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Chapter Text

Nothing's changed.

Even when he was the only one to move, he was still useless. Even if he was the only one to keep hope, he was wrong. Even if he tried time and time again to appease him, he got burned. Even if he admired his idol since the dawn of time, it meant nothing. Time and time again, he tried, and time and time again the world told him no. You can't be a hero without a quirk. That was it. He finally heard the truth. He finally saw that all his dreams were merely delusions. How pathetic…

Prove them wrong.

The thought hangs in the air for a moment. Prove them wrong , it repeats. Ever since his second encounter with Kacchan, his thoughts had been clouded. Swarming. Why were they resurfacing now. Prove them wrong . How!? Everyone told him he couldn't be a hero, over and over. His mother, though she wouldn't admit it. Kacchan, who always meant it. All Might himself had told him he was in no place to be a hero. ...but didn't he charge in when no one else would? Didn't he save Kacchan? Prove them wrong.

...screw it, the Entrance Exam was ten months away.

He failed.

He took the exam and failed. He went in without a quirk and failed. He saved a girl from what looked like certain death and he failed. He got rescue points and he. Still. Failed. That was the most tearing part. If he had gotten no points, none at all, it would have proven the world right. He was useless, chasing a fruitless dream and wasting everyone's time. But that's not what happened. Instead, he got points. He had merit… but it wasn't enough. Even after giving himself 10 months of hell, even after saving that girl and getting the letter, it wasn't enough. HE wasn't enough.

...but could he be?

He doesn't know. He's had nearly a decade to figure out how to work past his handicap, and he only spent the last 10 months of that remembering that strength was important, too. And what did that get him? Zero villain points, 27 rescue points. He spent so much time fixating on a hopeless dream, he never stopped to think about what he could do instead to achieve it. Or what he could do instead of it.

He doesn't like how he's not immediately rejecting of that last thought.

By the time his first day in General Studies rolls around, Izuku has made peace with the fact that he probably wouldn't be a hero.

It was a hard fact of life to come to. He cried about it for several nights, but by the morning of his first day, his tears are spent. He's been released from his personal attachments, finally accepting the truth laid bare before him. Mom still frets over him, but he manages to ease her worry. The ease of it came from the experience he had doing it all those years. He always managed to put others before himself.

...and while his dream was snuffed, perhaps if he put the effort into it…

He shakes his head out of those thoughts, trying to focus on Miss Midnight's first lesson. After getting through orientation (Principal Nezu!) and getting over the fact that his teacher was the 18+ Only Heroine (so many Pros at U.A.!), he found himself resigned to his fate yet again. He should get comfortable here. It was likely his place for the next three years. Maybe he could start looking into different career paths. That was his best bet.

...one of his classmates had a mind control quirk. So cool .

The day stops being cool when Izuku tries heading home for the day. He hears an oddly familiar stomping, a recognizable sizzle-pop and the smell of smoke and nitroglycerin in the air. Izuku wishes he had frozen sooner; maybe he wouldn't have jolted so harshly. " Deku… " What had he done wrong this time? Sure, he had gone to U.A., but he wasn't in the Hero Course. Kacchan had been right; he couldn't be a hero. So why-? " Deku, you bastard, " his former childhood friend growls, " If you want to keep your life, you'll come with me. "

Muscle memory tells Izuku to follow.

Once they're in a secluded hallway, Katsuki lashes out. Muscle memory from previous encounters tells him to brace himself, but it does nothing to ease the pain. He can only hope that his uniform won't be too badly damaged when it's over. Smoke fills his lungs, Kacchan's expletives ringing in his ears. Izuku is crying, muttering something incoherent through his tears, babbling apologies through his sobs. Katsuki has none of it. He keeps wailing on him, marking him with burns and bruises to kingdom come. Eventually, he loses interest.

" Let me make something clear, Deku ," he seethes, " Don't come back to U.A. if you want your sorry ass to live ."

He storms off in a huff after that, allowing Izuku to finally breathe. He chokes on the remaining smoke and what remains of his tears. He cries a bit more as he forces himself up. He wipes the drool off of his lip; he doesn't notice the tinge of blood in it. He's gotta get home before Mom gets back from work. Maybe he can wash out the smoke… oh, he'd have to treat those burn marks aaand he's falling.

...someone catches him.

Hitoshi expected some things to happen on his first day.

Luckily for him, most of those things hadn't been realized. There were still some people wary of his quirk, but Miss Midnight and some of his classmates weren't, which felt… odd, but also comforting. He didn't know about that one green haired kid who occasionally gave him a brief glance as he scribbled furiously in that journal of his. It looked damaged. How clumsy was the guy?

He would later come to regret those thoughts.

The end of the day came, and Hitoshi was relieved to be able to leave. He caught sight of a Hero Course student approaching the green haired kid from earlier. Mr. Hero Course looked… angry. Hitoshi didn't like the way green hair froze. Hero Course whispered something to green hair (wasn't his name Midoriya?), and they walked into the school again. Hitoshi, despite his gut feeling, walked in their direction. He made sure to stay out of sight, and followed them up until they stopped in a secluded area in the school.

It was there that Hitoshi saw hell on Earth.

Hero Course went freaking feral on Midoriya, burning and blasting him over and over with his quirk. Hitoshi clenched his teeth in frustration; stupid flashy quirks . Midoriya took blast after blast after blast. Hitoshi thought he might actually be dead. Once Hero Course was done with him, he spat some more threats, before stomping off. Hitoshi was infuriated. How did an asshole like him get into the Hero Course?

He notices the beaten up Midoriya about to fall; he catches him.

Izuku is so out of it, he doesn't realize what's happening. Deciding that he's in no condition to go home as he is, Hitoshi drags Izuku to the nurse. Izuku tries to help move himself along, apologizing for being such a burden. Hitoshi is appalled; this kid was really self-depreciative, wasn't he? They're about to reach Recovery Girl, when Izuki stops, resting on a nearby wall. "Don't…" he gasps, trying to gather his breath, "Don't… tell her about… Kacchan…"

Hitoshi gives Izuku and incredibly judgmental look.

Assuming "Kacchan" was the Hero Course student, why should Hitoshi not squeal on him? Why would Izuku not squeal? He looked like crap! "Kacchan… h-he worked too hard for th-this…" Izuku manages, coughing a bit. "I-I c-can't… crush his dream… l-like this. Can't g-get… in his way…" Hitoshi thinks it sounds like bull, but the way Izuku pleads him to not say a word… Hitoshi will SO regret this later.

He tells Recovery Girl there was an accident; he doesn't specify even if he gets a weird look.

Hitoshi starts joining Izuku at lunch.

After a while, so does the girl he saved. Her name is Ochako Uraraka, and she's quick to make friends with Izuku. Hitoshi is initially wary of her at first (who could blame him when the first Hero Course student he saw beat Izuku 'till he was bruised and a bit bloody), but he came to realize Ochako's intentions weren't nearly as malicious. Plus, she didn't mind his quirk (or Izuku's lack of one), so that was a plus.

He had no idea what to think about the next member of their group though.

Mei Hatsume was an oddity. Much like her spontaneous personality, she showed up quite literally out of nowhere, asking politely enough if she could sit with the group. That was the only time Mei ever displayed manners. From that point onward, she was boisterous, in your face, and unapologetic. She ranted and raved about her machines almost as much as Izuku would mumble storm (which, to the green haired boy's embarrassment, was quite common).

Hitoshi wondered what a mad scientist like her would want to affiliate with Izuku.

She was a Support Course student (one of the best if the grapevine was right), so sitting nearby a Hero Course student like Ochako made sense. Sure, Mei ended up talking to her a lot about making "babies" for her, but she also took the time to get to know Hitoshi, and she spent a considerable amount of time talking to Izuku. What was her deal? He found out a day before the infamous cafeteria break in. Their small group was chatting together as usual, with Mei talking up a storm. Hitoshi was enjoying a nice conversation with Ochako about wanting to transfer into the Hero Course, when he paused. Something was off, and it looked like Ochako had noticed, too. Hitoshi turned his head towards the disturbance.

Mei had stopped talking.

Hitoshi had felt fear a few times in his life, and he definitely felt it now. Mei wasn't talking, her trademark smirk all but dashed from her face and replaced with a stone cold glare. Izuku look scared as he tried shaking Mei out of whatever had gotten into her. Hitoshi turned in the direction of what Mei was staring at. There were a lot of students in the cafeteria, so who could she- oh . A tuff of spiky blonde hair caught his eye. He was wearing his usual grimace of displeasure as usual. He was talking with two other Hero Course students, though he shoved them out of his way with a shove and a few imperceptible shouts. The students merely laughed.

Hitoshi noticed Mei's knuckles going white.

"What's up, Shinsou? Finally coming to me for my ba-" "Why do you hate Bakugo."

Hitoshi was almost impressed with how fast Mei's perky demeanor dropped. The insane glimmer in her eyes shifted to cold calculating focus in a nanosecond. Hitoshi felt a shiver run up his spine. The cafeteria incident had given him enough info to realize that the mad scientist had beef with the explosion incarnate. Mei’s eyes glimmered in contemplation, looking off to the side. She sighed in a huff, turning back to Hitoshi.

“...you really wanna know?”

A few weeks into U.A., and Mei had already begun what would soon become a recurring habit of blowing up what she attempted to invent. Granted, every other other invention she built wouldn’t blow up in flames, but Mr. Powerloader was still unhappy about it. No matter, Mei was a genius in the making! It was only a matter of time before all of her failures would eventually culminate into major successes. Now, all she had to do was tighten this last screw and-

Boom!

...that couldn’t be right. Not only was the explosion in question much softer than normal, but it hadn’t even occurred in the room! Mei hadn’t tightened the last screw… she didn’t even get to press the button! Was someone trying to overthrow her glorious future!? Mei quickly set the screwdriver aside, launching herself out of the Support Lab doors. The explosions were occurring in almost rapid succession. Who in their right mind would build that many failure machines out in the hallway?

Oh. Not machines.

Mei loses total control of her body as she is rendered as a captive audience to the scene before her. A Hero Course student with smoky palms towered over a shaky Gen Ed student, who was currently trying to back away. Still enraptured, Mei’s quirk subconsciously kicked in, focusing on the Gen Ed kid’s face. She noticed the sweat rolling down his cheek, the soot covering his shoulders, the bruising about his face… the trickle of blood from his mouth.

Mei almost yelped when the smoky kid grabbed the Gen Ed kid by the collar.

“Have you not learned your lesson yet, shitty Deku?” he spat, his voice grating on Mei’s ears. “I said get. Out. Of. U.A. I don’t care if your sorry ass didn’t get into the Hero Course; U.A. shouldn’t have to put up with Quirkless failures like you!” With that, he threw ‘Deku’ into the wall, which resulted in a harsh “THUD!” as he made contact before crumpling to the floor. Smoky walked away with his hands in his pockets. Mei made sure to stand out of sight, still trying to make sense of the scene that had played out before her.

Before she could offer the kid some help, Mei spotted a bush of lilac hair approaching the kid.

“I ended up following you two back to Recovery Girl’s office,” Mei continued her explanation, “Once I figured Greeny was in good hands, I decided to pack up shop for the day. Since I was still feeling bitter, I hacked into the school’s network for funsies.” (She ignores Hitoshi’s look of disbelief and concern.) “I came up with nothing but the fact that Midoriya and Smoky went to the same middle school, and Smoky apparently had a clean record, which I call bull.”

Mei exhaled, “That’s all I got. You ever tried…?”

“Multiple times,” Hitoshi groaned, rubbing his forehead. "But Midoriya keeps on pushing it aside. Says something about how Kacchan always wanted to become a hero and he couldn't take that away from him. I've volunteered to do it myself, but he's stubborn. I don't think he'd like it if any of us ever said anything…" There's silence. "Should we tell Ochako?" Mei asks. Hitoshi feels a headache coming on. "...I don't think it'll help. Besides, you haven't seen Ochako when she gets ticked…"

Mei looked disgruntled, but nodded in agreement; she actually had seen Ochako in her "beast mode."

Ochako found out.

It was sometime after the USJ incident, about a week and a half before the Sports Festival. Poor Izuku had been worried sick about her, and he spent a good portion of the first morning of resumed classes fretting over her, though at least he wasn't rude about it. Ochako walked down the U.A. halls, coming back from another day of training. It was strenuous, but she wanted to make a good impression during the festival. Her parents needed her, after all. Maybe Izuku could give her a few more pointers. Oh look, there he was-!

Why was he walking with Katsuki?

Katsuki Bakugo was the rabid dog of 1-A, to put it lightly. He might not have been the most sociable person, but his skill with his quirk made him one of their strongest members, no question. That's what allowed him to dominate in the Battle Trial. It's what allowed him to get the drop on the portal villain at the USJ (although he and Eijiro inadvertently caused the issue to begin with…). With the Sports Festival coming up, Katsuki made it his mission to antagonize the other courses at U.A., who showed up at their door a few days ago.

Hitoshi was there, too, and he didn't look all that happy to see Katsuki.

Back in the present, Ochako was tailing Izuku and Katsuki, wondering what business the two had together. Katsuki was oddly neutral with his body language, while Izuku looked absolutely scared out of his mind but was desperately trying to hide it. They were about to turn a corner when Ochako felt someone grab her shoulder. " What are you doing here!? " the voice whispered furiously. Ochako stiffened. She swiveled her head over her shoulder.

" Shinsou!? " she gasped in disbelief.

" Yeah, that's my name, " he deadpanned, but there was an edge to his voice, " But what are you doing here? " " I could ask you the same thing! " Ochako replied, " Why do you just stop me in the hall out of nowhere!? What's so important that you have to- " BOOM!!! Hitoshi and Ochako froze, before Ochako snapped back and ran towards the sound. She had heard it plenty of times during hero training. If Katsuki was blowing something up, someone might be in trouble. What if it was Izuku? She quickly turned around another corner, abruptly stopping at the sight before her.

...she hadn't meant it like this.

Katsuki palms held the fading glow of an explosion, while Izuku's back was to the floor, soot covering his uniform. She could feel the malicious intent radiating off of Katsuki, combined with the terrified aura Izuku was giving off, giving the atmosphere an unsettling tinge. Ochako's hands reached up to her mouth; why would Katsuki do this? " Damn Deku… " the boy in question growled, " Why weren't you with the other Gen Ed extras, hah!? Are you participating in the fucking Sports Festival or not!? "

Izuku meekly nodded; his reply was met with an explosion to the face.

Katsuli seethed further as Izuku squirmed in pain. " Bullshit! " he shouted, " You would have been with the rest of the wannabes if you were participating. Not that it matters… " Katsuki kicked Izuku in the stomach, before dragging him up by the hair. Ochako felt her stomach lurch, attempting to launch herself towards them in order to stop the conflict. Someone pulled her back, but she struggled against him. She tried to scream, but someone covered her mouth. She caught a glimpse of her restrainer's pink locks.

Mei!? Why was she-

"I'M GONNA WIN THE ENTIRE FESTIVAL!" Katsuki shrieked, grabbing Ochako's attention. "You should just do yourself a favor and drop out. Better yet, fucking drop dead! No one would give two shits if you went off the face of the Earth, anyway!" Katsuki rammed Izuku's face into the wall, leaving him to drop. "Just stay out of my way, fucker!" In his usual huff, Katsuki stormed out of the hallway, leaving his victim to suffer his pain in silence. Mei finally released Ochako, who looked back to the inventor in betrayal. Mei couldn't meet her eyes, but at least she looked guilty.

Hitoshi rushed passed the two, picking up Izuku for another visit to Recovery Girl.

The silence is palpable, the tension thick as butter. "...how long?" Ochako asked, her eyes shadowed. Mei hesitated. "How long has this been going on?" Ochako asked, more firmness in her voice than before. "...since the start of the year." Mei could feel the increase in rage build up, emanating from one pissed off brunette. She began walking away, before Mei grabbed her wrist. "Where are you going?" Mei inquired, not liking Ochako's body language.

"Nezu needs to know about this," she stated, not looking back at her friend.

Mei's eyes widened in panic. "W-we can't tell Nezu!" she exclaimed, "Izuku wouldn't want that-!" "He probably doesn't want to go to Recovery Girl everyday either," she retorted flatly, "One or the other…" "B-but Izuku doesn't want us to squeal! Do you really want to betray him!?" Ochako finally turned her head towards Mei, her face holding none of the compassion she usually displayed. "Aren't you already betraying him by saying nothing?" Mei blinked, looking at the ground in shame. "...not yet…" she whimpered, tears threatening to escape her eyes, "Just… not yet. Izuku isn't ready yet." She tenses up as the silence goes on, worried about what the brunette would do next.

She hears a sigh; "Fine. For now, anyway…" Ochako relents. I'm gonna kick Bakugo's ass.

The Sports Festival finally arrives.

The mood for the festival is set to a bad start when Katsuki declares he'll beat everyone in the festival. This earns meek whimper from Izuku, mild annoyance from Mei and Hitoshi, and a full blown glare from Ochako (which he doesn't notice), as well as a roar of "BOOS!" from the rest of the crowd. Izuku's chest dips; why was he here? There was no way he stood a chance against Kacchan, or the rest of the Hero Course. He should have just stayed home like Kacchan sai- A hand clasps on his shoulder.

"You got this," Hitoshi assures him, "Just don't sweat it."

…

The Obstacle Race concludes, and Izuku spends a good few moments trying to figure out what on God's good Earth just happened. All he did was pick up some scrap metal, gather a few landmines, and he suddenly found himself rocketing into 1st place. For a moment, he was completely catatonic, as if he was attempting to become one with the universe. Before Ochako, Hitoshi, and Mei promptly glomped onto him in a pile, shocking Izuku out of his stupor.

While the kids were celebrating, they promptly ignored the glaring dandelion off to the side.

Now the students have to prepare for a Cavalry Battle… and Izuku has a bounty on his head worth 10 million points. Thank God for Ochako and Mei coming to his aid. Mei claims it's only to show off her babies to the world, but her friends know better. Hitoshi opts to strike out on his own this time, and Ochako's other friend Tenya does the same. Izuku doesn't feel like going into the Cavalry Battle with just three members, so he searches for a fourth.

He ends up choosing another Hero Course student: Fumikage Tokoyami.

…

Izuku feels like he could cry (which he's probably already doing).

Even after he slipped up against Team Todoroki, Fumikage managed to salvage their chances, getting them in fourth place and allowing them to move on to the finals. Izuku is spouting a water fountain of tears as the tournament brackets are called. Most of the brackets are Hero Course students, barring Mei and Hitoshi. Hitoshi's team doesn't look too happy, either (except for Yuga Aoyama, but he was an unreadable type). Izuku doesn't feel panic until after the last two matches are announced.

Izuku will be going up against Hitoshi… and Ochako will be facing off against Kacchan.

…

After apologizing to Hitoshi for pushing him out of bounds for the umpteenth time, Izuku heads over to Ochako's locker room.

It was only natural for Hitoshi to lose; Izuku knew his quirk, and he'd been training longer than Hitoshi. He may not have had a flashy quirk, but his intellect did plenty to make up for that handicap. Now it was time for Izuku to worry about Ochako. Based on his… "recent encounters" with the ash blonde, Ochako would need a battle plan in order to keep up with him. If she even needed it. So, he walks into her waiting room, where she's talking with Tenya about the upcoming match.

Izuku offers Ochako his plan; she refuses.

He doesn't hold it against her. Ochako isn't weak, after all. She has her own strengths… she'll pull through. Izuku takes a seat in the stands alongside Hitoshi, who briefly teases Izuku about their match before the crowd spectates the final first round. Ochako feels the excitement building all around her. He sees the apathetic glare Katsuki gives her. "Listen, round face," he grunts, "You can make things float, right? I suggest that you tap out now, 'cause crying uncle won't do shit later." Ochako says nothing, her own battle glare hardening.

The match begins; Ochako sprints.

Izuku's faith in his friend is not unwarranted. After Katsuki pulls off a few scary looking explosions, Ochako manages to weave past them, getting close to her opponent but always getting thrown back by the explosive knockback. After trying the same strategy for a while, Izuku notices the immediate deviation; Ochako set up a decoy. She gets close, but Katsuki is fast enough to blow her back again.

The crowd boos at Katsuki; Eraserhead reprimands the audience.

Izuku feels Hitoshi tapping his shoulder. The lilac haired insomniac points above the battlefield. Izuku sees it: a layer of hovering debris above the stadium. It all clicks for Izuku as back on the ground floor, Ochako enacts her endgame. Ochako presses her hands together, and charges. Initially caught up with the debris, Katsuki aims his palms upward, preparing to blow it all away in one fell swoop. He fails to recall that his opponent is gaining in him.

Ochako extends her fingers as Katsuki switches his aim to her last minute.

The explosion rocks the entire stadium. Izuku can't make out anything amongst the smoke. Neither can Midnight, or anyone else for that matter. As the dust starts to settle, Izuku sees a familiar brown bob. Ochako is heaving, but she hasn't crossed the boundary line yet. He can't see Kacchan though. There's no way that he… oh. Katsuki is on the floor… against the walls leading out of the stadium. He's clearly out of bounds, as Midnight manages to call out. The crowd cheers, except for Izuku. While Ochako limps off the field, Izuku wonders why he doesn't feel sad for his former friend's defeat.

If anything, he's too happy for Ochako to care.

…

"YOU DAMN NERD!'

Izuku freezes at the voice, stopping in the hallway as the sound of footsteps grows nearer. "You bastard! You gave her that crazy battle plan, didn't you!? It's just like you to pull some shit like this. You looking down on me agai-" "I didn't do anything," Izuku interrupts. Katsuki blinks, realizing he's just been cut off; Izuku knows what he's doing, but he doesn't care at the moment. "Uraraka came up with that strategy on her own. If she gave you such a hard time, then that was her doing, not mine." Izuku turns to walk away, but he's forcefully turned by a demonic-looking Katsuki. "AS FUCKING IF!" he rages, pulling on Izuku's collar and burning it, "There's no way in hell anyone could beat me on their own! Not even half-and-half! You had to have done something you motherfu-"

"Bakugo."

Katsuki stopes his verbal assault, he and Izuku turning towards the new voice. Their eyes meet with half blue, half white ones, and red and white hair split evenly in the middle. "I'd appreciate it if you took your hands off of my opponent." Katsuki merely scoffs; "Fuck off, half and half! This little shit is my-" "I wasn't asking, Bakugo." In a flash, Katsuki's feet and arms are frozen to the floor. Unfazed by the murderous intent in the room, the level headed Shoto reached for Izuku's wrist.

"If it isn't too much trouble," he asked level headedly, "I'd like to have a word."

…

It was more than a word.

"Tragic backstory" would be a more fitting description. How Endeavor could treat his own family like worthless tools was beyond Izuku. What was more beyond him was the question that followed Shoto's spiel. "How long has Bakugo been bothering you like that?" Izuku blinks, as if he's missed some critical piece of information, but no, Shoto's absolutely serious. This causes Izuku to wave his arms like he's in a panic; "I-it's not that big of a d-deal, I swear. It's only friendly roughhousing, Kacchan would never-"

"You act like I used to whenever my old man started his… 'training.'"

Shoto's interruption causes Izuku to stop dead in his tracks. He wouldn't be implying… "Well, it's none of my business," he states simply, pushing himself off the wall to walk away. "What matters is that I hope you'll forgive me for crushing you, Midoriya. You may have managed to slip by in the Cavalry Battle, but I won't hesitate to stop you in your tracks. And without his power." Shoto left Izuku to his own devices. The young man watch the prodigious Todoroki's slowly retreating back…

...all while concocting a plan he most certainly would regret.

…

He's still numb when another patient is rolled into Recovery Girl's office.

He was still thinking about his last match. He had no idea how he had survived Shoto's ice onslaughts to begin with (adrenaline or divine intervention, most likely), but the fact that he, a Quirkless teen who barely skidded by in the first events, managed to convince the all-powerful Shoto to actually use his left side was strange. The way the fire danced against his skin was a thing of beauty… and the final nail in Izuku's figurative coffin. That was the first time Izuku experienced a flash freeze, only the "flash" part was actually more than in name.

Recovery Girl seemed resigned to her fate (though she still meant well) as she treated the burns and frozen spots.

Then there was the new occupier in the office. Izuku had only seen Eijiro Kirishima during a bit of the Obstacle Course and the Cavalry Battle. His quirk allowed him to harden himself in order to increase his durability, but apparently he could also generate extreme physical force if he hardened himself far enough. Ochako mentioned that the last bit was apparently a recent development once in a passing conversation. And now Eijiro was in the bed beside him, swathed in some bandages, his arms carrying splotches of bruises.

In retrospect, Izuku wasn't exactly subtle as he studied Eijiro's wounds.

"The sad part is that it was an easy fight," Eijiro admitted, grabbing Izuku's attention. Even though what he said was sad, he looked… content. "Yeah, I tried using O- I mean, the newest aspect of my quirk. I'm still trying to figure out how to use it without breaking anything. Hardening myself seems to negate the damage, but only if I use a little bit. I was up against Uraraka, and… well, she's faster, and I take way too long to wind up. Threw me out of the ring." Eijiro laughs a bit, turning his head towards Izuku. "Uraraka's so manly …" Manly? is the thought that goes through Izuku's head.

Eijiro's eyes squint in recognition; "Wait a minute… aren't you the one who saved Uraraka?"

"E-eh?" Izuku stutters; where did THAT come from. "Yeah… yeah, it is you! During the Entrance Exam, with the Zero Pointer!" ...oh wait, that's where it came from. "Oh man, I've really wanted to talk to you since then! I was at the same testing sight, you know!" Was he? Izuku thought he'd recognize someone like Eijiro, especially with his hair style. But those eyes… wait, was he that one kid with the black hair?

"What you did back there was SO manly!!!" He probably- wait, WHAT!?

“W-w-what are you talking about? I-I mean there were probably  a ton of other people who would have done the same thing. I-I didn’t even do anything all that…” Eijiro is left to stare in confusion as the boy descends into an abnormal muttering storm. “Whoa man, hey! Chill out, chill out!!” Eijiro tries waving his hands in front of Izuku… only to forget that he’s wearing casts, and as he tries to free his arms, he falls off of his resting bed.

Izuku snaps back to attentiveness, wondering where Eijiro went before looking at the floor.

“Owowowowowowowowowowowowow…” the boy wines, a small trickle of tears flowing from his eyes, “I know pain… is manly… but… this is… too much… manliness…!” “Kirishima!” Izuku explains, having now regained his motor functions, “Oh God, I’m so sorry! Here, let me help you up!” His own dull soreness goes unheaded in their protests as he lifts the spiky red head back onto his bed. He then proceeds to collapse back in his own bed, sighing alongside his muscles in relief.

Eijiro is looking at him with the puppy eyes again.

Izuku merely turns his head over, his face asking the unspoken question. “...dude,” Eijiro whispers, “You took a full-powered beating from a Todoroki… and you helped me get back on my bed in spite of your lingering pains. ” The flow of tears resumed with more bravado than previously. “We’re going to be friends, dude. Just let it happen!” While Eijiro continues to fanboy, Izuku simply sighs, wondering why the universe continues to screw with him.

...at least it’s being nicer than before.

…

Izuku has gained another ally aside from Eijiro.

It was at the end of the festival. All Might himself handed out the medals ( was it wrong how Izuku still admired the man? ) to the victors. Shoto had managed to get first place, wearing his usually deadpan face with a hint of confusion. Ochako wore a small smile as she held up her silver medal. Fumikage managed to get third place alongside Tenya, but the latter was nowhere to be found. After handing out medals and a bold declaration of “PLUS ULTRA!” (what else could fit?), All Might leapt away, and the crowd began to disperse.

Izuku let the tension leave his shoulders; it had been a long day.

He was walking down the halls; Ochako said she’d meet him at the front. Mei was apparently busy with something, and had already left immediately after the ceremony. Hitoshi had used his non-quirk related powers to disappear from the arena without a trace. He didn’t have any idea where Eijiro was, and Kacchan had been unusually silent throughout the entire ceremony. Izuku picked up the pace; he couldn’t keep Ochako waiti-

BOOOOOOOM!!!

Izuku fell back and onto the floor, briefly tumbling for a bit before crouching down on his feet. “DEEEKUUU!!!” Oh no . Izuku’s adrenaline began to pump rapidly through his veins as he forced himself upward, coughing through the smoke as he began to- BOOOM!!! “YOU FUCKING BASTARD! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!!!” What had Izuku done? He just gave it his all like anyone else; Kacchan only lost because he refused to think through his opponent. Why couldn’t he understand that?

Why did he never understand that?

Knowing that Kacchan wouldn’t listen to reason, Izuku tried running again. His efforts were met with an explosion to the face. “DON’T RUN AWAY FROM ME, YOU SHITTY DEKU!” Kacchan roared, grabbing the back of his gym uniform’s collar, “WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO JUST BRUSH ME OFF LIKE THAT, HAH? WHO DIED AND MADE YOU THE FUCKING KING!?” “K-kacchan, I don’t know wha-!”

“SHUT UP!!” BOOM!

Izuku was coughing up a storm now; his vision was dancing, too. Too much smoke, and Katsuki wasn’t giving him any openings. “You think it’s funny to look down on me? Huh, Deku?” Katsuki pinned Izuku to the wall; he wasn’t getting out of this. “Today was supposed to be MY DAY! MY DAY, YA HEAR! I was gonna prove to the world that KATSUKI FUCKING BAKUGO was the best of the best! The first of firsts! THE NEXT NUMBER ONE FUCKING HERO, DAMNNIT!!! And then you had to go and give Round Face a fucking battle plan to screw me over! Bet you had a good laugh at that, didn’t you!?”

“I *cough* I didn’t… *wheeze* I didn’t… give… Uraraka *cough* anything!”

“What’s that?” Katsuki snarled, “I can’t hear BULLSHIT! That extra wouldn’t know a battle plan if it hit her upside the fucking head a dozen times over! NONE OF THEM ARE WORTH SHIT! Not Round Face, not that Insomniac Bastard, not even Half-and-Half! AND I WAS GOING TO PROVE THAT! I was gonna kill them all dead in their tracks! But no, useless quirkless Deku had to go and fuck it all up. That’s it… you’re fucking DEAD TODAY!!! ”
Katsuki threw an open palm towards… open air?

It took him a while to pick up the sound of annoying shoe squeaks echoing down the hall. He actually ran away… , Katsuki processed, his hands slowly curling back up into a fist, stupid fucker! Meanwhile, Izuku was rushing through the halls, booking it to the front exit. If he could just get to Ochako, then- “DEKU!” Izuku forced his body to run faster. He had taken enough notes to know that once Kacchan was in range, it was all over!

The smell of burnt nitroglycerin reached his nostrils… and then the temperature dropped.

Izuku risked looking back, catching what looked like an ice wall before he accidently ran straight into a wall. He predictably recoiled, stumbling a bit before falling back on his butt. Ow… what did he hit? “Midoriya? Are you alright?” ...oh, it was a who , not a what . “T-todoroki…” he grunted, taking the boy’s hand as he pulled himself back up.

The faint sound of an explosion caused Izuku to jump.

“Don’t worry,” Shoto assured, “I made that ice wall thicker than normal. He won’t get past it so easily.” He turned his attention back to Izuku, “What was he doing, anyway?” Izuku blushed from embarrassment, looking at his shoes. “W-well, Kacchan was just a little miffed th-that he didn’t win the festival is all. I… I don’t know what I did wrong, but-” Izuku is stopped with a hand ruffling his hair. He looks back up to Shoto, who looks… peaceful as he shuffles his fingers through Izuku’s locks softly. Upon meeting Izuku’s gaze, his hand quickly retreats back to its pocket.

“S-sorry…” he apologizes, “I got distracted.”

After recomposing himself, he looks Izuku dead in the eyes. “And whatever you did, it wasn’t your fault .” Izuku blinks at that statement. Wasn’t his fault? But it could only be his fault! He was the hopeless fanboy without a quirk. Kacchan had all the power, all the talent, all the potential . It couldn’t be Kacchan’s fault, so it had to be- “Come on, Midoriya,” Shoto suggests, gesturing for Izuku to follow, “My ice won’t hold for long, and I doubt you want to stay here.” Part of Izuku wants to rebuke that statement, but the other part is all too happy to comply.

They walk out to the front entrance, where Ochako is still waiting; they walk home together as the sun sets and the breeze washes over them.

Higari Maijima is intrigued; his soon-to-be protégé never looked this serious unless she was on the brink of a self-proclaimed revolution.

“Mr. Power Loader,” she began, steel in her voice and fire in her eyes, “I’d like it if Izuku Midoriya could intern with you alongside myself.”

Chapter Text

Izuku nearly falls out of his seat during class.

It’s been a few days since the Sports Festival. Most of the news coverage was about the tournament and the amazing Hero Course. Izuku only heard his name being mentioned once or twice on the news (had he looked on the internet that day, he’d see that he had become quite a celebrity). Izuku would only know of his new found prestige when Ms. Midnight brought up internship offers.

“...now usually, most internships are available for the Hero Course students, but this year was interesting…”

Izuku looks up from his journal to look at the board. He proceeds to let his jaw drop. The board is primarily filled with Hero Course students (Shoto and Ochako are at the top, Kacchan is somewhere in the middle), but at the bottom of the list, just before the very end, stood Izuku's name. With 10 offers next to it . Izuku could already feel the tears spilling on his thankfully empty desk. Worthless, quirkless Deku got internship offers. Why wasn't Hitoshi trying to snap him out of it.

Hitoshi's name was just below Izuku's; the purple haired teen was occupied with fighting tears of his own.

"Congrats, Midoriya!" says a perky voice at lunch.

Izuku turns his head halfway, already bracing himself for Ochako's tackling hug. He doesn't fall over, so that's nice. "Oh! Congrats to you to, Shinsou!" "It's nothin'," the purple boy insists, trying desperately to not reveal his cheshire cat grin. Mei eventually joins the group at their usual spot. Although they have two more guests arrive shortly afterward. "Yo, Midobro!" Eijiro calls out, waving enthusiastically. "Midoriya," Shoto greets simply, his demeanor lighter than usual.

Thus, the band of four becomes a band of six.

Most of the talk is about the upcoming internships. Eijiro mentions wanting to go with Fourth Kind, but he's still open to other agencies. Shoto, in an odd twist of fate, wants to go work with his father, although only Izuku thinks about the problems with that idea. Ochako wants to go to the Gunhead agency to develop more combat skills, even though she did well enough in the Festival. Izuku understands, though; improvement does not come with comfortability. Hitoshi plans on seeing what his offer (the ever stoic Eraserhead) has to offer, while Mei proudly proclaims that she'll be interning with Power Loader.

Izuku recalls one of the offers sent to him from… Power Loader.

"Oh, Midoriya!" Mei exclaims, "Didn't you get an offer from Mr. Power Loader, too?" Izuku nods, still chewing the rice from his mouth. The sparkle in Mei's eyes tells him that she might have had something to do with that. “You planned for this, didn’t you?” Mei nods unabashedly. Izuku sighs; he really shouldn’t be surprised at this point. “So… will you go?” Izuku looks up and… wow, Mei can pull off puppy eyes. She really wants this to happen.

“Fine,” Izuku relents; how bad could it be?

Izuku looks up at the building from the sidewalk.

With the exception of a few stylized support beams off to the side; it looks like your everyday building (well, an everyday building with a construction theme going on). Gathering his courage, Izuku clutches onto his paperwork, and opens the door. He can see a few Pros and sidekicks walking about past the office area. Speaking of which… “Hey, you made it!” Mei bounds up to him, wearing a black muscle shirt, orange pants, red boots, and her trademark goggles. Her pink dreadlocks are frazzled, and her face is covered in soot. She was probably building something again.

“Come on!” she beckons, grabbing his arm, “After we introduce you to Mr. Power Loader, we can head to the workshop!”

The meeting with Power Loader is surprisingly swift. Based on the few moments Izuku knew him, he could tell that he was another receiver of Mei’s abundant enthusiasm, but the Pro also knew that she meant well. After accepting Izuku’s paperwork, and giving him the details of this particular internship, he shooed the two teens away, leaving Mei to drag Izuku over to the workshop.

Why was it in the basement, though?

Once they passed the door to the boiler room, the duo arrived in front of a flat grey door with a hand scanner beside it. Mei pressed her hand against the scanner, verifying her identity and opening the door. Izuku had to hold his hands over his eyes to avoid going blind; the room was surprisingly bright. Half of the room was completely empty (with the exception of scorch marks), and the other half was cluttered with tables, screens, and gadgets and gears of all kinds.

Yup, this was Mei’s workshop alright.

“Hold on a second,” Mei told Izuku as the door shut behind them. She leapt into one of the gadget piles, causing a few loose mechanical parts to fall out. “I know it’s in here somewhere…” he heard her mumble, “Come on, come on. I know I’m not this disorganised…” She rummaged in the pile for a bit longer, before finally jumping back out with something in her hands. “A-HA!” she exclaimed victoriously, holding up a heavy duty grey briefcase, “I knew I left in here!”

Izuku could feel her mad scientist aura beginning to emerge.

Mei grappled onto Izuku’s arm once more, dragging him to an empty section of table. After entering a pin code and flicking the clips off, Mei opened the briefcase, revealing the contents. The first item was a thin black band, with green lights and extension curves on both ends; it looked like a headset. The second item was a pair of high-tech gloves, white in color with what looked like some green circuitry.

Izuku was flabbergasted; he looked towards Mei, who was sporting a nearly maniacal grin.

“H-Hatsume,” he stuttered, still not entirely believing what he was seeing, “D-did you…?” Mei’s head bobbed up and down in confirmation, her entire body on the brink of combustion. Izuku looked at the new gear in the suitcase once more. “...w-what are they?” Mei’s smile got brighter (almost as blinding as the workshop was), before she opened her mouth to speak.

“I call them… the Defenders .”

The Defenders were not just cool looking gauntlets.

According to Mei, the Defenders relied on the brainwaves, hence the Neural Headband that was fitted on the back of his head and hooked around his ears. Even though Izuku could follow most of Mei’s lingo, he still ended up asking about how the mechanics of the gloves worked. The first few days of the internship are spent learning how Mei’s invention works. Depending on what Izuku thought as he wore the Neural Headband, the Defenders would respond to his intentions, scaling his strength up double, or triple, or however much he wanted that wasn’t too straining on the gauntlets.

Mei didn’t exactly tell him how far the gauntlets could go.

After figuring out how the “Strength Scaling” mechanic of the Defenders worked, Mei moved on to teach Izuku the secondary function: “Hover Blasting.” Naturally, this went off without a hitch. “KYAAAA!” Or maybe not… Even after Mei managed to get a larger testing facility, Izuku usually spent most of those training session falling to his demise. “Midoriya, I’m telling you, you have to pump your arms constantly!” Mei shouted one time, fixing the gearbox on her new prototype engine.

“I’m doing that…” Izuku slurred, bringing himself back to his feet, “...my arms feel like hell.”

“Well, are you imagining that you’re light as a feather?” “Yes, didn’t work.” “Rocket boosters?” “Also unsuccessful.” “An alien lifeform faster than the speed of light?” “Tried that, but I’m pretty sure only you could even try comprehending that way of thought.” Mei set down her engine, bringing her hand to her chin. “Hmmm… what exactly could we do to get you to fly?”

Izuku popped his neck; “Well, fly for more than five seconds…”

At that point, the two teens took notice of the clock. “Shoot,” Izuku muttered sharply, “Sorry Hatsume, can we pick this back up tomorrow? I gotta get home for katsudon.” “Sure, Midoriya,” Mei obliged, while Izuku went to grab some of his stuff. “Say, don’t you always eat Katsudon?” she asked when Izuku showed up again. Izuku laughed a bit; “I wish,” he admitted, “But Mom has to make sure I eat healthy, so…” Mei nodded in understanding. “Oh! Don’t forget this, either!” Mei recalled, shoving the briefcase with the Defenders in Izuku’s hands.

Izuku stared at the briefcase for a moment. “H-hatsume, I… I couldn’t possi-”

“Oh, stuff it in a sock, mister!” she teased, waving him off. “I just gotta make some more room in my workshop is all. Besides, they are YOUR property, technically speaking. Mr. Power Loader and I even processed the paperwork giving you ownership.” Izuku balked; why was Mei willing to go this far? “‘Cause I care about you, green bean! Who knows, you might even get a chance to use it!” Mei declared, wrapping Izuku in a hug. Izuku could feel the faint blush on his cheeks. “Now get going. You got katsudon waiting, don’t you?” With that, Izuku jumbles up his doors and rushes out the thank.

“And be careful!” Mei called out, “Night times at Hosu usually aren’t friendly ones!”

Izuku was soaring across the hellscape.

Not even five steps after he exited Power Loader’s Agency, and explosion rang off in the distance. Before Izuku could even get a glimpse of it, an unearthly roar pierced the air around him. A building shattered in the distance, and some sort of unholy creature emerged from the rubble. It was vaguely humanoid, with a dark purple complexion and no eyes; it’s lower jaw was connected to its exposed brain. Izuku felt terror shooting through his body… as well as something uncomfortably familiar.

“The USJ was… kinda scary,” Ochako had mentioned, “Especially considering that thing that attacked Mr. Aizawa. I think it was called a…”

Nomu. There were Nomu in Hosu. Oh God. The Nomu a few feet in front of Izuku had something catch it’s attention, leaping away in a single bound to cause more havoc. Izuku took the opportunity to book it, silently praying that everyone else involved would be safe. After turning multiple times throughout the horrendous maze, Izuku’s legs started to tire. He ended up at another Nomu sight, flames scattered amongst the battlefield as several Pros and sidekicks were doing what they could against the inhuman beasts.

“Damnit, where did Iida go?” one of the Pro’s cursed as they redirected water from a fire hydrant.

Izuku’s world went still. Iida? As in Ochako’s friend, Tenya Iida? What was he doing in Hosu? More importantly, why was he missing? He seemed to be a pretty by the book guy, so why would he go awol now, when everything was already in chaos!? Pieces of the past began to fit together. After the Sports Festival, Tenya always seemed a bit… off, during the few conversations Izuku and Ochako had with him. Izuku sat next to him on the train ride to Hosu, and he didn’t really talk much.

Then he saw the news about Hero Killer Stain…

Hero Killer Cripples Ingenium. Oh no. Hero Killer Sighted In Hosu. Oh no. Something in Izuku went on autopilot. He quickly darted into the nearby alley, typed in the pin and opened the briefcase. Putting on the Neural Headband and bearing the Defenders, he made sure the briefcase was somewhere he could find it again.

Then, he flew.

He didn’t register it at first. All he could think about was the fact that Tenya might be in trouble, and Izuku needed to get to him fast. Unfortunately, once the tunnel vision wore off and he realized he was flying halfway up some of the buildings, he panicked, his gauntlet’s Jetstream boosters faltering and causing him to nearly prematurely crash into the concrete. With one timely Hover Blast, Izuku managed to soften the impact, landing on the ground without breaking any bones.

Collecting himself, he opted to zip alongside the buildings. Tenya had to be close by.

Even within the confines of the hospital room, the memories have yet to settle.

He still can’t believe that he decked a serial killer square in the face. A freaking serial killer known for murdering Pro Heroes! It was probably the momentum doing the work; that, and Tenya was in danger. Once Stain had been temporarily off set, Izuku managed to send his location info to everyone in the nearby vicinity. Hopefully someone could provide backup, but until then, Izuku would have to fend off the Hero Killer. For Tenya…

...and for Native.

He was still getting used to the Defenders, but he learned quickly under pressure. The Jetstream boosters were good for running faster, too, and the Strength Scaling helped Izuku put in more “oomph” when necessary. Of course, he got careless, otherwise the Hero Killer wouldn’t have been able to paralyze him. As he sat helplessly frozen in his position, Stain edged over Tenya, likely to execute him. Izuku screamed for him to stop, screamed for help.

...his cries were answered.

Izuku caught a blur of red darting from the alley entrance, maneuvering in front of Stain and knocking him off balance. A torrent of flames continued the attack, getting Stain far enough away from Tenya. The blur had materialized as Eijiro, sparking with red lightning all over. His left side smoldering, Shoto stood in the alleyway, holding up his phone with Izuku’s location info.

The following battle had been intense; even four on one, it was considered close.

Even after they had knocked the Hero Killer out cold, they did not expect a flying Nomu to go grab Izuku out of nowhere. Even though an old Pro, Gran Torino (who was apparently acting as Eijiro’s agency of choice) tried reaching him, it was ultimately (and ironically) the Hero Killer who saved him. After a short and terrifying challenge, he passed out for good, leaving Izuku and the others stunned and mortified.

Mei came in to visit him the next day, alongside Power Loader. Izuku apologized, as was usual, although he did manage to return the Defenders intact. Mei looked… conflicted about that. “I… can't believe I’m saying this, but I don’t care about the support gear… as long as you’re safe.” She ended up giving him an impromptu hug for the next 15 minutes (even Power Loader couldn’t grip her off for that amount of time).

Once she’s done, the four students involved in the Stain incident get chewed out.

The police chief offers to cover up the story; it’s not like there’s a better option. Still, considering the circumstances, the group got off surprisingly light. Izuku decides not to dwell on it; they were all lucky enough to survive. His injuries were on the lighter side, but a few days in the hospital were still necessary. Ochako managed to call him a few days into her recovery. Apparently things were already busy enough with her internship.

Hitoshi ends up coming to see him in person, with the Erasure Hero Eraserhead right behind him.

Izuku takes one look at the man and stops. He’s seen him enough times on campus to recognize his face (even if most of the time he was in a yellow sleeping bag). Being an underground hero made it tough for Izuku to get the bits of information he needed, but he had more than enough information on Eraserhead, tucked safely away in the middle of Quirk Analysis Notebook #13.

He’d spent so many nights gathering data that he looked as tired as Hitoshi by the end of it.

Things only got more awkward when Hitoshi had to step out for a minute, leaving Izuku alone with the mysterious hero and 1-A’s homeroom teacher. “...Midoriya, right?” he drawls, his voice deadpan. “Y-yes, sir!” Izuku squeaked. Eraserhead raised an eyebrow. “...I saw you during the Sports Festival,” he continued, fixing his posture straight up, “Shinsou also brought you up from time to time. Kayama… she doesn’t stop talking, though recently, that’s because of you…”

“S-sir?” questions Izuku; what was he getting at.

Eraserhead sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Look, kid. I’m saying you have potential. You’re an excellent student, Kayama said as much. The Sports Festival proved that you were a brilliant tactician, and could hold your own if it came down to it. Even though it was technically against the law, surviving against a well-known murderer and villain is admittedly impressive.” Eraserhead leans in towards Izuku, his focused gaze unwavering.

“You have the possibility to become a hero , kid. How you go about it is up to you. Keep up the good work, and you and Shinsou might not have to stay in Gen Ed uniforms for long.”

Izuku has no idea if he’s awake at this point.

Honestly, the last few weeks had felt like one extended fever dream, but this was just ridiculous! “Hey, listen up,” Mr. Aizawa demanded, getting the rest of his students’ attention, “This is Izuku Midoriya from General Education. I’m sure a few of you recall him from the Sports Festival. In any case, Midoriya will be in our class for a few days to see if he’ll be able to transfer into the Hero Course. Please take care of him.”

After a resounding chorus of “Yes, sir!” Izuku takes his seat behind the electric kid, Denki Kaminari if he heard correctly.

Classes weren’t all that different from Gen Ed, actually. It was mostly the same subjects, like Math, Modern Literature, Modern Hero Art History (hi, Miss Kayama!). The only new subject was Foundational Hero Studies, which would have been fine, except… “I AM HERE!” Even though he had been at the school since the beginning of the year, he had only managed to catch sight of the Number One Hero once during the Sports Festival awards.

Now that he could see him in person, he didn't quite know how to feel about it.

If Izuku had never known him, then perhaps he'd be over the moon. Unfortunately, Izuku had known him once, and that left him floating helplessly between the Earth he was barely accepted in and the moon he so desperately tried to reach. The only blessing in the matter was that All Might didn't seem to recognize Izuku. Normally he'd be sad, but Izuku was grateful that there wasn't one more weight on the ever-breakable scale he knew as his life. It let him be busy with things that actually mattered.

Like the upcoming Final Exams...

Toshinori had been a complete wreck.

Hosu had been the start of it. Nevermind the fact that his old mentor had been training Young Kirishima (God knows Toshinori wasn't a good teacher), he had almost gotten killed by a mass murderer. Then there came the fact that his life long nemesis, who should by all accounts be dead, was still alive and kicking if the reports from the Nomu were anything to go by. To top it all off, the boy whom he denounced for wanting to be a hero started showing up in his classes.

The last one made Toshinori sick to his nonexistent stomach for different reasons than the first two.

Toshinori was All Might, the Symbol of Peace, the pinnacle of heroism. He had been witness to the dangers firsthand, and seeing the frail quirkless boy before him… he couldn't just give him false hope. He had to tell him the cold, hard truth. But then the Sludge Villain escaped. It may have inadvertently been that fanboy's fault, but at least he was trying to fix his mistake. At least he had tried to act in spite of his circumstances.

If he hadn't, Toshinori probably wouldn't have, either.

He had desperately wanted to find the boy, to ask for forgiveness… and to possibly offer him the one thing he'd been lacking. The media had been persistent, however, and by the time he escaped the greedy claws of the press, the boy was long gone. The whole affair plagued him for the next few days… and then he met Young Kirishima. The boy was earnest, kind, determined, and had a bit of a self-depreciation problem.

Toshinori could see himself in him… and a bit of that brave quirkless boy, too.

It was a bit sporadic, but Toshinori offered Young Kirishima his quirk. The boy accepted without hesitation. The next teen months had flown by, and soon the Entrance Exam was upon them. Toshinori sat in the viewing room alongside his soon to be coworkers, keeping an eye out on Young Kirishima. He did fairly well against the faux villains, but then the Zero Pointer came out. Understandably, Young Kirishima ran with the other applicants.

...and then Toshinori saw him.

The boy he had failed to search for all those months ago. The boy who had no powers… was running towards a giant mech who was decimating a city. Toshinori nearly coughed up blood. Was that kid trying to kill himself!? As the dust clouds began to rise, Toshinori could see the silhouette of someone else… a girl trapped in the rubble. The boy was trying to save her as he struggled to lift the boulder off of her legs. The girl crawled out.

Toshinori felt something akin to shame as the boy helped the girl to her feet, carrying her to safety.

Young Kirishima passed with flying colors; the only applicant who did better was one Katsuki Bakugo. As for the boy, well… Even though All Might didn't participate in the voting, the other heroes agreed that his rescue was nothing short of admirable. His lack of villain points, however, coupled with the fact that the rescue was cutting it by the crosshairs, made it so that overall, his performance was below average. Try as they might, they couldn't ignore the fact that his lack of a quirk would be a problem.

Gen Ed was only the logical solution.

"Yagi?" The sound of Principal Nezu's voice brought Toshinori crashing back into reality. Hw had forgotten that he was in the middle of assigning Final Exams. "Back with us? Good," the mystery animal remarked, turning his attention back to the other teachers. Shota mumbled something under his breath; something told Toshinori that it wasn't flattering. "So where were we? Ah yes, the students and their exam overseers!"

Toshinori sighed internally; the poor zygotes had no idea about the last minute change…

"In the case of Class 1-A, the examinees will be partnered as follows." Nezu cleared his throat before he continued. "Due to their social chemistry, Denki Kaminari and Mina Ashido will be partners. I'll take responsibility for their examination." A collective shiver went through the room. "Next will be Hanta Sero and Minoru Mineta. Mineta needs a bit of discipline, and Sero seems to be the right student to help. I'll leave them to you, Midnight."

The principal breezed through the next few pairings, until he reached the last two.

"Eijiro Kirishima and Rikido Sato both have similar quirks with intriguing repercussions. Cementoss, I think you'll be the perfect fit for them. And Yagi," Nezu interrupted his spiel, stopping Toshinori who was in the middle of raising his hand, "I know you've taken an interest in Kirishima's training for personal reasons, but rest assured, I believe the boy will do outstanding. He's come a long way since his enrollment after all." Seeing as the Principal had a plan of some sort, Toshinori bit his tongue and let it slide.

"And as for your assignment, Mr. Symbol of Peace, you'll be in charge of Katsuki Bakugo and the potential transfer student, Izuku Midoriya!"

Izuku falls to his knees, wiping the sweat from his brow.

"That's your longest time yet!" Mei cheered off to the sidelines, rushing up to meet him, "You're getting really good with maneuvering with the Defenders!" Izuku performed a vague gesture of thanks, trying to regain his strength as Mei passed him a water bottle. After they announced that the Final Exams would be against the teachers ( and he was against All Might, oh sweet Jesus ), Izuku had been training at an unreal pace.

He would need it if he was going to be paired with… him.

"You nervous?" Mei asked as the two walked away from Field Gamma. Izuku nodded with a huff in the affirmative. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Looking at the lock screen for the notification, his eyes widened, before something akin to a pout appeared on his face. "Hmm? What's the matter?" questioned Mei. Izuku showed her the lockscreen. Ignoring the adorable photo he'd taken of himself, Ochako, Hitoshi, and Mei, she noticed the text message from Ochako.

[ About to do sparring practice! You free? ]

With a grunt, Izuku shoved his phone back into the pocket, readjusting his gauntlets before getting a running start to blast off. As he rocketed away to Gym Gamma, Mei smirked a bit. Even when he'd been worked to the bone, Izuku was so determined to do his best, by himself and by others. He was going to do great in the Final Exams. The only thing that could hinder him was…

...well, it was best to not think about it.

Kacchan was angry… again.

He was angry before the Final Exams were announced. He was angry when he found out he was being paired with Izuku. He was angry now, as they boarded the bus to the exam site. Izuku had seen some of the previous exams. Denki and Mina failed against Nezu's scary intellect. Ochako managed to barely pass with Yuga against Thirteen, though how they passed was still a mystery. Even Shoto and Momo passed their exam against Mr. Aizawa, though that was to be expected.

In all honesty, Izuku didn't have a chance.

Even with his gear, he was still a liability. He only just started learning how to utilize them properly, All Might could probably just bash them off, and he'd be useless again. Then even if Kacchan was super strong, he wouldn't work with Izuku even if the alternative was death. Was this some sort of game the universe played with him. Holding his hopes within arms reach, only to pull them away last minute? His fidgeting gave way to stillness. He let out a sigh in mental exhaustion. He couldn’t think about this right now.

Perhaps Kacchan would listen to him just this once.

…

For someone so intelligent, Izuku was hopelessly naive.

He had tried to talk to Kacchan. He tried his best not to do or say anything to set him off (an impossible feat, given what would set him off in the first place) . Kacchan only met him with agitated silence or dismissive insults. Izuku tried putting his worries aside. They only have a few more minutes before All Might arrives, and they still don’t have a plan. He can’t lose his head now, it would only make things worse. He starts running up to Kacchan, trying to tell him some semblance of a strategy. He sees the boy turn, and- * THWACK! *

Blood and betrayal from within trickle down.

“Fuck off, Deku…” Katsuki seethes, visibly shaking in fury. Izuku holds his nose in his agony; what had he done? What could he have possibly done to deserve Kacchan’s wrath this time? “You’re pathetic if you think I need your help. I could whip All Might’s ass by myself. I’ll beat him down and prove that I’m the best of the best! A worthless pebble like you isn’t worth the effort to work with…” Izuku slowly starts to pick himself up, shaking himself. Why would Kacchan… did he know who he was talking about? Did he know what they were doing!?

Izuku feels a shift in the wind, before noticing a massive shockwave heading straight for them… All Might .

…

Hatsume, forgive me… , Izuku thinks as he’s slammed into Kacchan and into the ground.

He and Kacchan were doomed the moment the test started. Kacchan immediately started trying to blast All Might into oblivion, but for the Number One Hero, he only felt sparks, not an inferno. Izuku didn’t know what to do, standing still like an idiot until All Might basically teleported behind him. He was really playing into the part of a villain. Maybe a bit too much so.

For a brief moment, Izuku is reminded of Stain.

Kacchan kept trying to fight All Might, and each time he got his ass soundly handed to him. Izuku couldn’t get through to him; he couldn’t even get through to himself at this point. He wants to run, he wants to get past that escape gate and get the hell out because he knows he can’t win this fight, but Kacchan doesn’t know that and at this rate, he’s going to FAIL because of it. THEY’RE GOING TO FAIL. The straw that breaks the camel’s back is when Kacchan of all people grunts that he’d rather lose. Something in Izuku snaps.

Overriding his will to live, he brings his gauntlets into a higher gear, decking Kacchan and beating All Might to the punch.

After getting them safely to an alleyway and being the victim of a near deadly kabedon, Izuku and Kacchan come up with some semblance of a strategy. Kacchan doesn’t seem to like it, though. While he’s busy distracting All Might, Izuku waits for the signal. “DEKU!!!” Katsuki screeches. Now! Izuku appears from behind the Number One Hero, brandishing one of Katsuki’s gauntlets. He pulls the pin.

An inferno engulfs the street.

Izuku nearly loses control of the Grenadier Bracer, but manages to narrowly avoid a dislocated shoulder. Once he feels the propulsion disconnect from his arm, he starts running, using his one free gauntlet to boost his speed. Kacchan easily overtakes him. He’s still grumbling about something or other. “You look damn stupid like that, ya know?” he chortles, referring to Izuku’s unorthodox method of speed boosting. Izuku ignores it, instead focusing on making it to the rapidly approaching escape gate. All Might blurs into existence right next to them, before shattering both of Kacchan’s gigantic grenades… and Izuku’s right Defender.

There was no Hosu for him to fall back on; Mei was going to kill him this time.

Fast forward to the present, and Izuku is hanging helplessly in All Might’s grip, while Kacchan is under his heel. It’s like middle school all over again for Izuku: he’s powerless, worthless, and can’t do a damn thing for himself no matter how hard he- * Crackle Crackle * ...Izuku braces himself as the * BOOM * overtakes him. All Might’s grip falters, and Izuku can’t see in the smoke cloud from the gigantic explosion.

Then Kacchan decides to grab Izuku and toss him with all his might to the escape gate, a familiar “DIE!” on his lips.

Izuku flails for a moment, before finding his resolve and leaning towards the Escape Gate. If he could just make it through, then- “NEW HAMPSHIRE…!” That can’t be good. The world goes in slow motion as Izuku manages to turn his head and spot a small ripple amongst the smoke. His left hand thrusts down in reflex. “...SMASH!!!” True to form, All Might uses the shockwave from his punch to blast out of the smoke cloud and into… no one?

All Might crashes into the ground; Izuku is still airborne.

…

Toshinori had seen Young Midoriya during some of the exercises, but he never imagined that his capabilities had increased this far.

Even after shattering one of his gauntlets (Toshinori would have to apologize to his two students later), the young man had still managed to evade his New Hampshire Smash with the one gauntlet he had remaining . Toshinori was impressed; perhaps this boy truly was better of without- why is he getting closer? “ NOT TODAY, ALL MIGHT!!! ” Young Midoriya screams, blasting toward Toshinori at speeds he hadn’t anticipated. He was so eager to run before, so why was he…?

Toshinori let his guard down for too long; Young Midoriya gets him square in the face.

He gets another hit on his side (just narrowly missing his surgical scar) before Young Midoriya decides to retreat, only to be followed up by… “DON’T HOG ALL THE GLORY, DEKU! ” Ah, it’s Young Bakugo’s turn, then? Toshinori hears the telltale crackle of the boy’s palms, but… they sound more volatile? “I was a damn fool to think I could take you on…” Katsuki begins, his palms glowing exponentially brighter.

“... without using any extreme measures!!! ” * KA-BOOOOSH!!! *

There was a brief moment of clarity for Toshinori before he recognized that Young Bakugo’s latest onslaught was the equivalent of a nuclear warhead. Rather than run away, however, he ran towards the boy, soaking the attack up to the best of his abilities. This once actually scorched a bit. As he closed in on Young Bakugo, he could see the surprise painting on the boy’s face. Did he forget who he was facing?
Apparently Young Midoriya didn’t.

“Get away from Kacchan!” In a startling contrast, Young Midoriya ran towards Toshinori with a fierce flame burning within his green irises. He was running towards the Number One Hero with reckless abandon, putting what strength he had left into another wind-up. Truly an admirable attempt, but… “Forgive me, Young Midoriya…” Just before the boy can let the punch fly, All Might lands an uppercut directly on the boy’s jaw, causing him to fly quite painfully into the bus.

Toshinori felt a pang of guilt; he owed these boys a long apology when they were done.

“OY!” is the only warning Toshinori gets before Young Bakugo is back at it again. “You’re fight’s with me, old man!” he declares, his palms smoking still, “Leave Deku out of it!” Oh, so that’s how it was. Young Bakugo had been one of the brasher students in the Hero Course, but even he cared about his classmates in the end...

“THAT JACKASS ISN’T WORTH SHIT! I’M THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO HAS TO PROVE THEMSELF!”

Toshinori doesn’t quite register that as he casually slaps away Young Bakugo’s arm, causing the explosion to detonate in the wrong direction. From the look of his shaking arms, it appears Young Bakugo is at his limit. “Damn you… BASTARD!” Young Bakugo tries detonating at Toshinori again, but his blasts, while still quite explosive, aren’t nearly as powerful as before, the repercussions of his quirk finally kicking in. Toshinori grabs his face, to which the explosive quirk user tries biting his hand.

A slam into the ground is all it takes to knock Young Bakugo out.

Toshinori sighs; the young hero put up the good fight, but the difference in power was too great. Although, now that he thinks about it, didn’t he forget something? The sound of rapid footsteps catches Toshinori’s ears. He turns around just in time to see Young Midoriya jumping into the air, his remaining gauntlet at the ready. It looks beaten up (likely from the bus crash), and Young Midoriya… is smiling.

Toshinori is too awed to register getting punched harder than he ever had up to this point, the gauntlet shattering on impact.

He remains dazed as Young Midoriya grabs Young Bakugo, running as fast as he can to the escape gate. Even after Toshinori snaps back to reality and tries to chase after them, his limit suddenly makes itself known. Small bits of steam begin to pour out of his body, and he starts coughing up blood. He doesn’t have much time left; that gauntlet to the face might have done him in. Even so, he can’t help but smile as he watches two of his students pass the escape gate.

The smell of smoke pervades Ground Beta, while shards of green and white are scattered across the streets.

Izuku is in awe as their plane approaches I-Island.

After the Final Exams, that one encounter with a villain at the mall, and what would forever be dubbed as the “Fake Love” Exercise, Izuku found himself ironically relieved when he saw Mei and some orange haired stranger talking with his mom at the table. As it turned out, that orange haired stranger was Power Loader (Higari Maijima when he was a civilain), and they were talking with Izuku’s mother about letting him go on a trip to I-Island.

As one could see, that discussion was a rousing success.

Mei was bouncing up and down in her seat like someone on a sugar high, trying to push past Izuku to take in the view from her middle seat. Higari sighed from the usual antics of his student; they couldn’t land fast enough. Upon reaching the island and getting past all the necessary security checks, Higari let the two teens explore while he went to go meet up with an old acquaintance.

Apparently they were a really big deal on the island.

Mei was quick to grab Izuku by the gauntlet in order to drag him off to the pavilion. After his Final Exam, he ended up having to break the news to Mei that his gauntlets had been… kinda destroyed? There was a brief moment where Izuku thought that Mei was absolutely going to kill him (she looked scary when her eyes were covered by her hair), but to his surprising relief, Mei took a breath, pulling her locks back in place. “I mean, I knew it was coming, but did it have to be so soon?” “Hatsume, it was All Might . What did you expect?” “Yeah, yeah, I hear ya…”

Mei gave him the new set of Defenders by the end of the week.

Mei began to gush as they entered the gigantic building. There were so many inventions left and right that it made Izuku’s head spin, although Mei was perfectly fine. It was sort of endearing… he wished his other friends were here to see it. “Midoriya?” Ask and ye shall receive. Izuku turned around in record time, surprised to see Ochako, Momo, and Kyoka were also present. “U-Uraraka? What are you doing here? How are you here!?”

“Yaomomo got invitations,” Ochako explained, “But how are you-”

Their banter is interrupted by yet another familiar voice. “Wow! That’s so cool, Melissa!!” It was Mei’s turn to twist her neck at a breakneck pace, her eyes gleaming with something off-putting. “ Melissa? ” she whispered, as if the name was familiar, “ It couldn’t possibly be… ”

Mei immediately darted ahead of the rest of the group, leaving Izuku and the others to follow. They were all blown back mere moments later by a resounding screech.

“HOLY CRAP! IT IS MELISSA SHIELD!!!”

...Shield? As in… no, that couldn’t be right. “Melissa Shield! Daughter of the famous David Shield!! Her father is amazing in his own right, but Melissa is quickly rising in the scientific spotlight! Some of designs for support gear both for civilians and heroes have already been patented. DearGodIcan’tbelievethatthisishappeningsomeonepinchmeIhavesomanyquestions...!!!” To her credit, Melissa managed to hold firm in the face of this new and dangerous (?) being before her. Once Mei’s tangent had run its course, she focused her attention on Melissa’s partner. “HOW THE HECK DID YOU MANAGE TO MEET THE MELISSA SHIELD, ROCK BOY!?”

Eijiro meekly stands before the inventor slack-jawed; Izuku is the same, but for different reasons.

D-David Shield? As in one of the leading scientists in the development of support gear? He won a Nobel Quirk Prize for his findings! He was All Might’s partner during his early days in America, not to mention he’s responsible for All Might’s glorious costumes… Young Age, Bronze Age, Silver Age, even the Golden Age!!! His work is incredible! “I know, right, Midoriya!? I actually based the Defenders on some of the gear David Shield developed for All Might!!!”

Izuku leaps back in momentary confusion; Melissa and the others are still helplessly confused.

The green haired boy and pink haired girl intrigue Melissa.

After settling down at a nearby café in order to clear up a few things, Melissa got to know some of Eijiro’s classmates. The bubbly brunette was Ochako Uraraka, the prim and proper ponytail was Momo Yaoyorozu (she had heard that name somewhere before), and the headphone girl was Kyoka Jiro. Melissa had already received the pleasure(?) of meeting Eijiro’s friend Katsuki Bakugo, before he decided to blast off to who knows where.

Melissa got the feeling that his temper was a common occurrence.

Then there were the last two new people on her list. The pink haired girl introduced herself as Mei Hatsume. She wasn’t classmates with Eijiro, per say, but she was in UA’s Support Course, so she had Melissa’s respect. The blonde didn’t know what to make of Mei’s subsequent sobs of joy, however. Then there was the green haired boy. His name was Izuku Midoriya. He was going to be formally transferred to the Hero Course in the summer.

He was Quirkless.

Melissa had never met another Quirkless person before today. The closest she had gotten to that was Papa, but even she could tell that his quirk made him substantially different. (There had been a long discussion after that one time Melissa accidentally broke her fingers because she didn’t know about quirks then. It had been tedious, filled with tears, and ended with a plate of cookies.) Melissa had been eager to know more about the boy. She asked him what she should refer to him as.

“De-” he paused, a flicker of hesitation on his face before being overcome with resolve, “Izuku is fine.”

The UA students had so many stories to tell. They were all so amazing in their own right. Even Mei’s talks about her “babies” had been engaging, although that was probably because Melissa was also an engineer. Izuku’s journey to the Hero Course was also something that sounded like it was from a novel. A modern day hero’s journey. The flow of conversation was interrupted by two more Hero Course students, Denki Kaminari and Minoru Mineta, who came by to hand out drinks. They were off put by Tenya Iida, who had also come to the expo to represent the Ingenium family. Melissa was really curious now.

Then an explosion went off at the Villain Attack attraction, and all hopes of further discussion were thrown out the window.

The sun began to set along the horizon as the I-Island Gala drew near.

Katsuki was quick to rush off back to his hotel room. Tenya managed to remind everyone of the meet up date before rushing off to get ready (and to try informing Katsuki about the arrangement). Everyone else began to scatter. “Um, Eijiro? Izuku?” Melissa spoke up, catching the two boys’ attention. “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble, could you come by my lab? I have something I want to show you.”

Eijiro agreed in a heartbeat; it took a bit of encouragement from Mei for Izuku to follow.

Melissa’s personal lab was located on the I-Island Academy campus. It was nice and spacey, perfect for a future scientists at work. “Nice place you got, Melissa!” Eijiro approved with a thumbs up. Izuku nodded in agreement. The place looked so official.

He took note of the awards atop the shelf.

“...you’re really talented Melissa,” he murmured in awe. Melissa giggled to herself a bit. “Aw, you flatter me. But I wasn’t always the best student…” She opened the door to a second room, looking amongst the compartments. “I had really bad grades at one point, so I decided to study really hard. I did that because I wanted to become a great hero one day.” This caught the boys’ attention. “Hero? You mean you wanna go Pro, too?” Eijiro asked.

“No,” Melissa spotted, grabbing the item she was looking for, “I gave up on that route early on. I’m Quirkless, after all.”

Silence. Izuku’s head was spinning. Melissa… was Quirkless? “Oh…” the situation dawned on Eijiro, “So you’re just like Midoriya then, right?” Melissa nodded as she stepped out of the second room. She noticed Izuku’s distant expression. “I’m sorry,” he blurted out, a far off look in his eyes. Melissa tilted her head in confusion. “Sorry? What for?” she asked. Izuku looked down at his shoes, his hands fidgeting by his sides. “W-well, it’s just… to be told that you lack something that comes naturally for everyone else… I doubt it’s a good feeling.”
Melissa gave Izuku a sad smile.

“It was shocking for me at first,” Melissa admitted, “But I was lucky enough to have an ideal that I could follow.” Izuku raised his head. “ An ideal? ” Melissa nodded, turning her head to a part of the shelf filled with photos. “My papa. He didn’t have Quirk suited for heroics, but he manages to help people in his own way. That’s what I want to do. If I can’t be a hero on the frontlines, then I can at least be the hero for the heroes, you know?”

Izuku felt Melissa’s hand cup his cheek; her smile had grown more reassuring.

“You don’t have to feel sorry for me, Izuku,” she assured him, “I’ve worked past my limits. I’ll be fine. Besides, haven’t you done the same?” Izuku’s vision began to warble as tears began to form. He closed his eyes while Melissa pulled the boy into a hug, wrapping an arm around him. She understands… , he thought, trickles of sorrow and relief flowing down his face, she understands me . It felt… nice, to be relieved of the internal burden.

Eijiro coughed awkwardly to the side, breaking the atmosphere.

“Oh! Sorry about that Eijiro,” Melissa apologized, breaking the hug. “No no no, it’s fine!” the spiky red head insisted, “I actually think it’s kinda manly that you can talk out your issues like that!” Manly? the two quirkless teens thought. Melissa put those thoughts aside; “I wanted to give you this,” she told Eijiro, handing him a small box. Eijiro opened the box, curious as to what was inside. It was a black strap with a red button on it.

“Go on, try it out,” Melissa urged, wrapping the strap around Eijiro’s wrist.

Once it was fastened on, Eijiro pressed the button, causing the strap turned bracelet to glow and extend, kind of like Melissa’s pogo stick in reverse. Once the bracelet rematerialized, it had turned into a black wrap around gauntlet with a red light. “W-whoa!” Eijiro gasped, surprised at his newest piece of gear. “That’s the Full Gauntlet, if I had to give it a name,” Melissa explained.

Izuku was silently fanboying at the piece of support gear… where was his notebook!?

“When you and Uncle Might first showed up, I noticed some of the bruises you had on your arms. Coupled with the fact that you were limiting yourself at the attraction, I guessed you couldn’t use the newest aspect of your quirk all at once yet.” Eijiro blinked at Melissa’s analysis; she’s right on the bullseye . “I gave you the Full Gauntlet because it can handle the full blow of Uncle Might’s punches about… three times? You’re a fan of Uncle Might, too, aren’t you, Izuku?”

Izuku nodded feverently; there was no denying his inner hero fanboy.

Melissa’s expression softened. “I just want you two to know that I can’t wait to see what kinds of heroes you’ll become. Keep the gauntlet, Eijiro. Just promise me that you’ll use it to help people who need saving. And Izuku? Remember, it’s not just the quirk that makes the hero.” Izuku and Eijiro were reduced to tears at the kind girl’s speech. She’s too nice! Izuku mentally wailed. So inspirational… so MANLY… , Eijiro mentally groaned.

And then Tenya called them loudly through the phone to remind them that they would be late.

Mei stared at the briefcase in their hotel room table.

After Izuku had gotten back to the room and chastised Mei about not getting ready for the party ( oh, that’s why Mr. Power Loader told us to bring fancy clothes! ), he quickly freshened up before putting on his dark red suit and bolting through the door. Mei was finishing up her ponytail, wearing a nice navy blue dress with some stylish white boots beneath the skirt (she would never attempt to wear high heels. Ever.). She spotted the briefcase with Izuku’s Defenders laying idly on the table. He said something about them being too out of place for the festivities.

Whatever , thought Mei as she grabbed the briefcase; if she was carrying her PSC (Portable SuperComputer) to the party, Izuku was bringing his Defenders along for the ride.

…

Izuku could never have good things without something bad immediately following after.

Of all the times for a villain attack, it had to be tonight. They just had to get past I-Island security, hack into the island’s mainframe, and promptly leave the entire island hostage. And while everyone was being restrained against their will, the small group of UA students and Melissa were busy hiding elsewhere. Shoto wanted to help. Tenya and Momo advocated against it. As for Izuku…

“I want to save everyone,” he interrupted, standing up.

Minoru called him crazy, said it was another USJ incident waiting to happen. “This is different, Mineta,” Izuku corrected, “We’re not trying to fight the villains. We just need to get the island’s security system back under control, right?” The students were hesitant about the idea, but… “I’m with Midoriya,” Ochako declared, “What’s the point of being a hero if we can’t save anyone.” “I’m with Midoriya, too,” Shoto agreed. “Not like there’s much of an alternative,” Kyoka muttered.

“You’ll need this, Midoriya,” Mei called out, throwing him a briefcase.

Izuku caught it in his hands, recognizing it immediately. He looked back to to Mei; she shrugged. “I had a feeling we might need it.” She turned towards the others; “I won’t be much help in a slugfest, but I should be able to help realign the security system with my handy dandy PSC.” She held her PSC in her hand for emphasis. “Of course, I haven’t learned how to stealth hack just yet, so somebody’s gonna have to restore the entire security system directly from the main motherboard.”

“Leave it to me,” Melissa volunteered.

Mei nodded. “Then we have an agreement. Any objections?” Mei looked around the room. No one said anything, and Minoru was stifling what little complaints he had left. Tenya sighed. “Fine, we’ll go through with it. But for the record, if any of us step out of line, we’re pulling back immediately. Understood?” There was a rousing chorus of approval. Mei grinned as she opened up her PSC.

Go get ‘em, Hero Course!

…

Eijiro is stunned at his lack of navigational skills.

After his meeting with Melissa, he had to run back to the hotel room to get his suit on. He managed to convince Katsuki to come along, too, although he tried refusing. Thank God Eijiro had bought the extra suit (he wanted to wear the one with the flower vest, but decided to give that one to Katsuki because he’s an opportunist). Once the suits were on, they headed off to the party.

If only Eijiro would have remembered to ask Melissa or All Might where the party was.

They somehow got to the 80th floor of the building, which looked like one big greenhouse. “Hey, what are you dumb kids doing here, eh?” Eijiro felt himself tense; who was there? He turned to his side to find two men in black uniforms. Guards from the looks of it, angry ones at that. This probably wasn’t where the party was at. “What was that, bastard?” Katsuki hissed. Eijiro held him back, opting for a more diplomatic approach.

“Sorry, sirs! We’re trying to get to the reception for tonight’s party. Do you happen to know where that is?”

Eijiro expected for the guards to soften up and direct them to the reception. Perhaps they would at the very least insult them, but guide them nonetheless. Big nope . Once Eijiro heard one of the “guards” snarl, his stomach churned unpleasantly. “You can’t fool me, you brat!” The lankier villain called out, ripping his glove as he activated his quirk and sent a shockwave Eijiro’s way. Katsuki started to step up, while Eijiro felt his second quirk beginning to activate.

It was all stopped by a familiar glacier.

Once the panic of the situation died down, Eijiro turned his head, surprised to see his fellow classmates hiding within the greenery. Before he could get answers, the “guards” broke through Shoto’s ice wall, and the shorter one began to bulk up, turning himself into a purple hulk of a beast. Shoto sent an ice wave towards it, but the brute kept thrashing through it effortlessly, and he was heading dead straight for Katsuki.

“BAKUGO!” Eijiro cried, throwing himself in front of the ash blonde.

The hit connected to Eijiro’s skin, and he got sent flying. He managed to stop himself short of crashing into the wall by using One for All, stomping his foot into the ground and stopping his flight. He looked back towards his friends, surprised to see Shoto creating an ice pillar for the rest of them. He ran back to the scene, his Riot Rush now fully active and crackling red lightning on his skin (at 5% power of course). “What’s going on here, Todoroki!?” Eijiro questioned, concern evident on his face.

“You didn’t hear the broadcast? A group of villains is holding the island hostage.”

Eijiro blanked. Villains on I-Island? But All Might said this place was as secure as Tartarus! Then again, UA was supposed to be super safe, too… Why were all the safe spaces suddenly becoming more vulnerable!? He looked up the ice pillar, then back down to the fight in front of him. He could stay and fight with the Shoto and Katsuki… but he still hadn’t completely grasped Riot Rush. Even with Melissa’s Full Gauntlet, he couldn’t guarantee that he’d finish the fight in three blows or less. So…

“You guys can handle this, right!?” he shouts to the two powerhouses; Katsuki yells something that roughly translates to “Yes” if you removed the cursing, while Shoto aids in Eijiro’s escape.

…

After a wall jumping Eijiro joined their party, the group of heroes-to-be came at an impasse.

Mei had managed to make contact with them through the speakers in the tower. I-Island’s security was heavily encrypted, so she wouldn’t be able to do much other than to follow them through the security cameras and maybe hack one or two security bots. They were currently inside the server room, which was especially difficult for Mei to hack into since the firewalls were extra impenetrable there. “I’m not gonna be able to hack that many bots!” the mad scientist exclaimed through the speakers, “You guys have to take some sort of shortcut!”

Thus, the quartet of Eijiro, Melissa, Ochako, and Izuku found themselves in front of the wind turbines.

“I can fly us up there,” Izuku suggested, “The Defenders should be able to accomodate one more person on my weight load.” “Are you sure about that?” Eijiro asked, “And even if it were true, how would you be able to get into the building? You can’t exactly maneuver and punch at the same time, and now’s not the time to pull anymore risks!” “That’s why you and Ochako are here,” Melissa explained, “She can negate our weight so Izuku won’t have to pull up as much, and you can get us in there with a full powered punch.”

There wasn’t enough time to argue; once their weight was removed, Melissa latched onto Izuku, while Eijiro let Ochako direct his flight path.

Izuku hovered close to Eijiro, allowing him to grab onto his ankle as they cut across several dozen floors. Eijiro risked a glance back to see… “URARAKA!!!” The others turned back, too, noticing that Ochako was about to be overwhelmed by a horde of security bots. “Ochako, get out of there!” Melissa warned. “No can do! You guys still aren’t high enough on the tower; I can’t release my quirk yet!” Izuku bit back a curse, increasing the output on his Jetstream boosters to get up there faster. Almost there , he thought, come on, almost there!

...for all the rotten crap Izuku had to put up with, this was one of the few times it actually reversed itself.

As if by a miracle, one of the robots began to glitch, briefly giving off sparks for a second. When it resumed “normal” functioning, it’s light was glowing… pink!? It began wrapping its capture cords around its fellow metallic brethren, slowing down their approach. A sudden explosion demolished another sector of the robots. “Bakugo!” Eijiro exclaimed; looks like the villains had been taken care of! “Don’t forget Hatsume!” Izuku added, “She’s probably the one controlling the pink bot!”

Izuku noticed how high they were beside the tower.

“Kirishima, I think this is the spot… do your thing!” Izuku exclaimed; Eijiro nodded in understanding. Izuku began to swing his leg, while Eijiro swung from his ankle, giving him enough momentum to reach the wall. Once he released his grip, Eijiro clasped his fist tight, the Full Gauntlet surrounded by red lightning. One powerful *THOOOM!* later results in a noticeable chunk in the wall.

Izuku and the gang fly in, catching Melissa as Ochako releases her quirk’s effects.

…

Izuku was paralyzed.

One of his biggest idols next to All Might… the incredible David Shield… he had betrayed them? But… but why? Why go through all this trouble and put so many lives at risk when he was held in such high regard? Melissa and Eijiro shared his sentiments, as David looked at the floor guiltily. “...it was for All Might.” ...what? “You kids probably don’t know about this, but… All Might’s quirk has been disappearing. And recently, it’s gotten a lot worse.”

Izuku freezes; he doesn’t notice the way Eijiro looks even more tense than he does.

“We did this because we wanted to give him this,” David continues, drawing their attention to the mysterious item in the briefcase, “It’s a quirk enhancer. Unlike the various quirk drugs, this device can amplify the user’s quirk without repercussions. I could get All Might back to his prime… no, better than his prime. I could give the Number One Hero… the Symbol of Peace… I could give back his light and so much more.”

David grabs the briefcase from Sam; “Please, just give this to All Might. I’ll face the consequences deemed necessary so long as he has this.”

It’s at that point where things go downhill. It turns out that the fake villains were actually villains (not that hard to notice, in all honesty), and the actual boss of the entire affair uses his Metal Manipulation quirk to bind Eijiro and Izuku onto the wall. Sam ends up betraying David because he wanted the cash, and then the actual boss (Wolfram apparently) proceeds to shoot Sam because he just doesn’t care.

Wolfram then proceeds to shoot a repentant David and then beat Melissa to the side, and Izuku and Eijiro have had it .

Izuku ends up striking out of the metal with 100x physical force, which he’s pretty sure is beyond lethal for the gauntlets’ capabilities. Eijiro is right beside him, red lightning crackling around him like crazy. They both rush towards Wolfram, planning to double deck him, when he raises as protective wall, leaving them to put a sizeable dent in it. The duo manage to look towards Melissa, picking herself off the floor…

…

Melissa…

...we promise we’re gonna get everyone out of here…

...we’ll save everyone…

...All Might, our friends, your father…

...so we’ll handle the villain…

...and you can handle the island!

…

…

Leave it to me!

…

Izuku gasped for breath as he viewed the wreckage, a broken quirk amplification device in his hand.

The battle had been intense. Even when All Might had managed to get past the chopper, Wolfram had used the quirk amplification device in a last ditch effort to kidnap David Shield and to kill All Might. He had gotten a major buff, and All Might could only barely keep up with him. It was a miracle that their friends had arrived, even more so that Eijiro and All Might had managed to pull off one final super move against Wolfram.

He was currently hanging by his coat on a bent metal pole out cold.

Izuku managed to walk up to the hill where Melissa and Eijiro were, collapsing onto the floor. This vacation had been exhausting . “Heh… good riddance,” Izuku sighed in relief, crushing what remained of the amplification device in his gauntlet. “You think we did good work today?” he asked, the fatigue finally settling in. Eijiro laughed; it was tired, it was strained, but it was genuine, happy laughter all the same. “Hell yeah we did good!” he hollered, coming off of his adrenaline high. Melissa held her hand out to Izuku, who found the strength to take it and pull himself up.

The sun rose above the horizon, as Mei rushed up to the roof at top speed to see if everyone was okay.

Chapter Text

...Some Time After The Final Exams…

“Settle down,” Mr. Aizawa deadpanned, causing the class to gradually fall silent.

The atmosphere was high with excitement and a bit of anxiety. The students if Class 1-A that had failed the Final Exam were upset at the prospect that they wouldn’t get to go to the training camp. Hanta was worried, too, even though he technically passed since Minoru carried him out the gate. Izuku felt the last minute panic suggestions build up in his mind, making him question if getting past the escape gate was enough for him.

“Well, the good news is that most of you didn’t fail too horribly-”

This is met with a deafening wave of cheers, before Mr. Aizawa uses his quirk to bring the volume back down. “...as I was saying, most of you passed. Glad to see you’re taking what you’ve learned to heart. The other good news is that the students who failed will still get to go to the training camp-” Another wave of cheers, another glare from Mr. Aizawa. Tenya goes off about how this “immoral practice will wane the students’ faith in their teacher” or something like that.

Mr. Aizawa’s eyes light up a bit; “Well, I wasn’t lying completely when I said there’d be repercussions…”

“Ashido, Kaminari, Sato, Kirishima…” The four students winced as their names were called out. “You four will be doing remedial classes with me while we’re at the camp. As for the teams that fought Midnight and All Might…” Izuku’s fear hit him like a brick; this was it, this is where his heroic dreams died once and for all- “All four of the participants in their respective tests managed to make it out the gate. However, two of you were incapacitated during the test, and had to have your partners go back and carry you out.”

“Bakugo and Sero, you will also be taking remedial exams.”

Izuku blinks. Hanta just accepts his fate with a sigh as resigned as Mr. Aizawa on a bad day. Katsuki… “HOW THE FUCK-!?” He’s already on his desk with his palms crackling with mini-explosions, before Mr. Aizawa erases his quirk. “I’d advise you to sit back in your seat, Bakugo,” Mr. Aizawa warns, voice low and in no way friendly, “Or remedial courses won’t be the only thing you’ll be receiving…” There’s a tense moment where it looks like Katsuki is about to go completely feral, Quirkless or not.

Katsuki grumbles, dropping back into his chair with a *THUD*.

“I’ll admit that the decision to fail you was not an easy one, Bakugo,” Mr. Aizawa explained, “You’re one of the best students we’ve had in this school, barring your behavior. Your failure wasn’t the worst of the bunch, however. You lasted longer than Sero proportionally speaking, and you helped contribute to handicapping your opponent when you felt necessary. However, I cannot overlook the fact that you still got yourself beat to unconsciousness.”
“If All Might had been a real villain, and if that was a solo mission, you’d be dead , Bakugo.”

“Midoriya made mistakes, too, but he made up for them in the latter half. He was focused on running away in the beginning, but decided to stay and fight later on, retreating when it was necessary. You were focused on fighting from the start, but you only retreated once or twice. This was what cost you the exam, Bakugo. Midoriya got a few hits in before bolting for the gate; that would have been a good time to follow his example. Instead, you decided to try fighting your opponent some more, and even when your partner came to help, he was still blown back, and you were ultimately defeated.”

“I don’t know if we’d pass or fail Midoriya if he walked out of the gate alone at that point, but we do know that you failed the exam when you made that decision, Bakugo.”

Katsuki is silent, his hair shadowed by his eyes. “You’ve made remarkable progress since your time here, Bakugo, but you’re going to have to put a bit more effort into it besides the physical. Understand?” Bakugo gives a gruff nod. “Good. Speaking of which, Midoriya?” Izuku goes ramrod straight in his seat; “Y-yes?” he squeaks. “Nice work during the Final Exam. Your technique was a bit sloppy, but I think we can fix it up once you’re fully inducted into the Hero Course. Welcome to Class 1-A. I hope to see you at the training camp, as well.”

Izuku is in a dreamlike daze for the rest of the period until Ochako invites him to the mall.

...Present Day…

The vast array of forest trees gave Izuku a sense of ease.

Sure, they’d be doing training, but at least they’d get a bit of rest before that. It would be in the wide open spaces, too! Just him in the wild with his friends… well, except Mei. She was stuck in her lab since she wasn’t a Hero Course student. He gets a text from Hitoshi. [Hatsume will be fine] Izuku stares at the text. How did Hitoshi- [I have my ways] Well, that was another bit to add to Hitoshi’s profile. Undisclosed Psychic Abilities. Possibly a side effect of the subject’s quirk.

The bus decided to make a pit stop; Mr. Aizawa pulled Izuku to the side as the other students got off.

“I know this is a break spot, kid, but I’ve heard rumors that some… tasteless bandits tend to roam around these parts.” Izuku is certain that Mr. Aizawa is either joking or on something, but his deadpan delivery makes it hard to tell. “What I’m saying is, you might want to grab your support gear. Better yet, put it on. You can take it off once we’re done here.” Right , Mr. Aizawa But seriously, why would his teacher insist on Izuku activating his support gear in… the middle… of… nowhere.

LOGICAL RUSE, DAGNABIT!

Without visibly displaying that he’s caught on, Izuku follows Mr. Aizawa’s suggestion. He grabs his briefcase off the bus, entering the pin like usual and opening it for the contents. His Neural Headband and the Defenders still sit in their places, but there’s also a new addition. Two sturdy looking boots with the inverse color scheme of the defenders: green taking the spotlight while white outlined the rest. Mei had called them the Impound Soles. They were meant to stabilize his flying, but they could also be used to give his kicks a bit more oomph.

And what better place to learn how to use them than at a training camp?

Izuku straps on his gear as indiscreetly as possible, which isn’t hard considering that everyone else was busy looking for the bathrooms. Once Izuku’s finished, another car arrives on the scene. “Yo, Eraser! Long time no see!” Izuku stops fiddling with his gear for a moment. That voice… oh he knows that voice. Any heroic fanboy worth their weight KNOWS that voice. Especially if they were into the many animal themed heroes among the Pro Hero Community.

Izuku felt his fanboy senses go off full force once the door opened.

A woman with auburn hair and another woman with blonde hair (both wearing different colored cat suits) leapt out of the vehicle, posing dramatically. “These are the Pros who will be supervising your training, the Pussyca-” “THE WILD WILD PUSSYCATS!” Izuku interrupts, drawing all attention onto himself, “THEY’RE A FOURSOME OF HEROES WHO WORK TOGETHER AND CO-OWN THEIR OWN AGENCY! MANDALAY’S THE ONE IN RED WITH A ONE WAY TELEPATH QUIRK, AND THE BLUE ONE IS PIXIE-BOB, HER EARTH FLOW LET’S HER CONTROL THE EARTH TO HER HEART’S CONTENT! I DON’T KNOW WHERE TIGER AND RAGDOLL ARE, BUT ALL TOGETHER THIS WILL BE THEIR TWELFTH YEAR WORKING AS A TEA-”

It’s at this point that Pixie-Bob conveniently decides that Izuku has said too much.

“I like your spunk kid, but at heart I’m 18!” she “corrects,” to Mandalay’s visible dismay. “You got that? At heart…” “Y-you’re 18!” Izuku replies, muffled within Pixie-Bob’s cat paw, “Can you put me down, now, Ms. Pixie-Bob?” The Pro Heroine coos at Izuku’s politeness, letting him go and allowing him to slowly back away. He doesn’t notice the short kid glaring at him and the rest of the students.

Mandalay clears her throat, attempting to steer the day back on course.

“Well, kitties, we own this huge plot of land out there, pretty much as far as you can see!” Mandalay gestures to the vast expanse of forest beyond their rest spot. “You see the base of the mountain all the way down there? That’s where the camp is!” This connects the last pieces of the puzzle for Izuku, who’s closer to the railing than the other students when they realize things are gonna head south.

“Why are we all the way out here, then?” Ochako asks, and the mood shifts.

Izuku inches slightly closer to the railing as the unease begins settling in for the others. “N-no, they wouldn’t…” Rikido mumbles. “M-maybe we should head back to the bus,” Hanta suggests, “ Quickly .” Izuku sees the tips of Mr. Aizawa’s mouth curl ever so slightly into a grin, and he also notes that Mandalay and Pixie-Bob are sporting mischievous grins of their own. It’s time . “ LOGICAL RUUUUUUSE!!! ” he shouts, leaping onto the railing. He looks over his shoulder one last time to everyone else, a mysterious glint in his eye.

“PIXIE-BOB, DO YOUR THING!” And then Izuku jumps.

Had he bothered to look back, he’d notice that Pixie-Bob’s expression would have grown even more crazed, but the sound of yelps and sweeping earth following right behind him let’s Izuku know that the Pro Heroine did the deed. While the rest of Class 1-A fell down in the earth slide, Izuku activated his gear, allowing him to fly above the trees. He heard Mandalay say something about kitties not getting lunch after noon. Besides, how hard could traversing a forest be?
“ SHKRAAAA!!! ” What the heck?

Izuku’s plan for getting to camp is cut short when something resembling a freaking pterodactyl lunges out of the forest. Izuku manages to catch it time to narrowly dodge, letting it zip past him. When the monster manages to turn and try rushing him again, Izuku is ready. Maybe he should give the Impound Soles a test run. Blasting himself in the beast’s direction, he swivels, throwing his leg out and using a bit more power than necessary.

His leg cuts through the beast like hot butter, before it explodes in a cloud of earth.

With the beast defeated, Izuku continues his trek to the camp, only to cross another beast. This time, Izuku decides to use the Defenders. He rushes the beast like before, only to dive under its belly and deliver a solid punch to the stomach, effectively cracking it and causing it to gradually fall apart. He claws away whatever’s left of it. I wonder how the others are doing , he thinks. He stops for a second. His classmates are still down there. They’re likely fighting those things, too.

...holy crAP IZUKU YOU IDIOT...!

As Izuku is diving into the forest to repent for his negligence, Eraserhead and Mandalay continue observing from the rest spot. “Aw man,” Pixie-Bob whines, “I was just getting started with that kitty...” “He’s the one from Gen Ed?” Mandalay inquires, “He’s got a decent combat sense on him…” “We’re still ironing out the kinks,” Eraserhead tells her, “They all have work to do. That’s why we’re here.” “Are you sure we should be pushing them like this so soon?” Mandalay asks; Eraserhead nods. “They’ve already been attacked by villains in their first year. If they can get their Provisional Licenses sooner, that means they can defend themselves sooner.”

“AW POO, RED KITTY AND GREEN KITTY BLEW UP MY BEASTIE!!” Pixie-Bob wailed.

“Besides, they’ll be fine,” Eraserhead continued, “It isn’t their first rodeo. Likely won’t be their last, either.” He begins walking back to the bus, Mandalay following. “I can’t imagine what it must be like, facing villains in the first year,” the Pro Heroine pondered, “How will Gen Ed keep up?” “Oh, I didn’t say? Apparently Midoriya has had a few run ins with villains, too, from what I’ve heard…” Eraserhead explains.

The sounds of earthy explosions and agony rage on in the Beast’s Forests as Mandalay calls for Kota.

If Izuku had managed to stick to his flight plan, he could have gotten to camp some time around 10:00 AM.

Instead, he went back, and after dealing with the backlash of betrayal (which he deserved), he proceeded to help his fellow classmates get past Pixie-Bob’s earth beasts, which was definitely easier said than done. Even with the entire class’ combined manpower, they only managed to get to camp at around 5:30 PM. Where are those kitties? thought Mandalay, waiting alongside Pixie-Bob, Eraserhead, and Kota. They were very late, but luckily they could still have dinner.

Pixie-Bob almost shrieked when she saw a familiar gauntlet cling onto the trees.

“Oh, there you are!” Pixie-Bob cheered once she calmed herself. Mandalay took note of Izuku Midoriya’s appearance. His gauntlets and boots looked like they had taken minor cosmetic damage, his uniform looked dusty and a bit torn, his face was covered in dust and a bit of pebbles, and he had somehow gotten a bunch of twigs in his hair. What made him look even weirder (and somehow even more exhausted) was the fact that two of his classmates, Ochako Uraraka and Eijiro Kirishima, had decided to cling on either side of him, looking just as exhausted.

Is that his method of repay? Mandalay wondered.

“Sorry… guys…” Izuku groaned, before falling onto the floor and revealing that Shoto Todoroki had hitched a ride on his back. “I miscalculated… the power conversions…” Even as Izuku looked worn down, he continued to crawl away from the forests. Whether it was the gauntlets or his own determination, Mandalay didn’t know. “Not… your fault man…” Eijiro coughed, letting go of Izuku and trying to stand back up. “Why didn’t… you just get… lunch…” Shoto groaned, letting go of Izuku so he could regulate his body temperature without burning or freezing his friends.

“Couldn’t leave you guys behind,” Izuku replies, “Wouldn’t be… fair.”

“You’re too nice, Midoriya…” Ochako whines, accidentally letting go of Izuku as she tries to keep herself from throwing up. While Izuku and company continued to pathetically move further away from the Beasts’ Forest, their fellow classmates appeared alongside them, still standing but not in much better shape. Everyone was scraped and exhausted, and the fact that it was so late did absolutely nothing to help.

Once the entirety of the class was within earshot (with the Izucrew still laying on the floor), Eraserhead tells them to get dinner before they hit the showers.

Momo ends up having to drag Shoto to the dining hall with a rope. Denki gets Eijiro back to his feet, but the redhead insists that he walks (read: limps ) there himself. Tenya ends up bringing Izuku and Ochako back up, carrying them halfway there before they decide they won't immediately topple over. Izuku notices the kid from earlier. He tells his friends to go on ahead while he introduces himself.

His balls are broken alongside his dignity on that day.

Hitoshi had no idea what to expect.

Getting into the Hero Course after the Final Exams was enough of a surprise. Sure, he was stuck in Class 1-B with Vlad King instead of Eraserhead, but his classmates were nice enough. Kendo was sane, Neito was surprisingly chill when he wasn't antagonizing 1-A, and he was pretty sure the he and Reiko were bonding over their mutual love of being cryptids. There was an odd sense of normalcy amongst the second Hero Course class.

The exact opposite of what they were witnessing with Class 1-A.

Thee entire field before them was in chaos. Shoto was sitting in a tub of water, freezing and boiling it in rapid succession. Denki is attempting to charge a car battery (or is the car battery overcharging him?), and the process looks excruciating. Hanta is letting out as much tape as possible, but his wailing lets everyone else know that he’s not enjoying it. Bakugo is dipping his hands in hot water, trying to create bigger explosions (is that really necessary?).

All in all, Class 1-A looks like they’re going through hell.

For a moment, Hitoshi wonders why he couldn’t find Izuku amongst the madness, but the sound of combat draws his attention to the side of Class B. A few feet away from the class is Izuku, currently sparring with what looks to be one of the Pro Heroes helping them train. Tiger, if Hitoshi remembers right. Their spar is… kinda brutal, to be honest. Hitoshi wonders if Izuku would be performing better with his gear.

Izuku’s back hits the floor before he drags himself back up; maybe he needs this training...

It’s hard not to notice Kota.

Well, if you’re Izuku, that is. Kinda hard to forget the kid who hit you where the sun doesn’t shine… and the kid who almost fell to his death. It was after the latter incident where Mandalay had told him about Kota’s past. His parents were heroes. They had been fighting a villain when… they died. Izuku can connect the rest of the dots from there. So Kota hates heroes. He really can’t understand that.

...or could he?

Heroes were human, after all. Humans were messy. All Might seemed supernatural to Izuku before his first encounter with a hero. As the pinnacle of heroism deflated before his middle school eyes, so did the importance of heroism with it. Endeavor was another example. He was the Number Two Hero, and yet he had somehow abused his family without the public’s knowledge. Not even the more sensational hero news outlets considered the possibility.

It was rather unsettling.

From that perspective, Izuku could partially understand. There were times when he caught the look in Kota’s eyes every now and then. He could feel the rage stemming from those eyes. It wasn’t wild and thrashy like Kacchan, or cold and calculated like Shoto had been. It hadn’t even been as dark and terrifying as the mall villain (he could still occasionally see those red eyes in his sleep). No, Kota’s anger was something else entirely: it was wild, but uncertain, partially bubbled up but partially let out, like it was trying to make sense of something.

Kota hadn’t seen the death of two heroes; he’d seen the death of his mother and father.

Kota didn’t recognize that his parents had sacrificed themselves for the greater good. All he had seen and heard was that his parents dying was a good thing; that was insensitive to Kota. To be all alone, severed from the people who truly cared about you. To be surrounded by people who claim to get it, but in practice they don’t. To wander amongst the living day after day, trying to come to terms with events that you still can’t understand, trying to reach someone, anyone-!

Izuku shakes his head from the thoughts; Kota’s probably hungry.

…

It’s Hosu and I-Island all over again.

As Izuku forces himself to stand before the behemoth known as Muscular, he comes to the terrifying conclusion that he misses the aura Stain gave off. Muscular is just sending out intentions of pure murder with no regard for anything else. Worse still is the fact that they’re apparently looking for Kacchan. Izuku’s only saving grace is the fact that he got his gear just before they were supposed to be doing the Test of Courage.

He’s really starting to hate having to use it in coincidences like these.

He tries blocking a fist from Muscular, but instead ends up breaking his arm. His quirk is quite literally muscle, and from the looks of it, he has plenty to spare. Not one to back down, Izuku lunges forward, using his unbroken arm to throw a 20x punch. Muscular doesn’t look impressed, opting to swat Izuku to the side again. He tumbles, nearly skidding over the cliffside before he claws himself to a stop. He looks back up to see the villain looming ominously over Kota.

Izuku snaps right to Muscular in a heartbeat, hitting a direct 100x punch and sending Muscular into the cliff face.

But of course that isn’t the end. Muscular merely soaked the impact with a huge mass of muscle. Izuku feels his arm getting sore, his broken arm still throbbing in pain. “Kota, jump on! Quick!” he orders. The boy leaps onto his back without question, allowing Izuku to run without restraint, with Muscular hot on their heels. Muscular gets dangerously close at one point, missing Kota but definitely nailing Izuku with that left hook (and getting said left hook stuck in the rock face).

Izuku’s pretty sure that’s gonna give him a concussion later.

He yells at Kota to run while he distracts Muscular, who’s almost free. Kota attempts to protest, but Izuku’s already charging, Muscular mirroring his challenge in a huge mass of muscles. This time, Muscular’s got the upper hand. Even with the Impound Soles, Izuku can’t stand up straight. He’s already crumpling into a heap, the ground beneath him crumbling as Muscular begins to crush him to death. He’s shouting at Kota know, telling him to run while Izuku starts thinking about the his family… his friends…

Mom… Uraraka… Shinso… Hatsume… I’m sorry…

Right as the Grim Reaper is about to claim his soul, he stops short. Izuku can’t feel the weight of the world crashing into him. Instead, he hears something… no, some one else. “STOP IT!!” Kota . Muscular impatiently declares that he’ll kill Kota next; the nail in his coffin. The Neural Headband goes into overdrive, reading Izuku’s sudden swarm of mental demands. His gauntlet’s surge with newfound energy, his boots begin positioning him upright again. Muscular looks in horror as his latest victim comes crawling back from the grave.

Pure instinct takes Izuku over from there.

Using 200 times his power, Izuku breaks free from Muscular’s bondage. With his adrenaline fueled momentum, Izuku swings his broken arm towards the villain. He grits his teeth through the pain as his clawed form flies directly towards the villain. He lets the rush fully take him over, putting all that he has into this one attack. He’s gotta make it count…! Hand meets tendon, tearing any apart at the seams and eventually landing on Muscular’s face, sending him hurtling toward the rock face thoroughly defeated. Izuku had used 1000x strength.

He howls, overcome with emotion; Kota falls to his knees, unbelieving of the scene before him.

…

Izuku’s legs no longer have fuel, bit the fumes force them onward.

He had dropped off Kota with Eraserhead, informing him about the villains’ intentions towards Kacchan. Eraserhead assured him that Kacchan was safe at camp, and he should probably do the same. Izuku couldn't argue, seeing as his good arm was about to give out, and his broken arm was buzzing with numbness. He ran back to camp, delivering Eraserhead’s message to Mandalay while bringing up Kacchan.

The lizard villain shatters Izuku’s world; “Does he mean Bakugo? Dabi said the kid ran off after he attacked the building.”

Izuku never changed directions so fast. To his credit, he eventually did find Kacchan being babysat by Shoto after Izuku and Mezo managed to deal with a raging Dark Shadow. Of course, even after organizing a return squad, Kacchan got kidnapped anyway, and after Ochako bandaged Izuku’s bad arm, Tsuyu slingshotted them towards the villain in hot pursuit. The three boys charged towards the villains after they found the orbs that held them captive.

Mezo got one; Shoto misses the other.

After taking a tumble thanks to the numb giving away to hellish pain, Izuku bolts back to his feet and towards the villain. Three of his thrusters are going off at the highest speed Izuku can get to, his good arm extended and desperation on his face. “KACCHAN!!!” he screeches, watching as the portal closes around the villain and his childhood friend. Watching as Katsuki’s last words were “Stay back, Deku…” The portal closes. Izuku crashes.

...and that night, the forest is haunted by the lone scream of a broken soul.

When Izuku comes to, he’s in a hospital.

Apparently he’s been out for a few days. He had gained significant injuries, including several bruises, a broken arm, and (as Izuku had guessed) a concussion. His classmates all show up when they find out that he’s recovered, even Mei and Hitoshi. That aside, they all seem… cautious around him. That is, until Shoto brings up Kacchan, and suddenly it all comes rushing back.

The villains won… they had taken Kacchan.

Izuku isn’t the only one frustrated with their failure. Eijiro is the first to tell him about their plan. Apparently during the ambush, Momo managed to attach a tracking device to the Nomu the villains brought. He and Shoto were planning on convincing Momo to let them use it, inviting Izuku to come along since he and Kacchan knew each other. Tenya is completely against it, and the rest of the class is hesitant about the idea. The doctor walking in prevents further discussion on the matter.

Izuku doesn’t miss the wary looks on Hitoshi and Mei’s faces, either.

…

“You know, this might be the stupidest thing you’ve ever done…”

“You’re not talking me out of this, Hatsume. I have to do this.”

“...”

“You’re not gonna say anything?”

“I honestly don’t know what to say. Ochako’s against it, your entire class except for Kirishima and Todoroki are against it, Shinso’s against it… hell, even I’m against it.”

“So you don’t want me to go?”

“I’d like that, but knowing you, it wouldn’t matter. You’d go anyway.”

“...why is that a bad thing?”

“You just survived another villain encounter, and now you want to do another one? For BAKUGO of all people!?”

“No one deserves to be kidnapped by villains, Hatsume. Besides, Kacchan’s been getting better-”

“Barely. So what? The heroes will handle it!”

“...what if they can’t?”

“*Sigh* You’re really dead set on saving him aren’t you?”

“I couldn’t reach him back in the forest. I need to fix that.”

“Well, if you really want to go, you’ll probably need this.”

“...the Impound Soles?”

“In the event that you do cross paths with villains, these’ll help. I’d give you the Defenders, too, but you really wrecked them at the Training Camp…”
“S-sorry about that! I’ll make it up to you!”

“You can make it up to me by not dying. Good luck out there.”

…

Izuku was determined to save Kacchan; he got punched in the face for it.

As the fivesome of Izuku, Eijiro, Shoto, Momo, and Tenya walked down the streets of Kamino Ward in their disguises, Izuku caught sight of a jumbotron with… “Mr.Aizawa!?” Momo whispered in shock. Apparently there was a press conference going on at U.A., in light of the recent villain attack of the camp. Even Mr. Aizawa looked presentable for the occasion. Something in Izuku’s gut tightened as the teachers apologized for the ambush… and Kacchan’s kidnapping.

His resolve hardened; they would get back Kacchan.

They finally reach their destination from Momo’s tracker: an abandoned looking building. The villains were clever with their hideouts. Izuku and Eijiro jump on Shoto and Tenya’s shoulders, Eijiro using some expensive looking night vision binoculars to get a good look through the windows. Izuku almost falls over when Eijiro freaks out, and when the redhead hands Izuku his binoculars, he understands why. Nomu, dozens of them residing inside the building. Were they being manufactured here? Before they can ponder it any further, several heroes show up on the scene. Tenya considers it a win, and the group decides to leave.

That is, until HE shows up.

…

Izuku has experienced adrenaline highs before, but none of them have ever been this tiring.

It all started when that super villain (truly, he was worthy of the title) appeared on OHKOed Best Jeanist. Shortly thereafter, the League of Villains and Katsuki appeared from masses of grey. Then All Might showed up, and the mystery villain held him back like he was nothing. Izuku’s mind was running at Plus Ultra miles per hour, desperately trying to come up with a plan.

*Ding!* One of the light bulbs went off.

Izuku and Tenya positioned themselves on either side of Eijiro, who hardened himself while Shoto prepared the ramp. Kacchan wouldn’t leave the fight even if he could; he’d be more concerned with taking down the villains while doing his best to stay out of All Might’s way. The only way to get him out of there was to convince him, and he’d need a friend to do that… a friend like Eijrio.

Izuku felt chills rush up his spine as the Impound Soles activated and Shoto generated a humungous ice ramp.

Eijiro helped rocket the three of them up the ice ramp, holding out his hand with a “Come on, Bakugo!” towards Kacchan. The blonde noticed their flight and, after a brief pause, created a gigantic explosion, propulsing himself towards the group and latching onto Eijiro’s hands. “Morons…” he grumbled, a snarky grin on his face. After managing to make it back down to Earth miraculously (Izuku hadn’t thought about landing) the group camouflaged themselves within the crowd, watching as the battle between All Might and the mystery villain raged on.

Izuku had forgotten that All Might’s true form had been a secret.

To his surprise, the crowd began cheering out their support for the hero, in spite of his emaciated form. It didn’t matter that their Symbol of Peace had supposedly been broken; they still wanted him to win. Their faith had not shattered, it had surged . The Rescue Squads cheers joined the rest of the crowd, as All Might found the resolve within him to buff up his right arm. Something about that felt strangely familiar to Izuku and Eijiro.

Izuku felt his heart soar at the United States of Smash; Eijiro felt his heart shatter with the “Next, it’s your turn.”

Izuku froze on himself when All Might showed up in the doorway.

He had known about the new dorm policy U.A. had been planning, but he’d thought Mr. Aizawa would show up. “Hello, Young Midoriya,” All Might began awkwardly, “...is your mother home?” Izuku nodded stiffly, calling for his mom. “C-come on in, All Mi-” “Yagi,” the former hero corrects. Izuku stops. “Y...Yagi?” he questions. All Might nods. “I’ve figured that you of all people deserve to know me by my real name.”

Izuku pauses for a few more seconds, before he briefly nods and heads inside, All- Yagi following behind him.

…

Izuku’s breath hitched as he looked at the beauty that was the Heights Alliance dorms.

His classmates shared his sentiments as they trickled onto the property. How was this constructed in just 3 days!? Izuku mentally exclaimed. His thoughts began to settle down as Mr. Aizawa approaches them from the front. “All right, problem children, listen up,” he begins, quieting the rest of the class, “As you all know, UA has implemented a dormitory system, the Heights Alliance. You’ll be residing in the dorms behind me. You’ll live here, eat here, work here, and if time permits, have ‘fun’ here.”

“Before I let you explore your new home, I have something else to say…”

Izuku can feel the incoming tone shift a mile away, but it still feels like the ice bucket challenge when it hits him. “If things had gone worse over the past few days, everyone in this class would have been suspended or expelled, except for Hagakure and Jiro. Kirishima, Todoroki, Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, Iida…” Izuku feels cold as his name is called out. “...you all went out and intervened in Pro Hero duties without a license. That’s an act of borderline vigilantism. There are twelve of you who knew what they were planning to do but told no one, which makes you all accomplices.”

...but what did Kacchan do wrong?

“As for you Bakugo, I know being kidnapped by villains is probably not a pleasant experience, but that could have been avoided if you stayed put. You were ordered to stay within the building at camp, and instead you went out, nearly got cornered by a villain, and got kidnapped by another. You may be a hero in training, but that’s just it, Bakugo. You are not a full fledged hero yet, and until you are no longer my responsibility, I expect you to stop pulling these stunts. Understand?”

Bakugo’s eyes are shadowed by his hair; “Yeah,” he replies through gritted teeth.

“The good news is that nothing went horribly wrong. The five renegades managed to abide by the laws, save for their final stunt, but Bakugo was retrieved successfully without any major casualties. Had that not been the case, well, you already know what would happen…” The class simultaneously shivered at the implied threat. “Well, I’ve said my piece. Enjoy your time here at the dorms. Go on, get used to the place.”

Eraserhead walks off, leaving his class in the dumps until Katsuki makes Denki electrocute himself (and also gives Eijiro some money as thanks).

“Hatsume!” Izuku greets as he, Ochako, and Tenya walk into the lab.

Mei immediately drops what she was doing (using a wrench, thank God it wasn’t a blowtorch) as she blinks over to the group. “Hey, Midoriya! What brings you and your friends here?” the mad scientist asks. The group goes on to discuss upgrades: Tenya wants to find away to extend his engine time without stalling, and Ochako needs more gear to suppress her nausea. Izuku needs a more secure version of the Neural Headband (it had nearly fallen off during some training sessions), and possibly something to protect his face?

With the tasks in mind, Mei sets off to work her technological magic.

…

Izuku’s improved piece of gear is exactly what Izuku needed to come up with a special move.

The Countenance Guard, as Mei had dubbed it, was a fusion of a more secure Neural Headband and Izuku’s suggested protective visor. The Neural Headband hooked around the back of his head, as it did in the past, but it was slightly wider and a the slightest bit thinner. A silver respirator covered his mouth from the nose down. Finally, a green tinted visor with a UI built into it covered is eyes, provided minor protection, and even had a built in UI!

...which led to the creation of Izuku’s new super move.

“Remember Ojiro, attack me when I least expect it,” Izuku reminded. The tailed hero in training gave no response, likely to follow Izuku’s wishes. When it looked like the green haired student was unsure about whether or not Mashirao was still there, he attacked, preparing to swipe his tail and knock Izuku down.

[INCOMING ATTACK!] the visor displayed; perfect .

Using the Impound Soles, Izuku launched himself into the air, dodging the attack. While in mid air, he propelled himself forward towards the shocked Mashirao, preparing to deliver a powerful gauntlet strike. Unable to counter in time, Mashirao braced himself for the impact… that never came. Izuku’s punch was mere centimeters away from his face, and the green haired student himself was hovering in midair. Eventually, he allowed himself to return to the laws of gravity, his fist turning into a handshake as Mashirao grasped it.

The ability to predict attacks or hazards and then deal with them accordingly: Defensive Counterplay .

...One Provisional License Exam Later…

Izuku felt a myriad of emotions wash over him as he stared at the result board.

He had gone through the first half of the exam against a horde of other hero prospects (and one really weird Shiketsu student). He had excelled during the second half of the exam, his social handicaps stepping aside for his empathy and heroic spirit. The universe had awarded him accordingly. The efforts of the past few months finally caught up to Izuku in the form of two words among the many on the display board.

Izuku Midoriya .

He felt something light enter his emotional spectrum, his shocked gape slowly being overcome with a wide smile, a light flow of tears escaping his eyes. He would readily admit that he whooped from joy, as did some of his other classmates. All this time in the Hero Course, and now they could use what they learned to help others. ...well, most of them. Izuku felt his mood dampen a bit when he saw that Shoto would not be joining them in heroics immediately.

He failed to notice the same for Katsuki Bakugo.

The second miracle of that day occurred on their way back to the bus. After saying his goodbyes to Hitoshi (who had also managed to pass the exam), he continued to stare at his license card. His shaky grin had been accompanied with the threat of more tears spilling over. “Eh? Midoriya?” Izuku’s head whipped up at the sound of the voice. “You’re really happy about that card, aren’t you?” asked Ochako, a light teasing in her voice. “O-oh, Ochako! S-sorry about that, b-but… I’m just so happy.” Ochako nodded in agreement, before she realized…

Her face slowly began to grow a healthy shade of pink; “D-did you just… call me… O-Ochako?”

Izuku’s eyes widened at his apparent slip up. “O-oh my God, I’m so sorry Ocha- U-Uraraka! I was just so caught up with the fact that I’m finally making progress that I just-” “N-no, no, it’s fine!” Ochako interrupted, unwittingly preventing an incoming mumbling storm. “I-it’s fine if you want to call me Ochako! I mean, we’ve been friends for a while now, right?” Izuku stared at Ochako, like she just told him that he had become the next Number One Hero overnight. “A-are you sure, Urara- O-Ochako?”

Her blush increased ever so slightly, but she nodded nonetheless; “Y-yeah… I’m sure, Izuku.”

After the babbling and blushing continued on for another several minutes, Izuku and Ochako managed to become on a first name basis as they headed to the bus.

Footsteps echoed among the darkness as two individuals headed to Ground Beta.

Izuku hadn’t been this on edge since the start of UA. Kacchan had stopped… taking his aggression out on him since the Sports Festival, but something about this arrangement reminded him of those old times. They shouldn’t be out past curfew, and Izuku should most definitely NOT have his gear on, but… Kacchan had asked him to. He said it was important that they talked tonight.

The lack of anger in those words only affirmed that Kacchan spoke the truth for Izuku.

They stopped in front of a building. Izuku was behind Kacchan, a small distance away. “...this is where I got my first win,” Kacchan begins, but there’s no taunt to it, no pride. “After the Entrance Exam, I mean. Ponytail and Icy Hot managed to snag a win at the Quirk Apprehension Test. But here, for the Battle Trial?” Kacchan laughed, but there was no humor to it.

“I fucking dominated.”

“One of the extras in our class was expelled after the Quirk Apprehension Test; Mr. Aizawa said they didn’t have potential. Considering they couldn’t do better than Grape Hair, I think he was right. So I was placed alone, on the villain team, against Uraraka and Engine Legs. I didn’t think much of it; all I thought about was taking them out. After I gave them both a well-deserved pummeling, I got bored, so I just wrapped them in the capture tape and called it a day.”

“All Might and Mr. Aizawa scolded me over it, but I didn’t care. It had been worth it.”

“It was all so easy in the beginning. Even if that Portal Bastard managed to escape my wrath at the USJ, I pinned him down later. I wanted to let the extras who were gonna challenge us at the Sports Festival know that Katsuki Bakugo was gonna beat ‘em all. But guess who wasn’t there on that day, alongside the Insomniac Asshole? Guess who ended up ruining my perfect reputation?”

Kacchan turned back to Izuku; there was something unrecognizable in his red eyes.

“I knew it was bad news when I figured out that you were still going to UA, even though I tod you to fuck off from doing that. Then you started getting ahead instead of staying put. You got first in the Obstacle Course. You managed to go up against Half-and-Half bastard and actually put up a fight. You got fucking internships, and then you got scouted for the Hero Course…”

“...I had to tag along with your sorry ass for the Final Exams. I’d have been better off alone.”

“Even in the middle of the fucking ocean, you just had to follow me to I-Island. You had to keep yourself in the goddamn spotlight; you HAD to keep improving. Even Kirishima can’t fucking shut up about you nowadays. I hated it. I just wanted to prove that I wasn’t worthless, that I could still be the strongest, even if Teach told me no.

“...funny how that shitshow turned out.”

“And then you of all people have to come and save my ass, and for what? The fucking glory? You’re sorry ass would have been expelled if shit hit the fan, but no, worthless Quirkless Deku manages to be competent!? Fucking hell! And then today, with the License Exam… I don’t know how I fucking failed, but you somehow managed to pass. How!? It got me thinking? Something was wrong. Ever since you came into the picture, you’ve screwed over my chances for success time and time again-”

“I didn’t.”

Kacchan stops stiff at Izuku’s interruption. Something uneasy glows in his eyes. “What.” Izuku doesn’t waver. “I never tried to hinder you, Kacchan. Every mistake you’ve made was yours, not mine. You lost to Ochako fair and square at the Sports Festival; I had nothing to do with that. You would have failed the Final Exams if you went it alone against All Might, because you don’t know retreat until Doomsday is right in front of your face unless someone else comes along and yanks you out of it. I got to go to I-Island because Mr. Power Loader invited me, not because you happened to be there-”

An explosion causes Izuku to shut up.

Izuku can’t see Kacchan’s eyes among his hair. “Fucking Deku…” he whisper-growls, his fist starting to tense up. “You haven’t changed one fucking bit,” Kacchan continuesm “You’re still looking down on me.” The Countenance Guard feels claustrophobic as Izuku feels his adrenaline levels start to rise. “I don’t know you got this far… but I’m gonna fucking find out.” He raises his hands towards Izuku in a challenging gesture.

“You’re gonna fight me, Deku. Right here, right now-” “ No .”

“Hah?” “Did I stutter? I said no, Kacchan. This is ridiculous. I’m going back to the dorms. If we’re lucky, Mr. Aizawa won’t expel us on si-” “‘No?’ ‘No!?’” The hairs stand up straight on Izuku’s neck as he senses danger’s approach. “WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN ‘NO ,’ DEKU!? YOU DON’T GET TO DECIDE THAT!” Before Izuku can panic, he calms himself, before responding, “Yes, yes I do. This is pointless Kacchan. If you think complaining to me about your problems is gonna get you your Provisional License sooner, maybe you should talk to someone else-”

* BOOM!!! * “DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO FUCKING DO, DEKU!!!”

Instinct causes Izuku to activate the visor and jump out of harm’s way before the warning sensors can. “YOU THINK JUST BECAUSE YOU PASSED THAT FUCKING EXAM, YOU HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS!?” Kacchan roared, charging towards Izuku again. “C-CUT IT OUT KACCHAN!!” Izuku yells, his gear helping him avoid the near fatal explosions, “THIS ISN’T THE WAY TO GO ABOUT THINGS!” “ FUCK OFF!!! ” Kacchan retorts, “ I SAID I WAS GONNA FIND OUT WHY THE HELL YOU GOT AHEAD OF ME! NOW SHUT UP AND FIGHT! ”

“NO!” Izuku answers back, nearly earning an explosion to the head.

At one point, Kacchan stumbles, falling on his but into the street. Izuku drops his evasion act, opting to help Kacchan back up. “Are you oka-?” “I DON’T NEED YOUR FUCKING HELP!” Katsuki defies, swatting away Izuku’s hand. “YOU SHOULD BE FIGHTING ME DEKU! WHY AREN’T YOU FIGHTING!?” Kacchan stands back up, and Izuku backs away at this sudden outburst, “WHY THE FUCK WON’T YOU LET ME FIGURE OUT WHAT’S GOING ON!? WHEN DID YOU DECIDE TO FUCKING SURPASS ME!? WHY THE FUCK AM I FALLING BEHIND!?” Kacchan starts choking on tears, although that shouldn’t be possible since Kacchan doesn’t cry.

“Why did I… why did I have to be the reason All Might lost his power?”

The realization hits Izuku like a garbage truck. “If I had just been stronger, then… then he wouldn’t be like that! If I had just been worthy! But no! I had to go and get myself fucking kidnapped! And without my Provisional License… am I just damned to fail!?” Katsuki wails, completely out of it. Izuku is silent through it all, letting Katsuki voice out his frustrations.

When he’s done, Izuku speaks, “...why?”

Kacchan doesn’t look like he knows what Izuku is implying; he decides to continue talking. “Why do you act like this all depends on you , Kacchan? Why can’t you talk to people about stuff like this instead of bottling it up and letting it explode all over the place? It only takes a moment but… you avoid it like the plague! You’re only drawn to people when they give you validation, but the second they say one off thing about you, you just up in leave! And then you’re too afraid to be vulnerable when everyone else is”

“Hell, from the way you’re preaching, you could say I’m responsible for the downfall of All Might!”
“If I didn’t damage myself so badly, I might have been able to reach you. If I could have reached you, you wouldn’t have gotten kidnapped, and none of this would have happened. But I have to constantly remind myself that I did what I could, I can’t do everything; no one can! Why do you have to be the one that does everything? WHy do you have to be Atlas, and the world your sky? Why can’t you see that for once, no man is an island in and of themselves. I’m not here because I’m better on my own… I’m here because there were people who believed in my, and gave me the opportunity to be better than I already was. Not everything is a solo-expedition, Kacchan. Can’t you see that?”

At his words, Kastuki is silent.

Then, a deep sound emerges from his throat. It gets lighter, and lighter, until… he’s laughing? Why is Kacchan laughing? “You… HAHAH… you’re a fucking idiot, Deku!” he spits, his laughing episode gone and done. “You really expect me to buy that horseshit! HAH! You really do look down on me! Am I supposed to believe that these extras can help me. That the actual heros can help me? Bitch, PLEASE!”

“I’m not joking about anything, Kacchan! I meant what I said!” Izuku defends.

“Yeah? Well whoever told you to believe in that horsecrap was a FUCKING LIAR! NOW GET OVER HERE AND SHOW ME THE REAL STORY!!!” Kacchan continues his assault again, forcing Izuku to retreat once more. Izuku runs, evading most of his explosions. “YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!!” Katsuki screeches, “STOP LOOKING DOWN ON ME!!!” Izuku sees Kacchan starting to spiral, indicating he’s about to unleash a Howitzer Impact.

Izuku jumps; a massive explosion rocks the city.

A large chunk of debris ends up hitting Izuku square in the face, knocking of the Countenance Guard and severing his connection to his gear. Without any proper aid on his side, Izuku hurtles back to Earth, crashing into the street and tumbling over and over, each impact more painful than the last. He’s pretty sure more than several of his bones are broken as he crashes into a nearby building. He sees Kacchan approaching even in his blurry vision, his palms glowing white hot.

Katsuki lands a direct hit; Izuku blacks out.

…

It’s early morning when Izuku finds the strength to open his eyes.

From the look of his surroundings, he’s probably in Recovery Girl’s office. Great . Looking out the window, he can see the dark purple making way for the reds, oranges, and blues. How long had he been out. He tries moving his legs, only to realise that there’s something on top of them. Two somethings, actually. Looking at the edge of the bed, he sees Ochako and Hitoshi sleeping on the bedside. Shoto is perched on a chair to Izuku’s left, sleeping soundly.

Izuku nearly screams when he sees Mei on his right, her cold golden eyes focused on Izuku’s soft green.

“How are you feeling?” she asks, her glare softening. “B...better?” he responds, not entirely sure, “A bit sore, though.” “Hmm,” Mei hums in approval, “Do you remember what happened?” Izuku shakes his head, Mei sighs. “You let Bakugo drag you out after curfew for God knows why. I’m guessing you tried to diffuse the situation, but that didn’t get through Bakugo’s thick skull. He ended up hurting you pretty bad. You sure you’re okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine, Mei,” Izuku assured her, “A little disoriented, but fine.”

Mei didn’t seem to buy it. “Really? Bakugo fought you in the middle of the night in spite of your protests, caused you to black out and you’re a little disoriented ?” Izuku blinks; where did that come from. “Um, yeah? Besides, if there was any damage, Recovery Girl fixed it, so it’s fine.” “I’m not talking about injuries anymore, Izuku,” Mei countered, her tone becoming more harsh, “I’m talking about the fact that you’re okay with what Bakugo did to you? Really?”

Izuku shrugged; “Kacchan was just mad. I don’t like that I got pummeled around, but I’m certain it’s out of his system now.”

Mei gaped at the boy, before her eyes lit up with something… angry. “ Pummeled you ? He broke your SPINE; Izuku! He practically shattered your skeleton and burned you to the third degree and you call it pummeling ?” “I thought we weren't talking about injuries.” “It doesn’t matter what we talk about Izuku! Why are you still sticking up for that asshole!?” “Kacchan’s been getting better!” “Has he, though!? He still despises everyone he declares beneath him, and he only knows the names of three people in his class. He calls everyone a demeaning nickname, he can’t even call you Midoriya!” “He calls me Deku!” “AS AN INSULT! Ochako only called you Deku at first because she thought it meant ‘You can do it,’ not ‘WORTHLESS!’” “IT DOESN’T MATTER, MEI! Kacchan will get better, just give him a chance!” “OH, LIKE HOW YOU GAVE HIM A CHANCE AFTER CHANCE AFTER CHANCE FOR THE PAST DECADE!? ”

Izuku shuts up; he looks betrayed. “... go away, Hatsume. ”

He says it out of confusion, out of anguish. He doesn’t know if he means it. He doesn’t see the look of hurt, of sadness on Mei’s face before she complies, getting out of her seat and walking out. She doesn’t slam the door; the others were already awake anyway. Their shocked, looking between the door and Izuku before he eventually caves. He gets out of his bed and runs, runs until he reaches the dorms, runs inside and ignores the shouts of his classmates as he barricades himself in his room. He blocks it all out, the knocks on his door, the worried murmurs of the people outside, the impending chew out he’ll get from Recovery Girl when she finds out he bolted. He lets himself cry over forgotten anguish, feelings and fears he’d buried for who knows how long and then… he’s angry. Angry at Mei, angry at the villains, angry at UA, angry at the world… angry at Kacchan.

No; Bakugo. He was Bakugo now. Kacchan was gone ever since he turned four. Izuku should at least give Mei that much.

Chapter Text

Eijiro needed answers.

Ever since the night of the Provisional License Exam, when a giant * BOOOOOOOMMM! * woke up everyone in the dorms and they all saw Ground Beta up in smoke, things had been more tense than usual. Eijiro had been one of the few to rush towards the scene, trying to figure out what the hell had happened. He wasn’t alone. Ochako and Shoto tailed behind him, as well as that purple haired kid that wasn’t Minoru and Izuku’s friend from the Support Department.

They arrived to something straight out of an post-apocalypse.

Flames were scattered about the area. Buildings had been leveled, and the ones still standing only had their windows (and possibly their structural integrity) compromised. Chunks of the streets and sidewalks were missing, also scattered as debris. The Support Course student (Mei Hatsume, right?) looked like she was scanning the area for something. She locked onto it, a pile of debris in her line of sight.

She leapt onto that thing like it was worth its weight in gold, tearing it apart like a predator to prey.

She stopped when she found what she was looking for. With a shaky hand, Mei pulled out a familiar headpiece… Izuku’s Countenance Guard . Now Eijiro was definitely nervous. Mei began scanning again, while the other Hero Course students spreaded out in order to search for Izuku. What if there was a villain attack and Izuku tried to take them on first? It was manly, sure, but it was also hella dangerou-

Why was Katsuki on the floor?

“Yo, Bakugo! What the hell happened here!?” No response. Katsuki’s head was looking upwards and ahead, so Eijiro knew he wasn’t unconscious. Was he in shock? Eijiro ran over to the scene, yelling out to whomever could hear him that he found Katsuki. “Bakugo. Bakugo, hey.” Eijiro tried waving a hand in front of his face, but Katsuki didn’t even flinch. Eijiro wasn’t about to risk shaking his shoulder, even with his quirk. His gaze shifted to where Bakugo was looking. The remains of a reduced building, now a pile of debris.

...and an unconscious body in front of it.

The others arrived shortly afterward, including a few teachers. Mr. Aizawa is telling the others to stay back, while All Might (now in his true form for good) helps herd the students elsewhere, getting Katsuki back to his seat. Mr. Aizawa examines the body, likely checking for a pulse. From the way the tension leaves his shoulders, Eijiro can tell that he found one. He’s relieved by that. That relief is instantly dashed when Mr. Aizawa picks up the body, carrying it to Recovery Girl. There’s blood dripping off of them, the gear they’re wearing looks absolutely busted, and there’s a huge burn on their chest.

The body is Izuku.

Fast forward to the next day, and Izuku (thankfully healed up it seems), bursts into the dorms and doesn’t even take a second to zip past his classmates, likely to his dorm. In the subsequent confusion, Eijiro noticed someone else decided to book it to their dorm room. He knows something , Eijiro thinks, he’s the only one who knows what happened . Eijiro decides to take the stairs; the elevator is predictably taken, and he can corner who he’s looking for if he runs fast enough. His legs feel like giving out when he actually reaches his destination. Just in time…

“Bakugo,” he calls out to the ash blonde.

Katsuki stops just short of opening his door. “...what do you want, Kirishima?” Eijiro steadies himself; the tone Katsuki was using was a new one. “What happened last night? At Ground Beta?” Eijiro sees Katsuki’s grip tighten slightly against the door. His entire body is tense. “None of your fucking business,” he grunts, turning the door knob. A hand shoots out to stop him. Katsuki looks up, seeing the red lightning fade from Eijiro.

“I saw one of my friends bloody and burned by God knows what,” he states firmly, “I can’t call myself a hero, let alone a man, if I don’t know what happened.”

Izuku needs this.

Mr. Aizawa excused Izuku’s absence that day due to last night’s… incident . The boy knew he had to apologize to Mei at some point, but there was still too much bitterness for it to not come of as sarcastic. So when Izuku walked into class that day, he was surprised to see that they had visitors. The rest of the class also seemed surprised; Mr. Aizawa did not. “Oh, you’re here already?” he mumbled, “Come on in, then.”

And in walked the oddest trio of students Izuku had ever scene.

The first one to enter was a boy who looked like he could be All Might’s secret love child (if All Might was more into early comics than superhero comics). His blond hair was in a waved up mohawk, and his simplistic blue eyes made him look all the more cartoony. The next person to follow was a girl, with long light blue hair and darker blue eyes; she looked like the curious type. Finally, another boy walked in. His hair was black and spiked down, and he avoided eye contact as he stayed close to the girl. He was like a timid ninja.

“Class, meet the pinnacle of performance at UA: The Big Three.”

After a rough and tumble introduction starting with timid ninja (Tamaki Amajiki) having a minor breakdown, curious girl (Nejire Hado) asking questions left and right, and All Might 2: Electric Boogaloo (Mirio Togata) finally garnering the class’ attention, Mirio decided to challenge the class to an all out brawl. The rest of the class was shocked, but Izuku could feel the experience radiating off of the third year. This was gonna be an interesting lesson, especially considering that Izuku was going in without his gear.

Once Class 1-A made it to Gym Gamma, Shoto stood off to the sidelines; Katsuki was still under house arrest.

Once the battle began, Izuku felt the difference in experience immediately. Only a few moments in, and Mirio already had half of the class beat! “The hell!? This guy’s got a strong quirk!” whined Denki, before he got a gut punch immediately afterward. “Stay focused, guys! There’s gotta be a weakness somewhere!” Eijiro encouraged, arms hardened and red lightning sparking about him. “Eijiro’s right!” Izuku echoed, “There’s gotta be something we can expose from his teleportation. Like a lag time!”

Immediately after saying that, Izuku felt a presence about to approach from behind him.

“SCATTER!” he shouted, looking over his shoulder. Surely enough, Mirio was coming back up from the ground. Izuku pivoted his left foot, letting the right one fly in a perfectly timed side kick. Or it would have been perfect, if Mirio hadn’t anticipated the attack, phased through it, and then juked Izuku out, gut punching him.

Izuku tumbled to the ground, before he landed on his feet; this would be tough.

Mirio continued to wear down their numbers. Whenever Izuku could, he’d try to get a hit on Mirio (usually unsuccessfully) or shove people out of the way so that he could take the gut punch. The pain he was in was astounding, but Izuku couldn’t focus on that now. Mirio was boasting “POWEEEEEEER!!!” as he downed the remainder of Class 1-A. He was the last line of defense for Class 1-A’s pride. He was the last one standing.

The gears began to turn.

Think Izuku, think! A straight up attack won’t work, he’ll just phase through it. And his teleportation makes it impossible to know where he’ll show up next. He’ll likely try a surprise attack from behind again, but it means nothing if I can’t- WAIT! That’s how he does it. He phases through the ground, but for some reason when he goes solid, he shoots back up instead of being stuck. That’s why I can’t hit him when he’s all the way out! I’ll have to do it…

Izuku sensed Mirio about to pop out of the ground behind him.

“ FASTEEEEEEER!!! ” Izuku cried, pivoting as he delivered a solid heel rake to Mirio’s tangible face. The third year gasped in surprise as he was sent hurtling back; the other two members of The Big Three perked up at the hit. Wasting no time, Izuku closed the gap between him and Mirio, tackling him by the waist to further throw off his footing. This was it, he had him on the ro- Why was his grip slipping? Mirio had activated his quirk, causing Izuku to slip through his chest area.

He felt Mirio grab his ankle; “Sorry about this…”

With a swivel, the third year slammed the first year into the ground. “...Junior!” Mirio finished, as Izuku landed on his back. The wind was knocked out of Izuku as he gasped, Mirio screaming another line of “POWEEEEER!!!” For a moment, Izuku layed there, defeated but intrigued. He still had a long way to go before he was really a hero. Mirio held out his hand for Izuku; “Good match, first year!” he complimented, “That was really impressive!” Izuku took the hand, thankful that it didn’t phase through his grasp.

Mirio watched the boy with intrigue, as did his fellow Big Three members.

...

“Dibs on Greeny!” Mirio declared as he walked down the hall.

“No fair, Mirio!” Nejire whined, “You can’t call dibs this early!” Mirio laughed, while Tamaki muttered something about a reputation. “Sorry Nejire, but I got my eyes on Greeny and the redhead. I think Sir would like them!” Mirio proclaimed with glee. “Ooh, we’re picking favorites! Well, come to think of it, I liked the frog girl and the brunette. They have a lot of potential… I think Ryukyu would enjoy having them around,” Nejire chirped, “What about you, Amajiki?”

The raven haired boy was silent for a moment; “Well, I was going to pick the red head, but Mirio called him first, so… maybe Fat would like the Creation girl?”

…

Izuku didn’t want to let go.

After being accepted into Sir Nighteye’s agency alongside Eijiro (Nighteye seemed like the stingy type… cool quirk, though), the trio of Eijiro, Mirio, and Izuku were patrolling the streets. Everything had been fine until Izuku felt something bump into his leg. When Izuku looked down, he saw a little girl with long white hair, bright red eyes, and a small horn. Izuku knelt down to make sure she was okay, and the girl just… latched onto him. Not a few moments later, a young man with a bird mask walked in front of him.

Speak of the devil… he was the yakuza they were looking for.

Kai Chisaki, otherwise known as Overhaul. Thank God Izuku’s visor was on, otherwise Overhaul would see the fear painted on Izuku’s face. Apparently the girl in Izuku’s arms was his daughter. “We can’t disturb the heroes, Eri. Come along now.” Izuku was about to let Eri run back to her father, but instead, Eri grasped him tighter.

“D-don’t… don’t go…” she whimpered.

It eventually got to the point where the trio of Hero Interns followed the yakuza leader into a back alley with the little girl in tow. Sounds like a bad joke , Izuku thought. Overhaul went on about how Eri tended to be a bit rebellious every now and then. Izuku noticed Overhaul reaching to take off his glove. Eri bolted, running back to his side. She and Overhaul disappeared back into the alley. Something in Izuku’s gut felt wrong. A hand crackling with mini explosions came to mind .

Izuku shook his head, forcing himself to walk back with Mirio and Eijiro.

…

It had started with Izuku and Eijiro walking to a meeting at Sir Nighteye’s office.

It was a coincidence that they met up with Ochako and Tsuyu on the way there. It was a coincidence that Momo and Mei (who was still not on speaking terms with Izuku yet) met up with them on the way there. It was a coincidence that they happened to meet at Sir Nighteye’s. They walked into the room, surprised to see all of the Big Three and other various heroes present. It hadn’t been a coincidence.

Izuku and Eijiro took seats next to Mirio before the meeting began.

It started out simple enough. Sir Nighteye ended up bringing up the spotting of Trigger in the Kansai region, to which Fat Gum replies that Momo helped bring their investigation up a few notches by encountering one of the villains using the drug. Not only that, but they managed to catch another item of interest: a unique bullet. According to Tamaki, the bullet made it so that he couldn’t use his quirk, which had since been restored since the morning.

Izuku, Mirio, and Eijiro went deadly silent when Nighteye brought up the human blood cells found in the bullets.

Izuku was left to float in a sea of static. The rest of the conference was lost to him as Sir Nighteye brought up the connection to the yakuza. I saw that girl was in trouble… and did nothing to save her. He had seen the bandages. He had seen the fear. The fear that so closely resembled his own. He had heard her plea. And in the end, instead of risking life and limb for that poor girl, he simply let her float away back into the hands of that… bird-faced bastard.

What a fucking joke.

Izuku wanted to be a hero? Seriously? He couldn’t have even gotten this far without Mei watching his sorry ass! And what did he do? He osuhed her away just because she was trying to make a fucking point! Her pushed her away… just like he pushed that girl away. He was such an idiot… a fucking hypocrite! Would a hero have just turned down their friends like that? Would a hero have left a clear victim back in the hands of their tormenters? Would a hero have needed a shoulder to cry on every time they fucking screwed up!?

...dear God he was thinking like Bakugo.

The static sea vanishes as the meeting comes to a close. Teh 1-A students and Mei are silent, still trying to process what they heard. Izuku is pretty sure that Eijiro is taking it as hard as he is; he had been there, he and Mirio. It isn’t until Mr. Aizawa comes in to check on them that the mood brightens a bit. He makes sure to check in on Izuku in particular, asking him to not be too reckless this time.

His goals realigned, Izuku decides complaining won’t do anything ; action will.

…

Mei doesn’t get late night visitors.

Okay, she doesn’t get late night visitors that aren’t Power Loader, but you get the idea. She had been busy sketching out more blueprints for a new set of babies; it was a past time she’d grown fond of… and a stress reliever when necessary. She knew getting into Fat Gum’s good graces would only help further bolster her babies’ relevance, but even with all her experience observing 1-A, she hadn’t expected the less tasteful areas to be this nerve-wracking.

Then she heard a knock on her door, and nearly spilled her coffee all over her new blueprints.

Wiping the sweat off her forehead and grabbing a robe, she went to answer the workshop’s front door.

If she still had a coffee mug in her hand, she probably would have spit it out at the person in front of her, because she didn’t quite know what to think of him at the moment. “...Izuku?” The boy in question was fidgeting at the front door, wearing a “Pajamas” t-shirt, green sweatpants, red slippers, and an All Might hoodie. Upon hearing his name, Izuku fidgeted a little less. “H-hey, Mei…” he replied, his voice soft. “Still can’t sleep?” Mei asked sympathetically. Izuku nodded.

Mei opened the door a little wider; “I’ll make you some ramen.”

She cleared the couch of a few of her left over babies so that Izuku could sit, joining him with her own mug of coffee alongside his ramen. “You’re still thinking about the meeting, too?” she asked, taking a sip from her mug. Oh man, hot coffee was the best at night. “Yeah…” Izuku admitted, poking around his microwaved ramen, “It’s not what’s keeping me awake, though?” “Hm?” hummed Mei in confusion, turning back towards Izuku.

She could see the guilt plastered on Izuku’s face.

“The last few days have just been… really hectic,” Izuku explained, “With All Might gone, everything feels… off balance. Couple that with this case and I-” Izuku took a moment to pause, taking a slurp of ramen. It may be store bought, but it was soothing. “It’s just, I’ve been thinking. I want to be a hero but, it seems like everything in the world wants to tell me no. I wasn’t born with a Quirk. I didn’t pass the Entrance Exam. I couldn’t save someone right in front of me twice and I- ”
“Breathe, Izuku,” Mei orders, a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Izuku takes a few minutes to steady himself. “T-thanks, Mei…” “Don’t mention it,” she replied. Izuku took a deep breath. “...I’m sorry about… what I said to you back then. I know you were trying to help, but I-” The words he’s looking for are barely out of reach. Luckily, he doesn’t have to find them, as Mei places a finger over his lips. “Apology accepted, Izuku,” Mi accepts, and any tension in the room is suddenly washed away.

Only to come back when Mei’s phone rings.

Coincidentally, Izuku’s phone rings, too. “You don’t think…?” Izuku begins, as both of them check their notifications. There’s a beat. Izuku chugs his remaining ramen in one go; Mei does the same with her coffee. “Meet you outside in five minutes!” Izuku tells Mei as he practically flies out the door, rushing to his room to get his gear. Mei quickly flicks off her robe and grabs her outdoor attire, as well as her goggles and rocket boots.

It was time.

…

Once they got past the initial barricade, it was chaos.

Eijiro had opted to join Fat Gum’s squad, while Izuku stayed with Mirio and Nighteye. The heroes had managed to locate the yakuza compound, where the infamous Shie Hassaikai were waiting. As they were heading down the halls, Momo, Eijiro, and Fatgum got separated from the rest of the group thanks to Mimic. To make matters worse, the League of Villains showed up, or at least knockoff Deadpool (Twice) and crazy yandere (Himiko Toga) did, further pissing the villain off with their antics.

Although Izuku will admit, without their help, he wouldn’t have found Mimic amongst his wall shifting.

Whilst Erasehead binds Mimic up, Izuku feels a shift. His gut would often do that when he sensed that there was danger. It had happened in Hosu, the Training Camp, and Kamino. He could not afford to hesitate on it again. “That should take care of him. Now, let’s go- Midoriya? Midoriya, where are you going!?” Izuku doesn’t respond to his teacher. This feeling, this premonition , it’s stronger than it’s ever been. If he ignores it now…

... someone is going to die .

Through some form of divine assistance, Izuku makes it to the source of his gut shift. He’s found Mirio, and apparently Mirio found the yakuza… and Eri. Overhaul probably terraformed the room given that it looks like the rock walls have shifted. One of his minions is on the florr, aiming a gun. Izuku feels the shift get worse; are those the quirk destroying bullets!? The minion aims for Mirio at first, but he falters.

His eyes fall on Eri.

Mirio manages to spare a brief glance from his duel with Overhaul, catching sight of Shin Nemoto holding out a gun. Eri was still bundled in Mirio’s cape, and from the looks of it and where Shin was aiming, she was about to be-! Mirio let himself phase through the floor, twisting at just the right angle. He shot out of the wall, flying directly in front of Eri. “They’re not gonna hurt you anymore!” Mirio declared with a smile. He was fast, after all. *BANG!*

*CHKK!* ...but Izuku was faster.

A small crater denoted where Izuku once stood. Seeing what was about to happen, Izuku had exceeded the standard input in his gear, sending him hurtling in front of Mirio and Eri. The bullet made contact with his Countenance Guard, shattering the connection between the visor and the Neural Headband. The gun panaged to pierce his skin, scratching with a sickly fleshy sound. Izuku felt the pain flare up right beside his eye.

Then he crashed into the ground.

The bullet fell helplessly as time resumed. Overhaul was shocked. “Seriously?” he gaped, letting out a small chuckle. “That’s funny. When a human being gains a quirk, a sort of virus sets in, a sickness…” Overhaul begins approaching the downed Izuku, who’s gear has gone inactive without the Neural Headband. “That sickness makes them think that they can become heroes… convinces them that heroism is the way to be… strikes out any chance for our kind to exist!” Overhaul is towering above Izuku; the boy starts to stand. “I have taken out the sickness, thus reducing you to nothing…” Overhaul concludes.

Izuku socks him in the jaw, sending him tumbling backwards.

While Overhaul was occupied and Mirio was taking care of Eri, Izuku pounced onto his Neural Headband, hooking it around his ears. His gear whirred back to life. “Funny story, Overhaul…” Izuku recalls, while the yakuza boss is still reeling, “You claim that quirks cause a ‘Hero Sickness’...” He delivers a solid heel rake to Overhaul’s temple, knocking him into a wall. “But the thing is, I’ve always had your so called sickness.” He blinks into existence next to Shin, stomping his gun and the remaining Permanent Quirk Destroying Bullets into shards. “You wanna know the kicker?”
Izuku pounds his gauntlets together while Mirio stands back up, ready for battle; “ I’m Quirkless .”

…

Eijiro clawed the wall as he stood, blood dripping down his head.

The fight with Rappa had been tough. Momo and Fat had taken quite a beating, and he by all means shouldn’t be standing. But… there was this shift, this feeling. It was something Eijiro couldn’t ignore. So, still bleeding and barely holding on, he ran towards the source. He came across a room of spikes and… holy heck was that Izuku? And who was he fighting? Overhaul!? What the hell happened to him!?

He hadn’t known that he was willing to sacrifice Shin for his own ends.

Mr. Nighteye was there, too. He was also fighting Overhaul, but… it looked pretty one sided. Then it happened again. That shift . Eijrio noticed one of Overhaul’s hands reaching for the ground. Something within him sparked. Without thinking, he blurred at max speed towards Overhaul. He was probably using a higher percentage of One for All than was necessary, but he didn’t care. He pushed Sir Nighteye out of harms way, his skin beginning to harden.

The spike shattered upon making contact with his back.

Overhaul was annoyed now. Eijiro figured he was probably using 20% of his quirk; to hell with it, he could keep it up a bit longer. Izuku looked like he needed help, and Nighteye didn’t exactly look in the best form right now. Chisaki tried to off put the boys by calling out Eri. She almost went back to him. But then Eijiro decked him again. He failed to notice the growing rock spire that was about to crash into all of them.

In a panic, Izuku slammed his gauntlets into one another; everyone went airborne.

Eijiro saw Eri, hanging to to a scrap of red fabric… Lemillion’s cape. She reached out to Eijiro, and Eijiro responded in kind. “We’re not letting go…” he whispered, “Not this time!” He brought Eri into his embrace, while Overhaul panicked, demanding that Eijiro give Eri back. A large rock hand formed behind Overhaul.

Adrenaline coursing at maximum output, Eijiro fired all of One for All off in his legs.

Once he reached the ground, he was surprised to find that his bones hadn’t been completely shattered. Come to think of it, he was fine. Was it because of… “Eri’s quirk…” Izuku whispered off to the side. “She split Overhaul and his goon… she healed your leg… it’s like a rewind.” He muttered in awe. Overhaul crashed out of the rubble, forming a massive behemoth. Eijiro wrapped Mirio’s cape around Eri, increasing his output of One for All. Izuku made sure his Neural Headband was on tight, increasing the power level of his gear. Don’t worry Eri… we’ll save you .

“CHISAKI!!!”

...Shortly After The Cultural Festival…

Izuku was overcome with joy.

They had done it. They beat Overhaul. Izuku and Eijiro would forever have the scars resulting from the ordeal, but it was a price worth paying. After the Cultural Festival, Izuku could officially say that he felt on top of the world. He stopped villains from ruining the Festival, he danced better than expected, and to top it all off, Eri smiled! Truly, nothing could possibly go wrong.

...and then things did go wrong.

You'd think after multiple attacks by villains UA would be impervious to them. Nope! One of them was scuttling down the prestigious schools halls right now, and Izuku happened to be nearby as he and his other classmates were searching for the villain in question. He was in the middle of a really good dream, too! No matter, the sooner he could catch the villain, the sooner he could- Footsteps! Izuku pressed his body against the wall, determined not to make a sound.

He tackled the intruder, sending their mask careening to the floor.

Upon realizing they’d been discovered, the villain tried punching Izuku’s visor, which didn’t do much. Izuku managed to get a good look at the villains face. They… she was a kid , no older than Izuku was. Long red hair with spots of green, silver eyes, a small scar on her cheek and forehead. Surely this was a mista- The girl grabbed Izuku’s head. “Sorry about this,” she apologized, and before Izuku could ask what she meant, there was a flash.

Suddenly he was back in his baby crib again.

His whole life began to flash before his eyes. The memories kept coming, one after another. Meeting Katsuki, discovering All Might, learning he was quirkless, Katsuki striking him out, Katsuki hitting him, Katsuki burning him, KatsukiKatsukiKatsuki- The memories stopped, and Izuku felt himself get pushed to the side. The girl was back on her feet, staring at Izuku like she’d seen a ghost. Her hands hovered over her chest for a second, before she quickly shook her head. “First Todoroki… now you?” she whispered.

“...at least I was right about one thing. The Hero Course does have a bastard in it.”

The girl ran off, leaving Izuku to scramble after her. As far as he knew, she was still a villain, and she needed to go to the proper authorities. Izuku radioed everyone on the coms that he was in pursuit, and that he’d need his help. Crap, he’s calling in reinforcements! I won’t be able to find Bakugo at this rate… Oh! The young villain suddenly stopped, falling onto the ground in an anticlimactic fashion.

Izuku blinked, before catching up to her.

The rest of his class and some of the teachers showed up on the scene. “Alright, step aside. The villain appears to be unconscious. Must be quirk overuse. Good job, subduing her, Midoriya!” “T-thank you, Eraserhead, but I… really didn’t do anything.” “What?” “Yeah, she kinda just… fell, and-” “WHO THE FUCK CARES!?” shouted Katsuki, his week of house arrest long over, “Step aside, Deku. I’m gonna show this extra what for!”

Before Eraserhead could tell Katsuki to stay back, he was blown into the wall.

Everyone in the vicinity was suddenly blown back by a mysterious shockwave, except for Katsuki. The villainess’ body began to float, before she opened her eyes and extended her hand, levitating Katsuki. “Well well well, King Explosion Murder,” the villainess taunted, malice in her every word, “What would be a suitable punishment for your sinful existence?”

“Death, perhaps? A nice little swan dive off of a roof, maybe?”

Katsuki continued to thrash in anger, his quirk not working for some reason as the villainess pondered her next course of action. “Nah, too easy. It doesn’t right the many wrongs you’ve dealt to anyone else. Maybe...ooh, there’s always that option. It might get me caught but…” She slammed Katsuki into a wall, and dark red spikes of energy began to converge into her hand “...at least the world will be rid of you!”

Kowareta Kokoro!

Villain Name: Psyche-Break!

Quirk: ESP!

She has a large array of psychic abilities, including mind reading, telekinesis, mind control, emotional manipulation, and other mind-boggling abilities!

The ball of energy condense, until it was so dark it could almost be black. Katsuki’s eyes widened; he could move. “Farewell, Katsuki Bakugo,” the villainess growled, pure anger in her words, “I might go down, but you go down with me!” She let the energy ball loose, sending it directly for Katsuki. She felt the energy drain from her limbs, as she fell to her knees. She saw a blur of green heading straight for her orb-!

“NO!” she cried as the blast made contact, and both herself and Izuku fell to the floor.

…

Izuku’s felt… different since the night of that attack.

There was no damage physically speaking, but… sometimes he felt like something was off. The off feeling occasionally went away when he was with his friends or with Eri, but otherwise it haunted him. Constantly. It would usually get triggered by little things. A playful insult. A minor screw up. A failed task. Sometimes it would creep up on him when everything was fine, and thus cause whatever he was doing to end in disaster.

Soon enough, it became a near constant struggle just to ignore it.

The feeling followed him everywhere. When he slept. When he ate. When he worked. Eventually, it built up an immunity to his friends, to Eri. He had to play it cool just so they wouldn’t worry. But… that was getting… really… hard…

“Aw man, Midoriya, you were so close!”

“Midoriya, you’re starting to slip. Try doing better next time.”

“Are you alright Izuku? You don’t look so good… maybe some mochi will help.”

“Let’s get you on the testing field, Izuku. You could use the practice.”
“Back off, Deku. I don’t need your help!”

“Where were you, Midoriya? You weren’t at the field today.”

“Midoriya, no is going to let a quirkless boy attend a hero school.”

“Quirkless loser!”

“Freak!

“You’ll never be a hero without a quirk!”

“Keep dreaming, ya waste of space

“Hey, isn’t that Deku?”

“You should probably just give up.”

“I’m sorry, Izuku! I’m sorry!”

“I can’t say you can become a hero without power”

“Take a swan dive off the roof, and hope you’ll be born with a quirk in your next life.”

…

Nejire was taking a late night stroll alongside Tamaki and Mirio.

Mirio was more sunshiny than usual. Probably because he saw Eri writing a letter for them. That girl was just adorable! Even Tamaki couldn’t resist becoming more social around her; she was that powerful! Honestly, today had been a good day for Nejire. School was easy, she was hanging out with her friends, and-

A shift .

Tamaki and Mirio both noticed when their usually chipper friend stopped talking. Nejire looked… concerned about something. That wasn’t a good sign. “Everything okay, Hado?” Tamaki asked hesitantly. Nejire was silent until. “H-Hado!? Where are you going!?” Nejire bolted running past the school like her life depended on it. If her gut was right, she needed to head for the dorms.

The first year dorms, that is.

Her two friends were scrambling to catch up as they reached the Heights Alliance. “Nejire!” Tamaki wailed, panting when he finally made it. “What are you doing?” Mirio asked, concern evident on his features. “I… I don’t know! I just felt like… Midorya!?” Surely enough, the green haired boy was up on the roof of the dorms. But why was he up there? And more importantly, why was he taking his… shoes… off…

Time slowed down as Izuku began his descent.

All three of them simultaneously bolted for the dorms. Izuku had none of his gear on, and if he was doing what the others thought he was doing, he likely did that on purpose. No no no , Nejire pleaded, please, PLEASE don’t let Izuku die! He was getting closer and closer to the ground. They weren’t gonna make it… NO! WIth a surge of her quirk’s energy, she flew at breakneck speeds towards Izuku…

...wrapping her arms around him and holding him protectively.

They both tumbled into the ground, the momentum of Nejire’s charge causing them to skid a good distance before stopping. Nejire took a few deep breaths, steadying herself. That was close. “Senpai, please let me go.” Nejire’s eyes shot down to Izuku. Something about him looked… off. “N-no thanks. I want to make sure you’re still here.” Nejire denied him, holding him tighter.

“But I don’t want to be here, senpai. Please, let me go so I can no longer be here.”

Nejire’s worry began to bubble up again. Izuku was acting all kinds of weird, and his voice sounded so… defeated. “I think you need help,” Nejire told him, keeping a firm grip on Izuku’s arm as she stood up. “You can’t do this, senpai,” Izuku warned, a desperate edge to his voice, “let me go.” “No,” Nejire denied again, “Not until I know you won’t jump again.” “But have to go!” Izuku wailed, yanking his arm out of Nejire’s grip, only to run into Mirio’s buff body.

“Izuku? What’s gotten into you?”

“Nothing has, Togata-senpai! I just realized I need to go!” Izuku cried, running off until Nejire pounced on him. “We can’t let him leave!” Nejire told Mirio, struggling to keep her grip on the first year, “I don’t know why, but he’s dead set on killing himself! Amajiki, see if you can find some help! Mirio, help me restrain him!” The boys complied, Tamaki running to find a teacher as fast as possible while Mirio helped subdue a now thrashing and wailing Izuku.

“I JUST WANT TO GO!”

…

Kowareta couldn’t have gotten there fast enough.

She had been prepared for this. Ever since that stupidly selfless Izuku had jumped in front of her attack, she had waited for the day he would snap within the confines of her cell. The day eventually came in the form of Eraserhead and the true emaciated form of All Might. “How bad is it?” she asked out of worry. “Young Midoriya tried to kill himself… twice. The first time, Young Hado saved him. The second time it was Young Uraraka.” “Can you reverse the effects?” questioned Eraserhead, his voice edged with worry. Kowareta was in deep shit.

“Yeah. Take me to him.”

…

Izuku slowly opened his eyes.

He was surrounded by his friends, his teachers… and the underlying feeling that he had done something incredibly long. Why was the villainess from the last attack here? “He’s back to normal…” she told the teachers. “He won’t remember anything for a little while though. That won’t be the case for long.” Remember anything? Why wouldn’t he remember any- OH GOD THE HEADACHE!

“Yup, there it is. Okay, you can put me back in prison now.”

As the villainess gets up to leave, she mouths a quick “ I’m sorry ,” to Izuku, before she is inevitably taken away (though, to neither of their knowledge, her 5 year scentence will have 3 years shaved off). Izuku’s closest friends immediately rush up to him, asking if he’s okay. Izuku assures them that he’s fine, apologizing for the way he’s acted over the past few days. Mr. Aizawa asks for the room to clear out, leaving just him and Izuku. “Glad your back with us Midoriya. That being said, I know you were under a quirk’s effects when you did what you did, but trying to jump off the roof is no laughing matter. Principal Nezu and anyone else you’d like to be with you will talk with you tomorrow to see what caused the attempt.”

Well crap .

…

Izuku wanted to be anywhere but here.

He didn’t like this. He didn’t want this. He wanted to be back at the dorms, or with his friends, or with Eri. He was glad that he could at least bring Mei, Ochako, Hitoshi, and Eijiro along, but they were probably just as terrified of Nezu as he was. Well, except for Mei for whatever reason. “Tea, Mr. Midoriya?” the rodent-dog-bear- mammal asked. Izuku obliged, letting Nezu pour him a glass. Everyone else declined.

“Well, with formalities out of the way, let’s get down to business: Mr. Midoriya, why did you attempt to take your life?”

Izuku wants to pull a Danny Phantom and just ghost out of the room and back to his dorm. Mei and Ochako place their hands on his shoulder, anchoring him. He can do this. Just tell Nezu the truth. “I think it  was m-mostly due to the quirk, Principal. It… it made everything around me seem worse than it was. It made me relive my worst memories. One of them happened to be an old classmate in my middle school days who told me to commit suicide… b-but I moved past that! I would never-” “Now now, that’s enough Mr. Midoriya. You’ve said quite enough for now.”

The way Nezu said it made it sound like Izuku had said too much.

“Would you happen to remember the student in question, Mr. Midoriya?” Izuku shook his head. “N-no sir. I haven’t seen him on campus, so I assume he goes to a different high school now.” “Ah, well that’s a shame. I must admit, Mr. Midoriya, you are a really good actor.” Izuku spat out his tea at this remark; “W-what, Principal?” “I wouldn’t have guessed that you were lying unless someone had given me concrete evidence that what you said was indeed a lie.”

Mei fidgeted with her fingers beneath the table; the suicide attempt had been the last straw.

“Yes, I do believe you are trying to, how you say, ‘cover up’ for another student. Well Mr. Midoriya, I’m certain your reasoning means well, but we must be honest if we are to get to the root of this problem. Mr. Bakugo! You can come in now!” Surely enough, Katsuki walked through the door and into the open seat. He looked miffed, as did three other people looking at him.

“Now then, Mr. Bakugo, allow me to ask you some questions.”

“You’ve known Mr. Midoriya since middle school, correct?” “Yeah,” Katsuki answered, “Before that, too.” “Excellent, and have you interacted with Mr. Midoriya at all before he was admitted into the hero course?” “Sadly, yes,” Katsuki admitted, earning a few glares from Izuku’s friends. “And have you had any… physical altercations with Mr. Midoriya?” Katsuki raises his eyebrow in confusion, but nonetheless answers the question.

“Only a bit of roughhousing. Nothing too serious,” he stated.

“Ah, splendid,” Nezu cheered, “Then I might as well cut to the chase. Mr. Bakugo, did you ever tell Mr. Midoriya to kill himself during or before his time at UA?” “Why the fuck do I have to answer that?” Katsuki snapped, starting to rise from his seat. “Hold it, Mr. Bakugo! Do anything rash, and you might get a consequence you weren’t bargaining for~” Reluctantly, Katsuki sits back down. “Once,” he grumbles, “But that doesn’t matter! It hasn’t happened since.”
“Yes, of course,” Nezu agreed, taking a sip of tea, “I shouldn’t think that one of our students was actively participating in less than heroic behavior. That being said, I’m afraid that I don’t need Detective Tsukauchi’s quirk to know that you are lying, Mr. Bakugo.” Izuku pales, and Katsuki growls, tightening his grip on the armrests; “Who the fuck are you calling a liar!?” he hissed.

“I mean no disrespect, Mr. Bakugo. It’s just come to my attention that, aside from relentlessly bullying, assaulting, burning, and ruining possessions of Mr. Midoriya here, you decided to continue physically and verbally abusing him throughout your first days here at UA!”
Izuku wants to stop the principal, but he can’t because he’s right, and his fear of him hasn’t quite worn off yet. “An anonymous tip gave me a database filled with several recordings of your assaults against Mr. Midoriya during your first few days here. I also confirmed with Young Todoroki that you had attempted to assault Mr. Midoriya during the Sports Festival, and according to your little slip up on Ground Beta, you refused to listen to reason, opting to instigate a fight instead of talking to a professional.”

“Why does that fucking matter, huh!?” Katsuki yelled, “I’m still the best student in the entire course.”

“Status does not equal a shield, Mr. Bakugo. Plus, your claim of best student is flawed. That honor would belong to Miss Yaoyorozu, or Mr. Todoroki, or Mr. Iida, or quite possibly even Mr. Midoriya. Academics aside, you’re on the lower spectrum in terms of the upper students. Even so, while you’ve shown remarkable combat capabilities, a punch won’t necessarily help out a rescue mission, and your tendency to never retreat, while admirable, has costed you on multiple occasions, including the Final Exams and the Training Camp incident.”

“With this in mind, I think I’m well within my right to demote you to General Education, Mr. Bakugo. Any complaints?”

Katsuki has thousands of complaints, but instead silently fumes because Nezu wouldn’t understand his barking if he spoke now, and most of them have to do with damn Deku . To everyone’s surprise, Izuku slowly raises his hand. “Principal, sir? I don’t think it would be wise to kick Bakugo out of the Hero Course.” “Hmm? Why so, Mr. Midoriya?” “W-well, Bakugo still has a lot of potential, and he could become a really great hero-” “Yes, yes, I’ve heard that one before, Mr. Midoriya. Great heroes like All Might, or Endeavor? Do you want to know the difference? One prioritizes both his strength and his compassion. The other prioritizes his strength and his appearance, which I’m sure you and Mr. Todoroki know quite well first hand.”

Izuku flinched at that remark.

“I understand if you’re trying to see the best in Mr. Bakugo, Mr. Midoriya, but in my eyes I see none of it. All I see is a power plant which steadily growing more unstable, instead of a power plant which becomes more energy efficient as time goes on. Mr. Bakugo has had plenty of opportunities to improve himself, but instead he opted to continue his own selfish ways at others’ expense, and when he does show improvement? He goes back on his word the following day. It’s a shame considering he could potentially become a great hero, but all that potential means nothing if it never goes kinetic. I’m sorry to say this, Mr. Midoriya, but I stand by my stateme-” “No.”

Nezu blinked; this was a new one.

“No?” he repeated; he wanted to see how this would play out. “No, principal. You can’t kick Bakugo out of the Hero Course. What good would that do?” “It would help him reflect on his previous actions and see how he can rectify them.” “But he has been reflecting!” “When?” “Um… well I can’t quite remember, but I’m certain he has!” “And you may very well be right, Mr. Midoriya, but as far as I’m concerned, Mr. Bakugo has shown no such development to a significant enough of a degree.” “Well, in that case, I’VE never shown any significant development, either, Mr. Principal!” “You, Mr. Midoriya?” “Yes, me, Mr. Principal.”

“I don’t quite follow. Care to explain?”

“Gladly. The only reason I’m in the Hero Course is because my best friend, Mei Hatsume, entrusted me with technology which increased my combat capabilities, which would otherwise be nonexistent because I am Quirkless. That fact right there, Mr. Nezu, my condition as quirkless, prohibits me from ever improving. No matter what I do or say or try, I will ultimately come up short, if anything at all comes up. Surely you witnessed the Entrance Exam and saw my performance.”

“The only reason I got into the Hero Course was because dumb luck decided to throw me a bone!”
“If I was still in General Education, nothing would change! The I-Island incident would likely be resolved just as swiftly without me. Someone might have actually saved Bakugo at the training camp instead of letting him get kidnapped. And even if they failed, they’d probably be able to get Bakugo back at Kamino. The Provision License Exams would have gone just as smoothly without me. That little slip up at Ground Beta probably wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t get in the Hero Course in the first place. And surely Eri’s rescue would have gone just as smoothly without my presence.”

“You see, Mr. Nezu, I have no significant development because I’m already below ROCK BOTTOM!”
“Due to my circumstances and a cursed double jointed toe I have, I am by default, WORTHLESS! So to make up for that, I try to help other people because if I mean something to other people, I mean something to myself. But it clearly doesn’t work that way. Because no matter how many people I help, no matter how many people say I’m improving or doing a great job, I can still think ‘they’d be fine without me!’ And that’s an awfully morbid thought, Mr. Nezu, but I have it. Every. Single. Day.”

“The only reason I didn’t attempt to off myself sooner was because I kept thinking, ‘it’s gonna get better, it’s gonna get better,’ and I kept myself ‘in check.’”

“And now that I’m thinking about it, I’m glad that I got hit by that quirk, because it showed me the truth: I MEAN NOTHING. No matter how much I tell myself that I mean something to myself or someone else, I’m left to deal with the fact that I AM BLATANTLY LYING TO MYSELF! Everyone would be better off if I was gone, so I figured I’d save Death the trouble and come crashing into it by my own hand, because I can’t even live for MYSELF anymore!!!”

“ And whose fault is that? ” Nezu interrupts.

Izuku goes silent. He notices that his friends are silent. When did he stand up. He looked at his friends faces: they were horrified. Even Katsuki looked like he had witnessed something no living being deserved to witness. “I believe I know all that I need to know, Mr. Midoriya. You’ll be under house arrest as of next week to reflect on your thought process. You can go now.” Izuku pauses for a moment, before he walks to the door. He doesn’t bother closing it. “The rest of you can leave as well,” Nezu allows. The other students get up to leave.

“Except for you, Mr. Bakugo,” Nezu corrects, “We’ll be discussing the terms of your expulsion.”

The first three days of house arrests, Izuku shuts everyone out.

He gets up to do chores, he gets out of his room to eat, but otherwise, he stays in his room. He doesn’t talk to anyone, he barely interacts. He’s cutting himself off from the rest of the world. His stubborn streak is truly hurting him for the first time. That changes on the fourth day. Eri manages to sneak into the 1-A dorms, and ends up in front of Izuku’s room. Something in Izuku caves. Try as he might, he can;t deny the poor girl in front of him.

He lets her in. Both in his room and into his heart.

It’s uphill from there. On the fifth day, Mei finally manages to get past Izuku’s barriers. It’s a good thing Eri was there. On the sixth day, he’s back in the open, at least on the dorm grounds. He’s talking to people, interacting more, and while he isn’t completely open just yet, he’s making great progress. The Big Three comes to visit, too, and Izuku has a ball with learning more about their quirks.

On the seventh day, he finally understands his suffering wasn’t justified.

It was during a talk with Mirio, after Eri had been put to bed. They had been talking about Overhaul when it suddenly clicked for Izuku. The way Eri acted before they saved her; the way she immediately acted afterward. Izuku was in the same position as she was. Overhaul was her Katsuki. He had told her she was something that she wasn’t, and she had believed it wholeheartedly until someone else had proven him wrong. The revelation left Izuku in tears.

He still had a long way to go.

He learns of Katsuki’s expulsion shortly afterward. He feels sorry for his former friend, but nothing much beyond that. Was he finally cutting ties? Maybe not entirely, but… it was a start. He still had a future to live up to at UA. He still had friends who could help him out along the way. He still had people like Eri that needed to be saved, people who needed to smile. He might not have become the world’s greatest hero…

...but he could still become the best hero he could be.

“I saw one of my friends bloody and burned by God knows what,” he states firmly, “I can’t call myself a hero, let alone a man, if I don’t know what happened.”

“...it was an accident. Leavin’ it at that, Shitty Hair.” Katsuki closed the door.

Eijiro sighed, turning to walk away. So much for answers.

“DAMN IT, SHITTY DEKU! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GET IN MY WAY AGAIN!?” What?

“WHY CAN’T YOU JUST DO WHAT YOU’RE TOLD FOR ONCE!? IF YOU HAD FOUGHT ME ON GROUND BETA, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED! IF YOU HAD JUST DROPPED OUT OF UA FROM THE START, I WOULDN’T EVEN HAVE TO DEAL WITH YOU! IF YOU JUST LISTENED TO ME BACK IN MIDDLE SCHOOL, THEN-!”

...Eijiro silently walks away as the rant dissipates, holding more clarity than he should have ever had.

Eri sits on Izuku’s lap as the cool autumn breeze passes by.

“Mr. Izu?” Eri asks, “What’s your hero name?” Izuku blinks. “Oh, I never told you?” Eri shakes her head. Izuku thinks about it for a moment, a smile smile spreading across his face. “Well, I got my hero name from my friends. You wanna hear it?” “Yes yes yes!” Eri pleads, bouncing in his lap. “Okay, okay!” Izuku laughs; he’ll never get tired of the unabashed joy the girl radiates. “Well Eri,” he begins, “My hero name is…”

The Dekiru Hero, Defender

The End