to struggle in the exams. "Now now, it's not that bad!"

"How is the test going to be administered?" Kodai asked in her usual monotone.

Kan huffed, "The test is going to be similar to the entrance exam, having both a written portion and a practical portion, the written will be covering all the basic subjects you've been learning, the practical is a secret, one only the staff knows about, so don't go asking around!"

That quelled any thoughts that the students had, "Each year the final exam is changed! So no second or third years have taken the test you all are going to take!" That quelled their thoughts doubly so.

"So, I suggest all of you start studying and training! After all." Kan grinned, one that was not like his usual proud grin, this one reminded Izuku a little too much of Eraserhead's smile, "You're going to need it." With that, Kan gave his students an encouraging nod before stepping out, letting them soak in the information and decide what they would do next.

"So, we'll need to study…." Tetsu mumbled, not really liking the idea. He was much more of a hands on kind of person, preferring to train and dreading their normal school lessons.

Reiko hummed, "Yes, and I believe our mental fortitude should be reined in on that." she spoke up, earning head tilts from everyone.

"Greeny, simply!" Setsuna yelled.

Izuku huffed, "We should focus on studying for the written exam."

The group, sans Kendo, Reiko, and Izuku, moaned, truly not wanting to study and instead focus on fighting. "Complain all you want, you fail the written exam and you get moved down to General Studies." Kendo huffed as they all got ready to go.

Izuku nodded along, shoving his textbooks into his backpack, when something caught his ear, thumping on the ground, as if someone was running. "Does anyone else hear that?"

The rest of his friends all paused, tilting their heads to strain their ears.

"Now that you mention it…"

"Yeah, I do hear something…"

The stomps got louder and louder, causing them all to prepare for the worst, after all they hadn't survived villain attacks for nothing. "YOUNG MIDORIYA–!" The loud voice that they all recognized as their teacher vibrated through the halls and class, before the door slammed open. "-IS HERE!"

"ALL MIGHT?!" The group of students yelled, Izuku gulped and pointed at himself, "You need me?"

The Number One Hero placed his hands on his hips and laughed, "Yes, my boy! I must have a very important talk with you!" The man placed a hand on his head and laughed once more, "News of your escapades have reached even me! And now I must discuss with you the seriousness of this incident!"

Despite how serious All Might tried sounding, it didn't seem to work, Izuku sighed and threw his bright yellow backpack over his shoulder, "Sorry guys, I'll have to catch up with you all later."

"It's fine, my dear friend." Monoma swung his arm around Izuku's shoulder, "Just be careful, you've done nothing wrong so if they chew you out for it then we'll fight for you."

Izuku grinned, "I know Monoma-kun." The two shared a fistbump before Monoma let Izuku go, "See you guys tomorrow!" He waved as he followed All Might, gently closing the door behind him.

Reiko smiled, glad to see that Izuku was healthy and well, and that he was smiling so much more than he did at the start of the school year. His smile was truly a beautiful thing to see.

"Hey Ghosty, you good? You've been looking at the door for a while now."

"She's just thinking about her boyfriend, shroom!"

"SO I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO SEES IT!"

All Might's Office

Izuku shut the door as they entered All Might's office, the Number One Hero quickly poofed into smoke, revealing the skeleton form of Toshinori Yagi. "All Might!" The boy clammored towards his teacher, helping the man stand.

All Might coughed before raising a hand, "I'm fine, my boy, just a little tired is all." The Symbol of Peace smiled before gesturing to the couch he had in his office. "Take a seat, I have to talk to you about something."

Gulping, Izuku nodded, sitting across from his mentor.

"First, I want to congratulate you." Izuku perked up, his mentor giving him the greatest smile he'd ever seen, "Truly, my boy, you saved a lot of lives and stopped a bloodthirsty killer. I know some have called you reckless, but I've never been more proud."

Matching his mentor with his own bright one, Izuku thanked the man that had trained him and given him a real chance at being a hero.

However, All Might's smile quickly curved downwards, "Now, I believe it's time I tell you something I should have a long time ago." The man leaned forward, folding his arms and looking at his student, someone he saw as his own. "The origin of One For All."

"One For All's….origin?" Izuku wondered aloud, he had never even thought of the origin of the ancient quirk, though now perhaps he should have. After all, what could even lead to the creation of a legendary quirk such as One For All?

"Yes." All Might opened a palm, and Izuku could practically see the light of One For All shining from it. "The history of our shared quirk, is tied to the history of another, a man that goes by the name of his quirk, All For One."

"All for One?"

His teacher simply nodded, his brow creasing even more as a look of severe anger appeared on his face. "All For One was a man born at the birth of the quirked age, when heroes weren't a thing and chaos was commonplace. He managed the chaos with his quirk, taking quirks from those that didn't want them and giving them to those that would serve him."

"W-Wait wait wait! He could take and give quirks?"

All Might could only nod his head once more, "Yes." He's never seen All Might so angry before, "All For One built an empire, he ruled the underworld like a king upon his throne built on the sacrifices of his underlings…." The Number One Hero was shaking with rage, "But… there was always one person who he wanted to join him that always refused."

Izuku leaned in, his desire to know the history of their joined quirk growing more and more as All Might spoke, "Who?" Someone extremely powerful, Izuku had no doubt.

"His little brother."

"W-What?"

All Might gave a short snort, "Apparently, even as heartless as he was, All For One's younger brother meant the world to him, but the brother had a just heart. He stood up to All For One, saying what he was doing was wrong and cruel. However, the brother couldn't do much to stop All For One, he was sickly and weak, most of all he was like most of the population at the time, quirkless."

The man paused, seeing his student blink, looking confused but coming to a realization. Izuku's hands felt clammy, and he felt bile climbing up his throat, "A-All Might I have a question…"

"What is it my boy?"

"D-Did the brothers….have hair as white as snow?"

Izuku saw his mentor's face fall, some blood coming out of his skeleton mouth. "How did you know that?"

The boy ashamedly rubbed his neck, "W-While I was recovering in the hospital, I had a… dream." All Might tilted his head as he leaned back in his seat, cleaning the blood that had leaned out. The man motioned for Izuku to continue. "The dream… well I–"

He stumbled and tumbled, not being able to phrase what happened well, after all it sounded absurd.

"This dream… it felt so… real." His lips lingered on each word, trying to navigate his mind to find a way to explain what he went through, "I was in this place, and there were what looked like heroes with me."

All Might's brows creased even more, "Go on…"

Izuku nodded, "There were the two brothers fighting, I- I tried to help the weak looking one, but then suddenly he was reaching for me and he said something."

"What did he say, my boy?"

The two users of One For All locked eyes as Izuku spoke, "So you're the ninth." He spoke quietly and shyly, looking at All Might in confusion, "Have you ever had something like that happen to you before?"

All Might leaned back, hitting the cushion of the couch roughly, "I can't say that I have, I'm sorry Young Midoriya."

"It's okay, I'm just confused about it all.."

All Might smiled, "We'll figure it out together my boy, we always do."

Izuku couldn't help it and quickly found himself smiling as well, "Thanks All Might." They would have a lot of work to do, but hopefully they would come out just fine.

Elsewhere

The smell of alcohol ran rampant through the air, overloading her sense of smell as she walked into the bar. It felt so dirty, like the air was hot, or maybe sweaty was the better way to put it? She just knew she certainly didn't enjoy it, however, anything was better than living on the cold, damp, dirty streets she had long gotten adjusted to.

Her eyes glossed over the dark wooden walls, the rich – almost bloody looking – couches and the bar on the side. This place looked beautiful.

"So–" She snapped her head up from her gazing and looked at an incredibly thin guy at the bar, he had shaggy blue hair, pale skin, and a severed hand covering his face. "You're Himiko Toga, right?"

The ash blonde didn't feel any fear at all, in fact she felt excitement, "That's right, handsy!" Her grin stretched wide, showing off her canines. She felt an overwhelming sense of joy, even though her skin was crawling just being here.

To her discomfort, the man before her started giggling, or maybe chuckling was a better word to describe the action. The man behind her, Giran, pushed her forward. "Pleasure doing business with you Shigaraki."

Giran left, and Himiko gulped as Shigaraki's chair creaked as the man got up. "Listen up and listen well." Goosebumps covered her body as he took steps towards her, her hand twitching as she wanted to grab her knife, however she had been forewarned about doing that.

An arm snaked its way around her shoulder as Shigaraki leaned into her ear, "I expect great things from you… Toga…"

She hated that name, she loathed it with all of her being. All the chains that came from her family just continued to weigh her down and she despised it with all of her being. She forced the thoughts away and smiled, "I won't let you down, Mr. Handsy!"

The man grunted, letting her go before stalking into the hallway leading to the rest of the bar.

She forced out a breath that she hadn't known was being held within her chest, feeling a tad lighter she smiled and turned to the bartender, a man seemingly made out of mist, who was very focused on cleaning a class in his hands, "Hey Misty! Can I get a milkshake?"

The bartender's eyes angled upward, imitating looking up, as he stopped cleaning the glass, before looking back down and continuing what he was doing. Himiko pouted and sat at the bar, laying her head on the table and giving the man puppy dog eyes, "Please, mister…?"

He somehow sighed and turned around, "Very well, Ms. Toga…"

"Yay! Thank you Mister!"

The bartender paused, turning around only a miniscule amount, "My name is Kurogiri."

"Can I call you Mr. Kuro?"

Kurogiri stopped before turning back to what he was doing, not giving her an answer, so she assumed she could call him whatever she wanted. A large banana milkshake with a cherry on top was quickly placed in front of her before Kurogiri went back to cleaning his cups.

She quickly grabbed it and downed it in one go, "Wow, that was amazing Mr. Kuro! Thank you!"

Kurogiri nodded, refusing to speak to her for now.

That didn't stop her happiness however, as she let out a happy sigh and used her arms as pillows to fall asleep at the bar. This place was pretty amazing, a lot better than the cold, damp alleys she was used to.

The note in her backpack was left forgotten.

END

Notes:

So, this took a while, sorry but school has been kicking my butt a LOT. But I'm happy I was able to get this out. Next chapter will be another gap chapter before final exams, unless all you guys want me to get to final exams right away?

Let me know what you think, I'll do whatever you guys want most, but final exams will definitely be more than one chapter long, all the fights will take a while to do.

For, a lot of people want the first movie to happen, so I'll be doing it. That will happen before the summer training camp arc. And I was thinking about who will go to it.

Bakugo went in canon because he won the sports festival, and Kirishima was his plus one, but he didn't win it in this version. So they both won't go.

So Izuku will, with his plus one who I'm thinking will be Reiko.

Momo, Jiro, and Ochako go because Momo has a business trip and brings those two with her.

Todoroki and Iida go for family business.

Kaminari and Mineta go for summer jobs which I'm thinking I'll have Monoma do as well (since he definitely looks like a waiter I mean LOOK at his hero costume)

And maybe Reiko and Izuku will get to have a nice little dance at the end of it : )

But that's all for now, leave any suggestions, ideas, or things you want to see and I'll consider them

Jay out!

Chapter 22: Study Hall!

The Dekusquad found themselves relaxing as lunch hit for the day, their Hero Course class for that morning had been a simple exercise covering first aid with civilians during a crisis, or after a villain fight. It had been rather boring, at least to most of them.

"That lesson was so cool! I mean to be taught by Recovery Girl herself, it's such an honor! And to be so close to her without getting hit with a cane!" Izuku certainly enjoyed it though, as shown by his rambling in overflowing otaku energy.

Reiko smiled along, as she had enjoyed the lesson since she didn't know much first aid during Hosu, it would've helped a lot had she known. But, at least her non-quirk skills were improving.

"Do you get hit often…?" Komori asked as she and Kuroiro shared their food with each other. Their group laughed, Monoma and Setsuna chuckling as the girl tried to do Quirk History homework, Kendo and Tetsu grinning as Komori came up with the question.

"Kekeke…" Kuroiro laughed as Izuku tilted his head, trying to come up with an answer.

"I quite certainly hope it doesn't." Reiko chided as she ate next to Izuku, the boy rubbing the back of his neck in exasperation.

"Greenie's abuse aside, does anyone know who can help me with history? This stuff is getting me stumped." She pouted as she looked over a history book, "I mean, the Start of the Quirk Wars are so foggy, we don't even know what's real! How are they supposed to grade us on this?"

"I need to study japanese." Pony spoke up, while Izuku's lessons helped, if she were to have any hope of passing the written portion of the final exam then she would have to study a lot more.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance?" The group of 1-B students swiveled their heads to see four new arrivals from 1-A, Todoroki, Iida, Yaoyorozu, and… a bigger Komori..? "Ah, I apologize for intruding, we simply wanted to see if you would allow us to join you for lunch." It was their own Representative that spoke, with a small blush on her face.

Monoma opened his mouth to speak before Setsuna slapped her hands over it, "Of course!" Izuku said with a smile.

The blond pouted as Setsuna retracted her hands, "They're the enemy, Midoriya."

Kendo reached over the desk and chopped his head, "Oh shush you, we're all in the hero course." She turned to the 1-A students and smiled, "Feel free to sit, if this dunder-head gives you problems let me know."

Monoma grumbled, crossing his arms and looking away while Setsuna giggled, "You're a sweet dunder-head though." That at least made Monoma smile.

The students from their sister class smiled and joined them, Todoroki and Iida sitting next to Izuku and the other two sitting directly across from their peers. "So, some of you are having difficulty with your studies?" Yaoyorozu probed.

The lizard girl smiled and rubbed her head, "Yup! Everything else is super easy, but history is B-O-R-ing!"

"She's not good at memorizing." Monoma quickly said with a cough.

"Hey! Not cool!"

While Yaoyorozu conversed with the rest of 1-B, Izuku and Reiko talked with Iida and Todoroki.

"How's your body feeling, Midoriya?" Iida asked as he took a bite of his food. Todoroki and Uraraka both looked at the greenette, wondering the same thing. After all, his collapse was plastered all over the news, even if it was less televised than Stain's defeat was.

Izuku smiled, pulling up his sleeve and flexing his arm, "As good as new!"

"No one wants to see your biceps, Stutter!" Kamakiri yelled from a nearby table.

"Hey, that's not nice!" Uraraka shouted back, she blushed at her outburst, "A-Ah sorry, I didn't mean to yell.." The group didn't mind though, in fact it made Izuku smile, "I'm Ochako Uraraka, by the way."

"It's alright, that's Kamamkiri's way of showing he cares." He gave her a smile as the rest of his table gave him dumbfounded looks, remembering their Battle Trials and how violent Kamakiri was with Izuku. "It's nice to meet you again too." Izuku continued, "I don't know if you remember me, but we met at the entrance exam."

Uraraka grinned, pumping her arms up and down in excitement, "Yeah! You're the plain looking guy that saved me from the Zero Pointer!"

Izuku coughed, feeling as if an arrow stabbed through his heart.

"Damn." Tetsu coughed as Izuku looked ruffled, hanging his head as Reiko patted his shoulder. "She really just hit you with 'plain looking'."

"BAHAHAHA!"

"I-I didn't mean anything by it!" Ochako tried to amend.

Setsuna grinned and lowered her Quirk History book, "I don't know which is worse, 'plain looking guy' or 'little sheep'!" While she laughed, Izuku sulked further and further into his seat.

"Hey, that's not funny, Tokage." Kendo chastised her.

"I thought it was a little bit funny…" Komori chuckled.

"I thought it was funny!" Pony said.

Their combined words caused Izuku to sulk even more, seemingly disappearing as he slid out of his seat. "And here I thought you guys were on my side."

Todoroki tilted his head, "Right or left?"

"He meant figuratively Todoroki, not literally." Yaoyorozu had to explain.

"Oh." He simply went back to eating his soba.

The Representative of 1-A clapped her hands together with a large, radiant smile on her face, "But if you need assistance with studying for the written portion of the final test then you can come with my class to my residency, we'll be having a study night sleepover!"

Monoma crossed his arms, "A sleepover with the enemy, I don't approve of that."

"You're acting like you have any power to decide, last I checked you weren't our rep, Neito-kun." Setsuna teased him with a boop on the nose.

"Plus, it'll help us study Monoma, so PLEASE, just put up with it this one time?" Kendo asked nicely, she'd resort to violence if she had to.

He still seemed to disapprove before an idea popped up in Yanagi's head. "Monoma-kun." The blond turned to her, "Midoriya wants to go, so as a good friend, would it not be in your best interest to support his decision?"

Monoma clicked his tongue, feeling as if he was trapped in a corner "...fine…." he conceded.

The group cheered and Monoma sulked.

Maybe they could work on becoming friends with their sister class?

Izuku grinned as an idea came to mind, "Hey Yaoyorozu-san." The heiress turned to him and tilted her head, "Mind if I invite a friend?"

The heiress cupped her chin, "I don't mind at all. Just make sure you all come together."

"Thanks!"

Yaoyorozu Estate

"This is much more… grand than I expected." Izuku spoke as he and his friends, with the inclusion of some of their other classmates, stood in front of the gates to an enormous mansion. Their small group consisted of him, Reiko, Monoma, Setsuna, Kendo, Tetsu, Komori, Kuroiro, Pony, Shishida, Shiozaki, and Shoda.

He had simply asked his class who wanted to join them in studying with 1-A, and those three had agreed. Someone else who he had asked was the indigo haired insomniac currently conversing with his class.

"So, you trained with Kan-sensei while we were doing internships?" Kendo asked Shinso as they sat down, waiting for Yaoyorozu to open the gate up.

Shinso rubbed his neck, "Yeah, he was…" He paused and groaned, "Really loud, compared to Aizawa anyway."

Tetsu grinned, "Yup, that sounds about right!"

Shoda nodded along and rubbed his ears, "Pretty sure I've lost most of my hearing from just being in that class…"

Kendo looked up in thought, "Aizawa..? Oh, that's the teacher for 1-A, right?" She asked with a questioning look.

Shinso just hummed along. "Yeah, that's the one."

"How's that been going Shinso-kun?" Izuku asked, knowing how difficult one-on-one training with Eraserhead was.

The insomniac sulked, "Terrible…" Eraserhead was no slouch, his training was difficult but it showed results. "But…" Shinso clenched a fist and raised his head, staring Izuku right in the eyes as a grin found its way onto his face, "I can tell I'm catching up to you."

Izuku smiled to himself, "Then, when you do, I can't wait to have you in my class."

"And if I end up in 1-A?"

"You're still our friend." Yanagi cut in, "We'll help you whenever you need."

Kendo grinned and smacked him on the arm, "For sure!"

All their positivity caused Shinso to blush, "Thanks…"

Before their group could converse anymore they heard a yell. "Oh, Midoriya!" The group of 1-B students turned to see some students from their sister class. Uraraka, Iida, and surprisingly Todoroki as well were among the group. The others Izuku didn't recognize as much, oh but Jiro was there! Oh and so was Asui!

"Hey guys!" Uraraka waved with a wide grin on her face as the two groups stood together, "Ready to head inside?"

"Yes, we were just about to go in." Kendo spoke up before pressing a little button next to a speaker. "Ah, hello? Yaoyorozu-san?"

"Ah you all are here!" They heard the familiar voice of Momo come through the speaker, "Allow me one moment and I shall get the gate open!" She sounded so excited, it was endearing to hear.

After a couple of seconds, the gate began to swing open, allowing the congregated groups of students to enter.

The building itself seemed to shine like the sun as it was made of beautiful marble, pillars of extravagant carving marked a stone path that led to the giant double doors of the manor. The building could only be described as holy.

Even Shiozaki felt like she was in a wonderful place, one worth of Christ himself.

"Woah…" Shoda muttered as he looked around, seeing people trimming and tending to gardens out in the front.

"Momo-chan is loaded, kero.." The frog girl from 1-A said. Uraraka couldn't seem to relax as her head whipped around everywhere, her eyes literally spiraling, "You can say that again…"

"I knew she was rich, but I didn't know it was this much." Jirou muttered to herself.

Shinso really felt out of place here, whereas Monoma felt right at home, not because he had this amount of wealth but because he'd at least like to pretend he did.

Reiko looked around, feeling quite small in a place so grand. Her gaze shifted to the side, to Izuku, as they finally entered the building and she smiled as his eyes seemed to light up in joy. "... This place is amazing…" She heard him mutter.

His mutters were so cute.

'WAIT, CUTE?!'

Her own eyes widened at her inner thoughts as the group approached a set of stairs. "You're all here!" Yaoyorozu's voice echoed throughout the grand building as both members of 1-A and 1-B smiled at her arrival. With a smile on her face she descended the grand set of stairs within the main hall, "We'll be set up in one of the studies, please follow me."

"This place is awesome, Yaomomo!" A pink-skinned girl yelled with a smile.

"Thank you, Ashido-san, I'm really glad you could all make it."

The group followed Yaoyorozu, or Yaomomo? Izuku wasn't sure what to call her as they weren't that close, and Reiko was still trapped in her mind, wondering just what her thoughts could mean for her relationship with Izuku. Izuku looked at her, seeing she was less composed than usual. "Hey, Reiko-chan." He whispered so only he could hear, not knowing that multiple of 1-A's students had enhanced hearing.

The ghost girl was knocked out of her thoughts as she looked towards her dearest friend, "Yes, Izuku?" Two of 1-A's members had their eyebrows raised as Izuku and Reiko casually called each other by their first names.

'Ain't Izuku his given name?' Jirou wondered to herself as she twirled her earphone jack with a finger.

'Looks like Ashido-san is going to have more material to work with, at least it's not me.' Mezo Shoji, a giant student with multiple sets of arms, a mask, and white hair, thought to himself.

"Is something wrong? You seem distracted." Izuku asked her politely.

She looked forward and nodded, "At this point in time I am well, just mauling over some thoughts."

Izuku's eyes looked somber but he nodded, "Well, okay, but if you need to talk to me then I'm here."

"Your words are noted and appreciated."

That made him smile, he knew she was a little strange in how she talked, she was different. But he enjoyed talking to her. She was the first person he met at UA, his first friend, and he'd always cherish their relationship.

Sometimes he thought what middle school would be like if he just had one friend with him and he had found that friend in the classmates he had met at UA. But still, even if they drifted apart after graduating, Izuku was sure he would never forget the friendship he and Yanagi shared.

Even if sometimes he wished for more than that.

"This is the study we'll be using." Yaoyorozu pushed a set of doors open and smiled widely as her peers' jaws dropped in shock. "Please, feel free to take a seat anywhere you'd like!"

Izuku and Reiko sat next to each other, with the ghost girl on his right, and Uraraka found her way to his left. Monoma, Setsuna, Kendo, and Tetsu were across from them, with everyone else scattered about.

"So, what we'll be doing today is covering any material anyone needs to refresh on for the written final exam." Yaoyorozu called as she clapped a stack of papers onto the table and somehow had very studious looking glasses on, "I found some practice written exams online, based on previous exams that have been publicized, that we can take so use these to their full advantage to study!"

1-A's Vice Rep stood and coughed into his hands, "We will also be trying to deduce what the practical portion of our final exam will entail!" Iida added with a shout and chop of his arm.

"Really quick, before all that jazz!" A blonde with a black lightning bolt in his hair from 1-A yelled before pointing at Izuku, "You're the guy that took down Stain, right?"

Izuku gulped as all of 1-A turned to him.

"I actually heard about that too, kero." Asui croaked.

"That's the guy?"

"He doesn't look like it."

"He's cute, not strong."

"I want to arm wrestle!"

One of their classmates, a rather big guy with equally big lips, pulled out his phone and scrolled through it. "Even if he doesn't look it, check it out!" He shoved his phone in the face of his classmates, allowing them to see Izuku's tattered form from just after Stain was defeated.

The greanette sighed, 'I didn't know that they got an angle of me like that…' deciding to clear everything up, Izuku lifted up a fist and allowed One For All to dance across his skin, "Yes." He gulped as all the eyes turned to him, making him remember how everyone targeted him during the Sports Festival. "I was the one who defeated Stain." The lightning stopped and he lowered his arm, "But please, let's just focus on studying for today."

The same blonde from before deflated, "But it's so boringggg"

"Midoriya is right." Momo huffed as she dropped a pile of books onto the table, visibly causing the wood to crack, making her less than academic classmates wince, before smiling herself, "We do have a lot of material to cover after all!" Izuku saw multiple students from 1-B sag at the amount of work as well.

Izuku grinned, "And if we have time, we can come up with modifications to costumes we need!" That seemed to get them more intrigued, Momo sent Izuku a silent "Thank you" as they started working on whatever subjects they were falling behind in.

Izuku was evenly spread throughout his subjects, doing well in all of them, so he chose to instead help other students with what they were struggling on.

Shishida, Iida, and Yaoyorozu seemed to do the same as him, going around and assisting anyone that was struggling. Even Kendo was assisting every now and then, though she was having trouble with English so she would step out to work on her own stuff too.

"You still trying to come up with a super move, Kiri?" Izuku's ear perked up as he walked around the table, the pink girl Mina had asked not-Tetsu a question.

The redhead sighed, "Yeah, but my quirk doesn't give much leeway, I can't really think of anything, ya know?"

Izuku approached, thinking about all the training they had done leading up to the festival, his notes, and all the ideas he had come up with for his own quirk. "Need some help?" The small group of students from 1-A turned to Izuku. Mina, Kirishima, Kaminari, and Sero, he believed their names were. Izuku rubbed his neck in slight embarrassment, "My class calls me a quirk nerd, so I can help you run ideas for super moves."

Kirishima gave Izuku a wide grin, "Yeah! I'd love some help!"

"Well alright." Pulling out a fresh new notebook from…somewhere, Izuku sat with the trio, "So, what's your quirk?" He had a general idea, but having Kirishima himself describe it would help him form a more complete picture.

The red head lifted up his arm, he was wearing a sleeveless red hoodie with a black tank top under, so Izuku was easily able to see the entire arm was sharp, "It's called Hardening, I can turn every part of my body into stuff like this. But sometimes I can be harder than other times."

Izuku's eyes widened, 'It's not like Tetsu's at all, Tetsu only has one form that he can turn into, while maybe he can boost the properties, Kirishima's is totally different in that sense…' His mouth turned into a grin, "Your quirk is incredible Kirishima-kun!"

The pinkette sucked her friend in the arm, "Told you Kiri!"

Kirishima blushed, "Nah, it's not all too flashy, unlike Baku-bro's or Todoroki's."

Izuku shook his head, "I don't think so at all, plus you're strong Kirishima." Opening his notebook, he smiled, "Now, about this super move…" This was going to be very interesting.

Later…

The trio was shocked as Izuku finished his explanation of how Kirishima could potentially become an immovable wall if he pushed his quirk enough.

The redhead himself had smoke coming out of his head as he tried to digest all of the information, it was simply too much for him to handle!

"Kiri, you hear that?! You could be so cool!" Mina said with a smile as she shook her friend.

However, that made Kirishima pout, "You saying I ain't cool as I am?"

"Fine, fine, you could be even cooler!" That made him smile again.

"Mannnn!" Kaminari whined, "You're getting even cooler Kirishima, you're gonna leave me, Sero, and Ashido in the dust!"

The tape user grinned and socked Kaminari in the arm, "Speak for yourself!"

Izuku perked up and pulled out another two notebooks, "If you guys need help, you know you can just ask, right?" He asked with a kind smile on his face. Helping people was something that he loved, it just made him feel right, it didn't have to be saving people but even helping an old lady cross the road just made him happy.

'Yet, if that old lady was Recovery Girl I think I'd let her do that by herself…' He could still feel bruising from the healing she did and that was a while ago!

The three of them cried tears of joy and jumped to hug him.

"Thank you Midori!"

"Thanks man!"

The physical touch made him blush, "I-It's no problem! D-Don't worry about it!" Even with all his progress, it seemed that touch was still something that bothered him.

While Izuku continued to help 1-A's students, Shinso sighed as he tried to come up with ideas for his quirk. "What could I do…" He tapped his pencil on his notebook. When it came to academics he was average, neither excellent nor terrible in any subject, but he knew he had a lot of catching up to do when it came to the practical side of the heroics course.

All of the hero course kids had costumes already, ones they had grown accustomed to, ones that benefitted them with accessories or certain factors that helped their quirks. Some of them were just for show, he knew that, but others weren't.

He wasn't going to have a costume for it, but maybe he could bring more support gear? They had approved his other gear already, even though he was still a novice at using it.

"But what can I make…?"

"Try a voice modulator."

Shinso blinked, not realizing that he had been muttering to himself, before looking up and seeing the round boy from the sport's festival, the one that he had tricked into joining his team in the cavalry battle.

"Ah… sorry, never got your name."

The boy looked down at Shinso's notebook before looking back up and meeting the insomniac's eyes, "Shoda, Nirengeki Shoda. Nice to meet you."

Shinso gulped, "Nice to meet you too." The air felt awkward between the two of them, or perhaps maybe tense was a better word for it, "Look, I'm sorry for using you during the—"

"Don't." Shoda raised a hand. He looked upset, with a deep frown on his face, "I was upset when it happened, I won't lie." But then a smile came to his face, "But… I know you really want to be a hero, and I do too. So instead of fighting let's work together!"

Eyebrows shot up in surprise as Shinso tilted his head, "You wanna work with me..?"

Shoda raised a hand for Shinso to shake, "Better together than against, right?"

They quickly clasped their hands together and shook them up and down, "Yeah, you're right."

"Now." Shoda pointed at the notebook, "You're coming up with support gear to help you for when you join the hero course, right?"

"Well, hopefully. They said they're going to be testing me during the final exams to see if I have what it takes to make it."

The sound of chats and conversations died down as Shinso finished what he said. The strange quiet of the room made him feel uncomfortable as he sat straight up, "D-Did I do something wrong?"

Kendo perked up, her eyes wide in surprise, "They told you about the exam…?"

Shinso didn't realize it, but he had just given the hero course one hell of a head start.

Nezu's meeting room

All Might, in his huge muscle form, gulped as he entered Nezu's personal meeting room, one saved specifically for faculty wide meetings. It's not that he disliked them or felt uncomfortable, it was simply due to the fact that Nezu liked to have fun.

His "fun" was more akin to manipulating the hell out of his staff or students, or shutting down an entire school for the hell of it. He still remembered what the rat had done to Aldera, and while he was pleased with it he had to admit he had felt bad for some of the people that worked there.

The giant set of double doors to the room made a creaking noise as they closed, everyone else was already here, and All Might, as usual, had been fashionably late. Or perhaps unfashionably late as all the teachers glared at him for holding the meeting up for half an hour.

"I-I apologize for my tardiness, I was checking Training Ground Gamma for the hero course's final exam." He coughed as he sat in his seat.

Aizawa grinned under his capture scarf, but to everyone else it looked as if he was just glaring at the Symbol of Peace, "Look at you… actually being a teacher for once."

All Might sagged in his seat, or as much as someone his size could, as Vlad coughed, "Could say the same about you."

"Enough of that." Nezu said with a chipper tone as he clapped his paws. The two hero course teachers stopped their bickering and turned to the principal who sent all of his wonderful staff a cheery wide smile, "Now, this meeting can begin in earnest."

Powerloader sighed and stood up, "All the recording systems have been optimized for this year's final exam for the students, not only that but high-tech audio systems have been installed as well so we'll be able to listen to anything that the students don't say using their comms."

The teachers all nodded as they were handed sheets of documents containing detailed notes on what had improved from last year. Being able to listen and see how their students both cooperated and communicated was key during the final exam. It tested their student's strength, problem solving, and teamwork skills all in one test, not too dissimilar from the battle trials they did on day one.

Yet, they all saw something that was conveniently left out.

"There's nothing detailing the upgrades to the bots the students are going to fight." Ectoplasm commented as he held the stack of pages, "Why is that?"

Nezu cackled quietly to himself, sounding like a small rat squeaking, all the teachers felt uncomfortable as they waited for the principal to answer.

"There have been changes made to this year's final exam." He announced, "On top of being the entrance exam for one Hitoshi Shinso, as you all know, however, while I had told Young Shinso how the test would be held, I had not done the same for any of you."

Yaoyorozu Estate

"It's a joint training exercise?!" They all yelled in unison as Shinso sank his head at all of the attention.

"Yeah, but that's all he let me know." Shinso sighed and grumbled, looking into a glass of coffee that Yaoyorozu had brought for him, "We'll be put up against… something… in groups. It's going to test how good we are at working together."

Izuku hummed and opened his notebook, flipping pages and seeing notes for all of his classmates, 'We have to work together… but also with 1-A, but what are we fighting?'

The robots from the entrance exam and sports festival were the only things he could think of, and those were relatively weak. Well not completely, but if it was their entrance exam and they had all made it into the hero course then that meant they all had adequate ability to take them out, right?

Another option for what they were fighting was the zero pointer, that monstrosity was huge and would take a huge effort to take down.

"What if it's the zero pointer…?" He offered, the gathered students looked at him and he hunched in on himself, thinking, "No but… Todoroki took out the Zero Pointer with one hit during the Sports Festival, meaning it wouldn't be an adequate test for everyone, so they would most likely do something else right? But then what would that be? Robots wouldn't do, none of the things we've seen so far would do, but would they throw us a curveball like that? I don't think so.."

Reiko smiled at seeing Izuku descend into mumbles and mutters, the rest of the Dekusquad did the same.

"I'm totally snapping a pic of this." Setsuna grinned as she pulled out her phone, "I think it's got solid meme potential."

Monoma laughed, "Send that to me later."

It was strange seeing Monoma so..subdued, but someone Setsuna had managed to… tame him for lack of a better word. While sometimes that classic Monoma from their first day would shine through, usually he wasn't as loud and was rather kind.

"THAT'S IT!" Izuku slammed a fist on the table.

"Be careful! That is mahogany!" Yaoyorozu yelled.

Izuku looked a little guilty but otherwise was still excited, "Just think about it! If the normal robots are too easy for us, and the zero pointers give an unfair advantage to people with more combat oriented quirks, and we're working together in teams, then that means—"

"We're fighting the teachers!" Iida finished off quickly.

The air felt heavy around all of the students as the idea was thrown out into the open for all of them to dwell on.

"B-But…" Kaminari muttered.

"We can't…" Shoda clenched a fist.

"Our teachers are strong." Shishida muttered.

"That's not fair…" Ochako whimpered.

Nezu's Meeting Room

Nezu grinned, wide and feral, "The final exam will be the hardest thing the students will have ever faced in all their lives, much more difficult than the entrance exams." The principal clapped his paws together. "Does anyone have anything to say?"

All Might stood up and projected an image onto the wall, showing recordings from the entrance exam, at least those who had made it in. "This will test their cooperation. A complete one-eight from how they were tested during the Entrance Exam."

A short video of Aoyama stealing a robot from Midoriya was shown, before the boy quickly left Midoriya to fend for himself. "Many of the test taker's true colors were shown during the Entrance Exam, even our current students fended only for themselves during most of the exam."

The Number One Hero thought back to his star pupil's stand against the goliath that was the Zero Pointer, and the fact that many ran away even when a girl was trapped in rubble, "This test is to see how they've adjusted as heroes, if they've gained the essence of what it truly means to be a hero."

His cerulean eye peaked through the shadows that lined his face. "The ability to protect and save others, even in the face of an impossible challenge, that is what it means to be a hero."

The gathered teachers all nodded in appreciation and agreement as All Might took a seat.

Vlad King stood next. "The Final Exam will also test their ability to fight under pressure, something that they did during the Entrance Exam and Sports Festival, however this time they will be fighting opponents that they know for a fact are stronger than them. Seeing how much they believe in both their abilities and the abilities of those around them."

Sparing a glance at All Might, Vlad King continued, "Like All Might said, they'll be facing impossible odds." He sighed, "Let's see how they handle themselves under the pressure, if they'll persevere or break."

Next was Aizawa's turn, "Most importantly, it'll test their ability to strategize." Videos started playing of the cavalry battle during the Sports Festival, "Heroes can't always win by just brute force." His monotone voice was dead as he spoke. "Not all of us can win like All Might can, none of us are like him."

The Symbol of Peace was surprised at the mention, and oddly proud at the same time. "But…" Aizawa looked down and held his scarf before looking at the thundering oaf that they called The Number One Hero. "Maybe there's an exception this year."

"Oh~?" Midnight asked with a grin, "And who might that be Shouta?" The teachers had to each admit, they were interested. Eraserhead was rarely ever interested in a student, rarely ever praised anyone, so this was a surprise.

The Erasure Hero sighed, "No one, let's continue the meeting." He sat down and didn't care for Midnight's pout.

Nezu grinned, "I have to admit, I am interested as well, Aizawa-kun." The rodent's eyes bore into the pro, "Mind to share with the class?"

"No." Aizawa spoke with an air of finality.

"Well, that's too bad." Nezu said with an exaggerated sigh, "Now, how about we talk about the match ups?"

"Before we do that." Present Mic interrupted, "What's the reason for the change this year? We usually always have them battle against the bots that the second and third years fight so why change it up?"

"I actually wanted to ask the same." Cementoss commented as he read through the sheets of paper given to them, "This is all very advanced for a couple of first years isn't it? I mean I've read through the limitations we have, weights? That'll hinder people like Aizawa but for Yamada and me? We won't be hindered at all."

"It seems you all still think they are a normal bunch of first years." Nezu chirped happily.

Aizawa shook his head, there was no way that kid was "normal."

"They're not." Nezu continued, "Half of them squared off against real villains, we have the son of the Number Two Hero in this class, the heirs of high ranking families, children whose quirk's potential are boundless, and most importantly." A playful glint came to his eye, "a boy who is possibly the future number one."

All Might gulped, not because of imagining a student taking his place, but because he knew exactly who Nezu was referring to.

"But we must show them that they are not invincible." Nezu's voice turned dark, even with its high pitch, "We must let them know that terrible things can and will happen to them." He spared a glance at Aizawa, Yamada, and Kayama, "Like you all have experienced." His eyes also drifted to Ectoplasm, and then finally to All Might.

"You all have experienced loss and grief, but none of you were prepared for anything remotely close to what you all went through."

Aizawa, Yamada, and Kayama had all lost a dear friend, even if Kayama wasn't as close to Shirakumo as the other two, when they were barely in their second year of high school.

Ectoplasm had lost both of his legs and now had to use stumps to move around for the rest of his life, even if he had adjusted well the pain was still there.

And then there was All Might, the untouchable man who was down a lung and his stomach, who was restricted to only a couple hours of hero time each day, and who looked like he was shooting for retirement at his rate.

"They need to know that sometimes they will lose, no matter how hard they try.." The principal finished.

"But we're still hoping for them to pull through and win?" Snipe asked.

The mouse nodded. "It would go against our motto if they were to give up, wouldn't it?" After all, no one graduated from UA without going plus ultra at least once in their lives.

Yaoyorozu Estate

As day turned to night and all the students of UA huddled up in Yaoyorozu's mansion got tired, they found themselves being shown to rooms. The boys of 1-A and 1-B had already gathered in the room that they would be sharing and had changed into night clothes. The girls were in their own separate room, to the disappointment of some of the guy's.

Izuku sighed as he smoothed out a futon that he had been given, "Looks like everything's good then." He grinned as he laid a pillow down. "Think I'm all set guys."

Everyone else was still getting ready, some struggling while others weren't, but still Tetsu grinned specifically at Izuku as a devious thought came to mind, "Nah bro, I think you're missing something."

Tilting a brow and scratching his head, Izuku was left befuddled at what he possibly could have forgotten. "What could I be missing?" He asked Tetsu.

His friend simply grinned, "Yanagi."

"...eh…?" He made a dumb looking face before a blush quickly sprouted from his face, making him look like a tomato. "T-T-TETSU-KUN! YOU JERK!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Look at your face!" Tetsu laughed as he fell onto the floor, "You're so red!"

"You're terrible!" Izuku yelled back.

"Sure am!"

Izuku pouted, a blush still on his face as he grabbed his pillow, activated One For All, and launched it at Tetsu's face. "HAHAHA-HMPH!" Tetsu fell back as the pillow hit him with a surprising amount of force, before shooting back up, "Hey! You used your quirk! That's no fair–HMPH!" Tetsu fell back once more as Izuku chucked another pillow.

"I've got plenty of ammo Tetsu-kun!"

His opponent quickly activated his quirk, his skin turning to a sleek metallic substance as he shot up to his face. "I don't care how much you've got, I'll still take you on!"

"No fighting! We're going to go to sleep!" Iida chastised, before a pillow flew across the room and knocked his glasses off.

Kirishima, Sero, and Kaminari all winced as they saw their friend's glasses bounce on the floor, a slight crack forming in the glass. Tracing the trajectory, they found it was Monoma who had thrown it. "HAHA! Take that you hooligan!"

"H-Hooligan! Do you truly wish to be a hero!" Iida yelled back.

Kaminari's lightning crackled as he picked up his own pillow, "PILLOW FIGHT!"

The room descended into chaos as everyone fended for themselves, making forts constructed of futons and backpacks and sometimes their ammo. "Man down man down!" Kirishima yelled as Sero got nailed in the face. "Requesting backup!"

"I've got your back…" The three boys stilled in fright as they all turned around, seeing Kuroiro come out of a shadow with a wide smile on his face and grabbing a pillow, "Kekeke…."

"FIRE!" A strange yell cut through the room as Tokoyami, with the help of Dark Shadow, launched a pillow straight for Kuoiro's face.

"AHHH!"

As the boys continued their rounds of madness, the girls were being much more civilized, setting up their (much bigger) room for all of them to share. Reiko herself had just finished smoothing out her futon and decided to lay down on it.

It was comfortable, but it was cold, lacking a certain warmth.

The boys were situated across the hall from them, and they were being rather rowdy.

"What are they up to?" She believed it was Hagakure who asked, the invisible girl from 1-A, that spoke.

"I don't know, kero, but they're pretty loud." Tsuyu groaned as she snuggled under some blankets to find warmth.

"So rowdy…" Shiozaki complained.

"Maybe a tad too loud…" Yaoyorozu frowned as she got up.

Before any of them could get up and complain about the noise, a loud crash was heard from across the hall. "Oh for goodness sake, please tell me they didn't damage the walls!" Yaoyorozu pleaded as she quickly left the room.

The rest of the girls quickly got up and followed as the door to the boy's room was thrusted open. Pillows and futons were thrown about, thankfully no walls or furniture were damaged, but Kirishima and Tetsutetsu were on the floor shaking in pain.

"God! That hurt!"

"Jesus christ!"

Shiozaki frowned and raised her vines, "Don't speak the lord's name in vain!" She yelled and smacked them both.

"GAH!"

The boy's laughed as the hard head's continued to wiggle in pain on the floor, Kendo sighed and walked up to Midoriya, "What happened? What did these two dunderheads do?"

Izuku looked guilty as he rubbed his neck, "Ah.. we were having a pillow fight, but we were using our quirks…. Kirishima and Tetsu somehow ended up running into each other at full force and headbutted each other…"

The room fell silent as the boys were scrutinized by the girls.

"HOW DO YOU ACCIDENTALLY DO THAT?!" They all yelled.

Tetsu winced and tried to hold both his head and ears at the same time as they both thumped with pain, "I don't know! I'm a muscle head, alright?!"

"That you are my good metal friend!" Monoma laughed as he helped Tetsu stand up, "But that's what we love about you."

"Thanks…" Tetsu muttered, still rubbing his head.

Yaoyorozu sighed, "So nothing's damaged then…?"

"Eh, those two may have some brain damage." Monoma uttered. "So nothing too major." Kaminari and Sero tried not to laugh as Kirishima stood up and tried to shake off his supposed brain damage.

Jirou huffed, "If anyone has brain damage it's that idiot right there." She pointed at Kaminari.

"Hey! Not cool Jiro–AHHH!" The boy yelped as an earphone jack stabbed him in the ear.

"Are they always like that…?" Shiozaki asked as the violence was a little too much for her.

Mina smiled, "Yeah it's just Jirou being a tsundere!" She got stabbed too.

The punk rock girl blushed as she walked out of the room, "I am not a tsundere!"

"Well…" Yaoyorozu continued, trying not to think of all the possible ways the night could get worse, "Once you all are done I was thinking we could have dinner in the study hall, together as a group."

Izuku grinned, "That's a great idea!" He turned to the rest of the guys and smiled, "Why don't you guys head out, me and Iida-kun will get this cleaned up in no time!"

"W-Wait we will?"

"THANK YOU GUYS!"

"W-WAIT I DIDN'T AGREE TO THIS!"

The boys all laughed as they quickly left the room with the girls, Izuku grinned as he turned to Iida, "Don't worry Iida-kun, we'll finish up quick!" One For All sparked across his skin as he grinned.

The rest of the group quickly set the table as Momo's butlers and maids quickly went about setting the food for them, placing down an assortment of delectables that while not everyone knew the name of, knew that they loved the taste of.

Iida and Izuku quickly rejoined them and they all ate to their heart's content, chatting and joking, teasing and laughing, for once they truly felt like the teenagers they were.

Izuku had to admit that the day had been a truly joyful experience, being surrounded by so many people he could call friends, people that hadn't harassed or bullied him, unless Iida counted but he had already apologized for that, when a year ago he couldn't even imagine having one actual friend.

Looking at everyone he had met so far filled him with warmth and happiness; hoping that this would last for the rest of his life. Not just the happiness, but the bonds that joy came from. He couldn't imagine life without his dear friends anymore.

His eyes drifted to Reiko, he certainly couldn't imagine life without her.

Glancing at Monoma as he was teased by an ever-devious Tokage, who had recruited Mina to help her tease Monoma, he knew he wouldn't forget about them ever.

Seeing Tetsu turn red as he and Kirishima arm wrestled was hilarious.

Though he did feel bad when he saw how stressed Kendo looked, it was her idea for a relaxing day and it seemed she was the only one not relaxed. Though seeing Shinso try to comfort her was nice.

Komori and Kuroiro were together as usual, Izuku wondered why they hadn't become a couple yet, it was so obvious!

Pony, Shishida, Shoda, and Shiozaki were all conversing with a rather large guy from 1-A with multiple arms, Shouji, Izuku remembered.

Looking down and seeing his own smiling face in a cup of hot tea, Izuku thought to himself, 'Yeah, this is what life's all about…'

Later that night…

Both the boys and the girls split up as they prepared for bed, as everyone would be leaving first thing in the morning. Yet, it appeared for Reiko that sleep wasn't something she was going to be blessed with so early in the morning.

"So~" Mina grinned as she laid right next to Reiko, "You and Midoriya, huh?" She teased with a grin.

"W-What?" Reiko's usually monotone wavered for a moment as she was shocked, a little blush covering her cheeks.

A moment was all Mina needed, "Aha! So Jirou and Kiri were right!" She pointed an accusatory finger. "We need to know everything!"

Kendo sighed as some of the girls from 1-A flocked around Reiko like moths to a flame. "Oh come on guys, quit it."

Toru waved her arms around in glee, "But it's so cute! You two are so adorable together!"

Reiko shook her head rapidly, "There is nothing cute, there is nothing to swoon over." She quickly returned to her monotone voice, which didn't matter because her face was covered in a bright red blush.

"We need the details!" Mina squealed.

Setsuna grinned and joined, "It's about time Ghosty!" She had been dying to know everything about Midoriya and Yanagi.

Yaoyorozu and Kendo sighed and exchanged a glance, knowing that they wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight. Reiko gulped as she was surrounded on all sides, more of her classmates and peers joining their group, knowing that she wouldn't be getting out of this interrogation.

In the boy's room, Izuku shivered as a weird chill went down his spine. "Huh, wonder what that was." He muttered.

"What what was?" Monoma asked.

Izuku shrugged, "A weird chill."

"Huh." Monoma fluffed his pillow, "Reminds me of when Setsuna is up to something…"

Kirishima shivered and rubbed his arms. "Oh no…." He muttered, "Oh no no no no no!"

"Something up Kirishima?" Kaminari asked with a raised brow.

"Mina's up to something! I can feel it!"

Sero laughed, "I think you're crazy, man, no way you can feel that."

"I've known her for way too long, it's like a sixth sense!"

Iida chopped his arm. "Enough, time to go to bed!" He shouted.

The boys obliged as they all covered up with their blankets and laid in bed, with Shoji turning off the light soon after by extending his arm from his lying position.

"That's a cool quirk…" Izuku muttered.

"No analyzing Midoriya." Shoda called out.

The boys of 1-B giggled at the joke, even Izuku himself. He really liked having friends, it was so much better than his life before.

The Next Day…

The combined students of 1-A and 1-B stood outside of the Yaoyorozu Estate as the sun began to rise over the mountains. They had been at it all day and even after a night of rest were rather tired, as evident by even Reiko swaying a bit from how exhausted she was.

Or perhaps that was due to the interrogation issued by Mina and Setsuna.

The group walked towards the train station as a group, smiling and talking together as friends. Though Monoma still wasn't all too pleased about it.

"But like I said yesterday, focus on getting even harder, right now you don't seem to have a limit since you have a transform type quirk, it's a lot easier to train and you can see a lot of growth." Izuku grinned as he walked with Kirishima, "It'll be rough though, you'll need to put a lot of effort into it."

The redhead hardened his fists and pumped them together, "Good thing I'm a manly guy then!"

Izuku laughed, Kirishima remind him a lot of Tetsu, 'I swear, they could be brothers'

Suddenly, a little weight collided with his shoulder, and he looked to see Reiko looking extremely tired, "Long night?"

The ghost girl yawned before nodding, he grinned and placed an arm on her opposite shoulder to help her stay standing, "Is this okay?" A small smile came to her lips as she nodded. He missed the tiny, "wonderful." she muttered.

Setsuna cooed as she watched her classmates, "You see how cute they are Neito!" She whispered to her friend.

The blond narrowed his brows a bit, "Yeah, I do." He had thoughts in his mind, 'Would she mind if…' He shook his head and dispelled the thoughts, "Don't get distracted by their wonderfulness, we still have an exam to take in a couple of days."

Setsuna pouted, but had to admit that Monoma was right in some sense.

Mina grinned and pumped her arms, Toru squealing herself. Ochako smiled, though she did have to admit she was a little sad at the connection between the two.

Midoriya was her hero, saving her life during the Entrance Exam, but she had to admit that they were a good pair. It was also rather cute how the energetic Midoriya got the introvert Yanagi out of her shell… "They really are adorable.." She muttered with a smile.

Shinso and Kendo walked together, the girl going over things she could help him with, "While you worry about getting that voice modulator that Shoda and Midoriya helped you with, I could help you with hand to hand." She grinned and flexed her arm, "I've been doing it since I was little so I'm pretty good."

A little smile climbed up Shinso's face, "Maybe I'll take you up on that offer, Red."

Kendo's face, for a moment, matched the nickname. "Eh..? Red?"

"Uhh sorry." Shinso cursed himself for the slip up. "I just think your hair is nice."

The martial artist combed a hand through her side ponytail, no one had ever said something like that to her before since she was a little bit of a tomboy. "T-Thanks."

"No problem…"

Mina grinned, "My romance radar is going off!"

"Enough." Jiro stabbed her classmate with her earphone jack and pumped sound into the appendage.

"AHHHHH!"

The hero course was certainly crazy, a little insane bunch due to their immense dedication to their dreams. But they were all good people, at least Izuku thought so. And he would be happy to call them all friends.

He hoped they all would pass the final exam.

UA High

"ALRIGHT CLASS!" Vlad King yelled as he entered the classroom for the day. Seeing all of his student's with an immense serious look on their faces. All of 1-B quickly found their seats and their teacher nodded in approval, before coughing into a hand, "Today we'll be working on a Hero one-o'-one schedule, with your normal classes not taking place at all today and your hero course class taking place all day."

Shishida quickly raised a hand and Kan gestured for him to speak, "If I may ask, what's the occasion, sensei?"

Kan grinned, "What's the occasion?" He asked himself as his smile grinned, becoming feral, "It's time for your final exam, that's the occasion!"

"WHAT?!"

Izuku almost cursed, cursing for him was saying something like darn, as Monoma shot out of his seat. "But we have another week until the exam!" Komori yelled in alarm.

"Yeah, that's not fair, teach!" Awase was so close to cursing.

Shiozaki narrowed her eyes, as she was actually sweating. "Lying is not holy…"

Their teacher crossed his arms and gave them a daring look, "All of you are here to train to become heroes, people that stand above the population and fight unfairness."

Vlad King could feel the fear and uneasiness of his students and thoroughly enjoyed the feeling, the very air of his classroom was filled with the uncertainty of his students as the rug was pulled out from under them, "Are you going to tell me that none of you are going to be heroes?!" He yelled.

Kendo fist clenched around her desk, cracking the wood with her strength. "Yeah we are!" Even if they weren't ready, they still had to do it.

"Class 1-B!" Izuku yelled and rose to his feet, "Get dressed, get as prepared as you can, we're doing this today and we're going to persevere." One For All burned inside of him as his nerves ate him out.

The blood hero grinned, 'That's the way….' Maybe they wouldn't completely fail, "Meet outside the main gates in ten minutes!" Each and every one of his students met his gaze with a determined, if anxious, one of their own, "That's the way… future heroes!"

Notes:

Ah…. sorry this one took so long, finals have been killing me since my school district is dumb and makes our school year extra long. Also have just had other school events going on so I've been busy.

But alright, enough of that, I've cut a lot of the stuff I wanted to put in this chapter, as I really want to get to the final exams and all that extra stuff wasn't really important, more just reactions to things that can happen in the Final Exams, so I hope you guys are happy with the current chapter.

Relationships are progressing, if you haven't noticed, and things will come of that eventually I promise.

Also, yes, I have changed the final exams, it will be 4 vs 1 matches, and the teachers are going to be a lot more OP than they were in canon.

Also also, I'm letting everyone know right now that the final exams will probably be longer than a chapter, since there is ten matches to go through. Sorry…

But I think that's all I went to say, hopefully the next chapter will come out sooner, I'm really sorry if it doesn't

Jay out!

Chapter 23: Final Exam: Hero Course Mettle

"We had no time to prepare." A chorus of steps echoed as all of 1-B made their way through the halls of the grand hero high school, UA. "We have a very rough idea of what we're fighting." Each and every one of their faces were extremely serious, for once none of them were joking or playing around, even including the likes of Awase and Kaibara. "We have to go beyond what we were yesterday."

Monoma grinned and popped his collar.

Setsuna smirked and fluffed her hair.

Kendo rubbed her hands as she readied her quirk.

Reiko closed her eyes and tried to empty her head.

And Izuku breathed deep before his eyes glowed with the power of One For All.

"AND WIN!" They entered the light in the front area of the school, a large bus waiting for them there, as well as a load of teachers, it looked around eleven teachers which included their own homeroom ones.

Vlad King grinned as he turned to Aizawa, "Looks like my kids came out first, what happened to that punctuality you were drilling into them?"

Aizawa looked disappointed and grumbled to himself, probably thinking of ways to punish his students for being late.

"Sorry for being late!" Yaoyorozu yelled as her class came out of the school, "Iida-san insisted that we all walk in a single-file line…"

Their teacher hummed before pointing at Iida, "Detention for a week."

The youngest Iida startled before nodding,"Y-Yes sir!"

The students of both classes quickly all gathered around their teachers, even Bakugo who usually didn't care for what their teachers had to say, "Alright everyone." They heard a high-pitched voice come from seemingly nowhere before Nezu popped out of Aizawa's scarf. "Please enter the bus!"

Silence stretched before Pony pointed at the principal, "Rat."

She shut her mouth as soon as the little rodent sent her a smile, one that made her skin crawl.

Izuku gulped before instructing Class B to get onto the specially constructed bus there was for both hero courses while Yaoyorozu did the same for Class A. They were all quite a bit shocked at the principal's behavior, but Izuku was worried about what test he had designed.

The bus they were on was quite a bit larger than the one that they took to the USJ, Izuku noted as he sat with Reiko, most likely due to the need to fit both courses. The bus was probably big enough to take up a whole traffic road on its own, having an area for just the teachers and separate areas for 1-A and 1-B.

Speaking of, Izuku took the chance to glance at his sister class, seeing some of them just as nervous as he was, though there were some outliers. Todoroki with his cold exterior was a given, then there was Bakugo who was cursing about teachers pulling bullshit on them. Izuku would have agreed if he wasn't neck deep in anxious waiting.

His own class wasn't doing much better, Kamamkiri was a little like Bakugo however he was telling those around him that they would be just fine and pull through together, which was quite a shocker.

Kendo and Izuku shared a lock of the eye, allowing them to see each other's skepticism about being able to face this challenge head on, but they couldn't vocalize those thoughts. They had to stay strong for their classmates.

"Are you doing alright?" The monotone of Reiko was easily heard and Izuku turned to her, trying to muster up a smile. Though, it seemed that she wasn't fooled as she grabbed his hand. "I'm sure you'll do wonderfully."

It gave him a moment's pause before he let out a small smile and mouthed a "Thank you."

The bus slowed to a stop and Aizawa stood up, "Everyone get off the bus now." They all filled out slowly, finding themselves facing a large tower, around were even more buses, though they were much smaller than the first one, looking like they sat ten students at most. "This is the hub, while other students are taking their tests you will be here, listening and observing each and every exam." He drawled in monotone.

"We will be doing groups one by one." Vlad King spoke, "So everyone gets a chance to see how everyone else is doing, and offer good commentary to one another."

"But enough of that." Nezu hummed as he hopped off of Aizawa. "It's time for the Final Exams to begin!"

"yyyyYEAHHHHHHH!" Present Mic yelled with enthusiasm, only to be glared at and silenced by Aizawa. "...sorry…"

"Better be." The underground hero grumbled.

Nezu's squeaks advised both of the heroes to stop bickering and put the student's attention on him, "I would explain the test, but I figure some of you have already figured it out."

The students that had been at Yaoyorozu's estate entered a state of shock.

"H-How did he figure it out?" Monoma wondered aloud.

The rat simply grinned, "Do you all believe I told Young Shinso about the test on accident?"

Yaoyorozu's eyes widened, "It was deliberate, you wanted us to know, b-but why?"

"Information always leaks in the field." Midnight for once sounded serious, "Whether it's the intel you need to put the villains in jail or your own information for a raid that gets leaked, it happens, deal with it and move on."

Cementoss grinned, "We allowed the information to leak to see how you all would react, to see if you would make the most of the leak and how you would prepare using the information."

Aizawa shook his head, "Though, it appears you didn't do anything meaningful with the information, so we're moving on."

Midnight grinned a wide smile and the boys felt themselves locked up, "Speaking of moving." She turned around and smiled, "Get out here Shinso-kun!"

Out from behind one of the buses came Shinso, however the boy didn't have any sort of gear on and instead had the standard UA gym uniform, albeit with one of Eraserhead's capture scarfs around his neck.

Izuku grimaced, 'Shinso didn't have any time to have his request for support gear be completed, if we have the extra week then he might've been able to get his voice modulator in time…' It wasn't fair to Shinso, but it's the way this game was being played.

"WHAT'S THIS B-LISTER DOING HERE?!" Bakugo yelled in rage, only to be silenced by a glare from Eraserhead.

The pro sighed before speaking, "As you know this test will be the final exam for your first trimester, however it will also be considered as Hitoshi Shinso's entrance exam." Those that didn't know nodded along, accepting the fact, though Bakugo still looked ticked. "He's proved he has the will to push himself, now we're here to see if he's got the spirit."

Izuku grinned, knowing that he had been of help with Shinso's betterment of his skills, as he had been the one to provide Shinso with a workout routine to improve his body's strength.

Shinso grumbled as he stepped in front of the class, gazing at his friend's in 1-B and potential classmates throughout both of the classes. "Just so you know…" His voice carried throughout the area, "I'm here to pass this test, I might just take one of your spots."

Some of the hero students grumbled, but others listened, "Because… I want to be a hero!" Shinso's dead monotone turned resolute, "So that people with villainous quirks like me can have someone to look up to! Someone they can see to know that their quirks aren't evil!" His eyes held conviction and promise.

Izuku smiled and stepped up, sticking a hand out for his friend to shake, "I think that's a wonderful goal!"

Shinso grinned and shook Izuku's hand, "Thanks, Midoriya."

Kayama grinned as she nudged Aizawa, "Look at that, your kid's already making friends!"

The underground pro, and secret cat lover, grumbled and hid his face in his scarf, "He's not my kid…"

Yamada chuckled, "You sure about that one Shouta? He's practically a mini-you! I mean look at the eye bags! If he gets a little bit of shaggy facial hair and grows out his hair to a mop then it'll be a perfect match!"

"Young Shinso's surprising resemblance to Aizawa-kun aside, I believe it's about time we begin!" Nezu announced to everyone,"Everyone please file into the Hub Tower!" His mood was a little too chipper for some of the student's liking.

Both students and staff entered the Hub Tower, taking the elevator nearby to the top floor.

Bakugo crumbled, being around all these extras left a poor taste in his mouth. Monoma was acting the same but his reaction was due to being so close to class 1-A people instead.

The doors to the elevator flew open as the students and teachers stepped onto the top floor of the Hub Tower, one that was dedicated to cameras observing all of the surrounding test areas.

"Here, we'll be able to observe each test in real-time." Vlad King announced, "But, I think it's about time we begin." The students locked up, the air around them turning suffocating. "Like we said before, the matches will be a four against one, something a tad similar to your battle trials with All Might at the start of the year."

Izuku nodded along, having a similar experience to base this on would help, "However, unlike the battle trials, your teams have been handpicked by us to be specialized teams for you to work with, and you'll be fighting opponents much more experienced than yourselves."

Aizawa nodded, "Let's see how you handle the pressure." The man activated his quirk, his red eyes pierced the crowd as his hair floated ominously, "I see half of you breaking from it."

Nezu laughed and clapped his paws together, "Enough of all this funny business, I say it's time to start the first test!"

The screen behind the teachers lit up, names randomizing on the screen.

"Who's it going to be…" Aizawa muttered.

"First we have!" A robotic voice came from the screen,

"Kinoko Komori." The mushroom themed girl gulped as she would have to take the exam first, not trusting herself to be able to fight their teachers.

"Kosei Tsuburaba." The jokester flinched, feeling the same anxiety as Komori.

"Fumikage Tokoyami." The Avian headed teen sighed, "What a mad banquet of darkness…"

"And Tsuyu Asui." The frog girl tilted her head, looking strangely adorable with the action.

"Your opponent is… Ectoplasm!"

The disabled pro stepped forward, the man looking strange with his helmet and coat, despite his mask not giving away any showing to his emotions they could tell the man was sizing them up. "Shall we head down?"

Komori couldn't help but gulp, "Can we have a moment?"

Ectoplasm nodded, "You have five minutes before we're due to head to the combat zone." The man then turned to everyone else participating, "You all may head down already if you are prepared."

Much to Komori's dismay, the other three headed out to where they would be taking their final exam, while she quickly went to her friends, "I-I-I CAN'T DO THIS!" She yelled, pulling on her mushroom themed hat. "I-I'M GONNA FAIL, SHROOM!"

"Komori-san, I'm sure you've got this all handled." Kendo tried to assure.

"I-I DON'T!" The petite girl was shaking, on the verge of bawling her eyes out at this point. She tried to take deep breaths and managed to calm her voice down, "W-What can I do?"

"Komori." The mushroom whipped around to look at Kuroiro, the teen took her hands that were shaking and closed them into soft fists, "You are Shemage, a hero in training, you can do this."

She rubbed her eyes with her shoulder, "You think so, shroom?"

He smiled, his weird awkward smiled, "Kekeke, it's just another stupid test."

Komori let her breathing slow down and nodded, "Y-Yeah.. YEAH!" She pumped her fists, which Kuroiro was still holding, and let out a smile, "Yeah! It's just another stupid test! Just like the Battle Trials!"

Vlad King cleared his throat, causing both of them to look at him, "Your time is up Komori, you must start heading to the testing area now."

"O-Oh shroom!" The little hero yelped and retracted her hands before running to the elevator, waving to her friends before descending to her testing area.

Izuku grinned before looking at Kuroiro, "That was nice of you."

"You were getting pretty handsy there huh, Kuro-kun?" Setsuna teased.

Kuroiro simply turned away, thankful that, due to his skin color, no one could see his blush.

Practical Exam Location

The four gathered students entered their exam site, as they entered they noticed their site was rather a building than a mock city, a very tall cylindrical building at that, despite that the gate they had to get through to pass the test was right across from them on the first floor, as was Ectoplasm.

The rest of the building had an open air plan, with all the floors above them being able to peer down to the first floor.

"Kero, will this is strang–"

"sssSSSTARTT!"

With no other warning, Ectoplasm quickly turned around to face them and opened his mouth, a strange white, almost mist or goop like substance coming out of it, the substance then morphed into an exact duplicate of the pro. In under five seconds the man had an entire battalion ready to fight the heroes in training.

"Shit, RUN!" Tsuburaba yelled before making an air wall to block a flying kick from a clone.

More clones ran at them and Tsuburaba knew he couldn't block them all, yet it seemed he didn't have to as Asui and Tokoyami used their tongue and Dark Shadow respectively to wipe out a horde of clones, allowing them time to retreat.

Komori looked up and yelled, "We have to get up there!"

Tsuburaba nodded before yelping as Dark Shadow's hand wrapped around him, the same happening to Komori as Tsuyu leaped towards the higher floors.

The frog girl flew through the air and quickly used her long tongue to catch the soaring Komori and Tsuburaba, while at the same time Dark Shadow began fighting the Ectoplasm clones.

"Dark Shadow, it's time to go up!"

"Got it Fumi!" The beast clawed into the ground and pushed all the force it could downwards as it flew up into the air.

Tsuburaba used his quirk to make a platform for the three of them to stand on as Dark Shadow helped carry Tokoyami up into the air. The final of the four landed on the air platform, Tsuburaba straining his lungs to keep them up.

"So, what's the plan, kero?" Tsuyu asked as Ectoplasm kept spawning more clones. The man was completely surrounded by the entire group, it was almost impossible to tell he was there at all.

Komori looked down and closed her eyes trying to come up with any sort of a plan. Tokoyami clicked his tongue as Dark Shadow floated around him, "I'm unsure, not even I and Dark Shadow can take them all out as we are right now."

Komori hummed as an idea finally came to mind, grabbing glass bottles she had around her skirt and popping the caps off of them. "I think." She spoke with a little bit of uncertainty in her voice. "I've got an idea."

"You better hurry, Kero, your classmates's turning blue."

The mushroom girl nodded before sighing, "It's Shroom time." Quickly tossing all of her bottles down, she grinned as they hit the floor and broke into pieces.

The Ectoplasm clones all glanced at each other, wondering what exactly that was supposed to do. A wide grin found its way onto Komori's face as she pulled out two of her spray bottles, "Massive Spore Field!"

Mushrooms spawned into view as fast as popcorn came into being in a microwave, the entire first floor that had been covered into Ectoplasm clones instead became covered in mushrooms.

Tokoyami's eyes widened as their math teacher seemed to be overcome by the fungi. "What is this?"

Komori simply smiled to herself, "We need to go now."

Tsuburaba started to wheeze out his last breaths, causing the platform to wobble and crack.

Dark Shadow quickly scooped up all present and launched them even higher once more, Tsuburaba doubled over into a coughing fit as everyone else winced. "Take any longer and I would've died!"

"You're being dramatic, kero."

"SAYS THE ONE THAT STOOD THERE DOING NOTHING!"

Tsuyu seemed to… frown? Before placing a finger on her chin, "You're loud."

"Shhhhhh!" Komori shushed them as they all looked down at Ectoplasm, to see that instead of the mushrooms taking over his clones, a strange goop was taking over the mushrooms. "That's what comes out of his mouth when he makes a clone…."

Tsuyu gulped, "That's big…."

The strange looking substance coalesced into a new form, a giant Ectoplasm, one so big that the pro was only able to create the upper body of the clone, the giant reached up towards the sky, tearing up the floors around them as it headed towards them.

"You guys got your cuffs?" Tsuburaba asked as he pulled out his own pair. Tsuyu nodded, though she didn't pull out her pair. They were only given two pairs of cuffs, one for each pair of students from the separate classes.

"Then let us end this exam already." Tokoyami stood and Dark Shadow floated around him. "Ready, Dark Shadow?"

"You know it, Fumi!" The familiar screamed.

Tsuburaba grinned and stood alongside the avian teen, "Komori catch!" Komori yelped as she caught the capture cuffs, "You and Tsuyu got this, me and Tokoyami will give you an opening, we've got a good mix of defense and offense."

She nodded, a look of determination filling her face, "Got it!"

"Get ready, Kero." Tsuyu's tongue slipped around Komori's waist as they got ready to jump down.

"RAHHHHH!" Ectoplasm, or more the clone, yelled as it reached upwards.

"NOW!"

They all jumped down, with Tsuburaba making platforms for himself to head downwards, Dark Shadow clawing onto the floors around them so that she and Tokoyami could descend, and Tsuyu simply leaping down while holding onto Komori.

Tokoyami landed on the clone's face, Dark Shadow's claws reaching up and clawing at the eyes which caused the clone to yell and fall backwards.

Tsuburaba made a platform for him to land before he made even more barriers using his quirk, his lungs were on fire as he tried making prisons around the giant clone's face, keeping it from attacking Tokoyami as it tried to swipe at the avian looking teen, it was unable to do anything as it crashed into the ground.

Ectoplasm winced as the dust cleared, both of the boys landing on the floor right in front of him as his giant clone disappeared, "Seems I have to fight now–*POP*" The man recoiled as a mushroom appeared on his face. "What?" He looked around, not being able to find Komori. "You think the same trick you used on Bakugo is going to work on me?"

Tsuburaba grinned, "This time…" He cracked his knuckles as Dark Shadow flexed her claws, "She ain't alone!"

"That's right!"

Ectoplasm spun around, seeing Komori there with capture cuffs reaching for him. "Nice try, but not good enough!" The pro yelled as he continued his spin, throwing Komori into the two boys who fell as they caught her.

"Did you really think that was going to work?" Ectoplasm asked as he approached the three.

Komori smiled as she tried to get up, "Not really."

"What?"

*CLINK*

Ectoplasm went still, before looking back and seeing a cuff wrapped around his arm, as well as Asui who's skin and costume were changing from the matching beige of the walls and floor back to her usual green. "You can camouflage?"

The frog girl gave a thumbs up. "Always could. Kero."

The pro had to admit, he didn't know that, it was simply a lapse in his judgment that had cost him the battle. "Very well." He nodded, "You all have passed!"

Observation Room

By the time Komori had gotten back to the viewing deck of the Hub Tower the next match had already begun, consisting of Bondo, Awase, Mineta and Sero fighting against Midnight, she wished them luck. Her friends pounced on her as soon as she came into view, congratulating her on her victory against Ectoplasm.

"I knew you could do it shroomie!" Setsuna grinned and wrapped an arm around the smaller girl.

Kuroiro smiled, a very weird and slightly off putting smile, but an encouraging one nonetheless. "I told you you could do it."

The mushroom girl smiled and jumped into him with a hug, "You were right! We did it!"

"Now if only I had my phone so I could take a picture of this…" Setsuna pouted.

Kendo chuckled, "You can get one later."

"That much is obvious." Reiko smiled.

Izuku couldn't help but feel relieved that Komori had passed, with a good show of teamwork too! "Tokoyami's Dark Shadow is really versatile, Asui's Frog is incredible as well with a bunch of different abilities surrounding it. On top of that Tsuburaba has a really great grasp on Solid Air–"

"Breathe, will you?" Monoma chuckled as Izuku paused.

"A-Ah! Sorry." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Seeing all these quirks in action is just really interesting."

Reiko found her lips turning up just a tad, "Well, then why not see how Bondo and Awase's match is currently going?"

Izuku was eager to do so, but at the same time was rather reluctant since it was Miss Midnight they were fighting. He'd just ask Kan-sensei if he could get the recording of it later, that would be better. "I'm alright, I'll ask Kan-sensei if we're allowed to get recordings of the final exams later, he gave us the recordings of the Battle Trials after all.."

"Very well then." Reiko smiled up at him, "Are you ready for your exam?" She asked with a small tilt of her head that pulled on Izuku's heartstrings.

Izuku nervously chuckled at the question, "Nope." He scratched his cheek, "What about you?"

Reiko put a finger on her chin, "Perhaps a little bit, but not completely." She admitted.

They glanced at each other, just basking in the comfort of being able to be with each other, even if it was only for a moment. A thought came to Izuku's mind, however before he could voice it the announcement that the exam had finished went off in the tower, with a follow-up call for those in the next exam to head down to their site.

The two of them still had their eyes locked with each other before an arm slung around Izuku's head, "OH GEEZ!" Izuku yelled as he was pulled down by Tokage.

"You better cheer me on, Greenie!" His matching hair buddy yelled at him with a wide grin on her face, one that was almost reminiscent of Midnight.

"I-I will Tokage-chan!"

"Thanks!" The Lizard-loving teen said with a sincere smile.

Monoma sighed and shook his head, "You're such a handful."

"Sure am!"

The blond could only huff once more before unhooking Tokage's arm from Izuku's head, "Alright alright, now get going or you'll be late."

Tokage huffed as Monoma pushed her, but conceded that he was actually right. "Okay, okay! I'll get going. Just make sure to cheer me on too!" She took on running and waved at her friends.

Izuku smiled as he waved back, Monoma and the others joining him as well as they all wished Tokage the best of luck in her exam. After all, they were going to be fighting the principal, so….

Practical Exam Location

Kaminari gulped as he, Mina, the pretty girl with vine hair from 1-B, and the hot one with shark teeth walked through what was called Ground Gamma, which was an industrial ground with lots of concrete buildings and metal pipes sticking out of just about everywhere.

"So… we're fighting the principal, right?" He asked with a bit of nervousness as a small amount of electricity crackled in his palms.

Tokage looked around, one of her eyes disconnected and floating around high up above them, "Yeah…" She muttered as she looked around, "This one isn't going to be easy." They were walking around as they were trying to look for the little rat, to no avail.

Mina grinned as she bounced with her steps, nudging Shiozaki in the shoulder as they walked, "Hey, you were pretty cool during the sports festival, those vines of yours totally threw me for a loop!"

Shiozaki, for her part, was acting standoffish, not appreciating Mina's… state of dress. 'Seriously, her… assets… are almost hanging out… so sinful.' She thought to herself before shaking her head, "You were rather… cool… as well, Ashido was it?"

The pinkette grinned, "Yep! But you can call me Mina, everyone does!"

"GUYS!" Tokage yelled as a giant abomination came into view, an amalgamation of robot parts, Zero Pointer weapons, and construction vehicles that formed together to create a huge beast of metal, one even more frightening than the Zero Pointers they faced during the Entrance Exam and Sports Festival.

Kaminari yelled, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"

Before Shiozaki had a chance to chastise him, a wrecking ball came crashing down, kicking up a large amount of debris.

Tokage quickly separated her body parts and started flying as the giant robot that Nezu made walked into view, "Just what the hell is that rat doing?"

Shiozaki frowned and activated her quirk, the vines crawling up and around the wrecking ball until it reached the chain that connected it to the rest of the robot. The tip of her vine spun together and turned sharp before slicing the metal chain.

BOOM

The massive ball landed on the ground, Kaminari and Mina cheered before the blond had an idea.

"Hey, Shiozaki-san!" Kaminari quickly ran up to her, despite how scared he was of Nezu and his giant robot. The religious girl turned to him as she continued trying to wrap the robot's legs with her vines while Tokage floated around it, trying to find a way to get inside the damn thing. "If you can get me close to the main control center, I can fry that thing!" He yelled as he crackled electricity in his hands.

Shiozaki turned to him and nodded, "Alright, very well!" She wasn't too confident in that course of action but she would at least try it. "Ashido-san, please try to take out this behemoth's legs!"

There was a LOT separating them from the machine that Nezu was piloting, at least a half a mile's worth of concrete and metal pipes, but she believed that Ashido could do it.

Mina grinned and pumped an arm, doubt not even an option in her mind.. "You got it!" With that she began skating on the ground towards the direction of the behemoth. She hummed as there was a ton of stuff in her path, rubbing her hands together she let some acid come off of them, "If there isn't a path then I'll just make one!"

Tokage eyeless face grinned as her two eyeballs finally got up to where Nezu's cockpit was, "So, it's a layer of glass, eh?" Her limbs quickly all gathered together as she rolled onto the ground to land. "Shiozaki, Kaminari!" She waved at the two.

The two quickly came over and tried to hide as Mina upped her acidity, so much so that it started hurting even her skin, as she tried to push through the surrounding area to get to Nezu.

"What is it,Tokage-san?" Shiozaki asked as Mina finally arrived at the leg of the robot and placed a hand on it, "Checkmate."

Tokage opened her mouth only to hear a giant crash, as the giant monster took a knee on the ground, the image only made Tokage grin before she explained that the cockpit where Nezu was located was only made of glass. "We break that, then Sparky here can finish it up!"

The two of them nodded, but Kaminari tilted his head, "How are we gonna do that though?"

Breaking the ice and then getting Kaminari in there, Tokage couldn't carry him up there, the guy was just too heavy.

She hummed and came up with an idea, "I'll rush full force and crash into the glass and break it, when Shiozaki you use your vines and carry Sparky up!"

Kaminari stammered, "Uhhh crashing into glass, that's a good idea?"

A smile full of shark teeth was all he got, "I've got this, don't worry." Tokage quickly turned to Shiozaki. "How about it?"

The vine haired girl could only nod, "It's our only chance, I suppose."

"Alright then BREAK!" Tokage's body quickly came apart once more as she soared to where Nezu was at while Shiozaki wrapped Kaminari in a group of vines.

"I'm going to have to make a lot for this little stunt we're pulling…" Shiozaki grunted as her vines bulged and grew in volume before rocketing Kaminari up.

The boy himself grinned, "Tell me about it, I'm gonna fry myself!"

Mina spun in place, acid spraying everywhere as the giant robot crumbled down to both of its knees, while it tried to punch her she quickly ran and hid behind the infrastructure of Ground Gamma. This time as she hid, she had to admit she was tapped out. Her skin stung as it looked bruned and she was exhausted, "I guess it's up to them now…" She muttered.

Tokage raced over to the glass cockpit and found Nezu, smiling despite how much the robot was crumbling. She sped up, going as fast as she could towards the glass tower, the little principal looked towards her and for once she saw that strange smile falter.

"Gotcha!"

CRASH

She got into the cockpit, with Kaminari landed right behind her and shocking the control panel, shutting down the entire monstrosity that Nezu had used against them. The giant thing fell backwards with a giant slam and Nezu had admitted defeat.

"I'm surprised by your recklessness, Young Tokage, but I understand why you did it, since you can regenerate with your quirk." Nezu commented as they went back towards the Hub, this time riding on the young teen's shoulder.

The girl, for the most part, had already healed most of the injuries that the glass had inflicted on her, "Yeah, that was pretty unexpected, wasn't it?"

She was glad, even if Kaminari was fried and Mina was juiced out, they had passed!

Observation Room

Aizawa wanted to curse, "That was so illogical…" He muttered to himself before glancing at Kan, "Your students are infecting mine, you're making my students go crazy." He accused with a point of his hand.

Kan crossed his arms and huffed, "You know I've done no such thing, we both know that hero students all have a little bit of insanity in them, I mean after all most heroes get mental conditions at some point in their careers."

The underground pro clicked his tongue, "You might be right…." He sighed as he observed those coming back, "I'll need to look into gear to help develop Kaminari's abilities, he went more for aesthetics than practicality with his costume. And Ashido needs to work on her quirk before she pushes it that much."

Kan nodded and said the same about Shiozaki, but at least her quirk was extremely versatile unlike Kaminari's, "You could always try a pointer and shooter, I've seen a lot of electricity based heroes use gear like that, or a whip or chain. Something like that will give him range."

Aizawa nodded, "I'll look into those. Thanks."

Kan grunted in response as the team that fought Nezu arrived back in the Hub's highest floor, Tokage was grinning ear to ear as she boasted about how their team beat the principal. Kan sighed and dragged a hand down his face. "She's too… chipper…"

"Hm." Aizawa grunted, a small smile coming to his face. "That's usually something I would say."

"Well, the trouble makers are more evenly spaced out this year." Nezu chirped as he walked up to both homeroom teachers. "Instead of them being all in your class Shouta-kun."

Kan grinned, happy that he was seen as capable enough to place some of the troublemakers into his own class. This year had felt different, his students were making more progress than they did before, was that because of his own effort? The villains? Or another factor?

"Ahem." Nezu gained the teacher's attention, "I know the next match involves one of your vice-representatives Sekijiro-kun. However, I'm very interested to see how you think your class' Representatives will do."

Both of the homeroom teachers exchanged a glance with each other.

"You'll have to wait and see." They said at the same time.

That just made Nezu's smile all the wider.

Unforeseen Simulation Joint

Kendo and Kuroiro were surprised by the location where their exam would be taking place, the USJ itself, the giant survival dome where natural disasters could be simulated for the students to practice rescue operations, with thirteen being the hero that they would have to face. While it made sense, both the placement and hero, it was very… unfair.

Thirteen was known for her ridiculously amazing quirk that let her destroy quite literal anything, dubbed Blackhole. Kendo herself couldn't risk getting near Thirteen since all she focused on was close range, hand to hand, combat. Kuroiro was much of the same with his quirk.

Their other teammates, Uraraka and Aoyama of Class 1-A, weren't all that much better in regards to combatting their opponent. Uraraka had a touch based quirk, very physical just like Kendo's, while Aoyama had a laser.

While Aoyama's quirk seemed potentially very useful at first, Kendo and Kuroiro later learned that he got stomach aches after using it…

So what the hell could they do against someone who had the power to create a literal black hole?!

They entered the giant disaster simulation joint after being told by Thirteen that all they had to do to pass the exam was either exit the USJ from their spot in the central plaza, which would be difficult since Thirteen was guarding the bottom of the stairs, or place cuffs they were given, only two sets so one for each class, around Thirteen on any point of her body.

Kendo clicked her tongue, knowing that they wouldn't be able to do much against a quirk like that. Unless Aoyama somehow pulled through for them and went Plus Ultra?

However, taking one look at the french speaking boy made her think that wasn't the case.

"What does moi think of my brightness?" Aoyama asked while posing in front of Kuroiro.

The teen sneered while pointing at the blond, "Tacky."

"WHATTTTT!" Aoyama yelled, feeling hurt, "How could you say something so rude to–"

"sssSSSTARTT!" The yell cut Aoyama off as their much had officially begun.

Kendo cursed as none of them had yet been able to throw a plan out for them to be able to pass. She took a glance at Ochako and they shared a nod, ready to step forward with their training from Gunhead to take control of the situation.

However, it was surprisingly Kuroiro who stood forward. "Eh, what are you doing Kuroiro-kun?" Uraraka asked.

The teen hummed, "I interned with a hero called Mr. Brave, an unknown and weak hero." Kuroiro gazed at Thirteen, seemingly dissecting and inspecting her as he tried to remember all Midoriya had told them about her before Rescue Training. "He told me that I'd never be a powerhouse, not like Midoriya or Bakugo or Juzo or Todoroki."

Kendo and Uraraka winced as the words stung.

"Since my quirk isn't like theirs I can't win fights through strength like they do. I've gotta be smart!" With that, the boy took off running towards Thirteen.

"K-Kuroiro!" Kendo yelled after him.

"Kendo-san!" Uraraka followed, Aoyama stayed back, not wishing to ruin his good looks with a fist fight.

"She won't risk hurting us, her quirk isn't easily controllable like some of ours, for her it's either zero or a hundred." Kuroiro called out as they neared Thirteen.

The pro quickly raised her arm as the group approached her, the cap on one of the fingers of her suit coming off. "Don't get any closer!" She yelled.

"Or what? Kekeke…." Kuroiro offered back as he got dangerously close to Thirteen, he could feel the shift in the air as the very matter itself around the area was being sucked and turned into nothing by Thirteen's quirk. 'You're a rescue hero, you're not built for combat…'

Uraraka and Kendo tried to pull him back as Thirteen's mind rumbled.

The pro didn't want to risk hurting the boy, she didn't have enough knowledge on the insides and outs of her quirk like combat heroes did, she was more used to maximizing her quirk's destructive ability to rescue civilians trapped in buildings or stuck in landslides or any other types of natural disasters.

So, she shut her quirk off. As soon as she did so a beam of light passed by all three hero students and struck her in the chest, sending her sprawling back and landing harshly on the ground.

Kuroiro stopped running and deadpanned before looking back at Aoyama, the french boy had a sly smile on his face. "We make a good team, eh?"

Thirteen quickly scrambled back to her feet, but her oversized suit made that difficult, as soon as she got up Kendo and Uraraka, the only ones with reason both engaged and each landed a solid punch on the pro's stomach, making her fall to the floor.

Since they were the only ones who had the capture cuffs on them, they quickly apprehended the pro, signaling their victory.

Thirteen sturred as they helped her up, "I told them I'm a Rescue Hero... not a combat one…." She grumbled to herself as she held her stomach which felt bruised. "It's fine they said!" She sighed and looked at her students. "Good job kids, just take it easy on me next time…"

Uraraka giggled, not believing her favorite hero could be so down to earth. "Will do, sensei!"

Observation Room

"That was a tad too fast for my liking…" Nezu hummed to himself as the five started walking back to the Hub.

Aizawa sighed and brought up the documents for this match, "Thirteen did say that she wasn't going to be a good match up since she has no experience in combat." He hummed as he looked at the details of who each of the students interned with, "It was an illogical decision from the start."

Kan nodded along, "Plus, I was wondering why your match against 1-A's knuckleheads went so smoothly."

The little rat squeaked, making both of his homeroom teachers shiver at the sound that they hated. "I could have very much done more than what I did, but they honestly had surprised me a great amount." Nezu smiled as he remembered the match, "I didn't expect Tokage to be so reckless, Ashido to push her quirk, and Shiozaki to work with the team. I believe they did commendable, not perfect, but well for now."

Both of the homeroom teachers nodded along as the students for the next round started heading down, this one would be a little bit more difficult as the students, Shoda, Juzo, Ojiro and Shoji, would be facing against Hound Dog.

Izuku gulped as he opened his notebook on the pro and his quirk.

Hound Dog was as good as Ectoplasm and Eraserhead when it came to hand to hand combat, his quirk Dog gave his enhanced strength, speed, and senses, a good overall quirk that was only hindered by making Ryo, the pro's real name, more susceptible to rage.

Ojiro Shoji and Shoda would have trouble since they were all physical fighters, while Juzo had the most potential in taking down Hound Dog, if he caught the man off guard though he'd have to be extremely cunning to do so.

At least in Izuku's opinion.

The four entered their testing area which was a dirt field, one that was in a suburban area of a city.

Izuku hummed as scrolled to his notes that he had on Juzo and Shoda, both of their quirks were very special, Softening and Twin Impact being unique in their own ways. Softening could make any substance into a liquid for Juzo to travel through while Twin Impact could create a second hit on anything that Shoda touched, with that hit usually being stronger too.

They could do a lot with those quirks against Hound Dog's well… Dog

But still, the pro's quirk was an overall boost to multiple different aspects of fighting while the student's all had quirks that benefitted one area, barring Shoji from 1-A.

Izuku chewed on the thumb of his glove, "Maybe…."

Reiko perked up and glanced at her closest friend as the match between the four students of the hero course and the school's counselor began.

"They should be relying on Shoji, don't you think?" Reiko found herself asking Izuku out of nowhere.

The boy perked up, his mumbling fit coming to a rapid halt as he glanced at his friend, "Ummm." He glanced at his notes, seeing that he had written the exact same thing. "Y-Yeah, actually, how did you…?"

A soft, quiet, almost unheard giggle cut him off, Reiko glanced at his notes before looking back at the screen showing the current on-going match, "It appears that your own analytical skills have rubbed off on me, I've noticed myself taking after some of your more intellectual traits."

Izuku blushed, hiding his face in his book, "Is that so..? I-I'm flattered."

Setsuna glanced at Monoma and grinned, nudging him in the side, the boy only gave her an exasperated look before shaking her head and continuing to observe how their classmates were doing against Hound Dog.

Shoji grunted as he used his size arms to try to hold Hound Dog in place, he was surprised that the pro was out-powering him in terms of strength, holding all three of his fists in one hand on each side and making him slide back as they were in a deadlock.

Behind a street corner, Ojiro, Shoda, and Juzo stood and waited with baited breath as their strongest team member faced off with Hound Dog.

Shoda sighed before nodding towards Juzo, "Alright, move in."

Juzo sprinted forward, quickly putting a hand on the ground and causing the floor under both Shoji and Hound Dog. Shoji grinned under his mask as their bait plan had worked, but that smile fell when Hound Dog jumped up and placed his legs on Shoji's chest.

Mudman, Juzo, cursed. He couldn't just turn his quirk off since Shoji was stuck in his softened ground, but staying down here wasn't helping anything either. Before either him or Shoji could make a decision, Hound Dog started flexing his legs, extending to his full height.

"I'm gonna take your arms with me, kid!"

Shoji could almost laugh, and it looked like they had the upper hand again. "By all means, feel free." His arms extended, startling Hound Dog as the man went flying from the excess force he had from planting his feet on Shoji's chest, Juzo grinned and was ready to activate his quirk again.

What they didn't expect was Hound Dog to cut all of Shoji's extended arms off.

All those in the observation room paled at the violence on display, Komori herself had to step outside as she almost threw up.

Monoma placed a hand over his mouth and turned away, "What the hell…"

Izuku gulped and looked at his teacher, "K-Kan-sensei, can you guys… do that?"

The Blood Hero turned to him, his gruff face terrifying Izuku just like it had the first day of classes, "This exam is designed to make you lot go Plus Ultra." A strange and intimidating smile appeared on the pro's face, "Shoji can heal with his quirk, so it's nothing too bad."

When the man turned back around, Izuku started shivering in place, imagining just what would happen during his exam.

Shoda went in to try to land a blow on Hound Dog, but with the man's enhanced hearing he was easily able to both dodge and counter attack against the large boy by ducking and palm striking the boy's belly before throwing him over his head and into Shoji's awaiting, and bloody, arms.

Hound Dog snarled as he turned to Juzo, his claws almost looking like they were getting sharper as a little bit of blood dripped off of them.

Juzo glanced at his classmates, wondering if he should try facing off against the pro or save them, just then Ojiro jumped in, going for a spinning tail hit against Hound Dog and giving Juzo enough time to run to save Shoji and Shoda who were both still down.

Only for Hound Dog to grab Ojiro by the tail and use him as a bat to slam Juzo into the ground. 'CRAP!' The skeleton-looking boy's helmet came off as he collided with the concrete, Ojiro winced as Hound Dog's claws dug into his tail to get a good grip, he tried wiggling out before the pro's strength easily outpowered his own.

Hound Dog spun in place, swinging Ojiro in a circle, the tailed boy held his mouth as he became nauseous. Juzo, Shoji and Shoda just began getting up when Ojiro was launched at the three of them, Shoji cursed and quickly caught the boy, wincing as he slid back.

Hound Dog launched himself at the remaining two, landing on Juzo's torso and knocking him down before swiping at Shoda's stomach.

A group of tentacles flew towards him but Hound Dog expertly dodged before grabbing each end, crossing them over, and pulling Shoji towards him before headbutting the bigger boy. 'Attacking his limbs won't do much, go for the head.'

Shoji cursed as he felt like his nose started bleeding, his mind feeling dizzy and numb.

Shoda tried to intervene but Hound Dog was much too fast, even when he landed a tap on the pro and activated his quirk, Hound Dog rolled with the blow and simply used the momentum to hit Ojiro with more force.

Izuku gulped, "Hound Dog's a combat machine…" It reminded him of… Bakugo.

The match ended soon after, with none of the four boys being able to do much of anything against Hound Dog, the man's quirk while simple was an effective boost to his overall strength and senses. Even the simplest of quirks could be extremely dangerous.

Would Izuku have been able to win? Or would it be just like the USJ where he couldn't do anything to help? Now that he thought about it, who would he be fighting?

Would he be able to persevere and become a hero?

His fist clenched as the next group went out, just like Vlad King said.

He'd have to go Plus Ultra for their Final Exam.

END

Notes:

I did not like this chapter, but I liked things about the chapter. Sorry it took so long, I honestly didn't expect it to but it just took a lot longer due to burnout and other factors like summer school and summer training for my sports.

But, aside from that, what did you think about the fights? They're a bit harder to manage now since each round is a four against one but I wanted these to be joint battles for numerous reasons, one being I want to show the bond between both classes.

Moving on, one of the relationships is going to progress soon, is it the main pairing or a side thing? Who knows :)

So, these were the first five rounds, there will be another five but I don't believe they'll all be in the next chapter, Izuku's own exam will probably be a full chapter.

Finally, I've decided I will be doing the movie and then the forest training camp arc, but would you guys want me to include either a short chapter or have a small portion of a chapter dedicated to Izuku's birthday? I thought that would be something cute.

Anyways thank you all for reading and I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can.

Jay out!

Chapter 24: Final Exam: Reiko's Rise

The mood between all of the students died down and was now in the mud as Shoda, Shoji, Juzo, and Ojiro returned from their test, being the first to fail their exam left a sour taste in not just their mouths but the mouths of all the students present.

Juzo pulled his helmet off and gripped it tightly between his hands, "Damn… it!" He squeezed his arms so hard that his helmet cracked before he threw it to the side.

Ojiro scowled as he stood off to the side, cursing as he clenched a fist. His pride had been damaged from losing so hard, he believed that they would do so well but… they were the first loss…

Shoda frowned and massaged his stomach where Hound Dog hit him most. He sighed and glanced at his teammates, seeing that they were all also stuck in their own heads, though he couldn't read Shoji as of currently.

Shoji stood off to the side, his arms were already healed but he still looked distant. Shoda knew it was best not to bother the gentle giant.

Still, they were all disappointed and felt like they were failures in some sort of sense due to being the first ones to fail the Final Exam.

Their team sulked as the next group left the Hub Tower as the next round was going to begin. Shoda glanced to see that Pony and Kamakiri were going to be competing next, he sighed and decided to watch to at least get his mind off of their loss.

Izuku and his friends felt bad for Juzo and Shoda.

Monoma clicked his tongue, "Hound Dog was a rough match up for those two…" He mumbled as he stood next to Izuku, replaying the fight in his mind's eye. "He's as quick and agile as you are Midoriya, but his reflexes are off the charts…"

Izuku nodded as he glanced down at his notes, "You can say that again…"

Shishida took his glasses off and let out a guttural sigh, "I'm going to go make sure Shoda-san is doing alright…"

Izuku smiled, "Thank you Shishida-kun."

The beast teen went to check up on his seat mate while Izuku and Monoma took a glance at each other, "You two shouldn't distract yourselves." Reiko's voice knocked them both out of their musing as they looked at her, seeing that she had squeezed herself between them. "We have our own exams to focus on."

Monoma hummed at her words before shaking his head, "You're right, it's just difficult to concentrate right now…"

"You can say that again…" A new voice interjected.

The three of them turned to Shinso as the boy scratched his head, he seemed a little embarrassed now that the attention was on him. "Sorry, didn't mean to interject…"

Izuku smiled and waved a hand, "No need to apologize, Shinso-kun!"

The lilac haired boy simply shrugged.

"What has gotten you so nervous, Shinso-san?" Reiko asked as Kamakiri Pony, Iida, and Koda finally left for their exam against Powerloader, something that in her opinion would be difficult for the group.

The insomniac sighed and grabbed the scarf around his neck, one that they noticed was basically the same scarf that Eraserhead had, just white instead of gray. "I still only know the rough basics of using this thing, and since the tests were a week earlier than they were supposed to be I didn't have time to put in a request for that voice modulator."

"Hmm yes I can see how that would be a problem." Monoma commented.

Izuku winced, "The teachers would all know your quirk, so they know not to answer, having the modulator would have been a big help…" He muttered off before an idea came to mind. "Unless…!" A wide grin came to his face as he activated Full Cowling and blasted across the room.

"...So he won't even finish the thought before running off?" Shinso asked.

"Nope." Reiko and Monoma said in unison.

While Izuku ran off to go do… whatever he was doing, the three of them looked towards the big screens to see what their peers were doing against Power Loader. Koda was being given a piggy back ride on Iida's back while Pony was somehow riding her horns and Kamakiri was jumping while using spikes created from his feet, back, and general lower body to give him lots of air time with his leaps.

Instead of going for the pro, they were ALL gunning for the exit gate, though it looked like Kamakiri was offering himself up as a distraction?

When did Kamakiri get so noble?

"You're going down tiny man!" The bug looking boy yelled as he created blades from his back and feet one last time to send himself sailing towards the Excavation Pro. "Here comes the pain train, dumpster truck!"

Ah, that was the Kamakiri they all knew.

Power Loader easily dodged the boy's strike with a duck, causing Kamakiri to land behind him, "Huh, thought you were gonna be a little smarter than that." The pro commented.

Kamakiri looked back at him and grinned, "We were."

"Eh?"

Two of Pony's horns shot out of the ground and cupped Power Loader under the arms, hoisting him up into the air before dropping him, Kamakiri quickly jumped and grabbed onto them and let himself be dragged along by the floating appendages.

Power Loader quickly got back up to his feet, the ground didn't feel too stable… "Shit."

Pony and Kamakiri laughed, strangely they both had a very similar sadistic laugh, as Power Loader fell into his own pitfall trap. They only laughed harder when the pro tried to get up and chase them but found himself unable to when he was held down by a legion of bugs, courtesy of Koda

Monoma snickered as the four students passed the gate, while some of his other cohorts looked on in horror.

Kendo's skin crawled as she rubbed her arms and shook her head, "Gross, gross, gross!"

Shiozaki hugged her long, vine hair, "Those dirty bugs would eat my precious vines."

Kodai patted the girl on the shoulder while Komori offered her a smile, "And it would be the best meal of their lives!" That didn't help much. Kuroiro laughs while Shiozaki's face falls in horror at the concept, everyone else is anxiously awaiting for the previous team to return so the next round can be called.

"—I don't particularly agree with the language used, I appreciate the sentiment nonetheless!" Class A groaned when they heard Iida's usual commanding tone as the group entered the area.

"YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH MY LANGUAGE FOUR-EYES!"

"YES!"

Bakugo grinned, huffing out a chuckle to himself as Iida was called Four Eyes by someone else. Kamakiri and Iida's bickering lifted the mood of the room as the two argued like school children.

The next round was soon called, Tetsu, Shishida, Kirishima, and Sato would be competing against Cementoss. Shishida sighed as he was still chatting with Shoda, but his friend regarded him with a nod, "You've got this, Shishida-kun."

The beastial teen smiled, "Thank you, my dear friend."

Shoda grinned before punching the larger guy on the arm, "Go get him, man."

"I will make sure to do that."

"Let's go Shishi-bro!"

"Come on Sato-Bro!"

Tetsu and Kirishima glanced at each other before grinning and each letting an arm out before giving each other a manly handshake. "If we don't do good here, you just know Fourth Kind is gonna find us and beat the crap out of us."

"Yeah, I do! So let's do our best!" Kirishima cheered with a grin.

"Plus Ultra?"

"PLUS ULTRA!"

Shishida and Sato spared glances at each other before sighing, "Well, let's do our best then, shall we?" Shishida asked with a grin.

Sato grinned and smacked his fists together, flexing under his skin-tight suit. "Yeah!"

The four left, chipper for the chances.

"That's team beef."

The entirety of both hero classes turned to look at Awase who simply shrugged, "Say it how I see it."

Reiko sighed at her classmate's antics as Izuku finally returned, holding what looked like a giant mask, though its mechanics looked strange, with many panels and plates covering the front of it.

"What in the world is that medieval torture device?" She asked, taking a step back.

Izuku's eyebrows perked up, "It's a voice modulator for Shinso…"

Shinso approached and took the offered modulator, "A voice modulator…?"

Izuku nodded, "Yeah, if you move these plates around and stuff then you'll be able to change the sound of your voice!" He said with excitement, "Hopefully it'll give you a leg up in your exam."

Shinso's eyes shone in wonder and he snapped the modulator around his neck, they had knobs on either side, when twisted they would shift the pitch of his voice, theoretically allowing himself to copy the voices of others.

"This will definitely help." They could all hear the grin in his voice, "I'll just mess with it for now." He'd rather practice now and not need the help of the modulator than not practice and end up needing it. "Thank you, Midoriya."

The greanette grinned and rubbed his neck, "Don't thank me, I just showed Yaoyorozu the schematics and she made it, you should be thanking her."

"Who's that again….?"

They forgot how bad Shinso was with people.

Practical Exam Location

Tetsu looked around, pensive as they hadn't come into contact with Cementoss yet. Shishibro and Kiribro walked by him, with a big dude with equally big lips behind the three of them.

Kirishima was repeatedly flexing and unflexing his arms, activating and deactivating his quirk, Shishida was on guard but wasn't using his quirk since he wanted to be prepared and his Beast Form usually led to him being more reckless.

That Sato guy held a little packet of what looked like sugar or salt in his hands.

They were all on edge and it showed.

"Remember my bros." Tetsu said as he looked around, his entire body was tingling in fright as they waited for their teacher to start his attack, "Whatever happens, y'all are a real manly bunch."

"Thought that would be a little more inspiring…" Sato commented, before he tilted his head at Kirishima who was crying alligator tears.

"That was one of the manliest things anyone's ever said to me!"

Shishida sighed as he pulled his glasses off, "Goodness, there's two of them…"

"Two of who–"

RUMBLE

Tetsu paused as the ground and nearby buildings seemed to shake. "Is there an earthquake going on or something?"

"No.." Shishida looked around, Kirishima activated his quirk, and Sato downed a sugar packet. "It's Cementoss.."

A wave of cement came from around the corner, looking like it was flooding the faux city, Tetsu quickly activated his quirk as the cement hardened into concrete as it reached them.

"STEEL FIST!" "RED GAUNTLET!" "BEAST BARRAGE!" "SUGAR RUSH!"

The four boys combined their strength in tandem and beat down on the concrete walls in front of them, keeping them from being sucked in by Cementoss. Over and over, punch after punch, so much that their fists felt like they were bleeding.

Tetsu grit his teeth as his mind took off running, he knew that they were fighting a losing battle, but what else could they do? He didn't even have time to think, all he could do was blast the concrete in front of them as they tried to postpone their loss against Cementoss.

The first person he saw drop was surprisingly Shishida, the teen's Beast Form dropped, his muscle noticeably dropped in size and he jumped back, but Tetsu didn't focus on that and instead kept punching the approaching concrete in front of them.

But he did notice when he got grabbed by the scruff of his neck and lifted onto his feet. "EH?!"

Shishida grunted as he lifted both Kirishima and Tetsutetsu off the ground. Sato burned with stress as he picked up the slack for the rest of them. Shishida flexed his muscles and brought his shoulders back as Tetsu and Kirishima squirmed in his grip.

"I'LL GET YOU AS CLOSE AS I CAN!" Shishida yelled in his Beast Form, "RAHHHH!"

Both boys were launched through the air, Shishida felt his arms burning in pain but still stepped up to help Sato even as they were bombarded with more and more concrete from Cementoss.

Tetsu's eyes flooded open as he and Kirishima soared through the sky of the mock city, they were easily able to see Cementoss from their vantage point, but they quickly began to lose their acceleration going up.

"WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT!" Kirishima yelled at him.

Tetsu began to sweat, from their trajectory, as they passed buildings and came within range of Cementoss, he glanced at Kirishima and an idea came to mind. "HARDEN UP!"

Kirishima didn't have time to question it, if Tetsu had a plan then he would go along with it, full throttle.

Tetsu pulled his arm back and breathed in deep, "STEEL—" He let his fist shoot forward and knocked Kirishima right in the back, "- IMPACT!" a lOUD CLANG coming from it, shooting the boy just a bit more forward than he would be otherwise.

While Tetsu landed in the hell of concrete that Cementoss had made, quickly earning himself an out alongside Sato and Shishida, Kirishima want on to land right on top of the pro, his weight and speed accidentally…. Knocking the pro unconscious.

"Hero Team…. Wins…?"

It was a win in their book.

Hub Tower

"They played the match like chess… sacrificing pieces to make sure they got the king…" Nezu summarized as Tetsu fretted over his concussed teacher. "Not ideal, not ideal at all…" They all thought they could scrape by since it was a test, but this was meant to simulate real villain encounters, you couldn't sacrifice fellow heroes out in the real world.

Or at least… not if there was another solution.

"So, Kirishima passes while Shishida, Sato, and Tetsutetsu don't?" Vlad King spat out as the medical bots arrived to treat Cementoss and get the other three boys out of the rubble of the match.

Nezu hummed, Aizawa sighed, and Vlad King looked tired of the principal's shit.

"I believe ... .we can allow Young Shishida and Young Tetsu to pass through their ingenuity that led to the victory, though we will need to increase the intensity of their training at the summer camp, Young Sato on the other hand will receive a fail for the exam."

Both homeroom teachers nodded along, it wasn't fair, but they agreed with the result.

All four had to be taken to the infirmary, to get rid of the rubble covering their skin and to check Tetsutetsu and Kirishima over for concussions from their falls.

"Honestly, I know they're hard-headed, but the brain can't take that kind of force." Kendo sighed.

Todoroki spaced out and rubbed his cheek, remembering when Izuku had absolutely demolished him in the Sports Festival, "Perhaps I should go to the doctor as well…"

"The next match will contain the following students…"

There were still thirteen students yet to enter their exam, three groups yet to face their teachers. One group would have Shinso with them.

"Rin Hiryu…"

The Chinese exchange student nodded, letting scales spawn on his skin, "I've been waiting for this one!"

"Toru Hagakure…" The invisible girl's arms waved in excitement or maybe nervousness, it was hard to tell when you couldn't really see her expression.

"Sen Kaibara…" The Gyrate user nodded, already spinning his arms to get them warmed up for his match. "Bout time…"

"... and Reiko Yanagi…" Both the girl herself and Izuku straightened out at the call. Reiko lifted her mask to cover her mouth and gazed at her friends. "Wish me luck."

"Your opponent is… Snipe!"

Izuku was both worried and not. He knew Reiko was strong, her quirk had an insane amount of versatility and was immensely powerful, she had proved that to him during the USJ as she was able to react to Nomu's attacks using her quirk while he wasn't able to.

But it was Snipe, and his sharpshooting ability was dangerous. Shigaraki's hole littered body proved that.

"Will Snipe-sensei be using live-rounds?!" Surprisingly, it wasn't Izuku who asked as he was stuck in his head, it was Iida. "If so, that is very irresponsible on behalf of UA."

Ah, there was that Iida that Izuku remembered from the Entrance Exam.

"Don't worry, partner." Snipe pulled out his revolver and spun the chamber, "They're all dummy rounds, won't leave any lasting damage."

Toru shivered at Snipe's tone, "I don't have any protection either…"

Kaibara grunted, "At least I have a jacket, are you wearing anything else besides those gloves and boots?"

"..."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

"We're doomed…" Reiko mumbled as their group headed to the elevator

Izuku silently chuckled to himself, "Good luck Reiko-chan!" He called out with a wave.

Just before the doors closed, the ghost girl gave her own little wave back, Izuku could see that she was smiling even with her mask on. It was cute.

"So~" His body locked up as he felt like Midnight pounced on him, even though the voice was different. A pink person popped up right in front of him. "I'm Mina, I'm Kiri's friend, remember?"

"Y-Yeah…" He didn't like her look, he wasn't talking about her skin! He meant her expression.

"But really, Reiko's her first name, right?"

"O-Oh! Would you look at that! The match is about to start! Hahaaha!" Izuku quickly bolted away, going back to his friends. That left Mina pouting, and Setsuna only looked on with a look of understanding.

Monoma was right, you just had to let Izuku and Reiko go at their own pace.

Izuku crossed his arms and glanced at the numerous cameras in the Hub. Snipe would be a tough opponent but he had complete faith in Reiko. She had trained with Ryukyu after all, had helped them fight Nomu, and made it into the final rounds of the Sports Festival.

She could do this.

Practical Exam Site

The four students stepped out into the exam site, another sectioned off area of Training Ground Gamma, at least they assumed going by all the pipes and towers littering the arena. Unlike previous rounds where they had to get from one end of the map to the other, this time they had to climb to the top of the nearest tower.

"That's probably where Snipe is." Reiko muttered under her breath as she pointed to the tower.

That spot would give him the best vantage point of the entire arena.

And Snipe's quirk thrived off of that.

Rin clicked his tongue, "My scales don't have that much range."

Kaiabra nodded along, "I'm a melee fighter, I can't do anything about distance…"

They both glanced at Toru before quickly going to Reiko, "Hey! How do you know I can't do anything?!"

"She can't." Rin answered with a sigh, "She's a stealth type."

"HEY!"

"So, we're screwed..?" Kaibara answered as the siren for the exam blared.

Reiko hummed and closed her eyes, "I think I can handle this…" Kaibara raised a brow as Reiko lifted her hand. She had to focus, focus specifically in front of her instead of around her, but that was hard when a bullet was coming right for them!"

"DUCK!" She yelled and jumped back as a bullet hit where she was.

"Crap!" Kiabara and Rin both activated their quirks as Toru squirmed in place.

BANG BANG BANG BANG

Four shots were fired, one for each of them, Reiko stopped the bullet mid-air using her quirk, canceling the inertia and allowing the bullet to drop, Kaibara spun his drill-arm towards the bullet and tore it apart, Rin's scale armor canceled out the bullet but it still stung, and Toru yelped as she was hit in the side with the dummy round.

"They don't pierce but they hurt!"

Rin grinned, "Good to know!"

"More incoming!" Reiko yelled.

Bullets rained down on them faster than they should have, Rin fired his scales, trying to knock some bullets off course but not managing much success.

Snipe's Homing was unfair, making sure his bullets always hit a target no matter what, unless specific outside factors affected them, like Reiko's quirk being able to cancel momentum. "Should we split up?!" Toru yelled

"It won't matter if we do!" Rin yelled, "Homing can track anywhere! Splitting up won't distract him!"

Reiko grimaced as more and more bullets rained down on them, littering the ground around them with the scattered slag. "Come on…" She whispered and closed her eyes, lifting up a hand. "Come on… focus…" She expanded her zone, reaching up higher, everything got focus and less precise, but she just needed a bit, a little snag.

His hand!

An uncharacteristic smile found its way under her mask and she pulled.

Snipe fell off of the tower and the three students looked on in wonder.

"Did he slip…?"

Reiko panted for breath, "No… I got him…"

"You need to think again…." Toru pointed towards the tower.

They all saw Snipe hanging, the pro had stuck a long knife into the concrete structure and stopped his fall, the pro looked around at all the pipes and faux buildings, "Time to get in close." He let go off the blade and landed on one of the many pipes of the industrial district.

Rin cursed, "All of you go hide and try to come up with a plan, I'll handle him in the meantime!"

Toru shook her arms wildly, "W-Wait, by yourself?!"

"We literally just said splitting up wouldn't help, dumbass!" Kaibara yelled.

Rin only grinned "My quirk is best suited for it, I got good offense and defense, I'll keep him focused on just me!" He countered before they heard the echo of Snipe's boots on the metal of the industrial district. "Now get going!"

Kaibara nodded and glanced at Reiko, "Come on, let's go!"

Toru huffed, "Fine!"

The three ran and Reiko glanced back for a moment. Seeing Rin ready to stand against an opponent much stronger than himself.

'It reminds me of that time in the cafeteria…' Where Izuku stood up to Bakugo all by himself, because he didn't want them to get hurt. She wanted to be a hero like that, a strong hero that stood up for others, others that couldn't stand up for themselves.

She'd always wanted to be a hero like that, since she was a kid. At first, she thought she would have to do it alone, because she was weird. But then Izuku had stumbled into her life and she couldn't deny his friendship, at first it was just because she found him so interesting. He had incredible power but was cursed with anxiety, always shrinking in on himself when there were loud noises, mumbling, cutting himself off as if he expected to be stopped short, not caring for his health.

But he was good, he always stood up for others, and that had spread to all of them too.

Monoma was weird the first week of school, but now she could tell that there was honest good in his heart, hell he tried to fight Bakugo just so Izuku wouldn't have to, he made friends with two enemies he had in the Sports Festival, Todoroki and Shinso, he pushed himself to his limits so that he could gain a better understanding of his quirk.

He led the class as their representative and was the ideal they all stood for.

Izuku took down Stain just because he wanted to help a classmate.

She wanted to be a hero, but now she wouldn't have to do it alone, now she had people by her side, and she could stand with them as a symbol that people could look to.

That weird people like her, that those who don't fit into typical norms can still be good, can still be heroes.

Her hands twitched and her eyes shone with determination, "I have an idea."

…

The area was quiet, Rin's scales covered his body all the way up to his neck. The entire area was quiet, he looked around, spun in place, looking for Snipe. The entire area was too quiet…

BANG

Snipe pounced.

Rin spun as quickly as he could only for some of his scales near his neck to be shot off by a bullet, 'W-What?!'

Snipe landed a couple meters ahead of him, his pistol steaming, "Looks like this is a duel…." The pro stood to his full height and swapped the round in his chamber, "I've never lost a duel before…"

"There's a first time for everything!"

"Only people in over their heads say that." Snipe chuckled.

Rin raised his arms and fired off full sets of scales, Snipe rolled to dodge and raised his arm when on the ground, firing off a bullet. Homing took effect as Rin raised his arms to block the bullet, the round impacted his arms and knocked off some scales but didn't do much more.

He tried to fire more scales but Snipe shot twice.

Rin cursed as one of Snipe's bullets grazed his cheek, even if they were fake rounds they still hurt. "Damn it!" He cursed as he raised his arms, shooting out all of the scales he had to at least try to damage the pro.

Snipe grinned under his helmet and shoot a single bullet towards Rin, the projectile hit one scale at just the right angle to bounce off of it and hit another, knocking them off course, before traveling and do the same to another scale, and then another, and another, and soon all of Rin's scales were thrown off course, parting for Snipe like the red sea as the man walks towards Rin.

"W-What?!" Rin yelled as he fired some scales but none of them even got close to the man as the one bullet that was fired kept ricocheting and sending all of his scales off course.

SNIPE'S QUIRK WAS BULLSHIT

The man got close enough and winded an arm back before socking Rin in the face, the boy heard something crack before he landed on the ground.

The chamber to Snipe's gun opened as Rin looked up, the shell of his used bullet falling out and clicking onto the ground as the chamber swapped to the next round. "Looks like you're out of time, partner." He used his gun, aiming at the boy's head. "Have fun in hell."

BAN–

The sound of his bullet firing didn't finish, perplexing him as he held up his hand gun, seeing the chamber being affected by a pink glow. "Well, wouldya look at that…" The sharp shooting pro grinned under his helmet.

"BACK OFF!" Kaibara flew in as his arm spun around the elbow joint with incredible speed, ready to tear into Snipe's side.

The pro jumped back and aimed his gun at Kaibara, but suddenly he felt a tug on his weapon and something blocking his trigger, pulling it to the side and giving enough time for Kaibara to tear into his stomach with Gyrate.

Sinpe rolled on the ground and came to a halt, grinning under his mask as he stood up, "Using Hagakure to stop me from shootin, not bad."

Now he could see the girl standing right besides the two boys, in just her boots now. They were really all coming together like a team.

"SCALE RAIN!" Rin got into a kneeling position and shot all he could, Snipe got ready to dodge but found himself pulled towards the scales and unable to lift his arm.

"Yanagi…"

Sure enough, the girl was positioned behind all of them, she had stopped his gun from firing, she had pulled him off the tower, she had orchestrated all of this. When did she become such a strategist?

The scales all struck him and some hurt, some stuck into his costume, some scratched him up. It was a good thing that they hadn't gone to the summer camp yet…

Cause it still wasn't enough.

"Gonna take a bit more than a couple of parlor tricks to keep me down!" He got back to his feet.

Yanagi spread her arms out as far as she could and grinned, "We know…" Kaibara and Hagakure jumped back with Rin quickly following as a pink aura stretched out from Yanagi before changing to blue, the intensity of Poltergeist was going up, all thanks to her training with Ryukyu.

"The hell…" Snipe muttered as he looked around, before things started flying out of his pockets, "Those are my backup rounds!"

All the rubble in the surrounding area, any loose rocks, any discarded items, Snipe's used rounds, each and everyone scale that Rin had disposed of, all of it was her ammo.

Her arms spread out high as a little blood leaked from her nose, "MYSTIC MINDSTORM!" With that, she crashed both arms down and everything shot towards Snipe at blistering speeds.

The pro didn't have a moment to dodge as he was blasted on all sides, his body jerking at each blow, each piece of rubble, each bullet, each scale. It almost looked like a ghost was being exorcized out of his body.

When everything was said and done, he stood frozen on his feet before collapsing onto his knees.

Reiko gasped for air as she wiped the blood from her nose.

"Looks like…."

"STUDENTS WIN!"

Hub Tower

Izuku grinned, a feeling of pride bubbling in his chest as the next group went down, consisting of Kodai, Fukadashi, Yaoyorozu and Jirou, but none of that was important. Rieko had won her match and she did it through an awesome new super move! "T-That was so cool!"

A new super move, one so powerful that it changed the color that her aura was when affecting objects, was it because the quirk, poltergeist, entered a new realm of intensity? Or was it something else? Though, she bled from her nose, was that because of the intensity? Well, telepathic quirks like hers usually put strain on the brain, was that why she got a nosebleed? He'd need to ask if she currently had a headache, how does it feel to expand her focus that much? Did it give her sensory overloa—

"Earth to Greenie!"

"AHHH!" Izuku massaged his ear before glaring at Setsuna, "Don't do that!"

She and Monoma both crossed their arms, "Well you wouldn't snap out of it no matter what we did." Monoma chuckled.

Setsuna covered her snort with a hand, "He was too busy thinking about his love~"

"W-What?!"

"BWAHAHAHAHA, HE'S A STRAWBERRY!"

"That's not funny, Tokage!"

Shinso sighed as the two greanette got into it with Monoma off to the side, "Does this usually happen…?" His asked in his usual tired drawl.

Monoma shrugged, "Setsuna likes to tease."

"Ain't that her first name…?"

"And that's the end of this conversation."

Shinso chuckled, "What, you embarrassed?"

"What about you and Kendo, huh?"

"...we're done talking…."

Izuku and Tokage only stopped their little argument once Reiko's group had completely returned, it had taken a while to get Snipe up because in his words Reiko's attack felt, "Like a million bee stings and then the hardest workout he's ever had."

So that was good to know.

Once she was back though she was immediately swarmed by her friends, all of them congratulating her and her victory. None more so than Izuku.

"You should've seen him, Yanagi, he was rambling the entire time!"

"N-Not the entire time!"

"Pretty sure he can fill a whole notebook on just you!"

"Okay well maybe…."

Setsuna shot him a smirk and opened her mouth, only for Monoma's hand to be slapped over it. "Alright, that's enough out of you…" The girl pouted and Izuku felt grateful for Monoma once again. "But.. Midoriya."

Izuku perked up, "Yeah, Monoma?"

"We're up next."

Pausing, Izuku realized there were only five of them left… he turned to see Todoroki standing near them, he sent the boy a nod which was returned. Shinso tugged on his capture scarf when Izuku turned to him, it was clear that he was extremely nervous but he was also resolute.

"Don't worry. I'll do my best." Shinso promised.

"I know." Izuku grinned.

The only other person left was… Bakugo…

Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen Bakugo since the festival, and the boy had fallen out of his mind as Izuku focused on more important things. That felt… relieving now that he thought about it, soothing that his entire mind wasn't focused on Bakugo like it was in middle school.

He wasn't paranoid that the blond would come out of any corner and deliver him a beatdown.

But now? After Izuku had beaten Bakugo in the Sports Festival? There was no way he would work with them.

"Let's start heading down, Midoriya."

"Alright, Monoma."

The four boys gathered together, readying the last of their gear, Izuku made sure that his gloves were secure and entered and exited his gauntlets into "Air Bullet Mode '' to make sure nothing faulty was happening.

Now he had a better chance to look at Todoroki's new costume that looked a lot better than the one he had at the USJ. 'Most likely due to the fact that he uses both fire and ice now…' He hoped that would help.

Shinso still looked unsure about his skill on both his modulator and capture scarf, but they didn't have any time to worry about that now. It was do or die time.

Monoma's costume hadn't changed at all, but Izuku could see a small bracelet hidden under his sleeve. The blond grinned as he touched it and his arm soon after disconnected from his body and floated in the air.

'A bracelet that holds DNA in it, allowing Monoma to use someone's quirk at any time, in this case Tokage's… that's really cool!' Izuku grinned at the small piece of tech.

"Izuku."

The boy turned around, smiling at Reiko as the girl smiled back at him. It wasn't too big, it was small and shy but it was just as blinding as any smile All Might had ever given. "Yes, Reiko-chan?"

She took one of his hands in both of hers, "I know you can win, just do your best and you'll persevere, I know you will no matter what and no matter who you face."

Izuku's grin only widened more and more at her words, "Thank you, Reiko-chan." It truly meant a lot.

Monoma grinned and wanted to make a snide comment but held himself back and instead laid a hand on his friend's shoulder, "We must get going, my friend."

The two nodded to each other and made their way down, best to get the jump on the competition and there was no point in waiting for their team to be announced when they already knew who they would be paired with.

Shinso and Todoroki followed them out, with a sulking Bakugo in the corner walking towards the door after they left.

The five boys stood together on the way down in the elevator, the large lift giving more than enough space for Bakugo to be separated from the group. Izuku glanced at him only to see the boy spaced out, an angry look on his face.

"What's his deal?" Shinso asked in a whisper.

"He's a brat, that's his deal." Monoma replied.

"I'll knock your teeth in, copycat." Bakugo interrupted and left the far wall, approaching the group with his head held high. "Say some shit like that again, I dare you."

Monoma met Bakugo's gaze, "What? You're a little spoiled brat!"

"Don't forget who kicked your ass in the Cavalry Battle, copy cat!"

"And you lost to Midoriya in the final so it doesn't matter!"

"I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!"

"I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY!"

"ENOUGH!" Izuku snapped and pulled the two apart, "I know you two don't like each other but we're on a team whether you like it or not!" He chastised the two, still seeing that both looked absolutely furious with the other, Bakugo himself looked offended that Izuku even dared touch him.

"Hm." Bakugo grunted, "Like I'd work with you worthless stones."

As the elevator doors opened, Shinso chuckled, "Says the guy who didn't get first."

"SAY THAT AGAIN, BAGS FOR—!"

Izuku glanced at Shinso as Bakugo's mouth shut, the insomniac grinned, "Follow us to the bus."

The five boarded a small bus nearby and were taken to a city, one with suburban and more urban settings. They all got off and Shinso even let Bakugo out of his brainwashing.

"DO THAT AGAIN AND I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Open your trap again and you'll be brainwashed."

Speakers set up around the district came to life, with static signaling their turned on status, "Finally we have!—" A robotic voice came through once more despite not needing to as they were already at the entrance of the testing field, before landing on five individuals.

"Todoroki Shoto!" The son of Endeavor narrowed his eyes, hoping that his teammates wouldn't be too troublesome. He knew how Bakugo could be sometimes, he knew how stubborn Midoriya could be, he didn't know much about Monoma or Shinso, but he also knew that he would give it his all no matter what, using both sides this time.

"Bakugo Katsuki!" Bakugo wanted to curse as the stupid machine called out his name, having to work with Todoroki fucking sucked, Half n' Half thought he was so much better than him because he came from a legacy family. That's not to mention fucking Deku and Copycat! Not to mention that fucking loser from Gen-Ed.

"Monoma Neito!" Monoma wanted to throw up, being forced to work with Bakugo was like hell. He supposed Todoroki was better, but he was glad to be working with his best friend, Midoriya, and a new close friend in Shinso.

"Shinso Hitoshi!" The Insomniac nodded as he readied his scarf and the new voice modulator that Midoriya had Yaoyorozu make, he wasn't completely sure how to smoothly use it yet but he would try his best with what he had, even if Todoroki, Midoriya, and Monoma were on the team he still had to pull his own weight if he wanted to be admitted into the hero course.

"And finally— Izuku Midoriya!" The greanette held a look of determination, they could work with this, working with Bakugo would be hard but he knew that the four of them could pull out a win against their opponent even if Bakugo didn't want to help them. Speaking of their—

— "And their opponent is All Might!"

The five students all froze as they were just about to enter through the testing field gates.

"All Might..?" Izuku asked dumbly to no one.

"YES!" A booming voice shook the crowd as a meteor descended and kicked up stone and dust as it crashed into the ground, Izuku's hair ruffled in the wind as he barely kept an eye open. The dust cleared and they saw the scowling face of the Number One Hero, his smile much more threatening now, "I will be your opponent."

Shivers went down all of their spines as All Might stood to his full height, looking like a giant preying on all of them. "Give me your best, because anything else will end up with you being turned to dust."

His skin crawled as he looked at All Might's smile, the piercing blue eyes of the Number One Hero telling him that no matter how hard they fought, they would fail. "You all looked shocked, do I have to repeat myself? Give me all you've got, or else."

Izuku's eyes shown with determination, Monoma grinned as his natural arrogance flooded his body, Todoroki's cool demeanor took over as he gazed at the pro, Shinso leveled his head despite the immense worrying overtaking his body, and Bakugo grinned with his overbearing pride. "PLUS ULTRA!"

Even if they had to face the Number One Hero, they would go beyond their limits and pass this test, that was a promise.

Notes:

So…. this took a while, but I have a good excuse this time. I recently moved and started my senior year of high school, also I've been working on other projects that I want to release so I might start doing that soon.

But, how'd you guys like this?

Reiko has a super move developed and Monoma and Izuku are fighting with new friends to take on All Might! Also Bakugo still hates everyone. I wonder how that'll go.

Question, would anyone mind if I skip through some stuff? Like I don't particularly enjoy the Joint Training Battle Arc or the Endeavor's agency arc, they're cool arcs but for the sake of a fic I feel like they're not worth writing, and yes I do have some plans for getting that far eventually.

Additional question, I've been thinking about adding a second story, so I don't get burned out on this one, I'll have another to bounce between so at least something is coming out during drawls in updates. What would you guys prefer, a Digimon x MHA story or an MHA rewrite?

Chapter 25: The Symbol of Peace

The five students looked on in shock as All Might's smile stretched, sending uncomfortable shivers down all of their spines. "Well, I'll see you lot after you fail." The giant of a man turned around and stalked off, the match hadn't begun yet and he would be starting on the other side of the district.

"So…" Todoroki trailed off.

"We're fucked." Shinso finished.

No one said anything, but they agreed with Shinso, after all, how could they fight against the Symbol of Peace?

Izuku closed his eyes and brought a hand to his chin, 'Well, if he's wearing those weights and then also is limiting his percentage of power…. Wait…' Izuku blinked and turned to the nearest speaker, the exam had still yet to start, and he knew Nezu was watching in on them. "Nezu-sensei!"

"What are you up to Midoriya?"

"You'll see Monoma!"

The speakers buzzed, static coming through before they heard a high pitched voice, "What is it, Young Midoriya?"

"How much of All Might's power is he going to be using?" There was no way they would allow All Might to use all of his power on kids, right? Well, they did have them fight the zero pointer during Entrance Exams… and they had the bottomless pit during the Sports Festival, even if they said that would be safe…

But they only had Hound Dog act so roughly on Shoji because they knew Shoji could regenerate, none of them could. So, they would have to limit All Might's power.

The squeaky voice of Nezu came through the speakers,"All Might will be restricted to only twenty five percent of his power, Young Midoriya."

"A fourth of his power? Doesn't that seem unfair…?" Todoroki asked.

"Shut the fuck up, IcyHot, if you can't handle the heat then you shouldn't be here!" Bakugo snapped. He had been short with all of them today. Even refusing to talk to them, if not to only criticize and belittle them.

That seemed like one of Bakugo's favorite pastimes.

Izuku clenched a fist and they watched as lightning wafted off of him, the boy winced before the lightning seemed to settle, allowing him to grin, "I can match that…. not perpetually, but I can rest at a lower power and increase to something that might match that when I need to take on his power…"

Against Stain he was able to use 20% with…. moderate pain. But after training for finals there was slightly less strain. Upping that percentage to 25% would hurt a lot more, but if he followed Gran Torino's style well then Izuku knew he'd be able to do it.

Shinso sighed, "We're really going to take on All Might?"

Monoma smiled and toyed with his bangs, "Looks like it, us taking on the Symbol of Peace?!"

Bakugo massaged his forearm and fired off some warm up explosions, "I'll take him on alone."

"He'll kill you." Todoroki stated in monotone.

"SHUT UP!" Bakugo snapped and aimed a gauntlet at Todoroki, "Doubt me again and I'll pop you like a can, Icyhot!"

Before Bakugo could make do with his threats, the gates of the training ground began to open and the four stood together with Bakugo letting out a smile., "I believe they call this "Do or Die time" just like Tetsu-kun says all the time, right, Midoriya?"

"YEAH!" Izuku responded in kind.

The gates were open and they flooded in.

"FUCK OFF, YOU EXTRAS!" And Bakugo instantly went off on his own, using his explosions to propel himself down the street.

Todoroki sighed in frustration, "He's not going to work with us, we need to form a plan on our own."

"Kacchan's already doing his part." The three looked at Izuku in confusion as the boy pulled his cowl onto his head and sealed it with his respirator, "We've got a decoy." His voice came out muffled but loud, carrying through the street, "So scatter."

Full Cowling sparked across his skin as he jumped to one of the nearby buildings, landing comfortably on the top of the roof and crouching down.

Shinso hid a smile under his scarf, Deku looked just like Eraserhead….

"Stay hidden in the shadows, let Bakugo face off against All Might first and we'll capitalize on it! Only talk through code names, You've got Deku right here!" He announced before getting ready to bounce off.

"I'm Shoto!" The youngest Endeavour yelled before getting ready to slide away on his ice.

"Phantom Thief at your service, but you can call me Phantom!" Monoma split his body up and floated to a nearby rooftop.

Shinso stood in place and clenched a fist, he had never really come up with a name, he didn't think he would ever get this far. 'A name, huh...?' He let his scarf out and it wrapped around a light pole, he pulled to the sides and found himself flying towards it. With skill and a bit of effort, he found himself crouching on top of the light pole, "Call me HiveMind!"

Deku grinned under his mask, "Got it, HiveMind! Now let's do this!"

…

His explosions slowed as he looked around and came to the ground, there was no sign of All Might yet. If his estimations were correct, he should be in the middle of the mock site right now, but the bastard was nowhere to be seen.

"Tch." Bakugo clicked his tongue as he started to walk, he needed to save his strength for later if he wanted to take out All Might.

The city was too quiet, too still, and it was pissing him off. At least he wasn't with those damn extras, like fucking Deku–

The guy he had lost to… in the Sports Festival. In an all out one versus one. He had lost to Deku. That little pebble on the side of the road that no one gave a second glance, the little bastard that everyone took and pummeled into the dirt for years, that guy had beaten him.

"If only I had my gauntlets, then there's no way I would've lost…" Yeah, Deku wouldn't have been able to take that explosion on, if he managed to pull off his Howitzer then Deku would've been demolished.

That little nerd couldn't beat him at his best.

"You look a little distracted there, Young Bakugo."

He froze, his head turned to the side, and there was All Might. Sitting on the hood of a car like a dad about to give his son a talk. "All Might.." He sneered.

"You know–" The pro ignored him, " – I have to say I'm not surprised by your actions." All Might stood up and Bakugo could see the hood of the car was dented from the pro's weight, "After all, you didn't work with Young Iida during the Battle Trials, you caused trouble at the USJ by attacking a dangerous villain when your instructor told you not to, and Best Jeanist's notes showed you had a subpar performance during your internship."

A scowl formed on Bakugo's face as his teeth almost cracked. "Shut. The. Fuck. Up."

All Might's smile seemed to only stretch as one single blue eye came through the shadows on his face. "Make. Me."

"RAHH!" A fist pulled back filled with explosions was sent All Might's way as Bakugo's yell cut through the city, the blow landed and filled the street with smoke. All Might simply stepped out of the smoke and looked undamaged. "W-What?!"

All Might sighed and shook his head, "HA HA HA!" He laughed to the sky, "Like I said before, Young Bakugo…." That one cerulean eye stared down at him and sent a shiver down his spine, "... You don't surprise me anymore…"

All Might clenched a fist and pulled it back, "DETROIT–"

"ST. LOUIS SMASH!"

Bakugo's eyes widened as All Might's cheek caved in, courtesy of Deku's boot. The pro was launched back and hit the ground. "NOW!" Deku's muffled but strong voice came through his mask.

A wave of ice came from one of the empty alleys and made a wall separating them from All Might, by the time the pro smashed it the two were gone. His head spun around, trying to see if any of his students were around.

Phantom was right in the middle of the street.

"Hey, All Might."

Their plan so far was to trick All Might, the man knew about Shinso's quirk so they hoped having Monoma copy Shinso's brainwashing would be enough to trick the man into responding and getting trapped in his own mind.

However, it looked like he wouldn't be doing that.

"HA HA HA!" All Might laughed before looking to the rooftops, "Say Young Midoriya, it was a good idea! But one the principal already warned me about!" The pro clenched a fist and pulled back, causing Monoma's eyes to widen in shock and worry.

"He wouldn't… right?" Monoma asked.

"TEXAS–" He was going to do it! " –SMASH!"

Monoma only had a moment to raise his arms to cover himself before being bombarded by air pressure, sending him flying down the street. He bounced on the road, cursing as each bounce formed a new bruise, his suit was cut up and he landed roughly on the ground.

Monoma coughed as he got up on his arms, "A-And that was just a quarter of his full power?!"

All Might's stomps echoed through the street, the man approached the downed Monoma and his sapphire eye peered down on the boy. Monoma scrambled to his feet and drew in as much air as he could cause that hit hurt.

"Get me outta here!" Monoma yelled in fear with All Might right before him, blue and green figures came down, a wave of ice and a bolt of lightning crashing down on All Might's form.

All Might didn't budge.

"OKLAHOMA!" All Might grabbed onto both Shoto and Deku and tensed his body before starting to spin in place, "SMASH!" The two boys and Monoma went flying from the air pressure, with Monoma and Todoroki hitting store fronts and Izuku landing in a car.

It seemed like they were truly out matched

…

"I mean this is hardly fair!" Yaoyorozu yelled in fright as her classmates were decimated by the Number One Hero, "To pair students against such a higher being should be criminal!" It was an outrage in her opinion. To see the boys so far had not given any sort of edge in the fight made her skin crawl.

"I've gotta agree…" Kaibara muttered as Bakugo flew back into the fray, only to be backhanded by All Might. "Yikes…"

Tetsu clenched his teeth and pumped his arms up and down, hoping his friends could get in a decent blow now that their plan had unraveled, only the All Might to use Monoma as a bat to his Izuku with. "Shit…"

Reiko couldn't help but gulp, going in she was optimistic for her friend's chances, now she was nervous, worried, and anxious about their physical wellbeing. "Come on, you can do this." But she still hadn't given up hope on them.

Both Class 1-A and 1-B could admit that they had plenty of differences and yeah they didn't like each other too much, the Sports Festival had even made that worse, made things more strained. 1-A had wanted to defend Bakugo, 1-B saw Bakugo as nothing but an asshole, but now they were united on cheering on the five fighting against Japan's strongest hero.

"Come on guys!"

"Plus Ultra!"

"You got this Greenie!"

"Go on, Todo-Broki!"

"Get up Sparky!"

"Neito you've got this!"

"Shinso don't give up now!"

Their voices grew and grew, and the five did not give up, Shinso and Monoma both tried to use brainwashing over and over but All Might never felt for it, Shinso couldn't even use the modulator yet since he hadn't had enough testing or luck with it. All Might only gave them even worse beatings for their attempts, Todoroki's ice was useless as All Might would tear through it and any use of his fire was dismissed with the immense air pressure All Might could create.

If they wanted any of Todoroki's abilities to work then they would need to lock him in place and limit his arm's movements.

All of Bakugo's explosions were tanked as if they were nothing more than little pebbles.

The only thing that really had done any damage was Izuku's attacks, yet they weren't as effective as the boy estimated they were supposed to be…

"He's using more than what Nezu said!" Izuku came to the realization as he rolled against the ground once more. Izuku scrambled to his feet, seeing Shinso trying to hold All Might's arm with his capture scarf only to get pulled by the giant, grabbed by the face, and slammed into the ground.

Izuku pulled an arm back with electricity building up in pressure. "One For All…. thirty percent…!" His arm bulged as green electricity and the scent of ozone wafted in the air. The pain was terrible, as if his arm was being held under a hydraulic press, but he had to push forward!

Todoroki cursed and slammed a foot down from his position behind All Might, coating the man in a layer of ice, Bakugo used an explosion to propel himself to All Might's head and blasted his ears and then his eyes.

The pro cursed, feeling the ice crawling up his body that he easily could have shaken away if not for the burning of his eyes after Bakugo's attack. All Might quickly spun in place, shattering the ice around him, and opened his burning eyes only for them to land on his first pupil.

Izuku got as close as he could, his arm burning with more power than he knew his arm could handle, "SMASH!" Izuku's fist connects with All Might's face, making the pro's head whip around, but that was all…

'That should've done more!'

A vice clamped around Izuku's arm and he trailed with his eyes to see that All Might was gripping it, pulling his own giant arm back and pumping it with power. "It's more like…. SMASH!"

The fist implants itself in Izuku's stomach and he feels his organs shift inside of him, spit coming out of his mouth and coating his respirator, as he goes flying from the blow and wind.

All Might grins, turning to gaze at Todoroki and Monoma, glancing off to see Shinso still in the ground, and not seeing where Bakugo is, "Two down…" His smile stretches up and only unnerves the students more, "Three to go…"

…

The teachers and students in the observation room looked on in shock as Izuku collided with the wall of the district, All Might had sent him flying far. Vlad King knew that they were going to be hard on these boys, but he still couldn't help the bile building up in his throat.

"Midoriya's not… dead… right?" Shoda asked with a slight tremor in his voice.

"His quirk increases his durability so… he should…. be fine…" Kendo sounded unconvinced even to herself.

"He's not dead." Aizawa answered, "This kid's skin is thicker than that, I thought you all would know that." They all can hear the sarcasm in his voice, but don't acknowledge it, they were too worried at the moment.

After all, All Might just pinned Bakugo…

…

A grin graced the Symbol of Peace's face as Bakugo tried to worm his way out of a metal fence that All Might had stuck into the ground on top of the boy, trapping him against the concrete. Even with all the explosions Bakugo was trying, he still wasn't able to get out.

It was almost like watching a rabid dog get locked up.

His massive form shifted to look around, Monoma and Todoroki had gone missing. "Trying to regroup, eh…?" How pathetic. Well it actually wasn't, in fact he was quite proud of his students, but he did have a part to play.

KRAKAKAKA

The sound of breaking glass came to his ears as ice shot out of an alley, one of Todoroki's glacier sized creations, and tried to overtake All Might. They succeeded in covering him, and most of the block, and Todoroki finally eased up a bit with a relieved sigh.

But then he heard the cracks.

The ice shifted and split, tearing and breaking, before Todoroki heard that damn laugh again.

"HAHAHA!" All Might flexed and the glacier came to pieces around them, like little snowflakes in winter.

With all the ice falling away, it let All Might see Young Todoroki's horrified face from the alley.

He pulled his arm back and was ready to let out a Texas Smash to knock the boy out, but that was when he saw a blonde figure in a suit in the corner of his eye, 'What's Young Monoma doing, charging me all by himself?'

The boy in the coattail jacket looked frightened, down right terrified to face All Might, but he was still doing so with all he had, and that was something All Might respected.

Monoma charged forward, that look of fright on his face slipping away as a smile came, but it wasn't one of his usual cocky grins, instead there was a genuine joyful smile on his face. 'Midoriya… thanks for this…'

It was something he'd been planning since school started, it was one of his original selfish reasons for befriending Midoriya. So he could use Midoriya's strength. But now, Midoriya… Izuku had become one of Monoma's most trusted friends, a person he could always rely on. To use his quirk was an honor, it meant something. Even if Superpower destroys his arm, he'd be happy to have finally assisted his friend in something.

Green sparks danced off of Monoma's body and his skin began to glow as he fueled his body with Midoriya's quirk, Superpower. All Might's eyes widened as the gears in his mind turned, realization kicking in. "Young Monoma, don't—"

But Monoma didn't listen, instead threw his arm forward with all of his might, with everything he had—

And nothing happened

'IT'S A BLANK!' Being unable to situate himself, he got back slapped by All Might, going flying and hitting with a crash into a storefront. Monona groaned and cried out in pain as discomfort and hurt shot through his back. The blonde forced himself to at least try to get up and saw a livid All Might stalking towards him.

The man had managed to rein in his shock and got back into character as soon as he could, he could save apologies for later.

Monoma chuckled, dragging a hand up to his face and swiping the blood off of it. "I guess this is it…"

Todoroki was still shell shocked that All Might had just flexed off being trapped head to toe in ice, Bakugo was much the same, as All Might had completely decimated the boy and trapped him, Shinso was still head first in a small crater, and none of them knew where Midoroya was. They had lost.

"We did our best…."

The pro raised a fist, his stern smile sending chills down Monoma's body as those blue eyes stared down at him as if he was a pebble, "Don't be disappointed Young Monoma, after all, what did you expect going up against the Symbol of Peace?"

Monoma chuckled, "I guess more than this…" He smirked and hung his head in shame, this was it.

And then the smell of ozone filled the air. The smell took over his sinuses and he heard it, the small little crackling, the sound of lightning, the sound of Full Cowling, and then he felt the thunder along with a yell. "ALL MIGHT!" He looked up, seeing Izuku descending from who knows where.

It made Monoma grin like a madman. "Midoriya my friend, you maniac!"

"STAY AWAY, FROM MY FRIENDS!" Izuku yelled as he soared down towards his favorite pro, his arm wrapped in green electricity, his teeth grit with incredible force. And then—

SNAP

A dam inside Izuku broke, and before his fist could collide with All Might, something exploded. Spikes, spires, whips, tendrils of darkness shot out of Izuku's arm, swirling around the fake city. Izuku yelled and never reached the ground as he was carried far into the sky. "GAAAAAH!"

Monoma froze, sat in the storefront, waiting for something to happen. For him to wake up from this horrible nightmare, but nothing was happening. He took a chance to glance at the downed Todoroki, and saw the same expression on the Son of Endeavor's face.

The classes froze as they watched what was happening on screen, "IZUKU!" Reiko yelled. Large tears in her eyes as the darkness spiraled around Izuku's form.

Vlad and Aizawa shared a look before Vlad slammed a hand down and yelled into the intercom, "MIDORIYA, CAN YOU HEAR ME-"

"GAHHH! CALM DOWN, I SAID CALM DOWN! WHY- WHY NOW, I'VE HAD CONTROL FOR MONTHS, I WAS DOING GREAT! WHAT'S GOING ON?!" His yells came through, all the students present felt horrible, they couldn't do anything.

Tetsu clenched a fist, his friend was suffering right now, could he go and help? He could! He was a hero in training after all, that was his duty! That's what he was supposed to do!

"Yanagi, it'll be okay, he'll be alright…" Kendo held her poltergeist friend as the girl reached for the screen that displayed Izuku's anguish, though it was clear that her words were not heard.

She could only pray as she watched on, hoping that he would be okay, but watching his face contort in pain only sent tremors through her body. This was a million times worse than his collapse after fighting Stain.

Aizawa could only watch in horror as well, feeling horrible for Midoriya. His hands reached up and curled around his capture-weapon, if anyone looked closer they would've noticed he was starting to stain the weapon red.

"Everyone stay here! We're going to go help him!" Vlad King yelled before smacking the comm again, "The exam is officially cance-"

"N-NO!" The pro paused, looking up to see Izuku's face on the camera, tears in his eyes, but a look of resolution on his face as he grit his teeth. "DO NOT END THIS EXAM!" The darkness spiraled and he was carried farther into the sky, far above his friends.

Vlad King cursed, he believed in his student, but he was also scared for him! "B-But–!"

"It's okay, Sekijiro-kun." Nezu's high pitched voice cut through the intense atmosphere in the air. "Let's see him rise to the occasion.

…

Monoma sucked in a breath before trying to let it out, but he couldn't, his breath was stuck in his throat and he felt like he was suffocating, Izuku soared higher and higher towards the heavens to a place that he couldn't reach.

"All this time… I've been obsessed with being the best, with being better than 1-A…" He clenched a fist as tears filled his eyes, "... now I realize that none of that crap matters!"

Monoma's voice carried through the street before he decked himself in the face. The class in the observation room yelped at the display but Monoma lifted his head, looking more focused than ever.

Blood leaked from his nose but he didn't care, "We need to help Midoriya right now!" He yelled before shooting to his feet.

All the while, Bakugo just stared on in confusion, because what the fuck was happening?! "God damn Deku, stealing my spotlight!" He yelled, trying to get up off of the ground.

All Might wasn't fairing much better, he didn't know how to help without injuring his protege, and his brain was still reeling from what was happening. What was going on with One For All?

Izuku cried, soaring farther and farther into the air, being whipped around like a deflating balloon as he crashed into buildings. Holding his arm he clenched his mouth shut, 'ONE FOR ALL!' His arm was burning, as these– these spires of darkness took hold of him, 'What's going on?!' Was this One For All? But how? This wasn't anything close to what the quirk was!

Todoroki ran by a shocked All Might, the pro was ready to intervene when his communication device beeped to life in his ear. "Leave it to them, All Might."

"N-Nezu…" All Might stammered, his eyes shining in worry as his student stood like a dying star in the center of the decaying street. "B-But Young Midoriya is–"

Nezu cut him off. "Let the boys handle it."

The device shuts off and All Might is left standing, shaking, praying for his student.

Shinso bolted up when he felt a sudden bit of frost on his neck, looking up to see a shaken Todoroki, "D-Did we win…?"

"The match is still going on, but we need to help Midoriya."

"What's up with him..?"

Todoroki simply pointed up, allowing Shinso to see a horrifying site. A goop of black in the sky, almost like a physical representation of anxiety of depression. "HE'S IN THAT?!"

"Yes, and we need to help him."

"Guys!" Monoma yelled as he skated to a stop near them. "I've got a plan."

Shinso pulled himself up with the assistance of the other two, "Then let's hear it."

Monoma pulled his sleeve up and revealed a green bracelet, one made of hair, after that he showed what that allows him to do by disconnecting his hand from his arm and leaving it floating in the air. "With this I should be able to get up to him." Then he grabs a hold of Shinso and copied Brainwashing once more. "With this hopefully I can knock him out, and I'm praying it'll have an effect on whatever the hell is happening."

"Alright." Todoroki nods. "I'll try to freeze the infrastructure around here to make it stable so nothing gets damaged or falls on top of us."

"And I'm going with you Monoma." Shinso states, a look of resolution on his face as he grips his scarf. "Midoriya…. he's a really good friend and I wanna help him."

Monoma's eyes widened a little before softening, "Then let's go." He points to the top of a nearby building, "Let's get up there, Todoroki, we'll meet you later and win this thing!"

Bakugo was still off to the side, stuck in the ground, his eyes bulging and teeth grinding as the other three break apart to save Deku from his own mess. "He got himself into that, he can get himself out!" He grits his teeth even harder and lets out large explosions towards the ground, forcing himself up despite being trapped. "I'M GONNA KICK ALL MIGHT'S ASS!"

The three boys heard the sound of familiar explosions before a guttural scream tore through the city. Todoroki sighed, at least Bakugo would serve as a distraction for them.

The dark star in the sky that had trapped Midoriya was still whipping around, shooting jagged spikes out and catching some of the buildings, cracking concrete off and sending debris sprawling everywhere. Todoroki did his best to catch any debris, shooting his ice across the testing ground and creating a sort of spider web to reinforce structures.

"I'll do the best I can." What he could do for now. He wanted to save, he wanted to help, winning didn't matter so much.

Monoma and Shinso found themselves on one of the rooftops nearest Izuku after flying and climbing up it respectively, hearing his screams made their hearts ache even more.

Izuku himself wasn't fairing well, his arm was burning up, and no matter what happened he couldn't control himself, or whatever was happening with One For All. The Exam hadn't been canceled yet so they still had a chance to pass, he just had to get a hang on this stupid thing!

"MIDORIYA!" Izuku flinched, tried to look down but found that he was floating with his toes up, instead he looked around and found his eyes landing on his friends nearby, Monoma and Shinso with looks of terror on their faces.

Monoma's upper body disconnected by the hips as he floated in place, Shinso wrapped him in his capture scarf before spinning in place, "Scarf Launch!"

Like a bullet, Monoma shot towards Izuku, cutting through the strands of the darkness around Izuku and cursing as some cut through his skin. "M-MONOMA-KUN!" Izuku yelled.

"I gotcha Midoriya!" Monoma latched a hand onto Izuku's shoulder and grinned, "Now, let's win this thing!"

Even if they had to face All Might, even if they had to fight an impossible foe that was leagues above them, Monoma knew they could do it. Because as long as he followed Midoriya then anything could happen.

Ever since the first day of school, he knew Midoriya was special, but now it was different. Midoriya was his best friend, his first ever friend, someone that didn't look down on him for being a copycat.

Midoriya…. Izuku was a truly great friend, and he would always stand by him.

A grimace came to Izuku's face as the quirk around them crescendoed but he grinned just like Monoma, maybe even more so. "ALRIGH—"

Brainwashing kicked in, and in a second it was like all the tendrils around Izuku were sucked into a vacuum, everything around him turned blank, it was like last time he was affected by the quirk, but slightly different.

The darkness around him was taking over, his vision was dark, he couldn't see.

All around him it was just a shadow.

"SNAP OUT OF IT WILL YA?!"

"Gah!" Izuku's eyes shot up, startling in fear as a bald man with goggles yelled at him. "Who are you?!" Izuku tried to talk, but found that his voice wouldn't escape his mouth, but that was because he didn't have a mouth.

The man chopped Izuku on the head, "You're going about it all wrong kid, Black Whip's controlled through emotion, you gotta keep yourself in check!"

Izuku stood still, his "mouth" still agape, "Who are you?!" He repeated in his head.

The man grunted and seemingly sensed his confusion, "Oh for the love of—" He chopped Izuku on the head again, "The name's Lariat, kid! I'm the fifth user of One For All!" The now-named Lariat announced, "But you can call me Daigoro, Daigoro Banjo."

Eyes shining in awe, Izuku looked at his… predecessor in admiration. Another user of One For All, communicating with him through the quirk. Just like when he was fighting against Shinso, just like his dream after Stain, but this time…

He was so close….

The man, Daigoro, clicked his tongue as he looked around, "Looks like my time's about to be up kid, be careful with Black Whip, you've got this!"

Izuku wanted to say something, even though he couldn't , wanted to know more about his predecessor and to know if he could tell him more about One For All and its secrets.

But before he knew it, his eyes were opening and he was sucking in air as consciousness returned to him. A pair of blue eyes with blonde hair was in front of him, shaking him as they landed on the ground, "MIDORIYA!"

"M-Monoma!"

Shinso jumped down from the rooftop, "JUMP TO THE ALLEY NOW!"

"WHA–"

"SMASH!"

The boys were sent tumbling back by a whirlwind of pure force, Bakugo went flying past them, obviously from one of All Might's signature attacks, Izuku glanced at his face while he passed by and saw him for just a moment. His eyes were completely rolled into the back of his head.

'He took out Kacchan…' Izuku thought to himself as he forced his body up.

Shinso grunted, "So… we're still not gonna give up, right?"

"I don't know the meaning of the phrase." Monoma grinned and rubbed his mouth with a fist.

"Neither do I…" Izuku forced himself to his feet, the sound of crackling glass told him that Todoroki had joined their side.

"Get up.." His monotone voice cut through as he helped Monoma and Shinso up.

The four stood side by side, Izuku's wrecked right glove hanging limply as he ran it across his face to get rid of some blood that littered him when Black Whip went haywire. All Might could only grin as he stood taller, having not used up any of his time today to give his students the best challenge he possibly could. And despite everything against them, they were doing the same.

Izuku crouched down, gritting his teeth as Monoma and Todoroki shared a fist bump, lightning danced off of him in waves as he increased his output, "Come on All Might!" He yelled as he felt his body strain, yet, he was still standing, with a crazy smile on his face. "Full Cowling: 20%!"

All Might laughed at the heroes, "Your fighting style primarily focuses on using quick attacks too fast for your opponents to see Young Midoriya!" The pro stopped his cackling and leveled Izuku with a piercing glare, "You don't have the strength to take me on, boy." He spat.

His opponent, Deku, could only grin in response, "No hero is a one trick pony All Might!"

…

…

…

…

"Aizawa, did he just–"

"Shut it, Kan."

…

"LET'S DO THIS THING!" Izuku shot towards All Might like a bullet, landing with a foot on the pro's face. All Might whipped around, ready to punch, but encased in ice up on his sides from both Monoma and Todoroki.

"Even if you break out of it." Todoroki increased the ice and it crawled over All Might's entire body, Izuku upped his percentage and pushed further along with Monoma, "The rapid temperature change will surely have some effect on your body!"

Izuku grit his teeth as his power settled even higher than power, "COME ON, 25% SMASH!"

All Might's head jerked.

They could win.

All Might flexed off the ice and grabbed Izuku by the face, ready to throw him, but Izuku lifted his lower half up and wrapped them around the pro's arm. "TODOROKI, MONOMA!" Izuku used his entire body's power to keep All Might's arm straight.

Monoma spawned as much ice as he could and sent ice All Might's way, flames crawled up Todoroki's skin and shot towards All Might, 'The rapid change in temperature should create—'

BOOOOM

'An explosion!'

All Might winced, his sight obscured and his ears ringing, 'He recreated that attack from the Sports Festival, but on a much smaller scale!' Impressive, the students truly were impressive!

All Might's vision cleared just a tad, and he got ready to pull out a Detroit Smash, even if Young Midoriya was clutching onto his arm. But a surprising voice cut through the air.

"GO TO HELL ALL MIGHT!" Bakugo came through the air, sailing on his explosions before flipping around mid air to throw an explosion towards All Might.

The pro himself grinned, before forcibly ripping Izuku off of his arm and throwing him backwards.

The pro braced himself as Bakugo sent an explosion All Might's way, however it did nothing to the man as he came out of it unscathed. Stepping out of the dust with a menacing smile that actually sent shivers down Bakugo's spine.

All Might's attention and focus on Bakugo was exploited by Monoma as he came out of nowhere and hit All Might in the eyes with Todoroki's fire. "Gah!" All Might yelled and covered his eyes, the damage actually hurt since it had targeted a vulnerable area that was easily exploitable.

With his messy vision, the pro tried to punch Monoma, however he couldn't bring his arm forward, feeling something holding onto it tight. He turned around and could barely make out the figure of his student, Midoriya, using his new ability to hold All Might's arm in place. 'He's using that thing already?!'

Izuku's teeth were clenching, his eyes shaking with adrenaline, "WE'RE GONNA TAKE YOU DOWN!" He held on for a moment before feeling a strange snap, as if he had pulled a muscle, but it was with his entire body.

His body froze, but still managed to give his teammates enough time to attack All Might.

Monoma ducked under All Might's arm and let out as big of an explosion, courtesy of Bakugo, as he could on the man's legs, sending his limbs flying back and causing him to fall forward as he lost his footing, Monoma jumped backwards using Explosion before yelling, "TODOROKI!"

All Might didn't get to do anything but only turn around mid air, expecting an attack and seeing his star pupil soaring down to attack him, "PREDICTABLE—" He was cut off as he was hidden under a layer of ice by Todoroki.

Izuku sneered as he lifted one of his legs up, "MANCHESTER–" He increased the power of One For All to 25% once more, " – SMASH!" Ice and steam kicked up and spread apart like a plague around the block, Izuku leapt back towards his friends and gasped for breath.

From the steam, stood All Might, all the boys held their tongues, Bakugo growling as the Number One Hero smiled threateningly, "HAHAHA!" The laugh was too taunting to be endearing at the moment. "Truly impressive young heroes, but you're almost out of time!"

They all flinched, with flames coming off of Todoroki, electricity coming off of Izuku, and Bakugo was popping explosions, they didn't want to lose.

"So, just give it up boys!" All Might threatened.

"Like HELL All Might!"

The pro froze, not because of the words, but because of who said it: Izuku.

His precious student would never let out such crude words !"Y-Young Midoriya—-"

All Might's voice cut out, and Shinso let out a breath of relief from beneath his capture scarf and mask, "Gotcha….. you hacked asshole."

Izuku's eyes widened and he grinned under his mask before hooking an arm around Shinso's neck, Monoma socked his insomniac friend on the arm. "You did it, Shinso! You used the modulator!"

Shinso sighed and removed Izuku's arm from around him, "You didn't make it easy, Midoriya, but yeah I figured it out." He took the mask off and grinned, "Now, let's cuff this guy up."

"Oh." Todoroki mumbled, a capture cuff around him and All Might, "I took care of it cause you guys were taking too long."

It looked like…

"HEROES WIN!"

…

His hands were twitching, he was so useless, hadn't been able to do anything.

"Shinso, that mask really came in useful!"

"Neito-kun, I told ya my quirk would help!"

That stupid Gen-Ed bastard had done better than him, that damn Copycat had done better than him! It made him so fuckin angry!

"Todoroki, you really made good use of your fire out there!"

And there was Ponytail's annoying ass voice! There was stupid fucking IcyHot too! The monotone asshole had completely shown him up! But that wasn't the worst, no. Because fucking–

"Midoriya, that was fucking awesome! You decked All Might. ALL MIGHT!"

Everyone continued congratulating the group, though no one came towards Bakugo, the blond would blow a fuse if anyone approached him right now and they all knew it.

"HAHAHA! My students truly did a superb job in detaining me." All Might managed to distract everyone from Bakugo's silent implosion, "I'm sad to say that I must depart, but let it be known that I believe Young Shinso will be a shoe in for the hero course!"

The insomniac gripped the capture scarf gifted to him by Aizawa, feeling a bulge of pride blooming in his chest at being praised by the Number One Hero. He stumbled slightly when Monoma slugged him on the arm, but he couldn't keep the smile off of his face.

"Told you, Hive."

"You sure did, Thief."

Members of their friend group congratulated Shinso, though everyone in the room noticed the tension between Kan And Aizawa.

"All I'm saying is that he already has friends in 1-B that he pairs well with, why split them up?"

"And all I'm saying is that he's my student who is learning how to use my capture weapon, something that you won't be able to help teach him about."

"Why you!"

"Bring it."

"Now now boys." Midnight and Present Mic laughed at the two as they were reprimanded by Nezu like the student's frustration and stress ebbed away, leaving them with nothing but joy that exams were finally finished.

"Izuku!" Reiko's voice called out to Izuku, and the boy pulled his respirator and mask off. His face was covered in sweat, and even a little bit of blood, the sideways glances the students gave All Might as he left showed the responsible party for that.

The ghost girl grabbed Izuku by the head and made him look down before grabbing a towel from her first-aid supplies and wiping the blood and sweat away. Izuku couldn't help but smile to himself as she mushed his cheeks together to get a particularly rough patch of blood on his lower jaw. "Twank yo."

His ears were blessed with a little giggle, "It's certainly not fair that you can act so casually after giving us all such a fright." Reiko pulled her hands back and placed a hand on his chest, "I was so frightened by that… thing that came out of you."

"Yes, Young Midoriya." Nezu's squeaky voice cut through the crowd, silencing all conversation as he stepped forward, "Please, do tell me what happened with your quirk during the exam."

Izuku paused and lifted his wrecked glove up, the remains of Hatsume's creation dangled off of his forearm, "It's called… Black Whip…"

"Black Whip, you already named that thing, kid?" Vlad King asked.

Izuku locked up, "I-It just kinda came to mind, ya know?" Izuku stuttered out.

"Hm." Aizawa grunted, "Do you know what it is?"

Izuku let out a small gulp, wondering how he would get out of this. "W-Well…." He rubbed his neck with a hand, "My best theory is that… it's the energy used for my quirk given a physical form? Kinda like the lightning I have."

"A very good theory, Young Midoriya." Nezu squeaked. "We will have to make sure to cultivate that power well at the upcoming summer camp."

"Summer camp…?" Kendo wondered.

"Don't worry about that for now, Ken-bro-do, after all school's finally out!"

"First off, never call me that again, second, you're right we should relax."

The students looked at the staff with eyes of hope. Nezu sighed, "You all will be released in a moment, however first we must announce those who did not pass.

"Honenuki Juzo, Nirengeki Shoda, Mezo Shoji, Mashirao Ojiro, Rikido Sato, and Katsuki Bakugo have failed the practical portion of their entrance exam and will be having remedial lessons over summer break."

One team who had entirely failed and two additional students from separate teams.

"THAT'S BULLSHIT!" Bakugo stormed to the front, his silent fuming finally blowing up, standing over Nezu with explosions popping in his hands, "ALL MIGHT LOST, WE WON, WHY DID I FAIL?!"

"Because Bakugo." Aizawa stepped up, "The test was meant to gauge your combat abilities and teamwork skills, the latter half of which you utterly failed."

The students took a step back as they heard Bakugo audibly growl. The teachers could only sigh at the reaction. Vlad glanced at his own class, "You all are free to go back to class, make sure to change back into your normal school uniforms."

"Class A, follow suit with Class B."

"YES SIRS!"

"Bakugo, stay here." Aizawa looked tired, but the students didn't know what would happen with the blond.

…

Izuku let out a sigh and banged his head softly against his locker, his muscles ached, his brain was hurting, and his arm was quite literally burning. Today had been way too exhausting for his liking.

"You good there, rep?" Awase asked as the rest of the boys were close to being changed.

He nudged his head against the locker in response, doing his best to nod, "Yeah, just tired…"

Tetsu grinned, "I get what ya mean, but at least we've got a bit of a break before the summer camp!"

Izuku squared his shoulders and tried to stand straight. He felt a jolt of pain but relaxed, "Yeah, you're right Tetsu-kun." Izuku buttoned up his dress shirt but left the coat and tie off, his shoulders felt much too heavy at this point.

The boys of Class B made their way to the homeroom, Izuku slid the door open to see the girls were already there. Setsuna let out a cheer and the class celebrated their 90% pass rate.

Everyone was sore and in pain, but they were also more than happy. Overjoyed.

They even managed to find Shinso and rope him into their celebrations.

Izuku was happy despite all his troubles with One For All, but maybe just for once he could save his worry for another day…

"Midoriya, I'm gonna go get some water real quick!" Monoma called out with a bottle in hand.

"Got it, Monoma-kun, don't be too long!"

Monoma went out of the class and couldn't let the grin off of his face. He was glad that he was finally able to help Midoriya today. "Maybe I can help him experiment with that new part of his quirk, but… it was a blank so probably not."

"What's a blank, Neito-kun?"

"GAH!" The blond whipped around to see Setsuna behind him, a grin on her face and her hands behind her back, "You little—"

"I'm gonna cut to the chase."

"Huh?"

Setsuna stepped into his personal space and looked up at him, "Tomorrow, four o' clock, you and me, Kiyashi shopping mall. Are you in or not?"

Monoma blushed as he looked down at her, his water bottle slipped out of his hand and clacked onto the floor. His brain stopped short and he couldn't find an answer for such a simple question,"I- yeah, I'm in."

"Good." Setsuna grinned and stood on the tips of her toes before reaching out with her lips.

She gave him a peck on the cheek.

As Setsuna walked away there was only one thought going throughout his brain, 'I'm going to need help… I wonder if Midoriya's ever been on a date.'

Notes:

I could just not make the fight scene work, but this is the end result. I know the ending is weird but I'd rather it end now than have it stretch on for even longer.

Monoma and Setsuna are sailing, their date is at Kiyashi, I wonder what else happens there?

Most of the fails are from Class 1-A just like in canon, however this time Bakugo is among them. Shinso is officially in the hero course now and will be placed in one of the hero classes, would someone want him to replace a current member, like Mineta or Ojiro, or just be added onto the current roster of hero course students.

Finally, Black Whip has manifested! It's much earlier than canon, but Izuku has already used 20% of One For All and has adjusted faster than he has in canon due to his accelerated teaching.

Can't wait to see him use that!

If any of you have any recommendations for either I-Island or the Training Camp let me know, the next chapter won't be I-Island right away we're going to have an intermediate chapter so that will give me time to let the story breath.

Also, something about Deku's hero name is going to come up next chapter or the one after that, stay tuned for it!

Jay out!

Chapter 26: Monoma's Date

"So, you expected me to be able to give you advice?"

"It was a shot in the dark…"

"It wasn't a shot in the dark. It was a shot into the abyss."

Monoma let out a groan of despair as he flopped back onto Izuku's bed, the greanette giggled and rolled back in his chair before opening his laptop. The blond had dropped by Izuku's house just half an hour prior with a look of fear and exhaustion on his face and asked Izuku for help with relationship advice.

"But maybe I can search up some stuff to help you?" Izuku offered as he typed away on his computer.

"Please…" Monoma begged.

"Oi, Midoriya." Both boys perked up to look at Shinso in the doorway, the insomniac held up a mug. "You're out of coffee." He had tagged along with Monoma, the rest of 1-B being much too loud for his taste, and he had grown used to Monoma's companionship through their training together.

"But we just bought a new box!"

"You're out of coffee."

Izuku sighed and decided to add coffee to his list of things to buy. " Well, alright…"

The three boys sat together, trying to help Monoma with his hell that was going to be happening a day from now. "A date, eh?" Shinso chuckled as he drank from his mug. "What's so special about this girl anyway?"

Izuku was curious about that too, at first he was shocked that Tokage had asked Monoma out on a date. He had noticed that there had been much… closer than they had been previously, and assumed that something could be happening with them, but didn't expect for Tokage to be able to crack and break Monoma's confident, almost arrogant, personality.

Now, Monoma was a blushing mess, unable to look anyone in the eye because he was too nervous about his date with Tokage tomorrow.

"Surprised she'd got enough energy for a date tomorrow anyways, we barely passed our finals a couple hours ago." Shinso took another sip of his mug.

Monoma groaned and sat up, "Setsuna…" He trailed off, unable to find the words.

"Yeah?" Izuku and Shinso asked.

A blush blossomed on Monoma's face before he beat it down, "She's just really cool… and her teasing always manages to surprise me." Izuku swore he heard his friend audibly gulp before continuing, "Despite her… eccentricities… she has become a dear friend of mine…"

"A very dear friend."

"SHUT IT, SHINSO!"

The insomniac laughed it off.

Monoma cursed and fell backwards onto the bed once more.

"Izu!" Inko popped her head in from the door, "Are you friends going to be staying for dinner?" The three boys glanced at each other and nodded, making Inko smile a blinding grin. "I'll make your favorite tonight to congratulate you for passing your finals!"

The three sat in silence, with Monoma quietly moaning about how he was going to look utterly incompetent. "I'm going to die…"

"Don't be dramatic, Monoma-kun." Izuku laughed, "Anyways, I looked it up and it says you should bring some kind of gift, like flowers or chocolates, and to be dressed appropriately for the event, you guys are going to the mall, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Wear something nice, but not too dressy." Shinso answered. "Bring her some food."

"Food…?" Monoma and Izuku asked in unison.

Shinso let out a dramatic sigh and leaned on the doorway before taking a sip of his mug, "You two have to realize she's not a "girly" girl, she's crazy." Monoma raised a hand to argue but stopped short, Shinso was right.

Well.. she wasn't crazy, more… spunky. Yeah, Setsuna was spunky. What the hell did spunk even mean?

"Okay, so what do you have in mind…? Monoma asked.

"Hmm." Shinso thought about it for a moment, taking another sip from his mug. "Give her some details about what's going on between Yanagi and Midoriya."

"W-W-WHAT?!" Izuku's head lit up, brightening to the point he looked more like a strawberry than a person. "W-what are you talking about?! Me and Reiko?! T-There's nothing going on!"

Both of the boys gave him a look. Shinso even took an exaggerated sip of his coffee.

And that's when Inko's head popped up in the doorway with tears brimming in her eyes, "M-My baby boy has a girlfriend!"

"I-I-I don't have a girlfriend mom!"

"Let's eat to celebrate my boy becoming a man!"

"MOM!"

…

The four now sat at the dinner table, three of them excitedly talking about Izuku's relationship while said boy grew more and more red with each passing sentence.

"I told you guys, there's nothing going on!" Izuku blushed.

"Sure thing, loverboy." Shinso teased.

"GRAHHHHHH!"

Inko frowned, "Now now Izuku, none of that at the table, let's enjoy the food."

The boys thanked Inko for the food before digging in, utterly enjoying the meal and feeling like it tasted better than even Lunch Rush's dishes. There was just something in it that made it different from the pro's food. Perhaps it was… a mother's love.

It helped ease them after the stressful day they had had. Helped them relax from the exam that their teachers had put them through. Helped them relax after the hell that their match with All Might was.

"So, Izuku, you never told me how your test went, just that you passed."

…..

"YOU NEVER TOLD YOUR MOM!" Both boys yelled in sync.

"I-It never came up!"

"What never came up, Izuku?"

Shinso chuckled, "We fought All Might for our final exam."

"A-ALL MIGHT?!" Inko stammered and glanced at Izuku before bursting into tears and checking over every part of his body, "My baby boy! Are you okay?! Did he hurt you?! Oh my goodness!" Inko fretted and cried over Izuku, as the boy tried to answer that he was okay.

Shinso and Monoma stared at each other with a grin.

"I'm okay, Mom!"

"There's a stray hair on your head, Izuku! Your hair never messes up! All Might messed up my baby boy's hair! Your cheeks are a little puffy, oh are they going to bruise?! My baby boy's face is gonna be bruised"

Izuku let out a dry sigh, but still had a smile on his face. Inko tried to grab his head so she could look at his hair, but Izuku gently grabbed her hand, "Mom…" He spoke as softly as he could as Inko locked eyes with him, "I'm alright, I promise."

Inko lost her strength as she looked at Izuku, she still couldn't believe her little boy was already becoming such a man. A strong young man, who beat his best friend, Bakugo Katsuki, who beat the Hero Killer, who beat All Might.

Where had her little boy gone? The one who would always play heroes.

…he had grown up.

Tears bubbled up in Inko's eyes, she stood up and hugged her boy's head close to her chest, she sniffled and tried not to let any of her tears slip down off her cheeks. "I'm so proud of you, Izuku. You're going to be… no. You're an amazing hero, my sweet little boy."

Izuku's eyes widened a little bit.

Maybe that's what he needed to hear all those years ago, when no one had believed in him. "Thank you, Mom."

Monoma glanced at Shinso, wondering if they were present for something that they shouldn't be present for. Shinso shrugged his shoulders before taking another bite of the food that Inko had cooked for them.

Inko cleared up her tears as Izuku took their bowls to clean. "Are you guys done with those or are you gonna get more."

"I'm done, here." Monoma handed over his bowl.

"Um gon ge mo" Shinso said with a mouthful.

Izuku giggled, while Monoma gave Shinso a glare for being uncouth, "Alright."

Inko sighed and grabbed her glass, fumbling with it in her hands before sitting back in her seat, "Hey, Izu?" She spoke towards the kitchen, "What do you want to do on your birthday on sunday."

"Birthday?!" Monoma yelled

"PFFFFFFT!" Shinso spit out rice in shock. "Sunday?!"

Izuku stumbled out of the kitchen, a confused look on his face. "Yeah…? What about it?"

"YOU DIDN'T TELL US!"

"Yeah…?"

"Izuku.." Inko called out, "I know you're not used to celebrating your birthday with anyone, but your friends are really sweet. You should have told them about your birthday."

Izuku thought about it. What his mom said was true, he really wasn't used to spending his birthday with anyone. Typically, they would just do a small celebration, him and his mom, when he got home from school.

Sometimes it would be nice, sometimes it wouldn't be.

Ka— Bakugo, would usually give him birthday beatings. They only got worse as time went on, but Izuku had gotten strangely used to them. At first they were… rough, but Izuku had adjusted as life progressed.

"Yeah, you're right, sorry." Izuku blinked. "I'm just not used to it. But if you guys wanna celebrate with us, then you're more than welcome to, we're probably just gonna do something small like we do every year."

"Don't worry, we're gonna get the whole Dekusquad together." Shinso gave him a thumbs up.

"D-Dekusquad…?"

"Well, it used to be the Cinnamon Roll Protection Club." Monoma cut in, "But that turned out to be too long so we went with Dekusquad before internships."

"W-Why?"

"You're kind of our leader dude." Shinso answered simply, "It only fits."

"Leader?" Izuku didn't fancy himself a leader. He was a strategist, the Class Representative, but he certainly wasn't a leader. He stammered and mumbled, that wasn't a leadership quality.

"You rallied our entire team during our fight against All Might." Shinso took a sip of his drink. "You're kind, smart, traits that gather like and opposite minds alike around you."

Inko's eyes shone with unshed tears. She was so proud of her son, her heart almost couldn't handle it. But leaders were also typically very involved with danger!

Monoma grinned, "Well, we're definitely doing something for your birthday, but first…"

"You gotta get through your date." Izuku chuckled.

"Oh, you have a date Monoma!" Inko smiled, eyes wide with delight. She reached around the table and held one of his hands, "I would love to help you get ready!"

The boy gulped, but he would take any help he could get…

---

"Yeah, yeah, I got it!" Monoma yelled into his phone as he sped through the crowd.

"And remember—"

"Being only five minutes early is too late, I know! Your mom hammered that into me yesterday." He let out a disgruntled sigh, he was at the very least twenty minutes early.

"Alright, alright." Monoma could practically hear his friend smiling on the other end. "I'll let you go now, good luck!"

"Thank you." The line went dead and Monoma's anxiety built up in his chest, he had arrived at their designated meeting spot, a lone spot near Kiyashi Shopping Mall's resident lizard pet store. He knew that she was a fan of the cold blooded creatures so he suggested coming here for the first part of the date.

She had instantly cooed about it, thanking him over and over when they were on the phone. He had a feeling that if he had suggested it in person, she'd have given him a kiss with each thank you.

His state of dress was casual formal, he had some khaki pants on with semi-formal shoes, a white shirt on with a light blue dress shirt over that, acting as a sort of jacket for him. He played with the button of his shirt, trying to distract himself about his upcoming… date.

Maybe earlier he would've called it doom, but he couldn't stop himself from feeling excited about this outing.

About being with her.

"Heya, Neito-kun."

His spine locks as that stupid voice calls out from behind him, but he still finds himself turning around anyways and goodness… she's gorgeous

Setsuna was wearing a casual black t-shirt with a blue skirt, one that matched her hero uniform, and tall black boots, a white jacket over everything. It was… simple, but still breathtaking.

"Hi." He somehow speaks with a stutter, "Setsuna."

The lizard-loving girl grins and yanks him by the arm, and before he knows it they set off.

The entire ordeal was… pleasant.

They went to the pet store like planned, looking at all sorts of cold blooded creatures that were definitely intriguing, some were a bit… scary. To him at least, Setsuna seemed to thrive in the environment, she even tried talking to some of the creatures, and when some would turn to her at the sound of her voice she was convinced that they could understand her.

She's a goofball, he knows that, he's uptight, yet he adores her.

She's a breath of fresh air he didn't know he needed.

After the pet store she drags him elsewhere, a little toy store that mainly focuses on hero plushies. She grabs a Ryukyu plush, "This is the hero that Ghosty interned with, she's the Dragoon Hero, close enough to a lizard!"

He chuckles at her, at her randomness.

She perks up at him, a soft and tender smile coming to her lips as she puts the plush back. "Ya know it's crazy…"

Monoma walks around her, grabbing a Vlad King plush, "What is?"

"Someday, there will be plushies of us here." She grabbed a Midnight plush and attacked Monoma's Vlad King using the whip, "I mean, that's a long ways away, but it's crazy to think about isn't it? The future."

Monoma let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "Yeah."

"Here's an idea." She gives him a wide grin, showcasing her shark-like teeth, "When a company finally designs you a prototype, give me the first one. So I can always have a little Neito with me." The thought makes him blush, but he hides by laughing into his hand.

But then a thought comes to mind, "Alright." His agreement makes her pause, "But, only if you do the same."

It was her turn to look like a deer caught in headlights, "I don't think anyone would buy it."

His brows creased in confusion, "Why's that?"

"My quirk's kinda gross, don't think it'll make me that popular with kids." She shrugged off her words and put the Midnight plush back.

"Better than a copycat." Setsuna pouted before nudging his shoulder with her own, "What was that for?"

"Don't call yourself that."

"Don't call your quirk gross."

Her pout only intensified, "Touche blondie."

"Been a while since you called me that." She shrugged and looked away, "Fine fine, I won't call myself a copycat anymore." He relented, after all he didn't like upsetting her. "But don't call your quirk gross either, it's one of my favorites."

Monoma went to look for other plushies, hoping to find a dinosaur related hero that he would be able to buy for Setsuna, if he had stayed he would have noticed the volcanic blush across her face.

She let out a deep breath, she had always loved teasing, but being so close? Being so honest? It was so different from what she'd always been, how she had always interacted with her friends. She wanted to be a hero like Ms. Joke, someone who always put kids at ease with stupid jokes and laughs.

But her quirk was gross. She'd never admitted that to anyone besides her parents. And the pro that recommended her for UA.

Admitting that to someone else? Especially a boy that she was interested in? It was nerve wracking, yet liberating. And, somehow, it made her feelings feel more mature, like her feelings weren't childish, that they were real.

"Oi, Setsuna!" Flinching up, she couldn't help but let out a giggle as she saw Monoma grinning, a Godzillo plushy in his hands, "I found this one, want it?"

"Yes!" She really hoped this could be something serious.

---

The two walked around the mall, looking at little vendor shops and free sample stands before it would be time for them to live. They were highschoolers and couldn't afford much, but they enjoyed everything that they were doing together.

After leaving another stand, Monoma poked her hand with his pinky. Setsuna raised a brow before letting out her pinky, only for Monoma to wrap it with his own. It wasn't much, they both knew it, but it was enjoyable.

"So, when do you think Greenie and Ghosty are going to get together?" Setsuna asked with a skip in her step and a smile on her face.

"Well…" Monoma sighed as he let himself be dragged along by her, "Midoriya's denying that Yanagi has any sort of emotions for him besides friendship, so knowing that it'll be a while."

Setsuna's skip died and she pouted, "Phooie…"

The two laughed, wondering just when their friends would stop being stupid. Their intertwined pinkies became even tighter. Neither expected the day to be so… normal. Monoma was expecting a hyper, goofy, and rather crazy day that would end up being enjoyable when he looked back on it, yet it ended up being a tender and sweet date.

It turned out to be more honest and real than he was expecting, and he had to admit that he rather enjoyed that a lot. Setsuna on her part expected him to either be a blushing mess or a stoic knight, yet he was honest, sweet, and kind throughout the entire date. She knew he had a soft side to him, but seeing it in full force like this made her fall even more for him.

They both enjoyed it to no end.

And she really hoped the next topic she brought up wouldn't ruin it.

"Hey, Neito-kun."

"Yeah, Setsuna?"

"Did you hear about that creep that Greenie locked up?" She peaked up at him from the corner of her eye.

Monoma shook his head, "Are you talking about the Hero Killer?"

"Yeah, that one." The last they had both heard was that he was detained by Endeavor following the man's defeat at the hands of their friend. Monoma still wished he could have been there, by Izuku's side, to support him. But he knew that was unrealistic.

"What about him?" Monoma found himself asking.

Setsuna hummed as they walked along, going down a set of escalators, Monoma watched her eyes thinking, as if she was trying to form a perfect way to utter her next words,"The news said they're transferring him to Tartarus."

They walked off the escalators, and Monoma could only pause in his step, "The supermax prison…?"

She hummed, looking at him with a bit of concern. "Can't believe Greenie took down someone that dangerous…"

The gap between them seemed to only widen more and more as the weeks passed, neither could barely remember the first day of school when Midoriya could barely use his quirk. Now, a couple months later, he was leading the class as their Representative and in terms of power.

He had bested 1-A's lead and their prince: Bakugo and Todoroki, had taken down the Hero Killer, and went head to head with All Might. Though, they did all help with that last one.

But now, with his quirk changing? What would happen?

"Hey." Monoma blinked at her soft voice, "Wanna talk about something else?" Her tone was kind and sweet, and oh so captivating. "I don't like all this depressing stuff."

A smile graced his lips, "Yeah, me neither." And he gave her pinky a squeeze with his own.

He wished he could keep a hold onto it for a while longer, however he didn't get to as she unwrapped her pinky from his, to a little sadness on his part, "I'm gonna go get you a surprise, can you wait for me?"

Monoma nodded, "Of course." He wanted to add more, like, 'I'll always wait for you' but he found it… too much, he didn't know what to do, he was new to this… honesty and dating. Not to mention he wasn't one for the romantics. But he was trying his best.

"Thanks!" Setsuna walked off and Monoma sat down at a nearby bench, pulling out his phone.

Maybe he could tell Shinso and Midoriya about how the date was going? Or should he wait for it to finish first and then let them know? He wasn't sure.

He would… wait a bit. Not wanting to jump the gun too fast, or assume that everything was going smoother than it actually was. He was confident that it was going well, but he wanted to be absolutely sure first. He was a man of absolutes and—

"Hey, I know you."

Monoma paused, looking up and seeing an unfamiliar figure.

He was thin, with black clothes all over with shaggy blue hair peeking through the lifted hood. It reminded him of something, of someone, but he wasn't sure who. "You know me?" Monoma asked, perplexed.

The man let out a sigh, and it sounded wrong, before sitting down next to Monoma. The action sent a shiver of discomfort up the boy's spine, his systems were on alert. "Yeah, you were in the Sports Festival, part of 1-B, right?"

A slight nod, before–

A hand was wrapped around him, handing off of his shoulder, Monoma didn't know when it had gotten there. He was defensive, ready, but this guy just did that out of nowhere?

"You lost to that hot head from 1-A, Bakugo, right?" The man's voice was raspy, like he hadn't had any water in weeks. Monoma couldn't find it in himself to talk, "Didn't look like you liked him too much."

Well, that was accurate. He didn't like Bakugo.

"I don't like him too much either." Monoma didn't like how he spoke, there was a difference in their distaste for the Bakugo, this man's was much… colder, "I just want him dead." A small silence split between them, "Don't you?"

"W-What?"

A thin, dry, wrinkly hand came up and grabbed his neck. Only a singular finger held off so that Monoma wouldn't turn to dust. Saliva slid down Monoma's throat as he gulped.

"You remember me now, don't you?" The rasp wouldn't leave him alone.

Monoma did remember, memories from the USJ flooded back to him in an instant, seeing things turned to dust, the threats made, the damage that Eraserhead had taken, it all came in a jolt and vasts amount of fear locked him in place

"S-Shigaraki…"

The villain let out a soft series of chuckles, "So you do remember… but you still haven't told me what you think about Bakugo…"

"H-He's a jerk…" Monoma said, hoping that Shigaraki would leave him after an honest answer.

The grip of Shigaraki's other fingers on his throat tightened, the final one inching even closer, "He's just like the rest of you heroes, all he cares about is hurting other people, yet he's idolized by the public. They all focus on him, on all you violent little brats."

Shigaraki's grip got even tighter, leaving Monoma to gasp for air, "Why, after all I've done, why do they always focus on you, on Stain, on that little brat in green, is my destruction not eye-catching enough for their feeble minds?"

Monoma watched on, with little air, as the man silently fumed, not knowing what to do because honestly what was the difference?

But, the answer was easy. The students victory at the USJ was a triumphant moment while the League of Villains had failed their mission: to kill All Might, but why did they want to kill him? Again, with their attack in Hosu, the Nomus sent out were overshadowed by Stain, a man on a mission to rid the world of pros he called fakes.

Why were the Nomus even sent out in the first place?

On top of that, Midoriya's fame was due to his overcoming ability to always win no matter the odds. The public didn't know, but they did, about Midoriya's unwavering will to always save others.

That's why he had stepped up at the USJ, that's why he had stepped up to help Todoroki, why he had befriended Shinso even after the boy was terrible to him, why he pushed himself to fight All Might even after his quirk went haywire.

Stain and Midoriya had messages to deal out.

That heroism was special and fakes shouldn't ruin it.

And that heroes should always fight to save people, no matter the odds.

"Y-Your message…." Monoma muttered through a tight throat.

The vice grip loosened, and Monoma could see Shigaraki smile, "So I was right." Right about? Monoma didn't know or care as he tried to get more air, but whatever it was it appeared to make the villain happy, "You all want villains that aren't villains, villains that you can get behind…."

That's why Stain was so popular within their community, yes the masses at large saw him as evil, but there was a certain group that were hurt by heroes, the very heroes that Stain hunted down. That's why he had followers, that's why he was adored by the rest of Japan's villains.

It was the same thing with Destro, he fought for equal rights even though he was seen as a horrible monster by most of the crowd.

It was the same as Master… who gave equality, who took away curses from those that despised the gifts and gave them to those that wanted them, who would use them, that's how he gathered such an army. It all clicked.

"We need a message—-"

"N-Neito!"

There was nothing else Monoma could do as he stilled, both he and Shigaraki saw Setsuna before them, a look of fear obvious by her shaking eyes, eyes of recognition when looking at the older man.

Monoma wasn't sure what to do, Shigaraki's grin only widened as his grip tightened, "I can't leave any witnesses, I'm sure you understand." His voice was so close, practically in Monoma's ear,"I'm a villain afterall." And the final finger closed in.

But Nothing happened.

"W-What?!"

Monoma grabbed Shigaraki by the front of his hoodie and lifted him up and over his shoulder before slamming him onto the ground, knocking the wind out of the man.

The villain hacked for air, "Why didn't my quirk work?!" Shigaraki yelled and shot to his feet as Monoma stepped forward, acting as a shield between the villain and Setsuna. "What cheat code are you using?!'

A sly grin grew on Monoma's face, "You remember my quirk, don't you?" Shigaraki's eyes grew in anger as Monoma copied his own speech, "Copy, your decay quirk doesn't work on you, so it won't work on me either."

"You little bug!" Beating wasn't the right word to describe what Monoma's heart was doing. It was like a jackhammer in his chest as he watched Shigaraki boil in rage as the man's breath quickened, it was encompassing and he could only focus on it, pushing Setsuna further behind him, but then it stopped.

Shigaraki stilled before his mouth stretched to a grin, small flakes falling off of his crusted lips. "I'll see you again soon, and I can't wait to tear down everything you hold dear."

Monoma tried to reach for him, but the man stepped back and fled into the crowd, the masses were the perfect camouflage. "Damn…"

A delicate hand reached up and cupped Monoma's neck, looking over it for signs of strangulation. "Neito, are you okay?" Setsuna fretted, seeing red marks across the boy's neck. "Let's go tell security, okay?"

His breathing was rough and he touched his neck, the skin still felt tender, "Yeah, let's…"

---

Izuku sat, relaxing at home and checking over recent and old hero news articles, skipping over any that mentioned him (seriously the Stain incident was weeks ago, why were they still talking about it?) jotting down any notes about up and coming heroes or updating notes on ones that he had already recorded.

Knowing was half the battle after all, and Izuku always wanted to keep up to date with heroes. And, hopefully, he could find a way to add some capabilities to his arsenal.

So, that's how he found himself gazing at some recent Miruko fights, the Rabbit Hero was the current Number Six hero but in terms of combat ability Izuku reckoned she would be ranked third or fourth.

Miruko was a combat machine, knew all the ins and outs of her quirk, and had optimized the combat potential of her quirk through rigorous training and expert super move creation and precision. And now Izuku was wondering if he would be able to implement those skills.

His current Shoot Style boots would help, and the added strength that One For All gave him would make things easier, but he would have to precisely copy her moves, which would be hard because they were tailored to her unique rabbit anatomy.

Not only that, but he hadn't even gotten his current kicking style down. Which was a mixture of Gran Torino, the Ingenium family, and Miruko. To add on super moves from one of the top ten to the mix when his base wasn't perfect?

It was a recipe for disaster.

"But…" Izuku tapped his pencil on the table, writing down notes on leg positions, weight distribution, knee and hip angles, follow through timing, and foot movement, "With the summer camp coming up, maybe I'll have time to fix up my base, and I can make time to focus on the super moves later?"

He already had enough punching moves thanks to All Might, time to work on spreading out his arsenal, though he would definitely be looking into getting more down than just the Detroit, Texas, and Delaware smashes.

His own Manchester and St. Louis smashes were leg based, and were derived from Miruko moves but they still lacked precision.

"All Might shrugged my moves off so easily, I have to make them better, and try to get more of One For All's power out…" Izuku muttered as he wrote, "But I need to work on that other thing… Black Whip."

The quirk of his 5th Predecessor, Daigoro Banjo, or Lariat as he went by in the field, still eluded him. He had tried bringing out the quirk but lacked the ability to, there was just a lock between him and the quirk that he couldn't quite break through yet.

You're going about it all wrong kid, Black Whip's controlled through emotion, you gotta keep yourself in check!

The tapping of his pencil got worse and worse. Emotion? He was rather angry during their Final Exam. Was that the key?

The entire thing was… unfair to say the least, with everything stacked against them, All Might was using more power than Nezu said was allowed, on top of not being able to do anything against the man's monstrous strength. The singular reason they had won was due to Shinso's quirk acting as a perfect counter to All Might, and the fact that his friend had figured out the voice modulator.

There was so much to do, and Izuku wasn't sure if he could do all of it before graduation.

DING DONG

Izuku perked up from where he sat on the living room floor, glancing at the kitchen where his mom was. "I'll get it mom!"

"Thank you, sweetie!"

Raising to his feet, Izuku questioned who could be coming at this time, "A-All Might." Izuku stammered as he opened the door, seeing the emancipated form of Toshinori Yagi standing there with a wide grin on his face, "What are you doing here?"

"I am here! With a gift!" The pro grinned as his own joke as he lifted up a thin yellow manilla envelope, the kind that tickets for a concert would be in.

"Izuku! Who is it?" His mother called from the kitchen.

Glancing between the kitchen and the doorway, he invited All Might in. "It's my trainer, mom! The one that helped me get ready for the Entrance Exam!"

A small sound of pattering was heard before Inko was standing in the doorway, a look of confusion and wonder on her face, "Mr. Yagi, right? Izuku talks about you all the time."

"Yes." Toshinori let out a hand for Inko to shake, "My name is Toshinori Yagi, I'm Young Midoriya's personal trainer." The two adults shook hands, "I've just come to drop something off for him, courtesy of UA High School."

The two Midoriyas raised their eyebrows. "What gift could the school be giving my son and why are you delivering it?" Inko asked with a questioning voice.

Izuku gulped at the interrogating tone, but Toshinori simply pulled out a card and handed it to Inko, "Originally it was All Might that was supposed to deliver it, he can make transportation of things much faster than the rest of the staff, but he assigned it to me as his assistant."

The card was an I.D. from All Might's agency, an image of Toshinori on it, a designation below that displayed him as All Might's right hand, the pro's personal assistant. "He meant to deliver it but he has to get ready for an upcoming event, so I've come in his stead."

Inko glanced at the manilla envelope, "And what's the gift?"

Toshinori could only smile more, "As the winner of the Sports Festival, Young Midoriya here has earned himself two tickets to the upcoming I-Island Expo!"

"...the… I-Island… Expo…? I GOT TWO TICKETS TO THE I-ISLAND EXPO!" Izuku couldn't believe, tickets to the Expo! I-Island! The moving Island that was single-handedly pushing quirk research and other areas of engineering and research.

Now only that, but it was also the current work place of All Might's first ever sidekick, the American quirk scientist: David Shield!

"Yes, yes, Young Midoriya." Toshinori chuckled and handed the envelope over, "You get a ticket for yourself and a plus one, anyone you want."

A smile graced Inko's lips as she nudged Izuku's shoulder, "You know Izu, you could totally invite that girl that Monoma and Shinso were talking about yesterday." She giggled as Izuku's face bloomed into a strawberry-looking blush.

"Ah, Young Yanagi, yes?" Toshinori grinned, "My, that's a fine choice."

He wanted to protest, but… he did want her to go with him. It would be fun with her, despite knowing she wouldn't get what most of the things were about, but just being able to talk to her about all the things at the Expo would be wonderful. She let him ramble, and she giggled when he talked about something he enjoyed, she smiled at him when he said supposedly wondrous things.

Reiko… she made him feel good, smart, and happy.

Maybe he could invite her… and maybe…

Me and Reiko?! T-There's nothing going on!

….There could be…

"T-Thanks Mr. Yagi, and y-yeah I think I'll invite her mom." Just thinking about it brought back his stutter.

His silent thinking made him miss the way his mother's eyes watered, and Toshinori's confusion as his phone began to ring. Inko gave his trainer a look of confusion, while Toshinori raised a hand, "I'll take this outside."

And so he did.

"WHAT?!" Both Midoriya's ran outside, seeing the thin man clenching his phone as a look of anger crossed his face. All Might and Izuku locked eyes, "The League of Villains attacked Young Monoma at the mall."

"W-What?!" Izuku couldn't believe it.

Toshinori quickly went back to his phone, "I'll be there soon, Naomasa." He glanced at his student, "I'm sorry, I must get going, I'll message you as soon as I figure out what happened at Kiyashi."

Izuku couldn't form words or thoughts, he was only numb and was praying to some sort of higher power that his friends were okay. Inko nodded, tears already building up in her eyes, "Thank you, Yagi-san."

The pro was gone, and they were left to stew, to think.

Izuku didn't like thinking about this.

---

The bar was cold and barely lit up, and honestly Giran preferred it that way. Shit was comfortable. "So—" The information broker smiled as he sat down, sinking into the leather couch, " —what information do you want your hands on today?"

Across from him sat Tomura Shigaraki himself, the man still having that stupid,creepy hand on his face, but Giran wouldn't say anything. Didn't want to get dusted by the kid's quirk after all. Behind him were some of the new recruits.

Namely, that creepy girl, Himiko Toga, and the burned man, Dabi. No one knew what the guy's real name was, or even what his memo was, they were both just followers of Stain that joined the League since they thought Stain was an affiliate.

Tomura was fine with tricking them about that.

Other bodies littered the bar. Spinner, a lizard man that copied Stain's dress, sat at the bar with Magne, a woman with a large magnet. A weirdo called Twice was trying to talk to them but kept on contradicting himself.

A kid sat at the bar, though away from the others and drinking a smoothie since he was underage, while Compress tried to do magic tricks for him. Moonfish was trapped underground, they didn't want the cannibal eating any of them. And no one knew where Muscular currently was, probably off trying to murk some heroes.

Ah, but none of that mattered right now. It was time to get down to business.

Tomura leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "What I want is names of current bigshot villains, I want to have a talk with them, get my name out there, and ask them some questions."

Giran puffed a cloud of smoke from the cigarette in his tooth gap, "I can see about arranging that, but questions? What kinda questions?"

Tomura sighed and reached up, pulling off the hand that was his mask, "I want to see what pushes them forward, what their goals are, what makes them tick." What they could do to raise their numbers up, to get more backing, to get more of a push towards the destruction of the current hero society.

Another cloud of smoke puffed out of Giran's cigarette. The older man smiled, "I'spoze I could do that for you." Tomura nodded, and Giran could see a little downturn in his lips, the kid was thinking, changing, evolving. And man that was interesting to see. "And here, since you're one of my favorite customers, I'll give you some names that I think could help your cause."

Dabi smirked behind Tomura, and Toga hopped in place. Tomura leaned forward once more. "Yeah?"

"Overhaul, Re-Destro, and Wolfram." Giran pulled out three folders from his back, "A bigshot and two smaller companies." He laid them all out in front of Tomura.

"Re-Destro is the current leader of the Meta Liberation Army, or MLA for short, he's also the CEO of Detnerat which is a company that makes support items for people whose quirks mess up their bodies."

Tomura hummed, "Hiding in plain sight, I see. And helping others, indebting them and probably leading to recruitment through that? Interesting."

Say what you wanted about the kid but he could be smart when he wanted to be.

"Then, there's Overhaul, a small-time Yakuza boss, but he's doing big work right now." Tomura gave him a questioning look and he continued, "The resurgence of Trigger is all due to him, they've amplified the drug, making it stronger and lessening the drawbacks. But that's not all—" Giran took his cigarette out and smooshed it on the table, " —- some of my sources say he's got a temporary quirk-erasure drug in the works…"

The room went silent, no one had heard of a quirk-erasure drug, suppressant sure, but erasure was out of the question. Tomura grinned, "Interesting, very interesting."

"And then Wolfram, very small-time villain transportation service, but I've heard from some low-tier thugs that he's hired them for a big steal soon. Guys blabbed way too much." Honestly, such amateurs, telling an info broker all about their up-coming heist? Idiotic.

"What kinda heist?" This time it was Dabi who spoke up, Tomura didn't move to silence him which was surprising to Giran, but he continued anyway.

"There's an upcoming Expo at I-Island, the man-made moving island thing is gonna be near Japan soon so a ton of Japanese heroes and businessmen are gonna be there in a week. With all that business, someone from inside wants to steal one of their own pieces of tech." It was honestly absurd, but so so interesting.

"What's the tech?" Tomura wondered.

Giran tapped his skull, "A headpiece that acts as an administer of a healthy form of Trigger. No setbacks, to withdrawal, no damage to the body or brain, it's called a Quirk Amplifier."

The two men matched grins, "Think we can get some people in on that, Giran?"

"Why, of course. Who do you have in mind?" It was Giran's turn to lean forward.

Tomura glanced behind him, "Twice and Toga, the two are good combatants while also being good at espionage. They'll be making up our Underground Espionage Squad." Twice was a freak, a weirdo, but his quirk was invaluable. He was practically a one man army, or at least he could be. Toga was a master manipulator, not to mention she was good with a blade.

They could perfectly infiltrate Wolfram's raid and attempt to steal that Quirk Amplifier for them. And while they were off doing that, everyone else would be training for the Vanguard Action Squad.

Giran chuckled before snapping a figure, "Consider it done." He got up to leave, "I'll send you a number later, make sure those two are ready."

All he heard was a grunt in return, that was fine it was all he ever got from the kid, but just before he left the bar he heard, "Pleasure doing business with you."

Giran gave a mock salute as he put a new cigarette in his mouth, "Can't wait til next time."

The bar was quiet afterwards, with Toga giggling as she hopped around towards Twice. Dabi crossed his arms and leaned back on a wall, "You sure it's a good idea to pair those two? They aren't the most stable."

Tomura sighed, "If they succeed here then they're worth keeping, we don't need the Quirk Amplifier, but it would be something nice to have." It was more of a test than anything for them.

Dabi raised a brow, "You're more calculating than I thought."

"Well, I've been doing some thinking." Tomura stood and grabbed the hand on the table, sealing it on his face once more, "Now, get ready because I've got a special job for you."

"Me?" A chuckle left Dabi's burnt lips.

Tomura stared Dabi down, "In a couple of weeks, UA's going to be doing something special, a little Summer Camp I've heard, we're going to take some of the kids if we can. Two that I specifically want, and one is on my kill list."

"Why are you telling me this, Handy Man?"

"Because you burnt bastard, are going to be leading as Commander of my Vanguard Action Squad." Tomura walked by him towards the hall where his room resided. "You'll even get to meet the kid that put Stain away."

Dabi let out a surprised sound, "Yield?"

"Is that what they're calling him now?" Tomura asked, it was such a stupid name, "I thought his name was Deku?" He continued walking.

His Commander followed, "The public threw that name away, after all his classification as 'The Unyielding Hero' easily gave way to a new name. News stations have been using it as a sign for villains to give up, for them to 'yield' when faced with him."

Seriously, Tomura wanted to throw up, "He's a flame of inspiration for hero society."

"A flame you want to snuff out?" Dabi asked.

Tomura couldn't help but smile, "Right you are."

Notes:

Okay, so we've got the set up for the next arc, the I-Island Expo, some fluff between Monoma and Setsuna, Izuku realizing that he and Reiko could maybe probably possible be a thing, and Tomura setting up for the future.

Now, there are things I don't want to do in the future, Joint Training and Endeavor Agency while fun in canon are boring to me here, so I'm gonna get rid of those, possibly even the cultural festival too, but right now we already have Tomura being proactive. He is essentially where he is at post All For One being arrested, at least in terms of trying to reach out to other villains

On top of that, I want to expand the League, make them seem like more of a real threat than they are in canon, so they could possibly get even more recruits, as well as more Squads. Like the Vanguard Action Squad. To my knowledge, there's no more designated groups within the League after that, so I added the Underground Espionage Squad in this chapter, though it only has two members.

I also wanted to let everyone know that my updates might slow down even more, writing this over and over has become mindnumbing but I still find it so interesting so I'm continuing.

Chapter 27: Special I: Izuku's Birthday

 

Pacing, pacing, and more pacing. That's all Izuku could do as he prepared for his birthday party. Huh, now wasn't that a bit surreal?, "Cups, plates, drinks, everything seems good…" Now, he wasn't even sure if it was a good time to have a party considering everything that had happened recently.

Immediately following the incident at Kiyashi, everyone in their group, that Izuku now knew was called the "Dekusquad" according to his friends, had called Monoma or Tokage. Just trying to see if the two of them were okay. They appeared to be fine, Monoma had signs of strangulation on his neck, but other than that there was no damage between the two.

Obviously, they were shaken up, but between Tokage trying to play it off and Monoma trying to seem stronger no one had been able to really get through to them.

So, Izuku was on a mission to make his party as enjoyable as possible to help his friends relax and have a good time despite everything that had happened. He hoped it would work but he wasn't entirely sure at this point.

However, that didn't mean he would give up.

Inko watched on as her son drowned himself in preparation, and she couldn't help but let out a giggle as she noticed the time, the guests would be showing up anytime now.

DING DONG

Ah, there they were now!

"Izuku, get the door while I work on drinks!"

"T-They're here! I thought I still had two hours!"

Inko ruffled his head, "You were stuck in your own little world for too long, sweetie." A little kiss was left before she moved to the kitchen to get drinks ready for the party.

Izuku swung the door open, and in came the flood.

"WOO, WOO, PARTY TIME!" Tetsu and Tokage came in, yelling and cheering, Pony right behind them screaming, with just a tad less enthusiasm. "LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED~!"

Then came in the less rowdy bunch, Monoma, Kendo, Komori, and Kuroiro. They were grimacing at how loud their friends were being, Monoma even rubbing his head and muttering, "That girl…"

With Kendo sighing, "How can I control them as vice-rep?"

Then came the quiet ones, Shinso, whose eye bags somehow looked worse just by being around all these loud people, Reiko who gave him a little smile as she walked in, and surprisingly Todoroki who looked completely out of his depth.

Once everyone was inside, Izuku followed them to the living room, seeing them leave a sizable amount of birthday presents on the dining room table, "You guys didn't have to get me presents, just having you here would have been enough for me."

Tokage huffed, "Only you would complain about getting presents."

"I-I'm not complaining!" Izuku raised his hands in mock defense. "I'm just used to small celebrations, I don't usually get too many presents." In truth, he usually only got two or three that were either notebooks or hero merch, the rest was money that he saved to buy more merch throughout the year.

Todoroki sighed as he dropped a suitcase onto the table, Izuku recoiled as the wood dipped slightly, "I believe that's what people refer to as depressing."

"How emotionally stunted are you?" Shinso asked.

"Very much." Was all he got back.

"I would say all this talk about depression and being emotionally stunted is rather out of place on a day celebrating someone's birth." Reiko interrupted, she lifted up a small backpack, "So, why don't we start the celebration?"

As it turned out, inside of Reiko's bag was a console and a copy of "SMASH: Hero Battle!" which was a very popular hero fighting game that updated every couple of years and usually included the top 25 heroes, with some extra characters who were popular at the time despite their ranking.

Izuku, never one that had a ton of cash, had a much older version of the game, one that came out when he was around five years old, and he had of course bought it when he was around ten. The game was fun, and he, of course, mained All Might.

The version of the game that Reiko had brought them was much newer than his version, at least by the roster. Miruko was one of the lower names on the list, as was Hawks, but Edgeshot was still Number Five, with Endeavor and All Might sitting at the same spots they had been at for decades at this point.

They decided to set up a little tournament, and for the first match they had Tetsu who was fighting Pony, and as it turned out the American was quite the gamer.

Never before had they seen such a heavy frown on Tetsu's face, "I didn't even get to play…" He grumbled as he handed the controller over. Pony had utterly decimated his use of Yoroi Musha with her Gang Orca.

Monoma grinned as it was his turn to face off against Kuroiro. Everyone knew that they were trying to look good in front of Tokage and Komori, and it turned out to be ironic as the match ended with a draw.

Everything faded into the background after that, Izuku played against Kendo using All Might while she played Miruko, Tokage and Reiko played each other with Godzillo and Ryukyu respectively, and then Shinso used Edgeshot against Todoroki who played Wash, a pick they definitely hadn't expected.

The only one who didn't play was Komori, who was more content watching than anything else and cheering on Kuroiro whenever he got to play. All the while, Inko passed out snacks and drinks, cheering on Izuku whenever he was playing.

The day felt more like hanging out with friends rather than a party, and Izuku preferred that in all honesty. It was comfortable, and relieving in a sense.

"Izuku, are you okay?"

It was only when Reiko spoke that Izuku realized he had tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Yeah…" Izuku mumbled and rubbed his cheeks with an arm, "Just really happy is all." He smiled and tried to clear his tears but more replaced the ones he got rid of.

Setsuna put her controller down, giving Pony a free win, before scooting closer to Izuku, "You alright, Greenie? I mean you cry a lot but not like… that." She pointed at the endless stream of tears.

Monoma handed Izuku a tissue which the boy blew into, "Well, you guys are the first friends I've had in a long while…" A sad smile came to his face, "So, you guys matter a lot to me. You're almost like family at this point…."

"OH BUDDY!" Tetsu cried out crocodile tears before wrapping an arm around Izuku.

"Gah, Tetsu—!"

Izuku could only give in as his friends crowded around him with a hug, well Kuroiro and Shinso had to be shoved into it but the result was the same. Things were feeling whole now and Izuku knew that no matter what happened he'd have his friends to stand by him.

---

Hoppity, almost gleeful, steps echoed through the cargo hull of a ship, a cheerful Himiko Toga couldn't sit still as she and Twice waited with baited breaths for friends to come down and find them. "Who do you think is gonna come down Twice? Oh, I hope it's someone cute! I think they'll look even cuter in blood!"

"Why are you asking me? I don't know! I know exactly who's coming down!" Twice yelled at her in response.

Toga hummed, still bopping up and down on her toes as she played with knives in her hands, "I can't wait to cut them up!" She bounced and bounced, not noticing a little paper slip out of a pocket in her skirt.

The slip landed in front of Twice, the villain looked at it confused before picking it up, "Oi, Toga, you dropped this. It was on the floor the whole time!" The man contradicted himself once more.

"Huh?" Toga spun on her foot, seeing the small slip as Twice held it out for her. "Oh."

"Take it. I'll keep it!" She disregarded him yelling.

"I'll take it…" She spoke slowly as she grabbed the slip from her partner's hands, her eyes gleamed over the numbers written down.

This is my phone number, in case you ever change your mind…

I hope next time we meet it's not like this Miss Toga. Until then please stay safe…

I'll always be a call away…

The young villain's fist tightened around the little piece of paper, but she couldn't dwell on it as the sound of boots clicking came to her ears.

"Hey, who's there!" A yell cut through the cargo area as a flashlight passed by here and there, Twice and Toga looking at each other before shooting up in alarm.

"No one! We're villains!" Twice yelled as the man came into view, a flashlight in hand and nothing else.

Toga pouted, "You're not cute at all…" She stuffed the note and pulled out her knives, "But I'm sure you'll still look cute covered in blood!" She yelled before she pounced.

A body clunked onto the floor as the two villains stood over it, blood coating their knives and hands respectively. Toga smiled as she kneeled down and stabbed her blood sucking equipment into the still-warm body. "Suck… suck… suck…." A blush crawled up her cheeks.

The hull was quiet,

Twice looked away, for outside the windows they could see—

"I-Island…"

Toga paused in her thoughts and stood alongside Twice, staring in awe as they saw the man-made technological advanced super island with their own eyes.

The body was now cold, but they had something more important to get to.

---

"Thank you guys for coming." Izuku smiled as he and his friends stood outside, all saying goodbye and getting ready to go, standing outside in a slight cold as the sun had already set, but the coming summer was already warming up the nights.

"Thanks for inviting us, bro." Tetsu grinned.

"It was fun!" Pony relished in spending time with her friend.

Shinso hummed, "It was… enjoyable."

Kendo huffed and punched his arm, "Just admit it, you like us." Their insomniac simply grumbled.

"Welp, it was fun, Greenie!" Setsuna cheered and wrapped an arm around Monoma, "Come on, you're walking me home."

"Gah!" Monoma yelped, "Fine, fine!" He waved to his friends as they walked down the hall, "I'll see you guys later!" Izuku sighed happily, it was nice to see that his best friend was doing alright, especially after everything that had happened at Kiyashi.

Slowly but surely, everyone else bid their farewell, Komori and Kuroiro, Pony, Kendo and Shinso, Tetsu, and finally Todoroki. By the end of it the temperature had gotten colder and only Reiko and Izuku stood outside, him slightly shivering with a runny nose and her in a big coat.

"Thank you for having us, Izuku." His name rolled off her tongue so happily and he loved it. "I'll see you when we go to the summer camp." She gave him a small smile and took a step back.

"R-Reiko!" He called out and she stopped.

A blush crawled up his skin and he wasn't entirely sure if it was from his nervousness or the cold, but he still pulled out a small ticket with shaking hands. "I-I wanted to…" He couldn't believe he had let his stammer come but, "I wanted to…" He repeated calmly, "... give you this."

Reiko turned to him, a finger in her chin, "And what is this "this" you are referring to." She took a step closer.

Izuku lifted his hand towards her, "It's a ticket for the upcoming I-Island Expo, I got two tickets for winning the Sports Festival and I was… wondering if you would want to go with me?" His voice peaked near the end.

Ghostly eyes glimmered as moonlight lit them, "Are you positive you'd prefer to go with me? I'm sure another one of our companions would be overjoyed to accompany you." She spoke.

"There's no one I'd rather go with." Izuku stated resolutely, "I would be really happy if you came with me." His nerves were shot but he continued, "..please…" Was added.

Reiko stood inches from him, plucking the ticket from his hand with her quirk and placing it in her own pocket, "Then, if you are insistent then I suppose I shall accompany you." Her smile froze his heart yet he felt a feeling of warmth bleed throughout his entire body. "I shall let you know when I have prepared for the flight." She took one more step closer, her arms coming up and wrapping around him. "I thank you for the wonderful invitation."

Izuku's own arms raced up and came around her, "Thank you for accepting."

He had wanted more time, much much more time, but moments later they had bid each other farewell. Reiko with a small smile and blush adorning her cold face and Izuku with a wide and excited grin that showed his excitement for their upcoming trip.

"He's…. " Izuku paused in his retreat to his home, a hand wrapped around the doorknob, as a voice sneaked its way into his mind. "... near." His head fluttered to the sky, memories that were not his own replaying in his head. A face so evil it refused to be remembered, hair as white as snow, power as supreme as All Might's. "... All For One… draws near…."

His heart stopped, but no warmth coursed through him, "All For One…"

END

 

Notes:

I've been having lots of trouble writing, and I feel even worse cause this is just a short chapter, but I wanted to ask if you all would prefer shorter chapters that would come out sooner or longer chapters that would take more time?

Other than that, Himiko and Twice have arrived at I-Island, infiltrating before our cast has even arrived, Monoma's doing slightly better, and the entire group did some bonding, and Izuku and Reiko are taking slow and steady steps.

One Last time, Digimon x MHA or MHA rewrite? I'll bounce between whichever is picked and this story so I don't get burned out on this too much.

As always, thank you for reading, and Jay out!

Chapter 28: I-Island: Expo

Summary:

Izuku takes time to explore the greatest place of scientific research known to man: I-Island, while danger brews in the shadows...

"I must say, it's quite nice that David would send his own jet for us to use!" Toshinori tried to laugh but found himself just coughing out blood instead. The plane David had sent for them was top of the line, latest in aviation technology straight from I-Island itself. A true masterpiece of the craft, and it was all for him and two kids.

Izuku and Reiko looked on as the man tried to wipe away the blood with a handkerchief, Izuku grimacing at the sight and Reiko asking if that usually happened. Izuku was said to respond in the affirmative.

They had met up just hours prior, before waiting to be picked up by Toshinori who had taken them to the airport in an old beat up truck, and it wasn't until now that Izuku realized that Toshinori would be traveling with them to the Expo, something he was rather excited about, but also worried over.

Was All Might able to travel? He obviously did travel for work, but didn't he have lots of medicine to take and probably a daily check up that he was required to do with Recovery Girl, "I mean, there's no way he just exists like that every day…" Izuku muttered to himself as their bags were hauled aboard by airport staff.

Would he be getting check ups while on I-Island? Were there people capable of doing that? After all, only Recovery Girl covered All Might currently as she was the only one capable of doing so that was in on the secret of his true form and One For All.

"You're mumbling again." Reiko chided him as she poked his cheek, to which Izuku rubbed his neck in embarrassment.

Toshinori looked at the two and smiled while cleaning up stray blood on his chin with a handkerchief, he was glad his successor was able to live a joyous life with friends, unlike himself. And it would stay that way for as long as he had a say in things, "Now come, you two, we have a flight to catch!" He said without coughing.

The two teens glanced at him before nodding along, Izuku holding a hand out for Reiko if she needed help getting up the many steps to the plane, she didn't need the help but still took the hand either way.

Something that they were both silently happy about.

It took only a few moments before the three were situated in the aircraft, Reiko and Izuku sitting side by side and Toshinori across from them. The disguised pro smiled at the two looking at an in-depth pamphlet that was on the side of the table in a stack, covering what was going on at the I-Island Expo, including tech that would be shown and people that would be covering them.

Even the model plane was included in the pamphlet.

"I mean —- a showcase of all the latest tech to come out from the most advanced place in the entire world!" Izuku laughed as he skimmed through it, seeing improvements on all sorts of old gear like jet-packs, gauntlets, and shock absorption gear and entirely new inventions like zero-gravity areas, double gravity training gyms and even more while also looking at entirely theoretical thoughts that were being discussed–

"What's that?" Reiko asked as she pointed at a red glove.

Toshinori pointed up as Izuku laid the pamphlet down, reading the name, "It's called the Full Gauntlet… made by one Melissa Shield?" He stated confused, "Is she related to David Shield? All Might's first sidekick?"

"Ha!" Toshinori laughed quietly to himself and grabbed the pamphlet, flipping it over to grin even more, "Young Melissa is David's daughter, and All Might's god daughter." The old man spoke softly, softer than Izuku had ever heard him speak before, with a true genuine smile on his face. "She's quite the inventor."

Izuku perked up, grabbing an extra pamphlet from the stack, flipping through a section dedicated to young inventors that were enrolled at the school on the man made island, Melissa Shield seemed to be their most promising one, "I've never heard of her before this, I wonder why…" He mumbled.

His companion leaned on his shoulder, just close enough to read what was on the page, "It appears I've found the reason." Reiko interrupted and pointed at a specific section, a part of the page dedicated to information about the inventors, her quirk was labeled N/A. "She's quirkless."

Izuku's eyes widened as he followed Reiko's finger, no words coming out as the information slowly rolled through his mind. "She's quirkless." He mimicked. Toshinori raised a brow at his student while Reiko snapped to his eyes, seeing contemplation behind them, "But she looks so happy."

The words alarmed his teacher and friend, both sharing a glance before trying to reign in Izuku's attention.

"Young Mido—"

"Izuku."

The boy's eyes snapped towards her, only inches apart, she grabbed his face to keep their gazes locked. "I will never pretend to know what happened in your past, but trust that I will always be someone you can confide in." Izuku's cheeks squished together as Reiko creased her brows, "And— if I ever have the fortune of acquainting myself with anyone that made your life harder in younger years, I will take much joy in tormenting them."

Toshinori coughed out blood and Izuku's face bloomed into a blush. "Y-Young Yanagi, as a hero in training you can't make such threats!" The disguised pro chastised as he hastily cleaned up his coughing fit.

Reiko blinked owlishly at Toshinori before looking back at Izuku, "I will take much joy in their negative karma that will definitely not be caused by my own actions." To her joy, Izuku giggled, a small stress free sound that caused her heart to do flips.

"Thank you, Reiko." And hearing him say her name so casually only caused more flips to happen.

---

Their conversation died down as the plane drew closer and closer to I-Island, though both of Izuku's acquaintances made note to ask him later about how he felt about his old quirk status, up until Toshinori glanced out the window an hour later. A wide smile came to his face as something finally entered into view, "Young Midoriya, Young Yanagi, look!"

Izuku's mouth fell open and Reiko's eyes widened as they saw.

"I-ISLAND!" The hero otaku screamed so loud his accompaniment winced. "I'm actually here! We're actually here!" He shook so much, like a little boy that was still watching All Might's debut video.

Toshinori grinned, "Yes, we are, my boy."

Reiko glanced at the older man, for some reason having an odd sense of Deja Vu, before shrugging and instead focusing on Izuku's excitement. "It's almost going to be time for us to land, do you have all of your belongings ready?"

"Huh? O-Oh! Yeah of course!" Izuku blabbed as the plane started to descend. The two had to end up forcing him to sit in his seat, and with a little bit of coaxing they managed to do it. With a short rock, they touched down and Izuku's excitement reached new extremes as he threw off his seat belt and the door to the vehicle flew open to allow them passage onto the most technologically advanced place in the world.

Multitudes of heroes that had all been invited to I-Island, and Izuku saw them all scattered throughout the tech show. Some of Japan's most notable heroes, like Wash and Endeavor, were present, while there were also heroes from other countries that Izuku had never even heard of before. It was all surreal, like I-Island wasn't even a real place and instead Izuku found himself in heaven, a hero otaku's heaven.

Toshinori planted a hand on his student's shoulder, "Holding up, Young Midoriya?"

"Of course!" He squeaked back, causing his mentor to laugh. "Reiko, Reiko! Look at all the cool heroes!"

"I can see them. They are in plain view." She replied.

Many of both the island's inhabitants and people who had paid to come were strewn about, every now and then were big groups surrounding what Izuku assumed were pros. A short glance at his mentor made him think about what would happen if Toshinori was in his buff form.

They would be swamped.

But, over all of the crowds, a young woman came into view… on a pogo stick…?

"Sorry, coming through!" The woman yelled as she hopped and hopped over the civilians, woman, men, and children yelping and shouting as she just barely missed. But, when Izuku looked at her, his eyes found she was smiling without a care in the world, she wasn't barely missing, each of her jumps were careful and calculated. Apparently she was a pogo expert.

"And—" She landed right before the three of them, though this time didn't bounce back up, "We're here." She hopped off of her pogostick and the item shrunk down so much that it fit in her pocket. "Howdy."

"H-Hi." Izuku tried to catch the tip of the shrinkable pogostick in her pocket before looking back up at her and a realization struck him, "Y-You're Melissa Shield!" He exclaimed and pointed at her.

Reiko perked up and used her quirk to flip through the pamphlet from the plane, pulling up an image of the woman and comparing it to the one in front of them, "How astute of you, Izuku."

Melissa giggled, "That I am." She stuck out a hand, "And you're Izuku Midoriya, right? You won the First Years Sports Festival at UA."

Izuku eagerly took her hand and shook it with both of his, as if he was meeting a celebrity. After all, how many people could say they got to meet the genius daughter of All Might's first ever sidekick? Not many. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"You've been the talk of the island, especially after that Stain thing." Melissa smiled as Izuku blushed, forgetting how many people talked about that, "Now, Yield is literally talked about everywhere."

"Y-Yeah, it's kind of embarrassing–" Izuku paused, "Wait." He blinked. "Yield?"

"Yeah?" Melissa tilted her head.

Izuku glanced at Toshinori, then Reiko, and then back at Melissa, "My name's Deku. You've got the wrong guy."

The two blinked at each other, before Izuku felt a poke on his cheek. "No, it appears online that your name has gotten dropped in favor of "Yield" which was derived from the title you had added to your name." Reiko commented as her phone, floating of course, was continuously bumping Izuku's cheek with an article pulled up on it.

Quickly snatching the device out of the air, Izuku scrolled through the article, muttering so fast none of them understood quite what he was saying. Eventually, he handed Reiko back her phone.

"Are you well, Young Midoriya?" Toshinori asked.

"Y-Yeah." Izuku stammered, "Just a little… confused? I suppose." Izuku shook his head, trying to figure out where the name change had derived from. Though, he supposed it was of no importance. "But, that doesn't explain what you're doing here, Melissa?"

"Well." The blond turned around and motioned for the three to follow, "My dad told me to take care of you three while you're here and he's gonna be dealing with All Might."

"Wow, I wasn't sure my boss was going to be able to make it." Toshinori sent Izuku a mischievous grin before looking back at Melissa. "When's he going to be here?"

Passing through crowds of civilians and heroes, Melissa turned back to them and shrugged, "Dad didn't say, all I know is that he's got a speech scheduled for a banquet later today."

"A banquet?" Izuku asked, "Is that why you had us bring dress clothes, Mr. Yagi?"

"Of course!" The older man smiled as the group came to a halt, "Now, I have business to discuss with Mr. Shield. So why don't you two–" He glanced at Reiko and Izuku, "Get better acquainted with Ms. Shield and the area?"

"I suppose that is possible." Reiko glanced at the older girl, "Why don't we go grab some food?"

"That's a great idea!" Melissa grabbed both of them by their hands, "I know a great spot!" Toshinori watched as the three teens retreated before heading off on his own, after all he was going to be having a very important meeting with a lovely old friend.

"All of the training I've been doing for the past year is going to be undone by this one sandwich."

"That is a rather giant overestimation of the caloric quality of this food, Izuku."

The two bantered as Melissa glanced between them, Izuku was eyeing a rather large sandwich that was much too large for his mouth as Reiko floated chips that he had bought into her own mouth while a video played on her phone. What it was? Melissa didn't know.

Izuku decided to take a bite, barely fitting the thing in his maw and audibly swallowing. "Is it good, Izuku?" Reiko asked, still not looking away from her phone. He only nodded.

"You two seem close." Melissa giggled, using a robot to cut up her own steak for her which earned a rather amazed look from Izuku, "And you guys use each other's given names which to my knowledge isn't very common in Japan, right?"

"Yeah?" Izuku asked before taking another bite, "Just feels natural."

"That it does." Reiko smiled, only slightly, before floating another chip to her mouth while also floating a napkin to Izuku. "Your face is a tad messy."

"Thank you."

Melissa couldn't believe the two of them.

"Oh, my. I didn't expect to see you here, Midoriya." A voice cut through the crowd as Izuku was mid-bite. And it was with a mouth full of food that he looked up to see one of his sister classes' representatives along with two of her friends, Jiro and Uraraka. The three girls were all in their hero costumes, which Izuku and Reiko were confused about since they weren't.

"Being caught at your most vulnerable, I believe that's what they call tragic, Izuku." Reiko almost sniggered at his expression before Izuku quickly took the last bite of his burger and shoved the plate away.

"I didn't mean to embarrass you, Midoriya." Momo grinned as she took a seat while Uraraka and Jiro looked over the menu.

"It's fine." Izuku replied as he snatched a floating chip and ate it much to Reiko's chagrin. "It's nice to see you again, Yaoyorozu."

"Likewise, Midoriya." The heiress gave a curt bow, "I don't mean to impose but what are you doing here?" She asked afterwards.

"I got two tickets for winning the Sports Festival." Izuku quickly answered, "And I asked Reiko if she wanted to come with me." He added. "And you guys?"

Jiro raised her hand, as if to say something, "Princess over here." She gestured to Yaoyorozu, "Is here on business, we just tagged along."

"Basically." Uraraka sniggered.

"N-Now, I wouldn't put it like that, especially not the princess part." Yaoyorozu had a slight blush on her face. It was surprising that she was still unaccustomed to casual talk like this after being enrolled in UA for a whole term now, "I suppose I can accept that It still does get the point across."

Izuku handed them a menu, "Well, glad to see you guys, and here in case you want to order anything."

Graciously, Uraraka took the menu and after a moment's notice of looking it over she spoke, "All this is pretty cheap…but I don't get how they're asking for fractions of single units of Yen" Uraraka mumbled looking over the prices.

"It's not Japanese money, we use our own form of currency here, since we're technically not aligned with any one nation." Melissa mentioned, pulling out her own wallet and a small card, "Don't worry, I'll cover you guys."

"You don't mind?" Yaoyorozu asked as she pulled out her own card.

"It doesn't matter, waiter!" Jiro called out.

Izuku started watching whatever was on Reiko's phone, which ended up being another one of her supernatural investigating shows. This time though, instead of a show it was a basic content creator. "Is this in America?"

"Yes, there's quite a lot of paranormal activity concentrated there it seems." Reiko replied with a hum, "I wonder how those spirits would interact with my quirk."

"But isn't your quirk just a form of telekinesis?"

"I believe you are being what they call a buzzkill." Izuku heard Jiro and Uraraka snort and tried not to pout.

"What would you like to order?" Someone interrupted, causing everyone to look up and see Kaminari in a butler outfit and just a few feet behind him catering at a different table was another familiar face..

"Kaminari! What are you doing here, you oaf?!" Jiro yelled at him.

Kaminari paused to blink before looking at the punk dressed girl, "Jiro!" He screamed much too much, "What are you doing here?!"

"I asked first!"

"Okay, okay, chill!" The blond sighed, "There were job offers for Japanese kids for a bunch of the shops on the island, at least for while this place is close anyways. I applied, told Mineta to join me but he didn't want to."

"Thank heavens." Izuku barely heard Yaoyorozu utter under her breath.

"I'd say, the uniform looks rather similar to Monoma's hero costume." Reiko commented, looking the boy who attempted to hit on her during the Sports Festival up and down.

"Monoma?" Kaminari raised a brow, "Oh, he's right over here!"

"What?" Reiko and Izuku said in sync.

"Oi, Monoma!" Kaminari called out over his shoulder, "You got some people over here that want to see you!" And sure enough, bustling between tables in a butler's outfit and a tray that was most likely filled with drinks before was Monoma, who looked like he was in his element.

"What is it, subpar classmate of 1-A, Kaminari?" Monoma asked with a smirk, and surprisingly a lot less bite than any of them ever expected.

"You don't need to add that part in everytime, dude…" Kaminari muttered.

The two stopped their bickering as Monoma took notice of everyone gathered. "Midoriya, Yanagi! My my, isn't this a pleasant surprise." Those of 1-A were surprised to see an honest smile on the boy's face as he took out a notepad, "Anything I can get you two?"

"Thanks Monoma, but we already ate, They though–" Izuku pointed to the three girls from 1-A, "Haven't."

"Riiiiiight." Monoma drew the word out as his smile now seemed just a tad forced, "And what would you three ladies like?" With that, the girls ordered their food with the card that Melissa had let them borrow, much to Uraraka's embarrassment for a reason Izuku didn't know, and that drew conversation back to something else.

"So, Midoriya." Melissa started as she cut some jello, "I've been keeping up to date on news out of Japan ever since Un– All Might started seating at UA." Izuku raised his brow at the slip up but let her continue anyways, "And I've gotta say you're strange."

Yaoyorozu sputtered mid sip and coughed while Uraraka and Jiro both raised their brows. "Wow, go for the throat much?" Jiro asked.

"A-Ah, sorry! I didn't mean it like that!" She rectified, "What I meant was, you're not a recommendation or a legacy student, but you're by far making the most waves out of any of the first years at UA, even Todoroki who is literally Endeavor's son." He supposed when she said it like that, it didn't make sense, "So that begs the question–" Melissa looked him straight in the eyes, "Who are you?"

That garnered everyone's attention, even Reiko glanced at Izuku out of the corner of her eye.

There was only one answer that came to mind, "I'm just a kid who's wanted to be a hero ever since he knew what one was." That was it.

And that was the weird thing to Reiko. Izuku was just doing what it took to become a hero because he's thought it was cool ever since he was a kid. It was cool to be like All Might, to be a symbol for something greater than himself. There was no talk about fame, wealth, or power, simply something so people could be safe when in his presence.

A cinnamon roll was the only way to describe him.

"Huh, well alright then." Melissa found herself smiling, "Thought it was going to be a little more put together than that."

It only took a couple more minutes for the entire group to head out, bidding both Kaminari and Monoma a farewell and promising to meet up with them later when both boys had finished their shifts. For now, Melissa led them all to something she thought they would enjoy as hero students.

"This is our "Villain Attack" Attraction, where hero and hero students like yourselves can compete to see who can take out all the "villains" the fastest!" Melissa announced with more cheer than Present Mic did during the Sports Festival.

The attraction was a faux cliff face, with robots taking up the spots of villains located on the mountain. It even appeared to have a timer and scoreboard to keep a tally of who had been doing the best each day.

"Sixteen seconds!" And it appears they just had a new first place. Izuku and Reiko and the 1-A girls all looked down into the attraction, and to their surprise saw Iida in his full hero costume, someone they definitely didn't believe would be laid back enough to entertain a "villain attack" simulator, that was honestly more just a game.

"Iida-san, what are you doing here?" Yaoyorozu called into the pit.

The boy robotically moved his helmeted head here and there before looking up and landing on his fellow 1-A representative, "Ah, Yaoyorozu-san, I didn't see you there!" Jiro snorted off to the side. "I was pushing my quirk to its limits in a mock test to see how fast I would be able to dispatch villains in a real scenario!"

"I bet he didn't even know about the scoreboard…" Uraraka muttered off to the side.

"He most definitely didn't." Yaoyorozu replied.

After a few minutes, Iida made his way up to meet them with his helmet off and under his side like a ball. "Uraraka-san, Jiro-san!" Iida raised a hand, "It is nice to see you here!" The boy looked over, "Midoriya-san, Yanagi-san, it is nice to see you as well!"

"Iida-san, you didn't answer my earlier question." Yaoyorozu continued from earlier, "What are you doing here?"

"Ah, my deepest apologies." Iida both bowed and chopped an arm, "My parents were asked to come to the Expo, however they've been busy with my brother's rehabilitation. I've come in their stead." Izuku was glad to see that Iida was doing better after everything that had happened in Hosu, the boy finally seemed like a darkness had been lifted off of him.

"And what of you, Yaoyorozu-san?" Iida quirked a brow.

"It is a similar situation, my parents are here on business and I was allowed to come along and invite some friends." Yaoyorozu replied with a smile, "So, I asked Jiro and Uraraka if they wished to accompany me."

"A generous offer!" Iida chopped an arm over and over.

Izuku tuned the rest of the conversation out as he looked down at his costume case before looking at the Villain Attack Simulator. "Hey, Melissa?" The blond looked over at him as the surrounding conversation was halted. "Is there anywhere I can change? I want to try the simulator."

"Huh?" She placed a hand on her head, "Yeah, there should be a changing station nearby."

"Alright, I'll be back!" Izuku set off around a corner to look for said changing station.

Reiko walked up to the others as Izuku disappeared, "I believe this is what is often referred to as "betting time" by the masses." She walked towards the edge of the barrier that looked over into the simulator. "I believe Izuku will take the top spot on the scoring board."

"There's a scoring board?" Iida asked. "Why would they add something so egregious to such a wonderful simulator!"

Only a few minutes later, Izuku was in the simulator donned in his hero costume. The boy did a few stretches before activating One For All and pulling his mask and respirator on. A small countdown rang throughout the area before ending in a loud buzzer, with that Izuku quickly shot off his feet and into the air, stacking his movement of Full Cowling on top of Air Force to make himself even faster.

With use of quick hits and air bullets, Izuku moved like a blur, the robots being destroyed as soon as he passed. And with one final air blast, Izuku sent himself down and landed on his feet once more.

"Thirteen seconds!"

After a quick tug, Izuku's mask was off allowing his hair to flow in the air. His eyes locked on his friends, and more specifically Reiko, and he couldn't help but let a smile crawl onto his face as One For All charged up for a brief moment and Izuku leaped up towards them, "How was that?" He asked quizzically as he sat on the railing.

Yaoyorozu and Uraraka looked amazed, Iida was running his mouth asking if Izuku had done the simulator to push his quirk or to compete in a competition, Melissa was also rambling but Izuku assumed she was examining his movements, Jiro was grumbling about enhancement quirks being too strong.

And Reiko was looking him over, "I remember when you could barely use your quirk, it feels like forever ago now, doesn't it?"

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah it does."

Before any conversation could take place, the sound of cracking glass followed the creation of ice as a glacier covered the entire cliff face. Those of 1-A, 1-B, and Melissa looked on in shock as the robotic voice called out a simple, "Fourteen seconds!"

At the bottom of the faux mountain stood a relaxed Todoroki who quickly countered his frostbite with a flickering of fire on his left side.

"Hey, Todoroki!" Uraraka and Midoriya called out at the same time, making the boy turn to look up at them. He gave a simple curt nod.

After a moment, the boy joined them, giving them all a greeting. It was strange seeing him act so normal, but Izuku admitted to himself that he preferred this when compared to how the boy was during the Sports Festival.

"How have you all been doing?" The boy's voice was still monotone, but now it had a slight hint of lightness that wasn't there before. Perhaps that had been a thing during their Final Exam, but Izuku was much too nervous during that to realize.

"We've been well, though I'm sure you're tired after such a long trip and competing in such a simulator, are you not Todoroki?" Yaoyorozu spoke so eloquently that the surrounding people felt a tad less intelligent.

Todoroki patted his stomach, "I could eat some soba right now."

Uraraka pointed down the street, "There's a shop down that way, had really good food that we all enjoy. I'm sure there's some soba there you could get." That gained Todoroki's attention and he found his head locked towards the direction Uraraka had pointed.

"If you want to, Todoroki, I could accompany you down there." Iida offered, "I already have a card with the Island's currency in it."

"Midoriya!" Melissa called out with an idea in mind while silencing conversation, "Can you come with me? There's something I want you to test out." Whatever it was, the girl seemed eager to try it, and Izuku couldn't help but be a little reminded of Hatsume when he looked at Melissa right in the eyes.

The two were vastly different, Hatsume was like a rabid dog off of a leash, while Melissa was like a distinguished cat, but underneath he could see the same obsession that Hatsume had.

As such, Izuku was intrigued about what Melissa wanted to show him,"Sure? What is it?" 1He asked.

"It's something I've been working on for enhancement types like yourselves, but I've never had someone use it before." She summarized.

Izuku pondered, "Yeah, I can go." He turned to Iida and Yaoyorozu after, "Do you guys want to meet up with Kaminari and Monoma later and we can all head to the banquet together?"

"That sounds like a wonderful plan, Midoriya." Yaoyorozu grinned, "In the meantime, we can all try on my custom catalog of dresses!" Reiko glanced between Yaoyorozu and Izuku, and subconsciously floated towards the boy. "Yanagi." Yaoyorozu spoke abruptly, "Do you want to come with us and have some—" She paused, "What was it again, Jiro?"

"Girl time, Yaomomo."

"Ah, yes!" She turned back to Reiko, "Would you like to have some "girl time" with us?"

Reiko quickly looked at Izuku, "So, we shall meet up together with Monoma later?"

"Sure." Izuku sent a smile her way. "I'll be back in time for the banquet, promise."

"As do I." Reiko sent the biggest smile she could Izuku's way, though it wasn't that large at all.

With that, the two went their separate ways, Izuku with Melissa to test out some gear or related piece of equipment specifically for enhancement type quirks like himself and Reiko with the 1-A girls for some time with new friends. And in that, Iida and Todoroki were left completely alone, one still pondering why such a wonderful simulator would be turned into a childish game and the other wondering if the soba here at I-Island would be cold.

---

Izuku looked on in wonder as he entered what he presumed was Melissa's personal workshop, across the walls were shelves adorned with dozens upon dozens of gadgets or other sorts of equipment. From what Izuku saw there were multiple iterations of one concept all clustered together.

On one shelf was multiple jet packs, and going from left to right they were bulky and looked like they were set to explode, before becoming more streamlined and professional, something current pro heroes would most likely use. It was the same across all the shelves and other storage devices that Melissa had.

Chest pieces, capture weapons, hover boots, trap foam, smoke bombs, gas masks, night vision, ear pieces, all sort of things that Izuku had heard of before except that these versions looked way more high tech than any version he'd ever seen.

"Even compared to Hatsume's, this stuff is on another level." Izuku spoke out loud with awe.

"Thanks." Melissa giggled as they made their way to the back.

Izuku blushed after realizing he was speaking out loud. "S-Sorry."

Melissa waved him off, "You're good, Midoriya." They approached a large table, covered in what looked like tons of iterations of a glove, sleeves, and even bracelets, "Now, this is what I wanted to show you."

In front of them, Melissa grabbed a small black box and opened it. Izuku peaked inside to see a red bracelet. "What's that?" Izuku asked, after all he was surprised that they came all this way to just see a little bracelet. But then, a memory struck from their flight to the I-Island, and a certain detail from the pamphlet they read.

Perhaps the thing in front of him was the elusive "Full Gauntlet" that Melissa had made. Though, even if it was the Full Gauntlet, Izuku hadn't read what the glove did so he didn't know the equipment's utility.

"Well—" Melissa plucked the bracelet out and closed the box before holding it out to Izuku, "I made this to challenge my dad, it's a bracelet that can expand into a gauntlet that can handle the full force of All Might's power, something Dad was never able to do." She grinned and Izuku looked at the piece of tech in awe.

"S-So…" He grabbed the bracelet with shaking hands, "This can handle 100% of All Might's power…?"

"Sure can." Melissa smiled and put the empty box away, "I call it the Full Gauntlet." She looked at Izuku afterward and the boy was happy to know that he was correct in his assumption, "I saw that your body can't handle the full power of your quirk during the Sports Festival. And again after the Stain incident."

Izuku's eyes widened, "You could tell?" The Sports Festival made sense, the Hosu Incident didn't.

She shrugged, "It was kind of obvious for me, Dad's been researching enhancement types since I was a kid and that rubbed off on me." Melissa pointed to the bracelet, "I figured that you'd be the best person to give that thing to, but bare in mind it's only good for three shots."

Izuku nodded along, not really paying attention and instead focusing on taking off his costume's glove and friendship bracelet, strapping it to his left wrist afterwards. With a quick pull up of his sleeve, Izuku locks the Full Gauntlet to his right hand. "So, how do I turn it on?" Izuku asked after waving his arm around.

The bracelet was surprisingly light, but also extremely comfortable. The thing was strange, felt strange, but it also felt completely right.

"The bracelet reacts to your quirk usage." Melissa grinned at her own accomplishment, "I used to have it with a button but this was better, so, once it detects that you're exceeding your body's parameters it'll wrap around your arm."

"Woah." Izuku looked down at his arm, "Technology can do that…?"

Melissa's smile only grew more, "It can now."

"This is incredible!" Izuku let One For All flow through his arm, past levels his body could handle, and sure enough the bracelet beeped to life."

"Quirk exceeding established parameters: changing to gauntlet mode" The device spoke and expanded across his arm, bands of red material crossing together around his palm, fingers, and forearm. "Change is complete."

Izuku couldn't help but look over the transformed gauntlet, squeezing his fingers and feeling the tightness and comfort of the gadget. "How long did this take you to make?"

Melissa gestured to all the failed ones covering the table, more than any of the failures covering the shelves, "Took me a long time, it was actually my graduation project, but I started it way before my last year."

He could only nod along, and after lowering his output of One For All the gauntlet shrinked back down into a bracelet. "This is just—" Izuku really didn't have any words, and if this could really handle his full output and allow him to fully use that power then it was even more incredible then he could fail to describe. "I don't know…"

The American smiled, "You can have it."

"W-What?!" Izuku's eyes widened, "N-No, I can't take this. The Full Gauntlet is something that someone way more important than me should have."

"Midoriya." Melissa cut in but still smiled, "There is quite literally no one I know that would benefit from this besides you, the entire gauntlet was made to handle All Might's full power, you're no All Might but I've seen what your quirk does to you. The Full gauntlet will cushion that, so you might as well take it, right?"

"Well…" Izuku trailed off, "Okay." Izuku smiled, "Thank you."

Melissa let out a hand for him to shake, "Don't mention it, Midoriya." Izuku quickly took her hand and shook it, "If you have any problems with the Full Gauntlet then let me know, I'll fix it up for you."

"Alright!" The two made their way out of the workshop, only to see someone exiting from a nearby office. "Mr. Yagi!" Izuku waved the man over as his mentor's eyes caught the boy. Behind Yagi was a familiar looking man.

"Dad!" Melissa made her way over and hugged her father and Izuku sat gobsmacked in the hall. "Oh, Midoriya! This is my dad." Melissa gestured to the man who gave an a small nod to Izuku, "The esteemed scientist, and All MIght's first ever partner when he first started out in America, David Shield."

David rubbed the back of his neck, "My, my, what a nice introduction." The man grinned before looking over at Izuku, "You're Midoriya, the student that won the Sports Festival, right?" David stuck a hand out, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Izuku quickly stumbled to shake the man's hand, "T-The pleasure is all mine, Mr. David Shield sir!"

Yagi quickly chopped his student on the head, "Calm down, kid, he's just a normal guy, no matter what his origin story is."

"Ah, sorry!" Izuku went ramrod straight but quickly bowed and opened a notebook for David to see, "Can I please have your autograph?" Yagi sighed but David grinned, plucking a pen out of his pocket and signing a picture of a younger him and All Might in their old floating car.

"The Allmobile? It's been a while since I've seen that thing. Haven't driven it in ages." David smiled at the memories, glancing at Yagi and giving him a knowing look. "Anyways, we're happy to have you here with us, Midoriya."

"I'm glad to be here, Mr. Shield."

"Just call me David."

It took everything inside of Izuku to not fanboy in the moment, "Yes, Mr. David." It was good enough.

The two teens bid the adults goodbye as they went to get ready for the banquet. Yagi went on his way to prepare his great speech that he would be giving to the masses, and David went to organize a heist of his own great creation.

All the while, two villains were organizing a heist of their own.

Notes:

So, I did change the way the Full Gauntlet works just a little bit, but I prefer this way much more. I thought the whole button thing will ruin moments of tension I have planned for later on.

Also, this chapter is a tad bit shorter than usual ones, but I thought this was a good place to end off on. The next chapter will start with the banquet and the first part of the attack.

As some of you may have noticed, Bakugo, Kirishima, and Mineta are absent, but have been replaced by Monoma and Reiko. I don't enjoy writing Mineta, though I do believe that underneath all that stupid pervertedness he is a decent character and one of the smarter ones in the verse.

And there's no reason for Kirishima and Bakugo to be here. While originally, Monoma wasn't going to be here I remembered the butler jobs Kaminari and Mineta had and couldn't get the image of Monoma being a butler out of my head, after all it is literally just his hero costume.

Reiko's going to have some girl time, Izuku has the Full Gauntlet, and Black Whip has already manifested, while two separate villain groups are preparing to execute a heist.

Who will come out on top? Will Toga and Twice make it out with the Quirk Amplifier? Is Izuku going to be overpowered with the Full Gauntlet? Wait to find out!

Jay out!

Chapter 29: I-Island: Attack

Himiko Toga couldn't believe her eyes.

She had, courtesy of an ugly butler that she had taken the pleasure in making beautiful, snuck around sections of the island that she otherwise wasn't supposed to be in. Labs, containment areas, hell even a place that looked like a school. Apparently, whoever she had turned herself into had high clearance since she was able to get in anywhere.

And just around the corner was a familiar face.

Izuku Midoriya, or as she called him: Useless-kun, was mere feet away from her, smiling and chatting with a girl just a tad bit older than him. Perhaps the girl was Himiko's age. 'Wait… how old am I again?'

Time had long since blurred for Himiko, days passed by in the blink of an eye and sometimes her body would just shut down to help with her craving for blood or due to lack of food. Dates didn't make sense, even when she could see them since what stolen phone she had at the time would be dead since she never had a place to charge it.

Years, she knew for a fact it had been at least one year since she ran away from home. Right? That made sense to her. But what if it had been longer? What year of school was she supposed to be in? Or should she have already graduated? Should she be in college now? Married? Jailed?

Himiko shook her head, it was best not to spiral when she was in the depths of a mission that Shiggy, the nickname she had oh so kindly given Tomura, had assigned her and in the form of another body on top of that.

Useless-kun, or… Deku, right? Oh yeah, his name was Deku! walked by with a girl, a girl who clearly had a personal connection with her current disguise judging by the way her eyes lit up upon noticing Himiko around the corner.

"Sam!" The girl yelled and quickly hugged Himiko, who currently looked like whoever this "Sam" was. "Where have you been? I thought you would have been talking to dad about the banquet that's going to happen later today?"

"Ah, yes! The banquet…" Himiko's voice had changed to match the man, though clearly she hadn't matched his mannerism as Melissa looked at her slightly confused. "There was a… incident with some heroes that I had to take care of."

"Oh." Melissa looked perplexed by his tone, another mistake Himiko had made, but still continued nonetheless, "Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Himiko quickly waved her off, "Now, I must get going, your… father requested my presence!" She tried to be upbeat, but it seemed that was just another slip on her part.

She had always been used to examining her targets before changing into them, and the bad part about this mission was that she didn't have time. They had arrived just that morning and needed to pull off a heist the same night.

All without getting caught by Wolfram.

Wolfram was the one who had organized the entire heist on I-Island, and Twice and Himiko were just hitching a ride. He had, from what Himiko had seen, a metal manipulation quirk

Or at least she thought at first.

---

They had once more hidden among the cargo on the ship they stowed away on, after Twice had taken time to measure and examine the body. Himiko presumed it was for his quirk, but now the body of the man they had pounced was left to rot near the entrance of the hull.

Or at least it would have, if not for the emergence of someone else.

A giant man, with a metal mask covering the bottom of his face, and bright blood red hair, stomped out.

"Hm." Wolfram grunted as he looked down at the body, his eyes wandered up and to the right, towards where Himiko and Twice were. It startled the girl, but she clasped a hand over Twice's mouth to make sure not a sound was made. "Well…"

Wolfram raised a hand up, and the metal around the floor clasped around the dead body, rising up and lifting the body along with it. The information would be useful for Himiko and Twice's mission, it was clear Wolfram had a metal manipulation quirk.

Her musing stopped when the villain grabbed the dead body by the face before squeezing.

Himiko enjoyed blood, but she had to keep herself from vomiting as the man's skull was crushed, that was too much for her liking.

Afterwards, Wolfram dropped the man and wiped his hand on the body's jacket, "So dirty." Wolfram muttered as he pulled out a walkie talkie, "We're getting close to the island, get ready to depart…" He trailed off and once more glanced at the body, "And watch out for any rats that snuck aboard."

The two villains kept their heads down as Wolfram left. It was only then, once she had taken her hand off of Twice's mouth, that something was thrown into the air.

"He must be really strong to break a skull with one hand! I can kick his ass!"

---

It was clear to her that Wolfram had some sort of enhancement quirk on top of his metal manipulation. And that was doubly troublesome for them, while only adding more thoughts to her brain. How exactly did he get a second quirk?

There was too much to think about, too much for her mind anyways.

"You good, Sam?"

Himiko blinked, seeing the girl with a worried face. "Ah, yes, sorry I must get going now." Himiko responded and hurried around a corner.

Melissa and Izuku glanced back at Sam as he jogged away, confusion evident on their faces. "I take it that he's not usually like that?" Izuku asked as he peered at the retreating Sam. Something about him rubbed Izuku the wrong way.

"Yeah, I wonder if he had a bad morning…" Melissa trailed off, "Oh, but let's go get ready for the banquet!"

"Oh, right!"

It took a few hours, but Izuku met up with Melissa and made his way down to the banquet entrance, where they would have to climb a floor to reach the event. They were a tad late, as all the adults were already inside and waiting for the reception to begin.

"I can't believe you all are so tardy!" The iconic voice of Iida shouted as the two came in, dressed in an obvious blue suit to match his hair and eyes color. Alongside him were Todoroki in a white suit, Kaminari in a white shirt with a black vest and slacks, and Monoma in his… hero costume.

"You didn't have anything else, Monoma?" Izuku asked as he came up to his friend, he himself was in a red suit with black stripes.

Monoma played with his bangs, "A showman must always be prepared, Midoriya." He said very confidently before scooting just a tad closer, "I forgot about the banquet, so yeah this was all I had." He whispered. It made Izuku giggle.

"You look nice Todoroki." Izuku complimented.

"Mm. Thanks." It was better than nothing. "You look nice too, Midoriya."

"Man, I'm proud of you." Kaminari clapped a hand on Todoroki's shoulder, "I mean, remember when you were all dark and brooding at the start of the year?"

"Dark?" Todoroki looked confused, "But I still look the exact same compared to the start of term."

Any further conversation was silenced as a clacking of heels echoed through the room. All the boys, plus Melissa, glanced at the entrance to see the UA girls coming through. Yaoyorozu, in a light yellow sundress, Jiro in a black jacket, purple shirt, poofy pink skirt, and black leggings, Uraraka in a pink dress with black leggings.

And Reiko.

"Wow…" Izuku trailed off.

She was adorned in a light blue dress that left her shoulders bare, but had sleeves that went all the way down and covered her hands, as Izuku had learned she enjoyed with outfits. The dress went down to her knees and her legs were left bare. Her heels were a slightly darker blue compared to her dress.

But it was her face that left Izuku stunned. For the longest time, ever since they started school, she had always hit half of her face with a large bang, but not it was swept to the side with a hair clip, allowing him to gaze into both of her ceruleans eyes.

It was like being lost in the beauty of the night sky.

Her bags weren't as bad as usual either and her eyes had black eyeliner surrounding them, both of which Izuku attributed to some sort of make up Yaoyorozu either had on hand or conjured with her quirk, but he sort of missed her natural looks. Reiko's eye bags were something he deeply connected to her, with her ghostly habits and supernatural addiction. Her lack of bags was confusing, but he didn't mind. And that left her plump lips.

They were gorgeous, covered in a very light blue lipstick that had Izuku focusing on them more than he wanted to.

Monoma nudged Izuku's arm, "You're drooling." He whispered.

"I-I am not!" Izuku shot back in a hushed voice.

"You totally are, but I'll pretend."

"Yaoyorozu, you are late!" Iida chastised with a shout and wave of his arm, which had Yaoyorozu apologizing, though any one with eyes could tell that she wasn't that sorry.

The girls mixed around with the boys, with those of 1-A greeting each other and chatting with their friends. Monoma decided he would start talking with Melissa about random gear, like if she could make trading cards for him that were better than bullets.

That left Izuku along with Reiko.

Why was he so sweaty?

"H-Hey, Reiko." His voice peaked weirdly as she stood right in front of him. That wasn't all either, his body felt like it was shaking too, his suit had gotten weirdly tight and it was just a tad too hot in the room.

"Greetings to you as well, Izuku."

Many would think the silence that followed after would have been awkward, but it wasn't. The two couldn't help but smile at each other. Izuku's body relaxed after she spoke, her voice always had a strange calming effect on him, snapping him out of musings and bringing him back down to Earth.

She was like the center of his universe.

And he couldn't help but be locked in her orbit.

"Are you ready for the ball?" Reiko asked as she snaked an arm around Izuku's with a gentle hold.

His eyes locked onto it, making him gulp before he locked back onto her eyes, "W-Well…" Izuku cursed his stutter right now, "I think I am now…" Judging by her smile, he supposed that was the right thing to say.

They, together, took a single step.

Before everything was drowned in darkness.

"Woah!" Kaminari yelled before he sparked his quirk across his body, lighting up the area just a tad. Todoroki quickly followed with a small fire in his left hand while Izuku activated Full Cowling. "What happened to the lights?"

"I don't know…" Izuku trailed off before looking at Melissa, "What's going on? Is there a power outage?"

Melissa shook her head, "No, it seems like the security system went off." Her eyes trailed across the building, and the entrance to the banquet, which now, after a quick test from Kaminari, seemed locked. "But there's never been a false alarm before." Melissa continued.

"Uh guys?" Uraraka called out and appeared to be waving her phone in the air, "I can't get a signal, anyone else?" The rest of the group quickly fished out their own phones, only to confirm that the same had happened to the rest of them. Not a single one had a signal.

Yaoyorozu, Iida, and Izuku locked eyes.

"A premeditated attack?" The heiress asked.

"Possible, but unlikely." Ingenium's brother answered.

"But not impossible." All Might's successor finished. "We need to get into the main part of the building and see what's going on." Izuku surmised, "If there's a threat, then we help deal with it, if it's nothing then we can be confident in saying it was just a false alarm."

Iida paced, "Should we do something so…brash?"

"We don't even have provisional licenses, Midoriya." Yaoyorozu chastised, but still looked conflicted. "To enact heroic duties at a time like this would be illegal."

"Well…" Izuku powered One For All into a fist and broke the locked door, "If people are in trouble then I'm going to help them." Monoma and Reiko quickly found themselves at his side, each of them shared a glance.

"I followed your plan during our Final Exam, I'm not gonna stop now." Monoma grinned.

"I trusted you during the USJ attack, I find no reason why that trust would be misplaced now." Reiko smiled slightly.

The three of 1-B looked back, Melissa and those of their sister class looked a little frightened. It was Todoroki that stepped forward. "Just like you said, people could be in danger. And I don't want to stand off to the side and let that happen. I don't want to fight anyone, but I want to save everyone."

"Y-Yeah, me too!" Kaminari stammered, a bit on the sheepish side. "I'm basically a human stun gun, get me in front of a guy and we don't have to fight him!"

Jiro rolled her eyes and sighed, "If there's any villains I'll be able to snuff 'em out with my Earphone Jack."

"I might be able to help us sneak around if we need to using my quirk." Uraraka added in, though she wasn't too pleased with the idea.

Iida and Yaoyorozu shared a small glance before sighing, "Very well then, if we must join you then we will, but be cautious. We don't know who caused the security system to go off." Yaoyorozu answered, but Iida still looked troubled.

Melissa stepped forward, "We can go check the ballroom first, there's an upper level that looks down onto the dance hall. If there's something up then we can advance all the way to the security office and turn off the system. Possibly even deal with whoever set it off in the first place."

"Alright then. Let's get going!"

---

All Might was upset, because he was dumb.

Just moments prior, his best friend and the man's assistant had been escorted away by what he assumed were terrorists and the pro could do nothing to stop it.

Because of some stupid tape.

Well, maybe that was underselling the power of the capture device, after all it had been supposedly designed by an I-Island scientist. It was top of the line. And it had been used on every hero in the room, including himself. Only one hero tried to stand up to the hijackers, and he was quickly silenced.

One For All was burning inside of him, his embers flaring to get him to enact a counter attack. But he couldn't. He was straining his quirk just to keep up appearances, had no way of knowing where the gunmen had gone, and had multiple in this room ready to take out any civilians.

If he was going to fight back, he was going to need help.

"I really miss when I was able to do everything alone…" All Might muttered under his breath. The unstoppable power that he had in his prime was something he wished back every day. But that power was never going to come back.

Instead, his successor, Izuku, would eclipse even that power in just a few years.

Speaking of, why was his successor in the upper floor looking down at him? And it wasn't just him either, Young Monoma and Young Yanagi were with him as well, on top of Melissa and some students from class 1-A.

What were they doing? And why did their presence worry him?

It was only a moment later that Toshinori saw a small little bug climbing near him. However, it wasn't a bug at all. It was a robot. The little bug robot climbed onto All Might's face before reaching his ear.

"Uncle Might." Melissa's voice came through a speaker inside the robot.

"Melissa…?" All Might whispered back. "What are you doing? There are gunmen on the loose."

There was a short pause, "I know– We know… we're gonna do something about it." She didn't leave him room to say anything. "We'll get all of you out. And then you can fight the villains."

"Melissa, no! They took your dad and his assistant, don't let them get you too!" All Might bit through his teeth, but his niece and students quickly disappeared. "Damn it." He hated feeling so useless! He was the Symbol of Peace, damn it!

And all these gunmen that were pacing around him were really starting to get on his nerves!

---

"So, how do we get to the security tower?"

"We shouldn't, we should leave!"

Izuku and Iida had gotten into an argument. Izuku, ever the hero, wanted to storm the security tower and combat the villains to save everyone that was trapped in the building. Meanwhile, Iida wanted them to escape and leave everything up to the real heroes.

The two were like clashing bulls, neither willing to give up any leeway.

"We're just kids! We don't even have licenses! To interfere now would be illegal, Midoriya!" Iida fought. His words were true, they would be in trouble.

But Izuku didn't care, and instead he leveled Iida with a light glare. It was surprising to everyone present as he had never done such a thing before, especially not to someone he considered a friend. "You're being a hypocrite and you know that Iida."

The bespectacled teen flinched before lowering his head and looking off to the side, "I don't want anyone to get hurt because of recklessness, my recklessness. Not again." Iida conceded with a look of pain. Whatever the two were talking about, it was clearly something personal. It caused Todoroki and Reiko to quickly share a look and nod.

"Iida…" Izuku's voice was soft.

"Maybe he's right Midoriya." Uraraka interrupted, "We could get in trouble just for helping."

The group was silent for a while, no one knew what they were going to do. This wasn't like the USJ where they were attacked and had to defend themselves. Now, they were going out and looking to fight. They were instigating.

"M-My dad's being held hostage…" The group turned to Melissa, tears were brimming in her eyes, "He's up there, being held at gunpoint for ransom or something else just as bad…"

One For All burned as Izuku clenched a fist and his teeth, before something sneaked out of his hands.

Black Whip was manifesting around him, but this time he wasn't exploding outward. It coiled around his body like a shadow, "We don't have time to sit around and argue, either you're with me and Melissa or you're not. That's fine, stay here and wait."

"Quirk exceeding established parameters: changing to gauntlet mode" The Full Gauntlet beeped until it had completely covered his arm.

"Me and Monoma are going with you." Reiko pulled off her heels, "Yaoyorozu, can you make me a stone slab or something lighter and some shoes, please?" The heiress quickly complied and Reiko adorned the shoes before standing on the foothold before using her quick to make it float. "We'll need to cover ground quickly."

"I can help with that." Todoroki let frost cover his right arm, "I traverse quickly thanks to my ice."

"Can I copy that?" Monoma asked and Todoroki nodded, "I won't be as skilled, but I'll make due." He commented as mist wafted off of his own right hand. "Melissa, you should lose your heels, it'll make moving harder."

"Right." She quickly took them off and adorned shoes, courtesy of Yaoyorozu once again. "Can I jump on that board with you, Yanagi?"

"Of course." The ghost girl nodded and made room to share with Melissa.

Izuku, once more, glance at those left of 1-A. "Stay safe, stay out of trouble." He forced a breath in, and as he did so the quirk of his predecessor slithered back into his body as Full Cowling drifted off of him, almost like a cape billowing in the wind. "We're gonna put a stop to these villains, and–" His eyes shone emerald green, filled with determination, "We'll save everyone."

With that, the team broke out into a sprint down the halls of I-Island's most prominent tower.

Iida, Yaoyorozu, Uraraka, Jiro, and Kaminari were left slumped.

"AH! Come on!" Kaminari yelled before chasing after them, "I'm coming guys!" Jiro cursed and followed her idiot friend, shouting about him being stupid but not much else.

Yaoyorozu sighed before creating a motorized bike for herself and following behind the two.

Uraraka and Iida didn't move.

They wouldn't move.

The team they had forged made their ways through the halls, before the sounds of yelling interrupted and made them pause. "Might be villains!" Todoroki let flames dance off of his left arm.

"Everyone, get ready!" Izuku powered up his quirk and pushed himself in front of Melissa. They didn't expect to see Yaoyorozu and Jiro chasing after Kaminari, the purple haired girl screaming at the blond the entire time.

"Quit running around like headless chickens you 1-A fools!" Monoma yelled, falling into old tendencies for a moment. Thankfully, this time it actually helped this time as it got the three to stop.

Kaminari came to a halt, panting with his hands on his knees. "I-I still wanna help!"

"Us as well." Yaoyorozu commented as Jiro repeatedly stabbed Kaminari with her jacks.

"Well–" Melissa started only to get cut off, a loud shutting sound echoing from far away. "No way…" Another shutting sound, much closer, sounded off. And then another, and another, and more over and over again. Before long, giant shutters came into view, closing off the halls of I-Island's largest tower.

"Everyone, group together!"

The giant shutters continued around them, before trapping them in a small box.

"So, what's the plan now?"

"Shut up Kaminari!"

Lights overhead changed from blue to red and Izuku quickly looked over to Melissa.

"They know we're moving around." Melissa quickly responded, "They're trying to stop us from reaching the top of the tower." Trying to trap them like rats in the walls.

"Melissa, got a question." Monoma approached a nearby wall. "What's on the other side of this?"

The American closed her eyes as she tried to remember, "We've got a plant factory there, inside is an elevator we should be able to use to head up higher." The group glanced at each other, looks of determination across all their faces.

"Good good." Monoma grinned, "Midoriya, my good friend, if you would?" He stepped away from the wall.

"Gotcha." Izuku pounded his fists together before charging up One For All, "SMASH!" The wall went flying outward and into a vast open green area, filled with plants and water. "Let's go!" The teens quickly moved inside, only to leap in fright as the elevator in the middle of the Plant Factory opened, inside a duo of villains coming out.

"Alright, kiddos, stop this farce and no one has to get hurt!" A short, rotund man yelled into the factory, his shout echoing throughout the open area. His partner, a rather tall man with a strange looking face, grinned as he opened his arms up and his hand gigantified.

"What is that phrase Tetsu usually utters?" Reiko asked as she lifted her hands, "Do it die time, correct?"

"That's right!" Izuku bounded forward with Full Cowling sparking across his form, "Protect Melissa and try to get to the top floor!" He pulled a fist back and let One For All charged up for a moment, "TEXAS SMASH!" A cluster of air pressure was sent flying forward, right between the two villains, "I've got the short one, Todoroki get the tall guy with the big hands!"

"On it!" Todoroki replied and surfed on a wave of ice.

The rotund villain rolled into a crouch, "You know, kid. We really would've just let you go…"

"Funny." Izuku chuckled as he upped his percentage of One For All, "I was just about to say the same thing."

---

Why did her head hurt so much…?

"HEY FAKER!"

"Agh!" Himiko yelped as someone kicked her stomach. That's why her head hurt… she had been caught. Blearly, she looked up and winced when light hit her eyes. The light only made her head hurt more, she wanted to cry.

"You up kid?! Come on!"

She winced at the noise and locked her eyes shut. She wanted to sleep, to run away, to go someplace safe where no one would hurt her. Why was she even here again?

Ah, right… Shiggy gave her a mission, and if she failed she'd get thrown away.

She'd been caught…

"Where the hell is Sam, kid?!" The blinding light was hidden behind a big red face. Wolfram had caught her, and he was rather pissed if she had to guess.

"The fat guy…?" Himiko let out a dull chuckle, "I cut him up a while ago…" A gleeful smile came onto her face even as she looked up at Wolfram with hooded eyes, "He's somewhere around the island leaking out that beautiful blood."

The villain in front of her grimaced, rearing back a fist. "You stupid kid!" Wolfram smacked Himiko upside the head, causing her to fall onto her side. With her arms bound to her side by some kind of metal sheet, she was unable to get up. "Damn it!"

Off to the side, there was another man, but he looked a lot more normal. Oh but he was upset, and sad. He would look so much better covered in blood, but he was too old for her.

"Sam's… dead?" The older man whispered to himself as Himiko squirmed on the floor.

A little chuckle wanted to escape her, but she didn't want to be hit again.

"It doesn't matter." Wolfram grunted, "We keep on going, David, unless you're going to back out now once we've come so far?"

David, she now knew, paused. His eyes were distant and unfocused, and he had to force himself to look at Wolfram, even though it seemed he was really looking at the man. "N-No… we've come too far…"

"Atta boy…" Wolfram grinned, "Then let's climb the tower, we've still got more floors to go."

"And the girl…?" David trailed off.

Wolfram glanced at her, "Leave her be, let her rot here."

Himiko whimpered as they walked away, the lights in the room shutting off and leaving her abandoned in a darkly lit area. It felt just like the alley.

---

Izuku grimaced as the rotund villain destroyed the surrounding area. At some point, the man activated his quirk, turning himself into a large purple monster that packed punches as hard as trucks.

Luckily, One For All did the same.

Izuku found his body pumping more and more of the quirk into Full Cowling without him doing so consciously, and every few moments something would would sneak out from under the Full Gauntlet.

Black Whip.

It was responding to his emotions, to his desperation to save everyone, and trying to manifest outside of his body. Yet, it still appeared something was holding the quirk back from coming out fully, was it his lack of determination or—

BAM

"GAH!" Izuku wasn't paying attention, and received a large blow to the side of the head that sent him sailing. Izuku rolled with the blow and landed in a crouch, however the villain was right on top of him a moment later.

Quickly crossing his arms in an "x" formation, Izuku blocked the blow, but still buckled from the force. "I'm gonna beat you down kid!" The villain yelled, but recoiled when he noticed something.

Izuku was smiling.

The boy's crossed arms grabbed the villain's large hand and he began spinning, "OKLAHOMA–" Izuku let go and sent the villain sailing, "SMASH!" The giant villain was sent flying to the outer wall, the piece crumbling from his weight and opening a giant section of the tower to the winds of the outside.

Finally, he could take a breather…

On the other side of the Plant Factory, Monoma and Todoroki had managed to take down the villain with giant hands, through a combination of ice and fire manipulation that led to the man being caught in an explosion.

He was left standing afterward, but a quick shock from Kaminari put him out of commission.

"Told you guys!" Kaminari cheered as he pointed at himself, "Human stun gun!"

"God, I hate you…" Jiro groaned as she stretched out.

"We're not done yet…" Yaoyorozu sighed and gazed at the elevator leading to only higher floors. "Melissa, how many more floors do we have until we reach the top?"

The blonde grimaced, "Far too many for my liking…"

They were all tired, and fighting in suits and dresses was not comfortable or efficient in the slightest. At least Izuku had some gear, and Yaoyorozu had been able to trade out the girls' heels for boots that made it easier to move.

But still, their burning drive had dimmed slightly.

"...perhaps if I can use the power for just a moment, I can propel myself to a higher floor by grappling or hanging – maybe connecting to? – something higher and then use the enhancement aspect in my legs to kick the ground at a high enough power to give myself a sort of faux flight. To do that though I would need Black Whip to work and I doubt it would at this point…"

The entirety of the group turned to Midoriya, who seemed to be curled in on himself and, had somewhere, retrieved a notebook where he was drawing a diagram and muttering about who knew what.

Monoma and Reiko glanced at each other, "Want me to take this one…?" He asked to which she nodded. "Hey, uhhh Midoriya?" Monoma probed, but when he didn't get a response he resorted to nudging Izuku with a finger.

The greenette snapped to attention. "A-Ah, sorry!" Izuku quickly apologized as he shoved his notebook in the group's direction, "I was just thinking, I can probably get to the top floor through use of Black Whip and my enhancement aspect, while you guys go up through the elevator. "If the villain's are coming down then we can execute a pincer maneuver, if they're staying on the top floor then I can hold them off while Melissa works to turn off the security system and you guys come up to assist."

The assembled teens murmured, the plan had some merit, but if Izuku ran into something that he couldn't beat…

"I'll go with you." Reiko instantly spoke, "I may not have a quirk as strong as yours, but I more than make up for that in pure versatility. I can defend, attack, redirect. I am a shield and sword. I can take on large groups at once."

Yaoyorozu and Izuku glanced at each other. "So, you take Melissa and Yanagi-san, while I take the others up the tower?"

"Yeah, it's as good a plan as any." Izuku nodded.

"Alright then." Yaoyorozu looked over at her group, "Let us lead the charge and free everyone in the tower." She glanced over at Izuku and quickly produced three ear pieces within her hand, "Stay on call, if anything happens then let us know."

"We will." Reiko nodded.

"Then, let's go." Melissa cut through, looking determined as she pulled her hair into a ponytail, "We don't have much time left, and I don't want to even think about what they've done with my dad or Sam."

"We'll save them." Izuku assured as he crouched down, "Climb on, it'll be easier to move this way." Melissa, after a moment's hesitation, did so. "Alright, see you guys later!"

"Be safe Midoriya!"

---

One For All was stirring inside of Izuku as they jumped out of the tower, Reiko floating on her board by his side. It was only a moment later that gravity took hold as they fell and Melissa clung to his body.

His eyes shut and he remembered what Daigoro told him as Black Whip pulsed just under his skin.

You're going about it all wrong kid, Black Whip's controlled through emotion, you gotta keep yourself in check!

Through emotion, through a need, a desire.

'Help me out Daigoro, I need your quirk right now!' But nothing happened, Izuku and Melissa kept falling without pause, 'Black Whip come on!' Izuku yelled in his mind, yet the tower was getting farther and farther away with each passing second, and Reiko was looking at both of them in alarm. "Come on you damn quirk!"

Apparently, a curse was all he needed, as a tendril of Black Whip sailed out from under the Full Gauntlet and stuck itself to the side of I-Island tower. The quirk then retracted, but with the anchor on the tower, Izuku and Melissa were pulled towards the building.

With a quick, "SMASH!" Courtesy of Izuku, the three find themselves in an upper level of the tower.

"Next time, be more cautious in such preparations, I would have caught you if needed but I'd prefer if you didn't put such an emotional strain on my heart." Reiko chastised as they all got up, "Now, allow us to siege the tower."

"Yeah…" Izuku muttered, "Let's…"

---

Momo was rather displeased.

Their current position, inside the server room of the tower, was nonoptimal to say the least as they were being swarmed by at least a hundred robots.

And it was terrible.

Todoroki and Monoma could only do so much in such a cramped space, both not wanting to damage their friends or the servers that were around them. They were here to stop villains, they couldn't destroy I-Island's property. The wall that Midoriya broke? Easy to fix. An entire server room with what was probably yottabytes upon yottabytes of information?

Yeah, they wouldn't be doing that.

So, Yaoyorozu found herself and Jiro hidden behind some ice that Todoroki had made, while Kaminari was going around and shocking the robots. Though, he was quickly getting swarmed.

"Damn– How many of these things are there!" Kaminari yelled as he placed his hand on another robot. "They just keep on coming!"

Jiro clicked her tongue, commanding her jacks to come out of hiding and sending a pulse through a robot she had jabbed. "Don't know but this is starting to get annoying!"

Monoma cursed as he jumped back from a robot's swipe. He and Todoroki had placed themselves on opposite ends, to defend their friends – it was weird to call 1-A students friends – from the mechanical pains in his ass. However, that left him vulnerable.

He wasn't good at using this quirk as Todoroki, his control not as precise. Their strength was the same, but Monoma had to hold back to not damage the server room. However, he wasn't ready for his timer to run out.

The now familiar sensation of Todoroki's Half-Cold Half-Hot vanished and Monoma was left open for all the robots to flood him with attacks.

Momo noticed his panic and tried to conjure something to help but her mind couldn't land on any one object to create.

"RECIPRO–"

Luckily, she wouldn't have to.

"BURST!"

A blur of blue fire came out of nowhere as Iida crashed into an entire group of robots, sending them towards Momo and Jiro, the latter of which quickly dispatched the foes with a sonic discharge from her jacks.

"Iida!"

Kaminari grinned while shocking another robot into shutting down, "Man, am I glad to see you!"

"It's not just me, Kaminari!"

At the boy's confused look, the entire group saw a bunch of robots begin floating up, before crashing back down following the shout of, "RELEASE!" Standing in the middle of the broken automatons was Uraraka, sheepishly shaking her head. "Hey guys…"

"Glad you two finally decided to get your heads out of your asses!" Jiro chuckled as the commotion seemed to die down. The two winced and Momo shot Jiro a scolding look, "Ah, sorry Rep…"

"No." Iida cut through, "You're right… Midoriya was right."

"And you need to be caught up." Todoroki walked towards the group after having dealt with his remaining robots, "We're performing a pincer maneuver, climbing the tower while Midoriya, Yanagi, and Shield get to the top and descend it. We're bound to run into the villains eventually."

"I see." Iida hummed along, "In that case, let us continue upwards, but all of us should be wary."

Monoma sighed, "Agreed." He tapped Todoroki on the shoulder, "Now, let's keep on moving, we haven't time to waste." The entire group all took the elevator up to higher floors, pondering what would be awaiting them at the top.

Surprisingly, as they opened up into a moderately sized room, that was barely lit.

"Todoroki, if you would." Yaoyorozu calmly asked as she conjured a shield.

The dual-haired boy lifted his left arm before lighting a flame within his palm, it lit up in beautiful displays of orange light, and allowed them to notice one fact that escaped them upon their initial arrival.

There was a body on the floor.

The girls, along with Kaminari, screamed at seeing a body, but Iida stepped forward and pressed a hand to the girl's neck.

"She's alive, but unconscious." Ingenium's brother surmised, "Most likely knocked out by whatever villains came this way." He let go of the girl and stood to his full height. "We'll have two people stay with her while the rest of us climb the tower."

Quickly, they decided that Monoma and Uraraka would be the ones to stay. Uraraka's quirk could easily incapacitate people if needed and was an easy one to copy for Monoma, barring the consequence of throwing up but he was prepared. Todoroki, Kaminari, and Iida would easily take down villains while Jiro was exceptional at reconnaissance. Yaoyorozu was added just to have someone to hold the group together.

"Here." The Heiress spoke as she created more copies of the ear pieces she had given MIdoriya, Yanagi, and Melissa. "If you need us just talk through these."

"Got it, Yaomomo!" Uraraka grinned.

"Yeah, got it." Monoma was more serious. The group departed, leaving the two teens alone with an unconscious girl that they knew nothing about. Why did everything have to be so complicated? "It's like I haven't had a normal day since I met Midoriya…"

"Eh, you say something, Monoma?"

"Nope."

---

"So, how do you recommend dealing with these three, Shield?"

They were all quiet. None of them knew what to do.

After all their work to storm the tower and retrieve Melissa's father to make sure he wasn't killed had been made pointless in but a few seconds as they learned the unfortunate truth of the matter. David Shield, Melissa's father, was standing just a ways away from Wolfram with a case tucked under his arm.

"D-Dad?" Melissa stammered as David hid behind Wolfram. "W-What are you doing?"

"Melissa…" David looked afraid, unsure of what to do, "Y-You don't understand."

"Don't understand what?!" She looked between the two, "Y-You're working with a criminal! Just to steal some stupid tech?!" Melissa didn't know what to believe, was her dad really a crook?

"Melissa–"

"You took too long." Wolfram raised an arm and a wave of metal slammed into the three teens, Izuku quickly jumped in front but it didn't matter. "Come on, Shield, we've got a flight to catch."

"M-My daughter…" But David didn't have time to think, Wolfram grabbed him by the head and carried him away. "Melissa! Melissa, I'm sorry! MELISSA!"

END

Notes:

I'm sorry this took so long, I've been eagerly watching MHA end and I can't help but feel... dissatisfied.

Don't read past this if you haven't seen the ending.

I know some people will like it, but I don't like that ending. It's just... empty to me. There's no merit in how things ended, the heroes failed to save who they wanted to save, Izuku lost his quirk, becomes a teacher, and then gets a suit to be a hero even without his quirk, it's... I just don't like it. I've been working on that Digimon x MHA story, but I don't think I'll publish it. Instead, I want to work on a My Hero rewrite, but I'll only start publishing that once this story is done, which may be another year or two.

Thank you for reading, and thank you Horikoshi for the good time I had reading and watching My Hero Academia.

Chapter 30: I-Island: Finale

 

The two girls glanced at each other as they were left to their own devices after Wolfram's escape with David Shield, trapped against a wall because a big hump of metal had been launched right at them.. Their heavy hitter, Izuku, was down now, knocked out cold. What were they going to do?

Well, they both knew they sure as hell weren't going to give up now. Not when they were so close to achieving what they set out to do. Mainly saving Melissa's dad and kicking the piss out of villains.

"Here." Reiko bit out, "Let me try something." She shut her eyes for a moment and focused, the metal trapping them to the wall glowing with a soft pink glow at the action. It was heavy, however she did lift a dragon during her internship, and this little piece of metal was nothing compared to that.

Within a meager few seconds, Melissa and Reiko found themselves free and, relatively, undamaged. Izuku had managed to take the brunt of the villain's attack for them before said villain made off with Melissa's father, lucky for them, however now he was out of commission. That left them with a problem.

What to do now?

"I should be able to shut down the security system from here." Melissa quickly approached a nearby console while Reiko tended to Izuku, noticing that none of the damage on his person was too bad, at most he would have a couple of bruises.

"So peculiar, just how durable does your quirk make you…" She mumbled before she caught and quickly chided herself and propped him on the wall, "Rest for now, please." Reiko was quickly by Melissa's side.

The computer monitor swapped between dozens of different screens as Melissa typed away, a look of fierce concentration on her face.

"What do you require of me?" Reiko asked.

The Shield quickly typed away, "If you can somehow hold them off from leaving, they're probably taking a helicopter out…" She responded without looking, clearly focused on her task. "Just hold them there until I can get you some help."

"Some help?" Reiko asked.

Melissa glanced at her, a look of determination in her blue eyes, "Yes, now get going!"

---

"God, how many more stairs are there?!"

"A lot, and if I hear you complain one more time Kaminari, so help me I will shove my jacks so far up your–"

"SHHHH!" The two, Jiro and Kaminari, stopped bickering as Yaomomo silenced them. "I swear, you two are like an old married couple." The two squawked but Yaomomo silenced them again. "A moment please."

They heard noises, strange noises, angry noises.

Someone was… arguing? With someone else, but both voices sounded the same. And… they kept contradicting each other…? Arriving at a small alcove near the top floor of I-Island tower, the collected group saw a man in a black and gray outfit arguing with no one.

The man was yelling at himself, stating a positive opinion on something only to then recede that opinion and yell back at himself twice as fierce compared to before.

"Is… he okay?" Kaminari pointed at him, "He looks crazy." He spoke a tad too loudly as the man turned to them.

"Who are you?!" He screamed before pausing, "Hey, you're those kids from UA! The stupid ones that fought villains, somehow didn't die, lost to a much cooler guy from that other stupid class, and then… well nothing happened after that!"

"Yes… we are." Yaoyorozu pushed Kaminari back before he spoke again, a little worried about the state of sanity of whoever stood in front of them., "Now who are you? And what are you doing here?" Her voice held a little bit of suspicion in it.

"I'm no one important!" The man replied, but after a moment's pause they realized he wasn't going to contradict himself, "Guess you can call me Twice. My name's Jin!"

The now named Jin – or Twice? They weren't sure – then shook like a leaf in the wind, "Are you here to arrest me? I haven't done anything wrong! I'm a completely law-abiding citizen! No I'm not!"

Todoroki nudged Iida with an arm, "I believe this is what people call "nuts" but I'm not sure."

"You know, I'm proud of you man." Kaminari smiled.

"Thanks?"

"My friend was captured!" Twice suddenly yelled and drew everyone's attention, and he once again didn't contradict himself.

"Your… friend?" Jiro asked before glancing at Yaomomo and then back at Twice, "This girl, is she kind of small with blond hair?"

"Yes exactly!" Twice pound on Jiro and grabbed her by the shoulder, "Have you found her! Did you kidnap her?! IS SHE OKAY?!"

"Woah, dude!" Kaminari stepped up and pulled Twice off, "Hands to yourself, and she's alright, just a couple of floors down!"

Twice seemingly deflated in relief, "Oh, that's good…" The man stilled before leaping for the staircase, "I'm coming Toga!"

The room was silent for a moment, "What a weird guy…" Todoroki muttered, "Well, anyways, let's go, the top isn't much farther and they might need help…" The rest of the group blinked at Todoroki for his disregard of such a strange man but followed nonetheless. Todoroki was right, they didn't have much time and their friends may have needed help.

"Todoroki's right." Yaomomo glanced at the small group, "Iida, go with Todoroki up ahead, you two will be the fastest overall, we'll get there as soon as we can."

"Got it." Todoroki nodded and generated a wave of ice to skate away on.

Iida blinked, having never seen Todoroki take anything so… well he was going to say seriously but that didn't work. Earnestly, he supposed would do. "Be safe you three, we'll be just up ahead." Iida took a running start and his engines roared to life before he took off, sprinting down the hall and up a set of stairs.

Yaomomo sighed, really hoping she was just being extra precautious for nothing.

---

Reiko wasn't one for swearing, in fact her choice of vocabulary and dialect was partly because it was fun and creative, which left for more interesting ways of stating anger as opposed to cursing. But, oh lord – Ibara would be mighty upset with her – she was pissed.

"Come… on…!" Her teeth were clenched so hard, they were almost going to crack.

Wolfram and David had been hefted onto a helicopter, just like Melissa had predicted, and It was taking Reiko all of her strength just to keep the thing in place.

The blades continued to spin as their tug of war pulled the vehicle a bit closer to the tower. The side door opened and Wolfram's face was filled with annoyance as he stared down at her, "Damn kids, always getting in my way!" Wolfram raised an arm and a piece of metal raised from the tower before shooting towards Reiko.

She let a tiny little swear pass in her head as she tried to control both the coming metal and the helicopter, but as she felt the vehicle slip away for a moment she redoubled and focused her efforts on it instead. 'Well, I suppose I shall be seeing the heaven bara is always describing…'

It felt surreal.

And cold?

"NOT SO FAST!" A pillar of ice intercepted the metal, protecting Reiko and allowing her to once again tug the helicopter back towards the tower, "Are you alright, Yanagi?"

"I suppose if the conventional definition is being "thrown out the window" then yes, I am alright." Reiko clicked her tongue and brought her arms down, lowering the copter's altitude by a bit, "If only I could bring down this wretched helicopter!"

The ice that was protecting them was cracking and it was taking all of Todoroki's concentration to hold it in place, "I'm generating as much as I can, it's just barely keeping it back!" He yelled before taking a knee as frost covered his upper body, "Iida, where the hell are you?!"

"Enough playing around kids!" Wolfram slammed both hands down and in response more metal pillars came down on Todoroki's protective ice, shattering it and heading straight for the duo. "You're dead!"

"RECIPRO–" In a blur, Iida appeared, grabbed, and dragged both Todoroki and Reiko out of harm's way, "BURST!" The metal crashed into the ground and kicked up a large dust cloud, sending the group of three flying and into coughing fits once they had landed.

Todoroki sighed, "What took you so long?"

Iida brushed his side, "When I had gotten to the computer room where Shield and Midoriya were, Midoriya's Black Whip was coming out. I tried to get near him wake him up but the quirk reacted and hit me."

The group got up as the dust cloud departed, letting them easily see the helicopter that was getting higher and higher as they could do nothing. "We were so close." Iida cursed.

"He can't get away, someone has to stop him." Todoroki looked down at his hands as fire birthed on his left side to kill his earlier frostbite. "But that's too high for even my best glacier, and I still can't aim that well with my fire yet."

"And he's out of my range." Reiko's eyes narrowed on the vehicle. So close to the finish, and they had all messed it up.

"But, he's not out of mine, Young Yanagi." The group flinched and looked behind them, seeing the towering form of Japan's Number One Hero and the world's Symbol of Peace, All Might. "Everything's fine now, students, why you ask?" All Might's grin stretched before he disappeared in a flash and burst of wind, appearing right above the helicopter and pulling a fist back, "BECAUSE I AM HERE!"

With a punch let loose, dispersing the wind right above and in front of the helicopter, the vehicle's altitude dropped, and Wolfram looked livid.

The vehicle landed at the same time as All Might.

"Finally decided to stop running, villain?" The pro flexed his muscles as an added threat.

"Not so much." Wolfram sighed, David hiding right behind him, the case in his hands was open and empty, "When you have a bug that's constantly annoying you and getting in your way, you crush it." In Wolfram's hands was a device that looked like it could be adorned to the head, and that's exactly where the villain put it, causing his body to grow and his skin to turn a light red in a burst of power, "That's precisely what I'm going to do to you All Might! Crush you like the bug you are!"

"Ha Ha! I haven't heard that line in a while!"

"DIE!" Wolfram lifted his arms into the air, David let out a scream as the tower began tearing apart and he was lifted into the air by bundles of scrap.

"That one I hear all the time!" All Might charged into the sky, only for pillars of metal, ones much larger than before, to come crashing down on him and driving him away from Wolfram, "This metal won't delay your demise, Villai–OOMPH!"

A pillar crashed into All Might's side before another collided with his shoulder and another hit his back and another wrapped around his legs and another got his arms, over and over again. 'What?! His quirk didn't seem this strong before, is it that device he put on his head?! Is it somehow making his quirk stronger?!'

All Might's body locked up before he flexed, shattering the metal around him, "Nice try, but it won't be that easy you blasted evildoer!" He needed to save David and beat Wolfram, but he didn't have much time.

It was always a battle against his time limit. Damn thing.

"Oh, I know it won't be that easy!" Wolfram lifted an arm into the air and All Might waited. But no beam followed Wolfram's command. That was until the ground beneath All Might shook and fell under him. From all angles, the pillars that made the structure of the tower began to wrap around All Might.

He punched and kicked in retaliation but found only the dull gray of the steel overtaking his vision. "You've gotta be kidding me!" He lowered his knees and pushed up, soaring into the sky and blasting out of the trap, only to see a large bundle of soar right into his injured side.

"Crap!" The pro yelled as he coughed up blood and landed on the ground with a thud.

His body hurt, and he could feel One For All diminishing as the seconds passed by. His planted hand couldn't help him get up, he couldn't get up, why was everything hurting, why wasn't he getting up?!

"Take this, All Might!" Wolfram yelled and sent as much scrap and collected steel and other metal as he could at the Symbol of Peace.

---

Everything was… blurry…

"...zu…! …ke!"

His head was banging, thumping against his temple.

"...me…n…!"

Things seemed so far away, but so close as well.

"NINE!"

Air flooded his lungs and his eyes shot open.

Izzuku expected to find himself within I-Island's largest tower, gearing up to get Melissa's dad – who for some reason was working with villains to steal his own technology– back. However, that was not where he found himself at all.

Instead, he found the color black filling the majority of his vision, beautiful blinding stars seemingly light years away. And a very happy looking bald man in front of him.

"I knew ya had it in ya, kid!" A grinning Daigoro smiled and clapped Izuku on the shoulder, "Black Whip's pretty wicked, ain't it?" Though, after seeing that Izuku didn't look amused, the smile slipped off of Daigoro's face, "Alright, you're in'a bit of a pickle, I know!"

Izuku didn't respond, as he couldn't. He lacked a mouth.

"And yeah, that metal manipulation guy seems pretty strong, but you've got One For All and Black Whip to help you out!" Daigoro threw an arm around Izuku's shoulder, "You've got all the power you need to take this asshole on, and you've got the heart of a lion inside you to push forward even when you're at your limit! Black Whip is yours to command now, just make sure to not let your emotions overpower you, alright?" Daigoro grinned down at the latest successor of their shared quirk, "Winning in the face of fear is the real definition of courage, kid! Show me you've got that valor!"

Izuku couldn't respond, but he felt he didn't need to. His eyes lit up in a way that showed him smile and gratitude for Daigoro. Before he knew it, he was awake.

---

Reikoi's eyes widened as a pillar of metal came crashing down towards the Number One Hero, the man lying prone on the ground and struggling to get up. She had no choice as she lifted her arms, the metal gaining a pink glow as it slowed. "Push it back!" She commanded herself.

Her training with Ryukyu had helped her push her quirk to new weights, to new heights, but even so… "It's too… much!" She had never attempted anything close to the weight of all this metal!

The Dragon Hero's weight didn't come close! And even then, her mentor only let gravity affect her, this weight was actively pushing back as Wolfram's quirk was boosted by whatever Quirk Amplifier David Shield had made!

Her arms were shaking, she had never taken on such an amount before, it was too much for her to handle. Her legs and arms began to buckle, as if she was holding up the weight of the giant pillar with her own arms, as if she was Atlas holding up the world, she was shaking like a puppy and pain began to sprout from her head.

"Come…. On!" Her voice was strained and the pain in her head grew and grew, blood was freely flowing out of her nose like a running shower as she tried to push back against the behemoth of steel. "Gah!"

The pink glow around the pillar dissipated and Reiko fell backwards. "Yanagi!" Todoroki ran and caught her as the pillar descended onto the Number One Hero, "All Might–"

Before he could finish, a green streak passed right by her face, climbing into the air and countering against the mass of metal, a resounding yell of "SMASH!" Rang throughout the night sky as Wolfram's attack crumbled to nothing in the face of Izuku's attack.

Iida looked on in wonder as Izuku landed, All Might right by his side.

"Iida!" He turned to see everyone else, Melissa included, covered in dirt and grime and with their dresses and suits ripped beyond repair. "Is Yanagi alright?" Yaomomo crouched down, looked at, and took hold of the girl, "And what about Midoriya, he rushed here before any of us."

"Where's my dad?!" Melissa asked, desperate after not seeing him anywhere.

Iida could only raise a shaking finger, and pointed to the boy who now shined as bright as a star, right next to their Symbol of Peace. "Midoriya is up there, the villain still has Shield's father captured!"

"Midoriya's gonna take that guy head on?!" Kaminari couldn't believe it.

Todoroki, for once, grinned, "Of course, that's what he does!" The rest of the 1-A students looked on in shock as their teacher and classmates glanced at each other, a look of amusement passing between them.

"Hey, All Might…?" Izuku rose to his full height and raised the percentage of his quirk until it stung his bones. "Mind if I help you out with this one…?" His eyes raised and stared into Wolfram's, "I've got a bone to pick with this guy."

"HAHAHA, that's a lot of spunk, Young Midoriya!" All Might looked at his student, "But are you sure about this one?"

More amalgamations of steel and scrap bending and fusing together before coming down at them. "I've never been more ready, All Might sir!" Izuku clenched a fist.

The pro's grin stretched even more, "Then, let's go!" Two stars, two sets of One For All, burst off right then, shining brighter than ever before, and they began fighting back with everything they had. "I've got the right, Young Midoriya, but be careful!" All Might yelled.

"I'll cover the left, and don't worry, if I hurt myself anymore then both Recovery Girl and Reiko will have it out for me!" Izuku joked before jumping into the air and dodging between pillars.

Thanks to the Full Gauntlet he could use higher percentages of One For All, without breaking himself or risking breaking the gauntlet, which allowed him to tear apart all of Wolfram's beams.

The villain sent attack after attack down at the two, but Deku and All Might dodged and weaved between each of the pillars as they destroyed much more, too fast for anyone else to be able to see. Izuku was simply a blur of lightning, while All Might simply couldn't be seen.

The students looked on in awe, one particularly large hunk of metal came towards them, but a green star intercepted the attack and shattered it to pieces.

"Izuku!" Reiko yelled despite how tired she was as the tower started crumpling. "Take him down!" The students hid behind rubble, knowing that there was nothing they could do but all of their voices carried through the air, cheering on Izuku and All Might.

Wolfram cursed, "Damn you! Get out of my way!" Pieces of the tower gathered around Wolfram, protecting him like a shell, "Or else I'll make you!" The tower mended around and the biggest mound was towards the students.

"Young Midoriya, step back!"

"No way, I'm coming with you!"

They two flew together, both pulling an arm back as the gigantic beast of metal came boring down on them. "DOUBLE–!" All Might started, "DETROIT–!" Izuku continued as he poured a good 90% of One For All into his arm, knowing Melissa's gauntlet would save his arm from being destroyed.

Wolfram pushed as much power as he could into his power and quirk, feeling the strain of both on his body and mind. "I'm going to kill you!"

"SMASH!" They collided with the pillar, stopping its momentum and started to push it back.

Wolfram cursed and tried to force the heroes down with his quirk, but he found that he was easily being overpowered by the two. "What the hell are you?!" His muscles bulged and his clothes ripped as he poured all of his mental and physical strength into his attack.

"We're…!"Izuku grit his teeth and pushed his power even further.

"HEROES!" All Might's smile seemingly shone.

The pillar exploded and the two carried on even further into the air.

"No matter how tired we are…"

"We must always push through…!"

Wolfram scrambled to gather everything he could as a hasty shield between himself and the heroes.

"We will always push through!"

"To go beyond our limits!"

Black Whip exploded out of Izuku's arm and wrapped around his already covered wrist, adding extra padding to his punch. "So everyone can have a better tomorrow!"

"For that, we'll go beyond!"

The students looked on as the two stars melded into one and reached the hellish blockade that was surrounding Wolfram. They punched through the shield and yelled with all of their hearts, "PLUS ULTRA!"

Wolfram tried enhancing his body with the additional quirk that had been gifted to him, but the two heroes pressed even harder into his defense. Black Whip and One For All, with the additional power he could bring out thanks to Melissa's Full Gauntlet, allowed Izuku to pour more power into his attack then he had ever done before. More than he had even used during the entrance exam and apprehension test. "This… is my strongest–" All Might fell away and smiled as his pupil continued on, knowing that whatever happened in the future he had an excellent successor to carry on for him, "SMASH!"

Izuku clenched his fist, still feeling the familiar weight of the Full Gauntlet there as he fell to the ground. "Black Whip!" The quirk coiled out of him and shot out to catch David and Wolfram. He let out a sigh of relief as he landed on the ground.

"Izuku!" He shuffled on his feet before having to brace himself as Reiko tackled him into a hug. Luckily, they didn't fall over, but his body hurt. Reiko peeled away and looked over his body, "Is everything alright, did you injure yourself again, how is your arm, how did Black Whip work out, did it hurt you–"

She was silenced by his giggles, "Maybe you've been hanging out with me too much, you're the one going on ramblings sprees now."

"Yanagi, you shouldn't be moving so much right now." Yaomomo chastised her, "Your body is still suffering from quirk overuse."

Izuku's eyes widened and he gently grabbed Reiko by her arms, "You overused your quirk?" He trailed her body and found little bits of dried blood under her nose, "Are you alright? How's your head? How much blood came out of your nose? Did blood come out of anywhere else?"

"Izuku, I'm alright." Reiko smiled at his worries, "But, we should really wrap that villain in something more secure."

He glanced back to see his Black Whips, still holding Wolfram and David in place, slightly flickering, "R-Right, my control still isn't the greatest, and keeping two of them out is kind of straining…"

Melissa was fretting over her dad, who still clung to consciousness, so Izuku let that Black Whip retreat back into his arm while he kept the one around Wolfram still active. "What are we going to do with him?"

"Don't fret, Young Midoriya." All Might grinned, picked up the villain, and swung him over his shoulder, "I'll take this evildoer to the authorities!" All Might looked at the man before plucking the quirk amplifier off his head, "Better get rid of this though…"

With a simple clench of his fist, the device was destroyed.

"We'd better get going now–"

"GAH!" Jiro clutched her head as muted shouts came from the comms that Yaoyorozu had created, "Shit, someone needs to head down and help out Uraraka! That girl woke up, she was a villain!"

"What girl?" Izuku asked as lightning sparked around his body again, "I'll head down right now."

Todoroki and Iida locked eyes, "What did that guy call her?"

"I believe he referred to the girl as Toga." Iida answered.

Izuku flinched, "What is Himiko Toga doing here…?" His voice was hollow as he asked his question, but he didn't wait for a response, instead rocketing towards the stairwell so he could head back into the tower, "IIDA! WITH ME!"

The youngest of the Iida family quickly activated his engines, following after Izuku as quickly as he could.

All Might didn't have any time left, his friends were in danger. Why was Himiko Toga on I-Island? And apparently she had an accomplice now? "That doesn't make sense, from everything Eraserhead told me, she's a solo act. For her to suddenly be paired up with another person would go against how she operates…"

"Midoriya what's going on?!" Iida just barely caught up as she shot down a flight of stairs, passed the security room, and into the tower proper. "Is there something dangerous about this girl?"

Passing another doorway, Izuku glanced at his friend, "Himiko Toga is a wanted serial stalker and killer. She's been evading police and hero capture for over a year."

Iida looked shocked and almost tripped, "W-What?! And we– we left her alone with our friends!"

"I know!" Izuku clicked his tongue and pushed One For All to 20% across his body, "I'm going on ahead! Meet me there!" With a single leap, he shot far ahead of Iida.

The walls seemed to blur together, and with the security system shot all the lights were off, leaving only the light of Izuku's Full Cowling to illuminate the area. Hopping off and on to wall after wall left Izuku wary, he could only hear his heart beat in his ears.

"Please Monoma, be okay!" He flooded his body with even more of his quirk, not caring for the strain he was starting to feel. "Please! Monoma!"

A single glint of silver in an open corridor alerted Izuku to the presence of a killer. Himiko Toga was standing over Monoma with a knife, while Uraraka was already bleeding on the wall of the corridor.

Izuku powered through the hall, lifting a fist and sending it right for Toga's head.

He made contact.

What he didn't expect was for her head to explode into gray goop. "W-What?!" He crashed into the ground and tumbled before righting himself, "What was that?!"

Monoma cursed, "Damn, I thought that 1-A girl and I were going to die here…" His hand strayed to his side where a large gash could be seen. "Looks like we got lucky." Monoma chuckled before his eyes fell into the back of his head.

"No!" Izuku rushed and caught him before his head smacked the ground. He quickly glanced at Uraraka to see she had similar gashes on her leg and arm. "Black Whip, help me out!" The quirk followed his command, but not without consequence.

Izuku felt the strain, his bubbling frustration and anger at his friends getting hurt almost pushing the power out of his control. But he reined it in. He needed to, or else they would bleed out and die.

"Midoriya!" The sound of Iida's engines came to his ears and the boy drifted to a stop next to him. "W-What happened to them?!" He shouted, seeing both Monoma and Uraraka covered in what he assumed was their own blood.

"Himiko Toga attacked…" It was easy for Izuku to see the anger on Iida's face, similar to the anger he had during the Stain attack, but slightly more reigned in. "Tell Yaoyorozu to meet me halfway on your comm. I'm heading back up with them."

"Got it."

---

The next days passed in a blur.

Monoma and Uraraka had been administered to one of the hospitals on the island while the authorities took in Wolfram and examined the tower for anything else that might have been stolen by Wolfram or Himiko Toga and her accomplice Twice.

David Shield had also been arrested for his efforts in the attack. That was something that, while everyone knew was just, felt bad about because their newfound friend Melissa had taken it hard.

Izuku tried to muster up a smile as he walked into Monoma and Uraraka's hospital room, the two were heavily bandaged around their wounds. "Hey guys." He moved out of the doorway to allow the rest of 1-A, and Reiko, through. "How are you holding up?"

Monoma grumbled while Uraraka smiled. "Eh, it could be worse!"

Yaoyorozu sighed and sat next to her, "You are much too chipper for someone that got attacked by a villain."

"Yes, speaking of…" Iida took a seat in the corner of the room, "The authorities believed they have discovered what the villains took while Midoriya and All Might were dealing with Wolfram…"

Monoma sat slightly more up in his bed.

"Certain files appeared to have been copied for a USB drive shortly before the villains escaped." Todoroki's monotone voice spread throughout the room.

Uraraka grimaced, "What were the files…?"

A silence permeated the room, and it was Reiko that broke it, "Blueprints for the Quirk Amplifier that David Shield had designed." Her words brought up unease in everyone. Toga was most definitely now a part of a villain group, one that Twice was also in, and if they had the ability to create a Quirk Amplifier…

"Well– Let's not think about that for now." Izuku tried to muster a smile, "After you two get cleared later today we're all going to be heading off the island. They're going to be trying to bump up security now so they're kicking everyone that's not a scientist back to the mainland."

"A shame." Yaoyorozu frowned, "I-Island is truly wonderful."

"Yeah, I'm missing out on all that cash being a waiter would get me." Kaminari bemoaned, though that just earned him a jab courtesy of Jiro.

Reiko nudged Izuku, "Would you like to go see Shield one last time before our departure?"

Izuku sent her a tired smile, "I'd like that. Want to come with me?"

"Of course." With that, the two bid their friends farewell and made their way to Melissa's workshop.

I-Island was quiet now. A far cry from what it had been just a couple of days prior. It was sad to see a once thriving place fall away to mute, and ever worse to experience. At least, that's what Izuku thought about it.

After all, his chance had been ruined.

He couldn't ask Reiko out now, could he…?

Her finger barely graced his hand. A silent question was shared between them.

Can I hold your hand?

Izuku took hers in his.

Always.

With their hands intertwined, they continued the rest of their trip to Melissa's workshop in a comfortable silence. By the time they arrived at the place, they were surprised to see it was… barren.

All of Melissa's trophies and Support Gear designs were stripped from the wall and packaged into boxes that littered the room. Some were closed, others were open and looked like they could still fit more things. Within the middle of the room was a bumbling Melissa that was traveling here and there, closing some boxes before shoving as much as she could into others.

"S-Shield…?" Izuku probed but it was as if the older girl hadn't noticed them at all.

Reiko sighed and lifted a hand. Melissa halted in place with a pink glow surrounding her clothes, a tell-tale sign of Reiko's quirk.

"H-Huh?!" Melissa yelled before looking at the doorway, "Oh! Midoriya, Yanagi, nice to see you two." The glow disappeared and Melissa landed comfortable on her feet. "What brings you here?"

"We wanted to say bye." Izuku smiled sadly at her, "We're leaving later today, and we don't think I-Island is going to be accepting visitors anytime soon."

Melissa frowned a little before a tiny grin slipped onto her face, "Except this isn't bye."

Izuku and Reiko looked at each other before looking back at Melissa, "What?" The American giggled before pulling out a small disk, "That's the disk we got when we were accepted into UA."

"Yeah." Melissa pocketed the device, "My dad knew Nezu personally, having completed a course study under Powerloader for a bit while in Japan when he was younger. I asked for a transfer so I could study on the mainland and…" Her eyes strayed to the compacted form of the Full Gauntlet on Izuku's wrist, "I saw the way you fought Wolfram and I know my gear helped.

"But I want to do more…" Her eyes locked onto them, "I want to become your guy's personal support technician." Melissa spoke with a solid determination.

The two students were surprised, but they were happy. "I would not mind having someone as skilled as yourself look over anything that could assist me in the path of heroics." Reiko smiled slightly, "Though…" Her eyes drifted to Izuku, "He already has a technician, though perhaps you could work together."

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, "It would be nice having stuff that doesn't blow up on me the first time I try it like with Hatsume's stuff…"

Melissa looked startled but didn't press. "Well, I'll talk with whoever Hatsume is and see if we can strike up a partnership!" She grinned before looking back at her boxes, "Anyways, it's best you guys be off, I've gotta pack the rest of my stuff!"

With that, they said their goodbyes with a promise to see Melissa later at UA and made off to their hotel room with smiles on their faces.

---

They had just finished packing their belongings when Toshinori came in, handing them tickets for the plane back before heading off to his own room to gather his things.

Izuku had just closed his luggage when Reiko fumbled onto the bed. "You alright, Reiko?" She didn't respond, instead opting to float a pillow above her until the glow disappeared and it flopped onto her face. "Something bothering you…?"

The pillow fell to the side and Reiko sat up.

Her hair, for once, wasn't nicely combed and instead was poking up at parts, she huffed and brushed her bangs to the side, allowing Izuku to see both of her eyes. She looked… frustrated. "It is…nothing."

Izuku pouted as he put his stuff down and sat next to her, "I know it's not nothing." He prodded her hand with his own, "If something's bothering you then I want to help. You're one of my closest friends."

Reiko's face scrunched weirdly at the mention of friends.

Suddenly, everything made a lot more sense to Izuku.

"H-Hey, Reiko…" The girl perked up at Izuku, his face flushed so much that he looked like a tomato, "I know now might not be the greatest time but…"

"Is there something you require attention with, Izuku?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

"I…" Izuku's eyes couldn't focus on one particular spot, but he sucked in a quick breath and let it out before giving her his full attention. "Would you… want to dance..?" He stood up and held out a hand for her.

"Dance? Right now?" She asked, slightly perplexed.

Izuku gulped and nodded, fishing out his phone and playing a slow song, "I… was looking forward to the ball and I wanted to dance with you." He admitted with a small blush. "So… will you dance with me?"

Reiko smiled lightly and placed her hand in his, allowing him to pull her up off the bed and closer to him. "I've never really done this before… so I'm sorry if I step on you…"

"It's alright, I have never partaken in dancing with anyone either." Reiko's giggle reached his ears.

They swung here and there around the room, taking small steps to make sure they didn't step on each other. "You've never danced before? Not even in junior high?" Izuku asked.

Her head found its way onto his shoulder, "All of my peers thought I was too strange to invite to events like parties. I don't blame them, with my speech and how I position my hands because of my quirk. I look like a ghost."

Izuku clutched her just a bit tighter, "Well… I think you look cute–" He cut himself off and tried to gulp, but his mouth was too dry to do so.

Reiko blushed and looked up at him, "Cute?" She stepped back and saw his blush.

He nodded, "Yeah–" He scratched his cheek, "I've thought that for a while now… every time you tilt your head you look adorable, or when you put your finger on your chin to think, or when you accidentally scare me I think you're cute.." Izuku's blush spread throughout his body, causing him to look more like a strawberry. "But it's not just that…

"I know I can always trust you. You've always stood by my side. You saved me at the USJ, you were on my team during the cavalry battle, you helped me after I passed out against Stain." Izuku smiled. "And I–" She pressed a finger to his lips and looked down.

"S-Stop…please…" Her composure was broken, her regular speech pattern abandoned. Her heart? Absolutely fluttering. "You cannot just come out and say things like that…"

"B-But it's the truth!" Izuku countered.

Reiko's head shot up and he saw the blush covering her milky white skin, painting her a cute pink. It was a very beautiful contrast with her light blue eyes. "I… am unused to such compliments."

"I can…change that." He spoke softly but with a strong confidence, "I-If you'll let me–! I-I don't want to… overstep." Said confidence slowly left until he was a blubbering mess.

"What are you implying, Izuku?"

The air around him was tense, his lungs were tight, his chest wouldn't move. But he couldn't stop now. Breathlessly, the words came out of his mouth, "I really, really, like you Reiko Yanagi." Saying it felt so right, so perfect, "I have for… a while."

The room was silent, save for the music playing, and Izuku scrunched his eyes shut. However, a pair of cool hands gripped him by his cheeks and he gently opened his eyes to see Reiko smiling. "You are quite the strange one, Izuku Midoriya."

"Is… strange good?"

"I like strange." Reiko threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him close, and all Izuku wanted to do was stay here for a while. He didn't even care if they missed their flight. "Though, being dangerously reckless isn't."

"R-Right." Izuku stammered. "I'll try my best."

Reiko lightly smiled and just pulled his closer, "That's all I ask."

Notes:

Woah, okay, I don't know how to feel about this. I love the last part, and I've been wanting to get to it for a while. Reiko and Izuku are officially an item. Though, no kissing as of yet. I want to build up to something like that.

And with that, I-Island is officially over and they will be getting to the training camp soon!

I'm not going to lie, that seems like it's going to be rough to write, as I've been thinking of a bunch of things I want to happen and change, but just know that Bakugo isn't the one that's going to be kidnapped!

Jay out!

Chapter 31: Summer Training

"Do you… really need all of that, Iida?"

It had only been a few days following the I-Island incident. The Expo had completely closed, pushing all of the heroes and people of Japan off back to the mainland following an investigation into the island's database that had been breached by the villains.

Things were bleak. The public was in an uproar about how such a safe place could be attacked. They were even more upset to learn that it was one of the island's top scientists that allowed the breach to happen. David Shield had been arrested, and from what Izuku knew Melissa was terribly saddened and upset by that. But, she hadn't let it stop her and her application to UA was still going through.

The public didn't know what had been stolen, that was reserved only for the top scientists of the island and Izuku's group of friends, along with All Might who had gotten credit for taking down Wolfram. That had relieved Izuku. He hadn't truly appreciated all the attention the news gave him after his take down of Stain, and how they had twisted his name.

Deku was something important to him, something that was supposed to inspire those with even the weakest of quirks to believe in themselves, it was something he would have appreciated when he was a kid.

Yield was…insincere. It was a warning to villains that Izuku would take them down if they were ever face to face. But Izuku didn't just want to beat villains. He had realized after meeting Himiko Toga that some villains needed saving too.

They were just scared to reach for it.

Izuku shook the thought away and returned to the present. UA. Getting ready for their summer training. He never got a break, did he?

The only ones besides himself that were there early were his own Vice Rep, and the representatives of Class 1-A, Kendo had just made a comment as she looked over all the bags that Iida had brought.

"Why of course!" The boy responded, appalled, "I've brought enough supplies, such as bug sprays, for the entirety of our class. As well as enough water and snacks to last us a day, if anything were to go awry!" Iida accented each sentence with numerous chops of his arms. "To not do so would be the height of irrationality!"

"The only one being irrational is you, Iida."

Conversation died down as their homeroom teachers came into view. Aizawa was clearly disturbed by all the racket so early in the morning.

Kan rubbed an ear with his hand, "You sure you don't got a noise amplification quirk, kid?"

"Kan-sensei!" Izuku grinned and ran up to his teacher, "I've been meaning to talk to you about something really important!"

Kendo rolled her eyes at how excited Izuku could be so early in the morning while Kan grinned, it had been a while since he had properly been able to talk to his student, internships, final exam, and the summer break having gotten in the way. "Well, I'm sure we've got plenty of time until all of the other students arrive, so what do you have to share, Midoriya?"

Izuku grinned. Kan, Vlad King, had always been the best teacher he had ever had the pleasure of being taught by. He was the kindest teacher ever, nothing like the ones he had during elementary and middle school. "Well, I met this girl while on I-Island and–"

"A girl, eh? I thought you and Yanagi were growing rather close…" Kan grumbled, "Guess I was wrong."

"W-What?! No!" Izuku reddened and resembled a strawberry. "Me and Melissa aren't like that, she's a support technician!" He yelled resoundingly.

Yaoyorozu smiled silently to herself and cheered for Yanagi in her mind.

Kendo glanced at Izuku curiously, "Hey, uh, Midoriya? Can't help but notice you didn't deny that other part?" She grinned teasingly, "Did you finally "man up" like Tetsu would say?" The students and teacher of 1-A tuned into the conversation, and everyone noticed that Izuku had been rather quiet.

"W-Well, about that…"

"Eh? D-Did you actually–"

"I told Reiko I liked her!" Izuku practically screamed with a blush and smile, "A-And she said she liked me too and it was amazing!"

Aizawa walked off with a grumble, but Kan smiled and patted his student's shoulder, "Good for you, Midoriya. Though, now that you are in a relationship you shouldn't let that distract you from your studies."

"I wouldn't dream of it, sensei!" Izuku looked horrified, "Promise!"

Their teacher nodded, "Alright, but now let us know about this technician girl." He silently grinned in his mind, but also prayed that Kayama wouldn't get to the students too much when they returned for the term.

Izuku went on to explain the red bracelet on his wrist and what exactly it could do while more and more of the students trickled in. Kan was amazed at the device, while Yaoyorozu wondered if she'd be able to replicate it with her quirk.

She tried and failed. "Yes, that's not unexpected, the blueprints are most likely very advanced and complex. I'd most definitely need them to recreate this… Full Gauntlet, yes?" She trailed off into her own muttering spree.

Izuku greeted his friends one by one as they came in. Pony, Tetsu, Monoma, Tokage, Komori, Kuroiro, Shinso, even those that he didn't interact as much with like Bondo.

It was just nice to be back at school.

"Izuku."

And it was nice to see Reiko again. He instantly found his way to Reiko's side, their hands comfortably sliding into each others. "Hey, Reiko." He grinned at her.

Things hadn't changed all too much, they were together all the time before, but now they were together together. And that caused him to notice things he just hadn't before. He was more aware of her than he had been previously.

He saw the way her eyes strayed to him anytime he opened his mouth, how cool her hands felt against his skin, the way she brushed her hair to make sure her left eye was covered.

Her eyes caught his and she tilted her head questioningly.

She was just so cute.

"Is something the matter, Izuku?" She asked. Though, he didn't have time to respond before their teachers took their attention once more.

"Alright, get on the buses!" Kan ordered while Aizawa grumbled at the noise. "We'll be meeting at a secret location for your summer training." He continued in a slightly quieter voice, "So, don't worry about any more villain attacks like the USJ, or…" His eyes strayed over to Midoriya, "The Stain Incident."

Aizawa stepped up, "Buses will be separated by classes, though we do have a new addition that needs to be discussed." The crowd parted for Shinso to stand at the front.

Izuku and his friends grinned at each other, happy that Shinso had been able to make it into the hero course. "Woohoo, yeah! Let's go Shinso! My man!" Tetsu yelled, much to the insomniac's embarrassment.

Kan grinned at his students, proud of how close they were. "Aizawa and I have discussed the matter thoroughly, and have come to the conclusion that it would be best for Shinso to be placed in 1-A. Not only because of the fact that he's learning how to use Aizawa's capture scarf, but also because his less combat-oriented quirk would fit with Aizawa's teaching."

Izuku's excitement died down. He was more than a little saddened that Shinso wouldn't be in his class. After all the bonding that he had done with Shinso, he had hoped that they would now be in the same class so that they could hang out even more.

But, he was still happy for Shinso. Proud that his friend had finally managed to achieve his goal of being placed in the hero course, and was now even closer to his dream.

A grin crawled up his face, "Started from the bottom?"

Shinso sighed but smiled just as much, "Now I'm here."

"Now, get on the buses, 1-A come with me." Aizawa ordered with a flash of his quirk.

The students filed onto their separate vehicles, bringing their bags and stuffing them in cabinets overhead or under their double seater chairs. Izuku, of course, sat with Reiko, allowing her to take the window seat while he took the aisle.

After they had settled in, Reiko pulled out her phone and earbuds and got to watching some supernatural documentary while Izuku chatted with their friends.

"So, bro–" Tetsu started with a serious look on his face, "Kendo was telling us about that glove you've got now, and what it lets you do…" His teeth cracked with a smile, "How did it feel?"

The conversation around the bus died down a little, hushed whispering spreading throughout the vehicle. Izuku looked down at his right hand and clenched it, "Being able to use my full power, right?"

"Yeah." Tetsu smiled even more.

Reiko tuned in a little bit, as did Monoma from the seat in front of them where he sat with Tokage.

Green sparks of lightning danced around his knuckles and forearm, "It was…intoxicating almost. I felt like I could do anything." One For All had been brighter and hotter than it ever had before, and Izuku thought he could have done anything, taken down any villain. Maybe even the Nomu that All Might had beaten at the USJ.

"And I can still do it two more times." Izuku gripped the bracelet on his right hand, "The Full Gauntlet that Melissa gave me is only good for three uses at my full power, though I can use lower powers more comfortably." Then, Izuku rubbed his neck, "But I can't use Full Cowling in combination with that, or else I'd risk breaking the rest of my bones…"

Tokage whistled, "Damn, I wish I'd been able to see that, Greenie. Your little stunt during the quirk test was the only glimpse most of us got."

Shoda gulped, "A punch with that kind of power behind it? That's insane."

Awase and Kaibara cursed, "Dude's too overpowered, just like All Might."

"At least he's not as funny looking."

Conversations drifted apart, hours came and passed, and Izuku drifted off to take a nap.

Reiko smiled as the tufts of Izuku's green hair tickled her nose, his head had drifted and was now on her shoulder. With a soft click, her phone turned off and she nuzzled his head with her cheek, "Just rest for now, my hero."

---

Monoma stuck a hand over Setsuna's mouth, "No squealing."

She quickly removed her head from her body using her quirk and floated it out of Monoma's reach, "But, Neito, they look so cute together! I can't believe I missed it! I should have been there!" She complained with a whine.

He stuck her with a raised brow, "They weren't with us when you asked me out."

Setsuna huffed and reattached her head, "Yeah, okay, but that's different!"

"How, exactly?"

"Just is!"

Monoma giggled and reached for her hand, "Well, alright." He reached forward and gave her a peck on the cheek, "You can ask them once we get to the camp, how about that?"

Setsuna smiled and rubbed her cheek, "Alright, Neito."

Things seemed normal, and that was more than any of them could have asked for. The bustling cityscape gave way to the cool countryside, the humming of Kan and the music from the radio spreading a relaxing trill throughout the bus.

The students conversed and laughed, some slept, others pranked, all the while Izuku laid his head on Reiko's shoulder and she relished in the touch. After so long, they were… together. And, to her, it was magical.

She interlaced her fingers with his, rubbing her thumb over the back of his palm. Her single exposed eyes gazed at his sleeping face. Despite how heroic and intense he could be at times, he had such a cute face.

Her mind went back to his first costume from the Battle Trials, he had looked like a cute bunny. He had always been cute, but sometimes he could be so handsome too. Izuku always managed to take her breath away, always in unexpected but lovely ways.

She had a true, genuine interest in him. It wasn't love quite yet, she knew that, but it was more than she could ever have hoped for.

Izuku mumbled something impossible to understand and nudged his head closer to her. She smiled and leaned her head on his, "You're so cute." Reiko spoke with a smile.

---

The 1-B bus eventually slowed to a stop. Students woke their friends and they were all eager to get started on their training. "Everyone, leave your stuff on the bus and get off!" Kan yelled before walking off. The students of 1-B shared confused glances before going down as well.

"We've come to lend a paw–!"

"Stingily cute and catlike–!

"Wild Wild Pussycats! Half Version!" Two women in cat girl costumes yelled in sync, one in a light blue and the other red.

Izuku's eyes widened in shock and surprise, "THE WILD WILD PUSSYCATS! ONE OF THE BEST HERO RESCUE TEAMS IN ALL OF JAPAN! THEY'VE BEEN WORKING FOR OVER A DECADE–"

Suddenly, a clawed fist had grabbed Izuku by the face, "I'm eighteen at heart, kid!" Pixiebob, the blue Pussycat, yelled. A pink glow covered the both of them, and they were separated soon after.

"I would appreciate you not putting your paws on my boyfriend." Reiko frowned and grabbed Izuku by the face, looking over it for any scratch marks from the claws that were attached to the Pussycat's gloves.

Pixiebob huffed and turned back to her fellow team member. "You gotta let them talk to me like that, Mandalay?"

The leader cat grinned, "That one's on you, Pixie." Pixiebob grumbled but stepped back, and let Mandalay take center stage. "It's nice to have Class 1-B from UA here with us for summer break. As I'm sure many of you have guessed, your summer training will be taking place in our estate. Our rescue team specializes in forest searches so we have a base specifically in the mountains to both practice and that we sometimes have to use."

The assembled class nodded.

"So, our summer training is going to be held in the woods? That seems enjoyable." Shishida grinned.

"Yeah, I kinda like it." Shoda smiled shyly.

"But, weren't we supposed to be doing this with the other hero class too?" Kendo wondered aloud, "And I don't see any sort of cabin for us to leave our stuff." Her eyes narrowed just a tad.

"So, where's 1-A?" Tetsu asked as the class looked around and Reiko fussed over Izuku. "Their bus is here too." He pointed off to the side where another identical bus stood, inside a snoring Aizawa in the driver seat.

"Oh, don't worry about them." Kan said in a tone a little too threatening for a couple of the students.

Kendo and Izuku quickly shared a glance at each other.

"Quick–"

"Back to the bus–"

"Too late kids!" Pixiebob grinned as the ground under the students gave out under them in a landslide, the students cursed as they all began to fall.

Wind rushed by Izuku's face as he tried to open his eyes, Reiko was close to him and he used Black Whip to bring her close to him. The quirk struggled to come out at first, but Izuku grit his teeth, a flare of determination mixed with anger coaxing out the tendril. "Don't worry, Reiko. I got you!" But she didn't need the help, and instead used her quirk to float a rock chunk under her feet and use it as a hoverboard.

She glanced at him when he landed on her rock chunk, "How nice to see you here, Izuku."

"Nice to be here." He grinned back at her.

The assembled students landed in the forest, some gracefully like Tokage, others not so much like Awase. Izuku looked over the class, helping Awase to his feet, and surveying the forest. "Okay, clearly we're in a bit of trouble."

"Really? Didn't notice." Awase grumbled.

Kendo smacked his arm, thankfully without her quirk active. "Alright, what's the plan, Midoriya?"

Izuku shut his eyes and breathed, smiling as the clean air entered his lungs, "Well, 1-A is in here somewhere, we should try to group up with them before pushing further." He turned to Shishida, "Can you try listening with your Beast Form hearing?"

Shishida nodded as his body morphed, growing larger and bulkier as a growl escaped his mouth. His ears strained as he closed his eyes, trying to keep his anger to a minimum. After a minute, he returned to his normal size and pointed forward, slightly to the right. "There."

"Alright!" Izuku grinned before jumping into the trees and tearing branches off of them. "Awase, weld these together!"

"On it!" He quickly did so as Izuku sent more and more large branches down.

"Shiozaki, this is all yours!" Izuku landed in a crouch and grinned, "We'll move smarter, this should be big enough for the entire class!"

"U-Uh, Rep…?" Kaibara lifted a hand and pointed behind Izuku.

The class turned to see a behemoth, a fierce and strange looking creature seemingly made out of the ground itself. It looked like an animal, but had a distinct lack of fur or teeth, instead all replaced with rock. "That's Pixiebob's quirk, it's not real guys! It's just dirt and rock!"

"Then let's bring'er down!" Tokage cheered and split her body into as many pieces as she could.

"Took the words right outta my mouth!" Tetsu yelled.

"CLASS 1-B!" Full Cowling danced around Izuku's skin, "CHARGE!"

His Class responded in kind.

---

"WHAT IS UP WITH THESE THINGS!" Bakugo yelled with all of his heart.

He had, only barely, managed to be allowed on this trip. But, his Hero Course Seat had effectively been forfeited for Shinso. Bakugo wouldn't be allowed to participate in any combat scenarios until he had completed a hundred hours of therapy with Hound Dog.

Until then, no Hero Foundation Classes, no costume, and no quirk use. All of his hero Foundation class time would be replaced by time with Hound Dog or another hero.

It was annoying, it was all so stupid! All because he didn't want to work with some damn extras! At least, right now, he could use his quirk to tear apart these damn stone abominations! But they just kept coming!

"All the ones in the forest are converging on our spot, Yaomomo!" Jiro cursed as the sounds of the beasts running towards them got louder and louder. "A big one's coming soon!"

The steps got louder, and louder, until it was all Jiro could hear.

A monster, lion-looking but as big a house, leapt into the clearing. Its mouth was wide open, ready to swallow a still-air born Bakugo whole.

"SMASH!" A yell shook the forest as a green bolt of lightning evaporated the monster-lion. The Class of 1-A looked on in shock, Izuku took all their attention, even as more of Pixiebob's creations came to take them out. "1-B, LET'S GO!"

A strange sound captured their ears, a rupturing, a displacement of the dirt, before a strange contraption entered the clearing, a large platform that held the majority of 1-B, moved around by Shiozaki who had created wheels out of her vines. "Alright, let's getter done!" Tokage pointed forward, "ATTACK!"

More 1-B students came out of the woods, working together to take down the rock creatures and knocking 1-A back into focus.

"Double Impact!" Tetsu and Kirishima yelled in sync as they suckerpunched a tiger.

"Sero, Mineta immobilize them, Kaminari take them out!" Bondo yelled from his spot on the makeshift vehicle as he stuck multiple creatures into the ground with his glue, his 1-A classmates following suit before Kaminari let out a torrent of electricity.

"Todoroki, freeze them over!" Honenuki jumped down to the dirt of the forest and liquified the ground, sinking a bunch of creatures into the ground only for the youngest Todoroki to cover them in ice. "Nice one."

"You too." Shoto slightly smiled and threw his fellow recommendation student a thumbs up.

"I'm out of fuel!" Yaomomo called out as she finished creating a cannon and firing it point blank at a gorilla only for Komori to create hundreds of mushrooms for the heiress to eat. "T-Thank you, Komori! You're truly helpful!"

"Don't get all mushy about it, just eat!" Komori insisted.

All the separated parts of the monsters merged, becoming even bigger than before, larger than even the lion that entered the clearing minutes prior. Before the entire group stood a large chimera, the head of a lion, the body of a gorilla, with a monkey tail and tiger legs, topped off with large bat wings protruding from its back. The beast let out a roar that shook the woods, causing Jiro and Shoji to wince in pain.

"All our strengths converge on the legs! Sero, Bondo, Mineta try doing something about those arms, everyone else go for the torso and head!" Izuku commanded.

With Shishida and Tetsu on one side and Kendo with Kirishima on the other, both pairs each went for a leg, shattering them and sending the chimera clattering to the ground, only that it couldn't' fall as its arms were stuck to the nearby trees.

"Iida, with me!"

"Got it!"

The two jumped for the beast, each pulling back a leg.

"ST. LOUIS SMASH!"

"RECIPRO BURST!"

With their combined might, the chimera was turned to dust, allowing the group a moment to breathe. Students congratulated each other, allowed one another to lean on them, sat side by side and laughed. They were tired.

They weren't even halfway yet.

---

"So, Aizawa, how's Shinso coming along with 1-A?" The group of pussycats and UA teachers all stood together at a cabin within a large clearing at the center of the forest waiting for the students to finish their first test. Kan decided it was too boring and struck up a conversation.

Aizawa grunted but spoke, "He's doing… well. A bit closed off, which makes sense since most of his friends are in your class–" Kan smiled smugly at that, "But he's making fast friends with Todoroki, though he's having trouble adjusting with Bakugo constantly glaring at him."

"Ah, right, how's he taking the probation?" Kan asked.

"Probation?" A new voice cut in, belonging to the muscle of the pussycats, Tiger. "The explosion boy's on probation?"

"Yup." Aizawa's sighed, "Failed to cooperate with teammates during their Finals Exams, Shinso made it into the course from Gen Ed. So, far now, Bakugo is on probation, he's a pseudo Hero Course student, meaning he attends classes but won't engage in the Hero Foundations course, instead he'll be taking anger management classes with Hound Dog trying to see where he went wrong during the final."

Tiger hummed, crossing his arms over his chest and looking to the forest. "More trouble than it's worth if you ask me."

Again, Aizawa sighed, "I know, but Nezu thinks the kid is gonna go villain and wants to prevent that."

"Go villain?" Tiger asked.

Kan and Aizawa exchanged a glance before nodding, "Midoriya from my class was a late bloomer, his quirk didn't come in until the day of the Entrance Exam…"

The pussycat grimaced, "I imagine that made him… unpopular with his peers."

"You'd be correct." Kan continued, "And turns out Bakugo was one of his old classmates. Wasn't the kindest either. Nezu's got proof of illegal quirk use from Bakugo against Midoriya."

Tiger's brows furrowed, making him look even angrier than usual, "Again, why is he still in the Hero Course, let alone UA as a whole?!"

At that, Aizawa spoke, "Because villains are on the rise." His tired face looked even older now, "With the League of Villains attacking UA and I-Island, two of the supposedly most secure places in the world, and Stain's ideology invigorating more youth to villainy, we don't want to give the villains any more soldiers. Bakugo is trained, and he wants to be a hero, we just have to make sure he goes about it the right way. If we don't and he goes villain? The League might just have a new lieutenant."

Tiger looked stunned, "You really think the kid would go villain if you kicked him out of the Hero Course?"

"He illegally used his quirk to attack other people for ten years and saw nothing wrong with doing so, I'm sure he'd justify himself going villain as being the only real hero around." Aizawa ground out, "Tell me when the kids get here, I'm gonna take a nap."

Aizawa got to nap for a while as minutes turned to hours and the combined total of 1-A and 1-B came stalking out of the forest, some on their feet, others on a large "vehicle" that broke apart as soon as Shiozaki stepped off. They were looking worse for wear, hungry, exhausted, yet determined all at the same time.

The Pussycats looked on at the students in pride and a little amazement, they had gotten there a little bit earlier than scheduled, though not too early so that the food wasn't ready. They decided to forgo their usual introduction, the kids were tired enough and they just wanted to eat.

"Kan and Aizawa weren't lying…" Mandalay muttered as the students circled around the pros, "These kids… are gonna be the real deal." They weren't yet, but they would be eventually. And that's why they were here, to get even closer to becoming pros.

Before the students could break into chats, Mandalay cleared her throat, "Ahem, alright kids." She placed her hands on her hips and smiled, "In case you don't know, we're the Wild Wild Pussycats, and we're going to be helping you train your quirks for the next couple of weeks while we have you with us." Her group stood behind her, Tiger looking menacing with his crossed arms, Ragdoll looking dopey with her tongue stuck out, and Pixiebob trying to look as attractive as possible

"Train our quirks?! What's the point in doing that shit?! Why ain't we doing super moves yet?!" Bakugo rattled off.

Tiger grunted, "We were getting to that, brat." Bakugo had to clench his teeth so as not to curse. "While all of your skills have developed nicely within these past couple of months, your quirks have not. Well…" Tiger's eyes strayed to Izuku, "At least for most of you. We're going to rectify that."

"Yup!" Ragdoll, the fourth and final member of the Pussycats grinned as she leaned on Tiger's side, "Either your quirks get better or you're gonna die trying!"

"She's joking, right…?" Kaminari's voice was hollow.

"I sure as shit hope so…" Awase responded.

"But!" Mandalay clapped, "That can all start tomorrow, for now–" The teachers and pros moved out of the way, allowing the students to see rows of tables covered in food, "EAT UP!"

The students didn't need any more telling what to do, instead sprinting and finding seats. Without a care for who they sat by or what was in front of them, each member of the Hero Course dug into their meals without a care for decorum. Even the most proper of them, Yaomomo, was eating like a barbarian.

"This is the most beautiful meal I've ever had!" Monoma almost cried from how good the food tasted as he took spoonful after spoonful in his mouth.

"You can say that again!" Kaibara and Tsuburaba yelled in sync.

"Don't get too used to it." Kan grunted from his table sat with the other adults, "After today, you lot will be taking care of food on your own, we'll give you the ingredients but you'll be in charge of cooking."

The collective student-body sweatdropped.

"Tsu, you can cook, right?"

"Yes, Ochako, I can, ribbit."

"Hm, we're gonna need your help then, what about you Iida?"

"Ah, I'm afraid I've never touched a kitchen in my life!"

Izuku hummed, listening to his classmates asking each other if they were good at cooking or not, the next couple of days seemed like they were going to be rough judging by everyone's responses. It took Izuku a while to notice the one that hadn't said anything.

Bakugo.

Cooped up on the corner of a farthest table, sitting by himself. "Huh…" That was… strange.

"Is something the matter, Izuku?" Reiko asked as she prodded his hand with her own.

She took his attention once again, "Well… it's just weird sitting with everyone and having… Bakugo sit by himself. It's like a reverse of middle school. It's kind of sad I guess?" His friends around quieted, looking at him with looks that he couldn't quite place.

"Even after all this time, you're still worried about that dickwad?" Setsuna huffed with a spoonful in her mouth.

"Old habits die hard?" Izuku offered.

"Well, then we will smite them for you." Reiko patted his hand, "Now eat, we will be needing the energy for tomorrow." Izuku couldn't argue with that, so eat he did, not noticing as Bakugo's eyes strayed to him.

---

It took Izuku a while to come to a realization.

Was it something about his quirk? No, he was still just as lost about that.

Was it something about his new girlfriend? Equally as wrong, whenever he looked at her his brain went to mush and he couldn't think straight.

Was it about Bakugo and how their friendship had deteriorated? Nope, he knew exactly why that happened.

It was the fact that there was a little kid just staring at them. No one else seemed to notice the little boy that stood off to the side, but Izuku did. Every few moments the boy would look over at them, and his face would fill with full fury and disgust.

That confused Izuku, and he wanted to go talk to the kid or ask one of the Pussycats what the little boy was doing here. At least, that was until one of the girls from 1-A noticed him, Mina, and went off to say high.

Then she got sprayed in the face with water and yelled at.

"HOW RUDE!" The pink girl yelled as the kid stalked off. The rest of the 1-A girls laughed at Mina's unfortunate face, but Izuku didn't focus on that. That kid was angry, too angry for someone his age.

"I'm sorry about that, Ashido." One of the Pussycats, Mandalay, came over with a rag for the girl, "Kota has… been having a rough time lately and he doesn't know how to express his anger without taking it out on others."

"Ah, so he's a ripe little jerk."

"Jiro!" Yaomomo chastised.

Izuku tuned the rest of the conversations out, instead focusing on washing his plate. "Kota, huh?" That name seemed a little familiar, but Izuku couldn't place the where or why of that fact.

"Heya, Boss?"

Izuku jerked, not used to the name, "Yeah, Awase?"

"Teach wanted me to tell you he wants a meeting with you and Kendo. Some Rep stuff that you guy's've gotta do." The banded teen stated, "Didn't tell me what though." He added before slinking off.

That was strange, usually Kan would have come up to him first. Shaking his head to dispel the thought, Izuku ran off to find Kendo and the two made their way inside to where their teacher was sitting with Aizawa, the 1-A reps, and the Wild Wild Pussycats.

"So, these are 1-B's representatives." Tiger crossed his arms, "Not bad."

"I like this one." Pixie-Bob was right in front of Izuku, sniffing and prodding him here and there, "He's got brains and brawn! And–" She paused on a sniff and then tried doing so again, "Oh, he's taken." She stepped back, "Well, never mind then."

Kendo looked confused, "But isn't she like a grown–"

"I'M EIGHTEEN AT HEART, ALRIGHT?!" Pixie Bob yelled before being distracted by one of Ragdoll's jokes.

"Anyways–" Mandalay rolled her eyes, "We've gathered all of you to talk to you about how everything is going to be organized, figured you can pass the news onto the rest of your classmates later on since you're in leadership positions."

"Well, I suppose that makes sense." Yaomomo nodded along.

Moving along." Aizawa grunted and sat down while pulling out his eye drops, "We'll be going through intense quirk training, an emphasis on the intense part." He took the time to attend to his eyes and Kan took over.

"The training is going to seem hellish, but each program has been carefully organized by Nezu to make sure it's something you all can handle." At the shivers that each student had, Kan added, "And they've been looked over by Recovery Girl." They all let out sighs of relief.

"We'll be helping with supervision." Mandalay smiled at the students, "We may, occasionally, take a student for one and one practice with their quirks or to simply give them advice or insight on how to better utilize their quirks."

"Speaking of…" Tiger started and trailed off, a strange glint in his eyes as his gaze landed on Izuku. In a moment, the man cleared the space and stood before the much smaller student, "I'll be your personal mentor for your time here."

"W-What?!" Izuku stammered, "Isn't that unfair? I mean I've already gotten a lot of help from the rest of my teachers and I've caught up with my class, at least compared to how I was at the start of the year. Having you focus on me seems a little unfair."

"Thought you'd say that…" Kan sighed. "Midoriya, while you've come a long way since the start of the year, and I mean a long way. Your training has been spread throughout many different facets in such a short amount of time. You've developed many techniques for your quirk, more than any student either me or Aizawa currently have, but you haven't mastered any. Your Air Force is still shotty right now, you can barely use Black Whip, your kicking style can use some work, and your movement is still shaky."

"If you were any other student then we would leave it until we get back at UA to work on all of those things, but right now you already have power, now you need to build your arsenal." Aizawa commented, "What percentage are you at right now?"

Izuku squirmed, "W-Well, I used roughly a quarter of my power against All Might in the exams, but it wasn't controlled, not even a fifth is perfect right now. I'm comfortable at fifteen percent, but I can push it over if need be."

The students looked at Izuku in shock, he was still using such a small portion of his power? Not even half?

"I-I must admit Midoriya." Iida fixed his glasses that had slipped, "You frighten me."

"I'm sorry?"

"You don't have to apologize for everything Midoriya." Kendo grinned, "But Iida's right, that power ceiling you have is something I can't ever imagine reaching." Izuku stared blankly at her before looking at his own hand, little bolts of lightning drifting off of it as the smell of ozone filled the air. Pixie Bob and Ragdoll stopped talking, they all looked at Izuku as he seemingly silently contemplated something.

But Izuku hadn't said anything to them even after a few minutes, instead shaking his head and dispelling whatever thoughts he had. "S-Sorry, I was just… thinking."

"Surprised you didn't mutter."

"I-I've been working on it, Kendo!"

The two UA teachers shared a look, both confused about the first year's top student.

"But, you should all go tell your classmates about what's going on tomorrow, and then head to sleep. The training is starting early!" The pussycats rushed the students out before shutting the doors, leaving the room silent afterwards.

"I'm sorry guys but can you step out, I need to talk with Kan and Aizawa." Mandalay asked her crew. Ragdoll tilted her head, Pixie Bob huffed, and Tiger nodded. "Thanks." She smiled at them as they filled out.

Once alone, the leader of the Pussycats sat across from the teachers, "Kan, what's up with that kid?" Mandalay asked.

A grin only crawled onto Kan's face, "Where do you want me to start?"

"You mentioned he had a rough start this year, and we know about the logistics, but why did he have a rough start this year?" She asked.

The teachers once again shared a glance, confusing Mandalay, before Kan answered, "Midoriya took our school's Entrance Exam believing he was quirkless." The Pro stared at Kan with wide eyes, "He scored zero Villain Points, and only passed because he saved another applicant from the Zero Pointer by destroying it and received near full marks on Rescue Points."

"He destroyed that thing?! And what do you mean near? I'd assume anyone that does something like that to save another would receive a full score when it comes to Rescue Points." Mandalay was, suffice to say, shocked.

Kan gave Aizawa a nasty look, "Someone thoughts Midoriya's actions were reckless–"

"He blew out both of his legs and his arms." Aizawa interrupted, Kan tried countering but Aizawa continued, "However, given what we know now… I can hardly blame the kid." He sunk deeper into his scarf, "His mindset… he's like All Might except he's got brains. Midoriya's smart, maybe too smart. The way he's come in just a few months would take others years to get to."

Kan and Mandalay looked at Aizawa in surprise, he hardly ever complimented someone else. "But that's also what worries me."

The other two pros were perplexed.

"He gunned it for Shigaraki at the USJ, putting his class in the spotlight. Then he received national acclaim thanks to the Sports Festival. Only for him to get even more media attention thanks to him taking Stain down, him– a student. The media, the Hero Commission, is using him as a puppet for their war on crime, they're going to want him to be the next All Might. And with his power? He just might be.

"But he's not there yet, right now he's vulnerable, and villains would love to cut a flower down before it blooms." Aizawa sighed and looked towards the ceiling, "The League already has it out for UA, we know that much since Shigaraki attacked Monoma at Kiyashi… but they'll definitely want Midoriya. Even now, he invigorates those around him. He made Todoroki use the fire part of his quirk, something I couldn't even make the kid do, he gathered a team that took down All Might, even if one of the members wouldn't work with them, he's gathered a group of close knit friends that all push each other to be better."

"Huh." Kan raised his brows, "And here I thought you hated friendship."

"Shut up." Aizawa grit through his teeth before exhaling, "What I'm trying to say is…" He stared Mandalay down, "It might be early to tell now, but Midoriya has the makings for a new Symbol of Peace, a new pillar of hero society, but it's not just that… he's making the rest of his little crew into pillars as well."

Following Aizawa's speech, Mandalay couldn't form words, "Y-You really think he's that much of a deal…?" She eventually got out.

Aizawa nodded, "Whole heartedly." And he wasn't just saying that because the kid reminded him of someone else.

"Wow…" Mandalay trailed off, "Then– we'll get him strong enough so that any villains he encounters won't take him out! He will become a pro hero!"

Kan grinned at the fire of the woman in front of him, "That's the plan!"

"Stop yelling, it's annoying!"

"Stop being such a spoilsport, Aizawa!"

"I just said stop yelling!"

"Look who's yelling now!"

"Boys! Shut up!"

---

Tomura didn't know whether to be glad or pissed off that the tracking chips that he had the Doctor insert inside Tomura and Toga had worked. On the one hand, they had managed to retrieve the two villains and had gained an amazing boon in the Quirk Amplifier, that he had decided to hide from Sensei and that asshole of a Doctor. But on the other hand–

"Tomuraaa, can I have some blood please?! You said I did a good job, doesn't that mean I deserve a reward?" Her whiny voice was seriously starting to piss him off. It was astounding how annoying she could make it when she decided to pitch it up.

"I already told you before. No." He glared at her, "Now, does everyone understand what the next mission is going to be and how I want everything done?" He turned to the rest of the crew gathered in the rundown bar.

Dabi stood by his side, a stupid grin on his face but the man at least knew exactly what to do and how to do it. Plus, he wasn't afraid of getting hurt in pursuit of a goal.

Everyone else nodded, though some were a little stranger than others. The cannibal in the corner unnerved everything, but with the promise of being able to eat as much as he wanted once they dropped down in the forest that held UA's training was enough to make him hold back.

The kid, Mustard, with the gas quirk was a little too narrow-minded for his liking. But, he reminded Tomura of himself, if just a lot weaker. But with a gas quirk that labeled him a villain and a gun, he wasn't that weak by any means, just not enough to measure up to Tomura or any of the other villains in the group.

Compress, a thief, with a boon of quirk was doing tricks for a disinterested Dabi, being able to turn anything into little marbles with a single touch was instrumental to the kidnapping portion of the mission. Whatever happened, they needed Compress to make it out alive.

Then, there was his combat squad. Mange, Muscular, and Spinner. They would provide distractions for the heroes while Dabi burned the forest down and Compress kidnapped the kids.

The Good Doctor and Sensei had deemed Nomu unnecessary for this mission, which was a shame, but he did need to prove that he could work without his Master's resources. The only thing Sensei would be providing was transportation in the form of Kurogiri. If anyone got lost, the Butler would be able to bring them back together.

"Alright." Tomura's scratchy voice echoed across the chatter of the bar. "In two days time, we will take charge against UA, storming their training camp. They think they're safe." A hand clenched one of the glasses on the bar, turning it to dust, "We're gonna show them they'll never be safe as long as we're around. That their precious society of peace is nothing but a sham.

"But for now, eat and rest. Everyone needs to be fully healed for this operation, I won't go in on low HP, or go out and do some killing, make sure your iron is sharp and your level is as high as can be." The skin under the hand covering his face began to itch, "Either way, be ready, because we're going to make UA wish they dealt with us correctly the first time."

Across the far wall, three pictures hung.

Izuku Midoriya, that little piece of shit that ruined everything for him at the USJ by interfering, and a fighter that was on a fast leveling system apparently because he was becoming too OP for Tomura's liking. After all, he was a student that took down Stain, and had almost crippled his plans again at I-Island.

Tomura didn't want another All Might to deal with.

Then there was Katsuki Bakugo, the kid was violent, too violent for a hero. His quirk was destructive, was perfect for hurting others, and their little insider had word that Bakugo was on a short leash and was due to explode any day now. If they could get him on their side, then perhaps they'd have an even greater tool to beat down the heroes with, or they could just turn him into a Nomu.

Then…

"Neito Monoma."

God that little arrogant shit pissed him off so much. He wanted to kill him, he wanted that damn hero kid under him, limbs torn to shreds and blood drained from his body. Monoma humiliated him during their last encounter at Kiyashi and Tomura would make him regret it.

But first, "I have a meeting with Sensei." Tomura stepped back from the bar table, "Do not argue while I'm gone." His red eyes locked onto Muscular, "Especially you, you'll get your chance to fight, in fact I've got someone special in mind for you. Just wait off until then."

With a swift turn, Tomura turned as Kurogiri opened a portal for him, departing the silent bar and entering the Nomu storage facility where his master resided. "I've come to see you, Sensei…"

"Ah, Tomura…" The man's face wasn't visible thanks to the life support system he had covering his head, one that had been made to resemble a pancake during his last squall with the Symbol of Peace, "I wasn't expecting you, did you have something to discuss? I hope it's important and that you aren't wasting my time."

Tomura tried not to make his gulp audible, "Of course not, Master. I would never dream of wasting your time."

"But, here we are…"

Tomura's body tightens, "Master, I come bearing a gift for you." He gets out as fast as he can before he pulls a USB drive out from the pockets of his hoodie, "Here are the blueprints for a device made to amplify quirks, designed by I-Island's leading scientist: David Shield."

All For One goes silent, "I had set up a little crew to retrieve that device for me, even given the leader a strength enhancement, but the plans fell through."

Tomura's eyes widen, "I-I apologize, Master. I did not mean to intervene–"

"No, Tomura." All For One raised a hand, "It was All Might who thwarted my plans, had you not done this then I would have had nothing to show for it." Using one of his many quirks, All For One floated the drive over and rested it in his hand, "It will take time, especially due to our lack of resources currently, but this will be a boon." All For One smiled under his mask, "Perhaps you deserve… a reward, Tomura."

"A reward…? What kind of reward, Master?" Tomura asked.

All For One didn't reply verbally, instead pulling a device out of his pocket and levitating it over to his pupil, "This."

The man caught it and looked it over, it was a solid black cube with a red screen displaying a beeping red dot and coordinates on the side, "What is this Master?"

"A device to track the good doctor. He can, at times, be sneaky. Should anything happen to myself, whether All Might finally does me in or the doctor's treatment fails, and he decides to run." Tomura knew his Master was smiling under his mask as he uttered his next words, "You'll be able to find him, anywhere."

Tomura thanked his Master as a portal opened up behind him, he turned to exit but stopped at a call.

"Once more, Tomura." All For One spoke with such a weight in his voice that Tomura couldn't move, but instead could only be inraptured by the man, "Do not forget our goal, what the heroes have done to you, and what they deserve."

Tomura could only stare at his mentor for a moment before nodding, "I will never forget…" And without another word, he was gone and ready.

Ready to make the heroes pay for their misdeeds.

 

Notes:

Okay, so this one took around a month and a half, and there's a good reason. April and May have been really busy months for me, being in my last year of HS and all and especially since I'm in sports, but now I've mostly wrapped everything up.

We're setting up for the Kamino Ward fight, and things are progressing on all fronts.

The teachers know that Izuku is special, not because of his quirk but because of his ability to bring out the best in others (Except Bakugo).

And we've finally gotten to something I've been wanting to get to for a while. I've been having Izuku learn a LOT of stuff that he shouldn't get until later, like his shoot style, air bullets, and even black whip, but there's a good reason.

Izuku, to me, is always going to be a thinker, and it's annoying that canon doesn't let him be that more often. Izuku's smart, he is a quirk nerd, he has a bunch of volumes of books simply analyzing quirks and can analyze a battlefield in a few seconds (as seen in Kamino) but Horikoshi doesn't let Izuku do that for himself too often. Izuku sparingly analyzes One For All and how he can maximize his potential with it, at least until he starts getting other quirks but that's not analyzing One For All, that's the other quirks.

So, here, I have Izuku analyzing so much that it's almost too much. He's a jack of all trades, master of none. It's worked out so far but won't always.

Other than that, Tomura has a way to corner that slimy sleazy bastard of a doctor, and the LOV has the blueprints for the quirk amplifier, hope that doesn't screw up the heroes too much!

If you've read this far, I want to thank you for reading Class B's Cinnamon Roll, and tell you that yes I am working on the Digimon x MHA cross over, I have about 3-4 chapters ready but I want to have more ready before I start posting. The story is very intricate, and it takes a lot more time to think it out than this one since it's not going to follow MHA's usual plot. One more time, thank you so much for reading, it means the world to me and with that.

Jay out!

Chapter 32: One For All's Secrets

Summary:

Izuku, following the terrible events that have happened during his first few months at UA, spends the time trying to master his current abilities of One For All and enjoy what he can of his summer break with his friends, but receives horrible news from UA's resident Rat God.

It was daybreak. The sun hadn't even peaked over the top of the mountains yet. The valley where they would commence their quirk training had been left in a state of darkness, and Izuku found himself vibrating in his bed. A shimmering excitement was boiling under his skin.

One For All.

The quirk had been brimming inside of him ever since the Final Exam had awakened the new part of his quirk. Black Whip had been such a new avenue to exercise his power, even if he was still currently struggling with it. But that wasn't all.

All of his new evolutions, all his additions to his quirk, while they weren't fully mastered, had been interesting to explore. It all just made him wonder of the depths that his quirk really had. How much more he could improve. How much stronger he could be. The door to the room slowly creaked open, and in the hazy light of the morning stood a shadow in the doorway.

"Class 1-A, meet me outside in five minutes." The familiar depressing voice of 1-A's homeroom teacher bore into the room before the door slid closed.

The students of Izuku's sister class jolted awake, scrambling to their feet, throwing on their UA sports uniforms and running outside. Surprisingly, none of the boys of 1-B had woken up to all of their noise. Probably because of how tired they were from the previous day. That said a lot about how Aizawa could wake up an entire class with just his voice.

The man was terrifying.

Still, Izuku was buzzing with excitement, ready to get a start to the day just like his sister class, and he couldn't wait! Izuku glanced at his classmates before rising out of his own blanket and throwing on his UA sports uniform. If he got a little bit early of a start, it wouldn't be too bad for him.

A little more than an hour later…

"Why're we up…already…?" Komori asked as she let out a yawn.

"The light in our teacher's heart burns as bright as his determination, yet that's too bright for such an early morning rise." Kuroiro winced as the sun was barely coming over the mountains.

"ALRIGHT!" Kan screamed, getting yelps out of his students, "Today is your first day of quirk training!" The man had too much energy for this to be so early in the morning was the general thought flowing between his student's heads.

Vlad King had woken them all up with a yell not five minutes earlier, rushing them outside for training before they even had a chance to properly get their minds rolling. Even the most training intensive of them, like Tetsu and Kendo, were still a bit groggy.

"Can we wait for that "day" part to be legit, teach?" Setsuna grunted.

Instead of the retort they were all expecting, the man huffed and crossed his arms. "It seems all of you want to fall behind." He spoke in his gruff voice. Before anyone could answer, he continued, "And, I'm not talking about 1-A, even though they started their own training more than an hour ago." His students looked confused for a moment, and it was those that he knew best that realized it first.

"Where's–" Monoma started.

"Izuku?" Reiko finished.

The class stilled and looked around, finally realizing— now that they were properly awake— that their class representative was nowhere to be seen.

"The kid's already started training." Vlad King uncrossed his arms and pointed to a section of trees. "He's sparring with Tiger as we speak." Just as he finished speaking, a dust cloud emerged from above the treeline along with a shout of "SMASH!" that always accompanied Izuku's attacks. A fire lit in the class, in their chests, in their hearts. They wouldn't fall behind their Class Rep.

"Well then guys." Kendo pounded a giant fist into an equally huge palm, "Let's get this training started!"

"YEAH!"

"Not quite, Midoriya." Tiger crossed his arms as the two took a break for a moment, "Are you sure you don't want to sit down for a sec? We've been at it for nearly an hour now." Tiger was amazed at the kid's sheer tenacity, but they hadn't had breakfast and Midoriya needed the calories and fuel. "Let's stop with the air bullets for now, I got some protein bars you can eat and then we'll get started after, alright?"

But Izuku wasn't listening, he was leaning on his knees with his hands and scanning the terrain around him, his mind was elsewhere. "Air Force requires a rapid change from a lower percent to a higher percent to be optimal for license usage, during the Stain Incident my shots were sloppy, but I had adrenaline to help me, since then I've been out of practice with everything else I've been doing. Shoot Style, Air Force, Black Whip, I've not mastered any of them…but if I can manage to get enough time between now and the end of camp, and hopefully after school with the help of Kan—"

"MIDORIYA!"

"Huh?!" Izuku looked at Tiger, sweat dripping off of him and his hair covering his eyes, "Y-Yes sir?"

Tiger chuckled, "Here." He tossed Izuku a protein bar, which the boy caught with his hand. "You need energy. Training is good and all but it won't matter if you're too tired to make proper use of it."

"R-Right, sorry sir." Izuku mumbled as he quickly devoured the snack.

The two sat together on a nearby rock, sipping water from bottles and talking about how they thought the training should continue. It was quiet, and a bit awkward if Izuku was being honest. Tiger just seemed so imposing, most likely because of how big he was— and his mask— and how contrasting his clothes and face were. It gave him a scary energy. "How'd you know I was going to be training out here before my classmates, sir?"

"Let's just say your teachers know you better than you think." Tiger chuckled, "They guessed you'd be out here earlier than your classmates. You're a workaholic."

"I've… got a lot of catching up to do is all." Izuku muttered.

"Seems like you've done more than catch up, though." Tiger looked at the destroyed trees that now littered the forest around them. "I mean with that kind of power kid?" All Midoriya lacked was control, fine and proper control.

"Maybe… but I don't just want to get by, you know?" Izuku raised a brow, "I want to excel, I want to master my quirk and show that I deserve to be at UA. And I want to strive even further and become something even greater than a hero."

"Like…" Tiger trailed off, only one word came to mind at Izuku's declaration, "A symbol?"

Izuku smiled to himself, "Yeah…!" He jumped to his feet, small sparks of lightning dancing off of his skin as he did so, "A symbol! For the people, you know?" Izuku's smile only widened, "Something so that people know they're safe once you arrive. So they know that they shouldn't have a single worry when they're in your presence!"

"That's a… steep goal, Midoriya." Tiger huffed. He had thought along the same lines too when he was a kid— just barely getting into Hero School, and the dream quickly left his mind once he had managed to actually become a hero. The idea of becoming a Symbol wasn't something that could be taken lightly.

But Izuku's smile didn't waver, "That's the best part."

Tiger quirked a brow before he instructed Izuku to get back to training. His mind had been made up, Midoriya was definitely a weird kid, but that didn't mean he was a bad kid. In fact, Midoriya might have been the best he had ever worked with from UA.

"You good, Aizawa?"

1-A's homeroom teacher groaned at the carefree tone and turned to the approaching Pussy Cat: Mandalay, "Something up, Shino?" He asked, keeping his annoyance very clear in his tone.

"You're just being as broody as usual, is it something to do with your students?" Mandalay grinned at him as they watched over the crowd of 1-A and 1-B students that were training across their grounds, though Aizawa was more focused on his batch of students.

"Just worried about Bakugo." Aizawa grumbled as he kept an eye on the blond, "He's not the most stable, and I tried barring him from the trip." A quick drop of eye solution made Aizawa pause for a moment, "But, Nezu insisted that the boy tag along for the trip in hopes that letting off some steam would help him out. Irrational really."

"Ah right." Mandalay sighed, "Tiger told me about the situation with Bakugo. On probation, and illegal quirk use, possibly even assault? Kid's not even graduated yet but he's already racked up a couple of charges." She shook her head, "How come charges have never been pressed?"

1-A's homeroom teacher didn't respond for a moment, "The main target— It was Midoriya."

"W-What?! That little ball of sunshine?!" Mandalay was, for the lack of a better term, gobsmacked.

"Yep." Aizawa drew the word out and ended with a sigh, "And that so-called "little ball of sunshine" is too good for his own good sometimes I swear. Anyways, Midoriya was quirkless, and you know how that kind of stuff tends to be overlooked by school officials and police officers."

Mandalay clicked her tongue, "Quirkist bastards. Wait what do you mean was quirkless, that's not something you can just change out of the blue."

"Apparently, the kid was a late bloomer, got it the day of the entrance exam…" Aizawa trailed off and let out a deep sigh, "…I regret that day…" Mandalay's gaze trailed over Aizawa and she tilted her head questioningly, "I made some judgments about the kid that ended up being wrong."

"Yeah…" Mandalay looked out towards the sea of training students, "You tend to do that. It's probably what I dislike about you most."

The Underground pro simply shrugged, "I'm not a teacher and hero to be liked."

"It doesn't hurt to be nice and have fun every once and a while, Aizawa. You should really take Emi up on her offer." Mandalay grinned down at him.

Aizawa only groaned, "And I'm tuning you out now."

"Oh come on! Don't be such a spoilsport."

As the two pros fell into small banter, the students around the training area were starting to feel the drain of the constant strain they were putting their bodies through. They had each been working hard since the start of the morning and it was beginning to approach mid day.

Monoma himself wasn't faring well, between rapidly shifting from quirk to quirk that he had borrowed from his classmates and having to fight multiple opponents at once to work on his multi-tasking abilities, he was drained.

Sadly, not everyone was as tired as he was.

"Neito~!" The cheery voice of Setsuna cut through the air as she practiced with her own quirk, replacing lost limbs as quickly as she could after removing them from her body. "Come on, what's up with you?! Are you tired~"

"Tokage! Quit it!" Kendo ordered as she sparred with Shoda, both trying to improve their quirk use in a combat scenario. She would have liked to have used Tetsu as a punching bag but he was currently busy pushing his quirk's temporal limits to its maximum.

Other strength types like Shishida were instead training other parts of their quirk, like retaining control while delving even deeper into his animalistic senses.

Everyone else was practicing quirk control or quirk power, such as Shiozaki and Reiko who were manipulating as much as they could with their quirks, vines and sand in each of their respective cases, to improve control which would compound their power.

Tokage pouted back, "Why won't anyone let me have some fun?"

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HAVING FUN!" Vlad King yelled into one of Tokage's floating ears, causing her to let out a scream that shook across the forest. While many of the 1-B students felt bad for the girl– after all they knew how loud Kan could be– they felt that she also partially deserved it.

Kan stepped back from the students and crossed his arms, his group was a little separated from the 1-A kids, and by extension Shinso as well, but they would be making their way back to the cabin in a bit for lunch.

He was proud of all of his students but also worried about their development, there was no lying about the current rise of villains following the attacks on UA and I-Island. If the current situation got any worse than he wanted all of his students to be able to protect themselves. Hell, Monoma was already attacked at a mall for goodness sake!

His students needed to be able to fight, but they were still just kids, they didn't deserve that kind of stress and pressure on them.

"How ya doin' ya big lug?"

A sigh escaped Kan's mouth as Ragdoll stood next to him, smiling up at him with her signature dopey smile. "I'm doing just fine, Ragdoll." His voice came out in its usual gruff tone, "Just worried about the kids— with how things are going right now…"

"You don't have to say it out loud." Ragdoll huffed, "We know it's gonna get bad…"

"We just have to make sure the kids can handle it if it starts sooner rather than later." Kan felt his age at that moment– and he was barely 30– but he could ignore that for now. "STUDENTS! IT'S LUNCH TIME!" The students of 1-B collectively let out a sigh before cheering and marching their way towards the cabin that the Wild Wild Pussycats were letting them use for their summer training.

Sadly, when they got there the tables outside were devoid of food.

"The fuck's going on?!" Awase yelled, and barely hid behind Tetsu before Kendo could lay a smack against his cranium, "Ah, come on Vice! You gotta admit you're pissed too!"

"Yeah, but I wouldn't be as disrespectful about it!" Kendo shot back.

"Kids, quiet down!" Vlad commanded, and both classes did so, "Today, and everyday for the rest of the camp, you'll be making your own food." The collective class stilled, "WE FORGOT!" The high schoolers yelled. Their looks of despair and sadness brought a creepy smile to Aizawa's face. "Now, you have enough supplies to make food for yourselves, we'll let you guys collectively decide on how you want to go about doing that."

The moment Kan stopped talking, the students set about making food, with Kendo and Yaomomo taking charge of their hungry and exhausted classmates. Todoroki helped ignite the stoves and melted his ice to get clean water for them to boil potatoes in.

As the classes started mingling and getting into the groove of cooking— Reiko, Monoma, and Tokage got together and discussed the only topic that was probing their minds at the moment.

"Where the hell is Greenie at?" Tokage huffed and she sliced potatoes into pieces.

"I'm not sure, but I am confident he will be exhausted by the time he comes back." Reiko added, using her quirk to transfer the pieces of potato that Tokage had cut into a nearby pot so they could soften.

Monoma meanwhile focused on stirring the pot, which wasn't that helpful but he was trying at least. "He's a ball of energy, I doubt he'll be that tired." It was only then that a familiar face came hobbling out of the woods, most of his body covered in grime and dirt, with an imposing looking Tiger behind him. "Aaaaand I take that back, holy crap what did Tiger do to him."

"Yo, Midori!" One of the girls from 1-A greeted Izuku, Ashido— if Monoma remembered right. "What happened to you? You looked like you had a fight with some pigs!"

"Nothing big really!" Izuku rubbed the back of his neck and smiled, despite the multiple bruises already forming across his body "Just some intense training with Tiger is all, he's rough!"

"I'm right here, young man." Tiger grunted before pushing him forward by the shoulder, "Have a large–filling meal, once you've had time to digest then we'll get back to training." The pro walked off and Izuku made to join his friends— only slightly swaying on his feet.

Once he had sat down alongside his classmates, none of whom asked him to help with whatever they had been cooking, thankfully, he was bombarded with questions.

"Dude, why do you look like shit?"

"Is Tiger really that rough?"

"You learn anything cool yet?!"

"Midori, Is it true that you're dating Yanagi now?!"

"Ah… okay." Izuku sweatdropped, looking at all the surrounding faces, "Well… how about we make the food first and I'll clean up too— I'm a mess right now?" Full Cowl sparked off of him and Izuku was gone in a bolt of lightning.

"That coward!" Mina groaned, "I need gossip!"

"Ashido, get to cooking, your "gossip" can wait." Yaoyorozu scolded.

"Fineeeee, Yaomomo…"

As Ashido went back to cooking— with a pout on her face— Monoma and Reiko exchanged a glance, "Why don't you go see him, Yanagi?" Monoma offered, "I think we've got everything settled here."

"Are you positive?" Reiko asked, "I can offer more assistance."

"Yeah, yeah." Tokage pitched in, "Go see your bubs, we'll finish this up here!"

Reiko didn't blush like Tokage wanted, but she did seem more joyful as she made her way off to follow Izuku inside. She caught him just as he was exiting the bathroom with a small towel in hand, already looking much more presentable compared to before. Though his hair was a tad damp now.

"Allow me." She used her quirk and took the towel before mashing Izuku's head with it. "Your head of hair really is like a bush." She teased, "I'm sure many things have gotten lost in there before?"

Izuku giggled, "Yeah, I've never really been able to tame it, whenever I try I end up losing a brush."

"I suppose I could attempt to do it for you." Reiko offered as she hung the towel around his neck so that it drooped off of his shoulders, "How is training with Tiger going?" She tugged on his hand with hers and led him back outside.

"So far, good. I just need to work on control. Being a decade behind you guys in terms of quirk mastery isn't fun at all…" He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, "Especially since I've been doing so much at the same time, I really want to play around with what my quirk can do, but moving onto the next thing as soon as I get something down isn't that good for mastery apparently…"

The two arrived to plates already being set down, "Yo, Midoriya!" Shinso waved him over, "Saved you and Yanagi a spot."

"Thanks!" Izuku grinned and they both took their seats. The food was hot, and he was surrounded by his friends. Izuku couldn't help but smile.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS THE HOT SAUCE?!"

His friends groaned under their breath, and Izuku was inclined to do the same.

Bakugo was seated a decent distance away from everyone else, following the Final Exams not a lot of people were too inclined to be near him— not to be mean, but because Bakugo had been on an incredibly short fuse following the exam. The only one that sat near him was Kirishima, Tetsu's long-lost twin.

Kirishima's friend– Mina— was sitting with them.

"What are you doing here, pinky?" Monoma scoffed.

Mina only grinned, "Wow, what a professional, callin' me by my hero name and all."

Monoma clicked his tongue at his misfortune and Kendo apologized for him, "Monoma's a little… rough around the edges when it comes to healthy class competition."

"Those are just quirks!" Monoma interrupted. "How could you not appreciate the uniqueness of a friend such as I, Kendo?"

"Maybe because you talk a lot of talk and don't walk the walk?" Shinso spoke between bites.

Monoma looked aghast, "Even you, Shinso? After everything we've been through together?"

Shinso shrugged, "Say it how I see it, man."

While Monoma pouted— with Tokage trying to cheer him up by making him smile— the rest of the group entered and idle chatter. "Why don't we talk about why each of us wants to be a hero?" Mina offered– with food stuffed in her mouth, which Yaoyorozu chastised her for. "That's exciting, isn't it?" She grinned, "Like, I don't like bullies so that's why I've always wanted to be a hero!" She pointed her spoon at Kirishima, "You next, Kiri!" She pointed at the red head that sat just a tad away from them.

"Huh? What am I doing?" Kirishima babbled as he was— trying— to have a conversation with Bakugo.

"Why do you want to be a hero, horn buddy?"

"Oh, right!" Kirishima smiled and flexed an arm, "I want to be a shield to protect everyone that can't protect themselves! An unbreakable hero that can block any attack from any villain!" It was unknown to Kirishima but Bakugo had scoffed at the statement.

"Like a Symbol of Protection…?" Izuku wondered aloud.

Kirishima perked up, turned around in his seat, and thought about it for a moment, really wondering if that was something he wanted to be. Being a Symbol, something like All Might? That was a big task. He had known for a long time that he really wanted to be a hero, but to go that far? "I'm not sure actually. Being a Symbol like that is… huge."

Bakugo scoffed again as he ate, being a Symbol wasn't as important as being Number One.

But that's not how Izuku saw it. "Maybe." he smiled and took a bite of his curry, "But I think that's the best part!"

"Is that something you strive for, Midoriya?" Honenuki asked from a little farther down on the table. Izuku could feel his friends and classmates that were around him tune into the conversation, and it made him a little nervous— he wasn't used to having so much attention on him.

"Well— yeah." Izuku smiled honestly, "People always talk about being the number one hero, or being part of the top ten, but that's never really appealed to me in the same way it has others." Izuku gazed at the miniaturized full gauntlet on his wrist, remembering how he had saved not just his friends but everyone that was on I-Island. "Being a Symbol is something far greater to me. And trust me, I know it's a lot of work, but I'm willing to put in my all!"

"A very admirable thing to do, Midoriya." Yaomomo smiled at him, "Even if the goal is a steep one, as long as one gives their all then even they may be surprised by the results."

Izuku blushed at the praise before relaxing as a hand landed on his. His eyes shifted to meet Reiko's and he could tell there was something in her gaze, then she spoke as soft as a whisper and he could barely make it out over all the noise of everyone talking, "That's… really cool."

A new— much more intense— blush bloomed on Izuku's face, making him a one-to-one depiction of a strawberry. "T-Thank you!" He stammered before going back to his food. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the corners of Reiko's lips turn into a smile and her eyes glow with laughter.

On the other side of the table, Tokage silently squealed while repeatedly tapping Monoma's arm, "Neito, Neito! Did you see that? Did you see how cute they are?!"

"No, and I have more important things to do." He replied before shoveling a spoonful of food into his mouth. "Because unlike some people, I am exhausted."

"Tell me about it…" Shinso sighed, his bags even deeper than before. "Since I'm a late add on, Aizawa's just having me build muscles and instincts right now…"

"Sounds killer!" Tokage grinned

"Yeah— as in I'm gonna die if training keeps going like this."

"Serves you right." Monoma bit out.

"Come on, man. Don't be like that." Shinso groaned.

Monoma simply huffed again.

It didn't take long before their meals ended and the combined students of Class 1-A and Class 1-B went back to their training, somehow with even more vigor as they had in the morning. Strength, control, precision, were all things that the up and coming heroes focused on, to varying degrees of success.

Izuku himself was currently getting beaten into the dirt by Tiger, the man's elastic like limbs were hard to counter. But, slightly upping his percentage of One For All before a blow had helped a tad in cushioning the strike.

"KAH–!" Kidney shots still hurt like hell though…

The Pussycats and homeroom teachers had assembled outside the lodge, watching the gathered students train to their fullest extent. Pixie-Bob was calling dibs on some of the male students, which Aizawa would glare at her for.

Slowly but surely, the hours passed by, and the sun started to dip over the horizon. Baking the mountains of the Pussy Cat estate in a vibrant orange hue. "Alright!" Kan and Aizawa stood near all the training students and called them to a halt, which many were grateful for. As they all gathered around their homeroom teachers they entered hush conversations, wondering what would be happening now. "STOP TALKING!" Kan yelled, much to the dismay of folks like Jiro and Shoji.

Even Aizawa groaned, "Just as bad as Mic…"

"Now–!" Kan carried on, "The hot springs are open for you all now! But let it be known they're separated by gender!" His eyes swiveled to multiple of the more mischievous students they had this year, and the perverted ones. "And if we catch anyone trying to peep, then you'll have a personal session with Tiger tomorrow."

Some of the assembled boys gulped while Izuku shrugged, "It's not that bad." It was indeed that bad.

"With that said." Kan grinned, "After you guys bathe then we'll have another meal before bed. Now get going!"

"YES SIR!"

Izuku let out a sigh of bliss as he sank into the warm waters of the hotsprings. The bruises that had already formed from his training with Tiger were overjoyed at the sensation of the warm and relaxing water.

Sadly, most of the other boys weren't quite as relaxed as he was…

"CANNON BALL!"

"KAMINARI, TURN OFF YOUR QUIRK!"

"AH, YOU 1-A FOOL, YOU SPLASHED ME!"

"GUYS, JUST RELAX!"

Izuku simply let out a second sigh and dipped even further into the water.

Shinso, Honenuki, and Todoroki had joined him at some point, staring at all the chaos the boys were strewing up. Poor Iida was trying to control it all, with Shoda and Shishida trying to help. It was honestly funny seeing the three boys trying to control the chaos, with their heads turning here and there as they moved around, much like a tennis or volleyball match.

It wasn't until Mineta approached the wall boarding them and the girls that Izuku sat up.

"Men!" Mineta proclaimed as he stood at attention with only his towel covering his modesty, "It is our duty as males to see what is beyond this wall!" Mineta reached up to his head and popped off a ball, ready to start climbing towards what he considered heaven.

—only for a strange tentacle to wrap around his waist.

"Yeah, not happening." Izuku ground out, more and more of Black Whip coming out of his knuckles and even separating from the original strands. Mineta's cries of anguish were drowned out as he was wrapped in a cocoon of darkness. Izuku had half a mind to throw him, but simply looked at Todoroki and asked, "You mind?"

That's how Mineta ended up trapped in a block of ice while naked, staring as his classmates enjoyed the warmness of the hotsprings.

On the other side of the wall, the girls shared giggles as they heard Izuku and Todoroki deal with Mineta.

"Man, you picked a good one, Yanagi." Jiro grinned as she massaged her tired earphone jacks.

"Yeah, anyone that knocks that little perv down a peg is good in my books!" Mina smiled as she sat on the rocks around the hotspring.

Yanagi nodded, thanking the girls quietly. While she had already been prepared to deal with Mineta herself— as was Shiozaki, the girl did not like anything that had to do with sin— she appreciated Izuku.

He was always the first to step up and do something about mistreatment, or whenever there was trouble. Like when he had first befriended Komori when she was alone at the start of the year and blended her into their little group which had helped her and Kuroiro get closer together.

Actually… now that she thought about it.

"Komori." The mushroom girl who barely managed to break the water's surface startled at the sudden mention, "How are things going with Kuroiro?"

Komori blushed and sank the small bit into the water, "G–GOod! Good. Ehem… Good." She smiled, "We've been taking things slow but they've been nice. He's coming out of his comfort zone a lot slower than I have, but he's also very patient with me about things. It's… really nice."

"Man, why is 1-B the only class with tons of romance!" Toru groaned and wiggled her arms, though they only saw the splashes that it called.

"You can always ask Ojiro out, kero."

"What?!" Toru slipped and caused a splash, startling the other girls before she shot to her feet. "I can't do that!"

"Why not? I hear the way your heart speeds up whenever you're near him." Jiro shrugged, "Just go and talk to the guy, his heartbeat is the same way."

"W-Well! What about you and Kaminari!" Toru accused back.

"HUH?! W-What about us?!"

"You're always teasing him becasue you've got a crush on him, right?"

"That is soooo not true!"

"Is to!"

"Is not!"

"Is to!"

"Is–"

"Ladies, ladies." Kendo separated the two by making a big hand in between them, "Toru see about asking out Ojiro after the summer camp. Jiro—" The earphone jack girl blushed, she totally had a crush on Kaminari, "Why don't you try talking to Kaminari more after the camp to see if you like him?" Kendo tried to pacify her.

It seemed to work, as Jiro sank deeper into the water to hide a rather radiant blush.

Tokage and Mina bumped arms, rather happy with the level of drama, gossip, and romance happening in front of their eyes.

"This is going to be a much longer week than I originally thought it was going to be." Yaomomo sighed.

"Maybe, but that makes it fun!" Uraraka grinned.

Reiko agreed, even though she wasn't used to too much socialization, she rather enjoyed being to act like a normal kid for once following all the crazy happenings that had happened the rest of the year. She only hoped her friends would be able to enjoy acting like normal teens for once too.

After dinner, the ensemble males of 1-A and 1-B were laughing, fluffing pillows, and getting ready for bed. After a long day of training, a nice long sleep was all that they had been looking forward to. Most of all was Izuku, who had passed out as soon as he reached the room, fumbling onto one of the many pillows and blankets that were in the room.

"Awww come on Midoriya!" Awase grinned and tossed a pillow at his Rep, which Monoma caught, "We can play around for a bit at least before bed."

"Nah, bro. I think Tiger really did a number on him." Tetsu sighed, "Man, I wish I could be doing that too! Working on my temperature resistance is cool and all but I wanna fight something!" He clenched a fist and groaned.

"Hey, maybe I can ask Aizawa if we can go a round later!" Kirishima spoke up from his spot next to Shoji, "Maybe even Ojiro and Shoji can join in, eh? What about it guys?"

"I need to work a bit more on my tentacle growth before I put any of it into action, but after I'm done with that I'll take you guys on." Shoji agreed easily enough.

"I'd be up for it. I need to work on incorporating my tail into more of my martial arts, and work on its strength. Beating you guys up would help!" Ojiro grinned.

"Oh? Beating us up? We'll show you, Monkey Man!" Tetsu grinned back.

"It's Tail Man!"

"Oh ho! Big difference!"

"Save all the bravado for tomorrow!" Iida ordered, "Getting a good night's rest is imperative to being an excellent hero student!" He chopped his arm in his usual Iida fashion that punctuated every word he said.

"Aww come on, Iida!" Kaminari groaned, "Being together like this is pretty fun, isn't it?"

"Well, it is fun." Shoda smiled, "But we really should rest up, Kan-sensei was saying the training is only going to get worse the longer we're here, since we're cramming so much training into just a week, I mean look at Todoroki and Midoriya, they're both out."

Funnily enough, Todoroki was knocked out as well, even if his training wasn't quite as strenuous as Midoriya's. They all wondered how he was able to sleep so easily with Tetsu's loud yelling just moments prior.

"But alright, let's just—" Monoma stilled as the familiar sound of crackling lightning and the smell of ozone reached his ears, his eyes shot straight to Midoriya whose arm was crackling with growing power, he had only a moment to yell, "EVERYONE BACK!"

A half second later, a small eruption blasted everyone back, slamming into walls and creating a slight crater in the center of the room. The boys groaned as some of them went right into wood, others breathed sighs of relief that they escaped the blast. Monoma shot to his feet and ran to his friend, Izuku was on his knees, coiled over and looking at his hand as Blackwhip trailed out of his knuckles.

"Midoriya! Are you–"

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" Aizawa's yell echoed through the boy's room as he slammed the door open, his scarf wafting around him and his eyes already a piercing red.

"Sensei! Midoriya— exploded!" Mineta yelled.

Aizawa's hair dropped and his eyes returned to normal before landing on Midoriya, who was still recovering in the center, "I swear, it's always the problem child…" He cursed before kneeling next to the boy, "Midoriya, can you hear me?"

"Yes… sensei…" He breathed deep, "I… need to call Yagi…"

'All Might?' Aizawa wondered to himself but discarded the confusion for now, "Okay, come with me." He wrapped his arms around the boy and helped him up, Izuku stumbled on his feet before they made their way out, "Everyone else stay here until the Pussycats arrive, we'll move your room and everyone will go straight to bed."

Monoma stepped forward, "But sir—"

"Straight to bed." Aizawa enforced. "Now, come on Problem Child." Aizawa pulled the boy along down the hall. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Need… to tell… Yagi-sensei…" Izuku bit out, still gasping for air. "Need a phone—"

"Izuku!" Reiko entered the hall, having run all the way from where the girl's room was on the other side of the Pussycat's compound. She collided with the boy, easily holding him up by using her quirk and inspecting him for injuries. "What have the fates cursed you with this time?"

"Yanagi." Aizawa interrupted, "Please, go back to the girl's room, tell them everything is under control, and go back to bed." The girl didn't seem to want to back down from how intensely she looked back at him, not even with anger in her eyes but just with sheer will behind them. "I will make sure Midoriya is taken care of, now please go back to bed."

She looked away from Aizawa and back to Izuku, who— bless his heart— was trying his best to give her his class wide smile, "I'll be alright, Reiko, I just need to call Mr. Yagi and then I'll head to bed too!"

Something was going on, she knew it, and it had to be something surrounding his quirk— given the changes that had been happening since the Final Exams, and there was nothing she could do. He was trying to shut her out, but also so she wouldn't worry. She'd appreciate the sentiment if it wasn't so clear to her that he was going through something painful.

"Tomorrow, you owe me an explanation, is that clear?" She did her best to sound imposing. It seemed to work, because it made Izuku gulp and nod as quickly as he could. "Good." She grabbed him by his round cheeks before hugging him tightly, "Take care."

Aizawa rolled his eyes at the display of affection before Reiko made off. Izuku seemed to be a bit better, he could at least stand on his own now without having to be dragged around by Aizawa. This breathing was still a little off, but steadily improving, "Follow me, Problem Child."

The two made their way across the building, entering a large living space where the rest of the pussycats, excluding Mandalay, were located— all in pajamas. "Aizawa, did something happen?" Tiger stepped forward, "Kan went to go check on the boy and Mandalay the girls." His eyes strayed to the student behind the Erasure Hero, "What's Midoriya doing with you?"

"Who do you think the cause of all the ruckus was?" Aizawa drawled.

"That was you! You interrupted my beauty sleep!" Pixie-Bob was about to pounce on Izuku, but was lifted off her feet by the hem of her nightgown, "Tiger, let me go! I need to give that kid a piece of my mind!"

"No…" Tiger sighed, "Ragdoll, just take her back to her room, will you?"

"Got it, lug!" Ragdoll grinned with a silly salute.

After Tiger let Pixie-Bob down the two girls made their way back to their rooms while Tiger and Aizawa sat Izuku down. "We'll wait for Mandalay and Kan to come back to ask about what happened, but in the meantime, how are you feeling, Midoriya?" Tiger asked.

"I feel… fine? I think?" Izuku wondered, "I mean, my body feels good, I was just shaking off a lot of adrenaline earlier, and my legs felt like jelly. My breathing is better now, but…"

"Mentally, how are you feeling?" Tiger probed.

"Drained." Izuku smiled tiredly, "Oh, do you have a phone I can borrow? I need to call my mentor."

Tiger raised a brow, "Mentor? What mentor?" Before Izuku could answer, the sound of approaching footsteps entered the room, along with Mandalay and Kan. "Ah, Shino, Kan was everything alright with the girls and boys?"

"The girls were fine." Mandalay sighed, "Yanagi was a little anxious, apparently because of…" Her eyes landed on Izuku, "Midoriya." She smiled, "Aizawa was right. You are a troublemaker."

"Thank… you…?" He asked, perplexed.

"The boys were fine also, just needed to be moved because their room was a tad destroyed." Kan huffed. "And you would be the one at the center of it." Kan took a seat next to his student while Mandalay joined Tiger on the couch across from them. "What happened?"

"Well…" Izuku paused, "It was like the Final Exams all over again, except also like what happened after I fought Stain." At his teacher's confused expression he continued, "I had like— a dream? But it didn't feel like a dream…" He trailed off, knowing there were certain parts that he couldn't share with his mentor. But he did add, "I think that's when my quirk started changing."

"Changing how?" Aizawa stressed.

Izuku gulped— an idea, he needed an idea— "Have you ever heard of the quirk singularity theory?"

"Yes." Mandalay leaned forward, "It's a theory from a very advanced school of thought, centered around the idea that quirks will continuously evolve until they eventually become too powerful for the human body."

"Right, right." Izuku nodded, "Well, my quirk works by constantly stockpiling energy which I can then turn into power, and just recently can use to create a physical construct in the form of what I call BlackWhip." Little wisps of said power came out of his knuckles, "I think this is just the beginning of all the changes my quirk is going to go through, that with the more energy I gain, I think it's going to keep on changing— evolving if you will, until… well—"

"You go kaboom." Kan interrupted.

"I hope I can do something before that happens…" Izuku sweatdropped, "But basically yeah."

"And you need to talk to Yagi because…?" Aizawa asked.

"Oh well, he said he was going to be doing some research into quirks like mine and find ways for me to adapt to changes as quickly as possible, I'm already making a little bit of headway with BlackWhip, so we're hoping that if I can master things as soon as possible then it won't be too hard on my body." Izuku quickly lied. All Might was actually researching into the past users and seeing what quirks he may gain down the line.

"Okay, but that's a lot, kid." Tiger crossed his arms, "And you don't know when these changes will stop. Having to constantly be adapting to evolutions your quirk is going through will put a strain on you, mentally or physically or otherwise."

Izuku gulped, his roundabout explanation was really going to bite him in his behind, "Well—"

MEOW~ MEOW~ MEOW~ MEOW~

The group passed and exchanged glances as a ringtone of meowing cats echoed, settling on Tiger and Mandalay who both shook their heads and proclaimed it wasn't them.

All eyes landed on Aizawa, who slowly lifted his phone to his ear and answered a call, "Yes, Aizawa speaking." It took everything Izuku had to not burst into giggles, "Yes, I have him with me right now." He turned to Izuku, "Fine, talk to the kid." He handed the phone over, "It's Nezu."

"Ah! Principal Nezu!" Izuku held the phone in both hands up to his ear, "What's the occasion?"

"Hello Young Midoriya!" The high-pitched voice of the Chimera came out across the phone, "I've been meaning to contact you about your car's extended warranty!"

"...you serious?"

"Of course not!" He heard the principal chitter like a mouse, "In reality, Toshinori asked me for assistance in a certain matter, research into some old heroes." Izuku's eyebrows shot up, "And I've managed to get some information on almost all of them— the first three elude me I'm afraid."

"R-Right, well… thank you sir. Really. You're a big help."

"It's not all good news I'm afraid." Nezu's voice turned dark and Izuku heard the familiar clacking of a keyboard, "Some of the research I've conducted has painted a rather bleak picture for people like you…" For users of One For All.

"What… what do you mean, sir?" Izuku straightened up.

"Most of the heroes, as you know, were murdered by villains." By a singular villain, All For One. "But, one of the heroes was actually hospitalized and later died from his injuries." Izuku paused, it wasn't like All For One to leave a loose end like that, "A hero by the name of Hikage Shinomori."

"Hikage… Shinomori…" Izuku wondered aloud, and the rest of the heroes around him looked confused at the name, "Okay, but what was special about the way he died?"

"Well, from what it appears, his body was simply too old to recover from the injuries he had sustained." Nezu chirped.

"He was too old?"

"No, no, Young Midoriya." Izuku could feel Nezu shaking his head, "His body was too old, Shinomori-san himself was only 40…"

Izuku almost dropped the phone, "Oh my god…" He felt sweaty, was he going to die early too? Was that a… was his mom going to outlive him? Was he going to die before he even reached adulthood? "Am I…?"

"As of now, we're unsure." Nezu spoke with precision, "Toshinori is well into his later years, and we believe it could be due to… certain factors surrounding his genetics." Their… their quirklessness! That had to have been a factor— maybe? "And you have a similar background, we'll conduct research with Recovery Girl when you're back at UA, until then try to stay calm, your quirk will respond to your panic if you don't. Until then, have a good week with the Pussy Cats."

The line went dead, Izuku plopped the phone in Aizawa's hand, and sagged into the couch.

"Midoriya, are you okay?" Kan placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "What happened, what did the rat say?" Tiger and Mandalay looked worried while Aizawa was a little unnerved.

"I might die of old age before I hit forty."

"WHAT?!" The adults looked startled.

"I… Nezu said it was just a possibility, and that he would be doing more research into it to see if anything concrete could point to that happening…but apparently he found some old heroes that had stockpiling quirks like mine, and it accelerated their aging…" He just had to hope it was because they already had quirks when they received One For All, and Izuku would just ignore the fact that he was currently developing other quirks…

None of the pros knew what to say, a kid hearing that he might die before forty was rough to stomach.

"Kan-sensei, can you just message Yagi and tell him about what happened…?" Izuku slowly rose to his feet, "I'm gonna go to bed."

"I will, Midoriya." Kan nodded and let the boy go, shaking his head as Mandalay stood to follow after him, "Give the kid some time, he needs to think things over right now. He bounces back quickly… I just hope he'll be able to bounce back after that."

Izuku stalked the halls of the PussyCat lodge, not quite knowing where he was going at this point since the boy's room had been moved, but he didn't particularly care about finding it quickly. Small wisps of the 5th user's quirk were drifting out of his knuckles, Izuku's hands were shaking.

"I can never… just have a normal time…" He muttered to himself as he slinked down a wall. Izuku tried focusing his breathing, and it— eventually— made BlackWhip recede a tad into his hand. He was just… tired.

"You seem troubled."

But he wasn't alone.

Familiar arms wrapped around Izuku's fluffy hair and pulled him down until his head was resting comfortably on Reiko's shoulder. "Talk to me, let me know what weighs so heavily upon your soul, Izuku."

Izuku grabbed her hand in his hair with one of his own, idly playing with her fingers. "Just me— learning the repeated fact that quirks are… stupid…"

"But, you like quirks. Your fascination with them exceeds my own interest in the supernatural." Reiko prodded gently, "What happened?"

"My quirk's just… changing. Fast— too fast for me to keep up, and—" He didn't want her to worry, if the end of Nezu's research pointed to him being able to live a long, normal life, then he didn't want to cause Reiko any more stress by telling her about how One For All would— could— affect his aging, " — I don't know if I can handle it."

"Whatever happens, Izuku…" Reiko leaned her head down on his, "We'll figure it out together. Like always."

Izuku felt warm, warmer than when he was even using One For All, a light exploded in his heart, quelling all of his negative thoughts. "Yeah." He wrapped an arm around Reiko too, "We will."

Notes:

I am going to completely honest, I thought I had uploaded this chapter already, it's been on FFN for a while, I am working on Chapter 33 and trying to get it out as soon as I can. College is kicking my butt.

But, the chapter is here. I didn't want to get too into the fighting yet, so I created this chapter to give the story time to breath, Izuku is trying to round out on mastering all of his abilities that he's learned in the passed couple months, but learns about One For All's life sentence, though he doesn't know that it only applies to those with quirks yet- he has the idea but still his nerves are shot right now.

I also wanted to show Izuku and Reiko actually being a bit of a couple, so I threw some of those scenes in, and I added the girl's gossip scene while going through the final edit for the chapter because I felt like the girls didn't have enough "Screentime" in this chapter.

I've always liked Tiger as a mentor because he's both a rescue and combat hero, and his quirk is really interesting, while he really only beats Izuku up in canon and doesn't teach him anything (like seriously all of Izuku's growth with his quirks happens in the Bakugo rescue arc and the License Exams, the arcs RIGHT after the training arc?) I did want Tiger to help Izuku at least master what he currently has in stock, and maybeeeee teach him some new stuff in the next chapter.

I'll try to have the next one out before the end of the month, just know that I haven't forgotten this story- I actually think about it a lot. Do know, that I have worked on the Digimon story, I actually have like 5-6 chapters written but they're a lot shorter for the chapters for this. If anyone would like that to be posted then just let me know.

Again, just thank you for waiting and for reading my stories, it means the world to me.

With that, I'm out!

Chapter 33: Forest of Death

Summary:

After an intense day of training, the students engage in a classic High School activity, a test of courage.

Only for it to be interrupted by villains, will they be able to survive?

Will Izuku be able to save everyone?

Following the news that Izuku had received from Nezu, Tiger had upped the amount of spars that he and Izuku would engage in to help take his mind off things. The boy was having trouble keeping up with them though, getting lost in trying to deal with each of the attacks, trying to dodge or block. Everytime, Tiger would break through all his attempts at defense.

But it got Izuku thinking, and his mind off of the news. The busier he was— the better.

The rest of Class 1-A and 1-B kept striding to improve their quirks as well, to keep up with those they looked up to and to attempt to become the best heroes they could be. Even with how hellish the training had been, they took it in stride.

Monoma found his time limit increasing slowly but surely and wondered if he'd be able to store a third quirk by the time the summer camp ended.

Reiko's precision and potency with using her quirk had been steadily increasing since her internship and now she could feel a large increase coming on from her training.

Tokage felt like she had even more precise control of her disconnected limbs than she did before.

Kendo felt like her muscles were more dense, adding to Midoriya's theory about how her quirk worked.

Tetsu's elemental conditioning had been working, with him being able to take on Todoroki's fire for a solid time before he had to jump into ice cold water.

Komori had been working on her special mushrooms, along with how fast and widespread she could produce them in a proper environment.

Kuroiro was working on manipulating the shadows that he had entered, and had gotten to the point where he could wiggle the actual shadows.

Pony could shoot and control even more of her horns simultaneously, though her actual precision was still wobbly at the moment. Which she hoped to fix by the end of camp.

Shinso was actually already feeling much stronger, but it turned out trying to use his quirk on multiple people at the same time gave him a nasty migraine.

Todoroki was practicing rapidly switching between both aspects of his quirk, hoping he could get to the point where he could use both sides in tandem.

Iida was trying to become even faster than before and improve his Recipro Burst— making it last even longer.

Uraraka was working on making herself float and increasing the maximum amount she could carry with her quirk.

And Izuku…?

"KAH!" He slumped over as Tiger's fist landed squarely in his stomach for the nth time that day, the rest of the assembled students looked over for a brief moment in sympathy before continuing their own training.

"Come on, Midoriya! Go with the flow of the fight! You spend too much time thinking!" Tiger chastised as he loomed over the boy with his arms crossed. "You can't analyze every little thing in a fight! Sometimes you gotta let your body take over!"

"Y-Yes… sir!" Izuku slowly but surely got to his feet and continued sparring with the hero. Kan and Aizawa had to give the kid kudos, sparring with Tiger was something even they wouldn't look forward to, and Izuku just wouldn't give up.

The second time he slumped to the floor, they called for everyone to come to a halt.

"Midoriya? You alive down there?" Kan called out.

"Y-Yup!" Izuku raised a shaky thumb.

Reiko had ended up helping him up, and had taken to trying to cheer him up as well, though Izuku just got lost in her attempts and thought that she seemed cute while trying to do it. But, it was only a few minutes later that they delved once more into their training, somehow with more vigor and excitement than before.

"We're training masochists." Aizawa groaned.

"We're training heroes." Kan retorted.

"Eh, same thing."

Kan didn't correct him that time.

---

"So, what are you doing wrong?" Tiger crossed his arms as Izuku took a seat on a tree stump, "I'm sure you know what you've been doing."

A sigh left Izuku's lips as he thought, but that was just the problem, he thought a lot, a lot a lot, too much. Just like Tiger said. His mind was running a mile a minute, but he had so many ideas running through his head that his body couldn't keep up. During his fight with Stain, he had so much adrenaline that he just let his body take over and it worked out well enough in the end. But Izuku strived to be that efficient all the time.

"I'm thinking too much…" He dragged a hand along his forehead and whipped it, trying to get rid of as much sweat as he could. "I just need to… do! But I can't." Izuku groaned.

"It's called a habit." Tiger huffed, "And they're tricky to break. You just have to keep at it. There's no magic solution that will just solve your problems, it's your own mental fortitude that has to stay strong until your new habits in fighting take over your bad habits in thinking." Tiger clapped Izuku on the shoulder, "How long do you think it took me to get my fighting style down? Or Mandalay? Or even your teachers? You're training to be a hero, and there's plenty of steps to get there. This is just another step, kid. Now, let's go again!"

Izuku nodded before entering his stance. A kick boxing stance, ready to use his arms but more focused around his legs. The two started exchanging blows, Izuku just focusing on blocking Tiger until he found a good moment to strike back.

Izuku stabilized himself as he successfully blocked a punch from Tiger, ducked under the next blow from the pro, and readied as he saw the other fist being pulled back for another punch. He went to retaliate with one of his own, but was nailed in the back as Tiger's elastic fist redirected itself and sent him tumbling forward into Tiger, who already had another attack prepped.

Izuku blinked.

His hands planted firmly on the ground, his lower body lifted into the air, his percentage of One For All increased, and his right leg came down hard, "MANCHESTER SMASH!" Wind dispersed around them, bouts of sand and bits of rock sent flying. Izuku's heel was pressed firmly into Tiger's shoulder.

The pro grunted and jumped back, rubbing where Izuku had hit. The blow had hurt, but Tiger knew that Izuku had held back, not truly wanting to injure him. Still, "Nice one!" Tiger praised Izuku with an honest smile, "A perfect counter, Midoriya!"

"Thank you sir!" Izuku panted for breath with a tired smile— covered from head to toe in dirt— but still stood tall. "I'm ready to go again!"

"Then come at me!"

"YES SIR!"

---

By the time lunch rolled around, Izuku had to sit far separated from everyone else simply because of how dirty he was— getting repeatedly thrown into the ground by Tiger would do that to you. The only ones that sat near him were Reiko and Todoroki.

Reiko because she wanted to be near Izuku and Todoroki because he didn't want to be near too many people either, while he was getting more friendly with some of his class others were still upset with how he had been prior to the Sports Festival. It didn't hurt that Yanagi and Midoriya were some of his closest friends either.

"I do not wish to be rude, but I believe there are landfills that smell better than you currently do, Izuku." Reiko said between bites of her food. It was a little better than the previous day but still not great. They truly weren't the best at cooking…

Before anyone could answer, they heard a little muttering.

"Stupid heroes. Stinking up the place. Just making it worse for everyone else before you die…" The words of Mandalay's nephew, Kota— if Izuku remembered right, reached his ears. The kid seemed like a small ball of negativity. And still, the kid's name pinged a small memory in the back of Izuku's brain that he just couldn't bring to the front of his mind for the life of him.

While the kid went off grumbling Izuku tried to recall why Kota's name was familiar, all the while Reiko and Todoroki entered a hushed conversation.

"So, how's your training going, Yanagi?"

"Well enough, I had a bit of quirk training during internships with Ryukyu so I'm a tad familiar with what we're doing currently, how were your internships?" Reiko asked, knowing that Izuku was trapped in his own little world at the moment.

"Boring." Todoroki had a little emotion in his voice, mostly disappointment, "I interned with my father to get a little more control over my flames, as I've been… neglecting them for a while. I didn't learn nearly as much as I wanted while interning with Endeavor."

Reiko frowned, "I'm sorry to hear that, Todoroki. How are you flames going with the current training?"

"A bit better." Todoroki shrugged, "Mostly working on using both at the same time. It's like typing I guess, but as if I've only ever typed with one arm behind my back and using both is unnatural. For now I'm swapping as fast as I can and hoping that'll help me use both together at some point."

Reiko offered a small, very small, smile. "Well, I wish you luck in that, Todoroki."

"Thanks Yanagi–"

"THE WATER HOSE DUO!" Both of the introverts startled at Izuku's yell, a look of full joy on his face as he reached his realization. But that joy then faded into a look of horror, "Oh… the Water Hose duo…"

"Izuku?" Reiko tilted her head, "Is something the matter?"

"Not really…" Izuku trailed, "Just figured out why Kota's been having a hard time." His gaze landed on the boy that was a ways away from the group. Maybe later during the week he'd find some time to talk to the kid, or maybe not. It wasn't really his place, that was something for Mandalay to do, but if he could help then he'd try.

"ALRIGHT!" Kan entered the area and knocked Izuku out of his musing, "Once you lot are done eating, get off to the baths and then you'll all be doing a test of courage tonight once the sun is down!" The students all winced at Kan's volume, but some looked excited at the prospect of actually being able to do something fun instead of all their training, "Those that have remedials lessons will have to sit out!"

Juzo, Shoda, Shoji, Ojiro, Sato, and Bakugo all cursed, they had wanted to be able to do something else rather than be cooped up all night in the bland classroom where remedial lessons had been. Izuku felt sympathy for them, but couldn't wait to hit the showers.

It was only an hour later, after all the students had bathed, where they had all gathered outside waiting for their tests. Izuku sighed as the girls and boys of both classes decided what they wanted to do for the test of courage, it wasn't that he wasn't interested per se, but rather that his attention had been focused elsewhere for a lot of the night.

After everything with the League during school, Stain during internships, and the WHOLE debacle that had ruined his and his friend's trip to I-Island, the— relative— calmness of their Summer Training was a bit jarring. Every second he expected the other shoe to drop, for something to happen, for someone— a villain— to show up. But nothing did.

Maybe it was just his anxiety, after all he'd gotten the same feelings when nothing bad happened for a few days back when he was still at Aldera— that always meant that Bakugo was saving a special "treat" for him that usually ended up with him shoved into a locker, toilet, or nursing burns on his way home.

But this was… different…

He felt more focused, more confident in his conclusion— that something was going to happen.

Most of it surrounded everything that was happening with One For All. The quirk kept… speaking, somehow. He didn't understand it, and neither did All Might, but it was something they both had been trying to research but had reached no conclusions on. Which, Izuku guessed, was why All Might had brought Nezu into the fold. The principal was a genius when it came to anything analytical, practically a supercomputer in the form of a… rat? A mouse? A Nezu. In the form of a Nezu.

The ominous warning he got before setting off for the Expo didn't help. All For One drew near. Izuku wasn't sure that Japan would survive if All Might's— now his— Arch Nemesis returned. All Might barely had enough fuel left in the tank as is, add on that he might have to fight someone that could use any and all quirks they stole? On top of that, the League was only going to get bigger— going off of Monoma and Shigaraki's "chat" at the mall.

They were going through a metamorphosis it seemed, and Izuku wasn't sure if hero society would be able to stand it if a true giant came into play.

The League was nowhere near as big as the MLA had been in its prime, back during the Quirk Dark Ages, but Izuku was sure that there were people who would love to go to the League, whether it be just to cause mayhem, or because heroes had failed them as a whole— just like Himiko Toga.

Just like…him—

"Greenie!"

Izuku snapped back to the present and found Tokage's floating head right in front of his eyes, her brows knitted in concern. "You alright there? You weren't with us for a sec." She reattached her head to her body and looked off to Monoma who came over with the same concern-filled face. "Something going on up there in that empty space?"

"It seems like a bit too much is going on in there." Monoma mused, "Though… he isn't muttering, a first."

"That is not true!" Izuku huffed, "Ask Kendo, I did the same thing the other day!"

"Fine, fine." Tokage huffed back, "But— you're sure you're doing okay?"

"Yeah." Izuku grinned, glad that he actually had friends that worried about him. The thought was nice, "Just thinking is all." He added after a moment.

"So, something dangerous is about to happen then?" Tokage jabbed with a lazy grin, "Thanks for warning me, Greenie."

"Har har." Izuku joked. But she wasn't entirely wrong either. It seemed like whenever his mind got lost in the cloud bad things happened. Though, he wasn't sure if that was just coincidence or what.

"It had been decided!" Iida's voice broke through the crowd as he robotically chopped his arm as usual. "Those of 1-B shall be going into the forest first to attempt to scare 1-A, we should enter in pairs! Come and draw lots to decide who you'll be paired with!"

"Man, that's boring…I don't wanna pair with someone random, I wanna pair with Neito!" Setsuna whined before stealing a glance at Izuku, Reiko, and Monoma, "Hey hey, I got a plan!" She grinned widely before making Monoma bend down so she could whisper in his ear.

The blond grinned back just as much, "You know, I've been letting go of my grudge against 1-A, but that does sound fun!"

Reiko and Izuku tilted their heads at the pair but wasn't sure what they were planning.

When it was their turn to draw lots, Setsuna let out a very fake gasp and pointed randomly behind Iida, "Oh my god, is that a kid sneaking out of remedial lessons?!"

"Woah, I think it is, Setsuna!" Monoma's yell sounded just as fake.

"What?! Where?!" Iida whipped around just long enough for Setsuna and Monoma to grab two lots of identical straws, the other pair of which they handed off to Izuku and Reiko. "Hmm. I didn't see anything." Iida turned back around only to see the four from 1-B grinning, "Why, you trouble makers!"

"We drew our straws Iida, deal with it!" Setsuna grinned back, "Now, let's go set up our traps, team!"

It was only a few moments later that Izuku found himself wheeled into the surrounding forest with Reiko as his partner for their scare trap, obviously. Their plan was that Izuku would rustle around in the bushes to scare them and then Reiko would carefully use her quirk to make things move near them, and even try to move whoever they were scaring too.

So, the two waited. They were near the end of the entire thing, so they huddled together, laying their heads on one other and clasping their hands together. It was rather calming, just not having anything to worry about. Listening a bit to the screams of 1-A as their classmates scared the pants off them, the rustling of the forest leaves, and each other's breathing.

"Normally, I don't condone Tokage's tricks… but I am appreciative of them at the moment." Reiko's voice was quiet over the hustle and bustle of nature around them.

"Yeah, me too." Izuku grinned, "It's nice to just… be with you like this." He rested his son on top of hers, "When we get back to Musutafu, would you want to go out on a date? I know we've been busy with all the stuff for summer but I'd like to take you out."

He couldn't quite see it, but Reiko's face had illuminated into a blazing blush, "I… I must admit I'm not very… used to going outside and having those kinds of activities, I much rather stay indoors or at home and…" She settled a little more into his shoulder, "I… I understand if you'd rather do something else…"

Izuku hummed and she enjoyed the feeling of it against her ears, "No, that sounds good too actually. Well, how about I meet your parents?"

Reiko's blushed and locked eyes with Izuku, "I… am uncertain as to the positive benefits that would have on our relationship…"

"What? Come on, you've met my mom, isn't it fair that I meet your parents?" Izuku tilted his head at her.

"Well, yes. But— my parents don't exactly… know that I have a boyfriend…" Reiko trailed off.

"Ah, well to be honest, I haven't really told my mom either." Izuku rubbed the back of his head, "Between being back from I-Island for such a short time and going straight here there wasn't really time? And I honestly didn't want her to flood the apartment…" He sighed.

Reiko giggled quietly at his comment, "Yes, that does seem like something your mother would do. Almost like a quirk when you ponder it?"

"No quirk at all." Izuku laughed, "Just the Midoriya family gift."

Reiko sent him a small smile before sighing, "But… I think you're right. I would like you to meet my parents."

"Then it's settled." Izuku wrapped an arm around her, "That's what we'll do when we get back."

"Yes, it is."

It was simply bliss. Being together. Being Izuku and Reiko. Not Midoriya and Yanagi the students or Deku and Emily the heroes in training. Just… Izuku and Reiko… it was bliss.

And then it wasn't.

A flicker of blue in the distance, too bright to be the sky— and then Izuku remembered that it had already turned dark a few hours ago. And then the smell of smoke reached his nose. He shot to his feet and pulled Reiko with him, "Reiko, we gotta get out of here!"

His girlfriend looked startled but nodded and jumped onto his back— he hadn't been expecting it but quickly stabilized himself and started running back towards the cabin using One For All. He glanced back at the blue light he had seen earlier and finally realized that it was actually fire.

"Izuku." He heard Reiko's monotone voice in his air, "Are we under attack?" Honestly, Reiko had gotten used to being attacked ever since the start of the school year, but for it to happen during a Summer Camp was truly startling.

"I think…" Izuku sighed and jumped from tree to tree before coming to a stop when three heroes burst into a nearby clearing, "Mandalay!" Izuku called and rushed towards them, letting Reiko down when they got to the pros, "We saw what looks like a blue fire! What's going on?!"

"The camp is under attack." Tiger grunted, "And since you students were doing the Test of Courage everyone is scattered throughout the forest."

"And Kota is missing. Probably at his "hideout" on the mountainside." Mandalay sighed, gripping her hair, "We're trying to get everyone back to the cabin but we can't find Ragdoll and her quirk would really be useful right about now."

Izuku clicked his tongue, turning to Reiko before looking back at the teachers, "I'll get Kota."

"Woah, kid, not happening." Tiger grunted, "You're in our care, and we're not letting you get hurt while that's the case."

Before Izuku could argue, they heard yells echo through the forest. He couldn't tell who they were, they were all mixing together, but Izuku wasn't going to stand by while he could help. Full Cowling sparked across his skin and he glared up at Tiger. "Sorry, Tiger-sensei. I wasn't asking for permission." Reiko tried to reach for him but with a crack of lightning he was gone.

A disgruntled sigh escaped her, "He's going to get hurt, I can feel it…" Reiko had developed a sixth sense when it came to Izuku. She knew when he was at the center of something, and right now her gut was telling her that tonight was going to be a bad night for them.

She turned to the Cats and nodded her head, "I'm going after him."

Before any of the cats could disagree, even more screams erupted from the forest, and Reiko was off before any of them could say anything.

Mandalay cursed, "Tiger, Pixie, I'm sending out a message to the kids, we've got villains to take to task."

---

Katsuki kicked a stray rock as he stepped out of his stupid ass remedial lessons to use the bathroom. After all, they— not just him, which pissed him off— beat All Might. Yeah he hadn't exactly helped the rest of the fuckers but they didn't deserve his help!

Icyhot was one annoying piece of shit that Katsuki knew was always looking down on him.

Copycat wasn't just as bad, no! He was worse! Blond fuck was always talking shit whenever they crossed paths and he so badly wanted to sent that bastard into next week with an explosion.

Then there was the purple insomniac. The asshole didn't even belong in the hero course, he was just some Gen-Ed nobody that didn't even deserve the time of day. But they were giving that fuck his spot in the course? Making him go to fucking therapy? What the fuck!

And… and then—

"Fucking Deku." Katsuki clicked his tongue.

He couldn't even put into words how much he despised him.

But, out here in nature, Katsuki just let himself bask in it. The smell of the woods just reached his nose and it was way better than the shitty inorganic smell of the classroom. Eventually, Katsuki's shoulders sagged and he sighed, "I don't even know what I'm doing at this point, this is all bullshit…"

He didn't even care about the stupid final, or the damn test of courage, but Katsuki did care about being a hero. He was going to be the best, he was supposed to be the best! The undisputed number one. Where had it all gone wrong?

In his musing, Katsuki paused as the smell of the woods fell away, and a different smell reached him.

"What the fuck? Why's there smoke?" Maybe it was damn Icyhot using his quirk for that stupid test of courage shit, but when Katsuki looked up he saw royal blue off in the distance.

Fire…

Not Icyhot's fire.

A villain's fire.

A grin crawled onto Katsuki's face as a wicked idea came to mind, "If I beat the shit outta that villain then they can't even think about kicking me outta the hero course!" With his mind made up, Katsuki shot off with his explosions ready to kick ass.

---

Monoma cursed as he ducked behind a tree, Setsuna, Shinso— who decided to say screw the rules and joined 1-B for the Test of Course— and Kendo not too far behind him. They had been progressing with the Test of Courage, relishing in them scaring the crap out of a pair of 1-A kids before a mist entered the clearing, it only took a bit for them to realize that none of them had come up with the idea and a little longer for their eyes to land on a man in a mask holding a gun.

Overall, not a good time.

What didn't help even more was Mandalay's message that was broadcasted to the entire forest, telling them that villains had infiltrated the camp and that they were to get back to the cabin. Now the villains knew where to look for them!

They each now held hands to their faces, not knowing what the mist was and not wanting to breathe it in. Was this the only villain that had shown up or had there been more? More, probably more, Mandalay said plural. But, were there villains across the entire camp? Were some of his friends in trouble? Were Izuku and Reiko in trouble?

He had to make sure his friends were safe, but before that they had to deal with the nearest villain.

"Do any of you have any ideas?" He cursed as another shot was fired into the air. Damn firearms were loud!

"Kinda hard to think right now with the sound of gunfire in the air while simultaneously trying not to breathe in potentially toxic gas, Neito." Setsuna bit back before closing her eyes, "Just— give me a sec to think!"

"Come on out you stupid heroes!" The voice of the— admittedly very young sounding— villain echoed throughout the forest, though muffled.

"Really need you to hurry up, Set!" Kendo whispered to her friend.

"Give me a sec!" Setsuna bit back. She looked between Shinso and Kendo before looking at herself and Neito. "Okay, game plan! Shinso, you insult him so his quirk halts temporarily— hopefully, since we don't know if he consciously has to use it or not. Then Kendo, you're gonna fan the gas away with one of your hands, and then me and Monoma will go in and knock him out!"

Without any other better ideas, the three agreed to the lizard girls plan.

It went surprisingly smoother than expected.

"I mean, he really was a chump, one hit knockout?" Setsuna scoffed as they all stood over the villain's body.

It turned out, she had been right. The villain was a kid, probably younger than all of them, and without his quirk he panicked, but before he could fire off a shot Neito had swooped in using her quirk and knocked him out cold. Her boyfriend was cool.

"No wonder he needed a gun." Shinso droned, "He's nothing without it." The insomniac clicked his tongue, "Now come on, let's get—"

Someone burst through the woods, actually it was two people. Uraraka and Asui from 1-A. "Guys! Oh thank goodness, this crazy villain with knives was chasing us through the woods, couldn't get a good look at her though she had a mask and hood on, but we lost her, I think, and then—"

"Don't jinx it, kero." Asui cut in and ended Uraraka's rambling but they were both breathing deeply in either exhaustion or anxiety they didn't know.

The two looked in bad shape, small grazes here and there from what looked like knives with twigs and other foliage covering their clothes, and even sticking out of Uraraka's hair. "Looks like you've been through it." Shinso sighed, "But we can't stay here, we need to move."

"We need to get back to the cabin." Kendo announced, "The villains know we're going there but it's the only solid stronghold in the forest. We meet up with anyone on our way back and then rush towards the estate." She looked towards where the villain was knocked out, "And we'll bring this asshole with us." She cracked her knuckles before slugging the smaller boy over her shoulder, and tossing the gun to Monoma who caught but did certainly not look pleased at having to hold it. "Now, let's get going!"

"Yes, boss lady!" Setsuna saluted her friend.

"Got it!" Uraraka called out and held Asui's hand.

Monoma followed as quickly as he could, making sure to turn on the safety of the firearm, and silently hoped that the rest of their friends were okay. Oh… who was he kidding?! Midoriya was probably in deep shit right now!

---

Izuku rushed through the woods, going straight for the nearest hill that he saw and hoping Kota would be there when he arrived. He didn't know how bad the rest of the forest was, and could only hope that his friends weren't in trouble.

"Come on! Pick it up!" He pushed One For All to 20%, jumping off branches and trees— damaging them in the process to which he apologized to the trees for— in his rush for Kota.

His vision blurred at the increase in speed before it settled and in a mere few moments he exited the forest and ran up the hill to a large cliffside area. Just like Mandalay said, there was the little kid with the horned hat, "Kota! I'm so glad you're safe!"

Kota looked startled at Izuku before looking away, "W-What's going on?! Why's there fire in the forest!" The child pointed to the royal blue flames that were littered across the Wild Wild Pussycat's domain, "And what are you doing here?! This is my hideout, you know!"

Izuku huffed, "Look, Kota, I know you don't want me here, but your aunt wants me to get you to safety. There are villains that infiltrated the camp!" He took a step towards the boy, "We need to get out of here."

"V-Villains?" Kota looked back at Izuku. "Like… like him…?"

Izuku had a very small inkling of what Kota was talking about and felt bad for him, "We've got to get back to the cabin." Izuku spoke in a soft voice as he crouched down in front of Kota, "Do you trust me?" Kota looked up at Izuku, allowing him to see tears bubbling in the young kid's eyes, but before Kota could respond a new voice reached Izuku's ears.

"Blah! All this stupid hero crap you're spewing is really putting a damp on my mood! I think killing the both of you will fix things right up though!"

Izuku cursed and his eyes shot up, not too far away was a villain, a giant villain that had muscles growing out of his body and a missing eye.

"No… Muscular."

Kota gasped looking at the villain, the same one that had killed his parents. "N-No! Not you again!"

Once Muscular was close enough he squinted at the both of them with his one good eye, "Damn! Must be my lucky day! You're that brat those two villains that gave me my scar were protecting! That one hurt… a lot." The way he smiled sent a shiver down Izuku's back and he felt like he couldn't move, "And you—" He looked at Izuku, "You're on Shigaraki's shit list with that explody boy and copycat kid! Ain't you that piece of shit kid that took down Stain? Man, I am going to love squeezing the life outta you!"

Izuku's teeth grit, there was no way in hell he was going to let this guy hurt Kota. Even if Muscular had already killed heroes before, so had Stain. And Izuku knew who came out on top from that fight. Him.

"Sorry kids, it's time to die!" Muscular laughed as he leaped for the two.

Before he could reach them though, Izuku grabbed a hold of Kota and jumped off of the cliff. Muscular tried jumping off the cliff after him, but Izuku's percentage of One For All made him too fast for the villain to catch him. "All those muscles weigh him down." Izuku sprinted past a tree and a few seconds later heard Muscular slam into it, "If I can get him to the cabin, Eraserhead can neutralize his quirk."

Kota was crying in Izuku's arms, wailing about how Muscular had murdered his parents in cold blood. Izuku's jaw clenched.

Muscular was going down.

The monster continued to chase after them, his screams of how he was going to kill the both of them echoing throughout the forest. A few seconds after Izuku would jump off a tree, Muscular would come by and absolutely demolish it in an attempt to strike Izuku down. The sounds of the trees being destroyed and the light of the blue flames across the forest caused Izuku's heart to hammer.

He had been right, there was something coming for them. But why? How did he know? It was more than just a gut feeling, it was something in the back of his mind.

"Don't worry about that right now, stupid." Izuku shook his head, "Your friends are in danger, they need your help…" He pulled Kota closer, "Muscular's not going to touch a singular hair on your head, Kota." Izuku promised, and a hero always kept their promises.

---

Aizawa was not having a great time. Villains attacking the camp, kids running in screaming their heads off, not all of the kids being at the cabin because of a stupid test of courage, and now he had just stomped a villain out in their classroom that got just a bit too close to his kids.

Except the bastard turned into a mud like substance before asking him one singular question that sent a shiver down his spine.

"Will you be able to protect all of your kids, Eraser?"

He felt like he had been submerged in ice cold water, "Vlad— can you dial Shino, now?" He turned to the students that were in the class and the other UA teacher that stood by them protectively.

"On it!" Vlad pulled out his phone only to swear, "Damn it! No service!"

"You've got to be kidding…" Aizawa groaned, his eyes settling on the students, "Wait… where's Bakugo?!"

"He went out to take a leak, sensei." Sato pointed to the door.

The two pros exchanged glances with each other, knowing instantly that Bakugo was going to get— if not already had gotten—- into trouble. "Vlad, stay here with the kids, and get any that come to the cabin inside!" Aizawa yelled before rushing out of the classroom.

The sight of blue flames eating up the forest terrified him, any one of his kids could be in danger or dead, just like—

"Don't think like that!" He yelled at himself as he rushed towards the treeline.

That's when he caught sight of it, little flickers of familiar lightning that took up his vision before a familiar green haired kid— pain in the ass— flew towards the cabin with a crying child in his arms, not a moment later did a villain come crashing after them.

"Eraserhead, use your quirk!" Izuku called out as he slid to the side of the hero and Aizawa did just that.

Muscular's eyes widened as he felt his muscles recede into his skin, "What the hell—" He was silenced as Izuku landed a St. Louis smash right to the back of his head, knocking the villain out cold.

The pro, the student, and the child looked at the down villain. Kota looked at Izuku in awe, while Aizawa wondered just how powerful the kid was to take down an A-Rank villain.

"Now that Muscular's dealt with…" Izuku panted for breath from all the running before he put Kota down and pushed him over to Aizawa, the kid had gone silent and didn't move as he stared at the prone Muscular, "I need to go tell Mandalay that I found Kota and then try to dispatch the rest of the villains. The League is after Bakugo and Monoma." Izuku readied Full Cowling but a firm hand halted him.

"You can't stop me, Eraserhead, I'll go save my friends even if you erase my quirk, but you know that we don't have time to waste right now!" Izuku snapped and shrugged the hand off.

The pro sighed, his students were in trouble across the entire forest, he couldn't save them all.

"Will you be able to protect all of your kids, Eraser?"

"I know." He admitted with a grunt, "So, tell Mandalay this…"

---

"And you didn't think to… use your fire…?" Reiko sighed.

She swore she saw Todoroki ruffle up in indignation. Which she supposed was fair, he was offended that such a simple plan had sailed straight over his head when he— and some other students— were being chased by Tokoyami and a fully unleashed Dark Shadow.

"You did know he's weak to light, correct?" She cocked her head to the side.

"Yes, though it just… slipped my mind." He trailed off.

"Yes, that appears so." She sighed, honestly maybe she was getting used to being around Izuku and hearing all of his smart ideas that being around normal people made her think that everyone was dumb. She really missed her boyfriend…

"Not that I'm ungrateful for your assistance, Yanagi." Tokoyami spoke with labored breaths from how out of control Dark Shadow had been, "But, where's Midoriya?"

Todoroki perked up before looking around, "Now that Tokoyami mentioned it… that is strange. You two are usually inseparable, and weren't you partners for the test?" Something had to have gone wrong.

"Izuku ran off…Mandalay's nephew was by himself and Izuku went to go find him and take him back to the cabin, I was trying to follow but I got lost…" Reiko explained, "I've been looking for him, but he's much too fast for me, and I can't pinpoint him with my quirk. There's too many beings in the forest for me to focus…" She wrung her hands, "He's going to get hurt again… I know it…"

"You don't know that." Todoroki shook his head, "Midoriya's reliable. Believe in him."

"And in the meantime—" Tokoyami started only to get cut off.

"Well, if it ain't my lucky day…" A man in a black coat and skin grafts stumbled from behind one of the trees, his eyes strayed across Tokoyami and Reiko before landing on Todoroki, "Shoto Todoroki… how I've been wanting to have this meeting…"

The students readied for an attack as the man's hands lit up in blazing blue flames.

"The forest fire— that was you!" Todoroki yelled.

"Ain't you an observant one." The man laughed.

"Who the hell even are you?!" Todoroki readied his own flames but was worried. He wasn't experienced enough with his flames, and he knew that blue ones burned hotter than orange. If it came down to it he wasn't sure he'd be able to win.

"I suppose if you really want a name to call me, Shoto, then you can refer to me as Dabi." The man lobbed a ball of fire up and down in his hand.

"Dabi? Cremation?" Tokoyami wondered.

"Yeah, yeah! Feather-brains gets it!" Dabi smiled but it looked wrong with his deformed face. "After all, once I'm done with you all that's left… will be ash!" Without a warning he chucked a ball of flames at the kids to which Todoroki blocked with ice.

"Get out of here now!" He ordered.

"You're not fighting alone." Reiko snapped back.

The ice wall quickly melted, sending steam into the air that covered them. Todoroki slammed his foot down again and created even more ice to protect them, even if it was only for a short while. "Do you guys have any better ideas then?" He spoke with a shiver from his overuse.

"I suggest we flee instead of fight." Tokoyami said, "We're supposed to get back to the cabin."

Todoroki didn't want to run, he wanted to fight, and find out why this man seemed to talk so familiarly about him, but he knew that Tokoyami was right. "Fine, then let's get out of here!" He stopped producing his ice wall and grabbed Tokoyami before skating away on his wave of ice, Reiko following behind them using her quirk to ride a slab of tree bark like a hoverboard.

Dabi clicked his tongue when the stream cleared and he saw nothing but empty space, "Compress—" He turned around and a man in a strange looking suit, mask, and hat combination came out of the treeline, "You got the kid?"

"Yes, he was about to interrupt your fight." The thief spoke and held up a small blue pearl. "One out of three, now we just need Monoma and Midoriya."

A sadistic smile climbed onto Dabi's face, "Good, let's go hunt some more."

---

"Can. You. Fuck. OFF!" Spinner grunted with each strike of his sword as he fought Mandalay. The pro herself wasn't fairing well, a downed Pixie-Bob behind her and Tiger was really getting on her nerves.

Two villains had suddenly arrived when they went to look for the students that were in the forest once the strange blue fire had started, and a moment later Pixie-Bob had been attacked with a large magnet, leaving her unconscious and with a large gash on her head.

Tiger and Mandalay could do nothing but defend her from the two villains, but they weren't making ground! God, Pixie's quirk would be really helpful right about now. "That's no way to talk to a lady!" She dodged under a strike and hit Spinner right on his chin.

"FAHCK!" The lizard cursed and stepped back, glaring at Mandalay with nothing but venom, "TAKE THIS!" He lifted the large blade up above his head, planning on bringing it down with all his strength—

"ssssSSSSMASH!" Izuku arrived on the scene and sent Spinner sailing into a tree where he slumped into unconsciousness.

"MIDORIYA?!" Tiger and Mandalay yelled in sync, leaving Tiger a moment to get hit with the large magnet courtesy of Magne. "Damn it!" He rolled to a stop.

Izuku glared at the villain and raised his arm, sending One For All through to his finger, "DELAWARE SMASH: AIR FORCE!" With the amount of power he was using, the villain's attempts to use her magnet as a shield were useless and ultimately resulted with them falling unconscious when they were hit in the face with their own weapon.

"Mi…doriya…" Mandalay panted, "What are you… doing here…?"

Izuku squared his shoulders, "Kota is okay, I got him back to the cabin, and incapacitated one of the villains, Muscular." Mandalay tensed and she looked angry for a second before relaxing.

"You said you incapacitated him?"

"Yeah, got him to Aizawa, he's useless without his quirk and gave him a smash right to his head." Izuku recounted, "But that's not important, the villains are after three students."

"Who?" Tiger threw Pixie-Bob on his shoulder, "We'll try to gather all the students immediately, but it may take a while…"

Izuku nodded, "That's why Aizawa said for Mandalay to use her quirk, tell all the students across the forest that they can use their quirks to defend themselves. But that they're main objective should be to get back to the cabin."

"I'll get it done, and who are the students?" Mandalay asked, already opening the neural pathway of her quirk.

"Monoma and Bakugo." Izuku answered before using Full Cowling and sprinting away, "I'm gonna help everyone I can!"

"KID— God damn it! That damn hero syndrome Kan and Aizawa mentioned." Tiger cursed, as Izuku's lightning trailed farther and farther away, "Wait… he said that the villains are after three students but he only told us two."

Mandalay looked at him with wide eyes, "You don't think…?"

"OH. GOD DAMN IT!"

---

Shinso tried to slide to a stop but ended up slipping and colliding with a tree. "Damn, what the hell even is this guy?" He quickly opened up his arms to catch Kendo when she slid his way, to which she thanked him, "No problem. Now how do we beat this guy?"

"This guy" referred to a man that had giant metal teeth that allowed him to stagger around like a spider on them.

"Currently trying not to get skewered." Kendo huffed, "I'll have to get back to you on—"

"MOVE!" A yell from Setsuna scared them both and they only had a moment to dive to the side as the villain's metal teeth pierced the ground they once stood on. "You two okay?" Setsuna floated to their side with only her upper body and Monoma, Uraraka, and Asui came running in soon after.

"Could be dead." Shinso replied dryly.

"Like he said." Kendo shrugged.

"We have to not get separated." Monoma stressed, "There's no telling what other kinds of villains are… in here…" He trailed off as his eyes strayed towards a path in the forest, a man in hands standing there without moving an inch. "We— We have to go!"

"Neito?" Setsuna followed his eyes but before she could see him, the man vanished into the forest, "Neito, what's wrong?"

Monoma's eyes were travelling across all the trees, "N—Nothing, we just need to get out of here. Back to the cabin like Mandalay said." He rushed to answer.

Shinso gave me a hard glance but nodded, "Alright, let's move. I don't think Bite-y is gonna be stuck much longer."

"Bite-y?" Ochako tilted her head.

Shinso shrugged, "Not like he can give us his name with all those teeth he's got."

"Enough chit chat, let's move!" Setsuna shoved Monoma in the back and it got him moving, "Cabin should be this way!"

"And you're sure of that?"

"Are you the recommendation student?"

"Touche."

As the students bickered and traveled, they didn't notice the two villains standing in the shadows. One in a tophat and tux, and the other covered head to toe in hands.

---

"This way!" Reiko directed Todoroki as they entered a small clearing, "I sensed three people, they should be headed back towards the cabin!" Todoroki nodded and kept up until he felt too much overuse and had to stop. "Todoroki?"

"Sorry— need— a moment." He shivered and lit his body up with fire.

Luckily, the familiar orange flames seemed to draw equally familiar faces from the woods. The red Tetsu and 1-A's two representatives.

"Kirishima. Iida. Yaoyorozu, how nice to see you under the circumstances." Tokoyami bowed his head in greeting, though the three weren't looking refreshed.

"Nice to see you guys are doing alright." Kirishima sighed, "We ran into this girl with knives, said she was looking for two other girls that she wanted to make pretty. I knocked her out cold, kinda unmanly on my part…"

"Well, it did save my life. So I suppose that should balance it out, no?" Yaoyorozu offered, which made Kirishima perk up in satisfaction.

"We were currently heading for the cabin." Iida supplied, "I assume you all were doing the same?"

"Yes and no." Reiko answered, "Izuku is missing, by his lonesome in this forest."

"WHAT?!" The three responded.

"Yes… he went to rescue Mandalay's nephew, the one that has been making snide comments about heroes in our time here. I imagine he's done that already, and now…? I haven't a clue where he's gone." She pressed her lips together, "Whenever something dangerous happens, Izuku is always at the center of it." Iida flinched, and Yoayorozu looked down in thought, remembering the USJ, the Stain incident, and the debacle at I-Island.

"These villains… I wouldn't put it past Midoriya to try to face them on his own, just so no one else would get hurt." Yaoyorozu shocked her head, "But he has to realize that's foolish! We're just students!"

"But, we're also friends." Reiko answered, "Izuku is immensely loyal to his friends. He would do anything to protect them."

"Almost like a dog…" Yaoyorozu hummed.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't refer to my boyfriend as a dog." Reiko replied dryly.

"Ah, right! My deepest apologies!" Yaoyorozu bowed, "That was highly rude of me."

"Alright, but enough talking about Midoriya." Todoroki spoke as he finally unthawed, "We've got to actually find him now." Rustling came from the bushes, loud steps echoing through the foliage.

Todoroki readied his ice, Kirishima hardened his arms, Momo made herself a staff, and Reiko raised her hands for Poltergeist.

It seems unneeded as a group of five students run into the woods, all their eyes darting around like crazy. Setsuna was in front of the pack and her wild eyes landed on Reiko, "Yanagi, did you see anyone run through here?! A— A guy in a dress getup, and a tophat!" She rushed and grabbed her friend's shoulders.

"Ah— no… I've seen no one of the sort, what happened?" Reiko barely managed to catch Setsuna as she fell to her knees, "Tokage!"

"T— They got him, they got Neito…"

"What?!" Yaoyorozu slid to Setsuna's side and placed a hand on her back, Kirishima and Iida looked shocked while Tokoyami and Todoroki looked upset. "What happened in full? Maybe we can help get him back?"

Setsuna nods, a quiet sobs leaving her, "N—Neito was freaked out, talking about seeing someone in the woods after we were attacked by a villain. Then we just started running, but someone else showed up. Or a thing. A Nomu, the ones from the USJ and Hosu— it came running through— was carrying someone— we all freaked out and in that moment someone came in and he turned Monoma into a marble before making off through a portal."

"A portal…" Todoroki narrowed his eyes, "Like—"

"The ones at the USJ, yeah." Kendo answered.

"But they didn't just have Monoma either." Shinso sighed, "They said they were two for three, mentioned they had the two blondes and now just needed…" His eyes landed on Reiko, "The one with green hair…"

Reiko felt her blood turn to ice, and it wasn't because Todoroki was behind her.

"Then we need to find—"

"GUYS!"

"...him."

Izuku burst into the clearing, looking tired from deep breaths and his entire body covered with twigs, his hair doing a very good imitation of a bird's nest. "Oh my god, I'm so glad I found you guys! I got everyone else to the cabin already, so let's—"

"Izuku!" Reiko launched herself towards him and he quickly caught her. She holds onto him like a koala from the front before peeling up and roughly pulling on both of his cheeks, "Just what sort of idea did you have that made running off with no assistance seem like a good thing?!" She yelled in what was the angriest tone anyone had ever heard from her.

"Ow ow ow ow! I'm sorry!" Izuku winced as Reiko let go with a huff. For once she actually looked pissed too, with her brows narrowing and a very dangerous pout on her lips, "I just— I've been having this feeling for a while and I needed to act on it!"

"Feeling?" Iida asked.

"Yeah…" Izuku nodded and lifted a hand, BlackWhip was fluttering out, "It's… it's like I knew that something was going to happen but I couldn't describe how or why I felt that way. But that doesn't really matter right now, we need to get everyone back!"

"Can't really do that." Kendo shook her head, "The villains, they have Bakugo and Monoma."

"What?" Izuku's mouth fell open and BlackWhip went ramrod straight. His best friend and former friend were captured by the villains? The hell with that. He would save them too. "Which way did they go?"

"North I think, kero." Asui pointed behind them, "That's where we last saw the guy with the hat, and it's the opposite of where the cabin is, makes sense."

"Yeah…" Izuku clenched a fist before looking straight at Iida, "Go find the Pussycats, tell them that Monoma and Bakugo got captured and that I'm going after them."

"Going after— Midoriya! These villains are dangerous!" Iida snapped, "This isn't like I-Island, there are pros here that aren't captured, we don't have to fight!"

"But, Midoriya has a point." Todoroki shook his head, "The Pussycats are a rescue team, the only one of them really suited for combat is Tiger, and Kan and Aizawa don't have too much power behind them either. They're outclassed by these villains. Hell, their own flame user has way stronger flames than mine."

"If they have anyone else as strong as Muscular then I'll be in for a hard time…" Izuku looked down at his wrist and the bracelet that adorned it, "But I have Melissa's gauntlet, it'll let me do one full power punch with no kick back."

"Hang on a sec, did you say Muscular?" Kirishima shook his head, "Ain't that guy A-Class?"

"Yeah, but we're out of options." Izuku looked North, "He's getting away with our friends, we need to do something now."

Iida grabbed his friend by the shoulder, "Midoriya, you know the rules—"

"You gonna let the rules stop you from saving someone's life?" Izuku shrugged his hand off, "Because if that was me— I'd never be able to call myself a hero."

The group was quiet. Iida looked both shocked and guilty, Reiko was holding onto Izuku's arm hoping that he would change his mind but knowing deep down that he wouldn't, Setsuna was looking at Izuku with pleading eyes that begged him to go save Monoma.

Asui gulped and looked at Uraraka and Yaoyorozu, "Whatever happened on I-Island made him a lot more intense." She whispered, to which her friends nodded.

Shinso could feel his own adrenaline beating in his chest just hearing Izuku speak, rallying to fight just like during their Final Exam. Izuku was a leader, and Shinso knew that when it came down to it he'd follow Izuku to whatever battle life threw at them.

Kendo felt much the same. Despite being his vice, Izuku just had a way that inspired people that she was sure he didn't even know he had. She was convinced he could stand against a lose lose situation and still command a group of people to fight to their last breath.

"Okay…" Iida conceded, "I'll run to the Pussycats location, but be safe." He placed a hand on Izuku's shoulder, "Despite our rocky start, I still consider you a friend, and… I don't want anything to happen to my friends."

"I'll be fine, Iida. Promise." Izuku grinned.

"Then… I'll be off." Iida bid Izuku and the rest of his classmates a quick farewell before his engines roared and he started running as fast as he could to find the Pussycats, and if not them then their teachers.

Izuku watched as Iida ran off and his body sagged in relief and thanks, but he only had a moment before he was wrapped in two hugs, one from Setsuna and the other from Reiko.

"Please, bring Neito back safe." Setsuna begged, "I'm heading there too— I have to. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened to him and I didn't. But, I know I won't make it in time, I'm not as fast as you. So please— bring him back."

"I will, Tokage." Izuku hugged his Green Buddy just as tight as she hugged him before Setsuna stepped back. "Reiko, I—"

His girlfriend pressed a single digit to his lips, "I ask that you let me finish first, Izuku."

"Okay, Reiko." He nodded.

"Just—" She looked at him, his big green eyes that would always hold that intense focus that she loved, his perfect diamond shaped freckles that drew her own eyes, his hair that she had cut herself just a few weeks ago, "Promise, you'll come back to me?"

Izuku felt his heart stutter, just like his lips often would, "I will—"

"Promise."

"I… I promise, I'll come back to you, Reiko." Izuku gave her the widest smile he could, "No matter what happens, I will come back to you."

"Good." She let out a sigh of relief, "But, if you don't, I will come after you." Reiko let him go, "Now… go be the hero we both know you are, Izu…"

His smile changed, from that genuine and hopeful smile to his intense grin that he got whenever he was in the middle of action, "You've got it!"

And in a burst of lightning, he was gone. And she was chasing after.

---

Iida rushed through the forest, going faster than he ever had before without using his Recipro Burst— their quirk training was really paying off. He weaved in between trees and bushes, jumped over roots, ducked under branches, he needed to get to the Pussycats. The lives of his friends and classmates were depending on it!

Midoriya… Midoriya was strange.

Yet, Iida had to admit that Midoriya was much more a leader than it seemed he would ever be. Despite both being Representatives, everyone listened to Midoriya in ways that no one ever listened to him. Even himself. People hung onto Midoriya's every word.

Midoriya inspired action. Because he was always the first to act.

Just like during the Entrance Exam…

Iida's engines roared, pushing farther than he far, past his limits. Just like Midoriya.

"I want you to take the name Ingenium…"

At the time, Iida found himself unworthy to take his brother's name, even now he still did… but he swore he would earn that name— starting with this task given to him by a dear friend.

"MANDALAY!" Iida's engines died out as he saw a pair of cat ears poking up from a few trees away, he still ran even without his quirk, and when he reached her and Tiger he collapsed to the ground. "Mandalay! Tiger!"

"Iida!" Tiger huffed and helped the boy up, "What's the matter? Do you know where the rest of the missing students are?"

Iida tried to breath but his throat was hoarse from his run and the smoke in the air, eventually he got out, "Monoma and Bakugo were captured! Midoriya is going to engage with all the villains!" Both of the pros locked up, but Iida still had hope.

He believed in Midoriya.

---

"If I can manage it—" Izuku jumped off a tree and into the air, looking around the forest at the peak of his jump, trying to pinpoint exactly where the villains were, before he fell back down and jumped off another tree, "I want to save everyone!"

Monoma had become his best friend, he was not about to let a villain take him.

His power increased even more, his body responding to his determination, to his anger. Black Whip was crawling out of his limbs but Izuku pulled it in, he had to concentrate— he couldn't let his anger take over, "I will save everyone!" With his power as high as he could go, Izuku leapt into the sky.

An emerald star lit the forest.

"What the fuck is that?!" Dabi yelled, seeing a bolt of lightning shoot through the sky towards them.

Multitudes of eyes across the vast forest of the training camp gazed at the bolt streaking across the sky, a Symbol of Hope in a forest of death, Reiko's eyes widened as she remembered something from not too long ago, "He wants to be a symbol…"

Lightning crashed down, knocking up dust and dirt in waves. When it cleared, in its place stood Izuku crouched low, sparks dancing across his skin in waves and only growing as he stood to his full height. A smile was clear on his face, fueled by his determination to save his friends.

Dabi cursed before raising an arm, "I thought Muscular was gonna deal with your ass, Yield!" He yelled before sending out a flurry of brilliant blue flames that exploded towards Izuku.

The boy flexed and locked his muscles as he sucked in air, "Cowling—!" He spoke before launching two arms forward and letting his power explode like a bulb, a blast of air and lightning breaking forth, "DISCHARGE!"

Trees uprooted and Dabi's flames died out, and the villains all struggled to stay up as Izuku delved into depths of power he had never even attempted before. His body was stabbing itself in pain as his power settled around 40%.

The forest was left in deep darkness. Dabi lit a finger to see, the only things his eyes landed on were pulsing radioactive-green eyes, sparks flashing here and there. "The hell is this kid?"

Lightning pulsed as Izuku breathed, the villains around the forest got up, all converging on one spot. "IZUKU MIDORIYA, DO NOT ENGAGE, I REPEAT, DO NOT ENGAGE!" Mandalay's voice flooded through every single mind in the forest.

Izuku's fist was shaking, clenching, unclenching, grinding.

Kurogiri's eyes bulged deeper into the forest as elsewhere mist spawned, a tell-tale sign of the man's quirk, and before they knew it Muscular was disposed of only a few feet away from Izuku, awake and ready for a fight.

"Man, we can finally finish that match!" The beast yelled as he got to his feet.

One For All was raging inside Izuku, compelling him to action.

'I can't fight for long, there are too many villains, and I can't keep my power this high for too long.' Izuku's body strained but his face still held a smile, 'But I have to stop them! Not for glory but because—

I am the Next Symbol of Peace and Justice!'

Izuku charged and powered One For All into the Full Gauntlet, the glove quickly expanding across his arm, meeting Muscular in a clash. Their fists pressed against each other and sent wind spewing every direction, knocking his friends that had arrived and villains away as trees and dirt were destroyed.

Muscular grinned at Izuku, his eyes wide like he was on Trigger, "Weren't you listening kid, your quirk doesn't work on me, you ain't strong enough, Midoriya!" Muscular yelled and went for another punch, looking to kill the kid.

"So?" Izuku slid with the punch and retaliated, striking the man's elbows and sending his arms to the sides which only made Muscular angrier, "If you can handle my current limit then I'll just have to go beyond it!" Izuku dodged another punch and met the fist with his own once more.

Kirishima yelled, "He's really fighting that murderer head on?!"

"They're so fast!" Shinso couldn't believe his eyes.

Elsewhere with the villains, Kurogiri cursed, with all the pressure around those two following their canceled out attack, he couldn't get near them to interrupt the fight and draw it in their favor!

"You said your quirk only absorbs the damage I do, right? It doesn't cancel it out!" Izuku's small size helped him in dodging all of Musclar's blows, and the few he landed on the man's joints pushed him back. He could do this! He could win! "That means you've got a limit, right?! GAH!"

Muscular landed a solid punch on Izuku's stomach, but the boy held strong as he slid back a little and upped his power for a moment. A burst of wind exploded from their location as Izuku countered, his bolts of lightning magnifying in waves.

"H-How?!"

Izuku pressed forward, dodging blows and striking back twice as fierce, "You said you had the perfect quirk to counter mine?! To beat me at my best?! Then I'll just have to go past my best, and make you give up!"

Muscular cursed, with each muscle he replaced a new punch from Izuku destroyed it and the other surrounding muscles. He couldn't make muscles quick enough for this fight! Was this kid really meeting him head on?!

"COME ON!" Izuku powered almost 90% into this gauntlet and sent Muscular flying into the air, but he didn't let up and chased after him into the sky, "A hero will always stand up to bullies like you!"

Muscular tried to counter, but Izuku guarded with an "x" formation before uncrossing his arms and throwing Muscular higher, only for Izuku to quickly come behind and punch him in his spine.

"I'll kill you kid!" Muscular coughed.

"I'd like to see you try!" Izuku grappled the man's arm before spinning rapidly, his grip on Musclar's arm was so strong it broke the entirety of the limb. "RAHH!" The man was sent back down at mach speed, shattering the surrounding area and sending trees flying.

Izuku quickly met him as he landed like a hero, "Maybe you forgot, but let me remind you about UA's motto, let me show you what it really means to Go beyond–" One For All burned as the Full Gauntlet expanded to its maximum power, his lightning changed colors, white, blue, red, green, orange, purple, pink, yellow, and finally emerald. "PLUS ULTRA!"

His fist landed solely in Muscular's gut, exploding with the built up power, shattering all of the villain's grown muscles and his bones, and sending him and nearby forestry careening for miles, looking like a shooting star as he escaped the sight of everyone gathered in the forest.

"What the hell?!" Aizawa yelled as the forest shook, "Is there really an earthquake happening right now?!"

Kan grunted back at the cabin, "Damn, kid…" He knew exactly who had that kind of power.

Those of 1-A and 1-B that were watching cheered with tears in their eyes as Izuku stood resolute in the destroyed camp.

"That was like a finishing move in a video game…" Kirishima gaped.

"That kind of power…." Todoroki looked in awe.

"That's why he's the best." Kendo admitted.

"He really could be a symbol." Yaomomo gasped.

Reiko looked on at her boyfriend in barely contained amazement, she knew that he was unbelievably powerful, but for him to single-handedly take down an A-Rank villain as a first year hero course student was so unheard of that it was laughable.

Izuku swayed on his feet, but still stood resolute. The villains still had Bakugo and Monoma. He was not about to let them get away with them, but the rest of the villains were looking at Izuku in alarm before they started booking it away. Still— Izuku gave chase, no matter how tired he was. His friends were quick to follow behind, even if he quickly outpaced them.

His eyes scanned over the villains, a man that looked like a burn victim, the two he knocked out with Mandalay and Tiger— they didn't secure them? Damn it! and—

There

At the edge of the group, farthest from all the villains that were running towards the same portal that popped up at the USJ, a man in a dress gets up with a tophat.

Izuku didn't think, he only moved, a bolt of lightning more than a body shot through trees before colliding with the villain feet first in a blow that sent the man flying forward and into the ground, causing him to drop two marbles that had been in his hands.

When the two spheres hit the ground they exploded, popping out Monoma and Bakugo who gasped for breath on their hands and knees.

"Monoma! Bakugo! Get out of there, now!" Izuku ran towards them as fast as he could while the villains did the same, the dead looking man had blue flames dancing in his hands and the tophat villain was already up and moving towards them again, "I'll take the villains out with one attack!"

Bakugo didn't get up, instead shaking on the ground and looking at his hands like he didn't even know who they belonged to, while Monoma tried to get Bakugo up and move, "You'll break your arm, my friend! You can't!"

But Izuku wasn't listening, instead he reached out, his heart soaring and BlackWhip responded to his determination and anger. The quirk shot out of his hand and wrapped around Bakugo and Monoma's waists, once Izuku had them secure— he pulled.

The blonds went sailing back towards the ensemble of students who caught them, as Izuku sailed towards the villains, One For All burning in his arm. "DETROIT SMA—"

THWUNK

Blood flowed freely in the air as a knife sailed straight through Izuku's forearm, he let out a curse at the pain and stumbled with his loss of concentration, his body's exhaustion making everything worse as he crashed into the dirt.

"Izuku!"

He heard Reiko yell but as he tried to get up he saw a smiling face looking down at him that made him freeze.

"H-Himiko… Toga…!"

She looked bloodlusted, her hair was disheveled, and her smile looked like she was ready to tear into him. Her eyes were the scariest part though, cat like slits that bore into him— that made him feel weak and small like he had when he was in middle school.

"Don't—" But Izuku couldn't speak, because he was turned into a marble.

Reiko flew towards Izuku, trying to feel for him with her quirk, but a blaze of flame flew towards her and she recoiled in horror—unable to stop herself. Luckily a small glacier from Todoroki protected her. But she didn't have time to bask in the relief, she floated over the ice and saw a portal a bit away on the other side.

Himiko Toga and the burned man smiled at her mockingly as they crushed the marble and Izuku popped out, wrapped in their clutches.

She tried to reach him.

She was close.

She could see him.

She could see the fear in his eyes.

But she couldn't get to him in time before the portal of mist evaporated into the air, and she sailed past it and crashed into the dirt. Reiko couldn't force herself up, she looked at the vacant spot where Izuku had just been from her spot on the ground.

She failed.

And the villains had her Izuku.

Notes:

Okay so, this is the biggest gap I've ever had between chapters, if you're reading this on AO3 and you're like, "But a chapter just came out" that has been out on FFN since December and I simply forgot to put it on AO3 as well, for that I deeply apologize. I quite literally just forgot.

To be completely honest I have just been in a rut with writing this story, the ending for My Hero left me wanting more. I have always loved this series, and I always will, but the canon story for me was hollow at points and disappointing in others near the end and with certain character arcs.

So I lost a bit of motivation to write this, but I recently got a lot of motivation back.

I got my brother into fics and he's been reading all of my favorites, including my own, and we've bounced ideas and story concepts back to back for a few weeks now and that got me so motivated that I did this in about two weeks. I had half of the chapter done that I just couldn't finish no matter how much I tried but he helped me finish the latter half.

But now onto the chapter,

Izuku is in the League's hands now, what will happen? Does AFO know about Izuku or not? You'll have to wait til next time, and I promise the next chapter won't take 6 months to come out.

As for Izuku in this chapter, something in canon that is explored a decent amount but that I want to delve into more is Izuku's hero complex. He has to save everyone and if he doesn't he kind of feels like a failure.

In this it's even worse because Izuku is being propped up by the HPSC as the new face of young heroes because of his heroic actions so far.

But until next time, we'll see what happens with Izuku and his friends.

I'm out.

Chapter 34: Ninth's Plight

Summary:

While Izuku suffers in the hands of the League, his friends plan what to do despite feeling so helpless and All Might swears that he'd going to save his boy.

Emergency vehicles eventually arrived at the camp, taking students who had been hurt to Musutafu General, the closest hospital to UA. Not many people had been hurt too badly, though Bakugo and Monoma were both required to have a day or two stay due to being captured and passing out from exhaustion soon thereafter. 

That was where Reiko currently found herself.

She was with Setsuna as they knocked on the door to Monoma’s room and let themselves inside after a moment of silence. In the bed stood Monoma, quiet and still looking over his hands.

In the corner stood a woman that looked a lot like Monoma, even having a similar hairstyle but just a tad longer and black. She smiled at the two of them as they closed the door, “Hi, you must be Neito’s friends. I’m Naomi, his older sister.”

Both Setsuna and Reiko bowed, “Hi, I’m Reiko Yanagi, It’s nice to meet you, Monoma-san.”

“Yes, nice to meet you, I’m Setsuna Tokage, his—”

“Girlfriend, yes.” Naomi seemed to smile, “He’s talked about you a lot.” She reached a hand out to Monoma and brushed some hair out of his eyes, “You feeling up to talking, Neito?” Setsuna got to the bed before Reiko and grabbed one of her boyfriend’s hands, which caused him to look at her and let both of them see the bundle of tears building up in his eyes. 

“Setsuna… Yanagi…” He uttered so quietly that it hurt them to hear.

Monoma was always loud and boisterous, the opposite of Izuku. That’s why they worked so well together, and ultimately why Reiko believed that Monoma, despite his earlier eccentricities, had been a good influence on Izuku. Monoma’s pure arrogance, while annoying at the start of the year, had inspired a strong confidence in Izuku that she had come to admire and… had fallen for. But now… seeing Monoma like this? It pained her beyond belief.

“We… we let him down…” Monoma croaked.

Setsuna hung her head— tightening her hold on his hand, and Reiko felt her chest constrict on itself. 

Setsuna blamed herself, she had asked Izuku to save Neito, and because of that he had gotten captured. Reiko did the same, she had been unable to get to Izuku in time. Too slow, too weak, not good enough. Her boyfriend had needed her and she hadn’t been able to do anything. They were supposed to be heroes in training, and yet they hadn’t been able to save anyone…

“Who are you talking about, Neito?” Naomi tried to talk to him— seeing the tense atmosphere between the three of them— but Neito was once again unfocused. “Neito?” She tried again.

“My… my best friend…” His tears finally started coming down, and Setsuna bundled him up in a hug, “He saved my life! B— But I couldn’t do anything for him!” He looked down at his hands, “When it really mattered… I was useless…!”

His sister grabbed his arm, “Neito! Don’t say that!”

Reiko squeezed her hands, she felt just as bad as Monoma. She… she failed. She was so close to reaching Izuku and yet when the time came, when he needed her, she wasn’t able to reach him. Their dear Izuku…  her dear Izuku, was gone, because they weren’t enough.

And now… they didn’t know what had happened to him.

He could be… dead—

“YO!” Tetsu slammed his way into Monoma’s room, “Bronoma, I’m so glad you’re alright, dude!” Shinso walked in behind him, Kendo behind Shinso, and slowly but surely more and more of 1-B came inside.

Eventually, the entire room was cramped with over 20 students trying to fit inside.

Even Kamakiri had come.

“Monoma-san, we’re so glad nothing unbecoming happened…” Shishida fiddled with his glasses, “The entire class was worried when you and your small group were still missing and… well we’re glad you’re safe.”

“Yeah, what Shishida-kun said.” Shoda nodded along.

“When we heard you had gotten captured it scared the shit out of us man.” Awase grumbled and toyed with his headband.

Tsuburaba nodded along, “Yeah, you’re lucky they didn’t get you.”

“But… what about… Midoriya? Why wasn’t he as lucky?” Monoma asked the question that had been on everyone’s mind and the class’ joy seemed to go off the deep end. Komori and Pony were especially wrecked, probably because Izuku had helped the both of them with their problems, making friends and learning English, him being gone was… terrifying, “He’s not here…”

“The pros said they’re looking for him.” Kendo sighed, “Apparently, Yaoyorozu had attached a tracking beacon onto a Nomu that was at the camp…” 

“Really?” Honenuki shivered, “Those things are…”

“Abominations… creations of the devil.” Shiozaki shook her head, “The natural world would never make something so… twisted.” 

“They’ll find him, Neito.” Setsuna laid her hand on his, “They’ll bring him back to us…” She squeezed his hand for all she was worth, “Greenie will be okay… he always is…”

Neito… couldn’t find it in himself to say anything more, only nodding with a conceded sigh.

He prayed his friend would be okay.

And… and if Shigaraki tried to do anything then…

He lifted his eyes, looking at his sister who held so much worry for him, before gazing at Reiko who looked just as consumed in guilt as he was. Neito didn’t want to worry his family, but Izuku had done so much for him that he couldn’t even imagine being able to pay him back. 

With a deep breath, one that finally felt like it reached his lungs after all the crying he had done, Neito decided.

He was going to save his dear friend.

---

Katsuki blinked at the lights above him, the sterile— pure whiteness— of the hospital took him a few moments to get used to. It was… unnaturally quiet, except for the soft beeping of his heart monitor and the whirling of an AC unit that was attached to the window. With a soft sigh, he sat up in his bed, looking down at his hands.

“I… wasn’t strong enough.” His voice echoed in the quietness of the room.

The fear he felt coursing through his veins flashed in his mind, the feeling of being trapped pulsed in his chest— of being so helpless in the hands of villains, one of which could disintegrate him with a touch— but the relief from finally being freed made him relax. And then he remembered when he had been saved by… Midoriya. 

It wasn’t fair for him to call that idiot Deku anymore, did it?

But now, that dumbass had gotten kidnapped by the villains, just to save him and Copycat. Copycat, he understood why Midoriya would want to save him. The two were basically best friends, but why would Midoriya go out of his way to him? What had he done to deserve that.

“Tch. Idiot…” Katsuki sagged his head.

The hospital room was silent, the only thing Katsuki heard was the beeping of his monitor, the AC, and… surprisingly some birds chirping outside. It was funny, he supposed, how Midoriya had gotten kidnapped and was probably being tortured by villains, or maybe even something worse, at the moment, but currently the world seemed so… peaceful for Katsuki himself.

Did that say something about him as a person? He wasn’t sure.

His gaze drifted back to his hands, the feeling of powerlessness returned twofold and he hunched in on himself. Why? Why hadn’t he been strong enough to protect himself? And now someone else was in the hands of villains because he’d been so weak.

A part of him wanted to blame De— Midoriya, like he’d been doing for all his life, like he’d been doing since he started at UA, like he did for the incident in the cafeteria, like he did for the Sports Festival, like he did for Finals, but now… Katsuki realized that part was hollow, it was a fake. Midoriya had acted like a real hero, he’d saved someone he should have hated, Katsuki, and was ready to throw down with the villains again afterwards.

So… if Midoriya was acting like a hero then what did that mean for Katsuki?

The creaking of the nearby door drew Katsuki’s attention away as the familiar face of his mom peeked into the room, panning here and there before the two of them locked gazes. She looked… tired.

“KATSUKI!” She threw the door open, bolted across the room, and gathered him in her arms, “Oh my god! I’m so glad you’re alright!”

“Oi! Hands off hag!” He tried to escape her grasp but she held on way too tight. For once, she didn’t yell back or even give him a retaliatory hit, just held onto him tighter. He didn’t get it. He was fine.

The only thing really damaged was his pride.

It took a few more minutes before two other people came into the room while Katsuki was trying to fight off his mom, and it took even longer for Katsuki to even realize there were other people in the room, his dad and… Auntie Inko. 

It was then, that moment where she stood in the doorway and smiled with a tint of sadness at the edge of her lips that Katsuki realized something— as both of his parents smothered him in love and affection and worry and relief that he honestly didn’t care for at the moment.

Midoriya was gone, Auntie Inko was all alone.

And it was his fault.

---

Izuku’s consciousness returned to him slowly, his entire body felt like lead. “Because I was stupid and overclocked One For All…” Izuku muttered under his breath, “But I had to… everyone was… in danger…” His vision was blurry for still a few moments, and he slowly blinked to clear it before realizing he was trapped in a room, tied down to a chair with what he believed were Quirk suppressant cuffs on his arms with rope around his legs, he couldn’t summon One For All even if he tried.

He tried to get at them for a few moments before realizing his efforts were fruitless and instead looking around the room he was in.

It appeared… to be a vault.

Izuku’s eyes widened, his brain pulsed, he… felt as if this situation was familiar.

That’s when he remembered the memories of the First, of when All For One had originally given the Stockpiling quirk to his younger brother. That time… First had been trapped in a vault. And now… Izuku was in All For One’s hands.

His heart started panicking, his hands felt clammy, and the room felt much too small. He didn’t know where he was, he didn’t even know if his friends were alright, but Izuku knew one thing for sure. 

He needed out.

So he thrashed in the chair, sending himself clattering to the ground.

Izuku shifted, here and there, trying to break the chair so he could get up, but it seemed to be sturdier than he thought. Now, instead of being trapped sitting, he was stuck on the ground. 

His friends said he was supposed to be smart.

Izuku didn’t feel smart right now.

But, the silence of his thoughts was soon forgotten as the door to the vault creaked open, the patchwork man stood in the doorway, the lights behind him so bright that Izuku winced, his crinkled eyes barely making out the visage of the flame villain.

“So… you’re Yield.”

Izuku didn’t answer, he didn’t want to answer, he didn’t care to answer.

The man clicked his tongue and walked inside, propping the chair back up, “Listen here, little hero, you and I are gonna have a little chat, and you’re going to give me some answers, got it?” His hand flared with a blue flame that illuminated the metal vault.

Izuku only stared back defiantly, “Your boss needs me, and I doubt he’d be happy if I got turned over to him… damaged.”

“Tomura doesn’t need you for anything.” The villain leaned in closer.

“Then he really doesn’t care about you if you think that he’s the one behind all of this.” Izuku smiled.

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. The man punched Izuku across the face, his head whirling and Izuku almost— almost— cursed. Something was most definitely broken.

“So, hard way then…”

---

It hadn’t even been a full day yet and Toshinori, currently in his small form, already felt like he was losing his mind…

“And none of these heroes can gather together any faster? This is as quick as the police can mobilize?” He asked as he paced around in the conference room, his friends Nezu and Naomasa giving him worried looks as both 1-A’s and 1-B’s homeroom teachers sat, just as worried— just as pissed— just as frustrated, “This process is much too slow, thanks to Yaoyorozu, we already have an idea of where they may be and—”

“Yes, where they may be.” Nezu cut in and Toshinori… paused, “I know you are worried old friend, but these things take time, and if we want to ensure that no mistakes are made then we must wait… you must calm down.”

Toshinori clenched a bony fist and slammed it down on Nezu’s desk, making the detective jump and the pros look up in alertness, “Nezu… that boy… that’s my boy.” He spoke through gritted teeth, uncaring that other people were in the room. “He may not be of my blood, but if I could have ever had children, Young Midoriya is exactly the type of person I would want in a child.” One single cerulean eye locked with the beady blacks on Nezu’s face, “And that boy… my boy is in the hands of the world’s most dangerous villain. So don’t tell me to calm down .”

The two stared each other down, before Nezu relented with a bow of his head. Toshinori clicked his tongue and walked to the back wall, one that looked out over Musutafu, but Toshinori was looking much farther.

He could feel it… in his soul, or maybe it was in One For All itself. Young Midoriya’s strange dreams lately, his talking with the Vestiges, the quirk was alive , and right now Toshinori could feel it in his heart— warning him. His boy was in danger and Toshinori had to help him.

But… damn it, he knew that factually, Nezu was right. They needed to wait so that they made no mistakes first, so that Yaoyorozu’s tracker led them to the right place and they didn’t blow their advantage, but he hated this waiting. 

Young Midoriya… Young Izuku… could be in so much pain right now…

Toshinori chanced a glance at the two homeroom teachers, and they both looked like they had just seen the boy get placed in a body bag, which is exactly how he felt if he was honest. He… He wanted to put the blame on them, they were supposed to protect the students, but he knew that Izuku would have done the same thing even if Aizawa hadn’t given them permission to use their quirks.

No… no it wasn’t their fault, and Toshinori was sure that despite it not being their fault they still felt incredibly guilty. He’d try to help, he was a hero afterall.

“Kan…” Toshinori walked over and sat between the two teachers, but they made no move to acknowledge his presence, “Young… Midoriya always spoke highly of you—”

“Stop it.” The Blood Hero bit out, covering his eyes with a hand, “I… I can’t right now, All Might…” Toshinori heard the pro hiccup.

The No. One pro just sighed and placed a hand on Kan’s shoulder, and still continued, “He told me you were the best teacher he’s ever had.”

“All Might… please…”

“That you were the first school teacher ever that truly cared for him, and took the time to get to know him.” Toshinori patted Kan’s shoulder, “He’s never had a teacher like you, Kan. And he wouldn’t want you to blame yourself like this, you know that, correct?"

Kan’s shoulders shook and he sunk his head deeper into his hands, “Yes… I do…”

“Then lift your head up.” Toshinori spoke with such emotion that Kan couldn’t help but look at the man, “Your student, our student, is going to need our help. And we can’t let him down when the time comes, understand?”

“Yes.” Kan wiped his eyes and smiled at the older pro, “You’re one hell of a motivational speaker, All Might.”

“So I’ve been told.” Toshinori grinned before turning to Aizawa, “And you, Aizawa?” He noticed the man had been gripping his capture scarf the entire time, staring off into space and not looking or really interacting with anyone. That bothered him. “Are you… alright?”

The underground pro blinked, shaking his head as he found his focus again, “What were you saying?”

“Are you alright, Aizawa?” Toshinori asked again.

Aizawa only blinked before looking away, “No… I’m not.” He sighed, “Midoriya… I was immensely wrong about him, as you know.” Kan grinned tiredly from his spot while Toshinori nodded, “And… from the time of my internship with the kid I found out he really reminded me of one of my old friends.”

Toshinori tilted his head, “I don’t think Young Midoriya is too much like Yamada.”

Aizawa shook his head, “Not… not Mic.” He heaved another sigh and looked off into space, “Still during our time at UA, during our second year, we had another friend. His name… was Oboro Shirakumo.” 

Toshinori noticed Aizawa clenched his capture weapon just a bit tighter as he spoke those words before grazing over the golden goggles he wore, “I truly believed that Oboro was going to be an amazing hero, one that would change the world, but…”

“But?” Toshinori probed.

“During our second-year work studies… he died in a building collapse.” Toshinori’s eyes widened and Aizawa ended up standing, still clutching his goggles, “Midoriya reminds me of my old friend. I can’t help but think he’ll be an amazing hero that will change the world.” His gaze landed on the horizon, out there was that kid, the kid he’d let face villains and couldn’t save, “Even if it costs me my life, I will save that problem child. Izuku Midoriya will become a hero.”

“And you won’t do it alone.” The doors to the conference room were open as the rest of UA’s staff stood, at the forefront was Present Mic, “We’ll save the Little Listener together, Sho!”

Toshinori grinned, “Yes… together.”

“And I think I might have us a lead.” Power Loader made his way through the crowd, at his side a first year support course student who he had a hand on, “From right here, my brightest first year, Mei Hatsume, though she didn’t help much to get us this lead.”

“A lead?” Nezu hummed and Toshinori gave Power Loader his full attention.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Skeleton guy!” The girl spoke with immense cheer, though she looked rather tired and exhausted in her dirty and dusty overalls. And Toshinori could tell that despite the smile on her face, her eyes held immense worry as she held a rectangular looking device— similar to a phone, “I know where Muscles is!” 

“Muscles?” Toshinori asked, confused.

The girl, he didn’t know her name, paused before hopping in place, “Oh, right! Uhhh Midoriya!” She exclaimed.

“WHAT?!” The two homeroom teachers and Toshinori yelled in sync.

Mei giggled, “Yeah, so it turns out he’s got another tech, which is so rude like that’s cheating on your girlfriend— I think, but she’s actually really cool when you get to know her. She made this glove that lets him use more of his quirk safely and turns out the damn thing has a tracker on it. She gave me this one before running out and going to the hospital to see the rest of the hero course guys and told me to give this to you.”

At her words, Toshinori’s eyes widened, “Melissa’s Full Gauntlet.” He remembered the glove she had given Izuku, how it had let him use 100% of One For All’s power but only for three good shots, and… how Izuku hadn’t taken it off. Toshinori quickly closed the distance between him and Mei before taking the tracker in shaky hands, “Thank you, Young Hatsume…”

Mei just smiled, though it was more subdued compared to before, “No problem, Skeleton guy… so, just get Midoriya back safe, alright…?”

And that’s when he saw the facade crack, she sucked in a breath and she seemed like she was on the verge of a breakdown. Her homeroom teacher gently grabbed her by the shoulder, “I’ll get you back home, Hatsume, alright?”

The inventor nodded, pulled her goggles over her eyes to hide tears as they started coming down, “Yeah, thanks teach…”

The mood for the pros was somber as Power Loader led Hatsume out. Clearly the girl had a relationship with his boy, All Might knew the bond between a hero and his support technician was never to be trifled with. He had felt just as angry when David had been taken during the incident at I-Island.

But now…

“We have our lead, we know where Young Midoriya is.” Toshinori's body steamed as his muscles grew in size, straining out of his clothes as the muscles on his face were clouded in shadows and a single cerulean eye peaked through, “Now let’s get him back .”

---

A sigh escaped Neito as he had gotten discharged, not knowing what to do about his current predicament or how he would even go about it—- with his sister currently taking to his doctor not too far away. Only a few of his friends had remained, namely Reiko and Tetsu. The others’ parents had all called them, requesting them to come home— as they didn’t want to be apart after such an attack. Even Setsuna had to leave, and though she didn’t want to leave Neito’s side— she couldn’t argue with her parents who had already come to pick her up.

“Seriously, they were so loud when they called her!” Tetsu emphasized with his arms as they walked off, “I’m not even that loud! And I know I can get pretty—”

“Tetsu…” Reiko huffed, raising an arm above her head, “Currently, you are up here.” She lowered the hand to her waist height, “And I implore you to lower yourself down here.”

“My bad…” Tetsu dragged a hand through his hair.

“You’re excused.” Reiko patted his arm, “Now…” 

The trio locked eyes, a silent declaration passing between them. Neito clenched his fist, a fire burning in his chest, there was something they had to do, but none of them knew quite how to do it. And there was the matter of Naomi even letting Neito out of her sight currently…

Before the three could discuss anymore, a hand landed on Neito’s shoulder. He whipped around, seeing familiar faces of Todoroki and Shinso, behind them a panting Melissa. “W—What are you three doing here? Shouldn’t… you be heading home? You already saw Bakugo already, right?” Neito asked.

Todoroki glanced at Reiko then Monoma, “Yeah, our class went to check on him but his mom, dad, and Midoriya’s mom were already there— everyone else stayed to check up on him after they left, but forget about Bakugo. I… I don’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t at least try to save Midoriya.” 

“And we’re pretty damn sure you three are thinking the same.” Shinso interjected. 

Reiko, Neito, and Tetsu each gulped before nodding at the pair of 1-A students and the support technician. “Yes… that was the course of actions we were all planning to take, I believe.” Reiko looked at her friends as she wrung her hands, her stress hadn’t gotten down from the moments the villains had taken Izuku, “Izuku… he’s always helped us, now it’s time for us to help him.”

“Only problem, we don’t know where he is…” Tetsu clenched a fist, “That Yaoyorozu girl put a tracker on a Nomu… so maybe we could get a tracking device from her?”

“I’m not sure she’d support that though.” Neito huffed and ran a hand through his hair, “But… that’s really our only option, unless I copy her quirk, but I’ve heard it’s pretty difficult to use.” 

“I’ve got that covered.” Melissa stepped forward and reached into her bag, the three 1-B students looked on expectantly as she brought out a phone-looking device, “It’s a tracker, it’s connected to the gauntlet that I made. He’s—”

“ Still wearing it.” Reiko’s eyes widened.

“Yes.” Melissa nodded as Neito eagerly took the tracking device, “And… and…” She stopped and took off her glasses, rubbing at tears that had built up, “Midoriya is my friend too, he saved my dad’s life, even if my dad was a criminal…” She swallowed some tears, “But I can’t save him— I’m no hero— I’m just a support technician…” Her gaze shifted across the younger students, “And… so… I beg you to save my friend, please!” She placed her hands together and bowed as deep as she could.

They were quiet for a moment, none of them really knowing what to say, knowing what to do. They… they all wanted to save Izuku, but lacked the real knowledge of if they could. But… but Izuku meddled always, it was a phrase he would always say.

“Meddling… even when you aren’t asked to, is the true essence of a hero…” The words rolled off of Reiko’s lips and she could practically hear Izuku saying them with her. Her friends paused, looking at her with eyes full of recognition, “Izuku… needs us to meddle, so meddle we shall .”

---

“There are two locations we are going to strike.” Nezu squeaked as he and the pros of UA raced towards Kamino in the back of a police van with a holographic map of the ward before them, “Here is an unmarked warehouse, and it is where the tracker that Young Yaoyorozu placed ended up. Most likely this is some sort of Nomu factory.”

Vlad King clicked his tongue, “A damn factory of those monsters…?” He shook his head, he couldn’t believe it. Just one had been enough to go toe to toe with All Might, and three had been enough to completely tear up Hosu, just what the hell could a whole factory put out?

“Yes, which is why we have gotten in contact with the Top Ten. Four of which responded— Endeavour, Best Jeanist, Edgeshot and Gang Orca, and will make their way towards the warehouse, along with Mt. Lady of the Lurkers. Kamui Woods is going to meet us at this location along with Gran Torino— a former UA teacher, and Tiger of the Wild Wild Pussycats.” Nezu pointed to a bar, “This is where the tracker that Ms. Shield had for Young Midoriya traced him to.”

The assembled UA pros nodded, and each prepared for battle. Snipe was polishing his gun, opening the revolver’s barrel and spinning the chamber before closing it up once again. Present Mic was making sure his throat wasn’t dry for the fight while Midnight stewed next to him. 

Ectoplasm was reading a book, trying to stay calm before the incoming storm, while Cementoss tried to relax next to him. Power Loader was with Nezu, overlooking the schematics— that they’d hastily acquired— of the buildings they were raiding and making sure that there were no exits the villains could take.

Kan and Aizawa sat on opposite sides of the police van, staring each other down in a silent conversation that only the two of them could understand before they abruptly nodded and started talking about their plans.

“And the police?” Toshinori asked as he tried to ready all he could of One For All for the incoming fight, because he knew that if it came down to it… it would be him against All For One, and he wouldn’t let that monster get out alive a second time…

“Detective Tsukauchi has already readied a strong police presence that is waiting to move onto the ward.” Nezu replied, voice even, “Though… I would prefer the JSDF in this case…” The small chimera mused.

“We move with what we have, and we won’t fail.” Toshinori declared, clenching a fist like a vice, “I won’t fail him…” All For One had already taken his mentor from him… he would not let the bastard take his pupil as well…

---

“And so… you— a bunch of kids— are going to go save your friend, when you already know that a bunch of pros should be already on their way to do so?” Naomi asked as the group of five UA students stood before her, a pretty American blonde off to the side. When none of the kids responded she added, “Did I get that right?”

Neito gulped before nodding, “Yes. That’s right and—”

“And why should I go along with this? Neito, you already know I’m not letting you go!”

“But Naomi! He needs us! He needs our help! He’s alone and afraid and—”

“And there’s already other people on their way to help, hopefully, and they’re all better at this than a bunch of kids!” Naomi shook her head, rubbing her temple with a hand, “Do any of your parents even know what you’re doing?” She asked, looking over the group and when they all looked guilty she glared at them. “Well, they should! In fact, I should call all of your parents and—”

“Monoma-kun?” 

Naomi paused as the entire group heard a woman’s voice, moreover a broken voice, she turned and down the hall was a plump older lady— not old, but older— with dark green hair and tired eyes. Seriously, she felt bad because the lady looked like shit, as if she hadn’t slept in days.

The lady’s eyes strayed over to Naomi and she bowed slightly, “Ah, you must be Monoma-kun’s older sister, it’s nice to meet you. Your little brother is such a kind young man, he’s my Izuku’s best friend.”

Naomi’s eyes closed in thought. Izuku… that was Midoriya.

“Miss Midoriya.” Neito gave her a small bow, “How… how are you…?”

Inko tried mustering a smile, but it was clear to all present that she couldn’t do so at the moment, “I… I am… managing and…” Tears started bubbling, despite how red her eyes already were from who knew how many hours of crying, “...and… I need my baby boy… my Izuku, he’s—” Inko was silenced by a hug from Tetsu.

“Don’t worry, Mamadoriya.” Tetsu squeezed her a little tighter, cursing the pain of such a sweet lady that had invited him and all of their other friends over numerous times. “We’ve got this covered. You’ll see him again.”

Inko relaxed into the gentle embrace before her eyes widened, “Wait, Tetsu-kun… you don’t mean—” 

“We know where he is.” Reiko’s words made Inko go silent, her jaw slack, and her heart soar. 

“Y–You…” The woman’s mouth felt dry as she tried to gather what little hope she had, “Y–You know where my Izuku is…?” 

“Yes. We do.” Reiko nodded, a small glance at Monoma, “And… and we want to go save him.” 

“Midoriya’s helped all of us at some point.” Todoroki gestured to them all, “And… it just wouldn’t be right if we weren’t there for him during his time of need.”

“But— But, this is dangerous, kids.” Inko shook her head, “If… if any of you got hurt rescuing Izuku, well he just wouldn’t be able to forgive himself. And what about your parents? Do any of them know? I know for a fact that they don’t judging by your faces. I… I can’t in good faith—”

“Miss Midoriya.” Monoma placed both of his hands on the woman’s shoulders, “Right now, my best friend is alone, scared, and probably hurt.” Each word he spoke hammered into Inko, causing her to tear up once more, “I… we… have to do this.”

His eyes bore into her, the determination eclipsing everything else, “I don’t want to live to regret this. I don’t want to lose my best friend. I can’t imagine it.”

“N-Neito…” Naomi laid a hand on his shoulder, forcing him to look at her, “I…  you won’t stop, will you?” She glanced at the rest of his friends, “None of you will? Even despite the danger?”

“Izuku’s either helped us or saved our lives on more than one occasion.” Shinso rubbed his tuffy hair, “What’s the point of being friends with a guy like that if we’re never going to repay the favor? That’s the least he deserves.” 

“I agree.” Shoto nodded.

“I… I wish I could help, but I’m no good with this kind of stuff.” Melissa shook her head, “The pros will be on their way, they’ll be there too. This is… more of a precaution in case he needs our help.”

“So please…” Reiko pleaded, “Let us help your son. Let us help our friend.”

“And her boyfriend.” Shoto peeped before looking at Reiko, “She did know that, right…?”

Inko froze, her eyes widening as Reiko’s pale skin began to flush until it was so red it began to glow, “Y-Y-You’re dating my son?!?!” She held both of the girls hands and looked up at her with wide eyes, “Really?!”

“Y-Yes… Miss Midoriya…” Reiko tried looking away, “He… uh… wished us to have a discussion with you… after the camp…”

The woman couldn’t stop herself from yelling, “Go save my son! I need to see him again and ask him how you two started dating! Oh, but please be safe! Uhhh stay out of danger! Have you guys eaten? How long will it take to get to where Izuku is? Oh, where even IS Izuku? Is there anything I can do to help…?”

Inko Midoriya was truly Izuku’s mom.

Reiko and Neito glanced at each other, nodding in sync.

“Can you care to give us a ride?”

Naomi grinned and wrapped an arm around Neito, bringing him close and then grinning, “Don’t worry, Miss Midoriya. I got that covered.” She said, dangling some keys off the arm she had wrapped around him.

Suddenly, Neito felt true fear.

---

Izuku… hadn’t known how long it had been as he blearily opened his eyes only to wince in pain. The skin on his side was hot, and he felt the familiar sensation of burn wounds covering it as well. He could thank Kacchan for that… 

Okay… but this one wasn’t too bad.

His cheek and jaw also stung, and he began to spit, drool and blood falling from his mouth— along with a tooth. He winced in pain, trying to sit upright but the pain in his side wouldn’t allow him to do so.

The burned man— Dabi, Izuku remembered that the crazy guy said that that was his name— had just roughed him up— hadn’t done all that he could, Izuku realized— but it was nothing that Recovery Girl or time couldn’t fix.

Hopefully…

CREAAAAAAAK

The door to the vault slowly opened and in the gap of the wall and the hatch peeked in a little ash blonde head, that of Himiko Toga. The way she looked right now was rather innocent, but once she fully stepped into the room holding a twin pair of knives Izuku felt a shiver run down his back.

“Hi, Useless-kun~” Himiko took a step closer, “Tomura said I could cut you up before we hand you over to his weird sensei.” She lifted a dagger up and dragged her tongue across it, blushing and laughing as she did, “For the next few minutes, you’re going to be my personal blood bag! Oooo and I’ll have to thank Dabi for roughing you up, you look ravishing .”

“Himiko!” Izuku grunted as tried to free himself from his bindings, afraid as she got closer second by second “You– You don’t have to do this!” He yelled and pulled, thrashing around wishing for freedom, “You don’t have to be a villain!”

Izuku saw the glee in her eyes vanish, the blush evaporating and her brows furrowing in deep, concentrated anger, “And why not?!” She yelled back, anger and tears building up in her eyes.

“Out of EVERYONE in this god damned world, they were the only ones to accept me for who I am! To not look at me like– like a damned freak!” Her tears spilled and she gripped her hair, “All my life, everyone’s looked down on me! My parents locked me up, called me a freak, and beat me just because of my quirk!”

“YOU’RE NOT A FREAK!” Izuku yelled back with his entire being, the chair moving and his body hurting from his injuries of quirk overuse and Dabi’s previous treatment of him but he couldn’t find it in himself to care right now. The person in front of them, even if they were a villain, needed help, “Having to drink blood doesn’t make you a freak!”

“You’re just saying that!” Himiko dropped her knives and gripped her hair.

“No, I’m not!” 

“Yes, you are !”

“Have some then!” 

Himiko didn’t yell back, instead looking at him with wide eyes, “W—What…?”

Izuku tilted his head to the side, straining his neck and allowing her to see his veins, “Have some, you have fangs, right?” He looked at her with pleading eyes, “Drink some, I don’t mind.” His voice was soft and sweet, he was willing . “I’ve read up on quirk that require people to drink blood, they’re pretty interesting.”

Himiko paused, “I—Interesting?! T-There’s nothing interesting about being a freak!”

But, he glared at her for what she said, “I already told you, you’re not a freak, so stop saying that.” But his voice was so soft as he spoke. He was being gentle with her.

He was trying to understand.

“Who are you?” She asked, “You’re not that crazy hero that the news is saying will defeat all the villains, you’re not Yield.”

Izuku chuckled, “I’m Deku, the hero that never gives up, and I’m not giving up on you.” He smiled. 

“But–” Himiko’s breath hitched, “I-I stabbed you! I’ve attacked you multiple times, I’ve hurt you— your friends!”

Still, the damned hero only smiled sadly at her, “You might have done all of those things…” His eyes turned downcast, “But I don’t think you really had a choice in the matter. Other people have dictated what you need to do your whole life, you said your parents controlled you, and then you ran and were free but you were on the run from the law and you still needed blood.”

His eyes locked onto hers and he once again strained his neck for her to see his veins, “No one ever offered you a hand, so I’ll do that now, even if you reject it that’s fine, but I want you to know that I’m here, and I’ll fight for you.”

“Fight for me…?” Himiko asked.

Izuku nodded, “I want to be everyone’s hero, not just people with emitter quirks, or “heroic” quirks. I want to be a hero for everyone, no matter what power they have, or even if they don’t have one at all.” He looked her right in the eyes, penetrating her soul, “I want to be your hero too, Himiko.”

The girl pounced on him, clearing the distance and clattering the chair he was on to the ground. Izuku winced as he landed on his arms but held strong. Himiko surged forth like a snake, baring her fangs into his neck.

It… didn’t hurt, “Huh, that’s weird.”

Himiko pulled back, blood staining her lips, and looked at him with eyes full of confusion.

“Do you have a numbing agent in your saliva?” Izuku asked.

“I– what?”

“It’s just that– I can’t feel you biting me, it’s all just numb there.” Izuku tried, and failed, to gesture to his neck while being restrained. “It feels funny, man your quirk is so cool!”

Himiko, for once, let out a real blush instead of her crazed one before smacking Izuku’s chest, “Shut up! Stupid hero, let me take your blood!”

Izuku shrugged, “I never told you to stop. You’re the one that did that.”

The girl shot him a glare before returning to what she was doing. It was weird. His blood tasted so nice and rich, but his constant muttering about her quirk was strange. Cute, but strange. And he was so genuine, so kind, but he was a hero. He was everything that was wrong with the system, but he was so kind to her. 

Maybe even the kindest. 

No one in the league had ever offered her their blood.

Only Izuku. Only Deku. Only… a hero.

BANG BANG BANG

“Oi, Toga! Boss said to bring the guy up!” 

Himiko glanced at the door before looking back at the now slightly bloody and haggard looking Izuku.

A decision. There was a heavy decision for her to make.

---

Izuku stalked through the halls of the villain’s compound, his hands behind his back still in the quirk, suppressant cuffs and some itchy rope, a knife accompanying the two of them as Himiko Toga kept it on the middle of his back, “Keep moving, hero…” She ordered and he couldn't do anything but listen.

A bright light at the end of the hall made him wince, being trapped in a dark room for who knew how long would do that to anyone, and then he regained his vision he was surrounded by the League of Villains on all sides.

He couldn’t help but shift on his feet, a strong desire to run away or fight— he didn’t care which— flooding into his body, but that would be suicide without his quirk…

“Sit down, Midoriya.” Tomura Shigaraki ordered as one of his red eyes peaked through the gaps of the hand on his face, “We have a lot to talk about.

---

Just as the group was leaving the hospital— with Melissa staying inside with Inko— heading to Naomi’s car nearby, someone came running out of the doors and they quickly heard a voice that they’d all rather not hear at the moment— or ever, if they were being honest.

“Hey, extras!”

Reiko and Neito exchanged an annoyed glance, Todoroki perked up at the familiar voice, while Shinso dragged a hand down his face and Tetsu grumbled at the biggest douche he had ever met coming to talk to them.

Neito turned around and gave Bakugo the strongest glare he could conjure at the moment, “And what exactly is the purpose of you ruining our night by gracing us with your presence, Bakugo?” He spoke with every bit of hatred and bile he could muster up.

Bakugo looked like he wanted to bite back, but he held the retort and huffed, “Look, asshole, you’re going to go save Midoriya, aren’t you?”

They group looked at him in surprise, never once had they heard him refer to Izuku by his name instead of that damn insult that they had luckily been able to turn into something positive for him. Still, even after moments the shock didn’t wear off and Bakugo yelled, “Well are you or are you not?! Do your damn jaws not work or something?!”

“We… are.” Reiko answered, still utterly confused.

Bakugo sighed, looking pensive for a moment before nodding, “Alright, then I’m coming with…”

It was sufficient to say, none of them were ready to hear that.

Notes:

Really glad that I got this chapter out sooner, I had wanted to post it at the end of June but I actually started working on another fic- I know, please don't hate me.

I haven't posted any chapters yet but I have a really solid amount of chapters already built up, but they are shorter than these chapters, only around 3k each.

The fic centers around Izuku during the Dark Hero arc as he miraculously find one of the League members beaten up, all by their lonesome, Himiko Toga. And his damn hero syndrome can't help but make him help her and she in turn accompanies him on his journey, something blossoms between them as they venture and fight together, but not without hiccups across the way.

Still not entirely sure if I should post but I'm thinking about it.

Anyways, this chapters is a gap chapter, focusing on everyone's reactions and their attachments to Izuku, and while this group for the rescue may seem a little odd in places there's really not too many more I wanted to add because I feel like it would make the group bloated.

Also, Inko knows that Izuku has a girlfriend now! I wonder how that'll go. But, until next time

Jay out!

Chapter 35: Kamino Incident

Summary:

Izuku's friends attempt to save him, the heroes move in, All For One gets his hands on Izuku, and all the while the boy himself is doing his best to survive while also trying to talk some sense into the people before him, and he finally breaks through to one in particular...

The group of hero students looked at Bakugo with barely contained shock, confusion, and surprise. The longer they stared the more agitated Bakugo seemed to get before he finally had enough of their silence and just yelled, "WHAT THE HELL ARE WE DOING STANDIN' HERE, ARE WE MOVING OR NOT?!"

While it jolted them out of their silence, they were still left just as confused.

"Wait— let me get this right." Neito shook his head, "You—" He pointed at Bakugo, "Want to help us—" He gestured at the rest of the group, "Save Midoriya? You hate Midoriya!"

Bakugo just clicked his tongue, shoving his hands in his pockets while he did so, "Yeah, well the nerd saved my god damn life, and I don't like owing people favors, alright?"

Still, they just couldn't understand why Bakugo of all people would want to go out of his way to save Izuku, the same guy he had attacked on sight during the first week of school and whom he had hated for the entire year so far. Not to mention, he didn't even like the rest of them that much more, he had outright refused to work with Monoma, Todoroki, and Shinso during the final.

Eventually, Reiko sighed, "Alright, we've wasted enough time, we must make haste for Izuku. If you wish to join us then simply follow, if not then so be it." She turned around and the group started following her, Naomi watched the whole interaction with wonder and confusion as she led the group of kids over to her car.

'But, I swear if he ruins this…' Reiko thought to herself, 'I will make sure he never becomes a hero.'

---

Izuku could do nothing as he was manhandled into a chair, tied to it by his arms and legs and left being able to do nothing but struggle as he was surrounded by what was the entirety of the esteemed League of Villains. Every direction he looked there was a new villain and he didn't know what to do.

He was without his quirk.

He couldn't move.

He was surrounded on all sides.

Was… he going to die?

"So…" The scratchy tones of Tomura Shigaraki reached his ears as the man stepped in front of him. Izuku grimaced at the hand on his face as the villain leaned closer, "I think it's about time that me and you have a… chat, Deku."

Izuku didn't say anything, he didn't have much to say, and Tomura Shigaraki carried on in his silence.

"You know… something that's always just… really grinded my gears." The man drew closer and leaned over Izuku, whispering right in his ear as the boy tried to get any moisture he could in his mouth, "It's how all the sheep of our society seem to hold you heroes in such high regard, even when you're nothing more than failures."

Izuku didn't know what he meant, All Might had single handedly lowered the world's crime rate and had ushered in the modern age of heroism, Endeavour— for all the shittiness he had learned of the man's parenting techniques— had the most arrests of any hero, ever, and the rest of the top ten were some of the greatest in history in terms of arrests, charity work, and overall strength.

"Cause you see, Deku…" Tomura stepped away and gestured with his arms wide to all the gathered villains here, "Every single one of us is someone cast aside by this broken system you swore to uphold. Each discarded by heroes, each abandoned— not saved— not rescued— failed in every sense of the term, by your worthless system!"

"A shitty quirk counselor and parents caused Himiko to turn to villainy!"

"Everyone rejected Magne because of who she is, those transphobic fucks!"

"You damn heroes hate heteromorphs, and that's why Spinner's with us!"

"No one bothered to help Twice when his quirk made him go insane!"

"Dabi's got a personal vendetta with the Number Two Hero, and I'm sure you know the skeleton's in his closet since you seem so close with Shoto Todoroki…"

"Compress was practically born into villainy and had to settle for this life because society wouldn't let him change!"

"And this damn system… didn't even bother when I killed all my family because of my quirk activating. Not a single hero saw a homeless kid on the side of the road covered in blood and offered to help."

All of Tomura's words hammered into Izuku's head, and he gritted his teeth. He knew what Tomura Shigaraki was trying to do, to break his resolve and belief in the hero system, but it wouldn't work. Izuku knew that things weren't perfect, but he wanted to help fix it— tearing it down? Yeah, they could potentially rebuild something if they were to do that, but so many people would get hurt in the process, and Izuku didn't believe that they were even doing it to create something better in the aftermath. They wanted to destroy the system simply because it had hurt them first.

"I'm…" The villains focused as Izuku finally began to speak, but they didn't see the fear or despair they were hoping to inspire within him, instead they found… pity… or perhaps… compassion, "Sorry that happened to all of you…"

"What?" Tomura blinked.

Behind them all, Himiko continued to look on with confusion.

"I get it, I really do—"

"No! You— You can't "get it" when you're trying everything in your power to uphold this broken system!" Tomura roared, inching closer.

Only to pause when Izuku let out a breathless laugh, "I think I'm the only person within all of UA who can "get it" well… maybe with the exception of Shinso I guess. He would also understand—"

"Shut your mouth!" Tomura yelled, "How could you possibly understand us from your privileged position?! How?!"

Izuku raised a brow, "I… thought you guys did your research on us… I mean after the whole mess up at the USJ it was clear you didn't know our quirks or really anything about us so I thought you had fixed that at some point, guess not…" Izuku blinked as he realized he rambled before continuing, "Anyways, I was a late bloomer… thought I was quirkless for fifteen straight years." Izuku's response sent the villains into silence, most of all Spinner who knew the heavy discrimination that Quirkless people faced— similar to Heteromorphs, "So… yeah, I get it."

"Just like you… I've faced a lot of problems ever since I was little. Everyone in my school would use me as quirk practice, and when one of your "friends" has explosive sweat? Yeah, it's not fun. Every day I'd go home covered in burns and bruises, told that I didn't belong, told that my mom would be better off without me, and that my dream of being a hero would never come true so I might as well end it now. But I didn't." Despite his restraints, Izuku stood as tall as he could.

"Because… there is always a choice, and I knew from the start that what I wanted to be was a hero, and I didn't let anyone stop me." His gaze swept across the assembled villains, those who society had failed, those that wished to tear it down, "And now… today, here, I give you that choice."

"You don't have to do this. There's always hope for a better future, because let's be honest… you kill me here then you're going to get the wrath of all my friends, my loved ones, and even the staff at UA to target you. And you already failed at killing All Might once…"

Tomura grit his teeth at Izuku's words while the boy trudged ahead.

"So… I ask you to give up. Because if you don't… then I can't guarantee that you guys will be put away nicely by my friends."

The room was silent for a few moments, some of the villains were pondering while others just stewed in rage that Izuku had caused in them. Most of all of them were Tomura himself.

"It doesn't matter! You're still some worthless hero that this system wants to prop up!" Tomura's crimson eyes shined through the gaps in the fingers of the hand on his face, "As soon as I get rid of you, their rising star, and kill their precious Symbol of Peace then they'll fall into despair!" Tomura strode forward, Himiko flinched in her corner of the room, Izuku squirmed in his seat, and then—

KNOCK KNOCK

All the occupants of the bar froze at the sound of intrusion, before a muffled sound came from the other side of the barrier, "Pizza Delivery."

"Huh."

Everyone turned to the door, a moment of pause echoing loudly throughout the room before—

"SMASH!"

The wall behind the villains collapsed as a certain Number One Hero came rushing in, behind him an army of pros at the ready as they ran in and began fighting the league. Many of the villains were bound by a combination of Aizawa and Kamui Wood's efforts, and when Dabi tried to strike back he was dealt with by a speedy Gran Torino, when Kurogiri tried using his Warpgate he found himself unable to due to Erasure affecting him, a moment later the man was struck by a bullet from Snipe and passed out a few moments later.

"Knew that tranque bullet would work." Snipe huffed.

When the pros began approaching the "ring leader" of the operation Tomura decayed the wood around him but was knocked back by a blood red object that flew in, went around his waist, and sailed until he hit a wall, trapping him in place.

"Been a while since I've had to use that one…" Vlad King huffed as he stalked in through the hole in the wall, "But for my students… I'll do anything."

The crimson red eyes of Tomura and the scarlets of Vlad stared one another down as the villain decayed the hardened blood trapping him, "You're outmatched and outnumbered, give up." Vlad King entoned, "Or I promise… this won't end well for you…"

"Cool your jets, Kan." Aizawa stepped forward and activated his quirk on Tomura, "Now, we can either do this the easy way… or the hard way."

Tomura, with his vision full of god-damned heroes, could do nothing but raise his hands in surrender— knowing that whatever happened… his Sensei would pull through to put these failures in their place.

"Fine…"

Meanwhile, All Might destroyed the bindings on Izuku, and before the boy could do anything was wrapped in a hug by the giant man. "I'm so glad you're alright, Young Midoriya…" He was gentle but firm in his grip— attempting to convey all of his feelings for the young boy who had become so important to him in the time they had known each other— until he let the young man go, "How… How are you feeling?"

Izuku grinned, "I'm… I'm okay." His body was hurting all over from his prolonged use of the upper percentages of One For All that he couldn't fully handle, and his right forearm was in a lot of pain from the blade sailing through it— thankfully it had missed everything that was vital— but other than that he was okay.

"We're glad to hear it, Midoriya." The familiar clicking of heels was all the warning Izuku got before he was wrapped in a hug by his Hero Art Teacher, Midnight, "You gave us all quite the scare, you're gonna need to be punished for that young man."

"Eep!"

"Now now, don't overwhelm him, Kayama." Nezu squeaked as he approached on Ectoplasm's shoulder, "We've begun rounding up all the villains, they should be ready for transfer soon." Just outside Izuku saw a whole swarm of police cruiser lights flashing in his vision and felt relief claim his soul.

Midnight, reluctantly, let Izuku go— allowing all to see the boy's glowing face— before nodding, "Good, now we should get Midoriya to custody as well, they can transfer him to a hospital or—"

"Oh, man! You really think we're just going to let him go?!" The room seemed to freeze as Tomura Shigaraki began to speak, one of his eyes glowing out of the gaps of his hand-mask, "No, no, no! I promised you Izuku Midoriya… that today would be the start of the fall of your damned system!"

"Shut the hell up." Snipe trained his gun on the villain, "Just give me the word, boss."

"Lower your weapon, Snipe." Nezu ordered.

"Mmm fine."

Izuku's brows furrowed while All Might frowned, "Well… you're in custody, so it looks like you're the one that's losing today, Tomura." Izuku and All Might locked eyes, a sense of relief and utter joy escaping Izuku at having this terrible day end, his mentor with the largest smile he had ever seen plastered on the man's face. But that relief and joy in his chest evaporated as something crawled up his throat and out of his mouth.

"Like I said… we're not letting you get away."

---

"We're nearly there, kids!" Naomi called into the back of the van where all of the high schoolers were gathered. Neito, Tetsu, and Reiko on one large seat against the driver wall of the door with Todoroki, Shinso, and Bakugo on the other side, the only entrance to the back being a pair of double doors at the way back. The insomniac clearly looked like he didn't want to sit there but there weren't any other options.

"Thanks, Naomi." Neito called before looking down at the tracker. They were so… close…?

"What in the…?"

In the midst of all the other kids having a conversation about what they were actually going to do when they arrived at the location, Reiko turned to Neito at the sound of his confusion, "Monoma, is something the matter?"

"He moved."

"What?"

"Midoriya moved locations." This time the entire group heard.

"WHAT?!"

Neito waved the tracker, "He was just at the place, that bar or whatever, and suddenly… I don't even know what that new location is!"

The group stewed in thought before Todoroki's eyes widened, "They have a teleporter, that mist guy, Kurogiri."

"Shit…!" Tetsu cursed and grabbed his head, "He's all alone! What if they try killing him? He can't fight the entire League by himself!"

"We have to have faith." Reiko stressed, "Until we get there, Izuku has to hold on." Going unnoticed was that she was clenching her fist so hard that her pale skin was turning an ugly purple.

"Naomi, can this thing go any faster?" Neito asked, desperate.

Naomi grinned at her brother in the rearview mirror, "Thought you never wanted me to go that fast again, Neito."

"My friend's life is in danger, I think I'll risk my own health and safety in this one instance, but never again! You know what happened last time!"

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad!"

"I was launched twenty feet from the windshield!"

"Nineteen technically!"

"Just hurry up!"

"On it! Oh, but make sure you're buckled in!"

What happened next settled right under the USJ and Forest Camp for near death experiences for nearly all the students present.

---

The feeling of a foreign— he didn't even know what it was, goop? —substance leaving Izuku's mouth and the wrapping around him was very uncomfortable, just as much as him landing on a cold stone floor at the feet of Japan's most infamous villain.

Just like All Might had said, the man's face was a horrifying graph of scar tissue covered by a pitch black mask, reminiscent of an old villain from some pre-quirk movies Izuku remembered, that had no holes for eyes and he wore a suit just as dark— just as menacing. Other than that, the man was extremely tall, completely towering over Izuku as he struggled to his feet.

"All For One…" Izuku grit out as he crouched, summoning just the barest hint of One For All that he could with his damaged and overused body.

"Ah, it's about time we meet, don't you think, Little Ninth?" The voice of All For One sent shivers down Izuku's back. Raw power simply exuded off the man's form as around them more members of the League seemed to come into being, the same substance that had brought Izuku here doing the same for them, "And I've brought some of my… associates, though your intruders got in the way so they were dealt with accordingly."

Glancing around, Izuku saw Best Jeanist and Edgeshot—both downed— and he grew nervous and afraid, "Where are the other pros…?" He wondered under his breath as all around him the League rose.

"You will be meeting them soon enough." All For One's arm shot out and the air left Izuku's lungs as he was grabbed by the face, unable to get out even as he trashed around with the power that was available to him, "Don't worry, Little Brother, this won't hurt your little Ninth too much." For some reason, Izuku didn't believe the man. Then, felt the pull of All For One's quirk, it sparked pain across his entire body— causing him to go tense and let out a blood curdling scream, and then… Everything went dark.

---

"nnnnNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOO!" All Might's yell of anguish was enough to shake heaven itself and worry all the surrounding pros of UA as the man shot a quick glare at Nezu, "Nezu, where does the tracker say he is?!" All Might yelled as his cerulean eyes glowed with rage.

"Around the Nomu factory, get going now!" The little mouse squeaked and All Might obliged, striding in two steps out of the hole in the bar before leaping away.

"Damn it!" Vlad King punched a wall, "We have to get there, now!"

"I'll inform Tsukauchi, everyone else back to the van!" Nezu commanded.

"YES SIR!"

While the pros tried to get to the Nomu Factory as quickly as they could, All Might was already sailing over, a tense scowl on his lips at the mere thought of his successor, his precious student, of his boy, being anywhere near All For One.

"I swear if he even touches a single hair on Young Izuku's head…!"

Then… there would be hell to pay.

---

Izuku's vision swam as his eyes blinked open, but instead of finding himself within the place the villains had brought him he was in the familiar dark void that— was? — One For All, yet he couldn't find it in himself to stand, 'What in the…?!' Izuku tried to force himself up but every attempt to find the willpower failed.

Unlike last time, where he had met Daigoro— the Fifth user— or his dream after his battle with Stain— where all of his predecessors were gathered— now Izuku was all by himself in the void that was a physical manifestation of his quirk.

That was until…

"So our quirks' inner minds are rather similar… interesting."

Izuku's veins felt like they were filled with ice as just a few feet away he saw the monster himself, All For One. 'Damn it…! I need him to get away from me! I… I can't let him take One For All!' His one hand that was usable was still trying to force his entire body up to no avail all the while his mentor's nemesis just got closer.

"A valiant effort from you, Little Ninth, but it's a shame either way." All For One drew all the closer, "Even if you manage to resist now, with you in our grasp your willpower will fall to the wayside eventually. And this quirk will return to its rightful owner."

'This quirk will never be yours!" Izuku was finally able to yell as the fog from the quirk lifted, "As long as I'm breathing, One For All will never end up in your hands!" But, he still couldn't force his body to stand, "I won't give in to you!"

"Well Little Ninth." All For One bore over him, Izuku's face of fear reflected in the dark metal of the man's mask, "Your compliance was never a factor."

"And your interference won't be allowed!"

All For One's face shot up before he was sent flying back, rolling across the ground as he came to a stop, "What in the…" The man dragged himself to his feet and Izuku looked to his side, and there standing was a gorgeous woman in a black body suit with yellow boots and gloves, a red caped belt that swayed with non existent wind in the void they were in and a glorious, huge white cape that ruffled just the same, "Nana Shimura…" All For One cracked a fist.

"All For One… even in the after life I just can't seem to get away from you…" The woman's gaze strayed to Izuku, "Don't worry, Ninth… just leave this to us."

"Huh…?" Izuku was dumbfounded.

"As for you." Nana focused once more on the Symbol of Evil before her, "You will leave this place." She lifted both of her arms, and a strong force— almost like the winds of a tornado or… the winds that One For All produced at full power— blew past them, crashing into All For One who barely didn't go flying as he braced himself, "You will not hurt this boy!"

"You can't get rid of me so easily, Nana Shimura!" All For One managed to take a step forward, even as Nana redoubled her efforts, "Just like back then, you're too weak to truly get rid of me."

"Maybe on my own…" Nana grimaced before a blinding smile overtook her features, "But that's the special gift about One For All, we're never alone."

From out of the shadows, more figures came forward, one which Izuku recognized as Daigoro Banjo— the Fifth user of One For All, all the others were complete strangers. Well—besides a white haired man with green eyes, Izuku remembered him from the first dream he had of the quirk, he was… All For One's Brother, the First user of One For All.

Five others joined Nana, Daigoro, and The First until Eight distinct individuals stood before him, separating him from All For One, risking themselves for just him.

One For All burned inside his body, the mist that was covering his form began to fade as he forced himself to his feet. Sparks of lightning lingered on his arms, his legs, down to his toes, up to his fingertips. The air reeked of ozone and the entire realm they were in shook as Izuku stood for himself.

"This power… is mine." He stood alongside the eight heroes, because he was their Ninth. He was the Ninth user of One For All, "And as long as I'm still breathing, you will never have it!"

Nana regarded Izuku with a smirk, "Well, you heard him boys, now let's get rid of this little wannabe demon lord!" The assembled heroes roared, and both All For One and Izuku were expelled from the realm of the Vestiges.

---

"SMASH!" When Izuku awoke, the only thing he could do was charge One For All into an arm and slam down onto the one holding him, but All For One barely budged at the hit. "Get off!" Izuku yelled as he flailed in the man's grip.

All For One shook his head, trying to rub his temple under the sleek black mask he wore, "I don't know how you did that… but it just makes me wish to rip this quirk from your body all the more, Little Ninth."

"You'll— never— have it!" Izuku gasped as he clawed at All For One's arm, but whatever he did the man wouldn't let go, even as the League began surrounding them. He had to get out, he had to get free. His friends— His family— he wanted to see them all again!

And then—

A giant, meaty hand grabbed All For One by the face, ripped Izuku from the man's grasp, and then drove the villain into the ground where he rode along from the power of the attack until he crashed into the back of the warehouse and left a gaping hole in the building.

Another hole stood in the previous pristine roof of the building, and the moonlight of the night sky shined down on Japan's Number One Hero and the world's Symbol of Peace—

"All Might…" Izuku gasped as his mentor put him down on his feet before grabbing him by the shoulder and hugging him.

"I'm so glad you're alright." Right now, the man wasn't speaking as All Might, but rather Toshinori Yagi, "Now…" He let go and wiped at his eyes before turning back to where All For One was getting up— at the same time glancing at the rising villains, and the downed heroes, "I believe we have some villains to deal with."

"The League is mine, I'll protect Edgeshot and Best Jeanist until they wake up, All For One should be your priority." Izuku advised.

"But—"

"All Might, All For One is quite literally the strongest person in the world and took out two of the top ten with zero issue, you need all your energy to fight him." As the remnants of the League surrounded them, Izuku lifted two fists, "Leave the small fry to me."

"HAHAHA!" All Might's laugh reached the sky, "Spoken like a true newbie, you go-getter!" He readied himself as All For One started running towards him, "So then, Young Midoriya. Let's do this!"

"You got it!"

With their combined shouts, the two rushed forward to face the villains. All Might and All For One clashed, the two titans locking in a stalemate that sent wind rushing in every direction that tore down the already damaged foundations and walls of the warehouse they were in.

Izuku stumbled from the wind but fired a strand of Blackwhip to the ground to keep himself from flying as Spinner leapt towards him, aided by the wind, only for Izuku to fire another strand of the Fifth's quirk at the lizardman's face before swinging him into an approaching Magne— causing them both to collide roughly with the ground.

Tomura stewed in rage as he saw all of his members get downed by the wannabe hero, "It's why you don't trust NPCs to do a player's job!" He screamed, rushing right for Izuku, the boy was still tumbling with the rest of the villains surrounding him as Tomura roared. "You're dead, you damn hero!"

Izuku turned to Tomura. His eyes widened.

Time seemed to crawl, that hand inched closer and closer, inches away from his face until…

It fell to the ground, severed from its arm.

"GAH!" Tomura jumped away, and turned to the side. Himiko stood beside Izuku with a wild look on her face, as if she hadn't believed what she had just done. She'd taken Tomura's hand. "Y—You!" Tomura clutched the stump that was still actively bleeding, not knowing what to do. "You damn blood-loving freak!"

Himiko recoiled at Tomura's words, looking ready to relapse, but that's when Izuku rushed forward with Full Cowling pouring throughout his body, "She's not a freak!" He pulled back an arm, "TEXAS–" The lightning coiled around his arm bulged for a moment before he attacked, "SMASH!" His fist connected with Tomura's face and the man went sailing, rolling on the ground, before hitting a piece of rubble, hard.

The two stood amidst the pile of still rising villains, and Izuku cursed as they got ready for another round— his body still wasn't at a hundred percent.

"Wow… uhhh thanks." Himiko said suddenly and glanced over at him, her permanent blush still there but her eyes much more serious than Izuku had ever seen them before, so much more vulnerable as well, "You did mean that right? Y—You're not lying…?"

Izuku tilted his head, "Lying about what…?"

"About me not being a freak! A—And all the stuff you said earlier! Thinking we can change if we want to! That you'll help!" Himiko yelled as Spinner— the last of the group— finally got to his feet, "Please, tell me you weren't lying cause if you did then I'm in a lot of trouble!"

Izuku sent her a disarming smile and nodded, "Of course, I'd never lie about something like that. If you need help, then I'll help, simple as that, okay?" He saw Himiko's eyes light up with something akin to hope as she moved to stand back to back with him and Izuku felt his tired body lighten as he once more channelled his quirk into his body. "Now…" The League began surrounding them as Izuku raised his percentage of One For All, "Let's do this, yeah?"

Himiko grinned back and brandished her knives, "Sure this Useless-kun~"

"You've got to pick a better nickname for me."

"Too bad, you're stuck with it!"

Just as the first villain, Compress, closed in, the two teenagers attacked.

"AIR FORCE!" Izuku let out a Delaware smash, and even without his gauntlets the attack did a lot of damage—- just not as focused as it usually was. The man was sent flying from his attack but Izuku grabbed his chest with Blackwhip and used the man as a bludgeon to hit the other villains.

He heard Himiko cackle as Compress' body met Magne's face.

They were in for quite the night.

---

"Are we almost there?!" Tetsu yelled as the van tipped once more, threatening to fall over, as Naomi rounded a corner, "Cause I don't think I can take much more of this!" His skin was already covered in the sheen of his quirk in the off chance that the van suddenly stopped and he was sent flying out of the car.

"N–Nearly!" Neito cried out as he clutched his chair to keep himself from slipping off, "We're five miles out, we'll be there in roughly four minutes!"

"THREE!" Naomi yelled.

"That's good and all!" Shinso clung roughly to Todoroki who had frozen himself to his seat, "But what's the actual plan to get him out of there?!"

The silence, except for the loud rumblings of the vehicle they were in, were concerning.

"ARE WE FUCKING SERiOUS?!" Bakugo roared, "NOT ONE OF US HAS A GOD DAMN PLAN?!"

"I don't see you offering any suggestions, explosions for brains!" Shinso bit out.

"SAY THAT SHIT TO MY FACE, BAGS FOR EYES!"

"Silence!" Reiko was relieved when everyone was finally quiet, allowing her to rub her temples with a sigh, "Okay, I believe our best course of action is as follows. The area will most likely be a battlefield, so no stopping there. As such—" Her eyes landed on Todoroki, Bakugo and Monoma, "We are going to sail over the area."

"Okay, but how?" Todoroki asked, the only one that currently wasn't yelling "I can make an ice ramp to get us into the air."

"Yes, that's precisely what we require at this moment!" Reiko nodded, as the van gave a dangerous lurch.

"At the same time, Bakugo and I will use Explosion to propel the vehicle into the air, I assume?!" Monoma guessed and after he received another nod from Reiko he reached across the car for Bakugo, to which the blond gave him a disgusted face, "I do not wish to use your wretched quirk either, but if it's to save my dear friend Midoriya then sacrifices shall be made!"

Bakugo grumbled but slapped Neito's hand with his own, "Fine! Just be careful with the kickback, copycat!"

"No dissing my brother in my own car!" Naomi called over her shoulder, before wincing as she quickly served to avoid hitting a lamppost, "Sorry kids!"

Reiko and Neito exchanged a glance and all the blond could do was audibly gulp while shivering, "Okay… while you three boys are doing that I will attempt to hold the vehicle in midair as long as I can using my quirk, or at least slow our descent!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Tetsu grinned.

"And when we reach the peak of our jump?" Todoroki prompted.

"We'll reach out to him!" Neito clasped a hand on Reiko's shoulder, "We've been his friends for such a long time, he'll come back to us!"

Over the sound of the engine and the rattling of the vehicle, none of them heard Reiko's whimper of, "He has to…"

---

Izuku was having trouble fighting while also having to look out for Himiko, trying to stay as far away as he could from All Might's battle with the Symbol of Evil, while also not being able to fight at his full power because of how much pain his body was in from Dabi's treatment from earlier, and making sure that the villains didn't attack the unconscious heroes— he was just happy that the scarred patchwork of a man and their teleporter were still knocked out because of Gran Torino and Snipe otherwise he'd be in an even worse situation.

But still, the two of them hadn't been making any ground, they were barely just keeping the villains back to protect the pros. And in the case of Tomura Shigaraki being able to turn them to dust if they so much as got touched by him? Not great. Thankfully the man had been slowed thanks to his severed hand.

It didn't help that Magne's quirk, which seemed to use gender as magnetic poles, was incredibly tricky to deal with while fighting, because nearly all the League members were male and were drawn to Himiko whenever Magne used her quirk, or Himiko was drawn to them which he barely stopped with Blackwhip.

Compress was another big worry, one touch from him and either of them would be incapacitated which he really couldn't afford right now. The only "easy" ones were Spinner, who only had a big sword that he didn't use very well, and Twice, who was too busy arguing with himself to do much of anything.

Still, Izuku knew that they wouldn't be able to keep this up much longer. His fatigue from the forest and the pain of his body was starting to slow him down, and while Himiko was really good with knives that could only do so much in a situation like this.

And that's when the roar of an engine reached Izuku's ears.

Suddenly, the wall of a nearby building exploded, stealing the attention of all the students before a ramp of ice crawled up into the sky sending a low chill throughout the area. The familiar sound of explosions echoed in the wrecked area as a vehicle soared into the sky, the back doors of the van— covered in a pink glow— opened as two individuals held out hands, Izuku's eyes landed on them— just barely, before he heard two beautifully recognizable voices.

"Come on, Izuku!" Neito and Reiko yelled in sync.

Time slowed down for Izuku, out of the corner of his eye he saw Tomura Shigaraki reaching for him— but he didn't give the man a chance.

"Come on!" He reached Himiko, threw her over his shoulder, collected the two pros with Blackwhip, and spun in place, dragging his foot along the ground— kicking up a dust cover that blinded the surrounding villains as Himiko screamed at his sudden action.

"GET HIM!" Tomura's shrill voice reached his ears.

But the man would never reach him.

One For All built up inside his body like a coil before releasing, sending Izuku rocketing into the air as Himiko screamed due to the wind rushing past them. With one hand tightly holding her on his shoulder, Izuku used his other to reach for the van— almost on command a strand of Black Whip shot out and into the vehicle.

"What the fuck is that?!" Naomi yelled as a tendril of darkness grabbed onto her passenger seat as all the kids clung for dear life, a moment later a green haired kid slammed into it— a blond girl on his shoulder and two adults splayed out in front of them.

"OW!"

"You scared the crap out of me!"

Izuku and Himiko both yelped at the same time, meanwhile Naomi looked over and noticed the green hair, "Oh hey! You must be Inko's kid, Izuku! I'm Neito's older sister, Naomi! He's told me so much about you! It's nice to finally meet you!"

The boy blinked, shaking his head to get his vision to concentrate before nodding, "Uhhh hi? Yeah, I'm Izu—"

"Introductions later, we're dropping! Naomi keep your damn eyes on the road!" Neito yelled.

"GHOSTY, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT!" Bakugo yelled and Izuku's head whipped over to him.

"What do you believe I'm doing Bakugo?!" Reiko yelled back as the pink glow around the van began to flicker.

"Bakugo, you came?!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP AND HOLD ON, NERD!"

The group all braced, with Izuku wrapping his arms around Himiko before the van gave a violent lurch as it collided with the ground. Izuku almost hit the roof— Tetsu wasn't so lucky and actually did, "Everyone okay?!" Naomi yelled while she skidded the vehicle to a halt, "Any concussions? Bruises? Broken bones?"

"We're… all good… I think." Tetsu slumped on the ground and rubbed his head, "That's gonna hurt later…" He groaned.

"I'm… not fine, but at least I'm not getting tortured by a bunch of villains…?" Izuku got a wobbly thumbs up as Himiko got off of him.

"Yeah, sorry about that… your blood tasted sweet though." She grinned at him.

Reiko's brows furrowed at the girl's words and wondered what exactly in hell was Izuku's reasoning for bringing her and why they seemed so… buddy–buddy as Izuku got his bearings. Moments later, his eyes landed on everyone in the back of the van before finally reaching her. All of her frustrations evaporated at the sheer look of relief she saw in his wonderful emerald eyes as he struggled to his feet and over to her, basically falling onto her as he wrapped her in the most wonderful hug she had ever experienced in her life.

"I— I'm sorry…" Izuku whimpered while Reiko tightened her hold on him, "I couldn't keep my promise…"

"You're here now…" Her own usually refined voice came out broken and wobbly, filled with sniffles as she spoke, "That's all that matters…" Her nails clawed at his back but she lightened up when he winced, "You are injured…"

"Nothing Recovery Girl can't fix." Izuku tried to grin but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"You know she won't be joyous if she heard you saying such things." Reiko chided him.

"Probably not." Izuku reached up to rub the back of his neck but flinched at the twinge in his forearm.

"Either way—" Neito walked around and smirked at his best friend, "We're glad to have you back."

"Yeah, everyone will be glad to get the news." Shinso sighed as he and Todoroki approached, both looking disheveled, "But I've got to ask." He glanced around Izuku and the entire group followed, their eyes landing on Himiko who was picking dirt out of her fingernails with one of her knives. When she realized everyone was staring she hid the knife and waved, "What's the deal with her…?"

"That's the girl that attacked me at I-Island!"

"She stabbed Midoriya through the arm too, I'm pretty sure." Todoroki added, because why not.

"Hi, I'm Himiko~ and I'm the one not talking about you guys behind your back in hearing distance!" The villain approached the group, "I alsooooo helped Izuku when he was fighting the rest of the League and he promised to help me out!"

"Tch. Dumbass, you don't make deals with villains!" Bakugo yelled, pushing his way through Izuku's friends. Tetsu was the only one he couldn't do that to because the boy activated his quirk.

"They're people first. Just like you. Just like me." Izuku countered, but he saw the wary looks the rest of his friends had too, "Look, you guys don't have to trust her, but trust me." He palmed his chest, "You've done it plenty of times before, right? What's one more time?"

"When you say it like that it sounds really manly." Tetsu admitted, crossing his arms and swapping from looking at Izuku to Toga and then back, "Alright, I trust you Midoriya!"

Izuku's face softened, "Thanks, Tetsu…"

"I mean we trust you, Midoriya. It's just…" Neito sighed, "She did stab me…" He whispered so his sister wouldn't hear.

"I know." Izuku stressed, "But she's had a bad life, she had to hide her quirk for over a decade because her parents were prejudiced and when she couldn't hold it in anymore she went on the run. How am I supposed to turn my back on someone like that?"

Shinso's expression softened as he felt a twinge of familiarity when Izuku had spoken about prejudice. Yeah, his parents had been terrible, but everyone else he had ever met was. At least… that's how it had been until he had met Izuku.

"Man… you hero course kids and your saving complexes." Shinso sighed, "Fine, tag along Toga."

"You're in the hero course too." Todoroki tilted his head.

"Yeah, but I'm not as crazy as the rest of you."

"Allow enough time to pass and I'm sure Izuku will find a way to infect you as well." Reiko allowed a small smirk to form on her face at Izuku's look of betrayal.

Toga looked on at the banter with shining eyes, really wondering if something like this could be in her future like Izuku promised or if it was just another trap and she'd be thrust back into her old life on the run. But, when the boy looked over at her and beckoned her to slide up with the group she found herself following.

"Alright, kids! Let's get going!" Naomi's call startled them and had them all heading out of the car, while Izuku and Tetsu dragged the two pros out, to which they were then able to see the wrecked state of it.

Many of the body panels were crumpled, and even sitting on the ground normally the vehicle had a strange tilt to it that told them at least some of the internal parts were damaged. That wasn't mentioning all the windows that were either cracked or completely shattered.

Suffice to say, it was broken.

"I apologize for the car, Naomi…" Neito approached his sister and rubbed the back of his neck, "It's… entirely wrecked."

Naomi rubbed her nose with a finger, "Eh, it's alright. This was about the most that was ever going to come out of that old piece of junk. It went out with a bang of glory, don't you think?"

A small smile climbed up on Neito's lips as he nodded, "Yeah… I guess so."

"And~ we didn't die!" Naomi laughed, "And we got your friend back who apparently converted a villain to the good side." She glanced at the green haired boy still surrounded by his friends, Toga included, smiling and wincing at the pain in his body but still trying to enjoy the moment with those around him, "We did a good thing today, Neito." She planted her hand on his head, "Don't you think?"

"Yeah." Neito smiled, "We did."

The group started making their way as far from the battle between All For One and All Might as they could, which was rather slow because they also had to carry the unconscious forms of Best Jeanist and Edgeshot, thankfully Shinso and surprisingly Bakugo were up to the challenge.

"Probably because he had interned with Best Jeanist." Todoroki commented.

"We need to get them to the nearest police station, but I'm assuming everything is down since most heroes and officers are at the warehouse or bar right now…" Izuku mumbled, walking with as little of a limp as he could muster while his friends fluttered around him, "And we can't even go with Toga with us, she'd just be arrested."

"What we need to do is get you to a hospital." Reiko muttered.

"No…" Izuku shook his head, stumbling forward as Reiko and Neito barely caught him, "Get Toga to UA first. That's the only place she'll be safe. I can get patched up by Recovery Girl and then…"

"Woah, guys— big crowd."

The trio lifted their heads to find one of the main streets of Kamino ward absolutely packed from wall to wall. It seemed like every person in the city had gathered in this one street and were watching whatever appeared on the giant news casts.

"That can't be good…" Naomi pulled out her phone, "I'm gonna dial Izuku's mom, do not go too far."

The group of students stayed put, Bakugo and Shinso laying down their respective pros and looking over the crowd, their eyes straying over to the jumbo screens displaying… the current fight between All Might and All For One.

"Shit— the League is gone." Bakugo clicked his tongue.

"They probably got Misty to teleport them away." Toga commented, swaying from side to side.

"That's Kurogiri?" Izuku asked to which the villain hummed, "Probably… but he was also knocked out, it could have been All For One, we have no idea how many quirks he has after all…" Izuku trailed off into his mumbles.

"Did— Did he say quirks?" Neito glanced at Reiko to which the girl nodded with wide eyes. The two looked at Izuku before grabbing him, "What did you mean by quirks?"

Izuku's own eyes widened, "Uhhh… well… found out that that guy is the entire "brain" behind the League of Villains. Tomura was just a front, or sort of the figurehead I guess. That guy… his quirk can take and give the quirks of others." The entirety of the group felt a chill go through the air at Izuku's words, even Toga was a little shook.

"Did he…?" Tetsu gestured to Izuku, "You know?"

"No—" Izuku shook his head, "But he tried. We kind of… fought I guess? I can't tell you much. I don't even know how I did it, but…" Izuku gulped as he looked over the giant screens of Kamino Ward once more, "I couldn't do anything… and that's making me worried for All Might."

"He'll be fine, he's Number One for a reason." Todoroki replied.

"Way better than your chump ass, that's for sure." Bakugo grumbled.

Tetsu pounded his fist, "Yeah, he's the manliest guy around! He's got this!"

---

All Might did not have this handled. With every blow he dealt to All For One the villain countered with one just as strong— if not, somehow, stronger— and sent the pro reeling. Gran Torino and Endeavour had arrived on the scene and tried to assist but All For One was simply too strong for them to do so— leaving the old timer in a pile of rubble and the Number Two Hero on his knees in shock at the sheer power the two of them were putting out.

And now, with all the debris surrounding the battlefield, All Might was sure that the UA pros and everyone else that had been gathered for the raid were focusing on saving as many civilians as they could. They were entrusting the defeat of All For One to him and him alone.

All Might would have had this fight won soon enough, if he didn't have to worry about his limit.

The countless events from throughout the year had finally caught up with him, wearing his time down slowly but surely. The sludge incident, the USJ, the attack at I-Island, and finally the battle of tonight. Those events, along with the time that had passed since, had worn down his limit, from the three hours he could use when he had met Young Izuku to just under an hour now and that time had already been nearly drained.

And that was with normal output.

Right here and now— facing off against Japan's boogeyman, the man that had killed his mentor— his surrogate mother— the man that had ruled Japan from the shadows for around two centuries, the Symbol of Evil, the quirk thief, All For One himself— All Might was pushing himself far beyond any limits he had ever believed to have ever had.

"What's wrong, All Might, you seem slow!" All For One's right arm bulged to gigantic proportions, with metal and flesh warping the disfigured limb, before backhanding All Might— just a second too slow to dodge— into a pile of rubble that the pro smashed straight through, "I'm honestly a little disappointed, your protege had more grit than this."

"Don't you dare bring Young Izuku into this!" All Might's roar was followed by him leaping at the villain, missing two grabs but landing a knee on the villain's face, cracking the man's mask. He then grabbed All For One by the front of his suit, lifted him up, and drove him into the ground, "YOU WILL NOT HURT HIM THE SAME WAY YOU DID NANA!"

"There's that spirit!" All For One laughed as he hacked up blood, reached up and grabbed All Might, before headbutting him.

Both hero and villain winced at the attack but the momentary stun gave All For One the time he needed to rise to his feet and slam a fist into All Might's stomach, the pro coughed up a liter right then and there.

"Sorry, did I touch a soft spot after striking that nerve?" The villain taunted before elbowing All Might into the ground, "You heroes, your "righteousness" is always your undoing." All For One grabbed All Might by his boots, crushing the limbs as tight as he could, and swung All Might away, "Like mentor like student, right All Might?!"

The Symbol of Peace groaned, struggling to his feet, "I… I can't give… up…" The sound of a helicopter's spinning blades reached his ears and All Might knew that the entire world was watching. "I can't let the world down… I have to get up…" With a wheeze and hack of blood, the pro rose and stared his nemesis down.

"I bet you're giving me quite the nasty glare right now, All Might. I can't entirely tell, since you tore my eyes out, but I can bet my guess is quite accurate." All For One laughed.

"My mistake back then was going for your eyes. Today… I'm not done until your heart's beating in my hands…" His clenched fists squeezed as he mustered as much of One For All's embers as he could.

"Quite the phrase for a hero."

"Quite the talk for a deadman."

The two rushed each other, All Might sent a right hook that All For One ducked under before nailing All Might in the side. All Might then kicked in All For One's leg— sending the villain onto a knee before the pro nailed the villain right in the face— a satisfying crack echoing in the dead of night.

"There's that anger!" All For One whipped back to All Might, grinning before retaliating with his own attack from his giant arm that All Might barely blocked with his arm, wincing at the force, before going for a straight jab that All For One's face which the villain blocked, "Come on! Predictable! Predictable! Give me a challenge!"

"I'll give you more than that!" All Might grabbed the offending limb, pulling hard and making the villain stumble— giving him ample time to hit the man with a right cross.

There was no thinking, no strategy, no actions that were exchanged. Each man just wanted to make the other hurt in ways that had never been done before. All For One was out for revenge against the man that had ruined everything he had ever built up, the man that had crumpled his body and his empire. All Might was fighting to make sure the ghost from his past stayed exactly that, a damn ghost.

"I knew I was riling you up going after your successor, but I thought you'd be as upset when we fought six years ago, but you're soooo slow!" All For One accented the word with a strike that All Might met with his own fist, the two limbs clashed and it was All Might that came out short— being sent flying back. "And I haven't even revealed my big secret yet, All Might!"

The pro dragged himself up, "Big secret? What are you talking about?" His brows narrowed, "Or are you just using underhanded tricks to get into my head?! That's exactly something you would do!"

"Unfortunately for you, this secret is completely true, All Might, and it's the true identity of the League's face— Tomura Shigaraki!"

All Might ground his teeth, "Your protege, what about him?" He was stalling for him, trying to muster his embers for a final attack but the energy just wasn't coming to him.

"His true identity." All For One smiled that disgusting grin that sent shivers down All Might's spine, "I mean… really, it's quite funny." All For One shook his head as he laughed to himself, "To think… the next generation's greatest villain would be the grandson of your own sworn mentor?! It's beautiful isn't it?"

All the color had drained from All Might's face, the cold chill of the night flooded straight into his veins, and his god damn heart felt like it had stopped.

"W–What…?"

All For One paused, "No retort? No remark? Nothing to say?!" The villain closed the distance and struck All Might hard, sending the pro sliding along the ground as he called on his power to keep himself sturdy, but his reserves were drawing to a close faster than he thought.

"But, yes All Might. The grandson of your precious mentor, Tenko Shimura, was nurtured by me into a great villain, and he will be the one to tear this accursed hero centered society apart and put villains on top!" All For One cheered.

The villain's jeers were all All Might could hear as steam began wafting off of his body, despite his attempts at holding his body, his sheer shock was the final nail in the coffin for his time limit as in front of the entire world, Toshinori Yagi was laid out to dry.

"And now the entire world knows you for what you truly are All Might!" All For One's laughter echoed in the demolished state of Kamino Ward while the helicopter circled around them. "Today marks the start of the dismantling of the society you fought so hard for! For the peace you so covet like an ant does a crumb of food!"

"I…" Toshinori couldn't find anything, no warmth, no strength, no power. Just… emptiness.

All For One paused at the broken state of the man before him before shrugging, "Well, I'd hoped for a tad more entertainment, but if you're already broken then I suppose I shall finish the job." It was only a moment later that All For One slammed his fist into Toshinori— sending the man sailing away.

---

They all watched the giant screen in the center, the entire crowd crying their hearts out as All Might seemingly lay lifeless a ways away from All For One's feet, Izuku couldn't believe what he was seeing, yet he did not cry. He was frozen. His friends looked at him, remembering the man they were seeing as Mr. Yagi, Izuku's personal trainer.

Neito glanced at his friend, "Midoriya…."

Tetsu clenched his teeth, "Ain't that…?"

Shinso shook his head, "It can't be…"

Todoroki stared at the screen in shock, "All Might's… done."

Bakugo couldn't even feel himself breathing, the man he thought was the pinnacle of heroism— the guy that always won— had just been decimated by a villain. And not only that, he had… shrunk. He looked completely powerless, like a skeleton that had been animated beyond death, "What the hell is going on…"

Toga blinked at the screen, trying to make sense of what she was seeing before her and taking note of the hero students' reactions.

Reiko couldn't help but feel her heart clench at the scene, and then suddenly everything made sense, why that man was in the infirmary after the USJ, how familiar his voice was, why he was able to come to UA whenever he pleased, his association with All Might, him being Izuku's personal trainer. All of it clicked suddenly. "Izuku…IZU!" She yelled when she saw the boy had begun floating in the air, lightning dancing off of his skin.

"All…. All Might… TOSHI-SENSEI!" The boy cried, people around backing away in shock as he seemed encapsulated in his quirk. Time slowed as those closest to him reached for an arm, a leg, his shirt, something to keep him grounded.

Neito cursed as he reached for the boy's sleeve.

Tetsu tried to throwing himself at Izuku

Reiko cried as her fingers grazed his arm for a mere moment.

But all he needed was a moment, and then he was gone.

BOOM

Those closest to him were sent flying back as Izuku exploded from where he was. One For All burned within him as he soared back towards the Nomu Factory, 'What am I doing?' He asked himself as he was flying— seriously flying! Once again, his body had moved without him thinking, just like it had when he first met All Might.

Meddling, even when you aren't asked to, is the true essence of a hero!

The familiar memory and feeling made him clench his right fist— cursing the pain and forcing it to the back of his mind as nothing but his raw emotion took over. The bulky bracelet on his wrist beeped to life, "Quirk exceeding established parameters: changing to gauntlet mode" The Full Gauntlet expanded across his right arm, 'I still have one use left!' And he was gonna make the most of it.

All For One laughed, he felt like he was dying from all the damage he had taken through the fine, but at least that fool All Might was finally gone. "You lost…" Toshinori managed to get out as All For One sighed and laughed some more, "They'll— come— for you…"

"Oh no no no…" A smile split his face, a wide almost cheshire grin on his caved in head. "The only one that has lost today is hero society, you have lost. You and your broken system, All Might, and we both know that there isn't anyone else in Japan that can stop me!"

Izuku grit his teeth as he pulled his arm back, "United…."

"Even if I'm captured today, Tomura Shigaraki will carry on my legacy! Tenko Shimura, the grandson of Nana Shimura, will be the greatest villain this world has ever known! My Successor!" It was poetic, and truly downright villainous. "And there isn't anything you or anyone else can do to stop me!"

Toshinori's eyes widened, "...mido…"

With his arm locked into position, Izuku twisted his hips, trying to muster up as much force as he could, "States of…"

All For One paused, "It appears the blood loss has gotten to you already, come now All Might, you're the strongest there is aren't you? Speak up!" After so much time, after all the amount of years he had lived cripplied and barely being able to live, this felt so good.

Toshinori, with all the strength he had left, lifted an arm and pointed to a green star in the sky, "...young…. Mido…riya…."

"What?"

Something crash landed right behind All For One, making him turn in alarm to see the same damn boy he had been torturing not even a half hour prior. His eyes held rage, rage that burned deeper than any flame he had ever seen, brighter than other past One For All carriers he had met, a sneer that betrayed the ideals of All Might, and a fist that was going right for All For One's face.

"sssssssSSSSSMAAAAAAASHHHH!" Izuku's fist slammed right into All For One's skull, picking the man up off his feet and forcing him down into the ground, farther and farther— so far the man's shape left an indent in the dirt. Wind— tornadoes— kicked up as nearby buildings, debris, and even Toshinori himself were sent hurtling away while Izuku steamrolled the All For One's head into the crust of the Earth.

The surrounding pros shielded themselves as Izuku's attack spawned a class 5 tornado, the news helicopter getting caught and thrown from the force. Gran Torino had to move despite how much agony his body was in or risk going flying, Endeavor's flames being snuffed out, entire buildings being knocked away.

The power was immense, rivaling All Might and shaking the ground, causing an earthquake that shook the surrounding infrastructure like a tremor as his power began to die down.

When it was done, Izuku stood in the center of a crater, the Symbol of Fear at his feet. Unconscious. Maybe even dead. He didn't know. He didn't care.

The remnants of the Full Gauntlet slid off of Izuku's wrist as he bolted towards All Might, the man launched a few dozen meters that Izuku's tired body tried to close as quickly as possible. "T—Toshi-sensei!" He skidded into a crouch, looking over his mentor and grimacing at all the blood, "I—I've got you!"

"Y—Young… Izuku…" Toshinori smiled up at him, even with blood staining his teeth "I… have never… been more proud."

"Don't talk! Just— I'll… I'll get you to a hospital and—"

"I'm… unsure… if I'll have time…"

"Don't say things like that!" Izuku's eyes bubbled as he summoned One For All, wincing at even his now casual five percent sparked pain across his entire body, "I'll get you to the nearest General Hospital and—"

"You're in no condition for such a task." Izuku froze as a familiar heat burned behind him and he turned, seeing Japan's Number Two hero standing there with his usual gruff expression. The man's eyes landed on Toshinori and he clicked his tongue, "I… I don't know what happened to you, All Might. How you could disgrace yourself by losing to a villain in such a fashion in front of the world. But I won't let you die here." The pro crouched and gathered All Might up in his arms.

"Endeavour, I…"

"Quiet, you buffoon… Let me get you to a hospital."

Izuku could only stare, off to the side, as fire erupted from Endeavour's feet and the man began to soar, heading in the direction that Izuku assumed the nearest hospital was. He hoped they got there in time. He hoped All Might would be okay. He hoped…

"He'll be alright…"

Izuku jumped, and shrieked, at the voice next to him, turning down and seeing Gran Torino. The old man huffed, "You get that scared over just someone sneaking up on you? Maybe Toshinori did choose wrong. You're a wimp."

Izuku's brows furrowed but he just shook his head and looked away, "I know he'll be okay, I'm just worried. Also I did just pound All For One's face into the dirt, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah…" The old man sighed, "Thanks for that by the way. Quite the satisfying sight to see." Gran Torino laughed for a short while, "You've given me a real gift, squirt."

"I'm still taller than you."

"Ah, so you're a talk-backer now? Maybe you ought to have another lesson in humility?"

"No! I'm good, I'm good…"

"Better be…"

The two stood in silence, the world finally calming down around them as police cruisers came into view, ambulances drove in, a news helicopter dropped down. But Izuku didn't care for any of it. He just wanted to see his friends, go home, hug his mom, sleep in his bed. He didn't even care for the injuries littering his body but now he really felt them with his adrenaline worn off.

His heart was beating in his ears, his mouth tasted like metal, the wound in his forearm was itching in a way that wouldn't go away even if he scratched it, his lungs left heavy, his body tired, his eyes droopy.

His fingers shook, and Izuku looked down to see blood dripping off his digits.

He… did he kill All For One?

What did that mean if he did?

He had never wanted to kill anyone. Sure, maybe one day he'd have to, maybe in a couple years, but now? He… he hadn't wanted to, but that was a lie, wasn't it? He had wanted to make All For One hurt just as much as he had hurt both him and All Might, he had felt no remorse when pounding the villain's head in, nothing but… satisfaction.

What did that say about him as a hero?

"I can deal with the press if you want, kiddo." Gran Torino's gruff voice reached his ears, knocking Izuku out of his musing "Nezu can too. He's almost here, and he'll look out for you since you're one of his students."

"Yeah… I'd appreciate that." Izuku trailed.

"How about we get you over to that police cruiser and then to the hospital?" Gran Torino spoke gently, "We can… have you talk to someone if you—"

"Is he dead?" Izuku asked suddenly, "Did I—"

"He was a walking corpse kiddo, I saw him die six years ago. He was due anytime now. Well, I'd say overdue actually. And even then… you did the world a service by getting rid of him." Gran Torino shook his head, "He doesn't deserve your sympathy…"

Izuku tried to accept it, but he just couldn't. Not today.

"I want… to go home."

Gran Torino nodded, placing a hand on his back and leading him over towards the flashing lights of the police cruiser, "Let's get you checked out first and then I'll get you home kid."

"Thanks… Torino."

"Call me Sorahiko, kid."

"Thanks, Sora…" If Gran Torino had a problem with the nickname then he didn't vocalize it, and that was something Izuku was grateful for. A little mundane action after the whirlwind of events, and hopefully the night would end with him climbing into a nice bed and sleeping for an entire week.

He just hoped his mother and friends wouldn't be too angry with him…

Notes:

Hey guys just wanted to give a quick apology, I had wanted to get this chapter out two weeks ago but with school starting I just kind of got busy, but I made the chapter just a bit longer so I hope that makes up for it.

As for the chapter itself? I loved writing this, Bakugo finally kinda not being a dick (he still is but he's learning) some of Izuku's friends returning the favor, Izuku finally getting to Himiko, All For One just being present, his fight with All Might, I'd been wanting to write a lot of this for a long time, and yes I'd planned for Izuku to be the one to take out All For One for a while as well.

In this story, Izuku is THE rising story of young heroism, and him taking down All For One cements that, even though it was entirely thanks to the Full Gauntlet. And that will have ramifications for the story moving fowards.

As for the reactions of Izuku's family and friends? We'll see all of that next time. And don't worry, I'm still working on the IzuToga fic, I wanna write four more chapters before I start publishing so the fic should hopefully be out around Halloween time or even before then if I'm not behind schedule.

Again, thanks to everyone for reading and until next time.

Jay out!