Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Can I become a hero like you?!” The shout would have echoed, were they anywhere but a rooftop. Thankfully, no one was around to hear it, let alone be attracted by the noise. If they were, they would have seen a skeleton-like man sitting down, with a young green haired boy in front of him.

All Might had dealt with several rabid fans before, a few even finding out his secret. For the most part, they were too loyal to ever talk about it, which was why he was not freaking out about this kid. However, this time, it was not just his secret at risk. His position at U.A. was supposed to be kept secret, but unfortunately…

“Hello there! Am I a mouse, a bear or a dog? I am U.A.’s principal, Nedzu!” Nedzu had asked to come along with him to discuss his classes and set him up for the future. It was a great help, but it led to this situation with this fanboy. It was one thing to know about his form, or his injury, but to know about his new position at U.A. was something else. Simply put, it was not his secret to tell.

The fanboy screamed in shock, both at All Might’s appearance, and Nedzu climbing over All Might’s shoulder to introduce himself.

Nedzu, however, seemed content to wait for the scream to stop, which was mercifully soon. “So, you want to be a hero without a quirk?” Nedzu paused, in thought. “All Might, go ahead and talk with him while I think on this.”

Not willing to poke the hornet’s nest that was Nedzu’s mind, All Might proceeded to tell the fanboy about his form and injury, mostly to drive home the point of how dangerous this life was, even for someone with as much power as him.

For his part, the fanboy only seemed worried over All Might, though he assumed that was due to ignorance, or intentionally missing his point. In either case, he would set him straight with his next line.

“So no, I don’t think you can become a hero without a quirk.” It broke his heart to see the fanboy’s expression, but it needed to be said. Otherwise the boy might throw himself into danger without a plan and only end up dying because of it.

“Oh, come now All Might, surely you can see how much this means to him.” Nedzu interrupted, apparently done with his thoughts. 

“Sir, I don’t think-” He was interrupted by the principal before he could finish.

“No, no, this simply will not do. Young boy, what is your name?”

“I-Izuku Midoriya” The fanboy stuttered, which only solidified All Might’s original opinion in his mind. The boy was far too meek to survive the pressure he would be subjected to as a hero, nevermind the first quirkless hero.

“Well, Midoriya, what have you done to prepare for being a hero?” Nedzu questioned, as if it were a possibility.

“I-I write notes on heroes, like their quirks and their popular traits! I have thirteen notebooks filled with as many heroes as I could find, uh… sir.” It was somewhat adorable how his eyes lit up when he started talking about those notebooks. All Might had seen some of one when he signed it for the boy, but he did not really inspect it as closely as Nedzu clearly wanted to.

“Hm. No physical preparation? Well, that can be remedied. A mind is much harder to train than a body. Would you mind letting me see that notebook?” The child gladly handed him the notebook, remaining silent as he read.

It could not have been more than half a minute before Nedzu smiled. It was quite possibly the scariest thing All Might had seen since his battle with All For One.

“Well now, this is quite interesting.” The way he spoke was light, but it only made All Might even more concerned. What the hell was in those books?! “You want to be a hero, hm? I suppose it is possible, but you would need to work harder than anyone else. Are you prepared for that?”

The boy nodded furiously, a determined look replacing his shy expression from before. “I would do anything.” He could see the kid meant it too, which was… worrying. There was something horrible about what he said, and how he said it, but All Might couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Well then, work hard, and I hope to see you at U.A. in the coming year. Don’t you, All Might?” Nedzu turned to him, expressionless. It was likely whatever bother All Might had been picked up by Nedzu as well. 

“Yes sir!” The boy looked positively ecstatic. It was absolutely adorable .

Toshinori rushed to the crowd, wanting to see if there were any way he could help, even without being All Might. It was why, when the same quirkless fanboy from before ran forward, he saw. At first, he was terrified for the boy, but then the boy threw his bag, and Toshinori realized something.

He had a plan. That, or he came up with one on the fly. In either case, that was amazing for anyone of that age. No, wait… The boy had just act. No plan, no warning, he simply moved. It was a startling realization, only caused by the look on his face, one of pure terror and desperation.

It was a familiar expression, one he remembered on his own face long ago, before he became the symbol of peace. It was the expression of someone who had moved into a dangerous situation before they could even think about it. 

He had seen it dozens of times before, and he knew he would offer the same thing he offered to all of those he had seen with it before. It was the most powerful deterrent for such actions. It worked for everyone else, so why would this quirkless fanboy be any different? Hopefully after he realized how hard he would have to work to actually be a hero, he would give up and live a fulfilling life, rather than become what amounted to a child soldier.

So it was only natural that after he punched the sludge villain into puddles, that he went to find the quirkless boy. The boy who probably could be a hero with the right training, but undoubtedly did not have the determination for it. Being willing to sacrifice your life in an instant is admirable, but it does not compare to the determination required for a life-changing schedule, like he had planned. Seeing the kid’s borderline suicidal acts, he did not see another choice. It would help build the boy’s confidence enough to prevent actual suicide, and likely prevent him from being too drawn into danger.

He did not, however, expect the boy to already be talking animatedly with Nedzu, who seemed amused at the situation. “Why hello there, All Might, what can I do for you?” He spoke as if he did not already know why All Might was there.

“Young man, I come with an apology, a correction, and a suggestion.” He began, only slightly ignoring Nedzu for now. “Firstly, I’m sorry I brushed off your dream so haphazardly. I should have been more aware of how my words could affect you. Honestly, had you not rushed in like you did, I would have been another hypocrite amongst the crowd. So thank you.”

“No no no, I just got in your way, if not for me wasting your time-”

“I’m not finished! Back there, how many pros were there, all too hesitant to step in like you? That lack of hesitation is the hallmark of a hero, so today you were more heroic than anyone else, even me. I only acted because of you inspiring me to do so. Take pride in that, at least.” He could see the young man tearing up, not that he would judge, kids were allowed to cry openly. “Secondly, Young man. You CAN become a hero.” Where there were tears were now rivers, as the young man clutched his chest, likely having never heard those words of encouragement before.

“I deem you worthy of my quirk.” Nedzu let out a knowing smile, or the closest approximation of one, given his non-human features. 

“Huh?” The tears stopped abruptly, replaced by a confused expression. All Might would have laughed if he didn’t think it would hurt the boy’s feelings. 

“Just as I said, my quirk is yours to inherit.” The boy began babbling about how his quirk was a great mystery, and how it changed the understanding of quirks entirely, before he interrupted. “Stop nerding out! Listen, I may omit the truth, but I never lie! My quirk is the power to pass on power. It has been passed down for generations, gathering power as it does so! I am offering you my quirk, so what will it be, fanboy?!”

There was no hesitation in his acceptance, just as expected. He knew the boy would give up, but the look of hope on his face was truly something else. Maybe…

No. He couldn’t get his hopes up. This kid obviously never worked out a day in his life, there was no way he would have the willpower to suddenly change that and force himself to work to the bone for ten months. Usually, they gave up around two, but some determined few had made it to eight. So far, none had lived up to his hopes. He knew better than to expect any different from a quirkless child, despite the small voice in the back of his head telling him otherwise.

“Oh? Well, I suppose if you are betting on the future, I should as well. Your quirk is a volatile one. If he wants to go to U.A. this year, he needs to get his body into proper shape in order to inherit your quirk. I will help you craft a training plan.” Nedzu interjected. “Besides, I have taken a liking to him, I want to help with his studies.” That was a terrifying sign.

Nedzu never took students, not directly. He interfered when teachers did not do enough, or went too far, but he never taught. Whatever had been in those books was enough to spur Nedzu to act, apparently. Still, he would not let this break his plan. If anything, it would make it even harder. 

Nedzu was not a teacher, not because he was incapable, but because he was simply too demanding. It was to be expected for anyone with an intelligence quirk, but Nedzu was quick to lose interest, and had no problems removing himself from boring situations. 

Okay, maybe Izuku could become a quirkless hero with Nedzu’s teachings, but it was still doubtful that Izuku would complete the training All Might had in mind. Even so, something told him this boy would be something special. 

“Uh… I appreciate the planning, but um... “ Izuku seemed to hesitate, before blurting out “WhatdoItellmymom?”

“Oh.” All Might paused. Of course, he was training a boy this time, not an adult. His parents would have to be involved. “Well, we could simply tell her you are training to enter U.A. That was your plan, wasn’t it? Having two new teachers, even if one is the principal of U.A. shouldn’t be that hard to explain.”

“My thoughts exactly! So, let’s go meet with your mother, shall we?” Nedzu smiled at the boy, certainly better at this than All Might was. It was not his fault he mostly dealt with adults!

“Let me get this straight.” Inko sighed. “You two work for U.A.” They nodded.

“You saw my son’s actions against the sludge villain, and wanted to train him, despite his quirklessness.” More nods. 

“And you want to make a plan for him to get into proper shape before the entrance exam.” Once more, they nodded.

“Okay, that much I understand, but why pull him out of school?”

Nedzu perked up. “Ah, that I can explain, but first…” He turned towards Izuku. “Could you see if you have anything on me in your notebooks? I am most curious.”

Despite it being obvious he was simply being asked to leave the room, Izuku nodded happily and went to his room to search through his notebooks.

Once he was out of earshot, Nedzu turned to Inko, a frown on his furry face. “Are you aware of your child’s status at school?”

“You mean how he is bullied? I am aware, but… no matter how much I try to get the faculty to help, they just don’t! I know he is being bullied, and we can’t move, but nothing I do seems to help either. He comes home uninjured, but he used to be so excited for people! He loves to interact with people, and yet he stutters and is always jittery, but there is nothing I can do…” By the end, Inko was crying, and Nedzu looked slightly relieved.

“You are a wonderful person, I can tell your son cares about you very much.” Nedzu comforted her. “However, it is because of that, I must insist on taking him out of school.”

“I can’t homeschool him. I wish I could, but I don’t have the resources for it, or the knowledge.” She confessed. “I feel like I’m failing him…”

“You being here for him is likely more than you can imagine, in his eyes.” Nedzu sighed softly. “However, I will be honest with you. Your son displays quite a few worrying traits, which I fear would only worsen with further exposure to that school. Since I am the Principal of U.A. my schedule is not perfectly clear, but I have no doubt if I give him the work, Izuku would be able to pull it off. In other words, I am willing to participate in Izuku’s homeschooling, as long as he keeps up with the work I provide.”

“Is that even legal?” Inko muttered, just loud enough for the two to hear her.

“There are many perks to my position.” Nedzu noted idly. “One of which is personal investment in future heroes. So in this instance, it is completely legal, even if not smiled upon. The decision is ultimately up to you, though.”

“You are offering him his dream on a silver platter, what kind of mother would I be to deny that?” Inko smiled, even as her eyes teared up. 

Nedzu laughed, much softer than his usual maniacal laughter. “Very good! I look forward to his future.”

The conversation moved on, to discuss the training, the homeschooling, and the meal plans that would be required for Izuku to make it into U.A. Izuku came back before too long, showing Nedzu that he actually did have a page on him, though it was notably new. As in, the five minutes since he left, new. Quite impressive, for a child of fourteen.

Nedzu could only wonder, how far this child would grow under the tutelage of himself and All Might.

Chapter Text

Toshinori and Nedzu walked calmly towards U.A. Despite the time of night, they still had a few things to do before they began training Midoriya. They walked in silence for a few minutes, before Toshinori’s curiosity got the better of him.

“What did you see in those books?” It was a fair question, given Nedzu’s usual lack of interest in taking students.

“Ah, you want to know why I am interested in him.” That was true, but phrased… strangely. “Tell me, how long does it take for you to understand an enemy quirk?”

“Generally it depends on how subtle it is. Usually, after I see it once or twice, I can figure it out.” Toshinori shrugged. It was not his most impressive trait, but it was certainly not an area he lacked in.

“And the weaknesses?” Nedzu probed. Toshinori paused, knowing now what Nedzu saw.

“I’d have to test it out, usually. Sometimes the expected weakness is not the real one. All in all, I’d say I can come to understand a quirk within a minute, if I see it used.”

“Interesting.” Nedzu was silent for a moment, which Toshinori knew meant he was deep in thought. “That boy had page after page of incredibly detailed analysises on heroes. Particularly their quirks. I imagine not having one made him appreciate them all the more.”

“Okay, but how good are they?” Nedzu had a habit of losing himself in conversation, which tended to happen to those who had intelligence quirks. Sometimes the conversation simply could not keep up with his mind, and so his own thoughts became distractions.

“Ah, yes. I would say he has an ability to understand quirks about at the same level as Eraserhead when he first became a pro.” Nedzu stated calmly, likely to make the information even more concerning.

“That is incredible! Even so, to take such an interest... There is something more, isn’t there?” Toshinori was worried about this. With most people, only their most obvious actions were thought out. For Nedzu, however, Toshinori had come to realize that everything the being did had purpose. From the words he chose, to the way he said them. Even the way he walked. In a way, it was similar to his All Might persona, only far more flexible. “Are… you worried about him becoming a villain?” 

There was something to be said about the lack of analytics in villainy. Most information brokers were fairly basic, functioning more or less as middle-men for organizations and individuals. The few who DID have analysis focused members were the most dangerous. Most heroes were fairly open about their abilities, but very rarely would villains be able to exploit them. 

“An amusing thought.” Nedzu hummed. “However, since you thought of that, think of the opposite.”

“An analysis hero? There are many of those, many who are much better than Eraserhead.” Toshinori pointed out.

“Yes, but none of them have One for All.” Nedzu supplied, a smile on his face.

Toshinori paused. “You know my policy on that. It doesn’t matter if he has a heroic heart if he lacks the will to go through with it.”

“Yes, I am very aware of your fear. You blame yourself too much for that child… In any case, I have no doubt he will succeed.”

“I won’t make it any easier, just because he is quirkless, or young.” Toshinori stood his ground, knowing better.

“Oh by all means, make it even harder. Push him to the brink. It’s what I intend to do as well.” Nedzu began to laugh, not the soft one from before, but his usual maniacal laughter. Thankfully, he was not holding any tea to spill.

“...I won’t get my hopes up.” He muttered. He had faith, long ago. Before he encouraged another young man to become a hero. Before he pushed a young man to his death.

“Give him a chance, that’s all I ask.” Nedzu responded, equally quiet. 

Izuku was happier than he could ever remember being. The training had begun today, and he found it grueling, if rewarding. All Might demanded the best, and he was only too happy to provide. His body ached, certainly, but it was also a nice feeling. He could understand why some people got addicted to exercise.

Nedzu, however, was different. Their first lesson was essentially just Nedzu dropping off a bunch of work for Izuku to do, and a promise for more in-depth meetings to happen later. Apparently he was meant to knock out the actual coursework early on, so they would have more time for specialized teaching. Nedzu seemed particularly interested in his analysis of heroes, and said that would be their first subject. He was more excited for that than he was for training with All Might. (Not that he would ever admit it)

“Hello honey, how was your training?” Inko could see the sweat and exhaustion on his body, but found it polite to ask. Besides, she was asking for more than his physical state.

“I loved it! I have a long way to go, but… for the first time I feel like I’m actually getting somewhere!” Izuku smiled so brightly, even with his exhausted state. Her heart leapt in joy, happy for her boy to finally have found a path forward.

Despite what Izuku thought, Inko had been willing to help him see his dream through, she simply had no way to help him. Martial Arts would help, certainly, but there were none nearby that would take a quirkless person. These days, being quirkless was considered a disability, if unofficially.

“That’s great to hear, but go get a bath before supper, alright? You look like you need one.” She had a half-amused half-fond smile on her face as she spoke, remembering just why she fell for Hisashi so long ago.

“Ah, right! Sorry!” Izuku laughed as he practically launched himself towards the bathroom to wash up. 

Inko sighed contentedly. Sure, she had her worries for Izuku, but seeing him happy was worth more than her fear. Her mother had taught her long ago that living a happy life was far more important than living a long life. It was a way for her to cope with the idea of her son going into a job as dangerous as heroics. She did, however, know that she could not live if Izuku died before her.

Her eyes caught the butcher knife nearby, before she shook her head. She had a meal plan to follow, for the future of her son.

“Tell me, Izuku, what do you actually think of All Might’s status?” Nedzu asked, sitting opposite of Izuku, the coffee table between them.

“As number one hero, or…?” Izuku looked confused, which was to be expected, he supposed.

“As the Symbol of Peace.”

“Oh, uh… I don’t really know.” Izuku leaned forward, his hand on his chin now. “I mean, yeah, he’s been a major deterrent to crime, and inspiration for countless heroes, but surely there must be side effects? Endeavor is the only one still trying to surpass him, so maybe he makes the others feel as if they can never match up?” Izuku mumbled. “Ah, sorry! I do that sometimes.”

“Haha, not a problem. I found what you said quite… enlightening.” Nedzu took a sip of his tea. “Now, since you are who he has chosen to be his successor, what kind of hero do you want to be? Rescue, combat, or influence?”

“Influence?” Izuku tilted his head in confusion.

“Ah, I forget the official categories are Rescue and Combat. What I mean by influence is something like All Might, or Uwabami. They use their status as heroes to influence others, be it society at large, or a certain group of people. All Might could be said to be the ultimate all-rounder, but much of his persona is meant to influence others. From his jokes to his friendly demeanor.” Nedzu explained.

“Oh, I… hadn’t thought about that. I mean, I want to do everything I can to help people, and I want to make people feel safe just by being there, but…” Izuku frowned. “I don’t want to neglect any area, really. I just… want to help people.”

Nedzu laughed good-naturedly. “That is an admirable goal, but very well. Do you want to be a Symbol of Peace, like All Might?”

“Yes. I want to help and inspire people just like he does.” Izuku nodded feverently.

“Interesting…” Nedzu took another sip of his tea. “I know this is not what you expected from our lessons, but I hope you take what I say, and what I ask, seriously. These are meant to help you later on, so give each question some thought.”

“Of course, sir!” Izuku’s posture straightened.

“So, the main question for this lesson is going to be ethical. Put reality out of mind for this, and let me finish before you give an answer.” Nedzu gave him a pointed look, knowing his mumbling habits extended to speaking while other people did. “Let us pretend you are in a time period from before quirks, in a different country. In this theoretical country, a wife is her husband’s property, not considered a person by law. The same applies to children. Horrid, I know, but it is theoretical.” He could not bare to tell the boy that it had been the case for many cultures throughout time, though he probably suspected anyway. “Now, let us say you are the only child in this family, and your father routinely abuses your mother. One day, you realize you are strong enough to stop it, but the law forbids you from doing so. Since the law is against you, and if your father reports it, you will be punished worse. What do you do? Do you kill him, do nothing, or take your mother and run away?”

“I…” Izuku blinked, taking all the information in for a few moments while Nedzu remained silent, yet focused on Izuku. “I’m not sure. It’s… hard to put myself in that kind of situation, you know? But I’d… have to run away. I don’t want to kill anyone, even if they are… that.” He shrugged helplessly.

Nedzu smiled, noting he did not even consider doing nothing. “A fair answer. However, consider if it were your own mother, not some theoretical one, in this case, does that change your answer?”

“I’d kill… Oh.” Izuku responded almost instinctively, before he realized what he was saying. “I mean-”

“Calm yourself. That is not a bad answer. If it is the choice between someone you care about suffering or someone evil dying, not many would blame you for such an answer. However, the quickness of your answer is unexpected.” 

“I… she’s all I have, really. The thought of anyone hurting her…” Izuku clenched his fists, and Nedzu could hear the knuckles pop.

“Completely understandable. I imagine your answer would be different if the law were on your side, in that situation. Nonetheless, you should think on your answer, and what it means ethically. I will be the first to tell you what is lawful is not always right, and vice versa.” He let out a humourless chuckle. “I think that will be it for now. Hm. How about you write a small essay, defending your decision? Give it to All Might whenever you finish and I will read it before our next session.”

Izuku nodded, and Nedzu left shortly after, leaving plenty of thoughts for Izuku to ponder on.

“I read your essay, it was very well done.” Nedzu, despite his intelligence, was not hesitant to hand out compliments. He understood quite well how fragile Izuku’s self-esteem was, after all. “Were it more official, I would have given it a perfect score, I daresay.” 

They were in the same positions as their last session, and Nedzu could see a noticeable amount of muscle on Izuku now, despite it only being the first month of his training.

“Thank you, sir. I put a lot of thought into it, though I still feel bad about taking up more of your schedule…” Izuku admitted. Nedzu could tell he was slowly gaining confidence, thanks to being away from his tormentors.

“Nonsense, Izuku.” It was well known that people would become more comfortable when you spoke their name. At least, until it was done excessively, then it became patronizing, or threatening. “My quirk helps me enough with my work that I have plenty of free time.”

“Yes, I know! Your quirk lets you process multiple things at once, all at human-level intellect!” Izuku beamed.

“Oh? You figured it out, quite impressive.” Nedzu smiled widely. “Most would just assume its a simple intelligence quirk and leave it at that, but you went further than that. Very good!” He was genuinely impressed. With physical quirks, it was fairly easy to see how they worked. Mental quirks, however, were almost impossible to understand from an outside perspective.

“Well, I had plenty of time to do research, and your tips on my notebooks helped a lot too!”

Nedzu laughed, a bit of concern underneath the surface. “No, no, that is all your work, I only gave you advice. Take pride in that.”

Izuku gave a halfhearted nod, and Nedzu knew his fears were confirmed.

Nevertheless, he could not address such an issue yet, he would have to help over time. “Now, tell me, if you could sum up yourself in one word, how would you do it?”

It was a simple question, but one with far more depth than Izuku realized. Nedzu had yet to meet someone who knew what he was searching for with that question, but it would reveal quite a bit about Izuku, and what he would need in the future.

“I don’t know, that’s… a weird question. Um… I guess nerd?” Izuku flushed as Nedzu laughed.

“No, no, I meant in a more all-encompassing way. Something that would apply to everything you are, not just your hobbies. And there is no shame in what you do. It takes more dedication than most could ever muster.”

“Oh… I’m still not sure, can you give me an example?” Izuku requested.

“Absolutely! A good example is Steel. A person who is ‘Steel’ is someone who can bend, but not break. They would be slow to change, without pressure, but they are far more sturdy than others, mentally. They would be someone you could depend on, a pillar of sorts. Does that help?”

“Yes, but… I will need time to give a proper answer. I don’t want to give a halfhearted answer for such a question!” Izuku seemed just as determined as ever, likely because he saw the question as a challenge, even if he did not realize it.

“Very well, that is to be expected. It is a very difficult question, with so many possibilities. Think on this, and we will discuss it at our next lesson, alright?”

Izuku nodded fiercely. “Of course.”

“In the mean time, tell me about your training with All Might.”

It was the second month, and Izuku looked far more tired than he usually did, Nedzu noticed. He did not say anything about it, already having known this would happen, and knowing it would be necessary, for his students. Both of them.

“If you are too tired for the day, I can-”

“No! Er. I mean, no, sir. I’m fine, I promise. Just a bit tired is all.” Izuku coughed, not willing to admit he had been doing extra training on the side. What a spirit…

“Very good, but be careful, sleep is important for muscle growth, and your mental wellbeing. Did you come to an answer for my question from last time? I am very interested in your response.”

“I… did. It’s a bit cliche, but I think… Darkness?” Izuku seemed to shrink into himself, ashamed of his answer, as if he expected to be laughed at for it.

“Oh? Care to explain your reasoning?” Nedzu took a sip of tea. He was still not sure how Inko managed to find such delicious tea, but he would gladly hire her solely for that, if he could. Unfortunately, she was happy with her current job.

“Oh, well… I always hide away from people, and I just disappear in the spotlight. I’m not really noticed unless people are looking for me, too. I.. don’t know. It just feels like it fits?” Izuku seemed unsure, but Nedzu knew why. This thought of darkness came to him because of his life. Without a doubt, Izuku was anything but darkness, but he thought of himself as such because of how others treated him before now. 

“Hm. I suppose I can see how you would come to that conclusion. However, I have my own idea about it, if you would not mind?” Once Izuku nodded, he continued. “When I see you, I do not see darkness. You inspire others, you give them hope, and you seem to shine, I would say. You are direct and know what you want in life. You are driven, and I do not think anything can truly stop you. Surely you have noticed a change in All Might during your training?”

“I.. guess?” Izuku was flustered, not used to receiving such compliments. He was only not objecting due to his isolation from his bullies. Amazing what two months away from them had done for his confidence. “He seems more focused lately, less… cynical, I guess?”

“Exactly! You inspired hope even in him, which is quite a feat, let me tell you. So, with all that I said in mind, do you know what I think you are?” Nedzu smiled patiently. Few ever came to the answer for themselves, but Izuku very likely would have, if not for his psychological issues. Depression and Imposter Syndrome were not easy to overcome.

“Is… is it light?” Izuku was hesitant to say it, feeling like a dork just for thinking it. He was not a chuunibyou, damnit! Well, he was technically a middle-schooler, but still!

“Very good! It is, indeed, Light. Keep that in mind as you move forward, but remember, light can blind just as much as it can guide the way. All Might is also someone I would call Light, even if he forgot himself along the way…” Nedzu sighed. “But that’s not my secret to tell. Now, how are your studies going? I saw you were ahead in mathematics, and physics, but what of english and history?” The two discussed his schooling for another hour before Nedzu left, hopeful that the idea of light, if only as something to strive to be, would stick in Izuku’s mind.

All Might did not expect much from a meek fanboy. He had expected the first month, certainly. That was the easiest part, when the workload would be the lightest. He had decided to use this training to clean up Dagobah Beach, since he could hardly take Izuku to a gym. He was well aware of how his true appearance looked.

In truth, he expected the boy to look at the beach and give up. He would not be surprised. He felt bad for doubting the young man, now that he had been training for two months. During these past months, he had noticed slow, but significant changes in the boy. True to his original plan, the fanboy had gained a bit of confidence, even asking for his real name in case anyone saw them. Not seeing a reason to deny the request, he told the boy his real name, and he could not deny the small smile he had when the boy called him Toshinori.

Still, the beach would be clean, if the fanboy managed to keep up, within the ten month limit. Probably nine months, if the pace was kept. That was highly unlikely though. He still did not expect the fanboy to keep up for the entire ten months. It would have been difficult for an adult, but for a child like him? All Might knew better than that, and yet…

“Toshinori-sensei!” The fanboy shouted as he ran towards him on the beach, arriving just on time, as always. “I’m ready, what are we working on today?” He smiled.

Every time Toshinori saw that smile, he gained just a bit more hope. The kid was refusing to give up, but Toshinori had long since learned not to get his hopes up. 

“Alright, fanboy! Since you are ahead of schedule, let’s move onto the heavier items, like this fridge…” They went through with the routine without anything major happening.

By the fourth month, Toshinori was starting to believe he may have been pushing the boy too hard. True, thanks to Nedzu, the plan had been adjust to be as difficult as possible, but with the meal plans, and sleep the kid should be getting, he should have been able to keep up, if barely. It was truly the absolute maximum the boy could do, given his age, height, and present muscle mass.

Not to say the boy was giving up, but he was slowing down. It was hardly noticeable at first, given the unorthodox training, but it became clearer and clearer. He said nothing about it, though. If the kid wanted to drop out, then he could do so, and he would not think less of him for it. Plenty of stronger people had given up far sooner.

When the sixth month arrived, Toshinori found himself hopeful for the kid. Regardless of whether or not he made it through the whole ten months, Toshinori knew this kid would become something special. One For All required the absolute strongest of wills to tame its ridiculous power, especially now that he had strengthened it so much further than any of his predecessors. That was part of the reason for his test. The other part, however, was to give a taste of what One For All would require, to truly master. It took an absolute commitment to a goal, and that was exactly what he wanted for the next wielder of One For All. He had to be picky, and if he happened to prevent a few bright souls from crumbling under weight they were not prepared for, then all the better.

While he was lost in thought, and riding his scooter, he heard the kid fall while carrying a microwave. He stopped suddenly, turning with worry. Surprisingly, the kid had just collapsed, not passed out. He knew the kid would not make it all the way, but it was strange that he just gave up mid-jog.

“Hey, hey, hey! What’s wrong kid, you giving up already?” He hopped off his scooter, moving closer to the kid, lifting his wrist to help him up, only to stop as he realized the limb was shaking, barely able to hold itself up.

“What…” Toshinori paused. “You’ve been overworking yourself.” That was… new. He had been expecting him to just give up, or slowly lessen the exercise, but to overdo it? That was unexpected. Toshinori could not help but ask. “What are you thinking? You know that will only have the opposite effect, right? You won’t make it to U.A. like this! You wanted to be a hero right?” He did not usually encourage his trainees, but he was genuine when he did. It helped that his curiosity about just why the kid had done this was too much for him to bare.

“I don’t want to just be a hero…” The kid mumbled, before looking up to look at Toshinori in the eyes. “I want to excel ! I want to be like you, I want to be the best!” The kid moved, breathing heavily at the strain of carrying the microwave and his overworked body. “I have to work harder than anyone else! I need to push myself, or I won’t be able to make it!”

Toshinori was floored. He knew the kid was determined, but this… Simply following the plan would have been incredibly difficult, but for him to force himself to overwork? Was this what Nighteye meant when he talked about All Might having a certain kind of madness? Slowly, Toshinori smiled .

He could not remember the last time he had genuinely smiled so widely. When had he gotten so hopeless, so cynical? So… old? He laughed, transforming into All Might. “I like that spirit of yours, fa- Young Midoriya! Very well, I’ll make some adjustments to the plan, just leave it to this old man!”

When was the last time All Might had been his real self? When he had laughed genuinely, when he simply felt like he was a hero, not a man behind a facade? This kid, just reminded him of himself so much, only… better. True, he had instantly come to master One For All, but it was notably weaker back then, his years of training having pushed it far beyond what Nana Shimura could do with it. He found himself wondering how far Young Midoriya would push One For All… Even now, he was ready to give this boy his quirk, out of sheer pride. This kid was perfect for his successor. No, he was no longer ‘this kid’. Just like how he had, at some point, stopped being ‘fanboy’, he was now simply Midoriya.

For the first time in ages, he felt young again, the pain of his wound barely noticeable in his exhilaration. Midoriya was amazing!

“You’re not that old, All Might…” Young Midoriya mumbled as All Might picked him up on his shoulder, laughing.

Okay, so Midoriya was a dork, but he was an amazing dork.

“You seem happier lately.” Nedzu spoke idly, as if he did not already know why. The two had developed a habit of meeting in his office at U.A. these past few months, to discuss Midoriya.

“Did you put him up to it?” Toshinori had to ask, but similarly, he also knew the answer.

“No, but I did notice, of course. I figured it was your job to fix it, as his physical trainer.” Nedzu smiled.

“Haha! Well, I adjusted the training plan. With this, he should be done two weeks before the Entrance Exams. Should be enough time for him to get at least some practice with One For All.” Toshinori did not even realize he was smiling fondly as he spoke.

“That’s good! It will take time for him to adjust to his new quirk, but I am glad to hear you have not changed your mind.”

“Of course not! I never lied to anyone, if they had succeeded in the training, they would receive One For All. I may have made it difficult, but you know the kind of will this requires. And yet…”

“You feel like you would give it to him, even if he did not succeed, don’t you?” Nedzu probed.

“I can’t lie, I have thought about it. He is such an amazing kid. A heroic heart, heroic willpower, and he is even pretty smart! Speaking of, how are his grades going?” Toshinori questioned.

“Quite well. He will not have a problem with the written portion of the exam, certainly. But I confess most of my lessons with him have been less about grades and more about his analysis, as well as applying said skill to himself.” Nedzu set down his tea.

“What do you mean?”

“He is depressed, with low self-esteem, and a complete lack of pride. He displays traits of what many call ‘imposter syndrome’. Essentially, he does not acknowledge his own accomplishments. At least, he did. This training has done wonders for his state of mind, no doubt only bolstered by being away from his bullies.” Nedzu sighed. “However, I fear should he meet one of these bullies in U.A. he will only recede.”

“You wouldn’t bring it up unless you thought it likely.” Toshinori accused. “Who is it?”

“Bakugo Katsuki. Technically, his record is spotless, but his attitude, as well as my talks with Izuku, reveal more than enough. His grades and combat ability are both high enough that he is undoubtedly going to pass both exams.” Nedzu crossed his hands together.

“Why let him, then? If he is a bully, shouldn’t that count against him?”

“Usually, yes, but as I said, his record is spotless. Anything he has done is off the record. If I barred him from the exam, questions would be raised, which would lead to both you and young Izuku. I refuse to do that. In addition, it seems like Bakugo has calmed down significantly since the sludge villain incident.”

“That was him? Young Midoriya went out there to save his own bully?” Toshinori exclaimed, eyes wide, and a smile growing on his face. “Everything I learn about him just makes me like him more.”

“He is quite extraordinary, isn’t he?” Nedzu laughed. “He has a long way to go, but he is already doing more than anyone else. Becoming a hero these days is simple, but being a Hero is not. We both know which he is aiming for.” He let out a small chuckle at that. “But in all honesty, I am glad you are doing better. I know your battle with All For One and subsequent weakening has been bothering you for so long. You may have graduated, but I am still your teacher.” Nedzu smiled fondly.

“That was only a single semester! I thought you hated teaching me, what with all the explosions.” Toshinori rubbed the back of his head, recalling the disastrous chemistry class of his second year.

“Oh no, that made it so much more exciting! Though I admit I did not care to teach afterwards, everyone else was just so boring. As if my job was simply to give them answers to memorize. I am glad our current teachers are different. Speaking of, how goes your teaching lessons? I hope the staff has proven useful?” Nedzu shifted the subject to Toshinori’s progress in learning how to teach.

“I think it’s going well. I’ve sat in for a few classes when I get the chance, and have quite a few ideas on how to do mine. I admit, I want to jump right in, from the start, though.”

“Oh? Do tell!” Nedzu seemed excited at the prospect. 

“Well, I was thinking of battle training…”

All Might arrived at the beach, three weeks before the exam. He had been absent for a week now, thanks to his new teaching license, but he made sure to tell Midoriya beforehand. He did not expect for the entire beach, including the areas outside of where he instructed Midoriya to clean, to be spotless. “Holy crap, kid.”

“All Might?” Midoriya turned towards him, obviously exhausted. He had pushed himself this past week, not so much to ruin his progress, but more than he was used to. He had wanted to surprise his mentor.

“You really are amazing, Young Midoriya.” All Might spoke softly, plucking a hair from his head. “I can’t lie to you. I did not expect you to finish. I had expected you would give up long before this, but you not only proved me wrong, you surpassed my greatest expectations! My mentor once told me these words, and I feel you should hear them as well. There is a difference between being lucky, and being rewarded. One is chance, and the other only happens when you are deserving, and you, my boy, are certainly deserving! Now…”

Midoriya looked up in expectation.

“EAT THIS!”

“...eh?”

Chapter Text

Whatever Izuku had been expecting to do in order to acquire All Might’s quirk, it was not eating a hair. It was the strangest thing he could think of, that did not make him desire a bottle of mind-bleach. Blood probably would have been easier, and less disgusting, but he wasn’t going to complain about getting a quirk, regardless of how ridiculous it was.

What he WOULD complain about, however, was that All Might seemed to not know how to activate his own quirk. At least, the man could not tell Izuku in a way that made sense. Fortunately, they had time. Not a lot of time, but enough to at least get an idea on how to use One For All.

Training for that would begin tomorrow, though. For now, he had to wait for it to digest, and meet with Nedzu again. This was to be their last session, for whatever reason. Apparently, Nedzu wanted to take a more active approach for the freshman this year, including Izuku. Maybe he discovered how much he enjoyed teaching, thanks to Izuku? He doubted it, but it would be nice to be useful in such a manner.

“Hello there!” Nedzu joyously cried as he came into the room, Inko having let him in. Izuku had been so distracted by his own thoughts he did not even realize there was a knock at the door. He still had to work on that.

“Hello Principal Nedzu.” Izuku, despite feeling much less restricted after so long without bullying, was still shy thanks to the years before. Even so, he felt he had come a long way from the skinny nerd he once was. It still felt crazy to think of this heavily muscled body as his. He had not caught up to Kacchan, but he was on his way! Months of training only did so much compared to years, even if the training was more intense.

He had developed some level of pride in his body, despite his usual doubts. It was hard for him to think of himself positively, but it was even harder to deny the physical evidence that he woke up to daily. 

“How are you feeling, having a quirk now?” Nedzu smiled serenely. “Oh, would you mind if All Might sat in during this lesson? It’s about time we explained the full story to your mother.”

“Are-are you sure? I mean it’s a big secret, and I don’t want to make anything worse for you or All Might, and I know this secret means a lot to him, isn’t that why he didn’t tell my mom in the first place?” Izuku stopped himself before he could go onto a mumbling rant. He had been getting better about that.

“Hm, I think you are wrong. At least, in your way of thinking. But yes, I am sure, it would be impossible to keep this from her, and it will help to have some support.” Nedzu sighed.

Toshinori barged in, at least he seemed to, but he had probably already been invited in by Inko. He loved being dramatic…

“Nedzu is quite right, Young Midoriya!” He was in his skinny form, of course, but his enthusiasm had been constantly as high as he presented in his buff form recently. Izuku was unsure why. “You are thinking about this all wrong. Do you want to tell your mom about One for All?”

“Well, of course, she has a right to know, and she would worry less.” Izuku shrugged. “I’d like for her to know, yes.”

“Then tell her.” Toshinori paused at Izuku’s surprised expression. “Young Midoriya, whose quirk is it?”

“Yours-oh.” Izuku blinked. “I keep thinking of it like it's your quirk.”

“Exactly.” Nedzu interjected. “This is your quirk now. As much as I am sure you will keep it secret for All Might, it is not your secret even more than it is his. I have no doubt we can trust your judgement on who should or should not know.”

Toshinori nodded. “Exactly. I would like you to at least tell me before you tell anyone, but it is your secret now, not mine. I’m not saying to publish it openly, but I can trust your judgement.”

Had this been a few months ago, hearing his idol tell him he trusted Izuku with his greatest secret would have sent him to tears. As it was, he managed to prevent flooding the house, at least. “Thank you so much!”

“Haha! You still act as if this was not because of you! You have proven yourself not only worthy of One For All, but worthy of our trust. Believe in yourself, Young Midoriya. If you can’t do that, at least believe in us, who believe in you.” Toshinori encouraged him.

Everyone was silent for a moment, before Nedzu laughed. Izuku turned his head away from Toshinori and stifled a laugh. “Really All Might?” He asked through muffled laughter.

“Well, it fits for the situation!” Toshinori flushed.

“You are such a dork.” Izuku commented before paling. “OhmygodImsosorryIdidntmeanitImeanyouareawesomeIshouldnthave-”

Nedzu laughed louder, enough to stop Izuku’s ramblings. “He has you pegged, Toshinori.”

“Principal!” Toshinori was flushed even more from embarrassment now.

“Oh? Are you denying it? I recall a certain hero fanboy in my chemistry class…” Nedzu smirked.

Izuku stared in bewilderment as Nedzu continued to tease All Might, who he was realizing he had far more in common with than he expected.

“Izuku, what did you need?” Inko smiled as she came in, looking a great deal less stressed than she had been so many months ago. 

“Hey mom… you uh, might want to sit down for this.” Izuku was nervous, and she could tell. Well, more nervous than he had been for a long time, at least. Which was strange because Nedzu and Toshinori were sitting next to him, Toshinori just as nervous, although much better at hiding it. Nedzu was… sipping his tea, calmly, as always. She was not sure anything could actually bother the man.

“Alright.” She took the seat opposite to the three, still smiling though far more wary now. Had Izuku failed, or gotten in trouble somehow? Was someone targeting her baby because of his closeness to these two from U.A.? Had Katsuki attacked him?

“Calm down, it’s nothing so terrible. In fact, it’s quite a wonderful situation, albeit complicated.” Nedzu stated, crossing his hands after putting his tea down.

Inko nodded, taking a breath. Despite not mumbling like Izuku did, her thoughts went just as wild. “Alright, well what is going on then?” A recommendation maybe? She was sure Izuku would refuse, but it would be a statement either way.

“Ah, that’s where I come in.” Toshinori stood up. “I am afraid we were not telling the whole truth when we first met.”

Inko’s mind flashed back to the knife in her kitchen. If necessary, she could probably pull it to her, but it would not be a quick process.

“It would be better to just show you, I think.” Toshinori sighed, before suddenly shifting into-

“ALL MIGHT?!” Inko shouted, standing herself. “Wait, that means… Oh my goodness, Izuku’s been training with All Might!” Despite not being an overt fan of heroes, it was hard to not admire the number one hero, particularly when Izuku gushed about him every chance he got.

“Yes, well that is only part of it.” Nedzu interrupted her train of thought, as All Might shifted back to his small form. “All Might’s quirk is… unique, to say the least. In the simplest terms, it is able to be passed down to someone else, regardless of whether or not that person is quirkless.”

“You mean…” Inko was not a fool. The training, both Nedzu and All Might being involved, and Izuku’s nervousness combined with the new information to form only one conclusion. “...Thank you.” Tears slowly crept down her face, and she noted Izuku immediately leap to her side, hugging her. 

“What?” All Might had expected many different reactions, but this was… not one of them.

“It’s pretty obvious what this is leading to, but I just want to thank you. I know Izuku could have made it without a quirk.” She felt him hug her even tighter, and became aware he was crying as well now. “But a mother worries. With your quirk, of all things, I know he will be safe. I know it’s a dangerous job, but… if anyone can do it, its him.” She smiled, tears still falling, albeit much slower now. Izuku still clung to her, crying much harder, likely from joy. She could hear him mutter something repeatedly, though whether it was ‘thank you’ or ‘I love you’, she was unsure.

“No need to thank us.” Nedzu supplied, smiling at the family. “Izuku has proven himself these past few months. Had he failed us, he would not have been given this quirk. However, I must stress that you tell no one about this, both All Might’s form, and the quirk itself.”

“I see…” Inko frowned. “All Might.” The man turned his gaze to her, his eyes just as intense as his hero form, even in his skeleton-like body. “Your quirk… He has it now, does that mean you are going to retire?” She felt Izuku stiffen, and knew he had turned his head to look at All Might in a questioning, horrified gaze.

“Not yet, but eventually yes. To be honest, it was going to happen either way, I received a terrible injury many years ago and have been slowly getting weaker. While losing my quirk will speed things slightly, it is insignificant. Besides, I know I chose well with Izuku, no doubt he will become a symbol even before he graduates from U.A.” Toshinori explained.

“If, you mean.” Inko gave a meaningful gaze to the two heroes, though she suspected they had no plans to let Izuku go anywhere but U.A. It would be too risky, after all. She also realized, however, that Izuku needed to get in on his own merit, for his own sake.

“O-of course! I just have no doubt he will ace the exam, that’s all.” Toshinori waved his hands in front of him, denying the idea that he doubted Izuku.

“Ah, yes. We would normally offer a recommendation, but I think you would prefer to take the normal exam, yes?” Nedzu saw Izuku nod, no longer attached to his mother, but still close to her. “Very well then! We have three weeks to get you used to your new quirk, so let’s explain what exactly it is.”

“Right!” Toshinori cleared his throat, sitting down again, staring at Izuku. “One For All is not a normal quirk, for many reasons. Though I suppose it matches legacy quirks in a way… As it is passed down, it gains strength. So it is likely that Izuku will one day be stronger than I was in my prime. Of course that is quite a ways away, but it needed to be said. As for the quirk itself, despite it being a simple enhancement type of quirk, it also enhances the quirks of the user, which won’t matter in this case, but good to know for later.” Or at least Nedzu had said, but he was not about to argue with him. “As you might have guessed, it is a requirement to be in exceptional shape. While you are at a good level now, you will likely be limited to a small portion of the power until later, as your body adjusts and you grow stronger. I honestly don’t know if there are any passive effects, there certainly weren’t for me, but according to my predecessor, everyone manifests it slightly differently. So anything you notice changing, you need to let me know. I’ll talk with Recovery Girl, since she is coming to our training tomorrow.”

“She’s coming tomorrow?” Izuku blinked, not having known this.

“Oh, I thought I mentioned it. Sorry, I’ve been in a rush lately.” Toshinori shrugged helplessly. “But yes. Your quirk is unimaginably powerful, so it may have a backlash that I do not expect. Depends on how it manifests for you.” Seeing Inko’s worried face, Toshinori backpedaled. “Of course, it’s just in case! I expect no problems, but its for safety. At the very worst, I expect a broken bone, which will not be a problem with Recovery Girl there.” That somewhat soothed her worries, but it was clear she was not pleased with the idea of her baby boy breaking an arm. 

Nedzu nodded. “Yes, there is no reason to worry. While it would be painful, with Recovery Girl there, it would be healed in moments. Of course, you will end up tired if that happens, but better a bit exhausted than a broken arm, yes?” Nedzu laughed lightly. “Now, I have a little question, this time for all three of you.”

Izuku tilted his head, confused. That was the same tone Nedzu used during their lessons, but to ask all of them a question…

“Have you any plans for safety?”

The question was phrased too strangely for Izuku or Inko to understand, but judging from the paling look on Toshinori’s face, he at least knew what Nedzu meant. “When Izuku becomes famous as a hero, people may target his family and friends. Friends won't be a problem, since I expect many of them would be heroes as well. However…” Nedzu turned to stare at Inko, who had not been ignorant to Izuku’s clenching fists. “We need some kind of safety net for you, Inko. Otherwise, I worry you may be targeted even before Izuku leaves school.”

That was a shock to Inko and her son. Izuku realized he should have thought of this before, and was berating himself mentally. “Oh dear, I don’t know… If my husband were here, I would not worry, but I’m not good at fighting.” 

Izuku muttered something, but shook his head. “What are you suggesting, Principal Nedzu?” He knew Nedzu would never have brought it up unless he already had a suggestion.

Nedzu smiled, glad his apprentice understood. “Simply put, I would like to offer you a position at U.A.”

Everyone blanched at that.

“Yes, of course! You see, I’ve had an idea recently, and I need someone specialized to work on it. While I have the contractors and architects, I need a lawyer to ensure everything is up to standard. I understood you have a Law degree?”

“Well, yes, but I was never officially certified to practice.” Inko shook her head. “I’m not sure I can help with what you need.”

“It’s no problem, I do not need legal action directly, just… advice, so to speak. Besides, you would be able to finish your certification while working for me. What do you say?”

“Absolutely!” Inko cried, literally. “You… you’ve given us both so much, I’m not sure I could ever repay you.”

Nedzu laughed. “If you wish to repay us, simply do the best you both can, and we will be even. Consider it an investment for the future. Speaking of! You need to register your quirk, and come up with both a costume and hero name. You have until the Sports Festival for a prototype name, but we need a costume before the start of the year. Since you have three weeks until the exam, you should be able to come up with a costume, yes?”

Izuku turned away shyly. “Well, I… I want to emulate All Might.”

“I thought you might. It’s nothing to be ashamed about, he is an incredible inspiration to many, not just you.” Nedzu laughed lightly. “What were you thinking of though?”

“Um… A faceguard to mimic his smile?” Izuku shrugged helplessly. “Something like his hair too, a symbol to make it clear who I’m trying to model myself after.”

Nedzu frowned slightly, before smiling again. It was not quick enough to go unnoticed by Inko, but Izuku did not seem to notice, at least. “That would be difficult, but why not a cape, instead? Yes, based on his older costume, a cape would be perfect. You could even have support additions added to make it more useful.”

“Wouldn’t a cape just be a liability?” Izuku tilted his head, confused.

“Not at all! Even as you are, you could easily tear away from a cape if needed. Once you get a handle on One For All, I’m sure you could tear apart even the most durable support material! Besides, capes are only truly dangerous if you lack spatial awareness, which you do not.”

All Might nodded. “Capes are also very useful for surprise attacks, and civilian treatment. You can use them to carry someone without your hands, or to wrap wounds without losing your more necessary clothing!”

Inko put her finger to her chin, thinking. Nedzu noted her posture was only slightly different from Izuku’s. “What about bracers? One For All is power enhancement, right? So he would mostly be punching. Something to help mitigate the shock would be good. I know he would get used to it eventually, but… well, I know martial artists break their bones repeatedly to get used to it, but I’d rather avoid that…” 

The discussion went on from there, All Might and Inko adding their own ideas. They talked for a good hour before they decided to call it a day.

Recovery Girl should be used to this. She had been the nurse of U.A. for years now. Those students were reckless, and the teachers demanded quite a bit. It was for the best, making sure they would be strong enough to survive the future as heroes, but that did not make it easier on her. Despite it being her job, she genuinely hated seeing people hurt.

Still, even her constant treatment of Toshinori had not prepared her to see a child, Toshinori’s successor, break every bone in his arm by throwing a punch. However, that was only part of the problem. Toshinori claimed he expected some backlash, but not this level. What Recovery Girl was surprised at, however, was that the punch, while impressive in its own right, had absolutely nothing on Toshinori, even weakened as he was. 

Toshinori could change the weather with a punch, but this child had not come close to doing that. There were implications there that she did not think Toshinori realized. For one, despite the muscle mass the boy had, it was still not comparable to Toshinori’s. While this was to be expected, both because of the difference in their training, and the difference in their bodies, it was still revealing. She would leave her theories on what One For All really was for later, though. If she was right, it made sense that Izuku could not control it yet. Toshinori, for all his faults, was a true prodigy, mastering such a powerful quirk right off the bat, then bringing it to a level beyond any other quirk known. To compare, Nana Shimura was only considered an S class power because of her ability to fly. While the super strength and speed granted by One For All were not to be scoffed at, All Might took only One For All and went from being a strong hero to a walking disaster. Well, more of one, as far as she was concerned.

“Alright, you should be good to go.” Recovery Girl sighed. She wanted the boy to rest, but he insisted. She could not blame him, knowing he had been quirkless until this, and his dream required the best of him. Was it so wrong that she hated seeing someone push themselves to the brink? “Hm, tell me, what does it feel like to use your quirk?” Nedzu had mentioned Izuku still had trouble thinking of it as his quirk, rather than Toshinori’s, and encouraged her to reinforce the idea that it was truly his, so she would simply call it his quirk rather than One For All.

“It’s… Kind of like a buzz? Like… Like an egg in a microwave!” Izuku’s voice stopped wavering at the end, that confidence Nedzu had been building coming in. 

“Strange, but I’ve heard stranger. Well sonny, I think you need to think about it differently. You obviously can’t handle the full power right now, so tone it down.” She paused, trying to figure out how to explain it to fit with his example, when Nedzu interrupted.

“Perhaps you should think of it less like a microwave, and more like an oven, with a controlled temperature gauge?” 

Izuku frowned. “I… don’t think it’ll be that easy, but alright. I… may have an idea.” He was still nervous, Recovery Girl could tell.

Toshinori coughed to get their attention. “I’m sorry I can’t be more help, my boy, but my training with One For All was a lot less about control…” She could see his legs start to shake, likely thinking about Gran Torino. He was still such a baby!

“It’s fine! I have to figure it out myself, anyway. I… can’t just be a copy of you, right?” Izuku’s face was some strange mix of a disappointed frown, and a determined glare.

“Quite right! You will grow differently than Toshinori, hopefully you will take better care of yourself too.” Recovery Girl glared at Toshinori for a moment, before turning back to the boy with a smile. “Of course, I have no doubt you will be better than him eventually.”

The compliment made him flush and turn away, clearly not used to such positive reinforcement, despite his months with Nedzu and Toshinori. Whatever past this boy had, it still haunted him, just beneath the surface.

“I don’t know about that, but I have to try.” Izuku clenched his fists, that determined glint only becoming more apparant in his eyes. “Alright, be ready to heal me, I… don’t know how this is going to go.”

“Take it slow and steady. Focus on the feeling, not the knowledge of what you are doing.” Nedzu advised. Toshinori, wisely, kept silent.

Izuku nodded, closing his eyes. There was a tense silence for a minute, when sparks suddenly started flowing down Izuku’s body. “Alright!” Izuku cheered, opening his eyes, only for the sparks to disappear immediately after.

“Well done! You opened the gate, at least, now it’s just a matter of mastering it.” Toshinori pumped his fist, shifting to his muscle form as he did so.

“Hm, you looked tense during that, can you move with it?” Nedzu hopped onto Toshinori’s shoulder. Despite how it may seem lazy, Recovery Girl knew it was simply because he loved warmth, and he did not have the endurance that humans did. He was not a man with a quirk, but an animal with one. What kind of animal, not even she knew, but his body was not made for endurance like a human’s.

“One way to find out!” Izuku had a manic grin as the lightning started back up.

“Alright! Try some basic shadow boxing.” Toshinori stepped back, not wanting to get in the way. Recovery Girl did similar, less because she was worried about getting in the way, and more because, unlike Toshinori, the boy could actually hurt her by accident.

“Er… shadow boxing?” Izuku did that adorable head-tilt Nedzu had warned her about, and she suddenly understood why. This boy was already adorable, but that confused expression… She hoped Nedzu’s dorm idea waited until this boy graduated, else she might have to give him the talk. Lord knows Toshinori wouldn’t. His mother might, but...  it was probably less awkward with a nurse, right?

As she mused, Toshinori sighed. “Just kick and punch the air.”

“Oh! I just hadn’t heard that term before…” Izuku ducked his head, before obeying Toshinori. He was certainly moving faster than expected, but it was not quite superhuman. At least, nothing she hadn’t seen from a third year before. Impressive, probably enough to deal with the robots in the entrance exam, but a far cry from Toshinori. It was to be expected, of course.

“Hm. I’d wager you are at about five percent, right now. That sound right?” Toshinori rubbed his chin in thought.

“Er… I think it’s closer to three? It’s weird, but that sounds right.” Izuku rubbed the back of his head.

“Well, you would know better, I imagine. It IS your body, haha!” Toshinori laughed, before coughing up a bit of blood. Nothing she needed to worry about, but not something she liked seeing either. She was more aware of his condition than anyone, and coughing up blood was the least terrible thing about it. “However, now you should focus on combat! Have you any practice with martial arts, or even just brawling?”

“Um… Not really? I mean, I’ve been in fights, but I kinda just… never got the chance to fight back, I guess?” During his childhood, he had attempted at times, his childish temper getting the better of him, but he had never won any of those fights, or really even landed a hit. He was always weak and defenseless… But now things were different!

“Ignoring that for now.” Nedzu sent a pointed glance to Recovery Girl, letting her know he was not letting it go either. “You should take this time to learn. I would suggest mostly learning the proper way to punch and kick, rather than focus on any actual forms or advanced moves.”

“I’m sorry, I would help you, my boy, but I’ve a ton of paperwork to get done. I put it off for quite a while, but I don’t have much more time.” Toshinori apologised. 

“Ah! No, I’m sorry I took up so much of your time! You’ve already done so much for me…” She could see the tears start to form in his eyes. From Nedzu’s satisfied smile, she figured this was an improvement. “I won’t let you down!”

“I honestly don’t think you could at this point, haha! You really are an incredible young man, my boy.” Recovery Girl had to wonder if there was something more to his use of “my boy” but decided against intruding into the man’s life more than she already had. Besides, if he did see the boy as a son, maybe the knucklehead would actually take care of himself.

“Well said! Now, Izuku, if you want, I can suggest some videos that should help you start at least. People look at martial arts and think it’s all jumping around and doing fancy kicks, but forget that the most important aspects are found in the simplest teachings. The difference between someone with even a few days worth of training and someone who hasn’t trained at all is monumental, despite how it seems!” Nedzu was rambling again, but he seemed to have control of himself… for now. She knew very well how long he could keep going when he wanted to.

“Of course! I’ll study hard, sir!” He stood straight, smiling happily now. It was a much better look for him, Recovery Girl admitted to herself. He was the kind of boy who should be smiling more often, after all.

Izuku had overdone it, as seemed the norm. While there was little he could actually do in such a short amount of time, he had managed to learn much more than anticipated, particularly since he only really watched videos on the subject. Apparently the boy was really gifted with replicating things he saw, according to Nedzu.

Still, Recovery Girl wished the boy would have tried to replicate them under some kind of supervision. At the very least, he managed to contact her to heal his broken shin. “I swear, you are going to be as bad as Toshinori, aren’t you?”

“Sorry… I just thought I would get durability with Full Cowl.” Izuku looked down, seeming more like a kicked puppy than she had expected. 

“You probably do.” She sighed. “Just not enough to keep up with the physical strength entirely. Or maybe you aren’t accessing that yet? I don’t know. Like I said before, Toshinori mastered it nearly instantly, so all his training was combat related, and no one remembered his master’s initial training. Look, you need to be careful. I may be able to heal injuries like this, and you may have inhuman stamina, but that will only get you so far. I understand this is all new to you, and you want to experiment, but at least make sure someone is with you when you do. None of us want to see you hurt, okay?”

Izuku nodded, still looking downtrodden.

“Chin up, sonny. You’ve made astounding progress for just two weeks. How long can you keep this Full Cowl up?”

“I don’t really have a time limit. It… doesn’t feel any more tiring than normal movement, but it’s hard to keep focused for so long. Like trying to keep your muscles tense while moving naturally, if that makes any sense.”

“It does, though that is difficult. Well, practice makes perfect. If you think you can keep from breaking anymore bones, then you should try keeping it up as much as you can, even when you are doing simple things. Maybe work on that activation speed too. You need to be able to use it as soon as possible during an emergency. Aside from that, I suggest rest until the exam. You’ve done a lot, so you will need a lot of rest. Perhaps study up for the written exam, but straining yourself at this point would be counterproductive.” Well, she was lying slightly. He would be fine with a day or two of rest, but she wanted him to focus less on the brute strength aspect of his quirk and more on how well he could use it at all. The strength could be upped in time, but right now the control was more important, and not just because she wanted less broken limbs.

“Yeah, I can do that.” She expected more of a fight about it, but figured he was aware he was tired. “I’ve been neglecting my analysis lately anyway, I haven’t actively written in them in months now, oh god I’ve probably missed so much. I wonder if Kamui Woods got any more popular, and what about Mount Lady, not to mention Hawks…” He began to mumble, reminding her of Nedzu’s ramblings, only far less confident. “Oh! Sorry. Uh, thanks again! I promise, I’ll try to keep from needing your help from now on. I can’t imagine if my mom found out I’ve been breaking my bones…” 

She laughed lightly. “I imagine she would be far more upset than I am. Well, take care sonny. I hope to see you at school.” She knew better, of course. As if Nedzu or Toshinori would let their shared apprentice fail, exam be damned. Oh sure, they would find some reason for it to seem genuine, but she had no doubt he could completely flounder the exam and still get in. Not that anyone would be happy with it, but as it stood, the boy was both too dangerous, and too valuable, to be let loose. She knew of the politics of heroism better than most, even if she was not as directly involved as someone like Nedzu.

She noted Izuku seemed more at ease around her, which was… something. She was not entirely sure what it meant, but it was concerning for reasons she could not put her finger on. She kept her mind on the boy, even as she walked away. 

This was it.

This was what she had been training for.

U.A.’s hero course! She was far more worried about the practical than the written exam, but she was not confident in that either. It wasn’t like she was stupid, far from it, she just… well, she was nervous. She was a top student at her previous school, but this was U.A.! The best of the best!

She slapped her cheeks, trying to build the slightest bit of confidence. She made it this far, damnit! She could make it the rest of the way. 

With a sigh, Uraraka Ochako took determined steps towards the entrance, the crowd having dispersed by now. She did NOT want to deal with such a crowd, fighting to get inside. At least there was enough room, though. 

As she was walking, she noticed some blond boy walk by a curly green haired boy, scaring him. Before she could open her mouth, her nerves wanting her to talk to someone to calm down a bit, she saw him tilt forward, about to fall. Naturally, she moved just a bit faster, enough to tag him with her quirk, letting him float safely, rather than slam into the concrete.

At least, that had been the plan. She had not expected him to try to roll to avoid the fall. In turn, he did not expect gravity, and momentum, to turn off.

Instead of gently floating, his forward motion caused him to spin like a Ferris Wheel gone out of control. 

He began screaming something, but the movement muffled his voice to the point that she had no idea what he was saying. Thinking quickly, she reached out, and stopped his movement with a hand on his shoulder. She released her quirk immediately after, steadying him as he fell to his feet, shaking.

“I just saw my whole life flash before my eyes…” He looked… happy? Well either way, she should apologize.

“Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry! I just saw you falling and wanted to stop you, it’d be bad luck, ya know? I didn’t expect you to roll into it though!” She clasped her hands together, pinkies not touching to avoid activating her quirk on herself, bowing.

“Oh no, it’s fine. Was kind of fun actually. Made me forget my nerves, too!” The boy smiled and she absolutely did not feel her heart skip a beat at that adorable face. Nope.

“A-a-alright! Still, sorry about that!” She smiled up at him, noting he was fairly short, only a few centimeters taller than her. “Well, we best get to the exam. Hero course?” She asked, wanting to at least calm her nerves, since spinning him like a top had certainly not done that.

“Yeah! You too?” His eyes sparkled with unasked questions, probably about her quirk. She had used it on him, after all, and anyone would be curious.

“Yep! Let’s go, don’t want to be late.” She smiled, and he nodded. They began walking, when she realized she hadn’t introduced herself. “Oh, I’m Ochako Uraraka!”

“I’m Izuku Midoriya.” He smiled again, looking brighter than the sun. She turned her head away, faking a cough as her face flushed. She was probably just embarrassed she had turned him into a human ferris wheel, but his adorable nature did not help her composure. “What is your quirk, anyway? That was awesome!” Did he have to be so excitable?!

“Oh um, Zero Gravity. Any object I touch has it’s gravity and inertia canceled.” She explained, feeling a bit less embarrassed talking about something as clinical as her quirk.

“Huh. That’s… weird.” Okay, nevermind, he was being rude. “Wouldn’t I have flown off the earth then?”

She blinked. Okay, he was not rude, and he had a point. “I… don’t know. That’s weird.” How had she not realized that before? Well, probably because it had never come up, her Quirk training was too straightforward to ask such questions, though she probably had at some point. She probably just forgot about it, deeming it unimportant. “Quirks are weird.” She shrugged.

“They really are…” They were silent as they walked, before they had to split up for the entrance exam. “Well, I hope to see you in the Hero Course! Good luck!” She ran off immediately after, wishing desperately she could talk easier with cute boys like him. She made everything awkward!

Present Mic was loud, she realized. He was not using a microphone to announce anything to the potential students, that was just his voice. Probably saved a bit of money, she supposed. Still, he had that charisma every hero had, you just had to listen to them. 

Well, mostly. She heard someone muttering something, but couldn’t really make it out. It wasn’t distracting or anything, just surprising that anyone could ignore the loud hero. It was only when Present Mic stopped for a moment that she recognized not only what was being said, but the voice saying it.

“Italkedtoagirl, Italkedtoagirl, Italkedtoagirl”

Oh my god, it was Midoriya! And he was a nervous wreck! And a dork! Suddenly she didn’t feel so bad about making it awkward earlier. She wanted to laugh, but she felt too nervous, and didn’t want to be rude. She wasn’t laughing at him, either, she just felt relieved. She was not used to being that nervous. Most boys weren’t really interested in girls until High School, so confessions and the like did not happen often, let alone to her. She always thought of herself as plain, despite what her friends or parents said. They were supposed to, weren’t they?

She missed when the blue haired boy scolded Midoriya, but she heard the explanation of the zero-pointer at least. How dangerous could an obstacle be?

Really, really fucking dangerous, it turned out. She was not normally one to cuss, not even in her own mind, but she thought a giant killer robot warranted it. What kind of money did U.A. even have?! 

She wanted to run, that thing weighed too much for her to even try using her quirk on it. Unfortunately, just as she started, a large piece of rubble fell on her leg. She felt her ankle break, but refused to scream. Instead, she shouted for help, hoping someone could get to her before that giant monstrosity trampled her. 

Had she been in a rational state of mind, she would have not panicked. Surely, U.A. could not kill a student, even accidentally, right? 

Thankfully, she did not have to find out, thanks to the green blur that slammed into the robot, making the head explode and the rest fall back, hopefully where there were no other contestants. Given she had been the furthest ahead, thanks mostly to her going completely straight, she doubted there were any. 

When she saw the blur start to fall, three limbs looking more like waving tentacles than arms or legs, she knew she had to act. Whoever it was had just sacrificed three limbs and a LOT of pain to save her. She would rather they not go ‘splat’.

Ignoring the pain in her ankle, she floated herself upwards, just close enough to the boy to touch when he fell. With a quick, and likely painful, slap to the face, the boy stopped falling, and she recognized him. Izuku Midoriya. Well, at least she made up for the ferris wheel spinning, now.

He barely managed to spit out a ‘thank you’ before he passed out, which she was slightly thankful for. She would rather him not be awake with those kinds of injuries. “We need a nurse!” 

“I’m right here, dearie.” An incredibly short and old woman spoke up, walking with a cane decorated as a giant needle. Hopefully it was just decoration. “Ah, damnit. I should have known he would injure himself. Well, at least it’s understandable this time, and not an accident.” She muttered, but Ochako heard her. She knew Midoriya?

“Will he be alright?” She asked, scared for her potential friend. Sure, they barely talked, but saving each other like that probably made them friends… right?

“Of course, he’ll just need some rest. Same as you, only more severe. Thankfully that boy has ridiculous stamina, otherwise he would need separate treatments. Now, sit still.” The old lady calmly walked to Midoriya’s body, her lips extending a good two foot to kiss his forehead. Immediately, a pink light shined throughout his body, and his limbs straightened out, making him look more like a human than a human shaped octopus. Okay, maybe the pain was getting a bit too much.

“Oh dear, your ankle…” The old lady walked to her next, leaning down to look at her ankle. “Well, it’s not broken, but that is one terrible sprain. I swear, this exam gets more dangerous each year…” She complained, repeating the forehead kiss on Ochako next. “Here, have some gummies. They should help with the exhaustion.”

She happily took the gummies, hoping the lightheadedness would pass, though that might be from nerves honestly. Almost dying to a giant robot did that to people. “I hope he passes. He saved my life already.”

“Oh I wouldn’t worry too much, dearie. That boy made quite an impression on the examiners, as well as the students. Well, I need to get going, I’m sure someone else managed to get injured too. I hope to see you in school. Just… not in my office, please. I have more than enough work without another problem child.” She joked, making Ochako smile. She could tell there was a fondness to how she spoke of Midoriya.

Izuku was paranoid. He knew that. He knew his mind came up with as many thoughts as possible to everything. He also knew it led towards some really dark thoughts that he fought against constantly, like whether or not his mother loved him, or just felt pity. It didn’t matter that he knew otherwise, the thoughts came nonetheless. 

He knew his nerves got the better of him, he just couldn’t help it sometimes! He was truly thankful that cute girl had spun him like that. It made him dizzy, sure, but it was enough to make him forget about the exam for a bit, and even let him talk to her without stuttering! That was a vast improvement, but he figured if he could talk to All Might like they were friends, he could handle a single girl.

Except the moment he sat down in the instruction area, his mind reeled back to the girl, how cute she was, and the fact that he talked with her . Not just listened to her, but actually talked. His heart hammered in his chest, barely letting him hear Present Mic, which was incredible to him. He was so nervous, even a pro-hero like Present Mic could not grab his attention without him forcing himself to focus. 

The blue haired boy had every right to scold him, he knew. His muttering was a horrible habit, and this time it wasn’t even about heroes! Well, he may have left a poor impression on the boy, but hopefully the same could not be said for Uraraka!

...Oh who was he kidding, he was a wreck the entire time. He knew it, he ruined any chance to befriend her. He had been so rude about her quirk! She probably hated him now! Great, now he had three people who hated him that might get into school with him, if he even got in.

...And now he was doubting his chances in this exam. He had so much to live up to! All Might, Nedzu, even Recovery Girl, they all put in so much effort for him, how could he face them if he failed this?

He smacked his cheeks in an effort to focus, finding the slight sting just enough to focus on to distract himself. Talking with that girl had helped, but he… really did not want to talk to any stranger right now. He took a breath, remembering Nedzu’s advice about calming down when his nerves got too much. 

‘Just focus on breathing, until your heart calms down.’

It was simple advice, sure, but it helped more than he expected. He jumped when he felt a hand touch his shoulder. 

“Apologies, I did not mean to startle you.” Ah! It was the blue haired guy from before! Was he going to scold him again? What did he do?! “I noticed you were lagging behind, are you alright?”

He let out a breath he forgot he was holding. “Y-yes, I’m just nervous, sorry.” He rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile. “It’s just… I’m actually here, you know? I’ve dreamed of this my whole life, and it’s just… really nerve wracking.” He knew the blue haired boy was equally nervous. Paranoid thoughts aside, he would not have called Izuku out for his muttering if he was completely calm about this. Nedzu’s lessons had revealed that much, at least.

“Ah… yes, well. I must confess, I am nervous as well. I did not mean to be rude before, I suppose my nerves got the best of me as well.” The blue haired boy seemed to become a bit embarrassed to admit it, so he probably expected better of himself, which meant he, just like Izuku, had someone with expectations for him.

“It’s totally fine! I know my muttering can be distracting and its a bad habit. I’ve been trying to curb it, but when I get excited it just happens. Sorry.” 

“No, it’s understandable. Everyone is nervous, I doubt you were distracting anyone. I’m Iida Tenya, by the way.” The blue haired boy, Iida, reached out a hand to shake. Weird for a japanese kid, but in the past centuries American culture had extended further into Japan, so it was not too rare, just unexpected. Ah! He was lost in thought again.

He extended his own hand, a small smile on his face, nowhere near as shaky as usual. “Izuku Midoriya. Good luck on the exam. Well, practical, I mean. Already did the written.” He chuckled nervously, getting a small smile from Iida.

“I suppose you aren’t worried about the written exam then?” Iida let out a small chuckle.

“Well, I’m a lot more confident in my studies than my fighting ability.” He confessed. “I’m sure you did well too, I can tell by the way you talk. Oh sorry! That was rude, wasn’t it?”

Iida blinked, but shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I’m aware my way of talking is different. You are right, as well, I believe I did well with my written exam. Good luck to you as well.”

He wanted to ask more about his quirk, but right as he opened his mouth, Present Mic shouted out “START!”

…

“What are you waiting for? There are no countdowns in real life!”

Suddenly, everyone was scrambling for the entrance, where Izuku idly noted Uraraka had already passed through. He missed his chance to apologize! Damn. Well, at least Iida clearly didn’t hate him, even if he thought he was weird, which was basically certain. He was weird, there was no denying that.

He activated Full Cowl to it’s full 3%, rushing through the gates in the middle of the pack. He immediately took a turn as soon as he saw an alleyway. He needed to get away from the others, otherwise they would already have all the points. He was thankful he had studied, and practiced, a bit of free running during the past two weeks. Recovery Girl had a point about rest, but how was he supposed to learn such things unless he practiced them? Besides, it wasn’t dangerous! Well, it probably was, but still!

Bursting through the street on the other side of the alley, he immediately smashed through a 2-pointer. It hurt, but he would be fine. Well, that was two points, even if accidentally. He brushed himself off, a bit shocked from the electricity within the robot, but overall none the worse for wear. 

He burst into action again, hopping about more like a bunny than the heroic leaps he intended, but he would not complain. Miruko was no All Might, but she was cool too. And so what if he wanted to see if her thighs could-

Nope. He was not going there, not the right time or place. Not that there would be a correct time or place for such thoughts! Damnit, he was getting distracted again!

He growled at his own mind, before smashing, intentionally this time, into a 3-pointer. There were remains of 1-pointers everywhere, but they were far more numerous, so that was to be expected. He just hoped others were being safe, robots were not jokes, not even the weakest of them. Not everyone had the strength to smash metal, even if his hands hurt from doing it.

Speaking of, he saw someone up ahead, about to be hit by a rocket from a 3-pointer. Without even thinking about it, he rushed forward, grabbing the rocket out of the air and throwing it right back at the 3-pointer. It was a move of panic, but he hoped he looked as cool as he felt doing it.

“Are you okay?” He asked the blonde boy, who was bent over, a hand on his stomach, as if wounded. “Do you need to get to the medical center?”

“Non, My quirk has a side affect, I overused it, tis all!” He had a french accent, but he was not sure if that was fake. Thanks to All Might, as well as lowered birth rates, Japan had been a hotbed for tourism, so this kid’s parents could very well be french for all he knew. Not like hair color was a good indicator anymore.

“Alright, just be careful. I trust U.A. to be safe, but accidents happen in the best of circumstances. If you quirk gets too difficult to use, why not use one of the dropped weapons from the robots?” He suggested.

“Magnifique! I should have thought of that, Merci Beaucoup. I hope to see you in class, but waste no more of your time on me! I shall shine on my own, and you should as well!” The boy stood taller, his stomach still in obvious pain, but much less than before.

“Good luck!” Izuku leapt away, idly noting they had not introduced themselves, but figured it wouldn’t matter if they both passed! He really hoped they would. Then again, he didn’t want anyone to fail, not even Kacchan.

“Help!” He heard a soft shout, and immediately abandoned his search for more points to head to the voice.

“Are you alright?!” He shouted, glancing around. He couldn’t see anyone, but he saw plenty of robots. They were destroyed, of course, but they weighed enough to cause some problems, he figured. 

“Over here! Stuck under this robot. Just follow my voice!” He obeyed the voice’s instructions, finding three 1-pointers collapsed on top of each other. There was a gap, big enough for someone to fit, but he saw no one. “There you are! Move these robots, please! I don’t have enough points yet!”

He nodded, figuring the person was further under the robots, until he noticed the floating clothes. An invisibility quirk? One that couldn’t be turned off, at that. That must be hard. He casually lifted the robots, careful to not put too much weight on the invisible girl. They were… much lighter than he figured. Then again, he had not really tested what he could lift with 3% yet. Either way, it was easier than expected, and the girl would be safe. “Alright, good luck!” As soon as she was out, he ran off, not happy about only having 4 points, but glad he could save someone else. 

He jumped between buildings, searching for robots, when he saw Iida surrounded by at least a dozen different robots, his leg bleeding slightly. A side effect of his quirk, or an injury? Either way, he looked like he needed help!

“FIVE MINUTES REMAINING!” Present Mic’s voice called out, reminding Izuku that this was an exam.

He did not even pause, jumping in to cover Iida’s back. “You alright?”

“Yes, just a scratch. It looks worse than it is, but I could use the help. I intended to round them up and hit them all at once, save on juice, but it seems I overestimated myself.” Iida sighed. 

“Good, let’s do this!” A manic grin spread on Izuku’s face as he launched himself at the nearest robot, not even recognizing how many points it was worth. Was it wrong that he was enjoying this? 

Iida matched his movement, just on the opposite side, his legs crashing through a robot with barely any resistance. Izuku would have marveled at that, usually, because even Full Cowl was not enough to carve through these robots that easily, but he was too busy having fun tearing these robots apart.

It was weird, but he figured he was just excited to see how much Full Cowl really improved his body. After all, until now, he had only attacked the air, so seeing steel robots crushed by his hands was… exhilarating. 

He instinctively dodged a missile from a 3-pointer, snatching it out of the air and throwing it to his side, not caring where it hit. There were enough robots that it really did not matter. The rubber bullets were beginning to overwhelm his ability to dodge, so he began to mimic Miruko, hopping from robot to robot, using his movements as attacks as well. It was a weird mixture of Miruko and All Might, but it worked for now. He was kicking off of the defeated robots and punching the robot he landed on next, repeating the process while Iida did similar with kicks behind him.

In a few moments, the robots were cleared, and both boys were breathing hard. “I can’t lie.” Iida spoke up, still panting. “That was fun. We likely have a great deal of points from it as well, though I lost track. Thanks for the help.”

“It’s what anyone would have done! Besides, I’m not sure I could have dealt with them all without you getting my back like that.” Izuku chuckled sheepishly, rubbing his scalp again. He knew it was a physical tic of his nervousness, but he found he liked doing it for some reason.

“Yes, well, we should focus on the rest of the exam. Good luck, and thank you again!” Iida shouted as he took off, faster than Izuku could have hoped to go. He could track him fairly easily, but there was no way he could catch up. Besides, he really should focus on his own points. He did not even try counting the robots he just dispatched, so he really had no idea how he had done so far. At least he did what he felt was right, by helping Iida, the blond boy, and the invisible girl. He doubted he would fail, now, at least, but he wanted to get the top score!

He felt, rather than heard, the ground opening to reveal the Zero Pointer. Okay, nope.

He was already in motion, running back to the entrance, when he heard a familiar voice shout for help. He did not even think, immediately turning and running forward. He saw her, Uraraka, the nice girl from before, stuck under some rubble. He didn’t know if he could lift that rubble, but he did know he would not be able to make it in time to save her with just 3%, and going higher would leave him injured, too much to get her out of harm’s way.

So he did what All Might would do, what U.A.’s motto said. ‘

This is gonna hurt…’

“PLUS!”

He was already mid air, his shout echoing throughout the city, whether due to the buildings, or One For All doing something with his vocal chords, he did not know.

“ULTRA!”

His fist smashed into the robot, it’s head caving in before exploding, falling backwards, away from the girl. He was falling, but he knew what he had to do. It was going to be even more painful, but if he used another smash he could cancel out his momentum and save his life. Recovery Girl was already going to throttle him for three broken limbs, what was one more?

Thankfully, a strong slap, which REALLY hurt since it further jarred his broken limbs, stopped all of his momentum, leaving him floating a few inches above the ground. 

“Release” He heard Uraraka say, but his neck refused to turn, his vision already going black as he fell the last few inches to the ground. He wanted to thank her, before he blacked out, at least! It was bad enough he was going to embarrass himself by blacking out in front of a cute girl, he could at least thank her first!

“Thank you” He managed, before his eyes shut and his body shut down.

The thing about waiting is that, for people like Izuku, it made the mind go wild with speculation. What was normally a chaotic mess of nerves was made worse by the tension of waiting for the results. It was only when he had the letter in his hands that his mind went blank. His mother had been worried about him, but she knew it was just his nerves. He did not want to disappoint Nedzu, All Might, his mom, or Recovery Girl! They had done too much for him to fail! If he failed, would All Might want his quirk back? Would Nedzu retract his offers? Would Recovery Girl… Okay, she probably wouldn’t re-break his bones, but if he failed her, it would feel like it!

He took a breath, his mother patting his shoulder. “Calm down, let’s watch.” Izuku nodded, ripping open the envelope, sending a disc-like object to the floor. Izuku recognized it as a hologram projector, but that was unexpected. He thought it would just be a paper or a certificate of some kind. Guess U.A. pulled out all the stops, even for simple things.

“GREETINGS!” All Might appeared, as a hologram. “I AM HERE! AS A HOLOGRAM! Young Midoriya, I apologize for not being able to talk to you, but the paperwork for this position is quite difficult! I had to dig up more of my past than I was comfortable with, but even so! I am here to teach, now!” All Might seemed to react to something off-screen. “I have to do HOW MANY of these?! Alright, I’ll get to the point then! Midoriya Izuku, you scored thirty eight points from destroying robots, enough to pass! However!” Izuku sucked in a breath, had he failed some hidden trigger? Was he going to be blacklisted before he even began?! “Stop Panicking! Yes, I know you well enough to know you already are! Now, where was I? Ah, yes! Your score, as expected, was enough to pass on its own, but that’s not the only way to gain points! We have Rescue Points as well! With your actions assisting Young Aoyama, Young Hagakure, Young Iida, and Young Uraraka, you received an astounding 100 rescue points!” 

Izuku felt his heart stop, before he leapt for joy, his mother quickly hugging him, both of them crying tears of joy.

“However.” All Might turned stern. “While your actions were heroic, that last attack was unnecessary and extremely dangerous. Because of this, you gained deductions to your points. Your new total is… 38 villain points, and 39 Rescue points! You not only passed, you tied for the highest score! Welcome, this is your Hero Academia!” The projection shut off automatically, leaving the two Midoriyas to cry and hug each other in sheer joy and pride.

Suddenly, it turned back on. “Oh, you did well on the written exam too, third place. And meet me at the usual spot, we have a bit to talk about!” The hologram shut back off.

The two waited to see if it would turn back on, but after a minute it did not.

“You did it, Izuku!” His mother had not let go of him, a smile wider than his own on her face.

“I know! I’m on my way to being a hero!” Izuku only hugged her tighter, happier than he had felt for a long time, at least since All Might told him he could be a hero.

“This calls for a celebration! I’ll make Katsudon, and we can go do something fun. Its been a while since we celebrated anything, so let’s make it special!” Inko rushed into the kitchen, Izuku trailing behind her to help make Katsudon. 

“All Might!” Toshinori turned at the sound, his finger going to his lips.

“Kid! Say it was a mistake” He whispered, loudly enough for Izuku to hear.

“He’s giving a speech!” Izuku quickly adapted. Good. Thinking about it, saying it was a mistake would be suspicious, but saying that All Might was on TV was… common, if he were honest.

Izuku was beaming, and Toshinori found that smile infectious. “You did good, kid. But you need to be more careful. I wasn’t on the panel of judges, and Nedzu doesn’t interfere, so you earned your way to U.A. We didn’t pull any strings. You did everything on your own merit.”

Izuku was crying. “You guys did so much for me, I feel so blessed.”

Okay, enough was enough. He knew Nedzu said to take it slow, but it had been months and the kid still had that poor self-image. He could not help but want to protect the kid, even from his own thoughts. “Sit down, let me be honest with you.” His voice came out dull, much more tired than before. Izuku noticed immediately, paling, probably believing he did something wrong. This kid needed help, and Toshinori was a lot of things, but a therapist was not one of them. Nedzu was also right in that pushing Izuku to see a therapist, or get medicated for his depression, would only damage the boy further. He had to realize he had a problem first.

But this imposter syndrome? Maybe he could help with that, at least. 

“Do you think you are the first person I’ve offered One For All to?”

Izuku tilted his head, still pale. Judging from the flicker in his eyes, he was expecting Toshinori to demand it back, which was ridiculous. Did he still not understand it was his quirk now? It was time to nip this in the bud.

“I’ve offered it to no less than ten people, all who showed heroic intentions. Do you know why they did not take it?” Izuku shook his head, still confused.

“Because they gave up.” Izuku looked shocked, so Toshinori continued. “I gave them workout plans similar to yours, and each and every one of them gave up before the end. Before you, no one made it past the eighth month.”

“You… didn’t expect me to make it all the way, did you?” Izuku’s voice was full of hesitation, and Toshinori knew he was getting through to him.

“Not at first, no. I had hoped, of course, but so many times being disappointed kept me from thinking it was likely. Do you know what changed my mind?” 

He shook his head, and Toshinori had to smile. This might do it…

“You overworked yourself.” Toshinori grinned wider. “Don’t get me wrong, it was a bad thing to do, but… The plan I designed was meant to be the most challenging routine possible. It could be completed, but it was literally designed to be as difficult as possible. Everyone else began slacking off halfway through, but what did you do? What did the quirkless fanboy even I doubted do?”

Izuku was already crying, and Toshinori knew he was doing the right thing, Nedzu’s advice be damned. 

“You worked harder . You didn’t care that your body was sore, that you had no free time, even with Nedzu putting your mind through just as much hell.” He had to keep pushing, just a bit more…

“Izuku Midoriya! Up until that point, I had forgotten what it was like to smile for real. To smile out of pride, out of genuine happiness, not just a show for people to rally behind. I forgot who I was, and why I was that person, until you reminded me. You gave me hope, not just for you, but for the entire future. So do not doubt yourself, you inspired me, you earned everything you have gotten, and so much more.” Toshinori did something he had not done with the boy yet, but he knew he needed to. He pulled Izuku into a hug, feeling the hot tears pouring down the boy’s face.

It took a few minutes before the boy pulled away, much calmer now, and with something new in those eyes. But…

It wasn’t enough. Toshinori knew it wouldn’t be, but it was a better start than anything he could have come up with otherwise. Besides, Izuku deserved to know the effect he had on the number one hero. But it still wasn’t enough! Damnit, All Might, why could you not save just this one boy!

He paused. He had been thinking of himself as the only one who could save the boy from himself, but these past months with Nedzu had taught him better than that. Nedzu was too hesitant. Despite his intelligence, Nedzu was fundamentally inhuman, and did not understand humans like he did. Sure, he had the clinical knowledge for psychology, but he did not understand.

“Izuku…” Toshinori paused, the boy turning to him, still smiling. That was a good sign. “I know we said it was your quirk, and your secret now, but I want you to do something.”

“Of course!” Izuku nodded, no doubt expecting Toshinori to demand he keep One For All a secret from everyone at U.A.

“During my first class, I will have everyone introduce themselves. Their names, quirks, hobbies, and reason for wanting to be a hero.” Toshinori saw him nod along.

“You want me to come up with some kind of cover for One For All?”

Toshinori chuckled. “No.”

“I want you to tell your class about One For All.”

Chapter Text

“You told him to tell his class about One For All?” Nedzu sat in his office, his fingers intertwined in front of his face. Toshinori sat opposite of him, in his skinny form, and a yellow suit.

“Yes. I know you said not to push it, but I think it’ll be good for him.” Toshinori nodded firmly.

“I see.” Nedzu sighed. He should have expected this, really, but now he simply had to deal with it. “While the idea has merit, you should not have done so. At the very least, you should have talked with me first.” Seeing Toshinori about to interrupt, Nedzu raised his paw. “No, I won’t admonish you, and I know this is your secret, as well as his. What I have a problem with is how it will affect his mental health.”

“What do you mean?” Toshinori looked confused now, not aware of the consequences of what he had done. “Seeing so many students support him should help greatly with his confidence, and imposter syndrome. Maybe even depression.”

Nedzu nodded, frowning. “Technically, yes. While it is not so simple, Izuku is on the path to living his dream, with his idol supporting him. I don’t doubt that it will help his mentality. Though if his depression is biological in nature, rather than psychological, it won’t do too much. We shall see.” He sighed, aware of what was going to happen now. “That said, what do you think will happen if even one student hates him for this?”

“What? Why would anyone hate him because of One for All?”

“You may be a brilliant hero, but you aren’t used to dealing with children, are you?” Nedzu chuckled tiredly. “It’s fine, nothing to be ashamed of. You held society together for so many years, you never really had time. However, the fact of the matter is that several would be jealous of him, especially upon learning he was quirkless.”

Toshinori blanched. “I figured there might be one, but surely they would come around? Is the discrimination that bad?”

“Not typically, no. Izuku came from a particularly bad school district, but mostly, quirklessness is simply strange, not something to be discriminated against. After all there are many useless quirks out there, or even purely negative ones. However, with the addition of receiving a quirk from the Symbol of Peace himself… Jealousy is not an emotion I experience, but one I see often enough to understand very well.” 

The soft reminder of Nedzu’s inhuman psychology made Toshinori frown, his heart going out to the being. “Should I tell him not to, then?”

Nedzu shook his head. “No, besides making him doubt himself further, it would only make him fall under the idea of the quirk being yours more. Perhaps… Hm. Tell him it is ultimately up to him, and try talking with him about how he feels about it. If necessary, explain your reasoning as regretting your inability to form such close bonds, or something similar. Anything that revolves around you wanting better for him, rather than his mental state. When you try to help someone like this, it’s a necessity to keep them from realizing you are doing it for them, mostly thanks to Izuku’s depression. He would likely just come up with the idea that he is useless without help.” Nedzu leaned forward, staring Toshinori dead in the eyes now. “I know you want to help, but you can’t punch these problems away, and they do not go away by smiling either. These things take time and effort. Have faith in your student, Toshinori, that’s what he needs most from you.”

Toshinori nodded solemnly, slowly becoming aware of how badly he may have fucked up. “Is it bad that I told him about my initial doubts, then?”

Nedzu leaned back, paw on his chin in thought. “It could go either way, really. If he continuously fails his own expectations, it could be bad. On the other hand, if he keeps up any sort of pace with success, it will help even more. I am actually glad you did it, though. I was going to suggest it at some point. It’s your wording that concerns me, actually.”

“What do you mean?”

“You praised his willingness to go beyond your workout plan, even though it was a bad idea. True, it showcased his determination, but it might instill an idea of overreaching being okay in his mind. We will have to watch that. It should be fine, but… Well, he wants to be a hero more than anyone, so going too far in that regard would be horrible if it happens when he is still young. We should have at least until the internships to help correct that mentality, though.”

“What did you have planned?” Toshinori leaned forward now, his hands crossed together. 

“Perceptive as always!” Nedzu laughed. “Well, I was going to put young Bakugo in the same class as him. Despite him revealing One For All, I still think it is necessary.”

“His old bully? Why?”

“A lot of reasons. Had I not known of Izuku’s situation with the boy, it would be entirely because he fits with 1-A. I separated the classes based on what they need to learn more. Class 1-A is more about learning control and rescue, so the more overtly powerful and harder to control quirks go there, as well as the students who need to learn how to act like a hero most. Class 1-B is for those who lack the raw power, but have incredible potential. In that class, we put those who already have excellent control, and naturally heroic tendencies.”

“But aren’t some of the students of 1-B more powerful than those in 1-A?” Toshinori blinked, not really understanding where this was going.

“Yes, but the reasons for that power disparity is part of why they are there. Besides which, I cannot put all the powerhouses in one class, that would destroy the egos of the other class. Perhaps I already put too much power into 1-A, but those with that power need Aizawa’s teaching, rather than Sekijiro’s.” Nedzu took a sip of his tea, before continuing. “However, my reason for putting Bakugo there now is because of Izuku.”

“You want him to push past his old bully? Isn’t that the opposite of what you wanted me to do, though?” Toshinori pointed out, not liking the idea of having his student’s bully in the same class.

“Perhaps, though there are two likely events that I can see, thanks to your decision to reveal One For All. The first, I am hopeful for, but it is less likely. It requires Bakugo question inwardly why Izuku was worthy of it, what quality of being a hero that he has more than Bakugo. With a bit of guidance, he would realize what being a hero is truly about. The second… Bakugo rages about it, not even thinking about what makes Izuku worthy, but determined to show that it changes nothing between them. Given your first class is a battle training, should they fight, it will help both of them. Izuku with his confidence, and Bakugo with his arrogance. So, if they do end up fighting, I want you to only interfere if it gets life-threatening, alright?”

“I… Are you sure?” Toshinori was pale, hesitating for the first time since he had sat down.

“Of course. They are kids. Despite his impeccable record, in reality Bakugo has fought Izuku before, but given the lack of injury besides a bruise, I doubt he would go too far.” Neither of them needed to say that Izuku simply wouldn’t hurt anyone that badly if he could help it. “I hope you don’t mind, but the rest of the teachers want to see the class as well. Not directly, of course, that would be too much for the students. We will just watch from the Teacher’s Lounge.”

“Of course, sir. I was hoping for that actually. Despite the work I’ve put in, I’m still completely new to this teaching thing. I was hoping I could ask for advice afterwards.” Toshinori paused. “Though, you do realize I’m probably going to end up the ‘fun’ teacher, right?”

Nedzu laughed much harder than before. “Oh by all means, allow your students to truly enjoy your classes. It will make the things they learn that much more memorable. After all, we do offer quite a bit of freedom with teachers. Just don’t let them walk over you and you should be fine. This is as much a learning experience for you as it will be for them, so do what feels right.”

“Thank you sir. Was there anything else you needed before I go?”

“Ah yes, just a bit of paperwork. Nothing too intensive this time, just a few signatures to finalize your status as a teacher of U.A.”

‘My first day at U.A.!’ Izuku thought to himself, a wide grin that he had been unable to remove since he found out his acceptance to the school on his face.

As he walked towards his class, Class 1-A, he couldn’t help the light skip in his step, too excited and happy to care. He was sure everyone else felt the same, but there were so few people in the halls that he did not notice. He was not late, it was just likely that many of his classmates arrived early.

“Hey!” He paused, hearing a familiar voice behind him. He turned, only to see the same girl who helped him in the practical. “Midoriya, right? We met before at the practical!”

“Y-yeah, I’m Izuku Midoriya. Ochako Uraraka, that was your name, right? Oh, thanks for saving me from that fall! I never got the chance to before, being unconscious and all.” He was better now, but he still felt nervous talking to a girl, nevermind one that was so… intense.

“What? You saved me first! That robot would have crushed me, and you broke so many bones in the process! I’m glad you got in, though. I was worried about it, cause you wasted your time to save me…” She scratched her head, similar to what Izuku commonly did. “Besides, it’s nice to already have a friend here! Class 1-A for me.”

“Ah! Same for me! We should probably hurry though, I think we might be cutting it close.” Izuku suggested.

When they reached the massive door to 1-A, they paused, both nervous about meeting their future classmates. “Well, this is it.” He muttered, before pushing open the door, finding it surprisingly hard to push. Ochako was about to interrupted him, when the door slowly slid open.

“That was weird…” Izuku glanced around the room, noting several shocked faces, and several trying and failing to hold in their laughter. Even Iida was here! Though he looked horrified, for some reason... And then there was Bakugo…

He had been hoping he would not have to deal with him again, but he really should have known better. His luck was not that good. At least he wasn’t attacking him yet. Though, the shocked expression on his face was priceless . 

“What?” Izuku blanched as he realized everyone was staring at him.

“Um… I think that was a pull door.” Ochako mumbled beside him, though everyone heard it.

“...oh.” The damn that had been holding back the laughter broke, the entire class losing their collective minds. Izuku flushed red and immediately found an empty seat so he could hide his head. He should have paid attention! He had just been so nervous he didn’t realize!

Iida was next to him before he knew what was happening, his arms flailing about. “You broke the door! I thought you had respect for this institution! We can only hope the teacher forgives you for this, let alone the principal!”

“It’s fine.” Everyone paused to turn at the new voice, coming from the front of the class. Behind the teacher’s desk was a man in a yellow sleeping bag, sucking on a pack of juice. There was silence almost immediately. “We’ve had worse entrances before. If we freaked out every time something as unimportant as a door broke, we would never get anything done.”

No one said anything, just continuing to stare at the man.

“I’m your homeroom teacher, call me Aizawa. I don’t care for formalites.” He man stepped out of the sleeping bag, letting it fall to the floor. “It’s a bit sudden, but put these on” He held up what looked like a gym uniform. “And meet me outside, in the courtyard. We’re going to have an assessment test.”

After finding the locker rooms, which were conveniently close to the courtyard, the boys and girls separated to change. Izuku made sure to stay as far from Bakugo as possible, and was rather hesitant to change with other people there. He had never had muscle before, and never felt comfortable changing with others watching. Besides that, next to a few of these people, he felt positively tiny. Between the guy with giant lips, and the one with multiple arms, he was fairly certain he was going to look pathetic next to them. It did not help that every single person here had a six pack and fairly thick muscles everywhere else too. He found himself staring and shook his head. No time to be jealous, even if he could not help but wish he had the same kind of musculature as some of these others. 

He refused to even look in Bakugo’s direction though. His talks with Nedzu had… cleared his mind, in regards to Bakugo. He would never be the same child he was friends with so long ago, but he could also not bring himself to hate Bakugo either. Fear, perhaps, but not hate. 

“Are you alright Midoriya?” Iida questioned, having noticed his distraction. 

“Eh? You checking us out?” The red haired boy with a shit-eating grin asked, apparently not opposed to the idea.

“N-no! Nothing like that, I just feel… Well, a lot of you guys are so much more muscular than me, even though mine is a strength enhancer quirk.” Izuku tried to explain, ignoring his own flush from the accusation.

“Ah, nothing wrong with it either way. Besides.” The red haired boy glanced him up and down. “You ain’t exactly scrawny yourself.” He pointed out, though whether it was flirting or just complimenting, Izuku was unsure. 

“Hey, come to think of it, everyone here really is pretty damn muscular.” The boy with yellow hair spoke up. “Everyone has a six pack! Guess that’s the hero course for you!”

“Indeed.” Iida spoke up this time. “You have to be both physically and mentally fit to even attempt the Hero Course, nevermind getting in.”

“You seem really proud about getting in, Iida.” Izuku said.

“Well, yes. It’s something we should all be proud of! This is the best hero school in Japan, after all. We worked hard to get here, even with such a small chance!” Iida was really enthusiastic about it, something that seemed to lighten up the room’s mood. Everyone was grinning, even Bakugo had a smirk. 

“I guess this is the best of the best, huh?” The black haired boy with strange elbows asked aloud. “Heh, never thought I’d be here.”

“We should hurry up, Aizawa didn’t look like the patient type.” The bi-color haired boy spoke up suddenly, breaking his silence.

Aizawa had to wonder how many would fail his test this year. Last year had been a nightmare, none of those students would have made it past graduation, and so it had been his job, both as a teacher and a hero, to make sure they did not end up dead. He saw very few people as having zero potential, but apparently his luck had taken a vacation last year. Hopefully this year he would at least have a class.

As the students lined up, all in the gym uniform, Aizawa took the time to analyze them. Most of them were fidgety, or nervous in some aspect. Those who weren’t were either too hard to read, or too arrogant to realize anything. That wouldn’t do.

“Bakugo. You and Midoriya tied for the entrance exam, but you had the highest villain points, so you go first.” He actually preferred those with the rescue points, but he needed the first person to be flashy and excite the class, which made it clear who he would pick for this. 

Aizawa tossed a softball to Bakugo, before speaking. “Stand in the circle and throw it. This is just like your middle school fitness tests, except you can use your quirks.” There was hushed whispering, but nothing distracting. Better than most, at least.

Bakugo let out a single chuckle, before launching the ball with a scream of ‘die’. He would have to work on that, but the power behind that quirk was impressive, if nothing else. 

“705.2 meters.” He spoke aloud, showing the class the score on his phone. “You’ve never been able to really push yourself to your limits with your quirks. This test is so that we can find out what your limits are… So we can break them.”

He heard someone mentioned the test being fun and hid a smile, exactly the response he was looking for. “Fun, you say?” He glared at the class as a whole. “If you intend to goof off for the next three years, you might as well leave now. Here at U.A. we push you to do your best. If you slack off, we will run you into the ground. So… whoever scores last in all tests is expelled.” There was outcry about how unfair it was, and Aizawa wondered if his luck was finally turning around. “Are natural disasters fair? Power mad villains? Pandemics? The world is unfair. It’s a hero’s job to combat that unfairness. That’s what Plus Ultra means. Now, show me you being here is no mistake.”

They proceeded to do just that, each one using their quirk in fairly interesting ways, if some were a bit… pointless. Using his stomach laser like Aoyama did was an interesting application, but ultimately not something that would help in a real life situation. It was, however, creative, so he got points for that. Uraraka, on the other hand, had used her quirk to make her clothes weightless. Not horrible, if he were honest, but the fact that she did not use it on everything except her clothes was… concerning. Likely a weakness for her quirk, but he had not been lying when he said they would push their quirks to their limits, so avoiding a weakness like that was pointless.

The worst one so far was Mineta, but in all fairness being three foot tall did not help his case. Given his height, most of what he did was fairly impressive. Despite his perverted nature, the boy had potential. He just hoped he could deal with that perversion sooner rather than later. His idea of bouncing from those orbs he produced was great as well, and Aizawa already had ideas for how to use them. 

He had taken special notice of Izuku Midoriya, however. Nedzu had warned him that Izuku could not be expelled, but that he must also be left unaware of his unexpellable-status. Which meant he would need to make it seem like he was the one being expelled. With how the boy had been doing, which was fairly great overall but not overly impressive. With what he did to the zero-pointer, Aizawa had the perfect way to set this up. The only problem was that Recovery Girl would have his ass if he caused a student to break an arm on his first day, let alone such a promising one.

As the boy was about to throw the ball, Aizawa erased his quirk. The surprise that crossed the boy’s face was too quick to be normal, but Aizawa chalked that up to quick reflexes, which made the act impressive. He managed to stop his arm before he threw the ball, turning to stare at him. There was a glimmer of recognition in his eyes, which was as surprising as the boy’s reflexes. “Your quirk. You aren’t pushing yourself, are you?” Midoriya opened up his mouth to respond, but Aizawa interrupted. “I don’t need to hear it. I saw your quirk in the exam, you only pushed yourself at the last minute. That lightning form enhances your physical attributes, right? At some cost to your body, once you hit a certain level, but you haven’t gone beyond what you can handle without any pain, have you?” The look on the boy’s face was enough. “I thought so. You think you can skate by with mediocre scores? You have a good quirk, but if you aren’t willing to endure a bit of pain, you can’t become a hero.” That would motivate the kid, if the look in his eyes was any indication. 

Midoriya nodded, walking back to throw the ball. He closed his eyes for a moment, likely for better control with his quirk. That was fine, it was something that could be worked on. The lightning sparked around him, notably more intense than before, but nothing close to when he punched the Zero-Pointer. 

The moment the boy let the ball go, Aizawa understood. Unlike the Zero-Pointer, the gust of wind that resulted from the throw was not a hurricane force gale, but an intense breeze. His eyes were drawn to the boy’s arm, noting it looked fairly normal, if tense. Judging from the boy’s expression, it hurt quite a bit, but no broken bones. Quite a step forward, at least, and the perfect reason to cover up that he could not expel the boy. He had to grin, though, because honestly he was expecting a broken limb, but the kid surprised him.

“My quirk broke all my bones, of course I can endure the pain!” Midoriya semi-shouted at him, and Aizawa’s grin only widened. The boy may be shy at first, but shouting at your teacher who just threatened to expel you took balls.

He would later learn that this was not, in fact, a good thing. 

“Alright, your scores are finished. It’d be a waste of time to go through them one by one” And they were actually judged on how well they did, but how they had pushed themselves. “So I’ll just show them all at once.” He clicked a button on the small hologram projector connected to his phone, and the scores popped up. Many of them seemed relieved, or even excited, while there was one who was close to crying.

Mineta was in last place, and thus, the one crying. Aizawa debated for a moment whether or not he should expel the pervert. True, expelling the boy would remove the only pervert from the class, but it was a teacher’s job to help, even if it was something like this. He sighed quietly. “By the way, I was lying about expelling the last place. That was a logical ruse to make you push yourselves.” The looks of relief on their faces was hilarious. If only they knew how close some of them had come. “You’ll find your syllabus back on your desks in the classroom. That’s it for today.”

He walked away, still hearing the group talk amongst themselves. Despite what he said, he was fine with them socializing so long as it did not get in the way. Ties were important for heroes, especially public heroes. Underground heroes like himself need not worry so much, but he doubted any of these children would go underground like he had.

“Aizawa! That was a dirty trick” The second bane of his existence spoke up. It wasn’t that he hated All Might, he just hated that someone with no experience teaching had been rushed into his position. He had immense respect for the man, as well, but doubted his seriousness with teaching. Saving people was easy, but teaching them was a different story.

“All Might. What were you doing here?”

“I was observing your class, I wanted to see how someone more professional handled it, but that was not what I expected. Still, lying like that was a dirty trick! I’ve seen your record, you expelled an entire class last year.” All Might spoke, his voice loud but not so much that he could be heard by the class.

“None of them had zero potential, that’s all.” He spoke the truth. No need to explain. “Shouldn’t you be doing an interview or something?” It was a light jab, but he accidentally revealed a lot of his reasons for not getting along with the Symbol of Peace.

“You know my position here is still a secret for now. It’ll be found out eventually, sure, but I don’t want the kids to get mobbed.” There was genuine concern in his voice, which raised Aizawa’s opinion of him just a bit. Worrying for the kids was required to be a teacher, so it was good that the man was learning that already.

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Aizawa sighed. “It’s fine, just let me know next time you decide to observe. It’s rude to not let us know beforehand.”

“Ah! I’m sorry, I’m still not sure about etiquette for faculty yet.” All Might bowed quickly. “That said, are you going to observe my first class with the others?”

“Yeah, everyone is interested. For those with classes during yours, we will record it so everyone can watch. You can expect a lot of advice afterwards, so be prepared. You’ll have to put the same effort you do into heroism into teaching, got it?” Aizawa glared lightly. He had no doubt the first class would reveal both All Might’s strengths and weaknesses, but also those of the students. Despite his reservations, All Might was likely the best to teach them about hero-ing. He certainly had the most experiences, at least.

“Of course! I intend to give it my best.” He coughed lightly. “Speaking of, are there any students I should look out for?”

Aizawa blinked, but his face remained neutral. All Might knew something about one of them, then. Probably Midoriya. “A few of them have confidence issues, but the worst is probably Yayaorozu. Bakugo seems eager for violence, and quick to anger. Mineta is a pervert. Ashido, I’m not sure whether or not she was taking it seriously. Aoyama seems the type to show off, rather than work efficiently. Midoriya seems to not understand his own quirk. Todoroki refuses to use his right side, probably to do with that burn mark. Uraraka didn’t push her quirk, but she had no problems pushing her physical body. Other than that? They should be fine with normal education.” 

Ah, judging from the swirls that replaced All Might’s eyes, he spoke too much. He spoke as if he were talking to a normal teacher, rather than a completely new one. “Sorry, I know it’s a lot to push on you. For now, just focus on your class, you can get a more detailed report later. Good luck, by the way. You’ll need it.” He chuckled as he walked away, leaving the Symbol of Peace to go about his own business.

“Man, that was scary! I really thought someone was going to be expelled there!” Uraraka spoke with Midoriya, who had Iida on the other side. 

“Yes, I dislike the idea of a teacher lying to us, but I suppose that is what it means to be at U.A.!” Iida’s hands were about as active as Midoriya’s mouth when he mumbled, but it was kind of funny, so Uraraka didn’t bring it up.

“Well, I don’t think he was kidding. I think he just changed his mind.” Midoriya spoke softly. “He seems the type, I mean.”

“That seems a bit rude to say about our teacher.” Iida chided.

“Ah, no! I meant he seemed really serious about it, he was analyzing all of us when we were doing the tests too, like he was judging if we should be expelled or not. That’s all I meant!” Midoriya waved his hands as if physically trying to wave away the misunderstanding.

“He did seem pretty intense…” Uraraka mumbled. “Still, as long as no one was expelled, I’m happy! Besides, we got to use our quirks actively. My old school didn’t really let us use them too much, so it’s a nice change.”

“Really? My old school let everyone get away with using their quirks, albeit unofficially.” Midoriya tilted his head.

“At Soumei Academy, we had specific classes to help us hone our quirks, though nothing compared to actual hero training.” Iida commented on his own school life, not bringing up his brother’s training. 

“Well, you can’t expect any middle school to match up to U.A.” Midoriya was the first to point out, his fanboyism shining through. “It really is the best school in Japan, and one of the best in the world!”

“Yeah! It was tough just getting in, but I can’t wait for the rest of the year! I really wanna start rescue training, what about you guys?” Uraraka asked, as they finally reached the classroom, behind a few others.

“I mostly look forward to the quirk training, myself. The assessment test proved I need to work harder on acceleration, not just top speed.” Iida frowned, remembering his 3 second time for the 50 meter sprint.

“You were pretty fast though? And I guess I’m looking forward to everything. All my life, I wanted to be a hero, and being here now…” Midoriya smiled and Uraraka swore it could have lit up the night sky with how bright it was. “I just want to learn everything about heroism, you know?”

It brought a smile to both Uraraka and Iida’s faces. “Yeah! That’s so cool, Midoriya!”

“I agree, it is inspired! You really are ahead of us in terms of hero mentality.” Iida’s compliment made Midoriya flush, but he did not deny the compliment, a longshot from what would have happened a year ago.

They gathered their stuff, and began the walk out of the school. “Are you guys going to the station too? I’ll join you.” Uraraka smiled at the two boys.

“Oh, I’m headed to Mufustafu.” Midoriya smiled slightly. “It was a short day, but I’m just really excited to be in U.A.”

“We all are. Say, that Bakugo kid, he was staring at you when you threw the ball, do you guys know each other?” Uraraka questioned.

“Uh… Kind of? We went to the same middle school, but I transferred out the last ten months because I got a special offer. He… well, we were friends a long time ago, but we… did not have the best relationship after that. I’m pretty sure he hates me now.”

“That's terrible! It must be rough having to spend another three years with him, then.” Uraraka frowned. “Well, you already have two friends at least, so you won’t have to worry about being a loner!” She had been something of a loner in her previous school, her parent’s financial state enough for people to tease her constantly.

“Indeed! If he attempts any sort of confrontation, I would prefer to have the teachers deal with it, but we will certainly have your back.” Iida nodded along with Uraraka.

Midoriya smiled, his eyes wet with unshed tears. “Thanks, guys.” He was getting better about overreacting with crying, but he still teared up now and then.

The ordinary classes had finished for the day. Despite being normal school classes, the pro-heroes really brought the classes to life. No one could say Present Mic made English boring. The final class was Hero Basic Training, which was undoubtedly the most looked forward to, given how everyone was fidgeting waiting for whoever their teacher would be.

Suddenly, a hand reached into the class room, closing the doors from outside. Everyone simply stared, confused, before the doors slammed open, All Might sliding in, while saying “I AM HERE! COMING THROUGH THE DOOR LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!”

Izuku was too excited to point out that nothing about the entrance was normal, though it appeared he was not the only one, as everyone was cheering about the idea of All Might teaching.

“HELLO STUDENTS!” All Might coughed, his voice lowering to a normal person’s level now. “Welcome to the most important class at U.A.! Heroing 101!” He laughed. “Now, before we get started, let’s introduce ourselves. Names, and quirks, and if you want to say anything else, feel free! Don’t be shy! You’ll be with each other for the next three years, best to get to know each other early!”

Iida, unsurprisingly, was the first, follow by the more enthusiastic, most of them saying basic information, but a few adding in surprises, like Mina’s fondness for break dancing, or Aoyama’s love of cheese. Still, even as Izuku catalogued the information for later, he felt growing nervousness as the number of those yet to introduce themselves dwindled. Soon, it was only Bakugo and Izuku left.

“I’m Bakugo Katsuki. My quirk is explosion. I sweat nitroglycerin. I’m going to be the next number one hero.” Nothing too extreme, surprisingly, but Bakugo shot a glare at Izuku when he said that last sentence.

Finally, it was his turn, and he was feeling the nervousness even more now. “I-I’m Midoriya Izuku!” He ended up shouting rather than saying it, the nervousness building up too much. “My quirk… My quirk is One For All.”

Since he had paused, Jirou spoke up. “That's a fancy name for a quirk. You don’t seem like the kinda guy to name it something like that. What’s it do?”

“Well, um… For the most part, it’s a strength enhancer.” Izuku activated full cowl, sparks flying around his body. He could feel the intensity of Bakugo’s glare reach new heights, and almost hear the boy’s teeth grind together. “But- I…” He paused to take a breath. “Sorry, I’m not used to this.” Talking with Nedzu and All Might was one thing, but people his own age, who he would spend the next three years with? That was… new. “I was not born with it.”

The dam broke, Bakugo looking a mixture of confused and furious, while everyone else murmured to themselves. 

“What do you mean, Midoriya? How can you have a quirk you were not born with?” Iida asked, just as confused as everyone else, but the only one who seemed comfortable asking directly. Izuku could faintly hear someone mention something about a government experiment, but did not want to follow that train of thought.

“I was given this quirk by someone else. It… It’s a quirk that can be passed down from person to person, building power as it does so.” Izuku spoke quickly, trying to get the information out as clearly as possible while going as fast as possible so he could stop speaking already.

Bakugo’s expression shifted to a neutral, but interested, one. His eyes glanced towards All Might, before widening.

“As some of you may have guessed, I gave Young Midoriya my quirk! HAHA!” All Might laughed. “I won’t explain my reasoning, but my time as a hero is quickly coming to an end. I originally came here to scout for a successor for my quirk, but Young Midoriya impressed me before, reminding me of why I wanted to be a hero in the first place! Are there any other questions?”

“Why him?” Bakugo all but growled out. “Why Deku?”

“Why, because he saved you from the Sludge Villain!” All Might laughed again.

“He didn’t do shit. You saved me, not him.”

“Ah, but had he not done what he did, I would not have been inspired to act. Ah, that sounds bad, let me explain.” All Might sighed. “I suppose since I asked Midoriya to trust you all with this secret, I should display that same trust.” 

“What do you mean, All Might?” Yayaorozu asked

“Just don’t freak out.” He warned before smoke enveloped his form. Once it cleared, the entire class was shocked, besides Izuku. “As I said, my time as a hero is coming to an end, whether I like it or not.”

“Your quirk is a transformation? No, Midoriya displayed sparks. Unless the quirk changes with its holder?” Todoroki finally spoke up, extremely interested suddenly.

“It does change with it’s holder, though this form is not directly part of it. I used to look like my other form all the time, but an injury five years ago changed that.” He sighed. “Be prepared, what I’m about to show you is gruesome, but something you need to see.” He lifted his shirt, revealing the enormous wound, to many gasps. “I lost half my respiratory organs, as well as my stomach. Right now I can only maintain my Hero form for three hours a day.”

“Is it because you gave him your quirk?” Tokoyami asked, Izuku completely unable to read him.

“No, though that will accelerate the process a bit. My wound is simply too severe. Frankly, it’s a miracle I survived. Let this be the first lesson. No matter how strong you are, you are not invincible. You can always lose, you just have to try to win no matter what.”

Bakugo might as well have been catatonic, having realized something.

“So yes, Midoriya saved your life that day, by inspiring me to act. Had he not done so…” All Might fell silent. “I was at my limit for the day, it took a lot out of me just to save you two. I would never regret it, of course, but until then I had forgotten what Plus Ultra really meant.”

The class was silent, though Izuku could not tell what the general emotion was, only that the tension was thick.

“Now, enough of this depressing talk!” All Might smacked his hand against the wall, twenty separate cases opening up. “Our first class is…. Battle Training! And your costumes are right here, created as you submitted them! Get dressed and meet me in City-Gym A!” He paused before he went towards the door. “Oh, and since the secret is out, I’ll be maintaining this form during our classes. I don’t think I need to say to not let anyone know. We both put a lot of trust in you guys, so don’t disappoint us!” None of them would willingly do so, of course.

“Deku.” Bakugo spoke as they were dressing in the locker room. Everyone paused to look between the two.

“W-what is it Kacchan?” He could not shake the nervousness in his voice, memories of his old school life filling his head. It did not help that Bakugo looked entirely neutral, which was scarier than his angry face.

“You have All Might’s quirk now.” Bakugo took a deep breath. “Don’t think it changes a damn thing between us. Quirk or not, you are still a useless Deku.” The rage in his eyes was… different, Izuku noted. Before, it was a wildfire, but now it seemed… focused.

“Whoa, chill man. I don’t know what it is between you guys, but talk like that is super unmanly!” Kirishima interjected. “We are here to be heroes, not attack each other.”

“Whatever.” Bakugo scoffed, leaving the locker room as he was already dressed in his costume.

“Honestly that guy seems like an ass.” Kaminari chuckled. “Well, you seem cool to me. No worries about jealousy or whatever is eating him.”

“He said ‘Quirk or not’” Todoroki spoke “Were you quirkless before?”

All eyes turned to Izuku, all asking the same question. 

“Y-yes. I was.” Izuku turned away, not wanting to hear the same thing he heard in middle school.

“Whoa, that’s awesome! You saved that guy, and impressed All Might, all without a quirk? Thats so manly!” Kirishima grinned, showing shark-like teeth.

“Well, without All Might I don't think what I did would have amounted to much. I was mostly just desperately pulling at slime…”

Todoroki narrowed his eyes. “You were planning on trying the exam without a quirk, weren’t you?” Once again, all eyes went to Izuku, most amazed, and some horrified.

“Yeah… I wanted to be a hero all my life. Quirk or not, I was going to do whatever I could to make my dream a reality.” Izuku spoke, much more confidently now, which did not go unnoticed by Todoroki, Iida, or Mineta.

“Holy shit, no wonder you impressed All Might! I was scared about taking the test with my quirk, let alone without.” Satou spoke up, finished with his yellow jumpsuit. Most of them had gotten distracted by the conversation and so slowed down in dressing. 

“Seriously, so cool.” Mineta spoke.

“Thanks! I… I just never really wanted anything else in life. I want to save people with a fearless smile.” Although he knew that smile was far from fearless, he still wanted to instill the same hope that All Might did.

“Man, you’re making me feel inadequate, Haha” Sero interjected. 

“Ah! Sorry! I didn’t mean to brag or anything, I just got really excited, I’m not used to being the center of attention, let alone in a positive way.” Izuku almost broke into a mumble-spree, but stopped there. He was getting better!

Iida frowned, glancing around the room. He saw most of them realized it, Izuku being too nervous to realize what he had hinted at, particularly with Bakugo’s words earlier. Todoroki, Tokoyami, Shoji, and Kirishima all caught his eye, but there were probably others. 

“Let’s hurry up! We don’t want to be late for our first hero class, after all!” Iida spoke up, causing everyone to rush putting the rest of their outfits on.

“Look at you! From now on, you are heroes! You all look SO COOL!” All Might was just as exciting in his gaunt form, it seemed. 

The students took a moment to look each other over, appreciating their costumes. Uraraka was next to Izuku, smiling at his costume. “Oh wow, you look so cool! I love the cape! And that face-mask thing!” 

“Oh, thanks, I b-b-b-b-b” Izuku stuttered as he turned to look at her, flushing red as he realized her costume was skintight . He was not ready for this. “Based on All Might’s suggestions!” He barely managed to finish that sentence.

Uraraka blushed only a little, rubbing the back of her head. “Yeah I should have been more specific. I didn’t say what I wanted it made out of, so they made it skin tight.” She complained lightly. She didn’t really mind, but it was a bit embarrassing, if satisfying, to see how much it affected Izuku.

“N-no! It looks good on you, Is it a space themed costume?” Izuku managed to distract himself by asking her that question.

“Yeah! I wanted to be similar to Thirteen. She’s my favorite hero!” Uraraka could have sworn she saw All Might pout, but that was probably just her imagination.

“Alright! Listen up so I can explain what we are doing. This is a battle simulation, so treat it as if it were really happening. It’s going to be a two-on-two, hero vs villain simulation. The goal of the heroes is to either capture the villains or find the bomb. The Villains have to either capture the heroes, or survive until the time ends. You’ll have five minutes to prepare before the heroes come in, and fifteen minutes before time runs out for the exercise.” All Might explained.

“Sir, isn’t this a bit advanced?” Asui put her finger to her lips.

“Think of it as a benchmark, to see where you need to improve, and to help me learn what each of you needs to work on, individually. Besides, this is what Plus Ultra means! Sometimes you have to run before you can walk.” All Might laughed. “Any other questions?”

“How do we decide teams?”

“How badly can we hurt the enemy?”

“Doesn’t this cape look magnifique?”

“Are we going to get expelled like in Aizawa-sensei’s test?”

“Alright, one at a time, one at a time! My quirk isn’t super hearing, you know?” All Might cleared his throat. “Firstly, teams will be decided randomly, with drawn lots! Second, if there are any serious injuries, I will stop the fight, accident or not. You are here to be heroes, after all! Yes, you all look magnificent, and as you might know, I have a thing for capes” He laughed. “And no. I fully intend to let you explore this exercise yourselves, rather than push you as he did. We need to see how you do without such a harsh punishment. Besides, I’m not sure I have enough influence to expel any of you myself. I don’t really want to, either.” He could expel any of them, and he knew it, but he hated the idea. He knew how hard they had worked to get just to this point, and it was a teacher’s job to help them further! “Now! Draw!”

The class drew the lots, and All Might announced the teams.

“Alright! First up, we have Kirishima and Iida as the villains, with Ashido and Mineta as the Heroes!

Second will be Shoji and Satou as the villains, with Yayaorozu and Aoyama as the heroes!

Third is Asui and Hagakure as the villains, with Sero and Ojiro as the heroes!

Fourth is Jirou and Kouda as the villains, with Kaminari and Tokoyami as the Heroes!

And finally…” All Might paused, his eyes widening slightly, and his voice leveled off from the enthusiastic shout it had been. “Bakugo and Todoroki as the villains, with Uraraka and Midoriya as the Heroes.”

Izuku felt his heart sink. He turned, and saw the murderous grin on Bakugo’s face. This… was gonna suck.

Chapter Text

“So this is the bomb?” Iida muttered. “It’s a bit much, isn’t it?”

“Well, this is just an exercise. At least it looks like a bomb, right?” Kirishima laughed.

They had chosen to place the bomb on the top floor, in a corner room without windows. It was the best place, since Kirishima was not as mobile as Iida. Such placement meant there was only one real entrance, since neither Mina nor Mineta seemed able to break through these walls. Iida would be the offense in this exercise, which Kirishima was happy with. His quirk was made for defence, after all.

“True.” Iida sighed. “Still, it pains me to be the villain!”

Kirishima laughed. “Chill dude. We gotta know how villains think, right? That way we know how to deal with them better.”

Iida slapped his fist down onto his hand. “You’re right! How foolish of me! Then I shall dedicate myself to the idea of villainy! Mwahaha!” 

Kirishima only laughed louder. “Man, you are really earnest, ain’t ya? Thats cool, but you should learn to take it a bit easy too. Then again… ya know, being a hammy villain sounds really fun. “Let’s do it!” Kirishima grinned, loving the idea. “So, anything else we need to go over? Your plan seemed fine with me, but I’m more of an action guy than a thinking guy.”

“No, we should be fine with the headsets.” Iida said. All Might had given them headsets and capture-tape before they left for the exercise. 

“Hm… Alright! Hey, All Might?” Kirishima spoke into the headset.

“Yes Young Kirishima?” All Might responded. “Was something unclear?”

“Nah, just… can you make it so everyone watching can hear what we are saying?”

“Certainly, but why?” All Might sounded confused.

“Well uh…” He did not admit he wanted to show off, or make the class laugh with hammy villain antics. “Wouldn’t it help them see what we are doing better? Ya know, they can understand why we are doing things better!” He quickly lied.

“Fair enough! Very well, give me just a moment.” He heard shuffling through the headset, before All Might finally responded “All done! Everyone can hear all transceivers now, except the enemy teams, of course!”

“Awesome!” Kirishima laughed. “Alright, Iida, let’s do this!”

“I must admit, I am both nervous and excited about this. I will do my best!” Iida pounded a fist to his chest.

“And begin!” All Might called out.

Iida immediately took off, leaving Kirishima to guard the bomb. It was perfect for his quirk, in his opinion. This seemed like a perfect team, to him. A speedster for offense and a tank for defense. He laughed quietly to himself. This was gonna be a cakewalk! “Foolish heroes won’t know what hit them!” He finished off with a ridiculous evil laugh.

All Might laughed to himself. He was perfectly okay with this! It would probably help them relax around him. Despite how he acted, he was perfectly aware that he was unnerving, in either form. A hero of such renown was bound to accidentally create stress with his presence. A small price to pay for being the Symbol of Peace, but an annoying one, particularly now that he was teaching.

“He is… really getting into it.” Kaminari chuckled.

“By all means, have fun with this! There is nothing wrong with enjoying such an exercise. It might seem counterintuitive, but you tend to remember things you enjoy better!” All Might came up with that on the spot, enjoying this nonsense far more than he should. He could practically feel Aizawa rolling his eyes, despite him being in the teacher’s lounge.

“It seems like fun.” Tsuyu spoke up. “It’s so different from Aizawa-sensei’s class.”

“Every teacher has their own style. It only makes sense All Might would be like this.” Shoji commented. 

“I… certainly did not anticipate this, but I enjoy the idea regardless.” Tokoyami spoke, hesitating at first. He was worried about displaying his edgelord-ness.

“It’s odd, but as long as we give it our best…” Yayaorozu commented.

“Remember, I am still new to teaching! My life as a pro did not include teaching. However, I have faith that you will take this seriously, whether or not you enjoy it. It is also important to craft your hero persona early, so that you become comfortable with presenting yourself to the public that way. In my case, I am the hero who always smiles, so I used to smile as much as possible in my training, trying to inspire hope!” All Might instructed, loving this idea even more.

Mina sighed mentally, not quite enjoying being on a team with this pervert. True, he was smart, and his quirk was useful, if weird, but she could do without him staring when he thought she wasn’t looking. He had a good plan, too. 

“Look, can you just stop?” Mina frowned at the boy. “We need to focus on the job.”

“Right” Mineta said suddenly, turning away. “Sorry. Anyway, did my plan sound good?”

At least he was aware it was weird that he stared so much. “Yeah, I’m not really a planner. I know Kiri though, and he’s probably gonna defend the bomb, if that changes anything.”

“No, I figured he would, with his quirk. Plus Iida is perfect for offense on this. That's why my plan will work!” Mineta sounded a bit cocky, but she could not doubt the plan’s efficiency.

“Well, so long as he goes towards you.” Mina shrugged. “Still, that guy is fast . Did you see how fast he went during the assessment? It’s crazy!”

“That’s why I did this with my sticky balls.” Mineta gestured to his purple-ball covered body. He knew he could not react to Iida’s speed, so covering himself as a trap would be his best bet. His reflexes were good, but nowhere near the best in the class.

“As long as he doesn’t take you out in one kick, you mean.” Mina pointed out.

“I kinda expect him to. But he should still get stuck, at least long enough for the exercise. You can take Kirishima, can’t you?”

“I think so. We never sparred in middle school, though. I am faster than him, at least.” She sighed. “But man! This is going to be fun!” Her grin revealed her excitement. 

“Ashido, Mineta! We have decided to allow the rest of the class to hear your communication. The only ones who won’t will be the enemy team! I thought I should let you know. And begin!”

The two ran into the building, searching the four corners of each floor, until they reached the third. At that point, they heard a dull roar that signalled Iida’s engines. Within a second, he was already on them, aiming at Mina with a straight kick to the chest.

She barely dodged to the side, throwing acid at Iida’s back. Unfortunately, she could not use a powerful enough acid to burn through his armor without seriously hurting him. Fortunately enough, the tiny gaps in the armor let enough acid in to burn him, albeit insignificantly. It was only enough for him to hiss, like a mild sunburn, but it was enough to let him know he would have been dead were this a real battle.

“Pathetic Heroes! You stand no chance against my mighty kick of evil!” Iida shouted, apparently far more invested in the role-playing than Mina expected. She had to hold back a laugh at his actions.

Mineta ran to tackle Iida, who quickly dodged. “I see you developed a plan! Foolishness! It will amount to nothing! For your petty justice cannot hold a candle to my villainy! ” Oh god he was getting into this too much.

Mineta threw one of the balls at Iida, who easily dodged again, propelling himself with his engines. “You fell right into my trap! Justice always prevails!” Mina stared at Mineta, who she had not expected to get into it as much as Iida, before shaking her head and running ahead. 

She turned a corner, right as Iida soared from behind her, trying to tackle her. Thinking quickly, she flung acid at his helmet, causing him to flinch back to avoid it going through the eye holes. 

By the time he could look up, she was out of sight. “Darn! Well, I shall trust my partner of evil to deal with that hero! For now…” He turned to Mineta, just in time to take a sticky ball to his arm, pinning it to his side. “So that is how these work, I had worried they were explosive! This is going to be difficult, then…” He narrowed his eyes.

Mineta charged at him, trying to tackle him. Normally, it would do nothing, but with the sticky balls on his body, it would allow him to place more on Iida and hold him down.

Iida laughed triumphantly. “You cannot stop me, hero! Not even with this!” He dodged to the side, before punching Mineta as hard as he could, ignoring the sticky ball that now covered his fist.

Mineta flew back, coughing. “Damn, you are stronger than I thought. But be prepared villain! I will make you taste justice yet!” He threw another ball, only for Iida to dodge again. Iida took note that the wall behind him was accumulating quite a bit of those things. 

He made to move forward, only to slip and fall, his arm sticking to the floor, which seemed wet with… something.

“Hah! Got him! Let’s go get Kiri!” Mina cheered.

“I see, so you hid so you could slick the floor. Excellent! I should have been more observant.” Iida admitted as Mineta wrapped the capture tape around his arm. 

“That punch almost knocked me out, I’ll be feeling that later.” Mineta laughed lightly, rubbing his chest where he was kicked. “Jeez, You sure superstrength isn’t part of your quirk?” He joked. 

“No, I simply made sure I was in peak physical condition! A hero must prepare everything about themselves! Good luck you two.” Iida said, not upset at his loss.

Kirishima sighed, scratching his shoulder. He hated waiting, but that was the problem of being on the defensive. Well, it didn’t matter, it was where he was most useful. He made sure his breath was soft enough to hear any footsteps.

Once he finally heard the soft footsteps, he moved to stand beside the door and armored up. A surprise attack was unmanly, but being the villain meant it was a good idea. Besides, if the fact that there were two sets of footsteps meant anything, Iida had lost. Too bad, but Mina was awesome, so it wasn’t too surprising. He had expected him to at least take Mineta down though.

Mina had walked in, only to immediately receive a hardened fist to the arm, sending her straight into the wall. She hissed in pain, falling on her backside. He didn’t feel anything break, so she was probably fine, but his punches were no joke.

“Surprise, Heroes! You are facing a Manly Villain! I see my partner weakened you both greatly!” Kirishima could not stop his shit-eating grin if he tried. True, it was unmanly to do a surprise attack, but he was being a villain right now, so it didn’t count.

“Oh, but we are strong enough to take you down!” Mineta jumped at him.

Kirishima casually caught the lightweight boy with his arm, his hardening actually helping support him. He turned to Mina, a plan forming in his mind. Mineta tried in vain to get off of Kirishima, but he had no chance with the other boy’s monstrous strength. And he thought Iida was strong! His class was full of monsters!

Kirishima ran towards Mina while she was stunned, that punch probably knocking the wind out of her. She did not manage to dodge, and Mineta was placed on Mina’s leg, looking entirely too happy. The three were stuck together, all unable to move.

“Villain team wins!” All Might called out. “Since it was a tie by capture, with the bomb remaining untouched, the villain’s met one more objective than the heroes.”

Once everyone was back in the room, All Might explained further. “You all did very well. However, does anyone know who the MVP of the match was?”

Yayaorozu raised her hand. “It was Ashido, sir.”

“Yes! Do you want to explain why?”

“While Mineta came up with a good plan, he underestimated both of his opponents, and paid the price for it. Meanwhile, Iida did great as well, but got too distracted with Mineta and lost track of Ashido in the process. Kirishima had a great idea, and a wonderful surprise attack, but using Mineta as a weapon caused him to be pinned down as well. In a real scenario, there would be police coming in after the heroes, and thus the villains would be arrested. Ashido, on the other hand, adapted to every situation she could, even trying to use her acid on the sticky balls when Mineta was attached to her. She also was able to react to Iida’s speed better than Mineta, and was the real reason Iida was captured, even stalling the original plan to do so. It was a calculated risk, but it worked out very well.”

“Er… right! You missed a few things, but very well done!” All Might sweatdropped at her words, realizing she was saying more than he would have. What an intense student.

Mina grinned widely, shaking Kirishima in joy. “That was awesome! I had no idea you got so strong! I mean, Mineta’s light, but still at least 30kg!”

Kirishima grinned right back. “I’ve been training hard!” He clapped a hand to his bicep. “Still, you took that punch like a champ, I thought that would’ve knocked you out. Plus you reacted to Iida, and that guy is crazy fast!”

“Yes, I did not expect you to avoid my first attack, you must have quite the impressive reflexes, Ashido.” Iida commented, a small smile on his face. “Though, I must admit, Mineta did quite well as well, that punch was sent while I was moving with my engines! I was worried I might break a rib.”

“You almost did, that was crazy. I’ve taken hits before, but that was a wrecking ball! If Ashido hadn’t been there, you would have gotten me. And you aren’t even the strongest in class!” Mineta grumbled.

“I guess I should have stuck to my guns.” Kirishima laughed. He got a few laughs from that, notably one from All Might. “Bet you guys can’t make better puns!” He challenged, not sure what came over him, but enjoying it nonetheless.

Kaminari laughed. “Alright, let’s see who can make the best by the end!” Most of the class murmured agreement.

“You all did well! Hopefully this sets the tone for the rest of the exercise! Next team, Shoji and Satou, versus Aoyama and Yayaorozu!” All Might called out.

“I hope you don’t mind if I don’t go all in with the roleplay like the last team did.” Shoji spoke with Satou, waiting for the exercise to begin. 

“Nah, do whatever feels right. I’ll probably go with the rampage-villain idea. We should probably do similar to what Iida and Kirishima did with splitting up, though.” Satou suggested.

“I would suggest we wait for them here. I can act as a radar, and the last battle showed us the problem with splitting up. Unless they split up too, it’ll end up a two on one. As much as I would like to think we could do it, Yayaorozu is a recommendation student, and Aoyama’s laser is no joke. I saw it tear through those exam robots without a problem.” Shoji informed him.

“Ah… yeah, that sounds good. I can’t punch a laser.” Satou sighed. They both agreed to wait.

Yayaorozu finished her creation, a mirror-like belt around her stomach. “Perfect. Your laser functions as both a kinetic force and as actual light, so this will work.” She hoped, at least.

“Oui, this shall allow both of us to shine!” Aoyama’s perpetual smile somehow displayed even more happiness than usual.

“I wish we had time to test it, but I don’t want you to use it too much before we find them. Can you skate?” She asked him, a plan for movement forming.

“Of course! I am as graceful as a gazelle!” 

“Alright.” She quickly formed a pair of skates for both of them, very glad she had not partnered with Mineta. Aoyama seemed disinterested in her body, at least outwardly.

The two skated around, quickly searching each room.

It took a bit of time, but they found the room on the fifth floor, in the middle of the building. As soon as they went in, Satou was on them, screaming incomprehensibly. Honestly, it was downright terrifying, particularly when he punched straight through the brick wall behind Aoyama’s head. 

Fortunately, getting close like that meant his laser had no difficulty aiming, which left Satou reeling backwards as the kinetic force from his laser reached his stomach, feeling much more like a cannonball than a laser.

“Aoyama, now!” Aoyama turned, and Shoji quickly moved, expecting to be hit with the laser. What he did not expect was for Aoyama to fire it at Yayaorozu.

The laser hit the belt she made earlier, splitting into a wide range blast, hitting both Shoji and Satou, yet avoiding the bomb. Shoji skidded a few feet back, cringing in pain. He quickly moved forward towards Yayaorozu, seeing her as the real threat. 

To his shock, Yayaorozu produced a metal staff and slammed it into his shoulder, stunning him for another hit. It took ten hits with the staff before he was down, but they happened too quickly and too powerfully for him to avoid or even defend.

Satou, however, managed to give Aoyama a solid hit before he was finally downed by two more lasers.

“Hero Team wins!”

All Might smiled at his class, still in his skinny form. No need to take his other form yet, after all. “So, Who do you think was the MVP this time?”

“Yayaorozu, obviously. Shoji and Satou did their best, but it's just too hard to deal with her quirk. Aoyama did well, but failed to keep his distance, even if it was a surprise attack. More than that, she went out of her way to utilize Aoyama’s quirk so she could deal with multiple opponents at once. Even better, she managed to make her reflective belt targeted so as to avoid the bomb.” Izuku spoke up, not quite as detailed as Yaoyarozu, but still more than All Might intended. Why did these kids have to be so damn smart?!

“I couldn’t do much against her… creativity .” Shoji commented, earning some laughs.

“Very good! That said, you all did splendidly. This is just the first exercise, don’t take any losses to heart!” All Might laughed. “Alright, next team is up!”

“Man, this has to be some bad luck.” Sero complained to Ojiro as they searched the building.

“What do you mean?” Ojiro looked back at him.

“Well, we are both close range fighters. I mean, yeah I can shoot out tape, but I can’t control where it goes after that yet. If I want to capture them, I gotta get in close. And they both have perfect counters for that! I mean, your tail is strong as hell, but Asui’s legs are crazy too. Then Hagakure’s invisibility… It just seems stacked against us.” Sero shrugged.

“You’re sort of a pessimist, aren’t you?” Ojiro asked rhetorically. “It’ll be fine, once we find them.” 

“Eh, I think of it as being a realist.” Sero shrugged again. “Besides, I’m nervous. First exercise, with All Might and the entire class watching? I don’t wanna look pathetic.”

“Relax. Just do your best, we are all here to learn, no one can judge you for that. All Might himself said this was an advanced exercise he wants to use as a benchmark.” Ojiro put his hand on Sero’s shoulder, eliciting a wider smile from the boy. “Now, let’s go get this bomb.”

The room they were looking for, it turned out, was on the first floor, in the center. Fairly smart placement, since no one would think to look somewhere so obvious. Fortunately, Ojiro wanted to be thorough on their search, and thus they found the bomb before anyone else had so far.

“Stop right there criminal scum!” Sero shot tape at Asui, who was standing right next to the bomb. Ojiro saw it as an idiot move, but to his surprise, Asui caught the tape and pulled, leaning back to brace herself. Sero jerked forward, and was too slow to dodge Asui’s tongue launching at him like a cannon. He flew back into the wall, and Ojiro realized this was going to be just as hard as Sero thought. Particularly with him down.

“Give up. Ribbit.” Asui spoke calmly. 

“Not a chance, Villain! Your reign of terror ends now!” Ojiro used his tail as a spring to launch himself at Asui.

Her tongue lashed out at him, but he swung his waist around, his tail slamming into the tongue as he did so. He heard her cry out in pain, but ignored the guilt. It was an exercise, so a bit of pain was expected, even if he hated it. He always used to feel guilty during his sparring at the dojo.

He reached Asui before she could real her pained tongue back in, and slammed his tail into her side, his hand grappling her arm as he did so. Spinning with the momentum, he swiftly wrapped her in capture tape. He had no idea where Hagakure was, which was terrifying. Well, all he had to do was touch the bomb, and it was right in front of him, not ten meters away.

So why was that ten meter walk the most terrifying thing he had ever experienced?

He kept glancing around the room, trying to see if anything seemed off, but there was nothing. Even so, he felt like there was a knife ready to plunge into his back every second.

Finally, he reached the bomb, his hand outstretching just a bit to touch it, before he felt something wrap around his waist, and someone whisper in his ear. “Checkmate.”

He did not squeak in terror, no matter what anyone said.

“Villain team wins!” All Might called out, shocking Ojiro out of his terror-induced trance.

“Hagakure is scary.” Mineta commented, shivering.

“That was awesome though, did you see how unnerving that was for Ojiro? Imagine doing that to a villain. Perfect for infiltration, too.” Sero laughed.

“Aw, thanks guys!” Hagakure waved her gloves around to display happiness, since they couldn’t see her smile or blush. “I’m glad you saw what I can do!” That got less laughs than Shoji or Kirishima got, but still a scoff of amusement from quite a few people.

“Very well done, all of you! Who was the MVP this time? Someone other than Midoriya and Yaoyarozu, please!” All Might called out, the class laughing lightly as they realized there were already two overachievers.

“I believe Hagakure was the MVP this time! Sero was taken out too quickly, and too pessimistic about the exercise, while Tsuyu provided an excellent distraction. However, she was taken out quickly by Ojiro as well, underestimating his tail. Ojiro did fine on all accounts, it was simply that Hagakure’s stealth was too much for him. Hagakure, on the other hand, managed to sneak around silently and caused enough panic to slow Ojiro down enough so she could reach him before he reached the bomb.” Iida answered, surprising no one.

“Perfectly said!” All Might clapped his hands. “Now, next team!”

Jirou glanced at her partner, who seemed to prefer being silent. Usually, she did not mind, but in this situation, communication was paramount. “So, you can talk to animals, right? Can you bring anything here?”

Kouda paused, before nodding. Could he sense animals nearby?

“Alright, bring the biggest thing you can, and let’s see if we can do this.” She instructed, not expecting what came next.

“IS THAT A BEAR?!” Mina shouted, though half the class was asking the same thing. “Oh my god, it’s adorable!”

Everyone paused to stare at her, before All Might sighed. “It’s part of his quirk, so I’ll allow it. Though I will have to ask him later how a bear showed up. I didn’t know they could live here…”

Kaminari was not the smartest person in the class. He could tell that. He had been ranked pretty highly at his old school but this was U.A. That said, he was fairly sure summoning a bear was a bit much for training. “Holy shit!” He ran.

He had been sent, as Tokoyami had planned, to find enemy combatants, but this was too much for him to deal with. To produce enough electricity to knock a bear out, he would probably have to hold onto it for far too long, or go all out, which would leave him… stupid. 

He knew the bear could have caught him, but apparently Kouda made the damn thing stalk him slowly, enough to keep up, but not enough to gain any on him.

“Tokoyami! Bear with me!” He shouted.

“I’m trying, but it’s difficult.” came the deadpan reply, as he turned the corner into the room with the bomb.

“No, there’s a bear, behind me!” Kaminari cried, dashing behind him.

“Dark Shadow can’t take it out. Can’t you shock it?!” Tokoyami shouted as the bear walked right into the room. “And why did you lead it here?!”

“I couldn’t lose it, and I needed help!” Kaminari sighed. “If I shock it, you’ll have to deal with the rest alone.”

“I shall endure, then.” Tokoyami nodded as the bear stalked forward.

“In that case, stand back. I can’t control it that well, and I don’t want to hit you.” Kaminari rushed forward, grabbing hold of the strangely docile bear. “Sorry buddy, but I don’t want to fight you.”

He felt bad about it, really, it was just an innocent animal, but if Kouda ordered it to attack… Well, he did not feel that badly about it.

Tokoyami flinched as Kaminari flashed with electricity, the hairs on his arms standing on end. The bear was certainly out from that, and judging from the goofy expression on his face, so was Kaminari. Fortunately, he doubted Kouda could bring another bear. Hopefully.

Tokoyami wanted in the silence for Jirou and Kouda to show up, knowing they had likely followed the bear’s trail to find the bomb. A smart move, but exactly what he wanted. Now that he knew where they were coming from, he could focus and react as soon as he saw them. Dark Shadow already had the capture tape in its hands, waiting right next to the door. With the darkness in the room, he doubted either Jirou or Kouda could move fast enough to dodge it.

True to his predictions, Jirou stepped in front of the doorway, just enough to look in. As soon as he saw her, Dark Shadow burst through the wall, wrapping the tape around her before she could react. Kouda was next, possessing nothing that could stop Dark Shadow either.

“Villain Team wins!”

“That seemed a bit anticlimactic.” Mina complained. “That poor bear…”

“Yes, well, who was the MVP this time?” All Might ignored the bear comment. Surely, the bear was fine… probably.

“I’d say Tokoyami.” Mineta spoke up. “He didn’t have much of a plan, but it worked well enough. No one really expects a bear, but he adapted quickly. Once Kaminari was down, he even made sure to have Dark Shadow at the door, since it doesn’t create noise for Jirou to detect. Jirou made a good call, but she should have been prepared since she knew Tokoyami wasn’t down, and that the bear was.”

“Very true! However, we should always expect the unexpected as heroes. You never know what crazy quirk your opponent will have, be it summoning bears or creating wormholes by pointing. I’ve even seen a quirk that let someone explode. Once.” All Might commented, ignoring the mixture of amusement and horror on the children’s faces. 

“Despite the challenges, I think I beared well.” Tokoyami heard the class laugh at his pun. Maybe he would win this thing!

“Anyway, let’s go with the next team!” All Might chuckled lightly, more hesitant about this last team than any before.

“Deku…” Bakugo grinned at Izuku, making the boy even more nervous.

“Stay here, I’ll go deal with Deku and Roundface.” Bakugo growled out to Todoroki, not even bothering to pause for an answer. He had to pause, however, when the door was suddenly frozen. “What the hell Icyhot?!”

“I’m not failing this exam because of whatever is between you and Midoriya. Calm down and let’s make a plan.” Todoroki’s monotone voice answered him. “It would be even worse now, with All Might watching.”

Bakugo took a deep breath to calm himself. Despite his anger, Todoroki had a point. He did not want to lose his cool with All Might watching. He sighed. “Fine. Deku and Roundface are both gonna focus on close range, and I have no defensive abilities. Your ice can make it harder for them to get in. Got it?”

Todoroki stared at him for a moment, but nodded. “Very well. Be careful though. Everyone can tell you two have history. If you go too far-”

“I ain’t gonna fuck him up that badly. He’s more stubborn than he looks.” Bakugo huffed again, turning towards the door again. “Just make sure Roundface doesn’t get past you. Deku knows I’ll come for him, so he’ll send Roundface ahead to get the bomb.”

“Seems likely.” Todoroki muttered. “Keep me informed in case he gets past you.”

“Tch. Like the bastard could!” Bakugo exploded out the door, literally. Well, at least he was playing the villain right, Todoroki supposed.

Izuku was nervous teaming up with Ochako, for a large number of reasons. For one, he was not used to such positive energy, let alone cute girls. For another, he was pretty sure Bakugo was going to come right for him, even if his anger seemed to have cooled down quite a bit. Maybe those months apart had done both of them good? 

“So, you got a plan, Deku?”

“D-deku?!” Izuku flinched back in surprise. The name didn’t really bother him anymore, but it was surprising how she said it so lightly.

“Yeah, that’s your nickname, right? That's what Bakugo called you, right? I figured it was a childhood nickname!” Ochako smiled, far too brightly for Izuku to look at directly.

“Um, well… It is, but he called me that to make fun of me. If you read the kanji for my name, Deku can be interpreted as well as Izuku.” He explained, still not looking at her.

“Oh… Well I thought it sounded kind of cute! Plus it’s got a ‘you can do it’ vibe, like a shortened version of Dekiru!” Ochako’s smile brightened even more. Did she know what she was doing to his heart?!

“Deku it is!” He exclaimed way too quickly. She only giggled. “A-anyway, we should prepare. Your quirk is Zero Gravity, right?”

“Yeah, I have to touch something with all the pads on my fingers for it to work though. I don’t think that’s gonna be easy with those two, though.” Ochako fidgeted, once more wrecking Izuku’s nerves. He could understand if she were actively trying to tease him, but she did realize she was wearing a skintight costume, right?!

“Y-yeah, well… You just need to already have some kind of weapon prepared then, right?” Izuku glanced around. “I have an idea…”

Bakugo turned the corner to where he heard Deku talking. He didn’t hear what was said, but it didn’t matter to him. He needed to show Deku that it did not matter whose quirk he had now, he was still beneath him.

Except, as soon as he turned the corner, he had to propel himself downward to avoid a giant pillar that was swung at him. “Holy fuck”  

“He dodged that?” Ochako cried, still holding that giant pillar.

“He has crazy reflexes.” Deku spoke up. “Go deal with Todoroki, I’ll handle him.”

“Roger!” Ochako ran off, still carrying that pillar, with one hand at that. Okay, he had underestimated her quirk, but Todoroki could probably deal with her.

“Deku… All this time, looking down on me! And now you think just cause you got a quirk, you’re good enough to beat me?!” Bakugo raged.

“Looking down on you?” Deku paused, staring at him for a tense second. “I looked up to you, you idiot!” Deku growled , actually growled. Bakugo was startled, having never heard Deku sound angry before. 

Bakugo did not have a response, simply exploding towards Deku with a right hook, a subconscious choice.

The result was Deku grabbing his wrist, and slamming him into the wall, hard enough to knock the air out of his lungs. He gasped, rolling away as Deku kicked where his stomach had been, leaving a dent in the wall.

“S-shit.” Bakugo caught his breath quickly, but that hurt . He knew Deku’s quirk gave him super strength, but god damn, that was ridiculous. Had that kick actually hit him, he would have been down for the count. “You finally grew a spine.” He almost laughed, the idea being ridiculous. But of course, All Might had probably trained him, so no surprise he managed to grow a spine, but it was such a difference from a year ago.

“I never looked down on you!” Deku launched at him, sparks coming off his body, signaling his quirk was still active. “I saw you as a symbol of Victory!”

He… was he lying? There was no way, right? “Bullshit!” Bakugo roared, exploding towards the nerd once more, moving his arm back for a right hook. As predicted, Deku moved to grab onto him, but Bakugo used his explosions to stop himself, creating a small, quickly fading smokescreen. He then used another explosion to push himself right back towards Deku, landing a kick to his chest. He heard the other boy wheeze. 

He rushed forward again, but Deku did not go down despite the kick. Instead, he headbutted Bakugo, stunning both of them, but Deku recovered first, and lashed out with a solid hit to Bakugo’s chest, sending the boy sprawling back.

By the time he got up, Deku was gone. “God DAMNIT!” He roared, launching to get back to the bomb, where Deku would no doubt end up.

Todoroki had not expected much from Uraraka. That was not to say he thought she was weak, he had no frame of reference for that, only that he was stronger. He did not, however, expect her to carry a pillar as big as a car and use it to break right through his ice. Were it not for his proximity to the bomb, he would have frozen the room entirely, but it would definitely count as harming the bomb, and he did not have the control necessary to use his ice that quickly in such a targeted area. It did not help that Uraraka kept smashing through whatever ice he sent at her, and launching herself around with her quirk. Surely she must be close to done with how her quirk worked? If so, she was tougher than he expected, not relenting even with intense nausea.

Perhaps he was arrogant, then. Either way, she was definitely earning his respect. Despite its lack of weight, swinging such a massive pillar around, breaking his ice, was not an easy feat.

“I can do this all day!” She blatantly lied. “So give it up, Villain!” Was he supposed to get into the roleplay too now? Was that how it worked? Well, he supposed it wouldn’t hurt.

“You can break as much of my ice as you want, but you won’t get past me, hero.” His monotone voice made him seem much more ominous than Uraraka expected, but she didn’t let it bother her. Some people just prefered speaking that way.

“Smash!” She heard behind her, a hole appearing in the wall, not even a foot away from the door. “I’m here, Uraraka. Let’s do this!” He appeared a bit beat up, but there was a fire in his eyes, one she could not help but admire. 

“Alright! Catch!” She tossed the pillar to him, which let Todoroki freeze her, covering everything but her head in ice. “C-c-cold!” She would have shivered, if she could move.

“Sorry. I’ll warm you up once this is done.” Todoroki apologized, just as monotone as before.

Deku, using both his quirk and the weightless pillar, smashed through Todoroki’s ice much faster than Uraraka had, which was impressive. Todoroki was okay with this, however, thinking that they would take too much time.

Deku realized quickly that he was going too slow, even if he was advancing. He glanced at Uraraka, still covered in ice. Technically, since she was not wrapped in the capture tape, she was still in the game. He grinned, moving towards her and carefully kicking the ice that covered her, shattering it easily. He took a moment to carry her and the pillar away from the ice that Todoroki launched at him again, before kicking the pillar in half, and handing her half of it. 

Todoroki’s eyes widened when the two began to break his ice at a much faster pace than either had alone. With Uraraka able to just hold his ice off, Deku was free to carve a path through, no matter how much he sent. 

They were only a short distance from him when he heard Bakugo scream out “Icyhot, dodge!” He did not have time to react, and all his ice was down. Deku turned as soon as he heard Bakugo, and recognized what he was doing long before anyone else. Pushing One For All to its limit, he quickly shoved Uraraka out of the way, and dove at Todoroki, reaching him just in time to push him away as well. He barely had time to collapse to the ground before the blast reached him, his arm still in the air from pushing Todoroki.

The last thing he saw was a bright flash, accompanied with a blinding pain in his arm.

“...D-deku?” Bakugo spoke hesitantly, seeing the blackened arm on his unconscious opponent.

Todoroki and Uraraka both looked horrified, too shocked to move.

All Might was there in a flash, only saying “Class dismissed. Bakugo, Principal’s office.” before he scooped up Izuku and vanished.

Izuku woke slowly, his mind still foggy, the distant feeling of pain in his left shoulder. “W-what happened?”

“Oh, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” Recovery Girl was over him in an instant, and he found himself relieved at that. She could heal just about any injury, so he was probably fine.

“Like I need to go back to sleep.” Izuku joked, too tired to realize anything was wrong. 

“I had to use my quirk on you. Two broken ribs, not to mention… well, there’s no easy way to say this.” Recovery Girl sighed. “Your arm was burnt to a crisp. There… was no way to recover from that. I’m sorry.” 

“W-what. No, you’re joking, Kacchan wouldn’t…” He went to raise his left arm, only to feel nothing. It was like trying to move a tail when you didn’t have one, a feeling he could not describe, so wrong it perverted his senses. “Oh.”

Recovery Girl stared at him, shocked. He accepted it just like that? No, he was probably still in shock, but his response was… still weird. Wrong, somehow. “You are taking this… better than expected.”

“I… Can-can I still be a hero, even with just one arm?” Izuku asked, his voice cracking as tears fell from his eyes. It was a sudden change, but the shock of the event, as well as the boy’s underlying mental issues likely mixed in some unstable emotions she could not predict.

Before she could respond, the door burst open, All Might, in his hero form, not even hesitating to rush to Izuku’s side. “Young Midoriya! Sorry if it’s sudden, but I need a hair. Actually, blood would work better, thinking about it.”

Izuku froze, his heart feeling like it was about to explode.

Chapter Text

“Do you know why you are here, Mr. Bakugo?” Nedzu smiled serenely at the boy.

Bakugo was staring at his hands, still in shock. “I… went too far.” 

“Oh, is that it? ” Nedzu folded his hands into each other on his desk. “ You went too far .”

Bakugou refused to meet the condescending stare that Nedzu was sending him, hidden behind the all too friendly smile. What had he done?

“What you didn’t mention, Mr. Bakugo,” said Nedzu, as he pulled out a set of papers from a drawer. “Was your murder attempt towards the young Mr. Midoriya.”

“I’m a Hero!!” Bakugo stood up, obviously offended by the idea. “I’m not a murderer!”

“Okay then, Mr. Hero.” Nedzu tapped the papers on his desk before flipping them over and pulling a pen from his pen holder. “Mind explaining to me why you used lethal force during training, then?” Nedzu tilted his head. “Perhaps you merely underestimated the power of those gauntlets?”

Bakugo’s open palms clenched into a fist, his sweat growing colder as the words hit him harder and harder. 

“Oh no, they rely on your own quirk for their power, so that can’t be it.” 

Shame was building in his head, what had he done? Things never went this far.

“And you have been quite the antagonist towards this very specific classmate of yours.”

This was it, he knew. He’s got to. Why else would him being angry at Midoriya be touched on? What had he done?  

“So,” Nedzu passed the papers to Bakugou when he finished. “I did a little digging into your history.”

And it was all laid bare. The bullying, the abuse, the name calling, and the one line that would continue to haunt him for the rest of his days.

“If you wanna be a hero so badly, there’s an easy way to do it. Take a swan dive off of the roof and hope you get a quirk in your next life.”

“By all accounts, Mr. Bakugou,” Nedzu said, his grin growing ever so slightly larger seeing the realization dawn on the student. “It seems like you actively tried to kill Midoriya.”

The final blow. What had he done?

“...Am I being expelled?” Bakugo sat back down, any fight he had leaving him.

“Why, of course you are!.” Nedzu laughed, gleefully. 

This can’t be happening. This can’t be real. It’s got to be some cruel joke. What had he done?  

“Regardless of the circumstances, I would have given you some kind of punishment. But this takes the cake!” The aura around Nedzu grew darker, as if pain itself was rising from around him. . “Had you not shown at least a hint of remorse for what you did, I would have you arrested.” Nedzu sighed, leaning back again. “You should know, Mr. Bakugou, that I do not see any heroic potential in you whatsoever.” 

No heroic potential? That’s impossible. Everyone said he’d be a hero! What had he done?

“People like you, in my humble opinion,” Nedzu’s aura grew darker and darker, the tone in his voice taking an undertone of disgust. Despite the smile on Nedzu’s face, the creased eyebrow reveals his true feelings on the subject. “ Abusers, ”

Bakugou flinched at the word. What had he done?

“ Abusers should never get second chances .” Nedzu spat with his all too cheery tone.

What had he done?

“Your parents are on their way now. As for your full punishment,” Nedzu held up a small red vial, one Bakugo had seen on the news before. “Do you know what this is?”

“Trigger, sir?” Bakugo spoke, Nedzu noting his politeness now. “I see it on the news sometimes.”

“No, but you could be forgiven for thinking it is.” Nedzu chuckled. “This is something far, far worse than Trigger.”

“What does that have to do with me?” Bakugou asked, regaining the defiance in his voice. “I don’t do drugs.”

“Oh, I am aware.” Nedzu smiled serenely again. “Sir Nighteye just wanted a second opinion on something he’s been investigating. Do you know what these do?” 

Not wanting to stoke any more fires, Bakugou stayed silent.

“Not even a guess?” Nedzu was chuckling to himself, and it unnerved Bakugou. 

What’s going to happen?

“This,” Nedzu said, as he shook the tiny vial ever so slightly, and stood on his chair to his desk, approaching Bakugou from behind his desk. “Turns you into”

“A useless.” A step.

“Fucking,” Another step.

“Shitty” Another step

“Deku”

He was standing taller than Bakugou, while he was on his desk. Nedzu sat down, keeping his eyes on Bakugou, basking in the horror that dawned on the abusive former hero student. “Sound familiar?”

“Y-you-- I-- That’s--!!” Words kept getting stuck in his throat. 

“Indeed it is!” He ignored Bakugo’s expression of shock. 

“Y-you can’t!”

“As I told Inko Midoriya when I decided to teach her son,” Nedzu continued. The fury inside him was starting to show; his voice had lowered several octaves. He grabbed a syringe from the desk and placed the mysterious liquid inside. “As principal of the greatest Hero School in the country, I have quite a bit of leeway with what I do. So yes, I can.” ” 

Bakugo’s eyes started dilating, darting all around the room hoping for escape. Nedzu saw this and decided to stop teasing the boy. “At least, not yet.” Nedzu moved the vial back into his desk, chuckling to himself. 

“However, let me make this clear.” Nedzu picked up again, his tone as stern as ever. “If you tell anyone about All Might and Midoriya. Or even approach Midoriya threateningly again, well” His voice was dark and torn with fury. “I suppose I don’t need to tell you what happens.”.

“Yes sir.” Bakugo sounded hollow now, which Nedzu was inwardly pleased by. 

“Good.” Nedzu smiled, the warmth of his voice returned. “Now, would you like some tea while we wait for your parents?.” 

 After a few minutes of silence, the Bakugo adults finally arrived. “Ah, hello there. I asked you here to discuss your son’s behavior and future.” This was going to be a long day...

All Might was not sure what he said to cause Midoriya to burst into tears, but he certainly understood that it was not what he intended. It was also, probably, why Recovery Girl was giving him a death glare that he was positive would have scared All For One. 

It did not help that the people behind him, being most of the class, were giving him death glares as well. Seriously, what did he say? 

All he said was he needed a hair-

Oh.

“Ah, I didn’t mean it like that!” Toshinori waved his arms in a panic; he should’ve worded that more carefully. 

Knowing what the kid is going through, it makes talking to him like walking through a verbal minefield. Anything he says could trip the boy up! If only he learned how to deal with kids.

“ Wonderful Toshinori.” Recovery Girl growled. “He already lost his arm, now you wanna break his heart?!” 

“I-i-it’s alright. I-I-I” Midoriya paused, grabbing his throat for a moment as the tears slowed to a stop. “Sorry, I always find it hard to stop after I start.” He mumbled. “Why did you need my DNA, All Might?

“I have a friend working on a project.” Toshinori said, scratching the back of his head. Maybe he should’ve started with that. “Prosthetics that work with quirks the same way we do with costumes do!” 

“So you aren’t taking back One for All?”

“Young Midoriya.” Toshinori’s expression was one of complete seriousness. . “One for All is your quirk. Besides, I couldn't take it back even if I wanted to. It can only be passed on willingly . I thought I told you that…” He knew he could be forgetful, but he was fairly certain he mentioned it. “Anyway, what do you say? ”

There were too many things that went unsaid. One slip up, just one thing to make everything fall apart. Right now, that’s what Midoriya sees, and Toshinori would be damned if he’d let his successor break down like that. That said, he probably shouldn't mention the conversation both he and Nedzu will be havingwith his mother. The Hero in training would only view himself a burden for worrying her. 

“Wh-where is Kacchan?” 

Toshinori did not expect that.

Frankly, no one was expecting that . 

“He’s gone.” Todoroki spoke, as blunt as ever.”Nedzu expelled him.” 

Although, Toshi is completely sure if it was bluntness or coldness..

“He what?!” Midoriya sat up. Thankfully, Recovery girl had healed what she could, so there were no open wounds or bleeding areas. That doesn’t mean Midoriya should be getting up and being rowdy. The sheets covering his body fell, revealing his scars and--

“ABS!” Mina yelled at the top of her lungs.

Toshinori had to stifle a laugh when he actually felt heat coming from the class behind him.

“Midoriya, you shouldn’t be getting up. And everyone that shouldn’t be in here, out!” she yelled, hoping to kick out the students uninvolved with the incident. The sound of groans and complaints could be heard all the way to Mt. Fuji as Recovery Girl kicked the students out.   

“Midoriya, he tried to kill you.” Recovery Girl said, closing the door behind her. “That blast was enough to take your arm. If it were Kirishima, all I had to deal with would be a few scraps and burns. But you lost your arm .” Recovery Girl explained. 

“I’m sorry to say, Young Midoriya,” Toshinori continued for Recovery Girl. “But that boy is a threat. If not to you, then to the rest of society. At least with the required therapy and counseling, he may have a chance at a normal life.” 

Midoriya looked up at his mentor with pleading eyes. “So that means he’s still got a chance to be a hero?”

“I’m sorry, son.” The atmosphere between student and mentor grew tense.

“He’s been blacklisted.”

Midoriya stared down at his only hand. “I see.” His voice was hollow, empty. Something was gone the moment he heard his friend lose a place because of him. . “Oh, yeah. Recovery Girl, can you give All Might whatever he needs?”

Recovery Girl nodded, a frown on her face. “Just a bit of blood, right?” 

All Might nodded in response. “If you think it’s fine, Chiyo.”

Recovery Girl’s frown deepened. Toshinori was supposed to be in charge of the class; how could he have been so careless as to let these two students have at it. In fact, why on earth did Nedzu think it was a good idea to arm such a child. She was convinced that Bakugou boy was nothing more than a future villain, therapy or not. Who would attack someone so ferociously without hesitation, let alone with such a dangerous weapon?

“Alright. You better stay still, Midoriya.” Recovery girl said sternly. 

“Midoriya. Thank you.” Todoroki said in his blunt tone. “You saved my life.”

“Yeah!” Uraraka started waving her arms about, hyperactive about the entire fight “ I knew you were awesome, this takes the cake! You were so fast,  we were out in a blink!” Uraraka laughed, before her eyes landed on the stump that was Midoriya’s arm. She tried to smile, but it looked more like a forced grimace. “But… I wish it didn’t cost you…” She couldn’t finish, her eyes already brimming with tears.

“It was worth it.” Midoriya spoke without hesitation. 

Recovery Girl flinched, but handed the drawn blood to All Might safely. “I didn’t want you two to get hurt. And... if I really did save your lives, then what’s an arm to that?” His smile was wider this time, less hollow than before.

Uraraka actually did burst into tears, moving to hug him, which he blushed so red at, you could be forgiven for assuming he was a tomato. 

Toshinori transformed himself into All Might and laughed heartily at the spectacle before him. His young successor was at that age. Ahh, youth.

Todoroki turned to All Might, who was now in his buff form, ready to take off. “I see why you chose him.” 

All Might glanced at his protege. Good to see that the boy had friends, at least. Recovery Girl frowned even deeper. You would ask yourself what is deeper than the Marianas Trench, it would be Chiyo’s grimace. Thankfully, the pain from his wounds was gone, or that hug would have been a terrible idea. Uraraka must have known either how her quirk worked, or that the bandages and movement signified such a lack of pain.

“That was still a reckless move, young man!” Chiyo scolded. “You already lost an arm, how could you save people if you lost both!?”

“The world needs heroes. And I chose to risk myself when I enrolled here.” Midoriya claimed boldly. “I would do it again.” 

All Might laughed boisterously before glancing at a clock over the door. “Yes, you truly have the heart of a hero. But! Now I must be off. I should be back before the end of the day. Nedzu already knows about this, so don’t worry. Now, as soon as you all are done here, you are free to head home. Be safe.” All Might vanished shortly after, the wind from his movement being oddly mild.

“That man, always rushing things.” Chiyo shook her head and sighed. “Midoriya, please sit still while we wait for your mother. She already signed off on everything, so just relax for now.” She smiled as best she could for the boy. “Keep him company, you two. I’m going to go make some more gummies. This rascal finished the whole lot of them for his arm.”

Knowing both All Might and David Shield, the boy would have a replacement arm by the end of the week, if not sooner. It mostly depended on David Shield and how far along he was with his design, since All Might could travel faster than most jets. 

“Of course. Can… I see my mom?” Midoriya asked, hesitating. 

“Oh, certainly. She is in a meeting with Nedzu right now, in fact. She was going to come by as soon as it was done. For now, I’ll let your classmates in so you can talk with them; get your blood pressure down.”

“Give me one good reason not to pull my son out of this school immediately.” Inko was livid . Nedzu and All Might may have done quite a bit for her, but her son losing an arm was not worth it, in her opinion. “You promised me he would be safe!”

“P-please, Mrs. Midoriya.” All Might tried to say. “Let me explai--”

“The first reason would be because Bakugou has been expelled.” Nedzu began, cutting All Might off. “The second is because we cannot take back anything that happened, he would still need to get a hold of his quirk.” 

“But he lost his arm! ” exclaimed Inko.

He will receive a new arm as well.”  

“But--”

“The most important, however, is because of Izuku’s mental state.” Nedzu sighed, tired from the multiple meetings he had already done today. 

“What do you mean?” Inko hesitated, her anger flickering away at the mention of her son. 

Before her anger, she would always put her worry first. If Izuku’s mental state was worse than she knew, it would devastate her. 

“He is far worse off than we initially anticipated. Depression and anxiety is one thing, but to have this unhealthy attachment to Bakugou....” Inko was hanging onto every word Nedzu said; depression? anxiety? Just for how long had she not noticed her own boy? 

Nedzu frowned, wondering how to phrase it so it did not hurt her. “Your son… To him, Bakugou is a symbol. The final victory, someone he strives to be like. To him, Bakugou is a Hero.” 

Inko let this information sink in, as Nedzu continued to explain the situation. 

“I am unsure how much this has affected him beyond attachment, however. I do know that losing his arm seemed to not affect him too much mentally.”

“How is that possible? he lost an arm …” Inko covered her mouth in horror.

“I am unsure, myself. I do know that sometimes people ignore such trauma until they break, but this is not the case. He seems genuinely unbothered by it.” He was constantly being informed of what was happening with Izuku, even while talking with Inko. Having an intelligence quirk like his was a blessing in these situations. “The best I can figure is that he genuinely values himself so little that losing an arm to save two lives is worth it. ”

“Actually, if I may add.” All Might cut in, his hand below his chin. “Midoriya did mention that he chose to risk himself to save others.”

“My point exactly, All Might.”

“What… what will I do?” Inko was crying now. “I just want my baby to be safe. But nothing I do helps....”

“I would greatly prefer he stay here, not only because of his future as a hero, but because he has friends and mentors who care about him here. I would be lying if I said I was not attached to the boy.” Nedzu smiled slightly. “However, beyond that, the best thing you can do is be there for him. Don’t treat him any differently, he would feel like something was wrong, but just be there for him. His friends will be told the same thing.” 

“Alright. Before anything, I want to speak to Izuku. But… promise me you will protect him. Above anything else.”

“That’s… quite a promise, but I will.” Nedzu stood to bow at the woman. “With his quirk and mind, he is likely more important to the future than this school. He is more important to me, if nothing else.” He was not lying, but he would not admit the reasons. She did not need to worry about All For One, or the shifting views on heroes, it would only worry her further.

“Guys, Relax! I’ve got it.” Izuku started suddenly, the class turning to him, silent. “I’m all-right now.”

There were snorts that soon turned into a torrent of laughter. “That was so terrible, how can you joke about such a thing?” Iida asked, hands waving about as always, despite his laughter. 

“Well, I figured it would be the best way to disarm the situation.” Izuku shrugged, only causing more laughter. “Oh, while I’m thinking about it, I’ll need a hand. Iida, do you think you can help me learn how to kick properly? I know it’s only the start of the school year, but… well, I kind of have to learn now.”

Iida nodded, much more solemn, the laughter dying down. “I would love to. I know things will be harder on you now, but I am proud to see your desire to be a hero has not faltered.”

Izuku smiled brightly. “Well, it’s all I ever wanted in life. To be a hero, save people with a smile.”

Ochako and Todoroki glanced at each other, an almost unnoticeable nod shared between the two. “For what it’s worth, you are our Hero, Midoriya.” Todoroki spoke.

“Yeah! You saved me twice now!” Ochako smiled, just as bright as Izuku, causing him to turn away with a flush. “I don’t think anyone can disagree with All Might’s choice. I bet you really would have been the first quirkless hero, too!”

Izuku tried not to cry, but he was just so happy. And stressed. Very, very stressed. Despite outward appearances, he was mostly using the humor as a way to make sure everyone knew he would be okay. An arm was nothing compared to a life, at least in his eyes. That did not, however, mean it was easy to accept his arm being… gone. At least All Might was going to get him a prosthetic, but he didn’t think it would ever be the same.

Bakugo sat in his room, a week since he took Deku’s arm. 

“ Your son is not fit for UA,” said Nedzu, “Or any hero school, for that matter.”

News had spread, and he was blacklisted. 

Banned from ever being a hero.

He didn’t bother to try. What kind of hero tried to kill? 

He scoffed. He didn’t really want to kill him, he just… lost control. He stopped thinking. Because, out of everyone, it was always Deku. The one who had been born with the pure-hearted nature that being a hero required. The one who could always smile, always make everything better. The one his own parents preferred over their own son. 

Oh, they never said anything, but he could tell. So many times they had told him he should be kinder, be nicer to others. Now, he wished he had listened. He truly regretted everything that happened with Deku now. He could finally look at his actions without a filter. He understood just how badly he had fucked up, but there was nothing he could do about it.

The truth was that he was jealous of Deku. He always had been. Despite having the power, athleticism, and force of personality required to be a hero, Katsuki was always less of a hero than Deku, and he knew it. He denied it, of course, but that was why he kept pushing Deku so far. Too far. 

“Would you like to make a deal?” A scratchy voice called out to him, causing him to turn towards it. He saw a man standing in front of a black swirling portal. The man had a disembodied hand over his face, but his white hair and dry skin stood out even with that. 

“What the hell?!” Katsuki backed up, ready to use his quirk.

“A deal. You want revenge, right? For U.A. expelling you? All because of an accident. Even with your power, they refuse to understand, right? Well, come join me. I want the same thing.”

Katsuki knew what was going on now. This was a villain. A villain who had a bone to pick with U.A. for whatever reason. He also knew he had no idea what this man’s abilities were, or whether he would be allowed to live if he denied.

Well, if he could not do good as a hero…

“Keep talking.”

He could do so as a villain.

The surgery to attach the arm was fairly easy, taking less than an hour. The recuperation, however, had taken three days. Most of that time was spent on physical therapy. Since the nerves were attached to the arm, it was fairly easy to adapt to, but mastering it was a very long  process, which is why Izuku had asked Iida to teach him how to properly kick.

“So how does it feel?” All Might asked, sitting in the nurse’s office next to Izuku’s bed. 

“It… feels weird. Like, I can’t feel the air or pressure or anything, but I feel that it is there. Does that make sense?” Izuku stared at his new robotic arm in wonder.

“Yeah, I get what you mean. It’s because your nerves are internal. You feel the inside of the arm, as well as your movements, but not the skin or anything. It’ll take some time to get used to, but I feel like you’ll master it in no time! But, for now, let me go over the extra features of this arm,” All Might cleared his throat, “For one, it can handle up to twenty five percent of One For All right now. It was a rush job, so they may be able to make it even better next time, but that will be a ways off. Secondly, the arm has a blade within it: just bend your wrist as much as possible.” Izuku did so, causing the hand to flip around, a blade replacing it. “Lastly, for now, at least, is that it can connect direction to your phone. I’m not sure why , but David said it would be useful.” He shrugged. “Knowing him, the next version will have even more added onto it. Guy tends to go overboard,” He laughed lightly.

“That’s awesome!” Izuku grinned. “I would have been happy to just have an arm again, but this… thank you, All Might!”

“No, it was my mistake that led to this. Had I acted before, you would still have your arm.” All Might bowed. “You have my sincere apologies, Midoriya. I wish I could have-”

“Stop.” Izuku spoke sternly, before blinking. “Jeez, we really are alike, huh?” He laughed. “We both blame ourselves too much. But really, you had no way of knowing Bakugo would go so far.” He had shed the nickname he used for Bakugo after much insistence from his class. 

“Hah! I suppose so. And look at you, getting bold enough to tell me to stop! A far cry from the meek boy from so long ago;  I could not be prouder.” All Might grinned. “Now, you should get to class. You’ve already missed an hour.” Despite his injuries, he had refused to miss class for the week, though he was unable to participate in the more physically active exercises. He was all too eager to make up for lost time, however.

“Of course! I’ll talk to you later, All Might!” Izuku practically leapt from the bed and rushed down the hall to his class.

“That boy…” All Might chuckled fondly. “I hope he will be alright.”

Recovery Girl spoke up from her desk. “Of course he will. The question is whether he will let himself not be.”

Chapter Text

“You need to select a class president.” Aizawa spoke from the front of the class, his classic tired monotone silencing whatever remaining noise there was leftover from his entrance.

Everyone began to cheer after he finished, trying to get others to vote for them. Even Izuku was excited at the prospect of becoming Class President. For a normal school, it would just be extra responsibilities, but for a hero school, it was something of a badge of status. Particularly such a highly esteemed one as U.A. After all, becoming a hero was difficult enough, but to be a leader of a class of heroes? It was basically a promise for success, at least to an extent.

“Everyone! Calm down! We should do this democratically! Let’s elect our representative directly, this shouting is not conductive at all!” Iiida stood up, his arms chopping the air as he admonished the class.

“Won’t everyone just vote for themselves, though?” Ashido tilted her head, several others agreeing with her point.

“Why not just have a rule that you can’t vote for yourself then?” Izuku spoke up with a fairly obvious solution. “That way whoever wins, wins fairly?”

“I don’t care how you do it. You have till the end of Homeroom. Until then, I’m taking a nap.” He promptly fell into his sleeping back and slumped in the corner. Whether or not he was actually asleep, none of the class knew.

After tallying votes, Izuku and Yaoyarozu were elected Representative and Vice-Representative, respectively. Despite his desire to be Class President, Izuku felt incredibly nervous. Yaoyarozu seemed fine, though. At least, he thought she did, but she was hard to read. Everyone was hard to read right now, with his head distracted by ‘what-ifs’.

“Good. Now get to your next class.” 

At lunch, Izuku found himself surrounded by Iida, Todoroki, Uraraka, and Kirishima, with most of the class at the same table, but not directly next to him. 

“I’m kind of nervous about this.” Izuku admitted suddenly, wanting to get it off his chest.

“Ah, don’t be! I wouldn’t have voted for ya if I thought you were anything but the manliest guy in class!” Kirishima patted his back, fairly hard too. Was he as unused to his strength as Izuku was? That would mean he put it on fairly recently, maybe within the past year or so.

“Quite right! You showed the most heroic spirit out of all of us, and your plan was executed wonderfully, even if… Well, what matters is that you deserve the position!” Iida commented, hesitating to bring up his missing arm, even now.

“You know, the way you speak… You’re a rich kind, ain’t ya?” Uraraka pointed at him accusingly, though it was clearly in jest.

“Ah, I thought I would be treated differently… but yes! The Iida family is quite well off, due to our hero legacy.” Iida sounded extremely proud at that.

“Wait a minute… Ingenium, right?” Izuku guessed, mostly from the engines.

“That’s correct! Ingenium is my brother, he employs over fifty sidekicks!” Iida smiled, which Izuku thought might be the brightest smile he had seen out of the boy. 

“Ah! Compared to you guys, my reasons for being a hero are so selfish…” Ochako rubbed the back of her head. 

“What are your reasons?” Todorki spoke suddenly.

“Oh I-uh... “ Ochako turned away slightly. “I guess for the money? I know it’s selfish, and you probably think less of me for it…”

“Not at all! What is wrong with wanting to secure your future?” Iida chopped the air.

“Yeah, nothing wrong with that, I’m just surprised is all.”

“There are worse things you could be doing to make money, but you chose to save people.” Todoroki pointed out, slurping up some soba.

“Yeah! But if we are talking about our reasons for becoming heroes, I wanted to be like Crimson Riot!” Kirishima grinned. “We already know Midoriya wants to be like All Might, what about you Todoroki?”

“Hm…” Todoroki blinked slowly. “I… don’t remember. I’ve just always wanted to be a hero.”

“Ah, well. Can’t help what you want!” Kirishima laughed lightly. “But yeah, nothing wrong with doing it for money! Everybody’s gotta live somehow.”

“Well, I mostly want to pay back my grandfather. My parents were really poor, and originally I wanted to give them a good life, but my grandfather came back from America a few years ago, and thanks to him, they have that good life. I just really want to pay him back for everything he’s done for us!” Ochako looked far less hesitant now.

“That’s a great reason!” Kirisima patted her on the back, notably less rough than he had been with Izuku. 

“You could have chosen anything else. With your quirk, it would be fairly easy to acquire the money you want. You chose to be a hero.” Todoroki pointed out, speaking more than anyone had expected of the usually quiet boy.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it! I’m sure you’ll be a great hero regardless.” Izuku smiled at her. “But while we are on topic, who's your favorite hero? Kirishima said his was Crimson Riot, Mine is All Might, and Iida’s is obviously Ingenium, but what about you two?” Izuku asked Todoroki and Uraraka.

“Thirteen! I even based my costume on her.” Ochako blushed slightly.

“All Might.” Todoroki had the smallest smile on his face. He did not explain though.

The conversation may have gone further, but an ear-piercing alarm rang out, causing all within the lunchroom to panic.

“What’s going on?” Iida asked a nearby upperclassman. 

“It’s an intruder alarm! I’ve never heard it go off, and I’ve been here two years.”

“Wait!” Iida shouted, though no one heard it over the panicking students. Eventually, he found himself pushed against the window, where he had a clear view of the press and the broken wall.

“It’s just the- Agh” He coughed as he felt someone elbow him hard in the ribs. “Damnit, they’re all panicking too much.” What would Izuku do? He glanced around, before he saw Uraraka. A simple but effective plan came to mind.

He pushed through the people to get to her. “Use your quirk on me!” 

She obeyed without hesitation, slapping his wrist lightly with all five fingers. He immediately pushed himself off the floor, before using his quirk to propel himself forward. Within a few seconds, he smashed into the wall above the emergency exit. “Calm down!” He shouted. “You are students of U.A.! Conduct yourselves properly! It’s just the press!”

“I think Iida should be class representative!” Izuku nearly shouted from the front of the class.

“I refuse.”

“W-what?” Izuku blinked, confused.

“While I appreciate the offer, I must confess when I acted during the emergency, I was asking myself what you would do.” Iida confessed to the class.

“Yeah! Besides, you could use the experience since you gotta be the next Symbol of Peace, right?” Kirishima said, causing murmurs of agreement to break out.

“You need more confidence for your goal.” Aizawa sighed tiredly. Then again, he always seemed tired. “So no, you can’t give the position away.”

There were few things that bothered Nedzu quite as much as someone targeting his students. That was one of the many reasons he reacted so harshly towards Bakugo. Had it been anyone but Izuku, Nedzu was confident he would have lost two potential heroes, rather than one. He knew quite well how far his students could go, and with the right help, Bakugo would have been fine.

It was not that he could not be helped, it was that the damage he would do before then was simply too great. Nedzu could talk him down, turn him into a true hero, but he could not take away what he had done. Not to mention the psychological damage that would happen to everyone who saw what had happened between the two. The class would have seen such injuries, and the lack of punishment as something horrid, not even getting into what the media would do with it. 

He would be lying if he said that he was not influenced by his anger, but he still stood by his choice. There was no room for someone so willing to kill a classmate in this school, no matter how much potential they may or may not have had.

That said, learning that there was going to be a genuine villain attack was… far worse. Bakugo was a child, who likely did not think before he acted, but villains actively attacking his students? This would be war. It was only natural he called the three teachers that would be involved in the attack to his office to plan their response out.

Nedzu stared at Aizawa, Thirteen, and All Might. "I have concerning information. According to an... anonymous source" He knew very well who it was, but they need not know such things. "There will be an attack at the USJ during class 1-A's visit."

"You want us to call it off?" Aizawa asked gruffly.

"No." Nedzu smiled sinisterly. "I want us to spring a trap."

“What do you think we are doing?” Uraraka asked Izuku, getting a bit closer than he felt was normal. 

“Probably some form of landscape training.” Todoroki answered, getting onto the opposite side of Izuku, just as close.

“That makes sense, why else would we be going off campus?” Izuku muttered, not expecting an answer.

“I dunno! I hope it’s rescue training though!” Uraraka seemed excited at the prospect, but that was to be expected with her favorite hero being Thirteen.

“That’s possible. It would be a nice change of pace.” Todoroki glanced away as he spoke the last sentence, raising Izuku’s curiosity, though he could not ask about it yet.

“Just get on the bus and you’ll find out when we get there.” Aizawa turned away, entering the bus, followed by the students.

As they took off, Asui spoke up. “Midoriya, I prefer to speak what’s on my mind.” 

“What is it Asui?”

“Call me Tsu. And You seem a lot like All Might.” Tsuyu paused, putting a finger to her lips. “Are you sure you aren’t his son?”

“Pfft!” Uraraka leaned forward, holding her stomach in laughter, while Todoroki had a small smirk. 

Izuku on the other hand, could not form coherent words, and was flushed red enough to make him look like a strawberry. 

Most of the bus was either agreeing, or holding back laughter. “Why would you think that?! We look nothing alike, and besides I was born quirkless!”

“Yes, well… Even I must admit you do act quite a lot like him, and it’s obvious he has affection for you beyond what I would expect from a mentor.” Iida commented, a bit ashamed that he agreed with Tsuyu.

“Yeah, you both have that really heroic vibe, ya know?” Kaminari butted in. “You jumped in to save both Todoroki and Uraraka, that was totally an All-Might move!”

“You do have a similar aura.” Tokoyami nodded along.

Kouda nodded, but Jirou spoke with a smirk. “Yeah, you may not look alike, but you wouldn’t be the only one to take after one of their parents. Plus, who better to be his successor than his son?” Unlike the others, she was at least teasing… as far as Izuku could tell.

Aizawa sat in the front, holding in his laughter. He was so going to blackmail All Might with this.

“Welcome to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint!” Thirteen spoke as the class filtered inside the giant dome. “We replicated many disaster zones for rescue training. Now, before we get started, I have a one-no, three… no, seven. Okay, I have a lot of things to say!” Uraraka giggled from beside Izuku.

“As you may know, my quirk is Black Hole. I can suck up debris with my body as a way to save people. However this power could easily be used to kill.” The class sobered up at that, a reminder of how dangerous their quirks are clearing their minds instantly. “During Aizawa’s training, you saw what your quirks were capable of. During All Might’s training, you saw how you could use your quirks to fight villains. Here, you will learn how to use your quirks to save people. I hope by the end of this you see that your quirks were made to save people, not harm them.” 

“Well said!” All Might stepped forward from beside Thirteen. “Now, we will be splitting into groups-”

Suddenly, an enormous black portal opened in the middle of the USJ, unleashing a large number of people.

“Ah, so it begins.” All Might smiled.

Shigaraki expected many things upon arriving at the USJ. For one, he knew there would be around nineteen students, since Bakugo had been expelled. For another, the schedule stated three heroes, being All Might, Eraserhead, and Thirteen, would be involved. Most importantly, he expected the students would panic, and the teachers would rush in to protect their children. He had planned for this, after all.

One thing he did not expect, however, was for the heroes to have a plan. There was no other explanation for their actions, All Might clearing the fodder with a single punch. Sure, there were more in the disaster areas, but the courtyard was meant to stall the heroes. All Might was quick, but the way he smiled, he knew something was going to happen.

Shigaraki growled to himself, immediately understanding why. It had been a rush decision to recruit Bakugo, but with such a powerful quirk, and a wonderful reason to hate U.A… Well, he had always been rash with his choices, despite Sensei’s lessons. He supposed it was finally coming back to bite him, but he had to make this work! What better opportunity would there be to finally kill the Symbol of Peace?

“Kurogiri.” Shigaraki’s voice did nothing to betray his rage. “See if Sensei will let us bring another Noumu. The heroes knew about this. Once you get back, stick with the original plan.” His hands were quivering with rage, something Kurogiri noticed easily.

He did not respond verbally, but by his widened eyes, and quick disappearing act, he knew better than to argue.

For now, the Noumu would be enough for All Might, and Shigaraki could easily handle Eraserhead and Thirteen.

“Alright Heroes, since you found out, let’s increase the difficulty settings!” He cackled, the Noumu rushing to meet All Might, while he ran to target Eraserhead, since Thirteen was staying back with the students.

It quickly became apparent that despite his skill, Eraserhead was slower than Shigaraki, enough to make it more of an even battle, at least. Meanwhile, Noumu and All Might were simply punching each other with little regard to anything else, at least it seemed like it. All Might was purposefully pushing the Noumu away from Shigaraki, no doubt to keep them from teaming up. He probably thought Eraserhead could take Shigaraki, but that was a mistake.

Despite his immaturity, Shigaraki was far more observant than most. He could tell Eraserhead had a limit, his hair was the tell. It kept decreasing too, not perfectly, but that meant he had a clear limit. It would only be a matter of time.

“That’s the thing about pro heroes, despite the odds, you are still trying… so cool” He genuinely admired such will, but he had no problems with killing the hero, even if the bastard was cool. Finally, he timed it right and got his hands on Eraserhead’s arm, disintegrating the skin and muscle over his elbow, disabling the arm. Finally, things were going his way.

“Shigaraki.” Kurogiri appeared beside him, a blue Noumu beside him. “I have separated the students as planned. We have a special Noumu as well. An experimental High End. No special quirks, I’m afraid, but quite intelligent.”

Shigaraki grunted, nodding. “Alright. Noumu, attack All Might.” The blue beast ran forward, as fast as Shigaraki, but nothing compared to the Noumu or All Might himself. Hopefully its intelligence would make up for that. “Kurogiri, help them out. I’ve got Eraserhead.” He spoke confidently. Eraserhead was down to one arm, and that cloth was useless against Shigaraki.

Ochako was not sure what compelled her to dive towards Deku, but when she saw the portals open up, she knew he was going to be alone, and that would not do. These villains wanted to separate them, sure, but any of them being alone would make that much worse.

That said, she was glad they had remained in the USJ, at least. The Landslide zone was not the best area for her, but it was worth it if it meant none of their class would be alone. Who knew what these villains had planned for them?

“Deku!” She shouted, clinging to him as they fell from the portal, which had opened up from a dangerous height. Timing it right, she used Zero Gravity on both of them before they collided with the ground, mimicking what she had done during the Exam. “Are you alright?”

“Y-yeah.” He was flushed, but a quick shake of his head set him right. He glanced around them. “They separated us… But did they do so with a plan in mind, or just randomly?” He asked himself.

“Deku…”

His eyes widened at the familiar voice. “Kacchan…” He turned, only to be met by Bakugo, in a costume similar to his hero costume, clearly a rush job, but dangerous nonetheless. “You… no, there’s no way! You wanted to be a hero!”

Bakugo laughed, even as Ochako took her place next to Deku, ready to fight. “You put me in a shitty situation. If being a hero means doing what I think is right, then I guess I still am one.” He grinned sadistically. “Now, let’s begin.”

Toru felt her back slam into the hard metal of the ship, stunning her for a moment. At least she knew where she was, but it was strange they had not put her in the water itself…

“Hagakure, are you alright?” Ojiro was by her side instantly, Mineta next to him.

“Yeah, I think so.” She groaned, sitting up. Ojiro had his tail to help him with the fall, while Mineta was just light enough that it was not as bad. She had no such luck. “Are we the only ones here?”

Ojiro nodded. “Shipwreck zone. None of our quirks will work too well here, I wonder if they planned that.” 

Mineta quivered. “We’re doomed!”

“Quit whining, you’re supposed to be a hero, right? Heroes face odds all the time. We just have to think.” Ojiro sighed. “Alright, my quirk is obvious, as is Hagakure’s, but what is yours?”

Mineta took a breath, calming down relatively quickly. “I can pull these balls off my head, and they stick to things. I just bounce off of them, and their stickiness depends on how I feel that day.”

“Alright… Well I’ve got nothing!” Toru threw her hands into the air, the only way they could tell she was exasperated. “Do we wait, then? Cause I don’t think we would have a good chance in the water. They probably planned for this, so they have water quirks in the water.”

“Probably.” Ojiro scratched his head. “Maybe we can use something on the ship?”

“Guys…” Mineta called out, already peeking inside the entrance to the ship. “I think I found something…”

Ojiro moved forward to see what Mineta was talking about. His jaw dropped when he saw it. “Oh hell yes.”

Sero acted quickly as he fell, sending tape towards his two falling classmates, and one towards the nearest standing structure. The Ruins Zone had plenty of places for him to attach to, but most were too low. It had to be luck that he ended up near a tall building, rather than the collapsed ones. 

“Thanks Sero!” Satou called out, Kouda nodding along with him. Not the best people for the situation, but better than nothing. Kouda’s quirk would be almost useless here, unless he could get another bear.

He reeled them softly to the ground, before letting himself drop along with them. “Alright, we need a plan. We should try meeting up with the rest of the class.”

“Central plaza would be our best bet then. I think everyone would end up there. If not, we can at least meet with the teachers and let them know we are alright.” Satou frowned. “But I’m more worried about why we all ended up together.”

“What do ya mean?” Sero tilted his head.

“Wouldn’t it be better if they separated us entirely, rather than as groups? I don’t know why they would let us stay together like this.”

“Maybe their warp quirk has a limit?” Kouda suggested, his voice softer than either expected.

“Or maybe they wanted to make sure we wouldn’t have to hunt for you.” They turned to look at the speaker, only to be met with at least twenty villains.

“Oh deer.” Kouda spoke quietly.

“Look at that, they’re already scared!” One of the villains laughed.

“No, I meant the animal.” Kouda smiled.

“Wha-” The speaker was suddenly bowled over when a deer ran straight into his stomach at full speed, knocking him out of the fight.

The rain battered him, but Tokoyami preserved, being used to seeing in the dark, thanks to training Dark Shadow. Even so, he could barely see ten feet in front of him. The darkness certainly made Dark Shadow stronger, but his main worry now was finding his allies. He heard them when he was falling, but lost track. Ashido and Shoji were with him, from what he could tell, but getting to them was another matter entirely.

“Ashido! Shoji!” He called out, hoping they would respond so he could follow their voices.

“Tokoyami? Over here!” Shoji responded, thankfully close. It took only a few moments to find him, carrying a shivering Ashido.

“What happened?” Tokoyami moved closer to inspect Ashido for any injuries.

“Nothing, it’s my quirk.” Ashido shivered. “Besides the water diluting it, it also gets through my skin. Side effect of using acid, but it’s never been this bad.”

“I doubt you’ve ever been in such a storm.” Shoji sighed. “Just stay on my back, keep an eye out, alright?”

Ashido just nodded, hugging herself close to his back for warmth.

“I have the best senses for this, so I’ll be in the lead. We need to meet up in the central plaza, it's the most obvious choice.” Shoji began to lead Tokoyami towards what he believed to be the central plaza.

“Enemies closing in, behind us. Tokoyami, can you deal with them? I doubt either Ashido or myself will be useful here.” Shoji admitted.

“They made a mistake placing me here.” Dark Shadow manifested out of his back as he moved to deal with the enemies he could not see. “I revel in the dark.”

Momo coughed, having had the wind knocked out of her from the fall, Jiro and Kaminari no better off. The mountainous terrain did nothing to help.

“Well, look what we have here!” A villain spoke happily. “This will be fun”

They were surrounded, but they had enough time to catch their breath before the villains charged. Fortunately, Momo had enough time to create a bo staff, which meant she was quite a bit more dangerous than if she were unarmed. She did not, however, have time to create anything for Jiro or Kaminari.

Thankfully, Kaminari seemed to take down anyone he touched, while Jiro kept sending waves of sound at the horde. Together, they might make it out of this.

A villain rushed under her guard, forcing her to block with her staff. She was pushed back quite a distance, but she quickly turned to smash her staff into the face of another villain behind her, using the momentum from the push to enhance the strike even more. The villain folded over, unconscious.

“Well now, aren’t you something special. Guess I should have expected such from U.A. even if you are students.” The villain who pushed her laughed. “Unfortunately for you, I’m a step above these lackeys too.” He rushed forward again, hand reaching towards her stomach.

She jabbed her staff forward, but the man stopped before he could take the blow. That was when she noticed the claws on his hands, not too long, but clearly sharp. They could not pierce her staff, but if they reached her unprotected stomach…

Kaminari was at a standstill, as well, thanks to encountering an electric quirk using villain. Neither of their electricity hurt each other, and so they were forced to rely purely on hand to hand. While Kaminari seemed decent enough at it, the villain was larger than him, and far less hesitant to brutalize his opponent. 

Jiro was busy trying to keep up with the waves of villains, her sound not quite enough to take them down all at once.

They were on their own…

“Asui! Are you alright?!” Iida helped her up, even as she shivered. A strange reaction, given they were in the fire zone, but her quirk did make her physiology that of a frog.

“The heat is going to dry me out…” She panted. “I’m already having signs of heat exhaustion.”

Todoroki said nothing, but placed a hand on her back, ice spreading from where he put his hand.

She immediately shivered, but for a far different reason. “Thanks. As long as it lasts until we get out of here, I should be good. Just don’t expect me to be in fighting condition just yet.”

“It’s fine. I’ll be enough.” Todoroki’s monotone voice carried more confidence than Iida or Asui felt. “Iida, can you carry her? The less she moves the better.”

“Of course! But that will lower my combat ability significantly. Are you sure?”

“As I said, I’ll be enough.” Todoroki took a deep breath, before ice spread out in front of him, instantly smothering the fire, and trapping the villains who had been trying to sneak up on them. “Go on ahead, the zone should be clear.”

“What are you going to do?” Iida stared at him, worrying about his classmate, despite his power.

“Interrogate them. They came here for a reason, I intend to find out why.”

“Damnit!” Kirishima screamed, pissed that he could do nothing to protect his classmates. What good was his quirk if he was not there to take the hits for them?!

“Calm down. We need one of you to signal U.A. We planned for this. Aoyama, get outside and send your strongest laser into the sky. That should do it.” Thirteen spoke. “Once you are done with that, come back and we will start gathering the students. They were separated into the different zones.”

“You knew?!” Kirishima shouted at her. 

“Calm down. We prepared for this. I’m sorry you were involved, but if we acted differently, they would not have shown up. Who knows what they would have done?” Thirteen did not mention that nearly every teacher fought the idea, but Nedzu was insistent, and very persuasive.

“Yeah, I just… it’s frustrating!” Kirishima sighed, as Aoyama made it outside. “I came here to be a hero, and here I am stuck doing nothing!”

“Sometimes that is the best thing to do. But you aren’t doing nothing. You are going to help me reinforce your classmates and get them together.” Thirteen put a hand on his shoulder. “I know how it feels, I feel the same. Despite being a pro, my focus is on rescue. It’s likely your classmates are more adept at combat than I am, that’s why I need you to come with me.” She was not lying either. She was primarily a rescue hero, and U.A. focused fairly heavily on combat. Even if she were lying, however, it would serve to calm the young man’s worries. 

“Yeah… Let’s do this then!” Kirishima placed a smile on his face, despite how he felt.

Chapter Text

“Kirishima-kun, quickly!” Thirteen whisper-yelled out to Kirishima as they snuck past the villains in the plaza. With most of them downed by Eraserhead’s attack, moving past them was easier than expected. The two stood behind some rubble that fell from the shockwaves that All Might and the two monsters were delivering. All Might really has gotten weaker, Kirishima concluded, letting himself be momentarily distracted by the nearby fight. 

Thirteen’s demeanor was steady, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that she was worried. Nedzu had an already established plan of attack, which should’ve raised a few flags in her head-- how in the world did he know that the press was just a diversion? Did he have someone check on the gates? The alarms weren’t ringing, so that meant someone was jamming their signals. Did he know that U.A.’s security was compromised? Her mind was looking for all of the answers at once, but there wasn’t any time to question these things.

Right now, she had to save her students.

Kirishima, on the other hand, was livid. Thirteen said they were going to make sure his friends were okay, but he’s spent most of his time hiding behind rocks while she went out of her way to disarm and disable some of the villains in their path. While he understood that he was her responsibility and that she wanted to make sure nobody got hurt, Kirishima was still fighting against his instincts to help. Still, he was a hero-in-training, and that meant he had to learn how to follow orders. 

A few shouts and yells alerted the red-headed hero student, who turned in the direction of the shouts. That sounds like it’s coming from the east?

“Thirteen-sensei,” Kirishima said in a worried tone, grabbing Thirteen’s arm and pointing towards the direction, “I think I can hear something coming from over there.”

Thirteen amplified the hearing in her suit and, sure enough, could detect the sound that was coming from where Kirishima was pointing. “The City Ruins Zone!” 

“We should check it out, sensei!” Kirishima exclaimed, already primed to run headfirst into danger. “Some of the class might’ve been teleported there.”

“We must hurry, then, Kirishima-kun!” Thirteen exclaimed, shifting gears and marching towards the mountain. Kirishima trailing behind, unafraid of what was to come. “They might need our help!”

-o-o-o-o-

“Looks like we didn’t need help, after all!” Sero said, excitedly wrapping up the downed villains with his tape. “These thugs didn’t know what they were getting into when they decided to mess with us.”

“That may be true,” Sato started, his tone friendly but contemplative, “but just because we had it easy doesn’t mean that the others did.”

Koda was busy with the herd of deer he called over to assist them. The herd had stampeded over the villains surrounding them earlier, which gave Sato and Sero an opening to isolate and incapacitate them. Koda stayed away from the fight and attempted to calm down the deer. 

“So, now what?” Asked Sero. The villains were caught, the heroes won. What was next? 

“Now,” said a voice behind the trio, startling Koda. Sato and Sero turned to look at who spoke to see Kirishima and Thirteen approaching them, “ I will get some answers from these villains. You four will evacuate. Now .”

“But, sensei--” Kirishima began.

“No ‘buts,’” she halted the boy again, “I have direct orders from Nedzu to keep all of you safe, and that is what I will do. Now, get out and get help. Do not engage . That’s an order.”

Kirishima lowered his head, glaring at the ground beneath his feet. Why would Thirteen want him to join her if she was going to tell him to evac anyway?

Thirteen put her hand on Kirishima’s shoulder and sighed. “Kirishima-kun,” she began, “I’m placing your classmates in your hands. You can’t rescue people if you’re preoccupied with another group.”

Her words held a sense of finality to them, the red-head unable to question her. Thirteen took the captured villains to a secure area to interrogate them, leaving the four students to evacuate the facility.

Koda approached Kirishima and tapped his back. The hardening hero turned towards Koda, his eyes holding a questioning look. “What’s up, Koda?”

Said student pointed at the deer, the other three following the direction of the finger. 

Sato raised an eyebrow. “You want us to ride the deer?”

Koda nodded at this. This gave Kirishima an idea. 

“Hey, Koda?” Kirishima began, “you don’t think we could ride these guys into a fight, do ya?” 

-o-o-o-o-

“We’re running out of time! Think you could hurry it up!?” Jirou was slowly starting to panic. She could barely hear what was going on around her, save for the noises her classmates were making as they fought, and that wasn’t even half of what she was worrying about. Momo crafted a radio operating at the same frequency as the silent alarms, one that Jirou was currently using to contact the main building in hopes that someone-- anyone-- would come and rescue them. 

Kaminari was working double-time trying to generate enough electricity to counter the villain jamming their signals with an electricity Quirk of his own, but he was clearly outmatched. Yaoyorozu was grappling with two other villains, one with a fire Quirk and ther other with a claw Quirk. Neither side was able to maintain a proper foothold, the earth rattling as they fought. Is All Might faring any better?

Momo needed to think fast--what was the best way to incapacitate these mongrels? She was already wheezing from her tiredness, and neither she nor Jirou were suited to subdue the villain fighting Kaminari--

“What are we going to do?!” She said aloud, hitting the fire user square in the jaw with her bo-staff while deflecting her clawed adversary’s attack. “Kaminari!”

“What do you want, Yaomomo?!” The blond electric user said snappily, his hoarse voice betraying how tired he actually was. 

“Quickly,” Yayorozu grunted out, aiming another strike at the claw-handed villain, “let’s switch!”

“Sure thing! Gimme a seCO--!” Kaminari threw another punch at the electricity user, who dodged it and threw a blast of lightning back at him Kaminari took the blast and redirected it at Claw Hands, whose claws acted as a lightning rod,  shocking and incapacitating him. 

“How shocking!” Kaminari exclaimed. “Ahh, damn. I punned.”

Yaoyorozu, on the other hand, turned to hit the lightning villain at the nape of his neck with her staff using enough force to knock him out.

“Denki! Momo! Look out!” Yelled Jirou, suddenly. The two turned to see the fire-user running straight at them. The duo returned to their battle stances, when a strong, icy wind started blowing from behind them. The villain’s fire was immediately snuffed out as he was immediately frozen in place by--

“Todoroki!” the trio exclaimed in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Where’s Midoriya?”

“Er, he uhh--” Yaoyarozu looked around and caught sight of explosions going off in the distance. She could hear some indistinct yelling, but she knew that angry cursing anywhere.

“Guys, look over there!” Kaminari shrieked as he pointed towards the nearby landslide zone, beating Yaoyorozu to the punch. “Isn’t that—“

-o-o-o-o-

“—Ka-kacchan?!” Izuku yelled, dodging all his blows and explosions. His attacks were more sporadic and less reliable due to the lack of actual support equipment, but that only added to his unpredictability. “What—how—why are you—?!”

“SHUT UP, YOU QUIRKLESS FUCKER!”

Having to balance both maintaining his distance with Uraraka and getting up close and personal with Midoriya was a challenge. This bastard, this quirkless son of bitch had everything. He had All Might, he had One for All, and none of that was enough for him. He had to take away everything, too.

“You fucking did this to me! It was you!” Bakugou shouted, picking up a rock and blasting it towards Midoriya. “You ruined everything, you worthless piece of sh--”

A few pebbles hit him at the side of his head, causing him to flinch in pain.

“Stop hurting Deku, you big bully!”

He turned to see Uraraka floating rocks, her arm in position to flick them towards Bakugou. The momentary distraction was enough for Midoriya to land a hit on the blond bomber’s side. 

Bakugou turned around and grabbed Midoriya’s arm. His eyes widened and his whole body stiffened when he felt a mechanical whirring underneath the clothing. They locked eyes for a moment before Bakugou removed his hand and aimed a normal, non-explosive punch at Midoriya’s face. 

Bakugou aimed an explosion at Uraraka’s pebbles before attempting to restrain her, his explosions propelling him towards her at an incredible pace. Picking up some rocks, Uraraka removed her gravity and threw them at him. His explosions were enough to demolish the projectiles and blow her out of the sky, knocking her out. 

“You just don’t get it, do you, Deku?” Bakugou sneered, turning back to the dazed hero student. “ I am my own hero .”

The words hit Midoriya, slowly. What does he mean by “ my own hero ”? He was supposed to be the greatest, he was supposed to be number one! Each thought weighed heavy on Midoriya as he tried to lift himself up, Bakugou’s heavy steps approaching him.

“We- You-” Midoriya whispered. Bakugou came to a stop in front of Midoriya and stomped his foot on his back. The rough wheeze that came out of Midoriya’s mouth was pitiful, to say the least. 

Bakugou’s foot was getting dangerously heavy, Midoriya’s ribs creaking slightly. Bakugou leaned closer to Midoriya, his face near his downed rival’s ear. “ I what, Deku?”

Midoriya’s head rose for a bit, moving to look at Bakugou’s face. “Ka-kacchan, you--” He froze, his eyes watering, before he steeled them into a glare. “You were my hero too, Bakugou.”

Bakugou felt the resistance in his leg, the atmosphere grew warmer and more tense. 

“What the fuck!?" Bakugou moved his head back as he kept pushing his leg onto Midoriya, who fought with all his might. 

“Let me…” Midoriya pushed harder, his voice sounding more like a growl than a whimper. “...show you...” his head was already rising, pushing Bakugou’s foot off of him and shoving the blond traitor to the side. “...what it means…” Once he was already standing, he looked down on the explosive former bully. Former Childhood friends, tables turned, it was now the victim who was standing. “...to go beyond…” The glare they shared said enough, but the words Midoriya would say next would haunt Bakugou.

Midoriya took a deep breath and yelled. 

“PLUS…”

-o-o-o-o-

“ ...ULTRA! ”

All Might went all out on the two Nomu, using whatever remaining speed and strength he had to keep them occupied. His short-term goal was to distract the monsters long enough for Thirteen to round up the students and escape; however, the task was starting to weigh heavy on the number 1 pro. What were their goals? What was their plan? Surely this whole attack wasn’t just a means to get to him, was it? Of course, he knew what to expect, but he didn’t think that they’d come here without a back up plan. For all of Nedzu’s intellect, he never once thought to explain why Toshinori had to do these specific steps.

“ RIP… ” The black Nomu moaned out, rising back up from the smash that All Might had hit into its skull. “ ...AND TEAR !! ”

All Might was struck right at his jaw, knocking him back farther than he’d anticipated. The black Nomu’s blows seemed to be getting stronger, and it didn’t help that there were two of them. The second Nomu, a blue one, came up behind him and grabbed his wrist, spinning him around. All Might couldn’t counter the strength used to grip his arm, locking him in the grasp of the villainous monster. Nomu threw All Might towards the glass dome, where he spun and timed his kick perfectly to reverse his momentum. 

“ DETROIT… ” All Might called out, aiming a missile-like punch at his adversary. The blow connected with a powerful shockwave that blew the air around the area. “ ...SMASH! ”

Shit, that was stronger than I thought , All Might admonished himself. The attack must have shaken the entire facility .

“SO!” Yelled Shigaraki, his stray hand scratching the underside of his neck, “What do you think, Symbol of Peace?”

All Might’s hands were tied--were he not still fighting these two devilish beasts before him, he would capture this arrogant criminal and his lackey with time to spare. “ You think a few monsters could keep me down? ” 

“Well, as a matter of fact,” Shigaraki said, as the black Nomu grabbed All Might’s rearing fist as it was descending on the High-Born. The bluish, less bird-like in appearance, Nomu lunged forward and bit All Might at his shoulder, leaving All Might to scream in pain and terror. Shigaraki tilted his head, as he continued, “ no. ”

The singular eye peeking through the hand on the Shigaraki’s face was manic, widened. The Man with Hands clapped his hands and the Nomus froze. “I think something--or someone-- else is enough to occupy your tiny, hero mind.”

There was nothing but an uncanny silence, except for a few explosions and the yelling of a familiar voice in the background. That voice… All Might stiffened at the sound of “ YOUNG MIDORIYA! ”

“Nomu, restrain him.” the Young Villain commanded, a calm and even tone with a slight lilt came from his mouth. The black and blue beasts approached with their hulking figures, grabbing onto All Might’s arms and body. Something had wrapped around him, but he couldn’t be certain. Whatever it was, it restricted his head and body movement. Blast!

“Tsk Tsk, All Might!” Shigaraki wagged his finger at the veteran hero, his tone demeaning, demanding. He shook his head in faux disappointment, but there was a kind of unabashed glee in his eyes. “You know better than to turn your back on the enemy! For shame.”

“ And why should I take such criticism from a boy who doesn’t fight his own battles? ” The hero spat, glaring at the young man with snowy hair. “ Needing such monsters to fight your battles for you? Even my most hated rivals would face me after declaring they would kill me. ”

The red eyes of Shigaraki shone through the hand covering his face. He stared at the hero before erupting into laughter. “This isn’t some comic book, old man!” The villain exclaimed, his laughter was a screeching sound almost akin to a cackle. “Gods above, who knew you were so predictable? That’s right, I DID !”

All Might said nothing to the cackling evildoer standing above him, opting to struggle against the beasts and their strange tendril-like grip on his body. Smoke was starting to come out of his skin and his nose was bleeding, the implication of his weaknesses showing. Not now!

“I’m a villain, Toshinori,” declared the Man with Hands, All Might’s eyes widened in surprise when the villain referred to him in his given name, “I do things my way. I don’t play fair .”

The next-gen villain stepped down from the high ground to approach the restrained champion of the people, his left hand in his pocket while his right scratched the back of his neck. The closer he got, the more detail All Might could see, the scars on his neck, the dried skin on his fingers, the horrible rotten flesh around his arms. Rotten flesh…

No, it can’t be.

“Y-you…” All Might’s voice was shaking as a dark realization came over him. This person… this quirk… it can’t be… He felt the scar on his chest constricted and his heart felt like it was beating a million per second.

It can’t be his...

The villain steps halted as he stood before the Symbol of Peace. He took off the hand on his face and used it to raise All Might’s face to his.

“Nice to finally meet you, Toshinori.” said the white haired threat holding said hero’s chin with the dismembered hand. “I’m your biggest fan.”

-o-o-o-o-

Mineta-san, I think I just might be your biggest fan. Ojiro said to himself, thinking heavily about the plan Mineta formed.

Right as they were making their preparations, Ojiro was having doubts. There were a million things that could go wrong--was it a good idea to dive while surrounded? What if one of the villains had a sonar quirk? Can we distract them long enough for us to make an escape? 

I’m not smart enough for this kind of lateral thinking. Ojiro said to himself, making sure to maintain his composure as Hagakure set Mineta up in his scuba gear. Thank goodness Mineta held onto his composure long enough to compose something doable.

“This is never going to work…” 

Well, if only he wasn’t such a crybaby...

“Quit whining, grape juice.” Hagakure scolded the purple themed pervert, slapping him--which caused him to moan in pleasure

….or a massive pervert….

Ojiro shook his head. “Hagakure-san, Mineta-san,” began the martial artist, pulling the attention of the pair, “we cannot allow ourselves to be distracted or… aroused. We must focus. ”

The two other hero students looked at one another and nodded in agreement--they know they’re outnumbered, they know they’re outclassed. Now isn’t the time to get distracted, now is the time to escape.

“Alright, Mineta-san,” Ojiro started once again, his voice stern and determined, “will you do the honors?”

In Ojiro’s hands were the keys to the massive boat. Mineta’s hands shook as he took the offending item and held it at arm’s length.

“ Why do I have to be the one to turn the boat on? ” The fun-sized hero moaned, his body was shaking more out of fear than out of his arousal at seeing Hagakure strip… actually , can he even see Hagakure?

Hagakure smacked him on the back of his head and scolded the dwarfism hero, “it was your idea in the first place, grapes for brains!”

Once again, the purple student groaned before shaking his head. He attempted to open his mouth to complain once more, but stopped when he heard a metallic clang against the bow of the boat. Mineta’s eyes started watering, but he held his tongue to avoid giving away their location. 

Ojiro was a patient person, but Mineta was already testing his patience. How fitting that Mineta’s costume included a diaper, Ojiro thought to himself--despite his snide thoughts, his face remained stoic . He tapped the floor and signalled to Hagakure to prepare to dive. Since she was invisible, she gave no indication of her agreement or preparation. Mineta was still shaking and frozen in place, the keys were giving off a jingling sound which was starting to draw attention from the villains. 

Ojiro, who’s patience was already wearing thin, grabbed the keys, picked up Mineta, and threw his classmate at the door, where Hagakure managed to catch him. She ran for the exit just as Ojiro turned the engine on, activating the entire boat. 

Ojiro heard a splash, which assured him that the other two were able to escape in time. The approaching villains surrounding the bridge made him fully aware that he was surrounded, but as long as the others were able to escape, he was fine with how things would end. He wasn’t as smart or brave as Midoriya, he wasn’t as powerful as Todoroki, he wasn’t as fast as Iida, and he wasn’t as resourceful as Mineta, but that doesn’t make him any less of a hero. 

If a hero laid down his life for others, so be it, was the thought that ran through Ojiro’s mind. He put on a pair of too small, yellow gloves and entered his battle position as the villains broke down the door. His whole body was primed for a fight, the screams in his head were not to distract him--

Hang on, that screaming isn’t in my head.  

Both the villains and Ojiro turned to see and green, blue, and silver blur headed towards them at incredible speeds. The screams were coming from there!

The villains stared in awe at the spectacle before a long, and fleshy pink rope reached out and wrapped multiple villains and dragged them to the outside of the bridge. That wasn’t a rope; that was a tongue!

“Asui-san! Iida-san!” yelled Ojiro. He started his onslaught of attacks on the remaining villains, making his way to the exit, hopeful that the plan made full effect. He pulled out a pair of Mineta’s balls and threw them at some of the villains, trapping them on the floor. Mineta’s gloves were made of his DNA, meaning they could reject the stickiness from his balls!

He continued to make his way to the exit, where he caught Asui and Iida pulling Hagakure and Mineta out of the water, the latter bleeding as the balls on his head regenerated. 

“It was quite fortunate that Asui-kun--”

“Call me Tsu.”

“--and I were able to catch you three!” Iida began, his voice jovial as he made his trademark hand chops. “Due to the extensive research I committed myself to doing before entering U.A., I was able to determine that the Unforeseen Simulation Joint must have had a water zone in the area that would have allowed Asui-san to regain energy. A frog in a pot of hot water would eventually boil and die, after all.”

“Yes, well, you could have come faster…” Mineta complained softly, whilst holding on to Hagakure’s invisible form. “...but thanks, anyway…”

Ojiro sighed at the display of Hagakure trying to pry Mineta off of her before turning back to face Iida and Asui. “Yes, it’s a miracle you were able to spot us. Where were you two trapped?” 

“The Conflagration Zone.” Asui answered back, her blunt tone had a hint of worry in it. “Todoroki-kun froze the entire area and the villains and told us to evacuate. He said he was going to look for Midoriya.”

“We offered to be there and assist him, but he insisted that he was more than enough.” Iida’s dejected voice rang across the area, the four unsure on how to react to his sudden sadness. Iida perked up again as he continued, “And as I ran with an injured Asui-kun-”

“Call me Tsu.”

“-on my back, we heard the sound of a boat engine and we instantly knew there was trouble.”

“Whatever, you saved us, the villains are tied up, now let’s goooooo.” Mineta moaned once again, still holding onto an indignant Hagakure. “We gotta get out of here!”

“Wait a minute,” a disembodied voice halted the group. Everyone turned to stare at the voice’s direction to see Hagakure pulling Mineta off and putting on her gloves and boots as she was speaking, “you said something about Todoroki looking for Midoriya. We should probably look for the others, too.”

“Ehhhh?!” Mineta’s high pitched whine echoed around the boat and Hagakure groaned at the sound. Mineta continued to ramble and rant his apprehension at the idea, “We almost died! Are you seriously suggesting we put our necks on the line again?! Are you some kind of masochist?! I mean, not to kink-shame--”

Asui slapped Mineta with her tongue, cutting him off before croaking out her own rant, “We signed up for all of that when we entered U.A., kero. We all knew the dangers; we all knew the risks--what did you think would happen if you became a hero?”

Mineta fell to the ground and turned his face to Asui, scrunching it up at the froggy hero, his lips trembling, knees shaking, his eyes were moving around and refused to look at her directly.

Ojiro pulled back Asui, kneeling down to the level that Mineta fell. “Look,” he began with an even voice, “I know it’s scary, Mineta-san. Heck, half the time I was alone on the bridge, I was terrified. But I had faith in your planning when we needed to escape. Hagakure,” he said as he pointed at the invisible girl, who made an indignant grunt, “despite how disgusted she is with your attitude, trusted your plan, too.”

The others looked at Mineta, who stared at his feet as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. Ojiro continued speaking, “I’m not saying you’re infallible. I’m just asking you to trust yourself and to trust us .”

Mineta looked up to see Ojiro’s face, seeing the serious look be replaced by a more reassuring smile. Mineta looked at his other classmates, who were more uncertain about trusting him. Iida, on the other hand, was more than willing to let the cretin have a second chance.

“Well, Mineta-kun?” Iida asked his classmate, “are you in or are you out?”

Ojiro stood up and laid his hand out in front of Mineta, waiting for a response.

Mineta took his hand.

“Let’s be heroes.”

The tender moment was broken by a screech loud enough to break the glass dome surrounding the entire zone, before the entire area descended into darkness. 

-o-o-o-o-

“Tsukiyomi-kun, hold it in!” 

“I-I RAHHH CAN’T! ”

Tokoyami was hunched over, the shadows behind him grew stronger and more rebellious, lightning striking behind him as he screamed in pain. It was taking a large amount of mental effort on his part to even control Dark Shadow, but that thing had its own mind. His quirk was nothing like a normal quirk; it could talk, it could think, it could feel, and so much more. If he had something to compare it to, it would probably be a ripple ghost , like in one of those old 20th century manga his dad was a fan of, or personas, like in those video games his dad played in college.

Dark Shadow was more than just a quirk; it was its own being. And it did not like being controlled by someone else.

“ WRRRRYYYYY !” The black bird screeched, shoving the villains surrounding them aside, knocking all of them out before flying up above the storm and screeching even louder.

Tokoyami was already kneeling on the ground, but he tried to keep his composure as he fought for control over Dark Shadow. He turned towards Ashido and Shoji, his eyes were bloodshot and pleading. “R-run…” he whispered weakly, buckling under the pressure of the rain and Dark Shadow’s resistance to his control.

“Ashido-san, hold on!” Shoji said, grabbing the acid hero with one of his tentacles and he started running away. It didn’t even matter which direction he ran, Dark Shadow had already expanded to fill the Storm Area enough that they couldn’t see anything, and it was likely the darkness was growing. Shoji was dependent on his ability to sense things from a distance, but not even being able to see what was in front of him made things difficult to even see what was beyond in front of him. 

Ashido was already starting to freeze up. Acid reacts negatively to a base, and the rain, itself, had a chemical composition of base if Ashido’s shaking body and pale skin were any indication.

He needed to think. His tentacles were already acting as a makeshift umbrella for Ashido and himself, so he couldn’t use them as a way to scout for an escape route. He had to rely on sound if he wanted to get out of here, which was even more difficult. Having a person so close to his back while he tried to listen to the surroundings would only have him hear that person’s heart beat--and right now, Ashido’s was slow, extremely slow.

This was bad, and it was only their second training day. Goddamn it all…

“ Fear not. Do you know why? ” said a voice, a foreign one. It was somewhat unfamiliar to Shoji, yet comforting all the same. He still couldn’t see, but he hoped that this would be some kind of pro-hero. A beam of light erupted meters in front of the tentacle hero, blinding him and Ashido temporarily.

“ Je suis la! ” 

The darkness dispersed and Dark Shadow’s grip on the area waned, forcing the sentient quirk to wander in a fury, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. 

Wanting to see the hero that saved them, Ashido and Shoji were surprised to see who had done it.

“Aoyama!” the duo declared in surprise. They ran to him, just as their Twinkling  classmate collapsed on his knees whilst holding his stomach.

“You really pulled us out of a tough spot, Aoyama!” Shoji said, his tone was jovial. “You just might be a Knight in twinkling, sparkling, shining, shimmering armor, Aoyama!” 

“Yeah, thanks Aoyama…” Ashido said, rubbing her arm.

“Sacre bleu, Monsieur Shoji,” Aoyama complained, “it hurts.”

Shoji laughed, patting Aoyama on the back, causing him to collapse further into the ground. “The pain is worth being a hero!” He said with a grin. 

“I’ll go check on Tsukiyomi, then…” Ashido said with uncertainty, leaving the two heroes to themselves.

‘It’s great that he saved us,’ Ashido started thinking, staring at her hands as they shifted from pale to pink within a few minutes, ‘ but I was basically useless the entire fight.”

She slowed herself to a walk as she saw her downed classmate come into view. He looks exhausted . She walked slowly towards him, listening for his breathing if he was still alive. When she finally stood above him, she knelt down beside him and felt his pulse before feeling his forehead and checking for any injuries. It was all cursory, but what else could she do? There wasn’t anything she could have done otherwise in this situation. 

No, no, no! She thought, shaking her head. No feeling sorry for yourself, Mina. You got this far. Besides, Aizawa-sensei already said it wasn’t all fun and games…

She stared at the resting form of the bird headed hero and sighed. I guess I could make it fun for everybody else…

Tokoyami stirred from his position, his face scrunching up as he attempted to get up. Ashido was quick to stop him, however. 

“Tsukiyomi-kun, lay down a bit longer,” she started, putting his head on her lap, “you must be exhausted from having to control Dark Shadow for that long.”

Tokoyami opened his eyes slowly, squinting at the bright light of the sun that was released from the shadow of his quirk. The silhouette of Ashido Mina blocked the sun enough for him to relax his eyes.

They stayed in that position, Tokoyami’s head laying on Ashido’s lap, for a short while, neither of them breaking the silence.

“I’m sorry,” The dark hero whispered softly, ashamed that he let his quirk get the better of him once again. 

Ashido shook her head and grinned at her bird headed classmate with tears in her eyes. “No, I’m sorry for not being that useful,” She began, shyly looking up and off into the distance, not daring to look at Tokoyami’s face, “I could have done… I don’t know… something… instead you-”

“Ashido-san,” Tokoyami cut off the girl, his weak voice broke through Ashido’s darkening thoughts, “do not fault yourself for something I had done.”

“But-”

“Look,” Tokoyami said, his voice losing some of the hoarseness, the glare he sent Ashido was more serious and declared intent, “we are teenagers. We’re young . We were never meant to be perfect from the very beginning, Ashido-san.”

Ashido’s eyes started pooling tears again, leaving stains on her face as they dripped down. She turned her face at Tokoyami, her eyes closed as the tears fell.

Tokoyami put one hand on her face and wiped the tears from her face. At his touch, she opened her eyes and stared at Tokoyami. On his face, she saw something that she never expected to see, a smile. Despite how tired and beaten up he looked, he still smiled reassuringly at the pinkette. “Even when you smile, you hide your weakness. Reveling in the darkness does not suit you; let us share in your pain.”

Ashido stared at him before nodding, her face also squeezing into a smile. 

“Good,” Tokoyami started off, before raising both his hands up, “now give me a hand. I want to stand up now, and laying on your lap is awkward.”

Ashido started giggling, pulling Tokoyami as she laughed at the ridiculousness of their situation. Here they were in some kind of life or death situation and she was whining about how useless she was, how embarrassing. She knows for a fact that Midoriya had it worse, but it’s nice to know that there’s someone who would remind her she wasn’t alone in this.

Just as Tokoyami stood up, Aoyama and Shoji were walking towards them in a rush. And they weren’t alone. 

“Ashido-kun, Tokoyami-kun,” the very earnest and very loud voice of Iida was cutting through the loud battle sounds and shockwaves that seemed to have resumed, as well as some explosions, “it’s good to see neither of you were severely injured.”

Alongside Iida was Asui, Hagakure, Mineta, and Ojiro. Hagakure ran towards the pink hero, hugging her as tightly as humanly possible, both of them laughing and smiling at their reunion.

“Are you guys okay, kero?” Asui asked, a finger by her mouth, her voice in the usual deadpan tone. “Your eyes are red, Mina-chan.”

“Hell yeah,” Ashido said with a smile, before taking Tokoyami by the neck and hugging him tightly, “and it’s all thanks to this guy!”

As the group recollected the events that led them to one another, Mineta stayed silent. He observed each one of his classmates, wondering how they could keep such a jovial and merry tone with one another, despite the surrounding danger. He took a moment to slip away from them, noticing that Shoji was distracted the entire time he stood with the group, his tentacles moving in multiple directions, as if they were sensing something.

“You hear something, big guy?” The grape juice hero said, approaching the taller classmate. Shoji turned one eye towards Mineta, transforming it into his mouth. 

“Don’t look now,” the tentacle-armed boy began, his voice low enough for only Mineta to hear, “but I think Midoriya and Todoroki are fighting Bakugou.”

Mineta’s eyes widened in fear when he heard that name. Bakugou? Here!? They were fucked, they were royally fucked. Not only did Bakugou completely tear off the arm of All Might’s protege, he was a villain! 

Mineta’s panic from earlier returned with a vengeance. If All Might really is getting weaker, and Midoriya still isn’t ready to handle the full power of All Might’s quirk enough to beat Bakugou, then that means the villains already won! There’s no point to any of this…

“Mineta-kun! MINETA-KUN!” Shoji yelled, shaking the miniature hero. “Calm down!”

The group turned their attention to the duo, confused as to what was happening.

“Shoji-kun, please explain why you are shaking Mineta-kun so vigorously!” Iida began, chopping the air with his hands once more, the growl in his voice more evident as the stress of the situation around them was getting to him. “We must cooperate, and such aggression against one another is counter-productive to our goals-”

“Bakugou’s here!” Mineta yelled aloud, Shoji shaking his head with a palm on his face. “We have to go help Midoriya and Todoroki!”

Asui and Iida’s eyes widened when Mineta mentioned the son of the number two hero, Endeavor. “Todoroki-kun!” Iida exclaimed.

“He did say he was going to look for Midoriya so they could give All Might some back-up, kero.” Asui said thoughtfully. 

“But if those two can’t give All Might back-up, how can he beat those huge villains?!” were Mineta’s concerns, his fears showing on his face. 

Hagakure attempted to diffuse the tension by remaining hopeful. “Come on, it’s All Might! He’s got this!” 

“He did give his quirk to Midori; I doubt he has a lot of time.” Ashido returned, forcing the students to reconsider their perspective of All Might.

The group started panicking, save for Ojiro and Shoji, who remained quiet. 

Things were getting tense, if All Might was distracted by the main villains in the centre and their top two classmates were preoccupied by a traitor, then who would come to save them?

“Alright, attention!” Iida yelled once again, “we need a plan of action. We can’t just sit here squabbling like chickens in a hen house!”

“It’s hopeless!” Mineta cried out, running towards Ashido and hugging her from behind. “There’s no way we can get out of here!”

“I think there is,” Ojiro said calmly, his even voice cutting through the chaos of the group, “but we’re going to need to move quickly. And I mean, all of us.”

The group had his full attention. Even Ashido and Mineta were frozen in place, despite their compromising position, and focused on what Ojiro would say next.

“Alright, I may not be as smart as Mido-”

“Guys, we gotta get out of here! Bakugou’s back!” yelled the obnoxious voice of Kaminari, carrying an exhausted Jirou on his back. “Todoroki and Midoriya are fighting him right now! Yaomomo’s there too!”

“Kaminari, please!” Iida yelled in return. “Start from the beginning, speak calmly and plainly!”

“ You speak calmly, Speedy Gonzales.” Jirou muttered under her breath, Kaminari being the only one to hear her.

“Hey Jirou, is it alright if I put you down here?” The electro-quirked student asked the girl on his back. Once she had nodded, Kaminari placed her gently on a rock, where she could sit down. He sat down next to her and offered his lap for her to lay her head.

“Alright,” Kaminari began, serious for the first time in a while, “what do you want to know?”

-o-o-o-o-

“Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear,” was the panicked mantra of Yaoyorozu as she dodged and weaved in the warzone that was once the Landslide area. If training was already intense, then this is one fight that she would gladly avoid. 

The Yaoyorozu already knew she wasn’t suited for battle like the three who were currently destroying the USJ, but that did not stop her from staring in awe at the fighting trio. Had Bakugou remained at U.A., then he would surely be one of the strongest students in the Hero school’s history, next to Todoroki and Midoriya. 

She shook her head and slapped her face. “Snap out of it,” she whispered to herself, “now is not the time to get distracted.

Right now, she trusted Todoroki to be a distraction for Bakugou, the perfect way for her to complete her own mission: get in, grab Uraraka, and get out.

Provided that she remained unseen, that is. 

She spotted the zero-gravity girl just a few meters behind Bakugou, who was blasting ice chunks Midoriya was throwing at him. Carefully and quickly, she ran towards the unconscious girl and hefted her over her shoulder. While not particularly heavy, Yaoyorozu still struggled with carrying Uraraka and running out of the battlefield. She saw Bakugou’s eyes glint in her direction before he turned back to her two classmates, completely ignoring her presence. Why didn’t he attack me?

She didn’t have the time to ponder on that question as Todoroki created an ice wall between herself and Bakugou. Using that opportunity to run, she headed in the direction of the City Ruins zone, staying by the border, close enough to the fight that she could intervene if necessary. 

She lowered Uraraka on a concrete slab of debris laying on the ground. Pulling out a mini medkit that she keeps in a pouch near her Yaoyorictionary, she started treating Uraraka’s wounds and injuries, wrapping a bandage around her head. 

Muffled shouts and screams could be heard over the explosions, but they were getting smaller, less powerful. He’s weak against Ice…

When the explosions stopped, she stood up to see the arguments coming from both sides, and a few lines struck her as out of place…

“You think he’s the boss?! ” he said in an angry, but calm, voice, “I didn’t think you’d be this fucking slow.”

“We aren’t playing heroes and villains, Bakugou!” The venom dripping from Midoriya’s strained voice was painful to hear as he called out Bakugou’s name, his real name. The pained hero continued, “No more games!”

“I’m not playing, you dumbfuck!” 

Yaoyorozu heard another light explosion before feeling the temperature around her drop another few degrees. 

“Explain,” Todoroki spoke cleanly, his voice was cold and hollow, “or freeze .”

“You don’t get it, do you Half n’ Half? This is bigger than any of us. Bigger than All Might himself.”

Yaoyorozu heard Midoriya’s softened voice, as if he was unsure about what he was saying. “What do you mean, Bakugou?”

“What I mean, Small Might,” Bakugou’s tone was less of a growl, more pleading, “how many quirks does Prince Zuko over there have?” 

Yaoyorozu was starting to question what she was hearing. What was Bakugou saying? Prince Zuko ? Was that Midoriya? His name is Izuku. Or was he talking about Todoroki? How many quirks? Does he mean they have more than one?

“Better question, Endeavor Junior ,” Bakugou continued with a sneer, “how many more quirks do you think you can have?”

Yaoyorozu’s eyes widened when she saw Todoroki wince. 

Todoroki… It clicked. He was the son of Endeavor . Was he hiding the fact that he was his son? Why does Todoroki have an Ice quirk when his father had a fire quirk? Did Todoroki have a fire and ice quirk? Was this what Bakugou meant?

Midoriya stiffened in her line of sight. He was looking at the di-chromatic hero, as concerned as she was.

“Hrrgghh,” Yaoyorozu turned and saw Uraraka attempting to sit up. She had a hand on her head, possibly due to the bump she had.

“Easy, Uraraka-san,” Yaoyorozu said soothingly to the pink clad girl, “I got you.”

Uraraka’s eyes opened suddenly, her hands grabbing Yaoyorozu’s arm. She felt just a little bit empty for a moment before gaining control over herself, lighter and heavier at the same time, like a weight had suddenly been lifted from her shoulders and dropped on her just as suddenly. All at the touch of Uraraka's fingertips. Was she using her quirk on me?

Whatever that pit in her stomach, she swallowed down the fear. “Uraraka-san, I need you to calm down.”

“ I-I didn’t… ” Uraraka whimpered in a panicked voice, wild and frantic eyes were still trained on where her hand meets Yaoyorozu’s arm, “ I duh-didn’t mean to…”

Didn’t mean to…what? Yaoyorozu was puzzled. She had never seen Uraraka act so… fearful. Was she delirious? Her eyes aren’t dilating in the light, so she doesn’t have a concussion… What was going on with everyone?

“Yaoyorozu-kun, Uraraka-kun!” yelled a distorted and concerned voice from somewhere beyond where they stood. Yaoyorozu turned to face whoever called them and saw the approaching form of Thirteen.

“Thirteen-sensei,” Yaoyorozu said, cradling Uraraka in her arms, as she stood up to approach the Space Teacher. “Uraraka-san is injured! We need to take her to the infirmary.”

“I doubt we’d be able to run that easily.” said the large hero, a grave tone in her voice, “that black mist would teleport us right back where we--GET DOWN!”

The sudden action of being pulled to the ground almost made Yaoyorozu drop her classmate. If she wasn’t already panicking, now would be the time. She was frantic. why did Thirteen-sensei pull me down? What are we hiding from? What’s going on?!

She looked back in the direction where Bakugou was fighting Midoriya and Todoroki and saw a black mist overtake them. Shigaraki, the man with hands, walked out of the mist followed by three others, two monsters and a man covered in what looked like black vines. The man’s skeletal looking frame looked tired and weakened, the bruises on his shoulder and face were visible, as well as the blood dripping from his face… His blond hair gave it away.

All Might’s weakened form , Yaoyorozu panicked internally. If All Might’s true form was revealed to villains, all of hero society would collapse. Midoriya’s quirk! Everyone would be after Midoriya after this. Ooooh, this is bad, this is really bad.

“Look on yonder, boys!” said the white haired villain bombastically, his hands were outstretched as he walked behind Bakugou. He placed the hand on his shirt around the explosive Judas’ neck and continued. “If you two move, he dies.”

The two hero students freeze, stuck in their position without any argument. Shigaraki smirked as he motioned for one of the beasts, the one that wasn’t holding All Might, to grab the boys.

“In the blue corner,” The Man with Hands began, spinning his hands in the air and using the hand on his face as a microphone, “sporting a nifty black and green metal arm, a stutter like an earthquake, and the power to break his own bones with a single punch, the successor to the one and only All Might,” he said as the Nomu tightened its hold on Midoriya’s neck, “MIDORIYA IZUKU!”

Shigaraki turned to see the bi-colored boy struggling against Nomu. Todoroki’s right side was restrained by the bird beaked monster, and none of his ice based attacks seemed to be affecting it. “And in the red corner,” he started off again while walking towards Todoroki with plenty of swagger. He pulled out a small clamp-like device from his pockets and attached it to Todoroki’s neck. Suddenly, the ice surrounding the boy’s body melted off of him, like a rush of running water. The villain flicked the student’s nose and giggled slightly before continuing his thought, “the hot and cold hero, the boy without a mother, son of number two, treated like number two,” Shigaraki slapped the left side of the boy’s face with all five of his fingers, leaving a rotten imprint on his already scarred cheek, “TODOROKI SHOUTO!”

“And now, Toshinori,” said the Man with Hands, his voice was scratchy and grating like nails on a chalkboard as he skipped back towards the weakened veteran, placing four of his five fingers on All Might’s neck, “time to choose your fighter. ”

-o-o-o-o-

Chapter Text

“So who will it be, All Might?” Shigaraki cackled madly, enjoying his victory far more than he expected. Originally, he expected his Noumu to slowly wear All Might down, the Shock Absorption quirk allowing it to tank his hits. While it was not ideal for Bakugo to betray them, at least Sensei allowed him this second Noumu. Kurogiri had filled him in on it’s abilities earlier, and he adored it already. Blackwhip, a quirk replicated from the body of one of Sensei’s old enemies. A minor physical enhancement quirk, nothing spectacular, so much so that Sensei did not even bother with the name, but enough to at least not be turned to dust when All Might blinked in its direction. The most important quirk it had, however, was stolen from some Yakuza thug who thought Shigaraki could be intimidated into joining his crew. Vitality Stealing, the true secret to All Might’s current state. He had probably noticed by now, but with the other noumu attacking him so relentlessly, there was little he could have done about it.

All Might was clearly on his last legs, already transformed to that emaciated zombie that resembled what Shigaraki thought of his ideals more than the wall of meat he was earlier. His quirk had a limit, apparently, and his wounds, combined with the Vitality Stealing quirk, meant that All Might was done for. 

His grin was maddeningly wide at this point, a constant chuckle escaping his throat. “You know, I might just let the kids go. Seeing their hero die in front of them, knowing how helpless they were…” Shigaraki turned to stare at All Might, the smile never wavering…

Until All Might began to laugh. “Villains like you, children really. Always giving up your plans, your motives, and your allies.” His eyes seemed to be moving rapidly, and he had a smirk on his face. “Tell me, knowing we knew you would come, did you really expect this to be it?”

Shigaraki’s smile faltered into a rage filled scowl. “Quit bluffing!” He scratched at his neck. “You have no energy left, your body is falling apart, and I have your precious students’ lives in my hands!”

All Might just laughed harder. “You are a fool. We would never let you hurt these children. I admit, you surprised me, but you forget one thing.”

Shigaraki snarled. “What’s that, hero?!”

“I’m not alone.”

Shigaraki did not have the time to turn around before he felt something metallic collide with the back of his head, instantly knocking him to the ground, face first. He barely managed to hit the ground before he felt a boot on his back, keeping him down. 

“Stay down!” He recognized the voice, the scared green haired boy he had captured. All Might’s favorite student, if his Sensei was to be believed. He also had a metal arm…

“You brat, how did you…” He turned his head the best he could, staring at his Noumu.

Rather, what remained of his noumu. It was frozen solid, with both of its arms gone, the broken pieces of ice nearby cluing him in that someone busted out. Of course, just as he was about to win, the heroes had to make a comeback. Sensei warned him about how Heroes always went crazy when cornered, but he had gotten too cocky, enjoying this game a bit too much.

Well, that was fine, he could still reach the brat’s leg on his back to kill at least one student before he left. No way was he going to stick around after these two brats took down his Noumu. Except when he tried to move his arm, he felt a pressure stop him, someone having stepped on his wrist. It hurt, but it was the inability to move it that really bothered him. 

He just wanted one dead kid, was that too much to ask?

“Kurogiri!” A portal formed under him, and he felt the pressure on his back and wrist disappear before he fell. Too bad the kids had not fallen so that Kurogiri could slice them in half with his portals, but at least he was free. He fell on his feet, right next to the Warper, but still in the USJ. “What gives? We need to get out of here, they took down the Noumu.”

“Yes, but they are all tired, and we are both fresh for the fight. We still have the second, as well.” Kurogiri responded calmly.

“Yeah, but it aint enough for real pros, and they knew we were coming. Noumu can’t hear us from being frozen that much. It can’t hear us, and we are out of luck. This second Noumu-” Shigaraki was cut off from his panic when Kurogiri explained further.

“Has absorbed a great deal of vitality from All Might himself.”

Shigaraki paused, before laughing again. “Ah! I had not considered that. Well then, phase two.” He glanced around, realizing they were a few dozen meters away from where he was before, though the kids had just now spotted him and were charging. Shigaraki grinned. “Noumu.” The being looked at him directly. “Kill them.”

Blackwhip loosened around All Might as the being moved towards Izuku and Shoto, who were already in motion towards Shigaraki. Its speed and strength certainly seemed enhanced by All Might’s life force, judging from the fact that it was leaving footprints in the cement floor from its sprint.

___________________________________________

Time seemed to slow down for Izuku as he heard the monster behind him move. He turned his head, trying to move in order to get out of the way, when he felt someone shove him aside. He tumbled over, the black tentacles the beast had launching right where he was, a squelching sound coming out as he fell to the side, the world still moving in slow motion.

He had no idea why he felt the world moving in slow motion, but he knew very well what he felt when he saw Shoto coughing up blood, that black tentacle having pierced his abdomen, his arms still extended from shoving Izuku out of the way.

Rage.

He heard a scream, before he realized it was coming from himself. For once in his life, he felt raw hate build up in him, the stress of the situation combining with seeing one of his first friends injured to protect him from a mindless monster while all his friends fought for their lives and All Might was barely able to move.

Hate was new. He never hated Bakugo, not even after he took his arm, or tried to kill him. His own life was inconsequential, but Shoto? The boy who obviously had a heroic heart, since he had gladly given his own safety to save Izuku. This was… different. Black tinted at the edge of his vision as he focused wholeheartedly on the Noumu, even as tentacles matching that of the beast in front of him spawned from his arm.

At least, he would have stayed focused on the beast if he had not suddenly felt an ungodly pain in his robotic arm, something he should not feel. It was not designed to give pain signals, after all. He stared down, only for his vision to suddenly cloud over into a void.

“Kid, relax! Gotta calm your heart if you wanna use my quirk!”

___________________________________________

Shoto was not having a good time. He had managed to burn the collar Shigaraki put on him enough to fry whatever electronics were in it, although his neck was still hot from that, before he managed to push himself to freeze the Noumu as much as he could. Usually, he preferred using large scale ice attacks, but in this instance he had to simply go colder . He did not have a lot of practice with it, but it was enough to put that thing out of commission. Whether or not it was still alive, he was unsure. 

He was far more concerned with the whole that was now in his abdomen. His vision was slowly fading, and he was unsure if he would live through this. The sheer pain kept him from being able to tell if it hit anything vital, but the blood loss would be enough, unless he was attended to immediately.

His vision was already gone by the time he heard the voice, a familiar one, but not one he could place in his current state. 

“Todoroki! No, damnit... Alright. I have to do this, just… hold on for a second, okay?”

He could not nod, but he tried to keep his consciousness for as long as he could. His father had been brutal with his training, but he had never been close to bleeding as much as he was now, so he was very unused to this level of pain and delirium.

It could have been a few seconds, or a few hours, but he felt a hand press softly onto the wound, before he immediately felt better. “Keep it a secret, okay? I’ll explain later.”

His vision returned, and he stared at the person who had somehow helped him. The wound was already closed, and he felt good as new. “What… I have to help Midoriya. That thing is-”

He was interrupted by the sound barrier being broken. He flinched at the loud noise, a minor headache having formed from his injuries, despite them being gone now. He turned to see something he would never forget, both because it was ridiculous, and awesome.

___________________________________________

Whatever villains were left awake and fighting had immediately given up when they were run over by students riding deer. It was a ridiculous sight, certainly, but having seen their allies go down so quickly, followed by such a crazy strategy, most of the villains were just done with the day. Shigaraki had a plan, sure, but they were not needed for that, and students weren’t going to stop that… thing.

Despite Thirteen’s orders, Kirishima was not about to abandon Midoriya or Todoroki. If it was because it was practical, or because it was what a hero would do, he was unsure, but he knew he could not live with himself if he did not do everything he could to help.

It was, however, probably a bad idea to ride in alone, or at least that was the excuse the rest of his group used to follow him. They did not intend to fight, of course, just grab the others and flee. All Might had this handled, he was All Might after all.

At least, that was what they thought, until they saw him barely hanging onto his muscle form, attacking some blue monstrosity, smile gone from his face, an enraged scowl in its place. His punches were notably weaker than earlier, but they were still far above what the beast could do.

Not far away, they saw Midoriya, some black substance flailing around him, seeming to originate from his robotic arm. Whatever the case, they knew something was wrong and he needed help. Those black tentacles were decimating the area near him, cracking the cement and anything around him. 

“Midoriya!” Kirishima shouted, leaping off his deer, who refused to go any closer to the green haired boy. Not that Kirishima could blame the poor animal, those tentacles were dangerous. “Shit… Guys, I’m going in. I’m the most durable, I’ll get him to calm down and we can retreat, go on ahead.” He did not wait for a response, activating his quirk and charging into the mess.

While it was obvious those tentacles packed a punch, they were not quite enough to get through his hardening. Still, he could feel the power behind them, enough to cause a bit of pain even through his hardening. It was impact force, so there was little damage, but the pain was still annoying. “Midoriya! You gotta calm down!” 

He had no idea what was going on, but Midoriya was screaming in pain. He could barely imagine what it felt like, given Midoriya had apparently broken bones without hesitation before, but it was obviously unpleasant, and thus needed to stop. He took stock of the situation, taking a moment to see how the tentacles were moving so he could get closer, before realizing they were indeed coming from Midoriya’s arm, and moving with him.

Was it some part of One For All? All Might never showed anything like this, but it was a weird quirk, so maybe… Regardless, he needed Midoriya to calm down, as the tentacles seemed to flow with his screaming, meaning it was either connected to his feelings, or far less likely, his vocal cords. 

“Midoriya! Breathe! Whatever this is, it’s connected to you! You gotta reign it in!” Kirishima shouted, the sound of the tentacles smashing into the ground getting louder as he got closer. He just hoped Midoriya would manage before it was too late. 

Surprisingly, the tentacles receded almost instantly, leaving Midoriya on his hands and knees, taking deep breaths. “That… hurt.” He was panting, but he seemed alright aside from that. “Ki-Kirishima? Where is Todoroki?”

“I haven’t seen him, was he with you?”

“He got hurt bad, we need to find him, quick!”

“No need.” Both turned in surprise to see Todoroki walking forward, not injured at all, though his shirt seemed to have been burned away. “I’m alright. We need to help All Might though. I heard that villain say that thing he is fighting has a Vitality stealing quirk.”

“Shit, we need a plan…” Kirishima frowned, glancing back at the two shockwave-inducing fighters. “Midoriya, any ideas?”

Midoriya stood up fully, taking stock of the situation. “I… have an idea. How hard can you get?”

___________________________________________

All Might was furious. His student had been hurt, all because he listened to Nedzu over his own instincts. The plan had been fairly simple, get the students to flee, before having All Might create a signal by punching the sky to change the weather. Once he did, Nedzu was supposed to set up a barrier to prevent teleportation, based on the energy signature used by the villains to teleport in the first place. After that, it would be a simple matter for the heroes on standby to counterattack. 

The problem was they had underestimated the villains, not believing they had something as ridiculous as the Noumu, nor did they think their warper was so powerful he could warp different parts of the class to different areas. All Might had to hold back while students were still in the area, as even a single stray punch was enough to cause wind blasts that could flatten buildings. He would never forgive himself if a student was hurt from his attacks. 

Now? Now he would never forgive himself for Todoroki being injured on his watch. Midoriya’s reaction was concerning, but he trusted the boy to help Todoroki while he handled the Noumu. He did not expect Blackwhip to manifest in the boy, but that was something to ponder later. For now, he just had to beat this beast before it stole the rest of his strength.

“ Crude tricks, sneak attacks, hostages, attacking children! You are the worst kind of villain, and for that… ” All Might actually growled at the villains. “ You will fall here! ”

It was not hard to fight this thing, not nearly as much as the previous Noumu, but every hit drained more and more of All Might’s strength, even though it certainly did damage. He would have to alter his strategy. Against the other one, constant hits seemed to do the most damage, while this one did not have the same durability. In other words, instead of punching more, he needed to punch harder. It was fairly simple, but it was the best option.

He was rather surprised when, with a single full power punch, the Noumu was immediately downed, but did not wait to charge Shigaraki and Kurogiri. He needed to end this now.

He did not hear the ice cracking, nor did he see the first Noumu break free. He certainly felt it’s fist punch his old injury, however. He immediately fell back, blood spilling from his mouth. They must have known about his injury, which was worrying, but again, something for later.

He barely managed to dodge the next punch, not able to take the same punch again. It was intentionally targeting his injury, and he did not have enough energy to deal with it. He grimaced, both in pain and frustration. He would have to get more brutal if he wanted to deal with it. “ How is this even alive? It was frozen solid! ”

“Oh, didn’t I tell you? Noumu has Hyper Regeneration too. Oh well. Kurogiri, I’ve seen enough. Let’s get out of here.” Shigaraki spoke casually. “The other pros will be here soon, Overhaul can only hold them off for so long. Get us out of here, then get him out as well. He’s too valuable to lose.”

Regeneration? That was a problem. He could probably overpower it, had he not already lost so much of his time. That Vitality Theft was a problem, and this had been planned far too well. He was on his last leg, and he was not sure if his students would be safe. Even so, he had to force himself to stand, his entire body screaming at him to stop, to rest. 

He never listened before, so why should he now?

Except, he couldn’t. Physically, he felt like he was moving through sludge, barely holding his form as it was. The strain had already probably reduced his time in his muscle form by an hour, but he had to protect his students! He stumbled forward, coughing up even more blood. 

He could scarcely remember a time he felt so helpless, so aware of his mortality. His fight against All For One, perhaps.

He glared at the Noumu, his would-be killer. He was unsure if he could make it through this fight, too much had gone wrong, but he would keep going regardless. He had to.

“Before I go… Noumu. Kill him, then the kids.” Shigaraki cackled. 

All Might’s eyes widened in rage. This bastard was willing to kill the children even after him?! What kind of hatred did this person have that he could justify such brutality?! If his goal had been to kill All Might then leave, he would at least respect that, but… It was no longer about his students being in danger from normal villains, now they were in danger from this monstrosity that could tank his hits and dish out similar punches.

He tried to move forward, to take this thing down before the end, but he only stumbled, barely able to stand. 

He saw the Noumu’s fist rear back, his life was about to end.

…

In the short time it took for the Noumu to close the distance, he heard the sound barrier break, along with a loud “SMASH” from Midoriya. He smiled, thinking how even now his student was trying to help him, whether or not it was in vain. 

A ball of ice slammed into the Noumu, tearing through its arm and knocking it off course with its punch. Instead of hitting All Might, it went right by him, leaving it wide open. He barely noticed that the ice had contained young Kirishima, instead opting to do what he had to to take this thing down for good.

Using whatever was left of his power, and probably shortening his time even more, All Might punched the beast in the throat as hard as he could, severing the head without a problem. The ice from before must have weakened it, or…

“What?! The Shock Absorption was overpowered? It’s not regenerating?” Shigaraki scratched at his neck. “Eraserhead…” He glanced around, trying to find him, but he did not manage to find him. “Tsk. Cool, but that won’t save him next time.” Shigaraki and Kurogiri disappeared into a black portal, leaving only the unconscious villains to remain.

All Might collapsed to his knees, coughing up even more blood, barely noticing Kirishima fussing over him. As soon as they left, his body reverted to his skinny form, and the pain doubled. He was close to passing out, but he had to at least make sure his students were alright first. He could worry about himself later.

“Let’s get you to Recovery Girl. She’ll need to see Midoriya too.” Kirishima helped him stand, supporting the taller man with his shoulder. All Might looked over to where Kirishima had been thrown, seeing Todoroki and Midoriya standing next to each other. Midoriya’s mechanical arm was busted and there was some shrapnel that had cut into him, but nothing dangerous. Still, the damage to the nerves in that arm would definitely require Recovery Girl. It did not help that he seemed to be exhausted already, but rest would be enough for that.

“What of the other students?” All Might asked, his voice hoarse.

“They should be at the entrance. Thirteen gathered a good number of us before heading out to gather more, and my group was on our way to the entrance before I came in. Since they didn’t follow me, I assume they made it there. All the villains we met have been knocked out. Everyone should be safe.” Kirishima sounded… dull, like he was far more tired than he let on, or perhaps emotionally exhausted. All Might knew he was, and many of his students would be as well.

“I’m glad…” All Might immediately passed out, going limp, only supported by Kirishima.

___________________________________________

The police arrived shortly after, arresting the remaining villains and interrogating the students. It was much easier than it sounded, but it still exhausted everyone involved. 

Shoto had been talking with Uraraka about what happened with Bakugo before he disappeared, when Endeavor came forward to talk with him. He had been hoping to put this off, but he knew Endeavor wanted to make sure his precious creation was unharmed.

“Shoto, are you alright? I was told you were injured.” Endeavor had the same constant frown as always, but there was something surprising in his voice, something new.

“I’m unharmed, obviously.” The shirtless boy said. “As far as I know the only injuries are Midoriya, All Might, and Aizawa-sensei.”

“Good. I’ve got to help with the investigation, and rounding up the remaining villains, but I was told it would be important to Midoriya. I need you to tell him Bakugo disappeared. We can’t find him, and it seems the League of Villains, as they call themselves, has taken him with them.”

Shoto nodded. “I’ll let him know. They were once friends so it's his right to know.”

Endeavor grunted. “When you are done, talk with your sister.” He walked away immediately after, but something was… off.

Shoto stared at his back as he walked away, but shook his head. Whatever it was, nothing had changed. Except he had used his fire… He could not regret it, for it had saved Midoriya’s life, as well as his own. 

“He seems… nice.” Uraraka’s frown revealed what she truly thought about him.

“More than usual.” Shoto muttered. “How are you feeling? Yaoyorozu told me you were delirious for a while back there.”

Uraraka rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. “Yeah, I took a hit to the head, but I’m better now. How about you, though?”

“I’m fine. I had a bit of a headache, but that’s gone now. I feel better than I ever have, actually.” Shoto admitted. “I’m glad you and Midoriya are alright.”

“I just wish I could have done more.” Uraraka sighed. “I felt useless, getting knocked out so early.”

“You did enough.” Shoto spoke calmly. “Regardless, I am glad this all is over. I’m going to visit Midoriya before I go home, do you want to come with me?”

“Yeah! I’m still worried about him, and I want to apologize.” Uraraka nodded.

___________________________________________

The end result of the USJ attack was staggering, but out of everyone, only All Might was seriously injured. There were many unexpected events, such as Overhaul stalling the back up, and the two Noumu, but all in all, Nedzu was not too disappointed with the events. More or less, things had gone as well as could be expected. 

Not that he could tell anyone that. The positive side effects were that several students gained valuable experience, even if the idea of them being in danger filled him with rage. His plan was flawed, and he perhaps should have just canceled the USJ training in the first place, but if he did, then the villains would just come later. If the teachers had shown up without the students, the villains would have known something was up, as well.

His ultimate motives would have to remain hidden from everyone else, though. No one needed to know what he suspected the future held, and what it would require. He doubted anyone would understand, anyway. Humans tend to forget their current actions have ripple effects in the future.

It had been a few hours after the police finished interrogation, and Nedzu was alone in his office, wondering whether or not he had made the right calls. He expected to have more time alone, he did not expect Izuku to walk in without even knocking, an intensely focused look on his face.

“Izuku, nice to see you up and about. If it’s about your arm, you’ll have to visit the support department. We ordered a spare from David Shield just in case.” Nedzu chirped, happy that his favorite student was at least physically alright. Mentally… well, that would take longer.

Izuku sat down, opposite from Nedzu, silent for a moment. His hands were interwoven on his lap, as he leaned forward. “Nedzu.” He breathed out, sounding… angry? “How much have you been manipulating?”

Nedzu blinked, frowning. He knew the boy was smart, but what did he think Nedzu had done? “You’ll have to explain, I’m afraid.” 

“Bakugo. He was with the villains, but he was clearly a spy.” Ah, so that was what this was about. “What did you do?”

“I assure you, I had nothing to do with it.”

Izuku’s face twisted in rage. “Don’t lie to me. The points taken from the Entrance exam, making my score match Bakugo’s? My first fight being with him? Keeping him in the same class as me, despite knowing our history? Expelling him for what was an accident? What did you say to him? Was this planned from the start?!”

He was close to crying, it sounded, but Nedzu could not fault him. Between all the stress of the day, and seeing his mentor as injured as he was, nevermind meeting Bakugo once more… Izuku was fine to be angry, it was expected and a good sign, honestly. But he did need to nip this in the bud.

“Izuku. Calm down. While you are not wrong that I did some things to intentionally get Bakugo’s pride to simmer down, I did not anticipate his actions, be it in your fight, or after his expulsion. He was expelled because he used lethal force in a training match, and showed no qualities of heroism besides raw power. I suppose knowing how it looks from your perspective, I should have explained earlier. I would never allow my students to come to harm intentionally.”

“Then why… Right, the villains wouldn’t have shown up, and would have just attacked at a different time.” A great deal of stress seemed to evaporate from Izuku, leaving only exhaustion. “Then I have one final question. I’d ask All Might, but Recovery Girl says he will be out for quite a while.”

“I will answer, if I have the knowledge.” Nedzu nodded. There was little he would not be willing to tell Izuku.

“How can someone have more than one quirk?”

Nedzu’s eyes widened. “The Noumu? It is not impossible, scientifically. I am not sure how, exactly, but it makes sense that an incredible doctor would be able to create something like that. It explains why they did not seem to have consciousness, at least.”

“No. Before he disappeared, Bakugo asked how many quirks someone could have. He implied it was someone above Shigaraki.”

Nedzu sucked in a breath. He had suspicions, but he did not want to be right. “All For One… Midoriya, this will be quite a tale. I want to assure you first, had we known he was alive, we would have told you before you ever accepted One For All.”

Izuku was paying close attention as Nedzu began his story of two brothers and the legacies they fought over. He sat completely still, enraptured by the story, not quite sure how to feel about all of this.

By the end, he had more than enough to think about, exhausted as he was. He felt like he had Aizawa’s eyebags at this point.

“Now, I do have a question for you. Endeavor took Todoroki away before I could ask, but you reported that he was stabbed, yet he came out fine. How is that, exactly?” Nedzu questioned.

“Oh, he said he didn’t get injured too badly, apparently it was the work of another villain with an illusion quirk. He said he knocked him out after he got away from that thing. I was… too distracted to see it for myself, though.” Izuku hesitated as he spoke.

“You don’t believe him?” Nedzu tilted his head.

“I don’t think he’s with the villains.” Izuku confirmed. “But why would a villain use an illusion quirk so late into the fighting, let alone just showing me and All Might such a thing? It seems really pointless to me, but I trust Todoroki, at least.”

“I have no doubt he is sincere in his desire to become a hero, which means he is not hiding whatever happened for himself, but for someone else.” Nedzu sighed. “Still, I can’t do anything based on suspicion. It would only hurt his already fragile trust in UA. Thank you for being honest, Izuku. Now, I think you should spend some time with your mother, and perhaps your friends. Get some rest, we will talk tomorrow, when you are not about to pass out.” Nedzu chuckled lightly, the terror in his body not being shown. “Oh, and do stop by more often. I miss our sessions.”

Izuku nodded tiredly, before dragging himself out of the office.

That boy would be the death of him, but he would not change Izuku for the world.

___________________________________________

“Sensei, I brought a present!” Tomura laughed, throwing the handcuffed Bakugo on the floor. 

“Oh? My, this is quite the present, but you make it sound like I have something personal against him.” The voice crackled over the intercom.

“He betrayed us, and on top of that, he hurt your grandchild.” Kurogiri explained. “We figured it would be… personal at that point.”

“Indeed.” The jovial tone shifted to a far less pleased one. “Kurogiri, if you would.”

Kurogiri nodded, before a portal opened up under Bakugo, letting him fall right into the same room as All For One.

Bakugo coughed at the impact, before glaring at the scarred man before him. “What, you gonna take my quirk? Turn me into one of those things ?” Bakugo snarled. “Go ahead, I already won.”

“Oh no, not at all. You see, I have a policy about those who hurt my family. Betrayal is annoying, but that… Well. All Might is not the only one who likes making symbols.” The man smiled. “Without a quirk, what are you? I could easily take it away, give it to Tomura, or someone else. It’s not a bad quirk, but hardly anything special. So instead, I shall do what I did to the Fifth. You will be going back to UA, you should be happy!”

Somehow, that filled Bakugo with more fear than the idea of dying to this man.

___________________________________________

Tomura smiled as he finished his upload. All Might may have won the battle, but with the video of what happened at the USJ, he would win the war. The world would know of All Might's weakened form, as well as his heir. Hiring that hacker had certainly been worth it, despite how expensive it was for a hacker good enough to acquire the security footage from the USJ. He could not wait for the video's response.

It was rare he felt genuine joy, but knowing the storm that was coming, he had to laugh. It was the beginning of the end of this broken society.

Chapter Text

Claws. Tearing. Slamming.

Tentacles. Piercing. Screaming.

Blood. Dust. Pain

Despite what most media portrayed, waking up from a nightmare is not usually an eventful affair. For Shoto, it was no different from how he normally awoke, just with memories he would rather forget playing over in his head, altered to make it even worse.

It was hardly the first time he had a nightmare, but it was the first time they involved people outside of his family. It was true, his mother had scarred him for life, and his father had abused him, even if he considered it training, but he had little experience with people outside of his immediate family, so there were still deep connections there, as much as he wanted to deny it. 

He shook his head, standing from his bed. Thinking about connections, he was surprised how much he had come to care about his classmates in such a short time. Perhaps it was precisely because of his lack of interaction with others, but each of them felt important, if less so than Fuyumi or Natsuo. Except…

His mind flashed back to the two who had saved his life. They were strange, and held many secrets of their own, but one had been forced to open up about those secrets. The other was likely to reveal them later, but it was not his place. He had his own secrets, after all. Still, he had to wonder why they felt so different from the rest. Why did his heart speed up at the memory of those two? 

“Ah! Good Morning, Shoto, I made breakfast.” Fuyumi spoke up.

In his distracted state, he had wandered into the kitchen. Ever since the USJ, Fuyumi had been extremely affectionate, no doubt worried about his state after such trauma. Given his nightmares, perhaps her worry was not unfounded, but he did not want to give her any more stress. “Good morning. Is the old man out?”

“Yeah, some meeting with UA. He seemed in a rush, but he didn't say why… Do you have any plans today?” She tilted her head in a curious gesture. She was always interested in what he did…

He glanced down at his phone, seeing a new message from Ochako. “Apparently a friend wants to meet up.”

“Oh! That’s great!” She beamed. “Well have fun! I’m glad you made friends.”

He paused, considering what he was thinking about. “Fuyumi…” 

“Yes?”

“What does it mean when someone makes you nervous, but you like being around them? My heartbeat speeds up, too.” Shoto stared at his hand, disliking the idea of the simple presence of someone weakening him in such a manner, yet not finding it within himself to dislike the actual feeling it brought when it happened.

“Oh my god, you have a crush?!” Fuyumi squealed. “Who is it?”

“Two of my classmates bring out the same reaction in me. A crush? Do I need a doctor?”

Fuyumi laughed. “No, of course not. It just means you like them.”

“Isn’t that what a friend is?” Shoto stared at her, deadpan as always.

“Well… it means you like them more than a friend!” Fuyumi frowned. She could not exactly use Enji and Rei as an example. “Like… like how Natsuo views that girl he always talks about.”

“Didn’t you call her a ‘good for nothing skank’?” 

“Ah, no! Not what I meant. You… know how he gets when he talks about her? That’s what I mean.” Fuyumi shook her head at her brother’s social misunderstanding.

“I see. What do I do?”

“Well, depending on how strong these feelings are, you either confess, or hang out with them more to see if it can work out.”

“But I like two…” Shoto frowned.

“Hm. Well, you’ll have to pick one then.”

“Won’t the other one be upset? Is there a way to make sure neither of them get upset?”

Fuyumi giggled at the question. Despite his deadpan demeanor, it was nice to see her brother was still a softie. “You could just date both of them” She joked.

“I see…” 

“I was joking.” Fuyumi turned around, only to see Shoto was already gone. “Oh dear…”

___________________________________________

Izuku grunted as he continued his exercise. The USJ had shown he was not strong enough, Shoto almost died, and worse his capture stalled All Might enough to worsen the situation. Not even mentioning Bakugo… 

So far, he was mostly doing body-exercises, pushups, situps and pullups, but he knew he would have to focus on weights soon. His body stopped straining him a while ago. He was just stuck, as the staff had closed the Gym while classes were out. Annoying, but he understood. It would not do to have someone sneaking about while everyone was gone. For now, simple exercise would work.

“Izuku!” His mom called. He paused his exercise, standing up. She tended to leave him be when he was exercising, so it must be important. “One of your classmates called! An Uraraka? She wants to meet up with you and someone named Todoroki. I think you should go, get your mind off of… things.” She dare not bring up how several of his classmates had faced death, himself included. 

“I…” he paused. Maybe he needed that, something to remind him that they were safe, that they were not gone. “I think I will. Thanks mom!” He gave her a genuine smile, the first since the morning before the USJ. 

She had tears in her eyes, but she smiled regardless. “Have fun, baby. Just be careful.”

“I mean, we’re just going to hang out.” Izuku tilted his head like a confused puppy.

“Oh I know, I just don’t want to be a grandmother so early.” 

“MOM!”

___________________________________________

Ochako nervously twisted her hands as she waited for the two. She just wanted to explain things to them, they deserved that much! It certainly was not a date! Besides, she definitely could not date two adorable, heroic boys who were so out of her league -

She slapped her cheeks, trying to get that thought out of her head. She was admitting to her secrets, not confessing . Besides, wasn’t it way too early to do that? They had only known each other for a bit, even if they had all gone through quite a bit in that amount of time. It was just a crush, that was all! Who cared if she admired their strength and courage? Those were respectable traits damnit.

“Uraraka!” Deku appeared around the corner, successfully distracting her from her thoughts, mostly because he was wearing a muscle shirt, and sweating lightly. Did he do that on purpose?!

“H-Hey Deku!” She stuttered, forcibly tearing her eyes away from the absolute feast and trying to maintain eye contact, despite her face being redder than ever. “Did you see Todoroki on your way?”

“I came from the other direction.” Ochako jumped at the sound of the boy’s voice coming from behind her. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.” Unfortunately for her, the boy was wearing a simple white shirt and blue jacket, something that, while not quite as revealing as Deku’s shirt, only made him look more adorable. These boys were trying to kill her!

Unbeknownst to her, her casual outfit had a similar effect on the two, as well as each other’s outfits. To her, it was a modest, cheap outfit, just a yellow shirt and brown skirt, but it was just a bit tight. Enough that the two boys had trouble taking their eyes off of her as well.

“You… said you had something to talk about?” Todoroki was the first to speak after that awkward moment. 

“Y-Yeah! Sorry, I got distracted.” She rubbed the back of her head nervously. “But yeah, let’s go inside and take a seat, this might be a long conversation.”

The two followed her inside the cafe she had been waiting outside of. It was a small place, absolutely filled with cats of all sorts. A cat-cafe, apparently. The three took their seats, Deku and Ochako both avoiding looking directly at the other two at the table. The cafe was fairly empty besides a worker behind the counter, who seemed to ignore them.

“So… Todoroki already knows part of this, but I feel you should know too, Deku.” Ochako sighed. She would have continued, but Todoroki interrupted her. 

“You have a crush on him too, don’t you?”

…

“EH?!” Ochako was unsure whether it was her or Deku who screamed, but it drew the employee’s glare, so they all quieted down, despite retaining their flustered states. 

“You-you can’t just come out and say something like that!” Ochako shook her head, covering her face with her hands. “And what do you mean too?!”

“I do too.” Todoroki shrugged. “Is it that surprising?”

“Okay, I’m all for a good prank, but this is too much.” Deku said, drawing their attention towards him. The boy had tears in his eyes. 

“Prank?” Ochako frowned. “Deku… why would you think this is a prank?”

Deku laughed bitterly. “It happened three times in middle school. It’s an old joke, c’mon guys. I thought…” He shook his head.

“Why would anyone joke about that?” Todoroki seemed genuinely confused. “I can’t imagine someone not liking you.”

Ochako, seeing how much this was affecting Deku, joined in. “Yeah! You’re like the most heroic guy in the class! Plus you even impressed All Might!”

Todoroki blinked, before frowning. “It’s because you were quirkless, isn’t it?”

Ochako gasped. “Oh my god, I didn’t even think of that! Deku, even if you were quirkless, we wouldn’t joke about this!”

“Ah, so you do like him.” Todoroki concluded, leaving Ochako a flustered mess.

“But…” Deku breathed, his tears drying up. “You both like me? But I… like both of you too.”

Ochako glared down at the table. “What do we do about this then?”

“What do you mean?” Todoroki asked, seemingly confused.

“We can’t all date each other!”

“Why not?” Todoroki challenged her.

“Well, Polyamory is a thing, but… are you guys sure?” Deku hesitated. 

“I am.” Todoroki responded promptly.

“I… I don’t want to distract you guys though!” Ochako admitted.

“You aren’t a distraction!” Deku, surprisingly, was the one to answer. “You inspired me!”

“You saved me life, too.” Todoroki stared at her, and she found herself flustered once more, as if she had been anything but flustered since this started.

“She did? At the USJ?” Deku seemed to know something, judging from the way his eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but he did not seem accusing, just interested. Good.

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about…” Ochako breathed in deeply. “You see…”

___________________________________________

“What is this about?” Enji Todoroki was a man of little patience. Anyone who knew him in any capacity could attest to this. It was one of many flaws he possessed, though he would protest otherwise. 

Nedzu smiled at the heroes before him. Miruko, Hawks, Endeavor, Wash, and several others. “It has come to my attention that the students of U.A, specifically the hero course students, are in danger from this League of Villains.”

“Aren’t ya already hunting em down?” Miruko spoke up, uncaring as always when it did not involve a battle.

“Yes, but so far we have little to go on. While we have developed counter measures for their warper, their homes are not so protected.” Of course if that warper did try to enter the school, their portal would lead right into the equivalent of a woodchipper, but there was no need to discuss that.

“What, you want us to protect them too? I mean, I get this is a big deal, but we can’t exactly make daily stops to their houses?” Hawk’s sarcastic tone was accusing, but it was to be expected from someone hand picked by the HPSC.

“Not at all. I was going to ask you to temporarily alter your patrols, just to make sure you are seen close enough that any villains would hesitate to try anything.” Nedzu explained. “U.A. will, of course, compensate you for any losses.”

“Eh, I’m in. If it gives me a chance to fight these League bastards, all the better.” Miruko shrugged carelessly.

“Wouldn’t want anyone taken hostage. Yeah, I’ll do it. Just give me the addresses.” Hawks nodded.

Fatgum, Wash, and several others spoke in agreement, until only Endeavor was left.

Everyone turned to the number two hero, who seemed to be lost in thought, staring at Nedzu. 

“You said temporarily.” The unasked question brought everyone’s attention back onto Nedzu.

“Indeed. I intend to change U.A. into a boarding school with its own dorms. Cementoss is hard at work already.” Nedzu’s expression did not change, but something felt… off now, a tension that had not been there previously. “I fully intend to leave it up to the parents, of course.” The tension faded almost immediately, followed by Endeavor grunting.

“Fine. I’ll help out. I assume you already have a map then?”

Nedzu nodded, unrolling a fairly large map on his desk. “Of course, I factored in your patrol areas, and calculated the most efficient changes to them, in order to protect the students.”

___________________________________________

“I am glad to see you are alright, my dear. I would hate if anything happened to you.”

“Did you have anything to do with the attack?”

“Not personally, but a student of mine did.”

“I thought you gave up that life!”

“Oh I did, my dear. I am but an old man on life support now. I simply support the newest generation.”

“He could have killed me! Or my friends!”

“He almost did, from what I hear.”

“...”

“I am not angry, nor disappointed. In fact, I am ecstatic. I know my quirk is known for villainy, but what you have is your own. I am a villain, but I always suggest everyone do what they desire most. Your heart is set on heroism, so use your quirk to be a hero. You already have once, after all.”

“How did you know?”

“I may not have been personally involved, but that does not mean I did not watch. A boy gets a hole in his chest, then is healed the next time I see him? Not to mention the Noumu’s healing being gone by the end. You were lucky he was willing to keep your secret, nevermind that everyone blamed Eraserhead.”

“...Why are you okay with me being a hero?”

“My dear, I want people to be individuals. Being a hero is what you genuinely want, despite knowing what you do. I cannot find it in me to not support that. What grandfather would not want to support their granddaughter?”

“...It may come down to your student killing me”

“I would be saddened, but everyone must face their end. I have faith in you. After all, what is a hero without a nemesis?”

“...”

“Now, tell me about your two little crushes... dear Ochako”

Chapter Text

Izuku was not sure how this happened, but apparently he now had both a girlfriend and a boyfriend. What a weird situation for the ‘quirkless loser’ to be in. He chuckled self-deprecatingly. Of course everything would change now that he had a quirk. 

“So what do you guys want to do now then?”

Ochako paused at Izuku’s question. “Uh… well, we could go to the arcade or something. Wait!” She jumped up from her seat. “You said you cleaned a beach as training, right?!”

Shoto turned to him, a slightly impressed look on his face. Given how impassive he usually was, it was probably more than mild.

“Y-yeah, Dagobah beach. Why?”

“Let’s go there!” Ochako pumped her fist. “You said it's beautiful now, right? Besides, I wanna appreciate your hard work!”

Izuku smiled bashfully, knowing she just didn’t believe he really cleaned it himself. “Yeah, sure. Are you okay with that?” He asked, turning to Shoto. Simple solution for someone too shy to call someone their first name, just indicate who you are talking to by looking at them!

“I am interested as well. I have never been to the beach before.”

“Wait really?” Ochako turned to him now, gaping. “That settles it! Dagobah beach it is!”

“A-alright, it’s not too far away.” 

The trip there was, of course, filled with nervous conversation on Izuku’s part. Ochako seemed to be trying to force herself to be more actively vocal, probably sensing how nervous the other two were. Still, just having them close made Izuku much more comfortable with the journey.

“Whoa!” Ochako was the first to notice the glistening sunset over the beach, running to the edge of the sidewalk to get a better look. “This is amazing!”

Izuku and Shoto followed quickly behind her, both amused at her excitement. 

They all paused to look at the sea.

Beyond the almost white sand covering the beach, the sea glistened with small fractions of sunlight, creating what looked like a moving canopy of stars in the ocean, with the red sun above it. 

If Izuku had to describe it in a word, it was peaceful. Beautiful. Something in his heart calmed, even as he still doubted their feelings for him. Maybe… maybe things really were getting better.

Interrupting the moment, his phone buzzed with a text, followed by at least a dozen more.

Blinking in surprise, he pulled it out to look, seeing a few notifications that showed he was mentioned in a deleted topic on his favorite hero forum, before another popped up with a startling image of the inside of the USJ… with his class, and the villains, inside it.

Just as he was recovering from the shock of that being filmed and online, he received a text from All Might 

Meet me before school. Teacher’s lounge. Bring Uraraka.

______________________

Katsuki was unsure where he was, but he was absolutely certain he was not making it out alive. He held no illusions of being strong enough to take down someone who could wound All Might, or even one of those Noumu. If there was anything this past year had taught him, it was that a powerful quirk only went so far. Natural at fighting or no, he just did not have the capability to touch someone, or rather something, like those noumu. 

He knew it had been at least a day since he was placed in this chair, worsening his dehydration beyond what it should have been. Not enough to become unbearable, but trying to use his quirk in this state would be suicide. He only knew they had left him bound to a chair in absolute darkness, with no food or water. He found himself lucky he had not had to use the bathroom yet.

He instinctively shut his eyes when a door opened, light flooding his unused eyes with a burning pain. This was it. He was going to die.

“Hello, dear Katsuki. I hope you understand why you are here?” It was him. The voice behind Shigaraki, the one who wounded All Might. He slightly opened his eyes, the light still blinding but bearable at least.

“Cause I sold your precious student out. We both know damn well why you are here, so get it over with, cause I aint breaking.”

“Oh? You misunderstand. You betraying Shigaraki would have been annoying, but not something I would hold a personal vendetta in. However, you managed to betray him, as well as injure my granddaughter.”

“Don't pretend you care, bastard!”

“Because I am a villain?” The light obscured All For One’s head, but Katsuki knew he wasn't missing anything from the potato head bastard. “What a childish view. It’s almost refreshing. You are a villain now as well, or did you forget?” Katsuki flinched, which only made All For One laugh. “Yes, that's right. Despite betraying Shigaraki, you still attacked UA students. Congratulations, you completely isolated yourself.” The man clapped, obviously sarcastic. “You know, I saw potential in you. Not as a successor or even a large threat. You have a good handle on your quirk, and your combat skills are decent for a beginner. You would have been a wonderful pawn.”

By now, Katsuki’s eyes adjusted to the point he could see the smile on the man’s face, but nothing more.

“But nothing more.” All For One laughed again. “You would be nothing but a fighter, a useful one, but nothing else. In a way, I am glad you betrayed him. It means he learned an important lesson early on. Now then, I am sure you are waiting with bated breath to discover how I intend to punish you, hm?”

He leaned in close, revealing a full head of white hair, and piercing red eyes. “Dear boy, I could torture you for ages. I could break you in a heartbeat. I wouldn’t even need a quirk to do it. I could turn you over to the good doctor, and have you become a noumu, leaving you aware but out of control. However, I am in such a forgiving mood, I have better plans”

Katsuki could do nothing as All For One interlocked Katsuki’s hands with his own.

“You put so much value into quirks. Well, they are superpowers, I suppose. Still, pain would only push you. Let’s see what happens when you have to live with a reminder of your failures, shall we?” 

“Fuck you!”

He squirmed, trying to pry his hands away as the pressure increased. It was unbearable, each knuckle and each segmented bone in his hand slowly being crushed by the same strength that fought All Might in his prime.

By the end, his hands were mangled beyond reason, and he realized with a dull sob that he could never use his quirk without intense pain and damage again.

______________________

“Young Uraraka. I assume you know why you are here.” All Might asked impassively, as if he wasn’t talking to the granddaughter of a monster.

“I… I didn’t know, I swear! I thought he was retired, if I had known he would do something like this, I would have done whatever I could to stop him! Please, you have to believe me” His heart almost broke over the girl’s sobs, but he also felt a bit of pride as his successor glared at him while trying to comfort Uraraka.

“I believe you. In any other situation, I would say you should have reported him regardless, but given All For One’s nature, it is a good thing you did not.” All Might sighed. “How much did you know, though?”

“I… I knew he was a villain, and that he was injured too much to continue. That’s really it. That and his quirk, of course. I… think I kinda knew he was lying but…”

“He’s family.” All Might spoke softly now, nodding as she spoke. “I see. Well, while I do not condone hiding a villain, even one who is retired, I am glad you are on the path of a hero. I must admit, I have often wondered what such a quirk could do in the hands of a hero. Imagine, taking down villains permanently without harming them unreasonably. That being said, I know there is a hero who will be keeping his eye on you, so do your best, alright? That’s all I can ask at this point.” He could do so much more. He could expel her, he could reveal her to the world, ruin any chance of her being a hero. But… that was not the person Toshinori Yagi decided to be when he took up the mantle of All Might. Maybe it was right by the law, but it was not kind. It was horrible, vicious and vile. Had All For One traumatized him this much, truly? Or was there always a part of him that felt vindictive? He had forgotten so much of what he was like before he became All Might, or even before his injury. It had only been a few years but it changed his life so drastically it might as well have been a second life.

“All Might.” Izuku spoke up, hand still on Uraraka’s shoulders. “What about the video?”

Ah, right. The video of the USJ incident had been circulating online, deleted and reuploaded constantly. He wondered why the commission even bothered. You can’t beat the internet at information.

“Let the adults worry about that, alright? You might be recognized, but it falls mostly onto us. That being said, Young Uraraka! I have a favor to ask.”

She looked up, her eyes still watery with unshed tears.

“As I asked Izuku, I ask you to trust your classmates with your real quirk. I know I’m asking a lot, but I think-”

She interrupted him. “Of course! I was only hiding it because he… told me to. But now, I… don’t care what he says. He may have helped my parents, but he set those monsters on all of us.”

“That’s… very mature of you. Well, that will be all. You should still have a good ten minutes before class starts, so run along. And remember, leave the video for the adults. You should focus on your schoolwork. After all, the Sports Festival is coming up.”

The two scurried away, muttering thanks and rushing to class. All Might rubbed his forehead. This was a nightmare.

It wasn’t Uraraka’s fault, of course. She was an innocent girl with a dangerous quirk, likely manipulated by that bastard. He would do his best to treat her the same, but there was so much going on at once. He was happy his successor found accepting partners, even if he didn’t really understand a polyamorous relationship, but then he never even had a relationship. Come to think of it, all his friends were from work too…

“Something on your mind?” Nedzu smiled from his shoulder. He was not sure when the rat-bear-dog-man arrived there, but it was not something he was too keen to learn either.

“Aside from the utter mess that is the public after this? My successor just so happens to be dating All For One’s successor. I am trying not to hold a grudge, but…”

“That you are aware it is possible is good. That is the key to making sure you do not fall down that path. Besides, while she inherited his quirk, I do not believe she is his successor. That handyman, however… He certainly acted similar, as if his only goal was to amuse himself. Quite a conundrum, the video. I assume you’ve contacted the press already?”

“Yeah. I’ll be having a conference tonight, I was hoping you would help me out.”

“I would be happy to join you! While I am uncomfortable in the spotlight, if it will protect my students…”

“Sir, I just meant helping me plan, you don’t have to be part of it.” All Might tried to reason. He had no desire to pull his friend into a situation so unnecessarily.

“I insist. I have some things I needed to address as well, and it behooves me to do such.”

“No more games. If you have something planned, I need to know it. It was one thing when we believed it was just a group of ballsy villains, but with him around…”

“Apologies. I did not mean keep secrets from you…” Nedzu paused, looking towards the window. “What do you know of the Hero Killer Stain?”

______________________

“Alright settle down. We have an important thing coming up.” Most of the class was so shaken from the posting of the video that they did not even comment on Aizawa’s bandages. Good, that would be a waste of time. Letting the old lady whine at him was more than enough wasted time. “That’s right. In two weeks, we will be hosting the Sports Festival.”

“Sir… is it really a good idea to go through with the festival?” Kirishima, surprisingly, was the one to ask the obvious question, one Aizawa himself had asked Nedzu.

Of course Kirishima was undoubtedly worried about the safety, while Aizawa had known safety was the least of the concerns. With so many heroes, there was no chance of any realistic attack.

Instead, it was the perfect time to send a message. Oh, he warned his boss, but the man was stubborn beyond belief when he put his mind to it. More than Aizawa had the energy to deal with.

“Security will be tripled, of course. There is no chance of a villain attack in such a situation. That said, it's also too important to cancel. Your futures could be decided here, after all.”

“Our futures?!” Kaminari shouted. Annoying, but it led to his next point so he would let it go for now. 

“Indeed. After the festival, you will receive internship offers. If you impress a hero well enough, they may be willing to take you on as a sidekick right after you graduate. So be sure to make a good impression. In regards to the festival, training Gym Zeta is open for first years during this time. Be sure to do your best. This is your chance to show how Plus Ultra you can be.”

The rest of class time was taken up by breaking down the fundamentals of the internships and festival, but some of the class already knew.

It was only when the class went to leave that anything interesting happened, at least in Shoto’s mind. He already knew all about the festival, where he was going to prove he did not need his father’s quirk. It would not be easy, but he had to. For his mother. Regardless, it was genuinely surprising when the door opened and dozens of other students were waiting in the hallway. What a bother…

“Hey what’s the deal?” Kirishima asked, confused about why so many students were waiting on them.

“They’re here to check out the competition, I guess. Ya know, since we were already seen by the public.” Kaminari shrugged next to him.

“So this is class 1-A, huh? What a bore. I expected more from the class that faced real villains.” A purple haired zombie spoke. Shoto hid his reaction to the zombie well. Why did no one else deal with them yet? He had seen those documentaries on zombies, he knew they were dangerous, yet everyone seemed so calm… Better to not act yet. “I hope you guys are ready. Quite a few of us in Gen Ed failed the practical exam, and this is our chance to move into the hero course. Which means there is the chance that one of you will move out, too.”

“We do have a spot open, actually.” Yaoyorozu pointed out. “And I would be happy to welcome another member to our class.”

The zombie remained silent, turning and walking away. Ah! Positivity must be a zombie’s weakness!

“What a rude guy.” Sero sighed. 

“Hey! Clear the halls, damnit! I wanna see 1-A too!” A voice called out from the door nearest to class 1-A.

After a moment of some shoving, a kid with white… stuff around his eyes pointed at the class. “Don’t get full of yourselves just cause you already fought villains! 1-B aint going down without a fight!”

“Full of ourselves…” Shoto heard Izuku mutter, a darker tone to his voice than usual.

“So this is the famous class 1-A! I expected more, but of course you can’t compare to 1-B! Hahaha! This festival will just prove that!” A blond haired boy appeared next to the other. Apparently 1-B wanted to start some sort of rivalry. “Once we beat the class that fought real villains, everyone will know 1-B is the superior class!” Or he was psychotic. Shoto was not sure which.

“Are you done?” Izuku spoke flatly. Shoto detected… rage, in his voice. Strange.

“What?”

“We have lunch. You are in our way. Are. You. Done?” The rage was palpable now, something violent and forceful coming from the friendliest in class. Something was wrong. Shoto’s eyes caught Ochako’s, and they both nodded.

The crowd parted for the angry boy, Ochako and Shoto following shortly after.

Before they reached the cafeteria, they pulled Izuku aside, noting he seemed to be breathing heavily now, in an effort to calm down. 

“Are you alright?” Shoto asked, the hypocrite.

“Yeah, I just... “ Izuku sighed. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have gotten so angry, but they just..! They made it seem like the USJ was a good thing for us! You almost died, and they are playing it off as if they are jealous . I just…”

Ochako hugged him quickly, before speaking. “Yeah, I get it. I can’t blame em though. We all know what kinda danger we would face, even if we faced it a lot earlier than expected. And it definitely helped us in some ways, but they don’t see how it coulda hurt us either. You have every right to be angry, we were just surprised.”

“Yes, I was worried something they said got to you personally. Now that you mention it, making light of what happened like they did is rude.” Shoto was not as comfortable with physical contact as Ochako, but he gladly made the effort to hug Izuku if it helped calm him down. Something more was going on than Izuku was telling them, but Shoto would not pry, he had his own demons after all.

They stayed like that for a moment, each just enjoying the contact with the others, before they realized they still needed to eat, and rushed off to lunch.

______________________

“Doctor Giraki, how are you, my old friend?” All For One seemed positively chipper today.

“Quite well, though I am afraid my progress on the High End is still slow.” The doctor did not look away from his work, but he could still feel the pure joy that All For One emitted.

“That is fine. We will not need them for some time, now.”

“What changed your pla- Sensei!” The Doctor turned around, only to see the fully restored face of All For One. “My lord, it's a miracle! How did this happen?” He had tried so many different procedures to heal his lord, but nothing worked. The damage was too extensive, and too heavily scarred.

“I made a deal with Overhaul, as he calls himself. Quite the impressive quirk, perhaps the most overtly powerful I have ever seen.”

“Ah, did you acquire it?”

“No, no. I keep to my promises, and what fun would that be? I simply provided a… shield for his research. The child wants to eradicate quirks, of all things.” All For One laughed merrily.

“That makes me think he is an enemy.” The doctor pointed out.

“Perhaps, if he survives.”

“My lord?”

“He has already attracted the interest of Sir Nighteye. Without a doubt, either Ochako or One For All’s Successor will be going there for an internship. I have little doubt he will survive a free man, should he attract either of their attention. Particularly when they learn how he intends to achieve his goals.”

“He sounds like quite a fool, if I’m honest.”

“A fool, certainly. But even a fool makes for a good distraction. In the meantime, I need to... restock. Do you still have access to the quirk records?”

“Of course! In fact, there is a child with a uniquely powerful healing quirk, and the island he lives on has almost no heroes…”

Chapter Text

Toshinori Yagi had a problem.

His secret had been outed.

It was a difficult thing to accept, after years of hiding even his name from the public, let alone this emaciated form. He had been the pillar of society, holding back the waves of villains that plagued other countries. Even in Japan, before All Might at least, villains could attack at any moment without anything to truly fear. Prison breaks were relatively common, and even the death penalty, something Japan had to resort to for the more despicable villains, took enough time for someone to break others out. 

Then this absolute maniac of a hero starts systematically breaking down organizations and shattering any fear the villains caused the moment he showed up. That was the start of All Might. A being so incomprehensibly powerful that even All for One had to hide away from him. A man of infinite power, and infinite hope, someone whose very presence changed the world around him.

That was how All Might was born. Looking out at the crowd of reporters, he had to wonder if this was how All Might died. Toshinori Yagi may live on, but the legacy of All Might would be tarnished beyond repair, at least that was what he thought.

“Hello there! To begin with, I’d like to formally apologize for the graphic scenes that were leaked online.Due to an unknown hacker, our security camera records were stolen, though the criminals never got further than the cameras of the USJ, where the incident took place.” Nedzu sat beside All Might, having decided to start the address to ease the tensions.

One of the reporters stood up. “Chikasawa Mitoshi here, with all due respect, is calling it an incident really appropriate? So many lives were put into jeopardy from this, are you downplaying the situation?”

“Rest assured, UA is fully aware of how terrible the situation was, which is why I refer to it as an incident. During the attack, only one student was injured, by their own quirk no less. The only other ones to suffer any injuries beyond scratches were the teachers.” Nedzu responded calmly. “As I had planned.”

An overwhelming amount of outrage came over the audience of reporters, shouting and screaming at him. “You planned this?!”

Nedzu, in his usual calm tone, responded. “I shall reveal the truth of the matter. One of the villains who attacked the USJ had doubts about his decision, and came to me with information involving the event. The three things you must understand… Firstly, when the reporters broke into UA” Several of the reporters quieted down at that, but not nearly enough. “Somehow, the villains attained a copy of our schedule. We believe this is due to the warper, using the alarm as a distraction from our usual detection methods. Secondly, the attack was intended specifically to kill All Might. And lastly… they had a warper.”

“While those are all great to know, that does not excuse you putting children in danger!” All Might stood up now, bowing.

“We understand we have failed our students, however it is our belief that had we tried to avoid the attack, the villains would have attacked at an unknown time, as well as compromising our information. As it stands, we have a lock on the warper’s signature. They will no longer be able to infiltrate UA at all. If we had not sprung this trap, it is entirely possible they could have targeted the students when no one was around.” 

“You’re saying this was necessary?!”

Nedzu nodded. “It was. The alternative would be an unknown warper with access to UA, able to attack at any time, in any location. This is also why I asked for reinforcements from several other heroes during the attack. Unfortunately, that is where this man” Nedzu pressed a button on the remote on the table, an image of a man coming on screen. “Kai Chisaki, comes in. He stalled the reinforcements, and managed to escape afterwards. Judging from this, it seems our informant was already compromised, but because of all our actions, no student suffered major injury, nor were any injuries on the teachers permanent.”

“While I’m sure there is more, I have to ask the question, what happened to you All Might?” A brown haired reporter asked.

“Ah, this form of mine. As you are aware, I am growing in age, and my power is slowly waning. That is why I wanted to come teach at UA. If I cannot continue forever, I must do what I can for the future heroes!”
“In the video, one of your students, Midoriya Izuku, was called the ‘Successor to All Might’, what do you have to say about that?”

“He has the specific desire to take my place as the number one hero, and the Symbol of Peace. I’m unsure how the villain knew about this, but that is the desire of quite a few. Perhaps they believed with his power output, he was similar to me?” All Might hoped that excuse would work.

“I’m sorry, but before we go any further, I have to ask, during the event, the young man, Todoroki Shouto, I believe, was stabbed through the stomach, yet later seemed fine. What happened? Do you have a healer among your class?”

“It is our belief, confirmed by Todoroki himself, that a villain used some illusion quirk in an attempt to distract me.”

The questions continued, most just clarifying the events surrounding the USJ, or revolving All Might’s true form. So far, most had taken it to mean he had a transformation quirk, and there was no need to talk about his injury. There were a few questions about the students, as well as the Noumu, but they were mostly left unanswered, as the students were allowed their privacy, and the noumu was part of an ongoing investigation.

Finally, the last question was asked.
“Will UA be continuing with the Sports Festival?”

“Yes.” Nedzu clapped his hands. “As I have said, we have precautions against their warper, as well as increasing the security by ten fold. Five of the top ten will be there, ready to deal with any problem as it occurs. The villains would have to be fools to try anything.”

“You say that, but wouldn’t it be the perfect time for a villain to send a message?”

“Perhaps, but by doing so, they would become the target of every hero in japan, and several outside of our country. The Sports Festival is too important to our students’ futures to cancel over some overreaching fools.”

_________________________________

“That was exhausting.” Toshinori sighed, leaning on the table in the principal’s office. “They aren’t usually so panicked.”

“They know of your true form, and your waning power. It's to be expected, really.” Nedzu sipped on his tea. “You did well, I think.”

“What do you think the future ramifications of this will be?” He had to ask, curious about what he would need to do for now. “That reporter was right, after all. There is a chance they may use the festival as a way to send a message.”

“Part of me expects them to. However, if All for One really is in charge, I doubt he would do something so blatantly stupid, at least with his injuries.” Nedzu sighed. “Though I lied, it is not five of the top ten who will be in attendance, it will be all ten.”

“You must have pulled some serious strings!” Toshinori’s eyes widened. “Even Endeavor agreed? Him and Miruko tend to work alone, at least among the top ten.”

“I had a few favors I called in, though apparently it is thanks to the video that most of them agreed. Many already have interest in the students, in fact.” Nedzu smiled lightly. “Particularly your successor.”

“Hm. I had intended to see if Gran Torino would train him, but… recent events have changed that.” Toshinori sighed. “Who wants him?”

“In no particular order, Miruko, Best Jeanist, Hawks, and Endeavor are most interested.” Nedzu began to write on some of his paperwork. He always seemed to multitask.

Toshinori shook his head. “Endeavor?”

“His son is apparently in a relationship with Midoriya. He may just be overprotective, or he is curious about what you saw in Midoriya.” Nedzu frowned, looking out the window, his mind focused on the future. “I think it would be good for both of them.”

“That’s up to Izuku to decide.” Toshinori coughed. “Similarly, it's up to Uraraka to decide on Gran Torino.”

“Interesting, Sorahiko wanted her? Is it because her quirk?”

“I suspect so, but I think he could help her regardless. She hesitates too much about her quirk.”

“I suppose…”

_________________________________

There was only a week left until the festival. The main chance to be considered for the pros. The best chance to go beyond being just a sidekick. Beyond a side character in someone else’s life. More than he had always been.

Kirishima took a breath, before continuing to pound the punching bag in the UA Gym. He was alone for now, something he appreciated. He hated how useless he had been during the USJ. Not strong enough, not fast enough, not even durable enough. All he had been good for was a projectile. His plans even drew his friends into danger!

He took another shaky breath, before he wiped away the tears that had only just started to form. He was supposed to be better than this, damnit! 

“You alright?”

He turned, breath still shaky, only to see the last person he expected. 

Mineta Minoru tended to be at the back of the crowd, the smallest person who most tended to ignore unless he actually did something to get attention. “Whats up?”

“Just… thinking about the USJ. I need to get stronger.” Kirishima confessed.

“You? At least you did something.” Mineta grunted, a frown on his face. “I was useless, practically dead weight. Nothing new there…” Kirishima felt he wasn’t supposed to hear that last part. 

“Dude, from what I hear, you helped out a lot!” Not really, but he needed to say something at least. Most hadn’t talked about their time at the USJ so far, so he had no idea, but… “Seriously, this was our first real encounter with villains, everyone is expected to freeze up.”

“Midoriya didn’t.” Ah, there it was. Kirishima expected something like this. To be blunt, Midoriya was already becoming the central figure of the class. All Might’s successor, a genuinely kind person, and just an interesting guy overall. He knew there would be jealousy, but this didn’t sound like that.

“Midoriya is… Well, Midoriya. I don’t know what he dealt with there, but you can’t compare yourself to him.”

“You think I don’t know?! I just want… look at me, Kirishima, and tell me what you see.” Mineta seemed positively depressed now, but Kirishima did not want to abandon him now.

“I see a hero in training, who just experienced something traumatizing.”

“Not… I meant literally. I’m like, three foot tall. I know I’m not exactly good looking, too. My quirk is weird, my voice is just as ridiculous, and no matter how much I train, I’ll never surpass anyone else in the class in strength, speed, anything. I could have the same percent of muscle as the rest of you, and I’d still be weaker. I knew that when I came here. I knew I wouldn’t be the best, but I wanted to be something damnit!” Mineta was ranting now, but Kirishima knew he needed this. “But seeing someone my age already so far ahead… It’s not just Midoriya either. Uraraka, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, you, everyone! I was the only one who freaked out back there! I saw everyone being attacked, and I couldn’t even move to help, to do anything!” Mineta was crying now. “I knew being a hero would be difficult, but I wanted to be something . Anything that mattered…”

“Dude, you did. Whether or not you realize it, you saved lives.” What little he did get out of his classmates confirmed that much, at least. “You shouldn’t compare yourself to them, either.”

“I know I won’t ever match them, but seeing it so close and so firmly…”

“No, I mean… look. No matter how hard I train, I doubt I’ll ever be able to fight Midoriya or Todoroki. Those two have insane power, I get it. But you know what? I can do things they can’t. The same is true for everyone in the class. No one else can take the kind of hits I can, and no one else can use your quirk! You need to stop focusing on what everyone else can do, and focus on what you can do! That’s the way of a real man!” Kirishima clenched his fist, not sure if he was talking to himself or Mineta anymore.

“Thanks…” Mineta spoke after a moment of silence. “Sorry, I just… Things have been piling up recently. I know I’m just the class pervert, but I’m a person, and I just… I don’t know. But thanks.”

“No problem.” Kirishima paused. “Hey, want to train together?”

Mineta stared at him for a moment, slowly smiling. “Sure.”

_________________________________

Izuku, Shouto, and Ochako had gone on three more ‘dates’ since they started, and Izuku slowly found his doubts about their feelings fading. It was not as if he ever believed his own doubts, not really, but thinking of something over and over, regardless of how blatantly false it was, had an affect on him. He was starting to feel the tightness in his chest he had been hiding for a while slowly dissipate. 

He had always had these niggling doubts in his mind, but they had gotten better after he started training. Things only took a turn for the worse after the first training… Well, it was fine now. For now. He wouldn’t burden anyone else with this. It surely wasn’t that bad! 

He was fairly sure he was good at hiding it, even Nedzu hadn’t brought it up, and he seemed to notice everything. At least, he was sure of that, until Nedzu called him to his office. The hesitation he had before tripled between the announcement and his arrival. 

“Hello Izuku, come in, come in!” The mouse-man smiled gesturing towards the open seat.

“Hello sir.” Izuku did not stutter, but it was a near thing.

“I called you here because I have some news regarding the festival. Firstly, since you were the first place examinee, you will be giving the opening speech. I know you might be nervous about it, but if you speak honestly, I think you’ll do wonderfully! As for the second…” Nedzu sighed, clasping his hands together. “I’m afraid that as your arm is registered as a support item, you will not be allowed to use it in the festival.”

“What?” Izuku’s voice came out hollow, the tightness he had been losing over the past week coming right back.

“I’m sorry, but it’s the only way to make things fair.” Nedzu sighed. “That being said, David Shield is currently at work with what may be the final version. He estimates it will be done in two or three months. Supposedly, he is trying to make it able to withstand the entirety of One For All.” 

“Okay” Izuku spoke out, the hollow tone not leaving his voice. “I need to go prepare my speech.”

“Of course my boy, I just wanted to let you know.” Nedzu stared at Izuku as he left silently. Had he made a mistake?

_________________________________

“Once the festival is over, you’ll be going on week long internships. Normally, you wouldn’t have many offers as first years, but with the recent attack, your class in particular is being watched by top heroes. Don’t disappoint.” Aizawa tiredly spoke from the front of the class, his injuries from the USJ already gone. “This is your chance to announce yourself to the world, so keep the future you want in mind during the festival. Every action will cause a ripple effect.” 

“Yes sir!” The class echoed, before running out to the field.

His eyes rolled over Midoriya, particularly his missing arm, causing him to sigh. Nedzu was making a mistake, but there was nothing he could do about it now. If he were right, the aftereffects would displease his boss greatly. Not that it would be Aizawa’s fault, but still. 

It had been heartwarming to see the class accept Uraraka after she revealed the true nature of her quirk, some even asking if she could get them to trade for a bit. He shut that down quickly, but figured it would make a good exercise later, to force them to work better together. That it would be hilarious was not even taken into consideration… really.

“Shota! Just in time for the kid’s speech!” Hisashi shouted, although for him it was a whisper. 

His feet must have taken him to the announcer box while his mind was distracted, but he seemingly made good time. “I’m interested in what he has planned.” He sat next to Hisashi and stared down at Midoriya.

Finally, the kid’s voice came over the microphone, his voice completely firm. Weird, he expected the kid to be shaky, especially without his arm. “I won’t pretend I know what everyone else wants out of this. I want to win. Someone else might want to scout for future partners, or display their inventions. Whatever the case we came into UA by giving it our all, and now we have to do even better! Going beyond our previous limits, all of us! That’s what Plus Ultra means!”

Aizawa blinked, surprised. The kid was acting… strange. The speech was fine. No one expected a golden speech from a 15 year old who only just started highschool. It was a far cry from the ones at the 3rd year festival, but it worked well enough.

“Whoo!” Hisashi screamed into his microphone. Why they bothered to give him one, Aizawa had no idea. “After that rousing speech from Izuku Midoriya, let’s get things underway! Our ref for this festival will be none other than our own, Midnight!” There was a round of applause as the woman sauntered onto stage. 

“Alright! Let’s see what our first challenge is for our adorable first years!” Midnight seemed to be eating the attention up as well, though he expected nothing less.

Midnight spun a wheel with dozens of different symbols on it, before it landed on Obstacle Course. A good starting event, designed to thin the herd, but ultimately one of the more boring ones. 

It was only when his eyes rolled over Midoriya again that he realized what was so off about the boy. 

He was scowling.

_________________________________

The first event. He just needed to win, to be like Ba-

His armless shoulder ached at the thought, his visage twisting further into a scowl. 

No. He would never be anything like the one who took his arm. He would win, like All Might. 

He took a breath, trying to steady his heart. He had been getting angry rather easy these past few days, but he could worry about that after the festival. The moment Midnight said go, everyone shot into the tunnel, crowding each other in their rush. Izuku almost smiled at how predictable it all was. 

He leapt over them, making it just in time as the ground froze. “Thanks, Shoto!” he called out, using Blackwhip to launch himself through the tunnel, up above everyone’s heads. It was still hard to control, but for burst uses like this, he could manage. The real test would come later.

Shoto was already launching himself forward on ice, far ahead of Izuku, but not moving faster enough to keep that lead for long, after all…

“Here I come!” Izuku’s foot hit the ground, before his body shot forward like a bullet, his previous 5% launching into 20% for a single step.

...He had not spent his time lazing about!

In truth, he got the inspiration from an anime, but using a small burst of OFA at a higher percentage to launch himself crazy fast with a single step was amazing. His percentage in general had increased to about 10%, but he found using 20% in bursts was not too bad. It left him just a bit sore, but not enough to truly hamper him. He was catching up on Shoto quickly, until two giant zero pointers seemed to pop out of nowhere. His gaze hardened and he launched himself right towards the left one’s chest with another Burst Step. 

Blackwhip lashed out in a circular pattern as he twisted to kick the giant with another burst of 20%, knocking the thing on its back. Blackwhip stabbed itself into the metal frame, letting Izuku launch himself with it. He probably would not be using Burst Step with that foot again for the rest of the race, or until he saw Recovery Girl. 

Landing took a bit of work, as he had to roll to absorb the impact. With his right leg too sore for further Burst Steps, he was stuck with his left. Deciding he had enough of a lead now, at least on everyone except Shoto, who was nearly right behind him, he lowered his percentage, using Burst Step with only 15% instead, to make it last longer, but keep the speed up. 

Shoto was no longer catching up, but he was not falling behind either.

That was until Ochako came flying, literally flying, forward at a crazy speed. Her limbs trailed behind her, as if her torso was being dragged forward and the rest of her was forced to keep up. Almost as if she were falling.

He heard Shoto behind him forcing himself to use even more ice, and Izuku had little choice but to launch back up to 20%. 

Upon the second obstacle, an area with several platforms, but all spread out to force people to either jump or use the ropes, none of them slowed down. Todoroki’s ice created a platform for those behind him, but right now the three in front were too far ahead for that to matter. Izuku could just leap platform to platform, and apparently Ochako could now fly. 

Realistically, Izuku knew his chances of winning plummeted when Ochako revealed her new ability, but he would be damned if he didn't try at least. Others had been forced to slow down during the ‘pit of doom’ obstacle, but Izuku could not worry about them. He wanted to live up to everyone’s expectations, so he had to win!

Then he stepped on a mine, and was blown back with the sound of an explosion.

_________________________________

Shoto knew something was wrong the moment Izuku did not get up. That explosion was more about spectacle than damage, so there was no way it did actual damage to him. Ochako had stopped as well, turning to Izuku with horror in her eyes. Did she not understand it was just a spectacle? Or…

The memory of exactly how Izuku lost his arm sprang to mind, and the two both began to move towards Izuku before they even thought about it. “Izuku! Breathe! You’re fine, you’re here with us!” He shouted, not caring about winning right now. 

Izuku’s eyes seemed to have glazed over, tears slowly spilling out of his eyes. None of the three heard anything Present Mic may have said, too focused on this.

“Izuku! Come on, you need to get up!” Ochako was nearly crying herself. Her expression turned to steel, before she placed her hand on Izuku’s head, a pink spark coming from her hand, and a green one from Izuku’s.

Shoto knew what this was. It was the same thing she used when she gave him High Speed Regeneration from the Noumu, though it was a hazy memory. This seemed far quicker, though, as if she was just using it to shock Izuku awake. A brilliant idea, in his opinion. Having someone mess with your quirk factor was… intimate, or at least, intense. 

Izuku jolted for a moment, gasping, and glancing around in panic. It took him a moment to breathe and focus before he stood up. “Thanks guys. Let’s finish this.” His voice was shaky, but he did not give them a chance to respond, rushing ahead, able to ignore the explosions now that he was focused. 

Shoto casually froze over the bombs, giving Izuku the chance to avoid them. He wanted to win, but… he would not do it at the cost of seeing Izuku like that again. Ochako smiled at him reassuringly, so he assumed she agreed. Ochako began to fall towards the end again, and Shoto forced his ice to launch him as fast as it could towards the exit.

_________________________________

“A photo finish! What heroic displays of concern for their friend too! Everybody give these kids a hand!” Hisashi turned to Aizawa, turning the mic off for a second. “Please tell me you or Nedzu are going to deal with that.” 

“Of course. Nedzu considers him his favorite. A hero can’t freeze up like that, trauma or no.” Aizawa sighed. It was harsh, but it was true. Regardless of the reason, freezing up like that in the field would get you, and whoever you were protecting, killed.

“Good. He’s a good kid, most heroic I’ve seen in years, but he’s already been through so much…” Hisashi sighed again. “Poor guy. At least his partners stopped to help him. Too bad we don’t give rescue points during the festival, eh?”

“It did not help them at all, and put their leads in jeopardy. It was foolish… and heroic.” Aizawa admitted. “Still, they managed to succeed, so I can’t complain.” Saving and winning… that was the lesson All Might wanted to go over next, too, so it looked like there were at least three who were ahead.

An intern burst into the room, handing a list to Hisashi, before running right back out.

“Are they always so sudden?” Aizawa blinked.

“Yeah, they’re extra busy this time too. All the extra security.” Hisashi shrugged, before turning the mic back on. “Alright! First place goes to… Ochako Uraraka! Second place is Shoto Todoroki! Third, Izuku Midoriya!”