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Chapter Text

Midoriya Izuku was not having a very good day. 

Now, to be fair, most days hadn’t been terribly good lately, ever since Kacchan had declared him to be just a ‘Deku’ all those years ago and started a years long bullying campaign against him for reasons that he couldn’t figure out. 

But today definitely seemed to take the cake. 

First, he had been on his way to school when there was a villain attack that blocked the nearest path, which caused him to be late to class. 

(Though he might have exacerbated the issue by sticking around to take notes on the fight… He couldn’t find it in himself to regret his decision.)

Unfortunately, this caused the teachers to become upset at his tardiness, drawing everybody’s attention to him. Then, after class, Kacchan had blown up in his face and shouted at him for trying to become a hero again.

He must have been more upset than usual, because Kacchan had taken the hero journal Izuku had used to take notes and ripped it up before stomping away with his chortling friends. 

After that he realized that he had forgotten to pack any food, so he wasn’t able to eat anything for lunch. Which normally wouldn’t have bothered him too much, and he would usually just spend the time going over his hero notes… which… Kacchan… had just… destroyed… 

After classes his day started turning up, and he  managed to slip out without being seen, and had actually managed to help an older man make it across the street! Sure, it sounded like a small thing, but heroes did good deeds no matter how big or small they were. 

He had spent some time in the woods trying to piece together his journal again, but then it started raining, and he didn’t have an umbrella… So he had to race home with a torn and wet journal. 

Oh, and he was sopping wet himself. Did he mention that part?

So there he was, trying to push down the depression of the day while getting dressed into normal clothing, and he had spotted a strange jewelry box on his bed… Why was it strange you might ask? Well, Izuku certainly didn’t own any jewelry, and he wasn’t aware of his Mom owning anything like it either.

So, definitely strange. 

After staring at the box for a bit, he finally decided to open the box, only to see a purple brooch, followed by a bright flare of light, zipping up and fading into a small purple creature with butterfly wings looking at him with a warm smile. 

“Hello Izuku!” The little being chirped, happy and eager. 

Now, it might seem harsh, but Izuku thought that it was perfectly natural for him to freak out at this point, throwing the box away as he gaped at the little creature while scrambling away. 

It was at this point that Izuku determined that today was not a very good day. How did one tell their mother that they were experiencing hallucinations? It didn’t sound like it would be an easy task…

Nooroo looked at the green haired teenager with growing worry as he felt the panic the poor boy was feeling, and he quickly tried to calm him down.

 “Woah woah woah!” The little creature felt close to panicking himself, and he waved his hands in front of Izuku desperately, “I-it’s nothing like that!” He said desperately, “My name is Nooroo, and I’m a kwami! You’re not hallucinating anything!”

Izuku looked at the creature, the ‘kwami’ , while pressed up against his wall. He stared for a few seconds before gulping, “W-well, what if you’re a hallucination that’s just telling me that you’re not a hallucination?” He asked defensively, looking at his door longingly. 

Nooro shrugged helplessly, “Well, if that’s the case, then running away isn't likely to accomplish anything,” He chuckled apologetically, “B-but don’t worry!” He said hastily, “I’m not going to hurt you or anything, I’m here to help!” 

He saw Izuku take a few deep breaths and felt the panic start to die down, and Nooroo breathed a sigh of relief before perking up at Izuku’s next question.

“Help me? What do you mean? And h-how do you know my name?” He blinked a couple of times, trying to get his maybe hallucinogenic thoughts in order,  “And what’s a kwami?”

Nooroo flew over to the other wall where the box and brooch had been thrown, and he picked it up and placed it on top of the messy bed, straightening it so that Izuku could see the brooch inside. 

“I’m Nooroo, a kwami,” he repeated, “A kwami is a creature that was made a very long time ago to help and protect humanity.” He gave a gentle smile towards Izuku as he felt his interest begin to grow. 

“Each kwami is bound to a jewel like this,” he continued, gesturing to the brooch beside him, “And during certain time periods, people are chosen to wield these jewels and can use our powers to be heros!” He finished brightly. 

He flew closer to Izuku slowly, mindful of being slow to avoid startling the boy again, “I know your name because you’re a potential Butterfly! Capable of wielding the Butterfly miraculous!” He stated brightly, looking at him with shining eyes. 

Izuku froze at that, the thoughts in his mind seeming to crash against each other. 

A chance to be a hero? Somebody actually believed that he could be a hero?! 

He desperately pushed back the hope and focused on the impossibility before him. “I-I’m sorry, but that’s not possible,” He said hesitantly, “I mean, unless you’re part of somebodies quirk, but you said that you were made a long time ago so that doesn’t seem likely, but if you were made that long ago than surely somebody would have caught on before now and realized that you existed and if that had happened then -“ 

Nooroo desperately waved his hands in front of Izuku once again to stop the rambling, looking a bit overwhelmed at the mumbling Izuku was doing. “We’ve always been hidden from most people,” Nooroo quickly said, before looking depressed. “For every good person in the world, there’s always people who try to take advantage of our powers.” He said quietly, looking so sad that Izuku felt bad for the little guy. 

Standing up, Izuku cautiously approached his bed where the purple brooch lay and stared at it for a few seconds. “So, if I wear this thing, then I’ll gain powers?” He asked the kwami with raw hope in his voice, “Like a Quirk?”

The words from earlier still echoed in his head, the chance to be a hero. His dream, something he had desperately desired for years but had been told was an impossibility by everybody that he knew. 

Nooroo had no way to know about that, but could sense the turmoil within the boy all the same and could make a guess on what his life had been like before this. 

Even when the miraculi were dormant, the Guardian made sure that they were brought up to speed on what was going on in the world before he gave them to the chosen. He also needed to confirm with the kwami that the person could make a connection with the miraculous. 

He buzzed sympathetically and gave a gentle smile to the teen, “Yes,” he confirmed, “If you accept, then you’ll have the power of the Butterfly Miraculous, and have the power to help other people!” 

Tears started leaking from Izuku’s eyes, and Nooroo would have been worried had he not felt the surge of overwhelming happiness flow out of the boy, filling Nooroo with delight at the amount of positive emotions. 

“S-somebody, *sniff!* somebody actually b-believes that I can be a hero?” Izuku sniffled with a fragile look, and Nooroo giggled softly and floated over to him, rubbing his head against Izuku’s hair. 

“Yep,” He beamed, “The Guardian wouldn’t have given you the miraculous if he didn’t think that you would be up to it, and I can just feel that you’ll make a good Butterfly!” He leaned back and looked at the boy, “So, do you accept?”

Izuku gave a watery smile at that, his emerald eyes shining eagerly, and gave a swift nod as he wiped at his eyes. 

“Y-yes! I accept!”

At the Yaoyorozu Mansion

Momo alternated between looking at the small red flying creature that was beaming at her from across her bed and the earrings in her hand, feeling a little overwhelmed at the information that she’d been given. 

“But how did this Guardian know about me?” She asked in confusion, “And how does he know that I would make a good wielder?”

The kwami, Tikki, she recalled, gave an apologetic look and a shrug, “I’m sorry, I”m not sure how he determined that. All I know is that he woke me up not too long ago and showed you to me and asked me what I thought.” Her look changed into a smile, “I could tell right away that you would make a great Ladybug!”

Momo placed her hands in her lap, a conflicted look on her face. “But, I haven’t done anything…” she struggled for a word for a moment, “Worthy!” She concluded, “I mean, I know that I want to be a hero, and I do plan on applying to U.A., but I haven’t, well, done anything!” She finished nervously.

Tikki gave her a knowing smile, “But you want to be a hero, don’t you?” She asked, causing Momo to look away before giving a small nod. 

Tikki flew around the large room, gesturing to everything, “I can tell just from looking that you’re, well… Well off.” She stated, giving a small chuckle and causing Momo to flush. “You probably don’t have to work, and if you did you’d have your choice of profession to go into, wouldn’t you? And with your quirk, I’m sure that many industries would love to have you!” 

Momo was embarrassed at the mention of her family’s wealth, but nodded in assent. Her parents had actually wanted her to follow in their footsteps and take over the business. 

Tikki finished her circuit of the room and flew back over to Momo, practically vibrating with a happiness that was almost contagious. “But instead, you want to take the harder path and help others!” She concluded brightly, “You have the desire to help others, and with how complex your quirk is you have to not only be hard working, but smart as well! To remember how to make everything that you have? That’s amazing!” Momo watched as the kwami zipped around her giggling, “I think that you have all of the qualities to make an amazing Ladybug!”

For a moment, Momo didn’t say anything as she watched the little creature in shock. She had never heard somebody praise her abilities like that. 

Oh, she had heard a lot of people tell her what an amazing quirk she had, but they never seemed to realize the amount of effort that it took for her to memorize anything that she wanted to create, nor the headache that came from trying to ensure she didn’t create too much and cause harm to herself. 

To be acknowledged for her own efforts like that… It felt nice, and Momo felt herself smile along with the kwami. 

“Alright,” She said with renewed confidence, “If you’re sure about this, then I accept.”

“I’ll become Ladybug.”

At the League of Villains Headquarters

Shigaraki glared at the black blob that resembled a cat and the silver ring that was in his hands, and the cat glared back with scornful eyes. 

“So,” he said with restrained frustration, “What exactly do you do?” 

The cat yawned in his face and turned away, causing Shigaraki’s patience to break, and his hand slammed down on the table, causing the entire thing to decay underneath the cat. 

Unflinching, the cat didn’t even bother moving, and simply hovered after the table disappeared. He did grace Shigaraki with another scornful look though. 

“Wow, so impressive. If only I could do that.” The cat stretched and flicked his tail towards Shigaraki’s chair, “Oh wait,” he snickered, “I can.”

The chair disintegrated, causing Shigaraki to fall on his rear, and he glared at the creature. 

“Master,” he growled, looking towards a screen, “I fail to see why you would give me this… thing. I know that having high tiered gear is important, but giving me an item that already does what I do seems wasteful.” He stared at the screen, ignoring the scoff from the cat. 

Soon, a deep laugh came from the speaker, and the cat hissed. “Patience Shigaraki,” The voice stated, “There are other… benefits, that come with the ring. Plus, I think that you’ll find that his ability and yours combined will provide an interesting fusion.”

The growling from the cat became more vicious, “ONLY for our Chosen!” He yowled angrily, eyes glaring at the man in front of him. “And you don’t pass scrutiny. No matter how much Camembert you can provide!” He sniffed. 

Before Shigaraki could retaliate the voice cut in, “Trust me Shigaraki, right now you are formidable, but this ring will be the cheat code in this game that we play.” The voice stated smoothly. 

Plagg growled in annoyance. He always hated when he was the one that was abused. He could swear that it happened more often than any of the others… Except for maybe Nooroo. 

And to make it worse, the guy that was going to wear his ring was an adult with the mind of a broken kid. 

He could already foresee headaches in his future from this. 

On the bright side, these kinds usually got caught pretty quickly, and the Guardian would collect the miraculous once more. 

But on the downside (because of COURSE there was a downside, being the embodiment of bad luck!) the man child was being directed by a silver tongued smart guy, which lowered the chances of him getting caught. 

The guy was clearly used to dealing with the crazy would-be wielder, being able to manipulate him like he was making the most delicate of cheese.

Thankfully, Plagg had plenty of experience of his own with manipulating, and he had many more years to draw upon. He doubted he could stop the man child from becoming his wielder eventually, but he could throw up some road blocks at least. 

Looking up and giving Shigaraki the flattest look he could manage he stated in a bland tone, “Use my ring, and I get to decide how you look. How would you like to be in a leather clad magic girl outfit?”

Ah, that was a sad time for him, but it had made his wielder at the time so happy, and she ended up giving him sooo much cheese, so it was worth the loss of his dignity. 

The man stared at Plagg in shock for a bit before cursing and throwing the ring to the opposite wall, causing Plagg to snicker and the man on the screen to sigh loudly. 

He might be forced to help them against his will, but if he had anything to say about it they weren’t going to enjoy one moment of it. 

Extra:

Combat Training Class:

Ochako looked around the room nervously, trying to think of a strategy to keep the ‘heroes’ from getting the rocket. 

She and Izuku had been chosen as the villains in this round, and although she was disappointed that they had to pretend to be villains she was excited to work with Izuku! He was a smart guy, but he was also her first friend here!

She looked at him and admired his suit once more. It looked like a fancy purple and black suit with a butterfly jewel around his neck. He also wore a metal mask that covered the upper part of his face, but left his fluffy hair alone. For a weapon, it looked like he had some kind of cane. 

Oh! And he had all of these white butterflies just flying all around him! Ok, so she had no idea how butterflies could help them win this situation, but they were so pretty! She was so going to make him bring them out again after this so she could properly enjoy the sight. 

Currently, the butterflies were flying around him like they were agitated. Oh, maybe it was because Izuku was nervous? He kept on mumbling about a whole bunch of stuff that she couldn’t hear. Honestly, she was getting a little worried for her friend. 

Reaching out, she shook Izuku’s shoulder, causing him to jump and spin around, his face flushing when he saw her. 

“S-sorry!” He yelped, looking down with red cheeks. 

She giggled at his reaction before looking at him curiously, “So did you come up with a plan in your mumbling?” She asked, before blinking in surprise. “Actually, what is your quirk exactly? It never really came up, and I don’t think I saw you use it during the quirk assessment besides when you grew big butterfly wings for a couple of the tests.”

Izuku glanced around nervously and licked his lips, “Well, actually, my q-quirk could be really useful in this situation. As for what it’ll do? Well… I’m not sure yet.” 

“Huh?” Ochako asked in confusion, only to watch in surprise as Izuku reached out and let one of the butterflies land on his palm. He put his hand over the butterfly, and she saw a purple glow come from his hand, and when he removed his hand the white butterfly had turned purple. 

Giving her a nervous smile, he extended the purple butterfly to her. “Ochako, will you be my Champion?” 

Although she heard the words, Ochako’s attention was on the butterfly itself. Somehow, she felt that she could feel Izuku’s emotions through the butterfly.

The desire to succeed.

His determination.

His desire for her to accept this gift, to help her. 

Slowly, as if in a trance, she reached out and touched the butterfly, feeling a pulse of some kind of energy as she did so, and it gently flew up and touched the neck portion of her costume, melting into it.

Right after that, a wave of purple smoke engulfed her.

At the same time, outside the building

Iida Tenya looked at his partner with some misgiving. While he was glad that he was the hero in this situation, Bakagou made it hard for him to feel like he was the good guy when he was working with him. 

“So, do you have a plan on how to find the bomb?” Iida asked hopefully. The blonde did score near the top for the quirk assessment test and with the entrance exam, so he must have -

“Tch! Just don’t get in my way, Glasses!” Katsuki growled, “I’m gonna find Deku and destroy him! Remind him why he’s beneath me! Then I’ll just walk around till Round Face shows her face and then kill her too! If she’s smart and wants to hide, then I’ll just find the bomb and touch it. Pathetically easy!” He scoffed. 

Iida looked at Katsuki in alarm. “Bakugo! It’s not appropriate to say that you’ll kill our classmates!” He stated sharply, “But don’t you think they can still give you trouble? They are our classmates after all, and as heroes it would be irresponsible for us to underestimate a villain!”

Katsuki rounded on Iida and glared at him viciously, “Look Glasses, I don’t care what kind of support gear Deku managed to get his hands on, he’s still a worthless freak!” He retorted heatedly, “And all Round Face can do is make me weightless. Hah!” He flicked a finger and a small explosion appeared and his grin turned bloodthirsty, “That’ll just make it easier for me to fly around to beat the shit out of her!” 

Before Iida could reply to that, the ground began to shake, causing both he and Katsuki had to reach out to a nearby building to steady themselves. Looking forward, they felt their eyes drop open in shock. 

The ground around the building that the Villains were in began to crack, and with deceptive slowness the entire building and foundation began to lift up from the ground, bits and pieces of concrete falling down from the main structure as it levitated. 

Five feet. 

Ten feet. 

Twenty feet. 

Thirty feet high, and the multistory building finally stopped, simply floating there high above their heads. 

“Wow! This was even better than I was expecting!”

Both Iida and Katsuki were snapped out of their shock at the sound of the cheerful voice, and they looked up to see -

“O-Ochako?” Iida said incredulously, his forehead scrunched up in confusion. 

The girl certainly looked like the friend he had made the other day, but her outfit was completely different from what it was before. Instead of the pink and white astronaut themed outfit, now she was wearing a black and silver outfit, with three glowing dark pink circles going across her chest.

Looking at the outfit, the first thing that he thought of was that Ochako looked a lot more comfortable moving around in this new outfit, and with the protective bandages around her knuckles it looked like she was prepared to physically fight them. 

A black mask was on her face, and she was grinning down at them with excitement. 

“Nope!” She cheerfully stated, “Right now, I’m, um…” She put a finger to her chin for a moment in thought. “Graviton?” She mused, before shaking her head in denial. “Gravity Brawler.” She decided, looking down at them while getting in a fighting pose. 

...

“Soooo, are you going to find a way to come up here heroes?” She asked awkwardly after a few seconds of nothing happening, “Or are you going to surrender? Cause I’ll accept that too!”

With that, Iida practically heard something in his partner snap, and with a roar and explosion that deafened him, Katsuki blasted forward, using his explosions to blast himself up to the foundation where he grabbed a piece of concrete that was sticking out and swung himself up. 

Iida, on the other hand, was blasted back by the explosion. Dazed and deafened, he could only shake his head to try to clear it. 

What on earth is going on?

Katsuki swung up onto the floating platform in a rage, glaring at Round Face. 

He didn’t care what support gear Deku had given her, he was still going to show her her place for taunting him!

Despite his snarl, Ochako smiled cheerfully at him and got into a fighting position once more, “I think you left your partner hero,” she taunted with a smirk, “Are you sure that you’re good enough to take me on by yourself?”

At this, Katsuki saw red, and his teeth gritted hard enough that they could be heard. Instead of answering, he blasted forward and swung hard at her, shouting “You’re NOTHING compared to me! Now DIE!!!”

Had he been in a more stable mindset, he would have probably wondered about the glowing mask that appeared over Ochako’s face briefly, before she suddenly grabbed his arm, twisting and slamming the teen against the floor.

She quickly danced away and giggled, “Wow! Viceroy was right, you are too predictable!” 

Picking himself up, he quickly launched at her again, only for her to dodge the attack and press her hand against his stomach in an open palm strike. 

Katsuki was expecting the feeling of weightlessness. He wasn’t lying earlier - and had figured he could just use his explosions to fly, rendering her quirk ineffective. 

He definitely wasn’t expecting to feel the weight of a building press down on his entire body, causing him to collapse against the ground. 

“W-what is t-this?!” He managed to growl out, feeling his anger spike when Ochako hummed thoughtfully. 

“What? I didn’t really like it when you said I was nothing!” She said with a pout, “After all, gravity is a true fundamental force, isn’t it? And right now?” She looked down at Katsuki as she extended her arms with a smile and started to fly.

“I am it’s master.”

Chapter Text

Flashback - The Day After Izuku accepted the Butterfly Miraculous

Izuku burst into his apartment, thankful that his mom wasn’t there as his chest heaved as he tried to calm his racing heart. 

What… Had that been?

Nooroo came out of Izuku’s book bag, wringing his hands worriedly, “I’m sorry! I didn’t think that you’d be affected by it that much!”

He spent a few more moments trembling before looking at Nooroo in confusion, “W-w-what do you m-mean?” He asked fearfully. 

Several butterflies started coming down and rubbed themselves against Izuku in an attempt to calm him down as Nooroo floated down to eye level. 

“I didn’t mention it yesterday, because you were already dealing with a lot of information… A-And this usually isn’t something that my Butterflies usually have to deal with so quickly.” He said, wings fluttering nervously, “The bearer of a Miraculous will slowly gain traits of the Miraculous. The more compatible they are with it, the stronger they show.”

Finally feeling his heart calm down, he thought back to his day. Ever since accepting Nooroo, there had been numerous white butterflies following him everywhere, and Nooroo had requested that he come with Izuku as well, which he was more than happy to do. 

He had been thinking about it, and figured that it would be best to let knowledge about his ‘quirk’ come out slowly. It wasn’t uncommon for the definition of somebody’s quirk to change as they learned more about it. First, he would let it become known that it had something to do with butterflies, and after he got into UA he’d ‘experiment’ with his quirk some more and ‘discover’ its ability to create heroes. 

The first day he went to school with Nooroo though, he… felt(?) an oppressive air around the place, every time somebody looked at him it was like he felt them poke at him with something dark, causing him to flinch even more than usual. 

But that was nothing compared to when Kacchan had arrived. Where the others were more dismissive, Kacchan was a bonfire of anger, resentment, and disdain that he could feel before he had even entered the school. 

He had barely been able to pay attention during classes, and immediately once class was over he had run, fleeing the hostility both passive and active, until he had made it back home. 

Nooroo flew in circles, clearly distressed. “A Butterfly can sense the emotions of those around them,” He explained in a soft voice, “It’s how they know who will make a good Champion or not. Though it’s not as strong as it would be if you were transformed, you’ll still feel that when you’re de-transformed.”

Izuku stared at the worried kwami, “So, what I felt back there,” He asked with a sinking heart, “That was what they actually felt about me?” 

Nooroo immediately shook his head, “No, that’s just what they felt, ” he emphasized. “A bad day, dislike of school, other people… It might not have been about you.” 

Izuku nodded slowly, but didn’t look convinced. “So, when it felt like they were poking at me when they looked at me?” He asked, looking down when Nooroo seemed to wilt. 

Instantly, he felt Nooroo rub against him, “I’m sorry,” he heard, “It seems that you’re, well, REALLY compatible with a Butterfly.”

He had known that people didn’t really like a quirkless freak like him, but it was a more visceral experience to actually FEEL what they felt about him. And Kacchan… He didn’t know if he could even be near Kacchan if he was constantly exuding… That.

As if he was reading his mind, “It’ll get better,” Nooroo said softly, “You’ll learn how to block it out so it doesn’t affect you as much. Usually you’d have more time to learn, but I wasn’t expecting your environment to be quite this bad.”

Izuku took a few steadying breaths, “So, are there any other butterfly traits I need to worry about?” He asked lightly, and Nooroo giggled. 

“You’ll become more charismatic, and find that people will want to talk to you.” He said, looking thoughtfully. “You also might find yourself becoming more skittish. A butterfly is fragile and easy to injure, so you need to be very careful about that.”

Izuku’s head darted up at that, “M-more skittish?” He said worriedly, “B-but, I c-can’t be a hero if I’m constantly scared! A hero n-needs to be brave in order to save people that need saving!”

The lilac kwami just gave him a patient smile, “I’ve been held by many heroes throughout the years Izuku,” He explained gently, “And they’ve all learned a secret. ALL heroes are scared. If they’re not, then they’re lying to themselves.” He stared directly into Izuku’s eyes. “A hero is somebody that is willing to do what is right, DESPITE being scared.” 

Izuku sat back and thought about that for a bit, mulling it over in his head. As Nooroo had said, he had a lot of experience, and as such Izuku didn’t want to discard anything he had to say right away, no matter how much he disliked it. None of the heroes he watched had shown any fear when they rescued people. They just did it, and came out with a smile on their face. Or, well, most of them did. Kacchan didn’t feel any fear either, he just won with overwhelming force!

His thoughts were interrupted by Nooroo once more, “So what was with that blonde child?” He asked, shivering a little. “I… really didn’t like the look he gave.” He whispered. 

Izuku knew exactly what he meant. “T-that was Kacchan. H-he’s my friend.”

Silence reigned for several seconds, and Nooroo fluttered down once more and looked at him in confusion, “He’s your friend?” Quiet incredulousness in his voice. 

Izuku nodded jerkily, “W-well, yeah! We were childhood friends. And then, well, he got his quirk, and I… didn’t, so we kinda fell apart.” He felt himself start to get depressed before forcing it out of his voice. “B-but now that I can become a hero, I’m sure it’ll be different!” 

Nooroo continued to look at him with worried skepticism, “Izuku,” he said softly, “I can feel your emotions. You can’t hide that from me,” causing him to flinch, and the swarm of butterflies surrounded him once more. Wait, were there more of them now?

Continuing to speak gently Nooroo asked him, “His quirk came in when you were four, right?” And Izuku nodded slowly, “and you’re thirteen now?” Another nod. “So he hasn’t been friends with you for almost ten years?” 

Izuku bit his lip nervously, “H-he’s just, really focused on becoming the strongest hero… And, he really is amazing! He’s strong, and he doesn’t ever give up!” He said, desperately trying to show Kacchan’s good points. 

Nooroo just looked at him with worried eyes, “Has he… hurt you before?” He asked quietly, and the entire swarm seemed to flutter their wings angrily when he didn’t answer for a second, and he quickly waved his hands, “I-it’s not like that!” He said, trying to calm them down, “H-he doesn’t mean to hurt me, a-and he could do much much worse if he had been trying!”

Eventually the swarm of butterflies settled and Nooroo calmed down, with them focusing on calming Izuku down after that. After a few minutes, Izuku felt his eyes becoming heavier, and Nooroo spoke up again, “Izuku? Do you remember what I said about Butterflies being fragile?”, and he gave a hum in assent. “I don’t understand the whole situation of this,” He began, “But I don’t want him to hurt you.” He floated in front of Izuku once more and he was startled to see him with a stern look. Instead of looking scary, it reminded Izuku of when a kitten tried to intimidate a ball of yarn. Nooroo was just… too much of a butterfly to be scary. 

“We kwami are guides and protectors, and it’s part of my job to protect my Butterflies. If he hurts you again, I’m going to have to let your mom know.”

Instantly Izuku was awake and wide eyed once more. 

He took it back. Butterflies were very scary. 

“Y-you can’t do that!” He said desperately, “D-didn’t you say that secrecy was really important and all that?” 

Nooroo calmly nodded, “Y-yes, but I don’t have to reveal myself to do that.” He said with an apologetic smile, “I c-can just write a note, or a letter, or use your phone to send her a text.” 

Izuku felt the blood drain from his face as he realized the truth of that, and he dimly realized that Nooroo was rubbing his hair again. “Is it so bad that your mom knows?” He asked quizzically, and Izuku shook his head. 

“I-it’s just… I don’t want her to worry about me…” He said quietly, looking at Nooroo desperately, “She’s already done so much for me, and I don’t want to add to what she has to do. We can’t change schools without moving, and we don’t have any money to move, and that would just stress her out even more, and that would cause her to worry more about me, and…” he forced himself to stop as he breathed heavily, his eyes wide in panic and Nooroo was looking at him in concern. 

“Ok, it’s alright,” He soothed, and Izuku tried to calm down. “Just focus on what you can do,” He instructed. “A Butterfly is elusive, and hard to catch. Just… Think of this as practice!’ He said brightly, trying to cheer him up. “You can sense where he and his friends are now, so just focus on avoiding them.

The rest of the year, Izuku got a lot of practice at running. 

Present Time - Completion of Battle Trial

Izuku flinched at the look of fury in Kacchan’s eyes as they and Iida and Ochaco made their way back to the observation room, the victory of their win slightly dying from that glare.

This was the longest he had been in Kacchan’s presence in over a year. The threat his kwami had made had stuck, and he had done his best to avoid all of his bullies. While there were definitely some close calls, he had managed to become in Nooroo’s cheerful words ‘elusive as a butterfly’. 

He had also managed to get better at filtering out the darker emotions of the school, and was able to enjoy the more pleasant emotions that people exuded. 

He had actually burst into tears when he felt how much his mom loved him...

Not that he didn’t feel the other emotions… but it didn’t affect him nearly as much as it had, and he could analyze more. He could sense the fury within his old friend, Kacchan, his confusion, resentment, and… Doubt?

Iida was disappointed, but he had a tight hold on it, expressing his congratulations to both him and Ochaco for their win. 

And Ochako was bubbly, ecstatic, and happy from their victory. Honestly, her cheerful emotions helped blow away the negativity that was coming from Kacchan. 

He had been hoping that if he showed Kacchan how he could be a hero, how he wasn’t a waste, that he would change and be willing to become friends again… And yet, feeling the other’s current emotions, he was doubting it…

Maybe he’d try talking to him after he’d calm down. Like, tomorrow. Or next week maybe? 

Once they entered the monitoring room, they were immediately drowned in congratulations and questions as the rest of the class cheerfully bombarded them, causing Izuku to get lost in the excitement for a bit.

Sensing his distress, his butterflies swarmed around him, creating space between the well wishers and himself and giving him a chance to breathe. With everybody's eyes on the butterflies, he quickly whispered “Wings Fall,” causing him to shimmer slightly and revealed…

Himself, in the exact same suit as before, as Nooroo quickly dashed into his bag. 

He was extremely grateful that his mother was able to sew him an exact replica of Nooroo’s superhero suit. While it didn’t have the protections his transformed suit did, it allowed him to detransform and give Nooroo a chance to recharge while keeping his secret intact. 

“ Alright! That’s enough, go ahead and give them room to breath!” Boomed All-Might cheerfully, giving them a winning smile as they all quieted down. “Now! Who can tell me who the MVP of that match was?” 

There was a moment of silence before a tall girl with long, raven hair and in a red suit with black spots raised her hand, “Excuse me sir, but I believe that the MVP of that match would go to Midoriya.” She replied, “Using his quirk, he was able to not only augment Uraraka’s own quirk, but also used it to communicate with her and inform her the best way to take down the members of the hero team.”

Izuku immediately balked at that, especially since nobody else seemed to be disagreeing with it. “W-w-wait! I can’t be the MVP, I mean, I didn’t even do much of anything! If it’s anybody, it’s Uraraka! I mean, I might have strengthened her quirk, but everything that she did with it was all her!

Iida looked at Izuku in disbelief, “That’s what you call just ‘strengthening’? He asked incredulously, “She lifted an entire building and the ground underneath it! And her entire outfit and demeanor changed!”

Izuku hunched in on himself as everybody looked at him once more, “W-well, ok, so it strengthened her more than I was expecting,” He muttered, “And y-yeah, the costume change was also k-kinda me. But everything she did was all her!”

Now the center of attention, Ochaco blushed and gave a nervous laugh and shrug. 

“Wait!” Mina shouted, looking at Izuku intently, and Izuku stiffened at the mischievousness he saw in her eyes. “So you made her whole outfit? Sooooo, that means you could have put her in ANY other costume, right?” 

Izuku erupted in a blush and stammered in denial, unsure of how exactly to explain how exactly the idea for the costume had come to him the moment she had accepted his offer. 

Ochaco was blushing intensely as well, but he was grateful when she brought the discussion back to the original topic. 

“B-but Deku!” Ochaco pouted while trying to ignore what Mina had said, “T-the only reason that I was able to do all of that was because you helped me! I was feeling all nervous and worried, and then you gave me that butterfly and BAM! It felt like I could lift up the entire city!” 

“Ahem!” All-Might coughed loudly, a drop of sweat falling from his forehead, “I think that the MVP status in this case can go to both Midoriya AND Uraraka!” He declared loudly, “There are some fights that you will be in which the coordination and ability of you and your partner are good enough that it is impossible to fully determine who did more!” He lectured, “Neither could have won on their own, and it is in these fights that you can exceed far more than what you would be able to do simply on your own. That is a goal that all of you should strive for! PLUS ULTRA!” 

Izuku listened with stars in his eyes and his notebook out, the excitement of actually being taught by All-Might of all people having not yet lost it’s edge. 

He had been so incredibly nervous about doing these Battle Trials, as it was the first time he had created a Champion. He wasn’t allowed to use a ‘quirk’ in public, and when it came to the Initiation and the robots… He had completely forgotten about it.

He had been able to work out with Nooroo how to hold a partial transformation so it didn’t look like he was bringing a suit to the Entrance Exam a couple weeks prior, but when it came to trying to make a Champion, Izuku had completely blanked. His senses had increased, and he tried finding somebody to make a Champion, but nobody had truly stood out… Panicking, he had rushed out to do what he could. 

Running from Kacchan and his goons had given him a good leg workout over the months, and even being just partially transformed gave him an increase in speed and strength. Furthermore, he was able to create butterfly wings to fly with!

As Nooroo had said, “You wanted to be an active butterfly. The suit responded to that, and and thus, the wings.” 

He hadn’t taken down any robots, even with the boost… But he was able to avoid all of the attacks, and more importantly was able to help other people that looked like they were in trouble as he followed his butterflies, his little army of heroes, with them guiding him towards people that needed help. 

When that giant robot came out, he had honestly thought that his heart was going to stop. How had THAT been approved for the test?!? He was about to fly away himself before he had realized that somebody was trapped in the rubble. A girl that had actually helped him earlier that day. 

Looking back on it, he thinks that he felt the call to make a Champion. There were several people who had the desire to help, who WANTED to help, and who had the potential… And yet all of that faded away as he felt his body move on its own, and he found himself powering towards the person that needed help. 

“ A hero was somebody that felt fear, but still acted.” 

He hadn’t destroyed any robots by the end of the test, and it had taken the combined effort of both Nooroo and his own mother to keep him from being depressed afterwards. He had had the chance to make a Champion, and he had completely failed!

He could scarcely believe it when the existence of Rescue Points were revealed, and he saw that he had managed to accrue quite a few of them, enough to the point that he had actually managed to pass. 

To his surprise and delight, that girl he had saved from the giant robot had managed to pass as well, and she was in the same class as himself. Uraraka had become the first friend that he had made in a long time, and was probably the only friend that was happy to spend time with him.

And now he was here, being praised by his idol for doing well… His life was complete. 

A wave of anger pressed against his side, and he found himself gulping. 

Well, it’s a good thing his life was complete, because it seemed like Kacchan was ready to end it for him...

Momo’s POV

Momo walked out onto the field with her partner almost giddy with excitement and nervousness. This was the first time that she was going to use the Ladybug Miraculous in a spar with other people, and she was praying that everything went well. 

She had spent time transformed of course, and had been amazed by how much stronger and faster she became with it. Unfortunately, she could not figure out a proper way to explain to her parents or trainers the increased strength that came with Tikki, and so had not been able to train with another person yet. 

Instead, she had focused on strength training and fighting, that way it didn’t come as a complete surprise. She would still need to hide her full strength - a normal person couldn’t lift a car like she could without a strength quirk, and she couldn’t explain why said strength came and went, but even holding back she knew she would be quite formidable. 

Though that was nice, the greatest boon by far had come from simply talking with Tikki. 

She had thought that she had a decent grasp of her creation quirk, up until she had a lengthy talk with a creature that had spent a millennium creating items. The method might be different, but there were a lot of insights that Momo was able to glean from the little kwami. 

The only thing that dampened her enthusiasm right now was her… partner. 

Grimacing, she turned to her partner, Mineta Minoru, and looked him over. By far the shortest student in their class, he stood at about three and a half feet in height, his most noticeable feature was multiple large purple balls he had instead of hair. His quirk allowed him to take these balls and stick them to the ground. They appeared to be sticky to everything but himself. Seeing as how his quirk wasn’t combat oriented, she figured he must have been quite intelligent. 

It’s for this reason that she exerted all of the discipline and patience she had to ignore the drooling and leering gaze that he was currently giving her, even as she was grateful that while transformed she could create items through her costume, allowing her to wear a costume that covered more. 

Her current look wasn’t drastically different from what she had planned - instead of a red and white leotard with holes around her body’s lipid stores, she was now wearing a dark red suit that covered her full body. She kept the idea for her belt, as it was never a bad idea to have a large space for pockets, and her boots kept the same color scheme, though there were no longer heels per Tikki’s suggestion.  

Reminiscent of a ladybug, she had multiple black spots across her uniform, and across her face she wore a domino mask. Strapped to her belt was a yo-yo. 

“Alright,” She said with forced brightness, “Do you have any thoughts on what we should do?”

Her partner, Minoru Mineta, snapped out of his daze, and gave a confident smirk, “Don’t worry,” He said while striking a pose, “This is where I’ll truly shine!” He took one of the purple balls from his head and showed it to her, “I can detach these balls from my head, giving me a lot of sticky traps. I just need to put these all over the ground.” He dashed to the window with a smirk, “We just need to cover the window and turn off the lights, making everything super dark. I just bounce off of my balls, so I can bounce around and trip them up while they’re left blind! One misstep, and then then we’ll have them!” He gave her a lewd look and a wink after his explanation, “Perhaps I can get a kiss for good luck?” He suggested while puckering his lips. 

Shuddering, Momo forced her mind past her initial disgust of her fellow student. As far as plans went, it was actually alright as a basic plan, but it could use some work. The hero team, Team G, consisted of Kyoka Jiro and Denki Kaminari. Jiro had a strong ear quirk, and Kaminari appeared to have an electric quirk. Unfortunately, neither of which were very much to go off of.

“Alright,” She said slowly while edging a little farther away from the smaller boy, “Why don’t you stay here and trap this room then? And…” She looked around, “Attach the bomb to the corner of the roof over there?” She suggested, causing the other to pout at not getting a kiss. 

“Uhh, ok, but what are you going to do?” He asked in confusion, and she gave a smile full of confidence that she didn’t feel. 

“I’m going to see how lucky I am!” She said brightly.

Just outside the building

“So, where are the ‘villains’?” Kaminari asked Kyoka, her earlobes stuck inside the outside wall of the building. 

Kyoka closed her eyes in concentration, focusing on the vibrations she was hearing. After a small pause, her eyebrows creased in confusion. “One of them is on the fourth floor,” She said slowly, “But the other is… Waiting in the first floor lobby.”

“Wait, what?” He looked at her baffled and she shrugged. 

“The one waiting in the first floor has a stronger heartbeat, so it’s probably Momo…” She murmured, and Kaminari gave a smirk.

“So the midget is upstairs? Sweet, we can just go in the back way and avoid her entirely, right?” 

Kyoka hesitated before nodding. Something didn’t seem right about this scenario, but Kaminari wasn’t exactly wrong per se… Clearly going through the front door was suicide. Nobody wanted to take on somebody that could create a CANNON from their body head on. Who knew what she had prepared for them in there. 

Kyoka had short black hair, and was wearing a black leather jacket with a salmon colored shirt with some artistic tears in it underneath. Black pants and black boots, with what looked like speakers attached to the boots. Her most prominent feature was her earlobes - hanging from each ear was a long, flexible, plug-like earphone jack, one of which she had just pulled from the wall. 

Kaminari was blonde with a lightning bolt shaped black mark in his hair. Black jacket and black pants with stylized lightning bolts on them and a white shirt underneath. He was also wearing square earphones that included an antenna on one side that stuck up. 

The two quickly moved towards a window directly opposite of where she had heard Momo, slowly opening it up and climbing in. 

Unfortunately, they were so focused on being quiet that they completely missed the numerous thin wires that were stretched across the ground in front of the window. One of which Kaminari stepped on.

Only a few seconds later, the two of them jumped in shock as a series of loud explosions and light went off right besides them. Since Kyoka had been focusing so hard on the heartbeats of the two people to make sure they didn’t move, the loud noise took her completely by surprise, and she grabbed her ears in pain. 

Kaminari wasn’t affected as much, but he instantly realized that somebody (Momo) would be along very soon. Facing the door, he prepared his quirk, lightning rolling down his arms as he focused, and the moment he saw a figure he let loose. 

Lighting sprung from his arms and hands and shot out crackling power… only to be diverted and slam into something next to the doorframe. Blinking in confusion at the odd reaction, he barely noticed as a red blur sped through the door, a circular object spinning around him at dizzying speed. Before he knew it, he was trussed up tightly with a… Yo-yo?

“Wha- Hey!” He exclaimed in surprise, watching as Momo spun to a stop and brought out the capture tape. Determined to at least get rid of ONE opponent, he focused his lightning once more. His hands were tied up, but he could still point with his legs! “Just try dodging this!” He shouted out desperately, seeing Momo’s eyes widen before grabbing the disoriented Kyoka and launching herself backwards. 

He grinned, she was fast, but there was no way that she could dodge lightning. Even as it traveled down his legs and shot out he felt his mind begin to tingle. He had put too much power in those bolts - he needed to pace himself more. Only to watch in shock as once more the lightning diverted and slammed into something by the doorframe. Squinting his eyes at the door, he saw… A piece of metal? 

Kyoka, for her part, barely even realized what was going on. First there was the loud noise that she wasn’t prepared for, and then the thunder of Kaminari’s lightning, and then she was being dragged through the air. She tried to stand up, to get her bearings as fast as she could, only to feel something slip around her wrists, and she looked up and saw Momo looking at her apologetically.

“Villain Team Wins!”

“So! Who do you think the MVP of this match was?” All-Might asked the class, and Momo kept quiet as she waited for the evaluation. 

The timid green haired boy with the butterflies fluttering around him raised his hand, “I-I think that that would b-be Yaoyorozu.” He stuttered, flinching as everybody's attention went on him. “M-Mineta came up with an a-alright defensive plan, but Y-yaoyorozu was the one that t-took charge and set up the traps on the first floor. S-she anticipated Kaminari’s lightning and placed lightning rods by the doors to counteract him, and placed flash bangs attached to tripwires at all of the entrances on the first floor to negate Kyoka’s advantage. She then was able to take down both Kaminari and Kyoka, and even protected Kyoka from potentially getting hit by Kaminari’s attack.” He tilted his head in confusion, “T-the only thing that I can think of that she didn’t do very well was working more with her partner. 

She flinched slightly. That… was not something that she could deny, and she knew that Tikki would berate her for it… But she had found it extremely difficult being with the purple haired boy after he had spent all that time drooling over her. 

Instead, she said “I thought that it best to have him as a second line of defense, in case something happened to me. If I was taken out, then he would have had enough time to better trap the room in order to defend the bomb.” 

“An Excellent strategy Miss Yaoyorozu!” All-Might boomed, “Although we didn’t see it due to her success, a backup plan in case of failure is truly invaluable! There will always be events that happen outside your expectations, and not placing all your eggs in one basket is extremely important! However, I would recommend greater communication of plans between allies. A lack of communication has ruined a great many team-up’s and relationship’s in the past!”

She shuddered, why oh why did he have to say relationships? She wondered, making sure to ignore the lewd grin being sent her way while nodding seriously, “Yes sir,” she replied. 

Despite the criticism, she couldn’t help but feel the glow of victory. This was something that SHE had earned. Not handed to her due to her family, nor her looks, and she hadn’t truly drawn on Tikki’s power for this fight. This victory was of her own making, and that made it all the more important to her. 

Hopefully next time she would have a better partner to work with. Tikki had always stressed the importance of that, especially since usually the miraculous were given out in pairs. Neither she nor her kwami were sure which one had been given out, but that was one partnership that she wouldn’t have much of a say in, so she should get used to it. 

… But if it was somebody like Mineta, then she’d seriously be considering trying to convince Tikki on working solo. 

After the battle trials, Momo went to the bathroom and brought Tikki out while smiling brightly, “I did it! I won!” and the ladybug kwami gave her a bright smile back.

“Of course you did!” She giggled, “And even if you hadn’t won, I knew you would still have done an amazing job!”

Momo leaned against the wall, relaxing after the stress of the trial. Sure, she might have had a huge edge with the ladybug miraculous, but quirks were unpredictable and varied. Going up against somebody like Todoroki… Well, without warning, it would have been dicey, and she probably would have been forced to use Lucky Charm. 

If she had had the chance before being frozen that is. Tikki had warned her about ladybugs and the cold after all, and she was not looking forward to that little trait.

The aphid thing was another that she could have done without. 

It was only a few seconds after that when Tikki gave her a look, and Momo braced herself for the partnership lecture. 

“Momo,” the kwami said in a serious tone, “Do you remember what I said about the Guardian usually activating a pair of Miraculi at a time?”

She breathed out, unable to look at her kwami. “I know Tikki, I know,” she said softly, “I need to be better at working with others… but, that boy... “ She struggled with what to say, only to sigh in relief when Tikki cut in.

“Oh no! That’s not it at all!” She protested, dashing to appear in front of Momo with a reassuring smile, “This was your first battle! I don’t expect everything to go perfectly, and you did great!”, causing Momo to breathe a sigh of relief. “No, one of your classmates is the other Miraculous wielder!”

“Really?” Momo perked up with interest before paling, “P-please don’t tell me it’s…”

Tikki giggled at her reaction, “No, it’s not him,” She said, causing Momo to almost collapse with relief. “It was the green haired boy with the butterflies!”

She blinked in surprise, thinking back to the boy, “Midoriya?” She asked curiously as Tikki nodded. 

She thought back to his battle trial. He seemed like a very nervous person, though he was respectful to everybody in class, so that had left a good impression on her. His power was certainly the oddest in her opinion, but extremely powerful. He himself didn’t seem to be that strong, at least, he didn’t rank very high during Aizawa’s quirk test, but she and everybody else in the observation room had been shocked to see how powerful he was able to make Uraraka. Even All-Might had been taken off guard!

She blinked in confusion, “But how are you able to tell me who it is?” She asked, “I thought that that sort of thing was part of what you guys kept secret?”

Tikki buzzed around the stall for a bit and nodded slowly, “Normally you’d be correct,” She said, “But in this case, he’s not really hiding. Or I suppose,” She mused, “It’s more that he’s hiding in plain sight. Everybody who doesn’t know about kwami’s will assume that he’s just using a quirk. It’s because of that that I can tell you about him.  He was fairly obvious about using the Butterfly power.”

Momo nodded in understanding, letting a relieved smile grow across her face. 

Although she didn’t know him that well, she felt that Midoriya was somebody that she could work with. And even better, he was in her class! 

Now she just needed to figure out the best way to talk to him.

The opportunity came faster than she expected. 

She had thought that everybody had already left by the time she finished talking to Tikki and started making her way back home. But just as she was about to make it to the gate she heard the sound of a small explosion. 

“Don’t freaking lie to me DEKU!” Somebody snarled, and she recognized it as one of her classmates. The blonde haired boy, Bakugou. 

Rounding the corner quickly, she saw the blonde classmate leveling a furious glare at the very boy that she wanted to speak to, looking downright terrified. Seeing her, Midoriya relaxed a little, and Bakugou turned around as he noticed this and gave her a glare. 

“Well what do you want?” He barked, and she almost took a step back in surprise at the hostility in his words.

Ignoring his words, she asked, “What exactly is going on here? You know that we’re not supposed to be using our quirks outside of school!”

Narrowing his eyes further, he growled, “That’s none of your business ‘High Class’. This is between me and -” he looked to the side both she and he realized that Midoriya had slipped away the moment Bakugou was distracted. 

Bakugou grit his teeth, “DAMMIT! NOT AGAIN! GET BACK HERE DEKU!” And immediately dashed in a direction down the street, probably where he thought Midoriya had gone. 

She looked at the spot in confusion for a bit.

Aaaand the opportunity was lost. 

Hoping that the explosive boy didn’t catch up with the miraculous holder, she decided she’d talk with him the next day. Hopefully she’d be able to create a good enough excuse to do so. 

Council Room

A long table sat in the middle of the room, and all of the teachers and the principal were sitting down at it, several of them looking very interested. 

“So, how did your classes go today?” Nedzu asked, amusement in his voice as he looked at All Might in his thin form. “I understand that you had several interesting individuals.”

All Might let out an explosive breath, sagging down in his seat. “This teaching position might be the death of me.” He admitted with a tired smile, his answer getting a bark of laughter from Eraserhead.

“Now you know my pain,” The tired looking man stated with a smirk. 

“Perhaps,” All Might said before brightening, “However, it’s clear to me that this generation of students is indeed powerful, and will prove worthy successors in the future!” He exclaimed with renewed vigor. 

Right before he started coughing, blood appearing through his fingers as he brought his hand up to cover his mouth. 

“Heh, there it is. I was wondering where the ‘All Might’ spirit had gone for a bit,” joked Present Mic, though he looked at All Might in concern. 

“No worries, I still have lots of life in me yet.” All Might said while bringing up a handkerchief to clean the blood. “But I do have a question.” He turned to Eraserhead, “Have you had a chance to look at the Battle Trial reports yet?”

He just received a shrug, “I was going to look at them later tonight. Why?”

All Might grimaced, “I was taken by surprise by Midoriya’s quirk,” He stated, receiving a blank look in return until he explained, “His quirk involves using butterflies to somehow ‘strengthen’ another person’s quirk” he explained. “Uraraka was able to lift up the entire building after he strengthened her.”

All of the teachers around the table looked at All Might with wide eyes in shock. They were aware of what building he was using, and that was a substantial amount of weight. 

Eraserhead himself felt his eyes widen immediately into wakefulness, “He did what ?” He questioned sharply, only for Nezu to interject. 

“Indeed, and it goes farther than that.” The principal said with a grin, “Not only did he increase her strength dramatically, he was able to alter her quirk so that she could simultaneously increase the gravity around an opponent while keeping the building up. He also altered her equipment to better suit the new ability and it’s combat effectiveness, and could use it to communicate with her in battle.” The smile grew as he described further, “I must say, I’m actually rather impressed with the thoroughness of it.”

Eraserhead could only look at the principal in surprise at hearing all of that, and Midnight gave a sultry chuckle at the sight, “Why Aizawa,” She purred, “Do you mean to say that somebody made it past your test without ‘putting their all’ into it?” 

He glared at her before giving up, causing her to giggle at him, “He didn’t have zero potential,” he grunted, “He placed in the middle of the class with some rather impressive speed and with using some wings that he was able to grow. From the way he was sweating, I promise you that he was not holding back.”

“Perhaps that is something to bring up with Midoriya later,” Nezu remarked idly, “As well as advising him to adjust his quirk on the quirk registry. The only thing listed is ‘Butterfly traits’.” 

After Eraserhead nodded, Nezu looked at the other teachers with a wide smile, “With that surprise out of the way, let’s discuss some other interesting prospects we have this year.” He said brightly. 

While they went through the various classes discussing students that stood out to them, Nezu couldn’t help but think back to what he saw from the camera’s in the observation room earlier. 

It was during when everybody was distracted by the swarm of butterflies around Midoriya. Small enough that most people would have missed it actually. 

A small flash, and a small blur going from Midoriya to his bag. After seeing that, he fast forwarded throughout the day and observed the bag, noting several times when it twitched, or when Midoriya appeared to be talking into it. 

So Midoriya was keeping secrets it seemed. The principal wasn’t worried about it being villainous in nature - honestly, he hadn’t seen a kid so earnest about being a hero since Mirio in the previous year. If he had to guess, it might be a sentient type quirk. Rare, but not unusual. 

But if that was the case, then why did Midoriya hide it like he did? 

The principal could only chuckle in anticipation. He loved secrets. But more than that, he loved uncovering other people’s secrets. And why would he tell the teachers about his suspicions when he could use this as a way to test their own perception? 

Besides, he had to have something to amuse himself with for the semester, and he got the feeling that this was going to be an interesting one indeed.

Chapter Text

Izuku hid in one of the trees with his eyes shut tight, feeling out and sensing the bundle of anger and frustration that was Bakugou Katsuki.

Flashback

He was walking out of the building with Uraraka and Iida, brimming with excitement. He had seen so many new and amazing quirks that day that he could barely contain himself. And he had made friends! Iida had been disappointed and frustrated that he had lost the Battle Trial without being able to show anything, but he proved to be a good sport in the end and had wanted to be his friend as well!

Best of all, he could actually sense that they weren't faking it. They genuinely enjoyed it!

That fact alone made him nearly burst into tears… It had been so long since he had actually been able to spend time with people like that. His mother and Nooroo were great, don't get him wrong, and he loved them dearly, but other people his own age?

… Yeah, he didn't socialize all that much.

As they made their way to UA's gate, he felt the familiar bonfire of fury that he was very familiar with waiting just outside, and he felt his own nervousness rise in response, and he instinctively looked for potential escape routes.

Well, he was planning on talking with him eventually soooo… Now was as good a time as any, right?

He felt a soft thump from his bag, causing him to glance down discreetly to see Nooroo giving him an encouraging look.

It might have helped more if Nooroo hadn't looked as nervous as he felt, but Izuku appreciated the sentiment all the same.

As they walked outside they immediately saw the blonde glaring at the three of them. Both Uraraka and Iida frowned at the hostile blonde and stood in front of Izuku protectively, only stopping when Izuku stopped them with a touch and gave them a smile that was hopefully more convincing than Nooroo's.

"I-it's alright," He said, trying to project more confidence than what he felt. "I really should talk with him. I'll be fine, honest," He insisted when they gave him doubtful looks.

"O-ok," Uraraka said hesitantly, "Don't forget to text us later tonight. Oh! We should make a chat with the three of us!" She said with forced cheer.

Smiling at his friends, he finished setting up the details with them and watched them walk away, only to then turn to look at his former(?) friend.

Kacchan glared at him with clenched teeth, "Deku,' He spat out, "What the heck was that earlier?" He demanded.

Knowing exactly what he was talking about, Izuku took a shaky breath and forced himself to remain calm, "That was my quirk Kacchan," He said softly, only to flinch slightly as the glare on the other boy intensified.

"Don't give me that crap!" He snarled, "I didn't freaking believe it when you came up with that weak ass excuse of being a late bloomer last year, but at least that 'butterfly quirk' matched how pathetic you were. But how do butterflies let you juice up somebody like you did Round Face?"

"Well, I - uhm, it's, uhm, complicated." Izuku admitted hesitantly.

Truth. Nooroo knew how it worked, but despite Nooroo's explanations, Izuku was still confused as to how the whole kwami/magic thing worked, as frustrating as that was to admit.

"I've always felt that there was more to my ability than just attracting butterflies, but, well, I never really tested it since, uhm, we're not supposed to use our quirks out in public, you know? Today was actually the first time that I've used that aspect to it. I just… went with what felt right?"

Again, all truth. Making Champions wasn't exactly an ability he could just test on people, and today had been the first time he had used it.

His already dwindling spirits sank further when he saw Kacchan's eyes narrow dangerously. "You're lying!' He growled. "C'mon Deku, you're trying to tell me that you got a quirk and you didn't analyze the crap out of it the day you found it?" He slammed his fist into the wall right besides his head, causing him to let out a yelp as several smaller explosions went off near his ear.

"Now don't freaking lie to me Deku!" He shouted, and Izuku felt his heart thud in fear. Most of it was in response to Kacchan's anger, even if he knew that he wouldn't try anything so close to UA. Kacchan wasn't stupid after all. But a good amount of that fear was also from what Nooroo would do if Izuku accidentally got hurt.

While Nooroo was normally soft spoken and helpful, he became very scary when it came to Izuku's health. Which really wasn't necessary at all!

Just as he was desperately trying to come up with options, he was saved.

"What is going on here?"

Izuku could have cried. UA really was filled with heroes!

The girl with the creation quirk, Yaoyorozu(?) Came around the corner, immediately grabbing Kacchan's attention.

Izuku immediately took advantage of the opportunity and slipped away as fast as he could, employing all of the skills he'd learned the past year in getting away and hiding from Kacchan and his friends.

Flashback ended.

Once he could no longer sense Kacchan, he slowly got down from the tree and started making his way to the bus, feeling dejected.

He had been hoping that once his old friend had seen that he had a quirk and could be a hero that he would be more… Tolerant? He wasn't expecting things to go back to the way that they were of course, but at this point he'd be more than happy with less glares.

It wasn't like he was even a competitor to Kacchan! Kacchan wanted to become the strongest - the number 1 hero. And that was not a position that Izuku would ever be able to take, nor one that he really desired. He didn't want to become a hero for the titles or the position after all.

As Nooroo kept on telling him, a Butterfly was fragile. Though they could take to the battlefield, it was never ideal. Instead, they were a hero that inspired others when things seemed dark, and brought hope to those who had lost it.

He could build up those who were weaker and give them the chance to be a hero, much like Nooroo had done for him. But in a one on one fight, Kacchan would win every time, hands down.

And he was fine with that. At least, he was now anyways. He had been a bit bummed at first, but the more he thought about it, the more he liked the idea of being able to inspire people like that.

Kacchan was smart, and had most likely already realized this… So why did he get the feeling that nothing had changed between them?

He spent the whole ride home buried in these thoughts, eventually making his way to his apartment. Walking in, he noted that his mom wasn't home yet and decided to get dinner started for her. Ever since he had felt how much she loved him, he was determined to show her how much he loved her back in whatever little way he could around the house. Especially since he felt guilty about keeping Nooroo a secret from her. But first…

He opened his bedroom door and walked in, letting the comforting smell of flowers flow around him as he relaxed, absently hearing the fluttering of butterflies as they flew from him to the room.

His room had undergone a small change since he had met Nooroo. Though it was still filled with an ever growing collection of hero paraphernalia, a good portion of it now held multiple varieties of flowers, sometimes intermingling amongst his collection. Fluttering around all of them were his little army of heroes.

He had gotten all of the flowers for the butterflies, but had no problem admitting that their presence was really comforting to him as well, especially after a rollercoaster of good and bad events like today. He was grateful when Nooroo remained quiet and went over to the flowers to fuss over the butterflies.

Despite the stress, the day had still gone amazing in his own eyes, much like the prior day had been. He was actually going to UA! He was able to make friends! And All Might was a teacher there! This was all of his dreams wrapped into one coming true.

Taking another deep breath, he quickly moved to his notebook and flower covered desk. Grabbing a notebook that he had been keeping in a separate pile, he opened it up to reveal a pristine and empty book.

As great as the day had been, the best thing (or… maybe the second best? Meeting All Might face to face was pretty amazing after all.) was when he had given the butterfly to Uraraka.

His first Champion.

With quick strokes of a pencil, he drew a quick sketch of a transformed Uraraka, doing his best to capture her features and the look of the new armor on her. The pose he had of her in his memory was with her levitating, debris orbiting her as she smiled down at those below.

Izuku had been alone for many years. Before he had found out that he was quirkless, he had been a very excitable child. Always chatting with the other kids about heroes or showing them a new toy he had been given. But after that day at the doctors, everything had changed.

While not everybody bullied him, the majority of students avoided him, either because they didn't want to attract the attention of Kacchan and his friends, or they didn't want to be associated with a Quirkless loser. Regardless of their reasoning, it had left him without any friends to be around for years. This is why he had still attempted to be friends with Kacchan - the first friend he had ever made.

He had nobody else.

In making a Champion, he felt connected to somebody else in a way that he hadn't ever before, and he liked to think that that was mutual. With that, a fact was cemented in his mind. One he had known ever since he had first met Nooroo, but had never truly felt real.

He was no longer alone.

Coming over to watch over his shoulder, Nooroo felt a gentle smile come over him as he watched Izuku draw, feeling content with the feelings that Izuku was emitting.

Remembering a Champion was hardly something new for his wielders. For most, it was a special moment, a way of connecting and understanding others, as well as a sacred trust as they often learned personal information and secret feelings that only a Butterfly could ever understand.

Of all the miraculous, it was a power unique to the domain of the Butterfly.

Each miraculous had powers and responsibilities that were unique to them and them alone.

The Ladybug restored order and brought good fortune to victims and other heroes alike.

The Black Cat had the capability to destroy any evil, to bring unto them misfortune.

But the Butterfly was meant to bring hope to those who had none.

It was a symbol of connecting - of transformation and growth. They inspired, and provided a promise to people that they weren't alone, and gave them support that would help push them to meet their desires, help them grow in strength.

To be Heroes.

While the other miraculouses could help people feel safe, none could inspire and connect as well as the butterfly could, and the majority of his proper wielders made it a point to remember their Champions in some way because of this.

Nooroo watched as Izuku finished his quick sketch, leaving his notebook on the desk to finish later while he went into the kitchen.

Nooroo traveled close behind, smiling contently as his wielder started getting things ready to bake.

It had been a long time since any miraculous had been used, even longer since Nooroo had been wielded by a proper user, and he couldn't help but be grateful that he had been paired with the young green-haired hero.

While it was Midoriya that would be uplifting others and giving them hope, a side effect was that Midoriya would become connected and uplifted as well.

A butterfly was never meant to fly alone, and now his young charge was beginning to build his own swarm.

Behind him in the room the notebook lay open, the careful sketch of the gravity defying heroine clear on it's pages. Underneath in careful calligraphy her title was easily seen.

Uraraka Ochaco - Gravity Brawler,

Momo's POV

"And you're sure that you're alright?"

*snicker* "Relax Momo, this isn't the first ear injury I've gotten. Besides, Recovery Girl gave me the green light and everything. Honestly, the biggest thing hurt is my pride."

"... Sorry buuut, not sorry?"

"Pfft, don't worry about it, I'd have been insulted if you didn't take us seriously after all. And at least I wasn't up against Todoroki. Or worse, Midoriya and Uraraka. That was pretty dang intimidating."

"Well, don't worry, I'm sure you'll have more chances in the future to show off."

"Well, thanks for the confidence at least. Anyways, it's getting late, so I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"Sounds good. Talk to you tomorrow Kyoka."

Momo put down her phone and picked up a cookie from the pile on the tray on her desk, relaxing in her chair as Tikki looked up from eating her own cookie.

"That was nice of you to make sure she was alright," She said with a smile, and Momo gave a tired smile back.

"I felt bad that I might have actually hurt her," She explained as she nibbled on her cookie. "With a Quirk like super hearing, and myself creating flash bangs meant to create loud noises… Well, that couldn't be pleasant."

They both ate in comfortable silence for a little bit before Momo looked at Tikki curiously, "So what can you tell me about the Butterfly Miraculous?" She asked, and Tikki beamed happily at the question.

"Noroo is super sweet," She said with a bright smile, her wings buzzing happily. "He's probably the most soft spoken of us kwami, and his wielders are often pretty shy and cautious when they are first chosen." She looked thoughtful for a bit, "I've always gotten along well with Nooroo's chosen. Both his wielders and mine have a lot in common, both often requiring creativity and intelligence to use our abilities to their maximum potential."

Momo blinked in surprise at that statement, "Really? Why is that?" She asked curiously.

"The Butterfly makes heroes," Tikki explained, swooping down and grabbing another cookie. "Before the age of quirks, they could give people abilities that people would now say are powerful quirks. The abilities granted are determined in part by the personality of the person, but also by the creativity of the wielder." Tikki paused for a moment to nibble at the cookie before buzzing happily at Momo, "My Ladybugs haven't paired with Butterflies very often, but I think you'll enjoy working with this boy!"

Momo sighed in relief at Tikki's words as she leaned back in her chair and mentally agreed. Though she had been prepared to team up with almost anybody, Midoriya definitely seemed like one of the better options if she had to choose somebody in their class.

"That sounds nice," she admitted with a smile, "I look forward to getting to know both of them tomorrow."

And she truly was excited. She hadn't grown up with very many friends, and due to her parents wealth and standing she had to always be on guard around people. That was one of the reasons she was excited to go to UA - it was an opportunity for change, and to make friends with people who didn't know her.

She knew such knowledge wouldn't stay suppressed for long, but by then she'd hopefully have made several friends. She had already done so with Kyoka, despite hurting her in the Battle Trials, and tomorrow she'd do so with Midoriya!

A sudden thought crossed her mind and she tilted her head quizzically, "I must admit, I'm surprised," She mused, "From your stories, it sounded like the Black Cat was usually partnered with the Ladybug."

Tikki nodded, flying up so she was level with Momo's face and giving a warm smile that contained, to Momo's surprise, sadness.

"Usually we are," She agreed while placing her paws on her chest, "Plagg is my other half, as I am to him. Together we balance each other out, with him covering my weaknesses and I his. Because of that, it's true we're often paired with each other, though it doesn't always happen. For one reason or another, sometimes we go several centuries without seeing each other."

Momo felt a pang in her chest at the tone in Tikki's voice, though Tikki's expression soon changed to one of fond exasperation, "Besides, sometimes some space is good for a healthy relationship. Plagg can be really lazy, and he's constantly smelling of cheese!" She gagged a little at that.

Momo giggled at the gross face Tikki made, while internally cooing at the love that Tikki had for the other Miraculous, obvious even when she was complaining about him.

A thought came to her, and she blushed lightly, "So, um…" She averted her eyes, "If each Miraculous is given to a person based on their personality, and since you and Plagg are soul mates, does that mean… ?" She blushed harder, not able to finish the sentence as Tikki started giggling once more, and as Momo looked up she saw a teasing glint in the small kwami's eyes,

"You're wondering if the wielder of the Black Cat is your soul mate?" She asked knowingly, and Momo turned her head to hide her blush. "Oh Momo, you've been reading too many romance books," Tikki said as she zipped through the air, trying to get her giggling under control before making a contemplative sound, "Well, you're not totally wrong." She said absently, and Momo glanced at her through her bangs. "The proper holders of the Ladybug and the Black Cat are always important to each other, though it often shows in different ways. Sometimes as loved ones, true, but just as often as brother and sister, or even best friends. It helps that when you have to hide your identity from the world, it's inevitable for somebody to grow close to the one person they can trust with that secret."

"A-ah, that makes sense..." Momo mumbled, still blushing heavily, "W-well, we should really start getting to sleep. It's late, and school is tomorrow." She hurriedly stated, and was grateful when Tikki didn't call her out on it, though she did give Momo a knowing look.

"Alright, go and get some rest," She stated as she took one more cookie and flew over to the little nest that Momo had made for her and settled down. "We need to catch a Butterfly tomorrow, and then who knows what your teachers will throw at us after that."

As she settled in her own nest, Tikki looked fondly at her wielder.

Momo had been an absolute delight to be with this last year. The daughter of rich and influential parents, and with (in Tikki's opinion) one of the best Quirks she had heard of, it would have been extremely easy for her to grow up spoiled and entitled.

Instead, she was intelligent, and surprisingly earnest in her desires to help others.

Caring of others, while still willing to be blunt and direct with them. Momo had an air of authority that made people want to listen to her when she used it. While her confidence was mostly artificial, that would change over time as she gained experience and victories of her own, which is something that she would need, as it was inevitable for a Ladybug to find conflict of some sort.

Of all the miraculous, the Ladybug was the ultimate peacekeeper.

The domain of the Ladybug miraculous was one of healing and repairing, meant to restore order after the chaos of combat. It brought peace to those who were troubled, and gave good fortune to those who had been victims, as well as to allies during a battle.

And even if Momo was embarrassed by the pheromone trait, it was a huge help in calming down scared crowds and defusing arguments. To let them know that things were going to be okay now.

Though it was the purpose of each Miraculous to keep the peace, and most had been in positions of authority at one time or another, none were as uniquely suited for this task as the Ladybug was.

This, of course, came with the burden of often being held responsible by others if a peaceful resolution is not reached. When Ladybug failed, the impact was worse than if any of the others had.

That was why Tikki was happy that Momo had won the Battle Trials earlier. The girl needed some actual victories under her belt to help bolster her confidence for when things went bad, as they inevitably would.

It had been a year since she had first met Momo, and that time had been relatively peaceful. Unfortunately, this thought didn't come with the comfort that it ought to. She knew why they had been activated and given to wielders once more, and it frustrated her to no end that she was not allowed to share that with her wielder due to the safety mechanisms within the miraculous themselves. The amount of info they could provide was limited unless certain conditions were met. While it meant that if a villain gained control of a miraculous they would be unable to forcefully question the kwami, it also meant that they were unable to share certain details with their wielders.

For it to have been a year and for nothing to happen… She was never one to be disappointed by the lack of fighting, but in this case it filled her with foreboding, and she was even more grateful that they had found Nooroo and his wielder as quickly as they had.

Tikki nestled in her little bed and got comfortable as Momo turned off the lights.

She could only hope that Momo would be ready when the time came, but overall she was optimistic. Momo was smart, talented, and dedicated, and they had managed to find another Miraculous holder already. As far as preparations went, they were in as good a position that they could ask for.

Pushing her own paranoia down, she allowed herself to look forward to the next day. She couldn't wait to see and spend time with Nooroo again. It had been so very long since they had last done so, and she was excited for the opportunity again.

Next Day

"What kind of lessons does All Might teach?" A microphone invaded Izuku's personal space as soon as he approached the school's gate, and the nervous boy found himself surrounded by reporters and camera people.

"Eh?!" Izuku stuttered with panicked eyes as a cloud of butterflies fluttered nervously behind him, "U-uh, I-I'm sorry, b-but I have to go…"

Despite his words, the undeterred reporters kept shoving their microphones at him.

"Is it true that All Might was hired here?", "How does he split time between teaching and time while crime fighting?", "Does he prefer tea or coffee!"

As the reporters continued to rapidly fire questions about the Number One Hero and his lessons, Izuku was swiftly becoming overwhelmed, and as the pale butterflies clung to his clothes and backpack, the urge to transform with Nooroo so he could grow wings and fly away growing strong. Thankfully, as the storm of emotions buffeting against him, salvation came from an unexpected source.

Capture tape snaked around one of the reporters hands and yanked him to the side, the rest of the crowd parting to reveal Eraserhead, quirk activated and eyes glaring.

"Harassing a student," The underground hero hissed angrily, "is not amongst your privileges," He grabbed Izuku's shoulders and pushed him towards the gate. "The school's media representative will be out shortly to give a statement. If you wish to be here for that then I recommend you stop behaving so illogically!"

"But Eraserhead!" One brave/foolish soul called out stubbornly as he followed them, "The public has a right to know about stuff like - Aie!" He shrieked as the student and teacher crossed the threshold of the entrance and a gate slammed shut in front of the reporter.

Aizawa grunted, and Izuku could feel a bit of… Satisfaction? Underneath the exhaustion.

"T-thanks f-for the help," He muttered nervously, and Eraserhead gave a tired shrug.

"I hate dealing with the press." He said bluntly, "They should know better than to accost a student like that, and you guys won't be taught to deal with reporters till next year." They walked down the hall in silence for a bit before he said, "Oh, and I needed to talk to you about something,"

Izuku jumped a bit, looking at the other man as the tired looking man gave him a small glare, "Why were you holding back in the Quirk Assessment test?" He demanded, and Izuku blinked at him in confusion and no small amount of panic.

"W-w-what do you mean?" He asked, desperately trying to think of what set the man off, "I w-wasn't holding back!" Oh my gosh, is he going to expel me? B-but I don't know what I did wrong! I can't get expelled now!

"Hmph. So Uraraka lifted the entire building during your Battle Trial all on her own?"

Oh man, villains probably turned themselves in after being subjected to that stare, and Izuku shivered.

"W-well, no," He admitted, taking comfort in the butterflies at his back. "B-but I thought the t-tests were designed to test us? Me making a champion would have defeated the purpose of that, a-and what if I'm not near anybody?"

Aizawa raised his eyes at the word 'champion', but brought up his hand to rub the bridge of his nose by the end of the explanation.

"Making a champion, huh?" He muttered, "Midoriya, it was a quirk assessment." He peered at him over his hand, "The purpose was to see what limits you could reach while under duress, to really go 'plus ultra'."

Izuku nodded hesitantly, but felt a shiver of fear when he saw the other man give a huff, followed a small evil smirk, "However, since you're stronger than I thought you were, I suppose this means that I can go harder on you during class," the tired man stated slyly, but the smirk was gone just as quickly as it appeared. "Also, you should update your entry in the quirk registry. It's misleading." And with that, the man continued walking on. "C'mon Midoriya, you'll be late to class if you keep that speed."

"Morning class", Aizawa's voice rang throughout the silence of the home room, "Sorry for dropping this onto you now, but…"

Izuku stiffened in anticipation and fear, feeling the same feelings heavy throughout the room pressing down on him.

"... It's time to select a class representative."

The tension draining throughout the room was so swift that it almost felt like a physical presence as the entire class let out a collective breath in relief.

"I don't care how you do it," Aizawa continued as he walked over to the corner and crawled into his yellow sleeping bag, "Just get it over before the period ends. We don't have much to go over for homeroom today."

In an instant, the whole class was up and clamoring for the position, the noise causing Izuku's butterflies to fly to the ceiling in an attempt to distance themselves.

This lasted until Iida stood up and chopped his hand in the air, "Enough!" He stated loudly, "This is no small decision! The Presidency is a sacred office with great responsibility! Therefore! It should be decided by a democratic vote!"

Tsuyu Asui, a girl with green hair and a frog quirk held a finger to her chin, "We've only known each other for a couple days, kero" She croaked, "That's not long enough to get to know somebody. Most people will probably just vote for themselves."

"All the better!" Iida stated, "That means that if somebody manages to get multiple votes, then that means that they have earned the trust of other classmates despite us not knowing each other well. To do so will show us that they possess qualities worthy of Class President."

Kyoka plugged her ear jacks into her phone, "Sure, why not? It's as good a way as any I suppose."

Ten minutes later

"I-I got four votes!" Izuku half squeaked, half screamed as he paled.

Iida sighed, looking disappointed, "So nobody voted for me," he said in frustration, fists clenched on his desk before relaxing them and straightening up. "So, that means that Midoriya wins with five votes, and Momo is in second place with three votes!"

"B-but why would you guys vote for me?" Izuku asked desperately, causing several people to look at him skeptically.

"Dude, are you serious?" Kaminari asked as he leaned back with a smirk, "You and Uraraka had the best teamwork out of everybody during the Battle Trials, and that was mostly because of you. You're the one that created the plan and everything as well, which means you're smart."

"I still say you should have voted for me," Mineta insisted stubbornly, "Didn't you guys hear my proposals?"

Hanta Sero, a tall boy with black hair and a tape quirk, looked at him incredulously, "Yeah, we heard it, which is kinda why we DIDN'T. I'm pretty sure that the girls would kill us if we allowed that!"

"... What proposals were these?" Hagakure, a girl with an invisibility quirk, said flatly, and several of the boys paled as the girls glared.

Before anybody could say anything in response to that, Aizawa got out of his sleeping bag, "So then, that means it's President Midoriya and Vice-President Yaoyorozu."

Midoriya couldn't prevent himself from shaking from the sudden revelation, while Momo smiled happily. Though she was disappointed that she hadn't gotten enough votes to make President, she was grateful that there were some people in the class that trusted her already.

And, even more important, she now had the perfect excuse to talk to Midoriya.

As he was packing up his stuff to go to lunch, still in a state of disbelief from becoming President, he looked up and he saw Yaoyorozu looking down at him with a smile.

"Hello, Midoriya," She said cheerfully, "I was wondering if we could meet in private for a bit so we could discuss our respective duties as President and Vice-President."

Izuku found himself gulping nervously at that. But, if he didn't have a choice, then he might as well do the job as best as he could. At least Yaoyorozu seemed capable.

… But why did she have to be so pretty!? He could barely socialize with normal people as it was! Though to be fair, all of the girls in his class were pretty, so he would have been pretty screwed no matter what.

He looked over to Uraraka and Iida to tell them he'd see them later, only for Uraraka to give him a thumbs up, "Don't worry Deku!" She said cheerfully, "We'll save you a seat!" And he nodded thankfully at her.

Looking back at his newly designated Vice-President, he gave a tremulous smile, "S-s-sure," He said "W-where should we meet?"

Momo's POV

As they went inside an empty classroom, Momo looked at Izuku worriedly.

Tikki had told her that Butterflies were shy and easily overwhelmed, but she hadn't been expecting it to be to this extent.

The new class President could barely look her in the eye, let alone speak full sentences without stuttering, and his butterflies were fluttering all around him as though mirroring his nervousness.

Hopefully he would feel more comfortable as they got to know each other...

To that end,

She gave him a warm smile, "To start out, we should introduce each other." She said encouragingly, "My name is Yaoyorozu Momo." She gave a small bow, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

The familiar action seemed to help ground the other teen, and he gave a small bow himself, "N-nice to m-m-meet you as well Yaoyorozu," He said hesitantly, "I-I'm Midoriya Izuku." He took a deep breath and did his best to look at her, "S-so y-you wanted to t-talk about our d-duties?"

She nodded, but gave an apologetic smile, "Yes, we should, but before that, there was something else that I wanted to discuss with you."

She had given this a lot of thought, but hadn't been able to figure out a good way to say 'Hey, I know that you're a miraculous user like me!'

… Yeah, no matter how she phrased it in her mind, it turned out awkward.

She grit her teeth and decided to rip off the bandaid as fast as she could.

"Tikki, could you come out please?" She called softly, watching as Midoriya's face turned from confusion to shock as her kwami flew out of her bag and gave him a smile.

"Hello Midoriya!" She chirped cheerfully, "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

He looked at her with wide eyes, mouth opening and closing wordlessly for a few seconds before another kwami, this one lilac colored, flew out of Midoriya's bag and smiled at Tikki.

"H-hello Tikki," He said with a polite and eager smile, "It's been a while."

Tikki's response was to squeal as she dashed forward and gave him a hug, twirling the both of them as she did so. "Nooroo!" She cheered, "It's been way too long since we last talked! Are you and your butterfly's doing well?"

Nooroo escaped her grasp and backed away slightly, but didn't look displeased by the contact. "We're all doing well," He said with a smile, "Midoriya has been taking good care of us."

Midoriya seemed to finally find his tongue as he gaped at her, "Y-you have a kwami too?" He gasped, his eyes seeming to light up, causing Momo to giggle slightly.

"Yes, I am. I've had Tikki for about a year now," She replied easily, feeling startled when he nodded and looked down intently, suddenly starting to mumble rapidly.

"About a year ago? That's around the same time I got Nooroo. So that means that whatever reason we were given the miraculouses, that reason must have occurred around that time. Nooroo said that the Ladybug kwami was usually paired with the Black Cat, and since I'm not the Black Cat, then there must be a reason why the Butterfly was chosen instead. Does the situation need less combat? Or are multiple miraculouses active and we haven't found the Black Cat yet? But if that's the case, then the threat must be fairly large…"

Momo watched in bemused fascination as Izuku continued his mumbling, with him only stopping when several butterflies flew down and rubbed against him, and Nooroo fluttered in front of him with an apologetic smile.

"Izuku, Miss Yaoyorozu is still with us," he gently reminded him, causing Midoriya to redden in embarrassment.

"S-sorry, about that," he mumbled as he gave a nervous smile, "That's just a, um, nervous habit of mine…"

She tried to give him a reassuring smile, "That's alright, I probably should have found a better way to bring up the topic."

"O-oh no! That wasn't a p-problem," He protested, "B-better to get it out in the open right away, right?" He took a deep breath, almost visibly calming down as the butterflies around him relaxed as well, before looking at her with a hesitant smile, "So, um, you're a miraculous holder as well then. W-wow, I, um, really wasn't expecting that. Oh! I have so many questions!" His face turned a bit panicked, "B-but they can wait! Uh, we should talk, and, well, figure out stuff, right?"

Now this was something that she had thought of already.

"For now, I was hoping for us to just get to know each other." She replied easily, "We'll still need to have lunch, but I thought that if we're going to be working with each other, then it would be good for you to know about me, and vice versa." She gave a small cough, "And we should probably set up a time to talk about our duties as class representatives as well. I wasn't lying when I said that that was something we should do."

At the mention of his new position she saw Midoriya tense up immediately.

"Does that sound alright?" She asked worriedly, and he nodded jerkily.

"Umm, yeah, it's just, I, uhm…" He struggled with what to say for a bit, "I j-just think that they made a m-mistake, you know? I-I mean, I've never been in a leadership position before, a-a-and they're going to expect me to do a good job, and-and I'm going to make a mistake, and that'll cause problems for everybody, and then everybody will hate me, and Aizawa will expel me and I won't be able to become a hero, and -"

"Midoriya!" She stated firmly, holding onto his shoulders firmly and forcing him to look into her eyes. "Breath... it's alright," She instructed reassuringly, waiting until he seemed to calm down. Though his face was becoming rather red… Perhaps touching wasn't something that Butterflies did easily? She'd have to apologize later.

She let go, though she noted that he remained rather stiff. "It's alright," She repeated softly, "Remember, we're still in school. Being the Class President is just another opportunity for us to learn, and it certainly wouldn't be something Aizawa would expel you over if you mess up anymore than he would have done after our quirk assessment test. You remember what he said that day, it was just a logical ruse. If you make a mistake, people will understand. And I'll be there to help you," She gave a comforting smile.

He took a few deep breaths, and it seemed to work to a degree, though he was clearly far from comfortable with the idea.

Cocking her head, Momo thought for a moment before brightening at a thought.

"How about this?" She began, "What if you were to keep the position and try it out for a couple weeks. I think you'll find that it's not as bad as you're afraid of. And if I'm wrong and you feel that it is too overwhelming, then we can swap positions and you can step down and become the Vice President instead."

Either position would be beneficial she felt, but if she was wrong then she didn't want him to feel that he was stuck with it. The important part was to make sure that he was aware that he had options, and that there was no shame in stepping down. Knowing that there were others there to help him should hopefully lessen the stress and intimidation that the position represented.

His countenance brightened at her words, "R-really?" He asked hopefully, "I-I mean, if that's the case, then w-why don't we just swap right away? I mean, if we're planning on doing it anyways?"

She looked at him in both amusement and a touch of sorrow, "Do you really have that little faith in yourself?"

Nooroo fluttered back from where he had been talking with Tikki, "She's right Izuku," He stated softly, "I think that this would be a good opportunity for you. Change brings growth after all!"

Midoriya gulped nervously, "W-well, I-I'm already going to the high school of my dreams, with the chance to become a hero, I've actually made friends of my own now! Isn't that enough change for now?"

Tikki buzzed around him with a smile, "You won't know unless you try!" She said brightly, and Midoriya looked back and forth between the three of them before giving a shaky nod.

"W-well, ok," He said shakily, "I-I guess I can, well, give it a shot." He then gave a bow to her, "T-t-thank y-you for y-your faith in me Yaoyorozu," he stuttered.

She gave him a sad smile, not forgetting what he said about actually having friends for a change, and gave a bow of her own, "I'm sure that you'll do just fine. And since we're going to be working closely together, you can call me Momo. I hope that we can become friends", she finished brightly.

His head shot up, and it looked like he was about to protest when all of a sudden -

VREEEEE!

A screeching alarm rang shrilly throughout the school, followed by an automated voice.

"Level 3 Security Breach detected. All students are to evacuate outside in a swift and orderly manner."

All four stiffened at the alarm, and Midoriya looked at her in confusion, "D-do you know what a Level 3 Security Breach is?" He asked as they heard people start to panic outside, and the kwamis swiftly flew into their respective bags.

She shook her head as the two quickly went for the door, "No, I don't." She replied in concern." Maybe they talked about it during the orientation that we didn't have… "You can sense emotions, right? Do you sense anything?"

He concentrated, only to shake his head a moment later, "I-it's just panic," He muttered, "I… can't sense anything outside though…"

Momo opened the door and almost leapt back at the increase in volume.

The majority of the school had been in the cafeteria during the alarm, but it wasn't unusual for people to go elsewhere to eat as well. They, combined with those that were coming from the cafeteria, were rushing swiftly through the halls, pushing and shoving frantically in their attempts to get outside.

While not good, she worried how much worse it would be in the choke point areas such as the exits.

It only took a few seconds after going into the crowd that she had had enough. Already she had had to shield Midoriya from the flailing of other students, the Butterfly flinching back from the potential contact, his butterflies clinging to his back in a pale cloak.

Quickly going through her memory to find the right formula, she extended her hand and created an item, holding it up as soon as it formed. She glanced at Midoriya apologetically and shouted "Cover your ears!" And then used the item.

Every student in the hallway froze as the sound of an air horn went off, those nearest to her and those with listening related quirks clutching their ears.

Immediately after the silence she loudly stated "Everybody! We were told to evacuate in an orderly fashion!" In a firm voice, drawing everybody's attention, "Not to dissolve in hysterics!"

Beside her, Midoriya came out and in a soft voice said "P-please, w-we're all heroes in training," He said in a shaky voice, "L-let's do our best to act as such."

The words of the two seemed to get through to the crowd, and the crowd visibly calmed down, though it was clear that most were still worried. Still, they were moving quickly to leave the building without panicking, so she was happy with that.

Beside her, Izuku leaned closer, "S-something happened in the cafeteria," He murmured, brow furrowed in concentration. "Everybody over there calmed down as well."

She breathed a sigh of relief, "Good, I was worried about it being worse over there."

He nodded in agreement, and soon the two were focused on leaving the building with everybody else. Waiting in the crowd, it took several minutes for the rest of the class to exit the building and for the two to find them.

"Deku!" Uraraka called out excitedly as soon as she saw them, both she and Iida rushing over to the two wielders, "I'm so glad that you guys got out of there ok! It was so intense in the cafeteria for a while, everybody was panicking and pushing, and then Iida realized that the disturbance was just caused by the press coming in, and so I lifted him up above the rest of the crowd, and he was able to get everybody's attention and calmed them down!"

Midoriya blinked in surprise, "I-it was just the press?" He asked in surprise, and Momo echoed that sentiment. To evacuate the school simply because of the press invading… Even if the press had been excited to interview somebody due to All Might teaching, that seemed excessive.

Iida then stepped forward stiffly, "That is correct," He stated to both herself and Midoriya, "Upon the swift action of the students to begin evacuation, many students responded too swiftly, which resulted in a jam at the entrance of the cafeteria. I realized the evacuation was caused through the ill-thought actions of the press, and with the help of Uraraka, I was able to express this to the rest of the student body."

"I see," Momo mused, giving him a polite smile and gave a bow. "Thank you for your actions, you probably assisted quite a few people if it looked anything like the hallways did."

"R-right," echoed Midoriya with a smile, "y-you did a great job Iida!"

The engine quirk user shook his head, "I just did what would be expected of me as a student of UA!" But she noticed with amusement that he still seemed pleased with the praise, "But I thank you for those words." He added at the end.

After the police came and helped push the press back the students all made it back inside to their classes, resulting in both Momo and Midoriya standing in front of the class.

She saw Midoriya tremble slightly, "I-I want to thank everybody for your votes and your faith in me, a-and I promise that I'll d-do my best as class president." He took a deep breath and tried to rally his confidence. "I-I'm really new to all of this, so I hope that a-all of you can help me out." He looked at Momo, "P-please support me as well, Yaoyorozu."

"I will," Momo nodded professionally, turning to give the others a confident smile, "I am honored to be elected as the vice-president, and I hope that both Midoriya and I can live up to your expectation. Thank you."

After that, classes seemed to go smoothly for the rest of the day without any other interruptions. After class ended, she started packing up her stuff but looked up when she saw Midoriya walk closer nervously.

"Umm, Yaoyorozu? Uh, Momo?" He asked, and she felt pleased that he felt comfortable enough to use her name.

"Y-you c-can call me I-i-izuku. Well, if you'd like. To make it fair." He stated quickly, looking firmly at the ground with a red face, and she couldn't help but giggle at how it looked.

"I'd like that a lot," She said honestly, feeling a thrill at gaining another friend. Not realizing that Izuku was feeling that same thrill.

Outside, Principal Nezu was looking at the UA barrier intently, only the stiffness of his tail betraying his emotions.

The gates had been reduced to dust, and the walls on either side had started to crumble as well.

An out of control quirk? No, there were no injuries amongst the press. Therefore a targeted attack.

One of the press? No, none of them had the right quirk for this kind of damage. And a quirk such as this would have been discovered.

Technology? Possible, but unlikely. It would require a container or medium of some sort that would be noticeable. Unless it was something newly developed? He made a mental note to look into it.

Most likely somebody else. A prank? A distraction? Or a declaration of intent?

He looked at the former fence for several minutes while contemplating that before going back to his office.

How... Bold of somebody to volunteer themselves to be in his sights like this. Despite not being as physically strong as even an average person, there was a reason that most people preferred to play nice with him.

Perhaps he needed to remind some people of why that was.

League of Villains Headquarters

Shigaraki found himself smirking.

Everything was starting to come together. They had just infiltrated UA and left after getting the teaching schedule with nobody the wiser.

They knew that All Might was to teach a class at the USJ the next day. They had created the ultimate weapon in the form of their Noomu. They had an entire raid party of mooks scheduled. And he had leveled up his own experience and his equipment.

A shelf behind the bar creaked loudly, giving enough time for both him and Kurogiri to look at it before the thing snapped loudly, causing it's contents of several bottles of valuable liquor to fall to the ground. Kurogiri quickly extended his portal quirk underneath them, barely catching them before they broke open.

Shigaraki growled in annoyance. Some days it seemed that sentient equipment was worse than cursed equipment.

He turned to look at the little black devil that was stretched out on a table, trying to look innocent.

"What?" Said monster asked with a smirk, "Just because something bad happens around here doesn't mean that it has to be my fault."

He grit his teeth. While that might be true, he steadfastly refused to believe it. There was no way that the string of bad luck the bar had been experiencing was natural. Thankfully it hadn't ever been anything major, but enough minor stuff would be enough to get on anybody's nerves.

Kurogiri just sighed and silently walked to the back room to put the liquor away while Shigaraki continued glaring at the creature that was trying to make itself the most hated thing in his existence.

The cat lazily looked up and snickered, "You're doing it again."

With a jolt, Shigaraki realized he had been scratching at his neck once more. He brought his hand down and increased his glare. "I told you," He hissed hatefully, "It's just a nervous tic. I had it before I was given you!"

Plagg yawned and laid back down, "Sure it is," He drawled, "You know, I've seen this before. I've had wielders who denied it, but they all caved in the end. The sooner you accept it, the better off you'll be."

Shigaraki grunted and looked away, ignoring the sliver of worry that ate at him. "And you expect me to believe you?" He scoffed. "You've already lied to me before."

A wad of paper hit the back of his head, and he turned and resumed his glaring at the seemingly unmoving cat.

It was so unfair that he couldn't threaten to destroy that stupid ring!

"I didn't lie," Plagg called out lazily, "Not that I have to explain it to you, but I said that I could control how you looked while transformed. And I can. It just so happens that you can add your own input as well. Lucky you."

"And much like then, I doubt that you're telling me the whole truth now." He snapped back, Plagg simply shrugging as a response.

"Eh, believe or not, I don't care." Came the dismissive reply. "If you have the itch, it will drive you insane if you don't."

Shigaraki growled, "Why would that even be a thing!" He shouted, actually standing up in his anger, and he had to clench his hands to prevent himself from attempting to disintegrate the rat posing as a cat.

It wouldn't work of course. Much like it hadn't all the prior attempts. But it would make him feel better.

Plagg snorted and rolled into a ball while rolling his eyes, "Who cares, it feels amazing," he stated blissfully, before giving his wielder an evil look, "C'mon, you should give it a try. Just ask Misty back there to do it for you."

"NO!" Shigaraki shouted in horror, feeling the urge to scratch his neck that he furiously pushed back.

"I don't know why you're so embarrassed about it," The cat continued nonchalantly, "Are you embarrassed to admit that you want to feel what it would be like to be pet by Kurogiri?"

Shigaraki breathed in and out furiously, trying and failing to calm himself down, "You will never tell anybody that." he insisted, blinking in confusion when the cat merely nodded in acceptance.

Only to pale when he heard an awkward cough behind him.

That was it!

Ignoring Kurogiri, he quickly turned back to the Miraculous, only to see that he had disappeared.

I don't know how, I don't know when, but I WILL MAKE YOU REGRET THIS!

Plagg flew into the trash can, doing his best to stifle his laughter.

The look on his face… Hah! He almost had him convinced now, and it was even better than he had originally thought it would be. And Plagg had had high expectations.

The best part was that he was telling the truth. He had had many wielders who had gained the Trait of needing to get pats and scratches from others, and the itch would drive them insane until they got it taken care of.

Personally, he didn't see the issue with it. It felt amazing, and he deserved it for all his hard work, so why shouldn't he indulge?

Of course, Plagg highly doubted that the villain had gained that Trait. Heck, he would be surprised if he had gained ANY Traits from the miraculous!

The bearer of the Miraculous would slowly gain traits of the Miraculous. The more compatible they are with it, the stronger they show. And quite frankly, the only thing that was compatible between him and that immature adult was their abilities.

But with enough nudging and hints, Plagg could certainly make him think that he had inherited that need.

He sighed as he settled down and got comfortable, listening to Shigaraki rage in the bar.

Each Miraculous had their own purpose and domain. The better the user fit into that domain, the more compatible they were.

Though he had worked with a variety of users in the past, at their core, the Cat Miraculous was a Protector.

Most people would be confused by this, expecting that domain to belong to the Turtle. Well, they'd be wrong.

The Turtle was the ultimate Defender, which held similar properties to that of a Protector, but a Protector carried some distinct differences in it.

It had Plagg in it for one. This instantly made it more awesome. Not that he needed to mention that to anybody. It was a fairly obvious fact, to be perfectly honest.

The Cat was the embodiment of chaotic good, with the belief that the best defense is a good offense. Wielding the power of misfortune against their enemies, they had the ability to bring down any defenses, destroy any corruption.

Shigaraki did not want to fight to protect, nor did he have the mentality or maturity to hold a miraculous of any kind. For a spiritual being such as Plagg, that meant that while he was transformed with the villain, he was in a constant state of discomfort.

Two different types of cheese mixing when they should NOT be mixed together.

He sighed as he hunkered down to take a nap to the sound of Kurogiri trying to calm down the wannabe wielder, doing his best not to think about what was going to happen tomorrow.

After he got saved, he deserved a vacation.

Another crash came from the room above and he found himself snickering.

And a medal for driving his captors insane. He definitely deserved that as well.

Chapter Text

"So, these are our rivals?"

The sneering voice was the first thing that Izuku heard when he and Momo walked into the classroom to meet with the Class 1-B President and Vice-President. He had felt that there were two people in the room already, but wasn't expecting the spike of resentment from one of the people.

"Umm, I, uh, I guess?" Izuku hesitantly offered the blonde haired boy that was giving them an imperious look. "Maybe? I mean, we d-don't have to be, I wasn't aware of any competition between classes, and uhm, I t-think it's more of a cooperative thing, l-like the more people that do well the better off we'll all be in the future right? Though rivalry also pushes people to do better I suppose…" And he was off, nervously rambling as the three others looked at him with varying degrees of surprise.

The blonde scoffed, "If the rest of your class is like you, then we clearly have nothing to worry about," He remarked snidely, flinching suddenly when the girl next to him hit him on the back of the head.

"Don't start Monoma, we already talked about this," She warned before looking at the two of them and smiling, "It's nice to meet you two, my name is Itsuka Kendo. I'm the Class President of Class 1-B. This," She gestured to the blonde at her side who sniffed at them, "Is Neito Monoma, my Vice President."

Momo stepped forward with a confident smile, "It's a pleasure to meet you as well. My name is Momo Yaoyorozu, Vice President of Class 1-A." She glanced at Izuku, who jumped as though he'd been bitten.

"Oh! Um, I'm I-Izuku Midoriya," He said, only slightly shaking, "I-I'm the Class President of Class-1A."

Somehow…

A sentiment that seemed shared by Monoma.

"So what is the purpose of us meeting together?" Monoma asked archly looking between the two Miraculous users. "Did you wish to throw your perceived superiority in the face of those you believe to be your lessers? If so, then -"

"Monoma!" Kendo shouted, glaring angrily at him before looking at the other two apologetically, her face slightly flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry about that. I'M glad that we were able to meet up to talk at least."

"I'm only speaking the truth!" Monoma glared, "It's only the first week, why else would they want to talk with us?"

Maybe because we were just elected and wanted to talk to our fellow students?

"W-well, actually, we were," Izuku flinched as everybody's attention focused on him. He found himself flinching, wishing that he was suited up or something so he could flare out his wings and hide. There was something oddly relaxing about having distracting wings… At his side, Momo gave him an encouraging nod, and he took a deep breath to steady himself.

"W-we were actually wanting to talk about activities that we c-could do. Uh, for both of our classes to do. Something for us to do to get to know each other better." He forced himself to speak slowly, doing his best to keep himself from stuttering too much while trying his hardest to tap into what Nooroo called a butterfly's charm.

If only the kwami could actually describe how to activate it, instead of talking about how it would come naturally. Right now the only thing he felt was just how nervous he was.

"I mean, we're all here to become hero's, right? Which means that we'll probably work together in the future at some point. A-and it'd be good to make friends anyways, as I'm sure that your class has some great people in it, and, uh…" He paused in his rambling, turning red from embarrassment. "I'll be quiet now.."

He wished Momo would have accepted the task of explaining the idea, but she had brought up the idea of him talking first, to get used to it.

And he understood the reasoning - even if he wasn't the Class President, the Butterfly Miraculous was dependent on him asking other people for help, so it was obvious he would have to do it.

To his relief it looked like the other two were considering it. Well… Kendo was at least, and Monoma wasn't mocking them as he thought about it.

Kendo nodded, thoughtfully, "That sounds like a good idea," She agreed, "Did you have an activity in mind?

This time it was Momo who answered, "While we are open to suggestions, we were actually thinking of doing some community work." She replied, bringing out a piece of paper with a list, "We looked up for a couple different places and came up with a couple ideas along that front, like helping clean that beach down in Dagobah."

Kendo took the paper curiously and Monoma glanced at it over her shoulder.

Izuku and Momo had spent quite a bit of time the previous night texting back and forth, learning about one another and talking a little bit about class duties.

For Momo, this was the second person that she was able to freely talk to, with Kyoka being the first, and this was definitely a first for Izuku. In between chatting they talked about things that they could do to help the class, and this one appealed to both of them.

Meanwhile, Momo continued with her explanation, "Doing something like this would be something that everybody could participate in, as well as give us a common goal to work towards. A hero isn't just about fighting after all, and doing our civic duty is important as well."

"A-and we c-could probably get permission from the teacher's to use our quirks," Izuku brought up, eyes bright at the prospect of seeing everybody's quirk in action in that manner, "if we made it a multi-class project, I'm sure they'd be alright with it. We could also say it'll help in training our quirks."

Only slightly in some cases probably, but every little bit helps, right?

"This… actually sounds like a great idea," Kendo said with a smile, "It would be great to spend more time with everybody in our own class, as well as meeting yours. To be honest, I feel bad that I didn't bring anything like this to the table. I thought that we would just be introducing ourselves to each other."

Izuku's eyes went wide as he waved his hands back and forth, "N-no no! You don't need to feel bad, I mean, we just thought of this last night, and it was kinda spur of the moment, and Momo has had experience with volunteer work already and she thought of the idea and everything, and if it wasn't for her than this would never have been brought up!"

Momo's cheeks turned pink at the praise, but it was completely true in Izuku's eyes. Not that he was opposed to it in any way at all - he thought it was an amazing idea, especially as it would allow him to get to know other people who he might need to make a champion in the future.

Now if only she would accept the title of Class President without giving him that sad look in her eye. What else was he supposed to do when she did that?!

Kendo laughed brightly, "S'all good," She assured them, her expression then taking on a challenging smirk, "But be prepared for us to think up the next activity! We can't let you guys spearhead everything after all. Though I'd like to run it by the rest of the class first." She cautioned. "I don't think they'll disagree, but I'd rather not speak for them."

Monoma sniffed, "They'll agree," He boasted, "Somebody has to be there to show that Class 1-A isn't as great as all that after all."

His expression faltered as Izuku gave him a bright smile, "Thank you! H-honestly, we'd be grateful for anybody that wants to join, and we still need to talk to our own class about this as well, but we're at least looking forward to working with the two of you!"

Kendo snickered at the conflicted look on Monoma's face, and she turned to the two of them once more. "So is there anything else that you guys wanted to talk about?"

"U-um, well," Suddenly, Izuku was fidgeting nervously once more, "W-we haven't really introduced each other beyond names, so I was hoping we could q-quickly do that, and if you could share what your own quirks were?" He looked at the two with hopeful eyes.

"S-sorry," Izuku apologized, face blushing in embarrassment.

Momo giggled, bringing her hand up to her mouth to cover it, "It's alright, we still have time before classes start. I just didn't realize how… Excited you got regarding Quirks."

It had certainly been amusing to see Monoma go from being hostile to flustered at Izuku's honest gushing over how amazing his and Kendo's quirks were.

"To be honest, I'm a little surprised you didn't corner anybody in our class to demand how their quirks worked after seeing that display." She teased lightly, watching as his face burned brighter as he focused hard on the floor.

"I… Might have been a little too nervous to ask in class," He muttered, and they heard a giggle come from his bag.

"It's true," Nooroo stated as the butterfly kwami peaked out with a cinnamon roll in his hands, "He was up all that night writing in his notebook because he was worried he wouldn't' remember the details later. He wrote a full five pages about your quirk Miss Yaoyorozu."

His blush upgraded to atomic levels even as Momo paused and looked at him in surprise. "Me?" She asked, watching as he became panicked.

"W-well yeah, your quirk is so amazing and versatile, and the way you use it shows that you've spent a lot of time with it and are well practiced, and the process of changing your lipids and fat stores into actual items is incredible that its almost like magic! AndI'dlovetoaskmorequestionsbutthatwouldberudeandinnappropriateandIdon'twanttobeabother"

The last was said in a rush as Momo gained a slight blush on her own. So this was what Monoma felt like... "Ah, I see." She said awkwardly, even as both Nooroo and Tikki smiled at them from their bags. "W-well, if you do have any questions, then I'd certainly be glad to answer any for you," She offered, causing him to glance up hesitantly.

"Really?" He asked as his panicked look slowly faded away.

But before Momo could reply…

"Ah! Midoriya! Yaoyorozu!"

They both jumped at the sound of Iida's voice, looking at their fellow student as they walked into the classroom.

"As expected of the Class President and Vice President, you are here early." He replied approvingly, "Punctuality is extremely important as heroes in training! To also coordinate and arrive together shows solidarity as well!"

"Oh, uhm, w-we were already here." Izuku stated, "We got here early because w-we had a m-meeting with the Class 1-B Council."

Iida looked at them in surprise before clenching his fist and bringing it to his heart, "I see... the two of you are clearly going above and beyond in your positions! It's no wonder that the class chose you two over me. First at the Entrance Exam, then at the Battle Trials, and now here… Clearly I have a long way to go as a hero."

Momo looked at Iida in confusion even as Izuku rapidly tried to deny such things. He was oddly… earnest? Which was a good thing she supposed.

By the time Izuku managed to finish reassuring Iida, the rest of the class had arrived and they quickly went to their seats.

Their morning classes went by quickly, and by afternoon Aizawa entered the room, looking as tired as usual.

"Everybody, grab your hero gear, we have a field trip." He shrugged unconcernedly, "Or don't. You will be going through rescue training, so some of it might not be of use. In that case, carrying it around would be illogical." His words evoked a wave of excitement that Izuku couldn't help but get caught up in a little.

"It's a little deeper in the campus, so we'll be taking the bus there." He continued even as he grabbed his yellow sleeping bag and started leaving. "Don't be late."

Soon, everybody had dressed up in their hero costumes, or in Izuku and Momo's case transformed with Tikki and Nooroo, and were finally taking up the various seats on the bus.

As soon as Izuku sat down, the seat next to him was immediately taken by Mina Ashido.

Now, Izuku had actually been riding a bit of a high till then - his first meeting as Class President hadn't gone completely terrible (only moderate levels of stress even!) and soaking up everybody's excitement couldn't help but make himself excited as well, so he was truly looking forward to whatever the rescue training would entail.

His fledgling confidence, however, immediately fled once he felt the mischievous playfulness rise up in his pink-skinned classmate.

"Sooo, Prez," The horned girl began with an evil(?) smile, "Part of your quirk is to give people a makeover, right? Is that something that you have to plan in advance? In which case, can I make some requests? And do you need my measurements?" She asked, batting her eyes at him playfully.

His face immediately blushed, his stammering coming full force as his butterflies immediately started panicking as they felt his emotions. It didn't even help that he could FEEL that she was just feeling playful - it was still a pretty girl that was willingly talking and teasing him!

Kirishima, a boy with spiky red hair and sharp teeth, gave a chuckle, "Yo, Mina! Tone it down a bit, you don't want to break our president on his first day in office. "

She pouted, "It's a legitimate question!" The horned girl protested, "What if he gives me one of these cute butterflies and then I end up in an outfit too small for me? Or something without proper 'support'?" She gave him a wink, "A girl has to worry about stuff like that in a fight, you know?"

"Uhm, well, y-y-you d-don't need t-to. Uh, w-worry, t-that is," Izuku stuttered, nervously clutching his cane while his butterflies fluttered at his agitation. "I-if I make a c-champion, m-my a-ability uses what it learns f-from the person to, uh, t-take care of that."

Kirishima cocked his head curiously at him, "So what exactly is your quirk?" He asked. "You never did explain. You've got butterflies climbing all over you and you've shown that you can make wings for yourself, but then you gave Ochaco a costume change AND a wicked quirk upgrade." He shook his head in disbelief, "Add in that you looked like you could use it to see and talk with her, and that's just crazy."

He stiffened at the question, "W-well, I guess it is a bit odd," he stalled, "I c-can fill one of my b-butterflies with, um, energy, and give it to somebody and m-make them my champion. T-the stronger t-their emotions and, uhm, desires, the s-stronger they become."

The red head whistled in admiration, "Yeah, that would explain boosting her quirk," He admitted, though his confused expression didn't lift, "But how does that equate to changing her clothes and being able to talk with her?"

That was... difficult to explain. It was simply part of how Nooroo made Champions, though he could understand how it would certainly look like it was multiple quirks in one package.

As he stuttered, desperately trying to think of a way to explain it, assistance came from his partner. "It's not that unusual," Momo interjected smoothly, placing her hand on her chin thoughtfully, "He's giving a portion of his own energy to his somebody, so it wouldn't be out of place for him to retain a connection to the person.

… Had he mentioned yet how grateful he was to have her as a partner? He didn't think he had done that enough that day.

"As for the clothes?" She shrugged before continuing dryly, "Who knows. Some days I think quirks exist just to frustrate the scientists that are trying to figure them out."

"Kero," Tsuyu ribbeted, "She's right. And whether or not you understand how it works, with a quirk like that you're bound to be really popular. Everybody would love to be partnered with somebody that can make them stronger."

"Tch!" Everybody turned to the front of the bus to see Bakugou giving a glare towards them, "If they need help to get their job done then those extras shouldn't have been heroes to begin with," He sneered angrily.

Tsuyu gave an unconcerned shrug, "Not everybody then, Kero." She amended before looking at Izuku with a finger on her chin, "So would your quirk work on a mutation quirk like mine?" She asked curiously.

"Umm, Y-yeah? I m-mean, if it were n-needed, and if y-you accepted it, t-then most likely?"

Well, he didn't make a champion based off of their quirk, but based off of them. Sure, that would most likely mean the quirk became amplified most of the time, but it wouldn't happen all the time. And Nooroo said that it worked on people in the pre-quirk era, so mutation quirks wouldn't be an exception.

… He just wasn't sure what exactly WOULD happen if he did choose her as a champion.

Kirishima gave a chuckle as he leaned back in his seat, "That's pretty manly," He admitted, "To have such a versatile quirk?" He lifted his hand up and Hardened it, turning it into a sharp rock version of his arm before willing it back to normal. "All I can do is make my skin harder. It's good and all, but has limited application, you know?"

Izuku's eyes widened in surprise, "T-that's not true at all!" He exclaimed, "Based off of what I saw in the Battle Trials, you can boost both your offensive AND defensive abilities! That means that you can protect your allies or take on enemies based on the situation! O-or if you were in a rescue mission you could use it to easily dig through a landslide or ram through thick walls! I-I mean, there's an old hero by the name of Crimson Riot that had a similar quirk - if you looked him up you could totally learn some of his techniques I'm sure." He rambled excitedly, his stutter disappearing as he spoke passionately about the others quirk, before giving Kirishima a slightly sad smile, "To be honest, I'm actually a bit jealous. My ability can help other people help themselves, or helps them help others, but it's difficult for me to help them directly."

He had gotten over and accepted that he couldn't be the one to be in the middle of the fight - and the abilities given to him by Nooroo were beyond amazing, he would never trade them for any quirk in the world. But, as he realized in the Battle Trial and in the Entrance Exam, it was difficult to sit back and let others help while he remained safe.

It was dangerous for a butterfly to be in the middle of battle, with delicate wings so easily torn, their propensity for being more nervous than others. And yet… He had a really hard time trying to imagine a scenario where he would stay back and leave the fighting to others.

Kirishima's face flushed at hearing both the analysis and compliment, not able to think of a response for a couple seconds as his mind fumbled, "S-still, I doubt I'm going to be as popular as you'll be!"

Before Izuku could argue the point a French student suddenly spoke up, "Oiu, he is correct that you will be quite popular, though my own Navel Laser will undoubtedly be a contender, no? Especially since popularity amongst civilians is also most important. Flashy and strong, my quirk is indeed good enough for the pro's!"

Sero elbowed the Frenchman while giving a laugh, "But Aoyama, if you use it too much your stomach will collapse, won't it?" The Tape quirk user stifled his chuckles as he patted the shoulder of the now depressed student. "Also," he added, "People tend to like sheer power, and in terms of combat, Bakugo and Todoroki would probably win out, don't you think?"

"True," Tsuyu admitted dismissively, "But attitude also plays in quite a bit. Bakugo is always so angry that it will probably tank his popularity." She said bluntly.

"WHAT!" Bakugo snarled, clenching his hands tightly, "What are you talking about frog freak?! I'll be popular! There's no way that worthless Deku is going to be more popular than me!"

"See?" The frog girl pointed at the snarling teen calmly, as if it proved her point.

Denki smirked at the angry teen, "You know, we've only known you for a couple days, so it kinda says something that we know how crappy your personality is, don't you think?"

He received a growl of his own, "You better not be my opponent in our next combat training, cause I'm going to make you regret those words Sparkplug!"

Izuku felt himself calm down as he felt the atmosphere of the bus (well, so long as he ignored Kacchan's hot anger or Todoroki's cold indifference). Tsuyu's calm demeanor, Ashido's playfulness, Kirishima's excitement, Momo's confidence… Once again he couldn't help but compare the difference of now vs the past, and he was determined to thank Nooroo for choosing him once more.

He felt a spike of playfulness next to him, and then Mina was leaning against him once more. "So, about that costume idea?" She asked with a smirk.

Aaaaand there goes any and all comfort.

How much farther did they have?!

After twenty more minutes of torture the bus finally pulled up to a large dome, a familiar figure standing outside of it.

Ochaco squealed in delight, "It's Thirteen, the Space Hero!" She exclaimed, and Izuku was no better. "She's a rescue hero who's saved hundreds, if not thousands of people from disasters!"

The space themed hero chuckled as she gave a bow, "And nice to meet all of you as well," she stated formally, "it's certainly nice to be recognized. As you might have guessed, you are here today to begin training on how to deal with natural disasters. Heroes don't just fight villains after all, they have to deal with fires, earthquakes, and any number of catastrophes. So using my experience, I've constructed this specialized training facility."

She swung her arms out, gesturing to the entirety of the dome, "Welcome to the Unforeseen Simulation Joint!"

Thirteen-sense and Aizawa-sense led the whole group inside. The entry was a wide brick path, lined with trees on either side and a thick mesh net behind the trees, obscuring what was beyond them. The path led to a set of stairs that descended down a good thirty meters and ended in what looked like a large food court, with a giant fountain in the middle. All of this spread over at least a square kilometer.

"I designed this place," Thirteen told the students proudly, "With more than a little help, to make my dream come true. The Unforeseen Simulation Joint, or USJ for short, has just about any sort of environment you can expect to encounter in Japan. Urban with multi-story buildings and a working train system, suburban with houses, a mansion, and even a small scale indoor shopping mall. Rural, with a field of grasslands with rice paddies, a small forest, a lake that can be either fresh or saltwater, and rocky and mountainous terrain."

Everybody looked out at the various zones with a look of awe. The amount of work and money required for all of this must have been immense.

"We can also control the weather," The space themed hero continued, "from rain…"

A drizzle began to drench the suburban zone.

"... to snow…"

The rain stopped, and snow fell on the mountain region instead.

"... to hail, lightning, fog, all simulated in either day or night. The USJ is designed to simulate any kind of disaster in any weather conditions. In my, somewhat biased, opinion, it is the best facility in the world for rescue training."

Reaching the fountain, she turned towards the students. "Before we go over any training, there are just a few things I need to say. Two, three… Maybe four?" She mused before shaking her head. "My quirk is known as Black Hole. With it, I can suck up and tear apart anything. As much as I use it to save people…" She looked down sadly, "I could just as easily use it to kill. Either on purpose… Or accident."

The students flinched, while Izuku's eyes widened at the depth of sorrow that emanated from Thirteen. Does that mean that she? …

He felt his heart go out to the hero.

"I don't doubt that nearly all your quirks have the same potential." She continued on, "While in other classes you'll be taught your limits and how to fight effectively, here you will learn how to utilize your gifts to save others, to save lives." The Space Hero gave a bow, "I hope that you all leave here learning that you are meant to help save people. Thank you for listening!"

Everybody clapped, moved by the speech.

"Now then, if you'll follow us. The first rescue training we'll go over is in the mountain zone." And the students followed the two teachers up a flight of stairs towards the fake mountain region.

Excited, and feeling the excitement of the other students build as the brief gloom was cast aside, Izuku nearly stumbled at the sudden inclusion of darker emotions appearing all around him, throughout the entire building.

"Well? Are you ready for this Plagg?"

Hearing the hiss of displeasure absolutely made his day. After all that the little rat had made him suffer, this was payback.

"Plagg, Shattered Claws Out!"

"Uhh, sensei?" Izuku asked nervously, glancing around just as the air above the fountain began to swirl, a black abyss opening up between the class and the exit. Looking back at Izuku, Aizawa saw the opening and immediately activated his quirk.

"EVERYONE GET BACK!" The teacher ordered, his hair starting to float as his quirk activated, and he focused intently on the portals being created.

The swirling black mass pulsed and tore open, a pale hand appearing, followed soon after by the rest of the man, his appearance immediately catching their attention.

A mangy stray. That was the first impression that they had of the villain. His costume was reminiscent of a cat, with one ragged ear poking up from greyed hair and a belt that looked like it had been chewed on and hung from his waist like a tail would. Leather gloves that resembled claws adorned his hands, but the most startling thing about him though was the 'other' hands. Multiple disembodied hands clung to various parts of the man's body, with one acting as a mask to cover his face. His eyes, seen between the fingers of his 'mask' seemed to glow, one a crimson red, and the other a sickly green.

Following after him was a grotesquely muscular… creature. It was vaguely human, with black skin covered in scars. Instead of a mouth it had a beak, and it's brain was clearly visible.

Soon, the two were joined by an increasing number of vicious looking men and women, and within moments there were dozens of people in the clearing. Their costumes were makeshift and random, yet they marched forward with a cruel confidence in their steps.

"Are these, uh, more robots?" Hagakure asked fearfully, the invisible girl wearing only a pair of gloves, "M-maybe part of the simulation?" A glimmer of hope and fear could easily be heard.

"No," Aizawa stated grimly, dousing that hope instantly. He pulled his specialized goggles over his eyes, "These are real villains."

The portal shifted as it reformed, turning into a humanoid form with two piercing yellow eyes. "The staff schedule said that All Might was supposed to be here." The misty villain mused. "Was our information wrong?"

"The schedule?" Momo murmured, eyeing the black cat villain with a trace of recognition in her eye, only perceptible to Midoriya, while slowly reaching for her yo-yo. "The break-in yesterday… Were they the ones responsible for that then?"

"Tsk, we went through all the trouble of leveling up our equipment and building a raid party, even going on that side quest to make sure he was going to be here, and the dungeon boss isn't even here?" The cat themed villain growled out in irritation. "I suppose we'll just have to go on with the raid then and see if he'll come after we complete it. Maybe if we kill enough of these adds it'll summon him." He sighed in aggravation, "I hate puzzle bosses." He lamented.

The students took a step back, even as the villains in the clearing let out a round of laughter.

"Everybody, stay together!" Momo ordered with a sharp gaze, gaining everybody's attention, "Let Thirteen and Eraserhead handle this - we'll only get in their way if we try to intervene!"

"What?!" Kirishima objected, hardening his hands, You can't expect us to just run away! We can fight as well!"

"W-we can't! N-not right now," Izuku spoke up, nervous but keeping an analyzing gaze at the villains, "t-there are too many, and we d-don't know how strong they are. We have to trust our sensei's - t-they have more experience with this stuff!"

Looking more conflicted after hearing Izuku speak, he reluctantly relented, with most of the class listening to Momo's order after that, the more combat oriented students such as Shoji and Kirishima stepping in front as they grouped together.

Most of the class anyways.

Several explosions popping along his arms, Bakugou glared at Izuku with a sneer on his face, "That's a pansy decision Deku," He snarled, "These idiots came to fight, so we should just kill them!"

"K-kacchan, we don't have time to argue!" Izuku cried, with Momo coming up to stand next to him, her presence allowing him to not flinch in the face of Bakugou's aggression.

Barely.

"I'm not -!" He was about to say, only to be cut off.

"Bakugou. Group. Now." Aizawa ordered, his tone leaving no room to argue, and the blonde reluctantly got closer to the group, though still staying apart from it.

Aizawa stepped forward and shifted, bunching his legs underneath him in preparation to attack when Izuku realized what he was going to do. True, he might have advocated in trusting their teachers, but that was before he thought one of said teachers was going to sacrifice himself for them!

He instantly reached out in panic, "Sensei! Y-you can't! You specialize in stealthy one-on-one fights, n-not against a group like this! T-they'll..."

He couldn't finish the thought.

Against so many people, even having a Miraculous was no guarantee of victory, which is why Momo undoubtedly had ordered everybody to leave it to the teachers. With no idea of how skilled the enemies were, and no idea of their quirks, it was foolish to take on so many.

And then there was the villain leader…

But he didn't think that Aizawa was going to try taking them all on! He didn't want to escape because somebody had sacrificed themselves for him - he wanted everybody to escape!

Aizawa merely huffed, "Midoriya, no hero is a one-trick-pony. Focus your worry and take care of your class as class president."

"T-then here!" Izuku reached out and let a butterfly fly into his hand, preparing to fill it with energy.

Sensei… He has the desire to act, though his emotions… Izuku could feel that Aizawa was angry, and feeling protective of the class, but it was dull and muted - He was shoving it aside to focus on the fight. While that gave Izuku less to work with, he could still make him a Champion. Against all of these enemies, surely every little bit helped.

Just as he enclosed his hand over the butterfly Aizaway put his hand on Izuku's, causing him to look up at the pro hero in confusion.

"You've never used your quirk on me, and I don't know how it would feel if you gave me a power boost." He stated bluntly, though his eyes softened slightly. "I have no experience with it, so it might do more harm than good if I'm not used to it." A change in strength or ability could completely throw off my technique. Better to go with what I'm used to. He turned back towards the villains, "Relax. Your worry of me is irrational."

With that, before Izuku could protest again - that it didn't and WOULDN'T work like that - he jumped towards the group at the bottom of the staircase, capture gear swirling around him and eyes glowing red behind his goggles.

"Let's move," Thirteen told us sternly even as they all started moving, "Once we're outside, Iida, I want you to run as fast as you can towards the main campus to get out of range of the jammer. Contact UA's emergency line. Tell them what's happening."

They all stiffened when a smoky figure appeared in front of them, cutting them off.

"I'm sorry…" the mist villain appeared, looking down on them imposingly, "... But I'm afraid that I cannot allow that."

They all tensed and readied themselves to fight, only for the mist to sigh in a mocking manner. "Please, I see no need to fight children. We are here solely for the purpose of fighting All-Might. As you undoubtedly heard, we are well aware he was supposed to be here, and yet he clearly is not."

He paused and waited expectantly, but before he, or anybody else could say anything -

"AS IF WE WOULD TELL YOU ANYTHING!" Kirishima shouted, jumping forward with Bakugo, the two of them letting out a vicious attack with their respective quirks that hit the villain with a loud boom, dissipating the mist.

"Heh, guess he was all bark and no bite," Kirishima smirked, only to pale when the mist reformed in front of him once more.

"To attack so quickly, and in such a brutal manner as well. To think that you call yourself 'heroes in training'" he mocked dismissively, even as the mist seemed to billow around him. "Though I will freely admit that that attack was truly impressive. As expected of UA."

"Both of you, get back!" Thirteen cried out, her index finger pointed at the mist villain with the tip of her glove opened to use her quirk.

"I think not, hero," Kurogiri stated while expanding rapidly into a giant cloud, "Since you all are in such a fighting mood, I think it only fair that I introduce you to some comrades of ours."

The mist swiftly flowed over the rest of the students, their sights becoming obscured for only a second and they were soon experiencing the grip of gravity.

"Do try not to die too quickly."

Flood Zone

Falling.

Izuku decided that going from solid ground to having nothing underneath his feet in the span of an instant was a disturbing feeling.

Panicking, Izuku extended his wings the moment his mind had caught up to the sensations his body was informing him of, his butterflies tumbling all around him haphazardly. Taking a second to calm his speeding heart, he glided and took the opportunity to look around.

From his height, he could clearly see that he was still within the USJ, thankfully, and it looked like he had merely been teleported to the Flood Zone. Beneath him was a great expanse of blue, a large white yacht the only vehicle currently on the water.

From his height, he could still clearly see the plaza from which he had just been teleported, but before he could fly back he heard a cry of panic, followed by the sound of splashing.

Quickly looking below, he saw a flash of purple under the water, as well as the signs of numerous others swimming towards it. Extending his senses, he felt both the flash of panic, surrounded by numerous others filled with dark amusement.

Eyes wide, Izuku dived. There was no thought on how he was going to save somebody underwater - butterflies and water didn't exactly mesh - when a figure burst out from underneath the surface carrying the other. Recognizing them, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Asui! Mineta!" He called out once he was close enough, the two turning to him, "Are you two ok?" He asked desperately, looking them over. Mineta was coughing up water, but Tsuyu seemed perfectly fine and way calmer than the situation called for.

"Kero, we're alright. And call me Tsuyu." The frog girl stated, "Though it looks like we're surrounded."

"HEY! COME BACK DOWN HERE YOU TWO!" An angry voice shouted from below, "I'M GONNA FREAKING KILL YOU GUYS!"

Other shouts and taunts soon followed, and all three shivered, the wave of killing intent almost palpable. Literally in Izuku's case.

"They can't expect to get away with this," Mineta gasped, shivering uncontrollably, "All-Might will be here soon! He'll stop them! W-we just need to for him to show up!"

"I-I, w-well, I don't know about t-that," Izuku stuttered, eyes furrowed in both worry and concentration as he thought intently, "T-they said they came to actually KILL All-Might, remember? They've put a lot of thought into this, finding out All Mights schedule and gathering this whole group, right?"

As befitting of the most famous Hero School, UA put a considerable amount of effort into their security, and he was certain that they had only seen a small portion of it. Sneaking into the school, and then the USJ for that matter, would hardly be an easy task even with a teleportation quirk. To then gather all of these villains together for a massive raid? The amount of coordination that would take was difficult enough, but to keep it secret with such a large group would be even more so.

Tsuyu blinked and nodded in understanding, "If they put this much thought into it, then they must have a way that they think will kill All Might to make it worth it." She croaked in response.

Izuku nodded in confirmation, "T-that, or they think they can."

Though remembering the villain leader, Izuku had a sinking feeling that it was the former.

All-Might's quirk might be unknown, but if the villain leader was using the Cat Miraculous… Somebody misusing the powers of Destruction probably had a decent chance of actually k-k-killing him.

Mineta gaped at him, "B-b-but that's impossible!" He cried out, "All-Might is the strongest! There's no way that they have something that can take him on! A-and if they do, t-t-then we're dead!" He fixed his eyes on Izuku before desperately clinging to him, "You can enhance people, right? ENHANCE ME! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! I HAVE SO MANY THINGS THAT I HAVEN'T DONE YET! I STILL HAVE TO GET LAID!"

"W-what?! G-get off me! That's not how it works!" Izuku cried out in a panic, attempting to pry the shorter teen off of him to no avail, "C-c'mon! We d-dont have time to panic right now!"

Tsuyu's tongue whipped out and smacked Mineta in the head before wrapping around him, pulling him off as Izuku quickly backed away with giving a thankful look towards the girl.

Sure, Izuku could technically make Mineta a Champion. He was certainly filled with emotion, even if his desire to act was in the wrong direction… But it wasn't the right emotion that Izuku would want in one of his Champions. He didn't even realize he had standards until this moment, but looking at Mineta he realized that they did indeed exist. He felt an overwhelming sense of protectiveness regarding his butterfly's purity at that moment. And besides...

"W-we're actually in a pretty good position." Izuku realized in surprise, before looking at the rails where the shouts of the villains could still be heard.

Mineta quieted down as both he and Tsuyu looked at him, and he hastened to explain, "The villains! Why haven't they tried coming aboard the ship? They've had time to at least try now."

"Umm, m-maybe they're just toying with us?" Mineta tried, though he was at least a little calmer now.

Izuku immediately shook his head, "N-no, it's not that, you can tell that they're irritated right now." You didn't even need to feel their thoughts to know that, their shouting revealed as much. "Why did they put Tsuyu in the Flood zone?" He tried, "With her Frog Quirk, this area is where she's strongest!"

Tsuyu put Mineta down, "They don't know our quirks, Kero." She realized, and Izuku nodded.

"Exactly! Between Tsuyu's abilities and my wings, we can easily get the three of us out of here." Izuku concluded.

"You can?!" Mineta looked like he was crying tears of happiness now, "Then let's do it! Let's get out of here and get back to the Pro's so they can deal with it!"

Tsuyu looked thoughtful, "But won't the villains follow us?" She asked.

"M-maybe, maybe not," He replied, eyes still narrowed in thought, "They seperated us, which means that they didn't think they could take us all on at once, so they probably won't if we can make it back to the others quickly.. And even if they do, we're better off together in a group."

"Ok, so let's go already!" Mineta urged once more, glancing fearfully at the rail.

"We will," Izuku assured him, "just… Give me a moment."

Just because they were lucky, doesn't mean that the others were.

"I-I"m going to try to make a Champion," He explained, grimacing when Mineta looked at him expectantly, "N-not with either of you," He hastily added.

Tsuyu blinked at him as she connected the dots, "You can do that from a distance?" She asked, and he nodded.

"Y-yeah," He said as he brought a butterfly close to him, the insect waiting calmly in his hand as the others flew around him in excitement.

"B-but why don't you use it on us?!" The grape headed teen wailed, a bit of panic entering his voice once more. "WE'RE IN TROUBLE TOO YOU KNOW! A-and if you use it on us, then we'd be stronger and better able to help, right? Uraraka lifted a freaking building for crying out loud!"

Though Tsuyu didn't say anything, it was clear that she was a little confused as well.

Izuku grimaced at the question. Once again, he knew he could make a Champion out of either Tsuyu or Mine… He could make a Champion out of Tsuyu, and yet he wasn't feeling the urge to do so. In fact, it honestly felt like something was pushing his thoughts, encouraging him to do… something. He wasn't sure if it was an instinct that was telling him this, Nooroo's guidance, or simply his imagination.

"You guys voted me as Class President," He looked at them with a determined expression, the stutter leaving his voice as he became firm in his decision, "The rest of the class was scattered as well, and they might not be in as good a position as we are, which means that it's my responsibility to help them in whatever way I can. Even if I don't think I can do a good job of it, I refuse to let any of you down when you put your faith in me!" He closed his eyes and concentrated.

Once he had more experience he should be able to do this instinctively, but for now this was going to take a bit of time. Thankfully, the villains seemed to be focused on trying to get them in the water before making a move.

Allowing himself to become completely submerged in the Butterfly's power, the first thing that he noticed was the number of options he had. Eyes closed and focused as he was, the emotions of everybody seemed to flicker brighter, and he was struck at the sight of it. Fear was prominent amongst his classmates, and yet each one also had a burning desire to help despite that.

While he couldn't tell who most of the presences were without focusing on them due to not knowing them long enough (Yep, there was Kacchan. His rage could be felt easily even from this distance) it was obvious that they all had the prerequisites to become a champion.

He faltered, becoming hesitant as he tried to feel out who to make a Champion. Nooroo told him that he would know who to choose when the time came, and was always enigmatic when he asked, but here he was in a villain attack, and he was still wracked with indecision!

He felt the pull within each of the zones. The desire to act, frustration at themselves, the urge to protect. Who should he choose? Who would be the best for the task? He felt his heart race as he started panicking.

Surely just choosing somebody would be better than nothing, right? M-maybe he didn't feel inclined towards a particular person because anybody would do? He was about to choose somebody who felt like they were with the main group when all of a sudden, he felt it.

Stronger than the other pulls, as if his butterflies were directing him to it, this one drew him in like a moth to a light. Like the others, this one had the desire to act and protect as well. Unlike the others though, it held tones of guilt and regret as well.

The Butterfly Miraculous was the bringer of hope. To those who were in despair or needed uplifting themselves, the Butterfly would help them help themselves, allowing them to become stronger for it. While anybody who had the desire to help could become a Champion, a butterfly was naturally attracted to those that would benefit for themselves just as much as those that would be benefited by the Champion's actions.

With his eyes still closed, he reached out his hand and covered the butterfly that was patiently waiting in his other palm as the others flew around him in an excited dance. It didn't move as he poured purple energy into it, and he eventually lifted his hand to reveal a now purple butterfly.

Kirishima blocked another blow, twisting as he drove his shoulder into another goon, listening to Bakugo swear at some other villains behind him.

At least it was proof that the explosive blonde was doing alright.

Meanwhile, the Hardening quirk user tried to tell himself that this wasn't his fault. Tried to lose himself in the fighting as he pushed back his doubts. If the mist guy had the ability to teleport them all, then that means he was planning on doing it at some point, right?

… Except he only did it AFTER he and Bakugou had attacked… Thirteen was the pro, maybe if they had waited for the villain to talk his mouth off some more then Thirteen would have done something? Come up with some sort of plan? He didn't know. Of course he didn't know! He went off and acted without thinking, without even glancing at the person in charge!

He grunted as a particularly brutish thug with stone-like arms clumsily punched him, his hardened skin allowing him to ignore the damage.

It's just... he couldn't just stand aside! He had seen an opening, and he had taken it. What kind of man would he be if he hadn't acted? The whole point of him coming to UA was to become a hero! He had stood aside and did nothing when others had needed help in the past, and even though Mina had stepped up and helped them instead it still was something that he deeply regretted!

Yet despite his thoughts, he still couldn't help but wonder. And as he wondered, the guilt climbed.

He had just knocked out a couple more thoughts and was taking a quick breather when he jerked back as a purple butterfly flew in front of his face, diving down and becoming absorbed in the half cape he kept wrapped around his waist in honor of Crimson Riot.

"It's not your fault."

His eyes widened as he heard the voice of Midoriya in his head and he jerked back in confusion.

"It's not your fault, though it's clear that he wished you to think so." The words seemed to flow into his mind, and Kirishima looked back and forth as he tried to find the source of the voice.

"Wha- Midoriya?!"

"Maybe it was the right decision to charge him, or maybe not. We'll never know what might have been." The voice acknowledged, "but either way, it still wasn't your fault. The only one who's at fault is the Villain."

A wave of comfort and calm seemed to flow into Kirishima's mind, taking the edge off of the guilt he was feeling, even if it didn't remove it entirely.

"Y-you have the desire to protect, the willingness to do what you can. I can give you the help you need to do more, to help protect all of our classmates from these villains. Kirishima, will you be my Champion?"

The words were barely formed and Kirishima immediately grinned in excitement, "Heck yeah Viceroy!"

He didn't know where the name came from, or why he called Izuku 'Viceroy', but the name felt… right.

A surge of purple smoke enveloped him, the villains around him backing away in confusion and in preparation for whatever plan the teen was about to pull.

Protect. That's the word that Viceroy used, and it resonated with him. He had been using his quirk to protect himself obviously, but he was nowhere near any of his classmates right now, so how could he protect them? And what if he was teleported away again?

He needed to be more mobile to reach his friends, more hardened to take the hits of all enemies, and a way to attract all of their attention. Even if it wasn't his fault, it was undeniable that he was the one that fell for it, so surely he received a portion of the responsibility. How could he still call himself a man if he did any less?

"Very well - let us form the wall that will shelter our allies Crimson Scale."

Even as he felt his skin shift painlessly, almost like he was Hardening it, he felt his grin grow larger.

'So manly!'

Izuku opened up his eyes with a sigh of relief. Looking at the two next to him, he was about to say he was ready to move only to see them looking at him weirdly.

"Uhmmm, w-what's up?" D-did he do something wrong?

"You were talking to yourself." Tsuyu stated bluntly, tilting her head. "Did you find somebody?"

"HEY! GET OUT OF THERE!" A voice snarled, and they all stumbled as the ship shuddered violently, slowly beginning to sink. "LET'S END THI-"

The voice was cut off suddenly as a loud roar suddenly echoed throughout the USJ. Impossible to determine its origin, the roar was clearly one of a challenge, the noise causing all of the villains to quiet down in surprise and fear.

For his part, Izuku smiled, even as the outline of a purple mask came over his face. "Y-yeah," he admitted happily, "I did."

Main Plaza

Shigaraki grinned with perverse glee at the downed Eraserhead, the hero's arm gripped by the monstrous Nomu. Unfortunately, despite the enjoyment he garnered from the act, it was marred after hearing the roar of a potential secret boss.

While he was sure that said boss would be easily killed, it would be foolish to fight another person on top of a 'troll like Eraserhead.

Their raid party might have been low-leveled trash, but it was still mildly frustrating to watch as the hero completely routed the majority of it. The only thing that kept him from acting sooner was to see if any of his mooks had any talent (The answer was a dismal no) but even more important was his desire to let Eraserhead feel like he had a chance to win, just to make it all the more satisfying to rip it away from him.

And no, toying with an opponent like that was NOT a cat-like attribute that he had gained from Plagg, no matter what the cretin implied!

It wasn't overconfidence that made him believe they could easily take the Underground Hero. First off, they had Nomu, which was designed to kill All-Might after all. Biologically engineered to be as strong as the strongest hero, with multiple quirks to tip the odds in his favor! Of the pro-heroes present, only Thirteen had the skill-set to actually kill it, and she would be hesitant to go to that extreme.

Just in case, Kurogiri was assigned to make sure that the Black-Hole quirk user was taken care of.

And then there was Shigaraki himself. A year ago he would have (reluctantly) admitted that he was on par with the pro. But now...

Wearing the ring, as aggravating as it was, all of his base stats were increased. Additionally, his 'at will touch attack' became more streamlined, his outfit - while ridiculous - was extremely durable, and if things truly did become desperate he had truly devastating once-per-battle ability.

Put bluntly, Eraserhead didn't even hold a candle to him.

A sickening crack rang throughout the clearing, and the hero gave a cry of pain, bringing a twisted smile to his face.

"I do apologize for the rough treatment Eraserhead," He stated mockingly, walking slowly towards the restrained man, "But after hearing that secret boss… Well, why fight two at one time?" He smirked as he saw Aizawa's quirk activate, only for him to cry out once more as Nomu twisted his arm even more.

"Now now, don't feel too bad," He chided, "Nomu is simply a higher level than you are. You didn't stand a chance. But before you die," He fixed the red eyed man with mild curiosity, "I don't suppose you'll tell us what that roar was?" He asked curiously, reaching out his hand in preparation to touch Aizawa's face, "A hint as to the next boss?"

Despite the pain he must have been in… Despite being completely beaten and restrained, at the mercy of villains... Eraserhead refused to give an ounce of satisfaction to them and glared at him, his foot lashing out and nearly hitting Shigaraki in the crotch had the Nomu, using only one hand, grabbed that same leg and twisted, easily cracking it as well.

"So cool…" Shigaraki murmured, "As annoying a mini-boss that you are, I think I almost respect you." He reached out his hand once more, preparing to end the man.

A sudden pressure was the only warning he got, like a bird flapping its wings, except amplified by a thousand. The edge of a shadow sped towards Shigaraki, his vision suddenly blurring as Nomu grabbed him and moved.

The area that they had just vacated was subjected to the sound of something large hitting the ground at high speeds, the entire area shuddering from the impact, and Shigaraki spun out of the Nomu's grasp as soon as the creature had stopped.

His first thought was that the League hadn't heard anything about Ryukyu having any family with her quirk.

Standing on four legs in front of them, fangs bared with glowing red eyes, was an honest to god Dragon, dark red scales spread across its wings and body. They watched as it carefully picked up the bloodied teacher with his claws, the dragon having twisted to ensure the Underground Hero wasn't hit.

With the bone showing through the skin in his arm and leg, Aizawa was still able to twist in the dragon's claws, "Kirishima?" He grimaced, receiving a grunt in reply from the giant lizard.

Shigaraki, meanwhile, didn't let his eyes off of the newly summoned boss, quickly looking over it with narrowed eyes.

It was large, though if he had to take a guess it was probably a little smaller than Ryukyu's dragon form. Where the pro hero's dragon form had smooth pale scales, the scales on this dragon were rough and jagged, sharp edges everywhere. In truth, EVERYTHING about the creature was rough and jagged. It's scales, it's teeth, it's horns… it was almost like it had been carved from the side of a cliff, all a deep crimson that faded to black. The only thing that the creature didn't have on it that looked sharp was a worn out piece of cloth that wrapped around its waist.

All in all, it certainly cut an intimidating figure.

The remaining villains of the raid group backed away fearfully, many of them looking moments away from running away, and Shigaraki made sure to remember who those cowards were.

After all - it's not like they didn't have their own monster.

Before he could give any orders, a voice cried out, "Sensei!"

Glaring at the newcomers, he saw three of the students that Kurogiri was supposed to have teleported across the building. Two of them were out of breath, with the third in pristine condition.

Said third member was dressed in a red outfit, with a spiky black ponytail. In her hands she had… a yo-yo?

The odd choice in weapon distracted him only for a moment, and he looked hard at the hero-in-training. His ring seemed to pulse, but he ignored that. This girl… He wasn't sure why, but just staring at her…

The mere sight of her made him absolutely enraged.

Losing himself in the feeling for a moment, the suddenness of it took him by surprise and he had to take a moment to think rationally for a moment.

Despite his constant reference to games, Shigaraki was smart. Sensei had personally taught him for years, and he had a good tactical mind when he needed to use it.

Three 'heroes in training' who had some level of skill to take out a number of mooks already, one heavily wounded pro, and one… student(?)/dragon/mini-boss, with potential for reinforcements as time went on.

On his side, he had himself, Nomu, the remaining mooks, and potentially Kurogiri as reinforcements if he managed to sufficiently take care of the brats and Thirteen.

He couldn't help but sigh in aggravation, gaining the attention of everybody else who immediately tensed. First All-Might didn't show up, then this dragon showed up and saved Eraserhead, and now it appeared that the men they inserted throughout the building were unable to hold back a bunch of kids.

Still, as aggravating as this was, neither he nor their Nomu had really entered the fray. Repeating this thought he was able to push back any feelings of irritation he felt.

"How frustrating," He bemoaned, never letting his gaze leave the girl in the red costume, "I hate it when 'adds' come and prevent a sure-fire kill. And since you three are here, I'm guessing that the men we rounded up were even more worthless than I thought. It's getting to the point that I feel we should just cut our losses and leave."

He nearly smirked at their expressions. Even if they didn't believe he would leave, there was that feeling of hope. And he just needed a moment to catch them off guard for best results. He saw something behind them, and he had to actively hide his smirk. A few hand signs, and the trap was set even further.

He would kill yo-yo girl personally. It'd be quick, and whatever that feeling was that he felt earlier would be forgotten. Nomu would take care of the dragon, and the mooks would take care of/distract their 'adds' and any other reinforcements that may come. Then, he would finish killing Erasurehead.

After that, if All-Might still hadn't shown, then he'd simply kill the rest of the students.

Releasing a bloodthirsty grin, he watched as all of the mini-heroes dropped into their amateur fighting stances.

"But, well, you can hardly expect me to leave without leaving our mark in some way!" And with that, he dashed towards the girl, his hand outstretched, "Nomu," He ordered absently, and with a growl, the abomination blurred towards the dragon, it's mass and speed letting it punch the lizard with tremendous force.

With the sound of a rockslide, black skin and muscle met crimson scale with a crash that was heard across the USJ, the dragon's own eyes widening as it was actually thrown off its feet, causing the villains to cheer and laugh.

Shigaraki didn't pay it any more attention, focused on his own attack, and it was clear that the girl was focused on him as well. That was fine - she was looking in the wrong direction.

A portal appeared in front of Shigaraki, and he immediately reached his hand in, the other end appearing behind the infuriating girl.

It should have been quick and easy. His touch was instant death, and the girl was looking in completely the wrong direction. She was as good as dead.

"LOOK OUT!"

The panicked voice came out of nowhere, and Kurogiri suddenly gave out a cry of pain. The portal started closing at a rapid rate, and Shigaraki felt his heart freeze as he yanked his hand out of it.

Kurogiri's quirk was powerful when used casually, and easily overpowered if used correctly, but it required concentration for him to use. When he was startled or in pain, and if he lost control of his portals…

Shigaraki leapt back, mere moments before the portal closed where his arm used to be. A moment later Kurogiri appeared next to him, and he spent several seconds trying to calm his panicked breathing, his hair practically standing on end as he did so.

Another freaking add. Did those stupid kids wish to sign their death warrants that quickly?! He snarled, his anger at the girl increasing due to the delay.

The new add was a fairy type, and he hovered in the air right next to the girl, clutching a cane nervously, and he was grateful to see that the girl had at least turned pale at how close to death she had gotten.

"Shigaraki," Kurogiri rumbled softly, "I -"

"Shut up," Shigaraki hissed, fury boiling inside of him. He had been tasked with this mission, Sensei had given him this ring for the purpose of taking down All-Might, they had PLANNED everything, and yet they kept on running into these STUPID little obstacles!

And he had yet to actually do anything yet!

"I'm going to take out the girl, and then I'm going to kill Erasurehead." He spat, "You kill fairy boy over there." Nomu would kill the dragon easily enough. That didn't even need to be stated. "We'll talk after that."

Kurogiri watched him for a second before nodding, deferring to his judgement, 'Very well." He stated, billowing and surging behind Shigaraki as he darted once more

Anger filling his veins, he dashed forward.

No more distractions. He was rolling initiative now.

Aizawa winced at the sound of the 'Nomu' punching his student once again, the two brawling it out in a stunning display of ferocity.

His student that had been turned into a dragon…

And how exactly does somebody call turning another person into a dragon "enhancement"!?

The dragon got up with a snarl, it's scales and claws digging furrows against the concrete of the path, and to the surprise of all listening actually spoke, "That wasn't very manly," it snarled, it's voice reminiscent of boulders rumbling against each other.

Aizawa resisted the urge to face palm, though the fact that his arm was broken certainly helped that urge...

The villain's creature ignored him, instead leaping forward for another series of blows that dragon Kirishima was braced for, remaining on its feet this time, and it brought it's powerful tail around to slam against the Nomu in retaliation, followed by a snap of the jaws.

"I am Crimson Scale", Kirishima snarled as he lowered his head and rammed against the Nomu in a headbutt, using his mass to push the other back. "And by all that's manly, I WILL. NOT. LET. YOU. PASS!" He finished with a roar, glaring at the Nomu angrily while lashing his tail out at a few thugs that had the brain cells to try to go around the angry lizard to take out the wounded pro, the tail sending them flying with cries of panic.

Ignoring that exchange, Aizawa spent a moment studying the 'Nomu' that so easily took him down. Super strength that didn't fade when he used his own quirk on it, though what DID become affected was the hits that it was taking, as well as the regeneration from the wounds and gashes it was receiving on its arms from merely punching the sharp scales.

While Kirishima seemed to be substantially more powerful right now, Aizawa refused to let him fight the creature on his own. As best as he could he fought through the pain from his arm and leg, refusing to even look at the damage. He might not be able to fight, but he could still use his quirk to tip the scales of battle. The pain was making it difficult to concentrate and keep his eyes open, but there was no way he was going to let his students down now.

Though this was hardly the only battle going on, and he couldn't let himself get tunnel vision. Not now, when his students were fighting his fights for him.

He glanced towards the leader. He had focused on Yaoyorozu the moment she showed up, and Aizawa couldn't help but let out a curse. If the villains had done any amount of research into the students, of course they would realize that the daughter of the CEO to Yaoyorozu Enterprises was amongst this class. If their goal was to leave a mark, then killing her was definitely one way to do it.

Thankfully she seemed to be holding him off pretty well. He wasn't sure why she chose a yo-yo as a weapon, but she wielded it skillfully enough, in conjunction with her quirk.

For every blurring lunge that the leader made to attack her, she was able to dodge, if barely, to the point that he found his heart about to leap out of his chest. Nets, tarps, and ropes were constantly being created and launched from various parts of her body and towards the villain. Each was disintegrated with a simple touch, but each gave her that fraction of a second needed to get a little further away.

She wasn't making any attacks of her own, focusing entirely on staying away, but it was an impressive display as far as he was concerned, and yet he found himself cursing his current status that required her to fight in his stead. Whether they were impressive or not, they were kids, barely even a few days into High School! They weren't supposed to face life or death situations!

Jiro, Kaminari, Asui, and Mineta were grouped together taking on the remainder of the small fry that he had been picking off earlier.

I should have taken out more of them when I had the chance…

He focused on a few at key points in their fights, and the thugs were being taken down with relative ease. Kaminari and Jiro fought with their quirks and metal staves that he assumed that Yaoyorozu created for them earlier, while Asui and Mineta simply fought with their respective quirks. Their fights just went to further the belief that these thugs were supposed to just be distractions for the bigger threats.

In the distance, he could hear the ever increasing sound of explosions, a good indication that another student was on his way.

He looked at the last fight that was happening in the air, and saw Midoriya dodge another portal. That, unfortunately, was one fight that he couldn't affect, this portal quirk being one of a strange category where it was actually part of their body, and thus unaffected by his own erasing quirk.

He could only hope that Midoriya was doing alright…

Kurogiri had never gone butterfly hunting before, but he imagined that it would be less frustrating than trying to capture this young hero.

"Please, you are making this needlessly difficult for yourself," He insisted, a headache having long taken root, "Cease and desist, and I will simply teleport you someplace else, ensuring your own safety. Your own ability to fly limits any tricks that I might try to kill you."

The kid didn't respond, his face screwed in concentration as he dodged and weaved, a glowing mask on his face.

Aerial combat was always tricky, the extra dimension giving way to a multitude of potential options to move, and this young hero was using that ability to the fullest. Every time he thought that he had him, he would dodge and weave in a different direction. And that blasted entourage of his… The swarm flew in a cloud around the hero, their pattern and flow shimmering almost hypnotically, and definitely distracting, each and every one of them looked like they were watching him.

Were they watching him? Could he see through their eyes? Was that part of his quirk? Alas, those were questions for another time.

He reached out with another portal behind the green haired hero, trying to catch him while his back was turned, only for the boy to dive, avoiding the trap entirely.

Kurogiri sighed. Hopefully Shigaraki was having more success in his own fight. As it was, he just knew he wasn't going to hear the end of this...

Momo flipped backwards, releasing a matryoshka doll that was almost instantly touched and dissolved by the villain, only to reveal a flash grenade which immediately went off, resulting in loud cursing by the cat themed leader.

She took that moment to breath a little, desperately trying to think of options. She had been too distracted - first by the appearance of the ring, which indicated that this was not only a Miraculous user, but the same one that was the pair to her own. She had been trying to think of a way to get the ring off of his finger when he began his assault, and in a move that completely blindsided her and…

… very nearly killed her.

She had almost died.

If it hadn't been for Izuku hitting the teleporter when he did, she would be dead.

That, admittedly, had thrown her off considerably, and what with the attack immediately afterword, she had been thrown on the defensive almost the whole battle. She could tell that Aizawa was canceling the man's quirk at times, but even then, she knew that that wouldn't mean much if he activated the Miraculous power.

She needed to think of something to end this, and quickly. Izuku was doing his part by not only enhancing who she could only assume was Kirishima, but ALSO fighting the portal quirk user despite the danger to himself. She could hardly do any less, especially against one who was abusing the power of the Cat Miraculous, a kwami that she had listened to Tikki talk about with love and exasperation.

Using 'Lucky Charm' was a definite option, but Tikki had told her that the items, even if they guaranteed victory, were random, and often required ingenuity and sometimes a little time to figure out. And that…

She quickly created a stave to block the punch of the increasingly maddened Cat, only for this one to disintegrate as fast as the others, and she launched a net quickly at him even as she leapt back once more.

Time was not something that she was being given.

She tried to focus. The Cat Villain was focused on her, and getting increasingly angry. Kirishima was fighting the 'Nomu' creature, and appeared to be at a stalemate, and Izuku was fighting the portal user.

She spent several seconds desperately trying to think of a plan of some sort, something to shift the battle, before something clicked.

Two Miraculous users were chosen to recover one. So why were they fighting separately?

Her eyes were drawn to the dragon. As a child, she had read stories about princesses and dragons. She couldn't help but wonder - why did the princess always wait for the knight to save her? Why not tame the dragon and beat up anybody that tried to take her away?

She created a quick smoke grenade and dashed over to where the two titans were fighting, their blows practically creating shockwaves with every punch, while the cursing behind her letting her know that her pursuer was close behind.

Running up behind the 'Nomu', it didn't even react to her when she brought her yo-yo out and swung it round it, trapping an arm against its body as she used its back as a springboard, launching up to the dragon's head, where she latched onto one of his horns.

"Hey Kirishima," She greeted breathlessly, almost giddy at the thought of riding a dragon. "How loud can you roar?"

Thankfully he got what she wanted quickly. Or Izuku did, if the flash of a purple mask was any indication. While the Nomu struggled desperately against the yo-yo's wire, appearing to prefer to let the wire cut through the muscle entirely instead of trying to untangle himself, Kirishima lowered his head towards the Villain leader (who was extremely close by this point, she noticed in her panic) and roared.

The Cat Miraculous had one of the best offenses, and it's sheer destructive power discouraged people from coming close, providing a decent defense from that alone.

But you couldn't destroy sound waves. And a Cat had particularly good sight AND hearing.

So close to source, the Cat gasped in pain, clutching his ears in agony as the sound bellowed forth. The roar before had been a roar announcing his presence and intention. This roar was given with the sole purpose of creating noise.

The Nomu didn't react to the noise beyond a shudder, and it looked confused, unsure of how to protect its charge from this particular attack, and Momo uncovered her ears and shouted in Kirishima's ear (Even covered and not in front of the source, her ears were still ringing), "The Leader disintegrates everything he touches!" Before leaping down and hoping that Izuku understood.

She grabbed a hold of the yo-yo once more and pulled with all of her boosted strength, yanking the wounded Nomu off balance and towards the rogue Miraculous user, even as he was slowly recovering with hate in his eyes. A claw came through and she ducked, letting it hit the off-kilter creature and launching the monster towards the Cat.

It hit him, sending both of them sprawling, and soon a hissing sound was heard from underneath it.

It was only for a second before the Cat pushed the creature off of him, and he spun away with impressive agility for having taken the hits that he did, only a couple of stumbles to show for it.

"No," He murmured, his claws clenched and shaking, "No no no no NONONONO!" He ended it with a shriek before glaring hatefully at the Ladybug and Dragon. The Nomu lifted itself up briefly, and Momo winced when she saw the damage. Half of its chest looked like it was caved in and still disintegrating, the destruction slowly moving up to it's arm, which fell off with a plop.

An explosion racked the plaza, and those who weren't deafened looked up to see a couple of the thugs go flying, revealing a furious blonde that was glaring at Crimson Scale.

"Shitty Hair," He ground out, "What was up with leaving me back there like some extra, huh!" He saw the remaining villains and gritted his teeth, "And it STILL it took you this long to take down these losers!"

A rushing sound came through and instantly both the Nomu and Cat Villain were encased in ice.

"I heard from some of the other thugs that you were here to take down All-Might." Came a cold voice, and Todoroki then appeared, looking curiously at the dragon and worriedly at Aizawa, who's red eyes were focused on the 'Nomu', before looking back at the enemies, "it's a rather sad sight to see honestly, taken down without having even gotten to see the number one hero."

"Stay back," Momo warned, "He's not -"

The ice disintegrated, leaving the Cat Villain in the middle of the field of ice, shaking furiously. He hadn't heard Todoroki's comments due to being deafened, but then, he didn't need to.

He was angry enough.

"You cheated," he spat out, "You turned on friendly fire to get us to take down our own man." His breathing became erratic, "No, no, we can't finish our mission now, not with one man down," he murmured, even as a dark glow appeared over his claws, "But I can still damage his pride! How will it feel, when he can't even show the parents the bodies?!"

Aizawa widened his eyes in alarm, focusing entirely on the villain, "Everybody! Get back!"

"Cataclysm," The villain sneered, causing his fist to become enveloped in motes of purple and black, within seconds a cloud of motes spread outward, originating from his fist, and he threw.

The cloud expanded outward rapidly, aimed directly at the group of heroes in training and Aizawa, and as the cloud neared them, the cloud devoured. The stones of the plaza, the plants to the side of the path, whatever it touched, withered and died.

It was moving too fast for anybody but herself to get away from, and she found herself rooted in horror at the sight. She might be able to create something large enough to block it, but from what she had already seen she couldn't create something that would slow it down sufficiently before it just ate through it and continued on. Still, she had to try! How could she call herself a hero if she didn't even try?!

Just as her entire body started glowing from the combined effort of both her and Tikki to create a wall large enough to stop it, when Kirishima slammed himself down in front of the entire group.

"NO! I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS!"

He stretched himself out just in time for the cloud to hit him, and for the third time that day she heard him roar, only this time in pain.

Aborting mid creation, she dashed forward, reaching him at the same time as Izuku did.

"Crimson Scale!" The Butterfly cried out in horror, clutching the dragon's side even as tears leaked from his eyes. "Y-you didn't have to do that! J-just hold on!" Momo immediately went next to him and pressed her hands against the scales.

The Ladybug was a Miraculous capable of restoration, and healing was a part of that. Not it's strongest ability perhaps, but it was still within her domain.

She focused hard on the dragon, pressing her yo-yo on the scales and focusing on the other side where she could only assume serious damage was being done, and let out a breath. "Miraculous Ladybug," She murmured softly, forcing the energy to go from the Yo-Yo into the dragon.

Creation vs Destruction. If the damage was being caused by the power of Destruction, then by all rights she should be able to negate it with the power of Creation!

The cries stopped after a moment, leaving only a pained grunting, and suddenly the old cape around the dragon finished disintegrating, the massive dragon erupting into purple smoke soon after.

When the smoke cleared, they could see Kirishima, curled in on himself with a heavily bleeding back, pieces of Hardened flesh cracking and falling off. Immediately Izuku was there, seemingly instantly grabbing a wounded butterfly, covering it protectively while hovering over the wounded boy as well.

At first she was worried that her healing hadn't been enough, and she felt tears in her eye start to form at the wave of shame that formed from that, when Kirishima looked up at all of them and gave off a pained smirk, "Y-you have to admit, that was pretty manly wasn't it?" He said before wincing.

For her part, she relaxed slightly, feeling the exhaustion both mental and physical hit her, even as Aizawa limped painfully to the boy and gave an exasperated laugh, "Fine. Yes, that was manly." he stated with softened eyes.

Izuku looked up hesitantly, "The Mist Villain teleported out with the leader soon after he launched that last attack," He reported hesitantly, still hovering over both the wounded butterfly and boy, "I think they've left."

Aizawa gave a grunt, looking around at the few remaining villains, all of whom seemed hesitant to continue attacking now that the main guy had left, "Still, we can't let up just yet," He cautioned, and the others, especially Todoroki and Bakugou, tensed once more, "We can't let up until…"

The doors to USJ slammed open with incredible force, instantly drawing everybody's attention, "HAVE NO FEAR!" A voice boomed out, and the remaining villains immediately paled, "FOR I AM… Late?"

As All-Might came into view, looking at the scene in confusion, Aizawa turned to the students and smirked, "Ok, Now you can relax."

Immediately Momo felt herself collapse to the ground, and she felt another person collapse against her, noticing only a second later that it was Izuku.

There was still work to be done of course, still stuff that she could help out with, but for now, she just needed a moment to relax.

They had survived. A large villain assaulted a group of mostly students, and everybody had survived. She felt like crying in relief for a moment.

The assault against USJ was over.

Chapter Text

All-Might walked into the office with Detective Tsukauchi at his side. The moment the door closed, The large man was enveloped in a puff of smoke - the hero disappearing from view for a few seconds only to reveal his gaunt form.

It had been… A long day, he decided with a sigh.

His quirk, One for All, was unique amongst quirks. The ability to stockpile power, and the power to transfer that quirk to another person. With each subsequent wielder, the size of that stockpile grew. All-Might was the eighth and most current host, and as such the amount of power available to him was not inconsiderable. It was what allowed him to rise the ranks to become the number 1 Hero.

Of course, ever since the injury he received from fighting him he had been growing weaker, something that he absolutely hated. Where before he could hold his muscular form for days if needed, he was now reduced to less than half a day.

He had spent the morning going about the city assisting in the prevention of multiple crimes, only to overestimate how much time that would take, and how much time he would have left. Though tired, he had still planned on going to teach at USJ, had he not been waylaid by the principal who had pointed out to him that the time he had available wouldn't last through the entire period.

Better to be a little late and make it through the entire period as opposed to getting there on time only for his time to run out during the middle of class.

All-Might found himself clenching his fists.

He should have chanced it.

It had been many hours since he had arrived at the USJ to help apprehend the villains that remained, and the rest of the time had been spent assisting with the coordination of the police and medical personnel, making sure the students were alright…

He tiredly sat in one of the open seats, grateful for the opportunity to finally relax, and looked at the Detective, one of the few people that knew his secret. "Alright, how bad was it?" He asked bluntly, silently bracing himself.

Tsukauchi opened the file he brought and gestured for All-Might, "Almost one hundred villains throughout the whole facility," He stated with similar exhaustion, "Most of them apparently came from small time gangs throughout the city, along with some muggers, a couple of serial killers, and rapists." He shook his head, "This is probably the largest number of arrests made in the last decade, even if the two leaders got away. We're having to bring in other precincts to process everybody."

All-Might felt his heart freeze at that, even knowing that all of the students made it out alright. "One hundred," He breathed, shuddering at the thought, "How in the world did they keep this kind of operation quiet? And how did the students survive?!"

Sure, they might have been talented, but it still would have been one hundred adults against two teachers and twenty kids. Eraserhead and Thirteen were pro-heroes and could take care of themselves, this was true. But Eraserhead was an Underground Hero - more used to working in the shadows - while Thirteen was a Rescue Hero. Add in that they were protecting the students as well?

Quite frankly, All-Might considered it nothing less than a miracle that there were no deaths.

The Detective nodded in understanding, "We're still in the middle of processing and interrogating everybody involved, but from what little we've learned they prevented word from getting out by not telling the lower echelon anything. They had been approached by the leader sometime within the last week, and had only been made aware of the plan to attack USJ yesterday."

All-Might looked up in confusion, "They joined for an attack on U.A., the largest Hero School in Japan, on the word of a man they knew nothing about?" He asked incredulously.

"More like they joined an attack on U.A. after seeing the creature that said man brought with him." Tsukauchi corrected. "They were convinced that the creature, a 'nomu' according to them, had a chance against you. After that? Well," he shrugged, "with the stakes as high as that, many of them were willing to take the chance."

That… Made sense, he was willing to admit.

His mind went to the remains of the large creature. He had been told that it had a scarily powerful regenerative quirk, and Aizawa stated that it had been unnaturally strong. Knowing that drove in just how devastating a quirk the leader had. Despite it trying to regenerate, by the time All-Might had gotten around to looking at it, half of it had already disintegrated. The police had taken the remains, and with any luck they'd be able to learn something from it.

They sat in silence for a moment while All-Might continued reading through the report. After a while, Tsukauchi spoke again, "Your students were smart." He stated absently, glancing at another page before correcting himself, "Well, most of them."

All-Might looked at him quizzically, and he waved his hand, "They were seperated into the various areas, and it's obvious the villains were trying to divide and conquer, with many of the villains in zones that were beneficial to them and their quirks. But, with the exception of a couple of groups, most of the students hid and relied on ambush tactics. The ones that didn't were actually strong enough to take on their enemies." He smirked tiredly, "You have a promising bunch of students my friend. Promising, but very terrifying. I don't envy your job."

The Number 1 hero began to sweat as he thought and acknowledged the validity of that statement. If they were this strong after taking classes for only a week, then how scary would they be after a year? Two years? He shuddered.

And with that thought…

The gaunt blond sighed as he put his head in his hands, "I messed up."

He admitted, causing Tsukauchi to frown at him.

"It's not like you could know that something like this would happen," He pointed out cautiously, and All-Might snorted.

"Not for that," He sighed, "Everybody keeps telling me to choose a successor, that I'm getting weaker. Nighteye, Gran Torino," He lifted his head up and looked at the detective, "Even you. And yet I've been ignoring all of you, not willing to acknowledge that my time is running out."

It was so easy to forget… One for All still burned within him, and so long as he ignored the aches and pains of his body he could pretend that everything was well with the world. That's what had happened that morning. He helped stop one crime on the way to the school, and after that it was another. He hadn't paid attention to the amount of energy he was using, and he kept thinking that he had enough time. Enough time to help one more person, enough time to fight one more villain, before he was needed at the school.

And then he was out of time, and as Nezu had pointed out to him, even if he could still transform he wouldn't be able to stay so for the entire class.

Tsukauchi raised an eyebrow, "It's not like you've been idle. You've been looking for a successor, haven't you?" He countered, "And didn't Nighteye give a recommendation?"

All-Might grimaced, "Mirio Togata. Currently a third year student. He's been interning at Nighteye's."

There was a pause for several seconds. "... And?" Tsukauchi prompted.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly, "And what?" He asked rhetorically. "Mirio is strong, perhaps the strongest student in U.A. right now, and Nighteye's training has turned his technique into something truly formidable. He's charismatic, is extremely smart, and desires more than anything to be a true hero."

"But?" Tsukauchi prompted once more. "Everything you've stated sounds positive, and yet I notice that you have yet to make him your successor."

"I've always..." All-Might stumbled as he tried to figure out how to put it into words, "Whenever I thought about passing on my quirk, I thought I would just know." He winced. That wasn't exactly right… "Mirio is strong, and his heart is definitely in the right place, but the way he was chosen was sooo… Logical." He tried, "It's all statistics. Nighteye chose him and has been training him, wanting me to choose him, all before I even met the kid." He sighed, "Passing on One for All shouldn't feel like a, a, transaction. Nana didn't choose me because I was the most 'logical' person." He coughed, covering his mouth to prevent blood from flying onto the desk. "Not that it looks like I have much choice now," He finished half heartedly.

Thankfully Tsukauchi nodded in understanding, "So you still need to find somebody then." He stated simply, "and isn't that why you decided to take a teaching position?"

His head sank once more, "Yes," he admitted, "Though I haven't really looked yet."

He snapped his head up in surprise when the detective snorted, "Well you've only been there for less than a week," He stated wryly, "And you've never truly taught before. As your friend who has seen you attempt to be a tutor, I'd say you've got a lot on your plate. Remember," His voice became softer, "You're just as human as the rest of us Toshinori."

"... Maybe so," He admitted reluctantly, "But I'm only going to get weaker from here on out, and as Nezu pointed out to me, I need to better balance my workload."

He watched as the other man chuckled, "You never were good at planning," Tsukauchi agreed, even as he began collecting the files. "And, if you want a recommendation…"

All-Might stood up and stretched, disappearing once more into a cloud of steam as he changed into his buff form before looking at the detective curiously.

Tsukauchi gazed back, "Try spending some time with this Mirio." He suggested. "Knowing you, you've probably been avoiding it…" He smirked as All-Might looked away at that statement, "But maybe you haven't gotten that feeling you're looking for because you haven't given him a chance, and you're determined to not have it. So spend some time with the kid, keep an open mind, and then make a decision. If you don't get the feeling, then you don't get the feeling and you can go back to looking for somebody else. But you shouldn't let your irritation with Nighteye restrict your options."

All-Might stood still for a moment as he thought it through before nodding, "A most excellent idea," he rumbled, smiling at the now much smaller man, "Thank you for your assistance and advice, and good luck with everything on your end." He finished as he walked out of the office.

Tsukauchi gave a small smile at the door, which soon faded as he looked at his computer and all the tasks he had to do.

"Still one hundred villains to process," he murmured as he shifted in his chair.

He was going to need a lot of coffee before this was over...

Yaoyorozu Manor

The door opened, and Momo practically staggered into her room and collapsed on the bed with a groan. Almost immediately, Tiki dashed out of her bag and looked at her with concern in her eye.

"Are you alright?" She asked, understanding in her voice.

Momo had spent several hours with the rest of the class talking with the police and giving their statements. Upon finally getting back home, she had been called by her parents. They had quickly made sure that Momo was alright, and then had spent a good half hour attempting to convince their daughter to give up the idea of becoming a Hero, something that Momo was still determined to become.

They had relented, but the argument had been emotionally draining. On top of all of that had been the fight and using Miraculous Cure. She was feeling exhausted.

Momo was able to raise her head enough to give a wan smile, "I'm fine Tiki, don't worry about it."

TIki blinked slowly as she looked at her wielder, contemplating her for a second. Her instincts were telling her that something was off with Momo, and the kwami of good fortune knew better than to ignore those feelings.

"Today was pretty rough, it would be alright if you weren't alright." She disagreed, quickly grabbing a cookie from one of the stashes that Momo had planted throughout the room and laid down on Momo's bed with her.

She just hummed in response, shrugging half-heartedly at Tiki's words, but Tiki looked at her in concern still. If Momo truly didn't want to talk about it then she would let it be, but she was always the type to try to help wherever she could.

Plagg would always complain that she nagged too much, where he was the type to wait patiently for the right moment to say just the right words of encouragement.

Those were his words, of course. She called it being lazy.

She finished her cookie in silence before speaking up again, "I know what you said to your parents, but are you still alright with becoming a Hero?" She asked softly.

Whatever else that happened, Momo had nearly died… The suits provided by the Miraculous transformation were supernaturally tough, providing a degree of safety that most could only dream of. But against the power of the Black Cat enhanced with some kind of quirk?

Her question got a reaction out of Momo, who flinched as her eyes shot open.

"What! No! T-tha, I…" She looked down as if she was ashamed, and Tiki looked at her in confusion as she tried to figure out the reason for those emotions. She was lacking in context, and it was worrying her. "Did I do badly enough that even you are questioning my ability?" She asked glumly, and Tiki shot up in alarm.

"What?!" She shouted in surprise, "Momo, why on earth would you feel like that?"

Momo seemed to draw into herself unable to even look at the kwami, "I… I failed, didn't I?" She asked quietly, "You've said that the Black Cat and the Ladybug are equal, and yet in the end I wasn't able to do anything against him. From the beginning he had me on the defensive, and I wasn't able to do anything against him." She took in a shuddering breath, "Even Midoriya, who you've said should avoid combat due to being a Butterfly, had to come in and save me. It was he and Kirishima that saved everybody, not me…"

"Momo, look at me." The girl looked up slowly to see the gentle eyes of her kwami, while she felt tears prickling at the corner of her eyes even as she berated herself for them.

"Momo. You did an amazing job out there today," Tiki said with a soft smile, "You took out an entire squad of thugs all by yourself, and were then able to dodge the attacks of the Black Cat who was also an experienced Villain, knowing that a single touch might kill you. Then, while you were dodging, you were able to think of a plan to end the fight using the capabilities of a Butterfly's Champion after only knowing about him for a few minutes."

Tiki flew in and gave the girl a hug, and after a second Momo returned it gratefully, hiding her face as best as she could.

"I couldn't be more proud of you."

"Even if you had failed, which you didn't" Tiki stressed, "do you really think that I would abandon one of my bugs after one setback?" She pouted at the black haired girl, "Do you really think I'm that callous?"

The girl flushed in embarrassment, "I'm sorry," She apologized, "It's just… after my parents…"

Tiki sighed, feeling disappointed in Momo's parents. They loved their daughter, no doubt about that, and like any parent they didn't want to see any harm come to their child. Tiki would never disparage them for that. Rather, it was the way they attempted to prevent their daughter from becoming a hero that frustrated the kwami. Even this latest attempt had them belittling their daughter and her capabilities.

"I just wanted to make sure that you were alright," She assured Momo, "I've told you that the Miraculous were created to help humanity, but the thing is, you are also part of humanity. And us kwami's are very protective of our wielders." She dashed over to the cookies and grabbed one, bringing it back to Momo and placing it in her hands. "If you don't feel comfortable with it, then we won't EVER force you."

She saw Momo relax upon hearing that, and Tiki breathed a sigh of relief. She had suspected that Momo would have confidence issues, and it was unfortunate that this had occurred before she had been able to prove to herself that she was worthy enough.

Then again, she doubted that Momo would feel this way if she didn't have a Miraculous. With her quirk and station in life, she already set very high standards to prove to herself and others that she truly deserved it. Add in having a Miraculous? Those standards would only raise. Not only that, but Momo had no doubt realized that she and Midoriya were given their Miraculous in response to the Black Cat being stolen and activated. To then see that objective before her and fail to achieve it? How could that not be a failure?

And yet, to Tiki, it wasn't a failure.

Oh, if they had gotten Plagg back she would have been overjoyed, that was true. But his current wielder was obviously very talented in his own right, quite probably having a quirk that aligned with Plagg's destructive nature. Knowing that, Tiki was far more concerned with Momo's safety. Momo was still young - they could afford to be patient.

"Alright, that's enough talking." Tiki chided, "It's been a long day, and we both need our sleep."

Momo chuckled lightly but didn't argue, and within moments exhaustion soon claimed both of them.

Midoriya Residence

Nooroo felt very conflicted.

On one hand, Midoriya had charged directly into combat at first opportunity. In this case it was good that he had done so, and Nooroo was of course glad that Tiki's wielder was alright… But he was fully aware that Izuku had no intention of hanging back from the beginning.

The Butterfly was the most fragile of the Miraculous - they were designed to stay back and direct from a distance, to provide support and advice. Just because it worked out well this time didn't mean that it wouldn't go horrendously wrong next time.

Nooroo didn't want to see one of his good Butterfly's fall so young.

On the other hand… He looked at Izuku in concern, the boy pacing rapidly in his room, his panicked mumbling not having slowed down in the several minutes they had arrived, his emotions exuding guilt and despair…

Well, a lecture at this time would not be beneficial.

"Izuku," Nooroo ordered, concern for his poor butterfly letting him be more stern with him, "It's all right, the doctors made it to him in plenty of time. With a bit of rest, he'll be as good as new!"

Izuku turned to face the kwami with a troubled look in his eye, "B-b-but he got injured because of me!" He cried out shakily, "If I hadn't made him a Champion, then he wouldn't have gotten so injured!"

Nooroo shook his head firmly, "Izuku, he was already fighting." He gently reminded the boy, "All of the students were. It's probable that you making him a Champion actually saved his life, and the lives of who knows how many of the other students."

While he didn't look convinced, Izuku was at least calming down, and Nooroo pressed on, "It was his choice. We might have given him the ability, but it was his own desire to protect, and that wasn't something that we gave him."

"But w-what if I had chosen somebody else?" He asked, wincing when he saw Nooroo give a non-committal shrug.

"It's possible." He said slowly, "But it's impossible to know for sure." He fluttered closer to the boy, the other butterflies coming in as well to offer their own support. "I am the Butterfly Kwami, our power is the power of transformation and evolution. Without feelings, people aren't willing to change. That's why we can sense people's emotions. The stronger the emotion, the stronger we can make them, and at the time Kirishima had the strongest feelings of everybody." Nooroo rubbed against Izuku's hair comfortingly, "We went with the best option we could with the information we had. And it worked - we all lived!"

Izuku finally calmed down, but Nooroo could feel that he was still flooded with guilt.

This was one of the trials that most Butterflies went through. To have to send others to battle in their stead, how could those who called themselves heroes be content with that?

"You should talk with him," Nooroo suggested, "See how he's doing. I'm sure he'd love the company!"

Izuku brightened for a second, grabbing his cell phone before wilting slightly, "I don't have his number," He murmured.

"Well, why don't you try asking that Mina girl in class tomorrow?" The kwami suggested, It looked like they knew each other."

Izuku bit his lip, "I guess…"

Nooroo giggled, "It's way too late tonight anyways, he's probably still asleep. And besides…" He felt a surge of emotion incoming quickly and hid a grin, "I think you have something else you'll need to worry about."

"Huh?" He looked confused for only a second before the door to the apartment slammed open.

"IZUKU!"

Izuku winced slightly as Nooroo cheerfully hid. He opened the door quickly, "Hey Mom! Everything is f-gurk!"

Nooroo smiled happily as he saw his wielder's mother smother him in tears and hugs. She had clearly heard about what happened and had been worried sick about her boy.

He quickly grabbed a leftover cinnamon roll and brought it over to his little bed, his butterflies surrounding him and covering the flowers around him as he listened to the boy and his mother.

That should distract Izuku from any depressive thoughts, and hopefully he would be able to get Kirishima's number tomorrow to talk with the boy. Nooroo remembered how the boy looked, even as he was being taken away in the ambulance, and he was sure that the boy didn't hold anything against Izuku. Talking with him about it would put Izuku's fears to rest.

Listening to the duo, Nooro fluttered happily as he felt Izuku's (and his mother's) anxiety drop, and he let himself drift off to sleep.

His wielder would be alright.

League of Villains

The door was torn open and then slammed shut, already decaying from a careless touch. Shigaraki stalked to the middle of the room with clenched hands, his entire body shaking in his anger.

Plagg drifted over to the desk carelessly, glancing at the trembling man. One sharp poke oughta do it... "Well, congratulations." He offered with a barely concealed snicker, "with an overwhelming force you attacked a group of school kids, and you promptly got your tail handed to you. Villains worldwide would be proud of -"

CRASH!

Nailed it.

He watched as Shigaraki lost it, destroying his desk and computer system in one go as he gave a wordless shout of anger, soon turning his glare on the kwami.

The unstable man took several heaving breaths, "You…" He hissed, "This was YOUR fault!"

Plagg snorted at that, "Hate to break it to ya, but even I've got my limits." He responded dryly, almost jumping when Shigaraki lashed out and grabbed him tightly.

"Our plan was perfect," He growled out, bringing the little god close to his face, "All-Might should have been there, but he wasn't. Nomu should have been enough to wipe out anybody we came across, but he was matched by this mystery hero. The men we brought were low level trash, but even they should have been able to deal with some half pint brats! But they couldn't!" With each exclamation he violently shook Plagg, who rolled his eyes in irritation.

"And how exactly is that my fault?" He asked lazily as he phased through Shigaraki's hands, "If you remember, I was kinda with you the whole time. Not like I could do much."

A growl was his only response, and Plagg scoffed at how un-catlike it was, even as Shigaraki's glare increased.

"You messed with me," He hissed out as he roughly scratched his neck, "When I saw that girl, you made me lose my mind!"

Plagg very carefully didn't react, only giving a shrug, "Maybe you just dislike kids?" He suggested, "Or maybe it's the color red?" He tsked, "My poor wielder, becoming bull-like instead of cat-like."

Shigaraki sneered, "I suppose this is the real reason nobody knows about you, isn't it?" He spat out, "Nobody remembers the losers after all, and with the bad luck that comes from using you, I can't imagine any of them actually succeeding!"

Plagg drifted lazily through the air, "You know, you keep on complaining, but nobody is forcing you to keep me." He yawned, "If I'm such a nuisance, then just get rid of me."

He wouldn't. Very few people ever did. Shigaraki was furious and complaining now, but Plagg knew how much he relished the feeling of power that came from wielding the Miraculous.

Just as he thought, Shigaraki ignored him, punching the wall instead. Said wall then disintegrated when he wasn't satisfied with simply punching it.

The man took a few minutes to relax, soon giving a mocking laugh, "Or maybe your users just couldn't stand you?" He ground out, "Yes, I could understand that. How many of them just tossed you aside after you broke them I wonder?" He turned an eye filled with anger towards the kwami, who had gone strangely still. "Did I get it right?" He snorted, "You keep on talking about being a 'hero', but, with these powers, how many of them just decided to do what I'm doing now? Your powers revolve around destruction after all, I can't imagine many of your wielders would have much in the way of an intelligence score. Probably made it easier for you to push them to die that much faster! Heh, I can see it, moving from person to person, pushing your own foolish agenda, a constant row of gullible fools, just like modern 'Heroes'! How long do they last till you break them? A year? Maybe two?!"

Silence reigned for several seconds as Shigaraki took several more deep breaths, calming himself down, when suddenly his senses all activated at once, his combat instincts suddenly screaming at him. He looked around the room quickly, not seeing anything out of the ordinary till he realized that the room seemed to have gotten… darker. His eyes darted towards Plagg, about to demand what was going on, and yet when he looked in the kwami's eyes his body immediately froze.

That single moment when a deer sees a wolf, when a mouse sees a cat, there is a moment when they become paralyzed with fear. It was instinctive, the moment when one creature suddenly faces that which it instinctively knows is a more powerful predator. And right now, though Shigaraki didn't understand, he was somehow staring at one such predator despite how small it looked.

The air around Plagg seemed to be coated in a veil of darkness, glowing green eyes slitted with barely concealed anger, something that he had never seen on the kwami. Contempt, irritation, frustration, but never true anger.

"Do you know why I like cheese so much?"

When Plagg spoke, it was with a calmness that was a harsh contrast to the atmosphere he was exuding. He didn't wait for Shigaraki to answer, "My wielder invented it for me - Inaya. She was just a servant girl to this Arabian merchant at the time, but she wanted to make me a gift. It was pretty sour, and the texture wasn't that great, and… She made it for me. And it was the best thing I had tasted."

He floated closer to Shigaraki, who almost took a step back before restraining himself, "I remember ALL of my kittens," he hissed in the other's face, "Be they good OR bad, well known or not! Bastet, Herakles, Richard de Lion, Edward Teach, Adrien Agreste! Those are only a few of those who are mine." He listed off, his anger now freely showing as the darkness seemed to warp around him.

"Say whatever you want about me," He finished with a low growl, "But do NOT insult my kittens."

And with that he flew away, the lighting returning to normal as Shigaraki let out a shuddering breath. He stared at the spot where the kwami disappeared, not able to gather the energy to be furious with him, before leaving in a huff. As he did so, he refused to admit that, for the first time, he had been honestly terrified of the kwami he wielded.

Unknown location

All-for-One leaned back in his chair, the machines around him beeping loudly within the silence of the room.

He had just gotten the report on how the 'raid' went from Kurogiri. That Tomura failed was disappointing, but not completely unexpected. This was the boy's first time after all. All-for-One had given him the task to help him gain experience, and in that he could say that it was a success. The young man had planned the attack, gathered the forces, and executed it with only minor inputs from himself. Truthfully, the only loss was that of the Nomu, and that could be replaced relatively easily.

Shigaraki had lost a battle. But, at the same time, he had learned from it, and there was still a war that could be won.

What was truly surprising though was who had managed to beat him. Or rather, who hadn't beaten him. Without All-Might being there, there shouldn't have been anybody that could have defeated the combined forces of their Anti-All-Might Nomu and the empowered Tomura.

Hearing that they had lost and that All Might hadn't shown up, for a moment he had honestly thought that he had finally revealed himself. The Turtle Hero. The one from whom All-For-One had… acquired Shigaraki's ring from.

All-for-One hummed lightly as he reminisced. The first time he had met the old man had been unremarkable - barely worth remembering really. It was only years later when he saw him once more that he realized he must have a longevity quirk.

He had already stolen such a quirk, but longevity could come in many forms, and if he could find one that could heal the wounds he received from All-Might… Though even if it didn't, quirks such as those made excellent bargaining chips.

An attempt to steal that quirk soon led to him discovering that that old man was, somehow, quirkless. One phrase later however, and he discovered that that old man was also far from powerless.

The old man managed to get away, but not before he damaged an intricate chest that the Turtle Hero was trying to escape with, resulting in him discovering a rather plain silver ring that had fallen out.

All Might still thought he was dead, so All for One needed to lay low anyways. This gave him a lot of time on his hands, and with all the analysis quirks at his disposal, he attempted to sate his curiosity regarding the ring.

It… 'resisted'. Something he had never seen before. The answers that should have come from the stolen quirks were not forthcoming, and what he did discover was fractured. But it was enough, and it was with great eagerness that he bestowed the ring to Shigaraki to bolster his own abilities and quirks.

The little spirit that came out of the ring was surprising, but not unwelcome (to him at least). That such beings existed simply increased his curiosity.

It was rather unfortunate that the creature refused to give any answers beyond what he was obliged to, and after the first time he had attempted to use his quirks to find out more about it… (an entire empire falling beneath the waves amidst lightning and screams... a fire raging unnaturally throughout the city and turning everything into a desiccated husk that wouldn't. Stop. Burning... an asteroid falling to earth, the air screaming at its passage as it landed amidst a land of ice and snow, the whole world shuddering at its impact)

He shuddered.

No. Never again.

Regardless, even if he did not wish to talk, the spirit had no choice but to grant his strength to Shigaraki. And in that, his power was most impressive.

Which is why he was so surprised to hear that the raid had failed as badly as it had without either All Might or the elusive Turtle there. There should not have been a total route.

Were the children of this generation that impressive? Or perhaps... The Cat and the Turtle were not alone?

It would make sense - the chest was too large for just one after all. But how many could there be? And why would the Turtle Hero give such artifacts to children? Would it not be more beneficial to give them to established heroes such as All-Might?

Both Cat and Turtle were animals, and the outfit that Plagg gave Shigaraki was distinctly a cat, so it would only make sense that the other spirits would manifest as animals as well. IF, for some reason, similar artifacts were given to children, it would only make sense that their hero costumes would follow the same theme.

All-For-One thought back to Kurogiri's report. There had been several that had stood out to the teleporter, and of them there were a few that had animal-like characteristics.

The first, and most likely, was the 'Dragon'. He was strong, strong enough to hold back their strongest Nomu for several minutes. Perhaps he wasn't a student? He would need to check to see if Ryuko had a child, even if it was put up for adoption. Also, as likely as he thought it to be, did a dragon qualify as an 'animal' in this situation? Or were their choices limited to normal animals? Alas, he doubted Plagg would tell.

There was the 'Butterfly', one that apparently aggravated Kurogiri to no end. However, Kurogiri hadn't noticed anything unusual about him beyond the ability to fly. He did not display an unusual ability, nor did he have a substantial increase in strength of speed. As such, All-For-One had his doubts.

There was also a 'Frog', who had been rather adept at taking out the common thugs. She had been both athletic and agile, and while she didn't show any special ability she might have kept it in reserve. A talented girl with a mutation quirk, and a promising suspect.

Lastly there was a girl that held off Shigaraki while he was using the ring… Unfortunately, the description that Kurogiri provided didn't sound like any particular animal. The most distinguishing features were red with black spots. Perhaps a lizard? A fish? He wasn't sure. But while that lowered her chances as a suspect, her ability to dodge Shigaraki kept her on the list. Furthermore, Shigaraki had certainly felt something when she had arrived, something that completely threw him in a rage.

Not that Shigaraki was the most stable of protégé's, but it was still something.

He mused about it for a while longer before dismissing those thoughts. It was too early to make any decisions yet. Patience had brought him this far, and he could exercise it for a little while longer. The students weren't going anywhere after all, and the elusive Turtle would have to show himself eventually.

All-for-One had several quirks to compel people to tell the truth, and even though they wouldn't work on spirits such as Plagg, he was confident that they would work on one such as Nino Lahiffe.

It was just a matter of finding him.

Elsewhere

CrimsonRiotJr added OchakoUraraka

CrimsonRiotJr:

Hey Infinity Girl!

CrimsonRiotJr changed OchakoUraraka's username: InfinityGurl

InfinityGurl:

Kirishima? I thought that you'd still be in the hospital! Are you alright?

Why are you creating a chat?

…

And why am I the only person in that chat?!

InfinityGurl changed username: GravityGirl

CrimsonRiotJr:

Doing great!

RecoveryGirl came by and fixed me right up!

But it was pretty bad I guess.

And a lot of my back still needed to heal slowly

So they gave me some painkillers and i have to stay overnight here and im board!

GravityGirl:

… Kirishima… Are you high right now?

CrimsonRiotJr:

WHat?! NO That's not manly!

Im feeling great!

And if I was hi then I'd be feeling all woozy and fuzzy

And I don't, I feel great!

GravityGirl:

Uhmm, ok…

Still, I'm glad to hear that you're doing better. What happened was… It was really scary.

We were all worried.

CrimsonRiotJr:

:)

GravityGirl:

But that doesn't really explain why I'm the only person you invited. Unless you forgot to invite everybody else?

CrimsonRiotJr:

Nope! I meant for that!

At least for now

We can add people later!

GravityGirl:

?

CrimsonRiotJr changed the channel name: Manly Champions

GravityGirl:

…

Umm, Kirishima, I don't know how to break it to you, but I am a girl.

CrimsonRiotJr:

You don't need to be a guy to be manly!

And during combat training you lifted the WHOLE BUILDING!

If that's not manly then im not manly.

And Im manly

SO YOU ARE MANLY

GravityGirl:

…

I'm not sure how I feel about you on drugs… Are your parents alright with you being on your phone when you're like this?

And ok, so you wanted to make a chat with the people you admired/liked?

I mean, I'm flattered,

But,

Aren't there more people that you admire? I mean, you were hanging out with Bakugou and seemed to get along with him, right?

CrimsonRiotJr:

Oh its not for that!

Vicezuku made you a champion! And he made me a champion yesterday! I felt like a chat to so wed talk about it

GravityGirl:

Oh

But why create a chat for that? We could just text.

Or talk in class. It's just, we haven't really talked before, so this is kinda odd...

Wait, will you be able to come to class?! Or will you still be injured?

CrimsonRiotJr:

OF COURSE IM GONNA BE IN CLASS! SKIPPING ISNT MANLY!

GravityGirl:

…

CrimsonRiotJr:

And its a chat because Vicezuku is gonna keep making champions right? And when he does than we can add them to the group!

GravityGirl:

… Don't think I'm going to forget about you coming to class. It's not manly to go if you're still injured. :P

But also, what about being a champion did you want to talk about?

CrimsonRiotJr:

Dude, when he made me a champion

Championize? Enhancified?

It was like way different than I thought it'd be!

More intense! I mean, I never really talked with Izuku before you know? But even now, I feel like he and i have been friends for years or something after that butterfly championized me.

But not, like, knowing him, cause I still don't know much about him, but closeness… you know?

GravityGirl:

We need to find a different word. I am cringing at 'Championize'. And 'Vicezuku'?

CrimsonRiotJr:

But you know what I mean right?

GravityGirl:

Yeah… I - well, we met before, right? But after he made me Gravity Brawler, it just… our friendship felt… deeper? I guess?

I mean, he was in my head during that entire thing! He felt what I was feeling and I felt his, and during the entire time he was giving suggestions on how to use my new powers!

It sounds like it would be weird, but it felt… comfortable? And even looking back on it, i don't mind it, you know?

CrimsonRiotJr:

EXACTLY! YES! I mean, some stuff I knew how to do right away,

BAM! Here's how you fly! Knew it right away!

But then he'd give suggestions during the fight, and his thoughts and emotions were like,

Woah

Izuku is crazy smart

So have you tried doing it again?

GravityGirl:

Huh?

CrimsonRiotJr:

Lifting that much! Or pushing down, or whatever else you did

I mean, he 'enhances', right? That means if we get stronger, we can do it again, right? I dont know how I'd become a dragon again

Maybe if I harden my skin, and harden the hardening, and harden that hardening, and harden that hardening…

GravityGirl:

Uh, sounds like it would turn you into a boulder…

And… I might have tried…

But it didn't really work.

It just felt so odd using my powers as Gravity Brawler! Not that it was odd at the time, but looking back at it! It's like… I don't know, I was using different muscles? Argh! I don't' know!

CrimsonRiotJr:

Then we'll just have to keep trying! :) Even if I cant turn into a dragon again, the way I hardened as Crimson Scales was WAY tougher than i usually am!

I just need to keep working on it! And I'm sure you will as well!

GravityGirl:

Thanks :)

Now go to sleep! I'm a little worried about what else you'll do while you're drugged up…

CrimsonRiotJr:

:P Fine

GravityGirl:

Before I leave though…

GravityGirl changed the channel name: Flock of Champions

CrimsonRiotJr:

…

Its not as manly, but it IS manly to listen to others ideas. Once we get another person though we're gonna put it to a vote!

GravityGIrl:

Fine by me!

;)

Chapter Text

Izuku's POV

Izuku stared at the door to the homeroom, butterflies on his shoulders and in his stomach. At least the ones on his shoulders were trying to calm him down.

He was procrastinating. He knew he was delaying the moment of walking down the hall and into the classroom. That knowledge also did nothing to help him.

How was this worse than his first day?!

Sure, the other day he had been all for talking to Ashido. He wanted to get Kirishima's number, to make sure he was all right, to make sure he didn't hate Izuku for getting him hurt... Which meant he would be initiating the conversation. He knew that.

It was only once entered the school that he remembered he had anxiety, no experience socializing outside of his mom, and he was planning on asking somebody for a phone number.

Cue panic attack.

He took a deep breath and tried to psych himself to walk to the classroom -

"Hey Midori!"

-and almost died from a heart attack.

Ashido grinned mischievously at him, the pink haired girl watching his reaction, and he scolded himself for being so distracted he didn't notice her bright emotions.

"G-good morning Ashido," he stammered while getting his heart under control.

"Awwww, after everything we went through at USJ, you don't need to be so formal. just call me Mina." She offered cheerfully, bouncing on her heels a bit, "We all saw what you and these cuties did!" She cooed at his butterflies.

"I, uh, w-well, it wasn't just us," he protested as the butterflies began flying around him cheerfully, more than happy to soak in the cheerful emotions.

He'd probably be doing the same if he didn't actually have to talk.

"Yeah yeah, I know the drill. 'I didn't do all that much', 'Everybody else helped as well', 'Sensei did the majority of the fighting'…" The pink haired girl recited before snickering, "Iida, Momo, and Kiri are all saying the same. Did I get them all?"

His face flushed as he tried to think of something to say. The laughing butterflies around him weren't helping.

He hadn't even realized that butterflies could laugh. You couldn't tell just by looking at them, but that's totally what they were doing.

She sighed dramatically after watching him struggle, "I get that we're training to be heroes, but we're still, like, in-training, right? The fact that you and the others were kicking villain butt despite that was super impressive!"

He wanted to protest - he really didn't feel comfortable with all the praise - sure, he couldn't really deny that he had saved Momo from being hurt, and had kept the teleporter villain distracted. But, Momo had kept the Cat villain distracted, Sensei had taken on an army by himself, and Kirishima had held off that same army as well as the villain's super-weapon! And that was before blocking the Cat's disintegrating ability at the expense of his own health!

At most he'd been the fourth 'impressive' one in that group. And he didn't even know what all the others had done! There's no way he had outdone everybody else there.

He just… wasn't quite sure how to explain all that in the face of Mina's confidence.

"You can't, so you shouldn't try." Mina replied cheerfully to his mumbling.

… Gah, why was socializing so hard?!

Thankfully Nooroo and the butterflies seemed to sense he needed a distraction, and they immediately flew up from his shoulders and flew around him and Mina in a dizzying pattern, several of them landing on her, causing her to squeal at the sight.

He relaxed a bit as her emotions lifted back up.

"I, um, still think most of the credit should go to Kirishima," he stammered with a shaky smile, getting her attention again. "Speaking of, I was wondering if you had his number. I wanted to make sure he was alright after… everything."

There. He did it. He could relax now.

"Sure! Toru and I were actually thinking about getting everybody's numbers so we could start a group chat for our class."

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"C'mon! You can ask him about it yourself."

Wait, what?

She grabbed his hand and before he knew it she had dragged him into the classroom.

Thanks to his indecision, he wasn't surprised to see everybody else already there. Hagakure was talking excitedly while gesturing to Todoroki, who looked like he wasn't quite sure what to do with her attention. Bakugo was scowling in his chair. He could see Uraraka talking animatedly with Iida and -

"Midoriya!" Izuku blinked in shock as he saw Kirishima there with a big smile on his face.

Uraraka snickered, "Don't you mean Vice-Zu -"

"Ahh! Uraraka! You said you wouldn't mention that!"

"Did I? I don't recall such a thing."

"K-Kirishima?! What are you doing here, shouldn't you be in the hospital or something?!" Izuku rushed forward, half tempted to drag him back to the nurse. Last he had seen, there had been so much blood…

The red-head gave a boisterous laugh, "Of course I'm fine! Since I was a UA student, Recovery Girl came and used her quirk to heal me. She helped patch me right up!"

That actually helped ease him quite a bit. Except…

"Recovery Girl's quirk uses the patient's own energy to heal, which usually means she has to heal in stages if the damage is severe enough." He recalled, his brow furrowed in concentration, "Your back looked, uhm, bad…" and what an understatement that was. "Without having much time to rest in between, I'm surprised she was able to heal that much at once."

Uraraka leaned forward on her desk to give the redhead a pointed look, "Yeah, it wouldn't be manly to come to class if you were still injured, would it?"

"Nope! It wouldn't be manly at all!" Mina looked more than happy to stir the pot.

"Alright, that is enough!" Iida cut in, chopping his hand down. "I'm sure Kirishima received permission from the proper authorities to return to class, and we should respect their knowledge on the subject."

They relented, but the way Kirishima's feelings turned a bit guilty made Izuku more than a little suspicious.

But that was soon buried as Mina launched into a conversation with him, the two's positivity seeming to bounce off of each other, with Uraraka occasionally jumping in to tease Kirishima about something, something that Mina capitalized on each time with an evil grin.

Huh. He didn't realize Uraraka and Kirishima knew each other that well.

Izuku was relieved to feel that the red head didn't seem to hold him responsible for being injured. He didn't seem to have any resentment at all towards Izuku, surprisingly.

He still wanted to talk, but maybe when they weren't surrounded by people.

As grateful as he was, he was even more so when he felt a pool of calm emotions walk up next to him, offsetting the excited emotions. He turned and gave a shaky smile to Momo as she stood next to him. "Good morning, Momo." He greeted.

The whole 'feeling the emotions of others' was way more daunting when he actually had friends to feel the emotions of.

It wasn't unpleasant; the opposite actually!

It's just… very easily overwhelming to somebody that wasn't used to it.

You know, like him.

Positive/excited emotions like this were kinda new, which was why he was becoming more and more grateful that Momo was in this class.

N-not that she didn't feel emotions - because she absolutely did! - but they were definitely more… sedate(?) then most of their other classmates. L-like an ocean compared to the sky? Maybe? It helped balance the more excitable nature of most of his classmates. (He might have to reach out to Asui, she seemed pretty composed as well.)

"Good morning Izuku," Momo returned warmly before quickly giving him a quick once-over. "I'm glad you're alright. You were pretty exhausted after everything that happened, and you didn't answer any of my texts afterwards."

"Ah, s-sorry," he winced apologetically. "I spent most of the night t-trying to calm down my mom. She was pretty freaked out over everything."

"Understandable." Iida said while observing the others teasing Kirishima. "My own brother was quite shocked as well. It was an incredibly bold move to attack UA as the villains did, and I can't imagine how they thought they'd get away with it."

Izuku couldn't help but nod at that. Even if they had managed to kill All-Might, it would have put a huge target on their backs. Every hero in Japan, as well as many around the world, would have been after them.

Most villains that went after All-Might like that already had an established group, and were prepared (so they hoped) but the group that had attacked the USJ seemed… Well, with the exception of the leaders, they were all pretty lackluster.

He was about to answer Iida when he felt the familiar crawl of emotions come close to the door.

"Sensei's coming," he called out, and everybody promptly made their way to their respective seats.

By the time the door opened, everybody was in their seats and looking at the door.

"You're learning." Aizawa murmured in approval as he walked in. He looked over the class, and when he spotted Kirishima he stared hard for several seconds before letting out a grunt. "I don't usually have to give this speech till later, but so be it. You all are old enough and I trust you all to be aware of your own limits. If you believe you are well enough to come into class, so be it. If you don't, call or email and we can discuss it. But Kirishima?" The red head straightened in his seat. "If I see as much as a flinch of pain, I'm sending you to Recovery Girl. Understood?"

Kirishima gulped, but managed a tight grin. "Yes sensei."

"Good. We'll get started then. You all handled yourselves well at the USJ, but the fight isn't over yet..." Izuku practically felt a wall of tension and foreboding hit him from everybody.

"… The UA Sports Festival is in several weeks."

Aaaand now he sagged as the tension in the room was replaced by overpowering relief. If Aizawa kept this up, Izuku didn't know if his nerves could take it.

There was the faintest hint of a smirk on Aizawa's face before he continued, "As I'm sure you all know, around the start of the school year we host an event called the Sport's Festival." That got several nods throughout the room. "While there was some debate as to whether it would actually happen this year, Principal Nezu wants to use this as an opportunity to show our strength and resolve despite the attack."

"A-are we sure it will be safe?" Izuku asked with a frown, even as he hated having to ask. He was the last person that wanted it canceled.

He had videos of each and every past Festival in his room after all, some even recorded by himself. Each sorted and placed with their own small notebook of his observations.

But never had UA been attacked so publicly before. What if the villains were to try again?

"Security has already been increased," Aizawa stated tiredly. "And many pros will be using this opportunity to offer you internships. While it provides all of you the opportunity to be noticed, it also means that if anything happens there will be a large amount of heroes on-site already."

Izuku could feel that some people were still hesitant, but the mention of being noticed by a pro seemed to excite the majority of them.

"The events in the Festival are determined at random, so you'll need to prepare yourself for anything." Aizawa continued on. "With that in mind, since we were unable to do any rescue training at the USJ, that is what we will be focusing on for the next couple of class periods. If any of you would like to schedule the facilities for personal training, I recommend you do so sooner rather than later. Any questions?"

When nobody said anything, he nodded. "I shouldn't need to tell you guys, but an opportunity like the Sports Festival only comes once a year. The better you do, the more likely you'll be noticed, which can give you a boost to your career before it even begins."

Izuku didn't have time to feel nervous before he was caught up in the feelings of determination and excitement from the class.

Whether he liked it or not, his emotions were definitely getting a workout in this class…

He didn't get a chance to talk to Kirishima until right before lunch.

Izuku barely paid attention to Ectoplasm as he finished up his class and walked out, everybody immediately heading out to lunch while talking about the Sports Festival.

"H-hey, Kirishima?" He asked tentatively, shoring up his courage. "Could I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure thing!" The redhead agreed immediately, grinning brightly.

He waved away Uraraka, Iida, and Momo, who were waiting for him by the door before turning back to Kirishima, who was looking at him curiously.

Ok, how do you start this…

"I j-just wanted to make sure that you really were ok. After everything." He stammered out.

Kirishima tried to give a shrug, but after that resulted in a wince (and subsequent check to make sure Aizawa wasn't around to see it) he settled on a laugh. "Like I told you guys before, I'm doing great! A little tired from Recovery Girl's quirk and the medicine, but she said that I'll be all healed up in a couple weeks no problem. I should be good to go for the Sport's Festival when it happens!"

Izuku let out a breath, "Good, that's good." He bit his lip, and nearly jumped when he felt Nooroo press up against where he was in his bag.

Nooroo didn't think he needed to do this next part, but he disagreed.

"I, I wanted to apologize." He murmured quietly, looking firmly on the ground. "The whole reason you got hurt so bad was because I chose you, and you had to throw yourself in front of us to protect us from that last attack. I just - "

"Woah woah woah!" Kirishima looked alarmed. "Hey, there's nothing to apologize for, I'm not upset at all!"

"But you should be!" Izuku stared back with wide eyes. "That villain's last attack could have killed you! Or crippled, at the very least!"

Izuku could think of dozens of heroes that had to retire due to back related injuries, even with modern medicine and quirks.

He'd have looked up more statistics had Nooroo not stolen his phone at that point…

"Yeah, maybe, but it didn't, right? The doc's all say I'll be back to normal in no time, and if I hadn't been Crimson Scale at the time, there's no way I would have survived." Kirishima pointed out.

"But if I hadn't chosen you, you wouldn't have been there to begin with." He countered.

Kirishima made a face, "Well, if I hadn't been there somebody else might have gotten hurt. Or, well, worse." He tried with a frown.

"But you got hurt because of MY decision!"

The redhead continued frowning for a bit, one hand scratching the back of his head, looking more puzzled than anything.

He eventually let out a sigh. "Recovery Girl said that the medicine they gave me shouldn't be messing with my brain anymore…" he mused before flinching slightly, "Uh, not anymore at least. But I'm not really following… Do you, uh, want me to dislike you?"

The question was said with such genuine confusion that Izuku flinched, "Well, no." He whispered.

It would, however, make more sense than this.

Kirishima stared at him for a few more seconds before brightening. "Hey, do you remember what you said right before you turned me into Crimson Scale?"

He looked at Kirishima in confusion. "You were blaming yourself for everybody being separated." Izuku answered slowly, not understanding what that had to do with anything.

"Right, and you told me that it wasn't my fault for something the villains did." Kirishima continued, gaining more confidence as he went. "The cat villain is the one that hurt me, not you. You're the one that offered to help make me stronger to help protect the rest of our classmates, and I accepted. And overall, I think it turned out pretty good."

Izuku hesitated, turning it over in his mind. It was pretty much what Nooroo kept on telling him, but there was something about hearing it from Kirishima that eased his guilt somewhat.

Especially since he could feel that Kirishima wasn't faking it. Which was just… confusing. Usually people would get angry at him at the drop of a hat. He wasn't sure what to do with this, since Kirishima actually had a valid thing to be angry over.

He could practically see Nooroo giving that 'I told you so' look. The Kwami wouldn't say it - Nooroo was too nice for that - but he would absolutely look at him knowingly.

He jerked out of his thoughts when Kirishima clapped him on his back. "C'mon, we don't want to miss lunch!"

"O-oh, right." He quickly followed along, butterflies trailing behind merrily.

How exactly did people manage this whole socializing thing? The day was only half done and he was exhausted.

Hopefully he wouldn't have to do much more for the rest of the day.

Later that day

There was a crowd at the door…

Their last class was just about done, and Izuku could sense a large mass of emotions at the door for some reason.

Curiosity seemed to be the main driving force, but he could also sense the bitter tang of bitterness and envy here and there.

He had managed to avoid talking with people since lunch. He kinda just stuck close to Momo and soaked in her 'calmness', letting everybody else carry the conversation.

Though as the day went on, he noticed that Momo was beginning to feel bothered by something. A small current of uneasiness in the ocean of her calmness (was that a good analogy? He had no idea…)

He had almost made it the rest of the day without an incident, and then this crowd formed. He had no idea what they were waiting for (besides them), but he really didn't want to walk out there just yet.

So when class ended, he quickly stood up. "E-excuse me?" He called out nervously, walking up to the front of the class. "B-b-before anybody leaves, I have a quick announcement."

What exactly did it say about him when he considered talking in front of the class to be the lesser evil?

Bakugou scoffed, but he stayed, so he would consider that a win. Everybody else looked at him curiously.

He licked his lips nervously, "We, Yoayorozu and I, wanted to set up a multi-class activity with Class-B. Something we could do to get to know each other better. If we were to set up some community work in the next couple of weeks, who would be interested?"

They had actually been planning on bringing this up the other day, but, well… USJ happened.

Ojiro raised his hand. "Won't we be busy with preparing for the Sport's Festival?"

"Potentially." Momo answered smoothly as she stepped next to Izuku despite this not being planned. "Which is why nobody is required to attend. This is just an opportunity that we saw for us to do some good in the community while getting to know our fellow classmates a bit better."

Izuku nodded rapidly, "A-and since this will be through the school, there will be teachers present, and w-we'd be allowed to use our quirks! Which could count as a form of training."

Everybody perked up at the idea of using quirks, but their excitement remained muted as they glanced warily at Aizawa's form in his sleeping bag.

Nobody wanted a repeat of their first day.

"Showing such initiative for the benefit of our classes is admirable!" Iida congratulated, "What manner of community work are you thinking of doing?"

"At the moment, we're looking at Takoba Municipal Beach Park." Momo answered promptly. "It used to be a fairly popular beach until people began using it as a dumping ground. Now, hardly anybody goes there."

Most of the class didn't seem to recognize the location, but Bakugou barked out a laugh, "You're gonna try to clean that dump?"

She raised an eyebrow at that, "It being a dump is the reason it was chosen, yes."

He rolled his eyes. "If you and Deku want to waste your time with that, be my guest."

"Well, if it used to be a public beach, it can't be that bad," Kaminari brought up thoughtfully.

Bakugou let out a snort, "Keep telling yourself that Spark-plug."

"W-well, even if we don't get it all done in a day, it'll still be a good activity to get to know the members of Class-B."

Best get that out there so people know. Because yes, it really could be that bad. How? He had no idea, but it was pretty bad.

"W-we're hoping for the weekend after next week, so a week before the Sports Festival. S-so long as that works for everybody else." Izuku hastily explained. "We do still need to get everything worked out with the school, but I'm hoping that won't be too bad. Right now, we just wanted to get a feel for how many people would be interested."

"Heck yeah!" Kirishima said loudly, freezing briefly as Aizawa peeked out of his sleeping bag. He coughed and pretended he hadn't almost winced from the pain.

"Kero. Sounds like it could be cool." Tsuyu said thoughtfully.

"I think I'm busy that day…"

"My little sister has a competition that day, but I might be able to attend half of it."

"If a couple girls are going, then I'm so there!"

"No."

"Psh, screw that. If you extras want to waste time when you should be training, I won't stop you."

Quickly taking the volunteer's names, Izuku turned towards Aizawa, who was wrapped up in his sleeping bag.

Inwardly he practically groaned. He had been really really hoping the teacher would leave and confront the crowd (which still hadn't shrunk!) while he was setting this up.

Time for plan B.

"Sensei?" He called out hesitantly, "Who would we have to talk to in order to set this up through the school? And is there anything else we'd need to do?"

Aizawa peeked out of the sleeping bag with a frown, "That would be me." He grumbled reluctantly. "There's some stuff that you'll have to sign as well."

Sweet, he hoped that was the case.

"Could you show us?" He quickly asked, "If we do this, I want to make sure everything is good on our end."

He probably sounded way too eager, but he didn't care.

School Survival 101, something Izuku had had to double down on after Nooroo started threatening to tell his mom. You kept your head down, took the shortest path in between classes, and pretended you couldn't hear what anybody said. Don't make eye contact, and try to make it through the day.

Above all else, avoid mobs of students.

Aizawa stared at him for a moment before getting up with a groan. With some muttering under his breath that Izuku couldn't hear, he gestured for Izuku to follow him while everybody else started gathering their things.

Upon opening the door, Aizawa was immediately faced with a large crowd of students crowding the door.

"What are you all doing here?" He asked in an irritated tone.

The crowd wilted under his stare, but aside from a few scattered mumbles nobody seemed willing to speak up.

The dark-haired teacher gave a long-suffering groan, "You're curious. I get it. But harassing students that have just been through a traumatic experience is neither logical nor appropriate. It makes you no better than the press." He levied a glare at them. "Leave."

Izuku couldn't help but marvel at how fast the crowd dissipated.

With a grunt, Aizawa gestured for Izuku to follow him, but paused after they turned a corner. "Did you really want those papers? Or did you just want the crowd dispersed?" He asked dryly.

Ah… Oops? At least he didn't feel that annoyed.

"S-s-sorry," he mumbled, his gaze burning holes in the floor.

"We will want to take care of everything sooner rather than later though," Momo cut in.

He sighed tiredly. "Thought so. Everything you'll need to submit can be found on the school website. I'll email you the exact links later today. Next time students are harassing you, just ask."

Both Momo and Izuku watched him walk away, and Izuku let out a sigh. "T-that went better than I thought it would." He murmured, feeling just as tired as Aizawa.

"I suppose," Momo frowned. "I apologize for not realizing you were distressed."

He quickly shook his head, "D-don't worry about it! I've had to get used to sensing stuff like that."

"Hmmm…" she didn't look convinced, "Does that ever get distracting? Sensing everybody's emotions like that?" Momo asked curiously.

He had to think about that one. "Sometimes? I can usually ignore it unless the emotions are pretty strong. Or if a bunch of people are feeling the same thing. But I don't mind it."

It was a constant reminder that even if he didn't have a quirk, he now had something similar. How could he mind it?

Momo hummed in thought. "Will that be a problem at the Sport's Festival?" She asked worriedly. "The number of contestants will be considerable. Not to mention the audience."

He managed a jerky nod. That was something he had already thought of, panicked over, and over analyzed.

"I'll b-be fine." He replied, trying to convince himself as much as he was convincing Momo.

Thank goodness she couldn't feel his emotions.

They walked in silence for a bit before she spoke up again.

"It shouldn't take too long to get everything with the application filled out. After we finish with it, would you like to hang out?" She asked, her emotions suddenly turning a bit hopeful.

He nearly stumbled at the unexpected question. Hang out? He was just barely getting used to texting and walking to the train with friends!

He didn't want to say no and disappoint Momo, but he already felt like he filled out his social quota for the day and wasn't sure if he could do much more. Except…

… He took a moment and focused on her emotions.

The uneasiness she was feeling earlier was a bit stronger. That, combined with the hopeful feeling, told him there was something more than the surface.

If only he could actually figure out what was below the surface…

Still, he couldn't exactly back down if he could help somebody feel better.

He gave Momo a shaky smile, "Sure, uhm, is there anything that you wanted to do?"

She gave him a bright smile, the surge of gratefulness convincing him he made the right decision. "I was thinking of keeping it small. Maybe going over to my place to watch some movies?" She paused for a beat. "Or your place! Whichever is more comfortable to you."

He had the sudden image of his Mom, and the reaction she'd have at seeing that he not only had a friend, but was comfortable bringing said friend over to his house.

The mental image included a lot of tears. From his mom. And a lot of embarrassment. From him.

"Oh, uh, no. Y-your place is fine." he hastily accepted.

Much safer.

"Great!" Her emotions were way more cheerful at this prospect than he expected. "If you don't have anything after school, you can take the limo with me. Afterwards, I can arrange to have you dropped off at your house."

He blinked.

"Limo?"

Momo's POV

Momo had a hand over her mouth, working hard to stifle her laughter.

Izuku had been quiet since he had seen her ride, and even more so once they arrived at her house. If he had looked any more uncomfortable, she would have asked if he'd rather they do something else.

And then she showed him her father's movie collection.

Now, every previous interaction she had with Izuku had shown her that her fellow student was a very timid person. Even his texts managed to come across as hesitant, any idea he proposed cautious.

While she hoped that their interactions together were helpful, or at the very least as enjoyable to him as they were to her, she hadn't expected it to change anything overnight.

It turns out she just wasn't using the right topic.

"- and you even have the entire series of 'KnightOwl and Majestia'? I've only heard references to them online!" Izuku practically had stars in his eyes as he looked at them in awe, "They were made years before the first quirk emerged, and I didn't think any copies managed to survive!"

"Were they that impressive?" She asked curiously, finally getting a word in. "I've tried watching some of these older shows, but the, ah, special effects of the times left a little to be desired."

He looked at her in shock, as if she had just insulted All-Might.

"'KnightOwl' and 'Majestia' were part of the early years of superheroes!" Izuku exclaimed. "They were the precursors, and while fictional, they and other shows like them inspired the original vigilantes! I can't believe you have one in such good condition - this is the sort of thing that could be the centerpiece of somebody's collection!"

Yep, this was quite different from the nervousness that seemed to plague Izuku.

"My father enjoys movies." She gave way as an explanation as a hand brushed up against the shelves of movies, old memories of her father coming home excitedly with a new movie he purchased or had restored.

She brought herself out of her nostalgia. "I must confess, there are times I think he likes owning the physical copies just as much as watching them." She admitted with a smile.

"But how could you have something like this and not watch?"

She raised an eyebrow, her lips twitching in a small smile. "You do realize there are more genres than superhero movies, right?" She teased, causing him to blush.

"Well, yeah, but…" he looked longingly at the section of movies he had been looking through.

That wasn't to say that she didn't have many superhero movies, but it was only one genre amongst many. Even if the room was fairly modest in her opinion, the fact that they needed a whole room to contain it all was telling.

"So do you want to watch some of that then?" She asked. It wasn't the sort of thing that she expected, but she certainly wasn't opposed.

Izuku hesitated. "I mean, if you'd rather watch something else - " he hedged, his previous anxiousness creeping back in.

She shrugged away his concern. "I don't really have a preference, and I'm the one that invited you. I think it's only fair if you choose the movie."

"But, I mean, it's your house, and your movies." He countered with a frown, clearly hesitant, when Tikki flew in front of him.

"I think it's a good choice!" She chirped cheerfully, cutting through his protests. "It's been a long time since I've seen it. It's pretty corny, but fun."

Izuku blinked at her. "Wait, you've seen them before?" He asked in surprise, glancing at his own Kwami. "But I thought…"

This time Nooroo flew up with a few of his butterflies and gave a sad smile, "Tikki has had nicer wielders in the past then I have." He explained gently.

Ah. Momo's heart clenched at the traces of sadness in the lilac Kwami's voice.

"It sounds like we have a winner then," she said with a polite smile, grabbing the movie and pulling the attention away from Nooroo before glancing at him.

"Tikki told me that your diet is similar to hers, so I made sure to have plenty of cookies and pastries on hand. But if either you or Izuku would like something else, just let me know. Tikki can show you where they are."

The lilac Kwami gave her an appreciative smile, "Thank you very much!"

Walking back to the theater room she started setting things up when she heard Izuku moving about the room.

She heard Tikki and Nooroo move over to the snack bar and talked quietly to themselves while looking over some of the other movies, going as far as bringing out a notebook to write some stuff down.

She found herself relaxing against the noise.

This was exactly what she needed.

Sure, a part of her was excited about hanging out with friends. It sounded like such a small thing, but when you've never experienced it before the small things felt pretty big. But a larger part of her reasoning…

She shuddered.

The memory of USJ was still too fresh.

Tikki had been an absolute blessing. But even then, the house had been distressingly empty. The staff being around helped, but not enough.

Honestly, she had been tempted to invite Kyoka as well so there would be more people, but she felt that Tikki and Nooroo would appreciate the chance to interact together without hiding.

Right now, hearing the activity around her, she felt that this was a good decision.

"Do you, uhm, always have a lot of flowers around?" Izuku asked, and she smiled slightly at the awkward attempt at conversation.

It also helped knowing that she wasn't the only one who felt very much out of her depth here.

'Not that he's wrong about the flowers', she mused as she looked around. Six planters, full of flowers and positioned in various places around the room, probably seemed like overkill.

She had no doubt the staff placed them there when she asked them to make sure the snack bar was stocked.

She'd need to make sure to thank Alfred later.

"The staff noticed that I've been enjoying flowers as of late. Ever since Tikki chose me." She replied with a look towards her Kwami. "Somebody forgot to mention that that would happen when she chose me."

"I told you about them later!" Tikki called back with a pout. "There's too much stuff to cover in one day!"

That was true, and she didn't regret taking the Miraculous. But it would have been nice to know in advance that she would start craving flowers in her diet.

Not that she was mentioning that little tidbit. Especially about the aphids. Nor would Tikki, unless she wanted her cookie supplies cut…

Izuku nodded seriously, his brow furrowed. "That makes sense, ladybugs would be attracted to flowers… Are you also, uhm, sensitive to the cold?"

Momo collapsed on the couch and couldn't resist a shiver, "Yes, I didn't even want to leave the house last winter! I normally enjoy the snow, and I couldn't even think of a good explanation to give our butler as to why that changed!"

He gave her a look of understanding, "I-I spend most of my time inside anyways, a-and my mom spends most of the day at work, so I don't think she noticed."

She couldn't resist giving out a huff. "Oh, Alfred notices everything." She grumbled. "I'm still not convinced when he says he doesn't have a surveillance quirk."

She might not have to worry about her parents noticing anything, her butler was another matter entirely.

Nooroo flew up with a pastry in his paws, "I'm sure it just means that he cares for you."

She gave the Kwami a gentle smile, "I know he does, but it makes it harder to hide certain things. Especially when I'm surrounded by people."

Izuku nodded absently, looking thoughtful for a moment. "What about food?" He asked curiously. "I've gained a bit of a sweet tooth, but don't ladybugs eat - "

She could practically feel the blood rush to her cheeks as she quickly reached for the remote. "You know, it's getting a bit late - we really should get the episode started, shouldn't we?"

Izuku looked surprised, but he didn't protest, instead focusing on the screen, his eyes brightening as the old style episode came on.

About two hours later Izuku and Momo had to pause the episode as they had gotten into a debate as to the validity of the various support gear KnightOwl brought out, whether it was even feasible for some to exist.

As Izuku started bringing up various formulas to argue for the flight path of KnightOwl's boomerangs, Momo cross-referencing it with her own knowledge of physics while the two Kwami's laughed above their heads and occasionally added their own inputs…

It was probably the most fun she had had in a long time.

Chapter Text

Izuku's POV

Takoba Municipal Beach (more commonly known as Dagobah Beach by locals) was, perhaps, the perfect example of how bad things could get when no effort was made to maintain something.

Izuku had seen pictures of it with Momo when they had been scouting ideas, and he vaguely remembered looking over it one time when he had to walk past it, but it was another thing to see it up close.

How did it get this bad?!

All around him, Izuku could see literal mountains of trash. Junked cars, refrigerators, and televisions were easily seen littering the landscape amongst piles of indistinguishable rubbish.

It might take more than one day for this to happen… and wait, was that a fox?

Looks like they had to worry about local wildlife as well.

Shaking his head, Izuku glanced back at where everybody else was mingling, some more cautiously than others.

At least the two classes were getting along well.

Iida could be seen talking with a large boy with shaggy fur and glasses, Kirishima looked like he was challenging a guy with an insect mutation before Uraraka separated the two. Fumikage appeared to be in deep conversation with a guy with pitch black skin and a girl with white hair, Ojiro seemed to have gravitated towards a guy with shoulder length black hair, and Momo and Jiro were talking with Kendo and another girl.

Then there was Ashido and Hagakure, who had managed to gather up most of the others who were hanging back and were getting them to participate.

"Hah! it looks like despite being the ones to propose the idea, Class B has more dedicated students!"

Izuku looked over to see Monoma walking over, his emotions smug. Doing a quick headcount, Izuku confirmed that there were more Class B than Class A.

By one member, sure, but still. If Monoma wanted to be happy about that, who was Izuku to criticize?

"H-hey Monoma," Izuku greeted the other boy nervously. "I-I'm glad so many decided to come!"

Seriously, Izuku had no idea what he would have done if only one or two people had shown up to help.

And some of the ones that didn't come said they would try to come later! Tsu had to babysit her siblings for a bit, and Sato's younger sister had a music festival he needed to be at, but had said they'd be free later!

True, others like Todoroki and Kacchan had straight out said they wouldn't. But the fact that half the class had come kept Izuku's spirits up.

Monoma smirked imperiously. "Of course! Not that we need to have more people than your class. We'll show that Class 1-B can clean up far more trash than Class 1-A!"

Monoma's prideful emotions seemed to falter when Izuku just nodded. "You guys probably will." He agreed easily.

"Huh?" Monoma looked confused at Izuku's admission. Which caused Izuku to become confused as well. Was he confused that Izuku reached the same conclusion as he did?

"W-well, I d-don't know everybody's quirks in your class," Izuku began cautiously. "B-but in ours, Uraraka is the most useful in this situation, and you'd be able to copy it. Kirishima and Tokoyami's quirk will also be able to do a lot, but most other quirks probably won't be very applicable."

Jiro's and Hagakure's quirks were extremely useful, just not in this particular context. Ashido could use her acid to break stuff apart if need be, but he didn't think that would help all that much. Once they got a good bit cleared, then maybe Iida's speed would come in handy, but it would still be limited on the sand. Momo's quirk remained - in his mind - one of the most powerful quirks he had heard of, but UA was providing all the supplies and equipment they would need for this.

Of course, once Sato got here then he'd be a huge help. Super strength was one of the most versatile quirks that existed for a reason.

Unless Class 1-B was full of combat only quirks, there was a good chance they'd be able to do more than Class 1-A.

That's what Monoma had meant. Right?

Monoma blinked a couple times, staring at Izuku for several moments, and for a moment Izuku was worried that the other boy was weirded out by his mumbling before the other boy managed to recover. "O-of course! I'm simply impressed you came to the same conclusion as myself. That is exactly the reason!"

Izuku breathed a quick sigh of relief for not alienating a potential friend. Never mind that he hadn't manage to drive anybody away since he came to UA, he was well aware it could happen at the drop of a hat.

Monoma continued with a smirk, "Regardless, I think you'll find that of Class B refuse to be outshone by the lesser class once more."

Once more?

Monoma gave a deadpan look at Izuku's confusion, "Surely one as intelligent as you has seen it, especially with the upcoming Sports Festival. How everybody is talking about your class. The benefits that brings?"

"Ah," Izuku flinched at the reminder. "I w-wouldn't call what happened at USJ a benefit exactly…"

He felt a small surge of regret from Monoma.

"Ah, well, regardless of intent, you can't deny the advantages." Monoma continued brusquely.

"I-I've been trying to avoid thinking about that." Izuku admitted with a forced smile.

Normally the first years didn't receive that much attention. They weren't expected to have learned much with only a month of training under their belt. Instead, the attention would go to the second and third years.

This year would not be normal..

"First with the son of Endeavor in your class, there would have been plenty of attention already." Monoma explained with a wave. "But after… Current events, such attention would only increase, would you not agree?"

"B-but it will also help you, won't it?" Izuku pointed out, eager to get the attention off of himself.

After all, people wouldn't likely know the difference between the two classes. They would only care about the 'first year' part. Right?

Monoma smirked. "Of course! We might be at a disadvantage, but we will not simply roll over! While the audience might come to see you, we will show them how our class is the superior one!"

Izuku managed a smile at Monoma's enthusiasm. "I look forward to seeing what you guys can do! And we'll do our best as well."

Monoma's emotions faltered once more. Was he expecting Izuku to respond differently?

"Hmph, I suppose I should have realized you'd be more like this." Monoma mused. "After all, to those cast in a supporting role, to see the main cast shine is our job, isn't it?"

Huh?

That was an odd way of looking at it… Not 'incorrect' per se, but it felt off.

"Monoma -" he began, only to be interrupted as one of UA's large vans drove up, gaining everybody's attention.

Ok. A conversation for another day.

Izuku and Momo immediately began to walk up, but both were caught off guard when the passenger door was yanked open and a pink blur shot out, just as Snipe came out of the driver's side.

"Ooh! Look at all the materials! I can make so many babies with these!" A girl around their age stared at the piles of junk with awe in her eyes, her entire body shaking with excitement.

Seriously, Izuku could sense waves of excitement coming off of the girl.

They turned as another bus drove up with Powerloader coming out. With them came several more students and another adult.

Izuku slowed down in confusion as he saw the new guy. Tall and lanky with blonde hair, the man was practically skeletal. Izuku was positive that he's never seen him before, but there was something about the tone of his emotions…

Had he felt it somewhere in UA before?

"G'morning students," the Western Hero called out as he walked up to them. "Glad to see so many of you out here today."

He gave a wave to the other teacher and students. "We decided to bring Power Loader and some of the students from Class 1-C here to assist. In the future, these folks will be the ones to take care of suit modifications and repairs, so it'll pay to get to know them."

Powerloader gave a small wave before grabbing the pink haired girl's shoulder, preventing her from running into the piles of garbage.

Snipe gestured to the other man that came with them. "This here's Toshinori Yagi."

The odd man gave them a nod with a small smile, "I doubt you guys have seen me - I just, ah, help around the school where I can. But it's a pleasure to meet you all." He ended with a small bow.

Snipe walked around to the back of one of the vans and opened the back to reveal a full assortment of boots, gloves, masks, and other equipment.

"All right pardners, listen up!" The Western Hero called out, immediately getting everybody's attention. "I'd like to thank all of you for voluntarily setting this sort of thing up. We usually don't see that sort of initiative till a student's second or third year. Now, that bein' said, there is a list of precautions we have to go through to avoid any accidents. We've got first aid kits with us, but we don't want to need to use them if we can avoid it. And with this much junk, the chance of infection is extremely high. So let's not take chances, ya hear?"

He waited till everybody nodded in agreement before continuing.

"Now, a lot of this stuff will be just trash, but if you think something can be recycled, you can talk with Powerloader or one of the Support Class. It'll be their job to determine what all can be salvaged, and if so we'll be transportin' it back to UA."

"Quirks are allowed. But just cause ya can use em doesn't mean ya should - in some cases, it'll make the work harder. While we do encourage creativity, if you're going to do something new, make sure ya talk to either Power Loader or myself. We all want this place cleaned, but our main goal at the end of the day is to have zero accidents. Everybody got that?"

After everybody nodded in understanding, Snipe gave a light chuckle. "Well, with that behind us, let's see what all we can do to make this beach livable again, shall we?"

As everybody cheered and got to work, nobody saw the fox patiently watching from one of the vehicles.

The first hurdle had been surprisingly hard to figure out. With so much to work on, where did they even start?

At first several students wanted to try making it into a competition between classes, which Momo and Kendo quickly shot down, and Izuku eventually managed to talk Monoma down.

Even then, it took about an hour before they were able to establish a proper rhythm.

Uraraka was positively invaluable, as was Kodai - one of the Class B students, both able to make it possible to move the larger pieces like refrigerators and vehicles with ease. Yanagi, another class B student, would then use her telekinesis to whisk it over to one of the dumpsters.

Monoma would copy whichever quirk was most useful at the time, going wherever he was needed. While Kirishima, Tokoyami's Dark Shadow, and Hiryu Rin would grab an armful of junk, their quirks allowing them to ignore any potential damage.

Meanwhile, the rest of the students focused on the remaining garbage, of which there was a lot.

It was after a couple hours of this that Izuku discovered what thousands of teenagers throughout time have learned - regardless of the intentions, community service was boring.

"Uuugh." Kaminari groaned as he threw the latest box into the dumpster. "Midoriyaaaa, can't you give me one of your butterfly boosts or something?"

Before Izuku could reply, Kaminari let out a yelp as Jiro poked him with her jacks. "C'mon taser brain, don't tell me you're throwing in the towel already." She teased as she walked by with her own load. Her words lost some sting as it was clear she was tiring as well.

"No!" He protested without much conviction. "I mean, all of us are getting tired, right? And if Midoriya can give us a boost, then…" he trailed off while looking at the butterflies that had taken up residence in the shade of one of the school vans.

The little traitors had left after only a half an hour of work, and were content to just sit back and watch out of the sun. Nooroo had flown off as well, though Izuku was sure he was nearby watching.

Izuku gave an apologetic smile. "S-sorry Kaminari, my quirk relies on emotion. The stronger the emotion the better."

Izuku yelped as the large body of Shishida came up, a tire under his arm. "That's an intriguing restriction, but I suppose something is required to make a connection with the other person, correct?" Shishida mused.

Izuku gave a quick nod, "y-yep, that's r-right." He managed.

It was a partial lie. Izuku could still make people Champions. But the less emotion there was, the weaker the Champion would be. Still, he had a reason for the misdirect.

Izuku couldn't use the Miraculous all the time (nor would he want to condemn Nooroo to that). So he needed to come up with a reason why he couldn't make somebody a Champion at any given time.

It wasn't perfect. But it would do for now.

"J-just think of it as an extension to All-Mights fitness class." Izuku said encouragingly to Kaminari.

Kaminari let out another dramatic groan, but Shishida looked at Izuku curiously. "He's doing that for you guys as well?" He asked.

Izuku tilted his head, "I guess? I mean, it's mostly been P.E., with a few simulations thrown in, right? Why would it be different?"

It had taken Izuku by surprise at first when All-Might had worked with each of them to create a custom nutrition and exercise plan. His classes after that consisted of sparring and exercise, usually with a simulation, like the battle trials on that first day or rescue training, at the end of the week.

Shishida shrugged. "We were unsure if you guys were receiving special treatment." He admitted bluntly.

"Oh." Izuku wasn't quite sure what to make of that… "I mean, it makes sense that they would want to work through the basics with us, right? So we'll be able to apply ourselves better in simulations, and eventually in actual missions."

Izuku appreciated the lessons at least. Nooroo gave him several advantages, but strength wasn't really one of them.

'A butterfly shouldn't be a combatant.' Izuku could practically hear Nooroo say. Which, he understood… But he should still be prepared if it actually happened, right?

Ok, he was still working on endurance and strength training. Even now, his muscles burning after moving so much trash, Izuku liked to think he had been managing more than he might have the previous month. But even if he wasn't, he was quite happy with his progress.

Kirishima and Kamakiri chose that moment to charge by - Kamakiri with an air conditioner, and Kirishima with a small refrigerator. Both huffing in exertion, yet clearly still having a competition with each other.

Izuku managed a weak laugh. "S-some of us are more physically fit than others." He admitted faintly.

Shishida chuckled, "it's a shame our Tetsutetsu couldn't make it today - I think I might have paid money to see his reaction to meeting your Kirishima there."

"Really?" That was a Class 1-B member he wasn't aware of. "W-why is that?" Izuku asked.

Shishida stared at Kirishima for a moment longer, watching as Power Loader threw water bottles at the two of them and ordered them to hydrate.

"They are, you could say, a bit similar." The beast-like boy said with a smirk before nodding at the two of them respectfully. "Thank you for your time." before lumbering away with the tire.

"C-c'mon Kaminari," Izuku encouraged the still exhausted boy. "Just another thirty minutes until lunch. P-plus Ultra, right?"

Kaminari let out another groan before striking his fist in the air.

"Plus Ultra." He agreed weakly before starting up once more.

Thirty minutes later, when Mr. Yagi came back with several pizzas, Izuku couldn't even blame Kaminari for the amount of relief he was exuding.

Momo's POV

"Is that my younger brother I see?"

Momo, as well as everybody else, looked up to see a beaming man in a tracksuit jog up to where they were enjoying their lunch.

Said man practically teleported to Iida's side and sat down with a broad smile. "I have come to embarrass you horribly little brother!"

"Tensei!" From the look on Iida's face, Momo figured that to be a doomed venture. Iida looked overjoyed at the sudden intrusion. "I didn't realize you were coming!"

"I was just jogging nearby and thought I heard your voice. What a coincidence this was!"

"Didn't I tell you where we would be -?"

"Like I said, an amazing coincidence!" Tensei replied cheerfully. "Totally unexpected. But now that I'm here, why don't you introduce me to your classmates?"

"Of course!" Iida stood up, "everybody, this is my brother, Iida Tensei. Also known as the Pro-Hero Ingenium! And this is my Class President and Vice-President, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu!"

Huh. Momo hadn't realized Iida was related to a Pro-Hero. Based on everybody's reaction, neither had they. But she couldn't deny the family resemblance.

Next to her, Izuku looked like he was arguing with himself. If she was right, he was probably debating on whether to ask for an autograph right now, or later.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Ingenium said cheerfully as he reached for a slice of pizza. "I've heard good things about all of - ouch!"

Ingenium pouted at Snipe, who had slapped his hand.

"Lunch is provided for the students." Snipe drawled while giving a pointed look.

"Hey, I used to be a student!" Ingenium protested, though she could see he was resisting a smile.

"Yep. Which means that you used to get free pizza." Snipe nodded. "Now you're a functioning member of society and have your own job. Which means you can buy your own pizza."

"Oh c'mon, it's not like you're gonna miss one slice." Ingenium needled as his hand slowly reached over once more, only to move back as Snipe flicked a pebble at his hand.

Powerloader let out a scoff. "Just one slice? I can't recall a single instance where you only had 'one slice'."

Ingenium placed a hand on his chest in mock offense, "I'll have you know I've matured since then. Tenya will back me up, right bro?"

Iida blinked, "my brother is indeed a sterling example of a Pro-Hero, a guideline that everybody should strive for."

"Sure," Powerloader shrugged, "but does he still wolf down half a pizza before everybody else has finished one piece?"

"I, er, that is…"

Iida grimaced, clearly struggling to come up with something to say, and Ingenium looked at him in exaggerated dismay. "Tenya!"

It was so… Odd. Seeing Pro-Heroes in such a relaxed setting. Momo couldn't help but laugh a little at the display.

After a little bit of teasing his brother, Ingenium turned to the rest of the classes. "So! How's everybody feeling about the Sport's Festival in a week?"

Oh dear.

Momo grimaced as certain students perked up.

It was probably inevitable for the question to come up, what with the event coming up so soon. But it was also one of the more volatile questions that could have been asked.

Monoma immediately straightened. "Obviously Class 1-B is more than prepared for it." He boasted with a smirk. "Just wait, I assure you the top contenders in the end will be us!"

"Oh yeah?" Uraraka challenged, her expression becoming more intense as she focused on the other student. "That's what you think! We're going to crush you!"

Momo sighed at the scene. She had done this in class as well. Kirishima might be a bad influence on poor Uraraka…

That, or the girl was far more competitive than Momo had realized.

Speaking of Kirishima, he and Kamikiri both looked at each other, clearly about to jump in and back up their respective classes.

Momo turned to Ingenium with an apologetic smile as the argument devolved further. "I think both classes have been doing their best to ensure they are as prepared as they can be." She replied diplomatically.

If nothing else, Momo felt that she and Izuku were prepared. Independent study with Tikki aside, she and Izuku had spent a decent chunk of their time training in addition to their regular get-togethers. Occasionally they'd invite their other friends like Uraraka, Iida, Jiro, or Kirishima to join in.

Ingenium gave a smirk as he gestured to the argument, "I guess Kan is still at it?" He smirked.

Momo blinked. "Kan?"

"Sorry, you might know him as Vlad King." Ingenium expounded while leaning back. "He was super big about making rivalries during school. Always went on how competition encouraged growth and stuff."

Yep. Momo sighed. That sounded like what Monoma's been doing.

"Which it does I guess, if it's not taken too far." Ingenium shrugged. "I've always preferred more of a teamwork approach myself. But I heard Kan got hired at UA as a teacher, sooo..."

"That makes sense," Izuku commented at her side, brow furrowed. "You hold the record for having the most sidekicks as part of your agency, don't you?"

Ingenium let out a laugh, "guilty as charged." He said cheerfully. "Rivalry is good and all, but if it passes the point where you're starting to insult or out down your rival I think you're losing more than you're gaining."

Momo glanced over to where the argument had finally begun to die down to see Monoma smirk from his position at the tables only to be glared at from several other people.

"I think that perhaps we might be a bit past that." Momo noted tiredly as Izuku began to protest.

"Eh, you guys are young, you'll figure out a good balance in time." Ingenium reassured them, his hand slowly reaching to another slice of pizza. With Snipe's and Powerloader's attention diverted, he grabbed one with a victorious look -

Only for a multi-tailed creature - a fox - to leap in close and snatch the pizza from him before running away with the slice in its mouth.

Ingenium looked at the creature, his mouth open in shock. "Hey! That was mine!"

Both classes burst out laughing as Ingenium began to chase after the fox, only for it to get away by dancing between the piles of junk.

Momo covered her mouth to cover her own laughs at the sight. She suspected Ingenium was hamming up the performance a bit, but at the same time it was clear he hadn't expected the sudden theft.

Momo leaned over to ask Izuku about it when she saw his expression.

"What's wrong?" Momo asked quietly.

"I-it's nothing." Izuku hesitated, "j-just… Most animals don't have fully developed emotions… B-but the fox did."

"Oh." Momo blinked at the information. "Perhaps it has a quirk that makes it more intelligent, much like Principal Nezu."

It would certainly explain the tails.

Izuku looked torn about something before nodding. "That could be it." He murmured.

Eventually Ingenium gave up the chase, and in sympathy the class allowed him to have a couple slices as well. The rest of the lunch was spent in amusement from listening to Ingenium tell stories of either his own time at school or various tales of him and his sidekicks.

Soon lunch was over, and they were back to work. It went much as it had before, save for the arrival of Tsuyu, who began to spearhead efforts to clean the waterfront now that they had cleared a path to it.

The larger appliances and junk had by this point been taken out. This just left a lot of the piles of smaller pieces of junk.

They had split into groups of four. Currently, Momo was working with Kyoka to fill wheelbarrows, while Iida's and Shishida's job was to empty the wheelbarrows at the dumpsters and come back.

Not far from them, Momo could see Izuku doing the same while working with Kirishima, a girl with vines for hair whose name she is pretty sure was Shiozaki, and Ingenium, who had cheerfully proclaimed he had some more free time on his hand to tell stories.

A cough brought her out of her thoughts to see Mr. Yagi coming up with his own shovel.

"Do you mind if I work with you for a while, young Yoayorozu? Young Jiro?" He asked politely.

"Of course not." Momo replied, while Kyoka shook her head. The teachers had been pulling their weight alongside the students all day, though they tended to move amongst the students. Powerloader was the exception - not usually participating in the cleanup, but with the Support Class discussing what to salvage.

It didn't take long before they were working in comfortable silence, with the occasional grunt of exertion. It was only after several minutes that Mr. Yagi spoke up.

"So I hear you were one of the ones that spearheaded this little project." He brought up curiously.

Momo gave a small shrug. "It was a joint proposal between Izuku and myself, yes." She tilted her head towards Izuku, who was talking excitedly with Ingenium about something.

Mr. Yagi made a contemplative noise. "Well, I think it's a very impressive decision." He gave her a smile, "not many people choose to do this stuff nowadays. Which I've always thought was a real shame."

"I doubt that this is that unusual. Snipe did say that the upperclassmen at least do stuff like this." Momo asked while trying to hide a blush.

Mr Yagi waggled his hand back and forth in a so-so gesture. "They do, but they are usually provided with incentives of some sort. Extra credit if you will. But as you grow older, you'll find that life just gets busier and busier. It gets harder to do something as simple as cleaning a beach for no other reason than you want to."

"Wait," Kyoka gave a piercing look at the thin man. "We get extra credit for doing this?!" She looked at Momo with an accusing look. "Why weren't we told of this?"

Momo had her own look of confusion. "I didn't read that anywhere."

And now she was a bit put off. She and Izuku had read as much as they could before they proposed this sort of project.

Mr. Yagi gave a low chuckle. "It's not something you'll read about. Much like the rescue points from the Entrance Exam, the school wants to see who will take the initiative without the thought of reward."

Ah. Momo remembered Izuku telling her about the Entrance Exam, and how he got in on those Rescue Points. It sounded quite different from the exam she took as a recommended student.

Iida came up with his wheelbarrow and heard the last bit. "I see. As expected of UA, to test our character in such a way."

"But if it's supposed to be secret, I can't help but wonder why you would disclose such a thing." Shishida mused while looking at the teacher.

Mr. Yagi just let out a shrug. "It's probably one of the worst kept secrets in the school." He remarked dryly. "Give it a few months and I guarantee you'll have heard about it a dozen times over from your senpais. The school can't exactly keep it a secret when they give the extra credit. People talk, and before you know it everybody knows that if you need a small boost in your grades you should participate in something like this."

"I see." Iida frowned. "That seems slightly underhanded of them."

"Is it?" Mr. Yagi gave Iida a smile, "I suppose it might seem that way, but I've never been one to disparage when people do a good thing, regardless of the thought behind it. Take this beach for example - even if everybody was here for the extra credit, they still helped the community. The beach would still be cleaned, and that's hardly a bad thing, is it?"

"I, well, no." Iida admitted with a frown.

"Ulterior motive or not, they are doing good work." Mr. Yagi explained as he took a moment to fill the next wheelbarrow. "There are a lot of heroes like that out there who are in it for the money or fame. But so long as they are out there helping others, I still consider it a net positive."

"I see." Iida nodded in understanding. "I suppose that that makes sense."

"Of course, that's why I appreciate seeing young people taking the initiative without being aware of that little detail." Mr. Yagi continued, giving each of them a smile. "I think it says good things about your characters. And I just wanted to make sure I said, thank you."

"Ah, you're welcome." Momo replied , blushing as it came out more awkwardly than she intended. She didn't think it was as big a deal as he was making, but she felt the need to say something.

Mr. Yagi let out a short laugh, "there I go making the conversation deeper than it needs to be." He murmured good naturedly. "Let's just focus on cleaning, shall we? With a bit of effort, we might be able to get things done before dinner, don't you think?"

Momo breathed a bit easier as the conversation turned to lighter topics. Praise like that, genuine yet from people she didn't know, felt a bit odd. And while she knew it was something she'd have to get used to after graduation, that was a fair distance in the future.

Still, Momo couldn't say it wasn't appreciated. She and Izuku hadn't put that much thought into this project - it would be performing a service to the community while providing a way to get to know the other hero class. But it was clear that others appreciated it more than she had thought.

Momo had the brief mental image of Tikki giving her a soft smile.

'Even if something doesn't seem like a big deal to you, there are definitely people who it can mean the world to.' The Kwami had told her just that morning.

It was nice, getting thanked for something she had accomplished with her own hands.

Toshinori Yagi's POV

Toshinori Yagi, in his skinny form, looked at all of the students with pride.

It was late afternoon by the time they all had finished, and they might have been exhausted, but it was done, and the students were cheering at their success.

This project would probably have taken a year for a single person. But bringing in almost twenty super powered teens and a couple teachers had helped speed things up dramatically.

It was a shame that Thirteen hadn't been able to make it - this was normally the sort of thing that she loved to do, and her quirk was certainly invaluable for the effort.

His heart warmed as he looked at the waterfront. In his mind's eye, he saw a younger version of himself walking along the beach at the side of his mentor.

This beach had always had a special place in his heart as the place he'd meet up with Nana, his teacher. When he had first returned from America, this had been one of the first places he had come to, and he had been dismayed to see the place had fallen into disrepair. The following years only exacerbated the issue.

Toshinori should have done something then, but he was always so busy…

He had been overjoyed to hear that some students wished to clean the place up, and had leaped at the chance to assist. As it was to be an all day event, he decided to come not as All-Might, but as Toshinori Yagi - a former hero agency manager turned teaching assistant at UA.

It would have gone much faster had he used his quirk of course, but he felt it would have detracted from the student's goal a bit.

It also gave him the opportunity to interact with the students themselves! To see such young students willing to sacrifice their weekend for something as boring as cleaning a beach was inspiring!

Perhaps one of them…?

Toshinori shook his head. He had been giving serious thought on who should receive his quirk. If he was to do it this way, he intended to do it right.

Sir Nighteye had done an amazing job training Mirio. But… he had reservations. Not with Mirio per se - the boy was an absolute delight, and would one day make an amazing hero, with or without One-For-All. No, his reservations revolved around the third years in general.

Receiving One-For-All would not only increase their strength, but it would supercharge their quirk as well. While this didn't initially seem like a downside, third year students had already experienced plenty of exposure through multiple Sports Festivals and their work studies. It would be extremely difficult to explain how their quirk 'evolved' so to speak.

And that wasn't even accounting for all the extra work they'd need to retrain themselves!

Learning a whole new quirk, in addition to getting a handle on their own supercharged quirk, was not going to be a simple endeavor. To students that were about to graduate, or were already doing hero work in the form of work studies?

On one hand, that would be unfair to the students. On the other, it would be dangerous in the field.

Toshinori hadn't disregarded Sir Nighteye's advice entirely. He wouldn't dismiss immediately. But for now, he was focusing his attention on the first years. Those who had little to no exposure yet, and had plenty of time to learn…

But, as he watched the students celebrate their victory, Toshinori decided that that was a thought for another day.

There would be time for such deliberations later. For now, this time was theirs.

? POV

The nine-tailed fox looked on in curiosity as most students talked contently amongst themselves, a few having to leave but most staying to chat.

It was a touching scene. She had enjoyed spying on them throughout the day as they worked.

The fox licked her lips. The pizza had been a nice treat as well. It had been some time since she had had some. Stolen pizza always tasted better.

"Aha, I thought I'd find you here."

The fox turned to see a man walk up with a smile. He was an older man, with dark skin and hair that retained its darkness despite his age. His eyes shone with humor that belied his expression. Despite his age, he held himself well and confidently.

And at the moment, he was staring at the fox expectantly.

There was a shimmer in the air, a twist in reality, and the fox blurred as it swiftly merged into a woman of the same age as the man. Her reddish-brown hair had faded with age, but her eyes remained as vibrant as they had in her youth.

"Let me guess, Wayzz ratted me out?" She asked with a pout. "It's been over a century, you'd think he'd get over it."

The man chuckled and shook his head. "After using a forbidden ritual to defy death? I think he'll take a bit longer than a century to get over something like that, Alya."

Alya Cesaire smirked confidently, "I told him. It was either that or leave you alone for who knows how many years. And I've read enough stories to know how that would go." She stood up and moved closer, her words soft yet stern. "'Till death do us part', Nino. I'm not leaving you till you're ready to go as well."

Nino looked at his wife fondly, "and I don't regret a single moment." He assured her. "I'm just saying that Wayzz will hold this grudge for a while."

Alya shrugged. "The details of that ritual are between Trixx and myself. And last I checked, Trixx didn't mind me performing it at all."

Nino rolled his eyes. "Considering Trixx declared you her favorite pup after she found out you did it, you're good. I still don't think I've ever seen her as proud as she was then."

"See?" Alya looked triumphantly at him. "Besides, I already gave up Fox Miraculous, didn't I? Wayzz doesn't have a leg to stand on."

Nino just laughed and sat down on the bench, pulling her down next to him as he gestured to the remaining students. "So what do you think?" He prompted.

She frowned slightly as she folded her arms. "They're different than I expected." She delayed.

Nino raised an eyebrow at that and simply waited.

Alya let out a small huff at his expression. "Yes, I knew the girl wasn't going to be like Marinette. I know wielders of the same Miraculous can be different. I know I shouldn't expect them to be the same. I just… Guess I was just thinking there would be similarities."

Yes, Alya would easily admit that she was a bit biased. But then again, Tikki had been Marinette's Kwami. Alya was allowed to be biased.

Nino let out a hum as he thought about what to say. "There are similarities if you know where to look. They both have an appreciation for baked goods for example." He chuckled as Alya slapped his shoulder.

"You know what I mean." She scolded him.

"I do. And yes, they are different. Not all methods of creation are similar - remind me to tell you what Wayzz has told me about Hippolyta or King Arthur one of these days. Tikki will claim them if asked, but they were some of her more trying weilders." Alya snickered at the thought. She'd have to try to swipe the Fox Miraculous so she could ask Trixx about that personally. 

"But I have no doubt that Yaoyorozu will prove herself worthy. I have no regrets giving Tikki to her." Nino finished, ignorant to her planned theft. "But that's not your main concern, is it?

She scowled at Nino. He'd gotten way too perceptive in his old age. "Did you have to give away the Butterfly? You know - and I'm sure you remember how much damage it did before!"

In terms of power, the Butterfly was one of the weaker of the Miraculous (if any could truly be called 'weak'). But the fact that it could empower people remotely, that it could remain in the shadows and still cause untold chaos…

Truth be told, Alya still wasn't convinced that the Butterfly wasn't responsible for the existence of Quirks. It might not even have been Nooroo's fault, but Gabriel had performed all sorts of (failed) rituals on the Miraculous before taking up the title of Hawkmoth.

"Have to? No." Nino promptly responded. "Want to? Yes. Tikki might be required for this. But as the most adaptive Miraculous, I believe Nooroo is truly the best choice in this instance. And honestly, he deserves a good wielder more than most."

Well, she couldn't exactly argue against that. Gabriel had been as bad a wielder as you could get.

"Do you still intend to introduce yourself?" She asked instead.

Nino sighed. "Yes. They weren't supposed to have met the Cat yet. I had hoped it wouldn't happen till after they graduated to be honest. After they had been trained. But now that they have, and without knowing why it happened, it would be irresponsible for me to not."

She nodded in approval. They both had the deepest respect for Master Fu. But they also thought he made several mistakes.

Mistakes neither wanted to make.

"I'll wait till after the Sport's Festival." Nino informed her. "They don't need the distraction from that."

That would work.

Alya watched as the remnants of the classes left the beach, and with a small smile she stood up gracefully, pulling a surprised Nino with her.

"They went through all the trouble of cleaning the beach," she commented with a smile, "do you remember our wedding?"

Nino's expression melted into a soft expression. "We don't have any music." He replied, though he followed her onto the sand.

"Are you telling me you can't remember the music Mr. DJ?" Alya said with a teasing smile.

"Not at all." They stopped in the middle of the beach and Nino gave a small bow. "May I have this dance Miss. Lahiffe?"

"You may," Alya granted imperiously, taking his hand.

The future was never certain, and they still didn't know who had the Black Cat Miraculous, nor how strong they were. But for now, as they had had for the last 200 years, they had each other.

Later on, pictures would be taken to show the beach had been cleared by volunteers, and the scene of an older couple dancing on the newly cleaned beach made for a very cute picture.

Chapter Text

Izuku's POV
There was a lot of people…

Ok, it wasn't like Izuku didn't know how many people attended the Sport's Festival. He was more than aware of the numbers involved - had looked them up multiple times - and had been mentally preparing himself that day.

But knowing about it and actually being here, feeling the emotions from so many people and knowing that they were all about to see him…

Izuku hadn't even done anything yet and he was already wrung out from emotional overload.

The entirety of Class 1-A was currently waiting for when they would be called for the beginning of the Sport's Festival, only a few hushed conversations happening here and there. Even without being an empath, they might as well have been based off of how nervous they all were.

Izuku couldn't resist a shudder.

It was probably for the better that only he could feel the weight of the emotions from the crowd overhead. If the entire class could, it would only ratchet up their own nerves, which would make it even more difficult for him.

As it was, Izuku had to deal with his own anxiety (which was not inconsiderable) on top of what the class was feeling around him in one small room, surrounded by the excitement from the crowd outside.

It was a bit of a big deal.

If this is what the previous Butterfly wielders had to deal with all the time, then Izuku could understand why they preferred to become advisors and strategists. Being in a position that let them help while being away from the chaos of emotions was a far more compelling reason than personal safety.

Of course, that just meant it was one more thing he needed to overcome!

Izuku took in a deep breath as he did his best to keep himself from falling apart.

… One major thing to overcome.

"Are you alright Izuku?"

Izuku was brought out of his thoughts as Momo placed a hand on his shoulder, her expression slightly worried.

"S-sorry, was I muttering again?" Izuku cursed his muttering habits once more.

Momo waved away his concerns, "I've already told you, that doesn't bother me. But your butterflies are giving you away." She nodded towards the small swarm around him.

As usual, most of the swarm didn't follow him into the building. But the few that did were currently reflecting Izuku's mood, taken to hiding on or around Izuku, or twitching nervously.

It was worse for Izuku because he was already merged with Nooroo, amplifying what he felt from everybody.

Izuku had spent some time debating it with Momo, and they decided this would be for the best if he went through the first round transformed. People 'knew' Izuku had wings, whatever the first round ended up being, it would be suspicious if he didn't use it here.

"I-it's a bit much." Izuku sheepishly admitted. "B-but I'm managing!"

Momo gave a skeptical look, but nodded reluctantly. "Do many people have empathy related quirks?" She asked suddenly. "I know it's talked about, but besides you I don't know that I know anybody that has one."

"Oh!" Izuku perked up. "Y-yes and no. Empathy is just a subset of mental quirks, w-which only comprise a rather small subset of known quirks. But within that subset, it's actually kinda common with varying strengths, most of the time as a minor secondary effect to a different quirk…"

Like the villain, Fuhrer Ugly. He got stronger the more people were disgusted with him. O-or the controversial hero, Mask de Masculine, who became empowered the more people earnestly cheered for him. Neither quirks would be considered 'empathy', yet both were activated by the emotion of those around the user, so it was related in a sense.

Even if he was only faking having a quirk, Izuku had done his due diligence in researching quirks like it.

Izuku looked up when he felt a small surge of amusement to see Momo looking at him with a small smile.

Izuku winced. "Y-you were trying to distract me."

"I think it worked for a bit." Momo admitted with a small smile. "You're never going to be able to focus if you're too panicked to think."

"S-sorry," his face burned in embarrassment. "I-its just more than I was expecting."

There was just, you know, the powder keg of emotions in the room, the sheer weight of the excitement from the crowd above them, and the idea of going out and being on national television to be judged by the entire world.

Considering all that, Izuku was doing phenomenal.

No need to mention that he had spent a full five minutes screaming into his pillow that morning. Or the half-aborted plans to run away and become a vigilante in Brazil.

Only half aborted though. If things went poorly that day, Izuku considered it a viable career path, regardless of what Nooroo said.

Momo sighed, and Izuku could feel a sliver of regret from her. "I wish I could help out somehow. It's…" She frowned a bit, "I don't want to say unfair, but the current situation is definitely more disadvantageous to you."

Izuku managed a shaky smile, "W-well, it's like Aizawa says - life isn't fair, right? B-besides, this is something I'll h-have to get used to eventually, right?"

It wasn't like places that needed heroes would be filled with calm and rational people after all. While it was unlikely there would be as many people as there were here, it was still something he would need to overcome.

Something that Momo already knew, if her frown was any indication.

Besides, Momo's presence was already helping a little bit, her emotions soothing the area around him. It didn't do much here unfortunately, but every bit helped.

Izuku coughed and tried to think of a way to shift the conversation away from him. "W-what about you? D-do you feel r-ready?"

Momo gave him a look that showed she wasn't convinced at all with his change of topic, "I believe I am as ready as I'll ever be." She admitted eventually. "I'd have felt better if, ah, somebody hadn't continually stopped me from studying, but hopefully it will still go well."

Izuku blinked, "This morning as well?"

They had been texting the previous night, and he knew Tiki had been pressuring Momo to get some rest. He hadn't thought it went any farther than lecturing though.

Apparently it had. "She hid my books!" Momo complained, and Izuku had to hide his amusement at her exasperation. "And she refused to give my phone back till after breakfast!"

Izuku nearly burst into nervous laughter at the image of Momo trying (and failing) to stare down the tiny god.

Momo let out an offended huff, "It's not that funny." She pouted.

"S-sorry," Izuku immediately apologized, not wanting to admit that, well, it really was. "B-but I'm sure you'll be fine!"

Momo grimaced, "Maybe. I've done my best to memorize the most likely things I'll need based on our discussions, but there are still so many things that could occur that can take me by surprise."

"T-true," Izuku admitted, "B-but t-that's why w-we've been training together, in c-case something unexpected does happen, right?"

If not, then he'd been subjected to a lot of spars in which he'd lost for little reason.

Izuku frowned when he felt the uneasiness from Momo rise a bit, and he realized that despite her current determination, Momo was worried as well. It was buried beneath determination, but it was there (and he realized she was probably asking about him as a way to distract herself till the time came).

Not that that should have been a surprise. Everybody in the room was wound up so tight that the emotions in the room felt like a pressure cooker. Nervousness was the common trait, but everybody had their own different flavor. Bakugou was eager, Uraraka was psyching herself up, Ojiro was trying to meditate…

Izuku took a deep breath and focused. Calming himself down was probably a lost cause, but he could definitely to something to help Momo.

"I'm s-sure we'll be fine." Izuku stated again, putting as much confidence as he could in that statement. "This is just the First Year sport's festival, and it's held too close to the beginning of the school year for us to have learned much. W-we earned our place here already," both with entering UA to begin with, and surviving the events at the USJ. "All of us have worked hard for this moment, and w-we've already proven we deserve to be here, regardless of what the results of the Festival will be. We j-just need to show them that."

Momo looked at him in surprise, and to his relief she finally began to relax a bit. He breathed out thankfully…

"So manly!"

Izuku stiffened, slowly looking around to see the entire locker room looking at him.

Oops. He hadn't meant to speak that loudly…

"Excellent words Midoriya!" Iida praised, "as expected of our class president."

"Yeah!" Ashido said cheerfully, "We worked our butts off to get here! We're not gonna stop now!"

"Psh, as if." Kachaan scoffed. "You extras can believe what you wanna believe. None of that will matter when I'm starin' down at you from the winner's podium."

"That's the spirit Bakubro!" Kirishima answered with a cheerful smile.

They were suddenly interrupted by several knocks on the door.

"Class 1A!" A muffled voice yelled through the door. "It's time! Please report to the field at once!"

Bakugou was the first to react, followed by Todoroki. Izuku, meanwhile, took several calming breaths before facing the rest of the class. "Alright, let's go. Keep together as a class, and l-lets all do our best!"

"Yeah!"

"So, how'd it feel to get your own personal pep talk from Midori like that?"

Momo looked in confusion at Mina who had hung back to talk in private.

"I'm not sure what you mean? But I cannot deny that it was appreciated." Momo looked at the pink girl in confusion. It felt like the other girl was insinuating something else, and Momo wasn't sure what that was.

"Oh, you know. I just think that you and Prez were looking mighty comfortable each other, chatting like that." Mina commented slyly.

"Well, I am the class vice president, and he is the class president. We've spent a decent amount of time talking and training together the last several weeks." Momo replied calmly, not sure why her classmate was making a big deal out of it.

"Hmmmm," Mina stared at her intently, enough to make her feel uncomfortable, before she shrugged. "Ok fine, if you say so. But just so you know, I've got my eye on you now!" The girl winked at Momo. "My gossip senses are tingling!"

"Wha- I don't know what you're talking about. There's nothing to gossip about! Mina!"

Miruko's POV

'I think I'm lost,' Miruko scowled as she walked up and down the bleachers.

Seriously, this hadn't been that confusing when she went to school here, was it?

… Then again, she had mostly been in the field (winning, naturally), and not the stands. But this was just ridiculous!

Miruko grumbled a bit as she walked further up the aisle before swallowing her pride and deciding to ask for directions.

"Hey!" The rabbit hero beelined to the closest person that wasn't sitting down. "Do you have any idea where seat 223C would be?" The other person turned around and Miruko blinked as she fully saw the other.

The other woman was as tall as Miruko, and while not as muscular it was clear she was fit. More lithe than muscular.

A pixie cut with red hair contrasted with her white and blue rabbit ears.

Huh.

It wasn't like having rabbit traits like hers was rare in quirked society nowadays. But it was uncommon enough outside of her dad's side of the family to give Miruko some pause.

The woman looked just as surprised to see her. But Instead of being in awe, like she half suspected, Miruko was amused to see them give a familiar smirk (she saw it in the mirror every morning).

"No idea. But tell you what," the woman brought out her own ticket, giving it a scowl of her own. "Help us find our seat, and we'll see if we can help you find yours. Yeah?"

Us?

Sure enough, hiding behind the woman was another person. Close enough to be grasping the back of the woman's shirt, they were wearing a hoodie and hiding as much of themselves as they could.

"Sure," Miruko agreed immediately. "I can do that."

Anything to get out of this stupid maze.

"E-excuse me? Miss Miruko?" A timid voice came from under the hoodie of the third person, interrupting the two of them. A girl, Miruko judged. Probably a teenager, but she was less sure about that.

Hesitantly, the girl pointed in a certain direction.

"I-I'm pretty sure I saw 223C over there." She explained in a shy voice.

The second person gasped dramatically. "Kit! You're not supposed to give away the information until after the deal has been made!"

The girl 'eeped'. "I was?"

"Yeah! Now she has no reason to help us!"

Miruko watched the back and forth of the two for a moment before barking out a laugh. "Don't worry, I won't hang you out to dry." She smirked as she quickly memorized the path to her seat. "What's your seat?"

Before she could respond, the hooded girl made another noise, "uhm, Miruko… Could you, uh…"

Reaching inside her hoodie, she quickly extended a notebook.

"C-could I get your autograph?" The girl asked, her voice filled with trepidation and hope.

Awe. How could she resist that adorable scene?

"Sure, kid." Miruko grabbed the book. The words 'Hero Analysis for the Future #' with the number too faded on the worn thing.

Ok, that was just adorable.

Opening it, Miruko was surprised to see a picture of herself with a bunch of notes.

Looks like she had a little fan! And a decent artist no less.

Miruko tapped her foot a little in thought.

With how the girl was hiding her features, there was a decent chance she was hiding some kind of was an unfortunate fact that discrimination still happened. You tended to see it in more rural areas, but it happened in the city as well.

Twirling her pen a bit, Miruko eventually signed her name, along with a small note saying 'don't ever let other people dictate what you can or can't become.'

Usually she was more of an 'action instead of words' kinda person, but Miruko would admit that words had their place.

"Here kid," she smiled at the hooded kid as she took the book back and hugged it to her chest.

"Now them!" Miruko straightened up. "Let's see if we can find your seats."

Alix POV

"Really, Kit?" Alix smirked at her companion. "I thought you wanted to come back to see Viceroy's first Sport's Festival. Not to get autographs."

"I-I do!" Eri protested, and Alix could just imagine the pout she was giving. "B-but Miruko was just right there, and…"

"And you just happened to have the exact notebook with her entry in it?" Alix asked, causing Eri to give an 'eep!' in embarrassment.

In truth, Alix didn't care. Time wasn't so fragile it would be upset by a small thing like that. But it was so much fun to tease her little student.

"Besides, don't you already have her autograph?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah," Eri admitted softly. "B-but only after her arm was… uhm…" she fidgeted uncomfortably. "Not many of her autographs now are done with her…"

"Hey, look at me." Alix placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry about it. Just keep on telling yourself that she makes it out alright. They all do. Alright?"

Eri managed a jerky nod.

"Good. Now!" Alix dramatically pointed forward. "Back to our quest of finding our seats in this stupid labyrinth!"

"Uhm," Eri pointed to a couple seats down the aisle, "aren't those our seats?"

Alix glanced over. Yep, those were the right numbers. "Finally!" She cheered as she launched into the seat. "Quest complete!"

"Alix?"

"Alya!" Alix gasped in fake shock at the sight of her old friends right next to them. "And Nino as well! What a surprise to see you here!"

Nino's POV

"It's good to see you again Alix." Nino admitted warmly after being kicked from his seat by Alya, who insisted on sitting next to the other woman as they chatted. "And who might this be?"

The person in the hoodie was about to answer when Alix covered her mouth. "Ah, sorry, spoilers." She said, smirking at Alya's pout. That smirk swiftly morphed into a proud smile. "But, if you need to call them something, you can call them my kit."

Ah. A future version of Alix then. But to bring somebody with her, and to call them her kit no less…

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you then." He gave a smile at the person that Alix was no doubt training to be her heir. "And you have my utmost condolences for having this one as your teacher."

The poor girl (he was pretty sure it was a girl) gave assurances while Alix protested and Alya cackled. Meanwhile, his mind raced.

Alix choosing to train somebody had interesting implications.

Alix was the wielder of a Miraculous who shared a domain of time. While she didn't look it, she had lived for a long time. Not as long as he and Alya had, as they traveled through time the normal way, but a long time nonetheless.

It was… Hard. So very, very hard. To live on while everybody you knew died of old age. To watch your friends die, and then your children, and then your children's children…

Alya had guessed. It was why she had taken such a risk and broken the rules she had in order to stick around once they realized one of the traits of the Turtle Miraculous was longevity.

Sometimes, when a younger version of Alix came by, Nino would have to comfort her because she had gone back and seen their friends, alive and well, and the sight was often hard on her.

It was because of that that Nino would be forever grateful to Alix.

Even earlier than Alya, she had realized how much of a burden it would be to live for so long, and had made the decision to extend her life because of it. Unlike Alya or himself, Alix was able to use the powers of her Miraculous to push back the effects of time.

Alix wasn't a constant presence as Alya was. She'd stick around for a decade, then go off to who knows when for a while. Maybe a younger version of her would stop by for an extended period of time, or perhaps it would be an older one. But she was there.

If not for Alya or Alix - his wife and a good friend - Nino wasn't sure he'd have been able to live for as long as he did.

For her to be training a replacement meant that she was ready to let time catch up with her. Without Fluff, she would age rapidly. And if that was the case, that meant that he was -

*Bonk*

"Hey," he looked over to see Alix give him an understanding smile. "Don't worry so much about the future, Turtle Boy. That's my domain. Everything will turn out alright in the end." She brought out her pocket watch and tapped it a couple times. "I promise."

Nino huffed good naturedly. "Ah yes, just ignore the implications of everything you said. What was I thinking?"

"See? I knew you could do it." Alix leaned back with a smug grin. "Now, we're not here for any of that depressing conversation. We're here to see these future heroes in action!"

Nino shook his head in fond exasperation, but did his best to follow her advice. Not that he had any faith that he'd succeed.

There was always going to be a time when he would set the Miraculous down. Pass on the duties of the Guardian to another. But it was odd, seeing the implications of such.

Of course, he might be overthinking things. This Alix might be from, oh, fifty to a hundred years in the future. But his gut was telling him otherwise.

And if that was the case, then he must be considering passing on the Guardianship to somebody else. Most likely somebody that already had a Miraculous.

Perhaps to a Ladybug or Butterfly?

Nino hummed in thought as he settled in his thoughts.

The future was looking even more interesting.

Izuku's POV

The future was looking bleak. Very bleak.

"Hey there Listeners!" Present Mic's voice boomed around the stadium, "Are you guys ready for the Sport's Festival to officially kick off?! If so, then please welcome all of our first years to the field!"

They were just coming out into the field, Izuku and Momo leading their classmates, when the noise seemed to amplify. The cheering of the stadium somehow managed to reach even new levels as the entire structure shook.

Meanwhile, Izuku had to focus on each step as he felt the attention of every single person - which had until that moment been more or less undirected - focus on them.

"Just keep calm. Head level, eyes straight, and don't look at them." Izuku instructed himself, focusing on the instructions from Nooroo and, to his surprise, Momo, who was used to being in front of numerous people.

"Wow, are there always so many people?" Uraraka asked nervously from behind him.

"Nah man, they heard how awesome we were and wanted to see what's up! Right Mido-bro?" Kirishima smirked.

"Still, it seems like a little much, for so many people to be watching us." Hagakure piped up.

"Now, you may know them as the most impatient students UA has ever had! So eager to be heroes, they went up against villains within their first week and won! Give it up for Class A!"

Izuku flinched as the noise, impossibly, reached new levels. The whole purpose of the commentator was to hype up the crowd, and Present Mic was undeniably doing a good job of that.

For the first time in his life, Izuku kinda wished a hero wasn't as good at his job.

"And following Class A is their sister class, Class B! They might not have any achievements under their belt yet, but they are here to show they are every bit as determined and talented!

Class 1-B walked out, half of whom Izuku recognized, and they were looking just as pumped as 1-A. A number of them looked annoyed when they didn't get as large a welcome from the crowd, and glared at them.

Oh c'mon! It wasn't their fault that the crowd was biased!

Izuku knew he should probably be concerned about that, but he really only had the capacity to be concerned about so many things at the moment.

"And now we have General Studies Classes C through E! They might not be part of the Hero Course, but don't count them out! Some of them are gunning straight for the Hero Classes to show their superiority!"

All three of the General Classes walked out, giving considering and challenging looks of their own towards the Hero classes.

Once again, probably something to be worried about, but no capacity left to worry about it, so Izuku was determinedly ignoring it.

"Up next! The right gear in the right hands can make all the difference in the field, and these students are here to prove that saying true with gear they made with their own hands! Give it up for the students of Support Classes F through H!

A number of students came out with a variety of gear equipped, some more practical looking than others. They, thankfully, were safe to mentally acknowledge, and Izuku found himself itching to question them to find out what everything did and how they worked.

"And last, but not least, we've got Business Classes I through K! They might not care about winning today, but remember their names! Just like everybody else, they're here to network and get their names out there in their own way!"

The Business Classes didn't seem upset in any particular way towards the Hero classes either, and Izuku breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now, without further ado, the referee for this Festival is… The R-Rated Hero, Midnight!"

The audience erupted into another cheer as Midnight walked towards the stage, even some of the students joining in before being silenced by their classmates. The teacher herself looked positively thrilled at the attention, giving a few poses.

Izuku had seen Kayama-sensei around the campus before (which was natural - she was one of their teachers). But the way she acted while teaching was very different from her hero persona, far from the 'R-Rated Hero' seen on the news. It was actually interesting, seeing and feeling her switch in and out of her act. As a teacher, she was quite understanding and comforting to her students, not even wearing her hero suit save for a few occasions.

… That being said, her hero persona was one that she clearly loved.

"Now, for all of you good boys and girls out there! It's time to call upon the student representative to give a few words!"

Izuku froze, suddenly filled with dread. Student representative? Who was that? Did they mean student class president? They wouldn't do that, would they? He hadn't been warned about this!

"Bakugou Katsuki!"

Izuku breathed out a sigh of relief.

Wait a second.

"Kachaan?!"

Who in the world would make Kachaan the representative?!"

"Oh dear…" Momo murmured in a worried tone.

The stadium went quiet as Bakugou stomped up the the podium, and Izuku watched with a sinking feeling in his chest

UA had a standard student pledge of course. But looking at the blonde, Izuku just knew that he wouldn't be using it.

Kachaan walked up to the microphone with his hands in his pockets. "I just wanna say…'' he paused briefly as he looked over the audience with a smirk. "I'm gonna win. And it's not gonna be close."

That got a reaction from the crowd, though those reactions were mixed, the crowd either loving or hating it. But the reaction amongst class 1-B and the general classes was unanimously negative.

Besides him, Momo gave a small groan.

"H-he did it on purpose." Izuku murmured back, "T-that's his way of putting a target on all of our backs. Forcing us into a corner." A position that Kachaan thrived in.

"For the short term, perhaps". Momo agreed with a frown. "But what about later? After the tournament? This isn't a small event. The entire world is watching, and his arrogance is going to reflect poorly on the entire class. And what will he do if he loses?"

Izuku looked at her with a conflicted look before looking away. In all honesty, he hadn't even thought of the possibility of Kachaan losing.

Maybe it was the feelings of overwhelming confidence pouring off of Kachaan. Or it was prior experience. Either way, even now it was hard to imagine.

"My my, thank you for that spirited announcement Bakugou!" Midnight shouted before swinging her arm back to gesture to the huge screen on the stadium wall behind her. "And with that out of the way, I say we get to the main event already!"

The crowd cheered as a blur of words ran across the screen like they were a slot machine, going fast enough that Izuku couldn't read what they were saying without becoming dizzy.

Eventually, the words stopped spinning.

"Ta-dah!" Midnight cheered as small fireworks went off around the screen. "Our first round will be an Obstacle Course race!"

Another round of cheers went up at that, but Izuku was busy thinking.

A race has been one of the top events he had theorized would occur, and one he felt he was pretty well suited for. While he didn't have a speed quirk, running was a well-practiced activity, something that he excelled at during All-Might's gym lessons.

A race he could handle. It was the obstacle portion that bothered him.

"This doesn't seem too bad," Momo murmured beside him. "Except…"

"This is UA." Izuku finished for her.

"Indeed." Momo agreed.

The following instructions were pretty straightforward. They had to run around in a loop totaling four kilometers. The first forty-two students to finish would qualify.

It was simple enough. IF this were any place other than UA.

"Well then, let's get this show on the road!" Midnight declared. "Is everybody ready? On your marks… Start!"

The first obstacle became obvious very quickly. There were a lot of students, but the entrance itself was extremely narrow.

Within moments, the entire tunnel was filled with pushing and shoving students, everybody vying to get ahead.

Izuku leaped up, large green patterned butterfly wings stretching out from his back as he used Nooroo's power, and he flew over everybody's heads.

Just in time, as a wave of ice spread across the ground, freezing the feet of everybody in place.

'Todoroki', Izuku guessed as he flew forward.

From his vantage point, it was easy to see many others that hadn't been caught up in the ice as well. Kachaan, Kirishima, and Momo being the main ones that launched themselves over the attack.

Though from the looks of it, Momo had put way more power than needed in order to get away from the ice, and he shuddered in sympathy.

Unfortunately for him, his wings weren't built for speed. He was agile and hard to catch, but that didn't necessarily translate into how fast he could go. But at the moment, he was much faster than anybody else struggling in the tunnel, so -

"Hey! Kid with the wings!"

"Huh? Yea-" Izuku automatically began to answer, only to freeze, his entire mind foggy over.

'Carry me across the group!"

It felt like Izuku was suddenly in a dream. Everything was muted, and he could barely understand what was going on. No, scratch that, beyond then words, he didn't know what was going on.

'Now stay here.'

Wait! 'Staying here' meant 'not finishing the race'!

Izuku struggled to move past the weird fog in his mind, but no matter what he did, Izuku couldn't feel his body. He couldn't even feel Nooroo!

'Great, good job Izuku." He scolded himself. 'Even after being entrusted with a Miraculous, you couldn't even make it past the first obstacle.'

Izuku had always suspected the universe was out to get him. But before, they were merely well-educated hypotheses. Now, with the way the day was going, Izuku figured he could submit his findings to upgrade it to a valid theory.

Guess he was finalizing his Brazilian plans.

He had no idea how long he was like that, but Izuku was suddenly shaken. Before he realized what was happening, sound and color came blaring back in vivid detail. Disoriented, he saw a shadowed head with yellow eyes.

"Got 'im Fumi!" Dark Shadow called out before grabbing Izuku and dragging him towards Tokoyami.

"Art thou alright?" Tokoyami asked as Dark Shadow put him down and they began running together.

"Y-yeah, " Izuku stammered, still getting used to the sudden inclusion of sound again, hearing loud booming in the distance. "W-what happened?"

"Dark Shadow noticed somebody placing a foul enchantment on you, and after making use of you, leaving you behind." Tokoyami answered.

Izuku groaned. He could easily see that they were way behind everybody else now. Being so far behind everybody… while he was grateful for Tokoyami's help, all he might have done is doomed himself.

"Midoriya." Izuku looked over. "I am aware there are restrictions upon whom you can ask to serve you. Do I qualify?"

"R-really?" Izuku perked up. The truth was, he hadn't even planned on making a Champion during the first round. The entire idea was that people would want to show off what they could do. Him making them a Champion would be Izuku showing off what he could do, not the other way around.

"Yeah! We're sure!" Dark Shadow snapped, "now hurry! We're already way behind!"

Right, ok. Quickly, Izuku reached out and let a butterfly land on his hand. He took a deep breath, focusing as best as he could, and filled it with power shaped for Tokoyami.

It wasn't hard to find the emotions to work with. Tokoyami, despite his more subdued emotions, had a burning desire to win, just like everybody else. A part of him was frustrated for giving up the lead to help Izuku, but there was no regret.

Izuku focused on that determination.

"Tokoyami, will you -"

"Yes, I accept thine contract!" Tokoyami interrupted, reaching to touch the butterfly.

It dodged his attempts, almost whimsically, and instead flew up to his wrist, where a bracelet was hidden.

"Then let this party begin, Revelry." Izuku intoned, saying the words that filled his mind and cemented the deal.

"Oooh," only for Dark Shadow to reach over and investigate the bracelet, suddenly getting sucked in before a plume of smoke hid Tokoyami from view.

Uh...

That was fine.

Probably.

A dark cackling suddenly filled the air, and Izuku got a good view of Revelry.

Now, making a Champion was always a dual endeavor.

Izuku provided the power, and the recipient's desires would choose how the power was used. The form of the Champion was then up to Izuku with heavy influence from the Champion.

… Izuku hadn't chosen this form.

Revelry was almost completely hidden, twisting shadows and mist almost completely obscuring a cloaked form. The only thing Izuku could see was two glowing yellow eyes where the head would be.

"Thou art indeed a diabolic, director of darkness!" Revelry proclaimed. "For a mad, banquet stands before us, here under the foul rays of the noon sun. But the shadows will lengthen, as the sun slowly flees from us."

Revelry chuckled as two arms emerged from the darkness, hands ending in talons showing themselves.

"But what is a banquet, without guests to attend?"

From his wrist sprung out a long scythe made of shadow, and with a swing he gestured towards the students who were still around.

A moment later many let out a shriek as suddenly, their shadows detached from the ground. Some of them stuck by their original, but most of them focused their glowing eyes on Revelry.

Another gesture, and the dark mist around Revelry billowed out and formed a horse underneath him. Quickly snagging Izuku, Revelry placed him behind him.

"Let our darkness overcome the challenges before us." Revelry shouted as he charged forward, followed by an army of shadows. "The revelry of the night begins now!"

Momo's POV

Momo finished blasting the last of the Zero Pointers, a scowl on her face.

'Dang it, Todoroki!" She thought viciously as she discarded her cannon.

Ahead of everybody else, Todoroki had frozen all of the towering Zero pointers that consisted of the 'Robo Inferno' as Present Mic had called it, but had manipulated them so they would fall after a time.

To be clear - Momo had no issue with him freezing all of the Zero Pointers. It was something that took an undeniable amount of power and skill, and as much as it made her shudder to look at all that ice, she could appreciate it.

She didn't even mind that he caused them to fall over. Once again, it took a large amount of skill to do so, and they were in a competition with each other. Making it harder for others to catch up was only natural.

This was a competition after all.

No, what she took issue with was the delay in time before they fell over.

As intimidating as the Zero Pointers and other robots were, she had no doubt they were more or less harmless. Imposing Obstacles, as it were. UA wouldn't want anybody to get seriously hurt.

What Todoroki had done had the potential to seriously injure somebody, or even kill them, if the person didn't react in time or weren't strong enough to deal with it.

Taking the time to destroy the Zero Pointers as she had was illogical, as Aizawa would say. It took time and resources to make a cannon sizable to produce enough of a blast to cause them to fall the opposite direction. But this way, she could ensure the remaining Zero-Pointers wouldn't be a danger to anybody.

Now she just had to get past the smaller robots…

"A fine job, a fine job indeed Creati!"

The dual toned voice sent shivers up her spine, but the mention of her desired Hero name gave her enough of a clue. (Did Izuku share thoughts with his Champion? She couldn't think of another reason why this one would call her that. Regardless, it gave her a small surge of happiness that he already thought of her as such.)

She turned to see a dark, cloaked form astride a horse seemingly made of solid shadow. On top of the horse, behind the cloaked figure, sat Izuku.

'Tokoyami and Dark Shadow', she noted distantly. Though, which was made the Champion? Were they both technically Champions?

"A fine seasoning of spice to this mad banquet," the shadowed figure cackled. "But even Nyx needs the twins of sleep and death to aid her. Allow us to cast a shadow on your performance and see it aid you onward."

The thunder of feet behind him was her first clue as to what he meant. A moment later, and a wave of darkness charged past her.

Blinking in confusion, she realized they were people. If you had dipped said people in black.

It took her a moment longer to recognize them based on their silhouette. It wasn't till one particular silhouette grew their hands and promptly smashed a robot with a giant fist that Momo began to realize they were other students.

From there, it was relatively easy to spot those that came to the beach cleanup.

The large, nightmarish shadow was Shishida in his beast form. Shiozaki looked like an angel of death as she walked calmly amongst the robots, shadowy tendril of hair shredding anything that came close. Then there were the shadows from members of their own class.

"I thought you weren't planning on making a Champion during the first round?" Momo asked curiously, quickly taking advantage of the brawl to run through, Izuku and the Shadowy Champion trotting beside her.

As they moved, the Champion used his power to raise more shadows as they passed people by. Between the shadows and the actual students, they were all making short work of the robots.

"Extenuating circumstances," The Champion cut Izuku off. "And an opportunity found. Now come!" He suddenly called out, "Come and join the Revelry!" with a gesture, he caused more and more shadows to form around them. "Let our darkness triumph over all that stand before us!"

The horse charged forward, and Izuku gave yelp as he clutched onto the Champion as he gave her an apologetic look. "S-sorry! W-we'll talk more later!" He called back, and Momo couldn't help but let out a small laugh at the sight.

Well, if he was going all out, then she could hardly be seen slacking. It would dip into her reserves more than she was comfortable with, but…

Just as she was focusing, she heard a thud behind her, causing her to twist around.

Then she blinked at the figure.

"You're MY shadow, aren't you?" Momo asked the figure that looked similar to her. It was the hair that gave it away in the end, and the figure nodded.

Beside her shadow self was the slumped over form of Mineta and a Shadow Mineta, and Momo wrinkled her nose at the thought of two of them.

It didn't take a genius to understand that they were about to do something, and her shadow helped her. But she was losing time.

Momo looked at her shadow again as an idea began to form. "Would you like to join me?"

Present Mic's POV

Present Mic whistled in appreciation as the army of shadows steadily grew. They completely overwhelmed the robots with sheer numbers before moving on.

"And Midoriya's shadow army continues to grow! The Robot Inferno has been completely swept aside like it didn't exist! Can anything stop his momentum?!"

Aizawa gave him an annoyed look, but Present Mic ignored it. His job was to sensationalize, and it was always appreciated when the little listeners out there made it easy for him to do so. He tried to give as many people a chance to shine as he could, but some people made it quite difficult when they decided to hide their strength.

Present Mic gave Class 1-B the stink eye as he thought that.

Look, pacing yourself was important. Less so was actively holding yourself back. Especially when you were trying to get the attention of heroes for an internship. People formed opinions quickly, and underperforming in the first round wasn't going to do them any favors.

Aizawa eventually sighed before throwing in his two cents. "They're intimidating," He admitted reluctantly. "But you can tell that they're weaker than their physical counterparts. Based on their physicality, I'm doubtful as to their endurance as well." He gestured to one screen that showed several shadows desperately scrambling away from Kaminari when he activated his quirk. "Not to mention other weaknesses. Their main advantage is their numbers."

"Maybe so, but quantity has a quality all on its own!" Present Mic cheerfully rebutted. "And that's a lot of quantity!"

Both Aizawa and Present Mic watched as various shadows teamed up, while others simply followed Midoriya and Tokoyami. Watching Yaoyorozu work with her shadow was an exercise in trying to figure out how the heck that worked. While teacups like Uraraka or Jirou's were easier to talk about.

Eventually, after spanning the field and commentating on the tactics and strategies of those in the back, the front runners finally reached the next obstacle.

"And as we go back to the front lines, we'll see how well they do with our next deadly obstacle - The Fall!" Present Mic cheered enthusiastically.

"It's not deadly," Aizawa groaned. "But, to fall will indicate that that person is out of the running."

"That's what I said!" Present Mic exclaimed with a smirk.

Bakugou and Todoroki didn't have any trouble with the large pit, breezing by the obstacle with ease. And then the swarm of shadows arrived.

Several things happened at once.

Several shadows that Present Mic didn't recognize save for one - a general course student with the quirk 'Color Change' - slammed their hands down onto the ground. Grass and flowers grew and bloomed rapidly, before they all turned black. Including the ground.

The shadow of Shiozaki brought her vines down into the blackened ground, the vines then shooting out to the first pillar, and then the next, and the next, making a bridge as it carried the black 'Color Change' to each one. Meanwhile, Shadow-Sero did something similar with his tape.

Another Shadow, (err, Tsuburaba? Look, it was hard identifying people through their silhouette dang it!) then dashed across the shadow vine bridge while blowing, a stream of dark mist twining along the vines and tape.

Lastly, Tokoyami raised his scythe and gave a dramatic swing, and suddenly all that prep-work and shadow solidified in a way it wasn't before.

As the rest of the students made their way across the pit in their own way, the entire army moved as one over the shadow bridge.

The entire process took all of a couple seconds, performed as if each participant knew what the others were going to do.

"Wow! With that coordinated move, Midoriya and Tokoyami have completely bridged The Fall and are on their way to the front lines!"

"But not without cost." Aizawa noted bluntly.

Sure enough, the shadows that just used a large portion of their quirk were fading. Not gone, but very much see through.

"So, will Midoriya and the forces of darkness be able to overcome the final obstacle with the remaining shadows he has?!" Present Mic asked dramatically.

It was days like this that made Present Mic love his job.

Izuku's POV

"All right folks! Our first contender has reached the last obstacle! The Minefield! Be careful where you step!"

"For those who aren't thinking logically, the blasts won't be that powerful. They're loud and make a lot of smoke, but the blast shouldn't give you more than a bad bruise."

"Absolutely right, Erasure! But getting your legs bruised this late in the game could very easily lose one the match regardless of their lead! And our lead currently has an army on his tail!"

Izuku bit his lips as he focused determinedly on the information past the headache pouring behind his eyes.

Bakugou and Todoroki weren't that far ahead of them, but a minefield wasn't exactly ideal.

In fact, minefields were kinda used to deal with armies.

Still, Izuku wasn't too concerned.

They had passed nearly everybody else save for the two in the lead. Save for those that didn't mind teaming up with their shadows, they had every other shadow with them.

Despite what it might've looked like, Izuku wasn't being idle and just coasting by on Revelry's hard work. The 'shadow army' wasn't truly sentient - not like Dark Shadow was. They weren't exactly puppets either, but something in between. It was actually pretty accurate to call them 'shadows' of their former selves.

Left alone, they would follow whatever it was that they were doing last, like an echo. So, they needed direction.

By himself, Revelry could have handled… Maybe thirteen shadows with ease, and for a prolonged period of time.

And there were a lot more than thirteen students attending the Sport's Festival.

Revelry took on some, but he also had to worry about the race. So, through his connection to Revelry, Izuku took charge of the majority of the shadows.

If the people they came from were alright with teaming up, Izuku instructed the shadows to work with them. Otherwise, he had them follow, giving instructions to a single shadow when needed.

It was working, but juggling all those connections while experiencing the constant pressure of the crowd's emotions was…

Izuku winced as his headache spiked for a moment.

… Draining.

Izuku shrugged away the pain as best as he could. He couldn't afford to worry about that. Not when they needed a plan to get past this next obstacle.

Getting over The Fall had been a stroke of luck. While Izuku could figure out a shadow's quirk through their connection, there were a lot of connections to go through. Thankfully, he had been able to skip some of that since he already knew most of the quirks in the Hero Course, and he was able to come up with a plan to cross it.

The minefield should just be another instance of that.

The shadow's quirks might be weaker, but with the number of shadows there was quite the arsenal to choose from. If he had a moment, he was sure he could…

Izuku was dragged out of his thoughts when Revelry gave a dark chuckle.

"The Revelry is near its end, Viceroy." The Champion drawled. "A party should be planned, but to do so when that party is past its zenith is not that time."

Izuku frowned. "W-we need to figure out a way past the minefield without wasting too much time, Revelry." He argued. Kachaan and Todoroki were just right there, and thanks to Revelry and Izuku most of the group was close behind them.

Gently, Izuku felt Revelry take control of all of the shadows Izuku had been piloting. "I have." He said proudly.

"R-really?!" Izuku looked up at Revelry in surprise. Not that he should be. His Champions were just as intelligent as they were before, so it was perfectly natural for them to…

"Of course. If the revelry is to end, then let it be on our terms! And our terms?"

With a gesture, the army of shadows surged forth. The two in the lead were one with a shiny, metallic black shine while the one next to him was Kirishima's shadow, with a rough and rocky dark look to him.

Wait…

It took all of two seconds to realize what this was. "W-what?! No s-stop!"

Izuku tried to stop them, but Revelry simply retook control.

"Our terms shall be that this banquet of chaos shall end in a tidal wave of shadows and madness!" Revelry declared, just as the explosions started.

Bakugou's POV

Bakugou figured something was going wrong pretty quickly. Honestly, it would've been hard not too, with the amount of explosions occurring behind him. As it was, it just spurred himself on, as he had enough to worry about with Half-and-Half.

Then the friggin' cloud of smoke overtook them, followed by a cacophony of explosions around them. He felt, more than saw, figures heedlessly running past him, and though he tried to blast them, it sounded like they got caught in explosions of their own.

Bakugou was more or less used to explosions, having had to deal with his own for years. But being used to it didn't mean he wasn't affected.

Bakugou was sent tumbling across the ground, which caused him to set off a couple more landmines, which naturally then threw him in a different direction… It was a humiliating cycle. After being disoriented by the multiple blasts he managed to counter his momentum with his own explosions. His ears were ringing, and the stupid smoke made it damn near impossible to see farther than his hands.

So when he saw another figure in the smoke, he instinctively blasted it. Not an actual attack - he wasn't stupid - but one of his stunning explosions. More light and sound than anything else.

"LOOK OUT!"

It was two people, Bakugou realized. Two people riding something. But any satisfaction he felt vanished at the sight of the second person shoving the first off the creature's back, ensuring he took the blast instead of the first.

"Deku!" Bakugou snarled angrily.

Whatever it was that Deku was riding completely fell apart against the light, causing Deku to fall and hit the ground.

The fact that Deku was all the way up here, trying to compete with him, made his blood boil.

It was ridiculous. Worse than a pebble, Deku was a pebble whose purpose was to have other pebbles be on top of him. All Deku could do was 'support'. And if people needed his help, then they clearly weren't cut out to be a hero to begin with! Deku was just cheating by riding on the shoulders of others!

Having taken Bakugou's flash bang and the fall had left Deku on his knees blinking black spots out of his eyes, but his view was cut as a dark figure stepped in front of him and pushed Deku back. Said dark figure glared at Bakugou before raising their hands, causing the area to grow even darker than it was, and he lost sight of Deku completely.

Bakugou tsked, but didn't bother going after him. He had better things to do than waste his time.

Like figuring out which direction the finish line was.

Before Bakugou could make a decision, the shadow guy (probably the bird headed student from their class) charged in a direction, causing Bakugou to snarl once more. "Stay out of my way!" Before charging ahead again.

Unfortunately, the shadow neatly dodged, and was suddenly keeping pace with him.

"We share a link, Viceroy and I." The stupid shadow said calmly while keeping pace. "Foolish as it was to shove aside one who has sworn to defend him, you attacked him." An undercurrent of anger filled the shadow guy's voice before it vanished. "More than that, never before would we have expected such a confliction of feelings at him seeing you. The fear and resignation foremost of all." Yellow eyes bore into his own. "Might you have an explanation for such?"

Stupid little… "None of your business bird brain!" Bakugou growled, blasting an explosion in his direction that didn't seem to faze him.

Oh, it tore the shadows apart, but they quickly reformed.

The shadow chuckled darkly before lashing out with his scythe, forcing Bakugou to dodge. "So long as our contract stands, I say it is."

"Then you shoulda signed a different contract!" Bakugou angrily shot back.

"On the contrary, this one has been quite satisfactory."

Bakugou scoffed, "Yeah, you're showing everybody that you need help to get this far. Your strength ain't even genuine!"

Seriously, did this idiot want to die or something?!

"We've shown we're willing to sacrifice to help another. We've shown we are willing to team up and work under another." The shadow creep stated. "We've shown that we can make judgment calls in the heat of the moment." Those glaring eyes stared at him a little more before giving a shrug. "Ah, but the time for talk is over."

"What the freak are you talkin' about?!" He snarled before the shadow faded away, along with the darkness.

Just in time for him to avoid running straight into another student.

Bakugou stumbled for a moment as he looked around in confusion, the horrifying realization quickly dawning on him.

That… That shadow freak he had followed had run in the wrong freakin' direction!

The fading form of the Shadow gave an evil chuckle, "Others may stumble in darkness, yet there we thrive." He gestured to the smoke. "By the curse of the noonday sun we can't show our true power, but under cover, we regain a fraction."

Bakugou felt his blood boil at the deception, but what truly set him off was the sight of Deku, in the distance, about to cross the finish line. Along with what looked like another shadow guy next to him.

He also noted distantly that Half-and-Half seemed to be similarly confused, a column of dark ice in front of him, as if he had sent off a blast that was countered.

But none of that mattered.

"DEKU DON'T YOU DARE!" Bakugou's next explosions matched his fury, the ground cratering as he propelled himself faster than he had ever attempted before.

But it was too late. No matter how fast he was, he was too far. There was nothing he could do as fireworks went off as their loudmouth teacher began shouting praise over the loudspeaker.

He completely ignored the fading shadows behind him.

"Inside the hearts of men, we see their darkness beckoning. We've seen inside Viceroy, and we see a friend in need. Be careful Bakugou Katsuki - darkness is always present. The revelry in the dark is always willing to start up again." The form intoned before vanishing entirely.

Izuku's POV

Izuku shuddered as he heard the thunderous explosions. That, combined with the look and feel of Kacchan's rage, sent his heart into overdrive.

Kacchan was going to be absolutely furious…

Izuku was still half blind, his ears were ringing, his head was pounding, his heart was racing from lingering panic, and it was all he could do to force himself onward.

"Just a little bit farther, Viceroy," Revelry encouraged besides him.

The Champion had made a shade, or something, to trick Kacchan. Between that and light, he couldn't reform the shadows into a horse again, so he was running alongside Izuku, pushing him forward.

The finish line was right there, so close…

Fireworks went off as he crossed the finish line back into the stadium, and the crowd went ballistic at his arrival.

"We have a WINNER! It's Izuku Midoriya of Class 1-A!"

Izuku paused as he took in Present Mic's words. He… He actually won. He almost couldn't believe it. He won!

Izuku couldn't believe it, even as Midnight took his hand and raised it to the sky, causing the crowd to go wild. His head was pounding, his heart was about to leap out of his chest, and his legs felt like jelly, but he won!

"And here we've got our next contestants fast approaching! Third place belongs to… Momo Yaoyorozu! "

The sound of an engine roared through the tunnel, and Izuku looked just in time to see Momo and her fading shadow ride through on some kind of mechanical/shadow vehicle and stopped right in front of Izuku.

"And let's not forget fourth and fifth place!" Present Mic exclaimed. "They've arrived hot on Yaoyorozu's heels! Shoutout Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugou!"

The crowd cheered for as the two came through, but both clearly ignored it as they settled on glaring at Izuku.

That, uh, was a lot of anger the two of them were emitting…

"Hmmm, those two look distinctly unhappy." Revelry said with far more pleasure than the situation warranted.

Izuku turned as Momo placed a hand on his shoulder and gave a smile. "Congratulations, and thank you for the assist." She gestured towards her shadow before giving him a concerned look. "But are you alright? You don't look good."

"O-oh! I'm fi-"

"He has a headache, and his sight is still recovering. Surprisingly, he doesn't have any scrapes or sprains, but he did land on a wing wrong -"

"R-revelry!" Izuku yelped, looking at the Champion in betrayal as it chuckled.

"I say merely what I see." He replied smugly. "However, on that note, I believe our part in this party is over."

"Ah, right!" Izuku drew back on the power, feeling it drain from Revelry until a butterfly formed, and Tokoyami and Dark Shadow came into view once more.

Tokoyami shook his head back and forth. "That was… An experience." He admitted in a slightly dazed voice. "Though not an unpleasant one."

"Are you alright?" Izuku asked worriedly. "I know coming out of it can be a little disorienting."

"I am fine." Tokoyami assured him. "But for this next part, I feel that it would be better for us to not team up if we truly wish to prove ourselves."

"Noooo!" All three of them jumped as Dark Shadow flew out. "Let's do it again Fumi! That was amazing!"

"Dark Shadow! Control yourself!" Tokoyami barked, looking embarrassed as he pulled back at Dark Shadow.

"Don't wanna!"

Izuku and Momo watched in bemusement for a bit before Momo put her hand back on his shoulder.

"You still need to relax before the next section." She told him with a stern look as she gently pushed him towards one of the walls of the stadium.

Ah. Right.

The moment they made it to the wall he made a small show of leaning against it, his back to the crowd while Momo stood at his side.

"Wings fall," Izuku whispered, the butterflies and Momo doing what they could to shield Nooroo from view before he flew forward and phased through the wall.

This was risky. Like, really really risky. They were literally in front of thousands of people. This was one of the reasons he hadn't planned on making anybody a Champion initially - Nooroo would need to recharge.

Still, even though he hadn't planned on making a Champion, he and Momo had come up with a plan just in case. And he was grateful they had now.

This particular section was right below the stands where Class 1-A would sit for the third round spars. That meant nobody would be in them now, so there was nobody that could just look down and see Nooroo. Izuku and Momo had also put bags of snacks in the stands beforehand, so Nooroo could recharge. And students were still coming in, so most attention would be on them, while the few that tried to focus on him would have their view obstructed by either his butterflies or Momo.

As Izuku de-transformed, he felt the emotions of the crowd dull slightly, and he sighed at the small amount of relief that brought.

Thankfully, as some of the first people to arrive, he and Momo had plenty of time to relax as they waited for the rest of the students to arrive. For those that gave up mid race, another teacher had to go and collect them before they could start the next round.

"Congratulations on making first place by the way, Izuku." Momo told him with a smile. "I told you that you had nothing to worry about."

Izuku immediately shook his head, "t-thanks, but it was mostly Tokoyami. I would never have been able to do it without his help."

"Does that make it less of an achievement?" Momo gave him a look. "I would not have made third place had you not left my shadow behind to help. Do you think less of me?"

"Well, no." Izuku admitted, "b-but your shadow was just a lesser version of you, so any action performed by the shadow is something you could have done. A-and the two of you looked really cool out there!"

Momo blushed at the praise, but then gave him the flattest look she could manage.

… Ok, Momo had to have practiced that look, and he really didn't feel he deserved to be at the receiving end of it.

Several minutes later

By the time everybody was ready for the next round and he had reunited with Nooroo, it still felt like too short a break, but he felt better.

"Is everybody ready!" Midnight called out to the students. "Great! Then let's look at the final results of the first round!"

Izuku quickly glanced through the list, not surprised to see that almost everybody in the Hero Course had made it. But there were a number of names he didn't recognize as well.

He flinched when he saw the look of one of the General Course students - the one that got him at the beginning of the race actually (a trance or possession type quirk?). He was currently glaring at Izuku.

Well, he could get in line. Kachaan and Todoroki were also glaring at him, and their glares were more impressive.

"And with these rankings decided, it's time for the next round!" Midnight declared as the word wheel spun once more.

Eventually, the words stopped spinning at 'Human Cavalry Battle'.

As everybody began talking, Izuku breathed a sigh of relief.

He and Momo had been pretty sure it would be a team-based event for the second round, but it was nice to get confirmation.

"Pay attention!" Midnight regained everybody's attention as she snapped her whip. "As I was saying, you'll each form teams of at least two, and up to four. With that team, you'll form your own team configurations. After that, it's the same rule as any other cavalry battle - you'll steal each other's headband to score points!" She grinned, "now, as to how the points are to be determined? They'll be based on your rankings from the previous round! Forty-second will be worth five points. Forty-first will be worth ten points, and so forth."

Izuku quickly did the math in his head. At first place, that should place him with a comfortable two-hundred and ten points.

It was a hefty amount.

Midnight's grin turned dangerous, and Izuku had a sudden premonition as he felt his stomach drop.

"Now, I'm sure everybody is already thinking of how much they'll need based on their current points. But before you do that, I need to tell you that things are going to be a little different for our lucky boy in first place." She smirked evilly at Izuku. "Unlike everybody else, he'll be worth ten million points."

Izuku blinked, his mind freezing at that information.

"Crap…"

All for One's POV

Ah. The Sport's Festival. Some of the greatest opportunities for window shopping All-For-One had nowadays.

The beeping of his medical equipment droned on in the background as he listened to the results of the first round. He might not be able to 'see', but with audio and the right technopath quirks, he could make do.

All-For-One always thought it was amusing when one staff member or another tried to push for UA to not broadcast the event. As if that would actually do anything. He had a comprehensive list of every student and their quirk already. Had it before the entrance exam even.

If the Sport's Festival was 'window shopping', then social media was an online catalog. Children loved to talk about themselves and their abilities. And making it into such a 'prestigious' place such as UA., well, naturally that was something to brag about.

If not them, then their friends. Or the proud parents. Or even the school itself. One way or another, it was posted on the internet somewhere. And if it was on the internet, it could be collected.

Not that All-For-One actually spent any of his time doing so. Of course not. That's what he paid other people to do.

It was a shame he was only allowed to look and not touch, as this year's batch provided quite the collection. But he had a schedule to keep, and he couldn't be THAT direct with UA yet.

After All-Might died and society collapsed, then he could take to his heart's content. Until then, he would have to settle for making a list for the future.

Still, wasn't a part of the joy of window shopping simply seeing what was available?

First and foremost on his list was Brainwash. While the current user had kept a low profile during the first round, All-For-One knew enough to know how valuable it was. And its current wielder was oh so bitter… Why, in those cases, it was practically a good deed for him to relinquish them of their quirk.

Explosion was delightfully violent. As violent as its current user if he were to guess. If it were to be combined with some otherwise worthless quirks in his arsenal, it could be truly devastating.

Then there was Acid. A little diamond in the rough. Did she even understand the implications of her own ability? Her body's mutations that allowed her to withstand her own acid would be a headache to work around, but not impossible.

Hmmm, what sort of combination would Acid and Explosion give? If they were to use the girl's body as the base for a nomu she would keep her body's natural mutations, and he could then add Explosion… with the addition of a few other quirks such as Hydrate, Profuse Sweat, and perhaps a mix of either Fire Control or Liquid Control…

All-For-One caught himself before he began planning in earnest, giving a slight chuckle as he shook his head.

The perils of window shopping. If he let himself, he could get carried away and might actually decide that the risk was worth breaking from the plan.

Hmmm, what else…

The Sentient Shadow was worth studying, but he was hesitant to see how it would interact with his own quirk. Would it have access to his stockpile? If so, could he guarantee it would be friendly to him? No, far better to give to the doctor for research.

The Butterfly quirk that was used on the Sentient Shadow… That was very intriguing. An enhancement quirk of some kind? Kurogiri's report on the U.S.J failed to mention that. Did the child not use it there? Was there a limit on when he could use it? Was an appropriate connection required between the two individuals? Perhaps the USJ was too early in the school year and the child hadn't had enough time to form a bond in order to use it.

Or perhaps it was used… An image of a dragon filled his mind.

He'd need to ask Ghiran to uncover more on that one.

And then, of course, there was the Creation user…

A delightful quirk. It was a shame he'd already decided it wasn't worth his time.

The problem was that while it was powerful, it required years of practice and study to make it useful.

All-For-One hadn't studied molecular structures in two hundred years, and he had no desire to relearn it. He already had multiple quirks like that; powerful, but only with the appropriate knowledge. Plus, his health was already precarious enough, he didn't need to keep track of his fat reserves.

It was equally useless for nomu as well, seeing as they were literally brain-dead. Perhaps in the future, if the Doctor was successful in making intelligent nomu… A very intelligent nomu…

Ah, but that was neither here nor there.

The only reason he was giving her any sort of consideration now was Tomura's reaction to her previously. Yet there didn't seem to be anything unusual about her…

All-For-One's musings were interrupted at the announcement of the second round, and he focused once more.

He did hope that Tomura was enjoying the show as much as he was.

Shigaraki's POV

"… Thus concludes part seventeen of my dissertation on how cheese has both shaped and saved the world." The little black menace declared proudly to the empty bar. "And now, for a short recess."

"Finally," Shigaraki growled as the cat Kwami flew away somewhere upstairs. He didn't know where, and he didn't care.

"May I ask why you haven't ordered him to be silent?" Kurogiri asked tiredly, carefully laying a glass on the bar.

"You think I don't want to?!" Shigaraki snapped, fingers scratching deep into his arm. "I know how this goes. I do that, he'll find some other way to vent, and he'll find a way to make it worse! At least this way we know how he's trying to irritate us."

In a battle of escalation he would win he was sure, but Plagg could make them suffer for that win… So he'd let the cretin have his small acts of rebellion.

It definitely didn't have anything to do with the memory of the time he'd actually managed to provoke the little demon. After the whole USJ debacle. Absolutely not.

Kurogiri sighed, "Very well."

Shigaraki glanced at the TV and saw that girl again. The one that applied the berserk debuff on him during their failed raid. She was talking with the stupid fairy-type.

He was angry - livid actually. The mere sight of her reminded him of that abysmal failure. But it wasn't the out of control rage that he felt before. Why not?

"And now, I shall now discuss one of the more controversial topics that we face in today's world." Plagg suddenly declared as he flew back into the room. "Which cheese is the best?"

Shigaraki's head slammed onto the table.

Chapter Text

"Unlike everybody else, first place will be worth ten million points."

Izuku stood there blankly for a moment.

Ten million points? Like, one million, but ten times?!

Izuku was already feeling the strain from the previous round, along with the ever present emotions of the crowd. Becoming the focal point of dozens of contestants nearly brought him to his knees.

If it hadn't been for Momo's hand on his back, he probably would have fainted.

"That's right!" Midnight cheered, her whip cracking and bringing Izuku out of his daze. "It's an enticing score, isn't it? Round two is where those at the bottom unite to chase after the ones on top!"

Izuku gulped, the pressure from everybody's stares increasing slightly. Surprisingly, it wasn't all hostile - there were several considering looks as well.

"You'll have fifteen minutes to make a team!" Midnight instructed. "Remember, losing your headband is not a disqualification! You'll still be in the game till the time is up, so don't ever give up!"

Ok, Izuku breathed a little easier at that. It not being an instant loss was good.

Maybe he could barter his headband with somebody else? It wasn't like they needed to get first place, right?

Maybe Kacchan? He liked competition, so…

Izuku glanced over and shuddered at the feral look the blonde was giving him.

Uh, nope. Deep survival instincts were telling him that wouldn't work.

"Quirks are allowed," Midnight went on. "However, if I see anything malicious you'll be disqualified immediately! Only the top four teams will be moving on to the final round, so do your best!" She stood on the stage watching the students for a couple seconds. "Well? What are you waiting for?!" She looked at them disapprovingly. "You're all on the clock! Start forming teams!"

This time, the moment Midnight finished students began grouping together, heading for their classmates and friends.

Izuku was happy to see Tokoyami immediately snatched up - sure, it probably happened so he couldn't team up with Izuku again, but still. At least the other student (and maybe new friend?) was getting some appreciation.

Even if Dark Shadow kept looking at him longingly.

However, the majority of people were avoiding his gaze. And he couldn't truly blame them - for those that didn't know him, it was safer to trust their friends. For those that did know him, they'd want to prove themselves on their own terms.

The addition of being the biggest target was an extra deterrent.

Speaking of…

Izuku turned and looked at Momo, who was observing the other teams forming. "M-Momo, are you sure you still want to team up?"

Momo looked startled at the question. "Of course, we are partners, aren't we?" He felt a stab of uncertainty from her. "Unless you wish to separate? I admit, I just assumed after our hypothesis regarding the second round that we would work together, but - "

"No no no, I'm totally fine with it!" Izuku hastily assured her, overjoyed and relieved beyond belief.

The two of them had known the second round would be team-based in some way, but he hadn't dared to assume.

"Then we shall." Momo beamed at him. "I admit, becoming a target this early wasn't exactly expected. But if worse comes to worse we could toss it aside as a distraction while we steal some others."

Izuku found himself calming down.

That's it, he needed to do something nice for Momo. He had no idea what, but for putting up with him and everything she'd done for him, she deserved it.

"Hey guys!" The two turned to see Uraraka jogging over to them with a bright smile. "Got room for another?"

"Uraraka!" Izuku exclaimed, feeling a surge of relief, "A-are you sure? We're going to be the target of everybody here…"

Uraraka gave him a strange look. "Between you and Yoayorozu, I think I'll be fine." She assured him. "Besides, it's always better to team up with your friends, right?"

Izuku had to hold back a few tears. Who could have known that having friends was so nice?

That meant they just needed one more person.

Tokoyami was out.

"Team up with me first place!"

"Gah!"

The sudden declaration behind him, followed by the wave of sheer emotion, caused Izuku to leap backwards with a yelp.

A girl. Pink hair, goggles. Manic expression.

It also looked a tad familiar…

"Y-you were at the beach cleanup." Izuku realized, remembering a girl that Power-Loader Sensei had had to monitor almost the entire time.

"Yep! That's me! I was able to make so many babies from all of that!" The girl gushed.

Izuku's brain promptly blue-screened.

"My name is Mei Hatsume, from the support department!" She introduced herself enthusiastically. "Everybody's gonna be looking at first place, right?! I need you so people can see my babies!"

"I-I-I-what?" Izuku's brain attempted to reboot, and failed. "B-b-babies? W-what do you mean?!"

"My babies!" Mei repeated cheerfully. "I've been working on them for weeks! And all the material I got from your project was a huge boost! All the big support companies are gonna be watching, and now's the perfect time for me to show them off!"

Wait, taking away the words themselves, it sounded like she was talking about -

"Excuse me, Hatsume?" Momo interjected, pulling Izuku back from the girl, giving him a chance to breathe. "Are you… talking about your inventions?"

"Naturally!" The girl beamed. "If everybody is looking at your team, then your team is where I want to be!"

Ok, good, good. The world made sense once more.

"Of course, in return for the publicity, you guys get to use my stuff! As a support student, I'm able to use any and all of my babies for the events - take a look!"

Hatsume began bringing out various pieces of equipment, with Momo and Uraraka asking a few questions regarding her inventions - they did look fascinating - but Izuku got caught looking at her emotions.

First off, was the love and affection she had for her inventions. The pride she felt as she described each one (and oh my gosh, was that Air Jet's jetpack?!) was unmistakable.

Then there was excitement and desire, combined with an overwhelming determination that he was kinda in awe over, as well as joy.

He couldn't detect any fear or anxiety amongst the bright emotions. No darkness or shades indicating she was hiding anything.

Mei Hatsume… Was exactly how she presented herself. What you saw is what you got. Already, his butterflies were dancing around her in eager anticipation, luxuriating in the emotions being broadcasted.

"Excuse me, Hatsume?" Izuku asked hesitantly, interrupting the other's explanation, "are you aware of what my quirk does?"

Mei looked at him blankly. "Does it really matter?" She asked blandly.

That… Huh. That was probably the first time he had ever heard somebody say that in regards to quirks.

Hesitating briefly, Izuku glanced at Momo and Uraraka to make sure they were alright with this, before turning back to the pink haired engineer.

"Kind of," Izuku answered, reaching out and letting a butterfly land on his hand.

This part, this sensation, never ceased to amaze Izuku. He and Nooroo provided the energy, but it was a person's emotions that were the catalyst. It was difficult to explain to somebody who hadn't experienced it before. and in a few moments he was presenting the butterfly to Hatsume.

"You want to show off your work." He murmured as Hatsume's eyes zoomed in and out on the butterfly, seemingly entranced by what she saw. "Hatsume, will you become my Champion?"

Her eyes zoomed in on his, burning curiosity clear on her face. "Yes."

The butterfly flew up to her goggles and melded with it, and Izuku breathed out slowly.

"Then let us show everybody the Pinnacle that technology can achieve."

Several minutes later

Present Mic's POV

"Five minutes in, and we're already seeing some interesting matchups amongst the contestants out there! And it looks like Team Midoriya is taking advantage of that time already!" Present Mic boomed excitedly from the announcers booth.

Oh man, he really wanted to comment more on just what they were doing - but it required a special balance to commentate on events like this.

You had to hype things up for both audience and contestants, give insightful commentary for all kids - not just crowd favorites - all while not spoiling the strategies of the contestants.

Yet as he remarked on some of the other teams, he found his gaze continually drifting to Team Midoriya.

Observing the Hatsume girl as she emerged from the smoke, cackling like a villain, Present Mic hadn't been sure what to think.

Unlike Tokoyami and his shadow, Hatsume had had a far less drastic change. Visually, she still looked like herself, just with her hair done differently and a costume change.

Instead of the UA uniform, she sported a well-worn leather jacket and vest. Goggles that he vaguely remembered her having remained the same, and her hair was brought back into a ponytail. A variety of belts and buckles carrying tools wrapped across the ensemble.

Oh yeah, and was it just him or was her entire right arm robotic now?!

But most concerning was probably how she practically sparked with electricity.

After a moment of Midoriya talking with Yaoyorozu, the girl began to produce items. Items that, as soon as they formed, Hatsume's electricity would spark to, where it would then be dismantled, or reform somewhat. The pieces were flying around Hatsume in a chaotic swirl, connecting and forming by themselves.

And it wasn't just items from Yaoyorozu - Hatsume had brought quite a few support equipment with her, and then there was Yaoyorozu's shadow-cycle monstrosity from the previous round. They, too, were disassembling and reassembling at rapid speeds.

A technomancer, his mind supplied.

It was a good system.

The boosted Hatsume, thanks to Midoriya, had a bountiful amount of equipment to draw upon. Yaoyorozu would then provide what they didn't have, and Hatsume made use of her own knowledge from the support class. This actually covered Yaoyorozu's weakness of having to know exactly what it was she was creating. With the inclusion of Uraraka, he felt he had a pretty good grasp of what their strategy would be.

"Can we get a comment on what you think your students are up to, Eraserhead?" Present Mic asked cheerfully before blinking and looking beside him.

At the empty seat.

"Eraserhead? Where... Eraserhead! What are you doing down there? You can't commentate like that!"

A grunt came out of Erasurehead's iconic sleeping bag currently under the desk. "Shut up. If I can't see the BS that's about to happen, it might not actually be happening. I blame Powerloader's student."

Their radio crackled to life.

"Eraserhead! What the heck has your student done to my student?!"

A hand snaked out and turned the radio off.

"As I was saying, it's Powerloader's fault."

Todoroki's POV

Todoroki had frowned when Yaoyorozu had joined Midoriya's team.

Not that it was unexpected, what with them having become both friends and class president and vice-president, but he was disappointed all the same.

Both she and Midoriya had quirks that were extremely versatile. Yaoyorozu could create something for any situation, while Midoriya could change somebody to fit any situation.

Honestly, the fact that Midoriya hadn't chosen either Uraraka or Tokoyami was relieving and worrisome. During their first Battle class, Uraraka had shown she could lift entire buildings under Izuku's influence, while Tokoyami had become a terrifying… thing.

Either one would have been a powerful ally in this particular bout.

Yet Midoriya had chosen somebody unknown.

Why?

Todoroki sighed to himself. He wanted those 10 million points, but he was smart enough to know when to play it safe.

"We'll pick off the other teams while everybody is focused on first place." He informed his teammates. Iida and Aoyama both nodded, while Kaminari looked confused.

"We're not aiming for first?" The electricity user asked.

"The most important thing is to pass the round." Todoroki replied firmly. He was willing to lose the battle in order to win the war. "If we see an opportunity to take them, we'll address it then, but they are a lower priority."

Kaminari shrugged. "If you say so, but I think they messed it up this time." He snickered as he looked at the group.

Team Midoriya were currently standing in a boat.

It looked like a stereotypical, old-fashioned sailing boat, though Todoroki would admit he was hardly the most knowledgeable on that topic.

It wasn't large, but it still fit them comfortably. It looked to be made entirely out of metal, gears seen through certain areas along the hull, a single mast in the center.

The unknown student stood in the back with some kind of interface, still cackling every once in a while. The other three stood in various places on the boat

It was impressive, but he couldn't see how it would help them this round.

"I mean, sure, they're gonna have some trick or other, that's obvious, but they can't expect to hold off everybody with that, can they?" Kaminari asked with a raised eyebrow. "I get that he's been impressive so far, but it's not like Midoriya makes somebody invincible or anything."

While Todoroki would admit that was true, he could clearly see the other support students in the stands. They appear to have gathered together and were observing everything behind a series of riot shields.

Their caution put Todoroki on edge.

Iida rubbed his chin, "Perhaps, but it is clear that they had some idea they were going for," he replied stiffly, but with a degree of hesitance.

"Oui, but perhaps they attempted to sparkle too much and burnt out?" Aoyama asked with a small pose. "Despite the similarité to iconique figures, they are not them, non? We are all still students."

Similarity?

Iida and Kaminari shot Aoyama identical confused looks, but Todoroki ignored it. That wasn't important.

"We can't get tunnel vision and lose out on getting other points. People will be after us as well." Todoroki shot down before looking at the other team once more.

"Looks like our time is up!" Present Mic shouted. "And man, I sure see some interesting teams, don't you Eraserhead?"

"Hmph."

Todoroki shook his head. "Alright, get ready." He warned them as he let himself be carried on their shoulders.

"Alright! With that affirmation, let's begin the countdown!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

"Start!" Midnight called out, cracking her whip.

Predictably, as one, every team turned and charged towards Midoriya's team in their land bound 'boat'.

At the same time, Midoriya's team made their move.

It started with a low humming sound, the bottom of the boat beginning to glow was the only warning.

A large burst of air exploded out from the ship, large thrusters lining the bottom lifted the boat into the air. Sails unfurled and sparkled in some kind of interface pattern in the sun, tendrils of electricity flowing down the mast into the ship proper. Meanwhile, multiple gears shifted and whirled, bringing several guns into view.

It was an intimidating sight, as well as impressive.

"You think you can stand up to my babies?" A voice called down, echoing across the arena as everybody stood in shock at the sight.

The unknown pink haired girl stood up to the bow, hands on her hips as she smirked at them all. "You think you stand at the top? Then come!" She spread out her arms, "Test your mettle against the true Pinnacle!"

"DEKU!"

The predictable insult came at the heels of a powerful explosion.

Todoroki wasn't sure what beef Bakugou had against Midoriya. Didn't care, really. But the blonde was usually content to keep it to glares and snarls.

Now though, Bakugou was being more proactive as he blasted his way skyward, his explosions carrying him up towards the ship in an impressive display of control and strength.

The blonde hurled himself towards the ship at breakneck speeds…

Only for Yoayorozu to fire one of the deck guns at him.

It wasn't a rubber bullet, like Todoroki expected. Instead, it was a baseball sized lump of something. Right before the projectiles hit him, Bakugou threw a hand out, an explosion meeting whatever it was.

The projectiles broke apart, promptly splattering all over Bakugou like foam. Said foam then rapidly expanded and hardened, covering over large portions of the blonde's body.

Suddenly unable to create any explosions, Bakugou was unable to do anything as a net flew at him from the boat…

Until Sero's tape caught him and yanked him back.

"Gelifoam Lattice Organism Obstructor, or GLOO!" The pink haired girl shouted cheerfully despite Bakugou being saved. "Quick hardening flame retardant glue that expands as it hardens! Perfect for restraining suspects and putting out flame or electrical hazards!"

Todoroki watched as the girl began to describe the various features of the boat and its weaponry.

This… Would be interesting.

The air quickly filled with projectiles and explosions.

Izuku's POV

You would think that showing a strong approach would manage to dissuade people.

N-not everybody! But if there was a duel between two fighters, and the first guy absolutely destroyed their first opponent, it should make everybody else hesitate, right?

It was why Momo had instructed Pinnacle to say what she did. She stated that somebody (and Izuku just knew that it would be Kacchan) would take the bait and seeing somebody taken out that quickly should make others wary and give them some breathing room.

Izuku ducked down just in time to dodge another projectile.

Wrong.

It made them more determined.

He supposed that that's what they get when the motto of their school is 'Plus Ultra'.

"Two teams, Tsurburaba and Shishida, coming up on the back starboard side!" Izuku called out as he refilled his gun and fired haphazardly.

Tsurburaba, who was creating platforms with which to get to the airship, quickly made a barrier to catch the expanding foam.

The ship shuddered, and Uraraka turned slightly green. "Kendo's throwing rocks on this side!" She called out weakly.

"On it!" Pinnacle called back cheerfully as she spun a wheel. With a deep thrum, the ship shot over the groups to the other side of the arena and away from the pocket of Class 1-B teams.

Avoidance was the better part of valor at the moment. They didn't need more points - they just needed to defend what they had.

Which was getting considerably more difficult.

Quirks were flying left and right in an attempt to hit the airborne ship. Lasers, explosions, boulders, scrap, and even body parts flew across the arena.

Uraraka was using her quirk to negate the ship's weight, giving them vital maneuverability while also doing her best to keep an eye out. But even with the anti-nausea pills Momo had given her, she was clearly flagging.

Meanwhile, he and Momo were on protection duty, shooting down or pushing back threats and airborne projectiles.

And in the midst of it all, Pinnacle guided the ship with maniacal glee, keeping them moving while dodging threats, her thoughts a constant buzz in Izuku's mind.

Each time Izuku made a Champion the experience proved different. Each time, it was so… Unique. He couldn't properly describe it.

In Pinnacle's case, she was driven.

The previous Champions? It felt like he was walking alongside them. Despite their strength and the knowledge that they could overpower him at any time, they were working with him.

Pinnacle though?

Pinnacle's mind was charging ahead without any regard for him or anybody else, constantly straining at the leash as she dragged him along.

Where the others had been more or less willing to follow his lead (save for that suicidal shadow charge Revelry initiated) Pinnacle was constantly pushing what she could do.

Fun fact: while he knew he could read the thoughts of his Champions - and he could send them his thoughts - he didn't realize the Champion could read his if they tried hard enough.

Izuku could keep them out, but since they didn't have a choice in having him in their mind, it felt more… Fair? To keep it open. Right?

'Aw, thank you!' Pinnacle chirped in his thoughts, causing him to jump.

Izuku was brought back to the present when Momo grunted, bringing in a net over the rail.

"Got another hand." She said wearily, quickly tying the disembodied limb down next to another hand and leg they'd caught, along with the flock of birds Koda had sent. "Whoever this is, I hope they're running out of body parts."

"Unless they have high speed regeneration, probably." Izuku agreed as he focused past the mood of the crowd and on the most determined emotions… There! He quickly shot several shots at Jirou's team, and she and her team quickly retreated.

Mental note: see if UA provides gun lessons. They had Snipe as a teacher, so it had to be offered in some capacity, right?

'Oh! Oh! Invite me to that as well! I have so many ideas for gun-type babies that could be used for that!' Pinnacle thought enthusiastically.

"Looks like Shouji's going after others now," Uraraka called from her side. "Buncha teams still -" She was cut off by Pinnacle.

"Hold on!" Pinnacle exclaimed, barely giving them a chance to grab anything as the ship lurched and dodged several screws that had increased in size, a move that caused Uraraka to turn green. "Hah!"

Izuku breathed a quick sigh of relief. "H-how's everybody holding up?"

Uraraka managed a shaky thumbs up. Pinnacle didn't say anything, but he heard her mental acknowledgment given with a cheerful tune. Momo gave a frown. "We're running low on ammo, and I'm worried that Todoroki hasn't made his move yet."

"Y-yeah, and Kacchan hasn't come back since that first attempt." Izuku but his lip worriedly.

He had actually been expecting Todoroki to attack straight away. Instead, it seemed he was playing the long game. Which was, admittedly, smart. More nerve wracking for them though.

Uraraka groaned. "Maybe they're content with second and third place?" She suggested hopefully.

Izuku pursed his lips and didn't reply. Based on her emotions, not even Uraraka believed her words.

"We just need to hold out for a little while longer." Izuku said determinedly. "We're getting tired, but so is everybody else."

It was a battle of attrition.

An emotion suddenly tickled the edge of Izuku's senses. One directed at them. Anticipation.

Izuku's eyes widened. "Pull up! Pull up now! Hurry!"

There was a familiar rumble, and suddenly a mountain of ice erupted in the arena. It reached up and, to his shock, actually managed to encompass a portion of their ship, enough for both him and Momo to yelp and leap away from the sudden ice on the sides.

… Todoroki really was impressive, wasn't he?

"We're stuck!" Pinnacle called out, brow furrowed as he sensed the flurry of thoughts and calculations. "Rerouting power to heating units… At its current level, we can't break free without breaking the hull."

"Can we break the ice?" Izuku quickly looked over the edge.

"Sure!" Pinnacle chirped after thinking about it for a second. "But at the current structural integrity, the explosion needed would damage the ship."

Izuku abruptly coughed. Explosion?!

"L-let's avoid that." He quickly told her as he looked around desperately. "W-we don't want to hurt anybody."

"Then it'll take a while for the anti-ice protocol to melt enough to do it safely." She responded promptly.

To his surprise, Todoroki wasn't taking advantage of their sudden immobilization despite clearly being the cause of it.

It took a second, but Izuku found him and his team moving away from the newly created iceberg.

Every team that was at risk of not qualifying (and a few that weren't) charged up the iceberg (and it was really unfair that Todoroki hadn't made it slippery or something).

'He wants to wear us down.' Izuku realized. Helping the other students reach them would allow him to see what else they had up their sleeves while simultaneously tiring them out. Todoroki would no doubt swoop in later to take the winner after they were all tired out.

Unfortunately, just because he had figured out Todoroki's strategy didn't mean he could do anything about it.

"Uraraka, release the ship but get ready to reapply it once we're free." Momo instructed, moving up next to Izuku.

"Remember, d-don't go all out!" Izuku added on.

He felt Pinnacle's distinct disappointment quite vividly at that, but held firm. There was too much time left, they couldn't afford to go all out now.

"Fine!" Pinnacle pouted dramatically, metallic arm shifting subtly before buzzing with energy. "Preparing to repel boarders!"

Izuku and Momo instantly began shooting, at both the teams and the slope itself, making it more difficult to traverse, even if it was only a stopgap.

Shishida was the first. In full beast form, he towered over everybody else. Rin, his only other teammate, was on his back smirking at them. "Is this where I tell you to walk the plank?" He asked slyly.

Shishida lunged forward at Izuku, only for Izuku to nimbly dodge, Uraraka dashing forward to slap his hand, making him weightless. Momo then grabbed his arm. Twisting her body, and with far more strength than the other team expected, the two went tumbling down the other side of the iceberg.

"Hiryu Rin has touched the ground! Team Rin is out!"

Next was Team Hagakure. "Sorry about this Momo!" Jiro called out, while Sato was shielding them with two large slabs of metal.

Up until Pinnacle dashed forward and slammed her fist into Sato's shields. Electricity jolted through the metal and traveled through the entire group, making it easy for Izuku and Momo to push them down the slope.

"Sorry Jiro," Momo called back with a wince.

This went on for a while, though after those first two teams were dealt with people were more wary, a couple even working together to try to catch them off guard.

After a few minutes of being besieged, the iceberg shuddered with a loud crack. Izuku looked over the edge into the ice below and blanched.

"Ibara's vines are digging through the ice!" He shouted in alarm. She had mentioned she could go through concrete, so it made sense she could go through ice...

"Really?" Pinnacle dashed over to her terminal and messed around with a few things, eventually pulling a lever with a cackle. "Perfect! Deploying depth charge!"

… Wait, deploying WHAT?!

There was a loud kerchunk! And a cylindrical object fell through a portion of the ship that wasn't frozen. A few seconds later, and a loud concussive blast shook not only the iceberg and ship, but the entire arena. Izuku felt his entire body vibrate with the force.

More importantly, the ice cracked. Already weakened by the heating ship, further so by the incoming vines, the rest of the ice collapsed, setting them free.

The entire ship dipped forward precariously, and Uraraka hastily slammed her hands against the ship itself, turning green from both the effort and the lurching from side to side as the ship stabilized. Everybody clutched the sides as best as they could until it finally smoothed out, and Izuku was able to breathe easier.

"Pinnacle." He called out weakly. "W-what did I just say about explosions?"

"To avoid it so people don't get hurt." The steampunk pilot promptly responded. "Which is why I calculated the charge precisely so the blast range wouldn't damage anybody!"

Ok, well, that was good, but…

"Still, d-don't use it anymore. J-just in case." Izuku bit his lip as his scattered mind thought of a rebuttal.

At least till another sound rang out that almost made him bite through his lip.

"DEKU!" Bakugou screamed, already in the air and on a direct course to clash with them. "You and your dumb nerd team are dead!"

"Heeey, why is he allowed to use explosions and not me?" Pinnacle pouted as the blonde picked up speed.

"Not now!" Izuku shouted in alarm as he brought his gun to bear. Both he and Momo did. This time, however, Bakugou was prepared. Instead of deflecting the foam he twisted and dodged, and neither Izuku or Momo were skilled enough to actually hit him.

Ok, Izuku was gonna demand lessons from Snipe, whether the hero had a class for it or not. This was just embarrassing.

"Hold on!" Pinnacle called as she twirled the wheel, thrusters blazing, but Izuku could already see that they weren't moving fast enough. Bakugou was smaller and lighter than their ship. Izuku could only watch as Bakugou swiftly closed the gap despite Pinnacle's efforts, about to grab the rail -

"Uraraka! Release!" Izuku shouted.

The girl gave him a baffled look, but still brought her fingers together and said the familiar phrase.

The ship dropped, along with Izuku's stomach.

Bakugou's momentum, fully prepared to meet resistance, sent him flying over them with a shocked look.

It wasn't a freefall - their thrusters were still working, and he could tell from his link to Pinnacle that this wouldn't crash them. But it was still an uncomfortable feeling, the entire ship groaning and straining as the thrusters surged, trying to compensate for the sudden reapplication of weight. Without Uraraka removing their gravity they were limited to about five feet off the ground.

Bakugou was caught by his team once more, and Uraraka collapsed on her knees with a groan. "S-sorry guys." She whimpered, holding her stomach. "I-I don't think I can do that again."

"It's alright, you did more than enough." Momo assured her, kneeling down to run her hand across her back for a second.

Izuku's attention was on Bakugou and his team, who had turned towards them once more. Yet before they could charge at them again his own headband was yanked off telekinetically.

Monomo from Class 1-B casually caught the points, giving Bakugou a smug smirk. They were too far away for Izuku to hear him, but it was clearly a taunt of some sort. As they began to run away, Monoma gave Izuku a quick wink.

Whatever was said was clearly effective, as Bakugou erupted. Izuku wasn't sure he had seen the other boy so angry as he demanded he chase the other team instead of Izuku.

… Having friends was so nice.

Izuku really needed to do something for his friends. Even if it was just speaking at their funeral. Which he might have to in Monoma's case.

… Wow, whatever Monomo said really pissed off Bakugou.

Izuku hoped they'd be able to keep Bakugou at bay long enough for the time to run out. Depending on what quirks Monomo had gathered, it was possible.

Still, that was one of the major obstacles out of their way. That just left -

"I'll be taking that headband now."

A surge of ice, smaller than before but no less effective, froze their airship once more.

Todoroki's team had arrived.

Present Mic's POV

"And after waiting practically the entire game, Team Todoroki is making their move!" Present Mic declared excitedly.

"They waited till their opponent was worn down by everybody else, and even assisted said opponents to ensure it happened." Aizawa observed with approval. "Time is running out, and teams are starting to flag from exhaustion. Now is the opportune time to strike."

"But Team Todoroki isn't the only one still going strong! Team Midoriya's weathered the assault this long, will they be able to continue? I'm at the edge of my seat!"

Momo's POV

"Will you stop freezing my ship?!" Pinnacle raged at the other team, her metallic arm sparking haphazardly even as the ship thankfully began heating up once more.

Momo breathed out slowly, watching Todoroki warily as she shifted away from the edge to the center and warmer part of the ship.

She had used a lot of her reserves helping Pinnacle create the ship, and even using every tip and trick Tikki had shown her, it was a lot. Then there was the exhaustion that came with fending everybody off this entire time…

Momo was feeling the strain. They all were,

"Todoroki, you have enough points to pass already." Momo called out to the other team, doing her best to force any nervousness out of her voice. "You don't need to do this."

Something flickered in Todoroki's eyes, but didn't answer.

This was… unfortunate.

Of all students, it wasn't an exaggeration to say Momo dreaded the idea of facing off against him.

Ever since she had accepted Tikki, her perception of temperatures had shifted, Chilly weather became miserable, while snow was something to dread. Momo didn't even want to consider what it felt like to be covered in ice.

Still, if you knew something was inevitable, that meant you could prepare for it.

Momo swallowed, "Izuku? I think it's about time to go all out."

Between herself and Izuku they knew the more powerful students from both Hero Classes, what their quirks were, and had been able to create countermeasures.

Tikki had officially earned the title of 'Best Kwami' in Momo's opinion by walking her through the formula of materials that didn't exist yet. Lighter and more durable, with less lipid cost.

Pinnacle had been over the moon when she saw them. Apparently, she was already planning on patenting them.

Izuku didn't get the chance to respond to her when Pinnacle let out a cheer. "Finally!" She pulled her goggles, which glowed a faint copper, over her eyes and proceeded to pull levers in a seemingly random order.

The mast began to crackle with electricity, while the hull of the ship began to rumble as gears shifted and turned. Ice began to melt as the hull heated up, only to be re-frozen in another wave of ice by a frowning Todoroki.

The two teams stared at each other for a moment, sizing each other up, when Todoroki looked somewhere at the stands. When his gaze returned to them, his expression had hardened.

She heard Izuku quietly groan next to her. "He was thinking about going away."

If that was the case, it clearly wasn't anymore.

Todoroki murmured something to his team, and they charged forward, with Todoroki creating an ice staff.

The ship's mast crackled with energy, and Todoroki's eyes widened as he barely managed to throw up an ice shield that blocked the lightning strike from the mast.

The ice shattered, only for him to have to throw up another while Iida barely managed to dodge the foam shots from their guns.

After a third, it was clear that the power was decreasing, and when Todoroki slammed his staff into the ground and created an ice tunnel that led directly to the ship, the subsequent blasts weren't able to break it.

The remaining teams noticed it as well. With a cry, several of them charged the grounded ship…

Only for those cries to turn into panic. Extendable poles shot out from the hull and slammed into people with unnerving accuracy, rubber bullets pelting the remaining.

They also targeted the ice, yet it held firm.

"You know, some explosives would do great about now." Pinnacle tried, giving Izuku a side-eyed look.

"No!" Izuku yelped next to her, looking slightly panicked. "No explosives!"

Momo hesitated as well. Sure, she could make all sorts of things to quickly destroy the ice. Napalm, explosives… Even a cannon would suffice.

However, she had no desire to see the damage it would do if it hit another person. And it seemed Izuku was of the same mind.

Soon, they were out of time. A loud thump sounded against the hull, followed by the zap of electricity… That did absolutely nothing.

"Hah! Did you really think I'd build a ship that could control electricity if it was vulnerable to electricity?" Pinnacle cackled proudly.

The silence lasted all of two seconds before a laser (Ayoma's quirk) drilled straight through the metal, causing all of them to jump back.

It was just a tiny hole, but it was followed by multiple more blasts that traced a rough circle. When enough holes had weakened it, she heard Iida let out a grunt, and the remaining metal blasted away with a powerful kick.

A hand reached through the hole and was immediately hit by both Izuku and herself, the foam quickly expanding and hardening, covering the hole.

Almost in synch their guns petered off, indicating a lack of ammo.

Before they could do anything else, the foam froze, ice covering it and the surrounding deck. A few loud thumps later and it shattered, Todoroki leaping through the gap onto the deck.

Todoroki's movements were fluid and methodical - almost practiced. The moment he was on deck he launched a kick towards Pinnacle, freezing her to the wheel while reaching out with his hand towards the next closest person - Uraraka - and froze arms, both girls letting out yelps at the sudden attack.

In that same motion, Todoroki tried to slam his foot into the deck while reaching for Momo, only for a panel to open up, revealing a gap that his foot went through instead. The sudden lack of resistance threw him completely off balance.

"Hah!" Pinnacle crowed, eyes glowing dangerously. "I'm the master of the ship, not you!"

Momo took the moment to shift herself in front of Izuku while creating a yo-yo. A flick of the wrist, and it was sent around Todoroki. Pulling tightly, his right arm was quickly secured against his body.

Izuku was the one that first noticed after multiple Hero Classes, but Todoroki only created his ice from the right side of his body - and his ice always originated from either the hand or foot.

It was a long shot, but if it was true and they could pin his arm and leg…

Todoroki blinked in shock, only to glare. Suddenly, the wire of the yo-yo froze, and Momo barely managed to drop it before the ice reached her.

Ok, so it wasn't just his hand or foot that the ice came from. That was fine.

Momo quickly created another yo-yo and launched it at Todoroki's leg, a move that he quickly shifted, causing it to hit his leg instead and making him grimace. She was about to try again when Kaminari popped up through the hole (the boat was getting really crowded now), eyes bright. "Did anybody call for an electrician?" He asked with a smirk, arms sparking.

Only to blanch at Pinnacle's manic expression as she leaned closer as best as she could while still frozen to the wheel. "Yes I did." She purred, latching onto his arm with her metallic one.

All at once, Kaminari stopped sparking. At the same time, Pinnacle's arm began humming loudly, pieces of it glowing. In synch, the mast also began humming as well.

With a cackle of energy, the ice surrounding Pinnacle shattered, and both Kaminari and Todoroki hesitated.

"We're out of time!" Iida's voice barked from below. "Hold tight!"

"Reciproco Burst!"

The next moments were a blur.

Todoroki was still semi-wrapped up, with Momo debating with herself on whether to shove Todoroki off the ship or use her newly created yo-yo to tie him further. Kaminari was facing off against a freed Pinnacle.

Momo had the briefest moment to recognize Iida launching through the hole. The next, he was grabbing Todoroki and Kaminari while Ayoma clung to his back. The next, he was already past her, Todoroki's left hand reaching out to Izuku…

Momo reacted instinctively, throwing her yo-yo at the blur even as she was buffeted by the movements, her heart sinking immediately as she realized she'd miss.

Todoroki's hand brushed the ten-million-dollar headband, Izuku's eyes were wide with shock as his wings popped out and he tried to dodge or fly away.

She didn't know if he'd succeed or not - Izuku was agile, but this move took them all by surprise…

And then Momo's yo-yo hit the mast.

The yo-yo conducted a current of electricity that zapped outward and towards Todoroki, the sudden current causing all of his muscles to spasm, fingers clenching moments too early to snatch the headband.

It was just for an instant, and then it was over. Todoroki and his team's momentum threw them over the edge of the boat and away, and they were in the clear.

Pinnacle quickly fiddled around with a couple of dials, "Sparky's boost was just enough I think - we should be able to… Ha!"

With a deep shudder, the ship managed to break free of the ice, and it turned ponderously towards the other team.

Todoroki, for his part, was glaring fiercely at them. Iida looked like he was trying to talk him down, while Kaminari and Ayoma looked dazed.

On the other side there was Bakugou and his team, the blonde gritting his teeth furiously while staring intently at the still crackling mast.

Momo was about to ask Uraraka if she felt well enough to use her quirk in the boat once more when -

"And with that fantastic display of skill, TIME IS UP!"

Momo breathed out, feeling the tension flow out of her even as the noise of the crowd increased dramatically. She wanted to collapse. Izuku nearly did, even as Uraraka cheered and gave them all a hug.

"We did it! We won!" She cheered.

"Y-yeah, we did." Izuku admitted faintly before turning to Pinnacle. "Thank you so much for your help! We'd never have made it this far without you."

"It was our pleasure." Pinnacle patted the ship fondly. "Oh! Remember, we need to talk about shared custody and visitation rights, got it?"

What?

Momo looked at Izuku in confusion, but before he could explain, Present Mic's voice sounded out over the intercom.

"Now then! Let's see what our final results are! In fourth place, we have team Shinsou!"

Huh. Momo wasn't aware of who Shinsou was. Somebody from the General or Support Class?

"In third place, we have Team Bakugou!"

Bakugou looked… Upset. To put it mildly. Kirishima was doing his best to calm the blonde down, but spared a moment to give their own team a wave and a thumbs up. Ashido and Sero looked slightly disappointed, but still pleased to have made it.

"In second place, we have Team Todoroki!"

Todoroki had stormed off somewhere, but the three that remained did their best and waved awkwardly.

"And finally in first place, where in a stunning display they managed to keep their prized headband the entire time, we have Team Midoriya!"

As the crowd exploded in applause once more, Momo noticed Izuku staggering as if he had been hit. Subtly placing a hand on his back, she leaned forward. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah," Izuku stammered faintly. "It's j-just a little much…" he shook his head. "I c-can't believe we actually did it!"

Momo covered her mouth to hide her smile. "We did." She agreed, but understood precisely where he was coming from.

"Psh, I knew we had it in the bag." Uraraka beamed as she leaned against the railing, shaking ice off of her arms. "Although that was a dirty trick they pulled at the end there. I had no idea Iida could go that fast!"

"I know, right?" Izuku nodded rapidly, fingers twitching, like he wished he had his notebook with him. "It's gotta be something he's been working on for a while. Based on the trajectory and distance, I wonder…"

"Congrats to all four of those teams!" Present Mic cheered. "You'll all be moving to the final round! Though before that, let's have lunch! We'll see you all in an hour!"

"Finally." Aizawa grumbled.

With the call to lunch, all of the students began to gather up on their way back through the tunnel. Whether they'd won or lost, everybody was mostly tired.

Momo watched as Izuku took the butterfly back from Pinnacle (despite her protests), only for him to stumble once more, and Momo hastily caught him.

"Izuku?" Momo asked cautiously.

"I-I'm fine." Izuku assured her, giving her a tense smile.

Momo narrowed her eyes at him. "Let's get some food." She prompted. Nooroo wasn't the only one that needed food now, and sitting down would probably help.

Izuku protested the help lightly, but allowed himself to be directed to the stadium exit to the lunch hall.

And then Izuku fainted, and she promptly changed direction to Recovery Girl.

Mei's POV

Mei had felt a spike of concern when Viceroy collapsed, but Matter Replicator had things handled. He trusted her, so he'd be fine.

Mei was too busy staring at her newest baby.

Even after transforming back, the ship the three of them had made remained. It was battered, with dents and holes and several portions wrecked, but it was still there.

Mei didn't even bother resisting a squeal of delight.

She had had to use the majority of her previous babies to create it, but the results had been soooo worth it!

An airship! An actual, fully functioning airship! And it was hers!

Well, not just hers of course, but also Viceroy's and Matter Replicator's as well. That was fine - Mei didn't have a problem with shared custody.

She'd need to talk to them later to hammer out the details.

It was a shame she didn't have Pinnacle's vision right now. She'd been able to see through the ship in all of its engineering glory and manipulate it at will. The way it felt like an extension of herself.

And then there were Viceroy's thoughts. He might not have thought he was doing much, but it was a steadying presence. Weird. Good-weird, but still weird.

Oh! And he had so many good ideas! He might not have known how to accomplish said ideas, but that was her job. And boy did she have ideas…

Ugh. Working with just her hands was going to be torture now!

"-tsume! Hatsume!"

"Huh?" Mei blinked and glanced at her Sensei. Oh. When did he show up?

Powerloader rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I said we need to clear the field." He frowned and leaned in closer. "You sure you're alright?"

"Yep!" Mei replied cheerfully, already running through the logistics of how many babies she had left that could help her in the third round. Not as many as she'd like… she sacrificed a lot for this round.

… Worth it!

Oh! Maybe she could convince the principal that Viceroy and Matter Replicator should belong in the Support Class?

They'd be able to make so many babies if they were all in the same class!

Mei's eye's glazed over as she imagined it.

It would take some doing, since they were in the Hero Course and probably liked it there…

Oh, wait. Powerloader was giving her that look he usually did when he was closing the class shop and unjustly forcing her to leave.

Right, airship, clearing the field, then strategizing!