Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Not all men are created equal, that was a fact Izuku has known since he was four years old. Some people were born lesser than others but some were so much more. 

“Good work today, Midoriya,” his teacher said once the school day was over, voice quiet, eyes low. Izuku was used to being praised, so much so that it became virtually meaningless but he never would get used to the palpable fear that came with it. “You and Bakugou both will be great heroes for sure.”

“Thanks Sensei,” Izuku murmured back quietly, not thinking about how his teacher kept his distance and several chairs in between them. Didn’t think about how pointless those obstacles would be if Izuku really wanted to hurt him.

His quirk came in a week after Kacchan’s, some of the earliest in their grade. It was a psychic quirk like his mom’s but with more range, more power. He’d sprinted over to Kacchan’s the moment he got the book to move off the floor. Green eyes met red and they promised each other that they would be the strongest heroes ever, more powerful than All Might himself. Those were the best times, those early days when Kacchan practiced his explosions and Izuku would float sticks at imagined villains. Back then, he really believed that he could be a hero. 

School was technically over but Izuku was in no hurry to leave, he never was. The other kids always left as soon as they could, talking and laughing with their friends. Very few of them talked to Izuku, a few did but it was stuttering and full of nerves but most just outright avoided him. Not many were brave enough to really talk to him. 

“Deku,” Kacchan said, rapping his knuckles against his desk. Izuku winced as the sharp sound aggravated his headache. “You coming?”

“Yeah, just finishing up,” Izuku said, pen hovering over his high school selection paper before he set it down and put it away unmarked.

“I don’t see Yuuei on there,” Kacchan said with dull annoyance as Izuku slowly packed up his things.

“Selection isn’t due until Monday,” Izuku shrugged as he pulled on his backpack and exited the classroom. Kacchan snarled and caught up, ignoring how everyone in the school gave both of them a wide berth. Izuku wasn’t the only one people were afraid of. 

“You’re making excuses again, stupid Deku,” Kacchan sneered. “Remember our plan, we’re going to go to Yuuei and be the best fucking heroes there ever was. You have the power so you should use it.”

“I know,” Izuku sighed because he did want to be a hero, more than anything but it was more complicated than Kacchan was making it. He walked down the cracked and uneven steps of Orudera middle school, onto the broken foundation of the sidewalk. The school was still raising funds to repair the building after Izuku had nearly torn the gymnasium out of the ground during last year’s Quirk Day. He’d been banned from participating this year which was for the best, he probably could have levitated the whole building now. “But I-”

“ I don’t want to hurt anyone ,” Kacchan said in a nasally and super inaccurate impersonation of him. “Get over yourself Deku, as if you’re the only one with a powerful quirk around here.”

Izuku wanted to believe him so badly but Kacchan’s quirk wasn’t nationally registered at the highest threat level and he didn’t need to attend bimonthly government mandated meetings to make sure he wasn’t becoming a villain. The Hero Commission wasn’t calling his house once a month asking for permission to send him away to a ‘special place’ to hone his quirk. 

“It’s a lot, Kacchan, you know, you’ve seen it,” Izuku mumbled as he reached up to ruffle his hair. “You know I can’t always control-“

“Are you wearing that fucking cuff again?” Kacchan hissed, grabbing Izuku’s forearm and revealing his quirk suppressing cuff. “I should’ve guessed, you’re always so moody when you wear that shitty thing. Third fucking time this week.” He let go of Izuku with a huff, disappointment written all over his face. “How do you expect to be a hero, to control that power, if you keep trying to hide it?”

“It’s not like that. I, I just had a bad night,” Izuku whispered. How do you even explain that he woke up to his mom’s yelling only to find every single piece of furniture in the house, including both their beds, was levitating? He hated the cuff, hated how much of a coward he felt wearing it. But he hated seeing his mother’s horrified face even more.

It was uncomfortable and expensive but Izuku had been needing it more and more to keep his power in check. Most people couldn’t use their quirk at all while wearing one but all it did was lower his output slightly. He was starting to overpower this one; he really needed a second one or even some of the ones high level prisoners had which screwed into bones. Kacchan was either being kind or arrogant to act like he and Izuku were on remotely the same level. 

“You’re fucking useless Deku,” Kacchan said, stepping in front of Izuku and glaring at him. “Yuuei isn’t gonna even look at you if you keep wearing that stupid thing,” he said with a disgusted motion at Izuku’s cuff. “I can’t believe my future partner is turning into a coward.”

“This isn’t about you!” Izuku growled, stomping his foot on the ground which caused a nearby manhole cover to pop out of the ground and land with a loud thunk. “I want to be a hero, go to Yuuei with you but I can’t just pretend that my quirk is dangerous!”

“Then learn control, dumbass,” Kacchan said like it was obvious, like it was easy . “It’s like you aren’t even taking this seriously. What about the Bakugou & Midoriya Hero Agency, huh?”

“Well maybe I don’t want to form an agency with you anymore,” Izuku lied with a frustrated edge. “Maybe I’m sick of you telling me what I should and shouldn’t do with my quirk. I’m the one with the power here, you idiot, you’re just holding me back.” Izuku instantly regretted his words, wincing at the look of hurt that flashed across Kacchan’s face.

“Well fine then!” Kacchan shouted, shoving his hands into his pockets and stomping down into the tunnel near their house. “You’re right I’ve been an idiot to let a useless Deku hold me down. I’m going to be the greatest hero ever, all on my own and you’ll fucking regret it when you’re just a nobody salary man still wearing your shitty cuff. See if I fucking care!”  Izuku clenched his fists and did his best not to cry, he didn’t mean what he said and he didn’t think Kacchan did either but it still hurt. They had little squabbles all the time but they’d been getting more heated as his power grew.

“Kacchan, wait,” Izuku said, holding out his hand to pull his friend back like he had a million times before. Later, he’ll blame his turmoil over the fight for making him slow. If he hadn’t been distracted, it would have been nothing to grab Kacchan before the villain slurping out of the manhole Izuku had accidentally removed earlier could take him. But one moment his friend was storming off and the next he was trapped in goo, thrashing and screaming.

“Oh what a strong, young body you have,” the villain garbled as he consumed Kacchan, “I think I’ll have it, don’t worry, it will only hurt for a moment.” 

“Kacchan!” Izuku screeched, running forward and reaching for Kacchan’s familiar signature to pull on. He could feel him but with the constantly moving sludge, he couldn’t ensure all of his friend would come to him. This close, Izuku could see the tears gathering in the corners of Kacchan’s red eyes; see how he was suffering. “Let him go, he’s my only friend!”

He wasn’t thinking much at all when he deactivated his suppressor cuff. All he could think about was Kacchan, the only person in his life who wasn’t afraid of him and was constantly telling Izuku to be better. This time when he pulled, all thoughts of control and safety overwhelmed by his fear. He doesn’t remember much after that, just that it was loud and someone was screaming. There was one last flash of blue, red and yellow before the world went dark. 

Some amount of time later, Izuku jerked awake in an unfamiliar bed in a place he didn’t know. His brain felt like it was moving at half speed and he felt almost drunk with disorientation, he tried to sit up but found himself restrained to the bed by cloth ties.

“Welcome back, Midoriya,” a deep voice that was vaguely familiar said and Izuku turned to find an average looking man in a plain looking suit. “I hope you’ve rested well.”

“What,” he slurred, trying again to sit up. “Where am I?”

“Somewhere that won’t hurt you and won’t allow you to hurt others,” he said gently, stepping closer. The memories came back and he sat up more forcefully, stretching his quirk against the restraints only to fall back to the bad as his head was wracked with agony. 

“Kacchan! Is he-”

“Your friend,” the man consulted a clipboard, “Bakugou Katsuki, is fine. Two dislocated shoulders and a mild concussion were the worst of his injuries. The two blocks surrounding your location and the underground sewer system however, were not so lucky. Multiple serious injuries, buildings collapsed, streets overturned. You’re lucky you were so close to Yuuei, if backup heroes hadn’t arrived so quickly, the death toll would have been much higher.”

“Death-” Izuku choked, biting deeply into his bottom lip.

“You’re lucky All Might disabled you so quickly, all in all it could have been far worse. Still, we had to sedate you quite heavily with quirk suppressants which I bet has left you with quite the headache. Our research department was quite impressed with your quirk factor count, it’s jumped significantly since the last time you were tested.”

Izuku recalled with acute dread where he knew this man’s voice from. Mom would always angrily jab at the delete button halfway through the man’s voicemail pitch on the merits of Izuku joining the Hero Commission for quirk training. He pulled uselessly, hopelessly against the restraints.

“We’ve spoken to you on the phone several times about your induction into the Hero Commission’s Gifted Child Training Program, this time, it is not a request. With the attack you unleashed, you would be labeled a villain and placed in a juvenile correctional facility. However, we stepped in to omit your name from the incident report on the condition that you accept our proposal. Your mother has been informed and will be sending a few personal items later today.”

Izuku flopped back against the bed, head hurting but not nearly as bad as his heart. He squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head away. “Don’t cry Izuku,” the man said with a smile, “we’re going to make you into a great hero.”

XxX

“Young man,” Katsuki looked up at the tall, skeleton looking man hovering over him. They were standing off to the side, watching the chaos and panic around them surrounding Deku’s attack. Despite being at the epicenter, Katsuki was one of the lesser injured people and was thus being mostly ignored. It was surreal watching the scene, thinking that shy, scared Deku had been the cause. Deku had been telling him for years that his quirk was dangerous and as usual Katsuki hadn’t fucking listened. Now they were both paying for it.

“The fuck you want?” He muttered, pulling the shock blanket around his shoulders tighter. 

“I was making sure you were alright,” the man said, sitting down next to him with a grunt. “I saw you there, trapped before that other villain-”

“He’s not a fucking villain,” Katsuki corrected sharply. “He’s my friend, he was trying to save me but his quirk is a lot.” His knuckles turned white with the force of his grip. “I don’t know where he is now, some suits came and took him. I tried to stop them but someone used their quirk to put me out.”

“Yes, I saw,” the man said and Katsuki side-eyed him suspiciously, how the hell had this creep seen any of that, only top heroes and first responders were allowed in the immediate blast zone. “Are you worried for him, even after...”

“He’s my friend, my only friend, and we’re going to be heroes together.” He released his hand from the blanket to look at his dirt streaked hands, hands that had been powerless to save himself or Deku. “I need to get stronger, if I’d been stronger Deku wouldn’t have had to do what he did.” He clenched his fist tightly. “I’m going to be so strong that no one will need to be afraid again, of themselves or others. I’m going to make it so people like Deku with powerful quirks don’t need to hurt themselves saving assholes like me.”

“I see,” the man said as he turned to watch the unfurling scene. They’d probably be pushed out soon but Katsuki needed to watch a little while longer, he needed to see the consequences of his mistakes and figure out how he was going to fix it. He laid a large, emaciated hand on the back of Katsuki’s neck, strong but reassuring. “I think I can help you get there, young man. I have an offer for you, if you’re willing to listen.”

“Get off of me, you fucking pedo!” Katsuki hissed and the man reeled back, shushing him before leaning close and whispering a secret into Katsuki’s ear. His eyes widened and his breath caught. “ALL MIGHT!?”

Chapter Text

Katsuki couldn’t get this half broken car to move for shit. All Might had told him to clean up this beach quirkless as part of his training for One For All. ‘You’re pretty physically fit but you rely too much on your quirk, if you’re not in top form One For All will blow you to pieces!’ All Might had explained with a smirk. Truthfully, Katsuki thought the man enjoyed watching him struggling to move all the trash. Some hero he was, torturing a kid like this. 

He paused to wipe his sweaty brow; he hated moments like this where he was stalled and he couldn’t move. It just reminded how fast time was flying by. The entrance exam was only ten months away and while Katsuki was sure he’d pass on his own, he had bigger plans beyond Yuuei.

Katsuki kicked stubbornly at one of the car’s four flat tires, flexing his damp, raw hands to relieve tension. If someone lit a match right now, Katsuki would go up in flames with how much sweat was pouring off of him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw All Might watching him but when Katsuki turned, the man was back to casually, too casually , scrolling through his phone. Bastard was probably taking pictures. Man, wait until Deku heard that their favorite hero was a-

Pushing that thought aside, Katsuki threw himself at the car, gripping the steering wheel and part of the broken frame and straining with all of his might to just move all ready. He didn’t want to think about how Deku could have cleared this stupid beach with a simple wave of his hand. Didn’t think about how Inko Obaasan had explained with dead eyes that Deku had decided to apply for the Hero Commission's Gifted Child Training Program or about the blocks of broken buildings he walked by everyday. Didn’t think about that empty desk in school, in his life, that Deku had filled until now.

“Woah there, my boy!” Katsuki was jolted out of the roaring white noise in his mind by the car suddenly lifting. All Might, all buffed up was holding it above him as if it were no heavier than a box of pizza. He was smiling but it was dull and his shadowed eyes were concerned. “You’re going to hurt yourself.” Without the car to support him now, Katsuki’s legs gave out; he would have hit the sand face first if All Might hadn’t grabbed the back of Katsuki’s shirt with his free hand. 

“I had it,” Katsuki panted, “put it back down, I’m not fucking done!” He writhed within the hold even as his muscles screamed for relief. It wouldn’t be enough to drown out the guilt and grief, it never was. If he couldn’t move a stupid fucking car how was he going to get as strong as Deku?

“Yes, Young Bakugou,” All Might said lightly, tossing the car out of the way before lowering Katsuki gently to the ground, “you are.” He deflated to his skinny form and grunted as he sat himself down on the sand. “I’m sorry I suppose I should have explained better. I don’t expect you to move the big things now and I don’t want you destroying your body over something so trivial. We’ll build up to that, I’m hoping to pass on One For All in a few months and we can finish the rest then. We have time, my boy, there’s no rush.”

“What if Deku doesn’t have time?” Katsuki demanded, pounding his aching fist into the sand. “Who the fuck knows what they’re doing to him, I need to-to,” he fumbled for words feeling vulnerable which made him even angrier. All Might laid his stupidly large hand on the back of Katsuki’s neck but when he looked up, the hero was looking at the shoreline.

“If your Deku is half as determined and righteous as you are then he will overcome. Hurting yourself isn’t going to help him at all, I can tell you that from experience,” All Might said easily, still looking away and giving Katsuki a moment to compose himself. Hmph okay, maybe All Might wasn’t a total jerk. 

“You’re the Number One fucking Hero,” Katsuki whined, “can’t you find out anything about what those Hero Commission fucks are up to?”

“The Gifted Child Program is strictly anonymous,” All Might frowned, “supposedly it's for the protection of the children but I can’t even get confirmation if he was even inducted into the Program.” 

“Figures,” Katsuki spat, “when I’m Number One, I’m not going to let those shady government stooges get away with this shit.”

“Ah but the Number One spot is far, far away, my boy, also currently occupied,” All Might cheered, briefly changing back into his muscle form. “Now that you’ve had a nice little break, I bet you’re ready to get those muscles roaring again!”

“Fuck yeah,” Katsuki grinned, jolting himself to his feet with the help of his quirk and assaulting the nearest pile of garbage with extreme prejudice. In his head, he thought about all the things he would tell Deku when he saw him next. Apologize for starters then punch him in the face for sure, talk about how All Might was both the coolest and dorkiest guy ever also a total stickler. Maybe he might even tell the nerd he missed him.

XxX

“Again, Midoriya,” Izuku would have flinched but he was far too tired for that. Instead he just laid on the ground, the only color in the whole training facility was the blood leaking from his nose onto the cold, stone floor. He closed his eyes, chest heaving and head aching. “I said again, Midoriya, we have several more sets to get through. Get up.”

Izuku still didn’t move, too exhausted in every way a human possibly could be. He knew how it would go; they would nag at him some more, threaten to shock him, follow through with shocking him which would increase in intensity until Izuku finally, finally , got up again. He didn’t want to be shocked but he just couldn’t do it now.

“Midoriya, I’m going to have to shock you if you don’t get up,” Izuku braced himself for the inevitable pain but otherwise did not move. The last he saw it was 11:00, Kacchan would be finishing 3rd period and about to go to lunch; Izuku wondered who he was eating with now.

“Hey Nakami, give the kid a break will ya?” Izuku closed his eyes, relieved. “Go get some coffee and come back in five, he’ll be ready by then.” One set of footsteps faded away as another came closer but Izuku wasn’t worried.

“I know from experience that this floor isn’t very comfortable,” Hawks said, his wings gently ghosting across Izuku’s legs. His voice was light, teasing but Izuku had learned to listen to the sharp undercut of sympathy in his words. “Need help getting up?”

“In a minute,” Izuku rasped. He sighed as he felt a few of his senior’s feathers dig pleasantly into Izuku’s stiff and sore muscles.

“You can’t keep doing this, Izuchan,” Hawks sighed. “If the shocks continue to be ineffective they’re going to move onto something that will motivate you and, believe me, you don’t want to get to that step.”

“Then why don’t they just fail me?” Izuku whined, too tired to cry but he felt the tears building up anyway. “If I can’t control my quirk then I’m useless, why don’t they just let me go?”

“You know,” Hawks hissed, squatting down closer to his level where the cameras couldn’t see or hear. “That no one fails here, once you’re in, you’re in. You either succeed or they break you trying. Now you’re a tough little brat to have managed a power like this for so long and I know you’re not going to let them win. So you gather your strength and you run the sets again.”

“I know, Hawks-san” Izuku whispered, strangely comforted. Hawks reminded him a bit of Kacchan during these stolen, quiet moments. It made Izuku ache for the life and friend he had lost but also determined to live long enough to get it all back. 

“I’m off duty kid, it’s Keigo,” Hawks shrugged, settling back into his cheery persona as Izuku’s handler re-entered the room. “And hey look at that, right on time. Ready to start again, Midoriya?” He held out a hand but Izuku ignored it, pushing himself up bit by agonizing bit until he was sitting up. He felt like death warmed over but he did it, for the chance to see his mom and Kacchan again, for the chance to be a better hero, he would endure.

“I’m ready,” he lied as he shakily pushed himself to his feet. Hawks gently grabbed his bicep to help steady him. 

“Nakami, I’m gonna warm the kid up with some fine control exercises,” Hawks said before leaning down by Izuku’s level. “I heard you wanted to try to use your quirk in a sensory capacity like with my feathers. I’m flattered Izuchan, I am, and I really want to see what you have in mind. Took me forever to learn but I know you’ll ace it. Let’s give it a go.”

XxX

“Young Bakugou,” Toshinori said, walking up to the sullen teen slumped outside the principal's office. “They say we can go now, let’s go have some tea.” The boy was quiet leaving the school, walking to the nearest tea shop and spoke only to give his order. Toshinori had a great many things to ask his successor, why did he attack those two students? Did he not understand that One For All was not intended for bullies? But also…

“Why did you have the school call me?” He asked, sipping at his tea. “Would your mother and father not have been better choices?”

“They don’t understand and I’m tired of them pretending they do.” Young Bakugou glared at his tea for a moment before finally making eye contact. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked exhausted. “Look, I fucked up by giving them your number. I won’t give them another reason to call you again.”

“That’s not my concern, my boy,” Toshinori said uneasily, looking carefully at the child before him. He’d passed on One For All nearly a month ago and had been pleased by how well the young man had handled the physical elements of the quirk. But it was only now occurring to him that he didn’t know Bakugou Katsuki all that well outside of their training. “Why did you-”

“They’ve been saying shit, since Deku left,” Young Bakugou spat, hunching over deeper into himself. “Saying how it was good he was gone and about how he’d probably fucked off to become a villain. We’d argued about it but that was it. Today, I was leaving school and I saw them giving some kid a hard time. Deku, he was always defending people even when it had nothing to do with him. He wouldn’t have walked away so I couldn’t, I didn’t use One For All and I barely used my quirk but we got caught anyways.”

“I see,” Toshinori nodded. “The best heroes are the ones who cannot walk past injustice. I do not condone violence or quirk use on your fellow students but I do understand how you feel.” The boy ducked his head, muttering something under his breath. 

His successor certainly was rough around the edges, hardheaded with a lot to prove but so was Toshinori a lifetime ago. Bakugou Katsuki had the potential to be a good hero, a good man, and it was his job as a teacher to help him get there. 

“When I gave you my quirk, it came with a certain set of expectations. I trust your judgement, my boy and I trust your heart. Be wise with both when you use your power,” Toshinori cautioned, watching his successor bob his head in frustration. Was it at himself or at the situation? Either way there was a common thread Toshinori had been ignoring for too long.

“Tell me about this Deku boy,” Toshinori asked. “He must be a good friend to inspire you so much.” 

“Deku is Deku,” Young Bakugou said with a shrug as if that explained anything but he sat up straighter. “He’s so powerful, his quirk is absolutely insane but he never acted like he was better than anyone. Always so concerned about control and keeping people safe, it took seeing him lose that careful control for me to realize that his real strength wasn’t just in his quirk.” 

The boy talked, he went through cup after cup of tea, as he talked about his friend. He spoke of fond childhood memories, of quirk training, of the agency they’d planned to run together. Toshinori could see how emotionally exhausting it was for his boy to open up like this, he felt the same way when he spoke of Nana. But there was love in there and healing and hopefully a way forward beyond the pain and guilt he carried with him. 

 XxX

“Guess who’s the best big brother ever!” Keigo announced, slamming open the door to Izuku’s room at the Commission with a flourish. The boy on the bed squeaked and frantically began flailing his hands as if to hide the literal hero shrine that was his bedroom. The fact that the kid retained such an idolization of heroes after all the system had put him through was nothing short of miraculous. Keigo kind of envied him for it. 

“K-K-Keisan, what are you doing here?” Izuku stammered.

“Getting you, we’re going out for a bite. My treat, I have proof that I’m the best and we need good food to go along with it,” Keigo grinned. Izuku beamed, poor kid hardly ever got to go out so it really was a treat. He glanced down as Izu threw on a long jacket, covering up his quirk suppressors. Izuku’s wrists were so tiny, he wondered how much it had hurt to drill the cuffs into the kid’s fragile, little bones. 

“What’s this about Keisan?” Izuku asked once they reached a nearby restaurant Keigo particularly enjoyed. With most of his feathers hidden under his large jacket and in pockets, he was virtually unrecognizable as the Number Three hero. 

“You, my young, green friend,” he grinned, leaning over on the table, “are going to Yuuei starting in April.” Izuku’s eyes went wide, soaking in the information and searching Keigo’s eyes for any lies. Watching the hope and joy bloom in his eyes was both a treasure and a tragedy. “You’re officially registered as a recommended student in Class 1-A, with the HC behind you, you won’t even need to take the Exam.” Izuku, predictably, put his head into his hands and started crying.

“I can’t believe it, oh my god, Yuuei ,” the kid warbled, “I-it’s always been my dream, mine and-” he slammed his hands on the table and everything on it jumped about a meter in the air before they floated gently down. Jesus, he had two ‘pressors on and he could still use his quirk? “I get to see Kacchan again!” That got the boy crying even harder and Keigo gently patted his shoulders while assuring the people in the restaurant that his brother was perfectly fine. 

“Congrats Izuku, you deserve it,” Keigo said sincerely, he didn’t get to be honest much these days and it always was a treat.

“Bu-but how?” Izuku hiccuped, “every time I asked they said they wanted me to stay within the system, like you did.”

“Well you can’t be a hero if you’re cooped up your whole life, you won’t know how to work with other heroes and civilians. So I pulled some strings, talked to a few people, convinced them that a certain green bean I knew would perform loads better at the nation’s premiere hero academy and voila!” Keigo said with a snap of his fingers. Izuku was looking at him with stars in his eyes, he got that same look from fans all the time but this time he felt like he’d earned it. The look dulled and Izuku frowned.

“But you didn’t get an opportunity like this and what about the other kids in the program,” Izuku questioned softly and Keigo wanted to sigh. Commission just had to steal away a genuinely kind, heroic kid. Keigo’s time in the program hadn’t been a cakewalk but he’d been allowed outside, didn’t need quirk suppressors permanently attached to him, wasn’t continually pushed and pushed because they couldn’t find an upper limit to his power. And that, outweighing even Izuku’s happiness, was the real reason Keigo wanted him at Yuuei.

‘We can’t send him away now,’ Nakami growled, ‘we’re finally starting to get somewhere with the boy.’

‘He’s too valuable to lose to Yuuei,” Satamisha argued. ‘They produce great heroes, sure but we have an opportunity with Midoriya to turn him into something more than a common brawler.’

‘I’m not even sure they could handle someone as powerful as Midoriya,’ Rami mused.

‘What do you think happens,’ Keigo growled, leaning in close to the idiots who just didn’t get it. ‘When you torture someone day in and day out? When you strip him of his family, his friends, any outside contact and tell him he needs to become stronger? When you bend him so far he breaks?’ Rage coursed through him but he was experienced enough to know it’s root was pure terror. ‘You get someone who decides it’s not worth it to be a hero and takes the path of a villain. And if Midoriya loses his faith in humanity, then who in the hell is going to stop him? You?’ he sneered before pulling back.

‘You think you’re in charge but the fact is, if Midoriya decides to wipe us all out and we won’t stand a chance,’ Keigo concluded.

‘So we kill him,’ Nakami said without remorse even though he was Midoriya’s primary trainer. ‘If he’s as dangerous as you say then we can’t risk him becoming a villain.’

‘All Might himself was asking after the boy, you won’t be able to handwave his death away,’ Keigo answered with a snort. ‘He has the potential to be the greatest hero so remind him why he should. Let him go to highschool, make friends, kiss girls, be happy. Don’t give him a reason to turn against us, against humans.’

Izuku was so happy right now, hastily slurping down his soba in excitement to the point he was nearly choking on it. Keigo wanted to be happy with him, and he was, but he couldn’t shake off the lingering fear he always felt around the boy. 

He didn’t mean to but he found himself caring for Izuku, willingly came back to his childhood nightmare in order to see him and help the kid in any way he could. Keigo would do just about anything to keep him safe but he was a hero through and through. He never wanted to meet Izuku on the other end of a battlefield and know it was his little brother’s life or the world. 

XxX

Katsuki was acing this Entrance Exam, he didn’t even need One For All to enhance his speed and strength. It would be so easy to lose himself to the overwhelming power of both quirks but he reined in that impulse; he wasn’t that reckless, arrogant idiot anymore.

He blew up robots left and right. There couldn’t be more than a minute or two left but even though he had to have enough points to pass by now, he was going to fight until the end. 

A low, deep rumble drew his attention and he turned and saw a giant fucking robot tearing its way through the exam area. All the other exam goers screamed and started running away in earnest but Katsuki just grinned and settled into a firmer stance. Yuuei’s motto was Plus Ultra, right? Everyone was out of the way and he was looking for an excuse to see what a dosage of One For All did to his explosions.

He took a deep breath, slowly letting the foriegn power build up in his muscles, in his sweat. Not too much, he didn’t need to blow off his arms but just a little push should be good. His hands exploded . The size and force of the blast was so huge he was forcefully flung backwards, stopped only by slamming into the closet building a dozen meters back. It looked like he imagined an atomic blast would; an enormous output of fire and explosive power. The robot, which was taller than the tallest building, was blown back and absolutely wrecked by the awesome power. Katsuki could hardly believe that much power came from him.

His hands and forearms were covered in burns and it felt like he dislocated his elbows not to mention his back was fucked from the impact. There was a horn sounding which signaled the end of the exam. Thank fuck because he felt like he was about to fall over. He took a step out of the wall but his knees gave way and he should have hit the ground but a light tap to his back kept him floating. What?

“That was amazing!” A girl with soft brown hair said with a weak smile, she looked exhausted and shaky herself, covered in dirt and dust. “Thank you for saving me! I thought I was a goner for sure when I got trapped under rubble but then you ran past me and just blew it up! Here let me help you back to the main gate.” Despite looking half dead herself, she grabbed a hold of his pant leg before he could float any higher and determinedly dragged him back where everyone else was gathered.

Shit, he hadn’t even noticed she was there. Katsuki could have fried her six ways to Sunday if she'd been in the blast zone. He needed to be more careful in the future. 

“You passed for sure and I got a bunch of robots in the beginning so if we end up in the same class, just know that even though you’re crazy strong, I’m going to get strong myself and kick your butt,” the girl said with a wide, predatory grin. 

“I’d like to see you try, Round Face,” Katsuki grinned back. 

XxX

“Midoriya Izuku, aged 15, quirk is ESP with a level S classification,” Shouta said, dully reading the file before him before glancing at the nervous student. “Tell me why I should accept you as my student?”

Midoriya blinked, looking unsure, “I thought-”

“Yes, I know, the Hero Commission recommended you. As of now you are officially enrolled to start next week but I do not train weak heroes, I do not train heroes who cannot control their own abilities and I do not train heroes just because the government tells me to.” Shouta said with a bored huff. 

“Yuuei graduates such good heroes because teachers are given full license to do whatever is necessary to get the best results, including culling those who do not meet the mark. You have raw talent but that means nothing if you cannot manage it. You bypassed the normal Exam and thus have not met my minimum threshold for potential; so tell me why I should bother to teach you?” He continued, leaning forward a bit from his desk to convey just how serious he was. Nedzu might complain a bit given the HC’s clout but, in the end, he would respect Shouta’s judgement and allow him to expel the so called prodigy kid. 

So far, the boy had appeared to be meek, overwhelmed and afraid, that combined with his dangerously powerful quirk meant he was more a liability than he would ever be worth as a hero. Shouta couldn’t think of one reason to let a walking hazard like Midoriya, who already had caused one minor disaster, stay.

“Oh thank god,” Midoriya sighed, looking almost relieved by his pronouncement. Shouta blinked in confusion. “Since I can remember, everyone has told me I could be a great hero no matter how scary my quirk got,” the boy continued with haunted eyes. “But no one has ever said that I couldn’t, prioritized the safety of others over my power.” 

“I know who you are, Eraserhead,” Midoriya said, sitting up straighter and looking Shouta right in the eye. “You can temporarily erase quirks by looking at your opponents but you also have the highest expulsion rate of any teacher because you hold your students to such high standards.” The kid gripped the fabric of his pants tightly but did not break eye contact. “I’ve gotten better with my power and I think I could be a hero but I don’t need another caretaker hoping to make me stronger, I need someone to tell me when to stop.”

He stood up and bowed deeply, “if you agree to give me a chance, I will work my hardest to be the hero I have always dreamed of but if you honestly believe that I am not capable then I promise that I will drop out on my own. I want to be a hero but I-” his voice wavered for the first time since he started talking, “I won’t be made into a weapon to hurt people.” He finished, before sitting down and sniffling quietly to himself. 

“You have until the end of the first term,” Shouta said stiffly. “If you haven’t managed to control your quirk without those by then,” he nodded to the suppressing cuffs, “then you never will. Can you abide by that, Midoriya?”

“Yessir, thank you sir,” Midoriya beamed, looking for the first time like an eager high schooler instead of a burdened young man. 

“None of this sir business, it’s Aizawa-sensei unless I deem you too unstable to bother keeping. Now off you go, we’ll start working on your quirk Monday.” Shouta never saw a student leave his office so happy by the threat of expulsion. He narrowed his eyes, what the hell did the Hero Commission do to their kids? Might be worth looking into, for Midoriya’s sake. 

XxX

“Ah, explodey guy!” Ochako grinned, catching sight of her spiky haired savior as she entered her new high school classroom. “I knew you’d get in and first place too, not that anyone was surprised with your crazy powerful quirk!”

“If I recall, you said you were gonna kick my ass if we were placed together,” he grinned, something sharp and feral. “I’m ready when you are.” Ochako kept her smile up, refusing to back down. It would be intimidating trying to keep up with such a powerhouse, Bakugou he’d told her, but she needed to become a powerful hero. They were the only ones who made any real money.

“Please get your feet off the desk! The school’s property is not your personal foot rest!” A tall boy with glasses said, chopping his hands at Bakugou. They started sniping back and forth but Ochako was distracted by another kid entering the room, quietly like he didn’t want to be noticed. He was plain, green curly hair with matching eyes and cute freckles. 

“Hey welcome to 1-A, nice to meet cha!” She enthused. The boy gave a small little wave before freezing. Behind her, Bakugou took in a sharp breath and stood up, slamming his hands on the desk drawing everyone’s eye.

“Deku?” He screeched.

“Hi Kacchan,” the Deku kid answered with a wobbly little voice. “It’s been a while.”

“Oh do you two know-” Ochako began before Bakugou vaulted over his seat and got right into Deku’s face. Her and a few of the other kids stepped forward to defend the obviously scared kid until she realized Bakugou wasn’t attacking him, he was hugging him. It was one of the most aggressive, painful looking hugs she’d ever seen but a hug nonetheless. Bakugou was gripping Deku like he was afraid he’d disappear if he let up even a little and Deku was practically melting in his arms, grasping onto his uniform jacket like it was a lifeline.

“Fuck,” he cursed, sounding a bit wobbly himself. “I thought I’d never see you again, you damned nerd. How’d you escape?”

“I didn’t,” Deku wailed, full on crying by this point. A few of the others were stepping back from the emotional display; some were full on hiding themselves behind upside down books. “They let me come, I still need to go back on the weekends but I get to stay with my mom again.”

“Fuck,” Bakugou cursed again, holding onto Deku jacket even tighter. Ochako exchanged a confused glance with the angry glasses boy from earlier. 

“Class hasn’t even started,” a voice drolled from the floor. Ochako squeaked to see a man lying there in a yellow sleeping bag. What the hell was going on in this school? “And you’re already causing trouble.” His red eyes snapped over to the rest of the class. “Stop gaping and get your gym uniforms on, we’re training outside, now.”

Chapter Text

“What the hell did they do to you Deku, you look like shit,” Kacchan asked. It was just the two of them, Kacchan having glared at the other boys to clear out of the locker room and give them a moment. He glanced down at Izuku’s school uniform that he still hadn’t changed out of, couldn’t when everyone was around and frowned in understanding. “They’re still making you wear your cuff, huh?” Almost a year they’ve been apart and Kaccchan was as sharp as ever. 

“Cuffs, plural,” Izuku muttered, holding out his wrists to show off his new accessories. Kacchan recoiled and Izuku flushed with shame. Usually you only saw villains wearing these particular cuffs. He’d had almost six months to get used to them but he still hated them. They were sleeker, much more powerful than what he had before and, unlike the other one, weren’t supposed to be removed by him. After all this time, he was slowly getting used to the dull, constant ache from where the tiny screws dug into his flesh and kept the cuffs forcibly attached.

“Fuck,” Kacchan hissed angrily, “how the hell do they expect you to compete when they’ve fucking knocked out your quirk?”

“Oh I can still use my quirk, they just lower my output, but since I’m at Yuuei with Eraserhead, they relaxed a lot of the restrictions,” Izuku shrugged as he hurriedly started changing into his gym uniform. Reunions aside, they couldn’t stay in here forever as much as he’d like to. “But let’s not talk about that, how have you been Kacchan? I've missed you.”

“Okay, been boring without you around,” Kacchan mumbled, shrugging self consciously as he looked away. Kacchan was different in a way Izuku couldn’t put his finger on. A little taller, more muscular, but something about the way he carried himself made Izuku curious. There was a little something more in the electric charge of his quirk...

“Uh hey bros,” the red haired boy, Kirishima said nervously, poking his head inside the locker room. “Sorry to interrupt but Sensei says you need to be outside in a minute or you’re both uh expelled.”

XxX

Barely ten minutes into the quirk assessment and Shouta could already see who his problem children were going to be. Coincidentally, those children also happened to be this year’s heaviest hitters. 

“Holy cow man, you killed it!” Kirishima shouted seeing the score on Bakugou’s long jump.

“I told you guys, Bakugou is insanely strong,” Uraraka chirped as she mimed a few punches.

He’d been a bit surprised by the emotional display this morning but clearly Bakugou and Midoriya came as a packaged set, their interactions speaking of long familiarity. Thus Bakugou’s overwhelming power didn’t come as a shock, strong quirks attracted one another after all. He had raw power and a decent hold on how to channel it but he was reckless, angry and unwilling to back down from it. But like Midoriya, there was a sense of immense power coming from him that didn’t necessarily match up with his documented explosion quirk. It didn’t seem to be a problem now but it was something Shouta would be keeping an eye on, especially since All Might seemed to be interested in the boy. 

“Come on Deku,” Bakugou shouted for at least the third time since the assessment began. “I know you can do better than that! Send that ball into the fucking stratosphere!” Midoriya smiled shakily and wound up his arm to throw the ball.... a quite pathetic 300 feet. Shouta raised an eyebrow as he noted the score, did he even use his quirk for that one?

Midoriya was another problem entirely. In all his years as a hero and a teacher, he’d never had a student so dangerously powerful. However, watching him now one wouldn’t guess it. He had the opposite problem of his friend, keeping such tight control of his quirk he didn’t even need the suppressors to be horribly average. Shouta watched the other students shoot the boy questioning looks on how he could have gotten in with such a weak quirk. If the boy’s fears were not addressed, overwhelming power or not, he would never make it as a hero. Still, Shouta had promised Midoriya time to prove his worth and he would have it, despite his miserable performance today.

Though significantly less powerful than the disaster duo, Todoroki Shouto also had a powerful quirk. In any other class, he’d easily be the stand out student. Although, Shouta thought with a small smirk watching the boy’s frustrated face at consistently being bested by Bakugou and the others; it might do the Number Two’s son some good to realize he won’t always be the strongest in the room. He had regimented control compared to Bakugou but wasn’t afraid to use his power unlike Midoriya so right now, he was Shouta’s favorite student.

“Alright let’s look at the results,” he said pulling up the screen. No one was looking at Midoriya who was dead last by a large margin. How easy it would be to get rid of him now, make him someone else’s problem… “Oh and I was lying about expelling someone, it was a logical ruse to get the best out of you. We’re done, go look at the papers in the classroom or something and Midoriya,” he said walking past his most frustrating student. “Do better next time.”

“Yes sir,” was all the boy said, head hung low and fists clenched. What the kid needed was control but first of all he needed confidence. Bakugou came up from behind and gave him a rough but friendly punch in the shoulder, Kirishima and Uraraka trailing behind. Hopefully a class full of rambunctious students could help with that.

XxX

“Man, I hope day two is a bit less stressful than day one,” Eijro said during lunch. “I can’t believe Heroics today is going to be taught by All Might .”

“I know,” Uraraka said enthusiastically, “All Might is so cool, I can’t wait to see what he has to teach us!”

“He’s kind of a dork,” Bakugou said as he ate his homemade bento, “but his power is no joke. Plus he won’t pull any expulsion bullshit like tired eyes did yesterday.”

“You know All Might?” Uraraka yelped but Bakugou just rolled his eyes and kept eating.

“When did you meet All Might, Kacchan?” Midoriya, or was it Deku, asked quietly from his spot next to Bakugou. Eijiro liked Deku well enough but both he and his quirk was something of a mystery.

He knew Deku and Bakugou went to the same middle school and were real close judging by the manly display of emotion yesterday morning but they seemed like complete opposites. Bakugou was loud and brash and had a quirk that was so unbelievably powerful it shook Eijiro to his core. Deku, on the other hand, was quiet, kind of sickly looking and his quirk ... well it wasn’t bad, but it was kind of hard to believe he got into Yuuei’s super competitive Heroics course with such an ordinary power. Still, the way Bakugou looked at him yesterday, well, the guy didn’t do fear but he came pretty close looking at his friend. Eijiro shook his head, it was wrong to judge people before he got to know them. Luckily, he had three years to change that. 

“I’ll tell you later,” Bakugou said, side eyeing Deku before going back to his meal. Eijiro was about to ask Deku about how the two met when the Todoroki kid appeared out of nowhere with the frostiest look on his face. It froze Eijiro on the spot.

“Whose illegitimate child are you?” The son of the Number Two Hero asked Deku in a voice that cut like a glacier. “To be recommended to Yuuei with such a pathetic quirk?”

Bakugou spat out his rice, Eijiro thought he was choking at first but it looked like he was laughing instead. He looked a little manic about it too. Deku, who’d been pretty flat since that hug with Bakugou earlier looked like he’d been slapped. He ducked his head and started mumbling something Ei couldn’t hear. But wait, that meant…

“You’re the other recommended student?” Uraraka blinked, “I knew Todoroki was one and that Yaoyorozu had to take the Entrance Exam since both spots had already been filled. That’s really amazing, Deku!”

“Answer my question,” Todoroki ground out.

“Don’t be a bitch just because you don’t understand real power,” Bakugou smirked, having recovered from his laughing fit. “You shouldn’t be a sore loser like your old man.” Todoroki’s fists clenched, the right one frosting over a bit with ice. Eijiro and Uraraka exchanged nervous looks. 

“Don’t ever compare me to him again or I’ll show you how strong I can be,” Todoroki said with narrowed eyes. Bakugou’s smile turned menacing as he slammed his palms onto the table and started to stand up. Deku grabbed his jacket sleeve, holding him in place.

“Power’s no good if you only use it to hurt others,” Deku said quietly. Bakugou growled a little bit but dutifully sat back down and began shoveling in his food like a man possessed. Deku looked up at Todoroki with tired green eyes. “I know you’re powerful Todoroki but please don’t hurt my friends outside of class activities. I’d like you to leave now.” 

Todoroki looked like he had more to say but he was suddenly forcibly spun on his heels and gently pushed away about a meter by some invisible force. Bakugou snorted and Deku didn’t seem bothered at all, stealing a bit of Bakugou’s lunch like he didn’t just eject one of their classmates out of the conversation. Damn, you really couldn’t judge a book by it’s cover. 

“Deku! You’re so cool! Your name really does mean ‘ you can do it! ” Urararka chirped, throwing her fist into the air. Eijiro was inclined to agree as Deku started blushing and explained it was just a childhood nickname but, really, it did suit him. Eijiro clashed his hardened fists together. He had such great classmates. This was going to be a fantastic year, he could already feel it. 

XxX

“Are you ready for your battle, Young Bakugou?” Toshinori discreetly asked his successor during one of the slower battle trials. It was such a joy to see the young man here at Yuuei, in his brand new hero costume ready to tell the world he was here. He could almost see the shadow of the future hero he would become, the light from that image was so bright.

“Oh yeah, I’m gonna murder those fucks,” Young Bakugou said with a delighted grin. Ah, okay, maybe they weren’t there quite yet. 

“Your enthusiasm is, uh, admirable my boy but remember your ultimate goal, these are not obstacles but your friends and future colleagues. Fight hard but heroes don’t hurt others without cause,” he said trying to sound as wise and authoritative as possible. Maybe he should pick up a teaching book, perhaps consult Aizawa on how to temper wild animals. 

“Deku told me that too,” Young Bakugou sulked a bit before perking up. “I told you Deku got into Yuuei, that’s him over there. The skinny nerd with the green curly hair muttering up a damn storm.” Ah yes, Toshinori vaguely recognized him from that time almost a year ago now but he still must admit, the boy didn’t really look like a psychic powerhouse. But he supposed no one would mistake feeble Yagi Toshinori for All Might either. 

“Oh you’re up next my boy, do me proud,” he whispered as Young Bakugou stepped forward. It sure was to be an interesting match; Young Bakugou and the youngest Iida boy as villains against Young Midoriya and Young Uraraka playing the heroes. His successor had assured him that his friend was wearing powerful quirk suppressors but Toshinori couldn’t help but worry about potential collateral damage. He promised himself he would stop the match the moment things looked like they were getting out of hand. 

It started well enough, Young Bakugou laying out a rapid fire plan to Young Iida that pretty much cut the other student out before stomping off. Toshinori winced, they definitely needed to work on the teamwork aspect of heroism more. While Young Midoriya was mumbling a lot with his partner, it wasn’t hard to see his unease through the cameras. Clearly Toshinori wasn’t alone in his worries. 

In the end, the heroes decided to enter together as a team with the hope to separate Young Bakugou and Young Iida. Young Bakugou met them first, grinning and popping his explosions while talking about how he wanted to see how far his friend had grown since they’d last met. Young Uraraka floated herself above Young Bakugou, while Young Midoriya distracted his friend by mentally pushing him back into the wall. It was a delicate tap, he probably could have physically shoved Young Bakugou harder but Toshinori still winced. 

More talking back and forth between the two friends, Young Midoriya on how he admired Young Bakugou and wanted to beat him while Young Bakugou just wanted a good fight. It was clear they had forgotten the purpose of the exercise, too caught up in their own little world. They really did have a strong bond, Toshinori hadn’t felt that linked to someone since Dave, maybe even all the way back to Nana. 

“Man they are so intense,” Young Kirishima whispered behind him.

“I think they’re both a little insane, especially Bakugou,” Young Ashido added. 

Young Bakugou made the first move, a big right swing which Midoriya grabbed a hold of with his quirk and flipped his successor onto the ground. Instead of binding Young Bakugou while he was down, the other boy turned and fled. An interesting choice, Toshinori wondered what he had planned since Young Bakugou had mentioned that he was a smart one. His successor, predictably, gave chase. The smile on his face was a bit concerning if Toshinori was being honest but he looked so happy battling against his friend. 

“What is Midoriya doing, he’s hardly even fighting,” Young Kaminari said. “Guess he can’t do much with such a weak quirk.”

“No, he’s just refusing to use it fully,” Young Todoroki commented quietly. 

Young Midoriya came across a dead end and Young Bakugou soon boxed him in. He seemed annoyed that his friend was being so passive, so unimaginative in the fight. Still, Young Bakugou seemed determined to get the very best out of his friend. Toshinori felt the embers of his quirk humming as Young Bakugou added One For All to the mix.

“Not too much Young Bakugou, this is just an exercise,” Toshinori cautioned over the radio.

“ Don’t worry, I know Deku. Couldn’t hurt him if I tried but I just gotta get the nerd warmed up ,” the boy replied back before he moved with immense speed, enhanced explosions filling his palms. It would have been enough to take out any other students, maybe even some low level pros. But he was learning that Young Midoriya was something else entirely. 

The explosion rocked the whole building, the entire complex shuddering as a large portion of the infrastructure was removed. It looked like it was moments from toppling over when it suddenly, unnaturally righted itself and held steady.

“Are they okay?” Young Yaoyorozu asked nervously and truthfully, Toshinori couldn’t tell. The residual smoke and debris made it hard to see what was going on. Young Bakugou...

“Heroes and Villains, check in!” He said into the microphone.

“ I’m okay, ” Young Uraraka coughed.

“ Uraraka and I are both unharmed on the fifth floor, the building started to collapse but it must have resettled, ” Young Iida reported. There was no other response. 

“Young Bakugou? Young Midoriya?” Toshinori asked again, more anxious this time.

“ Deku and I are fine, let’s end this stupid exercise ,” Young Bakugou said dully after another few moments. Toshinori didn’t have to fake his sigh of relief.

“Yes, of course, the building’s structure is compromised anyway so please exit in a safe and orderly fashion,” Toshinori stated as the rest of the class settled down.

Young Iida and Young Uraraka got out without incident but an extra minute passed before the boys came out. Young Bakugou’s right arm was clearly broken though he didn’t seem bothered by it. He was supporting Young Midoriya who was breathing heavily and shaking. Toshinori knew a panic attack when he saw one. “My students, take a quick break while I get those two settled and we find a new training area.”

“But that one doesn’t seem too damaged,” Young Hagakure noted. “It must look worse than it is because even though it's all blown up, it’s still standing.” As soon as the wounded boys had cleared the area, the entire building caved in on itself and collapsed in a heap of rubble. The paper mache bomb forgotten in the chaos. 

As Toshinori rubbed his temples, he wondered if teaching was always this hard or if it was just these students.

Chapter Text

“Oh Katsuki, it’s so good to see you again, come in,” Inko Obasan smiled, opening the door and letting Katsuki into their new apartment. In order to be allowed outside of the Hero Commission, Deku had to stay on Yuuei’s campus and couldn’t leave without pro hero supervision. Still, it was better than being locked up and his mom was allowed to stay with him. The little apartment was still sparse with most of their things still in boxes but it already was starting to get that homey feel. “Izuku’s in his room, I’ll bring you two heroes something to snack on.”

“Thanks,” Katsuki nodded, slipping off his shoes and making his way back to the door Obasan had pointed out, not that it was hard to find with all the hero posters on Deku’s door. He knocked twice before stepping in. He wasn’t concerned, he’d texted the nerd that he was heading over after classes let out. Katsuki had actually been studying in the library for the last hour and a half, giving Deku a chance to recover after the battle trial but also to think about how much he wanted to reveal. Ten months was a long time to be apart, they used to never have secrets but now All Might and whatever Deku went through was between them.

“Hey Kacchan,” Deku mumbled from the bed. He had a bandana tied around his eyes and most of his hero merch was floating around the room. Katsuki reached out to push one but Deku held it firmly with his quirk. “Hold out your hand.” He did so and was impressed to watch as an All Might figurine, Katsuki’s favorite in his collection, crossed the room and deposited lightly in his open hand. The rest of the knick knacks went their own separate ways before settling precisely on the open shelves and tables. 

“You’ve gotten stronger,” Katsuki noted, gently setting down the figurine and grabbing Deku’s desk chair, sitting on it backwards. “Your control is way better too.”

“I guess,” Deku shrugged, taking off the blindfold but still avoiding Katsuki’s gaze. “I’m sorry about earlier, that was…”

“We were fighting, like we were supposed to,” Katsuki said before frowning. “I was the one being stupid, I’d missed training with you so I let it go to my head.” Deku looked up at him with those big watery eyes that seemed to read him down to his bones. It was both uncomfortable and relieving to be known so well. 

“I hurt you, I thought,” he swallowed, “I thought I was at the Commission, I just reacted.” Just reacted, huh? In seconds, he’d wrenched Katsuki’s arm until it broke, diverting his blast which destabilized the building then mentally kept it standing before pulling Katsuki down flat against the floor with his quirk pressing heavily down on him. All without moving a muscle. For those few seconds, he was efficient and deadly and the sheer amount of power he had wielded so effortlessly had been unreal. And that was while wearing two goddamn quirk suppressors. 

But neither godlike power or the Hero Commission could take away Deku’s stupidly big heart. Once Katsuki had croaked out his name, Deku came back into himself and immediately vomited on the floor before going into a pretty intense panic attack. He looked okay now, a little too okay which made Katsuki wonder how frequently Deku had attacks like that. 

“Recovery Girl fixed me up, I might’ve hurt you if you hadn’t deflected so now we’re even,” Katsuki frowned even as he said the blatant lie. It kept him awake at night sometimes, the weight of what he owed Deku. His friend stared at him before looking down to play with the bandana. Katsuki hated this, there was too much between them now: their power levels, All Might, the Commission. He just wanted to go back to normal.

“You said you were going to tell me about how you met All Might.” Fuck, of course Deku would go right for the jugular. He didn’t want to betray All Might’s trust but he couldn’t lie to Deku either.

“I met him after the sludge thing. Said he was going to help me become a better hero, he’s been training me on the side,” he said, slowly. “It’s been...” he closed his eyes and thought of teasing smiles, comforting words and genuine, solid support that he never got at home. “It’s been good, I’m getting stronger too. When I reach the top, I won’t let anyone take you away again.”

Deku grinned, not as wide or open as he had before the cuffs, before the Commission, but it was something. Seeing it loosened the knot in his stomach, just a bit. If the nerd could still smile at him like that, then not everything was fucked.

“That’s so great Kacchan, training with All Might wow,” Deku enthused. “Keisan uh I mean Hawks has been working with me too, he also came out of the Gifted Child Program so he’s been giving me tips. He’s been great helping me deal with uh everything.”

“No shit?” Katsuki asked, genuinely impressed. He was glad Deku had someone on the inside helping him out. “We got some good teachers, we better learn all we can so we can crush them when we open our agency.”

“You never change, Kacchan,” Deku sighed softly, before smiling. “I’m glad. I-I know a lot has happened but I’ve missed you. I’m glad we’re together again.” And just like that, things were easy. Maybe there were some things that didn’t need to be said, despite the break they could still be Deku and Kacchan. 

“Nerd,” Katsuki huffed, smiling himself. He wasn’t as sappy as Deku but, yeah, he’d missed his friend too. “We’re gonna get better and blow away all the other pathetic heroes out there. You and me, Deku.” He held out his fist and was pleased when Deku bumped it back. Yeah, this was how it should be.  

XxX

“I always say what I’m thinking,” Tsuyu-san told Izuku on the bus ride to their rescue training ground. “Deku, your quirk is kind of weak for a recommended student.”

“Oh ah-” Izuku flushed, tugging the gloves on his hero costume higher up even though he knew his cuffs were hidden. He should be honest with them, they were his classmates but the selfish part of him liked being seen as weak and mostly harmless. 

“Shut up! Deku’s quirk is fucking amazing!” Kacchan yelled from next to Izuku. He winced at his friend’s usual loud volume which aggravated the constant headache he had from the cuffs. “If you can’t understand that he’s the strongest person on this fucking bus than you’re stupider than a horse’s ass!”

“Kacchan,” Izuku moaned, embarrassed.

“Hmm,” Tsuyu-san said, tilting her head. “I guess we’ll see in training today but either way, your friendship with Bakugou is strange but very sweet.” 

“Right,” Izuku mumbled, leaning a bit into Kacchan’s shoulder as he continued to argue with the others about the merits of his telekinesis. He glanced over at Aizawa-sensei whose tired eyes were boring into him, a small silver key dangling in plain sight as a warning over his scarf. 

The Hero Commission had given Sensei one of the keys to unlock Izuku’s left cuff and manually adjust the level of quirk suppression. Izuku knew he was on thin ice after his poor performances in the quirk assessment and battle trial. He needed to really prove himself in today’s exercises or Sensei might force him to confront his power before he was ready. 

Izuku knew that he had better control now than he did a year ago because of the Commission’s training but the lingering fear of causing damage, especially with Kacchan so close once more, made every use of his power feel dangerous. He felt sick to his stomach and it had nothing to do with the cuffs. Izuku clenched his fists, he needed to be better. If he didn’t improve soon, Sensei would ship him right back to the Commission. 

His nerves only increased once they arrived at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint and the Space Hero Thirteen lectured them about the dangers of quirks. Tears gathered in the corners of his eyes at the reminder of what he’d done, of what he was still capable of if he couldn’t-

“Stop crying, Deku,” Kacchan whispered at him, gripping his shoulder tightly. “We’re training to prevent that shit from happening. Don’t look at anyone else today, it’s just you and me, like the old days.” Some of the tension leached out of Izuku at his friend’s words. He wondered what happened to Kacchan in the months that they’d been apart. Kacchan had always supported Izuku in his own way but he’d never been this understanding before. Maybe All Might-

“Stay together and don’t move,” Sensei shouted suddenly as Izuku caught a glimpse of a dark shadow in the middle of the USJ. “Those are villains!” There were several loud gasps throughout the class as they collectively froze while villains began piling out of what looked like a misty black warp hole. 

“What is this, part of the training?” Kirishima asked nervously and Izuku’s breath caught. No way, that couldn’t be; the Commission wouldn’t fake an attack on Yuuei to test him, right? He thought back to some of the tests they’d put him through at the facility and winced. 

“Where’s All Might?” A lanky man with hands covering his body said, malice radiating off his hunched form. “We're here to kill the Symbol of Peace, but if he isn’t here, maybe a few dead kids will bring him running.” Beside him, Kacchan growled and clenched his fists, starting to move forward like he was going to confront the villains. Izuku reached out to stop him but before he could, Aizawa-sensei jumped into the fold despite being outpowered and outnumbered. The rest of them were soon warped away to god knows where. He reached out one last time for Kacchan but his friend was already gone. 

Izuku materialized just above the surface of the flood zone and instinctively stopped his fall midair, just before he would have gone underwater. Was he alone here? Where were the others? He needed to get to them before the villains did.

“Your psychic powers won’t save you from me!” A villain with a mutation quirk shouted, swimming towards Izuku at high speeds. Izuku mentally slapped the man away before he even got close and watched the man bounce across the water like a skipping stone. I wonder how well my quirk works underwater, Izuku wondered for a moment. He’d have to experiment later.

“Midoriya!” He turned and saw Tsuyu and Mineta floating in the water not too far from him. “We need to get away from the villains, we’re going to reconvene on the ship.” She said before lobbing a screaming Mineta up onto the deck with her tongue. Izuku winced when the other boy hit the deck with a loud smack. “I’ll put you up more gently as long as you promise not to feel me up too.”

“Uh it’s okay, I’m good,” Izuku coughed, levitating himself up to the top. By the time he reached the top, Mineta was working himself up into a full scale panic attack. 

“There’s villains here, what are we supposed to do?” Mineta wailed, “we’re going to die here!” Izuku frowned, looking down briefly at the water before glancing back up at the central plaza where Sensei and the other villains were. The rest of the class was presumably scattered throughout the facility. From what he’d seen so far, the villains were pretty low level but Sensei had been up against so many...

“Midoriya, any thoughts on how to get out of here?” Tsuyu croaked as she crawled to the top herself. “The villains look like they’re getting restless.”

“We need to support Aizawa-sensei,” Izuku mumbled, “also find some way to contact the school. We all left our phones at the classroom but if we can get someone out maybe-”

“Well what about us?” Mineta screeched, grabbing onto his pant leg. “Who’s going to get us out?” The boat rocked heavily a moment later as the villains in the water had grown tired of waiting for them and blew a hole in the bottom. Tsuyu and Mineta yelped as the ship began to lurch. Izuku huffed in annoyance; he just wanted a moment to think before he threw himself into the fray but heroes didn’t always get that moment he supposed.

“Don’t worry about that,” he said distractedly, still eyeing the plaza where he could see multiple quirks being fired off at once. This was way too dangerous, not just to Izuku but to everyone else, for this to be the Commission’s handiwork. It couldn’t be them, the negative publicity alone would be enough to to sink them. And speaking of sinking.

“Midoriya, we’re almost to the water, we need to come up with a plan!” Tsuyu said with the slightest edge of hysteria in her voice. Izuku measured the distance from here to the shore and stretched out his hands. Guess he needed to deal with this minor problem before he could tackle the bigger stuff. 

“It’s okay, I got it,” he said with a reassuring smile as the water started to flood the deck but it never reached them. Izuku found the shortest distance to the shore and with a wave of his hands, split the flood zone in two with a small walking path straight down the middle. His quirk held the two enormous waves steady, not wavering at all, along with the villains trapped inside. “Come on, let’s go. I’m worried about the others.” Izuku motioned, hopping off the boat and onto the now dry floor bed.  

“I guess that’s why you were recommended,” Tsuyu said quietly, dragging a speechless Mineta with her. Both of them were looking at the trapped waves with awe. Izuku frowned, looking up at easily supported waves. Was that too much? He sometimes had a hard time understanding what was a normal amount of quirk use for people. 

“This is incredible!” Mineta shouted, eyes still locked on the towering waves held up by will alone. “Why the hell did you nearly fail the first day? Have you always been able to do this?”

“Uh yeah, pretty much,” Izuku deflected, glancing down at his still covered wrists. Aizawa-sensei’s key to unlock his cuff flashed through his mind. It’s true he needed more experience using a higher percentage of his quirk but he’s not sure he was ready to risk his classmates’ safety or their good opinion of him. If they considered splitting the flood zone a lot of power then maybe he wouldn’t need to mess with the cuffs to get out of this.

It didn’t take them long to reach the shore where Izuku let loose the waves, the water crashing together violently. And if he’d subtly moved the villains in the water so that they'd collide forcefully and knock each other out, well, no one had to know. Feeling a little more confident, he smiled at Tsuyu and Mineta.“We’re going to be heroes, we can’t turn our backs now. I say we go help Aizawa-sensei and the others.”

“You want to fight more villains?” Mineta squeaked, avoiding the splash as the water settled back into its normal, non-suspended state.

“He’s right, we should be trying to escape,” Tsuyu said slowly, “but we can see who we can help on our way to the exit. Come on, Mineta,” she continued, dragging their shorter classmate along. Izuku led them towards the sound of fighting coming from the main plaza where they spotted their teacher right away. It was plain to see that Eraserhead was being steadily worn down by the onslaught but he never stopped moving, never looked like he was going to give up. Izuku’s heart swelled with pride and understanding. This is what it meant to be a pro hero.

“Let’s lighten his load a bit,” Izuku said, forcing back the large number of villains surrounding Sensei with a wave of his hand. Eraserhead, hunched over and breathing hard, looked over at them.

“Don’t worry about me, you need to get to safety,” Aizawa-sensei panted, readying himself for another attack. “I’ll give you time to escape.”

“We’re not at the boss fight yet, we shouldn’t need to bring out our ultimate weapon for a bunch of NPCs,” the man with hands on his body hissed, turning towards Izuku and the others. “Hmm while it’d be fun to watch Eraserhead wear himself down, it’d be even more fun to watch him die defending you stupid brats. Noumu,” a tall, nightmarish creature behind him looked up, “kill the kids and make it ugly.” 

The Noumu sped forward towards them with impossible speed. Izuku put his hands out to keep the thing away but he could barely get it to slow down. The Noumu put one foot down in front of the other, slower than before but it would be upon them before long. Izuku grit his teeth and put more power into his quirk. He could see the strain from the Noumu, see the ground cracking underneath it from the force it took for the creature to advance. He pushed harder until the prickling shocks of the cuffs told him he’d reached his allowed limit and the beast was only a meter away. Shit, he needed more power, power he could see but not grasp. It was like looking at the ocean through a chainlink fence, so close yet so far. 

“Midoriya! Move!” Everything happened so fast and yet seemed to occur in slow motion. The Noumu was close enough to reach him but Izuku refused to back down, too frustrated and too shocked to find an opponent that he couldn’t overpower. He didn’t think of moving, of running until the creature’s arm was bearing down on him and it was far too late to do anything but watch. This was where he die-

Red, an enormous splash of red exploded in front of Izuku. It stained his costume, his face, some got in his mouth and he spat it out instinctively. It tasted like iron. He felt far away from his body; he could see but he couldn’t process what his eyes were telling him. The ground was trembling beneath him, only he looked down and saw that he was the one who was shaking. His gloves were stained red, drip, drip, dripping blood all over the place. Blood, it was blood but it wasn’t his. 

“Now that’s what I call a cut scene,” the hand man said with a cruel, throaty laugh. “You still alive there, Eraserhead? I hope so, I want you to see how useless your sacrifice was. Noumu, finish the kid off. See how confident he feels against a real monster.” Izuku couldn’t breathe, his hands were shaking and he couldn’t focus. Sensei, he’d… he wasn’t moving on the ground but oh god there was so much blood. Tears stung in his eyes, if he’d just moved in time then Sensei wouldn’t have... 

The Noumu swung it’s arm down again but Izuku wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. He levitated him and his teacher away as fast as he could, reaching the other end of the plaza by the time the Noumu’s arm shattered the ground where Izuku had previously been standing. Sensei still wasn’t moving.

A stark clarity cut through the fog as Izuku observed the scene. Eraserhead was down (not dead oh God please not dead). He had no idea about Thirteen but they weren’t a combat oriented hero anyway. The others were untrained students with no way to contact the main campus, trapped with a monster that was said to rival All Might. He didn’t have time to hesitate, Izuku needed to end this quickly and make sure no one else was hurt. 

With a flick of his wrist, the key came loose from around around Sensei’s neck. It was tacky with blood but so was Izuku by this point. He ripped off the glove of his left hand, exposing the suppression cuff and inserted the bloodied key into the lock. With a twist, the outer case opened, exposing the inner mechanics and the insertion points where the cuff was attached to him. He didn’t know how much power he’d need to fight this monster so the whole thing needed to come off. How many times he’d dreamed of ripping these things off? He’d always known that he could but never mentioned it to his handlers for emergencies just like this. 

“You talk about monsters and weapons,” Izuku spat, tears streaming down his face, blocking out the pain as he slowly, agonizingly used his quirk to pull the screws through bones, muscles and skin. The villain didn’t move, watching with a heavy gaze as Izuku removed the cuff with a final gasp. He heaved, staggering a little bit from the pain but also the sudden rush of power as he threw away the useless hunk of metal. His range widened considerably as he went from standing behind a fence around his quirk to wading knee deep in it. 

“But you don’t know anything,” he continued ominously, the air feeling electric and heavy around him. An invisible wind ruffled his hair and clothes, the debris littering the ground around them began to float as his quirk stretched out after being confined for so long. He clamped his right hand around his left wrist, trying to stem the bleeding from the wounds. It was hard to tell where his blood began and Sensei’s ended but he knew whose blood was soon to decorate the floors. “Because you haven’t met me.” 

XxX

“Come on!” Katsuki shouted, exploding another villain in the face until they collapsed in a heap.”I don’t have time for this shit, I’ve got to get to Deku!”

“Bakugou, I hear you but you need to calm down,” that shitty haired Kirishima said, chopping his hardened arm into some loser’s throat. On any other occasion, Katsuki would be more impressed with the guy’s tenacity and killer punches but the feeling of impending doom was drowning all that out. 

“You don’t understand,” Katsuki hissed, kicking some fucker in the balls just to let out some aggression. “You don’t know Deku like I do, he needs me!” It felt like it had that day with the sludge villain: both of them up against a wall, no chance of escape and an easy excuse for Deku to unleash that uncontrollable quirk of his. Just the memory of the power, the blank look in his friend’s eyes before he’d let loose... Shit, he couldn’t let that happen again.

“I know you’re worried for your friend and that’s so manly of you but the whole class plus our teachers are up against these guys too,” Kirishima said, giving Katsuki such a wide eyed, earnest look along with a shoulder pat. “I know Midoriya’s strong enough to handle himself.”

“Oh he can fucking handle himself all right, that’s the fucking problem!” Katsuki shouted, glaring down at the unconscious thugs at their feet before sprinting outside the stupid broken building they’d been transported to. God he had no idea where they were, he couldn’t even see the front fucking doors from here. Deku could be anywhere with no one there to reel him back when he inevitably tried to save everyone. 

“Fuck!” He shouted at nothing in particular, clenching his fists. It had been almost a year, he’d trained his body and his quirk, he’d received One For All and had All Might’s support and yet he was still so goddamn powerless. He hadn’t changed a fucking bit, still too slow and too weak to keep up with Deku. 

“Bakugou man,” Kirishima said quietly, “we’re all stressed but it's gonna be okay.”

“Oh you’re here,” he glared as Half n’ Half sauntered over a broken building, half of his body frozen in ice with sheer cold radiating off him. “The villains told me the League has a weapon they believe can destroy All Might. We’re just the bait to bring him here.”

“Fuck,” Katsuki cursed again, quieter this time. Did All Might use up all his time today? That had to be why he didn’t show up for the class. He frowned, even if All Might had time left he was still at the end of his rope, broken and hanging on through sheer will alone since he’d passed on One For All. As much as he wanted his mentor here, he also wanted him far away from anything these fuckers had planned. “Can you get us back to the entrance, I need to find Deku.”

“Why do you need to find him so bad? He doesn’t need you to hold his hand,” Half n’ Half said with a bored look and Katsuki wanted to scream because no one understood the fucking time bomb they had with them.

“I don’t need to hold his fucking hand I need to hold him back!” He shouted. A loud boom resonated throughout the facility, blowing the three of them back a bit. The air became heavy, stifling, like Uraraka’s quirk only in reverse, making gravity so much heavier. “Goddamnit Deku.” 

There wasn’t much time to do anything else because his body became frozen, he couldn’t so much as wiggle his pinky fingers. There was no use fighting it, he knew the feel of Deku’s quirk almost as well as his own and there was no breaking free of it.

“What the hell?” Kirishima shouted, trying vainly to move. Katsuki wasn’t given the chance to explain when the three of them were violently pulled in a single direction like they had some sort of invisible rope around them. As they sped closer to their destination, he could see the others in the class being given the same treatment. He hoped he had time to defuse Deku before he really started wrecking shit. 

They stopped suddenly, the whiplash of moving at high speeds to stopping dead throwing off his balance for a moment. He looked around, they were back at the main gate again and it looked like the entire class was here, including Deku. 

Jesus Christ, Deku.

“Holy shit man what happened to you?” Kirishima breathed out fearfully. Deku was absolutely covered in blood, his stupid ass costume was mostly intact so it probably wasn’t his but still he made for a terrifying figure. Especially with his hair lightly floating from his barely contained power. 

“That’s 18 students minus Iida who ran back to school and two teachers, that means the other 71 people here are villains,” Deku said softly, so soft Katsuki could barely hear him. “Is anyone hurt?” 

“No, I believe we’re all fine,” Ponytail said nervously. Clearly someone had some fucking brains to sense the danger radiating off Deku like a goddamn furnace.

“Deku,” Katsuki said, keeping his voice low and even as he stepped forward. He glanced down and saw Deku was missing his left glove exposing his naked wrist, free of the cuff. Shit, this was bad, he needed to get Deku out of here. Goddammit, he hated being the voice of reason. “We’re all here. We can leave now and wait for the heroes to come and take care of the riff raff.”

“They hurt Aizawa-sensei with a monster that can kill All Might,” Deku growled, turning to Katsuki with wild almost glowing green eyes. The whole building seemed to tremble as he spoke, a few of the others behind him huddled together, afraid and confused. Deku smiled then and Katsuki knew it was all over. “But they’re not going to get the chance to even try because I’m going to kill it first.”

“De-Deku, come on let’s go,” Uraraka said, holding out one shaking hand. “Come on, you’re scaring us.” She was brave, he had to give her that, stupid but brave. Turning to look at her, Katsuki saw what had caused Deku to lose it. Frog girl and the Purple fucker were supporting Aizawa-sensei, or what was left of him, who was covered in blood and about two heartbeats from kicking it. The other two were pale as death, watching Deku like he was the receding tides before a massive tsunami.

“You little shit!” the Hand fucker from earlier shouted from the plaza. He was looking pretty rough himself, half of the hands that covered him had been knocked off and he was overall battered. “You think you can stand up to my Noumu? It’s gonna rip you and all your little friends apart like it did your stupid teach-” his threat was cut off by all his limbs twisting horribly until they snapped like twigs. He collapsed, still raging and screaming.

“Yes, where did that Noumu go,” Deku said casually, too casually. “I tore it in half but it was already knitting itself back together the last I saw.” 

“Noumu!” the hand villain shrieked, “Come! Kill!” 

“There you are,” Deku grinned, raising his arms and pulling half a broken building out from the ruins zone and slamming it into the black monstrosity that was speeding towards them. “Everyone has a limit and I’m going to find yours, bastard.” The Noumu shook off the attack and continued back towards them but Deku easily broke apart a portion of the plaza and more buildings from the ruins zone and buried the monster in it. 

The whole building was shuddering with the ferocity of the attacks. The glass above them shattered and fell towards them but Deku deflected it away, aiming it at the Noumu who howled as the glass tore into it until the thing was barely in one piece. Before their eyes, it healed itself and came after them again.

“Kurogiri,” the Hand villain gasped in anger and pain. “We’re done, get us out of here!”

“Oh if you mean the man with the warp gate,” Deku shrugged, dodging a swipe from the monster. “He’s a bit occupied; I’m holding him and all the other villains down by the mountain zone. Far enough away that they can’t interfere and won’t be caught in the crossfire. He’s a bit tricky to hold onto but once you know where to grab, it's almost too easy.”

“Deku!” Katsuki shouted, stomping forward and grabbing Deku by his arm. This had gone too far, he needed to end this before it got any worse. “We’re leaving! Remember what happened with the sludge guy! Snap the fuck out of it!” 

Deku’s eyes dimmed, just a bit, “Kacchan?” He said quietly. “You’re right, it’s not safe for you all here. I’ll take care of this quickly, Iida should be bringing more heroes to take care of you soon.” And that's how Katsuki found himself being flung by Deku’s quirk for the second time that day, the whole group of them being deposited gently far outside the building. Goddamn Deku and his stupid hero complex; if he thinks he can get rid of Katsuki that easily-

“Holy fuck,” the Tape Guy said under his breath. “How is that the same guy who couldn’t throw a ball?”

“I have returned with reinforcements!” Glasses said, coming to a halt in front of them. A whole host of heroes were bringing up the rear, speeding past them towards the USJ. “What happened? Why are you all out here?” He glanced around, “where’s Midoriya?”

Before anyone could answer, a loud series of cracks resonated across the ground surrounding the facility. The whole building shook and shuddered violently until... The pro heroes stopped in their tracks, some even taking a step or two backwards. They all couldn’t move, struck by awe and fear as the enormous building was ripped out of the ground, the wires and piping underneath pulled apart by immeasurable power. 

“Mon Dieu,” Sparkle Guy whispered shakily, echoing everyone’s thoughts as they watched the building slowly rise into the sky. 

XxX

Toshinori sped as fast as he could towards the facility where villains dared to attack his students, his successor but still he was only keeping pace with the others. He’d been lying to Nedzu, Recovery Girl and Young Bakugou but Toshinori could feel that his time with One For All was just about gone, not more than wisps of smoke by this point. In the months since he’d handed off the quirk he’d felt its power grow dimmer and dimmer. It was a fate he had accepted the moment he’d chosen Young Bakugou as the ninth holder but, dammit, he needed just a little more time.

“Take care of the students, I’ll handle the rest!” He told his fellows, jumping past the children and oh god Aizawa as he entered the facility. The USJ looked every bit the disaster zone it was supposed to replicate with various parts of the building strewn around, fire and water and bits of debris everywhere. 

“All Might! Look out!” He turned to see a hulking black monster with an exposed brain rushing towards him. Toshinori braced for impact but the monster wrenched to a stop before it could reach him, thrashing at invisible bonds before it was violently thrown away. “You need to get out of here, that Noumu creature is strong. They came here to kill you!”

Young Midoriya was almost unrecognizable from the shy and cautious young man he’d come to know. Between the blood covering him, the glowing green eyes and the ominous swell of power as the boy hovered high above him, Toshi could have easily mistaken him for a villain. “I have the rest of the villains contained but I can’t keep this thing down!”

“Young Midoriya,” Toshinori said, looking for a tone between gentle and stern which he usually reserved for twitchy villains with hostages. “It’s okay, you’ve done well but now I am here. Let me take care of this and go wait outside with your classmates.”

“No,” the boy said resolutely and the building quaking with his determination. “Sensei got hurt because of me and I won’t let these monsters hurt anyone else. I need to get the fight away from them.” That said, the shuddering in the building increased like an enormous earthquake centered just on this area. 

The sound of shrieking, tearing metal and the rumble of the ground beneath them coupled with the view outside confirmed what Toshinori had feared. He’d always privately considered One For All and it’s counterpart to be the world’s most powerful quirks but in the face of a boy who could lift a place as huge as the USJ with just his mind, he had to wonder if that was true.

‘So this is the one Young Bakugou wanted to catch up to,’ Toshinori thought. The wheezing in his chest and the agonizing pain in his side told him that he didn’t have time to be impressed. The young man needed to be stopped but Toshinori didn’t want to hurt one of his own students; he wondered if he even could. 

“Shigaraki Tomura, we’re leaving,” a deep voice from behind Toshinori said. He found a man with a black wisp like quirk holding onto another young man, battered and beaten with his limbs twisted in a nauseating fashion. Obviously some of the villains Young Midoriya had been talking about earlier, it seems he had to loosen his hold on them in order to lift the building. It was a bit relieving if only because it meant the boy had some upper limit. “We lost today due to our lack of preparation but the League of Villains will not end unless Sensei wills it.”

Sensei? Toshinori thought with trepidation. He raced forward to catch them but they were already disappearing into a black mist.

“We’ll leave you the Noumu,” the pale, red eyed teen said with pain and rage etched into his face. “It’d be worth losing it if it can kill that sick abomination of a kid. Next time it’s you, Symbol of Peace.” And they were gone just as Toshinori reached them, his arms closing in on empty air. 

He growled, turning away. No time to focus on the ones that got away, not when Young Midoroya was still lifting the building. If he dropped it now, it would wipe out all the people down below and possibly reach all the way back to the main campus. 

“Deku!” Goddammit , Toshinori cursed to himself. He wasn’t surprised but this was the last place he wanted his successor to be. Young Bakugou, in a show of phenomenal stupidity, launched himself at his friend, wrapping the boy in his arms and dragging the two of them back towards the ground. “It’s fucking over! Now put this thing back where it came from or so help me!”

“I need to keep everyone safe, I can’t let anyone else get hurt,” the young man wailed, thrashing in Young Bakugou’s arms but Toshinori could see the fresh blood leaking from his nose, the paleness to his face. No matter how powerful his quirk was, he was certainly feeling the effects of it. Toshinori noted that one of the boy’s quirk suppression cuffs was sparking, obviously trying to quell the excessive quirk use. The Noumu screeched, jumping up to grab at the two boys.

“Look out!” Toshinori shouted, racing to reach his students before the monster. He made it just in time, putting as much power as he could into the punch but it was like punching solid steel, the creature barely flinched. Instead, it retaliated, swiping at Toshinori with a large, clawed hand. He instinctively shielded his students, leaving his left side open for attack. It dug into his wound, claws aggravating the already irritated scar tissue. He choked on the blood in his throat as the pain momentarily overwhelmed him. His vision of the boys blurred together as all of them hit the ground.

“No!” Young Midoriya shrieked, pulling himself out of his friend’s arms. “I won’t let you hurt another one of my teachers!” He flew towards the Noumu, grabbing at its head and unleashing an enormous wave of telekinetic energy upon the monster. The inhuman sounds of the Noumu screaming would surely haunt him for years to come. Toshinori resisted the urge to curl up into a ball from pain, instead crawling over to his successor, bit by agonizing bit. 

“Are you okay, my boy?” He asked, cupping Young Bakugou’s face in his palm. He had to be okay, the most precious thing in the world, held in his hand. 

“‘m Fine,” Young Bakugou groaned, sitting up. “But what about Deku?”

The Noumu’s screams stopped only to be overtaken by Young Midoriya’s. The cuff on his right wrist was sparking considerably now, racing up and down his entire arm. The young man jerked from the intensity of the electricity until finally-

Toshi’s breath caught. He felt the exact moment when the boy passed out and his quirk lost its grip on the USJ. There was one terrifying moment of hovering before the whole structure began to fall back to the hole it had been plucked from. 

“Shit,” he cursed through the blood clogging his mouth. “My boy, get Young Midoriya out of here. I’ll take care of the facility.” He said, grabbing Young Midoriya’s unconscious body and clumsily depositing him in his successor's arms. The Noumu lay still on the floor, unmoving after Young Midoriya’s last attack. Toshinori had no idea what the boy had done but he was too grateful to care.

“No fucking way am I-” the boy argued because of course he would. So much fire and determination but there wasn’t time and, with hope, they would have that time later. Not letting him finish, Toshinori picked the two of them up and threw them out the open doors. He trusted Young Bakugou to get them down to safety. Now for the building.

Toshinori followed behind, jumping out the broken doors and racing down past the speeding meteorite of the USJ. It was almost to the ground now he realized and he grit his teeth. Without Young Midoriya, it was up to him to stop it. There were only two options now: either Toshinori would catch the building in time or he and everyone here would die.

He hit the ground, his body already burning and aching from the short but stressful fight. He took a precious moment he didn’t have to think back to Nana, to the effortless strength she exuded. One For All had served him well for all these years but now it was just about gone, sent away to the next generation. All Might’s time was almost up but there was another to take his place. 

This may be his last stand so he ought to make it a good one. Toshinori was a teacher now; he needed to show Young Bakugou what it meant to be a Symbol. He jumped up to greet the hurtling USJ, gripping ahold of it with all of his strength and willing that last ember of One For All to spark one last time. His bones cracked and threatened to collapse altogether and his muscles screamed for relief. Even back in his prime this would have been tough to manage. He hit the ground, his feet cracking the surface and his knees just about buckling under the strain. The building weighed heavily down on him and one shred of doubt would doom them all. 

Toshinori screamed, making One For All work for him, one last time. The quirk flared in his chest, like a dying star shining for the very last time. And slowly, the building stopped crushing him down and he was able to push it up bit by bit until he was lifting the entire structure. The swell of cheers from the students and teachers helped keep him standing as the steam began to appear, his power fading for good.

So long One For All. 

As gently as he could and with the help of the other heroes, he deposited the building on a vacant stretch of ground. It still shook the entire area violently but it was down safely and no one was hurt. He raised a shaking fist before pointing it at the students, at Young Bakugou who was watching him with wide, red eyes. 

You’re Next , he tried to convey before the steam consumed him. All Might wouldn’t be able to save them next time, it would be up to them to be the heroes he knew they could be. Toshinori’s body gave out afterwards, collapsing in the dirt like a dead man. In a way, the ruins of the USJ was his grave, All Might’s anyway. But perhaps these kids could get some use out of a quirkless old goat like Toshinori. 

They were so young, so full of life and power. They would go on to be great heroes, all of them. But Toshinori’s time was done. All Might was no more, it would be up to the next generation to carry on the legacy of peace he had fought so hard for. Yes, he thought as the others rushed to conceal his weak form from the students, he was leaving the world in good hands.

Chapter Text

There was a sign on the door of 1-A.

Be quiet coming in you stupid fucks and don’t turn on the goddamn lights, it proclaimed in bombastic but messy handwriting. Tenya, who was later than he intended due to his family’s worrying, frowned at the unnecessary language but complied nonetheless. He opened the door quietly and stepped inside the darkened classroom. He almost wished he’d stayed outside. Already a few students were in their seats but they were sitting perfectly straight, pointedly avoiding the forward left side of the room. Bakugou was glaring at him, looking like he wanted to shout but was determined to keep quiet. He gestured angrily at the chalkboard to another messily scrawled message.

Deku’s doped on enough quirk suppressors to take out an army. Disturb him and you die. Ah, well, that would explain Midoriya. The class psychic had on large sunglasses and was partially slouched in his seat, staring vacantly at a blank wall. Tenya could see a thin line of drool coming out from the corner of his mouth. There was a tight set of bandages around his left wrist where Tenya was told Midoriya had a quirk suppressor before he tore it off in the midst of battle.

“Should he be in class if he’s this impaired?” Tenya asked Bakugou quietly.

“Fuck off, Glasses,” he hissed under his breath. “Deku’s just fucking fine and you all don’t need to treat him any different,” Bakugou continued, turning a bit to glare at the rest of the class. They wouldn’t even look in his general direction. Tenya frowned, obviously he’d missed something by leaving the USJ to get the teachers. He’d only seen Midoriya’s overwhelming power from afar as he lifted the building but despite his enquiries, none of his fellow students had described what it had been like up close. 

“I wonder how Sensei is doing,” Yaoyorozu said quietly, nervously playing with her hair. “I’ve never seen someone so injured still be alive.”

“Did he do that?” Kaminari whispered, nodding discreetly in Midoriya’s direction even though he was so out of it, Midoriya probably wouldn’t notice if an elephant suddenly appeared in the classroom. 

“No,” Tsuyu-san countered, “Sensei was hurt because of that Noumu creature. Deku,” she took a deep breath, “he was so scary, so powerful but he only took his suppression cuff and became like that because Sensei took the hit for him. Mineta was with us and he chose to leave the hero course. I don’t really blame him, ribbit.”

“I can’t believe Deku’s been wearing a quirk suppressor this whole time,” Kirishima frowned in sympathy. “And it was one of those strong ones you see in villain dramas, no wonder he was so weak the first few days of class.”

“You still don’t get it,” Bakugou murmured sharply. “Deku’s quirk is beyond anything you can imagine. The reason he was so pathetic in the tests is because he’s so afraid of going nuclear.” He reached behind him and grabbed Midoriya’s right hand only to hold it up and show off, oh dear, a second suppressor cuff. Midoriya’s head just slumped to the side at the sudden manhandling with an inarticulate mumble. “He only took off the left one at USJ, Deku lifted the whole fucking building with one hand tied behind his back.” 

Tenya swallowed and looked down at his desk in contemplation, trying to conceptualize what Bakugou was saying and match it up with the boy who’d stuttered through his class introduction. Any further discussion on the matter was cut off by a quiet knock at the door, followed by a man in a suit stepping inside. He had a light smile on his face as he glanced over the entire class before settling on Midoriya.

“No,” Bakugou growled. The man didn’t speak, only kept his neutral smile. “I said no dammit!” Bakugou shouted, slamming his hands on the desk. Behind him, Midoriya moaned and brought two disjointed hands up to cover his sensitive ears. “You’re not fucking taking him away!”

“Bakugou Katsuki,” the man said genially. “You were present at the Musutafu Incident as well which would make this two occasions you’ve watched your friend’s quirk run rampant. Midoriya understood that his admittance to Yuuei was on a trial basis, one that has reached it’s inevitable conclusion. It’s for his safety as well as yours.” Tenya clenched his fists, because though the man was perfectly pleasant compared to Bakugou’s brash rudeness, there was something unsettling about him.

“You can't just take Deku, he’s one of us,” Ashido frowned, crossing her arms. “He’s got rights, ya know.” 

“His power makes him a danger to everyone around him and we don’t want to compromise your safety in any way, you children are our future. Your friend just needs some extra help in controlling his quirk which we can provide.” He stepped closer to Midoriya, reaching out. “Don’t worry, you’ll see each other again, the Hero Commission will make a hero out of him yet.”

Tsuyu-san shot out her tongue, blocking the man from continuing any further. A few of the others: Ashido, Uraraka, Ojiro and Kirishima had stood up out of their chairs, looking ready to defend their classmate as needed. Bakugou had positioned himself in front of Midoriya’s desk, hands threateningly popping explosions. For a moment, the man’s smile wavered before settling back into place. 

This was wrong, they shouldn’t be standing up to a government official like this. It was against the rules for mere students to get in his way but it also wasn’t right for Midoriya to be taken away like a criminal. He had no idea what to do, which side to stand on. Tenya was prevented from making a decision by the door opening and the principal walking in. He smiled like his teeth were made of knives.

“Goodness me, Nakami-san, I could have sworn I told you to meet me in my office to discuss the matter of Midoriya Izuku’s continuing status as a student of Yuuei. How curious that you found your way here,” Principal Nedzu chirped. “Now then, class is about to start and I have a great many legalities and policies to explain to you and the Hero Commission in general. Aizawa-san will be sure to keep an eye on the students in the meantime.”

“Sensei was really badly hurt, he can’t be-” Uraraka started before Aizawa-sensei entered the room and stopped any conversation. Tenya was pretty sure most people had stopped breathing as well. It was one thing to hear that his teacher had been hurt and another to see the effects up close. 

The man was completely covered in bandages, leaning heavily on his right side with a crutch. Most of his left arm was completely gone, the wrappings ending just above where his elbow had been and he wasn’t walking well on the left leg either. The only visible part of his face was his right eye. 

“You’re disturbing my students, get out before I make you,” Sensei hissed through the many layers of bandages. The Commission official narrowed his eyes but allowed himself to be led out of the room by Principal Nedzu.

“Yuuei can’t possibly train the boy but we’ll let you try for a little while longer. Sooner or later, you’ll realize he’s too much to handle and beg us to take him off your hands. I wonder how much of you will be left by then? Good day.” The man closed the door behind him and Tenya felt the tension in the air snap like a thread. Midoriya was still gazing vacantly into space, seemingly unaware of how close he’d come to being dragged out of the classroom like an animal. Tenya felt like he was going to be sick. 

“Everyone, back in your seats,” Sensei announced like nothing was wrong, like their entire school experience hadn’t just changed. “I know a lot of you have questions and are scared about what to expect in the future. As I’m sure you all know, one student has already chosen to transfer out. It is understandable and I will be handing out cards for the school’s therapist if you need to talk it out, something I highly encourage. But I will say this to you now: you are training to be heroes and as heroes you will be faced with danger, sacrifice and moral dilemmas. One such dilemma just happened in front of you and I’m damned proud of how you handled it. No matter what happens in the coming weeks, you are stronger together. Never forget that.”

The class was dead silent after that. How do you even begin to respond to a speech like that? Tenya was still upset and confused; had he failed another of Yuuei’s secret tests? What was he supposed to do, if only someone would tell him he would provide the correct response. Sensei hobbled to his desk and sat down heavily. He pulled out a small throw pillow with a kitten on it from the bottom drawer and threw it in Bakugou’s direction.

“Bakugou, take notes for Midoriya today and then walk him to Recovery Girl after the school day ends.” Bakugou nodded seriously, putting the pillow on Midoriya’s desk and gently forcing the other boy’s head onto the pillow. Midoriya moaned but then flopped comfortably on the pillow, instantly falling asleep. “Until we get things straightened out with the Hero Commission I want at least one of you with Midoriya at all times unless he’s in his apartment. If someone tries to take him, you scream as loud as you can, do you understand?”

“Yes Sensei,” they repeated back, some determined, others wary but many just sounding confused and exhausted. Tenya knew Yuuei would be a tough school, that it would challenge him but he had no idea the hurdles would be so high or begin so soon. He looked from Midoriya’s slumped form to Aizawa-sensei who was battered and beaten but still strong. Clearly he had much to learn about being a hero but this was the place to do it.

“Moving on, the Sports Festival is coming up soon.”

XxX

“Bakugou, my boy,” All Might choked out as soon as Katsuki walked into Recovery Girl’s office. He looked terrible, pale and weaker than normal but he seemed so damn happy to see Katsuki, holding out shaking arms to reach for him. Dammit, Deku’s leaky eyes must be contagious, that’s the only reason his vision was blurring now. He strode forward and grabbed ahold of his mentor, holding him as close and as tight as he dared. 

All Might wrapped himself around Katsuki, rocking them back and forth slightly. “My boy, my beautiful, powerful,” All Might’s arms changed position until he had Katsuki in something of a headlock while the other hand aggressively ground his knuckles into Katsuki’s head, “reckless, idiotic, stubborn boy! What were you thinking chasing me into the USJ! You could have gotten yourself killed!”

“Oh fuck off you geezer!” Katsuki said, pulling himself out of All Might’s hold and rubbing at his aching throat. Old man still had some strength in him after all. “Like I was gonna leave you and Deku alone with that monster! Can’t fucking do everything on your own, you bunny haired asshole.” 

“I guess not,” All Might grinned like he’d said something funny before patting the bed, gesturing for Katsuki to sit. He put a respectable distance between them only for All Might to scoot closer and drape one stupidly long arm around his shoulder like a bony octopus. He wouldn’t admit it but after everything, the contact felt… nice. 

“It’s over, isn’t it?” He stated quietly, relaxing into the hold and taking comfort from his mentor’s steady breathing.

“I’m afraid so, my boy. One For All has left me for good,” All Might nodded. Katsuki closed his eyes, if he’d been faster, if he’d only gotten to Deku sooner then- 

“Ow,” he hissed as his mentor gave him a little whack on the head before resettling his arm on Katsuki’s shoulder.

“Stop it with those negative thoughts, you Idiot Prince,” All Might said with a weak grin. “I’m not dead, Young Bakugou. I am simply laying down a mantle, an identity, that had outlived its usefulness. But One For All lives in you now and I, for one, can’t wait to see how you add to its legacy. You’re going to shine, my boy.”

Shit, how the hell was Katsuki supposed to live up to that ? It would take his whole damn life to be even half the hero All Might was. He aggressively wiped at his stupidly wet eyes and grinned back at his teacher. He’d never reach that lofty goal if he didn’t start running now.

“Just you watch, old man,” he promised, poking All Might, no, Yagi-san in the chest. “I’m going to be such a great and beloved hero, that I’m gonna leave All Might in the fucking dust.”

“Of that, my boy, I have no doubt,” Yagi-san said with a big sappy grin on his face. 

“Kacchan!” Deku’s squeaky voice came from the other side of the curtain in the patient area. He pulled it back to give Katsuki a half-hearted glare. “You can’t talk to All Might that way!”

“Young Midoriya!” Yagi-san yelped, flailing his arms in a panic. “How long have you been there? About what you heard, that’s-”

“Deku’s been here since class let out, after I hauled his drooling, drugged up ass around goddamn all day. Guess you’re losing your touch already,” Katsuki smirked, glad to get one over on his mentor. “And don’t worry about the rest, Deku knows.”

“He knows?” Yagi-san asked, wide-eyed.

“I know,” Deku sighed back, laying back down on his own cot. “And I said I was sorry about drooling on you.” He looked both better and worse than he normally did. A little more lively with the ‘pressors getting out of his system and only one cuff on but also depressed and mopey. 

Katsuki knows he remembered everything that happened at USJ, actions and words that had seemed like good ideas at the time now haunting him. And while he stressed that Yagi’s power had been fading anyway, he knew Deku still felt responsible for ending All Might. “Kacchan told me earlier today. Honestly I should have picked up something sooner. He would’ve been bragging to the whole class about training with All Might unless it was some sort of secret.”

“Like I would tell those extras that I was associated with someone who thinks yellow pinstripe suits are fashionable.” Katsuki shot back, glancing over at Yagi-san. He probably should have run this by his teacher before telling the secret but it was Deku. Of course he was going to tell Deku about the most significant change in his life. Because Sensei’s words were true, they were stronger together and you didn’t get any stronger than the two of them. 

“I see,” was all Yagi-san said, looking contemplatively as Deku before smiling. “I suppose I should have seen this coming. As long as you know to keep this secret between us, for Young Bakugou’s safety more than anything, I would welcome such a great asset to our team.”

“Of course,” Deku grinned, “I’ll do anything to help Kacchan.” Katsuki rolled his eyes but a small smile tugged at his face. All Might may be gone and the villains were getting more bold but at least he could always count on Deku to be in his corner. Between the two of them, there was nothing they couldn’t do.

“I suppose since you’re both here,” Yagi-san began slowly, ominously. “There’s something you boys ought to know. They said the Noumu creature Young Midoriya defeated at USJ had multiple quirks, that’s probably why it gave you such trouble. There’s only one man out there that I know of who could give and take quirks. I thought he was gone but in light of recent events I need to make sure you’re prepared.” Katsuki and Deku exchanged nervous glances.

“I need to tell you about All For One.”

XxX

“I can’t,” Midoriya wept from within the gym. “I just can’t.”

“Of course you can,” Shouta sighed from his foldout chair off to the side. “You lifted the entire USJ approximately 60 meters into the air. This is nothing compared to that.” 

“No, I-I,” Midoriya continued, wiping at his eyes but it wasn’t doing much against the torrential downpour of tears. He curled in on himself as he sat sprawled out on the scuffed floor. “I can’t- I don’t want to hurt anyone. I can’t risk it without my-my,” he sniffled, garbling up his words and instead jerkily waved his cuffless left wrist. The bandages were removed by now so Shouta could see the scars from where the device had been screwed into his skin. Even half unconscious from his own injuries, he’d heard Recovery Girl cursing up a storm while cleaning and healing the boy’s wounds. 

He’d initially been irked by the cuffs but seeing first hand the damage both they and the hasty removal caused his student infuriated him. The Gifted Child Program was supposed to build up promising young kids into heroes but in the end all they did was suppress all the heroic qualities Midoriya already possessed, qualities Shouta had almost missed because he was so distracted by government interference. 

“It was always in the plan to remove your suppression devices,” Shouta said patiently. “While it wasn’t under ideal circumstances, I truly do believe it’s for the best. Having such potent suppressors attached long term is not good for your mental or physical well-being, not to mention your hero career.”

Midoriya looked down at his hands, his tears finally slowing at last. “All those things do is cripple you, Midoriya. They prevent you from fully utilizing and controlling your power. It’s better that you learn how to deal with it now than in the field,” Shouta continued gently. 

“I know that, I do,” Midoriya whined even as he sat up straighter. “B-but after what happened the other day I don’t know I’m ready.”

“That’s why we’re doing this extra training, this is the sturdiest gym we have on campus and there are more secure facilities outside the city if we need them. Instead of working with the Commission on weekends as originally was intended, you will be working with the Yuuei staff.”

Midoriya, who had been starting to relax, tensed up quickly before balling his fists into his shirt. He hunched over and began muttering to himself. Quiet whispers about how Yuuei was going to increase his training after he’d caused such extensive property damage. About some of the horrific, inhuman tests that the Commission had put him through. About how he probably deserved it.

Despite the agonizing pain in his whole body, pain he was told would likely never go away completely, Shouta staggered to his feet and hobbled over to where Midoriya was slouched, lost in his own little nightmare world. With a grunt he dropped to his good knee and buried his hand in Midoriya’s ridiculously curly hair, cutting off what was sure to be the start of another panic attack. 

God no wonder the kid was so afraid and nervous all the time if that was the treatment he received before coming here. He always figured he’d end up in prison one day, murdering a government official, or several of them, wasn’t the worst way to get there. 

“Midoriya, breathe,” Shouta said as gently as he could, carefully keeping his anger out of his voice. He’d save that for later, for the Commission. “Shh, you’re okay, just breathe with me. Breathe in deeply through the nose, hold now out through the mouth nice and slow. That’s perfect, keep that up.” Finally, after a tense few minutes, the boy’s breathing evened out but Shouta continued to stroke his hair. 

“Sensei, your leg,” Midoriya jolted a little bit, turning vaguely in his direction but still not looking directly at him. 

“It’s fine,” Shouta gritted, repositioning a bit before he fell over. His balance was off with only the one arm and his eye still bandaged not to mention the general dysphoria over his newly disabled state. But that wasn’t Midoriya’s problem, the kid already had enough of his own. 

“We’re not going to do any of the things the Commission did to you,” Shouta stated. Midoriya opened his mouth to protest but Shouta cut him off. “You were mumbling, kid, as if the abuse wasn’t obvious from the moment I laid eyes on you.” He frowned, “why do you think the Principal threw the book at them so hard? He was once a victim of self righteous people himself. No one thinks you, or anyone, deserves to be treated like that.”

“I’ve hurt people, Sensei,” Midoriya choked, starting to shake again. “It’s my fault you’re like this!”

“Midoriya,” he sighed but the kid pulled away from him. He turned on his knees and let his eyes roam over Shouta’s injured body, distress and guilt dragging him down like a physical weight.

“I’m dangerous!” the boy cried, clutching at his shirt. “My quirk, what I did at the USJ… It’s not just the power it’s how easy it was to give into it. I didn’t see a problem with fighting those villains head on and putting others at risk. I thought levitating the entire fucking building was an appropriate response. No matter what I do, I’m still, I’m still a monster!”

“You’re not a monster, Midoroya,” Shouta said simply, meeting the boy’s gaze head on and holding it. “You’re a teenager, and having dealt with both, I can tell the difference.”

“Do you know why I accepted you as a student, instead of expelling you out of hand?” He said before the kid could launch into another round of self-deprecation. “Because you asked me to tell you when to stop. Do you know I’ve never had a student of Yuuei, whose motto is Go Beyond, ask me to stop them . You have so much strength, Midoriya and it has nothing to do with your quirk. Your heart and your determination to save others even at the expense of your own desires. That potential is why you’re here now.” 

“But-” Midoriya sniffled.

“You made the best of a bad situation. I certainly couldn’t have handled that Noumu on my own, it would have killed me and then gone through the rest of your class had you not intervened. You hold no blame for my injuries, you were a student doing your best. It’s the villains who are the real monsters, not you, so don’t put yourself in the same category with those who would hurt others for pleasure.” 

He paused to observe his most troublesome student. “Do you understand, Problem Child?”

“Yeah,” Midoriya said softly, staring down at his hands. Kid looked so exhausted but he was listening and seemed open to what Shouta had to say. Healing would take time, for both of them, but this was only the first step. 

“I know you don’t believe it now but I will make sure you have that time and if at point you want to leave the course and transfer into another, I will make it happen. I personally think you’d perform well in Business myself.” Shouta said honestly as he shakily grabbed his crutch and painfully wrenched himself back to his feet as gracefully as he could. He stood over his student, a nuisance who had more than proven himself. “But, hero or not, by the time you graduate, you will have control of your quirk.” 

“Now, do you want to continue or do you want to end our session today?” Shouta asked as he hobbled back over to his chair. He already knew the answer but he wanted to offer the kindness Midoriya’s previous teacher’s hadn’t.

“No, I mean yes, I’m fine,” Midoriya said, scrubbing once more at his eyes and levitating himself back to his feet. “I want to continue, if uh, that’s okay.”

“Of course it’s okay,” Shouta sighed, adjusting himself in the chair. “I’m your teacher which means it's quite literally my job to support and teach you.”

“I know but this is more and you know it,” Midoriya mumbled shyly, “so uh thank you, for everything.”

“I’m not using my quirk which means you should be able to use yours,” Shouta said with a raised eyebrow as Midoriya fumbled and went back to his exercises. Perceptive kid, Shouta needed to be more careful. If the students found out how much he really cared then they’d never listen to him. 

XxX

“You’ve got less than a month until the Sports Festival,” Aizawa-sensei said from his stool off to the side. “You better make this time count.” His teacher was still so injured from the USJ, he probably shouldn’t even be moving in this state. His bad leg was stretched out in front of him, his amputated arm hanging limply at his side and his face still wrapped almost entirely in bandages, even Recovery Girl was unsure if he’d ever see out of his left eye again. But he was still here and still kind despite everything. Izuku’s heart soared with pride, beating out his guilt for just a moment. 

This was a true hero before him, not as powerful as All Might but every bit as strong.

“Sensei, I do not understand,” Iida announced, raising his hand high in the air. “What are we to be doing with our time?”

“You’re to use this allotted time to strengthen your quirk and your resolve,” Yagi-san said, flexing his long, scrawny arms from his fitted suit. “I may only be All Might’s secretary, filling in for him while he works overseas, but I know a thing or two about Plus Ultra!” 

“But-” Yaoyorozu began with questioning expression before Sensei cut her off, his one visible eye glowing red beneath the bandages.

“Enough chatting, get to it,” he stated before once more falling silent. They all looked at each other, guess it was up to them to figure out their own training regimen. 

“Deku,” Izuku turned at Kacchan’s voice. “You, me, sparring. Let’s go.” His friend hunched over himself, palms sparking furiously with One For All added to it. Yagi-san watched them, watched Kacchan, with a loving little smile on his face. Upon reflection it was so obvious Kacchan’s quirk had been significantly boosted since middle school but to think All Might had found him worthy… As the one who ended All Might it was his job now to support his chosen successor.

He didn’t miss how the rest of the class took several steps away from them, some scattering outright. Izuku didn’t blame them at all but the action still stung. He was going to be a hero; he should be making others feel safe not afraid.

“Actually Kacchan, I wanted to work on my own a bit but I promise I’ll work with you later,” Izuku shrugged.

“Oh that means Kacchan is free!” Uraraka cheered, bounding over. “You beat me in the last spar but I promised that I was gonna kick your butt so I need to keep at it.”

“Don’t call me that,” Kacchan pouted but allowed himself to be pulled by Uraraka.

“But everyone calls Deku by your nickname so it's only fair we call you by his,” she said with a smile. Her eyes darted shyly over to him, “what are you working on, Deku?”

“I uh,” he began suddenly nervous by the sudden silence, by everyone’s attention. “I wanted to work on my fine control. I um don’t really have a problem with the er bigger things,” someone snorted from the crowd, “but I’d like to get better at accuracy and moving objects I can’t see.”

“Yes I was wondering about that,” Yaoyorozu started enthusiastically before back down and biting her bottom lip. “At the um, you were able to isolate and pull all of us back to the main entrance. I don’t understand how you were able to find us.”

“Oh!” Izuku’s eyes lit up, his fingers twitching in anticipation. “It's actually an extension of my psychic ability! So because my quirk allows me to interact with my environment, it gives me a sense of feeling for everything around me. A mentor of mine gave me tips on how to use my quirk to find specific objects even if I can’t see them. Every person and object has a certain energy to it, a relationship to the environment. I can not quite sense it but use it to find and identify things!”

“That was so cool, man!” Kirishima cheered heartily, “I don’t think I’ve seen you talk so much all at once!”

“Oh ah,” Izuku flushed, it's been a while since he’s gotten lost in his thoughts like that. The cuffs kind of sapped him of energy so he hadn’t felt the urge in a while. He scratched absentmindedly at the healing skin on his left wrist. He felt more like himself than he had in a long time, it felt scary and good all mixed up together. How much more would he be with the second cuff off? “Sorry I just uh, I like quirks.” He glanced over at Kacchan who had a soft, almost fond smile on his face. 

“You’re just full of surprises, Deku,” Ashido beamed. “Whoda thunk that our resident powerhouse is also kind of a nerd.” The class laughed at that, some stilted and nervous but genuine. Izuku’s lip wobbled with emotion, he thought he’d lost this for good. He might be powerful and have dangerous enemies but they still treated him like he was one of them. Like he was human. The heavy burden he carried on his chest since the USJ lifted, just a bit.

“Quit your leaky eyes, Deku and do that shit you said you were. After I beat Round Face into space, I’m coming after you next!” Kacchan huffed, “and you better not hold back!”

“I don’t think the grounds could take both of you going all out, ribbit,” Tsuyu commented.

“Agreed, please exercise caution, both of you!” Iida lectured, crossing his arms into an X. Everyone moved into their own formations after that and Izuku sat himself cross legged on the grass and closed his eyes. 

He spread his quirk out, feeling the environment around him like one rolls a coin through their fingers. He let his quirk trace over buildings and trees, cars and planes, people and animals; he opened himself up and felt everything. He felt the tired, pained energy of his homeroom teacher and warm flickering candle light that was All Might watching nearby along with the chaotic and lively unique signatures of his classmates hard at work. 

A little farther and there were all one thousand two hundred and eighty six teachers, students, supplementary staff and guests at Yuuei’s main campus. Mom was there too in their little apartment on campus, busily unpacking their things. Just beyond that was the ruins of the USJ, still undergoing investigation and repairs. He concentrated further and found Hawks, working as a hero in a neighboring city. Izuku knew his big brother had been working close by to check up on him and the thought warmed him. Beyond that was the endless amount of people in Musutafu proper, most of them blurring together due to number and distance. Someday, he’d be able to pinpoint all of them.

He tilted his head back, eyes still closed and let himself soak in all the life around him. His quirk was strong yes but it could make it better, make it safer, more controlled. But the only way to achieve those things was to look his power head on and stop hiding from it, along with all the things he’d done. He’d lost himself against the sludge monster, against the Noumu, against Takeda back in elementary school. He’d hurt people, physically and emotionally, scared them and buried himself in fear. But if he was really serious, really serious about being a hero, then he needed to let that go.

They said the highest pursuit was godliness but Izuku could say from experience that it was lonely at the top. With half of Japan held gently in his mind’s hands, Izuku could say with confidence that being mortal was the bravest, most difficult thing one could aspire to be. It was less a fall from grace than things falling into place. This was where he was meant to be.