Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Izuku Midoriya stared at his feet as they listlessly carried him through the streets of Japan. His own hero had confirmed what he supposed he knew his whole life. He could be no hero. He was weak. Quirkless. Perhaps Bakugou had been right all these years...a worthless Deku.

As he came to an intersection, he was hit with an urge to go right. And in another life, he did. But today, bitter and heartbroken, Izuku turned left, not even noticing the hero Power Loader charging past him to get to the site of a villain attack; his own thoughts drowning out the yells and commotion that followed.

It was not until young Izuku Midoriya returned home that he realized the consequences of his choices; he had turned away from the sludge villain, who had escaped when he was talking to All Might, and walked away from a supervillain attack for the first time in his life. And on the news, his heart sank further than he thought possible; the sludge villain had kidnapped and murdered Katsuki Bakugou, and used his body to escape as the Pro Heroes did damage control and rescued the civilians.

Izuku did not move from his spot on the couch for hours; not only had he lost his dreams, it was his fault the villain got away. It was his fault Kacchan was dead. That night, he looked out his window and considered forcing it open, repaying the debt to the universe with his life, but he could not go through with it.

Days later, he forced himself into his nicest suit, and followed his mother to the funeral, somehow made even more sad without a body to bury. While he was there, Izuku could only stop and stare at the notebook Kacchan had torched and thrown away. The tears fell freely, staining the already crisp pages that sat atop his lap.

It was a simple ceremony; the most spectacular thing was that some of the Pro Heroes who had failed to save Bakugou had shown up to pay their respects. And as everyone was leaving, the hero Power Loader noticed a young man with green hair had dropped a notebook. He picked it up and called to the boy, “young man!”’

Izuku and his mother paused as he turned. The hero was approaching, and Izuku froze as he noticed the man was flipping through the pages.

“Sir, did you make all these notes on heroes? Even your friend?” He asked, somewhat amazed.

Izuku nodded, sadly. “Kacchan used to make fun of me for being such a nerd.”

Power Loader shook his head and turned so he was standing next to Midoriya, pointing out some of the notes. “Not to speak ill of the dead, but I see it differently. You even have notes on the type of equipment the heroes use to augment their abilities. How long have you been doing this?”

Izuku wiped his eyes. “Since I was about four...I found out I don’t have a Quirk. See, it was my dream to be a hero...but...I learned that that’s unattainable.”

Power Loader was taken aback by this; that was a rarity these days. But he eyed the boy for a minute; Quirkless or not, he knew his stuff. “Have you ever considered a career in Support?”

Izuku and Inko tilted their heads at the man. He pulled out a business card, and Izuku’s heart leapt into his throat.

“I’m a Support professor at UA,” he explained, “And with a sharp mind like yours, I think you could do well learning to build support tech for the pros.”

Izuku began to stutter, prompting Power Loader to chuckle. “Let me tell you something....what’s your name?”

“Izuku Midoriya, s-sir.” The boy stuttered out.

“I was there when your friend was attacked. And no one had the right Quirk to save your friend. And I hate that.” He looked to the ground, “You can’t save everyone in this field, and sometimes Quirks aren’t enough. That’s where I want take Support to. To do what Quirks can’t.”

“What Quirks can’t...?” Izuku echoed, still processing all of this.

Power Loader handed another business card to Inko. “Tell you what, young man. The exam is in ten months. I will remember the name Izuku Midoriya. If I see you apply, I’ll put in a good word for you. And if you want to discuss what being a Support student means...give me a call. My condolences for your loss.”

This chance encounter between a Pro Hero was one of two factors that had changed Izuku’s life forever. The second was a news story that had played when they returned home that night. A minor villain had tried to rob a bank, and when he went to attack a woman, her husband had killed the villain with a gun. As part of the story, they brought attention to the fact the man was Quirkless, and had owned the gun illegally.

But all Izuku heard was that a Quirkless man had stopped a villain.

He stewed on the events of the day as he laid in bed. Finally, he made up his mind. He turned on a desk lamp, and opened a fresh notebook. On the first page, he wrote, “Deku, The Hunter.”

---

A few days later, he called Power Loader, and left an awkward voicemail on the teacher’s answering machine. He scolded himself for sounding so stupid and awkward, but he was surprised to get a call back within the hour.

“Yes, you’re the Midoriya boy, right?” The gruff voice asked.

“Y-yes sir. I thought about what you said, and I was wondering if you could tell me where to start...I’ve never invented anything before.” Izuku stuttered, nervously.

There was a silence at the other end as Power Loader considered this.

“Tell you what kid, I’ve had a project in mind. You know that beach on the outskirts of the city? Where all the trash ends up?”

“Yes sir, why?” Izuku answered.

“Meet me there tomorrow at dawn. You’re going to need a crash course on how to build and invent. I’ve an idea. But this is going to take up a lot of your time. Are you ready for this kind of commitment.”

Izuku paused and took a deep breath. “Yes, Power Loader, sir. I am. I want to create a world where no one like Kacchan is killed again. I want to fill in the gaps that Quirks can’t cover.”

Midoriya heard a chuckle at the other end of the line. “Then I’ll see you in the morning, kid.”
---

Izuku barely got any sleep, heart in his throat as he waited on the beach. There was a loud bang, and he leapt about three feet in the air; Power Loader burrowed through the sand and sprung out in front of the boy.

“Glad you made it, kid!” The Pro Hero greeted, brushing off his shoulders.

“W-well, didn’t want to keep you waiting,” Izuku said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Good! So, let’s get down to the brass tacks,” the Pro started, “I’m giving you some private info here, so this stays between us. Got it?”

Deku nodded.

“The entrance exam for Support Class is going to be in nine months, and you’re going to need to learn to build robots.” The Hero explained.

Izuku panicked...”I-I’ve never even looked at anything about that, I wouldn’t know, where to start, the intricacies of fine machinery are something that are only taught of the most prestigious middle schools in Japan and...”

“Yeesh, cut the muttering kid, it’s creepy,” Power Loader laughed. “That’s why I’m going to teach you. See all this stuff?”

Izuku looked across all the trash across the horizon and gulped. “Y-yes.”

“We’re going to use all this scrap garbage to build a robot. You’re going to learn the ins and outs of inventing - and we’ll put some muscle on your skinny ass too. Even Support students are expected to meet some physical requirements, alright?”

Izuku nodded. “Y-yes sir. So...where do we start?”

Power Loader grinned. “Bring me that locker over there. You’ve got a lot to learn, kid.”

---

So, the next nine months was a living hell of training for Midoriya Izuku. He dragged scrap around the beach, burned his hands with welding tools, learned different types of telescopic lenses, how to build a motherboard, how to wire circuitry, and, most importantly, how to weave these skills together. It was a training of body and mind. After a few months, it actually was not that hard of a transition for Izuku; he had always known what sort of equipment the Pros used to enhance their Quirks; he even had notes on Power Loader’s headgear. It just became a shift of better understanding on how those items worked, and just how helpful they were to each hero.

The day before the exam, Power Loader and Izuku stood on the beach, and examined their finished creation: it was a robotic exoskeleton suit. It was blue, with a pull down visor, and they had even made red boots that looked like the ones Izuku himself wore.

“I like the boots, nice touch, kid,” Power Loader said, clapping his protege on the back. “What do you say you take her for a spin?”

Izuku looked at the man, shocked. “M-me?”

The hero laughed. “Of course! We built it to your dimensions, didn’t we? I’m not fitting in there.”

Deku gulped nervously, and pressed a button on their remote; the chest plates and leg plates opened up, and he stepped backwards into the machine as it closed around him. He reached up and pulled the visor shut over his eyes.

Without warning, Power Loader through a large rock at him, which bounced off the armor.

“H-hey!” Izuku cried, “What was that about?!”

“Did it hurt, or did the impact dampeners work?” Power Loader asked.

Izuku paused. “I could feel the push of the rock, but it didn’t hurt!”

“Yes!” Power Loader fist-pumped, “You installed it right! That’s the hardest part! Now test the flamethrower!”

Izuku raised his arm.

“POINT IT AWAY FROM ME, KID!” The teacher shouted, shielding his face with his hands.

“O-oh! Right! Sorry Sensei!” Izuku shuttered, point over the water and making the hand gesture that triggered the flame jets. He felt the heat shoot down his arms as fire shot from the wrist-mounted pistons,

“HAHA! YES!” Power Loader exclaimed. “WE DID IT! The fire-mech suit dream is realized! Climb out, kid!”

Izuku climbed out, proudly. “Think I’m ready?”

Power Loader nodded. “Yeah, Midoriya, I do. Now remember, you’ll be on a team for building, but you’ll be scored individually, so don’t let any hotheads take over for you. Stand on your own feet, and if all else fails, add flamethrowers. You are REAL good at flamethrowers.”

Izuku smiled. “Probably all the notes on Kacchan.”

Power Loader’s smile faltered. “I’m sorry about your friend, Midoriya. I know that’s why you’re really here now.”

Izuku looked over the view of the water. “Thanks. I mean...don’t get me wrong. He wasn’t always the nicest, but...he didn’t deserve that. I’m just glad I found a calling I can achieve without my Quirk.”

“Well, you done good kid. Now, go get some sleep. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

--

Unbeknownst to Power Loader, there was more to the calling than Izuku let on. Back at his home, Izuku had various news articles pinned to a cork board; the sludge villain was still at large, using Bakugou’s corpse as a meat suit for his crimes, and for months, Izuku had been tracking the case, looking for patterns. But like his sludge, he was a hard to grasp. Whatever his process was, it was pretty unclear.

Izuku smiled to himself serenely, despite his frustrations. While he had found passion in what he did, Support was a means to another dream.

“Don’t worry Kacchan,” Izuku said, tacking up another article, “your suffering will end soon. I just need...the right...tools.”
---
The next day, Izuku rose bright and early, and slung his backpack on to head to the UA testing center. Part of him wondered why the Support Test was a full month before the Hero Test, but being a Hero was a dream of the past.

The test was odd; he was handed a card with, “Group D, Team A,”on it. He reported to the testing center for Group D, which was an arena sized room filled with parts, and found that a lot of students were already finding their teams.

Before he could ask around, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Izuku turned around to see a girl with pink hair beaming at him. He froze up. Holy crap, a girl!

“You’re Team A, right? I could see from across the room.”

Izuku looked down at his card. The print was really small.

“Ha!” The girl laughed, “Impressed? My Quirk, I can zoom in on things. I made this precious baby to help with it!”

She pat the goggles on her head, swelling with pride. “I love my babies!” She crowed. “What have you made? I’m Hatsume Mei, by the way.”

Izuku froze up. His training with Power Loader was supposed to be a secret. He opened his mouth to give a weak excuse, but he was interrupted as a voice came from a podium at the end of the room.

“HELLO GROUP D!” Yelled a man with blonde hair.

Izuku internally freaked out. “That’s Present Mic! He’s the voice Hero!”

He fought the urge to mumble; he had just been told for most of the last year how creepy it was, and did his best not to.

“EVERY YEAR, AS YOU GROOVY CATS KNOW, WE GATHER STUDENTS FOR THE HERO COURSE! AND WE HAVE THEM FIGHT SOME CRAZY ROBOTS TO TEST THEIR QUIRKS! CAN I GET A WHOOP WHOOP!” Present Mic yelled.

Izuku went to give him a Whoop Whoop, but no one else was, so he kept quiet.

“...OKAY, YOU’RE ALL IN ZONE. SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH YOU?!”

A banner unfurled behind him, showing a giant robot that.

“WELL GROUP D, YOU ALL ARE GOING TO BE BUILDING THIS BAD BOY; THE ZERO POINTER! WHAT SAY YOU MAKE A BOT THAT GIVES THE HEROES A HARD TIME?”

Midoriya and Hatsume exchanged glances; his nervous, hers ecstatic.

“TEAMS, GRAB THE BLUEPRINTS FOR YOURS PART, AND WHEN TIME IS UP, YOU WILL NEED TO PUT THE ROBOT TOGETHER!”

A panel in the wall opened, revealing ten rolls of blueprints. Midoriya ran over to it and grabbed theirs, bringing it over to Hatsume.

“So what are we building? What part of the baby are we in charge of?!” Hatsume begged, bouncing on her feet.

Izuku unfurled the sheet, and his eyes widened.

The Weapons Systems. Specifically, the lasers and....flamethrowers.

Midoriya met Hatsume’s gaze, and this time, they were both ecstatic.

---

It turned out, it was just the two of them on Team A, as the size of the Zero Pointer did not mean it generally needed a ton of weapons. However, the two of them were MORE than enough; Midoriya was amazed at how easily Hatsume could make the precise lens for a laser that would maim, but not kill, any of the Hero hopefuls, and she couldn’t help but applaud him for his knowledge on flamethrowers.

“That propulsion system is something,” she admitted, “my babies only manage a thirty foot flame burst. How are you getting fifty feet?! I MUST KNOW!”

Izuku began to sweat nervously, although the welding torch in his hand wasn’t helping. He flicked it off and lifted his visor. “L-let’s focus on getting the w-weapons on the m-mounting system, Hatsume.”

OH MY GOD, I TALKED TO HER! He panicked.

She pouted, “I’ll know your secrets, Midoriya! Just you wait!” She flashed him a wicked grin.

Izuku gave her a weak smile and turned back to his welding. F-focus, Deku.

Finally, the buzzer sounded, and the groups game together, wheeling their parts to build the robot together. As Hatsume and Midoriya mounted lasers and flamethrowers on both the treads and the arms, Present Mic was shocked on how many they made.

“Y-you only had to make one for each tread!” He marveled.

“I know, but we had enough materials to really give this guy some firepower if you know how to wire it right.” Hatsume boasted, throwing an arm around Midoriya. He burned bright red as she added, “And this green-haired genius knew how to rig the babies real good!”

Present Mic was thoroughly impressed. “I’ve never seen a Zero Pointer with so much bang...but is it’s bark worse than it’s bite?! Tune in and find out!”

He went to test the flamethrowers, and both Hatsume and Midoriya began to panic. “No wait, there’s people in....!”

The flamethrower torched a wide radius fifty feet in front of them, a few of the other Support Students just barely managing to get out of the way in time.

“...the way...” Midoriya coughed, getting out from under the singed metal plate he had covered himself and Hastume with.

Present Mic boomed, “THAT’S SSSSSSPICY!”

--

Two weeks later, a letter from UA came. Izuku and his mother opened it together, to find a holo-disc. The projection of Power Loader proudly crowed that he had passed the Support Exam with flying colors. Izuku and Ink both teared up and embraced; at long last, Izuku had found a way into the Hero Academy.

But Izuku did something else in those two weeks. He got up early every day, and went back to that beach for scrap.

And the night before he began Support Training, he stayed up, finishing his own miniature flamethrower.

“I guess you’re the first of my babies.” He chuckled to himself. “I’ll have to make you some brothers or sisters.”

Deku turned to the latest picture he’d pulled from online, the sludge villain using Bakugou’s body to pull a robbery heist in Shibuya; part of Bakugou’s face had rotted away, revealing the muddy substance underneath.

Despite how much the sight made Izuku seeth, he kept the serene smile on his face and turned back to his flamethrower. “I don’t think you’re quite enough for our guest of honor.”

He opened his closet, and pulled off a loose board in the back, stashing the weapon.

Midoriya Izuku was ready for Support Class.

Chapter Text

On his first day, Izuku learned an important lesson; that his actions have consequences. As he walked into the main building, he heard some whisperings around him. As he looked around, wondering what everyone was talking about, he clumsily tripped over his own two feet.

Well, so much for avenging my friend, he thought as he braced for his imminent death, but he blinked and realized he never hit the ground.

He looked over to see a girl with pink cheeks had touched him, making him float. He’d have freaked out, but he was more taken aback by the burn mark that covered the right side of her face.

“Sorry...I didn’t ask if I could save you with my Quirk,” she muttered, looking at the ground. “I just didn’t want you to get hurt.”

O-okay Midoriya, you talked to one girl during the test, you can talk to her. “Th-thank you! I appreciate it.” He stuttered, blushing horrendously.

“No worries...see you around...” she said, taking off and avoiding eye contact.

He stared after her for a minute. She seemed...so sad. He couldn’t help but wonder why.

He jumped though as a hand slapped him across the back. Izuku turned to see Hatsume had come up to him, beaming. Then again, she usually seemed exuberant.

“Admiring our handiwork?” Hatsume asked.

“What do you mean, ‘our handiwork?’” Izuku asked, tilting his head.

“She tried to take on our Zero Pointer to save a girl,” Hatsume answered, “I had to watch our baby in action, Midoriya! She got the burn for her trouble. Uraraka Ochako, I think her name is.”

Guilt panged in Midoriya’s heart as he looked out where the girl had gone. “Oh...we did that.”

His melancholic voice soared right over his classmates’ head. “We sure did! Don’t worry, she’s being treated periodically with Recovery Girl. The burns are just tricky.” She squeezed his shoulders with her arm in a side-hug. “We should make babies together more often, Midoriya! We’re good at it! See you in homeroom.”

“WH-WHAT?!” Midoriya stuttered out.

Until class started, Midoriya could only think of two things: Hatsume’s awkward phrasing of inventing things together, and that his invention had hurt someone who didn’t deserve it. Even if it was on the orders of UA, he had never stopped to think about his inventions hurting an innocent person. It made his stomach churn.

His thoughts were dashed as Power Loader crashed into Homeroom on day 1. He stood up behind his desk and looked around at his class. He couldn’t help but smirk as he saw Midoriya in his class. In the end, he didn’t need to put in a good word for the kid. His work spoke for itself.

“Who can tell me the best type of restraint system?” Power Loader ask.

A boy in the front row raised his hand, but before he could speak, Power Loader threw a pair of bolas tied together around the boys wrist. The balls clasped together, and then pulled the boy magnetically to a locker on the side of the room, leaving him clasped against the metal locker.

“WRONG!” Power Loader yelled, “It’s the magnetic bolas I’m teaching you to build. You. Midoriya. Pull Yukio off the locker and let’s go to work.”

The work was fascinating; smart magnets made sure the bolas wrapped around their target, fastened together, and then shifted to the nearest metal surface. As Midoriya was tinkering with it and his screwdriver, be barely noticed the morning had flown by as the bell for lunch sounded off.

“Alright, put your works in your drawers - NOT YOUR PANTS, YUKIO,” Power Loader yelled at the class, “Desk. Drawers. Christ...You can pick it up tomorrow. Support has the normal academics in the afternoon.”

The class groaned.

“Look, I’m not going to sit here and lie to you and say Shakespeare is going to help you with Support careers, but I want you to greet every class the way you would repairing a Pro Hero costume, which is crapping your pants in excitement.” Power Loader advised, “Now get outta here.”

“Hey Midoriya, you’re almost as far into your baby as I am!” Hatsume said from RIGHT behind him, making him jump. “I think you might just be my competition!”

Izuku grinned nervously as Hatsume walked past him. He still wasn’t sure what he thought about her.

He knew what he thought about lunch time though; he was geeking out over meeting Pro Hero LUNCH RUSH! Even with changed dreams, Izuku still took notes on the type of utensils and equipment the Pro used to get his cuisine just perfect. But as he looked up from his food, he saw Uraraka right in his line of sight, cutting his bout of fanboyism short.

He stood up and walked over to her. She was eating with a tall boy with glasses and a girl with large hands and eyes.

“Oh, you’re the boy from this morning!” She said, slightly more cheery than she had been earlier, but still seeming a bit downtrodden.

“Y-yes,” Izuku replied, fighting the heat that was rising to his cheeks. “My name is Midoriya Izuku. I um...I wanted to thank you again.”

She gave him a small but heartfelt smile that made his heart skip a beat. “I-I heard you f-fought the Zero P-Pointer.”

Before he could go any further with that, her expression changed completely. A fierce, competitive and determined look hit her face.

“I almost got it too!” She gushed, “And you know what? It taught me something!”

Izuku tilted his head. “Taught you something?”

“This is the big time!” She crowed, clenching her fists and grinning wildly, “I have to step my game up if I’m ever going to support my family as a Hero. I can’t go letting some robot get the best of me! This,” she pointed to her burn with wild abandon, "Is the last injury I'll undertake in my Hero training, mark my works, or my name isn't Uraraka Ochako!"

Izuku smiled. “I’m...I’m glad you feel that way.”

Now it was her turn to tilt her head, confused. “Why do you say that, Midoriya?”

“W-well...” he said rubbing the back of his neck, “M-my team built the weapons on the Zero Pointer. And after you helped me this morning, it was a bummer to see my work hurt someone so...nice...”

She gave him another smile that made his stomach make a weird, twisting movements. “Thanks Midoriya, but I’m stronger than I look!” She winked at him, “Next time I go up against one of your machines, I’ll tear it to pieces, so give me everything you got!”

Izuku beamed. “Y-yeah! You too! No holding back, okay?”

---

Ultimately, the first few weeks of UA went well for Midoriya. He was already learning the technical skills Power Loader had planted in his head over the last year, but as far as his secondary goal...

“I’m stumped,” he muttered into his fish as he sat at the dinner table with his mother.

“Dear, are you okay?’ Inko asked her son, worried, “You’re talking to your food again. Are you sick? Do you need to see the doctor?!”

“O-oh! Sorry mom!” He replied, “Just said I’m full! This was delicious!” He bowed before cleaning up his food.

Inko frowned at her son though. He seemed different after Bakugou died, and she wondered how normal this was.

What she didn’t know was that after dinner, he was removing a board in the back wall of his closet and examining his arsenal. So far, he had the crude mini-flamethrower, a fast-dispensing capture tape holder, a few pairs of magnetic bolas, easily concealable telescopic ecrisma sticks and a mechanical chest pack that would be helpful in storing and dispensing gadgets.

Nothing that would help him catch the Sludge Villain, however.

Since joining UA, he had even begun taking voluntary martial arts classes that were offered to the students outside of the Hero Course as well, just in case the need would arise where he was caught without his babies to defend himself.

None of this is enough though, he sighed, rolling back onto his bed before drifting off into an uneasy sleep, I need something that can stop that sludge bastard...this won't cut it...

---

It would ironically be a villain attack on UA that would give him the epiphany he was looking for. It had been a few days earlier, classes had been interrupted by an emergency lockdown message had blared through the school - someone unauthorized had entered the campus. As the students rushed the halls, Izuku had grabbed a pair of restraining bolas just in case, but it turned out there was no need. The boy with glasses, Iida, had found it was just some paparazzi who was trying to get in touch with All Might.

The next day, while Izuku was in class, he learned that the break in was a test. Support class was working devices for the upcoming Sports Festival. He remembered what Power Loader had told them as he gave them free reign of what they could build:

“Every year, the Sports Festival devolves into the Hero Class Students showing off flashy Quirks,” the gruff teacher had scoffed to the class. “That’s dumb and I hate it. So, while I can’t tell you what you’ll be facing, I CAN advise you to work on versatile weaponry and work on your mobility. It's about damn time Support Class was the talk of the Festival. Don't let me down.”

The words struck Izuku. Support students were only allowed a small backpack and any modifications they could make to their footwear. And when Hatsume added telescopic legs to her backpack, Izuku had a plethora of ideas.

But it was one day as he was tinkering with his weaponry, Power Loader received an urgent call from the front office.

“WHAT?!” He shouted, startling the class. “At the USJ?! I’ll be right there!”

As he bolted for the door, he turned and looked at his confused students. “Er...emergency...staff...meeting. Just uh...work on your weapons until the bell rings, and don’t leave until you get the announcement it’s safe. Seriously. Don't move.”

“Do you mean it’s not safe?!” A boy towards the front shouted.

“NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU, YUKIO!” Power Loader screamed as he bolted out the door and down the hallway.

As soon as he left though, metal plates slammed down across the windows, making a few of the students shout in surprise.

“Guess we’re on lockdown,” Izuku muttered, nervously.

Hatsume overheard him and beamed. “Teacher runs out and lockdown happens, huh? Sounds like a good time to get curious, huh rival-buddy?”

Izuku tightened a few bolts on his weapon pack and closed the lid on it. He gave his friend a smirk, “I thought you only cared about building your babies?”

“Even last time someone got in, they didn’t plate down the windows, Midoriya,” Hatsume replied, rolling her eyes. “The security tech here is top notch. Aren’t you curious to see who managed to get past it and how?”

He tightened the lid on his pack and put it on. “Absolutely. Wanna go spy?” He managed to sound confident saying this, despite how nervous he was about getting caught. Perhaps she was rubbing off on him.

She pulled her goggles down. “Sure thing, partner.”

In his rush, Power Loader had forgotten to lock the door behind him, but Izuku put on his thermal goggles to see if anyone was still in the halls.

“Show off,” Hatsume muttered, rolling her eyes, but smirking all the same.

“You’re just mad yours don’t do this,” he replied, “Coast is clear.”

As they snuck down the hall, eyes peeled for others, they came to the front door. Hatsume pulled a small metal rod from her glove and stuck it in the keyhole. It whirred and shifted, picking the lock in seconds.

“Your thermal vision can suck it!” She grinned, putting the rod back in her glove.

"Alright, I mean, that is pretty cool," he conceded, pulling out his notebook to jot down a few quick scribbles our her universal lockpick.

They had both agreed they heard Power Loader say the USJ, but that was on the far side of campus; usually the students were bused there. But, then again, they were tech students.

Hatsume took the time to bust ur her new hover boots, taking long, ten foot strides into the distance, but she seethed, as Midoriya’s invention was telescopic spider legs, four total, with clawed bottoms, that sprouted from his backpack and carried him towards the building in even pace with her.

“Psh! You ripped that idea off from my telescopic stilts!” She scoffed as she took another hop towards the large building.

“Yours only extend one direction!” Midoriya argued, “But mine have joints and work in tandem with where I direct them! I've for the controls here on the straps to the backpack, and it’s totally different, plus the amount of cabling I had to use to get them just right is much more complex than a mere telescopic rod and -”

“Stop muttering or whoever broke in will hear us coming!” Hatsume sneered.

As they reached the side of the building, she seethed more at seeing his spider legs could even scale the side of the building by digging in with the claws. Before he got too high up the building, he turned and offered her his hand, “You w-want a l-lift?”

She rolled her eyes, “I bet you love showing off, huh?”

Truthfully, no, he was more panicking about how close they were as her carried her up the side of a building. Especially for how off-put she was at being shown up.

Their attitudes shifted when they finally reached a ledge at the the skylight of the USJ and saw just how grim a lockdown at UA meant.

Midoriya’s jaw dropped at the sight. Supervillains were strewn across the area, but more shockingly is that the teacher of 1-A, who Izuku had come to recognize as Aizawa was in a bloody pulp in the midst of the bodies of the thugs. Scanning around the arena, he saw what looked like the Rescue Hero, 13. Or...what was left of them. They appeared to be broken from the villain attack. He recognized Uraraka by them, holding off some odd, mist-like creature with some students he didn't recognize. Further past the villains, he recognized the girl with large eyes laid out in a bloody mess too.

"It's too far to tell, but are Aizawa and that girl okay?" He asked his friend, nervously.

She glanced at him and made a very uncomfortable face. After a moment, she replied, "The girl is moving. The teacher...is not."

But the most shocking part was seeing All Might in action, fighting toe to toe with a weird looking muscle bound monster with it’s brain exposed.

Out of nowhere, All Might had hit the beast with a German Suplex - but a portal opened up under the ground from one of the Villains Izuku hadn’t seen before. But just as shocking, a student from 1-A he hadn’t recognized used his Quirk to freeze the ground, freezing parts of the beast.

All Might managed to recover and the fight continued, but suddenly, Izuku couldn’t focus on the fight.

“Ice,” he breathed to himself, suppressing the urge to laugh. “It’s ice.”

He could see it in his mind - using ice to freeze the Sludge villain, stopping him from using to Quirk to slip through a drain or compress himself in a body.

And then...then he could-

“Move, idiot!” He heard Hatsume yell to him.

He blinked, and realized All Might had punched that monster right towards them, and suddenly, Hatsume tackled him onto the ledge they were on. The beast burst through the window right where he had been standing, and was sent hurtling into the sky.

“Whoa...” the two Support students breathed in amazement.

There was more yelling and commotion from inside the USJ, snapping them back to the present.

“Maybe we should get out of here,” Izuku suggested, a little perturbed.

Hatsume nodded, and together, they made a descent down the building, and began sneaking their way back to class.

Once back in Support Class, Hatsume and Izuku did not speak further - but not for the same reasons. The rest of the students had been quite freaked out, Hatsume perhaps more so after having seen the Nomu up close.

Not Izuku though. Midoriya Izuku could not have been happier by what he saw. He didn’t know the name of the boy in 1-A with the Ice Quirk. But really, he supposed it didn’t matter in the end.

What did matter, was what happened the next day. Power Loader had given the class free reign once more to prepare for the Sports Festival, but no sooner had he cracked open a book had he been interrupted by the sight of a bushy, green head of hair at his desk.

“What’s up, kid?” The Pro asked his secret protege.

“Sir...what do you know about cryogenic weaponry?” Midoriya asked.

At the rather confused look the teacher gave him, he was quick to add, “I-it’s for the Sports Festival. You know...for...restraining the other students,” Midoriya lied.

Power Loader laughed, and seemed to have bought it. “I like how you think, kid. Pull up a chair...”

---

It was only a few nights later, sitting at home at his desk, that Izuku laughed to himself as he completed his first freeze grenade. “We’ll need a few more of you, but...”

He looked over at the rest of the small cache of combat gear he had built for himself and grinned a broad, triumphant, smile. “I think we have just enough favors to throw our Sludge Friend a little party.”

Carefully placing the grenade amongst its, “siblings,” Deku pulled out the flyer for the Sports Festival from his pocket, and tacked it on his closet wall.

“But first,” he pondered, rubbing his chin, “A little field testing is in order. Let’s see how my babies stand up in combat...”

It was then he decided to get back to his normal studies; reading the Art of War as requested by Present Mic. And perhaps it was serendipitous that right when Izuku was ready to focus on combat, he came upon a quote that struck great accord with him.

"Know your enemy, and know yourself, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles," he muttered to himself from beneath the small hum of his desk lamp.

He looked once more at the Sports Festival flyer, and then to his old notebook filled with his studies of Quirks.

"Maybe..." he mused to himself, skimming the crisp pages of his earlier notes, "maybe it's time I get to know some of the competition."

Chapter Text

“Hey Kacchan.” Midoriya said, standing in front of the memorial of his childhood friend. He reached into his pocket and placed an All Might trading card on the grave. They both had that one as kids. It was one of the few times they bonded.

“So...” Midoriya said, looking at the picture of Bakugou that rested on the memorial. “Tomorrow is the Sports Festival.”

The wind gusted, causing the green-haired boy to put his hands in his pockets.

“It should be you, Kacchan...” Midoriya muttered to his feet. “Not in Support, obviously, but...”

He fell silent. He wanted to cry, but Midoriya Izuku had not cried since the funeral. He winced as the words finally reached him. “I should have died that day. It’s my fault you’re dead. I should never have tried to talk to All Might.”

Izuku sat on the ground next to the memorial. “You’d win this no problem, Kacchan. You were the strongest person I knew.”

After a moment of silence, Deku let out a bitter laugh. “You’d hate me getting all emotional on you, wouldn’t you?”

Deku stood up and looked at the picture of Bakugou once more. “You’d hate that I’m looking for your body and the bastard who took it, too. You always hated me trying to help.”

Midoriya gave the picture a small smile. “We weren’t great friends, were we, Kacchan? No. No, I suppose you were kind of a bully, and I let it happen. Still...”

Midoriya looked into the sky. “I wouldn’t be any friend and at all if I didn’t try to avenge you. Like it or not, Bakugou...I’ve got your back.”

---

The day had finally arrived.

The last few weeks had been a blur for Midoriya Izuku; training himself in martial arts, working his body and reflexes, and a little studying of the Quirks of the students of Classes 1-A and B.

And now, body, mind, and tech all prepared...or as prepared as he could be, he supposed, he was crouched at the starting line for the Sports Festival Preliminary Race.

Midoriya’s eyes darted back and forth from the students, most of them he recognized from classes 1-A and B, and a few notable General Studies students he had observed, but there were some he couldn’t place. He just hoped his gear would get him through any unknowns; weeks of preparation can only go so far when you don’t know what you’re up against.

The starting signal went off, and Midoriya took off with the rest of the class, and as he ran, he hit a switch on his backpack; the backpack shifted some telescopic plates of armor down his arm, forming metal gloves down his finger tips.

Just in time, he thought, because I’m pretty sure...

His suspicions were confirmed as the boy in first place, the boy with the Ice Quirk - Todoroki, he had learned from his spying - turned and used his power to try and freeze the rest of the first year students in place.

He smirked to himself as he pointed his arms forward, and bent his hands down to activate his wrist-mounted flamethrowers - not nearly as powerful as the ones he had placed on the Zero Pointer, but powerful enough to cut a path through the ice blast, leaving Midoriya a path to charge through as he ran past a bunch of frozen classmates.

“Damn it, Midoriya,” pouted Yukio from his class, stuck in the ice.
---

From the viewing platform for the teachers, Power Loader watched while next to All Might. The number 1 hero squinted in confusion.

“Loader, that’s one of your kids isn’t it?” Toshiniro asked.

“Yes sir!” Power Loader crowed, “Midoriya Izuku! He and that Hatsume girl are going to put me in the looney bin, but he can make a flamethrower out of a paperclip and a wet noodle if you give him enough time.”

It couldn’t be, All Might thought to himself.
---

The students rounded the corner, and screams could be heard as a plethora of Zero Pointers erupted from seemingly nowhere to get in their way.

While terrifying, Izuku couldn’t help but pause momentarily to wonder: 1) who suddenly mass produced these when building one was an entrance exam and 2) Where they were storing them this whole time? No time to ponder.

He saw a few students from 1-A use their Quirks to smash through - the Kirishima guy in a literal sense, the Momo girl with a rocket launcher of some kind - but Midoriya knew better. This wasn’t time to fight.

He flicked his wrist and a grappling hook shot from bottom of his armplates, piercing the inner leg of a Zero Pointer - the weakest spot - and propelled him forward through the air. He released the hook as he sailed past the arms of the robot, through its legs, and repeated the process to get through the second wave.

And they said Legend of Zelda wouldn’t do anything for me in hero school, Izuku smirked to himself.

He was surprised though, he looked to his right and saw another boy from 1-A - Sero, he remembered - using his Quirk to do the same thing. To his left, he saw the girl with the large eyes using the same strategy...with her tongue. Asui Tsuyu, Frog Quirk.

They both landed next to each other and took off running.

“You were that girl who got really hurt at the USJ?” Izuku asked, panting through his strides.

She only slightly glanced at him. “Kero. You’re the boy who made friends with Uraraka after building these robots.”

“Er...yeah.” Izuku replied, embarrassed. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Suddenly, her eyes widened, “Kero, watch where you’re -!”

He didn’t hear the rest of her statement as he began to plummet towards the ground. He hadn’t been watching where he was going, and had come up on a large valley, and ran right off a cliff.

I can build all this fancy crap, but I can’t fix my common sense. Now I die, he thought, but his thoughts were interrupted as something slimy wrapped around his waist and hoisted him from the crevasse.

Now, Izuku had come to realize Asui Tsuyu had a Frog Quirk. However, he didn’t realize she could do what he just did, and was blushing furiously as she pulled him out of the valley with her tongue.

SHE JUST LICKED ME, WHAT THE SHIT AAAAAAAHHHHH, he thought, managing a weak smile and blushing horrendously.

“I’m glad you’re okay too, kero,” she replied, giving him a small grin. “Thanks. Be more careful. Good luck!”

With an amazing jump, she leapt to a rocky pillar in the distance.

Midoriya was unfrozen from his trance as a hand slapped down on his back. He jumped and saw Hatsume preparing her own grappling hook. “Now’s not the time to flirt, loverboy!”

“R-right!” He snapped back into reality and looked around to see Uraraka using her floating ability to travel from rock pillar to rock pillar. Hatsume was already climbing across her grappling hook rope. Ibara from class 1-B was using her vines to swing from the rock pillars.

Jumping seemed to be the best course of action. He sprouted his telescopic spider-legs from his pack and used them to take a running, springing leap to the nearest rock pillar, and sprang to the next one, until the distance came to be too much. He then let himself fall a bit, and used a grappling hook to hook a distant pillar, swing across the rest of the canyon in a wide arc to the other cliff face, where he clutched the side with the spider legs. Climbing the rest of the way, he panicked to see he had about ten to fifteen students ahead of him. He used his spider legs to catch up to the rest of the pack.

“Nice legs,” Tsuyu said, now taking long hops alongside him.

It was an impressive use of her Frog Quirk, so Midoriya smiled and replied, “Thanks! Yours too!”

Tsuyu took a somewhat amused expression. “That’s pretty forward for our second conversation, kero. I guess you’re not bad to look at either.”

Realizing what she meant, Izuku again blushed furiously, “N-no, I’m s-sorry, th-that’s not what I meant!”

Suddenly, everyone screeched to halt as they reached the final stretch of the race; a minefield. He and Tsuyu stopped right next to Hatsume.

“You uh...you got anything for this?” Midoriya asked his rival as he watched Kaminari get blown up.

She shook her head. “Nope. How about you?”

“No...” she sighed.

“Well, this sucks, kero,” Tsuyu croaked.

The two tech students grimaced at each other. Izuku retracted his spider legs and the two began to slowly pace themselves through the minefield. The rest of the students had caught up to them, and soon the field was littered with mines and students, leveling the playing field.

This must have freaked out Todoroki, who suddenly froze a giant section of the field to race ahead, but left a path for people behind him. A lot of other students ended up getting them blown up in large, pink blasts just trying to reach the path.

This is my chance! Midoriya realized, bringing his spider legs back out, carefully planting them where it was safe, and using them to launch over a gaggle of Hero Course students, landing on the ice path. He planted his boots down, crouched, and used the spider claws to grab chunks of the ice path and propel himself forward like he was skiing. Not long after Todoroki made it past the minefield, Midoriya left it right after, clawing his way towards the taller boy. Todoroki turned and tried to blast the Support student with his Ice Quirk, but Midoriya was able to lunge out of the way. Finally, the two of them burst into the arena amidst a chorus of cheers.

Midoriya retracted his mechanical legs and caught his breath. Second place would do, for now.

As the rest of the students made their way into the arena, he couldn’t help but smile as Hatsume was in the top twenty, right behind Tsuyu and Uraraka.

“So how do you feel about the spider legs now?” He asked his Support friend.

“You can shut your mouth, man.” Hatsume rolled her eyes, but gave him a smile nonetheless.

As the rankings were announced, Midnight took the stage as the judge, announcing the next stage: a cavalry battle, with sliding scales of points.

“...meaning the First Place holder will be worth ten million points!” Midnight concluded. “Now team up! You have fifteen minutes!”

Everyone turned to glare at Todoroki, who, despite his stoic nature, gulped.

“Man, I’d hate to be that guy,” Hatsume whispered to Midoriya.

He nodded. “Right? Kinda glad I don’t have that target on my back. Hey, you wanna...?”

“Team up?” Hatsume asked. “Of course we’re teaming up. I'd be pissed if you didn't! We’re the only support students here, and you’re my friend. Our tech together is going to look so good for all those Support Companies up in that box over there.” She pointed towards an observation deck near the top of the arena.

Her bluntness made him blush and smile. “Awesome. Let’s go find two more people.”

“I have an idea, let’s go ask the Uraraka girl!” Hatsume suggested, “I think we could combine my long-fall boots with her Quirk.”

“Alright!”

Uraraka beamed at the idea after they had run it by her. “We’d practically be flying! I’m in.”

The Support students sighed in relief. “I was worried you’d already be teaming with Iida and Tsuyu,” Midoriya admitted.

Uraraka frowned. “Iida said something me and him being rivals now, apparently, and went to team with Todoroki. Tsuyu got convinced to team with Mineta and Shouji, and I’d rather not be on that team.”

Midoriya furrowed his brow in confusion. “Why’s that?”

“Mineta is the biggest perv in the school, I’d rather not have his hands near me.” Uraraka replied, blanching, “Ever since Mr. Aizawa expelled those two other kids on day one, he’s been nothing but a cocky jerk.”

“I had no idea,” Midoriya lied; he decided not to mention that when he had been spying on the students of 1-A to get info on their Quirks, he had found Mineta spying on the girls. It was something of a double spying situation. Probably wasn’t helpful to the Sports Festival.

“Alright, so we got maneuverability down,” Hatsume deduced, “We’re going to need someone to defend.”

The three scanned the rest of the students; they were running out of time and most students seemed to have already teamed off with each other.

“Oh!” Uraraka exclaimed, excitedly, “him! Let’s ask Tokoyami!”

---

As the students teamed, the teachers were discussing (or arguing) about their results, All Might could not stop observing the Midoriya boy. He hardly looked like the same, timid boy he had saved from the Sludge Villain nearly a year ago. Yet here he was, now in the Support program. More impressively, he managed to snag second place in the preliminary race without a Quirk, a feat that was almost unheard of for someone in that program.

“Wow, you actually managed to get TWO students past the preliminary this year, Loader,” Vlad King chastised.

Power Loader had already begun to partake in a celebratory beer, and laughed loudly. “Just you watch, you damn knucklehead. Those two geniuses will take down any Hero Class kid you put in front of them.”

“Twenty bucks says neither will make it to the finals,” Ectoplasm chimed in.

“It’s a bet, Ghost Boy,” Power Loader shouted.

“Higari,” All Might said, quietly, to the Support teacher, “tell me again about your two pupils there.”

Power Loader looked around to make sure no one was listening in. “Well, Hatsume is kind of a nut. She hardly listens to anything I say, but she’s the real deal. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d been hotwiring things as a toddler.”

“And the boy?” All Might asked.

Power Loader leaned in closer. “Truth be told, I met him a year ago. Remember that Sludge Villain attack? The one that got away from you?”

All Might’s heart sank as he remembered that day. It was something he remembered as a particularly low point in his hero career; he had to crush the dreams of a young, Quirkless boy, and then, due to his carelessness, the villain had escaped only to take another teenage boy hostage. Depleted of strength and unable to summon the conviction to go beyond his limits, the boy, Bakugou Katsuki, had perished. Still, he kept this off his face as he nodded.

“Midoriya there was a friend of the poor kid who died that day. I met him by chance at the funeral - he dropped a notebook. And this kid - well, he’s a bit of a Quirk-otaku because he’s got none of his own. But his mind was sharp. Never invented a thing in his life. I may have given him a few pointers once he showed interest in Support, but look at him now!” Power Loader finished, swelling with pride.

All Might nodded, but looked down at the field. Perhaps he had underestimated the boy.

--

Tokoyami had agreed to be part of the team with Midoriya, Uraraka, and Hatsume. With their point total, they were in a semi-comfortable second place.

“So we’re in agreement?” Hatsume asked as they waited for the signal to start. “Most everyone will be after Todoroki, so we stay in our rank. Play defense and go after the others if we have an opening.”

The other three nodded.

The alarm sounded, and true to her prediction, every other team took off after the team of Todoroki, Momo, Iida and Kaminari. However, before anyone could get close, Todoroki formed a large, two story ring of solid ice that barricaded them from the rest of competitors.

“A VALID DEFENSIVE STRATEGY FROM THE TEN MILLION POINT LEADERS!!!!” Present Mic announced.

“Truly a display of wisdom yet cowardice all at once.” Tokoyami announced to his team.

“Oh man, if only we had a way of getting over that wall! Whatever shall we do?” Hatsume whined, sarcastically. “Hit it, Uraraka.”

Uraraka rolled her eyes at the command, but did as such. “We’re airborne.”

The group leapt. Just in time, too, as a pair of vines from Ibara came charging towards them to snag their headbands. Tokoyami used his Dark Shadow to defend from this attack as the four soared over the ice donut.

“Are we going in?” Uraraka asked.

Izuku paused for a minute and then cracked a rather unhinged grin. “No...land on the edge of the ice ring.”

Todoroki and his teammates looked up in shock as Midoriya’s team landed on their barricade.

“Winter’s over!” Midoriya yelled, pointing his flamethrower towards the part of the wall to the left of Todoroki, unleashing a burst of flame that easily cut through the ice wall. As it crumbled, the team of Shouji and Mineta, as well as a Team lead by Neito of Class 1-B.

As Todoroki had to physically turn to use his right side for his Ice Quirk to try and defend along with Momo and Kaminari, Midoriya took advantage and began melting the opposite wall, causing another flurry of teams to charge in.

Soon, it was utter chaos within the icy ring of the Cavalry battle. Point cloths were being nabbed left and right, and the rankings board was going insane.

“Such savagery you have inspired, Midoriya,” Tokoyami commended, “The dark machinations of your mind are analytical and cunning.”

“Th-thanks,” he stuttered out, awkwardly.

“Yeah, but we keep fluctuating in and out of second and third place as these points go insane!” Uraraka pointed out, nudging her head towards the scoreboard, “And we only have a few minutes left. What should we do?”

Their strategizing was interrupted as a long, prehensile tongue came shooting up at them from the circle below. In their surprise, Tokoyami was barely able to block via Dark Shadow.

“Let’s move!” Hatsume yelled, prompting Uraraka to levitate them again. But as they went to jump, Tsuyu’s tongue and a shot from Sero’s tape caught her boot, causing it to break as they leapt backwards from the ice wall. Their maneuverability began to suffer, and they had to land quickly.

“My baby!” Hatsume cried, seeing the destroyed hover boot. From the ring of ice, the team of Sero, Mina, Aoyama, and Kirishima came charging towards them. Tokoyami commanded his Dark Shadow to attack them, but he was battled back by a blast from Aoyama’s laser.

As Dark Shadow was withdrawn, Midoriya instead unleashed a full blast from his flamethrower, diverting the oncoming attackers. He glanced at the timer. Thirty seconds to go. They were still in third. They just needed to last a little bit longer.

Suddenly, from the ice ring, two more teams came charging towards them, one of which being Shouji, Mineta, and Tsuyu, the other team being Todoroki, Iida, Momo, and Kaminari. Iida was leading his team with a burst of speed, and closing in fast, but a blast of tape from Sero, a bunch of Mineta’s sticky balls, and Tsuyu’s tongue were closing in on the group fast.

“Oh shit.” Tokoyami muttered, dropping the flowery speech.

With only a few seconds remaining, Midoriya knew he just needed a quick defense. “EVERYONE, HUDDLE!”

As they had discussed before the course began, they engaged in the last ditch defensive effort; they crouched down together to keep low, and the telescopic spider legs erupted from Deku’s pack. Except this time, he wrapped them around his three teammates’ heads, and in front of him, creating an impromptu shield. It worked just in the knick of time as they could hear the balls, tongue, tape, and a few hands from Todoroki’s team smack helplessly into the metal beams. But following this noise was the whistle signalling the end of the cavalry battle.

As Midoriya unshielded his team, they all checked their headgear.

“Mine’s here!” Uraraka cheered.

“Mine too!” Hatsume sighed.

“I also still have my headband in my possession.” Tokoyami confirmed.

“And...me too!” Midoriya laughed in relief. He looked to the scoreboard. They sat in third place, causing him to laugh harder.

Midnight took the stage to announce that the top sixteen students would advance to the last stage of the Sports Festival: the Battle Tournament. Those rankings were:

Team 1: Todoroki, Iida, Momo, and Kaminari
Team 2: Ibara, Tetsutetsu, Hitoshi Shinso, and Kendou
Team 3: Midoriya, Uraraka, Hatsume, and Tokoyami
Team 4: Asui, Mineta, and Shouji.

As this was only 15 people, the team of Sero, Kirishima, Mina, and Aoyama, the fifth place team, decided to volunteer Kirishima to go on to the tournament.

Midoriya beamed at his teammates as they began congratulating each other for a job well done, but he was only half listening as he looked up at the scoreboard.

Now the real fun begins...let’s see how my babies can do in a fight!

Suddenly, the board lit up, revealing the first fight in his line up: Tokoyami. He looked up at his teammate, who gave him a competitive yet friendly smirk.

“May the best man win,” the bird-like boy said, with a handshake.

“D-definitely,” Midoriya replied. But in his head, the wheels were already turning on how he could checkmate the Dark Shadow Quirk.

Chapter Text

Sitting in the waiting room, Izuku checked the matchups for the first round of fights.: himself vs. Tokoyami. Hatsume vs. Iida. Asui vs. Kendou. Kirishima vs. Tetsutetsu. Mineta vs. Uraraka. Todoroki vs. Shouji. Kaminari vs. Momo. Finally, Ibara vs. Shinsou. The possibilities of what he could face raced through his mind, but he stopped himself from scanning his notes. He needed to focus on his fight with Tokoyami.

A knock on the door told him it was time, so he opened the door and made his way to the arena, strapping his goggles on. He stopped in his tracks for a second to marvel at the number two hero, Endeavor, talking to...Todoroki? He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but suddenly, Todoroki stormed off, angrily.

Probably nothing I need to worry about. Midoriya thought to himself as he stepped out into the arena to cheers. Neither of them seemed in the mood to chat.

“AND INTRODUCING FIRST, THE INCREDIBLE MAN-SPIDER OF SUPPORT, MIDORIYA IZUKU!!!!!!”

Internally, he blanched at the nickname, but he supposed it fit: the only weapons he allowed himself to show in the early stages of the Sports Festival were the spider legs, flamethrowers, and grappling hooks.

Now, he was ready to surprise the crowd with the rest of his toys. But he wanted to reveal them slowly. If he played all his cards in the first fight, he'd give an edge to his opponents.

Tokoyami took the stage, as Present Mic introduced him as the, “Terrifying Bird of the Underworld,” and Midoriya was happy to see his former teammate was just as put off by his nickname as well.

Midnight flagged the start of the match, and, as Midoriya had predicted, Tokoyami unleashed Dark Shadow towards him.

In a swift motion, Deku pulled down his goggles, and flicked down the visors. He hit a switch on his backpack strap, and reached his other hand down to catch the small ball that dropped from it. He threw it towards Dark Shadow, who flew right into it with confidence.

This was a mistake; the orb was an impact flash grenade. Blinding light filled the stadium, and Dark Shadow made a screech before retreating to Tokoyami, who was also blinded.

Midoriya unleashed a wild grin as he charged through towards the defenseless Hero, using his retractable armor plates to cover his arms. They finished expanding just in time for him to leap into the air and punch Tokoyami across the beak, flooring him. He jumped on top of the Hero and held a flamethrower up to the bird-like boy’s face threateningly.

“Impossible...” Tokoyami grunted. “How did you know Dark Shadow’s weakness?”

“Call it intuition.” Midoriya replied.

Incidentally, “Intuition,” was the name of the flying drone Midoriya had invented to spy on class 1-A. "Instinct," was the drone that spied on class 1-B.

“Do you yield?” Midoriya asked.

Tokoyami sighed in defeat. “...I yield.”

“AND THAT WAS MATCH ONE! WHAT A DECISIVE VICTORY FOR THE SUPPORT DEPARTMENT!” Present Mic yelled.

“But he had a specific counter to his foe’s Quirk,” he heard Aizawa add, “let’s see if that luck continues.”

Midoriya offered a hand up to Tokoyami, and the other boy graciously accepted. “No hard feelings?”

“Of course not. Good luck, Midoriya,” Tokoyami conceded.

Nice guy. Midoriya thought as he walked back towards the entrance hall to watch the other matches.

As he was walking, he passed Hatsume, who just, “tsked,” at him.

“W-what’s that about?” Midoriya asked, blushing.

“Don’t you care about getting a good internship?!” Hatsume scolded. “You finished that match WAY too fast!”

“The whole point is to win, isn’t it?” Midoriya inquired, rubbing the back of his neck. Truthfully, the whole point of this in his mind was to make sure his gear could help get revenge on the Sludge Villain for murdering Kacchan, but that wasn’t something he was going to share with her, that was neither here nor there.

His pink-haired friend rolled her eyes. “We’re advertising ourselves to these Support Tech companies. Go watch a pro Support developer at work, Deku Scrub.”

His eyes widened. No one had called him Deku since Bakugou. Still, she meant it in a friendly way, so he gave her a small smile, despite how uncomfortable he had become. “B-by all means, show me how it’s done.”

He climbed the stairs, and ran into Uraraka, who was on her way down. “Hey Midoriya! Good job winning round one!”

She gave him a million-watt smile, and he smiled back. “Thanks, Uraraka! Are you getting ready for your match?”

She clenched her fists up to her chest. “You know it! The little perv won’t know what hit him.”

He laughed. He wasn’t used to having friends; the only one he really had growing up was Bakugou...who made fun of him all the time for being Quirkless.

Now all these people seemed to accept him. It was a very...conflicting feeling. It distracted him from his goal.

He snapped himself out of his thoughts. “Then I look forward to taking you on later!”

“Thanks Midoriya!”

As he reached the stands, he sat next to Yukio and a few other Support students as Iida announced he would be wearing some gear Hatsume had prepared for him. Immediately, Midoriya knew something suspicious was up. As the match began, his Support Rival produced a pair of speakers...and proceeded to dodge Iida while giving an extended sales pitch for all the (admittedly cool) things she had prepared for the occasion.

Midoriya groaned and buried his head in his hands. “Hatsume Mei, you sneaky devil...”

Finally, after a ten minute sales pitch, she forfeit, much to his surprise. Iida stormed off the field after her, humiliated. Great. He’ll be all sorts of mad when I fight him.

“Guess she got what she wanted,” Midoriya laughed, shaking his head.

As he waited for the next match, Hatsume plopped down in the seat next to him, and, like usual, slapped him on the back.

“I got a good look at the Support executives in that box up there,” she crowed, proudly, “I’m going to get so many internship offers. Maybe even some contracts. My babies will belong to the world, Midoriya. The world.”

He smiled to her. “You’re something else, Hatsume.”

Asui and Kendou took the field, and that match was short but wild. Midoriya had to pick his jaw off the ground. In the opening moments, Asui used her tongue as a grappling hook, wrapped it around Kendou’s knee, and rocketed herself towards the taller girl to deliver a dropkick. Not scot free though, as the move connected, Kendou grew her fist to the size of her head to clobber Asui in the cheek. As both girls recovered, Kendou had charged, but Asui jumped over the girl, wrapped her tongue around Kendou’s throat, and as the frog-girl landed, she swung Kendou through the air and tossed her out of the ring.

That was amazing... Midoriya squirmed.

As the next match was beginning, he saw Asui Tsuyu walk into the section next to Support with the rest of the class of 1-A. She met his gaze and gave him a thumbs up. Nervously, Midoriya returned it.

After ten minutes of Kirishima and Tetsutetsu fighting each other, Izuku decided to take a walk. As he wandered the halls, he saw Iida walk by briskly, while clutching his phone. He looked sad.

What’s that about? Midoriya pondered. I thought he’d be pissed about Hatsume...

As he passed by the concession stand, he saw that Kirishima and Tetsutetsu had punched themselves into a draw.

He saw the next match on a television screen, which was not nearly as intense; Uraraka dodged all of Mineta’s sticky balls, and easily managed to float him out of the ring. He climbed back into his seat just in time for the beginning of Todoroki vs. Shouji.

“Did you get me my - “ Hatsume began, before Midoriya handed her a tub of popcorn, “Thanks!”

He grinned to his friend. “No problem.”

“You want some?” She asked, shoving a handful in her mouth.

“Nah, I want to focus on the -” Midoriya began, but he was interrupted as Todoroki unleashed a MASSIVE wall of ice, freezing Shouji in place, and ending the match. “...fight.”

“Oof.” Hatsume groaned. “I feel bad for whoever has to fight that guy.” Hatsume laughed, but then realized that possibly included the boy sitting next to her. “Ah...no offense, Midoriya.”

Midoriya frowned. "How do I fight THAT?!"

He pondered this as Momo handily defeated Kaminari by producing an insulated suit to block his electric attack, and then tying him up with a rope while he was...out of commission.

Midoriya did focus on the next match: Ibara vs. Shinsou. He had never studied the General Class Student, so he was a wildcard as far as Quirks went. But as the match started, Shinsou shouted something to Ibara. She replied in a demure tone, but suddenly her eyes went blank, and she marched herself out of the ring, getting disqualified.

“Some sort of voice-based brainwashing?!” Midoriya marveled, immediately pulling out his notebook and taking notes, “that’s crazy powerful!”

“You think he needs someone to talk for it to work?” Hatsume asked, “not sure why else he shouted at her.”

“He’d have no problem beating you if that’s the case,” Midoriya teased. “You motormouth.”

Hatsume snorted with laughter. Down on the field, Kirishima and Tetsutetsu settled their draw with an arm wrestling match, won by the boy from class 1-A. “Was that a joke? Did you actually make a joke?! Who are you and what did you do to my friend?”

Midoriya laughed, but then let out a deep breath. “Well. Time for round two. Wish me luck.”

“Luck is for chumps, go kick Iida’s butt.” Hatsume replied, giving him a broad grin.

Midoriya walked down the stadium and onto the field to a chorus of cheers. As he was announced again by Present Mic, this time as the, “flamethrowing genius.” It was...better.

Iida came to the field next, but he was...different. It wasn’t the humiliation either. He had a steely determination in his eyes, almost desperate to win.

The bolas. He thought, I just need to restrict his legs.

“GO!”

Izuku flicked the switch on his pack, but the bolas never made it to his hands before he was lifted off the ground and being pushed back towards the edge of the arena. Iida had closed the distance and tried to shove him out of the ring before he could catch his weapon

In a panic, Izuku raised his fist and punched Iida across the eye, making the taller boy drop him. He immediately deployed his spider legs, which sunk into the pavement, and just barely prevented him from leaving the ring. Iida was charging again, but Midoriya used his enhancements to leap over Iida, and used the distance he created to deploy the armor plates across his arms. As he landed, he attacked Iida with the flamethrowers, but Iida had already charged to the side and began circle strafing Midoriya, looking for an opening.

Damn it, Midoriya cursed, I’ll never be able to restrain his legs this way!

He ceased the attack with the flamethrowers; he didn’t want to run out of fuel with two fights after this.

As soon as the flames stopped though, Iida charged again, kicking Midoriya across the jaw before he could defend himself. Flipping through the air, Midoriya spun himself so that his spider legs planted themselves into the ground and kept him suspended in the air.

I need a new strategy. Didn’t want to use these until the next fight, but I’m not going to make it at this rate...

He used one flamethrower again to put Iida on the defensive, but as he did, he flicked another switch on his pack, and grabbed a cryogenic grenade.

He dropped the flames, and Iida charged again. Izuku threw the ice grenade at the arena floor, creating a large sheet of ice. Iida immediately lost balance and slipped towards Midoriya.

Midoriya planted his feet on the ground. “Spider Augmentation: Combat mode.”

Midoriya’s spider legs shifted into clawed tentacles, snapping as they hovered around his sides, and lunged forward, grabbing Iida’s arms and legs.

“What?!” Iida shouted, suddenly completely restrained by his appendages, and held a foot off the ground.

“Goodnight.” Midoriya said with a rather unhinged look. He flicked open another compartment on his armed gauntlets, and two tasers flew out. Sparks flew as Midoriya shocked Iida, and after a few moments, the Support student dropped the motionless Hero Course student to the ground.

“That’s the match!” Midnight called.

The crowd cheered as Midoriya caught his breath and retracted his weaponry.

Still, as he walked back towards the stands, he felt his confidence begin to surge. Fighting against Quirks was tricky...but not impossible.

---

“Ha! I wish I could see Aizawa’s face right now!” Power Loader laughed, “That bushy haired pyromaniac knocked out his class president!”

All Might folded his hands across his face. He wouldn’t admit it to Power Loader, but he was becoming invested in these results as well.

---

Midoriya exhaustedly plopped next to Hatsume, expecting some sort of witty remark.

It never came.

“You okay there, Deku Scrub?” Hatsume asked after a few moments of silence.

“What?” Izuku asked, confused. “And since when did you start calling me Deku Scrub?”

“Because your head looks like a bush, like the Zelda bad guys. And you know what I mean. I’ve never seen your face get like that when you aren’t inventing.” Hatsume replied. “You were in the zone like I’ve never seen you before.”

“I...I was?” Midoriya asked.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to get into the Hero Course.” She said, thought her smile was definitely more sad than usual.

Midoriya thought about those words as he watched the next bout: Kirishima and Asui. The two took to the stage. This time, Tsuyu’s battle strategy was much more defensive. Kirishima had rushed in to use his hardening Quirk to go on the offensive. But Tsuyu had no problem leaping over the tall boy, or sticking her tongue to the floor and using it as a pivot to swing herself around.

As Midoriya had noted from his spying, Kirishima wore out over time, and as he began to pant, Asui struck. First, she spat some sort of chemical at him - a low level poison, Midoriya had learned, stinging his eyes. With Kirishima stunned, Asui used her move from the last fight; wrapping her tongue around the knee as an anchor, and launching herself into a powerful dropkick, knocking Kirishima out of the ring.

“And that’s the match! Asui Tsuyu advances to the semi-finals!” Midnight announced.

“Oh man, you get to fight that girl you were flirting with during the race!” Hatsume jeered, nudging her friend in the ribs.

Midoriya turned a bright red and rubbed the back of his neck. “I-I wasn’t flirting.”

“What else do you think she could do with that tongue if you were dating?” Hatsume cackled as Midoriya covered his face with his hands.

“Hatsume, oh my god.” He pleaded, “C-cut that out.”

This was a weird feeling for Midoriya. He hadn’t been part a real friendship in a long, long time. It felt both foreign and familiar, like coming home after years of being away.

Uraraka and Todoroki took the stage next. Midoriya and Hatsume leaned forward; after Todoroki’s last match, they were anxious to see if Uraraka could combat his Quirk.

She had a good start; knowing he would send a wall of ice at her like he did Shouji, she levitated herself over it, and began sliding down the ice; looking to close in on him to float him. Todoroki blocked her from him using a wall of ice, but she smacked it with both of her hands, dislodging the ice blockade and floating it a few inches off the ground, she began pushing against it, trying to knock Todoroki out of the ring with his own ice. The boy jumped backwards and reached to the ground, creating a precision trail of ice that traveled under the blockade and creeping up Uraraka’s leg. Frozen against the floor, Uraraka dropped the ice wall. She desperately tried to dislodge her leg, but the ice anchor was too rooted to the floor, and too heavy for her to dislocate.

Todoroki rushed around the ice wall, and used his Quirk to immobilize Uraraka. But as the match ended, Midoriya noticed something.

“Is he...slowing down the more he uses his Quirk?” He asked, nudging, Hatsume.

She used her Quirk to focus on the Class 1-A boy. “Well...his arms are frosting up. Maybe the ice stuff wears on him after awhile?”

They exchanged glances. “Think you could use that?” Hatsume asked.

“Maybe,” Midoriya replied, rubbing his chin. “I’m heading down to the waiting room during this next match. Get in the zone.”

“Gotta psych yourself up for fighting your girlfriend?” Hatsume laughed. “I’m pulling for you, Deku Scrub.”

He rolled his eyes but smiled. “Thanks.”

He walked down to the waiting room, and opened the door to room A, but walked into Uraraka on the phone with someone, in tears.

“Thanks dad...” She said, rubbing her eyes and hanging up. She looked up to see the Support Student, and she blushed.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to...” Midoriya stuttered, but she shook her head.

“It’s okay.” She sniffled, “Hey, good luck out there. “

She rushed past him, and he frowned.

“Alright, so, the Frog Quirk...how do I...?”

He looked up at the monitor, and saw the match between Momo and Shinsou was already over; Momo had silently created a muzzle for herself, negating the General Class Boy’s Brainwashing. She then used a net to trap him.

“Guess I’ll just have to wing it,” Midoriya grimaced, grabbing his battle backpack.

“AND FOR THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE SEMI-FINALS, THE SUPPORT SPIDER OF ICE AND FIRE! MIDORIYAAAAAAAAAA IZZZZZZUUUUUUUKUUUU!”

“What.” Midoriya deadpanned.

“AND HIS OPPONENT, THE PHENOMENAL FROG OF THE HERO CLASS 1-A, ASUI TSUUUUYUUUU!”

Asui saw Midoriya and waved to him in a friendly way, making his stomach churn. Wish I could invent something for that feeling in my gut is. “G-good luck Asui!”

“Call me, Tsu, Midoriya-chan!”

“W-wha?” Midoriya asked, blushing.

“Oh how adorable!” Midnight gushed from the judge’s podium. “NOW FIGHT!”

Stunned from her request to call her by her first name, Midoriya left himself open as she went for her opening move, wrapping her Frog tongue around Midoriya’s leg. His knee buckled as she launched toward him, snapping him out of his trance. He was able to call out his spider-legs and wrap them around him as a shield, and as Tsuyu collided with them, he pushed them out to launch her back. “It won’t work!” He yelled, defiantly.

In the air, Tsuyu spat some poison at him, so Izuku rolled out of the way. He grabbed an ice grenade from his pack; he just needed to restain her with it. But before he could throw it, Tsuyu’s tongue wrapped his hand, locking it in place. This time, she pulled him towards her, his ice grenade clattering helpless against the concrete arena. Thankfully, the impact wasn’t enough to set it off.

Before he could react, Tsuyu spun around and kicked Midoriya across the side of the face, sending him crashing along the floor. With her tongue still wrapped around his wrist, she pulled him back to do it again.

“No!” Midoriya grunted, spinning himself up and using his spider-legs to grip into the arena floor, stopping her pull on her. Steadied, he gave a great tug, pulling Tsuyu towards him. Unprepared for this, Midoriya lifted his foot and unceremoniously booted her in the forehead. With her grip on his arm broken, he used his front spider leg to clutch her ankle and throw her towards the ring out.

Tsuyu spun in the air and managed to land inbounds, but Midoriya took the moment to plate his arms with the telescopic armor, and aimed his flamethrowers at her. He unleashed a flame burst, but she jumped right over the flame, and came crashing right down towards him, looking to stomp on him with her powerful leg-muscles. He jumped out of the way with his spider tech, but as she landed, she used her tongue to grab the nearest spider leg and yanked on it.

The power of her tongue was shocking as he was pulled off balance and crashed to the floor for the second time. Tsuyu lunged for him, but Midoriya pulled his legs under his chest and sprung himself up, shifting his spider-legs to a combat state, and striking at the girl. But she shifted her body to slip right past the tentacles and dropkicked Midoriya dead in the chest.

Wind knocked out of him, Midoriya realized he needed to adapt his strategy. His light was blocked as Tsuyu jumped towards him, looking to stomp down on him again. He rolled back into a crouch as Tsuyu landed in front of him, and Midoriya connected with a left hook with his armored gauntlets, sending Tsuyu sprawling across the ground, but she rolled into another crouching position. Midoriya used a flame burst, but Tsuyu jumped to the side.

As she moved, he saw the discarded cryogenic grenade on the ground behind where she had been.

He only had three more in his backpack, but he wanted to conserve them. He needed that one on the ground. He looked up to Tsuyu and saw she, like him, was panting, the fight beginning to wear on her too.

Still, she shot her tongue out once again, snagging his leg, and launched herself towards him. This time, Midoriya was ready, pivoting his hips as she came close, using one arm to wrap around her legs, and his other hand to grab her head and shove her into the floor with his gauntlets.

With Tsuyu stunned, he jumped over her and dove for his grenade. But as he got close, she recovered and wrapped her tongue around both of his legs. He fell to the ground, and in desperation, used his spider legs to grab the grenade and pull it back to himself. Midoriya turned onto his back as Tsuyu charged close, and threw the grenade at her feet. It exploded, wrapping Asui Tsuyu in a barrier of ice.

Midoriya caught his breath as she was immobilized, but there was sounds of alarm coming from Midnight and Class 1-A amidst the cheering crowds.

“The match is over, we need to get her out of there NOW!” Midnight yelled as she charged over.

Midoriya was confused, but then looked at Tsuyu and gasped; despite the thin layer, her skin was turning dangerously blue. “Tsu?!”

“She’s cold blooded!” Midnight yelled towards Cementoss, “We need to get her to Recovery Girl, RIGHT AWAY!”

Cold blooded?! Midoriya realized. “SHIT!” He hadn't realized the ice was potentially lethal to her from his recon.

A part of Midoriya that had been buried resurfaced immediately; the need to save others. He smashed the ice apart with one punch of his gauntlets, scooped Asui Tsuyu into his arms, and charged into the back arena on his spider-legs.

“Alright, now that is some adorable chivalrous stuff.” Midnight said to Cementoss, who just rolled his eyes.

"You're incorrigible." Cementoss sighed.

"I don't know the meaning of the word!" Midnight crowed.

It was true. She didn't.

The run to the medical center happened in blur as Midoriya held Tsuyu close to him in an attempt to share body heat. If he ended up hurting someone, especially an innocent, especially someone who had been nothing but friendly to him during his field testing, he would never forgive himself. "Please be okay," he repeated over and over to himself.

He burst into the medical office, startling Recovery Girl.

“Oh my! You got her here fast, didn’t you?” The Elderly hero asked.

“Y-yes!” Midoriya panted, “Please, I didn’t know she was cold-blooded, you have to help her, Please!!!”

Recovery Girl looked down into his arms and chuckled. “I think you fixed her up, dear.”

“Wha...?” Midoriya asked, looking down to see Tsuyu, who looked completely awake, looking up at him with a very red-face. “UWAH?!”

“Once you got me out of the ice, your body heat got me back to normal on the run over here, kero,” Tsuyu explained, avoiding his gaze. “Y-you can put me down now, kero. This is a little embarrassing.”

Midoriya immediately set the girl down and retracted his spider augmentations. Recovery girl chuckled as the two teenagers blushed at each other.

“Guess that means I lost, huh?” Tsuyu sighed.

Midoriya nodded while rubbing the back of his neck. “Y-yeah. I didn’t know you were cold-blooded. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, kero,” Tsuyu said, turning back to him. “Your weapons are very resourceful. And like you said. You didn’t know. No harm done, kero.”

“Th-thanks...I guess I should go get ready, who knows when my match with the winner of Todoroki and Momo will be,” Midoriya muttered.

He turned to leave, but Tsuyu reached out and grabbed his arm, turning him even redder. “Wait.”

Midoriya turned. To his shock, Tsuyu used her tongue to poke his cheek. “Good luck. I’ll be rooting for you. And thanks for rushing me here, kero.”

“T-t--th-hanks Ts-Tsu!” Midoriya stuttered, backing up to leave the room, tripping over his own feet and knocking a garbage can over, getting up, picking up the can awkwardly, and leaving.

Recovery Girl and Asui exchanged glances. “Oh, he’s into you.” Recovery Girl advised.

“Kero,” Tsuyu replied, turning crimson again.

---

Stumbling his way into the hallway, he heard an eruption of cheers. “AND THAT’S THE MATCH!” Present Mic boomed, “TODOROKI ADVANCES TO THE FINALS TO TAKE ON MIDORIYA! WE’LL LET THE BOYS REST FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES BEFORE THE FINAL SHOWDOWN!”

If Midoriya wasn’t already nerve-wracked from having held a girl (which he was), his insides churned further from the time limit imposing on him.

As he wandered the halls towards the waiting room, he overheard another conversation.

“Why do you refuse my power?!”

That was Endeavor, Midoriya realized, pressing himself against the corner.

“I REJECT YOU, FATHER!” Todoroki yelled.

WHAT?! Midoriya thought. THAT'S HIS DAD?!

“I will win this fight using only my right side!” Todoroki added, storming off.

Midoriya ducked into a bathroom as Todoroki stormed past.

Is he...does he have two Quirks?! What the hell?! Midoriya pondered.

He had no time to sit around and consider though; it was time for his fight. He had looked for the waiting room for so long, he had no time to sit now. He stepped into the arena to a chorus of cheers. Midoriya was so nervous, he didn’t even hear what terrible nickname Present Mic had given him (which is for the best, it was Mechanical Arachnid).

Todoroki took the stage, and Midoriya stood at the ready, knowing what he needed first.

The signal was given, and Midoriya deployed a simple incendiary explosive. He threw the grenade ten feet in front of him as Todoroki went for the ice wall he started all his matches with. The explosion hollowed out a crevice in the ice, and Midoriya deployed his arm guards, using the flamethrowers to cut a path the ice wall. With only a thin layer left, he clutches his spider legs to the side of the tunnel.

“Here goes nothing,” Midoriya said through gritted teeth.

He lunged himself through the sheet of ice, punching through with his gauntlet, and went to stomp Todoroki with his spider-enhancements - a move he picked up in his last fight. Todoroki lifted his right arm for more ice, but Midoriya shot a small burst of flames that burnt Todoroki’s hand, making him back up and withdraw it. As Midoriya landed, barely missing Todoroki, he swung for Todoroki with his armored fists. Todoroki kept backpedaling away, so after a missed right hook, Midoriya mashed a button on his backpack with his left hand.

A telescopic ecrisma stick rolled through a chute on his arm and into his left palm. Todoroki was still expecting a punch, but Midoriya flicked the weapon open and smashed the taller boy across the cheek with the metal rod, producing a satisfying, "clang," noise. As Todoroki stumbled backwards, Midoriya armed himself with another ecrisma stick so that he was dual-wielding. Todoroki raised his arms to defend, but Midoriya swooped low using his spider legs and blasted Todoroki across the side of the knee, knocking the taller boy to the ground. Todoroki turned on his side and sent a blast of ice towards Midoriya, but he used his tech to leap away defensively.

Todoroki climbed to his feet and again sent wave after wave of ice at his challenger, but Midoriya leapt away time and time again, even able to cling to the side of the original ice wall with the clawed ends of his spider legs. He clacked his ecrisma sticks together tauntingly, signaling that he was ready to throw down. Watching carefully, he saw Todoroki’s right side begin to frost up, and he seemed sluggish. Midoriya snatched another cryogenic grenade from his backpack and hurled it at Todoroki. In his haze, the Hero Class student went to freeze the grenade, but that caused it to explode, hitting him with a blast of ice and frost, pusing him backwards.

Midoriya advanced and saw Todoroki was beginning to shiver, lips turning blue. Todoroki raised his right arm again, but Midoriya was faster, pouncing on Todoroki, grabbing his forehead with a spider leg, and slamming Todoroki’s head down into the pavement. Midoriya raised an ecrisma stick over the Hero class boy’s head.

“Yield.” Midoriya commanded.

A tear ran down Todoroki’s scarred eye, much to Midoriya’s confusion. “I’m sorry, mom.”

Midoriya furrowed his brow in confusion. “I’m...not your mom.” He looked down to see Todoroki’s left hand was raised, and then suddenly wreathed in flames. “Oh. Shit.”

Midoriya jumped away, but not in enough time to prevent the flames from licking his face. “AUGH!”

As he landed on the wall of ice, he rubbed his face, trying to quell the feeling of the burn, and the smell of burnt flesh. He looked up through teary eyes to see Todoroki had gotten to his feet.

Rage welled up inside of Midoriya. “You...you have TWO QUIRKS?!”

Todoroki shot a burst of flame at Midoriya, who was able to leap away this time.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Midoriya screamed as the Todoroki’s bursts of flames began to melt the ice around the arena.

Two cryogenic grenades left. Midoriya deployed one, leapt over Todoroki, and used the burst of ice to freeze Todoroki’s left side.

Todoroki struggled, but was able to summon enough flames to burst through the barrier. Midoriya had lunged for him, planted his front two spider legs, and used them swing forward and dropkick the older boy in the stomach, knocking him backwards.

“Who do you think you are?!” Izuku yelled in a fury, beaning Todoroki above his right eye with an ecrisma stick, “where do you get off half-assing it in this tournament?!”

In his daze, Todoroki raised his right arm to freeze Midoriya, but the shorter boy raised his own arm and battled it back with his flamethrower at point blank range, causing the hero to scream in pain.

“I WENT MY WHOLE LIFE WANTING TO BE A HERO!” Midoriya screamed, abandoning his weaponry and slugging Todoroki across the jaw. “BUT I’M JUST SOME QUIRKLESS WANNABE! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE LIKE ME WOULD KILL TO BE AS STRONG AS YOU?!”

Todoroki raised his arms, but Deku grabbed both of his hands, stepped forward and headbutt Todoroki, dazing them both. Todoroki recovered first though, using a burst of flame to force Midoriya away.

“How dare you!” Todoroki seethed, wiping blood off his cheek. “THIS FIRE IS MY CURSE!”

Blood boiling, Midoriya planted himself in front of Todoroki and threw his last cryo-grenade. “You don’t deserve to call yourself Hero!”

Todoroki used his left arm to burn the cryo-grenade to ash, but this was Midoriya’s plan, as he reached through the fire with his spider-tentacle to grab the left wrist of Todoroki, and pivoted on his hip to judo toss the taller boy. But in mid air, Todoroki created a slide of ice to put some distance between himself and the crazed Support student.

Cementoss spoke into his headset, “This is getting pretty bad, do we stop them?”

Midnight hesitated as she watched. “Uh....”

Midoriya flicked his flamethrowers, but his eyes widened for a split second in panic as they clicked uselessly; he was out of fuel. He came back his senses as a flame from Todoroki cut through the air towards him. He jumped out of the way, and grabbed another flash grenade from his backpack. He pulled down his visor and threw the grenade, but Todoroki froze it before it could hit the ground.

Cursing, Midoriya grabbed his last two weapons, another pair of restraining bolas and another flash grenade. Strafing around Todoroki, he threw the light grenade, but as Todoroki went to freeze it, Midoriya through the restraining bolas low; they wrapped around Todoroki’s legs and snapped them together. Todoroki lost balance and fell to the ground. Midoriya pounced, landing on top of Todoroki, and holding a spider-tentacle threateningly up to his face.

“YIELD!” Midoriya yelled.

Instead, Todoroki placed his hands - both of them - on Midoriya’s chest.

“I’m sorry.” He muttered.

Before Midoriya knew what hit him, Todoroki unleashed the full force of both his left and right side, blasting the shorter boy off of him. Next thing he knew, Midoriya had smashed against the grass outside of the ring.

“Ah...damn it...” Midoriya coughed before passing out.

---

A few hours later, Midoriya coughed himself awake in the medical wing of the school.

“Awake, are you?” Recovery Girl asked, looking up from her computer

"Yes..." Midoriya rubbed his head, remembering what happened. “Ah...I lost.”

“No,” came a gruff voice from his left. He jumped and turned to see Power Loader was there. The hero reached over from his chair and gently grabbed his pupil's shoulder. “You came in Second. Do you know when the last time a Support Student made it to the finals, kid?”

Midoriya shook his head.

“Twenty damn years,” Power Loader laughed. “You did awesome, kid. I was right about you. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Also, thanks to you, I won a bet with Ectoplasm and got twenty bucks.”

“Er...thanks, sir.” Midoriya said, rubbing his neck. “I wanted to win it all, but...”

Power Loader clapped him on the shoulder. “Kid, that Todoroki is the strongest in class 1-A, and the son of the number 2 hero, Endeavor. And you took him to the limit more than any of his classmates could. You’re a tough son of a bitch, and I'm damn proud of you. Get some rest and go home. You have some more visitors after me.”

“I do?” Midoriya asked, confused.

Power Loader smirked as he left the room, holding the door open for Asui Tsuyu.

“Asui?” Midoriya asked. “What are you doing here?”

“I told you to call me Tsu.” She deadpanned.

“Ah...right, sorry, Tsu.” Midoriya scolded himself.

“Well, you brought me here after our fight,” she explained. “I thought I should come make sure you’re okay too.”

Midoriya blushed but smiled. “Thanks, As- sorry - Tsu. I’m okay, just a little sore. Sorry I couldn’t pull off the win after you said you were pulling for me.”

Tsuyu turned to look at him, her expression shifting very slightly to surprise. “You don’t need to apologize to me, that was maybe the coolest fight any of us have ever seen.”

Midoriya laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “W-well, I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“Of course.” She replied, smiling slightly. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Like all that stuff you were yelling during your fight.”

“The stuff I was yelling?” he asked.

“You called yourself a Quirkless nobody, that you wanted to be a hero.” Tsuyu replied, looking to the floor.

“Ha...I was so in the zone I didn’t realize I had said all that,” Midoriya admitted, scratching his nose. “I guess that probably sounded really weird.”

“Not at all.” Tsuyu reached over and grabbed his hand. “You were awesome out there.I’m just glad you’re okay. But Midoriya-chan?"

"Yeah?" He asked.

She poked his tongue with her cheek again. "You're definitely not a Quirkless nobody."

"Th-th-th-thanks." Midoriya stammered out, redder than his boots.

She beamed. "I should get going. See you Monday?”

Midoriya beamed back at her. “Definitely.”

She smiled at him as she left. Recovery Girl looked up at him once she was sure Tsuyu was out of earshot and said. “Oh she’s into you. You should take her for ice cream.”

Midoriya buried his head in his hands. “Oh my god.”

He jumped up as Hatsume kicked the door open.

“WHAT ARE HIS VITALS?! IS HE OKAY -” She screamed, before seeing Midoriya sitting upright and staring right at him. “Oh, good, you’re okay.”

“Hatsume, what are you - UWAH?!” He blurted out as his rival wrapped him in a hug.

“I was worried, duh!” She replied, pulling off him. “You were blasted three stories into the air and bounced off the ground. People don’t bounce, Deku Scrub. You bounced.” She made a bouncing motion with her hands. "Boing."

His cheeks burned again, but he laughed. “I’ve never seen you worry about anything that’s not one of your babies.”

Hatsume laughed, but turned a little red. “I-I can’t have you dying on me before I prove myself as the superior inventor.” Her tone turned more somber as she looked down at the burn marks that were still evident on his neck, “and...I suppose I don’t want anything to happen to you, either.”

Midoriya’s cheeks were tinged with pink. “Th-thanks...that means a lot to me.”

“Alright, alright,” Recovery Girl groaned. “I think he’s had enough visitors for now. He needs rest. And QUIET!” She finished the demand with a glare.

Hatsume rolled her eyes, but obliged and left. But as she did, All Might entered the room, and, once the pink-haired Support student had left, took his depowered form. “Does he have time for just one more?” The Number One Hero asked.

Midoriya’s heart leapt into his throat. Recovery Girl just sighed. “Make it quick...”

“A-All Might?” Midoriya asked, shocked. "W-what are you doing here, sir?!"

All Might gave him a small smile. “Young Midoriya...we should talk...”

Chapter Text

As Midoriya laid in his bed at home that night, he replayed his discussion with All Might in his mind, absentmindedly turning his silver medal over in his fingers as his mind drifted.

---

“Young Midoriya...I owe you an apology.” All Might said, not able to look the boy in the eyes.

Midoriya was stunned. “S-sir?”

“You see...” All Might sighed, “The day I saw you...and you lost your friend...I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. I let you both down that day.”

“What?!” Midoriya asked. “But...it’s my fault the bottle fell out of your pocket!”

All Might looked at him, incredulously. “That’s not your fault, Midoriya. I should have been more careful. And...I couldn’t bring myself to save that boy. I was there, but felt powerless to act.”

Midoriya stared at his feet at the end of the bed. He wanted to cry, but he couldn’t. All Might was blaming himself for the same thing he had been, after all this time. “You're wrong. If I had just let you go...”

All Might walked over and grabbed the boys shoulder. “Neither of us knew that would happen,” he said, calmly, “please don't carry that burden, my boy. Your friend died because someone evil decided to take a life. You can not blame yourself for the decisions of others, or my indecision to act.”

Midoriya closed his eyes. It wasn't that easy, but he knew All Might was right. Even after all this time, All Might was still his hero, even if he didn’t want to admit it.

All Might continued, “I told you that you could never be a Hero...when I had failed as a Hero.”

“What are you saying?” Midoriya asked, heart pounding in his ears. He had thought being a Hero impossible, but this speech was tugging at emotions he had buried long ago.

“I’m saying you impressed me today, Midoriya. And I want you to keep honing your skills in Support, because I think you have a knack for it. But, if you continue to keep that heroic spirit...with how you fight...with how you rushed to save that girl...maybe you could be a Hero,” All Might finished. He handed Midoriya his silver medal. “You ranked higher than most of an entire first year of powerful Quirks. You should be proud. I hope one day you can forgive me.”

“But...how could I be a hero in the Support Course?” Midoriya asked.

“Your mind and inventions got you this far,” the Pro explained. “If you grow at this rate, you could easily use it to pass a hero licensing exam after graduation. The Hero Course wouldn't do that; it’s designed to teach potential heroes to improve their Quirks. That's why I think you'd do well to stay in Support for the time being; they wouldn’t know what to do with you in Class 1-A or B.”

Midoriya frowned to his feet, but did admit, “That makes a lot of sense.”

All Might looked away. He was conflicted. As it was now, Mirio was poised to inherit One for All. But something about this kid made him feel like he'd be a good candidate. Still, he didn't know enough to be sure.

“I'll be keeping an eye on you, Midoriya.” All Might said, smiling, “Keep growing.” He walked over and handed the boy a silver medal. “You were out cold for the ceremony, but this belongs to you. Congratulations. You’ve done something no one thought possible.”

---

Midoriya stared at the piece of metal in his hand. All Might’s words had given him hope... But he was not prepared to focus on pursuing that yet.

He set the medal down next to him, and walked over to his desk, flicking on the lamp. He opened his laptop and found a few articles about The Sludge Villain. Using a combination of Bakugou’s Quirk and his own sludge powers, he had been the prime suspect in various drug smuggling operations. This was a big step up from your regularly robbery or theft, but it drew more attention. He was getting sloppy, perhaps either from laziness or overconfidence.

These rings were always held at docks. Midoriya turned to a map he had pinned to a cork board and began circling the locations of all the drug busts, looking for a pattern.

“Getting closer...” Midoriya muttered, not noticing anything predictive in the behavior.

He had finished an IP address encryptor, which he used to access the Deep Web untraceably. Not too happy with the amount of smut and gore, he searched the dark side of the internet for any chatter on the Sludge Villain or the foreign drug.

After an hour of ignoring advertisements for a Red Room (he made a side note to send the links anonymously to the authorities), he found something. A lead. He matched the coordinates to his map...a dock that wasn’t already busted. And it was a few weeks out.

He cracked a grin, but then saw the All Might figure on his desk. He frowned, and turned the figure away.

“Sorry All Might...I can’t be a hero quite yet.” Midoriya muttered, grimly. “I have something I need to do.”

He set to work making some cryogrenades; he’d need more.

“We’ll need to make sure all you guys are in top shape for the party,” Midoriya said, glancing at his backpack. “We’ll need to come out swinging.”

---

“Alright, you grease monkeys,” Power Loader greeted on Monday morning. “We had a good showing at the Sports Festival. And by we, I mostly mean the two madmen in the back,” he gestured back to where Midoriya and Hatsume were already tinkering with some new gadgets, “which means...we got internship opportunities out the ass! I’ll pass out your options...you’ll all be taking one. And of course...we have a few requests just for the two nutjobs in the back since they made it to the battle phase.”

Hatsume grinned at Midoriya. “What did I tell you, Deku Scrub? I’m going to make a mint selling my tech. A mint. Just think,” she was practically giddy at the thought, “soon I’ll be making gear for the Top 10 Heroes.”

Midoriya couldn’t help but grin at her enthusiasm. “We’ll see about that.”

He jumped as Power Loader placed a large stack of papers on his desk. “Fifty offers, Midoriya,” Power Loader huffed. “I would say it’s a new record, but...”

“But?” Midoriya asked, confused.

Power Loader guffawed. “I think you scared a few of the tech heads out there that have never seen a fight.” He dropped a stack of paper just slightly larger onto Hatsume’s desk. “She got fifty-five offers. That’s the record.”

“YES!” Hatsume cheered, fist-pumping, “I’m going to make so many new babies this week.”

“WHAT?!” Midoriya yelled, in disbelief.

“I think some of the spectators thought you were a bit nuts in that last battle,” Power Loader chuckled. “But you both broke the older record of thirty-five. And that was twenty years ago. Good job.”

As he walked away, Midoriya looked over to Hatsume, rubbing one of her gadgets against her cheek and cooing, “I’m so PROUD of you!”

“And they thought I was the crazy one...” Midoriya mumbled.

He began shuffling through the papers as Power Loader announced. “Have these back to me by Wednesday. You’ll be working with these Tech Developers for a week, and you’ll see how they work in their specialized fields, so choose carefully!”

Midoriya’s eyes snapped upwards. Then he shuffled the papers, looking for addresses instead of technical specializations or the facility specs. Finally he found one.

It was a block away.

A week.

NEXT week.

A smile crept up his lips. He had found his internship. Wait, who is this with?

“Undersea Limited?” He wondered to himself. “Specializing in Oceanographic tech for aqua-based heroes.”

Well...I’d be out of my element, he realized, but maybe it couldn’t hurt to expand my horizons.

He scanned the location again. Besides...the whole point is to be at that dock Friday night.

“It’s time,” he whispered.

“It’s 10:45, why?” Yukio replied, mishearing him.

“Er, nevermind, thanks,” Midoriya replied. Maybe I am going a little crazy.

---

“I’m telling you Deku Scrub, I don’t know who to pick,” Hatsume half-bragged, half-contemplated, “I’ve got it narrowed down to three.” She shoved her sandwich into her mouth.

Deku rolled his eyes. “The three you’ve picked all specialize in Pro Hero Suit enforcement, repair, and upgrades. I’m sure any of them would be good.”

“That’s what makes it so hard, duh! You sure you want to learn about Aqua Tech?” Hatsume asked. “High Seas Heroes use a lot of espionage and stakeouts. You seem like more of, you know,” she held up her sandwich like a gun, “pew pew, bang bang, type guy with your tech.”

“I just want to learn new things. Can’t be a one-trick pony,” he answered, when he looked up at the class 1-A table. Everyone there looked much more...solemn that day. No one was talking. As he scanned their faces, Tsuyu looked up and met his gaze. He gave her a small smile, but she frowned and looked back to her food. “Hey, did something happen to that Hero Class?”

Hatsume shrugged. “I don’t keep tabs on your girlfriend, you creep.”

“She’s not -” Midoriya began but stopped himself, “I was just wondering why they all looked so down.”

“Hey Izuku,” came a voice from his other side, making him jump. He relaxed and smiled as he saw Uraraka though. “You noticed, huh?”

“Yeah, why’s everyone looking so upset?” He asked. Hatsume leaned over as well, curiosity perked.

“Well...it’s about Iida?” Uraraka asked. “And his brother.”

“What about him?” Hatsume and Midoriya asked in unison.

Uraraka looked around to make sure no one was listening. “Iida doesn’t talk about it much, but his older brother is the Pro Hero, Ingenium...and well...you probably saw the news over the weekend.”

It took a second for him to realize what she meant, but when he did, he looked at Hatsume and they gasped.

“STAIN?!” Midoriya blurted out.

“Sh!” Uraraka hushed, “I probably shouldn't be saying this but...yeah. Stain crippled Ingenium. He's...he's taking it pretty bad. He couldn't even pick a hero name today.”

Iida and Midoriya hadn't talked much, but still, Midoriya couldn't help but feel awful for the taller boy; after all, he knew what it was like to lose someone to a villain.

“Should I say something?” Midoriya asked.

“I wouldn't...he seems like he wants to - oh no! What is she doing?!” Uraraka whisper-screamed.

Deku whipped around to see Hatsume walking over to Iida. He couldn't hear what she was saying, but she was awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck as they spoke, and Iida looked equally as uncomfortable.

“So does everyone know?” Midoriya asked, turning away from the awkward confrontation.

Uraraka shook her head. “No. Todoroki is absent today too, and no one knows why. Between the two things, everyone is all messed up.”

Midoriya played with his food. Todoroki had said some weird things about his fire being a curse, and seemed pretty messed up about using his fire at the Sports Festival. At the time he hadn't thought much of it, but looking back, there were some red flags there.

“Anyway, I never got to say, congratulations on second place!” Uraraka said, giving him her bright smile. “You're tougher than you look!”

He smiled back. “I certainly hope so. I'll need it for my internship.”

---

The week came and went, and Midoriya anxiously boarded the bus Monday morning with his backpack full. He had added a utility pouch on the front between the straps; the dispenser in the back was cool, but too impractical to have to reach behind him to grab the weapons from the air. A lesson well-learned from the Sports Festival.

Just need to make it through the week. Then it will be time. He thought to himself.

“Midoriya-Chan?” Came a croaky voice from a few seats down, making him jump. Peering down the aisle, he saw Tsuyu sitting alone. As it was early - earlier than most people would be up on a Monday - there wasn’t a large crowd. She pat the seat next to her, signaling him to go over to her.

Nervously, Midoriya took a deep breath, and slid over to the chair next to her. “G-good morning Asui.”

Tsuyu didn’t even have to say it, she just gave him a look, and Midoriya winced. “Right. Tsu. Sorry. Good morning Tsu.”

She gave a small chuckle. “Good morning Midoriya. What are you doing taking a bus to the docks this time of day, kero?”

“Oh, I have an internship with Undersea Limited,” he explained.

“I probably don’t have to tell you flamethrowers don’t work underwater,” Tsuyu replied, a hint of teasing in her usually monotonous voice.

He smirked. “So I’ve heard. I picked this so I could expand my horizons a little. Don’t want to be a one-trick pony, you know?”

“That’s smart,” the rainy season heroine replied, “Uraraka said the same thing about interning with Gunhead, said she wanted to learn how to fight better.”

“He’s definitely a good person to learn where to fight from. Speaking of, where did you learn all those cool moves from?” Midoriya asked, “You’re an awesome fighter.”

She beamed. “A lot of hero training with All Might, and a life time of having to wrangle my younger siblings. My parents work all the time, so I take care of them a lot. Helps being able to snag them quickly.”

“The perks of siblings,” Midoriya laughed. “I was an only child. So where are you off to so early?”

“I work best in water, so I decided to intern with Pro Hero Selkie patrolling the seas in this area.” Tsuyu explained, “I guess you could say I decided to stay in my element.”

“That sounds amazing!” Midoriya gushed, “Selkie is a legend as far as the seas goes! He’s been at it for over twenty years, he’d be in the top 15 if there was more crime out there. No one trusts anyone more with their cargo and...”

“Midoriya...you’re muttering...” Tsuyu pointed out. “It’s a bit creepy, kero.”

“Ah...sorry,” he apologized, blushing. “I...kinda get all otaku about Pros...I think it’s the whole...no Quirk thing.”

Tsuyu laughed, to his relief. “That makes sense. I really don’t think you need to do. You’re quite the fighter yourself, kero.”

He liked her laugh. It was like a bunch of playful ribbits.

The bus came to a halt as they reached the docks, and the two UA students climbed off.

“I’m going to be at sea for the week, but if I’m back here at a good time, do you want to ride the bus back together Friday, Midoriya-chan?” Tsuyu asked.

Heat rose to Midoriya’s cheeks at the frank question. “I-it depends, but I’d like that. I think I’ll b-be working late Friday night so we’ll see.”

She smiled. “Well, let’s hope. You’re nice to talk to. Good luck Midoriya!”

“Y-you too!”

As she walked off, Deku took a deep breath. Ignore the butterflies, Midoriya. You’ve got a hunt to finish.

---

The week was by no means a waste of his time; undersea tech was a level of expertise he was not accustomed to and he picked up a few useful tidbits of knowledge. Most importantly, waterproofing his gear, which, would even be helpful at keeping sludge out.

Still, as he left the company Friday afternoon with high praise for his hardwork and bright mind, he definitely knew that Undersea tech was not where his passion lied; the only weaponry worth anything was harpoon tech, torpedos, or people who had Quirks that worked with water. Not to say it wasn’t fascinating, but there were definitely times he was wondering how Hatsume was doing working on costumes for the pros.

He got out of the line of sight of the building as the sun began to set, and then ducked behind an old building into an alleyway. He deployed his arm guards and used his grappling hook to propel up to the decrepit rooftop of the building, then used it to sling himself up to a taller building, continuing this pattern until he could look out at the docks.

Midoriya looked at his notes; according to them, the Sludge bastard would be meeting his suppliers in less than an hour.

Patiently waiting, it wasn’t long before Midoriya’s plan was turned on its head; the police rolled up to the docks, a full squadron. Curiosity peaked, he pulled down his goggles and zoomed in; a feature he had learned from Hatsume. They were all just waiting. But why? To scare off the transfer?

His questions were answered shortly after, as a boat came into the dock. Crouching behind the ledge of the building, Midoriya zoomed in on his goggles and immediately cursed his tunnel vision; Captain Selkie and his crew were turning over drug smugglers to the authorities.

Of course! He cursed. After that whole rant I went on to Tsu, I should have figured Captain Selkie would catch these drug smugglers.

Cursing to himself more, he swept the area visually for any sign of the spiky blonde hair of his former childhood friend. Nothing found. He did see Tsuyu though, and admittedly, it did cheer him up to see Selkie pat her on the back and a bunch of the police officers shake her hand. He couldn’t tell what they were saying, but it became pretty clear that Tsuyu had played a big part in helping apprehend the drug smugglers. As mad as he was about his plan getting ruined, that was pretty cool for her.

An officer offered to drive the heroine home, and as she got in the car, the contraband was loaded into an armored truck. The two vehicles housing these left separately from the rest of the squad, who dispersed along with the Captain.

Midoriya sighed and sat down on the pavement. This whole stakeout had been a bust. Or, he thought it had, until a loud explosion, and the sound of two crashing vehicles echoed a few blocks away.

“Tsuyu!” He worried aloud, deploying his spider legs and leaping from roof to roof until he had reached the source of the sound.

Peering down onto the street from a rooftop, he gasped.

It was him.

The rat bastard wearing Kacchan as a skinsuit. He had used an explosion to blow the armored truck into the police cruiser, and was taking as much of the drugs as he could fit under his arm from the back of the now destroyed car. Midoriya didn’t see any of the officers, but he assumed that, at best, they were out cold from the impact.

He was about to leap down to the streets, but was startled as a the back door of the police car was booted open, and Asui leapt out, using her tongue to grab the back of the villain’s leg, and rocketed herself towards the Kacchan’s body, kicking him in the back, and making him drop the drugs.

“DAMN IT!” He heard the villain yell, sending shivers down Midoriya’s spine to hear an imposter’s voice come from his friend’s mouth. “You keep shitting on my plans, don’t you bitch?”

Tsuyu leapt to attack the Sludge Villain again, but he used Bakugou’s explosion Quirk to blast her into a building next to them, and he followed her inside through the busted window.

“Time to stop spectating,” Deku growled, jumping to the street and using his spider legs to land, sneaking in the window as silently as possible. As soon as he entered, he felt the temperature drop at least thirty or forty degrees. This must be a cold storage facility.

Two plus two clicked in his head and he gasped. Tsuyu! She can’t be here!

He ran inside, and peaked around a corner to see Tsuyu, stumbling backwards, clearly struggling to stay conscious as the Sludge Villain approached.

“You know...” He scowled, “This meat suit is getting a little rotten...I wouldn’t mind an upgrade.”

The villain used an explosion to knock Tsuyu to the ground, and she weakled tried to scoot away. He discarded Bakugou’s body, leaving through the rotted opening of the left eye, leaving the corpse of Kacchan in a heap on the floor, and approached Tsuyu ominously.

It’s time.

Midoriya sprung into action, re-deploying his Spider legs, and landing over Tsuyu defensively.

The Sludge Villain’s eyes widened in recognition. “You?!”

Midoriya did not answer as adrenaline overtook him. He reared up onto his back spider legs and shoved the front ones directly into the eyes of his most hated nemesis. The villain screamed in pain as Midoriya shoved him a few feet back, away from the hero in training. Blood began to seep around the spider legs, but the Sludge Villain began to wrap his sludge around them, jamming the appendages in place.

Worried this might happen, Midoriya flipped a switch on his backpack he had prepared, releasing the spider legs as they became fully absorbed by the Sludge Villain.

“WHERE DID YOU GO?!” The blinded villain yelled impotently. Midoriya jumped back as he swung a massive, gooey arm at him.

Midoriya wasted no time grabbed three cryogrenades from his chest pouch, and throwing them at the villain as he tried to grow himself. They worked like a charm, and the extra power he had put in them quickly encased his villain in a block of ice. There was one crack he tried to escape from, but a fourth cryogrenade sealed it.

Midoriya could see the Sludge Villain squirming uselessly. He had trapped him swiftly, as any good hunter would. He pulled an explosive disc from his pack and took a few steps away.

“I know you can hear me, you piece of shit.” He said.

The Sludge Villain had stopped moving, but Midoriya could hear muffled screams. “You killed my friend,” Midoriya seethed, “so you’ve been living on borrowed time.”

He tried to throw the explosive...but couldn’t bring himself to do it.

“You...you deserve to die!” Midoriya yelled, trying to convince myself.

Still, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He raised the explosive disc, but stopped when he realized he was crying. For the first time since the funeral, he was crying. “You...YOU ARE NOT WORTH TEARS! I’LL KILL YOU, YOU SACK OF CRAP!”

He reared back the disc, and paused, trying to convince himself to cross the threshold. It was all he thought about for the last year. All of this had been building to tonight.

Do it! DO IT!

Before he could move, a tongue wrapped around his wrist, cementing him in place. He whipped around to see Tsuyu, barely conscious, was restraining him weakly.

“M...Midoriya,” she mumbled, barely audible, but in his crisis, it sounded like she was screaming in his ears. “Don’t...”

Midoriya stood frozen like that for five seconds. But in those five seconds, an eternity passed as he slowly looked from his classmate to his prey, a war waging in his head whether to heed her advice or to finally rid the world of the murderous scum he had trapped.

The sound of sirens, and flashing red and blue lights broke his trance; the police were outside. Tsuyu’s tongue collapsed onto the ground as she passed out, beginning to turn blue. Midoriya realized she could get in major trouble for using her Quirk unlicensed, and the longer she stayed here, the more danger she was in. He tucked the explosive away.

He turned to the Sludge Villain, and said, in a flat, but intense tone, “If you hurt anyone ever again, I will finish the job. Consider yourself lucky.”

Midoriya scooped Asui Tsuyu under his arm, and used his grappling hook to disappear from the warehouse before the police could enter the building.

---

Tsuyu snapped awake not long after, and tried to process her surroundings. She had been wrapped in an emergency blanket, and next to her, a fire was roaring in a metal garbage can. Eyes darting all over, it became apparent she was on some sort of rooftop. Unraveling herself from her cocoon, she saw Midoriya peering over the edge of the building. Cautiously, she walked next to him and followed his gaze down to the streets; the police were containing the villain in a specialized vehicle. Another vehicle, a standard ambulance, was carting another body under a sheet into it.

“Midoriya...what’s happening, kero?” Tsuyu asked, trying to make heads or tails of the evening she just had. “Why were you here? Why did it look like you were going to...”

She couldn’t bring herself to say the words.

Midoriya sniffled, and looked at her. It became obvious to her he had been crying, so she went silent.

After a moment, he asked, “I guess I should tell you...it’s a long story. Can you...can you keep a secret?”

Tsuyu nodded. Mainly, she just wanted the night to make sense.

Midoriya let out a long, shaky sigh. “Well...A year ago, that monster...that villain killed my friend Bakugou Katsuki. That was the body he had been wearing for the last year. After he killed him, Power Loader started mentoring me on how to build things so I could enter the Support Course. He didn’t know why I wanted to learn how to build weaponry or anything, he just thought...well...I guess he just figured I’d like it. I do, actually. Anyway, I’m getting off track.”

Midoriya sat down and leaned against the the ledge. “And ever since, I’ve been tracking him down. I wanted to hunt him down and learn how to stop him. Get justice for my friend. And I finally learned how. But...I couldn’t do it.” A few more tears fell from his eyes. “I failed.” He sniffed and rubbed his nose. “Growing up, I wanted so badly to be a Hero. And everyone told me I couldn’t do it, you know? I just thought, maybe if I could never be a Hero, I could at least be useful and get revenge for Kacchan. I can’t even do that right. The last year of my life, wasted.”

Tsuyu sat down next to him. “I don’t think it was a waste, Kero.”

Midoriya sniffed, and remained silent. Tsuyu continued. “No one has caught that villain. I remember seeing that attack on the news, you know? You did something the police and the heroes couldn’t for the last year, kero.”

“You don’t get it,” Midoriya sighed. “He killed Bakugou. This whole year was culminating in me avenging him. And I couldn’t even throw the grenade.”

“Do you regret not killing him? That would have made you a Villain too.” Tsuyu replied.

Midoriya paused. “I...I don’t know.”

Tsuyu reached over and grabbed his hand. “This is already borderline Vigilantism. I don’t know if you not having Quirk would get you off the hook on a technicality, kero. But Pros only have authority to use lethal force in the most dire of situations.”

Midoriya brought his knees to his chest. Tsuyu looked down at her own feet. “I know I was out of it...but I don’t think you wanted to do it, kero.”

Midoriya looked up at her. “You don’t?”

She shook her head. “You were shaking and crying. I didn’t want to let you do anything you’d regret.”

He paused, but after a minute, his legs relaxed back down from his chest to the roof. “...you’re right. Maybe I’m still that same stupid kid who thought he could be a Hero.”

To his surprise, she moved closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, making him freeze.

“I think you’re a hero, Midoriya-chan.”

“You do?” He breathed.

She nodded against his shoulder. “I would have been his next puppet if you hadn’t been there, kero. You saved me. So at the least, you’re my hero.”

Midoriya’s face burned the embarrassment. “Thank you, Tsu.”

She stood up and offered him a hand up. After a pause, he accepted. “Besides,” she added, “I bet your friend’s family is going to be really happy he can be at peace now.”

Midoriya gave her a small smile. “Thank you, Tsu...please don’t tell anyone about this.”

Tsuyu returned his smile. “Of course, Midoriya-chan. Just...no more obsessing over villain murder. You’re better than that.”

“Okay,” he relented. “You win.”

Together, they left the rooftop of the building and boarded the late bus back towards home, exhausted from the crazy day. Tsuyu told Midoriya all about her encounter capturing the Sludge Villain’s partners at sea, to his amazement.

As they neared his stop, he looked at her and gulped. “Hey...do you want to grab some ice cream tomorrow?”

She tilted her head at him quizzically and tapped a finger to her chin. “Kero?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I mean...we survived a supervillain attack. I kind of figured it might be cause for celebration.”

She smirked to him, and grabbed a pen from her arm. She wrote her phone number on his hand. “Text me tomorrow and we’ll meet up, kero?”

He beamed as he left the bus. “Alright, talk to you tomorrow.”
---

That night, Midoriya kicked off his pack and collapsed onto his bed. He was exhausted, but his head was racing, emotions stirring about his heart and mind as he recapped the rollercoaster of a night over and over. After an hour, he took out his phone and texted Tsuyu.

-Hey. It’s Midoriya. I can’t sleep. Are you still up?

He was surprised to see her call him a few minutes later. He held the phone up to his ear and whispered, “Tsu?”

Midoriya was shocked to hear her in tears. “Midoriya, it’s terrible!”

He furrowed his brow. He had just seen her an hour ago. “What happened?”

“I just got off the phone with Uraraka...it’s Iida, kero.” She sobbed.

He paused, and Tsuyu explained. “He went after Stain. Just like you did. But he was alone. He...He didn’t make it Midoriya.”

Midoriya almost dropped the phone. “Oh my god...Tsuyu, I’m so sorry. Do you need anything? Do you want me to get you anything?”

She sniffed. “No...can we...can we put a raincheck on the ice cream for a week or two? I kind of just want to be alone for a bit, kero. That could have been us, you know? I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” he insisted. “You lost a friend. Please, take all the time you need. Please call or text me if you need anything.”

“Thank you, Midoriya-chan.” She croaked. “You’re really sweet, kero.”

“Don’t worry about it, Tsu. I’m...I’m here for you. After everything you’ve done for me tonight.” Midoriya replied.

“Thanks...I’m going to try and sleep though...goodnight Midoriya.”

“Me too. Goodnight, Tsu.”

Midoriya did not sleep though. Instead he stood up, and walked over to his corkboard. He ripped down every article and picture of the Sludge Villain, and tore them into as small of pieces as he possibly could. He opened his laptop and printed a few articles on the Hero Killer, Stain to review in the morning. He tacked a picture of the Villain on the center of the corkboard.

“You’re next.” Midoriya whispered to the picture.

Chapter Text

The day after the capture of the Sludge Villain, Midoriya watched the news intently with his mother. Not for glory, but to learn more about the attack near Shibuya where Stain had murdered his fellow UA Student, Iida Tenya.

It turned out the attack was just part of a bigger attack by the League of Villains, or so the authorities believed for the time being. Frustratingly, most of the coverage was focused on the monsters that were attacking - the same kind Midoriya had seen at the USJ, supposedly called Nomu’s - that had ravaged a few blocks before being stopped by Endeavor and a few lower level Pros. But finally, the newscaster went over the details - though there wasn’t much. Stain had cornered and killed Pro Hero Native, and Iida attempted to intervene and kill Stain. But he failed, as Stain used his blades to do in both the student and Hero. Frustratingly, no one had yet to discover how Stain’s Quirk worked.

Midoriya was annoyed with how unhelpful this was, until the newscaster shifted to the capture of the Sludge Villain, and the recovery of the body of Bakugou Katsuki. The reporter showed a brief interview with a woman Midoriya recognized as Bakugou’s mother, Mitsuki.

“I’m just so glad he can rest now,” she said through tears, “and that justice was finally done for my boy.”

Midoriya swelled with pride for a minute. Perhaps Tsuyu had been right. In the end, maybe killing the villain wasn’t where he should have focused. At the least, he was glad to have given Kacchan’s mother some peace.

Having finished the newscast, Midoriya excused himself to his room to study, grabbing an apple for brain food. Sitting down at his desk with his laptop, he paused to text Tsuyu.

-Good morning. How are you holding up?-

As he began to research Stain, she messaged him back.

-It’s rough. Uraraka is taking it really hard. They were best friends. I’m heading over to see her.-

He frowned. Both Tsuyu and Uraraka were nothing but nice to him, and it was terrible knowing they were going through this. He might not have really known Iida, but he seemed like a good enough guy.

-That’s awful, but it’s really sweet you’re there for her. I’m here if you need me. Let me know how it goes, okay?-

Midoriya turned his attention back to his computer, going back to square one with research. All the news stories were the same; Stain’s MO was consistent from every killing or crippling: he would attack a solitary hero with his blades in an ambush. Surviving Heroes always said that somehow, he would temporarily paralyze them, leaving them sitting ducks to disfigure in whatever way he saw fit.

Printing off a fresh map, Midoriya circled all the locations Stain had struck, and stood back. He frowned. The attacks were widespread and seemingly random. “Don’t stick to a neighborhood, huh?”

He supposed it made sense.

Where and when weren’t becoming clear. The, “how,” while still unclear, at least was some combination of bladed fighting skills and a paralysis Quirk of sorts. The, “What,” was the killing of Heroes.

But why?

Maybe that would give him an insight on what could be done. To his knowledge, Stain had never given a statement on why he was doing what he was doing; usually that only came out when a high-profile villain was brought in.

He looked at the list of Stain’s victims, trying to link them together. Still, Midoriya couldn’t find a connection. All of the Pros had various different Quirks, specialities, their rankings were all over the place, as were their popularities.

Midoriya placed his head in his hands. “How do you cover your tracks so well...?”

Distracted and disgruntled at his lack of success, he began repairing his spider-legs, his most used tech, until a few hours had passed. He figured it was time to let his brain reset and he’ll get an idea later. He grabbed his phone after awhile and realized he had missed a text from Tsuyu not too long ago.

-Are you busy?-

Pausing on his repairs, he messaged back, -no, what’s up?-

-There’s a memorial for Iida tomorrow at the park hosted by the school. Would you mind coming with me? I don’t want to go by myself.-

Midoriya’s frustrated expression softened. He couldn’t lose himself to revenge again. He promised to stop hunting down villains to murder them.

He never said he wouldn’t capture them, though.

-Of course I’ll go with you. Tell me where and when to meet you.-

-Thanks, Midoriya-kun. You’re the best.-

Midoriya smiled, and evaluated his scrap pile. I think a trip to the beach is in order. I won’t be hunting down anyone if I’m not stocked up on ammunition.

---

The next day, Midoriya put on his suit, checking himself over. It felt weird; he had never really had a conversation with Iida, so it felt a bit awkward to go to a memorial service for the taller boy. It was still sad, and he had wanted to try and talk to him about his Quirk after Internships were done, but you never know what the universe is going to throw your way. But today, he was here for emotional support...which also was a role he wasn’t familiar with. Still, if he could break down and reveal his backstory to Tsuyu, he would do his best for her.

As he was getting ready to head out, he was surprised as his mother stopped him for a hug.

“I’m so glad you went with the Support Department, sweetie,” she said, tearing up.

“What do you mean?” Midoriya asked, hugging his mom regardless.

“If you were a Hero...fighting Villains all the time...” Inko sniffed, “I’d worry about you all the time. You could end up like that boy...”

Midoriya put on his best poker face (still terrible, but it somehow fooled his mom), trying not to let on that he had literally come face to face with a murderous villain less than two days ago, and hurried out the door. Oof.

He pushed the guilt down as he boarded the bus, remembering his promise to meet Tsuyu at the entrance of the Park. He allowed himself a small smile as he saw her, but it was hard to keep it seeing the distraught faces of all the students of class 1-A. A few from class 1-B had showed up as well.

As he walked over to Tsuyu, she gave him a forlorn smile. “Thanks for coming, Kero.”

To his surprise, she hugged him. Awkwardly, he returned the embrace. “Of course. I’m sorry.”

She looked away and sighed as her eyes teared up.. “It’s going to be weird walking home with Uraraka without him.”

At the strain in her voice, Midoriya looked up, and realized people were beginning to shuffle towards the back. “Hey, I think it’s starting...”

She nodded and walked towards the rear of the park. He didn’t know what to really do in this situation, but he kept a hand on the small of her back in an effort to be comforting. At his touch, she smiled at him, so he figured it was the right thing to do.

The ceremony was simple enough. The Principal spoke, as did All Might, talking about the importance of being a Hero even as the community is hurt, and about the type of person Iida was as a loving brother and friend. Afterwards, the crowd broke apart, some leaving, some talking to remember their fallen friend. Uraraka made her way over to the two of them and immediately threw her arms around Tsuyu. Seeing Deku, she grabbed him and pulled him into a group hug. If it wasn’t a somber occasion, Midoriya would have been incredibly embarrassed.

“I’m glad you guys are here,” she said as she buried her head between the two of them.

“Kero,” Tsuyu replied.

“Of course,” Midoriya added.

The three of them began to walk away from the park, when they heard a commotion.

“...waste of my time!” Came a gruff, familiar voice.

Midoriya slowed in his tracks and craned his neck over to see the commotion; Endeavor was loudly complaining about the ceremony as Todoroki sulked behind him.

“Father, please, he was my friend.” Todoroki said, barely audible. Midoriya noticed it was a far cry from the rebellious attitude he had seen at the Sports Festival.

“You don’t have time for friends,” Endeavor snorted. “That’s not your purpose.”

The way he said that left a bad taste in Midoriya’s mouth, but he was pulled from his eavesdropping as Tsuyu tapped on his shoulder.

“Are you okay Midoriya-chan?” She asked.

“Ah...sorry, guess I got distracted by Todoroki and his dad...” he admitted. “Can’t believe he said all that.”

Uraraka huffed. “I can see why that guy has so many haters. For the Number Two Hero, he’s nothing but an asshole.”

Tsuyu nodded. “Really pushes what counts as a Hero, kero.”

Something clicked in Midoriya’s mind. Haters. Could that be...?

“Do you guys want to grab something to eat?” Uraraka asked, sadly. “If I go home I’m just going to be sad.”

“Kero, I wish. I have to go take care of Samidare and Satsuki.” Tsuyu sighed, then once she saw Midoriya’s confused face, she added, “those are my siblings.”

Tsuyu and Uraraka hugged again, and this time Midoriya wasn’t caught by surprise when Tsuyu embraced him as well. He noticed she still blushed a bit by it too before walking off towards the bus stop.

“So what do you say Midoriya? You hungry?” Uraraka asked, shyly.

At first, he was tempted to turn her down - he had an idea he wanted to research about Stain - but then he saw how melancholy Uraraka looked. He remembered earlier the other morning, remembering how good it felt to know he had given some peace to Kacchan’s mother. Being there for people was just as important as catching villains.

“S-sure, I got a minute,” he replied.

They stopped for some ramen, but Midoriya could barely focus as his mind raced. But as they were leaving the restaurant, Uraraka said something that snapped him out of his trance.

“You know Midoriya, there’s something that bugs me.” She said.

“What’s that?” He asked, curiously.

She gave him a lopsided grin. “I wish I would have gotten a chance to take you on at the Sports Festival.”

Midoriya laughed. “Yeah? Why’s that?”

“Well, after we agreed not to go easy on each other, it would have been fun to see just how tough you are!” She beamed.

He smiled back. “Well, perhaps next year. Anyway, I should go. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight Midoriya!” Her face returned to the more somber look, but she looked down and kept a slight smile. "Thank you for keeping me company."

He smiled back, cheeks tinged pink. "G-glad to help. Goodnight Uraraka."

As she left his sights, Midoriya took a determined look. Friend time was over. Now it was Hunter Time.

Giving his mom the quickest greeting he could, he darted towards his room and opened his laptop, and hit up the Dark Web. He pulled out his list of Heroes who had fallen victim to Stain and began researching them.

His hunch had proved correct; nearly every hero who had been attacked by Stain had a large amount of complaints on various, “Hero Hater,” message boards on the more unsavory parts of the web. People complaining that they weren’t of the right caliber to be a hero, that their motivations were garbage, or that they were too much of an asshole to be a hero.

“Is he...is he judging the heroes?” Midoriya wondered, tapping his pen to his mouth.

It was a passable theory, the heroes who died were the ones with the most atrocious attitudes; known for being in the Hero business only for money and fame. The ones who lived tended to be made examples of, like Ingenium, and had relatively few complaints, but were more business-minded as opposed to altruistic. Not that this ever seemed bad in Midoriya’s mind; heroism was a viable career if you had the ability for it. But the way some of these message boards stated it, if you weren’t All Might-like in your motivations, you were garbage.

Midoriya yawned. Even if it was a workable theory, he had no way of knowing when or where Stain would strike next.

Closing his laptop, he decided this could be a problem for tomorrow. It took him a year to track down the Sludge Villain. He wasn’t going to find Stain or figure out how to combat his Quirk overnight.

Little did Midoriya know that it would be sooner than he thought.

---

The next morning in class, he began drawing up plans for new weaponry while waiting for Power Loader to come in, he didn’t see Hatsume sneak up behind me and give him a surprise hug. “THERE’S MY FAVORITE VEGETABLE!”

Midoriya blushed horribly as he jumped, but relaxed as he whipped around to see his Support Rival. “Oh, it’s just you,” he replied with some sarcasm.

“Tch. That’s no way to greet your best friend.” Hatsume huffed playfully, ruffling his hair and heading to her desk. “So tell me all about your journey to Atlantis.”

“Since when am I your best friend? I thought I was your most hated rival?” Midoriya chuckled.

She rolled her eyes. “Just tell me how your internship was.”

Midoriya explained that it was a bit lackluster, but educational. Still, he noticed Hatsume looked a bit...distracted. Or trying to get something more from him? He couldn’t put his finger on it. “Tell me about yours, Hatsume.”

To his surprise she shrugged. “It was fine. Not as much fun as I thought. Mostly just repairing Pro suits, you know? Didn’t get to really invent anything new.”

“That’s a bummer, you were so psyched to be working on Pro Suits.” Midoriya frowned.

She shrugged once more. “Yeah, well, I was hoping I’d get a chance to enhance them or something. Maybe we’ll be able to for the Hero Course people here?”

Power Loader walked in the door, yawning. “Alright, looks like you all lived. And even better, no one complained about any of you, which is a miracle I’m willing to take.”

Standing behind the desk, he looked over his students and took a lopsided grin. “So now we’re going to be approaching term end. So, you’ve all built weaponry for the sports festival, restraining systems, you’ve interned. This has been a pretty good start to the year for Support. But! That means I have to go above and beyond for your end of term Projects.” He held up his hands for air quotes, “Plus Ultra, as they tell us to say.”

This got a chuckle out of his tired students, and he continued, “I want to challenge you. Make you tackle a problem you might not have thought of before. So, I’m going to put you into small groups of two or three, and you’ll be working a special project until the end of term next month.”

Power Loader went around the room, separating students into various groups before getting to the back. “And of course...you two...”

Midoriya and Hatsume exchanged looks as Power Loader chuckled. “You two get to help me on something. I have a friend who needs something added or invented for her Pro Costume.”

“YES!” Hatsume exclaimed, grabbing Midoriya’s shoulders abruptly and shaking him around. “WHATEVER IT IS, WE’RE ON IT!”

Dizzy, Midoriya asked, “Who’s the Pro, sir?”

To their surprise, Power Loader looked embarrassed. “Well...you’ll have to come downtown with me for it. I’ll get you out of your afternoon classes; this one is at my lab.”

Midoriya grinned, but was interrupted as Hatsume began shaking him again, “WE’RE GOING TO A PRO LAB FOR A SECRET INVENTING PROJECT!”

“SHH!” Power Loader groaned. “You don’t even know what secret means, you pink-headed idiot.”

---

The project itself was...unexpected.

“You want us to build...boots...for Mount Lady?” Midoriya asked, unsure.

This was a much better reaction than Hatsume, who looked utterly deflated.

“Hey, have you seen the feet of my costume?!” Mt. Lady huffed, holding up her foot to them, “this is thin fabric! I feel everything I step on! It hurts!”

“Er, yes.” Power Loader said, trying to keep a straight face. “The problem is, there is no material that can be used to stretch and shrink with her costume on the fly. That’s what I want you two to research for your term project. Today, you’re going to take her measurements in normal and giant form, and start your work. Grab your stuff and meet us outside.”

As Power Loader and Mount Lady conversed and left Power Loader’s Support Lab, Midoriya and Hatsume looked to each other.

“This is kind of a letdown.” Hatsume grumbled.

“Yeah,” Midoriya replied, “But I guess that’s what a lot of Support is - some of the things the Pros need is mundane, you know? Compression sleeves, impact absorbers and dampers.”

“I guess. I like the stuff you and I make, Deku Scrub.” Hatsume sighed, grabbing her tool belt and measuring tape as Midoriya grabbed his.

“Well, maybe we can rig some secret lasers on these boots,” Midoriya joked. “But yeah. The stuff we made for the Sports Festival was so much more fun.”

“And practical?” Hatsume asked, almost...suspiciously. Midoriya wasn’t sure what she was getting at.

But it didn’t matter as the sound of a scream came from outside. Alarmed, the two Support students ran out to the front of building and gasped to find Power Loader, laying on the ground motionless.

“SIR!” They both yelled, crouching down.

“I’m fine...get away from here!” He grunted before passing out.

They looked up, and Midoriya saw Mt. Lady had gigantified herself, giving chase to down the street.

“FREEZE, STAIN!” She yelled, angrily.

His eyes widened. Not today.

Hatsume stood up, “Come on Deku Scrub, lets get...” She looked up though and saw Midoriya chasing down Mt. Lady as he ducked down an alley. “Out of here?”

---

Midoriya deployed his spider legs in the alley and scaled his way up to a rooftop, leaping from roof to roof as he followed Mount Lady desperately. It was hard to keep up with her long strides. In the distance, he saw her reach out and grab something. Maybe she has this under control.

His thoughts were dashed though as suddenly Mt. Lady fell, collapsing against the pavement, making the ground shake. Or not.

As he reached the edge of the roof, Midoriya froze, shocked.

Like the others before her, Mount Lady had been paralyzed, as she lay on the ground trembling. Whatever had paralyzed made her revert to normal size as well. A man stood right above her neck, holding a blade to it.

Deku recognized him as Stain.

“You are no hero...” He growled. “In it for fame and glory...”

Holy shit, I was right! Well, kind of.

He raised the blade, and Midoriya found himself springing into action before he could even think. Leaping from the sky, he whipped out a magnetic bola and threw it, snapping around Stain’s legs. But in a swift motion, Stain diverted his blade and cut himself free as Midoriya landed past the top of Mount Lady’s head. .

Turning, the villain looked in Midoriya’s eyes, sizing up the boy with the mechanical spider legs. “And who might you be?”

“No one special, just passing through,” Midoriya replied, pointing his flamethrowers at the Hero Killer. “Let’s step away from the Pro, shall we?”

The were a pause as the two sized each other up, and then Stain was on the attack in a flash. He immediately jumped to his left and off a wall, and Midoriya braced, but suddenly he had a stinging feeling in his left shin - when Stain had jumped, he had thrown a knife that sliced his unprotected leg.

Ignoring the pain, Midoriya leapt backwards himself, and grabbed a cryogrenade. Stain went to grab the knife and pull it towards his face, but Midoriya had thrown his weapon by then, freezing the blade to the ground. Stain was barely able to jump back and avoid the icy blast. While he was dodging, Midoriya unleashed a burst of flame from his gauntlets, but Stain hit the ground in a roll and dashed away, throwing another knife. Midoriya caught that one and snapped it with his iron gauntlet. But as he caught the blade, Stain had used the opportunity to close the distance between them, and was readying an attack with his sword. Midoriya was able to parry with his own spider leg, but didn’t see Stain produce another small knife with his off hand, and nick Midoriya’s side. In a flash, he gave the blade a lick, and Deku felt himself freeze up.

It’s the blood. He has to lick blood. He realized. Not that it mattered now.

Suspended helplessly from his spider legs he looked at the Hero Killer in terror.

Stain walked up and examined the boy. “What do you think you’re playing at kid? You out for revenge just like that other punk ass?”

“I jumped because you were going to kill her,” Midoriya spat defiantly, relieved his mouth still worked. His best shot now was to stall for time.

It was true, to an extent. While he was definitely after Stain, he would never have struck without knowing what he was dealing with. But all logic flew out the window when someone was threatened.

“Let me tell you something, kid,” Stain laughed, a rather twisted chuckle, “she’s not worth saving. She’s here for glory and fame. You think she’d do the same for you?”

“Absolutely,” Midoriya replied. “She’s never failed to act in any of her heroics.”

“So she can get good photo opportunities?!” Stain grunted heatedly, suddenly pressing a knife to Midoriya’s neck.

I can’t move, but I can feel the cold steel, Midoriya gulped.

Still, he needed to keep Stain busy. “Heroics in pursuit of fame and money are still heroics. If the means are just, and the end hurts no one, it’s still a positive gain for the community.”

Stain laughed and stepped away. “Oh kid. Kid, that’s where you’re wrong.”

He turned and pointed to Mount Lady, “You glorify selfish pricks like her, or that shitwad Endeavor, you get more gloryhounds. You get more Fake Heroes. They don’t care about making the world a better place. There kind breeds more False Idols.”

“You don’t get a better world by killing Heroes either,” Midoriya retorted. “That makes it easier for the Villains to succeed.”

“AND THEN BETTER HEROES WILL HAVE TO RISE UP AND TAKE THEIR PLACE!” Stain yelled. “It’s Evolution in practice.”

“But how many innocents die in the meantime?” Midoriya asked. “How many have to be sacrificed until the Hero scene looks the way you want it?”

Stain approached him again with his sword drawn. “It’s a necessary number...they are part of the greater good. Just...like...you.”

But before Stain could strike, the sound of sirens filled the alley, along with red and blue flashing lights. He looked away just long enough for a smoke bomb to hit the ground, blinding both Stain and Midoriya. Midoriya could feel someone grab him and suddenly he was lifted from the ground. He was momentarily blinded by the bright sunlight as he left the smoke, and then saw Hatsume had grabbed onto him and was wearing her Boost Boots. They landed on a roof and rolled across the concrete, until they stopped with her on top of him.

From below, they could hear police clattering across the alley, yelling, “where did he go?!” Stain had fled in the confusion.

She pulled off of him and looked him in the eyes. Midoriya gulped as Hatsume looked him over. But he wasn’t expecting her to do what she did next.

“It was you, wasn’t it?” She asked, disheartened. “You’re the one who caught the Sludge guy, aren’t you?”

Oh shit. Midoriya thought.

Chapter Text

Hatsume stared down at the green-haired boy she had just saved. He had frozen up at her question. Midoriya’s mind raced as he looked up at her. There was a pleading in her eyes that he couldn’t bring himself to lie too; she was the first friend he had made at UA, and had literally just pulled him from the jaws of death.

“...how did you know?” He asked, defeated.

Hatsume frowned, and dug into her pocket, pulling out her cell phone. The screen showed photos from a news report of the capture of the Sludge Villain. “He was captured by being encased in ice. There are no ice heroes operating in that area. YOU were in that area. Not only that...”

She zoomed in the photos to where Midoriya had landed after jumping off of the building, revealing four points in the ground where a triad formation of claw marks were embedded in the cement, “these match your little spider-things there.”

Midoriya had to stop himself from marveling at her investigative skills, but cursed under his breath. “Yeah...it was me.”

“Why?” Hatsume asked, confused. The look on her usually confident and happy face just seems out of place, twisting the feeling of guilt in Midoriya's gut even further.

He shifted uncomfortably, “Hatsume, this is a long story and not a lot of people know...”

She looked hurt, to his surprise. “Don’t you trust me? We’ve built stuff together...”

Midoriya furrowed his brow in confusion and she looked away before adding. “I’ve never...built anything with anyone besides you. I don’t trust just anyone with my babies, Deku Scrub...”

He never really considered this, and his heart sank to realize how casually he had viewed their friendship. “No, I trust you...just...alright, I can tell you.”

Midoriya cleared his throat and closed his eyes. “So...growing up, I had a friend. Bakugou Katsuki. When we hit four, he kind of became this cocky guy, because he had a powerful Quirk. He would tease me about being Quirkless, but I still always looked up to him.”

“Why?” Hatsume asked.

Midoriya shrugged. “He was the most powerful person I knew. Being Quirkless, I actually grew up wanting nothing more than to be like All Might. To be a hero, a protector. But Bakugou was so much closer than any Hero. And he was so strong. To me, he was victory. Until that Sludge Villain showed up...”

“I knew the name sounded familiar,” Hatsume interrupted with a grimace, “he’s the one who died.”

“Right,” Midoriya sighed, “but before that attack, All Might saved me from the same villain. It seemed like a dream come true....but...”

“But?” Hatsume echoed.

“He told me I could never be a Hero...” Midoriya replied. “During that, the villain escaped.”

“Oof.” Hatsume blanched. “That’s a day that would kick anyone’s ass.”

“It was the worst day of my life. I lost everything that day. I looked out the window and thought about - OW!”

Midoriya didn’t get a chance to finish that sentence before Hatsume slapped him. “What was that for?!”

Hatsume glared. “You don’t get to think things like that. You’re too important to me. You're going to live, or I'll kill you!”

Midoriya’s face softened. “I don’t...just...that one time. Anyway, Power Loader was at the funeral and found this dorky notebook I’ve been keeping since I was little about Hero’s Quirks. Said I had a good mind for analyzing and inventing...and he mentored me for months on how to build things.”

“You mean you haven’t been doing this your whole life?!” She asked. “You’re so good though!”

He laughed a bit. “No...just the last year or so. Anyway...the whole time, I was planning on using what I built to avenge my friend. And when I finally caught him...I almost did...but Tsuyu was there and stopped me. That was the night Iida died. And I was at the memorial yesterday. Everyone was so sad...I decided to take what I learned and do it again.”

Hatsume looked stern, glaring down at the boy. “So you decided to just charge off after Stain when he showed up and get yourself killed, you dumbass?”

“Ah...well, no,” Midoriya replied, scratching his nose awkwardly, “I just saw him attack Mt. Lady and kind of just...stopped thinking.”

Hatsume, to his surprised, just leaned down and hugged him. “You idiot, you still want to be a Hero, don’t you?”

Midoriya returned her hug, slowly. “I...I don’t know. But...”

He paused and the two pulled apart, so Midoriya continued, “I want to catch him. He killed Iida, and took a friend away from Tsuyu and Uraraka.”

“Like what happened with you?” She asked, quietly.

Midoriya nodded.

Hatsume groaned, but let out a rueful laugh and smiled. “Well that does it.”

“That does what?” Midoriya asked, squinting.

She rolled her eyes and grinned broadly. “I’m not even going to bother trying to talk you out of it, because you’re a bullheaded idiot, so I’ll just have to help you and make sure you don’t go getting killed!”

That was definitely not where he thought his pink-haired friend was going. “What?!”

Her expression softened a bit. “You’re the only person who gets my passion for inventing. Even if you’re not nearly as experienced. I can’t go letting you die on me. Let me help. We can make better tech together. Besides...” Her broad grin returned, “I want to make gear for heroes. Might as well start with my little nerdy hero-in-training Deku Scrub. You're stuck with me now!”

Midoriya laughed. “You know, my friend called me Deku a lot. I was kind of thinking of using it as a codename. Then you started calling me that.”

“Well, it’s settled. We’re partners. Let’s make babies together and stop some bad guys.” Hatsume beamed.

Midoriya’s face burned as he covered his face with his hands. “Th-that’s not something you should say while lying on me. Also, can you get off? This is starting to hurt.”

Hatsume had completely forgotten she was laying on top of him from her rescue, and for one of the first times since had had met her, she blushed slightly. “Oh. Yeah, that makes sense.”

She stood up and offered him a hand, pulling him to his feet. “We should get back to Power Loader, make sure he and the giant lady are safe.”

Midoriya nodded. “Right. Let’s tell him we ran and hid somewhere, deal?”

"Deal!" She laughed.

Using their gear, they went over a few rooftops, away from where the police were scouting, and descended into an alley. Hitting the streets, they looped back to where Power Loader was, back in the lot of his lab, now on his feet, with Mt. Lady and a group of officers.

“Oh good, there you two are,” Power Loader sighed, running up to the two of them as soon as they came in to view. “I had no idea where you ran off too!"

“Well you told us to get out of there, so we found a building and hid,” Hatsume replied, coolly. "I'm glad to know you were worried though."

Midoriya decided to let her do the talking; she was way better under pressure.

“Er...well, you two are nothing but a nuisance and I'd be glad to be rid of you...but you know, not like that." Power Loader said, a bit flustered. "Look, let’s finish taking statements, then we can take the measurements and get started. Thankfully, neither of us were hurt too badly.”

The two students looked over and overheard the final bits of Mr. Lady's, "official," statement:

“So he had me paralyzed face down, and I don’t know who intervened, but he was yelling to some kid about me being a glory hog,” Mt. Lady huffed with arms folded as she explained her statement to the police. “He better hope I don’t catch him again, or he’ll be a stain on the pavement.”

“Ha, good one,” the officer replied, but the Hero just gave him a glare. “Er, sorry.”

Midoriya and Hatsume exchanged glances and sighed in relief. For some reason, it hadn’t even struck either of them that Mt. Lady might have overheard the whole ordeal. Thankfully, nothing too pertinent had been said.

Luckily for them, the officers took their statements together, so they were able to lie and say they had run to the nearest office building and waited until the coast seemed clear and they saw the sirens. Satisfied, the police left, and Power Loader urged his two star pupils to get back to work.

---

As the day wore on, they finished doing what was requested of them, taking detailed measurements of Mt. Lady’s feet. Midoriya did his best not to think about all the disgusting Deep web posts he had seen about her giant feet, but it was hard not to get a little grossed out by those memories as he worked.

As the two students compared notes, they overheard Power Loader and the Pro talking in his office.

“So, er,” Power Loader began, sounding oddly nervous, “are we still on for dinner this weekend?”

Both Midoriya and Hatsume lowered their clipboards and their jaws hung open.

“Let’s see how those two students of yours do, and we can talk plans,” the younger heroine replied flirtatiously. “I’ll call you Wednesday. Toodles!”

Mt. Lady left his office and sauntered out of the lab, not noticing the incredulous stares she was getting from the Pro’s proteges. Power Loader burst forth immediately after, and clapped to the two of them. “Okay! So you guys will need to give this project your all! You will be working on it at the school,but use anything here at the lab you might need, and if you need to stay late, don’t be afraid to!” He checked his watch and grunted. “But, it is getting late and you two should get going. Be ready for tomorrow.”

As the two walked away from his lab, Hatsume let out a frustrated groan as soon as they were out of earshot. “I can’t believe he’s putting us, the two most brilliant inventors UA has seen in decades, on a fricking project to get himself laid.”

Midoriya blushed and laughed. “Well, at least it will be a challenge, right? No one has invented a sole that can expand like the suit materials.”

“I guess...” She grumbled. She looked around and lowered her voice, “So, did you learn anything from your fight? Sounds like you guys had a battle of wits.”

Midoriya smiled and whispered, “actually, yes. I know how his Quirk works! He has to lick someone's blood, and it allows him to paralyze them, probably only for a few minutes, but no idea how long or if there are any factors.”

“Oof. Yeah those pants aren’t cutting it in a knife fight.” Hatsume frowned. "Pun not intended, but I'm glad it happened."

“Yeah, he kept going for my legs, which I couldn’t protect with my gauntlets or spider legs.” Midoriya agreed. “Also, he’s doing this because he doesn’t think Heroes now are good enough. He thinks they’re glory hogs and selfish, and they inspire more villainy. Stuff like that.”

Hatsume rubbed her chin. “Well, that could maybe be helpful.” Her eyes lit up though and she began to rub her hands together. “But first, we need to find a way to prevent him from cutting you.”

“The problem is he’s fast, too,” Deku added, “It’s easy enough to cover myself in armor, but if I can’t catch him, it’s not going to work.”

“Well, guess that gives us two challenges.” Hatsume grinned. “Let’s get this stupid shoe thing out of the way so we can make you the world’s greatest Quirkless Hero.”

Midoriya laughed. Maybe having a partner wouldn’t be so bad.

---

Tuesday morning flew by; they focused on their official school work while under the watchful eye of their lovestruck teacher. It was a challenge; no other materials expanded other than the specialized cloth made for gigantifying Quirks, and that technique was heavily patented: to make a cloth for a hero to expand, it had to be made from their hair so it matched DNA. There was no way to make metal or rubber from hair that was known to man, and their experiments weren't helping either.

“This is impossible!” Midoriya groaned, “And the smell of burnt rubber is starting to really get gross.”

“Yeah, I think this is a dead end,” Hatsume sighed, frustrated, rubbing her chin. “Maybe we should be looking at it another way?”

“Good thinking,” Midoriya agreed, scratching his head. “If we can’t make the material grow, are there other ways to make something expand. Maybe...”

He looked down at his backpack. “Maybe something telescopic like my spider legs or your stilts?”

She snapped her fingers and pointed at him. “That’s gotta be it. Her growth takes a few seconds, so could we maybe use some sort of pressure activated system?”

Midoriya began scribbling down some blueprints, “On it," making notes of all their ideas.

The lunch bell rang, and Midoriya hastily finished his notes on the blueprint roll. “Are we working on this after school? I cleared out my schedule.”

It wasn’t hard; it was a whole lot of nothing.

“Yeah, I figured we could work on that and our...side project,” Hatsume grinned.

Even in the cafeteria, they were scribbling notes down on their ideas for their Final Project. They were so engrossed in the project, they didn’t even notice Asui and Uraraka approach them and sit across from them until Zero Gravity Hero cleared her throat.

“Whoa!” Deku exclaimed, embarrassed, “Sorry guys, we were really wrapped up in our end of term project.” His voice softened. “What’s up?”

“There’s like a raincloud hanging over class 1-A after what happened,” Uraraka answered, frowning and poking at her food absentmindedly. “It it okay if we sit here?”

“Yeah, I like rain, but not when it’s metaphorical, kero,” Asui added.

“I could put a heatlamp over your guys’ table,” Hatsume suggested, rubbing her chin, “some fake sun. Next best thing to a real one.”

“...or they could just sit here,” Midoriya rolled his eyes. “Ignore her, she takes things a bit too literally."

“Don’t ignore me, I’m the brains of this operation.” Hatsume huffed.

The two Hero Course students laughed. “You two are a riot. What are you working on?” Uraraka asked, happy for the distraction.

“End of term project,” Midoriya answered, “Power Loader has us working on some gear for a Pro.”

“Using our free labor to impress his love interest, more like it,” Hatsume huffed, “had us taking requests from Mt. Lady at his lab.”

Midoriya cringed; keeping secrets was not a strong suit of Hatsume. Tsuyu and Uraraka both gasped.

“Wait, you were there yesterday! That’s when Stain attacked, wasn’t it?” Tsuyu questioned.

Hatsume seemed to realize her error just in time to catch a deathglare from Deku. “Er, yeah. We were in the lab though when it all went down, thankfully.” She answered, trying to make the save.

Running with her story, Midoriya nodded. “He didn’t seem to know we were there when it all went down.”

Still, he was catching a very quizzical gaze from Asui, and he knew she’d have questions for him later.

“So what’s your guys’ end of term assignment?” Midoriya asked, hoping to change the subject for the time being.

“Someone heard we would be fighting robots again, but I think there might be a surprise instead, kero,” Asui replied.

“You guys aren’t making some secret project for fighting us Heroes, ARE you?” Uraraka asked with a wink. "Like a Mega Zero Pointer? A Negative Pointer?"

“I wish,” Hatsume laughed.

The bell rang for afternoon classes, ushering the students to make their way back to the calls. As they were leaving, Midoriya was stopped by Asui as Uraraka and Hatsume walked on ahead.

“Midoriya-chan...” She said, quietly. “I heard about that attack. Someone intervened and stopped Mt. Lady from getting killed, the news was saying.”

Midoriya couldn’t bring himself to lie to her as she gave him her inquisitive gaze. “It...it was me.”

He winced at the look of betrayal that washed over her large eyes as she whispered, “Midoriya, you said you weren’t going to hunt anyone down anymore!”

“I said I wouldn’t kill anyone, and I wasn’t planning on running into him. Honest!” He replied, quickly, “We were in the lab when he attacked Power Loader and Mt. Lady. And when he was about to kill her, I kind of just stopped thinking and jumped in there to stop him.”

“I guess that’s understandable,” she conceded, though still looking none too pleased with him. “You’re not planning to go after him, are you, kero?”

He looked away. “I am.”

She scowled, “Kero, Midoriya, going after a villain while unlicensed makes you just as bad! Why would you risk your life to do something that-”

“B-because I saw how much he hurt you!” He answered, shakily.

Asui paused and turned a deep crimson. “Kero.”

Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck. “You really saved me there that night, Tsuyu. You stopped me from crossing the line. And then hearing how heartbroken you were when Iida died, and seeing how upset you were at his memorial...I couldn’t let that go. I want to be a Hero. I don't want people to lose loved ones like you and I did. I’m going to stop Stain.”

Asui studied him. It made him uncomfortable after a few moments, and he realized she was still not sure what to say. Finally, she croaked, “We need to get to class.”

“W-wait!” He said but she was already walking away.

“We can talk later, kero.” She replied, not looking back.

As she left his sight, he slapped his forehead. “I’m such an idiot. She probably thinks I’m some kind of stalker creep.”

He walked to class, just barely making it to his seat before Present Mic showed up. It was hard to focus though, he just kept seeing that hurt look on Tsuyu’s face.

---

After school, he and Hatsume worked into the evening in the Support Lab at school.

“Sounds like you and Froggy are having a lovers tiff,” Hatsume joked as they finished their prototype sole for Mr. Lady.

“Hardy har.” Midoriya sighed. “I do feel bad though. I mean she has a point, what we’re doing could get us in big trouble.”

“Well, sometimes even Heroes have to ask themselves whether they should be Lawful or Good. They aren’t always the same,” Hatsume shrugged. "Gotta figure out what matters more to you, Midoriya."

“That’s...surprisingly deep for you, Hatsume.” Midoriya replied, “What do you think?”

“Oh, that’s why I’m not interested in being a Hero; I’d rather just be Rich and Successful building my babies. I’ll leave the moral dilemmas to you.” Hatsume answered, finished with a very tiny screw.

“That sounds more like you.” Midoriya deadpanned. “How goes the sole?”

“Should be ready for testing tomorrow,” She gloated, clapping, “Which brings us to Project Two: Stain Removal.”

“Oh, good name!” Midoriya laughed.

“Thanks!” Hatsume beamed. “Think of anything?”

“Actually, yeah, from my fight with the Sludge Villain and watching Uraraka’s fight with Mineta.” He replied, pulling out a small sphere, similar to his ice and incendiary explosives. “This is a glue grenade.”

Hatsume inspected it closely. “What’s the specs on it?”

“If I hit him with it, it explodes into a wad of high strength, thick adhesive, and then hardens quickly when exposed to the air. Won’t be able to cut his way out of that!” Midoriya answered, a hint of pride coming through.

“Your brilliance almost reaches half that of my own, Deku Scrub,” Hatsume laughed, “I like it. Have you tested it?”

Midoriya nodded. “Was stuck to my doorknob for like an hour last night. Don’t ask.”

She snorted. “Sounds about right. What do you have for avoiding him from getting your blood?”

Midoriya shrugged, “I didn’t get that far.”

Hatsume beamed. “That’s why you need me watching your back, Deku Scrub! See all these little steel panels we’ve been using? It gave me an idea.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, you’ve already got bigger panels going down your arms, just bigger. We use these little ones to make armor going down the rest of you. The panels are small enough you’ll be able to move like chainmail.” Hatsume explained.
“How long do you think that will take?” Deku replied. “Sounds like it could work.”

“Probably a while.” She replied.

Suddenly without warning, she grabbed some cloth measuring tape and began grabbing him all over. “AH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Midoriya shouted.

“How are we going to build you telescopic armor for you if I don’t know your measurements?” Hatsume asked. “Duh.”

As logical as it was, her measuring the diameter of his thighs made him tremble nervously. “S-sure. I just don’t want Stain killing anyone in the meantime.”

Hatsume paused. “Hmm. Any ideas on what we should do?”

Midoriya thought, rubbing his chin. “Well, he hates fake heroes. There’s got to be something we could do for that.”

Hatsume and Midoriya’s eyes met and they both widened in sync. “THAT’S IT!” They yelled in unison.

“We need to make me a mask!” Midoriya exclaimed, grabbing some supplies from the back of the room.

“Might as well make it a full helmet,” Hatsume suggested.

And the two worked into the night, until Midoriya got a rather angry phone call from his mother, wondering when he’d come home. Hatsume giggled as he hung up, red-faced.

“You go on ahead,” Hatsume assured him, “I’ll be done soon.”

“Alright. Good night Hatsume.” Midoriya smiled. “And thanks for all your help.”

“Don’t...don’t get mushy on me, Deku Scrub,” Hatsume replied, grinning. “Sweet dreams.”

---

As Midoriya began walking home, his phone buzzed. He saw it was a text from Asui.

-Are you busy?-

-No, just heading home- He replied.

-I’m sorry for freaking out on you, Midoriya-chan. I just don’t want you to get hurt-

Midoriya frowned. He didn’t want to worry her, by any means. -I promise I won’t do anything reckless anymore.-

-Don’t lie to me-

Midoriya sighed as he boarded the bus back home. -Yeah. I’m still going after Stain. I’m sorry.-

-I still think it’s a bad idea. But I know I can’t talk you out of it. I just don’t to lose you, like I lost Iida, or you lost your friend-

-You won’t-

-You better mean that, Midoriya. You still owe me ice cream-

Midoriya smiled. Maybe he hadn’t screwed up too badly.

---

The next morning, Midoriya got to school early, as he promised Hatsume. He opened the lab door and saw she was already there.

“Hey Deku Scrub!” She waved, and Midoriya noticed she was in the same tank top as yesterday, and there were dark circles under her eyes.

“Hatsume...did you go home last night?!” He asked, concerned.

“What, what time is it?” She asked. She pulled out her phone and laughed. “Guess I pulled an all nighter. Oops!”

“You nutcase, that’s really bad for you!” Midoriya scolded, “Isn’t your family worried?”

Hatsume ignored him and held up up her finished helmet. “Ta-dah! Look! I modeled it after your doodles from your Hero Notebook!”

Midoriya blushed. She had caught him making notes in his Hero notebook, and she had done a good job making a green helmet, with ears on top to mimic All Might’s hair. “I didn’t realize you had seen that.”

“Zoom Quirk, Deku Scrub!” She replied, pointing to the crosshairs in her eyes. “I see....eeeeveeerrrryttthhhiiiiiinnng.” She giggled. The lack of sleep was making her a bit...loopy. Loopier than usual.

“That’s creepy,” Midoriya replied, putting the helmet on. It was just the right size, and the visor hid his eyes while allowing all the same functions his goggles had; heat vision, shaders, zoom...they were loaded. “This is awesome though! Should we get Stain’s attention tonight?”

“Yes!” Hatsume cheered. “Why do you think I powered through all night to finish this for you?”

Midoriya beamed. “Thanks Hatsume...I’m really glad I have your help.”

“And I’m glad to make such cool babies. Now let’s get to class before Power Loader finds an excuse to expel me.” Hatsume replied.

Midoriya was so excited to begin phase two of their plan, he didn’t even mind when Hatsume fell asleep on his shoulder during their afternoon classes later that day. She had earned it.

---

Huroki Taichi was a thug. Worse than that, he was a murderer in a red room, and he took great joy in making innocent women suffer for whatever perverted Deep Web lurkers got off on it. As he set up his web cam, he spoke to his viewers. “Greetings, Dark Web faithfuls! Sorry for the long delay...hope you’re all ready for a little fun.”

He pointed to the camera at the woman bound and gagged against a chair in the middle of the room. Honestly, he couldn't remember her name, and it didn't matter. He slowly walked behind her and removed the blindfold and gag. Immediately, she looked around and began screaming.

Huroki rolled his eyes and slapped her across the face, hard. “Oh shut up. Let’s see who wants to play with you today.”

He walked over to the side of the room and unfurled his tool belt of knives. But as he began rubbing them together, making a terrifying sharpening sound, he heard a tapping on the other side of the wall.

“What...?” He wondered.

Without warning, a telescoping spider-like tentacles broke through the brick, and the claws wrapped around his throat. Lifted off the ground, the tentacle then zoomed backwards, slamming him against the wall,knocking his knives and the table all over the floor. It repeated the processed, slamming Huroki into the wall repeatedly until he was bloody and unconscious.

Midoriya Izuku then burst through the wall with his other spider legs as the captive woman screamed in confusion. In her defense, he realized a guy in a weird rabbit helmet on spider legs with flamethrowers on his arms would scare anyone being held against their will. So, wordlessly, he untied her and she took off running.

Midoriya turned to the camera. “Bring. Me. Stain!” He grunted, the voice modifying software in his helmet making his shaky voice deep and unrecognizable. Then, he crushed the camera with his spider claw.

With the camera off, he tied up the Huroki Taichi in capture tape, and after he was safely out the building, Hatsume called the police anonymously; she had been watching from her laptop, communicating with Deku from an earpiece built into the helmet.

“Did you record it?” Midoriya asked into his headset as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

“You know it, Deku Scrub,” She crowed, “Now to make it go viral. Stain will be quite distracted, if I do say so myself.”

Midoriya smiled to himself. Your time is up soon, Stain.

Chapter Text

To Hatsume and Midoriya’s delight, their plan had worked; over the next two weeks, their video of the mysterious hero interrupting a Red Room murder spread across the internet and the news media like wildfire. Stain had vanished since, although with how randomized his attacks had been, no one knew if that was related. But people were talking, which meant they were on the lookout for any activity of the Hero Killer now more than ever.

With finals fast approaching, it gave Hatsume and Midoriya the perfect excuse to stay after school and discuss their next steps.

“Aaaaaaand the boot is finished!” Hatsume cheered. “With a week to spare. Now we can pretend we’re still working on this stupid Mt. Lady project in class and focus on Operation: Stain Removal.”

That had proved to be tricky; cramming body armor into one backpack to spread across Midoriya’s whole person was harder than they thought. Not only that, but with all the different curves of the human body, it kept jamming.

The both groaned as the telescopic steel plating jammed around his knees, clicking uselessly for the fifteenth time that afternoon. Midoriya flicked a switch on his backpack strap, retracting the armor, and taking the backpack off.

“I don’t think this is working.” Midoriya groaned. “Maybe we should just make an armor suit.”

“From scratch?” She asked. “That could take months, and then to make it mobile...”

Midoriya shifted his eyes. “...not if we had one we just had to modify.”

“Wait, what are you talking about?!” Hatsume asked, suspicion in her tone as she stepped towards him with arms folded. “No secrets if we’re going to be business partners.”

Midoriya scanned the room again, despite having been alone in there with her for hours, to verify once more that no one could overhear. “Remember the training I mentioned Power Loader gave me?”

“What about it?”

“He...may have had me build a mech suit to give me a crash course in robots and programming and weaponry,” Midoriya answered, not able to look her in the eyes.

“YOU WHAT?!” She screamed. “And you didn’t tell me this two weeks ago?! Go get it, you idiot!”

“He didn’t let me keep it!” He replied, throwing his hands up, “it’s probably stored somewhere in his lab! He said he’d get in big trouble if he gave a flamethrowing mech suit to a kid.”

“That’s just him trying to get in the way of progress!” Hatsume scowled. “We still have access to his lab, let’s just go...borrow it.”

“Borrow it?” Midoriya echoed, hands in his pockets. “You think that will work? You think he won’t notice a mecha suit going missing?”

A lightbulb flashed above both of their heads. “Actually, we built it to my specifications,” Midoriya realized.

“Yeah, he can’t use it...” Hatsume added, a cheshire cat grin spreading across her face. “So if he’s just storing it...maybe we can take it before he knows its gone.”

“Let’s go grab some gear from his lab, and see if we can’t find it.” Deku suggested, “And see if we’d be able to work with it.”

As they left the lab, Hatsume was practically skipping down the falls of UA in excitement. “I get to work on a mech suuuiiiit,” she declared in a sing-song voice. Deku couldn’t help but smile at the joy she took in their inventing. He had to admit, even though they were hunting down the Hero Killer, it was much more fun doing this together.

“So if we can get this thing out of the lab, should we work on it tomorrow? We could get so much more work done on a Saturday than after school.” Hatsume suggested.

Midoriya gulped, “I-I actually have plans with Asui. We’re getting ice cream.”

After weeks of turbulence, class 1-A had settled, and Tsuyu had asked if they could go out like they had planned before Iida had passed. In addition to being nervous at the prospect of a date, he was also worried she’d want to talk about his hunt for Stain.

For how often Hatsume teased him about his crush on Tsuyu, he was surprised to see how crestfallen the news made her. Guiltily, he added, “We could on Sunday?”

She perked up and beamed at him. “Alright! I’ll text you my address and we’re going to make this suit invincible!”

He laughed as they approached the bus stop. “Let’s see if we can even get it out of the lab first.”

As they rode towards the other side of town, Deku filled her in on the specs. “It doesn’t have much in the way of weaponry, it was mostly just flamethrowers, and impact dampeners. It was also reinforced to make it more easy to lift heavy objects, but that’s about it.”

“That’s easy enough to work with,” Hatsume assured him, “We could add a pack like yours and wire some more weapons system to it, no problem. Mobility is going to be a big thing.”

“Well, I don’t think my spider things could carry something that heavy.” Midoriya admitted, “But maybe we could make boots like yours for it? That would enable it to make some long jumps and generally help carry the weight."

The two spent the rest of the bus ride spitballing ideas to each other. Arriving at Power Loader’s lab in the early evening, they caught the Pro just as he was leaving.

“Didn’t I get enough of you two during the day?” he grunted, seeing them together.

“We were just wondering if we could use some parts and equipment here,” Midoriya requested, politely, knowing he would get farther in the discussion with their teacher than Hatsume would, “For the Mt. Lady Project, of course.”

Power Loader paused, and cautiously handed a copy of the front door key to Midoriya. “You are not to let her have these,” he instructed, pointing to Hatsume.

“I’m right here!” She objected, slightly hurt.

“I know,” Power Loader deadpanned before turning back to Midoriya. “Lock up when you’re done.”

As they entered the lab, Hatsume grumbled, “That’s garbage, I can’t believe he trusts you more than me.”

“You went five for five on explosions in class last week,” Midoriya pointed out with a laugh.

“Nothing blew up this week!” Hatsume yelled, throwing her hands up in the air. “You are the worst.”

“Come on, it’s probably in the back,” Midoriya suggested,ignoring his rival.

“THE WORST!” She repeated, following him.

The lab had a few offices up front before leading to the workshop in the back. But before the workshop area, they stopped in front of a door labelled, “Authorized Personnel Only.” This one, was, unfortunately, locked with a key card swipe.

“Probably should have seen this coming,” Midoriya stated nervously.

“See, this is why you’re the worst,” Hatsume replied, pulling a small plastic card out of her work glove. “You underestimate me once again. You think I only have lockpicks for old school locks?”

She swiped the white piece of plastic across the keycard slot, and it beeped with a green light. She pulled the door open for her partner.

“After you. Point Hatsume,” She gloated.

“Hatsume, that’s amazing!” Midoriya gushed, thoroughly impressed with the electronic lock pick. “You’ve got to teach me how to make that.”

Hatsume beamed. “Isn’t it?! Ah, at least you can appreciate my babies. Later though, look at that!”

The room itself stored many of Power Loader’s various Support Augmentations and suits, but in the back behind a bulletproof glass case was the suit he and Midoriya had built last summer.

“There it is!” Midoriya exclaimed proudly, running over to it. It had another swipe card access panel.

“Think it’s safe for us to take it?” Midoriya asked.

Hatsume looked around. “Well, everything in this room is caked in dust. When do you think the last time he was in here was?”

The two inspected everything, and to their relief, the mech suit was the least dusty thing, which meant they were in the clear. Hatsume used her, “baby,” to bypass the swipe system and open the glass case.

Midoriya ran his hand down the arm of the suit. “Ah, I missed this guy.”

Hatsume inspected it closely. “You say you guys made this with scrap from a beach?!” She knocked the metal. “This is so sturdy! You’re kidding me.”

“It’s true!” Midoriya insisted, beaming. “Now how do we get it out of here?”

They exchanged looks; neither of them had thought of that.

It made for an awkward bus ride home though, as Midoriya sat in his mech suit next to Hatsume. Every weird look they got was met with a hurried, “It’s a school project! Isn’t it cool?!” From Hatsume. Oddly enough, everyone seemed to buy it as they left the bus and headed for Hatsume’s house.

“Are you sure your family isn’t going to mind a guy in a mech suit just waltzing into your house?” Midoriya asked as Hatsume unlocked her front door.

“It’s just me and my dad, Deku Scrub,” Hatsume assured him, “And he’s honestly never home.”

“Oh...I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about,” she answered, sincerely, “We get along fine, he just works a lot and has his own life with me in UA and stuff. Come on, we’ll put that in my basement, and you can tell me all about your date with the Frog Princess on Sunday.”

“D-don’t say it like that,” Midoriya objected as he followed her down the stairs. “And you said I’m the worst.”

---

The next day, Midoriya met Tsuyu at the park for there long delayed ice cream meeting. She had made it there first, and was waiting for him just outside the entrance. When he came into view, she gave him a small smile. “Hey Midoriya!”

He smiled. “Hey A...Tsu!” He still had trouble remembering to call her Tsu. It was hard to form the habit outside of texting. Despite how much she disliked his intentions on being a vigilante, they had begun texting each other daily, comparing the different struggles their courses brought them and family life and the like.

“So where’s this place you wanted to go? I’ve never been here.” Tsuyu asked.

“No?” Mdoriya replied, “It’s right around the corner. I thought maybe we could walk through the park with it.” He got a bit nervous and added, “I-if th-hats n-not too cheesy or anything.”

“Kero,” Tsuyu replied with a smile. “That sounds relaxing. These last few weeks have been crazy.”

As Midoriya led her down the street, he dug his hands into his pockets and inquired, “What do you mean? Finals?”

“Kero,” she confirmed, “They’re being really secretive about what we’re fighting, and I have a feeling it’s not robots.”

“If it WAS robots,” Midoriya replied, “they don’t have us building them. Maybe you’ll be sparring each other?”

“Maybe,” she replied, “I guess being surprised is part of it though. Being a hero means never know when of what you’ll face, kero.”

“I guess that’s true, you have to be able to adapt,” Midoriya said, “here’s the place.”

They ordered two cones - Tsuyu thoroughly teasing the generous amount of sprinkles Midoriya asked for on his - and made their way back to the park. “Thank you, Midoriya-kun, I definitely needed this.”

“You’re welcome, Tsu. So what are you doing to prepare for the mystery finals?” Midoriya asked, licking his treat.

“Kero, just general training,” Tsuyu sighed, “Have to be in peak physical condition, kero.”

“W-well I think you look amazing!” Midoriya blurted out, not thinking about his words.

“Thanks kero,” Tsuyu blushed, “You’re cute too.”

“A-ah no, I meant you’re f-fighting and f-fitness,” he stuttered, “b-b-but you are c-cute too!”

As they began walking the park, Midoriya found he was able to calm down a bit and converse like an actual human, thankfully.

“So how long have you known about this place?” she asked.

“Oh, I used to come here with my friends as a kid all the time,” he replied, a little sad.

Her expression turned curious. “With Bakugou?”

He nodded as he took a bite out of the cone. “Yeah...see that stream?” He pointed down the path they were on towards a bridge over a small creak, in a rather secluded section of the park.

She turned towards it and nodded, reaching her tongue across to her arm to lick her cone. “Yeah, why?”

“That’s actually where he started to bully me,” Midoriya replied with nostalgic laugh. “Kind of dumb to realize. He fell in there, and I offered to help him out. He was mad. He thought I was looking down on him.”

“Kero, that’s so weird!” Tsuyu said, laughing with him. “Why do you think he was like that?”

“Probably just wanted to be the best. Not rely on anyone. We both had this dream of being the number one hero,” Midoriya explained, “But he’s the one who had the power to back it up.”

They stopped at the bridge overlooking the stream and both leaned against the railing. “And yet, here you are, kero.”

“Yeah...” Midoriya said. “Weird how life works out. I'm the one who survived, Quirkless, and am hunting down bad guys.”

“So...any word on Stain after you and your friend put out that video?” she asked. After the video had gone viral, she had pieced it together pretty quickly that it was him, though officially his alibi when asked later is that he was with Hatsume studying at the library. As this is something he had done with her before, she simply hacked the timestamps of their check in times.

He shook his head. “He’s gone totally quiet. Which, I mean, is good. But...I don’t know what it means.”

“Probably wishful thinking to hope you scared him off, kero,” Tsuyu joked.

“Heh...yeah...” Midoriya replied.

“You know...I know I can’t talk you out of it, kero,” she began, “but you don’t have to be the one to bring him in.”

He paused. “Remember...remember that night we ended our internships?”

:”Kinda hard to forget, Midoriya-kun.” Tsuyu croaked. "Sludge guy tried to make me his meat puppet. Weird day."

He smiled to her. “Very funny. But...I meant it. You really saved me by stopping me from killing that villain. But when we were doing that, Iida got killed. And I saw how much it hurt you. Hurt everyone! I thought...”

He stopped, to slap his leg. “Sorry, mosquito...wait...what...?”

He pulled his hand up to see a trickle of blood on his hand. It was far too much to have been made by any sort of insect. Tsuyu met his gaze.

“Run,” he whispered to her.

She jumped away, and Midoriya went to give chase, but no sooner had he taken one step did his entire body lock up and he crashed onto the wooden bridge.

Tsuyu turned around to grab him, but there was already a figure standing between them; Stain, who had been hiding under the bridge, had climbed up swiftly placed himself between the two teens. He already had the point of his blade pointed at Midoriya’s neck. He was giving the boy an intense look of malice that sent chills down both teen’s spines.

“Don’t move,” he hissed to Tsuyu, “all I want is to have a little chat with our friend here. If I have to do anything...further...that will be on you.”

Tsuyu’s eyes darted around; this was a rather secluded area of the park, and there was no one in sight. She clenched her fists but stayed put. “Don’t hurt him, kero.”

"What...what do you want?!" Midoriya asked, trying not to let the panic show in his voice.

Stain looked down to Midoriya, “Look kid. I saw your video. Hard not to.”

Midoriya didn’t say anything. He was caught completely off guard, just as he was about to tell Tsuyu he thought he had a knack for tracking down tricky villains. Maybe it worked too well.

“You’re out of your depth, kid.” Stain laughed. “Using the same tech you used in your televised sports festival? Tracking you down was easy. But I’m going to give you one warning to stay out of my business.”

Stain crouched down by Midoriya. “Watching you squirm is fun, kid.”

It was clear Stain was enjoying the position the three of them were in, so Midoriya needed to stall for time, once again.

“Why would you do that?” Midoriya asked, slowly. “You never let anyone walk away.”

“Oddly enough kid, because you fascinate me,” Stain smirked, “you’ve actually got the hero spirit; intervening where you aren’t needed to save that useless Pro. Believing in the broken system. Maybe you remind me of a young Stain.”

Stain’s voice got really low. “But listen. If you come looking for me again. I will kill you...”

He pointed his sword towards Tsuyu and looked over to her.

But while he did, Midoriya realized he could move again. He pulled a small tracking device from his pocket, and stuck it on Stain’s leg, before putting his hands where they originally been.

“And when I skin you alive, I’ll make your friend watch.” Stain scowled. “Now get out of here.”

Stain jumped from the side of the bridge abruptly, making a splash in the stream below. Tsuyu peered over the side of the bridge after him, but he was nowhere in sight. She ran over to Midoriya as he began to pull himself to his feet and wrapped him in a hug.

“Midoriya-chan, are you okay, kero?!” She asked.

He nodded, heart racing and pounding in his ears. “I’m okay. I’m okay...” He exhaled shakily. “Let’s...get out of here.”

They ran from the park, and Midoriya couldn’t stop himself from scanning every person they passed for signs of that deformed face, and looking over his shoulder. He could be anywhere, behind any tree.

“Midoriya-chan!” Tsuyu said, grabbing his hand as they reached the entrance of the park.

“Huh?!” He asked, gasping. He was spiraling, mentally, and she could see it.

“You’re hyperventilating...” Tsuyu answered, quietly. “Come on, let’s go somewhere...”

They boarded another bus, shaking the entire time. As they sat down, she turned to him and asked, “I saw you move. What happened?”

“I...have a theory his Quirk works differently depending on people’s blood types. After a minute or two I was able to move. I put a tracking device on him. I don’t think he knew I was able to get free.” He explained. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and went to open the tracking app, but he couldn’t his hands were shaking too hard. His breathing sped up again.

Tsuyu gently grabbed his hand again. “Midoriya, breathe. You’re freaking out again, kero.”

“Sorry...I just...” Midoriya exhaled. “He had me dead to rights. I never saw him coming...” He gave a bitter laugh, “And here I thought I was good at this...villain hunting thing.”

“Are you giving up?” She asked as the the bus screeched to a halt.

They walked off the bus, Midoriya shrugging. “I...I don’t know. What if he’s right? What if I’m out of my depth? Maybe I’m not cut out for this. That was...humiliating.”

He looked around, seeing they were in a part of the city he wasn’t used to, outside of school he had never seen. “Where are we...?” He asked.

“This is where I went to school last year,” Asui replied, “come on, I want to take you to my favorite spot.”

She led him around the back of the school to a field. At the other end of the field, was a small pond surrounded by tall trees. It was a beautiful scene as the setting sun tinted the landscape gold.

She sat down on the side of the pond and pat the ground next to her, signaling him to sit. He did as such, and she asked, “Know what I think?”

“What’s that?” Midoriya asked.

“A few weeks ago, I almost died,” Asui answered, “And one of the most brave and creative people saved my life, kero.”

He blushed. “H-he must be a pretty cool guy, Asui-san.”

“Call me, Tsu, kero.” She replied, “and I think he’s pretty great. But before that? I was terrified, kero.”

“Yeah?” Midoriya asked. “I never even stopped to ask...I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. That was a pretty crazy night, and with what happened to Iida, it seemed small in comparison. Anyway, It was terrifying...but...it made me realize something.”

“What’s that?” He asked, again.

“That’s what being a Hero is, kero.” She shrugged. “You’re going to have close calls. Look, Midoriya-kun. You know I don’t agree with the whole Vigilante thing...but don’t let Stain get in your head. Besides. You outsmarted him. You put the tracker on him. Find him. Bring him in.”

“Y-you really believe me I can do it?” Midoriya smiled.

“You beat me in a fight, you aren’t allowed to lose ever again.” Tsuyu smirked. “You better do it, kero.”

She leaned over and kissed his cheek, causing him to turn bright red and lock up. “Th-th-th-th-th-thank you, A-Asui-san, I MEAN TSU!”

She laughed her ribbiting laugh. “It’s getting late. We should go, I promised my parents I’d put my little sister to bed. Let’s go, kero.”

A stuttering mess, Midoriya followed her back to the bus, with his heart racing for two reasons.

---

As they stopped outside his residence, Tsuyu gave him another peck on the cheek and wished him a goodnight. This time, Midoriya managed to keep it together and form the sentence, “good night, Tsu,” and head upstairs.

Of course, Inko had a million questions for her son that turned his face a bright red color, but he couldn’t keep the smile off his face as he answered them.

"You make sure not to get in the way of her Hero studies!" Inko instructed, trying to sound stern behind her elation. "She sounds like a wonderful girl!"

'I-I won't mom!"

Finally, he was able to excuse himself to bed.

And then, he grabbed his battle backpack, and snuck out of his window, using his spider legs to crawl down the side of the building. He grabbed the late bus, and rode it to the other side of town. Running off the bus as it stopped, he charged down the sidewalk until he finally reached the familiar house, adrenaline driving him. He pounded on the door, not stopping until it was opened.

Hatsume leaned against the doorframe groggily. “What are you doing here? Am I having the good dream again?”

Deku blushed and blinked. “I’ll...remember that.” He held up his phone, showing a blinking red dot on a map. “I found Stain.”

Hatsume’s eyes widened and she snapped awake. “WHAT?!” She grabbed his shoulders and shook. “Tell me everything!”

“I will,” he assured her, “but first we need to finish our baby.”

Chapter Text

Hatsume had taken off the simple helmet and visor that Midoriya and Power Loader had built last year, and replaced it with her more advanced headgear she had made a few weeks ago as her partner regaled her with the tale of his interrupted date. “So he just vanished?! What the hell, that’s sneaky. At least you know his Quirk wears off after like two minutes or so.”

Midoriya nodded as he tightened a reinforced version of his weaponized backpack to the suit; he'd need his variety of grenades. “He probably had some storm drain or sewer grate or something ready for escape. Good thing I learned how to waterproof my tech, or that tracking device would have gotten zapped.”

“Where is that place, anyway?” Hatsume asked, as she finished fastening the helmet in place. “I examined the arm wiring, we’ve got room for tasers or lasers. Which one?”

“Taser.” Midoriya answered, immediately, “lasers are cool, but way too easy to cause a bunch of collateral damage. And it’s a warehouse downtown. He hasn’t moved since I got on the bus over here, but I’m hoping he just changed his pants or went to sleep or something.”

“Boo. Tasers are boring,” she groaned, but began installing them anyway, “I’m installing a laser on this one way or another. Anyway, sounds like we've got a lead... ”

“I mean, it doesn’t hurt as a last resort,” he conceded, “just make sure it’s not too easy to trigger or something so I don’t go shooting it off on accident.”

“Yeah, yeah, which one of us is the pro?” Hatsume joked as she finished wiring the taser on the right arm and moved to the left.

Midoriya yawned as the sun peeked through the basement window, causing him to cover his eyes, and pull down his goggles. “Morning already?”

“Yeah,” Hatsume laughed, “That happens when you’re an inventor. You lose track of time.”

“I wasn’t going to sleep anyway,” Midoriya admitted. “The freak encounter just...he’s under my skin. I'm still kinda shaky.”

Hatsume looked up from her wiring and glanced at him as he fastened boost tech to the bottom of the suit’s red boots. “Hey...are you okay, Izuku?”

“Yeah...Tsu and I talked about it,” Midoriya relied, finishing the boots, “if I’m going to be a Hero, this is going to happen. I just...I don’t know...I can’t believe how easy he made it.”

“Yeah, because you got under HIS skin,” Hatsume said, smiling at him. He stopped and looked up at her. “He didn’t have to come find you after the video. He’s got his little crusade. You don’t fit into that.”

“You think I’m in his head?” He parrotted, incredulously.

“Totally!” Hatsume beamed. “Whatever you said when you saved Mt. Lady really grinded his gears, and then you called him out. He's a hypocrite, he cares more about his image than his mission if he took the time to find you. Now go make your gadgets to put in that weapon storage. I’m going to add those modifications we talked about when you got here.”

“Speaking of when I got here,” Deku said as he walked over to the workbench, “What’s the, ‘good dream?’”

“You’ll never knoooowwww,” Hatsume replied happily as she opened a compartment on the forehead of the helmet. “Shouldn’t you be home before your mom notices you’re gone?”

“I left her a note telling her I was coming over here to study for our final, so I’m only half lying,” Midoriya answered.

“You monster,” Hatsume deadpanned, “lying to your poor mother.”

“Half monster!” The slightly shorter boy insisted.

She laughed. “Pass me that wrench, bad boy, I have to install the receptor.”

The two worked into the morning, pushing themselves hard to put as many bells and whistles onto the suit until Midoriya would be a certifiable walking armory. With noon rapidly approaching, the finally finished the the modifications they had dreamed up.

“Alright, now let’s go get Stain!” Midoriya half-shouted before, moving towards the suit, but was stopped as Hatsume grabbed his arm, “Uwah?”

“Deku,” she advised, gently, “take a look in the mirror.”

He looked around, before raising an eyebrow to her and replying, “You don’t have a mirror down here, Mei.”

“You’re, right,” she laughed, and wrapped her arm around him before he could react and lifted her phone up in the air to take a selfie of the two of them, “Say cheese!”

Midoriya didn’t say cheese, and more made a, “Wuh,” type noise as the phone clicked.

“Don’t worry, you can’t see the robot suit in it,” Hatsume assured as she pulled the photo up and showed him. “See? I mean, I know we’re both cute, but look at ya, ya dingus.”

Midoriya had to admit, she had a point. They both had circles under their eyes, and were covered in grease marks. “Y-yeah, I probably could use some rest.”

“No duh,” Hatsume replied, smiling, “You’re still running on adrenaline and whatever other extreme feelings you had from getting ambushed. You haven’t slept in over 24 hours, and we haven’t even tested the suit. You weren’t stupid about the sludge guy, don’t be stupid now.”

“You’re right,” he sighed. “I’m being too overzealous.”

“Music to my ears, Deku Scrub,” she laughed, “not only that, we have finals all week. You won’t be building anything if you get kicked out of UA for flunking.”

He did a double take. “Are you saying I should wait a week to go after him?!”

She rolled her eyes. “No, I’m telling you WE ARE waiting a week to go after him. No arguments, now listen.”

He shut his mouth, begrudgingly, and she continued, “we’ve been throwing ourselves at this and the Mt. Lady Project for a month. We also have other classes. I know you want to go ahead and catch this guy, but you can’t. Throw. Your life way.”

Midoriya sighed. “Fine. You’re right.”

“Good,” Hatsume smirked, smugly, “we can test the suit here every day after school. Have some with this baby! And tackle Stain this weekend.”

“Okay okay, fine,” the boy conceded, “so now what?”

“Well, you monster,” Hatsume faux-scolded, “you lied to your poor, innocent mother, like the dirty scoundrel you are.”

“Laying it on a little thick there,” Midoriya remarked, dryly while folding his arms.

“So we might as well study for our finals while you’re here.” She finished. Awkwardly, their stomachs rumbled in sync. “Also, I’ll make us breakfast.”

Midoriya blushed. A girl had never offered to cook for him before, “Y-you d-don’t have to d-do that!”

She smirked. Even as they got comfortable with each other, she still managed to fluster him. “Nonsense. You’re my guest here. Besides, you can clean up the workbench while I cook.”

He laughed. “F-fine. You win.”

Hatsume went upstairs and Midoriya laughed to himself as he began putting her tools away. She was right; he couldn’t neglect his life as Midoriya Izuku to be Deku the Hunter. He was always a good study, but hitting the books for his academics couldn’t hurt.

As he finished cleaning up after themselves, she yelled down to him that it was ready. He yawned and stretched as he got up the stairs, and meandered into Hatsume’s kitchen. She had put two plates on the table, and he squinted down at his meal as he took a seat. It looked like it was supposed to be eggs and bacon, but the bacon was charred and shriveled black, and the eggs were misshapen, and somehow runny and burnt at the same time. He and Hatsume carefully poked their eggs and took a small bite in almost unison before cringing.

“Confession,” Hatsume muttered, not looking him in the eyes, “I don’t know how to cook. We live on carry out in this family.”

Midoriya smiled as he pushed his plate away. “You want me to order us something as we study?”

“Please?”

He laughed. “Okay.”

It ended up being a pretty decent Sunday; pizza and schoolwork allowed them both to get their minds of Stain at least partially for a few hours, at least until fatigue set in and made it impossible to focus any more.

Yawning, the boy packed up and bid his friend farewell to go recover for the week ahead.

Midoriya went to bed early that night, in an effort to catch up on sleep as they started their finals the next day. Still, even as he laid in bed and closed his eyes, it was hard to shake the vision of Stain’s paralyzing gaze, looking down at him with a blade pointed at his neck. Still, he tossed and turned until he was able to enter a state of slumber. But he knew before he drifted off he wouldn’t sleep right until Stain was behind bars.

---

The week itself was uneventful, as it were, with finals and schoolwork overtaking the hunt for Stain as the top priority in Midoriya’s life. Even still, after class, Midoriya would go to the Hatsume residence and they would run various tests on his armor. The suit passed every standard with flying colors; it was truly what Midoriya and Hatsume considered their crowning achievement of what they’d accomplished at UA so far, even if it wasn't an official project.

They agreed to raid the warehouse Stain was hiding out in Friday night - the tracking device would occasionally move about the downtown area, but always returned there. Having not heard of any more attacks from the villain in the last week, he could only hope that he was researching and not pulling any murders that were too hard to track or going unreported. Still, he never seemed to stay in one place long.

And yet, even for all the testing and preparation they had done, Friday at lunch, nerves were beginning to mount for the two Support Students, and they sat wordlessly, barely able to digest their food as they thought about their, “weekend plans.” So it was a welcome distraction when Asui and Uraraka came over to sit with them, catching the eyes of the two Support students with their various scrapes and bruises.

“Whoa,” Midoriya breathed as they sat across from him and Hatsume, “What happened to the two of you?”

“Our Finals.” Uraraka sighed.

“We had to take on one of the teachers while in pairs, kero.” Asui explained.

“Oh, is that why Mr. Power Loader wasn’t in class this morning?” Hatsume asked.

Uraraka nodded. “Yeah, he was one of the teachers. I had to take on Thirteen with Aoyama. Barely managed to make it out of there with a win.”

“Same for me and Tokoyami,” Asui added, “we barely eked out a win past Ectoplasm, kero.”

“Well, hey, that’s still pretty awesome,” Midoriya replied, “How did everyone else do?”

“It was...mixed, kero,” Asui ribbited. “Midnight beat Sero and Mineta. And All Might took down Todoroki. They were originally going to put Todoroki on another team since we only have seventeen students, but he insisted on fighting All Might alone.”

“Yikes,” Midoriya inhaled sharply, “that sounds brutal.”

“It was,” Uraraka whispered, “he’s not taking it well.”

“He’s been pretty broody since the Sports Festival, kero,” Tsuyu said, “I think whatever made you push him to use his fire Quirk really got under his skin.”

“I never meant for that to happen.” Midoriya replied, rubbing the back of his neck, “I’d talk to him but I never really see him around.”

“You could use your thermal goggles,” Hatsume suggested, “look for the person who is half really warm and half really cold.”

Her answer was a look of pure exasperation from Deku. “The worst part about that suggestion is that it makes sense and still misses the point.”

“So how did your Final project go, kero?” Asui asked.

“The telescopic metal slipper-sole for Mt. Lady was successful,” Hatsume gloated, before Midoriya could even think to open his mouth, “we presented it to her yesterday!”

“Said she’d even wear them when she patrols,” Midoriya added, proudly.

“And of course, wouldn’t you know, she asked Power Loader out on a second date after we finished,” Hatsume threw out, flatly. “As if to rub it in our faces we were exploited.”

The Hero Course Students laughed. “Aw, they're at least kind of cute together!” Uraraka argued.

“So what are you two doing for the two week break?” Midoriya asked.

“Kero, the hero course students have a summer training camp,” Asui answered, excitement showing on her usually stoic face, “everyone is going. We're all pretty excited, kero.”

“I never cared for camping,” Hatsume frowned, “not enough tech.”

“Isn’t that the point?” Uraraka asked.

“Heathen,” Hatsume replied, prompting Midoriya to roll his eyes.

“I loved camping, I’m jealous,” Midoriya said, grinning, “wish I could go with you.”

“I wish you could too, kero,” Asui blurted out, prompting her to turn bright red. Deku did too, and Uraraka erupted into laughter while Hatsume began stabbing at some rice.
---

Seven in the evening rolled around, and Midoriya hopped on the bus to the Hatsume residence. He hoped his mother hadn’t noticed he gave her a longer hug than usual; his nerves had him on edge. He sat in silence on the bus, only interrupted by a text from Asui.

-Hey, we’re hitting the pool tomorrow before camp so I won’t be around. Want to grab a bite after I get back from camp?-

Midoriya couldn’t even bring himself to smile. That seemed like an eternity away considering what he had planned for the next few hours. Still, it gave him something nice to look forward to.

-I’d love to! Can’t wait. Don’t worry about tomorrow, I hope you all have a good time!-

The bus screeched to a halt, and Izuku climbed onto the sidewalk, taking a deep breath of the evening air, focusing back to those first few nights on the beach learning to build. He pushed himself through the pain, sweat, and tears with one goal in mind; to avenge his friend. Now, he was pushing himself for the people who had come into his life. The warm night air refreshed his lungs, giving him a rejuvenated sense of purpose.

His eyes flew open; he was ready.

Midoriya barely knocked on the door when it flew open to reveal a grinning Hatsume.

“Took your sweet time!” She teased. “Let’s put this baby to work.”

He smiled at her as they went inside, and went down into the basement. Hatsume had rigged a small camera on the helmet of his suit so she could see through his eyes, and had set up a control center at a workdesk in her basement. Three monitors would show the GPS of the tracker, the live video feed from the suit, and the status of the suit.

“Impressive!” Midoriya smirked, checking out her command center.

“Psh, I’ve been building computers since I was five!” Hatsume bragged. “Mostly for gaming, but you know, cool.”

Climbing into the suit was like putting on a glove, especially after all the test runs they had taken it on this week.

Under the cover of darkness, Midoriya left the Hatsume residence. He couldn’t risk taking the bus or train to the downtown area, so it was decided he’d have to travel by rooftop. Using the boost boots they had installed, the suit could easily leap onto the roof of a three story building, using the mechanical spider-legs he had added to land. While they couldn’t carry the weight of the suit, they still were useful for landings and fighting. Making long strides, the suit was effortlessly clearing a building in three steps before leaping towards the next.

“Hatsume, this is amazing!” Midoriya said into the earpiece, “I feel like I’m flying in these!”

“It’s about the next best thing in that suit,” she laughed back to him, “we did great on those.”

Making a long jump across an entire street, Midoriya almost forgot that he was charging headlong into a superhero fight; it was such a freeing feeling. I wonder if this is how All Might feels when he takes long jumps and soars over the city?

Within minutes, he had made it downtown, and was standing on a roof across from warehouse.

“The tracker says he’s right by the front door - go in with flamethrowers blazing! We got him!” Hatsume commanded.

Midoriya didn’t need to be told twice, her words getting his blood pumping, he leapt from the roof of the neighboring building, landed on the street, kicked open the door of the warehouse with his flamethrower’s drawn...

“Oh shit.” He breathed.

“Oh....oh damn.” Hatsume agreed.

On a pillar by the front door of the warehouse, a piece of paper was pinned with the tracking device on the corner.

“Nice try, kid. You were warned.” The note read.

“He...he was moving around with the device earlier today, right?” Midoriya asked his partner.

“Yeah, I checked as soon as I got home from school” Hatsume confirmed. She paused before gasping. “Which means he wanted to make sure he drew you here!”

Midoriya darted around, scanning the room. “An ambush?!”

But nothing came. The warehouse was completely empty. “There’s no trace of anyone having been here...”

“He wanted you there so you’d be out of his way!” Hatsume realized. “You’re not his target tonight.”

“What do you mean?!”

“The thing Mt. Lady had Power Loader accompany her to...” Hatsume explained, “that red carpet event downtown! You need to get to the theater a mile east!”

“On it!” Midoriya agreed, running out the door and leaping back up to a rooftop. “I can’t believe he outsmarted us! Has anything happened?!”

“Don’t freak out. Nothing on any news sites or forums,” Hatsume replied, and Midoriya could hear the furious typing through the comlink.

“Then hopefully there's still time! Am I going the right way?” He asked, confusion and frustration pushing him faster.

Spotlights illuminated the night sky as the theater approached. Leave it to Mt. Lady to choose a highly public event for a second date, weeks after she was an assassination target.

"You're enroute Izuku, just keep going!" Hatsume urged.

As Midoriya leapt into a building, his attention was caught by the sight of Stain, two buildings down, faced away as he peered down to the theater below.

“He's in your sights, but I've got live feed of this event. They're about to come out now,” Hatsume advised, “hurry!”

Midoriya dashed across the two buildings. Time seemed to slow down as he approached the villain, who had pulled two smoke bombs from his belt. He could envision Stain’s plan: with his speed, cover the event in smoke, kill the Pro, and flee, leaving the event in panic and chaos.

He couldn't let that happen.

Stain jumped just as Midoriya arrived, but Deku was close enough to reach out, and snag the villain by the arm, pivot his hips, and judo toss Stain back into the roof.

Stain slid across the stones on the roof and sprang to his feet, eying the boy in the mech suit furiously. “You?!”

Deku didn't allow himself to get suckered into banter, flicking his wrist to shoot a glue grenade at the Hero Killer. Stain leapt to the side as the projectile exploded into a sticky mess on the rooftop, and threw two knives at the vigilante. One bounced harmlessly off the armor while Midoriya snagged the other one and snapped it between his fingers.

“How did you get here so fast, you whelp?!” Stain screamed, rushing forward with his katana drawn.

Midoriya opened his palms and unleashed a burst of flame at the villain, “you're not the only one with tricks up his sleeve.”

“Nice one,” Hatsume said. In her lab, her heart was pounding just to watch the fight, but she knew running her mouth would just be a distraction.

Stain leapt over the flames and threw three blades at the wannabe Hero; two aimed for the palms, one for the visor, all of them hitting and bouncing off harmlessly.

But as Midoriya went for another flame burst, both arms were shooting off at angles.

“Sneaky bastard knocked them of course!” Hatsume cursed. “They're both angled outward!”

It didn't matter at the moment; Stain was already on him swinging his blade, the blows chipping away at Midoriya’s metal plates. Midoriya swung with rights and lefts, but Stain was able to duck between each blow, clanging his blade against the armor with each evasion.

“He's looking for spots between each plate, you need to create some distance,” Hatsume advised, analyzing the attack pattern. “He's too fast for you to go hand to hand with, and at this rate he’ll find or MAKE a weak spot in the armor.”

Midoriya hatched a plan. He jumped backwards from Stain, and the Hero Killer followed. But as the villain drew close, Deku used the boost boots to jump straight up. As the Hero Killer looked upwards towards his foe, he didn’t notice Deku had dropped a freeze grenade on the rooftop. Once he cleared the blast radius, he closed his fist, hitting a remote activator in his gauntlet. The freeze grenade exploded, but Stain managed to partially get out of the way; his lower half was encased, but his eyes glinted as he spotted a weak point on Midoriya’s suit; there was a small gap where the boost boots connected to the feet. Stain threw another throwing knife from his sleeve, lodging it in the gap, the blade just reaching between two plates and nicking the skin above Midoriya’s ankle.

As Deku landed, he didn’t even realize that a small blood trickle had landed on on Stain’s shirt, but he turned around his in time just to see Stain lift up the cloth to lick.

Midoriya locked into place, staring down Stain, who gave him the same, terrifying stare of hatred that had frozen him last week in the park.

“You keep on impressing me, you know that?” Stain seethed. Despite the compliment, there was a quiet frustration in the tone of the Hero Killer. “You stepped up your game for this one, didn’t you?”

“Oh shit.” Hatsume said into the headset, and Midoriya heard it disconnect.

“This probably looks like a stalemate, doesn’t it?” Stain laughed, before reaching down to the rooftop, and grabbing his katana. In two swift hacks, he had freed his legs and turned back towards the vigilante. “But looks like I’ve got you right where I want you.”

Stain began circling the suit, “Wonder what the easiest way to hack this apart is? While I figure it out, do you know why I’m here?”

“To finish Mt. Lady, I assume,” Midoriya replied, keeping his cool.

“Good guess,” Stain answered, getting right in the visor, “Found an opening in the plates, by the way,” he laughed, and Midoriya could feel the katana slide between the smallest of gaps in the armor, the tip just barely hitting his undershirt, “I’m here because I looked up more about you. Where you went to school. What you do at UA...and who taught you how to make all these wonderful toys.”

“Power Loader...” Midoriya breathed, “You’re after him.”

“Maybe I’ll leave your body on his doorstep...break him before I kill him.” Stain breathed. "That'll make him proud, I bet."

He was interrupted by the sound of sirens approaching. “Hm?”

“Midoriya!” The headset came back on, and Midoriya was shocked as he heard Hatsume’s voice. “The police are on their way, and the two minutes are almost up! You don’t have time to catch him without being noticed.. GET OUT!”

Stain looked away to see the flashing lights of approaching police vehicles, and the feeling began to surge back into Midoriya’s arms. He wasted no time uppercutting Stain, knocking him a few feet away. In last ditch attempt to catch the villain, he shot another glue grenade, but Stain rolled out of the way of the blast radius. He went to charge Midoriya again, but Midoriya threw a small grenade down, followed by a small stream of lighter fluid to create a wall of flame separating the two. He turned for the side of the roof to flee as he heard thundering footsteps approaching from below; the authorities were charging up the building.

“HEAR ME, MIDORIYA IZUKU!” Stain screamed in fury.

Midoriya screeched to a halt, turning to look at the villain.

“IN TWO WEEKS, YOUR SCHOOL COMES BACK IN!” Stain screeched, spitting across the wall of flames, “AND I WILL KILL EVERYONE YOU CARE ABOUT! THE FROG GIRL! THE GRAVITY GIRL! YOUR IDIOT FRIEND WITH THE PINK HAIR! EVEN YOUR MOTHER! AND YOU WILL WATCH EVERY SINGLE ONE DIE! ONLY THEN WILL YOU KNOW THE SWEET RELEASE OF MY BLADE!”

Stain turned and fled into the night, dropping into an alley and out of sight. Midoriya could not move, shaken to his core at the declaration of a time limit being put upon him, his friends and family threatened.

“Snap out of it Deku, the police are right under you!” Hatsume yelled in his ear.

Coming to his senses, Midoriya leapt to the next roof; thankfully the knife had not damaged the boost tech. When he was a few buildings away, he could hear the commotion behind him as the police canvassed the battle area. He and Hatsume did not speak at all as he traveled a few miles back to her residence.

Landing in the yard of her house just on the outskirts of town, he didn’t even need to knock on the door before Hatsume flew the door open, pale from what had happened.

“Come on, get in here - ACK!” Hatsume said. She was interrupted as Midoriya opened the suit, immediately stepping out and throwing his arms around her. “W-what are you doing, Deku Scrub?”

After a brief pause, he said into her shoulder, “...I can’t let him hurt you,” and his grip on her tightened.

Hatsume burned bright red and smiled, but pushed the boy away. “Hey. I’m not some damsel in distress. You’re the one out there fighting psychopaths. Let’s get inside and regroup. Sounds like we’re on the clock.”

“Right...he got away,” Midoriya sighed.

Hatsume smiled and grabbed his shoulder, “Hey, come on. What does Power Loader say every time I blow something up?”

“You crazy witch, I should expel you?” Midoriya answered.

“No,” Hatsume rolled her eyes, “after that. He says every failure is nothing more than a learning experience.”

Midoriya flashed back to the beach, over a year ago. He remembered hearing the Pro say that the first time he had burnt himself on a welding torch.

Midoriya shook himself out of it. “You’re right. Sorry. We have two weeks to catch Stain. Let's get to work.”

Chapter Text

Safe in his back up warehouse, Stain tuned the settings of an ancient machine, hoping to hit the right frequency.

The machine crackled, and I finally, he overheard the kid’s voice, “I can’t let him hurt you.” Despite the crackling of the old radio, Stain recognized the voice belonging to Midoriya Izuku.

Stain smirked. “Must be talking to that partner with the pink hair.”

He thought back to what he had yelled to the boy - impulsive anger had taken over him, but Stain just laughed it off. Killing innocents was below him, and he was more concerned with killing the present of Heroes. Still, Midoriya was becoming a pain in his side, and he had...urges to make the boy suffer. No, he wouldn't kill the kid's mom...but Midoriya was a mama's boy. Let's see him sleep now.

But something about this kid fascinated him. He was a seedling. He wanted to see how Midoriya grew. A Quirkless boy playing with toys, making an attempt to be a Hero. It was...not something The Hero Killer had seen before. It was when he decided to test the kid's mental fortitude.

“Well Midoriya. You have two weeks,” Stain leaned back in his chair, “Show me what kind of Hero you are. And I’ll see what needs to be done with you.”

---
Day 1 - Saturday
---

Bright and early Saturday morning, Midoriya sprang out of bed from an uneasy sleep, and after a brief breakfast, he excused himself to head to the Hatsume residence.

“You’re spending an awful lot of time with that girl from your class,” Inko said, suspiciously. “I thought you were seeing the frog girl from the Hero course?”

I-I can’t tell my mom I’m making weapons with Hatsume! Midoriya panicked. “I-it’s complicated.”

Inko frowned. “You better not be two-timing anyone, Izuku! I raised you better than that! Just because you’re not a Hero doesn’t mean you can be a lecherous scoundrel!”

“Th-that’s not the case mom, I promise! We’re working on Support Summer Course Work!” Midoriya blushed, frantically waving his hands around in front of him. M-maybe I’d have been better off telling her I’m a vigilante.

Humiliated, he grabbed his battle backpack (after what happened in the park, he never left home without it), and left his home to grab the bus, looking over his shoulder the whole time. It occurred to him that the time limit could have been a ruse or an angry outburst. But considering Stain seemed to have a flare for the dramatic, he wasn't going to take the chance. He would not risk his mother or any of his classmates getting hurt.

Making it across town, Hatsume once again threw the door open before he had even gotten on the porch. “Took you long enough! Come on, let’s get to work!”

They hit the basement, and Hatsume unfurled a large blueprint roll.

“Hatsume, did you,” Midoriya began, but she interrupted him.

“Yes, Midoriya, I slept. I went to bed right after I wrote down the ideas.”

“Okay, good,” Midoriya sighed. “What do you got?”

“Well, let’s be honest,” Hatsume began, pulling her goggles down, “You were a bit outmatched when it came to hand to hand combat. And by a bit, I mean a lot.”

“Y-yeah,” Midoriya agreed, rubbing the back of his head. “Not my best moment.”

“He could get in close, he just had to avoid your fists, which didn't seem to be a problem. That’s why...” Hatsume pointed to the drawing by the arms of the suit, “we put in two, foot-long spikes on each arm, mounted just below the top of the wrist. Extends your reach, and they can puncture walls so you can climb them with the help of your spider things.”

“Versatile!” Midoriya smiled. “I like it, that will help keep him off me. Now, about the plates...he was able to get the few gaps between plates. I was thinking a thin layer of kevlar to catch any blades. It’s the best we can do.”

“I like it, we’ll just have to make sure we don’t cut off all the ventilation!” Hatsume beamed. “That should keep him from paralyzing you.”

“Actually, I had an idea for a failsafe idea if he does manage to get some of my blood.” Midoriya said, taking out a piece of paper and showing her some notes he scribbled down. “What do you think?"

The inventor’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she read the plans. “Oh man, Deku Scrub, you are speaking my language! I AM INTO THIS! What are we standing around for?! We've babies to make!”

The two geared up all their items from Hatsume’s workbench.

A few hours into the work, Deku stopped to check a text, and smiled as he saw the selfie Tsuyu had send of her and Uraraka at the pool.

-I really do wish you could be here or go to camp with us. I’m excited to see you when we get back!-

The photo filled Midoriya with a renewed sense of vigor. He had no doubts in Tsuyu or Uraraka’s combat ability, to be sure, but if he could help it, he’d never let the Hero Killer get close to anyone he cared for ever again. This was his new mission, and he couldn’t let them, his mom, Power Loader, Hatsume, or anyone down.

-You too, Tsu! I hope you have fun at camp :) Text me if you can, if not, just have a good time.-

“Hey, get off your phone, Scrub! We have kevlar to install!” Hatsume yelled from over the noise of her power drill.

“Right, sorry Mei!”

It took the rest of the day to weave a thin layer of kevlar between each of the plates to give a protective barrier to snag any knives that could make it in the cracks, although it wouldn’t stop the katana if Stain managed to shove it through the plate. Afterwards, they only had time to calibrate the aim of the palm-mounted flamethrowers before Midoriya got an angry phone call from his mother summoning him back home.

“Ugh, can’t she just let you stay here, we’re wasting valuable time!” Hatsume groaned.

“I-I d-don’t think my mom would like me staying at your house,” Midoriya stuttered, “f-for obvious reasons.”

Hatsume blushed slightly too, “Right right, I get it. Anyway, get your butt over here tomorrow as soon as you can.”

He nodded. “Alright. Have uh...” A mischievous smile spread across Midoriya’s face as he finished, “have some good dreams.”

“SHUT UP!”

---
Day 2 - Sunday
---

Alarm blaring, Midoriya groaned as he rolled over. It was Sunday, and while he should be sleeping in, he pulled himself out of his bed. He could sleep when Stain was behind bars.

He grabbed some fruit from the fridge, scribbled a note to his mother, and stumbled out of their apartment to the street so he could once again head to the Hatsume residence.

As usual, she had the door open before he could knock, and this time handed him a mug of coffee.

“I don’t drink cof-,” he started, but she held a finger up to his lips.

“Drink the caffeine,” Hatsume commanded.

He did, and the two set to work, this time testing the suit to make sure it wouldn’t overheat from their new additions. They had worked to re-ventilate the suit, and after a few hours of test runs, it seemed to be properly airing out even during strenuous, heat-producing actions

Returning to the basement, they installed his wrist-spikes, making them spring loaded, and ran several tests on them to make sure they would not fly out of the suit or activate unless Midoriya flicked his wrists in just the right way.

"Make sure when you use them growl and say," Hatsume took her best brooding pose, "I'm the best at what I do, bub."

"I would never say that!" Midoriya laughed.

With that done, Midoriya turned to the workbench to build a few more glue grenades. “I wish he could make the projectile systems on the arms faster, he dodged everything.”

“Any more pressure in those tubes and your grenades risk exploding on your back,” Hatsume replied, “I’ll see what I can do, though. If there's one thing I know, it's explosions.”

“Don’t worry if it’s too risky. I need to get some good shots on him,” Midoriya replied, “Maybe focus on the thing we talked about yesterday.”

“Awesome, I was excited for that!” Hatsume half-shouted, giddily running to a corner where she had dismantled a bunch of old radios and other such items to begin building the modifications, “Stain won’t know what hit him!”

“That’s the plan!” Midoriya agreed from across the room.

“Hey, speaking of...” Hatsume said, unscrewing a few plates to get to the central processing and wiring, “It’s cool we’re making this better, but how are we supposed to find Stain again? The tracker was a dud, we know he’s not going to return to the same warehouse.”

“I have...some ideas...” Midoriya replied. “But first there are a few additions I want to make on the suit that may take a few days...”

Hatsume turned to him, grinning. “MORE additions?! Deku Scrub, you are making this the greatest summer break a girl could hope for!”

He laughed, “W-well, I’m glad you think so. Why don’t I make some more coffee?”

“I’m down for that, I’m going to be here awhile.” Hatsume beamed, "Sleep is for the weak!"

---
Day 5 - Wednesday
---

Midoriya texted Hatsume that morning to let her know he was going to be a bit late. When asked why, he told her and she understood completely.

He grabbed a different bus, and after a short ride, made his way over to the graveyard, stepping in front of Bakugou’s memorial. From his pockets, he pulled two small cans of soda. “Brought you your favorite, Kacchan.”

He set the can gently down on top of the grave. Cracking his open, he took a sip. “You had weird taste, Kacchan. It's a bit too sweet for me.”

Midoriya took a deep breath and sat down next to the grave. “I’m sorry I haven’t been back since the Sports Festival. To be honest, part of me wonders if I let you down by not killing the Sludge guy. I feel like...I feel like it’s what you would have done.”

The wind rustled Midoriya’s bushy hair. “I guess I’m not you though. I’m sure you’d remind me of that if you were here. In the end, I did it my way. Hopefully...hopefully that’s enough, and you can be at peace.”

Taking another drought from the can, he sighed, “I wonder what it would be like, if somehow we both made it into UA. Maybe we would have learned how to get along better again. I’m not sure. I miss you, Kacchan. I’m sure you’d punch me for that. But I miss how things were when we were little. Before we fought on the playground that day.”

Midoriya looked at his phone. He supposed he should get going. He and Hatsume had big plans for tonight. “Oh...I saw your mom the other day. She came over to visit my mom. She’s...she’s been doing a lot better since they found your body. I hope...I hope that makes you feel better, wherever you are. I should go though. I’ll be sure to visit soon.”

A strong gust of wind blew the can off the grave and into Midoriya’s shoulder, causing the teen to burst out laughing. “Fine, you ass, I won’t visit TOO often.”

---

As Midoriya made his way down to the basement, he was greeted by the all too familiar sight of Hatsume’s grinning face. “Hey Deku Scrub! How ya doing?”

He noticed her tone was slightly gentler than usual; as he got to know her, he found she was occasionally, able to be tactful. “Great! So where are we?”

“I finished that speaker system you started yesterday - good job, by the way,” Hatsume answered, “and I finished the main project.” She pulled her goggles up. “Are you sure about tonight?”

Midoriya nodded. “I’m positive. It’s the best way to rattle him. And I found the best place for it.”

Hatsume beamed. “Okay. Let’s run a few tests, and get you out there tonight.”

Midoriya and Hatsume both pulled down their goggles. They were in for a long night.

---

Midnight rolled around, and Midoriya stood, full suit, on top of a roof next to the seediest bar he could find on the dark web.

“You got the specs, Mei?” He asked.

“Of course, your intel was right,” Hatsume said over the comlink, “no security cameras, no sprinklers, and a regular bust location. We don’t know what kind of Quirks the guys in there might have, but you’re insulated against electric attacks. Be ready for anything.”

“Alright. Wish me luck.” Midoriya replied.

“Luck is for chumps and you don’t need it,” Hatsume retorted, “Go kick some ass.”

Midoriya jumped down in front of the bar and kicked the door off the hinges, resulting in a crowd of about twenty angry looking men and women turning on him.

Pointing his flamethrowers at the crowd, he yelled through the speakers on his shoulders. “One of you knows where Stain is. Whoever tells me doesn’t get their ass kicked.”

This was enough to set off the bar of criminals. A man with bull horns charged him, head down, to plow him through the wall. Using the power stabilizers in the suit, he grabbed the bull by the horns, literally, pivoted his hips and threw him through the weak glass window. Turning back to the rest of the patrons, he sighed. “Next?”

About five ne’er-do-wells drew guns and fired at the boy, who just rolled his eyes as the bullets harmlessly bounced off his armor and the bullet-proof glass that had been installed on his visor. He fired two glue grenades, encasing all five of them and another surrounding four people in a thick sludge, immobilized and guns jammed via the thick goop.

“Okay, so is anyone going to take me up on my offer to talk?” Midoriya asked, walking towards the bar. The bartender leapt from the bar, and his fist turned into a boulder as he lunged. Impressive as it was, Midoriya had better instincts, and was able to grab the man’s head in his hands and slam him face-first against the bar, knocking him out.

The remaining patrons ran for the door, so Midoriya turned and froze the exit with a block of ice from a cryogrenade, and with the rest of them rounded up, he deployed another round of glue grenades, sticking them in place, the entire bar rounded up.

“You guys are rude.” Midoriya griped. He turned to see the man with bull horns stumble to his feet, so he shot one last glue grenade out the window and froze him in place as well.

“Okay, new game.” Midoriya yelled over the shouts of confusion. “Anyone with any intel about Stain doesn’t have to have a run in with the cops tonight.”

His offer was met with nothing but yelling and cursing. “Anything on facial recognition?”

“Wouldn't you know it, all of them have warrants out,” Hatsume quipped into his ear. “Can’t imagine why they wouldn’t want to cooperate...”

“Well, guess that means we go with Plan B,” Midoriya shrugged, hopping out the window. He turned back to the group of low level thugs he had just busted and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. “Have fun in jail?”

---
Day 6 - Thursday
---

From Hatsume’s living room, the two Support Students sat on her couch, sipping coffee and eating cold pizza, watching the news report of their, “field test.”

“And in news of the Hero Killer Stain, who had was reportedly sighted near the red carpet premiere of, ‘Ain’t No Mountain Lady Enough,’ is once again making headlines, but not for what he’s done now - it appears he’s been called out again by a mysterious Vigilante.” The news lady reported with a fake smile.

The camera panned over to a shot of the bar that Deku had raided last night, now taped off and surrounded by police cars.

“Police were called to the scene of what looked to be an all out bar brawl, resulting in the capture of twenty wanted felons and fugitives, all caught in a weird, strange glue.” The reported continued.

“The best part about the glue is that the only people who know I use it are you and Stain,” Midoriya said, leaning over to her, “so they can’t trace it back to me from the Sports Festival or anything.”

“Don’t be a gloryhog,” Hatsume rolled her eyes, smiling nonetheless, “though it does feel pretty cool knowing we took down twenty villains using nothing but our babies. Suck it, Quirks!”

The clinked their mugs together as they watched the rest of the newscast.

“The identity of the vigilante is unknown, however he did leave a note that reads: The beatings will not stop until Stain is captured. Courtesy of Mt. Lady.” The newscaster read.

“Nice touch giving credits to out to someone we know Stain hates.” Midoriya added. “That’s was an even better idea.”

“Well, we can’t take the credit for it,” Hatsume beamed, “And it will piss him off more if Heroes he thinks are fake are getting undeserved credit for busting bad dudes.”

“We reached Mt. Lady for comment, and this is what she had to say,” the news reporter continued, surprising the two students. They didn’t think she’d give a comment. The two teens leaned forward to listen.

“I mean, I suppose it’s flattering,” Mt. Lady huffed, “but I definitely don’t shoot any gross goo out of my body. I can only assume whoever did this is a big fan of mine and has impeccable taste. But if there are any vigilantes out on the streets using their Quirks unlicensed, rest assured, I will bring them to justice, because that is my job as a Hero!”

“Oh look! Look in the background!” Hatsume pointed, causing Midoriya to lean forward to squint, “It’s Mr. Power Loader! He’s with her!”

“No way!” Midoriya laughed. “Think they’re dating for real?”

“That would be the craziest thing!” Hatsume laughed as well. “Maybe he won her over.”

The news moved on to other topics, so the two decided it was time to get to work, and went down to the basement, admiring their work on the suit. “You build more glue grenades, and I’ll check the Deep Web for rumblings on Stain?” Hatsume suggested.

Midoriya nodded. “Yeah. See if you can find another bar or small time place for me to topple again tomorrow if no one has any sightings. I don’t know if we’d have him rattled already, but we need keep the pressure on to find him before our two weeks are up.”

“What if he sees through this? We need to have a way to for sure drag him out.” Hatsume replied. “Don’t you have to leave soon, by the way? Where were you and your mom going?”

“Not for a few hours, I promised my mom I’d be home for dinner. She wants to go to that little sushi place on the outside of town. I love it there.” Midoriya said. “And I’m worried about that too. But how do we trap him?”

“The only concrete thing we know is his Quirk works on you for two minutes, and that he’s got it out for most Heroes who aren’t All Might. Specifically, Mt. Lady and Power Loader for now,” Hatsume hummed as she thought about it. “We’ve got to be able to use that for something, but we don’t know what they’re doing day to day.”

“I’m sure we can figure it out,” Midoriya said, beginning to mix the chemical compound for his glue grenade, “Stain always seems to know where a Pro would be. Maybe we can find the schedules of the Pros he’s killed on old Deep Web archives or something?”

“I’m all over that.” Hatsume replied. “You got a list.”

“Yeah, it’s in my back pocket, just gimme a sec, my hands are covered in gunk - AH!” Midoriya yelled.

Hatsume, ever the impatient one, just walked over and stuck her hand in his back pocket, grabbing the list and making him turn beet red. “Got it!”

“You’re going t-to m-make me mess up this b-batch!” He objected, “w-warn me next time you do something like that!”

“Time is of the essence, Izuku!” Hatsume laughed. “Hey, you been doing squats?”

“C-cut that out!”

---

Dinner with his mom was exactly what Izuku needed, although, she did convince him to leave his backpack. She took him to his favorite sushi place, and sitting across from her, he felt at ease. He hadn’t allowed himself to feel at ease since he had stopped Stain from killing Mt. Lady. It was nice, he had forgotten what it was like to be a normal teenager for a minute.

“So...tell me about this girl who’s been taking you from me the whole week,” Inko teased her son.

Izuku’s face burned. “M-mom, cut it out! Hatsume and I just build stuff together.”

“Mhmm,” Inko hummed in a disbelieving tone, “so tell me why her and not any of your other classmates.”

Izuku paused and picked at his roll. “Hmm...fair question I guess. Well...I guess...I trust her with my inventions? And she trusts me with hers? And when we’re together we give each other really good ideas. Like...we kind of inspire each other? And she has this energy about her that's really admirable, it makes me excited to see what our work can do. Maybe it’s...”

“You’re starting to mutter, dear.” Inko laughed.

Izuku blushed again as he saw his mom absolutely beaming at him. “D-don’t give me that look!”

“I can’t help it, you should see your face when you talk about her.” Inko laughed once more, more heartily that time. "You sound absolutely taken with her, sweetheart!"

Izuku rolled his eyes - and that’s when he saw him.

Stain

Stain was right outside the shop.

Looking. Right. At him.

Izuku dropped his chopsticks in shock. With his full attention, the Hero Killer gave him a small, seemingly non-threatening wave, before turning and running off.

“I uh...” Izuku stammered, “I-I have to use the restroom!”

He stumbled out of his seat and made a mad dash for the door. Looking up and down the empty street, he saw no sign of the villain. He peaked around the corners. Nothing not a trace.

Shaken, Midoriya walked back into the shop, sitting across from his mother, wordlessly. He looked up at her and nearly choked. He couldn’t let her come to harm.

“There you are!” Inko sighed. “I’m stuffed. You want to take the rest home?"

Izuku just nodded. He had lost his appetite.

---

As soon as they were in the car he texted Hatsume to make sure she was okay. She answered right away, unharmed. He sent her a detailed message about what happened.

-Are you sure you saw him? Maybe your mind is playing tricks on you.-

Izuku scowled at his phone, but he understood why she might think that.

-No. I know what I saw. I don’t get it.-

-Well, who did you talk to about sushi? There was no way he’d just be there at random- Was Hatsome’s reply.

Izuku’s eyes widened.

-Just you. Mei, he bugged the suit! He bugged the suit when we were fighting! He’s heard everything we’ve talked about the whole week!-

-OH SHIT! SHOULD WE TAKE IT APART?! Don't make me take apart the baby, Deku Scrub-

Izuku’s hands trembled as he hastily replied.

-No. Find the bug but leave it. I have an idea.-

A serene, somewhat deranged smile formed across his face. Izuku knew exactly how to trap Stain now.

Chapter Text

Stain laughed to himself as he entered his new hideout. The look on that kid’s face was priceless. The kid could talk a big game, and clearing out a hideout of petty crooks was certainly no easy feat.

But he’d have to try harder to prove himself. Stain messed with the knobs on his ancient radio to see if he could hear Midoriya’s assistant - Hatsume, was it? - working on the suit. Hopefully they still hadn’t caught on to him bugging them.

“You could be a great use to me, kid,” Stain muttered, twisting the knobs until he could hear the distinct sounds of Hatsume muttering to herself about tweaks the machine needed. “But you gotta prove you can keep pace with me.”

Stain looked at the time as the clock rolled over to midnight. It had been a week now since their fight. “You’ve got a week to show me what you’re made of.”

---
Day 7 - Friday
---

Midoriya and Hatsume met at a small cafe a few blocks from her house before they got to work. There, they knew it was safe.

“So, did you find it?” He asked.

Hatsume nodded. “It was right between the boost tech and the boot. It must have been on the side of the knife he threw. I don’t get it. He’s always two steps ahead of us.”

The boy with the green hair smiled. “Not anymore. We’re going to use it against him.”

The taller girl titled her head curiously. “Oh?”

They paused their conversation as the waitress brought them their breakfast, both of them more than happy to have coffee in their systems - it hadn’t taken long for Hatsume to get Midoriya hooked. As the waitress left, Midoriya leaned in. “We’re going to pretend we don’t know he can hear us. Talk like normal. In a few days tell him I’m going somewhere public again and see if he shows up.”

She grinned. “Sneaky. Think he knows about our failsafe?”

Izuku shook his head. “I wrote it in my notebook and we’ve never said it outloud. We should be good.”

“Awesome!” She laughed. “Bastard won’t know what hit him. So what if I get a really good idea to add to your suit though?”

He shrugged. “Just text it to me or write it down and show me. It’s going to make communication tricky, but if we stop talking, he’ll know we’re on to him.”

“Smart.” Hatsume agreed, “so do we still go rough up bad guys at the bars tonight?”

He nodded as he bit into his eggs,”If we change the plans too much, he’ll either think he scared me off, OR he’ll know we’re on to him. Besides,” he smirked, slightly, “I think scaring me was his way of getting back at me for calling him out on the news again.”

As they finished their food and Midoriya paid for their meals, the waitress came back with a small box, confusing the two teens.

“You two kids are just the cutest couple! I just wanted to send you home with some pie! Enjoy!” The older lady crowed.

Izuku turned crimson as they got up to leave, but Hatsume just excitedly exclaimed, “Deku! Free pie! I LOVE PIE! Thanks, Miss!”

--

Clearing their throats as they walked down the stairs into the Hatsume basement, Midoriya gave his rehearsed line. “Yeah, I couldn’t sleep last night. Too freaked out that he was there.”

“I mean, I’d lose my appetite if I saw that ugly face during my dinner,” Hatsume answered.

He resisted the urge to laugh. The bug, a small mic, had been found by Hatsume, and sat next to the suit on the table where they could see it. He hadn’t suspected she’d say that.

“I bet they call him Stain because that’s what his face looks like,” she added.

Izuku shook his head as Hatsume smiled at him. He admired her in a lot of ways. Even in the face of Stain’s threats, she remained confident that they would succeed. With everything that was going on, he was happy to have someone to help him stay sane.

“I just wish we didn’t have to install the ventilation duct under my weapon storage,” he sighed. “It’s too big of an opening.”

There, course, was no ventilation duct. Misdirection was a key part of Midoriya’s plan.

The two Support Students smirked at each other. Hopefully, this was the edge they needed over the Hero Killer.

---

That night, they reattached the bug onto the boot of the suit so Midoriya could go through with their original plan of trying to glean information of some low level thugs at a seedy underworld bar. While they didn’t necessarily need it now,they had tracked some rather nefarious drug dealers to that area that night, and cleaning up the streets a little bit was never a bad thing.

This time, Midoriya wasted no time kicking the door open and unleashing a barrage of glue grenades upon any and all patrons. A few had evaded this, and charged him; a woman with drills for pigtails tried to crack his armor, but he deployed an ecrisma stick and smacked her across the face, knocking her out cold, and kicked a man with chainsaws for hands directly in the chest, knocking him over the bar, and deployed a few cryogrenades to capture those two stragglers.

“So,” Midoriya yelled out to the angry and confused drug dealers and deadbeats, “Who wants to talk about Stain?”

One of the bar patrons angrily spat on Deku. “YOU HURT MY BOY, CHAINSAW HANDS!”

“His name is Chainsaw Hands, and his Quirk is...Chainsaw Hands?” Deku asked, incredulously, lowering his arms.

The man spat again, so Deku hit him across the head with an ecrisma stick. “No need to be rude about it,” the vigilante boy muttered. “But I mean...Chainsaw Hands?”

---
Day 8 - Saturday
---

Midoriya and Hatsume sat in her living room, once again, reviewing the news reports, delighted that their call out of Stain was once again making the morning news.

“And the note says, ‘the beatings will continue until Stain is found,’” the newscaster laughed, “and the vigilante then credits all these captures to go under Endeavor’s record.”

“Oh man, that will really get his goat,” Hatsume laughed, “The epitome of Jerkass Hero.”

“Yeah, that’s why I picked him,” Midoriya agreed. “The suit is downstairs, right?”

She nodded. “Yeah, we can speak freely.”

Izuku beamed. “I know how we’re going to catch him. But first, we need to double check he’s following me.”

She leaned forward, once again forgetting the talk they had at the beginning of the year about personal space. “What’s that, Izuku?”

“Well, I need some more materials for my glue grenades,” he admitted, “We’ll announce we’re going to Power Loader’s lab - it should be closed today but I still have the key - to get the stuff. If he shows up, we’ll know. That area is crowded enough where he shouldn’t try anything risky, but peaceful enough he may try to spook me - just like the sushi place and the park.”

---

Stain raised an eyebrow at the newscast, almost allowing himself to laugh when the reporter read off the note Midoriya had left for him.

“Not backing down, are you Midoriya?” Stain folded his arms, “conviction. I like it.”

Stain went back to sharpening his blades on a whet stone. “No one has conviction anymore. Heroes and villains are practically the same. Just care about a quick buck.”

He held up the knife and caught a glimpse of his reflection in the blade. “Not you though, eh Izuku? So determined.”

Stain’s ancient radio began to crackle, catching his attention. He stopped the maintenance on his blades to listen in.

“I used too many glue grenades,” he heard Midoriya say. “We should go to the lab.”

“Let me just make a quick patch here and we can go,” Hatsume told him.

Stain laughed. “Let’s see if I can’t spook you a little more...there was no mistaking that look in your eyes. Fear. We'll see if your conviction is strong enough to overcome it.”

---

The two students arrived at the lab, and took their time unlocking the front door, but locked it behind them just to be safe. Hatsume stayed by the front to keep watch while Midoriya went to fetch the chemical containers.

After a few quiet minutes, he began to wonder if maybe Stain wasn’t falling for it, but he heard Hatsume yelp. He stuffed the containers into the storage pouch on his pack and dashed towards the front.
He burst into the lobby just to see a blood red scarf disappear out the side of the window, and Hatsume looking paler than usual, shaking.

“Mei, are you okay?” Midoriya exclaimed, gently grabbing her shoulders.

She nodded and took a deep breath. “Yeah. He tried to open the door. I wasn’t expecting that at all...glad you locked it.”

“Did you...?” Midoriya asked.

She nodded, and tapped her goggles, which had been pulled down. “Yeah, got it on camera just to be sure.” She pulled out her phone, which was streaming live feed from the small nanny cam she had installed on the goggles, and she replayed her footage of Stain pounding on the door once and pulling at the handle. They decided to record this just to so they could be absolutely sure the Hero Killer had been following them.

“I wasn’t expecting the pound since last time he just creeped on you,” Hatsume admitted. “Smug bastard scared the hell out of me.”

Midoriya’s eyes flashed. “Wait...Hatsume...I have the perfect idea for phase two!”

---
Day 10 - Monday
---

Stain was beginning to wonder if he had scared the boy and his friend off after all. After his little excursion two days prior, he hadn’t heard them work on the suit since.

Truth be told, he had no interest in Hatsume Mei. Support Companies were merely that; vendors. True, they could be more...particular about what Heroes they chose to help, but he knew like any business, they existed to turn a profit.

In Stain’s opinion of course, it was all worthless. All he needed was his blades, his spike-tipped boots, and his mission. All those fancy toys Midoriya bothered with...well, perhaps they made sense for a Quirkless kid. But he could be trained in the art of the blade, if he took Stain’s offer.

Of course, he still had to prove himself to Stain first.

No, Stain had scared Hatsume because she was a liability. A weakness. If Midoriya was to be like him, he had to go this alone, so that Stain could show him how to purify the Hero world.

Stain was interrupted from his thoughts as his radio crackled once more.

“What the hell, Mei?!” Midoriya yelled, “I thought you were my friend, now you want to call it quits?!”

Stain’s attention was fully grasped now, approaching the old but reliable machine. Yes!

“I’m in this to make cool gear, Deku Scrub!” The girl yelled back, “Not get killed! I don’t want anything to do with this! Your plans are crazy and they never work!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, a few days ago all you could talk about was his ugly face!” Midoriya argued. “I’ve had to face him like four times now, and I’m not chickening out!”

“Because you’re insane you absolute mad man!” Hatsume screamed, her voice going even higher in her anger. “You didn’t see how he looked at me! I was just trying to help you out but now you’re going to get me killed!”

“We can stop him! He won’t kill anyone once I catch him!” Midoriya yelled back.

“YOU CAN’T CATCH HIM!” The girl screamed.

Stain chuckled victoriously. Just. As. Planned.

There was a pause at the other end of the radio. Apparently, this had hit Midoriya where it counted. Good. He’ll feel upset. Betrayed...looking for a new ally.

“You...you really don’t think I can do this, do you?” Midoriya asked, his voice softening.

“You’ve had every chance to do it, and failed, you idiot,” Hatsume replied, her voice still sharp as one of Stain’s blades. “You’re not a Hero. You’re just some Quirkless loser wannabe hiding behind a mask.”

“Hey, screw you Hatsume!” Midoriya snapped, heating back up in his tone, “fine, I’ll take the suit and I’ll go find him myself!”

“I’m not letting you take the suit!” Hatsume objected, shock in her voice, “I’ve spent just as much time working on it as you, it’s mine too!”

“YOU CAN’T STOP ME YOU BITCH!” Midoriya yelled.

There was a loud crashing sound on the other end of the radio that made even Stain jump. But the smile returned to the Hero Killer’s face.

“I broke him.” The villain smiled to himself.

They stopped fighting, but Stain could hear the familiar sounds of the robot suit begin to walk away.

“Izuku, wait!” Hatsume cried. Her voice had changed quickly, now sounding like she was choking back tears. “You don’t even know where he is. Please don’t be stupid.”

“One of those crooks the other night told me he’s holed up in the older movie in Hosu.” Midoriya spat, venom in his tone. “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t think I could trust you. Guess I was right. I’ll start there tomorrow when I’m not so mad.”

“Izuku, please!”

“Goodbye, Hatsume.”

Stain laughed to himself. “All alone, Midoriya. Now, you can show me what you can do.”

Stain hadn’t been to Hosu since the night that boy - what was his name? Engine? Lithium? Ingenium? - Had come to avenge his brother. But maybe it was time he paid the city another visit.

--
Day 11 - Tuesday
--

Stain approached the old theater in Hosu. He knew just the one, it was the only big empty one in the middle of town.

The kid hadn’t been very specific about what time he’d be there, but he had geared up in the suit not too long ago, so Stain took off at as quickly as he could.

Stain jumped from a neighboring roof, and went down the roof entrance so he could have a higher vantage point. As he climbed down the stairs and took to the rafters, he could see the mecha suit Midoriya used ripping rotted chairs out of the abandoned rows as the moonlight beamed down from the holes in the building.

“Ugh, he has to be here!” Midoriya groaned, “this was my only lead!”

Now, Stain thought. ‘

Leaping from the rafter, Stain prepared the spikes on his steel-rimmed boots, and landed with a ferocious kick across Midoriya’s back. He could hear the suit dent as the teenager went cashing into an old row of chairs. He threw a knife for the ventilation shaft on the back of suit, but grunted when the knife fell, helplessly.

Midoriya came back swinging, popping up from the aisle and unleashing a burst from his flamethrowers, having to aim high to avoid setting all the rotten wood on fire.

Stain ran low to the ground under the flame, throwing another knife for the shoulder area of the suit; he had a plan for that.

Midoriya’s wrist sprouted footlong spikes - two from each wrist - and swatted the knife away.

Stain had already cleared the distance between the two of them, sword drawn, and swung for the shoulder again. Midoriya blocked with his left spikes and swung with the right.

Stain scowled, jumping back. The spikes, while rudimentary, gave the kid enough reach that he had to be more careful to dodge.

“I must say Midoriya...I admire your conviction,” Stain panted, taking another swing for the shoulder. Too high. “If only it wasn’t so misplaced?”

“Misplaced?” Midoriya asked, going for a point-blank flame burst, but Stain was fast enough to jam the weapon with a knife to the palm. It didn’t pierce to the skin though.

“Why defend a Hero system that looks down on people like us?” Stain questioned. He leapt over a low swipe of the spikes from Midoriya, and kicked the helmet of the boy.

To his chagrin, the helmet was fastened sturdily, and did not come off.

“Like us?” Midoriya seethed, shooting a cryogrenade at the Hero Killer, who effortlessly tilted his shoulders to the side as it sailed by, freezing a row of chairs.

“I wanted to a Hero, like you,” Stain laughed, throwing a knife into the visor of Midoriya.

It bounced off harmlessly, but Stain used the momentary pause to jump up and kicked the boy in the shoulder he had been targeting. He heard the steel plating dent slightly under his boot as Midoriya was knocked back. “But you can’t be a Hero when you have to draw blood as a Quirk.”

Stain lunged with his katana, but Midoriya used his boost boots to jump over the Hero Killer, turn in midair, and shoot a glue grenade. The Hero Killer leapt onto the abandoned stage to dodge. “And I bet they won’t let a Quirkless boy into the Hero course, will they?”

Midoriya said nothing as he jumped onto the stage, lunging with his spikes, but Stain blocked each blow with his sword.

“Yet here you are,” Stain said, in an almost congratulatory tone, “with all your determination, in your little tin man costume, determined to save a broken system from me.”

Stain dodged another blow, and stuck his katana under the damaged shoulder plate. In a swift motion, he pried it off the suit, revealing a leathery undersuit below. Midoriya backed up in shock. “But someone with your potential...we could fix the system, Midoriya.”

Midoriya backed away, determined to play defense with an exposed weak spot. “We?!”

Stain did not let up, throwing knives at the exposed area on the boym with one piercing the leather hide. “We! Join me, kid! The world needs Heroes with your conviction!”

Midoriya swatted the rest of the knives away with his wrist spikes, which was what Stain was hoping for, as he jumped into the air, with all his weight, stomped down on the kid’s chest, flattening him to the floor.

“N-never!” Midoriya yelled.

“Determined to the end, then,” Stain shrugged. “I wanted to see how you’d grow. Like a weed is the answer.”

He wedged his sword beneath Midoriya’s visor, and laughed. “I want to see if that conviction is still there as you die, you Fake Hero.”

Prying the visor open was easy.

But Stain’s face fell when he realized the helmet was empty. “What.”

From the rafters, Midoriya Izuku dropped down with his spider legs, using one of them to grab the back of Stain’s head and slam him against the stage. Shocked and stunned from the blow to the head, Stain could only look up helplessly as Midoriya threw a glue grenade that covered the Hero Killer in sticky sludge, immobilized. Two more sealed him securely to the stage, unable to move a muscle.

“H-how?!” Stain seethed, enraged and confused.

The robotic suit stood up and waved next to Midoriya and his spider legs.

“Didn’t you have any cool remote controlled toys as a kid, Stain?” Midoriya laughed. He turned to the mech suit. “Say hi, Hatsume.”

“Hi, Hatsume!” Came Hatsume’s voice from the speakers on the mech suit.

Midoriya turned and gave the mech suit an exasperated look. “Don’t ruin this for me....”

“You...you INSOLENT BRAT!” Stain screamed, thrashing against the glue impotently.

“Sorry Stain, but we figured the best way to fight you hand to hand...was to not fight you hand to hand at all,” Midoriya shrugged. “Oh, we knew about the bug, too. You showing up to spook me and my mom kinda tipped your hand.”

“I helped him figure that out!” Hatsume added, still making the mech suit wave. Then, she started making the suit do the Running Man.

Midoriya just paused and watched the suit for a second in disbelief before turning back to Stain. “Anyway, Hatsume should have called the cops by now. Right?”

“Right!” The dancing robot replied.

Midoriya smiled. “You gave me fourteen days...but it only took eleven. Guess you underestimated me!”

Stain said nothing, seething in silent rage as he glared at Midoriya with intense hatred.

But this time, under all the glue, it didn’t seem so scary.

“Well um...have fun in jail.” Midoriya laughed, waving awkwardly. “Let’s go Hatsume.”

“Cool, get in me!” The robot suit said, opening up so Midoriya could climb in.

“You have to know how that sounds...” Midoriya griped as he withdrew his spider legs and climbed in his mech suit.

---

Midoriya stayed a minute, and watched from a few buildings away as the police apprehended Stain under heavy restraints and hauled him away.

Satisfied, he leapt across a few buildings, a feeling he hadn’t felt in years overtaking him. It was a giddiness he hadn’t known since childhood. He had done it. He had taken down Stain.

But not alone.

Once he made it to the Hatsume residence, he let himself in, to find Mei waiting for him, looking as delighted as he had ever seen her after any successful experiment.

As he stepped out of the suit, the two laughed as Hatsume ran into his arms.

“I can’t believe we pulled it off!” Hatsume yelled, ecstatic, “Our babies did sooooo good!”

“Haha, I know!” Midoriya cried, lifting her off the ground and spinning her in the air, “This is the greatest summer in the history of ever!”

But something changed when he did that.

When he picked her up and spun her, she looked down at him, with something...different in her eyes. Midoriya couldn’t figure it out, but whatever it was, it made her pull him in, hands cupping his face, and kiss him.

And Midoriya must have liked it. He must have liked the taste of her lips, and the feel of her skin, because he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in to kiss her back.

And if you asked them the next day how they wound up in her bed, with no clothes on, crossing a milestone together, they wouldn’t really be able to give you a good answer, because it happened in a flurry of passion and adrenaline.

But it happened, and truly, the summer had been more eventful than they'd have ever expected.

Chapter Text

Midoriya was woken Wednesday morning to the sound of a buzzing phone somewhere from the floor beside him. His eyes fluttered open in confusion; this was not his room. Where was he?!

The events of the night before flooded back to him in his sleepy haze. In their excitement and adrenaline of success, Hatsume had kissed him. And Midoriya welcomed it, and the situation escalated into, well...

He was still naked, and he rolled over to see Mei still passed out next to him. In fact, now that he was awake, he's not sure how he managed to sleep in the first place; she snored like a truck.

She was cute when she slept, nonetheless, even with her mouth flung open, drooling, and an arm draped across her face. Seeing her like this, with them both naked, he felt himself blush. What a situation he had found himself in.

Midoriya stared at the ceiling. He'd never had sex before. What did this mean for their friendship? Their partnership? How did he feel about her?! How did she feel about him?! Did this mean they were dating? Did he want to date her? Why didn’t he think of this before pulling off her underwear?!

And where was that buzzing coming from?!

Being as quiet as possible, he rolled from Hatsume’s bed; it was more comfortable than he expected, and huge. He poked at it and wondered if she had invented it herself. He'd ask later. He grabbed his cargo shorts and inhaled sharply, realizing the buzzing was his mom calling him for the 50th time that morning.

“Hey mom,” he answered quietly, moving away from the bed knowing what was coming.

“IZUKU! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!” Inko yelled, distraught. “I'VE BEEN CALLING FOR HOURS!”

Izuku quietly made for the door as Hatsume rolled over; he didn't want to wake her. Closing the door behind him, standing in the hall, he answered, “sorry mom, I was working on a project with Mei and I must have fallen asleep. I'm still here.”

To his surprise, Inko breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness. With that crazy vigilante running around and all the Stain nonsense and villain attacks, I was worried sick.”

Izuku frowned. “I'm sorry mom, I'm in one piece, I swear!”

“Good,” Inko replied, but her voice turned stern once again, “but I'm not a fan of you just spending the night at a girl's house! I hope were responsible, young man!”

Izuku turned a bright red. He definitely had been anything but responsible. But technically, he was responsible for the capture of a wanted murderer. “D-don't worry mom, nothing to worry about.”

“I certainly hope not,” Inko snapped. “You be home at a decent time tonight.” Her time softened. “And by all means, please bring her by with an invention. I’d love to be able to see what you two do all day.”

“I-I'll see if she wants to come over before summer break ends,” Deku conceded, hoping to get his mom off his case.

With his mom off his back and the conversation behind him, he peered back into Hatsume’s room. He hadn't seen many girl’s rooms, but he wondered if hers was outside of the norm; clean and dirty clothes were mixed together on the floor haphazardly, and the walls were lined with posters for various mecha anime. She gave a loud snore and rolled over again.

He smiled. He knew that there were nights after he left that she didn't sleep, and worked all night. Midoriya figured he could at least make her breakfast. By now, he was well acquainted with her house.

As he dug around the refrigerator, he was pleased the eggs had not yet expired. He was no expert cook, but he could manage eggs and toast.

As he grabbed some bread, his mind wandered. He was supposed to go out with Tsuyu when she got back from camp. But...was he dating Hatsume now? He couldn't just meet with the frog girl and pretend nothing had happened, he was raised better than that.

Dating her...he wasn't opposed to the idea. He loved every minute they spent together. But it was always very goal oriented. Did she have any romantic feelings at all, let alone for him? It never seemed to come up.

But being around her made him feel happy. Made him content. Like it was right where he wanted to be.

Is this what normal teenagers worry about? He wondered as he prodded the eggs with a spatula. When was the last time I worried about something besides catching a villain?

In comparison, at least villain-hunting was easily solved with gadgets. Girls were a mystery, and nothing he built in the lab would help in here.

His thoughts were interrupted as Hatsume stumbled into the kitchen, sat at the table and let her head rest on the table in a daze. She looked up at him. “Deku, you're still naked.”

Midoriya blushed and looked down at himself. He had been so preoccupied in his thoughts he hadn't noticed the distinct lack of pants. “It a-appears s-so.”

Mei stared at him until it finally registered. “Wait, that wasn't the good dream, we really did that! We did the...” She stopped and made pantomime sex motions with her hands. “The naughty stuff with the...parts.”

Midoriya covered his hands with his face. “Y-yeah.”

To his shock, Hatsume just laughed. “Whoops. Guess I was just a little excited about our babies being so successful.”

Midoriya handed her a plate of food. “Oh.. Is that all?” It was hard to keep the disappointment from his voice. He had run through a million scenarios of what she might say in his head, and that was exactly none of them.

“Well, of course I'm attracted to you, romantically and physically,” Hatsume scratched the back of her neck, “but I don't know if dating or being involved like that is a good idea.”

Midoriya wasn't sure if he should feel relieved or sad. “Oh...”

Hatsume’s eyes shifted uncomfortably. “I do like you...but I've read comics. Romantic relationships in vigilante people have a 1.2 percent success rate. And someone usually dies. I don't...I don't want to mess this up. I want to be the greatest inventor of Support Tech in Japan.” She took a bite of her food. “And you want to be a Hero. I want us to do these things together...dating would be a bad idea. If something were to go wrong, it’d distract me from my work, I might slip up on an invention and open a lawsuit, and you could get hurt. I'm...sorry.”

“That...that makes sense.” Izuku admitted.

So why did he want to cry?

“Let’s...let’s just pretend that didn’t happen.” Hatsume suggested. “Even if it was fun.”

“Sure,” He conceded. He needed to change the topic. “Well...we've been working on this Stain thing and my suit for the whole break. It's only Wednesday, did you have any-”

Hatsume didn't even let him finish the sentence before reaching across the table and grabbing his shoulders and shouting, “YES! Grab your pants and get to the basement, I've already thought of a schematic for a boosting system that could make your backpack and things fly!”

She pulled him closer and kissed him before pushing him off and shaking her head, “wait no, we just agreed we're NOT doing that. My bad. COME ON, LET’S GO.”

Midoriya stared after her in confusion. Between her and Tsuyu I sure know how to pick em...

He knew she made a good point, but when he thought about how her lips felt against his...how she had looked at him last night...

He sighed. No use worrying about it now. She had made up her mind. Better focus and move on.
---
Despite a general awkwardness in the air, the two got to work, and as dinner time approached, Deku’s backpack now allowed him to hover up to five feet off the ground.

“Mei, this is incredible!” Midoriya gushed, “I love this!”

“Right?!” She pulled up her goggles, “we just need to get some power power output. If we can get these to twenty feet off the ground, there'd be a huge market for this type of tech.”

Checking the time, the boy inhaled sharply. “I better go, my mom will be furious if I'm late.”

“Are you coming back tomorrow?” Mei asked. “We could finish this up, I bet.”

Izuku paused. He hadn't really even thought about it. He had gotten so used to spending all his time with Hatsume, it was hard to picture doing anything else besides be in that basement, inventing. He smiled. “After all you've done for me? Of course!”

She waved him off, but turning back to her basement workshop, her smile faltered.

It seemed a lot emptier.

“I made the right decision,” she reassured herself and the weird, unfamiliar pang in her chest.

So why did she feel like doing that thing where people leak from their tear ducts?

She pulled her goggles down and shook her head. “Nothing that can't be fixed with power tools.”
---

Sitting on the bus home, Midoriya browsed his phone to distract himself. He still wasn't sure how he felt about what happened.

I guess it doesn't matter. He decided. Even if I do have feelings for Mei, she shot it down. That means I should respect her wishes. Besides. She's been nothing but an awesome friend and partner.

With both the Sludge Villain and Stain captured, what did he do with his time now? He needed some kind of distraction, his mind wandering from Hatsume to Tsuyu and back.

Maybe I can think up some new schematics?
---

It was a nice change of pace after spending over a week hunting down a serial killer; he played Mario Kart with his mom for the first time in what felt like ages. They had popcorn. It was refreshing and nostalgic, just like how they used to, and at least kept his mind off things.

Still, as he laid in bed his mind began to drift until he heard a buzzing on his nightstand. He grabbed his phone, confused.

Tsuyu was calling him, well after eleven at night.

What...?

He hadn't heard from her since camp - which he understood, they were deep in the woods undergoing Quirk training. Still, he smiled. A distraction seemed welcome.

“Hey Tsu,” he said, hoping not to wake his mother.

He wasn't expecting a crying Uraraka to answer him.

“M-Midoriya?” She sniffed into the receiver.

His brows furrowed, “Uraraka, what's wrong? Why are you calling me from Tsuyu’s phone?”

“Thank god its you!” She breathed, trying to calm herself, “I wanted to get a hold of you, but my phone got smashed and I couldn't figure out how to unlock hers, and when I did you were in her contacts as, ‘Cute Spiderboy,’ and...”

“Slow down!” Midoriya replied, blushing, “what's happening? Is something wrong?”

The phone went silent for a minute.

“Ochako?” Midoriya asked.

“We...we were attacked, Izuku.” The Zero Gravity heroine uttered.

It took all of Midoriya’s restraint not to scream. “What?!” He hissed into the phone when he regained his composure.

“Well...” She began.
---
Uraraka’s Explanation
---

It was a few days into our Summer Camp Training. The Wild Wild Pussycats were there helping Mr. Aizawa and Vlad King with our Quirk enhancement training, and they arranged a test of courage game for class 1-A and B. Class 1-B went into the woods and was supposed to scare us on a mock patrol of sorts, you know? See if we could make it through facing the unknown.

Something went wrong though. A Villain started a forest fire, and a toxic gas began to fill the forest. From what I've gathered, a group from the League of Villains from the Vanguard Action Squad attacked. I didn't run into all of them, but I'll try and run it down the best I can.

So. One of the Pussycats - Mandalay - had her nephew there. Boy named Kouta. An absolutely insane villain with a muscle enhancing Quirk, some guy called Muscular, killed him in cold blood. It was awful. The poor boy.

While this was going on, Shouji and Tokoyami were under attack as well by some guy who's Quirk was to control and grow his teeth. Shouji lost an arm, and Tokoyami lost control of Dark Shadow.

One of the villains had this ability to clone other people, and sent someone to attack Aizawa and some of the remedial students. While Aizawa was busy with the clone, the attacks spread.

Around that time, the creepy guy with a teeth growing Quirk attacked Todoroki, who was by himself. He didn’t have to stay with the remedial group because of his efforts fighting All Might one on one. Shouji tried to lead Dark Shadow to them, but Todoroki was nowhere to be found. With no source of light, Shouji got horribly injured and Dark Shadow went on a full rampage.

A weird macho woman with a magnet Quirk teamed with someone with a sand Quirk to take down Tiger and Mandalay, while Pixie-Bob and Ragdoll were attacked and went missing. The two of them just barely managed to succeed.

The gas was at least taken care of by Kendou and Tetsutetsu from class B. But by the time they got him, most of the damage was done.

While this was happening, Tsuyu and I were fighting this deranged girl with a bunch of knives. She pinned Tsuyu to a tree with a blade. And I managed to take her down, but that was when Dark Shadow came through. It knocked the three of us out altogether.

Todoroki was captured, it turned out. No one knows what happened to Tokoyami, but he’s been missing since.

Fifteen students are in critical condition, thirteen more were injured. Momo has a concussion, herself, from taking a nasty blow to the head.

The Pros are planning on going to save Todoroki soon, but I’m still at the hospital with Tsuyu...
---
Midoriya had gotten out of bed, the news compelling him to stand, and he was pacing around his room anxiously. All this had happened in the last few days?!

“Why?” He asked his friend, “Why did this happen?!”

“Word is, the photo of Todoroki from the Sports Festival got out,” Uraraka sighed. “You were in recovery, but during the ceremony, he was all scowling and brooding. He got some bad press over it. Maybe the villains think they could convince him to join their side. We don’t know.”

“That’s insane. But you said you’re still there with Tsuyu?” Midoriya asked, beginning to panic. “What’s wrong? What happened to her?!”

Uraraka paused but began to explain. “Well...when Dark Shadow attacked, I only got clipped by it. Tsuyu...did not. She took it pretty hard.”

“Is she...is she okay?” Midoriya asked.

“She’s had a lot of broken bones...” Uraraka sniffed. “Tissue damage. Recovery Girl has been in here every day. She’s going to have to rehab her arms. She even took some ligament damage in her right. Thankfully she fights more with her legs, but...if she gets seriously injured in them again, she runs the risk of losing her arms..”

Midoriya’s brain immediately began racing - he could build her compression sleeve to help heal and suppress the pain that came with that sort of thing. “Where...where are you guys? I need to come see her. I can leave now! I can...”

“Calm down, Izuku...she’s in rough shape and sleeping now. She’s been in and out of it these last few days. You can come tomorrow. It’s by the camp...”

Midoriya wrote down the name and address of the hospital. “I’ll come visit tomorrow. Are you in there too? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I was discharged a few days ago,” Uraraka assured him. “I’ve just been coming up to visit her and everyone else. We’ve all been taking this pretty bad.”

“I can meet you there tomorrow afternoon,” Midoriya replied. “I...I should be there.”

“Thanks Izuku,” she sighed. “I know you’ve been on her mind.”

A knife twisted in the boy’s chest. While she was suffering in the hospital, he had spent the night with Hatsume. Even if they weren’t technically dating or together, he felt like scum. Still, he needed to be there.

“Hey, take my number from her phone.” Midoriya suggested. “Text me tomorrow. We can meet up.”

---

“I swear, son, I am more thankful everyday that you went with the Support Course instead of the heroics,” Inko sighed to her son the next morning as he relayed the phone call to his mother. The news was going over the events of the attack as well. Seeing the aftermath of all the fighting and fire was even worse, knowing what had happened.

Izuku could swear his mom knew what she was doing, making comments like that. They just twisted that invisible knife in his stomach a little deeper. “Whatever this Villain Uprising thing is, they sure do have it out for UA’s Hero Class...”

“I do hope your frog friend is all right,” she replied to her son, hugging him as he slung his backpack on, “give her my regards.”

“Thanks mom!”
---

He of course went to see Hatsume at her house first. For once, she didn't fling the door open as he walked up. This feels weird, he realized, having knocked on the door for the first time in weeks.

She opened the door with her trademark grin once again though. “Hey Midoriya!”

Izuku gasped. He had seen her sleep deprived before, but this was different. In addition to the bags under her eyes, they were red and bloodshot. “Mei, what happened?”

“Explosion smoke in the eye,” she answered quickly, “ready to finish the hover function?”

He rubbed the back his neck, “yeah, but I'm going to need to leave around lunch...”

As Hatsume tilted her head in confusion, Midoriya explained the phone call he had received from Uraraka.

“Damn,” she sighed, “well, let's get to work. I won't keep you from...Asui.”

He furrowed his brow as he followed her into the basement. She never used Asui’s name, always referring to the Hero student as Froggy or something of that nature. “Are you okay, Mei?”

“Yeah, yeah, just tired, let's get moving!” She replied in a rush, “now let's see your pack and see what we can do with its hover power output.”

Midoriya handed her his pack and pulled his goggles down, but not before surveying the basement. He saw no recent scorch marks from an explosion; they were fairly common down here. Something wasn't adding up, but he knew better than to pry when Hatsume was in inventing mode.
---

The five alarms Midoriya set for noon sharp began blaring, pulling his attention from the pack.

“Ah, I should get going,” the boy sighed, silencing his phone. “I feel like we're so close on the pack though.”

“Well, we still have the last three days of break,” Hatsume said. “I took the measurements for your pack. I'll tinker around with the ideas and get it perfect. I also have an idea for one of my own and see how you put some of that stuff in there.”

“Are you going for the spider legs too?” Midoriya asked, with a small grin.

She laughed. “No, that's your thing. But I will say your ideas inspire me.”

He blushed. “H-high praise. Okay, we'll pick this up tomorrow.”

He headed for the stairs, and Hatsume struggled with the urge to call out to him. No, she scolded herself. Can't turn out like dad. Babies come first.
---
Uraraka was waiting for him outside of the hospital, with her usual bright smile. “Hey Midoriya!”

“Hey Uraraka. So who all is still here?” Midoriya asked.

“Tsu, Momo, a ton of Class B students, and Shouji,” she listed off. “Everyone else was discharged for minor injuries. And get this; Momo and a boy from class 1-B were able to get a tracking device on one of those Nomu things.”

Midoriya was impressed. He was familiar with her Quirk from his Sports Festival research; she would have needed plenty of technical know-how to pull off something like that. “So the Pros and police know where to find the League of Villains?”

Uraraka beamed. “Yup! I saw All Might talking to her! I bet they'll have Todoroki back soon!” Her face fell. “I hope they find Tokoyami soon, too. He's one of Tsu’s best friends...”

Midoriya remembered how powerful Dark Shadow could be. It was hard to imagine Tokoyami wouldn't be able to survive. But if he had been captured or subdued? He didn't want to think about it; unless you had a powerful light source or a Quirk that produced light, it was hard to match that power. “He'll turn up, I'm sure,” the support student said.

As they approached Tsuyu’s room, the heroine stayed back. “I'm going to visit Momo first. I'll be back in a little bit.” She gave a playful wink and walked the other way down the hallway.

Midoriya gulped and gave a light knock on the door occupied by the girl with the Frog Quirk. She was sitting on her bed, cross-legged, staring out the window, taking in the sunlight that was streaming through the glass. At the sound, she turned towards with a curious, “kero?” But upon seeing the green-headed boy, a small smile hit her face. “Hey Midoriya-kun!”

He smiled to see her, but the sight made his chest ache: her right arm was in a sling, and she was bandaged up all over the place. Recovery Girl had likely some the best she could even to get her to the state she was in. “Hey Tsu,” he replied softly, being sure to call her by her preferred name.

“Uraraka told me she took my phone after I fell asleep to call you, kero,” she said, turning back towards the window as Izuku sat down in the chair next to her bed, “kind of rude of her.”

He tilted his head towards her, “you didn't want me to know you were here? Why?”

To his surprise, Tsuyu blushed and looked down. “I didn't want you to see me like this...”

“What? Why?” He gently reached over and placed a palm on her knee.

She gave Midoriya a small smile. “Before I left, you told me I was your hero, kero. And I was so worried about you getting hurt chasing Stain, and I'm the one who ended up hurt.”

He stood up and hugged Tsuyu gently, and she wasted no time returning the embrace. “Tsu, I'm just glad you're okay. You guys got attacked by serious villains. And you guys even took one down before Dark Shadow went nuts, from the sound of it.”

She sighed, and it sounded like a low croak. It was hypnotic. Midoriya has missed the weird little sounds she made that sounded so different from everyone else. It was a fascinating part of her Quirk. “That's what gets me the most. No one knows what happened to Tokoyami.”

“Yeah, he was - is!” Midoriya scolded himself, there was no reason to assume the boy was dead yet, “a good friend of yours, right?”

If he didn't see Tsuyu talking to Uraraka at school, she was almost always either being harassed by Mineta or talking with the bird-like teen. She nodded sadly. “No one believes me, but I think he was kidnapped by the League of Villains too.”

“You think?” He asked. “But how would they have taken out Dark Shadow?”

“Kero, they had someone with a fire Quirk with them,” Asui replied. “And even if it wasn't him, he would have collapsed once dawn hit. They've searched every cave near the campground for a trace of him. It's the only thing I can think of.”

“Makes sense,” the boy admitted. “But it sounds like Momo managed to get a tracker to their location.”

“Kero,” she croaked, “I just hope they can save them in time. The school needs it.”

She nodded up to the television. The two of them watched as the press conference U.A. continued. The principal apologizing profusely, along with Aizawa and Vlad King for the failure of the school to prevent disaster.

“You can't seem to promise results,” a reporter alleged, “and this is the most prestigious hero school in Japan. But two nights ago, a vigilante managed to capture the Hero Killer. What say you to defend the principles you claim to teach when you can't achieve the same results as lawbreakers?”

Izuku scowled. “Jeez,” he whispered, “it's not like I did this to prove something to the Hero Society.”

Tsuyu grabbed his hand. “I meant to bring that up though, kero. You did it. That's pretty amazing, I'm really proud of you.”

He gave her a weak smile as he blushed. “Thanks. I didn't do it alone though.”

“Did Hatsume help?” She asked.

Guilt pulled at the boy's insides like a puppet on a string. “Yeah. I never would have done it without her. But...”

“But?”

“I...need to tell you the truth.” He cringed. “After spending so much time with her...something...happened between us. But we decided that we're better off as friends and teammates. But if you don't want to spend time with me any more, I understand. I know we weren't dating or anything but I wanted you to know.”

Tsuyu looked down to her feet. “Kero. Its not like I had claim to you, Midoriya. And...I'll come clean...Tokoyami had asked me out too. I wasn't sure.”

There was an awkward pause in the room, and she admitted to him, “it does suck. I was thinking about you a lot. But with everything that happened, I'm not going to dwell on it, kero. We have bigger things to worry about than petty love triangles. Are you okay?”

“To be honest, I'm still kind of messed up about it.” He admitted. “Never really expected anything like this. But you're right.”

“Well, then let's not jump into anything.” She shrugged. “I want to keep hanging out with you. You're very sweet and making you flustered is fun. Besides, we have hero and support careers to really focus on, kero.”

He gave a small laugh. “Yeah...you're right. I get in my own head sometimes.”

She smiled. “I appreciate you being honest with me, kero. Do you still want to get lunch when I get out of here?”

He beamed. “Of course! Oh...I wanted to know how your arm is doing...”

She looked at with her default poker face. “I need to rest it and rehab it after class with Recovery Girl for awhile. I guess they're giving me a compression sleeve to take a home.”

He frowned, but pulled out a cloth measuring tape from his pocket. He wrapped it around her left upper arm. Tsuyu blushed. “W-what are you doing?”

“I...I want to make you a nicer compression sleeve,” he conceded, sheepishly. “Basic ones are good, but I might be able to make one that periodically releases soothing heat. You know, like a heating pad. Assuming your left and right arm are the same size under the bandages on your right, I needed measurements.”

She turned a deep red, but poked his cheek with her tongue. “See, kero. This is what I mean. You're too sweet.”

The two talked for awhile longer, and before they knew it, the day had passed them by. Uraraka came by to grab Midoriya as visiting hours ended.

“We'll come back tomorrow!” Uraraka assured her froggy friend.

“And maybe we'll hear some news on Tokoyami and Todoroki?” Midoriya suggested,hopefully, as he waved goodbye to Tsuyu.

Unfortunately, they would hear about it soon.

It just wouldn't be the news they wanted.

Chapter Text

Todoroki Shouto was by no means a coward. Soft Spoken, yes. Reserved, yes. But with his hands bound up to his elbows, rendering him unable to use his Quirk, and surrounded by about ten villains, he didn't feel ashamed to admit to himself he was a bit unnerved.

He had seen their ringleader before, at the USJ. The man who wore a hand on his face. The man sat in front of him, just staring him down in silence while the rest of the criminal scum shifted in awkward discomfort.

After minutes of this, the villain - Shigaraki Tomura spoke. “Your life really sucks, huh?”

“...what?” Todoroki asked. He genuinely wasn't expecting that to be what the villain opened with.

Shigaraki held up a picture of the boy from the Sports Festival. “Look at this. You were on top of the world here. You beat all the other kids. Known for yourn strength! For helping All Might at the USJ! All the internship offers! So why are you looking like you’re at 1HP after a Total Party wipe?”

The Hero hopeful looked away. “That’s none of your business.”

“I think you know some of this hero stuff is kind of bogus, huh?” Shigaraki continued, paying no mind to the boy. “After all...”

He leaned in close. “What kind of hero society would let someone as abusive as Endeavor be the Number 2 Hero?”

Shouto looked up, his attention grasped.

---

Hatsume had been an inventor since a very young age. She actually got it from her parents - they had owned their own Support Company in a very urban area, and had made tech for many heroes for as far back as she could remember, and long before she was born. Apparently, her father had been commissioned by some speedster named Gran Torino to make boots compatible with his jet Quirk, which was their big break.

One of Hatsume’s earliest and happiest memories was waking up one night around the age of five or six. She didn’t remember specifically why she had woken up - probably some bad dream or had to use the bathroom or she had gotten a wonderful schematic idea in her sleep - you know, kid stuff. But she had heard noises coming from her basement.

This would terrify most kids her age, but Hatsume Mei was never like most kids. Curious, inventive, and easily distractible, she immediately went downstairs - it was her favorite place in the house, after all; her parents’ workshop. There, she found her mom and dad hard at work, building the boot with breathable holes for this mysterious Gran Torino.

Seeing his daughter, Mr. Hatsume put down his tools and lifted his visor, giving his daughter a bright smile that he always wore when he was in the his inventing zone. “There’s my girl!” He crowed, “Did we wake you?”

Mei ignored the question and ran right up to the bench. Not that she needed to - she could zoom in on it from the other side of the room - but it was more fun to look up close. “What’s this, dad?!”

Mr. Hatsume laughed and picked up his daughter. “You want to learn my process, darling?”

“YES!”

Mrs. Hatsume laughed. “Shouldn’t she be in bed, dear?”

“Sleep is for the weak!” Mr. Hatsume bellowed heartily.

“Yeah! Sleep is for the weak!” Mei echoed, fist pumping. Her eyes lit up excitedly as she her father explained their work to her...

That, of course, was years ago. In the years that had followed, Mrs. Hatsume had gotten very ill. And try as he might, Mr. Hatsume was good at building machines.

Not cures.

They lost a lot of money moving around Japan, trying to find the best doctor to help her condition. But after a few years, Mrs. Hatsume had lost the good fight.

Her dad had lost everything. Their business had gone under since they weren’t helming it well. And even when he did invent, Mr. Hatsume lost that look - the look that expressed his love for putting machines, gear, and suits together. He ended up taking a lower position at the company of an old colleague. He grew to hate inventing - it reminded him of his failures - and spent all his hours off the clock trying to forget his failures, usually at the bottom of a glass of gin or whatever was on drink special that night.

Hatsume Mei never felt that way though. The smell of motor oil and grease stains reminded her of her mom. She saw her mother in every successful experiment, every functional gadget. And every time she failed or something exploded, it was always her mom who compelled her to try again.

She recalled a conversation they had, almost ten years ago...

“Every invention is a bit like you, dear,” Mrs. Hatsume used to say, “You have to create it with love and care. Just like we did with you.”

“Is that why you call them babies?” Mei had asked, curious as most children were.

“Why yes, I suppose so,” Mrs. Hatsume had laughed. “And if it doesn’t go right, pick it up, take care of it, and try it again.”

Mei had, of course picked up the habit. In fact, it had made her nothing but ecstatic when she found out the habit of calling her products, "babies," had rubbed off on Izuku.

As her mind drifted to the boy - her partner - for a split second, she noticed smoke coming from the replica backpack she was building.

“Uh oh!” She uttered, realizing she had gotten some wiring wrong. She cut off the circuit to stop the flow of power, and breathed a sigh of relief that she noticed it before anything blew up this time.

She stretched, reaching her hands above her head, and removed her goggles to check the time; still early evening. She could almost hear Midoriya now, reminding her, as he did almost every night, to go get some sleep. It was funny that way, she had stopped him from charging after Stain while sleep deprived, and he was always finding sneaky ways to get her to take food or rest breaks too. Maybe that’s what partners were for. They looked out for each other better than they did by themselves. Or at least, she could certainly say the same of her and Midoriya.

Truth be told, statistics weren’t why she pushed Midoriya away. She didn’t have a good understanding of romance or feelings - social cues were a bit outside of her realm of expertise, and by a bit, she knew most people found her to be off-putting.

Hatsume Mei had pushed Midoriya away because she had seen what losing someone could do to you. Inventing was her life. She didn’t want to lose that, like her dad did. And if Midoriya was insistent on throwing himself into danger for a living, it just didn’t seem like a good risk. Hatsume did not have many fears, but to lose both Midoriya and her passion? She shuddered at the thought.

“But god damn if you don’t know me better than I do sometimes,” Mei grumbled to the Midoriya shaped mech suit in her basement. She began rewiring her own pack. She had a few different ideas for hers; like hell she’d be a spider-legged flame-thrower like him. Hers would have a more original flair. Besides, Hatsume had no interest in combat herself - building combat items was a thrill, for sure - but hers was more to help her out around the lab. A Multi-Purpose tool.

It was precarious. She and Midoriya made an amazing team, much as she liked to play up the whole rivalry she had decided on in the beginning of the year - that sure bit her in the ass. She would have never been able to manage some of the things they had done in their first semester going solo. Most people didn’t like being around her long. But they just thrived together. She truly did not want to lose that. But being around him made her...sweaty? Jumpy?

Happy. Excited. Content.

Feelings were pesky.

She pulled her goggles back down. “Better throw myself into my work.” After all, inventing was what Hatsume Mei did best.

---

While this was happening, Midoriya and Uraraka were riding the train back towards their homes, wondering what the Pros were going to do.

“Maybe if they can’t find Todoroki, that crazy vigilante could?” Uraraka joked. “Wishful thinking, I guess...I just want things to be okay.”

The thought had crossed Midoriya’s mind since hearing about the attack. But attacking a League was far different from hunting down one person, even if he was a serial killer. Not only that, he had no leads, and no idea what he’d been getting into. This might be something he should leave to the Pros, even if that was not his favorite way to look towards a potential Hero Career.

A commotion was coming from a few seats down.

“Yo!” A middle schooler yelled, pointing at his phone, “The Heroes are raiding that hideout! We got livefeed, son!”

People began scrambling to watch on their phones, and Midoriya and Uraraka grabbed their phones curiously to do the same.

It was an amazing sight to see. All Might and Gran Torino had burst through the wall of a bar, with Kamui Woods using his powers to apprehend them. A villain with a fire Quirk went to fight back but he was swiftly kicked in the jaw by Gran Torino.

“Who’s Speedy Grandpa?” Uraraka asked, leaning over Midoriya’s shoulder.

He laughed; it was awesome to see the Pros hard at work, busting the League of Villains. He was relieved to see Todoroki standing in the middle of the room, unharmed. He still needed to make peace with that guy. He turned to his friend, blushing at how close she was - at least she was better about personal space than Hatsume. “That’s Gran Torino. Sort of an Aizawa type. Didn’t care for the spotlight. I’ve barely heard of him, myself.”

“I like Speedy Grandpa better,” Uraraka commented, causing the boy to laugh.

"Okay, we can call him that," he conceded.

Things were going good, but suddenly the villains and Todoroki began melting away in an inky black goop. The warping villain was out cold too, so Midoriya squinted, trying to figure out what sort of Quirk he was looking at.

“What the heck, that’s not supposed to happen.” Uraraka wondered out loud. “All Might punches the dudes and then there’s some soundbytes.”

Midoriya bit his tongue; he was one of the few people who knew All Might was performing heroics with borrowed time. He wondered how he had been doing since he had caught the Hero after the Sludge Villain incident, or after fighting the Nomu at the USJ.

He shook the thought from his head. This was All Might. He could do anything. With little warning, All Might left, leaving Endeavor to secure the scene, the number 2 hero cursing at the Symbol of Peace for failing to save his son.

The news cut away. Midoriya looked over to see Uraraka looking devastated. “I hope Todoroki is going to be okay...and Tokoyami will be there too, wherever they’re going.”

Midoriya gave her a sympathetic smile. “Me too...”

But something felt wrong.

---

Asui Tsuyu replayed the video of the Pro Heroes raiding that bar. She was happy to see Todoroki alive and well - she maybe didn’t hang out with the boy, but she certainly didn’t want him to get hurt. But as much as she tried, she could not find Tokoyami. She sighed. She was worried. As much as Dark Shadow had scared her when she was attacked by it so many days ago...what it could do to her friend was even worse.

“Kero." She ribbited to herself. “Hopefully All Might finds where those villains went soon.”

The good news is that the Doctor’s were hopeful she could get released tomorrow, leaving her a few more days of the summer break to enjoy. Her test results just needed to keep trending the way they were.

She laid back and closed her eyes. Being in the hospital was the worst. Still, at least that particular hospital had comfy beds. Asui began to relax; perhaps in the morning she would wake to good news.

---

As the train came to a halt, Uraraka and Midoriya parted ways, saying she would talk to him later and meet up tomorrow to visit their friends again.

Midoriya checked his phone. It was still early evening. Perhaps he could stop at Hatsume’s house and see if she was ready with the pack. He felt bad for ditching her after he had promised to help her on her projects, but at least she understood this was something of an odd occasion.

But a notification popped on his phone - more livefeed was starting on the villain hideout raid. Stopping at a bench, he opened the video.

There was a feeling his stomach he hadn’t felt since he was little, and it was the excitement of watching All Might save the day. But when he saw who the Symbol of Peace was fighting, the feeling was all but gone.

He remembered the day he met All Might.

A Powerful Villain had left him injured. Weakened. And whoever was filming caught a glimpse of All Might’s face - a grimace. Just seeing the top hero of the world looking so grim cemented it in Midoriya’s mind.

It was the same villain.

Anxiety overtook Midoriya. What could he do? From the video, he had no idea where the attack was, and even if he did, would he be able to make it in time? And if he did, what could he do? All he had on him was his backpack with the spider legs, and a limited supply of his grenades.

He just had a bad feeling about everything.

Suddenly, Midoriya could hear a rumbling from the distance. Turning, he could see blasts of air shaking buildings.

Well. He knew where it was.

With no hesitation, Midoriya deployed his spider legs and armored gauntlets, and used a grappling hook to reach the top of a nearby building. He turned off the live feed video, and called Hatsume.

“Hey Deku Scrub, what’s up?” She asked, confused. "Who calls any more? You usually tex-"

“Did you see the video?!” He yelled, scanning for the next roof to jump to.

“Video...?” Hatsume questioned. “What do you mean?”

“All Might!” Izuku breathed, rearing back. “He’s fighting downtown. Trying to save Todoroki from those Villains who attacked the Hero Course. I’m going down to check it out and -”

“And scope it out only is how you better be finishing that sentence!” Hatsume growled. In her basement, she was already running to her computer, firing up the monitors to see if she could get livefeed. “You have limited equipment and no idea what you’d be up against. Put on your earpiece and I’ll hit you when I’m booted up.”

She hung up before he could argue with her.

Midoriya jumped to another roof using his spider legs, cursing under his breath. He knew she had a point; last time he rushed into a fight unprepared, Stain had come close to killing him. Still. He couldn’t deny it. He had the heroic spirit. When he heard sirens, his first instinct was to run towards them.

After all, the one time he hadn’t heard them, his friend died.

The rumbling got closer, and Midoriya charged headlong towards it. But as he approached a taller building, a figure came bursting through the wall, back first, towards him.

All Might?! He realized, ducking just in time to avoid getting clobbered by the Pro.

It took a minute for the boy to register the Pro had already reverted to his weakened form. But he sprang up, and rushed back into the fight, seemingly not even noticing Midoriya’s presence.

As All Might erupted onto the street, cheers from a crowd around them rang out in a chorus.

Heart racing, Midoriya leapt onto a neighboring rooftop, reminding himself he needed to keep his distance. Hatsume did have a point.

Speaking of, he heard her voice ring out in her ear. “Who is this guy, even?! And am I out of the loop, since when did All Might ever look like that?”

“I don’t know his name,” Midoriya admitted, “but this is the first time All Might’s been seen in public like this. And that’s the guy that did it to him.”

“Deku Scrub, this is bad,” Hatsume said, as Midoriya finally reached a roof where he could peer down and look at the fight below.

He could see what she meant; every punch, every move thrown between All Might and the villain - he would later learn was All for One - was creating a shockwave that rocked the whole block.

Midoriya scanned the rest of the street - he could see a few of the villains, and he could see Todoroki near the fight. And Tokoyami, bound and gagged, even. But everyone had stopped, in the shock of the fight, to watch. Best Jeanist lay in a heap not too far away.

“I wish I had the suit, I could snipe the villains just watching with some glue grenades,” Midoriya grumbled into the headset.

“You need to get back, I’m getting a lot of feed. Any of those buildings could topple at any minute,” Hatsume scolded him, “Also, we can add a launcher into those gauntlets of yours. You know, when you GET BACK HERE!”

But Midoriya couldn't bring himself to move as his Hero and his rival went blow for blow, until finally, All Might began to beat the villain into the ground.

In his heart, Midoriya knew this was likely All Might's last gasp as a hero. The Pro reared back and unloaded the United States of Smash against All for One.

That is not why Midoriya cried that day.

No, what was even more shocking was that as All Might had finished off the villain, a trail of ice had crept up under the two, and as the finishing blow was landed, a spike of ice erupted and pierced the Symbol of Peace through the heart.

In shock, Midoriya traced the ice trail back to the source, mouth agape.

No...

Todoroki had done it. A portal of Black Mist opened behind them. Shigaraki pat the young man on the back, and the two began to walk off together.

Sirens blared, people were screaming, and in his ear, Hatsume was yelling in his ear. “Izuku! IZUKU! What happened?! All the feeds cut!”

Even as Midoriya saw paramedics load All Might into an ambulance, he knew it was too late.

“All Might is dead.”

Chapter Text

Midoriya woke up on the couch the next morning, realizing he must have fallen asleep there.

After Hatsume had gotten him out of his trance, he returned home and disconnected his ear piece. His mother had seen the news and hugged him the second he walked in.

“I'm so sorry, son...” She cried, trembling into his ear.

He couldn't acknowledge her as he sat on the couch, numb. He had not moved from the spot as the night went on, watching as the news stories confirmed that All Might died in the hospital within hours after arriving. The Principal had been at his side as it happened, his only company in his final moments. It was reported he entrusted the mouse with a few letters and a task of some kind.

The sun was not yet risen, so it had to be early. He reached into his pocket and checked his phone: 4am.

He also had missed a plethora of text messages from Uraraka, Tsuyu, and Hatsume. They all blended together as he scanned them: Had he seen the news? Was he okay? Disbelief, shock, anger, and concern. He swiped the notifications away and meandered over to the bathroom. When he was done, he splashed some cold water against his face. It did nothing to wake him up, so he went to his bedroom instead.

In a haze, he sat on his bed, plugged his phone in to charge, and laid down. Some time later, he must have fallen asleep, because when he woke next, it was noon and the sun was beating into his room.

He pulled himself back into a sitting position, and it became apparent to him he was sitting in a room filled with posters of All Might. His breathing quickened. He...he couldn’t look at them right now.

He hastily began taking the posters down - making sure not to tear them, of course, and folded them up in a corner of the room.

The scene replayed in Midoriya’s mind as he stared at his blank walls, over and over again, watching the look on his Hero’s face as he realized the ice spike had impaled his chest. The expressionless, cold look on Todoroki’s face.

He squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed the bridge of his nose. It couldn’t be real. How could Todoroki have done something like that? To the man that wanted to save him?!

The more the scene replayed, his breathing began to pick up. He clenched his fists. He began to feel anxious and twitchy. What could he do?

The fight had been right in front of him. But as he was watching, he didn’t act...but Todoroki had.

"That son of a bitch..."

A knock came at his door. “Mom, I’m not -”

The door creaked open, and he was shocked when Asui Tsuyu entered his room. “Hey, Midoriya-kun.”

“Oh...” he replied, dully, “H-hey Tsu...”

He wasn’t sure what to do. He wasn’t expecting company.

“Do you mind if I sit, kero?” She asked, head tilted. "Your mom told me I'd find you in here."

He moved over slightly, and pat his bed, allowing her to sit next to him.

“I figured you’d be taking it pretty hard, kero.” Tsuyu muttered, quietly, gesturing towards the posters as she sat down.

“Is that...is that why you’re here?” He asked, unable to look at her.

She nodded. “I was discharged this morning, but didn’t feel like going home. And I remembered all the texts you sent me about looking up to All Might, kero. I just felt like coming here was the right thing to do.”

The two sat in silence for a minute as Midoriya calmed his breathing.

“He told me...” Midoriya sniffled, “He told me after the Sports Festival that I could be a hero.”

“Something you’d probably wanted to hear your whole life...” Tsuyu croaked. “After my internships, he said something like that to me too.”

“Really?” Midoriya asked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She shrugged. “Never came up. But he pulled me aside after hero training, and told me about how Captain Selkie had told him all about the drug smugglers I helped him round up. He looked at me and said, ‘I expect you to be the next great aquatic hero, Froppy!’”

Tsuyu laid back on the bed. “It was pretty much the coolest moment of my life, kero.”

Midoriya let out a quick snort of laughter. “That’s amazing. I guess that really was why he was the symbol of peace...he inspired so many people to be the greatest hero they could be.”

“It's not going to be the same without him at school, kero.” Tsuyu sighed. “He was a big inspiration for all of us.”

After a few minutes of silence, Midoriya turned to his friend and asked, “did any of you suspect Todoroki would ever...?”

She shook her head. “No...he never seemed like a bad guy. Just quiet. Maybe sad, kero.”

Midoriya turned back to his ceiling. “And they still have Tokoyami...”

“I saw...” Tsuyu replied, heartbroken, “he looked pretty roughed up. I hope he's holding up okay.”

“I'm sorry, Tsu,” Izuku sighed. “I had made it to the fight. I was there. But seeing All Might and All for One fighting...I had frozen up. I didn't think to act. I should have done something.”

From across the bed, a tongue uncoiled and poked his cheek. “How do you think I feel? I was stuck in a hospital bed as the League took off with one of my best friends. Don't blame yourself, kero. You do that a lot.”

Midoriya let out another bitter, hollow laugh. “All Might said something like that to me too...don't beat yourself up either.”

“I won't if you don't,” she offered.

“Deal,” he accepted. “So now what? I'm sorry I'm not better company.”

Tsuyu grabbed his hand. “Same. But I think I'd rather be miserable together than alone.”

“I'll accept that.” Midoriya said. “Thanks, Tsu.”

---

Hatsume Mei had always followed heroics. You had to, if you wanted to be in Support. You had to know what Quirks made the too rankings, who was up and coming, and what these heroes needed to supplement their strengths and weaknesses. Especially ones that didn't have combat-related powers, like Eraserhead and his scarves.

Still, All Might's death had rocked her to the core. When Heroes wanted gear, it was an effort to chase that number 1 position the Symbol of Peace had held for so long.

She'd never heard anyone so broken as when Midoriya finally answered her over the earpiece yesterday.

Nor had she suspected that the Todoroki guy would end up joining the side of the villains.

She didn't know what to expect when school came back in.
---
Monday rolled around, as they often do, and school returned in session for the students of UA, even as they had to combat a sea of reporters looking for comments about All Might or the villain attack.

The Principal called an assembly and announced to the student body they would begin a conversion into a boarding school in order to keep the students safe. The results were...mixed, to say the least.

The Hero Classes had seemed rather downcast, but the dark cloud extended to Midoriya as well; he hadn’t slept well and it showed. After the assembly, Power Loader had assigned them to build augmentations for the Hero Course costumes; ways that they could be more protective in the event of future attacks, and to help them develop ultimate moves. But Midoriya just stared at the blueprints for someone named Monoma in class 1-B and sighed in frustration. He couldn’t find his inspiration today.

Hatsume was about to go see what she could do to help him, when Power Loader walked over to the two of them. She cringed, expecting to be in trouble for something - she wasn’t sure what, but then again, she usually didn’t see anything wrong with her processes - Higari tapped Midoriya on the shoulder instead, making him jump.

“Easy kid,” Power Loader advised, backing up, “Principal wants to see you. You’re not in trouble, so don’t freak or anything.”

Confused, Midoriya shot a glance towards his friend. Hatsume just shrugged at him. With a heavy sigh, he dragged himself out of the room, but was surprised to see a third year student waiting for him.

The older boy himself almost struck a passing resemblance to All Might; blonde hair and smaller blue eyes, he towered over the first year. “You’re Midoriya, right?” He asked, in a friendly manner.

Deku nodded. “Yes...pleased to meet you...uh...?”

“Togata Mirio!” The blonde student exclaimed, “I saw your performance in the Sports Festival! You’re pretty impressive. Let’s go see what Principal Nezu wants.”

“S-s-sure!” Midoriya stuttered, trying to keep his composure. He’d heard the name; this was THE top student at UA - expected to go on to be a top ten ranking hero.

Once they had made it to the office, they were greeted in the same, usual, calm manner the Principal spoke in. Joining them in the room was Recovery Girl.

“Take a seat, gentlemen, I have some news to tell you, and something to give the both of you.” The mouse proclaimed. “Tea?”

“Um...sure.” Izuku accepted. Mirio nodded as well.

“This may be a difficult conversation to have, so I’m going to cut to the chase,” the Principal explained, “but All Might was not born with a natural Quirk.”

“What?” The two students questioned, leaning forward almost in unison.

“Indeed,” the Principal nodded, “His Quirk is truly a mystery, but it is called: One for All. It is a stockpiling Quirk that can be transferred from one user to another, growing more powerful with every person. And our dearly departed All Might was the eighth user of this truly astounding power.”

“So many people have speculated on his Quirk, but I’ve never heard anything like that...” Midoriya pondered in awe.

“But why tell us this?” Mirio questioned.

The Principal walked over to a small, metal briefcase on his desk. “Before his passing, All Might knew his time was running out. I believe you,” he tipped his hand towards Izuku, “had the luck of finding him in his weakened state.”

“I don’t know if I’d call it luck...” the green haired boy replied, rubbing the back of his neck, “that wasn’t exactly the best day of my life...”

“Quite. Regardless,” the Principal continued, not breaking his tone, “All Might was in search of a successor to this power before he passed. The power can only be passed if the user intends to pass it on through his DNA. Which is why, he entrusted this to me.”

He opened the case, revealing a long, golden strand of hair.

“Whoa...” Both boys uttered, absorbing everything that had just been laid out to them.

The Principal nodded and closed the case. “We are preserving this with utmost care. You see...Mirio, you were being groomed to be the next recipient.”

“M-me?!” He gasped in shock.

Nezu beamed. “Indeed. Your brightness, your disposition, your physical capabilities. Your tenure here has molded you into the ideal successor to One for All. However...”

Nezu smiled and turned to Midoriya, “He had also, in the last few months, considered that you might be a worthy successor for this Powerful Quirk.”

“WHAT?!” Midoriya screamed, falling out of his chair. He quickly sized himself up compared to Mirio; while Midoriya had buffed up since being trained by Power Loader, Mirio looked like he could bench press the younger boy in one hand without breaking a sweat.

Nezu nodded and continued. “All Might talked about it a lot after the Sports Festival. He remembered the young, timid boy he saved, who asked him about becoming a hero. And even after being rejected by his hero, the boy was trained by another Pro, used his strengths to find work around his weaknesses, and made his way into our Support Program. With nothing but tenacity, the will to succeed, and ingenuity, he proved himself as being able to hang with the toughest of Quirk users, using only what he could build with his own two hands. That combination of heroic spirit and conviction shook him to his core.”

Midoriya stared down at his own feet as the room grew silent.

“So...what do we do?” Mirio asked.

“Well...All Might knew he had run out of time,” The Principal answered, sadly. “He gave me the hair, with full intent to pass it onto whichever of you ingested it. He had prepared a letter for each of you in the hospital. The poor man...I think he was fighting off the reaper himself in order to finish both. I want you both to read your letters. And take the rest of week to decide between the two of you who should be the inheritor. You can meet back here next Monday with your decision. This was what he asked of me before he passed on.”

The mouse slid a letter to each of them.

The two students held their letters gingerly and looked at each other uneasily.

“I know this is a lot to take in,” the mouse added, “so you don't have to talk about it now. If you'd like, I can excuse from your afternoon studies so you can have some time alone to process this.”

“I think I'll take you up on that.” Mirio decided. Midoriya nodded in agreement.

“It is done,” Nedzu said with a smile. “I trust you two will come to the right decision.”

The two students thanked their principal and left the office. They looked to each other in the hall and the older boy gave Mirio a confident smile. “Let's meet outside your class tomorrow afternoon and talk. 1-H?”

Midoriya nodded. “O-okay. Sounds good.”
---

Sitting outside the front of the school, Midoriya opened his letter from All Might. It was not lost on him that this was one of the last pieces of communication anyone would ever hear from the Symbol of Peace. His hands shook as he unfolded the paper.

“Dear Midoriya,

I don't have much time, but I apologize for the brevity of this letter. I want you to know that I am proud of you. Proud because even on my darkest day as a hero, where I failed to save you friend, when I had to crush your dreams, you rose up from that tragedy and did everything you could to prove me wrong. Your tenacity. Your fighting spirit. The lengths you have gone to protect others.

I have friends in the police, young Midoriya. While I did not inform them, I suspected that you were involved with the capture of the Sludge Villain, and stopping Mt. Lady's assassination. You were in the right place, and it matches your performance in the Sports Festival.”

Midoriya lowered the letter momentarily. “I need to cover my tracks better.” He went back to reading, however.

“I have never been more happy to be wrong. You have all the makings of a hero. Spirit. Bravery. Tenacity. And a drive to be there for those in need. Whether or not you take One for All, I know you are meant for greatness.

I'm proud of you.

But be warned - One for All is a dangerous power. You will need to train your body, or else the force of my strength will be devastating on your body. Please take this into consideration.

There is one last thing I want you to know. It's about Todoroki.”

Midoriya inhaled sharply just seeing the name. He was shocked All Might lasted so long as to write these, but he hadn't expected what he was about to read.

“I know you and the rest of the world will damn him. But even with what he had done. There was a sadness in his eyes. I do not believe he is beyond saving.

And I want you to save him from a life of villainy, if you can.

Either way, I believe in you.”

Midoriya sniffed and wiped his eyes as he reached the end of the letter.

Having a Quirk had been his dream forever. But...he had come this far without one. What would it mean for his gear? If he was throwing punches with the force of All Might, it would tear his gauntlets or the mech suit apart. Of course, with a powerful Quirk, he'd be more suited to join the Hero Course.

“But do I want to?” He said to himself, slipping into his muttering habit, “I've been making tech for the last year. And I love making Support Gear. Would I be letting Power Loader down? Hatsume? But if I don't take it, am I letting All Might down? Or should it go to Mirio after all since he's probably more capable or handling the strain? And Todoroki? Me, save him? Why would he leave that to me? I barely knew him...”

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a hand waving in front of his face. He looked up to see Hatsume looking at him, concerned.

“There you are!” She said, exasperated, “where have you been? Do you know how boring the day is when you're not in class?”

Midoriya looked around. He must have been lost in thought all afternoon, as students were leaving the building, looking at him in confusion as he sat there muttering to himself.

To her surprise he grabbed her hand and began pulling her towards her house. “Come on, we need to talk.”

---

From the safety of her basement, Hatsume let out a whistle as she processed the contents of All Might's letter. “Hot damn.”

“Yeah,” Midoriya sighed, “so I don't know what to do.”

“I mean, with that kind of power, you'd hardly need any of this,” she gestured around at the various gadgets and scrap they had gathered over the summer, “though you'd probably need some stuff to lessen the damage to your limbs.”

She had done her best not to sound sad when she said that, but Midoriya had picked it up. After spending so much time together, it was easy to pick up on changes in her usually excited demeanor.

“I don't know if I'm the right person for it. And besides,” Midoriya looked around and gestured towards the basement as well, “I love doing this. I'm more sad about not being able to come here to your basement everyday when we switch to dorms than I am about not being home.”

Hatsume's face turned slightly pink. “Yeah...being here with you making babies has been the best summer I can remember.”

Realizing they had done both connotations of that statement now, they both looked away from each other for a minute in embarrassment.

“So...what are you going to do?” Hatsume asked. “Take the power? Hunt down Todoroki?”

“I don't know...I guess I'll hear out Mirio tomorrow and think about it,” he shrugged. “I have the week. After that, I'll worry about Todoroki. It's almost hard to believe. Anyway...how's your pack coming?”

Hatsume's face lit up. “Let me show you!”

She put on her pack, and it sprouted metal gauntlets just like his, although hers did not contain weaponry. She pulled the tip of her finger off the gauntlet, revealing a drill.

“Oh my GOD, THAT'S SO COOL!” Midoriya yelled, not even hiding how much he was geeking out.

“I KNOW! AND CHECK IT OUT!” Hatsume exclaimed. “Socket wrench.” She said into a speaker on her right arm.

A compartment opened in her right forearm, having seen dispensed from the backpack.

“And when I'm done...” She showed him, opening a similar compartment on her left arm, inserting the tool and it was placed back into the backpack.

“That's going to help SO much around here and at school!” He crowed. “You've outdone yourself.”

“Yup!” Hatsume beamed. “Hey, speaking of packs, you wanted to put launchers for your grenades on your arms, right?”

He nodded. “Totally! Let's get to work.” At the very least, working on projects with Mei always cheered him up.

---

Feeling somewhat alleviated, he was in better spirits when he met Mirio after class on Tuesday. True to his word, Mirio was waiting for him.

“Hey Midoriya...let's step outside to the courtyard.”

For a second, the green-haired boy felt apprehensive; in middle school, that usually meant Kacchan and his cronies wanted to beat him up or something. But then he remembered the point of this was to for real talk.

The two stood under a tree in the shade. Mirio grabbed his shoulder and took a deep breath.

“I think you should take it.” He said.

Izuku's jaw dropped. “J-just like that? You don't think you're better suited for it...?”

Mirio shook his head. “That's not what it's about. This school night have groomed my abilities, but All Might saw it in your actions. I think that...that's more important. He saw a hero in you.”

Izuku said nothing, and looked to his feet. He wasn't quite sure how he felt. Last year he would have jumped for this chance. But...now?

“The only thing that matters now is if you want it. Take some time and let me know, okay?” Mirio smiled at him. "I'll take it if you don't want it, of course. But consider it as you having first dibs."

Mirio's smile reminded him of All Might's.

“I will. Thanks, Mirio.” Izuku replied, sincerely. “I'll think it over.”

Mirio gave Deku his number if he wanted to talk it over more.

Izuku left the school, head reeling.

As he walked the halls, he pondered, and was so lost in thought he didn't notice someone was waiting for him by the front gate.

“Midoriya!” A voice croaked as he walked by.

He whipped around to see Asui Tsuyu had stayed back by the doors, alone.

“Hey Asu - Tsu. What's up?” He asked.

She looked around to make sure no one was listening in. “I need your help with something. I need some gear, kero.”

Her behavior threw Izuku for a loop; she was always forthcoming, secretive behavior didn't seem like her.

“Sure, but what for...?” He asked.

“I know how to save Tokoyami.” She whispered.

Chapter Text

Midoriya couldn’t believe his ears. Checking around for anyone, he pulled Tsuyu away from the front doors and gave her an incredulous look. “After all the talks we’ve had about why I shouldn’t be hunting people down, now YOU want to go hunt down Tokoyami?!” He whispered, “that doesn’t seem like you!”

Tsuyu’s flat expression flattened a little more as she deadpanned, “I don’t think you’re in a position to try and talk me out of it.”

“I’m not,” he held up his hands defensively, “If a friend of mine was kidnapped, I’d do anything to get them back to. I’m just...surprised.” He tilted his head to her and added, “What brought this about, anyway? Like I said, you're pretty anti-vigilante.”

“Dark Shadow showed up at my house last night...” Tsuyu whispered. “Left a message for me, kero.”

Izuku furrowed his brow. “That doesn't make sense. He can't control Dark Shadow at night, it’s when it's strongest, and he's got to be guarded like crazy."

Tsuyu shook her head. “Wherever they're keeping Tokoyami must have a lot of light. But he's explained to me when we've been alone that Dark Shadow is incredibly loyal. I think he's trying to free his master, kero. He can't attack when he or Tokoyami are exposed to a lot of light, kero, but he was able to slip this message through my window.”

“Feasible as anything else,” Midoriya replied. “You saw him? What was the message he left you?”

Tsuyu nodded and handed Midoriya a piece of paper. Unfolding it, all he could make out was various numbers that looked like they had been scratched into the paper sloppily. “I don't know what they mean, but it has to tell us how to find him.”

“Well,” Midoriya said, “that's the first piece of the puzzle. But you said you needed gear. What kind of gear?”

She rubbed her arm, uncomfortably as she answered. “You had figured out gear to stop Stain, kero. With what we know about the Quirks of the villains, I'd need something to protect me from their abilities.”

“...and we can't use the suit you have here because it's school property,” Midoriya concluded. “I'm not sure, Tsu. Stain was one man, and it took diversion tactics with a robot suit and all my gear to stop just him. And he managed to damage the suit. I've seen the news. We know of a warping Quirk, fire Quirk, a sand Quirk....not to mention. That Shigaraki guy can decay anything he touches. I don't know a work around for that.” Midoriya sighed. “Then you have Todoroki, and that's another fire Quirk and Ice. I don't know if I can make one suit to fight all of that head on.”

“Kero,” Tsuyu croaked sadly, “there has to be something we can do.”

“Even if it was both of us,” Midoriya wondered aloud, rubbing his chin, “we'd be outgunned if we tried to fight...”

They both seemed to have the same idea as each other as they looked up and met gazes. “So we don't fight,” they both said in unison.

“Your Quirk, with the camouflage and wall-scaling, is perfect for stealth missions,” Midoriya theorized, pulling a notebook from his pocket and jotting down some notes.

“The camouflage isn't perfect, kero,” she added, “if someone gets a good look at me I stand out.”

“We could enhance that.” He assured her, mind beginning to race. “A suit that blends with you. And you can carry items in your stomach?”

“It's not very useful,” Tsuyu replied, placing a finger to her chin.

Midoriya shook his head. “I disagree. If we made you a stealth suit we could probably fit a few useful tools in there, and they wouldn't be cumbersome or a liability.”

“Kero, you really think you could make me a stealth outfit?” Tsuyu asked.

He nodded, tapping his pen to his chin. “But it's best we figure out where you'd need to go first. Might be able to make more specifics if we know the environment. Mind if I hold on to this?”

She shook her head. “Go for it. Let me know what you figure out, kero.” She stepped forward and hugged him. “Thanks for helping me, kero.”

He turned red, but answered, “don't thank me yet, I haven't done anything!”

---

That evening, Midoriya went, as he always did, to Hatsume's basement.

“A stealth suit to rescue the emo bird?” She crowed, rubbing her chin, “that sounds like a fun project! A new baby!”

“Right,” he agreed, “but first we need to decipher this...whatever this is.”

Hatsume and Midoriya analysed the scratched out numbers closely.

“Too long to be an address...a code, maybe?” Mei hypothesized.

The two scanned over the paper for a few minutes, before Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck. “Hey...you don’t mind doing this, do you?”

“Doing what? We’re in my basement. We’re usually in here.” She replied, perplexed.

“No, this whole...helping...Asui thing.” He shifted, uncomfortably. “I know you told me to forget what happened and all that, but you’ve been kind of weird since then and I was worried there’s some stuff you aren’t saying.”

She gave a small laugh. “Izuku. To be honest, you’re right. There’s plenty you don’t know about me. But that’s on me. And of course I want to help you; I get to make babies! Besides. We’re a team.”

Izuku smiled. “Good. There’s no one else in Japan I could trust with this.” He jerked his hand toward a map that had been on the back wall for their fight with Stain.

Their eyes both met the map, and they looked back to each other with inspiration.

“It’s coordinates!” They yelled in unison. They ran over to Hatsume’s computer, and she began furiously typing away to enter the latitude and longitude. Midoriya suspected it was the only way she knew how to type.

It was a city a few hours away, and its coordinates matched up with an old, run down hospital.

“A hospital?” Hatsume rubbed her chin. “Weird place to hideout for a villain group.”

“I don’t know, they probably have some old medical supplies. Apparently the girl who attacked Uraraka and Asui used syringe like tubes to capture blood, so I’m sure there’s plenty of useful items for them.” Midoriya theorized.

“Fair point,” Mei conceded, “We should scope it out, make sure that’s the place.”

“I’ve got something for that,” Izuku realized, grabbing his backpack, and pulling out the small flying drone he had used for scouting out before the Sports Festival.

He turned around to see...Hatsume also holding a small flying done.

“Oh...” He mouthed, laughing. “You uh...had one too.”

She smirked. “Duh!”

“What did you make yours for?” Midoriya asked, tilting his head.

Hatsume just gave him an incredulous look. “Why WOULDN’T I make a flying spy done, Deku Scrub? Great minds think alike.” She tapped her forehead.

“Fair.”

---

After syncing the two drones up to Hatsume’s computer, Deku climbed the bus towards the area of town they had seen the hospital in.They had a few hours of daylight left to burn, and the sooner they found anything out about the new villain hideout, the better chances they had to make some particular equipment before Tokoyami got moved.

Stopping a few blocks away, Midoriya adjusted his earpiece in a back alley. “You got visual?” He asked, holding a drone up a few feet from his face.

“Yup! I’ve got a good shot of that pretty face of yours!” She confirmed from her control center.

Midoriya bit his lip. When she flirted, he didn’t exactly want to move on. He shook the thoughts out of his head. Now was Deku The Villain Hunter time, not girl problem time. “Alright, releasing them. I’ll control mine but let me know if you pick up on anything or want me to go elsewhere.”

He released the two drones, and opened the app he had designed on his phone for it. He began scanning the windows of the floors; he started from the bottom, Hatsume started towards the top. It was ten stories. At first he was worried they had been wrong, as nothing was showing up on his camera, but as he got to the fourth floor, he noticed a faint light glowing in a few of the rooms.

“Hey, are you getting anything?” He asked into his earpiece. “I’ve got some lights on the fourth floor.”

“Nothing,” Hatsume answered, “hold on, I’ll come to you...”

Keeping his distance from the windows, he swept them all, and almost dropped his phone when he finally hit the jackpot.

Tokoyami was in one of the hospital beds, with multiple interrogation lamps surrounding him. On on one side of the bed, a man with multiple scars and burns stood by him, holding a blue flame up to his chin. To the other side, a girl in a school uniform was holding a knife to his right pectoral muscle.

“Holy shit, are they torturing him?!” Hatsume nearly yelled in his ear, making Midoriya jump.

“It looks like it...we should get out of here before anyone notices us.” Midoriya sighed. “Hang in there Tokoyami...”

---

Re-entering Hatsume’s basement, Midoriya couldn’t help but to smile seeing she was already working on some blueprints. “Got some ideas?”

She looked up and gave him the ever-so-familiar smile she always had when inspiration took her. “Oh Izuku, when you see what I’ve thought up and dug up, you’ll gladly admit I’m the brains of this operation.”

“You wish,” he laughed, “what do you got?”

“Well,” she grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the blueprints, making him blush a bit, “I was able to see that they aren’t on the power grid, so that means they’re running the generator in the basement. We can shut that down easy. Which means we wait until it’s night, and then Froggy uses this stealth suit.”

“Blending technology fabric isn’t easy to come by,” Midoriya frowned.

Hatsume beamed, and fiddled with her backpack, pulling out a long sheet of it. “You don’t think I’ve been sneaking some of this from school when we were doing the Mt. Lady project? You don't know me as well as you thought you did!”

Midoriya beamed back at her. “Okay. You ARE the brains of the operation!”

“Told you!” Hatsume laughed, sticking her tongue out. “Now, bring her back here tomorrow. I’m going to need to take her measurements.”

---

Well. This is weird. Midoriya thought to himself as he awkwardly stood in the basement the next day, watching Hatsume take Tsuyu's measurements for a stealth suit.

“So this will help the camouflage part of my quirk, kero?” Tsuyu asked.

Mei nodded as she jotted down numbers on a notepad. “Those type of Quirks are rare but the material is way easier to make or come by than, say, making clothes out of hair like Mt. Lady, or that guy Deku Scrub has had to talk to lately.”

“What's that been all about anyway, Midoriya?” Asui asked, holding her arms out so Hatsume could wrap the cloth measuring tape around her waist.

“The Principal says I'm not supposed to really spread this around,” Midoriya admitted, realizing he hadn't really stopped to think about this when telling Hatsume the other day. “But it has something to do with All Might.” Quickly changing the subject, he added, “I saw him for the first time in last year’s Sports Festival. I can’t believe they let him fight naked.”

“It’s probably a good fighting strategy if you’re going one on one with someone, kero,” Asui replied, “very distracting. Especially if you can go intangible like he can.”

“Maybe you should have fought Stain naked,” Hatsume joked.

Midoriya and Asui exchanged uncomfortable glances that went right over Hatsume’s head.

“So is there a plan, kero?” Tsuyu asked. “I’ve never snuck into a hospital. What did you guys see?”

Midoriya waved her over to another work benches as Hatsume compared her notes to her blueprints. “I got the schematics for the building. Apparently you can just find those on the internet? Weird.”

He pointed to the basement. “The building is still off the power grid, so they must be using a generator here. If we can shut it down, you’ll be nearly impossible to see in the stealth suit.”

“We’re also going to make plenty of smoke bombs and flash grenades in case you do get spotted.” Hatsume added from her table, beginning to cut the fabric for the costume.

“This build is pretty old, so if you DO get spotted,” Midoriya continued, “the vents are big enough for you to fit in, which is funny, because most vents aren’t big enough for people anymore.”

“Action movies have been lying to me, kero,” Asui joked, getting a chuckle from the other two.

“You can just rip a vent grate off with your tongue - if you can lift someone, you should be strong enough.” Izuku advised. “And Tokoyami is...here.” He circled the room.

“They were smart enough not to put him by any vents, kero,” Tsuyu grumbled. “I’m sure he’ll be guarded.”

“That’s why we’re going to draw them out!” Hatsume and Midoriya both answered her, beaming, and then laughing at each other. They had a tendency to think in tandem when they were on a roll.

“Kero?”

---

They had to act soon - dormitory move-in was beginning next week, and there was no way they would be able to make a secret stealth suit and matching gear on campus without drawing suspicion. In fact, Hatsume was dreading the fact that she would have an 8pm curfew for the workshop.

Still, Midoriya forced himself to focus on improvements for Monoma - he’d managed to make a few good, minor additions, but felt he could do more to really give the guy an edge before the end of the week.

He was pulled from his thoughts as Power Loader cleared his throat from the front of the room. “Listen up guys, now that we’ve had a few days back, I want to talk about next week.”

Everyone’s attention snapped forward, and the teacher continued, “this is the time of year licensing comes up. For the Heroes, It’s Provisional Licensing. For business course, it’s some accounting thing - who cares, right?”

The class chuckled. Still got it, Higari. “But for us? Well, it’s Commissions Licensing, level C.”

Excited murmurs floated around the room. Hatsume reached over and grabbed Midoriya’s hand, bouncing up and down on her feet like a kid in a candy store. Midoriya blushed, but listened intently to his teacher.

“Now, as you know, plenty of agencies offer internships for our students. Well, many of these agencies are always looking for more gear to make capture, restraining, and takedown of villains easier. UA has many promising young minds, who have made many wonderful products for Pros. Now, being licensed at a first year level doesn’t mean you can just go selling whatever you want online or whatever, BUT!” He held up a finger for emphasis, “it does mean you can patent some of your ideas, through our school’s program. And it also means, that you can work on requests for patented items through the costume companies we're contracted with, or items requested specifically of the school. And of course,” his grin returned, “Any commissioned items, you do get a cut for your labor.”

Excited whispers went around the room, and the teacher cleared his throat again. “Now...that’s the fun part. The...less than fun part is that the first step in this process is to prepare a portfolio to submit for review. That’s what we’ll be working on next week.”

The class groaned, making the teacher scowl. “SHADDUP! You’ve all made great tech. But part of going into this business is knowing how to present it. WHICH DOES NOT MEAN,” he glared towards a certain pink haired student, “turning a cherished competition into a giant advertisement.”

Hatsume’s eyes shifted, and Midoriya stifled a laugh.

“Anyway. Get back to work!” Power Loader finished, gruffly.

Midoriya became so engrossed in his work again, he didn’t notice the teacher meander over to his desk. “Midoriya, a word?”

Izuku looked up, confused, as Power Loader lead him out into the hallway. “Long time, no chat, kid.”

He gave the teacher a small smile. “Yeah. Summer was a bit crazy...”

To his surprise, Mr. Higari reached out and gave the boy a small squeeze on the shoulder. “I know you never really stopped looking up to the guy, Midoriya. Are you holding up alright?”

Izuku let his face fall. He had a feeling this might have been where the conversation was going. “Did Principal Nezu tell you...?”

The teacher nodded. “Yeah. It’s down to you or Mirio to be the next All Might. I wanted to see if you two had decided.”

“Mirio said the power is mine, if I want it,” Midoriya admitted, rubbing the back of his neck, “But...”

“But?”

“I don’t know if it’s the right thing.” Midoriya finished, eyes dropping. “If I took One for All, I’d have to switch over to the Hero Course and try keep up...but I love what I do here...and you’ve done so much for me I wouldn’t want to let you down.”

“Hey!” Power Loader commanded, grabbing both of his shoulders, taking the boy by surprise. “I didn’t do that so you’d owe me one, kid. I did that because I saw something in you. And look at you!” The Pro beamed. “I was right! I’m going to be proud of you either way.”

Midoriya turned red. It was maybe one of the nicest things anyone had said to him.

“No matter what you do,” Power Loader said, with a powerful tone, “Do it for you. Of course I want you to stay. You’re one of the best I got. And, if you leave, I have no one to reign in Hatsume.”

As if on cue, an explosion sounded from the room followed by Hatsume’s recognizable laughter.

“God damn it.” Power Loader shuddered. “But this is on you. Okay?”

Midoriya nodded, smile returning. “Thanks, Power Loader.”

Giving him a final pat on the shoulder, Power Loader sighed. “Now let’s get in there before Hatsume burns this place to the ground.”

---

It was needless to say, Midoriya had plenty on his mind when he left school Wednesday - final touches to make on Monoma’s suit, a portfolio to build next week, infiltrating the hospital lair of the League of Villains, and his discussion with Power Loader. Also, it was laundry day, but that was pretty low on the list.

He was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he almost didn’t notice Mirio’s face poking out from the floor a few feet away, giving him a broad grin.

“Hey Midoriya!” Mirio crowed excitedly.

“AH WHAT THE CRAP!” Midoriya screamed, tripping over his feet, and crashing next to the older boy’s face.

“Whoops! Didn’t mean to scare you,” Mirio laughed, heartily. “Just wanted to see how you were doing with everything.”

Midoriya calmed down as he picked himself up. “Still need some time. I’ll get to you before Monday, no worries.”

“Cool!” Mirio nodded, “Catch you later!”

With that, he vanished back into the floor.

Tilting his head to the side, he didn’t notice Hatsume come up behind him. “Hey, Deku Scrub. Chatting with the floor?”

He chuckled as he stood up. “Mirio was there. Anyway, let’s grab Tsu and finish her suit.”

---

Late into Wednesday evening, Midoriya and Hatsume were waiting in the girl’s living room while Tsuyu changed into her stealth suit in the basement.

“I hope this works,” Hatsume sighed.

Midoriya gave her a funny look. “You’re never nervous about your babies, Mei. You're all about failure being the mother of invention.”

“True,” she replied with a smile, “but I’ve never made a stealth suit before. And this one we only have one shot with.”

They both jumped though as a froggy voice rang through the room, “You did fine kero, I’ve been on the couch for like five minutes.”

The two Support Students whipped around, and squinted. Only by really focusing could they make out the thin air distortions of Tsuyu, but this was in the light. The heroine known as Froppy faded into view. “It’s perfect, kero.”

“Well,” Midoriya grinned. “Then we strike tomorrow.”

Chapter Text

Midoriya and Tsuyu stood in a back alley, a block away from the hospital building. Midoriya had taken the helmet off of his mech suit and affixed it to his pack, and Tsuyu was already geared up in her stealth suit. The two of them put in their earpieces.

“Can you hear us, Mei?” Midoriya whispered.

“Loud and clear!” She bellowed, making the two vigilantes flinch. “This is so cool, it’s like a heist movie! Except, you know, instead of diamonds, we’re stealing emo bird from the bad guys.”

Midoriya stifled a laugh while Tsuyu tilted her head curiously. “Do you have eyes on the hospital, kero?”

“Sure do!” Hatsume confirmed, “if anything goes sour, I’ll tell you, and you get the hell out of there.”

“Alright,” Midoriya exhaled, rolling his neck to limber up. “Let’s go save Tokoyami.”

He and Tsuyu shared a fist pound and crept towards the hospital, leering around the corner to see who was standing guard. It was a man in a black and white costume that covered his entire body. He seemed to be...having a conversation with himself?

He shot a puzzled look at Tsuyu, who shrugged. “I didn’t run into that one, kero,” she whispered.

“Hatsume, you got any intel on the guy out front?” Midoriya asked.

“Worth a search on the generic internet search browser.” The sound of furious typing answered them, before a momentary pause. “The guy’s name is Twice. Mental patient escapee. He can clone himself or anyone else, though the clones are usually weaker than himself. Take him out quick before he makes an army to stop you.” There was a pause again before she added, “who makes the Support items and suits for bad guys anyway?”

Nodding, Tsuyu camouflaged herself, and crawled around the side of the building, up and over the line of sight for the villain. Midoriya, around the corner, slipped on his helmet, and deployed his gauntlets and mechanical spider legs. Looking around the corner, he sprang into action as Tsuyu wrapped the villain up, with her tongue, in one fell motion.

“Oooooooh, is it my birthday, daddy?!” Twice squealed in delight, just in time for Izuku to run in with a leaping Superman Lunch across his left eye, knocking him out. Midoriya used a glue grenade to make sure he wouldn't be moving.

“I'm going to need to scrub my tongue for days.” Tsuyu shuddered.

They quietly crept in; this was where the two of them separated. “Good luck, Midoriya.” Tsuyu whispered.

“Luck is for chumps, let's rescue Tokoyami,” he replied with a smile.

“Stealing my lines...” Hatsume grumbled into his earpiece. “Just don't break my babies out there.”

Tsuyu tore a vent grate of the wall and climbed into it. Izuku went towards the basement, switching on the night vision in his headgear.

Being careful not to make any noise, he peered down the stairs and saw a singular, buff person guarding the door.

“That one's Magne,” Mei informed him, chipperly, “uses her Quirk as a Magnet against people using that big ole pillar thing next to her. She's tough, but nothing special. Wait until Tsuyu is in position and take her down.”

Waiting was the hardest part for these missions, Midoriya realized, setting the proper projectile in his gauntlets; he and Hatsume had finally rigged projectile launchers like on the mech suit to his gauntlets.

“She's ready, Deku Scrub!” Hatsume chimed in only a few minutes later.

Leaning over the railing with careful aim, Midoriya shot a tranquilizer dart into the neck of the buff villain.

“Uwah?!” Was all Magne managed to cry out before slumping into the floor. Midoriya had secured her in place with a glue grenade as well; he had made sure to prepare plenty for tonight, they were becoming his most useful too.

He quickly made his way to the boiler room, and found the only generator still roaring actively.

“Commence generator shutdown, Deku!” Hatsume commanded.

Midoriya brought down to armored gauntlets onto the machine, causing to to buckle and break under his blows; the best way to shut it down for good was to break it.

“SHUT DOWN COMPLETE!” Hatsume hollered. “Go, Froppit!”

Midoriya rolled his eyes as he turned and bolted; he had to get in position for Part Two of his job.

Diversion.

As he made his way out of of the entrance, past a still unconscious Twice, he looked up and took a deep breath. “Well, I guess it worked in product testing.”

“Don’t doubt my genius, Midoriya!” Mei growled in his ear, “We’re on the job!”

Activating the hover function Hatsume installed on his pack, he kicked it full thrust until he was levitating just under the fourth story windows. He could hear disheveled sounds of panic inside. Getting right under a window, he used a glue grenade to stick a small, wireless speaker under the window, then hovered up to smash it open with one punch.

“What was that?!” Someone yelled from inside.

Midoriya quickly flew as far away from the window as possibly, and whispered, “Cue the music,”

Mei laughed from her computer as she began shuffling her, “Annoying and Distracting Music Playlist,” which had the small speaker under the open window playing, “You’re The Best Around,” at full blast, making it the only thing the villains could hear.

Even over the music, Midoriya could make out the sound of panic and commotion from inside. But he wasn’t done.

He knew that Dabi, who had some sort of Fire Quirk to his knowledge, would be left to guard Tokoyami, and with only that fire to subdue Dark Shadow, it would take a disaster to get him to leave his post.

So a disaster was what Izuku would give them.

He began zipping past fourth story windows, smashing them in as random pattern as he could, shooting remote grenades into the hallway at Hatsome’s command - she was tracking them both on GPS to make sure there was no friendly fire.

Most importantly, he had done this on the other side of the fourth floor from when Tokoyami was being held. And once all the remote grenades were in place, he began flying back towards where the boy was being held, and triggered the detonators.

Explosions rang out in the night sky, only partially drowning out the song, “The Final Countdown.”

“Tsuyu is in the room!” Hatsume yelled, “She’s over Dabi and Tokoyami and he hasn’t seen her yet! He's not leaving! Go!”

Midoriya got in position, right outside the window, behind Dabi. Tsuyu saw him, and prepared. They had gone over the sequence a million times

Midoriya punched out the window, having telegraphed the blow, to sync up with Tsuyu wrapping up Dabi in her tongue. Before he could react, Midoriya had already entered the room and smashed the villain across the back of the head, knocking him out. Quickly, Deku scooped up Tokoyami in his arms and jumped out the window, whispering, “Time to go!” Tsuyu followed, using her powerful legs to leap to the next rooftop over.

The hover function of the pack was not equipped to handle the weight of two teenage boys, but it did slow down their descent enough for Midoriya to deploy his spider legs for the landing, and charge along Asui as Tokoyami slipped in and out of consciousness.

“M-Midoriya?” The gothic hero uttered, “Asui?”

“Save your strength,” Midoriya commanded as they jumped to another nearby roof.

“We did it, kero!” Tsuyu cheered, “We did -”

They froze in their tracks as they heard the sound of smashing concrete behind them. Whipping around, their hearts sank as they saw a giant of a man, with short, spiky blonde hair, and one eye, had burst through the wall of the hospital, and landed on the roof closest to the hideout. His Quirk allowed his muscles to burst from his skin, as evident by his pulsating, fleshy, red arms and legs.

Midoriya gulped. He knew who it was before Hatsume chimed in to both of them, saying, “That’s...that’s Muscular. Guys, he’s basically like a slightly less strong version of All Might. He’s...he’s bad. Get out! GET OUT!”

“Sp...split up!” Midoriya yelled, hoping they could lose the villain.

Before he could react, Tsuyu used her tongue and yanked Tokoyami from his arms, and took the other hero to a roof to their right. Snapping out of his trance, he went left.

Seeing them flee, Muscular let out a vicious laugh. “GOOD! I LOVE A GOOD GAME OF CHASE BEFORE A KILL!”

Midoriya already could tell they would never be able to outpace him; he could clear a roof in two strides, and as the vigilante looked over his shoulder, he could see Muscular had made a beeline for Tsuyu and Tokoyami.

“Ah...damn it!” He cursed to himself, stopping, and retracting his spider legs to use the hover function of his pack.

“Izuku, what are you doing?!” Mei yelled.

“I’m on the job,” he grunted.

"DON'T!"

He was able to catch up to the chase, Muscular reaching out with his right arm to snag Tsuyu’s leg. Midoriya took careful aim, leading his shot to where the villain’s foot would land next, and shot a glue grenade that exploded and trapped the villain to the roof momentarily. Both of them stopped and looked at the airborne vigilante.

Tsuyu hesitated, but Midoriya screamed, hastily, “JUST GO!”

She didn’t need to be told twice; she kept going from roof to roof with Tokoyami.

“What are you doing?!” Mei yelled, a rare panic rising in her tone, “You’re going to get killed against him!”

The split second was all it took for Muscular to tear a chunk of roof off the building, and turn towards Midoriya.

“You just made a big...BIG mistake, little boy!” The villain scowled. Even with his leg weighed down with a chunk of concrete, he expanded his muscles and leapt at Midoriya faster than the boy could react.

Tackled from mid air, the breath was driven from Midoriya’s lungs as a shoulder hit his chest. The villain had wrapped the boy in his left arm and raised his right arm threateningly. In a panic, and with the sounds of Mei yelping in his ear, Izuku managed to raise his left gauntlet and unleash a burst of flames that seared the face and good eye of the villain. Muscular screamed in pain, allowing Izuku to kick off of him as they began falling towards the pavement.

Being grabbed by Muscular had knocked the hover function off his pack offline, but Midoriya was able to deploy his spider legs and land on a roof, the villain crashing into the street below. Midoriya could hear car horns and screaming; people were already being drawn to the loud music and explosions, and a serial killer crashing into the street was going to incite a backpack.

Midoriya took off again, hoping the flames to the face and the fall to the street were enough to keep the villain down long enough for him to escape.

“Go go go!” Hatsume urged, sounding near beside herself. The anxiety in her voice just compelled Izuku to move faster.

Their pleas fell on deaf ears as a surge of screams and the sound of rushing air made him turn once more, and he gasped. A car was zipping through the air heading right towards him.

It would be easy enough to dodge, but the sound of shrieking coming from the vehicle told him there were people inside still. Damn it!

Bracing for impact, Midoriya planted his feet on the roof, and used all four spider claws to catch the hood and undercarriage of the vehicle. While the claws held the full weight, the impact nearly knocked Midoriya over, but he managed to place the vehicle down on it’s wheels.

“Hey, it’s that crazy vigilante guy!” Yelled the man from the driver’s seat, apparently forgetting the pants-wetting terror of getting thrown by a super villain.

“You’re welcome!” Midoriya yelled, jumping to the next roof over.

He had only gotten five roofs away, when Muscular came soaring through the air himself, looking to land in front of Midoriya. “GOT YOU NOW BOY! I’LL PICK MY TEETH WITH YOUR FEMUR WHEN I’M DONE WITH YOU!”

"THAT'S NOT SANITARY!" Was all the response Deku managed to yell back.

“He means it!” Hatsume yelled over her earpiece. “You’re out gunned, you need to get out of there!”

“Is anyone in these buildings?!” He asked, in a panic.

“No,” Mei replied, confused, “these buildings are condemned.”

Izuku breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately jumped towards a taller building to his right, but not before shooting an explosive at where Muscular was landing. The explosion knocked a giant hole in the dilapidated roof, and Muscular crashed through to the floor below, and it sounded like he even went a few floors down in the weakened structure.

Midoriya used the grappling hooks on the undersides of his gauntlet, and launched himself up a few stories on the taller building. As he approached the building, he retracted the hook, wrapped himself in his spider legs as an impromptu shield, and crashed through a window, rolling like a ball across the floor. Thankfully, the building had a few broken or boarded up windows, so he hoped this one wouldn’t be too noticeable.

With no time to rest, Midoriya ran into the hall, recognizing this as an old apartment building, and went to the stairwell to head down - the more he moved, the less likely it would be that Muscular would be able to find him.

“Hatsume, do you see anything?” He said, as quietly as he could; adrenaline was making his heart pound in his ears.

“He’s...he’s looking around,” Hatsume replied, her voice still trembling. “He’s looking for a helmeted vigilante with spider legs. Get to the street, get back in your civilian gear get on the nearest subway terminal, and get back here now!”

He realized she was right. Using the spider legs, he jumped down the spiraling stairwell, using them to catch himself at the bottom of the five story landing. He quickly retracted them, his gauntlets, and shoved the helmet in his backpack, before slipping out of the street into the panicked sidewalks.

He breathed a sigh of relief. He could see some Pro Heroes arriving to the scenejust in time; Eraserhead, Endeavor, Mt. Lady, Kamui Woods, Hawks. He was able to blend into the crowd, and make his way into a crowded train car below the street.

Without his helmet, he couldn’t use his earpiece, but he managed to find enough cell service to get a message to Asui and Hatsume, letting them know he was safely on a train. He kept it vague so that nothing could be linked from that message to any sort of vigilantism.

Midoriya sighed and relaxed into his seat. His heart was still pounding, and the soreness in his chest didn’t help either.

Still, he knew it was miraculous that he had encountered Muscular, a known killer, and managed to escape with nothing more than probably a bruised chest; how many Pros had fallen to that madman? Too many to count.

As he finally was able to exit the subway, the trip delayed for how many people were trying to get on and off in the panic, he stopped in a small shop to see if he could find any news about the fight at the hospital. Most coverage had shifted to the appearance of Muscular, and how Endeavor and a smattering of other Heroes had shown up to stop him. Midoriya breathed a sigh of relief; while there were few reports of explosions and loud music on a few news stories, because no one knew the league of villains have been hiding in that hospital, the only things that anyone had confirmed were Muscular and Endeavor fighting.

That was, until, he came across a live interview with the man he had saved. Opening it, he listened.

“Yeah man,” the bystander told the cameraman, excitedly. “He caught me with the crazy octopus claws or whatever and took off! Vigilante bro totes saved my bacon! Just wish I had gotten a pic...”

Midoriya frowned. Hopefully those wouldn't get linked back to him. But, Hatsume had prepared another tampered security tape for an alibi if need be.

Still, he allowed himself a sigh of relief as he walked towards his partner's home. That had been way too close, and if it weren't for those abandoned buildings, he'd be roadkill.

I wonder what I could use to combat such high level Quirks? I don't think even the full mech suit could take that guy.

After brainstorming for a bit, Hatsume's house appeared in his field of vision, just the sight of their, “home base,” filling him with satisfaction. They had done it. Sure, maybe things hadn't quite gone to plan, but all things considered, the only damage caused was one guy's car and buildings that were already condemned.

As he approached the door, like usual, Hatsume flung the entrance open, as she had done so many times before. But this time, she didn't greet him normally. She ran to him and wrapped him in possibly the tightest hug he'd ever experienced. It was not a friendly hug he'd normally get at the end of a day of inventing, or even a passionate embrace like one they had shared before being intimate.

Her hands were shaking as they gripped into his back, a sort of desperate tightness in her arms. It was as if Midoriya was sand and she was fighting to make sure he didn't slip through her grasp. And he couldn't help but notice her cheeks were still moist as she buried her face into the crook of his neck; she had been crying.

Shocked by her reaction, he slowly wrapped his arms around her. “I'm okay,” he whispered, unsure of what else to say, “I promise.”

His only response was a sniffle into his neck.

As this happened, Tsuyu and Tokoyami slowly made their way out of the house. Looking past Hatsume, Midoriya and the two Hero students exchanged grins of triumph. The two snuck past the Support students, not wanting to interrupt, but as they began walking down the block, Midoriya pulled away from his partner.

“I just want to make sure they're okay,” he assured Mei. She nodded, wiping her eyes, and he added, “I'll be right in.”

As she headed inside, Midoriya jogged over to Tsuyu and Tokoyami, “hey, wait guys.”

The two turned their heads and looked at him. It was then Midoriya noticed they were holding hands, and perhaps he was interrupting their moment.

“I just wanted to make sure you were both okay.” He recovered, smiling at them. It was a relief to see them both in one piece.

They both beamed at him. Tokoyami himself made a full turn and bowed, deeply, to Midoriya, causing the vigilante techhead to blush.

“I am forever in your debt, Midoriya Izuku,” he replied, “and your secret vigilantism will be safe with me.” He finished by shaking Midoriya’s hand firmly, with both hands.

“Hey, what are friends for?” Midoriya replied, scratching the back of his neck. “How about you, Tsu? Muscular didn’t get you, did he?”

Tsuyu shook her head, and wrapped Midoriya in a hug. After a brief moment, she let go and her hand found its way back to Tokoyami’s. “I’m doing great, kero. Don't worry about that. Go to Mei. She needs you.”

Izuku tilted his head to the side. “Huh?”

“She was beside herself with worry when you were distracting Muscular,” Tsuyu explained, “I heard every yell - she forgot to switch off my headset. And you should have seen the look on her face when we showed up without you.”

“It was the true face of fear,” Tokoyami added.

“O-oh...” Midoriya mumbled. In their time partnering together, he had never considered that Hatsume was scared for him. Even when she sounded worried, it just seemed like heat of the moment emotions, not a long term effect.

“She loves you, kero.” Tsuyu smiled. “It’s easy to see when she looks at you. But before you do...thank you again, kero.” She touched a finger to her chin, “you’re maybe more of a hero than anyone in our class, Midoriya. We’ve got your back.”

Tokoyami nodded.

Midoriya gave an embarrassed laugh. “Th-thanks guys...be safe, okay? Text me that you got home okay.”

The three parted ways, and Midoriya made his way into the house, to find Hatsume standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter. She must have still had too much adrenaline to sit. Walking up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her midsection and pressed his face into the nape of her neck.

She didn’t flinch from his embrace, and placed her hands on top of his arms. “G-glad you’re okay.”

He gulped. He...had no idea what he was doing.

But...

It felt right.

He loosened his grip and spun her around gently with his hands. She looked at him, confused, as he cupped her cheeks with his hands, and kissed her. She did not resist though, and reciprocated.

After a few moments, the two separated into an embrace again. Quietly, Hatsume whispered, “I can’t lose you...this is a bad idea.”

“You won’t,” he assured her. “I don’t care if this is a mistake, or dangerous, or risky. I love you.”

She let out a small sob. “I love you too, you reckless idiot. You broke your hover-baby. Lets go fix it before you leave.”
---

“How?!” Shigaraki seethed, kicking over a trash can in their new, cramped temporary hideout. It was the best Kurogiri could do on short notice. “How does this happen?!”

“I didn’t get a look at either of their faces,” Muscular scowled. “But if I ever see those stupid spider legs or that long tongue again, I’ll KILL ON SIGHT!”

“They didn’t even get bloodied up,” Toga pouted. “That’s no fun.”

Todoroki was in the corner, silent.

But he knew who it was.

He moved to leave the room, but not before Dabi growled at him. “Where are you going, new meat?”

“Just for some air,” Todoroki replied, flatly. No one bothered to stop him, so he moved to the room of the dilapidated, shut down pizzeria.

Midoriya. He scowled. You said I didn’t deserve to be a hero. Well. Neither do you. Time to finish you.

Chapter Text

No one really took notice as Midoriya and Hatsume walked into UA the next morning holding hands. After all, Tokoyami had been found the night before, and was being hounded by reporters at the gate to the campus. According to him, the villains abandoned him during the attack, and in a panic he had fled. His return was the sort of good news and press the school needed; that the aspiring hero was eager to come back even after his deadly extended encounter, showing a resolute faith in the hero school.

It was perhaps this renewed vigor and excitement at a successful rescue operation that allowed Midoriya to put the finishing touches on Monoma's costume.

Yeah, this is perfect. He smiled to himself. Some small springs in his heels will let him leap towards people to copy Quirks if he gets a hold of them, but won't make it too hard to run.

Hatsume leaned over as she finished making some additions to Kaminari's suit, and whispered, “this is the sort of thing I was hoping I'd get to make in my internships. He'll be able to project his blasts without frying whatever brain cells he had left.”

He looked over at her additions; she had certainly tricked out the costume. All the Hero costumes had got at least a little something changed.

As the morning ended, Power Loader took the Hero Costumes back, making comments or pointers as one would expect of a teacher. “Alright. So. Monday, you guys move into Heights Alliance's Class 1-H building, and we'll start on portfolios." He pointed to the large pile of gadgets in the back of the class. "And Hatsume, you're going to need to put some of those damn, ‘babies,’ in your room. All the space they're taking up is fire hazard.”

“Can't I just stay in the development studio?” She whined. Midoriya stifled a laugh.

“It would take me the whole weekend to list why that's a horrible idea.” Power Loader deadpanned. "So, no."

The lunch bell rang, so the class began filing out. Hatsume grabbed a few of her smaller babies and began shoving them in her backpack.

“What are you doing?” Midoriya asked.

“Some of these I want to take back to my house,” she beamed. “Some of these are home babies. Not school babies.”

“Need help?” He asked, opening his school bag. Seemed like the boyfriend thing to do, anyway.

She smiled and began excitedly shoveling gear into his pack as well until they were full. The two looked at the still intimidating pile of inventions along the studio. “Where are you going to put all of these?” Izuku asked his girlfriend.

She smirked. “I can just throw them in my room and stay with you.”

Midoriya turned crimson. “Y-you know that's not allowed!”

She laughed as the two made their way to the cafeteria. “Since when have the rules ever stopped you from doing the right thing?”

“How does that constitute, ‘the right thing?’”

“Because,” Hatsume argued, “we'd have more space for the wonderful babies we make together! And it would make your girlfriend happy! What kind of monster would you be if you made your partner and lover unhappy?! You're only impeding our scientific breakthroughs, Deku Scrub!”

“You sure know how to sell someone on an idea,” Izuku laughed at her somewhat convincing argument. “Maybe.”

“I will take your maybe as a blood oath!”

They were so engrossed in their conversation that they both jumped as Mirio's head popped through the table.

“Greetings Midoriya!” He cried.

“AH WHAT THE CRAP!” Hatsume and Midoriya yelled in unison.

Mirio gave a hearty laugh. “Sorry, I couldn't resist.”

“Are you...” Midoriya shifted his eyes, “are you naked right now under the table?”

Mirio disappeared in a hurry. Moments later he entered the cafeteria normally. “Hey Midoriya! Got a minute?”

He gave a glance at Hatsume that clearly meant, “alone.”

To her credit, this social cue managed to register, and she stood up and abruptly stated, “oh heavens, look at the time,” she looked at her wrist. There was no watch there. “I must go vacuum my cat!”

Midoriya laughed as she walked over to the class 1-A table, made no effort to appear like she was vacuuming a cat, and greeted Tsuyu and Tokoyami.

“Well she's a lively one,” Mirio chuckled. “Sorry to keep pestering you, but I wanted to know if you had thought about it.”

“I have,” Izuku replied, smiling. Looking back at the Hero table, he saw Mei showing their friends one of the gadgets the two of them made: a taser glove.

He thought back to the night before, remembering what Tsuyu had said...that he was more of a hero than anyone her or the gothic teen knew.

“You take it.” Midoriya finished, smiling.

“Are you sure?!” Mirio asked, stunned. “I thought this was a chance of a lifetime for you.”

“It would have been,” the younger boy admitted, “But All Might believed in me being able to be a hero without a Quirk. And I love Support. Its where I belong. Besides, I think you remind me a lot of All Might.”

“Really?” Mirio responded, flattered, “Well...I guess I’ll do my best to live up to him.”

“I think you’ll do great,” Midoriya assured him. “Go take it from the principal.”

Mirio went to leave, but Midoriya remembered himself, and grabbed the taller boy arm. “But if you need gear to help you adjust to that power, I think Hatsume and I could be a big help, build you whatever you need!”

As if summoned by a demonic ritual, Hatsume seemed to flash step over to them, already brimming with excitement, “Does this guy need a baby, Deku Scrub?!”

“A...baby?” Mirio echoed in confusion.

“Our inventions,” Midoriya hastily explained, “She calls them babies.”

“That’s right!” Mei cried, “Me and this guy here can make real good babies for you!”

Mirio laughed. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks guys!”

As he walked out of the cafeteria, Hatsume slung an arm around Midoriya. “So wait...if he would need gear, does that mean...?”

“Yeah,” Midoriya shrugged, “I turned down the offer. Support is too fun.”

“Right?!” Hatsume cried, “Why punch stuff when you can use tasers and lasers and phasers and other babies?!”

In her excitement, she forgot they were in school and kissed him, which drew a few whistles from their classmates. Izuku pushed her off gently, “C-come on, not in public.”

“Pfft,” Hatsume beamed as she brushed off his embarrassment, “fine fine.”
---
The weekend came and went; Midoriya fulfilling his duties as a good boyfriend and helping Hatsume move her excess of babies from the development studio to her dorm room. She, in turn, repaid him in...other ways towards the end of the day.

Sunday night arrived, and Izuku and his mother spent a nice evening at home, his poor mother in tears to see her son going off to live at the school. And while he would miss his mom too, Izuku didn’t have the heart to tell her he was more excited than anything.

“And you bring that girlfriend over!” Inko demanded, “I haven’t met her yet and you spent your whole summer there!”

“Okay, okay!” He promised. “If I can tear her away from the lab, I’ll bring her over one weekend.”

---

“Alright, Grease Monkeys!” Power Loader hollered, outside of the building for 1-H, “check out the swanky new digs!”

The students, “oohed,” as they stepped in. Except Izuku and Mei, of course, having been granted permission to move some items into her room.

“Boys on the left. Girls on the right.” The Hero explained. “Bathrooms and common area are down here. Restrooms and showers have been separated by gender. And if any of you require special accommodations with that, feel free to let me know in private.”

He looked at the expectant faces on Midoriya and Hatsume's face and sighed. “...as there is no workshop here...the development studio will remain open until 8pm. And under supervision.” He grunted. There was backlash about Mei forgetting to go home at night, so the changes were rolled in with the dorm system. “So after 8 you leave and sleep. And shower. You all smell like sweat and puberty.”

Hatsume scowled. “8?! That's only five hours of inventing time after class!”

Midoriya wasn't thrilled either. How would they be able to make gear for his excursions if they were under supervision?

That was a problem they could handle another time, he figured. The only threat he had to worry about at the present was...

Todoroki.

He hadn't forgotten the former Hero student. He didn't know if Shouto had been present at the hospital, but he knew that was not the point of their raid.

He had been so lost in his thoughts, he only snapped out of it when they finally made it to classes that morning, and Power Loader began going over what they would need to present for a portfolio.

“Pick your three most useful devices. Detailed specs, overview, the works. You can all make the tech, now sell it.” Power Loader instructed. “Present them Friday. Passing grades will move on to an actual presentation showcase to an association of heroes.”

“How am I supposed to pick just three?!” Hatsume grumbled, rubbing her chin. “I make three babies on a good day.”

“You blow three up on an average day,” Midoriya teased.

“I can still present them,” Hatsume replied, indignantly.

---

That night, Midoriya and Hatsume stayed in the support lab until they were forced out by their long suffering teacher. Deku spent the time perfecting a new piece of equipment he wanted to include on his portfolio, but also something he thought might help him against Todoroki. He figured the only way he could make vigilante equipment at school was if he disguised it as a project.

Hatsume herself was perfecting her toolbox-pack. Even Power Loader was impressed with it....up until she was begging for more time in the lab.

“I'm pretty sure your pack alone could get you a passing grade,” Midoriya assured her as they walked back to Heights Alliance, “and the boost boots and the hoverpack will push it over the edge.”

“Well, duh, but why stop there?!” She grumbled. “Anyway, tell me about what you were working on. It was for the Freezerburn guy, right?”

“Yeah,” Midoriya laughed, “a few ideas. It's hard to combat fire and ice at the same time. But I had an idea on how to cut off the use of one or both of his side's in battle.

“The first is kind of like a smoke bomb, but it releases a long-lasting mist. Makes like a fog cloud of moisture,” he explained. “I can market it as an atmospheric fire suppressant - it will moisturize a large area, and will make it really easy to put fires out. But...”

“But really it will make it harder for Todoroki to use fire against you,” Hatsume finished. “Dual purpose. Always thinking. Smart.”

“That will just make using Ice easier though,” Midoriya admitted. “And then my flamethrowers won't be as effective. There was to be a weakness for both of his Quirks. I've got a few ideas but I dunno how they'd work.”

“What about your glue things?” Hatsume suggested.

“They might work, but the chemical will break down and melt under high enough heat,” Midoriya sighed.

“Well, it's not like we're being timed like Stain,” she shrugged, “we'll figure something out.”

It was a nice sentiment, although they would soon find out that wasn't quite right.

In their talk, Midoriya hadn't realized she had followed him up to his dorm. He blinked as it dawned on him.

“Aren't you not allowed to be in here after curfew?” He asked, a little nervously.

She pushed him inside, mischievously smiling. “Oh no. I'm making babies tonight, one way or another.”

He gulped but grinned. She was much more confident now that he had convinced her that dating was worth the risk.

---

The next few weeks went on without much news; the Hero course students took their provisional licensing exams, though only a small number of the 1-A and B students passed. Hatsume and Midoriya’s portfolios passed the initial Commissions License phase, along with three or four other classmates, and they were pressed to complete their three products for a showcase at the end of the month. If they impressed, they would get their commissions license.

It was the Saturday before the showcase convention, and Hatsume and Midoriya were hard at work perfecting their three items. Midoriya rounded out his portfolio with his glue grenades, and his other idea for nullifying Todoroki’s Quirk. He was surprised that the last one had so much interest - he marketed it as a way of nullifying Quirks that altered a users internal temperature, but perhaps for how common fire-type Quirks were, in was a larger market than he thought.

As they were working, Power Loader himself was finishing up a project on some excavation gear. As he was working, his phone began buzzing, and he cut himself on a tool. “AH! DAMN IT!”

He ran over to a towel and held it to the wound and answered the phone on his shoulder. “Yes?”

Curious, Midoriya tried to listen in on the conversation, though he was only able to make out a feminine voice.

Power Loader grunted. “Yes, yes. I’ll be there at 8:30. I didn’t forget.” He set his phone down and cleaned his wound. “That’s what I get for dating a younger woman...so needy.”

Hatome and Midoriya exchanged a small smirk. Neither had expected the pair to last this long, or more surprisingly, that their teacher would be the one with complaints.

“You two will need to be out of here at eight, sharp,” the long-suffering teacher instructed. “None of this, ‘let me just tighten this screw for like eight minutes,’ crap.”

“Actually, we have to leave early tonight,” Hatsume beamed, “I get to meet Midoriya’s mom tonight and probably embarrass the crap out of him by looking at baby pictures!”

Izuku sighed. He was already nervous for this, and Hatsume’s attitude was not helping. But if there was one thing she loved as much as inventing, it was finding new ways of making him blush.

“Well damn, looks like Christmas came early for me,” their teacher joked. “Try not to kill him.”

---

“So got everything ready for the convention Friday?” Hatsume asked as they boarded the bus.

Midoriya nodded, trying to calm his nerves; having never brought a girl home to his mom under confirmed pretenses of dating, he was a bit of a wreck. “Yeah. I hope I get some takers. I can’t believe we could already start making money off this stuff.”

“I know!” Hatsume exclaimed, bouncing in her seat in excitement. “I love it! Imagine how in demand we’ll be if we already are getting our names and babies out there!”

Izuku laughed. “Yeah, we’ll be able to open our own development lab if this stuff takes off.”

“Hatsume-Midoriya Industries!” She crowed, excitedly.

“You get top billing, huh?”

“Well duh,” she beamed, “I’m the brains of this operation, as has been established.”

“Fair enough,” he conceded, lightheartedly, “although we should tackle this convention first.”

As the bus screeched to halt, Midoriya took a deep breath as Hatsume grinned up at the building. “Anything I should know about your mom?” Hatsume asked. “You know. Brownie points.”

“N-no,” he replied, leading her in the front doors and to the elevator, “just be on your best behavior.”

“My behavior, like my babies, is always immaculate!” Hatsume declared.

Midoriya decided it was in his best interest not to argue that with her.

As they reached the door, Midoriya took a deep breath, and knocked. His mother came to the door almost immediately.

“Izuku!” She cried, hugging him, “It feels like I haven’t seen you in years. And this must be Mei!”

Hatsume smiled - not her usual wild grin, but a polite smile that she had been rehearsing all week - and bowed. “Nice to meet you, ma’am!”

Izuku was thoroughly impressed. She was pulling out all the stops with her manners for this one.

Inko was almost in tears as she embraced Hatsume, surprising the girl. “Son, why didn’t you tell me she was so gorgeous!”

Hatsume and Midoriya made eye contact, and he smiled. “You’re right, mom. How could I forget?”

Mei only responded with a soft smile. She wasn't used to compliments, since most of her life people found her less than sociable.

Inko pulled away and wiped her eye. “Why didn’t you tell me your other friend was coming too?”

Izuku’s eyebrows furrowed together in confusion at this statement. “Other...friend?”

“Yes, yes, he’s been here for a bit now. I’m sorry, what was your name dear...?” Inko moved aside, gesturing to the couch.

Midoriya and Hatsume locked up.

There he was, on the couch.

Sure, he had a hat on to hide his two-toned hair, and concealer to cover the scar over his left eye, but there was no mistaking that face, and the multi-colored eyes.

“Greetings Midoriya,” Todoroki said, flatly. “I just had quite the lovely chat with your mother.”

Chapter Text

A million scenarios played in Midoriya’s head as he looked at the disguised villain on his couch. Todoroki seemed to take great pleasure in the look of terror and anger splayed on not only Midoriya's face, but Hatsume’s as well.

If he hurts my mom, I'll kill him. Midoriya's hands shook; fear and rage waging a war in his head.

“I’m sorry dear, what did you say your name was?” Inko asked.

“Enji,” Todoroki lied, “we went to Middle School together. Right, Izuku?”

Time seemed to slow down as Midoriya evaluated his play. If he acted, his mom would know there was more to his work in Support than merely making gear. Todoroki kept his right arm pointed at Inko at all times, implying he could freeze her at any moment.

“O-of course!” Midoriya replied, putting on his best rehearsed grin. “How have you been, Enji?”

Glancing to his left, Midoriya couldn’t decipher the look on Hatsume’s face, but if he had to guess, she was plotting a device to remove Todoroki’s fingernails as slowly and painfully as possible.

“A little rough...” Todoroki smirked, “being Quirkless, I wasn’t able to get into UA like we always talked about.” He paused. “I guess I just don’t deserve to be a Hero.”

The irony was not lost on Deku. It was, however, lost on Inko, who stood up and declared, “I’ll make us some more tea. Will you be joining us for dinner, Enji?”

As his mother left for the kitchen, Todoroki stood up and kept his right arm trained at her back. “No thanks, I’ll be leaving now.”

Izuku’s hand twitched for the release switch on his pack. He could use a spider leg to impale Todoroki in seconds...but no way he could do it without his mother noticing.

“Don’t be hasty,” Todoroki whispered, seeing the looks on the faces of Izuku and Mei. “Wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt in the crossfire.”

Begrudgingly, Hatsume and Midoriya parted to the side so Todoroki could walk between them. Making eye contact with Izuku, and with a low voice, the son of Endeavor whispered, “I’ll see you soon to finish what I started. Don't try avoiding it...or it might affect certain parties.”

Izuku seethed, but both boys were taken off guard as Hatsume tapped Todoroki on the shoulder. “Hey, pretty boy.”

Todoroki turned, and was greeted as Hatsume spat on his face. He grimaced as he wiped his eye, the girl adding, “Get the hell out of here.”

Todoroki regained his composure, and merely smirked again and walked away.

Izuku gawked at his partner. “Mei, that was...”

“The coolest thing you’ve ever seen me do that didn’t involve cranking out super cute babies?!” She asked.

“Well....yes, but also dangerous,” Izuku said, trying his hardest to scold her but smiling nonetheless.

“Oh, he’s already gone?” Inko asked, walking back into the room with a tray of tea. “How sad. Did you know he’s shown up here almost every weekend the last month looking for you?”

So, he’s been trying to meet me face to face? But why? Midoriya wondered.

He was snapped out of this trance as Inko grabbed Mei’s hand and pulled her over to the couch. “I have so many things to ask you! And we can look at photos of Izuku as a baby! He had the cutest All Might onesie.”

Mei’s eyes lit up. “YES! I must evaluate the adorableness of him as a child for any potential offspring, as well anticipate what they would look like.” After an awkward pause, she added, “Not...anytime soon, obviously.”

If Todoroki doesn’t kill me, these two might, Midoriya blanched. Still. He had a hard time relaxing after what had happened.

Thankfully, the two seemed to get along wonderfully, which helped put him at ease after some time. After a long trek through memory lane, Midoriya pulled out an invention the two of them had come up with in class just for his mother - they thought it’d be good for brownie points, as Mei said. It was a glove that, when worn, would let her use her Quirk on things about twice the size of their usual limit.

“You two made this?!” Inko nearly sobbed as she levitated a frying pan over to herself. “This will help out so much around the house! I don’t know what to say!”

“Just tell your friends how good me and your kid are at making babies so they buy all our stuff when we own our own company!” Mei crowed, proudly. “With your help and advertising me and Izuku will make babies all over this town!”

Deku covered his face in his hands. He had begged Hatsume not to phrase it that way, but she had gotten so excited, she must have forgotten. Thankfully, his mom was so ecstatic she hadn’t notice.

Rubbing tears from her eyes, she hugged the two kids again. “This is so thoughtful!” She pulled away and shifted to grabbing her son's shoulders. “Izuku, you take good care of this girl, she's a good one!”

“O-okay mom, I will!” He assured her, hoping the night would end soon.

After they ate, Inko began washing up while Izuku showed Hatsume around the apartment he had grown up in. When they got to his room, the two students stopped as they saw a note on his bed. It was from Todoroki - he must have slipped it in there earlier.

The two exchanged looks, and Izuku picked up the note.

“I know you were behind the attack at the hospital. I’m coming for you. Nowhere is safe. Next week. Saturday. Be ready.”

“Well...” Midoriya evaluated, “He’s not as threatening as Stain was. But we’ll have to be alert.”

“He doesn’t have you bugged either if he kept showing up here like a little lost puppy to find you,” Hatsume added, not hiding the disgust she had for the boy. “I don’t think he knows what he’s doing.”

The two looked at each other, the same thought hitting them. “He’s acting alone!”

“This is good,” Midoriya analyzed, “he doesn’t know what he’s doing, but with his power, he thinks he can do this alone.”

“And if he’s alone he’ll be easier to take down when we figure out the PERFECT BABIES TO MAKE!” Hatsume exclaimed, a bit too loudly.

“A-are you two okay in there?” Inko called out, nervously.

“Y-you have to cool it with that!” Izuku stammered. “We’re fine mom, just talking about inventions!” He yelled towards the door before turning back to his girlfriend to whisper, “We’ll talk more about taking Todoroki down later."

“My bad,” Mei laughed. “By the way, your mom is like some sort of classic mom and it’s great.”

“I’m glad you like her,” Izuku laughed.

“Well yeah, I can see where you get that cute face from,” Mei snickered, pinching his cheeks as they left his old room.
---

After another round of embarrassing stories, Midoriya finally had convinced his mom to let them leave so they wouldn’t miss curfew.

Once finally at the street and out of earshot of his mom, the two glanced up and down the street for any sign of Todoroki or anyone suspicious. There was nothing to be found, thankfully.

“Alright, so he’s tailing us. We know that much,” Midoriya whispered as they boarded the bus.

“Not well, obviously.” Hatsume added. “He probably just looked up where you lived off the internet and hoped you’d come by.”

“And he came by to threaten me.” Midoriya added. “Which makes no sense. I don’t even know where I’m going to be next Saturday. How can he know? He must have some sort of plan.”

“Well, you got the Freezerburn-busting-babies that you’ve developed for the showcase Friday,” Hatsume pointed out, “Just make a few more this week and keep them on you, then we can take him down. Besides, whatever he’s planning, he hasn’t changed anything.”

“What do you mean?” Izuku asked. “I mean, change what?”

“He’s still the same stand-offish kid was at school,” Hatsume shrugged. “Not that we knew him, but he always was by himself, completely confident he could handle whatever. Like he separated himself from everyone else. He’s not even acting like a villain.”

“You don’t think showing up at my house was acting like a villain?” Midoriya deadpanned.

“I mean, a little,” Mei relented, “But come on, if he wanted to be villainous, he could have kidnapped your mom. Told you to come alone to some remote location or she died. Held her at icicle-point. Any plethora of crazy stuff.” She made a stabbing motion. “Cut off a toe and mailed it to you with a ransom note just like in the old movies! Those used to give me so many ideas for babies that could capture villains and make them talk.”

The thought made the boy squirm; more so than anything because she was absolutely right. “I wonder why he didn’t think to do that...speaking of which, why are YOU so good at knowing what a villain should do?”

A sly grin overtook his girlfriend’s face. “Deku Scrub...the best villains in history are geniuses. And I, if you haven’t noticed...am a genius.”

“As long as you aren’t an evil genius,” he chuckled.

“Of course not,” Mei rolled her eyes, but then narrowed them, in a mock-threatening way, “of course, if you ever break my heart, I could think of ways to torture you...”

She leaned forward, almost seductively, “unless you think that sounds kinda fun...never thought about bringing any of our toys to your bed.”

Izuku turned crimson and felt some blood rushing to other parts of his body, before stuttering out. “W-we’re in p-public. L-let’s talk about that later.” He cleared his throat. “A-anyway, you were saying something about Todoroki.”

“Call me crazy-” Hatsume began, to which Midoriya interrupted her to add, “I call you crazy at least once a day.”

Hatsume gave him a deflated glare, “...anyway, call me crazy, but All Might is probably right. I don’t think Todoroki is fully into this whole villain thing yet. He’s basically challenging you to a duel with some vague threats. He might have switched teams, but he’s still acting like some sort of Samurai type hero with some code of honor or something.” She paused and thought. “Samurai movies aren’t as good. They only use swords, no fun babies.”

Ignoring her last non-sequitur, Midoriya’s eyes widened. “You’re right! This must be what All Might meant. Which means...”

“We gotta strike while the iron is hot!” Hatsume whispered-screamed, excitedly. “Or IcyHot, to be precise- and I actually have some ideas!”

Midoriya grinned back at her. “Yeah. If we can get him now, before he sinks too far into villain life, that would be the best way to fulfill the mission! And since we don't know what he's planning, we'll go on the defensive. What are your ideas?”

Hatsume beamed, “I’ve had an idea for a baby like this for a while....”
---

“Hey, wake up!” Hatsume shouted in his ear, bright and early the next morning. It was amazing how no one actually seemed to care that she was spending the night in his room.

Midoriya groaned and took a glance at his All Might clock. “Mei...it’s not even 7:30...”

“By the time we eat and get to the lab, it will be 8:00, and open for the day!” Mei said, excitedly. “Who has time to sleep in when there is SCIENCE to be done and babies to make!”

Midoriya rolled out of bed - literally - smacking against the carpet and sighed. “Alright...alright...I’m up. Don’t you ever run out of batteries?”

She reached down and pulled her boyfriend up to his feet. “Nope! Come on sleepyhead, who ever heard of a well-rested vigilante anyways?”

Hatsume had been right; by the time they had both grabbed a quick bite and made their walk over to the Development Studio, the clock rolled over to 8:00am, and it was this time unlocked by a different teacher than usual; Mr. Aizawa, still in a sleeping bag.

“Oh. You’re the two kids Power Loader said would be here.” He sighed. “Guess that’s what I get for volunteering to help.”

“Yeah, you’re the hero teacher guy...uh...” Hatsume was drawing a blank on the name. “Pencil tip. Rubber Eraser.”

“Eraserhead,” Midoriya replied, face-palming.

“That’s the one!” Hatsume cried, snapping her fingers.

“...just try and keep it down.” He grunted.

He got to the teacher’s desk and promptly fell asleep behind it.

“Well, that’s...different.” Izuku rubbed the back of his head. “At least we can talk freely about our plans, I guess.”

The two spent the rest of the morning tinkering with the gauntlets of Midoriya’s pack, making the specifications to the forearms of the gauntlets; they were going to implement Hatsume's new idea.

To make room for it, they had to remove the grappling hooks in the pack, but, with the hover function and the spider legs, they seemed redundant. Still, Izuku was hesitant to do so after it had saved his life against Muscular a few weeks back.

“It’s either that or your spider claws,” Hatsume shrugged, “I know you love those, but they take up a ton of room.”

“They’re too versatile,” Midoriya argued. “Between climbing, catching cars, fighting...they’re the main part of this.”

“Catching cars?”

The two jumped as Aizawa jumped appeared behind them, giving them a blank but deadly stare.

“We’ve tested the strength of them to be able to catch cars,” Hatsume improvised. She was good at covering the functional uses of their gear. “Might help for your duties. You’ve got the restraining scarves and you’re good at sneaking, but in a pinch they could provide you some backup strength and wall-scaling for getaways.”

Midoriya felt some tension leave his shoulders as Aizawa processed the explanation.

“No thanks,” he grunted. “I have a preferred fighting style.”

“Aw, come on!” Hatsume cried. “We'll give you a discount for being our friend's teacher.”

Still, as he skulked back to his desk, there was a look in his eyes that threw the two inventors off. Needless to say, they worked until lunch time in silence, until Izuku could convince his partner that they should go grab something to eat. Usually they would bring something back to the lab, but Izuku didn't like the way Aizawa was looking at him.

“We have alibis for the hospital raid if anyone asks, right?” Midoriya whispered.

Hatsume nodded. “I have some modified receipts, and you, me, and Froggy worked out our cover stories for days. We're covered. Why?”

“Just...in case,” he replied, looking to his feet, “Aizawa weirded me out.”

“Well, he won't out-weird me!” She crowed. “I got it handled.”
---
In the afternoon and the next few days, the dynamic Support duo put their focus off Todoroki and towards the showcase at the school on Friday; though it helped the two things were related. They, along with three others from their class, were the only first years who made it to the showcase this year, otherwise it was the second and third year classes. The pressure was on, although both students felt fairly confident in their tech.

Friday morning arrived, this time both Midoriya and Hatsume woke up in eager moods to tackle the showcase.

Arriving at Gym Gamma, which had been reserved for the presentation, they set up displays with their gear, next to each other. They exchanged a few nervous glances as Pros and representatives from Costume Labs began filing in. Still, Hatsume's excited demeanor couldn't be contained, nervousness or not. She began chatting up every Pro who came within 30 feet.

Midoriya smiled as he watched her at work. He had to match her confidence.

“Excuse me.”

He jumped. While he was watching his girlfriend at work, he hadn't noticed the teacher, Snipe, walk over. “Sorry!” Midoriya apologized.

He remembered some advice Power Loader told him earlier in the week. Don't apologize. Thank them. “Thanks for checking the display out. Something catch your eye?”

“Tell me about these.” Snipe nodded, pointing at the model glue grenade.

“Oh! This is a wonderful capture tool...”

As Midoriya explained the specs of his glue grenade, it drew the attention of a few Costume developers.

“Tell me, I see you have them as a throwable grenade...” Snipe asked, “do you think you could make them bullets?”

Izuku's mind buzzed as he ran through the testing procedure in his head. “It'd need some testing and redesign, but I don't see why not.”

“That'd do me a wonder, young man.” Snipe replied, earnestly. “You get those done, and I'll get you and Higari a contract.”

Deku nearly wet himself. His first contract?! This was a breakthrough that could set him up for life.

“Y-yes sir!” He beamed.

The presentation had drawn attention from a few Costume designers, who asked about his other inventions. As the morning wore on, he became more comfortable discussing his products with potential buyers, even proposing potential changes if needed to suit specific roles. He had a few more offers at the end of the day. As they were only going for License level C, all contracts would go through Power Loader, but as the day wound to a close, both students had six potential deals to discuss with their teacher on Monday.

As they cleaned up their booths at the end of the day, Hatsume finally had time to run over to him and squeeze him from behind, lifting him off his feet. “Deku Scrub! We did it!”

He laughed as he took down his display models. “I know! Our babies will be going out into the world soon! Our tech will be produced for Pros and legit Costume firms!”

“So many people want my Boost Boots!” She cried, “the world will be filled with incredible jumps soon.”

Midoriya beamed. He loved seeing her so psyched. It was contagious. “Let's go celebrate! Dinner, my treat.”
---

It was the sort of night they needed, dinner at some American themed place Hatsume was a fan of, and then back to the dorms for a night on the couch with a movie.

It was a perfect night; so perfect the two had forgotten about Todoroki.

But in the middle of the night, Midoriya was woken by a chill. Amidst her snores, Hatsume shivered and sunk into him more.

But it was late summer. The building itself seemed to be dropping to subzero temperatures though.

Quietly, Midoriya hugged himself as he got out of bed to check the window.

He gasped. The window was covered in a thick layer of ice.

Through the distorted ice, Todoroki was standing in the courtyard.

It was time. He had been hunted down.

Chapter Text

Midoriya changed into his day clothes and slung on his battle pack. Hatsume rolled out of bed and saw, giving him a confused look.

The boy just pointed out the window. She peeped out, and in an instant understood. Todoroki was here to fight. However he had gotten in, he was there to call Deku out and settle whatever score he had against the green haired boy.

Midoriya wasn't quite sure why Todoroki was after him - because of what he said at the Sports Festival, because he had freed Tokoyami, or because some other slight that he couldn't remember. Nor was he fully sure why All Might left it up to him to save Todoroki when there were numerous Pros or even students probably better suited to the task.

But it didn't matter. He was here. And if Midoriya didn't come fight, he was going to freeze the two.

“Please be careful.” Hatsume whispered.

He nodded. “Get to your room. I think he's contained the ice to mine. Call for the teachers if it gets bad.”

She nodded and grabbed a few of her things. Midoriya grabbed his devices off his desk, having known not to let them out of his sight as this day approached.

As they hit the common room, they embraced again.

But as they split apart, Hatsume sprinted back to her room, leering out her window to see that Midoriya had been right. Todoroki was freezing his room in an effort to call the shorter boy out. She began rifling through her pile of babies. “Come on, where are you?!”

She’d be damned if she was just going to sit on the sidelines and watch.
---

Stepping into the cool night air, Todoroki nodded at Midoriya in greeting.

“I see you woke up before hypothermia set in.”

He raised an eyebrow. It had gotten incredibly cold in his room, true, but not nearly cold enough to cause any damage. The villain was just trash talking. “You could have sent ice crashing through the building and killed me in my sleep. What are you playing at, Shouto?”

Todoroki had a look of surprise go across his face. It was clear he had never even thought of something like that.

“I was there at the hospital Midoriya.” Todoroki explained, calmly. “And I knew from the descriptions it was you.” He flicked his left wrist, forming fire along his arms.

“So, you show up to my house to threaten me, call me out in the middle of the night, and again, don’t just kill me in my sleep,” Midoriya replied, deploying his spider legs. “Sounds a bit more personal.” He put on his helmet to hide his face in case any security bots came around. “Tell me why you’re really here, Todoroki.”

He zoomed in to see the taller boy scowl and rear-back his hand to throw fire. “So, it’s like that, huh?”

Midoriya shot a fog bomb that covered the whole courtyard in a damp cloud, causing Todoroki’s flame burst to fizzle out a few feet in front of him. For good measure, he shot another one to thicken the cloud around them.

Midoriya switched to thermal vision - and made a note that Todoroki was, in fact, rendering as half-cold and half-hot. He leapt to the sides on his spider legs as Todoroki searched around frantically in the fog. He dove with his armored gauntlets, hoping a quick punch to the temple would end the fight.

Todoroki was able to create an ice wall, blocking the punch.

Instead of using flames, Midoriya flicked his wrist upwards, using the under-arm speakers he and Hatsume installed to unleash a high-pressure sonic wave attack that shattered the ice and forced Todoroki backwards. I’ll need to thank her later! Mei has the best ideas!

He jumped forward and landed a metallic punch across the temple. Izuku flicked a switch inside his left glove to deploy the armbands he had developed, but as it hit his palm, Todoroki unleashed a flame burst at Midoriya’s legs; in short range the flames were still effective, and Midoriya was forced to leap back.

Gotta fight smart, Midoriya thought, patiently, can’t get too heated like last time.

“Come out here and fight me!” Todoroki yelled. He flung spikes of ice in the direction Midoriya had been, but the shorter boy had long since strafed away from there.

Midoriya responded by shooting an incendiary grenade at the boy’s mid-section. It exploded against the chest of the boy, throwing him backwards.

Sensing a chance to end this early, he jumped forward so that he was hovering above the villain and shot his tasers at the boy. But a quick, jagged ice wall sliced through the taser wires and Deku tried to withdraw as a burst of ice came from below him, socking him in the chest.

All it took was for him to be blown back for a second for Todoroki to encase him in a wall of ice. Midoriya fiddled with his gauntlets to fire up his Sonic Speakers to shatter the ice, eyes widening as he saw an ice spike coming right for his head. He was able to break free from the chamber with the sound pulse, but as he tried to escape the ice spike by lunging to his right, it struck his top left spider leg, knocking it completely off his backpack.

Shit! Midoriya cursed, running into the fog to create some distance. However, his footsteps made too much noise, and Todoroki created an ice wall that the vigilante ran smack into.

As Izuku crashed to the ground, Todoroki jumped on top of him, pinning him down with his right hand, left arm wreathed in flames above the Support Student’s head. “Disappointing. You haven’t gotten any better.”

Todoroki lunged his left hand to Midoriya’s neck and...

Nothing happened.

“What?!” Shouto yelled. He glanced down to see Midoriya had slapped a metallic band on his left arm. Every time he tried to summon flames forth, the band dropped the temperature in his arm drastically, nullifying his ability.

In his shock, Todoroki wasn’t holding down Midoriya very tightly. Deku took the opportunity to grab his opponent’s shirt, pull him down, and headbutt him with his helmet.

Forehead cut open and dazed, Todoroki rolled off, but created an ice wall to protect himself as Midoriya sprang to his feet.

“What’s disappointing is how easily you use your flames as a villain,” Midoriya replied. “So tell me something. Why’d you do it?”

He used his sonic attack to shatter the ice, but Todoroki was nowhere to be found.

The fog was beginning to clear, and with the temperature regulator on the villain, there was no need to use the mist to neutralize Todoroki’s fire any further. Midoriya switched back to his thermal vision, but the boy was nowhere in sight.

While scanning around the courtyard, Midoriya stopped as he heard the sound of ice crackling to his right. Instinctively, he dove to his left, and not a moment too soon; an icicle like the one that had finished All Might erupted from a trail on the ground, aiming for his head. However, the ice smacked into the side of his helmet, cracking it and knocking it off his head.

Midoriya was knocked to the ground but rolled as he saw a sheet of ice approaching him, hoping to lock him in place. As he rolled to his feet, he began running away from the ice spreading across the courtyard, seeing the villain in the distance at the source.

He retracted his other three spider legs, as they weren’t going to help him with mobility in that state. I have to time this right.

Ice was beginning to close in around him, and he was down a spider leg and his protective helmet. But, even from a distance, it was easy to see frostbite forming on Todoroki’s right side as he began overexerting his ice side.

If I can outlast him, I can do this. Gritting his teeth as the floor of ice encircled him, Midoriya jumped into the air, and activated the hover function on his pack, and shot a flurry of incendiary grenades in a line towards Todoroki. No sooner had he done this had mountains of icicles come erupting from the ground amidst the smoke and explosions.

Todoroki’s eyes widened as Midoriya rose from the smoke, unharmed, hovering a few stories off the ground, and began shooting glue grenades towards him. Todoroki flinched as he raised another ice wall, blocking the glue grenades as the gloop splattered all around him.

Midoriya looked around. Lights were beginning to flicker on in all the student dorm rooms. Can’t get caught fighting here! He began flying away, towards Gym Gamma, shooting another incendiary grenade at the villain in hopes to lead him away from the dorms.

As the ice wall he had put up shattered in an explosion, Todoroki seethed. “DON’T RUN FROM ME!”

Creating an ice slide underneath himself, he gave chase to Midoriya, away from the dorms.

---

From her dorm, Hatsume found the perfect baby in her pile and ran to the window to see the two fleeing. She zoomed in on the two of them to see what direction they were heading in; the only thing that direction was Gym Gamma.

A commotion was coming from the dorms around hers, so she ran out to the common room as some of the students were gathering.

“Are we under attack?!”

“Who were those guys?!”

“All I saw was that Ice Guy from the Sports Festival!”

There was a pounding on the door, and Hatsume ran over to open it. She frowned; she was hoping it’d be Power Loader, but Aizawa was there with a few of the other members of the Faculty.

“We’re locking down the buildings,” the Pro scowled, “but we need to know if any of you saw where they went, it’s a mess of ice and smoke out there. The security bots were all frozen in ice, so we’re blind.”

Hatsume’s mind raced.

If the Pros went to the fight, they’d end it quick.

However...

Midoriya would be caught. He’d be outed as a vigilante. The two might be linked to the prior vigilante acts, expelled, and arrested.

“Yeah, I zoomed in on them and they were heading for the Main Building from what I saw. It looked like Todoroki and one of the older Hero students!” She lied.

“Ugh. They would,” Eraserhead grunted, whipping around.

Before Hatsume could ask anything, Aizawa slammed the door, and all the doors and windows were sealed with steel plates, just like the lockdown before the USJ incident.

The students began panicking and running around the common room. Some headed upstairs. Hatsume scowled. This was just a delay. She dashed up to her room to open her laptop; she’d learned how to hack into UA’s internal servers in her first week. She just didn’t change anything because then they would revamp their security firewalls again, and that was a headache she didn’t need. But as she unsealed the window to her balcony, she strapped on her Boost Boots and realized exactly what she was doing.

I let him rub off on me too much.

She jumped towards Gym Gamma. Time to play hero.
---

Midoriya rushed towards Gym Gamma, swerving left and right as icicles flew through the air towards him. Gotta see if we can make this hover stuff go faster...

As he reached the roof of the gym, an errant icicle struck the bottom of the pack, shorting out the hover function, sending Midoriya crashing onto the building and rolling across it, cutting up his legs.

Just my gauntlets and grenades. He frowned as Todoroki emerged from an ice ramp onto the roof, forehead bleeding, shivering from the overuse of his right side.

“You want to run around and play Hero with your t-toys,” Todoroki spat, trying to hide how cold he was, “but you run from any real challenge, don’t you?” He seethed. “You d-don’t d-deserve to call yourself a Hero.”

He unleashed a flurry of ice spikes, but they were slow. Midoriya countered with his Sonic Speakers; if he didn’t use his flamethrowers, Todoroki would freeze faster. “Is that what this is about?”

Todoroki staggered backwards, clutching his ears at the frequency, leaving him open as Deku charged forward for a leaping Superman Punch to the cut on the taller boys forehead. “BECAUSE I TRASH TALKED YOU?!”

Todoroki anticipated this however and grabbed Midoriya’s head as it connected to his forehead. He held on through the pain, staggered back, and froze Midoriya’s gauntlet.

Holding the the shorter boy in place by the gauntlet, Todoroki used his left hand to punch Midoriya across the eye, reeled back, and punched him again. “OF COURSE NOT!”

With Midoriya stunned, Todoroki broke his right arm free and froze Midoriya’s other arm in place, both gauntlets attached to the roof with ice. “Don’t think about the noise thing again. You’re surrounded.”

Deku glanced around; Todoroki was right. A ring of ice had formed around him. There was no way he could get the whole thing.

“If not because of me...why do it? Why kill All Might?” Midoriya asked.

Todoroki paused, and looked at the brace on his left arm.

“Is it...Is it your dad?” Midoriya asked.

Todoroki flinched at the mention of Endeavor, confirming Midoriya had been correct.

If he could keep him talking, it was Deku’s best shot. “I heard you guys talking before our match, you know.” Todoroki looked up at him, and Deku could see inner conflict written all over his face. “I didn’t understand it, but...he’s been pretty shitty to you, hasn’t he? It’s why you didn’t want to use your fire.”

Todoroki let out a big sigh. “Do you know what happened after I won our match?”

Midoriya shook his head, so the taller boy continued. “I never wanted to use my Fire, first and foremost. You’re right. Endeavor has made my whole life a living hell. Put my mom in the mental hospital, forbidding me from making friends, treating my brothers and sisters like dirt under his heel. My whole purpose in life was to be better than All Might. He’s been training me since the day my Quirk developed.”

“Not the best life for a kid,” Midoriya conceded.

“No,” Todoroki sighed. “So I got here, to UA, on recommendations, and I told myself...I told myself I’d never be like him. That I wouldn’t be this hated, asshole hero. That I’d reject him, I’d reject his power, and I’d use my mom’s power instead to be the number one Hero. Like All Might.”

Todoroki rounded on Midoriya, making the Support Student flinch. “And then....and then I fight you.”

“Me?” Midoriya echoed.

“Everyone...everyone talked about how brave and cool it was that this Quirkless boy was able to push the son of Endeavor to his absolute limits. To drive me past my own restraint, and how ruthless I had to be to defeat you.” Todoroki quivered, anger rising back to his voice. “I couldn’t be happy with my win. That’s why that photo of me scowling after the festival was news. It’s why the League of Villains went after me. And you know how people looked at me after seeing me fight? After seeing me like that?”

Midoriya shook his head, although he had a hunch as to what the answer was.

Todoroki stomped over to his opponent, getting directly in his face. “THEY LOOKED AT ME LIKE I WAS MY FATHER!”

Midoriya bit his lip. “I didn’t know, Todoroki.”

“IT DOESN’T MATTER!” He yelled. “Suddenly I was just this...chip off the old block! So you know what I did? I decided to be the opposite of my old man.”

Todoroki readied an ice spike in his hand. “My father is the absolute worst hero...but he still gets fame and fortune as the new Number One Pro. But I did the one thing he couldn’t. I killed All Might. And I’ll bring him all the shame I can as the failed son.”

Todoroki held the spike to Midoriya’s neck, the ice making the Support Student shudder. “So now all I have to do is put you behind me too.”

Todoroki reared the ice spike back and...

...shook violently.

Midoriya recognized the look of conflict and agony on the villain’s face now. It was the same one he had borne months before when he finally tracked down Bakugou’s killer.

“...You don’t want to do this.” Midoriya stated. It wasn’t a question, either, but an observation.

Todoroki flinched and reared the spike back again. “I have to.”

“Hey pretty boy.”

Todoroki’s eyes flung open at the interruption, head darting to the right as Hatsume pointed a shoulder-mounted launcher of some kind at him.

“I told you to get out of here.” She growled, shooting a bracer from the gun at the villain.

Too slowed down from using all his ice, Todoroki couldn’t dodge as another temperature regulator locked on to his right arm.

“You know,” Hatsume crowed. “I made his originally as a launcher for that weird pervy classmate of yours; for his weird sticky balls. But a few modifications, and it makes those bracers Deku Scrub made even better.”

Todoroki tried to summon ice from his right arm, but as he did, the bracer burned into his skin, nullifying his other Quirk. “DAMN IT!”

Midoriya unleashed a sonic attack to break the ice and hit Todoroki in the temple with a haymaker. Before the boy could recover, Midoriya grabbed his shoulders and kneed him in the crotch. As Todoroki dropped to his knees, Midoriya hit him with another punch, finally taking the villain down. He shot him with a glue grenade, sealing the boy in place.

“You’re wrong Todoroki.” Midoriya sighed. “You don’t want this.”

Todoroki, defeated, stared up into the night sky. “How...how did you know?”

Midoriya smiled to Hatsume, who waved to him, and looked back to his capture. “You could have killed me in my sleep. You could have kidnapped my mom or led me to a sneak attack, like I said. But mostly, because when it was time for revenge, you couldn’t go through with it...that...that happened to me...”

Deku walked over to Todoroki and crouched down. “Before he died, All Might wrote a note for me. Do you want to know what he said?”

Todoroki, still with his pride, didn’t look at, or acknowledge Midoriya, but a shudder told the vigilante that he wanted to know.

“He wanted me to save you,” Izuku explained. “He could tell there was a sadness in your eyes. That you weren’t too far gone. Even when you killed him, All Might believed in you.”

Todoroki began to cry, gently, flinching as he processed the information.

“Having seen you now...I think he was right,” Midoriya added, softly. “Be well, Todoroki.”

He walked over to Hatsume, who pulled him over to the edge of the gym. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was super poignant, but we’ve gotta MOVE” Hatsume commanded. “Are the spider legs and hover pack both broken?”

Midoriya nodded, and Mei rolled her eyes, grabbing her boyfriend and leaping off the gym with him, her Boost Boots slowing their fall enough for them to take off running.

“You have to melt this stuff NOW!” Hatsume commanded, “The Pros are looking everywhere for you guys and we’re on lockdown. We need to get your helmet and get back!”

Midoriya gulped as they ran, spraying his flamethrowers along all of the ice spikes along the way. As they approached the courtyard, he grabbed his helmet off the ground. The two students skidded to a halt as they approached the building, Hatsume flinging her arms out to stop him.

“Aizawa is coming!” She hissed, zooming into the distance, “This way!”

They looped back around the rear of the building, and Hatsume grabbed Deku again, using a combination of her stilts and Boost Boots to launch the two of them onto her balcony. Hatsume dashed over to her laptop and typed furiously until the steel lockdown plate lowered, sealing her balcony.

“Hatsume, what the hell was that?!” Midoriya asked, still trying to process the rescue she had performed for him. “How did you...?”

She held a finger up his lips, and grabbed his backpack, hitting the switch to retract his gauntlets, spinning him around to take it off him, and threw it onto her pile of babies, along with her launcher and Boost Boots.

No sooner had she done that, when the steel plates around the building were raised, and they heard the booming voice of Present Mic yell. “All students of building 1-H REPORT TO THE COMMON ROOM, YAY-EAH!”

Putting on their best poker faces, Midoriya and Hatsume were the last of the students in the common room. Aizawa spotted them and was upon them in an instance, Midoriya flinching. But he was shocked when Aizawa rounded on Hatsume instead.

“You!” He hissed. “There was nothing at the front entrance! Do you know how much time of ours you just wasted?!”

Hatsume flinched. Still, she was always quick on her feet when it came to these things. “I-I’m sorry sir, I thought I saw them head that way...”

Aizawa was ready to respond, but his phone began to buzz. Raising it to his ear, he grunted in response. “Gym Gamma? Alright...”

He turned towards Midoriya and Hatsume. “You lucked out. Thankfully for you, someone was able to catch that nutcase. Now...”

He turned to the rest of the class, then to Present Mic, and the two nodded.

“You groovy cats aren’t going to say ANYTHING!” Mic instructed, though still somehow in his usual tone, “We don’t need this kind of bad press, so for the sake of the school, lock those lips tighter than Midnight’s Adult Toy Chest!”

“You can’t say that to children!” Aizawa groaned. He turned to the students, “He’s right though. The Principal is issuing a command of silence of this incident. We just opened these dorms and this kind of bad press could shut down UA. So if you value your future in Support...you’ll keep this to yourselves.”

The students, including Mei and Izuku, exchanged uneasy looks. This sort of, “sweeping things under the rug,” did not seem like something Pro Heroes should be doing. But no one wanted to leave UA, so all the students eventually nodded in agreement.

“Good.” Aizawa said. As he and Present Mic turned to leave though, he paused and gave a glare towards Izuku and Mei. After a very uncomfortable pause, he finally turned and left.

The common room was buzzing in excitement, making it easy for Hatsume and Midoriya to slip back to his room, where they collapsed onto his bed in exhaustion. But after a moment, Midoriya rolled onto her and hugged her. “You saved me again.”

Hatsume laughed. “Yeah, you’re rubbing off on me.”

They kissed, and after a moment, he pulled away, and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to put you in dan-OW!”

Hatsume hit him in the arm. “Don’t tell me that. The only thing you should be sorry for is that you stopped kissing me, hot lips. I left my room. I chased you down. That’s on me.”

Midoriya smiled. “I love you.”

“I love you too, you dork.” She rolled her eyes. “Why do you think I chased you down in the first place?”

“The hot lips?” Midoriya joked. “But...can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Will you...tell me why you were against dating at first? You never really explained that.”

Hatsume sighed. “Well...”

Chapter Text

“...and when my dad lost my mom, he just stopped inventing.” Hatsume finished her explanation, “I never wanted something like that to happen to me.”

“That...makes a lot of sense,” Midoriya admitted.

Her story left him reeling a bit. He had known her father was not exactly physically present and for different reasons than his own, but he had no idea how much her upbringing had played a role in her love of all things electronic. Moreso, by being involved with him, Hatsume was putting aside a big fear, a fear she had grown up from observing in the failings of her own father.

“I probably would have refrained from dating me too.” He conceded. “But, I’m glad you are.”

“Yeah, well, unfortunately, you know how to hit all my buttons,” Hatsume laughed. “As much as I wanted to fight this...I love doing this crap with you. Now give me some of them hot lips.”

“Mei, it’s like 4am!”

“SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!”
---

The following weeks changed the already turbulent hero landscape. Todoroki cooperated with the police fully. In fact, he had managed to cut a deal, with some persuasion from Endeavor; he provided information on the League of Villains, their Quirks, names, and anything that could be helpful. In return, as well as being a minor, he was given seven years in custody - a far lower sentence than anyone would ever expect for someone who killed the Symbol of Peace.

Many were not pleased and protests took the streets. Until however, Todoroki was asked to give a motive statement, shifting public dissent even more.

The truth came out; Todoroki told the world about Endeavor’s treatment of him, his siblings, and his mother. That he was pushed from childhood to usurp All Might. That when given the chance to take All Might down and get back at his dad in one swoop, he cracked.

If Endeavor was hated before, the backlash against him now was massive. Calls for retirement, protests outside his agency, written threats.

Furthermore, the only thing Todoroki revealed about his attacker was that it was a mysterious vigilante. “It happened so fast,” Todoroki explained, “He towered over me, and attacked me with great strength.”

It was an odd time for the Hero scene. While Todoroki’s cooperation made the villains seem fallible, the Hero scene was hit with another wave of doubt when Endeavor’s true self came under scrutiny.

There was a push for those in the Hero Course who failed to take remedial training to get their licenses. Now, more than ever, a new generation of heroes was needed to restore trust in the community. Those who passed were being pushed for Work Study, building off their internship work.

Support Lessons were going on, and the students of class 1-H were hard at work for defense methodology; Power Loader had tasked them to create portable means of defending against strong physical Quirks that was versatile for any hero.

Hatsume was pissed that they couldn’t make mech suits; not every hero could wear such a heavy suit of armor.

“Heroes like Midnight or that Yaoyorozu from class 1-A, who create things from their body can’t have something that cumbersome.” Power Loader argued. “A suit like that takes months to build and would be custom to specific heroes. This should be an item anyone could use.”

Still, like any good inventor, she had another idea in moments, and was tinkering around with some sort of forearm guard. Midoriya was working on something similar during the morning when Power Loader came back to their corner of the room.

“You two. Principal’s office.” He said, plainly.

The two exchanged nervous glances. “Are we...in trouble?” Midoriya asked.

“What?” Their teacher replied, questioningly, “No, of course not.” He leered over them, “unless you blew something up that I don’t know about...”

They both waved their hands frantically, “I’m eight days explosion free!” Hatsume cried, “I’ll make it to double digits this time, I swear!”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Power Loader laughed. “Now get out of here.”

The two walked down to the Principal's Office, not completely reassured by their teacher’s words. Without thinking, they entwined their fingers until they were outside the door of the administrator.

The two were surprised to see Mirio was in there with the Principal. “Greetings, young ones!” Nezu said, cheerfully. “Take a seat.”

“S-sure,” Midoriya agreed, as the two sat down. “What’s going on...?”

“Before I begin,” Nezu answered, “am I right in assuming that Ms. Hatsume has been informed of the All Might situation the two of you were placed in?”

Izuku blushed while Hatsume just beamed. “H-how’d you know?” The green-haired boy blushed.

“Higari tells me the two of you are practically inseparable,” Nezu explained, “I imagine with such a large decision, you’d go to a confidant for guidance.”

“It’s because I’m the brains of the operation!” Hatsume bragged, grinning ear to ear.

The principal laughed, as did Mirio. He older teen added, “Don’t feel bad, I asked Nejire for advice too.”

“Quite, quite, it’s human to seek the opinion of those we hold in high esteem,” the Principal advised, “I assume it did not spread further.”

The three students all shook their heads.

“Good,” the mouse continued, “with all that established, we know Mirio has taken on One for All. He is primed to be a hero, and a fitting replacement for All Might. However...”

Mirio rubbed the back of his neck, “One for All is a bit much to handle.”

“What do you mean?” Mei asked.

“It’s a bit tricky to figure out,” Mirio replied, grabbing his arm instinctively, “after a few punches with One for All, I get all these stress fractures in my arm. Recovery Girl has been seeing me almost daily.”

“Thankfully, Mirio’s build makes the damage minimal,” Nezu added, “someone your size would break their entire arm in a single punch.”

“That sounds awful,” Midoriya shuddered.

“Yeah, can you imagine constantly breaking your arms?” Hatsume wondered, “You’d really need to learn how to control it in small doses, I bet.”

“That’s why we’ve called you here,” Nezu explained. “Mirio has a Work Study Program with Sir Nighteye, a former sidekick of All Might.”

Midoriya raised his hand to geek out about what he knew about the Pro, but Hatsume slowly reached up and put his hand down so the Principal could continue.

“Sir Nighteye has been advised of the situation and is willing to help Mirio as part of the study. However,” Nezu stopped to take a sip of tea, “Mirio will need modifications to his hero suit made as they explore the combinations of his Permeation Quirk with One for All.”

“My suit can phase with my body because it’s made of my hair,” Mirio explained, “but I’ll need some items to lessen the damage on my arms.”

Hatsume began to get giddy. “S-so what are you saying?!” Her leg began bouncing up and down in her seat.

“As the work study cannot be delayed, we would like you to take on some Support work with Sir Nighteye’s agency, so that you can develop a suit that works for both of Mirio’s Quirks.” Nezu explained. “If you’re up for it. We figured that since you were privy to the situation, you would be best suited to the work.”

“PRO SUPPORT WORK!” Hatsume screamed, jumping, “WITH A REAL AGENCY!” She hugged a still sitting Midoriya, shoving the side of his head into her chest. “THIS IS THE GREATEST DAY OF MY LIFE!”

She ran out the door, cheering, “OUR BABIES ARE GONNA BE SO FLIPPING FAMOUS!”

The three stared after her before Midoriya turned to the Principal and Mirio and adding, “Yeah, we can do that. Sounds great!”

“Wonderful!” Nezu beamed. “I’ll have Power Loader make the specifications with the agency. You’ll need to be ready bright and early Monday morning, Mirio will take you to the agency across town. You...may want to let Ms. Hatsume know the details.”

Midoriya blushed, “Y-yeah, I’ll go fill her in!”
---
“I can’t believe it!” Hatsume practically sang, jumping along the halls. “We get to work at a Pro agency and make experimental gear for the new Symbol of Peace!”

Midoriya beamed at her. “I know! This is going to be amazing!

“I already have so many ideas!” She squealed. “If we can get some his hair, like for his suit, we can easily incorporate that into leg and forearm bracers to help with that impact.”

“It’ll just be a matter of sewing it into the materials,” he agreed. “As long as it’s in the core blend, bracers should be able to help absorb some of that impact.”

Hatsume spun herself in a circle, practically dancing with herself in excitement. “What are you doing?” Midoriya laughed.

To his surprise, she grabbed his hands and spun him around too. “This could be our big break, Deku Scrub! Let me be excited.”

Power Loader opened the door to see the two Midoriya being roped into some odd dance outside of his room. Midoriya looked at him, crimson, and Hatsume didn’t drop her ecstatic smile.

“You know what? I don’t even want to know.” Power Loader groaned. “Just get in here and work on your projects.”
---

By week’s end, they had completed their defense systems. What’s more, is that they managed to make duplicate one’s for Midoriya’s vigilante escapades by pretending they kept running into setbacks while working in the Development Studio. They had also perfected a modified glue grenade that would work with Snipe’s guns, and were able to fill a large order, leaving Midoriya with a nice cut in his first real order as Commissioned Support Tech.

“Don’t think this means you’re the better inventor,” Hatsume scowled as they walked back to Heights Alliance. “I’ll have my Commission orders done when we get back, and I’ll be rolling in it.”

Midoriya laughed. “I believe you. You’ve got a ton of requests for Boost Boots.”

“And don’t forget it!” Hatsume’s grin returned, “I knew those would be one of my breakout products.”

“Well, if it makes you feel better, I was going to ask if you wanted me to take you out for dinner with this to celebrate,” Izuku replied, sheepishly. “We don’t actually ever go on real dates.”

Hatsume tapped her chin. “Never really thought about that.” She grinned, slyly, meeting his gaze, “Between all the baby-making we do in and out of the lab, and all the secret stuff we get up to...I think our relationship is more fun anyway. But...if you’re offering...a normal date could be a nice change of pace.”

“I mean, you’re not wrong,” Izuku laughed, “there’s no one else I’d rather have watching my back. But you know, food is nice too.”

The two showered and changed before meeting back up in the common room to head downtown. They had the weekend before their work study with Mirio, however, they wanted to spend some time over the next two days going over designs for the third year for the modifications to his suit, so this was the freest time they were going to have for a while.

They went a few towns over via train; not too far, but far enough to get a different variety of places to eat. Midoriya let Hatsume decide, and she wanted to scope out the neighborhood they would be work studying in, and she would pick a place she found once there.

Picking somewhere to eat is as scatterbrained as her process for getting baby ideas, Midoriya laughed internally, as the pinkette nodded off on his shoulder during the train ride. Hopefully the place she picks ends up as good as the inventions usually do.

As they arrived in the downtown area, Mei scanned with her Quirk to get a feel for the neighborhood. “I can see Sir Might Guy-”

“Nighteye,” Midoriya corrected.

“Yeah that. I can see his place. This is a nice neighborhood. I can see some cafe signs that way,” Hatsume grin faded as her stomach rumbled. “Just in time! Let’s go, greenie.”

Hand in hand, the two began making their way downtown, walking fast, faces pass, and food bound. They jumped as they passed a chicken joint, with a chicken statue that clucked at them via motion sensor, compelling them to eat at Hellfire Chicken Pyre.

But as they passed a small shop, a little girl with a horn on her forehead and white hair darted out the door and ran smack dab into Hatsume’s exposed thigh, causing the two girls to tumble to the ground.

“GACK!” Hatsume cried as she pulled herself up from the ground, and then offered a hand to the small girl. “Hello, goat-child. You okay?”

The little girl only stammered in response, almost as if she was unsure if this could be some kind of trap. Midoriya's eyes narrowed; this girl was covered in bandages and bruises, more so than a usual clumsy kid who might scrape their knees periodically.

A man came up from behind her, making Midoriya and even Hatsume take a step back and recoil. Afterall, it wasn’t every day you saw a man in a Renaissance Plague Doctor Mask.

“Oh dear.” He said, though his tone was flat and quiet. “That won’t do at all. My apologies miss.”

The little girl looked up at him, a scared look on her face. “Now,” he said, “come along, Eri.”

The little girl seemed reluctant, but went with the man anyway, only glancing back at the Support Students once.

Midoriya and Hatsume exchanged glances themselves. “Any of that seem...weird to you?” Deku asked.

She nodded. “Nothing says inconspicuous like walking around in the daylight with a Plague Doctor mask.”

Looking back up, they had lost the odd pair in a crowd.

“What do you think that was about?” Midoriya frowned. He had a bad feeling about that man, but he couldn’t place his finger on it.

Hatsume shrugged, “who can say? It’s quite a bit odd. But it gives me an idea for a gas mask!” She looked across the street and flung her arm out to stop Midoriya, who ran into it. “SUSHI! Babe let’s get sushi! There!”

He rolled his eyes. “Alright, let’s get sushi and you can tell me about this gas mask.”

---

Monday morning came a bit earlier than either of the Support Students would have liked. Still, they managed to pull themselves out of bed, get coffeed up for the day ahead, and met Mirio outside the gates for their first day of work study.

“Since you guys are with me, it shouldn’t be a big deal,” Mirio advised as they stepped onto the train, “but while most people see Sir as this stern guy, he has a really big appreciation for humor. Now this was arranged so you can help me with...you know,” his eyes shifted around the crowded compartment, “but if you get on his good side, this might be more enjoyable!”

Hatsume and Midoriya exchanged nervous looks. They didn’t exactly have what one would consider stellar sense of humor, though they did usually make each other laugh.

As they stepped into the agency, they were greeted with a rather unusual sight; relatively new Pro, Bubble Girl, was hooked into a tickle machine of sorts, laughing uncontrollably while Sir Nighteye himself watched.

Mirio seemed unphased. “Was her report not funny, enough, Sir?”

“Horribly dull,” Nighteye replied, not even looking back at the three students.

Before Midoriya could react, Hatsume had bolted to the machine inspecting it up and down and taking notes. “What on earth is this glorious contraption?!”

Nighteye’s curiosity shifted slightly. “Ah. You must be Hatsume. Power Loader...warned me about you.”

Somehow, the vague statement was taken as a compliment by the inventive girl, and she beamed. “I could probably rig this up to make it 30 percent more torturous!”

“OH GOD NO!” Bubble Girl gasped between laughs.

Nighteye glanced back at Mirio and Midoriya for confirmation. Mirio just shrugged, but Midoriya rubbed his chin. “She wouldn’t say it if she didn’t mean it. I can see where she’s coming from, it could be more efficient.”

Nighteye seemed to seriously consider this but shook his head. “Perhaps if I’m impressed with your work, I’ll commission such a thing from you. However...I’m not easily impressed, so be warned.” He turned off the strange torture device, and unhooked Bubble Girl. “Come, all of you. My office.”

As the two followed the Pro and sidekicks to the main office, Hatsume whispered, “I gotta make something like that for you.”

“This is one of those conversations you save for later,” Midoriya whispered.

“Right,” she winced, “I like it here though.”

As they entered the office, Nighteye gestured for them to sit, so they did.

“Now, as I’ve been made aware, there was a situation in determining who should inherit One for All.” Nighteye said.

It was not a question, but Midoriya answered, “Yeah, I thought Mirio was the best-”

“You made the right decision,” Nighteye interrupted. “Mirio was, in my opinion, always the best choice for the matter, and I pushed All Might to retire ages ago. Frankly, Midoriya, you were not suitable.”

“I...uh...oh...” Midoriya replied, weakly.

Hatsume’s look turned flat. She definitely wanted to say something, but her desire to profit off of Nighteye seemed to be actively holding back her tongue, which Deku was incredibly grateful for.

“Naturally, when I heard the news from Mirio, I was incredibly pleased,” Nighteye continued.

“We can tell, Sir,” Mirio added, trying to alleviate some of the tension in the room, “you’re absolutely glowing!”

If this is glowing, I don’t want to see him displeased, Midoriya thought.

“Quite,” Nighteye replied. “Now, my company employs one student and two sidekicks, we are operating at wonderful efficiency, with a decent profit margin. However, with Mirio under my tutelage to replace All Might, a transition is required. This transition requires gear so Mirio can adapt to these powers. So, you will work here, and attend your classes as First Years. I am going out of my way on this, so I expect results.”

Hatsume and Midoriya nodded.

“Good.” Nighteye replied. “Not having a lab here, Power Loader advised you will work on the gear at UA and bring them here no later than 5pm every evening so that we can test them before patrols. Go to the meeting room, take some measurements, and go back to UA to begin making what you need. As your role here is for Tech only, we cannot brief you on any current cases unless it is necessary.”

“A-actually,” Midoriya spoke up, a bit nervous, “We had Mirio’s measurements and hair stored from his Hero costume. We developed some prototype bracers over the weekend. We’d like to run a few tests with him on them.” He steadied his breathing before adding, “If that’s alright with you, of course.”

Sir Nighteye’s lips twitched just slightly upwards into what could be considered a smile. “Good. No time wasted. There is a space in the casement for training and such things. Mirio, go with them, report what you need them to adjust.”

The Pro stamped their approvals for work study and detailed their compensation as such. For the next few hours, Hatsume and Midoriya watched as Mirio punched out training dummies with their bracers with One for All and used Permeation without them falling off.

“These are fantastic!” The older boy exclaimed, “nothing broken in the arms! Though they’re still a little sore.”

“We can see what we can do to increase shock absorption in these,” Midoriya replied, taking the bracers. “Though some of it may still be your body adjusting. We might be able to tweak them a bit. Where else is One for All hitting you when it comes to recoil?”

Mirio crouched down, “I used it to jump once, and it really messed up my thighs and glutes. And I used it to increase my run speed, and that can mess up my feet and shins.”

Hatsume tapped a pencil to her mouth. “That’s a whole, lower body adjustment, Mirio. We’ll need to add impact dampeners, with your hair incorporated into the material, to the entire lower half. Can you drop off your Suit in the Support Lab in the morning?”

“We also might need more hair,” Midoriya added. “I know you usually save it at home. Since it’s vital to suit repairs.”

“I should have a few bags,” Mirio replied. “I’ll go home and get them tonight, and give you guys my suit in the morning.”

“Fantastic!” Hatsume beamed. “We should have you up and rolling in no time!”

As it came time for nightly patrols, Midoriya and Hatsume bid their new coworkers farewell.

Little were they aware just how much their fates were intertwined with the mysterious masked man and little girl they had run into, as well as the fates of Mirio and Sir Nighteye.

But things were soon going to change.

Chapter Text

Humming to themselves in class, Hatsume and Midoriya tinkered away working on Mirio’s hero suit, adding padding and shock absorption into the lower body. It had eaten up most of their morning, and they had only an hour and a half after classes to make adjustments to the suit before needing to report to Sir Nighteye’s for the evening. With what they had, they were able to make improvements to the shin and ankle areas of the suit to assist with running with One for All, but for the rest, it would likely take another day.

“I hope we’re working fast enough for Sir,” Midoriya sighed, eying the clock. “These aren’t exactly modifications that usually only take a day. Even for professionals.”

“Even if this were the only thing we were dedicating ourselves too, we’ve gotten a lot done in a short amount of time,” Hatsume shrugged. “The guy’s a nut anyway. And we ARE professionals.”

They began to pack up their things to take to Mirio. “A nut with connections. Imagine if they have us working for Mirio with his quirk full time in the future!” Midoriya smiled.

“Talking moooneeeeeeey,” Hatsume sang as she packed the suit in a special containment bag.

Power Loader, who had been experimenting with something of his own design at the front of the lab, scoffed. “Don't count on that. Once he gets used to the Power of One for All he won't need much in the way of gear.”

As the students were leaving the lab, they were surprised to see Aizawa outside of it. Waiting for them, it seemed.

“I thought I'd find the two of you here.”

Something about the way he looked at them made Deku's knees tremble and sweat form on his brow. “Y-yup, just heading to the work study.”

They went to move past him, but in a flash, Hatsume and Midoriya found themselves wrapped in the teacher's bindings.

Power Loader was on his feet immediately. “Hey! Shouta! What do you think you're doing?!”

Aizawa glared at the teacher and turned to the students as he released his scarf.

“I need to ask these two a few questions.” He deadpanned. “Alone.”

Aizawa turned to leave, but Power Loader shut the door first, a loud slam emanating in the studio. “Excuse me?” Eraserhead replied, voice raising slightly.

“These are my students.” Higari said, arms folded across his chest, “if you need to ask them anything, ask them here, without restraining them like criminals.”

Midoriya had never been happier to have Power Loader as a mentor than he was at that moment.

“That's part of why I'm here.” Aizawa sighed. “Interviews with the civilian rescued the night Tokoyami escaped describes a vigilante using tech similar to Midoriya's.”

This had not come as a surprise to Midoriya. Over the weekend after the rescue, the police had come to ask him the same thing, but he, Hatsume, and Tsuyu all acted as each other's cover stories, that they had gone to play laser tag that night. Hatsume had found that forging receipts was easier than she expected.

“We gave our alibi to the police,” Hatsume said, smiling.

“Have you been making unlicensed gear that leaves the campus?” Aizawa questioned. “Anything go missing? Or, have you made something for someone unlicensed?”

Midoriya and Hatsume shook their heads.

Power Loader sighed in exasperation. “These two, like all my other students, log everything they make. Midoriya was a finalist in the Sports Festival, Shouta. More than likely, someone decided to copy his tech for illegal activities.”

“That may be so,” Aizawa snapped, “but ever since Stain was captured, vigilantism has been on the rise, and some of these captures resemble Midoriya's products. We need to make sure he's not supplying vigilantes illegally.”

“I would never sell vigilantes my tech!” Midoriya objected. Technically this was true. I just make it for myself.

“And I will be happy to show you their records,” Higari added. “Now, these two are helping Mirio, so unless you can back up these accusations, are they free to leave?”

Aizawa let out a deep breath. His eyes shifted between the two students twice before he relented. “...I'll be watching the two of you.”

As he skulked away, Power Loader grumbled, “That guy rubs me the wrong way...”

Midoriya and Hatsume left hurriedly, but not before thanking their teacher. It wasn’t until they were safely aboard the bus, they made it clear how displeased they were with what had happened.

“I think you have to change how you fight, Deku Scrub,” Hatsume whispered, “it's easy enough to manufacture an alibi but now you've got a Pro suspicious of you.”

Midoriya frowned. “I hate to say it...but you're right. If I'm going to be advertising the spider legs and the glue grenades, I'm going to have to use the hover pack and freeze grenades in my fights.”

His mind race though, and he began to mutter, “but if I change right away, will it look more suspicious? Will it tip off Eraserhead that he spooked us? Aizawa is a stealth hero, I'm going to need to watch who is around...”

“Midoriya.” Hatsume said.

“But if I keep using them does it play into his hand more? He's a Pro for a reason and I'm sure he knows what he's doing getting into my head like that...”

“Midoriya!” Hatsume repeated, voice growing.

“Could these be mind games?”

“IZUKU!” Hatsume shouted, making him jump.

“Uwhah?” He yelped.

“We're here.” Hatsume pointed as the bus screeched to a halt.

“Er...sorry, I did that mutter thing again.”

“It's only okay if it's about babies,” Hatsume sighed. “Look. We don't have any targets. Chill out. We can lay low for a bit and adapt your fighting style. Find some new things to throw Pencil Tip off your case.”

As they filed into the building, Mirio and Nighteye seemed to be discussing something rather serious but got quiet upon seeing the two tech developers; whatever it was must have been confidential.

“You're late.” The Pro snapped.

Hurriedly, the first years bowed in apologies. “S-sorry sir!” They both stammered.

“We're about 60 percent through the improvements Mirio asked us to install in his suit yesterday!” Hatsume added, quickly going into business mode. “The shock absorption on the ankles and calves are complete and ready for testing.”

Nighteye furrowed his brows together and took the suit from her hands, inspecting it, briefly. “Your work ethic is as good as Power Loader says it is. Mirio, go test this before we begin our patrols.”

Mirio took the suit to change, and Midoriya and Hatsume went to the basement to wait for him.

“Nice save,” Midoriya breathed.

“Like hell I'm letting some crusty old teacher get us fired for being late,” she chuckled.

They quietly began discussing possible alternatives for the spider legs and weighing the pros and cons of trading them out for something else. They hushed as Mirio emerged, looking more concerned than his usual plucky self.

“Something got you down, Mirio?” Midoriya asked.

“It’s not the babies for your suit, right?!” Hatsume asked, beaming.

This drew a chuckle from the Top Student of UA. “The suit feels great. Let me get a few laps in and see if they can contain One for All.”

Deku blinked and the Mirio was gone, dashing across the training facility in the blink of an eye. Deku marveled at the sight; he was reminded of All Might as the blonde blur zoomed back and forth across the room. Hatsume was more impressed how well their baby was holding up against the strain of Mirio's power.

Mirio finally jogged to a stop in front of them. “This is perfect!” He grinned. “That definitely lifts my spirits.”

“So,” Midoriya narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin, “something WAS wrong?”

The grin on the older boy's face faltered. “Well...I'm not supposed to tell you guys about the mission, but we haven't been able to get eyes on our target.”

“Maybe I can help?” Hatsume asked, pointing to her yellow crosshairs, “I make an excellent lookout.”

Mirio considered this for a second before grabbing his cell phone. “Well. It can't hurt for you to keep an eye out, I suppose. This is the man we're looking for...calls himself Overhaul.”

Midoriya and Hatsume leaned in and looked at Mirio's phone, only to step backwards and inhale sharply in unison.

“Something wrong?” Mirio asked as he withdrew his phone.

“We...we ran into that man on Friday!” Midoriya exclaimed. “Plague doctor mask and everything!”

Mirio dropped his phone. “You WHAT?!”
---
“They WHAT?!” Sir Nighteye shouted. He rounded on Midoriya and Hatsume, “and you didn't mention this suspicious activity to me sooner?! Thank goodness you were smart enough to reject One for All.”

Midoriya flinched; that was like a punch in the gut.

“Sir,” Mirio interjected, “they didn't know anything about the mission or who we were looking for.”

“There was nothing about the guys behavior that screamed, ‘yakuza,’ or, 'associated with the League of Villains.’” Hatsume explained.

Midoriya nodded, “he just seemed like a weird guy. We didn't get a good enough look...”

“Enough,” Nighteye sighed. “You are correct. I shouldn't have lashed out, but time is of the essence. Take us to the area you saw them in. Now.”

Midoriya and Hatsume shrugged to each other and led the Pro and his agency employees out the doors and down a few blocks to the general area. They passed the cafe they had eaten at under the pinkish hue of the setting sun and stopped in front of the store.

“She came barreling out of the store. His daughter or whatever,” Hatsume explained, “crashed right into my thigh. Still have a bruise!”

Nighteye nodded. “Thank you. Again, I should not have scolded you regarding this, but time is of the essence. I will go question the employees about what he had seen, and I will give the rest of you your scouting assignments.”

He turned to Midoriya and Hatsume. “You are dismissed. Mirio will drop off his suit in the morning for more work.”

The two nodded and began to leave, but when they were a few blocks away, Hatsume looked to her boyfriend and couldn’t help but notice how crestfallen and restless his expression was. “You want to help, don’t you?”

“Of course I want to help!” Midoriya blurted out. “We left a child in the care of a yakuza, League of Villain guy! I was right there, and I didn’t save anyone...”

“That’s all well and good, but we have no babies right now.” Hatsume replied, “and we didn’t know that guy was villain material. He could have just been a germaphobe for all we knew Besides, we can’t scope out this area and risk running into Sir Nighteye and getting outed.”

“I know,” Midoriya relented. “I can’t resolve this situation the way I did with Todoroki or Stain. Whoever this guy is actively has other people on his tale. Real, licensed Pros. If I come near, I’m finished.”

“So, we don’t go near.” Hatsume’s wild grin returned, cluing Deku in that she already was hatching a plan.

“What do you have in mind?” He asked, a smile on his face.

“Come on, we need to get back to the dorms!”

Before he could ask further, his rambunctious girlfriend snatched him by the hand and pulled him down the street.
---

Once safely in his room, Hatsume shoved Midoriya's laptop into his hands. “You scan the dark web for this Overhaul guy, I've got hacking to do.”

Midoriya nodded. “Been awhile since I've had to do anything like this, good thinking.”

It was true. When hunting down Stain and the Sludge Villain, he would spend hours each night doing recon work. But ever since abduction of Todoroki, things had been happening so fast in his life that he was a bit rusty at hunting villains down. Mentally, he scolded himself. He worked best in the element surprise, with his ranged weapons; he had to operate more like Eraserhead and stop trying to emulate All Might.

Still, once he hit some of the shadier areas of the web, he found some interesting connections.

“I can't see much about the guy himself,” Izuku muttered, “but his name comes up in all these drug deals...”

“What kind of drug deals?” Hatsume asked, leaning over from her laptop.

He tilted his screen towards her. “Take a look. Two kinds of drugs: one is a syringe type bullet that will nullify someone's Quirk for a few hours. The other is an injectable drug which boosts Quirks for roughly an hour or so.”

“You sure it's the same guy?” Hatsume asked.

Midoriya nodded. “Seems like it. The yakuza has been small time for a while. But drug deals are up their alley. Check out this post. Overhaul is name dropped a few times.”

Hatsume's eyes darted back and forth over the screen. “Damn...these drugs are moving quick.”

“Right?” Midoriya confirmed, turning the screen back to himself. “But no known substance can do that. Quirk Boosters have always been a thing, but nothing like this. And Eraserhead is the only one I've heard of being able to negate Quirks.”

“Too bad we didn't have anything like that for Todoroki,” Hatsume deadpanned.

“Inventions are more fun.” Midoriya argued.

“OF COURSE THEY'RE MORE FUN!” She bellowed. “But it would have made it easier.

“If only we knew where these drugs were coming from, we could help Mirio and Nighteye...” He sighed.

“Yeah too bad no one could track him down by hacking into traffic cameras - oh wait. That’s me.” Hatsume grinned. “I did that.”

Deku’s jaw dropped. “You managed to get in?! We tried that for days with Stain!”

“I’ve been kicking around some ideas since we failed, and they proved to be winners,” she beamed. “Come take a look what I’ve found, and let’s see if we can’t piece this detective work together!”

She turned her screen and bragged, “I spliced the videos together, so you can get a clear picture of where he went.”

Izuku studied the grainy video. It showed the two of them in a corner, but he could see the man in the mask walking away from them, and turning a corner with the small girl. The video jumped to another shot, which showed the two of them walking down a street. There were multiple jump cuts in the video, but finally, the two turned into an unassuming building just off of a main road. It looked like any nondescript apartment building one could find anywhere.

“That can’t be far!” Midoriya cried.

“It’s not, it’s in the normal patrol route for Nighteye’s people.” Hatsume agreed. “But look. I focused on that building...and that guy, Overhaul, is rarely the person who ever leaves. Whatever he’s doing, he’s laying low and letting some crony go out and do everything. Watch.”

Hatsume opened up videos from the same location, but the time stamps showed they were from the days following their encounter with the yakuza leader. Very rarely did any ever go in or out of that building, it seemed, but it was never the same person twice. However, they always left carrying a box of something, and whenever they returned...

“They’re carrying toys...?” Midoriya questioned. “For the girl?”

“Gotta be.” Hatsume shrugged. “Weird, right? But they’re clearly up to something.”

The videos showed three different men had come and gone from the time the two students had encountered Overhaul, to yesterday evening. All at different times of the day, all gone for different amounts of time.

“Well, that gives us a location.” Midoriya rubbed his chin. “We need to get this to Nighteye...but he can’t know we’re the ones who got it for him. We’re not licensed for this.”

“Yeah, we didn’t exactly obtain this information through legal means either,” Hatsume agreed.

Midoriya thought a moment, but grinned. “I’ll screenshot some of these drug dealing details. Including some future ones. Save your videos. We’ll put them on a flash driver and figure out a way to get it to the agency. Unless...”

“Unless...?” Hatsume echoed.

“What if that girl is in trouble?” Midoriya wondered aloud. “Why would these yakuza be keeping her there if she’s just someone’s kid? That’s the least safe place for her to be, you’d think.”

“You think she’s part of their plans?” Hatsume asked. She thought about it herself. “She was...pretty banged up.”

“What if she has a Quirk-destroying Quirk?” Midoirya responded. “If she’s getting hurt, we need to hurry. Maybe...maybe we should just give it to Mirio.”

Hatsume looked at her boyfriend incredulously. “Are you feeling okay? Remember that whole, you know, not getting caught thing we talked about?!”

“I’m not going to tell him about any of the vigilante stuff!” Izuku hissed. “We’ll just say we got curious and wanted to check surveillance on the area.”

“That still doesn’t change that we got the surveillance illegally.” Hatsume deadpanned. “Did Todoroki hit you in the head? Is this a concussion side effect I didn’t pick up on?”

Midoriya rolled his eyes. “We’ll ask him to keep it anonymous.”

“The day after we get let in on the investigation?” Hatsume argued. “Too suspicious. Let’s just use a drone. Attach it to the building. Less suspicious, and we get to use babies.”

“Then we have to do it tonight.” Midoriya insisted.

Hatsume pulled back a bed cover to reveal she already had a remote for a drone hiding under it.

“Why is that there?!” Izuku cried.

Hatsume grinned. “I just wanted to use the drone!”

She’s going to be the death of me. Deku sighed, smiling all the same. I love her, and she’s going to be the death of me.

---

Bright and early the next morning, Pro Hero Sir Nighteye walked up to his agency building, frustrated with the lack of progress on the Shi Hassaikai case. The gentle sway of the breeze, the bright sunshine of a warm morning doing nothing to improve his mood.

But what did catch his attention was a small flash drive taped to the handle of his front door. Carefully pulling the device away, he flipped it in his hands, finding a small note attached. Unfurling the paper, he found a single word typed upon it.

Overhaul.

Eyes widening slightly, he opened the door to see one of his sidekicks, Centipeder, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Morning boss, h-” Centipeder started, but was cut off by the flash driver being placed in his hands.

“Run this through our security to make sure it’s free of viruses and open it immediately.” Nighteye commanded.

“Uh...alright...”

Within an hour, Nighteye, Bubble Girl, and Centipeder had reviewed the contents of the video a few times.

“This matches up with Fatgum’s account of a shooter temporarily removing Tamaki’s Quirk!” Bubble Girl exclaimed, reading through the articles about Quirk removing drugs.

“It also bears resemblance to the two Size-Shifting villains who were taken down earlier in the week.” Centipeder added.

Sir Nighteye leaned back in his chair and weighed his options. He looked at his All Might poster, one of the most prized possessions of his, and sighed. This would be so much easier with you here.

The office chair under him creaked as he finally leaned forward, resting his elbows on the dark oak desk. “We’re going to need some help. Make some calls to the following Pros...”

Chapter Text

The morning after Midoriya and Hatsume had stayed up to deliver their contraband intel to Sir Nighteye’s agency was a beautiful day. Despite how late it was when they actually went to sleep, the sun hung high in the sky, and the songs of birds filled the grounds as they walked their way to their morning lesson with Power Loader, making it impossible to feel sleepy. Although part of that was the feeling that they had at least done something meaningful into the investigation against the Shi Hassaikai, it was the sort of day that usually inspired hope in Midoriya.

The two were going to be working on some their contracted orders, as well as put the finishing impact absorbers on Mirio's suit, so they had a full morning ahead of them.

As excited as Hatsume was to get started tinkering, as she always was, the two slowed down as Asui and Uraraka began walking with them, looking almost as tired as they were.

“Good morning guys,” Midoriya greeted. “Rough night with the Work Study?”

“It’s not nice to tell a girl she looks tired, Midoriya,” Uraraka replied with a yawn, “but you’re not wrong.”

“We worked with Nejire to take down two size-enhancing villains,” Asui explained, rubbing sleep from her eyes. “It was pretty awesome, kero. But yeah...I could use another day of sleep.”

Uraraka fist-pumped. “We even made up a sweet double team move!”

“Cool, what was it?” Midoriya asked, eyes lighting up. Hatsume listened in, too. After all, learning about heroics was good inspiration for tech to make it better.

The four talked about their Work Studies as they reached the main building, parting ways to reach their classes. As Mei and Izuku reached their class, they were surprised to see Mirio already outside of class 1-H, standing with another one of the, “Big Three,” Tamaki Amajiki.

“Are you sure your Quirk is okay now?” Mirio asked.

Tamaki barely nodded, looking like he wanted to shrink away into his own shadow. “I-I just needed a good night sleep.”

“Good...good thing your junior hero was able to catch that guy...” Mirio sighed, before seeing his coworkers approaching. “Hey guys!” He bellowed, waving down the two. Upon the increase in volume, Tamaki jumped, hiding behind Mirio for a moment before slinking down the hallway, unseen.

“Hey Mirio,” the two Support Students greeted.

“Any luck on patrols?” Hatsume asked.

Mirio shook his head. “Another night of nothing. Well. I caught a convenience store robber, but nothing about...you know.”

“Bummer.” Midoriya frowned. He really didn’t see how catching a robber could be considered a bad night, the nights he spent busting seedy bars was a giant adrenaline rush.

“But!” Mirio beamed, already regaining his usual confident demeanor, “I received a message from Nighteye! He received some very promising intel first thing this morning that he’s going to share with us tonight! So, it looks like we’re getting somewhere.”

Hatsume and Midoriya grinned to each other, the confirmation that their scheme had done some good filling them with determination.

“Anyway, the suit is coming along great!” Mirio beamed, handing the garment back to them, “I appreciate all the help.”

“Well we’ll see if we can’t get it finished today!” Hatsume assured him, chest swelling with pride. “And you make sure you tell all your big shot classmates who has the hookups!”

The older boy laughed. “I will. Thanks, guys.”

As Mirio left, the couple waited until he out of earshot and high-fived. “We are so good at this!” Midoriya bragged, a rare moment where pride overtook his shy demeanor.

“I daresay this partnership might be the greatest thing to ever happen to you!” Hatsume teased.

Deku rolled his eyes as the bell sounded, prompting them into the Support Studio to begin another day of work.
---
They left the Support lab ahead of schedule that afternoon; now that Midoriya had perfected bullet versions of his glue grenades, making them was much simpler, and, the additions to Mirio's suit had become easier the more they got used to working with it. It was a productive day, and those made him pleased with his, “day career.”

“That Nighteye is going to love us!” Hatsume cried, “I hope he lets me take a crack at that tickle machine, I can already imagine the improvements!”

Midoriya opened a small notebook that he used for tech ideas, with some of his improvements he had thought for the torture device for it as well. “What do you think of this?”

She studied his sketches intensely, “oh! That's brilliant, anyone would talk after enduring THAT!”

As they left the grounds, they noticed three Hero students heading to the train as well: Asui, Uraraka, and Kirishima. They looked deeply engrossed in conversation, so at the time, the Support pair didn't bother them.

But oddly enough, the five of them all boarded the same train. Upon seeing the two, Ochako flagged them down.

“Hey you two!” She beamed. “Do you guys normally take this train?”

Hatsume nodded. “Yeah, this takes us to our contracted assignment.”

“Haven't seen you guys go this way.” Midoriya added, extending a hand to Kirishima, “I don't think you and I have met, either. I'm Midoriya Izuku.”

Kirishima shook his hand in return, a toothy jagged grin forming. “Yeah, I remember you! You were the cool guy using all the flamethrowers at the sports festival! I would have loved to have thrown down with you! Nice to meetcha.”

“M-maybe next year,” Midoriya laughed. It was a weird request; someone specifically wanting to fight as a sign of friendship. “So what brings you guys out this way, Tsu?”

“Kero, our agencies for our work studies have been contacted for a special assignment,” Tsuyu explained, smiling. “Someone named Sir Nighteye has requested lots of help for a special mission.”

In stereo, Hatsume and Midoriya's eyes widened, and they looked at each other in surprise.

Has he already been able to crack the case with what we gave him? Midoriya pondered.

“That's actually where we've been working,” Hatsume laughed. “Helping that Mirio guy with his suit.”

“You guys work with Mirio?!” Uraraka exclaimed. “He's so cool!”

“You guys know him?” Midoriya asked. “Well, I guess that makes sense. He’s the top student, right?”

“Kero,” Tsuyu laughed, “he mopped the floor with our entire class to introduce the work study thing to us.”

“It was the coolest butt kicking I've ever had!” Kirishima added, enthusiastically. “He phased right through my stomach and then poked me in the eye!”

Hatsume and Midoriya chuckled back. “That sure sounds like him,” Deku replied. He was taking a liking to Kirishima.

“I wonder what the special assignment could be?” Mei questioned, sneaking a small wink to Izuku when no one was looking.

“It sounds top secret,” Uraraka answered, pride welling in her chest. “We probably won't be able to tell you much.”

Hatsume leaned over and pat the heroine on the shoulder. “Totally understand. We're just here to make neat gadgets. Can't help but wonder though!”

The five chatted until the train pulled into the station, and they walked together to the agency. It was more crowded than Deku had ever seen it before, but he recognized pros like Rock Lock and Fatgum there, along with the 1-A teacher, Aizawa. Mirio smiled as he saw them, running up to grab his suit.

“How is it?” He asked. “Will you need it in the morning?”

“Should be all set!” Hatsume crowed proudly. “It’s all yours!”

“Do you want to test it a few times?” Midoriya asked.

Mirio shook his head. “Can't, unfortunately. Looks like everyone is here...”

Sir Nighteye cleared his throat as he approached the three student employees.

Mirio, chipper as ever, held up his suit to the Pro. “They've finished the improvements on my Lemillion suit, Sir.”

Nighteye's mouth twitched. Though his actions always proved to be subtle, Midoriya and Hatsume were able to see that this was a genuine article - a really smile - proving the Pro was actually pleased. He slowly took the suit and caressed it in the places they had altered, each finger movement analytical and appreciative. “Exemplary work, you two.” He said, none of the disapproving time he had originally had when first discussing One for All with Midoriya.

“Glad to have a satisfied customer!” Hatsume beamed, Midoriya nodding in agreement next to her. “Did you want us to look at that Tickle Machine?!”

The hint of a smile left his face. “For now, no. I'm afraid we have a meeting to discuss private matters. I'm afraid I must ask you to leave; only licensed heroes may be privy to what I am about to discuss.”

Mirio's face fell. “That's too bad, Sir. I trust these guys.”

Deku couldn't help but smile at such a frank showing of emotions. He hadn't known Mirio long, but he respected the boy greatly, and it was good to know the feeling had become mutual in the wake of All Might’s passing.

Sir Nighteye frowned. “Understandable, however, it's not a matter of trust. It's the law.” He turned to the Support students and regained a respectful tone. “As you are still on contract, I will contact you if Mirio needs repairs on his suit, or if I think of any more Support gear I might need. For now, you are dismissed. Enjoy your evening.”

Midoriya was disappointed, but when Hatsume spoke up, and said, “no problem, Sir Nighteye, totally understand. Just call us if you need anything,” followed by a slap in Izuku’s back and a wink, he realized she was up to something.

“Good luck with the mission,” Izuku added, smiling and nodding, and followed his girlfriend from the agency.

They were only a few feet outside the building when he looked at her and asked in a low tone, “so what did you do, Mei?”

She squealed excitedly, jumping once and grabbing his hand as they approached the train terminal under the setting sun, drawing a few confused looks from various passerby’s.

“I was hoping you'd notice!” Mei replied, giddily. She handed Midoriya an earpiece and placed one in her own ear as well.

Eyebrow raised, Midoriya put the earpiece in, and he could hear several familiar voices chatting, including Mirio's as he talked to Nejire.

Suddenly, it struck him. “You put a bug in Uraraka when you pay her on the shoulder, didn't you?” He whispered.

“Of course I did!” She giggled. “I figured if it worked against us from You-Know-Who, I could use it.” She put on a mockingly stern voice. “Strictly for research.”

“You're diabolical,” Midoriya laughed, and the two listened in as Nighteye called the meeting to order.
---

“Attention!” Nighteye called, silencing the crowded room. He wondered if the task force he had thrown together would be enough; Rock Lock, Fatgum, and Eraserhead were no slouches, and Centipeder and Bubble Girl had proved themselves to him time and time again. And with the Big Three of UA, he hoped they wouldn't need their junior heroes, but, the extra manpower never hurt. He only wished Mirio had more time to incorporate and master his two Quirks.

“Let's get down to business,” he began. “Through various breakthroughs in our research.The Shi Hassaikai has found a way to nullify Quirks via injection...”

---

In their dorm, Midoriya and Hatsume listened in on the conversation; Rock Lock was arguing against using teen Heroes, while Fatgum was livid they hadn't just smashed into the hideout.

“We can't risk the life of Overhaul's daughter,” Nighteye answered. “She's the key. The poor girl is being made into bullets.”

Hatsume, who had just taken a long drink of water, spit it all over Deku's face in shock. “Say what now?!”

Deku was hardly concerned with getting soaked like that, wiping his face off on a towel as he listened intently.

“Whatever the girls Quirk is, can be extracted.” Nighteye explained, grimly. “And so Overhaul takes and takes...and then uses his own Quirk to rebuild her.”

“How can you know this?” The voice of Aizawa rang out from near Uraraka.

“When I received the intel, I took a walk over to that area, and pretended to clumsily bump into a henchman from the footage as he was leaving,” Nighteye explained. “I activated my Quirk, and I saw some of the manufacturing process...while it was foresight, the actions seem rehearsed. Practiced.”

Midoriya and Hatsume shuddered as the Pros and their sidekicks formulated a plan to raid the hideout of the Yakuza.

“How could you make someone into a bullet?!” Midoriya whispered. “It's not feasible.”

“You're right.” Hatsume agreed, “the amount of iron in someone's blood isn't great enough to manufacture bullets en masse. It has to be some sort of Quirk related process.”

“I wish I had noticed how messed up she was...” He sighed. “Maybe we could have done something.”

“Like what?” Mei replied, snorting with a raised eyebrow, “Be real, Deku Scrub. We can't just go snatching children without proof of abuse. That's called abduction, and according to my research, its bad.”

“You're right.” He admitted. “Still...feel like I failed.”

She chopped him on the top of the head. “Stop it. Listen.”

Deciding to listen to his girlfriend, he pushed the guilt aside and focused on the earpiece.

“We only have one shot, and we will need all hands on deck.” Nighteye explained. “I'll hand out positions and assignments”

There was a shuffling of papers.

“Ah damn it,” Hatsume cursed. “Papers?! I can't spy on those!”

They listened to a wave of murmurs that flowed across the room. Everyone was going over their positions, but the jumble of low voices made it impossible to figure out anything that would help the Support Students figure out who would be where.

“Any questions of your positions?” Sir Nighteye asked.

Silence answered him.

“Then go.”

The sound of scraping chairs, heavy footsteps, and low voices was all that could be heard on the earpieces now.

Midoriya sighed, taking his earpiece out and setting it on his dresser. “Of course.”

Hatsume took out her earpiece. “Sad you can't be out there?”

“Kind of,” Midoriya answered. “Then again...if I went out there, with Aizawa out there and everything? I'm sure I'd get caught.”

“This might be a good time to let the Pros handle this,” Hatsume suggested. “You know the weight of the world doesn't rest on your shoulders, right? Not even All Might did everything himself.”

The wind outside their now-shared dorm-space gusted, sending the branches of a nearby tree scraping gently against the window. The room had grown dark as the sun retired for the evening, replaced with the clear, starry sky. The only light in the room was the soft glow of the two humming laptops, illuminating the oddly colored yellow eyes of Hatsume Mei in a blue light.

He smiled back at her. “Yeah. I guess...I guess you're right. Maybe I should take the hands-off approach on this one...just...just this once.”

And for a few hours, the two forgot their bouts of vigilantism. They discussed business ideas; schematics, and possible new babies. They laughed and talked, excited about the possibility of what their licenses could bring., and grumbled over English and Mathematic homework as one would typically expect of two teenagers.

Like most good times, it passed too quickly. The pair were interrupted by the sound of faint screaming. Confused, they looked around, and realized a discarded earpiece - Hatsume's, as a matter of fact - was still switched on. Sitting on the dresser next to them, they placed it between them and listened.

Whoever was nearby Uraraka was fighting - and the grunts of pain sounded like Uravity herself. The thuds of physical blows across a body could be heard, one after the other, and various objects crashing into the pavement, followed by the odd noise of cracked glass and some sort of animal sound.

A particularly gruesome grunt of anguish was followed by a car horn and made the two drop the earpiece.

Deku ran pale. Something in the raid had gone lopsided.

Hatsume grabbed her boyfriend's shoulder, tightened grip as she watched his look shift to an angered determination. “Well?”

Confused, he parroted her. “Well?”

“What are you waiting for, Hero boy?” She gave him a small smile. “I see that look in your eye. Go save the day.”

Midoriya grinned to her as he ran over to his battle pack and helmet, which had both been repaired after the fight with Todoroki. “The camera is fixed, right?”

“Yup! I'll have eyes on you.” Hatsume confirmed.

As he opened her balcony window, he turned and gave her a kiss as she connected her laptop to his helmet's signal. “Love you.”

“You too.” She beamed. “Now give ‘em hell.”

Without further ado, he leapt out the window.

Somehow, he knew his night would end this way. He lived for this.

Chapter Text

The sound of car horns had let Midoriya and Hatsume know that Uraraka was outside, so with no other leads, Midoriya was using his spider legs to leap roof to roof towards the building the Shi Hassaikai had been entering on their surveillance footage. The hover pack was too slow to get him downtown faster than this less subtle approach.

“Any live feed or news coverage, Hatsume?”

In his ear, Hatsume crackled back. “Nothing yet. The package is en route, but it's hard to navigate and watch the news for anything.”

“Let's just focus on getting to the entrance. You focus on delivery. I'll be there soon.”

“Roger that.”

Midoriya looked down at the concrete maze below him. He already had lost time by taking a train to the area; it was simply too far to travel by foot and he had no other means for distance travel. Maybe that could be his next project.

Rain had begun gently cascading down across the city scape, causing the street lights to look blurred and muted between the droplets. Visibility lowered, Midoriya looked down at the targeted building hesitantly. He couldn't barge in; a vigilante would cause distraction in a villain raid, benefiting no one, and he'd be as much of a target as any villain.

No, Deku had to be careful. Eraserhead could be on any rooftop, though with his fighting expertise, he was more than likely inside.

The first priority was to locate Uraraka and determine what happened when she was in combat now one-hour prior. Internally, Deku cursed at himself; as far as response times went, he was woefully late. Any combat would be long over and removed.

“Hey, can you replay the last clip we heard before we lost feed, Mei?” Midoriya asked.

“I told you to call me Pink Eagle when you're in the field! And yeah, hang on.”

Midoriya leaned against a ventilation duct as he listened to the anguished scream of the newly licensed Hero, the blaring of car horns, and an odd of animal noise he couldn't quite place.

Eyes narrowed, his mind began to drift. Was it an enhanced animal he was hearing, like the principal? It was the only answer that made sense, they were miles from any sort of agriculture.

“Sorry to bug you M...” He grimaced, “Pink Eagle. What do you think that noise is at the end?”

“What, the weird animal noise?” She replied. “Sounds like a barn, but they wouldn't be that far out. If you can't find anything, come back. It's not like you can barge in.”

“A barn huh...”

Eyes snapping open, Midoriya flashed back to the weekend before his work study, when he and Hatsume first ran into Eri and Overhaul; they had passed a Hellfire Chicken Pyre location, with a chicken statue that clucked as you walked past. Turning on his heel, he jumped a few more rooftops until he could see the greasy diner from his perch.

No signs of police or traffic buildup, so the car horn must not have been from an actual impact - perhaps a close call or alarm from a motorist. And if there was no response from the authorities, it couldn’t have stayed in that spot for long, if it had even been here at all.

Adjusting the settings on his helmet, Midoriya zoomed in on the restaurant, looking for any signs of a struggle, and couldn’t help to grin in spite of the situation that his hunch had been correct. The glass on the front door was cracked from impact, and at the door was what looked like a chunk of white, broken-off plastic. At first, its design was completely foreign to Midoriya, but then he remembered Yukio had been working on Uraraka’s Hero Costume earlier in the term, and that chunk was a dead ringer for one of Uravity’s forearm guards.

This isn’t good. I need to get closer and see if there is a trail.

Midoriya looked around and hopped over onto the roof of the fast food joint and scanned the alley next to the building; it was narrow, but not an impossible route of travel. Slowly lowering himself, he crouched down to the pavement and inspected some odd markings on the ground. Upon zooming in, he could tell it was blood, and readings from his hardware told him it was recent.

He unscrewed a slot on the gauntlet of his ring finger and used a small chute to absorb and analyze the blood splatter. Obviously, he didn’t have any of Uraraka’s blood to confirm DNA - that would be weird and creepy - but he was able to confirm the blood type and that it had been dropped within the last hour.

He scanned the blood, using a setting to highlight the splatter in a fluorescent orange against the darkened pavement. With this setting, he found similar blood splatters in a trail down the alley. Midoriya switched briefly to thermal vision to make sure that no one was around any corners, but switched back to follow the blood trail, weaving between a few buildings, but not before snagging the piece of Uravity's costume.

Midoriya followed the trail until it ran cold, right outside a cellar door in the back of a pawnshop. Dingy and covered in mold, it looked like the kind of place ne'er do wells would hide in.

“This is seedy for sure...” He muttered.

“I’m seeing it too,” Hatsume chimed in. “Package is en route. Should be there soon.”

Midoriya took a deep breath and opened the cellar doors and vaulted down the stairs.

“This...isn’t a cellar...” Midoriya breathed, worried.

A labyrinth of underground tunnels greeted him, stretching in all different directions with no indication on where they might go.

His earpiece began crackling, causing him to flinch as Hatsume tried to reach him. “Cutting...looks...maze. Carefu-”

“Pink eagle?” Midoriya asked, but only static answered him. “Guess I’m on my own.”

He switched over to the blood vision, and immediately wished he hadn’t; this whole tunnel system was covered in old, fading blood stains, the orange fluorescent glow of which began straining his eyes. The various ages of the stains told him this was a place where violence was a common occurrence.

Stuck at square one, a loud bang answered his conundrum, sending the wannabe hero’s blood pumping. He turned and ran down the nearest hallway to his right. He could hear yelling, but the voices were echoed and distant, making them impossible to distinguish.

Midoriya looked down at the broken forearm guard. Right now, he had to make sure no one was hurt, but the sounds of crashing furniture and the thuds of metal didn’t exactly have him brimming with confidence.

Heart racing as he turned down the corridor, he was unable to stop before -

CRASH!

Springing to his feet, he took a fighting stance, as did...Asui, who he had crashed into.

“Midoriya?!” She croaked, “What are you doing here?!”

“No time to explain, where is everyone?!” He hissed, “I think Uraraka is in trouble!”

“Kero, she is, we all got separated by the maze, but she called for help!”

As his eyes adjusted, it looked like they had gotten more than just separated. “Tsu, you’re bleeding...how are your arms?”

Midoriya’s only answer was her hand grabbing his arm and pulling him down another hallway. “There’s no time for that either! Kero, we have to find Eri! You wouldn’t believe it Midoriya...”

“I was listening in,” he explained as they turned another corner, “They’re using the poor girl to erase Quirks. And call me Deku or Hunter, I can’t have anyone find out it’s me!”

“How were you listening?!”

“I… may have gotten curious and put a bug on Uraraka’s suit.” Even through his helmet and iron spider legs, Deku couldn’t hide the sheepishness in his voice at the confession. “But then after a while I just heard this fight and the feed cut out. What happened?”

Tsuyu gave him an exasperated look. “Well...I got partnered with the Pro Ryukyu and Nejire, and had to take down this villain who could steal vitality. But after he got subdued, Uraraka radioed for backup, and I rushed over to where she was staked out. When I got there, she was gone.”

“Any chance she was by some fast food chicken place?” Midoriya groaned.

Tsu nodded. “I reported back to Ryukyu and Nejire, and we decided to come here to try and find her. We also lost contact with Sir Nighteye, so we split up."

Loud bangs and screaming interrupted them, causing them to whip around and look down the corridor. “We should get moving, kero.” With no arguments, Midoriya and Tsuyu picked up their pace as they charged the hallway.

As they followed the twists and turns of the maze, they stopped as they hit a window overlooking what looked like a child’s bedroom.

“Is that...” Midoriya began.

“Mirio and Uraraka!!” Tsuyu yelled.

Down in the room below them, Uraraka was collapsed against the floor, as were a few of what Midoriya could only assume were some of Overhaul’s men. It was just Mirio and Overhaul on one side of the room, the small Eri off to the side, curled up against the wall, frightened.

Overhaul had a gun pointed at Eri.

“You make one move, and I shoot her.” Overhaul commanded, calmly.

“You wouldn’t!” Mirio seethed, “She’s your whole crooked operation. You can’t make those drugs without her!”

The gun was cocked by the villain threateningly. “Do you really want to try me, Lemillion?”

There was an uncomfortable hesitation by all parties in the room. Even Midoriya and Tsuyu watched, frozen in place by anticipation.

And then the bad thing happened in a blur.

Overhaul pulled the trigger, but Mirio flicked his fingers with One for All at the same time, using a gust of wind that knocked the bullet and gun against the wall. Overhaul had anticipated this, and lunged for Mirio, and grabbed his outstretched right arm. Using his Quirk, he broke down Mirio’s right arm, and it exploded into nothing.

This didn’t stop Mirio though, as he had already reared back with his left hand and unleashed a punch on Overhaul that blasted him into the side of the wall. Overhaul slammed through the wall, unconscious, and Mirio collapsed, missing an arm.

This...this was not the bad thing.

“HOLY SHIT!” Tsuyu and Izuku screamed in unison, turning and running to find their way to that room.

“Mister, are you okay?!” Eri cried, running up to Mirio in a panic. She grabbed onto his left arm, and her horn began sparking.

For a brief second, this seemed to be a good thing. Mirio’s arm was rewound to a state just before it had been broken down by Overhaul. He stood up and stared at it in awe.

But awe turned to panic as he began to get shorter and seemed to fade in and out of the air.

Eri gasped and jumped away. “No! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” She began to cry. “I didn’t mean it! I didn’t mean to!”

Mirio turned to the door as Midoriya and Tsuyu burst in, and they gasped as they saw the state the older boy was in, blinking in and out of the air.

Midoriya took off his helmet immediately, so at the least, Mirio knew he was in the presence of a friend. “Togata, what happened?!”

“Kero, why are you blinking like that?!”

Mirio dropped to a knee, pained, but stopped to smile at Eri, gently moving her hands from her sobbing face.

“Eri...these two will keep you safe, okay? It’s okay!”

The strained look and sweat on his fading face said things were far from okay, but Eri nodded, trembling.

“These two...GHK!” Mirio rasped but retained a heroic smile. “These two are my friends! We are heroes! They’re here to rescue you...Midoriya, a word?”

Midoriya rushed over and knelt next to Mirio. “What can I do?! How do I stop -OMPH”

Mirio swiftly plucked a hair from his head, shoved it into Izuku’s mouth, and held a hand over Midoriya’s mouth. “Eat that. Don't argue. There's no time.”

Izuku wanted to gag, but held the hair in his mouth. Eyes widening, it struck the vigilante what Mirio was doing.

Not weeks after being granted One for All, circumstances dictated that Mirio pass the power to Midoriya.

“It’s your turn, Izuku.” Mirio gasped, still smiling for Eri as he became almost intangible. “I don’t know why you’re here...but this must be fate.”

Finally, barely visible, Mirio turned to Eri one more time. “Don’t worry Eri. He is here!”

Izuku swallowed the hair down fully, accepting the power he had rejected just weeks before.

And with that, Mirio was gone forever, erased from existence.

For a second, the months of vigilantism, words of wisdom from All Might and Power Loader, and all his combat experience went out the window, leaving Midoriya Izuku the same scared kid that had only heard of Bakugou's death after the matter on the evening news.

But a whimper from the white-haired girl snapped Midoriya from this trance, reawakening his desire to be a hero. Even at death's door, Mirio was a hero, smiling to save this girl...

Just like Mirio had done. He forced a smile and knelt down to the girl, and to his relief, Asui did the same thing.

“Don't worry!” Midoriya assured her, “Everything is going to be okay!”

“Kero! We're here to help.”

Eri, unsure, hesitated to go to them. Bringing her hands to her lips nervously, she shook. “I...I made the nice man go away...”

“It...it will be okay!” Izuku repeated. “Just like he said! We're heroes!”

“We're all here to save you,” Tsuyu ribbited, “Mirio wants you to be safe, so let's get you out of here.” She outstretched her hand. “Call me Ts - er...Froppy. It's nice to meet you, kero.”

Shakily, Eri took Tsuyu's hand, and the green haired girl turned to her friend. “Mid - I mean, Deku, can you grab Uravity?”

He nodded, placed his helmet back on and turned, dashing to the fallen girl's side. She had taken a beating, but she seemed to be alright. He scooped her up in his arms, but as he looked to the opposing wall and his breath locked in his chest.

Overhaul was gone.

“Tsu...?” He called, gesturing to the wall.

“Kero, what is...” She looked at the empty hole and her face faltered. “Oh.”

“Where...where did father go?” Eri asked, voice and knees trembling in unison.

“It...” Izuku gulped, but forced a smile under his helmet doing his best to follow Mirio’s example. “Its fine! Let's get you out of here, Eri!”

Without hesitation, the group fled the room, Asui and Midoriya struggling to come back the way they came. Suddenly the sounds of fighting and clangs of metal became increasingly frequent. Something was going on in the facility, and it wasn't good.

In their panic, they got turned around a few times, but finally made it to the cellar exit they had entered through.

Ramming the door open, Midoriya sighed a breath of relief as Tsuyu led Eri out of the tunnel and he carried Uraraka into the night air and light drizzle.

His helmet began to crackle. Now that he was above ground, he was able to regain connection to Hatsume's laptop.

“DON'T...TRAP!”

Touching the side of his helmet, he adjusted his frequency.

“Say again, Pink Eagle?” Deku asked.

“DON'T GO OUT THERE! IT'S A TRAP!”

He nearly dropped Uraraka, eyes widening. He turned to Tsuyu and Eri, watching as they approached the street.

“DON'T!” Midoriya yelled, but it was too late.

Overhaul had escaped in the commotion, and as part of his Quirk, could breakdown his henchman, and fuse with them. He had fused with the vitality-stealing henchman and was now towering above the streets. As they emerged, he smacked Eri and Tsuyu back down into the alley.

With Uraraka in one arm, Midoriya deployed his spider legs and snatched the two girls out of the air - not the most comfortable catch, but better than crashing into a building.

Setting them down, Tsuyu stepped forward, taking a defensive stance as Eri his behind Deku.

“Eri, I need you to trust me, okay?” Midoriya asked as he crouched down.

“O-okay mister.” She whimpered.

“Good...now get on my back.”

She did, and not a moment too soon; Overhaul swung for the group. Tsuyu grabbed Uraraka with her tongue and jumped, clinging to the side of the building, and Midoriya leapt into the air with his spider legs as well, clinging to the same wall a few feet from Tsu.

“You got a plan, Ts - er - Froppy?” Deku asked.

They both jumped onto a neighboring building as Overhaul's hand smashed into the wall they were on, leveling the building.

As they landed, Tsuyu grimaced as she looked at her friend to answer.

“Survive.”

Chapter Text

A giant fist came crashing down towards the rooftop Froppy and Deku were stranded on, forcing the two heroes to jump away from each other; Tsuyu grabbing Uraraka, and Midoriya with Eri clinging to his back.

As he jumped, a surge went through Midoriya's legs. Even though most of the jump had been with his spider legs, he got way more distance than normal, and his legs ached. Did I accidentally trigger One for All?!

Regaining control in the air, he and the small girl landed six rooftops away - and even with his tech he'd be lucky to get two at best.

No training, no teacher, no guidance. Deku was in full possession of One for All, but had no idea how to activate it, and with a kid on his back, it probably wasn't a good time to try. Restraint was key.

“Pink Eagle, you got eyes on the situation?”

“I sure do!” The voice of Mei chirped into his ear, “and package has arrived! Want me to say hi to the big guy?”

“Please.”

Overhaul began reaching past the buildings, destroying everything in his path to get to Eri and Midoriya, having forgotten Froppy and Uravity. But as he approached, from a neighboring alley, the mech suit that Deku and Mei had used to subdue Stain sprang from the darkness and used its gauntlet spikes to leave a gash across Chisaki's face.

“Knife to meet you!” Hatsume's voice came, distorted by the suit's speakers. “It was a bitch to get here.”

Overhaul grabbed the suit out of the air, but before the gigantic villain could act, Midoriya shot a few rounds of incendiary grenades at his open wounds, sending the villain stumbling back. As he stumbled, a tongue wrapped around the villain's wrist, and Tsuyu shot herself towards Overhaul, kicking him directly in the face.

“Let's seal him down!” Midoriya said into his headset, before looking back over his shoulder. “You okay, Eri?”

She nodded and shook slightly before whispering. “Don't...don't let him get me.”

To hear her so afraid sent anger jolting down Deku's spine. “Never.”

He and Hatsume stood on the ledge of a building and unleashed a barrage of glue grenades, their entire stock, cementing the giant legs of the unholy Overhaul fusion in place. An indistinguishable yell greeted them, and both Midoriya and the mech suit had to leap over a giant arm swatting for them. With how huge the villain was, Deku flashed back to his encounter with Muscular.

“We need to secure him with cryogrenades too!” He commanded into his headset.

As the suit and Deku landed on opposite sides of Overhaul, Tsuyu wrapped her tongue around the giant's throat, thrusting herself upward and kicking him in the eye. The distraction served well as Midoriya and Hatsume emptied their rounds of cryogrenades on Overhaul, freezing him up to his waist.

“Think we got him, kero?” Froppy asked, hopping over to Midoriya and Eri. Her ear twitched. “Deku, I think some of the pros are coming, you need to get out of here!”

He hesitated and took Eri off his back. She looked up at him, scared. “Midoriya...?”

“Go with Froppy,” he insisted, firm but gentle, “she's a phenomenal hero.”

Eri slowly walked to Tsuyu as the mech suit arrived with the other three. Behind them, Overhaul was thrashing about, but in his ear, Hatsume said, quietly, “thermal is showing bodies coming up this way. We need to move or we're toast.”

Reluctantly, he looked to Tsuyu and whispered, “good luck, Tsu.”

“What is it you guys say?” She croaked. “Luck is stupid and I don't need it. We'll kick his ass”

With a small laugh, Midoriya jumped away alongside the suit.

“Should I take this bad boy back to my basement?” Hatsume asked as the two figures jumped from roof to roof.

As they got a decent distance away, there was a taller building Deku began to climb up. “Not yet. I want to keep an eye on the action. Make sure we aren't needed further.”

Crouching over the ledge, he zoomed in on Overhaul to see he had left just in time; Eraserhead, Fatgum, Nighteye,Tamaki, Kirishima, and Nejire had all arrived. No way would he have escaped from such a team if Overhaul was freed and they had nothing in the way of chasing him down.

“These guys should have it from here, right?” Hatsume asked.

“Hopefully...”

And at first, it appeared so. Aizawa had convinced Eri, with some help from Tsuyu, to use her rewinding Quirk to separate Overhaul from his henchman. And then, Aizawa was able to nullify her Quirk to prevent further damage or erasures from existence.

Surrounded by a group of heroes, and with no henchmen left, Overhaul did not make any moves.

But then, as Aizawa was watching the villain, he succumbed to a human weakness we all have.

He blinked.

And that was all it took. Overhaul reached forward and grabbed Aizawa, pushing himself and his Quirk to the limit to fuse with the Pro.

“Oh. Shit.” Midoriya gaped.

The abomination that resulted was a mess of a man, with Aizawa's face coming from his stomach, and eyeballs sprouting from all over his body.

Midoriya took off his helmet and vomited on the roof of the building. Even from a distance, such a transformation was sickening. He wiped his mouth and put his helmet back on; he'd need to toughen his nerves if he was carrying One for All.

Focusing back on the villain, he saw that all the eyes sprouting from Overhaul's body were prevent 360-degree Quirk nullification. Sir Nighteye stepped forward as the leader of the operation.

But Overhaul was not slowed down by the horrifying fusion in the least, grabbing both of Nighteye's arms and making them explode into nothingness.

Kirishima charged forward, but without his Quirk, Fatgum held him back as Overhaul finished off Sir Nighteye, reducing him to a pile of blood on the ground.

“Shit,” Midoriya realized. “He's not physically imposing...but if he touches any of them it could be all over.”

Re-deploying his spider legs, he jumped towards the fight again, crossing from rooftop to rooftop in a rush. Can't let anyone else die! I can't!

Mirio left this power to me! He trusted me! I have to finish this for him!

“What are you doing?!” Hatsume cried in his ear.

“Get the robot out of here!” He replied, “and disconnect! I have to finish this and I don't want you to get caught!”

“But...”

“Just do it!”

She didn't fight him any further. I'll feel guilty later...

The only person whose Quirk wasn't affected was Asui's, as it was a mutation Quirk. She began hopping around the alleyway, desperate attempt to draw Overhaul away from the rest of the group. It seemed to be working, and as the villain approached Tsuyu began spitting rapid fire poison all over Overhaul's gross body.

While her poison was only mildly stinging, the various eyes covering his figure were exposed, causing Overhaul to cry out in pain in two, garbled voices.

Having inherited Aizawa's enhanced agility in the fusion, Overhaul kicked off a building next to them and booted Asui across the jaw, knocking her to the pavement. The rest of The Heroes moved in to assist, but Overhaul pulled a gun from his jacket and pointed it at the fallen hero in desperation.

“One move. She dies.”

No one moved, though Kirishima swore loudly.

Deku had made it to the commotion and peered over the ledge. After scanning the situation, he realized he was out of glue and cryogrenades, and using an incendiary grenade risked hurting Asui. He only had one play.

But it would likely get him caught.

Unless...unless he could get a hit and run in.

Tsuyu glanced up in his direction and made eye contact with Midoriya through his helmet. Despite not having a chance to talk about it, they knew what the other needed

Tsuyu quickly shot her tongue out, grabbing Overhaul’s wrist and jerking the gun up and away from anyway. A loud gunshot rang out, in the night sky, cuing Midoriya to act.

Jumping from the roof, he used his front two spider legs to grab the hand with Overhaul's gun, and the back of Overhaul's head, and used his momentum to slam the villain into the ground, finally knocking the Yakuza leader out. The pros in the crowd gasped.

With the threat diminished, Midoriya jumped back on the building and began to flee.

He jumped from roof to roof, only daring to glance back once he was many blocks away.

No one appeared to be following him; perhaps they had bigger fish to fry with the rest of the Yakuza, but he couldn't let his guard down now.

Hopping down into an alley, he withdrew his battle augmentations and shoved helmet in his pack. He paused and looked down at his legs, which, as the adrenaline began to wear off, were exceptionally sore.

This must have been what Mirio was talking about... He sighed, briefly rubbing his sore thighs. Feels like I climbed a million flights of stairs.

As he casually slipped onto the sidewalk, he walked as quickly as his tired body would allow towards the nearest subway station. He wondered if his jump hadn't been aided from his tech if the pressure would have broken his legs.

Checking the schedule, Midoriya cursed under his breath. The next train wasn't coming for a while, and he needed to get back to UA before curfew. He leaned against a light pole and looked down at his hands.

If he was truly the next holder of One for All, what did he do?

What would Tsuyu say? Or Eri? They witnessed the exchange. Tsuyu might keep his identity a secret, but they had no time to corroborate his story. And Eri would likely, if she talked, say exactly what happened.

It was so tempting to mutter all this, but Midoriya bit his lip.

Should he tell the principal?

How would he tell Hatsume?

He looked down at his phone to see a few messages had been received from her in the last few minutes. But the anxiety welling in his chest prevented him from looking, too many scenarios running through his head, each worse than the last.

This was my most risky venture yet.

Finally, the time for the train arrived, and Midoriya breathed a sigh of relief as he went underground, away from pesky phone signals. Half an hour wasted on just waiting around.

By then, he assumed the Heroes and emergency services would have apprehended the villains and treated to the injured. Possibly even the Heroes were preparing to leave. He had to make sure he returned to the dorms before Aizawa; he'd have no excuse being out of the building at this time of night, and he didn't want to run that risk.

The entire train ride, he was nothing but a jittery mess. He had been incredibly stupid in this endeavor, and he knew exactly why he kept engaging in such high-risk behavior: he still wanted to be a hero, more than anything.

Perhaps as far back as when he saved Tsuyu from the Sludge Villain, he knew it was not in him to run away from someone in danger, because the one time he failed to notice trouble, Bakugou had died. And maybe that wasn’t his fault, no, but could things have been different if Midoriya had been there for that attack? There was no way to know, of course, but it was something that he had been ignoring.

But now...now he had a Hero’s Quirk.

The train stopped, leaving Midoriya to put his thoughts on hold as he snuck back onto campus, avoided the patrol bots, and made his way back to Heights Alliance.

He figured, as he walked, he could figure out what to do with One for All in the morning. Talk it out with Hatsume. Figure how they could maybe master his Quirk in secret and plot his best course of action. Maybe pose as some sort of late bloomer.

Of course, as he jumped onto his balcony, he wasn’t expecting the principal to be in his room either, Hatsume looking incredibly nervous as Midoriya awkwardly stared into his room, one leg swung over the balcony railing, frozen in place in mid-climb. Nezu waved to him, never dropping his friendly demeanor.

If I run now, maybe I could start a new life.

Shaking the thought, he guiltily entered his room.

“H-heeeey principal Nezu...” Midoriya scratched the back of his neck nervously, “n-nice night for a jog, right?”

Nezu shook his head. “No need for such tall-tales, Mr. Midoriya. But it is a nice night. So I hope you and Ms. Hatsume wouldn’t mind joining me for a walk back to my office.”

This, of course, wasn’t a question. Midoriya and Hatsume guiltily shuffled behind the rodent, dejected, as they headed back to the main building. Despite the short walk, the anticipation of what was to come made it seem like miles.

Once in the office, Nezu began to fix himself some tea. “Can I offer you two some?”

Midoriya shook his head. Hatsume nodded, so she was presented with a cup that she lifted, shakily, to her mouth to calm her nerves.

Taking a sip himself, Nezu said, calmly, “we're just waiting for one other. Now, I know you two are aware of what happened, so allow me to explain.”

Midoriya held his breath. This was it. This HAD to be It.

“When Aizawa was fused with Overhaul, he was helpless to act, but saw everything.”

Oh shit.

“And he saw the vigilante matching Mr. Midoriya's physical description and matching technological gear.”

Oh. Shit.

“When he was separated from the villain, he called me and told me to wait in your room, and assured me I would catch you sneaking in. Lo and behold, I made it just in time to see his prediction be true.”

Shit shit shit.

A knock came at the door. “Come in,” the principal called.

Izuku's blood ran cold as Aizawa entered the room, with Tsuyu and Eri herself. Even on her typically stoic face, Asui looked at the two with an expression of incredible guilt, while Eri just looked confused.

“Hello, sir.” Aizawa greeted, flatly.

“Greetings, Eraserhead. I was just filling in our Support Students as to how they've ended up in this situation.”

To his surprise, Aizawa sighed. “I'm afraid the situation with Midoriya is a bit more complicated than I originally thought.”

At his name, Eri's head perked up. Of course. She heard Mirio call me that.

Breaking free from Aizawa, she ran over to the green haired boy and threw her arms around him. “Mr. Deku!”

Ohhhhh I bet this looks great.

“What sort of complications?” For once Nezu sounded a bit concerned

“I took Eri's statement first...” The teacher began. “There were complications and Mirio began to disappear.”

From his arms, Eri sniffled, and without thinking, Deku began to rub her back gently. “It’s okay,” he muttered gently.

“And, in her words, Mirio took a clump of hair and shoved it in Midoriya's mouth before vanishing altogether.”

Nezu dropped his teacup, it shattering against his desk.

“Asui saw it too.”

Midoriya and Tsuyu made eye contact, and she mouthed, “sorry,” to him. He gave her a weak smile. It wasn't her fault, and he'd never hold his decisions against her.

“Is this true, Mr. Midoriya?” The principal asked, regaining his composure.

He nodded.

“So why were you there in the first place?” The rodent questioned.

He drew a sharp breath, but before he could begin, Aizawa answered for him. “Because he's the vigilante that was involved with Stain, Todoroki and...”

Nezu held up a paw to silence the teacher. “That's not what I mean. Why were you at this raid, in particular?”

Midoriya froze. He knew this was the end for him. But maybe it didn't have to be the end for Hatsume.

She, however, wasn't as hopeful and answered first. “I put a bug on Uraraka.”

Nezu nodded. “We suspected your involvement, Ms. Hatsume.”

Defeated, Izuku continued to explain. “We were going to let it go, but I heard Uraraka get attacked. She's...she's my friend. I wanted to make sure she was okay.” He turned to Aizawa and gulped. “Is she...?”

“She'll be fine,” was the curt response he received.

“We ran into each other looking for her, kero.” Tsuyu explained. “And we came upon Mirio as he was vanishing.”

Nezu stared down at his desk, absorbing the information. Super genius as he was, he seemed at a loss for what to do.

After a few minutes of silence, Eri squeaked up, “Midoriya isn't in trouble, is he?”

Everyone turned to look at her, and she began to panic, “he-he saved me with the nice man and Froppy, please don't be mad at him!”

She began to cry, and Aizawa went over and picked her up. The principal frowned at the display and folded his hands. “I believe she's had enough for one night, Eraserhead. Please see her back to the authorities.”

Aizawa nodded, and left without a word, leaving the three students with Nezu. The principal turned in his chair, and walked over to the window, pausing to look up at the night sky.

“So what do I do with the three of you now?”

Midoriya, Hatsume, and Asui all held their breath anxiously. The principal continued without their input after a moment, but he almost seemed to enjoy toying with them a bit.

“Asui was compliant in your vigilantism, though minor. But laws dictate I turn any and all vigilantes over to the police.”

This is it. I'm doomed.

“Of course, then, if I do that, it will surely be the end of UA. Imagine the reputation of the school after we provided the training and materials for a Quirkless Support Student, unwittingly, to become a vigilante that took down Stain and even All Might's killer.” He turned, barely, back towards Midoriya. “And I assume that was also you. All witness testimony matches yours.”

Izuku nodded, meekly.

Nezu calmly walked back to his desk. “So where does that leave me? Well. Let me tell you two things, children. I love this school. I've put my life into this institution, and I'm not keen on letting the foolhardy actions of a few teens ruin these hallowed halls. Second...”

He turned more to Asui. “As these two know, I was entrusted by All Might before his death to find a successor for his Quirk, which is inherited from user to user. What you saw, Ms. Asui, was that transfer; All Might left his Quirk to Mirio, who decided to pass it to Midoriya. I promised All Might to guide the new Symbol of Peace. So...”

There was knock at the door, and Aizawa entered again, looking pissed.

“Just in time,” the Principal smiled, “the three of you will be under house arrest for one week. And then...”

He turned to Midoriya. “You will be transferred to Aizawa's class. You were chosen by All Might and Mirio. You wanted to play Hero, correct? Well...now you have to take responsibility for your choices.”

Chapter Text

It was Wednesday night, the night before Midoriya Izuku started his Hero Courses. With his week of house arrest almost up, Midoriya allowed his mind to wander over the last week while in the shower. No matter how he tried, his mind always went back to his conversation with the Principal after rescuing Eri.

---

The Principal dismissed everyone besides Aizawa and Midoriya after his announcement. If Midoriya was upset about being transferred from Support to Heroics, it was nothing compared to the look of rage on the face of Eraserhead.

“Sir,” he seethed through grit teeth, “I beg you to reconsider, his acts of vigilantism...”

“Are indeed a gross show of disrespect to the law yes, I remember you telling me that on the phone earlier.” Nezu interrupted. “But the media is already growing with distrust in the Hero scene. Moreso, some even trust vigilantes to get things done more than the licensed professionals. What will become of that trust if it comes out that we’ve had a vigilante amongst us? We can turn this situation into a win. But that means you will need to teach this boy how to control One for All. You may go. I will brief you on the Quirk's details tomorrow.”

Again, this was not something to be questioned.

“And Midoriya...” Nezu said, bringing full focus on the boy, “from now on, we will all be watching you closely. Consider this probationary. Your last chance. Any more unlicensed activity, and I will be forced to forego my promise to All Might and then turn you over to the authorities. You are on thin ice. Do you understand?”
---

It had been a turbulent week of cleaning, and the only time he was allowed to leave the dormitory was when Aizawa got him after class to begin Quirk training.

On the first day, Thursday, Aizawa made Midoriya run through an obstacle course to test his normal physical capabilities. While months of training, self-defense classes, and vigilantism left him in above-average shape, he was given a strict workout regimen to follow.

This would be the easiest day of his week.

“One for All is a dangerous, destructive power,” Aizawa had sighed from inside his sleeping bag as Midoriya hit two hundred pushups. “If it were in my hands, I’d expel you because it’s difficult to control. But that decision isn’t mine. You’ll need to muscle up to handle such power.”

Sore and tired, on day 2, they began actually training his Quirk. Or, trying at least. The first thing that happened was when Midoriya tried punching a sandbag. The sandbag exploded across the gym, and Midoriya shattered his arm in the process, ending up in Recovery Girl's office. Still, Aizawa told Midoriya that they would spend some extra time on the weekend to get that restraint down.

“If you listen to me - which listening to authority seems to be a problem for you,” Aizawa warned, “you shouldn’t have to end up here all that much. Otherwise, if you keep smashing stuff with abandon, you’ll become a regular.”

---
It was later that night of their house arrest before Hatsume or Midoriya could even figure out what to say to each other, and even then, it was when they were lying in bed, facing away from each other in uncomfortable silence. It had been a long, awkward, and silent two days, which is only good for building tension when you or your romantic partner, “needed to talk.”

“Hey...Izuku?”

Midoriya rolled over to face her as she did the same. He knew an awkward conversation was coming, or, maybe even needed to come, but he had no idea where to begin over the last two days.

Things between himself and Hatsume had gotten odd. She was allowed to work on his Hero suit since she had experience with One for All tech, but only under direct supervision from Power Loader. And she was going to be taking over all the commissions he had been assigned, though the patents were still under his name.

“What is it?”

“Does this mean...” Her voice was strained, and even in the dark, it wasn't hard to tell she was trying hard to hold it together. “Does this mean we can't be partners anymore?”

He hadn't expected the question to make him cry, or that his crying would make Mei cry in return. But it was what he had been fearing for the last forty-eight hours, and to hear it out loud just broke the dam. He pulled her close and held her tightly, her doing the same as they broke down. After a few minutes, the two managed to calm themselves down.

“I don't know.” He admitted, honestly. “We can't do the vigilante thing anymore. I have to...I have to do this the right way. Or else we’re both screwed.”

He didn't move as she buried her face in his chest. Midoriya could feel his chest dampen from her cheeks. “It sucks,” was her muffled reply.

Izuku let out a long sigh. He didn't really have an argument. All his life, Midoriya Izuku had grown up idolizing All Might, analyzing Pros, chasing Kacchan, and wanting nothing more than to be the Hero on the television or websites, saving the innocents with a smile on his face. Now was his greatest chance.

So why wasn't he happy?

He looked down at the pink haired mess laying against his chest and thought about his partnership with her - both romantically and professionally. He thought about how his dreams had changed after Kacchan died, meeting Power Loader, and working with her.

He loved the life he had built for himself in Support, even in the short amount of time he had chased the new goal. Did he have to just give it all up?

“You're still who I'll turn to for my Hero suit.” He relented. “And I'll still work with you on any of your assignments or hangout in the lab after classes.”

“It still sucks and I kinda hate it.” Mei grumbled, though not as sad as at first. “But...this is your dream, right? I should be more supportive, I guess. Girlfriends do that, right? But classes are going to suck without you there.”

“It’s okay...” He chuckled softly. “I wanted to be a Hero with all my tech. Like I talked about with All Might after the Sports Festival. This...I don't know. It's my dream but this isn't how I imagined things.”

Hatsume looked up at him and smiled. “Every time we make a plan it never ends up going how we imagine it too. Then we change it until it works, right?”

Midoriya nodded. “Like with Stain?”

“Right. So, it's just like that. We'll figure it out. You just figure out how not to explode your arms when you slap people silly. And I’ll be right here, making us millionaires with my big sexy brain.”
---

On day three, Saturday, Aizawa began teaching Midoriya restraint. Midoriya could only seem to summon 100% of One for All, like a light switch. Midoriya would summon the power, but at the last second, Aizawa would nullify it.

“Now do it again but summon less. Imagine a power meter in a video game or...” Aizawa explained, tiredly.

“Like microwaving an egg and stopping it before it explodes?” Izuku had suggested.

“No, that's a stupid analogy.” The teacher snapped. “You have very little control in that scenario. Feel the power in you, and try to control the flow, like water pressure from a faucet. You can turn it all the way for full water pressure...or a little for a trickle. Right now, you can only handle a trickle. You're no good to anyone if you break your arms every time you throw a punch.”

It had become clear in all of this that the principal had not done Aizawa a service by assigning Midoriya to his care either. After all, it had become clear weeks ago to Deku that Aizawa had suspected him for his vigilantism and wanted him out of the school. Still, he was right. I can’t expect to be a hero and be in the emergency room every day.

After an hour of using the faucet method, Midoriya managed to summon only 20% of One for All into his arm, and when he went to throw a punch, Aizawa stopped him again. “That's better, but even at that level, you're still going to break your arm, even if it’s just stress fractures. Go do your workout and get back to the dorm, we’ll see if we can cut the power down more tomorrow.”

He stopped and wiped sweat from his brow, examining his hand. “I could probably develop some bracers and restraints to lessen the impact-OOMPH!”

Midoriya had been shocked as Aizawa wrapped him up in his restraining scarf once again. “No. Those types of items are fine for whatever Hero Costume you design, but you need to master your Quirk under your own power. Then you can make modifications and gear to work around your abilities.” Aizawa loosened the restraints before grunting, “you aren't in Support any more, like it or not. You have to think like a Hero course student.”

Midoriya had frowned. He loved building gear, but, admittedly, Aizawa wasn't wrong.

The rest of the weekend had been no better. The Support students of class 1-H were quite messy, and on top of that, he had to find time for a workout regiment, leaving him feeling stretched thin.

---

Sunday had come, day four of the house arrest, and Midoriya managed to drag himself to Gym Gamma early, as Eraserhead commanded. The teacher was waiting there, outside of the building, still in his bright yellow sleeping bag.

“Let’s get to work.” Aizawa muttered, hobbling inside.

Midoriya had frowned at the time. He accepted that he had been caught. He played with fire one too many times, played the Hero until he was finally caught and now, all things considered, the consequences he was being dealt could have been much worse. But if Aizawa was going to be his homeroom teacher, would he ever be able to win the Pro over? He didn’t regret what he had done; if he hadn’t been there, what would have happened to Tsuyu or Eri? What would Mirio have done? Would One for All cease to exist? Him being there had to have been for the best, he had figured.

But now he was stuck with Eraserhead.

After numerous attempts with restraint, Midoriya managed to hit the punching bag with 10% of One for All’s power, Aizawa not holding back his power at all. Even with such a small amount, the bag swung on its chain in almost a complete arc, and Midoriya yelped as he jumped out of the way as the sandbag careened back towards him.

“Looks like you got it to a point you can use.” Aizawa said, though not at all congratulatory by any means. “Try a few more times, then see if you can do it with your left.”

For the next hour or so, Midoriya got the hang of using One for All in bursts of 10% and managed to do so in both arms. Exhausted, he was shocked when Aizawa nullified his power as he was working on his left hook.

“That’s enough punching for now. How are your arms?”

Midoriya looked down and stretched the two limbs out. “A little achy. More like an intense workout though, nothing broken or sprained.”

“From the briefing Nezu gave me, that's a good sign. That's what we want. Now, we're going to work on the same thing, but with your legs. This is an entirely different muscle group, so try and get yourself down to 10%.”

Izuku assumed this was about as much of a compliment he'd get out of the teacher, so he took it in stride.

Training his legs felt a bit...sillier. He would squat down and draw power - and the teacher was right. His legs were harder to control, and before he jumped, Aizawa cut off his power.

He looked pretty dumb, jumping in place for a good two hours. But persistence in most things pays off, and as lunch time hit, he was able to limit his leg strength to 10%, springing a good ten or so feet in the air, and...

“Ow!” He cried, landing hard in a crouch, cringing as pain shot up to his hips. He hadn’t been prepared for that impact.

“Let that be an important lesson for you,” Aizawa said, from a nearby bench that he was laying across. “If you’re jumping with a strength enhancing Quirk, which One for All resembles, you need to retain the muscle enhancement for landing, or you’ll just mess yourself up.”

Now he tells me.

“Try it with a few more jumps, then tomorrow we’ll see if you can hold that power while running...” Aizawa stood up.

After he had been dismissed back to the dorms, with aching legs and arms, he found there was no rest for the wicked as his classmates had mounds and heaps of trash for him to take to the dumpster. Finally, he dragged himself back inside again. Thankfully, the rest of the common room was spotless. Hatsume was on a nearby couch, feet kicked up on a coffee table, as she watched the automatic vacuum cleaner she slapped together make its rounds around the room.

“Thanks for taking care of the living area while I was learning how not to die,” Midoriya had groaned as he collapsed next to her.

“I’m not much for cleaning,” Hatsume shrugged, “which was nice during summer break since you did most of it for me! But, inventing stuff to clean? Easy.”

“I’m sorry I got you banned from the lab for a week.” Midoriya sighed.

She chopped him lightly on the head again. “I told you to knock that attitude off. I knew the risks when I got involved. It sucks, but now maybe I can make cool gear for you officially.”

She always bounces back quickly. “That’s good. I actually had some gloves I was thinking about...got the idea from that friend of mine I told you about.”

Hatsume’s eyes lit up. “The worst part about this has been not making tech babies. Tell me all about your ideas so I can get cracking when I go back on Thursday!”

---

Monday came, and while it was nice not to have to be in class, Midoriya didn’t have time to enjoy it. He had to wash all the dirty clothes and dishes for building 1-H, and then get back to his workout regimen. Before he knew it, classes were out for the day, and Aizawa was knocking at his door for his crash course in One for All.

“Now’s crunch time.” The teacher said as they made their way over to the Gym. “Both in these last three training sessions, and for the rest of the term. Some of the students have had to take Remedial Training, but half of class has their Hero Licenses. Next term the ones who didn’t qualify for the remedial training are taking a second qualifier. You’ll need to catch up a lot to even dream of passing that.”

“Don’t they only do those once a year?” Midoriya asked.

“They did...” Aizawa let out a deep sigh as the building came into view. “But with All Might’s death and the general public’s distrust of Heroes, more courses were added so that more Heroes could fill the gap he left.”

The teacher stopped walking, making Midoriya stop as well, confused. “Sir?”

“Part of the problem with your vigilantism is that you were short-sighted.” Aizawa replied. “You managed to put away two highly public criminals, which is true, however, when something like that gets News, it hurts the Hero Scene. The public begins to distrust us, turning more people to crime and vigilantism. We’re not who should be seen as enemies, but if we seem incompetent, people will start thinking Stain was right.”

Midoriya bit his lip. “That...that wasn’t my intention, sir.”

“If it was, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, you’d be in jail. All Might saw something in you, and the Principal believes it. You weren’t doing this for fame or righteousness or revenge. At least not that we know of. You genuinely wanted to help, which isn’t something we can say about a lot of so-called vigilantes. It’s why you were given some slack. I only finally caught you because you saved Asui when it wasn’t in your best interest.”

Midoriya didn’t feel the need to admit that the reason he started vigilantism in the first place was for revenge; he’d long since moved past that point.

“That’s enough chatter,” Aizawa said, walking forward again. “We’re wasting valuable time.”

Running with One for All was much different than jumping. Every step sprung him forward, faster than he could react at first, leading to various face plants around the spacious workout area. Even when he stopped tanking with every step, working up to a stride was a challenge; needing to know how far he was running with each step, and prepping each leg with just 10% of the energy to catch himself and spring back.

As he managed ten fast paced strides - and with that power alone was a good distance across the gym, he tripped up again. Maybe this is what they meant by crash course.

“Using this Quirk in motion is going to be your biggest struggle.” Aizawa chimed in from his favorite bench. “Keep this up tonight until you can run across the entire gym.”

Midoriya grit his teeth and tried again. It took well until after nightfall, but he was finally able to sprint across the gym. Splitting his focus was hard - running and holding his power level steady, but if he could operate spider legs from inside metal gauntlets while fighting, he figured could at least manage this level of multitasking. It just required practice.

“Good. Tomorrow we’ll try putting these moves and skills together.” Aizawa informed him. “And hopefully get me to bed earlier...”

“S-sorry, sensei.” Midoriya stuttered

---

On Tuesday, the penultimate day before Hero studies, Midoriya found out just what Eraserhead meant by combining the skills.

Various punching bags and cones had been lined up strategically along cones across the entire concrete floor. Confused, Izuku looked to his new teacher.

“You can probably guess,” Aizawa explained, putting a few eye drops in his left eye, “you're going to run to each cone and punch each bag along the way. I'm going to time the whole thing. See how tight we can fine tune the restraint for your Quirk."

His first few rounds of the obstacle course went horribly, which in retrospect, made sense. Learning to control one aspect of the Quirk took hours upon hours each day. And this was combining multiple different muscle groups at once. Trying to turn at the cones resulted in him tripping and skidding across the pavement.

“Again!” Aizawa commanded.

Then, Midoriya overshot the cone, sailing a good five feet over it in his step.

“Again!!” Aizawa repeated.

After another attempt, Midoriya ran the cones, but crashed headlong into the sandbag.

“AGAIN!” Aizawa yelled.

After another few attempts, he managed to run the cones, and paused in front of the sandbag, charging his arm...

And Aizawa stopped him. “You’re taking too long.”

“What do you mean?!” Midoriya gasped.

“It took you a full few seconds between stopping in front of the bag and charging your arms.” Aizawa grunted. “The transition should be seamless; a villain isn’t going to pause so you can switch energy.”

Midoriya let it sink it in. “Need the energy in both places...”

With his new Quirk, it was hard enough to hold the energy in one place.

“One day you’ll need to carry that energy across your whole body. The faster you can transition it, the easier that will be.” Aizawa explained. “Now do it again.”

---

It was late Tuesday night when Midoriya collapsed into his bed, waking Hatsume who had already been there.

“Jeez,” she laughed, “for someone under house arrest, you’re gone all day.”

“No banter,” he sighed into his pillow, “everything hurts.”

“That power is tricky, huh?”

He nodded in response; it was all he could manage.”

She only laughed harder. “Alright hero boy. Roll over. I’ll help you feel better.”

---

Wednesday had doubled the size of the course, but with his training, Midoriya only had half the crashes. It took time, but he managed to cut the length of his transitions in half.

As the sun set, Aizawa cut him off. “I think that’s enough.”

Midoriya was just getting ready to take off running again when he felt the power drain from his legs and making him stumble. “Sir?”

“It’s getting dark soon, Midoriya.” Aizawa added. “You’ve made real progress on your Quirk, as much as I don’t care to admit it. You have good potential.”

Midoriya was about to smile before Aizawa continued, “but so do plenty of people of people who misuse their Quirk for evil or...vigilantism. I don’t trust you yet, so you need to prove that to me.”

The teen looked to his feet. “Y-yes sir.”

“Now go get some sleep. And at some point, we’ll have to see about moving you to building 1-A.”

Midoriya looked up, ready to object, but a glare from Aizawa told him it wasn’t up for discussion, so he skulked off.

---

“I kinda figured they’d put you in the Hero dorms,” Hatsume admitted. “It’s fine. I can hack the security drones and sneak in.”

“You could probably just come over,” Midoriya deadpanned, tiredly. “We know a lot of the people there anyway.”

“Sneaking is more fun, and I get to hack robots!” Hatsume argued. She smiled. “You know, as much as it sucks that I’m losing you in class, I get to build stuff for your Strength Enhancing Quirk. Finish the design for your hero suit, I can’t wait to put it together!”

“Just make sure it doesn’t kill me.”

She pinched his cheek. “My new best customer? Never.”

---

Back in the present, Wednesday night, after that conversation, Midoriya finally turned off the shower and head back to what could be one of his final nights sleeping in 1-H.

Tomorrow he started the Hero Training Course.

Tomorrow everything changed.

He climbed into bed and took Hatsume by surprise with a passionate kiss, which lead to other things. Afterwards, she gently rested her arm across his sore body. “I’m not complaining, but what was that about?”

“Just...wanted you to know how much I appreciate you sticking through this.”

And it was true. Because things were about to change more than they could predict.

Chapter Text

“Class, this is the new transfer from Support, Midoriya Izuku. He recently discovered his strength enhancing Quirk to avoid an explosion in the Support Lab.” Aizawa explained to the class.

That’s my cover story? Lame.

“Combined with his fighting abilities displayed in the Sports Festival, we thought we’d give him a try here. We have a few open desks. Choose whichever.”

It wasn’t much of a choice; Uraraka was waving frantically and pointing at the empty seat behind her, trying to get his attention and being less than subtle about it. He stifled a laugh; it was good that he at least had friends going into this.

“Too bad it’s this nerd and not his girlfriend with the big knockers,” Mineta said, not even bothering to mutter his crass remarks. Almost reflexively, he felt One for All surge into his arm, but he took a deep breath and walked past the twerp.

“Aw man,” Kirishima groaned, “I wanted to fight against you with those cool spider legs.”

That was more the welcome he had been hoping for, and Midoriya couldn’t help but smile. “Maybe we can spar some time, I still have them around.”

“That’s enough of that. Class President Yaoyorozu, fill in Midoriya with what we’ve been focusing on.” Aizawa instructed, zipping up his sleeping bag and falling asleep on the floor.

Midoriya blinked in confusion. He was so used to Power Loader’s passion for what he taught that this seemed like a bad joke. Quietly, he turned to a pink-haired...and skinned girl by him and pointed to the yellow sleeping bag behind the desk. “Does he...?”

“All the time!” The girl chirped. “I’m Ashido Mina, by the way, nice to meet you!”

“Oh...thanks, you too!”

The class president walked over and gave him a warm smile. “Greetings to class 1-A, Midoriya! As Class president, I will do whatever you would need to help you catch up to the rest of us!”

He returned her smile and went to answer her when she dropped a stack of books and binders on his desk. “I’ve prepared numerous copies of my notes and studies on Hero Theory, Quirk Theory,” Deku raised his hand to speak up, excited about Quirk Theory, but the president seemed not to see him and continued with her rambling, “the study materials that helped us prepare for our term finals - guess you should be glad you weren’t here for the practical - and some notes I picked up from the licensing exam...which...I will be retaking next term.”

She seemed to deflate herself with that comment, and Midoriya withdrew his hand. He was surprised to hear this; he knew about her powerful Quirk. And she was class president, surely, she should have had no sweat acing the Provisional Licensing...?

“H-hey Yaoyorozu, don’t overload him so much on day one,” Uraraka laughed, nervously.

“Yeah, kero, besides, Aizawa wanted you to tell him what we’re doing currently,” Asui added, putting a little emphasis on the final word.

“R-right,” the president replied, straightening herself up. “Right now, we are preparing for the Cultural Festival next month!”

“Oh, neat,” Izuku lied. Truth be told, he didn’t much care for things like festivals. He used to get chased around them by Kacchan and the neighborhood, bullies, though he was sure things would be different now. Still, it seemed a little lackluster for hero activities.

“Now, I know you’re still designing your Hero Costume and need to pick a hero name, but we still would like you to join us at six in our common area to begin preparing our performance! And this will give you a good time to catch up!” The president finished, regaining a bright smile.

She’s got a good point, he figured, I’ll need to work hard. These guys have had half a year practically to master heroics. Then again...I’m no slouch either.

“Sounds like a plan!” Izuku grinned.

---

It was something of an interesting change, having normal school work in the morning – though it certainly didn’t help Midoriya stay awake as he listened to Present Mic wax poetic about Crime and Punishment. But as it finally hit lunchtime, he was interested to see what Hero Training had in store for him.

Sitting next to Mei, he bit into his sandwich, pondering. “Asui and Uraraka said it’s always something different,” he mused to himself. “So, I really don’t know what to expect.”

“And with no Hero Suit, it’s just you and your gym clothes.” Hatsume laughed. “No babies. You are baby-less, Deku Scrub. Think you can get by without being a human spider for a day?”

Izuku gave her a smirk. “I actually wanted to talk to you about my Hero Suit.”

“FINALLY!” She threw her hands into the air as Yukio, sitting not far from them, jumped in shock and spilled hot soup all over his pants. “I was wondering when I’d finally get to make something awesome for you.”

Midoriya beamed at her reaction as he rustled through his backpack to find his freshest notebook. “There it is...I go through so many of these...Here we go…this is the design I finished. It includes the gloves I told you about. And, some padding and shock absorbers so I can use more than just 10% of my…Quirk. Man, that’s weird to say.” Fifteen years, and finally a Quirk...how surreal. “But I was hoping to maybe install something on my back to hold the spider legs. Maybe it’d be smaller since I wouldn’t need all the grenades and tasers and grappling hooks and all...”

“That’d be plausible, but it’d have to go on last…” Mei rubbed her chin. “I can get this made this weekend. But you controlled your mecha legs with controls either on your straps or inside your gauntlets. How would you control them?”

“Fair point…we’ll to forego them until I can figure out a plausible control mechanism…”

Hatsume snorted with laughter. “You really can’t go without them, can you?”

“They’re my favorite baby!”

“Parents aren’t supposed to have favorites!”

“That’s for human babies, not mechanical ones, Mei!”

Another table over, Asui and Uraraka watched the exchange together and laughed. “Think he’ll be ready for this afternoon, kero?”

Uraraka shrugged but kept a rather mischievous smile. “It will depend on what Mr. Aizawa has planned.”
---

As the afternoon hit, Mr. Aizawa led class 1-A over to the Warehouse Zone training field.

“This is where Mina and Kaminari failed their exam against the principal, kero,” Tsuyu whispered to her friend.

Midoriya nodded and looked up at mess of steel piping and warehouses, inhaling sharply, wondering what on earth was waiting for him in such a crowded place.

Aizawa stopped and turned to his class. “For today, we’ll be tuning your response times to crisis situations.” He pointed to the top of a metallic tower. “I’m going to be at the top of there, and the starting line will be the entrance. As there are seventeen of us, I’ll split you all into four groups – one with an extra competitor – and you’ll race to see who can get to me first. We’ll do this a few times at different entrance points, and the person with the best time gets to skip cleaning duty after class.”

That’s some incentive.

As the groups were split up, Midoriya wasn’t exactly surprised that he was put in the group with the surplus student; Aizawa wouldn’t pass up the chance to give him extra competition to really work his Quirk.

Still, he was up against Sero, Ashido, Oijiro, and Aoyama, what he considered to be some of the more mobile classmates of his, and he was stuck in his gym clothes. I guess I’ve got my work cut out for me.

He eyed the tower in the distance and the mess of pipes and ductwork before him.

“GO!”

As the students took off running, with no other ideas what to do, Midoriya summoned as much power as he could into his legs without hurting himself and took off running at high speeds. He looked around him and realized immediately Sero or Ashido were the favorites; he was swinging through the urban wasteland with his tape powers, and Ashido was surfing across her own acid above the ground. He swerved quickly to avoid it.

“On your left, monsieur!”

For a split second, Aoyama came zipping past him using his laser, but the laser gave out after a few seconds and he stumbled across the ground, Midoriya leaving him in the dust.

Well that was…something…

He heard a thudding all around him, and he looked up to see Ojiro using his tail to kick off the wall and pipes, in some sort of makeshift parkour to catch up with the two leaders, Sero and Ashido.

Midoriya wasn’t trailing them by much, and while his movement speed was good, they were mobile and airborne, allowing them much more mobility. Immediately, his mind began racing to his grappling hooks, or his spider legs or the hover pack.

…but I don’t have those right now.

Frustration began pushing his motions more. He missed his gear. He could smoke the others with his gear.

As he approached the tower, he saw some ducts leading to the top, and jumped onto them, climbing towards the top with each hop, but he still couldn’t beat Sero or Ashido, and tied with Oijiro as they both landed by Aizawa at the same time. Aoyama was up there with them only a few seconds later.

“Not bad times, all of you. Now take a break, it will be time for race two before you know it.”

As they climbed down, Midoriya felt a bit discouraged as the four talked amongst themselves, Sero bragging a bit about how this area was right in his element, though not terribly obnoxiously. But that faded a bit as Ojiro turned to him with a small smile and added, “You were pretty fast for your first bout of Hero Training.”

“Yeah, you kept up pretty good for just running!” Sero grinned. “I’m just a master of aerial combat! Don’t take it too hard.”

The boast brought a competitive smirk to Midoriya’s face. “I’m just getting warmed up! Don’t you worry about me.”

As he watched the next group go, consisting of Tokoyami, Asui, Mineta, and Shouji, he noticed a few things. First, he noticed that Asui and Shouji were doing the best, by using the ducts and pipes to spring forward, making a beeline for the tower. Like Sero, this course was beneficial for those who could maneuver through the air.

Second, Asui and Tokoyami were being very...aggressive towards each other. Are they...are they still dating?

He realized he hadn’t seen them together much since he started dating Mei.

Not really time for gossiping and dating and stuff, I got to focus on the next race, he thought as he watched Asui snag a narrow victory, just barely beating Sero’s time.

“Ah damn it!” Sero swore.

As the next group prepared, Midoriya beamed at Tsuyu. “Good job, Tsu!”

“Kero,” she croaked happily, “you’re getting the hang of it, too.”

As she walked past, he held up a hand to high five Tokoyami. “Good stuff man, I like how you surround yourself with Dark Shadow.”

The bird gave him a light high five back, but said nothing, seeming a bit more brooding than usual. Yeesh. What’s that all about?

He watched the class president make short work of Uraraka, Kouda, and Satou, stretched out as the last group went.

Before he knew it, he was at a different entrance at the other side of the training zone, facing the tower with the others. He crouched down into a runner's stance as the others prepared. Let’s see how airborne I can get with this...

“GO!”

Midoriya took off running once more, pushing himself to stay ahead of the others, but he could hear the sounds of tape being shot, liquid acid dripping, and the slam of a tail gaining on him. He looked up to see a pipe connecting two buildings above him. He dipped into a crouch and sprang up to it, transferring the energy to his arms as he grabbed the pipe, and vaulted himself forwarded.

He shifted energy back to his legs as he landed on the ledge of a warehouse window and sprang to another pipe, going back and forth as he approached the tower, keeping ahead of his classmates. It’s just like using the Boost Boots...

Although not completely the same. As he was nearing the tower, he went to land on some more ductwork, putting energy back into his legs to catch himself, but he must have put too much into it; the duct caved in and Midoriya crashed to the ground, face planting into the dirt.

Asui and Uraraka cringed as they saw the display. Aizawa leaned over the tower. “You okay, Midoriya?”

From the ground, not moving, Midoriya raised a fist with a thumbs up.

Great impression on my first day...

Frustrated and humiliated, Izuku held on to these feelings to fuel him for the very last race. It was a new feeling. An odd feeling.

He held what was arguably the most Powerful Quirk in the world. And yet he was getting thwarted by a stupid race? Where was the kid who got second in the Sports Festival opening race without a Quirk? Was he nothing without tools?

As he watched Asui once again leave her classmates in the dust, he saw that he was not the only one who was damaging the battlefield as pipes and metal were pulled down. Minor collateral damage. Acceptable to save lives.

And then it hit him, a smile crawling across his face.

And finally, it was time for his last race. He stood with the others, Sero and Ashido especially more confident than ever.

“GO!”

They all took off, only this time, Midoriya hung back staying behind Sero as the eager teen zoomed into the sky. As if on cue, Cellophane pulled down a metal pipe as he swung from one structure to the next. Midoriya snatched it out of the air and took off with One for All. Just need to find the perfect spot...

He vaulted himself up a few ducts until he spotted it...two pipes wedged perfectly together. He made a beeline for it, drawing confused looks from Ashido and Oijiro.

Maybe I don’t have my babies...

Midoriya shifted One for All into his arms as he dashed for the pipes, making the calculations in his head. Then, he shoved the thin pipe he was using between the two pipes, and used the makeshift lever as a pole vault, using One for All to launch himself through the air.

But I work best using science and tools!

“What the hell?!” Sero shouted as Midoriya soared over him.

It was a rather hard landing; he had to catch himself on all fours, which was difficult as he had never summoned One for All in all four extremities at once, but adrenaline helped him pull it off in a pinch, landing right in front of Aizawa.

Aizawa clicked his stopwatch, and Midoriya could swear he saw a faint smirk on the teacher’s face at the feat.

“New best time. Bit of a reckless entrance if this were an actual rescue,” Aizawa advised. “If the amount of injured parties were unknown, I wouldn’t have done something like that. It would run the risk of further injuries if you landed on someone. In this case, you used your knowledge that this is a test to your advantage. However, part of that is to be blamed on me putting sole incentive on the shortest time, so I’m willing to let that slide. Just bear that in mind for the future.”

Midoriya grinned and nodded. “Yes, sensei.”

And while that was an important lesson, there was something else he had learned from this whole ordeal, an important realization that he was ecstatic had come to him on the first day of Hero Training and not further down the line.

As he walked off the course, he high-fived Uraraka and Asui. “Smooth moves, kero.”

“Thanks!” He laughed, “Sometimes I remember to work smarter, not harder.”

“Let’s see if I can beat that time,” Tsuyu cracked her neck before walking towards the last entrance point, “you gave me a tall order.”

“Good luck, Tsu!” Uraraka cheered.

As the frog heroine took off, Izuku whispered to Uraraka, “Hey, I wanted to ask but not sound rude or gossipy or anything…did something happen with her and Tokoyami?”

“Oh, yeah, that,” Uravity let out a nervous giggle, “see, after a few weeks it kind of just fizzled out. I think Tokoyami still isn’t taking it well.”

“Oh…”

She seemed a bit happier about that then one should when talking about a breakup, but Deku decided not to pry into it anymore, and just watch the rest of the exercises, thinking about all the ideas brimming in his head.
---

Fate wasn’t on his side today, as Asui was still able to beat his best time by a fraction of a second as Midoriya finished mopping up the floor. Still, he had managed to endear himself to a few of his classmates – Sero thought his stunt was pretty cool, and he had gotten a pat on the back from Kirishima for his manly stunts, so it wasn’t a complete loss.

But finally, as cleaning time ended, he bolted through the halls, heading for the Support Lab – he knew Hatsume would be starting his Hero suit today and he had to tell her about his revelations.

As he was a few feet away though, a rather forceful hand grabbed his shoulder, and spun him around.

Midoriya’s heart jumped to his throat as he was met with a rather disapproving gaze from under Power Loader’s helmet.

“You.”

“Y-yes, sir?” Midoriya stuttered. He knew this was coming, eventually, though he had to admit he had been avoiding Power Loader since being caught a week ago.

Power Loader looked around to make sure no one was listening in, and spoke, lowly, “I’m going to say this once: you were, as I’ve said, probably one of the sharpest minds I’ve seen come in and out the Support Program. But…”

His grip tightened momentarily as Midoriya shook. “I did NOT teach you what I did, I did NOT take you under my wing, so you could run around in the middle of the night and undermine what it means to be a Hero.”

Tears welled up in the boy’s eyes, momentarily. “I’m sorry sir. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, I wouldn’t be here if not for you and…”

“I don’t want to hear it,” Power Loader grumbled. “To have taken my teachings, and not only that, that brain power of yours, and use it to go behind my back and behind the law is a betrayal of trust in the highest order. You’re in the Hero Course now, so I expect you to act like it. But if I ever catch a whiff of you playing vigilante again, I will haul you in, personally. Are we clear?”

Midoriya nodded. “I’m sorry,” he repeated, quietly.

“I’ll consider forgiving you when you’ve shown me you’ve learned your lesson,” the teacher replied, curtly. “Now go tell Hatsume what you want for your suit and get out of here.”

Deflated, Midoriya walked into the Support Lab, feeling like gutter scum, and it was clear from Hatsume’s face she had heard the whole thing. “What’s up, Deku Scrub?”

Eyes darting around so they wouldn’t be overheard, he saw she was looking at a copy of the picture he had made of his Hero suit. “I don’t have to give up all the gear.”

She seemed excited by this, so he elaborated. “Everyone just wants things to lessen the effects or drawbacks of their Quirks…but…I think I can use some of my tools with my Quirk. Including the spider legs.”

Hatsume grabbed her tools, beaming. “Tell me what you want, and let’s get to work.”

Chapter Text

Yaoyorozu Momo enjoyed being class president for Hero Class 1-A, although how she was promoted to that position was not a happy situation by any means. It made the whole thing bittersweet. Iida had been more than studious enough to take the role, but she was able to step up, or at least believed she was doing an adequate job.

Still, sometimes it was hard to make decisions when it was just her; the vice president role was still empty, though Aizawa had told her she could appoint whoever she saw fit. The problem was, she wasn’t sure who she saw fit for such a position. It didn’t help that, at times, she struggled with self-doubt ever since her match with Todoroki Shouto at the Sports Festival. Despite the power her Quirk held, the boy was too quick to freeze her, locking her in place before she was able to produce any means of defense.

While a little self-doubt was normal, it had only compounded after he had been swayed to the side of villainy. In the weeks after the Sports Festival, it hadn’t been long before Iida had been killed. With the new position of power and all her classmates asking her for help studying for finals, she knew Todoroki was becoming more withdrawn, but kept promising herself she would reach out to him once things cleared up. After all, it was her job to look after her classmates now, but Todoroki had good grades and she had more urgent matters to attend to.

Then of course, finals came and went, followed immediately by Summer Training, the villain attack, and well…

She shook those thoughts from her head. Dwelling on her failures did her no favors.

The task before her, the Culture Festival, was simple. All she had to do was arrange a performance, something most of the class was excited for.

They just needed their new classmate…

“Sorry I’m late!”

There he was now, bursting through the doors of Heights Alliance’s 1-A building, panting, but looking thrilled, bushy green hair bouncing as he ran towards the couches and vaulted over the top of one into the empty seat next to Asui. She greeted him with a fist pound; the two seemed to know each other. “I was putting the finishing designs in on my Hero Costume with Hat – I mean, one of my old classmates so I can get that for Hero Training as soon as possible.”

Momo just smiled to him. “Quite understandable Midoriya, you’ve been put in a bit of a crunch in such a hasty transition. Now, I believe Ashido had some ideas?”

She had barely finished the sentence before the pink-skinned girl jumped from the couch excitedly, yelling, “Jirou said she could provide music and we can do a cool dance number.”

Jirou looked incredibly embarrassed, “I would just need someone to play drums and someone to play guitar…”

“I can play guitar,” Tokoyami muttered, just loud enough to make it known, just quiet enough to convey he wasn’t thrilled about participating.

“I can manage drums,” Shouji sighed. “You know, with the multiple arms and stuff.”

Ashido and Hagakure were already excited that this idea was progressing, so Yaoyorozu just sighed. “Unless anyone has any objections or alternate ideas, does this work for our performance?”

She was met with silence. She hated that; she couldn’t tell if her classmates were unengaged or just shy.

“Then that’s what we’ll do.” Momo turned back towards the excitable pair who suggested it, “And I take it you guys have some ideas for choreography?”

“You know it boss lady! Oh man, it would be so cool if we had a smoke machine or like laser lights too!” Hagakure chirped.

Momo put her face in her hands. “We don’t have the budget for that, and I’m not allowed to use my Quirk to make things to alter our performance like that.”

“I can build that stuff.”

Everyone turned to look at the speaker, one Midoriya Izuku, and he blushed as the attention was put on him. “I-I’m not one with any rhythm or musical talent, b-but stuff like that is pretty easy to throw together.”

Momo weighed the options in her head as Mina stared at her with expectant excitement. Finally, she nodded. “Okay Midoriya, if you can put those together, that can be your contribution.”

Izuku felt himself relax, internally as Ashido and Hagakure cheered and thanked him, even Jirou giving him an appreciative nod. No way was he dancing in front of a crowd; that was more nerve-wracking then getting outed as a vigilante. Besides, he at least got to build something this way.

He needed to preoccupy his time. As much as he hated to admit it, part of him had become somewhat addicted to his vigilantism. Going out and saving people, after a life of being told he couldn’t, was becoming a thrill. The sooner he could get his Hero License and operate openly, the better.

Midoriya listened in politely, but in his head, was already running over the specs for a simple fog machine and a light machine. He could run to the beach that weekend and grab the materials for it and put them together in his room. Not the most satisfying inventing, but it would do.

He didn’t want to get rusty at building, even if he was officially in Heroics, he wasn’t going to abandon using tools in his work and studies. In fact, he was excited for Monday; if his suit was finished over the weekend it would be the perfect test run for it.

Once the meeting was over at roughly eight, he excused himself to see if the robot security drones the school used had finished moving his stuff into his room.

It turned out, they had. Almost eerily, in fact, as they had placed everything in the exact same spot as he had left it in his room in building 1-H. He let out a sigh. This wasn’t what he wanted, but if he was shooting to be a Hero one day anyway, this would just have to do.

Midoriya stepped out onto his balcony and at least mused that it was a nice night, and even if he was still a Support Course Vigilante, he didn’t have a target or any problems to chase down right now anyway.

His thoughts were promptly interrupted as Hatsume sprang up to his balcony using her Boost Boots. He yelped in surprise as she grabbed the side of his railing and flipped herself over it.

“You shouldn’t yelp if you’re going to be a Hero, Deku Scrub,” she teased, unstrapping her boots. “Heroes have to be brave in the face of danger. And I’m not even danger! I’m your awesome girlfriend-slash-mechanic!”

“Hatsume, there’s a DOOR!” He sighed, clutching his heart to try and calm its rapid pace.

“This is much more direct, and I get to test my new improvements to the baby!”

Curiosity peaked, he tilted his head. “What improvements?”
---

“…so if you put in long jump mode, you could jump the length of a football field!” She finished explaining as they sat on his bed, talking.

“That’s so cool!” He cried, “Wish I could have that on my Pro Suit.”

She shook her head, disappointed. “I ran the numbers. One for All would blow it apart. Anyway, I got started on your suit, but I should have it finished Monday morning.” Her grin turned wide. “And you’ll have to tell me how it does in Hero Training!”

He beamed right back at her. “Honestly, I can’t wait! Between the gloves, the spider legs, and the padding that will let me use more of my power, I hope I blow everyone away.”

The two talked late into the night, proposing ideas and changes that they could wake once Midoriya got more used to his Quirk. Eventually, they fell asleep like that.
---

Friday was still a matter of survival, however. Mercifully, today was another round of rescue training, though it was more of a compilation of all the things Class 1-A had learned about rescuing and aiding the injured. Having never been involved with it, Midoriya saw just how far behind he was in realms outside of fighting.

Thankfully, Thirteen was happy to show him how to dress the wounds of the injured and give him a rundown of where he needed to focus.

“Th-thank you,” Midoriya said as he wrapped Tokoyami's arm, the dark hero playing an injured victim at the moment. “I'm sorry to pull you away from everyone.”

“Nonsense,” Thirteen replied, jovially, “this class was thinning out a bit. You may have joined late but we want you to succeed.”

“Your soul was not meant to wander alone in the dark,” Tokoyami added. “Not like mine.”

Oof. Midoriya thought as he finished and lead the emo bird to the area designated for the injured.

“Er, sure.” Thirteen didn't seem to know how to respond to that either, “Stick with Uraraka today, she's a pro at civilian rescue.”

Ochako had been nearby and turned crimson at such praise. “Thank you, sensei!”

Just have to make it to Monday...
---
Make it through the weekend he did; thought assembling the smoke machine and light system for the class festival had taken a good chunk of time, though it did require Hatsume sneaking some materials since he wasn't supposed to work on original projects in the Support Lab.

On Sunday night, she entered building 1-A (the regular way, at Midoriya's insistence), and he tried on his new Hero Costume.

It was all green and insulated with padding and braces all over (some places thicker than others) to protect himself from the kickback of One for All. Iron soled red boots would provide extra kicking power and protection. A utility belt around the waist for a variety of grenades and restraining tools. The helmet they had used for vigilante work topped it off, though modified enough to not be recognizable, leaving Midoriya still capable or thermal vision, blood analysis, night vision, zooming capabilities, and a few other handy settings.

On his back was a smaller metal box storing sleeker versions of his spider legs that the two of them designed together. They were wired through movement sensors that went down into the arms of his suit, and neural receptors connected to his helmet, allowing him to command them with arm motions and thoughts, to a limited degree.

“Too bad you can't test the gloves in here.” Hatsume bragged. “I daresay this is my best work yet! It's not as protective as the mech suit, but you'll have reinforcements to use One for All and the padding will absorb outside impact to an extent as well.”

Midoriya used the spider legs to suspect himself from the ceiling. “Everything works and fits perfectly, Mei!” With his legs still planted in the ceiling, he flipped himself right side up and picked her up in his arms. “I just wish I could have helped make it.”

She laughed. “You had a lot of input. Besides. Once we're out of school you can do both. Now put me down, you dork. Well, first...”

Hatsume pulled his helmet off and kissed him. “Actually...this is a bit exciting...”

“Because I'm in a costume you built for me?” Midoriya smirked.

“Shut up and gimme them hot lips.”
---
Monday afternoon came, and Midoriya was thrilled to finally get a chance to do a full test run on his suit as Aizawa led the group to an odd-looking building in a faux-urban area.

“So, what's this place?” He asked Uraraka under his breath.

“Ground Beta,” she replied with her multiple-watt smile. “It’s actually where we did our very first Hero Training with All Might. Lots of villains vs. hero exercises here.”

Midoriya nodded and shifted his eyes away. It was a good thing he had not come to Hero course right away; seeing Uraraka in her Hero costume made it hard to keep his eyes focused, but he scolded himself for giving in to puberty momentarily and began to grow excited at the prospect of a true sparring session.

Aizawa stopped in front of the building and turned to his class. He scanned them over and rubbed his chin. “Kirishima and Hagakure, you’re going to be the Hero Team in our first exercise.”

“Aw yeah, we got this!” Kirishima cheered, holding up a hand for a high five, which was returned by a floating glove.

“Ashido and Tokoyami, you two will be playing hostages in this situation.” Aizawa answered.

“Hostages...?” Ashido muttered.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be getting a chance to be Heroes or villains soon. Speaking of, the villains will be...Yaoyorozu and Midoriya.”

Villain, huh?

“You two will take the hostages to a location the Heroes don't know about. The heroes will have half an hour to sneak in and rescue them to you. The Heroes can win by capturing the villains or getting the hostages out of the building. The villains’ objective is to either incapacitate the Heroes, or keep the hostages from them at all cost.”

Yaoyorozu exchanged glances with Midoriya, and to her credit, her look was indecipherable. The two stepped forward as Aizawa took the two of them aside with the hostages.

“You will begin on Floor 15.” He instructed. “You are free to move the hostages.”

The two, “villains,” nodded and took the hostages upstairs. Per Aizawa's instructions, they tied them to a pillar with capture tape once they were settled in on floor 15.

“There's no buzzer to tell us when the Heroes are in the building, just like real life, so we need to be on our guard.” Momo instructed him.

“Hey, that's cheating!” Mina objected, “he's got to learn on his own!”

“But in the real world a partner would tell you these things,” Midoriya argued, before taking a harsher tone, “and shut your mouth you dirty civilian, or I'll shut it for you! I'm the bad guy! Uh...grr.”

“Scary.” Mina deadpanned.

“What are the entrances to this floor?” Midoriya asked.

“The elevator, and four stairwells.” Yaoyorozu answered, “One at each cardinal direction.”

He nodded. “Watch the hostages. I’m going to seal off the entrances and then we can wait this out.”

“Good initial strategy, but don’t underestimate Hagakure and Kirishima, they’ve been working to improve their Quirks, especially after the Licensing Exam.”

Midoriya nodded again as he left the hostage room, wanting to be quick. Truth be told, he was hoping it wouldn’t be as easy as sealing off the doors and waiting out the clock; after all, it had been some time since he had been in a good scrap, and you didn’t become a hero without bruising your knuckles occasionally. He made a lap around the floor and pulled a glue grenade from his utility belt to seal off each door and the elevator. Just because I want to fight doesn’t mean I should be stupid about this.

It was quick work, and he returned to the room with Momo, who had produced a chair and a bo staff, pointing it threateningly until she realized it was her partner.

“Easy there.” Izuku held up his hands in surrender.

“Any signs of them out there?” The class President asked. He shook his head, and the two began to stand guard.

“So, I know it's only been three days, but how are you enjoying Hero Course?” Yaoyorozu asked.

Midoriya thought about it. He couldn't give her a fully honest answer, since it wasn't his choice to be here. Still, it didn't feel like lying when he said, “it always used to be a dream. But it feels like I'm really going to have to strive not to be left behind all you guys. And I miss inventing stuff in the lab.”

“Are you not allowed to use it still?”

He thought back to the rather uncomfortable conversation he'd had with Power Loader and shuddered. “Those resources aren't open to non-Support students.”

He shivered slightly. “Do you feel a breeze?”

The two glanced over to an open window, and Midoriya squinted at it, trying to remember if it had been open the whole time. He shifted his helmet to thermal vision and gasped.

“We have a visitor,” he growled, and tackled Hagakure to the ground. She had been merely a few feet away from the hostages, sneaking across from the window.

Wind knocked out of her, she was defenseless as Midoriya jumped off her and used a glue grenade to seal her in place.

“Wha?! No fair!” Hagakure cried, “how did you find me?!”

Momo ran do the window to secure it, but a surprise punch knocked her into her back. Kirishima rolled through, grinning like a madman. “Didn't think to check for a fire escape, criminal scum?!”

Ah damn it.

Midoriya planted himself between the hostages and took a defensive stance, spider legs springing from his back.

“Oh man,” Kirishima laughed, “I was hoping I'd get to throw down with those!”

Before he could move though, Momo had surprised him by taping his legs together. “Don't take your eyes off an opponent, heroic fool!”

Kirishima reacted quickly, hardening his fists and punching through the tape to free himself as Momo rolled out of the way.

“You're outnumbered.” Midoriya warned, “surrender now or...prepare to die?” He wasn't used to villain dialogue.

“HEROES DON'T SURRENDER!” Kirishima shouted, charging.

Man, he's taking this for real serious.

Guess I should too.

With his back to Momo and the hostages, Midoriya realized this was the perfect time.

Kirishima charged forward, but Midoriya was faster, flicking his thumb against his ring finger with about 20% of his power.

Now usually, this finger flick was only strong enough to create a strong, direct gust of wind, and probably not enough to even knock someone over unless they were already off balance. However, that was before he and Hatsume designed his special gloves and bracers; on the inside of the ring finger was a striking surface, similar to the side of a match box, which, when struck, also released a small reserve of nitroglycerin that was wired into the small pack on his back.

That was perhaps why he named them the, “Kacchan,” gloves.

A targeted explosion rocked Kirishima and threw him against the wall, as Ashido, Tokoyami, and Yaoyorozu dropped all the pretenses and yelled, “Holy Shit!”

Slumped against the wall, Kirishima growled up at Midoriya as the smoke cleared. “What the hell was that?!” Despite the unexpected turn of events, Izuku was shocked to see the boy smiling. He must really love a good fight.

“It’s your doom, hero!” Midoriya cackled. “NYEH HEH HEH!”

“This isn’t acting class.” Ashido deadpanned.

Kirishima lunged, but in his distraction, he hadn’t noticed the new thing in the room Momo had created while the smoke was up; a giant puddle of glue, roughly the same consistency of the glue grenades, all over the floor. In his eagerness, the Red Riot had stomped right onto the goo and got himself stuck. “Ah…shit.”

Midoriya looked over to the class president, shocked.

“I got the idea from your grenades!” She told him, chipper. “Seemed like a wonderful idea, and Red Riot is the type of hero to rush right into a fight.”

He was impressed; he hadn’t even seen Momo come past him in the smoke, and to have analyzed his grenade on the fly and produce a similar substance? It was good strategy. “Nice!”

Aizawa’s voice sounded on their headsets. “Well, I think the villains took this one. But you have to get your classmates out of that goop. Hurry up.”

Everyone grimaced, but Izuku hurriedly assured them, while waving his arms, “I-it’s water soluble, I promise!”
---

As the rest of the class went through their exercises, Midoriya watched eagerly to see how his new classmates improved since he had spied on them so long ago. Even as he did, his mind-raced thinking all sorts of devices he or Hatsume could build to help them with their Quirks, or cover weaknesses. Maybe if I give the ideas to her, she could pitch the ideas to them and commission some stuff…

“Midoriya,” Aizawa called, though not in as stern or angry of a voice as it usually seemed.

Cautiously, Izuku walked up to the control panel and stood next to the teacher. “Sir…?”

“After we’re done, I need you to come back to the class with me.”

“Am I…?” Midoriya gulped. He hadn’t done any late-night vigilantism, and had been doing his best to keep up, what could possibly be wrong?

“Just come with me.”

As terrifying as that came off, Midoriya still tried to assure himself that there couldn’t possibly be anything wrong he had done, even as he walked with Aizawa back to the homeroom in silence. Although he was surprised when instead of the class, Eraserhead kept going and opened the door to one of the staff lounges.

Inside, the Principal was talking to…

Eri?

Upon seeing him, Eri ran to Aizawa and hugged him, the sight looking somewhat out of place to Midoriya. It reminded him of a picture he saw on the internet of a tiger nuzzled up with a baby pig; unnatural but not awful.

“Ah, there you are Eraserhead!” Nezu smiled. “I’ll leave Eri in your capable hands, as I have some meetings to attend to. And good day to you as well, Mr. Midoriya!”

“Midoriya!” Eri yelled, running from Aizawa to Deku, hugging him as well.

“H-hey kiddo!” The teen stuttered; he didn’t really have any experience with kids, but it helped this one already seemed to like him.

“Eri here has been released into my care.” Aizawa explained. “Due to how our Quirks interact.”

Midoriya didn’t need further explanation; Aizawa was the only one who could prevent Eri from erasing someone from existence as Mirio had been.

“I understand you aren’t participating in the classes performance.”

Midoriya began to stammer out his response, nervously, “I-I was asked to b-build a s-s-moke and light machine, I don’t h-have any m-musical talent.”

“And that’s fine. But if you’re going to be free during the festival, you’re going to need help me watch Eri.” Aizawa grunted.

Midoriya blinked and slowly looked from Eri to Aizawa.

I should have run off and started a new life.

Chapter Text

“I wasn’t even going to go to the Culture Festival,” Hatsume shrugged, lying next to him in his bed the morning of the festival. She had taken to sneaking in at night. “That’s valuable lab time. But, if you want me to go with you and help you with the goat-child, I suppose I can do that for my favorite vegetable head.”

Midoriya rolled his eyes at her sarcastic tone. “Thanks, babe. I can’t imagine what would go wrong, you know? Can’t be any harder than taking down Todoroki or Stain.”

“Yeah well, you owe me one,” she stuck her tongue out playfully, for emphasis. “I guess it can’t hurt though. Power Loader said I should get out of the lab more often. I think he just wants to get out of the lab though, which requires me out of it.”

Midoriya laughed, “Probably.”

“He asks about you sometimes, you know,” Hatsume smirked. “I think he’s still mad, but he always seems to want to make sure you’re okay.”

He smiled. Perhaps his one regret that was still lingering was the betrayal he had heard in his teacher’s voice. “Maybe I’ll be able to come back around more soon.”

“I hope so. It’s boring around there without you. Now let’s go watch your classmates embarrass themselves.”

“Totally.”

---

“So? How do I look?” Hatsume asked, stepping from her room in a traditional kimono for the festival; they were supposed to wear traditional clothing.

Midoriya’s jaw dropped. “W-whoa.”

She cackled. “Well, that’s good. I clean up well, enough, but it’s such a waste of time when I just get dirty again anyway.”

She eyed him up and down, smiling, and added. “You’re always a hunky piece of arm candy too. Come on, let’s go.”

Midoriya picked his jaw up off the floor and the two made their way from the dorm to the Festival Grounds. Waiting for them there was Aizawa, Eri, and a purple-haired boy that Midoriya vaguely remembered but couldn’t put his finger on it. Just like before, Eri ran up and hugged Midoriya, who was at least prepared for it this time, and knelt down to hug her too.

“Hey kiddo, how are you?” He asked.

“Hey there, goat-child!” Hatsume waved excitedly.

Eri just gave a small smile. “I’m not a goat!”

Hatsume gasped comically. “Aw man. I brought all these tin cans for you to eat.”

“Took you two long enough,” Aizawa barked. “This is Shinsou Hitoshi. You might remember him from the Sports Festival.”

“Oh right!” Midoriya remembered, eyes lighting up. “With the brainwashing Quirk! That was really cool!”

For some reason, this statement seemed to catch Shinsou off guard, and he looked away, saying nothing and blushing slightly.

“Shinsou is training to get in to the Hero Course,” Aizawa answered, “And considering you were a late entry, I’m going to have you help him out with some things in preparation.”

“…which includes babysitting?” Hatsume asked, only to be ignored by the teacher.

“This does not mean any unlicensed activity, of course,” Aizawa added, being vague as always, “Bring Eri back here once the festivities are over, and I’ll pick her up.”

He turned on his heel and left.

Midoriya turned nervously and looked to see Hatsume, Eri, and Shinsou all looking at him, expectantly. Why does it feel like I’m babysitting three people…?

“So, what do you guys want to do…?”

“Food,” Eri immediately blurted out, pointing at a red hanging lantern. “Those look like apples and it makes me hungry.”

“You like apples, huh?” Deku asked with a laugh.

She nodded vigorously. “They're my favorite!”

“One of these stalls might sell candied apples?” Shinsou suggested. For a second, Midoriya had to double-take; Shinsou spoke in the same bored tone that Aizawa did. He wondered if it was a side effect of training with the Pro, or maybe that’s just how Shinsou was.

Eri squinted at Shinsou, confused. “Candied…apples?”

“You don’t know about candied apples?!” Midoriya asked. “its apples coated in like this sugary syrup stuff.”

“It’s quite honestly one of the greatest food babies ever scientifically hand –crafted to salivate the taste buds!” Hatsume cried.

“You might be overselling it…” Shinsou mumbled.

Eri, however, was enthralled by such a description, jaw dropped and slack, eyes widening, a small line of drool forming down her chin. “C-can we go find one?!”

The three teens exchanged glances and nodded. “Sure, let’s go Eri!” Midoriya replied, giving her a bright smile. After smiling like that had helped rescue her from Overhaul, it seemed like using it to help her feel more comfortable was just second nature to the boy.
---

“Are you sure this will work?” La Brava asked.

She had been following Gentle around for some time now. She enjoyed it; her life before had been terrible before she had found his videos, using his elasticity Quirk to compel the Heroic world to be better, especially in the wake of all their failings.

“My dear, the Hero world is too reactive, not proactive.” Gentle chuckled. “All these attacks and tragedies, and they’re having a festival instead of doing anything of use to the world? We’ll target them, and it will be my biggest viral hit yet! Just like when that vigilante fellow called out Stain. We get in, cause a wee bit of havoc, and get out without getting our knickers in a twist.”

She smiled. “Of course. I always believe in you.”
---

“Looks I might have been wrong,” Shinsou admitted scratching the back of his neck.

“Boo!” Hatsume scowled, before kneeling down to Eri and nudging her. “Boo that man!”

“Boo,” she repeated, flatly, clearly sad about not being able to experience the delicious junk food that had been given a lot of hype by the students.

“Sorry,” Shinsou muttered, but Midoriya put a hand on his shoulder.

“I think there’s a store just off campus that sells them.” Midoriya suggested. “We can probably run there and back real quick.”

“Let’s make the boys go get us treats and boo them until they do!” Hatsume suggested, her upbeat attitude infectious enough to pull Eri out of her funk.

“Boo!” Eri repeated, a bit livelier.

“Alright, we’re going you savages,” Midoriya laughed, Shinsou following him as they walked towards the grounds entrance. Hatsume continued to boo them loudly as they walked.

“Hatsume, what are you doing?” Tsuyu asked from nearby.

“Booing Deku Scrub until he brings me and this kiddo candy apples. I love that guy.” She beamed before turning back to the retreating figures. “BOO YOU SUCK!”

“Boo!” Eri mimicked.
---

Without the social buffer of Hatsume and Eri, Midoriya couldn’t help but feel a little awkward around the relative stranger. Not that he had anything against Shinsou; he had remembered the voice-based brainwashing and thought about how powerful and advantageous it would be as a Pro’s Quirk.

“So how long have you been training with Aizawa?” He asked.

“You don’t have to try and be my friend just because Aizawa is going to have you help train me,” was the bitter response Shinsou gave him.

Oof. It’s like if Kacchan and Tokoyami had a broody angst-baby.

“Well we’re hopefully going to be in the same class,” Midoriya replied, trying a different angle. “So, no harm trying to be friends. Besides, I think your Quirk is pretty cool.”

“It’s creepy.”

Midoriya paused, not quite sure how to respond to that as they finally left the school grounds. “Is that why you’re in General Studies…?”

Shinsou’s flat expression turned to one of annoyance. “The entrance exam is robots. My Quirk doesn’t work on those. So, I took General Studies. That’s why I’m in General Studies. But I want to be a Hero because everyone thinks I have a villain’s Quirk.”

Midoriya immediately thought back to something similar Stain had said in their fight. Something about a Quirk that required you to draw someone’s blood was ill-suited to be a Hero’s Quirk.

“Well,” Midoriya said, “It’s probably not worth much, but I think your Quirk would be pretty good in the Hero business. I mean, they’re only as good or evil as the person using them, right?”

Shinsou didn’t answer, which Midoriya took as his cue to keep his mouth shut too.

This will be fun...

But in their silence, his ears twitched as a man and woman left a convenience store nearby.

“So, what’s the plan?” The woman asked.

Midoriya squinted. The man seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on where from until the man spoke.

“Nothing too extreme. We attack the Culture Festival. Rattle a few bones. Rustle some jimmies, as the kids say. Get away, and this will help those little saplings grow.” The man answered.

As the two walked further away, Midoriya grabbed Shinsou and pulled him into an alleyway.

“Ow!” Shinsou growled, “what was that for?!”

“Do you know who that guy is?!” Midoriya hissed.

Shinsou poked his head out of the alleyway and squinted at the retreating figures. “No. They’re small time though, I’m sure the teachers can handle it.”

As he turned, Shinsou saw Midoriya already pulling out his phone, and had a video up. It was the same older man, conducting a compilation of robberies and fights with Heroes, getting away unharmed every time. “Gentle Thief’s Crime Bonanza?”

At the end of the video, a woman’s voice started yelling, obnoxiously, “Thanks for watching! Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and SMaAaAaAasSH that notification bell to see our next awesome heisting adventures.”

Shinsou paused a moment. “Oh yeah, I clicked one of his videos once. Tries to show how much better the Hero community would be, always gets away, no injuries...bit of a prick. And his videos are really obnoxious. You think that’s him?”

Midoriya nodded. “We should stop him! He could cause a lot of chaos if he gets in to the school.”

Shinsou furrowed his brow. “What part of, ‘no-unlicensed-hero-activity,’ do you not understand? You JUST got into the Hero Course, and I don’t want to get expelled before I even get a shot.”

Shinsou made a good point, and Midoriya knew it. If he got caught, especially, it was all over, and everything he’d have worked for since Bakugou’s death would be for nothing. Still, every puzzle has a solution.

“What if we could do it without getting caught?” Midoriya retorted. “What kind of Heroes would we be if we didn’t prevent disaster with clear opportunity?”

Shinsou’s eyes shifted uncomfortably as he looked from the wall of the store back to the alleyway, weighing the words in his mind.

“Just listen,” Midoriya assured him, “I have a plan. We won’t get caught, and we won’t even engage physically. If we don’t use our Quirks to fight, we won’t get in trouble, right?”

Shinsou signed, relenting. “Okay. I’m listening. For the record, this is still a horrible idea.”
---

As far as Gentle was concerned, this was his chance to be the next big viral sensation. UA was always, always in the news, for better or for worse, and ever since the winner of their Sports Festival had joined the League of Villains by killing All Might, Gentle knew that another strike on the school would be major news and lots of Ad Revenue.

As he and La Brava walked down a quiet street, a few blocks from the school, a shout made the two of them stop in their tracks. “Sir! Sir, wait!”

The two turned to see a boy with purple hair charging towards them. It looked like he had hastily scrawled the word, “Gentle,” on a white t-shirt with marker. He stopped in front of the two of them panting.

“Are you...?” Shinsou looked around for anyone listening in, “are you the amazing viral internet star, Gentle? You’re my favorite! Can I have your autograph?! Both of you?”

Gentle’s chest swelled up in pride. He’d made it. This was what stardom felt like. The adoration. The respect. The fanboys. He looked to La Brava and they nodded to each other.

“Of course!” They both said in unison

For a moment, everything seemed blank, serene, and peaceful, as though he was in a trance. Then, before he knew it, he was snapped out of his trance as something of a blur, a body moving too fast for him to comprehend, had coiled him in capture tape.

“What?!” He exclaimed, but then he was in the trance again. Peacefully in bliss as he watched a green-haired blur wrapped La Brava in capture tape. She must have talked and went into the trance again too.

“Stand up against the tree.” The boy with the purple hair commanded.

What a nice boy! Gentle saw no reason not to go along with the request. After all, this trance he was in felt so nice. It was such a simple request. He stood with his back against the small tree, La Brava doing the same thing on the other side of the tree.

He was again brought back to reality as the boy with the green haired ran a circle around the two of them, attaching them to the tree with capture tape, a layer so thick he couldn’t even move his hands to activate his Elasticity Quirk, and ran a layer of tape over La Brava’s mouth so she couldn’t activate hers. Gentle went to object before the green one ran a piece of tape over his mouth too, just in case.

“Took a whole roll, but I think we got them pretty good!” The green one exclaimed.

He looked to see the one who had stopped them with the purple hair hang up the phone. “Police are en route Let’s get out of here.”

Gentle was baffled as the two teenagers took off running. After years of thwarting Heroes, and escaping untouched.... how could this have happened?!

They...they will pay for this.
---

“I have to give it to you. How did you know that would work?” Shinsou asked.

“Well, part of it is luck,” Midoriya admitted, “that street is pretty low end, no security cameras. And that guy is a major attention whore, he’d do anything if he thinks he has a fan.”

“Well...I have to admit...that was pretty exhilarating.”

“Right?!” Midoriya beamed, “taking down bad guys has got to be the greatest feeling ever!”

“You say that like you’ve done it before.” There was just the slightest sense of suspicion in Shinsou’s voice, taking Midoriya back a bit.

He did his best to hide any nervousness or guilt, scratching the back of his neck as he answered, “Nah, just something I’ve always imagined. I grew up idolizing All Might, so I’ve always thought about it.”

Shinsou just nodded, so Midoriya internally sighed, hoping that the excuse was good enough to cast away any suspicion. Still, if Shinsou was training under Aizawa, could the teacher have told him to keep an eye on Midoriya?

Either way, a change of subject would do Midoriya good, he figured. “Anyway, let’s hurry. The store is a few blocks away.”

As they walked, Shinsou spoke up, to his surprise. “You know, I grew up idolizing All Might too.”

“Yeah?”

The quiet boy nodded. “I wanted nothing more than to be a Hero, you know. But everyone...I don’t know, everyone was creeped out by my Quirk. Girls stopped talking to me because they thought I’d take advantage of them. So, I stopped talking to people too. I thought the Sports Festival would be my chance to show the world. Of course, once people saw how my Quirk worked, the Yaoyorozu girl figured it out and knew how to get the best of me. Aizawa took notice though.”

“Oh wow, he’s been training you for a while then, huh?” Izuku was impressed. Aizawa seemed less motivated than most people, so for him to reach out to Shinsou was pretty cool.

“Yeah. He’s been having me workout and training in using those restraining scarves.” Shinsou smirked, which was by and far the most emotion Midoriya had ever seen him display. “Wants me to go into the next Hero Licensing Exam.”

“Hey, me too!” Midoriya beamed. “Look, if we go into it together, we should definitely learn to help each other out. That way, we can both get licensed and catch up with the rest of class 1-A, right?”

“I suppose I can see the logic behind that.” Shinsou nodded. “So, for now, we can be partners.”

“Funny way to say friends - GHK!”

Shinsou had brainwashed Midoriya for a second and released him.

“Don’t push it, Midoriya.”

Midoriya still smirked, in silence, as they finally made it to the small shop that sold candied apples. He bought enough for all of them and his class, since he was still making some of that good money off his patents for glue grenades.

“We should hurry back, Eri is probably worried,” Shinsou sighed.

“If Aizawa is training you, do you spend a lot of time with Eri too?”

“Yeah. She’s still pretty shy around me, though.”

Can’t imagine why.

---

“Look, it’s the boys! Boo them until we get apples!” Hatsume shouted as soon as she saw Midoriya and Shinsou within eyesight.

“Boo!” Eri yelled, at least sounding much happier than she had before. They were joined by Kirishima, Uraraka, and Asui, who were also booing them, right up until Midoriya put a candied apple in Eri’s hand.

Midoriya was taken aback - it looked like Uraraka and Asui were holding hands. But as soon as he noticed, the two seemed to quickly let go and look away.

Huh...

“We got a little held up.” Midoriya deadpanned as, finally, his friends stopped booing him.

“With a long line.” Shinsou added.

“Kero, well, you didn’t miss our performance, so that’s good.” Tsuyu teased the two.

Eri bit into her candied apple, and almost dropped it as her eyes widened. Everyone leaned in as her expression changed.

“Holy...freaking...SUPER CRAP!” She screamed. “This is the greatest thing I’ve ever tasted.”

For the first time since the raid, she smiled brightly. Midoriya held up a hand for a high-five to Shinsou, who looked at him and walked away.

“DON’T WORRY BRO, I WON’T LEAVE YOU HANGING!” Kirishima laughed, and slapped Midoriya’s hand.
---

Thankfully, the rest of the festival went off without a hitch. Hatsume, Midoriya, and Eri watched the class performances late into the evening and met with Aizawa.

“Well, she’s in one piece, so I’m glad you’re at least competent there,” Aizawa said. “Once you get back in class Monday, we’ll focus on prepping you for your License.”

Midoriya beamed as he walked away with Hatsume. She took notice and gave him a pinch on the rear. “So, what aren’t you telling me?”

He jumped but laughed. “Alright, so here’s what really happened when we went to get the apples...”

Chapter Text

In the following few weeks, Aizawa had Shinsou sit in and observe some of the Hero Training sessions. While some of the students were put off by this, Midoriya always stayed friendly towards the boy, who was at least cordial back. And since they trusted Midoriya, Tsuyu and Uraraka were friendly towards Shinsou as well, which was by far the weirdest thing that had happened since the Brainwasher had started UA.

The two had discussed, not long after the festival, on whether they should have told Aizawa about their encounter with Gentle.

“The time to tell him would have been before we did anything,” Shinsou reasoned, “but now, let's not risk it.”

“You're right.” Midoriya conceded.

Neither Gentle nor La Brava had told the police anything identifying about them, oddly enough. And Midoriya knew that while he had acted restlessly in not deferring the situation to the teachers...he was somewhat addicted to the thrill of heroics.

Which is what made the next class announcement huge for him.

It was an unassuming Tuesday morning when Aizawa announced that the students who did not qualify for remedial exams would be taking the retake exam that upcoming Friday.

“That of course includes our new meat Deku,” Aizawa flinched at the Hero name. He thought it was pretty dumb, but the kid had insisted as some sort of tribute to a childhood friend or something. He'd been asleep for the explanation. “And Shinsou.”

“But that zombie isn't even IN our class!” Mineta whined; he seemed to have a problem with any new student who didn't have breasts.

“Shut up, Mineta.” Sero deadpanned.

Aizawa glared towards Mineta, who cowered in fear, before continuing. “As some of you know, Shinsou has been training to get transferred to the Hero Course, and we have the openings. This course is something of a make-or-break situation for him. If he passes, he’ll be a permanent fixture in our class. Now, I have it here that Midoriya, Shinsou, Sero, Kaminari, Ashido, Yaoyorozu, Tokoyami, and Aoyama will be taking the exams, leaving ten of you to train with class 1-B.”

There was a wave of murmurs among the class. Class 1-B had only failure in the Hero Licensing Exam, and he was able to secure his license in Remedial Training. While class 1-A had some infamy for the USJ attacks and their class star winning the Sports Festival (before killing All Might), Class 1-B had been doing their damndest to surpass them. The Licensing Exam had been something of a sore spot for Class 1-A, even to those who had passed.

As they went to lunch, Midoriya approached Kirishima, the only person in the group of people he was taking the exam with that he sort of knew on a friendly basis. “Hey, you got a sec?”

“Sure, what’s up?” Kirishima greeted him with as jagged of a smile as ever.

“What can you tell me about the exam?” He asked, in a low voice; Yaoyorozu had already informed him he was not allowed to know, as Aizawa wanted him to go in blind, just like most heroes do when they go out to patrol.

But while he was going to continue doing his best to avoid any unlicensed combat, Midoriya also knew that Pros had very few restrictions about being Heroic. They were to prioritize rescuing citizens over defeating villains, and keep property damage to as minimal as possible, but otherwise were free to operate as they saw fit. And Midoriya saw fit to use all resources available to fight smarter instead of harder.

Kirishima looked around and put his head down, signaling Izuku to lean in closer.

“Last time, they had us doing this weird dodgeball type thing where we have three targets on our bodies. And you had to eliminate two people to pass to the next round, and then it was this weird civilian rescue stuff with professional victims.”

Midoriya’s mind absorbed all this like the fluffy green sponge it resembled. “I’ve heard of companies that do that, pro victim stuff... They make good business on these exams.”

“Right. So, they judge you on how friendly and effective you can work together to save civilians, and then a villain attack adds to the commotion.”

Man, they go whole hog on this thing.

“But worst of all, at the start of every single one...there’s this thing called the UA Crush.”

Midoriya furrowed his brow. “What...?”

Kirishima’s expression turned rather sheepish. “The whole place gangs up on UA to eliminate its students. That’s where a lot of us were eliminated.”

“Sounds like I’ve got my work cut out for me.” Midoriya pondered, but his expression was anything but deterred. His mind began buzzing like clockwork; this was a challenge, and he already had some ideas for what he could do. “And you guys took this only a few months ago?”

“Yeah, I wonder if they’ll have any changes since they’re doing a new one on such short notice.... oh he’s gone.” Kirishima realized as he watched Midoriya’s retreating backside run back to where he usually sat with his girlfriend. “Nice enough dude. Bit weird.”

Midoriya probably didn’t pause for a breath once as he rattled off what he learned to Hatsume. “...and the whole thing starts with a UA Crush where all the competition gangs up on UA students!”

Mei took a big bite of her sandwich to finish it and wiped her mouth across her sleeve. “Well, that could be a challenge when you have limited control of your Quirk and limited grenades in your belt.”

“Yeah, but I have a plan!” His eyes were lit up, “I just need to get Shinsou on board.”

“The purple haired guy who doesn’t sleep?”

“Right!” Midoriya was practically shaking with excitement. “Can you meet us outside the Lab after Hero Training. We’ll need those defense projects we were working on before I was transferred, and I have an idea for something for him...”

He leaned in and whispered his idea for a baby into her ear, making her face quickly match her boyfriend’s. “Oh man Deku Scrub, you better get him on board with this because I AM INTO THIS STUFF!”

“I know!” He beamed, “I’ll see you after class.”

---

Shinsou scowled, but his practiced look of annoyance that he had carefully studied while under the tutelage of Eraserhead did absolutely nothing to deter the excited looks of his two acquaintances. “You think anyone would fall for that?”

“What does it hurt, Shinsou?” Midoriya argued. “Once people figured out your Quirk at the Sports Festival, they knew immediately to stay silent around you.”

“A voice modifier will throw them off and at least get them to probably say something. And with enough sound bites, I can get you to sound like ANYONE!” Mei added.

Shinsou thought about it. “I guess you're right. It doesn't hurt. But something like that isn't going to help me if this UA Crush thing is real.”

“That's where the first part of my plan comes in.” Izuku assured him. “Let Mei get some measurements, and I'll get the others in on it.” He turned to his girlfriend and smiled. “You got it from here?”

Mei beamed. “This is my wheelhouse, hot lips. You leave him to me.”

Shinsou winced. “You guys are gross.”

---

Midoriya sprinted back to 1-A, and he would admit he used about 2% of One for All to do it - enough to be a lot quicker but not enough to arouse suspicion that he wasn't just really fast.

It wasn't until he got to the door, he realized this might not be a good idea. Still, he shook the idea from his head, and knocked on the dormitory door.

“Enter at your own peril, for the darkness is endless.”

Oof.

Midoriya opened Tokoyami’s door, causing the bird-headed boy to look up from his meditation in surprise. “Oh, hello Midoriya. What can I help you with?”

Dark Shadow was buzzing around the shorter teen and hissed. “It’s his fault! Get him out of here!”

Tokoyami glared at his Quirk. “Quiet, you.”

Deku faltered for a brief second, not entirely certain if he should acknowledge the dirty look Dark Shadow was giving him, but continued, “I wanted to talk about the Licensing exam on Friday.”

Tokoyami closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I have been sworn to secrecy by the class president.”

Midoriya gave him a very flat expression. “Come on man. I broke into a hospital to save you from the League of Villains. I found out about the test.”

“Your craftiness knows no limitations.”

“Probably why Tsuyu dumped you, because of this brainiac,” Dark Shadow chirped angrily.

Midoriya stepped back, a bit surprised. “You…think it’s my fault?”

Tokoyami looked rather embarrassed by the outburst and looked away. “N-no. Well. Not anymore. I may have vented to Dark Shadow at first though.” The angsty bird took a deep breath to compose himself and his Quirk. “I know your nature, Midoriya. You are no lecherous scoundrel. Anyway. What did you want my help with?”

“I have a plan to get us past the UA Crush,” he explained, “but I need your help. So long as Dark Shadow doesn’t decide to get revenge on me instead.”

Tokoyami glared at his Quirk before answering. “I will have it under control. What’s the plan?”
---

After reforming his plan, he managed to get the others in on it; even the class president was on board. After all, Midoriya wanted to get along with his class, and he liked them, for the most part. Friday finally came, and he gathered with his classmates in a rather large room. He was reminded of taking the Support Course entrance exam all those months ago. His determination was steeled. Back then, he and Hatsume had gotten through that together, building the Zero Pointer’s flamethrowers and lasers together. Now, he was leading a group of acquaintances by himself. He felt compelled to make her proud of him. He looked down at the two new forearm guards on his hero costume; they were the defensive systems he and Hatsume had talked about. His on the left, hers on the right, each with different capabilities.

He smiled at the two devices. They were perhaps some of their greatest ideas yet.

A very…very sleepy man gave a rehearsed and tired speech, walking everyone through. Apparently, a new test hadn’t been thought of since the last; each hero hopeful was given three balls, and three targets that needed to be visible. You had to eliminate two people to make it.

Izuku’s eyes shifted around the crowded building. He had his work cut out for him. Still, this was what he had based his plan on, and he looked around to see his classmates faces; they were just as determined as he was, save for Shinsou, who looked perhaps even more nervous.

The walls of the room lowered to reveal the giant arena in which the combat would take place.

If his plan worked the way he wanted it…this phase would be over quickly.

Everyone began spreading around, and Midoriya could see a group of students from Shiketsu High were tailing them, and another group flanking them on either side as class 1-a charged forward.

“It’s happening again,” Aoyama gulped, “monsieur Deku, are you sure about this?”

“Like on a scale of one to one hundred, how sure are you about this?” Ashido hissed.

Midoriya paused to think. “Fifty-seven.”

“That is lower than I’d like to hear...” Momo muttered.

The buzzer sounded, and all the surrounding students turned towards the group of class 1-A

Midoriya channeled his, “inner Bakugou,” and yelled, “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DAMN NERDS LOOKING AT?!”

That was all the opposing students needed to unleash angered yells and cries of fury towards 1-A as the balls flew. This was, of course, by design, as Shinsou took hold of as many minds as he possibly could.

Class 1-A huddled together as Midoriya slapped a button on his right forearm guard, activating a short-term force-field Hatsume had developed. On the widest setting, it just barely managed to encompass the eight students, the rubber balls of the opposing Hero students bouncing off harmlessly, draining the battery slowly. As this happened, Midoriya handed Tokoyami as many glue grenades as Dark Shadow could carry.

“Get as many of the frozen ones as you can!” Tokoyami commanded his Quirk.

“I will, but greenie’s still a prick!” Dark Shadow hissed before zooming off, throwing glue grenades at as many of the students Shinsou had ensnared as it could.

Midoriya and Tokoyami exchanged awkward eye contact. “He’ll…he’ll get over it.” Tokoyami assured, looking away.

“Y-yeah.”

In the few seconds this all happened, the balls and dust cleared, leaving a large group of Shiketsu and other students glued to the ground, unarmed and panicking.

“GO!” Midoriya shouted.

And it was a massacre, if massacres ever occurred during modified games of dodgeball. Midoriya charged forward and used one of his balls to hit the targets on two students, apologizing them for their rotten luck. Shinsou, next to him, did the same thing without the apologies, as did the rest of the class.

“Well, would you look at that,” the administrator of the test announced from his podium, tiredly. “Looks like the first eight spots go to UA. Much better showing than last time. Please report to the waiting room.”

“YEAH!” The students of 1-A cheered, and before Midoriya knew it, he was getting hugged and high-fived from his new acquaintances, all of them gushing to him nonstop about how well his plan had worked. Midoriya even looked up to see Shinsou smiling at him.

From the stands, Aizawa watched, having left the rest of class 1-A with Vlad King to train with class 1-B. He narrowed his eyes. Despite his best efforts, Midoriya must have found out what the test was. And while he thought that might happen, he certainly hadn’t expected Midoriya to go ahead and devise a plan for all eight of them.

“At least Joke isn’t here to heckle me while I watch.”

“Aw, you think I could go without seeing you, sourpuss?”

Aizawa flinched as he heard her voice from a few rows behind him. He turned and glared, which did nothing to deter the look of joy on her face.

“Damn it.”
---

Midoriya and his friends waited and watched as other students began to join them. He looked to Shinsou, who was next to him. Despite the boy’s gruff exterior, it was clear he was a bit shy since he was sticking to the only person he actually knew.

“So, you know the plan?” Midoriya asked.

For once, the Brainwasher didn’t have a snarky response. “I’ll go with you and the others to help with rescue operations and wait for the villain to strike.”

“Right!” Midoriya smiled. “We got this.”

“You’re a great leader!” Ashido crowed from next to him, making both boys jump. “Honestly, me and Yaoyorozu were probably just going to wing it.”

The class president gave a grateful nod. “Your tactical abilities are astute for someone new to heroics.”

Midoriya and Tokoyami exchanged an awkward, knowing glance, but he gave a cheesy grin. “Th-thanks. I just figured if we could make it through together, we could all help each other in the next part.”

“We’re with you, dude.” Sero grinned. He dropped his voice a bit but spoke more to everyone when he added. “Remember, the pro victims judge you on your ability to stay cheerful and hopeful, to inspire hope even in grim situations.”

“My ability to what now?” Shinsou asked, brow furrowed.

“Just smile.” Kaminari deadpanned.

“I uh...I’ll try.”

---

As the next round began, the students of class 1-A stuck together as they approached a fallen building.

When they met a group of, “victims,” with judgmental eyes, Midoriya heard Ashido ask, “What’s the plan?”

He turned, expecting that she was asking the Class President. But he was met with seven pairs of eyes, even Yaoyorozu’s, looking to him for instructions.

For a minute, he began to panic - he was good at fighting, how was he supposed to...?

Mirio.

For a split second, Midoriya thought he could see oddly shaped ghosts behind his class. An effect of One for All? Anxiety-hallucinations? Probably not a real thing. But he remembered in Mirio’s last moments, he smiled and did the best thing he could do to protect Eri...

“Yaoyorozu, use your Quirk to set up First Aid and a Triage station!” He commanded, “Tokoyami, get an aerial view with Dark Shadow to get eyes on the structural integrity of the building, everyone else help me secure the area so we can extract civilians.”

What was it Mirio said about me and Tsu...?

He turned to the victims opening his visor to show off a forced, cheesy grin. “WE’RE HERE TO SAVE YOU! IT’S GOING TO BE OKAY!”

---

“Looks like that group is doing way better than last time,” Ms. Joke teased her long-suffering friend. “Did you actually give them some direction this time? Or maybe it’s the new blood you have here today? Did my kids give you such a scare that you got competitive?”

“I didn’t tell them a thing, Joke.”

That part was true. But she wasn’t wrong, Aizawa realized. He had long felt something was...missing from Class 1-A. They all had this potential to be Heroes. But ever since Todoroki had fallen from grace, it was like their confidence was taken away. They became complacent in their safe zones. They needed something there to give them that push. He cringed, he could hear All Might’s voice telling them to Go Beyond, but he wasn’t one for cheesy cheering.

So why were they all following Midoriya’s lead so much?

He hated to admit it, despite his feelings about vigilantism, perhaps the real-life experience had given the kid the backbone to lead, to not cower in the face of danger.

But this is where things got tricky...

---

“Release the kraken,” the exam administrator said tiredly into a headset.

“I’m a whale!” Gang Orca yelled back.

“Whatever...”

Leading an army of thugs, Gang Orca stormed the battlefield, causing loud explosions as he began causing as much destruction as possible.

As Midoriya and Shinsou carried two, “injured children,” to the triage area, the former vigilante looked to his reluctant friend. “You ready? Time for phase two.”

Shinsou’s mouth twitched. “As much as I could ever be...”

Chapter Text

Midoriya stared down Gang Orca and his army of thugs and looked around. Why am I the only one here?!

Perhaps he could salvage the situation. If no one was around, that would make their plan easier…

Of course, as soon as the thought crossed his mind, a girl he didn’t recognize from Shiketsu, lunged for Gang Orca, and received a vicious backhand from the number 10 Pro Hero. She was flung through the air…towards the triage center.

Sighing inwardly, Midoriya deployed his spider legs and leapt for her, catching her in mid-air and landing a good twenty feet from where he had started. “You okay?”

“Y-yes,” the girl stuttered, awkwardly. She was a plain-faced girl with stringy black hair, but she was staring at him funny, as if she had met him before. Deku didn’t have time for that though and set her down to charge Gang Orca.

Midoriya planted himself with his back to a large boulder. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

Shinsou threw his voice using his voice modifier to sound like a generic thug. “Don’t let him talk to you like that, boss!”

“I’m here to take this cit-GRHK!” Gang Orca began, but stopped, causing a few of his henchmen to stop and look at him, confused.

From behind the boulder, Shinsou took hold of Gang Orca’s mind.

“You sushi piece of crap, I’ll take you down!” Midoriya yelled, hoping to cover up what Shinsou had done.

“Want us to take him, boss?” The henchmen asked.

“No!” Gang Orca growled, “Leave him to me. You stay put until I’ve finished this fight!”

The henchmen looked around to each other, mumbling.

“This is new?”
“Think we’re being tested?”
“You know what? I don’t get paid enough to care.”

Midoriya took off using One for All in his legs, leading the villain as far away from the sight of his henchmen, Shinsou sneaking off as he commanded Gang Orca to give chase.

Once fully out of sight, the two took off to a secure area, where Yaoyorozu was waiting.

“You got it ready for us, Creati?” Midoriya asked, panting as he stopped to catch his breath.

Momo nodded and gestured behind her, to a giant above ground pool, filled to the brim with her replicated version of Midoriya’s glue from his glue grenades. “We’re all set, Deku. Think this will work?”

“Only one way to find out! Do it, Mind Screw!”

“That’s a terrible hero name,” Shinsou deadpanned, but turned to Gang Orca and instructed, “Alright, now jump into that pool and make sure you wedge your arms into the glue when you do.”

Gang Orca made an odd whale mating call and did as he was told, cannon-balling into the pool and wedging himself into the goop. Upon feeling it, he snapped out of his trance and began struggling, angrily. “What gives?!”

The three students watched for a while as he thrashed, and it appeared it was holding.

“Alright, it’s working!” Midoriya cheered as his two classmates sighed in relief.
---

“Wow, would you look at that!” Ms. Joke laughed. “Your green-bean and purple crayon managed to trap the number 10 Pro Hero! Where did you find these two? They had to have been recommended.”

“Not your concern.” Aizawa grunted.

As much as he hated to admit it…pairing Midoriya with Shinsou had been a gambit that had paid off. But he hadn’t anticipated anything quite like this.

And that’s when the buzzer went off.
---

“Shinsou, look! There’s your name! And there’s mine!”

The sound of cheering rose from where the students of 1-A had gathered among each other. Every single one of them had passed the exam, making them all officially Licensed Heroes. Midoriya’s heart began drumming rapidly in his chest. All the late-night adventures, knocking down bars, hunting down villains…he could do it again now, and legally!

Well, he was getting ahead of himself. He still needed to be employed in an agency, which probably meant securing another work study or something of that nature. Which would be hard to do.

Still, as he was hugged by just about every member of his class that was there, save for Tokoyami who gave some flowery haiku about teamwork, it was hard to feeling anything but excited.

There was another student who was excited too, even as she watched Deku leave with his classmates. She, of course, was not a UA student. She was the student with a plain face and stringy black hair, who had been saved by Midoriya at the time. While this was something out of the ordinary, this wasn’t why she was excited.

The girl slipped away from the Shiketsu High students, and boarded a public bus, an excitement making her chest flutter. The feeling didn’t quell, either, when she exited the bus and began walking down an alleyway. She giggled to herself as her disguise began to melt away; her exposed flesh against the air hardly bothering her as her Quirk changed her back to normal.

Toga Himiko had been assigned to use blood from various students to spy on the new rounds of Hero License holders. Tomura’s plan involved killing a number of them, to again attack the credibility of the Hero community. After all, who would want to be a Hero if obtaining your license was akin to obtaining your death certificate? Of course, planning it out meant as much recon as possible.

But Toga knew she had valuable news for her friends today.

As she walked into the bar, Kurogiri and Shigaraki merely moved their heads in her direction as a greeting before Tomura asked, “So? Any inside information to give us the jump when we go PvP?”

Toga giggled mischievously. “I love it when you go all nerd-speak. But I have something JUICY for one of you.”

To the annoyance of everyone else in the room, save for maybe Dabi, she skipped over towards the back of the bar.

“Hey Muscles!”

Muscular, who had been sitting down at the end of the bar with a whiskey in each hand, glanced down at her with a scowl. “What?”

“Remember the twerp with the spider leeeeeeegs?”

Muscular’s scowl was morphed to a rather unhinged smirk. “Go on...”
---

Midoriya swung his door open, where, as he suspected, Hatsume was waiting for him, adjusting a few screws on an invention she was working on. Her eyes snapped up to meet his, and at seeing the giant grin across his face, she broke out into a giant smile of her own.

“You did it?!”

“I did it!” He cried in answer, and she jumped into his arms as they laughed.

The two broke apart and she ruffled his hair. “I’m proud of you, Deku Scrub. But I always knew you could be a Hero.”

“Is that so?”

She nodded. “Ever since I saw you risk your ass to save Mt. Lady, I knew you had a drive for it.”

He felt himself blush, but there was nothing that could bring Midoriya down from the high he was on.

“Come on, let’s go out and celebrate!” Midoriya beamed. “Maybe scout out some places for me to bust.”

Hatsume laughed as she set down her gadget and screwdriver on his dresser. “You’re speaking my language, Deku Scrub. Let’s get out of here.”

That weekend was perhaps one of the best Midoriya and Hatsume had in awhile. And after a year of loss, mourning, and struggle, perhaps they needed it.

But while this was going on, there was still fallout from Overhaul’s operation. Students in year three mourned the loss of Mirio, his absence leaving a hole that was felt throughout the entire class.

And in the Pro world, a vacuum was felt as well; Nighteye and Mirio had a number of open cases that were contracted out to their firm that still needed to be resolved. Usually when cases were distributed to agencies, should the top Hero of the firm fall, it would just be distributed to a sidekick, or, saving that, reassigned to another agency altogether.

Nighteye was different though. Due to his ability, he did offer certain contingencies to his clientele, whether public or private, should he leave this mortal coil while on duty. The agency itself couldn’t shut down until all open files were closed.

Centipeder and Bubble Girl knew this, however, had never actually bothered to look into what the contingencies meant. But, the two of them got off their train stop, and went where they were instructed.

“You ever heard of this guy?” Centipeder asked his colleague. “Grand Dorito or something?”

“Man, I don’t give a hoot who he is as long as he doesn’t have a tickle fetish.” Bubble Girl scowled. “Never again.”

“Word.”

They knocked on the door of a rather modest house, and both jumped slightly at the speed the door was opened; not a millisecond after Centipeder’s hand left the wooden door it creaked open. Before them was a small, elderly man, dressed in a Hero Costume despite being home by himself, wearing a vacant, empty smile.

“Oh my, is it Halloween already?” He croaked, “You two look a bit old for this.”

“Er…” Bubble Girl began, a bit thrown off by the response. This guy looked ready to collapse at any moment. “Are you Gran Torino?”

“That’s what I wrote on my underwear, so that must be me!”

“W-we’re from the Nighteye agency…”

Gran Torino’s face fell, disheartened. The expression change was so immediate it took the two Sidekicks off their guard. “Hmph. So old four eyes finally bit off more than he could chew, did he?”

Was that all a façade? Centipeder wondered. But as he blinked, the old man was gone, the door closed in his face. “Huh…?”

“Well, what are you waiting for?”

The two Sidekicks jumped and spun around. Faster than they could see, he had made it to the end of his walk and slammed the door behind him.

“Nighteye left me in charge to finish up his cases before you two move on to another agency, right?” Gran Torino grunted. “I’ve got better things to do, so let’s get this show on the road.”

Centipeder and Bubble Girl exchanged glances and shrugged. It was hard to tell whether this was better or worse than Sir Nighteye, but they got a pretty nice bonus for finishing up this contingency plan, so why fight it?
---

“So how did Hero Training with class 1-B go?” Midoriya asked, he and Hatsume sitting across from Uraraka and Asui at lunch on Monday. To his right was Shinsou, who had not been able to wipe the, “deer in the headlights,” expression from his face since being fully made a student of class 1-A that morning.

“We ended up with mixed teams since there were thirty of us,” Uraraka sighed, “five rounds of three vs. three. It was rough.”

“My team was the only one with just class 1-A people who won, kero.” Tsuyu croaked, smiling.

“Yeah, well, we can’t all be as skilled with that tongue as you,” Uraraka replied, teasingly.

Hatsume and Midoriya exchanged a look, awkwardly. The way Ochako said that seemed a little suspect, like she knew from experience. “We’ll get them next time,” Midoriya assured his friend.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Pulling it out, he looked down to see a text from Hatsume, simply stating, “I think those two are smooshing booties.”

Midoriya did his best to keep a poker face as he pocketed his phone. Thankfully, he was saved from the situation as Aizawa walked over to the table. This was especially odd; Midoriya had never seen the teacher in that room. He looked a little out of place. “Can I have a word with you after Hero Training, Mr. Midoriya?”

Midoriya nodded, nervously, though he wasn’t sure why. The teacher was still intimidating, but now that he had his license, he should be in the clear. No one had gotten wind of how he and Shinsou had tricked Gentle and La Brava either.

“What’d you do?!” Hatsume asked, teasingly. “Troublemaker.”

“Deku?!” Uraraka laughed. “He’d never cause trouble!”

Now it was Midoriya, Hatsume, and Asui who all looked away, awkwardly.
---

Thankfully, Hero Training wasn’t too tricky that day. Or perhaps with all his work on integrating his tech with One for All, he was getting the hang of it. Fighting as a vigilante was the same as fighting as a hero; Midoriya was a good tactician. And today was rescuing civilians from a burning building, which, while tricky, was perfect for the spider legs as they allowed mobility over various surfaces when flooring was compromised.

Before he knew it, he was following Aizawa back to the faculty room, just like before the festival. Is he having me watch Eri again?

As they entered the lounge, the principal was waiting, and smiled at the two of them, waving them over to the couches surrounding a coffee table. He had prepared some tea for them all. “Come now, take a seat, and we can discuss the news.”

“The news?” Izuku asked as he took a seat and grabbed a cup of tea.

“Quite,” Nezu nodded. “You know, we both had our doubts the night Mirio died. It was a very turbulent time, and we weren’t sure whether you would just go along quietly with our demands given your defiance for the rules.”

He almost wanted to respond with how difficult it was to stop his vigilantism, but given the circumstances and company, Midoriya bit his tongue. It didn’t seem like a tactful response.

“But Aizawa tells me you’ve adapted…”

“Adequately,” Aizawa replied, firmly. This was probably about the nicest word he’d get out of Eraserhead, so Midoriya took it as a win.

“You’ve adapted quite adequately to the Hero Course and the rules we set forth. And now you’re licensed!” Nezu beamed. “Which means you’re eligible for work study.”

“Normally, considering that you’re still catching up, we’d discourage this,” Aizawa interjected. “However, this was a rather…special request.”

“Special request?” The boy parroted, head tilted in curiosity.

“Tell me Midoriya,” Nezu asked, “are you familiar with Gran Torino?”
---

“…So Gran Torino is just about the only one left who knows about All Might and One for All, huh?” Hatsume surmised after Midoriya talked about his meeting with her. Ectoplasm was in the Support lab, and he didn’t seem to mind Midoriya hanging around as Hatsume finished adjusting Froppy’s costume for colder weather. “Name sounds familiar…”

Midoriya nodded and spoke in a low voice. “With All Might, Mirio, and Nighteye gone, he’s apparently the only one left who has experience with the Quirk. He wants to keep an eye on me and at the same time give me some real-world experience as a Hero.” He looked around to make sure no one was listening before adding, “Nezu makes it sound like he doesn’t know about my vigilantism, but it sounds like he could really help me out.”

“Still having trouble spreading One for All across your whole body?” Hatsume gave a sympathetic smile, a far cry from her usual teasing one. “Nothing I can build to help you with that one. That’s all up here.” She reached over and poked him on the forehead. She paused to think, as if double checking herself to make sure she could force Deku’s brain to comply but shook her head.

“You’ve already done so much for me. Don’t worry about it.”

The words brought the giant grin back to Hatsume’s face as she finished some adjustments. “Don’t get too sappy on me now. So, when do you start?”

“Tomorrow,” Midoriya answered, rubbing the back of his neck. “I guess he wants to get these cases closed so he can go back to retirement, and Nighteye’s Sidekicks can move on to other things.”

Hatsume nodded. “Well, let’s see if your suit needs any tune ups before you go then. Can’t have you blowing yourself up with those Kacchan Gloves.”

It was his turn to give her a bright smile. “You’re the best, Mei.”

“Obviously, duh.” Mei stuck her tongue out. “I daresay I’m somewhat fond of you as well.”
---

The next day, Midoriya boarded the familiar bus route towards Sir Nighteye’s agency. Even though he knew where he was going, it was off, like he was going there for the first time. It felt weird; before he was going with Hatsume and Mirio. Now, it was just him, meeting a stranger, and going for Hero work instead of Support work.

It hit him he never really had been given a chance to think about Mirio’s death, not with dealing with Overhaul, being put in the Hero Course, and learning how to not kill himself every time he used One for All. In the brief time he had known Mirio, he felt like he’d learned a lot from the older teen. His consideration in their conflict for One for All, being heroic in the face of death…

Mirio gave me One for All. I have to do my best to finish these cases for him. I’ll do my best to live up to his example.

With newfound determination he walked down the street until he reached Nighteye’s agency. He walked in with all the confidence he could muster.

“Hello?” He called out to the empty reception area. “Mr. Gran Torino? It’s me, Midoriya Iz-OOF!”

A speeding blur of yellow came from his left and kicked him across the face, sending him onto the floor as he caught himself on his hands and knees.

A small, elderly man in a yellow and white hero suit stood before him. “You’re the scrawny kid succeeding Toshinori?” He asked, as if baffled that an unsuspecting teenager allowed himself to get sucker-kicked by an old man. “Well, get up. We need to get you up to speed so you don’t drag me down on these cases.”

Another foot crashed into his ribs, sending Midoriya rolling across the tiled floor, but he shifted to his feet in a defensive stance.

This is gonna suck.

Chapter Text

“So, why are we watching this old man beat up a teenager?” Bubble Girl asked from behind a one-way mirror.

“Something about that One for All Quirk we had to sign Non-Disclosure Agreements about.” Centipeder shrugged.

“Not like we know anything about it,” Bubble Girl whined. “This is a waste of our time.”

“Yeah, but it beats the tickle machine, right?”

“Word.”
---

“Come on, you spring chicken, can’t keep up with me?!” Gran Torino laughed as he zoomed around the office.

Frustrated, Midoriya put One for All into his legs and lunged for the older man, and in mid-air shifted his power to his arms…

“You’re too slow!” Gran Torino taunted, somersaulting in the air using his Jet Quirk and smacking Izuku across the back of the head. “Your transition period is a weak spot.”

“Same thing Aizawa said…” Midoriya grunted to himself as he sprawled across the ground.

Gran Torino paused. “Boy, when you summon that Quirk of yours, how does it feel?”

Midoriya thought about it and looked at his arm before answering. “Like a surge of power into my arm…?”

Gran Torino sighed. “Where does it start…?”

The thought gave Midoriya pause as he closed his eyes. He slowly summoned the power into his left arm: it started up his shoulder, down his upper arm, sending a tingling sensation through his elbows, up his forearm, and to his fingertips.

“Starts from the chest or stomach, right?” Gran Torino asked, seeing the look on the boy’s face.

Midoriya nodded.

“That’s all mental,” the older Hero sighed, tapping his head. “You think it starts there because you had to swallow something to get the power. It can start wherever you want it to. And it needs to be all over you. Usually I’d use a metaphor or something, but to be frank, this is cutting into my soaps and you seem like a smart enough kid.”

“All over, huh…?” Midoriya wondered, rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Then maybe I should – OW!”

Gran Torino had gone back onto the attack, shoving a forearm into the boy’s midsection, knocking the wind out of him.

Need a – OW – minute – ARGH – to think!

That was nearly impossible with a speeding bullet of an old man hitting him every other second.

He was still in his hero suit, and he looked down to the two bracers on his forearm. He smashed a button on his left forearm, activating the defense system he had designed; a telescopic riot shield sprang forth out of his arm, which he held up just in time for Gran Torino to kick off of.

“Toys won’t help you here, kid!” Gran Torino laughed, “I can just sneak up behind you!”

Midoriya retracted the shield and rolled to the left as he hit the bracer on his right forearm, springing up to his knees as the old man passed right where he had been. The few seconds of defense was just what he needed to warm up the force field Hatsume had designed as Gran Torino smacked against it.

“Now you’re just cheating!” The old man sneered in amusement, “That thing can’t protect you forever.”

No, but it can let me think. Midoriya thought, closing his eyes as he heard thuds against the projected screen.

In my head it starts in my chest, right? We’ll start there.

He imagined One for All as a faucet, as Aizawa had described it. Only this time, instead of just turning the tap a little, he could see the water trickling down into a basin, feeling the power well into his chest and stomach.

Ignoring the thuds of Gran Torino attacking his forcefield, he cleared his mind, keeping the visual in his head. Just need to let it spread from there, naturally.

He imagined the water in the basin filling, spilling over the edge onto a floor, spreading out slowly in a puddle. The energy in his chest and stomach began to pool outward. Up his shoulders, down into his thighs, even up his neck. As the water began to pool around the small room in his mind, he found himself there, standing in the water as it calmly began to submerge him. But as the water washed over his face, up past his hair, he felt...

Amazing.

He flicked his eyes open as green lightning seemed to spark around him.

This was it.

A Full Cowl of One for All. All over him.

He dropped the force field and cartwheeled away from the oncoming Gran Torino. As the old man circled around to attack again, Midoriya leapt up, and sprung off the ceiling towards where the Hero was approaching. Gran Torino ducked forward and just dodged Midoriya, who was able to catch himself on his hands and flip forward onto his feet. Defensively, Midoriya jump into a spinning back kick, which Gran Torino had to stop himself from running into.

“Alright!” The old man huffed. “I think you’ve got a knack for it.”

Fists clench, Midoriya grinned with adrenaline pumping through him. “This feels AMAZING!”

“I noticed. You notice how much more agile you were back there?”

Midoriya paused to reflect on the words. He’d probably never done a cartwheel in his life, but as soon as he figured out full cowl, he was flipping. “Yeah…what was up with that?”

“Spreading One For All all over your body means it’s hitting muscles you don’t use as much, energizing them. You’re a tad on the scrawny side, so be careful there.” The old man advised. “When you just put the power in your arms to punch or legs to run, your brain already knows what muscles it uses for those. That’s why the spread is important. Reduces the strain, works other parts, makes you more effective in general. Now come on, we’re on the clock!”

As if they weren’t just having a raucous throw down of epic proportions, Gran Torino turned on his heel and headed towards a meeting room. Midoriya blinked, confused, but brushed himself off and followed the ancient Hero to the room.

Bubble Girl and Centipeder were inside, sitting at the conference table, whistling innocently as though they weren’t just watching said raucous throw down.

“You’re not fooling anyone, you clowns,” Gran Torino scowled, before heading to the front of the room and hitting the overhead projector.

“We’re going to get some of these smaller cases out of the way today, so we can focus on the real juicy stuff in the next coming weeks. Centipeder, what do you have?”
---

Midoriya perched on a roof with Gran Torino, staking out a rundown apartment building. The first case was an elusive jewel thief with a Spider mutation Quirk. Her name was Arietta, and if Midoriya wasn’t poised to help bring her in, he’d want to ask her a million things about her Quirk.

Six arms protruding from her back, she had the proportional strength of a spider, a venomous bite, five eyes going across her head, and, if Centipeder was to be believed, a nasty temper.

“You sure you don’t want binoculars, kid?” Gran Torino asked.

Midoriya shook his head. “My helmet was a zoom function.”

“Ah right, you and your little girlfriend were in Support before you obtained One for All. You keep working that brain. Toshinori was all muscle, no smarts or common sense. You look like all brains, a bit of muscle...how’s your common sense?”

Midoriya immediately flashed back to jumping off a roof to stop Stain from killing Mt. Lady, and the scolding he received from Hatsume about doing something so dense. “I uh...I have my good days and bad days.”

“We can work on that too,” Gran Torino replied flatly, already seeing through Midoriya’s efforts at inflating his common sense. “Anyway, this lady has plenty of warrants out, so once we get a visual, we can go ahead and kick the door in. We just want to make sure we catch her off guard at home.” The old man picked up a walkie-talkie. “Anything on your end, Bubble Girl?”

“Negative,” the device crackled.

“The sightings we had are a few weeks old at this point,” the elderly hero grumbled. “Here I was thinking we’d knock this one out easily.”

Midoriya’s sight fell, in disappointment. Truth be told, he was tempted to try and surf the dark web for any information on the Arietta, but his phone wasn’t prepared for that, and he didn’t want to be rude and call Hatsume for help on that on his first day on the case.

But his eyes caught something odd as he looked down at the street. A figure in a trench coat, which, probably wasn’t the weirdest thing in the world as the air chilled around them, but the six arms sticking out of it gave him reason to pause.

“Gran Torino…” he spoke, pointing, “check it out.”

The old man grinned as turned his binoculars towards the figure on the street and picked up the walkie talkie. “Sighting on the street, northbound towards 4th. Keep an eye out while we engage.”

“Roger that.”

“Time to earn your keep kid,” the old an instructed, diving down an alleyway. Midoriya couldn’t help but smile as he followed, adrenaline beginning to kick in.
---

The trench coated figure pulled her hat down further along her forehead. She’d already stayed in one place too long. You could never stick around in one place for long unless you were aligned with the League of Villains. And as tempting as that was, considering all the clout around them after the death of All Might, Arietta wasn’t one for sharing.

She had stashed her goods easy enough, but now it was just a matter of finding a new place to hang out, whatever seedy joint would overlook a background check in lieu of a generous upfront deposit.

Her thoughts were dashed though as an old man in a white and yellow costume stepped out of an alleyway in front of her.

“Excuse me miss, can you point the way downtown, I seemed to have gotten turned around in my old age…” He asked, wheezing.

“Can’t,” she snipped, brushing past him.

But she whirled around as the old man had yanked off her trench coat, revealing all six of her arms. Despite her fanged scowl, the old man grinned in triumph.

“What are you, some kind of perv?!” She growled.

“Nice try Arietta,” Gran Torino chuckled. “You’re under arrest. Are you going to come peacefully, or do we have to do this the hard way?”

Gran Torino zoomed out of the way as six arms lunged for him. “The hard way, then.” The elderly Hero kicked off the wall of the building they were next to and jettisoned back with a kick across her cheek, landing and using a leg sweep aimed for her legs.

But part of a spider mutation Quirk made Arietta proportionally as strong as a spider, including resistance to blows and heightened reflexes and sight with the extra eyes. She jumped over Gran Torino’s sweep and sent all three of her right fists towards the pavement. As the older man zipped out of the way, the sidewalk itself cracked underneath her fists.

Deku watched the fight from the alleyway – Gran Torino had told him to stay back and strike in surprise if things started going haywire, and the other two would act as backup in case she started to get away. As he watched, he focused himself once again, covering his entire body in One for All. Full Cowl, he had decided on calling it.

He couldn’t maintain a full 10% spread all over, but if he had to estimate, it was probably a good 8%. The decreased power was made up for in the increased maneuverability, he figured.

Still, at first, he wondered if Gran Torino would even need his help; Arietta couldn’t seem to land a blow on him. But as the older man zoomed around the back of the villain, something gross and unexpected happened.

Arietta grunted, shooting a mess of sticky webs out of a slot in the back of her pants. The webs sprang out like a wide net, ensnaring Gran Torino and sending him to the pavement.

Guess that’s my cue.

Arietta appeared more monstrous as she leered over the old man, baring her fangs, but Midoriya was already behind her as he dashed, jumping into the air and thrusting both feet into her upper back and neck. The villainess was thrown forward a good few feet, skidding across the sidewalk. Deku turned in the air and was able to land on his feet, pulling a glue grenade from his belt and throwing it towards the spider girl.

She was quick though, picking herself off the ground with her multiple arms, and springing out of the way of the glue grenade. She scuttled across the side of a building and pounced for Deku before he could even think to leap out of the way. Her middle pair of arms reached for him and he reached up to grapple with her, One for All matching her strength as he fought to keep her off of him.

“Oh, strong one, aren’t you, cutie?” She laughed. “But I think you’re out-armed!”

As she went to attack with her lower and upper pairs of arms though, Deku surprised her as his own mechanical spider-legs popped from his back and grabbed her arms, match for match.

“WHAT?!” She screamed.

That was all the distraction he needed; with their arms locked, Midoriya sprang up, thrusting his armored and steel-toed boot into her chin, twisting into a full backflip as she collapsed onto the pavement, stunned.

In mid-air, he plucked another glue grenade from his belt, and this time he didn’t miss, encasing her in the goo against the sidewalk, helpless.

“YOU LITTLE SHIT, I’LL…” She rambled on, as Midoriya walked over to where Gran Torino was, wrapped up in a web.

“That sounded like a pretty cool fight, too bad I was caught facing the other way,” the older man laughed heartily.

That’s a bit of a letdown.

Midoriya began using his mechanical legs to slowly pull apart the webbing, freeing Gran Torino. “Didn’t know she could do that,” the old man laughed.

Centipeder and Bubble Girl approached on the street as news crews began filming the scene. “Good moves, kid,” Centipeder congratulated. “We saw the whole thing.”

“Th-thanks!” Midoriya blushed under his helmet. It was a different feeling, fighting in the open. A crowd had been drawn, and people were excitedly pointing towards him. He did his best not to let it get to him.

The four began the arresting process, unaware of one of the civilians reporting their every move.
---

Toga, disguised as some random civilian she had killed weeks ago, spoke into the receiver on her stolen phone. “That’s right, Mr. Hands!”

Shigaraki had told her a million times not to call him that.

“Mhmm. With Centipeder, Bubble Girl, and that old guy who was with All Might,” she continued in a whisper, behind the crowd.

---

Once Toga had finished the call, Shigaraki dropped the phone, rubbing his chin, pinky out.

“When do I get to KILL HIM?!” Muscular growled.

“I’m surrounded by idiots,” Shigaraki sighed. “He’s working with Gran Torino, Nighteye’s former losers, finishing their cases.”

“Sounds like a few more kills under my belt.” The muscled murderer grunted. “Can I go now?”

Shigaraki rubbed the bridge of his nose. He knew that not every member of the League was committed to his vision of the League as he was. Despite the impact they were making, a few members of the Vanguard Action Squad were more concerned with their own goals. This was fine. They got what they needed. He got what he needed.

Still, this bullet made it hard to aim his gun. “We can use this, Muscular. We attack with the most exposure, it spreads the message further. You don’t unleash the combo move unless your opponent’s health is just low enough.”

“Quit the nerd shit,” Muscular grunted, grabbing another bottle of whiskey from behind the bar. “I need to kill this kid and I need to NOW!”

Shigaraki grunted. “We want the same things, Muscular. But if we get a critical hit, the world will fear you...”

Muscular let out a loud belch, making even Kurogiri flinch. “Well. I do like the sound of that. But I need some bloodshed, and soon.”

“You’ll get your shot,” Shigaraki assured, “and you’ll be leaving four heroes as bloodstains on the pavement.”

“Good.”
---

Gran Torino sat down with his temporary employees, earlier than he had expected, in the agency’s meeting room. “Well, since we’re back early tonight, I want to just go over our biggest case, very briefly before we work on some more tomorrow.”

Centipeder and Bubble Girl nodded, but Midoriya leaned in closer, curiosity peaked.

He wasn’t suspecting Gran Torino to bring a still shot of a young man on the screen, looking only a few years older than Deku. Immediately, Deku recognized him; he was the weird guy with the hand on his face from USJ, and who had been there with Todoroki when All Might had died. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the picture. The League of Villains...?

“This, is Shigaraki Tomura.” Gran Torino explained. “He is the leader of the League of Villains. He’s the one who convinced Endeavor’s kid to put All Might six feet under. And this case was rather personal for Nighteye...and myself, if we’re being honest. You see... Tomura is the grandson of All Might’s mentor and one of my closest friends, Shimura Nana.”

Midoriya nearly fell out of his chair, shocked. He had no clue that the League of Villains had that sort of connection to All Might. He felt his nerves skyrocket - the last time he had tussled with the League, he and Tsuyu barely managed to escape alive, and it took a lot of diversion and planning.

“This is a case ordered by the police themselves. They’re gathering intel while we finish these lower cases. Once the intel is complete, we’ll align ourselves with a few other Pro agencies, and the finish what All Might started.”

“You mean...?” Bubble Girl began but the words got lost in her throat.

Gran Torino nodded. “That’s right. This agency’s last mission is to disband the League of Villains. Now go home, and get some sleep.”

Midoriya gulped but nodded. Wait ‘til Hatsume hears about this...

Chapter Text

“My hero,” Hatsume teased, giving Deku a peck on the lips as he sat on his bed next to her as she was inspecting, “catching an itsy-bitsy spider.”

“She was like two meters tall!” Midoriya objected.

“I know, I’m picking on you.” His girlfriend laughed, but there was a noticeable shift in her tone. “You make it too easy. But still...the League of Villains, huh? I guess you always were ‘go big or go home’.”

“Are you...worried?” Midoriya questioned. It had been quite some time since he had heard her like this.

“Well...” Hatsume fidgeted, seemingly put in an uncomfortable position at the question. “I have faith in you. I really do. But I just felt better when I had camera viewing and remote-control access to your helmet.”

“Honestly, Mei, it feels a bit weird not to have you in my ear watching my back too.” He admitted.

Izuku could almost hear the record scratch in his head as she sprang off the bed. “So, we’re in agreement?!”

"Agreement?" He echoed.

“That I should go back to being your eyes and ears in the field!” She beamed. “After all, I put all the capabilities in your helmet!”

Now it was Deku’s turn to shift nervously. “I-is that a good idea, Mei? I mean...you’re not...”

“Not what?” She huffed confidently. “There are no licenses or permits required. And I’ve got references!”

“What references?” Midoriya couldn’t help but laugh as he asked.

“Well, I helped Midoriya Izuku as a vigilante capture Stain, the Hero Killer, and even had some fieldwork experience in the capture of Todoroki Shouto. You would just have to ask him.”

“That’s uh...that’s a pretty good reference.” Midoriya chuckled.

“So? Do I get the job?” Hatsume asked, playfully putting her hands on his shoulders.

“Since when was this a job interview?!”

Hatsume proceeded to lean in to him and whisper into his ear in a lower, sultry tone, which never failed to send a shiver up Midoriya’s spine. “Come on, Midoriya...please?”

“F-fine.” He stuttered out. “But only because I want you to and not because you used the sexy voice.”

“Sssssuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure.”
---
Over the course of the next two weeks, Midoriya realized just how much more efficient Bubble Girl and Centipeder were when he was in class. Just the next day after Arietta had been apprehended, he walked in to the office after school to see they had each resolved one of their smaller cases in the afternoon itself.

“Try and keep up, kid, “Gran Torino huffed as the boy asked a million questions to his flustered coworkers, taking notes in one of his many notebooks. “Just a few more of these small things before we can put our real focus on The League themselves.”

And so, they patrolled each night, staking out various seedy parts of towns, or setting up sting operations for drug busts. Of course, some nights they came up empty handed, and a few times their plans were interrupted by an unrelated crime that they were able to thwart.

Hatsume, in secret, watched through Midoriya’s helmet and fed him as much intel as she could on their target. It proved to be helpful, as there are some things you can only find on someone by using the less than savory parts of the web.

It was a Friday night that things changed in their plans, rather drastically.

“If you can’t tell from the name, Zippy isn’t the smartest criminal,” Gran Torino grunted as he and Midoriya perched themselves on another rooftop. “But when your Quirk is super speed with no real drawbacks, you don’t really have to be smart.”

Midoriya thought back to Iida, with his engines in the legs. They served as propulsion as opposed to just speed enhancement, and he wondered briefly about what sort of pros and cons those might have as opposed to natural speed. He shook the thought out of his head and looked on the street.

“He’s not wrong,” Hatsume chirped in his ear. “Looks like this guy hits multiple corner stores a night. That seems a little below the going rate for a Nighteye job though.”

“Who requested this case?” Midoriya asked.

“Well, a month before Nighteye took the long dirt nap, Zippy started doings jobs outside of his usual MO. Instead of stealing petty cash from shops in the slums, he began stealing weapons, government waste, and finally, kidnapping a recently licensed hero from Shiketsu not long after you got your own license, kid. Didn’t you hear about that on the news?” Gran Torino asked.

The boy shook his head. “I must have missed that.”

In his ear, Deku could hear Hatsume hammering away at her keyboard. “Yeah, some girl named Camie Utsushimi. She’s been missing for a few weeks now, presumed dead.”

“The reason I saved this case for last before our League of Villains endeavor is two-fold: one, this guy is very hard to track down and the police needed to get a good sighting to me,” Torino explained, “but second, it’s suspected that the League is connected to that girl’s disappearance, and therefore, he might be loosely associated with them. When we catch him, we should be able to get some more information from him.”

Centipeder and Bubble Girl were holed up in an alleyway. To say that they were in a dodgy part of town would be generous. This makes those bars I toppled in the mech suit look classy.

“So, if this guy has super speed, how do we find him?” Midoriya asked.

“Well, he’s fast, but he’s not ‘speed of light fast’ or anything.” Gran Torino deadpanned. “You see a blur come by, we’ll know where he is, and I can chase him down. You just try and keep up, whippersnapper.”

Midoriya laughed, but their walkie-talkie began to crackle, grabbing the attention of the two Heroes as Gran Torino snatched it off the ledge. “What is it?”

“We just got a call from our police contact,” Centipeder’s voice answered. “Zippy was seen holed up in the warehouse down on seventh. We’re on route to get the drop on him.”

“Copy. We’ll be right there.” Gran Torino nodded and took off to another rooftop, not needing to command Deku to follow him. By now, Deku was used to this sort of treatment; it was just how the old man operated.

The warehouse in question was a few blocks down, and it was pretty close to where Centipeder and Bubble girl were stationed, so the open front door did not come as a surprise to Deku and Gran Torino.

Cautiously, Midoriya and Gran Torino stepped inside of the warehouse and looked around as their eyes adjusted to the dark.

“What happened here?!” Gran Torino gasped, his usual aloof attitude dropping as he dashed over to the wall. It took Deku a second to process why, but he gasped as well to see both Bubble Girl and Centipeder, collapsed in a heap against the wall, battered and bruised.

“How’d he get the drop on you?” Gran Torino asked to their unconscious bodies, bemused. “He’s not that tough…”

But Deku was more taken aback by the fifth body in the room, strapped to a chair towards the back. “Wait…Gran Torino is that…?”

Wasting no time, the older Hero zoomed over to the back, and inspected the figure. It was a gruesome sight. The criminal, Zippy, was in the chair dead, neck snapped and clearly, he had taken a beating before he was finally put out of his misery, his yellow and green costume stained with dried blood.

Gran Torino inspected the corpse carefully, tone lowering into a growl. “He’s been dead for a few hours.” He pulled out a phone to call for backup. “Deku, secure the – “

That was as far as he got before a mountain of a man bust from the wall behind Zippy’s body and backhanded Gran Torino away, destroying his cane and phone in one fell swoop. Midoriya stepped backwards out of habit and felt his heart drop as he recognized the attacker.

“Muscular…”

“Oh SHIT!” Hatsume cursed in his ear.

“You!” Muscular growled with a rather deranged grin. “I’ve been looking for you, Deku.”

“You really shouldn’t have.” Midoriya replied, flatly. Can’t let him know how freaked out I am.

“People don’t get away from me for long!” Musculuar roared, flaring up his muscles across his arms and legs and springing for Deku.

Deku was able to cover himself in a Full Cowl and artfully flip to the side to dodge the charge, but Muscular swung his arm wildly to the side, smacking Deku in mid-air. Able to catch his bearings, Deku deployed his spider legs and caught himself on the wall and began scuttling up it.

He’s fast. People shouldn’t be that big and that fast.

Muscular was already leaping towards him, poised to tackle Izuku through the wall. This time, Deku dodged low, diving under Muscular as the villain went crashing through the wall alone.

“I need time to think…” He muttered to himself as he rolled across the ground

“He’s faster than you babe, you better think quick,” Hatsume responded in his ear. He could hear the worry in her voice, urging him to be faster.

He had barely gotten to his feet when Muscular burst through the wall again, shaking the entire warehouse. On instinct, he went to dodge upwards, using Full Cowl and his Spider limbs to jump over the giant of a man, but Muscular was one step ahead of him. The villain reached up, grabbed Deku’s leg, and slammed him against the concrete floor, driving the air out of him.

Before Muscular could attack again, Gran Torino kicked him across the back of the head and jettisoned away as the villain whipped around to try and smack the Hero. Gran Torino began using a similar attack method as he had against Deku weeks ago, bouncing off the walls and dodging, striking when possible. As this happened, Midoriya dragged himself a few feet away from the fight to try and recover.

“He moves faster than I can react…” he breathed.

“I don’t have anything in the helmet to enhance your reaction time,” Hatsume replied, nervously, “but I called in a tip for backup.”

“Wait…maybe I have something!” Midoriya realized.

“What do you mean?”

He had no time to explain; Muscular had alright twisted around and smashed Gran Torino with a fist half the size of the elderly man’s body and was already turned back towards Midoriya to charge.

As the villain rushed him, Midoriya channeled a very small amount of One for All into a place he had never placed it before.

His eyes.

Even at 5% minimum, it felt like he had placed his eyes in the microwave; colors seemed much more vivid and the world was much brighter. But it also slowed down, as if he was seeing through the many eyes of an insect. Muscular was still approaching, but at a snail’s pace.

Okay. That’s his trajectory. And he’s going to pass by that support beam…

…okay. I’ve got this.

This ability, this Perception, might give him the edge he needed. He took a deep breath, and reverted power back into a Full Cowl. As the world sped up, he wasted no time springing into the support beam, kicking off, and dropkicking Muscular in the left knee with his steel-supported boots.

The villain hadn’t been expecting this and collapsed into a kneeling position to the ground after Deku’s boots made a sickening crack against his kneecap. But Midoriya wasn’t done, grabbing Muscular’s arm with his spider limb, using it to flip into the face of the villain, and unleashing a full force explosion with his Kacchan gloves at point blank range.

While in the air, the explosion propelled him backwards up towards the rafters, which he clung to with this spider legs, staring down into the smoke, hoping that the combination of a broken knee and a face full of explosion would be enough to take the bad guy down.

As the smoke cleared, he gulped. Muscular was still up, but having trouble putting weight on his left knee after Midoriya’s attack. A quick x-ray scan with his helmet told Deku everything he needed to know.

“Your knee is broken.” Deku growled, “Give up.”

Muscular roared and covered his knee in great, bulking muscles to act as make-shift cast or boot, “YOU’LL DIE FOR THIS YOU LITTLE SHIT!”

He lunged again, but his movements had slowed down enough for Deku to dive under the villain again. Guess he can be creative with his Quirk too. Deku whipped around to attack, but Muscular was already coming down, having smacked himself off the rafters, and punched the ground with such force that Deku was thrown off balance completely, stumbling forward.

With that opening, Muscular tackled Deku through the front door of the warehouse. Even with all his padding, Deku’s body was wracked with pain as he was driven into the ground. He looked up to see Muscular had both fists raised to crush Deku, but the teen was able to raise his left arm and activate his riot shield just in time to stop the impact, the force of the blow made Midoriya’s arm ache.

In one frustrated grunt, Muscular tore the riot shield right off of Deku’s arm guard, but this gave the Hero the chance to draw his legs up from under the villain and thrust both of them into Muscular’s stomach with 20% Power. Caught off guard, Muscular was knocked off the younger Hero, who was pushed a good few feet back himself, and propped himself up on his spider limbs.

Even as he had himself righted, Muscular was up as well, raising his fist for a punch. Deku had used his Perception to be prepared for this and threw an ice grenade at the villain’s arm. What he hadn’t been prepared for was that being encased in ice wouldn’t slow Muscular’s arm down at all, and he got clubbed full force with a massive ice-block fist.

As he was thrown back into the side of the building, he collapsed down onto the sidewalk and groaned into his helmet, “That suuuuuuucked.”

From the street, people were fleeing in terror as Muscular panted, favoring his knee as he limped towards Midoriya. “You’re a real pain in the ass kid, I can’t remember the last time anyone gave me a good fight. Maybe those pricks who took my eye.”

Midoriya’s eyes widened under his helmet as Muscular took on psychotic grin and charged towards him, but suddenly the street began to shake, causing the villain to lose balance and stumble.

From the street, Power Loader burst from the pavement using his enhanced digging claws and punched Muscular directly in the groin. As the villain doubled over in pain, Power Loader head-butt Muscular on top of the skull with his reinforced helmet before jumping back a safe distance.

“You want to pick on old people and teenagers and think you’re some kind of tough guy?” Power Loader snarled. “No one hurts one of my students.”

As Muscular stood back up, Power Loader dove back under the street. “Don’t give me this HIT AND RUN BULLSHIT!” The villain screamed in fury.

The ground under Muscular’s injured left knee gave out, causing the villain to buckle. As he fell, Deku recovered enough to spring forward, and went for a Full Cowl Detroit Smash, but Muscular held up a heavily muscled right arm to block the blow. As the villain pushed Deku away, Power Loader burst from the ground again, using his metal digging claws to slash at Muscular’s good eye.

Muscular let out another roar of anger as Power Loader tried to escape underground and punched his left arm through the pavement completely to grab the teacher. He yanked his arm out of the ground with Power Loader in hand, and slammed the teacher against the ground, eliciting a groan of pain from the Hero.

Muscular rear his right arm back to smash Power Loader’s face into gelatin but was stopped as all four of Midoriya’s spider limbs grabbed his arm and pulled back.

“STOP GETTING IN MY WAY YOU PUNK ASS KID!”

Muscular threw his right arm forward, hoping to toss Midoriya, but the spider legs sunk their claws into the villain’s muscles, and he used the momentum to swing around to attempt another Full Cowl Detroit Smash against Muscular’s face. But a surge of muscles from the villain’s chest blocked the punch altogether.

“I’M SO SICK OF YOUR LITTLE TOYS!”

In a swift motion, Muscular grabbed the left spider legs that were still attached to his other arm and pulled as hard as he could with both arms.

SNAP!

Just like that, the villain had torn the spider legs completely from Midoriya’s suit. But Midoriya landed on the ground next to his teacher, mustered 30% One for All Power into his fist, and hit a Detroit Smash against Muscular’s right knee, shattering it just like the other.

As Muscular began to flop to the ground, Midoriya switched the 30% Power into his other fist and hit a massive uppercut under the chin of Muscular, sending him careening onto his back.

As the villain collapsed to the ground, screaming in rage and pain, Deku grabbed Power Loader off the ground and jumped out of harm’s way as Muscular tried to attack them from the ground with his uninjured arms.

“Are you okay?!” Deku asked.

“Had him right where I wanted him…” Power Loader coughed.

“I’m not DONE WITH YOU!” Muscular howled.

Midoriya whirled around was shocked to see the villain growing the muscles on his arms to prop himself upright as his legs hung uselessly behind him. But both of them stopped as Power Loader began laughing from the ground.

“I think she’s done with you though.”

“What?” Muscular sneered.

He was answered as Mt. Lady’s giant foot came stomping down from the sky, crushing him underneath it. The ground shook, causing Deku to fall back on his butt. As Mt. Lady lifted her foot, Deku peered into the crater it had left behind, and breathed a sigh of relief to see that finally, thankfully, Muscular had been knocked out.

“Good job hon,” Power Loader called up to her, weakly.

Mt. Lady laughed and blew a kiss down to her injured boyfriend before shrinking down.

“You okay, Deku Scrub?” Hatsume asked into his ear, softly. “Looks like nothing’s broken, according to your suit’s systems.”

“A little banged up. I’ll need a visit to Recovery Girl for sure.” He replied in a whisper.

The next half hour happened in blur; the police arrived to take away the villain and began roping off the scene as the collateral damage of the fight had made the roadway unsafe. During the fight, news footage had already begun, and reporters flocked over to Midoriya, Power Loader, and Mt. Lady to talk to them about the fight. After answering what felt like a few thousand questions, Deku was able to push through the crowd to ask an officer about Gran Torino and his coworkers.

“Ah, you’re with them? The EMTs over there are checking them out,” the officer replied. “Looks like you fared a bit better than they did.”

“Th-thank you, officer,” Midoriya bowed slightly before rushing off towards the ambulance, where Gran Torino was already arguing with a paramedic while on a stretcher.

“I feel fine you dunderheaded moron!” The elderly Hero snapped, before seeing Deku run towards him. “There you are Midoriya! Sounds like you had this one well in hand.”

“I had a lot of help,” Deku answered, shaking his head. “I’d be dead if not for Power Loader and Mt. Lady.”

“And it sounds like Power Loader would have been dead without you there too.” Gran Torino argued. “Take a little pride in your work!”

“He’s right, you know.” Mei chirped happily in his ear.

“Th-thanks,” Izuku replied, sheepishly. “Are you alright? What about Bubble Girl and Centipeder?”

“We’re all going to be fine!” Gran Torino laughed. “I used to spar with All Might, I can handle a bit of rough housing. So, don’t think you’ll be getting Monday off! I want you there as soon as class is out so we can start on the rest of the League.”

It was Deku’s turn to laugh. “Yes, sir!”

As Gran Torino was wheeled away, Deku jumped as a hand clapped his shoulder, but turned to see it was just Power Loader.

“Hey kid,” the teacher greeted, though his tone was far less gruff than Izuku was used to hearing. “You’re really something out there.”

Deku shook his head, smiling under his helmet. “I’d be roadkill if you hadn’t been there.”

“Yeah well, I could say the same thing.” Power Loader rubbed the back of his helmet. “I can tell this is what you were really meant to do, Midoriya. You’re going to be a great Hero. I’m proud of you.”

Deku was glad he was wearing his helmet, but the sniffle he let out probably gave him away. “I wouldn’t be here without you, sensei.”

“Alright, enough mushy stuff. Come on. I’ll get you a ride back to school.”
---

Once again, a girl had been watching the fight the whole time incognito. But this time, Toga Himiko felt something different while watching that fight.

Watching this Midoriya, whoever he was, getting the crap kicked out of him, getting prosthetic body parts yanked from his body, shattering kneecaps…

She couldn’t remember the last time anything had made her so excited before.

So even as the League of Villains was cursing his name, Shigaraki already barking schemes for the tortures that would await Deku once they got their hands on him, Toga could only sigh happily.

“I think I’m in love…”
---

“Yes, mom, I promise I’m fine!” Midoriya promised his mother over the phone as he left Recovery Girl’s office. “Only soft tissue injuries and a stress fracture, which Recovery Girl was able to heal really quick!”

“Well…okay…I know it’s selfish, but I wish your Quirk had never developed…I liked it better when you were in Support.”

Izuku smiled, sadly. His mom had been distraught when she learned he was going into the Hero Course with the flimsy cover story the school provided him. Even worse, he had to lie to her and tell her it was his choice. “I know. But I always wanted to be a hero mom. And tonight, I really was one. I took down a criminal!"

“Well...I’m proud of you. But I’ll always worry. Now go see your girlfriend, I’m sure she’s worried sick.”

“Alright mom. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

As Midoriya walked into the dorm of class 1-A, he was surprised that he was greeted with cheers from his classmates, and Hatsume, who had of course been in his room spotting him. His face went red. No matter how many villains he took down, he didn’t think he’d ever not be flustered by positive attention.

“Great job out there, dude!” Kirishima yelled from the couch. “We all watched the whole thing!”

“O-oh that.” Midoriya laughed nervously. “Y-yeah th-that was rough.”

“You have truly stared into the void and did not blink in the face of eternity.” Tokoyami commended, smiling slightly. “It was quite a performance.”

“Kero, we were all rooting for you!” Tsuyu beamed at her longtime friend, Uraraka nodding vigorously beside her.

“You looked so cool!” Uraraka cheered.

Midoriya’s face was burning, not helped by Hatsume running up and throwing her arms around him. “Looks like you’re some tough stuff after all.”

“Th-thanks guys...”

“Alright, I think we’ve embarrassed him enough, he’s probably exhausted.” Yaoyorozu laughed. “Although, before you had off to the baths, can I have a word Midoriya?”

The class began happily chatting amongst themselves as the class president lead Deku over to the corner.

“What’s up, Momo?”

“Well, it appears a lot of the class has come to respect you. Especially after you helped us pull through in the Licensing Exam. Which is why I'd like you to be Vice President for the class.” She answered, smiling.

“Me?” Izuku echoed, shocked. “I haven't been here long...”

“And in the time, you've been here, you've already shown yourself to be a hard worker and a good tactician.” She replied. “I know you're swamped with work study, so take some time to think about it. It'd just be helping me out to organize events and things.”

He returned her smile. “Alright, I'll give it some thought. Thanks, Momo.”
---

“Vice President Deku Scrub,” Mei teased him later that night, “I like it.”

Izuku bopped her over the head with a pillow. “Of course, you do. First things first, we need to fix my suit over the weekend.”

She nuzzled into him in response, sighing softly. “I should start charging you. But hopefully Power Loader will let you into the lab to help me now that you two made up.”

“I hope so. I miss building stuff.”

“Maybe things are looking up for you, broccoli head.”

---

“So… you want to take up the quest to bring down this Deku guy?” Shigaraki echoed back to Toga, skeptically. “Why? Why should I trust you with it?”

“He got soooo beaten up by Muscular but still punched the guys knees out!” Toga squealed, barely containing her excitement. “It was so hot. I want him all for myself.”

Shigaraki looked over her shoulders to Kurogiri, who shrugged, same as Compress. Twice wasn’t paying attention and Dabi, as always, didn’t seem to care.

I need new party members. Shigaraki groaned internally.

“If this is indeed the same boy who took back Tokoyami from us, apprehended Todoroki, and now has taken down Muscular, he’s a bigger thorn in our side than we even realized.” Kurogiri reasoned. “He’s been in our way before we knew who he was.”

“Come on guys, pleeeeaaaase!” Toga begged. “He’s my senpai! I NEED him. He’s mine.” Her voice lowered. “He doesn’t have a choice. When have I ever not gotten a Senpai, Shigaraki.”

“Fair point. Dabi, go with her when she does this.”

Dabi just nodded. “Considering he put my little brother in jail, I wouldn’t mind.”

Compress looked up from the bar, surprised. “Todoroki was your brother?”

Dabi laughed a mirthless laugh. “Well, yeah. Kid didn’t even know. Once we broke him in a bit, I was going to take him with me to off Endeavor once and for all.” Dabi turned to Toga. “You even got a plan, you, lovesick puppy?”

“I always have a plan when it comes to love!” Toga beamed.

Chapter Text

“So, what’s that you’re working on now, Mei?” Midoriya asked. He was still a little sore from yesterday’s fight with Muscular. Especially his arms; 30% of One for All nearly broke them, but the padding held on and left him nothing more than aches and pains. Despite all that, he was more than happy to be back in the Support Lab with Hatsume. As a Hero Student, he wasn’t allowed to work on projects of his own, but he could, “assist,” with Hatsume’s. If he just so happened to give her an idea, it still counted as hers.

“Well, remember my tool pack I made?” She answered his inquiry with one of her one.

“You’re wearing it right now.” He deadpanned.

Hatsume pinched his cheek. “So observant. I love that about you.”

His face burned; she always seemed to know how to get his goat.

“Well I can't get EVERYTHING in here, so check out these new sleeves!”

She slapped on some sleeve attachments to her gauntlets.

She pointed her arm at beaker across the room. Her gauntlet arm extended off her arm across the lab, her gloved grabbed the beaker, and returned. “Extendable arms, my dearest Izuku!”

Midoriya laughed. “I like it. Seems very useful.”

“Got the idea from Inspector Gadget!” Hatsume smiled, her happiness radiating off of her.

Power Loader made a snort of laughter from behind his newspaper. “He blew up a lot of stuff too.”

Hatsume rolled her eyes as Midoriya laughed. “I am unappreciated in my time,” she grumbled.

“I'm going to head to the dorm and take a shower. You're coming with me to visit my mom, right?” He stood up and dusted himself off. It felt so good to be in the lab again. “She wants to take us for sushi.”

“Yeah, I'm going to finish a few small things and I'll meet you at your dorm. I could never say no to your mom and free food.”

Deku laughed and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “I hear you. See you in a bit.”

As he stepped out of the lab, he passed Tsuyu in the halls, and waved to her. “Hey Tsu!”

“Hey Izuku...” She replied, sounding a bit rushed as she briskly made her way down towards the girl’s room.

It was a bright and sunny day, and Midoriya felt in a good mood while he walked away from the Support building towards the dorms. He still felt a lingering longing for Support. But perhaps when he was older there would be a way, he could do both.

The thoughts buzzed around his mind as he entered the Heights Alliance building for class 1-A. He scanned around the common room. It seemed pretty normal. Kirishima and Kaminari were playing video games. All the girls were on the couch, studying up for an upcoming test, Uraraka’s head falling onto Asui’s shoulder as she groaned about the difficulty of math. Tokoyami and Shouji were practicing tarot cards with Hagakure, while Sero and Mineta were having some sort of sandwich building contest with Koda and Sato. Shinsou was by himself, reading in the corner, but to Midoriya’s delight, he at least looked up and gave a friendly wave, which Izuku gladly returned.

Something about this seemed off for some reason...

“Hello Midoriya!” Yaoyorozu called, standing up from the girl’s study session and walking over.

“Hey, what’s up?” He asked, friendly as always.

“Have you had a chance to consider what I said yesterday?” The president asked. Despite her attempts at a confident demeanor, a bit of nervousness was peeking through.

“Yeah, I did actually,” he smiled. “I was going to tell you Monday, but I’d love to be your Vice President. I’ll do my best. I just need to make sure it doesn’t interfere with my work study!”

Momo breathed a large sigh of relief. “I’m so glad! A lot of us look up to you after your strategy at the Licensing Exam, you know, so I think having you help me out on some of the class planning will help instill confidence in our leadership.”

Midoriya rubbed the back of his neck, a bit embarrassed. “Hey, you guys all were part of that. But I’m glad to help.”

“Wonderful!” She smiled gently, “we’ve been thinking about planning a class movie night on Sundays; you know, something to take the edge off, help us bond as a unit. Would you be free later or tomorrow to discuss?”

“Tomorrow,” he admitted, “today I need to run home to visit my mom. But I’ll meet up with you down here tomorrow to talk that over.”

And that was all the distraction Midoriya needed to take his mind off something being amiss in the common room.

---
“Alright, I think that’s just about perfect!” Hatsume hummed to herself happily as she placed her goggles back on her head. “Dark light technology for my goggles. Perfect for crime scene investigation! I’ll need to put this in Midoriya’s helmet tomorrow.”

“Am I free to go?” Power Loader deadpanned from his desk.

“Sure thing!” Hatsume chirped, “Sushi calls, teacher.”

“I’ll be sure to avoid any sushi places with Mt. Lady. I think I see enough of you here,” the teacher joked.

As Power Loader locked up and walked off, Hatsume hummed to herself as she began the walk down the halls.

“Hey Hatsume!”

The pink-haired inventor turned at her name to see Asui coming down the hall towards her. “Oh, hey Tsu! What brings you to Support today?” Her eyes lit up. “More ideas for your winter costume?!”

Ever since the Culture Festival, where Tsuyu and Uraraka had helped Hatsume with Eri while the boys were away, the two had struck up something of a friendship. The foundation was there, since they had both worked on rescuing Tokoyami, but she found the rainy season heroine an easy personality to click with.

“Nothing like that, Mei,” Asui shook her head, “but I was hoping you could help me with something on my phone. I left it in one of the classrooms.”

“I could reprogram a phone into a toaster and back in my sleep!” Hatsume boasted, “Lead the way!”

---

“Ah...so fresh and so clean, clean!” Midoriya sighed as he stepped out of the shower. “Wonder what kind of rolls I should get tonight...”

As he threw on his favorite Sonic the Hedgehog shirt, he walked down to the much emptier common room, Kirishima giving him a, “nice shirt, my dude,” and made his way towards the front gate. He pulled out his phone.

-”I’m heading to the front gate. You almost ready?”

He leaned against a post for a while, flipping through social media apps on his phone. Midoriya was just debating sending Hatsume another message when his phone buzzed with her reply.

-”Be there soon! <3”

Izuku raised an eyebrow. She wasn’t usually a user of emojis. But she was in a particularly good mood today, so maybe she was just letting it show.

He just hoped whatever was keeping her wasn’t anything major.
---

“Why on earth did you leave your phone on some second-floor classroom?” Hatsume asked, confused, as she was led into an empty room.

But the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she heard the room click locked behind her.

“Oh uh…just dropped it during a visit to a friend in this class,” was Asui’s reply, but the weird smile on her face had thrown Hatsume off. The Support student flipped her goggles down and flicked a switch on them, frowning. “Why are you looking at me that way, Mei?”

Hatsume lifted her goggles and furrowed her brow. “You’re not Tsu.”

The girl standing by the door blinked and tilted her head. “What?”

“First, Tsu always refers to people by their surnames,” Hatsume frowned. “Second, she’s cold-blooded, so she shows up different on thermal vision. Not you. You’ve got a typical heat signature.”

The Support Student took a step backwards towards the window. She knew this was no good; these windows could withstand almost anything, save for a powerful explosion. Enough explosions from the Support Department had told the school to spring for the, “good stuff.”

The façade on the false Tsuyu’s face dropped into an angry scowl that certainly didn’t fit the usually froggy face. “Tomura was right, you’re nothing but a pain.” The frown was replaced by a large, toothy grin as the false Tsuyu pulled a large knife from the pocket of her uniform. “But if you know what’s good for you, you’ll come with my quietly. You’re much more useful to us alive, so don’t struggle, okay?”

Hatsume mashed a button on the strap of her backpack, extending her tool pack, sleeve enhancements, and Boost Boots. “Nothing about me is quiet.”

The false Tsuyu charged with her knife, but Hatsume drew a wrench from the chute’s in her pack, and swung, knocking the knife from her attacker’s hand with the heavier tool. Hatsume saw from the corner of her eye that the doppelganger had already drawn some sort of syringe in her off hand and was poised to strike. She jumped backwards with her boots and onto the wall as the faker lunged.

Got to ram the door.

Hatsume used her extendable arms to reach over her assailant and grab the handle of the door. She zipped over the top of the false Tsuyu and dropkicked the door with her boots, knocking it off its hinges.

As she stumbled through the frame, the attacker was already behind her, waving another knife around frantically. Before Hatsume could leap away, her back-pack strap was slashed, the pack falling to the ground and tools spilling all over the floor.

“MY BABIES!” Hatsume screamed, whipping around and swing her wrench at the fake’s head. Fake Tsuyu was fast though, and had ducked under the wrench, plunging another syringe hooked to some kind of tube into Hatsume’s side, causing the pink-haired girl to scream in pain. She swung down with the wrench, and as the attacker leapt backwards, was able to land a hit on her attacker’s wrist, causing a satisfying thud.

The tube began sucking blood, but Hatsume was able to yank the syringe out, and turn to leap away. The pain jolted her out of her rage and realized self-preservation took precedence right now. As fast as the fake, whoever she was, could be, she had no chance catching up with the long jump capabilities of the Boost Boots as the Support Student leapt away.

But even as the distance between the two grew, the attacker was not giving up; as Hatsume hit the staircase, she leapt down the first half onto the opposing wall and sprang down towards the first floor. Why does no one else use the Support Lab on the weekend?!

The fake, however, jumped down the railing at the top of the second floor, and landed on the bottom step, possessed by her fury and a lack of concern for her own well-being. The fake Tsuyu threw a syringe that impaled the back of Hatsume’s thigh in mid-jump, sending her to the ground.

“Suck suck, suck suck,” the faker chanted in what sounded of ecstasy as the tube began drawing blood. The sudden drainage left Hatsume feeling light headed as she tried to crawl away, though the needle lodged in her thigh sent pain shooting through her entire leg when she tried to move it.

The false Tsuyu devolved into a fit of giggles as she approached her injured prey, Hatsume desperately clawing for the syringe to remove it. Finally, Hatsume positioned her arm and extended her sleeve gauntlet to knock the syringe out, yelping in pain as the dislodged needle tore a cut on its way out.

Not expecting this, the faker yelled in frustration as she charged again, but Hatsume was able to pull her legs under her and spring forward with her Boost Boots towards the side door of the Support Building.

I just need to get outside. Someone will see. I’ll be okay…

Her own thoughts echoed as she pushed through the pain and lightheadedness towards the double doors, ramming through them with her shoulders.

But as she was met with the outside world, it was not the bright sunlight that greeted her. She was met face to face with a man with burnt and stitched up face, holding a palm of blue fire up to her in warning. She recognized him from the heist to save Tokoyami.

“D…Dabi?” She uttered, confused.

That was all she managed to get out as the fake Tsuyu locked her in a sleeper hold and wrestled her to the ground until she passed out.

Once Hatsume was fully out of commission, the assailant stood up and brushed herself off, wincing at the pain from her bruised wrist as she and Dabi shuffled her back inside the building, out of sight from any passerby.

“Looks like she gave you a little trouble.” Dabi commented, making a small nod towards the welt on his partner’s arm.

“It’s nothing.” The attacker’s clothes began melting off as she reverted to her usual self, Toga Himiko. Behind a bush, she had placed an outfit identical to Hatsume’s. “This bitch will learn her place for getting in our way and BRAINWASHING my precious Izuku.”

“Brainwashing, huh?” Dabi drawled, sounding bored with the conversation already.

“She’s nothing but a succubus!” Toga stomped her foot for emphasis. “Zuzu will be MINE! Not HERS! I just have to break the spell she has on him.”

“Zuzu?” Dabi parroted. “You know what? I don’t even want to know. Just take the blood you need from her, and I’ll take her to Shigaraki.”

They were interrupted by a buzz from the phone Hatsume’s pocket. Toga wasted no time picking it up and squealing in excitement, “It’s from him, it’s from him!” Her brow furrowed and she huffed angrily, blowing a stray blonde hair out of her face. “Ugh, what was her stupid password again…?”
---

“Zuzu!”

Izuku looked up from his phone in confusion. No one ever called him that. It was Hatsume though, running towards him, beaming.

“Hey Mei!” He smiled. “That's a new one...”

“I'm just really happy to see you!” Hatsume giggled.

She certainly seemed to be I'm a great mood. A little different from her usual ones. Midoriya shook the thought. Everyone has off days.

“You ready to go?” He asked. “I'm starving!”

To his surprise, Mei clung to his arm. “Lead the way, babe.”
---

“I’ll be right back, I just have to use the restroom and freshen up!” Hatsume giggled to Midoriya and his mother, before leaving their booth.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Inko leaned forward. “Is Mei feeling okay, dear?”

Deku frowned slightly. “You noticed too, huh? She is being a little weird today.”

Inko’s eyes narrowed and her brows furrowed, snapping into stern-mom mode almost instantly. “Probably just worried about you, fighting that giant lunatic in the street. You probably had her scared to death!”

Midoriya decided not to indulge in how ecstatic Mei had been the night before, or how she had decided to celebrate with him, but shrugged. “I d-don’t think that’s it, mom.”

“Well, whatever it is, I hope it’s nothing too serious.”

But throughout the night, Deku couldn’t help but notice the occasional bit of odd behavior. Her names for everyone were off slightly, her order was different, and she didn’t call him Deku Scrub once.

As the three were leaving the restaurant once night fell, her phone buzzed, and she snatched it out of her pocket as if it was burning a hole against her leg. Her expression fell, and she looked down with a face of pure annoyance.

“Is everything okay, dear?” Inko asked.

A pleasant, if forced, smile was instantly back on Hatsume’s face. “It’s okay! I just got a text from my mom. I’m afraid I need to cut this short and go see her before I go back to UA. See you back at school, Zuzu!”

She hastily planted a sloppy kiss on his cheek and began taking off down the street.

“Oh, I hope it’s not too serious!” Inko sighed. “Poor thing.”

Midoriya didn’t hear her though as he stared after the retreating back of the pink-haired girl. That wasn’t right, and he knew why.

Hatsume’s mom had passed away; he’d never forget that story.

“I think I’m going to go with her mom, I’m a bit concerned,” he turned, snapping from his trance and bowing to her apologetically. “Sorry.”

Inko just gave her son a hug. “Always the hero, aren’t you? Take care of her, dear.”

He nodded and took off down the street, hoping his mom hadn’t seen the fear in his eyes. He weaved through the passerby on the street, hoping to keep the faint sight of pink hair in his line of vision, until suddenly, his target turned between two stores.

Turning down the alley, he saw Hatsume’s head turn another corner, and gave chase, but as he made it to the rear of the alley, he’d lost her.

“Mei?” He called out, confused. After a moment of silence, he cupped his hands to his mouth, “MEI!”

Worriedly, he took his phone out of his pocket, nearly dropping it against the pavement in his rush. He dialed Hatsume’s number, but it went to voicemail immediately. He hung up and narrowed his eyes at his screen, like the device was pulling a prank on him. “What…?”

His phone began to vibrate in his hand, making him almost drop it for a second time. But Midoriya’s face fell when he saw it was Power Loader calling him. “Hello?” He answered.

“Hey…kid…I think you should get back here. As soon as you can.”

“Is…is everything okay?”

There was a pause on the other send, so Midoriya added, “Sir?”

“Just uh…just get back here, okay?”

Chapter Text

“We were at that dinner for TWO hours,” Power Loader groaned, half-carrying Mt. Lady into the Support Building. “I can’t take you anywhere without you getting sloshed.”

“But baaaaabyyyyy,” Mt. Lady slurred, giggling all the while. “Just let me grow and then all the booze goes poof! Bye! Bye Felicia!” She giggled some more at her own bad joke.

“Last time you did that, you were throwing up in the ocean for an hour.” The teacher groaned, though he was smiling all the same. Dating a younger woman was a handful, but she was endearing, in her own way.

“Ffffffine.” She pouted. “But why are we here?” She added an over dramatic gasp. “Are we going to do that thing on your desk again?!”

“NO!” He refuted, a bit more adamantly than he meant to. “Er. No. We’re just here because I forgot something in my second-year class. Then I’m getting you home to sober up.”

“Okay baaaaaaby.”

Dragging his inebriated love up the stairs, he gave pause as he saw some odd mess pile outside of one of the rooms. That couldn’t be right; he had watched the second years on their cleaning duty just the day before, and the hall had been left spotless. The two heroes staggered over to the pile, and Higari saw it was a pile of tools and what looked like half of a backpack, scattered across the hallway. Not only that, the classroom door was busted, hanging haphazardly off its hinges, ready to fall at any moment.

“Whoa...looks like somebody had a fiiiight.” Mt. Lady whistled. “Naughty students get detention.”

Power Loader knelt down and inspected the torn backpack. It looked just like the toolpack Hatsume used. But why would she be on the second floor...?

She is the only one in the buildings on the weekends though...

But Power Loader remembered seeing one of the Hero Course Students on his way out of the building.

“Yu, I think this is serious. I need to go review the security footage of this building.”

“Whassa matter?” she asked.

“Come on, let’s head to the office.”
---

Power Loader watched the security footage for the third time, just to make sure. It looked like Asui Tsuyu, the first year Hero Course student, had chased Hatsume through the halls, with a knife, and then once the two exited the building, disappeared. He checked the security drones for the outdoors for recent time stamps, but none of them had been in that area until about fifteen minutes after, and nothing was found.

“What do you think happened to her?” Mt. Lady asked, the gravity of the situation snapping her somewhat back into sobriety.

“I don’t know, but we’re going to need to make some phone calls,” the teacher sighed, grabbing his phone from his pocket. “First things first, I need to see if both of these students are still on campus.”

---

Within half an hour, the police were on scene, with the principal, Aizawa, and Power Loader, reviewing the tape. In an adjacent office, two officers were interviewing Asui, questioning her about the tape, while outside Uraraka was adamant in telling two more officers that her and Asui were in her room at the time of the tapes.

“So, you don't think it was her, Power Loader?” A detective asked.

“No. Asui and Hatsume are great friends,” the teacher answered.

“Asui's never fought with a knife before, and if she was trying to reach someone, she'd utilize her tongue and jumping powers that come with her Quirk.” Aizawa added. “She doesn't run like that either.”

Aizawa pulled up a video of Asui running from the Sports Festival. “See? She hops, as part of the Frog Quirk. She's faster that way too.”

The detective jotted this all down. “With all the students in her dorm vouching for her whereabouts, it sounds like we're dealing with an imposter. What about Ms. Hatsume's boyfriend?”

“I called him after I called it in,” Power Loader said. “He should be here-”

The teacher was cut off as Midoriya Izuku himself entered the room, directed there by Midnight. His eyes briefly scanned the room, before he dashed over to Power Loader and Aizawa, his eyes red from crying.

“Have they found her?” He asked, frantically. “Is she okay? Is Hatsume-”

“Slow down, kid,” Power Loader replied, putting a hand on Izuku’s shoulder. “First off, tell us what you know...”

“I have some questions as well...” the detective added. “Please, relay your contact today with Hatsume Mei.”
---

“...and after she turned the corner down the corner, I lost track of her.” Midoriya explained. “But it couldn’t have been her! Because she told us that her mother texted her, but her mother passed away years ago!”

The detective checked the time stamp on Midoriya’s phone to confirm that he had been texted from Hatsume’s number after the timestamp of her disappearance on the video. His look took a rather quizzical one. “Let me run this by my colleagues.”

He walked away into another office, much to Midoriya’s confusion. As the officer entered the room, he saw Asui walk out of it, looking rather distraught. As their eyes met, she darted over to him.

“Kero, Midoriya I swear I would never hurt Hatsume! Please, I don’t-”

“Hey, I believe you.” Izuku assured her, though his tone was half-hearted. “You’re one of our best friends. I know you wouldn’t do that.”

“It sounds like we’re dealing with an imposter, with a Quirk that allows one to take someone else’s form,” Power Loader added.

“That’s exactly what we’re dealing with.”

Midoriya turned around to see Gran Torino had walked in, arm in a sling and a little worse for wear.

“Trouble just follows you like a magnet, doesn’t it kid?” The older Hero grunted, hobbling over and handing a manila folder to Deku.

“What’s this?” He asked, opening the file and seeing a picture of a blonde girl.

“That’s the girl I fought at the summer training camp!” Tsuyu exclaimed. “From the League of Villains.”

Midoriya glanced towards his friend, eyes widened. “The League…?”

“That’s Toga Himiko,” Gran Torino confirmed. “Her Quirk is to impersonate someone, even down to their fingerprints, by ingesting their blood.”

“She must have gotten a ton of blood at the camp…” Tsuyu looked to her feet.

Gran Torino hobbled over to where the detectives were conferring, and spoke with them for a while, during which Uraraka came over to her friends, though none of them spoke as Midoriya thumbed through the information in the file.

Toga Himiko was a suspected murderer of people in the double digits. A high school dropout not much older than him, her Quirk made her incredibly difficult to detect, helping her allude capture time and time again. The more he read, the more Midoriya began to panic. What would this girl want with Hatsume? Why impersonate her right after? Was it all just to get him away?
---

“Your timing really sucks, Dabi,” Toga growled, walking into a backroom of the League’s hideout. It was a small room – probably used to be a storage closet. “I didn’t even get a kiss good night.”

In the center of the room, Dabi stood behind Hatsume Mei, tied and strapped to chair with rope and chains, a piece of duct tape over her mouth. “Remember the point of doing this, Toga. Shigaraki gave us strict orders.”

“Yeah, I know,” Toga pouted, folding her arms and shifting her weight to one hip. “Zuzu will be mine one way or another.”

Hatsume looked up, weakly, but immediately recoiled at the sight of Toga, and began struggling against her binds.

“Aw how cute!” Toga squealed, her mood shifting pretty quickly. “Looks like our friend is ready to play. You got the burner phone, Dabi?”

Dabi grunted, throwing a mobile phone at his partner. “I hate that joke, even more the fiftieth time.”

Catching the phone, Toga walked over and crouched down in front of Mei. “Hey, you little succubus. We’re going to play a little game. And if you ever want to see your little…” Toga blanched, as if the next words hurt to say, “Deku…Scrub, as you call him, before you die…you’ll play along, okay?”

Mei stopped struggling, but glared, fury readily apparent in her yellow eyes.

“Good!” The villainess laughed, throwing an arm around Hatsume, pressing her face to her captive’s cheek, and holding the phone up to the two of them in selfie mode. “Let’s send our little boy toy a message.”
---

“Are you two holding up okay?” Uraraka asked after a long period of silence. For the last hour or so, she had sat with Asui and Midoriya as the detectives conversed with Gran Torino in another room.

“You two are free to go back to the dorms, if you want,” Aizawa added. He had been leaning against the wall, looking like he had been asleep. “It’s pretty clear you two aren’t suspects, so I can fill you in tomorrow.”

Midoriya just shook his head. “I’m…I’m not leaving.”

“I’ll stay too, kero,” Asui added, gently.

A few feet away, overhearing the conversation, Power Loader turned to Mt. Lady seated next to him and said, “Hey, if you want to go, you can.”

Mr. Lady shook her head and rested it on his shoulder. “Nope. Not getting rid of me that easily.”

Finally, Gran Torino emerged from the other room with the detectives, tiredly looking around at the exhausted heroes in the office. “Right, good looks like you’re all still here.” He walked over to Midoriya and sat down next to him. “I was hoping we’d be able to do this Monday, but crime never sleeps, I guess they say.”

“Our prime suspect in the case is Toga Himiko, as discussed.” The detective added, “We believe this is in connection with Muscular being incarcerated by you and your agency. Retaliation is the prime suspected motive.”

“Do you know where she could have taken Hatsume?” Uraraka asked.

“Unfortunately, no. Well more than likely, she was not working alone,” Gran Torino added. “After all, she met up with Midoriya right after the crime. She’s been known to work with Dabi.”

Gran Torino pulled from his cape another file, containing a photo and crime list for Dabi. Midoriya tried not to panic as he read over it.

He had always worried about Hatsume knowing about his vigilantism. But now he'd barely been an official hero for a few weeks, and his girlfriend, his partner, his rock...was gone.

I can't get caught up thinking like that. He scolded himself. She's counting on me!

Suddenly, his phone buzzed in his pocket, drawing confused glances from Uraraka and Asui. It was nearing midnight, he wasn’t sure who would be trying to reach him at this time of the night. Taking the device out, his eyes widened.

“I think we might have a new lead.” He said to the room, not letting his voice tremble.

A few detectives and Gran Torino scrambled over to see Deku had gotten a message, with a video attached, from an anonymous number.

“Let me see the phone, I’ll put it up on one of our computer’s and see if we can track it,” a detective suggested, holding his hand out for the phone. Midoriya nodded and handed the device over.

Within a few minutes, the room of pro Heroes and police were crowded around a laptop screen, and played the video…
---

“Hey Izuku!” Toga squealed into the phone as it recorded and used her free hand to pinch Hatsume’s cheek. “I found your little whore here!” She shifted her face to an exaggerated pout. “I thought it was only fair after you took away our friend yesterday.”

Toga moved the phone a bit closer to Hatsume a bit. “I have to say though, Izuku…I think you could do so much better! Look at her! All those grease marks all over her face. And she looks like she hasn’t slept in days. She’s not very cute, Zuzu. Not cute enough for you…maybe I should just…get rid of her…?”

Hatsume, to her credit, just glared angrily at her kidnappers.

“I guess that’s no fun though, is it Izuku?” Toga stuck her tongue out. “I have to break you out of this Succubuses...succubus's...succubi's? You know what I mean. I have to break this witch’s hold on you! So, I have an address I want you to come to. And we'll play a little game for her, okay? And you'll see you'll be MUCH happier with me!”

---

The nervousness and fear that had gripped Deku the whole night was replaced with a white-hot fury that had his body shaking. He turned for the door.

She wants a game, I'll give her a fucking game.

He reached for the door but was stopped in place by a bundle of restraining scarves.

“Stop,” Aizawa barked. “You don't go charging off on a blind tip.”

“But Hatsume! She's-!”

“You don't go by yourself.” Aizawa added. “As a teacher of UA, she's my responsibility. I am taking point on this. If,” he shifted his eyes to the lead detective, “that's fine with you.”

“By all means,” the detective held up his hands. “Go ahead.”

“Good. You can come,” his stern voice never faded, “but we do things my way, Midoriya. The right way.”

Deku twitched, angrily. In any other situation, he would have no problem with this. But the last time the pros went to save two students, they came back with neither, and All Might died.

He was about to snap, but Asui piped. “Can I come too, kero? Hatsume is my friend. I want to make sure she's safe.”

Aizawa nodded. “The three of us will go as a team. They want Midoriya, so Asui and I will remain hidden. The rest of you can provide backup.” He looked to Deku. “Well? Let’s go get her.”

Midoriya had to admit, Froppy stepping in to have his back did help calm him a bit. The two exchanged small smirks to each other, and he nodded to his teacher. “Okay. You're in charge.”

“Get her back, Shouta.” Power Loader grunted. “She's the best kid I got.”

---

“Oh boy, this going to be so fun!” Toga squealed, jumping a few times and clapping her hands together.

“Where did you send them anyway?” Dabi asked, though his tone sounded like he certainly didn't care.

Toga huffed and crossed her arms. “Haven't you seen any romantic movie, Dabi? The fun is in the chase! I'm giving him a bit of the run around. When I'm done, I'm all Deku will be able to think about!”

She leaned down and got right in Hatsume’s face. “Hear that...he’s going to be mine. You’ll be gone. Shigaraki will be happy. Everyone wins.” She licked the side of Hatsume’s face. “You should be happier.” She looked to Dabi. “Can you throw her in the cell now?”

“It’s a broom closet.”

“Well then give her the broom closet ending!”
---

Midoriya looked down at the factory by the docks, perched on a rooftop with Eraserhead and Froppy. It was actually near where he had his internship, and where he had finally caught the Sludge Villain so many months ago. Oh, how things had changed since then.

“Here it is. We’ve got a tiny speaker on your suit, so we’ll be listening if things go bad.” Aizawa instructed.

Midoriya nodded to his teacher. But he knew that even if his friend and the Pro Hero were only a few seconds away, a lot can change in just that short amount of time, so he gathered his resolve before jumping towards the factory, deploying his spider legs as he landed to take some of the strain off his own. He pat his belt for the fifth time in fifteen minutes, needing to remind himself he had a full stock of incendiary, glue, and ice grenades at his disposal.

Summoning his Full Cowl, he booted the decrepit door to the factor off the hinges. “KNOCK KNOCK!” He shouted.

The old metal door let out a loud CLANG as it hit the concrete flooring, echoing throughout the old, empty facility. Using his thermal vision setting, he scanned the entire flood, finding no one there.

So why here?!

“I’m not seeing anyone here,” Deku whispered into the speaker on his shoulder, walking past the door he had kicked over and surveying the scene. A few hanging lamps left in the factory left illuminated circles littered across the floor.

In one of light spots on the floor, there was a single envelope, untouched by the dust and grime of the factory setting. Midoriya knelt down to see very loopy, girly writing on it, addressing it to him.

He opened the note and unfolded a crumpled piece of loose-leaf paper.

“Turn around.” It read.

Midoriya’s ears pricked as he heard a small giggle behind him. He turned his head slowly to see that from small offices and behind machines, the factory floor had filled up with dozens and dozens and copies of Toga herself.

“What...?” He gasped.

“You remember our buddy Twice?” The copy closest to him replied, brandishing a large butcher knife. “He made lots of me, because the original wanted to see if we’d be enough to drag you back to her for some...” she ran her index finger down the point of the knife, “play time.”

“So, you’re all...clones?” Midoriya asked, a flat tone.

The clone nodded and some of them began to giggle when a different laugh was heard. It was coming from Midoriya himself. It was soft at first, but it grew louder quickly, until Deku was all but cackling menacingly. A few clones backed up in shock.

“Good!” Midoriya laughed, cracking his knuckles. “Because you pissed me off, you bitch. And I’m not in the mood to hold back.”

Chapter Text

The Toga clones formed a circle around Midoriya as he laughed maniacally, the dopplegangers hesitating slightly to make the first move.

“WELL COME ON!” Midoriya screamed. “TAKE ME IF YOU THINK YOU CAN!”

At once, a flurry of syringes flew towards him, and he made an impressive vertical leap over the assault, flipping in midair to look down. Using Perception, he focused on another incoming storm of knives and syringes coming up towards him.

“DON’T MAKE THIS SO EASY FOR ME!”

He countered with an explosion from his Kacchan gloves, boosting him further into the air. Knives and syringes rained down upon the clones, a fair number disintegrating as they were impaled. As the smoke cleared, he deployed the mechanical spider legs on his suit, and lunged back down into the crowd of clones. On his way down, each spider leg grabbed the head of a Toga clone, and slammed it into the pavement, making all four melt into puddles.

He looked up, Full Cowl flowing all over him, even into his eyes as the clones all appeared to be moving in slow motion. One was almost upon him, knife draw, but he was easily able to grab her arm and swing her off her feet, full force into a clone behind him, making them both explode upon impact. Even at his high levels of sight and speed, a clone was already on him, swinging down vertically with her knife.

Grin spreading under his mask, Midoriya pivoted his left hip back as the knife went zipping past his shoulder. He grabbed her wrist with his left hand and used his right elbow to cave in the clone’s temple, causing her to vaporize from the head down.

As five more clones gathered in front of him, he again used an explosion from his gloves, blowing them all away, and giving himself room to grab an incendiary and throw it into a crowd of ten more.

“Come on, I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO FIGHT!”

By now, there were less than ten clones left, and they knew their chances were pretty slim. Still, this is what they were there for. Keeping their distance, they threw their tubed syringes at him, but it was no problem at all for Midoriya to flip back out of the way and grab four of them from the air with his spider legs. He scowled as he snapped all four syringes, lunging towards the nearest one. He grabbed her arm with a spider leg and pulled the clone towards him as he leapt up and kneed her in the jaw. As Deku came down, he put some extra power into his arms and punched the ground, sending a shockwave across the entire floor. A few of the closer clones fell from the tremor, and Deku ran up and punted another across the side of the head.

The others that had fallen fell in short order, Deku leaping over syringes as they soared after him, and landing on top of a fallen clone to cave its skull in. Finally, after a fight that lasted all of three minutes, one was left.

Midoriya began to laugh again as he walked towards the final clone. The last Toga clone drew her knife, but it was backhanded from her grasp almost as soon as it had begun. Deku’s top two spider legs grabbed both of Toga’s hands and lifted her off the ground. “TALK!” He yelled.

The Toga clone just smiled. “Ohhh...scary. You are perfect for us, Zuzu darling!”

“Where are you? Where’s Mei?”

“You can’t intimidate me into talking, Zuzu!” Toga’s laugh was like nails grating across a chalkboard to Deku. “I was made to die.”

“Have it your way.” Deku trembled from behind his mask and reared back to finish her off.

“STOP!”

Deku hesitated and looked towards the factory door. Aizawa and Asui had just gotten there. Aizawa, ever the stoic, was ready to use his scarves to restrain the new hero, but Asui...

She looked...scared.

...of me.

“Hand her to me, Deku. We might be able to get some information from her yet.” Eraserhead commanded.

Still holding her up with his spider legs, he walked over to the teacher, and allowed him to restrain her. The police arrived, and apprehended the clone minutes later, but Midoriya could only stand by, wordlessly, in the middle of the factory, as the, “official,” side of the Hero work took place.

After a few minutes that seemed to drag on for an eternity, Tsuyu walked over to him. “Midoriya...?”

“Yeah Tsu?” He tried to keep his voice as neutral as possible; he didn’t want to freak out one of his best friends.

“Are you okay, kero?” Even as soon as the question left her mouth, Froppy knew it was something of a dumb thing to ask.

It threw Deku off too. For a split second he almost snapped at her. Of course he wasn’t okay, why would she even ask that? Wasn’t this the exact thing Hatsume had warned him about after they slept together? This was textbook out of any superhero story; villains catching the hero’s love interest. Although the lovestruck obsession was a little different. Who did he think he was to beat these odds?!

“…just a little nerve-wracked,” was the best response he could think of.

They were saved from the awkward moment as Aizawa made his way over to them. “Looks like we’re done here for the night. Come on, I’ll get you two back to the dorms.”

“But…” Midoriya objected, “Hatsume.”

“Until the police can get some information from that clone, we don’t have any leads,” Aizawa sighed. “The detectives and Gran Torino are researching the League’s location. We’ll update you as soon as something new is discovered.”
---

“So yeah, he murdeled the HELL out of all the clones I made,” Twice whispered into his phone, itching in his civilian clothes as he gave his report to Toga.

“Don’t you mean murdered?”

Twice twitched. He needed to get back into his suit, ASAP. “You knew what I meant. Can I go now?”

Back in the hideout, Toga sighed. “Yeah, whatever. Thanks Twice.”

Dabi was leaned against the opposite wall, listening as she hung up. “You can’t tell me you expected anything differently.”

“Well, I was HOPING those clones would be worth a damn and bring my sweetheart to me, but now I know he’s obsessed, one way or another.”

“Obsessed with turning you into a splotch on the ground, maybe.”

Toga pouted. “It’s no matter, Zuzu will be mine soon. We’ll just have to move on with the next part. Besides, isn’t that what you wanted?”

Dabi cracked a rare grin and stood up. “I thought you’d never ask.”
---
Returning to building 1-A late into the night, Tsuyu watched as Midoriya went towards the boys’ wing without a word. Not that she was surprised by the behavior, but it definitely made her worried.

Midoriya himself opened the door to his room and immediately regretted it. Hatsume was in here more than she was ever in her dorm, and with how Work Study had gone, probably more than he was ever in it either. There were nights she wasn’t, and usually this was fine, but now the room seemed empty and lonesome.

His eyes glanced to the All Might alarm clock he had kept from his youth. It was well past three in the morning, and the day had been nothing but nerve wracking.

Still…

“Sleep is for the weak,” he grumbled to himself, grabbing his laptop, activating his protected modem, and navigating to the Dark Web. “Let’s see what I can find about Toga.”

While it had been some time since he had done this, it was easy to fall into the old habit, just like when he tracked down the Sludge Villain and Stain. He knew where to go for information. The problem here though, was that those past villains he hunted down were lone wolves. The League of Villains were a pack and separating one of them was going to prove difficult. Even moreso, ever since Todoroki had gone out of his way to attack Midoriya, the League had all but vanished.

Just got to keep digging. Someone had to have found something.

He was interrupted by a knock at his door, and he groaned in tired frustration. Who on earth would be bothering him at…

Noon? I must have lost track of time. “Come in.”

Hesitantly, the door opened to reveal Uraraka and Asui. “Deku…?” The brown-haired girl asked.

Midoriya did his best to shift back into his normal personality, just as he used to do with his mom when he first got into the Support Course. “Morning, guys. What’s up?”

“We never saw you this morning, kero.” Asui explained, “At first I thought maybe you were just sleeping in since we were up late, but we just wanted to know if you wanted to grab something to eat.”

I don’t have time for that.

“I have some stuff in here. I’m catching up some homework today, but thanks guys!” Midoriya replied, feigning a smile.

Uraraka and Asui exchanged looks composed of raised eyebrows which made it pretty clear that they didn’t buy what he was trying to sell, but they weren’t entirely sure how to answer that. “Okay, Deku well…” Uraraka began, lost on her words, “let us know if you need any help, okay?”

He nodded as they closed the door behind themselves. “Right…back to work.”

Izuku wiped some of the exhaustion out of his eyes; he had no doubt they could probably tell he hadn’t slept, but quite frankly he couldn’t afford to rest right now. Not when he was so close to a breakthrough.

He switched to his tab with a map of the League’s recent hideouts. They weren’t dumb about them; they were leaping all over the place, much as Stain had been when active. But he noticed they tended not to go back to the same city twice, even at opposing ends. They either would have to loop back soon, or, go to a rather secluded, smaller town to the north. If he could just get an inkling as to whether or not they’d been seen anywhere since their last appearance, that could be the breakthrough he needed.

The last few smaller busts they had made under Gran Torino had all been centralized in the same city Overhaul had been apprehended in, come to think of it. And according to Uraraka, Toga had been working with them, though she was nowhere to be found when he had been taken down.

Another knock came on his door, causing Deku to almost yell at it in frustration. But he snapped to his clock to see if was three in the afternoon, and his stomach was indeed making noises at him. “What’s up?”

He shouldn’t have answered, he realized, as he was snapped into a trance. What?!

The world took on a gray tint as Uraraka and Asui walked in again, this time with Shinsou in tow. He looked a bit regretful about having tricked Izuku, but he held a sandwich out to the boy in his stupor. “Sorry Midoriya, but you need to eat this.”

Robotically, Midoriya stuffed the sandwich into his mouth, scarfing it down hungrily. LET ME GET BACK TO MY RESEARCH!

“Now go downstairs, use the bathroom, come back, and get a decent sleep.”

Internally, Midoriya began screaming, though he knew he was walking past his friends with a placid look on his face.

“Thanks, Shinsou,” Uraraka whispered as he walked by, flaring up Deku’s rage. But he complied with his orders, marching obediently downstairs, as his classmates looked away; they must have been in on the whole thing.

As he returned to his bedroom, he mechanically took the covers off his bed, and laid down as his three friends left his room without a word. He could feel sleep begin to overcome him, but he fought it restlessly.

I can’t. I CAN’T!

As he struggled to stay awake, something weird happened though. Perhaps a side effect of Shinsou’s brainwashing, he began to see shadowy figures around his room. What the hell are these?!

He became afraid to sleep, but even in his fear, his eyelids closed, per Shinsou’s orders, and he immediately fell into a deep sleep.
---

Where am I?!

In whatever dream Midoriya was having, he snapped his eyes open and struggled to catch his bearings. Everything was greyscale and blurry, like he was still under Shinsou’s control, but here he at least felt free to move about. As his surroundings became more and more focused, he finally was able to recognize where he was.

It was where he had met All Might over one year before. The city, frozen in time, perfectly preserves by his memories, sit below him in gray. He walked over to the railing and slowly peered down to the street below.

“Brings back memories, doesn’t it?”

Midoriya jumped and whipped around. His jaw practically fell of his face as he recognized the man standing behind him. “A...All Might...?”

“How are doing, Midoriya?” He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. “I think about this meeting with you a lot. Figures we’d be here.”

“What is this place?” The younger hero asked. “Is this...real?”

“Yes and no...” All Might smiled. “There's a lot you need to know about your Quirk. And it might help you rescue your friend.”

“You know about that, huh?” Izuku replied, a frustrated sigh escaping his lips. “I really screwed up...”

“Nonsense,” All Might reassured, patting his back. “You can't save everyone in this line of work. As much as that sucks. But you can still save her. I never got a chance to teach you in life, so will you listen now?”

The somber attitude wasn't one Midoriya was used to from his hero, so he nodded. “Of course.”
---

Hatsume woke up in a broom closet, back sore from sleeping on the cold pavement. “Ugh. Not much for hospitality.” She looked to see her hands tied together, as were her feet, but she was at least free to move around her confinement.

A small slot had been installed on the door, which slid open, revealing a pair of eyes she had grown familiar with. “Are you awake Mei-Mei?”

She blanched. “Why don't you come in and find out.”

Toga just laughed, throwing a granola bar and water bottle into the floor. “Eat up. I want you alive so my precious Izuku can watch you die.”

Mei rolled her eyes. “Gee. Thanks.”

She stood up, and in the few seconds between Toga stepping away and her closing the slot on the door, she used her Quirk to try and get a grasp on her surroundings.

Bottles of liquor lining a wall told her she was being held captive in a bar of some kind. Beyond it, was a darkened window towards the ceiling, which told her it was in a basement.

The slot shut. Not a lot to work with.

She grabbed her meager rations and tore into them, eagerly. Better than starving.

Hatsume surveyed the closet. They had cleared out most of the cleaning supplies, save for a bucket which she realized was for her to relieve herself in, as well as an old mop and a flashlight. She went to scratch her head and realized her goggles were still there too.

She snickered to herself. Idiots.
---

“There are a host of abilities you could unlock, young Midoriya.” All Might explained. “Things I never even knew I could do. Your ability to slow your perception of time is a mere fraction of what you can achieve. But to do more...”

“I need to meet the previous holders of One for All...” Midoriya finished.

“And we'll start with these two.”

Suddenly, behind All Might were two more people. One, Deku recognized as Mirio. The other was a woman he had never seen before.

“Midoriya!” Mirio exclaimed, running up and bearhugging the boy. “It's so good to see you again!”

“You too!” Deku choked out as the taller teen set him down.

“And this...” All Might cleared his throat. “Is my mentor, Nana Shimura.”

She held out her hand, and Deku eagerly shook it in return.

But as she opened her mouth to speak, words it didn't come out.

It was the sound of his alarm clock.

Midoriya was ripped from the dream world, eyes snapping open back in his bed as Shinsou's hold on him was released.

“Ah, damn it.”

Chapter Text

“Shinsou!” Midoriya shouted as he ran into class 1-A Monday morning, making all his classmates jump.

Shinsou looked incredibly nervous for this confrontation, and he’d never admit he was preparing for this since making Midoriya sleep the night before. “Look man, about yesterday – “

“I need you to do that again tonight when I get back from work.” Midoriya requested, not even letting the nervous boy finish.

“I…okay?” Shinsou blinked. “You’re not…mad?”

“I was, but then I saw…well, it doesn’t matter. I can explain later,” Midoriya realized the entire class was watching the conversation. “But…thank you. I needed to rest.”

Shinsou let the tension in his shoulders drop, clearly relaxing now that the danger had passed. “Yeah, no problem.”

As Aizawa walked into the room, Midoriya shifted focus. One for All could wait for tonight; he was already prepping for work tonight, and hopefully finding out more about where Hatsume was.
---

“And the clone just disintegrated?!” He cried in dismay to Centipeder.

“Yup,” the older hero sighed, “banged her head against the cell bars until she broke down.”

“Did the detectives get anything out of her at least?” Gran Torino grunted, arm still in a sling but otherwise looked to be back up to snuff.

“Not a thing, she just laughed and said Izuku would be hers,” Bubble Girl frowned. “You’ve got a fan, kid.”

“Not what I had in mind,” Deku grumbled, putting his head in his hands.

“Definitely not, any time Toga claims she loves some poor sap, they end up dead so she can have them forever,” Gran Torino grunted. “You’re the first Pro Hero she’s ever targeted though so this is outside of her normal modus operandi.”

“Do we have any leads?” Bubble Girl asked.

“One arrived at reception this morning, actually.” Centipeder answered, holding a DVD. It read, “play me, Izuku ;),” in red marker.

“Oh boy,” Midoriya sighed. “Let’s see what she wants from me now.”

The hero group piled into the conference room to play the disc. The screen fizzled on…
---
“Hey there Izuku!” Toga greeted to the camera, blowing a kiss to it obnoxiously. “I hope you’re feeling better after I sent you that fodder to beat up.” She lowered her tone in an attempted sultry voice, “I know I certainly liked watching you pound me to a pulp over and over.” She went back to her usual cheery tone. “And now I know what to expect from you! You know, I usually like guys who play with knives, but what you do with the explosions AND your fists? Mmmm.”

Toga laughed and shook her head. “I’m getting off track! I know you’re dying to see me again, aren’t you? And you’re probably wondering about your little whore, right? Don’t worry, she’s right back here!” She tilted the camera to show the broom closet door behind her. “Here, I’ll show you.”

She flipped the camcorder around and slid open the slot on the door.

Hatsume looked up from the floor, with her back to the door, goggles pulled down over her eyes. She seemed to be adjusting them every few seconds.

“Hey you little bitch,” Toga hissed. “Got anything to say to my man?”

“Just that he’s going to kick your ass,” Hatsume shrugged. “Also, hey, make sure Yukio doesn’t touch any of my stuff. And...”

Hatsume looked to the ground. “I miss you, Deku Scrub.” She adjusted her goggles one more time, making a little red-light blink.

“Yeah, well no one cares, ugly!” Toga laughed, slamming the slot on the closet door shut. “Now, Zuzu, you may not know this about me, but I am a big fan of Stain! But wouldn’t you know it...someone caught him in an old abandoned theater. Which is where you’re going to go or else I might...” Toga pulled a knife from behind her back and waved it in front of the camera with giggle, “pluck out those pretty yellow eyes of your girlfriends and take them for myself!”
---
“Alright kid, don’t freak out - wait, why are you smiling?”

“The light on her goggles,” Deku smiled. “She did something to send us a signal. I bet it’s to my helmet, hold on!”

He pulled his helmet out of his backpack and began to sync it up, hooking it to the internal. There was a blinking red light over some coordinates. Grabbing a piece of paper, he scratched them down carefully, and removed the helmet from his head. “Here!” He slid the paper over to Gran Torino, “these are the coordinates she sent me!”

“Wow, you two really are a couple of nerds, huh?” Gran Torino laughed. “Bubble Girl, look these up.”

“On it, sir.”

“We have to consider this as a trap,” Centipeder interjected. “They clearly want Midoriya to go to this theater alone, for an ambush.”

“Can’t we cut them off at this location?” Deku asked.

“We should, but, if they’re aware of what your girlfriend pulled, we don’t want to risk coming up empty handed, and then have Toga take it out on Hatsume because we didn’t go along with their request.” Centipeder explained. “Toga’s not still on the loose for dumb luck. She’s smarter than she lets on. Unfortunately.”

Midoriya frowned. “You’re right…so what do we do?”

Bubble Girl returned from the computer. “This is pretty nondescript building on the outskirts of town. Perfect place for a hideout. Centipeder and I will take this location.”

“Then you and I can see what Toga has in store for you at that theater,” Gran Torino stood up, grabbing his cane. “We can’t run the risk of not showing, in case they have some sort of hostages or plan on hurting civilians in their methods.”

Deku nodded, careful not to show his discontent. All of this made sense, but he wanted to be where Hatsume was. It’s not my call though.
---

Hatsume tried her best not to flinch as she was backhanded by Toga, collapsing against one of the shelving units, but a grunt of pain escaped her lips.

“YOU IDIOT!” Toga screamed, furiously, kicking the Support student in the ribs. “You think I wouldn’t notice your STUPID GOGGLES!”

Hatsume coughed but let out a rueful laugh. “You’re the idiot who left them on me.”

Giving the lovesick killer sass turned out to be one of her worse ideas as this earned Hatsume another kick in the side. “YOU!” Thud. “ARE LUCKY!” Thud. “I WANT HIM!” Thud. “TO SEE.” Thud. “YOU DIE!”

Hatsume coughed as her vision blurred, she was a little alarmed to see blood trickled down to the floor from her mouth.

Toga took a deep breath. “It’s fine. It just means I get to move up phase three while Zuzu is busy with phase two.” She let out a bitter laugh. “With any luck, maybe I’ll have him sooner.”

The villainess stormed from the room and slammed the door behind her. Hatsume could hear talking to someone on a phone, and with the coast clear, she reached under the shelving unit, and pulled out the old mop handle and flashlight. She had carved a makeshift screwdriver from the wood, which she had used to modify her goggles. “Back to the drawing board...”
---

“I’ve called in some backup from nearby agencies. If anything goes down, they’ll be on top of us pretty quick, so you just hold your own if things go south,” Gran Torino explained as they spotted the theater a few blocks away.

Midoriya nodded and wondered if Toga knew just how much it sucked to be back here. This was the culmination of his summer break with Mei. As he hopped down to the street and began to approach, the night replayed vividly in his mind. He’d never have guessed that taking down Stain would have brought him and his partner together, but here they were.

As he pushed the rotted, burnt doors off their hinges, he walked in the theater to see a lone figure on the stage, sitting in a chair. As he got closer, he zoomed in via his helmet to find...

“Dabi...” He frowned. He had figured he'd run into him at some point.

“So, you're Deku?” The villain laughed. “I can't believe he had trouble with you.”

“Stain, you mean?” Deku retorted. “You're one of his followers, right? Is that why you wanted to fight here?”

“No. Not Stain.” Dabi stood from the rickety old chair, and with a flick of his fingers, turned it to ash without even turning around. “Though living through him is another thing I can't even comprehend.”

“What do you want?” Deku growled. “Toga sent me here to find you. How do I get Hatsume back?”

“You think there's a scenario where either of you live through this?” The villain sneered, wreathing his arms in blue flames. “I don't give a damn how mad Toga gets, the only thing I'm bringing her back is your charred corpse!”

As a wave of fire came crashing towards Midoriya, he leaped to another section seating, the entire area he had just been was covered by flames.

Fire, and none of my temperature regulators. This is going to be tricky.

Dabi was already prepping another wave of fire to attack with, so Deku responded with an air blast, careful not to use the fingers that would trigger an explosion for his gloves.

As Dabi unleashed another wave, the air blast connected, blowing a hole in the flames. The villain had not been expecting Deku to come leaping through the whole, and club him across the face with spinning back kick.

Dabi was thrown back but stumbled to his feet and rubbed his jaw. “You're tougher than you look. No wonder he liked you.”

“Who are you talking about, you psycho?!” Midoriya jumped towards Dabi again for a Detroit Smash, but the villain jumped away.

As Dabi landed in a three-point stance, he set the entire stage ablaze, causing Midoriya to spring upwards, grabbing the rafters with his spider legs to avoid the all-consuming blue fire of the villain.

“You can't be this stupid,” the pyromaniac sneered, “you did build all those tools to take him down, didn't you?”

As stream of fire came for Midoriya, he threw himself towards a patch of flooring that was not engulfed. “You mean...Todoroki?”

“Finally!” Dabi laughed. “I was wondering when you’d figure it out. I bet you’re wondering WHY I CARE!”

With his yelling, the villain hurled a massive fireball towards the hero, who knocked it off course with an airblast from his fingers. As good as my mask is at filtering out smoke, I need to end this quick. Fire like this will spread if I don’t do something. “I have a feeling you’re going to tell me.”

“Well, I never got to tell him...but that’s my little brother.”

“WHAT?!” Midoriya yelled. He had been expecting a lot of things, but not that.

“That’s right!” Dabi cackled, throwing more fire, which Deku struggled to knock off course. “I was Endeavor’s first failed attempt at breeding some hell-spawn that could take down All Might!”

Running out of room on the burning floor, Midoriya jumped to the walls, using his mechanical legs to scale up the sides of the theater towards a balcony. I need to put some of this out.

“And soon, we were going to go finish the job and take our dear old dad! But guess what? SOME VIGILANTE ASSHOLE KNOCKED ME OUT AND RUINED OUR HOSPITAL STAKEOUT THE DAY BEFORE!”

“I have a feeling you aren’t talking about that Knuckleduster guy, are you?” Deku quipped, hoping the distraction would give him enough time to find the best vantage point. Get angry, asshole. You’ll get sloppy.

“Do you know how long? How long I’ve been planning to off that son of a bitch?!” Dabi growled, losing control as streams of flames whipped around him, engulfing the theater, burning even his own skin. “I NEEDED THAT BRAT TO PUT OUT ENDEAVOR’S FLAMES!”

“Too weak to do it yourself?” Midoriya taunted. “I thought you were supposed to be a heavy hitter. No wonder you’re only Toga’s attack dog.”

That was just the push Dabi needed, as he laughed in something of a mad fury, sputtering flames haphazardly across the old building.

Now.

Midoriya jumped to the highest rafter he could, unloading his mist grenades from his belt and threw in a scattered pattern across the theater, the mist and moisture dampening the flames and covered the entire theater in sickly, moist steam. He could hear Dabi cursing below, the moisture in the air stifling his powers.

Midoriya kicked off the ceiling and took a cryo grenade from his belt, using One for All to whip it down onto Dabi before he could catch his bearings. Landing next to him on the state, Deku knew the ice encasement wouldn’t hold him long in the stifling room, so he shattered the ice block holding the villain himself with an explosion from his glove.

The force, threw Dabi past the rear of the stage, slamming him into the brick wall, shards of ice slicing into his skin, blood pouring down his arms and from his ribs. He coughed in pain, but Midoriya was already on top of him, using his spider legs to pin Dabi against the wall by his extremities.

Using blood-view setting in his helmet, Midoriya began reigning Full Cowl punches against every new and exposed cut, opening the wounds further, each blow stronger than the last, until finally Deku paused.

“It doesn’t matter who your family is, Dabi.” The hero growled. “You want to burn every hero off the earth? Fine. I’ll stop you, EVERY TIME! But you leave Todoroki out of it. Now...” He leaned closer. “Where. Is. Mei?”

Dabi coughed and smirked. “Get bent, hero.”

Still pinning the villain down, Midoriya sprung up and hit him with a Full Cowl dropkick to the chest, driving Dabi through the wall brick wall, and the villain collapsed in the back alley, unconscious. Gran Torino was back there, waiting. He beamed at the younger Hero as he climbed from the burning building after the villain.

“Good going!” Gran Torino chuckled. “I was almost worried you’d need that backup, but you seemed to have that well in hand.”

Deku looked back at the burning building and wondered just how bad that would have needed to get before Gran Torino would consider things, “out of hand.”

He was on pins and needles as the police and fire marshals showed up, and he gave his statement on what happened. Finally, when that was done, he and Gran Torino went towards the train station. “Give them a call, see if you can get ahold of Bubble Girl,” the older hero advised as they got onto the rail car.

Midoriya called, putting the phone on speaker so his boss could hear. But when the call was answered, he nearly dropped the phone.

“Hey Zuzu!”

Gran Torino snatched the device from Deku’s hand. It was a good decision; the teen almost crushed it on instinctive rage, his fist clenched, white knuckle, over where the phone had been.

“Toga Himiko. Where are you?” The elder hero barked.

“Ew, is it just that gross old fart?” Came the disappointed villainess’ voice through the receiver. “I guess Dabi didn’t deliver, huh? Well, that’s okay! I always have a backup plan for every backup plan! Tell my darling Izuku I left him a surprise at the bar you sent your ugly crones to!”

The phone clicked, and the two heroes exchanged uneasy looks. Midoriya tried calling back Bubble Girl, and Centipeder after that, both all his attempts were left unanswered.

On the train, he checked local newsfeed for anything in the area he had sent his coworkers too, but nothing had been posted.

As they finally arrived at the next town over, there was a noticeable urgency in their steps as they reached the coordinates that Mei had sent to Deku earlier in the day. As the building came into focus, they noticed sirens and police tape.

“What happened here?” Gran Torino barked at a nearby officer.

“Crime scene,” the cop answered, just as gruffly. “What business do you have here?”

In any other situation, watching Gran Torino squabble with the cop would have been incredibly amusing. But as the elderly hero fumbled around in his pockets for licenses and agency paperwork, Midoriya could only stare at the building and wonder what waited for them inside. Finally, with clearances in order, the two heroes were allowed to enter the building.

As they walked down to the basement, they opened the door to the bar, and were immediately hit with a foul odor and a gruesome sight.

On the floor, Centipeder and Bubble Girl lay, dead, as police were photographing and bagging evidence. Between the two heroes, a heart had been drawn with their blood, containing a message.

“Next time, no cheating Zuzu.”

Chapter Text

It was far later than a student would normally be back to the dorms, but dead Heroes meant detailed statements to the police force and paperwork.

Toga had left a video of what happened; Compress and Twice had been waiting for the Heroes as soon as they entered. Strategically placed clones of Twice killed the two Heroes in a sneak attack while they were in a standoff with the real deals. It had been a massacre.

Given a written pass to present to the patrolling Hero - which was Aizawa - meant that Midoriya would not be in trouble for returning to UA at such a late hour.

“No excuse though, you are expected to be in class on time in the morning,” Aizawa grunted, handing the pass back to Midoriya.

Midoriya nodded, wordlessly, and trudged back to the dorms. He felt physically exhausted, but didn’t think he could sleep tonight, the bodies of Centipeder and Bubble Girl haunting his thoughts every time he closed his eyes. Further still, there was to trace of Toga or Hatsume in the bar.

He felt lost as he opened the door to building 1-A but was disturbed by a faint noise from the couch. Flicking the common room lights on, he raised his eyebrows to see Shinsou snoring lightly on one of the sofas. On the sofa next to him Uraraka and Tsuyu were passed out as well, nuzzled up to each other.

“What are you guys all doing?” He asked, making the three of them jump.

“Kero...there you are,” Asui yawned.

“We’ve been waiting for you Deku,” Uraraka answered, rubbing her eyes. “We were worried.”

“And you said you wanted me to brainwash you to sleep, right?” Shinsou asked. “We must have dozed off.”

A small smile found its way to Midoriya’s lips. If nothing else, he at least had some pretty awesome friends. “You guys… you didn't have to do that.”

“You're our friend, you cute green-haired vegetable,” Uraraka yawned again, her head resting on Asui’s shoulder.

“We know you’re going through a lot but you’re not in this alone, kero.” Tsuyu gave him a tired smile. “You can always count on us. How did it go today?”

Deku sighed and relayed to them what had happened: his fight with Dabi, the deaths of two pro heroes, and that he and Gran Torino were no closer to finding out where Hatsume and Toga were holed up.

“Damn… that’s heavy,” Shinsou scratched the back of his neck. “I’m sorry man.”

“Are you going back to the agency tomorrow? I mean it’s just you and Gran Torino, right?” Uraraka asked. “Poor Bubble Girl and Centipeder… I followed some of her work, she was pretty cool.”

Midoriya shook his head. “Gran Torino said it was all paperwork due to the deaths. Told me to catch up on rest and school.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Like I’ll be able to focus...”

“Let’s worry about that tomorrow,” Shinsou suggested. “Get ready for bed and I’ll put you under.”
---

Midoriya Izuku’s head hit the pillow, just like it had the day before, and he immediately fell into a heavy sleep.

In the next instant, he awoke on the greyscale building top from the night before, picking himself up off the pavement. As he stood up, All Might, Mirio, and Nana were all waiting for him by the ledge of the building. “I’ll probably never get used to this.”

“Well, we don’t have much time,” All Might clapped him on the shoulder. “This is Nana. The Quirk you’ve been using through one for all is hers.”

“You mean… it’s not just One for All?”

Nana let out a hearty laugh. She’s pretty spry for a dead guy, Deku thought.

“Nonsense. Let me explain about my strength enhancement...”

---

Even within the dream Midoriya could feel his head throbbing as he processed the information. “So eventually I’ll have access to all the Quirks...?”

“Mine too!” Mirio crowed. “Though it’s really tricky. You can’t breathe or see or hear while intangible. And your clothes fall off so everyone can see your willy.”

“Can you… maybe teach me more how to control that?” Midoriya asked, baffled. Mirio had given him a brief explanation, but the details were still sketchy.

“Can’t.” Mirio laughed. “Time for you to wake up.”

“Wait!” Nana cried out. “Before you go, I think I have an answer for your League of Villains problem. You need to retrace your steps!”

BZZZZT.

Midoriya’s eyes snapped open and a wave of fatigue hit him. In the end , he only got about four to five hours of sleep; not enough to rest him after the hellacious night that had been there for him the night before. He remembered why he used to plan vigilante outings for the weekend. Yet, with Aizawa’s words pounding in his skull, Midoriya rolled out of bed and threw on his uniform, haphazardly, and trudged towards classes.

But Nana’s words rang through his head. Retrace his steps?

---

“Midoriya!”

Midoriya’s eyes shot open for the second time that morning, head against his desk. The class president stood over him looking concerned. His head shot straight up and he heaved a sigh of relief that Aizawa was asleep in their homeroom as well. “Sorry Yaoyorozu, I...”

“I heard...” Momo replied, softly. “About what happened last night. I understand. I just didn’t want you to be asleep when English begins.”

Izuku rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Right. Thanks!”

But the hero could hardly focus. His mind kept wandering back to what Nana had told him.

Even sitting down at lunch, he wondered what steps he had to retrace.

“Hey Midoriya, kero!”

“Hey Tsu!” He greeted as she, Uraraka, and Shinsou sat down next to him.

“What have you got on your mind?” Shinsou asked.

Midoriya sighed. “Well. I’ve kind of got a lead on where Hatsume could be but I can’t figure it out.”

“Oh? What is it?” Uraraka asked.

“I have to retrace my steps.” Deku shrugged. “But that’s so vague, I’m not sure what it could mean.”

Tsuyu’s eyes widened, though Uraraka and Shinsou looked perplexed. She didn’t say anything for the rest of lunch, but as they were walking to class, Midoriya felt his phone buzz. She had sent him a message:

-Meet me at Ground Beta after class.
---

“Why did you want to meet me here, Tsu?” He asked as he met her at the training grounds.

“Well, I didn’t want to tell Uraraka about your past, and I wasn’t sure if Shinsou knows, but I think I know what your lead means, kero.”

Midoriya’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

“Well, think of the first two places she sent you: Right near where you took down the Sludge Villain and then the theater where you took down Stain, kero,” Asui explained, “She’s dedicating this whole mess to you.”

The words sunk in and Midoriya covered his mouth with his hand. “Of course… she’s obsessed with me. Trying to prove her dedication. How did I miss that?”

“Well...” Asui croaked, looking to the side. “I think you’re too close to this one, kero.”

“Too close?”

She nodded. “You’re so emotionally wrapped up you can’t step back and see the big picture. When I saw you fight those clones the other night, it was cool and terrifying at the same time. But I’d never seen you get so scary, even when you came close to killing the Sludge Villain.”

Midoriya frowned, sitting on the bench near the entrance of Ground Beta. “I never meant for her to find out about me being a vigilante. But she caught me. And she insisted on helping. I...”

Days worth of tension and emotions rose to the surface and Midoriya pushed down a sob. “She’s in danger. Because of me.”

Tsuyu crouched on the ground in front of him. “Kero. Can I ask you something?”

Midoriya looked up at her, though tears. “Go ahead.”

“Do you think she ever once regretted being your partner?”

Midoriya let that hit him. It was a simple question but… no.

Hatsume had always been an eager listening ear and an eager mechanic, be it for vigilante equipment or Official Hero gear. They succeeded together and he always saw her as his partner, no matter what he was doing. A team.

Midoirya wiped his eyes. “You’re right, Tsu.”

“I usually am. I’m good at emotional support, kero.”

Her frank response made Izuku laugh. “Well, if we have Stain and the Sludge Villain sites down, the next one would be the hospital where you and I rescued Tokoyami.”

“Well… we have plenty of daylight to kill. Let’s go scope it out now?” Asui suggested. “We’re licensed Heroes now. Maybe we’ll luck out.”

She offered Deku a hand and he took it to stand up. “You’re a great friend, Tsu.”

Tsuyu beamed. “You’re pretty great too, kero.”
---

Midoriya took some time to make a few tune ups on his suit and restock in the Support Lab before hopping on the train with Froppy.

“Uraraka will be in the area ready to call in backup, kero,” Froppy whispered.

“Did it take her any convincing?” Midoriya asked.

“She wasn’t exactly sure why we had to go here, so I just told her you and Hatsume had done some Support work ever over the summer. She seemed to buy it, kero.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. “Maybe we should let her in on it when this is all over.”

Once in the city, they stopped a few blocks away from the condemned hospital and scaled a few buildings to get a good look from a distance. “You really think they would set up in the exact same location?” Midoriya asked.

“Kero, it stopped being a crime scene a few months ago and no one is going to pay to keep watch on a rickety old building.” Asui answered.

“And it’s scheduled to come down next week,” Midoriya agreed. “If Toga was planning to bait me into something soon, this would work short term.” A few buildings away, he pulled his helmet on and zoomed in towards the entrance. Unlike last time, there was no Twice monitoring the outside of the building. He switched to thermal scanning but he was too far away to pick anything up.

He was about to switch gears when his phone began vibrating in his pocket. Whipping the device out, his eyes widened. It was another message from Toga. Asui saw too and looked over his shoulder as he played it.

He opened the videolink, hands shaking, to see that the psychopath was live streaming. “Good afternoon Zuzu!”

Midoriya maximized the video on his phone and looked in the background, but the angle she held her camera at only showed blue skies behind her. She’s out in the open.

“You know,” Toga pouted to the camera, “That was really mean, you and your little succu-butt trying to break the rules. But I guess love is a game played without a rule book, isn’t it?”

The camera flipped, showing Hatsume tied to a chair in a similar way to the first video Toga had sent to Midoriya a few days back. They looked to be on some kind of roof. “You know, Midoriya, this is where I first actually met you! Of course, I didn’t know what you were really like then. You and your disguise.”

Toga approached Hatsume, who, despite her glare, couldn’t hide the fear on her face. “You know Zuzu… you really made me and my friends mad that night! We had won something from your little school and you stole it! That’s pretty mean. Don’t you think it’s fair if I… took something away from you?”

Toga kicked the chair holding Hatsume and it was knocked towards the ledge of the building they were on.

In the distance, Midoriya could hear the scraping of wood against gravel.

Midoriya looked up at the hospital. “They’re on the roof!”

No one needed to be told twice; the heroes left their perch and headed towards the building. All the while, Midoriya watched the video, as Toga loomed over Hatsume, whose back was against the crumbling ledge of the hospital rooftop.

The villainess cackled on the video. “I’m waiting for you, Zuzu! Where our first date was! Come here so we can rid the world of this pink shitstain once and for all!”

As they approached the hospital, Midoriya deployed his spider legs and began scaling the side, but was stopped as Asui wrapped her tongue around his waist and yanked him back down to the ground.

“What are you -?!”

“Kero, Midoriya I have a plan!” She scowled. “Don’t get too close, you don’t see the big picture.”

Deku took a deep breath. “Okay. You’re right. What’s the plan?”
---

Midoriya Izuku leapt up the side of the hospital, hoisting himself over the ledge with his spider legs. At the opposite edge of the building, Toga had leaned the chair holding Hatsume against the crumbling ledge. “TOGA!”

As the villainess whipped around, her eyes wide with excitement. Now, Midoriya knew better to say, “let her go,” when a bad guy has someone on the edge of a building, so he slowly approached, and said, “Hey, let’s move away from the ledge, okay?”

Toga shook her head furiously and beckoned the heroic boy over with her index finger in an attempt to be coy. “Nope! Wow, you got here fast! Come on Zuzu! You want her?”

Midoriya crouched down, ready to spring forward.

“Come get her!”

Toga turned, kicked the chair over the ledge of the hospital, and stepped away laughing as Midoriya darted over with Full Cowl. He completely missed the small disc that had been hidden under the chair, and as he stepped on it an electrified cage materialized around him. He smacked into one of the bars, getting zapped and flung on his back. He sprang up and used an explosion from his gloves, but the steel bars held fast.

Toga cackled, clapping her hands, and jumping up and down on the balls of her feet. “Oh Zuzu. You’re so predictable! Just how I like ‘em, cute and stupid.”

Midoriya turned around and took off his helmet, and chuckled, to her surprise. His laugh grew to match her own. “You. Idiot.”

Toga’s face fell. “What...?”

“At what point did you think this would work?” Izuku’s look turned hard. “What were you going to do next? Tie her to the railroad tracks? Twirl a mustache and say, ‘nyeh-heh-heh?’”

“What are you saying...?” Toga growled.

“I’m saying, your act is lame, and if you think you can just break me so I’ll fall in love with you, you’re even dumber than you look.” Deku smirked. “No matter what you do, I love Hatsume. You’re just trash that I’m going to put in the dump.”

Toga’s lip twitched, her eyes welling up with tears. She let out a small giggle. And another. And another, until they grew into a laugh, blowing out into a full cackle. “No. NonononononoNO!” Toga pulled a knife from her skirt, giggling. “That’s NOT how this love story ends. If you don’t love me after I turned that whore into pavement grease, then you… you just have to be punished.”

Just need her a little closer.

“You… you WILL love me, Zuzu.”

Midoriya smirked. “Make me.”

Toga stepped forward and Midoriya sprang towards the bars. It only needed to work for a second.

Best as he could, in mid air, he activated Mirio’s Intangibility, phasing through the bars and leaving his suit behind. At the sight of Izuku’s nude body, Toga froze up, anger forgotten, and squealed with delight.

The world flashed back into Midoriya’s vision as he deactivated the Intangibility. Ugh. I never want to do that again.

But per his plan he was sailing right for Toga. Channeling 20% of his One for All into his arm, he landed a direct punch between her eyes. She went skidding across the roof, knocked unconscious.

“Kero, are we all clear, Deku?” Called a voice from the side of the building.

“Yeah, she’s down.” He called over to the roof.

He blinked and looked down. “NO WAIT DON’T COME BACK UP YET!”

But it was too late. Tsuyu came crawling over the side of the building, Hatsume wrapped up in her tongue, and set the captive girl down gently on the roof. But as she saw that Deku was, in fact, still naked, she yelped and covered her eyes. “Midoriya you were supposed to warn me!”

“SORRY, SORRY, SORRY, JUST GET THE CLOTHES!”

Eyes still closed, Asui coughed up Midoriya’s casual clothes from her stomach. He quickly threw them on and untied Hatsume from her chair. The pink-haired girl collapsed into his arms as Asui used the robes to restrain the unconscious Toga - but only after checking her for anymore hidden blades.

“Hatsume?” Midoriya asked, shaking her limp body. “Come on, talk to me!”

“She’s okay, kero,” Asui answered. “She just passed out when she began falling. I caught her pretty quick.”

The two waited in silence as the police arrived with EMTs, who loaded Hatsume up on a stretcher to take her to a hospital, and apprehended Toga. Gran Torino arrived, looking haggard, and wacked Midoriya in the knee with his cane.

“I had a feeling you wouldn’t stop working but don’t do something so foolish without consulting me!” Gran Torino scolded.

Midoriya bowed. “S-sorry...”

“That said...” He looked to Midoriya and Asui, “As licensed heroes, looks like you did a good job. Villain captured, no property damage, no casualties. So, I’ll let it slide. Well... what are you waiting for?”

Deku tilted his head curiously. “Sir?”

“Go!” The old man ushered towards the EMTs who were carrying Hatsume’s stretcher downstairs. “I’ll finish up here. You two have other places to be.”

Asui and Midoriya bowed in thanks and took off down the stairs.

“Toshinori would pick someone just like him,” Gran Torino groaned.

---

“Izuku...?”

Midoriya’s head shot upwards. He had fallen asleep in the hospital room, next to Hatsume. Behind him, Tsuyu and Uraraka were on a bench in the room, snoring loudly. That could only mean...

He looked to see Mei, eyes weary but open, looking towards him. He sprang out of his chair and wrapped his arms around her neck, being careful not to hit any of her IV tubes. “Mei!”

Weakly, she hugged him back. “Took you long enough, Deku Scrub.”

Hatsume could feel tears against her cheek as Midoriya held her tightly. “Mei, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Stop apologizing, you dork,” Mei sniffled as well, not holding back her own tears.

Deku pulled away. “No, the whole time we’ve been partners, I fought so hard to make sure you never got hurt. I never stopped worrying about you. I’m sorry I made you a target.”

Mei sighed and pulled him down to kiss his forehead. “Shut up.”

“What?”

“How many times do I have to tell you I knew what I was signing up for?” She smiled at him. “Every time you go out to patrol on work study or even when we were knocking over bars for information, I worry about you, too. But you know what? The whole time, I kept going because I knew you would save me.”

“You did?”

Mei nodded. “I never had a doubt. I’ve always believed in you, Midoriya Izuku. I love you.”

“I love you too,” he sniffled.

“Besides,” she grinned, “now we’ve both saved each other.”

Izuku laughed, wiping his eyes. “You’re right. You’re the best partner a hero could ask for.”

“Well, good thing I’m all yours, isn’t it?” She nuzzled against him. “Thanks for always pulling through for me.”

It wasn’t long before they fell asleep like that. And in the morning, Uraraka and Asui quietly left them that way.

Chapter Text

Midoriya’s eyes snapped open as the light shone into his room. He relaxed as he saw Hatsume’s sleeping face next to him, snoring and drooling.

He let out a sigh of relief. It had been a few days since Hatsume was released from the hospital, but he still woke up each morning needing to reassure himself she was still there. The feeling of dread from her kidnapping was not something that just went away overnight.

Her eyes briefly fluttered open, and she smiled sleepily, rolling into him, muttering something into the nape of his neck before passing out again. It was Saturday, and they didn’t have anywhere to be. Midoriya allowed himself to relax and go back to sleep as well.

“Hey Deku Scrub?”

“Hmm?” He breathed down into her messy pink hair.

“I missed this.”

“Me too.”

“Can we just stay in bed today?” She asked through a yawn. “You're so comfy.”

He snorted in laughter. “We promised Tsuyu and Uraraka we'd go on a double date.”

Hatsume groaned and rolled over. But she began to run her hand down his side to his...nether regions. “Mmm. Tell me again how you used your secret weapon to distract Toga.”
---

A few towns over, someone was up bright and early, still fuming. Shigaraki Tomura was furious. Ever since the fall of All For One, things seemed to be steadily getting worse for his League of Villains. Worse still, it all seemed to be at the hands of one upstart Hero who was getting under his skin.

He drummed his fingers against the desk he was at. Himself included, he was down to four elites; himself, Kurogiri, Twice, and Compress. Sure, they had a few potentials, and cheap thugs were a dime a dozen, but his Vanguard Action Squad had dwindled.

“Midoriya Izuku. Deku.” He removed his father’s hand from his face and rubbed his chin. “Are you the new final boss? Come to avenge All Might?”

“He’s certainly been in the way,” Compress said from the corner, practicing magic tricks with Twice. “I should shrink him and feed him to a crocodile.”

“Why a crocodile?” Asked Kurogiri.

“First animal to come to mind.” Compress shrugged.

“What we need,” Shigaraki hummed to himself. “Is a coordinated team strat. He’s been picking us off one by one because that’s what we send him. Even Dabi and Toga couldn’t work together long enough to double team him.”

“Oh, do you mean me?!” Twice squealed. “I make a great team! Except for that one time me and all my clones killed each other! Forget I said that!”

“No, you dumbass, I mean all of us!” Shigaraki seethed. “A coordinated, four on one attack when he’s away from his friends and that insipid Gran Torino.”

“Oh, have you been using the ‘Word-A-Day,’ calendar I bought you for Christmas?” Kurogiri asked.

“Yes, it’s copacetic, thank you.” Shigaraki replied. “Now....what do we know about this little rodent? What are his weaknesses?”
---

“You’re SO BAD AT BOWLING!” Hatsume cackled, hugging Midoriya from behind as they left the alley with Tsu and Uraraka. “I love it!”

“I never proclaimed to be any good,” he laughed. “Not my best moment.”

“At least you didn’t keep making your ball float on accident,” Uraraka laughed. “I think the owner was ready to kick us out.”

“Kero, are you guys hungry?”

“Always!” Midoriya and Hatsume answered.
---
“He’s had lots of help from his little hero friends?” Twice suggested. “The frog one and his teachers, mostly.”

“They’d be no easier to get than him.” Shigaraki scowled. “No, Toga tried and failed at kidnapping. We need to just blindside him.”

“Getting back on campus will be impossible.” Kurogiri replied. “They figured out how to block my warp gates after the Hatsume incident.”

“So, we'd need to get him outside of school,” Shigaraki tapped his chin.

“Do we need to?” Kurogiri asked. “We had done well to bring distrust to the Hero scene before getting focused on UA. This witch hunt for Midoriya Izuku ended up with Muscular, Toga, and Dabi apprehended. Why not cut our losses and focus on bigger targets? The death of a student is news, for sure, but it will not shake the Hero community to the core.”

Shigaraki paused. “You may be right. Thank you, Kurogiri. I got so caught up on this little side quest, I forgot all about the plotted path...”

The leader of the League stood up and ran his index finger down a corkboard with newspaper articles tacked along it. All Might’s photo had been scratched off. “We knocked out the top player, but the leaderboards have other big dogs...”

“Boss, if I may,” Compress interjected. “There may be a way for us to do both at once.”

Shigaraki merely tilted his head towards his underling. “I’m listening.”

“Endeavor’s agency hasn’t been doing well ever since his son outed him as world’s worst dad,” Compress advised, “Even as the new Number One Hero, he doesn’t have the faith of the people. He may need to seek help from other Pros if we were his target.”

Shigaraki snickered. “Oh, I like where you’re going with this.”
---

“Ugh. I'm stuffed,” Izuku sighed, happily. “Good suggestion, Tsu.”

“Kero, thanks. Uraraka found the place though,” Asui croaked.

As the four chatted, Midoriya was happy to have something of a normal weekend after the events of the last one. As they waited for the bill, a news story ran that caught his attention.

On the screen, a recap of Endeavor's latest exploit, taking down a recently paroled Toxic Chainsaw at the sight of a bank robbery.

“...and despite an attitude shift,” the reporter continued, “the new number one hero has struggled with public perception ever since the arrest of his son, Todoroki Shouto.”

“I've made plenty of mistakes,” Endeavor admitted in a pre-recorded interview, “and I haven't always been the best hero, father, or husband. That's why I'm working hard to live up to the image All Might left me. I will be a hero the world can be proud of.”

By now, the other three at his table had watched the interview as well.

“I don't know if I buy it,” Uraraka scoffed. “I bet Todoroki never would have done...you know...if Endeavor hadn't raised him as a weapon.”

“I can’t forget what he was saying at Iida’s memorial,” Midoriya replied. “It was really awful to hear.”

“He has been putting in the work to change,” Tsuyu said, tapping her finger to her chin, “and that could just be PR work, but I’ll at least give him that the effort is there. Hard to tell if it’s sincere.”

“He got what he wanted in the end,” Hatsume shrugged. “He’s the Number One Hero. Bet he never thought it would bite him in the ass.”

“I guess as long as he keeps working to be better, that’s all he can do.” Deku scratched the back of his neck. “Not everyone is going to forgive him, and whether or not anyone should is up to debate. But working towards redemption is really all someone in his position can do.”

“Spoken like a true Vice President!” Uraraka beamed.

“Don’t remind me,” he sighed, “Yaoyorozu needs me to help plan the next movie night when we get back.”
---

Later that night, Midoriya and Hatsume lay next to each other, panting. Nothing spiced up the bedroom life like saving each other’s life. Hatsume rolled into him. “Today was so great. I was worried we wouldn’t get to do stuff like this again.”

“Me too. This room is empty when you aren’t here.”

As nice as the moment was, it was interrupted by the buzzing of a phone. Midoriya groaned and rolled to grab it. “One day I’ll get a weekend without problems.” He noticed the number; Gran Torino. “Whoa. Must be serious.”

“Hey kid, sorry to call so late. I’m going to need you to come into the office tomorrow. We’ve got some big leads from way above us on what’s left of the League.” The grizzled voice grunted into the receiver.

“Sounds serious,” Midoriya muttered. “What time do you need me, sir?”

“Good answer,” the elderly hero laughed, “Ten. Not too early, but we’ll want to get a head start. Your gear all repaired?”

“I couldn’t keep Hatsume away from the lab to fix it if I wanted to.” He smiled back to her to see she had already passed out.
---
“Think you’ll be on patrol today?” Hatsume asked excitedly. “I like being in your ear when you’re out. It’s like watching a superhero anime.”

“Who’d want to watch me?” Deku laughed. “Maybe. Gran Torino didn’t really say. I’ll see you later tonight.”

Midoriya left his dorm, a few jabs thrown at him playfully from friends about having to work on the weekend and walked over to the bus station. As he traveled to the familiar agency, he was surprised to see some news vans outside. Reporters swarmed him, asking questions as he pressed through. Ignoring them as their voices and questioned blended together, he squeezed through the gate and entered the building.

“What’s with the paparazzi outside Gran Torin- OH MY GOD!” Midoriya exclaimed as he entered the building.

Chatting away with the elderly hero was Endeavor himself, the current number one hero. Midoriya froze, the last times having seen the Hellfire user being the Sports Festival and Iida’s memorial. Both times left a sour taste in the teen’s mouth if he stopped to remember him.

A far contrast from those times, however, Endeavor turned and bowed politely. “Hello, young Deku. I do not believe we have been formally introduced.”

Hesitantly, Midoriya walked forward and shook hands with the taller man. “Nice to meet you,” he lied.

Truth be told, even as a kid, Midoriya was never a huge fan of Endeavor, despite being the Hero with most wins on record. And he remembered the things Todoroki and Dabi had both said about their dad.

“Hothead here reached out to us since he heard all the coverage.” Gran Torino explained. “I don’t know if you’ve been keeping up with the news, but your name has come up on the capture of all those League of Villain...Villains.”

“That’s right,” Endeavor agreed. “You’ve become something of a thorn in their sides, you and Gran Torino.”

“Well, what can I say.” Midoriya replied, nervously. He then realized that he should follow that up with something clever, but considering how much he disliked the situation, he was drawing a massive blank. “All in...a... day’s work, I guess.”

“Er, yes, quite,” Endeavor answered, apparently picking up on how awkward this was, “at any rate, I reached out because last night, one of my Sidekicks was targeted and killed by Twice and Compress, as a message that they were going to topple my agency.”

“That’s horrible!” Midoriya cried, unease forgotten.

“Indeed,” the hero sighed. “A boy who called himself Rock. He could turn his hand into a laser cannon. A powerful Quirk, but ambushed by the two of them, he stood no chance. But that’s what brings me here.”

“You see, Endeavor decided that since we have records and files on the League of Villains, we could be of great use in taking the last four of them down once and for all,” Gran Torino explained.

Midoriya itched his nose in thought; it made sense, even if he didn’t particularly want to work with Endeavor. “So, this is like another team up?”

“Not...exactly.” Endeavor replied, looking off to the side.

---

“He bought you guys out?!” Uraraka yelled, once Midoriya had returned home. He was sitting on one of the couches in the common area, trying to process how he felt about the whole thing. Uraraka, Asui, Shinsou, and Hatsume surrounded him as the evening waned.

“Yup,” he replied, gloomily. “Starting tomorrow, I’m officially a Sidekick for the Number One Hero.”

“A lot of people would probably dream about that kind of opportunity, kero,” Asui pointed out, “Or at least would have back when that meant working for All Might.”

“I would have been one of those kids,” Izuku admitted. “But after all the crap I heard that guy say at Iida’s memorial and the things Todoroki said about him after getting arrested? Leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

“What are you going to do?” Shinsou asked. “I mean, you could quit.”

“Quitting a high-ranking agency like that would be career suicide for a first year student,” Hatsume scolded. “No one wants to hire a difficult Sidekick who refuses to work with the Top Hero.”

“She’s right,” Midoriya nodded. “And, there’s no saying the League wouldn’t come after me after all I’ve done against them. I might not like it, but I guess I’ll just have to suck it up and deal with it.”

“Maybe it will be good exposure for you?” Uraraka added. “Working with the number one hero would be a good way to get on the high rankings. Start your own agency someday.”

“Maybe,” he laughed, “for now, I think I’m going to focus on surviving the League and my new boss.”

“Not for nothing, Endeavor is strong.” Shinsou put his arms behind his head. “Picking a fight with him is pretty dumb for the League, what with the All for One guy behind bars. Taking him down isn’t exactly an easy feat.”

“But they did take down All Might,” Asui argued, finger to her chin. “They might have a plan for Endeavor, too.”
---
Kurogiri picked up the newspaper, sipping his brandy. “Looks like your plan worked, Shigaraki. Says here Endeavor has acquired all rights and caseloads for Nighteye’s former agency.”

“I still don’t see what putting them together does for us,” Twice griped, throwing darts at the pool table. He was trying to sink the eight ball and had been at it for about five hours. “Doesn’t ten strength plus eight strength still equal twenty?”

“First of all, your math is atrocious,” Compress sighed, “and we explained this. It’s easier to eliminate many threats if you can gather them in the same place.”

“Exactly.” Shigaraki agree, sitting across the bar from Kurogiri. “We know damn well Dabi and that Todoroki pretty boy were sure to blab about their daddy issues to Midoriya during their fights. Fighting that kid was the closest those nutjobs ever had to a therapist. He’s going to be pissed working for Endeavor.”

“Oh, I get it! We’ll kill Deku with an unhappy work environment!” Twice exclaimed, sticking the dart in the back of his hand and juggling the pool equipment. “He’ll have a heart attack at thirty-five from stress.”

“That’s...” Compress groaned, “That’s not we agreed upon at all!”

“No, step two comes much quicker than that,” Shigaraki laughed. “But admittedly, that one will be a little bit harder to manage.”

“Indeed,” Kurogiri agreed. “Twice, did you manage to smuggle it when you were infiltrating Overhaul’s operation?”

“Did I?” He asked himself, before laughing and taking a deep voice. “Of course I did! I’m a criminal genius.”

“You’re doing something right if you managed not to get captured yet,” Compress deadpanned.

Twice fetched a crate of something from the back room and pried the top open. It was a box of the Quirk erasure bullets, made from Eri herself.

“So, we’re just going to shoot them?” Twice asked. “Seems basic. Pretty sure it’s been done.”

“Endeavor can melt down any bullet before it gets near him,” Shigaraki replied, dismissively. “We’re going for something subtler. Something you wouldn’t understand.” He laughed. “Those heroes won’t know what hit them.”

Chapter Text

Midoriya Izuku gulped as he was lead down the sterile hallway. Sealed doors held various high-level Quirk related criminals and he recognized a few names of thugs he had put away when hunting Stain.

The officer unlocked the visiting chamber and paused, looking at the boy. “Don’t touch the glass. If he moves, we shoot him. We’ll be listening if things go bad.”

Izuku nodded and walked in.

Beyond a layer of bulletproof and Quirkproof glass, Todoroki Shouto sat, looking vaguely surprised. “Hello, Midoriya.”

“Hey, Todoroki,” he replied, sitting down. “Are you… are you holding up okay?”

“I mean, not really,” Todoroki shrugged. “But, my captor was right. I need to serve my time. See if I can’t make something of myself when I get out.”

“Your testimony really helped track down a lot of the League of Villains.”

“Good,” Todoroki’s eye twitched. “I can’t believe I listened to them. All just to get back at my father… I see you’ve been putting a lot of them away.”

“You’re not allowed to discuss active cases,” a voice buzzed in over an intercom.

“I have so many questions I want to ask you.” Todoroki sighed.

Midoriya knew damn well that he meant the sudden appearance of his Quirk and activity in the Hero scene. “One day I’ll tell you. But...I actually needed to ask about your father.”

“He bought out your agency, didn’t he?” Shouto seethed.

The green-haired hero nodded. “News travels fast. Been working for him for two weeks now.”

The former villain gave a rueful laugh. “Figures. The second he thinks someone could be of use to him, he’ll try and take over everything.”

“I’m not thrilled about it either,” Midoriya admitted. “What you did was terrible, but if it were up to me, he’d be in here too.”

“Don’t pity me.” Todoroki shook his head. “This was my decision, ill-informed as I had been. That’s probably not why you’re here.”

“Right again. I needed to ask… when you were with the League, did they tell you if they had any plans for Endeavor?” Midoriya asked.

Todoroki’s eyes narrowed. “He doesn’t know you’re here, does he?”

“Nope.” Deku sighed. “Sidekicks from Endeavor’s agency have been targeted, although after Rock they’ve only been sending low level thugs. No deaths yet but the attacks are escalating.”

“Unfortunately, they didn’t tell me much of anything the short time I was there.” Todoroki shrugged. “Dabi said he had something to talk to me about, eventually, but that was about it.”

“Damn,” Midoriya leaned back in his chair. “Well. Worth a shot.”

“Sorry I couldn’t be more help.” Todoroki replied, sounding earnest. “I will say this though: Shigaraki has had his eyes on you ever since Tokoyami was saved. So they might have a bigger plan in place.”

“You think they knew Endeavor would acquire the agency?”

He shrugged. “Can’t say for sure but it wouldn’t surprise me. Keep it in mind. You could be playing into their hand, so, make sure you have back up plans on your back up plans.”

“Time’s up.” The intercom buzzed.

As Midoriya stood up to leave he paused at the door. “Do you want me to come back and visit?”

Todoroki arched an eyebrow. “Why would you do that?”

Midoriya looked to his feet. “Someone told me you weren’t beyond saving. So I should do my part, I figure.”

Todoroki’s lip twitched into something of a smile. “So sappy. Feel free to come back whenever. It’s pretty dull here.”
---

“Freezerburn have anything useful for you?” Hatsume asked as he returned to his dorm room after work that evening. She was rewiring a prototype for an upgraded Kacchan glove when he came in, her face covered in a few more grease marks than usual.

“His only suggestion was that Endeavor buying the agency out was part of their plan,” Midoriya sighed, changing out of his Hero suit. “And even then, he wasn’t certain. But told me to just be prepared in case we play into their hands.”

“Work wasn’t any better,” he continued, grabbing some clothes before he could head down to the showers. “Another dead end. Just a bunch of common thugs that were paid in cash and have no answers on the League’s whereabouts. How’re things in Support?”

“I got two more contracts today!” She beamed, excitedly. “Death Arms totally wants me to put Boost Boots on his costume to help mobility and some guy called Repairman Man was all about my Tool Backpack System.”

Midoriya grinned at her. “Hatsume, that’s great! I’m so stoked for you!”

She hopped off his bed and hugged him. “Hey, I got the idea from your sweet vigilante pack.” Pulling away, she playfully ruffled his fluffy green hair.

He laughed. “Sometimes I miss the thing.”

“I noticed,” she deadpanned, “I see you take it out and maintain it from time to time.”

“It’s my baby!” Izuku replied, defensively, drawing a laugh from his girlfriend.

“It’s a good baby. You make good babies.” Mei beamed. “Now go shower, you smell like burnt gym socks. Then come back and give mama them booty meats.”

“I’m not sure whether you calling yourself mama or saying booty meats is the worst part of that sentence,” Izuku replied, turning crimson.

---

Shigaraki walked into their new location for his plan; an old manufacturer of mysterious goods. Giant mixing vats made the perfect containers for his plan.

“How’s it coming, Twice?” He asked.

“I mean, I can still clone these bullets since they’re mostly organic, but it’s a lot harder to get them as high quality as you want,” the unhinged villain gasped.

“Take your time. Endeavor is no closer to us than he was two weeks ago.”

Kurogiri watched, pouring himself a drink. He felt some pride in his young leader; he’d come a long way in a short amount of time.

“I wouldn't mind if he hurried it up,” Compress complained from across the bar. “It'd be nice to get started with my part of the plan.”

“Patience, Compress,” Shigaraki hummed, amused, “I’m not fan of the waiting game either, but we will have the world at our fingertips if this goes according to plan. Overhaul… he was an idiot. Never stopped thinking like a Yakuza.”

“Yeah, this is some diabolical shit,” Twice agreed, “We’re going to skliz up everyone’s biz.”

“Skliz the biz, Twice!” Shigaraki agreed.

Kurogiri paused. Maybe Shigaraki still had a ways to go.
---

Over the next few weeks Midoriya and Hatsume, in their down time, analyzed the pattern of random thug attacks that seemed to plague the Number One Here’s agency, and went to the dark web to see if they could find out anything.

“Endeavor seems to think if we fend off these small attacks for long enough, the League will get bored and make another big move like they did against me,” Midoriya sighed, as the two sat on their laptops one evening.

Hatsume paused. “I mean, I guess I can get that. They did eventually come at you full force, but… I mean no offense, you’re pretty small time at this point in your Hero career.”

“You wound me,” he replied, sarcastically. “But that’s what Gran Torino and I said. Gran Torino keeps telling him this is all diversionary, but without an idea of what they could be doing we’re stuck.”

“And the thugs and lowlifes you’re cracking like eggs don’t know anything, huh?” Hatsume rubbed her chin. “How are they getting recruited?”

“Small batches. No more than four perps at a time,” he sighed, rubbing his tired eyelids. “Every time the police try sending some undercover they end up dead. And they never go to the same place before getting warped around, so drone surveillance doesn’t do us any good.”

“Yeah, finding these recruitment opportunities are pretty easy. See?” Hatsume rotated her screen, showing some shady message board advertising, “heavy lifting,” for a reputable, “handy man.” “I gotta say though, I like that the guy with the hand on his face goes by Handyman on the Dark Web.”

“Right? I’d laugh if he wasn’t so aggravating.”

“This is why Heroes need Support Pros like me!” She beamed. “I have a plan. I’ve been working on a baby for our big project. I think with some tweaking, we could make it into something that could help.”

“Is that the surveillance project you were talking about?” Izuku tilted his head, already shifting into, “nerd,” mode at the prospect of using some cool new gear.

“Mhmm!” She began bouncing on the bed in excitement. “Can you come with me to the lab tomorrow and I’ll show you? I think it’s almost ready!”

“I’d love to!”

---

Hatsume lead Midoriya to the Support Lab by the hand excitedly in the morning; she wanted to show off the project before they both had to rush to class. Practically kicking the door down, she gestured her arms at… what looked like a boy with blue hair covering one eye, standing motionless.

Midoriya raised an eyebrow. “Is… is he working on the project with you?”

Hatsume fist-pumped. “That’s the reaction I was hoping for! Check it out.”

Hatsume pulled a remote from her desk and hitting a few buttons. The boy took a seat, unrolled a newspaper from his coat pocket, and began to read. Hatsume flicked another switch and he turned a page.

“Wait...” Midoriya asked, perplexed, “is he...?”

“IT’S AN ANDROID!” Hatsume squealed. She knocked the Android’s head, producing a satisfying sound of banging metal.

“How?!” Midoriya replied, “It’s so lifelike!”

“Well, what do you think I’ve been doing since you entered the Hero Course?” Hatsume snickered. “I’ve just been getting better, Deku Scrub. This baby can blend in to any social setting and conduct perfect surveillance at no risk. His eye is a high focus lense and his face can be remolded pretty quickly to change the model’s specs.”

It took a fair amount of leaning in before Izuku could see the skin looked just slightly inhuman, but at far enough range, no one would ever realize this wasn’t a person. “So what’s your plan?”

“Well, sending one of these to a recruitment meeting could get us some information...the problem is, these are ridiculously expensive to make,” Hatsume admitted. “There’s no way I can just lend this one out to you considering I need it for my final. We’d have to pitch the idea to Endeavor and get it funded.”

Midoriya’s face fell. “Well… I’ll run it by him. It might be our best chance to get some information.”
---

“Absolutely not,” Endeavor deadpanned, “I’ve never had to rely on a robot to my job for me and I’m not about to start now.”

That went about as well as I expected, Midoriya exhaled.

“You sure?” Gran Torino grunted from the back of the room. “That girl is the real deal. Her parents are the ones who made my suit and I’ve been using it for years. And this kid uses the things he invents with her almost as much as that bone-crunching Quirk of his.”

Endeavor glanced down at the photos of the near-human android. “...tell her to knock twenty percent off of the price.”

Midoriya shot a text over, to receive an immediate reply. “She uh...says the lowest she can go is ten percent.”

What the text actually said was, “TELL THAT ASSHOLE I’LL GO TEN PERCENT LOWER AND IF HE TRIES TO HAGGLE ME FURTHER THE LEAGUE OF VILLAINS WILL BE THE LEAST OF HIS PROBLEMS.” His girlfriend had no patience for hagglers.

“Fine,” Endeavor rolled his eyes. “Teenagers...”

“Why don’t you go help her build it?” Gran Torino suggested, sensing some tension in the room. “Time is always of the essence.”

Midoriya nodded and left the room, mouthing, “thank you,” to his mentor.
---

“...and if he tries to HORNSWOGGLE his way out OF MY EXCELLENT AND MODERATELY PRICED QUALITY GOODS, THIS SCREWDRIVER WILL GO RIGHT UP HIS ASS!” Hatsume seethed as she began building a second surveillance android. “RIGHT UP IT!”

Midoriya stifled a snicker. “It’s highway robbery, babe.”

Power Loader looked over from his own side project. “I’m going to pretend I’m not hearing any of this, because I’m not a fan of Endeavor, myself. However, I am going to just remind you that threatening clients is NOT advisable as a Support Professional.”

“Noted,” Hatsume growled, “that said, RIGHT UP IT!”

“So teach me your ways, oh Support Pro,” Midoriya laughed, hoping to distract her. “This thing is pretty cool.”

Hatsume’s mood flipped like a light switch as she strapped a pair of goggles on her boyfriend’s head and handed him a blowtorch. “Just like old times.”
---

“This is Roscoe!” Hatsume beamed, switching to her, “customer service,” persona.

Within a week, the two mechanically-inclined students completed another blue-haired, emo looking android. It stood in front of Endeavor’s office and as he examined it he could not hide how impressed he was.

“This may fool the League if we send it to a recruitment,” Endeavor admitted. “But it needs to make them think it has some sort of combat Quirk.”

Midoriya hit a button on a remote and the android’s arm shifted into a chainsaw. “I gave it chainsaw hands, because I… read about this one thug called Chainsaw Hands.”

“Brilliant!” Endeavor laughed, “nothing screams evil more than Chainsaw Hands!”

...really? Midoriya raised an eyebrow. “Our digging revealed that the next recruitment is Saturday night in a sewage treatment facility. We don’t know how they got access to it.”

“We’ll send the robot,” Endeavor agreed. “See if it can’t get a little more information about where they rush off to, or what they’re selling these thugs on.”

Hatsume’s eye twitched in annoyance. There was a difference between Androids and Robots that most people didn’t care to learn about, but she was still selling herself and knew to keep her thoughts to herself. “Great! We’ll operate Saturday and stream the feed to our own devices to record.”

“Good, for the charge of this robot, I would hope so,” Endeavor muttered, walking towards his office.

Midoriya had to stop his girlfriend from charging the Number One Hero with a screwdriver.
---

Saturday night came, and from the safety of his dorm, Midoriya and Hatsume piloted her android, Roscoe, to the designated sewage facility plant.

To their surprise, as opposed to the intel they had gathered, there was a large gathering of low lifes - including Chainsaw Hands, who must have been out on parole. “That’s a violation,” Midoriya muttered as he watched the feed on Hatsume’s monitor.

Inside the plant, on top of a large machine, a portal gate swirled open allowing Shigaraki Tomura to walk out. He surveyed the gathering of roughly thirty crooks.

“Welcome… I see the promise of a well-paying gig brought a lot of you out to play a little game, didn’t it?”

A few cheers rose from the crowd at the mention of money.

“Well, you all are going to be a part of history tonight,” Shigaraki sneered. “Your job is easy. Keep any and all Heroes out of this facility tonight, and not only will you get paid handsomely...but you’ll be one of the select few left in Japan to keep their Quirks.”

“Wait what?!” Hatsume and Midoriya yelled in unison.

“Now go!” Shigaraki scowled. “Protect the plant!”

As people began shuffling out, another warp gate opened above the water treatment tanks, a bright blue liquid pouring from the gate into the water.

“They’re… they’re tainting water?!” Midoriya gasped. “I… I need to call Endeavor!”

Through their screen, alarms began to blare out as the water began to get tainted. Roscoe was pushed through the door by other thugs, eager to begin their job and get some good cash.

Meanwhile, Midoriya had already gotten through to his boss.

“Remove Quirks? Shit… Alright, I’m heading down there to put a stop to this. Get your ass down there as soon as possible!” Endeavor cursed. “I’ll have Cellular put a signal through to all Sidekicks and Heroes.”

But unbeknownst to the agency, this was happening at more than one sewage treatment plants. Portal gates were opening in all water treatment facilities, dumping copious amounts of chemicals into all the water reserves across the country.

As this happened, Midoriya crashed into his closet, throwing on his Hero suit.

“I’m pulling Roscoe out of there,” Hatsume said, typing furiously, “and I’ll link up to your suit when you get there.”

“Thanks!” He cried, shoving his arms in his sleeve, “tell everyone not to drink the water!”

Within minutes, Midoriya was flying out of the building as fast as his feet could go, mind racing.

He knew that Overhaul’s whole plot was being able to remove Quirks from people using Eri.

But this...? This was on a scale he would not have fathomed. But if they succeeded, they would knock society back hundreds of years. Everyone, Quirkless.

Except for themselves.

Chapter Text

Endeavor arrived to the sewage center, flanked by a squadron of other Pros and Sidekicks. “Shut it down!” The Number One Hero barked from a rooftop.

The thugs Shigaraki had gathered were prepared as a group of Pros descended upon them, but it was clear they weren’t much of a match for the trained professionals.

But from inside the plant, Shigaraki was none too worried. “All according to plan,” he tapped a bluetooth device on his ear. “Now, Kurogiri.”

Dozens and dozens of small portals opened across the makeshift battlefield, spraying the chemicals haphazardly at face level, splashing hero and villain alike in the mouth, eyes and nose.

It wasn't long before panic rose up around the outside of the plant; everyone's Quirks sputtered out, save for mutative ones, and the fighting ceased.

Shigaraki called once more. “Idiots. Get me out of here, Kurogiri.”

Reneging on his promise of pay, a warp gate opened behind the villain leader as he stepped through.

But from across the street, Roscoe zoomed in through a clear window to see what was beyond the portal.

“Gotcha,” Hatsume whispered as she observed the fight.
---
Deku arrived at the scene not twenty minutes later to see a much different view.

Powers removed, most villains and heroes were now being sorted by local law enforcement. Some criminals fled in the panic. Midoriya found Endeavor himself on a rooftop nearby.

“What happened?” Izuku asked, dumbfounded to see a group of fifty or so grown adults in panic.

“It’s just like you said,” Endeavor sighed. “And they were prepared even for us showing up. All of them down there? They’ve lost their Quirks.”

Izuku scanned the area and shook. “Is… is it permanent?”

“I don’t know,” Endeavor replied, solemnly. “We need to notify the media and get a warning out not to consume the water until we can analyze the contents.”
---

To say the general populace was panicked in the coming week would be an understatement. Despite how fast the warnings went out, about 40% of Japan reported faulty Quirks. And while the effects only lasted a few days in the dosage released by the League of Villains, it was enough to fill the news media for the entire week.

The chemicals in the water could be boiled out but even skin contact with the contaminated water was enough to leave a person Quirkless for a few hours. Bathing itself was compromised and citizens were advised only to drink bottled water until the situation could be resolved, or to boil their water for at least ten minutes to avoid risk or contamination.

“It’s not a surefire way to eliminate Quirks,” Gran Torino had deduced at their Friday meeting, before patrols, “but it’s demoralizing. It makes people unruly, upset, and puts pressure on us as heroes to resolve the situation quickly. “

“Which we can’t do without leads,” Endeavor sighed. “All we have is the video footage from that robot.”

The footage from Roscoe, while helpful, was limited. It showed Tomura stepping through a warp gate, into what looked like a pharmaceutical plant. However, there were tons of those across Japan and narrowing the list down was nearly impossible.

Meanwhile, Midoriya himself was coming up empty handed scouring the dark web. No one wanted to work with League after they had went back on a group of villains, nor did they seem to be looking for any low-level work at all. He’d even been having Shinsou brainwash him to sleep, but Midoriya wasn’t having any dreams of prior One for All holders. Perhaps they would come to him when it was time.

At the end of the week, Shigaraki had sent a message out to various media outlets, which aired Monday morning. His message was clear:

“We have done everything we sought out to do, one way or another,” Shigaraki said, against a blank, unidentifiable backdrop. “We killed the Symbol of Peace. We have corrupted Hero society. And we will erase the Quirks of all those who oppose us.” He straightened himself up. “We will strike again, and this time, any contact with the contaminant will erase a Quirk permanently. Our demands are simple and have been sent to your Number One Hero. Tick, tock, Japan.”

It had been Monday morning, a week and a half after the water poisoning incident, when the statement was made. Endeavor’s agency was already buzzing with civilian complaints and demands that he give the League whatever they wanted by the time Midoriya walked into work that afternoon. He was immediately pulled into a briefing room by Gran Torino.

“Heads up kid, be prepared for the worst,” The old man grunted to him, closing the door behind him.

“I should have seen that coming,” Deku groaned, taking a seat at a desk. “Do you know what the demands are?”

“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have said that to you,” Gran Torino replied, sliding a stack of papers to the boy. “Tomura’s been smart about this. While the water’s clean now, he never said when he’d strike again. No one’s going to know when or if the water will become tainted with at any time.”

“More demoralization,” Midoriya frowned.

The old man nodded. “Bingo.”

Izuku read the papers; it was a transcript of the demand The League of Villains was making of Endeavor and his agency.

“...They want the three of us to come to them?” Midoriya read, shocked. “Come to them and what? Surrender? Fight?”

“We don’t know.” Gran Torino nodded in a grim fashion. “And I’m afraid we don’t have a choice. I just talked with the big guy himself… we’re going Friday.”

---

“Friday?” Uraraka repeated the next day, at lunch, when he told them. “Deku, you can’t!”

“Can’t other heroes come with you, kero?” Asui asked.

Midoriya shook his head. “It was clear. If anyone else comes, they’ll just poison everyone anyway. Though to be honest, considering it’s The League of Villains, I think they’ll just do it anyway, but it’s not my call. We’ll have people in the area but they have to be far enough away that the League won’t know they’re around.”

“Endeavor I get. Maybe even Gran Torino.” Shinsou asked. “But why you?”

Izuku bit his lip. The truth was, he’d been getting in the League’s way since before he had a Quirk. “Probably because I’ve taken down three of their guys in the last few months.”

Under the table, Hatsume held his hand and said nothing. But the way she was squeezing his fingers, almost painfully, told Midoriya everything about how she was feeling.

“I wish you didn’t have to, kero.” Asui poked at her food. “That seems way above your pay grade. And you’re still a student. Can’t the principal do anything about it?”

Midoriya shook his head again. “Endeavor threatened to get this place shut down if I didn’t comply. But besides… if the whole of Japan needs me to protect everyone’s Quirks, I don’t want to be the guy who chickened out. I don’t think I’d be able to live with myself.”

No one replied to this, but the looks on their faces all told Deku the same thing; they weren’t sure he’d live through the ordeal.
--
The week seemed to fly by with Friday looming over the Hero’s head.

As Thursday afternoon hit, he decided to make a pit stop before going to work. Grabbing a small soda can, he made his way to the graveyard he had not visited in some time and placed the can of the memorial for Bakugou Katsuki.

“Hey Kacchan.” Midoriya said, sitting in front of grave. “Been a minute, huh?”

He looked down at his own lap, gathering his thoughts. “You’d really hate what the League is doing. They’re trying to make everyone like… well, like how I was. Shitty, useless, quirkless Dekus.”

Midoriya let out a snort of rueful laughter. “I’m sure that would really get under your skin, the thought of so many people losing their Quirks.”

He looked up at the blue sky, knowing he couldn’t stay long, but there were words he had been avoiding saying for over a year now. And this might be his last chance.

“You know, Kacchan… I should be scared. But… I’m not.” Midoriya exhaled. It felt good to admit. “If anything, I’m worried for Hatsume and my friends. What will happen to them if I die? I was scared when Hatsume was taken. I was scared when I thought Muscular would catch Tsu. But… I’m not afraid to die, Kacchan. Because all this time, I feel like it should have been me that died instead of you.”

A few tears fell down Deku’s face. “All Might saved me from the guy who killed you. And then… he escaped when I was talking to All Might. And as much as I have had such a great life since then… It feels like I robbed you of yours. That if All Might had just let me die, you would have become a great Hero.”

Midoriya wiped his eyes. “You were always really strong Kacchan. So fate letting me live instead of you just seems really cruel. But… if I die tomorrow, I at least know I put away the guy who killed you, and I’ve at least accomplished something as a Hero and a vigilante.”
---
It was the weirdest night of Work Study Deku had ever had. With what was going on tomorrow, Endeavor had both Midoriya and Gran Torino organize all their items and dismissed them early. It wasn’t hard to figure out why; should they die tomorrow, the agency wanted it as easy possible for replacements to take over their work duties and distribute personal belongings to the next of kin. A pleasant thought, to be sure.

Back at the dorm everyone was really nice to him, but it all felt forced. Midoriya excused himself to his room.

He found Hatsume already there, hammering away on her laptop. “Deku Scrub! I found it!”

Her happy tone took Midoriya by surprise considering everyone else was walking on eggshells around him that day. “Found what?”

“I found where they are!”

Midoriya’s eyes widened. The demand for the League of Villains had Endeavor, Gran Torino, and Midoriya meeting in a nondescript alley. It was assumed they would be teleported away. “Where? How?!”

“I… I was up alllllll night looking up where each and every one of those warp gates appears!” Hatsume replied, letting loose what her boyfriend recognized as one of her sleep-deprivation giggles, “and I mapped ‘em all out and LOOK!”

She flipped her laptop around, showing the Hero student the pattern of warp gates opened across the country, and Midoriya realized that they made an almost perfect circle.

“See?!” Hatsume giggled again, “They all stem from one spot!” She flipped her laptop around and began to zoom the map in. “And in the middle isn't a pharmaceutical plant… it’s a candy manufacturer! They have lots of empty vats for the chemicals.”

“Makes sense,” Midoriya admitted. “We can make sure there’s back up in the area, and -”

“No!” Hatsume shook her head, furiously, taking Deku by surprise. She sprang up and grabbed his shoulders. “Endeavor can just go early! Take them by surprise. They could send every Hero, they could… they could do anything else!” Hatsume’s hands began shaking. “They could… just do something else.”

“We can’t not show and risk Japan getting poisoned,” Midoriya said. “And without proof that they’re in there, I don’t think they’ll launch an attack. I’ll let him know real quick.”

Midoriya placed a call to Endeavor, who told him pretty much the same; they would put some detail in the area just in case, but resources were already spread thin. As the teen hero hung up the phone, Hatsume grabbed his shoulders again.

“No, come on, think Deku Scrub, there has to be SOMETHING else we could do! We could… we could go now! Now, we don’t have enough manpower. We could… we could send the mech suit!”

“Hatsume...”

“No, Power Loader still doesn’t know we have it...”

“Mei.”

“We could send Roscoe! Just… just give me some time and I’ll get him set up to look like you - ah but I don’t have a green wig...”

“Mei...”

“We could… we could… we can’t.” Mei finally broke and let out a small sob, collapsing onto his shoulder. “Please… please don’t go!”

Midoriya wrapped his arms around her, gently. “...I have to.”

Mei sobbed harder, and Midoriya could feel tears soaking his neck. She hardly ever cried, much less in front of him, so he wasn’t totally sure what to do; he settled on rubbing her back. “I’ll be okay,” he assured her, though he knew he wasn’t too positive himself. “Nothing they’ve thrown at me has killed me yet.”

He was expecting her to make some joke back, but she just whispered, quietly, into his neck. “You better be. I love you. So much.”

“I know. I love you too.”
---
Friday afternoon was there before Midoriya knew it; his classes fading in a blur. As he sat in the back of Endeavor’s private transport, he placed his helmet on his head; he didn’t want Gran Torino or Endeavor seeing his face as he got himself psyched up.

He was surprised when the helmet crackled in his here. “Testing. You read me?”

“Mei?” He whispered.

“I know you said I didn’t have to spot you,” she replied, solemnly, “but I’d be a shitty partner if I didn’t.”

He smiled to himself a little. “Thanks, Mei.”

As they pulled up the alleyway, the three heroes just nodded at each other before leaving the car. They walked into the deserted space and looked around.

“Be prepared for anything,” Endeavor warned. “With that warp gate ability they could appear just about -HRK!”

As it turns out, “just about -HRK,” meant a portal would open up right below them, and they all fell through the pavement.

Getting his bearings as he tumbled, Midoriya activated his Perception in mid air. The three had been dropped right above a vat of the same blue chemical that the League had dumped into all the water treatment facility plants, and it was not a long drop - probably to guaranty they all lost their Quirks.

Gran Torino already had a foot in and Endeavor was waist deep. I can’t save them.

But not one to go down without a fight, Midoriya flipped himself horizontally and used his spider legs to grab the edges of the vat, and threw himself to the ground.

“Oh man, you always have to be a pain, don’t you kid?!”

Deku whipped around to see that the floor was filled with vats of the same chemical. Shigaraki was leaning over a viewing railway above.

Destroy the vats.

Not giving in to the trash talk, Midoriya whipped an incendiary grenade from his belt towards a vat, but a warp gate opened up, swallowing the grenade. Before the hero could even begin to wonder where it went, it exploded against his back, throwing him forward onto the ground.

That suuuuuuuuuuuuucked.

“Projectiles might be a bad idea,” Hatsume buzzed in his ear. “Kurogiri is somewhere in the room. Do you see him?”

Midoriya pulled himself up to his hands and knees and had to spring off the ground as a portal began to open below him. “Shit!”

Deku began flipping around the room, switching between Full Cowl and Perception to avoid the portals that were opening all around him as Kurogiri attempted to drop him into a vat. On the other side of the plant, Endeavor and Gran Torino collapsed outside of a vat as they finally climbed out, weak and drained of energy.

As Midoriya back flipped over another portal, he was blindsided as Twice popped out from between two vats. “SURPRISE!” The villain clocked Deku in the head, flipping the hero around as he landed on his back, hard. He was then swarmed by five different versions of Twice, raining stomps down onto all of his extremities and midsection.

Desperately, Midoriya rolled to his side and unleashed an explosion from his gloves, blasting away a good chunk of clones. Pushing himself away from Twice with his spider legs, he turned and used a Full Cowl Detroit Smash against a few more to thin the herd, but two more seemed to take his place. This is a lot harder than the Toga clones when he can just make more as fast as I smash them.

He jumped into the air and threw a cryogrenade, hoping to freeze the real Twice, but another figure sprang from between two vats, and caught his grenade. It was Compress, who managed to shrink the grenade mid-explosion.

“Oh, he’s a crafty one alright,” the villain sneered, now holding a jagged ice cube before tossing it aside. “Almost felt a bit nippy with that one.”

Think think think...

Compress lunged for him, flanked by an army of Twice clones. And Compress was quick, too. With almost no time to react, Midoriya enacted the riot shield he had installed on his left bracer, but Compress immediately shrunk it to nothing, allowing a Twice clone to crack him in the head with a crowbar while another kicked him viciously in the knees.

There’s too many!

Soon, his arms and legs were all being held by Twice copies, even more continuously smacking him with some object so he couldn’t gather One for All. Compress jumped away as a warp gate was opened over the boy, dumping Quirk-erasing chemicals all over him. It washed the clones away as well, as Deku collapsed against the ground, desperately rolling to his stomach.

He tried to summon his Full Cowl.

But it was gone.

“Deku Scrub...?” Hatsume asked, nervously, in his ear.

“It’s gone.” He whispered. “Sorry Mei...”

“It’s going to be okay,” she said back, quietly, in his headset.

It didn’t seem that way, as he was suddenly met with a boot in his side as Shigaraki kicked him in the ribs. “You’ve been a real pain in my ass, Midoriya Izuku.”

Not without a few tricks up his sleeves, Midoriya looked up and lunged one of his spider limbs towards the villain’s face, but a warp gate opened, the spider limb going through it and popping out of another portal, harmlessly flailing at the villain’s side. Shigaraki simply reached down and grabbed the mechanical limb, disintegrating it with his touch. “Tch. Always something with you.”

Midoriya looked past the leader of the League of Villains Leader to see copies of Twice were similarly holding down Endeavor and Gran Torino. If he wasn’t fearful for his life, he would marvel at how weird Endeavor looked without the fire that usually provided his facial hair.

“You know what’s fun about this, Midoriya?” Shigaraki laughed, as if this were all some sort of game. “I’ve been recording this whole thing. I’m almost glad you put up a little fight. The whole world will know how useless it is to resist us, you know.”

Another boot smashed Midoriya in the side and a few of his grenades scattered across the floor. Laying against the pavement, he realized that even if he died, he could maybe make things a little easier for whoever would take these guys next. He rolled over in mock pain and grabbed an explosive grenade, tucking it under him.

I’ve only got one shot at this.

As Shigaraki went to kick him again, Midoriya flung the grenade quickly and it exploded against one of the vats, liquid splashing everywhere. Twice, Compress, and Shigaraki all ran out of the way in time, ditching the heroes to get hit by a wave.

Kurogiri did not, as a wave of blue liquid hit him quickly. “What?! My portals! I can’t...?!”

As soon as the wave stopped, Twice began producing clones and rushed over to their comrades side when -

BANG!

The noise echoed across the halls as Midoriya looked up in shock. In the confusion, Gran Torino had pulled a revolver from one of his boots and shot Kurogiri in the head.

“You don’t think I came prepared, you punk?!” He seethed, shaking.

“...Kurogiri?” Shigaraki asked, trembling.

The villain seemed horrified to see perhaps the only mentor he’d had besides All for One bleeding against the pavement. Gran Torino tried to empty the revolver into the villain, but a copy of Twice took each bullet, until they were able to tackle the Quirkless old man.

Shigaraki kneeled next to Kurogiri’s body, shaking furiously. Midoriya could see a single tear roll down his cheek.

“COMPRESS!” The villain hissed. “Make the old man SUFFER!”

“No!” Deku shouted, but he was swarmed by an army of Twice as Compress smacked Gran Torino to the floor.

The elderly hero swung his came for the magician-themed criminal, but Compress grabbed the wooden stick and shrank it from existence. Compress then grabbed the old man's leg and shrunk that into oblivion, blood spurting from Gran Torino's joint socket.

“You rat bastard!” Endeavor yelled, enraged. He swing a massive arm, throwing clones of Twice off of him, and charged Compress, socking the villain across the jaw as he was caught by surprise.

Midoriya sprang forward as well, but eight clones of Twice grabbed his leg, twenty more flanking Endeavor.

“That's enough of you.” Shigaraki hissed. He walked over from Kurogiri's corpse and placed both hands on Endeavor's head, the hero screaming in pain as his flesh began to melt away. Deku looked away as Endeavor's head wilted away, leaving nothing more than the bloody stump of his neck.

“You dishonor your family you snot-faced-” Gran Torino growled, but that was as far as he got.

Shigaraki grabbed his arm, disintegrating it as the old man howled in pain.

“Nice boss!” The various Twices giggled. “So brutal! We gonna ice the kid now, or finish the old man first?”

Shigaraki looked between the two. “Take the kid’s helmet off.”

Twice - or, one of them - giggled gleefully as he yanked the helmet off Deku’s head, making the boy panic.

I'm dead. Midoriya gulped. At least I had a good run.

And in any other circumstance, he very well could.

But you see, Hatsume Mei was a lot of things. She was not, however, a good listener.

As it turns out, she had been absolutely right about the location and had spent her day making sure something was nearby.

A nearby window shattered and a flash grenade was shot into the room, blinding everyone in sight. The next thing Deku knew, there was the sound of explosions everywhere, and he was caught in one, knocking him around and putting him in a daze. He was grabbed by something and it felt like he was being stuffed inside a coffin that began to move. Shouts could be heard from all over, but he couldn’t make heads or tails of it after the blinding light and the deafening explosions.

The sounds faded as he was thrown around his small confinement, leaving only the sounds of clanking metal and the rushing of wind. He lost consciousness as the beating he had taken caught up to him.
---

He blinked a few times, his vision finally returning, and he realized what he was in.

It was the mech suit.

“...what?” He asked into the alternate helmet.

No one answered him, but the suit was being controlled remotely, and he realized it was on UA’s campus now.

As he regained his bearings, he realized he was heading right for building 1-A’s dorm just in time for the suit to burst through the door, revealing the faces of the his anxious classmates. The suit opened, and the woozy Midoriya toppled to the ground, helmet bouncing off along the carpet as he collapsed.

“What...?” He repeated, a bit louder, as he pulled himself up to his knees.

Immediately, he saw Hatsume in the crowd of students, and she dropped to her knees, controller for the mech suit thudding softly against the carpet. She wrapped her arms around him and held tightly. “I’m sorry,” she whispered into his ear, “I know you told me not to. I’m sorry. I couldn’t let you die.” She shook as she repeated, “I couldn’t let you die.”

Realizing what she had done, he gently returned the embrace. “Thank you, Hatsume.”

“But Midoriya...”

Izuku looked up to see Tokoyami looking at him, worried. “Your Quirk...the liquid...”

Deku looked down at his hands as he and Hatsume released each other.

He thought of the faucet inside of him, the way he learned to summon the power from Aizawa’s teachings.

But the faucet would not turn on; the well had dried. Deku looked up at the faces of his friends and classmates.

“It’s gone.”

Chapter Text

“Well, the good news is, I don’t think the effect is permanent,” Recovery Girl advised as she finished examining Midoriya. “You’ll get that Quirk back. But the bad news is that it could take a few months to a year for the effect to wear off.”

It had been a rather insane twenty-four hours since Midoriya escaped the jaws of death; first, it came out to class 1-A that he had been the mech suit vigilante that took down Stain. Thankfully, most of them were cool about it, though that was partially was due to the scolding and dressing down they received from Aizawa almost immediately after Deku had arrived. But it only got more frantic as Midoriya had a rather tearful phone call with his mother and was ushered into Recovery Girl’s office for an overnight examination; after all, he was the first person who was exposed to the stronger dosage of the Quirk erasure chemical.

“Months?!” Deku echoed, burying his face in his palms.

“You’re lucky none of it was ingested, or it would be permanent,” Recovery Girl scowled. “You should count your blessings you can still even be a Hero some day.”

Climbing down from the table, he was released back to the dorms, which was about the last place he wanted to be.

While he was cooped up in the nurse’s care, he had watched the news coverage; watching repeatedly as the league kicked his ass, killed Endeavor, and maimed Gran Torino. In the confusion of the mech suit breaking into the plant to retrieve Deku, Twice, Compress, and Shigaraki escaped with what was left of Gran Torino.

On paper, Kurogiri’s death was a big victory. But at the cost of the Number One Hero, the elderly hero being Quirkless and held captive, and the erasure of Midoriya’s Quirk and barely escaping with his life, it was presented as a catastrophic defeat. Compounded further by the fact that the League evaded capture, and with Twice, they could still produce more Quirk-erasure chemicals.

Various newscasters and panelists argued this failure back and forth, arguing the appearance of a vigilante, the failure of the heroes to stop or prevent the sneak attack, the fact that Gran Torino pulled a gun to stop Kurogiri... all of it.

But the worst?

“And the kid turns tail and runs! What kind of hero is that?! We don’t need any cowards as Licensed Pro Heroes” One particular panelist growled.

“You can’t seriously mean that! He’s fifteen!!” A female panelist argued. “And he didn’t exactly look in control of that robot. What was he supposed to do, die with the other two?”

“He knew what he was signing up for!!!”

It was just one man on the TV but Deku wondered how many other people felt that way.

He wondered if he himself felt that way. And as he stood outside the Heights Alliance Building for class 1-A, he found himself hesitating to go in. How was he supposed to face his friends after this?

“Deku Scrub?”

Midoriya jumped, spinning around to see Hatsume, standing behind him with a worried look on her face.

“What are you doing out here?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but a small, choking noise came out instead. Wordlessly, he just looked to his feet.

Hatsume frowned. “Do you want to sneak in like I usually do?”

He nodded and she lead him around the rear of the building. Using her Boost Boots, they sprang up to his balcony and entered that way.

“Thanks,” Deku muttered, walking over and sitting on his bed.

Hatsume scratched the back of her head. “Do you want to talk about it? I’m not as good with the emotional pillar stuff as Tsuyu, but...”

He looked up at her, eyes strained with conflicting emotions. “Can... can I just lay with you for a minute?” Midoriya asked, looking up at her, desperation in his eyes.

She nodded, sat down with him, and they did just that for awhile. Perhaps it was needed; it had been a long time since Midoriya Izuku felt such shame.

Once in his life, he made a decision when walking home. After a fight with Bakugou, he turned left where he normally would turn right on his way home. This small decision prevented him from finding Kacchan under attack from a Sludge Villain. Midoriya never knew if this decision would have saved his friend’s life, but he felt like he should have been there.

Later still, Midoriya watched from a distance as All Might fought All for One amidst a sea of chaos. He spectated, feeling unable to help his idol. In his inaction, Todoroki killed All Might, throwing his life into chaos, setting a chain of events in motion that would give Deku the power of One for All.

But this time, Midoriya had acted. He fought, desperately, to stop the League of Villains, to stop their plan. Yet, it didn’t matter. Through his action, he still failed to stop them, and it cost the life of Endeavor and possibly Gran Torino.

As he laid, curled up against Hatsume, Midoriya felt only regret.

Am I powerless? Action or inaction... can I ever really save anyone?

Thoughts began creeping into his head, the sort of thoughts he only had the night of Bakugou’s death.

But fate has a funny way of reminding us what’s important. It was at that moment, the door to Midoriya’s closet gave way; the mech suit had been haphazardly stuffed in there by Hatsume as Deku was taken to Recovery Girl’s office. As the suit crashed to the floor, the helmet rolled off along the carpet, and Hatsume sprang to her feet.

“Ah damn it, I thought I stuffed that in there good...” She grumbled, “We got too many babies in your closet, I’ll need to take some to my dorm...”

But as she began picking up and making sure none of the, “babies,” were damaged, Midoriya swung his legs over the side of his bed and picked up the helmet. Running his fingers over the green metal and black visor, he looked up to see his girlfriend tinkering with one of their old capture bolas, from their first day of class.

I’m selling myself short, aren’t I?

All Might’s words rang in his head: You can’t always save everyone in this field.

But you always have to try. He finished, mentally.

But he had saved Hatsume. He had saved Tokoyami. He had put away villains before even becoming a licensed hero, and afterwards, put half of the League of Villains behind bars.

“I don’t need a Quirk to stop Shigaraki.” He laughed, softly.

Hatsume jumped. “Deku Scrub?”

He stood up, a small grin crossing his face. “Hatsume... I never needed a Quirk!”

She smiled back at him. “I mean, duh. Your sexiest muscle was always that big ole brain, you dork.”

Midoriya stood up, shaking with excitement. “Mei, we need to strike now!”

She dropped the bola she was holding, it wrapped around her ankle before she was able to catch it and disable it. “Now?! Izuku, you just got out of the the recovery room, are you...”

“I’m positive!” Midoriya replied, bouncing with inspiration, “Without Kurogiri, they have no way of teleporting their Quirk Erasure chemical. There’s only one place where they could hope to release it and get the optimal amount of people.” He poked his forehead a few times. “The one place where the most people get their supply of water.”

She blinked, “Lake Biwa?”

“Right!” He cried, hoisting up the mech suit.

“I mean yeah, but Deku Scrub, do you have a plan?” Hatsume asked, bewildered.

Deku’s grin turned wild. “Half of one. We have to strike now while they’re licking their wounds. They might have gotten the best of us, but they lost a lot too. Come on, I have to ask a few people...”
---
“I know... I know this is stupid,” Midoriya admitted, after explaining his plan. “But you guys... I trust you. And I know we can do this. I know I don’t have any right to ask you guys this. None of you owe me anything... but, will you help me finish this?”

He looked up at the small group he had assembled; Shinsou, Tokoyami, Asui, Uraraka, Yaoyorozu, and Kirishima.

While he was expecting them to need to think about it, he was surprised when almost immediately, Asui just nodded. “Duh. Of course we’ll help you, kero.” Uraraka nodded vigorously.

Shinsou nodded. “You’re the reason I’m here in the first place. I don’t like it but I’d rather not watch you march off to your death.”

“I’m all about this manly stuff my bro!” Kirishima beamed.

Tokoyami just nodded. “You can count on me and Dark Shadow.”

Momo looked unconvinced. “And you’re... sure this will work?”

Midoriya nodded. “Positive. But I need your help. All of you.”

She sighed. “Okay. I’m with you. If only because I trust you and all the help you’ve given me so far.”

Midoriya looked over to see Hatsume grinning back at him and a grin spread over his face too.

“Okay, well... let’s do this!”
---
Lake Biwa was a train ride away but the plan started with subduing Twice. When caught off guard, he was easy to take down, just like Midoriya and Asui did at the hospital takedown. But when awake, he was a one-man army, and the primary reason the heroes couldn’t fight back.

Moreover, he was chatty.

With now big the lake was, Tokoyami sent Dark Shadow out amongst the trees to see where the Twice clones were the most frequent.

Dark Shadow returned a few minutes later, having stretched out quite far from Tokoyami. “They’re over there. They seem to be guarding a cave. ”

“Okay,” Midoriya nodded from inside his mech suit. “Tokoyami will keep guard here, making sure no one gets away.” He turned to Yaoyorozu and Shinsou. “You guys know what do do, right?”

The two nodded.

The group charged through the trees, Yaoyorozu shoveling food in her mouth for preparation.

Reaching a small clearing, she began her creation, while Shinsou took a deep breath. He was the only one NOT in Hero costume, but somewhat disguised.

He did have his voice modifier on.

“You sure about this?” He asked Midoriya. “I’ve never put this many under before.”

Midoriya nodded and lifted his helmet to show Shinsou a genuine smile. “You’ve worked so hard since joining the course. You’ve got this.”

He put his helmet on and Hatsume chirped in his ear, “nice touch with the cheesy smile, Deku Scrub.”

Shinsou crept up through some bushes, adjusting his voice modifier to as close as Shigaraki’s voice as he could get. “TWICE’S! ROLL CALL!”

The Twices all turned around and shouted nonsensical things like, “present,” “here, boss,” “whangdoodle,” “big preesh, boss,” “existentialism,” and one cry of, “are any of us really here?”

Blood trickling from his nostril, Shinsou took control of them all, all of them limply standing there with their arms at their sides.

‘Wh... which one of you is the original?” Shinsou asked, mentally strained.

The clones all turned and pointed at one of the versions of Twice, who had his hand raised.

“You, come with me.” Shinsou directed, leading the original twice back into a clearing, where Yaoyorozu had conjured up another giant swimming pool of glue.

“Is it cheap to use the same strategy you guys used at the Licensing exam?” Uraraka asked Midoriya while this was happening.

He gave her a bewildered look. “It’s a great strategy that worked on the Number Ten Ranked Pro Hero, why would we not use it again?”

“I don’t know, it just feels repetitive,” Uravity shrugged. “Maybe almost lazy to use the same tactic twice.”

“I mean I could have asked Mineta with his Sticky Balls, but I don’t really know the guy, whereas this has been a proven success strategy.” Midoriya argued. “Why would I only use a plan that worked great once? That’s not very practical.”

“I suppose you’re right.” She conceded.

“Now jump in,” Shinsou directed the original.

Twice did, wedging himself in the glue, before snapping out of if. “Hey, what the redonk is this?!”

He tried to clone himself, but there was no where for the copies to go as he struggled impotently. “Aw damn it.”

“Can you get the clones in there too?” Midoriya asked.

Shinsou nodded. “I’ll... I’ll try.”

Staggering back over to the other copies of Twice, Shinsou commanded the rest to jump into the glue as well. Most did and any who bumped into something were clobbered by Kirishima before they could do any damage.

Once the area was Twice-free, Shinsou collapsed to all fours. “Don’t ever make me do that again. Too many.”

“You did great though,” Midoriya assured him. “You should be all set - HOLY CRAP!”

From a tree, Compress sprang down and shrunk Shinsou, leaping onto the branch of another tree and stuffing the boy into a marble of some kind. Everyone took fighting stances.

“Apparently they don’t teach common sense at Hero School,” compress quipped, dryly. “The four of you are definitely biting off more than you can chew.”

“Well, you have someone that I’d rather not see die,” Midoriya scowled, aiming at Compress.

Compress gave a condescending laugh. “Then you’ll all die together. How noble.”

Midoriya shot a cryo grenade into the branches, which Compress leaped over, diving for the teens.

This was what Izuku was banking on; Compress had fallen into Step Two of the plan perfectly. Because even after nabbing Shinsou, there were five students still there. It just happened that Asui had been camouflaging herself since they arrived at the Lake.

Froppy too the opportunity to wrap her tongue around Compress’ ankle and slam him to the ground. Wind knocked out of the villain, Uravity ran up and tagged his head, and he began floating helplessly into the air.

“Wait, what?!” Compress cried, dropping all of the showmanship as he began to desperately try and cling for the ground, the marble holding Shinsou falling from his pocket. Kirishima opened it, and Shinsou collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.

“I hate all of you!” Shinsou panted, clasping his chest. Kirishima pat him on the back reassuringly.

“Not as fun when someone gets the drop on you, huh?” Midoriya quipped. “You ready, Red Riot?”

“I’M ALWAYS READY, BRO!”

Deku turned to Uravity when Compress was a good thirty feet in the air. “Drop him.”

She nodded and did so, dropping Compress into a giant, Fully Hardened Haymaker from the red-haired hero, knocking him out.

“Blop,” Midoriya said, adding his own sound effect as he covered Compress with a glue grenade. “Not going to Houdini your way out of this one.”

The group turned towards the cave that was being guarded and approached with caution. Near the entrance they noticed odd, blue stains on the ground. A scan from his helmet told Midoriya it was the same toxin he had been infected with.

“I’ll go in first,” he turned, advising his team. “I’ve already been rendered Quirkless. Stay back a safe distance, okay?”

His friends nodded, wordlessly.

Midoriya Izuku stepped into the mouth of the dark cave, igniting a small flame from his flamethrower to light the way.

“Deku I’m detecting seismic movement, look-” Hatsume began, but her voice was overtaken as the cave shook, sending rocks and debris down upon Midoriya. He rushed forward as jagged rubbled struck against the suit, thankful that the impact dampeners had been top notch. He dove forward as the cave collapsed around him. While he escaped, a chunk of sediment struck his left Boost Boot, knocking it out of alignment.

This was about where the plan ended.

“Midoriya!” Froppy’s voice yelled the other side of the cave.

“I’m alright!” He yelled back, assuring them. “Can you break through?”

“BREAKING THROUGH IS WHAT I BORN TO DO, DEKU-BRO!” Kirishima shouted. “I’LL DIG YOU OUT IN NO TIME!”

He gets real hype for missions.

Deku could hear the furious pounding of Red Riot against the cave. He backed away, hoping the rest of the tunnel had stabilized.

“Hatsume, can you hear me?” He asked to his helmet, but only static answered him. “Too far in the cave I guess...”

“Kid...”

Deku whipped around as a haggard, familiar voice called to him in the darkness. “Gran Torino?”

Switching to his night vision, he found the old man attached via chain to the fall, his missing arm and leg patched up haphazardly, already showing signs of infection. He coughed as Midoriya approached him. “What are you doing here?”

“I... I couldn’t leave you behind,” Midoriya replied.

Gran Torino groaned in pain. “Quirk or not, you’re just like Toshinori, you know that? Get out of here.”

“IT’S TOO LATE!”

From the darkness behind Deku, Shigaraki sprang forth and grabbed Midoriya’s back and left arm, already beginning to break down the mech suit. Reflexes not failing him, Midoriya spun around and swung for the villain, extending his suit’s spikes in mid-swing. Shigarki jumped away but was caught by the spikes, yelling in pain as his chest was cut.

He wasn’t done though, screaming in pain and fury, he dashed forward, and Deku responded with a burst from the flamethrower on his right arm palm, scorching the villain. But fueled by adrenaline and hatred for the boy, Shigaraki did not stop , grabbing the suit around the waist, already breaking down its systems. Desperation kicking in, Midoriya elbowed Shigaraki in the back of the neck, grabbed under the villain’s arm, and with a twist of his hip, tossed the villain leader into the wall of the cave.

Deku stepped forward but Shigaraki already had his hand next to Gran Torino. “Don’t come any closer!” Shigaraki hissed.

“You think I want to live like this?” Gran Torino scoffed. “Don’t worry about me kid, take him out.”

“Let’s just step away from Gran Torino,” Deku commanded, right arm trained on Shigaraki, ready to shoot a glue grenade and finish the matter. I just need to make sure his hands are restrained.

“Get out of the suit!” Shigaraki screamed, standing up slowly with one hand on Gran Torino’s face. His index finger being lifted from the old man’s cheek was the only thing keeping the elderly hero alive. “Get out of the suit or he dies.”

“That’s a pretty bad move,” Deku replied. “You kill him, there’s nothing stopped me from sticking you to this wall and destroying whatever you have in this cave.” He gestured his head back further down the tunnel. “This is where you have it all, don’t you?”

“Shut up!”

“It’s over, Shigaraki.” Midoriya continued, “Even if you manage to kill me - and you won’t - I have a group of heroes outside, and more on the way.”

“No!” Shigaraki trembled. “YOU CHEATED!”

“What, is this a fucking game to you?” Deku seethed. “You took friends from me! You took my hero from me, from everyone! Your sick piece of shit lackeys killed so many! For what?! A game?! Money?! Some bullshit power struggle?!”

“Your hero society is disgusting!” Shigaraki yelled. “There’s no place for people with Quirks like mine, SO I WILL MAKE ONE! I WILL BE THE ONLY ONE WITH A QUIRK!” He inched his finger closer to the old man. “Now MOVE!”

“Fine,” Deku spat, lifting both hands in the air and taking a step backwards. “I’ll move and take the suit off.”

“Kid, he’ll just kill us both!” Gran Torino yelled.

But Midoriya stepped backwards and hit a release, opening the suit. With the pieces missing from Shigaraki’s attack, it collapsed with a loud clang that echoed against the cave floor, all except his helmet.

Shigaraki pounced, lunging for the boy.

But in the dark, he couldn’t see Deku was wearing a backpack of some kind. Hitting the switch on his straps, his spider legs deployed and the telescopic gauntlets covered his arms. His spider legs lunged forward with the command of the neural link in his helmet and grabbed the villain by the wrists.

“What?!” Shigaraki hissed. But that’s about as far as he got as an armored fist clobbered against his jaw.

With the last member of the League of Villain’s hands restrained by his own mechanical limbs, Deku ripped the hand-mask from Shigaraki’s face and threw it to the side. “Father!” Shigaraki yelled.

He screamed in anguish as Midoriya torched it with his flamethrower.

“You want to know something, Shigaraki?” Deku laughed as the villain struggled helplessly. “I might be the hero of your little game... but I’m really scary when I’m mad.”

Deku unleashed the tasers from his gauntlets and zapped the villain, far longer than needed as Shigaraki twitched violently in his grasp. When he finally stopped, he stuck one fist under the villain’s chin.

“Burn.”

A burst of flame torched the villains face as he howled in pain.

Finishing the beatdown, Midoriya used his spider-legs to judo toss Shigaraki onto the cave floor, and covered him in a barrage of glue grenades. “You’re done.”
---
It was, by and far, the most positive press day for the Hero Society in Japan in recent history. With the remaining members of the League of Villains apprehended, the members of class 1-A were heralded for their actions that day.

Aizawa was not thrilled with their actions, though they technically broke no laws. The worst he could do was give them two weeks of cleaning duty. But considering no one lost their Quirks (permanently) they didn’t mind.

All of the Quirk erasure toxin was apprehended and destroyed within hours.

And of course, it’s not like there wasn’t still crime in the world. The world would always need Heroes and there was still much for Midoriya and class 1-A to learn to become better Heroes.

But that night? That night they partied, for they had done the impossible.

Afterwards, Midoriya collapsed onto his bed and looked at Hatsume lying next to him.

“So, I’d say we succeeded.” He told her.

“Succeeded with what?” Hatsume laughed, rolling towards him and kissing his cheek. “Being kick ass inventors?”

“Well, that too,” he laughed. “But remember when we first teamed up? And you said you’d make me the greatest Quirkless Hero of all time? I think we probably achieved it.”

Hatsume pounced on him and ruffled his hair. “Obviously. I don’t think anyone will ever forget the crap you pulled off today.”

Chapter Text

Midoriya smiled as he looked at the newspaper clipping that had been hung on his wall for the last two and a half years; the day he and his friends took down Shigaraki. As his fingers caressed the frame, he felt the bittersweetness of the situation hit him.

It had been a dream to go to UA, ever since he was a little boy watching All Might videos on the computer. “Who would have thought these would be the best three years of my life?”

It was the last thing to pack up and, as he did so, he let out a forlorn sigh. He’d spent the last three years of his life in Heights Alliance and it wasn’t easy to leave it. “Guess I can’t get stagnant now.”

A knock came on his door and he heard a familiar voice croak, “Kero, come on Midoriya! You’re going to be late for the graduation ceremony!”

“Alright, coming Tsu!”

He left his now empty dorm, closing the door behind him for the final time.
---

Graduation ceremonies, Deku decided, were not his favorite thing in the world. Still, it was nice to see how happy his mom was as he was handed his diploma and to see the smiling faces of his classmates.

Even Gran Torino showed up, although he claimed it was only there so Hatsume could perform maintenance on his mechanical arm and leg.

As he and Hatsume walked to meet their friends for dinner after, she was telling him all about the appointment.

“So he said, ‘your work is even better than your parents!’” She told him, in a mock-old-man voice, “So I told him that he could just be my new cyber grandpa, and he didn’t seem to like it, but I think I’m winning him over!” Midoriya laughed as she continued, “I mean, who doesn’t want a cyber grandpa! Normal grandpas just tell stories and have the weird smell, but cyber grandpa can do those things with less hip pain!”

Midoriya snickered. “Maybe that can be your next project when you pick a company to work for.”

Hatsume froze up and stopped walking. Izuku paused and turned back to her. She wasn’t someone who second guessed herself, but at his words, she looked downright nervous. “I-I actually wanted to talk to you about that.”

“Yeah? Did you pick one?” He asked, curiously.

Hatsume took several deep breaths. “Will you... will you...”

She abruptly dropped to one knee, freaking him out, and screamed, “WILL YOU OPEN A COMPANY WITH ME?!”

“Hatsume, don’t do that, I thought you were proposing to me!” Midoriya leaned forward, clutching his chest. “It’s not very heroic to keel over and die from a heart attack.”

Hatsume stood up and began fidgeting with her gloves. “But this is so much more than marriage, Midoriya! This is baby making! Baby making for the entire world!”

Izuku smirked, blushing a bit as her yelling about baby-making began to attract attention from random passerby. Some things never changed. “What brings this about, anyway?”

“I’m tired of contracting out all our ideas for other people to make money off of them,” Hatsume replied. “We both make decent money, but people are living it up on selling our babies. We own the rights to these products now. I want to be the premiere support pro. But...”

“But...?”

Hatsume turned red, and looked away. “Whenever I picture myself on top of the world, I can’t see myself doing it without you.”

“Mei...”

“And I know you want to be a Tracking Hero!” She blurted out, “You’re so good with Detective Work! We can have two branches of the company!”

“Mei.”

“Lot’s of Support Labs partner with Pro Heroes and their agencies, it will be just like that.”

“I’ll do it.”

“And that way you can do both Hero and Support work like you’ve been saying for...” Hatsume paused, only just now hearing what he said. “You what?”

“Let’s do it!” Deku beamed. “Let’s make our own agency!”

He had to catch himself as Hatsume lunged at him - thankfully in their second year he had grown taller than her - as she wrapped her arms around his neck, the two spinning around from her momentum. “YES! YES! YES! YES! We’re going to make so much stinkin’ money!”

Midoriya laughed again as he returned her embrace. “Alright, alright. Come on, moneybags, we’re late! We can tell all of our friends.”
---

It took a year to get off the ground, but finally, Hatsudoriya Industries got off the ground. Even with the contracts they had, it was hard to procure the money for a startup and advertising. But, thankfully, the two had strong reputations in their fields, and hiring the Hero who stopped the League of Villains to track down hard-to-reach criminals was something desperate people were willing to try.

As business picked up, they were able to afford a small house with their best friends, Uraraka and Asui.

Coincidentally, Uraraka’s power made moving really easy.

“Honestly, living with three women,” Inko muttered as Deku and Hatsume were picking up the last of his things from his childhood apartment. “What will people think?”

“I’m with Hatsume, mom,” he laughed. “Don’t be weird.”

She huffed. “I know, I know... Well. You know I’m proud of you, regardless.”

He turned red. “Thanks, mom.”

As she shuffled from the room, Hatsume raised her eyebrows, and said in a low voice, “So you haven’t told her about the time the four of us got drunk after finals and -”

Midoriya now turned crimson and hissed, “Why would I tell her that?! Don’t talk about that here.”

Hatsume cackled. “You’re lucky I’m not a villain, Deku Scrub. I always know how to get under your skin.”
---

A few years after they moved in with their friends, business was picking up. Hatsume now had hired a few assistants to help fulfill the many orders and repair jobs they were getting - including Yukio, who actually managed to not be completely useless at Support after his first year. Midoriya was also getting some expanding business and decided it was time to hire a few Sidekicks as well.

“Are you sure about hiring me, Midoriya?” His new Sidekick asked, nervously. “I only just recently got my License. I can’t believe they even let me.”

Izuku grinned. “Of course, Todoroki. You want to make up for what you did, right?”

Todoroki Shoto nodded. “More than anything.”

“Well. Redemption starts today.”
---
Yes, life turned out pretty good. And as Midoriya returned to his agency after a long night of patrol, he wondered if things were finally stabilizing in his life. “Just need to change out of this suit and get back home.”

He was surprised to find Hatsume in his office, with a weird smile on her face. “Hey Deku Scrub! Good patrol?”

“Eh, it was kind of slow. What’s up? Usually you’re either at home by now or I have to drag you out of the lab,” he joked.

Hatsume walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She seemed excited, though not in her usual energetic way. “We made a baby.”

“Oh, did our new project work out?” Deku asked, pulling away excitedly. “I was worried when it kept exploding in testing and-”

Hatsume smiled and put a finger against his mouth. “Not that kind of baby.” She grabbed his hand and gently placed it on her stomach.

“Oh.” Midoriya Izuku replied, quietly. Then it hit him, his eyes widening in realization. “OH!”