MHA: Redux

by ViridianVillain

Summary:

On the morning of the entrance exam, as Izuku Midoriya accepts One For All, something goes wrong. Now a fan of My Hero Academia from our world inhabits Izuku's body, merging both their memories and personality's. How will they deal with dreams of heroism and the knowledge of a dark future not yet set in stone?

Chapter 1: Entrance Exam

Notes:

Comments help with motivation so make sure to leave one!

I held my head as suddenly it throbbed with pain unlike any I've ever experienced before. A constant ringing had filled my ears but as it slowly lessened I could hear someone yelling. Slowly I opened my eyes revealing…. sand?

Looking around I realized I was on my knees at some kind of beach. Also strangely I didn't have a shirt on. ‘Wait a minute, I wasn't ever this ripped! What's going on and why is there some buff dude looking worried over me?’

“Midoriya?! Midoriya are you alright?!” He said looking panicked. The guy was massive, like he bench pressed bears for fun. Honestly his height was even more intimidating, he had to be at least seven feet at minimum although it was kinda hard to tell with his haircut. The guy had blonde hair with two tall strands that were standing straight up. ‘Who does this guy think he is? All… All-Mig…’ “All-Might?!”

“My boy!” ‘Holy shit it's All-Might! He's right in front of me!’ “Are you alright? You suddenly collapsed after taking One For All!”

‘Wait, after what? Did that mean- am I Izuku Midoriya?! How?! Reincarnation is real?!’

“Midoriya you're looking pale, do you need the hospital?!” All-Might looked ready to pick me up and rush me there himself. “The entrance exam can wait if you are feeling unwell.”

‘The entrance exam? That's right, it happens right after Midoriya gets One for All.’

Pulling myself off my knees, I look at All-Might and smile reassuringly. “I'm fine All-Might, just didn't expect the backlash so soon.”

“Backlash? Are you sure you're okay?” The number one hero looked at me with concern in his eyes. It was clear the last ten months had built quite the bond between Izuku and his mentor Toshinori.

Memories began flashing to the front of my mind of our time together. It was worsening my headache but ten years of hiding bruises from mom helped my acting. “I'm sure, it just took me off guard is all.”

All-Might didn't look completely convinced but nodded nonetheless. “If you are sure, Young Midoriya, then I won't stop you.”

Putting my shirt back on and grabbing my bag, I look at the hero. “Thank you All-Might, for believing in me.” Moving towards the pro hero I gave him a hug. “You're the only one who ever really did.”

“Of course my boy.” Ruffling my hair, All-Might looked at his watch before pulling away from the hug. “Now, I believe you have an exam to attend? Better hurry or you will be late!”

Realizing he was right I started running home, but stopped after a few steps. Looking at him from over my shoulder, I showed him a look of pure determination. “I'll show everyone at UA that you were right to choose me, even if they don't know that you did! That's a promise so you just wait and watch me All-Might!”

My name is Izuku Midoriya, I lived a life before this but that doesn't matter. This was my story, the story of how I became the world's number one hero and future Symbol of Hope!

—----------------------------------------------------------

Here I was, UA. The starting line for famous pro-heros like Edgeshot, Present Mic, Best Jeanist, Endeavor and even All-Might!

Gripping the straps of my yellow backpack I steadied my nerves. After today there would be no going back, I knew what awaited me down this path. War, death, pain, loss, within the year Japan would fall into chaos.

The only one who could prevent this fate was me. Even if I might not be the same Midoriya from before One For All I would still become a hero! This had to be the reason I was brought here, if I couldn't save others then well, I didn't have any reason to be alive did I?

“Supid Deku.”

Hearing that familiar voice I quickly turned around revealing the great explosion murder god himself, Katsuki Bakugo. “K-Kacchan.”

Making his way around me Kacchan sneered. “Get out of my way before I set you on fire.”

Watching Kacchan make his way towards UA I thought about our relationship. It was most definitely abusive, no doubt about that. I mean the guy literally told me, or past me I suppose, to jump off a roof. Still, even after all Kacchan has done I couldn't hate him.

Maybe it was the hopes of a naive child but part of me wants nothing more than to finally be accepted by him. Kacchan was everything I ever wanted to be, strong, determined and never afraid to be himself. On the outside he might be unbelievably arrogant but I can see past that. The fire in his eyes that promised he would become the number one hero was the realest thing in the world and I wanted to stand by his side when we both got there.

Snapping out of those thoughts I start making my way inside. After a few steps however my feet catch on themselves and I start falling to the ground. ‘What cruel god has forsaken me.’

Right before I would have hit the ground I felt a hand slap my backpack. Suddenly I found myself suspended in the air, my limbs proving useless as they flailed about in reflex. “Oh are you ok? Sorry about having used my quirk on you without your permission but I figured you wouldn't mind. It would be bad luck if you fell before even getting inside the building right?”

Feeling her grab onto my shoulders I relax slightly as I'm soon back on my feet, the very strange feeling of weightlessness leaving me right after. Turning towards my savior I feel my breath catch in my throat slightly. Standing in front of me was a teenage girl with brown hair and rosy pink cheeks. Half of me was in awe, it wasn't everyday you met real life characters from one of your favorite animes after all, and the other Izuku half was feeling quite nervous at the very cute girl that was staring at him.

Even still, I wasn't quite socially inept enough to stay silent like the og Midoriya had. “Thank you very much.”

“Of course!” Sending me a smile that caused my heart to quickly skip a beat she continued speaking. “Isn't this all way nerve-racking?”

“Yeah it really is, isn't it? I feel like I've spent my whole life working towards this moment and now I'm here.” And that was true wasn't it? Past Izuku from the very first time he saw All-Might’s debit video knew he wanted to be a hero. Even when the boy found out he was quirkless at the age of four it didn't stop him.

Izuku Midoriya more than anything else had an unbreakable will and a terrifying amount of intelligence. The boy didn't have a quirk but instead of falling into despair he instead used his mind to learn about support equipment. If he couldn't have his own quirk then he would just level the playing field. His almost constant muttering? That was because his mind ran at a faster pace than others. His obsession with quirks? Inside this world where everyone had random powers knowing what your enemy is capable of was the difference between living and dying. Honestly society was lucky Izuku is such a good person. If he was a villain… well it wouldn't end well for anyone I'll tell you that.

“Yeah I know what you mean. All our future's depend on this exam…” Looking like she was lost in thought for a moment, Urakraka shakes her head. “My name's Uraraka Ochako, what about you?”

Smiling at the slightly shorter girl I give her my full name. “Midoriya Izuku.”

“Well Midoriya, let's head inside. Don't want to be late after all!” Turning towards the building, Uraraka went up the stairs while I followed on her right. We talked some more while making our way to the test room. Giving a small laugh at one of her jokes I smiled a little wider. ‘This is gonna be the start of a beautiful friendship.’

—----------------------------------------------------------

Having finished the first part of the entrance exam, the written test, I found myself sitting next to Kacchan just like in the anime. I was honestly a bit surprised by how easy the test had been but considering how much time past Izuku had spent studying for it, I wasn't all that shocked. Present Mic was currently giving his speech about the practical exam but most of my attention wasn't focused on him, I knew all the things he was going to say after all.

Instead I was thinking of something that was much more important, the future. Obviously I couldn't expect everything to go the same way as in the story, not that I wanted it to. Now the question was what should be changed? Some things needed to happen no matter what. The formation of the League of Villains was one of them. If they didn't band together then I would probably never be able to find their members.

Most of them were completely unknown to the public so tracking them down as a soon to be hero student with no connections? That's next to impossible. However, there was a problem. Many members of the League only joined due to Stains video and that only happened due to Ida tracking down the Hero Killer after he had crippled his brother, the pro-hero Ingenium.

Was I really going to let that happen? I mean logically that was the right move, it was one hero vs the untold numbers of people that would be saved with those villains captured. I know that if past Midoriya was here instead of me he wouldn't hesitate to save Ingenium now but I'm different. Call me cold, cruel or evil but if it's between those two choices… I need the League of Villains to form.

“Excuse me sir but I have a question!” Being snapped out of my thoughts by my sure to be future source of guilt, I look forward and see Ida interrupting Present Mic's speech. “On the printout you've listed four types of Villains, not three. With all respect if this is an error on UA material it's most shameful! We are exemplary students and we expect the best from Japan's most notable school! A mistake such as this simply can't stand!” ‘Jeez, I forgot how strict Ida was this early into the timeline. Chill out.’

“Additionally!” ‘Crap, it seems canon won't change so easily after all!’ “You with the very unkempt hair! You haven't been paying any attention this entire time! If you can't bother taking this seriously then leave now!”

Feeling annoyed by his words I huffed slightly in response. I liked Ida for the most part but he needed to learn how to not take everything quite so seriously. “Maybe if you had waited a minute instead of interrupting Present Mic he would have answered your question. I'm sure there's a reason for the seeming mistake.”

Some laughs could be heard from the other students at my words but I paid them no mind. It wasn't my intention to make fun of Ida but it seems they didn't care. Seeing the reaction of his peers, Idas' face flushed red before he sat back down. “Alright, alright! Examinee number 7111! Thanks for calling in with your request!”

Seeing Present Mic fall back into his speech I once again began to space out. Soon enough the orientation had ended and everyone made their way out the room. ‘I'm sorry Ida… I can't save your brother. I hope you can forgive me.’

—----------------------------------------------------------

Stepping off the school bus that drove me to Battle Center Beta, I stared with awe at the massive wall that separated us from the mock city. Back in my old life I lived in a small town so the towering skyscrapers that I could see even from here were completely new to me.

Wearing the exact same blue tracksuit from the show I looked around at my competitors. Most of them I didn't recognize as they were probably, as Kacchan would say, extras, but some of them I did. There was Shoji with his six arms, Ayoama and finally Uraraka who looked to be very nervous at the moment.

Hoping to help calm her down I start moving towards her when an arm grabs my shoulder. Turning around I see Ida who was wearing a set of exercise clothes staring at me. “She is clearly trying to focus on the trials that we will soon undergo. What are you planning to do? Distract her to ruin any chances to succeed?”

Again annoyance flared up at Ida’s words but I didn't let it show. He would get better, I knew, but still it irritated me. “For your information, I was going to wish her good luck.” Not waiting for a response I brush his hand off and make my way over to the pink cheeked girl. “Hey.”

Snapping out of her trance at a familiar voice, Uraraka's brief surprise was soon replaced by a small smile. “Oh it's you, hi Midoriya!”

“I wanted to wish you good luck, although I'm sure you won't need it. Just relax ok? Being super nervous won't help you pass after all!” Watching Uraraka process my words, I see her smile grow wider. However, before the girl could reply I heard what I was waiting for.

“Right, let's start this-”

Before Present Mic could even finish his first sentence I pumped One For All into my entire body and leapt over the crowd. The Midoriya from the show didn't learn Full Cowling until his internship with Gran Torino but with all my future knowledge I wouldn't have to wait that long. Feeling five percent of All-Might's power flow through my veins I ran into the mock city as I could hear Present Mic yell from behind.

“He's got the right idea! Remember folks there are no countdowns In real battles! Get a move on already! You're wasting valuable air time!”

Racing through the streets faster than even humanly possible I let a smile form onto my face. Both sides of me, the old and the new, was roaring with excitement. I had my very own quirk and it felt amazing! Looking to my right I suddenly spotted a large green robot that was traveling on four scorpion-like limbs.
“That looks like one of the two point robots!”

Quickly making my way over to the machine I clench my fists, pull my arm back and smash Into the Two-Pointer. Suddenly, oil and scrap metal flew wildly into the air as the machine of mechanical might broke into a million pieces.

Stopping myself in awe I stared at the broken pile of parts for only a moment before running to my next target. Each step felt like one away from the useless Deku of the past and one to the Izuku Midoriya of the future. I had made a promise to All-Might and I wouldn't break it!

—----------------------------------------------------------

Inside the camera room of UA, where its staff were watching the entrance exam, Toshinori Yagi better known as All-Might by the general public couldn't help but feel pride bubble up in his chest. His successor could be seen on the screen helping another boy who was currently fighting a three point robot and losing badly.

His successor, the kind boy he was, didn't just break the robot apart and move on like most would have. No, that was far too little help for his liking. Instead he had shown the tired eye and purple haired boy the robot's weak points. THAT, of course, had caught Nezu’s attention which was never a good thing in his opinion.

Young Midoriya has always been smart and that much was clear to Toshinori from the very moment they met. He had flipped through the boy's notebook after all. The hero analysis he had seen was better than some professionals he worked with before, almost scarily so. That was why, as much as he hated himself afterwards for it, he had said what he said on that fateful day in Mustafa.

With hindsight, Toshinori could admit he had made a very, very bad mistake in doing that. He had completely shattered Young Midoriya in that moment, on a rooftop of all places! If the boy had jumped because of his words… Toshinori didn't know if he could have lived with himself. He had hoped his words would persuade Young Midoriya to choose another career path, his bright mind would have been wasted as a quirkless hero, but luckily the boy chased after that sludge villain.

Honestly Toshinori doesn't understand how he could have been such an Idiot. He had been quirkless once too, he knew what it was like, the bullying, the looks of pity. That had been over forty years ago however and with every generation less and less quirkless were born. He could only imagine how bad it was now.

“He's really taking this seriously huh? Look at the little guy go!” Snapping out of his thoughts by Miss Midnight's words, Toshinori looked at the screen once again. Young Midoriya had just broken through another Two-Pointer and the feeling of pride filled his chest again. He truly had picked the perfect successor. Young Midoriya seemed to grasp One For All almost on instinct, impressing Toshinori greatly.

He had been very worried about the exam but it seemed his concern was unfounded. The boy hadn't any time to train with his new quirk and it would have been quite inconvenient if he failed. Of course if that did happen the boy would just go into general education and then Toshinori would spend everyday personally training him until the sports festival but still, it would have been very inconvenient.

“Ectoplasm, would you please go and release the zero pointer into Battle Center Beta? I fear we may run out of robots soon!” Turning his head at Nezu's words, Toshinori watched as Ectoplasm lifted the glass that was blocking one of the red buttons and pushed it down.

‘Good luck Young Midoriya, you'll need it.’

—----------------------------------------------------------

Smashing through another one-pointer I look around to see no other robots nearby. Taking a moment to catch my breath l let out a huff of exhaustion. If I had done my math correctly I should have about forty-ish villain points plus whatever amount of rescue points they assign me. I could safely say I've passed the exam.

Finding Shinso here was surprising as I don't remember seeing him earlier but I suppose he slipped past me. Hopefully he gets in the hero course now with my help. Back in my first life I always wondered how people with quirks like Hagakure's or Komori’s got into UA so I took the time to examine one of the robots.

As it turns out they're actually purposely built to be weaker than they should be. That's not to say their bad designs of course but some of the wielding in certain spots was messed with, making them easy to break if you knew where to hit exactly. Most examinees wouldn't notice but with my knowledge on the support field I knew what to look for. Hopefully I didn't shoot myself in the foot by telling Shinso what to do, if one of my future classmates don't make it in because of me… well it depends who it was. I wouldn't mind if the grapist wasn't in UA.

Suddenly I was snapped out of my thoughts by a loud explosion in the distance followed by the ground beginning to shake. At first my mind immediately went to earthquake as they were common in Japan but turning towards the source I realized what was happening. In the dust that the explosion had caused a giant mechanical nightmare could be seen. It was larger than even the surrounding skyscrapers.

Suddenly the metal monstrosity pulled back its arm and punched. The wind immediately changed with such force and I had to cover my eyes as dust threatened to fly into them.

Opening my eyes back up I looked in horror as the entire street turned to rubble. Windows from nearby buildings were fully shattered and glass was everywhere. The other examinees who were watching quickly started to run and I felt the strong urge to do the same. As the dust cleared more and more however a rather familiar set of brown hair could be seen down the street. Uraraka had been pinned down by a piece of rubble from a nearby building.

Hearing her scream of pain my feet moved before I could think. Red lines appeared on my skin as green lightning danced all across my body. Both me and the zero-pointer had begun their race towards Uraraka In a game of life and death. Absentmindedly I notice Ida running away on my right as we share a look but I pay him no mind, my sole focus being on saving Uraraka and nothing else.

With great speed I outpace the zero-pointer and reach the target first. Uraraka had been desperately trying to free herself to no avail. Grabbing the small pillar of concert that had trapped her I lift with all my power and throw the piece of rubble away. Picking up the girl with One For All I quickly make my escape, the zero-pointer following close behind us.

“Less than two minutes remaining!”

Hearing the voice of Present Mic I quickly say a swear under my breath. Looking behind me I watch as the zero-pointer ignores all of the other examinees and follows me exclusively, slowly catching up. ‘Goddammit Nezu! I can't keep running for that long or it'll catch us!’

Looking down at the injured Uraraka and then towards the zero-pointer I make up my mind. Preparing myself for what was to come next I take a small breath. “I'm going to need a favor Uraraka, make sure to catch me.”

“Catch you? What do you mean catch you?!”

Setting her down onto the ground as gently as possible I give Uraraka a smile. “Don't worry, I trust you.” Looking towards my target I pump One For All up to a hundred percent and leep.

Pain immediately flared in my legs but I didn't care, the adrenaline working through my veins and the thought of saving someone had made it tolerable. The rush of air brushed against my face as I quickly approached the machine of monumental proportions. Remembering the words All-Might had said to me I clenched my buttcheeks and yelled one word: “Smasshh!!”

Before my eyes the zero-pointers head caved inwards as the very clouds seemed to move. I allowed myself a smile of victory as the robot collapsed backwards and away from Uraraka. Soon enough however, gravity started to pull me downwards. Watching as my limbs flailed uselessly in the wind, pain filled my mind as I fell out of both the sky and consciousness.

Chapter 2: The Inbetween

Notes:

Comments help with motivation so make sure to leave one!

Sitting up in my bed I rubbed my temple as I felt the start of a severe headache. ‘I just had the weirdest dream…’ With a sluggish pace I look around only to not find the familiar sight of my bedroom but a nurse's office. Suddenly the events of today started to play in my mind, from waking up on Takoba beach to taking on the zero-pointer and breaking my bones.

Sighing slightly I relied on my favorite coping mechanism, humor. “It would seem my long and passionate relationship with this hospital bed has begun. Nice to meet you buddy.”

“I do hope for your sake that's a joke sonny.” Jolting at the unexpected presence I turn to the source. Sitting atop an office chair in the room's right corner was a short woman. She had grey hair and a long lab coat. This is the Youthful Heroine: Recovery Girl. “It isn't even the first day yet and you're already here.”

“Re-Recovery Girl! I uh, I'm sorry?”

Shaking her head, Recovery Girl sighed. “Just don't make a habit of it, God knows Toshinori did when he was enrolled into this school. He came to see you, but unfortunately you hadn't woken up quite yet so he left for his patrol.”

Feeling slightly confused by who she meant, I stared at her with curious eyes. “Toshinori?”

Hearing my words Recovery Girl looked at me strangely for a couple moments. “Your mentor, All-Might.” Seeing the understanding flash on my face, Recovery Girl looked annoyed. “Did that blonde oaf really not tell you his name?!”

Sorting through my memories before One For All I realize something, All-Might never really told me his name. Sure I knew what his name was but that's only because of my past life. I always just called him All-Might and he didn't say anything so… “No… it never came up.”

“I can't believe-!” Taking in a breath, Recovery Girl quickly composed herself before speaking again. “Don't take it too personally sonny, that man doesn't know how to separate work from personal life. I'm sure Toshinori simply did not think to tell you. Me and that oaf will be having words later today however, I promise that!”

Shifting uncomfortably in the bed I had stayed quiet for several moments before speaking. “If you know All-Might's name then do you…?”

“Know about your quirk One For All? Yes. All the teachers at UA know about the time limit All-Might has but only myself and the principal Nezu know the real truth about One For All.”

“Alright…” Looking downwards towards my legs I see that my limbs were completely fine. Part of me found it bizarre, I've broken bones before my injuries should have taken months to recover, and the other half was more used to the strangeness of this world. Having your broken bones healed in an afternoon seemed small when literal reality warpers existed. “So am I free to go home now?”

“Hmm yes you can go home but before that take one of these.” Holding out my hand the Youthful Heroine gave me several differently colored gummy bears. Quickly swallowing a cherry flavored one I felt my body suddenly jolt with energy, like I chugged a large cup of coffee. “My quirk, Heal, works by increasing the speed at which the body repairs injuries. Unfortunately the process requires lifeforce, so afterwards the recipient becomes tired.”

“And the gummies help with that.” Nodding at my words, Recovery Girl put the jar of gummy bears back onto a nearby shelf. With that now settled I throw the sheet covering me off and make my way to the door after saying a quick thanks and goodbye to Recovery Girl.

—----------------------------------------------------------

One week after the entrance exam had ended I found myself sitting on my bed reading some old Batman comics. I had just finished my morning run and as today was Saturday I didn't have anything else to do. As it turns out, being two hundred some years into the future has nice benefits. Pretty much everything that was around during my first round on earth has entered the public domain and with the mighty power of the internet nothing ever really dies.

Unfortunately however, it did seem that super hero comics pretty much went extinct after the emergence of quirks. I suppose that nobody cared much after super heroes became real…

So far the only thing I found that doesn't exist here is My Hero Academia itself which duh, of course it doesn't exist. Pretty much everything else is free game though and I've already got through the entirety of Overlord. Not having to wait for Maruyama to finish the series is great. Superpowers are cool but I think the best part of this reincarnation is all the stuff that's come out in the two centuries since I died. Another bonus is that I'm bilingual so I can speak and read/write both Japanese and English.

“Izuku! Izuku it's here! You got a letter Izuku!”

‘It's about time.’ Putting my cell phone down I got out of bed and made my way over to the door. Opening it revealed Inko Midoriya who was pacing back and forth in the hallway and by the look of her she was way more nervous about this than me. “Mom? You alright there?”

“Here!” Shoving the envelope into my hands mom turned around and ran away to the living room. ‘OK? That was weird. Why did she...?”

Shaking my head at her antics I quickly close the door and walk over to my desk. Sitting in the chair I grab a nearby pair of scissors and cut open the wax seal. Tipping the envelope over a small circular device falls out and then suddenly the image of All-Might appeared.

“Booyah! I am here! As a projection now!”

Seeing my mentor and soon to be teacher I smile a bit wider before proceeding to freak out at the LITERAL HOLOGRAM THATS IN MY ROOM. THIS IS SO COOL! “I know it's been a while but with great power must also come a great amount of paperwork!” A small cough comes from All-Might's mouth. “I must also apologize to you, Young Midoriya.”

“The truth is I did not come to this city just to fight villains. You're looking at the newest UA factory member!” Suddenly a hand comes into the frame. “Huh? Yes, what's the matter? Who is showboating? Sorry, I'll wrap it up but I want to show him something first. What? I'll need to do how many of these?! Ugh… moving on.”

“Firstly I want to congratulate you. During the practical exam you managed to rack up forty nine vilain points! That's already a respectable amount but wait, there's even more!” Behind All-Might a holo screen appeared showing all the people I helped. In one of them a boy had tripped and was about to be crushed but right before that he was pushed out the way. In the next, a girl was hiding behind a wall while she nursed a bloody knee. One of the Two-Points was about to find her before being smashed apart. Along with those, another video played that showed me teaching Shinso how to beat the robots and exploit their weak points.

“There aren't words to describe how proud of you I am right now, my boy. Being a hero isn't just about how fast you can defeat villains but at its very core it's about helping other people! You displayed the true values of a hero when many others would have simply turned away!”

“But even more than that when you had been faced with seemingly impossible odds-” Just then the screen changed once again as it now showed me racing towards the zero-pointer to save Uraraka. “You put aside your doubt and fear to save a person in need just like the first day we met! And it didn't go unappreciated!”

Suddenly the image of All-Might was replaced by a video of Uraraka talking to Present Mic. “Uhmm do you have a sec? Sorry to interpret, but do you remember the boy with the green hair? It was really messy and he had freckles. His name was Midoriya Izuku… and I wanted to know if it was possible to transfer some of my points to him? If it… if it wasn't for me he wouldn't have had to waste his time… it's not fair that he has a lower score because of me! He saved me! Just give him my points!”

Once again the video had changed to show the number one hero. “More than any quirk it's one's actions that inspire others and you have done just that. Something that was not told to the examinees was that besides villain points there was another kind, rescue points! So it's for your heroic actions that UA has decided to award one hundred rescue points! Completely shattering even my old record!”

“So welcome Izuku, to your Hero Academy!”

—----------------------------------------------------------

The night after opening my acceptance letter I found myself back at Takoba beach. All-Might had called me and said he wanted to meet so under the moon's gaze I found myself jogging. Eventually I reached my destination and saw the pro-hero waiting on the sand in his skinny form. Seeing that he noticed me I wave to him and yell out in greeting. “Hey there All-Might!”

“All-Mights here?!” “No way! Where is he?!”

With blood spraying out of his mouth the hero in disguise looked panicked. Turning to where the voices had come from I saw a couple over by the nearby docks. “Why did you go and do that?! Tell them you were mistaken, quick!”

“Oh uh, sorry! It's just an All-Might cosplayer!”

“Ah, I wanted an autograph!” “That's lame!”

As the two random strangers had turned their attention away from us both me and All-Might sighed in quiet relief. However, All-Might soon changed his expression from relieved to guilty. “I suppose that's partly my fault. My boy, I'm sorry for not sharing my real name with you. I had honestly just forgotten, but that is not an excuse. Please forgive me young Midoriya!”

Watching as All-Might bowed his head I stood in shock for several moments. The symbol of peace, Japan's number one hero and the man I idolized for my whole life, was asking ME of all people for forgiveness! Smiling at the kind gesture I quickly give him a reply. “It's okay! I don't need you to apologize All-Might! Really!”

“It's not young Midoriya. You're my successor, we spent ten months together and yet I never thought to give you my name. So please take my apology and call me Toshinori whenever I am in this form or we are alone.”

“Alright, I accept your apology Toshinori.” As the disguised hero lifted his head I sent him a signature Izuku Midoriya smile. “So, why did you call me here? Is there something wrong?

“No, nothing like that. I wanted to congratulate you for getting into UA! Not only did you pass the written exam with flying colors but also the practical exam! I'm kind of sad my record was broken but since it was you? I'm ok with that.”

“Thanks Toshinori. I had to keep my promise after all. Go plus ultra right?” Punching the air at the school's motto I get a laugh out of him.

“That you did my boy but I should warn you.” Suddenly Toshinori's voice turned serious at his words. “Soon the public will find out that my record has been broken. I've convinced Nezu to push the announcement off until the first day of school but eventually they will find out what happened. Just be careful alright?”

Nodding at his words I smiled at his concern. “Don't worry I'll be alright. If I can handle killer robots then the media should be easy!” As the words left my mouth Toshinoris face softened. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“It's nothing my boy, I just noticed how much you've changed Is all. When we first met you could barely say a sentence without stuttering and now look at you, ready to take the world by the horns!” Suddenly a tear could be seen falling from Toshinoris right eye. “Why am I-?”

Closing the distance between us in a moment I wrapped the pro-hero in a hug. “Thank you, thank you for taking the chance on me…”

Feeling a longer set of arms engulf me I heard the soft yet kind voice of Japan's greatest- no, of my mentor fill the air. “You are the best one I ever took, my boy…”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Katsuki Bakugo was not having a good day.

School had just ended when suddenly one of the suckup teachers called both him and the damm nerd to the office. As it turns out he had actually applied to UA! Even worse, Deku had been accepted! Now his perfect origin story is ruined! But worst of all?! Somehow that damn nerd had got into the hero course! WITH HIM!

It shouldn't have been possible. How could he have gotten in without a quirk?! There is only one explanation Katsuki Bakugo could make sense of, that nerd must have cheated! Deku was always so smart! If anyone could find out a way to cheat the practical exam it was him!

That line of thinking was what led him to his current situation. He had cornered the nerd outside of school and was holding him against a back alley wall. He would get his answers, one way or another. “What did you do to pass the exam?! You must have cheated somehow right?! I'm supposed to be the first and only student from this crappy school to get into UA but you had to go and screw everything up!”

Katsuki Bakugo had expected some kind of rebuke to his words, whether the nerd would deny the truth or simply start crying was up to chance. However what he got instead was the last thing Katsuki Bakugo expected, silence.

Deku’s face was completely blank and it was so unlike the nerd that Bakugo had started to worry he broke him. Bakugo however wasn't one who liked to understand his emotions so he resulted to an easier one to process, pure anger. “I warned you not to apply Deku! So-!”

Suddenly his tirade was broken by the feeling of a hand on his arm. Looking down, Bakugo saw that the nerd had grabbed him. That was another thing unlike Deku. The other teen had never, ever dared to actually touch him before no matter how bad their arguments got. In his pure shock Bakugo simply listened to what he had to say for once.

“Is that all you care about Kacchan? A dumb origin story? Do you even care about saving people or is that just an excuse?” A cold and almost cruel tone had left the normally happy and cheery boy's mouth. “A person I respect greatly told me that I can become a hero, so that's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to be a hero because of some need to prove that I am superior to everyone else like you. I don't care about rankings or popularity, if I can help even one person then it's worth it. So like it or not you can't stop me, I won't let you.”

As the green haired, freckled boy pushed his classmate off him, Katsuki Bakugo didn't even attempt to stop Deku from leaving the alley. In his mind there was only one sentence playing over and over again like a broken record.

‘That wasn't Deku…’

Chapter 3: Quirk Assessment Test

Notes:

Comments help with motivation so make sure to leave one!

‘Today was the day!’ Waking up with some help from my nearby All-Might themed alarm clock, I jump out of bed. Three more weeks had passed since I received my acceptance letter from UA and now it was the first day of highschool. So, quickly gathering my things I took a shower and put on my UA uniform.

Everything was going fine until one crucial step, my tie. I was now standing in the hall while both me and mom tried our hardest to tie the uncooperative piece of clothing. We soon found one small problem, neither of us knew how to tie a tie. “Let's try it like this…”

“Izuku, I don't think you're doing it right.” Mom watched me with a slight smile on her face.

“Well I know that much!” This was humiliating. I had the power of All-Might cursing through my veins! I had to get this! I was going to be the number one hero and nothing would stop me! Not! Even! This! Stupid! Dumb! Tie!!!

“Toshinori I need your help.” Speaking slowly into my phone with a dejected tone I couldn't feel anything but shame at the admission. My mom was standing nearby looking curious at me. During my annoyance I had accidently fell into old habits and muttered my thoughts and now I had to call my mentor for help. Luckily I didn't say anything about All-Might directly but she did hear me think about calling for help. It wasn't exactly how I wanted her to find out but it seemed I didn't have any choice now…

“Is something wrong Young Midoriya? Do you need help?” Suddenly his voice quickly turned panicked. “Are you in danger Midoriya?!

“No! No! Nothing like that! I…” ‘Here we go…’ “I do need you to come over to my house. It's not bad, I promise! Just… please come over.”

Several seconds passed before Toshinori had given his reply. “...I will be right over my boy.”

So that's how I got into my current situation, with Japan's number one hero knocking on my front door. Opening it up while my mom stared over my shoulder revealed Toshinori who was wearing a yellow suit. He was in his skinny form thankfully but a tiny amount of steam could be seen coming from his back, indicating he had just recently transformed.

“Hello Toshinori, come on in…” Moving aside so he could enter I closed the door soon after he walked into the living room. Turning around I saw mom looking at Toshinori with surprise. Clearly, the skeleton-like man wasn't what she expected. Taking a deep breath inwards, I tell mom something I should've done ten months ago. “Mom, this is Toshinori Yagi and….. he's
the reason I got into UA. He's my mentor.”

“Izuku…” Moms face was plastered with deep shock as she looked between me and the tall man next to me. “What do you mean?”

“Ten months ago when the sludge villain had attacked Kacchan and I tried to save him, it just so happened Toshinori was in the crowd. Afterwards he found me and offered to help me train for the entrance exam as he was a retired hero-” As I was talking, trying to keep as close to the real truth as possible without spilling Toshinoris secret, the man In question put his hand onto my shoulder and spoke.

“Young Midoriya, I greatly appreciate that you are trying to keep my secret but it is yours as well. If you feel this is best then I will trust you my boy.” Suddenly, the hand on my shoulder grew in size as All-Might transformed. Steam radiated off the pro-hero as his form was fully revealed. Mom, for her part, looked shocked.

“Well then… Mom, this is my mentor Toshinori but you may know him better as All-Might.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

After explaining everything to mom, how the two of us met, Toshinori's true identity as the number one hero and even One For All, the two of us were sitting on the couch together. Mom was staying completely silent and both me and Toshinori couldn't help but squirm at the unconformable pause in conversation.

“Well…” Hearing mom finally speak, both me and Toshinori tensed up. “I can understand why you didn't tell me about One For All.” At this the two of us sighed in relief but she was not done talking. “However, I'm hurt that you didn't even trust me with a half truth. Instead you hid this from me for ten entire months.”

“Mom I'm… I'm sorry. I was so focused on keeping Toshinoris secret that I didn't think about how it would affect you…” Suddenly small tears started falling from my eyes.

“Oh Izuku…” Leaping across the room, mom had wrapped me in a tight hug. “Just promise me something, if anything important comes up tell me. I'm always here to listen anytime.”

Embracing the hold, I smile slightly. “Ok mom, I promise.” Eventually we separated, now with one less weight on my chest. “So, we're good right? Everything's all better now?”

“Yes Izuku, we're ‘good’ as you put it.” Giving out a sigh, mom moved towards the hallway. “Now, you need to get ready or you'll be late for school. I'm going to go take my shower, I'll leave the two of you to talk.” With that having been said mom left the room quickly enough.

“Inko seems like a nice woman. She looked like someone I used to know, maybe it's the hair…?” Turning to Toshinori who was sitting next to me in his skinny form, I smiled widely at his words. The man for his part looked lost in thought, with his eyes staring into the hall.

“Yeah she is, isn't she? I'm really lucky.” At my voice Toshinori snapped out of his trance.

“So young Midoriya, was that everything you needed or is there another reason I'm here?” Shifting nervously at his question, I grab the nearby tie that was sitting on the coffee table.

“I don't know how to tie a tie…” I mumbled at the pro-hero. My head hung low as the shame from failing such a simple task filled my heart. Suddenly I heard a small snort leave Toshinori and my face immediately flushed a bright red. “It's not funny! This shouldn't be so hard!”

“It's a little funny.” Grabbing the necktie from my hand the man wrapped it around my neck. “Here's how I was taught to do it.” For the next couple of minutes Toshinori had proceeded to show me over and over again how to properly tie the tie. Eventually when I managed to tie it all on my own Toshinori had patted me on the back. “This is nothing to be ashamed of young Midoriya. I struggled at this once as well.”

“That's hard to believe…” Feeling curiosity in my veins I looked at the number one hero with a questioning expression. “Who helped you?”

Suddenly Toshinori had stiffened and his face turned almost blank. ‘Most definitely Torino or Nana.’ “It was… my own sensei. The seventh wielder of One For All, Nana Shimura.”

“What were they like?”

“She was… amazing.” At his words Toshinoris expression turned into a fond smile. “Kind and smart, brave beyond any measure. She didn't let anything stop her, even at the very end…”

“Is she…?” I let the implications hang heavy in the air. The tension was as thick as steel.

“Yes…” A single teardrop fell from Toshinoris eye to which he quickly wiped clean. “She had sacrificed her life for me. If she hadn't, well… I wouldn't be here right now.”

Wrapping the older man in a hug I lower my voice down to barely a whisper. “I'm so sorry, she must have been really important to you.”

“She was…” Putting his arms around me, the number one hero of Japan suddenly smiled. “I think she would have really liked you, Izuku.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Standing outside the door to class 1-A I took a deep breath and steadied my nerves. After we ended our conversation, Toshinori decided to personally drive me to UA since I was running so late. Thanks to my mentor I made it right in time, two minutes before class. That was also how I found out he has a limo on call. I always forget he's completely and utterly loaded.

As it turns out being the number one hero has a couple benefits, who would've guessed?

Looking at the absolutely massive door I grab the handle and slide it open. Inside the room familiar voices could be heard. “Take your feet off that desk immediately! It's only the first day and you're already disrespecting this school!”

“Huh? You're kidding me right? Did your old school shove a stick up your ass or what?”

‘Somethings never change…’ Just like in the show Kacchan and Ida were currently fighting about proper sitting manners or whatever else they felt like. Taking my chance while the rest of class was distracted with the pair's antics, I look around to see if anyone was missing. It seemed like everyone was accounted for but myself, Uraraka and… Sato? In his place was instead Shinso who looked to be half asleep.

‘Well… that's not the worst outcome. At least Shinso is here, although I would've preferred if it was the grapist who didn't make it. I can't think of anything that Sato actually does so I suppose this is probably best. Sorry Sato…’

“It's him.” Snapping out of my thoughts, I look back towards Ida who was now staring at me. Scratch that actually, the entire class was now staring at me and I couldn't help but squirm at the attention. Suddenly the tall boy had begun to make his way over to me in an almost robot like walk. “Hello there and very good morning! My name is Tenya Ida and I'm from-”

“Somei academy right?” I cut Ida off before he could start another lengthy introduction. “I did hear you before, my name's Izuku Midoriya.”

“Midoriya… you realized there was something more to the practical exam didn't you? I must admit you are very perceptive and I misjudged you completely.” With a pained expression Ida continued to speak. “As a student you are far superior to me, Izuku Midoriya!”

“What? No, I didn't know anything about the rescue points. I helped people because it's the right thing to do. I mean that's why we're here isn't it? To learn how to be heroes?” I felt slightly bad about lying to Ida but what was I supposed to say? ‘Hey Ida! I have memories from the future! Wanna know how we are all supposed to fight a war in fifteen months?!’

Ida for his part suddenly looked ashamed and I couldn't help but feel some guilt. What right did I have to act so high and mighty? I wasn't that good of a person really… a good person wouldn't allow someone to be crippled for life. A good person wouldn't steal another life from someone… their body… their future… “I see.”

“Hey Midoriya!” Quickly turning around, I saw Uraraka standing behind me. “So Present Mic was right! You did pass the exam! I shouldn't be surprised though that super punch you did to beat the zero-pointer was amazing!” As she was speaking Uraraka punched upwards In a reimagining of my bones shattering attack.

“Thanks Uraraka! I'm not surprised you made it either.” Sending the girl a wide smile I speak with an excited tone. “With an awesome quirk like yours it was pretty much guaranteed!”

“Y-you think my quirk is awesome?” Suddenly the pink of Uraraka's cheeks changed to deep red but I paid it no mind. I was too distracted.

“Of course I do!” Falling into my favorite hobby of all, quirk analysis, I explain my thoughts at a lightning fast speed. “It's incredibly versatile! I believe your quirk works by nullifying gravity of objects you touch, right? There are just so many uses for a power like that! Think about it for a second, you could make yourself fly! You could instantly win a fight by just touching any opponent once! It's simply amazing Uraraka!”

“M-Midoriya, no m-my quirk Isn't that strong, really!” If it was possible Uraraka's face had turned even redder at my words. “I can't use the power like that! I'll get too nauseous…”

“Don't worry, you just need some training! I'm sure in time you'll overcome your limits! Plus ultra right?” Holding out my fist, Uraraka gave me a weak fistbump and my smile grew even wider. However in the corner of my eye I saw a certain yellow caterpillar try to sneak up on us. “Why are you crawling on the floor?”

“Oh? You saw me did you? I didn't expect that from you.” As the class turned towards where the new voice came from I couldn't help but to laugh slightly at their reactions. Standing up in his sleeping bag the pro-hero unzipped it and stepped out. The man was tall and lanky. He wore an all black outfit that matched his long hair and around his neck was an unassuming gray scarf. “It only took you all four seconds to quiet down, good, time is precious. My name's Shota Aizawa, I'll be your homeroom teacher.”

Reaching into the sleeping bag Aizawa pulled out a UA gym uniform. “Put these on and go meet me outside.” Immediately I grabbed the piece of clothing from his hands and started to make my way to the changing room while my classmates looked dumbfounded. “Well, he's got the right idea. Get a move on student's.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

“What?! A quirk assessment test?!”

Standing with the other students as Aizawa announced what we would be doing today I shuddered slightly as the way they all spoke at the same time unnerved me. ‘It's like some kind of hivemind or something…’

As everyone was waiting around pretending to be statues, Uraraka broke the silence. “But what about orientation? We're gonna miss it!”

“If you really wanna make the big leagues you can't waste time on pointless ceremonies.” At his words pretty much everyone let out a gasp but me, Kacchan, Todoroki, Shinso and Koda. Ida almost looked personally offended at the man's words, like the idea of anything at UA being useless was blasphemous. “Here at UA we are not tethered to traditions. You all have been taking standardized tests most of your lives but you've never been able to use your quirks. The country still likes to pretend we're all created equal by not letting those with the most power excel. It's not rational, one day the ministry of education will learn. Midoriya.”

Watching as Aizawa turned to me I waited for the man to speak. “You got the highest score in the entrance exam and broke the record set by All-Might correct?” At his words everyone gasped and started to stare at me. “What was your furthest distance throw with a softball in junior high?”

“I think… it was around sixty three meters?”

“Hmm, here.” Taking a strange looking ball out of his scarf Aizawa quickly tossed the thing to me. “Try throwing this with your quirk now. Go get into the circle.” Catching the device with a single hand I move into the chalk outline.

Stepping inside the circle I toss the ball a few times in my hands before quickly turning back towards Aizawa. “Do you need me to use all my strength for this? I can only currently use seven percent of my power or my bones will start breaking violently. That's not really fun.”

“Fine, go at your current limit but I want to see you at your max after the tests are all done.”

‘Great, who needs bones anyway?’ Moaning inside my head at pain that was sure to come I activated One For All at just seven percent. I could probably push it higher but I didn't want to risk it. Pulling my arm back while red lines and green lightning appeared over my body I threw the ball with everything I had. The effect was immediate as suddenly the softball went flying out of sight with a loud boom.

“Wow!” “That was so manly!” “Just like in the exam!” The voices of my classmates could be heard behind me in various states of awe but I paid them no mind. Turning towards Aizawa I smiled as my score was displayed. ‘802.5?!’

“Eight hundred and two meters?! How is that possible?!” “Woah, to think he has that much power!” “I wanna go next! This looks like fun!”

“So this looks like fun huh?” Sighing heavily at my classmates' poorly chosen words, I watch as Aizawa starts to give his speech. “You all-”

Suddenly explosions had interrupted Aizawa as the smell of sweet caramel and ash filled the air. Turning towards the source with fear, I'm ashamed to admit, at that moment I didn't even think to use One For All. Memories had flashed to my mind as the third part of fight or flight kicked in, freeze. “Deku you bastard! Tell me how you did that or you're gonna die!”

However, before Kacchan could reach me his explosions died as Aizawa used both his quirk and his capture scarf to restrain the blonde. In the aftermath I struggled to regain control, my breathing becoming erratic. “Oh god..” I fell on my butt as the world seemed to close inwards around me, the same thoughts playing inside my head over and over. “Nothing's changed… I'm still useless and nothing's changed….”

“Why am I here? Nothing's changed…”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Ochako Uraraka was having a great day.

First she had woken up and taken a short cold shower. She would have preferred water that was warmer but with money being as tight as it was such things were luxuries she could not afford. Next the girl had gotten dressed in her school uniform and had a nice breakfast that consisted of jam and toast. For many people it wasn't much at all but as Uraraka was used to going days without any food, it was enough.

Afterwards she grabbed the same backpack she had used since middle school and made her way to the closest train station. Following this Uraraka entered UA and there she once again met the boy who saved her, Midoriya.

He was exactly the same as she remembered and more. Nice, funny and charming. She had wanted to thank him, but before she could the boy had swooped her up in a tornado of kind words and compliments. By the end Uraraka's face was redder than a tomato and she could barely form a single sentence. Normally when people looked at her all they would see was a cute but harmless little girl playing pretend.

Never before had someone looked at her and seen strength. Everyone underestimates her, even her own parents. All anyone saw was a bubbly and blunt personality and deemed her a useless airhead. So when Midoriya had said everything he did Uraraka felt… seen.

Now as she watched that same boy fall on his butt after his classmate had tried to attack him her feet moved on their own. Rushing over to his side while everyone else was distracted by the scene unfolding between the teacher and the blonde boy, Uraraka kneeled next to him and heard Midoriya mutter with broken words. “Nothing's changed…nothing's changed… I'm still useless and nothing's changed…”

“Midoriya! Midoriya you gotta snap out of it!” Grabbing his shoulders Uraraka tried to shake him out of whatever trance the boy was in but it proved futile. In fact it seemed to worsen the boys muttering. Uraraka's worry was growing worse as the boy's breathing grew even more ragged and his muttering greater in volume.

“Don't shake him, you'll only make it worse.” Jumping at the new voice, Uraraka looked to her left where the voice had come from to see another student. The boy had unkempt purple hair, deep eyebags and an exhausted look on his face, much like Mr Aizawa. “He's having a panic attack. Midoriya, you need to listen up.”

“Focus on my voice. Feel the ground on your hands, feel the wind flowing through your hair, focus on my voice and start counting to ten on my mark ok?” With a smooth and calm voice the boy helped Midoriya calm down slowly as his breathing settled but still remained ragged.

“O-ok…”

“Count with me, ten…”

“Ten-” Suddenly Midoriya had gone still as his eyes seemed to lose focus. HIs breathing had returned to normal and any signs of panic had disappeared. “Midoriya Izuku, focus on putting yourself in a calm state of mind and relax.”

Watching with wide eyes, Uraraka saw as the green haired boy complained without any kind of hesitation. “What… did you do to him?”

“I used my quirk on him.” Shifting slightly, the purple haired boy looked uncomfortable. “It's a power called Brainwashing. When someone responds to me I can activate my quirk and force them to obey any command. It wears off when the affected person feels pain though.”

“That's powerful…” Looking back towards the other students it seemed they finally noticed what was happening. “Why did you help him?”

“Why?” The boy once again started to shift at her words and Uraraka could tell he wasn't one who liked talking about himself too much. “Midoriya showed me the robot's weakness. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't have made it in the hero course. I suppose I wanted to return the favor, what about you? Did he help you also?”

“Something like that…”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Opening my eyes I looked around only to find myself no longer outside with my fellow peers but somewhere darker. The ground was made of stone and dark fog surrounded my vision at all sides ensuring I couldn't see ten feet in any direction. Suddenly someone stepped through the fog and my eyes widened in shock. It was a tall muscular woman whose black hair fell to her shoulders. She wore a dark bodysuit and a long white cape with bright yellow gloves.

“Hey kid!” Nana Shimura, the seventh wielder of One For All, said while smiling. “You're here a lot earlier than expected! Let's talk!”

Chapter 4: Meeting The Seventh

Notes:

Comments help with motivation so make sure to leave one!

Inside the vestige world of One For All I stood silent in shock. In front of me was the seventh wielder of One For All, Nana Shimura. Smiling widely, the woman in question was standing at attention with her yellow gloved hands resting on her hips in a classic superhero pose. Many thoughts started to rush through my head and none were good. ‘Crap! Why am I here?! This is way too early! How did I get here so soon?!’

“If you're wondering how you're here right now you can thank that purple haired kid, Shinso. He activated his quirk to help you calm down.” Going still at her words, I watched as Nana’s smile turned into a full on grin. ‘Can she read my mind! Does that mean she knows about-!”

“You're future memories? Yup! Gotta say, it's strange to learn that in another universe our entire world is just viewed as fiction.” Sighing at her words I fell to my butt as I just felt like taking a nap and maybe crying. Or both, both was good. “Hey kid! What are you doing?”

Pulling my knees close I rested my head on them as I saw Nana lazily walk over and sit on my right side. “I'm sulking, leave me alone.”

“Can I join? Being dead is super depressing.” As I was about to tell the woman to fuck off or something equally vulgar I felt the fight leave me. I realized it was probably pointless. She was a hero, of course she wouldn't just leave.
“So, what's got you down in the dumps kid?”

Deciding to Indulge the woman I looked out to the fog that seemed so calming, so peaceful. “Nothing's changed… nothing's changed…”

“Well that's not true! What about learning One For All faster? What about helping that kid into the hero course? What about telling your mom about Toshinori? It seems to me a lot of things have changed for the better!”

“But I haven't changed!” Feeling frustration fill my heart I got up and started pacing back and forth. “I'm supposed to be different then this! I haven't changed at all! I'm still that useless kid who can't do anything right! What's the point of me being here if I still freeze up! Why am I here instead of Izuku! What's the point! Why!”

As my frustration turned to anger I could feel tears fall from my eyes. Like a damaged pipe I couldn't stop the moisture as I felt myself start to break down. Standing there while trying to wipe away the unwanted things I soon felt a firm pair of arms wrap around me. “Oh kid….”

Embracing the hold my tears soon started to lessen but still fell. “Why am I here Nana…?”

“I don't know why you have these memories, none of us do…” Sighing, the seventh wielder of One For All pulled away from the hug after some time and wiped my tears away. “There's something you need to see, it's important.”

Suddenly part of the fog that surrounded us parted, revealing a long pathway. Grabbing my hand Nana pulled me towards the path as we both walked for what seemed like forever. Eventually however we reached the end and what I saw shocked me. Before me were all of the past users of One For All in a room made from cracked, broken concrete. They were all gathered around in a circle and in the middle was a young boy. He looked to be about four or five and the child had green hair. The other users were playing games with him, trying to keep him distracted. “Is that… Izuku?”

“Well you're half right at least.” Sighing deeply, Nana Shimura started to explain. “That's you, or to be more precise, it's the manifestation of all your life experiences and memories before you accepted One For All into your body.”

“I don't understand...”

“How do I best explain this…?” Nana looked to be thinking it through for several seconds. “When you gained the memories of another person's life after accepting One For All your mind had… broken. As it would turn out, you aren't supposed to have two sets of memories in your head. In response your new memories had overwritten the pre-One For All ones.”

‘That makes some sort of sense, but then…’ “Why do I still remember the old memories?”

“That's because of us, kid.” Gesturing towards the other users I watched as they played with the younger version of Izuku. “We're using our power to keep the both of you connected but it's taking all of our strength to do it. You need to reconnect with that part of yourself soon.”

“But that's not me… that's past Izuku…”

“Kid… that's-” Suddenly Nana’s expression had changed from soft to serious. Grabbing my shoulders she locked eyes with me. “Your classmates are about to wake you up. Listen, I know all of this is confusing but you gotta try. The previous users are here giving everything to keep the path open but it's up to you in the end. If you don't make amends with your past you won't be able to properly use our share of One For All. That means not using more than twelve percent of One For All without breaking your bones and not unlocking our quirks. You need that power to survive what's to come.”

As the world around us got darker I could no longer see anything as my vision started to fade. “How am I supposed to make amends? I don't understand what I need to do! Nana-?!”

—----------------------------------------------------------

“Midoriya! Midoriya Izuku are you alright?!”

As my vision returned I briefly noticed that my cheek stung like I had been slapped. Looking around revealed Uraraka, Shinso and Aizawa were surrounding me while the other students watched from a farther distance. Rubbing the back of my neck I look to Aizawa who was the one to speak. “What happened to me?”

“You just had a panic attack problem child.”

“A panic attack…” With wide eyes I look at the pro-hero while still processing what Nana had told me. ‘I won't be able to properly use One For All until I make amends with my past? But how exactly am I supposed to do that? I need that power, If I can't use it…’ “Well that's new.”

“I sure hope so!” Turning to Uraraka I saw as she looked very concerned. “You worried me!”

“Sorry…” Apologizing to the girl I look to my other side and see a certain purple haired boy. “Hey! It's you from the entrance exam!”

The boy in question was about to speak but Aizawa had beat him to it. “If you're done with the meet and greet I'd like to get back to class now.” Leaning his head back, Eraserhead had retrieved a bottle of eyedrops from his scarf before squeezing some in each eye. “We've wasted enough time as it is, Midoriya are you alright to continue with the assessment?”

Looking at the pro-hero I get up from the dirt and send him a determined stare. “I'll be fine.”

“Then the three of you, stand with the other students.” Doing as he said Uraraka, Shinso and I joined the crowd. Giving a deep sigh, Aizawa pulled out his mobile phone. “Change of plans, we're doing the ball throw first. Now, as I was saying before someone interrupted.” At this Aizawa glared towards Kacchan. “We aren't here to have fun. You have three years at UA to become a hero, you think it's gonna be all games and playtime? You morons.”

With a cruel girl Aizawa continued speaking. “Today you'll compete in eight total physical tests to gauge your potential, whoever comes in last has none and will be expelled.” At his words the entire class gasped in pure shock.

“You can't send one of us home! I mean, we just got here! Even if it wasn't the first day, it isn't fair to us!” Suddenly at Uraraka's words Aizawa’s face had turned deadly serious.

“And you think natural disasters are or power hungry villains? What about the catastrophic accidents that can destroy whole entire cities? No, this world is full of unfairness. It's a hero's job to try and combat the world's unfairness. If you wanna be a pro you're going have to push yourself to the brink. For the next three years UA will throw one terrible hardship right after another at you. So go beyond, plus ultra style. Show me that it's no mistake you're here.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Standing off to the side with everyone else I watched as the other students took their turn doing the ball throw. Most didn't do anything fancy besides simply throw it but a few used their quirks in some interesting ways. Aizawa had really pumped them up with that “rational deception” of his. He might be kinda cruel at times but he sure can be an effective teacher.

Some of the most interesting throws included Okiro using his tail to hit the ball, Tokoyami flying it out pretty far using dark shadow and Kacchan absolutely yeeting the thing with his explosions. Last up had been Uraraka who used her overpowered quirk to send the ball straight into space. After that I firmly put her in the "looks like a cinnamon roll but could easily kill you” category. Seriously, that girl’s scary.

Next up was the fifty meter dash which to no one's surprise Ida absolutely dominated. The guy had engines in his legs, why do you think he won? That being said, using seven percent of One For All I wasn't all that far behind. Still, in a test of speed Ida had me beat and I didn't doubt that his endurance would outlast mine.

After that was the grip strength test to which I got second place right behind Shoji. The both of us shot thumbs up at each other while our resident gym bro Kirishima praised our great manliness. Following that we did the standing long jump where Uraraka once again proved why she was the best girl of class 1-A. ‘Sorry, not sorry girls but she's just way too cool!’

The next four tests, the repeated side steps, the long distance run, the seated toe-touch and finally the sit-ups were all pretty boring. Nothing really unexpected happened. There weren't that many creative ways to use our powers in those tests besides, and I hate to admit this, Mineta’s Pop Off. It wasn't a bad power, it just had a very disgusting owner.

Now as I stood in the circle chalk outline the other students waited for me to throw the ball once again. “Use your full power this time.” I sighed at Aizawa's words as I prepared for a world of pain. Pulling my arm back I pumped One For All up to one hundred percent in that limb and threw the ball with all my might. As I felt my arm break the wind suddenly changed and a loud sonic boom was heard. The ball raced through the sky, eventually reaching the clouds and punching a hole right through one.

Trying to hold in the scream that threatened to escape my lips I turned towards my teacher as surprise was plastered across his face. “So how'd I do?” Smiling through the pain I watch as Aizawa turns his phone to show the score of… ‘11,464.2!? Holy shit! I'm overpowered!’

My fellow classmates gasped in shock as the seemingly impossible score was shown off. I couldn't help a smirk from forming on my face as Kacchan looked completely unresponsive.

“Alright then, time to give you all your results.” Not being one to waste time, Aizawa moved to test results while everyone was still reeling from the display of power. “I've ranked you all from best to worst, you should probably have a good idea of your standing already.” Clicking one of the buttons on the phone-like device, a hologram filled the air showing our scores.

In the first place spot was Yaoyorozu, which, fair. She had an incredibly versatile quirk that could be used in almost any situation. Second is Todoroki who used his power to ride the ice to victory. Third place went to me, moving the other students down one place in rankings. It also made Kacchan pretty angry as he was in 4th place, placed below me. The ranks were pretty much the same from canon besides the slight difference in me being ranked third and Sato not being here to rank. Looking towards the bottom I hoped to see the grapist about to be expelled only to find Shinso there instead.

Looking at the purple-haired boy in question, his face was filled with disbelief. I felt for him, I knew his past after all. Shinso had spent his entire life being treated like a threat, a villain, because of his quirk. The two of us were very similar in that way. If one was unlucky enough to be born with a quirk that was “villainous”, to society you would be treated like one. Things like racism and homophobia aren't common in the 23rd century but discrimination hasn't just magically disappeared. Instead, quirkism had taken their place in this superpowered world.

The League of Villains were a prime example. Almost all of the members had been failed by our society. Toga was forced to suppress her need for blood until she snapped, Twice was broken mentally by his own power, Shigaraki was ignored by everyone, Spinner had been discriminated against for his appearance and Dabi was raised as a tool to surpass All-Might and then thrown away like trash. How different would the story have gone if one person took the time to help them in their hours of need?

‘I could be that person, I could help them. It might be too late but I have to try. If I want to stop the war before it begins, that's the only way forward. Besides, isn't that what a hero's job is? To save people? Even the villains?’

Putting aside those thoughts for now I looked at the quirk rankings and couldn't help but let out a small scoff. “This is ridiculous…”

Unfortunately, my words didn't go unnoticed. “Would you like to add something Midoriya?”

‘Great he heard me.’ Turning towards the man while clutching my broken arm I tried to sound apologetic. “No, it's really nothing sensei.”

"Well, now I'm curious. What exactly do you find so ridiculous? Perhaps you're unhappy with your score?” Sighing slightly, I realized I wasn't getting out of this one quite that easily.

“No, that's not it. I just… I just don't think this is a very logical way to judge our potential.” At my words a hint of interest had flashed across Aizawa's face but it was soon hidden behind a serious expression. The rest of class watched with battered breath as we locked gazes, both of us unflinching in our staring contest. ‘This is probably stupid of me but I won't stay quiet.’

“Hmm, explain your reasoning then.” To the other students it might have looked like I was just asking to be expelled but beyond the cold tone I saw something else. Aizawa is testing me, trying to see if I was just another arrogant brat or perhaps something more. I didn't plan on disappointing the pro-hero and teacher.

“Well there are many different kinds of quirks. Some work better for recon, others are useful for rescue operations and some for combat. In my opinion no quirk is completely useless, all you need to do is find the right way to utilize it. For example.” Turning to my classmates they looked almost hypnotized by my words. “Sero has a great quirk for capturing people that can be used in many creative ways for movement and yet you ranked him fifteenth. It isn't logical to judge a hero's potential based on how far their superpower allows them to throw a ball.”

The other students were starting to rally at my words as they realized the logic in them. “The tests were all heavily biased In favor of those with physical enhancing quirks. While I'm not arguing physical strength isn't important for a hero it's not the only factor. I find that the skill, intelligence and creativity of a hero is the true deciding factor of their potential. Isn't that right sensei, or would you prefer Eraserhead?"

As I finished everyone was quiet as the other students could tell I landed a devastating blow to our teacher. Aizawa looked almost shocked as suddenly his lips turned to a grin. “Well, I'm certainly impressed. Not many know who I am Midoriya. You're right of course, ones physical strength alone isn't enough to become a good hero. Also, nobody's getting expelled today.”

“Whatttt????!!!” At his last sentence everyone but a couple students had yelled out in shock.

“That was just a rational deception to make sure you give it your all in the tests.” Grinning evilly, Aizawa began walking away. “That's all for today. Make sure to pick up a syllabus and read it over before class starts tomorrow. Also Midoriya.” Passing by where I was standing at Aizawa handed me a slip of paper. “Take this to Recovery Girl. Things will get harder when your actual training starts tomorrow so get lots of sleep tonight, you'll certainly need it…”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Walking sluggishly towards the exit to UA's grounds I give out a small yawn as exhaustion fogged my mind. Recovery Girl’s healing quirk is great but being so tired afterwards is not all that fun. There's also the fact I could die if the power is overused but since I've learned Full Cowling so early I hopefully won't need to rely on it too much going forwards. ‘I'd prefer not to be scolded by her... I hope she doesn't give Mr Aizawa too much of a hard time. Why is it that old people are so scary in this world?’

Suddenly, I was snapped out of my thoughts as a hand grabbed my left shoulder. Turning to the source I let a smile onto my lips as I spy the resident speedy boi. “Oh! Hey there Ida!”

“Midoriya, I wanted to know how your broken arm was doing.”

Smiling just a bit wider I show my arm to the taller boy. “As you can see I'm fully healed. It's nice not having to wait three months for them to mend. Broken bones can be a real hassle.”

“They certainly are. I've had my fair share of them during childhood. Getting a hold on my quirk proved quite troublesome.” Walking side by side Ida and I were making our way out of school grounds when he continued speaking. “I was concerned by Mr Aizawa's approach to class but I trust the school's judgment. UA is the top hero program in the country, even still, lying is downright immoral...”

Finding a bit of humor in the boy's statement I share my thoughts. “Mr Aizawa strikes me as a realist. He seems like someone who prefers to deal with problems in the most efficient way possible. The man is obviously willing to bend the traditional views of right and wrong to get the job done but I also believe he has a strong sense of justice. While I don't agree with lying about the expulsion you have to admit it was an effective motivator, although slightly cruel.”

“Well… I suppose you're right.” Ida looked like a kicked dog as he acknowledged the claim.

“Being a hero isn't all black and white, good and bad. Sometimes you'll need to make hard decisions. It's our job to help the most people, even if to do so we act like villains ourselves.”

“What do you mean Midoriya?” That piece of logic seemed to confuse the taller boy.

At his question I decided to ask my own not so hypothetical one. “Let's say you magically gain the knowledge that a group of dangerous villains is going to be formed soon. You know where they will all be meeting for the first time and can capture them. However, the thing that brings them all together is the death of a hero. Would you let that hero die so you can find all the villains or would you save him and let the villains go, potentially killing many more.”

As I finished speaking Ida remained silent for several seconds before giving out his answer. “Well, that is certainly a tough situation… but if we go by numbers it makes the most sense to allow the group of villains to be captured.”

“That would be most people's answer I think.” With a bit of guilt I look up towards the clouds while walking. “Life is messy, we live in a dark world filled with injustice. As hero's we try our best to combat that injustice but sometimes it isn't all too clear what the right thing is. I think people forget that behind the masks we wear, hero's, vigilantes and even villains are human and humans are nothing if not complicated.”

“Heyyyyyy! Wait up you two! Are you going to the station? I'll join you guys!” Turning around at the voice I see Uraraka running towards us. As the two of us stopped walking and waited, the girl had eventually caught up. “Midoriya! I wanted to see how you were doing. You didn't look so good earlier in class. Are you alright?”

“Oh yeah I'm fine now. Recovery Girl fixed my arm good as new!” Showing the appendage to Uraraka, it seemed to ease her worries a bit.

“If you're sure…” Suddenly the girl's face took on a curious look. “Hey, back during the tests Bakugo called you Deku, what's up with that? You too seemed to know each other already.”

“Well…” Giving out a small sigh I explain. “My quirk didn't manifest until recently so Kacchan calls me Deku to make fun of me. Both of our moms were childhood friends so we've known one another for pretty much our entire lives.”

“That's not very sportsmanlike.” Ida chimed in.

“Oh I didn't realize that, I'm sorry…” Uraraka's face suddenly lit up as she got an idea. “You know what? I like Deku! It sounds very similar to Dekiru, like you can do it! That would make a great hero name! Plus it sounds kinda cute.”

“I guess I wouldn't mind you calling me that…”

“Just like that?!” Turning to Ida, I listen as he questions me. “Didn't you say it's an insult?”

“Well, Kacchan's been calling me it for so long I've kinda forgotten that it's supposed to be an insult. Plus it's like taking a bad thing and then turning it into a good thing so I don't mind.” He seemed to accept my logic and move on.

“Well then Deku.” Grabbing my hand, Uraraka started leading me and Ida towards the school grounds exit. “Let's get moving! We don't want to miss the train, right?” With a smile I moved behind the girl as Ida did the exact same. One thought was running through my head as the three of us continued to talk on the way there.

‘It's nice to have real friends.’

Chapter 5: Prepare For An Asskicking

Notes:

Comments help with motivation so make sure to leave one!

Sitting at my desk in English class I sighed as Present Mic went on about proper grammar. It was the first official day of school and already I found myself bored out of my mind. It wasn't that I hated learning or anything, the opposite really, but I spent my first life as an American citizen and so spoke the language fluently. At the moment instead of paying attention I was writing inside a notebook that was filled with my random thoughts. Most were ideas about quirks but there was some other stuff too like support items and whatever else I thought of.

Currently I was writing out ideas for using the lightning that One For All emits. ‘Could I use it to power my support items? I wouldn't have to worry about bulky power supplies… Wait, do I have any resistance to electricity? I'd have to right? That needs testing. Also what about if–’

“Midoriya.” Snapping out of my thoughts I look up to see Present Mic staring towards me. “If you can tell me which of these four sentences contains a grammar mistake please.”

Smirking a bit, I decided to give my answer in English for fun. “The forth sentence is the one that contains a grammar mistake. The phrase reads as ‘Please tell me that all you know’ but the correct saying would be ‘Please tell me all that you know’. It's the relative pronoun.”

Present Mic was clearly caught off guard but collected himself quickly as the other students were watching with confusion. “That's right, it seems you won't need this class all too much. You can go back to your writing, I need to talk to Principal Nezu about this…”

Doing exactly that I spent the rest of English taking quirk notes until eventually the bell had begun to ring. Packing my stuff away I start to make my way towards the cafeteria and then grab a tray of food. Uraraka and Ida both join me soon enough and right as we were about to find a table I spot Shinso and invite the boy over to eat. He reluctantly agreed and now we four were all eating together.

After the Cook Hero: Lunch Rush had come over and we all thanked him for the nice meal Uraraka started talking. “I didn't know that you knew English Deku! That's so cool!”

Blushing slightly at the praise I rub the back of my neck. “Ah well, All-Might spent a lot of his early career in America so I learned English to watch his old interviews…” That part was true actually but It was my new memories that had allowed me to speak the language so easily.

Hearing a small snort at my words I turn to the purple haired boy. “You sure you're quirk Isn't super strength but super intelligence?”

“Midoriya's intelligence is admirable.” Hearing Ida speak up I turn to a brighter shade of red at his complement. “He has an analytic mind.”

“Yeah! The way he can quickly think of ways to use quirks is amazing!” Shrinking down in my seat at more praise, I listen what Uraraka was saying. “It was so cool how he confronted Aizawa sensei! It was like a western movie!”

“It wasn't that Impressive…” Quickly sitting up in my seat I decided that I should change the subject before they could argue otherwise. “So who's your guy's favorite hero? Mine Is-”

—----------------------------------------------------------

After lunch Class-1A all met back up in our homeroom and took our seats as we waited for the teacher to make their entrance. Then suddenly the doors were opened as All-Might in his silver age costume peaked on through. “I am here! Coming through the door just like a hero!” At the appearance of my mentor my smile widened as the other students shouted In awe at Japan's number one pro-hero.

“I can believe it's really All-Might!” “So he's a teacher after all!” “Hey look, he's in his silver age costume.” “I'm getting goosebumps, this is so retro!” “He's so tall!” “This is awesome!”

With heroic struts Toshinori made his way to the podium. “Welcome to the most important class in UA high! Think of it as heroing 101! Here you will learn the basics of being a pro!”

“Let's get straight into it! Today's lesson will pull no punches!” Suddenly Toshi pulled out a card with the word battle on it and in front of me I could feel the vicious smile on Kacchans face. “Fight training!” The boy said with glee.

“However one of the keys of being a hero is… looking good!” As Toshi pointed towards the wall panels containing suitcases with numbers on them slowly appeared. “These were made based on your quirk registration forms and the request you sent in before school started.”

“Get yourself suited up and then meet me in training ground beta!” With a quick yes sensei everyone in the room grabbed their case and rushed off, eager for the lesson with All-Might.

—----------------------------------------------------------

Standing inside UA's locker room I smiled as my reflection in the mirror did the same. I was wearing my full hero costume and the design had turned out even better than I imagined. It was very similar to Deku’s original Epsilon suit with just a few tweaks to fully make it my own.

The most noticeable difference was the color scheme. The reds and greens were all bright once again and the cream white of the gloves was changed to a nice dark black. The scarf that once served as Gran Torino's cape was switched for a red one and the gloves palms did the same. The suit's damage had all been fixed, the mask/mouthguard stayed the same and the Mid-Gauntlets were also present.

I did want to include more support items into my costume, like the Air Force Gloves, but it might have looked suspicious. Mastering Full Cowling immediately wouldn't have raised any eyebrows but suddenly pulling out a bunch of advanced techniques when I have only had the power for about a month certainly would.

Speaking of support items, it was a pleasant surprise to learn who had made my costume. Back when I was designing the suit I made a call to my mentor to ask if he knew about any companies that could make the item I needed. Toshinori had told me that he had somewhere in mind and left it at that. I thought it would be either David Shield or someone random from I-island to make it but as it would turn out that person was actually Melissa Shield.

I suppose I shouldn't have been that shocked since the Mid-Gauntlets were her invention in the original timeline, they were just made a bit earlier this go around. Having one of the best minds in the entirety of My Hero to personality work on my suit was definitely a good thing.

Anyway pulling my mask down, because fuck you the mask was NOT ridiculous looking and I don't care what anyone else says, I make my way out to the training ground. When I arrived everyone was faced towards Toshinori waiting for the lesson to begin. “Hey, sorry I'm late.”

Watching as the resident gravity girl and a few other students turned around I was suddenly very grateful for my mask as heat had quickly filled my cheeks. “Hey Deku! Your costume is amazing! I love the bunny ears you have!”

“B-bunny ears?” ‘I suppose they do look like that don't they? Let's hope Miriko doesn't sue me…’ “Thanks Uraraka, yours looks cool too!”

“Thanks Deku! Although…” Rubbing the back of her neck Uraraka started to blush slightly. “I probably should have been more specific with what I wanted. This bodysuit is skintight…”

“I love this school.” Turning towards the little grapist at his comment a rare angry look had passed over my face as I debated giving him a One For All powered kick between the legs.

“Alright everyone listen up!” Hearing Toshinori speak I snap out of my plans for premeditated murder and focus all of my attention onto him. “Now that you’re all ready let's get started with combat training!” At Toshi’s words Ida raised a armour-covered hand up.

“This is the fake city from the entrance exam, does that mean we shall be conducting urban battles again?” At the question, Toshinori had put two of his fingers into the air.

“Not quite! I'm going to move you all two steps ahead today! Most of the villain fights you see on the news take place outside. However the most dastardly and intelligent villains hideout in places hidden from the public. Think about it for a moment, backroom deals, secret lairs and home invasions.” The pro-hero listed out. “The smartest villains are the ones who stay in the shadows, waiting for the perfect time to strike. For this training exercise you all will be split into two teams of the good guys and the bad guys and fight two on two indoor battles!”

“Isn't this a little advanced?” Asui had asked.

“I find the best training is what you get on the battlefield! However, you must remember that you aren't fighting robots this time! You are all dealing with actual people now!” As Toshinori had finished, suddenly the students spoke up.

“Sir, will you be the one deciding who wins the battles?” “How much can we hurt the other team?” “Do we need to worry about the losers getting expelled like yesterday?” “Will you be splitting us up based on random chance or is it based on skill?” “Isn't my cape fabulous?”

At the numerous questions Toshinori seemed overwhelmed. “I- I wasn't done talking!” As he finished the man suddenly pulled out a script and I couldn't help but feel some amusement. Moments like this reminded me that behind all the cameras my mentor was just as human as anyone else. “The situation is this student's!”

“The villains have hidden a nuclear warhead somewhere in their hideout. The heroes must try and foil their evil plans. To do that they will either have to catch the villains or recover the weapon. Likewise the bad guys will succeed if they can protect the payload or capture all the heroes.” Suddenly Toshinori had pulled out a yellow box. “Time is limited so we'll draw lots to decide the teams for today's exercise!”

“Isn't there a better way to decide the team's?” Ida asked while standing over on my left.

“Well think about it for a moment.” At my voice the class turned towards me. “As heroes we won't always have the luxury of choosing who we can work with. We'll need to work with any number of people, even if we haven't ever met them before. Teamwork is very important.”

Seeing the logic in my words Ida bows in the direction of Toshinori. “Excuse my rudeness.”

“No sweat, now let's draw!” Stepping forward at his words I reached into the box and pulled out a ball with the letter A. Waiting on the side I watched as everyone else started to draw lots as well. Eventually Uraraka took her turn and I smiled as she approached me holding a matching ball. “Looks like we're going to be on the same team together Deku!”

“Yup, looks like I'm in luck. I was hoping we'd be put together.” Not noticing the slight blush that formed onto her face I watch as the other participants grouped up. It looked like none of the teams changed except for Shinso taking Sato’s spot. ‘Interesting. Two voice type quirks on the same team. Unfortunately there are no nearby animals for Koda's power to work…’

“I declare the first team to fight will be…” At Toshinori's voice I snap out of my thoughts to watch as he reaches into two different boxes. “These guys! Team A will be the heroes and team D will be the villains! Everyone else can head to the monitoring room to watch.”

‘Great…’ Sighing slightly at who I would have to face I felt the hope of a relaxed first day die in my chest. ‘Welp, its time for some character development. Nothing can do that better than facing down your childhood best friend turned bully right?’ Turning to said person I raise one of my eyebrows in confusion as I see the boy staring at me. Not glaring, staring, like I was a difficult puzzle he was trying to put together.

Watching as Kacchan turned away and went
with Ida inside the building I shrugged and joined up with my teammate. As Toshinori had handed me an earpiece and the blueprints to the building I couldn't help but wonder. ‘What's up with Kacchan? He didn't yell at me once…’

—----------------------------------------------------------

Standing at the fifth floor where the bomb was located Bakugo was deep in thought while the shitty extra with glasses talked about ‘morality’ or whatever. Bakugo was ignoring the tall boy as he replayed his interactions with Deku from the past month or so. The nerd was different.

Sure his personality might not have flipped on a dime or anything but it had changed enough to be noticeable. Deku started to act strangely confident. He was outspoken, he didn't stutter as much anymore and he stood up for himself more often. Their little talk behind Aldera had suddenly come to the front of Bakugo's mind.

The nerd he knew never would have dared to talk to him like that. The way he had spoken with cold words, that empty but oh so furious expression, Bakugo could admit if only inside his own head that it had scared him. He knew that Deku was smart, smarter than most, but it wasn't until recently he realized by how much.

Had Deku been playing him for the entirety of their lives? How could someone just suddenly change like that? Did he ever really know the boy at all? Was everything a lie? No, nobody was that good of an actor. This couldn't be his Deku, he was far too different. Then there was also that quirk he somehow gained. The Deku he knew was quirkless, he had the stupid joint In his pinky toe! If the little nerd had a quirk he should have gotten it ten years ago so how…

Giving out a small growl Bakugo felt his anger spike at a realization. Deku was an imposter!

“Bakugo are you listening?” Turning towards the armored boy Bakugo sent him a glare full of murderous intent. The blonde could give a little credit to him as glasses didn't let the look dissuade his questioning. “What's your plan?”

“Plan?” Sending the shitty extra a vicious grin, Bakugo made his way towards the door. “You stay here and guard this bomb, I'm gonna go blast Deku straight to hell.” Leaving before he could protest, Bakugo stalked the halls with a rage filled expression. ‘Whoever you are, you fake, I'll find out what you did with Deku.’

—----------------------------------------------------------

Waiting for Toshinori to start the battle trials I examined the buildings layout. The place was built like a hedge maze with winding hallways and sudden dead ends. Next to me Uraraka looked slightly overwhelmed. “You think they expect us to memorize the buildings floor plan Deku? This place is so big and confusing…”

Mulling over her question I gave out my reply. “Probably not, besides we won't need to do that anyway. The bombs gonna be right here.” Pointing to my rough guesstimate on the fifth Uraraka looks confused at my confident tone.

“Really? How do you know that?” Crossing my arms together I explain my reasoning to her.

“Well Kacchan may be hotheaded but he isn't stupid. Ida and him know that with your quirk we could easily get access to the rooftop and go in that way. Therefore the most defensible location would be the exact middle, where it'll take the longest to arrive, wasting our time.”

Nodding at my words, Uraraka's face changed to understanding. “So what's our plan?”

“We will need to split up. Kacchan is going to focus solely on me, I know how he thinks, but it'll work out in our favor. I doubt the two of us could beat them both in a head on fight. They have incredible powers for combat. However, if I can defeat Kacchan then the two of us will work together to capture Ida with no issues.”

“But…” Uraraka clearly didn't like the idea of leaving me to fight all alone. “If Bakugo is that strong, why don't we take him on together?”

“Because as strong as Kacchan is, he's even more stubborn. It's what will make him such a great hero. Once he decides to do something he'll give it his all and ignore everything else.” As a fond smile spread across my face I sigh. “If Kacchan is going to completely ignore you then we might as well use that. So while I am fighting him I'll need you to confirm where the bomb is located. Like I said it's most likely on the fifth floor but they might have moved it to another place, however unlikely that may be.”

Nodding in understanding once again Uraraka took on a determined expression. “Alright then Deku, let's go win a match.” Holding her hand out I smirk as we bump our fists together.

“Alright! Let's start the Indoor combat training! Everybody get a move on!” Hearing Toshinori yell through the nearby speaker, Uraraka and I ran into the building. Walking through halls of solid concert I keep one of my ears out for the sound of Kacchan's explosions as we ascend closer to the bomb. Right as we were about to round another corner however I go completely still as I smell something familiar, caramel.

“Uraraka get back!” Quickly dodging out of the way as Kacchan appears with some aid from his quirk, I charge into Uraraka and tackle her, throwing the two of us out of Kanchan’s follow up attack. Hitting the floor, I race to my knees as I feel a small amount of pain in my cheek. Touching the area I realize my mask was now ripped down the middle. ‘This little-! He ruined my mask! Oh now it's personal!’ Pulling off the now useless fabric I get up to my feet and turn Full Cowling up to seven percent, facing down my best friend turned bully. “Uraraka, go now!”

Feeling her presence slowly fade as she got farther and farther away the two of us stared at one another. Kacchan had an angry look on his face and small explosions were dancing at the blonde's fingertips. “Who are you really?”

Going still at his words I felt my eyes widen. I had expected him to spew insults, not… that. “... what? What do you mean Kacchan?”

“Don't ‘Kacchan’ me! The Deku I know doesn't act like this! He was a cowardly little nerd who knew his place! Just who are you?!” Kacchan asked with barely contained blinding anger.

“You… you think I'm an imposter because I'm a little more confident now?” My fists clenched together at his words. He was suspicious, not because of any differences in my personality, but because I was more outspoken lately?

“Yes! Deku was a useless quirkless nerd! He never would have made it into UA! He would have failed the entrance exam! There can be only one explanation! You're an imposter!” At his words I felt rage fill me as the barrier that separated me and Izuku started to crack. How dare he say that! I- Izuku wasn't what he said! He wasn't useless! He wasn't worthless!

Feeling years of repressed resentment burst forward I look at Kacchan with the most hate filled expression I've ever given. “Fuck… you.” Spitting out each word with cold fury I see as shock enters Kacchan's face. Quickly enough however it's soon replaced by seething rage.

“I'LL KILL YOU!!!” Watching as he ran towards me I grit my teeth and did the same to him. As One For All rushed throughout my veins I saw the blonde go for a right hook. With a smirk I grab his arm and with a guttural roar I pull him into the air and slam him onto the ground. As he slowly started to recover I saw him look at me with confusion. “How did you…?

“While you spent years mastering your quirk I analyzed every hero, villain and vigilante that I could find, including you. I wanted to learn all I could for when I eventually became a hero. All of it was inside the notebook that you burned!” Approaching the downed Kacchan I looked at him with burning determination. “So get up! It isn't over yet! Our fight is just beginning!!!”

Chapter 6: Me, Myself and Kacchan

Notes:

Comments help with motivation so make sure to leave one!

Inside the monitoring room, Toshinori Yagi, also known as All-Might, stared at the nearby screens with nervousness. On them he could see his successor and young Bakugo fighting in a violent and brutal battle. Wincing slightly, Toshinori watched as young Bakugo blasted his classmate through yet another wall. If the two continued at this rate for much longer he would have to call the match before the whole building started collapsing in on itself.

“Geez, they really aren't holding back…” The boy with red hair to his right, Kirishima, spoke with slight awe at the display. Toshinori had to agree with him. For whatever reason the two combatants were fighting like their lives were on the line and with a ferocity one would only normally see in wild animals. Toshinori knew that he should stop the battle before it started to escalate even further but…

Looking in the eyes of Midoriya, Toshinori felt himself hesitate to do so. The boy's face was filled with that familiar determination but also an emotion he had never seen on him before, pure unrestrained anger. It was very clear that whatever was going on between the two was more than just competitive spirit. The pro-hero cursed the lack of microphones. If there was audio then he could find out what exactly the two were so worked up about.

Watching as his successor picked himself up, Toshinori breathed a small sigh of relief. This battle wasn't just about a grade anymore but something more personal and for that reason he would let it continue. ‘Good luck my boy…’

—----------------------------------------------------------

Letting out a grunt of pain as I harshly hit the ground I see Kacchan make his way towards me using the nearby hole in the wall. He had just blasted me through another concert wall and I could feel blood dripping from my side. Both of our costumes were ripped in various places and many cuts, scratches and bruises littered our bodies. Getting to my knees I saw Kacchan slowly approach. “Are you ready to give up and tell me where the real Deku is?”

Struggling to raise, I get to my feet and put up my fists while giving him an exhausted grin. “I could do this all day. Come at me Kacchan.”

Watching as Kacchan growls in anger I see the boy bring his arms behind him and blast off into the air. Watching as he had suddenly appeared right before me, I quickly bring my arms up and protect my face as he let out a blast that pushes me back several feet. Not giving me any chance to breathe the blonde left the ground once again. However this time I managed to dodge the attack and counter it with my own. Landing a solid punch Kacchan doubles over in pain, holding his stomach.

Taking my chance I grab onto him and throw the boy across the room. Watching as the blonde goes right through a wall I smirk just a bit and yell out. “Doesn't feel so good huh?” In reply Kacchan rushed through the new hole in the wall and charged me using his explosions.

“Dammit! I'll kill you dead!” Right as he was about to blast me again and I stood ready to block it Kacchan had suddenly changed his trajectory midair with another use of his quirk. Recognizing the trick I try to turn around but he was faster as a wave of pain overwhelmed my back. Now being knocked off balance, he slams his right gauntlet into my side as I feel the crack of bones. “Here’s that right hook!”

Still reeling from the pain, Kacchan then grabs onto my right arm and pulls me into the air. As my eyes start to widen he slamed me back to the ground in the exact same manner as I did to him. Feeling as my head hits the floor, I see everything get darker as my vision blurs. ‘No, I can't lose… I need… to get up… I cant…’

“Why shouldn't you lose? You deserve this.”

Going still at the voice, the very familiar voice, I turn my head to its source. Seeing who was standing there my thoughts go silent as a boy, around fithteen years old, with green hair and green eyes looks down at me. Quickly sitting up I open my mouth to speak as I look into the reflection of me. “How… how are you here?”

As he hears my question, Izuku Midoriya, who was wearing his middle school uniform, smiles widely. “Oh come on, you didn't really think I'd stay gone forever did you? I'll admit the other users were very distracting but thankfully you went and got yourself knocked unconscious!”

“Unconscious?” Looking around I see that fog surrounded us. “We're in the vestige world…”

“Bingo! Good to know some of my intelligence is still in that head of yours!” Crouching down to my level, Izuku's face had changed into a curious look. “Hey, tell me something. Back at the quirk test why did you freak out so much?”

“Why did I freak out?” An uneasy feeling had settled into my stomach. “Kacchan scared me I guess..”

“Kacchan huh?” Suddenly Izuku had started to circle around me like a predator. “Really? I never had a panic attack around him. I'd think with how confident you act you wouldn't have any problem dealing with him. I mean look at you!” Before I could react the boy appeared to the right and poked my injured side. “You look so cool! Nice costume by the way, even if it is another thing that you stole from me.”

Gritting my teeth I try to push him away only to find him gone. “I didn't… that's not true!”

“I suppose you're right, Kacchan might have been the last straw but he certainly wasn't the first.” Turning to the voice once more I quickly get up to my feet. “Let's set the atmosphere, I have just the place in mind!” As Izuku finished speaking, the floor suddenly disappeared and I start falling. Landing harshly on sand I fight through the pain as I find myself back on the beach where I first woke up in this world. “Ah Takoba, the place where you took my future.”

Wincing at his bitter tone I see the boy looking towards the horizon and the sea. The sun was setting and the sky took on an orange hue. “It wasn't like I had any choice in this Izuku…”

“Mhm maybe, maybe not. I guess what I really wanna know is why do you feel so much guilt if you had no choice?” Turning to me the boy's face held a knowing smile. “Don't try and deny it either, I'll see through any of your lies.”

Looking at Izuku I felt confused. Why was he acting like this? He wasn't like the Izuku from canon so… “Who are you? What are you?”

“There you go! Finally asking some questions, unfortunately, they aren't the right questions.” Suddenly the boy charged towards me with a surprising amount of speed. Bringing my arms up to defend I try and activate my quirk only to find nothing happen. Grunting at the impact of his hit, I get thrown back and land on the sand behind me. “Tryna use One For All huh? Sorry that's not gonna work here. Let's have fun!”

Watching as he once again tries to charge me I dive out of the way and barely avoid his next attack. However Izuku then runs towards me and jumps high into the air giving me only just a moment to roll away from his stomp. Taking my chance I land a solid kick to his knee and the boy falls down. Pinning him to the ground I land repeated hits to his head but Izuku only laughs at the pain. “Why are you laughing?!”

Taking advantage of my break in attack Izuku strikes my chest and throws me off of him. As I land dazed on the ground I feel the boy grab me by the throat and pull me into the air. “How does it feel? Being powerless? Is it not all that fun? Then again, you should be used to it.”

Clawing at Izuku's hands I barely managed to spit out a reply. “What… are you… talking-!”

Landing a shot to my injured side, Izuku had thrown me across the beach once again. “We both know what I'm talking about, even if you want to pretend otherwise. Did you really think a fancy set of new memories would erase the person you really are? Don't be stupid Izuku.”

I felt my throat dry up at his words. “I… I'm-”

“You're what?” Walking to me with long strides Izuku knelt down. “Hmm? Come on already! I wanna hear what you have to say!”

The words of Nana had suddenly come to the front of my mind. She said that my memories of the future weren't my original one's so… so that means… that means I'm… “I'm Midoriya. I didn't take over his body… I'm the original…”

“There you go!” Suddenly the world around us changed once again, the concert floors of the vestige world greeted me. “You finally put the pieces together! Took you long enough Izuku.”

As the reflection of me stood up and held his hand out I reluctantly grabbed it and got to my feet. “I don't understand something… If you're not the vestige of Izuku, then what are you?”

“Me?” Suddenly a grin overtook his face. “I'm just the part of you that was tired of seeing all this mopping. I mean seriously! We got super powers! Stop being sad, be glad other me!”

As he snapped his fingers and pointed at me I felt a headache start coming on. Rubbing my forehead I spoke with a tired tone. “Is this how I normally act? Also, what was all that with the whole ‘you stole my future’ thing? That hurt.”

“Oh uh, yeah, that…” Izuku rubbed the back of his head with embarrassment. “I kinda went overboard and got really into character…”

“You threw me around like a ragdoll.” I said in a deadpan tone while squinting my eyes.

“Sorry?” He said, sounding only slightly sorry.

Giving out a sigh I rubbed my forehead harder to try and deal with the migraine. “I can really be an asshole… just, what now? Are we done here? I'd like to wake up now. Recovery Girl is gonna yell at me… I can't believe I lost…”

“Oh!” Suddenly Izuku looked excited to share good news. “You haven't lost yet! Kacchan is yet to wrap the capture tape around you and it's only been like ten seconds since you were knocked out! You've got some time left still.”

“What?” I say with disbelief. “We've been here for over like ten minutes, not ten seconds.”

All Izuku did was shrug at that. “I dunno what to tell you man, quirks are complete bullshit.”

“Eh, fair enough.” Crossing my arms I give out another small sigh. “So, how do I wake up? Is it like before? Everything just fades to black?”

“Well…” I could feel that I wouldn't like where this is going. “You got knocked out really hard so you won't naturally wake up for a while…”

“Stop stalling and tell me what I have to do.”

“I gotta knock you out really hard.” What?

“What?” I said in a deadpan tone.

This time it was Izuku who had sighed. “If you go unconscious Inside the vestige realm you should get sent back out. At least I think so…”

“You think so?” I asked with some disbelief in my tone. “You want me to let you knock me out because you ‘think’ it'll get me back out?!”

“Well, I guess we can let Kacchan win then…” A small smirk was on his face as he spoke.

“Oh hell no!” I walk right up to Izuku and grab his fist before putting it on my forehead. “You hit me right here, right now. Don't hold back.”

“Masochistic much?” He snarked.

Giving out a groan of annoyance I start to lose my temper with, well… myself. “Shut the fuck up you drama queen and commit some self harm already!”

“You kiss our mother with that mouth?” At the glare I sent him Izuku wisely shut his mouth in regards to his next comment. “Alright! Alright! So serious!” As green lightning began to wrap around his body Izuku pulled his fist back for a punch. Closing my eyes in preparation, only a single sentence was heard before pain had fogged my mind. “Kick Kacchan's ass for me!”

—----------------------------------------------------------

“-doriya?! Midoriya!? Are you conscious?!”

As my vision was slowly returning, the voice of Toshinori filled my ears. Rubbing my aching head I pull my hand away and see just a bit of crimson red on it. “That's not good..” Sluggish words leave my mouth as I sit up and see the pomeranian turn towards me with disbelief on his face. “Oh, hi Kacchan! Did you miss me?”

“How the fuck are you awake?!” He said as I started feeling woozy. “You're bleeding like a pig! You should be unconscious right now!”

“Well mama always said I was built a little bit different from other boys, maybe it's the extra pinky joint?” At the flabbergasted expression Kacchan sent me I realized that all of the loss of blood, fatigue and general pain my body is currently experiencing was probably affecting my critical thinking, but I filled that right under the not important section inside my mind.

“Midoriya?! Are you alright?! Do you need me to end the match?!” Once again Toshi's voice, filled with panic and worry, could be heard.

“Hmm? Oh yeah, I'm good. I've got at least two more brain cells to lose, maybe three…”

“What?! Ok! That's it! I'm ending this right n-!”

As Toshi continued to yell and my headache started to get even worse, the few remaining brain cells I had came up with a plan to solve both issues. Taking out my earpiece, I throw it across the room with one for all and watch the equipment shatter. “There, probably solved!”

“Are you fucking high?!” At the blonde's words I get up to my feet and give him a large grin.

“Only on my adrenaline. Now.” Taking a single step forward I speak with the confidence of a man unburdened by social limitations like fear, anxiety or shame. “I'm about to rearrange the structure of your fucking skeleton. Round two, let's get this going Kacchan. No holding back.”

Several seconds passed as he stood still, as if Kacchan was considering my words, before a sadistic smile spread across his lips. “Fine, It's your funeral!” Putting both of his hands behind his back Kacchan let off an explosion and the blonde boy flew through the air. Not being one to be upstaged I activated One For All at 7% and we both charged towards one another.

As we meet in the middle Kacchan let out an explosion powered blast. Jumping to the side, I had managed to dodge most of the blonde's attack and land a nice solid punch to his side. As he flew through the air however, Kacchan had used his quirk to reposition himself while in motion, landing softly on the ground before launching off once again. ‘That's annoying…’

Deciding to take a more, unorthodox method of attack this time, I bend my knees and bury my hands into the concrete. Watching as the boy looked confused, I waited until the perfect moment and struck. “Technique Mimicry: Serious Table Flip!” Pulling the ground up with one for all, I watched as concrete debris flew into the air and Kacchan covered his eyes. With both of the boy's hands now being used to protect his face the expulsion propelling him stopped and Kacchan fell down to the ground, hard.

Rushing towards the boy with strides that left cracks in the concrete I jumped up into the air before throwing a punch downwards with my body. “Detroit Smash!” Right as I was about to land a hit on Kacchan's chest, the boy had let off an explosion and rolled away. With all my momentum still carrying me forwards, I hit the concrete floor causing it to shatter and making me fall straight down to the next level, landing with a loud thud. With a torn glove and a hand that's bleeding, I watched as Kacchan jumped down the hole and rushed towards me again.

“Alright… let's end this.” Taking the capture tape out of my pocket, I wrapped it around my hands to make a single strong piece. As my opponent continued charging I stood firmly in a defensive stance and waited. When Bakugo finally reached me, the blonde raised his right hand to strike me with his quirk. Waiting until the very last second, I quickly ducked under his attack and wrapped the tape all around his arm. “Technique Mimicry: Binding Cloth!” With a roar I turned around and pulled as hard as I could with One For All. Bakugo goes flying in the air before being slammed back down, now lying flat on the ground with a groan of pain.

“You… you!” Getting up to his knees Kacchan had murder in his eyes as he reached for the pin in his right gauntlet. “You said no holding back right?! Well here's some real fire power!” Realizing what he was about to do, I push all for one up 10% and rush towards him. It was now a race for Kacchan's gauntlet. Reaching the boy exactly as the device had turned red, I grabbed it and turned it up towards the ceiling to redirect the blast, recreating the smash that was in the show without breaking my arm.

Watching as the ceiling was blasted apart, the damage continuing for several more floors, I soon see both Ida and Uraraka before yelling out. “Uraraka! Go for the bomb! Now!” As the words left my mouth I saw a hail of rubble go through the air before Uraraka jumped after it.

Suddenly, as I watched the girl hug onto the bomb, a sound of rushing wind passed by as I was swept off my feet. Looking at the person who held me in their arms, I couldn't help the half delirious smile that formed on my face at the sight of my worried mentor. “Toshi…” My vision started to go black as the adrenaline left my body while my injuries and exhaustion caught up to me. “I won… d-did you see?”

I passed out immediately afterwards.

Chapter 7: Heart To Heart

Notes:

Comments help with motivation so make sure to leave one!

“The second day of school and he's already a regular patient! Why didn't you stop him?!”

Toshinori Yagi, the hero known as All-Might to the public, stood inside UA's medical office with a sheepish expression clear on his face. Between his master Gran Torino and the older woman currently lecturing him, Toshinori didn't know which was worse. On one hand there's a lot more kicking with his master, but on the other side Chiyo Shuzenji made him feel a lot more guilty. Pros and cons, pros and cons…

“Well I tried! But by the time I had gotten there it was all over.” The half truth that Toshinori spoke sounded unconvincing even to himself.

“Oh don't give me that excuse! We both know you should've stopped that fight when the two of them started throwing one another through walls! Look at them!” Toshinori cringed back at the state his two students were in. Both of them had multiple broken bones and ribs, his successor getting the worst of it. Midoriya was hooked up to a blood bag to combat his blood loss. Luckily as it turned out, Midoriya and him shared the same blood type, and so the hero rubbed his arm from where it had been taken.

“I-” Toshinori considered spouting out another lie, but as he felt his silver age costume hang loosely around him, just another reminder of how fair he's fallen from the hero- the man he used to be, Toshinori decided to be truthful. “I know… you are right, but… you should have seen the two of them in action. This Isn't just a training exercise that was taken too far. There is something between them. I thought that if I let them do this, perhaps they could settle the differences they might have.”

“Humpfh, well that didn't work out so well did it?” Recovery Girl sighed. “You do realize that this Isn't going to just be swept under the rug right? Maybe if it was only a single student, but two? Principle Nezu can't overlook that.”

Toshinori felt his heart sink. “Am I going to be fired?”

“What? No, you're not getting fired.” The relief that Toshinori briefly felt was squished by the older woman's next words. “However, you are no longer allowed to teach the Hero Course alone. Another teacher will have to supervise the class. The position will be rotated around.”

Shame had quickly filled Toshinori at the new arrangement, but he reluctantly accepted it. “I understand…”

Toshinori had spent the rest of the day sitting by successors side, waiting for Izuku to wake up. ‘How pathetic am I… for allowing you to hurt like this? On my first day as a teacher no less. Symbol of Peace? what a joke. Oh Nana what would you do? …what should I do?’

—----------------------------------------------------------

Once again I found myself in the vestige world of One For All. Laying flat on my back wearing my ruined hero costume, I opened my eyes to find a woman with long jet black hair staring at me from above. “Hey kid! Back so soon?”

Nana Shimura, the seventh wielder of One For All, was using her inborn superpower to float mid-air and look down at me. “Nana…” I attempted to sit up but quickly stopped after a sharp pain had run through my side. “Ah!”

“Yeah I wouldn't do that.” Nana crossed both of her arms with a sympathetic smile spread across her lips. “You hurt yourself pretty bad In that fight. It seems injuries can carry over into this place, so I guess we know that now.”

“Right… the fight…” A smirk had made its way onto my face. “I won, I kicked Kacchan's ass.”

“Ha!” Suddenly Nana had let out a quick laugh before floating down to the ground and sitting next to me. “That you did kid, but don't get too overconfident. You might have the power now, but not the skill. Look at how injured you are. If you hadn't redirected that last blast and the fight continued then you would have definitely lost. There's also all that property damage…”

Letting out a sigh, I looked up at the endless night sky. “Yeah… you're right. Everyone else is so far ahead of me… They've had years to train with their quirks, I've had a few weeks.”

“Don't feel too bad kid, you did great for your first taste of real combat. Besides! You've got time to train. No one is expecting you to take on villains during your first week of class.”

I let out a small bitter laugh at her words. “Did you forget about the League of Villains?”

“Right… the League of Villains…” Nana had a pained expression on her face. “I suppose we should talk about that. What's your plans?”

“Plans? Well…” I think about everything that I know, about what needed to happen and what I wanted to avoid. “The league of villains need to be formed, otherwise I won't be able to find several of their members like Dabi and Himiko Toga. I want to try to get the more redeemable of them to switch sides, but members like both Moon Fish and Muscular need to be arrested as soon as possible. I would like to get Eri but I can't exactly storm a Yakuza base by myself. I suppose things will stay mostly the same up until after the battle of Kamino ward.”

“Kamino ward…” Nana had a contemplative look. “You're going to let that happen? Why not get help from your friends or teacher's?”

I let out a sigh at her words. “What exactly am I supposed to say? ‘Hey, I have a second set of memories from a life where our entire world is fiction?’ Yeah, I'm sure that will go over well. Besides, what happens if the timeline starts to change? It isn't like I want Toshinori to get hurt but he's the only one who can beat All for One right now. His time as All-Might is almost at its end anyway. Wouldn't it be better to finish with one last triumph over evil? The very last thing we need is All For One going into hiding.”

After I had finished speaking silence stretched between us. Looking over to Nana, I saw the weight of the knowledge that we both shared clearly in her eyes. “I suppose you're right… it all seems so overwhelming, and I'm not even the one who has to deal with it. I remember five years ago when Toshinori had fought All For One, how scared I was watching through his eyes, and how proud I was when he won. I thought that this cycle of violence was over…”

“It will be over.” I feel a sense of conviction start to form from my words as I sit up, fighting through the searing pain. “All For One will be stopped. I don't care what it takes, I will not let him continue to hurt innocent people. He may think himself unstoppable, but I will stop him!”

Several long moments passed before a small fond smile made its way onto Nana’s face. “If there's anyone in the world who could, it's you kid. I don't know why you got these memories, whether it be fate, destiny or pure coincidence but I gotta believe there's a reason, and I can't think of a better one than that.” Suddenly her face changed, like words were being spoken that only she could hear. Getting up from her spot on the ground, Nana walked a few steps away before turning back to me. “It seems our time is running out. We won't be able to talk to each other for quite a while, so if you got any questions I'd go ahead and ask them now.”

Thinking on Nana’s words there wasn't really anything I wanted to ask her. I already know about everything important for the future, but I suppose there is one thing… “When should I start expecting to unlock the other quirks?”

“The other quirks?” Nana had taken several moments to think of an answer. “Well, I can't give you a definitive answer. Right now your body can only use a small percentage of One For All. It'll take some time before you're able to call upon the other powers naturally, but it's possible you might be able to force them out through stressful events…” As Nana sees me considering that, she quickly cuts off that train of thought. “Don't you even think about it kid. Besides, you still need to learn the basics of One For All. Throwing more quirks on now will only make your training harder. Just wait until you're ready. Don't go rushing things.”

As Nana begins walking away I call out in a desperate tone. “How will I know I'm ready?!”

Turning backwards to look at me, the seventh holder of One For All grinned. “You won't, it's a leap of faith. That's what being a hero is all about, a leap of faith.” Suddenly Nana’s smile falters for just a single moment. “Hey, will you do me a favor? Just… just the next time that you see Toshi, will you tell him just how proud I am of him? Oh! And tell him to stop being so hard on himself! Just because he's the symbol of peace and number one hero doesn't mean he's perfect. So stop being so stubborn!”

Letting out a genuine laugh and spreading my lips into a wide smile, I couldn't help but think it felt nice to know there was always someone here for me and Toshinori. Even if that person was a ghost. “Don't worry Nana, I'll tell him.”

“That goes for you too.” Nana puts her hands on her hips. “You might have One For All now but that doesn't mean you should be reckless. Look at how injured you got on the first day of hero class! It was training, not a real battle.”

“Right…” I rub the back of my neck, feeling like a child being scolded. “I guess I did go a tad bit overboard with that mock battle…”

“You think?” Nana says before sighing. “Just take care of yourself kid… because someone really cares about you.” With those very last few words being spoken, I watched as Nana walked further and further away as my vision started to get dark, before going fully black.

—----------------------------------------------------------

Opening my eyes once again, I found myself back in the nurse's office for the third time. On the wall directly ahead of me was a clock that read 3:37pm. “Urgh…” I groaned out in both pain and drowsiness. It seemed that I missed all my afternoon classes. Off in the corner of the room I could see a very thin man wearing a hero costume that hung loosely off his body with his eyes closed, asleep, sitting in one of the nearby chairs. “...Toshi? ...Toshinori?”

Hearing my voice the number one hero had jolted wide awake. “I- I wasn't sleeping Gran Torino!” Several seconds passed before I let out a small snort. Toshinori, hearing this, had quickly relaxed. “My boy, you're awake…”

“You get caught sleeping a lot?” A grin was on my face as I tried to sit up, only to stop when pain rushed through my side. “Ahh!” I moved my right hand over to my injury with a wince.

Toshinori had a look of sympathy on his face. “Unfortunately Recovery Girl couldn't heal all your injuries in one pass. She said that you're too exhausted, so you will have to come back tomorrow for the rest.” I nodded my head.

“Man, Kacchan really didn't hold back. I feel like I got hit with a bus…” Looking around the room, I quickly notice the distinct lack of any explosive blondes in the area. “Where is he?”

“Ah, if you're referring to young Bakugo then he has already returned to class. His injuries were not as severe as yours.” Looking down, I cringed at the sight of my body. I was wearing my hero costume but various parts had been ripped open. Some of my limbs were covered by bandages, a sling was around my arm and a blood bag was being fed into my arm. “I do not wish to pry… but I must ask. What exactly is the relationship between you and Bakugo?”

“Relationship? Well…” I try to think of how to put all my complicated feelings about the boy into words. “We've known each other for our entire lives. Both our moms were best friends since childhood, so naturally they wanted the two of us to also be friends, and we were, for a time. We were brothers in everything but name.” A fond smile made its way on my face as memories of that time rushed forward. “We always talked about how we were going to be hero's together. We made all these really ugly costumes from stuff lying around, we watched the news constantly, hoping to see heroes in action. It might not seem like it but Kacchan is as big of an All-Might fanboy as I am.”

Toshinori nods. “It sounds like the two of you were very close. What happened?”

“Time.” My lips form into a frown. “Everyone else started getting their quirks. The first one was a boy in our class. It was a pretty lame power all things considered, just the ability to stretch his neck, but suddenly he became the most popular kid In class. After that it seemed like everyday someone had gotten their quirk. Kacchan eventually did as well. Oh, how the teachers all praised him. ‘A flashy quirk for a future hero!’ ‘That's really the perfect power!’ I was happy for him of course, but as more and more time passed things changed. Eventually, I was the only one who had no quirk, and then I found out I would never get one.”

“I see…” Toshinori sighed. “I assume that he began to treat you badly after that…”

“Actually, no.” I say surprising Toshinori. “Sure it wasn't like before, but things weren't all that different. That changed soon enough however one day after school. Me, Kacchan and some of his ‘friends’ were making our way through the woods when we came across a river with a log acting as a bridge. Crossing the wooden log we made it halfway before Kacchan fell in. Naturally, I had rushed down to help him but he slapped my hand away. After that Kacchan seemed to hate me and started bullying me.”

“That's it?” Toshinori said surprised. “It seems so…”

“Petty?” He nods. “I know. There was no big fight, no real reason for his hate, but you have to understand, ever since Kacchan had gotten his quirk he's had people telling him he will be a perfect hero. Everyone we've ever met has fed into his ego, but all of those expectations have left him wondering, ‘am I good enough?’ He wants to be the best hero because that's all anyone's ever expected of him. You might think that he has a superiority complex, and you'd be right to a certain extent, but really he has an inferiority complex. Me, who he viewed as a quirkless weakling, trying to help him out of that river put salt into his biggest insecurity. Kacchan can't understand that even as strong as he is, he still needs help from time to time.”

“Even still…” Toshinori had said, taking in my words. “That doesn't excuse the way that he's been treating you. You deserve better.”

“No, it doesn't.” I agreed. “But it does make it more understandable. Even still, I won't stand by and let him treat me however he wants. I'm not a weak kid anymore. If he wants to try and bully me again he's gonna be in for one hell of a surprise!” I grin, to which Toshinori chuckles.

“I wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of your wrath, my boy.” Toshinori ruffled my hair.

“Yeah…” However, despite his kind words, I felt my smile slip back into a tiny frown. “Even after everything he's done to me, after all the years of bullying, I still can't hate him. I keep hoping that one day things will go back to the way they were when we were kids. Does that make me pathetic? Am I being stupid?”

“No. You're not pathetic.” I looked up from my lap and over to Toshinori. “You see the best in people my boy. You can look past the bad and see the potential good in people who cant see it themselves. That doesn't make you stupid, it makes you strong. Sometimes I think labels like ‘Heroes” and ‘Villains' have made people forget the individuals behind the titles. Even I make that mistake sometimes.” Toshinori had started staring off into the distance, most likely thinking of past regrets. A fond smile made its way onto his face as he looked back. “Every time I think you can't surpass my expectations any further you somehow do just that. You are truly the best successor I could have chosen.”

“T-thanks Toshi…” I blush at his words before remembering I had something to tell him. “Oh! About One For All, something happened. I uh, think that I talked with Nana, inside my mind?”

“What?!” Toshinori said with wide eyes. “You talked with my master? Tell me everything!”

“Right, well…” I had went on to tell Toshinori a modified version of what actually happened. I told him all about the vestige realm, and that Nana explained the history of One For All and All For One. I told him that I would eventually unlock the other user's quirks but had chosen to leave out the part about encountering the fractured part of my psyche, instead framing this as my first visit to the vestige realm.

“Thats…” He took a moment to process my words. “Certainly surprising. I knew that there were remnants of the past users inside One For All, but to actually speak with them?”

“Did you ever experience something like this Toshinori?” I asked the older man.

“Yes, I did once.” Toshinori rests his chin on his hand. “It was many years ago, back when I first received One For All. I had dreamed of an empty void housing seven figures cloaked In colored fog. That was the only time such a thing happened. I was never able to return to the vestige realm after that night…”

“Hmm…” I nod at his words before hesitantly speaking. “There was… something Nana had wanted me to tell you.”

“...what did she say?” Toshinori's voice was filled with longing, the need for the words of his long dead mother figure clear in his tone.

“She…” I try to think of the best way to say it. “Nana wanted me to tell you that she's proud of you. Proud of the hero that you've become. She also said that you shouldn't be so hard on yourself because nobody is perfect. Not even you, Mr number one hero, Symbol of Peace!”

“Hehe, yeah… that sounds like her alright…” Toshinori said with a small chuckle while small tear streams ran down from both his eyes.

“Are you alright?” I ask, slightly concerned.

“I'm fine, my boy.” Toshi wiped the moisture from his face. “I just… didn't realize how much I needed to hear those words. Haha… look at me. You are the one injured and yet here I am being comforted by you, young Midoriya.”

Suddenly a new voice had caused the both of us to jolt. “Yes, how ironic.” Both me and Toshi snapped our heads over towards the door to see Recovery Girl standing there. “Midoriya is healed to the best of my abilities, so kindly move aside so that I can remove the IV in his arm. The school day will be ending soon.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Leaving the school locker room, I rubbed my shoulder where the sling holding my broken arm was resting on. I was back to wearing my UA uniform since my hero costume had been torn to shreds, a real shame. I only had it for a single day and it was already being sent back for repairs. Maybe I should add some support items into my costume now? I had some good ideas, but it still felt too soon. I would wait until the sports festival so I can meet Mei Hatsume.

That should be enough of a period to look like natural progression and it also gives me some time to plan out other items. One For All is an amazing power but I wouldn't solely rely on it. I would use support items to bring myself to heights never before seen. With all the quirks inside one for all I had plenty of ideas for new support items, and I would not stop until I was fully decked out in everything I wanted.

Snapping out of my thoughts for the future, I look ahead to see the massive door leading Into Class 1-A. Grabbing the handle, I slide it open and step inside. Suddenly, just like the first day of class, everyone was staring at me.

“Hey! It's Midoriya!” Kirishima said as most of the class came over. “Good to see you back! I have no idea what you said to Bakugo but you looked totally pumped! Really manly dude!”

“Yeah!” Mina pushed past the others. “Both of you really went at it! I thought the building was gonna come down!” The other teenagers said similar things before introducing themselves.

Shortly after everyone did so, the classroom opened once again as Uraraka and Kaminari stepped through while carrying textbooks. “So anyway, you wanna grab a bite sometime?”

“Oh, well…” Uraraka looked around before her eyes had landed on me. “Deku!” She said moving over to our group and leaving behind a disappointed looking Kaminari. “Your back!”

“Yup, complete with a few new scars.” I return her smile but Uraraka blinks back at my joke. “I'm kidding, nothing Recovery Girl can't heal.”

“Right… what's with all the bandages then?” Uraraka asked with a concerned expression.

“Recovery Girls' quirk uses stamina to heal, and since I was so exhausted after the fight with Kacchan she couldn't heal me in just one pass.” She nods at the information while I look around for the boy, only to not find him. “Have you seen him by the way? Kacchan that is.”

“You mean the blonde pomeranian?” I jolt at the sudden appearance of Shinso over to my left. “He left not long ago, probably to cry to his mommy. The guy looked pretty pissed.”

Time continued to pass as everyone talked together before eventually the bell had rung for the final time that day. Walking out of the school building with Ida, Shinso and Uraraka by my side, I had stopped in my tracks as up ahead I could see Kacchan standing over by the front gate. He was staring straight at me, clearly wanting to talk. “Uh guys? How about you go on ahead, I gotta deal with this.”

It was then that Uraraka spots Kacchan and frowns. “Deku, are you sure? I don't like this.”

“I'm sure it will be fine!” Ida had said whilst swinging his arms. “Bakugo wouldn't attack another student outside of training right?”

“Yeah…” I didn't bother to correct him. “I'll be fine. See you tomorrow right?” The others had soon said their goodbye and left the school grounds, Shinso looking back with a knowing expression. Watching Kacchan step forward, I take in a small breath. “H-hey Kacchan…”

“We need to talk.” The boy narrowed his eyes at me, his tone leaving no room for argument.

“Alright then...” I send him a small smile that seems to annoy Kacchan more than anything. “I'm not going anywhere. What do you want?”

“Who are you?” He asked scarily calm.

I tilted my head. “What do you mean?”

“Who. Are. You?” He asked more forcibly.

“Uhm…” I shuffled around awkwardly. “I'm not exactly sure what you want me to say, are you feeling alright? Do you need Recovery Girl?”

“You're not Izuku Midoriya.” The blonde says those words with conviction, like the idea that he could be wrong was simply impossible.

“What?” I let out a fake laugh, like his words were a bad joke. “Kacchan, we've known one another since we were toddlers, did you forget who I am? I'm Izuku Midoriya.” I am Midoriya, I have accepted that. I was the green haired boy who dreamed of becoming a hero, and for better or worse, I possessed the memories of a life not my own where my world was fiction.

“Don't play dumb!” Kacchan's rage had finally made itself known. “You act differently! When we met All-Might you barely cared! You don't stutter as much! You don't mumble as much, and that quirk!” The boy snarled out that last part. “Izuku Midoriya is quirkless! He has the extra pinky toe and everything! What did you do with him! WHERE IS IZUKU MIDORIYA!”

“Kacchan, I…” I consider placating the boy's anger, but stop. Why was it my responsibility to manage him? “And how would you know?”

“Wha-” Kacchan tried to speak but I cut him off. My voice was filled with anger, but unlike him it was cold and calculated. Dangerous.

“How would you know what I'm like? All that you've done since we were five years old is push me away, push me down. I changed. I'm not the useless Deku you think I am anymore. You don't like that? I don't care.” I take a small breath in as my anger fades. “I once thought that if I kept being nice to you things would go back to how they used to be, when we were kids, but now I see that I've only enabled you.”

I stare into his widened eyes. “That's going to stop now. Now I see that as things are, you're never going to change. I'm not going to take it any longer.” I start to walk past the frozen boy but stop and looked back at him. “And for the record, I've never hated you. I've never looked down on you. It was the opposite. I've always admired you. Your strength, your confidence, the way you're never afraid to be yourself. We both idolized All-Might, but you're the one who was actually in my life. He may have been the Symbol of Peace, but you were my Symbol of Victory, and that's never going to change.”

Chapter 8: The Fourth Estate

Notes:

Comments help with motivation so make sure to leave one!

It was early in the morning that I found myself sitting at the desk in my bedroom with a metal spoon in one hand and a mechanical pencil in the other. On the monitor screen in front of me was the recording of a fight between the hero Kamui Woods and a villain. Notes about the pro-heros fighting style were being written into my brand new notebook while I occasionally took a bite from the bowl of cereal next to me.

Volumes one through thirteen of hero analysis for the future was sitting on a shelf behind me, retired from use. I had decided to completely restart from scratch due to the fact most of the earlier volumes were from my childhood. They certainly weren't my best work and need to be redone. However, the final push was the fact that there wasn't a single page analyzing the quirks of villains or vigilantes. The younger version of myself hadn't thought it was right to analyze their quirks since I had wanted to be a hero, but I have since grown out of that.

Now that I'm older, and have all these extra memories, I have left behind my more naive views. The world wasn't all black and white. Being a hero or a villain doesn't immediately make you good or bad. There were Pro-Heros like Sildin Go, who secretly served the Meta Liberation Army, or even villains like Gentle Criminal, a good person who was denied his dream of being a pro-hero. Not everyone was like this, sometimes people were exactly what they seemed, but it was important to keep an open mind. Heroes are meant to help people, and sometimes villains need the most help.

But even among those who were true villains, it didn't mean they couldn't be right about the flaws of society to a certain extent. The words of the Hero Killer: Stain comes to mind. There are a lot of people who wish to become a hero for selfish reasons, but that doesn't make him right. Stain is still killing people and his views on who can become a hero is way too narrow. Does it really matter if someone's motives are not 100% altruistic as long as they are helping people? Should the people that they save all be sent to die just to maintain pure heroism?

Then there's also Dabi to think about. He was right about Endeavor. Right now the number 2 hero is an abusive husband and father whose done some very evil things to produce an heir who can take All-Might's place as the number one. Even still, murdering so many people just to get back at his father can't be overlooked.

That brings up a larger problem actually, the League of Villains. If things went how canon does then they would soon become the most feared and dangerous villain organization in all of human history. However, that hasn't yet happened. This brings up a big question, how long until they become unredeemable? What is the line between a flawed or evil person?

I suppose I should start with the easy ones, the ones who have already crossed that line. Muscular and Moonfish are obvious. They're complete psychopaths who have no reason for their actions. Next would be Dabi. I have a great deal of sympathy for his story, but there is no amount of tragedy that can excuse the number of people he's killed for “revenge”. It's made worse by the fact that if Dabi had really wanted to get revenge he should have gone straight to the police. The long thought dead son of the number two hero suddenly coming back from the grave? The press would've had a field day. They would've believed anything that he said, and once an official Investigation got started Endeavor would have been thrown into Tartarus faster than anyone could blink.

Then there's the two more wildcard members, Magne and Mustard. Both of them never had a lot of screen time so I can't make a call on their character but I could imagine that Magne may have faced a lot of discrimination, so that could have pushed her to villainy. There's also Mr. Compass who, while not an awful person, still joined up with the league of villains for no apparent reason. He's a robin hood type and, while I can see why Mr. Compass joined the league when he thought Stain was a part of It, I'm not really sure why he stayed. Perhaps too much time had passed and he felt no choice but to stay? The heroes did find out his name during the battle of Kamino Ward so it isn't like he could have returned to a normal life.

Moving onto the members who I think can be redeemed, there's Spinner. He's a person who has been treated like a monster for his entire life. It's only natural that he wants to destroy the system that discriminates against him for his mutant quirk. There's also Twice, an actual good person whose mind broke, causing him to fall in with the wrong crowd. The man had died because Twice refused to betray the only people who he had ever called friends. If that isn't a sign of a good but misguided person, I honestly have no idea what would be.

Next was Toga, who is… a very complicated case to say the least. She was someone who was viewed as a demon by her parents for the simple fact that she was different from other children. Toga had an inbuilt craving and need for blood due to her quirk. She was forced to suppress this need for her entire life, until the girl eventually snapped. Instead of helping her balance her cravings in a healthy way both of Toga’s parents shamed her. Don't get it wrong either. Toga absolutely needs blood. Sure she may not die from lack of blood, but it's like an unbearable hunger that never goes away.

It was a true tragedy. All Toga needed was the occasional blood bag and she could've lived a completely normal life. Instead, Toga is forced to live on the run, made into a murderer, all to satisfy her hunger. She was only fifteen years old when she attacked Saito. She had been a kid no older than I was at the moment. Did the blonde even realize what she had done? Was Toga aware of the death of Saito through the relief she felt at finally satisfyIng her craving?

Maybe after being forced to hide both her true self behind a mask and her cravings for blood, Toga’s mind shattered, and the final nail in the coffin to her utter insanity was the knowledge that she had killed her first crush from instinct.

Finally we come to the most tragic of them all and also the one who would prove the hardest to redeem, Tomura Shigaraki. The teens' life is just… a mess. His father was both physically and emotionally abusive. He would be hurt for just talking about heroes, nevermind the fact that Tomura wanted to be one himself. Then all for one had found him outside one day and took his original quirk, replacing it with Decay.

Naturally when Tomura eventually awakened this power it had led to the death of his entire family, down to the very last member. After all of this, the boy was left to wander the streets in his traumatized state for hours, watching as society turned its back on him. It was only at this time that the cause of his pain showed its face. All For One masqueraded as his savior. From there Tomura had been groomed into a perfect successor, trained to hate heroes by his sensei only so Tomura could eventually be taken over as a new body for All For One.

Spinner, Twice, Himiko Toga and Shigaraki. These four people had all been so wronged by the world. I wanted to help them, to show them that there was another path, but I would need to be quick. Right now their crimes are few, and mostly excusable when considering their circumstances, but that wouldn't stay the case for long. What would be the cutoff point for their reasonable redemption… Naturally I needed the USJ, Hosu incident and summer camp attack to happen. The League, while still villains, don't do anything irredeemable in those events. Nobody dies, nobody Is all too injured, so as long as they make up for their crimes I don't believe any of them will be sent to jail for life. Wait! Crap! The kidnapping!

I will need to stop that for sure. If I remember correctly Momo puts a tracker on a Nomu, so canon won't get derailed too much. After that, the Kamino fight will happen and All For One gets taken into Tartarus. From there I will have to find the leaderless League of Villains and take them into custody. Hopefully, I can talk the police into being more lenient with them, especially if I can convince them to cooperate.

Suddenly, I hear a notification from my phone. Snapping out my thoughts for the future I look back down at the open notebook before me.

Anyway, I've gotten way off topic. What I was thinking before my thoughts had gotten away from me is that no matter what side of the morality spectrum someone finds themselves on I shouldn't exclude them from my analysis. Villains often had very interesting and unique powers. One of my greatest strengths is the ability to incorporate other fighting styles into my own. If I can get stronger by watching and using tactics of heroes or villains then I would, especially when I start unlocking the quirks of the other One For All users. Both Blackwhip and Float in particular. Those two powers could be used in some very interesting ways beyond just the obvious. I couldn't wait.

Taking one final bite from the cereal bowl, I closed “Quirk Analysis For The Future Volume One” and put it away into my backpack. I grab my nearby phone and let out a small swear at the time. I was behind schedule. Powering off my computer, I quickly gather all of my things and head out the room for my journey to UA.

—----------------------------------------------------------

Later that morning I found myself walking on the street making my way to school. A pair of headphones were on my head, playing Hero by Playboi Carti. Suddenly however, I spotted a group of reporters waiting outside the gate. Unfortunately, it seemed that they noticed me as well, as soon I had been surrounded on all sides. Letting out a small sigh I reluctantly pull down my headphones. “Can I help you miss?”

“Yes you can!” The reporter I had addressed, an early 20s woman who had brown hair and who was wearing a blue power suit said with enthusiasm. “What is it like to work so closely with the number one hero, All-Might?”

“All-Might? Well…” A fond smile made its way onto my face. “It's been awesome. All-Might is exactly what he seems like on television.”

“I see.” The reporter nods. “How is All-Might fairing as a teacher then? Just as well?”

“Well… he certainly tries his best.” I cringe at the memory of my recently healed wounds. It had been painful, but if I wanted to avoid pain then I wouldn't be going into heroics. Besides, it was my own fault for taking training so hard.

“Oh?” She leaned in with interest. “So you're saying All-Might isn't that great of a teacher?”

“What? No! That's not-” I sigh in annoyance at the way she had twisted my words. “All-Might is great, but he went to school for heroics, not teaching. It's only natural that he wouldn't get everything down on his first day on the job.”

“Hmm, alright. Final question then. What do you know about Midoriya Izuku? The boy who broke the UA entrance exam record. Can you tell us anything about him?” I blinked back.

“Midoriya… Izuku?” I stare in confusion before remembering what All-Might had told me the night I received my UA acceptance letter. It seemed that the press knew about the record being broken, but didn't know my face. Maybe Toshinori or Nezu had pulled some strings to make sure my records weren't in public view? I doubted that I would be able to retain any semblance of privacy once the sports festival happens, but I'll take what I can get for now.

“No sorry, I've never heard of him.” I shrugged my shoulders before looking over towards the school and saw Mr Aizawa staring over at the crowd with an annoyed face. “Look, I've gotta head to class if that's all.” I squeezed through the reporters while the woman called out.

“Wait! I have more questions! Don't leave!”

Letting out a sigh of relief as I passed through the gate, I relaxed knowing the press couldn't get onto school grounds. Mr Aizawa glared at the group of reporters like they had personally stolen his last jelly pouch. “Problem child.”

“S-Sensei!” I stutter out nervously. The press I could deal with easily enough, an annoyed Mr Aizawa on the other hand… I'd rather go fight villains. Briefly, I wonder how exactly I earned being called a problem child already, but then again, I did break the entrance exam record, have a panic attack during the quirk test and then managed to completely wreck my body during my first heroics class, so maybe it was slightly warranted. “Uhm… how are you?”

“Word of advice,” Aizawa says, not bothering to acknowledge my words. “Don't go feeding the vultures. You give them an inch and they'll take a mile. It's best to avoid them as much as possible. Not that they will make that easy…”

“Right…” I nodded at his words before looking over at the crowd, only to suddenly go still. All the way in the back of the group I could see a teenager wearing a black hoodie along with a pair of dark jeans who had blue hair. The two of us locked eyes before eventually he turned away and moved out of my sight. “Huh…”

“Midoriya?” Aizawa had raised an eyebrow.

I turn my attention back to him. “Yes Sensei?”

“...” My teacher stares at me for several long seconds before eventually sighing. “Head to class before the vultures get too annoying.”

With the last words being said, I leave behind Mr Aizawa and head straight into the building, an uneasy feeling rolling around my stomach.

—----------------------------------------------------------

Walking into class 1-A, I quickly make my way over towards my desk before laying my bag aside and sitting. Putting my headphones into the backpack, I pulled out my notebook along with a mechanical pencil and passed the time by working on Uraraka's page. Various ideas for how to best use her Zero Gravity quirk had already been written down. The girl didn't get recognized enough for just how powerful she could be. Sure, Uraraka might get outclassed In firepower by Kacchan or Todoroki, but her versatility more than makes up for that fact.

I mean, Zero Gravity is basically an upgraded version of float, and Nana Shimura certainly is no slouch when it comes to fighting. Uraraka needs to work on three things. One, making her weight limit bigger, two, working on getting a proper fighting style, and three, bulking up her muscles. Due to the fact Uraraka needs a five finger contact to activate her quirk she will need to be skilled at hand to hand combat.

As the nearby clock ticks onwards more of the class eventually makes their way in. Kaminari, Momo, Shinso, Koda and Todoroki all quickly get into their seats. The last student to enter the class turns out to be Kacchan. The blonde boy walks over to his desk and simply stares at me for a good minute before sitting down in his chair. No insult, no yelling. I let out a small sigh of relief at this. Maybe there was hope.

“CLASS WILL BE STARTING SOON!!! TAKE YOUR SEATS EVERYONE!!!” Ida says while moving into the classroom as fast as he could without running, not wanting to break a rule.

“We're all already in our seats, you're the only one still standing, Kero.” Tsuyu says bluntly as the class looks at the boy with amusement.

“Oh, right, uhm…” Ida turns red before slowly making his way to sit down, his head hanging low like a kicked puppy. I let out a chuckle.

Suddenly the door had opened once again as Mr. Aizawa walked in with a more exhausted expression than usual. Escorting his students past the press had clearly annoyed and tired him out. “It seems you're all seated and quiet. Good, perhaps there's hope for you after all.” Mr. Aizawa walked over to his podium before briefly looking at some paperwork. “You all did decently on yesterday's training, even with the blonde oafs less than stellar teaching skills. I have looked at the recordings so we'll go over the results. Midoriya and Bakugo.” Mr. Aizawa looked straight towards us. “Both of you took the battle trial too far. This was training, not an actual fight. Risking permanent damage is not logical, make sure you remember that.”

Aizawa continued on. “I was impressed with how well you both fought. Clearly the two of you are skilled. Bakugo, make sure to work on keeping your anger in check. You can't let it blind your better judgment. You're talented so don't sulk about your one loss. Midoriya, keep working on getting better control of your quirk. Now, Ida….” Mr. Aizawa moves into the other students, giving each of them advice on how to improve. It's too bad my match was the first one. I would've loved to see them in action.

“Alright, that's everyone. I trust you all have a good idea on how to improve yourselves. Now I have two announcements to make. Firstly, because of yesterday's…. incident, All-Might is no longer allowed to teach Heroics class-” Suddenly the class had exploded into noise before our sensei could finish his sentence.

“What?!” “All-Mights fired?!” “But he had just started!” “What a bummer…” “Uncool, Kero.”

“Quiet!” Mr. Aizawa yelled as his eyes flashed red and his hair floated, causing everyone to go still. His Erasure felt… weird. The constant humming of One For All disappeared, making me feel almost naked. It was like a part of me was suddenly missing. Although I had it better than my classmates, considering I have spent my whole life quirkless, technically it was two if you counted all my foreign memories, it still felt unnerving. Judging by the shivers I saw running down my classmates' spine, they'd agree.

“I wasn't done speaking…” Our teacher sighs before deactivating erasure, making everyone take a quick relieved breath. “As I was saying, All-Might is no longer allowed to teach Heroic class, alone.” He stressed that last word. “He isn't going anywhere. Another random teacher will simply have to supervise All-Mights class.”

Despite his reassuring words, I didn't feel any better. This didn't happen in the original story. Because of my fight with Kacchan, All-Might is forced to be supervised. Guilt filled my chest.

“Moving on,” my attention snaps back to our teacher. “Our next task will decide your future, everyone.” The class tenses. “You all need to pick a class representative.” Everyone sighs.

I stayed quiet as my classmates raised their hands, wanting to be picked. Tuning out Ida as he started his speech, I went back to my notebook. I didn't particularly care about being class representative. Sure, It would look good on a resume, but that position should go to a person who actually wants to do it. Plus It'd be a lot of extra work. Receiving a slip of paper, I write down Ida before handing it off to Mina.

Soon enough the votes had been tallied and written down. Looking up to the board I felt my eyes widen from shock. Nearly everyone had received either zero or one vote including Ida.
Momo had gotten 2, while I had a grand total of… five!? What?! How did I get five votes?!

“Alright, our class representative is Midoriya, while our deputy is Yaoyorozu.” I stood in front of the class with Momo, more bewildered than anything. How did I get a fourth of the class to vote for me? I didn't do anything special…

—----------------------------------------------------------

Later that day after most of our classes had ended I found myself in the school cafeteria enjoying a nice big bowl of Katsudon. Just like last time Ida, Uraraka and Shinso were sitting around the table with me. “Wow, It's always so crowded in here!” Uraraka said with wide eyes as she looked around the packed lunch room.

“That would be because students from hero, management and the support courses share the same cafeteria.” Ida explained quickly as he pushed up his glasses farther. Looking at my surroundings, I saw several of our fellow classmates already forming into groups, while others like Kacchan and Todoroki preferred to eat alone. I also spotted several familiar faces from outside our classes, like the UA big three and Mei Hatsume, who poked at her food with an annoyed grease covered expression.

“Mhmm!” Turning my attention back over to Uraraka at the small sound of pleasure she made, I feel my smile turn into a frown. “This rice is delicious!” Uraraka said with her eyes closed, enjoying the simple rice like it was the best thing she's ever eaten, or to be precise, the only things she's probably eaten in a long while. Uraraka's family was poor. Dirt poor. It made me angry to know that someone would have to starve themselves just to survive. The only saving grace is that at least now she has access to good meals. She deserves better…

Suddenly I feel a nudge from my side. “You alright Midoriya?” Shinso says to my left.

“What?” I look over to the tired eyed teen with confusion before my brain catches up. “Yeah, I'm all good. I just… I'm just worried about the class representative thing. I didn't even want the position…” I poke at my meal in thought.

“You'll do great.” Ida says through a bite of his food. “Your courage and quirk thinking under stress will make you a worthy leader. Besides, ‘those who do not seek power are qualified to hold it.’ At least that's how I think the saying goes…” Ida had mumbled that last part out.

I couldn't resist letting out a chuckle at Ida’s words. Even 2500 years later, it seemed that Greek literature still lived on. Some things will never change. “Big fan of Plato, Ida? I'd think you would be better for the position. That'd be why I voted for you, at the very least.”

“You… voted for me?” Ida sounded touched. “I wondered where that vote came from…”

“Wait a minute,” Uraraka said with a confused tone while squinting, her eyes closed slightly. “I thought you wanted to be class rep Ida! You know, because of the square glasses and all.”

Shinso smirks slightly. “I don't think that's how we should go about choosing our class rep.”

“Wanting a job and being suited for it are two different things.” The taller boy takes a drink of his orange juice. “Observing the Ida family hero agency has taught me that much.”

“Hero agency?” Both Uraraka and Shinso ask in curiosity while Ida freezes as he realizes he misspoke, for my part I simply give out a hum.

“Oh yeah. Your older brother's the Turbo Hero Ingenium, right?” His eyes widen at my words.

“You… you knew?” Ida asked in surprise.

“Of course.” I nodded my head before taking another bite of my Katsudon, hiding a smirk like It was the most casual thing in the world. “The Ida family is famous for having a long lineage of heroes, dating back to the dawn of quirks. The current heir to the family is Tensei Ida also known as the Pro hero Ingenium. As of the latest Hero Billboard Chart he's ranked as the number 59th hero and climbing rapidly. If I remember correctly he has about… 65 sidekicks working under him at the moment?”

“Uhm, that'd be correct…” Ida confirms with a slow nod of his head. The other two were both staring at me with wide eyes. “You…you know a lot about heroes, Midoriya.”

“It has its uses.” I shrugged before taking one last bite of my now finished Katsudon. “I have always been good with memorizing stuff, stuff I enjoy especially. Math on the other hand…” I shuddered at the memory of abstract algebra. Never again. “If you ever need a partner for-”

Suddenly however, the rest of my sentence had been caught off by the sound of ringing bells. ‘Dammit Shigaraki!’ The other students looked around in confusion as an automated voice calls out through the school PA system. “Warning! Level three security breach! May all students please evacuate the building now!”

“Level three security breach?” Ida turns over to a nearby 3rd year student.

“It means someone's managed to get past the school's barrier!” The 3rd year student yelled back with a nervous expression. “This hasn't happened in my entire time here! I have to get out of here! Now!” The student quickly ran off.

Soon enough the four of us followed behind the 3rd year towards the hall, but it had been filled with the panicking students body. ‘Great, I guess human instinct never changes.’ I sigh as I move over towards Uraraka and grab her hand, to which she gives a small mouse-like squeak. “Stick with me, alright?” Uraraka nods her head quickly with slightly red cheeks while the crowd suddenly starts pushing us. “Crap! Shinso!” The purple haired boy gets dragged into the sea of bodies before I could grab onto him. Soon enough Ida was pulled away too.

“Deku! Help me!” The other students started pushing us apart, but I held onto Uraraka with a firm grip. "Hey! Stop! You're squishing me!”

“Dammit!” The two of us start losing our hold, before suddenly I decide to activate One For All at three percent and pull her away from the other students. Uraraka slams into my chest as I wrap my arms around the girl to protect her from the elbows and shoulders slamming into me from all sides. “I've got you, stay still!”

“It's alright everyone! It's just the-!” The voice of Ida cuts through the screams of the crowd for just a moment, but he had been cut off as from the corner of my vision I could see him being pushed into the glass. “it's… the press!”

“The press?!” I looked over towards the boy, and true enough through the large windows I could see the media gathered by the decayed front entrance. Both Present Mic along with Eraserhead were trying to make them leave to no avail. “Uraraka!” I look down at the scared girl. “I've got a crazy idea! Are you with me?!”

Uraraka nods. “What's the plan Deku?!”

“You need to make both of us weightless!” At this Uraraka eyes had widened considerably.

“B-but I can't negate that amount of weight yet Deku!” A grunt of pain leaves my mouth as a student hits my right side. “I'll get nauseous!”

“Look out!” I just managed to pull her head out of the way of an elbow from one of the taller students. I growled in frustration as I saw one of the younger students fall and get trampled over in panic. “Uraraka!” I yell, causing the girl to look me in the eyes. “The longer this goes on the more people that are going to be hurt! I trust that you're strong enough to do this! Do you trust me!?” Uraraka nodded. “Then do it!”

Suddenly Uraraka grabbed both herself and me, as we quickly left the ground. “T-there…”

Feeling the familiar sensation of zero gravity, I look to the slightly green faced Uraraka. “Hold on tight!” As we floated mid-air, all of the other students looked up at us, while Uraraka held onto me tighter as I removed one of my arms and pointed my hand out. “Technique Mimicry: Explosive Burst!” Powering One For All up to 10%, I angled myself up perfectly and flicked my middle finger, shooting out a burst of wind that threw the two of us across the room.

Hitting the wall with a solid thump, I grabbed onto the nearby pipe as Urakraka and I had found our footing on the overhead emergency exit sign. “Everybody! Listen up!” I yelled out as the effects of zero gravity ended, causing everyone in the hallway to stare up at us. “It's only the media outside! There's no reason to panic! The police will be here soon! Just calm down and everything will be fine! Go and look for yourself! Everything's going to be alright!”

—----------------------------------------------------------

After everything calmed down, and the other students were no longer panicking, soon our teachers had finally shown themselves and reassured everyone that everything was fine.

Thankfully, no further incidents occurred and lunch resumed quickly enough. After the rest of today's subjects had ended I found myself standing before my classmates with Momo to the left. “Alright, we'll need to assign positions for the other class officers, but before we do anything…” I let out a small sigh. “I'm stepping down as class representative and nominating Tenya Ida in my place.

“What?!” Several of my classmates yell out in surprise. “But why would you do that?” There in the back another asked, even Momo looked surprised from the corner of my vision.

“Mostly because I didn't want the position in the first place…” I said quietly from under my breath. “Look,” I speak up. “Being class rep is a lot of very hard work and I need to focus on getting my quirk under my control. You all saw how I broke my arm during the quirk test. Now I think Ida is the best choice, but we can have another vote if anyone here thinks differently.”

We ended that day of school with Ida as our class representative and Momo as our vice.

Chapter 9: First Encounter With Villainy

Notes:

Comments help with motivation so make sure to leave one!

“Today's training will be a little different.” Our teacher, Mr Aizawa, said to the class. “You'll have three instructors. Me, All-Might and one other faculty member will be keeping an eye on you.” The classroom buzzed with curiosity at the development, before Mr Aizawa pulled out a card that read 'rescue’. “We'll be doing something fundamental to any pro-heros life, rescue training. Being a hero isn't just about who can punch villains the hardest. Our job is saving people, and more often than not it will be natural disasters or unintentional accidents that put the general population in danger.”

As Aizawa finished speaking my classmates had exploded in excitement. “Sounds like we are in for a real workout!” “Actual hero work!” “This is going to be better than fighting each other!” “Finally. I'll get to show off how good I am in water, Kero.” This'll be what separates the men from the boys!” For my part I stayed silent, knowing this training exercise won't go to plan. “This is going to be so fabulous~!”

Briefly the idea of warning Mr Aizawa about Shigaraki's plan to invade the USJ had come to mind, but was dismissed just as quickly for several reasons. Firstly, there was no way that he would actually believe me. I would have to reveal my future knowledge which wasn't ever going to happen. At best Mr Aizawa would just brush me off thinking it was paranoia. At worst however… he may think I was crazy or maybe even working with the league of villains.

Secondly, I needed the timeline to stay mostly the same. For now at the very least. Kamino Ward has to happen. That was my chance to lock All For One away forever. As long as the prison break never happens All for One would be trapped. If Shigaraki never attacks the USJ then who knows what would happen. Knowing the future is my one advantage, and while it'll inevitably change due to my actions, whether it was intentional or not, I wanted to keep that advantage for as long as possible.

Lastly, there was the UA traitor to think about, Yuga Aoyama. If I did anything too suspicious then he would report to All For One, changing the timeline. I never cared much for the young frenchman. In the original story he wasn't ever the center of attention and had a stereotypical personality. Even still, I felt a lot of sympathy for his situation. It certainly couldn't be easy living under All For One's thumb, having your family's lives constantly on the line. I wanted to help Ayoama, but I couldn't, for now that is.

“Guys, I wasn't finished yet.” Aizawa speaks up, quickly cutting off the class's celebration. “What you'll wear in this exercise will be up to you. I know you're all excited about your new costumes.” Suddenly our teacher had clicked a button and the wall panels opened up, while I wondered if he just enjoys being dramatic for the sake of it. “Keep in mind that you haven't gotten used to the costumes yet and they may limit your movements. This special training will be at an off campus facility and we'll be taking a bus to get there. That's all, go get ready.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Waiting outside the bus for everyone to show up, I looked over to Kacchan. Just like me he was wearing the UA gym uniform his costume having been destroyed in the battle trials. For my part I had on my Mid-Gauntlets, the mouth guard, and elbow/knee pads, while Kacchan was wearing his grenadier bracers. Luckily, it seemed they hadn't been damaged during our fight, so we would have a bit more firepower.

“Hey Deku!” I looked over to Uraraka as she called out my name, before blushing slightly at the sight of her skintight hero costume. The thickness is indeed strong with this one. “Why are you and Bakugo wearing gym clothes?”

“Ah, well, our costumes had to be sent back for repairs.” I say, forcing myself to look her in the eyes. “It will probably take a while for mine to be fixed, since it has to go off to America.”

Suddenly our conversation was cut off by the sound of Ida blowing a loud whistle. “Gather around Class 1-A! Using your student number form two neat lines so we can load the bus efficiently!” Doing as Ida says, our class loads into the bus, only to discover its open layout. While everyone takes a seat Ida sits in clear despair with his head in his hands. “The bus's open layout ruined my boarding strategy…”

“Ida honey, you really need to chill out.” Mina says with the hint of a smirk on her face while the bus begins to drive its way down the road.

“If we're pointing out the obvious then there's something I wanna say, about you Midoriya.” Asui spoke up while I fought to hold back a small sigh. Here we go… “Your quirk seems pretty similar to All-Might's, kero.”

“Does it? I guess I've never really noticed it before.” I tilted my head, pretending to think about it. “Then again, it's not like strength quirks are really all that uncommon, All-Might just has a very strong one. Not that I have a simple strength quirk. My power is just a little more complicated than that.”

The other students lean in with interest. “Then what is your quirk, Midoriya?” Asui asked me.

I think back to the quirk registration form that I had filled out after the entrance exam. I think that I had done a pretty good job at creating a fake story that could explain my power, why I couldn't use my quirk for so long and even the other users' quirks when they eventually show up. “I call my quirk, Energy Accumulation.”

“Energy Accumulation?” The frog girl asks in confirmation. From the far corner of my vision I could see Kacchan paying close attention.

“Yeah, Energy Accumulation.” I nod my head. “Basically, I build up energy that can be used to increase my speed, strength and durability. However, energy accumulation didn't manifest until recently, since my body wasn't yet strong enough for it to handle all that power. It wasn't until about a few weeks right before the exam that I discovered I wasn't actually quirkless.”

All the other students, except for Uraraka and Ida, who already knew about my quirklessnes, stared at me in shock at this information. The fact one of the strongest members of class-1A didn't even know about his power until almost right before the exam left them awed. I could see Kacchan turn away with a scowl clear on his face, now having learned what he wanted. I doubted the boy would fully accept it at first, but there wasn't much else he could do. The fake story I had crafted was a pretty good one if I do say so myself.

It explained everything I needed to cover for, and when eventually the other users' quirks showed up I could just blame it on my body finding “different ways to use the energy.” It helped that a lot of the other users' quirks did seem to have something with energy. Fa Jin was potential energy, Float was gravitational energy, Gear Shift was kinetic energy and the sixth user's quirk Blackwhip was literally made of energy. Smokescreen and Danger Sense is a little harder to explain but hey, quirk science is pretty much guess work anyway. You try to tell me how Ida can turn orange juice straight into fuel for his engine. It doesn't make sense.

“Wait… so you mean to say you've only had your quirk for three months?” Shinso asks.

“Uh, yeah. About three months or so.” I shrug my shoulders. “I could only use my quirk once my body was strong enough to handle some of its power. To be honest it's probably a good thing I couldn't use it. If I did so, then my limbs might have shot straight off my body.”

“That's so manly…” Kirishima says with awe in his eyes. “Having to train your body like that shows just how dedicated you are to become a hero! Still, even if you can't use every bit of your power right now, it must be nice having a simple argumenting-type quirk.” Suddenly the boy lifts his arm for everyone to see and uses his quirk on it. “My hardening might be super strong, but it doesn't look all that impressive.”

“What are you talking about Kirishima? Your quirk is perfect for hero work!” At the look he sends me I explain. “Sure, it might not be all that flashy when you compare it to Todoroki or Kacchan, but the hardened look of your body is super cool! Heroes are supposed to protect people right? So what could be better than a hero who can turn his body into a shield?”

“Huh, I never thought about it that way…” The red haired boy looked downwards towards his hardened arm in a new light.

“Actually, since we're talking about quirks, I've got a question for you, Yaoyorozu.” I look over to the girl in question.

“A question for me?” Yaoyorozu looked just a tad bit surprised. “What's your question?”

“Well…” I think of the best way to phrase my rather… sensitive question. “At the risk of sounding like Mineta,” “Hey!” The shorter boy yelled out while everyone ignored him. “Why exactly did you pick that… peculiar costume?”

“My costume?” Momo looks downwards to her rather revealing outfit, before looking back up with a blush. “Ah! Well, unfortunately my quirk “Creation” can't pass through my clothing, so I had to make it more… open to compensate.”

“Oh, alright.” I nodded my head before asking another question. “So why didn't you make it out of DNA fabric?”

“DNA… fabric?” She asked in confusion.

“Yeah. DNA fabric. It's a special kind of fabric that's made with a person's DNA, usually the hair, so it can work with quirks. There's a third year here at UA that has a costume made out of it. His name is Mirio Togata I think. His quirk is to pass through objects, and unfortunately, that also applies to his clothes. It was all over the news last year after the UA sport festival.” I shrugged my shoulders. “Anyway, I thought that you would know about it since Hagakure had a costume made out of the stuff.”

“Sorry,” I looked over to said girl who spoke up. “But what are you talking about?”

“You know, your costume. I mean It has to be made out of DNA fabric. Otherwise you would be naked!” I let out a chuckle, but Hagakure stays unnervingly quiet. “Wait…” My eyes had widened slightly. “Are you using DNA fabric?”

“Uhm…” Hagakure crosses her arms but says nothing further, which was an answer in itself.

“YOU'RE NAKED?!” Suddenly Jiro, who was sitting next to Hagakure, yelled out as the girl jumped away from her. The other students all stared over at the invisible girl, her only sort of “clothing” being boots and a pair of gloves.

“What.” Mr Aizawa appears with a blank face before pulling out a spare gym uniform. “Put this on. Now.” Once the clothing fully covered her Aizawa looked at the girl with clear anger in his eyes. “Who is your costume designer?”

“U-uhm, I think the company it came from was called Detnerat.” Hagakure stuttered from her nervousness while my eyes widen. That's the company owned by Rikiya Yotsubashi, leader of the Meta Liberation Army! To think that they have connections to UA high of all places…

“Midoriya, do you also know this Detnerat?” I stiffen as the teacher's attention was shifted to me. He must've saw my reaction to the name.

“Uh, yeah I do.” I nod my head while thinking back to everything I knew of them from both this life and my past life “They're a company that's well known for the production of lifestyle support items. Detnerat has a reputation for making cheap but low quality products. They have recently ventured into the hero support items industry, but I'm surprised that UA of all schools would contract them.”

“We won't be for much longer.” Suddenly the bus came to a halt as Mr Aizawa looked out the windows. “We're here. Everyone get your stuff and go. I have to make some calls.” As we move off the bus I see our teacher pull out his phone and call someone. The device rings for several seconds before it connects. “Nezu, prepare the legal team. We're suing a support company. They need to go down, right now.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Walking into the dome shaped building, we were greeted by the Rescue Hero: Thirteen, who was waiting for us in her costume. I could see Uraraka starting to get excited at the sight of her favorite hero while my other classmates had similar reactions. “Hello everyone!” The rescue hero says while waving. “I have been waiting for you! Around all of you are various environments that are designed to simulate a multitude of different natural disaster types!”

“Woah! This place is like an amusement park! How cool!” I had to agree with my classmates. The building was massive, and filled with tons of areas simulating everything from a city to a landslide. The cost to build something like this must be exorbitant. How do they afford it?

“I created this training facility to prepare you to deal with different types of disasters!” 13 held her arms out to her sides. “I call it Unforeseen Simulation Joint! But you can call it U.S.J!”

As Thirteen began introducing herself and her quirk, I felt myself space out before starting to think of a plan for what came next. I needed to get Iida out of the USJ as quickly as possible. The faster that he gets to the school the faster the other teachers can get here. Fortunately, Shigaraki was still in his manbaby phase, so he would be quick to anger and predictable. I just needed to keep the other students out of his range. The biggest issue is the high end Nomu he has. Even if Eraserhead took out his quirks I had heavy doubts we would be strong enough to beat it right now. We would need to stall until Toshinori makes his way here.

Suddenly, my attention refocused as I noticed the overhead lights flickering before turning off completely. Quickly looking over towards the fountain, I watch as the water dies out when a purple fog begins to form. “Sensei!” I yell out, catching the two teachers' attention. “There's something going on down there!” Pointing to the portal, I see Aizawa and Thirteen go fully stiff as Shigaraki steps through, into the USJ.

“Wait… has the training started already? I thought we were rescuing people?” Kirishima asks while the other students step forward.

“Stay back!” Mr Aizawa says harshly, making the other students flinch backwards. “This isn't a training exercise. Those are real villains!”

The students all gasp at this information, while the teachers ready themselves for any sign of attack from Shigaraki and his henchmen. “No way… how could so many villains get onto the school grounds like this?!” Kirishima asks.

Yaoyorozu steps up to speak. “Shouldn't the alarms be going off now? Why aren't they?”

“Thats a good question.” Thirteen says. “I'm not sure…”

“I think I've got an answer to that.” The others look to me for an explanation. “Look up there, at the overhead lights. They went off as soon as the villains entered the building. They must have some type of quirk that can disable all of the electronics that reside in its area of effect.”

“If that is the case…” Mr Aizawa thinks for a moment. “Kaminari, try and use your quirk to contact the school!”

“Alright! I'm on it!” The yellow hair boy nods.

“Hmm… is the entire campus under attack? Or is this their only target?” Todoroki thinks out loud. “The villains have thought this out. They chose an isolated location for an attack and cut off our ability to contact the school for help. They also knew when to set their plans in motion so we would be here. They have to have some sort of goal, but what would it be?”

“Maybe to send a message?” I throw out as an idea while the group of villains slowly make their way closer to us. “UA is the largest hero school in the country. It'd be pretty big news if a group of villains managed to break in. There isn't a point trying to guess their motives now. The better question is how they got their info. Wait…” I squinted my eyes, pretending that I had recognized someone. “That can't be…”

“What is it Midoriya?” Thirteen had asked me

“The one with the creepy hands and blue hair. I think I recognize him….” I pause for several more seconds, pretending that I was thinking about it. “Yeah, that's definitely him. He was in the back of the crowd with the reporters from yesterday. I thought he seemed suspicious.“

“He must've been the one to destroy the gate then.” Mr Aizawa narrows his eyes towards the villains. “They must have used the panic to sneak onto school grounds and look at our lesson plan for today. Kaminari, have you had any luck contacting the school yet?”

“No.” The boy shakes his head. “Whatever the villains are doing is blocking my quirk as well.”

“Dammit…” Aizawa growls in his frustration before pulling his goggles down. “Thirteen, get the kids out of here. I'll buy you some time.”

“Wait!” I yelled out as our sensei was about to leap down to face the approaching villains, causing the man to turn back. “Your quirk isn't suited to taking on large groups! Your fighting style is about ambushes! Not drawn out fights! You should be taking Todoroki, Mineta and Sero along with you! Their powers are perfect for restraining large amounts of enemies!”

I could see Mr Aizawa's surprise at my quick thinking, but he shook his head anyway. “I'm not taking untrained children with me into this battle. Besides, you can't be a pro if you have only one trick. Now get out of here already!”

As Eraserhead jumped down the stairs to face the oncoming villains, I gritted my teeth and reluctantly followed my classmates as we ran towards the exit. However, as we approached the door a swirling purple portal opened in the ground and out comes Kurogiri. “There is no escape for you…” His mist form covered all of his body, providing no clear means of attack. “It's a pleasure to meet you, we’re the League of Villains. I know that it's impolite but we-”

As Kurogiri begins to monolog, I slowly move over to Iida and Uraraka. “Don't react to what I'm saying and talk quietly so the villain can't hear us.” I whisper to the two of them, and continue talking once I'm sure they heard me. “We need to get Iida out of here right now.”

“What?” The boy whispers, his eyes widening at my words. “You want me to leave you all?!”

“We need to warn the school of what's going on, and since we can't contact them with our electrics we need to send someone, and you are the best person we have for long distance running.” As Iida was about to refuse again, I quickly cut him off. “Iida, this isn't a game, or training. These are real life villains. The longer this goes on the more likely it is that someone will get badly hurt, or worse, die. We need to end this as soon as possible. Understand?”

Seeing the boy reluctantly nod, it was Uraraka who spoke up next. “Whats the plan Deku?”

“I know Kacchan. He isn't going to take this lying down. He's most likely going to attack the villain, and that's when we will make our move.” The two of them listened closely to my next words. “Uraraka, you're going to make Iida weightless. When that happens I'll use my quirk to jump into the air and throw him right over the villain. Got it?” They both nod. “Good. Then get ready. It'll happen any second now.”

It was then that both Kacchan and Kirishima had leapt forward to attack. Watching them do so, I grabbed onto Iida's shoulders as Uraraka uses her quirk on him. “Here we go…” Waiting for the moment Kacchan lets off an explosion, I activate One for All at ten percent and leap into the air under the cover of the smoke. The cloud disguises our actions from the view of Kurogiri, and so I throw Iida over the villain's head without his knowledge. Landing back on the ground, I watch as the smoke disappears.

“You live up to your school's reputation, but you should be more careful. Otherwise… wait a moment.” Kurogiri squinted his eyes. “Were there not more of you? No…” The villain had quickly turned around at the sound of Iida's engines behind him. “Get back here you pest!”

“Everyone!” I yell out, catching the attention of my classmates. “We need to stop that villain from catching Iida! He's our only hope to get the other teachers help!” I jump forward to the front using One For All and spread my arms. “Harlem Smash!” Smashing both of my palms together, a huge gust of wind rushes towards Kurogiri, revealing the metal armor covering his body. “Attack there! If he's wearing armor then it means that he must have a real body!”

“No! I won't allow you to stop me!” Turning to face Iida, Kurogiri attempted to open a portal but was stopped as Uraraka grabbed onto him while using her quirk. “You harlot! Let go!”

“Iida! Run!” Uraraka yells as Kurogiri goes up into the air, Zero Gravity dragging him high.

“No! No! No!” Reaching out for the boy again, Kurogiri was stopped as Sero shot a piece of tape that attached itself to the villain. Taking hold of the tape, I use One For All and swing Kurogiri into the ground hard. Looking back to Iida, I see the boy pry open the exit and then run out. “You… you imbeciles!” Rising back up to his feet Kurogiri trembles in rage. “You may have saved your friend! But you'll pay dearly for that mistake! Now all of you! BEGONE!!!”

Seeing the warp villain unleash his fog upon the class, I have just enough time to push out Uraraka from its area of effect, before falling through the mist and into cold chilling water.

Chapter 10: The League of Villains

Notes:

Comments help with motivation so make sure to leave one!

Plunging into the cold depths of the aquatic rescue zone, I take a deep breath as I fall into the water. Opening my eyes I look around to see the cool blue water and quickly activate One For All at ten percent and start swimming upwards. As I do so however, from the corner of my vision I see a fast moving object coming right for me. Turning to face the approaching object, I see a shark villain swimming towards me with his jaw open, revealing sharp teeth.

Pulling my fist back, I get ready to unleash a One For All powered smash upon the shark villain, but stop as suddenly Tsuyu comes out of nowhere and kicks the villains away. After the threat was out of view the frog girl wraps her long tongue around my body and pulls me out of the water and onto the shipwreck. Not long after Mineta followed behind, the two of us landing roughly on the deck. Sitting up and then rubbing the back of my head, I see Tsuyu climb up to us. “Thanks for the save, Tsuyu…”

“You can just call me Tsu.” Tsuyu, or now Tsu, offers up. “Are both of you injured at all?”

“I…” Suddenly Mineta speaks up, still laying on the floor. “I think I'm hurt pretty bad, mama frog. Only a kiss can save my broken body…”

I let out a long annoyed sigh. “Tsu, would you mind if I throw this little pervert overboard?”

“I wouldn't be against it, Kero.” The girl with the frog quirk says, after which I smirk slightly and start moving over towards Mineta.

“Wait! Wait!” The purple haired boy jumps up and away from me. “I'm suddenly feeling a lot better! No need for any sea burials today!”

“Ah, what a shame…” I shake my head just a bit, before turning back to Tsu and ignoring the grapist's existence. “Anyways, we should probably make some kinda plan to not die.”

“That would seem productive.” Tsu lets out a sigh. “This is turning out to be a terrible day of class. Do you really think those villains can kill All-Might? I mean he seems so… Invincible.”

“I don't know…” I let a small frown show itself on my face. “Clearly the villains have thought this out. They broke into the school and knew when All-Might would be teaching our class. It stands to reason that if they are so confident in their ability to kill him, then they must have something pretty dangerous.” Walking over to the edge of the deck, I looked out at the sea of villains laying in wait. “Thankfully, Iida made it out of the USJ, so help should be coming for us. Something's bothering me however…”

“What is it, Midoriya?” Tsu walks over to me.

“Think about it for just a moment. Look at the villains down there.” I point to the villains who all seem to have some kind of water based power. “They all have quirks that help them in the water. It's clear the villains knew what was Inside the USJ, and yet they're hesitating to attack us. They must not know what kind of powers we have. For all they know we could be super strong in the water, just like them.”

Tsu's eyes widened. “You're right. If they knew I was a frog, they would have sent me into the fire area, or the blizzard zone.”

“But why does that matter?!” Mineta screams out in fear. “Who cares if they know our quirks Midoriya?! They'll still kill us the same!”

“It matters,” I glare at the short boy, causing him to shrink back. “Because they won't know how to deal with us. We have the element of surprise. That means we can beat them.”

“What do you mean by beat them?! Are you crazy?!” The shorter boy screams, tears now falling out of his eyes. “These villains might be able to kill All-Might and you think we should fight them?! Did you hit your head Midoriya?!”

“Jesus Christ… will you get a grip!” I scream at Mineta, causing him to jump. “Did you think hero work was danger free?! Did you think the heroes are always guaranteed to win, like on a Sunday morning cartoon?! This is real life!”

“I didn't think I'd be facing death a few days after starting UA!” The boy screams in reply.

“That’s! That’s…” I let out a long sigh and slid down the wall onto the floor, surprising the two other students. “That's a fair point. Look, I get that you're scared. I am too. But this is what being a hero is about. Putting your life on the line for others. The cameras, the media, all of that stuff, it blinds the public into thinking that heroes are actually indestructible. They aren't. Just like us they can get hurt, bleed, die. The pro-heros know that every time they go out on patrol they're risking their lives.”

“Midoriya…” Tsu looks down at me with wide eyes, but I don't stop speaking.

“If you can't accept that fact, if you can't put your life on the line for others, then you can't be a hero. After we get out of here you can go talk with Mr Aizawa. Ask him to transfer you into the general education or business course if you need to leave. However, that would be a decision you have to make later. For now…” I get up from the floor and stand tall with a face of pure determination. “For now you'll have to fight through your fear. We need to get off this boat and find our classmates. Iida may have gotten out of the USJ, but it'll take some time for the other teachers to get here. Until then, we'll have to deal with these villains together.”

My two classmates stare up in awe as I fight to keep a smile worthy of All-Might clear on my face. I needed them to fight through any fear they might have. “Alright…” I look down at Tsu who stood. “What's the plan, Midoriya?”

Suddenly the entire ship shakes as one of the villains who had a water manipulation power attacks the side. The yacht begins to sink, but I stand unwavering. “Alright here's the plan…”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Standing on the edge of the boat, I look at the gathered villains swimming in the water and take a deep breath. “Alright… you can do this Midoriya.” The villains tense at my words but I give them no more time to prepare as I charge One For All up to 10% and leap. “Here we go! Texas Smash: Overdrive!” As I fly through the air I pull back my right arm and pump One For All up to twenty percent. I can feel my bones creaking from the strain of power I wasn't yet ready for, but the Mid-Gauntlets were helping reduce the stress. Punching downwards, the wind suddenly changes as a blast causes the water to spread out, before rushing back into the middle. Suddenly once again I feel Tsuyu wrap her tongue around my body, before I'm pulled through the air while Mineta throws his ball to secure all of the panicking villains.

Landing on the shallow side of the lake with a heavy thud, I sit up before clutching my arm. Pain was running through my limb but I could tell it wasn't broken. It hurt like hell but at least I could use it. “You alright there Midoriya?”

“Yeah… I'm fine.” I assured Tsu. “I used more power than I can normally handle, but I don't think anything's broken. Just really sore.”

“If you say so…” The frog girl looked around. “I don't see any more villains nearby. What do you think we should do now, kero?”

I felt a small bemused smile form itself on my face at the way both Mineta and Tsuyu looked at me. It would seem despite turning down the role of class president I had cemented myself as a leader, at least to them. “Right… well Iida is on his way to get the other teachers, and I think they'll probably get here pretty soon. So the best thing we can do is go find our other classmates and hold out until they all arrive.”

Mineta quickly agreed. “Yup! Let's sit back and wait for the pro-heros to save us.”

“Yeah…” I made a face at how quickly the boy said that. So maybe one inspiring speech was not as effective as it seemed in anime. I soon look over towards the entrance to see Kurogiri standing completely still while my classmates stood around him. Ah, Shinso must have used his quirk on him. Convenient. “How about you two meet back up with our classmates over at the entrance? It seems they have handled the mist villain. I'll see if I can find anyone else.”

“Are you sure?” Tsu asked, hesitant to leave me alone. “You're not coming with us?”

“Yeah, I'm sure. I need to make sure that none of our classmates are in trouble. They might not have had as much luck as we did. I'll be fine, Tsu. It's not like I'm gonna jump into the middle of a battle or something!” I smile while lying, knowing that's exactly what I was about to do. “Go on now! I'll see you after all of this!”

Watching the two of them slowly make their way out of view, I let out a long sigh and drop the smile. Being a hero was tiring. But there wasn't anything else that I wanted to do with my life. “Alright… let's get this show going.”

Activating One For All at ten percent, I ran to the plaza to see Eraserhead fighting multiple villains at once. Rushing forwards, I jump into the air and deliver a clean kick to the face of one of the villains who was about to attack my teacher from behind. All of the villains quickly take a step back in surprise while Mr Awaiza's eyes narrow in anger. “Midoriya! I told you to stay back with all of the other students!”

“Sorry sensei!” I yelled out to the man before punching one of the villains who thought I was an easy mark and tried attacking me. He flies backwards, clutching his stomach. “This mist guy warped most of the students all over the USJ! I was walking back with Mineta and Tsu when I saw you fighting these guys! I thought you could use some help!” I punched another.

Mr Awaiza grits his teeth, before wrapping his capture scarf around a rock villain with four arms and throwing him against another of our opponents. “Fine! But stay behind me problem child!” I nod and we line up back to back, with the still large groups of villains circling us.

“Well isn't that just annoying.” I look up at the sound of Shigaraki's raspy voice. The hands of his dead family covered his body, fueling the hate that All For One carefully seeded into his so-called successor. “This was meant to be a solo mission for Eraserhead, but you just had to jump in and ruin everything.”

“Eh, I always preferred Co-op dungeons over solo play.” I dodged out of the way of a rouge punch, before returning with my own stronger one. “Besides, attacking an ambush hero with this many minions seems kinda mean.”

“Oh, so you wanna be player two, do you?” I could practically feel the smirk that Shigaraki had under his hand-mask, which was exactly what I wanted. Hopefully I could leave a more positive impression on him. If I really want to somehow convince Shigaraki to turn against his sensei then I only had three chances. This was number one. Of course I didn't expect to get through to him on our first meeting, but it was a start. The second was during the mall incident, and finally the third was during the summer camp. After that I'd have no choice but to abandon any hope at redeeming him.

“Hmm, I'd prefer to be player one, but I'll take what I can get.” I sweep the leg of one of the bigger villains. “So, is this the moment where you explain your masterplan or something?”

“Midoryia!” I looked back to see Eraserhead throw his capture scarf over his head to stop a villain I hadn't seen coming. “Stop talking with the enemy and focus on the fight!”

“...I can multi-task.” I pouted slightly at him.

“Ah, good old Eraserhead. Putting all of your students' safety first and foremost.” The blue haired villain watches with a grin. “Despite the fact that you're completely out of your element you didn't hesitate to jump into this fight head first. Your quirk, while impressive, still requires you to fight just like any old quirkless child. I have to admit, compared to the trash that hero society has produced, you truly deserve that title more than anyone. You're really so cool.”

Taking a hit from one of the villains, I grit my teeth before striking back. Luckily, it seemed that most of our enemies were out cold, with just a few remaining. “He is pretty awesome, isn't he? It's rare that heroes actually have to fight physically rather than just solely rely on their quirks. Your warp guy said you wanted to kill All-Might earlier, any specific reason why?”

“You're asking… why?” Shigaraki looks to be confused for a moment, like the idea that I'd try to hear him out hadn't crossed his mind. “I want… its…” The older boy pauses, looking almost unsure about why he exactly wanted to kill All-Might. I doubted he ever really thought about the why of it before. Without the teens memories from before encountering All For One he didn't have a reason to kill the symbol of peace beyond the blind hate that his sensei had groomed into him. “He's… All-Might.”

As the boy gives his simple answer, like it was some magical truth, Eraserhead had knocked out the final villain. “Right. Well, whatever the reason may be, you can clearly see that there is no All-Might here. Just a bunch of school children. The truth is… the game was rigged from the start.”

A growl leaves the blue haired villain's throat. “Dammit! You're right… I got bad intel…”

Suddenly a purple fog forms next to Shigaraki as Kurogiri appears. He must have broken out of Shinso's brainwashing somehow. “Tomura Shigaraki. I have some unfortunate news, one of the children managed to get outside of the facility. Also a student used some sort of voice activated Brainwashing quirk on me, so I was unable to warn you until now. The other hero's could be here at any moment now.”

Hearing this, Shigaraki stays still for several moments before beginning to scratch at his neck very viciously. “Kurogiri… you fool. If you weren't our warp gate I'd tear you apart…” It was then that he suddenly stopped. “There is no way we can win if dozens of pros show up to stop us. It's game over… let's just go back home.” Suddenly the blue haired boy looks at me. “I find you less irritating than most of the people I've met, so I'll let you live for now. If you ever decide to stop being a sheep, then-”

Suddenly a loud boom cuts off whatever offer Shigaraki was about to make, causing me to swear under my breath. Looking at the source of the sound, I see none other than All-Might walking into the building through a cloud of smoke. ‘Dammit Toshi! He was about to go!’

“Have no fear students… for I am here!” I let out a sigh. Of course things couldn't be easy. He just had to show up now of all times. Why was my life like this? “I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong when both Thirteen and Eraserhead wouldn't answer my calls. So I hurried over and ran into young Iida along the way. He told me of the villainy that was at work here…” Toshinori had no smile.

“Looks like our game is getting a continue…” Shigaraki said with a grin, now ignoring me. “After all this waiting, the heroic piece of pure trash finally shows his dumb smiling face.”

Throwing off his yellow jacket, Toshinori looks around before spotting both me and Aizawa. Suddenly in the next moment I'm no longer in the middle of the battlefield as Toshi grabs the two of us faster than the human eyes can see. “Young Midoriya, Aizawa, are you two hurt?”

I shake my head. “No, just some… scrapes… and bruises.” My words fail me as I look back at where every villain we faced were moved out of the way and into a pile. He had done all that in less than a second. “Holy… shit.”

A loud laugh left my mentor's mouth. “That's good to hear, my boy. You did well holding the villains off for as long as you did, and sending Iida for help, but let me take care of them now that I am here!”

“Alright, I'll leave them to you.” I nodded my head but suddenly yelled out as Toshinori was about to leave. “Wait!” He turned back around to me. “I almost forgot to mention. They said they're here to kill you specifically. The purple mist guy has a warping quirk, the one with the hands most likely has some kind of five finger activation power and I'm betting that the bird villain is the one meant to fight you.”

Nodding his head, All-Might gives me a quick thumbs up. “Thanks for the information, just sit back and relax.” Watching him rush off to face the villains, I let out a sigh and sit on the floor to watch the upcoming battle.

—----------------------------------------------------------

Predictively, the fight goes about as well as can be expected. With my warning about what the villains could do, Toshinori wasn't caught off guard by Kurogiri's sneak attack and so the end came much sooner than in canon. Even with a shorter battle it's still awe-inspiring to see just how strong All-Might really is. It's like watching a god at work. Both him and Nomu go at each other without holding back, their punches causing huge shockwaves. It's crazy to think that one day I'll be even stronger than either of them, and honestly a bit scary too.

“Deku!” I jolt at the sound of Uraraka's voice. I turn slightly to see the entire class hanging around me. “You were fighting the villains?!”

“What?” I shrink back at the look that the girl had sent me. “I uh… wanted to help sensei?”

“What?! Were?! You?! Thinking?!” Uraraka grabs my shoulders and shakes me with each word. “You could have been hurt! Badly!”

“Sorry…” I rubbed the back of my neck in an awkward way. Although anger was in her tone when she spoke, there was also clear worry. “I wanted to help Mr Aizawa. His fighting style is not suited to long drawn out fights. Besides! It worked out fine, didn't it? Nobody's hurt!”

“We’ll talk about your recklessness after we get out of here.” Aizawa says with a firm tone, but being in trouble was worth him not being hurt. “...but you fought well against them.”

“Aw! I knew you cared!” Aizawa glared at my words, while a few of my classmates laughed. “You know, I think today went pretty well, with all things considered. The villains are getting captured, none of us are hurt… and… I feel… fine…” Suddenly my vision starts to go black as my eyelids slowly drop. “Jinxed… it…”

“Midoriya?” My body begins to drop, before Iida catches me. “Midoriya?! Midoriya, are-”

—----------------------------------------------------------

The next time that my eyes had opened, the familiar sight of UA's nurse's office greeted me. “Ugh… not again…” Rubbing my face, I look around to see Toshinori in his skinny form laying in a hospital bed beside me. His whole body was covered in white bandages and his feet were hanging over the edge. “Heh, it's not so fun being tall now, is it?” I mutter, my head feeling like it was full of cotton and splitting.

The man must have heard me, however, as he turned over. “My boy, you're awake…”

“Toshi…” I groan as I shift in bed. “Is everyone alright? What happened to the villains?”

The number one hero lets out a soft laugh. “I suppose I should have seen that coming. Your classmates are fine. Aside from me, you and Thirteen they only suffered some scrapes and bruises. We managed to capture most of the villains, but the hand and mist one escaped.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “That's good…” I wish that I could have stopped Thirteen from being injured, but at least the canon is still good.

Suddenly the door to the nurse's office was thrown open as Recovery Girl and detective Naomasa Tsukauchi walked through. I looked at Toshinori with a clear panic, but he waved me off. “Don't worry my boy, this is just an old friend of mine. He knows about our secret.”

I nod my head, but don't get any time to relax as Recovery Girl makes her way to my side. “I can't believe this! In just the week that you've been here somehow you have ended up in my office more times than most students do in their whole life! Your skeleton has cracks in its entire length! Your right arm is fractured! AND YOU JUMPED INTO FIGHT A VILLAIN!”

I shrink back at the older woman's tone. Why does she have to be so terrifying? Looking to Toshinori for help, I see my mentor turn away with a sympathetic smile. Traitor!!! “I… I didn't feel anything at the time…” I defend myself.

“That would be because of your adrenaline. Once it wore off you collapsed from all of your injuries and exhaustion.” She lets out a sigh. “I managed to heal most of your injuries. Luckily it wasn't too bad, so you won't be left with any permanent damage, but you should be taking it easy for a while. No! Training!” The older Recovery Girl holds her cane up with warning.

“Yes Ma'am!” I nod quickly to her demands.

Tsukauchi cleared his throat, making the older heroine back off. “Sorry to interrupt, but there are a few questions I'd like to ask, if that's ok.”

“It's fine.” I nod my head only slightly nervous. I need to be careful about what I say here.

“Alright.” The detective takes on a serious face. “In service of full disclosure I'm required by law to tell you about my quirk. It's called Truth, and it tells me if someone is lying.”

“Woah… that's a cool quirk!” I smile, briefly slipping into my hobby of analyzing quirks. “It sounds just perfect for someone on the police force! How does it work exactly? Does it tell you what someone is lying about, or just that they are lying? Is it based on objective Truth, or just what the target subjectively believes?”

“Uhm…” Tsukauchi blinks in surprise while my mentor watches with amusement, already well accustomed to my questioning. “Thats not…”

I turn slightly red as I realize what I had done. “You don't have to answer if you don't want…”

The detective shakes his head. “No, it's fine. You just surprised me is all. To answer your questions my quirk is based on what a person believes to be true, not objective fact. If they have bad information or hold unconventional beliefs then it will ring as true no matter what the truth may be. It isn't some key to unlimited knowledge.” His face takes on a small smile at the thought. “Now that we have that covered, I would like you to tell me what had happened before, during, and after the villain's attack, in your own words.”

“Alright. I can do that.” I nodded my head, and started explaining. “Our class was heading to an off-campus facility, and when we got there Thirteen explained that we'd be doing rescue training. She started talking to us about what her quirk was, and how our powers can easily hurt people if we're not careful. Being fully… honest, I was only paying half attention.” I rub the back of my head with an awkward smile.

“Anyway, it was then that I noticed that all the nearby electronic devices, the overhead lights and the plaza fountain, had suddenly stopped working. Once I saw a mist portal open up and villains start walking through, I quickly told the teachers. We tried to contact the school but whatever quirk they used disabled all the ways we had available. After that, I realized I recognized one of the villains from the crowd that was hanging outside school yesterday.”

The detective speaks up. “The one who had blue hair and hands covering his body?”

“Yeah, that's the one.” I nod in confirmation. “I think that the mist villain said his name was Tomura Shigaraki. He seemed to be in charge of the others. Anyway, after that we figured they'd destroyed the gate yesterday to break into the school and steal some information to find out our class schedule. Following this Mr Aizawa went to face the villains so we would have enough time to escape the USJ, but as we got near the door we were cut off by the mist villain with the warp quirk. Shigaraki had called him Kurogiri. He introduced themselves as the League of Villains and told us that they were there to kill All-Might.”

I continued talking. “While Kurogiri was busy monologuing, I slowly moved over towards Iida and Uraraka before quietly explaining my plan to them. Since I had known Kacchan, you know him as Bakugo, since we were kids, I knew he wouldn't take the villain attack lying down. I turned out to be right, as both him and Kirishima went to attack the villain. When that happened Kurogiri's vision was blocked by the smoke from Kacchan's explosions so we took our chance. Uraraka used her quirk on Iida to make him weightless and I used One For All to throw him over Kurogiri's head. By the time Kurogiri noticed what happened it was already too late. Iida managed to get out of the USJ. Unfortunately, afterwards Kurogiri had used his quirk to scatter us around the facility. I had only managed to push Uraraka out of its effect before getting sent off to the aquatic rescue.”

“Following that, Tsuyu pulled both me and Mineta out of the water and onto a boat. We were surrounded by villains who all had some form of water based quirk. The three of us had managed to come up with a plan. Using One For All I jumped up into the air and delivered a punch towards the water. The air that rushed forward pushed the water apart, before going back into place, bringing the villains along with it. With the villains off balance Mineta used his quirk to restrain them all together.”

When I stopped speaking to catch my breath, I noticed that Toshinori, Tsukauchi and even Recovery Girl were all staring at me with wide eyes. “My boy…” Toshi said breathlessly. “You did all of that?” He questions me with awe.

“Uhm… yeah?” I rub the back of my neck with awkwardness. “Its not that impressive…”

“Midoriya.” Tsukauchi joins the conversation. “I don't think you realize how impressively you performed. You anticipated the actions of your classmates and planned around them. You managed to keep a calm head during a life or death situation and as a result helped Iida get out of the USJ. That action allowed All-Might to arrive early, something that just might have potentially prevented serious injuries or even deaths among your classmates. Not only that but you also managed to capture a group of almost fifteen villains without needing to face them directly, and from what Aizawa had told us you have no problem with directly fighting either. You acted with more professionalism and competency than I've encountered in a lot of heroes, and you did all this with a little less than a week of attending UA academy.”

“I suppose when you put it like that…” I felt my face turn slightly red at his praise. “Anyways, after that the three of us split up. Mineta along with Tsuyu went to group up with the other students back at the entrance, while I went off to see if anyone needed help. When I saw Mr Aizawa fighting I decided to help him since his style is more about ambushes and one on one combat then large groups battles. With both of us we managed to defeat all of the henchmen. That's when Kurogiri warped to Shigaraki and told him about Iida escaping. Knowing that they couldn't win against all the teachers, the villains were about to leave, but that's when All-Might showed up at the USJ.”

“Ah…” Toshinori looks slightly embarrassed. “I suppose my timing was a bit unfortunate…”

“Not at all.” Tsukauchi speaks up. “Thanks to you we managed to capture that Nomu villain. More importantly, Aizawa said that you and Shigaraki both spoke. Did he by chance say anything that may be useful to us?”

“Useful?” I thought about it for a moment. “No, not in the traditional sense. I figured that if we talked, if I tried to talk with him about his plan, then he would be less likely to try and kill us. It seemed to have worked, considering the fact he didn't attack us directly or send Nomu after us. Although we only talked for a little bit, I got the sense that he seemed… immature?”

Toshinori nods. “I got the impression as well. When I was fighting this… Nomu, he kept on bragging about its power, and when he lost it seemed like he was going to throw a tantrum in response. Not exactly mature behavior.”

“Right.” I agreed with Toshinori. “But I think it might be more than that.”

“Why do you mean?” Tsukauchi asked me.

“When we were talking I asked him why he wanted to kill All-Might. His response was… interesting.” I tap the bed railing. “It's almost like he didn't know himself, like he had never thought about the why before. His hate was real, but it didn't feel exactly personal. It was more like he was raised to hate the idea of All-Might more than the person himself.”

The detective's eyes widened at my words. “You think he's working for someone else.”

“More like with someone else. Like a mentor, a sensei, or perhaps his father.” I list out the possibilities. “Whoever it is, I think that they found Shigaraki when he was young, probably after some traumatic event, and raised him to hate heroes.”

“Hmm… it would explain how he managed to gather so many villains under him. Whoever this mysterious mentor might be, they have to have some serious connections…” Tsukauchi holds his chin in thought. “Still, who would do something like this? Grooming a child? Using him like a chess piece on a board?”

From the corner of my vision I see Toshinori's face turn white as he puts the pieces together. It was then I knew he understood. “No… that can't be possible… this can't be… him.”

“Toshi? Are you alright?” I asked my mentor.

“Nomu and his multiple quirks, manipulating others to do his bidding, the hate that Tomura Shigaraki had for me, all of that can't just be a coincidence...” Toshinori looked at the both of us, his eyes full of haunted memories. “All For One is back, and he's controlling this League of Villains. The Symbol of Evil is alive!”

Notes:

Here we are. Ten chapter, almost 40k words, and we are at the end of season 1! I hope you all enjoyed so far, and keep reading as we begin to see canon start to change. Make sure to leave a comment on what you think so far!

Chapter 11: A Day Out With Friends

Notes:

Comments help with motivation so make sure to leave one!

Two days after the USJ incident, I had found myself lying on my stomach in bed, with my laptop sitting in front of me. On the screen is just one of the many movies that have come out in the two hundred or so years since the last one I had watched. Well, at least since my past self had watched one. It was still pretty weird to have memories that I knew were not really mine. In the end I suppose that the difference isn't all that important, however. I still lived through them. They were as real to me as the rest.

Anyway, I had lots of new content to watch. It wasn't actually two hundred years worth of stuff though. Quirks emerged right around the year 2045, which is still a good twenty whole years from when my past self had died. After quirks appeared however, the world fell into chaos. Nobody had time to make movies or write more comics while the perceived end of the world was happening. Once actual peace had been restored any media from the old era was forgotten. Still, twenty years was plenty of time, and the internet had preserved all of it.

The biggest tragedy of all this however, was the death of physical media. That's not to say books and Blu-ray weren't still being made but pretty much everything from my time was all gone. Physical comics, movies, collectibles, it had all either been lost to the sands of time or were ridiculously expensive now. I looked over to my shelf filled with All-Might merchandise and let out a small sigh. I had always been a big collector, even in my first life. It felt cool to have things to show off my interests, but now none of that existed. I was still really into pro heroes, but knowing that I wouldn't ever hold a physical Batman comic again hurt my soul.

Digital comics were fine and all, but I always preferred physical ones. Now the only way I'd ever have one again was if I made it myself, which… huh. That wasn't a bad idea actually. Technology had come pretty fair since the last time I was around. Computers, TVs, all of that was incredibly advanced. Even cheap stuff is still futuristic. Maybe I could buy a 3D printer. I did need a hobby outside of normal hero work and arts and crafts seemed like a good option.

Suddenly my nearby phone rings and I look to see who was calling me. Picking the device up, I see Kirishima’s name show itself. Brief confusion had crossed over my face but then I remembered Mina asking me for my number after school so she could add me to the class group chat. Clicking the answer button, I hold the device up to my ear. “Hey, what's up?”

“Hey Midoriya!” The boy's energetic voice had filled my ears. “I wanted to know if you wanna hang out at the mall with our classmates!”

“The mall, huh?” I asked rhetorically. This was certainly new. “Whose coming along?”

“So far Mina, Uraraka and iIda have agreed.” Kirishima lists out. “I tried to invite Bakugo, but he said no…” The redhead's voice falls a little.

“Yeah, Kacchen isn't exactly the friend making type.” I shrug my shoulders out of reflex even despite the fact he couldn't see me. “Text me the details. I'll have to ask my mom first, but I doubt she'll say no.”

“Alright!” Kirishima says happily, and I could almost hear the fistpump. “See you later!”

“See ya.” Hanging up the phone, I stretch my back before turning off my laptop. Seems that my movie marathon is gonna have to wait. As I walk out of my room, I see my mom standing at the sink washing some dishes. “Hey mom?”

“Yes Izuku?” Inko Midoriya asks, not turning around but clearly listening as she works.

“Is it alright if I head to the mall? Some of my classmates are going to hang out there.”

After the words leave my mouth, I see mom suddenly stop and stand still for several long moments, before turning around and wrapping me in a hug. “My- MY BABY HAS FRIENDS!”

“M-Mom!” I jumped in surprise, my shirt now fully drenched in a mix of sink water and tears shed from happiness. “I'm getting all wet!”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Standing at the park that was near the mall, I waited by the fountain and pulled out my cell phone to check the time. It seemed that I was a good ten minutes early. I had taken a quick shower before leaving and was now wearing a pair of black jeans, my signature red shoes, a simple white shirt that just read ‘T-Shirt’ on the front and finally a comfy jacket that was about the same color as my hair. It's the kinda outfit that had no right looking cool, but did anyway.

“Yo! Midoriya!” Looking up from my phone and turning towards the voice, I see Kirishima.

“Hey Kirishima!” I wave the boy over and give him a quick fistbump. “How are you doing?”

As we talk, time passes and the others start to arrive. First it was Mina, then Iida, and finally Uraraka. However, when the girl spotted me… “WHY!? DID!? YOU!? FIGHT?!” Uraraka had screeched while shaking me like some kind of bobblehead. “Sensei had everything handled!”

“I didn't plan on fighting…” I lied like the lying liar I was. “But my body moved on its own…”

“Well, you're definitely in the right course, Midoriya.” Mina said, before pulling Uraraka back. “Come on hun. Give him some space.”

“Midoriya.” Iida had spoken up after Uraraka let go of me. “While it was admirable that you wanted to help our teacher, we're still students right now. We don't have the authority to face villains on our own.”

“Right…” I agreed, only just managing to keep a snort from escaping my lips. Of everyone to bring up that fact it had to be the boy who was going to chase after a serial killer for revenge. Personally I always found laws around heroes to be a bit ridiculous. Sure, I understand why such things were set in place. Vigilantes were a slippery slope. All heroes needed to be held responsible for their actions, but to punish the general public if they tried to save someone? It was just slightly silly. I certainly wouldn't let some dumb law stop me from saving someone. No matter what the consequences might be.

“Hey. Come on. We’re here to hang out and have fun, not talk about school.” Kirishima had said, stepping forwards. “How about we all go inside now? Let's head over to the arcade.”

We all agreed, walking inside the mall and to the local arcade. Looking around the place, I felt my eyes widen. In my first life I had visited plenty of arcades over the years but this place is unlike anything I've ever seen before. Sure, at first glance it seemed familiar, with flashing neon lights, colorful carpets and music playing in the background, but the arcade machines themselves looked incredibly futuristic. Some had full 3d holographic screens, others were controlled with body movements, and most of them looked to be designed with quirk use in mind. There were also some more traditional ones, but overall this place was more like an amusement park compared to what I'm used to.

Walking up to the main counter we paid for a hundred dollars worth of credits that was split between five cards. Each of us had pitched in, with Iida giving the most and Uraraka with the least. I frowned at that, remembering the girl's financial situation. Uraraka's family was doing pretty badly money wise. Sure, she lived in an apartment near UA alone, but she had to cut on food often, starving herself. Thankfully now that she was attending UA Uraraka would at least have one good meal five days out of the week, but that wasn't enough. Hopefully, that would change once we got our own dorms.

Standing all together, we each held the cards with our credits. “Okay let's all meet back here at…” I quickly pull out my phone and read the time. 11:14 am. “Let's meet at 12:20, then we can all go to lunch.” Everyone quickly nodded their heads before splitting up.

Walking around the building, I spend some time just looking around, unsure of what kind of games to play. Eventually however, I found a familiar hunting arcade machine. Grabbing the toy shotgun with both hands, I swiped my card and the game started up. However, I'm surprised as a hologram suddenly surrounds me, putting me inside of a makeshift shooting range. With a grin I bring the toy shotgun up and aim at the birds that were flying over my head. When eventually the game ended, I put the toy gun down with a smirk as a score had popped up. It seems I still had my good aim.

I spent some more time exploring the arcade, playing some classic games like Galaga and Space Invaders, but eventually I had run into Kirishima who was standing before some All Might themed punching game. Unlike other machines I had seen so far, this one had four numbers for the score instead of just three.

“Hey, Kirishima.” I greeted the red haired boy as we watched a person with a mutant quirk hit the machine. The score went all the way up to 1290, while the high score was 4291. I let out an impressed whistle while the man with the mutant quirk walked away with a smirk on his face. “You gonna try it out?” I asked him.

Kirishima blinked back at my question. “I uh… I don't think I could get a score like that guy.”

“Oh come on! Don't sell yourself short!” I give the boy a playful hit on the shoulder. “You'll never know until you give it a try. Besides, this is meant to be fun, not a competition. Try it!”

“Alright, alright…” Moving up to the machine with a smile on his face, Kirishima rolls up his sleeves and hardness his body. Pulling back his fist, the red haired teenager punches with all of his might. The screen reads out 1587.

“There you go!” I give Kirishima a pat on the back while he stares at the screen, surprised by his own strength. “I told you, you had that.”

“I guess… I'm stronger than I thought…” He looks down at his hand with a smile. “Thanks Midoriya. You gonna give it a try too?”

“Yeah. Sure. Might as well.” Walking up to the machine, I take a breath before getting into a fight stance. My entire body flexes into shape as I prepare myself. Pumping One For All into my body at ten percent, my current safe limit, I get ready to punch before getting an idea. If I was going to do this, I might as well go all out, plus ultra style. “Here we go… Detroit Smash: Overdrive!” As my punch neared the machine, I wait until the very last second before it would hit and pushed my power all the way up to fifteen percent. The resulting punch causes a gust of wind and a pounding boom that makes everyone nearby snap their heads to me.

The other teens around me stare in shock as the machine gives out its reading. 5623. I had broken the high score. “Bro…” Krishima says.

“Ow, ow, ow…” I rubbed my arms, wincing at the pain that ran through it. Nothing seemed to be injured, but it still hurt. Using 15% of One For All instead of 20% was definitely the right call. I don't even wanna imagine all of the yelling I would receive from Recovery Girl if I had broken my arm playing a punching game.

—----------------------------------------------------------

After that Kirishima and I both stuck with one another, playing different games together. As we walked by the claw machines, I spotted Iida watching Uraraka as she tried, in vain, to win one of the prizes. A large Kirby plush was in the claws hold and I saw Uraraka face light up before suddenly the plush had fallen out of its grip right at the end. “No!” She had cried out, before banging her head against the glass in defeat. “Why, claw machine gods?! Why?!”

“It's okay Uraraka. I'm sure you will get it next time.” Iida consoled the devastated Uraraka before spotting the two of us. “Hello Kirishima, Midoriya. How have you both been doing?”

“Uhm… good.” I say awkwardly, watching as Uraraka stared at the plush with clear longing in her tear filled eyes. “Is she alright?”

“No! I'm not alright!” Uraraka yells out, turning over towards us with anger on her face. “This stupid machine won't give me my prize!”

“How long has she been at this?” Krishima asks Iida, who lets out a rare, long sigh.

“Since we all split up. We're both almost out of credits now.” I winced upon hearing this.

As Uraraka bangs her head on the glass once again, clearly upset at the idea of going home empty handed after spending so much money, I put a hand on Uraraka's shoulder. “You want some help?” Seeing the gravity girl reluctantly nod her head, I took her place before cracking my knuckles. “Watch and learn.” Swiping my card, I slowly positioned it over the plushie. I pressed the button and the claw descended.

It missed, my eyebrow twitched. I tried again. Miss. I took a deep breath and slowly moved the claw, I pressed the button again, lowering the claw. The claw closes around the plushie and pulls it up, The plushie drops down in the reward hole and I take it out. “Here you are.”

Holding the Kirby plush out to her, Uraraka's face lights up as she takes it from me. She had squeezed the plushie with a grin before suddenly wrapping me in a hug. “Oh! Thank you, thank you, thank you, Deku!”

“I uh!” My eyes widen in surprise, and my face turns red with a blush, but I slowly return the hug. “You're uhm… welcome… Uraraka?”

—----------------------------------------------------------

The four of us had continued playing games until eventually we had only a few credits left and the time was almost over. However, out of the corner of my eye I could see Mina dancing on a DDR machine against another girl. Mina jumped into the air with a laugh as the song had come to an end. “Boom! I win once again! That's nine to zero!” The pink skinned girl had celebrated, not noticing her latest challenger had left the machine with a huff of defeat.

Suddenly Mina had turned towards, shooting a smirk at me. Oh no… “Midoriya! You, me!”

Letting out a small sigh, I took off my jacket and handed it to Uraraka, before joining Mina on the machine. “Prepare to get schooled.”

“You'll be eating those words!” Both of us had scanned our cards, with mine now being fully used up. On the machine's screen appeared a huge selection of songs. “Pick a song, Midori!”

“Midori…?” I had questioned under my breath, before looking through the selections. There were a lot of songs. Of course there were the popular picks from the current times, but also ones that I hadn't expected to see, songs that were from my first life, even songs from video games and tv shows. “Wow… so many…”

“Well duh!” Mina speaks up, snapping me out of my thoughts. “This machine uses artificial intelligence to automatically map out songs for play! It's connected to Spotify, so any song you can think of, the machine will have.”

“Really? That's so cool!” Feeling a smile form its way onto my face, I felt that smile turn into a smirk as I got an idea. Quickly typing in my choice, I get into place as the beginning notes of Death By Glamor start to play. Following all of the notes, I move my body with a familiar rhythm as the song starts to pick up. Looking over to Mina, I see the girl move effortlessly.

Near the halfway point, right as the songs had increased in intensity, a crowd started to form around the machine, mostly made up of the people Mina had been playing against. “Kick her pink butt!” Mina's last challenger said with a cheer. Looking over to my opponent, I could see that we were neck and neck. Mina might be the better dancer, but I wasn't far behind her. My experience with DDR machines in my last life was serving me well here, but the fact that I knew this song like the back of my hand allowed me to pull forward and past her.

As the song starts to come to a close I pick up the pace. Our scores were almost completely identical but the roaring crowd had pushed me further. After the final notes appear and the song comes to a close, I quickly strike a pose while behind me the crowd goes wild. Looking at both our screens I smile wildly while those behind me cheer. I had won by one note, the reigning queen had been dethroned. Mina had lost this battle. “Who needs arms when you've got legs like these?” I say with a large smirk.

“Woah! Midoriya!” I turn to the girl, only to see her get right in my face with a big excited grin on her face. “You didn’t tell me that you could break down like that!”

I stepped back with a blush. “Well uh… it's not really all that different from fighting when you think about it. Plus I've always been good with patterns…” I rubbed my neck awkwardly.

“I've never seen someone beat Mina at that before…” Krishima says with slight awe.

“Come on!” Mina had grabbed my hand. “Let's go again! Pick another song, Midoriya!”

“As much as I would like to…” I hold up my empty card. “I'm all out of credits. How about we all go cash in our tickets and head out to get some lunch?”

“Hmm, fine…” The pink skinned girl reluctantly agreed. “But we're definitely doing this again sometime! I need to reclaim my crown!”

“It's a deal.” With a large smile I gave Mina a fistbump and then took back my jacket from Uraraka who had been holding it very close.

—----------------------------------------------------------

Sitting at a table for five in the mall's indoor McDonald's, because apparently even over two centuries in the future certain things are always going to be the same, we all enjoyed our food. I had gotten a BigMac with a side of fries and a large Sprite to drink. Uraraka was reluctant to buy anything, so I threw twenty dollars at her and told the girl to get anything she wanted. Naturally she refused at first, but after some thorough convincing, she now sat at the table digging into her food with a look of pure pleasure on her face. I smiled at that.

Each of us had our arcade prizes sitting next to us. Mina had gotten a pair of neon light up glasses that spelled out sexy, Kirishima had gotten a pair of hulk foam fists modeled after All-Might, Iida had received an action of his brother Ingenium and I picked out a plushie of All-Might. Uraraka for her part didn't decide on anything, feeling happy with the Kirby plush I had won for her. Suddenly Mina speaks up. “So Midoriya. What was Shigaraki like?”

I choke on my food while everyone stares at the pink skinned girl with wide eyes. “Mina!” Iida says flabbergasted. “You can't just bring that up! I'm sure Midoriya doesn't want to be reminded of his encounter with that villain!”

“No, it's… it's fine.” I pound my chest, clearing my airways. “You just surprised me. What was Shigaraki like? Well…” I think about the best way to put it. “He seemed kinda… childish.”

“Childish?” Kirishima asks with a raised brow.

“Yeah, childish. I guess that's the right word for it.” I waved my hand casually. “I mean he was obviously dangerous. You saw that Nomu thing he had. If Shigaraki used it against any of us besides All-Might…” I grimaced at the memory of what would have happened to Mr Aizawa if I hadn't stepped in. “It wouldn't have ended well, I'll tell you that. The way he talks, the way he acts, it's like a child just playing a game. I'm not sure if his lack of a real, actual motivation makes him less or more terrifying.”

“It must have been hard facing him. I still get the creeps just thinking about all those hands he had!” Mina shivers at the thought.

“Yeah… it was.” I feel a frown cross my lips. Of course it was hard facing Shigaraki. Right now he's a brainwashed teenager without any problem destroying whatever he doesn't like, even if that thing is a person. Still, if I want to have any chance at avoiding the dark future that All For One wants to make then I need to do the right thing, even if it's hard. “But being a hero is hard. If we want to become one, then we'll have to push and do the right thing, even if it may be hard, or scary, or even both.”

The other students stare at me with awe in their eyes. “Thats so manly…” Kirishima says.

“Being fully honest, I'm not sure if I could have kept my composure in such a situation.” Iida admitted while pushing up his glasses. “Once again you've proved that you are a better hero than I am.”

“You're already so good at being a hero.” The red cheeked Uraraka praises before getting a look of determination on her face. “It makes me wanna work even harder!” She pumps her fist, a radiant grin spread across her lips.

“Preach it sista!” Mina had said in her cheer.

“Jeez, you guys…” I blush hard at all of their praise. “I think you could make an argument for me being more reckless than anything…” I grabbed my drink and held it up in the air. “But if my actions inspire you all to work harder, then to becoming the best heroes possible!”

The five of us clink our drinks together in the middle. “Cheers! To becoming great heroes!”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Having now left the malls, me and my friends were walking down the street. It was… nice to say that. Back in my previous life I was always quite the loner. I had never bothered getting to know anybody, and in this life, before UA, the closest thing I had to an actual friend was my childhood bully. I still hoped to repair the rift between me and Kacchan. But Iida, Uraraka, Mina, Kirishima and Shinso… they were nice. They were my friends, and hopefully I would make lots more as time passed. Walking past an alleyway I was snapped out of my thoughts as I felt something small bump into my legs.

Tilting my head down to see what it was, I felt my blood run cold. Looking up at me with wide fear filled red eyes was a little girl. It was Eri, and the Yakuza weren't far behind her.

Chapter 12: An Unexpected Surprise

Notes:

Comments help with motivation so make sure to leave one!

Time seemed to stop as I stared down at the fear filled Eri. This… this was unexpected. I never thought that I would somehow run into her on the street like this. What was she even doing here? How the hell did she escape the Shie Hassaikai? Was this some butterfly effect from my presence here? Did this happen back in the original timeline between episodes? Did my acceptance of Kirishima's invitation lead to this? Whatever the reason may be, I wouldn't let the opportunity slip. This was my chance.

“Hey there. Sorry about that.” I slowly kneel down to Eri with a comforting smile. “Are you alright? Here, let me help you up.”

Holding out my hand, I helped Eri to her feet before the girl had clung to my chest. “Don't let them take me, please…” I had felt my heart ache at Eri pleas. The girl was trembling, with tears filling her eyes. She wore a long beige t-shirt that was more like dirty rags than real clothes and old, blood stained bandages were wrapped around both her arms and legs.

“Hey, I'm not leaving you. Here. Take this.” I quickly take off my jacket and wrap it around Eri. Pulling the hood over her head, I speak up. “I'm gonna pick you up now. Is that okay?” When she nods, I pull her into my arms and hold on tightly. “Whatever happens next I need you to be super quiet and still, like you are pretending to sleep. Can you do that?”

As she nods once again, I see that down the alleyway there were two men with plague masks making their way towards us. Crap. I quickly ducked out of sight, while Iida turned to face me. “Midoriya? What are you doing?”

“I think she has been kidnapped. Those men aren't her caretakers.” Pointing over towards the alley, Iida peeks around the corner before his eyes widen in understanding. The others gathered around me as the men approached.

“Hey!” One of the men called out. “Have any of you seen a little girl with white hair, a horn on her forehead?” He gestures up to his head.

“No, sorry. We haven't seen anyone like that.” Iida shakes his head while the others do the same. “We'll make sure to keep an eye out.”

The other mask wearing man stares at Eri in my arms with suspicion. “That your sibling?”

“Yeah, my brother.” I nodded my head and sent him a fake smile. “We just left the arcade. He's had a long day. Knocked out like a light.”

Looking at the arcade prizes that my friends were holding, the man had let out a big sigh. “If you see her, make sure to let us know.”

Watching as the two masked wearing men had brushed past us to continue their search, I waited until they were out of sight to relax. “I think they're gone... we're safe now…”

Pulling the hood off of Eri's face, I watched as the faces of my friends had grown sad when they saw the state of her. “How can someone be so cruel…” Uraraka said with disbelief.

“The world can be ugly…” I say before looking down at Eri with a small smile. “But it can also be quite beautiful. Now, I have to make a call.”

Pulling out my phone with one hand and Eri in the other, I quickly typed in All-Might's number while the others watched. I needed his help to sort this out. “Who are you calling?” Kirishima asked before I pulled the phone up to my ear.

“Someone who can help.” I said cryptically as I walked out of their earshot. When the phone was answered I spoke up. “Toshi, I have a bit of a situation here. I need you and Tsukauchi.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

After explaining everything that happened, me and Toshinori had agreed to meet up at the local police station. Waiting in the lobby with my friends, I was sitting in a chair with Eri on my lap when Toshinori walked through the entrance in his true form along with Tsukauchi by his side. “You can't stay out of trouble for two days, can you my boy?” The number one hero said with crossed arms, looking at Eri.

“Come with me.” Tsukauchi says after talking with one of the officers. “We'll need to get your statement for this Midoriya.” Nodding my head at his words, I take Eri off my lap and onto the floor, but stop as she grabs hold of my hand.

“Don't go…” She begs, tears threatening to fall. I feel my throat tighten at just how scared she looked. Damn you Kai Chisaki…

Kneeling down, I give Eri my best comforting smile, fighting through the rage I felt. “I'm just going into the next room. I will be back before you know it, and my friends will stay with you!” The girl looks over to the four of them, but she didn't look convinced. Suddenly I got an idea. “How about this…” I reach into my jacket and pull out the small All-Might plush I had gotten from the arcade. Eri's eyes had locked onto it. “This right here is All-Might. He's the strongest and most powerful hero in the entire world!”

“All… Might?” Eri says slowly, trying the word.

“Yup. That's right.” I nodded my head, smiling at her. “All-Might is super strong and fast! He can beat any villain and save any person with a smile on his face! Can you keep a secret for me?” She nodded her head slowly. “He's also the biggest softy you'll ever meet!” Eri giggles at my silly words, but no smile was there. “He is my favorite hero, and I wanna be just like him when I get bigger. So. Me giving you this plushie of him means a lot. I want you to keep it safe while I'm talking to the nice men over there. I wouldn't leave without it, so when we are done I'll come back for it. You got that?”

Eri nods and I pat her head softly. “Be a brave girl for me, and don't worry. My friends are all big softys too.” With her fears now reassured I walked away from Eri and over to my mentor who had a look in his eyes. “You okay Toshi?”

“Yes, I- I'm fine. It's just…” Toshi looked down at me with pride. “You are going to be a great hero, my boy. Greater than even me.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Sitting inside one of the police department's interrogation rooms, I had just finished telling Toshinori and Tsukauchi what happened. I didn't leave any details out, and when I was finished Tsukauchi nodded. “So you say that she was being pursued by two men wearing plague masks?” After I nod in confirmation, Tsukauchi slides a piece of paper and a pencil across the table. “Can you try drawing these masks?” Nodding once again, I spent a few minutes sketching what I could remember of them. Once I finish, I show Tsukauchi. “Damn, of course it had to be them…” He swears.

“You know these people?” Toshinori asked as he stared down towards the drawing.

The detective sighs. “Unfortunately, that mask belongs to the Shie Hassaikai. They're one of the few remaining Yakuza organizations left in Japan. They deal in drugs, most prominently Trigger. The Shie Hassaikai, like other Yakuza organizations still left from pre-quirk society, are little more than just common thugs. We've been partnering with the Sir Nightye Agency to get an investigation into them going, but it's been on the backburner. If the Shie Hassaikai are starting to traffic children however, that will change quickly.”

“So Sasaki is on the job huh…” Toshinori had said with a small frown at the memory of their last encounter. “More importantly, what about the girl's injuries? They looked quite severe.”

“We'll be bringing her to the nearest hospital.” The detective says. “They can treat her there, and hopefully find the girl's parents.”

“I'm not sure if that would be the best idea.” I speak up, catching both of their attention. “Eri might be more than just a trafficking victim.”

“What do you mean?” Tsukauchi had asked.

“Those injuries she has. They don't look like simple lashes from punishment. They looked like… incisions.” The word hangs heavy in the air. I clenched my fists. “It's possible they may have been experimenting on her. Something about Eri is valuable to the Shie Hassaikai. It may have something to do with her power…” I let the thought linger, like I was thinking about it. “Whatever it might be, they will be looking for Eri. If we bring her somewhere public like a hospital then we might as well be hanging out a sign. We should bring her back to UA. Let Recovery Girl treat her injuries.”

“To think someone would experiment on a child…” Toshinori gritted his teeth. “How can a person be so cruel? You are right my boy. We will take her to UA.” Pulling out his phone to make a call, the number hero looks to me as he types the number in. “You'll have to come with us. Eri seems quite attached to you.”

Walking out of the interrogation room, I see Kirishima and Iida move over to me while the two girls play with Eri. “Man, that was intense, but I'm glad we found that girl.”

“I agree.” Iida nods at Krishima's words. “But I must ask. Who is he?” The boy asks, pointing to Toshinori, who was talking with an officer.

“Uhm…” I briefly panic, trying to think up an explanation. I really should've thought of an answer before this. “He's my… my personal trainer!” I rub the back of my head awkwardly while smiling. “Toshinori helped me train for the entrance exam. He's an old retired pro, so he had a friend in the police force.”

Iida and Krishima both seemed satisfied with my answer. How I'm gonna explain all of this after Kamino Ward however, I had absolutely no idea. This is definitely going to bite me in the ass later, isn't it? “Okay kids, you all need to head home.” I turn to face the topic of our conversation. “Young Midoriya and I are going to take her somewhere to get checked out. Since young Eri is so attached to him, he will be coming with me.”

My four friends all nod in understanding, while I move over to Eri and kneel down. “I told you I'd be back. Were my friends nice to you Eri?” The girl nodded her head before looking down at the plush in her hands and holding it out to me. I coo at how adorable she looks, but turn the offer down. “I think right now, you need All-Might more than me. How about you keep him? I think he'd like to keep you company.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Walking through the halls of UA, I held Eri's hand as we moved. Toshinori opened up the door leading to the nurse's office and we all stepped through. Recovery Girl swiveled her chair to face us and was about to speak, but stopped when her eyes landed on Eri. “Oh… put the dearie up on the bed.” Doing as she said, I helped Eri up onto the nurse's bed and held the girl's hand. “What did you do now?” Recovery Girl asked Toshi with an annoyed tone, like the pro-hero was a troubled teen.

The older man sighed. “Young Midoriya found Eri running away from her captures. We need you to treat her injuries. They don't look nice.”

Eri had looked at me with a fearful expression. Clearly using Overhaul to… ‘treat’ injuries was not painless. Again, I found myself cursing Kai Chisaki. “Don't worry Eri, she won't hurt you.” I send the girl a small smile. “Recovery Girl is just going to heal your injuries, I'll stay right by your side the entire time. Is that okay?” When Eri nods I move over slightly to give Recovery Girl room. The pro-hero starts removing all the bandages, revealing her injuries to everyone. I hear Recovery girl mumbling about the bloody bandages being left on for far too long.

Eri started to freak out as Recovery Girl was about to take some blood, but I squeezed her hand to reassure her. In the end Eri managed to get through it and as a reward was given a cherry lollipop. “The poor girl is traumatized.” Recovery Girl started out. “Her injuries seem to be done by a professional, but clearly they wanted to leave a mark. She'll have scarring for the rest of her life and I don't just mean the physical kind…” Recovery Girl spoke with a sad tone. “I recommended she stay over with Midoriya until we can find the girl's relatives “

“Stay with young Midoriya? Why?” Toshinori asks the nurse as she stares over at Eri.

“I've seen this type of thing before, young kids who escape abusive households. They latch onto the first sign of safety they can see.” The hero frowns. “If we were to split them up now then we'll be breaking her trust. It's likely that Eri won't ask for help again. For better or for worse, she needs to stay with Midoriya now.”

Letting out a small sigh, I looked over to Eri before taking out my phone “I'll call my mom then.” Toshinori nods his head before I move away. After it rings for several seconds I hear the line connect. “Mom, we need to talk…”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Knocking on my home's front door, I held onto Eri's hand as the front door opened. “Izuku, come on in.” Stepping into the apartment with Toshinori by my side, we had closed the door behind us. Mom looks down to Eri. “So this is the girl you spoke about? Hello there Eri, I'm Izuku's mother.” She said with a smile, before facing my mentor. “Hello Toshinori, how have you been? Good I hope.”

“Ah… I have been well, Inko…” Toshinori rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. Wait… Inko? Not Mrs Midoriya? “Eri will be staying with the both of you until we are able to find the girl's parents, which hopefully will be soon. If you're worried about expenses, do not worry. I will provide!”

“Oh, there's no need for that Toshinori!” Mom pats the top of Eri's head, but frowns as she flinches. “I'm happy to take care of a little girl this adorable. With my job as a lawyer I make more than enough to cover any expenses.”

“Still, I must insist.” Toshinori had hesitated for several moments before speaking up. “How about we go to the mall? The girl will require new clothing and other such things.” Toshinori looks away from mom with a slightly red face. “Only if you want to, of course! I can pay!”

Inko let out a laugh at Toshinori's flustered face. “Of course Toshinori, I would love too.”

Squinting my eyes at the two of them, I raised an eyebrow. Why did it feel like Toshinori had just asked my mom on a date? Suddenly, Eri tugged on my sleeve and I look down at her. “Your Momma and Dada are both weird.” She says, before all three of us choke in surprise.

—----------------------------------------------------------

Several hours later, I sat on the couch with Eri as Lilo and Stitch, not the live action version, that movie can burn in Hell, played on the TV. It felt appropriate considering the theme. Toshi had gone home not after we had gotten home from the mall, and now Eri had everything that she could ever need. I had a feeling she might grow up to be slightly spoiled. Her cuteness is an incredibly hard force to fight against. Case in point, after mom had given Eri a bath, she dressed the girl up in that old All-Might onesie which was once mine.

Pulling the hood over Eri's head, I had taken a few photos of the girl while my mom giggled slightly at the sight. I sat next to Eri, sending the pictures to my friends in our group chat, before the phone had promptly blown up with messages.

 

Mall Miscreants

Deku: EriOnesie.png

GravityGirl: She's so adorable!

Rocky: Glad to see that she’s doing alright.

AcidQueen: WHERE DO YOU LIVE!? I NEED TO SEE HER! THE CUTENESS!!!

Engine: Ashido! Please get a hold of yourself!

AcidQueen: NOOOOOO! SHE’S TOO CUTE!

Deku: She’s doing better. We got her some new clothes and other such things. Eri will be staying with me and my mom until they can find her parents. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.

GravityGirl: Okay Deku! Tell Eri we said hi!

Rocky: Alright Bro!

Engine: Have a good night Midoriya!

AcidQueen: I expect more pictures!

Rocky: Mina…

 

Chuckling at my friends' responses, I looked at the time on my phone. It was getting pretty late. Waiting until the movie was over, I got off of the couch. “Come on Eri, time for bed.” The girl dropped beside me and the two of us had walked to the bathroom. Holding her up to the sink with one hand, we both brushed our teeth and soon enough we moved to my room. Our apartment only had two bedrooms, my room and mom's room so the girl would be sleeping with me. Even if we did have an extra room, I doubted she would make it through the night.

Helping the girl into bed, I took my spot next to her while mom watched us from the door. I mouthed a good night to the woman. She turned the light off and closed the door. As we both laid next to one another, it wasn't long until the girl spoke up. “...you won’t leave me. Right?” Eri's voice was quiet, like she worried that if she spoke too loud Overhaul might hear us. I pull the girl into a hug, holding her hand.

“Never.” I reassured her. “I'll be here as long as you need me. You're safe here Eri.”

“... they'll try to take me back.” She started to shake, small tears now falling down.

I squeezed her hand. “I won't let them.”

“...he'll hurt you. He said so…” Hearing those words, I shifted up into a sitting position. Eri looks up at me as I hold my hand out to her.

“I might not look like it, but I'm strong.” I pump One For All through my body at one percent, green lightning now surrounding my body and lighting up the room like stars in the night sky. “I'll protect you Eri. I promise you, that man will never touch you again. I will protect you.”

Eri stared at the lighting with awe in her eyes, before nodding her head. “Okay…” As both of us laid back down, I held Eri against my chest as she cried soft tears. The hold that Overhaul had on Eri was still there, but it had lessened.

Back in my old life, I didn't have many people. I didn't have friends, or siblings, or even a real family. But now I do. I have Mom, and Toshi, and Uraraka, Mina, Iida, Kirishima, the rest of class 1-A, and now Eri too. I will protect them.

I will protect everyone.

I will become the greatest hero.

For them. For all of them.

Chapter 13: Symbol Of What?

Notes:

Comments help with motivation so make sure to leave one!

I wake up feeling a bit groggy as the effects of unconsciousness slowly start to fade. I tried to wipe my eyes, but I couldn’t move my arm. I looked down to see Eri sleeping, holding onto my arm. I smile and use my free arm to stroke her hair while she sleeps. Slowly moving my arm, I reach for my phone to check the time. 5:20. I have to be at school by 8. I looked out the window and watched the rising sun. It was beautiful. I felt a rustle from the girl holding my arm. Eri opens her eyes and looks up at me.

“You… real?” I felt an arrow pierce my heart. This girl was gonna kill me with her cuteness.

“Yeah, I’m real.” I assure the girl with a small small smile, tears starting to build in her eyes as she hugged me tightly. I put a hand on Eri's head and let her release her pent up emotions with a cry. When she eventually calmed down, I sat up. “Are you hungry?” She looked up at me and nodded. “Come on, let's make some pancakes.” I got out of bed and picked Eri up, carrying her on my hip over to the kitchen.

Placing Eri into a chair, I looked over towards Mom's bedroom. It seemed that she was still asleep, but would probably be getting up soon for work. I’ll make her some pancakes as well then. Taking out my phone, I decide to put on some music, and settle on Punkrocker by the Teddybears. I soon take out all the ingredients and frying pan for the pancakes before getting started. I had a talent for cooking in my first life. Doing it now helped me to relax.

Eri watched, fascinated by how I was adding ingredients and mixing the batter. I looked at her. “Do you want some fruit?” I asked. She slowly nodded her head before I went through the fridge and took out a mango. I sliced the fruit into bite sized pieces and put the slices onto a plate. I placed it in front of her and she looked at it with curiosity as she picked one of the slices up and put it into her mouth. Eri’s expression brightened as she started to eat more. I chuckled and flipped the pancakes.

Mom walked in. “Oh Izuku, when did you learn how to make pancakes?” She asks curiously.

I shrug slightly. “They're just pancakes. It's not exactly rocket science.” The woman nodded her head and took her seat as I put a stack of pancakes in front of the girl before starting to make some more for me and mom. We all ate together, with me occasionally having to help Eri when she had trouble cutting her pancake. Mom smiled slightly at the sight. Eri loved the pancakes, but she didn’t smile. I was going to see that smile one day, whatever it may take.

Mom kept Eri company as I took a shower and got ready for school. I was putting on my shoes when I got a message on my phone. Opening it up, I saw it was from Toshinori. It was one that I had been expecting. “Mom! I got the results from Recovery Girl. It seems that Eri doesn’t exist in the database. Principal Nezu wants to meet the girl.” I frown slightly. I knew that Eri didn’t exist in the database, but what did Principal Nezu want with Eri?

—----------------------------------------------------------

The trip to UA, like every morning, was quick. The school was relatively close to my home, being in the same prefecture and all, and the train was almost empty. Still, Eri held onto my hand like a lifeline as we sat next to the few strangers that were here. When we arrived at UA, I saw Toshinori waiting for us at the front gate in his true form. “My boy!” He waved.

Following behind him, we walked through the halls and eventually arrived at the principal's office before walking inside. Sitting at his desk was Nezu, the most intelligent person in my hero academia, the rat who wanted to rule the world. “Ah Izuku Midoriya, it’s so nice to finally meet you. I am Principal Nezu.” He introduced himself. I gave the principal a small bow.

“It's nice to meet you sir.” Nezu offered me a seat, and I took it while Eri held tight onto me. Pulling the girl up on my lap, I frowned at the way Eri looked at Nezu. She probably hasn't met many people with mutation quirks, or any at all. “I'm sorry about her reaction. I'm pretty sure she hasn't met all that many people with nonhuman appearances before. Eri, be nice.”

“It's fine.” The principle waves it off. “It's only to be expected. What I'm more interested in, however, is that she's clinging to you.”

“I'm… sorry?” I asked with slight confusion.

“Well, you do realize that you can’t keep her with you all the time do you?” Nezu asked me, while my lips pressed together. Of course I knew that, but I didn't wanna leave her. “From what All Might had told me, you took her from the yakuza. Is that correct?” I nodded. “Well, if it is alright with you, you could leave her here with me. I would be happy to watch over her.”

I blinked with surprise, and from the look on Toshi's face he felt the way as well. “I wouldn't want to bother you with something as simple as babysitting.” Nezu let out a small chuckle.

“It’s no trouble at all.” He spoke up in a happy tone, “I could also teach young Eri what she is missing.” I knew there's something else going on here. Nezu probably wants to observe Eri, see why she was so important to the Yakuza. Maybe he empathized with Eri. Both of them were the unwilling participants of painful and traumatic experimentation. Still, Nezu doesn't know her quirk. I do. I doubted he would try to do anything to Eri, I just hope that nothing bad happens. It'll be bad if Nezu gets rewound.

I let out a small sigh. “If you're sure…” I look down to Eri. “Stay here with Principal Nezu until school is finished. He's going to teach you some new stuff. I’ll come back once I’m done.”

“You promise?” Eri asked with wide eyes.

“I promise.” I hold my pinky out to the girl.

“Whats this?” She asks with a tilted head.

I felt my smile grow strained at her question. “It's a pinky promise. Look.” I hook my pinky around hers. “When someone wants to make a special promise, they both put their pinkys together like this. This means that you can't break the promise. It's a very serious affair.”

Eri giggles and nods her head. “Got it.”

“Class will start soon, Midoriya.” Nezu says.

Looking at the nearby clock, my eyes widened and I quickly put Eri down before heading to the door. “Thank you for watching her! Make sure to behave Eri! I'll be back real soon!”

—----------------------------------------------------------

After leaving Nezu's office I made my way to class as fast as possible without running down the halls. Making it to the door, I take a long breath and quickly straighten my clothes out before opening the door. I saw my classmates jump but then relax when they realized it was me. “Hey Midoriya, sorry we thought you were Mr. Aizawa.” Mina had said with a quick huff.

“I’m glad to see you doing well Midoriya. Mina was just telling us about that girl you saved yesterday, Kero.” I looked at the pink girl who gave a lazy smile with squinted eyes. Well, she was the queen of gossip. At least it wasn’t about my nonexistent love life. I hope it stays that way. I really didn't need that attention.

Right as I took my seat, Mr Aizawa walked in the class, thankfully not dressed as a mummy. “Morning class.” Our teacher says before he moves over towards the podium. “I hope that you all enjoyed your weekend break, because your fight isn't over yet.” Everyone in the class tenses. “I have two important announcements to make. Firstly, the UA sports festival will be starting soon.” The class had let out a relieved sigh. “In two weeks the festival will be held.”

The more excitable members of class-1A go to celebrate, but Jiro holds her hand up before speaking. “Is it really such a good idea to hold the sports festival right after a villain attack?”

“Apparently the administration thinks this will be a good way to show that the villain threat has been handled and that our school is safer than ever.” Mr Aizawa speaks in a way where I couldn't tell if he actually agreed with that, or if he disagreed. “They're beefing up security compared to the past few years. This event is a huge opportunity for every student at UA. It isn't something that can be canceled because of a few villains. Heroes from all over Japan will be watching. This will be your chance to get scouted by some of the biggest names in the industry, so don't slack on your training.”

Aizawa moves on to the next announcement. “Secondly, I also feel the need to warn you that we will be returning to the USJ today, to resume your rescue training.” I leaned back slightly in surprise. This was yet another thing I didn't remember from canon, or maybe it's from one of the OVAs? I can't remember them much. “I understand you may be reluctant to go there in light of the villain's attack, but rescue training is one of the most important parts of a hero's life. Homeroom dismissed.”

Cementoss walked in as Aizawa left, leaving the students with no response. The rest of our classes passed as normal and soon the bell rang for lunchtime. “I'm so pumped for these games!” Kirishima said, getting out of his seat.

“Yeah! We have to put on a good show and stand out! We’ll take our first steps of being pros!” Sero agreed with the red haired boy.

“Man… everyone's so excited.” I smile slightly, watching my classmates all talk together.

“Well yeah! Of course we are.” I looked over to Iida who was moving his hips from side to side in excitement. “We enrolled at this school for the sole purpose of becoming heroes. You have to be excited as well, right Midoriya?”

“Yeah, of course.” I nodded my head at Iida's question, before rubbing the back of my head. “But pretty nervous too. The sports festival is the biggest event in Japan, the entire world will be watching us! It's just a lot of pressure.”

“Deku! Iida!” I look at Uraraka, but lean back in surprise at the almost maniacal face she was making. “Lets do our best in the festival.”

“Uhmm… w-what happened to your face?” I stutter at the look of anticipation for violence that I've only ever seen on Kacchan before. It was scary… but also strangely… attractive?

“Seriously, girl.” Mina had walked over from her conversation with Kirishima. “You're usually like the most laid back person ever.”

“Everyone!’ Uraraka punches her fist into the air and screams. “I'm gonna do my best!”

“Yeah!” The entire class replies, her passion being contagious.

“I said I'm gonna do my best!” She screamed out again.

“Yeah…” “Yeah!” This time the class seemed less enthusiastic, but I jumped out of my seat and cheered back louder to make up for it.

“And once more for the kids in the back!” She turned over towards the students that were not in our group with a wide smile as I moved over to her side. “I say I'mma do my best!”

“She's gonna do her best!” I cheered with just as much enthusiasm as Uraraka, before both of us had started to break down laughing,

—----------------------------------------------------------

Walking down the hallway to the lunchroom with Uraraka and Iida by my sides, I look over to the girl. “Hey Uraraka, I'm curious. We both told you our reasons for becoming a hero, but we never got to hear yours. Wanna share?”

“Oh, well… it's because…” Uraraka rubbed the back of her head with embarrassment. “I wanna become a hero for the money….” I let out a tiny snort, before it had evolved into full blown laughter. “I'm sorry that it's so greedy!”

“I'm sorry… it just,” I wiped the water that had formed around my eyes from laughing so hard at her unexpected words. “It just took me off guard. I honestly couldn't have expected that.”

Uraraka's face filled with self consciousness and shame. “You two have such admirable motivations to become pro-heros. I hope you don't think less of me now… I'm sorry…”

“Not at all!” Iida spoke up, moving his hands sharply while talking. “Your goal is to support your well-being which is a perfectly admirable goal!” Uraraka looked slightly comforted by his words, but looked over to me for my opinion.

“Iida's right.” I nodded at his words. “Wanting to make a good living isn't a crime. Besides, is it really important what motivation a hero may have when they're good at their job? It's not like every police officer or fire fighter you meet is going to have a 100% altruistic reason for doing their job, same goes for heroes as well.”

“Yeah… you're right…” Uraraka looks at the floor with a frown “This isn't something I really tell people. You hear how it sounds. It's just… My family owns a construction company, but we haven't gotten any work lately so we're flat broke. I just wanna help them out…”

“Construction eh?” Iida says, holding his chin in his hands. “If you'd got licensed, you could bring costs down a lot. Your parents could sell all the heavy lifting equipment. You could float everything!” Iida snaps his fingers at this.

“I know right!?" Uraraka jumps forward with a smile, feeling validated. “I've been telling dad that since I was a kid!” She clenches her skirt. “I'm gonna sign with a good agency that will make plenty of money. Then I'll be able to let my parents have the easy life they deserve!”

Iida had clapped his hands, yelling out bravo, while I put a hand onto the girl's shoulders. “I think your reason is more than admirable. You want fame and fortune not for yourself, but for your parents. That's not selfishness Uraraka, that's selflessness. There isn't a single person who deserves to become a hero more than you. I'm glad to have you as my classmate.”

Uraraka's face turns a bright red, but she was saved from having to reply by the entrance of Toshinori. “Young Midoriya, is here!” He points to me before pulling out a small box, covered by a bunny decorated wrapping. “Lunch! You wanna come eat with me?” Uraraka laughs.

“That's adorable!” She forgets her blush.

“I'd love to Tosh- All-Might!” I barely managed to catch myself. I look towards my two friends before walking over to Toshinori. “I'll see you guys in hero class! Tell Shinso that I said hi!”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Sitting with All-Might in one of the staff lounge rooms, I took the bowl of katsudon he poured for me with a smile. “Thank you Toshi.” I take a few bites before speaking up. “So, what did you want to talk about?” All-Might deflats into his true form with a sigh. He looks mournful.

“My time limit has been shortened once again. I can only stay active as All-Might for about 2 hours now.” I nodded my head. It seemed that my actions have changed things for the better. He had more than double the time that he did in the original story. Still, I felt bad for him.

“I'm so sorry Toshi.” His time limit was already so short. I couldn't imagine losing One For All, and I've only had the power for a few months. It felt like a part of my body, and to lose that… “I wish I could have done more. Maybe if I-”

Toshinori suddenly laughs with blood spewing from his mouth, cutting me right off. “You don't need to apologize! You did more than enough at the USJ. Man, we are alike, you and me.”

I blush slightly at his praise, before Toshinori had continued speaking. “I brought you here to talk about the sports festival. I know you've got a good handle on One For All, but what's your plan? What are you gonna train for?”

“Hmm.” I hum, thinking up a response. “Well, I figure any kinda specialized training will be all but pointless. It's not like they're telling us the events ahead of time. Still, judging by the last few years, the first round will be some form of mass elimination event, the second will be a team challenge, and the final will be a one on one fight tournament style.” Toshinori widens his eyes at my analysis. Hmm, did that mean the events were already picked out? Even if I didn't know which ones were going to be picked, it only made logical sense for these to be the kind of games. “Anyways, I'll just focus on the basics. Working on getting One For All up into a higher percent, fighting, city parkour, quirk analysis, just that kind of thing.”

“R-right.” Toshinori stutters, before getting up and looking out the window. “Listen, my boy. This sports festival is very important. I know that you already heard this from Aizawa, but it's more than just your chance to be scouted. You've managed to surpass my record in the UA entrance exam, but right now you're little more than just words on a page. Remember my debut video? This is going to be the same. In the future people look back at this moment as the debut of the next Symbol of Peace, the next All-Might. My time is limited. Soon I will be forced to retire.” The hero turns around. “I want you to introduce yourself to the world! I want you to tell that world that I am here!”

“Toshi…” I look at the man with awe, before nodding my head. "I will All-Might.” I raise my hand and let One For All flow through it. “I'll show the world that the next generation will be a bright one. For everyone who helped me get this far! But…” I hesitate, thinking of how to bring up something I've thought about since I got One For All. “I don't want to be the next Symbol of Peace. I don't want to be All-Might.”

“What?!” Toshinori coughs up blood, his eyes widened with shock. “But… but, my boy! You don't want to be a hero anymore!? Why!?”

“What?!” I panicked as he misunderstood my words. “No! That isn't what I meant! I still want to be a hero. I'm not giving up on my dream.”

“Oh…” Toshinori slumps back in his seat, a relieved expression on his face. “You scared me, my boy. But… what do you mean?”

“What I meant was… I don't want to be a copy of the man who came before me.” I sighed. “I still want to be your successor, that will never change, but I want to be my own hero. I want to do things in my own way. The Symbol of Peace… when you become a hero, that was what the world needed. But now it's changed.”

“Are you saying… the Symbol of Peace is no longer needed?” Toshinori's face grimaced.

“I'm not saying you aren't still doing good, but it's time for something new.” I tap my fingers on my arm. “Just think about it like this. Forty years ago Japan was in chaos. Villains took to the streets and ran wild. The few heroes that protected the public were overwhelmed and outnumbered. It was anarchy at its finest.”

The pro-hero nods solemnly. “It was a terrible time. Villainy was at its absolute peak.”

“Right, but look at the world now!” I spread my arms wide. “You've managed to bring crime to a low not seen since quirks first emerged! The streets are safe and the public are happy! The world is at peace.” I let out a small sigh. “But Peace means no progress. Peace means no advancement. The world's grown complacent. You have held the world on your back for so long that they have forgotten how to support it themselves, and what will happen when the single pillar supporting society collapses?”

Toshinori's face turned pale. “It will cave in.”

“Exactly.” I nodded. “Replacing one pillar with another will do nothing to solve the problem, just treat its symptoms. If I just replace you, then when it comes my time to retire the world will inevitably face the same crisis.” I shake my head at the thought. “Japan has so many great heroes. Endeavor, Hawks, Best Jeanist, Edgeshot. We no longer have to rely on just one man to protect us like before, but no one can see past the shadow that the Symbol of Peace has casted. I want to show the world that there can be more than just one symbol. I want to inspire heroes to reach for heights they thought impossible. But most of all I want to inspire the public to be better. I'll show the people that anyone can be a hero, and I don't mean a pro-hero.”

I look Toshinori in the eyes. “I will show them that all it takes to be a hero in this world is to be kind. To reach out your hand to a child on the street. To take the time to understand the unusual. To disregard fame and fortune for the greater good.” I clinch my fist and speak with determination. “So no, I don't want to be the next Symbol of Peace. I want to be something more. I want to be the Symbol of Hope.”

Chapter 14: USJ 2: Electric Boogaloo

Notes:

Comments help with motivation so make sure to leave one!

After my long speech about what kind of hero I wanted to be, me and Toshinori both ate our lunches and soon enough the day passed as heroics class had inched ever closer. Riding on the school bus, Class-1A walked into the USJ with slightly nervous expressions. It was only to be expected however. We had been attacked here by villains not even four days ago. Walking through the building's entrance, we were all greeted by Thirteen. “Hello class! Welcome back to rescue training! I know you may have some trouble being here, but class is class! Let's all get hard at work today!”

Uraraka, ever worried about others, speaks up. “Are you sure that you're okay to teach?”

“My back does hurt a bit, but the doctor said as long as I don't do any strenuous physical activities I'll be fine!” Thirteen waves off the question. “Now! Everyone please follow me!”

We followed behind Thirteen while Mr Aizawa walked by his fellow staff members' side. We were missing someone however, Toshinori. I wondered where my mentor was. Perhaps he is still recovering from his battle? He seemed fine when we had talked, aside from his now shorter time limit, but maybe he was taking it easy for a few days? That's probably for the best. God knows Toshinori won't take breaks by himself. In fact… I don't think that I've ever seen him take a single day off the whole time I've known him. I really need to drag him to do something normal. I wonder if Toshinori would like Star Wars… family movie night maybe?

“Let's start with the rescue training!” I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of Thirteen speaking up. We were standing by the edge of an absolutely massive ravine that was so deep we couldn't see the bottom. “We will have three students act as the victims for this exercise. One will be unconscious, one will have a broken leg, and the last one will be very worried.” Thirteen explained the exercise while Kirishima and Kaminari looked over the edge with wide and slightly fear filled eyes.

“It's so deep!” Kaminari yelled. “How are we supposed to get down there?! It's massive!”

“What are you saying?!” Iida ran over towards the edge and got on his hands and knees. “Do not worry! We will save you!” He yelled into the chasm while I held back a small chuckle. Iida always put his all into these performances didn't he? “Are you alright down there?!”

I walked over to the boy before putting a hand on his shoulder. “Iida. I appreciate that you're taking this so seriously, but you do know that there isn't anybody down there yet, right?”

“I uhm…” Iida had blushed in embarrassment before moving back to the rest of the class.

“Let's get started with the exercise!”, The hero Thirteen clapped her hands. “For the first set of victims, we'll have Midoriya, Iida along with Uraraka. I'll let you three decide which roles you want to take. Everyone to their places!”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Standing at the bottom of the ravine, I look up at where our ‘saviors’ were all busy preparing themselves. To be more accurate however, I looked up to where Kacchan was arguing with Todoroki, while Yaoyorozu and Tokoyami both watched them. I let out a small tired sigh. Why did those two have to be put together? “Let us do our best to be injured!” Iida had yelled out.

“Alright then,” I clapped my hands together, getting their attention. “Let's do this. Iida, how about you be the panicking civilian? Uraraka, you'll be the unconscious one, and I'll be the one with the broken leg, since I have the most experience with those types of injuries. How does that sound?” They both nod at my words and I smile. “Alright, get into places then, and remember. Right now we're acting as civilians, not heroes in training. This exercise might be pretend, but it only works if the three of us all take it seriously. Are you two ready for this?”

“Yup! Let's do our best Deku!” Uraraka said with an excited face, while Iida nodded.

The three of us got onto the ground. Uraraka closed her eyes, and crossed her arms, while I held my ‘broken leg’ and forced my eyes to water. If there's one thing the Midoriya's were known for, it was that tears came easily to us. That trait was like some secret genetic quirk or something. “Please keep calm!” I look up at Yaoyorozu's voice. She was leaning over the edge. “We'll be there to save you shortly! Help is on the way!” Internally I nodded my head at how she reassured us. Good, at least one of them was taking their jobs seriously. Momo is one of the more competent members of our class. I need to make sure she doesn't start to doubt herself after her sports festival lose.

“Midoriya! Uraraka! Look! It's the hero's!” Iida called out, playing his role well, if just a tad bit too seriously. “They are going to save us!”

“P-please hurry!” I call up to Yaoyorozu, with clear pain and fear in my tone. “It's so d-dark!

Uraraka just barely manages to keep from laughing, while Yaoyorozu moves back to her teammates. The four of them soon come up with a plan. Yaoyorozu had used her quirk to create a pulley system while Todoroki forms his use around the edge so the rope won't be cut from its sharp edges. Todoroki along with Kacchan slowly lower down the rope while Tokoyami quickly climbs down on it. “Sorry for the wait.” He says once he makes it to us.

“Uraraka! Look! There's a hero right here to save us!” Iida says over Uraraka's body while the girl silently breaks down with laughter.

“Alright. Let's get Uraraka up on the stretcher first since she's unconscious.” Tokoyami had gestured towards the device, clearly expecting us to help. I frown internally, not showing it.

“B-but I can't move! M-my leg… it hurts so much! I think it's broken!” I attempted to move the limb only to flinch and shed big tears while cradling the ‘broken’ leg with a terrible whine. Tokoyami's eyes widened as he realized his mistake. I knew that the bird headed boy did not know any better, but still. Checking victims for any potential injuries was very important.

“R-right!” Tokoyami kneels down to my side. I could tell that he was surprised by my acting. “Here, let me help.” The boy takes a splint he had most likely been given by Yaoyorozu and treats my leg. “Is that better?” He asked me.

“Yes…” I nod my head slowly before looking at him with watery eyes. “Thank you… but please. Help my friend. She needs it more.”

“Of course." Tokoyami looked slightly put off by how realistic I was taking this situation, but he moved over to Uraraka before loading her onto the stretcher. The pulley started to move before Iida decided to speak up.

“Isn't it dangerous for a single person to carry an unconscious one?” Iida asks, acting every bit like a very worried civilian.

“Do not worry.” Tokoyami smirks before letting Dark Shadow out of his cloak. “I'm never truly alone.” Without another word, Dark Shadow carries the stretcher up onto the ravine's edge where Yaoyorozu was waiting. His quirk was so cool… “Now it's your turn.” Tokoyami says to me when the stretcher comes back down.

Getting carried onto the stretcher, It wasn't long until the device started ascending. When it reached the top, I saw Kacchan waiting at the edge before his eyes widened in anger. “No! Fuck no! Why do I get this damn nerd?!”

“Bakugo…” Yaoyorozu says, now over by the pulley system. “You're the one who wanted to switch roles. These are the consequences.”

“Ugh! Fine! Motherfucker!” Small sparks jump from Kacchan's hands, but the blonde haired boy picks me up anyway. “Not. One. Fucking. Word.” He growls out, carrying me away from the ravine in his arms. I suddenly smirked.

“Mhmm, what's wrong Kacchan?” I grab onto the boy's shoulders causing him to stop dead. “Don't you want to be… my personal hero~?”

Kacchan's face turned blank, like he couldn't believe the words that came out of my mouth, before it suddenly turns bright red. “Fu-FUCK OFF!” He drops me down onto the ground and I laugh like I haven't in years. “Fuck this shit!”

—----------------------------------------------------------

After everyone had gotten a turn, the entire class moved over towards the destroyed city area for the next part of our training. “Let us continue with our lesson!” Thirteen spoke up. “This situation will be a little different. We will have sixteen hidden civilians all around the city, and four heroes whose job it is to find the civilians. The civilians will have eight minutes to hide themselves, and half of them will not be able to speak. I will select teams now.”

Mina jumps with an excited face. “Oh! It's just like hide and seek. This will be so fun!”

“Yes, I suppose it is.” Thirteen nods. “Now, the heroes will be Midoriya, Uraraka, Bakugo and Mineta. The rest of you will be civilians. The four of you will temporarily go into a sealed off room. Once the time ends the search starts.”

We all move away and wait for the rest of the class to hide. Several minutes pass until the sound of a buzzer goes off, announcing that the hunt has started. “About damn time!” The blonde uses his quirk to blast open the door, causing the surrounding wall to blast away. “I'll find them all by myself! You hear me all of you damn extras?!” He yells out into the city. “You better hope your hiding spot is good enough!”

The three of us all watch Kacchan fly into the sky, leaving us behind. “What's with that guy?! He's so rash!” Mineta speaks up, and for just once I actually agreed with what he said.

“Yeah… maybe teasing him wasn't the best idea. The look on his face was totally worth it though.” I grin at the memory before looking at my teammates. “Alright, let's split up. We can look for more people that way.” We all go our separate ways and I run down the street with One For All at ten percent. It wasn't long until I heard the screaming of someone however.

“Help! I'm stuck down here!” I run over to the voice and find a toppled building. Moving over to a window that now faced the sky, I looked inside to see Ojiro trapped inside with no way out. “Midoriya! You found me! I uh… I'm kinda stuck down here. I didn't really think of how I'd get out…” He rubbed his neck, embarrassed.

I chuckled. “It's fine. I'll get you out, just give me a minute.” I quickly pulled my head out of the window to see if I could spot Uraraka, but saw Mineta instead. I'll make it work. “Hey! I got one trapped! Get over here, Mineta!”

The shorter boy walked over while I grabbed an extra long pipe and flat pieces of rubble. It was time for some creativity. “Uhm… why do you have a metal pipe?” Mineta had tilted his head in confusion while squinting his eyes.

“Simple.” I crouched down to his level. “We're gonna be making our very own ladder. Place your balls to act as steps, and we'll put these pieces of rubble on top.” His eyes lighted up

“That's genius!” The boy quickly started to pluck the balls off his head and onto the pipe. While he did so I placed the flat rubble on top and soon it was finished. Walking on over to where Ojiro was trapped, I drop the ladder to him while Mineta places another ball to keep it firmly routed in place. When Ojiro climbed up to us, Mineta laughed. “Praise me! My sticky balls have saved your life. Praise your lord!”

Ojiro raised an eyebrow at the shorter boy. “I was going to thank you, but now I kinda don't want to.” He turns to face me. “Thanks for the help Midoriya. That was pretty smart of you.”

I rub the back of my neck with a small smile. “Thanks Ojiro. Finding interesting ways to use quirks is kinda my hobby.” Looking towards Mineta, I saw the saddened look on his face and patted him on the back. “You did well too, Mineta. You'd make a good hero if you stop acting like a disgusting pervert all the time.”

Suddenly, right as Mineta was about to speak, a large explosion rang out through the USJ. “I can't even…” I sigh out, completely done with whatever was about to happen. I couldn't go more than a few days without some incident. Fucking plot! “I swear, if that's just Kacchan being Kacchan, I'm gonna punch him through another wall. Well, let's see what's going on.”

The three of us all rush over towards where the explosion originated from, before gasping. The rest of the class had gathered around as we stared towards a villain. He was wearing green cargo shorts, a black skin tight shirt, a pair of black gloves and boots, spiky shoulder pads and finally an orange metal gas mask. The villain was extremely muscular and as tall as All-Might. How the hell was a villain here?! Did he hide out during the USJ? However, my eyes widened at what he held in his right arm. “Todoroki!” I called out. The boy was knocked out, and clearly being used as a hostage.

Ojiro, seeing the situation, quickly runs over to the nearby teachers. “Mr Aizawa, Thirteen, we have a villain!” He speaks with a hasty tone.

“Oh no…” Aizawa's words are weirdly calm. “I have suddenly come down with a severe case of nausea and Thirteen is too injured to fight. I guess we can't do anything. What a situation.”

“What?! But-” Ojiro was quickly cut off.

“Head to the exit!” Thirteen points over to the front doors. “We'll all escape from there!”

“Escape?!” The villain had suddenly spoken, raising his foot up. “There won't be any kind of escape for you! I'll finish you all off right here!” As the villain stomped his foot down, another deafening explosion sounds out. Dust kicks up and the surrounding buildings collapse in the villains' wake. By the time everything had settled, the entire fake city had been flattened and any escape had been very firmly cut off by jagged rubble. I look around with wide, fear filled eyes. What the hell?! That was All-Might level strength! Just who is this guy?! Was he a Nomu? No, his skin was normal. Maybe some minion of All For One that was given multiple strength based quirks? That didn't make any sense either. How did he hide out for so long?

“How is he so strong?!” “He flattered the city with just one kick?!” “He's gotta be as strong as All-Might!” Several of my classmates yell out in alarm at the display of power before us.

“Good… now the terrain is clear.” The villain says with a menacing tone. “Not one of you will escape! I shall crush you all into smears!”

“Like hell you will!” Suddenly Kacchan uses his quirk to fly across the battlefield and blast multiple explosions into the villain. “Now die!” Our opponent however simply holds out his free hand and swats Kacchan away like some kind of bug. Landing onto his feet, Kacchan points one of his gauntlets at the villain before yelling to the rest of the class. “Shitty extras! You better get out of here! I'm gonna beat this guy all by myself!” The boy couches down to the ground with a wide wicked smile, before blasting off towards the villain once again.

“You have guts to say something like that!” The villain engages with Kacchan, using his hand to block Kacchan's flurry of explosions.

“What is his problem?!” Mineta yells out from beside me. “Doesn't he realize that guy's way stronger than him?! He's gonna get killed!

“Hmm…” I watched the two fight one another. "I don't think he really cares. Still, Kacchan is hotheaded, not stupid. He doesn't do anything without thinking about it first. So what's his…”

Suddenly Kacchan unleashes a giant attack against the villain, one that throws him back over towards Iida, but seems to do no visible damage to the villain. “Hey! Don't worry about me!” He yells to the boy as he lands beside him. “Just make those weaklings run aways!”

Ah. So that's his plan. He's buying time for us to escape. “Why do you have to insult others!” Iida yelled out through his gritted teeth.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Krishima suddenly speaks up from the top of a large piece of rubble. The entire class was standing behind him, looking down at the two boys. “What do you mean by those weaklings?” Yaoyorozu steps forward.

“We are the members of Class-1A.” She says while her classmates form up. “Every one of us are training to become pro-heroes. Do you expect us to just run away from a villain?”

I look up at my classmates with a wide smile. I couldn't ask for a better set of students to fight alongside. “How brave,” The villain says with a mocking tone, before pulling his fist back in a punch. “But ultimately pointless!” The punch strikes at an angle towards the ground, pushing large pieces of rubble into the air and flying right towards us. The attack seemed… familiar. Aoyama leans backwards to smash apart some of the flying rubble with his laser, while Kirishima rushes forward to take care of the ones he missed. Jiro's ear jacks plug into her speaker boots and she unleashes a loud deafening sonic attack, casting the villain to stagger. Taking the opportunity, Sero shoots his tape while Yaoyorozu creates a medieval cannon that's filled with a net. They both land.

“Now!” Yaoyorozu yells out, causing the four of us that were closest to the villain, Shoji, Iida along with Tokoyami and me, to rush forward. However, the villain easily breaks out of the hold and throws his arms, blasting yet another stream of air across the battlefield. Everyone went flying and I landed hard on my back.

“I didn't think you would be able to coordinate an all out attack like that…” I look through the dust to see the villain standing tall, without a single scratch on him. “Color me impressed. It is now clear to me that all of you will become great heroes. However, you won't have that chance.” The villain cracks his neck and takes a single step forward. Something about that felt familiar… and the way he attacked. Using the air instead of direct strikes. If even one of those landed, he'd turn us into paste. So why didn't he rush forward and strike us down? If he has the strength and durability, then he has to have the speed too, right? Suddenly, I had realized the reason and let out a long groan.

It's Toshinori. All-Might was playing a villain.

I leaned my head back on the piece of rubble I was laying against and sigh. I felt like an idiot for not seeing it sooner. He was even wearing those same green cargo shorts that he always wore! “Midoriya! Are you alright!” I look over to Iida who had an expression of deep concern.

“I'll live…” I climbed to my feet with a grunt before turning to my classmates with a small grin. “More importantly, I've got an idea.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

“Did everybody get the plan?” Looking at my classmates, I see them all nod. “Good. Let's get this party started.” Getting into position, I take off in a run towards Uraraka with One For All. When we neared each other, I held out my right hand and jumped. Uraraka had slapped the hand, activating her quirk, while Tsu used her tongue to wrap around my body and then launched me low to the ground over towards All-Might. Flying across the battlefield with the aid of Uraraka's quirk, when I neared Todoroki I grabbed onto him with one of Mineta's balls that was stuck to my left hand. At the very same moment Uraraka deactivated her quirk, allowing the built up force to fling me farther across the field. Once we were far enough from All-Might, I quickly took off the glove that connected me and Todoroki, before pointing my right hand at Toshinori. “Delaware Smash: Overdrive!” I pump One For All up to 100% in my middle finger and flick. I knew it wouldn't damage him, but it would buy a few seconds.

“Weakling you like should step aside!” And just as planned Kacchan had come rushing, blasting towards All-Might with a malicious grin. “Let's see how you handle this, you shit head!” Landing before the stunned hero, the blonde pointed both of his gauntlets at Toshi and pulled the pins. The gauntlet lit up in an orange glow and I could see the hero's eyes widen before bringing his arms up to defend himself. A sounding boom rings out across the USJ as All-Might was roughly thrown back by the huge explosion. The pro-hero goes flying before landing against a pile of Minetas balls.

Several long seconds passed as Toshinori had struggled against the spheres, before he eventually gave up. “We did it! The villain is trapped!” The class all cheered in celebration while I simply let out a relieved sigh. I didn't have any doubt that Toshi could break himself free if he really wanted to, but the pro-hero probably felt that we deserved the victory. It's not like he was actually fighting seriously. If he wanted it to be, the fight could have been over before we even blinked. That was how big the gap was between us right now. All-Might was the number one hero for a reason after all.

“Now! It's time to finish the job!” Kacchan had started walking towards Toshinori with a grin and explosions dancing at his fingertips. “I'm gonna send you straight to hell! Now die!”

“W-wait! No! S-stop. I-i,” Toshinori struggled hard against the sticky balls before his mask had fallen off, revealing All-Might's face to the class. “I am here!” Everyone stares in shock at the reveal. Well, everyone but me. I let out a tired sigh and slump to the floor, holding my broken finger. “I wanted to make a surprise where a villain appeared! You all did great! As I had expected … of the hero course…” The hero's words started to grow strained and my classmates surrounded him with a dark look on their faces. “I want to say… I'm sorry?”

“You went overboard, you moren!” The entire class yells at All-Might before starting to kick at his trapped body. I watched the scene with a small smirk before suddenly Shinso comes up to me “You knew it was him, didn't you?”

I show the purple haired boy a smirk. “Did you really think that All-Might's number one fanboy wouldn't recognize him because of a mask?”

—----------------------------------------------------------

After everyone had recovered from Toshinori's ‘surprise’, the rest of the class returned to their normal classes while Toshinori took me down to Recovery Girls office so the heroine could fix my broken finger. “What?! Where?! You?! Thinking?!” The older woman smacks Toshinori with her cane. “Attacking a group of children right after a traumatic villain attack?! In my forty years of working at this school, this is hands down the most idiotic thing that I have ever seen! And I've seen a whole lot!”

“I'm… sorry?” Toshinori says meekly, before getting hit in the side by Recovery Girl. “Oof!”

“Don't apologize to me, you blonde buffoon! Apologize to him!” The heroine points to me. “He's the one who has to suffer your moronic teaching! You're lucky it was only a broken finger! If he or any of the other students had gotten any more injured, I would have called Gran Torino to knock some sense into you!”

“No! N-not him!” Toshinori jumps up with wide eyes and looks towards the doorway, like he was expecting the retired pro-hero to enter at any moment. “I'm sorry! Don't call Torino!”

“Apologize!” Recovery Girl pokes Toshinori in the stomach hard. “Before I change my mind!”

“I'm deeply sorry, my boy!” Toshinori bows his head, but goes lower when Recovery Girl had glared at him. “Please! Forgive my stupidity!”

“Toshi, it's fine-” I was about to reassure my mentor, but stopped when Recovery Girl's eyes had locked onto mine. I feel a shiver go down my spine. Clearly, she didn't want this to be forgiven so easily. “I mean… y-you could make it up to me by coming by my house next Saturday? We could watch a movie…”

Recovery Girl seemed to be pleased by this and nodded her head. The two of us both let out a received sigh. Once again I find myself asking why old people are so scary.

—----------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the day passed normally. Luckily there weren't any more surprise villain attacks or other such events. Sitting in homeroom, it wasn't long until the bell rang, signaling that it was the end of the day. Grabbing my bag and stretching my back, I let out a long exhausted groan. I couldn't wait to get Eri and go home. I was definitely in the mood for relaxing on the couch and watching a movie with Eri. What to watch… The Incredibles sounded good.

Getting up and standing behind Uraraka, I felt my smile fade when she opened the door and a large group of people were waiting outside. I just had to jinx myself, didn't I? “Why the heck are you all here?!” She asks with surprise.

“They're scouting out the competition idiots.” I see Kacchan move up to the crowd with an unimpressed expression. “We're the class that survived a real villain attack. They wanna see us with their own eyes.” He glares at the boy in the front. “At least now you all know what a future pro looks like. Now move it, you extras.”

“Well, well, well! If it isn't class-1A!” Suddenly a boy with blonde hair and blue eyes stepped forward. Ah, this must be Monoma. “And look at that, already acting like you're better than the rest of us!” I hum and look over at Shinso. Wasn't he the one that's supposed to make this speech? I suppose the universe is filling his spot in canon. “So arrogant! So stupid!”

“Sorry about our classmates. He's a… brash one.” I stepped towards the blonde while my childhood best friend/bully glared at my back. “I can promise you we're really not like that.”

“Hmm, that's only what the arrogant would say.” He neurons his eyes. “As expected of Class-1A! You think you're better than us!”

I tilt my head, confused. “Why would we?”

“Because you got to fight villains.” He crossed his arms with a huff. “It felt good didn't it?”

“What?” I scoff at his words, causing the boy to glare. “You say that like it's some privilege.” I looked back at my classmates with a large frown on my face. One mistake, just one slip, and any one of them could have died. I look back at Monoma. “We didn't win, we simply survived. You think we wanted to be attacked on our first week of school? We don't want the spotlight for something like that, and if you do, then clearly you've never had your life on the line before.” At the wide eyed look Monoma gave me, I let out a small sigh. “Look, I don't want our classes to be enemies. How about we all promise to do our best in the sport's festival and see which of our classes comes out on top?” I hold my hand out to the boy.

Monoma looks very surprised by the gesture, but reluctantly shook my hand. “I look forward to proving Class-1B the superior Class!” He smirks widely, before his lips form into a mere smile. “All of you better do your best. If not, your spot in the hero course may just be given to someone more deserving!” The boy walks away with a laugh, the crowd follows him.

When they left, I turn over to my classmates. “Well, it looks like we have some competition. You heard what he said. We gotta work hard to keep our spots in the hero course, so what do you say we give them a real challenge?”

“Well, I’m not gonna give up my spot easily!” Kirishima got out of his shock and pounded his fists together while using his quirk.

“I agree, we should give our best.” IIda spoke with a nod at Krishima's words.

Jiro huffed. “I’m not gonna just let them take my spot, that wouldn’t be rocking would it?”

Kaminari crossed his arms. “ Well they're not gonna take my spot! I worked too hard!”

Ochako pumped her fist, “I’ll do my best!” The rest of the classmates agreed with Uraraka.

Everyone left the room quickly, wanting to get right to training. I let a small grin form on my lips. I took words and made it into a challenge to encourage my classmates. If that wasn’t a leader, I don’t know what was. I soon leave the room and then start heading towards the principal's office. I turned around a corner, but stop in my tracks at who was waiting near the staircase. “Kacchan… what do you want?”

“I challenge you,” The blonde declared, while I blinked back in clear surprise. “When I win the sports festival you have to tell me everything.”

I tilted my head with a hum. I suppose that I should've seen something like this coming. It wasn't like Kacchan was one to just set idly by. “What if I win the sports festival?” The boy growls, clearly having not thought of that. “Ok, how about this? If I win the sports festival, you drop this whole thing, start engaging with our classmates and stop being a dick to them.”

“What the fuck did you just say?! You shitty nerd?!” Kacchan looked really to pounce, but had managed to restrain himself. “... Fine.”

“We have a deal then.” I offered my hand to him. Kacchan had stared down at it like it was infectious, but reluctantly shook the limb.

“You're going down you nerd.” He snarled out.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from my rival.” I smirked at the boy while he scowled.

He took his hand back, stomping away. “I AM NOT YOUR FUCKING RIVAL!” He shouted. I barely managed not to let out a small laugh.

This will be an interesting sports festival.

Chapter 15: Training And New Friends

Notes:

Comments help with motivation so make sure to leave one!

Ojiro jumped up into the air using his tail and delivered a high kick, causing me to have to use my forearm to block. The boy jumped back from the reach of my counter attack and quickly sent one of his own. I grunt as it lands firmly on my side and was about to retaliate with another punch but fall on my back when Ojiro uses his tail to sweep my legs. I could have recovered quickly if I was using One For All, but instead Ojiro pressed the advantage and pinned me down. I struggled for a couple moments before letting out a long sigh. I tap the ground and Ojiro gets off me with a smirk.

Two weeks until the Sports Festival.

“You did a lot better that time.” The boy holds out his hand and helps me up onto my feet.

“You know, that sounds pretty condescending when you're on the ground.” I brush off the dirt that had gotten on my gym uniform and went over towards where Eri was sitting on a bench drinking a strawberry smoothie. I grabbed two ice cold water bottles from the cooler and toss one at Ojiro. “You're a beast, you know that?”

The boy catches it with ease and pops open the cap. “I have to be. My quirk isn't exactly… the most powerful. I just have to make up the difference with determination and hard work!” I smiled at the boy's words. This was exactly why I sought him out. I didn't want to sorely rely on my quirk like many of my classmates do, and there wasn't anyone better to learn from than the resident martial artist himself! It was why I wasn't using One For All. I'm here for technique, not power. “You're not too bad yourself Midoriya. I can tell you don't have any formal training, but still. You're pretty good.”

I rub the back of my head. “I normally watch fights online and try to implement all the good stuff. I'm good at reading people's bodies.”

Ojiro hums while I drink my water. “Hmm, like in the battle trials. You used Mr Aizawa moves against Bakugo.” I nodded my head. “That's good. Learning new moves on the fly like that is pretty impressive. Still, that can only get you so fair without the base to fall back on. I could teach you some stuff after the festival.”

“After?” I asked Ojiro with a raised eyebrow.

The boy grins in reply. “I can't show you all my tricks, now can I? We'll be competing against one another.” I laughed at Ojiro's words.

“I'll hold you to that.” Putting my water bottle back down I turn to see Eri playing with Ojiro's tail. “I'm sorry about that…” I said awkwardly.

“It's fine.” The boy reassures making no move to retrieve his stolen limb. “It's more common than you would think.”

“So fluffy…” I coo at the sight of Eri hugging Ojiro's tail like an oversized stuffed animal. It wasn't long until the two of us got back to our training. I grin and rush towards the boy.

—----------------------------------------------------------

Quickly dodging out of the way of a fast moving rubber ball, I stared at the automatic tennis ball launcher and waited for the next. When it did I had activated One For All at ten percent and managed to land a hit. The ball went flying up into the sky, never to be seen again. Momo, Eri and I were out at Ground Beta. Momo had provided the rubber balls and launcher, while in return she wanted to meet the mysterious little girl that the class had all been talking about. It was love at first sight. Momo was absolutely smitten with the girl. Currently Momo was brushing Eri's hair, looking like she's at peace with the universe.

If I didn’t know any better, I would've assumed Momo was a doting aunt who was spoiling her niece. I suppose that's the Eri effect for you.

Twelve days until the Sports Festival.

“Stop the machine.” I call out to Momo, who grabs a remote control and quickly turns off the launcher. I walked over towards the pair and grabbed my towel, wiping off the grim I've worked. “Man, that was a workout.” I whipped my forehead while Momo stared at my arms that were exposed from the tank top that I was wearing with a blush. She quickly looks away.

Eri briefly sniffed the air before her nose had scrunched up. “Stinky.” She mumbled. Momo gave out a small giggle while I laughed.

“Just think of that as proof of how hard I have worked.” I take a drink of water before looking at Yaoyorozu. “Thanks for all of your help.”

“It's no problem.” She smiles at me. The three of us sit in silence for several minutes while Momo braids Eris' hair. After a while however, my classmate speaks up. “... I never really saw myself making a lot of friends here at UA. I have the power to create anything from my lipids. People try to get close to me because of my quirk. It doesn't help that I was always seen as the rich girl.” She made a hair pin and placed it on Eri’s silver locks. “I wasn’t.. social with other kids my age. I didn’t want to have friends that only used me for their own gain. But coming here, meeting you all, I feel like I can finally have real friends.” I looked at her.

“Where's this coming from?” I asked the girl.

“I don’t know how to act with the others. Some of the girls are easy to get along with.” Momo then made a plush, one that looked like me in my hero costume. Eri looked at it with a wide eyed expression and then took the plush. “But with everyone else… I simply don’t know. But you, you talk with confidence. You manage to get all of our classmates to like you. You even defused the situation with that Class-1A boy and turned it into a challenge. When you talk, everyone listens. How do you do it Midoriya?”

Oh so she was asking for advice on how to socialize with the rest of our class. Momo is smart, but has confidence issues. I didn't think those issues popped up until after her loss at
the sports festival though. I guess they were always here. I hum like I was a wise sensei.

“So you wish to learn my secret, do you?” The girl nods her head. “Alright, lean in. I can't let just anyone know…” She leans in real close.

When she looks the most serious, I poke her nose. She blinked back. “What was that for?”

“There's no secret, Yaoyorozu!” I laugh slightly while Momo looks confused. “Its just all about being yourself. If you try to change yourself to please everyone, you'll please no one. Just be nice and the friends will come to you, this isn't the kinda thing you can force. It's natural.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Standing on a rooftop at Ground Gamma, I took in a long, deep breath. I was here alone today. Thankfully Nezu had been in quite the good mood when I picked Eri up yesterday, and so I managed to get the place to myself.

Ten days until the Sports Festival.

I activated One For All up to ten percent and red veins had appeared across my body while green lightning sparked to life. I felt my entire body grow in strength, now being well used to the strain that this amount of power brought. I pumped the percent up to twelve, and smiled.

Walking backwards a few steps, I took one last final deep breath, before running across the rooftop and then jumping. My body flew through the air with a mighty leap before I had landed on the next rooftop over. When my feet had hit the ground, I felt a monster grin spread itself across my face. If this was how parkour felt, I couldn't wait to unlock float or blackwhip. “Alright… lets really get this party going now.”

Once again I lunched myself off of the roof, but this time I didn't stop at just a single jump. I keep going, jumping across the skyline like a shooting star. I ran across a pipe, used a wall to hop into the air, flipped from a water tower and jumped from fire escape to fire escape. It felt so freeing. I was starting to understand why the Meta Liberation Army wanted to use their quirks whenever they wanted. This was amazing! “He'd… fly through the air with the greatest of ease!” I laughed and began to sing an old carnival song. “The daring young man on the flying trapeze! His movements were graceful, all girls he could please! And my-”

Right as I was about to sing the next part of the song, my eyes went wide as suddenly a face with beady black eyes appeared in the wall I was about to jump off. “Wow! You sure seem to be having fun!” The face smiles. “Hi!”

“AHH!” I scream in shock and miss the spot to jump. “Shit!” My foot slips and I start falling to the ground. Aiming my finger to the ground, I pump One For All up to twenty percent and let out a burst of air. Thanks to that I managed to land with a hard thud rather than be splattered on the pavement. Painful, but not lethal. “Oof!”

“Whoa! Sorry about that.” A voice apologized. I pick my head off the ground and look to the side to see a blond man wearing the UA gym uniform. Mirio Togata, Lemillion… At least his pants are on. “Are you alright down there?”

“Yeah… I'm fine.” I sit up while rubbing my throbbing head. “Just a few bruises is all.”

“Thats quite the quirk you've got there.” The blonde student holds his hand out to help me up. “If my guess is right, you're from Class-1A. The ones who got attacked by villains?”

“Yeah… how did you know?” I tilted my head.

“Rumer mill.” Mirio shrugged his shoulders as I let out a curse. “My name's Togata Mirio, I’m a third year student!” The boy introduced.

“Oh, I know you! You're the guy who kept losing your clothes during last year's Sports Festival!” This blonde boy pales while I send him a smirk. “My name's Midoriya Izuku.”

Mirio's eyes widened. “Wait… you're Izuku Midoriya!? Aren't you the one who broke All Might's record in the entrance exam?!” The boy's face had lit up with excitement. “You're all anyone's been talking about! How did you do it?! You've gotta be super strong!”

I blush slightly in embarrassment. “No… not really. I got lucky more than anything!” I rub my neck. I had forgotten Mirio was as big of an All-Might fan as me. Of course he'd want to meet the person who broke his record. “My quirk is Energy Accumulation, basically I built up energy that can be used to increase my strength, speed and durability. The problem is that my body is currently too weak to use the full amount. I can only safely use about ten percent right now, a little more if I push it all the way to the limit. Since my quirk is good for combat, I did well against the basic robots. The rescue points were a big surprise.”

“I see!” Mirio nods his head. “Rescue points is how I got into UA. My quirk is pretty difficult to use properly, so I didn't get too many villains points. Still, you must have gotten a ton!”

“About as many as I got villain points. Right at the end the Zero-pointer was about to crush a girl. I rushed in to save her, breaking both my legs and an arm in the process. I suppose the teachers must've thought that was worth a lot of points.” I shrugged like it was no big deal. “I told you about my quirk, you wanna tell me about yours? I think you slip through objects?”

“Yup!” Mirio moves over towards the wall and sticks his hand through. I already knew what his quirk was but seeing it in person was cool. “It's called Permeation. Using it, I can phase right through any solid matter, anything at all!”

“Woah… that's incredibly powerful!” I stare in awe. With a power like that you could become untouchable. “Still, it's gotta be hard to use.”

Mirio laughed and took his hand out of the wall. “You've got that right! When I'm using the power, everything passes through me. There's no light hitting my eyes, meaning I can't see. There's no sounds reaching my ears, I can't even breathe! It feels like I'm in some kind of void! There's something interesting that can happen when I deactivate the power when I'm still inside something. I get shot right out!”

“That is pretty interesting. It's because solid matter can't exist in the same place, right?”

“Yup! You sure are a quick study!” Suddenly the sound of a ringtone blasted out and the boy pulled a phone out of his pocket. “Crap! I'm gonna be late to hang out with Tamaki and Nejire!” The boy quickly puts his phone back and starts running away. “It was nice to meet you! I look forward to seeing how you do in the sports festival!” Mirio is soon out of sight as fast as he appeared. I shake my head with a smile before heading to the locker room.

—----------------------------------------------------------

It was now Saturday night. I was sitting on the couch playing with Eri when the doorbell had rung. “I'll get it!” I called out to Mom who was busy in the kitchen making the popcorn for our impending movie marathon. Thankfully, Mom agreed to have Toshinori over for the night. In fact, the women had almost seemed… eager? Shaking my head, I rush over to the front door and open it. Waiting there was Toshinori, who was wearing a nicer set of clothing compared to his usual attire. “Hello, my boy! I hope that I am not late?” He steps inside the apartment.

Eight days until the Sports Festival.

“Nope, you're right on time.” I close the door and start grabbing Eri's toys to put them away. “Moms making the popcorn, so take a seat. I just gotta put all of these away.” Picking up an All-Might themed action figure, I quickly set them into a box labeled ‘Eri's toys’ and came back to the sight of Toshi sitting next to Eri.

“Alright, I'm finished with the- oh, hello there Toshinori!” Mom walks into the room carrying a big bucket of popcorn and sets it down on the coffee table before taking a seat over by Eri. “You're here! I was surprised when Izuku asked if you could come over.” She smiles.

“It was a surprise to me as well.” The pro-hero smiles back while rubbing his neck. I quickly take a seat in the only spot remaining, right in the middle with Toshinori on my left, Eri on my right and Mom next to her. “So, my boy. What movie are we going to watch?” I grabbed the TV remote and started playing the first Star Wars movie. “Star Wars?” Toshinori tilted his head, like he was trying to remember. “Is this that old sci-fi franchise from before quirks?”

I nodded my head. Soon the movie started and the four of us watched with ripe attention. Despite the movie being almost three hundred years old, I smiled as Toshinori, Eri and Mom all stared at the screen with awe as it played. Right as the movie ended, I heard the sound of Eri's stomach rumbling and turned over to Mom. “How about we order some pizza?” At her agreement Toshinori quickly pulls out his phone and calls the local pizzeria. Looking at Eri I pulled her onto my lap and smiled softly.

This is nice. This is what I'm fighting for.

—----------------------------------------------------------

I sat at my desk with my headphones on as Cloud 9 by Beach Bunny played through the device. I was the only one in the classroom currently, as we still had about another half hour until school started. Unfortunately, Eri had gotten a nightmare, so I didn't get much sleep. Because of this the girl was spending the day with Mom at her job. I let out a sigh. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the claws that Overhaul left in her to fully disappear. All I want is to see her smile, to be happy, without the fear of Kai Chisaki hanging over her head.

Six days until the Sports Festival.

Suddenly I had felt someone tap my shoulder. Quickly taking off my headphones, I look up to see Kaminari standing by my side and Iida in his seat. “Hey man.” The boy greeted. “I uh… I need your help.” Kaminari sits on top of the desk next to mine while Iida looks offended in the background. “I was wondering if you could help me train my quirk. I've been trying to get my lighting under control, but every time that I try…” He rubs his hands together conducting some electricity. “It keeps flying everywhere.”

“Okay, I can see the issue there, but why do you want my help?” I ask, generally curious. It wasn't like our quirks are very similar.

Kaminari stared at me like I asked a stupid question. “Dude, you're amazing at using the quirks of others. You came up with a plan to trap All-Might of all people! If there's anyone who can help me get my quirk under control, it would be you.” I blushed at the boy's praise.

“I uh… I suppose it's worth a try. Meet me at Gym Gamma after school. I'll ask Mr Aizawa if we can train there when class ends.” The boy nods his head with gratitude before moving to his seat. Soon, the rest of my classmates all arrived and the school day officially began. As the school bell rang an hour later signaling the end of homeroom, I caught our teacher before he could leave. “Mr Aizawa. I wanted to know if me and Kaminari could use Gym Gamma.”

The man gave me a look that made it obvious he hadn't slept in a few days. “Sure, it’s free today. Just fill out the form.” Mr Aizawa takes out a paper from his desk and hands it over to me. “Submit it to the faculty room once you're done.” The teacher quickly leaves the room.

I went back to my desk and started to write.

—----------------------------------------------------------

“Alright, so how are we gonna do this?” The blonde boy asks me. The school day ended not long ago, and now we were both down at Gym Gamma wearing our gym uniforms.

“First, I need to see how you use your quirk. From there I can get a solid idea of what you might be doing wrong.” I talk Kaminari through the process while dragging a training dummy into view. “I want you to try and hit the dummy, and nothing else.” I quickly get out of the way.

“Okay then…” Kaminari takes in a long deep breath before holding his right arm up and pointing a finger at the dummy. Activating his power, lightning begins to fly around the boy uncontrollably for several seconds, before Kaminari growls in frustration and turns off his quirk. “See!? It doesn't go where I want!”

“Calm down, we'll get this.” I placate the boy's anger before humming thoughtfully. “So what were you trying to do? Walk me through it.”

“Alright, well… I pointed at the dummy, hoping the lightning would come out of my finger.” He explains his process. I send him a blank look, resisting the urge to let out a long, deep sigh.

“...okay, I know what needs to be done.” I walk over to Kaminari and slap him on the head.

“OW! What the hell was that for?!” Kaminari looked at me angrily, rubbing his hurting head.

“That was to make your brain work properly.” I crossed my arms. “You can't control lightning, Kaminari. Didn't you go to science class?”

His expression changed into one of confusion. “If I can't control the lighting, what do I do?”

“Tell me what electricity is.” I ask him, before adding, “In layman's term. The basic concept.”

“Umm, it's the flow of charge?” Kaminari had asked. I sighed, rubbing my face. Patience…

“It's energy. Wild, unpredictable energy. If you try to control it, you'll fail. What you need to do is guide it.” I started my explanation. “Think of lightning rods. They work because lightning always goes for the path of least resistance.” I suddenly got an idea. “Kaminari, I want you to hit me with your electricity. Hit me directly.”

Kaminari's eyes had widened. “What?! I'm not going to do that! You'll get hurt!”

“Trust me, I'll be fine.” I quickly move back into his range before speaking up. “Just don't fry your brain!” Kaminari looked nervous, but the boy eventually sighs and lets his electricity loose. As the lightning begins to fly over right towards me, I quickly activate One For All and stick my pointer and middle finger out. The lighting jumps to my hand, and I quickly guild it through my arms, through my stomach, and eventually out my other hand. The lightning shoots out and harmlessly hits the back wall. Kaminari stares at me slackjawed while I try to suppress a grin and fail. Turns out watching Avatar The Last Airbender so many times was a pretty good idea. “I'm gonna be completely honest… I had no idea that would work.”

“DUDE!!!” Kaminari looked at me with excited awe, running over. “How did you do that!?”

“Like I said, it's all about guiding the lightning. Although I'm 90% sure it only worked because my power has an electricity component to it…” I hummed in thought. It would seem my earlier theory about having a resistance to electricity was true, but I'm starting to think it's actually more than that. Could I weaponize the energy One For All gives off? Control it? My arsenal would get a lot more versatile if I could shoot off lightning streams. It'd give me some much needed range. It's a long shot though, but I'll start investigating that after the sports festival.

“Uhm… Midoriya?” Kaminari speaks up.

“What? Oh sorry, I got lost in my thoughts.” I shook my head and refocused on the present. “As I said, it's about guiding the lightning, but I think there's still something missing with how your quirk works…” It didn't make sense how Kaminari’s only options were either 100%, or nothing. It reminds me of how canon Midoriya used One For All in the beginning… wait. “I've got it! Why hadn't I thought of this before?”

“What is it, Midoriya?” Kaminari tilts his head.

I smile wildly as I start explaining. “The more I think about it, the more similar our quirks are. Not in their effects per say, but in the way we use them. Just think about it. We both suffer side effects if we overuse our quirks. You get mental damage, while I get physical damage.”

“When you put it like that…” Kaminari nods his head. “Yeah, that is pretty similar. But what does that have to do with using my power?”

“Well, I'm wondering if the way I use my quirk can also be used for you.” His eyes widened. “Basically, my quirk is a power source. At first I tried using that power through just one of my limbs. However that idea backfired and left me injured. So instead, I spread the power all out my body, lessening the load on any one body part.” I activate One For All and demonstrate. “I call this Full Cowling. Wanna try it now?”

“Hell yeah I do!” Kaminari quickly gets into a stand. “Guide me through this. What do I do?”

“First, I want you to focus on the feeling of your power. How does it feel to use it? How do you activate it? Find the lowest amount of power you can use and focus on that.” The blonde boy closes both of eyes and several long seconds pass, before he nods. “Alright. Now focus on spreading the little bit of power across your entire body. Arms, legs, torso, all of it.” Once again several long seconds pass, before I suddenly see small sparks start to form around his entire body. “Good! That's it! Now, I want you to slowly raise the power.”

The sparks start to grow in their power, until a cloak of yellow lighting surrounds him. I grin at the sight and slowly start clapping. Kaminari, hearing this, opens his eyes and celebrates. “I can't believe it! I'm doing it! I'm controlling my quirk!” Just as quick as Kaminari gets it under control however, the lightning disappears as he loses focus. “Aw man… it's gone now…”

I let out a chuckle. “Well, it is your first time using the technique. Let's make sure you've got a good handle on it. Then we can move onto the next part in your training.” The boy bows down to me like a student would with his sensei, before returning to trying Full Cowling. Once I'm positive he's learned it enough to keep it going, I speak up. “Alright, turn it off.”

Kaminari does so and looks back at me. “So what's next?”

“For this final part, we'll be combining both the technique you just learned, and the move that I did earlier. Copy my movements.” The two of us spend several minutes going through the movements, ensuring he did it right. Watching Kaminari, I correct his pose and hum. “Alright, now I'm not a hundred percent sure if this will work, but I haven't been wrong yet. Activate Full Cowling.” As lightning starts sparking at his skin I nod. “Okay. Now here's what you are going to do. I want to bring all the energy that is running throughout your body into a single point. While doing the movements that we just practiced, bring that energy from your chest, over up to your arms, and out your fingertips. Remember to guide the lightning, don't force it.”

“Right. Guide, don't force…” Kaminari brings his arms up and starts moving them in an almost dance light pattern. Electricity flickers across his arms and fingers, before suddenly the boy points like a snake lunging for its prey and a crackling stream of lightning explodes into the wall, taking a large piece of it out. “I- I did it!” He smiles widely. “I freaking did it!”

“Yeah you did.” I pat Kaminari on the back and stare at the wall with a slightly intimidated face. “You're a natural. That attack is scary…”

Kaminari looked at me with a grateful smile. “Hey man… thank you. I really owe you one. I couldn't have ever come up with something like this.” He looks at his hand and smiles.

“What are friends for?” I offered the boy a fist to which he accepted enthusiastically. “Now that you've got a good handle on the basics of your power, keep training. It's your quirk, so do what feels natural. I'm sure in time you'll come up with moves even I couldn't think of. And hey, uhm…” My grin turns sheepish. “You may wanna work on toning the power down on that huge lightning attack. You can seriously injure people if you're not careful. Stop their heart.”

Kaminari looks at the hole in the wall with a strained smile. “Yeah, that's a good idea…”

—----------------------------------------------------------

I laid on the roof of UA's main campus looking at the sky. As the UA Sports Festival was only a few days away, I decided to spend the rest of the time resting my body. There wasn't any point in all this if I arrived at the competition completely exhausted after all. I closed my eyes and listened to ‘The Red Means I Love You’ by Madds Buckley through my wireless headphones. I chuckled slightly at the thought of introducing Himiko Toga to the song. She'd definitely fall in love with it. It did kind of fit her personality perfectly after all. I hummed and put it on my mental bucket list for the future.

Two days until the Sports Festival.

I opened my eyes only to see two bright ones staring right into my own. I nearly had a heart attack at the sight. I quickly patted my pants for my phone and turned the volume down once I found the button. “Ummm hi?” I greeted awkwardly. How was she floating there?

The girl above me smiled brightly, “Are you Izuku Mirodiya?” I recognized her voice, and now that she was leaning back I could see her whole face. Nejire Hado. Another member of the big three. What were the chances of that?

“Yeah…that's me.” I answered the older girl's question, before immediately being asked a metric ton more. My eyes widened at this.

“So you're the one Mirio was talking about! I heard the rumors but I wanna hear it from you! Does your quirk only enhance your body or does your mind get enhanced as well? Are you super smart? How much can you lift? Oh you’re pretty cute, are you single? What were you listening to? Do you always come up onto the roof? Can you fly? Did you really break All Might's record? I heard that your class was attacked by villains, what are they like?”

The girl started to ask me questions at high speed. I couldn't catch even half of them. “Uh, I have literally no idea what you just said. Who are you and how long were you hovering over me for exactly?” I moved out from under her.

The girl stopped. “Oh I’m Nejire Hado! And it was just about 5 minutes.” She replied, taking a seat next to me. I didn't know how to explain that hovering over someone was not a normal thing to do, and so moved on from that.

“So you mentioned Mirio. I'm assuming you're a friend of his?” She nodded happily.

“Rightio! He told me and Tamaki all about meeting you, and I wanted to see you myself! You’re so interesting. And mysterious!” Nejire moved her hands in a spooky way with a huge smile. “The kid who broke the UA entrance exam record, All-Might's record! You've been all anyone's been talking about! Well, besides that villain attack. But you were a part of that as well! Once the UA Sports Festival comes around and the public gets a look at you, you will be famous overnight! No matter how well you do in the actual event. You can expect a ton of agency offers, I'll tell you that much!”

I blinked back at Nejire's words. I knew that beating Toshinori's record was a big deal, but when put like that… the press is never going to leave me alone, are they? “That's… cool.”

“I know right?” Her smile grows. “So, why are you up here?” She asks, tilting her head.

“Well… for some peace and quiet mostly.” I started out. “I like being up high. It makes my problems feel more far away, smaller almost.”

“I can understand that. When I'm flying, I feel so free…” She exhaled and relaxed. Silence filled the atmosphere as we both stared out at the skyline, the only sound being the blowing wind. I feel like I haven't had that much time to myself. First there was the quirk test, meeting with Nana, the battle trials, the reporters, the USJ incident, finding Eri, Toshinori's ‘surprise’, all of this training. I have only been in UA for three weeks! And most of that happened in the first week! There was still so much ahead of me too. The sports festival, the internships, Stain… I always knew this wasn't going to be easy, but still. It all feels so overwhelming…

“... So you can’t fly?” I was snapped out of my thoughts by Nejire, and soon let out a laugh.

“Sorry to disappoint, but no. No flying for me.”

“Shame. It's really fun.” Suddenly the sound of a phone timer goes off and Nejire reaches into her bag, before her eyes went wide. “Oh! I've gotta go! Class is starting soon! Bye Midoriya! Good luck in the festival!” Watching Nejire use her quirk to fly away, it wasn't long until I left the rooftop as well.

—----------------------------------------------------------

The night before the Sports Festival.

I was sitting at the table eating dinner with Eri and mom. While we were having beef curry, I look over at Eri who was eating her meal extra slowly. I reach over and stroke Eri's hair, but the girl just looks confused. I try sending her a smile but Eri doesn't return it. I have still never seen her smile. Maybe one day she would.

“So, Toshinori gave me two tickets to the UA Sports festival.” Inko smiles happily at me. “That means we can watch you in person!”

“Guess that means I'll have to try my best to not embarrass myself.” I smile back at her.

Eri tugs on my sleeve. “You're gonna win?” She asked me with big red hope filled eyes.

I pat this little girl's head. “I'll win for you.”

Suddenly, Eri wraps her pinky around mine, and she speaks up softly. “You promise?”

I return the pinky promise. “I will. Remember, pinky promises are sacred.” I ruffle Eri's hair, causing her to whine slightly, before taking a look at the growing horn on her head. I need to make sure she doesn't have an incident. It was not only bad for whoever would become the victim but also further traumatize her. That meant expending her energy. I suppose it's a good thing I knew someone who would need her power soon. Iida's brother, Ingenium.

Really, things couldn't have lined up better. Finding Eri meant that she was safely out of Overhaul’s hold, but it also meant I could let Ingenium get injured to form the League with no guilt. It was even better than that. This is a surefire way to teach Eri that her power wasn't evil. It's too bad I couldn't get Eri to heal Toshi. I doubted she had enough built up energy to go back five years. That would take a while to build up, and healing Ingenium will definitely knock out what little she has. There's also the fact it may just interfere with the timeline… not that healing Toshinori wouldn't be worth it, but by the time Eri gets the required amount it's likely that what little remaining embers he has of One For All will already be gone. Still, once this whole situation All For One is dealt with that's the first thing I'm doing. Toshi has done so much for the world, he shouldn't have to live the rest of his life with those injuries of his.

“You'll be safe right?” I was snapped out of my thoughts by mom's voice. “You won't be hurt?”

“Mom… you know I can't promise that.” I sigh at the worried look on her face. “But I can promise I'll do my best not to get hurt. I can't win the festival with too many injuries, can I?”

Eri grabs my head. “Big Brother is strong.”

I look at Eri, shocked. “B-Big Brother?" Mom had spoken up, just as surprised as me.

Eri squeaked as I scooped her up and held her in a tight hug, “Yes Eri, you big brother is strong!” Both Mom and I had begun to shed the famous Midoriya tears while the ghost of a smile formed on Eri's lips. She was my sister, and I would give up anything for this little girl.

Even if that thing was my life.

Notes:

So, this was originally meant to be a shorter chapter covering the training for the sports festival. It ended up being... the longest chapter I've written so far. Wow. Great job me. There was even going to be a part where Izuku ran into Kirishima at his local gym, but i cut when when i realized how long this one was getting. So Kaminari got a power boast. I always thought it was kind of lame how weak he was, so now he's stronger! I hope the explanation for how he uses his power made sense, I think it did anyway, and maybe I took a little inspiration from ATLA, sue me! (Don't actually. Please no!) Anyway, let me know what you think, and if i should make more end notes for future chapters. Until next time!

Chapter 16: Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots

Notes:

Decided to combine this chapter with the last. If you're returning from the last chapter then go towards the middle for the new content. Otherwise just enjoy the extra long chapter! As always comments help me motivation, so make sure to tell me what you think so far!

Leaning against the back wall of the waiting room for Class-1A, I watched as my fellow students talked among themselves. Suddenly, any chatting was cut short as the door quickly opened and Iida walked in. “Everyone! Get your game faces on! We're entering the arena soon!” The others are in states of preparation while simply I took in a deep breath and rolled both of my shoulders. Today was the Sports Festival. Our first appearances to the public.

Moving over towards the middle of the room with my classmates, it wasn't long until I had been addressed. “Midoriya.” I turn over to the source and see Todoroki walking towards me.

“Oh, hey Todoroki. What's up?” I asked with a tilt of my head while the others watched us.

“I think that from an objective standpoint, I'm stronger than you.” The bicolored states this like its a fact, with no malice or even pride.

“Hmm, you're probably right.” I hum while the other teen looks momentarily surprised. From an objective standpoint Todoroki's quirk was a more versatile power. At my current percent of One For All, the other boy would win in a one on one battle. However, that was taking into account if Todoroki used his fire, if he was in a clear headspace, and if I stuck to my current safe limit. I would do whatever it takes to win.

I did make a promise after all. I need to win.

“However, you've got All-Might in your corner helping you out.” I looked over to Uraraka and Iida who both had an apologetic look on their faces. Todoroki must have overheard them talking about Toshinori inviting me to lunch. A shame, but I won't deny it. It would be better for people to think it's simple favoritism rather than the truth. Still, that truth would be coming out sooner or later. At least amongst my fellow classmates. The visit to the police department with Eri had certainly made sure of that. “I am not here to pry about what's going on between the two of you, but know that I will beat you.”

Suddenly Kirishima stands up and grabs the boy's shoulder. “Hey man. What's with all the hostility? There is no need to pick a fight.”

“We are not here to be each other's friends.” Todoroki quickly shrugs off Krishima's hand. “Don't forget, this isn't a team effort.” The boy starts to walk away, but I suddenly speak up.

“I don't know why you feel the need to say this Todoroki, but if you think beating me, beating any one of us will be easy, then you're dead wrong.” The boy turns back while I send him a determined smile. “Everyone is giving their all in this festival. We're all aiming for the top, for the win. So if you think that you can give any less than one hundred percent, you've already lost this festival before it even started.”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Inko Midoriya was feeling nervous as she sat down in the seat her ticket was assigned to. Eri held her hand tightly as she helped her up onto her own seat. “Wow…” The little girl had said with awe in her eyes. Awe that Inko had to agree with. The UA Sports Festival was a big event and its stadium reflected that. There were tens of thousands of people watching in the stands, and millions more from home. The two of them were in the VIP box. “Where's big brother?” Eri asked with a slightly tiled head.

“He’ll be out with the rest of his class soon.” Inko replied, patting the head of the newest member of her family. She was still getting used to that. It seemed only yesterday that the little girl had entered into the women's life, but now she couldn't think of a future without her. Inko hadn't thought that she would ever have another child. The tragic death of her husband ten entire years ago shattered those dreams.

Inko still hasn't told her son the truth about his fathers fate. She told Izuku that he was busy working overseas. It happened almost right after Izuku had gotten his quirkless diagnosis. The boy was already so sad, Inko worried that the news would fully break him. She always meant to tell him someday, but as more and more time passed it had only got harder and harder. Sometimes she wondered how much Izuku actually believed the lie. He was such a smart boy. He must have figured it out.

Izuku… her boy was so different now. He was confident, assertive, and he even had his own quirk! And all of that was thanks to one man. Toshinori. All-Might. The Symbol of Peace. He saw what no one else did. What she didn't… It was all thanks to him that her boy could be a hero. That was something Inko could never repay. It was also her greatest source of guilt.

Izuku was her son. She should have been more supportive. How could she just give up on him like that? Just how different would her son's life be if his mother had said yes when he asked her that question. ‘Do you think that I can be a hero?’ It shouldn't have been Toshi who said yes, it should have been her. Inko thought she was letting him down lightly, that it was better that way. Now she sees the truth.

Izuku could have done it. He could have been a hero without a quirk. Izuku would have been the very first quirkless hero. If only she had simply said yes, but now she was stuck with this guilt. Inko wasn't there for her son when it truly mattered, but she was here now, and she would be here for as long as either of her kids needed her. For better or worse Eri was now a Midoriya. She was part of their little family.

Perhaps it was time to put that in writing?

“I AM HERE! ANNOUNCING MYSELF LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!” Inko was snapped out of her thoughts by a booming voice. Fortunately, it was only Toshinori in his muscle form. “Hello Inko! It's good to see that you could make it!”

“Hello Toshinori.” Inko smiled while Eri waved shyly. “I wouldn't miss this for the world.”

Suddenly Toshinori had moved out of the way and Inko could see two new people standing behind him. “Let me introduce you to my best friend and his daughter. They've come from I-island, America. David and Melissa Shield.”

“Oh, it’s nice to meet you both! My son loves your work Mr. Shield.” Inko got up and bowed

“It’s nice to meet you as well. I believe your son is Izuku Midoriya, correct?” David asked in perfect Japanese to which Inko had quickly nodded. “My daughter Melissa is the one who makes his support gear.” The man put a hand on the blond girl’s shoulder.

“It’s good to meet you, Mrs. Midoriya.” The girl bowed, also speaking in perfect Japanese.

Inko smiled. “I should thank you for helping my boy. Izuku was just so eager to show me his hero costume! He said it was even better than he thought it would be.” The girl blushes slightly at the praise while they all sit down.

“Well, I have to go now.” Toshinori says while turning to walk out of the stands. “I'll see you all later. I hope you enjoy the sports festival!”

—----------------------------------------------------------

“Go make some noise, all of you rabid sports fans! Get those cameras prepped, media hordes!” The voice of Present Mic rumbled in the stadium as we walked through the long hallway leading from the back areas down to the grass field. “Let me hear you scream as our first set of students make their way to the main stage! You know them for withstanding a villain attack! Everybody give a big welcome to the hero course students of Class-1A!”

Walking onto the field with my classmates following behind, my smile turned just slightly nervous as I saw how many people were in the viewing stands. “Talk about a turnout…”

“I hope that we're all still able to give our best performances, despite all these eyes watching us…” Iida had spoken up. “I suppose it's just another aspect of hero work we'll have to get used to. It's not like we can avoid the media.”

Walking towards the middle of the stadium, Present Mic quickly introduced the rest of the classes. Waiting on the main stage was the R-Rated Hero: Midnight. “Now! The athlete's oath!” She said while snapping her whip. I felt a small blush spread across my face. It's one thing to see her on a normal school day, and a completely different thing to see Midnight act seductively towards the crowd.

“Is that really appropriate attire for a school game?" Tokoyami commented with a blush.

“Pipedown!” Midnight snapped her whip while her eye twitched slightly. “Now, your student representative is… Izuku Midoriya! From class 1-A!” I jumped slightly as she announced my name. Ah… right. Since I got first place in the entrance exam, I had to give a speech. How… fun. I completely forgot that I'd have to do this.

Walking away from my classmates and up to the stage, I watched Midnight move off to the side before staring up at the crowd. My smile turned from a nervous one to a strained one. It was a whole hell lot harder to act confident in front of the entire world. The stadium was dead quiet as they waited to hear what the boy who broke the Symbol of Peace's record would say. Right. No pressure. I take one last deep breath before speaking. “I uh… kind of forgot that I'd have to do this, so I don't have a speech prepared.” I rub the back of my head with a sheepish grin while a few members of the stands let out a chuckle. “So sorry if this is a terrible speech, but I'm just gonna be fully honest with all of you. I have never been more nervous in my entire life.” I grinned wobbly.

“But I've also never been more excited.” I had quickly added. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be here, at the UA sports Festival, giving a speech to the entire world. I'm here standing shoulder to shoulder with the next generation of heroes, and they're not just from Class-1A.” I look to the other classes to see surprised expressions, especially from the general education and business courses. “Everyone competing in this event, regardless of their chosen profession in life, is a hero in my eyes. They have the courage to stand up and give it their all. I believe that anyone can be a hero as long as they are brave enough to do the right thing. It doesn't matter whether or not you're someone who can fight villains for a living, or if you're a civilian who holds out their hand to a scared child, you're a hero to me.”

“So,” I raise my fist into the sky. “To all of my competitors and everyone else watching us. I want to see you give it your all and then even more. Not just in today's competition, but in the moments when nobody is watching. I want to show the world that this next generation is going to be a bright one! Not just for pro-heros but for heroes in general. So, Go Beyond!”

“PLUS ULTRA!!!” Everyone inside the stadium screams the words with me. I soon stepped off the stage and moved back over to the rest of my class.

“Ah! What a passionate speech from Midoriya! It's that kind of drive that can make a great hero!” The heroine snapped her whip. “Now without further ado, let's see what the first game of the Sports Festival will be!” Suddenly a hologram appears behind the heroine and plays a quick animation, before landing on the fated game. “It looks like an obstacle course! Everyone! Get to your places! The only rule of this game is don't go out of bounds. Anything else is completely fair game in this round!”

After Midnight finished everyone moved over to the gate leading into the obstacle course. However, while all of my competitors waited for the countdown to begin with anxiety, I had walked towards the back of the crowd where my class's resident gravity girl was standing. “Uraraka.” She looked away from the counter on the gate and towards me. “I've got a plan for both of us to win this challenge. You in?”

I held my hand out to her with a grin. Uraraka had looked surprised for a moment before the same determined smile she wore back in our classroom returned. “Always!” The girl grabs my hand with a clap, and I'm reminded of why she's the best. “So, what's the plan Deku?”

“Alright, here's what we're going to do…”

—----------------------------------------------------------

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Deku?” The pink-cheeked girl asked after I had finished my explanation, shuffling back and forth with a slightly red face. “I mean… is something like this even allowed? It's just kinda… you know.”

“You heard Midnight earlier. The only rule is that we can't go out of the boundary. There's nothing against working together.” I clapped my hands together with an excited smile. “It's perfect! With your Zero Gravity and my super strength we'll soar right over any obstacles! It would be a good way to show off your quirk as well. Do you think there's something that I'm not thinking of?” I ask, genuinely concerned that I may have missed some important detail.

“No, that's not-” Uraraka's blush grows a bit. “I'm not saying that it's a bad plan! But… you would have to carry me for it to work…”

“Ah.” I mentally kick myself for not considering that. Of course Uraraka wouldn't want to be carried. It would make her look like a damsel in distress to the crowd. Little did I know, there was an entirely different reason why she was hesitant. “I suppose that wouldn't leave the best impression with the crowd. We’ll just ha-”

“I'll do it!” I blinked back at the girl's sudden acceptance. “I mean… only if you want to...”

“Great! Hop on then!” I bend over slightly and activate One For All. Uraraka stares at me for several seconds, before letting out a slightly disappointed sigh and getting onto my back.

“Right… a piggyback ride…” She grabs onto my shoulders tightly as I easily pick her up off the ground. If I could carry Toshinori while he was in his muscle form across an entire beach without One For All, I could carry Uraraka with it. “I don't know what else I was expecting…”

“You alright back there?” I asked the girl while grabbing her legs to support her. She nods her head as a few of our competitors watch us with raised eyebrows. For my part, I try to ignore the two large mounds pushing into my back and focus on the race. Suddenly, the timer on the gate had started counting down. “Alright, the race is about to start! Use your quirk on me and make sure to hold on tight!”

As the timer counted down, I suddenly felt a familiar feeling of weightlessness overtake me and I quickly did a small hop. I fly into the air a bit, far more than I normally would have been able to with the percent of One For All that I was using, being slowly floating back down to the ground. Uraraka squeaks at the sudden movement while I grin wildly. It worked. I was worried Zero Gravity would cause me to float uncontrollably, but the weight Uraraka added allowed me to come back to the ground while still making my moments more floaty. Perfect.

“Begin!” Suddenly, the voice Midnight calls over the speakers and I pump Over For All up to fifteen percent, green lightning sparking all over my body. Interestingly, it didn't seem to hurt at all Uraraka. I wonder if my body was automatically adjusting- Dammit! Now isn't the time to analyze! Get your head in the game!

Watching as the huge crowd of students try to squeeze through the purposely tight tunnel, I take a deep breath before getting a running start and leaping over the wave of students. Uraraka tightens her grip with a sharp intake of breath as we fly over their heads at a fast speed. “Sorry everyone! But I made a pinky promise!” I looked down at the crowd to see my confused, surprised competitors and gave them a wide grin “See you at the finish line!”

“Dammit Deku!” I heard the furious voice of Kacchan and the loud sound of his explosions following behind us. Turning back to look at the blonde, I felt my eyes widen as suddenly a huge wave of ice was coming straight towards me. Flying through the air with panic, I just managed to escape the tunnel as everyone behind me was frozen in place. Todoroki had quickly jumped past his competitors and took third place, only behind me and Uraraka.

“That was close!” Uraraka said while shivering slightly, having taken the majority of the cold air generated from Todoroki's attack. I land on the ground outside the tunnel and start to run. The bicolored boy had followed closely behind us, using his quirk to ride a wave of ice. The distance between us steadily starts to grow as I keep running, before I take another big leap.

Flying through the air once again, it wasn't too long until Present Mic's voice sounds through the stadium's speakers. “That sure was one big ice attack! Todoroki has frozen the entire tunnel! It looks like he- wait a minute!” The pro hero says with a shocked voice. “It looks like a pair of students are in the front! The mist from the Ice attack blocked our view! Are they- are they doing a piggyback ride?! Is that allowed?!

“Huh… that's a first.” The surprised and also bemused voice of Mr Aizawa follows. “There isn't any rule against it, so… I suppose.”

“Well! You heard it here first folks! For the first time in this competition's history, it seems we have two competitors working together!” The blonde hero says. “For all of you listeners in the stands wondering who they might be, that is Izuku Midoriya and Ochaco Uraraka!” He said with a loud voice. “Izuku Midoriya! Quirk: Energy Accumulation! Using the stored up energy he's accumulated over his life, he can increase his strength, speed and durability! However, due to the insane power he has built up Midoriya can only use about 15% of his full strength safely! Ochaco Uraraka! Quirk: Zero Gravity! If she can make five fingered contact, anything she touches will lose its gravity!”

Flying through the air, I looked back to where Todoroki was using his ice to glide towards us while Kacchan followed closely behind him with a murderous glare. “Deku! Look!” Quickly turning my head back at Uraraka's panicked words, my eyes widened at the sight of one of the zero pointers from the UA entrance exam reaching out for us. Quickly acting, I pump the power in my legs up by five percent and kick, shooting out a large burst of air that stops our momentum, just narrowly avoiding the robot's grasp. However, now that we were no longer moving forward gravity had started pulling us down, and we roughly landed on the ground.

“Ugh…” I grunt in pain, recovering from both the fall and the girl that landed on top of me. Uraraka quickly gets up before making a small squeak of fear. Pulling myself off of my hands and knees, I was greeted by the sight of many lesser robots surrounding us while dozens of zero-pointers loomed overhead. “Well… shit.”

“It would seem that our race leaders have run straight into the first obstacle!” Present Mic's voice sounded through the speakers, Uraraka and I now standing back to back as the robots circled around us like predators to prey. “Let's see if they have the strength and wits to pull themselves out of this jam or if this is the point where their story will end! Only time can tell!”

—----------------------------------------------------------

Standing back to back with Uraraka, I watch with gritted teeth as dozens of robots from the entrance exam surrounded us, like predators circling their delicious prey. “It looks like our race leaders have found themselves in a bit of a pickle!” Present Mic says over the stadium speakers. “In this competition everyone is vying for first place, but you'll find keeping that spot is a lot harder than just getting there!”

“Heh, I suppose that's true enough.” I pumped One For All up to 15% and grinned “Uraraka, you ready to show these robots whose boss?”

“Yeah…” Uraraka steps forward with a smile that promises violence and I could have sworn I saw one of the robots flinch. “Lets kick their ass!” And without another word, the two of us descended into a flurry of movements. A one pointer quickly rolls forward on its wheels and attempts to swipe at me but I manage to lean out of its reach and deliver a hard strike on its metal faceplate. The machine quickly breaks apart at the attack, but I notice it seems much better put together than before. Nezu must have removed the intentional flaws in them.

As I smash apart another robot, I see in the corner of my eye Uraraka dodging an attack and using her Zero Gravity on a three point villain. The robot goes flying in the air before suddenly crashing back down. Oil splatters across the ground and I'm reminded of how scary Uraraka could be as a villain. Ripping off the arm of a robot, I throw it at another of the machines and swipe at the one running up on my left. Seeing a large metal pipe fall onto the ground, I quickly pick it up and widen my eyes at the weight. “Uraraka! Use your quirk and take this!” Holding the pipe back over my shoulder, I see Uraraka's expression turn to confusion, before taking the pipe from me.

“Okay… but why-” Suddenly before she could finish her sentence, one of the robots quickly takes advantage of her distracted state and tries to attack her. Seeing the incoming metal arm, Uraraka acts on instinct and swings the metal pipe. The improvised weapon connects, and much to the brown haired girl's visible surprise, smashes it apart in one hit. I smirk at the sight and go back to fighting the robots. As it turns out something really heavy with no gravity hits really hard. Who could've guessed that? “Oh, I could get used to this!” Uraraka starts swinging around her weapon wildly and breaks apart multiple robots in a short time.

Reaching into the chest of one of the robots, I yank out what would be the equivalent of their heart and hold it up with a big grin. “Fatality! Midoriya wins!” I let out a laugh and crush the metal in my hand. It felt nice to just go all out for once. I usually had to hold back a lot of my strength when fighting others. Unless a quirk increased someone's durability, they were just a fleshy, fragile human. Humanity seemed to be naturally stronger than in my old world, as normal people can take things like Kacchan's explosions or Kaminari's electricity without up and dying, but compared to One For All they stood no chance.

I have to remember that I'm technically twice as strong as All-Might, more than that actually. One For All is a power that grows in strength the longer somehow has it. Toshinori held the power for fourty-ish years, the longest out of any other user. Right now I've got the same amount of strength Toshinori had when he first received the power, but as my body adjusts to the quirk, that power will grow. With time 5% of my One For All will turn into 10% of Toshi's One For All. If you think that I'm exaggerating about how busted this quirk is then let me put this in another way. The original Midoriya, who let me remind you only had the quirk for less than a year and a half, managed to defeat the All For One enhanced Shigaraki who was said to be even stronger than prime All-Might, with the embers of One For All. That's just insane!

His final attack had changed the entire world's weather. For a week! That's more power than you would get with every nuke on the planet going off at once! Seriously, it's just crazy how many people try to downplay OG Deku like he was weak. And let me remind you, he did that, with less than half his total power. 45% if you want to be exact. A full potential One For All user, with all the other quirks like gearshift and fa-jin, would be a full on planet buster. Now, am I saying I'm getting near that level of pure power anytime soon? Hell no. Definitely not.

Something interesting that I've learned about One For All is that the higher the percentage of power you're at, the harder it will be to grow past it. For example, back during the entrance exam I could instantly use 5% of One For All, but increasing the amount takes time. Right now I can safely use about 15% but the more I push myself the harder it becomes to push. To use 100% of One For All will take years, a time frame I don't exactly have with All For One loaming overhead. Still. Even with the little amount of total power I could use, I feel like I was living in a world of cardboard.

Always having to hold back, never letting my power run away from me. Otherwise someone could get hurt, or worse, die. But here? There is no need. Robots don't feel pain. They don't die. I can rip and tear to my heart's content.

“It looks like our front runners have managed to take down most of the smaller robots!” I'm snapped out of my thoughts and movements by the sound of Present Mic's voice. “But the lead they have secured is quickly closing! The other competitors are close to catching up!”

Smashing through one of the few small robots still left, I turned my head towards the track behind us and let out a low curse. Kacchan and Todoroki had both just turned the corner, rushing towards us with haste. That wasn't good. I thought we'd have another minute until they caught up. I suppose my words really got them going. They're pushing themselves hard.

“DEKU! LOOK UP!” I quickly look up at the panicked voice of Uraraka and promptly join her panic. It seems one of the Zero-pointer’s had enough of just standing on the sidelines and was now reaching its massive hand right down towards us. As the limb gets closer and closer, intending to squish us into pancakes, I pump One For All up to 20%. My bones creak like splitting metal, but don't break. I look over at Uraraka as she trips from the rumbling that the massive metallic monster makes with each step. There was no time to grab her and dodge out of the way, so I did the only thing I could think of. I had decided to lift the robot.

—----------------------------------------------------------

As the hand comes down further, Uraraka grabs her head in preparation for the load to descend upon us while I hold both my arms up. The hand gets closer and- “Rrrggghhh!” I scream at the struggle of holding such a large weight. One of my knees gives out and I'm forced to kneel like Atlas holding up the world. To me it might as well be the entire world. The bones in my arms make a painful sound and I nearly break at the effort. “Is this… it?” I feel my muscles about to snap at the stress of the Zero-pointers weight. “Is this how I'm going to die? In a school sports festival? Haha…ha….”

An involuntary laugh leaves my mouth at the absurdity of this. It wasn't Shigaraki, or All For One, or hell, even Stain that did me in. It was going to be a robot. I was going to be the boy always remembered as dying in the UA sports festival. My other knee gives out and suddenly I'm kneeling. The weight doesn't lessen and the effort needed to keep it from crushing me only seems to grow with every second. “I did my best… I-I'm sorry Mom… Eri, Toshinori..”

Suddenly my eyes widened as Uraraka let out a pained moan from hitting the hard concrete ground. “No… what am I thinking!?” My body burns as I'm reminded of the fact it wasn't just my life is on the line. “I can't give up! Not now! Not ever!” I push One For All up to twenty-five percent and roar with all my might. “Rghhh!!!” My arms flashed with pain but I paid them no mind. I couldn't give up, not with Uraraka here in danger. But more than that. The world was relying on me. If I die here… All For One will win. That's a future I can't allow to pass!

Slowly, the arm starts to lift. I'm back on one knee and the ground beneath me cracks with the strain. With a mountain of effort, I stand up and then- “Holy crap folks!” Present Mic says through the stadium speakers. “Izuku Midoriya is lifting the zero-point robot! I've never seen anything like it!” With everything I have, I push the robotic hand farther and farther up, before going even farther beyond! With one last push of strength, the robot suddenly stumbles back and slams into two of its fellow brothers.

“Deku…” Uraraka looks up at me while I huff in exhaustion. I quickly turn One For All back to safe levels and wince in pain. “Are you ok?"

“No… but I'll live.” I rubbed my aching arms, but the sound of approaching explosions had snapped away my attention. I look back and see Todoroki along with Kacchan nearing us. “Use your quirk on yourself! I'm gonna throw you!” Uraraka stands up, clearly surprised, but I cut her off before she can reply. “I can't fight the other zero-pointers with you on my back. I need my hands free. I'll throw you over them and join you on the other side.”

“That sounds like a terrible idea!” Uraraka said with a half terrified-half excited face, before looking at the approaching pair of boys. “Let's do it!” With a grin, I watched as Uraraka used her quirk on herself and started to float wildly.

Quickly grabbing the girl, I pulled her up into the air until she was couched down and standing on my hand. “You ready Uraraka?” She nods with a slightly green face, and I pull back my arm, lining up my aim. “Alright then! One fastball special, coming right up!”

Throwing her with all my might, I watched as Uraraka soared through the air and right over the heads of the robots. When she was out of sight, I looked back to see Kacchan and then Todoroki very quickly closing the gap. Behind them the other competitors were catching up. Right. Time to hurry then. Breaking off into a One For All powered run, I raced across the field. In front of me was a line of zero-pointer. There were two rows of them with five in each row. Fighting them all off would take time and provide a way for the others to get through.

So I wouldn't fight them. I would climb them.

Leaping onto the side of the zero-pointer, I rip my fingers into the metal. I take large hops up its side and rise a good twenty feet with each one. The machine swipes it hand down to try and knock me off, but I leap onto its limb and run upwards. It wasn't long until I reached its shoulder. Jumping up onto its flat head, I ran across the metal, locked eyes with the robot in the next row and leaped into the air. Wind had rushed through my hair but I just managed to make the jump. Landing soundly on its head, I saw Uraraka running down the track and then got a terrible idea. “I know I probably shouldn't do this… but let's give the crowd a show!”

Pulling my arm back and pumping One For All up another five percent, I clenched my right hand into a fist and spiked the zero-pointer's head. “Wyoming Smash!” A boom sounded out as the robot's metal was instantly crushed. The zero-pointer seems to stumble for several seconds as its electronics start to shut down, before it suddenly begins to fall backwards in the direction of the track. Grabbing tightly onto the robot, I ride the falling obstacle forward.

“Are you seeing this?!” Present Mic screams, hyping up the crowd. “Izuku Midoriya is riding a falling zero-pointer!” In just seconds I had traveled several hundred feet as the massive robot fell into its back. Waiting until the very last moment, I leap off the zero-pointer as the machine leaves a crowd of dust behind me.

Absent-mindedly, I notice in the corner of my eye Todoroki using his quirk to freeze the rest of the robots. It mattered not. Our lead had been once again firmly established. Speaking of which, I ran forward towards where Uraraka was waiting with wide eyes and quickly bent over. “Alright! Hop back on! We've got a race to win!” The girl had quickly nodded her head and once again we were soaring through the air. Soon enough we came across the second obstacle. A long canyon of pillars and pitfalls.

“If you thought the first obstacle was easy, let's see how you feel about the second one!” Present Mic speaks up once again. “If they take a spill they're out! If they wanna pass this test they'll have to-” Not waiting for the man to finish his little speech, I bend my knees before quickly jumping, gliding over the obstacle with leisure, my feet in the air just like how Nana would use float to move without walking. “Well uhm…” The teacher was dismayed at how we avoided the challenge without any pizzazz. “I suppose that works. Feels kinda anticlimactic, doesn't it? Does anyone else feel the same?”

Uraraka let out a small giggle at the man's disappointment and soon enough we passed the second challenge. As we landed back on the ground, I returned to running and we had both reached a long stretch of dirt in the track. “Well the last obstacle might have been a little underwhelming for our two front runners, but this next one is sure to blow you away! We've got a minefield! If you look-” Just as Mic was about to explain, once again I jumped up and started floating Nana Style™. “Oh come on! I was just about- what a minute! What's this?!”

“GET BACK HERE, DEKU!” My blood goes cold as the sound of explosions and the smell of caramel draws closer. Looking back, I see Kacchan flying straight towards us, and right behind him was Todoroki. “Dekuuu! You can't escape me! I'll chase you to the ends of the earrrrtrhhhhh!!! Both you and Pink Cheeks!!!”

“Crap, crap crap!” I look around for anything I could do to avoid the angry blonde, but I start to grow nervous when I find nothing. I couldn't even take another leap forward otherwise the mines would go off. Wait! That's it! “Time to do something both dangerous and reckless!”

“What are you- Ahhhh!!!” Uraraka starts to ask me a question, but begins screaming when I slam both my feet into the ground, right on top of a landmine. Colorful pink dust exploded in a shower of light and suddenly the force of the landmine sent us flying forward uncontrollably. Normally an explosion of this size wouldn't give us so much force, but thanks to Uraraka and her Zero Gravity quirk, that wasn't of any issue. “This was a terrible plan!!! Ahhhh!!!”

I couldn't help but laugh as Uraraka held on for dear life. “This is The Greatest PLANNN~!” However, it seemed there was one tiny, minor fault to The Greatest Plan™. The landing part was a work in progress. “Uh oh!” The ground was approaching fast and- “Agh!” We crashed into the ground, or should I say I crashed into the ground and Uraraka crushed me. “Ugh…”

“Deku! Are you okay?!” Uraraka quickly gets off of me and I groan while reluctantly getting up to my knees. Uraraka holds her hand out to me and I see that we were right at the exit to the track. The finish line was just at the end of the tunnel before us. “Come on! We've got a race to win don't we?”

“Yeah… we do.” With a smile, I grabbed the girl's hand. “Let's finish this. Together!”

Getting to my feet, Uraraka and I run through the tunnel side by side, hand in hand. “Well I can't believe it!” Present Mic screamed out through the speakers as we near the end of the race. “Who could have guessed this would be the outcome?! For the very first time in UA history, it would seem we have two first place winners!” As the two of us rush through the last finish line and out of the tunnel, the crowd roars with excitement. “With an overwhelming victory, I'm proud to bring you this year's first place winners! Please welcome our champs! Izuku Midoriya and Ochako Uraraka!”

Chapter 17: Getting High On Existence

Notes:

Comments help with motivation, so make sure to tell me what you think so far!

The crowd all roared with cheers as confetti rained down upon us from the sky. I felt my chest huff with exhaustion, tired from the hard earned victory. The first huddle of the Sports Festival was now over, and I had secured an overwhelming victory. But I didn't do it alone. “DEKU!” Uraraka screams in joy, and I barely had time to turn before she slammed into me, her arms wrapping me in a tight bear hug. “Oh Deku! We won! We won!! We actually won!!!”

I returned the hug with joyous sounds leaving my lips. “Ochako!!!” The two of us spinned in circles with laughter as the stadium seemed to fall into the background. They were screaming our names but I paid them no mind. The entire world was watching us, and the only thing that could keep my attention was the girl in front of me. “We did it! We got first place! Together!”

“Y-yeah! We did!” A small blush was on the girl's face as I had accidentally called her by her first name without realizing. “We did…”

“Come on! Let's celebrate!” Taking hold of her hand, the two of us stand before the crowd, our arms raised into the sky. I looked at the teachers box to see Toshinori clapping with a very proud smile. I feel small tears pool at the edge of my vision and I return with one of my own. Turning my gaze over towards the VIP box, I see Mom bawling her eyes out in pure joy. Sitting next to her was Eri looking at me with a glint of awe in her eyes. I sent my new sister a smile that she didn't return quite yet. I'd get one out of her, no matter what it takes. Shifting my gaze to the left however, I felt my eyes widen in shock as I spotted … David and Melissa Shield?! Why were they here?!

The other contestants had started pouring into the stadium. First it was Todoroki, followed by Bakugo who sent the two of us a small glare, then Shiozaki, Honenuki, and so on and so forth. Iida looks disappointed at his placement and I groan out in annoyance at the sight of Mineta clinging to Yaoyorozu's back. I wished I had remembered that little detail. Should've thrown that perverted idiot into the back.

Once everyone enters the stadium, we all gather around Midnight's stage and wait for her to speak. “The first game for the first years is officially over! Now let's take a quick look at the standings, shall we?” The screen behind Midnight had changed to show off the results. They were mostly the same from the original story. A few of the students either ranked a bit higher or lower but the only major difference is the fact both me and Uraraka shared the first place spot. “These forty-two students will all move onto the next round, but don't feel bad if you didn't make the cut! We have lots of other opportunities to show what you're made of!”

“Now let's get right over to the next event!” Midnight continues speaking after licking her lips. “The press is going to be jumping out of their seats, so give it everything you've got!” Suddenly the screen once again changes. “Prepare yourself for… a cavalry battle!” The other contestants break out in murmurs as Midnight went on to explain the rules of the game. I was standing next to Uraraka as the teacher started to tell us our point values, until eventually… “Now, the point total assigned on our two first place contestants will be… ten million points each!!”

Suddenly the weight of the sky seemed to fall down upon us. Uraraka and I stood shoulder to shoulder as the predatory gazes of the other students burned into us. They stared at us like animals sizing up their prey. I took in a long, deep breath and then locked eyes with Uraraka, understanding passing between the two of us. Once again it would be us against the world. “Well, if that's how it's gonna be…” I channel One For All through my entire body, lightning jumping off my skin, and take one single step forward. Uraraka quickly follows behind and we both send the other students a vicious grin that would put Kacchan to shame.

“Bring it on!” We both declared at the same time as the students all flinched back. The UA sports festival had just truly begun. It wouldn't be easy, but as long as I have Uraraka by my side, there wasn't anything we couldn't do!

—----------------------------------------------------------

Melissa Shield sat in the stands watching as the two first place winners, Izuku Midoriya and Ochako Uraraka, crossed the finish line. She was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't raw strength that won them the first round but rather their strategy. It was always nice to see heroes actually use their brains instead of just their brawn. Melissa reached for her notebook as she started to write down ideas for future versions of Midoriya's hero suit. The design itself was pretty much perfect, the boy seems to have quite the eye for colorful costumes but the gear involved can always be improved.

Perhaps she could include some form of steel toe shoes? It would protect his feet, and add a bit of force to his kicks. What really interested her however, was the other first place winner, Ochako Uraraka. The practical applications of zero gravity were endless. Melissa knew she wasn't the girl's costume designer, but if she could poach her… Melissa would have lots of ideas for support gear she could create.

“IZUKU! MY BABY!!!” Inko Midoriya cried out from her seat, joyful tears starting to fill up the VIP box. ‘Wow… what a proud mother…’

“Getting inspired?” David Shield patted her head, a knowing smirk spread across his lips.

Melissa nodded. “Yeah, this is amazing! The way that the other students used their quirks all so fluidly… I'm glad we came in person!”

Inko wiped her tears, looked over at Melissa and smiled. “She reminds me of Izuku when he fanboys about heroes.”

“Well this one likes to gush over the heroes inventions.” David laughed, making her blush.

“PAPA!!!” She shouted out loudly in English.

A chuckle left the mother's lips. “Izuku actually did actually consider going into the support industry once.” The woman says with a quiet voice, gaining the attention of the two blonde Americans. “He was a late bloomer, you see. His quirk didn't manifest until right before the entrance exam. It was his backup plan if the hero thing didn't work out. He was quite good too, though I suppose it doesn't matter now.”

Melissa felt her eyes widen. Midoriya was… quirkless for most of his life? She had never met another quirkless person. It wasn't any kind of secret they were a dying breed. Sure, 80% of the world was quirkless, but that was mostly older people, or those in remote parts of the world where quirks hadn't spread yet. Melissa knew she had been spared most of the bullying that being quirkless brought due to being David Shields daughter, but still…

She always felt alone. Nobody knows what it's like to go through life, lacking something that everyone else was born with, but Midoriya will understand. Even if his quirk had finally come in, the memories of being quirkless don't fade. There was finally someone her age that could understand what she had gone through…

“The two first place winners will be worth ten Million points!” Midnight announced. Melissa watched as everyone stared at Midoriya and Uraraka. They were targeting him. They were number one… just like All Might, but people wanted their spot. They would have to fight.

“Is Izuku-nii gonna be alright?” The little girl, Eri, turns and asks her worriedly.

Melissa looked down at Eri. “They'll be fine.” She assured the little girl, “He’s just in a tight spot.” Melissa whispers more to herself.

David watched as the two first players met their challenger with equal determination and smiled slightly. “They're getting a taste of what it’s like to be on top.” Inko Midoriya bites her lip in worry as the next part of the festival begins.

—----------------------------------------------------------

As the other students all rushed off to go find their teammates, I mentally facepalm and let out a small sigh. “Great job genius…” Perhaps intimidating all my potential teammates wasn't the greatest idea I've had… it certainly doesn't help that we're the team with the highest point value. Everybody would be gunning for us.

“So! What's the plan Deku?” Uraraka said with a bright smile and I felt my mood get lighter at the clear confidence she had in me. Right, it's game face time. Uraraka is relying on me. I've got no room for doubt! “As long as we run the whole time then we'll win automatically, right?”

I turn to face her and nod. “Yeah, as long as we keep our headband we'll be fine. The big problem is that it makes us a target. We need some strong teammates to win this…”

“What about Ida?” the girl had tilted her head.

“Hmm…” I looked around the area only to see him already talking to Todoroki. Well dang it. I sigh slightly. “Unfortunately, it seems that he's found a team. Plus I get the feeling he wants to compete against me.” I look for any of my other friends and spot Shinso with his group of brainwashed students. I frown at this. I had been hoping now that he was actually a full on member of the hero course, he wouldn't resort to that, but it seems Shinso still has a complex about his quirk, thinking it was all that matters in a person. A plan to fix that comes to mind but for now I simply shook my head. “Shinso's out as well. We need some range so maybe-”

Suddenly I had been cut off by the sound of low germline giggling. “Hehehe, prefect! You two are still alone…” Both of us quickly turn around to see a pink haired girl with crosshair eyes wearing hoverboots and steam punk like goggles. “The name's Mei Hatsume! I'm from the UA support course and I'd like to use your current situation to my personal advantage!”

“That's… straight forward…” Uraraka leaned back slightly in surprise at the blunt words.

“Support course huh?” Hatsume turned her attention over to me like an excited puppy, a big grin on her face. I had honestly forgotten who was on Izuku's original team but now it was coming back to me. At least this saved me the trouble of introducing myself later. “So, what can you bring to the table Ms. Hatsume?

Mad laughter leaves the inventor's lips as she suddenly slammed a big box of gadgets onto the ground between us. “I present to you the Hatsume Exclusive Lifesaving Package, or as you can call it for short, H.E.L.P!” Uraraka and I stared with wide eyes at the massive amount of support gear that was sitting in front of us.

There was everything from capture guns up to what looked like… pipe bombs? “Everything here is something I designed myself! If I'm on the team everyone is watching, then the huge support companies are sure to see me and my babies, so I didn't hold anything back! This is the best way to secure my bright future!”

As Uraraka had been distracted by Hatsume's ramblings, I reached into the box and pulled out a silver machine. “Is this… a jetpack?”

Hatsume turns her attention over to me and nods her head up and down very quickly. “So that had caught your eye, huh? Why yes it is! I based this off a certain hero's backpack, while also adding my own twist of course!”

“It's from Airjet: the buster hero right?” At her nod my face lights up. “That's so cool! I love that guy! His agency is close by, so I got to go on a tour once. What did you use for the fuel? Is it powered electronically or by gasoline?”

If it was even possible Hatsume's smile had widened as she starts shaking in excitement. “Neither! It actually uses fusion power! That way the jetpack will never run out of power!” I blink back at that. She was crazy, wasn't she?

“I'm gonna ignore the fact this is running off nuclear power and focus on how cool a real jetpack is. What else do you got in there?” As the two of us keep talking, Uraraka turns away with a grumble, feeling just slightly jealous.

—----------------------------------------------------------

“And your fifteen minutes are up!” Present Mic calls out through the speakers. Everyone had found their teams, and now we waited for the countdown to begin. I stood on the shoulders of Uraraka and Hatsume as the rider while in front was Tokoyami. The original Midoriya had picked out a pretty good team, and since I already had Hatsume by my side, I decided to just stick with canon for this match. With Dark Shadow our defense was covered, Air Force was our offense, while Uraraka and Hatsume gave us mobility. It would have been difficult to come up with a more powerful team than this.

Trying the twenty million headband around my head, Present Mic starts counting down as I let One For All surge through my entire body. “Yall ready for this?” I ask while staring over at our competitors. My teammates all nodded.

“Yeah!” Uraraka says with determination.

“Yup!” Hatsume with her goggles on, grinned.

“Of course.” Tokoyami spoke as Dark Shadow emerged from his stomach and roared.

“Letttts get ready to rummmbbbble!!!” Present Mic screamed out through the cheers of the crowd, and I could have sworn I had heard music starting to play. “The second event is starting in three! Two! One… get going!!!”

Instantly, every team in the surrounding area makes a break for us. “They're not even going to give us any chance, huh?” Tokoyami asked rhetorically. “Such is the fate of the pursued… What's our plan Midoriya, run or fight?”

“I'm calling for a tactical retreat!” I yell out and fire a quick 15% Air Force blast at Hagakure's team, causing the for some reason shirtless girl to scream at the audacity. “We've got what the other teams want! So now it's just one big game of tag! Watch your faces! We're blasting off!” I wasted no time in hitting the activation button for the jetpack that was strapped to my back. Thanks to that we narrowly managed to avoid the mud man's quicksand, but as we fly through the air Jiro sends her earphone jacks after us. Dark Shadow swipes them away and I smiled at the sentient quirk. “Good job Dark Shadow! Keep watching for our blindspots!”

Soon enough we started descending down to the ground and I sent out a small burst of air to smooth our landing. “So what do you think of my babies?!” Hatsume asks me with a grin. “Cuteness can be manufactured, you know!”

We keep running as a smile spreads its way across my face. “They're amazing Hatsume! After the sports festival is over I'm definitely getting some new gear from you!” Hatsume blushes slightly at the praise while Uraraka grumbles. I looked down at the brown haired girl. “You're doing great as well Uraraka!”

“Haha! This is far too easy! It's not a fight, it's more like a massacre!” The laughing voice of Mineta catches my attention and I see Shojj using his multiple arms to protect the purple pervert. “I'm getting that headband Midoriya!”

“Oh no you wont!” Suddenly a wave of sticky balls comes flying right towards us from the gap in Shojj's arms. As they get closer, I bring my arms out to the side before clapping them together, shooting out a massive wave of air. “Harlem Smash!” The balls turn back around and instead hit Shojj, trapping the muti limbed boy as he fell over down onto the ground.

“Oh how the tables have turned!” Present Mic had yelled out through the stadium speakers. “Looks like Midoriya used team Mineta's own attack against them! It's barely been two full minutes and the arena's already turned into a free for all!”

Watching Tetsutetsu and his teams make their way towards us, I quickly hit the button for the jetpack. “Brace yourselves! Team Midoriya is blasting off again!” Once again we go flying in the air, out of the reach of the other teams. At least that's what I thought. The familiar sound of explosions quickly catches my attention as Kacchan leaps off his teammates and into the air. My eyes go wide as he gets closer. “Crap!”

“Get back here Deku!” Kacchan almost gets within arms length as pulls his hands back for an attack. “You like it up here so much?! Then after I steal that headband I'll send your ass all the way up to heaven!”

“TOKOYAMI!” I screamed out while flicking an Air Blast at Kacchan. Dark Shadow suddenly swings around and blocks the explosion as the blonde's eyes went wide in surprise. As he starts falling to the ground, Sero shoots out a piece of tape and reels him back in. “That was far too close…” We soon land once again and start running. Looking back over at Kacchan and his team, I could see most of the students from Class-1B surrounding him. “Alright… it seems like we're safe for now. As long as we-”

Suddenly I was cut off as Uraraka, Hatsume and Tokoyami slam their feet into the ground. Looking at what caused such a reaction, I see the scarred face of Todoroki glaring at me. “I'll be taking that headband now, Midoriya.”

“Oh? You mean this?” I tap the headband on my forehead with a small grin. Todoroki glares harder. “Then by all means, try and take it!”

At my words Iida starts to rev his engines. “If your plan was to make them angry, then you have certainly succeeded.” Tokoyami says as Dark Shadow growls. “What do we do now?”

Uraraka speaks up. “We can't take to the air again. That'd put us right in Bakugo's range!”

“Even if we needed to, we can't!" Hatsume says, looking at the jetpack. “My baby needs some more time to recharge before it's ready.”

The other teams not busy with Kacchan start to move towards us. I gritted my teeth. “Looks like we'll be fighting then.” What to do… what to do… Team Todoroki started charging at us, and suddenly I knew what to do. “Tokoyami! I need you to pull back Dark Shadow for now!”

The bird headed boy looked confused at the order but did so anyway. “You have a plan?”

“More of an idea, but that's gotten me this far!” As Yaoyorozu gets within range, she creates an insulation sheet to cover herself, and now that his teammates are safe, Kaminari starts to spark with energy before a massive blast of electricity shoots out. NOW! Leaning forward while letting One For All run through my body, I quickly stick my arm out to catch the lighting.

The energy runs all throughout my body and I barely managed to stop it from escaping and hurting my teammates. This was a lot more powerful than last time. The only reason that I wasn't being turned into crispy bacon was the natural resistance to electricity that One For All provided to me. Todoroki for his part looks shocked, but he quickly recovers and grabs onto the pole that Yaoyorozu suddenly made.

Oh no you don't! Watching as Todoroki sends his ice through the pole and onto the field, I see the other teams get trapped while a blast of ice snakes its way towards us. Aiming right for the rapidly approaching attack, I push the electricity stored in my body from down in my stomach and out through my fingertips. An arc of jolting electricity flies through the air before smashing the incoming ice apart. “Ladies and gentlemen!” Present Mic yelled. “I have never seen anything quite like this before! It seems Izuku Midoriya has absorbed and redirected Team Todoroki's lightning! Did anybody know he could do that?! How is it even possible?!”

As we keep backing up away from Todoroki and his team, we eventually reach the end of the field. I grunted in pain from the strain of taking that much power and nearly fell over. Uraraka quickly grabs my side to steady me, but yelps as she's shocked from the remnants of Kaminari's electricity. “Are you ok Deku?!”

I steady myself right, before taking a few long breaths and shutting off One For All. “Yeah, I'll be fine. Just... give me a couple seconds…”

Across from us Todoroki and his team spoke in a low hush to keep us from hearing what they were saying. “Did you know he could do that?” Yaoyorozu asked with widened eyes.

Kaminari for his part could barely believe what he saw. “Midoriya helped me out with getting my electricity under control… but I didn't think he could redirect 1.3 million volts! It's crazy!”

Todoroki clenched his fist and put up a wall of ice surrounding the two teams. They've got them trapped, but the dark creature and blasts of air Midoriya could produce made fighting them very difficult, and now they've lost their biggest advantage. If Midoriya could redirect Kaminari's electricity, then they couldn't use it again or risk hurting themselves. The bastard!

“Everyone, I have an idea, but it's something that will make me useless to you for the rest of the game.” Iida speaks up while getting into a running stance. “Whatever you do, get that headband. Brace yourselves and hold tight!”

Todoroki looked at the stands where his father was watching, before turning back to Iida and nodding. “Alright.” He grabbed the boy tightly.

Back over with me and my teammate, I saw Iida's engines start to fire up. “Everyone! Get ready!” I pressed the button controlling the jet pack up and smirked, but my eyes went wide as it did nothing. I press it several more times but nothing changes. “The jetpack's broken!”

“All of the electricity shorted out my baby! It's been fried!” I let out a quick curse and activate One For All. Both of Iida's engines light up with blue fire, and I barely had second before-

“Torque over! Reciproburst!”

My eyes widened as suddenly the headband around my head was ripped off. I stared with awe as Iida came to a stop several feet away from me. The crowd all went silent in shock, before they exploded in cheers. Even when I knew it was coming… I still couldn't see him…

I stare at the boy as he suddenly turns to me and smirks slightly. “It's like you said Midoriya, everyone is giving it their all in this festival!”

“Iida…” Suddenly the loud sound of joyful and impressed laughter leaves my lips. “You really are amazing… Uraraka! Hatsume! Tokoyami!” The three of them all snapped to attention as I called out their names. “Full steam ahead! We are getting that headband back. So charge!!!”

No more words had been needed. We rushed forwards towards the opposing team and as we neared them, One For All surged through my body at 100%. Todoroki's eyes widened at visibly stronger power and out of pure instinct his left side ignited with flame. I grinned at this before swiping through the air, sending a burst of wind that extinguishes Todoroki's flames. I instantly shut off One For All and reached for one of the headbands around his neck. I knew it wasn't the top one so… “Fifty-Fifty shot!”

I yank the middle one off while Todoroki was distracted, and we quickly moved away from the team. I looked down at the headband in my hand and… “Yes! I chose the right one!”

“How did you know…?” Yaoyorozu asked in her growing horror, while I simply smirked.

“How did I know which of them was the right one?” I ask rhetorically while my teammates all cheer and Iida tries to return Todoroki back to earth. “It's simple! Only an idiot would put the twenty million points on top, and you are no idiots! After that it was a Fifty-Fifty chance!”

“It looks like Team Midoriya has taken back their headband!” The blonde pro hero yelled through the speakers as the crowd cheered. “And with less than thirty seconds remaining it seems like this match is all but finished!"

I grinned and tied the headband back around my head. This was it! With Iida out of juice we were all but guaranteed our victory! We win-!

“DEKU!!!” My blood runs cold as Kacchan suddenly breaks through the ice barrier that Todoroki had created. “GET OVER HERE!!!”

“No… No!! No!!!” This wasn't good! Suddenly Todoroki breaks out of his trance and sends a wave of ice at us. My world seems to go into slow motion as it approaches us. If that ice touches us, then we'll get stuck and be sitting ducks for Kacchan! But I can't break it without another blast of electricity, and we can't get off the ground because the jetpack's broken! We can't do anything! But just maybe… I can!

So I do the only thing I can think of. I jump.

The air soars past me as my teammates all yell in surprise. They get covered in ice but I escape unscathed. The power of One For All brings me high into the air and away from the reach of Todoroki, but into the explosive range of Kacchan. “Now that's more like it!” He grins savagely and blasts towards me. “It's just me and you, show me everything that you've got!”

I grit my teeth and pump One For All up to 20%. No, 25%! The muscles in my arms had started screaming from the strain, but I paid it no mind. Kacchan and I stared at each other in the air as we got ever closer to one another. I pulled back my right arm as he did the same, ready to clash in a battle for the world to see.

“Texas Smash… OVERDRIVE!!!”

At almost the same time as the words had left my mouth, Kacchan suddenly lets out minor explosions that spin him around in a tornado style movement.

“Howitzer… IMPACT!!!”

The world seems to stutter as our blows meet. The massive explosion from Kacchan and the air from my attack clashes together in a battle for dominance. For a long moment nothing happened, as the forces of nature fought one another, before suddenly we had both been thrown backwards. The sheer force of such an attack meeting had made a shockwave that neither of us could escape, bringing this short fight to an explosive draw. We go flying in the air and far, far away from one another.

We both started falling down to the ground, and Kacchan quickly used his quirk to catch himself, but I had no such luck. I looked down at the rapidly approaching concert floor and panicked. My teammates were too far away to catch me, and if I touched the ground then it was game over! I would lose all of my points and the cavalry battle! Not only would I lose, but Uraraka, Hatsume and Tokoyami would as well! They were relying on me! No… I couldn't fail! I couldn't let them down! I couldn't break my promise to Eri! I need to stop falling! I can't touch the ground! I can't keep falling! I can't-

And then suddenly, I was no longer falling.

“HOLY CRAP FOLKS!” Present Mic yells out through the speakers. “IZUKU MIDORIYA IS NO LONGER FALLING! HE’S… HE’S… HE’S FLOATING!? JUST HOW IN THE WORLD?!”

“Hahaha…! HAHAHA!! HAHAHA!” Joyful and slightly insane laughter leaves my lips. I was facing the sky, my arms and legs spread out as I casually defied the concept of gravity. My clothes ruffled slightly in the wind as I stared up into the sky. The sun stared back at me as clouds passed overhead. Distantly I heard the sound of a timer coming to an end, but I paid it no mind. The world felt so… wonderful! The air brushed past me as a single bird flew into my sight. “Haha! Hahaha… haha… Nana… is this how you saw the world?” The words leave me almost unconsciously, a smile at my lips.

“Thank you… Nana…” In the back of my mind I could have sworn I heard a reply to those three little words. Time passes as I stay in the sky, an expression of pure joy on my face as I take in the feeling of zero gravity. It was… so different from Uraraka's quirk, while being the same. Now I had the power myself. Float, the seventh user's quirk, at my command.

Suddenly however, the feeling of bliss passes as the weightlessness leaves me. I start to fall back to the ground, only to be caught by Toshi in his muscle form, his face an expression of pride and nostalgia for a time long passed.

Notes:

Boom! We've got Float! Been planning this from the start! As cool as Blackwhip is, the connection with Nana that All Might and now Izuku has will lead to some cool moments, so it only felt right that Float would be his first quirk. Plus it gives me a reason to still send Izuku off to Gran Torino's for his internship. Who better to teach Izuku how to use Float then the pervious users best friend? As for how Izuku unlocked Float, quirk awaking's need extreme emotions and life or death situations. Izuku's desire to win the cavalry battle not only for himself but also for his friends was so great he managed to force Float out! Speaking of quirk awaking's... lets just say someone else might go through one soon, but you'll have to wait to find out who! Put your predictions down in the comments!