Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“You can be a hero,”

The recent words echoed once more in Izuku’s mind as he smiled. Nobody had ever told him that. Everyone he had ever met was determined to prove that he could never be a hero, well everyone except a precious few.

He stopped before the door to the apartment, making sure to wipe off the smirk on his face. He couldn’t wait to start training with All Might the next morning, but he didn’t want to give anything away to his mother either.

He slowly opened the door, “I’m home mom!” he announced.

“Oh, my poor baby!” Inko was almost weeping, “Are you hurt?” She checked him up.

“I’m fine mom,” Izuku pulled himself away. He wasn’t hurt from the sludge incident but Bakugou had pushed him with his explosions earlier, and he hadn’t covered the burns up yet, “I think I’ll just go and have a shower first. The sludge was disgusting,”

“Well, say hello to your cousin on the way,”

Izuku screeched to a holt, “What?” he asked slowly.

“Your cousin’s here. So are your aunt and uncle,” Inko notified, “They were going to be coming next week since they are shifting here but after they saw the sludge incident, they rushed over,”

“How come you didn’t tell me?” Izuku asked.

“Well, it was meant to be a surprise,” Inko excused, “You know your dad and I’ve been talking and we both agreed that you need company. Your uncle was going to move in next door since it’s closer to his new office. A week earlier makes no difference,”

“Yeah…” Izuku said vaguely. It wasn’t that he hated his cousin, in fact, he was his closest friend, except maybe Kacchan. The thought put a bad taste in his mouth. He still wanted to believe Katsuki was his friend but was he actually?

Nevertheless, this was a bad time for his cousin, Watanabe, to come. He knew that Watanabe, while maybe not as intelligent, was definitely smart and observant enough to figure out one or two of his secrets. Secrets that he had worked hard to protect from his mother. On the other hand, the Hattoris were the only people besides his mother who encouraged him and treated him properly.

“I thought it was you!” Watanabe suddenly appeared, “That was wonderful how you took care of the sludge!”

“It’s a good thing All Might was there,” Natsume, Inko’s sister said, “What were you thinking going in like that? You could have been hurt,” Izuku’s aunt scolded him.

“Sorry, I just wanted to save Kacchan,” Izuku replied, slightly embarrassed at having been scolded.

“Yeah mom, I’d do the same thing if Kaminari was in danger,” Watanabe spoke.

“You’d do the same thing even if Kaminari wasn’t in danger,” Natsume replied shortly, “Anyway, let your cousin go and freshen up. He’s had a tough day,”

Izuku gave a polite smile and headed off to the bathroom. Once he had entered, he sighed with relief. The shower gave him time to avoid Watanabe’s eyes. He knew that there was no way Watanabe could figure out about All Might or One for All. But hiding Bakugou’s bullying was easier said than done.

Izuku took as much time as he could in the shower, not in any rush to get out.

“Izuku dear, it’s almost dinner time. What are you doing so long in the shower?” Inko called.

“Sorry mom, will be right out,” Izuku apologized and hurried out… only to come face to face with Watanabe, “Everything alright?”

“Yup. The sludge was just hard to scrub off,”

Watanabe didn’t seem too convinced but nodded regardless, “Well c’mon. The food looks delicious!” he exclaimed and ran off.

“Right a bit of a shaky start but Watanabe isn’t too suspicious yet. He still thinks Kacchan protects me at school like I told him while messaging,” Izuku noted.

The dinner was mostly quiet. Watanabe looked like he wanted to talk but Izuku assumed his strict mother forbade him from talking with his mouth full. Natsume could be very strict indeed.

“So Izuku, how’s school going?” Ryuzen, Izuku’s uncle, asked after the plates were cleared away, “Oh it’s great. You know, normal stuff,” Izuku replied shortly.

“Well I can’t imagine it’s that great considering your-“ Ryuzen stopped short as Natsume gave her husband a glare for bringing up his quirklessness.

“Ahm, your uh…” Ryuzen trailed off.

Izuku snickered slightly. It was always fun to see his uncle squirm whenever he made a mistake.

“Yeah, but Izuku’s got Katsuki to protect him. He says they’re best friends,” Watanabe pointed out.

“True, but in my experience, people with stronger quirks turn out to be assholes,” Ryuzen said bluntly.

“Don’t let Kaminari hear you that,” Watanabe replied.

“Some exceptions are there,” Ryuzen accepted.

“Oh, that reminds me Izuku, I invited Kaminari over on the weekend. You’ll like him, he’s the best!” Watanabe spoke highly of his friend.

“He’ll be sad you left the school though,” Natsume said.

“You left your school?” Izuku asked, astonished.

“Well duh! We’re moving away so it’s easier to come to Aldera,”

“But all your friends,” Izuku tried to sway the decision.

“So what? I have you here dummy. It’s not like I don’t know anyone at Aldera. If that was the case, then maybe I wouldn’t have switched schools. Besides, we’ll be hanging with Kaminari every other week. I wonder if Katsuki will get along with him,” Watanabe pondered out loud.

“Yeah… I wonder,” Izuku gave a shaky smile. Inside he was panicking, “Crap! Crap, crap!” he cursed in his mind, “Watanabe’s gonna find out. And then he’s gonna tell mom. And then mom will be sad. No, no this can’t be happening,”

Watanabe watched his cousin with concern, “Alright Izuku? You look surprised,”

“What?” Izuku glanced up, “Oh nothing, I was just shocked you’re coming to Aldera too, that’s all,”

Watanabe wasn’t too sure about that. He had caught Izuku’s eyes when he shifted his head and had caught a feeling of fear in his eyes for a split second. A short time, but fear nonetheless. Watanabe knew there was no reason Izuku would be afraid of him… unless he was hiding something at Aldera. Could it be Bakugou wasn’t actually as good as Izuku had talked him up?

After all, he had never met Bakugou, just like Izuku had never met Kaminari. Most of the cousins’ conversations happened by text since their families only met up once a month. That didn’t mean they weren’t close; they were very close. But Watanabe liked to have a physical reading on a person, and at the moment things didn’t look so charming.

“So, when are you attending?”

“Tomorrow,”

“Oh…” Izuku said, “So no time to slowly break the news either. I’m dead,” he resigned himself.

“You don’t look too pleased though,” Watanabe added, “Are you embarrassed by me?” he grinned.

Izuku laughed, “Of course not! You’re my best friend,”

“So you say,” Watanabe mumbled.

“Watanabe, didn’t you have some news for Izuku?” Natsume reminded.

“Oh right, right!” Watanabe said excitedly, “Guess what Izuku, my quirk isn’t useless!”

Izuku jumped up, “You found a use!?”

Watanabe nodded excitedly, “Yeah, we thought it’s just eye color changing right?” he said. Izuku nodded, “Well, it turns out, it’s actually vision change. I guess the eye color change is just a side effect or something,”

Izuku’s eyes were nearly popping out of his head. Watanabe’s quirk had been the one quirk he had not been able to find a use, and it annoyed him greatly. So to have heard its use, it made him feel excited and happy for his cousin, “How did you figure it out?”

“Kaminari and I were sparring and I accidentally activated it. To be honest, we thought it’s a concussion or something,” Watanabe said, bemused, “Mom was worried,”

“People don’t just see bones out of nowhere,” Natsume defended.

“Bones?”

“Yeah, I switched to X-ray vision, so yeah, bones,” Watanabe explained, “I also got infrared vision and Ultraviolet vision. Maybe I can discover some more, but that’s it,”

“Wait, wait, can you do infrared again?” Izuku asked. Watanabe obliged. Izuku whistled, “For infrared, you need to turn your eye into a dark color. Dark colors absorb infrared easier so that means your quirk is absorbing the different frequencies and turning them into a different vision!” Izuku determined.

“Hold up,” Watanabe was confused, “People got black eyes, how come they don’t see infrared?”

“I’m pretty sure you’re changing the color of your cones or something to change the eye color, thus the vision change,”

Watanabe looked at Izuku in awe. Ryuzen looked dumbfounded, “You should be a doctor Izuku. The quirk doctor tested Watanabe and came to the same conclusion! You really do have a wonderful brain!”

Izuku chuckled at the praise, “It was nothing,”

“I’m serious!”

“Oh come on dad,” Watanabe said, “Izuku wants to be a pro hero,”

Izuku braced himself for Ryuzen to say that it’s not possible but he heard something very different, “You can be both. It’s called multi-tasking,” Ryuzen said sagely.

Natsume shook her head, “Whenever you try to sound intelligent, it feels like seeing a monkey trying to talk,”

“Oh come on now, don’t be so harsh on him,” Inko said.

“So, Izuku, I hope your new school can handle Watanabe,” Ryuzen said.

“Hey! I’m perfectly alright!” Watanabe exclaimed.

Ryuzen just looked at him boredly and said three words, “The turtle incident,”

That made Watanabe shut up and Izuku laugh uproariously.  The turtle incident was when Watanabe punched someone with a turtle quirk and broke their armored nose at his previous school. The reason was Watanabe saw the boy bully a stranger. Watanabe had gotten a suspension but the glee Izuku had seen on his face told him that he would have liked to get in a few more blows. Now that izuku thought of it, he should probably make sure Watanabe and Bakugou were as far away from each other as possible.

“It will be fine. Izuku says that there are no bullies at Aldera. And even if there are Bakugou will protect him,” Inko said, obliviously.

“Don’t be so sure of that. Watanabe’s school has wonderful teachers and staff as well as proper rules. But there are still many delinquents. The parents matter too, Inko,” Ryuzen told her sister-in-law.

“I suppose that’s true,” Inko agreed, “But Aldera will be just as good I think, right Izuku?”

“Mhm,” Izuku forced a smile.

“Why don’t you show Watanabe to your room Izuku?” Inko asked, “I’m afraid you’ll have to share for a bit. They won’t be able to move in next door just yet because it’s still being prepared,”

“Of course, mom,” Izuku replied cheerfully, hiding the extra panic that was rising. Any other day, he’d have been glad to have his cousin move in, but with him now being trained by All Might, he didn’t really want Watanabe in his personal space. Next door would be fine, but sharing a room meant that Watanabe was bound to realize him sneaking off for training.

“Going to bed already?” Ryuzen asked.

“It has been a long day for Izuku, he must be tired,” Natsume said, “I’ll get you some blankets. Where do you keep extra bedding?” Natsume asked her sister.

“I’ll get them later. We’re meeting after such a long time after all!” Inko said.

“Yeah but I think Ryuzen might be tired,”

“Oh, he can go to bed then,” Inko offered.

“No, we’re going to have a sister’s night. He’s going to stay on the sofa, not you,” Natsume pulled her sister’s hand.

“Isn’t that rude?”

“Of course not. Is it rude Ryuzen?” Natsume asked.

“Nope,” He smiled back. Izuku and his cousin giggled, knowing that Ryuzen was just scared of his wife.

Izuku lead Watanabe to his room and opened the door. Watanabe chuckled, “Still keeping the All Might figurines I see,”

“What can I say, I’m a huge fan,” Izuku replied.

“Careful, or people are going to think you’re a stalker. Though my quirk is better suited for a stalker,”

Izuku had an idea, “You know your quirk is perfect for being a rescue hero. I can’t believe we didn’t check this angle!” Izuku said, happy for his cousin. Now that he was getting One for All, he had been a bit worried about Watanabe’s plans to become a hero, but; this changed things.

Izuku continued, “That means it’s combat effective too since you can pinpoint weaknesses,”

“Yup, X-ray shows me the joints more easily, and I can target them,”

“When did you find out about your quirk being so useful?”

“About a month back,” Watanabe replied, “I would have told you over the phone but it was just too big a news to not share in person,”

Izuku chuckled, “I understand,” Izuku replied. He was bursting himself to tell Watanabe about All Might and how he’d be getting a quirk too, but he had promised All Might not to tell anyone! It was so frustrating!

“Say I learned a trick at my martial arts class. Want to see?” Watanabe asked.

 Izuku nodded, “Give me your hand,” Watanabe ordered. Izuku obliged, and as soon as he extended his hand, Watanabe swiftly caught Izuku’s hand in an iron grip. Izuku struggled to free himself as Watanabe rolled up his sleeves, “Burn marks. Considering my infrared picked it up, it’s new,” Watanabe said grimly, glancing up to Izuku with concern.

Izuku cursed. He had slipped up very badly. He had basically handed his secret to Watanabe by extending his arm. How could he have been so careless! He should have known that Watanabe’s infrared would pick up the new scars today given that they would still be radiating heat.

“There are older scars too, so you’ve been getting bullied for quite a long time,” Watanabe scanned his arm.

Izuku looked down in sadness. Tears formed in his eyes, his secret was out… and now his mom would know too and she’d beat herself up over it.

“The scars, how long do they extend?” Watanabe asked quietly.

“To my back,” Izuku whispered, knowing there was no use to lie anymore.

“I thought you said Bakugou protected you,”

“Yeah, well I was lying!” Izuku snapped and freed his arm, “Kacchan’s parents are the only friends mom has and I didn’t want to ruin it. I’m useless enough as it is!” Izuku fumed, “Let’s just get it over with,” he moved to open the door but Watanabe swiftly blocked him.

“I’m not telling Aunt Inko, idiot.”

Izuku looked shocked, “Y-you’re not?”

“No, it would only make her worry and I don’t want to do that,” Watanabe agreed, “But we should tell someone! Not my mom cuz she’ll end up telling it to Auntie, but maybe dad? Dad can do something about it, and he won’t blab!” Watanabe assured.

“I’m not sure…” Izuku whispered. The room settled into a long silence

“I should have known…” Watanabe said quietly after a while, berating himself for not seeing it sooner, “I myself get bullied for having a ‘useless’ quirk. So of course you do too, but I had to believe that Bakugou protected you, didn’t I!?” Watanabe shouted to himself.

“Watanabe, it’s not your fault,” Izuku said.

“And it’s not your fault for being quirkless either!” Watanabe said, becoming more agitated, “I get why you didn’t tell Aunt Inko, but you could tell me. I thought you trusted me?” Watanabe looked hurt.

“I-I’m sorry,” Izuku stuttered.

“No, no sorry,” Watanabe said aggressively, “Now I get why you apologize for everything. Bakugou must be that bad, right?” Watanabe said pitifully, “He only lets you go if you apologize for something you didn’t do, right?”

“How did you-“

“Bullies are always the same,” Watanabe growled, “Are the teachers in on it too? Were you lying about the staff being good?”

“…Yes,” Izuku whispered. Watanabe looked heartbroken and angrily punched the wall, “Look, it’s been a rough day… can we just talk about this tomorrow?” Izuku pleaded.

Watanabe stared into space for some time before nodding, “Yeah, sure,” he said begrudgingly and moved away from the door.

“So, is it only the others doing this, or is it actually Bakugou who’s hurting you,” Watanabe asked further.

“The others do it too, but mainly Bakugou,” Izuku responded.

“That son of a-“

“It’s not his fault!” Izuku said hastily, “He just loses control of his quirk,”

“Izu, Kaminari has a much more volatile quirk and I definitely have no scars on me!” Watanabe said, “Well no scars from Kaminari to be exact, but you get my point. Bakugou; he’s not your friend!”

“H-he’s just acting out, he used to be good,”

“Good until your quirk diagnosis?”

Izuku didn’t reply and Watanabe became angrier, “I swear to god, that bastard! I’ll kill him!”

Izuku promised to himself to keep Bakugou as far away as possible tomorrow since he was pretty sure Watanabe couldn’t match to a much more explosive quirk. But then again, he had been studying martial arts and training with Kaminari, who Izuku had not seen but given what he heard of his quirk, must have been quite the opponent to spar against.

“Watanabe, I’m tired. Can we please just sleep?” Izuku asked once again, hoping that it would calm his cousin down and also would let him get this day over with.

Watanabe exhaled loudly but nodded, “Yeah. I’m sorry if I was too forceful. I’m just looking out for you, you know?”

Izuku smiled, “Don’t worry, it actually made me feel… better,” Izuku said honestly. He had never had anyone worry about him so voraciously except his mother. It… felt good.

Izuku knew he was about to get One for All soon but he was determined nonetheless to ask one last question to Watanabe, “Watanabe, do you think I can be a hero?”

“Obviously! Why couldn’t you be a hero? Quirks are just a crutch, being a hero is a state of mind, isn’t it?”

Izuku smiled while holding back his tears, “Thanks Watanabe,” he smiled warmly and flopped onto his pillow. Those precious few words had him crying. No one had ever said he could be a hero without a quirk. Not even his mom. All Might did say he could be a hero but only after offering One for All.

At that moment, Izuku felt that he could be a hero even without a quirk, but that didn’t mean he would refuse All Might, that would be stupid. Regardless, those words made Izuku feel warm and loved. Now that Watanabe was defending him so avidly and was determined to protect him, it made Izuku feel that much worse for lying to Watanabe about Bakugou and continuing to lie, this time about All Might.

Watanabe watched his cousin with a sad smile on his face. He too had been told he couldn’t be a hero because of the uselessness of his quirk but at least at his school, the staff were supportive and he had friends. He couldn’t imagine how bad it must have been for Izuku who had no one except Inko.

Without a word, Watanabe also flopped onto the other side of the bed. He was furious, furious with himself for not seeing it earlier, and furious at the Aldera staff for letting this happen. He took a few deep breaths. He needed to be calm right now. He needed to make a proper plan on what he should do tomorrow when he went to Aldera and met Bakugou. Only when Izuku was safe would he rest.

Chapter Text

Izuku woke up groggily and shut off the alarm that was blaring.  He closed his eyes again to sleep but leaped up, cursing, “Crap, I’ve to go meet All Might!” he nearly yelled. He checked the time, “Ok, I have enough time,” he thought to himself and got out of bed.

He was about to rummage through his wardrobe to find something to wear when a snore made him stiffen. He slowly turned around. In the midst of his rush, he had completely forgotten that Watanabe was sleeping over. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to have awoken considering the snore, but boy was Izuku lucky.

Izuku took greater care now to not create too much noise. He double-checked that Watanabe was awake before leaving the flat. Once Izuku was out, Watanabe kicked the blanket off of him, He smirked, “Finally! Pretending to be asleep is useful! Eat that Kaminari!” he yelled in his mind.

He quickly went to the peephole. Izuku was still in the corridor, so Watanabe waited for him to go downstairs. Watanabe wondered why Izuku was up so early. He himself hadn’t slept a wink since he was contemplating how today would go. Watanabe doubted his presence alone would alter anything if the staff weren’t on Izuku’s side.

Watanabe peeked again and finding that Izuku was gone, he too stepped outside. He hurried down the stairs and caught a glimpse of Izuku turning a corner. He slowly walked to the corner and watched Izuku head down the road.

Since the streets were clear this early in the morning, Watanabe couldn’t blend into a crowd and decided to wait until Izuku turned again before he walked after him. As he waited, Watanabe tried to understand whether he had heard Izuku right. He could have sworn he heard his cousin shout about going to meet All Might, but that couldn’t be right, could it?

Then again Izuku had met All Might yesterday, so there was a chance, “But why would All Might ask Izuku to meet him?” Watanabe thought hard, “Perhaps because he handled the sludge nicely?... No, he could just talk to him publicly then, there wouldn’t be any private reason,”

Watanabe saw Izuku turn another corner and followed, “Maybe I just heard wrong? I am pretty sleepy,” Watanabe reasoned, “The only other reason All Might would want to meet is to maybe train him. But there’s no way he’d train Izuku,”

Immediately after Watanabe thought that he got angry at himself, “Stupid! Izuku deserves to be trained by All Might just as much as anyone,”

In the midst of his self-inflicted rage, Watanabe lost Izuku’s trail, “Damn it!” he yelled agitatedly. There were too many paths to choose from and Izuku could have gone anywhere. Watanabe was scared, “What if Izuku ran away? I did find out a lot of stuff last night. He might be scared I’ll tell Aunt Inko,” he thought anxiously, “I have to find him. I can’t lose him too! But how!?” Watanabe groaned.

He tried to take each of the separate paths but those paths lead to more crossroads, any of which Izuku could have taken. Watanabe was just about to give up when an idea popped into his head. There were no crowds out yet, which meant he could just use his infrared vision to scout the streets! All he needed was a good vantage point.

He looked around, there were several buildings around but he couldn’t get to the roof without causing a stir. The next best option would be a tall tree. If he remembered right, there was a beach nearby with several trees. Plus, considering the fact that the beach overlooked most of the roads, he’d probably be able to find Izuku easier.

Watanabe followed the signs showing the way to the beach. His nose wrinkled as he turned the corner to the beach,

‘DAGOBAH BEACH!’ A large sign was showcased in front.

Watanabe stared at it indecorously. He stared at the sign and back at the beach repeatedly, “Is this a garbage dump or a beach!?” he yelled to no one in particular. He shook his head disapprovingly and turned to search for a tall enough tree. In doing so, he noticed a familiar mess of green hair.

Izuku seemed to be waiting for someone given that he was looking in every direction. Watanabe’s eyes widened as Izuku moved his head in his direction. Watanabe quickly, and regrettably, jumped into the landfill, the dirt crunching under his feet, “Ack,” he clenched his nose at the smell. But in doing so, he breathed the fumes in through his mouth.

Watanabe nearly puked but managed to keep it in, “You shouldn’t be able to taste smells!” he said a bit too loudly. Izuku turned quickly to his hiding spot. Watanabe cursed quietly as he placed his hands on his mouth and nose and ducked lower.

Izuku didn’t see anyone and turned his gaze elsewhere. Watanabe waited to see if Izuku would move elsewhere but Izuku remained in the same position. Watanabe desperately wanted to make a run-out but that would alert Izuku. He sucked it up and remained motionless in the dump.

Watanabe switched to his X-ray vision. Izuku had already heard something, it wouldn’t do to get caught peeking. He’d have preferred to use his infrared but all the metal casings nearby blocked his view. The dump was so shielding that his X-ray barely caught Izuku’s skeletal figure and instead mainly saw his organs.

Pretty soon, Watanabe spotted another man walking up to Izuku. At first, he hadn’t picked him up in his vision but once he had moved closer to Izuku, the man became visible. Watanabe gasped in horror; the man didn’t have a lung! The left side of his chest didn’t seem to have any cell tissues either.

Watanabe nervously watched the man, his anxiety growing as he stepped closer to Izuku. Watanabe was worried that the man was a villain who lost his lung in a fight. He clutched a crowbar that was sitting nearby and waited. Just as the man was a few inches away, he rose to throw the crowbar.

But, before he could do that, the man greeted, “Hello young Midoriya!”

Watanabe stared for a second before ducking back down, “So Izuku knows him?” he thought to himself.

It didn’t look like the man had noticed him so Watanabe eavesdropped.

“All Might!” Izuku yelled excitedly.

Watanabe spluttered in surprise, “All Might? Him? That skeletal guy?”

“Shh, not so loud! People might hear,” Yagi warned. Izuku nodded.

The two fell into a hushed talk and Watanabe couldn’t make head or tail of it. His first thought was it was a joke. After all, there was no way the symbol of peace actually looked like a skeleton. Secondly, his X-ray had picked up a second toe joint on the stranger as well, which would mean he had no quirk.

Watanabe tried to push a bit further but his first step made the glass from a monitor go crunch. He swiftly sat back down. Fortunately, the pair made his way closer to his position, “Remember young Midoriya,” the blonde man said, “You must not tell anyone that I’m passing my quirk onto you,”

“I know. I haven’t told anyone,”

Watanabe gaped. He was totally flabbergasted. He nearly squealed in excitement, “All Might’s giving Izuku his quirk! Holy crap that’s awesome!” Watanabe thought extremely happy for his cousin, “Wait, can you even pass on your quirk in the first place?” He thought. He’d never heard of quirks being passable. The only way quirks passed was from the parent to the child. Then again he’d heard of weirder things.

“Is he a conman?” Watanabe thought. As much as he hated to admit it, his cousin was pretty gullible. Although, he doubted he’d be gullible enough to think this stranger was All Might. What if he was indeed a villain trying to lure Izuku? He probably thought no one would miss Izuku since he’s quirkless.

All Might and Izuku kept walking closer to Watanabe’s hiding position, concerning him, “Did they notice me?” Watanabe thought. After all, he doubted he could fool All Might if that actually was him.

Now that they were closer to his position, Watanabe switched back to his normal vision. The stranger was still a skeletal figure but was fast approaching with Izuku tracking behind him. In front of his eyes, the man suddenly transformed into All Might and uprooted the fridge he was hiding behind.

“Uhm, hi?” Watanabe said nervously.

Yagi stared at the boy, in his All Might form, his eyes widening. He had felt a presence when he had arrived at the beach but he had attributed it to the stray animals that frequented Dagobah for food. He didn’t think it was actually a person spying on them.

Izuku was too shocked to speak at seeing his cousin and remain speechless and unmoving.

“You’re All Might!” Watanabe said excitedly.

“Uh, indeed I am young man!” All Might nervously gave his signature smile. Inside, he was panicking, “Oh god, how much did he hear? I didn’t speak about much except about the training regiment, but what if he heard about me passing on my quirk? SHIT! He saw me transform too!”

Watanabe sat awkwardly in the dirt. Both Izuku and Yagi were frozen in shock and Watanabe couldn’t understand what to do next. He loudly cleared his throat, bringing back the attention to him, “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna tell anyone about you actually being a skeleton. Your secret’s safe with me!”

All Might sighed, “Thank you, young man,” It didn’t look like the boy had heard about him passing on his quirk, or so he thought, “Although it’s awesome you’re passing your quirk on to Izuku!” Watanabe exclaimed soon after.

All Might stared at him for some time, “Now what?” he asked himself. The boy knew too much. Could he trust him to keep this a secret? The thoughts were racing through Yagi’s mind when he suddenly remembered something, “Wait you said, ‘Izuku.’ Do you two know each other?” Yagi demanded from Izuku.

Izuku gulped, “Y-yes, he’s my cousin,” he replied in a whisper.

Yagi looked slightly betrayed, “I thought you didn’t tell anyone?”

“I-I didn’t, I don’t know how-“ Izuku stuttered but fortunately his cousin came to his rescue, “Oi, oi! He didn’t tell me anything! I followed him here!” he defended ferociously.

All Might was slightly taken aback at Watanabe’s outburst. He smiled, it was good to know that Izuku, while quirkless, had such a good friend, “I suppose there’s no use crying over spilled milk,” All Might resigned, “But, you should have been more vigilant to ensure you weren’t being followed, young Midoriya,”

Watanabe snorted, “Really?” he asked rhetorically, “You’re the number 1 hero and even you didn’t realize! How was Izuku supposed to know,”

“I did realize, but I thought it’s a raccoon or something,” All Might defended.

“Just having a hunch means nothing if you don’t act accordingly,”

“Watanabe, that’s enough,” Izuku warned his cousin who shut up pretty quick.

All Might smiled and reverted to his original form, “Since there’s no use hiding it, considering you’ve already figured it out, my actual name is Yagi Toshinori. My quirk is One for All and I’m passing it on to Izuku because I believe he has a hero’s mentality,”

“Well, I’m happy for Izuku. There’s no one else that deserves it more than him!” Watanabe said proudly as Izuku turned red with embarrassment.

“Not even yourself?” Yagi asked rhetorically.

“I already have one. I wonder if you would have passed your quirk if your lung didn’t disappear,” Watanabe said uncaringly.

Yagi’s eyes widened, “How did you-”

“My quirk,”

“Your quirk?” Yagi asked, “What is it?”

“Eye color changing,” Watanabe grinned.

“Huh?” Yagi was confused. How on earth would eye color change help Watanabe know that he didn’t have a lung?

Meanwhile, Izuku facepalmed at his cousin’s audacity and took it upon himself to explain, “His official quirk name is Eye color changing but his actual quirk is vision change, like shifting between infrared, ultraviolet, and X-ray vision. He probably used his X-ray to see that you have a missing lung,” Izuku replied much more confidently and without a stutter.

Yagi looked amazed, “That is a really good quirk for hero work,” he admitted, “But why wasn’t your official quirk name changed?”

“Can’t get in trouble if my quirk wasn’t proved to be used,” Watanabe bragged.

Yagi gulped, “Do you… use it for villainous purposes?” he asked slowly. If so, he wouldn’t put it past this new arrival to not sell this secret.

Watanabe laughed, “Of course not. I just need it from time to time to beat up some bullies, that’s all,”

“I see… So, you will, in fact, keep this all a secret?” Yagi repeated.

“Yup, but on one condition,”

Yagi stiffened, what would he ask for?

“You have to train me too,”

“Wait, that’s it?” Yagi was surprised.

Watanabe nodded, “Well Izuku is going to get your super awesome quirk and get into UA easily but I need to beef up too! And who else is better than the number 1 hero?” he asked rhetorically.

“Well, I have no problem but I need to focus on Izuku to build up his body,” Yagi said,

“Is that why you’re at this dirty beach?”

“Yes, Izuku will be cleaning this entire beach to make up his muscles,”

“I will?” Izuku asked.

Yagi nodded, “Yes, now get to it! There’s not a moment to spare!” Yagi ordered. Izuku nodded and rushed to start clearing the beach.

“So, should I help out too?” Watanabe asked.

“No, as I said, Izuku needs to build up his body. Otherwise, when the quirk passes on to him, his body might explode,”

Watanabe choked on his spit, “E-explode?” he asked worryingly.

Yagi waved his hand, “Not to worry, I know when he’ll be ready for it,”

“I figured considering your quirk was passed on to you as well,” Watanabe told him.

Yagi stared at this enigmatic kid, “How did you know that?”

“You have a double toe joint as well which means you are originally quirkless, thus you must have gotten it from someone else. Am I right?” Watanabe asked.

Yagi laughed, “Intelligence must run in your family huh?” he asked, remembering Izuku’s quirk analysis book.

Watanabe shrugged, “How many people had it before you,”

“Seven,”

“Does Izuku know? About him being the ninth successor? And about you being quirkless?”

“He knows about being the ninth successor but not that I’m quirkless,” Yagi admitted.

“Shame, he’d have confided in you otherwise,”

“About what?”

“About how he’s bullied by everyone at his school!” Watanabe said through gritted teeth.

Yagi’s eyes widened, “Surely not?”

Watanabe shook his head, “It’s true. I only found out last night. We used to live separately. We just moved in and I found out about Izuku being bullied,”

Yagi looked shocked and saddened, “I must go talk to him,”

“No!” Watanabe interrupted, “I was supposed to keep it a secret. I don’t want him to lose his trust in me!”

Yagi nodded understandingly, “In that case, I must take it up with the school,”

“That won’t work either,” Watanabe warned, “If you go as Yagi, people will wonder why a stranger is interested in Izuku, and Aunt Inko might figure things out. And if you go as All Might, it will be a news story and villains will target Izuku for your relation,”

“Then what should I do?” Yagi asked loudly. He was furious at learning this news.

“Nothing yet,” Watanabe told All Might, “Look, I’m going to attend his school starting today. I’ll tell you tomorrow about everything I see. Is that alright?”

Yagi didn’t seem too convinced but then again Izuku’s cousin did seem pretty capable considering he had discovered the fact that Izuku was training with him. He nodded slowly, “I’ll leave it to you then,” he said firmly.

Watanabe nodded, “Don’t worry,” he assured, “I’m not going to lose Izuku too,” he added as an afterthought, “Anyway since Izuku’s moving boxes, shall we spar?”

“Don’t we need to build up your physique too?” Yagi asked.

“Oh, no need to worry about that,” Watanabe grinned and lifted his sleeve to show heavy weights underneath.

Yagi smiled. The kid seemed to be prepared for everything, “You know, I still don’t know your name,”

“Hattori Watanabe,”

Yagi grinned, “I’m pleased to be able to train both Izuku and you, Hattori Watanabe.”

“You don’t look too good,” Izuku told his cousin who was breathing very deeply, nearly gasping for air. The two had been dismissed by Yagi a while back so that they could freshen up for school.

“Yagi-sensei is definitely not a pushover,” Watanabe gasped, “He turned into his All Might form to spar!”

Izuku chuckled, “I’m surprised you’re still standing,”

“Me too,” Watanabe replied. There was a short silence which was broken by Watanabe, “You know I thought you’d be mad I followed you,”

“I kind of am. But I’m much happier that you know about One for All too! I was dying to tell you yesterday when you told me about your quirk!” Izuku replied excitedly.

Watanabe grinned, “Well, now we’re both definitely getting into UA!” he emphasized.

Izuku nodded with a smile, “I wish we didn’t have to go to school today,” Izuku confessed. It had been a very good day and he didn’t want Bakugou ruining it.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there to help you!” Watanabe assured, “If I can fight a turtle, I can handle a bit of explosion!”

Izuku smirked, it was nice to have someone looking out for him. He was still scared of Bakugou, but having Watanabe with him gave him a boost of confidence. Part of him was scared for Watanabe, thinking that he’d get pummeled by Bakugou but another part of him had hope that Watanabe would take care of Kacchan.

Izuku shook his head, “No, that’s not possible,” he argued. He had seen first hand how versatile Bakugou’s quirk was and how strong he was too.

Meanwhile, Watanabe had a confident smirk on his face, “It doesn’t matter if I lose to Bakugou or not. Phase 1 of my plan will go ahead!”

Chapter Text

Izuku and Watanabe reached class after the bell rang. So the two of them just took their seats, sitting next to each other. Bakugou seemed to give Izuku a threatening glare even though he had been saved by him just yesterday. Watanabe really wanted to punch him right there. 

"Ok, so we have a new student starting today." The teacher announced and then pointed his finger at Watanabe, "Please introduce yourself."

Watanabe stood up, "Hello, my name is Hattori Watanabe. I am Midoriya Izuku's cousin. My quirk is eye-color changing." Watanabe noticed nearly half the class snicker at his quirk and saw Bakugou grin and stare at him, "Wow you are as useless as fucking Deku, at least you have a damn quirk though." The class laughed. Watanabe noticed some of the students forced themselves to laugh, clearly afraid of Bakugou. Even the teacher seemed to smirk.

"Not as useless as you Bakushit," Watanabe said. The class grew quiet, plunged into shocked silence.

"HUH! What was that you fucking shit?" Bakugou exclaimed, explosions forming on his palm. Watanabe didn't flinch, instead he dodged Bakugou as he tried to tackle him and hit him over the head. "That's enough! Watanabe, detention for attacking Bakugou." The teacher called out.

"What the fuck! He attacked me first!" Watanabe protested.

"I saw you attack him. Now sit down quietly before I punish you further," The teacher threatened. 

"Whatever," Watanabe said as both students sat down; Bakugou was clearly still angry but he seemed to wait for later to confront Watanabe again. Meanwhile, Izuku was sweating bullets at the confrontation. He couldn't believe Watanabe was unscathed and had landed a hit on Kacchan. However, Izuku knew that lunch would be a disaster.

Watanabe and Bakugou kept glaring at each other for the remainder of the classes until lunch. Everyone could feel the menace rolling off of both of them. Even the other bullies seemed to back off from jeering Watanabe, especially after one of them had suffered a bloody nose from Watanabe, something that added another detention onto his tally. Most of the class breathed a sigh of relief when the lunch bell rang. Bakugou and Watanabe remaining inside staring at each other, but Izuku pulled Watanabe away, "Come on, we'll get lunch." 

Watanabe allowed himself to be pulled away. Once outside, Watanabe growled in anger and punched the wall beside him breaking a part of it. Izuku stared in surprise at the damaged wall. "Sorry," Watanabe apologized, "I am just mad at the damn teachers and fucking Bakushit."

"Please don't start anything with Kacchan," Izuku pleaded.

"Izuku, for god's sake stop calling him Kacchan like he's your friend. Open your eyes! He hasn't been your friend for a long time. Why do you still care?" Watanabe asked Izuku.

"I think he can still change if he is guided properly." 

Watanabe stared at Izuku pondering over his answer. He was quiet as they got their lunch and sat down to eat it. He finally spoke after finishing his lunch, "Izuku, you are right, people can change. But the way Bakugou is, he needs a wake-up call, and the next time he pulls something, I am going to beat the shit out of him, no  matter what, got it?"

"But, you'll get into trouble, and Aunt and Uncle Hattori will be mad and-"

"They will understand if I tell them. Well, mom won't be too happy but they will understand. I am just telling this to remove your delusion of thinking that Bakushit is your friend and the fact that you think that just because he's powerful he can do anything. With great power comes great responsibility."

"You just added the last line from the pre-quirk era movie Spiderman to be 'philosophical' and look smart, didn't ya?" Izuku asked with a laugh. Watanabe smiled, "Made ya laugh though, so I see it as a win. We have time, so are we allowed to go to the football grounds?"

"Yeah, but Bakugou is there, so..." Izuku started. "So what?" Watanabe asked loudly, "Let's just go and check it out. Someone might be willing to let us play."

Izuku sighed as Watanabe headed out to the field. He knew he had no other choice to follow him. " Barely two days and already he's learned of all my secrets. Guess I might as well go with him." 

Izuku stepped out of the cafeteria and saw that Watanabe was already talking with Bakugo and the others. Izuku hurried to catch up with his cousin.

"Why should I let a useless shit like you play with us. You are probably as useless as your quirk." Bakugou sneered.

"If I remember correctly, this 'useless shit' just kicked your ass in the morning," Watanabe countered.

"HUH! You want me to use my full power to fucking murder you? COME ON THEN!" Bakugou screamed as he set himself into a stance. Everyone else backed away in fear. "FINE WITH ME!" Watanabe shouted back ready to fight.

"Watanabe, Kacchan don't!" Izuku said.

"STAY OUT OF THIS DEKU! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE SPINE TO STAND UP TO ME! BUT NOW I WILL SHOW YOU WHAT I WILL DO TO YOU IF YOU TRY TO SAVE ME AGAIN!" Bakugou screamed as he shot forward with explosions at the ready.

Watanabe switched to infrared vision and saw that Bakugou's palms get redder. His eyes widened as he realized that Bakugou was going to use both his hands to blast him with full force. Watanabe dodged to the right and ducked beneath another explosion aimed at him. He swiftly switched to X-ray vision and jabbed at Bakugou's arm joints to dislocate them. Bakugou screamed in pain as he felt his shoulders dislocate. In rage, he turned towards Watanabe and released a blast. This time Watanabe couldn't dodge. He was hit with full force but Bakugou screamed as he felt his dislocated shoulders break. The recoil of the explosion tore through his already damaged shoulder and broke his bone. Meanwhile, Watanabe got up immediately and took out Bakugou's legs from under him. Bakugou yelped and as he fell. Watanabe took the chance to aim a well-placed kick to Bakugou's head knocking him out cold. He was just about to take another swing when a teacher arrived and knocked him out.

Watanabe woke up from unconsciousness in the principal's office and saw that Izuku, Aunt Inko, and his parents were there. He wasn't surprised, even he knew that he had gone a little too far. Watanabe knew that his mom was angry but Aunt Inko seemed a bit puzzled. Fortunately, Ryuzen was the first to ask him, "Watanabe, is it true that you broke Katsuki's arms in a fight."

Watanabe nodded, "Yes, but it was only because Bakugou started it-"

"That's a lie, all the teachers said that Watanabe started the altercation." Said the principal.

"I guess they just simply forgot about how Bakugou and his lackeys insulted everyone because they were 'weaker' and the fact that Bakugou used his quirk to beat up other students including Izuku," Watanabe said.

The principal became red and stuttered, "Wh-why you, Bakugou is one of the finest students of this prestigious-"

"Ya-ya sure," Watanabe interrupted, "He did the same with Izuku because he's quirkless. Izuku, show the marks."

"What, there aren't any wounds." Izuku lied panicked.

"See, the boy is just using a far-fetched lie, I assure you-"

"Izuku, is Watanabe telling the truth?" Inko asked ignoring the principal. Inko knew that Watanabe was quite truthful. He did lie but not about something so serious. Izuku simply bit his lips and didn't reply. "Izuku, please," Watanabe asked.

Izuku bit his lip harder and drew up his sleeves revealing several burn and scorch marks. Inko and Natsume gasped. Ryuzen meanwhile grew very angry and turned to the principal in a fury, "You knew about this and lied! For what, to keep this Katsuki's record clean. Just to help a few students, you neglected the rest? You are a shitty school and I am going to sue you and shut this damn place down. Come on Natsume, Inko. You too Watanabe and Izuku," Ryuzen said and got up.

The family stepped up to leave, but not before Natsume slapped the principal across his face, "You are living scum! You didn't even take Watanabe to the hospital to see if he has a concussion even after Katsuki knocked him out!"

"Well, Katsuki didn't do much to me. It was a teacher who knocked me out," Watanabe said with glee, clearly to add fuel to the fire. Natsume's eyes grew red, "First we are going to the hospital and then to the police!" She screamed and left.

Everyone got into the car and Ryuzen drove to the hospital. The ride was silent, the only sounds were of Inko sobbing over Izuku and Natsume's muttering on different plots to run Aldera aground. Izuku seemed like he was blaming himself for making Inko cry. 

However, Watanabe was slightly smiling, "Phase 1 success," he thought. He had planned for an altercation to take place so that their parents had to be called. And if he pressured Izuku in front of them, he'd be bound to tell everything to Inko. Watanabe knew that the first part of his plan couldn't work without them being pulled out of Aldera. Not that phase 1 was done, he was already thinking of ways to start phase 2.

Ryuzen pulled up to the hospital and everyone got out. Inko took Izuku up to the reception, "Excuse me, but could we meet with a burn specialist?"

"Of course!" the receptionist replied, "May I ask, what is the issue?"

"Oh, my son got burnt by a quirk," Inko replied quietly. The receptionist narrowed her eyes but nodded, "Fifth floor, I'll call in advance to let the doctor get ready. Could one of you fill up this form" 

"Thanks," Inko said and filled the form. The five then got into a waiting elevator. They got out on the fifth floor and headed to the clearly marked burn specialist's room. He was the only one who seemed to have a degree in burn specializing on the floor, so it made it easier to find him. The two families entered.

"Ah, I have been expecting you. One of you must be Midoriya Izuku, am I right?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, the boy has suffered several burns from a quirk and we were hoping for them to be treated," Ryuzen said. 

"Of course, of course." The doctor, Mezushi Hitame said. Watanabe found it odd that the doctor immediately started to treat his cousin without interrogating about the wound's cause or origin. However, Watanabe just passed it off as the doctor being professional. He couldn't have been more wrong. Soon after, the door to the doctor's chamber was pushed open and three policemen entered. Natsume shrieked in surprise. Ryuzen meanwhile just stared, wide-eyed.

"Is Midoriya Izuku here?" A man wearing a long white coat entered and asked. Inko nodded. The man continued, "I am detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. We got a call about possible quirk-related child abuse and were directed here,"

Watanabe knew he shouldn't but he just couldn't stifle his laugh at the misunderstanding. Fortunately, it was only a quiet giggle that left him, but that was still enough for the detective to stare at him like he was crazy.

"Child abuse? What, no! He was bullied!" Ryuzen exclaimed.

"I will judge that," Naomasa said and took a step forward towards both Izuku and Watanabe, "Have you faced child abuse?" he asked both of them.

"Yes!"

"No,"

Watanabe and Izuku replied respectively. Naomasa registered Watanabe's statement as the truth and Izuku's as a lie. "My quirk says otherwise," he addressed Ryuzen.

"Woah, your quirk is lie-detector or something? That's amazing." Izuku said unable to hide his amazement over his quirks. Realizing his outburst, Izuku clapped his hand over his mouth and sat back down sheepishly. Naomasa chuckled at Izuku's energy, "Yes, for now, we will take you with us. Guys arrest the adults." Naomasa ordered.

Izuku looked shocked and was unable to speak but fortunately, Watanabe interjected, "Why, they are innocent."

"They abused you," Naomasa said shocked that the child was trying to defend them.

"No, they didn't," 

"You just said, they did,"

"I said I was abused, but not by whom," Watanabe said cheekily.

Naomasa was going to reply but then realized that Watanabe was right, "Real funny kid." Watanabe cackled in response

"OK, so who abused you?" Naomasa asked again.

"Well, Aldera high school, although I only went there for one day, my previous school was better... Anyway, Izuku is worse off from that abuse and also child negligence. I suppose since Bakugou is of the same age, it doesn't count as abuse so I guess bullying, quirk relate bullying actually." Watanabe said in a steady stream.

Naomasa's mouth hung open as all of it registered as a truth. He looked over to Izuku for a response, who just nodded. Truth, it registered. Anger filled Naomasa's mind at the sudden statement of such facts, not to mention it came from a child, without the slightest tone of sadness. "You guys can go, I'll wrap things up here and come," Naomasa said. While Naomasa had not let any anger enter his voice, the policemen knew that the detective was extremely angry.

After the police had left, the detective turned his attention back to the two families, "Ok, can someone please explain further?"

Inko nudged Izuku and motioned for him to speak while giving an encouraging smile. Izuku breathed in deeply and began explaining everything that had happened to him, how he and Bakugou were friends but quirk differences caused him to be bullied, how Aldera had neglected him and countless other students, how Bakugou had suicide baited him, and finally, the altercation between Bakugou and Watanabe.

"Ok thank you. Before I discuss this, I would like to question you first, Watanabe. Did you use your quirk?" Naomasa said.

"Um no..." Watanabe said rather unconvincingly. 

Naomasa sweatdropped and said, "I don't even need to use my quirk to know that's a lie. So, explain yourself, what is your quirk and how did you use it?"

"Fine," Watanabe groaned. Izuku snickered and Watanabe glared at him but only got a grin in reply. Sighing, he began to explain, "Well, my quirk is eye-color change which is pretty useless but it also has the power to change my vision to other visions like infrared or X-ray. I used my X-ray to find Bakugou's weak joints and dislocated the bones there."

'Truth,'  Naomasa's quirk registered. The detective rubbed his head, "I am sorry Watanabe, but it seems I have to charge you with Vigilantism."

"Why?" Watanabe asked straight away.

Naomasa blinked, "Excuse me?"

"Vigilantism is when quirks are used to harm people in the name of good but without a pro-hero license. The way I see it, I did use my quirk to beat up Bakugou, but only indirectly. My quirk itself didn't harm anyone." Watanabe said with a grin.

Naomasa opened his mouth to speak but then closed it. Technically he was correct... Naomasa smiled, "Well, you are right, so I won't charge you but let this be a warning. Now, Mr. and Mrs. Hattori and Mrs. Inko, I advise you not to sue right away. It seems Aldera has neglected many other children, so I would like to investigate further. When everything is in order, I will call you to sue."

"Of course, that would be much appreciated. Please do update us regularly," Ryuzen said.

"Ok, I will be visiting the Katsuki family now to charge Bakugou," Naomasa said and got up.

"No, you can't!" Izuku spluttered. Everyone stared at him like he had gone mad. Naomasa replied, "Izuku, Katsuki's actions need to be punished."

"But I believe he can still change," 

"Izuku, if you let him get off scot-free, he won't change!" Watanabe replied angrily. Izuku went quiet. 

Naomosa switched to a gentler tone, "You are very kind Izuku, to care about the person who abused you, but Watanabe is right, he needs to face the consequences of his action. I hope I have been clear to you,"

Izuku nodded.

"Good, I will be going then," and with that Naomasa exited the hospital room. "That Izuku really does have a kind soul to care about the person who has tortured him so much. Perhaps he could be the All Might's Successor," Naomosa thought as he waited for the elevator. The elevator dinged and the doors opened. He entered it and resumed his thinking, "That might be a bit far-fetched but the kid does have a good mind. Heck, he tried to save his fucking bully just yesterday. Half the children his age would have gladly ignored the situation. Watanabe too seemed to have a good mind... but he was a bit too rash. Watanabe will do well too but he would be a better underground hero or like Eraserhead than the symbol of peace. Not to mention that Toshinori will probably instantly connect with Izuku because he was quirkless too. Argh, I'm thinking too much about his, I will call Toshinori about this tomorrow in the morning."  Naomasa thought as he got into his car, ready to drive off.

After the doctor had finished treating Izuku and had made sure that Watanabe wasn't suffering from a concussion or any other effects, he had let them leave. The two families exited with Inko giving Izuku a kind smile to make him feel better. Inko was surprised when she exited from the room as she saw, "Mitsuki?" she asked.

Mitsuki got up from the seat she, Katsuki, and her husband was sitting in. "Inko, Detective Naomasa informed us about everything while Katsuki was being treated. I am sorry that I never realized that he was doing this. It's my fault." Mitsuki said modestly and bowed.

"Th-thank you Mitsuki. I know it must have been hard for you to apologize given your... strong personality, so your apology really means a lot," Inko said with tears in her eye.

Mitsuku smiled slightly and nodded, "Oi, brat get here and apologize to Izuku!"

"Shut up you old hag!" Katsuki replied. He opened his mouth to continue but Masaru glared at him sternly. Katsuki immediately shut up knowing that something that angering his normally calm and silent father would have bad consequences for him. "Tch, fine!" he growled.

"I am sorry, ok Deku!" Katsuki shouted reluctantly. Mitsuku slapped him over the head, "Properly," she warned.

"Fine! I am sorry, Izuku," he said keeping his voice lower but anger clearly still in his voice. 

"And?" Mitsuki said.

"And I am sorry Watanabe," Katsuki growled.

"Thanks Kacchan," Izuku replied meekly. Watanabe coughed into his hand to cover up his snort. Natsume glared down at him and smiled, "Watanabe, I think you should apologize too,"

Watanabe spluttered, "What, why? What did I do?"

"You took it too far. I know for a fact you purposely chose to dislocate his shoulders to maximize damage." Natsume said.

Watanabe's eye twitched, "Fine, I am sorry Katsuki-san," he said mockingly to Kacchan

"Well, I didn't want you to apologize to him, considering I thought he was right to beat this shithead, but thank you, Watanabe," Mitsuku said with a small smile. None of the adults seemed to care that the tone of their apologies wasn't forgiving and carried on with their conversation, but Izuku just glanced nervously between the two as they glared at each other with malice. Clearly, neither had accepted the other's apology.

"I'll see you later then Inko," Mitsuki said. "Sorry again for Katsuki," Masaru said as the families parted ways to head to their respective homes. Izuku and Watanabe sat together in the back.

"Can't you forgive Kacchan please Watanabe?" Izuku asked hesitantly.

"Not a chance, unless he changes drastically. However, I will leave him for now, I am going to start on another project." Watanabe said.

"Another project?" Izuku asked anxiously. "What project?" Izuku asked further, knowing that he probably wouldn't want the answer.

"To take down Aldera of course,"

"Shouldn't we leave it to Detective Naomasa?" 

"Obviously, but that doesn't mean I can't help take the school down," Watanabe said with sadistic glee.

"You know what I don't even want to know," Izuku decided in his mind.

"Actually scratch that," Watanabe said quietly, careful not to wake up Inko or Natsume, "We will take down Aldera," Watanabe said with a grin.

Izuku almost wanted to jump out of the car at the sadistic glee and unhealthy amount of happiness behind the sentence.

Chapter Text

Izuku and Watanabe set out at 5 in the morning again to train with Yagi, much to Inko's displeasure who wanted Izuku to stay at home today. Watanabe had covered for him though saying that he would look after Izuku and going out for a run would cheer him up. Izuku was quite thankful to his cousin for that. At last, the two cousins reached the beach and found All Might waiting for them. 

"Ah, there you are. Izuku, I am making a schedule for your training so that you can balance your studies and training. I will give it to you tomorrow." Yagi welcomed.

"Cool, where's mine?" Watanabe asked.

Yagi sweated, "Uhh, I Uhm..." Yagi struggled to find words. Watanabe laughed, "Haha, you should have seen the look on your face." Watanabe said. Yagi stared at him. 

"What? I didn't expect you to make a schedule for me. I just tag along with Izuku because I can learn a few things myself and also so that our parents don't get suspicious." Watanabe said, "Speaking of which, can you please teach me fighting instead, I don't think martial arts is for me. I trained as a  kid but my style is too random and free-flowing. At least that's what sensei said," 

Yagi stared at Watanabe, clearly not being used to be at the receiving end of a rant, especially from a kid. Watanabe smirked at his reaction, "Well?" he asked. 

"Oh, uh sure I guess. I don't really have much to do with Izuku for now since he needs to build his body up," Yagi said, "But I should warn you, my fighting style is based around strength mostly, because of my quirk." Yagi said.

"It will do, for now, I think. Plus Izuku can learn too," Watanabe said and Izuku nodded enthusiastically.

"Oh, I wasn't going to teach him combat until he got One for All," Yagi said. Izuku's face fell a bit. Watanabe stared at him with an expression of, 'Horror?'  Yagi asked himself.

"Ok nice joke. When do we start with combat training?" Watanabe asked.

"I told you, I will teach you for now and Izuku after he gets his quirk," Yagi said, "I don't see the problem..." Yagi said helpfully. Watanabe continued to stare at him, "Ok, you know what, Izuku please explain why it's a problem. Number 1 hero my ass," Watanabe muttered loudly to himself as he sat down on the sand.

Yagi stared at his successor's cousin with surprise. Meanwhile, Izuku was talking to his cousin nervously, "Watanabe, I think All Might has his reasons to teach me later,"

"Sure and I believe that Bakugou is a very kind and good-hearted person," Watanabe replied sarcastically. "Come on Izuku, just tell him already, he won't mind."

"But what if he, uh, I mean, uhm," Izku sweated nervously.

"Dislikes you because of it and doesn't give you his quirk," Watanabe finished for him. Izuku went red and Yagi looked abashed, "Young Izuku, I would never do that. You can tell me why you think my method is wrong,"

Izuku smiled shakily, "O-ok then. Um, where do I start?" he asked. Watanabe's face twitched in annoyance at the rather idiotic question sent his way, "Izuku, I swear, if you don't start, I am going to bury you in the sand," Watanabe said.

"As if you could, idiot," Izuku replied but then became aware of his insult, "Oh my god, I am so sorry," he stated apologizing but Watanabe simply laughed, "It's fine. I'd be more annoyed if you didn't give me insults. Good to see I am rubbing off on you," Watanabe said with a teasing smile.

Izuku stared at his cousin, a bit annoyed, "Ok, so All Might, you said I will probably be ready to receive One for All 1 week before UA entrance exam or something like that. However, others get to train their quirk for 15 years before applying. While it is agreeable that I do not have that luxury, some quirks are hard to control and harm the user. One for All sounds like such a quirk, so only 1 week of training will not prepare me to use it without me breaking my bones or worse, dying." Izuku analyzed. "You couldn't do this yourself?" he asked Watanabe.

Watanabe shrugged, "You know I am only good at analyzing weaknesses, not strengths, so obviously you would have gotten the main point right with supporting points,"

"Watanabe, you don't really talk like a kid you know," Yagi commented.

Watanabe simply shrugged again, "I only talk like this when I am being serious," 

Yagi sighed, "I understand your concerns but when I got the quirk, I was able to use it immediately," 

"But you and Izuku are not the same. For starters, at which age did you get it, and did you get trained for it like Izuku?" Watanabe asked.

"Well, I got it at 17. Hero schools were still new then so students were older than now. My sensei, Shimura Nana, simply sparred with me and decided that my body was already ready and gave One for All to me. Nana sensei always said that my body must have been fit enough to get One for All a long time before, otherwise my body would... Oh," Yagi said as realization dawned on his face. 

"Exactly," Watanabe said, "See even your sensei passed on the quirk in a short time because she already knew you were fit, but Izuku is not! Let's put it this way, if One for All is a 1 Litre Liquid, you were a 1 Litre container from before you got One for All. But in Izuku's case, you are forcing a 500 ml container to become a 1 Litre container. And that is a very stupid sounding example." Watanabe said. "Argh, the point is, well I think you get it?" Watanabe asked with a tone that begged All Might not to say, 'No,'

"No," Yagi said. Watanabe facepalmed and was trying to think of another example when he saw Yagi trying not to laugh. "Haha," said Watanabe dryly, "So, you do get it?"

Yagi laughed and nodded, "I will have to fix that on your schedule. You need to study as well,' Yagi addressed Izuku.

"Ah, you don't need to worry about that, we left school anyway," Watanabe said calmly.

"You what?" Yagi asked, shocked. "What did Watanabe do at school? He said he would handle Izuku's bullying but to the point where they were expelled!" Yagi wondered. "Wait, he said they left, not expelled..." Yagi thought catching the keyword. Watanabe caught Yagi's inquiring eyes and smiled evilly. Yagi warily asked, fearing what exactly Watanabe had done, "Watanabe, what exactly did you do in response to Izuku being bullied?"

However, before Watanabe could reply, Izuku burst out, "You told him about the bullying! You told him on the first day of our training,"

"Uhhhhh," Watanabe struggled to find a reply as Izuku fumed. 

"Izuku, I think Watanabe was right to tell me. Frankly, I would be surprised if I wasn't considering I was bullied for being quirkless myself," Yagi said.

Fortunately, that shifted Izuku's mind. Unfortunately, Yagi had forgotten that he hadn't told Izuku about his quirklessness."You what!" Izuku asked. Yagi turned to Watanabe for help but Watanabe returned a smug grin. Sighing Yagi started his tale, "Back when I was young, quirklessness was still quite wide-spread. Quirks weren't as popular as they are now but kids with quirks still bullied those who didn't have one. Anyway, that was how school passed for me until I met my master, Nana Shimura. She liked my ideology about there being a symbol of peace and decided that I was the one to pass on One for All, like I am passing on to you," Yagi finished with a sad, nostalgic smile.

Izuku felt listened with awe at his idol's backstory and stared at him for more. "I will tell you the rest later. For now, you must train, but train here itself. I want to hear what Watanabe did at your school.

Izuku seemed to deflate a bit but nodded enthusiastically, "I better explain though, knowing Watanabe he's going to add some more dramatics," Izuku said.

"Hey!" Watanabe protested,

"You still owe me for telling All Might without consulting me," Izuku said.

"Look at it this way, Yagi-sensei told you a secret, so I told him a secret," Watanabe replied.

"You just called All Might by his name," Izuku said like as if he had just committed a crime

"So?" Watanabe asked, "He gave us permission, isn't it Yagi-sensei?" 

"Yes, I would appreciate it if you called me Yagi or Toshinori too, Izuku. Hearing All Might gets a bit annoying from someone close." Yagi said.

Izuku turned red, "Yes All Might, I mean Yagi-sensei," 

"Now, I have a feeling that Watanabe did something huge, but you must not waste a second of your training. We have already wasted nearly 5 minutes." Yagi said.

"Oh, come on Yagi-sensei. We don't have school today anyway, so we can train the entire day if you want! Let him tell what I did!" Watanabe said cheerfully.

"You really just want to have someone else say it to Yagi-sensei, don't you?" Izuku asked. Watanabe smiled. 

Izuku nodded and narrated the incident to Yagi who didn't say a word while Izuku spoke. After he had finished, Yagi thanked Izuku and turned to Watanabe, "Izuku didn't miss anything, right?"

"Nope, beating up Bakugou felt really cool though," Watanabe said.

"Young Watanabe, I am horrified you broke young Bakugou's arms as revenge. That is very unheroic," All Might said. 

Watanabe, however, didn't seem to care, "I know I went too far, All Might. But, Bakugou deserved it. He wouldn't have left Izuku alone if I had just simply slapped or punched him around. Not to mention he used his quirk, what do you think I should have done? Taken the explosion and tell the teachers. The teachers didn't care shit about what they did. I did dislocate his arms but he only has himself to blame for increasing the damage," Watanabe said angrily.

Yagi sighed, "Perhaps so, young Watanabe, but there would have been better ways,"

"I know," Watanabe said a bit embarrassed, "But I was just too angry to-"

"It's normal," Yagi cut him off, "If someone harmed Izuku or you, I would be angry too but I would control myself and just hand him in instead of, well breaking him. But it can't be helped, you are still young. Your intelligence might be mature and you may understand many things much more than an adult, but in the end, you are still not experienced enough to handle such emotions. However, I do think Izuku is more mature," Yagi lectured.

Watanabe and Izuku stared at him. Izuku in awe hanging onto each of Yagi's words, and Watanabe in shock. Yagi noticed the shock on Watanabe's face and asked, "What, you don't agree?"

"No, no, it's just that, I knew you were strong, but you don't seem so, well smart for lack of a better word,"

Izuku spluttered and tried to apologize for his cousin but Yagi laughed and waved them off, "It's fine, Young Midoriya. However, young Watanabe, one needs to be smart and intelligent to be the number 1 pro hero. I may not be as smart or logical as underground heroes but it's enough."

Watanabe nodded, "I guess that should have been obvious but I'm still offended that you think Izuku is more mature than me,"

Yagi laughed, "You are mature too but I feel you tend to punish people for their faults while giving them a second chance. You still have the habits of a teenager to be uncaring whereas Izuku is more suited to the definition of mature,"

Watanabe pouted.

"Now then, it's nearly been half an hour since you have come. Izuku, get on with your training. I just have to call a friend who can help your case against Aldera, I'll be back in 5 minutes." 

"I will just take a few laps around the beach then, Yagi-sensei," Watanabe said.

All Might nodded, "Sure, but don't get lost. And don't help Izuku please, he needs to build up his body,"

"Ah, that reminds me, I wanted to ask for your opinion on something," Watanabe said.

Yagi raised his eye, "What is it?"

"Well, Izuku and I wanted to help bring down Aldera and we had a plan,"

"You mean you had a plan which you want to rope me in," Izuku interjected.

"Same shit. I know for a fact you will end up helping me," Watanabe replied.

"Watanabe, as much as I appreciate your concern and your desire to help, please let the police handle it. My friend can also help with the case and have them brought to justice. They will at least pay huge fines. Going there and responding violently won't do anything," Yagi advised.

"I'm not planning to go and beat the shit out of everyone in Aldera," Watanabe said offended, "I was thinking more along the line of getting the public's support."

Yagi stopped to think about what Watanabe said and decided to listen to his thoughts. "Why do you think public opinion will matter in the case?" Yagi asked.

"I'm not sure how to explain, I know how but..." Watanabe struggled but Izuku helped him out, "No, he has a point. Normally, Aldera would probably just get a huge fine and orders to fire some of the staff. But that would probably not fix anything long-term. The media also won't be too interested in a case with just bullying. It might get one headline but that's it. However, if we can get the public to side with us, the media will get involved and Aldera will be under the microscope even after the case, so they won't be able to return to their old ways. Not to mention the fact that more people will try to weed out Aldera's secrets." 

Yagi listened intently to Izuku and had o admit, "That's... actually rather ingenious. But how do you plan to have the public side with you,"

"I was thinking of blogs or news portals and other social sites," Watanabe replied.

Yagi nodded, "Good enough, but your article must be good enough to at least instill doubt so that when news of the case gets out, the public sides with you and you have to know which topics you must breach,"

Watanabe hummed, "Well, I think I shouldn't start with quirklessness, given the fact that many people don't understand they are discriminated against and think they lead normal lives too. So, I was planning on starting with quirk discrimination since it already has laws due to mutant quirk discrimination and then I was thinking to compare it with quirklessness, to change public opinion on them and expand their view. There are some other points, but I am not sure of them yet. Anyway, that's why I was asking for your help. Me and Izuku will write it and pass it onto you and you could sharpen it for us. Please?" 

Yagi thought for a bit, "Their plan is really very good. Even many pro heroes wouldn't think to attack like this. Daylight heroes wouldn't care to and underground heroes wouldn't want to work on something that would require interaction with media or draw attention to themselves. Perhaps I will call Nedzu-sensei about young Izuku and Watanabe's plan. Knowing him, he will probably help to sharpen an article that will ensue chaos and a better society. Though, he might form a deeper plan," 

"All right, I will help. But, I have a friend who will be better at this and might be willing to help. I'll have to talk with him first though," Yagi said.

"Thanks, Yagi-sensei! We will send you the article after we have finished," Watanabe said as he set off for a few laps around the beach.

"I still don't get how you roped me into this," Izuku yelled after him as he also went to start on his training.

Watanabe cackled and ran further away.

Yagi smiled at the scene and walked a bit further from Izuku to call his friend when his phone rang. Yagi looked at his screen and was pleasantly surprised to get a call from the very one who he was planning on calling. He picked it up and spoke, "It's been a long time, Tsukauchi,"

Tsukauchi had gotten up early in the morning to work on the case against Aldera. He had bought some coffee from his favorite shop and then set off for the police station. As he sat drinking his coffee in his personal office, he pondered on if he should approach Yagi on the issue of his successor. The two might be childhood, best friends but Tsukauchi wasn't sure whether recommending a successor would be considered an overstep. He really didn't want to break their friendship, considering he was Yagi's only friend, Mirai having cut off contact long ago. While All Might had many supporters and well-wishers, Yagi was just a nobody to most people. Toshinori knew that their friendship won't fall apart just because he wanted to recommend someone but he was still a bit paranoid. Sighing, he picked up his phone and scrolled to Yagi's number. He hesitated for a moment before calling. He knew Yagi would have him cut straight to the point considering they had last talked over a case nearly 6 months ago. He bit his lip as the phone rang for what seemed like an eternity before a voice rang out, "It's been a long time, Tsukauchi,"

Tsukauchi couldn't help but smile a bit at his old friend's voice, "Hello Yagi, long time no see,"

"What do you need?"

"What makes you think I need anything?" Tsukauchi almost pouted.

Yagi laughed on the other end, "Considering our recent, as in 6 months recent, conversations have mostly been on cases, I think I have reason to believe that you need something," Yagi said dryly but not unkindly, "Not that I don't mind helping you, but I would really like to meet more occasionally,"

Tsukauchi sighed, "I know but I was just busy with one thing and another. You didn't call either though, to be fair."

"...True enough. But I was going to call you right now too,"

Tsukauchi sat up straight, "I see and what did you need?"

"Couldn't I have been calling just to check up on you?"

"Yagi, you have called me to check up on me on only 6 occasions after becoming a pro hero, the rest was case-related," said Tsukauchi in a dry tone.

"Fine, you got me. You say what you need first though." Yagi said.

"Well, I actually don't need anything from you this time, I was sort of checking up on you. Well, not entirely but the matter does concern you,"

"Hmm? What is it?" Yagi asked.

Tsukauchi took a deep breath, "I have a recommendation... a recommendation for someone to be your successor. He's 14 so you can train him with the quirk for a year before he goes to UA and I personally think he has some of the traits you are looking for,"

Yagi went quiet for a good amount of time. Tsukauchi's heart beat faster and faster as he grew more nervous to Yagi's reaction who finally spoke, "Tsukauchi, I appreciate you telling me, but you are a bit late. I... I have already found a successor,"

"Oh," Tsukauchi said, "That's good then. I mean I am a bit bummed that Izuku won't get a chance but-"

"Wait did you say Izuku!?" Yagi asked.

"Yeah, he was the one I was going to recommend," Tsukauchi replied.

"Can you describe him?" Yagi asked slowly.

Tsukauchi found his reply odd but answered anyway, "Medium height, has a sort of dark green, spiky hair, with freckles and he's quirkless."

"THAT'S IZUKU!" Yagi yelled.

Tsukauchi was really confused now, "I know, I just said his name is Izuku,"

"No, no you don't get it. I have chosen Izuku as my successor. The same Izuku you are recommending!" Yagi exclaimed.

"Wait, really? Does he have a brother Watanabe?" 

"Yeah, he's making me train him along with Izuku," Yagi replied.

"Wait... how did he make you?"

"He is too observant. He found about Izuku being trained by me just by the fact I seemed interested in him after the sludge incident and the fact that Izuku had set an early alarm." Yagi said. "He even found out about Izuku being bullied. Which reminds me, I called you to ask you to take up the case their parents are fighting. It's against a school named Aldera."

Tsukauchi nearly choked on his coffee, "Ok, you're joking this time,"

Yagi let out a confused, "What?"

"I'm the detective in charge of the case. Watanabe apparently broke the bully, Bakugou's hands, and Izuku had burn wounds so they went to the hospital where the staff thought the parents did it and called us. That's how I met Izuku. Izuku was dead set on Bakugou being unpunished and was willing to forgive him. That's what made me think you might want to pass on One for All to him. Since he's quirkless, I thought you would connect easily,"

"So it seems we both have our needs fulfilled already," Yagi said.

"Yeah, but let's grab a coffee or dinner sometime."

"I would say today, but I might be a bit busy today. What about lunch tomorrow?"

"I have to work on the Aldera case though. What about next Thursday?"

"Good for me. By the way, what did you think of Watanabe?" Yagi asked. He was rather interested in the boy and while he wouldn't pass One for All to him, he still seemed to be a type of person who would do what is right, rules be damned. 

"I think he's a bit brash," Naomasa said, "But he's a good kid. He may not follow the exact rules but he will never do anything bad. He is willing to give you a second chance but he will have you punished if you have done something very bad too. That is what I felt at least. Maybe he can't be a symbol of peace: to inspire and to give hope, but I think he will be one of the best heroes in the future. Number two seems like a good spot for him even if he goes underground,"

Yagi smiled a bit at that. If his best friend thought as highly of Watanabe as he did, he would train him with Izuku with no regrets. "Thank you for clearing my mind, Tsukauchi."

"No problem, Toshinori. Did Watanabe tell you anything about revenge on Aldera?"

"How did you know?" Yagi asked surprised.

"Considering he only gave Bakugou a second chance because of Izuku, I don't think Aldera is going to be safe from his thoughts. Though I don't think he can do much against them. What did he say though?"

"He is thinking of writing an article and sharing it onto blogs and other social sites to have the public side with him to gain more media interest to permanently cripple Aldera or make enough chaos to have it closely monitored after the case too," Yagi replied.

"...I stand corrected. Izuku certainly has the potential to write a banging article from what I saw in his notebooks. And Watanabe certainly has the smartness to have Izuku add some triggering phrases that will make people riot. But do ask them to restrain themselves a bit, I still remember the amount of chaos and paperwork during Nedzu's debut in which he literally forced the government to form quirk discrimination laws. With a single article! God forbid those two meet." Tsukauchi huffed.

"Oh, I am actually going to ask Nedzu sensei whether he'd like to help their little project. I think he'd be up for it considering the amount of damage it is capable of forming."

Naomasa's mouth hung open in horror, "Toshi, listen to me, please. I beg you, don't do it. I don't want that much paperwork. Watanabe and Izuku writing the article will be bad enough but the results are required. If you drag Nedzu into this, he will make it utter chaos!"

Yagi snickered childishly on the other end, "I think I still will. I haven't annoyed you in a looong time."

"Yagi, I swear you will come crawling back to me and complain about how you shouldn't have introduced them."

Yagi laughed, "Goodbye, Tsukauchi. See you next week on Thursday,"

"YAGI NOOOOO! PLEASE!!! HAVE MERCYYYYYYYY!" Naomasa screamed into the phone but the line clicked and fell dead. A police officer popped his head in to inquire about his screams. Naomasa just stared at him blankly and said in a defeated tone, "Get ready for a shitload of paperwork," The officer just looked back at him inquiringly. Naomasa gestured for him to leave him alone. He could already feel the headache coming on.

Chapter Text

"That should be enough for today. Go and have some rest. We will train at night again. Izuku, you have to pick up the pace if you want to get fit for One for All. Watanabe, I want you to study up on the human body. While your X-ray vision will give you your opponent's weak points, you still need to know which places are fatal and which aren't" Yagi said.

Watanabe and Izuku nodded, "Thanks, Yagi-san. Bye!" Both of them called out as they left for home. Yagi waited until both of them had left his sight and then decided to go to UA. He still needed to sign a few papers before he could become a teacher at UA and maybe he could ask Nedzu if he wanted to help his students. 

Yagi had a quick lunch and headed straight to UA. He smiled politely as Present Mic gave him a wave and walked on till he reached Nedzu's office. He knocked on the door, "Come in," Nedzu's voice called out. Yagi popped his head in the door and greeted, "How are you doing, Nedzu sensei?"

"Good, good. The question is whether I am a rat or a bear? The answer is I'm the principal!" 

"You are never going to stop doing that, are you?" Yagi chuckled, shaking his head.

"But it's such a good icebreaker!" Nedzu replied

"To a stranger, it will just be awkward," Yagi replied dryly.

"Hmm, perhaps you are right. But I still like to introduce myself like this. The reactions are fun to see. Here are the papers you need to sign," Nedzu said and handed Yagi the papers. 

"Thank you, Nedzu sensei," Yagi said as he took out a pen to sign them. Nedzu waited patiently for Yagi to finish. Yagi handed the papers back after signing them and only then did Nedzu speak, "Congratulations! You are now officially a teacher of UA!" Nedzu said, "Would you like access to the students list now to see who you might want to pass One for All to?" Nedzu asked directly.

Yagi started sweating, "Oh shit! I didn't tell anyone except Tsukauchi that I have passed on One for All to a successor. What do I do? What do I do?" Yagi berated himself. 

"Uhhh, not now," Yagi replied.

"Ah, so you have decided on a successor," Nedzu replied knowingly.

"H-how did you know that?" Yagi nearly screamed. He knew that he couldn't possibly keep the secret from Nedzu but he thought he couldn't figure it out immediately.

"The real question should be what Gran Torino is going to do to you. I assume you haven't told him yet considering I myself didn't know?" Nedzu asked.

Yagi sunk in his seat, "No, I haven't told him yet," he said quietly, "He is going to kill me, isn't he?" Yagi asked rhetorically.

Nedzu didn't bother to reply at once. Instead, he slowly set the tea to boil, allowing the silence to strike more fear into Yagi's heart on what his old teacher might do to him, "The fact you have to ask that question baffles me. The real question is whether he will choose to punish you more if you delay the question. But enough about that, you will have enough time to choose your options afterward. Right now, I want to know more about the green-haired boy you have chosen as your successor," 

"How did you figure that Izuku is my successor too. You might have understood I got a successor because I didn't immediately want the student list. But how did you figure out about Izuku!?" Yagi demanded.

"Oh, so his name is Izuku?" Nedzu asked as he handed a cup of boiling tea to Yagi and took one for himself. He took a few quick sips before continuing, "After the sludge incident, you seemed rather interested in Izuku. To an unsuspecting observer, it might seem the Number 1 hero was simply checking whether the victim was hurt. But as someone who knows about your secret, it was clear to see that you were paying close attention to him as you wanted to choose him as your successor. Given that, he doesn't seem to have a physical quirk but still jumped in to save his friend, it was quite obvious to realize that you were impressed by his hero-like behavior. However, the possibility you simply wanted to check up on him remained. So, I didn't say anything straight away. However, your stuttering and profuse sweating when I asked you about a successor proved me right." Nedzu finished as if he had just casually asked how the weather was.

Yagi gaped, "...Why am I even surprised?" he asked no one in particular.

"Now, I remember you saying, 'How did you figure that Izuku is my successor too'. What did you mean by 'too?'" 

Yagi sighed resignedly,  "Nothing gets past you does it?" Nedzu simply smiled back in response. "Fine, might as well get over it," Yagi resigned, "So my successor, Midoriya Izuku has a cousin, Hattori Watanabe. From what I know, his father lives overseas and, after the sludge incident, thought that his aunt, uncle, and cousin should move closer to them to give them some company. Watanabe managed to figure out many things about Izuku including the fact that I was being trained by him. He saw that he had set an alarm early to train for me. Izuku passed it off as going for a run but when he asked to tag along, Izuku panicked, and Watanabe connected that since I seemed interested in him after the sludge incident, I must be training him,"

Nedzu frowned, "While it is a good deduction, it seemed to have been made on many baseless arguments. It was really lucky that his guess was right. While his deduction that he was hiding something would be a good deduction, the fact that All Might himself is training him from such a short clip is a far fetched deduction unless he had some extra information."

"Uhm, that may be because he did have extra information. Actually, that is one of the reasons I am here," Yagi replied.

"Do tell, Toshinori," 

"Well, Izuku is quirkless," Yagi said.

Nedzu's eyes seemed to brighten up, "He was bullied," he stated. Yagi nodded, "Watanabe knew that. When Izuku panicked, he realized that he was not actually going for a run. Since he didn't have any friends and his parents would obviously not send him to do something at 5, he knew that he was doing it because he was asked by someone who he trusted. The only one to fit that built was a pro hero but Watanabe knew a random hero wouldn't take a sudden interest in him. A pro hero would only be interested if quirks are similar but since Izuku is quirkless, it didn't make sense. However, he knew that I was interested in Izuku after the sludge incident so I was probably training him. Since my quirk is unknown he thought that the most logical option was that somehow I could pass on my quirk,"

"That is indeed an excellent deduction," Nedzu said calmly on the outside but inside he was screaming in excitement, "I HAVE TO MEET THIS KID!"  "But what did you want help with Toshinori?"

"Oh, it seems Aldera allows students with stronger quirks to bully those with weaker ones and they don't keep it on their record so they can become heroes. They use them almost as a stepping stone with those with strong quirks. Young Izuku..." Yagi swallowed, "Young Izuku was a victim of quirk-induced bullying at his school. Right now Tsukauchi is handling the case and gaining evidence to charge them with child abuse and negligence,"

"Hmm. There is surely more to this? For example, why is Aldera only being charged now, why not before?" Nedzu asked.

"Izuku believed his bully, Katsuki Bakugou was capable of changing and did not report him because the teachers never believed them and instead gave him detention. His mother was close friends with Katsuku's parents but none of them knew about the situation so Izuku chose to keep it like that. It was only because Watanabe confronted Katsuki that their parents came to know about it,"

Nedzu was seething with anger. While many might say he is just an animal, he still did have emotions. Many people forget that animals are capable of feeling emotions. Nedzu himself was discriminated against for being an animal with a quirk that made him smarter than humans. It was why he had launched efforts to gain quirk discrimination laws. So it was obvious that he should be feeling angry. Keeping his emotions in control, he asked, "How did Watanabe let their parents know? I don't think Izuku would have let him tell them directly,"

Yagi scratched his head. He didn't want to give Watanabe's secret away but Nedzu had kept his quirk secret so he decided to tell him, "Watanabe has an eye-color changing quirk. I know it seems useless," Yagi said seeing Nedzu's shocked look, "However, in actuality, it also gives him the ability to change his vision. For example, he can change between X-ray, infrared vision etc. I think he can switch between other visions too but he hasn't told me of them. In his old school, he used to be bullied for having a 'useless' quirk but he beat them up in self-defense after they confronted him outside school because the teachers were punished them inside school. Anyway, when Katsuki used his quirk which releases explosions from his hand, he used his X-ray vision to dislocate Bakugou's shoulders to disable him from using his quirk. Bakugou ended up breaking them though, because he still used his quirk."

Nedzu smiled sadistically as Yagi finished. His interest in Watanabe just seemed to keep growing, "Shame, I can't seem partial due to being UA's principal. I would have loved to meet him. He has immense potential and talent. I thought he might have an intelligence quirk actually. What about Izuku? Is he smart too?"

"Considering he has numerous analyses on many heroes, yes, I think he's smart. His analysis to defeat Endeavour itself was terrifying considering its simplicity," Yagi shuddered. Nedzu sat up more straight, "What did he write?"

"He argued that all buildings nowadays have fire extinguishers for safety and they are not monitored. So, he could just take one off of each floor and fire them on Endeavour to stop him from using his quirk,"

Nedzu nearly facepalmed at the simple, yet hilarious and undoubtedly effective plan, "Was that the only plan?"

Yagi shook his head, "I had no intention of reading any more after that particularly disturbing and simple plan,"

"Do you think both the cousins actually have intelligence quirks? They don't manifest physically so..."

"I don't think so, Nedzu sensei,"

Nedzu seemed to think before replying, "Are you sure?"

"I-i think so," Yagi replied.

"Does anyone else in their family have an intelligence quirk?" Nedzu asked. Yagi's eye twitched, "I didn't map his entire family tree, did I?" Yagi said. Nedzu seemed unsatisfied but moved on, "So, is this the entire story?"

"Yes, as far as I remember," Yagi replied, "Now I think I should get on to what I want your help with,"

Nedzu nodded, "Sure,"

"Watanabe coaxed Izuku to help take down Aldera themselves too and I think their plan would be better with your help,"

"And what is their plan?" Nedzu asked.

"They plan to coax the public and media to their side," Yagi replied. Nedzu sat up straighter, clearly interested in the plan, "Go on," he said simply as if withholding some of his observations.

"I'll just tell you the fine-tuned version after I helped complete their plan. Normally, Aldera would have been made to pay huge fines after they inevitably lose the case,"

"Obviously,"

"Yes, but they are aware that Aldera will go back to its ways after the case. They will fire some of the staff but no one is there to ensure that they aren't rehired. The media also won't be too interested in a 'small' case against a school after a complaint from only one student's guardians. So, they want to write an article to shift public opinion to their favor. They know the public won't care too much about quirklessness because they aren't aware of the problems they face or that they even exist in the younger generation. So, they want to tie quirk-discrimination to being quirkless by saying that in the end, discrimination against quirkless is also a form of quirk-discrimination. They want to use the fact that people still remember the chaos from your debut, promoting quirk-equality, and use it as fuel to spark outrage against such behavior towards the collective quirkless population. I have instructed them to do this before news of Aldera's case spreads so that people automatically call for harsh punishment against Aldera. Even if the court doesn't assign a post-case regulation panel to regularly check up on Aldera, many normal citizens will do so. As there are already many watch groups against quirk bullying and child negligence and abuse, Watanabe believes that the judge will choose a harsher punishment under pressure from the public, and the fact that the entire media will be following the case closely will stem any attempt at cover-ups. Izuku and Watanabe plan to use the media's power to destroy Aldera's reputation. Izuku also believes that if the article is good enough, other schools will also be independently investigated, and even if Aldera is not shut down due to child-negligence, parents will no longer want to send their children there and the school will effectively shut down." Yagi finished and let out a deep breath.

Nedzu was quite stunned at Yagi's explanation of the plan. If Yagi wasn't explaining the situation so seriously, he would have thought he was playing an elaborate joke on him. Watanabe and Izuku both seemed to set high expectations and interest for him and immediately afterward, they had passed his expectations multiple times, something very few had accomplished, "Did they settle on what they wanted to include?"

"Like I said, they are planning to start writing it with emphasis on quirk-discrimination and then tying it to being quirkless,"

"Hmm, alright, I will help them, but not personally. Have them send it to you and then send it to me. I have no doubt they will enroll at UA and I can't be seen helping them as the principal. The media would accuse UA of favoritism."

Yagi nodded, "I will go then. Goodbye Nedzu sensei."

"Oh and tell them I will update myself after editing and adding info where needed. I know the best times to post, and have them use codenames, it's for the best, or they might get targeted." Nedzu said as he waved him goodbye.

Yagi nodded and left. As the door closed Nedzu smiled sadistically, he said he would add info but not how much. Oh, he would have fun with this article, especially if Izuku and Watanabe wrote as good an article as they planned. He cackled sadistically he immediately went through all the damage he could do with this article. Outside, Aizawa and Yagi were having a chat when Nedzu started cackling loudly in a purely-sadistic tone. Aizawa glared at Yagi, "What did you do that is making the damn rat cackle so sadistically?" he asked menacingly.

Yagi put up his hands, "He hasn't done anything so bad... yet," Aizawa glared at Yagi as he walked off. He really wanted to just go home and sleep under a blanket with his cats until whatever Nedzu planned to do blew over. Aizawa sighed. He knew that whatever Nedzu did would be inevitable. Some of the teachers had gathered hearing Nedzu cackle and were looking at Aizawa questioningly. Aizawa shrugged and left too, leaving a confused and terrified staff.

1 week later

Inko had readied dinner and was going to call Watanabe and Izuku when she heard relatively loud, secretive whispers coming from Izuku's room. She decided to eavesdrop a bit:

"Yagi-sensei told that he'll give it to his friend and he will post it for us," Izuku's voice rang out faintly.

"But, I want to meet the guy who's helping us. Even if Yagi-sensei says he is the best choice for this and will make sure it works," Watanabe's agitated yet low voice replied. 

"Are you saying you don't trust him?"

There was no reply  but Izuku spoke again, "Thought so," Inko decided to enter the room then, "What are you two up to?"

Watanabe nearly jumped from his seat, "Uhm, nothing Aunt Inko, nothing at all."

Inko looked at them suspiciously, "I don't believe you but you boys won't care about what I say. Just don't get hurt."

Watanabe gave his aunt a thumbs up, "We are not going to get hurt for this!" 

Inko sighed, she was assured through Watanabe's promise that they wouldn't do anything significant, "Come for dinner then. Natsume is out shopping, so it's only you two, Ryuzen and me. Izuku nodded, "5 minutes mom," Inko nodded and closed the door on her way out. After she had left, Izuku turned towards Watanabe, "Liar,"

"What do you mean," he said in an astonished tone with a pleasant smile.

"She thinks we aren't going to do anything big, so she doesn't have to be worried. If this article goes big, do you have any idea how huge the chaos will be?" Izuku asked his cousin. Watanabe shrugged, "I did strongly imply that we aren't going to get hurt. The chaos won't end up with us being hurt since we are using codenames.

"Hmph, I am the one who wrote the entire thing!" Izuku declared.

"But it was my idea!" 

At the kitchen table, Inko came and sat down and gave Ryuzen a concerning look, "I think those two are up to something again,"

Ryuzen sighed, "I would be more terrified if Watanabe hadn't cooked up an idea to get back at Aldera or something. It probably won't be very significant though, they are still kids. We just have to help them if they get into too much trouble."

Inko nodded feeling more reassured. Only later would they realize, how terribly wrong they were.

Chapter Text

Aizawa groaned as he woke up to the ding of another notification on his phone. The notifications had been ringing for more than 2 hours, constantly now. It was nearly midnight! Aizawa couldn't comprehend what could have been happening now. He was going to sleep early and wake up late since tomorrow was a weekend, but instead, here he was trying to ignore his notifications. It couldn't have been anything important since no one had called him for his help yet, but Aizawa knew that it might be related to a case or something. Grudgingly, he reached for his phone. He hissed as its brightness nearly blinded his eyes. After having fixed the brightness levels, he checked his notifications.

Aizawa's eye twitched as he saw most of the notifications were from online forums or news portals that he used to browse, only in search of clues for cases or major news like the emerging of a new villain or major villain fights. He nearly screamed in anger when he saw that all the notifications were just about an article. For all he knew, the public was just reading a new 'fascinating' article about fashion or something else that wasn't worth his interest. He was just about to throw the phone across the room and go back to sleep when a message popped up on his screen from Yamada. 

There were only two words sent, Read this,  along with an attachment which Aizawa suspected to be the article that was circulating online. The forums had been calling it, 'The article,' while talking about it so he didn't know what it was about. But now that Hizashi had sent him the original article along with the title, he became interested in it. He opened the article and read:

How far does quirk discrimination go?

By Storm & Chaos

Every human is equal in the eyes of the law. But is every human equal in the eyes of humans themselves? If you asked someone this question, they would disagree and proclaim that they believe each human is equal. However, the proverbial, 'Actions speak louder than words,' comes to mind in response to this answer. Indeed many people speak about fairness but in reality, their actions are hypocritical. You might be thinking that there are already laws to curb quirk discrimination, but what about when the cases get swept under the rug or the cases don't seem like quirk discrimination?

Quirk discrimination laws came into being less than 2 decades ago. The main reason these laws were made, was because mutant quirks were discriminated against much like racial discrimination. Nowadays, such discrimination does not exist. However, this is not the only type of quirk discrimination. What about the classification of quirks? Is this not discrimination. What about the quirkless?

The word, 'quirkless' seems alien in modern society. Yet, 20% of the population in Japan itself is quirkless! Granted much of this percentage is prevalent in the older generation, but, 7% of the younger population is quirkless. To a normal observer, this may not seem like a problem. After all, quirks are not that handy in daily life unless you are a hero or you have a quirk license to use your quirk to help you in business purposes. In everyday life, it's just cool to have and wouldn't make a difference. That's what many people believe. But, do you really think this is possible, when even in the past, discrimination always came from the core beliefs that if you are different or weaker,  you will be discriminated against? And in the world of quirks, do you think having a quirk would not produce a superiority complex over the quirkless when people are often thought to be inferior due to the color of their skin?

As said before, 7% of the quirkless population are young, meaning their ages range from 16-35. The government doesn't take into account those who are quirkless and younger because there are often late quirk developers. So, the number of quirkless is undoubtedly higher in reality. Even among adults, people with stronger quirks often taunt those with younger ones. Scientists have proven long ago that children will imitate the behavior they see in adults. Therefore, it seems idiotic to presume that those with stronger quirks will never bully those with weaker ones, let alone those without a quirk.

What about the covert discriminations? What about when adults refuse to help those with weaker quirks while claiming they do so because those with so-called, 'weaker quirks' might get hurt. Many dojos or combat training clubs refuse to take in those with weak quirks. Why? Because they do not want to lose the prestige of training children with strong quirks. They believe that those with strong quirks are more likely to become successful. So, they turn away those who they deem have weaker quirks. On the off chance that they do take in someone quirkless or someone with a weak quirk, they are used as a pebble, a stepping stone for the 'strong.' Do we want the next generation of heroes to be such that they do not care as long as they are strong? Because, if we carry on like this, what will be the difference between heroes and villains?  Will it be society who judges who villains are just like they judge which quirk is heroic and which one is villainous?

Society is the reason why many villains form. A boy who is bullied to have a villainous quirk might choose to go down the route of being a villain simply because he was always told he was a villain by peers. The idea of classifying a quirk as heroic or villainous is not alien to anyone. While many choose not to speak about it outright, they have surely thought of it sometimes. Telepathic quirks are often called villainous because they can control people or interfere with their minds. Yet, Mandalay of the Wild Wild pussycat is one example of a hero with a telepathic quirk. It is a human themselves who decides how to use their quirk. Therefore, it is also unfortunately true that their mind can be swayed by people calling them a villain because of their quirk. It is also unjust to classify a quirk by comparing its similarity with a hero's quirk or a villain's. A good example is the villain, Twice, and UA's teacher, Ectoplasm. Both of them have quirks that allow them to make clones of themselves but one allowed society to change how he wanted to use his quirk while one still fought to become a hero.

While we do have quirk discrimination laws, they are only useful on the base level of offering equal rights to everyone. Actions speak otherwise as many people continue to discriminate against weak quirks and the quirkless. Most people have witnessed this differential treatment but few have thought of it as discrimination and even fewer have ever thought of its impact on the entire society. Is this the legacy that we as a society want to leave behind? Are we going to let this situation fester until it blows up in our face?

Aizawa massaged his forehead after he finished reading the article. He could see why everyone was in an uproar about the article. It had highlighted society's error in the way they were classifying quirks and how people are raising their children to essentially become the definition of villain nowadays. 

So what do you think?

A message from Present-mic appeared on his phone.

The writer has highlighted the issues but most of the society won't agree.

Are you kidding? Have you seen the news?

...

Of course not, who am I asking. The thing is the writers brought quirk-discrimination in this too. Quirk discrimination is still fresh in everyone's minds. So, they just added
fuel to a fire that was winding down. Everyone is suuupeeeer mad about quirk classification now.

Not to mention there will be huge madness when parents figure out that their children are getting discriminated against and bullied at school.

Exactly. But, I don't think people will do much to help those who have already turned into villains cuz of society. 😓

Knowing the rat, he will be interested in this. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if he wrote it under an alias. How is the majority of the public reacting tho? Not the media coverage.

It's still too early to tell but the reaction is very welcoming in favor of the article.
Most people on the forum agree that quirks shouldn't be classified like this. Many of them are even sharing their own stories of quirk-induced bullying.

It's... bad. 
You should go through it. The forums won't be so bad for you right now bcuz everyone's
serious. It's too strenuous to explain too.

Fine. See you tomorrow. I'm going to ask Nedzu if he had anything to do with this too.

ok

Aizawa closed the messaging app and headed over to the forums to follow up on Mic's advice. As soon as he entered, Aizawa immediately knew two things:

1) He's going to have a headache tomorrow.
2) The chaos isn't going to die down soon and it will lead to a lot of things.

Next morning

"Some of the sentences have been added. None of ours have been deleted though. Yagi-sensei's friend wanted to prove one or two of his points too,"

"They are good points though," Izuku replied.

Watanabe nodded, "Didn't say they weren't. Damn the forums are on fire." He commented.

Izuku nodded, "Yeah, I didn’t think it would be so... Chaotic!" 

"Not a bad thing. I think Yagi-sensei knew something like this would happen considering he gave us the day off" Watanabe replied.

"Hmm, perhaps. He is the number one for a reason. Most of the newspapers and media are using our article as firepower too,"

"Well duh, look at these headlines: 

1. Quirk discrimination: Secretive impact on everyday life.
2. Are we raising villains?
3. What are heroes?
4. Quirk classification, why it must be abolished.

The list goes on. People on the forums are sharing their own stories of quirk discrimination and how they were subject to quirk bullying. Someone even brought up how hero schools are also doing quirk discrimination by allowing their exams to be suited for only those with stronger quirks! Seriously who did Yagi-sensei send our article to?"

"Who knows. Maybe Yagi-sensei edited it himself?" Izuku asked.

"No, he has no reason to lie to us about sending our article to someone else."

Izuku nodded slowly, "Hey, look at this! Even heroes are getting ambushed!"

"What, really!?" Watanabe asked excitedly and rushed to Izuku to see.

"Yeah, see, a footage of Endeavour getting cornered and being interviewed is circulating on the special forum for the article." 

"I don't think he said anything nice" Watanabe pointed out seeing the angry and insulting comments about the video.

Izuku sweatdropped seeing some of the comments, "It can't be that bad! He's the number 2 hero!"

"So? He ain't a saint just cuz he's number 2. Look at the amount of accidental civilian deaths he has!"

"Let's just watch," Izuku interrupted knowing he was fighting a losing debate. He clicked on the video and the sound started.

The reporters rushed towards Endeavour who seemed to be looking like restraining himself from burning them. "Endeavour, Endeavour!" The reporters mobbed the pro hero who had no way of escaping.

"What do you want?" The hero said gruffly with barely restrained anger in his voice. Undeterred one of the reporters asked, "Have you seen the article on quirk discrimination that has been circulating online?"

Endeavour nodded with an arrogant grunt.

"What did you think of it? What are your views on the problems addressed?" Another reporter asked. 

"Huh? What do you mean? There are NO problems with the way things are, got it!?"

The reporter who asked the question stepped back embarrassed at being insulted by the number two hero. But, another reporter stepped forward, "Most of Japan would disagree with you!" she said sternly, "Would you care to explain why you think there are no problems which the article has pointed out?"

Endeavor's fire grew redder as he answered, "Heroes need to be strong. The strongest will rise. People with weak quirks will only be a liability on the field! Obviously a hero-wannabe with a weak quirk must have written this article to get attention. He should be apprehended and punished for this!" The pro hero said and pushed through the stunned crowd.

The clip ended as the sound of outraged reporters started while Endeavour flew off.

"Why that dipshitting, nitwit of an ass-" Watanabe started when Natsume popped her head in, "WHAT WAS THAT!?" She threatened.

"N-nothing mom!" Watanabe quickly replied.

"Really, because I could have sworn I heard you curse. Are you lying to me too?" she asked with a sweet tone and smile.

"W-we were just seeing Endeavour's interview," Izuku said.

Instantly Natsume's face changed. Her face grew angry, "Now don't listen to that idiot, both of you! He doesn't know what he was talking about! You can both become strong and good heroes!" She said with an encouraging smile. Both cousins nodded happily. "Now, Watanabe, if I hear you utter a curse again,"

"I WON'T" he screamed in fear.

"Good!" Natsume said and left, closing the door behind her. Watanabe let out a sigh of relief. "Aunt Natsume's scary," Izuku said.

Watanabe shook his head, "You haven't even seen the worst," he told his cousin and smirked inwardly, "Phase 2 is going better than I imagined," Watanabe whispered to himself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing,"

Meanwhile at UA

Aizawa sat at his table drinking his coffee enjoying the silence of the staffroom. He wasn't late but the staffroom was still empty. He knew the reason why and decided to enjoy the few blissful moments of silence that would be available before his colleagues would start arriving. 

The silence was short-lived as the door crashed open. Aizawa winced as Mic's loud voice poured in, "Damn mass media! Why can't we accuse them of trespassing!?" 

"That's not a very wise choice. The media just wants hero opinions on the article," Thirteen replied calmly.

"We both know they only want our opinions to increase newspaper sales. They don't care about just presenting our opinions to the public." Vlad king replied gruffly.

"True, but personally, I want to talk about the article," Snipe said.

"In front of the reporters?" Vlad asked, eye raised.

"Of course not!"

"We can just talk about it here. It's a weekend anyway. We are only here to prepare things for the students." Thirteen replied.

"By the way, HOW ON EARTH DID YOU GET HERE SO FAST, AIZAWA?" Midnight screamed. 

Aizawa clasped his hands over his ears, "Unlike you all, I am better at stealth,"

"Haha, as if. It's only because you don't look like a hero, and more like a hobo," Mic teased.

Aizawa growled and got up from his seat. "Oi, that was just a joke. Where are you going?" Mic called after his friend.

"Chat with Nedzu," Aizawa replied and swiftly closed the door behind him before anyone could comment. He walked through the hall, his footsteps echoing in the silence. He turned right and met the door of Nedzu's room. He took a deep breath, knowing he might not even get an answer. He entered the room and came face to face with a smirking Nedzu who was pouring tea into two cups.

"I see you were expecting me," Aizawa said.

"No, I was expecting someone, not you specifically," Nedzu replied.

"That's why you made my favorite tea?" Aizawa asked dryly.

"I said I knew someone would come. However, logically I knew to expect you to come first." Nedzu said motioning for him to take a seat.

"Of course you did," he muttered and sat down, taking a sip of his tea.

"So, how may I help you?" Nedzu asked cheerfully.

"You know why,"

"It could be for multiple reasons,"

"The article," Aizawa said through gritted teeth. He had always hated Nedzu's roundabout ways.

"Which one? There are countless articles you know?"

"The one that's gone viral. The one about quirk discrimination, did you write it?" Aizawa demanded.

Nedzu calmly sipped his tea before replying, "No, not really,"

Aizawa's eyes narrowed but he didn't reply.

"May I ask why?"

"Seemed like something you would do. If you really didn't this stranger has a lot of potential."

Nedzu smirked, "How do you know the writers might not be middle-aged,"

"They might be. That doesn't mean they don’t have potential. I'd rather teach these two writers even if they are 70 years old rather than teach my class,"

"Ah yes, I had gotten your documents to expel all of your students. May I ask the reason for expelling this new batch?"

"They think that just because they have gotten into UA, they can become pros without doing any work," Aizawa growled.

"Same as the last batch then." Nedzu sighed, "That's two batches now then. Hopefully next year, the batch will be better,"

Aizawa nodded in reply, "I'll get going then,"

"No more questions?" Nedzu asked amused.

"I am sure you will be giving a press conference soon and you'll share your views then. Asking about your views now will simply be a waste of time." Aizawa replied finishing his tea. He got up, opened the door. Just as he was about to close the door behind him, Nedzu interrupted. "Aizawa."

Aizawa looked back at Nedzu questioningly. Nedzu's eyes gleamed, "If I am correct, you were bullied too because your quirk was not flashy and was said to be 'villainous', right?"

Aizawa nodded slowly, "Your point?"

"Did your teachers help you?", Nedzu asked sipping tea.

Aizawa raised his eyebrow, "You know they didn't. What exactly are you planning?"

Nedzu's feral grin grew wider and his eyes shone more chaotically, "Nothing. Nothing at all." 

"What has you so thoughtful?", Mic asked as Aizawa entered the staff room. "Thinking about what the article has implicitly pointed out but everyone missed," Aizawa answered as he helped himself to a mug of coffee. " And that is?", Vlad asked confused.

"If bullying students with weaker quirks still exist, what makes you think the behavior of the teachers has changed?" The staff room fell into silence at those words. The teachers fell into a deep thought at the words. Aizawa sipped his coffee with glee at his colleagues' reactions. He could see why Nedzu liked being so sadistic. It was very satisfying. He could already see Mic ranting about this perspective everywhere. Aizawa gulped down the rest of his coffee. Perhaps just this once, he would help along the chaos even if it gave him a headache.

Chapter Text

"So, who is this friend we are going to meet?" Izuku asked Watanabe. Both of them were walking down the streets to a mall to meet up with one of Watanabe's friends.

"You'll see," Watanabe replied. Izuku pouted and then asked, "Do you think he'll like me?" Watanabe shook his head at Izuku's hesitance, "Considering the fact he witnessed me break the turtle's nose, I don't think he would dare anything."

Izuku rolled his eyes, "So what, you terrorized him into being friends with you?" Izuku teased.

"What, no!" Watanabe exclaimed, "We were friends long before that. His mom's quirkless too actually, so he won't mind you either." 

"Oh," Izuku said not sure what else to say, "Why did he ask you to meet up anyway?" Izuku asked changing the subject.

"To discuss about the article." Watanabe replied while Izuku spluttered, "But what if he figures out we wrote it," he panicked in a low tone. 

"I'd tell him anyway. I trust him a lot. He's my best friend," Watanabe said. Izuku didn't say anything in reply. He wouldn't question this friend's integrity as long as his cousin vouched for him. They turned a corner and saw a hero fly away above their heads. Watanabe and Izuku stared at him and then looked down. There were a lot of reporters on the street. Izuku sighed, "The reporters are really ambushing anyone they can get their hands on huh?"

"Serves them right. Half the heroes give half-assed answers to try and defend themselves. At least shitty Endeavour told what he actually felt. Pro-heroes my ass," he muttered angrily. Izuku sweatdropped, "At least the UA teachers were supportive,"

"Well, it is UA.  The principal is Nedzu who formed the quirk discrimination laws! Of course, he won't take just any pro-hero," Watanabe replied. "Anyway we're here," he announced. Izuku followed Watanabe in the mall. They took the elevator to the food court where Watanabe started scanning for his friend. 

"Oi, Watanabe! Here!" 

"Oh, there you are Kaminari!" Watanabe shouted back.

Izuku was hauled over to a table where a yellow-haired teenager with a black lightning streak in his hair was sitting.

"Yo, how are you doing?" Watanabe asked cheerfully.

"Good. Is that your cousin who you moved in with?" Kaminari asked.

"Yeah," Watanabe said and elbowed IZuku to introduce himself. "H-hi, I am Midoriya Izuku."

"I am Denki Kaminari, have a seat guys!" he exclaimed joyfully. The two cousins took a seat. "So, what's your quirk?" Kaminari asked.

"Uh, I'm quirkless," he said quietly. Izuku waited for the insults or a gasp to come but he just got a laugh in response, "Cool, like my mum! She'd be pleased to meet someone else who's quirkless." He said optimistically.

Izuku stared at him in surprise, "Yo-you aren't mad?"

Watanabe rolled his eyes in annoyance and took one of the burgers Kaminari had ready ordered. "What, no! Why would I be mad!?"

"I-i don't know, I just thought..." Izuku collapsed into silence. Kaminari turned towards Watanabe with a questioning look.

"He was bullied because he was quirkless and therefore 'weak'. Oh and he called his main bully who used his quirk on him, his best friend, and fondly gave him a nice nickname while he called him Deku." Watanabe said. Izuku looked down with tears in his eyes embarrassed at the way Watanabe had introduced him. Now Kaminari would think he was a mad crybaby. He was about to excuse himself when he heard a smack. "Ow! I was eating!" Watanabe yelped. 

Thwack, Izuku looked up and saw Kaminari smacking Watanabe once more, "Who the hell introduces someone like that, you idiot. Apologize!" Kaminari said.

"Sorry, Izu, my bad," Watanabe replied not looking apologetic in the slightest.

Izuku stared at Kaminari in surprise. "What?" Kaminari asked.

"You just smacked Watanabe,"

"So?"

"But I thought you were friends. Why are you beating him then?"

"Says the guy who called his bully his best friend," Watanabe commented and got another smack from Kaminari. "Ok, I deserved that one,"

"This is a playful smack. Friends often do that and the other friend doesn't fight back because they know they did something stupid and probably deserved it. Trust me, we have hitten each other a lot of times because one of us did something idiotic." Kaminari explained.

"Oh," Izuku replied, "So, it's not the same thing as Katsuki did with me?"

"No, Bakushit beat you for fun and used his quirk on you. For example, if I hit Kaminari for no reason or he got sad that I hit him, that would be bullying. But we just playfully hit each other." Watanabe explained as Kaminari nodded. 

"I'd never hit Watanabe otherwise, especially because he broke Kawatsume's nose," Kaminari said. Watanabe grinned, "He asked for it,"

"True," Kaminari replied, "I still remember his mom threatening him so bad, he pissed his pants!" Kaminari said and the two friends started laughing. Izuku smiled at the exchange too. 

"I'll assume this Katsuki got his ass kicked," Kaminari said.

"Well, I broke both of his arms, so... yea I did get his ass kicked!" Watanabe said proudly.

Kaminari shook his head, "Of course you did, Did you tell the teachers though?"

"Did, turns out they didn't do anything about bullying to give those with stronger quirks a clean record for their future. Did I mention one of them knocked me unconscious?" 

Kaminari's mouth hug open, "Wow, that bad! I feel sorry for you, my dude," he said to Izuku.

"I-it's fine,"

A silence followed Izuku's response. No one spoke for some time as the three ate their food without any further comment.

"Let's walk around the mall while we get introduced, shall we?" Kaminari offered after they had finished their food.

"Sure," Watanabe said cheerfully and Izuku nodded. The trio got up and began to walk around the mall. Izuku wondered when and how Watanabe was going to tell Kaminari that they had written the article.

"Who is older?" Kaminari asked.

"Sorry?" Izuku asked snapping out of his thoughts.

"Who's older, you or Watanabe?" Kaminari asked again.

"Oh, Watanabe's older by two weeks," Izuku replied. Kaminari nodded and kept on asking more questions to get familiar with Izuku. Watanabe gave his own snarky answers.  Izuku was laughing at Kaminari's stories about Watanabe who countered with his own embarrassing stories starring Kaminari. As the three got out of an electronics store, they were suddenly stopped by a reporter.

"Excuse me, I am a reporter who is looking for a teenager's views on the article about quirk discrimination. Would you three mind sharing your views?"

"Uh, I am not sure..." Kaminari started but was interrupted by Watanabe, "Of course!"

"Wonderful, I'll just get the cameraman. You three stay here, please. I will be right back!"

Watanabe smiled in reply. Kaminari didn't protest Watanabe's decision to give an interview and instead seemed to gain confidence. Izuku on the other hand was a nervous wreck, "Watanabe! Why did you agree to giving an interview!?" he asked.

"Why not?"

"But what if," Izuku said before remembering that Kaminari didn't yet know that they wrote the article. 

"What if what?" Kaminari asked confused. Watanabe only smiled in reply, "I'll tell you after the interview. Or you can try figuring it out beforehand!" Kaminari didn't look pleased with the abrupt answer but nodded. Soon the reporter emerged with the cameramen.

"Ok, so we'll start the interview right away. Are you guys ready?" The reporter asked. All three nodded, even Izuku.

"Alright, camera's rolling and... start!"

"Hello everyone! My name is Yuki Hayashi. Today we are at Mustafu mall asking people their views on the recent article on quirk discrimination that has plunged society into chaos. With me now are three students. Please introduce yourself to the camera with your name and quirk,"

"My name is Denki Kaminari and my quirk is Electrification,"

"My name is Hattori Watanabe and I do not wish to disclose my quirk,"

Watanabe nudged Izuku and discreetly changed his eye color. Izuku took the hint and spoke, "Hello, my name is Midoriya Izuku and I also don't wish to disclose my quirk." Izuku was quite thankful that Watanabe had come up with the idea that their quirk shouldn't be disclosed. If both became pro-heroes, a villain might dig up this interview and use it against them. While it was very far off in the future to think about being a pro hero, it was something both Watanabe and Izuku had to carefully think about.

The reporter looked a bit bummed out that two of them refused to share their quirks but proceeded quite cheerfully with her questions.

"Ok thank you. Firstly, what are your views on the article?"

"I think the writer made a lot of valid points, especially on how they tied quirk discrimination to be beyond equal rights and showed how it is existent in everyday life," Watanabe replied passionately. Izuku nodded to show that he agreed with the answer. Kaminari seemed to be taken aback a bit at the way Watanabe had answered the question but he too nodded.

"Ok, what do you think about bullying?"

"I think people with stronger quirks almost always bully people with so-called weaker quirks. Most of the time teachers don't do anything to curb the bullying." Izuku replied this time with a determined tone. Watanabe grinned at his cousin's response, "Couldn't have put it better. I just want to add that not all schools are like this. My previous school did not tolerate bullying and punished those who tried to bully others. They did not mind playful smacks or squabbles but they didn't tolerate quirk-induced bullying or when people with stronger quirks made fun of those with weaker quirks."

Kaminari listened with interest at the answers. It was almost like the two had pre-planned their answers. Not to mention Izuku, who had come off as a bit shy and hesitant had taken a determined approach to defend the article passionately. You didn't become best friends with Watanabe without figuring out that he always has something planned to create chaos. And he knew that Izuku, as his cousin, might be like him. So, he found the cousins' answers fishy.

"Kaminari, you have a strong quirk. Do you agree with Watanabe and Izuku's thoughts?" The reporter asked.

"Um of course. He and I are best friends even though people call his quirk useless and mine strong."

"Do you three go to the same school?"

"Er, no," Kaminari answered. "Watanabe and I used to go to the same school. But he moved to Izuku's school Aldera a week back. But they, um," Kaminari glanced at Watanabe to see whether he was ok with him talking about Aldera. Watanabe nodded and Kaminari continued, "Um, they abused those with weaker quirks and thought that those with strong quirks should get a free pass."

"They basically worshipped those with strong quirks and helped them while casting aside those with weaker quirks, which is why we are now changing back to my old school," Watanabe interjected.

The reporter looked a bit shocked, "How were you abused?"

"Quirk-induced bullying and those with stronger quirks were never punished so that they could have a clean slate for the future," Izuku whispered lowly.

Watanabe could see the amount of professionalism that stopped the reporter from reacting to the sentence, "I see," she said. "Would you like to tell us more, or prefer not to?"

"Um, I don't think he wants to talk about that presently. It's still recent, and my brother is too shy to outright say no, so can we talk about something else, please?" Watanabe interjected. The reporter nodded, "Sure. Kaminari and Watanabe, could you tell us more about how your school handles quirk discrimination to such an extent that there is so little bullying?"

"They punish those who bully and to make sure that the victim always tells the teacher, they have a policy of not punishing the whistle-blower," Kaminari said.

"That is a nice plan. However, aren't you cornered outside the school?"

"Ah right, that used to be a huge problem. But one time Watanabe was cornered. Instead of letting himself be beaten up, he hit back and, um, broke the bully's nose..." Kaminari said. Watanabe turned red and the reporter's lips twitched as it nearly broke into a smile.

"I see. Um, were you punished Watanabe?"

"No, but I was told to try and not break a bone the next time someone bullies me outside school," Watanabe said quietly.

"Ok, next question now. What do you think of quirkless people?"

"They are people too. I don't understand the question," Watanabe said with a neutral tone but eyes that promised pain if someone told they disagree.

"No, no of course they are people. I was just asking what you think about what the article has to say,"

"The article is true. There are many quirkless students in Aldera. At least those with a quirk are sometimes given mercy but those who are quirkless are tormented a lot," Izuku said with an emotionless tone. 

The reporter's face grew a bit sad as she heard the answer, "Kaminari, how has your school acted towards the quirkless?"

"Like Watanabe said, they treat them like everyone else. Our principal likes to think that since none of us are really allowed to use our quirks except if we become pro-hero, it's stupid to treat people differently for their quirks. His motto is literally, 'Discrimination is idiotic, but quirk discrimination is just plain idiotic. You got a gift, be thankful!'"

The reporter sweatdropped, "I see. I certainly like his approach even though he seems to be a bit, er, extravagant." Yuki said, "Last question: What are your views on quirk classification?"

"It's idiotic!" All three responded simultaneously. The three stared at each other, having spoken at the same time but then smiled. Izuku chose to answer the last question, "Ultimately, it is society who is determining which quirk is strong or weak, or which is heroic or villainous. A lot of quirks that seem weak are strong. For example, I'm sure many people think that a quirk that allows the user to change skin color is useless. But it could be used for camouflage and therefore, stealth missions. Other people would then think the quirk is villainous because of its uses but it's the person who chooses what they want to do with their quirk. People telling someone they are villains for their quirk will just make them become villains." Izuku said.

Yuki nodded vigorously at the speech from Izuku, "Wonderfully said. I am sure the writer will be pleased to have influenced young minds such as yourself too!"

At this Watanabe and Izuku nearly burst from laughter. However, they managed to pass off their laugh as a smile in response to the reporter's words. Kaminari looked at his friends with concern.

"Oh, one last thing that is not related to the article. This question is specifically for you given your answers have prompted this,"

Kaminari stared at Watanabe questioningly. Watanabe shrugged in response.

"A lot of distrust towards schools have awakened in response to the article. Guardians no longer think their school is safe. Your stories about Aldera have proved that point. This is why I think many people will be eager to know which school you go to now since it seems to be a good school that does not tolerate bullying regardless of quirk. So, which school are you going to, Kaminari?"

Watanabe and Izuku were taken aback at the reporter's comments. They had no idea that their article had been so successful that it was indirectly tarnishing school reputations. "Ah, I go to Mustafu General school."

The reporter nodded, "Ok, thank you. That wraps up this interview. We will be bringing you the views of other people on the next episode. Thanks for watching and bye!"

The camera cut and the reporter immediately lost her professionalism. She turned towards the trio with teary eyes, "You three really have kind views. I am quirkless too you know. So it was nice to see the article. Most of the others of your age, I interviewed didn't understand what the article was talking about and made some remarks that insulted me... But you three showed me that many of your age are good too. Thank you, not only for giving an interview, but also for the way you answered. Uh, your interview will be broadcasted on the program at 7. Good luck and bye!" The reporter said and got into a waiting elevator with the cameraman. The trio were so shocked at Yuki's words that they forgot to say goodbye back or exchange any other pleasantries. Finally, Kaminari broke out of his stance.

"Uhm, anyway, so I actually had something to ask you, Watanabe," Kaminari said sitting on a nearby bench.

"Shoot," he replied sitting down.

"Ok, this is gonna sound crazy but knowing you, you always get involved in some crazy stuff and you did ask me to figure out what you wanted to say, so here goes. Did you write the article?"

"No," he replied.

"Did you and someone else write the article,"

"Yes,"

Kaminari noticed Izuku turning red and gaped, "Did you and Izuku write the article!?"

"Well, technically we sent it to another guy who polished it up further and added some stuff, but mostly yeah, Izuku and I wrote it," Watanabe replied.

"Of course you did," Kaminari said shaking his head, "Well that throws out all the theorizing I wanted to do. You know what, I'm gonna go home now."

"What, why? We haven't even done anything together yet." Watanabe replied.

"It's already 4. I need to be back home by 4:30. Plus the interview really sucked my energy, not to mention there really isn't much to talk about the article anymore. I'll call you later." Kaminari said.

"Ok bye," Izuku said.

"Bye," Watanabe said.

"Bye," Kaminari replied, "And Izuku don't worry about Aldera man! We gonna have fun at school once you guys come!" With that Kaminari left, leaving behind a smiling Izuku.

"We should get going too then," Watanabe said.

"Yeah, if we hurry, we can get the train," Izuku said. Both of them set off at a run and barely caught the train. The ride was quiet. Both of them were fixated on catching up on what happened on the forums and shared their views on each other. While they had both created accounts, 'Storm' for Izuku and, 'Chaos' for Watanabe, they had not yet commented anything on the forums. They had remained low, waiting for the perfect time as Watanabe thought they should do.

The two cousins got down at their destination and walked through the streets to get back to their house when they saw reporters mobbing a hero. Izuku pulled Watanabe along to see which hero it was and saw that it was Death Arms.

"Death Arms, are you also taking Endeavour's side then?" They heard a reporter ask.

"I think he has a point, yes."

"So people with weak quirks shouldn't be heroes? Quirk classification is alright, is that what you are saying?" Izuku heard a familiar voice say. All the reporters turned their heads. Izuku at first wondered why the reporters were staring at him. But then he realized that they were staring at Watanabe. Izuku paled as he realized that his cousin had been the one to ask the question in a way too formal voice that didn't suit him.

"Weak quirks are liabilities..." Death Arms weakly argued.

"Ah yes, sorry, my bad. Of course, Sir Nighteye is useless because he doesn't have a strong quirk. So what if he can see the future, as long as you've got brawn you don't need the future. Ooh, what about Nedzu, why be intelligent when you can smash everyone. Except, oh wait, it's them who make the plans!" Watanabe said sarcastically.

Death Arms seemed to squirm and became pale as all the cameras now seemed to focus on the exchange between Watanabe and Death Arms. "Uh, we, uh, we, um, we need, uh, both, so that society, uh, can be a, um, well-oiled machine..." Death Arms stammered weakly.

"Wasn't weak quirks just liabilities?" Watanabe shot back as Death Arms who paled further, "Hypocrite!" Izuku yelled.

Death Arms seemed to gain some composure as he replied, "Ah, see the boy from the sludge incident. He doesn't have a quirk. People like him will be liabilities!"

The crowd started murmuring but Watanabe immediately shot back angrily, "Oh right, the quirkless boy who rescued the hostage was a liability. What about the pros standing by, were they heroes?"

"We were waiting for someone with a more suitable quirk too-"

"No, you were afraid! You became a hero only for the fame and glory not to help people. Kamui woods tried to help even though his quirk was even worse for the situation than yours. You aren't even the definition of a hero!" Watanabe interjected as Death Arms grew paler at his rant.

Watanabe grabbed Izuku and began to walk off. He turned a corner but only after yelling, "The only liability here is you and your thought-processing!" With that, the cousins disappeared leaving behind a stunned crowd and a pro that seemed to have had a heart attack.

As the two cousins stood outside their building's elevator, Kaminari called. Watanabe raised an eyebrow and picked it up putting it on speaker, "Yo Kam-"

"CAN YOU GUYS NOT EVEN MAKE IT HOME WITHOUT DOING SOME CRAZY THING!" Kaminari's voice rang out from the phone.

"What did we-"

"THE INTERVIEW WITH DEATH ARMS! iT'S BLOWING UP EVERYWHERE!" Kaminari shouted.

"But we just gave that interview less than half an hour back," Izuku said

"I dunno but it's going around everywhere. Gotta go, I need to see the chaos on the forums."

The two stunned cousins got onto the lift and silently thought about what they just heard. They got out of the lift and were about to enter when Watanabe whispered, "Well, mom's going to kill me for this, so tell Kaminari to pray for me."

With that, the two cousins entered. Immediately Ryuzen appeared, "I am so proud of you after that interview that shut down that idiot Death Arms! I even got ice cream from the shop downstairs!"

Watanabe stood in shock as Ryuzen cackled and Inko smiled. Izuku meanwhile took it upon him to ask Natsume, "You aren't angry at Watanabe?"

"Nah, Death Arms had it coming, so I'm going to let it slide this time," Natsume smiled.

After dinner, the family was gathered around the TV. The family was watching the program where a reporter was asking teenagers about their views on the article. Natsume was quite angry at many of the responses. When it finally came to Watanabe, Izuku, and Kaminari's interview, Watanabe switched off the TV.

"Why did you turn it off!? You guys were on!" Natsume said.

"It's embarrassing," Izuku said.

"Among other reasons," Watanabe whispered lightly but Ryuzen heard him.

"Ok, we won't watch then," Inko said gently ending Natsume's protests.

"Right, could you come with me then Izuku and Watanabe?" Ryuzen asked.

The two cousins followed Ryuzen puzzled.

"You two wrote the article didn't you?" he asked rhetorically.

Izuku turned red and Watanabe gave a sheepish smile, "Yeah, how did you know?"

"You didn't participate in our discussion about the article and it seemed suspicious that Watanabe hadn’t done something crazy about Aldera. Plus I had a sort of fatherly instinct that you two did this."

Watanabe sighed, "Told you Dad would find out," Izuku nodded.

"We'll talk more about this later. I just wanted to see whether I am right," Ryuzen said.

"The TV sounds like it's on," Watanabe said. Izuku paled and ran to the living room and saw the two sisters watching the interview. They had just finished watching Izuku's view on the quirkless. Sobbing, Inko pulled him into a hug. Natsume also tried to comfort Izuku as mother and son cried.

Watanabe and Ryuzen entered the room and stood in a corner unsure what to do.

"Is this one of the 'Among other reasons,' you were talking about?"

"Yup," Watanabe said as both of them stood awkwardly unsure whether they should comfort Inko and Izuku like Natsume or not.

Stain was perched on a rooftop reading a newspaper about the article on quirk discrimination and all the chaos that was occurring. There was even a TV store across the street which was showing a student berate a hero. 

Stain closed the newspaper and put it down next to him. He watched the same students give an interview on their views about the article too. Luckily the store had its TVs on full sound today to spread the latest news about the viral article.

As the program finished, Stain sighed, "Those two students who had given the interview and berated four arms were going to make great heroes. They shared his ideology but not violently, much like the article writers.

"Perhaps violence is not always the key,"

Chapter Text

"Couldn't we have gotten the day off?" Watanabe whined.

"No, you got the day off yesterday," Yagi replied, "Izuku needs to build up his body."

"But yesterday was so chaotic! The chaos is still going!" Watanabe said.

Yagi chuckled, "Admittedly, yes. However, when you become a hero, you will need to do your job no matter the chaos."

"Exactly, so I must take a day off while I still can!"

Yagi twitched, "That's beside the point."

"You could have just stayed home in that case..." Izuku said as he trained.

"Hmph, Dad would get suspicious as to why I am not accompanying you anymore."

"Shouldn't have come with me the first day then," Izuku said with a glint in his eye and a mocking tone.

"Nah, mom would have either stopped you from going so early by yourself then or I would be forced to go with you. This course of action works for both of us. I get something out of this too."

Yagi sighed, "In that case, have you yet started studying about the parts of the human body?"

"Well, yes but not so extensively yet. It takes time to learn. I'm going to start going to a dojo after we switch schools though," Watanabe hummed.

"In that case, do you want to spar, or go for a run?" Yagi asked.

"Oh no, I was hoping to increase my reaction time, speed stamina, technique, and power instead," Watanabe replied swiftly.

"In that case, I need to think how to go about doing that..." Yagi said.

"Oh no, I came up with the perfect solution: football," Watanabe said.

"W-what?" Yagi asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah, it sounds stupid but listen first. See I play as a goalkeeper. So if you keep shooting balls at me, it improves my reaction time and reflexes as I get better at saving the goals. Playing normal outfield football will improve my stamina. But I kinda got stuck at the strength part. I mean sure I need strength to save the shots and a combination of strength, speed, and technique to run with the ball and shoot but it's not enough. Football will be enough for reaction time and stamina though, I think."

Yagi gaped. He thought for a while and couldn't really find any drawbacks, "Hmm, your hypothesis is fair enough. However, I think to increase your strength, you should do weightlifting and other exercises. It will help build your stamina. However, I am not sure where you can train though. I'm afraid I can't let you help Izuku because it will hinder Izuku's training."

Watanabe thought for a while before nodding, "For now my full-body weights should be enough. After I start at a Dojo, they will have the necessary equipment to help me get stronger."

"Yes that will work," replied Yagi, "By the way, how much weight is on your full-body weights?"

"About 80 kg, twenty on each limb," Watanabe replied rubbing the back of his head.

Yagi's eyes nearly popped out of his head while Izuku stared at his cousin in shock, "Ei-eighty Kg?" A shocked Yagi said.

"Well, I started doing it when I was 8. Mom didn't want to let me carry weights around but dad supported me saying it would help me get strong and made mom cave in. So slowly, I increase the amount of weight after I start to feel comfortable. Then I increase the weight I get used to the new weight."

"Still, that's a lot of weight to be carrying around. Don't you remove it ever?" Yagi asked.

"Nope, not even while sleeping. Sometimes, I take it off during school but mostly, no," Watanabe replied.

Izuku looked like he wanted to ask questions about the weights but seemed to put it in the back of his mind for now. 

"Well, for today we will work on your speed then, since we don't have a football right now," Yagi said.

"Fair enough, what are we going to do then?" Watanabe asked.

"I want to see how you are without the weights first," Yagi ordered.

"Alright, just give me a sec," Watanabe said and proceeded to remove his weights producing loud clangs, "Right, let's start then,"

Yagi nodded, "Izuku come here,"

"Yes, Yagi-sensei?" Izuku asked.

"I want you both to compete against each other. Considering Watanabe knows a bit of martial arts and he has had full-body weights for a long time, you probably won't be able to surpass him without a quirk, even after your training for One for All is complete. Consider this as a measure of how much you have to improve," Yagi said.

Izuku nodded, "What activities are we doing then?"

"A race on the path along the beach first. You both can punch something after that,"

Watanabe sweatdropped, "Punch what exactly?"

"A brick or something, I guess, I don't really have professional equipment," Yagi replied nervously.

"FIne," Watanabe said.

"Alright," Yagi said drawing a line with a stick, "Both of you place the tip of your toes here. On 3," The two cousins nodded and placed their toes on the line.

"3...2...1...GO!" Yagi shouted from the end of the path.

Watanabe immediately shot off like a bullet, while Izuku made a slow start. "Holy shit, he's faster than me when I am in my original form,"

Yagi clicked the stopwatch the first time as Watanabe rushed past him and then the second time when Izuku did. Yagi smiled and shook his head, "It has some time delay because it depends on my reaction time but Watanabe needed approximately 6 seconds, closer to 5.8 seconds really. Izuku, you need to improve, your time to travel this 50m path was 10.2 seconds." Yagi said with an encouraging tone.

"Now, for your second test, the wall between the beach and the path is mostly intact so you have to hit it with all you have got!"

The two cousins went up to the wall. Izuku punched first. Nothing happened except the sound of bone hitting concrete. "Owww!" Izuku cried out nursing his hand. Watanabe smiled and got ready for his hit. He pulled back and then punched leaning in front to use his entire body's momentum. The already damaged wall crumbled down. Izuku gaped.

"What's next?" Watanabe asked with a smirk.

"It was only because the wall was already damaged!" Izuku whined.

"Well obviously, you think I can punch our apartment's wall and break it?" Asked Watanabe sarcastically. 

"Still, this is by no means a simple feat, young Watanabe,"

"Well, it also has to with technique. One of the students in our dojo's technique was so good that he could crack the concrete of the road with a kick," Watanabe proclaimed.

"Well, it is possible. Unfortunately, I won't be able to teach you the technique. Since my quirk gives me super strength, I never needed to increase my strength with technique. I did need to learn how to control it to not hurt bystanders but that was about it." Yagi said.

"Aww man, dang it. Guess I have to learn after I find a dojo then," Watanabe said a bit upset.

"Izuku get back to your training. As for you Watanabe, your test is to see whether you can drag a fridge with me in my hero form on top of it!"

Watanabe's eyes grew wider and his jaw slacked in disbelief, "W-what? I mean a fridge would be easy. I'm not sure if I can drag you but together, I won't be able to do that!"

"Just try," Yagi said switching to his All Might form and getting on top of the refrigerator. Watanabe scowled and muttered under his breath, "Fine," He grasped the rope attached to the fridge and pulled with all his might. The fridge didn't budge at first and remained in its position. After tugging a bit more Yagi was shocked as Watanabe dragged the fridge along with him for several meters.

"Yes! It moved!" Watanabe exclaimed after stopping. Yagi got down with a shocked smile, "I wasn't expecting you to drag me at all, but good work! The total weight was nearly 400 kg! But I suppose it's to be expected when you've had 80 kg weights for so long."

"Oh yeah, I have to upgrade my weights. I've gotten too used to my present weights."

Yagi shook his head in disbelief, "Young man, you are already strong enough as it is-"

"No," Watanabe interjected, "No, it isn't enough. What happens when I go up against a villain like Muscular? I know no matter how much I train I won't be able to hold him back with my own physical strength but I need to hold my own long enough at least to deliver pinpoint paralyzing blows with the help of my quirk, right?"

Yagi was taken a bit aback by the answer. He nodded and gave a small smile, "Well now, I want you to keep running at top speed with your weights on until you drop. We'll work on stamina first, this way." Watanabe nodded, "Alright Yagi-sensei!" With that, he set off running.

Yagi watched both cousins training by themselves and thought, "Every time I think Watanabe has shown all that someone can, he just comes back with something bigger. Izuku is lucky to have a brother like him. Someone who will challenge him every time even after he receives One for All. They will both push each other to grow while rectifying each other's mistakes. Watanabe may not have a physical quirk, but his knowledge more than makes up for it. Izuku may be equally smart but from what I have seen and heard, Izuku only knows how to analyze the strengths of the quirk and how the user can use the strengths against him. But Watanabe... he finds out the weaknesses more effectively and won't hesitate in using their weaknesses against them. Not to mention Watanabe is more observant and can put two and two together more easily. Izuku is too gullible in the sense he will trust anyone while Watanabe won't. A trait needed for being the symbol of peace but a dangerous trait nonetheless. And Izuku will never match Watanabe's underhanded ways no matter how much Watanabe rubs off on him. Watanabe has already proven his underhanded ways with the way he dealt with Izuku's bully. Izuku may have been the one who wrote the article too but Watanabe is the one who came up with the base ideas. Izuku has it in his brain but is incapable of accessing it, while Watanabe can access the ideas required to build society, but he can't broaden them. Together, they are complete!" 

Watanabe and Izuku panted as they lay on the ground exhausted from the training, "I really didn't think you were the type to hit someone like a gym teacher, Yagi-sensei," Watanabe commented in between breaths.

"You slowed down while running. If you want to build up your stamina, there are no breaks until you fall from exhaustion. If I let you slow down, you would have simply regained your breath before running at top speed again. That may have increased stamina too but this way your stamina will increase further. As for you, Izuku, I am happy with your improvement. You managed to clear the garbage enough to show the ground today. Good work! Now go home and rest," Yagi said. The two cousins groaned in response as they slowly got up, supporting each other.

"Oh, and be ready to see my live interview with Endeavour at 2'o clock!" Yagi said. Watanabe immediately turned so fast that Izuku fell face-first into the sand.

"You're interviewing with Endeavour! Why!?"

"They wanted the two top pro-heroes to give their statement above your quirk discrimination article. But why are you so mad?"

"Cuz Endeavour's scum! He just wants the fame of defeating villains. He never cares about bystanders or civilians. The fact that he's still number 2 is just..." 

"He is still the number 2, Watanabe, so show him some respect. He often does help in rescuing civilians. He just gets a bit carried away when fighting villains."

"You really think that?" Izuku deadpanned as he slowly got up, "And I think he showed his feelings on the article with yesterday's interview anyway," Izuku scowled.

Yagi sighed, "You do have a point. However, I will still do the interview. Endeavour is welcome to present his feelings however he wants. I want to show support for your article," Yagi proclaimed passionately.

"Yagi-sensei, this is going to be live, right?" Watanabe asked with a tone that set of warning bells in Yagi's mind.

"...Yes,"

"So, the audience can send in questions," Watanabe said with a chaotic glint in his eye and a mischievous grin. Yagi gulped and nodded, he could already see where this is going. "Good," Watanabe said and turned to look at his cousin who returned an equally chaotic expression. "Well, see you then Yagi-sensei," Watanabe said as both cousins walked off. Before they could disappear, Yagi called after them, "Please don't cause too much chaos!" he begged.

"Yagi-sensei, you know how we are," Izuku replied with a mock assuring tone as both cousins turned a corner and disappeared out of sight. Yagi sighed, "That's the point, I know how you are. So, I know exactly the amount of chaos that you two are capable of..." he muttered under his breath. "Tsukauchi was right, I do regret this,"

"Right so everything is in order?" The interviewer asked the people behind the camera.

"Yes. We will pick the most interesting questions and the most upvoted questions that appear in the forum. The admin has kindly let us make a separate server room with everyone on the article forum. Given that most of the news is getting around on the forums, we should get maximum questions from the forum. We will supply a number to send messages to as well, just in case,"

"Good, give us the go when you guys are ready then," The cameraman nodded in reply, "Good luck, All Might is a good guy, but Endeavour's just rude as hell,"

"Pun intended?" The interviewer rolled her eyes in response. The cameraman smirked, "Wasn't my intention but it was a good one, hehe. Anyway go and sit, we should get the camera stuff done in a few minutes."

The interviewer nodded and went to sit across a smiling All Might and a scowling Endeavour.

"Alright, we're about to go live," The cameraman called out, "3...2...1"

"Hello everyone, I am Sakura Yamanaka. Today, we have Endeavour and All Might with us in an interview on what they think about the recent article on quirk discrimination that has taken the public by storm. The article has highlighted many wrong things that society has done and is still doing. The majority of the public is sided with the article writers but a few oppose its ideas. So, today we are here to find out the top two heroes' opinions on this article. The public can also ask their questions on the forum at this moment or message their questions to this number." The reporter moved her face away from the camera and turned towards All MIght and Endeavour.

"Could you tell us your opinion on the article, All Might, Endeavour?"

All Might gave his signature laugh and started, "I am in full agreement with the article. Especially about their opinions on quirk classification and treatment of the quirkless as well as how they have pointed out bullying at the educational level."

The interviewer nodded, "What about you Endeavour?"

"I stand by what I said in yesterday's interview. The writers don't know what they are talking about. Weak quirks and weaklings are liabilities." 

"Ok... Next question then, what do-" Sakura started but was interrupted by another journalist interrupting, "Hold up we have a question we are displaying on the monitor in front."

"Already," She thought. "Um, it seems we already have a question to be asked. We are displaying it on the screen."

The message on the forum flashed up,

Chaos
Endeavour-san, since you say weak quirks and weaklings are liabilities, do you stay inside on a rainy day?

It took all of Sakura's professionalism to not laugh out loud at that question. Fortunately, however, All Might did not have any problem with laughing and set into an extremely uproarious laugh.

"Seriously?" Izuku asked his cousin.

"When you're talking with a shit, give good questions transformed into shit," Watanabe replied sagely.

Izuku sighed. Both cousins were in their room watching the interview privately so that they could get their questions in on the forum.

"That's different!" Endeavor said outraged.

"But is it really?" All Might asked still shaking from laughter.

"I have proven myself as a pro hero, got it? A little bit of rain isn't going to stop me!"

Chaos
Yet you don't give seemingly weak quirks a chance. What if you didn't get in UA because the day of the entrance exam was rainy? You need to give proper exams for all quirks to showcase their abilities.

"Tch," Endeavour said, "You can understand from a glance which quirk is strong and which is weak!"

"All Might, do you have any comments?" The interviewer interrupted.

"No, quirks sometimes do require certain conditions. For instance, I could never use my quirk in the UA entrance exams if my control was bad. I would end up killing someone,"

Storm
Do people turn a blind eye to bullying or quirk-induced bullying due to quirk discrimination?

"Heh, teachers are there to stop the bullying. And secondly, if you can't stand bullying, how do you expect to become villains after becoming a hero!?" Endeavor demanded.

The reporter sweatdropped, "All Might, your view?"

"I think the teachers must be stopping bullying but there is no way of knowing if they are discriminating against weak quirks too, but yes, often those with weaker quirks are bullied," All Might replied. He wouldn't have added the part where he called out the teachers if he was asked this question in the past, but after everything he had learned about Aldera...

Storm
So are you saying the bullying is an isolated event?

Meanwhile on the forums

Man only this storm and chaos are getting their questions through. No one else is getting any question in!
~User 1

ikr. But they are asking the questions that need to be asked.
~User 2

Yeah, but it would be nice to get our questions in too...
~User 1

Wait..., 'Storm' and 'Chaos'. What if they are the real, 'Storm' and 'Chaos'
~User 3

Come on no way... right?
~User 2

"I am fairly certain that the bullying is not an isolated case. As the article pointed out children will replicate what they see, so the children probably might have picked up the bullying accidentally from adults." Yagi answered.

"Some would argue that you are being hypocritical considering your own quirk," The reporter pointed out.

All Might laughed, "Yes, yes it would but this is what I have seen in many schools including my own high school. I'm not saying all schools will be like this but the majority probably discriminates even if it is unknowingly. I would urge that this article be a wake-up call for them."

"What about you Endeavour? Any comments?"

"Hmph," he grunted, "Like I said, if there can't stand bullying, how can they be heroes."

"But not everyone wants to be heroes, I myself never wanted to be one. How do you justify bullying towards them?" The reporter asked a gleam in her eye.

"Heh, if your quirk is useless, you are probably useless too," Endeavour sneered. The reporter opened her mouth in shock but before things could escalate, All Might spoke, "I apologize for my colleague. In reality, the thing is, in present society, most children want to be heroes. It's like people wanting to be famous before. Being a hero is the new dream job. However, to answer your question, discrimination is often seen in other sectors too. Mutant quirks are often not given jobs in construction for example, even though they might be suited to it. The reason we talk about quirk discrimination from the heroes' point of view is that it's in the line of hero work that all the things written in the article are seen. Quirk classification as heroic or villainous and weak or strong came due to people observing heroes and their quirks. This is one of the main reasons society has become saturated with so many villains; quirk discrimination."

The reporter nodded, "Thank you. That was a really good and informative answer. Oh, and it seems we have one more question from Storm again. The forums seem to think these are the original authors too. Here's the question,"

Chaos
Endeavor, you think bullying is good because it builds up the victim to become a hero right?

"Yes! Have you gotten some sense into your brain now!?" Endeavor demanded loudly.

Chaos
No, it's just that only those with stronger quirks can bully someone. Someone with a mental quirk can't really bully someone with a physical quirk. Since you said that bullying is good because the victim will get stronger, does your flawed statement mean that you do believe that those with weak quirks can become heroes!?

"Oh boy, this guy has got to be the writer. He literally called out the number 2 hero publicly," Mic laughed. The teachers were present in the lounge watching the interview on the shared TV. Even Nedzu had come to watch, saying, "The chaos is more fun with people's reactions!"

Aizawa was smiling slightly too as he watched, what he believed to be the real storm and chaos, effectively take down the number 2 hero.

"What!? You dare twist my words? That is not what I meant! Why don't you come face to face and then-" All Might knocked Endeavour out cold with a swift motion. Sakura had moved away from the number 2 hero as he had been releasing flames from his body as he got angrier.

"Maybe that's enough... I apologize for him," All Might said.

"Um, unfortunately, we will be concluding our interview now. Thank you for watching and thank you storm and chaos for the questions. And if you are the real authors of the article, thank you for attending the interview even if virtually. Goodbye!"

The program went off and the advertisements started.

Vlad King shook his head and turned catching Aizawa smiling, "Hehe, I didn't know you could smile," he chuckled.

"Who this guy," Midnight caused Aizawa by his scarf, "He's a big old softie. He just pretends to be all emo,"

"Get off," Aizawa said pushing Midnight off, "I just liked Storm and Chaos' handling of Endeavour. They are probably the real authors too since they had the courage to call out the number 2 hero and seemed to point out the implicit things from the article and used them as questions."

The teachers nodded at that and thirteen spoke, "Yeah. Reminds me of the boy who got angry at Death arms the other day. It was hilarious watching him use the boy from the sludge incident as ammunition to berate Death Arms."

"That was yesterday," Snipe said coolly.

"Really? So much chaos has been going on that it seemed like a while back..." Thirteen said

Meanwhile, Nedzu had nearly choked on his tea when Thirteen commented Watanabe. He knew that Aizawa was smart enough to piece together things from that tiny bit of evidence. Aizawa looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "You're unusually quiet. Did you get tired of the chaos?"

Nedzu smiled back sadistically sending chills up the teachers' spines, "Oh no, it's just that the chaos is still not at full strength,"

"What do you mean? Have you seen what is happening?" Mic demanded.

"Oh yes, I have. It's just that our dear friends, Storm and Chaos have pointed out that schools discriminate too," Nedzu said. The teachers knew why that would cause chaos but they could also sense a warning behind Nedzu's words. Cementoss gulped and asked the question the entire staffroom wanted to ask, "And?"

Nedzu sipped his tea and gave his colleagues a cheery grin, "Oh, it's just that hero schools are schools too,"

Chapter Text

"Yo, Yagi-sensei!" Watanabe greeted as the two cousins arrived for training with All Might. "Good morning Sensei," Izuku greeted All Might.

"Ah, good morning, good to see you two," Yagi greeted. "Doing good, I'm sure. Especially considering your antics yesterday."

"No regrets," Izuku replied with Watanabe nodding sagely beside him. "Sorry if the questions gave you a hard time, sensei," Izuku apologized.

Watanabe nodded, "Yeah, but Endeavor needed to be taken down a peg."

Yagi sighed, "You're right. Anyway, you guys are half an hour late today. Why?"

"Oh right, that's because we freaked out this morning when we woke up," Watanabe said.

"Why is that?" Yagi asked, voice full of suspicion. 

"Uhm, when we woke up today, we found that our accounts on the forum as Storm and Chaos became verified. A lot of people think we are the real authors now, and we panicked," Izuku replied.

Yagi smiled, "Well, I suppose it is well-deserved. However, since you are all already late, start training now. We can talk later,"

"Sure thing, but I'm just going to do a few laps as a warmup. I bought a football to practice today too," Watanabe replied. Yagi nodded.

Well... ig that was the real storm and chaos then.
~Draconic_Bliss

Probably, but it might have been fanboys too
~Randomguy

Nah men, they asked proper questions and really knew the article like the authors would. Pretty sure they're the real writers.
~Draconic_Bliss

I agree they got great points but I dunno, just don't think they r the real guys
~Randomguy

Now now, everyone'll have diff opinions. WE need to discuss yesterday's interview obviously.
~Nimily

True dat
~Draconic_Bliss

Man, I never thought of schools as discriminating really. 
~Naruto

Yeah, but it makes sense, right? I mean everyone's noticed it...
~Luffy

Yup, but no one ever really tied it like that to quirk discrimination.
~Naruto

Which part, the classification?
~Luffy

All of it, you idiot!
~FallenSeraph

Man, the guy with the nickname chaos really chose a suitable name.
~Shikamaru

Wdym?
~Luffy

Come on, don't ya see it. Storm is good too but he sorta asks the questions to manipulate people so that they can understand where they were wrong. However, chaos is in a word, well, chaotic! He just takes people's bullshit and asks it in a shittier way but with a very good point!
~Shikamaru

Still don't get it.
~Naruto

Come on, he told the fricking no 2 hero if he stays inside on a rainy day to call him out on his bullshit support for quirk discrimination. And then he just took Endeavour's words and asked twisted questions purposely to get Endeavour to agree with him before getting the killing blow in.
~Shikamaru

Well, when you put it that way it does feel as if they put in a bit of thought in choosing their names with their characteristics.
~FallenSeraph

What about storm though, storms are chaotic but Storm, the author, doesn't really feel really chaotic. Like he's smarter, I feel but not really chaotic considering his questions are more formalish.
~Naruto

Ah, you see that's the thing, you don't see a storm until It comes upon you with its chaotic howling of the wind!
~Shikamaru

Ok, what is happening now!? STOP YOUR POETIC DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THEIR PSEUDONYMES AND LET'S TALK ABOUT SCHOOLS DISCRIMINATING! 
~LightAssassin

Riiiiight, that's what we were talking about!
Naruto

😑
~LightAssassin

Is there anything really to talk about though?
~Shino

Huh? Why shouldn't we talk about it!
~LightAssassin

I don't mean it like that. It's just that is it something we have never been affected by, that we have to discuss about it.
~Shino

...It's a bit hard to talk about the bullying and discrimination, that's true.
~NovahKiiin

Yeah, but if we keep quiet, it's never changing! If you were scared to stand up, stand up now! We literally have support from everyone now!
~LightAssassin

Real inspiring but you sound like you want to riot and vandalize.
~SarahWInchester97

It's not out of the box.
~LightAssassin

Anyway, at least everyone is angry with schools now and boycotting them. Schools are closed for the week because everyone thinks they discriminated against their child, so they boycotted them. A lot of people were arrested too. 
~Shikamaru

What about those with strong quirks?
~SarahWinchester97

Adults are divided in their opinion, children don't understand and think they've done nothing wrong bcuz they were raised like that. 
~Shino

Sad
~Naruto

Yeah, but they can still be reformed I guess. The real problems are those who are already about 14 and are going to enroll in hero schools next year. Is one year really enough to change them?
~Draconic_Bliss

Who knows... hero schools should have been closed too though
~SarahWinchester97

Why?
~Luffy

Really, you're seriously asking why?
~SarahWinchester97

Yes...?
~Luffy

Come on man, hero schools discriminate the most. They classify quirks into strong and weak before they can enroll. AND their exams are suited to strong quirks, like UA's is literally giant fricking robots. What can someone like, say, Ms.Joke do against robots!?
~SarahWinchester97

Well yeah, but heroes do need to be strong and all...
~Luffy

Well Obviously if you help someone with a weak quirk, they can be strong too, but no, they have to help those with strong quirks cuz they're easier to help.
Nimily

Someone has a weak quirk, lol
~Randomguy

Randomguy has been banned by the admin

ANYONE ELSE WANTS TO TAKE THINGS OUT OF HAND!
~Admin

No, sorry!
~SarahWInchester97

Although, you're right about Ms.Joke and hero schools being discriminating...
~Admin

Yeah... they should arrest some of the heroes like Endeavour.
~EWMadharika

Realy who's going to that, the police are just the heroes' lackeys cuz they are weak.
~Raoul_kane

Nah, bro, the police are the guys who get the heroes the required info
~Univhunter

I thought heroes like Nedzu and Nighteye does that.
~AiraSilver

We already talked about how they discriminate even in hero schools. How many smart heroes are really there? Most of them are just strength-based.
~UnivHunter

The underground ones are pretty smart.
~InfernoKnightmare

Again, we have no clue how many underground heroes are there in the first place, and secondly, since most underground heroes have 'weak' quirks, they were probably discriminated at some point too. Who knows how many could-be-heroes turned into dangerous villains cuz of discrimination.
~UnivHunter

Exactly, this guy gets it. Plus police have guns and tasers. If you headshot any of the top three heroes, can they survive?
~LightAssassin

Well...no, but what about villains like that slime about a month back.
~Modecool

I'm not saying that heroes have no use, they do, but it should be balanced with police and they should observe what someone with a 'weak' quirk can do before rejecting their chances to be heroes.
~Univhunter

True, I mean basically what are the differences between heroes and police?
1) ) Both catch bad guys ✅  
2) Both rescue people ✅  
3) Both help society ✅  
4) Both have access to support items ✅  
5) Both use quirks ❌
If you ask me police are the real heroes
~Someone_333

"A phone call... is here! A phone call... is here!" Yagi quickly picked up the phone call.

"Hello, Tsukauchi?"

"Toshinori... I'm a hero!" Tsukauchi's dazed dreamy voice came from the other end.

"That's what I've been saying for years, but why are you suddenly bringing it up?" Yagi questioned.

"But... I'm a hero!"

"Are you hurt or something, Tsukauchi? Your voice sounds dazed and you are repeating," Yagi said with concern.

"No, I'm fine but I'm a hero!"

"Yes, but why suddenly are you bringing it up. I've been telling you for years that police are heroes too, but now suddenly you are-"

"You have not read the forum have you?"

Yagi raised his eyebrow, "No, just a minute I'll check." Yagi opened up the forums and stared in shock: All over the forum, videos of heroic police were circulating and videos of heroes causing casualties and not doing their jobs properly. "Well, that was like stepping into the pre-quirk era of sorts. All videos of only police doing good. I'm happy for you though old friend!"

"Thanks, I gotta get now. By the way, I retract my statement, Izuku and Watanabe were right to write the article and you were right to make Nedzu help them. It might have caused more paperwork but it was the right choice so I'll support them." Tsukauchi said kindly.

"See you later then, old friend," Yagi said with a smile before hanging up. "You are free to go home now!" Yagi said to the two cousins. 

"Thank god, Yagi-sensei wasn't as tormenting today," Watanabe groaned to Izuku as he stretched.

"Well obviously, you guys played football for god's sake! I had to move trash!" Izuku pouted.

"Did you two see the forums this morning?" Yagi asked.

"Yup, absolute chaos," Watanabe grinned.

"We saw some "support police" merchandise on the way here too. People are really invested in what our article had to say," Izuku spoke up.

"Hmm, well I need to run since I have some things to do. We will train at night again. What are your plans?" Yagi asked politely.

"We are going to meet with my friend Kaminari since he has school off today," Watanabe said.

"The one you told about the article?" Yagi asked.

"Yup, we three made a chat group and helped Izuku out of his awkwardness with Kaminari so that he can be less awkward around other people,"

"Watanabe," Izuku turned red. Yagi laughed, "Well have fun. Goodbye."

"Bye sensei," Izuku said.

Mirai was crouched over his table at present. When an article had emerged talking about quirk discrimination, he didn't think much about it. Such articles were published quite often, at the very least; once in a month. Yet this one spread like wildfire in a few hours, which is why he actually bothered to even read it, and boy was he glad he did. The writer had gotten every single point on the mark with the ideas behind it, the delivery, and the engagement. He would be lying if he said he wasn't interested in it and the writer. However, the language of the article was formal and serious, and as a man that liked humor, he wasn't sure he'd like to meet the writer in person. However, he did like the results from the article. The way Death-Arms had been insulted was still going circulating in both the public and hero forums. Plus, it was nice to see such support from the public towards the police and underground heroes. At present, he really wanted to meet the writer especially due to the fact they had to have a good sense of humor to call out Endeavour in that hilarious way. And why was he referring to a writer and not writers? Well, that's because he thinks it's a lie to throw people off.

"Ok, so it has to be someone ranging from twelve to mid-twenties to have written this article since otherwise, much of this information about bullying might be invalidated due to the passing of time, even though what happened then is still true to this day," Mirai monologues in his mind, gathering up the facts he knows, "However, we cannot ignore those of middle-age too since their children might have told them but it is highly unlikely and a search within those parameters would yield almost no results. For now, I will look at students who have intelligence quirks and are still in school. They would probably be bullied too, so they would know what they want to write. From my search, none of those with an intelligence quirk go to the same school district as someone else with an intelligence quirk. Intelligence quirks are low in number anyway so it makes sense, so it has got to be only one writer and not two. Even if it is someone in their twenties, it can't be two writers because they need to have had a good chemistry to have written an article on such a sensitive topic. So, if there are two writers, they must have been best friends for at least nearly a year to have shared facts before deciding on the article. I am certain it has to be one person, so I'll try tracking the IP first."

Mirai started his tracking program and was immediately annoyed as an 'Access denied,' message popped up, "Has to be someone with hacking skills. Could be someone with an IT quirk who is intelligent too but the quirk would need to be activated most of the time to stop people from tracking, so it might not be the case,"

Mirai scrolled through the list filtered out by his sidekicks. Many of those in their mid-twenties were smart but they each had one issue or the other. For one, it would be not a long friendship, for another it would be, not having a smart friend to discuss with. Mirai groaned as he sat up straight stretching.

"No luck?" Bubblegirl asked entering Mirai's office.

Mirai sighed, "No, dead ends. It's to be expected though, pretty much everyone could have written it with proper resources but not everyone is smart or brave enough to and neither would they have access to all these bullying cases, but on the other hand, an observant or smart teen would understand quirk discrimination and classification and how it's harmful. A lesson that will have been learned painfully, however."

"Hmm, I think the hero forum is right though, it's got to be Nedzu," Bubblegirl commented.

Immediately Mirai's mouth dropped, "Of course, it has to be Nedzu!" he thought, "Now that Toshinori defeated All for One, there isn't really a big boss for Nedzu to think about. He's probably bored out of his mind and thought it was the perfect time to take quirk discrimination laws to the next level. Who else enjoys watching the world fall into chaos and is smart and can cover his digital footprint!?  And obviously, he can call out Endeavour in public, he taught him for god's sake!"

"Bubblegirl... you're a genius!"

Nedzu was surfing through the latest news on villains at present. Numerous articles pointed out the fact that in wake of the article, the smart and intelligent villains had put their villainous activities on hold. In his opinion, they were still gauging the public's reaction and were waiting to see what reforms would be done before their next moves. Evidently, the smart ones that had a lot of followers had told their lackeys to hold on fighting too, so crime stats were a bit low. On the other hand, some of the dumber ones knew that people were turning on heroes and chose the moment to strike society but Tsukauchi had given him internal information that the smarter ones were having the idiots punished because they want to see if a reform would suit them.

Nedzu knew while fixing the article that something like this would happen but it was something that needed to be done. While he had only little to fix in Izuku's article and just added a few sentences for emphasis, he had known from before, what a brutal response would form due to the article. If Izuku and Watanabe had decided to update by themselves, they could have botched the publishing time and wouldn't have clearance to publish in many sites. This is why he used his hero license and a bit of hacking to get into online news portals, forums, and blogs to post the article. He was able to post all of the articles at the same time without delay so that he could target the perfect time, the night on the day before the weekend. People would come from work, take a bath or rest and then sit on their phones. He had a program repost the articles every minute so that nobody missed the article too. 

In a while came across an intriguing report on the TV, "Unknown attacker, who crippled 4 heroes in 4 days, has not done anything in the third consecutive day since the article on quirk discrimination was published. This action strengthens Storm and Chaos' belief that only due to discrimination and poor choice of who gets to be a hero is why many villains are formed. As of now, crime has decreased in the third consecutive day but many are believing that authorities must take action now to resolve their laws and actions paving the way for the rehabilitation of villains and at the same time, taking out the root of the problem. That's all from me. We'll see you after the break!"

Nedzu smiled as the program went off and advertisements started. He couldn't help but wonder how the two cousins were feeling knowing their article is the root behind all this chaos. He couldn't wait for them to get to UA so that he could help them understand the true potential of their article.

Absentmindedly, Nedzu opened the hero forum and started laughing. Almost all the heroes were accusing him of being the original writer. "Technically, I also wrote it but I am not the original writer," Nedzu thought, "I won't disagree because that would cause eyes to roam elsewhere putting both of Toshinori's students at risk, but I won't agree either since I didn't really write it and was instead acting as a publisher and proofreader..."

Suddenly Nedzu's eyes gleamed.. He cackled as he wrote,

Nedzu
The fun has only just begun.

Chapter Text

Aizawa was once again at UA's staff room, his colleagues, nowhere in sight. Quietly he sipped his coffee. His fellow teachers had been coming in late the past few days, being stopped by reporters whenever they are seen in public. While he did not reveal his opinion on the article in front of his colleagues, the pro-hero was deeply interested in the article and the rampaging damage it had caused till now. Unlike most heroes, Aizawa didn't believe Nedzu had written the article.  After all, Nedzu had denied writing the article when he had asked. And, while Nedzu might be chaotic and sadistic, he never outright lied. He might just beat around the bush or simply choose to misdirect and Nedzu had done just that during their meeting. However, Aizawa was 100% sure that Nedzu knew something about the original writers of the article.

Nedzu had been dropping hints left and right... The question was what Nedzu knows and why he is giving only Aizawa the clues. Aizawa has known Nedzu long enough to know that he always has something deep planned and that he only drops clues to those he deems worthy of being his partner in chaos. But not knowing what Nedzu has planned, annoyed Aizawa greatly. All Aizawa could do for now was wait before the plan revealed itself. Sighing, he got up to head to his class when he stopped cold.

None of the teachers had still arrived, and there wasn't any commotion of the students outside in the hall either. There was an eerie silence over the empty school. Aizawa speculated whether he should head into Nedzu's office but decided against it. If there was any problem, Nedzu would have let him know. Considering he hadn't gotten any messages, it was unlikely something had happened and Aizawa was sure, Nedzu had planned for this. Sighing, Aizawa decided to take a nap on the staffroom couch.

It was about half an hour later that the teachers arrived. Aizawa woke up with a start as the teachers entered, lead by Vlad King. Aizawa sat up and began to listen to their conversation to try and understand what had happened.

"It's a disgrace!" Vlad King exclaimed.

"Calm down. You are needlessly taking out your anger on us," Snipe said.

"I take down villains! Strong villains! Yet I have to get escorted by the police to get to UA 'safely'. What the hell?" Kan said ignoring Snipe.

"Well, the public is backing police and underground heroes highly at present because of the quirk discrimination article. Nothing was mentioned about the unfairness against the police and underground heroes directly in the article, but with that Q/A with Endeavour, the authors pointed out the things that everyone missed. They just needed the forums to fill in the blanks for the public." Midnight explained.

"Exactly," Mic said in his loud voice, "They took advantage of the fact that people get bullied in school and discriminated against in adult life too. So why can't it happen in the hero society or law enforcement? The writers know exactly what they are doing."

"Honestly, these events are making me want to shift to being an Underground hero like Aizawa," Vlad King said. "You're lucky your costume makes you look like a hobo and not a hero. Do you have any idea how bad it is outside all the hero schools? Most of the hero schools had to cancel school after students were barred from entering by protesters."

"Speaking of, I saw no message about UA canceling classes, but there aren't any students inside or outside. Why is that?" Thirteen asked Aizawa who shrugged.

"That's because I sent out a message to only students telling them that today UA will be closed," Nedzu said walking out from the kitchen scaring all of the teachers.

"Why only students?" Aizawa asked, being the only teacher who had not given an external expression to Nedzu's jumpscare.

"Ah, that's because I wanted the teachers to come. I know," Nedzu continued seeing his teachers' mouths open, "that you would have come if I had given notice that the school was closed only for students but I was pretty sure that Aizawa would end up coming in at midday then,"

The teachers snickered at the response while Aizawa twitched and gave an annoyed grunt. Nedzu smiled before continuing, "I am sure you are all updated on the news but in case a few of you have missed out on some things, I will be holding a briefing in a staff meeting that starts now. If you could all take a seat?"

All of the teachers sat down and faced Nedzu who smiled and started speaking, "Ok, first, yesterday on the forums, many people came together and started talking about how schools discriminate. Inevitably, people also connected the fact that hero schools are doing the same thing. They realized that underground heroes and police also pay an immense contribution to enforcing the law and helping society. This led to police getting huge support from the public. On the other hand, due to the regrettable actions and stance on the article by daylight heroes, their popularity has taken a hit, to say the least." Nedzu's eyes twinkled as he went on, "Only heroes supporting the article and pushing for reforms like All Might and Best Jeanist among others are still trusted by the public. Now, I gave the day off to students of UA because it was clear as daylight that public outcry or some other form of backlash would force hero schools to close today. My deduction was right as you have already seen that many protesters have barred students from entering their schools and urged them to boycott. Are we clear so far?"

The teachers nodded but didn't dare ask any questions. They knew better than to interrupt the principal before he had finished speaking.

"Alright," Nedzu said, "Here's the tricky part. Almost the entirety of the public agrees that hero schools are discriminating. They have even gathered evidence that the entrance exams are discriminatory, catering to those with strong quirks and neglecting those with weak ones, be it because of the exam format or not proper conditions. At present, they are pressuring all hero schools to respond to their accusations. There is also talk of a law-suit against the hero schools, too pressurize the hero schools further."

"That's why I have always been saying that the UA entrance exams need to be changed! But you keep refusing! Now, what are you going to do?" Aizawa asked agitated.

Nedzu smiled, "The answer's still no, Aizawa. I know what I am doing and I have a plan. What I wanted to say is that I am sure most of the schools will cave in by today and hold press conferences. However, we will be doing it tomorrow. Otherwise, other hero schools will take UA's lead if we give our statement today and that will lead to no reforms. That's all dismissed!"

"Wait, that's all? Don't you need our help with the press conference or something?" Mic exclaimed.

"No," 

"B-but, what was the point of this then!?"

Nedzu smiled, "So that you don't say anything at all to the press today. DO NOT talk to them. I have a plan for the press conference."

"Well, my opinion is different from yours, so I will talk if the media asks me," Aizawa said.

"Really you are going to talk to the media, Aizawa?" Midnight guffawed as the other teachers laughed lightly.

Nedzu smiled again, "I am sure Aizawa, that by the end, your qualms will be settled too. If not, I promise I'll hold another press conference afterward, if needed. That's all, you can go home now, or stay... Your wish."

Nedzu exited the staffroom. Aizawa's scowl deepened, "There's nothing he could say that would make me change my opinion on the entrance exam."

Mic gave his best friend a reassuring smile, "You said it yourself the other day, Nedzu outright told he didn't write the article so he didn't. Well, now he's outright saying that he'll fix your issue. Let's just wait and see till tomorrow, deal?"

Aizawa's scowl grew deeper but he nodded, "Fine,"

"Has UA released their statement yet?" Shiketsu's principal asked his assistant.

"No, not yet."

The principal gritted his teeth, "That Nedzu always has something planned. If we address the public now, we'll have to address them like the other schools did. There isn't much choice on how to respond. All we can actually say is we're sorry and we'll try harder. Whether we mean it or not is something that will matter further down the road. But if we say this now, the number 2 hero school will be made to look like any other school. Our reputation will be tarnished!" The principal growled to himself. He snapped his head upwards and stared intently at his assistant who seemed to want to melt into the ground. "Listen," he commanded, "If any news about UA releasing their statement comes, I want you to tell me at once, got it!?"

"Y-yes, sir!"

"I know it wasn't our intention but I'm really liking how things are going because of our article," Watanabe commented. The two cousins had finished their morning training for the day. They had met up with Kaminari and had eaten lunch together before heading home. Kaminari and Izuku were really getting together and Watanabe was happy that his cousin finally had an actual friend beside him. Presently they had just come back from night training with All Might and had freshened up.

"Yup. The social stance on both heroes and police have changed so drastically." Izuku replied.

"You know, if we weren't so invested in becoming heroes, I'd have just gone into being a police and then I'd have kept bashing heroes," 

Izuku laughed, "No reason why we can't still. The more we bash, the more things get fixed, right?"

"Yeah, but after school starts, we'll be pretty busy. I'm actually surprised you haven't asked anything about his quirk yet or gone into analyzing mode already,"

"I already have some ideas but I was planning on talking about that after we start school together. It seems sorta rude otherwise,"

Watanabe nodded, "Good choice but Kaminari really won't mind. He isn't that sort of person. Your choice though."

"Now about the hero schools' statements..." Izuku addressed.

"They're shit obviously," Watanabe groaned. "All of them basically said, we're sorry, we'll do better. I mean they didn't even bother setting up individual press conferences."

"Still, UA and Shiketsu haven't given their statements yet, so we'll see what happens then." Izuku pointed out.

"Fair enough. I haven't seen the forums yet though," Watanabe said and got on the computer.

I can't believe the gall of the hero-schools! They didn't even bother giving a separate statement! Just one statement to address everyone. Seriously.
~Imjustonegal66

I missed the interview, why what happened?
~TahminaIslam

They didn't sound very convincing or apologetic. They just said We are sorry and we will try to do better.
~Sanjna_23

And that's after sugarcoating it.
~KIRA

I don't see the point of even waiting for UA or Shiketsu's press conference anymore, it'll probably just be some sort of copy of this.
~Guest

I can see why you'd think that but you're wrong
~StarryDreamer101

Huh? Why?
~Guest

UA is the number 1 hero school and Shiketsu the number 2. Don't you think they have some reason to not yet hold press conferences? They are smarter, so they have some sort of plan.
~Starrydreamer101

Yo Chaos, Storm! What do you think of that?
~Randomguy1

They aren't gonna answer man. People have been trying for two days now
~Zoro0905

Selfish pricks. I mean we're just fans
~Randomguy1

"Selfish pricks! We gave you an article that has helped society and we're selfis-"

"That's enough Watanabe," Izuku said, "I have a nice revenge plan,"

"Oh, so my sadistic chaotic nature is rubbing off huh? Do tell!"

"Right well it's nothing big but I was thinking I could say one word of our response, you can write the second, and so on." Izuku said, "I know it's a bit lame but-"

"No, no" Watanabe interrupted, "Psychological warfare, I like it! The readers have no clue who we are, so this will mess with their minds because they'll think we rehearsed this just for people pestering us. I mean they wouldn't expect us to live together,"

"Right," Izuku said, "So what should we write,"

"Something cliched"

Hey guys look, Chaos and storm are typing!
~Randomguy2

Everyone shush!
~Randomguy1

The hunter
~Storm ✔

always waits
~Chaos ✔

for the right
~Storm ✔

moment.
~Chaos ✔

Chapter Text

"So, Nedzu is planning to give UA's press conference today?" Tsukauchi asked Yagi. Yagi had finished morning training with Izuku and Watanabe and was now having lunch with his friend.

Chapter Text

"The public has accused all hero-schools as being discriminating. However, like UA, Shiketsu has produced several heroes who are not well known specifically for their combat. Therefore, we believe that these allegations of us being discriminating is baseless."

"You have only produced rescue heroes alongside combat heroes. None of your graduates are neither intellectual heroes or underground heroes. Records that people on the forum have pulled show that over 80% of underground heroes are UA graduates and all the other schools put together the measly 20%. The numbers disagree with your statement." A reporter replied.

"At least own up to it!" One of the reporters shouted.

"Boo!" The others said.

"In that case, we are actually sorry and we will be working to correct this misjudgment and we'll be fixing the entrance exams too," Shiketsu's principal tried to excuse himself.

"Oh now that following UA has backfired, you are following in the steps of the other schools, huh?" A reporter asked aggressively. 

"At least the other schools owned up to it! Liar! Coward!" The crowd of reporters booed.

"Well, the media is as colorful today, Garaki," All for One commented to his trusted doctor. It was the morning after UA's statement and the two villains were watching Shiketsu's live press conference.

"Indeed, this article has caused a huge uproar. Our fellow intellectual villains have also put their activities on hold in anticipation of society changing their views on them, allowing them to revert to a normal life. Surely this would throw a wrench in our plan?" Garaki asked.

All for One laughed, "Do I really seem that pathetic? There are always ups and downs in plans. We will recover soon. However, this article really has caused a huge amount of problems. Have you had any luck on tracking the signal?"

"No," Garaki shook his head dismally, "The signal was bounced various times. However, all the articles appeared at the same time, even though on different websites. There wasn't even a second's delay." Garaki asked.

"What about the forum accounts?"

"I was successfully tracking them. However, in the middle, the program was overridden. Someone erased their digital footprint before I could finish tracking." Garaki said.

All for One frowned, "That damn rat of a principal has something to do with this, I am sure. He's the only one smart enough for all this,"

"Surely, he can't be much smarter than me," Garaki said with a smile.

All for One growled, "He's the reason I lost to that wretched All Might. I had him but that damn rat had given him too good of a strategy. That pro, Gran Torino too..." All for One gritted his teeth and punched the wall above with his quirks activated. 

Garaki jumped back, startled at the sudden aggression, "So, do you think Nedzu wrote the article?"

All for One shook his head, "He's too smart to allow himself to be tracked even for one second. He wouldn't have slipped up while posting on the forums,"

"So... it's someone else?" Garaki asked skeptically.

"Yes, there are two others who have written this article. But, Nedzu knows the authors. No one else is smart enough to completely erase any trace on the internet. Since he erased their trace on the forum, it means he knows the authors. However, considering the article publishing has zero trace, it was published by Nedzu. My best guess is the original writer is someone else but Nedzu is the publisher." All for One deduced.

"Should we be worried?" Garaki asked.

"OF COURSE WE SHOULD BE WORRIED!" All for One shouted at his doctor, "This means that someone else with the same level of intellectual capability has entered the playing field. And two of them that too," All for One muttered angrily. "You! Get back to work now!"

"Y-yes," Garaki stuttered as he ran out of the room.

Angrily All for One picked up the phone and dialed. The phone rang continuously and eventually, someone picked up at the other line, "Ah, Kenji. How are you and the others doing?"

"Rather good. I assume you are calling for some more test subjects?" Kenji replied.

"Obviously. The hospital is just a front. We still need people to come. Children are especially stable with our experiments. So your lost child department is perfect for business!" All for One said with a wide, evil grin on his face.

"Well obviously we will need a favor done in return when we make the transaction," Kenji sighed.

"What do you mean, 'when'?" All for One asked, his smile dropping.

Kenji sighed on the other end. He could understand this was going to be a tough conversation, considering he was talking with the worst of all the villains, "The superiors at the hero commission are much more hawk-eyed right now, after that damned article came out!"

"I thought you were one of those on the board too?"

"I am, but me and Abarai are the only two. The rest are all 'law-abiding' and what-not, the idiots. Anyway, we are lucky enough as it is,"

"What do you mean?"

"The public thinks that hero-schools are discriminatory. That's why we only see strong combat-based heroes in society. But none of them have connected that hero commission is the one that regulates hero society and therefore is the one that ultimately that decides who gets to be a hero."

"But, as far as I know, you have never blocked anyone from becoming a hero," All for One commented grimly.

"No, but we can control what the exam will be and block a certain type that way,"

All for One laughed, "That's why I like you and Abarai,"

"Don't forget about the others. They may be lackeys but they do the dirty work. But you know perhaps we should look into the weaker quirked ones too," Kenji commented.

All for One laughed villainously, "Have you gone mad? Just because Hawks turned out okay, doesn't mean all those weak-ass people will."

"Hmm, perhaps not. However, the others on the board will no doubt vote to change hero licensing exams now. And if Abarai and I say no, they'll suspect us and remove us." Kenji moped.

"What if they catch you right now?" All for One asked with a laugh.

"Are you kidding, I have my own office. No one's ever getting me! And the lackeys are there anyway. But you should think about what I told you about Hawks. If you train someone like that, they'll get strong." Kenji said.

"Then imagine, how much more stronger I would get by just grabbing a strong quirk instead,"

"That is true. So why don't you give breeding your own villain a shot? Unfortunately, we can't make Hawks a villain. The idiot likes Endeavour too much. The others on the board are also angry that we have 'brainwashed' him and whatnot and warned us not to do anything."

All for One laughed, "The stupids: trying to act like the so-called symbol of peace,"

Kenji laughed in return, "At least we still got to keep Endeavour in second place by sabotaging the numbers. That way we can manipulate people by telling people that the number 2 hero does the same thing, and get away with it."

"Hmph, you're just making him stronger. It'll backfire." All for One predicted.

"Nah, anyway try being a mentor,"

"I'm already one,"

"Those experimented ones don't count," Kenji said and hung up.

All for One smiled villainously flashing all of his teeth, "Who said that's the only one I'm mentoring. Hahahahahahahahahaha"

Chaos
No, it's just that only those with stronger quirks can bully someone. Someone with a mental quirk can't really bully someone with a physical quirk. Since you said that bullying is good because the victim will get stronger, does your flawed statement mean that you do believe that those with weak quirks can become heroes!?

What!? Do you dare twist my words? That is not what I meant! Why don't you come face to face and then-" All Might knocked Endeavour out cold.

"God, this never gets old, haha," Dabi squealed as he sat rewatching Endeavour's interview while munching on a bowl of popcorn.

"They not only turned his logic on him but they also embarrassed him by forcing All Might to knock Endeavour out, haha," Dabi, or the one formally known as Todoroki Touya said aloud.

Touya munched on his popcorn as the recorded interview started again. He sighed and took out his phone. He reread the article and went through the forums, "The article showed hero and quirk inequality and implied how bad heroes can be. But they didn't say anything about reforming villains or ousting heroes explicitly," Dabi thought, "It's still too early to tell what effect this would have on society, from both hero and villain's view as a whole."

"But," Touya spoke out loud to himself as he watched Storm and Chaos bash Endeavour on live TV, "I'm going to bring even more chaos into your life, father," Touya grinned,

"Now only if both Storm and Chaos would be willing to help me... For all I know they could be a vigilante pushing their own agendas too." Touya munched on his popcorn as he thought, "But... I'll let both Storm and Chaos live if I ever meet them. They are much too fun!" Dabi chuckled. His chuckles echoed in the empty room and soon transformed into maniacal laughter.

Bubaigawara Jin had finally decided to read the article after wrestling with his other side for nearly a week. He was no stranger to the chaos the article had formed. The villains seemed to be much more interested in the article than heroes so he had gotten his information from them. But he had missed out on reading the article, forums, and the Endeavour interview. But luckily, his other side was allowing him to look up everything online today. 

Jin had first watched the Endeavour interview and had a good laugh. Both sides agreed that they liked how Storm and Chaos had manipulated the number 2 hero. Since he had heard chatter about the forum from other villains, he decided to skip it since it would take a long time to weed through it and find relevant information. So here he sat, reading the article.

Once he had finished, tears started falling out of his eyes. "I could have been a hero?" He asked himself in a sad choking voice.

"Idiot! No! No one ever liked us, people always like heroes! We were meant to be villains!" His other side replied angrily.

"But Ectoplasm has the same-" 

"So what? People loved him. They don't love us."

"But maybe people disliked him too. Maybe we were too stupid..." Jin said, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Hmph, as if, we were meant to be villains, haha, let's go rob someone," Jin's other side exclaimed randomly.

"You are right, we are villains. It's too late for society to accept us..."

"What are you talking about, we can be a hero!" Jin's other side replied cheerfully. "Hero! Hero! Hero!" Jin's other side exclaimed happily like a child.

Stain had no clue why he was doing this. He was a vigilante for god's sake. By definition, he was a criminal. Yet he still couldn't bring himself to steal a damn phone. So here he was, dressed up in his only casual clothing, trying to buy a phone.

He didn't have any problem with money as he had saved up quite a lot by getting money off small-time villains he beat up. He still needed to get proper food and water and stealing them would bring even more attention to him. Something he wanted to avoid. So here he was, in front of an electronic store. He was nervous as he hadn't socially interacted with someone for quite a long time. Taking a deep breath he entered the store.

"Hello there! My name is Aki and I work here. What can I help you with today?" An enthusiastic salesman asked Akaguro.

"Uh, I was hoping to buy a smartphone," Akaguro said in a low voice.

"Sure, sure. You can afford it right?" Aki asked hesitantly looking at the state of Stain's clothes. Akaguro simply held up a wad of cash in response.

"Great! Follow me and we'll get you settled!"

Once Stain had bought his phone, he had perched himself on a roof and started reading through the forums, and rewatched the Endeavour interview.

Once he had finished most of it, he fell into a deep thought about his ideology. He thought that attacking heroes would cause them to be more vigilant and would make them better. However, Storm and Chaos had done what he would have taken months to do. With one swoop they had tarnished hero society and had exposed all the heroes he considered to be false. Not only that but the forums had also pointed out many other heroes who had a good heart besides All Might.

Stain let out a deep sigh, "I need to think about what I want to do now..."

All for One was sitting at his table, hunched over a notebook. Since the tracing had not worked, All for One was listing the things that he had deduced. Till now he had:

• Nedzu is not the author but he knows the author.
• Nedzu was the publisher.
• There are either two writers or only one writer.
• Most probably there are two writers because their personalities on the forum seem very different.
• For Nedzu to have agreed to be the publisher, he knows the authors well.
• Therefore, the author is either an underground hero or a smart hero. OR the author(s) are students at UA. In that case, they probably have an intelligence quirk.
• Since they talked about bullying, they are most likely students. Adults would want to forget about the bullying.

All for One reviewed his list of deductions and frowned. He had asked Garaki to get a list of UA students with an intellectual quirk but he couldn't hack into the UA servers and get the names. All for One had, therefore, tried to weed through UA sports festival tapes, but all the intellectual quirked ones rarely made it to the final round or used their quirk to its potential. On the other hand, the list of underground heroes who might have written the article was overwhelming and he couldn't place who it might be.

As All for One stewed in his anger, Garaki came rushing in, panic all over his face. "What is it now?" All for One asked, annoyed.

Garaki's body shook with fear as he replied, with a stutter, "Mo-more n-news just c-came,"

"What news?" All for One grunted questioningly.

"S-something about a school c-called Aldera,"

Chapter Text

"Izuku, can you get that?" Inko asked her son as the bell rang. Izuku nodded and stood up from the sofa. He walked to the door and opened it. "Detective Tsukauchi!" Izuku exclaimed with a shocked expression. 

"Ah Izuku, how are you doing?" Naomasa asked and added in a lower tone, "And how is your training with Yagi going?"

Izuku spluttered, "How did you-"

"I'm a detective, it's what I do," Naomasa said with a proud voice.

"Oh, so you are the friend that Yagi was telling us about, who can help us with the Aldera case. What a coincidence!" Watanabe said as he peered from behind Izuku.

"H-how?" Naomasa asked.

Watanabe gave a wicked grin, clearly pleased with the shock on Naomasa's face, "Well, Yagi-sensei told us that he'll get his friend on the Aldera case. While he didn't tell us that you were his friend, he did mention that his friend agreed to help. So when I saw you, I was a bit surprised but assumed that sensei's friend just helped you out but didn't care to come. However, after you mentioned our training with Yagi-sensei, your relation with him became obvious."

"Are you sure, you want to be a pro-hero? Being a detective would be good for you too," Naomasa deadpanned.

Watanabe laughed, "While that would be fun, my quirk would be more useful in disaster situations. Ultimately, my goal was never to become a pro-hero, it was to help people as much as I can. Being a pro-hero just has a lot of added advantages."

Naomasa nodded, that was a good answer. "Izuku, who is it?" Inko called from the kitchen.

"Oh, it's Detective Tsukauchi mom!" Izuku replied. Immediately there was a crash in the kitchen. Watanabe gave his cousin a puzzled look.

"Ah come in Detective. Come in. You've been waiting outside for so long," Natsume appeared with a welcoming smile.

"No, no it's alright. I was just having a chat with Izuku and Watanabe," Naomasa replied with a smile.

"Well come in, then. No point in standing there," Natsume said warmly.

Tsukauchi nodded politely and stepped in. Natsume led him to the living room, where Ryuzen and Inko were already waiting. "Please have a seat," Ryuzen offered.

"Yes, certainly," Tsukauchi said and sat down, "Where is Izuku and Watanabe?"

"Uh, they are just kids, so I didn't want them to be here and listen to all this," Inko replied.

"That is fair but unfortunately the case has to do with them, so they should hear this too," Tsukauchi said with a grim face.

Inko looked like she wanted to argue but Ryuzen stopped her, "Watanabe, Izuku! Come here please,"

"Yes, dad?" Watanabe asked as the two entered the room.

"The detective would like you to be present to listen to what he has to say as well," Ryuzen informed.

"Oh, uh, ok," Watanabe spoke for both of them as they quickly took a seat.

"Alright, so I came here to inform you that we have most of the evidence ready. Therefore, I would like you to file the case immediately. I have brought the paperwork too, all it needs is the guardians' signature,"

"Wait, wait. Why are we rushing all of a sudden?" Natsume interrupted.

Tsukauchi sighed, "Well, I assume you all know about the recent article on quirk discrimination?"

"Yes," All of them replied. Tsukauchi caught Ryuzen glancing at Izuku and Watanabe through the corner of his eye. Brushing it aside, he continued, "Since the article has generated so much public support for those with weak quirks and has caused the public's trust in-hero society and schools, we think that lodging the case immediately would help us gain the upper hand immediately, in the court." 

Ryuzen seemed to give Watanabe and Izuku an approving smile and replied, "But that would mean that we, as a family, would be in the limelight, if the case garners a lot of media attention, which I think it will,"

"Yes, unfortunately, that's a given," 

"I'll sign the paperwork right now, then. We have no other choice and I don't want to let Aldera or any other schools get away scot-free," Ryuzen replied with a sigh.

Tsukauchi nodded, "Another thing. Bakugou is part of this case too. Can you talk to his parents and ask whether they'd be ok with presenting him as a witness. It would let charges against him be dropped too, since he's a minor,"

Inko nodded, "Of course. But we don't want to lodge a separate case against him. Mitsuki has promised to set him straight."

"In that case, I'll tell the judge that you have settled it outside of the court, if you agree, that is?"

Inko smiled sadly, "Well, I don't want to let him get off scot-free after all he did to Izuku... But since Izuku wants to forgive him and Mitsuki has promised to teach Bakugou to be a good person, I'll let it slide."

Tsukauchi nodded, "I understand. Now here's the paperwork. If you could sign in the marked places, I just need to talk with these two privately for a moment."

Natsume looked puzzled but nodded. Tsukauchi smiled and stood up straight, he gestured Izuku and Watanabe to follow him.

"I assume Mr. Hattori knows you two wrote the article?" Tsukauchi asked. Izuku and Watanabe nodded.

"Good, at least you thought of telling one of your guardians,"

"More, like dad found out," Watanabe said with a weak smile, "We weren't going to tell him originally,"

Tsukauchi let out a deep breath, "Anyway, what I wanted to tell you, is to be careful while posting on the forum. Use a VPN or something. One of my colleagues almost traced you, because he thought it would be fun. Luckily, your data was deleted before the trace finished."

"Deleted? By whom?" Izuku asked.

"Wait, do you guys know who published your article?" Tsukauchi asked.

Izuku shook his head while Watanabe enthusiastically replied, "Yagi-sensei said his friend would help us. Did you publish it then? It makes sense since you could have also deleted our trace from the police station," Watanabe rambled but Tsukauchi cut him off with a chuckle, "No, no it wasn't me. Although I suppose it was a logical guess."

"Then, who was it?" Izuku asked.

Tsukauchi smiled, "I think, I won't tell you. You will meet him though, soon. He's rather interested in you,"

"Who?" Both Izuku and Watanabe asked, agitated.

"You'll find out when you'll find out," Tsukauchi replied with a grin. 

"Hmph," Watanabe grunted while Izuku became disappointed. 

Naomasa gave a small laugh, "Alright, on a more serious note, we need to talk about the case."

"Why?" Izuku asked.

"Court etiquette," Tsukauchi replied with a sigh.

"But we are minors, we wouldn't be expected to know court etiquette right?" Watanabe questioned.

"Well, no. But you still need to be ready in case their lawyer wants to ask you questions."

"Buuuut, I thought you aren't allowed to question minors too much in court," Izuku pointed out.

"Don't think that would stop them considering what else they have done," Watanabe deadpanned. Tsukauchi nodded in response, "Anyway, your lawyer will be preparing you, so you won't have to worry about that for now," Tsukauchi gave the two cousins an assuring smile.

"Fine," Izuku said. "Don't worry about it," Watanabe added with a chaotic smile.

Tsukauchi gulped.

After Naomasa had finished the paperwork with Izuku and Watanabe's parents, he had explained everything about the case to them. Once they had wrapped things up, Naomasa had left but not before reminding Izuku and Watanabe not to tell anyone about the case. Watanabe had, however, bargained with him and gotten permission to tell Kaminari. 

Presently, the two cousins were in their room after they had had lunch.

"I'm glad Tsukauchi-san agreed that we can tell Kaminari about the case," Izuku said, smiling happily.

"Well, he said that Yagi-sensei had already told him that Kaminari knows about the article. So, I'm guessing he knew that Kaminari can be trusted," Watanabe replied.

"Yeah, I guess-"

"Alternatively, he might have felt sorry for you," Watanabe interrupted.

Izuku glared at him and Watanabe snickered, "Sorry, it was just a joke!"

"You have a rather dark sense of humor," Izuku commented.

"Eh, so I've been told by Kaminari," Watanabe laughed, "Oh, Kaminari just replied. He's free for a video chat right now,"

"Oh, nice! We'll use the desktop so we can both talk together," Izuku said.

Watanabe nodded and called Kaminari.

"Yo, what's up?" Kaminari received the call. 

"Just wanted to tell you that the Aldera case is ready. Our parents signed the paperwork to file the case,"

"Oh, nice. Did they give you the court date yet?" Kaminari asked.

"No, the detective just came around a few hours back and got our parents to sign the paperwork. He thinks that we can use the article to gain the public's support,"

"Still not calling it your article?" Kaminari asked with a grin.

"Well, I- I mean, it's just," Izuku spluttered, embarrassed.

Kaminari laughed at Izuku's response, "Anyway, when are you guys starting class then?"

"Well, the case is going to take up some time, so next week is off the table. I guess we'll have to talk with the principal and explain why we'll be starting later than expected," Izuku replied.

"How's school going though?" Watanabe asked his friend.

"Pretty good for me," Kaminari replied, "But the bullies are a bit, well, out of control, you could say,"

Watanabe groaned, "Of course they are. The teachers are punishing them though, right?"

"Obviously. They have always punished the bullies. And now that your article has put schools under the microscope, there's no way that they'll let bullies go unpunished," Kaminari pointed out. Izuku nodded in agreement with that.

"I can't wait to see the look on all the bullies' faces once I get back," Watanabe scowled.

"Oh, no need, I've already taught them a lesson," Kaminari grinned back chaotically.

"Nice! What did you do?" Watanabe asked.

"Wait, are we really going to ignore Kaminari's chaotic grin?" Izuku asked.

"What about it?" Both of them asked simultaneously.

Izuku sweatdropped, "Which one of you rubbed off on whom?"

"Obviously Watanabe!" Kaminari immediately exclaimed.

"Wha- hold on now! Why am I the only one at fault here?" 

"Really?" Both Izuku and Kaminari asked rhetorically.

"You made me write this article with you!"

"You introduced me as your deputy against bullies when you are absent at school!"

"You broke Bakugou's arms!"

"You broke the turtle guy's nose!"

"You-"

"Fine, fine, I get it!" Watanabe resigned. Kaminari and Izuku snickered. "Anyway tell me, how did you teach the bullies a lesson?" 

Kaminari laughed sheepishly, "Well, they tried to corner me too. So I gave a fake scream and used 1 million volts to shock all of them,"

"And turned into an idiot in the process no doubt?" Watanabe deadpanned.

"Uh, right, hehe." Kaminari turned red with embarrassment. 

"Wait, wait. Kaminari, why would you turn into an idiot if you use your quirk?" Izuku questioned with his analytical mind at the ready.

"Oh, right. My maximum output right now is 1 million volts but if I use it, my brain short circuits, and I turn into an idiot," 

"Well... why don't you just control your output then? I mean just 220 volts is enough to fry a human," Izuku pointed out.

Kaminari and Watanabe stayed quiet for some time but eventually, Kaminari broke the silence, "Watanabe you couldn't think of that!"

"Well, I mean I'm not that good at finding strengths of quirks. I'm mainly focused on weaknesses. Plus, I have helped you get better with your studies, so can we call it even?" Watanabe offered.

"I am thankful for the help man, but how come neither of us thought of this before. Instead, you thought of ways to murder me!" 

"Uhhh," Watanabe spoke as Izuku narrowed his eyes at his cousin suspiciously, "Hey it was just me pointing out your weaknesses," Watanabe tried to defend himself.

"By killing him?" Izuku asked with narrowed eyes.

"In my defense... well I don't have a defense on that actually. It was just fun,"

"You're really dark Watanabe," Izuku said.

"Says the guy who helped me make some of those plans."

This time it was Izuku's turn to be stared at by Kaminari, "You what!?"

"I didn't know that it was about a real person. We were just discussing about someone with an electrification quirk," Izuku replied.

"Wait, I thought Izuku could only analyze strengths and Watanabe can only analyze weaknesses?" Kaminari asked confused.

"Given the time we can do both. But if you put us on the spot, that's how our skill goes," Watanabe replied.

"Says the guy who couldn't tell me to limit my electric discharge," Kaminari pouted.

"All right, all right, let's just call it a tie," Izuku offered.

"Yeah that goes with me," Kaminari grinned, "Anyway gotta go now. Unlike you two lucky guys, I have homework."

"Fair enough. Talk to ya later," Watanabe said.

"Bye," Izuku said as they hung up, "By the way Watanabe, have you made murder plans for me?" Izuku asked.

"You don't want to talk about this, trust me," Watanabe said as he sipped on his glass of juice.

Later that day, at night, on the forums

Hey, you guys saw the news on that school?
WOW_wow_WOW

Aldera right?
LightAssassin

Yeah. Apparently, a family charged them with abuse, child negligence, and turning a blind eye to bullying. The police filed the case on behalf of the guardians. That's what the official report says.
Sleep_whatajoke

I have a feeling the police rejected the case at first though.
LightAssassin

Huh wdym
Sleep_whatajoke

Well, I think they might have rejected the case at first but after the article caused public outrage, they accepted the case. I mean isn't the timing a bit too perfect.
Lightassassin

I guess so. But they would still need time to gather evidence. It's only been one week since the article. That's too little of a time to get enough evidence.
WOW_wow_WOW

Well yeah, Ig but maybe the family already had evidence. Or maybe the police plan to get info by the court date?
LightAssassin

Nah man, other people on the forum already pointed out that police are also discriminated against too. So I don't think they would reject a discrimination case. It makes no sense.
WOW_wow_WOW

Ok, the main thing is, the court will probably simply just give a fine. We can't have them just get off so easily. I mean they allowed quirk-induced bullying for god's sake!
Sleep_whatajoke

Yeah, that's true. But I think the public is going to pressurize for a worse punishment.
  WOW_wow_WOW

I agree with that point. I don't think the judge would be very keen to have people riot because of him.
Sleep_whatajoke

Wait wait. We don't even know if everyone will be keen to put pressure on Aldera.
LightAssassin

Have you seen the rest of the forum and the news? The media especially is covering Aldera closely since it's the first school to be charged with the things the article pointed out.
WOW_wow_WOW

"Well, our article has done its job!" Watanabe exclaimed proudly.

"Phew," Izuku sighed, "I thought people would be too fixated on the other results from the article and wouldn't care about Aldera,"

"Still, for the case details to be leaked within two hours of filing is scary!" Watanabe said.

"Well, I suppose it makes sense. I mean people are hawk-eyed at present, ready to call out anyone who's made a mistake," Izuku replied.

"True, the media is reporting non-stop about the Aldera case. I'm pretty sure some of them fabricated parts of it."

"Unfortunately, the parts they fabricated are also true," Izuku replied with a sad smile. Watanabe didn't reply to that and instead looked away from his cousin. He didn't know how to comfort him.

"Well... some of the villains seem to be on our side too," Watanabe said suddenly.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Izuku asked, getting over his sadness.

"Some villains vandalized Aldera. Spray-painted it, broke tables and chairs inside and broke a few windows," Watanabe laughed and showed his cousin a picture.

Izuku's face grew blue, "I mean, it's good to see villains on our side too but they went a bit too far. Hey, I just got a message from Yagi-sensei!"

"What does it say?" Watanabe asked while scrolling through a news article.

"Just told us to take the next two days off to get everything about the case in order," Izuku replied stuffing the phone back in his pocket.

"Ah shit," Watanabe sighed tiredly.

"What? What is it?"

"Our names somehow made it on one of the coverages by the media,"

"What the heck?" Izuku asked and snatched Watanabe's phone. He read through the article and sure enough, they were mentioned as the victims. "How did they get that!?" 

Watanabe shrugged, "I have no clue. I'm guessing the media have several people as informants. It's a drag, to be honest,"

"Well, at least we have most people supporting us, even the villains!" Izuku pointed out.

"Yup, and there have been no heroes supporting Aldera too,"

"Seems they learn fast," Izuku grinned.

"Shame. I would have loved to grill some more heroes like Endeavour and Death Arms,"

"Is the job done?" A voice whispered in the darkness.

“It’s done,” Someone replied.

“Are you sure we won’t get caught for this?” A concerned third voice asked.

The first person snorted, “If we are going to get caught, they won’t be fixated on this one detail, trust me.”

“That may be true, but did we have to go out of our way to do this?”

“I think it will pay off. Plus, it didn’t really take much to do this. Their security’s hella lax!”

“Alright enough chitchat. We have to get going now unless you idiots want to get caught. We have more places to be”

The three nodded and disappeared into the darkness.

Chapter Text

Tsukauchi was walking to the police station, his morning coffee in his hand. Investigating Aldera for the past few days had been rather strenuous. While he had gone behind Yagi's back and asked Nedzu for help too, most of the investigation had to be done physically. Even after all the evidence he had gathered, he was unsure of the outcome of the case. He entered the station in deep thought. Immediately Sansa ran over to him, "Tsukauchi!" he exclaimed in a panicked tone.

"What? What is it?" Naomasa asked concerned.

"Someone broke into your office!"  

Tsukauchi paled, "The evidence..." he mumbled and ran into his office, preparing for the worst. Tsukauchi peered around to assess the damage but was surprised to see that nothing was missing. Instead, there was a mountain of paperwork and tapes on his desk, "Wha-what?" Tsukauchi asked nobody in particular, "Nothing's missing,"

"Well no," Sansa replied, "But when the cleanup crew came in today he noticed that there were a lot of papers on the desk and let us know that he didn't touch them because they looked too important. But I remember you locking up all the evidence in the safe. That's how we knew someone gave us the evidence,"

"Did you pull up the camera feed?" 

"Yes, we saw nothing on it. We just got an outline of a shadow. We don't even have the structure of the body."

Tsuakuchi fell into deep thought, someone powerful had to have done this. That's when he realized that Nedzu had offered to hack into Aldera for evidence but Tsukauchi had refused calling it illegal even though they were using the evidence for good. A bit angry, he called Nedzu on his phone. "Ah, good morning Tsukauchi!" Nedzu's cheery voice called out.

Hiding his anger, Tsukauchi sighed, "Nedzu, I told you not to hack into Aldera. Now the judge has every bit of reason to disregard this evidence since it was obtained illegally."

"But, I didn't hack into Aldera! You refused," Nedzu replied puzzled.

"Then from where did this mountain of evidence come from?" Tsukauchi demanded.

"I have no clue, Tsukauchi. However, I am rather interested as well," Nedzu said, "And anyway, isn't your quirk telling you that I'm saying the truth?"

Tsukauchi grumbled. His quirk, in fact, did register it as a truth, "Fine, I'll call later. I have to sort out this mess first." Tsukauchi hung up.

Tsukauchi groaned and put on a pair of gloves before shifting the paperwork to another part of the room. Once he had moved the last pile, he found a printed note on the desk. Tsukauchi picked up the note and read: 'Here's some evidence against Aldera we got. Use it well! :)'

Tsukauchi's eye twitched as he handed the note over the Sansa to read, "Well... you can't say that the public won't care about the case. Even villains are angry," Sansa commented after reading the note.

"That may be," Tsukauchi sighed resignedly, "But how are we going to get the judge to accept this evidence? Aldera's lawyer will force the judge to refute the evidence," Tsukuachi said, upset.

"Well, that won't be a problem. We can easily get the judge to accept the evidence,"

"Inko-san!" Tsukauchi exclaimed in shock, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm the lawyer representing our case," Inko smiled.

"Oh. Uhm, you have a law license right?" Tsukauchi asked skeptically.

Inko laughed, "Of course I do! I used to specialize in abuse cases. But then Izuku was born, and I gave it up,"

"Oh, ok then. I can't really advise on whom to use as your lawyer. if you are certain, I don't see the problem. But getting back to earlier, how do you plan to get the judge to accept the evidence?" Tsukauchi asked with barely hidden desperation.

"Simple," Inko smiled back, "Legally we aren't required to tell the source of our evidence. However, we are required to tell the judge in private, if required. Even so, we will still face no problem. We can say that the criminals stole Aldera's information and returned it to the police. Therefore, the police have a right to look through the evidence against Aldera. Besides, the police are also allowed to use such information to incriminate if required."

Tsukauchi looked surprised at that explanation and smiled, "Well, I see I was worried for nothing. You really know your way in and out of a case," Tsukauchi complimented.

Inko smiled and began to sift through the evidence provided. As she flipped through the evidence, Inko's smile grew bigger and bigger as she read the evidence. Tsukauchi noticed the quiet chaos lingering behind her expressions.

"So that's where those two got it from,"  Tsukauchi shuddered.

A DAY LATER

Watanabe groaned as he repeatedly slammed his head against the desk. Inko lightly tapped on his head with a piece of paper, "Stop that," Watanabe groaned and reluctantly sat up straight, "Why do we have to memorize all this?"

"You do want to win the case, don't you. Plus, you just need to remember the main evidence. You are lucky I don't have to teach you court etiquette too," Inko reminded.

"Still not done, Watanabe?" Izuku teased as he sipped on his juice.

"Show-off," Watanabe muttered, "How did you memorize all this so fast?"

Izuku shrugged, "Just did," he said as he turned back to his game. Watanabe stuck out his tongue and went back to the evidence he had to remember. After a while, he started groaning loudly again.

Inko sighed. She peered up from her own pile of evidence, "Watanabe, it's not even that much evidence to remember compared to mine. And you do want to finish this before Kaminari gets here for your sleepover right?"

"Fine, you're right," Watanabe admitted and silently carried on trying to memorize the evidence.

Nearly an hour later, Watanabe stretched and stood up, "Aunt Inko, I'm done," he announced.

"Good. That took you a long time," Inko replied.

Watanabe laughed sheepishly in reply, "Right, anyway, Kaminari messaged me. He said his dad's dropping him off. He's nearly here,"

"Oh then, he'll be right on time for dinner," Izuku commented. Watanabe nodded. Right then the bell rang, "Oh he's already here," Watanabe dashed to the front door.

"Yo Denki. Come in! How are you doing Mr. Kaminari?" Watanabe asked politely.

Denki's father smiled politely in reply, "Excellent, thank you Watanabe for asking. How are you and your cousin doing with the Aldera case? Nervous?"

"Obviously not!" Watanabe said indignantly. Mr. Kaminari laughed in response, "Well, I'd talk a bit more, but I have to get going,"

"Stay for dinner at least?" Natsume appeared.

"No, no thank you very much. I have some urgent office work so I have to get going. Tell Ryuzen I'll see him at work later."

"Sure thing,"

"Bye dad," Denki waved as he entered the house. "I'll take that. Come on," Watanabe beckoned. The two entered Izuku's room which the two cousins were still sharing."

"Ah, you're finally here, Kaminari," Izuku said with delight.

"Just call me Denki already, Izuku. I don't mind." Kaminari grinned, "Well, I thought your room would be cramped, but it's actually... quite clean and tidy!"

"Hmph, you wouldn't be wrong with that deduction if mom didn't make us clean up every day," Watanabe commented.

"Still, I'm sure Izuku is the one who actually cleans up, isn't it?" Kaminari teased. Watanabe snorted in reply, "No way! He's the messy one. Aunt Inko doesn't repeatedly shout at him to clean up either!"

Izuku rubbed the back of his head, a bit embarrassed, "Well, mom taught me how to clean up but never really asked me to. The only reason you saw my room clean the day you came is because mom mad me clean up since you were coming,"

Denki laughed at the two cousins bickering, "Anyway what are we guys doing? Mom thought it would be a good idea to get your minds off the case since you must be nervous,"

"Good point! Let's talk about the case!" Watanabe said. Kaminari and Izuku sweatdropped, "I just said, get your minds off the case. I swear, no wonder dad and you get along so well. You're both needlessly cheerful,"

"That's a good thing, no?" Izuku asked.

Denki shrugged, "By the way where were you when we came? Dad had wanted to see you,"

"Oh, Mr. Kaminari was here too? I didn't know. I was fixing up the bed because I had forgotten to," Izuku excused.

Kaminari's eyes narrowed in reply. "Dinner's ready!" Natsume called out.

"Right, we'll have dinner and then talk," Watanabe said and opened the door.

"How are you Inko-san?" Kaminari asked with a broad smile on his face.

"I am fine, thank you. It's nice to finally meet you, Denki! Both Izuku and Watanabe talk a lot about you,"

Kaminari turned a bit red at that, "That's nice,"

"Alright take a seat, all of you," Natsume ordered, "RYUZEN! SWITCH OFF THE TV AND COME FOR DINNER!" 

"Yes coming!" Ryuzen's slightly scared voice answered. Kaminari sweatdropped, "Is that normal here?"

"You have no idea," Watanabe answered.

"I heard that!" Natsume guffawed. The two friends sat up straight at that, with a grin on their face.

"Natsume, stop threatening others' kids," Inko commented.

"Oh, Denki doesn't mind. He's been coming over long enough to know that I do like him, isn't that right?"

Kaminari grinned in reply. "Well considering you two knit together, I'm not arguing that," Ryuzen said as he entered. "Huh, what? When? Where was I?" Watanabe asked rapidly. 

"That was a secret!" Kaminari accused Ryuzen who grinned in reply, "That's revenge for the amount of times you gave Natsume ideas on how to annoy me,"

Kaminari pouted, "Blame Watanabe, he's the one who rubbed off on me and made me like this!"

"Oh, don't worry, I've been getting my revenge on him too,"

Watanabe paled, "When?"

"To be fair, I am really surprised you haven't noticed yet," Ryuzen said cryptically, "I suppose Izuku is just holding them for blackmail later," Izuku choked on his water at that while Watanabe turned to face his cousin, "We are never speaking of whatever dad told you,"

"Hmm, we'll see," Izuku grinned back. Inko smiled at the three friends bickering along with her sister and husband. She was happy that Izuku had finally started to act like his age, having fun and laughing with his peers. Inko stopped herself from crying happily at the scene but Natsume noticed her expression and gave her a warm reassuring smile.

After an animated dinner, the three friends had played games, and Watanabe and Denki had shared stories from school to show what Izuku should expect on his first day. 

"Right, we should go to bed. It's late," Watanabe yawned.

"Yeah, we have to get up early too," Izuku replied.

"Hmm? Why?" Kaminari asked. Izuku gulped, "He had forgotten that Kaminari wasn't supposed to know about Yagi," Watanabe gave his cousin an annoyed look, "Ah, we just like to go for a run early in the morning. You don't have to come,"

"Oh alright. But I think I'll come too. I've been trying to get fitter for the UA entrance exams,"

"Oh no, you don't have to," Izuku said with a forced smile. Watanabe nodded. Kaminari narrowed his eyes, "I feel like you're hiding something,"

"What, no!" Izuku sweated. Kaminari didn't look like he believed him. Watanabe sighed, "Guess I have to tell him a part of the truth," "Alright, we actually found someone willing to train us while we were out for a run but we didn't tell our parents because we thought they might disagree,"

"Oh," Kaminari said simply, "Will he mind if I tag along?" Kaminari asked concerned.

"Uhhhh," Watanabe looked over to Izuku asking for help. "No, I don't think he will. I'll just send him a message that we are bringing someone else along," Izuku said with a smile.

"Great!" Kaminari said enthusiastically. Watanabe sighed, "Hopefully Yagi-sensei won't be angry,"

The next morning

The two cousins walked in silence while Kaminari followed with a cheery hum. Izuku was nervous about how Yagi might react. Meanwhile, Watanabe's face was cheery but grim at the same time. The three neared the beach and saw Yagi waiting for them with a smile on his face, "You must be Kaminari!" 

"Yup, you can call me Denki!" Kaminari replied.

Yagi nodded, "You can call me Yagi-sensei like those two. Now let's get started. Kaminari, Watanabe could you please bring the footballs I brought, from the other end.

"Sure,"

Once the two had left, Izuku asked, "You aren't mad?"

Yagi laughed, "No, no my boy. I am sure neither you nor Watanabe meant for Kaminari to tag along. And I am sure your friend is a good person too. I see no problem training him for one day,"

Izuku stifled a cry, "Thank you All Might,"

"Woah, Woah, what did I say?" All Might asked panicked.

Izuku wiped his tears and shook his head, "N-nothing,"

Yagi sighed, "You really need to get over that crybaby attitude," he said kindly. Izuku nodded.

"Yo! We got the balls," Kaminari announced, "And why is Izuku crying!? What did you do!?" Kaminari asked aggressively.

"Wha-I did nothing!" Yagi exclaimed. Watanabe put his hand on Denki and laughed, "It's alright. Yagi-sensei didn't do anything,"

"How do you know?" 

"Because Izuku is crying. He cries even if something good happens," Watanabe deadpanned.

"But you can't be sure!"

"I-it's nothing!" Izuku wiped his tears away and smiled, "I am alright."

"Alright, Izuku get to your schedule. Watanabe and Kaminari, we'll play football to build you two up,"

After about 4 hours, the three were completely exhausted. "Well, I guess that's enough for today then," Yagi said cheerfully.

"You looked like a nice guy sensei!" Denki panted. Yagi laughed, "That is what Watanabe said too actually,"

"Let's go home, I'm aching all over," Izuku said. The others nodded. "Well, see you tomorrow," Yagi said. 

"You guys train every day?" Denki asked.

"Yeah, at night too," Watanabe said.

"Cool can I join too? Not at night, mom won't let me. But I can train in the morning with you guys. What do you say sensei?"

"Uhh," Yagi drawled as he thought of what he should do. 

"Are you going to refuse our best friend sensei?" Izuku asked with a gleam in his eye. Watanabe looked on proudly. Yagi's eyes twitched, Watanabe rubbed off on people really fast. He even rubbed off on him and Tsukauchi.

Yagi sighed, "No, no I don't have a problem. See you tomorrow. I have some work to do today,"

"Thanks, sensei," 

"Bye,"

As the three friends made their way back home, they walked past a dojo. Watanabe came to a stop and turned to face it. "Hm? What's wrong?" Kaminari asked his friend. "Oh, I was checking. I want to go to a dojo to help me with my martial arts, speed, and stamina. I mean, Yagi-sensei's helpful but I just want to do more, especially considering that both of you have strong quirks,"

"Huh, What do you mean. Isn't Izuku quirkless?" Kaminari asked puzzled. Izuku sent a silent scowl towards Watanabe who gulped, "Uh, uhm, well..." Watanabe struggled for words when he suddenly got an idea, "Well he is. Except he got his quirk a week back. He's a late bloomer, so the quirk damages his body. He didn't want to tell anyone cuz he felt embarrassed," Watanabe lied smoothly.

"Woah, there's nothing to feel embarrassed about," Kaminari grinned to Izuku, "What does the quirk do?"

"Uh, I think it's a stockpiling quirk... I don't know much about it," Izuku smiled weakly. It was better to talk about One for All as his quirk straight away, to tie up loose ends later.

"Oh cool. Shame you can't show me. I'd have loved to see it!"

"Uh, yeah," Izuku laughed hesitantly. Watanabe looked a bit gloomy at having to lie to his friend but immediately changed his expressions as Kaminari turned his attention back towards him."So, wanna go in and get their info? I might join too, if I have the time. It's good to have a bit of close combat down."

Suddenly the doors to the dojo slid open and a loud voice erupted, "OI BRATS! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING GOSSIPING HERE? THIS IS A DOJO!" All three jumped out of their skins and immediately apologized, "Sorry!"

"Hmph, not even a sincere apology. Whatever, scram!" The master said. Izuku stiffened a bit at that but fortunately, Watanabe took over, "Sorry sir, but we just wanted to check the enrollment procedure for the dojo,"

The dojo master narrowed his eyes and seemed to judge the three for a moment. Finally, he sighed and muttered something inaudible under his breath before gesturing them in.

The three seated themselves comfortably before the master started talking, "All right, let's get straight to the point. What do you want to learn and why? And I'll need a bit of information on your quirks to help you too,"

The three were hesitant to start but Kaminari gulped and took the first step, "Uh, I am Kaminari Denki. My quirk is electrification. I generate electricity from my body but can't manifest it out of nowhere. I want to learn close combat," The master nodded.

"Um, I'm Hattori Watanabe. My official quirk is eye-color changing but it's really, um, vision change. My eye color changes according to what vision I'm using, like it becomes very dark when in infrared vision to capture the infrared rays. I have X-ray, infrared, and UV vision till now. I want to learn martial arts and build up my stamina and strength. Weapons training would be swell too. Plus, I believe knowing pressure points would be good for my quirk,"

The master chuckled, "That's a lot of work. Are you sure you're up to it?" Watanabe gave a determined nod. "Fine if you think so. Now, what about you?" The master pointed his finger towards Izuku.

"Uh, M-my name is Midoriya Izuku. I am a late bloomer and got my quirk just this month. My quirk is strength-based but since I'm a late bloomer, it damages my body I would like to build up my body to handle the power," Izuku lied to match Watanabe's story.

The master's eye furrowed at that, "How does it damage you?"

"Erm, breaks my bones," Izuku lied. He hadn't even gotten the quirk yet, but both he and Watanabe believed that it might be a likely outcome.

The master sighed, "Fine, I will teach you. You may call me Yoroi-sensei," The three nodded. "Alright, firstly you," The master addressed Kaminari, "I'll teach you combat and weapons. I think your quirk would be useful with weapons as you could flow the electricity through them," 

Kaminari nodded.

"You," Yoroi gazed at Izuku, " I would have given you weights, but since your quirk damages your body, that might not be the best way to go at it. You will train in our gym regularly. Since you have a strength quirk, I don't think you need to urgently learn combat." Izuku nodded enthusiastically in reply.

"Finally you," Yoroi's gaze fell on Watanabe, who sat up straight, hesitantly waiting for his input, "You... you are troublesome," Yoroi deadpanned. Watanabe fell at that.

"You will need to put in a lot of work here. We will divide your time into combat, strength enhancement, and stamina training, We'll get you weights too since your quirk is not really suitable for combat,"

"What makes you think we need to learn combat?" Kaminari asked.

Yoroi snorted, "Kid, I know for a fact everyone your age wants to get to UA or some other hero school."

Before Kaminari could reply, Watanabe interrupted, "Wait, but I already have weights!"

Yoroi raised his eye, "You do? How much do they weigh?"

"Well, I had 20 kg on every limb but I got used to it, so now I have 25 on each limb," Watanabe said proudly.

Yoroi stared at him for a few seconds before exploding, "YOU ONLY RAISED THE WEIGHT BY 5 KG ON EACH LIMB? WHAT ARE YOU A KID. DOUBLE AT LEAST HALF OF THE WEIGHTS!"

Watanabe squirmed away from Yoroi with that outburst, "At least, you aren't one of those idiots who put weights on their chests too. Anyway, I expect to see you all at dawn tomorrow for training, before school,"

Watanabe regained his composure and hesitantly asked, "Could we join after school instead?"

"Boy, you need to put in some work if you want to get stronger. Sleeping late won't do you any favors,"

Watanabe deflated a bit, "It's not that. We just like to go for a run in the morning instead. And we have this one guy we met once, who's a trainer and offered to help us out too. I don't want to leave him hanging,"

Yoroi stared at Watanabe before resigning, "I will allow it for Kaminari and Midoriya. You may too but I'll expect you here at dawn on some days since you have taken up more thing to learn than them,"

Watanabe sighed with relief. He had just needed permission for Izuku to go. He was ok with missing out on a few training sessions with Yagi. He felt Yoroi could teach him much more, "Thank you Yoroi sensei! We'll see you tomorrow," The three got up when Yoroi interrupted, "Wait a minute," he said before disappearing into a room.

The three stood awkwardly as a few minutes passed. Finally, Yoroi reappeared, "Here, add these weights," he handed to Watanabe. Watanabe took them from Yoroi and immediately fell, "How heavy are these?"

Yoroi smirked, "100 more kg. There's only 1 year before you give the UA exam. Since you've been increasing weights like a kid would, we are going to rush you! You're wearing these right now on your way home,"

"But we start tomorrow!" Watanabe argued.

Yoroi gave Watanabe an evil smile, "So what?"

Chapter Text

"Watanabe hurry up, we don't want to be late!" Natsume shouted. Watanabe groaned and stumbled out of the room, "Those weights... were a bad idea," Izuku snickered, "Anyway, Kaminari is meeting us, there right?"

Inko nodded, "Yes, his parents said they would be there too. Katsuki will be there too," Inko said, her face growing slightly grim. Izuku looked down abashed and gave a slight glance at Watanabe who seemed to have chosen to ignore Inko instead of reacting. The family piled into the car.

The drive was silent. The nervousness in the air seemed to weigh down on their bodies. Izuku in particular was in deep thought. Inko had promised to bail him out if the judge or the other lawyer tried to bully him, but he was more nervous because he felt he would have a breakdown while testifying. Thankfully, both Natsume and Inko had taught him how to deal with it. Ryuzen was not much help in this regard, but Izuku knew that his uncle was influential enough to have pulled many strings for the case.

One of the things, Izuku was most nervous about, was his meeting with Bakugou again. They would be meeting for the first time since the hospital incident. He knew that Mitsuki had given Inko regular updates on Bakugou and was grilling him. Heck even, Masaru had been annoyed. Izuku glanced quietly towards his cousin again and gave a mental sigh. He was quite sure that Watanabe and Bakugou's meeting would be disastrous, but he also knew that Watanabe could control himself. He might act like a loose cannon, but he knew how to control himself when required. Izuku was also anxious for Kaminari's reaction to when he met Bakugou.

The family grew closer to the courthouse and a rush of sound could be faintly heard. As they pulled closer, the sound grew louder: It was the media. Izuku nearly started hyperventilating but Watanabe who was sitting beside him, caught him firmly by the shoulders and gave him an encouraging smile. Izuku nodded and took a few deep breaths. He noticed Watanabe's body tense up a bit too. While he had been joking around with Izuku for the entirety of the morning to get his mind off the case, Izuku knew he was also anxious. The cameramen started banging on the windows. Ryuzen's face turned into an angry scowl. Thankfully the police shoved the media behind lines. Tsukauchi opened the door and hurriedly ushered them through the doors before the media could ask anything, "Uh sorry about that. The media is a bit too excited. I'll have one of the officers get the evidence and papers from your car, Inko-san! I have already submitted paperwork for all the evidence to the judge,"

"Thank you, Tsukauchi-san!" Inko said.

"People are already inside. Your friend is here too," Tsukauchi told Izuku, "And not to put pressure, but 3 heroes are here too as witnesses. Since the case includes minors, it is taking place behind closed doors. The 3 pro heroes, the police commissioner and I are here to validate anything that might be leaked."

Izuku crashed into a flurry of thoughts, "Oh my god! Oh my god! Three heroes are here for my case! AHHHHH" he screamed mentally.

"For the betterment of my cousin's mental health, may I ask who the heroes are?" Watanabe asked. Izuku turned red and slightly slouched in embarrassment. Watanabe gave his cousin a teasing smile.

Tsukauchi smiled slightly, "Well, the defendants got to choose one hero, the prosecutors one, and the court chose another. We chose Principal Nedzu of UA. The court chose Eraserhead, an underground hero and the defendants chose Endeavour..." Tsukauchi's voice dropped a little as he mentioned Endeavor.

"What!? They went out of their way to get Endeavour just so they can have a high-ranking hero support their claims?" Inko demanded angrily.

"I just found out today myself! But Nedzu is here too, so I don't think he will be able to do much,"

"Why did you pick Nedzu though?" Watanabe asked thoughtfully.

"Hmm?" Inko turned, "Well he had built UA against discrimination much before that article came about. He was discriminated against himself too. So, I thought he'd like to help in the case as well. He was rather enthusiastic to help actually."

"Whoa, you guys got UA's principal AND Endeavour to come for the case!?"

"Ah, Denki. Nice to meet you, Mr. Kaminari, Mrs. Kaminari. I am Midoriya Izuku," Izuku said politely.

Denki's mother smiled, "Well, glad to see that you are as nice as Denki said," Izuku blushed. "Unlike a certain someone else,"

"Oh come on, how would I know that Denki would go on a sugar rush from the chocolate?" Watanabe grinned maniacally. 

"That was not even the worst part young man! You kept supplying him even after his sugar rush started,"

"Buuut, I did clean up the vomit in my defense!" Watanabe smiled.

Kaminari's mother smiled at that, "Is that why you haven't been to our house for 2 months? Cuz you are afraid I'll make you do some chores?"

Watanabe pouted. Meanwhile, Izuku stood in shock at seeing Watanabe bicker with Denki's mother like they were best friends. Kaminari's father noticed this and laughed, "Don't worry, it's become a normal thing. You'll end up bickering like that at one point too. Much like how Kaminari made Ryuzen's life hell after he forgot his anniversary,"

"I blame you for that!" Ryuzen accused his friend who laughed back, "Your son is the one who made Denki like that. How is that my fault?"

Ryuzen smiled devilishly, "Well don't worry, I have TWO agents to infiltrate you now!"

"Izuku wouldn't... Watanabe might as well have infiltrated already"

"Izuku will too!"

It was at this point that Inko decided to stop all the friendly bickering, "The judge is here, so we should get inside," she stated in an authoritative voice.

"Ah, you must be Izuku's mother. Nice to meet you," Kaminari's mother introduced.

"Nice to meet you too. I am glad you could come in,"

"O no, it's no problem. Anything for Denki's friends!"

"Yes, Denki is a very nice boy..." Inko started gossiping as they headed into the courtroom. They opened the doors and headed in. The first thing that Izuku did... was nearly faint as he saw three pro-heroes sitting around and all three were popular. Granted Eraserhead was an underground hero, but still, his quirk was absolutely fascinating.

Meanwhile, Watanabe smiled chaotically at Endeavour, something that gave Denki the urge to move 20 kilometers away from him.

"Ah, Inko-san! Good to see you made it on time," Nedzu said in his usual cheery voice as he moved to welcome them, "These two must be your son and nephew!"

Izuku turned red with anxiousness, "H-hi I am Midoriya Izuku,"

Nedzu nodded and turned towards Watanabe who stared at him with an incredulous look on his face. Nedzu stood awkwardly trying to fathom what had Watanabe shell shocked. 

"Um, bro, he's waiting for you to speak?" Denki whispered to his friend.

Watanabe got out of his stupor and rubbed his head in embarrassment, "Sorry for staring, it's just that your fur looks sooo soft!"

Nedzu blinked a few times at that remark trying to comprehend Watanabe's words while Kaminari and Izuku facepalmed. Natsume seemed to want to drag her son out of the room. Finally, Nedzu regained his composure and gave Watanabe a chaotic smile of his own, "Thank you for the compliment. I use Keratin daily to keep my fur pristine. Today's a special day so I thought I'd use a better brand. I am an animal but even I have my standards. Go on you can touch the fur if you want," Nedzu spoke excitedly as he dragged a chair and beckoned for Watanabe to sit beside him. Watanabe didn't waste a moment and soon Nedzu was giving his entire fur care routine while Watanabe nodded excitedly and petted Nedzu's fur.

Everyone sweatdropped, "Why am I even surprised? Of course, he'd pull something like this," Tsukauchi muttered to himself. It was at that point that Izuku decided to take the ridiculousness of the situation even further and decided to offer better alternatives for Nedzu's fur care. The courtroom fell into a silence of disbelief as Nedzu took out a notepad to start noting down Izuku's points. The others awkwardly sat down on the other chairs not sure how to react. Watanabe beckoned for Denki to sit beside him and smiled chaotically, "And that's how you get an influential figure on your side," he whispered.

Denki sweatdropped, "Even so, targeting the fur was way too risky,"

"To be honest, I really did think the fur was really soft and fluffy. Getting him to be on our side like that just sort of happened," Watanabe confessed.

"Sure, of course, it did," Kaminari said in a less than amused voice. The two friends stopped short as they heard a loud sipping noise behind them. The two turned slowly and found a pale face before them. The man had sunken eyes, skin pale as a ghost, and an unshaven face. He seemed... for lack of a better word, homeless. However, there was something about the man that seemed professional. He seemed to radiate an expression of annoyance all about him but the most off-putting thing was his concealed anger.

"Ah, Eraserhead, you're here!" Nedzu motioned to Aizawa to take a seat.

Aizawa grunted in reply and simply sat down. Watanabe moved slightly closer to Izuku, "He's a pro?"

"YES!! That's Eraserhead. He's an underground hero, so I guess he needs to fit in, right?" Izuku replied. Denki nodded in answer. Watanabe seemed to take that for his answer.

The next moment Bakugou entered along with his parents and a stranger. Inko moved to greet Mitsuki and Masaru. Izuku's eyes met with Katsuki's. The two stared in silence at each other before the stranger led him away to another section to sit. Watanabe chose not to even acknowledge his presence, giving him one quick glance. He smirked as he noticed that his hands were still not healed.

"Boy, he sure is a delight," Kaminari commented sarcastically.

"At least, he seems to be better than before," 

"Wait seriously? Boy, you guys really held back when you described him,"

Watanabe shrugged in reply. They waited in a sort of forced silence as Inko and Mitsuki talked about the details of the case when Watanabe heard Mitsuki mention that the other stranger was in fact his counselor, who was there to help him. He chuckled slightly at that.

Izuku rolled his eyes, "Look who's chuckling. Since Endeavour's here, you probably need someone to keep you in line too." Watanabe pouted in reply. Kaminari added salt to injury, "Nah, Aunt Natsume, Aunt Inko, AND my mom is here. He wouldn't step that far out of line,"

Bakugou stared at the three friends from his seat. His anger concealed. He knew that if he didn't behave, the idiot counselor would pester him longer. Granted he did make some good points but Katsuki didn't need someone to help him. He would climb by himself and be the undisputable number 1 hero. Stupid Deku would always be a pebble, no matter who his friends were. That yellow-haired extra looked like an idiot too. And that idiot cousin of his got lucky too.

The judge walked in with the police commissioner at that moment. Everyone stood in respect. The judge moved to the front of the room and sat down. He gave a slight nod to allow everyone else to sit as well. 

"Alright, I have been put in charge of this case. You may refer to me as Fuji. We'll get the case started as soon as the typewriter gets here,"

At this, the police commissioner stood up and voiced his concerns, "Sir, I had put in a form to get someone trustworthy to be our typewriter for today, due to the severity of the case and-"

"Yes, yes. The court has gotten someone trustworthy. In fact, he's here, I think," Fuji replied as the door to the courtroom opened. A familiar spike of yellow hair entered. Izuku, Watanabe, and Kaminari did a double-take. Watanabe noticed Eraserhead's face scrunched up into surprise as well.

"Meet Yagi Toshinori. He's a part-time social worker who helps with abuse cases. On top of that, he's also All Might's secretary who helps with his paperwork. All Might himself has vouched for him, so he'll be our typewriter today." Fuji said.

It took great physical strain for Watanabe and Izuku to not burst into a fit of chuckles at that excuse. With great composure, they remained emotionless as Yagi passed them with a knowing smile. Unfortunately, the two forgot about Denki, "Yagi-sensei! What are you doing here!? You never said you knew All Might!"

"Shiiiit," Izuku and Watanabe both thought as they turned cold. 

"Yo-you know each other?" The judge asked surprised. On the other hand, Aizawa gave Yagi a disbelieving angry look.

"Ah, the three always go for a run in the morning and happened to stumble on my own jogging route. They saw me practicing my martial arts and asked me to join in. Since then, I've been helping them," Yagi excused himself.

The parents turned to stare at their children with disbelief at this new revelation. Fortunately, Inko came to the rescue, "We can discuss that later. The case at hand is much more important," Thankfully no one opposed and the judge continued, "Ah the three pro-heroes are here too. Eraserhead, you have been called on behalf of the court to combat other forms of criminal activities in educational institutes. I am not incriminating Aldera, I'm just stating a fact. As an underground hero, you are best equipped to handle such cases, so I hope you will pay close attention to this case,"

Aizawa nodded in reply, "Yes sir,"

"Alright, we will start the court proceedings now. The defendants, please present your case," the judge ordered as Yagi sat down on his typewriter, giving a quick smile to the three friends.

Aldera's lawyer, Suchi, began to formally explain the aspects of the case while Katsuki stared daggers at Deku and the two extras. How the hell did they get All Might's secretary to help them train. That means, maybe even All Might himself helped them at some point. Katsuki clenched his hands harder. His counselor noticed his sudden erratic behavior and asked, "Any problem,"

"Tsk," Katuski growled and moved away. However, the counselor caught his eyes and talked to him in a warning tone, "Katuski, we have been making good progress. Don't go and undo all of it. This testimony is your first step to becoming better. Don't jeopardize it,"

"Hn,"

The counselor sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to get anything out of Katsuki, and instead focused himself back onto the trial.

Suchi ended the formal presenting of the case before the judge spoke, "I understand. Who would the prosecutor like to call as a witness first?"

"Your honor, I would like to call Bakugou Katsuki to the stand along with his counselor to help him," Inko asked.

The judge nodded, "Permission granted,"

Katsuki growled slightly but stood up and walked to the stand with his counselor, "Katuski, I would like you to answer some simple questions for me," Inko said. Katsuki nodded. "But first, you admit that you, in fact, used your quirk to attack Midoriya Izuku multiple times."

Katsuki wanted to scream that he was right in attacking but a lump formed in his throat. He knew that was not the case. He ignored the sudden mix of regret and anxiety and nodded, "Yes,"

"Good. Your honor, we have already settled the quirk-induced bullying with his parents outside of school, so we will not be upholding that part today,"

The judge nodded, "Yes, I have gotten the related paperwork,"

Inko gave a slight nod, "Now Katuski, please elaborate on why you bullied Izuku, there had to be a reason,"

Katsuki's eyes twitched silently, "BECAUSE HE WAS WEAK!" Katsuki yelled angrily. The judge sat up in surprise. Yagi and Nedzu both furrowed their eyes while Aizawa seemed to have already disregarded any option for Bakugou's redemption. Meanwhile, Watanabe and Kaminari both looked like they wanted to strangle Katsuki right then and there. Katsuki's counselor moved to intervene but Inko put her hand up to stop him, "Please continue,"

"IZUKU WAS QUIRKLESS AND THEREFORE USELESS!"

"And who told you this? The teachers?" 

"YES!" Katsuki declared. Inko smirked, "So if your teachers said that having a quirk like, say, spring-like legs, you'd believe it is a useless quirk,"

"OBVIOUSLY THAT'S A WEAK QUIRK! WHAT DO YOU EXPECT TO DO WITH SPRINGY LEGS!? YOU CAN JUST JUMP AROUND!"

Inko smirked again, "Is it? You could coil up the springs so much that you speed into someone with the force of a brick wall. You can continuously use the springs to jump off buildings to disorient the enemy or to rescue people. It is no way, a useless quirk,"

"Your honor, what's the point of this?" Suchi intervened.

"There is a point Suchi-san. I think Katsuki got it already," Inko smiled as he saw Katsuki shut his mouth and actually think. 2 sentences, that was all it took to bring down Katsuki's ego. "Please, Katsuki continue,"

Surprising everyone, most of all Watanabe, this time Katsuki replied in a much smaller voice, "The teachers told us that people with weak quirks are useless and since De- Izuku didn't have one, he was the most useless one of all. They encouraged the rest of us to beat them up as training to get into hero schools. They said that we needed to learn how to take care of small fries. And we-," Katsuki gulped as he felt his tears rise. He felt like puking all over as the horrible picture of how he had tortured Izuku and so many others hit him like a truck. Gulping down the rising vomit, he choked up and continued, "W-we always picked on them because the teachers told us to. We never thought anything else of it," Bakugou finished in a whisper as tears streamed down his face.

Inko gave him a pitied look, "No further questions,"

The judge who also seemed saddened by the empathetic testimony nodded, "Would the defendant like to question?"

The furious lawyer shook his head. The judge nodded, "You may go. I hope you will be able to redeem yourself well," he added as his parting words. Katsuki sniffed slightly. He wiped his tears off and put on his normal angry facade and returned to his seat.

"Watanabe was right when he explained Katsuki's character. He is egoistic and rash and his ego won't allow him to apologize to Izuku. But... from what I just saw, no matter what he says, he is regretful of his actions. That is the first step towards redemption," Yagi smiled inwardly, "Perhaps Watanabe was right in saying that he needed to be brought down a peg before he could be redeemed," Yagi wasn't happy with Katsuki's actions but he was pleased that he had the heart to change.

Meanwhile, Aizawa was currently unsure of his feelings about Bakugou. At first, he seemed to be rash, selfish and egotistical, a mix of the qualities Aizawa hated. However, his words and actions at the end spoke much differently. However, if Katsuki was under in his class at the moment, he would have expelled him. But, Aizawa also knew that he had the potential to change, as he had just shown. Only time would tell if he was correct. 

Nedzu seemed to reserve his thoughts on Katsuki for the time being. He felt that he was an... interesting specimen. He seemed like another Endeavour in the making but he already seemed to be changing his thought process. If he was willing, Nedzu would help him get over his issues, that is if he made it to UA. In no way was he going to let another Endeavour walkout as a pro-hero.

Speaking of Endeavour, he was quite angry, "That child seemed like he was strong, in both will and strength. But he was just a sissy who cried just because he hurt someone," "Hmph," Endeavour grunted disapprovingly as Katsuki returned to his seat much to the annoyance of Watanabe.

"Well, he seems to have redeemed himself already," Kaminari whispered to Watanabe. Izuku was still in slight shock at having seen Katsuki cry over his regrets.

"Perhaps," Watanabe whispered, "But that's not enough. He still has to pay. As long as he doesn't get over his ego and apologize, I'll make him pay!" Watanabe asserted aggressively. 

Denki decided not to argue but Izuku, who had come back to reality, pleaded, "But Watanabe, he did show that he regretted his actions. Can't you drop it?"

Nedzu's ears tingled as he moved closer to eavesdrop. The discussion seemed to be interesting. He heard Watanabe whisper back, "But that's not enough, is it? If that was the case, why do we have prisons or prison time? We could just have people estimate whether the criminal is regretful and drop the charges. Why do we still jail them? Even if society was the reason, they turned a villain, they didn't have to do crimes like murder, did they? This may not be the same thing but for me, it is as important,"

Izuku and Kaminari were taken aback at that answer but Nedzu smiled. His thought processing really was as wonderful as Yagi said. He was prepared to forgive but not without consequences. He might forgive petty little things entirely, but he would make sure someone would pay for something very bad. Nedzu could see why Yagi didn't choose Watanabe as his successor. He believed a symbol of success would save everyone and unconditionally forgive them but Watanabe was closer to the definition of what a hero should be in reality. "Here's to hoping these three get to UA. Then we can have some real fun," Nedzu thought to himself.

"Alright, who would the defendant like to call as a witness?" The judge asked after he had finished noting down some points.

"Your honor, I would like to ask all the staff, Yes or No questions as a whole to speed things up," 

"Very well, ask away," The judge gave permission.

"Are any of the things Bakugou Katsuki said true?"

"No!"

"So, he is lying?"

"Yes!"

"Your honor, I'd like to call the principal of Aldera to the stand to answer some questions,"

"Granted. Inko-san do you have any objections to the previous two questions?"

"No, your honor. But, I would like to point out that their answers seemed to be pre-planned,"

"Objection! Inko-san is assuming that just because my clients answered as opposed to here case, they are automatically telling a lie,"

"Objection sustained! Inko-san, please refrain from accusation without substantial proof," The judge warned. Inko nodded.

"Principal, why do you think that Bakugou has stated such lies about Aldera?"

"I believe that all the media attention on the case got into his head and he decided to lie about his involvement. We have seen the same thing with the sludge incident. The child begs for media attention."

"You know what, I just realized, Bakugou is fine. This piece of shit is way worse," Watanabe growled. However, his voice was loud enough for the entire court to hear. Natsume shook her head disapprovingly. She knew that Watanabe was right but the situation did not offer the place to say such things.

"You better watch your mouth, boy! Innocent until proven guilty," the principal spat.

"Judge-san, he's scaring me," Watanabe said in the scared, pitiful voice of a child. Kaminari and Izuku ducked down to hide their chuckles. Natsume seemed to want to crawl under her chair in embarrassment while Ryuzen sat straight as if proclaiming proudly, that Watanabe was his son. 

"Principal, please refrain from making threatening accusations to a minor," The judge said, slightly amused and annoyed at the same time.

"B-but he's the one who," The principal tried to argue.

"Innocent until proven guilty, no?" Watanabe smiled chaotically. 

Yagi spit a fountain of blood all of a sudden. "That smile, why does it look so... familiar and torturous?" Aizawa thought to himself. That's when he noticed Nedzu sitting beside Watanabe with an equally chaotic smile due to the situation, "Oh God no! How does someone have the same level of chaos as Nedzu? That should be illegal," Aizawa panicked. The smile seemed to put even Endeavour on edge.

"Moving on," The judge turned to Suchi, "That's it for my questions, your honor," Fuji nodded, "Does the prosecution want to ask any questions?"

"Yes, your honor,"

Fuji motioned for Inko to carry on.

"Principal, you say that Katsuki is lying. However, the police have gone to several households of students of Aldera and many have collaborated both Izuku and Katsuki's side of the story. We have even submitted their signed confessions to the court. What do you have to say about that?"

The principal grunted but did not speak. He knew he couldn't refute every single student. Inko smiled, pleased with herself, "No further questions,"

The judge nodded and motioned the principal to return to his seat. He noted down some things before looking up.

"Your honor, I would also like to call Midoriya Izuku to the stand," Suchi asked.

The judge nodded and asked Izuku to the stand. Watanabe and Kaminari's mood immediately turned sour while Inko's face grew more serious and grim. Aizawa was a bit pleased, to be honest. He was irritated with Watanabe's behavior and chaotic nature but working with Nedzu for years helped him understand that he must be very smart to manipulate people into falling for his chaotic traps. Not to mention he had a knack for gaining unlikely allies. Wait did the boy get him on his side too? Aizawa pondered; technically he was on their side because Aldera was a criminal organization. Aizawa huffed to himself, he was overthinking things. He probably wouldn't even meet these children again.

"Midoriya Izuku, would you please tell me the nature of your 'bullying'?" Suchi asked.

Izuku was about to speak but he felt his panic rise and began to hyperventilate. The enormous burden of the case suddenly weighed on him and he began to see darkness. Fortunately, his mother grasped his shoulder tightly right then and gave him an assuring sad smile. He looked across the room and saw both Watanabe and Kaminari also giving him determined looks. 

"Are you ok? We can reschedule," The judge offered.

Izuku bit his lip and shook his head before replying, "Since I am quirkless, I was... I was bullied by others, often beaten up so badly that I couldn't walk back home properly. I hid it from my mom all these years, so she wouldn't worry. I was also suicide-baited,"

At that last sentence, Watanabe turned red with rage. He had not known about the suicide baiting.

"I-Izuku is joking right?" Kaminari asked with disbelief. Watanabe shook his head vigorously. He looked around and caught several of the teachers and Katsuki sinking into their seats. Inko also had not known about that last part, it seemed, and stood with shock, her mouth agape. Natsume was on the verge of tears. Kaminari's electricity was crackling all around him and Watanabe's eyes had turned vermillion. Luckily, both of their respective fathers calmed them down immediately with a look that forbade them from acting violently. Watanabe growled and clenched his hands so tightly, his skin drew blood. Nedzu and the police commissioner seemed horrified too. Aizawa was also enraged, and like Watanabe caught the teachers and Katsuki slinking in their seats. He turned towards Endeavour and became angrier as he saw him look uninterested, oh he was going on a murder spree if more shit came up.

"And you expect us to believe that your mother found out about the bullying right when the viral discrimination article was released,"

"My mom didn't find out, Watanabe did," Izuku replied, rubbing the tears off, "Your honor, may I also call Hattori Watanabe to the other stand so that I can cross-question both of them at once,"

The judge hesitated since both were minors, "If Inko-san allows," the judge ruled.

Inko furrowed her eyes in thought as to what she should do. Finally, she asked Watanabe, "Are you ok with coming up to the stand beside me?"

"Yes," Watanabe replied with an exceptionally icy tone. He glared at the Aldera's staff as he went up.

"Now, then Hattori, can you please tell me how you figured out that he was being bullied," Suchi asked with a villainous smile.

A tick grew on Watanabe's head, he dearly wanted to punch this scumbag of a lawyer but he knew nothing good would come of it. He took a few calming breaths before replying, his icy tone still present, "As you are aware, my cousin was involved in the sludge incident as well. Therefore, my uncle, Izuku's father asked my family to live with him and Aunt Inko. We agreed. At dinner, I noticed that his arms were burnt. I thought that Katsuki had done them while he was under sludge's control but all the victims were provided treatment. Since he had not received treatment for the burns, it was obvious he hid them. I confronted him and he blurted everything out,"

"And you expect us to believe that you are so observant? You have even talked so formally as you have memorized everything for this question,"

"Watch your hypocritical tone, Suchi-san," Watanabe replied, "Wasn't it you who said, that just because the answers oppose the case, it doesn't have to be a lie? You should really be careful with your double-standard behavior, most of all in a court,"

The court grew silent as everyone registered Watanabe's veiled insult towards the lawyer. Suchi turned red with embarrassment while Nedzu's desire to teach this kid grew higher. Even Aizawa was slightly impressed. Watanabe had not struck him as the sort of person that could be diplomatic or put someone down while talking so formally.

"Just answer the question! How do you expect us to believe that someone of your age is so observant when your quirk is not intelligence-based," Suchi demanded.

The judge was about to intervene and scold Suchi for his tone but Watanabe responded faster, "You look very professional, Suchi-san. Polished shoes, nice watch, suit, the whole deal. However, your collar is frayed, you have hidden the frayed part of your shirt under your suit. Obviously, you are well paid, because the suit, shoes, and watches are all new but you have neglected them. Why? Because you are an alcoholic. You do not have a wedding ring, so you aren't married, but there is an indent on the ring finger, suggesting there was a ring, so maybe divorced. You do not seem to have kids, however, I am not sure. However, your tie is stained on the edge with alcohol. Cigarette ash and nicotine have stained your fingers too, and don't get me started on your breath!"

The lawyer grew red with anger, "I did not ask you to divulge information on my personal life!"

Watanabe didn't even flinch, "Judge-san, he didn't ask questions about my observance. Instead, he chose to ridicule me and put down my intelligence. I thought a live demonstration of my observant nature was required,"

The judge chuckled but quickly covered it into a cough. With a smile, he said, "That is true, Suchi-san. I suggest you pick your battles wisely next time." Inko smiled, this is why she had put in Watanabe as one of the prime witnesses. He would tear into Aldera's defense ruthlessly, without mercy, and would eat away at their confidence. Plus he was a minor so the defendants couldn't go after him. Meanwhile, Nedzu was pleasantly surprised, he had heard Yagi talk highly of Watanabe's observant nature but this, this defied his expectations.

Aizawa was also impressed, "He used his status as a minor to get away with whatever he says, knowing full well they can't hold him to it. What's more, he used his intelligence and ridiculed the lawyer and reminded him that he's a kid to make him feel small. The case might be a landslide victory for the prosecutors but this kid... he's turning it into a massacre," Aizawa smiled, this kid definitely had potential. He might be as chaotic as Nedzu but he had immense potential.

However, in the midst of all this, Endeavour spoke, "Hn, just using words isn't going to help you in the real world, kid,"

The court grew silent as the number 2 hero spoke. "Now, now Endeavour-san, such words in a court against a minor! That simply isn't-"

"And who are you to say that?" Watanabe interrupted. The court fell into stunned silence. Izuku looked petrified while Inko, Ryuzen, and Denki smirked, leave it to Watanabe to talk down the number 2 hero. Aizawa dug his face into his capture scarf, it would be unprofessional to show him emotions on a sleeve. Fortunately, Nedzu didn't care much about professionalism and let out a small chuckle. He knew that Watanabe was the one who had insulted Endeavour on the TV interview, so he knew this would be a good show.

Endeavour was a bit taken aback that a kid was talking back to him. Getting over his surprise, he reasserted his angry demeanor and replied, "You know who you are talking to brat!?"

The judge tried to calm things down but Watanabe was not backing down either, "Yeah. Someone who acts like a hero but is actually just after the fame!"

"How dare you! I have the most solved cases as a pro!"

"Your solution to all cases just involves setting fire on everything, without control. So proud of your quirk being but you can't even use it right, it's a mystery how you even are at number 2 position," Watanabe teased with a wonderfully acted angry tone.

Endeavour shook with rage. "What the hell is this kid thinking, going, and insulting a top hero known for his anger issues?" Aizawa thought. But that's when both Nedzu and Aizawa noticed Watanabe smiling cheekily. "What the-" That's when Endeavour burst into flame and growled loudly in anger. The people around him moved away in fear. Aizawa noticed Watanabe smirking, "Was that his plan? To have Endeavour kill him!?" Aizawa sighed and got ready to use his quirk but Nedzu stopped him, "Follow Watanabe's eyes," he said simply with a grin. Aizawa was confused but did so and noticed Watanabe staring upwards as if waiting for something. That's when his eyes widened, "Sprinklers!"

On cue, the sprinklers started. There was a loud sizzling as the water put out Endeavour's flames. Kaminari yelped in surprise and lost control of his quirk. The electricity conducted through the water, frying the Aldera teachers and knocking Endeavour out cold.

Aizawa was shocked. He had just witnessed a teenager knock out the number 2 hero. Nedzu was also surprised but was smiling, "To be expected. He is their friend after all. The thing is... his electricity only harmed the Aldera staff and Endeavour... did he purposely control it and act surprised as a cover?"

Izuku was equally shocked and seemed to be on the verge of passing out, seeing Endeavour knocked out by his friend. Watanabe had a proud expression on his face but was also astonished, "You took down Endeavour!" he exclaimed.

"I took down Endeavour!" Kaminari exclaimed back, "Does that mean I'm the number 2 hero now?"

"Er, I don't think it works that way," Izuku replied.

"So what!? I'm stronger!" Denki replied proudly.

The judge spoke, "Order! Please no quirks in the courtroom!" The judge stopped short as he noticed a table? And it was levitating over Inko's desk and all the evidence.

"Inko-san, please no quirk usage in the courtroom,"

"Oh sorry, your honor. I needed to protect our evidence and thought that we could be excused for it,"

The judge sighed, "For this one time, I will forgive you and let you stay inside the courtroom." The judge said, "Wait where's Yagi-san?" The judge asked, not seeing Toshinori anywhere in sight.

"Here," Yagi said from beneath the table where he was hiding.

The judge sweatdropped, "Er... what are you doing there?"

"I was afraid the water would drench my papers and the typewriter," Yagi replied. Yagi was also shocked at the way Kaminari had just taken down Endeavour. He knew that Denki was just passing it off as an accident. If it really was an accident, it would have damaged everything.

"Problem children," Aizawa groaned as he saw Nedzu's grin grow wider.

The judge was pondering on what to with Endeavour's unconscious body when he suddenly groaned and limped as he got up, "What-what just happened," The voice of someone laughing could be heard. To absolutely no one's surprise, it was Nedzu, "What happened, my old student, is that you were just knocked unconscious by someone in middle school, hahaha," he laughed hysterically. Watanabe grinned, there was no way Endeavour could talk back to Nedzu. He was right, Endeavour turned red and quietly sat down on a chair, his hero suit tarnished and burn marks on several parts of his body from the electricity.

"Since the media is outside, we will have some of the janitors clean up the water, for now. The court proceedings will be paused momentarily. Do not leave the room," The judge said and banged his gavel.

Watanabe and Izuku got up and rushed to Denki. "That was so not an 'accident'," Watanabe grinned.

"Duh! Everyone would have gotten electrocuted then," he grinned back happily.

Unbeknownst to the three happy friends someone besides Endeavour was watching them with a scowl: Bakugou.

Bakugou watched them with an angry expression but in reality, he was puzzled. He knew that he was angry- but why? Endeavor did deserve it. Who gets riled up over who is stronger. Katsuki stopped his thoughts as he realized how hypocritical he sounded. He hated how his therapist was making him actually realize how he felt. Heck, he wasn't even sure if he actually hated him, he was... thankful? "That extra is nothing special. Even I could take down Endeavour," Katsuki tried to reason with himself. But a small voice asked in his mind, "Could you? Even Watanabe took you down," Bakugou clenched his teeth. He wanted to argue that he was not serious against Watanabe but that was a lie. He was fully ready to blast him away at that moment, whether he lived or not was another matter. But now he actually felt sorry. Then there was that yellow-haired guy. He just fried the number 2 hero like it was nothing. Why would such strong people hang around with that quirkless Deku!? Bakugou looked down at his hands, he suddenly remembered all the analyses Izuku had given him to make his quirks stronger. He felt vomit rise in his mouth as he realized he used moves that Izuku had thought of against him. He punched himself in the thigh, he hated himself.

His therapist looked at him concerned. He was glad that he was making progress, but the sudden rush of emotions was not healthy for him, "Bakugou, do you want to talk about it?" he asked concerned. Masaru and Mitsuki who were sitting beside him was also worried.

The old Bakugou would have shouted at the poor therapist and gone off into a rage, but at present, Katsuki could only say one thing, "Am I actually the useless one? All I ever did was bully people, I never acted like a hero, like All Might. I am basically a villain," he declared.

The therapist was a bit taken aback, he was unsure of how he to handle the situation. Luckily for him, Masaru decided to handle it, "You are not useless or a villain, Katsuki. However, your actions are something to be ashamed of. It's good you are at least regretting it, however, you still need to apologize to Izuku. A proper apology,"

Katsuki looked away. Masaru smiled slightly, "I'm not saying right away. Give it time but I do expect you to give a heart-felt apology to him later. He may have forgiven you unconditionally but I think even you know, that you won't accept the forgiveness until you apologize,"

Katsuki didn't reply and started to cry silently. Masaru sighed and pulled his son in for a hug. Watanabe had moved away from Kaminari and Izuku with a smile in the midst of all this and allowed them to converse. He was listening to what Bakugou was thinking. While he hadn't heard any of his thoughts in his mind, Katsuki's last sentence stuck with him. He wouldn't acknowledge it but he was starting to feel a bit sorry for him. All of a sudden, his grudge seemed idiotic. Watanabe shook his head, he wasn't going to let Katsuki off that easy, no matter what.

Chapter Text

"Court is back in session," The judge said as the janitors cleared out, "Before we start, Eraserhead, could you please keep an eye on Endeavour to make sure his quirk doesn't get out of control again?"

"You want me to use my quirk in the courtroom," Aizawa replied out of pure reflex. Only after the words were out of his mouth, did he realize how much he sounded like Nedzu when he said that. He gulped and looked towards the judge to see his reaction and was shocked to see him smiling.

"Yes, yes you do have a point. Tsukuachi-san, do you have quirk-suppressing cuffs on you?"

Tsukauchi grinned as he understood what the judge was implying, "Yes, your honor,"

"Please cuff Endeavour-san!" The judge ordered. He smirked slightly as Tsukauchi put on quirk-suppressing cuffs on Endeavour.

"Your honor, what madness is this?"

"Suchi-san calm down. I should have removed him from the courtroom for attempted assault on a minor. If you wish for your witness to remain, these rules have to be followed," The judge said. Endeavour tried to argue but the judge spoke back, "We will discuss more about this after the case at hand is over. The judge said, "Now let's carry on with the case,"

Suchi sighed, the judge was really ruthless, "Your honor, I'd like to call Midoriya Izuku back to the stand," Suchi said.

"Sure. Don't want Hattori Watanabe too?" The judge asked with a sly smile.

"No, your honor," The lawyer said through gritted teeth. The brat was too troublesome to deal with. He so wanted to get the judge for his sly smile too but he wasn't going to risk his career by headbutting with a judge. Izuku walked up to the stand.

"Now Midoriya, let's say that the article and the case investigation was in fact a coincidence,"

"Your honor, the investigation date clearly states that the investigation was started before the article was released. If anything, it's a coincidence that the article was released at the same time. Not the other way around," Inko objected.

"Objection sustained. Please do not make baseless claims, Suchi-san,"

"Yes your honor, I'm sorry," Suchi grimaced, "Midoriya, can you please tell me, some spots where you were bullied and at what times?"

"Uhh, behind the school, in the playground, even in the halls. The teachers never did anything so the bullies were everywhere but they acted mostly during lunchtime," Izuku replied.

The lawyer nodded and turned to the judge, "Your honor, I would like to present video evidence from the school's surveillance cameras that clearly show Midoriya is lying,"

"Approved," 

The lawyer nodded and the tapes were loaded in a TV. The tapes started, "Your honor, as you can see on the tapes, nowhere does it show that Midoriya or any other student was bullied. In fact, you can clearly see, the teacher stopping a fight here," Suchi pointed out.

The judge furrowed his eyes at the strong evidence. Inko countered, "Your honor, these tapes might be from after Izuku left,"

"Objection sustained. Suchi-san what do you have to say?"

"Your honor, at the bottom right, you can see the timestamps along with the date of the tape. These tapes are clear evidence that Izuku is lying!"

The judge noted something, "Anything else?"

"No, your honor," Suchi said with a smirk.

"Inko-san any questions for Midoriya?"

"No,"

"Alright, Midoriya you can return to your seat," The judge said with a smile, "Alright, does the prosecutor wish to provide any evidence?"

"Yes your honor," Inko said coolly as she gathered some things. Tsukauchi smirked, "Here we go," he muttered to himself.

"Your honor, the tapes have been tampered with," Inko exclaimed.

"Objection, your honor! She has no evidence to refute our evidence," 

"Objection sustained,"

"But your honor, I do have evidence. The police have gained the actual tapes from the school and they tell us an entirely different story," Inko grinned with a tinge of sadism in her voice.

"Your honor, the police gave us a warrant for getting the tapes. The tapes they have are the same as ours,"

Inko smiled, "No, your honor, I assure you the tapes are not at all similar,"

The judge furrowed his eyes in confusion, "Could you, er, could you please elaborate?"

Inko smiled and motioned for Tsukauchi to explain. Tsukauchi smiled slightly and stood up, "Your honor, The police recovered tapes stolen from Aldera's security room and we went through it,"

"Your honor, surely they aren't allowed to do that?" Suchi objected.

"They are actually. The police are legally allowed to go through everything recover," The judge replied with a smile.

"But, we weren't given notice by the prosecutors!"

"Oh, we did. The post office sure is slow," Inko replied with a smirk. She had specifically asked the post office to take their time to deliver the news to Aldera.

Suchi scowled and sat down. Nedzu was smirking, Inko had told him the plan already and he was glad to see it working to perfection. Aizawa was groaning in his mind since there was someone else who was intelligent enough to work with Nedzu. Meanwhile, the police commissioner seemed to be in a hushed conversation with Tsukauchi to straighten out the details of the case and how the evidence was procured.

"Alright then, let's see the tapes," The judge said.

Inko nodded. The tapes were loaded. At first, the scene seemed to be a normal one. Students laughing and moving around the classes. But then it started. Students being teased in the class, the teachers snickering in response, getting angry when the victims complained, and snapping at them. The judge swallowed with a pained look on his face as he saw all the strong quirks being used without restraint on the other kids. He winced as he noticed Izuku getting beaten up. He wanted to stop the recording but he knew he'd have to watch it for the sentencing. Fortunately, the tapes were in fast forward so he didn't have to sit through all of them for long. For Izuku, his entire school life was flashing in front of him and it was not good. Watanabe and Kaminari glanced at each other uncomfortably not sure how to help. Inko stood with a pained expression, she couldn't come and comfort her son since she was pointing out hidden details to the judge. Luckily, Natsume stepped in much to Inko's relief.

Aizawa clenched his fists in anger at the amount of bullying that was taking place. He so wanted to beat the shit out of the principal right then and there. Nedzu's grin had also disappeared and his face seemed to be more grim. Yagi sighed in his mind, he had expected this. Quirkless people were never treated properly even in his time. He felt really sorry for Izuku.

The tapes showed Watanabe's fight with Bakugou too. It was clear that Watanabe had acted in self-defense so there was no worry there. Aizawa was a bit impressed at how effectively Watanabe had broken down Bakugou through his close combat. The tape wound on and on and showed more violence before cutting off.

Inko cleared his throat, "That's all of it your honor, I rest my case,"

The judge nodded, "Anything to say Suchi-san?"

"Your honor, they have surely tampered with the tapes!"

"The tapes were sent to the lab. Ours were reported original while yours was shown to be tampered with. We sent it to three separate labs and they all showed the same results. I have already submitted the results to the judge," Inko replied.

The judge dug through some of the papers and found the report in question, "Yes, that is what seems to be the case. Anything else to say, Suchi-san?" The judge asked clearly already forming a sentence in his mind.

Suchi scowled. There was no way he could win the case anymore. No sane person would believe that Aldera was innocent. He smiled evilly, "No your honor, I rest my case," At least his career wouldn't be destroyed by trying to protest such a case. Aldera's staff looked shocked, a few were sobbing in distress, something that pissed both Aizawa and Watanabe.

The judge nodded and wrote down some notes for a few minutes. The room sat in a quiet tension. Finally, he cleared his throat, "This court... finds Aldera guilty of all charges, as well as perjury, erasure of evidence, child negligence and abuse, child endangerment, destruction of mental and physical health. All of Aldera's assets will be seized and will be sold to compensate the victims. All former and present students will have mandatory 6 months of therapeutic sessions. The length of punishment is to be 10-12 years for all the staff involved. However, each and every member of staff will be investigated further by the police and the sentence may or may not be increased,"

The judge paused for a moment before continuing, "Suchi-san, you will also be investigated for evidence tampering. The court also orders the BAR council to launch an investigation and recommends a suspension," 

Suchi gave a defeated glance at his lap. It seems like he couldn't escape the consequences. 

Some of the staff started sobbing harder. A few of them got up quickly and tried to escape but Aizawa used his capture scarf and smashed them into a wall. Tsukauchi and the other police officers quickly restrained the rest. Nedzu smiled in sadistic glee while Inko wore a proud smile. 

Izuku looked like he couldn't believe that the judge ruled in his favor. However, instead of being shocked, he couldn't stop grinning. Kaminari was smiling too but he realized Watanabe was unusually quiet. He was smirking as if something more was to come. Kaminari was right.

"Now, Endeavour-san, let's backpedal to your case," The judge said, "The court charges you with attempted assault on a minor, attempted assault on a key witness who was also a minor in a highly important case, and damage of the court,"

"What, you can't sentence me!" Endeavour exclaimed.

The judge sighed, "Unfortunately you are right. We cannot sentence you without prior notice of a court summons. That is why I am charging you. The police will take you to the station and hold you in jail there. This court also denies bail until the hearing," 

Endeavour went red with anger but the quirk -suppressing cuffs did its job and restrained him. Meanwhile, it took so much self-restraint for Watanabe to not explode in joy. Izuku and Kaminari were slightly edging away from Watanabe but they would be lying if they weren't enjoying Endeavour's downfall too.

"One more thing," the judge said, "Would the guardians like to press charges?"

Immediately Watanabe started nodding excitedly. Inko massaged her head, she didn't want Watanabe to keep bugging her for the rest of the week to charge Endeavour. It would be a lot of work but she would do it, "Yes, your honor," Watanabe let out a slight, excited squeal at that. Nedzu smirked a bit. Yes, he would love to teach this kid.

"Alright, so Endeavour's court date will be next Sunday. The court is dismissed!"

The doors to the court opened. Immediately the media started trying to take photos and tried to ask Inko and the judge about the case. But before any of that could happen, they noticed Endeavour being brought out in cuffs along with the Aldera staff. Not to mention he looked bruised and beaten up. Immediately everyone crowded around him, trying to get information on what happened. The police tried to push the media back but in the confusion, Ryuzen got everyone to slip out of the crowd and into the car.

Tsukauchi somehow managed to get Endeavour into the police car and drove to the police station. Once he reached there, he pulled Endeavour out and sighed inwardly as he saw his team of lawyers already there.

He braced himself to have a heated argument when he noticed something. He ignored the angry lawyers' rambling and waved them off with an angry expression on his face, "Sansa, how are you already here? I thought you were taking the Aldera staff to the central prison,"

"What? When? Why would I go from the police station to the court just to take them to prison anyway? Plenty of other guys were there," Sansa said.

"Oh come on Sansa, stop joking! You were at court, beside me remember?" Tsukauchi asked, with a slight worry in his voice.

Sansa's eyes furrowed in confusion, "But I didn't! I came in late today and I have been on call for backup the entire day today. Ask anyone!"

Tsukuachi's worry grew. He turned to the receptionist who just gave a hesitant nod. Tsukauchi gulped. At that moment, another officer came running, "Tsukauchi-san! A viral video has been circulating showing everything that happened at court today! We have no clue how it got leaked!"

"What!?" Tsukauchi exclaimed and snatched the phone from him, "The angle is right next to me. There! You can see my coat ruffling in and out of the corner!"

"What does this mean, then?" Sansa asked.

"It means... a villain copied your appearance and came to court,"

"You look really happy Dabi,"

"You know who I really am, so you should know why," Dabi replied happily, "Thanks though. Without your help, I could never have known that he got knocked out by a teenager," Dabi wheezed. Still laughing, "And he says, he's better than All Might, hahaha. That other kid too though. He knew that Endeavour would trigger the sprinklers. That green-haired kid didn't do much but I guess I sympathize," Dabi ranted off to his friend.

"You like them. Does that mean you will cut them?"

"Not everyone's like you," he deadpanned, "No, I like these three. And if anyone messes with them, they'll pay,"

"Aww, I wanted to cut them,"

Dabi chuckled, "Please don't,"

"Well let's go cut someone else then,"

"Who?"

"Someone put out a hit on the electric kid. Wants him kidnapped for some reason,"

Dabi's grin vanished, "We don't know where he lives though,"

A grin met his question, "Already got the files here. Stole them from the station,"

Dabi smiled. He gave one last glance at the 'shrine' of pictures he had stuck on the wall. He had Endeavour getting knocked out by All Might, by Kaminari, being brought out in cuffs and bruises. He couldn't wait for the storm that would hit the media tomorrow, "Let's go then,"

Chapter Text

Shouto woke up groggily. They had gone to sleep late last night, courtesy of Natsuo. He was determined to celebrate Endeavour's arrest. Fuyumi had tried to reason that it was impolite but Natsuo had not paid any attention. They had dragged Shouto in it too, telling him that he needed to learn how to have fun. He thought Fuyumi might disapprove but she had also joined them later on. Shoto still had no clue why Endeavour was arrested. He slowly wriggled out from under Natsuo's body and went to the living room to see if the media was saying anything. He comfortably sat down and turned on the TV, his phone in his other hand to see what everyone else was saying. Immediately, Shouto felt as if someone had given him all the Soba he could eat.

Before his eyes, he watched Endeavour get insulted straight to his face by someone his age. And if that was not enough, the guy had done it intentionally judging from the smirk on his face. Natsuo drooped drowsily and came and sat next to him, "Oh, you didn't see this yet, right? This is the best part!" Natsuo grinned, "Fuyumi! See, they are showing it!" Fuyumi entered the room just to see the sprinklers turn on and extinguish Endeavour's fire before another guy electrocuted him to the point he fell unconscious. Natsuo burst out laughing, "God, that's never getting old," Fuyumi was also smiling, albeit under her hand.

Shoto, on the other hand... was puzzled. He couldn't believe two people his age had taken down Endeavour with such little effort. He felt a bit empty in his stomach as he realized that Endeavour would probably take his anger out on him, but inwardly he was thinking whether he should anger him more by saying that it was foolish for him to surpass All Might when two teenagers defeated him. He pondered on it for a while before deciding against it. It wasn't worth it. Natsuo smiled a bit and turned to Shouto, "And Shouto, you get a holiday too! He has to stay in jail as long as we don't secure bail. God, I love the amount of power we have over him right now!"

Shouto nodded. His senses were still a bit numb, almost as if he were in a dream. Nevertheless, he'd embrace this moment, for now.

Tsukauchi's nose wrinkled at the smell of burnt flesh. He had been called early in the morning by the police commissioner because they found a lot of villains planning an attack on the Kaminari residence. However, someone had burnt them all to within an inch of their lives almost as if to say, the longer you live, the more you suffer.

"Any clue on who it could be?" Tsukauchi asked the commissioner. "Nope," He shook his head, "We couldn't question any of them yet since they are all going through treatment but some witnesses say that there were 2 of them. One was using mostly blades while the other was emitting blue flames from his body. We don't have any sketches or anything to go through,"

"Vigilantes?"

"Possibly. However, I am concerned as to why they were adamant about protecting the Kaminaris. Fighting villains is one thing but specifically defending is not something vigilantes really do,"

"We should step up patrols and get them police protection," Tsukauchi offered.

"I already told Sansa to do it," The commissioner replied.

Tsukauchi nodded. He could already sense that these vigilantes would be a pain in the ass. Elsewhere, a loud scream erupted, "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN VIGILANTES!?"

"Oh man, this blew up spectacularly," Watanabe laughed as he watched the media report on Endeavour's arrest again. Natsume frowned, "Don't you have to get to school. It's Izuku's first day, he shouldn't be late,"

"He's still getting ready though," Watanabe replied.

"I'm surprised the hero commission hasn't taken this down yet to tried to mitigate the reports on Endeavour's arrest," Ryuzen commented.

"It would just put them in a worse spot. The best thing to do at present is just sitting tight," Inko replied, "Izuku, hurry up, you don't want to be late!"

"Yes, mom!"

"Aunt Inko is coming with us right?" Watanabe asked.

"Yes, since it's Izuku's first day," Natsume replied.

"How come you aren't coming for my first day?" Watanabe 'pouted'.

Natsume leveled him with a glare, "Very funny. Please don't get the principal to call me again on something you did,"

"Hey, half of those meetings end with the principal saying that I was right for what I did!"

"And he also keeps telling you to handle the situations better,"

"Izuku is going to be alright, right?" Inko asked hesitantly. Both Natsume and Ryuzen had assured her that it was a good school but she was getting hesitant now. What if they said the school was good just because Watanabe could survive with his personality. Would Izuku be able to do the same?

Ryuzen noticed Inko's expression and chuckled slightly, "Don't worry," he comforted, "It's not like Watanabe has survived. It's more like everyone else has survived Watanabe. Look at Denki. He's a nice kid and nothing like Watanabe,"

"I'm sitting here you know," Watanabe grinned.

Inko nodded nervously. She looked up at the clock once more, "Izuku, we are really going to be late now!" Inko called out but didn't get any response, "Watanabe, can you please go check on him?"

Watanabe nodded and went to Izuku's room, "Hey, what's taking so lo-" Watanabe stopped short and twitched. Izuku had dressed himself up properly and cleanly but his tie was a mess. Watanabe swallowed as he struggled to keep a straight face, "Need help?" he offered motioning to his own tie. Izuku nodded gloomily. Watanabe quickly fixed up Izuku's tie and picked up his bag, "Let's go then,"

Izuku huffed, "You've got to teach me that later," Watanabe shrugged in response. They exited the room and followed a pacing Inko to the car. Soon they were driving along the road to the school. Watanabe was in high spirits at being able to go to his own school again but Izuku was nervous. As much as he hated to admit it, he had no idea what to expect. He had not really gone to a 'normal' school. Both his junior and middle school involved him being severely bullied. Izuku nervously glanced at Watanabe. He knew that if he voiced his concerns, Watanabe would try to help him but he wasn't sure how to broach the subject, especially in front of his mom. On top of that, he just didn't think Watanabe would understand. As bitter as it sounded, he felt that Watanabe wouldn't really get it. He hadn't been bullied like him for years and years. So, he just kept quiet and dwelled on the future as they drove, Watanabe completely oblivious to Izuku's feelings.

After what felt like an eternity, they finally reached the school. Watanabe immediately rushed out, while Izuku took his time but neither could get far as there was a crowd right outside. Inko grabbed Izuku's hands and tried to see what was going on. Watanabe motioned for Inko to follow him as he pushed through the crowd to see what was going on. He physically facepalmed as he reached the center while Izuku burst out laughing.

Kaminari was in the center signing autographs. He caught sight of his friend and smiled, "Yo, took you guys long enough,"

Watanabe's mouth was still agape. "Seems like you're quite popular," Izuku grinned.

Kaminari nodded enthusiastically, "Yup, tons of people recognized me while coming. They kept asking for pictures and stuff. The police kept them in check though,"

"The police?"

"Yeah, they thought I might be targeted, so they're stepping up patrols where I live. They did it for you guys too,"

"They did?" Watanabe asked Inko who seemed a bit abashed, "Well, yes but I didn't want to tell you in case you guys got scared,"

"Scared? It's fricking awesome!" Watanabe grinned back.

"I see you are here to finish feeding on our souls," Someone deadpanned to Watanabe.

"Oh you know you missed me, Ogawa," Watanabe grinned back. The boy shrugged. "Anyway how come none of you are asking me for autographs," Watanabe pouted.

Ogawa shrugged, "It's you! There's nothing spectacular or surprising about it considering all the other things you do,"

Watanabe pouted and stung his tongue out, "Talk later. Gotta go meet the principal,"

"Already in trouble?" Someone chortled.

"I am not that bad!" Watanabe grinned as he walked away with Izuku. Izuku sweatdropped at the interaction. Could he act so friendly with them? He was in deep thought when he heard someone scream. He looked up and saw a teacher run away. He looked after him puzzled and vaguely heard Watanabe say, "Hi sensei!" 

Inko was surprised too and questioned, "What was that about?"

"Oh, it's nothing. He's just pleased to see me," He grinned, "Right here we are," he stopped in front of the principal's office.

Inko nodded and turned towards Izuku, "Ready?" Izuku took a deep breath and nodded. Inko pushed the door open and popped her head in.

"Ah come in, come in! I am Principal Akira," he said as he extended his hand. Inko shook his hand and sat down with Izuku. Watanabe also entered. The principal gave Watanabe a smile, "The teachers will be pleased to have you back,"

"Of course they will! Daisuke-sensei ran screaming in happiness when he saw me,"

The principal laughed, "I'm sure he did. Now Midoriya-san, I am aware of the... situation at Izuku's previous school. I can assure you that is not the case here and bullying will be met with strict punishment. I have placed him with Watanabe in Denki's class so that he can make friends in a more familiar environment. Daisuke-sensei is really nice too,"

Inko was a bit taken aback. The principal had already fixed up everything for Izuku and solved her concerns even before she voiced them. Inko smiled and nodded, "Excellent. I will be going then,"

"No questions?"

"No, it seems you have already fixed everything. Please do keep an eye on Izuku though,"

"Of course! Not that he needs it considering he has Watanabe as his brother,"

"I take offense at that!" 

"You can't take offense at the truth!" The principal huffed, a slight teasing smile on his face.

"Good luck Izuku," Inko said to Izuku with a smile and left.

"Come on, we are going to be late!" Watanabe said and motioned for Izuku to follow. Soon Watanabe and Izuku reached the classroom. Watanabe slid the door open, "Oh good, sensei isn't here yet," Watanabe smiled. He went and sat behind Kaminari who was waving at them. Watanabe motioned for Izuku to sit beside Kaminari, not wanting to put him in an uncomfortable situation by making him sit next to a stranger.

"Who's the new guy?" the boy sitting next to Watanabe asked. Watanabe smiled a bit. Daisuke-sensei would take some time to come, he could have some fun till then, "He's my brother, Midoriya Izuku!" he loudly exclaimed for everyone to hear. Immediately Kaminari facepalmed, already knowing the reactions.

The classroom sat in silence for a while before someone exclaimed, "There's two of you!?"

"Izuku's not going to beat anyone up," Watanabe waved his hand.

"That's not the point. Those guys deserve it. It's more to do with you whispering ways to murder us and pulling all sorts of chaotic shit. Like, who asks the PE teacher for more pushups?"

"I didn't do so much chaotic things,"

"Really?" Someone else deadpanned, "You could have just reported Aki sensei for misbehavior but no. You had to dig up everything about her life, blackmail her and then report her, all the while telling everyone what you found out,"

"That's just one thing!"

"Oh, you want us to list?" 

Watanabe grumbled, "Fine. But Izuku's not like me. Be nice to him,"

"Why would we not be nice?"

"Cuz he's quirkless,"

Izuku drooped a bit at that. Denki really wanted to smack Watanabe for being so insensitive but he knew it was better to get it over with and for Watanabe to say it since people were a bit terrified of him. The class was in silence for a bit but eventually, they burst out laughing, "So what? Being quirkless has nothing to do with anything."

Izuku exhaled slightly, they weren't mad. While that made him happy, he didn't understand why they were not mad. Didn't they think he was useless?"

"Wait, is that why you guys sued Aldera?" Ogawa offered, "They bullied Midoriya for being quirkless!?" he asked astonished.

Watanabe didn't reply and instead looked towards Izuku who nodded without looking at anyone. Immediately, the temperature of the classroom seemed to fall. No words were spoken but the silence spoke for itself. "What did they," Someone started to ask when Denki put his hand up. He shook his head. The boy shut up. After a while, the usual chatter began and a few students came by to talk to Izuku and get introduced. Watanabe smiled, unorthodox as it was, it had worked. It was bound to be pulled up sooner or later. At least now Izuku could make friends without the burden of what they would think. He knew that the school did still have some bullies who might try to hurt Izuku. He pinpointed the ones in his classroom. Sure enough, they were talking to each other with a sneer and kept glancing at Izuku. But one glare from Watanabe was enough for them to disperse and act normal. They even smiled at him.

Watanabe sighed, he had two options, always keep Izuku in his sight and terrify the bullies so they wouldn't do anything or 'slip up' and allow them to try and bully him so that he had an excuse to retaliate and have them expelled. He twirled a pencil in his hand as he weighed up the options. Daisuke entered soon after that. The chatter of the class drowned away. Daisuke silently glowered behind the desk. "Good Morning," he said in a low voice.

The students replied. "Why are you so tired today sensei?" Ogawa asked.

Daisuke moved his head towards Watanabe, "You would be too if Watanabe was in your class,"

The others snickered at that while Watanabe pouted, "I act properly in class sensei! It's only in between classes that I do anything,"

Daisuke sighed, "That's not the point. I'd have no problem teaching you. You're a good student. The problem is I'm your homeroom teacher so all the other teachers are going to keep pestering me over what you did,"

"Buuuut, you get compliments on the good stuff I did too!"

Daisuke just gave him a blank stare, "Not worth it. You're too troublesome,"

"Ah but sensei, didn't you and the other teachers tell us about how you missed Watanabe and things were so quiet and depressing without him," Someone chortled from the back of the class. Daisuke turned red, "That, I, we, I mean," Daisuke stuttered.

"Awww, you guys do care, sensei!" Watanabe teased. Daisuke grumbled under his breath, "I told those guys, he'd figure out and hold it on us," Raising his voice now, "Anyway, Jirobo sensei demanded I let him see you. He probably missed you the most,"

On cue, Jirobo entered. He was a bulky muscular man. His clothes immediately gave off the fact that he was the PE teacher, "Ah Watanabe! Glad to see you are back! These guys have been slacking off without you!" he addressed Watanabe like he was an old friend. Some of the students grumbled at that.

"And the way you handled Aldera. I'm proud of you!"

"We aren't really supposed to condone violence, Jirobo," Daisuke addressed his coworker.

"Huh? You were the one who-,"

"Ah! It's time to start class. Watanabe can talk to you during PE," Daisuke hastily intervened.

Jirobo gave a raspy laugh and turned to leave but not before giving his favorite student a knowing wink. Watanabe grinned back in reply. After Jirobo left, Daisuke asked, "Now we have a new student today. Please introduce yourself, your name hobbies, etc."

Izuku gulped and stood up. Nervously he started, "H-hi, my name is Midoriya Izuku. I am Watanabe's brother," At this, Daisuke seemed to stumble but stopped himself from falling although he did seem to mutter, "The principal wasn't kidding!" Izuku pretended to not hear him and continued, "I like analyzing other people's quirks. I do not have a quirk. However, I still wish to become a pro-hero!" Izuku said determinedly. There were a few snickers at that but Daisuke gave them a strong glare shutting them up.

"An admirable goal Midoriya," Daisuke commented. "Here it comes," Izuku thought bracing himself, sure that he'd tell him to give up, "I have no doubt you will succeed and will try my best to help you," Daisuke finished with a smile.

"That was unexpected," Izuku thought to himself. His mind was racing, wasn't he supposed to disagree, tell him it was useless, that he was useless? Was this just an exception or were teachers actually supposed to be like this?

"However, I should add one thing," Daisuke said jolting Izuku back to reality. With a serious expression, he locked eyes with Izuku before asking in a begging tone, "Please don't become like Watanabe! One's enough!" 

Izuku blinked for a few moments before laughing, "No problem Daisuke-sensei. Unlike him, I have manners!" 

The class laughed as did Daisuke, "Good to know," he gave a look around the class to monitor what people thought of Midoriya. He was pleased to see most didn't care about his quirk status. Some seemed to have already made friends with him. He smiled, he did notice one group sneering, but he'd have to deal with that later, "Alright, we have wasted enough time already, so let's dive into the books..."

"So, how are you liking the classes so far?" Denki asked Izuku who smiled, "It was really nice. All the teachers are so helpful and kind! And people actually want to be friends with me!" Izuku said enthusiastically like a little kid who had just made his first friend. Denki smiled in return. He was happy for his friend but a bit sad that Izuku had to put up with abuse all these years. The marks wouldn't easily vanish.

"Why did Watanabe tell he'll be late?"

"Huh?" Denki said jolting out of his thoughts, "Oh, he likes to talk with Jirobo-sensei about body fitness and new combat moves and stuff like that. Sensei used to be in the military so he knows how to fight and is keen to teach. Most people don't though cuz he's a bit too harsh," Denki explained, "You go grab a table, I have to go to the washroom,"

Izuku nodded. As Denki disappeared, Izuku sort of stood like a statue. It was the first time today that he had been without Kaminari or Watanabe by his side. Unbeknownst to him, Daisuke was watching him with intrigue. He probably should help him but he knew that Izuku wouldn't learn any social skills like that, so instead, he waited to see what would happen. Soon enough, Ogawa started waving at Izuku. Izuku stared at him a few times, looking back to check whether he was beckoning to him. Still unbelieving, he pointed at himself with uncertainty. Ogawa laughed and nodded vigorously. Izuku stumbled a bit as he walked to Ogawa and plopped himself down next to him. He tried to think what to say but couldn't come with anything, instead he turned red.

Ogawa laughed, but not in a taunting way, "It's ok, we don't bite, haha. This is Shisui and Surume," Ogawa introduced.

"H-hi," Izuku said quietly.

"Nice to meet you," Shisui said enthusiastically while Surume gave a lazy nod to acknowledge his presence, "Don't mind him. He's like that with everyone," Shisui grinned.

"O-oh," Izuku said simply. He had no clue what to say really.

Ogawa shook his head slightly, "Look, I know your previous school wasn't that good but really, you can ask us anything, we won't mind. Surume, get out of your stupor already!" Surume grunted but seemed to sit up straighter although his head still drooped while Shisui's grin grew much wider.

"Um, ok," Izuku said offhandedly, "Um, are you guys friends with Watanabe?"

Ogawa laughed, "That's your question? Well anyway, yeah we are good friends with him. Not his best friends though, that's Denki and I guess you. Truth be told, he's friends with pretty much everyone here. God knows how he keeps track of everyone and their interests and dislikes,"

"So, you guys are not special to him?" Izuku asked.

Surume sighed, "You really should learn how to ask people things without offending them first,"

"Surume, that's rude. He probably didn't know that," Shisui replied. Izuku felt a bit embarrassed and apologized, "S-sorry," he mumbled. Shisui huffed, "Now look what you did, he was opening up," he grilled Surume who just leaned away from his friend's jabbing. Finally, Shisui turned to Izuku, "But to answer your question, we are pretty good friends. Just not his best friends. It's... hard to explain. Let's just say we get along really well, well enough to have spent the night at each other's house,"

"Oh," Izuku said. He was a bit hesitant to ask any more questions but luckily they started asking more about him now and soon he was having a nice discussion on which heroes were cool. However, the happiness didn't last long enough, "Oh, look. The quirkless idiot's trying to socialize. I bet they're just sorry for him," A boy said to his lackey. Izuku froze, all of his bad memories at Aldera seemed to rush in his mind. Ogawa scowled, "Get lost Koten!"

"Oh, what are you going to do Ogawa? Upset cuz your sister's quirkless too?" He insulted.

Ogawa turned red and stood up but Shisui held him down. Surprisingly Surume came to his defense, "So what if he's quirkless!? He's twice as intelligent as you anyways. UA would rather accept him probably,"

"HUH! What did you say?" Koten shouted and aimed a punch at Surume. Izuku's eyes widened. He lunged forward to take the hit instead. He braced himself with his eyes tightly shut but the blow never came. Instead, he heard a loud crack and two thumps before silence. He opened his eyes to see Watanabe glaring down at Koten, his arm in a twisted position in Watanabe's hand while his head was being pulled the opposite way. The boy's two lackeys stood in fear and edged away. Daisuke sighed and came out of the corner, he should have stopped it much earlier but he wanted to see what Koten would do. Bad idea. If he had seen Watanabe coming, he'd have stopped it earlier.

"Watanabe," Daisuke said warningly. Watanabe let go of Koten who slammed into the ground and started groaning from the pain. "Koten come with me. We're going to the nurse's office and then the principal's office. Watanabe and you two," Daisuke gave them a pointed stare, "A warning. While you were right, Watanabe, you did take things too far by breaking his arm. Detention for all three of you today after class,"

Watanabe nodded grimly as Daisuke took Koten away. Surume stared at Izuku for a while, "Thanks for trying to save me from the punch," 

"W-welcome. And the stuff you said about me,"

"Don't tell anyone I said that," Surume said.

"Oho, he wants to maintain his 'hip' attitude," Ogawa grinned.

"Come on Wata, lighten up already. You got the guy," Shisui said. Watanabe blinked at him a few times before smiling sheepishly, "Yeah, sorry I got caught up. Pass me the sauce," Watanabe said. The usual chatter slowly broke out again. Clearly, this had happened before, if people's uncaring attitude said anything. Soon Denki came back and took a seat, "You know, I just went for 10 minutes. And by the time I came out of the washroom, I saw Koten howling in the nurse's office. Care to explain?"

Shisui told him the entire thing, even Surume defending Izuku which earned Shisui a pointed glare. At the last Denki shook his head, "Care to tell me what happens when you do this in a hero school?"

"Depends on if the teachers are good or not," Watanabe shrugged as he ate his lunch.

Natsume stood outside the school gates. She saw Watanabe coming and as soon as he was in reach, she pulled his ears, "The first day! And you already start a fight!"

"Ow ow! They were hurting Izuku!" Watanabe argued.

"I am not angry about that! Why did you go and break his arm!? How did you even not get detention!?"

"I did, I told sensei I'll do it tomorrow," 

Natsume huffed and let him go, "Come on Izuku, let's go. Inko will be wanting to hear about your first day. Denki, you got the photos?"

Denki smirked, "Yup. I'm selling these to everyone," he laughed. He had taken pictures of Natsume pulling Watanabe's ears. Watanabe grumbled and stuck out his tongue at his best friend before following Izuku into the car. 

Chapter Text

A WEEK LATER

Are you freaking kidding me with this?
~Blackfire493

Wait what now? What happened?
~Sheepheadfred

The damn Endeavour case. 
~Blackfire493

Yeah, I just saw the report. They didn't even give him any jail time
~Airasilver

Exactly!
~Blackfire493

Hold on I gotta see
~Sheepheadfred

Whee! Endeavor didn't get jail!
~Randomguy

Oh, come on not another Endeavour fan. For god's sake
~Sanjna_23

Whatever, he's a great hero. He got more cases than All Might
~Randomguy

With the highest number of casualties!
~GizmoO

Can't the admin ban him?
~(~‾▿‾)~ 

He's not breaking the rules, unfortunately,
~Admin

HAH!
~Randomguy

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE PUNISHMENT IS?
~The_sweet_lily_rose

OMG! I just saw it. He only got 6 months of counseling and anger management!?
~Sheepheadfred

I think he got a lot of fines and stuff added up on it too?
~Orangekid12

Well, I mean he does have to give 60% of his pay to the victim and the government for a year as punishment. But come on that's not going to make even a dent in his fortune!
~Sheepheadfred

Tbh I am more surprised hero commission didn't bail him out
~PrinceIchi69

They did, but the prosecuting lawyer was way too good. Good thing the judge didn't pull anything either
~Shepheadfred

Who was the lawyer?
~RashaundaSpears

The same one from the Aldera case. Name's Inko I think
~HerrRot9

I did some digging. Seems like she used to do abuse cases before but stopped suddenly. She restarted now for some reason
~Littlecharmed

But why? 
~Sanity1

No clue
~Littlecharmed

Well... was she good?
~Sanity1

Yup, she was ruthless. Even in cases with minimal evidence she won
~Littlecharmed

That good?
~Sanity1

But for real, we ain't gonna talk about Endeavour getting knocked by a teenager, bwahaha
~Kamio18

Yea that was amazing, lol. But it got a lot of villains after him too for some reason
~Sheepheadfred

For recruiting as a villain
~Whyallmaindumb

No, they were all murderers and serial killers. Police caught them after some vigilante duo beat the heck out of them
~Sheepheadfred

Why would they be after him? Shouldn't they be happy that someone assaulted a hero? 
~Whyallmaindumb

They should... unless the hero commission is more corrupt
~Sheepheadfred

Nah, they wouldn't stoop so low that they'd hurt a kid
~Whyallmaindumb

Maybe, but hope those kids stay safe
~(~‾▿‾)~

With that vigilante duo... prolly and the police are there too. The police are better, I mean they did charge Endeavour ruthlessly
~Airasilver

I guess we'll see
~yeetmeintothevoidofspace

Gran Torino sat up straight as he finished scrolling through the articles. The hero commission was corrupt, he knew that. One of the reasons why he had cut off contact with almost everyone was to make them believe he was dead. Both Nedzu and he believed that some, if not all, of the hero commission were moles for All for One, not that they could prove it. He sipped his drink, this article had given him a lot of entertainment. First, that boy provoking Death Arms, then the villain on a spree ready to kill, suddenly maimed. Endeavour's acts being brought to the public. The Aldera case, they were all entertaining but... they were not random. They were sequenced as if to maximize chaos. The writers knew how to push the buttons and hit where it hurt the most.

Naturally, Torino's first thought was that Nedzu was behind the article but one thing didn't add up. Nedzu would never use an alias. He wasn't scared of what his actions could bring and Nedzu had enough leverage to bully anyone into leaving him alone. One thing was certain though, Nedzu knew something about the article. Without hesitation, he called Nedzu, he was going to get the answers right now.

"Ah, hello Torino. How has retirement been suiting you?" Nedzu's voice answered.

"Nedzu. Glad to hear your voice again. And no, retirement's horrible," Torino replied gruffly, "Anyway, I will get straight to the point-,"

"You want to know about the article," Nedzu finished for him. 

"Yes," Torino said.

Torino heard Nedzu sigh on the other hand, "I am aware, beating around the bush will do nothing to you, so I will just save us both some time and tell you everything. It all started when Toshinori's successor's cousin moved in with him,"

"Toshinori's successor?" Torino exclaimed.

"You didn't know? I thought Toshinori must have said it to you... my mistake," Nedzu said in his normal voice, but Torino could hear the sadistic grin Nedzu must have had on his face right then, "Well, you see, his successor is, quirkless,"

Torino didn't speak. It was better for Nedzu to finish before asking questions. Taking the cue, Nedzu continued, "His successor, Midoriya Izuku, was bullied at his school for being quirkless. I assume you know him, the green-haired boy from the sludge incident?"

Torino grunted, "Yes I do. Should have realized Toshinori would have been interested right there,"

"Well, that same day, his cousin, Hattori Watanabe, moved in. He is an observant one. He figured out about Izuku's bullying, his training with All Might and assumed All Might's quirk can be passed on. A reasonable assumption, considering his quirk is unknown to the public. Afterward, Watanabe introduced himself to Toshinori and got his help to get to me. They wrote the article and then had Toshinori give it to me. I didn't have much to fix so I just published it and then everything you are seeing occurred,"

Torino hummed. Nedzu's description of the events was really scarce, much more like a summary than an actual description, "Is the cousin, the boy who riled up Endeavour and Death arms?"

"Yes,"

"I know what you are doing Nedzu,"

"Do tell me what you think," Nedzu offered.

"You want me to go to UA to meet with you directly. Given your love for chaos, I assume my idiot student will be there too, and you want me to beat some sense into him,"

"That would be appreciated, thank you, Torino," Nedzu said as he disconnected the call. Torino chuckled. It was unlike Nedzu to be so direct about what he wants, so there must be something else bothering him, for him to want to get everything done as fast as possible. Torino sighed as he stood up to get ready. it would be fun meeting his old student.

"Nedzu-san, who are we waiting for?" Toshinori asked as he sat in Nedzu's office, sipping tea.

"He should be here soon. Don't worry,"

Toshinori nodded nervously, he was worrying. Nedzu's surprises were not really known for being pleasant. They sat for a few moments in silence until they heard a slow knock on the office door, "Come in," said Nedzu.

The door opened and immediately there was a whoosh followed by Yagi falling to the ground, clutching his cheek in pain. He looked up through the pain and his eyes widened, "Gr-gran Torino!"

"Toshinori, Nedzu here tells me you have gotten a successor," Torino said with a glint in his eye, "I am hurt you didn't tell me,"

"I-I meant to, I just, erm,"

Torino hit him again, making Yagi yelp, "If you had told me right away, you wouldn't have gotten hit. It seems I failed as a teacher in teaching you manners!" Yagi yelped as Torino caught him by his neck and sped around the room. Yagi screamed in terror. After a while, Torino seemed to have had enough fun and threw him to the floor, "Ah, now that was a good stretch," he said as he sat down, taking the cup of tea from Nedzu with a smile. Yagi coughed as he slowly got up from the floor clutching his chest in pain.

"Come on now, sit, I have had my fun for now," Torino ushered. Yagi hesitantly moved towards a chair and sat. Nedzu smiled, "Now that the pleasantries are over, let's discuss what I called you for,"

Yagi's eye quirked in question, "It wasn't to see Gran Torino beat me up?" Nedzu shook his head, his expression growing grimmer, "I am sure both of you know... about the hero commission, and how corrupt it is," Nedzu said with narrowed eyes. Instantly the room grew serious, Torino's smile vanished and Yagi stood up straighter, unconsciously slipping into his All Might form. Both nodded silently. 

"That is why I asked you two. I need more heroes on this. I will be discussing with the UA staff later too, but such a few heroes will do nothing against the hero commission. That is why I am asking you two to be vigilant and try to recruit trustworthy heroes against the hero commission,"

"May I ask why the sudden stance?"

"The attack on the Kaminaris. It's no secret that Endeavour is their pawn, knowingly or not, I don't know but it was guaranteed they would try to retaliate," Nedzu replied.

"Are the vigilantes-" Torino began to ask.

"No, I didn't send them. I have no clue who they are or if they even share the same interest. All I know is that he told one of the victims to steer clear of Izuku, Denki, and Watanabe as well as their families or he'd personally hunt them down,"

"Without those vigilantes, that kid would have been dead," Torino summarised.

"Not exactly, I had sent Aizawa to the Midoriya residence and Present Mic to the Kaminari residence. Mic actually did witness the vigilante attack, but they had been burned to a crisp before he could act. They were out of sight by the time Mic had entered the scene,"

"This is an interesting set of events. We took down All For One but it seems a new threat has emerged now. A threat, we can't use our fists against," Torino concluded and glanced towards Yagi who was clenching his fists tightly.

"My second point, for protection, the police have been deployed. Of course, the vigilante duo are also present but I would like someone to keep an eye on those three too," Nedzu said.

"I'll do it. I have training sessions with them in the morning and evening anyway,"

"You train the other two kids too?" Torino asked.

Yagi paled, he hadn't meant to let that slip, "Well, um-"

"So all 3 know?"

"Oh, only Izuku and Watanabe know though... not Kaminari,"

Torino glared at him, "You better not slip up in front of him and declare you are All Might then," Torino said, "At least your successor has some brains," Torino commented. Yagi sighed in his mind slightly, at least he hadn't been kicked again. 

"Well, that's all I wanted to discuss," Nedzu said switching back to his cheery self.

"I should get going, Izuku and Watanabe's training restarts today evening. I'm hoping to show him some moves with One for All since Kaminari doesn't attend our evening sessions,"

"I'll come too. Introduce myself as All Might's sensei to them," Torino grinned. Yagi paled, "No, no you don't need to,"

Torino kicked his student, "Don't talk back to your sensei, disrespectful brat. Now, I assume we have to go pick them up considering it isn't safe for them to move on their own?" Torino said.

"Uhh, that may not be a good choice... the guardians don't know I am training them," Yagi said quietly.

"What?" Torino asked with a narrowed glare that promised pain. "Er, I mean they know that All Might's secretary trains them," Yagi tried to salvage himself. Nedzu chipped in from his desk, "Not formally Torino. They know vaguely because Kaminari called him sensei in court," Nedzu grinned sadistically.

Torino sped up again and beat up Yagi once more making him scream out loud, "You idiot! You are going to transfer a volatile quirk to a child and didn't bother telling the parents anything?" Torino basically yelled.

"I, I didn't think-"

"Let's say the quirk doesn't accept him, then what? How do you plan to explain it to his mom? Even if he doesn't get blown up hopefully, quirks just don't manifest! Especially as a teenager, you idiot!" 

"B-but I can't tell them I'm All Might. That would put me at risk,"

"If his mom finds out and isn't understanding, she's going to sue you to hell anyway," Torino deadpanned.

"Get it over with Toshinori," Nedzu offered, his face slightly more serious, "Inko is trustworthy and at least one parent deserves to know,"

"Fine," Toshinori grunted, "I'll ask them to bring Inko-san to Dagobah beach as well," he resigned.

"Where are we going Izuku?" Inko asked.

"Yagi-sensei wanted to meet you," Izuku said vaguely.

"I already permitted for you to train under him, so did Natsume for Watanabe," Inko replied.

"There is more to it..." Izuku replied. Inko was still confused, however, anything that was keeping even Watanabe quiet and serious must be important. After a short walk, they reached Dagobah beach. Inko spotted Yagi and someone else standing beside him.

"Inko-san, firstly let me apologize for not notifying you that I was training your child," Yagi said with respect.

"Ah thank you. But, I did permit him to continue, so I don't quite get what this is about," Inko said. On cue, Yagi transformed into All Might, surprising Inko and making her yelp, "A-all Might!"

"Yes. This brings me to what I really wanted to discuss. Firstly let me explain," Yagi said and pulled up his shirt, "Five years ago, I was horribly injured in a fight. I lost my lung. Since then, I have a time limit to how long I can maintain my All Might form,"

Inko nodded, "But why are you telling me this so suddenly? There is no reason to,"

"My quirk is One for All," All Might said.

Before he could continue, Izuku interrupted, "Yagi-sensei! Is it alright discussing this in front of him?" he nodded to Torino who didn't look like he had been insulted. He was about to retort when Watanabe interrupted, "Izuku, I think Yagi-sensei remembers he brought someone with him," Watanabe deadpanned. 

"If anything, I should be more worried that Toshinori is talking about One for All in front of another kid," Torino chortled.

Watanabe smiled, "I already knew. If I am right, you must have been the one to teach All Might? Possibly even the previous user of One for All?"

Torino laughed, "Nedzu was right, you are quite observant. However, no I am not the previous user of One for All. I did teach All Might though,"

"Can we wrap this up first?" Inko said. Torino nodded.

"I have an offer. Your son, I am aware is quirkless but he has the heart of a hero. If he could be a hero, what would you say?" Yagi asked.

Inko's face became slightly sad at that, "I would say that's impossible but with that article, it was pointed out that UA does accept quirkless people too. If Izuku gets in, I will support him, no matter what! Even though it will make me worry for his safety,"

Izuku was shocked, he had expected his mother to say that he probably couldn't, like when he had been a kid. He didn't hate his mother but he thought that would be her reply, so her change in attitude was... overwhelming to say the least.

"What if he could become a hero with a strong quirk? Would that ease your mind?" Yagi asked with a smile.

"Wh-what are you saying?" Inko asked.

"As I said, my quirk is One for All, it gives me super strength. However, it can also be passed on from one person to another to another,"

Inko's face glimmered in slight hope, "A-are y-you s-saying that," she stuttered with tears in her eyes.

"Do you agree, to let me pass my quirk onto Izuku?"

"Yes, yes I do," She replied amidst tears. She turned to hug Izuku, "Izuku, you are going to be a hero!" Izuku also wept silently as the two embraced each other. Torino smiled and then sped up and kicked Yagi straight in the head. Yagi fell with a thump to the ground. Izuku and Inko yelped in surprise, "A-all Might!" Izuku exclaimed with worry. Watanabe on the other hand exclaimed, "Where's a camera when you need one!" 

Torino slightly smiled, he could see why Nedzu liked Watanabe, not that Izuku was bad either. He had all the characteristics of Yagi but was smarter! And considering, he had Watanabe as a brother, he had a feeling he'd be a Nedzu favorite too. He turned his attention back to All Might, "Tell the dangers and drawbacks,"

Yagi nodded in pain, "One danger is that, if Izuku's body is fit at the time of transfer, he might blow up," Yagi said slowly.

"What!?" Inko nearly yelled.

"But, don't worry! That's why we have been training hard, there are parameters of safety for this quirk. I will only transfer it then,"

"How can you be sure?"

"Well, seven other people had this quirk before me, so," Yagi half-deadpanned.

"Oh," Inko replied, a bit embarrassed at her outburst, "I'm still not completely onboard. I need some time to think about that, but Izuku can still train with you in the meantime,"

"Great! And, uh that's it," Yagi finished.

"Ok..." Inko said not sure what else to say, "Are they going to be training today, or should we head home?"

"Izuku needs it. However, I am in no shape to help Watanabe, today. Sorry," he groaned.

"Don't be, Imma talk with, er, what's your name old man?" Watanabe asked.

Torino laughed, "Call me Torino, kid,"

Yagi balked, "How come you didn't hit him?" Yagi yelped as he was kicked once more, "Simple, I kind of like him,"

Inko laughed slightly, "Come, Yagi-san. Since we have time, we will talk more about the transfer of One for All," she offered. Yagi nodded and followed, hunching over in pain.

"Now then," Torino said, "Care to explain how you realized I am All Might's teacher,"

Watanabe shrugged, "Firstly, Yagi-sensei was being way too respectful. I didn't even see him being so respectful in court,"

Torino almost laughed at that. Watanabe smiled and continued, "Then there was the fact, he was in obvious pain, due to his stance, he was also trembling and was leaning away from you. Then, he started talking about One for All, which meant you are someone he trusted. Due to your age, I concluded, that you are his teacher,"

"Hmm, very good! Very good indeed," Torino replied, "Now, tell me about your cousin, how good is he, truthfully,"

Watanabe nodded, "He is intelligent, way more intelligent than me. But, Aldera was bad, very bad. They bullied him for not having a quirk and humiliated him, called him a cheater if he showed the barest shreds of intelligence. Cuz, apparently quirkless don't have brains", Watanabe spat. "My grades aren't bad in itself but his is better, not to mention his analysis. On the spot, yes, I do weaknesses, and he does strengths but with the proper amount of time, he can do both, I can rarely find strengths for a quirk. The main outlier, I'd say, is that I twist the rules, Izuku is scared to, but if he snapped..." Watanabe let the silence fill out everything else. "So, ya, he is intelligent, but he hides it, tries it make himself a smaller target, and he will almost never act on it. Cuz, that's how he has been conditioned, you know. Not unless someone's life is on the line at least. People have been so cruel to him that he will blindly trust anyone who is acting like a nice guy, cuz surely if someone is being nice to the quirkless him, they must be good of heart. He has the innocent outlook of a child, I guess that's how he kept his sanity," Torino nodded, Watanabe did seem to have given an honest description of Izuku. It seemed like Yagi had gained a good successor and another good kid too.

"You are rather smart," Torino complimented, "But do you have combat skills? To be a hero you need to be at least average in all the fields," Torino said. 

"Well, I am training with Yagi Sensei and going to a dojo for martial arts. I have weights to help me as well so I think I will be able to keep up with villains," Watanabe said with determination. 

Torino nodded, "What about your quirk?" 

"Huh?" Watanabe said before grinning, "It's eye color changing," 

Torino immediately understood that Watanabe was hiding a part of what his quirk was. Torino laughed, "Smart choice kid, never tell anyone what your quirk is if possible. A lesson most heroes forget," 

Watanabe smiled kindly in reply. 

Torino didn't push any further about his actual quirk and instead moved to quiz him more about himself and Izuku. He smiled slightly, it would be interesting to see what the two cousins would do," 

The room was dimly lit, glass shattered across the floor like someone had been on a rampage. A sole monitor was hung on the wall, replaying first-hand footage of the vigilante attack. All for One growled as the footage replayed again, the blue flames burning the goons he'd hired. Those idiots from the commission had wanted Denki dead for disrespecting their 'precious' Endeavour. He had had to oblige, knowing if he didn't, they might expose him. He couldn't afford that, not yet anyway. 

He thought he would have gotten a deal out of it too, by stealing the brat's strong quirk and keeping it for himself. He might have even transferred it to some Nomus and would have gotten another body too, but that was not what happened. All For One could not understand why his plans has suddenly crashed. That article: it was the source of all this damage, albeit indirectly. It hadn't done anything to his experiments or Nomu production but his grasp on the villain society was slowly slipping away, not that one would realize from the outside but he had been playing the game for a long time, he can shifts already occurring. That Storm and Chaos, or Nedzu, or whoever it was, was going to pay dearly when he found them.

Problem was, most vigilantes had unofficially taken it upon them to ensure Storm and Chaos' protection. That blue-flamed guy, the hero hunter, Stain, and so many more. Not to mention, the villain redemption program headed by the police had received so many villains surrendering themselves, that their facilities had to be improved. For now, he would keep on with the experiments. He glanced at another monitor, that black-haired, yellow-haired, and green-haired kid... he had seen them first in the mall interview, then the Death Arms confrontation. He hadn't paid much attention then but during that Aldera case... The yellow-haired one was strong but that black-haired one seemed troublesome. Similar to how he controlled fellow villains for his dirty work, that kid had manipulated Endeavour against himself.

Then, there was the green-haired one. He didn't seem too troublesome, but he knew he must be special too to keep up with the other two, and at least one in the courtroom was the next successor of One for All. He had seen All Might's weakened form and he knew he wouldn't offer to be the typewriter for just about any case. He had to have a reason. Then again, that damn rat, Nedzu might have asked, but All for One was keeping his options open. Sadly, he couldn't get anyone to do surveillance for him at the moment, the word had been spread across the villain community, by the vigilantes "Keep clear of those kids, if you don't want to die,"

All For One chuckled slightly, things were heating up. It would be difficult now, but all the more better when he squashed hero society under his feet. As for All Might's successor, he would have to wait. No doubt they would be attending UA next year with their skill and interest from the pro heroes. He could wait till the sports festival. For now, he would work to reverse the article's effects to the best of his ability and assess the damage done. But before that, he'd give it one last shot, he'd send a team to that black-haired kid's house. Strength-wise, he could get the yellow-haired one, but the other two were capable of fighting him from behind the shadows. Nedzu had been interested in them too, so if he was right and the attack was successful, he would be wiping out Storm and Chaos tonight.

Chapter Text

"Who the heck are you?" Stain asked as he saw two shadows following him. A blue flame erupted, "My question exactly," Dabi stepped out with Toga behind him. Stain looked at Dabi for a while before smirking, "You are the one who saved the electric kid. I recognize the flames," Stain commented. "Then you should know, what I'm going to do to you," Dabi replied with menace.

Stain laughed, "Relax, we are both on the same side. I have no reason to go after you, your intentions seem better than most heroes, Vigilante-san,"

A tick grew on Dabi's head, "I am not a vigilante! I'm a villain!"

Stain looked at him with surprise, "Your actions say different. Nevertheless, I do not wish to fight with you at the moment, I assume you are here because of the news of an attack?"

Dabi nodded gruffly, "So what, you are here to protect those two as well?"

"I believe that they have proved to be better heroes than most actual heroes," Stain replied.

"Whatever, keep your reasons to yourself! If you want to help, then help," Dabi said and sped off into an alley, where he had seen a few people lurking. Toga smiled at Stain and ran after Dabi too. Dozens more appeared to try and beat Dabi and Toga. Stain shook his head but went to help. On the corner of his eye, he saw the barrel of a gun glistening. With lightning-fast reflexes, he pulled out a shorter knife and threw it, impaling the man straight in the neck, "Snipers too, huh?" he thought to himself and jumped up to the roof. He monitored the situation and saw three more snipers. Two were aiming for the house while one was trying to get Dabi and Toga. Stain smirked sadistically and made quick work of the snipers. On the ground, none of the villains were a match for Dabi's fire and Toga's sneaky blade attacks. 

Aizawa cursed to himself, Nedzu had asked him to make sure that both the Kaminari residence and Midoriya residence was protected from the flames. He had been waiting for Mic as backup but it seemed that the villains were here already. Aizawa ran across the roofs. He swerved left and saw someone drop on a sniper and throw him to the ground. The man turned around and Aizawa and he locked eyes. Without a sound, the man vanished, climbing down the side of the roof. Aizawa cursed, he didn't have time to go after him. He swerved into the main fight and flinched at the smell of burnt skin. He saw blue flames retreat around a corner. Aizawa desperately tried to catch up but they had vanished without a trace. Aizawa couldn't think too much about them as he heard shots being fired. His eyes widened and he tried to find the source from the roof. He sighed in relief, as he saw that it was the police, shooting the rest of the attacking villains. He made a mental note to report to Nedzu and went to help.

Dabi sighed as Aizawa headed in the opposite direction. He and Toga had ducked behind a dumpster, sure it wouldn't work but they had been wrong. They silently creeped out of the alley and threw away their masks and cloak. Dabi pulled up his phone and cursed, "Damn it! I missed Storm and Chaos' live chat!" 

"You are really obsessed with them huh?" Toga commented and Dabi replied haughtily, "Look who's talking!"

"What did they say?" Toga ignored her friend.

If Endeavour acted like that with children in front of a JUDGE, how does he treat his own children?
Chaos

Dabi stopped short and stood in the middle of the street, in shock. Toga stared at her friend uncomfortably, not sure what to say, "Um, you ok?" she asked trying to be compassionate. 

"I'm... fine," he lied. While Dabi's respect for Chaos had increased tenfold since he had called out Endeavour, he was in thought. Chaos didn't know how close he or she was to the truth. It had been a jab more than a theory. For a moment Dabi wondered if he should contact Storm and Chaos privately on the forums. However, he realized that Toga was standing beside him silently in uncomfortable silence. He shrugged off his thoughts temporarily, to the back of his mind, "Anyway, Storm replied it seems,"

I doubt he'd do that to his own kids, hero commission is there!
Storm

Dabi laughed, "Didn't know Storm could be sarcastic,"

Toga hummed in response, "Are you going to cut them when you meet them?" Dabi sighed and started walking again, "You really need to get over cutting people,"

Yagi stumbled around in the dark, careful not to make too much noise lest Torino wake up. His old teacher had deemed it too strenuous to take the train back and had decided to stay with Yagi. So, here he was, trying to get dressed for Izuku's training without waking up Torino. He didn't want his students to experience Torino just yet, nor did he want Torino anywhere near him. He put on his shoes and sighed with relief as the door opened silently, without a creak. He was about to leave when his phone rang out loud, making him yelp and knock off a lamp. The lamp fell with a crash. Immediately, Yagi felt his skull kicked twice, "Can't even get a good sleep," Torino grumbled, "Get the call, brat," he said and disappeared into the bathroom.

Yagi groaned in pain but picked up the call, "What is it Tsukauchi?"

"I need you to come to the station right now. There's been another attack, on Midoriya and Hattori," Tsukauchi's urgent voice replied.

Immediately, Yagi's demeanor changed, "I'll be there right away," he replied. "What's wrong?" Torino asked gruffly, coming out of the bathroom. 

"Ah, Tsukauchi was calling me to come to the station," Yagi excused.

"I'll come too," Torino said as he grabbed his coat.

"What? N-no you don't have to!" Yagi tried to excuse himself but was promptly smacked once more, "I know you are going to train those kids again. On top of that, I want to talk with Tsukauchi too. He was always smarter than you,"

"How come you like Tsukauchi so much?" Yagi replied indignantly, 

"You asked Nana and me to help train Tsukauchi for the police academy, remember? That's why you didn't mind Watanabe and Kaminari figuring out about Izuku's training. You did the same thing by telling Tsukauchi about One for All. At least, in Izuku's case, his cousin figured it out, you straight up blurted everything out," Torino laughed. Yagi grumbled as he closed the door behind him, "Why don't you try lying to someone with a lie-detector quirk?" 

Torino laughed, "Fair point," A short walk later, the two had reached the police station and found Nedzu and Aizawa waiting for them with Tsukauchi.

Aizawa gave a confused look and stared at Torino, "Who is this?" Torino twitched and sped up, kicking Aizawa in the head, "Disrespectful brat! Respect your elders!" 

Aizawa groaned in pain, "Who is this?" he demanded to Yagi. "Manners!" Torino said angrily and hit Aizawa multiple times, "Check your tone,"

"Nothing to see here," Tsukauchi chuckles nervously to the passing officers, "My office, come on," he whispered. Nedzu nodded and ushered an angry and confused Aizawa into the office.

Once they were in, Nedzu spoke, "It's a good thing, you brought Torino with you too, Yagi. Best to have more people on our side,"

Yagi nodded nervously. "How do we know we can trust him?" Aizawa interjected. Evidently, Nedzu knew this guy, but still.

Torino laughed, "I taught this idiot over here and beat into him, the little common sense that he has," he motioned to Yagi.

Aizawa's eyes widened, "You're All Might's teacher?"

"I was a teacher at UA too. Not to mention, it's only because of me and Nedzu that only part of the hero commission is corrupt,"

Aizawa went silent. This guy knew what he was talking about. To teach All Might and keep up with Nedzu, the guy must be terrifying.

"All right," Tsukauchi sighed, "Let's get on with it. Aizawa, please give me a report of the attack," 

Aizawa nodded, holding his bruised head, and gave a recollection of the events. Nedzu scowled, "The commission is taking things too far,"

"The police didn't expect to look for snipers too, they had enough manpower to take down the main assault squad. We are lucky the vigilantes in the area took care of the snipers, or who knows what would have happened,"

"What's our next course of plan?" Torino asked.

"Nothing," Tsukauchi replied.

"Nothing?" Nedzu asked confused.

"Yes. The police commissioner told me he has an undercover cop planted. Apparently, they can't get anyone to take up their assassination jobs at the moment because they are scared of being fried to death,"

"And you are sure of this?" Nedzu asked.

Tsukauchi nodded, "The commissioner is a good guy, he's not against us, otherwise, he'd have wanted to keep you out of this, Nedzu. But he did order us to not do anything for now. Just asked Nedzu and All Might to win heroes to our side,"

"This plan might go bad at any moment. While the article on quirk discrimination was important, it also weakened society's belief in heroes. One wrong move and the commission can turn on us by calling us an uprising," Torino assessed.

Nedzu sighed, "We best lay low for now then. Don't garner too much attention. All Might, play to their wishes so that they think they have you fooled too. Endeavour is a lost cause. I will handle the other top heroes. Aizawa, select your most trustworthy underground heroes and help Tsukauchi with everything," 

Aizawa nodded, "Is that it?"

"Yes. Aizawa come, let's go. It's suspicious for us to meet suddenly with the police," Nedzu said. Aizawa nodded and exited the office with him. Once the door had closed, Torino smiled to Tsukauchi, "So, how have you been,"

"Good. I see you have been tormenting Toshinori," 

"Not any more than he deserved,"

Tsukauchi laughed. Yagi pouted, "I thought you were my friend,"

"I'm more scared of Torino-sensei, thanks,"

"And here I was telling you are my favorite," Torino replied with mock sadness in his voice.

Tsukauchi laughed, "I owe you for training me for the police and detective exams,"

"Well, it seems you two have a lot to talk about, so I'll just be going," Yagi tried to dump Torino on his friend. But Torino slapped his arm away before he could reach the handle, "You aren't getting away that easy. I'm going to train those 3 kids. Naomasa, let's go,"

"What? Why?" Tsukauchi argued.

"You need exercise. You must have gotten too slow,"

"But I-" Tsukauchi started but was hit several times by Torino, "Wasn't asking you to,"

Yagi smirked evilly at his friend who just gulped in fear.

"Why are you two laughing?" Izuku asked.

"Are you seriously telling me, your comment as Storm on the forums wasn't sarcastic?" Kaminari asked.

"No! I meant it! Why are people calling it sarcastic?"

"Izu, even the people on the forum hate hero commission so much that they thought you are being sarcastic. You should have asked me," Watanabe said.

"Whatever the reason, you aren't supposed to be awake at 3 A.M,"

"Ah, Yagi-sensei!" Kaminari yelped, "When did you get here? Why is the Aldera detective here?"

"You can call me Tsukauchi," Naomasa replied.

Yagi sighed, "Torino-sensei asked him to be here," 

"Ah, you are Torino-sensei. Nice to meet you. Izuku and Watanabe were talking about you a lot yesterday," 

Torino smiled, "See, this one has proper manners, and what about you two,"

"Are you training us today?" Watanabe asked.

"Correction: I'm training all of you!" Torino said.

"You might get hurt, old man," Denki said worryingly.

Torino smacked Denki hard on the head, "Who are you calling old? I trained All Might and Naomasa!"

"Wh-what!?"

"He isn't lying. All Might told me about him," Yagi half-lied. Denki stood in awe.

Torino ignored him, "Today all 5 of you have to try and keep dodging me. No fighting back or anything,"

"That's a bit too easy," Watanabe said.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, I can use my quirk, but you can't use yours!" Torino grinned.

"I knew I should have taken a holiday," Naomasa grumbled.

"When do we start?" Izuku asked hesitantly and was immediately kicked back, "Now," Torino smiled evilly.

Bakugou had a slight scowl on his face. Apparently, Inko and his mom had decided he needed to do community service. He did tell that he felt bad about what he did to Izuku, so why the hell did he need to this shit. At last, Mitsuki pulled into a run-down neighborhood, "Let's go brat!"

Bakugou didn't bother to fight and just followed her into a building that seemed to be faring better than the other ones in the area. His eyes widened when he saw Gang Orca there.

"Ah, Mitsuki-san, this is your son, I believe?" Orca asked.

"Yes, sorry we ran a little late,"

"It's fine. I'll take care of him for now,"

Mitsuki nodded, "Please make sure he doesn't do something stupid again,"

"Of course, you and Inko-san have discussed his situation and I'm willing to help,"

Mitsuki nodded and left, but not before giving Bakugou a stern glance. Katsuki ignored her, he was more interested in the fact that Gang Orca would be helping him. Normally, he'd go on bragging that the number 10 hero was teaching him, but he knew that that wasn't the case here.

"Sit down," Orca said gruffly. Bakugou obliged.

"Alright, everyone. Welcome to our community outreach program. For those who are new, my agency provides quirk counseling in poorer areas to help you control your quirks. We also help those with, 'villainous' quirks," Orca emphasized, "Not only that, we help in villain and vigilante rehabilitation too. So, as usual, introduce yourself, your quirk, and why you are here. Don't be shy,"

"Ok, uh, my name is Kawari. I have a gigantification quirk. I'm here because I used to be a villain because everyone kept telling me my quirk is villainous. But then, I saw Mt. Lady and told her about my situation and she brought me here for help,"

Katsuki grunted under his breath, "Weak quirk," Kawari twitched but didn't do anything under Orca's eye. "Next," Orca said.

"My name's Kawatsume. My quirk is an animal mutant where I can turn into a bat. People call me a villain too but I'm excited to learn how to use my quirk otherwise," he said excitedly. Bakugou muttered something again, but Kawatsume picked it up with his enhanced ears and scowled. He moved towards him but Orca stopped him. "Next, Bakugou," he said with menace.

Bakugou scoffed, "I am Bakugou Katsuki. My quirk is explosion. My mom made me come here but it doesn't matter because I will be the number 1 hero. I will be strongest!"

Orca didn't say anything, mainly because the other started laughing, "Ahaha. Really, Orca-san? This brat wants to be a hero? We'd make better heroes!"

"Even his quirk isn't special. What did he do against the slime villain, huh?" Another said.

"Heh, even my quirk is explosion. Guess I'll be the next number 1 hero then," Someone else pointed out. The other participants started laughing with each other and laid into Bakugou who kept getting angrier, "SHUT UP YOU EXTRAS!" he finally snapped. Immediately, the room turned hostile but Orca interrupted, "Bakugou, like it or not, they are right. At the moment, your attitude is more villainous than anyone here. Even their quirks would enable them to maybe become better heroes than you can."

Bakugou opened his mouth to argue but Orca put up his hand, "I don't want to hear it. You are lucky your mother brought you here before you actually became a villain," Orca said harshly. Bakugou shut his mouth. Orca smiled slightly, seemed like hearing it from a top hero was doing the job.

"I will help you to correct your attitude and I expect you to change by yourself too, is that understood?" Orca said. Bakugou nodded. "Good," Orca said and added one last thing, "We don't need another Endeavour,"

Tsukauchi sighed, "How did this happen again?" he asked.

Sansa huffed, "Well, the court sentenced Endeavour to community service in the form of manual labor due to his, er, quirk issues. Anyway, we held a lottery of underemployed construction sites to see who would get him as an employee, except everyone was deathly scared of him. So, we chose the company which needed labor the most but they didn't want him either, so we gave them permission to defend themselves with their quirk if needed and also cuffed him with quirk suppressing cuffs. After that, I have no clue how this happened."

Tsukauchi nodded and turned to the owner, "And, could you fill in what happened after?"

He nodded, "Well, my family was scared of Endeavour but I decided to try and have him work but instead he ended up shouting and was about to attack us but my daughter got spooked and used her quirk,"

"And what is her quirk?"

"Zero gravity," he said rubbing the back of his head.

"Makes sense," Tsukauchi said and looked up at the floating Endeavour high up in the air, "Sansa, where is Eraserhead?"

"Right here," Aizawa grunted. 

"Oh good, can you please nullify her quirk?" Sansa asked motioning towards Uraraka who seemed to be on the verge of puking.

Aizawa glanced lazily at Tsukauchi, "You know, he's going to fall to his death if I nullify the quirk, not to mention, I shouldn't use my quirk in front of the media,"

Tsukauchi twitched, "What are we supposed to do then?"

Right then, Hawks appeared from nowhere and swooped in bringing Endeavour turned to the ground, "You can release your quirk now," Hawks said kindly to Uraraka who nodded and released the quirk.

"What are you doing here?" Aizawa asked.

"Ah, the hero commission sent me,"

Aizawa nodded, "Is Hawks on their side too, then?" Aizawa thought but could not mull over it as Endeavour had gotten onto his feet and immediately headed towards Uraraka, "YOU INSOLENT BRAT!" he screamed. Aizawa readied his scarfs to hold back Endeavour, in case something happened. However, what happened next was instantaneous. Uraraka puked on Endeavour because of the quirk drawbacks and Tsukauchi tased Endeavour in fear of what he would do. Hawks stood in surprise and the media went silent. The silence was broken by Aizawa sipping his juice packet with a broad grin on his face, "Well that was interesting," Sansa smirked.

Uraraka heard the door being knocked on and opened it, "Um, who are you?" she asked.

"Hi, my name is Midoriya Inko, could I come in and talk to your parents?"

"Uh, I don't really know you though,"

Uraraka's father came to the door, "Excuse me, what do you need?"

"Hi, my name is Midoriya Inko. I'm a lawyer,"

Mr. Ochaco's face paled, "Are you here because of Endeavour?"

"No, no, I'm here to help you against Endeavour. You may know me from the Aldera case,"

"Oh, yes. Please, come in," 

"Thank you," Inko said and entered the house. Her first honest impression was that they were really poor. The parents looked quite hungry but their daughter seemed to be well-fed even though the clothes were a bit tarnished.

"Please, tell us what you need to talk about?" Mr. Ochaco said.

"I would like to help you, to charge Endeavour for child assault and emotional abuse," Inko said seriously.

Uraraka's parents shared a look. Her father sighed, "We really don't want to get into that much trouble. We just think it might be bad for us,"

Inko stared at him straight in the eye, "You can get a huge settlement. He has already been convicted once, so this second conviction might land him in jail but it will at least force him to pay a huge amount to you,"

Uraraka looked up with hope at her parents who held their breath before nodding to each other, "What do we have to do?"

Chapter Text

"Your stance is not good enough. Straighten your back more. The enemy can easily rush past you if you stand that crooked," Yoroi shouted at Watanabe who replied, "Yes sensei!" Yoroi was a strict teacher, but he did train them properly and made sure they were ready, "Izuku, good job. You have improved drastically. You are still not close to Watanabe's weight lifting capabilities but your quirk should be enough. Have you mastered it yet?"

"I am close to it sensei!"

"Good. Denki, no, no. Here, give me that staff. You only have a week left till the entrance exams, you shouldn't be making these mistakes. Especially you Watanabe. These two can go for brute force if nothing else, you need technique and muscle power to hold a chance,"

Watanabe nodded. Denki moved to Yoroi to fix his staff handling, "Look carefully. If you can master this, you can use an iron rod to improve your combat skills by transmitting electricity through it," Yoroi pointed out as he showed him the proper way to use the staff. "Watanabe that's enough. Spar with me now. You can use your quirk, come on now!"

"You guys took a long time," Yagi commented.

"Sorry sensei. Yoroi-sensei wanted some more time to correct Watanabe's stances. The spar also took up quite some time and he had to wash off the blood after," Izuku excused.

"Blood?" Torino asked.

"To be fair, I think he was just pissed I missed my kick and broke the floor tiles," Watanabe replied. Yagi sweatdropped, "Sure, that's all you did. Inko-san, glad to see you are here too," 

Inko nervously nodded, "Yes, you are sure his body is ready?"

"100%. Torino-sensei checked too," Yagi said brightly, "Speaking of, did Denki think it was weird, that I wasn't going to train him today?"

"No, we just told him that you gave us the weekend off to rest for the entrance exam and then sneaked here," Watanabe replied uncomfortably. He didn't feel great about lying to his friend but it was up to Izuku to tell Kaminari. Izuku had also been worried that Kaminari would be disappointed in him for not telling him about One for All but he couldn't betray All Might's trust either.

Yagi nodded, "Now, are you ready, young Izuku?"

Izuku nodded with determination, "Good, now eat this," Yagi said holding out his hair in All Might form. Izuku stared indecorously. Watanabe's face puffed up as he tried to contain his laughter and Inko just stood with her mouth open.

"Well, actually it doesn't matter, as long as my DNA is transferred to you. The hair is the best one. I doubt you would like my blood,"

Izuku didn't say anything. Watanabe stared like Yagi was joking. "Now, come here!" Yagi held Izuku tightly.

"AHHHH," Izuku screamed. Yagi forced the hair into Izuku's mouth and made him swallow before letting him go. Izuku moved like a doll for a while before puking into the ground. Watanabe chuckled slightly. "Why don't you try eating hair?" Izuku pointed out.

"I'm not an idiot like you," Watanabe said with a grin, "I would have just gotten a blood transfusion instead," 

Izuku gaped like a fish while Yagi fisted his hand, "Oh yeah, that should have worked too,"

"Well, we might have different blood types," Izuku said.

"A drop of blood wouldn't be enough to agglutinate, but probably enough for quirk transfer,"

"Yes but the-"

"You can theorize later on. Let's see the quirk," Torino interrupted.

"Ah, Torino-sensei, Recovery Girl said that it would take up to three hours before the quo activates since the stomach needs to digest it," All Might replied.

"So, we just wait till then?" Izuku asked.

"Yes," All Might said and stood in silence with Torino, Izuku, Watanabe, and Inko.

"Soo, theorize?" Izuku asked.

"Theorize," Watanabe replied.

Three hours later

"But see red blood cells don't have DNA,"

"You have white blood cells which do!" Watanabe argued.

"Well, that's three hours so now please, shut up! You have been talking about quirk transfer theory for way too long." Yagi snapped. Inko seemed to have fallen asleep a while back.

"Oh right. I guess we have been talking about that for a while," Watanabe rubbed the back of his head.

"A while is an understatement," Torino drawled lazily, "Now, get on with it and use the quirk,"

"Right," Izuku said and stood flexing his muscles. Everyone waited in anticipation, "How do I use it again?" Izuku asked slowly. Everyone fell face flat to the ground, "Just try to power up," All Might said. "What do you think I'm doing?" Izuku complained.

Torino sighed, "This isn't going to work," he sped up and kicked Izuku hard and then threw him in the air with his momentum. Watanabe's eyes widened, "What the-" he stated with panic.

"Just watch!" Torino ordered. Inko woke up to Izuku screaming, "IZUKU!" she screamed in terror. "AHHHHH!" Izuku screamed, "What do I do? What do I do?" Izuku panicked. Yagi got into his All Might form ready to catch Izuku. A few moments before Izuku came down hard, he instinctively punched at the ground releasing a huge gust of wind, propelling Izuku even higher. "Alright, that's enough," Yagi said and jumped into the air scooping Izuku down, "His hand's broken," he said. 

"We have to take him to the hospital," Watanabe said, worrying over his brother.

"Not to worry, I asked Recovery Girl and she agreed to help us," Yagi apologized, "We'll go right away,"

"Alright we are here," Yagi said as he stopped in front of UA's entrance. Yagi swiped in his card and the doors opened allowing him to drive through. Izuku watched in amazement as they drove through UA and stopped in front of the nurse's office. "Izuku," Inko said snapping him out of his amazement.

"Oh, sorry, I was just..."

"It's ok, come. Get out slowly, watch your hand,"

Yagi lead them into Recovery girl's office, "Recovery Girl, how have you been doing?"

"Toshinori. How have your injuries been?" Chiyo asked.

"Well, nothing in the past year,"

"That's only because you found a successor and decided to look after yourself to train him. Where is he anyway, I'm guessing he broke something since Torino is here too,"

"It wasn't my fault," Torino replied.

"You threw him to the air," Watanabe sweatdropped.

"But it was his quirk that broke his arms," Torino pointed out.

"Enough. The one clutching his hand is Izuku, I am guessing," Chiyo said, "Come here," she ordered. Izuku gulped and sat on the bed next to her. Chiyo used her quirk on him and said, "Now, go to sleep. I fixed your arm but you will need sleep to regain the energy needed to heal it,"

"B-but,"

"No buts! Sleep! Toshinori got a successor just like him. I expect you'll break more bones when you get to UA too," Chiyo grumbled.

"I'd listen if I were you," Torino said while Yagi nodded sagely beside him. Izuku gulped and nodded. Someone who scared even Torino was no one to mess with. In a few moments, Izuku fell asleep.

"You are his mother?" Chiyo asked.

"Ah, yes," 

"Please get some sense into the kid before Toshinori corrupts him," Chiyo said. Yagi spluttered while Inko laughed. "You have been too quiet, Something on your mind?" Torino asked Watanabe who nodded, "Yagi-sensei, is there an open field here anywhere?"

"Hm, there are. Why?"

"Can I test something on your quirk? We need it to be outside in case it doesn't work,"

"Uh, sure. Izuku probably needs some time to wake up too," Yagi said and ushered Watanabe to follow him. "Hold on, I'm coming too. I don't trust you Toshinori. And the things you have told me about this one doesn't make me want to trust him either," Chiyo said and got up, "Inko-san, please yell if Izuku wakes up. I still have to some checkups," Inko nodded. Chiyo, Torino, and Watanabe followed Yagi to an open field.

"Wait, how many people have you gossiped to about us?" Watanabe asked Yagi who laughed, "Just Recovery Girl and Nedzu."

"Right. What did he tell you about me?" Watanabe asked Chiyo with worry. Chiyo smirked, "I think I'd better keep that as leverage. In case you get out of hand, that is if you get to UA," Watanabe grumbled at that. "Right, we're here," Yagi stopped in the middle of a field, "What did you want to do?"

Watanabe activated his quirk and switched through X-ray and infrared vision, "Right, keep still. This might hurt... or maybe not, let's see. Get into your All Might form." he said vaguely. Yagi sweatdropped. Watanabe took a step back and launched himself at All Might's right arm and jabbed strongly at it. All Might doubled over in pain and groaned, "Er, sorry about that. But can you use your arm right now?" All Might got up and tried to move his right arm but couldn't. His eyes furrowed, "No, I can't even feel it,"

"in other words, since you can't move your hands, you can't use your quirk either," Watanabe pointed out.

Yagi nodded, "What did you do?" he asked intrigued.

Watanabe hit Yagi once more in the arm but this time, more gently, "Pressure points. I cut off the blood supply to your arm. If your blood supply is cut off, your arm will be incapable of moving, so you can't use your quirk. Your arm falls asleep and your quirk is pretty much useless,"

Yagi stiffened, the power that had defeated All for One... to think it had such an obvious weakness, "How did you learn to do it?" Torino asked as Yagi stretched his arms to relieve some of the pain. Even Recovery Girl was impressed, it wasn't every day you saw someone using biological facts to shut off the number 1 hero's quirk.

"At the dojo. Yoroi-sensei taught me all the pressure points since my X-ray allows me to see the points more easily. As long as I can put enough force on to the point, I'll be able to do this. It's a second-grade erasure quirk really," Watanabe laughed.

Torino was smirking, this kid was full of surprises. Yagi took out his phone, hearing the message notification go off, "Excuse me, I'll be right back,"

"I'm guessing you had CCTV cameras set up there?" Yagi asked, entering Nedzu's office.

"Obviously. I must say, that was some quick thinking from Watanabe," Nedzu commented.

Yagi sighed, "Yes. I was surprised to hear how he did it but also proud of him. However, in battle, the enemy won't just stay in one place for him,"

"I am sure he has taken that into account. Or at least Izuku pointed it out. That's why he has so many weights and is learning martial arts," Nedzu replied. He sipped his tea and smirked to Yagi, "It's fascinating that so many strong quirks can be shut off by just striking a pressure point. However, his quirk does aid him in that,"

Yagi nodded.

"Now, the main reason I called you is to remind you that you cannot mention anything about the entrance exams to either of the three,"

"Of course, that goes without saying," Yagi replied.

Nedzu nodded, "Good, also since they are not UA students, I am afraid I cannot allow them to train with their quirks here, at this moment. They don't have a pass either. And neither you or UA should be accused of favoritism. Therefore, I am afraid Izuku will have to explore One for All outside of school grounds. More tea?" Nedzu finished.

Yagi twitched.

Yagi had offered to drive them back to their home. Torino had hitched a ride too, "You'll have to get your quirk under control before the entrance exam," Torino commented.

"I am trying to think of a way to minimize the damage. I'd say that it would have been easy to control if I used the quirk in one area. But while I was in the air, I only used the quirk in my hand. I don't think I can bring the level down any further than I could while we were at UA,"

"Don't worry, we still have a week to figure it out," Yagi comforted.

"Izuku," Watanabe said with a smile.

"Hmm?"

"You're an idiot," 

"H-huh? Why?"

"Let's explain it this way. Your quirk is hot soup. If you put it in a glass, it will take longer to cool down, but if you put it in a wide bowl, it will cool down faster. So, theoretically, if you use your quirk across your whole body, it will be easier to control,"

"Oh," Izuku said simply, "Yeah that should work. Right Yagi-sensei?"

Yagi nodded, "It's worth a try,"

Izuku turned to his cousin with a teasing smirk, "You better up your game. Kaminari and I are going to leave you in the dust at this rate,"

Watanabe returned a smirk of his own, "I would rethink that. While you were sleeping, I figured out how to shut off One for All,"

"Hmph, as if," Izuku replied but a glance from Torino made his face drop, "Really! How?"

Watanabe chuckled, only Izuku could remain enthusiastic while someone told him how his quirk could be defeated, "I shut off blood supply to All Might's arm. Without blood, the arm fell asleep, so that he couldn't move it. Since the quirk works by transferring energy, cutting off blood will stop the quirk as well. Without blood, no oxygen flow, without oxygen, mitochondria don't work any longer and no energy flow," Watanabe explained,"

"Whoa. I remember Yoroi-sensei talking about that but it's easier for you because you can just your X-ray vision to find the pressure points," Izuku said, a bit disappointed.

"Yeah, so in response to your earlier comment, I can shut off your quirk, and the number 1 hero's quirk. So, I don't think you or Kaminari are going to leave me in the dust. Wait, can I turn of Kaminari's quirk? So many possibilities," Watanabe grinned sadistically.

"But, I can still kick you to the moon can't I," Izuku declared.

Yagi nodded sagely and Torino twitched, "That didn't occur to you!?" He shouted at his student.

"Fine, I'll just shut off your heart," Watanabe replied.

"That's why I'm going to get chest plates," Izuku grinned. 

"Doesn't matter, you'll break your bones by the time you do anything," Watanabe grinned.

"Well, I can still punch you into the ground before that,"

"I can dodge,"

"No, you can't!"

"Yes, I can!"

"Enough!" Inko shouted.

"Boy, mom coached you well," Watanabe replied. Izuku giggled. Inko smacked them both lightly, "Seems you were right," Izuku said to his causing earning both of them two more smacks.

Chapter Text

"Right, so, the entrance exam is tomorrow," Kaminari sighed.

"Yeah," Watanabe said, "Sort of nervous," he chuckled.

"YOU are nervous?" Izuku deadpanned.

"Well, yeah. I mean you two have super cool quirks useful for combat and stuff,"

"Dude, you whooped Izuku's ass when you two sparred. Granted he can use more power if required but it comes with the cost of his bones," Kaminari replied.

"I guess. Wish Yagi-sensei would tell us something," Watanabe said.

"That would be bad for him and cheating," Kaminari said.

"Speaking of cheating, Watanabe and I have figured something out," Izuku said. 

"What is it?" 

"Well, if they don't specify a no-cheating rule for the written exam, I think we can cheat," Watanabe replied.

"Won't they throw us out?" Kaminari asked.

"Principal Nedzu likes to trick people. During last year's press conference, he told the public about some of the methods he tests the candidates. Cheating might be a measure of information gathering," Izuku replied.

"We're not sure if the practical exam will be the same though, if only there was a way to know," Watanabe groaned. 

Kaminari smiled mischievously. "Wait, why are you smiling?" Izuku asked.

"You two aren't the only ones who figured out parts of the exam," Kaminari grinned, "You see, while Yagi-sensei won't tell us anything, Torino-sensei can,"

"Wait, did you-"

"Yup! I asked Torino-sensei. He didn't know anything obviously since he's no longer a teacher. But he told us that Nedzu doesn't lie. He will twist stuff but he won't lie. So, the robots are going to be there, but there will also be another twist,"

Watanabe shed a fake tear, "My students. How much they have grown!"

Izuku and Kaminari twitched, "SHUT UP!"

The next morning

Izuku, Kaminari, and Watanabe stood in front of the UA gates, "Good luck. Doubt they'll let us sit together," Watanabe said.

Izuku and Denki nodded and the three started walking. All of them were thinking about the exams when... Izuku tripped. Watanabe stuck his hand out to catch him, but Izuku didn't fall, he just sort of... floated? Watanabe looked beside to see a round-faced girl, "Sorry, for using my quirk on you but tripping into the ground would be bad luck, right?" she said before releasing her quirk making him land back to the ground.

Izuku turned red and started stuttering causing both Denki and Watanabe to almost burst into laughter, "He means to say thank you," Watanabe said, taking mercy on his cousin.

"Oh, welcome. Good luck to you. Not that you need it. You are the guys who knocked out Endeavour in the court right?"

Kaminari nodded enthusiastically, "Yup. Aren't you the one who floated him and then puked on him?"

"Well... that was an accident," Uraraka said embarrassed.

"It was dope!" Watanabe grinned.

"Thanks. We should get going," Uraraka said. Watanabe nodded and pushed Izuku along with him. They came to a hallway full of rooms with a chart next to it, "Guess we split up here," Kaminari said catching his name, "We're in different rooms for the test,"

"Well, good luck then. By the way, Kaminari, use fear tactics," Watanabe said.

"Huh?" Both Izuku and Denki asked confused.

"I doubt many people would like to go up against the guy who knocked out the number 2 hero," Watanabe grinned as he entered his exam room. Kaminari shook his head and chuckled, "Well, see you, Izu," 

"Yeah, good luck Denki," With that the three split up to their respective exam rooms. Izuku entered his room to find Ectoplasm and his clones standing at the front, "Please get to your designated seat," Ectoplasm or one of his clones said. Izuku tried not to swoon over the hero and quietly sat down. After the seats filled up, Ectoplasm spoke in an authoritative voice, "In 5 minutes, your exam papers will be handed out. You will have 2 hours and 30 minutes to complete them. Once time is up, you will stop writing or your marks are deducted. This is the rule. My clones are in all of the exam rooms to ensure none of you break the rules,"

Izuku nodded, "So, we can cheat. The only rule is that we stop writing as soon as time is up," Izuku grimaced. The papers were handed out. Izuku picked up his pen and held it ready.

"Your time starts... now!"

"You sure about this," Aizawa asked.

"Yes," Nedzu replied, "We will be measuring the information gathering and surveillance capability of the candidates. Ectoplasm did not tell that cheating is not allowed, therefore it's perfectly ok to cheat,"

"Will the students realize that?" Kan asked.

"They should. Strength is not everything. You need to be smart too,"

"Are quirks allowed to be used?" Ectoplasm's main body asked.

Nedzu nodded, "Yes. Now, let's see who cheats and how. Remember normal methods of cheating like a side glance will also work. Sometimes the simplest method is the best at gathering information,"

Ectoplasm nodded.

Watanabe smirked, it seemed like cheating was allowed. He turned on his X-ray vision and discreetly looked around. His sight went through most of the papers so he had to look at the furthest papers to actually see what was being written. Watanabe almost groaned in annoyance, he hadn't thought this through. It seemed like it would be harder than expected to cheat through the exam. Good thing, Inko had made sure he and Kaminari actually studied. He looked up once more to copy off one of the answers he didn't know. He caught the outline of a few of the letters and wrote down the answer. He caught Ectoplasm staring at him and smiled slightly.

Kaminari scratched his head in anxiety. He knew most of the answers but he had to guess a few of them. He had tried to cheat as well but the people next to him were even more clueless than him. At least he was sure he would get more than 60% so that was something. He'd just have to do better in the practical.

Izuku finished the exam 15 minutes early. The questions were quite easy and he didn't even have to cheat. He was sure he had the written exam in the bag. All that he needed now was to ace the practical exam. "Time's up," Ectoplasm shouted. At once everyone put down their pens. A few tried to write more but their papers were taken quickly by Ectoplasm, "You can go to the cafeteria for lunch now. Afterward, you are all to go to room 107 for the practical exam," Ectoplasm dismissed them.

Izuku rushed out of the room and headed to the cafeteria. There were a lot of people there, some were sitting on the floors. He grabbed his lunch and luckily found a solitary table in the corner. After a while, Watanabe and Kaminari entered too. They waved at Izuku before grabbing their lunch, "So, how was your exam," Izuku asked.

"Dreadful," Kaminari replied, "I know I'll get at least 60% but wish I could have done better. You probably finished 10 minutes early with all the questions answered, didn't you?"

Izuku laughed in response, "Yeah, what about you Watanabe?"

"It was great. I copied the answers I couldn't get using my X-ray vision,"

"Lucky guy," Kaminari grumbled.

"Not really. I couldn't see most of the papers because my sight went through them. So, I had to rely on the people furthest from me, so that I could at least see the paper without it being penetrated,"

"Still, you got to cheat! The ones near me were even more clueless than me!" Denki declared.

"Ouch! They told me to got to  room 107 after lunch. What about you guys?" Watanabe asked.

"Same," Both Izuku and Denki said, "I guess they don't want to waste any time explaining it to every one of us," Denki said,"

"Well, have you gotten who all might have cheated?" Nedzu asked.

"Yes, we have made a list of the students who cheated to add extra marks for information gathering," Snipe said.

Nedzu nodded, "Good, we will re-watch the cameras to ensure we didn't miss anyone. Is Mic done with explaining the practical exam?"

Ectoplasm nodded, "You sure it's a good idea to spring up a twist on them without saying anything?"

"A pro-hero needs to be able to comb through the information they get and determine which is true and which is false and whether they are missing any information,"

"Aizawa is right. Really I am surprised you didn't understand what the practical exam was actually about before," Nedzu laughed.

Aizawa grunted under his breath. "Still, isn't it cruel to drop a twist on unsuspecting students,"

"What do you think All Might?" Nedzu asked.

"Ah, well, UA is the top hero school. Nedzu told the media the secret behind UA's entrance exam last year. It makes no sense for the exam to be the same this year. If they didn't see the exam changing, they aren't very smart,"

Aizawa stared at Yagi, he was acting surprisingly smarter than the rest of the teachers. He thought the number 1 hero was slightly... idiotic, for lack of a better word.

"Why did we need to keep the robots?" Midnight asked.

"We still need to measure their strength and combat skill. Speaking of, the contestants have started already," Nedzu replied.

Yagi watched Izuku's screen with pride. Watanabe had been right, flowing One for All to his entire body had helped him control his quirk without breaking his bones. He was crushing the robots left and right without a thought. Yagi smiled as he saw Izuku save someone from being crushed by a robot. Ectoplasm's clone quickly marked an extra mark for rescue.

He turned to see how Kaminari was doing and was pleased to see him weaving in and out of the robots and use his electricity to overload the circuits. "Pretty useful quirk. I doubt it's easy to control an electricity quirk," Ectoplasm commented. Yagi nodded slightly, Torino's moves had helped Kaminari immensely it seems. 

"Is that boy cheating?" Yagi heard Powerloader shout. Yagi turned to see who he was talking about and sighed. Of course, it was Watanabe. It seemed like he was using his X-ray vision to pinpoint the robots' weak points and was then using his martial arts to break the robots down.

Fortunately, Ectoplasm corrected him, "Relax, he might just have a quirk that shows him weak points," Well at least it wasn't that far from the truth.

Izuku smashed another robot. This was getting fun and was feeling quite easy. Sure, with only 2% of One for All, his strength wasn't even as good as Watanabe's but it was enough to crush the robots. Suddenly a huge robot appeared out of nowhere. Izuku sweatdropped, "I know they warned us about it, but isn't that a bit overboard," he muttered.

He turned to run like the others but heard someone scream. He turned to see Uraraka trapped under a few rocks. Izuku froze for a few moments. His first thought was to smash the robot but he knew he didn't have enough strength to do that. So, he used his quirk to break the rubble and escape with Uraraka.

In the monitoring room, Aizawa's eyes widened as he realized why those kids looked familiar. He had met them during the Endeavour case! "How did I not recognise them before!?" Aizawa muttered angrily under his breath but Nedzu heard him and smirked, "Lots of potential right Aizawa?"

Aizawa ignored Nedzu, "Wait, wasn't the green-haired one quirkless? That's why there was even a case,"

It was Nedzu's turn to steer the conversation elsewhere, "Oh look at that, it's time for phase 2,"

Izuku stood confused as walls rose around him, Uraraka and a blue-haired, spectacle wearing boy. Izuku deduced that he had an engine quirk due to his legs. 

Nedzu's cheery voice resonated, "Welcome to phase 2 of the practical exam!"

Chapter Text

"As you have noticed, you are all trapped in teams of three," Nedzu's voice echoed, "Your objective is to escape. You will be evaluated individually. You have ten minutes," Nedzu's voice cut off.

Watanabe twitched as the speakers cut off. It was obvious that Nedzu was trying to turn them on each other. Unfortunately, it seemed like it would work. The guy he was trapped in with seemed arrogant and egoistic. He was right, "Heh, stupid UA. They can't even trap three people together properly. Guess, I just have to get rid of you!" The guy said and lunged towards Watanabe.

Watanabe cursed and dodged the jabs. He groaned as one of the punches connected with his arm and sent him flying. Watanabe noticed his opponent had tiny holes at the ends of his limbs. He purposely tried to rush him and was sent flying back again, "Propulsion system on his arms, so that's his quirk. Either his quirk doesn't work on his legs or he isn't adept at using them. I will just have to dodge and block for now," Watanabe thought as he got back up on his feet. As he fought with his opponent, he tried to figure out the test. If he incapacitated this guy, would he fail? Or would he be excused since it was self-defense? Nedzu did say they would be judged individually. He turned on his X-ray and his eyes widened, "Look, come on man. Just listen! They want us to fight. We are supposed to work together to get out of this!"

"Heh, as if. You just want me to stop so you can catch me off-guard!" He replied and lunged at Watanabe who had had enough and ducked below the punch before uppercutting him, "I can get him up later," he muttered.

Watanabe jumped back and jabbed strongly at the air. There was a cough and a thud, "How did you see me!?" A female voice demanded.

"My quirk. Look, we both know you can't take me out. You probably rely on stealth. Can we please work together to pass?" Watanabe asked.

"...Pervert!"

"What! No-no, I'm using X-ray, I can just see your bones!"

"O-oh. Sorry,"

"Thanks. Er, what's your name?"

"Hagakure,"

"I'm Watanabe,"

"Tell me what you have in mind,"

"I spotted three different hand scanners underneath the walls. My guess is we are supposed to scan our hands together,"

"Fine, that's good and all, but how do we get this guy to do it. You knocked him out,"

"Yeah, and I doubt he would help if we got him back up," Watanabe guffawed.

"Can we just pull him there and make him rest his hand on the scanner?" Hagakure offered. 

"Let's try," Watanabe said. The two pulled the unconscious body and heaved him up against the wall and put his hand up to the scanner, "Ok, let him go," Watanabe said. Immediately the guy fell down.

Watanabe sighed, "We're screwed,"

"I might have an idea," Hagakure offered, "What if we go and scan our hands and then throw a rock at him to wake him up. He'll instinctively put his hand on the panel as support and we'll pass,"

"Worth a try I guess," Watanabe said and the two walked to their individual scanners. They put their hands on the scanners and both picked up a rock from the rubble below their feet. They hesitantly nodded and threw the rocks at the guy, hitting him straight in the head. The guy groaned but didn't get up. Watanabe twitched, "Now what?"

"Hit him till he gets up!"

Watanabe nodded and both picked up rocks again. Two or three hits later, he finally grunted. He groggily got up like he was dizzy. He put his hand on the panel for support. Immediately, the walls started dropping, "Congratulations! You pass!" An automated voice said.

"He passed, but his marks will be deducted," Aizawa commented.

Nedzu nodded, "Throwing rocks wasn't the best idea really. Nor was knocking him out immediately,"

Nemuri sweat dropped at the casual way the two talked. 

Kaminari cursed. He had to get trapped with the flame quirk and earth quirk guy. Both of them had decided that Kaminari was way stronger and had teamed up to get him first. He had to fight back with his quirk to not get knocked out but didn't use enough electricity to knock them out. He groaned as earthen armor flung him into a wall. A panel fell off. "Look, a panel! There has to be 2 more! We have to work together!"

"The hell we do! Thought the guy who knocked out Endeavour would be better," The one with the flame quirk said. Kaminari winced as his hand was burnt, "Alright, time to go for a nap!" Kaminari snapped and electrocuted both of them.

"If I can find the other two panels, they'll work with me," Kaminari muttered and started examining the walls. He found the panels and uncovered them. "1 minute left!" Kaminari cursed, he didn't have time to wait for the two to wake up. "This better work," Kaminari said before letting out an electric storm. The circuits overloaded and the wall started falling down, "Congratulations you pass!"

"Problem children," Aizawa muttered.

"Potential!" Nedzu replied.

Izuku half-smiled. They were right, Nedzu had pulled a twist. His choice of words was vague and unclear, making it seems as if they were to fight each other.

Uraraka stumbled about, still suffering from the drawbacks of her quirk, "I don't think I can fight anymore,"

"I'm sorry it has come to this. You seem like a good person. I saw you rescue her too, but I am afraid I must win," Iida said and readied himself. He was glad Uraraka was out of action. Anyone who could send the number 2 hero flying was definitely strong.

"Wait! Look we have 10 minutes! Just let's discuss this for 5?" Izuku asked in an authoritative tone. Living with Watanabe had brought him out of his shell. While he wished Watanabe was a bit more caring about his feelings sometimes, he knew it was too much to expect. Watanabe hadn't gone through the same things as he and didn't know how to console or acknowledge his feelings. At least he had gone about treating him like a normal person and had done brotherly activities with him to try and make him feel good. Not to mention Watanabe was trying his best to make him more outgoing instead of shy, panicky, and scared of everything. Izuku had a feeling that one of the main reasons he introduced him to Kaminari was because Denki was better at consoling him.

Iida's face fell slightly as he thought about it, "Fine,"

Izuku smiled and went into rapid-fire, "Ok, so first thing is Nedzu used the word 'team' instead of 'group'. Traditionally, team is used to signify teamwork. If he wanted us to fight, he would have said groups instead of teams. Furthermore, his statement of individualized marking is to throw off people and make them think we are to fight each other but it might just be a precaution so that an entire team doesn't fail for one person's incompetence,"

Uraraka stared wide-eyed, it did make sense when put like that. She had her concerns but she would support Izuku. She wasn't in any shape to fight so if he was right, Uraraka had a way to pass, "I'm with him,"

"But, why would Nedzu try to fool us?" Iida demanded.

Izuku looked at him with a 'Are you serious?' look that would have made Watanabe proud, "Did you see his interview last year? There's no way on earth, he hasn't pulled something for this phase,"

Iida nodded, "I'll work with you until the last two minutes. If we haven't found anything till then, we fight,"

Izuku nodded, "First, let's check the walls for panels or clues," Izuku said. Iida and Uraraka nodded. It took only a few moments for the scanners to be unveiled. Iida turned red while Izuku grinned foxily.

Aizawa was impressed, "He made it seem too easy. Just under 4 minutes," he commented about Izuku.

Nedzu smiled. He couldn't wait to meet Yagi's students.

"Wasn't phase 2 a bit too easy?" Midnight asked.

"I suppose that's why over 80% failed," Nedzu replied.

Nemuri's eyes widened and she looked to Ectoplasm for confirmation, who nodded, "But how?"

"The thing is," Nedzu started explaining, "Most of them thought the exam structure will be the same so when phase 2 was introduced, they panicked, the others reverted back to their old behaviors, and the personality they put up for a show disappeared,"

"So, you played psychological warfare,"

"Yes. A simple psychological test but a rather effective one," Nedzu cackled chaotically, "You see, panic makes people forget about common sense and how to use their brains. Personally, I don't think you need to scare people to get what you need. People give fear far too much credit. They forget that panic instills fear. Without panic, fear is almost powerless,"

Chapter Text

"Sorry I am late. I wasn't expecting our meeting to be held so fast. I thought at least a week would be needed to finish checking papers and mark the students," Yagi said as he closed the door behind him.

"It's quite alright! Ectoplasm's clones really help us cut down on manpower," Nedzu chirped happily.

"I need a raise..." Ectoplasm sighed into his hand.

"For our first topic, some of you requested clarification on the purpose of the 3 stages of this year's entrance exam. For efficiency, I had only explained particular parts to you all. We will discuss the written exam first," Nedzu said happily. 

Aizawa drooped slightly, this would be a boring meeting. "This year, we have our highest scorer in the written exam as of yet. Meet Midoriya Izuku!" Nedzu said happily. He is the first person to have scored full marks on the written exam." This got Aizawa's attention, "I thought most of the written exam was based around essays this year?"

"Yes, however, Midoriya's essays were spotless. The grammar and language were impeccable and all of his points were to the point yet explained properly. I saw no reason to cut marks," Ectoplasm replied.

Nedzu nodded. "Wait, I thought the written exam only had two essays? Did you change the question structure?" Mic asked.

"Not at all. We just added more essays and extended the exam time. With last year's events, the public has become more informed of what UA is looking for in future heroes. Many students might try to behave like model students in front of us. The essays were a way of weeding such people out. It is easy to catch those who are trying to lie about what they would do. For instance, one essay topic asked the candidate what they would do if they saw someone getting bullied. Bullies themselves would form lousy answers to this question. Hound Dog also checked the mental evaluation questions to determine whether a person might not have a mindset for being a hero," Nedzu explained.

"So the essays were a form of mental evaluation?" Midnight asked. Nedzu nodded, "That reminds me, this year we will be taking a total of 44 students,"

"Why?" Aizawa asked.

"It seemed to me that a total of 40 heroes graduating every year is a low rate," Nedzu replied, "In second place we have Iida Tenya, who scored 94 out of 100 in the written exam. In third place, we have Hattori Watanabe. He has scored 88 out of 100 in the written exam. However, he gained 5 extra points for using his quirk to cheat. In other words, information gathering, so his actual mark is 93/100,"

"Leave it to Nedzu to evaluate cheating," Yagi muttered to himself earning a small chuckle from Snipe.

Nedzu beamed, "Moving onto the Practical exam. The first stage was the same as last year. There isn't anything new about it. I trust I do not need to explain any further about this?"

The teachers shook their heads.

"Good," Nedzu replied, "First on the practical exam is Kaminari Denki with 83 combat points and 32 rescue points. Second is Bakugou Katsuki with 77 combat points and 11 rescue points. Finally, third is Tokoyami Fumikage with 72 rescue points and 15 rescue points," 

"No extra points?" Aizawa asked surprised.

Nedzu smiled, "No, this year, we only measured combat and rescue for the first phase of the practical exam. You see last year, aspects of our exam were released to the public. Therefore, candidates were likely to act like heroes, and marks for information gathering, sabotage etc. cannot be awarded as easily as the answers to our practical exam have been circulated on the forums. Hence, the second phase of the practical exam. In a short space of time as 10 minutes, the students would panic and since this was not supposed to be part of the exam, they showed their true behavior, especially some of the bullies," Nedzu explained.

Aizawa grunted in response, "Two to Nedzu," Mic grinned in his ear.

"For Phase 2, Midoriya Izuku is again first with 50/50 points along with Kendo who also obtained 50/50 points. Third is Asui Tsuyu with 40 points,"

"Why 50 points?" Midnight asked.

"10 points each for the marking

1. Information gathering: The candidate should have realized the exam would have been changed and prepared accordingly.
2. Teamwork: The basis of the second phase was working as a team. Individual marking was done so that an entire team wouldn't fail due to one person's incompetence.
3. Sabotage: Ripping out the wires next to the scanners would have also lowered the walls. Denki Kaminari used his quirk to fry the circuits so that also counts. Kirishima used his quirk to blast through the wall.
4. Perception: Heroes need to rifle through the information they gather. An easy task like this should have been noticed by even a novice hero. Information gathered will always have things hidden.
5. Lastly, 10 points were given if you were able to escape." Nedzu concluded, "Anything to ask?"

The teachers shook their heads. Nedzu smiled, "Powerloader, anything to add? You have been rather quiet,"

Powerloader sighed, "Well, we already gave out messages to those who passed and asked them to send their hero costume models. Most of them are pretty standard but one application has pretty much asked for everything he could think of,"

"And who is that?" 

"Hattori Watanabe,"

Yagi almost facepalmed at that. Of course, he had done something again.

"Maybe so, but we need to ensure students' protection. Make the costume," Nedzu replied.

"It's not just that, I mean. Argh, you read," Powerloader passed the form to Nedzu. Nedzu's face slightly paled intriguing the teachers. It wasn't every day you saw the chaotic principal pale.

"May I see the form?" Yagi asked. Nedzu passed it to him. "Read it out," An amused Aizawa asked.

Yagi nodded, "It says here, he wants glasses that are blackened on the outside as his quirk is eye-based and he doesn't want to give it away,"

"Logical," Aizawa commented.

Yagi continued, "He also asked for a full body Titanium alloy armor with foam and rubber underneath as a shock-absorbent along with gray-black camouflage hooded jacket and pants fitted with armored shoulder pads and knee pads. He also asked for two swords to be placed on his back. He wants chains to be fitted under his hood with a pulley system on his back. Also wants a gas mask to be included in his costume to hide his identity and in the case of gas-based quirks. Specialized rubber gloves with built-in tasers and retractable claws. Hidden blades under the sleeve along with retractable spiked shoes. Caltrops, ninja wire, daggers built to carry the wire and also to be fitted with the chains. Finally, a utility belt containing smoke grenades and guns: a tranquilizer, rubber, and actual gun," Yagi finished.

The staff fell into silence which was finally broken by Aizawa, "We aren't actually giving him a gun right?"

"Now hold on. Why shouldn't we?" Snipe asked clearly backing a gun enthusiast.

"He'll hurt himself and others too. He probably doesn't even know how to use a gun," Aizawa said.

"How do you know that?" Snipe asked.

"All Might, I know you train him and the other two. Can he use a gun,"

"Er, no,"

Snipe pouted. "Wait, you trained three of the students before the entrance exam!?" Mic shouted.

"He's allowed to do that," Nedzu interjected, "I monitored him, he didn't give them any unfair advantages,"

"You didn't tell them you are All Might, did you?" Ectoplasm asked slowly.

"Of course not!" Yagi replied, "Well I did tell Izuku but Watanabe figured it out by himself,"

"Should I give him the tranquilizer gun and rubber bullets then?" Powerloader asked.

Snipe shook his head, "No, those things have recoil too. Put it on standby. I call dibs on him for internships though, to teach him how to use a gun,"

"Ok, give him the rest of the costume, Powerloader. Kan and Aizawa here is your student list," Nedzu handed them the lists.

"Seems ok," Vlad commented, "What about you Aizawa?"

"YOU GAVE ME ALL 4 PROBLEM CHILDREN!" Aizawa burst out at Nedzu showing Kaminari, Izuku, Watanabe, and Bakugou in his class.

"Well, we can't have you expel a third class," Nedzu replied smugly.

Aizawa frowned, "Those three and Bakugou will clash,"

"Not to worry, Orca has done his job properly I think. Plus, the student list has been given according to whose quirk will be most helpful. Not to mention as heroes, you need to set aside personal enmities and work together," Nedzu explained.

Aizawa sighed resignedly and read his student list.

"Now that the meeting's over, let's talk about these 4," Mic said pulling out pictures of Izuku, Denki, Watanabe, and Uraraka, "I expected these two to do better considering they stomped on Endeavour," Mic pointed at Uraraka and Denki.

"Clearly, power isn't everything," Aizawa replied.

"That may be true. This listener worked exactly like we thought," Mic pointed to Watanabe.

"We?" Yagi asked.

"Yeah! These four were pretty famous, even getting hits called out on them. Of course, they'd be applying to UA. We had a betting game on their performance. Denki did best in the combat as we thought while Watanabe did well in the written exam, working with sabotage and information gathering. Uraraka underperformed," Snipe explained.

"What doesn't make sense!" Mic shouted, "IS THIS!" he slammed Izuku's photo on the desk, "Midoriya Izuku! He wasn't supposed to have a quirk, yet he is one of the top scorers on the practical. Smartness might have allowed him to pass the written test and phase 2 but he used a quirk for the practical!"

"Mic, you do realize you sound prejudiced against quirkless people right now?" Snipe acknowledged.

Mic huffed, "Sorry,"

"However, he does have a point," Snipe finished.

"Quirks do manifest at a later age," Nedzu said with a sigh, sipping on his tea.

"That may be, but manifesting a quirk at 15 is quite unheard of," Nemuri said.

"Unheard of, doesn't mean impossible,"

"That is true," Aizawa said, "The thing is you aren't shocked at all with this new development. You should have been jumping in glee by now,"

Nedzu stiffened. It seemed lacking humane reactions had been his downfall. He noticed Aizawa smirking under his scarf and slightly smiled. Aizawa had coerced the other teachers into interrogating him in order to get an answer. He was proud that Aizawa was improving his strategic game but he was still smarter, "Yes, I should have. However, I already know how his quirk emerged,"

"Then tell us,"

"No, that is between me and Izuku,"

Aizawa gritted his teeth, "What if a medical problem requires-"

"Recovery girl knows too. So does his mother. The concerned parties all know,"

"As his teacher, shouldn't I know too!?" Aizawa demanded.

"You know what you need to know. A strength-based quirk. I will tell you this though, his body indeed does break if he uses too much of the power. That's all you need to know,"

"If I don't know, how will I help him!?"

"I already told you what you need to know,"

"But you know more,"

"And that is Izuku's secret. If he wishes to tell you, he will. You can ask him once he gets to UA," Nedzu compromised.

"Tch," Aizawa sat back. Nedzu had won that round. There was no logical reason as to why he needs to know anymore.

"I still need to know how exactly how his quirk works,"

"We are still waiting on those forms. The students themselves know best as to how their quirk works," Nedzu said. Aizawa nodded. "Anything to add?" Nedzu asked the other teachers. They quickly shook their heads.

Yagi sighed with relief.

"Glad to see you could make it Jozu," Ryuzen warmly greeted Denki's father.

Jozu gave a curt nod in reply, "We aren't early are we?" 

"No, no. Yagi-san and Torino-san are running a bit late in traffic," Inko had invited the Kaminaris, Yagi, Torino, and Yoroi to celebrate Izuku, Watanabe, and Kaminari getting into UA.

"Ah, Mrs. Kaminari, have a seat," Inko said kindly.

"Please, call me Temari," she replied.

"Sure. You can call me Inko then," she replied receiving a nod from Temari.

"Watanabe, Yoroi-sensei is coming right?" Natsume asked.

"He better, I polished the entire dojo for him," Watanabe grumbled.

"Do I detect a disrespectful tone?" Natsume loomed over her son.

"N-no,"

"Good!" Natsume smiled, "Ah Temari, how are things going,"

"Could be better. Since Watanabe moved away, he has been coming over less and it has gotten so oddly quiet in our neighborhood,"

"Well, he has a new neighborhood to terrorize now, so," Natsume drank from her glass.

"Well, nothing too bad though," Inko defended her nephew, "He did stop the bullies from going after the kids and made sure they were treated fairly too. I'm pretty sure he chased away our newspaper man too,"

Temari sighed, "It's not that Inko-san, Watanabe just goes a tad too far with his plans. And with Izuku now, the stories I've heard from Denki," she shuddered.

"Really? I never heard of Izuku getting into trouble," Inko replied.

"That's because he is what you would call a silent partner," Watanabe butted into the conversation.

"How many times have I told you not to eavesdrop!?" 

"Well not exactly eavesdropping when you pretty much yell it," Watanabe excused.

"Getting back, what do you mean silent partner?" Inko asked.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out," Watanabe gave a toothy grin.

"Is that so? Denki! What do these two get up to at school?" Inko asked.

Immediately Denki sat up straight and went off into a rant, "Well, Izuku made Watanabe sprinkle one of the bullies' hand with invisible ink and then used it as evidence when the bully slapped someone," Denki offered, "I have more examples but basically Izuku is more controlled and plans what type of chaos he wants to instill while Watanabe is a wild card. Although, both of them could do vice-versa," Denki said thoughtfully.

"Snitch," Watanabe said teasingly earning a smile from his friend.

"And what are you two talking about?" Natsume asked her husband.

"Important office work," Jozu replied.

"So the fantasy football competition at work?" 

"Er, it's important. We get a price!" Ryuzen replied.

"Ah, Yagi-san, glad to see you. You too Torino-san!" Inko welcomed, noticing the two.

Watanabe rapidly breathed like he was having a heart attack, "Yagi-sensei and Torino-sensei in suits! Quick grab a photo!"

"You will do no such thing. I do not need Nedzu using the photos as leverage against my 'cool' reputation," Torino grabbed Izuku's phone and deleted the photos.

"Ah, Tsukauchi-san! I'm glad to see you made it too. I thought you had an important case to work on?" 

"I do, but I managed to get off for half an hour. Ah Yagi, glad to see you. Surprised Torino has still kept you alive,"

"Say something brat?" Torino asked from his seat.

Tsukauchi gulped, "Nope," he had learned his lesson from that one training session. Although to be fair, Torino had also reminded him that being the number 1 hero, Yagi had a ton of money lying around, meaning he shouldn't be the one giving his friends treats all the time. He had leeched of Yagi quite a bit the past year, especially considering Yagi had somehow manipulated him into paying everything for him before he realized this.

"Yoroi-san, please have a seat," Inko welcomed and placed him between Yagi and Torino, "I'm surprised you passed the practicals," he addressed.

"W-what? Why?" Izuku asked.

"Your stances were sloppy, your quirk-usage while improved still seemed to be unsatisfactory. And don't get me started on Watanabe's weapon training. I only had faith in Kaminari,"

"Don't you think that's a bit harsh?" Yagi asked.

"Sometimes you need to be harsh. You must be their other trainer! I really am pleased with how fast you built up Izuku's body!" Yoroi commented happily and went off into a discussion of training methods with Torino and Yagi.

"Oh, man!" Watanabe whined and handed Izuku some money. Upon Kaminari's inquisitive look, he explained, "I thought Yoroi-sensei and Yagi-sensei would butt heads over training methods while Izuku said they would hit it off. Clearly, he was right,"

"Haha, I'm always right!" Izuku grinned.

Denki laughed, "Speaking of, any reason you have been quieter than usual?" He asked Izuku.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, some guy has been undermining us the past year on the forums saying that we are hero-commission's pawns who went after Endeavour to make hero commission look good by having them punish him. Doesn't make much sense but he tied us to some of other hero commission's dealings and made a really good argument that make us look like the bad guys,"

"Damn, that sucks. But I thought Hero commission waived off Endeavour's punishment to some extent,"

Izuku nodded, "Yes but not publicly, just behind the scenes. Publicly they issued an apology and reprimand,"

"Fixed it," Watanabe chirped.

"What? How?"

"Just wrote that we weren't aware that hero commission is so deep into evil operations and that we will be publishing an article soon to address it," he winked.

"That's a bluff right?"

"I may twist things, but I am no liar," Watanabe replied.

"Great, he's going to eat my head off again," Izuku groaned.

"By the way, you guys are coming over to ours for a sleepover right? Izuku hasn't been to my house yet,"

"Yeah, mom and Aunt Natsume allowed us. Aunt Temari is supposed to take us with you guys after dinner,"

"Great, I downloaded Naruto and One Piece to watch at night. We have been meaning to do that for a while,"

Nedzu spit out his tea when he saw Chaos promising an article against hero commission. On one hand, he was impressed with Izuku and Watanabe's insight and decision making but on the other hand, it was absolutely dangerous for them to try and pick a fight with the hero commission.

"Tsk," Nedzu thought. He has to introduce himself as soon as they get to UA. A week would be enough before he lets them know he was their editor. They were messing with things here that could blow out of proportion with one wrong touch. Allied heroes might also turn to the hero commission's side if the article was bad. Presently there were no issues of heroes being angry with Storm and Chaos. The ones that disagreed with them were also the ones that supported the hero commission from before. Nedzu sighed, bringing down hero commission would have to be brought up sooner that than he wanted.

All For One twitched as he stared at the forums, "It's got to be a bluff. They wouldn't dare,"

"I feel that they would," Kurogiri commented.

All For One growled, he had spent much of a year trying to discredit Storm and Chaos. Assassinating them didn't pan out and now no one would accept hits on them so he was stuck in an intellectual battle with them. The worst thing was that they had never addressed him but now, with one sentence promising an article against the hero commission, all the support he had gained on the forum had disappeared and had gone back to supporting Storm and Chaos. He couldn't even do anything that would risk letting the heroes know he was alive. The hero commission could cover up some things but not all of them were corrupt. Most of them were foolishly hero-minded. Fortunately, the ones in power were corrupt so it didn't matter. 

All For One wanted to believe it was a bluff but he also knew that the two were capable of writing a devastating article that could cause more trouble for him. With a roar, he smashed the monitor.

"Careful. We don't want you to be spotted by the heroes. Imagine that the heroes trace back the stolen monitors to you. What a way for you to fall," Kurogiri joked.

All For One twitched, maybe he shouldn't have let Kurogiri keep his personality.

Chapter Text

"Man, I'm so pumped! We are going to UA!" Kaminari exclaimed excitedly. Watanabe smiled happily while Izuku nervously fixed his tie. The three friends had just gotten off the train and were walking to UA's gates.

"I wonder who our teacher will be..." Izuku said.

"Hopefully it's Present Mic! He's so cool!" Denki replied.

"I want Principal Nedzu as our teacher," Watanabe commented. 

"Of course you do," Denki deadpanned, "Thank God he's the principal so you two won't probably meet," Denki said.

"Ah! You!" The three heard someone shout behind them. They turned to see Uraraka behind them.

"Ah, Uraraka-san," Izuku greeted with a smile.

"Huh, how do you know my name," she asked puzzled.

"Everybody who saw you float Endeavour does," Watanabe deadpanned. 

"Greet properly," Denki sighed to his friend.

"Ah, forgot about that," Uraraka nervously said, "You are Kaminari Denki, right?"

"Yeah, nice to meet you Uraraka-san,"

"Call me Ochaco,"

Denki nodded.

"Er, what are your names?" 

"Hattori Watanabe, call me Watanabe,"

"I'm Midoriya Izuku,"

Uraraka's eyes widened, "You are related to Inko-san?"

"I'm her son,'

"Oh, nice to meet you. Your mother really helped us out a ton," Uraraka grinned, "Have you known each other for long?"

"Well, Watanabe's my cousin. He introduced me to Denki," 

"Whoa, and all three of you got into UA too, that's amazing!" Uraraka said.

"We're here," Denki announced standing before the Class 1-A door. Nervously, Denki opened it. Almost immediately all the noise came to a hush. Whispering started, "Oy, aren't those two the ones who took down Endeavour!?"

"Yeah!"

"Cool, we get to be in the same class,"

"Are you kidding idiot! They will be so hard to compete with,"

"SHUT UP, YOU DAMN EXTRAS!" 

Watanabe twitched while Denki and Izuku paled.

The two locked eyes but didn't speak. A tension grew over the room that seemed to suffocate everyone. Finally, Iida stepped in, "You are classmates! This type of behavior is not proper in an institute such as UA!"

"Hmph," Katsuki grunted and looked away. Watanabe didn't say anything else.

"Perhaps we should see the seating chart," Izuku tried to defuse the situation even though it hurt him as well.

"Hey, no wonder that guy looked familiar. He's the one who got captured by Slime and used to bully the green-haired one. Remember on the leaked court tape?"

"Oh yeah,"

Katsuki twitched. Orca and his therapist had taught him why everything he did was wrong and had made him redeem himself by working in community projects. However, seeing Izuku here triggered his old feelings. How on earth did he get in without a quirk!? He needed answers, no he wanted them! And that annoying cousin of his too... He'd get back at him as well. Then again, Nedzu did say that you didn't need a quirk to apply. On top of that, the damn nerd actually was smart. Did he get in just with his intelligence?

"Ah, there I am," Watanabe pointed himself out on the seating arrangement, happily, causing Uraraka to deadpan, "That was a whole 180 of his attitude,"

"Meh, you'll get used to it," Denki said, "Now where am I?" He said and checked the seating arrangement:

Shoto eyed Kaminari and Uraraka cautiously. Ever since he had seen those two humiliate Endeavour, he had been amazed. On one hand, it made him feel happy to see Endeavour get publicly humiliated, but on the other hand, he needed to defeat both of them to prove that he would be the strongest without his fire. On the other hand, he really didn't want to fight with them. He had asked Natsuo about what he should do ever since he got the student list and saw their names. Natsuo had told him that he had nothing to prove to Endeavour. However, Fuyumi was more helpful and told him to make friends with them. She told him that he would only need to defeat them in training activities and that didn't mean he couldn't be friends with them while in class.

That was good advice, he felt, except for one thing... he didn't know how to make friends. Clutching his notebook, he walked up to both of them, "May I have your autographs?" 

"H-huh? My autograph?" Uraraka asked, turning red.

"Yes, yours too please," Todoroki said to Denki.

"Aren't you Endeavour's son?" Denki asked.

"Yes, what of it?"

"N-nothing,"

"Could you sign here too, my brother also wanted an autograph,"

Watanabe and Izuku watched from behind. The class sweatdropped. Watanabe motioned Izuku to follow him a bit further away from everyone. Once they were in a slightly secluded area, Izuku spoke, "I know what you are thinking. It's probably unlikely,"

"And how exactly is that?"

"He might have just burnt himself while using his quirk,"

"You saw how he acted towards us in the court,"

"In fairness, you did rile him up, I doubt he'd treat his own children like that," Izuku pointed out.

Watanabe gave his cousin a deadpan expression, "You have too much faith in people, Izu. Not that it's a bad thing but you have to see the reality too,"

"Even if Endeavour did abuse him, what are you planning to do? Go and ask him straight to his face?"

"It's an option,"

Izuku twitched, "Come on, have a serious conversation for once!"

"Fine. I'll drop it for now. I'm still right though,"

Izuku sighed, "You probably are. People don't go asking for autographs from people who humiliated their father,"

"Yo, guys! Am I the only one who-," Denki started.

"No, you are right. However, Izuku is right, there's no way for us to just ask him," Watanabe scowled slightly, clenching his fists.

"Maybe we tell the teachers?"

"Maybe..." Watanabe said.

"It's 5 minutes till classes start. We should probably get to our seats,"

"You two are lucky, getting seats close to each other," Watanabe said and headed to his seat, "Ah, Hagakure, glad to see you passed too!" he smiled to the invisible girl. 

"I have to thank you for that. If you hadn't figured out the test, we wouldn't have passed!" Hagakure said.

Watanabe turned to face Hitoshi who was sitting behind his seat, "Yo, what's your name?"

"Shinso Hitoshi," he replied monotonously.

"I'm Hattori Watanabe! Call me Watanabe though,"

"I don't care,"

"He's a real moody one, huh?" Watanabe said to Hagakure.

Hitoshi scowled, even though they didn't know his quirk, he was already being teased. If they had a quirk like his, even they would be like him.

Watanabe's grin faded slightly. He thought he'd get an angry retort or a slight smile, but instead Hitoshi just sort of accepted it. Watanabe frowned slightly, Hitoshi reminded him of Izuku while he was still at Aldera. Except, Izuku at least tried to cover it up by acting normal, but Hitoshi had just accepted it. Before he could do anything else, Aizawa dropped down from the ceiling, still in his sleeping bag.

Hagakure screamed in surprise, "What are you?"

Aizawa didn't reply and just got out of his sleeping bag, "The bell already rang. Why aren't you in your seats!?" He demanded. Immediately everyone sat down.

"Good, now get up, put on your gym uniforms and meet me outside in the field," Aizawa left.

Everyone sweatdropped, "Why did you even make us sit then?"

Watanabe got up to put on his gym uniform. Hitoshi walked past him, "I'm not here to make friends," he said to him. He said and walked away but Watanabe heard him muttering more and caught the finishing of his sentence, "I don't expect anyone to..."

Watanabe frowned. He walked to Izuku and Kaminari and gave a tiny smile, "Seems like we already have another project,"

Denki twitched slightly while Izuku gave him a questioning look. He turned his gaze towards Hitoshi and smiled sadly.

Chapter Text

"I can't believe of all the people to be our homeroom teacher, it has to be the one that was the court witness for Aldera," Denki guffawed. 

"It is rather unlikely," Watanabe replied plainly. Izuku didn't say anything.

Denki sighed, "Look, I get it. You want to help Shinso, but what exactly do you think you are going to do? Walk up to him and force him to tell you? He has probably been bullied so that would just work out very badly. Almost the same principle goes for Todoroki too," 

Watanabe frowned, "I don't really like it but there really isn't much else we can do," Izuku still didn't say anything.

"The best thing we can do right now is befriending them. That should get Shinso to open up at least, not sure about Todoroki," Denki said. He noticed Izuku's silence and grabbed him by his shoulder, "Izuku. Stop overthinking it! You know exactly how important just one or two friends can be!" he said, "Do the same for them. Once they open up, then we can open up a hell-hole to devour everyone,"

"We?" Izuku talked for the first time, slightly amused.

Denki grunted, "Don't be so surprised. I was the first one Watanabe corrupted. You just had more untapped potential," he chuckled.

"Alright, pipe down!" Aizawa demanded. Everyone went quiet, "The first thing we will do is a series of tests to see how well you use your quirk. A quirk apprehension test. You will do normal activities such as 50-meter dashes and ball throws, but you can use your quirk unlike in middle school," 

The class stood silent and Aizawa continued, "Midoriya Izuku was the one who placed first on the Entrance exams this time around, so he will give you a demonstration,"

"Heh, me?" he asked in surprise.

Aizawa tossed a ball to Izuku, "Throw it. I don't care what you do as long as you are in the circle,"

Izuku sweatdropped, Aizawa was a bit too straightforward. Utilizing his current maximum capability of 2%, he threw the ball hard.

"128.4 meters," Aizawa showed on his phone, "Now everyone else. When I call your names, come up and throw the ball. You will have 3 tries,"

"Whoa, this seems interesting," Hagakure said.

Aizawa smirked, "Oh, didn't I mention? The person who ranks last will be expelled.

Silence fell over the class, "But it's our first day?" Ashido exclaimed.

"Villains won't bow down just because it's your first day. As heroes in training you need to be prepared all the time with no excuse," Aizawa said.

"Meh, it's all a ruse anyway, don't worry,"

Aizawa twitched and moved to face the voice, "What do you mean?"

"Well," Watanabe started, "You won't really expel someone,"

"And what makes you think that,"

"A quirk apprehension test is illogical as a reason to be expelled. For all you know, someone could have an intelligence quirk that won't be enough to pass this test and that would be rather discriminatory sensei,"

Immediately the class turned hostile and angry muttering started. Watanabe smirked.

"This kid... He used the quirk-discrimination article and twisted my words to gain the class's support. No wonder Nedzu was interested in him," Aizawa shuddered as he pondered over the two meeting. 

"It was a ruse, good job on figuring that out. However, in the future, please keep it to yourself. The pressure on them would have forced them to perform better,"

"Or given them anxiety attacks,"

Aizawa was about to reply when he remembered Amajiki and closed his mouth.

"And Sensei, isn't it bad to not share information with our classmates? Teamwork is supposed to be the basis of the hero society," Izuku chimed in.

Aizawa sighed. And of course, there was Midoriya, equally as smart. His attitude at the court did showcase that. He just preferred to be quieter, it seemed.

"You are right, so I'll let it go. Watanabe, go next," Aizawa handed him the ball. 

"Whoa, they went up against the teacher," Uraraka said.

"So manly!" Kirishima exclaimed with joy.

"What a mad banquet of darkness,"

"It's extremely unprofessional to talk back to a teacher,"

"Iida, it's alright. They did make valid points that others missed. In the future, try to see through ruses," Aizawa said gruffly.

"Well, get used to it," Denki announced as Izuku walked back. The others gave him a questioning look, "That's just the surface of what they can do,"

"192.8 meters," Aizawa announced for Watanabe's throw.

Watanabe turned back and gave a chaotic grin, sending chills down everyone's spines.

"I'm surprised Aizawa didn't expel him on the spot," Powerloader commented. All the teachers were watching Aizawa's quirk apprehension test in the staffroom, courtesy of Nedzu's CCTV cameras all over campus. The teachers had made a betting game on who Aizawa expels first.

"Nah! The kid's got potential, pointing out all those things. Shota won't expel someone like that,"

Yagi smirked slightly, Watanabe really did love to instill chaos and he had pulled Izuku into that too. 

As Watanabe gave his chaotic smile, the teachers shuddered too. "Isn't that Nedzu's..." Nemuri said slowly but stopped as he caught sight of the principal's face. The teachers shuddered too as Nedzu also gave a chaotic smile of his own. Noticing his staff edging away in fear, Nedzu comforted them, "Don't worry, I'm not introducing myself yet. Give it a week,"

"That's not exactly an improvement..."

Aizawa hummed. This year's class really did have a lot of potential. He marked Watanabe's 50m dash speed of 4.2 seconds. He was quite surprised that his speed was only second to Iida. Aizawa still couldn't understand how Midoriya's quirk just manifested out of nowhere. He really wanted to know the answer, but he wasn't about to go and harass his student. He marked down Izuku's speed of 5.4 seconds and Denki's 5.8 seconds.

Next up was the long-distance jump, which almost everyone passed with the exception of Hagakure, Kirishima, and Tokoyami.

Unsurprisingly, Shouji beat all of his classmates in grip strength with a grip of 540 kg. He turned to see everyone else's result and was again shocked as he saw Watanabe offer an astonishing 240 kg grip. Just what the heck had All Might been teaching him. And why weren't the other two problem children on his result if All Might had taught all of them?

Finally, after the distance run, seated toe-touch, repeated side steps, and sit-ups, the class fell down, slightly exhausted. "How," Denki panted in between breaths, "did you do so well?" he asked Watanabe.

"I'm not wearing my weights today," Watanabe replied, sitting down on the ground, "300 kg worth of weights will do that you,"

Izuku grumbled, "Even your stamina is pretty good,"

"Do you think I carry the weights without wasting stamina?" Watanabe sweatdropped.

"Enough!" Aizawa yelled, "Time for results,"

Everyone stood up. Aizawa projected the hologram of results from his phone:

"As Watanabe pointed out, I am not going to expel Hitoshi. However, your physical stature is dismal. As a hero, even if you go underground, you need to be fit. So pick up the pace," Aizawa addressed Hitoshi, "That's all, now get back to class!"

Everyone grunted and turned to head back, Hitoshi slightly disheartened.

"How did you do so good?" Denki panted to Watanabe.

"Play as a goalkeeper dude. I have to throw the ball hella far and have insane reflexes you know? And jumping distance is sort of like diving distance,"

"Still expected Izuku to do better," Denki praised while Izuku flushed.

Watanabe smiled, "It's only because he's using only 2%. There's no way I could be better otherwise,"

Bakugou glared daggers at Izuku. He thought he had gotten in quirkless, but it seems that was not the case. No, that lightning coat was definitely because of a quirk. Did that mean he was holding back on him? But why? Why did he pretend to be quirkless then? Why did he just let himself be beaten up instead of fighting back?

He watched him interact with Watanabe, Uraraka, and Denki with a smile on his face. He knew both Kaminari and Watanabe were strong, so was the round face. He finally understood why they hung out with a loser like him, it was because he wasn't a loser. He had been holding back on him, mocking him, letting him know he wasn't worth his time. He clenched his fists in anger. Everything Orca had said was just to show why his actions were wrong, but that didn't matter anymore. Orca may have been right, but Izuku also needed to pay for ridiculing him. 

"Don't you all have classes to get to?" Aizawa grunted as he entered the staff room.

"Now, now, we were just checking whether you'd expel someone already or not?" Nemuri said.

Aizawa twitched, "There's still time for that. Go check Vlad's class or something,"

"Unlike you, I let my students settle down before springing something on them," Kan replied, "It's called having a heart,"

"With all that blood to control, I'm sure you need a big one," Aizawa replied back.

"Is he trying to insult me, or compliment me?" Kan asked Hizashi who shook his head.

"But still Aizawa-Kun, don't you think you are being a bit hypocritical?"

"Huh? What do you mean All Might?"

Toshinori grimaced, "Let me put it this way. You hate it when Nedzu springs us a test on you or the staff as a whole, right?"

Aizawa nodded, "It's annoying. Just be straightforward,"

"Yet you do the same thing on your students. You just call it a logical ruse,"

Aizawa's lip twitched while Hizashi and Ectoplasm chuckled, "That's different. It is required to measure my students' capabilities, to measure their potential,"

"Is it though?" Yagi grinned slightly, "Compared to Nedzu's intelligence, we might as well be ants to him. Considering his past, maybe these tests he springs on us are his way of measuring our potential and trust." Yagi finished.

Aizawa looked to retort but shut his mouth, "It did make sense..." He didn't like this smart personality of All Might. He thought that All Might was just a blubbering idiot, yet he was already proving to have more common sense than Hizashi. "Whatever," Aizawa surrendered and sat down with his coffee.

All Might grinned, it felt really good to pester someone like that. No wonder Watanabe and Nedzu loved it! Wait, was he agreeing with those two's chaos? Maybe he should take a break from both of them. He looked at his timetable and sighed, "Not that I can. I have to take 1-A's hero class today."

"The classes were great!" Izuku exclaimed, "All the teachers are so cool!"

Watanabe silently agreed. "Yo Shoto! Come and sit with us!" Denki called to where he, Izuku, Watanabe, and Uraraka were sitting.

Shoto numbly nodded and sat down between Uraraka and Denki and started to eat slowly and quietly.

Denki gave a shaky laugh, "I get that you are hungry and all but friends generally talk over eating,"

"Friends?"

"Yeah! I mean... we are friends, right?"

Shoto's face scrunched up for a moment before it cleared and he nodded, "What would you like to talk about?"

"Er, we just go off into random topics, there's no fixed topic. Why don't you choose?"

Shoto nodded and went back to eating. Kaminari slouched and both he and Watanabe shared a look. Shoto was proving to have zero social skills. He thought Izuku had poor social skills due to Aldera but Shoto's social skills were entirely non-existent.

"Er, let me introduce you to my best friends! This is Midoriya Izuku and Hattori Watanabe,"

"Best friends?" Shoto asked slowly.

"Yeah!"

"So what are we?"

"We are friends too!"

"But not best friends?"

"I mean we just met today and-" Denki stopped short as his face puffed up. Both Izuku and Watanabe kicked him under the table in order to stop himself from making a deeper hole, "It's not that, Todoroki-" Izuku started.

"Shoto,"

"Sorry?"

"Todoroki's my old man," Shoto said with darkened eyes, "I'm Shoto,"

"Yes..." Izuku lost all confidence and looked towards Watanabe for help. Watanabe sighed slowly, what the heck was he supposed to do? If Denki couldn't get him to open up, there was no way in hell he could. Granted he could make friends but Izuku and Kaminari were the only ones he entirely trusted, "Ummm," he froze.

Fortunately, Uraraka came to the rescue, "What's your favorite food?"

"Cold Soba,"

"Cold?" Uraraka repeated.

"Cold," Shoto replied and went back to eating causing Uraraka to fail as well.

"You are the one who insulted my old man. Were the sprinklers on purpose?"

"Huh?" Watanabe asked a bit taken aback at the direct question, "I mean yeah, it was,"

"So Natsuo was right," he muttered, "Autograph please," he half-demanded in monotonously, paper and pen magically appearing,"

"S-sure,"

"Yo Hitoshi wanna join us!?" Denki called excitedly to the boy sitting alone at a table. Shinsou seemed to regard the offer for a moment but then scowled and turned away, "Right, this is getting nowhere," Kaminari whispered to his friends. Watanabe nodded before his face cleared as he got an idea. Kaminari and Izuku understandably moved away, "Yo Shoto!" he exclaimed pulling out a binder from his bag, "This is an entire binder containing plans me and Izuku made on how to take down Endeavour!" he passed it to the boy, "Enjoy!"

Shoto gave him an incredulous look but opened it. His face slowly contorted into a smile as he flipped the pages. Uraraka decided to peek too.

"I can't believe you bought that!" Izuku said lowly to his cousin.

"Relax, you made me bring all of your analysis notebooks to develop once you saw the teachers!"

"Wait that's why your bag is so much heavier!" Denki said.

Watanabe solemnly nodded, "Izuku's been using me like a pack animal," he sniffed dramatically.

"You're the one who insisted because you felt too light without your weights!"

Watanabe shrugged and stood up to keep his plate.

"Speaking of," Denki said to Izuku now that Watanabe wasn't there, "Who do you think is going to get their bones broken by Watanabe first?" The two had decided they would hold a bet on who would get their arm broken first. The winner would get a year's worth of pocket money.

"Mineta," Izuku said plainly.

"Drat. I had him too," Denki said.

"Fine, let's bet on how many bones!" Izuku's eyes glistened.

Denki almost choked at Izuku's behavior but nodded, "Alright then, I say... 2 broken bones!"

"I feel like 3,"

"What if neither one of us are right. Say he breaks 4,"

"Then let's bet on which bone he breaks," Izuku said.

"Ok," Denki agreed.

"Arms!"

"Hands!"

"Shoulders!"

"Collarbone!"

The two said simultaneously before stopping and looking at each other.

"Ribs!"

"Legs! Wait ribs?" Denki asked.

Izuku nodded, "Think about it! It's the closest to the arms,"

"Wouldn't that be the skull?"

"Well yeah, but there's a higher chance of him punting Mineta into something,"

"Nah, I think he'll just stamp the little guy's feet,"

Izuku shrugged, "Let's wait and watch,"

Uraraka stared at the two of them slightly disturbed. Thankfully she hadn't heard their conversation, however, the plans for Endeavour were... horrifying to say the least.

Meanwhile, Watanabe stood up and discarded his plastic plate before heading to Lunch Rush. He took the obligatory apple from him with a smile.

"Oh look, it's one of Class 1-A. Just look at the way he's walking, all high and mighty," 

Watanabe twitched and turned around to come face to face with a blonde boy with a villainous sneer on his face, "Who the heck are you?"

The boy sneered, "Of course, 1-A's members can't be bothered with such inferior faces," he mocked.

"It's... the first day," Watanabe deadpanned.

"Well, you remember this face and name!"

"I don't know your name!"

"Hmph! I am Monoma Neito, of class 1-B. I shall make sure to overcome the tyrannical rule of class 1-A!"

Watanabe stared at him with wide eyes. What in hell was wrong with this guy. He slowly chuckled and replied with a sneer of his own, "Well maybe if you tried harder, you could have joined 1-A,"

"Trying harder has nothing to do with it! 1-A simply believes it to be stronger. 1-B is truly the strongest!"

"Like hell!"

Smack

Both of the arguing idiots fell to the grounds.

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING!?" Kendo and Kaminari yelled at their respective classmates.

"I am sorry for my friend," Both of them bowed to each other simultaneously. Once they stood up straight, they looked at each other with puzzlement.

"Looks like you have one too," Kendo commented.

Denki sighed, "Yeah, you sort of have to get used to smacking them around when you've been friends with them for years,"

"I've been with this one for like a day," Kendo pointed at Monoma, "How on earth are you still sane?"

Kaminari shrugged and dragged Watanabe by his jacket to the table while Kendo did the same for Monoma. A cackle echoed through the now silent cafeteria. Lunch Rush had a camera in his hand as he snapped blackmail material. Considering the stuff he had heard about them, he needed them.

"Maybe I should change my bet to Monoma," Izuku pondered.

"Wanna?"

"No way in hell!"

"I am here!" All Might shouted as he entered through the door leading to class 1-A. 

"Whoa, cool," several members of the class stared in awe. All Might grinned, "Well then, get ready in your costumes and then follow me to the training grounds for your first hero class!"

The students obliged.

Watanabe opened his case, "Whoa! I can't believe they actually gave me everything I asked for," he checked his equipment. The armor was a really good brand of titanium alloy too,"

"I thought you wanted guns too?" Izuku asked making Iida's eyes narrow.

"Bah, that was pushing it too much anyway. I got an apology note explaining why they didn't give me a gun at this moment anyway," he replied.

Once they had all finished, they exited the dressing room. They all took one look at Watanabe's costume, "How exactly did you get all that?" Momo asked.

"UA didn't have a price cap. I plan on exploiting the hell out of every loophole I ever encounter. Loopholes are never illegal, they are just... there. Plus you have to admit my costume's pretty cool,"

The others sighed as they agreed silently. 

Watanabe Hero Costume (V1)

Watanabe Hero Costume (V2: Hooded)

Chapter Text

"Listen up!" All Might's voice interrupted the students talking over their costumes, "We will be doing a battle simulation today. The Battle Trial replicates a situation where the villains are hiding a payload inside the building and the heroes must secure it or defeat the villains within a time limit. The villains are granted victory if they successfully protect the payload or capture the heroes. There will be teams of two!"

"Er Ya- All Might!" Izuku caught him, "There's 22 of us though," he pointed out.

"Right you are young Izuku!" All Might's smile widened, "Which is why there will be a 1v1 match at the end!"

"But won't the ones who take part in the final fight be at a disadvantage due to being alone?"

"Young Iida! In a real fight, heroes are often at disadvantages! You must learn to overcome them! Not to mention your opponent will be alone too!" All Might explained and waited to see if there were any other questions.

"Good," he pulled out two ballots, "Please choose your partners from these lots!"

"It's going to be random!" Iida burst again.

"In the future, as pros, we will be expected to work with people from random agencies," Izuku pointed out.

All Might nodded, "Well put! Now please, come forth and get your teammate,"

The students slowly went and selected their papers which had group numbers written on them. When Watanabe went up, he discreetly used his X-ray and chose. He had no particular choice... his only purpose was to avoid getting Denki or Izuku on his teams, for a particular reason.

All Might announced the teams:

"Group A: Midoriya Izuku and Shouji Mezou
Group B: Kaminari Denki and Uraraka Ochaco
Group C: Bakugou Katsuki and Kirishima Eijirou
Group D: Fumikage Tokoyami and Ojiro Mashirao
Group E: Shinso Hitoshi and Todoroki Shoto
Group F: Hattori Watanabe and Asui Tsuyu
Group G: Yuga Aoyama and Yaoyorozu Momo
Group H: Hagakure Toru and Tenya Iida
Group I: Sato Rikido and Koda Koji
Group J: Sero Hanta and Jiro Kyoka"

All Might finished, "That means, Ashido Mina and Mineta Minoru will face off last, in a 1v1 situation. Now then, I will pit the groups randomly by selecting random balls with the team initials written!"

"First match! Group E vs Group B!"

Shoto narrowed his eyes calculatingly at Denki who just grinned in return.

"Second Match! Group H vs Group J!"

"Third Match! Group I vs Group G!"

"Fourth Match! Group A vs Group D!"

Izuku frowned slightly as he tried to understand his opponent's quirks. Ojiro had a tail quirk but what about Tokoyami?

"Therefore, by default, Fourth Match will be Group C vs Group F! After this, Mineta and Ashido will face off!"

"Hold on a minute," All Might stopped short, "Group C is Bakugou and Group F is Watanabe! Those two will go all out against each other," All Might stared hesitantly at the two glaring at each other with a sadistic smile on their face. What were the chances of them drawing each other!?

Izuku stood with a concerned look on his face. But before he could talk to him, Denki pulled Watanabe to a side and spoke in a hushed whisper, "What the heck?"

"You're the one who told me to keep Bakugou away from Izuku!" Watanabe defended.

"I know!" Denki replied, "But I didn't want you to go and fight him either!"

"Don't worry, he can't defeat me!"

"That's not the point. Both of you will end up going too far. You could have at least gotten me on your team too,"

"I didn't want to get you pulled into this too,"

Denki snorted, "Izuku's my friend too, idiot. Just don't blow the building up or something," Denki smirked.

"Now then, follow me to the viewing room!" Yagi called.

"How did you do it?" Izuku asked to Watanabe.

"Huh?"

"I know you got Bakugo to fight your team on purpose. I don't need to be protected, you know," Izuku scowled at both Denki and Watanabe, both of whom had the decency to look ashamed.

"Sorry, won't do it again," Watanabe said solemnly and Denki nodded along.

Izuku smiled, "Thanks though. But still, how did you get Bakugou as your match-up?"

"As the number 1 hero, you would think that All Might would notice someone not replacing the group balls," Watanabe said pulling out the group C and group F balls. Grinning he passed them to Denki and Izuku who looked at him blankly.

All Might did a double-take. He'd been listening in with his super-hearing, "I'm so ashamed..." He looked up and saw several CCTV cameras. "Oh right. Nedzu has cameras placed everywhere to monitor everything. I might live if only he sees it but if Aizawa does..." The number 1 hero shuddered as Aizawa's face came into his mind. He shook his head violently.

He turned and shouted, "All right then! Now! One member from Group E and one member from Group B, come up!"

Uraraka let Denki go up with a smile while Shoto pushed Hitoshi aside, much to his anger.

All Might smiled once they came to him, "Now then! Play a round of rock paper scissors!"

The class stared at him, "...Heh?"

All Might rubbed his head, "Well I didn't want to make anyone feel bad for being the villain, so this is how we will decide! The winner gets to choose what they want to be!"

"Oh, but the winner will choose the hero side anyway," Kirishima commented.

All Might didn't reply, "Now then throw your bout!"

Denki threw paper and Shoto threw scissors, "Hero side," Shoto said simply.

All Might nodded. "You're really good at this Shoto," Denki smiled. Shoto didn't reply. He gave him a cold stare and turned, "Now's not the time to be friends. Now, I have to prove myself!"

Hitoshi sighed, what had he gotten into?

"He should have separated those three from Bakugo," Aizawa commented gruffly. All the teachers were crowded in Nedzu's office watching All Might's first class. It had become a tradition at UA to view a teachers' first class. And since this time it was the number 1 hero, all the heroes were here except for Vlad who was busy with his own class.

"Ah, but that would be match-fixing," Nedzu smiled.

Aizawa just blankly pointed at the balls in Watanabe's hands.

"As a pro-hero, you can sometimes choose who to go after,"

Aizawa twitched, "Stop trying to defend everything!"

"It is also a form of information gathering,"

Aizawa broke his teacup.

"Is it the best idea for both of us to defend the site?" Uraraka asked Denki.

"I'm not a planner like Izuku or Watanabe but since we don't know either of their quirks, this is the best choice. Shoto's quirk will have something to do with fire, that I'm quite sure of... but I don't really know about Hitoshi," he replied.

Uraraka nodded, "In that case, when they get here, you go for frontal combat. You can just electrocute them I'll go for support,"

"START!" All Might's voice echoed on the speakers.

"Oi, aren't you coming?" Hitoshi stopped on the steps leading to the building.

"You go on," Shoto said numbly. Hitoshi scowled but went on.

"What should I do?" Shoto thought, "I want to prove that I can take down the ones who took Endeavour down with only ice. But I want to be friends with them too. I don't want to hurt them," Shoto argued back and forth with himself in his mind.

Meanwhile, Hitoshi was struggling to find the bomb. He walked up the final flight of stairs and opened the door in hopes of finding the bomb. He almost sighed with relief when he opened a door and saw the bomb.

"So, you finally got here!" Denki said with a confident smile.

"Yeah, ready to lose?" Hitoshi said with a smirk.

"Heh, as if," Denki replied.

"1 down," Hitoshi thought, "I'll take control of him with the other one,"

"And what about you, cowering behind this guy?"

Uraraka became angry, "I'm not-" she started but stopped short. Hitoshi smirked, "That was too easy," he commented and got out his capture tape and tied both of them. Right when he was tying down Uraraka, he heard Shoto vaguely shout, "AH! I HAVE HAD ENOUGH!" His outburst followed a wave of ice encasing all three of them inside, bringing back the other two to consciousness.

"Hero team wins due to Hitoshi using capture tape to capture the villains! Todoroki Shoto, refrain from using your ice once the battle is over,"

"Huh? It already got over?" Todoroki said blankly.

Hitoshi scowled and waited as the onslaught of insults would come regarding his quirk. Still, he couldn't help but glance towards Denki who gave him a wide smile, "Dude, your quirk is brainwashing! That's so cool!"

Hitoshi blinked, "Y-you are fine with it?"

"Well yeah, why would I be angry? I mean, I'm a bit disappointed at losing but you deserved it!"

"But, my quirk is villainous..."

"Huh? Why would a quirk be villainous?" This time Uraraka interrupted, "Who told you that!?"

"People at my earlier school..." he replied lowly.

Denki and Uraraka frowned and looked at each other, "That's not fair," Denki said, "Come on, we'll go to the observation room. Izuku will probably dissect you!"

"Dissect?" Hitoshi paled.

"Metaphorically, he gets too hung up on analyzing," he said.

"He won't think I'm a villain?"

Denki snorted, "Please, he would be the last person to do so. Speaking of, where did this ice come from?" 

"Todoroki. Though he only used it after I captured you two and had an outburst!"

"Aww. You two are way too OP," Uraraka pouted.

Hitoshi smiled slightly, "Maybe I can make friends here,"

Chapter Text

"Young Hitoshi! That was an excellent use of your brainwashing. Keep working like that and you will be a strong hero in no time!" All Might praised.

"Whoa! So your quirk is brainwashing. I told you!" Izuku exclaimed to his cousin who simply smiled, "You'll be able to so much with that! You can resolve hostage situations with no casualties. Your quirk would also allow very low collateral damage and you could use it to turn villains against one another or maybe even for information gathering. But can you only control the actions or their thoughts as well? If you can control the thoughts then you can easily extract information. That would be so cool! But it seemed Shoto's ice broke your brainwashing so if the target gets a shock or something, they can regain control. Hmm, that's a problem," Izuku ranted.

"If you're done, I'd like to tell them what they did wrong, Izuku," All Might said. The rest of the class were staring at him bewildered at having found so many uses for a quirk in such a short time. And that too during the first time, he saw the quirk in action. 

Hitoshi's mouth hung open. He had never been acknowledged like that in his life. It was mostly everyone telling him that he's a villain for his quirk. But now that someone was actually treating him like a good person, he didn't know how to react. "Told ya," Denki grinned in his ear.

"Sorry, I got carried away with analyzing. I can show you the rest later, Hitoshi," Izuku excused.

"There's more?" The rest of the class shared a collective thought.

"Now then, the only criticism I have for you young Hitoshi, is that your stamina is not too good. Those flights of stairs should not have been anything for a hero. Work on building your body physically," All Might advised. Hitoshi nodded.

"Young Shoto. Your performance was not very good,"

Shoto frowned at that. He had been useless. He hadn't been able to take them down, it was all Hitoshi. On top of that, he used his ice after the fight. He was sure they wouldn't want to be friends with him anymore. He had lost both ways.

"You seemed to be in deep thought for much of the match and showed hesitation in using your quirk. Hesitation like that can be fatal as a hero. Not to mention, once you snapped, you used your quirk to freeze the building. That was a bad idea,"

Momo raised her hand, "Yes?" All Might asked. "I don't see how that was a bad idea. It allowed him to hold the enemies in place and made sure that the bomb wasn't harmed,"

"Valid points," All Might replied, "However since Hitoshi was inside, he risked harming another hero. We saw that Hitoshi also got trapped. He also didn't know any of the opponent's quirks. After icing, he would have walked straight into a booby trap since Kaminari could still electrocute him or Uraraka could float the ice. Also, the amount of ice threatened the structural integrity of the building. Without knowing if the villain has damaged the building, using his quirk might cause the building to collapse and the bomb would go off. Even if that didn't happen, the casings for bombs are almost always metal. The ice would have expanded the metal and caused the bomb to explode. Both cases would be catastrophic," All Might explained, "You have a good quirk and control," All Might pat Shoto, "But you need to have more situational awareness,"

Shoto nodded whilst clenching his fists, All Might had shown so many holes in his plan. Even if he hadn't hesitated, his plan would have been very lousy. All those years of Endeavour training him. Yet he was still so behind.

"Denki and Uraraka, I cannot really fault you. Your plan to hold the room was the best thing to do in this scenario where you do not know your opponent's quirks. In the future, however, keep in mind that quirks can be voice-activated too, and choose your actions wisely. That is all I have to point out. Oh, and of course, the man of the match is... Hitoshi!"

Hitoshi stared in surprise, "Me?"

"Of course, who else would it be? None of us did anything!" Denki grinned wildly. All Might nodded, "Now, you can rest!"

Uraraka and Denki nodded and dragged Hitoshi and Shoto with them to Izuku.

"Now for the second match, two members come front!" All Might announced. Jiro came forward. Iida turned to Hagakure, "Would you like to go?" 

The class stared at him blankly. "I'm invisible..."

"Yes, but you have gloves to show your hands. I thought it would be rude to assume-"

"It's fine, go on!"

Iida nodded. The two threw their hands. Iida won, "Hero team!" he called out.

All Might nodded, "Very well, Jiro and Sero, get ready for defense,"

Izuku turned to Hitoshi after the roles were determined, "So, can I learn more about your quirk,"

"Izuku, seriously, give it a break. You only know his name. At least get to know him first," Watanabe said.

Izuku pouted. "I'm Midoriya Izuku. My quirk gives me super strength! Now that we are introduced, can you tell me-,"

"Izuku," Watanabe said warningly.

"Fine, fine. Erm, what's your favorite food?" he asked awkwardly.

"Never mind," Watanabe said as Hitoshi stared blankly. "I'm Hattori Watanabe. My quirk's eye color changing. Izuku's my cousin. I am also your go-to guy if you want bones broken," he smiled.

Hitoshi paled, somehow, this guy was weirder.

Kaminari's electricity crackled as he grew angrier, "I swear to god, both of you!"

"But I'm sure he wants a lot of his bullies' bones broken!" Watanabe said. Izuku nodded vigorously, "And I can help shut down the school,"

Kaminari facepalmed. "They're joking, right? Uraraka asked.

"No, Watanabe broke the bones of a lot of bullies at our school and beat the shit out of Izuku's bully too. Remember Aldera?"

Hitoshi's eyes widened, "Wait, you guys took down that school! I thought you were just the victims,"

"Izuku stirred up quite the public support on the forums," Watanabe half-lied to ensure none of them figured out they wrote the article, "And I kicked Katsuki's ass!"

"Wait, Katsuki as in Bakugou? Our Bakugou?" Kirishima butted in. Izuku paled.

"It's not good to eavesdrop, you know," Mina said from beside.

"You were too!"

Hitoshi and Uraraka sweatdropped and Watanabe puffed up his chest, "Yup! I broke his arms and knocked him out!"

"So, that's why you hate each other, huh? He was really a bully?"

"Mmhmm," 

"Enough!" All Might shouted as he saw Bakugou fuming in the corner. He really didn't want things to get out of hand, "The match is starting now, you wouldn't want to miss it,"

Everyone pouted but nodded.

"Ne, Shoto, why are you so quiet?" Denki asked in a low voice.

Shoto looked at him puzzled, "I thought you wouldn't want to talk since I froze you,"

"That was just training. Did you think I'd be angry at you for that?"

Shoto became a bit embarrassed at that question. Denki smiled, "I already told you, we're friends now, you, me Uraraka, Izuku, Watanabe, and Hitoshi!"

"I didn't agree!" Shinso said gruffly.

"You know you want your friends to get back at your bullies. Just give us the names!" Watanabe pulled Shinso.

"I'll... think about it," Hitoshi said.

"Sure! But you see how I got you to admit that we're friends," Watanabe cheered.

Hitoshi snorted, "Acquaintances,"

"Offer goes for you too, Shoto," Izuku said exclaimed happily. Shoto nodded dumbly but actually thought over it.

"START!" All Might's voice rang out.

"So, what do you think our plan should be?" Hagakure asked Iida.

"Well, I thought you would be our ace in the hole by sneaking upon them. But, Jiro-san seems to have some sort of hearing quirk. Her ears are shaped like earphones, so it might be some sort of enhanced hearing. I'm not sure of Sero-san,"

"Hmm, so we can't just rush in since Jiro can hear us coming?" Hagakure clarified. Iida nodded. Toru thought a bit more before raising her finger, "Oh, I got it! Your quirk is engine right?"

Iida nodded.

"So, that means your quirk must be very loud!" Toru offered. Iida nodded again. "Great! So we can just head into the site and then you can use your quirk to cover my sounds. Jiro will have to stop using her quirk to protect her ears and that will let me sneak in and get the bomb. But, it's all for naught if one of them comes searching outside of the site,"

"No, no, it's a good plan. Since Jiro-san has a hearing quirk, both of them are likely to stay on site since they can hear us coming! Nice planning, Hagakure!"

All Might smiled, it seemed this batch of students were not all brawn.

"Any sign of them?" Sero asked after he had booby-trapped the bomb with his tape.

"Not yet, they aren't close enough yet," Jiro said with her earphone jacks in the ground.

"Man, I hop-" Sero stopped short as Jiro put her hand up, "Wait! I hear them coming. They are coming full speed, right outside the door!" Jiro exclaimed and moved out of the way just as Iida came crashing in through the door.

"Sero, take care of him! I'll search for Hagakure!" Sero nodded and arced his tape towards Iida. "I won't let you!" Iida shouted and used his quirk to evade the tape. The two started playing a game of tag. Sero trying to use his tape for a long-range capture and Iida evading it and trying to get close to him.

"Can you get him already? I can't hear Hagakure over his quirk!"

"I'm trying!"

Hagakure grinned invisibly and ran quietly towards the bomb. She frowned when she saw Sero had covered up the bomb, "Ah well, it looks like bandages anyway. I'll just slip through," She decided but soon regretted her decision. The glue on the tape stuck to her and she couldn't get out.

"Jiro, Hagakure's caught in the tape!"

"Where!?" Jiro shouted back, "I can't see her!"

Sero grumbled, "Switch! I'll get Hagakure," Sero said and dashed off to her location. Iida tried to follow but was cut off by Jiro landing in front of him. Iida didn't let that deter him and ran off by her side. Jiro scowled and plugged her earphone jacks into her legs and let out a sound wave. Iida crumpled to the ground. Jiro smiled but instantly realized her mistake when the sound wave traveled across to the protective tape and crumpled it.

"Shit! Sero, the tape!" Jiro exclaimed

Sero looked beside to see the tape coming down. He pulled the tape, Hagakure was sticking to and captured her with the capture tape. Iida saw his chance and got up groggily, ignoring the pain in his head. With one last dash, he aimed for the bomb. Jiro was about to unleash another wave but bit her lip when she saw that the bomb was in the line of impact, "Sero! Do something!" Jiro shouted. Fortunately, Sero had just seen Iida run, a moment before and had already mobilized the tape lying on the ground. He pulled it up as a tripwire and caught Iida into it who yelped in surprise. Sero smirked, thinking they had won but Iida's momentum pulled the tape and Sero along with him. Sero tried to hold back Iida and was almost successful but Iida managed to get the tip of his finger on the bomb.

"HERO TEAM WINS!" All Might's announcement came much to Sero's dismay.

Chapter Text

The two teams came back to the viewing room. Sero was hunched over, he had been so close to capturing Iida too, and winning it for them. But, Iida's speed was too much for him to handle. Jiro had apologized profusely to him since she felt it was her fault that the tape came falling down. Iida had also tried to comfort him by praising him which elevated his mood slightly, but still.

"Good work out there, both teams!" All Might said, "Now, for your criticism. Let's start with the man of the match: Sero!" 

"Huh, me? But I lost," Sero said.

"Be that as it may, your plan was simple yet solid. You knew both of your opponent's quirks and you used that vital information to your advantage. Iida and Hagakure knew only about Jiro's quirk while yours was a sort of mystery," he explained, "The tape you put in front guaranteed that nobody could get there without crossing the tape which was loosely connected to you. Once you had Hagakure, it should have been game over, but Jiro messed up. But you still did brilliantly capture Iida with stunning reflexes. There is almost no criticism, I can give you besides building up your muscles to use the elasticity of the tape to your advantage," All Might said. Sero nodded happily. All Might had praised him!

"Jiro. I am sure you already know what you did wrong?" All Might asked. Jiro nodded, "Good! Do not be disheartened as this is only a practice scenario. In the future, you will get better. Try to understand the range of your power and control its output. Your planning was quite good!" Jiro nodded determinedly.

"Hagakure, your planning was also brilliant. There was nothing you did wrong except one huge mistake. You underestimated the opponent's quirk. In the field, DO NOT take one glance at a quirk and determine its danger. For all, you know, the tape could have contained poison. This is my only criticism for you,"

"Yes, sensei,"

"Iida. I have absolutely nothing to fix for you!"

"Huh? But sensei surely I could have done better-"

All Might put his hand up, "Yes, Certainly! Your plan and execution could be better. However, according to the circumstances, you behaved exactly as a pro-hero should! But you should practice your reflexes to keep it in line with the speed of your quirk!" Iida nodded.

"Ne, Midoriya, do you have anything for me?" Sero asked with a smile.

"Huh?"

"You know, pointers, like with Hitoshi?"

"No, I mean you don't mind?"

Sero frowned, "Why would I? It helps me get better right,"

Izuku smiled, "Well then, I think you could have used your tape to jam the door shut. Since it's sticky, you could have folded the tape and wedged the door from behind so that the opponent couldn't come through. I'd say you could use your quirk to move rubble and help in rescue operations but since your tape is sticky, that would be a problem,"

"No worries! I can make it unsticky too," 

Izuku's eyes widened, "Whoa, can you control the stickiness after you disperse the tape? Can you also control other properties?"

"No, I can't control the stickiness once the tape exits my body. And I didn't try to modify any properties, so I don't know,"

"Ok, enough!" All Might announced, "Two members from each team come up for the third match!"

"Aww, I'll give you a copy of my notes later," Izuku said. Sero nodded.

"Could I get a copy of mine too?" Hagakure asked while Iida and Jiro nodded beside. Izuku's grin grew wider, "Sure,"

Meanwhile, Sato threw rock, while Aoyama threw scissors. Sato grinned. "All right, Yaoyorozu and Aoyama set up for defense!"

As the two teams left to get ready, Izuku turned to Shouji, "Ne, our match is next. Wanna discuss tactics?"

Shouji gave Izuku a weird look, "I was under the impression you would take care of that,"

"Huh, you don't want to help?"

"Not that. You just seem so smart and powerful,"

"Well, maybe but two heads are better than one, right? And your quirk is probably amazing too! You had a force exertion of 540 kg!"

Shouji shuffled slightly, much to Watanabe's amusement. Seeing someone so giant and menacing move awkwardly like that was always comforting to watch, "It's not that special. My quirk is Dupli-arms. I can create body parts at the end of the tentacle-like structures of my body. Like eyes, ears, extra hands," Shouji gave a demonstration.

Izuku stared at him with wide eyes but before he could say anything, Watanabe yelled out, "What the hell? That's a freaking OP quirk!"

All Might gave Watanabe a pointed look causing him to rub his head in embarrassment, "Sorry sensei. We'll keep it down,"

"Well, I mean, yea it gives me better sensory skills and also allows me to create extra arms for more power, but it's not that OP,"

"No, Shouji, it is OP!" Izuku declared in a whisper, "You can create any body parts, right? Since you can create eyes, which require special optic nerves, ears which require auditory canals and so on as well as muscles for the arms?" Shouji nodded in reply.

"Alright, now think about it this way. You can create extra brains to help increase your intelligence. You can create extra glands like the adrenal gland and pump yourself with so much of it that you become a superhuman for a short period of time. You can create the fundic glands of the stomach to secrete hydrochloric acid onto your opponents. You can build up only the muscle fibers instead of the whole arm and use it for increased strength or even create only the bones and use them as a sort of sword!" Izuku ranted, "The possibilities are endless!"

Watanabe nodded beside him, "Also, considering the fact that you can create so many different parts of your body, it means your cells are still capable of specialization. That also means that the protein synthesis process is varying. Since all proteins have the same basic pairs, does that mean your body is capable of consciously changing the pattern of your base pairings? That is what should happen considering the vast difference in parts of the body. But if you can move your proteins and control the ribosome to that extent, does that mean you can make parts of other organisms? Every living thing in the universe is formed through variations of the four-nitrogen bases, so if you can control the arrangement, you could probably do that. Maybe you can even control chromosome division during the mitosis process in our tentacles and make a different organism on the tentacles! And as Izuku said, you can make adrenal glands produce excess adrenaline but what if you make extra hearts and pump the adrenaline-filled blood rapidly? Your stamina, power, speed, and reflex would increase ten-fold!" Watanabe contributed.

"I don't think the DNA manipulation will work though. I think it's more like he thinks of the final product and the cells specialize according to his wishes," Izuku pointed out.

"Well, that could be but with enough concentration, who knows! I wonder if you can change your blood group too, Shouji,"

"No, blood groups are determined by antigens on the cell. Since it's his own cells dividing through mitosis, the antigens won't change. Even DNA manipulation doesn't change antigens as far as I know,"

Watanabe deflated slightly, "Hmm, I suppose that's right. But Shouji could make more blood with his bone marrow at least,"

"That he could. And he could donate a lot of blood that way!"

Shouji looked at both of them with wide eyes. All Might had been listening in to their silent conversation and paled as did Uraraka, Iida, and Sero. Shoto didn't show any outward reaction but inside he was absolutely flabbergasted. He knew that Midoriya loved analyzing if his notes said anything but the rant he went off on about Shouji was... too good. And then Watanabe had come and given more technical terms to showcase Shouji's hidden power.

"C-can you help me do... all of that?" Shouji asked.

"Well, I mostly analyze to give the strengths of the quirk. We never really tried teaching anyone but I guess we could give it a go! Right, Watanabe?" Izuku asked his cousin who nodded.

"You two must be related or something. How do you go about analyzing someone's quirk that much?"

"Oh, we're cousins," Watanabe replied.

Shouji rolled his eyes, "Of course. How come you didn't tell anyone?" Even Shoto was interested, he hadn't known that bit either.

"No one asked," Watanabe shrugged, "Now, for the first step, we'll dissect you after this is over," Watanabe said a bit too cheerfully.

"D-dissect?" Shouji gulped.

"Forgive my sadistic friend. He hasn't had anyone to torment for about a week now," Kaminari helped along.

"Well, I doubt he'd like my murder plans," Watanabe pouted.

Shouji paled further.

Izuku laughed, "Don't worry. He just likes analyzing weaknesses. I'm better at analyzing strengths, that's about it really,"

"So why is he calling it murder plans?" Uraraka asked.

"His plans almost always end in murdering the subject," Denki deadpanned.

Iida frowned, "That is extremely unprofessional. You must not do such things!"

Watanabe glared at Iida, "It's better to hear the weaknesses that could kill you from an ally than having a villain figuring it out and kill you,"

Iida froze at that as did the others around him who'd been listening in. "Isn't that a bit too harsh?" Mineta said.

All Might sighed and stepped in, "Watanabe is right! It is better to learn your weaknesses and train them instead of being injured out on the field. As pro-heroes, many villains will learn of your quirk and try to find weaknesses. Izuku is helping you by giving you your strengths but Watanabe's analyses might help you live another day too. Keep that in mind."

The class nodded grimly as the stark reality of being a hero hit them.

Aizawa frowned. The teachers were still spectating All Might's hero class. What had Aizawa so concerned was the fact that All Might was not the dunce he had thought him to be. He was actually acting intelligent and offering good views into the students' performance. Had All Might fooled him?

"You're thinking how All Might is so good at teaching, right?" Nedzu asked. Aizawa grumbled but nodded. "He had teaching lessons,"

"Huh, from whom?" Aizawa asked.

"Remember Torino-san?"

Aizawa's hand unconsciously went to his head where he was kicked by Torino, "Yeah. He trained All Might?"

Nedzu nodded. Torino had sent him videos of his tutoring sessions with Toshinori. He had pretty much beaten into Yagi, how to teach the next generation. Fortunately, Yagi still hadn't picked up Torino's violent tendencies.

"Nedzu," Recovery girl spoke for the first time. All the teachers moved their gaze to their elder colleague, "I'm going to take Shouji on for his internship study,"

The entire staffroom turned to face her, "You what?" Mic asked.

"I want to take Shouji as my intern. Snipe already asked for Watanabe, so I want to take Shouji. Someone more experienced needs to teach him about the biology of his quirk," 

"That can be easily arranged. Of course, Shouji-Kun will decide from his choices but I'll make sure to add that you want him specifically," Nedzu said cheerfully.

"If Shota doesn't expel him that is," Mic commented. Chiyo just chuckled and Aizawa snorted. Even he knew better than to cross recovery girl.

Chapter Text

"Alright, I'm done," Momo said and as wires exited her skin.

"You are sure this will work, right?" Aoyama asked. 

"Yes," Momo connected the wires to the cameras she made and attached them to the wall, "The traps are set too," Momo pointed at the tripwires she had placed along with the door, "If they trigger them, the capture net will fall on them?"

"Great plan," Aoyama commented.

"Now, we should get out of here. There are too many traps here, we might get caught in them. We can't get too far too, in case they get past the traps and capture the bomb,"

"No problem?" Aoyama gave a thumbs up, "With my laser, I will be able to hold the door,"

Momo nodded, "In that case, I will try to fight head-on and act as bait," Aoyama nodded.

"THIRD MATCH START!"

"Koda, did you find the bomb?" Sato asked.

He nodded, "Yes, my birds say the bomb is on the second floor. There are some traps too and no one is in the room,"

"Tsk, that means they want to take us head-on. Koda, you slip past them while I hold them off!" Sato said.

The boy nodded. Both of them ran into the building. Right as they came up the stairs, Momo headed them off with a shield. Sato grumbled and ate some sweets he had stored, "Koda, you go on. I'll capture her and follow. Be careful of Aoyama and his lasers!"

Koda nodded and tried to run past Momo but was smashed to the ground by her shield. He spat out some blood. "It won't be that easy," Momo replied. The next moment, Sato rushed at her. Momo put up her shield defensively but Sato's punch broke through it easily. Momo was able to move to the left but Sato's fist connected with her left arm and sent her skidding a few feet. She slammed against the wall and tried to recollect her thoughts, "What power. My iron shield was no match. In that case, I'll just have to make stronger materials!" She resolved and formed another shield and a rod. Sato tried to attack her but Momo kept dodging swiftly around him. The rod was just for show, her arm hurt too much to use it.

Koda took the chance to run to the bomb but stopped short as a mouse came up to him. He listened to it and paled, "Sato-san! It's a trap!" He spoke in a louder voice than normal. "Huh?" Sato asked. Momo took the chance and used Sato's lapse in advantage to bash his head. Sato held his nose in pain but didn't deter. He tried to finish off the fight with one final blow but Momo moved out of the way and sent him tumbling down the hall. Sato's face paled as his foot snagged a tripwire. A net fell over him.

Koda gave an order to his Mice and turned to face Momo, "I can't fight her. My combat skills are not good enough. I have to wait for my mice to cut Sato's net. I can try and delay,"

Momo took a defensive stance. Koda's physique looked like he was strong too and she probably couldn't hold against him. Both of them stood and waited for the other to make their first move. Suddenly, Momo heard squeaking behind her and turned, "Mice!" she nearly screamed seeing the nets being cut down rapidly. Koda took the opportunity to land a punch but Aoyama used his laser right then and came flying at Koda. His metallic armor connected with Koda straight in the head and knocked him out while Momo drove the mice away and used her capture tape to restrain Sato.

"VILLAIN TEAM WINS!" All Might announced.

Three of the students entered the viewing room, "Koda was knocked unconscious by Aoyama, so he has been taken to the recovery girl. I'll give him his pointers afterward. First, I will start with Aoyama," All Might said.

Aoyama nodded with a smile on his face.

"While this is supposed to be an alternative to the actual villain fights, you should take care not to seriously harm your classmates,"

Aoyama's face drooped slightly, "However, you did follow the strategy properly and reduced Momo when it mattered the most. A good performance. Keep it up!" All Might complimented and got a determined response in return.

"Sato, your performance was below average. You allowed yourself to be trapped even after Koda warned you. You shouldn't muscle through everything like that,"

"Sorry sensei. It's just it always seems to work for you," Sato replied, slightly embarrassed.

All Might gave his trademark laugh, "I assure you, young Sato, even I have to think twice before fighting a villain. Being a pro-hero is not only about showing off strength,"

"Now, for Momo! You were the best performer in this match. You used your quirk intelligently to put up a surveillance system and a trap system. On top of that, you were able to hold your ground and capture a strength-based quirk user and were able to hold off Koda till help arrived as well! Good job!"

Momo smiled happily at the praise, "Thank you, All Might!" The hero nodded.

"Ne, Izuku, can I get an analysis on me too? My performance was really bad," Sato said sheepishly.

"Me too. I feel like I could have done better," Aoyama said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Sure thing," Izuku said cheerfully ignoring Aoyama's antics with his cape, "Would you like yours too, Yaoyorozu?"

Momo nodded dumbly. She was interested in seeing what Izuku could offer about her quirk. She liked to think that she was smart enough to have already analyzed all of her quirk and had mapped out all of the possibilities of the battle. But still, she was intrigued to know what Izuku could offer.

"Now, for match 4! Two members from each team come up!" All Might announced.

"You go, Izuku," Shouji said warmly. Izuku nodded with a smile and met Ojiro. Izuku threw scissor and Ojiro paper.

"Young Midoriya, choose your team,"

Izuku gave a grin with an evil glint in his eye that sent up a chill on even Watanabe's spine.

The words that left Izuku's mouth made the spectating Nedzu chuckle, "I choose to be on the villain team!" 

Chapter Text

"I assume you have a plan to have picked the villain side?" Shouji asked with narrowed eyes.

"Well, we have to win the fight. It's not like this is a real fight where we are villains. It's a test to measure our capabilities. You want to win, right?" Izuku said.

"Well, yeah. But we could have done it as heroes too, right?" Shouji asked.

"Maybe," Izuku replied, "But we have the advantage by being the villains. We have an entire layout of the building and we get 10 minutes to strategize, so we have the upper hand as defenders. Sort of like in a video game," Izuku said with glee.

Shouji sighed, "So, what is your plan?"

"Hide and seek!"

"Hide and seek?" Shouji asked slowly.

"Yup! All Might never said we couldn't move the bomb. We'll just store it down in the basement!"

"That's all good but we still don't have a full idea of Tokoyami's quirk. What if he has some sort of sensory quirk and uses that to find the bomb?"

"Well, that's no problem at all. We will both engage them from the start and lead them away from the second floor so that they think the bomb is up there. But we have to make sure they never actually see anything there. We have the comms to keep in touch with each other. One of us just has to battle it out near the basement."

Shouji nodded, "Guess I should get this moving then," he pointed to the bomb.

"That would be wonderful! Speaking of, who do you want to take on?" Izuku asked while Shouji built extra arms to lift the bomb, "I think I should take on Ojiro. Your quirk seems stronger,"

Izuku became slightly flustered, "It can be stronger but right now I think you are much stronger than me,"

"Probably," Shouji replied, "But I am not exactly acrobatic. Since I can only build on my tentacles, my legs are usually left wide-open. You, on the other hand, can use your power anywhere in your body,"

Izuku thought about it for a while, "I guess so. You won't have too many problems with Ojiro I'm sure. Try to help me please, Tokoyami's quirk seems quite powerful even if I don't know at it is," Izuku gave a shaky laugh.

Shouji gave a curt nod.

"FOURTH MATCH, START!" All Might's voice rang out.

Surprisingly, neither of them rushed in and seemed to take their time to scope out the building.

"Why are they doing that?" Denki asked.

"Seems like they take Izuku's intelligence as a threat," Watanabe said with a smirk.

Tokoyami used his dark shadow to burst open the main door. It scoped around and gave the two the all-clear. Tokoyami nodded and led Ojiro into the building. 

Meanwhile, Shouji was hanging onto the ceiling right above the main door. He had seen dark shadow scope out the floor and was lucky to have not been discovered. Once, the all-clear had been given, Tokoymai and Ojiro had run in. Shouji jumped down while pumping an extra muscular hand to his tentacle. He already knew how to create longer arms than usual, so creating more muscular ones as Izuku had suggested was a piece of cake.

"Behind!" Dark shadow gave a warning cry.

Ojiro was too slow to respond and was sent flying through the wall beside. Shouji gave Tokoyami no respite and charged at him viciously. Tokoyami was almost caught but Dark Shadow came to the rescue, having grown in the darkness of the building. Shouji stopped his advancement and fell back, "The ultimate defense, huh?"

Izuku chose that moment to slide in for a sweeping kick. "Oi! You have to get through me first!" Dark shadow said and lunged towards Izuku. Izuku grunted and used his feet to jump away from the shadow's attack. He darted off into the shadows. Dark Shadow followed him and Shouji took the opportunity to thrust himself at Tokoyami's open defense. The bird-like boy dodged the first strike which smashed the floor into pieces. Shouji snarled in the heat of the battle and outstretched his palm. Fortunately, Dark shadow used his tether to deflect the palm to the side. Before Shouji could understand what had happened, he was smacked in the face by Ojiro's tail.

"Are you all right?" Tokoyami asked seeing the blood pouring down Ojiro's head. 

"Yeah. We still have to win right,"

"Tch," Shouji thought to himself. He had expected that shot to take Ojiro out of commission but it seemed like he was tougher than it looked. His tail packed quite a punch too. He decided to go through with the second phase of their plan and retreat into the darkness.

Ojiro made a move to after him but was stopped by Tokoyami, "Wait. I'll go after him. You go this way where Izuku fled," he pointed down the stairs.

"Why though?"

"Midoriya seems to be a very smart and competent opponent. Splitting us up is probably their tactics. However, they must have garnered Dark Shadow's attention in order to make me chase Midoriya instead. Therefore, I think we should switch to mess up their plan," Fumikage explained.

Ojiro nodded and launched himself straight to the stairs while Tokoyami ran after Shouji. As soon as Ojiro had gotten near the stairs to the basement, Izuku had slammed into him from behind with a drilling kick but Ojiro had caught Izuku's leg by the tail and sent him flying. Izuku groaned seeing Ojiro in front of him and tapped into the comms, "Shouji, they-,"

"I know," Shouji replied seeing Tokoyami in front of him.

"Now then Izuku, what will you do?" Watanabe asked no one in particular.

"You knew this would happen?" Uraraka asked.

"Something was bound to go wrong,"

"How so?" Hitoshi asked.

"Izuku is a strategist. He prefers to make plans before the battle. His plan was to take Tokoyami instead, but Ojiro messed it up. Of course, he does have backup plans, but naturally, they keep lowering in quality," Denki explained, "Let's hope he has a good backup,"

Izuku was a bit unnerved. Their plan had been going so fluid up until now. He did have a backup plan in case something like this happened, but he wished he had gotten Tokoyami right off the bat. Taking a deep breath, he entered a stance, a mix of the basic dojo stance he had learned and Torino's stance. Ojiro eyed him suspiciously, recognizing certain aspects of the stance.

Without a word, both of them charged at each other. Both of their arms collided mid-air. Izuku winced as his legs were swept out from under him. Ojiro's tail hit him straight in the stomach and pummeled him to the ground. Izuku gasped for air as the metallic taste of blood reached his throats. He regained his bearings and slid away from the next attack.

He ran into the comfort of the shadows in order to get a clear space of mind, "He's just like Watanabe almost. A martial arts specialist. The way I am right now, I can't beat even Watanabe, let alone Ojiro who literally has an extra limb to integrate into his combat style. Fighting with him is suicide. The best I can do is go for my backup," He opened the comms network.

Shouji huffed as he was sent flying once more by Dark Shadow. He couldn't get anywhere near Tokoyami to land a blow, not to mention it had gotten stronger all of a sudden. He ducked under Dark Shadow's attack once more and extended his arms to grapple onto it. He anchored his legs and pulled. Tokoyami's eyes widened in surprise as he felt himself being launched off his feet, but Shouji's moment of victory didn't last long as Dark Shadow enhanced itself further and lashed around smashing Shouji into the wall and causing him to let go.

Shouji tensed. He felt the comms open up and retreated shortly to make sure Tokoyami didn't hear anything. "We're going for Plan B then," He thought to himself and turned his back. He was going to lead Tokoyami to their rendevous point as discussed. He deflated his tentacles to reduce body mass and increase speed and mobility and made a run for it. Twice, he was almost slammed face-first to the ground. Finally, he came face to face with a dead end. "Now you're mine!" Dark Shadow said confidently. Shouji smirked and built up his muscular arms. He smashed through the cabinets and saw Izuku coming. 

"SWITCH!" Izuku yelled. Shouji didn't need a second order and leaped towards Izuku who jumped out of the way leaving a pale Ojiro who got punched straight in the face and was sent crashing into the wall behind.

Shouji quickly built up another muscular arm on his left which Izuku used as a pivot and jumped up high. Dark Shadow snarled and lunged but Izuku planted his feet on the ceiling and dodged to the left. Izuku went straight for Tokoyami but Dark Shadow arched again to block. Izuku moved his legs to run the right, close to Dark Shadow causing him to outstretch towards Izuku. Izuku smirked, his feint had worked! He channeled extra energy into his left leg and leaped. Dark Shadow growled and made another go at him but Izuku rolled away beside him and came to a stop right in front of Tokoyami's face. He switched his balance to his hands and drilled a brutal rising kick to Tokoyami's chin sending him flying through the air. Dark Shadow yelped and moved past Izuku, ignoring him, and was just in time to layout as a cushion for his master.

"Whoa! That was such a manly combo!" Kirishima praised with passion.

All Might smiled too. Indeed, Izuku's brains and agility with One for All made him a very terrifying opponent.

Tokoyami frowned as he let Dark Shadow occupy Izuku. "Their original plan was to split us up," he thought while wiping off the blood from his mouth. That kick had hurt like hell and had numbed his brain slightly. He couldn't even move his jaw without it hurting, "So, we have to stay together! They can't team up on us either since Dark Shadow can be considered an extra member," Tokoyami thought, "Ojiro!" he used the comms, "Don't let them split us up. Stay together so that we can protect each other!" Tokoyami ordered under his breath.

Ojiro nodded as he dodged under Shouji's punch and slammed with full force into his stomach sending him skidding. Ojiro flapped his tail menacingly and settled into a stance, "You got me by surprise both of those times. I'm not going to let you beat me this time!" Ojiro said. Shouji didn't reply and instead grew out more of arms in response, "Izuku, it seems we have to that," Shouji said. "Yah!" Izuku exclaimed.

Both Tokoyami and Ojiro tensed at that but charged at their opponents. Ojiro blocked Shouji's lumbering punch with his tail and used his legs to push against Shouji. He ducked under the arms and swept Shouji's legs. Shouji's eyes widened but he couldn't do anything as he fell painfully to the ground. Ojiro got up quickly and hammered a kick into Shouji's chest. Shouji barely blocked the kick with his arms and rolled over.

Meanwhile, Izuku had been using the walls to dodge around Dark Shadow. He had tried to out-maneuver it and get close to Tokoyami once again but it seemed they had learned their lesson. In the corner of his eye, Izuku saw Shouji almost get driven into the ground. He turned to get a better view but that lapse of concentration was all it took for Dark Shadow to smash him through the wall. Izuku groaned. He got up shakingly, hurting all over. His eyes widened when he noticed that Dark Shadow's tether had suddenly grown thinner than before, "But why?'" Izuku squinted his face as he felt the sunlight pouring in from the window beside, "Oh, so that's why! It makes sense, Dark Shadow obviously works better in the dark. It's in the name! Light is Tokoyami's weakness then!" Izuku's face cleared up as he formulated a new plan.

"Shouji-" Izuku opened up his comms but stopped as the wall beside him crashed. Shouji came flying through and slid to Izuku's feet. "Shouji! Are you ok?" Izuku asked worriedly.

"Yeah, Ojiro is much more powerful than I thought,"

"Yeah, I didn't know he had martial arts skills too," Izuku replied as he warily watched OJiro join up with Tokoyami. It seemed both Ojiro and Tokoyami were tired too and had decided to stop fighting for now. Though Izuku was sure, he didn't have enough time before they were pressed again since he could make a plan in the meantime, "Shouji listen. Tokoyami's quirk seems to be weakest in the light. So we have to keep him here. Since Ojiro is so troublesome, you try to hold him off while I pretend to go after Tokoyami. Then I'll double back and we can take care of Ojiro together before we both go for Tokoyami," Izuku explained. "I'll... try," Shouji said in between breaths.

Ojiro didn't let them plan any further and charged, Dark shadow behind for support. Izuku grunted and picked up Shouji's heavy body and jumped out of Ojiro's punch but collided with Dark Shadow instead. Izuku charged some extra energy from One for All to stop before they smashed into a wall. With a heave, Shouji got up. He took a few calming breaths. He flew towards Ojiro with an outstretched palm. Ojiro easily countered by ducking and aimed for the stomach. Shouji smiled underneath his mask and created a branching arm below his attack and slammed Ojiro to the ground.

Izuku came flying in with Dark Shadow and kicked Ojiro away right as he was about to get up. Dark Shadow growled and sped up to catch Izuku but yelped. Tokoyami had fallen to the ground and Dark Shadow couldn't get any further. "Shit, the tether won't go any further in this light," Dark Shadow growled.

 Shouji built up a muscular arm on his uninjured right side and caught Izuku in mid-air before throwing him towards Tokoyami. Fumikage was just getting up and his eyes widened when he saw Izuku coming. Dark Shadow arced underneath Shouji and tripped him before flying to his master's aid. He landed as a menacing barrier between Izuku, "Ok, even though Dark Shadow is weakened, my punch won't do anything. In that case, I'll have to use more power!" He thought and concentrated One For All in his arm, "One for All... 20%!" He grimaced as he felt the volatile power coursing through, "SMASH!" He yelled and blew Tokoyami and Dark Shadow away. Thankfully, even 20% was not enough to blow away the walls. However, it was just enough for Fumikage to be knocked out into the wall.

Izuku sighed with relief as he held his broken arm in pain. He wondered why the match wasn't being called when Dark Shadow smashed him into the floor, "How dare you hurt Fumikage!" he yelled and went for another swing but stopped short as All Might's voice rang out, "TIME IS UP! VILLAIN TEAM WINS!" Izuku sighed with relief.

Recovery girl twitched as four more came in, "All Might overdid it with his first class," she grumbled as she went around healing everyone. "First Koda and now you four," she said pointing to Koda's sleeping body.

She bandaged Ojiro's bleeding head and tended to Shouji's bruises. She sighed and disinfected Tokoyami's head where it was bleeding slightly. She let Tokoyami sleep it off and turned her attention to Izuku. Chiyo gave him a kiss and healed his hand before putting a cast on it, "Now, take a nap," she ordered all of them.

Izuku seemed to speak their mind, "But the rest of the maaaatches," he couldn't finish as he yawned out.

Chiyo smirked, "Sleep, your friends can fill you in later," she said warmly. Shouji and Ojiro followed her orders. Izuku grumbled but decided against angering Chiyo. After all, he would need her to heal him every time he broke his bones. 

Chapter Text

"You sure we shouldn't go check on Izuku? " Hitoshi asked. He had surprised them by fitting in perfectly in their group. As Denki said, all he needed were friends. 

"Nope, trust me. You'll get yelled at by recovery girl or something," Watanabe replied. 

"How do you know?" Shouto asked. 

"We've met..." He replied off-handedly. He still remembered her telling off All Might and yelling at all of them for causing too much of a ruckus while Izuku was healing, "Speaking of! Denki, I believe you owe me something!" Watanabe said with a cheeky grin.

Kaminari grumbled, "Fine, I'll pay for pizza,"

Shouto looked at both of them with a questioning look, "What was that all about?"

"Oh, I bet Denki that Izu will break his bone by overpowering his quirk. Now he has to pay for 5 pizzas whenever I want," Watanabe explained.

Hitoshi shook his head, "You guys are weird,"

"Aww, you'll get used to it!" Watanabe comforted with a grin. Hitoshi just shook his head while Uraraka chuckled. Shouto... was unsure what to think of the bet.

"Now, for match 5! Two members from each team come up!" All Might announced.

"You go, Asui," Watanabe said with a smile.

"Call me Tsu-chan!"

"Oi, shitty hair, I'm gonna destroy them!"

Kirishima laughed, "Sure dude! Go on."

Tsuyu threw paper, Bakugou threw rock. "Hero team!" Tsuyu said extra cheekily.

"So, what's your quirk?" Tsuyu asked.

"Huh?" Watanabe snapped out of his thoughts. He smiled, "Sorry, could you repeat that. I wasn't listening,"

"What's your quirk?" Tsuyu repeated, "Yours is one of the only ones no one could figure out from the quirk apprehension test. At least the rest showed some aspects of their quirk,"

"Ah, my quirk is eye color changing," Watanabe replied with an eye smile. 

Tsuyu stared at him, waiting for him to go on. The two stood in silence for a while before Tsuyu realized that Watanabe wasn't going to explain. She twitched but decided to go on, "Can you tell me what your quirk does?"

"Sure," Watanabe smiled back, "My quirk is basically vision change. I can see in X-ray, UV vision, and infrared vision up to now but I'm sure there are more visions I haven't found yet. We think my quirk works by absorbing different wavelengths. That's why my eye color changes according to my vision change," Watanabe explained.

"We?" Tsuyu asked.

"Me and Izuku,"

Tsuyu huffed, "Why didn't you tell me the first time I asked?"

Watanabe's smile didn't waver, "I did. You asked my quirk. Eye color changing is basically my quirk,"

Tsuyu realized he was right but was still annoyed, "People tend to get annoyed by that, you know?"

Watanabe's smile did fall this time, "I believe in making people ask the right questions instead of asking half-assed ones that leave the other party to deduce the rest. There are a lot of conflicts that could be resolved if people just asked the right questions instead of leaving it up to implication," Watanabe explained.

Tsuyu gave Watanabe a calculated look. At first glance, he seemed normal. Once you watched him a bit more, he seemed chaotic and mischievous. But from what she was seeing now, that was all just a mask. Underneath, he was smart, calculating, and had a good grasp of reality. Not that it seemed to stop him from causing as much chaos as possible. He just had an underlying reason for it.

"I suppose you are right about that. With your quirk, we can easily get the location of the bomb right?" Tsuyu asked.

"Yup," Watanabe replied, "But you should go for the bomb. I'll take care of Bakugou,"

Tsuyu raised her eye, "I don't think it's a good idea considering the history between you two," Tsuyu said remembering Kaminari's words.

"Yes, that's why he'll probably be after me. It won't do for both of us to get held up like what happened in the last match. So you go for the bomb and I'll head off Bakugou," Watanabe explained.

"You will still have to provide me with an opening. Are you sure you can do that?" Tsuyu asked hesitantly.

Watanabe smirked, "I don't need to. Their bomb's on the second floor!"

"So...?"

"Your tongue extends right? I saw you extend it during the quirk apprehension test," Watanabe replied off-handedly. Tsuyu nodded, skeptical of Watanabe's plan. She gulped in fear as Watanabe replied, "Perfect!"

"FIFTH MATCH START!" All Might's voice rang out.

The students watched from the viewing room, "Where are they?" Ashido asked not seeing Tsuyu or Watanabe anywhere near the entrance. All Might frowned slightly, "I'm not sure..." he switched through the cameras. He couldn't find them, so he zoomed out to view the entire model city. "There they are!" Sero pointed out. The two were on a roof adjacent to the building the bomb was in.

"Oh shit," Kaminari muttered.

"What? What is it?" Hitoshi asked.

"Wait and watch," Kaminari said.

Tsuyu uncoiled her tongue fully. Watanabe grabbed it and resisted the urge to puke. The tongue was just so slimy! He grabbed Tsuyu's tongue and ran at full speed right to the edge of the building. He stopped short as Tsuyu's tongue reached its elasticity. The sudden stop pulled Tsuyu along with her tongue and propelled her over the roof. Watanabe controlled her direction and threw her straight through the window of the bomb site.

"Bakugou! They are already in!" Kirishima shouted on his comms as he saw a figure rise out of the glass.

"HUH! WHAT DO YOU MEAN!? I'M RIGHT HERE AT THE ENTRANCE!" Bakugou yelled.

"They came in through the window,"

"Shit," Bakugou cursed and ran to the stairs to get back. However, Watanabe was still on the roof and used his X-ray to trace Bakugou's movements. He ran along the edge of the roof and just as Katsuki reached the flight of stairs, Watanabe leaped off the roof. He broke through the window beside. Bakugou stared in shock, unable to react fast enough. Watanabe used his momentum of the fall to drill in a kick straight into Katsuki's face. 

Bakugou was sent flying back and crashed into the wall. Watanabe offered no respite and caught Bakugou's stumbling figure with his chains. He pulled Bakugou to himself and delivered another kick straight to the ribs. Bakugou spat up some more blood but this time he used his explosions to stop himself from flying off. He ducked beneath Watanabe's oncoming punch and let off an explosion straight to Watanabe's stomach. Watanabe felt his breath leave his body as he staggered back from the recoil of the explosion. Luckily, his armor suit had stopped him from too much harm.

Katsuki smirked. Sure, therapy and rehabilitation with Orca had helped him, but right now he really wanted to let loose and win.

Kirishima gave a wide grin as he readied his quirk and faced Tsuyu, "Sorry, but I want to win. Let's have a manly fight!" he said with passion.

"But, I'm not a man," Tsuyu tilted her head. Kirishima face faulted, "That's not what I-" he started to stay but was slapped by Tsuyu's tongue. Tsuyu brought her tongue back like a boomerang to catch Kirishima by surprise again. He quickly jumped above her tongue and took a stance, "That was an unmanly move. You purposely put me off guard,"

Tsuyu grinned cheekily, "If that's what you think, you'll be having a hard time with villains,"

Kirishima grinned and activated his quirk, "I believe even villains can be manly,"

Tsuyu nodded and charged at Kirishima. She hopped onto the walls and jumped off of them like a spring. She frowned. Kirishima still hadn't moved and was only watching her movements carefully, "Does he have a quirk that is dangerous in close combat?" she asked herself. Tsuyu warily lashed out her tongue at high speed. It hit Kirishima dead on and recoiled off of him. Tsuyu jumped back down to the ground and recoiled her tongue. It was stinging like hell. It was like she had hit a rock or something. Realization dawned upon her, "A hardening quirk, is it?" she asked.

Kirishima grinned, "Yup!" he gave a confident smirk.

Tsuyu sighed, this was going to be hard.

Watanabe and Bakugou clashed in the middle of the hall. Bakugou growled as the two separated. Even with the enhanced momentum from his explosions, Watanabe was still able to stop his attacks. Granted the explosions weren't up to his full capability since he couldn't yet control the extra momentum. Meanwhile, Watanabe felt relief wash over him in his mind. He was so glad that he had gotten that titanium alloy armor. He could feel the sting from the explosion on his skin even after all those layers of protection.

Bakugou snarled. If he couldn't get to Watanabe with hand to hand, he would use his other moves. He checked his grenade launchers and grinned. He had enough sweat stored, "You know, these aren't just for show," he showed off his grenade launchers, "They have a special compartment to store my sweat in case I need it later on,"

Watanabe's eyes widened as he realized what he was planning to do. He swiftly switched to infrared and confirmed his suspicions. All Might had realized too apparently because he yelled into the comms, "Bakugou! Do not use lethal moves!"

"He'll live! It's not enough to kill but it will hurt!" Katsuki replied and let off an explosion that rocked the building. 

Kirishima fell back in panic. He had heard All Might yell at Bakugou followed by the building rocking. Did Bakugou really explode Watanabe? Tsuyu also stood hesitantly, almost waiting for All Might to call off the match. Both of them heard nothing and hesitantly clashed once more.

Meanwhile, All Might and the rest of the students hesitantly waited for the smoke to clear. Once the smoke receded, there was no sign of Watanabe. "No way! Did Bakugou actually-" Hitoshi started, outraged was stopped by Denki, "Look to the side,"

Hitoshi did as he was told and saw the cabinets on the left had been smashed. He grinned as he realized what happened. The next moment, Watanabe smashed in from the cabinets behind Bakugou and shifted his full body weight onto Bakugou's spine. Bakugou smashed into the floor and used his explosions to put some distance between both of them.

"Bakugou! If you pull something like that again, I am disqualifying you!" All Might warned.

"Tch," Bakugou spat.

"You know, I wasn't going serious on you," Watanabe addressed Bakugou coldly.

"Heh, as if. We're going blow to blow,"

"Yup. Maybe combat wise we are equal, but you seem to forget," Watanabe paused, "I have support equipment too," he finished as he withdrew his swords and loosened his chains.  Bakugou paled. "Ok, I can't let him anywhere near me anymore. Last time he fractured my arms by targeting the weak points. If I get close again, he can probably deal quite a lot of damage," he analyzed. He wasn't going to be underestimating Watanabe again.

Without a word, Watanabe flew towards Bakugou whose eyes widened. He narrowly dodged Watanabe's fist and ducked behind the follow-up. He aimed an explosion at Watanabe's feet and dropped him to the ground. He smirked and went for another blow to the head but Watanabe tucked and rolled away. Bakugou snarled and held his right arm in pain. it was bleeding.

Watanabe held up a dagger connected to his chains. He had snagged it across Bakugou while rolling away. Watanabe decided to counter by using his swords. Watanabe rushed at Bakugou with his swords ready to slash him. Katsuki took a defensive stance and prepared to destroy the blades with his explosions. Watanabe activated infrared vision and dodged the explosions. He ducked underneath and instead went for the legs. Bakugou yelped as his feet were taken out from under him.

Watanabe gave Bakugou no respite and attached his chains to Bakugou's shirt. He pulled Bakugou back up and delivered a roundhouse kick. Bakugou coughed up some blood but countered quickly with another explosion. Watanabe swiftly dodged it with the aid of his infra-red vision and his reflexes. He slid through Bakugou's legs and slashed his calves with his sword. Bakugou fell painfully to the ground. He tried to get up but couldn't stand. Snarling, he turned around and got ready to use the sweat built up in his other gauntlet. However, Watanabe was quicker. He jumped up and slammed both of his legs into the two gauntlets. The gauntlets broke on impact, much to everyone's surprise and the stored sweat fell right on Bakugou. Katsuki was too late to react and ignited the sweat on his hand along with the sweat that had gotten on Watanabe.

Bakugou's scream of agony caused All Might to wince. Fortunately, Watanabe was unharmed due to his armor. However, Bakugou's left arm was almost entirely burnt. Yagi got ready to call off the match but saw that Tsuyu had captured Kirishima, "HERO TEAM WINS!" He yelled before rushing to the building to help.

"Why? Why can't I defeat you!?" Bakugou demanded, "We're both the same! We both want to win! You used your skill to beat up people too, so how are we different? My quirk's better as well!"

Watanabe sighed. It irked him that Bakugou was still on what is a better quirk but he let that slide since it was technically true, "You're wrong. I used my skills to help those who got bullied while you used yours to torment. Even now, your attitude hasn't changed. Honestly, if you got Izuku as your opponent, you would have treated him like a ragdoll for not telling you about his quirk,"

Bakugou gritted his teeth, "Yes," He replied in a small voice, "But I've changed! Orca, my stupid therapist, all of them helped me realize what I did was wrong! But it still hurt that Izuku didn't tell me about his quirk when I was his friend,"

"FRIEND!?" Watanabe spat venomously, "YOU FUCKING TORMENTED HIM FOR YEARS AND YEARS! IF I HADN'T SHOWN UP, YOU WOULD HAVE FUCKING ENDED UP KILLING HIM!" Watanabe said enraged.

Bakugou gulped, "But, he did think we were friends, so shouldn't he have-"

"He owes you nothing! NOTHING AT ALL! You're the one who owes him everything," Watanabe said and started to walk away.

Bakugou felt his tears well up again, the same way it had at Aldera, "I'm sorry," he whispered. Watanabe heard him and stopped, "Tell that to Izuku, not me," he snarled and left. All Might came out of the corner he had been hiding in. He waved the medic robots in. As he was being carried out, All Might gave Bakugou a stern look, "Watanabe is right you know," he said and left. Bakugou might be his student but it would take some time for him to forget about what he put his successor through.

"Now then, Watanabe," All Might addressed as the three students stood in front of him, Bakugou having been sent to the infirmary, "Your reflexes and combat skills were top-notch. However, you showed little use of strategy besides the fact that you threw Tsuyu in through the window. However, that was also your downfall as it was a very risky and harmful entrance. I know you had... personal reasons but I expected much better from you, mentally. I expect you to do better next time,"

Watanabe nodded solemnly.

"Tsuyu! You are the top performer! The way you used your tongue to capture Kirishima instead of going head-on was a splendid choice. There really isn't much to add except that you should have gotten Watanabe to use the team more," All Might said. Tsuyu nodded. Watanabe muttered an embarrassed apology to Tsuyu who brushed it off with a smile.

"Kirishima. Just because you have a hardening quirk doesn't mean you are invincible. I'm giving you the same advice as Sato, use your brains more. Since you can get hard, use it to your advantage to get close and finish the fight instead of dragging it out!"

Kirishima nodded, "Yes sir! I am extremely sorry for my unmanly performance!"

All Might nodded, "Now, Mineta and Ashido, please come up and choose your sides,"

Mineta won and chose the hero side, "Ashido, you have 5 minutes extra to set up since you are alone," All Might said. Ashido nodded and headed that way.

"I expected your fight to be more flashy," Denki said to Watanabe as both he and Tsuyu walked to them. Watanabe smiled, "Bakugou's quirk was the only one that was flashy. Mine isn't exactly that flashy,"

"Speaking of, what is your quirk? You didn't mention it or use it in the apprehension test," Uraraka said.

Watanabe smiled, "You two want to know too, I guess," Watanabe asked Shouto and Hitoshi.

"Yeah, I want to know what your quirk does," Hitoshi replied curiously. Shouto nodded, "Me too. I doubt you dodged all those explosions through reflex alone. Your quirk must have played a part, so I want to know its use,"

Watanabe burst out laughing. "Has he gone mad?" Hitoshi asked Denki who just laughed back, "No, no. It's just that you are the first two people to ask Watanabe the right question,"

"What do you mean?" Shouto asked.

"Normally, people ask him what his quirk is, like Uraraka. He simply replies by saying eye-color changing quirk and they think it's a useless dimwit quirk. In reality his vision changes. When he sees infrared, his eye color becomes darker, when he sees UV rays, his eye changes to purple, for X-ray another color, and so on. We think his eye colour changes to pick up the different wavelengths but Watanabe never changed his official quirk so eye-color changing just fools people,"

Hitoshi whistled while Shouto nodded, "That is a good idea... to hide your quirk,"

"But don't people get annoyed?" Uraraka asked.

"That's what I said too, kero," Tsuyu said, "But Watanabe said that wrong questions lead to too many misunderstandings which leads to a lot of conflicts."

Watanabe nodded, "Yep! This way I can make people adopt the norm of asking proper questions to the point,"

"Yeah, but other people will keep us asking us normal questions so doesn't that outweigh your purpose?" Uraraka grinned.

"I tend to use quality over quantity. People are more likely to adapt to someone who keeps annoying them," he grinned causing Denki to sigh.

Hitoshi shook his head, "And they called me the crazy one,"

Chapter Text

Izuku groaned as he woke up in Recovery Girl's office. He looked around him and saw his classmates still sleeping. Quietly, he moved his right hand around to check for any pain or damage. He smiled as his hand moved fluidly. He got up to search for Recovery girl. He pushed open the door to her office's connecting room. He gasped, "Kacchan!"

Recovery Girl gave him a pointed glare to shut up so as to not disrupt her patients, "Kacchan?" Chiyo asked.

"Well, that's what I called Bakugou when we were friends," Izuku said nervously.

"Kid didn't he-"

"Yeah," Izuku interrupted, knowing what she was going to say, "He's the one who used to bully me,"

Chiyo gave Izuku a weird look, "Yet you still care so much for him,"

"Well, he was my first friend,"

"That doesn't mean he was supposed to be a good friend," Chiyo emphasized.

"I didn't really have enough friends to compare to. I guess that's why I put up with Bakugou and thought he was still my friend,"

Chiyo smirked slightly, "Why the sudden change in name usage?"

Izuku spluttered, "Well, I don't know, no reason I guess,"

Chiyo laughed, "Your cousin, huh?"

Izuku sighed, "Yup,"

"He's a good one, Watanabe. Don't you think now that you have actual friends, you shouldn't forgive Bakugou?" Chiyo asked curiously.

"Well, I suppose so," Izuku said watching Bakugou's unconscious body, "But I mean he did seem sorry in court. And he didn't do anything today when he saw me in court either. I know I'm supposed to be angry but I just feel... disappointed with him instead," Izuku replied, face full of emotions, "I just want the past to be in the past if Bakugou lets it,"

"And if not?"

"Then... I'm not sure," Izuku replied honestly, face scrunched up in thought.

"So, you still trust him," Chiyo concluded. Izuku nodded.

"Do you care more about him than Watanabe and your other friend?" Chiyo asked.

"No," Izuku replied at once, "Watanabe and Kaminari showed me what it is truly like to have a friend. They both helped me realize why it was wrong to treat me like others did. They both let me have someone who I could trust. They are the only two people I don't have to wear a mask around. And most of all, they taught me how to have fun and be happy,"

Chiyo smiled, "That is what I wanted to hear. If you were still after Bakugou, I would have thought you're insane," she chuckled, "Anyway, you can go and spectate the rest of the matches,"

"Huh? You won't be mad?"

"I doubt you would stay here without arguing about it and your injuries are mostly healed. Just don't use your right arm,"

"It's mostly healed though," Izuku replied.

In response, Chiyo held up a bottle of medicine, "Pain-meds. I healed your arm so that it isn't broken but the pain won't have subsided for a day or two,"

"Oh, do I need to take some later?"

"No. You were already on anesthesia while I fixed up the fragments of bones scattered around your hand. Just don't talk too much for an hour or two. Or you'll be a truth machine,"

Izuku blinked, "Huh?"

"Anesthesia makes people more prone, to tell the truth," 

Izuku blinked again as he realized that Chiyo had knowingly weeded out answers from Izuku to test his well-being. He smiled, "You're a really sly old woman, Recovery Girl!"

Chiyo twitched, "Get going before I change my mind brat,"

Izuku chuckled and headed to the door, "See you later,"

Once Izuku had left. Chiyo frowned. It was like she had thought. Watanabe and Kaminari were the only two ones he trusted.

From what Yagi had told her, Izuku loved her mom but it would be suspicious if he still trusted her fully. Even though his mother hadn't meant it, she had probably lost Izuku's trust whenever she failed to see through Izuku's ruse. It must have pained him to keep on lying but it was also a mother's duty to see through the lies. Inko had failed at that. All the signs were there in front of her, she just refused to see it.

At least he genuinely seemed to have forgiven his tormenters, even if the scars were there. Chiyo smiled, "It seems like you got a really good one, Toshinori,"

"VILLAIN TEAM WINS!" All Might yelled just as Izuku walked into the observation room.

Watanabe stared at his cousin, "Recovery girl let you go quick,"

"Yeah. Sorry, I missed your fight,"

"Meh, it's fine. I totally kicked Bakugou's ass like last time, so you didn't miss anything,"

"How did you burn him? I saw him in Recovery Girl's office,"

"He had these grenade-shaped things that stored his sweat. Watanabe simply slashed his legs and broke them. The sweat fell on Bakugou and got ignited," Denki explained, "You know, Watanabe, both the times you faced him, you used Bakugou's quirk against him. The first time you used his quirk's recoil to break his shoulders and this time you just splattered his own sweat on him and then ignited it,"

"As long as it gets the job done, it's all good," Watanabe gave a thumbs-up.

"How was Mineta and Ashido's fight?" Izuku asked.

"Mineta glued Ashido to his balls and then had this weird look on his face. However, Ashido used her acid to dissolve his balls and captured him," Shouto explained the fight.

Izuku stared at Watanabe who looked in the other direction. Uraraka blushed. Hitoshi laughed, "It's not like that, Mineta used his quirk to glue Ashido. Then Ashido dissolved the purple things and sent him flying,"

"That's what I said," Shouto said.

"Yeah, but, erm," Denki tried to explain, "Maybe you're better off not knowing,"

Shouto looked at them curiously, "What is it?" he peered towards Watanabe knowing that he always gave straightforward answers. He was surprised to see him looking the other way too, refusing to make eye contact. Shouto shifted his attention to Izuku who spluttered, "It's nothing really, don't worry about it, right guys!" 

"Yeah!" All of them exclaimed.

All Might, who had finished analyzing Mineta and Ashido's battle turned to the rest of the students, "Now, then get changed and head back to your classes!" All Might exclaimed.

"All Might, what about my fight?" Izuku asked.

"I'll discuss it later. See you in the next class," All Might said and ran away. Izuku frowned, "His time must be up,"

Meanwhile, Shouto still didn't get what he had said that had gotten such a reaction from his friends, or at least whom he thought to be his friends. He headed towards the only person who he hadn't asked yet, "Hitoshi, what did I say?"

Shinsou laughed, "Come on man, you had to have realized how dirty you sounded. Especially considering Mineta's behavior,"

Shouto blinked, "Dirty? How can words be dirty? And what's wrong with Mineta?" He asked puzzled.

Shinsou stared at him with a gaping mouth, "You know what dude, don't worry about it."

Shouto frowned, "Is this because I iced you and didn't help in our match?"

"What? No! Nothing like that. It's just something none of us want to really explain to someone. It's an awkward topic to explain." Hitoshi replied and ran away before Shouto could corner him, "Weird," The young Todoroki asked, "I'll have to ask Fuyumi about it," he decided.

In the locker room

"Yo Izuku! Your fight was really manly!" Kirishima remarked.

"Thanks. I am really lucky that the timer went when it did though," Izuku replied humbly.

"Even then, I doubt you would have lost. Shouji still had enough left in him to last the fight," Hitoshi said.

"You know Hitoshi, I didn't expect you to be the talkative kind," Denki said with a grin. 

Shinsou scowled slightly and turned. Denki laughed, "It wasn't an insult or anything. You're a cool guy. God knows I need someone saner compared to these two," Denki pointed at the two cousins.

"Hey!" Watanabe and Izuku pouted earning a snicker from Hitoshi. 

"What about me?" Shouto asked blankly.

"You're the innocent little quiet kid that I will protect from their insanity," Denki said.

"I don't get protection?" Hitoshi grinned.

"Nah, you're already insane!" Denki laughed.

Meanwhile, Watanabe noticed Mineta giggling with his eye on the wall, "Oi Mineta, what the hell are you doing?" he demanded.

"Oh keep quiet! I'm trying to peek through the hole," Mineta waved his hands shamelessly.

"Isn't the girls' locker room next to us?" Sero pointed out.

Kirishima nodded, "Mineta that's extremely unmanly!"

"It is totally unbecoming of a hero," Iida moved his hand robotically.

"It seems we settle our bet right now," Izuku said noticing Watanabe's icily calm eyes.

Denki nodded, "Ready to lose?"

Izuku snorted, "Oh I'm getting your money all right," Hitoshi stared at them with worried eyes.

"Mineta, last chance. Move. Away. From. The. Hole." Watanabe said menacingly.

"Oh, you're jealous that you didn't find it before me!" Mineta said. There was a moment of silence and the next second, Wham! Watanabe had moved so fast that he had practically vanished from everyone's vision for a moment. Watanabe drilled in a cracking kick straight to Mineta's chest. Mineta crashed into the doors with a crack. Watanabe vanished again and slammed Mineta through the doors, breaking them off the hinges. He drove his fist straight into Mineta's head and knocked him out cold. Blood sprayed from his mouth and stuck to Watanabe's clothing.

Meanwhile, the girls had heard everything, courtesy of Jiro's super hearing. Jiro was just about to teach him a lesson with her ear-jacks when she winced and fell back in pain at a loud crash. This was followed by another crash and a lot of yelling. They rushed out to see Watanabe pummeling a very unconscious-looking Mineta into the ground.

"Watanabe stop! This is unheroic behavior! Sero, Tsuyu, one of you stop him!" Iida exclaimed.

"Nah, he deserves it!" Sero replied, clearly enjoying the pummeling. "Kero," Tsuyu nodded too. She didn't like to hate anyone but Mineta had proven to be an exception.

"We should stop-" Izuku started.

"Hell no! You heard his ribs crack and just want to win the bet!" Denki accused.

"Kaminari, Izuku wouldn't-" Uraraka began but stopped short seeing Izuku splutter in embarrassment. "Midoriya! I didn't expect this from you!" Iida wailed.

"Go, Watanabe! Break his damn legs too!" Denki shouted.

"Oi! At this rate Mineta's gonna die," Kirishima said, alarmed.

"That might be fun!" Hitoshi cackled from behind causing a few to look at him warily. Izuku chuckled at that, however. Watanabe kept going on. He caught Mineta by his legs and threw him to the ground before delivering a flying kick to his groin that made all the boys wince. He didn't stop there and continued to jump up and then smashed down into Mineta's legs. He turned Mineta to the ground and twisted both of his arms and pulled them back. The bones cracked and a groan left the purple-haired boy.

"I know he's an asshole, but I'm starting to feel sorry," Hagakure said.

"Nah, he deserves it!" Jiro crossed her arms.

"Ok, we really should stop him now," Even Kaminari admitted seeing Watanabe covered up fully in blood that wasn't his, "Watanabe, STOP!" Denki's cries fell on deaf ears, "Shit he isn't listening," Izuku said and got ready to physically restrain his cousin. "ICE AGE!" Shouto yelled and covered everyone with ice.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" Aizawa demanded as he ran into the corridor. 

"NmmmnajdnaINDNndnDHS HBANDNFN," Watanabe said, his face covered by Shouto's ice.

"Someone else!" Aizawa demanded.

"Sensei, Mineta was peeking at us girls through a hole in the wall," Yaoyorozu spoke up. The others nodded, "We warned him not to do anything but he didn't listen. Watanabe went off the rails and attacked him," Sero collaborated.

"MMFAFMFAFMASk," Watanabe's muffled voice made its way out.

Aizawa massaged his temples, "Shouto, release your quirk," The Todoroki obliged. Watanabe gasped for breath as he fell down. Aizawa picked up Mineta's battered body and motioned to Watanabe, "Follow me," Watanabe obliged and followed him through the hall.

"What a mad banquet of darkness?" Tokoyami said. He, Koda, and Shouji had just gotten back from Recovery Girl's office. Shouji had wide eyes looking at all the blood. 

"Meh, you'll get used to it," Izuku said.

"Perhaps. Wait, what do you mean used to it!?"

Chapter Text

Aizawa slammed Recovery Girl's door open and placed Mineta on a bed.

"What the hell happened?" Chiyo asked rushing over.

"Mineta was peeking the girls' locker room and Watanabe got angry and beat him up," Aizawa explained.

Chiyo rolled her eyes, "Good riddance," she muttered under her breath, "But you went too far," she addressed Watanabe, "And what about all that blood on you? Where did you get hurt?"   

"Umm, none of it is mine," Watanabe stared at the floor intensely.

Chiyo stared at him but didn't say anything. She put Mineta through the X-ray machine and monitored his injuries. Once she had gotten an understanding of his injuries, she wheeled Mineta into another room, leaving only Aizawa and Watanabe in the room.

Aizawa exhaled deeply. He wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, Watanabe's action was justifiable but he went too far. Not worth an expel but what about suspension? But it seemed too harsh considering he probably would have done the same thing with someone like Mineta. 

Suddenly, the door flew open in, "Nedzu, what are you doing here?" Aizawa asked. Watanabe spun on his heels and watched with mouth slightly agape. Nedzu was here. He knew he did go way too far this time but he hoped Nedzu wasn't too mad.

"Am I a rat, or a bear the answer is-"

"Chimera, you're a chimera," Watanabe replied.

Nedzu smiled, "Indeed I am. How did you know?"

"Not me, Izuku theorized that when we met you in court," Watanabe said, "I'm getting expelled, aren't I?"

Nedzu laughed, "No. You will see it in due time. For now, I called Mineta's parents and explained the situation to them. They're coming here with their lawyer to press charges of assault,"

"Were you spying with your cameras again?" Aizawa asked.

"Hardly spying as opposed to surveillance," Nedzu said. A knock was heard, "Ah, that must be Tsukauchi. We need a police presence you see. Come in,"

Tsukauchi entered and sighed, "What did you do again?" He asked seeing Watanabe, "And how are you just standing there with all that blood!"

"It's not mine," he replied.

Tsukauchi twitched and massaged his head, "Let me guess. There was a bully or abuser or something and you beat them up,"

"You know, you only know about the time I beat up Bakugou so your presumption is baseless,"

"But am I wrong?"

"...No,"

"With all that blood, I'm guessing it was an abuser or harasser?"

"Yeah, how did you-"

"I read your file," Tsukauchi replied, causing Watanabe to almost hide, "Don't worry, I think you were perfectly right in what you did, especially considering the circumstances,"

Watanabe nodded but he still seemed shaken that somebody knew about what he did. Aizawa was curious to know what but be let it slide for now.

Soon, Mineta's parents entered along with their lawyer, "What is the meaning of this? Who beat up my son!?" The mother demanded.

"Now, now let Watanabe's defendant come," Nedzu said with glee. The parents looked to retort but the lawyer stopped them and made them have a seat. Soon after Inko came in, and Mineta's parents and the lawyer's face turned pale. Inko had built up a reputation in the past year on winning abuse cases. It surprised the other lawyer that she was representing some kid.

"I'm here, I'm here. Watanabe, what did you do this time?" Inko asked.

"Ah, she knows him personally,"

Nedzu took the moment to explain, "The case as it stands is that Mineta was caught red-handed harassing the girls of his class and had made improper advances. He also peeked on them in their dressing room at which point other students warned him. When he didn't listen, Watanabe took physical action,"

Realization seemed to dawn upon Inko's face, "I see that's why. A harasser,"

Aizawa remained perplexed. Why were so many people getting hung up on Mineta being a harasser, like it changed things?

"As I see it, we can settle out of court," Inko said, "I doubt you would like the fact that your son is a sexual harasser to become public. On the other hand, Watanabe's actions are defendable," Inko explained.

"That seems to be the best case, shall we discuss terms now?" The lawyer concluded. He really didn't want to go up against both Inko and UA. And Nedzu was sure to have incriminating evidence.

"No, I'm sure they want to see their child," Inko replied, "We can settle later,"

Mineta's parents looked to retort but the lawyer discreetly told them to keep quiet, "Can we see him now?" Mineta's father asked.

Nedzu shook his head, "Recovery Girl is still treating him. Make yourself comfortable, she'll be out soon I think. Aizawa, Inko, and Watanabe, could I have a moment outside?"

Inko nodded and ushered Watanabe outside, "I'm really sorry," Inko apologized, "It's just that Watanabe-,"

"I am well aware. As principal, I do have to run background checks so I'm well aware of his past," Nedzu said warmly. Watanabe looked down in shame, "You can go home now. School is over anyway. I just wanted to let Watanabe know that I will have to tell Aizawa about his situation since he is his homeroom teacher,"

Inko looked to Watanabe who nodded reluctantly, "Yes sensei," he said quietly.

Aizawa stood to attention, he was finally going to get the answer. "Oh! You will still be getting punished. Such behavior is unheroic and your past does not provide an excuse. You will have to go to mandatory anger therapy sessions like Bakugou and will have detention for 3 weeks starting tomorrow," Nedzu said.

Watanabe nodded without a word.

Aizawa frowned, it was rarely Nedzu waived off his punishments, so there must be a good reason behind it. Once Inko and Watanabe had left, Nedzu turned to Aizawa and ushered him to follow him to his office,"

"Denki, why did Watanabe go so ballistic on Mineta?" Izuku asked his best friend. They were all sitting in the class waiting for Aizawa to come for their last class.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, he never goes that aggressive on bullies. He almost never breaks anyone's bone unless they were threatening me either. Mostly it's just getting back at them with words or one or two punches. So why the sudden pummeling?" Izuku asked.

Kaminari sighed, "Shit, he still didn't tell you,"

"Tell me what?"

Kaminari sighed again, "Might as well tell you since he had already made up his mind to talk to you about it. But not a word to anyone about this. As far as I know, his parents and your mom are the only other ones who do know,"

This got Izuku's attention. What was Watanabe hiding?

"Alright, firstly, tell me honestly, what do you think of Watanabe's school life, before you met him?"

"Well, he had you and Musutafu general school had good teachers and everything so he wasn't exactly bullied or discriminated. I would be lying if I said I wasn't slightly jealous and it also makes me feel like that he can't understand my experience," Izuku replied embarrassedly. Normally, he would never have told anyone this, but after spending a year with Kaminari, he trusted him with his life.

Kaminari nodded, "No need to be ashamed, I figured you'd feel something like that. But don't you think it's suspicious that he still hates bullies? Wouldn't you think that there would be no reason to go that strict on bullies since he didn't have to deal with much of them?"

"Well, yeah, I guess," Izuku said, worry seeping into his mind, "What about it?"

"Musutafu General School wasn't Watanabe's first school. In elementary school, he had a classmate like Bakugou who used to torment him and a couple of others. Well, back then, he didn't fight back against the bullies. Just let them do whatever they wanted, kind of like you," Kaminari said while Izuku smiled slightly, "Anyway, they got up to primary school, still getting called useless cuz of his quirk, but he did make a friend,"

"Who was the friend?"

"I don't know. All he told me was it was a girl. Apparently, she had a villainous quirk and used to get bullied like that. Then one day... she just vanished," Kaminari said.

"Vanished?" Izuku asked.

"Yup disappeared. Watanabe got worried and the police went over to her house. Her parents hated her because of her quirk too and the police thought she ran away. But after questioning the parents, the police got suspicious of them because they seemed to hate her a lot. They tried to track her down but they never found her. The police had a feeling the parents killed her or she committed suicide because they never found a trace of her. But they didn't have any evidence, it's still a cold case,"

Izuku's eyes widened, "What did Watanabe do after?"

"He pretended to not care, went and learned martial arts, and quietly gathered information. Then one day when he was cornered again, he beat the crap out of all the bullies, stole the tapes of the school cameras, and sent them to the police. He even got the parents charged with abuse." Kaminari said getting up since the bell had just rung.

"The police didn't get the tapes before?"

"They could have. But the police thought it was a normal case of a child running away and didn't want to waste resources. Pretty messed up, I know. The only reason the case went through is because Ryuzen-san used leverage. I don't know how though,"

"How come Watanabe never told me?" Izuku asked.

"He did want to. He just didn't know how to integrate, "Hey my childhood friend is probably dead," into a conversation," Kaminari said sarcastically.

Izuku's face was still in confusion, "When did he get to Musutafu general?"

"In middle school. He was at another primary school before which was just as bad but he built up a reputation there. Ogawa, Shisui, and the others used to go there too. That's why they knew each other. Watanabe always got along with the bullied ones because they weren't stuck-up assholes," Kaminari explained, "Once he got to Musutafu, he was still untrusting. But then after he broke the turtle guy's nose and the teachers actually supported him, he opened up a bit more. And then he got along with me. I had a 'strong' quirk but wasn't like the bullies, so he decided not everyone was like that,"

Izuku stayed quiet for some time, "But he always looks so happy..."

"That's because he is now. Like you!" Kaminari smiled warmly. 

Izuku chuckled, "Yeah I guess. He's still a good actor to hide all that. I doubt anyone except those he let know knows about this,"

Kaminari nodded, "You're right about that. And that's also why he didn't forgive Bakugou. He didn't want to lose someone again,"

Izuku smiled.

"I was going to tell him myself you know," Watanabe appeared behind them suddenly.

"Ahh! When did you get here?" Izuku yelped.

"Just now. Man everyone's finding out about that today. Nedzu and Tsukauchi and then Aizawa-sensei,"

Kaminari raised his eye, "You ok?"

Watanabe nodded, "Yeah, I moved past that, mostly..." Watanabe replied with a slight pain in his eyes.

"...Well you don't know for sure she's dead," Izuku tried to comfort.

"No. In fact, her quirk would let her slip past too but still, there should have been some news about her," Watanabe sighed.

"What was her name?" Izuku asked.

Watanabe smiled sadly, "Her name was..."

Chapter Text

The next morning, Watanabe and Izuku had gotten early to class, "Yo" Watanabe grinned.

Denki snorted, "Don't you 'Yo' me! I watched you get covered up in the blood of your victim yesterday!"

"And it was glorious!" Hitoshi laughed.

"You really have a dark sense of humor, don't your Hitoshi?" Watanabe asked. Shinsou looked sheepish, "Perfect! We'll get along well," Watanabe laughed evilly. Hitoshi blinked a few times but then joined in too.

"What are they doing?" Shouto asked walking into class.

"I assume they're planning ways to drive us all into insanity," Uraraka yawned.

"That's mean. You've only known us for a day," Izuku wailed.

"Am I wrong?"

"Probably not," Izuku grinned back.

"Shouji, say something," Denki said.

"You are all too insane,"

"Ouch,"

They started joking around with each other. Iida entered at some point and told Watanabe and Hitoshi to stop with their jokes, but that didn't stop them. Especially since Jiro got involved in it at some point too. Meanwhile, Bakugou was looking from afar. He bit his lips. He knew what he wanted to do but was too nervous. Sighing, he went up to Izuku.

Everyone stopped talking. All of them knew that Bakugou was a bully, courtesy of Watanabe but only Kaminari and Watanabe knew the full extent of what he had done to Izuku.

"Izuku," Katsuki started.

"Yes, Bakugou?" Izuku replied courteously.

Bakugou winced. He knew that he didn't deserve to have Izuku still cal him Kacchan but the way he had called him out still stung. He knew he hadn't considered Izuku a friend, but instead a pebble, yet it still hurt. He took a deep breath, "I'm sorry Izuku. I'm sorry for calling you 'Deku.' For making you feel useless. For making fun of you because of your quirklessness. For hurting you and beating you up, I'm really sorry," he bowed down, tears streaming down his face.

Izuku took a step back, "Wow, Bakugou that's,"

"And I know you got a quirk later on and I was angry you didn't tell me about it. But I don't deserve an answer, I don't deserve anything from you, but please accept my apology,"

Izuku smiled, "I do. It does look like you have changed, so I'm going to forgive you,"

The others stood in surprise at the fact that Izuku didn't hold a grudge but didn't say anything.

Bakugou bit his lips but continued, "And Watanabe, I'm sorr-"

"You don't need to be sorry to me," Watanabe interrupted, "I settled my score already. I was just waiting for you to apologize. Now, we're even,"

Bakugou nodded. "Well, I hope you two can be friends," Izuku said causing the other students to look at him like he was an idiot.

"Hmph, we'll see. I will admit that he's strong though," Watanabe replied.

"And I admit Watanabe is stronger than me too. One day I will defeat you!" Bakugou vowed.

"Heh, we'll see," Watanabe replied.

"Alright, so those two are weird. Izuku and Bakugou are acquaintances, I guess. What about the rest of us?" Hitoshi smirked.

Uraraka laughed, "Way to break the awkwardness," The others laughed but Shouji said seriously, "Well since Izuku gave you a chance, I'm willing to give you one. You didn't bully me but I hate bullies," A few of the others nodded.

"Well, Bakugou is good now right, so it will be ok!" Kirishima said, ever the optimist. And just like that, the class returned to its old atmosphere, "You want to join us, Bakugou?" Izuku offered.

Bakugou shook his head, "I don't deserve it. Maybe some other time," he turned. Watanabe didn't say anything but Kaminari went after him and stopped him once he was out of Izuku's earshot, "This goes without saying, but Izuku has friends now. And if you do anything, I know that at least Watanabe and I will hunt you down and kill you, got it!?"

Bakugou gulped and hesitantly nodded. Some other time, he would have shot back at how he wouldn't be able to but Kaminari's tone was not one to trifle with, "Good. And while Izuku has forgiven you and Watanabe has settled his score, I have not. But for Izuku's sake, I will be civil to you. But one toe out of line..." he let the silence fill the rest, "Are we clear!?"

Bakugou nodded, "Good! Maybe you can hang out with us later and we will see how things go," he said cheerfully and turned away. Watanabe gave Kaminari a knowing smirk. Personally, he didn't want to give Bakugou a second chance either, but Izuku was rather adamant about it. 

Bakugou shuddered. He was serious when he said he was sorry but Kaminari's threat made him realize just how much of a shitty friend he was to not have cared. Now, he needed to know what he and Izuku were. Were they friends or just acquaintances or classmates? Maybe he needed to go have a talk with his stupid therapist again.

Meanwhile, Aizawa smiled from his spot in the ceiling. It was good that Bakugou was making progress. He was surprised that Nedzu had allowed Bakugou into UA even after all the Aldera stuff but Nedzu did believe in second chances. Plus, Nedzu had told him that if Bakugou did anything villainous in the entrance exam, he would be kicked out with his record for show so maybe Nedzu wasn't that forgiving. Still, Bakugou was on top of Aizawa's 'Do something and get expelled,' list. But then again, it seemed like Orca had succeeded in destroying Bakugou's ego problem so maybe he wouldn't be too bad.

"Alright settle down, the bell rang 2 minutes ago," Aizawa entered the room. The students quickly scrambled to their seats. Aizawa sighed and took out his sleeping back. He zipped himself up and said, "Ok, today we are going to choose class reps. I don't care how you do it, just don't make noise," he said and promptly went to sleep.

"Okay," Kaminari said slowly, "How are we doing this?"

"What about paper ballots?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"That would be perfect," Iida said, "By the way, does anyone know where Mineta is?"

"He was pulled out of school by his parents," Aizawa said with his eyes closed. Iida didn't press any further and quietly wrote down his choice, "Everyone done?" he asked.

The class nodded, "Let's just put our papers at the front desk, and one of us can count," Tsuyu suggested. The class did just that. Iida decided to count the votes, "Well, Midoriya got 14 votes, I got 3 votes, Yaoyorozu also got 3 votes and Aoyama has 1,"

"Aoyama has 1?" Jiro asked.

"I voted for myself," he twinkled.

"How do I have 14!?"

"Well, you offered really good analyses and your plans in the battle simulation were good, so everyone probably voted for you," Sato explained.

Iida nodded, "As did I, who voted for me?"

Izuku, Kaminari, and Bakugou raised their hands, "I assumed it would be best if neither of you was class rep. For the betterment of our class," Kaminari told Izuku and Watanabe

Bakugou nodded, "Congrats Izuku,"

"I know you want to make it up but when you get all nice, it's actually creepy," Izuku replied.

"Tch,"

"Why did you vote for Iida," Kirishima asked Bakugou, "He always goes on and on about the rules, so, I voted for him," Katsuki replied.

"Ok, but Iida and Yaoyorozu are tied, so what do we do?" Watanabe asked.

"Well, no reason to not have 2 deputy class reps," Izuku said not wanting to choose and make the other hurt.

"Yes, good choice. That is why you are class rep!" Watanabe giggled.

Izuku looked at him suspiciously, "Are you trying to make me establish dominance or something?"

"Let's face it Izu. We know that you have the skills but are too nervous to do it," Kaminari pointed out. Izuku grumbled. "You are now the Alpha. Everyone shall listen to you," Hitoshi said.

"Shut up,"

"Yes, class rep!" The entire class said jokingly. Izuku grumbled. "I thought I told you to stay quiet!" Aizawa stared at all of them. "Sorry sensei,"

At lunch

Tsuyu came up to Watanabe, "Watanabe, you're kind of like me kero,"

Watanabe stared at her, food halfway to his mouth, "Say what now?"

"You say whatever is on your mind like me. People usually get annoyed at that. You're the first person I met who also says what's on their mind," Tsuyu explained.

"Well, I suppose so. Want to have a seat?" Watanabe asked drawing a chair next to Uraraka.

"Sure, kero," She sat down, "Midoriya, your quirk seems like All Might's quirk just a bid underpowered," Izuku spat out his water, "I-it does?"

Tsuyu nodded.

"It's nice to be compared to All Might, Asui," Izuku regained his composure.

"Call me Tsu-chan," Tsuyu replied. Izuku nodded.

Watanabe took the reins of the conversation, "Your quirk is really versatile, Tsuyu,"

"Yes, but I am very susceptible to the cold,"

"Oh, do you hibernate since you're basically a frog because of your quirk?" Izuku asked excitedly.

"Kero," Tsuyu nodded.

Shouji smiled, "It's nice to see someone else with a mutant quirk. My name's Shouji by the way,"

Tsuyu smiled, "I heard Midoriya and Watanabe analyze your quirk. It seems very strong!"

"Yeah, but I can't do much of what they said. Never occurred to me,"

Meanwhile, Yaoyorozu watched Izuku from afar. She had always been the best in whatever she did. Even in the recommendation exam, she had scored near the top. Yet Izuku was steadily outperforming her in every detail. She wasn't the type to feel jealous but she had to admit, it hurt her a bit. She sighed, UA would obviously have the best of the best. Her thoughts made absolutely no sense. The only way to fix this would be to talk with him and make it up. It would be nice to have a friend as smart as him. She got up to walk over when the alarm rang and the entire cafeteria descended into chaos.

"This is suffocating," Izuku made out in between all the elbows.

"Amateurs," Watanabe said. He had strategically placed himself on Shouji's back and due to his height, he was clear of the crowd. Shouji also didn't mind carrying Watanabe.

"You know, you have a quirk that lets you see through things and you're above everyone. Ever had the thought you should check what's going on?" Denki mocked.

Watanabe laughed but complied. He sighed, "It's the media. They broke in somehow,"

"Well, tell that to them!" Hitoshi gasped.

"Right! OI EVERYONE IT'S JUST THE MEDIA. THERE'S NO ACTUAL EMERGENCY!" Watanabe yelled. His announcement fell on deaf ears, "Yeah that didn't work," he replied.

"We need to get their attention, everyone's panicking," Izuku replied as Watanabe pulled him up on Shouji.

"What if we electr-"

"Kaminari, NO!"

"Fine..."

"Uraraka, float yourself up and tell them," Shouto said.

"I'm not sure they will listen to me,"

"You can do it, kero!"

Uraraka groaned but nodded. She activated her quirk and yelped as she rose and hit several elbows. Once she had risen up, Shouji threw her forward gently, but in zero gravity, she hit the wall above, hard. Everyone stopped to look, "Guys, it's just the media. Look through the windows!" Uraraka yelled.

Everyone stopped and looked and saw that Uraraka was right. The panic died down and the hall slowly became organized.

"I couldn't do anything as class rep," Izuku said gloomily, "Maybe I should-"

"This wasn't part of your job so it doesn't matter," Uraraka comforted flying down, "And Shouji, what the hell?"

"It was an accident," Shouji apologized.

"Why are you so serious?" Hitoshi asked Shouto.

"UA's supposed to be extremely secure, even more secure than some prisons. There's no way the media could have gotten in. My old man explained the security to me," Shouto explained.

"So, it was an actual villain attack, kero?"

"Probably,"

"But what did they want?" Izuku asked.

"Maybe they wanted to show off, especially since All Might is here too," Watanabe said, "If word got around that they can break into UA, I guess more gangs would like to take them or something,"

Izuku nodded grimly, "Yeah, but doing so at UA where there are other pro-heroes would be suicide,"

Watanabe shrugged, "Who knows?"

Meanwhile, Nedzu and the teachers stared at the crumbled gates, "The media couldn't have done this," Kayama said.

"No, but why would someone want the media to bypass the gates for a simple interview?" Snipe asked.

"Diversion," Nedzu explained, "I want all of you to check if anything is missing at all or if there's any sabotage," Nedzu ordered, "I'll check the cams. Get Tsukauchi to conduct a patrol to check for any villains too,"

The teachers nodded and left to perform their orders.

My first Omake!

"Nee-san, I have a question,"

"Hmm?" Fuyumi looked up from her rice, "What is it? Something happened at school?"

"Well sort of. I was explaining a fight to my friend,"

"Oh, you made a friend!?" Fuyumi squealed in happiness.

"Yes, but after I explained the fight, everyone seemed to feel uncomfortable,"

Fuyumi sighed. She knew that Shouto didn't have the best conversational skills and might have accidentally offended someone, "Well can you tell me what you said?"

Shouto nodded, "Well there's this boy named Mineta and a girl called Ashido. Mineta glued Ashido to his balls and then had this weird look on his face but then Ashido used her acid to dissolve his balls and captured him,"

Fuyumi instantly turned red, "Shouto!"

"What?" he asked innocently.

Fuyumi gulped and sat back down. She ignored her blush. Shouto probably meant something else, "Can you elaborate?"

"Well, Mineta's quirk is that he has these purple balls on his head that glue things and-"

"Ah, I got it," Fuyumi interrupted, gulping down a glass of water. Now that Shouto explained the quirk, she could understand why his classmates were uncomfortable.

"Well, what did I say?"

Fuyumi choked, "Well, err, uhm," she struggled. She really didn't want to be the one to explain it to her little brother.

"Nee-san, you're acting like my friends," Shouto pouted.

Fuyumi laughed shakily, still pondering on what to do. This was the first time she had seen Shouto pout like that. She was about to suck it up when Enji entered and a Fuyumi got an idea.

"Shouto, I hope you impressed your teachers on your first day?"

"Actually," Fuyumi interrupted, "His peers were quite shocked at his absence of knowledge,"

Endeavour grunted, "Hmph, I taught Shouto everything. There's no way I missed anything,"

"Not quite. You never gave him, 'The talk,'"

Enji turned pale, "That is not required for him to know,"

Fuyumi hummed, "You are right. It will only show the number 2 hero's incompetence at teaching," Fuyumi smirked as she saw that she had caught her father into the trap, "If only you hadn't wanted to homeschool Shouto, it would have been covered in the syllabus," she mocked and left the room.

Enji sighed and sat down uncomfortably. Shouto wondered whether this would be a good time to mention that he had made friends with the people who insulted, electrocuted, and puked on him.

Chapter Text

"Sensei, is Class 1-B going to come with us to USJ too?" Izuku asked as he led his fellow students to the bus.

"No. Two of their students got expelled and their homeroom teacher is sorting things out,"

"Why did they get expelled?"

"Quirk discrimination and assault," Aizawa replied with boredom, "Get on the bus!" he announced to everyone and sat at the front. The rest of the students clambered in behind him. Aizawa closed his eyes for a quick nap.

"Hey, you got the metal pole finally!" Izuku said to Kaminari.

"Yup, I didn't want a sword like Watanabe cuz it's too sharp. The metal pole will let me conduct electricity with a weapon more easily," Kaminari explained, "Plus I got the iron net to trap enemies too!"

"Whoa, that's really cool!" Kirishima said, "I wish I had thought of incorporating my costume with my quirk," Kirishima complained.

"You could get some weapons like me if you want," Watanabe pointed out.

"Yeah, but I don't have weapons training. I do have close combat training though,"

"Watanabe, do you even know how to use all those weapons?" Jiro asked.

"Yup," he gave a cheery smile, "Izuku does too actually. I don't get why he didn't ask for any weapons in his costume,"

Izuku shrugged, "My power levels are still out of control. I would break them instead of getting any use out of them,"

"Momo should have weapons training since you can make anything!" Izuku pointed out.

Momo laughed nervously, "My parents did have a personal trainer for me but I still don't think I'm as good as you,"

"Don't sell yourself so short," Shouto, surprisingly comforted. Momo looked at him with surprise. She wasn't expecting the number 2 hero's son to defend her skillset,"

"You guys should really learn to use weapons. They are really helpful in combat," Izuku said.

"But we do have our quirks though," Sero said.

Shouji shook his head, "We do, but weapons would enhance our skills by a lot. Imagine Tokoyami for example. If he had a sword or something, Dark Shadow and he could alternate between close-range and long-range,"

"Still wouldn't be appropriate for all of us dumbass," Katsuki replied, "Weapons would hinder my quirk cuz they would explode instead,"

"That is true," Tsuyu agreed, "But it would be cool if I could incorporate weapons into my acrobatic skills. What do you think Midoriya? You are the analysis,"

"Hmm?" Izuku looked up from his notebook, "Sorry, I wasn't listening. I was thinking whether the Support department can make a grenade for Katsuki that can only be activated by his explosions," he said with a smile on his face.

"Hn, I have enough explosions already, idiot,"

"Yeah, but you still need to burst through any obstacles. You can just bounce a grenade off the walls," Izuku replied.

"Didn't Bakugou say that he was going to be nicer to Izuku?" Hitoshi pointed out

"He did say that," Aoyama twinkled.

"I don't think, 'idiot' is a nice thing to say,"

"I didn't mean it as insult dumbass!"

"It's alright. A polite Kacchan is worse,"

"What did you say, you bastard?"

"Can't argue with that," Mina grinned. Bakugou fumed.

Denki moved closer to Watanabe, "You aren't getting mad at Bakugou?"

Watanabe shook his head, "I'm offering him a second chance as promised. Using insults is just part of his personality so can't be mad at that,"

Denki rolled his eyes, "Since when are you so understanding?"

"The talks with Hound dog are really eye-opening,"

"Didn't he tell you that you and Bakugou have similar anger issues and the only difference is the way you two were brought up?"

"...Shut up," Watanabe grunted causing his friend to laugh.

"By the way, Watanabe, do you wear those weights all the time?" Iida asked

"Weights?" Hagakure asked.

Iida nodded, "Yup. He took them off in the locker room before putting on his hero costume. They were so heavy!"

"Not that heavy!"

"Shouji couldn't pick them up," Sato pointed out.

"Ojiro wears heavier ones," Watanabe argued.

"Both of you are insane," Hitoshi replied as Koda nodded mutely.

"Wait, was that the smash we heard from our locker room?" Uraraka asked.

"Thankfully, the floor seems to be built to take a lot of force," Ojiro sighed. Watanabe nodded sagely. "it still doesn't explain how both of you dropped your weights simultaneously," Tokoyami pointed out.

"Chipper down, we are here!" Aizawa announced as the bus pulled into the entrance of USJ.

The students disembarked and followed Aizawa into USJ.

"Hello. I've been waiting for you,"

"Whoa, it's Thirteen!" Uraraka exclaimed with joy, "She's my favorite hero!" she said in a small tone.

"Please, come on in," Thirteen led the students inside.

Once they were in, the students gaped at the size of the interior. It contained what looked to be a sea, a city as well as a mountain range, "It's so big!" Kirishima gaped.

Thirteen smiled beneath her mask, "Yup. I built it to prepare students for any kind of disaster, natural or man-made. From fires to earthquakes, this center contains everything. The USJ or Unforeseen Simulation Joint,"

Aizawa stared around for a bit before moving closer to Thirteen. He spoke in a hushed voice, "Wasn't All Might supposed to meet us here?"

Thirteen nodded, "He wasted his three hours before getting to school. He'll still make an appearance at the end."

"Tch," Aizawa said, annoyed, "Why does Nedzu put up with his tardiness?" he asked rhetorically.

"He does have an awful lot of experience. Don't be so salty. You weren't a good teacher when you first started either," Thirteen pointed out, "Now then class, pay attention!"

"Yes, Sensei!"

"You know my quirk; black hole. I use it to suck rubble. I can even turn it to dust. Sure, I use it for rescue purposes to remove rubble and suck people out of tight spaces, but it is a highly volatile quirk. If my concentration lapses even for a second, I might end up sucking the civilians along with the rubble and injure or even kill them."

The class fell silent as the seriousness of the lecture hit them, "Looks like you have already understood my point," Thirteen smiled, "You need to learn how to control your quirks. Even if you are fighting villains, you need good quirk control. Or you will end up killing the villain and innocent bystanders. The same goes for those of you who want to be rescue heroes. You need to know exactly how much of your quirk you can use without causing too much damage. Those of you who will go underground may have it hardest because not only will you have to learn control, you will also have to make sure villains cannot identify your quirk or its usage. Am I clear?"

"Yes sensei," The students replied, slightly more somber but still pumped up.

"Wonderful," Thirteen said cheerfully, "Let's get started then," She turned around, "We'll start with the-" Thirteen stopped short as a purplish cloud appeared in front of them.

Several figures appeared out of the mist, "A warp gate?" Izuku muttered to himself.

"Whoa, are those mock villains for us to fight as we do the rescue?" Kaminari asked.

"As expected of UA," Kirishima replied.

"No!" Aizawa put his hand out in front of them warningly, "Those are villains. Actual villains,"

Some of the members of the class fell back in shock but Bakugou stepped up with confidence, "So what? They're just extras anyway," he said and got ready to fight but Aizawa stared him down with his quirk activated, "You are still a student. Let Thirteen and me handle this,"

"Tch," Bakugou reluctantly fell back.

"Thirteen, you get the students out. I'll handle the villains," Aizawa said, readying his capture scarves.

"But Eraserhead! You aren't a head-on fighter like All Might,"

Aizawa didn't lose his cool, "You can't be a one-trick pony if you want to be a hero," he replied before jumping down into the plaza, using his momentum to smash down into two villains before whipping out his capture scarf to counter the third one.

"So manly!" Kirishima exclaimed with respect.

"It's dumb," Watanabe replied promptly causing the class to stare at him, "It would have been a better choice to pull the villains in with Thirteen's quirk and have Aizawa-sensei take care of the remaining grunts,"

"That is a fair point," Tsuyu thought hard.

"It is a better strategy but it would put you, students, in greater danger. The alarm has been overridden by the villains so we can't expect the other teachers to help. I'm going to prop out the door with my quirk. You guys make a run for it while I support Eraser," Thirteen explained.

"Yes, sensei," Disheartened voices scattered through the class. Izuku clenched his fists in anger. He was a hero in training with All Might's quirk! But even then he was still useless.

Thirteen got ready to blow open the main gate when Kurogiri appeared, "Now, now, the fun is yet to start. We can't have you alerting everyone already, now can we?"

"Purple mist and suddenly appeared in front of us without any sound or any other indication. Does he have a warp quirk?" Thirteen pondered, "Sorry, but I can't risk my students' safety," she said and activated her quirk. Kurogiri grunted in pain as he felt himself being pulled in, "Students, run!" Thirteen yelled but Bakugou had already moved, "Oi, villain! You really thought you could get away so easily!?" he yelled and pounced on Kurogiri. Kurogiri swiftly warped away from Bakugou's explosive attack, "My, my, what a dangerous quirk. You should really be careful with that,"

Izuku nudged Watanabe who seemed to be staring at the Nomu with extreme concentration, "Oi, you alright? Are you in shock?"

Watanabe shook his head, "No. Sensei!" Watanabe called out to Thirteen, "Eraserhead won't be able to keep up with that... thing," he pointed to the Nomu.

Thirteen grunted back, trying to catch Kurogiri who kept escaping his black hole with the warp, "Eraserhead is more than capable. You don't need to worry about that,"

"It's not that!" Watanabe replied angrily, "That thing's bad! It's a chimera! Or at least it's got multiple humans in it!"

Thirteen momentarily deactivated his quirk in shock, "How do you know?"

"My quirk. I can see its heat signatures. A human should only have 1 heat signature but that thing has 3-4 signatures in it. If it's got multiple humans in it, it might have multiple quirks too!" Watanabe deduced causing Thirteen to sweat. She turned to warn Aizawa to steer clear of the Nomu but that allowed Kurogiri to escape.

Kurogiri warped right in front of Watanabe, "You know too much already. I can't let you leave now," Kurogiri threatened but Izuku had taken advantage of Kurogiri's monologue to ready his finger, "SMASH!" he flicked his finger. The resulting air pressure made Kurogiri hit the wall of the plaza, "You lot are too troublesome," Kurogiri readied his warp, "Seems like I have to separate you," he said and made several warp gates. All of the students started falling into them but Uraraka was quick to use her zero gravity on as many as she could while Sero used his tape to pull them out.

Thirteen cursed, she failed to protect the students, "Where did you take them?" She demanded as she activated her black hole once more.

"Relax, they're still here," Kurogiri said as he opened up a warp behind Thirteen, "You should be more worried about yourself," he said as he diverted the black hole to Thirteen's exposed back tearing through his suit.

"Thirteen!" Ashido yelled out in panic.

"Now for you guys!" Kurogiri drifted towards the remaining students but was sucked back by a panting Thirteen once again, "Don't think I'm going to let you do whatever you want!"

Kurogiri narrowed his eyes, "I expected nothing less!"

"Iida! Your quirk is the best choice we have right now. Run back to UA and tell a teacher!" Thirteen ordered.

"But sensei! I can't just leave my classmates and go! That is not honorable!"

"Iida, right now we need backup. A hero's duty is to protect everyone and if you will be helping us out more by getting back up," Shouji calmly explained.

"Shouji's right. We will cover you," Uraraka said with determination.

Iida clenched his fists, "...You guys... fine! But the door?"

"I'll dissolve it with my acid!" Mina assured, "We have to do it now while Thirteen is keeping the villain occupied,"

Iida nodded and got ready but Uraraka stopped him, "Wait," she said and lightened Iida's boots and suit, "Now, you can get there faster," she smiled. Iida nodded, "Thanks," he said and set off for a run.

"Don't think I will let you go that easily," Kurogiri warned and warped right in front of the gate. Iida tensed but he had faith in his classmates. Sure enough, Uraraka made Shouji and Ashido float up. Sero used his tape to catch them and flung them towards Kurogiri. Ashido readied her acid and splattered it down like rain on Kurogiri who had no choice but to dodge. Shouji used the chance to extend his arms to enormous sizes. He created a hand of a size that would rival 's gigantic hands and punched towards Kurogiri.

Kurogiri cursed and fell back. He tried to counter but Thirteen was back on her feet once again, supported by Uraraka. She used her black hole and pulled back Kurogiri once again. That was all the time Mina needed to dissolve the doors down and let Iida run straight for UA. Kurogiri cursed, UA would be bringing back its entire force now. He quietly formed a warp gate back to Shigaraki to inform him of the new developments.

Watanabe cursed as he got up with a groan. He still seemed to be in USJ, in the fire disaster part. He heard shuffling around him and froze. He turned slowly to see two villains facing away from him. They hadn't seen him yet, "Aren't those brats going to get here already? I want some blood,"

"That damn warp gate did promise us that he would scatter the brats," the other villain replied before both of the villains were swiftly knocked out by Watanabe via a smash to their heads. Watanabe looked around to make sure no one heard him and dragged the bodies behind the building. He didn't see anyone near him. He could be by himself. He used his infrared vision to try and pinpoint his classmates but immediately deactivated the quirk, clenching his eyes, hissing with pain.

"Stupid," he muttered to himself, "I forgot this is the fire zone. All the fires here are too bright, I won't be able to see anything," he berated himself and switched to X-ray this time. He saw several villains scattered around the fire zone and hundreds more all across USJ. He cursed to himself. In the X-ray vision, everyone looked the same! The skeletal structure was the same for most people with the exception of some mutant quirk users. At least with Infrared, the heat signatures were varying and he could see the body outline which helped him build a face.

He pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind and used his X-ray to determine the villains' position and plot his next move. He stopped short as he saw someone with an extra bone that looked like a tail, "Ojiro!" Watanabe exclaimed in his mind with joy. He swiftly made his position towards Ojiro's position and checked for visual confirmation. Yes, that was Ojiro. He used his X-ray to wait for the nearby villains to move a bit further away before using his chains to lift Ojiro to the roof of the building. He clamped his hand over Ojiro's mouth to make sure he didn't scream, "It's me, Watanabe," he said in a hushed voice as Ojiro struggled against his grip.

Hearing that Ojiro calmed down and Watanabe let him go, "How did you find me?"

"X-ray vision," Watanabe pointed to his eyes.

"Anyone else here?"

"I don't know. I can't use infrared vision here because of all the fires going on here. And in X-ray everyone's endoskeleton is similar. I only found you because of the cartilage in your tail,"

Ojiro looked at his tail with narrowed eyes, "Thank god for that. So we don't know where any of our classmates are?"

Watanabe shook his head, "Nope. I'm pretty sure they're still in USJ like us though,"

Ojiro nodded, "So should we fight the villains?"

"No, I'm pretty sure they are low-level grunts but there's no way for us to know. It's better we get out of here stealthily instead of drawing attention,"

Ojiro nodded, "Roger. I hope everyone else is doing ok,"

Watanabe smiled, "No need to worry. Once we're out I can use my infrared to find the guy who's jamming the signal,"

Ojiro nodded, "Lead the way," he said.

"Now what do we have here?" The two heard a voice behind them, "Two little brats just for us,"

Ojiro and Watanabe turned swiftly to dodge a gorilla-looking guy's punch. There were three more with him. Watanabe wasted no time to use his chains and pull out the villain's legs from under him. Ojiro jumped and slammed his tail down into the gorilla's head. He used the resulting jump to fly up and deliver a splitting kick to the other two. Watanabe grabbed the last guy and swiftly used his hidden blades to cut through the holes in the villain's armor. Then he ducked down and delivered a crunching kick to his ribs.

Ojiro and Watanabe froze, using their ears to make sure no one heard them.

"Sweet moves," Ojiro complimented, "Are those master Yoroi's moves?"

"Yup, how did you guess?"

"Agile, acrobatic moves but devastating, stealthy and crippling at the same time. A chaotic and frightening combo,"

"Where did you learn?"

"With Master Yoroi,"

"Really? I never saw you there,"

"Well, I did private sessions. I didn't fight at the dojo,"

"Why not?"

Ojiro smiled, "I'm his son!"

Watanabe choked on his spit.

Chapter Text

Kaminari smashed his metal rod to fend off another villain and then retreated back to Jiro and Momo, "There are too many villains here," Kaminari complained. Momo created a shield just in time to stop a villain from cutting her arm, "There isn't much we can do,"

"Wait, I might be able to do something," Jiro said, "Stand back and don't move!"

Denki and Momo nodded and retreated back further. The villains moved to attack with full force but Jiro plugged in her headphones to the rocky ground below and created short bursts of sound. The ground crumbled and the villains screamed as they fell down painfully. "Nice, Jiro!" Momo exclaimed.

"Thanks," she grinned back, "Wait... where's Kaminari?" she stared back searching for any sign of yellow hair. Momo looked beside her and tried to pinpoint Kaminari's position, "Hold on, stay quiet," Jiro ordered as she used her earphones to track him. Her eyes widened, "Momo, jump,"

Momo instinctively jumped to her right just as the ground beneath her broke, "Good reflexes. I thought I could get all three of you, but it seems not," the villain said, his hand on Denki's neck, "Nevertheless, I'll still get away. If you want your friend to live, you should step aside," the villain smirked.

Jiro scowled, "Why were you underground in the first place?"

"It seems he was hidden there because he was important to their plan. I'm guessing he was the reason the alarm didn't trip in the first place," Momo concluded.

The villain laughed, "As expected of UA students. My lightning quirk was needed to make sure the alarm didn't trip. It's a shame that I must make a hostage of another lighting quirk user but I need to do what I must,"

Momo smirked, "I wouldn't be too sure of that," she said. "Huh? What do you-" The villain stopped short as he felt his entire body go numb. He collapsed to the ground with his eyes still wide.

"What did you do?" Kaminari asked Momo as he got free from the villain's grip.

"I had pre-made an injection laced with a paralyzing agent. When the villain tried to attack me, I injected it into him," Momo explained, discarding the syringe.

"Whoa, that was some quick thinking. I didn't even see you make it," Kaminari grinned.

"I made it when the villains appeared at USJ before we were scattered. Midoriya had told me in my analysis notes that it would be better for me to create things beforehand because I would waste brainpower and time by creating things in the heat of the battle," Momo explained.

"You seem too chipper for someone who was just a hostage," Jiro told Kaminari.

"Mah, I'm safe now. The thing is if he was the villain who was blocking the alarm, why hasn't the alarm gone off now?" Kaminari asked Momo. Jiro fell into thought at that too, "Yeah, it should have gone off..."

"He said he had an electric quirk. They must have overridden the alarm circuit itself," Momo connected the dots.

"So they infiltrated UA's entire security system too?" Jiro asked.

Momo shook her head, "No, that would block out all surveillance on campus. Someone would be bound to notice. I think they only sabotaged the USJ circuit that is on-site. The lightning villain must have overridden the circuit to block out the alarm and then hid underground for his own safety,"

"Shit, so there's no way for anyone at UA to realize that we are under attack until someone at UA notices that the USJ's surveillance is not working," Jiro bit her lip.

"But wait, I have an electric quirk too! If we can get to the circuit, maybe I can override it again so that it works properly!" Kaminari offered.

Momo nodded, "Yes, that would work but we don't know where the circuit is in the first place,"

Kaminari sighed, "If only Watanabe was here, we could use his X-ray to find it,"

"Speak of the devil and he shall- OW!" Watanabe screamed as Jiro flung around quickly and punched Watanabe in the face, knocking him to the ground, She was about to use her headphone jacks too when Watanabe spoke hastily, "WAIT! IT's ME WATANABE!" his voice came out nasally.

Jiro pumped her fists in anger, "You idiot! Why are you sneaking up on people while we are under attack!?" she demanded.

"Sorry," he mumbled, clutching his bleeding nose, "I think you broke it,"

"Good," Jiro huffed.

"Told you it would be a bad idea," Ojiro sweatdropped as he landed beside Watanabe.

"Were you guys warped here too?" Momo asked.

"No, we were dropped into the fire zone. I tried to pinpoint anyone else there with my infrared vision,"

"In a fire zone?" Momo asked unimpressed.

"Yeah, it was a stupid idea. So, I switched to my X-ray vision and saw recognized Ojiro because of the tail. We got out of there using stealth. I figured that someone must be jamming the signals and tried to spot him but looks like you guys got to him first." Watanabe explained as Denki pulled out a bandage from his pouch to wrap him up, "Shouldn't the alarm be working now?"

Momo shook her head, "No the circuit itself has been sabotaged. We need your X-ray to find where it is so Kaminari can override it again,"

"Oh cool, Follow me!" He said before falling in pain as he jerked his nose too much.

"Thank you Tsuyu," Izuku said as he wrung the water out of his gloves.

"Call me Tsu-chan,"

"They aren't trying to get on the boat and attack us," Shinsou observed from the deck.

"Their quirks are probably water-based so they are probably waiting for us to get in the water to escape," Tsuyu said.

"That seems like a dumb idea. UA staff are bound to get here so we can wait them out," Hitoshi replied.

"There's something that gives us an advantage though," Tsuyu said.

"What is it?" Izuku asked, keen to incorporate it into his strategy.

"The villains probably don't know our quirk. Water is my primary strength, so it makes more sense to drop me in the fire zone," She explained.

"Hmm," Izuku thought, "That does give us a good advantage. Hitoshi, can you explain your brainwashing a bit more to me?"

Shinsou nodded, "As I told you earlier, I need a verbal response to gain control,"

"But can you control many people together?"

Shinsou shook his head with a frown, "Not yet,"

"Alright. Since there are so many villains here, Shinsou's brainwashing won't be too useful. Tsuyu, do you think you can make a jump to the ground while holding us?"

"Piece of cake,"

"Good, we will do that then. That way, Shinsou and I can also back you up in the water if they attack us on the ground,"

Tsuyu nodded and stuck out her tongue, "Best to do it right away,"

Hitoshi seemed to gag at the thought of being wrapped around Tsuyu's tongue but nodded. His face was as green as Izuku's hair when Tsuyu wrapped her tongue around them. Suddenly, the ship seemed to wave around and started sinking, "They are getting impatient. Make the jump!" Izuku ordered.

Tsuyu nodded and jumped off the ship just as it broke into two pieces. Izuku carefully took aim with his finger, "SMASH!" he shouted and let flicked his finger. A whirlpool formed and pulled all the villains into it. Tsuyu landed just on the edge of the plaza along with Hitoshi and Izuku. The three resurfaced and Hitoshi stared at him, "Why didn't you use that during the training exercise?"

Izuku painfully held up his broken and limp finger, "It's a damaging quirk. I still can't withstand the full effect of it,"

"Well, well, well, look what we have here. Three of your little ducklings, Eraserhead," The raspy voice made the three stiffen. They turned in horror to see Aizawa's head pinned to the ground. The villain who was talking had a creepy hand on his face and an aura about him that seemed to paralyze the three, "Looks like All Might will have to pick up a few corpses," he grinned and stretched his hand onto Hitoshi and Izuku's face. The two waited in bated breath for something but nothing happened.

"You really are cool, Eraserhead," Shigaraki praised. Through the corner of his eye, Izuku saw Eraserhead's head lifted and his quirk activated. Izuku knew that Aizawa would not be able to hold off the quirk for long. Tsuyu had understood that too and extended her tongue onto Shigaraki and flung him.

Meanwhile, Izuku went for the Nomu. Watanabe had already warned them that it was likely the strongest villain there. He poised a 100% smash and hit the Nomu straight on. Izuku smirked, thinking he had gotten it but gulped in fear as the Nomu remained unmoving. "No way! I hit it with a 100% smash. It should have flown off," 

Shigaraki had regained his footing and was seething with anger, "Nomu! Finish Eraserhead and then tear the brats apart,"

The Nomu moved according to Shigaraki's and lifted Aizawa's body. Hitoshi looked on in panic. The Nomu was strong enough to withstand Izuku's punch, so it had to be strong. "Oi, you bastard. Leave Eraserhead and get me first!" He shouted, trying to incite a response from the monster. The Nomu didn't reply and flung Aizawa into the ground with a thud, "Coward! Come after me!" He shouted again as the Nomu slammed Aizawa into the ground.

Shigaraki chuckled, "That's not gonna work. Nomu is programmed to only listen to me! Don't worry, you'll have your turn next,"

Hitoshi ignored Shigaraki and picked up a pebble and threw it at the Nomu's head. This time the Nomu looked over. He was still smashing Aizawa's head onto the ground but he let out a squawking sound.

"I told you brat, wait for your turn," Shigaraki said but Hitoshi was watching the suddenly still Nomu with a smirk, "Brainwashing success!"

Chapter Text

"You damn brat, what did you do!?" Shigaraki demanded as the Nomu became still, "Nomu! Kill them!" Shigaraki commanded in vain.

Shinsou smirked with victory "Nomu, move away from Aizawa-sensei!" The monster obliged. Tsuyu ran to Aizawa and carefully picked him up, "Tsuyu, get back to Uraraka with Aizawa-sensei. Izuku and I will hold it here," Shinsou said.

Shigaraki chuckled at that, "Do you really think that we two are that weak," he pointed to himself and Kurogiri, "Brats like you-" Shigaraki couldn't finish as Kurogiri muffled him by using his cloudy body, "Don't talk to him. The Nomu went under his control as soon as it responded. He probably needs a retort to gain control,"

"Tch," Hitoshi grunted, irritatedly. The warp villain was too smart. Izuku was scowling at that too, "Even so, that doesn't mean you can take us on. We got the main villain,"

Shigaraki smirked, "It is true that you grabbed our strongest ally, but he's not the boss. Kurogiri!" Instantly, a warp gate formed underneath Shinsou's feet. Hitoshi stared in shock but disappeared quickly. Izuku stared after the fading portal with concern but had enough sense to jump away, as did Tsuyu. Sure enough, they barely evaded two more portals.

"As expected of the UA students. Good reflexes," Kurogiri praised, "But, it seems that the purple-haired boy's quirk doesn't have a range limit. I sent him quite far away,"

"Heh, we'll just find him and kill him right after we finish these two!" Shigaraki said.

Izuku's scowl grew deeper. He whispered to Tsuyu, "Tsuyu, you remember what Hitoshi said?"

Asui nodded, "Yeah. His control is still not very strong so even a pinch on the Nomu can remove the control,"

"Exactly, we will have to make sure the villains can't snap the Nomu out of it or we are done for,"

"It's not wise to talk with your enemy in front of you," Kurogiri suddenly appeared behind them. Tsuyu jumped out of the way but Izuku turned fast, "Neither is it wise for you to use close combat. SMASH!" he yelled and flicked his finger straight at Kurogiri's open physical manifestation. The gust cleared, revealing a prominent crack in the metallic body, surrounded by the clouds.

"Looks like you aren't too bad," Shigaraki said from behind as he grabbed Izuku's arm. Izuku hissed in pain as the decay started to take effect but Tsuyu lashed out her tongue at him, making him dodge, "Don't forget about me," She said as she carefully put down Aizawa.

Shigaraki seemed to grow agitated and started scratching his neck in anger, intensifying Izuku's anxiety. Tomura stopped suddenly and smiled, "You are certainly stronger than I thought. I will kill the frog but not you two. Sensei could use you two!" he cackled.

"Sensei?" Izuku raised his eyebrow but put it in the back of his mind for now. Right now, he and Tsuyu needed to lure them away from the Nomu and make sure it did not snap out of Hitoshi's control. "I hope Hitoshi fell near our classmates so that they can protect him. If a villain knocks him out, we'll lose our trump card,"

Ojiro tensed, "Another warp gate," he exclaimed as a purple mist appeared up in the air in front of them. The group tensed and got ready for a fight, when Hitoshi fell out with a scream, "Shinsou?" Denki exclaimed in shock.

Fortunately, Watanabe had kept his cool and used his chains to catch Hitoshi by the leg and pulled him towards them. Unfortunately, Watanabe had not taken into account that Hitoshi's momentum was too great. The two collided with a thunk and fell to the ground. Watanabe rolled on the ground, "My nose..." he hissed in pain as it started bleeding once again.

"Oh shit. Sorry!" Hitoshi said with worry, hurrying to try and help Watanabe.

"It's fine. Jiro broke it first actually," Denki said.

"He deserved it," Jiro huffed.

"What exactly were you guys doing?" Hitoshi asked, nearly facepalming. 

"Don't be so loud in the middle of a fight!" Momo hissed out in annoyance as she made more bandages to stop Watanabe's bleeding nose.

"Someone save me from these people," Ojiro sighed.

"We should get back to the plaza," Shinsou told his classmates, "I got the Nomu under control. We can help everyone by using it,"

"Nomu?"

"The huge monster Watanabe told has multiple quirks,"

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Watanabe replied, "But you lose control of your brainwash if the victim is given some sort of shock like a slap?"

Shinsou nodded. "In that case, it's best to go with our original plan to try and fix the alarm,"

"What?" Shinsou argued, "If the Nomu is that strong, we can just use it to take out everyone!"

"No," Momo disagreed, "We are up against actual villains. From what I've seen they won't hesitate to kill us. Do you really think they will care about the Nomu if we use it to attack them? They'll probably try to fight it and end up removing it from your control," she explained.

Hitoshi clenched his fists, "But still... the other two are strong too. We can't just let Izuku and Tsuyu face them. They won't be able to take them on!"

"I have faith in Izuku. Plus, Todoroki and Bakugou are moving there too so they will have plenty of backup," Watanabe comforted.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, infrared gives me the outline of the body too so I'm pretty sure that-"

"He meant are you sure that Izuku and Tsuyu will be ok," Denki said.

"Obviously. I would ask Jiro and Ojiro to go as well but there are still a lot of villains nearby. We'll need to protect you so that you don't lose control of the Nomu and at the same time we have to protect Kaminari while he overrides the alarm," Watanabe explained.

"Yeah, but where is the alarm system. We've been walking for quite a while," Ojiro said.

"About that..." Watanabe gave a shaky smile, "It's right below us.... underground,"

The group stared at Watanabe for a while in silence. Finally, Kaminari cleared his throat, "Could you repeat that?"

"It's not my fault!" Watanabe replied agitated, "There has to be a hidden switch or something to allow us to accept it but I can't find it even with my X-ray,"

"What do we do then?" 

"Well, I was thinking Momo could make a power drill or something and burrow underground..."

"That would take too much time,"

"It's right underground, below us right?" Jiro interrupted.

"Mhm,"

"Alright. You guys move away then,"

"What are you going to do?" Hitoshi asked.

"Just see," She smirked.

The group gave her an uncertain look but Momo helped, "I'm sure Jiro can do it. Come on," she started to retreat.

Once the group was a safe distance away, Jiro started to do her work. She plugged her earphones into a jack on her right arm. She started to emit a low sound wave and slowly increased the frequency. Her hand started vibrating faster and faster and she punched the ground. Immediately, the land shattered revealing a metal box below.

The group watched from their position with their mouths agape, "I think... I should be lucky that I got off with a broken nose," Watanabe gulped. The others nodded.

"How did you do that? That was awesome as hell!" Denki gave Jiro a thumbs-up.

"Izuku's analysis. He saw me emitting sound waves from the speakers in my legs and told me to put jacks on my hands too. Since sound waves vibrate, my hand would vibrate along and the added momentum would increase the force or accelerate it. There was too much physics explanation. I wasn't expecting it to work so well on the first try!" Jiro said excitedly.

"See Watanabe, that's how to analyze! Not by making murder plans," Denki grinned.

"Whatever just get on with the alarm," Watanabe huffed. Ojiro chuckled and propped open the door to the box.

The group stared at it with renewed appearance, "Now what?" Jiro asked. Inside was a huge jumble of wires, "I can override all of them," Denki offered.

"No! All the simulated disasters might get triggered. We don't know where our classmates are and might end up hurting or even killing them!" Momo warned loudly.

Denki's face lit up in shock and he stepped back, "Watanabe can you trace which wire leads to the alarm?" Jiro asked.

Watanabe shook his head, "No, I can follow them till the plaza but after that, the ground is too thick for my X-ray to penetrate. Plus the wires are covered with something that is hindering my X-ray vision,"

"Not to worry, I'll find the wire for the alarm!" Momo said with determination.

Izuku panted as he flicked his finger once more to increase the distance between him and Shigaraki. Tsuyu had gone down a while back after she had overextended her tongue, giving Shigaraki an opportunity to use his decay on it. Her tongue was still there but it was terribly mangled in places. To make things worse, the decay had cut into the blood vessels too and Tsuyu was continuously hacking up blood in an effort to keep it away from her lungs.

Izuku was in no better shape. He only had 6 good fingers left and nearly had his eye taken out by Shigaraki's decay. Kurogiri's warp had caught them by surprise multiple times. However, Izuku could see that Shigaraki was tiring. Kurogiri seemed to be alright though which was concerning.

"I've noticed, you don't use the same fingers for your flicks and they're bleeding," Kurogiri observed, "Seems like your body can't handle such destructive power," he hummed and launched forward, "You only have a few more tries!"

Izuku's eyes widened and he set off another flick in panic but Kurogiri warped behind him along with Shigaraki's outstretched palm, aiming straight for his neck! Izuku froze as the fear of death set in, BOOM! Kurogiri was sent flying away. "What's that pathetic look?" Bakugou demanded as he appeared.

"Kacchan!"

"Don't you Kacchan me! I promised not to call you Deku again but seeing your performance, I'm not sure anymore!" Bakugou said.

"That's a poor joke Bakubro," Kirishima said, "You really need to improve your sense of humor,"

"No one asked you shitty hair!"

"It's not wise to call people names after you were beaten up specifically for that purpose," Shouto appeared.

"Tch," Bakugou remembered his fight with Watanabe, "That was different, I was in the wrong that time. I already apologized,"

"Hn,"

"Tch, you side characters are really annoying," Shigaraki scowled.

Bakugou's face twisted, "Side characters? You playing video games or what?"

"Hmph, video games can be used to describe anything, even life,"

"Well then, let me dumb it down for you," Bakugou cracked his knuckles, "You shoulda leveled up before going for the big bosses,"

Chapter Text

"Now another teaching method is to-"

"SENSEI!" Iida cut Nedzu off as he rushed into the staff room. Yagi had been taken by surprise and had instinctively switched to his All Might form but calmed down slightly after, "Iida-kun, aren't you supposed to be at USJ?"

"Sensei, villains have infiltrated USJ. Thirteen an Aizawa-sensei were holding them off and many of the students were scattered by a warp quirk!" Iida panted as he gave a short but detailed expression.

"What?" Nedzu asked, baffled, "The alarm should have gone off. They must have a skilled hacker or disruptor quirk user in their ranks," he assessed quickly, "All Might, go to USJ immediately for backup. I'll go to my office and manually switch the alarm to alert the teachers,"

All Might nodded and was gone with a flash, "Sensei, what about me?" Iida asked.

"I would have told you to stay here but I have a feeling you won't stand for that," Nedzu said, "Better you go to recovery girl and tell her of the situation. You can help her by carrying equipment to USJ,"

"Yes, sensei!"

With that, Nedzu ran to his office, already formulating a plan of entry. A frontal assault would be risky but attempting to breach USJ from any other direction would waste precious time. All Might had already run out of time so it was unlikely he could hold on for long. He could call the police while the teachers mobilized. There was also the problem that USJ was one of the most secure areas. Since it was further off-campus, he had ensured the security was top-notch. He was about to turn the corridor to his office when... the alarm rang!

Nedzu stopped short and looked with surprise at the loudspeaker. Situations ran in his mind. Had the disruptor quirk user gotten defeated? Or had one of the teachers overridden the alarm. The system was complex and only the teachers knew how to activate it. Overriding it manually was not very complex but the risk of setting of a disaster and killing someone was high. It was most probable that the villain was defeated but for some reason, Nedzu doubted that.

"Nice Momo, Kaminari!" Jiro cheered as the alarm rang out all across USJ.

"Phew," Denki gave a shaky smile, "It was all thanks to Yaoyorozu!"

Watanabe nodded excitedly, "Making new wires and connecting them in an extra parallel circuit was genius. All you had to do was connect an alarm to determine the right wire!"

"I thought the disasters would go off because we momentarily disrupted the electric flow," Hitoshi said.

"No, without electricity they wouldn't work. Plus, we only cut off the electricity for less than a second. Systems don't reboot for such a small timeframe since it often happens. We should be glad that the rewiring was done so quickly," Yaoyorozu said humbly.

"Still, your decision-making really saved us! The teachers will be here in no time now!" Jiro cheered.

"Sorry to cut off the celebrations," Watanabe warned, "But it looks like the villains are itching to finish off the fight before the heroes get here," he said using his X-ray to pinpoint their positions.

Sure enough, the earth below them opened up. All of them jumped away with Watanabe having to rescue the exhausted Momo, "Seems like we have to get serious too," Kaminari drew the rod from his costume.

Shigaraki bit his lip hard and started scratching his neck in frustration, "Oi, Kurogiri! Why is the alarm going off!?"

"I don't know," Kurogiri said nervously, "We overrode the alarm. There's no way it will trip even if that electric quirk guy is defeated,"

The two villains didn't have enough time to think as Bakugou launched an explosion directly at them, "It doesn't matter if you sabotaged the alarm. Those extras are more than enough to take care of anything you throw at them!" he propelled himself forward and nearly got Shigaraki.

"Oh, Bakubro, I will have to remember to tell everyone you complimented them,"

"Shut up and concentrate on surviving first!" Bakugou yelled back. Izuku chuckled. He was enjoying seeing Bakugou working his way towards becoming a better person. He did call them extras but his words had already proven that he respected their class.

"Be careful! Even though we outnumber them, the warp villain can take us out!" Izuku warned.

"Kirishima and Izuku, take Asui and Aizawa-sensei and retreat back to Thirteen," Shouto ordered.

"Huh, why?" Kirishima argued, "It will be unmanly to leave you guys with the villain!"

"Asui and Aizawa-sensei are both heavily injured. The villains can use them as hostages if we keep them here or aggravate their injuries. Take them uphill,"

"But my hardening would come in handy!"

"No, against a warp and decay quirk, your hardening won't be too much of an advantageous. You aren't as agile as them either to keep up with. So you and Izuku take them to a safe place. I will support Bakugou with my long-range attacks and hold them off,"

"I'm staying!" Izuku said with determination, "Kirishima can take them both safely,"

"Izuku, you're injured too," Kirishima pointed out.

"It's only a few of my fingers. My legs still work. If we both leave, you guys will be outnumbered. I can draw away their attacks," Izuku replied.

"But-"

"Let him stay," Bakugou interrupted as he jumped back from a duel attack, "Don't underestimate him,"

Shouto scowled a bit, "Fine, you can stay. Kirishima, you can carry them both, right?"

"Of course! Make sure you send them flying," Kirishima said as he picked up both Aizawa and Tsuyu.

Shigaraki saw Kirishima retreating and tried to cut him off but was separated by an ice wall, "We're still here you know!" Bakugou jumped over the wall and unleashed an explosion. Kurogiri was able to warp Shigaraki to safety just in time.

"Oi, Izuku. Can't we just get Shinsou here and use that monster against them!?" Bakugou demanded.

"No. Any physical shock removes his brainwashing. The villains would probably hurt it in self-defense and break the brainwashing. In that case, the monster would wipe us all out. Even if we can't use it, it's enough to hold it as a prisoner," Izuku replied. 

"Tsk," Shigaraki twitched, not having heard their conversation, "It doesn't matter whether you outnumber us. We'll just bring more people here! Kurogiri!"

Kurogiri gave a nod and opened a warp gate. Several villains fell out, "Oi, what's the big deal!?" One of them demanded.

"Shut up," Shigaraki glared, "We needed reinforcements,"

"Hmph, didn't you big shots say that we're all sideshows," A villain jeered. The man in question was instantly disintegrated by Shigaraki, "Just hurry up and fight you damn pawns," The rest of the villains stepped back in fear and a low sound of affirmation was heard.

Shouto and Izuku froze. They had just seen a villain kill their ally. Shouto had seen the things heroes had to go through because of Endeavour but he had never seen death. Izuku on the other hand had completely frozen in place and his brain rushed into a full-on panic mode as the situation grew more serious. One of the villains saw this and launched herself at the two. Shouto had gotten out of his shock and prepared to use his ice but the villain had rushed at his left side. 

Shouto froze at the prospect of using his fire and tried to use carve his ice through the back but the villain saw this and decided to avoid Shouto altogether and go for Izuku. Bakugou and Shouto could do nothing as they watched a layer of rock form on the villain's body and smash into Izuku's head, knocking him to the ground. Izuku fell with a sickening crunch. Bakugou immediately jumped to Izuku's aid, using his explosions to blast through the rock formations on the villain's body.

Shouto knelt down and assessed the damage done to Izuku. Izuku was barely conscious. his head bleeding, indicating a possible cracked skull if the crunch was any indication. He seemed to have labored breathing too and was clutching his ribs, "Broken ribs too," Shouto thought as he clenched his fists in anger, "All because I refused to use my left side!" he pummeled the ground in frustration.

Shouto flinched as he heard an explosion behind him, "Bastard, watch your back," Bakugou coughed. The villains had gone for quantity and had launched a barrage of attacks at the clustered group. Bakugou had countered most of them but a few had gotten through.

Shouto sent out a wave of ice wall to separate themselves, "Are you alright?" he asked Bakugou, "DAMN STRAIGHT I AM!" he replied with a grunt as he stood back up, "Take Izuku and retreat. I'll hold them off,"

"Idiot, we're vastly outnumbered. Either we both make a stand or we don't stand a chance!" Shouto argued.

"Behind!" Izuku yelled a warning through his breathing. Sure enough, Kurogiri had warped Shigaraki and a few of the villains to take advantage. Bakugou was fast to react and blew away the small-time villains. However, Shigaraki had caught him by his arm and had decayed a good part of it. Bakugou hissed in pain. Izuku's eyes widened and he flicked his finger at Kurogiri blasting the villains away.

At the same time, Shouto made an ice slide and let gravity pull them down the plaza. Shouto knew that it was suicide to fall into the heart of the plaza but they were boxed in from all directions. At least in the plaza, classmates could arrive for help.

"That's not going to help," Shouto froze as he heard Kurogiri behind him. Kurogiri had made a warp gate behind them and Shouto couldn't do a thing to stop them from sliding into it. He braced for them to get scattered but one instant he was staring down a purple warp and the next he was at the top of the plaza, safe and sound with the rest of his classmates.

"I AM HERE!"

Chapter Text

"I AM HERE!" All Might announced his presence as he slowly placed Bakugou and Izuku on the ground, "No need to worry, my students! I shall defeat these villains soon!" he promised as he got ready to leap into action but instead tripped over Shouto's ice, "Wait, All Might," Shouto said in a commanding tone, raising some eyes.

All Might sensed there was no room for argument and obliged, "What is it?"

"Don't rush straight into the villains without a plan,"

"I assure you, I can handle it," All Might got up.

"The purple villain and the hand guy are strong when they link up so look out for them. The hand guy has a decay quirk and the purple one has a warp quirk. As for the monster with its brain out, it's under Hitoshi's control so don't try to fight it or you will erase the brainwash. If it does break free, avoid it. It has multiple quirks,"

"M-multiple quirks?" All Might stuttered on his words, thinking he had wrong.

Shouto nodded, "Watanabe used his infrared vision and saw that there were four different heat signatures in it and thought it meant that there are four bodies and four quirks in it. Don't ask me how, but it probably has something to do with a quirk power,"

All Might gulped, "Four different bodies," the words echoed in his mind, "That would mean he is back, but... I killed him!" All Might argued in his brain, yet he couldn't discredit Watanabe's findings, knowing that he was trustworthy. One aspect would prove whether All For One was back, "Does it have immense physical strength even without the quirk?"

"Yes, even though Aizawa-sensei erased its quirk, it was still able to keep up with Izuku's flicks," Shouto replied.

The words plunged Yagi's world back into darkness. That final piece was enough to make him sure that All For One was back. Only by combining many bodies could someone stand up to be strong enough to withstand One for All. He and his sensei had faced people with such abilities, granted they didn't look like this monster. Yagi wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad thing.

Memories of All For One killing Nana flooded his mind but he shook his head, now was not the time to get nervous. He had limited time in this form and he would need to act fast. There was also the chance that it was someone else. Nighteye had told him about an upcoming member of Shie Hassaikai with an overhaul quirk. It might be his doing but now, he would need to capture the two main villains. The rest had been defeated very swiftly which meant they were just pawns. The real danger was the Nomu, Shigaraki and Kurogiri.

All Might was thinking of a way to subdue the warp gate first and also make sure the Nomu couldn't move. He looked around for an idea and got it! He bent down to Aizawa and whispered, "I'll need to borrow this," he plucked the capture scarf from his colleague. Then he rushed forward and tied up the Nomu tightly. All Might had seen Aizawa's capture scarf in action and knew it was strong enough to hold back Izuku's One For All, which meant it would be more than enough.

Then he launched a ling range wind typhoon with his fists in an effort to blow away the cloudy warp gate. His effort succeeded but he had hoped that Shigaraki would be blown off course from the Warp Gate and he could pick the two off one by one. Instead, Kurogiri had warped away with Tomura and All Might had to scan the entire plaza for a glimpse of a warp gate reappearing.

All Might gasped for air as blood spurted from his injury. He quickly jumped out of the way and turned to face the warp gate that had appeared where he was standing. The villains just had to hit him directly at his injury. He brushed it off as a coincidence but unfortunately, Shigaraki wasn't too smart.

Shigaraki started laughing maniacally, "Well All Might, how was that!? I bet you didn't think we knew about your injury, huh!?"

All Might's eyes widened as he unconsciously clutched his injury. There was no way that the villains could know about his injury. The only people who knew were Nedzu, Nighteye, Recovery Girl, Tsukauchi, and the team that had operated on him, all of whom he trusted. On a better note, he could chalk off Shigaraki's intelligence which made him a lesser threat. However, Kurogiri was the highest priority for All Might. His battle sense, agility, and intelligence as well as quirk were far too strong to leave to the villain side.

All Might flung himself straight at Shigaraki this time and connected for a split second before Kurogiri warped away to the side once more. Shigaraki hissed with pain as he held his limp, broken arm, "Bastard! You're gonna pay!" he yelled and ran towards All Might. All Might readied himself. He would use his smash as soon as Shigaraki came closer and would knock him out. However, Shigaraki thrust his arm through Kurogiri. All Might jumped to the right, anticipating an attack on his injured left.

"We aren't that stupid!" Kurogiri shouted. All Might jumped straight into Shigaraki's open hands and nearly screamed as agonizing pain hit him but he fought through it and now, it was his turn for a counter-attack. He grabbed Shigaraki's hand and pulled him through the warp gate. Kurogiri's eyes widened and he moved to stop Yagi but he had already smashed Shigaraki into the ground knocking him out. He didn't waste a second and threw himself towards Kurogiri who simply opened up a warp to fling All Might into the air.

Kurogiri knew that it was over and collected Kurogiri. He moved to the Nomu to retrieve it as well when he was suddenly cut off by a cement wall. He turned to see Cementoss and Ectoplasm arriving to surround him. He hadn't even heard or seen them enter. Scowling, he left the scene.

Meanwhile, All Might jumped down safely over the rocky area. He sighed in relief as he saw the other teachers arriving and released his form. He had reached his limit and couldn't maintain muscle mass anymore.

"Yagi-sensei, you should really be careful about shifting your form,"

Yagi tensed and turned furiously but relaxed seeing it was only Watanabe and Kaminari, "Oh, it's only you guys, phew,"

"My point stands," Watanabe urged, "You could have been seen by Momo, Jiro, and Hitoshi too but we got separated by villains. You're lucky it's just me and Kaminari,"

Yagi chuckled and nodded but was interrupted by a raging Kaminari, "Hold up for a damn minute!" he shouted, "What the fuck do you mean by it's just you and me?" he asked Watanabe, "Did you know that Yagi-sensei is All Might!?" he demanded.

Watanabe and Yagi simultaneously paled and looked at each other, "Umm... yes," Watanabe said quietly.

"Wait, does Izuku know too?"

Yagi nodded.

"How long?"

"Since the first time we met," Watanabe replied, abashed.

"And none of you told me!"

"We thought you couldn't keep it a secret given your... track record," Watanabe replied as Yagi facepalmed. The boy was just digging himself into a deeper hole.

Kaminari fumed and turned to Yagi, "And what about you? Why them but not me!?"

"Umm... it was sort of necessary for Izuku to know and Watanabe kinda found out," Yagi gave a shaky laugh.

"Why was it necessary for Izuku to know?" Kaminari asked, puzzled until things clicked, "Wait a minute, Tsuyu was saying how All Might and Izuku's quirks are similar. Did you," Denki paused, momentarily soaking in how unrealistic his theory would be, "Did you pass on your quirk to Izuku?"

Yagi looked to Watanabe who just nodded, "...Yes,"

Kaminari fumed even more and started to crackle some electricity, "Surprise?" Watanabe offered and was instantly tased slightly by his friend, "S-sowwy," Watanabe said, his tongue numb.

"Kaminari, it was my fault for not telling you," Yagi frowned.

"Yeah, but you're my teacher and you taught me well. Plus, it is your secret so I understand. The reason I electrocuted him," Kaminari pointed to Watanabe, "is because I CAN KEEP A SECRET!" he screamed in Watanabe's face who nodded furiously.

"All right, I guess we will head outside to your classmates," Yagi said. The three walked together as Kaminari asked more and more questions to understand some of the things that had happened in training the previous year. He had loudly promised to also berate Izuku the moment he saw him. Yagi chuckled and couldn't help but feel a load taken off his chest. He didn't have many friends and these three were the closest thing he had, weirdly. 

Yagi jogged up to Nedzu, "How did you guys get in? I only saw Ectoplasm, Snipe, and Recovery Girl come through the main entrance,"

"We knew that the students were scattered from Iida so we knew heading straight in would take too much time and might cause any villains to see us and act swiftly to maim the students. We simply had powerloader dig up holes and got in through the underground. Ectoplasm's clones outnumbered the villains and we got them all!" Nedzu said, "And I see all three, now know about your actual form," Nedzu smiled earning a chuckle from Yagi.

"In that case, I should also introduce myself. I have been waiting for this a long time!" Nedzu cackled.

Watanabe stared at Nedzu with wide eyes, "What do you mean by introducing yourself? We already met at the court and in your office,"

"Yes," Nedzu replied, "But you didn't know I was the one who proofread your article!"

Kaminari and Watanabe's mouths fell, "You're the one who fixed up our article and published it!?"

Nedzu nodded with a chaotic grin, "And I must say, you and Izuku are really talented. Especially Midoriya considering he wrote out the entire thing. Not to say you didn't do anything, Watanabe, your ideas were superb as well!"

"Thank you," Watanabe smiled, "Man, now I want to talk about so much of the stuff that happened!"

"We will in due time. Wouldn't want Midoriya to miss out!" Nedzu said.

"Oi, oi! Don't knock around the Nomu!" Kaminari yelled to the Ectoplasm clones that were trying to carry it to the transport van.

Nedzu raised his eye, "Is there a problem?"

"The Nomu is under Hitoshi's brainwash. If it gets a shock, the brainwashing will fail and the Nomu will break free," Kaminari explained.

"interesting. But, when we arrived, Hitoshi had been knocked out by another villain already," Nedzu informed.

"Oh," Kaminari said, a bit embarrassed.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about," Nedzu assured with a smile as he waved Ectoplasm's clones to carry on, "Ialready asked it some questions and all it does is squawk, so it can't speak probably. I'm intrigued to know why you are so scared of it,"

"It's got multiple bodies in it, probably as an effect of a quirk. But anyway, in Infrared vision I can see 4 different heat signatures. The only way that's possible is if four bodies are in it, which means four different quirks," Watanabe explained.

"But it could just be animal bodies, hence why it can't speak properly," Nedzu offered.

"Well... I suppose so," Watanabe conceded. However, Yagi had sent Nedzu a brief nod to signify that Watanabe was probably right in thinking that it was several humans built into one. Nedzu could already feel a headache coming on but he would have Tsukauchi try his luck into interrogating the Nomu first.

His headache seemed to grow worse as Koda appeared in front of the police officers and clones, apparently angry, "Stop hurting it! It's in pain!"

Tsukauchi turned to face Koda, "I assure you, we're being careful,"

"But they're telling me they're in pain!"

Nedzu, Yagi and Tsukauchi froze, "They?" Tsukauchi asked for clarification.

Koda nodded, "Yup, there are a lot of voices coming from it," he pointed to the monster.

Tsukauchi nearly dropped his notepad in surprise, "You can talk to it?"

Chapter Text

"Remember, everything that you will find out is strictly confidential and cannot leave this room unless authorized. You cannot talk about this to your family, friends, or classmates, no matter what. If required, you can always talk to Principal Nedzu at school," Tsukauchi reminded Koda as they got ready to start the investigation. Tsukauchi and Nedzu were the only two people inside the room, with Sansa standing guard outside. Yagi had been banned from attending since he couldn't maintain his muscle form and would raise suspicions.

Koda nodded, "I got it Tsukauchi-san," he said from his seat opposite the Nomu, "I should warn you though, the voices are very garbled, so I can't understand them properly. It's almost like many voices are overlapping,"

"No problem, just try your best," Tsukauchi assured with a smile.

Koda nodded, "What do I ask?"

"Uhm, what about its name?" 

Koda did as he was told. The Nomu only moved its mouth in response but no sound came out this time. But Koda had seemingly understood, "They don't remember, I think. They became confused when I asked,"

Tsukauchi frowned as Koda's statement clicked as truth, "But there was no noise,"

"Many animals speak in infrasonic and ultrasonic waves which aren't audible to us," Nedzu defended, "Carry on Koda! I must ask why you refer to it as them,"

"Well, Watanabe said there were four different bodies in it and the voices are garbled too, so I thought it's better to say them," Koda explained.

Nedzu nodded in understanding, "In that case, can you ask separately how many are inside it, to confirm Watanabe,"

Koda asked the Nomu, "They say there are 4 of them,"

"Hmm," Nedzu sank deep into thought. It did seem like Yagi's suspicions were becoming true... Tsukauchi had caught on to his thoughts, "Maybe it really is just the Shie Hassaikai," he tried to reason.

Meanwhile, Koda was wondering, whether it was in fact 4 animals or 4 humans that were inside the Nomu. Nedzu had earlier discredited Watanabe by saying that it could be the differing heat signatures from different animals but that wouldn't account for the quirks, "Are you animals or humans?" Koda asked, freezing both Nedzu and Tsukauchi. Both of them knew that it was humans but they hadn't wanted Koda to know that to keep him away from the case.

The Nomu squawked loudly this time and Koda's face contorted into anger, "The voices say they're human but animal parts were used too to be more stable,"

The last bit surprised Nedzu. All For One, while intelligent and smart was too proud to use animals in his creations last time around. This would mean that he didn't have the proper resources, which was comforting. Nedzu unconsciously touched his scar, there was a chance that the results obtained from his experiment could have been used... but that would be going down another rabbit hole. He sighed loudly, "Who sent him?"

Koda asked the question, "He doesn't remember what he looks like but they call him sensei,"

"Who's they?" Tsukauchi asked.

"The others. He doesn't remember who they are," Koda replied, "It's getting harder for me to understand what they're saying,"

"Why didn't he attack us after the brainwashing took effect?" Tsukauchi asked.

Koda stayed quiet for a while after asking the question, evidently trying very hard to understand, "He said something like being ordered and couldn't disobey," Koda said.

"What was he ordered?"

"To listen to another person and to kill All Might. They say that they were told the left side is weak,"

"A brainwashing quirk then probably," Tsukauchi pointed out, "Thirteen said that the Nomu only moved according to its master's commands,"

Suddenly the Nomu started screaming louder and Koda clasped his hands on his ears in pain, "They're in pain. They aren't responding anymore,"

Nedzu's eyes widened, "The original brainwashed must be trying to break him. Koda, ask it whether it knows where it came from!"

"No," Koda replied as the Nomu started banging across the security glass separating them, it just says, sorry and 'Can't answer more,'"

"Shit," Tsukauchi stepped back from the glass, "We won't be able to get anything more without aggravating it,"

"Koda, that's enough," Nedzu tried to pull the boy as police officers arrived to subdue the Nomu which was thrashing around wildly, "Wait!" Koda interrupted, "Are there more  of you?"

Nedzu and Tsukauchi waited in bated breath. The sickening reply caught them all of guard, "Yes... many,"

Yagi woke up with a start, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He had been waiting for Izuku to regain consciousness. Watanabe and Kaminari had also been exhausted were forced to sleep by Recovery Girl. He looked at the time, "Nearly 5 o'clock," he stretched carefully, making sure he didn't affect his injury. He could hear loud voices arguing outside and stepped out, concerned, and found Chiyo chewing out Nedzu with Tsukauchi red-faced, standing at the side.

"What happened?" he asked.

Chiyo turned in a flash, "What happened is Nedzu decided to use Koda to interrogate someone who was clearly a human test subject. Now the boy is traumatized and has been vomiting constantly!"

"I really do apologize, Recovery Girl. But, we really needed the clues for the case..." Tsukauchi tried to reason.

Chiyo stared at him, fuming, "Try again,"

"We're sorry and promise never to do something like this again without asking for the aid of your superior intellect?" Tsukauchi chuckled nervously.

"Good enough. Hound Dog should be nearly done now and I can try and coerce him to sleep it off. Lord knows he needs it," Chiyo mumbled to herself and disappeared down the hall.

"What exactly did you guys do?" Yagi asked, "She's only that angry when I do something stupid,"

"Well, I guess we did do something stupid," Tsukauchi admitted, "We had Koda interrogate the Nomu for us,"

"And?"

"Well, we didn't find out much. No location or eye testimony of what they look like, but it's definitely All For One. He told the Nomu that your left side is weak and only he would know that," Tsukauchi said grimly, "The Nomu also told Koda there were 4 humans inside and that animal parts were used to make them more stable. I suppose that's why the beak's there," 

Yagi scowled deeply and punched the wall in frustration, "That bastard! I was sure I killed him!"

"Not to be rude, but I did say that it was suspicious a body wasn't found but you insisted..." Nedzu sighed, "To make matters worse, Koda asked it whether there were more and it said yes, there were many more,"

"I can see why that would be traumatizing, especially since he has a quirk that connects him to animals as well,"

Nedzu nodded, "Exactly. I also think that All For One somehow got the notes of my experiments. He shouldn't have been able to stabilize the animal parts so well otherwise,"

"I should let Izuku know about All For One, shouldn't I?"

Nedzu nodded, "I wish you didn't have to and honestly I thought you never would. But we have to do what is necessary,"

Yagi nodded, "...Do you think I can maybe tell Kaminari and Watanabe too?"

Tsukauchi smiled, "Really getting along with them huh?"

"Says the one who dropped in with snacks on our training sessions,"

Tsukauchi shrugged, "That was also to get Torino off my back,"

"Corrupt detective, bribing people," Yagi shook his head sarcastically earning a laugh from his friend.

"It is your secret, so you can tell whomever you want. Personally, I'd prefer if you told Watanabe too. It gives me an avenue for greater chaos!" Nedzu cackled, "But don't mention anything about Koda and the interrogation. They are smart enough to piece it together and considering Midoriya is slightly like you, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to interfere. It's best to keep the students as far away from this as possible,"

Yagi smirked, "I assumed you would want them to meet up to cause even more chaos!"

Surprising Yagi, Nedzu clutched his burly hands and pulled like a kid, "I do! It would cause so much chaos! But the student's safety... but the chaos!" he kept tugging anxiously and then stopped as his face morphed into realization, "Is this what they call a moral dilemma?"

Yagi and Tsukauchi snickered at Nedzu's words, "Well Nedzu, good luck on figuring out about your moral compass. I need to get back to my case," Tsukauchi excused himself.

Nedzu nodded, "Yagi, care to join me from tea?"

Yagi shook his head politely, "No, I will wait for Izuku to wake up. The sooner he knows about All For One, the more time he has to prepare,"

Nedzu nodded understandingly, "That is true but I doubt you would want to piss off Chiyo. One traumatized and restless kid is enough, I think," Nedzu cackled and headed to his office.

Yagi twitched.

Chapter Text

"Yo, sensei!" Kaminari greeted as he, Izuku, and Watanabe walked up to Yagi at Dagobah beach.

"Ah, you guys are finally here. Take a seat," Yagi smiled as he motioned to a bench on the opposite side.

"Um, sensei. Is there any reason you called us here before we head to UA?" Watanabe asked.

Yagi nodded, "I have something to discuss with you. About One For All and its origins," Yagi said. Immediately, the three sat straight in attention. Watanabe looked at Yagi with a thoughtful look, "Why suddenly out of nowhere?"

"Is it really that sudden? I did say I would tell you more about One For All after Izuku got the quirk,"

"Yeah," Izuku replied slowly, "But you could have told us at a more reasonable time instead of so early in the morning. It does seem suspicious,"

Yagi laughed, "Well, I guess it is stupid to try and hide it. I would have preferred to tell Izuku only, but he'd probably want to tell you two as well and I think it would be better if he had someone to confide in," Yagi declared.

"What is it?" Izuku gulped.

"One For All is a stockpiling quirk and was handed over from generation to generation, with you being the ninth user,"

Izuku nodded, "I already knew that,"

"Yes. But the reason it was passed on from generation to generation is because of the first user," All Might sighed and paused for a moment, "The first user had a brother. I don't know his name but his quirk is All For One, which is what we call him,"

"We?" Watanabe pointed out.

"Those of us who know about him," Yagi replied and turned to Izuku, "As you have probably understood, All For One's quirk allows him to steal other people's quirks. He can also hand them to other people, which is how he built up his army,"

"Wait," izuku interrupted, "He's dead right?"

"No, he stole a quirk that gives him longevity. I thought I killed him during our last fight... but seeing the Nomu at USJ and from what Tsukauchi has found out, we have reason to believe he's back," Yagi stopped for a dramatic pause.

Understandably, the three were stunned and shocked. Izuku was the first one to speak, "But it will be alright, right? I mean you can still take him down, and this time I'll be there too. With two One For All users, we can easily take him down!"

Yagi smiled, "Maybe so. But during both me and my master, Nana Shimura tried to go against him. We defeated him but at the cost of my master's life," Yagi said as tears welled up in memory of his late teacher.

izuku's face became horrified, "Wait, are you saying-"

"No!" Yagi interrupted, "I will try my best to stay alive and be with you, every step of the way," Yagi hid his tears and gave his trademark grin, "I'm only saying this to you to make you prepare yourselves. One For All is the deterrent to All For One and you need to prepare to make sure you're ready!"

Izuku stared but gave a determined nod but the conversation turned sour nearly immediately as Watanabe interrupted, "Wait a damn minute. Why do you make it sound like only Izuku is capable of defeating this All For One?" Watanabe demanded.

"Well, he's the one with One For All,"

"And?" Kaminari joined in with the questioning, "You make it seem like One For All is destined to be the one to end All For One,"

"Well," Yagi argued, "It has been passed on for generations,"

"So what!?" Watanabe demanded, "For now, all I've seen One For All do is grant the user enhancement of normal body functions. Meanwhile All For One can steal hundreds of quirks. Considering he has lived for so long, he probably has stolen hundreds. That's like saying all the pro-heroes against you, alone! Would that be possible for you?" Watanabe demanded.

Yagi stayed quiet, he didn't have proper reasoning to fight back with, "Exactly," Watanabe said, seeing the look on Yagi's face, "Izuku only has a chance if he has people backing him up. I know my quirk won't be too useful except surveillance," Watanabe admitted, "But Kaminari, Shouto, Bakugou, Shouji, all of them can help. Heck, Hitoshi can just trick All For One into getting brainwashed!" 

Yagi smiled, "That's true but that would involve telling them as well..."

"Not really," Kaminari said, "Just because they don't know about it doesn't mean they won't train hard. When the time comes, they will want to help since he's such a notorious villain,"

"Still, I don't want to put you in danger,"

"And putting Izuku in danger is fine? Is that what you're saying? That he's a scapegoat?" Watanabe grew overprotective.

"No, no! Not at all!" Yagi put his hands up in defense.

"Good. I thought I might have to call Torino-sensei for some therapy," Watanabe grinned.

"What do you think, Izuku?" Yagi asked.

"The more the merrier, right?" Izuku gave a shaky smile.

Yagi smiled in response.

"Now all we need is for you to tell the teachers at UA!" Izuku said.

Yagi spluttered, "What?"

"Well, we won't be allowed to help you, since we're students but the teachers can! They already know about your injury so just tell them the truth!" Izuku exclaimed.

"B-but,"

"No buts. Either you do it, or I do it myself," izuku threatened, "Since you passed on your quirk, it's now my secret as much as it is yours,"

Yagi had a horrified expression, "You wouldn't!"

"Wouldn't I?" Izuku's eyes gleamed as he stood up, "Well, gotta go sensei or we'll miss our train. I'll give you a week before I tell the teachers myself!"

"I wonder who'll be our homeroom teacher today," Kirishima said to Jiro, "He looked really injured,"

Aizawa slammed the door open almost immediately, "Good Morning,"

"Sensei! Shouldn't you be at the hospital?" Sato asked, worriedly.

"This is nothing,"

"You're literally covered head to toe with bandages,"

"Hmph," Aizawa grunted, "I'm not going to be here for so long. I just wanted to let you all know that the sports festival starts next week,"

"But sensei!" Iida jumped up, "Is it wise to hold the sports festival immediately after an attack?"

"UA wants to hold the sports festival to ensure that the infiltration did not hurt us. You don't need to worry. The festival takes place in front of an audience, many of which are pro-heroes. On top of that, additional pro heroes will be dispatched as well,"

Iida sat down with the explanation, still unhappy but he was looking forward to the sports festival and didn't argue further.

"Finally, classes are suspended this week to allow you to prepare. You will still have to come to school because we don't want you to use your quirk outside of school and damage things. Cementoss will supervise you. You can go and warm up now until Cementoss collects you," Aizawa dismissed them.

The students filed out of the classroom but Aizawa stopped Watanabe and Izuku, "You two The principal wants to meet you,"

"The principal? Nedzu?" Izuku asked, concerned as to whether they had done something.

Aizawa nodded, "Yup. God knows what that chaos-obsessed rat wants now. Get going. I have to meet recovery girl,"

Izuku gulped and turned to his cousin, "Do you think we did something wrong,"

"Maybe it's because you broke your arms and couldn't use your quirk probably. And I already got a warning because of Mineta, so maybe I'm in trouble for scaring Jiro at USJ," Watanabe said in an anxious voice. 

"Th-that's unlikely," Izuku said shakily but started to sweat.

Watanabe chuckled evilly in his mind. He had forgotten to tell Izuku that Nedzu had helped with their article. He had really meant to tell him but he was glad he didn't. 

Izuku knocked on Nedzu's office, "Come in!"

"You wanted to see us?" Izuku asked nervously.

"Yes! Come in and take a seat," Nedzu motioned, "Tea?"

"Yes please," Watanabe replied calmly.

"No need to be so nervous, Midoriya," Nedzu sipped his tea.

Izuku nodded and sipped his tea quietly.

"I must say, I was pleased to hear about how you blackmailed All Might," Nedzu chuckled.

Izuku paled, "Oh god, is that why you're angry with us?"

Nedzu stared at Izuku in surprise and confusion until he heard Watanabe giggle, "You didn't tell him," he said flatly.

"In my defense, I did mean to but I forgot," Watanabe chuckled.

"Huh, what?"

"Nedzu is the one who proofread our article and published it for us!" 

"Wait, really?"

"Yup," Watanabe said enthusiastically. 

"You're so awesome sensei!" Izuku declared, "Can I have your autograph, please?" he fanboyed.

Nedzu was slightly taken aback. He had never really been called awesome by anyone, much less fanboyed over like All Might. People usually took everything he did for granted because he had an intelligence quirk.

"You do know he'll be the one to sign our report cards," Watanabe pointed out.

"That's a signature, I want an autograph!"

"What's the difference?" Watanabe sweatdropped.

Nedzu gave a nice and warm smile catching Izuku off guard. He had never seen Nedzu give anything other than a polite smile or chaotic grin. Nedzu tore a paper and signed the paper, personalizing it with a quick scribble of himself and put a paw print on it, "That's the difference my dear student," Nedzu said.

"Whoa cool," Watanabe had gleamy eyes, "Can I get one?"

"You can get the signature," Nedzu said with a grin.

Watanabe shrunk a bit. Nedzu was probably joking but he was too embarrassed to ask once more, "So, what are you teaching us?" he tried to change the subject.

"What makes you think I'll be teaching you?"

"You called us your students," Watanabe pointed out.

Nedzu chuckled, "That I did. I was seeing if you really are so observant. Today, we shall take down the Utunama school. You may also know it as the school Hitoshi attended,"

"Wait, why were you guys investigating them in the first place?" Izuku asked.

"I wasn't planning to. A tip, All Might's ears are sensitive so anything you say in class is heard by him," Nedzu grinned causing them to turn red. Evidently, they had done something which they thought was secret, "He overheard Hitoshi saying he was bullied and notified me. I plan to investigate all of our new admissions' schools independently once we're done with this,"

"But sensei," Watanabe interrupted, "We already took down Aldera. Do we have anything new to learn?"

Nedzu chuckled, "That is the thing. You were able to take down Aldera efficiently because you had inside information from Izuku. In Utunama's case, you will have to understand how to gain evidence from the outside. Hacking is illegal without a warrant so we will first be looking at public security cameras that are available to us," Nedzu said as he took to explain.

"Wait a minute sensei," Izuku frowned, "I get that you want to train us since you proofread our article but it doesn't seem fair to not let our classmates join in as well. They are just as smart. Momo even overrode your alarm!"

Nedzu stopped to face Izuku, a sly smile growing on his face, "Yes... I could. Having Momo to teach would be wonderful given her quirk and I would like to teach Koda how to use her animals as well. Yes... a very tempting proposition, Midoriya," Nedzu said as he thought over it.

izuku and Watanabe waited for his response and almost jumped out of their skins as Nedzu cackled loudly, "Yes, I will do that. I'll make a foundational study course and take classes for 1A and 1B together! I do miss teaching you see,"

"Soooo, are we going to postpone this class?" Watanabe asked.

"No. I don't think it's wise to use a personal example in class. We will complete this project ourselves. Think of it as a treat for a well-written article," Nedzu smiled warmly, "But we will not pursue this any longer today. I think it will be better for you to see the results tomorrow. It will take too long to give you a practical step by step,"

"Results? Do you mean you can take the school down within a day?" Izuku asked amazed.

"I most certainly can! Now, I assume you should head to training with Cementoss. I will make a schedule for my class," 

"Alright, goodbye sensei!" Watanabe said as the two left, closing the door behind them.

"What did Nedzu want with you two?" Aizawa suddenly appeared scaring the cousins.

"Oh, he just wanted to teach us," Izuku replied.

"Teach you? Like, take you as his students?" Aizawa's eyes widened.

"Mhm," Izuku nodded, chaotic smile ever-present, "But not to worry sensei, I know that wouldn't be fair SO I convinced Nedzu sensei to teach all of us!" He said excitedly. Nedzu's chaotic cackling coincided with the end of the sentence making Aizawa gulp with fear.

"You guys... DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!?" Aizawa asked horrified.

"But sensei it's educational!" Izuku defended.

Watanabe nodded along, "It allows us to grow to our full potential, right sensei?"

Aizawa stared at them indecorously before falling to the ground, "Oh shit, sensei are you alright?" Watanabe bent down worriedly, "This is why you need to rest instead of coming to work,"

"That's not the reason," Aizawa mumbled as he slowly drifted away to sleep. He was too tired for this shit. Sure, Recovery Girl would probably say, "I told you so," but he'd rather hear that than deal with Nedzu at the moment.

Watanabe sweatdropped at Aizawa sleeping off, "Guess we should take him to Recovery Girl,"

Izuku nodded, "We didn't do anything too bad right?"

"Nah, I'm sure it's fine," 

Chapter Text

"GOOD MORNING MY DEAR STUDENTS!" All Might laughed as he walked into homeroom.

"All Might! Does that mean Aizawa-sensei finally went home to rest?" Kirishima asked. 

All Might nodded, "Indeed he did. Now, get ready and meet me outside at the field so that we can stretch and train!"

The class quickly went to the field and warmed up. All Might appeared soon after, "Good, good, looks like we're all ready!"

"Sensei, what shall we be doing today?" Iida asked.

All Might gave a thoughtful look, "I did not really have anything planned since this was on such short notice. I guess I could help all of you individually with your quirks," 

"Or we could all team up against you!" Watanabe gave a devilish grin.

All Might twitched slightly in annoyance, "That would be really dangerous for you guys,"

"But sensei, you can just hold back against us. And since we can't control our quirks fully yet, this would be perfect!" Momo argued.

Iida nodded along, "It would be a splendid opportunity to fight against a pro to see what we need to learn,”

All Might sighed, resignedly. He Couldn't refuse the request since the entire class wanted to fight him, "Very well. Even though I'm gonna hold back, but you will have to try your hardest,"

"Don’t worry sensei. Why don’t you start the countdown?" Hitoshi asked.

All Might agreed, "3, 2, 1, START!"

Immediately, All Might's face turned blank. Hitoshi chuckled as he released the brainwashing, "Looks like we won round 1," he grinned cheekily.

All Might groaned, "Well played. I assume that's why you asked me to start the countdown,"

Hitoshi nodded proudly.

"New rule, Hitoshi can't use his quirk in combat exercises," Kaminari announced.

"Hey! That's not fair," Hitoshi yelled back.

"You need to learn how to fight instead of over-relying on your quirk," Izuku explained.

"Why fight when you can end it beforehand,"

"Well what if It's someone who's mute, or with great patience? What if they break out of your brainwashing? Or what if there are many enemies? What are you gonna do then?"

"Fine," Hitoshj agreed, "Let's start again,"

All Might nodded and started the countdown again, "3, 2, 1, START!"

Immediately, Izuku flicked his finger with 100% of One For All. Yagi's eyes widened. He barely dodged the attack as he mentally facepalmed. He had somehow forgotten that Izukubhad the same power as him now. Though he couldn't fully utilize it, it would still be dangerous.

All Might did not have any more time to think as he had to dodge an incoming glacier, courtesy of Shouto. But, he was immediately bombarded by Bakugou and jumped back... Straight into Kaminari. He groaned as he was electrocuted but he fought through and grabbed Kaminari before sending him flying.

All Might chuckled to himself. He had capped his power to 20% to give them a chance but it seemed like he would have to use more of his power. 

Shouji and Ojiro tried to go for a pincer attack but it was nothing against All Might's brute force. They were both quickly dispatched. Kirishima used his hardening and rushed at All Might with a confident smirk, clearly thinking he was safe because of his quirk but All Might grinned as he plucked him off of the ground and threw him away, "There are other ways to get around your quirk, young Kirishima,"

All Might's well-trained instincts caused him to duck down, sending Izuku flying over him. Sato had also joined in and actually gotten in a hit which All Might shrugged off and punched back.

Yagi stepped back for a quick breath. He held his sore arm, Sato's punch was surprisingly strong.

Iida sped up just then. All Might prepared to intercept him but turned momentarily as something hit him in the head. He gaped in surprise seeing squirrels throwing nuts at him. It was a momentary piece of distraction but enough for Iida to crash into his feet. 

"I got you!" Iida yelled proudly but his celebration was immature. All Might simply caught him by the head as he fell and slammed him into the ground, using the momentum to backflipped up and above Iida, to land safely.

Yagi grunted as a cannonball hit him in the chest. He had just enough time to deflect it off of his injury but still bore the blunt of the explosion. 

All Might was surprised to see Hitoshi rushing at him of all people. Knowing Shinsou didn’t have proper combat experience, All Might moved to quickly get rid of him. Hitoshi groaned as he was flung to the ground, gently, "Shouldn’t have paid attention to me sensei," he grinned.

It took a moment for Yagi to register what Hitoshi said. By then he was drilled in the back with a dual combo of explosions and lightning strikes.

Yagi yelped in pain and was sent flying forward where Shouto had built an ice glacier to encase All Might.

Yagi had no choice but to use a 100% smash to destroy the obstacle. Yagi rubbed the sweat off his face, his back singeing. 

Aoyama offered no respite as he emitted a laser at him. All Might was forced back once again but by now he had understood their course of plan. Distract and attack from the back.

Sure enough, All Might turned to face Izuku. All Might and Izuku clashed. Izuku didn’t dare to use another 100% flick in fear of injuring himself before the sports festival. Unfortunately for him, All Might did not have such an issue and easily broke through Izuku's attack and slammed him to the ground.

Suddenly, Yagi felt as if he was hit by a truck. He looked beside and cursed. Tokoyami had joined the attack. That would cause problems since Dark Shadow was the perfect balance between offense and defense.

Yagi heard chains behind him and quickly jumped to the side. He was right as Watanabe appeared behind him. All Might knew he wouldn't have to worry too much about Watanabe but he hesitated seeing him grasping on a thin wire. Watanabe pulled the wire and a flurry of knives shot at All Might who had no problem sidestepping it. But All Might was suddenly knocked to the ground.

He looked up to see several rocks, "Uraraka," his eyes widened. He quickly regained his composure and let out a smash breaking up all of the rocks.

He looked to the side.

"Che! I thought we got him good!" Bakugou yelled.

All Might applauded them, "That was a good plan. I suppose that's why you didn't attack me head in. You guys were busy making boulders,"

Uraraka nodded, "I really thought we got you," she said sheepishly.

All Might froze as he was suddenly wrapped in bandages, "It's not wise to gossip in a fight, right sensei?" Sero grinned, thinking he had captured All Might.

Yagi simply smirked and rotated the other way on the ground. The tape flung open and Sero was sent flying. Again All Might was struck from something above. He looked up and stared horrified. Above was a bubble of acid rain which was let go immediately. Smashing it would not blow it away this time since it was in liquid form. Yagi dodged but was still hit in several places forming burnt patches of skin.

In his rush to get away, he fell right in front of Jiro's speaker. He clutched his ears as the speakers let out a burst out of sound. Tokoyami used his frozen position to use Dark Shadow as a bat and hit him, flinging him away.

All Might was heading straight to Watanabe who was in a martial arts stance. He got ready to put Watanabe down and use him as a propel but he fell sideways as something hit him in his leg, "Forgot about me, didn't you sensei?" A voice came out of nowhere.

"Shouldn't have talked," All Might shook his head using the voice to pinpoint Hagakure's location and threw her away. But in the midst of this, he forgot about Watanabe. He tried to twist to face him assuming he would go for his head to knock him out but Watanabe instead ducked slightly and raised the hilt of his sword, jabbing it at Yagi's underarm.

Yagi hissed in pain but kicked away Watanabe, possibly knocking him out, but he had completed his job.

Yagi could feel the power in his right arm drain away. He couldn't believe he forgot to guard his pressure points against Watanabe.

He looked forward and groaned inwardly. Shouto, Bakugou, Kaminari, and Tokoyami were preparing for an all-out offense with the remaining students getting ready to play a support role.

All Might knew he could handle them but it would be difficult and his time was dwindling. So instead, he smashed the ground. The students yelped as they lost their footing. All Might used his superior speed to grab the remaining students and tie them up with Sero's tape, "That was a good fight, all of you. I assume Momo stayed behind to make the plan,"

"Partly," Momo replied, "It was all Izuku really. He knew he couldn't face off with you in power without breaking his bones. So, he pre-made a plan and told us to follow it whole he went on the offensive with Iida. His theory was seeing two of the strategists out in attack, you wouldn't think we would have something else up our sleeve like the meteor shower and acid rain," Momo proudly explained their elaborate plan.

All Might nodded proudly hearing of his successor's intelligence, "Well, I should take all of you to recovery girl now. You have training with cementoss after lunch again,"

Chapter Text

"Hello Izuku, Watanabe," Nedzu welcomed cheerily, "I must say I was pleased to see the fight between 1A and All Might. He was holding back but even then he was pushed quite hard,"

"All Might told you?" Watanabe asked.

Nedzu shook his head and pointed to one of the many monitors lining the room, "CCTV cameras," he grinned, "I must say though Izuku, your strategies are splendid!"

Izuku grinned proudly, "Thank you sensei. By the way, did All Might tell the teachers about All For One yet?" Nedzu shook his head, "He is waiting for Aizawa to come back so he can tell them all at once. I am glad you are making him do it though. Torino and I have tried again and again unsuccessfully for him to tell someone else about All For One so that he wouldn't have to bear the brunt himself, but he never listened. I doubt he will tell his secret today considering how angry Aizawa was when he came in today,"

"Huh, I thought Aizawa sensei was at home to rest?" Watanabe said.

"He was but he came in to yell at Yagi after he heard what you all did. Recovery Girl had to call Aizawa since he's the actual homeroom teacher and he was not pleased. He's overseeing the training with Cementoss to make sure things don't get out of hand," Nedzu explained and added, "I'm shocked he came in though. I thought he was still terrified at the prospect of me teaching,"

"Um sensei, you're sure it's alright for you to teach right? Some of the other teachers had mixed reactions too," Izuku said anxiously.

"Oh, don't worry. It will be perfectly fine," Nedzu assured with an eerie yet confident smile, "Now let's get down to business and discuss the fall of Utunama middle school," Nedzu switched to his teaching tone.

"Holy shit, you actually took them down within a day!" Watanabe had stars gleaming in his eyes until he remembered cursing and smiled sheepishly "Sorry sensei,"

Nedzu chuckled, "Quite alright. I understand your shock but I have a lot of connections that enable me to speed up the process,"

"Does connections matter so much? As long as you have the evidence, you can still take down the villains right?" Izuku asked naively.

"You can but it will take longer. For example, I used my connections to ensure the court proceedings took place that very day," Nedzu clarified.

"Now, let's talk about how I took down the school," Nedzu rubbed his hands, "But first, two points to remember. Unlike Aldera, we have no inside information and in the case of Aldera, Tsukauchi took several days to compile enough evidence to get a search warrant. In this case, lacking evidence, I couldn't get a warrant and couldn't hack into their database and get their footage,"

"So then how did you do it? I thought you did it so fast by hacking into their CCTV tapes or something like that," Watanabe confessed.

"Well, you aren't entirely wrong. I did take the help of CCTV footage," Nedzu points out.

"Did you illegally hack the school?" Watanabe asked.

"No, the evidence couldn't be used in court then," Izuku pointed out.

Nedzu cleared his throat and the two returned their attention to him, "As I was saying, while the school camera footage was off-limits for me, the public cameras can be accessed due to my hero status," Nedzu's eyes gleamed, "I sent footage from nearby traffic cams and street cameras to the police and they identified the bullies caught on footage,"

"That easily?" Watanabe asked unbelievably.

Nedzu nodded, "Sort of but there was still more to do. You see, normally bullying in public is punished by notifying their school and guardians. While we had footage of several counts of bullying which would lead to community service, the police were confused as to whether they should issue a warning or detain the culprits,"

"Why were they confused?" Izuku asked, "They have the footage,"

"The bullies were not issued a warning before so detaining them would be breaking protocol," Nedzu explained, "Eventually they called in the parents to issue a warning for now,"

"And that's it?" 

"Of course not," Nedzu laughed, "You see while the bullies were getting their warning, one of them arrogantly pointed out that their school never punished them. That statement was enough for the police to obtain a warrant to search Utunama and the rest was just court proceedings,"

"Did they get punished?" Izuku asked hopefully.

"The teachers had their teaching licenses suspended and 6 months of community service. The bullies were issued a warning and sent to mandatory counseling to improve their behavior," Nedzu said, "Utunama, while neglectful wasn't as abusive as Aldera so it's a fit punishment," Nedzu addressed Izuku who nodded slowly.

"And that is it for how the school was taken down. Any questions?" Nedzu asked.

Watanabe raised his hand, "You only got the public camera footage because you are a hero but Izuku and I don't have the credentials. How would we have done it?"

"Good point. I can't think of any ways you could do it remotely while following the law. However, you could have tailed the bullies and caught footage with your phone, and given it to the police. The results would have been the same,"

"But sensei, how would we know who the bullies are? Isn't this an external takedown?" Izuku pointed out.

"It is. But something must have prompted you to investigate. In this case, it was Hitoshi so you would have had to tail multiple targets until you found a bully. A bit more tedious but the result is what matters," Nedzu smiled.

"Does Hitoshi know yet?" Izuku asked.

"He might have heard it from his classmates at Utunama but I have asked Aizawa to discuss the situation with him. I also scheduled him to meet with Hound Dog. He probably doesn't need too much help. His only problem was not having good friends which seems to be fixed," Nedzu said warmly to the cousins, "A weekly basis is required I think, unlike Watanabe here," Nedzu teased.

"Well so does Bakugou. The sessions are really interesting since Hound Dog also tends to go off the rail," 

Nedzu nodded politely. Just then, there was a knock on the door, "Come in," Nedzu ordered. The door swung open revealing Aizawa, "Problem children. I assume you are having lessons with Nedzu,"

"Mhm. It's really fun," Izuku smiled innocently.

"Well, you should start preparing for the sports festival with your classmates. I will need to plan several parts of it as well so we will meet again after the festival," Nedzu explained their schedule.

Izuku and Watanabe nodded, knowing there was a reason for the sudden dismissal, "Bye sensei," Watanabe said politely as they closed the door behind them.

Aizawa waited as the footsteps departed down the hall and then sat down, "I explained the situation to Hitoshi and he was happy to hear what happened. He asked me to thank you too,"

Nedzu nodded, "Tell him it was no problem and to talk to the teachers if he needs anything else,"

Aizawa nodded curtly and the two sat in an uncomfortable silence. Both knew about the conversation that would be taking place and waited for the other to speak.

Finally Nedzu sighed. He still had to plan the events and it was better to get it over with, "Can I help you with anything else Aizawa?"

"Isn't this an act of favoritism, training All Might's golden child," Aizawa asked, clearly unimpressed.

Nedzu's eyes widened slightly. He had not expected him to start like that, "So All Might told you all about everything,"

"Yes, and he also told me that he passed on his quirk to Midoriya,"

Nedzu sighed, "Yes,"

"Don't you think it's ridiculous to think that only one quirk is capable of ending all evil as if everything will become normal after All For One is dead!? And worse yet, you are pinning this entire thing on a kid!" Aizawa slammed his hand onto the table in anger.

Nedzu's face didn't waiver, "Yagi didn't know All For One is alive at the time of passing on the quirk. None of us did. Yagi was simply passing on his quirk to someone quirkless to allow him to become a hero. Because he saw that Izuku would always try to do good,"

Aizawa growled slightly, "That may be. But it doesn't mean you should teach only Izuku, just because he is All Might's so-called successor,"

"Aizawa," Nedzu said calmly, "Why do you think I'm teaching Watanabe?"

"Because he's Izuku's cousin,"

"No, it's because he's smart. That's why I'm training Izuku too. Because I see the potential of his intelligence. He could very well replace me and All Might," Nedzu argued back, "And in Watanabe, I see someone willing to do good no matter what. Someone who knows how to manipulate people but won't be corrupted,"

"If so, why only those two? Why not everyone else?"

"I already said I'm going to do take a foundational class to teach all of the students,"

"You did, but only after Midoriya pointed it out. Why not before? Why are you so interested in them? After seeing that All Might had an ulterior motive, I'm sure you do too," Aizawa said confidently earning a grimace from Nedzu.

Nedzu frowned slightly. He didn't want to give up their identities but Aizawa was trustworthy and their homeroom teacher. He deserved to know, "What I am about to tell you, cannot leave this room. I trust you and I trust the teachers but if this gets out, the pressure on Izuku and Watanabe will make them crumble,"

Aizawa was a bit taken aback. He hadn't expected Nedzu to concede so easily but he nodded fervently, eager to know.

"You remember the article that came out a year back, leading to Aldera's downfall and the entire education system reform?"

Aizawa nodded, not liking where this was going, "Storm is Izuku and Chaos is Watanabe. That's why I wanted to teach them. I proofread their article and knew their potential. I admit I was stupid to only teach those two while students like Yaoyorozu, Iida, Kendo, and Hatsume are present but that's the reason,"

Aizawa stared at him, horrified and impressed that the two cousins had written such an impactful article, "But how did they get you to," he started mumbling until realization dawned, "All Might,"

Nedzu nodded, "Now that it's all clear, are we alright?"

Aizawa sighed but nodded, "Thank you for being honest with me,"

Nedzu nodded with a smirk, "Is that an appraisal I hear?"

Aizawa twitched, "Whatever. Do you need help to plan the festival?"

"That would be appreciated. I would prefer Yagi be here too, he does have a lot of experience,"

"All Might won't be ready for about two days," Aizawa cracked his knuckles menacingly.

"You beat him up because he gave his quirk to Izuku?" Nedzu asked in disbelief.

"No, I kicked him to the infirmary because when Midoriya first asked whether he can be a hero, he said the quirkless can't be pro heroes and told him to become a police officer. Only after the sludge did All Might change his mind," 

Nedzu stares at Aizawa with shocked eyes, "You didn't know?" Aizawa asked with surprise.

"No, I never asked him the exact timeline of events," Nedzu replied and crushed the pen in his hand.

"It was an idiotic thing to say when I fight quirkless and intelligence doesn't depend on a quirk. The other teachers were pissed too,"

"I'm sure Yagi was looking out for Izuku's physical safety," Nedzu reasoned.

Aizawa's face darkened, "Would you please stop defending that idiot whenever he does something stupid? Just because it was done with a good outlook doesn't mean it was right,"

"I'm not defending him," Nedzu started, slight menace in his voice, "I understand why he said that and will let it pass but if he does something as stupid again, his two days at the infirmary will seem like heaven to him," Nedzu threatened darkly.

Aizawa laughed maniacally in agreement.

Meanwhile outside, the teachers were trying to eavesdrop, "Majima, what are they saying now?" Mic asked.

"I think... They are agreeing with each other... And laughing evilly," Majima gulped as did the other teachers.

"We're screwed,"

Chapter Text

"Are the preparations done?" Aizawa asked, entering Nedzu's office.

Nedzu nodded reluctantly, "I still can't understand why the hero commission interfered and basically ordered us to hold the festival," Nedzu said, clearly pissed off, "There has to be an ulterior motive but I can't find one," he groaned, clearly tired.

"I notified the other teachers and they all agreed to keep an eye out for the heroes we know are backed by the commission. All Might can be stupid but he's more than capable of watching several of them," Aizawa assured, "So what are you doing now?"

"I'm spreading out the parents' seats so that the trustworthy heroes can keep a lookout on them. After the USJ incident, the parents may be targeted," Nedzu said.

Aizawa picked up the piece of paper Nedzu had been writing on and grimaced, "Why did you place the Midoriyas, Hattoris, and Kaminaris right next to you?"

"I felt that Endeavour would not be too happy with them nearby,"

"But why next to you?"

"To discourage Endeavour of course,"

"I see. In that case, why aren't the Urarakas here too?" Aizawa glared daggers.

He saw Nedzu stiffen ever so slightly and raised his eye. He had never seen him get thrown like that, "Must have slipped my mind. I'm quite exhausted after all that planning," he tried to brush it off but Aizawa wasn't having it, "What are you hiding?"

"It's nothing,"

"Nedzu," Aizawa said with a tone but the principal shook his head, "I can't tell you Aizawa. It's best not to cast guilt over people who might be innocent,"

Aizawa frowned but had no choice but to accept the decision, "I'll go over the obstacle course with the other teachers again," he excused himself and left. But the gears kept turning in his head. He couldn't help but notice Nedzu said, people which meant there were at least two people he was worried about. What exactly did the three families do that had Nedzu so concerned?

Meanwhile, Nedzu breathed a sigh of relief. He had expected him to put up more of a fight but he had surprisingly let it go quite easily. 

While Kaminari and Watanabe's father worked at the hero commission. Yagi did check out the Midoriyas and Hattoris. Yagi could be stupid but there was no way he could be that dumb. On top of that Torino had checked them out too and so had Tsukauchi. And both of them had impeccable judgment. For now, he'd give them the benefit of doubt but he would be keeping an eye on both of them and try to grill them if he could too.

"So, you boys nervous?" Ryuzen asked. The family was driving to the sports festival and we're understandably excited.

"A little bit," Izuku replied and Watanabe gave a confident smirk, "No way!"

Ryuzen laughed, "I still think it was stupid to hold the festival right after an infiltration,"

Inko nodded, her motherly instincts kicking in. I will have to have a word with Nedzu. What on earth was he thinking!?" 

"But other heroes will be there too, on duty and off duty," Natsume pointed out.

"Yes but the students already sent the villains packing. Is it ok to showcase their abilities to everyone and paint them as a target?" Ryuzen pointed out.

"You do have a point about that," Natsume conceded. Inko also fell into deep thought. Ryuzen smirked in his mind, "Good, now Inko will drill into Nedzu about the festival and I will be able to get my information,"

The drive was mostly silent. Izuku and Watanabe were forming their own plans inside their heads and the parents didn't want to disturb them. The car finally reached the stadium and everyone disembarked. The entry zone for parents and students was marked differently.

They went up to the pro hero in charge, Ectoplasm, "Let's see here, Hattoris and Midoriyas. Your seat is right next to the teacher's box. Here's a map," Ectoplasm handed, "The students will have to go down to the dressing room and change into their gym uniforms and wait till they are called,"

"Well seems like we have to separate. Good luck Watanabe," Natsume kissed her son. 

"Don't get too nervous, Izuku, just keep a calm mind and you'll do wonderful!" Inko said and gave him a big hug.

"Thanks, mom," Izuku returned the hug and ran after Watanabe.

The parents went to find their seats with the aid of their map. Inko's concern rose, however, because a preplanned seating arrangement evidently meant that Nedzu was taking the threat very seriously. So seriously, that he thought the parents could be a potential target. But she didn't understand why he seated them next to him. She shrugged and chalked it off as normal since they knew each other from the Aldera court case and a couple of others after that. Plus this way, she could get some answers for herself.

"Ah, Ryuzen, Natsume, and Inko! Come have a seat!" Kaminari's father beckoned.

"Ah Inko-san, good to see you again," Ochaco's mother greeted.

Inko smiled pleasantly, "Indeed. I'm surprised to see four families in the same place. I thought Nedzu would want them more dispersed,"

"I do!" Nedzu appeared from apparent thin air, "But you all are in more danger, so I kept you close,"

"More danger?" Temari, Denki's mom asked.

"Yes, who knows what Endeavour might do if he sees any of you,"

It took a moment for it to click that all the families at one point or the other had taken a dump on Endeavour. The families couldn't help it and broke into a fit of giggles.

As the laughter subsided, Inko confronted Nedzu, "I had some questions, Nedzu-san,"

Ryuzen started to pay attention, "Yes Inko-san?"

"Why did you go on with the sports festival after such a huge security incident?"

"Well, we had to maintain our reputation in the public eye and-,"

"Nedzu-san," Inko interrupted, "We both know you don't care about public opinion if it contradicts someone's safety. Judging by the fact that you preplanned the seating arrangement for the parents, you still think a threat looms. So what is the true reason?"

Nedzu cursed in his mind. He knew Inko wasn't a notorious lawyer for no reason but he hadn't expected such a fast questioning, "That concerns internal affairs, Inko-san,"

Inko gave a thoughtful look as if thinking whether she should say it. She glanced at Ryuzen and Jozu and leaned in closer, "Did the hero commission order you?"

Nedzu grimaced an expression of distaste on his face but nodded. Inko knew the commission wasn't too popular with the public and had given it a lucky guess. She was ok with the answer and stopped her questioning, a comforting smile was given to Nedzu.

Nedzu sighed at the fact that Inko hadn't pushed for more. He didn't let anything slip that Ryuzen and Jozu wouldn't know already. He glanced at Jozu who seemed to have ignored the conversation. Faith gripped Nedzu that he was indeed innocent but his analysis of Ryuzen alarmed him. 

Ryuzen was sitting more relaxed as if he had gotten the information he required but Nedzu couldn't think of anything he might have let slip. On top of that, he kept glancing at Hawks who was already on his list of possible commission agents. Nedzu didn't like this one bit.

"You guys are last," Denki said to Izuku and Watanabe, "Trying to get out of giving a speech to the crowd huh?" Denki teased Izuku who spluttered, "S-speech?"

"Well yeah, but the top scorer in the entrance exam has to give a speech. Midnight sensei told Watanabe to mention it to you," Denki said.

Izuku turned angrily towards his cousin who was whistling awkwardly, trying to hide behind Shouji's big body, "WATANABE! WHY?" Izuku demanded.

"I'm sorry, I forgot! I meant to tell you but then Aizawa-sensei told us to get ready to go to USJ and then the entire incident happened and I forgot," Watanabe apologized.

Izuku mumbled something under his breath that made Denki laugh, "I can help you with the speech if you want, Izuku," Momo said.

"It's not that Yaoyorozu, I just panic on stage," Izuku smiled shakily.

"Just look at Watanabe when you talk. You'll automatically convert all your anger at him into confidence!" Kaminari declared and got smacked by Jiro, "That's idiotic!"

"Hmph, what does it matter anyway, I'm gonna win anyway!" Bakugou declared.

Watanabe simply smirked and held up two fingers and a closed fist, "2-0," he grinned cheekily as Bakugou fumed.

"I'm sorry but who took defeated All Might in our training session?" Hitoshi said smugly, "That's right, me!"

"You lost the element of surprise. All of us know how your quirk works," Sato said. Hitoshi shrugged, "Guess we'll see about that,"

"Shouto's gonna go to the finals obviously considering Endeavour trained him," Sero said, meaning it as a compliment but all it did was anger Shouto who sunk further into his seat. However, Kaminari simply cleared his throat to bring attention to himself and pointed at himself, "Come on guys,"

The class laughed, "Kaminari and Hitoshi are going to be in the finals then kero,"

"Enough," Iida announced, "As classmates, we should all support each other!"

"Yeah, it is unmanly to argue about who's stronger. We'll fight it out!" Kirishima said with determination, "I think they are calling us," Tokoyami said. The dressing room became quiet and they did indeed hear Mic calling all the classes and introducing them as they walked in. The class rushed to their feet and walked to the door, "Wait, what order are we getting out in?" Izuku asked.

"You're the class rep," Uraraka stared blankly. Izuku gulped and froze in place, hearing Midnight call them, "Get going Class rep!" Bakugou pushed Izuku through the door. Izuku almost tripped at the sudden push but regained his footing quickly.

Mic ignored the trip and continued with his commentary, "The class that has been the center of news! They were attacked by villains but still persevered, it's class 1A!" 

"Did they really have to introduce us like that?" Hagakure sighed.

"It is the truth," Aoyama said flamboyantly, basking in the glory.

"Now, for the player's pledge," Midnight waved her hand, the crowd quietened down, "Would the student representative, Midoriya Izuku please come up?" 

Izuku clutched his hands confidently and walked up, "I-i pledge to try my best! P-plus Ultra!" he stuttered. The crowd roared. As Izuku walked back, whispers broke out.

"What, this is the top scorer in the entrance exam?"

"He's so scared, hah!"

"If he's the top scorer, the rest are easy game,"

Watanabe watched the mockers with a scowl but as Izuku walked past him, he flashed a grin. Watanabe's eyes widened in surprise but he chuckled as he understood what Izuku had done, "Trying to paint yourself as a weakling to draw attention away... good strategy Izuku!"

The board flashed revealing round one, "Let's get started right away!" Midnight waved her hand to another monitor which started flashing, "The first round is... an obstacle course!"

Watanabe nodded. He had already used his X-ray to try and find what the first round would be, so he knew the layout already. Midnight continued to explain the rules, "You will have to navigate the entire circumference of the stadium! The distance is approximately 4 Km. Freedom is our school's selling point so you can do as you please! The winner is the first one to circle around the stadium and come back! Any questions?"

The students shook their heads, "Good! Now take your positions!"

All the students moved to the entrance except Watanabe. Midnight stared at him, "Take your position,"

"This is my position," 

Midnight said nothing more. She smirked, however, thinking he had understood the first trap, where the entrance would get crowded and make them all get stuck, "START!" Midnight shouted. As expected, everyone got stuck and a situation akin to a traffic jam ensued.

"The festival is already off to a great start! As you can see, many of them are stuck in the entrance itself! But what's this? Todoroki has frozen them all and slid out!"

Midnight smiled seeing the ingenious move and turned to look at Watanabe. He still hadn't moved but she could see the gears turning in his head as he formulated a plan. He finally seemed to make up his mind and stretched, "Sensei," Watanabe asked.

"Hmm,"

"We just have to go around the whole stadium once right?"

Midnight nodded, "That is what the rules are,"

Watanabe smirked evilly, "Good," he said shortly and ran to the side door that led to the outside of the stadium. Midnight's eyes widened as he realized what Watanabe was planning to do, "He's going to finish it the other way," she whispered to herself and started laughing. It wasn't against the rules after all.

Chapter Text

"What is this? Hattori Watanabe of Class 1A is going through the side! Is this even allowed?" Mic yelled.

"The rules state that you only have to go around the entire course once. It does not state how you have to do it," Midnight responded, "Hattori is in the clear!" she delivered her verdict. Meanwhile, Nedzu cackled, "Finally, someone got the loophole!"

"You put it in purposely?" Natsume asked.

"Mhm. I'm pleased to see Watanabe was smart enough to see it. It's easier to come from the other way rather than take the main entrance,"

"How so?" Inko asked.

"You'll see,"

"Hattori has already reached the minefield, ladies, and gentleman!" Mic announced, "This is the last obstacle our other heroes in training will have to face! Can he persevere!?" Mic commented.

Watanabe intentionally stepped on one of the mines and was instantly blasted back. He got up with a groan, "Alright, the mines have quite an explosion radius. I can clear this easily and get on to the next two rounds, the cliffs, and  finally the robots,"

Smirking, Watanabe switched to his X-ray vision and instantly had a map of where every mine was. He easily weaved in and out of the mines, never stepping on one.

"Oh! Hattori seems to know where every mine is!" Mic said.

"He has to be cheating," Some of the crowd pointed out but was instantly put in their place by Aizawa, "Idiots. You don't even know his quirk. What kind of heroes makes such a premature observation?"

"Oh, Hattori is digging up the mines now! Does he have something in plan? He better hurry, his classmates have almost finished the first obstacle!"

Watanabe grunted and stood up with the mines. He felt he had dug up enough mines and set off running. The whole thing had taken him about 35 seconds. Watanabe wanted to set a record and he took off running, fast. He came to the cliffs and stopped, getting ready.

"If it was Hattori's quirk indeed that helped him clear the minefield, I can't see him passing this obstacle without wasting time!" Mic said but he ate his words soon. Watanabe shoved the remaining mines under his shirt and placed two mines at the bottom of his feet. He jumped onto them and they exploded, propelling him to a great height. His instincts made him scream in fear but he managed to keep his plan in mind. He took out some of the other mines, and threw them at the wires connecting the cliffs, "No one said anything about sabotage!" he yelled with glee.

"Oh! An excellent move by Hattori, blocking those who will be arriving at the second obstacle!"

"Oi, that brat's so unheroic!" Someone yelled but Aizawa was not having any of it, "If you'd rather have a civilian die than do what it takes to win, you shouldn't be a hero,"

"Watanabe will face trouble now. He will meet head-on with his classmates who will surely give him a tough time!"

Indeed Watanabe had run straight into Todoroki and Bakugou. Shouto had stopped for a moment in shock, trying to understand why Watanabe was coming at them but Bakugou simply moved forward to intercept Watanabe, "I don't know what you pulled, but take this!" he let off an explosion.

Watanabe took no notice and jumped onto another mine and propelled himself up. He took out his last two mines and moved his hands to the back like Bakugou. He clasped them with force and he was sent flying. He yelled as if he was on a rollercoaster ride and flew above the heads of everyone stuck in the tunnel, landing ungracefully on the ground, "How does that damn bastard use his explosions?" Watanabe hissed in pain from the force of the explosions.

"Hattori Watanabe... is the first one back at the stadium! He wins the obstacle course in a record 1 minute 24 seconds!" Midnight announced.

The crowd roared at the display put on, clearly enthusiastic.

Majima grunted in the teacher's box, "Does he have any idea how long it took me to make the course? And he just finished it with a snap," he grumbled. "Still angry at Watanabe?" Inko asked her sister.

"I would have preferred him to go with a more prideful approach but, YEAH!" Natsume yelled. Inko chuckled.

"That bastard," Denki said to Izuku. Both of them were conserving their energy, making sure they pass but careful to not fall behind. Neither had used their quirk. They had understood what Watanabe had done the moment they saw him appear from the other direction, "Couldn't he tell us too?"

Izuku chuckled, "It's free for all right?" he said as they appeared at the cliffs. Most of the wires had broken apart but some were still intact and everyone was using those. Shouto had simply created an ice bridge to get over but no one was willing to use it after the fiasco with the robots.

Izuku wasn't entirely sure whether the wires would hold up. Plus he needed to get over faster. Reluctantly, he flicked his finger and launched himself in the air before gliding down and rolling to the other side. 

Kaminari shouted something to him but he ignored it and kept ongoing. He still had the robot's armor plate with him. He stopped to see a sign warning of a minefield and saw Shouto and Bakugou fighting in front. 

Izuku had already seen the destructive capability of the mines courtesy of Watanabe and dug up some himself. Once he had done that, he jumped on it and launched himself.

"Oh! It seems like Midoriya is also using the mines as propulsion! He has taken the lead from the Bakugou and Todoroki," Mic announced as the crowd cheered at the change of leadership.

"Damn it!" Bakugou shouted and tried to explode Izuku but he had already switched to full cowling and taken off running.

"Midoriya Izuku is the third person to be back at the stadium!" Midnight announced.

Izuku wanted but managed to smile at the crowd before realizing what Midnight said, "Third person? Was there was someone ahead of me?" He thought and turned to see Koda standing with Watanabe, "How the hell did you get here so fast?"

Koda just gave a cryptic smile.

"He seemed to know exactly where everything was," Majima addressed Koda.

Yagi objected, "Watanabe knew because of his X-ray vision. Koda probably asked his animals,"

"But how would he know about the mine placements?"

"He could have asked the insects," Yagi suggested.

"He hates insects though. I had to stop class once because a bug got on his table. It doesn't seem likely," Ectoplasm said.

"Anything wrong, Nedzu?" Yagi asked seeing the principal in what seemed to be a state of realization.

"I fed those damn birds!"

"Excuse me?" Yagi asked.

"Those ravens! They were on my windowsill while I was making the plans. I even fed them because they looked so attentive!" Nedzu groaned.

"Are you suggesting Koda spied on you beforehand?" Snipe asked.

Nedzu nodded, "It must be,"

"I highly doubt that," Yagi said until he saw a raven perch next to them with a message. Yagi took it and opened it, I'm sorry for spying on you Nedzu-sensei!

Yagi laughed as did the other teachers, "You are really losing your grip Nedzu! I can't wait till Mic and Aizawa hear this. They won't let you live it down," Thirteen laughed.

Nedzu however, regained his composure quickly and had a fire in his eyes as he declared, "I want him!"

The teachers and the parents seated nearby shivered as they held a silent prayer for Koda's soul.

Meanwhile, Kaminari had just finished the course, panting and an absolutely sweaty mess, "You bastards!" He declared in between breaths, "You left me!"

"We did say that we'll only work to help each other if it's a group round," Watanabe reminded him of their pact.

"I fucking hate you guys,"

"Time's up!" Midnight announced, "42 of you have passed, so now it's time for the next round!"

"Already? UA sure doesn't waste time huh?" Uraraka panted. "As expected of such a top-tier school," Iida complimented.

The board flashed, "The next round is... Cavalry Battle!" Midnight announced. The crowd cheered wildly, "In this round, you'll have to form groups of two to four. Each member will get assigned points based on their standing in the race. The total points of the group will be written on a headband that will be worn on the rider's forehead," Midnight explained while using a photo of All Might being carried by Mic and Thirteen as an example.

"Now for the points," Midnight announced as the board flashed again, "The last person gets 5 points. The one who finished above gets 5 more points and so on. But! The first person to have finished gets 10 million points to his name," Midnight shouted out.

The group of students froze for a moment before turning to face Watanabe with grins plastered on their faces. A collective thought ran through their head,  "As long as we get him, we'll stand at the top,"

Izuku and Kaminari gulped. They both wanted to team up with Watanabe because they agreed to do so in a team event since they already had good chemistry between them. They were obviously not backing off but the thought of having everyone after them was frightening.

Izuku turned to see how Watanabe was feeling and was not surprised to see him so nonchalant. Watanabe grinned and as soon as he opened his mouth, both Kaminari and Izuku knew things were about to get harder, "You know. You guys didn't even see me use my quirk to take first place. You sure you can handle me?" Watanabe teased with menace.

"Heh! Don't get too cocky 1A!" Monoma declared as the attitude towards him became worse.

"Why did he go and paint ourselves as a bigger target?" Kaminari sighed.

Izuku just smirked and pointed towards the back. Most of the students from the other departments were backing away, their confidence shaken, "They don't know Watanabe's quirk so of course they are scared and think he has a powerful quirk which he didn't even use," Izuku whispered to Kaminari.

"Now, I'd like to start right away but Recovery Girl is already pissed at the number of injuries that will be occurring. So, you have half an hour to refresh yourselves and go to Recovery Girl to patch up any injuries," Midnight said.

"Sensei, does the headband have to be out in the open?" Izuku asked.

"No,"

Izuku grinned and turned to his friends, "I need to go to Recovery Girl. I broke my finger trying to propel myself over the cliff. I'll explain the strategy on the way," Izuku said as he pulled Shouji with them as well.

The rest of the students watched with great interest. That question had given them a clue on a loophole as well.

Nighteye watched Watanabe with great interest. The pro heroes that could send in applications for internships were given the quirks of each of the students. Under Watanabe's name, his quirk was only listed as eye color changing, something that surprised Nighteye, given the vagueness of the label.

He smiled smugly. So what if he didn't have the actual workings of the quirk? It was plain to see what his quirk actually was- Foresight! Just like him! There was no other way for him to know exactly where each mine was and exactly what lay in front of him, "Bubble Girl, put in a request for Hattori Watanabe?"

His sidekick stared at him in surprise, "So soon? Wouldn't it be best to wait for the cavalry battle to end so that we can take a look at whether he's a team player?"

"In normal circumstances, yes. But I am the only one who can teach him to use his quirk," Nighteye said vaguely.

"You mean, he has foresight too!" Bubble Girl all but yelled.

"Shh," Mirai tried but the pro-hero behind them had heard already, "Did you say foresight? Like you, Nighteye? That would make sense since he knew exactly where everything is but it could be just a coincidence. The boy who came second also evaded everything and it seems unlikely they can both have foresight quirk,"

"No, but the other boy seemed to have animals around him so it might have been something to do with that. And Nighteye is saying it, so it has to be foresight," Someone else interjected. And soon the pro-hero part of the stadium was conversing about what could be Watanabe and Koda's quirk. Someone else had joined in and added that many of them had not used their quirk yet which sparked another round of debate.

Nighteye sighed and gave Bubble Girl a shake of his head. He had to admit, he wouldn't have thought it's foresight if the quirk wasn't listed as eye color changing. His eye changed to purple when he used his quirk so it must be the same for Watanabe as well. It had to be!

"Shouto,"

The boy in question froze at the familiar yet despicable voice, "What do you want?" He snapped at Endeavour, turning quickly with an icy glare.

"I came to tell you that you should let go of your childish rebellion and use your quirk! You came behind 3 no-names and were almost beaten to 5th place. On top of that, you were beaten to first place by a boy with a useless quirk," Endeavour held up his quirk list book.

"That no-name is my friend!" 

Endeavour stared with surprise and eventually started laughing, "Friend, don't make me laugh. You have no time for friends. Your purpose is to surpass me! Who else are your 'friends'?" Endeavour said with a mocking tone.

Shouto ignored it, "Kaminari, Uraraka, and Hitoshi. What's it to you?"

Endeavour fumed hearing Kaminari and Uraraka's name as he remembered the disrespect and humiliation he had to go through because of those two incidents. He nearly dropped down to third place in the rankings, "I forbid you from interacting with them!"

"Why should I? If I have to train with you because you are strong, I should maintain a friendship with Kaminari and Uraraka,"

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't Kaminari knock you out? And Uraraka had you as her prisoner. Hitoshi even defeated All Might in our mock battle," Shouto said, "They are all much more capable than you,"

Endeavour fumed and exploded, his skin glowing with fire, "Why you insolent brat!?" he yelled and moved to slap him. Shouto didn't flinch at the fire but he did flinch at what happened next. A wave of foam had engulfed Endeavour suddenly and the sound of a fire extinguisher running out was heard.

The smoke moved away to show Endeavour with foam on his face, making him look like a budget Santa, and a tall, scrawny blonde man behind him, fire extinguisher in hand. Shouto recognized him as Yagi. He had seen him sometimes in the staff room and assumed he was a teacher for the other departments. He always seemed nervous though, just like was now.

Yagi had actually not heard a single word of their argument. He had merely seen an orange flame and assumed there was a fire starting. He had simply grabbed a fire extinguisher and rushed to put it out. However, now that he saw Shouto, he had put two and two together pretty quick.

"Who the heck are you?" Endeavour demanded, "How dare you dowse the number 2 hero?"

"I am sorry, I mistook a fire starting out here. You should not have, however, tried to hit your child," Yagi said, trying to maintain a sweet smile instead of going with his instincts and slapping Enji.

"Mind your own business, stupid janitor," Endeavour turned to Shouto.

"I'm actually a teacher here,"

"Huh?" Enji faced Yagi once, "You must be some no-name bottom ranker then. Don't try and associate yourself with me,"

Yagi's smile wavered slightly and his face twitched, "That's not very heroic, Endeavour," Yagi said in a way All Might would. Enji didn't know of the dual identities and was spooked at how similar the voices sounded. Suddenly Enji's memories clicked, "You are the typewriter at the court, who was All Might's assistant," he remembered.

"Yes, I am. Shouto, you should go. Time is nearly up and you haven't made a team yet," Yagi said, "Endeavour if you would please come with me,"

"Why the hell should I go with a lowly assistant like you?"

"As I said I am a teacher. As a staff, I must report you to Nedzu for the security breach. If you do not comply, I will be forced to throw you out immediately.

Enji wanted to retort but knew Nedzu had enough manpower to keep his promise. He conceded defeat and turned away to form his team. He smiled at Yagi as a show of respect. He had never studied under him but he had helped him nonetheless.

"Daddy issues huh?"

Shouto froze as a female stepped out of the shadows, "What do you want?" he demanded.

"I'll be straightforward. My name is Hatsume Mei and I'd like to join your team!"

Shouto eyed her suspiciously, "I don't know your skills,"

"I'm from the support department. We can use anything that we have made and I have several babies!"

"Babies?" Shouto spluttered uncomfortably.

"Yes, my super inventions! I can make you fly, run, zip line, anything you want!"

"Why me?" Shouto asked with interest.

"I need public eyes on me so that support companies will eye me like a hot commodity when I graduate. As the son of Endeavour, you will have many eyes on you, and I want to take advantage of that," Hatsume said honestly.

Shouto started to walk away, "No thanks. I'm not looking to do my old man any favors,"

"Oh come on! Even your classmate, the first placed one turned me away because he already made a team. I need people to see my babies!" Hatsume urged but Shouto didn't budge, "And anyway, you're just exploiting your trashy dad's status. You'd be doing me a favor and get away with insulting him by associating yourself with someone from a support department," Hatsume tried to change his mind.

Evidently, this had struck a chord as Shouto turned and walked back towards Mei. She did have a point that it would anger his father if he learned she's from the support course, "All right. You can be on my team. We just need to find some more teammates,"

"Thank you! Thank you!" Mei said excitedly as if she had just won a lottery, "Now the world will learn of my babies!"

Shouto shook his head. Maybe he had made a mistake by accepting the offer. She seemed too crazy. Shouto grinned and banished the thought, they were all crazy anyway.

Chapter Text

Shouji stared at the Kaminari, Izuku, and Watanabe like they had grown a pair of extra ears, "To clarify, you want me to be the rider?"

"For the billionth time, yes! Why's that so hard to believe?" Watanabe lost his patience.

Shouji rolled his eyes, "Maybe because I'm taller and heavier than you?" he said sarcastically.

"Ah, he needs proof," Kaminari grinned. Izuku smiled devilishly and walked up to Shouji, wrapping his arms around him, "Oi what are you-" Shouji started to say and screamed as he was lifted into the air easily by Izuku. Izuku laughed, "Watanabe your turn," Izuku said and threw Shouji towards Watanabe. Shouji yelped but was caught firmly by Watanabe who threw Shouji to Kaminari. The three started to play a game of catch, ignoring Shouji's cries for help until Midnight cracked her whip in between them. Kaminari became startled and dropped Shouji onto the floor, "QUIT JUGGLING YOUR TEAMMATE!" Midnight ordered.

"Sorry sensei," Watanabe grinned, "So, still think we can't carry you?" he asked Shouji cheekily. Shouji groaned and stood up, "Fine, I concede. What's the plan?"

"Well I have two, but one of them depends on a definition," Izuku replied. Shouji did not like the sound of that and his instincts were right as Izuku turned to Midnight, "Sensei, you said we have to wear the headband on our forehead. But what do you define as a head?" 

Midnight twitched. She knew Shouji's quirk so it wasn't hard to see what they were planning to do. It was amusing to watch but it gave her a headache to be the proctor for this crazy bunch of kids, "You know what, I'm not qualified enough for answering that," Midnight said and texted someone on her phone.

Soon, Recovery Girl walked to the stage, "What is it?" she asked.

"Midoriya wants to know the definition of a 'head,'" Kayama said.

Chiyo stared at the group with unimpressed eyes but gave the definition, "The upper part of the human body, or the front or upper part of the body of an animal, typically separated from the rest of the body by a neck and containing the brain, mouth, and sense organs. That is what the head or skull is,"

"Hmm, Shouji can you make a brain and eyes on your extensions?" Izuku whispered to Shouji who facepalmed.

"Midoriya," Chiyo said causing the boy to turn at her with full attention, "You do know that Shouji still can't touch the ground because he is a direct extension of the other head?"

Izuku stared at Recovery Girl for a while and cursed, "I forgot about that! Sorry for bothering you sensei!" he bowed respectfully. Chiyo chuckled and moved off the stage. Meanwhile, Aizawa was sitting in the commentator's box and watched with bewilderment. Recovery Girl had just squashed Izuku's plan with pre-existing rules! Every time he tried to do that, he'd just be confronted with a loophole of a loophole. He needed to learn how to squash their attempts at using loopholes from Chiyo.

"Well that's not gonna work, so I guess we'll go with the other plan," Izuku chirped happily.

Shouji gulped, "And what is the other plan?"

"You will wear the points and then cover your head with a cartilage and muscle extension," Izuku said simply.

Shouji sighed, "That will require me to start forming extensions from my tentacles to my head!"

"Yes, but you can do it, right?"

Shouji sighed, "Yes, I can. It will add a lot more weight though," he warned.

"Do you need another demonstration?" Watanabe asked. Shouji paled and rapidly shook his head.

"Team Tokoyami, what are you doing?" Midnight asked.

Watanabe turned and started cackling loudly. Tokoyami's entire team was on the ground, while Dark Shadow was acting as the rider, wearing the headband, "We decided that Dark Shadow will be the rider," Tokoyami said, "It's not against the rules,"

Midnight twitched for what seemed like the hundredth time today, "Is Dark Shadow even a living being?"

"Well, he can talk and move," Tokoyami defended.

"Fine! But that means you have put together a team of 5! You must leave out one member," Midnight declared. Seeing the scowl on Tokoyami's face, she knew she had won. Tokoyami looked at his teammates; Uraraka, Tsuyu, and Hitoshi. He grumbled and brought back Dark Shadow while motioning Hitoshi to climb up above them, "Since Dark Shadow doesn't need to eat, I guess he can't really be classified as living," he excused himself lamely.

Watanabe chuckled at the scene while Kaminari shook his head, "You've got the entire class to become crazy,"

"Crazy is a mental state of insanity. This is just unlocking potential!" Watanabe cackled maniacally. Shouji wanted to cry.

"Alright, the cavalry battle will start soon. Take your positions," Cementoss ordered, "I'll be stopping the fights if it gets too violent," he said.

Mic took this opportunity to start announcing the teams, "Hattori Watanabe came first in the obstacle course and has 10 million attached to it. But he has given Mezou Shouji the role of the rider. Oh! And he has created an extension to protect and hide his headband! A wonderful strategy. His team also consists of Midoriya Izuku and Kaminari Denki!"

The crowd roared its appreciation.

"Next, we have Todoroki Shouto who has teamed up with the two deputy class reps, Yaoyorozu Momo and Iida Tenya. And he has surprisingly also taken the support department star, Hatsume MeI!"

"The world will adore my babies!"

"SHOUTO!" Enji yelled in anger having heard that Mei was from the support department but he quickly stepped back as Yagi gave home a piercing look, smile plastered over his face, "You wouldn't want to be thrown out, now would you, Enji-san?" he asked sweetly.

Enji gulped and stepped back. Nedzu had already warned him and had given him a detailed plan of what he would do to him if he broke the peace again.

"Next up, we have, Team Tokoyami who also tried to exploit the rules like Team Watanabe but failed miserably!"

The team in question scowled and booed but Mic went on, "Their team consists of Shinsou Hitoshi as the rider, and Uraraka Ochaco, Asui Tsuyu, and Tokoyami Fumikage as the carriers!" Mic said, "Next up, we have the loud-mouthed Bakugou Katsuki. He has assembled Sero Hanta, Kirishima Eijiro, and Ashido Mina as his carriers!"

"Who are you calling loud-mouthed!?" Bakugou exploded.

"The last team from 1A has Aoyama as the rider and Koda, Jiro, and Hagakure as the carriers. Now moving onto 1B! Monoma has put together arguably the strongest team of their class with Shiozaki, TetsuTetsu, and Tsuburaba as his carriers! The other team is Team Kendo with Juzo Honenuki, Yosetsu Awase, and Sen Kaibara!" Mic declared

The crowd roared again. Team Watanabe drowned out the noises and set to discuss their plans deeper, "Remember, even if we fall, we can still participate as long as we are not separated," Izuku reminded.

"I got it. But is this cartilage going to be enough to protect the headband?" Shouji pointed to his extension of bone and muscle. Izuku grinned, "That's the best part! Midnight sensei said that red cards will be given for violent attacks. Even though your extension is weak, people will still need to blast or cut through it which will warrant a red card!"

The rest of the team stared at Izuku, "Aren't I the sadist?" Watanabe asked.

"Wait, so you chose me as a meat shield!?" Shouji demanded.

"Um, kinda?" Izuku said shakily. Shouji shook his head in disbelief.

"Now for the other aspects of our plan!" Watanabe grinned, "Shouji... try not to puke during the cavalry battle!"

Yup, Shouji did not like this one bit.

"The teams have taken their positions. You have 15 minutes to compete after which the timer will ring and you'll stop," Midnight said, "Ready...3...2...1... GO!"

Immediately, Team Kendo acted. Juzo turned the ground below them into slush, catching the team off-guard, "The 10 million... is ours!" Kendo yelled excitedly and extended her hand with her quirk. She drove her hand through the extension but had just broken through the surface when her hands were caught by cement, "Team Kendo disqualified!" Cementoss announced.

"H-huh? I thought you said anything goes?"

"I also said that violent attacks get you disqualified," Midnight said. The rest of the teams had also paused along with the timer, "But how else can we get the headband? It's behind bones! We have to break through!"

"That I don't care about. There are alternative ways," Midnight said and motioned them to leave. Team Kendo was dejected but they left hurriedly.

"You ok, Shouji?" Kaminari asked.

"Yeah, after Izuku told me about the red card plan, I deformed the blood vessels and nerves leading through the extensions," Shouji said, "Didn't feel much pain," he told them and reformed the broken part quickly.

"Is Team Watanabe ok to move or does Shouji require treatment?" Midnight asked.

"He's fine sensei! We're good to go!"

Kayama nodded, "Then, START!" She yelled as the timer unpaused. Immediately the teams rushed at them once more from all directions. This time they knew that tearing through Shouji's extended body parts was not an option.

"Alright, let's carry out the first step!" Watanabe yelled to his teammates. Shouto resisted the urge to facepalm. Watanabe and Kaminari detached themselves from Shouji and left Izuku to carry him, "There was nothing about the carrier detaching themselves!" Watanabe cackled and easily slipped through the teams due to his increased mobility. Kaminari took the chance to knock out some of the weaker teams from the competition. 

"Heh, that means the rider can detach as long as they don't fall too!" Bakugou shouted and used his explosions to fly at Izuku who smiled, "Wrong place to give your attention," he commented and threw Shouji over the converging teams to Watanabe who had already escaped the blockade.

The teams gaped at the sheer absurdity of their plan as well as the muscle strength that would be required to pull something like that off.

"Tokoyami, you big cheat!" Kaminari yelled. Dark shadow had sneakily stolen the headbands of the teams that Kaminari had electrocuted, "The vulture preys on the remains," Tokoyami said.

Kaminari was about to retort but Tsuyu's tongue came flying at him. He yelped and ran away from her proximity.

Now that all eyes were on Watanabe as he was carrying Shouji, Izuku took the opportunity to flank Shouto from behind. But Momo knew that he would try to do something like that, "It's not going to be that easy, Izuku," she said as she hastily created an aluminum sheet to protect her team. Izuku narrowly jumped over it, but his eyes widened, "Is that a fucking rocket?"

"Don't worry, it won't kill you!" Hatsume cackled and fired it towards Izuku who was hit face-first, "Oi, idiots! Izuku's in trouble," Shouji told his teammates who were still juggling him in mid-air, "Can't... do... anything," Kaminari panted, "We've gotta get away from them," Kaminari pointed to the teams that were rushing towards them.

“Don’t worry,” Watanabe caught Shouji and started zigzagging through the teams. Shouji helped by forming some more extensions and moving them in between the teams to force them to move aside, “He’ll be alright,” Watanabe reassured and threw Shouji back to Kaminari.

Izuku had somehow not fallen unconscious from the force of the rocket, but he did fall backward. Thankfully, he managed to get away from Shouto’s team who didn’t bother to chase him since he didn’t have the points.

Meanwhile, Watanabe nearly dropped Shouji as he slammed into the air, “Hehe, that’s what you get for underestimating 1B!” Monoma shouted as Tsuburaba created some more air walls to make sure Watanabe couldn’t escape.

Watanabe almost panicked but remained calm and felt around him but could not find a way out. There wasn’t enough space for him to throw Shouji either. Izuku was still concussed and far away while Kaminari probably wouldn’t make it back in time.

“The points are ours!” Monoma said as he put his hand through the only opening, above. Monoma’s grin, however, was short-lived as Shouji caught Monoma by the hand and yeeted him, “Just because I’m being thrown around doesn’t mean I’m a ragdoll!” Shouji yelled.

Monoma was lucky enough to be caught by Shiozaki’s vines and was placed back on top. “Nice Shouji. Now, grab on to an end of the barrier,” Watanabe said. Shouji did as he was told. Watanabe clambered over Shouji and escaped, “Jump back on!” Shouji nodded and heaved himself up but right at that moment, the air wall disappeared. Shouji yelped with surprise and groaned as he landed on someone else.

Shouji looked down to see a mop of green hair. Izuku switched to his full cowling and jumped back, trying to escape. Meanwhile, Kaminari flanked from behind and unleashed an electric attack that was quickly grounded by Shiozaki.

“Damn it!” Monoma muttered and then reached his hand out towards Watanabe, “No problem, I’ll just copy your quirk,” he grinned and touched Watanabe. He was shocked that he didn’t put up a fight and instead was grinning back.

Monoma tried to ignore the unsettling grin but at that moment, his vision shifted. At first, he screamed as a flash of red lights hit him.

“Dude, you alright?” TetsuTetsu asked.

“What the hell?” Monoma asked himself. He yelped as his vision shifted once more. He screamed as he saw everyone became bones, “WHAT THE HELL?” he panicked, “WHY ARE YOU ALL SKELETONS!?” He yelled in fear.

“Monoma, get rid of the quirk you took!” Tsuburaba advised. Monoma quickly did so and his vision returned to normal, “What the hell is that guy’s quirk?” Monoma panted and stared at Watanabe’s retreating back.

“I don’t know, he hit me on my arms while he was escaping, and now, I can’t move my arms. My arms aren’t turning into metal either,” TetsuTetsu said worriedly.

Monoma cursed, “I think it’s some sort of vision change,”

“Does that mean he can change his vision to erasure like Aizawa-sensei? Maybe that’s why my quirk won’t activate on my hands,” TetsuTesu offered.

“I don’t know, but let’s go after the small fries. That guy is dangerous,”

Meanwhile, Mirai was watching with wide eyes, greedily like a baby eyeing candy. The way Watanabe weaved in and out of the other teams proved that he had to have foresight as his quirk. On top of that, he showed that he had immense strength in order to throw Shouji and also catch them. That meant that on a physical level, Watanabe was already stronger than him.

However, there was a small problem that had captivated the audience, he included. When Watanabe had moved past TetsuTetsu, his eyes had flashed dark red before he hit TetsuTetsu. Immediately after, Mirai noticed that TetsuTetsu couldn’t use his quirk in his arms. That made Nighteye think, “Aizawa’s eyes flash a similar shade when he uses his quirk too!” Mirai thought, “Does that mean his quirk is actually erasure? Maybe that’s why Aizawa was so defensive of him,” Mirai argued in his mind. “But then how did he seem to know where everything was?”

That’s when it hit Mirai. His quirk was listed as eye color changing. That possibly meant he could change his eye color to various shades. Perhaps, when it turned purple, it was foresight and when it was red, it was erasure? Mirai gasped once more, “What if it’s a merge of the two and his quirk is erasure of the future!?”

The thought had seemingly hit the other heroes who had also worked with Aizawa, “Oi that looks just like Eraserhead,” Rock Lock commented about Watanabe’s sudden change in eye color.

“Maybe he’s Aizawa’s son? Haha,” Emi laughed to herself.

“Idiot, if it’s erasure, how would he know where every single thing is and dodge things like he knew what’s about to happen? It’s obviously foresight!”

And so, the pro-heroes started to bicker amongst themselves about what Watanabe’s quirk was.

Mic laughed and shut off his mic. He already knew about Watanabe’s quirk since Aizawa often found himself ranting about him to his best friend, “What vision was that?”

“Infrared,” Aizawa replied hoarsely.

“I thought you would be proud of Watanabe for successfully tricking people on what his quirk is. He wants to be an underground hero, so he needs to keep his quirk under wraps, and here he is tricking even fellow heroes,” Mic said.

“Yes, but he’s also becoming a bigger target. Remember that this is completely open to the public. There might even be commission agents here and if they believe this, they might try to go after him,” Aizawa said worriedly.

“You really worry about your kids huh?” Mic said warmly, careful not to sound unkind, “Don’t worry, Nedzu is interested in those kids too. No way he lets the commission do shit!”

“Yeah, but still… there’s the league too, you know,” Aizawa said as Mic’s face also darkened at the thought.

“OI, WHERE’S THE COMMENTATOR!?” Sections of the crowd yelled.

Mic sighed, “They really don’t give us a break huh,” he whispered, clearly annoyed that their conversation was interrupted. \

Mic got a message and chuckled, “Some of the crowd thinks that Watanabe’s quirk is Erasure and thinks that you are his father!” Mic told his friend.

Aizawa did a spit take, “What?”

“Yup, thirteen is in one of the sections for crowd control. Apparently, the foresight theory came from Mirai,”

Aizawa shook his head, “I mean, I can see why but I’m still disappointed. What about the erasure theory?”

“Mirai’s been quiet about it,” Mic read through his texts, “But since people thought he has foresight, there are eyes on him, and they noticed his eyes flashing red before TetsuTetsu lost the ability to use his quirk temporarily. How did he do that?” Mic asked Aizawa.

“No clue,” Aizawa said honestly, “He never did anything like that in any of the classes,” he hummed to himself, clearly puzzled as well. He had no clue why TetsuTesu lost his quirk, let alone why it was temporary. Sure, his quirk also had a temporary effect, but Watanabe had already moved his vision away by then.

Honestly, he didn’t think it was erasure at all. Watanabe seemed to find various uses for his quirk after all. He wouldn’t be surprised if he just used a form of martial arts or something, though the thought of it did sound frightening, “What about the other theory?”

“Hmm,” Mic said innocently, “What other theory?”

“You know which one!”

“I do?”

Aizawa gritted his teeth and looked away, “The theory that Watanabe is my son,”

“Oh,” Mic grinned, happy that he got Aizawa to acknowledge it, “It was Emi,”

“That little-“ Aizawa started when the crowd interrupted, “WHERE'S THE COMMENTARY?” This time the entire audience yelled at them.

Mic scowled a bit was happy that he had an excuse to disregard Aizawa’s rants about Ms. Joke, “Sorry folks! We had a bit of an issue,” Mic excused himself,

He switched to his commentary voice, “Let’s see what we’ve missed- OH! WHAT DID TEAM TOKOYAMI JUST DO!?”

Chapter Text

Izuku had recovered after getting hit by Hatsume’s rocket. His head was hurting but he pushed through it and used his quirk to retreat. He blinked repeatedly, trying to reset his dizzy vision.

Once his vision slowly became clearer, he tried to spot his teammates. Kaminari was easy to find, given his bright yellow hair, but he wasn’t carrying Shouji. Izuku frowned and scanned for Watanabe and found him boxed by Monoma’s team. He scowled and ran to help him. He arrived just in time to catch Shouji before he could fall onto the ground.

Izuku didn’t need to say anything as he glanced at his teammates. Both of them knew what to do. Kaminari flanked from behind to make sure Monoma couldn’t go after Izuku while Watanabe shut off a blood vessel in TetsuTetsu’s arm to stall them.

Unfortunately, Izuku did not have much time to form another plan as Shouto’s team headed him off. Shouto wasn’t taking any chances and sent his strongest ice wave after Izuku. Hatsume grinned, “That had to have got him!”

Shouto was grinning too, sure that Izuku couldn’t have dodged that in time while carrying Shouji, but the smirk was wiped off his face as he heard a shriek at the top of the ice glacier.

Iida gaped, “There’s no way!” Izuku had thrown Shouji over the ice glacier and now he was sliding down the glacier, “Momo, get ready!” Shouto ordered. Momo nodded and made a tiny, sharp needle to undo the headband knot from the back of Shouji’s head.

But, before that could happen, Bakugou launched himself again and looked like he would intercept Shouji first. But right then, he was slammed out of the air. Bakugou gasped as he felt the air leave his body.

“OH! WHAT HAS TEAM TOKOYAMI DONE!?” Mic yelled right then.

Shouto had no time to focus on where Bakugou landed and instead moved his attention back towards the 10 million points that were sliding towards them. However, right then, Watanabe was also launched over the glacier

Watanabe curled up to allow him to slide faster and catch Shouji before Momo could do anything. Izuku sighed with relief and looked at Dark Shadow who was suspended in the air. Izuku eyed Tokoyami suspiciously, “Why’d you help us?” he asked as Fumikage’s team landed beside him.

“Bakugou and Kaminari are the perfect counters to my quirk. There’s almost no way to gain the 10 million points without getting red-carded. It makes more sense for me to try and knock out the competition,” Tokoyami explained his actions.

Izuku’s eyes widened, “There’s no way,” he exclaimed with shock. The smoke dissipated and confirmed his suspicions, “Bakugou Katsuki landed out of bounds, he is disqualified!” Midnight declared, “Bakugou’s team is requested to leave the grounds!” Midnight ordered as Cementoss created a safe path for them to leave. The team had a look of disbelief but complied.

“TEAM TOKOYAMI HAS JUST KNOCKED OUT ONE OF THE FAVORITES TO WIN THE COMPETITION! AND WITH SUCH EASE!” Mic yelled out as the crowd cheered loudly at the unexpected knockout.

The news had reached Shouto’s ears, but he pushed it to the back of his mind and continued chasing Watanabe, but Watanabe had more mobility because the team had split apart and Shouto’s team couldn’t keep up, “Hatsume! Can’t your rocket shoes propel us?” Shouto asked.

“Your ice got into them, they’re still thawing,” Hatsume replied.

“Momo, Hatsume!” Iida yelled, “Please take the burden of carrying Todoroki for a while,”

“What are you planning?” Momo asked.

“I’m going to detach myself and run them down!” Iida said with fire in his eyes. Shouto smirked, “Go for it!”

Iida nodded as Shouto shifted his weight onto Hatsume and Momo. Iida stood up straighter and used his quirk to run straight at Watanabe, confident that he would be able to steal it. But just as he reached Watanabe, Izuku jumped at Iida, full cowling activated and backflipped over the deputy class rep with his hands outstretched.

Iida braked with a screech as Izuku turned to face him with a grin, “Looking for these, Iida?” Izuku dangled his spectacles just out of reach.

“Damn it! That’s low, even for you! Give them back!” Iida said angrily.

“Dude, you are really blind without your glasses, huh?” Izuku laughed, “I’m on your right,”

Iida turned red and looked in the specified direction, resulting in another bout of laughter from Izuku, “Haha! You really are blind. You were looking the correct way,”

“Damn it Midoriya! Give me back my glasses,”

“Sorry, Iida, but I want to win. I swear you’ll get it back next round,” Izuku grinned and took off running as Shouto arrived with the rest of the team, “Never mind, you tried your best,” Shouto said, “Now, get up on top,”

“Huh?” Iida asked as Hatsume and Momo stared at Shouto with narrowed eyes.

“Just do what I said,” Shouto yelled and pulled Iida up. Once he was up, Shouto tied the headband to Iida and jumped down to support him.

“Team Todoroki, what are you doing?” Midnight asked.

“There was never any rule that we couldn’t substitute positions!” Shouto yelled back. Midnight shook her head, clearly exhausted with 1A’s antics but waved her flag, “It’s a legal move!”

“Oh damn! I can’t believe we didn’t think of that,” Watanabe panted as he passed off Shouji to his cousin.

“Yeah,”

“The competition has only 5 minutes left!” Mic announced, “Let’s take a look at the scoreboard once again! Team Watanabe is still in the lead with a successful defense to keep their 10 million points. Surprisingly, it’s Team Tokoyami who is in second place!”

“What? How?” Watanabe asked with shock.

“The other teams also detached seeing us but they couldn’t support the rider’s weight by themselves and Tokoyami simply capitalized on it,” Kaminari announced as he met up with his team, “Monoma’s team took out the rest of the weaker ones. Most of the points are divided between those two. The rest of the teams are just trying to get their points back,” Denki said and motioned towards the electric board. Sure enough, Team Monoma was in third place, right below Team Tokoyami. Team Todoroki was in fourth place, courtesy of the obstacle course points that they had defended.

“Looks like Tokoyami is having a hard time though,” Izuku pointed out. All the teams that Tokoyami had stolen from were trying to steal his points.

However, Tokoyami was smart, “NOW!” He yelled. Immediately, the team started to fly up. Tokoyami used his dark shadow to deflect back any long-ranged attacks while Tsuyu used her long tongue as an oar to steer themselves mid-air.

“Too bad you can’t get us now!” Hitoshi taunted.

“Almost all of the classes retorted back with yells of their own. Hitoshi smirked and zeroed in on the response from the other Class 1B team, “Go out of bounds!” he ordered.

“Nice job Hitoshi. They would have been the biggest problem after we re-landed,” Uraraka complimented.

“Koda’s team isn’t doing too well, kero,” Tsuyu pointed. They were trapped by air walls, courtesy of Tsuburaba, just like a few other teams.

“Whoa, that was a really clean getaway!” Watanabe watched in amazement, “Who knew Tokoyami is such a good leader?”

But Watanabe’s admiration was short-lived. Now that Tokoyami’s team was safely in the air, all the teams that were left without any points turned to face Watanabe.

“Time’s short, so as long as we get the 10 million, we’ll be through!” Someone yelled, “YEAH!” The other teams agreed and charged together. They knew that they wouldn’t be able to get it by themselves. They would cooperate on stealing it first and then they could fight amongst themselves to see who would take the points.

“Ah, shit!” Kaminari cursed and readied an electric attack, “IDIOT DON’T!” Watanabe ordered, “You’ll knock us out too,”

Just then, Shouto launched an ice wall at them too, just enough to force the team into a corner of the field, but he left a small space open to allow the other teams to converge. He too was planning to outnumber Team Watanabe and steal the points from the weaker teams.

“Team Watanabe is boxed in by nearly all the teams! Is this the end of their point defense!?” Mic asked rhetorically.

“This is why I told to spread out and not regroup,” Watanabe said, irritated.

“Relax, I have a plan,” Izuku assured.

Watanabe looked skeptical but he trusted Izuku, “What’s the plan?”

“Right, I’m carrying Shouji, so that’s perfect. Once I’m out, try and occupy the other teams. There isn’t much time left, so we just need to stall them for about 3 minutes,” Izuku said.

“Yeah, but the teams already know that we do more damage spread out and will try to divide and conquer,” Kaminari argued. The curious looks that he got made him scowl, “I can be smart,”

Izuku laughed, “They won’t try that. Time’s nearly up, so they’re desperate. Look I don’t have enough time to explain the plan,” he said as the teams came closer, “Just, don’t come after me!” Izuku yelled as he took off running nearer to the corner of the grounds.

“What on earth is he trying to do?” Kaminari asked as the teams predictably ran past the duo who watched Izuku with curiosity, “You know, I have lived with him for more than a year, and I have no fucking clue!” Watanabe fumed.

Once Izuku was near the corner, he stopped, but didn’t turn to face the teams, “It’s over Midoriya, we have you cornered!” Iida shouted out.

“Um, a bit more to the left,” Momo whispered to save her classmate from embarrassment.

Izuku didn’t reply but a grin grew across his face. He readied his finger with 100% One For All and flicked it towards the crowd. Cementoss’s eyes widened, and he immediately put up a cement wall to stop the blow. Izuku grinned, this was what he was hoping would happen. He switched to full cowling and ran onto the wall vertically before somersaulting off of it, flying past the ring of opponents.

The entire audience grew so quiet that you could hear a coin drop.

“A-a-a-AHH!” Mic yelled, “MIDORIYA JUST USED HIS POWER TO FORCE CEMENTOSS INTO MAKING A WALL SO THAT HE COULD USE IT AS A BASE TO JUMP AWAY! WHAT A TACTIC!”

“Problem child…” Aizawa groaned lowly into his speaker.

Watanabe and Kaminari gaped at Izuku. Denki slowly turned to his friend, “This is all your fault,” he told Watanabe who simply cackled proudly. Nedzu too was looking dignified, “I must say, Inko-san, your son is full of surprises. I never thought a hero student would do something like that,”

“He was always like that. Watanabe just… brought it out more,” Inko grinned.

“Those two brats,” Natsume yelled, trying to sound angry but her grin gave it away.

“GO IZUKU!” Ryuzen whooped. Nedzu looked at Ryuzen weirdly. If he was in fact a commission agent, he certainly wasn’t being low profile.

Izuku laughed his head off, still falling through the air, but Team Watanabe’s celebrations would be short-lived, as Tokoyami’s dark shadow flung Izuku out of the air like Bakugou.

“Shit!” Izuku cursed as he and Shouji separated.

“Oh! With just less than 2 minutes remaining, Team Tokoyami have successfully separated Shouji from his team for the first time today. If Shouji falls to the ground, he will be disqualified!” Mic warned.

Shouji scowled, “I ALREADY SAID I’M NOT JUST A RAGDOLL!” he yelled angrily and landed on top of Koda’s team, knocking the rider off.

Mic gaped, “Is that even allowed!?”

“It wasn’t a violent attack and the rider wasn’t separated from his team, so Team Koda is still in contention. Shouji has also not touched the ground and is safe!” Midnight clarified.

“That means I can easily go for the headband!”

Shouji’s face went pale as he felt the knot untie from the back of his head, the only exposed point that he had left out so that he could untie later.

“With 1 minute left, Team Koda has snatched the 10 million points! What an unexpected turn of events!” Mic yelled. The crowd roared uproariously, “Wait, no!” Mic yelled, “WATANABE HAS SNATCHED IT BACK!”

Indeed, as soon as Hagakure had taken the headband, Watanabe had hit her arm with an open palm and made her drop the headband., “Forgot I can see you, didn’t you?” Watanabe grinned, his infrared active.

Mirai’s interest piqued, here were the red eyes again and Watanabe had known exactly where the invisible girl was despite her being, well, invisible. This had to prove at least foresight. Now would he see erasure?

Mirai didn’t have to wait long as Watanabe swiftly hit a blood vessel on Jiro’s left ear, which stopped it moving and thus stopped her quirk.

“HAH, I knew it!” Mirau yelled excitedly. He noticed the crowd staring at him and quietly sat back down, but his mind was exploding with joy, “Touch-based erasure aided with foresight. That has to be it!”

Meanwhile, Koda had summoned several birds to try and snatch the headband. It was evident that brute force wasn’t working, so Koda gave the order.

“KODA! THAT'S DISGUSTING!” Watanabe screamed as birds unloaded on him left and right. Watanabe puked on the ground in disgust. “I’ll take that!” Aoyama grinned and extended his hand. But, before Aoyama could reach it, Shouji had recovered the headband and tied it back onto his head, albeit out in the open.

Koda’s team couldn’t do much more as Shouto’s team had made brilliant distance and had frozen the ground solid.

“WITH 30 SECONDS LEFT, CAN THE 10 MILLION POINTS BE WRESTLED OUT!?”

Shouji immediately started making another layer of protection, but Hatsume had launched Todoroki at him with a jetpack. Shouto was nearly there when he yelled in disgust. Watanabe had vomited on him, bird poop still dripping. Shouto veered left and right and was sent flying up.

“LIKE FATHER LIKE SON! SHOUTO ALSO GETS PUKED ON AND TAKES A HIT TO HIS REPUTATION!” Mic yelled.

Aizawa facepalmed, this is why he asked Nedzu to not allow Mic to commentate.

“And in the last 10 seconds, Team Tokoyami is making a final move,” Mic announced.

Sure enough, Uraraka was slowly deactivating her quirk, bringing them down. Tsuyu launched her tongue along with Dark Shadow. Shouji managed to slap away the tongue but Dark Shadow had gotten his hands on the headband.

Shouji tried to wrestle Dark Shadow, but he wasn’t strong enough. Panic set in as he felt the tug increase.

The knot reopened and the headband almost slipped away when… “TIME’S UP!”

Chapter Text

"TIME'S UP!" Mic announced, "Team Tokoyami has their hands on the 10 million points but they were not able to completely pull it off! What is the referee's verdict?"

Midnight waved her flag, "The headband was still on Shouji's head, they keep the 10 million points!" Midnight ruled.

The crowd cheered, "Well then folks, we have our qualifiers. In the first place, we have team Watanabe. In The second place is Team Tokoyami and the third place is Team Monoma. Team Todoroki barely qualifies as they are in fourth place. They didn't get any points but rather qualify because they kept their original points," Mic explained to the crowd.

"There will now be an interval of 30 minutes for lunch. The contestants will refill their energy. Those who have been disqualified can attend a scavenger hunt later. The third round will be a one-on-one fighting, tournament style. The matchups will be revealed after the interval," Midnight finished.

"Yo, Iida," Izuku went up to the boy with a sheepish grin, "I'm sorry I stole your glasses," he handed back the spectacles.

Iida took them without a word. After having put them on, he sighed, "Please don't do this again,"

"Can't promise that," Izuku grinned, "But a piece of advice, you better wear straps on your glasses or you might lose them in a villain battle,"

Iida nodded, "Thanks for the tip," he told in a tired tone and left to get lunch.

"Well played, Tokoyami," Watanabe congratulated, "Thought you were the quiet guy like Izuku. Not so… outwardly chaotic."

"I can't help but pass up a mad banquet of darkness," Tokoyami said.

"Um…Ok," Watanabe said, unsure of what he meant.

"Hey, Kaminari, can I talk to you?" Shouto asked.

"Sure, what do you need?" Denki asked.

"Actually, I want to talk to all three of you. You, Izuku, and Watanabe," Shouto said.

The trio shared a look but followed him to a secluded area, "What's this about?" Izuku asked looking around at the shadowy corridor.

"Have you heard of quirk marriages?" Shouto dived straight in.

Watanabe and Izuku froze but Kaminari looked confused, "What's a quirk marriage?"

"It's when two people with strong quirks are made to marry each other to produce a super-strong offspring. Like selective breeding but in humans," Watanabe said darkly.

"I had no idea that's why you have ice and fire quirks," Izuku seemed angry at himself for not seeing it sooner.

"Wait, so your mom and dad were forced to marry?" Denki asked trying to clear things up.

"More like my mom was forced to marry my dad. Endeavor knows he can't surpass All Might and decided he's going to make an ultimate child and make him surpass him," Shouto said.

"Why are you telling this to us suddenly?" Izuku queried.

Shouto looked at his hands with anger, "At USJ, you got hurt because I refused to use fire. I felt like you deserved to know the reason. I will never use my fire, I want to win with only my mom's quirk,"

Izuku looked to be taken by surprise by his declaration. He didn't fault Shouto for what happened at USJ but he didn't support him not using his fire either. Luckily, Denki burst, "That's stupid!"

Shouto scowled, "I don't expect you to understand. I just wanted to let you know,"

"I do understand, but you are being stupid. This time it was Izuku who nearly died and the only reason he's alive is because of All Might. Who knows how many more will die because you refused to use your fire!?" Kaminari demanded.

"That won't happen. I'll save them with my ice,"

"Isn't that what you tried at USJ too?"

"I-" Shouto tried to argue but could not make his point.

"Shouto, it's your quirk, not his," Izuku told him calmly.

"Izuku's right," Watanabe agreed, "And anyway, if you rise to the top using your ice, you are proving his point anyway,"

Shouto narrowed his eyes, "How? I didn't use his quirk,"

"No, but you are his son. That is the point. He believes it's enough if his child surpasses All Might. If you surpass All Might with only your ice, it will have made your father happy and it will also have proven that if you used the fire, you could be stronger. His point is proven," Watanabe said, hands behind his back, his eyes darting off into the distance, "On the other hand, if you don't surpass All Might without your fire, Endeavour will hold it against you by saying that he knew you needed his fire. You are screwed either way," Watanabe finished.

Shouto stared at Watanabe. He punched the wall next to him with rage, he had never thought of it like that, "Then what the hell am I supposed to do!?" He demanded, tears now streaming down his face, "No matter what I do, I end up pleasing him, is that what I do?"

Kaminari smiled sadly, "Maybe so. But, if you use your fire, you'll at least know that you tried your best in every situation,"

"Yeah, maybe," Shouto rubbed his eyes, contemplating his decision.

"There is… another option," Watanabe said slowly.

"What?"

"Use both your fire and ice but you never surpass All Might. Your dad will be proven wrong," Watanabe said sagely.

Izuku deadpanned at his cousin's audacity and sighed, "It's up to you what you want to do but I think using your fire is the best. No regrets in major situations. What I want you to know is that we'll be there for you always. You can stay over at our house even if you like," Izuku offered.

"Yeah… maybe. But I can't just leave my sister to him," he spat.

"Well, maybe you can tell someone like Nedzu. He'll be able to overrule Endeavour and free you!" Izuku said.

"Maybe but I don't want to risk it. He might get angry and hurt Fuyumi,'

"Fuyumi?"

"My sister,"

"Oh," Izuku replied, "Well, Nedzu is smart so he'll be cautious. And we'll be there with you, every step of the way!"

"But how do I get to Nedzu?"

"Well, he'll be taking classes with us soon, right after the internship. Maybe then?" Izuku asked.

"Yeah, maybe…"

"Well think about it, we can save you, your sister, your mom, everyone!" Kaminari tried to sway Shouto's mind.

Shouto laughed dryly, "My mom, huh? She's in a mental institution,"

The three froze, "…What?" Watanabe asked angrily.

Shouto nodded slowly, his face contorting into a sad frown, "My dad drove her to insanity. She couldn't stand him. One night, she poured water down on my eye because I looked like him,"

Izuku gasped, "I thought that was Endeavour's doing or a training accident," Watanabe clenched his fists in anger.

Shouto shook his head, "I don't hold it against her though. It was all Endeavour's fault. She was crying because of what she had done. It wasn't her fault. It's all because of that bastard!"

Watanabe became angrier and angrier at what he was hearing, "I'm going to go and punch that asshole!" he said determinedly and started walking off but was held in place by Shouto's ice, "Don't cause a scene. You've given me things to think over. I've put up with this since I was a kid. I can handle it a bit longer,"

"Fine, but he does something else, and I'll kill him!"

"He's the number 2 hero, how would you kill him?" Shouto asked plainly.

"There are more ways to kill than overpowering," Watanabe said darkly. Kaminari knew that he wouldn't be capable of that but the sheer menace in his voice scared him.

"Regardless," Kaminari spoke, "You need to use your fire, Shouto. It's literally a matter of life and death. There are three of us who know your secret and you'll have to fight one of us in the tournament. If you don't use your fire… you don't stand a chance!" Kaminari said firmly.

Shouto smirked slightly at the challenge.

"Interval's almost over. Shall we get lunch?" Izuku offered.

"Yeah, sure," Shouto wiped the tears off his face and gave them a bright smile, the first they had seen. Evidently, getting it off his chest and hearing the advice had made him happier.

"I think I dropped my wallet here, you guys go on and get me a plate too," Watanabe excused. Kaminari nodded and they took off. Once they were out of earshot, Watanabe turned, "You know I can see you with my X-ray right?"

Bakugou stiffened and stepped out of the shadowy corridor, "I wasn't planning to eavesdrop,"

Watanabe rolled his eyes, "Look, you apologized to Izuku and you seem to have turned for the better. I don't have anything against you so I trust you will prove you have changed by supporting Shouto instead of locking horns with him?"

Bakugou nodded slowly, "One condition,"

"Hm?"

"If you go after that bastard," Bakugou's eyes flashed, "Take me with you too!"

Watanabe was dazed but smirked, "Of course," he grinned to Bakugou who returned a toothy sadistic grin of his own.

"Holy crap! Bakugou and Watanabe are walking together peacefully!" Ashido yelped as the two entered the cafeteria.

The two looked at the acid girl inquisitively and then simultaneously scowled, "So what?" Bakugou demanded.

"That means you guys are becoming friends!" Kirishima grinned.

"Is that so, Watanabe?" Kaminari feigned a hurt tone, "And here I thought I was your best friend. But to think you replaced me so easily,"

"As if!" Watanabe huffed, "We aren't friends, we're just classmates, ok?"

"Whatever you say," Jiro said, clearly not buying it, "Whatever," Watanabe shrugged and got his food from lunch rush. He plopped down next to his classmates who hurried away from him.

"What?" he asked concerned.

"Seriously?" Sato asked in disbelief. Watanabe stared at him, "Bird poop?" Sato pointed at his head.

Watanabe paled and ran off to the washroom to clean himself up, dripping everywhere, "Huh, I didn't notice," Shouto said.

"Didn't Watanabe puke on you?" This time Shouto paled and he too ran off after Watanabe to the washroom.

Izuku and Kaminari looked at each other, "How the hell did we talk to each other that long while that smell was around?" Kaminari asked, disgusted.

"We were talking about something too serious to bother," Izuku said nasally, putting tissues up his nose to block the smell, "But still, holy crap! Literally!"

Bakugou cackled, "I didn't know that he's so ruthless considering he's mute!" he addressed Koda.

"Still did far better than you," Koda retorted quietly.

The class took a moment to register that Koda was talking back to Bakugou before all of them fell into peals of laughter. Bakugou turned slightly angry at first but he cracked a smile, "Good to see you aren't tongueless. You'd make an awful rescue hero otherwise,"

"Aww, look at that, he cares!" Kirishima teased.

"Shut up shitty hair!"

"Still, Shouji deserves more applause than you guys," Momo said, "You guys tossed him like a goddamn football,"

"Momo, you cursed!" Hagakure said excitedly, "I didn't know she knew curses," Jiro added.

Momo took no notice of them, "Izuku's been teaching me on how to be a better class rep and one of them is using curses,"

The class collectively furrowed their eyebrows and turned to Midoriya who kept sipping his juice like it was nothing, "First question, why?" Hitoshi asked, "And second, I didn't know you curse, Izuku,"

"You be around Watanabe for a year and you'll have an urban dictionary of curses. And the class rep thing might have been a lie. I just wanted to teach Momo how to curse so that she wouldn't be feeling left out when we tease each other," Izuku explained.

Sato laughed, "You really are a gremlin,"

"Please, Izuku's the quiet mastermind. Watanabe's just pulling the strings for him," Kaminari waved his hands.

"I think Watanabe is pretty smart, kero," Tsuyu said and the class nodded.

"He is smart but not intelligent,"

"Is that different?" Aoyama asked puzzled.

"Obviously!" Iida said, "It means Watanabe tries to use the rules against people while Izuku does things while abiding by the rules," Iida said and turned to Kaminari for verification, "Exactly! Cookie?"

Iida deadpanned and Kaminari shrugged.

"Offensive but kinda true," Izuku agreed.

"So basically Watanabe's street smart," Kirishima verified, "And Izuku's a quiet gremlin, like Nedzu?"

"Oh, but I'm a rat, possibly a bear?"

Kirishima jumped at that, banging his toe painfully against the table, "P-principal Nedzu!"

Nedzu laughed, "I'm sorry for startling you but it is a part of me. Don't worry, I quite agree with your assessment of your classmates,"

Izuku frowned, "Isn't that insulting yourselves?"

Nedzu shrugged, "I don't really care, I have been called many things in my life. I just came to congratulate all of you. Team Koda, you may not have passed but your effort was outstanding. Using bird poop to drop the headband. Very good!" The principal praised. The team members looked shocked for a bit but then thanked the principal.

"Team Todoroki, I'm pleased that you found the loophole on substituting the rider and carrier. Well done," Iida bowed at the praise.

"Team Watanabe, wait where's Watanabe?" Nedzu asked.

"Right here!" Watanabe announced, "Sorry, I needed to clean up," he excused. Shouto also sat down, eyeing Nedzu analytically. He was trying to see whether he could be trusted with his secret. Izuku was right that he could put a sword to Endeavour's neck, but, did he have the courage to tell the principal?

Nedzu noted down Shouto's glance to think about it later and turned to Team Watanabe, "I'm extremely pleased with you! Who found the loophole about separation?"

"Watanabe did. Izuku made the plans for rendezvous and how Shouji could protect the headband," Kaminari explained.

"I see. Well hats off to you Watanabe for figuring out the loopholes in the first and this round. You too Koda. I will have to be wary of ravens from now on," Nedzu grinned.

The class stared at Koda who slunk back in his seat, "YOU STOLE THE PLANS FROM THE PRINCIPAL!?" The class shouted.

Koda smiled sheepishly and nodded, "Damn," Watanabe looked impressed, "Izu, our throne's being usurped. We must defend it!" he said dramatically.

Nedzu laughed, "What throne? I'm still the king!" he declared causing some of the class to laugh and others to stare at Watanabe's audacity to talk so informally with the principal, "And Izuku, wonderful plans this round. But Shouji really was the glue in your team. Anyone else would have lost the headband,"

Izuku nodded, "Yup, we're really glad we had him!" Izuku grinned and pulled him closer. The quiet giant looked to have been taken by surprise by the praise and mumbled a quick thanks.

"Lastly Team Tokoyami," here Nedzu stopped to cackle, "Wonderfully done to disqualify those who would move to the next round and provide competition," Nedzu referred to Bakugou who grunted in annoyance, "And Uraraka's flight along with Tsuyu's tongue to steer yourselves, Brilliant!" Nedzu praised.

"Thank you," Tokoyami said with respect.

"Well, I can't wait to see who wins it. Let's see if you find any loopholes this time. I've tried to close as many as I can this round," Nedzu winked to Watanabe who grinned, "You're on!"

"But, I do believe Hatsume can outdo you. She's a wonderful inventor and can use all the support equipment," Nedzu cackled. The class was surprised that someone from the support department was being backed by Nedzu but Izuku smirked and clapped for her, and the class followed suit.

"Thank you, the world will marvel at my babies!"

"Babies?" Sato asked but Shouto simply waved it off.

"Ah, almost forgot, the matchups have been announced," Nedzu said and placed a tablet on the large table, "You still have 10 minutes left, so enough time to prepare I believe. Goodbye,"

Kaminari reached for the table to turn it on.

"How on earth were you so cavalier with the principal?" Jiro demanded from Watanabe, "What's wrong with it? He's still a teacher. Just be normal and everything's fine,"

"Nuh-uh. He's feared by villains for a reason,"

"He's a good guy," Izuku assured.

"And how do you know. It seemed like you already knew him from before," Tsuyu inquired.

Izuku froze for a moment but Iida dug them out, "Remember the court case, Principal Nedzu was there. Maybe they met there?"

That seemed to blow away all the questions and Izuku sighed with relief.

"How do you turn this thing on?" Kaminari struggled.

Watanabe gave his friend a deadpan expression and reached out, to push a button. A hologram appeared. Kaminari grinned and put it down on the table for everyone to see.

The class marveled at the matchups and some of them like Uraraka gulped.

"This is going to be hard," Watanabe admitted.

"It will be interesting," Izuku flashed a grin to his cousin who nodded.

"Oi, Shadow bastard," Bakugou yelled, not taking his eyes off the board. He was following the lines to see who might have to fight who, "You have a hard bracket but you better win the tournament! I'd rather be the guy who got disqualified by the winner than the guy who lost to a no-name,"

Tokoyami stared at Bakugou for a second before grunting, a smile sneaking out, "Of course,"

Chapter Text

“Well, folks! The scavenger hunt is over and the final round will be starting soon! Are you guys pumped for it!?” Mic yelled.

The crowd roared its approval.

As Cementoss formed the new arena for the final round, Midnight explained the rules, “The contestants will have to fight it out. The winner progresses to the next round. If the contestant goes out of bounds, they are disqualified. If the contestants take things too fast, we, the referees will stop the match,”

Cementoss nodded to agree with Midnight.

“Now, it’s time for our first match!” Midnight announced, “Tokoyami Fumikage vs Tsuburaba Kosei!”

The two students entered with confident looks about them but Tsuburaba looked slightly hesitant at having to go up against one of the best performers so far in the competition.

The two came to a stop facing each other.

“Are you two ready?” Midnight asked. The two nodded shortly.

“Start!”

Immediately, Tokoyami activated Dark Shadow while Tsuburaba formed several air shields around him to protect himself. Neither moved, waiting for their opponent to act first.

This caused the crowd to start booing but still, neither budged. Both of them were hoping to defend rather than attack. Finally, Tokoyami shot Dark Shadow forward to attack Tsuburaba who smirked knowing that his air shields would keep him safe. But, to his surprise, Dark Shadow completely missed him and instead arced around him like a circle.

Next, it flew up and then dive-bombed down towards Tsuburaba who paled, knowing that he had not covered the top. He hastily formed a shield upwards to protect himself.

Dark shadow deflected off the top as Tsuburaba anticipated but the arc that it had formed tightened and caught Tsuburaba’s exposed legs. Tsuburaba tripped over Dark Shadow and crashed onto his own barrier.

The crowd winced slightly as blood sprayed from his mouth. Tsuburaba spat out some more blood reformed the air shields, this time making sure that no part of his body was exposed to Dark Shadow, “Nice try, but you showed me the holes in my defense now. There’s no way you’re getting me again,”

“Perhaps,” Tokoyami agreed, “But, I can go both offense and defense, can you?” he asked rhetorically before sending Dark Shadow to repeatedly smash on the barriers.

Tsuburaba grimaced knowing that Tokoyami was right. He tried his best to keep Dark Shadow out but soon, the barriers gave way.

“Tsuburaba’s barriers give way! Is this it?” Mic yelled at the top of his lungs.

Tokoyami readied his dark shadow accordingly to go in for the kill but Tsuburaba had already moved by then. Tsuburaba created several air barriers, but this time on the ground and mid-air. He used the barriers as steps and ran up.

“Is Tsuburaba flying?”  Mic asked in disbelief. The crowd looked stunned too but Tokoyami kept his cool and diverted dark shadow towards Tsuburaba. The boy smirked as he formed another shield to his back.

Dark Shadow hit it as strong as he could but the barrier held up. Dark Shadow groaned in pain. Tsuburaba took Dark Shadow’s disorientation to his advantage and jumped down to attack the exposed Tokoyami.

Tokoyami’s eyes widened. He knew his physical strength wasn’t good enough to dodge the attack or fight back. Tsuburaba punched Tokoyami in the face as hard as he could.

Tokoyami flew backward, a trail of blood following him. Tsuburaba also hit the ground with a painful thud.

“Ah! Tsuburaba has surprisingly landed a hit in Tokoyami. No one could have expected the underdog to land a hit on one of the competition’s best!” Mic yelled.

“This is why you don’t underestimate anyone,” Aizawa interrupted, clearly unpleased one of his students had dropped their guard so easily, “With the momentum from the fall, Tsuburaba has probably knocked out Tokoyami,”

The crowd watched in bated breath as Tokoyami struggled to get up, Dark Shadow falling back to protect him.

“Why isn’t Tsuburaba trying to fight Tokoyami while he’s down?” Hitoshi asked.

“TSUBURABA! GO! HE’S EXPOSED NOW!” Monoma yelled to his classmate.

“Idiot, he can’t fight anymore,” Watanabe said.

“What, why?”

“Did you see how he had run up with his quirk? He might have injured Tokoyami very badly but the fall will have broken his bones too,” Watanabe explained.

Sure enough, Tsuburaba put up his arms in defeat, “My legs! My legs!” he groaned with pain. Midnight moved to check on him, her face concerned, “Tokoyami wins the match due to Tsuburaba not being able to continue!”

Some of the crowd booed at the dull ending of what was turning out to be a promising match but the rest applauded Tsuburaba for his effort.

Mic didn’t bother to address the boos, “Well folks, Tokoyami is the first contestant to advance to the quarter-finals. We’ll start the next match as soon as Tokoyami and Tsuburaba are escorted off the field,”

Tokoyami was still able to move and walked off the field to the recovery girl’s office but Tsuburaba had to be put on a stretcher by some medical robots and carried out.

“These humans are really fragile,”

“Why don’t we just replace them?”

Midnight looked skeptical, “Pretty weird for them to say that considering they all got destroyed during the entrance exam,” Midnight told Cementoss who shrugged.

“Now then folks, we’ll be heading straight on to the second match!” Mic announced, “Iida Tenya vs Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu,”

Iida and Tetsutetsu entered. Unlike Tokoyami and Tsuburaba who had serious faces on, Iida and Tetsutetsu smiled at each other and shook hands respectfully.

“Let’s have a manly fight!” Tetsutetsu grinned.

“Indeed! Good luck to you,” Iida bowed.

“Are you two ready?” Midnight asked.

“YES!” Tetsutetsu yelled energetically while Iida nodded curtly.

“Then, START!” Midnight shouted.

Iida immediately ran straight towards TetsuTestsu. He knew that he had no hope of fighting him one on one and was determined to push him off the ring.

Tetsutetsu dodged at the last moment and Iida almost skids out of bounds. He managed to use his hands to make a U-turn and face Tetsutetsu.

“Your quirk speeds you up, right?” Tetsutetsu asked rhetorically, “Well, you’re gonna have to try harder,”

Iida growled slightly with exasperation but made another attempt to catch Tetsutetsu. This time he just scraped past Tetsutetsu’s skin. He skidded with a stop once more and turned to face, “I’m much faster, so there’s no way you can keep dodging me,”

“That’s now what I meant,” Tetsutetsu said as Iida ran at him again. This time Iida was able to grasp him, but to his surprise, Tetsutetsu would not budge. Iida grunted, increasing the throttle on his engine.

However, Tetsutetsu simply picked him up and threw him off. Iida scowled as he shakily got up and stared at Tetsutetsu with an enquiring look.

“My quirk,” Tetsutetsu answered, seeing the curious look, “is Steel. Unlike Kirishima whose quirk is only hardening, my quirk makes me become steel!”

Iida’s eyes widened. Tetsutetsu saw the realization on his face and smirked, “Yup, my quirk increases my density and mass which makes me heavier. If you want to push me off, you’ll have to go full speed which would make you skid off with me too. And there’s no way of knowing who’ll go out first,” Tetsutetsu presented.

Iida frowned, “So you just pretended to be dumb?”

“All of us in 1B did. Everyone always underestimates us but we’re gonna win!” Tetsutetsu grinned, “You said it yourself, you thought we’re dumb,”

Iida looked embarrassed at that, “I apologize,”

“Don’t worry dude. At least you are owning up to it like a man!”

Iida nodded, “That’s why, I’m not going to give up either,” he said and started his engine with full throttle. Tetsutetsu turned his whole body into steel and shifted into a stance for preparation.

Iida ran straight at him. Tetsutetsu readied a punch to hit him straight on but Iida used the momentum to jump over him. He flipped back and went for Tetsutetsu’s exposed back. But, Tetsutetsu laid himself flat such that Iida missed him completely.

Iida stopped his throttle and barely stopped at the edge but Tetsutetsu had already gotten up and went to punch him. Iida had just enough time to turn around and use his engine to counter the momentum of the punch.

Iida caught Tetsutetsu’s hand and having gotten a huge grasp, he turned his engine to full power again. Tetsutetsu’s eyes widened and both of them sped up.

Tetsutetsu knew he was going to be thrown out of bounds and so, out of instinct he deactivated his quirk. The rapid reduction in mass increased their speed, catching Iida off guard.

The added acceleration shifted the weight towards Iida who crashed out of bounds before Tetsutetsu.

“Both Tetsutetsu and Iida are out of bounds. But who was out first!?” Mic asked, “To see that, we simply replay the clip!”

The clip was played in slow motion, “Tetsutetsu wins!” Midnight judged. The crowd cheered.

“Very quick thinking by the 1B student,” Mic praised.

Tetsutetsu ignored the commentary and helped Iida up, “That was a manly fight,”

Iida nodded with a smirk, “Well played. You deactivated your quirk to shift the weight to me, didn’t you?” he asked, his keen mind understanding what had happened very fast.

“Yup, but it was more out of a gut feeling than a tactic,” Tetsutetsu clarified, “Are you injured?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I dislocated my shoulder,”

“I’ll take you to recovery Girl. I’m unhurt anyway,”

“What sportsmanship between the two!” Mic pointed out to the crowd.

Kirishima was crying tears of joy, “So manly! Ah, if only I could have fought him!”

“Should have tried harder shitty hair!”

“We only lost because of you!”

“Tetsutetsu is smart,” Momo praised.

“So you noticed it too huh?” Izuku asked.

“It’s pretty plain to see,” Shouto agreed.

“We have no clue what you’re talking about!” Hiroshi pointed to their confused looks.

“I need to get to my match. You guys explain,” Momo ran.

“Tetsutetsu's quirk is steel which means?” Izuku asked like a teacher.

“Quit being a smartass!” Kaminari ordered his friend.

“Oh!” Watanabe realized, “His density and mass will increase too!”

“Exactly. So Iida was forced to use more acceleration and when he did that...”

“He skid off?”

“Not quite,”

Kaminari’s electricity crackled in annoyance as 1A also looked to be irritated. Luckily, Bakugou took over, “The steel guy deactivated his quirk and all the extra momentum diverted to Iida pushing him out of bounds faster,,

The class looked surprised, “Wow, that’s smart,” Hitoshi admitted, clearly impressed.

Kaminari meanwhile wasn’t too pleased, “You had to bring physics into this didn’t you?”

“It's simple physics. Greater the mass, more acceleration you need to produce a resultant force and-“

“Izu, we really want to keep a clear head. Please don’t start,” Kaminari begged.

Izuku chuckled, “Fine, I guess I’ll just theorize with Watanabe,” Izuku stuck out his tongue.

“You know Bakugou is slowly becoming more merciful than Midoriya,” Kirishima pointed out.

“What did you say shitty hair!?”

“Well you did just explain what Tetsutetsu did much faster than Izuku who was being a smartass. It was a mercy,” Sero pointed out.

“Merciful Bakugou, that will be your hero name,” Jiro said.

“As if!” Bakugou yelled.

“Relax we’re just kidding,” Sero laughed.

“Yeah well I don’t like it! Shut up!” Bakugou plead

“Nah you deserve it for making us lose,” Kirishima gave a friendly grin, “Bow, Izuku says you wet your bed till you were 8?”

“Tch,”

Chapter Text

“You are eating a lot,” Hatsume told Momo who was stuffing in as much food as possible, “I have to prepare myself for my match. I might need to make a lot of things,”

Hatsume nodded, “You know, we should collaborate sometime. With your unlimited supply and my inventing skills, we could be unstoppable!”

Momo nodded as she slurped the noodles, “We can try after the sports festival. At present, we are competitors,”

“Ah, don’t worry. I don’t plan to get to the next round anyway,” Hatsume said cavalierly.

Momo put down her bowl with a questioning look, “Why not?”

Hatsume looked around them, looking for someone before leaning in and whispering, “Don’t tell Monoma, but I offered to strap him with my equipment to show them off. He thinks it's because of sportsmanship, hah!”

Momo didn’t look too impressed, “That’s not very nice,”

Hatsume shrugged, “As you said, it’s a competition. And as someone from the support department, I need to catch the eyes of the support companies. Don’t worry, I’ll let him win after,”

“But isn’t that counter-intuitive too?” Shouto suddenly appeared from somewhere prompting Hatsume to yelp, “Where did you come from?”

Shouto shrugged and took a seat next to them, “If you get yourself knocked out now, the companies will think you are crazy. It’s better to go as far as you can,”

Momo nodded, “Shouto is right. The further you get in this competition, the more attention you get. You should give it your best instead!”

Hatsume frowned, “But who would demonstrate my babies then?”

“You could,” Momo replied, “Show them what you are made of!” she said determinedly as Shouto nodded beside her.

“Oh, that’s me. Gotta go!” Momo hastily put down her food and ran as Mic called the third match. Meanwhile, Hatsume was in deep thought. Why shouldn’t she go for the win? Did she not have trust in her equipment? Of course, she did. There was no one capable of competing with her babies!

Hatsume’s resolve hardened as her eyes burned with passion, “I’m going to win this thing!”

“Well… that was embarrassing,” Watanabe commented seeing the extremely short fight that had taken place. Izuku rolled his eyes at his cousin’s immaturity but he couldn’t really argue.

The fight had been decided in less than 10 seconds with Shiozaki releasing a mass of vines to trap Momo before she could create anything.

“This is getting embarrassing for class 1-A! Both of their vice reps have been taken out by 1-B students!” Mic added salt to injury.

“There will now be a short interlude to get rid of the vines!” Midnight announced, seeing the vines creeping across the stage. Even worse, Momo was still tangled in the vines, as if to humiliate her.

And so she was, Monoma started jeering at Momo, “Hah! You can’t even escape some vines! Just shows how much better 1B is!” Monoma cackled.

“That bastard!” Watanabe said through gritted teeth. Izuku would have stopped him from advancing but Izuku didn’t like what Monoma was saying and let Watanabe advance. But before he could get there, Kendo arrived on the scene and delivered swift retribution, “Sorry about that guys! He can be a bit much,” she apologized as she dragged away his limp body.

“A bit is an understatement,” Watanabe growled prompting Kaminari to chuckle, “Look who’s talking,”

“MOMO!” Jiro yelled from the stands, “Just make some blades from your skin to cut through the vines!”

Momo blinked a few times before turning red with embarrassment. She did as Jiro suggested and was free instantly. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of that. Embarrassed, and thoroughly humiliated by her performance, Momo left the stage with a drooping head as Midnight ushered her to Recovery Girl’s office to check out the bruises resulting from the vines.

The class was silent for a while, feeling sorry for Momo when Kaminari broke the silence by clearing his throat loudly, “Well, there’s no point in mulling over it like someone died, right?”

Hitoshi nodded solemnly, “Yup. Let’s talk about how Watanabe lied to us about his quirk!”

“What?” Watanabe asked as the rest of his classmates burst out into laughter. Watanabe looked to his cousin for help but he looked just as clueless, indicating both of them were left out of the joke.

“Kaminari, what are they talking about?” Watanabe asked his best friend who stopped laughing and put on a mock, hurt expression, “I can’t believe you’d lie to me, your best friend too,” he wiped a fake tear.

“I did tell you how my quirk works! It’s vision change!” Watanabe replied, agitated.

“Ah, there he goes lying again,” Hitoshi replied with a shake of his head.

“There’s no use hiding it anymore,” Kirishima clutched Watanabe’s arm with a grin, “We know your quirk is Erasure. Just like Aizawa-sensei!”

“Wh-what?” Watanabe looked confused.

“Really? I heard it was foresight like Nighteye,” Kaminari added.

“No, no, it’s erasure of the future!” Hitoshi chuckled.

Izuku looked astonished, “Watanabe! Is that true?”

“Of course not!” Watanabe burst, “That’s not at all what my quirk does. Who the hell spread this!?” Watanabe demanded, catching on to the fact that his friends were joking.

“Nighteye did. The dumbass thinks you have foresight,” Bakugou added.

Watanabe looked to the other students for confirmation and got a nod from each of them, “Ok, how does that even work?” Watanabe thought hard.

“Well, you did evade all the mines and obstacles in the first round,” Jiro pointed out.

“Yeah, but was because of my X-ray!”

“They don’t know that,”

Watanabe grumbled, “Ok fine. What about the erasure?” he asked.

“Remember how you shut off Tetsutetsu’s arms momentarily?” Kirishima asked.

“Oh, crap…” Watanabe said as realization dawned upon him, “And I assume people mixed the two and made it into Erasure of the future or whatever bullshit you said?”

“Bingo! Here, have a cookie,” Kaminari conjured from somewhere and threw at his unimpressed friend.

“Let’s not be hasty. There might be something to it,” Izuku pointed out, taking the joke a bit too seriously.

Watanabe looked at his cousin venomously, “Oh, don’t you start!” he ordered, knowing Izuku could make a mountain out of this particular molehill.

Izuku laughed and held his up in defeat, “Just kidding,”

“Uhuh,” Watanabe said, knowing that Izuku would analyze this new information in his mind regardless, “Well in one way, it is pretty good,” Watanabe smirked.

“How so?” Hitoshi asked.

“Well, with my quirk, I have to go either undercover or rescue or maybe even both. If I can already fool people now, it will be much easier for me!” Watanabe grinned sadistically, “And since they think it’s Erasure, I’ll just turn my eyes red and make them think I’m erasing their quirks!” Watanabe laughed.

Kaminari and the other students instinctively stepped away from Watanabe’s mad cackling.

Meanwhile, Shouto who had been watching the interaction with interest, walked up to Watanabe, “Are you Aizawa-sensei’s secret love child?”

Watanabe stopped cackling and stared hard at Shouto. The rest of his classmates did the same, their mouths gaping, “How do you come to that conclusion!?” Kaminari asked Shouto.

“Well, both have eye quirks, and their eye color changes,” Shouto shrugged.

“I…no Aizawa-sensei isn’t my dad,” Watanabe said, “That’s my dad!” Watanabe pointed across the stadium to Ryuzen.

“Hmm, that means Nighteye is your father,” Shouto replied.

Watanabe’s mouth fell, “I just said that’s my father!” he exclaimed.

“Foster father,” Shouto corrected. This time Watanabe didn’t reply and just stared at the sheer absurdity of his classmate. He turned to Izuku for help who cleared his throat, “Shouto,” he said kindly, “How did you come to that conclusion?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Shouto asked his classmates, all of whom looked just as dumbfounded as Watanabe.

Shouto shook his head and began to explain, “Nighteye also has an eye quirk,”

“Yeah, so does Aizawa-sensei and we already know that’s not the case,” Kaminari replied. The joke was becoming a bit too ridiculous now.

Shouto put up his hand, “I know. But this has to do with the fact that All Might is Izuku’s father!”

“WHAT!?” Izuku and all the students exclaimed at once as Watanabe facepalmed harder.

“Isn’t it obvious? His quirk is similar to All Might’s in its destructive power AND Izuku always meets with All Might during lunch!”

“So does Watanabe sometimes,” Hitoshi wondered out loud.

“Ah, but that’s the twist! Nighteye is Watanabe’s father and All Might is Izuku’s! Both of them left their families due to being heroes. That’s how both of them know each other and you can see Izuku even got the green hair from Nighteye. His hair is slightly green too!” Shouto said.

The entirety of class 1-A sighed deeply.

Watanabe grabbed Shouto and started pinching him, “Ow! What are you doing?” Shouto yelped.

“Ok, so not under mind control,” Watanabe said, “Are you hallucinating, maybe in a state of delirium?” Watanabe asked.

“I’m fine!”

Watanabe wasn’t taking that answer and continued probing him, using his fingers to examine his eyes, “Hmm, no signs of concussion, but you surely must have had a hard knock in the cavalry battle,”

“I did not! I’m totally fine!” Shouto replied.

“Evidently not!”

“How not?”

“Because no one sane thinks of something that scatterbrained!” Watanabe said, “I’m not Nighteye’s son and Izuku’s isn’t All Might’s son either!”

Shouto didn’t look convinced but nodded regardless. Watanabe huffed and sat down while Kaminari looked genuinely convinced that Izuku was All Might’s son. Why else would he be training Izuku and his friends? And so, he ventured forth to ask Izuku but before he could even open his mouth, Izuku replied, “No, I’m not,”

“How do you know I was going to ask that?” Kaminari asked, bemused.

“Your face looked too serious,” Izuku grinned.

“NO, I’M NOT GENETICALLY MODIFIED!” Watanabe suddenly shouted.

Ryuzen watched Watanabe laughing with his friends fondly. He was proud of his son. He knew he should go and congratulate him or talk to him but he had duties to attend to do. He had been ordered by higher-ups to keep an eye on Hawks and make sure he didn’t do anything stupid.

The hero in question did not know that he was being followed and continued his path around UA’s hallways, evidently searching for something.

Unbeknownst to both of them, they were being followed by a third person, Nedzu. The rat principal was only following Ryuzen since he was still suspicious of him, but now, he saw that Ryuzen was in fact following Hawks.

Nedzu could not understand why Ryuzen would be following Hawks. He knew Ryuzen was employed in the commission but he also knew that Hawks had been trained by the commission. There was no reason for Ryuzen to follow Hawks, unless, one of them happened to be good.

In Ryuzen’s case, Nedzu didn’t know what rank he held. Not everyone at the commission was evil, he was sure of that. There were desk jockeys, clerks, office workers, and so many more who did not know of what was happening behind their backs.

On the other hand, Hawks had been groomed by the hero commission since an early age. Aizawa had even found records of him being sent on undercover missions illegally. There were also instances of him being sent to capture or even kill agents. Not that Nedzu had proof of it, but there was no one else that could have done something like that.

The case seemed piled against Hawks but Ryuzen seemed very suspicious indeed. Though, Nedzu had no proof of that except Ryuzen had seemingly used Inko to get information out of her. Then again, it was information he should have known. But even if Nedzu accepted those points, there was still the problem that Ryuzen was trained enough to avoid Hawks knowing he was there. The only reason Nedzu could shadow them was that he also had access to the cameras.

This led Nedzu to his final, and what he felt, was the more probable observation. Hawks was still a hero, so it could just be that he was trying to fight back against the hero commission. It seemed unlikely that Hawks could forever be manipulated by the commission. He was no longer a kid and was bound to fight back. If that was the case, Hawks could have been given a mission to obtain information within UA and Ryuzen was ordered to make sure he completed the mission.

Nedzu hummed in thought. This observation did seem more appealing to him but he was faced with a conundrum. He only had one move left to deal with this. If he approached Hawks to coerce him on their side but he turned out to be wrong, the commission would know.

If Nedzu approached Ryuzen instead, thinking that he was good, but was, in fact, wrong, the commission would know again. Both of them could not be approached by him as at least one must be evil, considering their activities.

Lastly, if Nedzu went with the theory that both were evil, and let them run free, who knew how much information they could steal, and how many illegal activities they could commit. Ryuzen had already proven that he was trained when it came to stealth considering he evaded Hawks’ suspicions, and Nedzu knew that Hawks was one of the hardest to sneak past.

Nedzu decided the best course of action would be to weed the current problem at hand first and then decide on his next course of action. So, he used a shortcut to get ahead of them and walked abruptly in front of Hawks with a smile, “Ah Hawks! Can I help you?”

The number 2 hero was taken in surprise and stuttered, “Ahh, P-principal Nedzu! How are you doing?”

“Wonderfully well. Although preparing for the festival has been hell,” Nedzu replied good-naturedly. He observed Ryuzen fade away into the shadows out of the corner of his eyes.

Nedzu ignored that for now, “So, can I help you?”

“I was just looking for the washroom,” Hawks excused.

“Well, it’s not down here. This is restricted space for everyone except the staff,” Nedzu pointed to a sign.

“Oh, I must have missed it. Where is the washroom then?” Hawks asked with an innocent smile. Nedzu simply pointed to another sign, showing the way. Hawks thanked the principal and went on his way.

Nedzu turned, and pretended to walk away but actually hid to see whether Ryuzen would follow Hawks. Nedzu waited for some time but did not see anything. He was about to step out when a voice behind, made him stiffen, “Ah, Principal Nedzu! I thought you were in the audience?” Ryuzen suddenly appeared.

“I was,” Nedzu smiled back, “I just needed to check up on a few things. Can’t be too safe you know?”

Ryuzen nodded, “I understand. I must apologize for coming down here, but all the washrooms on the upper floor are filled because of the interval. I had to come down to the staff washroom,” Ryuzen rearranged Hawks’ excuse into something more believable.

“Completely understandable,” Nedzu smiled, although his panic rose, “I assume you are going back to watch the match now?”

“Yes, of course!” Ryuzen smiled and walked away. Once Ryuzen was out of sight, Nedzu rushed to the server room, to make sure nothing had been stolen in the time he had lost sight of Ryuzen.

The doors leading to the room were closed and Nedzu knew there was no way to obtain any information without breaking in. It seemed like Ryuzen really was just following Hawks.

Nedzu switched to the teacher’s channel on his radio, “Ectoplasm, I need extra clones to secure the information room,”

“Copy that,” Ectoplasm replied on the other side. Nedzu decided to wait for the clones to appear. He didn’t trust Hawks to not try again. He pulled up the cameras on his tablet and saw that Ryuzen was already back in the box, and Hawks was sitting in the space, reserved for the pro-heroes.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMAN! Welcome back to the final round of the festival! We now have our fourth fight! Kaminari Denki vs Todoroki Shouto! Can Kaminari pull a double on father and son?” Mic’s loud commentary reached Nedzu’s sensitive ears. Nedzu chuckled, Yamada always knew how to rile up the contestants.

Nedzu really wanted to watch this match. It seemed like it would have a lot of potential but he had much more to think about, “It’s not like I can assign the teachers to tail Hawks and Ryuzen. The only one with that capability is Aizawa or Snipe. Plus, there are more commission members we need to look after. Just because Hawks failed, doesn’t mean they’ll stop,” Nedzu thought to himself, “I’ll just have to keep an extra eye on them,” Nedzu resigned to himself as the Ectoplasm clones appeared.

The clones gave a nod of respect to the principal. Nedzu smiled back and started to walk out when a loud noise, akin to a thunderbolt rocked the stadium. Nedzu nearly fell at the explosiveness of the sound, mixed with the shaking.

Nedzu ran outside, fearing that it was a villain attack. His fearful look was replaced with an interested grin. The match had gotten off to a tremendous start!

Chapter Text

“What the hell just happened there?” Kirishima asked in surprise. The entire class had the same reaction, clearly not expecting a freaking thunderbolt to crash into Shouto’s ice and enveloping them all in smoke.

“That was way too fast to see!” Hagakure responded.

“Did Kaminari’s lightning break through the ice?” Ojiro asked.

“No. That wouldn’t have caused steam,” Bakugou pointed out lazily, “The lightning should have just split the ice apart,”

“So, what happened?” Aoyama asked.

“How the hell should I know?”

“Huh?” Kirishima was confused, “You’re the one who-”

“I just said you’re wrong,” Bakugou cut him off, “If you want to know what happened, ask those nerds,” he pointed to Izuku and Watanabe, “He is the extra’s friends after all,”

The rest of the class turned their gaze towards the cousins, “So, do you know what just happened?” Jiro asked.

“Yes,” Watanabe replied. The class waited for more information but it became evident that it wasn’t going to happen.

“Well, aren’t you going to tell us!?” Hitoshi demanded.

“Of course not,” Izuku replied, “We are all competing so it’s not fair to give away his secret. After the sports festival,” he replied.

“Oh, come on, tell us!” Hitoshi urged, “Watanabe, you’re always running your mouth!”

“No, I don’t,” Watanabe replied shortly, “And anyway, you guys should be able to figure it out yourselves,” he challenged.

The class looked around each other, “Well Momo, you’re up,” Iida said.

“W-what? Why me?” Momo asked nervously.

“You’re the only one who’s as smart as Izuku!” Iida said with confidence.

“W-well, I’ll try but we won’t know for sure without any confirmation,” Momo said.

“Hardly,” Watanabe replied, “If you get it right, then Izuku will be jumping up and down like a chimp!”

“Hey!” Izuku yelled, “I won’t!”

“Really?” Watanabe asked rhetorically making Izuku shut up, “Have at it!” Watanabe offered with a smile.

Momo looked slightly hesitant, “Let’s see how the match progresses first,” she said, needing some new information. Watanabe nodded in understanding.

The smoke slowly dispersed, revealing a sizzling crack in the middle, where lightning and ice had met. Both Kaminari and Shouto were panting hard. Kaminari sported a nasty burn on his right forearm while Shouto seemed to have been electrocuted a few times.

The ground had some residue of water but it was already vanishing into thin air. Momo’s eyes widened, “Of course! Kaminari’s quirk is electricity which means he can control all the properties!” she said excitedly.

Watanabe smirked, “Bingo!”

The other classmates looked confused, “What does that have to do with anything?” Sato asked.

“Don’t you see!?’ Momo exclaimed. Her classmates’ perplexed looks showed that they did not. Momo shook her head, “It means, he can control voltage output, current output, and resistance output!”

Iida gaped, as it slowly caught on to him, “You mean to say he upped the resistance while keeping current constant to produce a stream of heat!”

“Yeah! You guys got it!” Izuku smiled while jumping up.

Watanabe looked at his cousin, amused, “Thought you said you won’t be jumping, Jackrabbit,”

Izuku scowled, “Whatever, let’s just watch the fight,” he said. The class was much more interested in the fight now that they knew the workings behind it.

“Why aren’t they making a move?”

“Standard tactics. For long-range quirks, defense is better,” Iida explained.

“That’s still a nasty burn on Kaminari,” Jiro observed worryingly.

“Hmph, the extra can walk it off,” Bakugou said firmly. He had thought that Kaminari was a fool but this new quirk usage had evidently proved him wrong. Decreasing the resistance to produce enough heat to vaporize the ice… “Must have been hard,” he muttered to himself but Kirishima caught on to it and laughed, “You must be really impressed to hand out compliments,” he grinned.

Bakugou scowled but thankfully none of the students heard Kirishima as they were too busy, fixated on the opposing stands. Endeavour had walked up to the edge, yelling his head off, “SHOUTO! STOP BEING A BRAT AND USE YOUR FIRE!”

The boy scowled but Mic wasn’t passing up this opportunity to insult the number 2 hero, “Oh, it looks like Endeavour is trying to use his son to avenge his loss at the hands of Kaminari! How sickening!” Mic pretended to gag.

Aizawa cracked a smile as he watched Endeavour fume while he was kept in place by a glaring Yagi who dared him to do something about it.

Eventually, Shouto went for round 2 of his attack. This time, he sent his ice to his right and left in an effort to encircle Kaminari. Denki didn’t panic and headed straight down the middle, which had been left empty.

Shouto smirked as Kaminari had taken the bait. He launched a mountain of ice down the middle. Kaminari didn’t bat an eye as he released another stream of electricity. With such a big target to aim at, he didn’t need to control his output safely.

There was another crash of a thunderbolt as the stadium was engulfed in rushing steam.

“This one’s bigger,” Uraraka said as she ducked beneath one of the chairs. “Watanabe, what’s happening?” Izuku asked as his cousin switched to infrared, “Looks like Kaminari is trying to get in close but with all the wind,” Watanabe groaned as the wind nearly knocked him off his feet, “I don’t think he knows Shouto’s position,” he said.

The wind came to a standstill, but the steam was still engulfing the ground. In the midst of it, lightning streaks could be seen dancing around the battleground. Shouto’s attempts at making ice blocks could also be heard in the awe-struck stadium.

“We really have a beautiful match people!” Mic was enthusiastic, “We have had TWO thunderbolts now and our contestants don’t seem like they will be stopping!”

Nedzu watched the fight from a safe distance. A clash of the elements was something that was rarely viewed and couple that together with the physics required to keep the current and resistance in just the right proportions… this was a great match. But Nedzu knew this match symbolized something more.

There was no way for Shouto to win without using fire. Nedzu knew that he had been given a harsh wake-up at USJ for that when Izuku was hurt because of him. But would he buck up this time? That was the lingering question.

The smoke dissipated once more. Kaminari had a second burn but Shouto looked much worse this time. His left arm was bleeding and his hair was standing up due to the shocks. Add to that the bruising and Shouto’s eye scar was looking pretty clean in comparison.

“I told you,” Kaminari said in between breaths, “No way to win against me without the fire!”

Shouto scowled, “I told you!” he said menacingly, “I won’t use his power!” he yelled at the top of his lungs and released another ice glacier.

“And I told you!” Kaminari said as he prepared to release another flurry of lightning attacks, “That your reason’s stupid!” he yelled as the two elements met once again in a deafening crash. Luckily this time, Kaminari had not amped up the resistance and the electricity simply sliced apart the ice.

Kaminari rushed in to use the close combat he learned from Torino. Although Shouto had learned combat from Endeavour too, it was no match against Torino’s style, “Do you really think,” Kaminari spoke as he delivered a flurry of punches, “That using your fire makes you like Endeavour!” he demanded as he delivered a brutal roundhouse kick.

Shouto was sent flying back into a wall of ice. He shook as he slowly got up, blood pouring out of his head, “IF THAT’S THE CASE, HALF YOUR DNA IS FROM YOUR FATHER! GET RID OF THAT TOO! IF USING HIS QUIRK GIVES YOUR WIN TO HIM, HOW DOESN’T YOUR RELATION!?” Kaminari demanded angrily.

“Stop being an idiot!” he added as Shouto tensed, “One day, someone will die because you couldn’t use your fire, or because you lost control! What will you say then?” he asked rhetorically, “Are you going to tell their families that your stupid daddy issues were more important than their lives!?” Kaminari sneered, “Or are you going to try your fucking best so you don’t end up with collateral like Endeavour!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.

The crowd’s yelling had made sure that the conversation was not heard, but the teachers and students were close enough, and they were stunned into silence.

Watanabe smiled seeing his friend. There was a reason he had introduced Izuku and Denki. Kaminari had helped him become better after Toga, so he knew he’d be able to help Izuku. And here he was now, helping out Shouto too.

Shouto suddenly smiled crazily, “You, Izuku, and Watanabe… you three really don’t stop talking huh?” he said as his flames exploded into action.

Kaminari grinned, “Don’t get cocky just because you are using your fire. I’ll still win!” he said.

“Let’s see about that,” Shouto readied his attack, “Ice won’t work, and I only have enough for 1 more move,”

“Then let’s decide it with that one move,” Kaminari grinned and prepared his own attack.

“CEMENTOSS!” Midnight warned.

“I know!” Cementoss yelled back as he quickly formed several cement walls to block the attack. But it was to no avail as the lightning and fire hit each other and formed a fiery explosion at the center. Instead of letting the fire engulf the ground, Cementoss raised the fire above everyone’s head by controlling the cement underneath.

Midnight looked down to check on Kaminari and Shouto and found Kaminari in the same exact position while Shouto had flown out of bounds, “Kaminari wins!” she announced and rushed over to help.

“Hey, how come Kaminari did not budge?” Watanabe asked Izuku, very confused, “The fire should have thrown him out too,”

Izuku shook his head, “The heat from the fire increased the resistance of Kaminari’s current,”

“So… The fire just strengthened Kaminari’s attack?” Hitoshi asked hesitantly.

“Yup. The fire just increased the resistance of the electricity and all the heat got shoved Shouto’s way. Even he has a limit to how much heat he can handle,” Izuku explained.

“So, Shouto should have just kept using his ice,” Sato determined.

“Nope,” Watanabe smirked, “If he used ice, either the electricity would split the ice apart, or the ice would melt from the electric heat and would form a conductor pathway for Shouto to be electrocuted,”

“Wait, so, Shouto was screwed either way,” Hitoshi said, “If he used the fire, the electricity would become stronger but if he used ice, the electricity would just melt the ice or slice through,”

“A lose-lose situation,” Jiro hummed.

“So, there’s no way he could win?” Iida asked.

“As Watanabe said, Kaminari needed a conductor pathway. He’s a taser, not a stun gun. Both the fire and ice created a pathway for the electricity to conduct through. He should have kept his distance and have Kaminari push,” Izuku explained in detail.

“But in close combat, Kaminari could act as a taser anyway and knock Shouto out,” Kirishima pointed out.

“Er, yes but at least Shouto could freeze him easier, or even use his fire to burn Kaminari faster,”

“I think,” Momo said, “If Shouto had used both his fire and ice, he could win. Think about it, use the ice to corner Kaminari. When the electricity melts through the ice, evaporate the water that forms with the fire and block off the conductor. Kaminari would tire himself out faster than Shouto,” Momo made an alternate plan.

“That’s all good and well, but,” Iida stared, “You did hear that he has issues with his father, didn’t you?” Iida reminded them of the conversation between Kaminari and Shouto while they were fighting, “I know he has problems but it’s disgraceful to not use both his quirks!”

Watanabe patted Iida on the back to reassure him, “Don’t worry. I have a feeling he’ll start using his fire too now,”

Izuku turned to the rest of the class and cleared his throat to gain their attention, “Guys, it goes without saying, but if anyone of you pick on Shouto about his fire… I’ll personally make sure you meet a fate worse than Mineta,” Izuku said.

1-A collectively gulped. It wasn’t the danger of the threat or the icy, cold tone Izuku had said it in. It was the fact that Izuku was smiling whilst threatening them… a smile that threatened pain beyond anything else.

Even Bakugou flinched under the icy glare the entire class was getting. Watanabe smirked. People always thought he was the scary one, but no, Izuku could and would end you if he was angry.

Unlike Watanabe, who would resort to physically hurting them, Izuku would break them down mentally until the entire world was against you. He’d make you hurt without laying a finger. A chill went up Watanabe’s spine, “Perhaps I should not have corrupted him…” Watanabe thought to himself.

________________________________________________________

Elsewhere, Dabi was watching the sports festival with mixed feelings. On one hand, he loved Kaminari for electrocuting the shit out of his father, but Shouto was his brother. He may not have liked him before but he was certain his childhood wasn’t very good either.

To be honest, he had expected his little brother to win. He had an extra quirk to use and was trained by the number 2 hero. Then again, Kaminari had already beaten the number 2 hero and Dabi doubted Shouto had the same experience or power level as Endeavour. Plus, there was no way of knowing whether Shouto was actually an arrogant jerk by now.

Dabi turned to Toga, “You know what? I’m much happier that Kaminari won,”

“Cool, now go gloat over the fight on that fan page you made,” Toga said scathingly.

“Hmph, anyway how come you’re watching?” Dabi asked, “You never watch the festival because it’s ‘stupid’”

“Let’s just say that I have an interest in someone,” Toga replied shortly.

“Watanabe, right?” Dabi asked as Toga turned slightly pale, “I like him too. He’s the one who insulted Endeavour in the court. You looked… happy whenever you saw him on TV. Why?” Dabi asked inquisitively.

Toga didn’t bother replying and slipped out the room, shutting the door with a bang.

“I wonder what that was about,” Dabi thought to himself, “Did I cross a line?” he asked himself. He didn’t think he had.

Shrugging it off, he went to said fan page which he had made. It turned out there were a lot of Endeavour haters and Kaminari’s fan page was about 1500 strong. Dabi scrolled down the page. Most of the posts were congratulating Kaminari on his win but one caught his eye. It was comparing Kaminari to All Might, the symbol of peace. It looked like an innocent post, but it formed an idea in Dabi’s head.

He quickly created his own post and wrote:

Kaminari Denki has defeated Todoroki Shouto, the number 2 hero’s son! Kaminari has already surpassed the number 2 hero and has cemented the fact by defeating his son as well. He might usurp All Might’s position as the symbol of peace.

The similarities between All Might and Kaminari are explicit. Both have yellow hair, with very strong quirks and both look to be dumb but are intelligent fighters. Even their smile is similar. Only the son of the number 1 hero should have been able to defeat the son of the number 2 hero.

So could it be that Kaminari Denki… is All Might’s secret love child!?

Chapter Text

“WHOO!” Stain jumped up in excitement as Kaminari defeated Shouto.  The criminal had been watching the festival with interest to survey the next batch of heroes. Kaminari, Izuku, Watanabe, and Uraraka; Stain was sure they would be true heroes considering the way they had handled Endeavour.

The festival cut to a short break and the advertisements started. Stain sighed and picked up the list of heroes that he planned to attack.

He had given up killing any heroes ever since Storm and Chaos’ article. Now, he just injured them instead of killing them. Killing them would make them martyrs but injuring them would cause their ratings to fall as they would be out of commission for a while. And soon, they would be forgotten.

It wasn’t a good plan, he’d admit, but he didn’t have the intelligence of Storm and Chaos to lash out against them online and succeed. No, this was a better alternative, at least for him. He picked out a specific hero; Ingenium. The man had excellent ratings and there was no public outcry about him. Unlike the other heroes Stain had attacked, Ingenium did not have a single dark spot on his past that would warrant a visit.

Nevertheless, Stain was tempted to attack him and find out whether his ambition was as resolute as it was shown. He checked the timetable for Ingenium’s patrol and found that he’d be passing in approximately half an hour, “Good, that gives me time to finish watching the first round,” Stain muttered to himself.

Stain picked up his phone; the very one that he had bought instead of stealing because apparently, he had a moral compass. He went to the Kaminari fan page, knowing that it would be brimming after that fight. The fan page was a literal bash on Endeavour and Stain had gotten a lot of information from it.

Stain noticed a new post, that was gaining a lot of traction, very fast. He looked closer into it. His eyes widened as he read through the lines, “Kaminari Denki… All Might’s son!?” he thought to himself, shocked.

Now that it had been pointed out, he did see the similarities; the yellow hair, the overwhelming power, towering over their peers in strength. Both of them always had a smile plastered on their faces as well. Stain clenched his hands with resolute determination, he would have to keep a special lookout to make sure All Might’s son did not fall!

“And now folks, we will move to our next fight,” Mic announced, “It’s… Midoriya Izuku vs Shinsou Hitoshi!” Mic presented the two with gusto.

Izuku took a deep breath and walked to the ring. He was aware that if he got caught in Hitoshi’s brainwashing, he was done for! All he had to do was keep his mouth shut and his win was assured. He had more than enough experience putting up with Bakugou to know how to keep your mouth shut. He took a deep breath, trying to ignore the crowd’s chants and keep his cool.

Meanwhile, Hitoshi was much more nervous. He was fully aware that Izuku possessed greater combat prowess than he could match and, he had also shown how his quirk worked in the battle simulation. Izuku had already analyzed it entirely, which meant he couldn’t spring any surprise on him… all except one final surprise.

“Are the two of you ready?” Midnight asked. Izuku didn’t want to give away a verbal reply and gave a simple nod with Hitoshi doing the same. Kayama nodded and shouted, “START!”

Immediately, Izuku shot forward to end the match as fast as he could before Hitoshi potentially coerced him to speak. But just as he put his foot forward to rush at Hitoshi, Izuku froze, unable to control his body.

Hitoshi looked shocked, “Can’t believe it worked,” he muttered before snapping out of his bewilderment, “Anyway, turn around and walk out of the ring, Midoriya Izuku,” Hitoshi ordered.

Surprising everyone, Izuku did turn and start to walk out, “H-hah!” Mic was surprised, “Izuku’s walking out, just like that!”

“Did I miss something?” Kaminari asked Watanabe, “They didn’t talk, right?”

Watanabe shook his head, “No they didn’t. Interesting…” Watanabe looked on, intrigued by whatever Hitoshi had done to outsmart his cousin.

Yagi looked with concern at his student. He knew that it was quite a long shot for Izuku to win at his current level, but he didn’t want him to lose like this! “Don’t lose like this…” he pleaded quietly in his mind.

Inside Izuku’s mind, he was in a state of panic, “No, no. Don’t! Stupid legs, stop walking!” he desperately tried to order. He didn’t want to lose! But what could he do? In order to break out of the brainwash, he needed to be given a shock, and there wasn’t anyone who could do that. He had researched Hitoshi’s quirk extensively to know that this was the endgame…

Izuku’s eyes would have widened, had he control over his body, “Of course… I analyzed Shinsou’s quirk! I even got him to put me under his control to see what it felt like… and I couldn’t control my thoughts!” Izuku remembered. Renewed determination coursed through him, “For me to think freely and still be able to see what is happening… it means his brainwashing is very weak! I just need the smallest amount of shock!” Izuku concluded.

Izuku’s heart beat faster as he was fast approaching the boundary, “Wait, all I need is a mental shock!” Izuku thought to himself, “Come on think, think!” he ordered his mind, “What can make you get some sort of a shock?”

Izuku tried to think of the times Bakugou hurt him but all that did was infuriate him and sadden him at the same time. He tried to think of all the stupid stuff Watanabe and Kaminari did but that didn’t work either. He needed to get a chill up his spine, “Wait that’s it!” Izuku grinned evilly in his mind.

“You get a papercut and rub sanitizer over it,” Izuku visibly winced at that, but it wasn’t enough for him to break out. Hitoshi narrowed his eyes. He could have sworn that he saw Izuku move involuntarily but there was no way… right?

“A needle is embedded into the skin under the nail,” This time Izuku almost broke out, as a small squeal was heard from him. Shinsou grew more hesitant and ordered, “RUN OUT OF BOUNDS!”

Izuku involuntarily started running. Izuku cursed in his mind and swiftly imagined the last thing he could, that he hoped would break the brainwash, “A spoon rubbed against a plate, chalk scraping on a board!” This time a chill went up Izuku’s spine and the shock was enough to break him out from the brainwash. Izuku gasped loudly, “I can’t believe it worked!” he thought to himself as he gasped for air.

“What’s this now!? Izuku has somehow broken free! What a strange turn of events! Aizawa, what is up with your class!?” Mic demanded from his friend.

Aizawa gave a confident smirk and refused to answer.

“Fine, keep your secrets!” Mic replied. Aizawa’s smirk did not fade as he thought to himself, “I have no clue myself. What am I supposed to tell you?”

Hitoshi could not believe what he was seeing, “How did you get out!?” he demanded, asking the same question that the audience was. Izuku didn’t reply, he couldn’t let Hitoshi place him under control again. He rushed once more at Hitoshi who cursed, knowing that he couldn’t get Izuku to budge. Still, he tried, “What, don’t I deserve the answer because I have a villainous quirk!?” he tried to bait.

The bait didn’t work as Izuku caught Hitoshi’s collar and struggled to throw him out of bounds. Hitoshi knew he had no chance but that didn’t stop him from trying to counter the grab. He tried to knock Izuku’s feet from under him but Izuku was quick to jump up and use his quirk to throw him away.

Hitoshi plopped onto the ground with a grunt.

“You really have no shame, huh?” Izuku asked rhetorically.

Hitoshi grinned, “None at all,” he replied as Izuku helped him back up to his feet.

“MIDORIYA IZUKU WINS!”

Izuku and Hitoshi went up to the seating area after their fight, “What the hell happened in that fight!?” Kaminari demanded, “I mean, Izuku got brainwashed without even uttering a word, and then somehow he broke out of it too! HOW!?”

“Yeah, how?” Watanabe asked too. He was also confused as to what had happened during the fight. Izuku took to explaining his part first, “I don’t know how Hitoshi got me, but it was very weak. I still had control over my emotions and thoughts,” Izuku told them.

“But anyway, I understood that I just needed a little shock, even a mental shock would do. So, I thought of anything that could send a chill up my spine,” Izuku explained to them.

Ashido didn’t understand what Izuku was talking about, “Like what?”

“Like imagining the sound of a spoon rubbing against a plate, and also the feeling you get when you put sanitizer over a papercut,”

The entirety of the class winced at the imagery, “…I can see how that would cause a mental shock,” Tsuyu agreed, “But what about Shinsou?” she asked with interest.

Hitoshi grinned sheepishly, “Well remember when Izuku was describing everything that was happening during Shouto’s fight?”

“Yeah…”

“Well after getting the response, I just shut up to maintain the link. And then when the fight started, I just activated my quirk…”

The class went silent. Hitoshi gulped; he had really done it this time. He had been so happy to have gotten proper classmates and friends but this one stupid action probably threw that all out the window, “You guys must think I’m a villain, huh,” He asked, staring at the ground in shame.

“It was unprofessional and unjust,” Iida warned, “But, Watanabe has been doing that ever since the start of the festival, so you need not worry about us thinking you as a villain. You are still a hero in training, much like the rest of us,” Iida lectured.

“Yup,” Hagakure said cheerfully, “Watanabe has the higher chance of being mistaken for a villain!”

“Can attest to that,” Kaminari said. “Hey!” Watanabe sulked at his friend’s words.

Chapter Text

“We move onto our next match now!” Mic announced, “On one side, it’s the outstanding Hattori Watanabe! He has finished first in both the previous rounds and is one of the favorites. But are his combat skills as good as his intelligence!?” Mic asked rhetorically.

The crowd roared as a mix of opinions was heard. It didn’t hurt that Watanabe’s quirk discussions had affected his standings. Surely someone with foresight or even erasure could not be defeated?

“On the other end, we have one of the dark horses of this competition. She wowed everyone with her performance in the cavalry battle. It’s Asui Tsuyu!” Mic announced as the crowd cheered her on loudly, “It will be interesting to see whether Watanabe can keep up with her agile movements,” Mic analyzed as the contestants made their way onto the grounds.

“Good luck, Watanabe,” Tsuyu smiled.

“You too, Asui,”

“Call me Tsu-chan,”

“Are the two of you ready?” Midnight asked. The two grinned and nodded, “START!” She loudly announced.

Both contestants moved towards each other to engage in close combat, but Tsuyu was faster as she landed the first blow; an open palm strike to the back of Watanabe’s head. Watanabe staggered but managed to retreat to a safe distance, or so he thought.

Tsuyu was immediately back on top of him, this time her tongue lashing out wildly. It connected to Watanabe’s cheek, leaving a nasty sting. Tsuyu, “I can’t let him think,” she thought as she used her acrobatic and jumping skills to weave in and out of Watanabe’s defensive stance as well as making feints.

“I knew she was fast, but I underestimated just how much,” Watanabe grimaced as he narrowly blocked a spinning kick, “I can’t even get enough space to think!” Watanabe grunted as he laid flat on the ground to evade Tsuyu’s tongue.

On the other hand, Tsuyu had a problem of her own, “The way I have been attacking, Watanabe should have skidded to the boundary a long time back… but he is still in the same position. Yet, the attacks are having an effect,” Tsuyu analyzed, puzzled by this.

Tsuyu lashed out her tongue again but this time Watanabe caught it and flung Tsuyu away. Tsuyu crashed onto the ground, mere meters away from the boundary. “This is my chance!” Watanabe thought. He lifted up one of his sleeves and started to remove it, but Tsuyu had already gotten up and barged into him.

Watanabe felt his breath leave him but he had at least managed to remove one of the bracelets.

BOOM!

There was a loud noise as the bracelet fell to the ground and created a substantial crater. Tsuyu looked at the bracelet in shock, “What the hell! Were those weights?” She asked rhetorically. She got her answer soon after as two more bracelets were flung at her.

Tsuyu noticed them from the corner of her eye and narrowly dodged the first one but the second one caught her at the wrist. She winced as she heard the bone crack at the impact. Whether it was broken or dislocated, she did not know and had no time to ponder either as she was forced to dodge the fourth one.

Both of the dodged bracelets landed right below the stands and created dents of their own, rocking the stands.

“Phew, I feel lighter already,” Watanabe grinned as she suddenly appeared behind Tsuyu and delivered a roundhouse kick forcing her away.

Tsuyu managed to land on her feet and stared at Watanabe while holding up her limp wrist, “How much weight was that?”

“Well… 300 total, so 75 kg on each limb,” Watanabe replied with a grin.

Tsuyu stared at him like he was a monster but she also felt ridiculed, “So you were holding back?” she asked angrily, “Were we not worth your effort or something?”

“Of course, you were,” Watanabe replied, choosing his words carefully, “I just wanted to see how far I could go while wearing weights. Plus, it’s not my fault that none of you could capitalize on it,”

“What do you mean?”

“Tsuyu, I was wearing weights!” Watanabe exclaimed, “I was less agile and you should have used it to your advantage,”

“I suppose that’s right,” Tsuyu agreed, “But that doesn’t mean you’ll still be able to keep up!” Tsuyu snarled and resumed her barrage. Watanabe took a deep breath and also launched himself into the middle of her attack, his speed now allowing him to go toe-to-toe with his opponent.

“Are weights even allowed in this tournament?” Mic asked as he saw the high-speed battle in front of them.

“Of course, they are. It should have been a disadvantage, but the fact that Watanabe still managed to come out on top shows his potential,” Aizawa replied.

“But he used it as a support weapon too, right? I mean look at Tsuyu’s hand. It’s probably broken,” Mic beckoned.

“That’s for the referee to rule,” Aizawa said. The two commentators looked at Midnight who waved her flag, “The weights were supposed to be disadvantageous to Watanabe. The fact that he has made it an advantage for him doesn’t discount the fact that Tsuyu could have ended the fight earlier. Play on!” She ruled.

The crowd cheered. The match was too absorbing for it to be ended via disqualification.

“Watanabe is so manly to be able to carry so much weight!” Kirishima pumped his fist in approval.

“He must be pretty strong to be able to carry all that weight. Tsuyu is in trouble, isn’t she?” Jiro asked.

“Hmph, idiot,” Bakugou grunted.

Jiro tensed, “What do you mean?”

“All those exercises, didn’t you notice?” Bakugou asked, “Watanabe is a hard hitter. Tsuyu can still run circles around him with her speed,”

“But removing the weights must have sped him up,” Jiro defended her opinion.

“But will it be enough to match the speed a mutant quirk offers?” Bakugou asked rhetorically.

Back on the field, it was just as Bakugou had said. Watanabe’s speed had increased drastically after removing the weights but Tsuyu was still able to hold him back. Watanabe was lucky that one of the bracelets had connected with Tsuyu, and had broken her wrist. At least that let him favor one side over the other.

Tsuyu was no pushover either as she used her tongue to account for her wrist and match Watanabe’s attacks. Unlike herself, Watanabe had a combo of moves to use which were mostly predictable. But Watanabe liked to throw in a few wild moves here and there that unsettled the opponent. And that was exactly what had caught Tsuyu off guard.

For the fourth time, Watanabe was able to push Tsuyu to one of the corners but Tsuyu was able to escape by jumping over his head and landing on the adjacent side.

The two locked eyes and simultaneously agreed to catch a breath. Tsuyu looked at her wrist with worry, “If we keep going at this rate, the fight will be decided on stamina. I don’t even have anything up my sleeve to trick Watanabe,” she huffed.

Watanabe was also running out of energy because of the fight. “I knew Tsuyu would be tough, but I expected to be easier,” He thought as he took a few deep breaths, careful to observe any move Tsuyu might make, “Her jumping ability will let her escape every time since I can’t catch up. And her tongue is problematic too,”

As their breathing slowed, the two stood up straight, waiting for the other to make a move. Tsuyu had already made a plan and jumped up high. Watanabe fell into a stance to intercept her attack but Tsuyu used her tongue to beat onto the ground and rotate to his right.

“No problem, I can still intercept her,” Watanabe thought and readied himself to defend. He turned to punch Tsuyu, but that’s when he noticed that Tsuyu had left her tongue trailing behind him. Watanabe quickly activated his infrared and hit the part of Tsuyu’s tongue that was in front of him.

Tsuyu felt her tongue suddenly go numb. She couldn’t retreat as she would be forced to land before she could jump pack. Watanabe knew this and planted his feet firmly before punching Tsuyu in the face, knocking her back.

Tsuyu managed to skid to a stop. She rubbed her face, wincing as she felt the pain. Watanabe sure packed a punch, but that wasn’t important right now, “Was ziz u zo tho my thongue?” Tsuyu demanded.

“I’ll tell you after the fight,” Watanabe grinned and rushed at Tsuyu, not wanting to give her time to think. However, Tsuyu had already reset the pressure point on her tongue and used it to smack Watanabe, releasing a sound akin to a whip.

Watanabe fell face-first onto the ground and rolled back to release his momentum and lessen his injuries, “How did you know how to fix it?” he asked, shocked.

“I’m a mutant. We need to know how to look after our special features kero!” Tsuyu said loudly and kicked Watanabe in the jaw, launching him upwards. Tsuyu jumped after him and got ready to land a kick on his chest but Watanabe barely blocked it with his hand as he fell to the ground with a thud.

He slowly got up, coughing very badly. Tsuyu let him do so as she too needed a moment to fix her tongue, “If you already knew what I did, why did you ask?”

“Your temporary feeling of superiority gave me enough time to reset my tongue,” Tsuyu replied with a chuckle.

“If it was anyone else, I could last on stamina, but I think Tsuyu will be able to keep up,” Watanabe thought to himself. He was at a crossroads and unclear on what his next action should be.

“Wanna give up?” Watanabe asked Tsuyu.

“As if!” Tsuyu replied back, “Why? Are you tired already?”

“Nope, just wanted to check,” Watanabe replied, “Well, that didn’t work,” he thought to himself, “Guess I’ll have to knock her out of bounds. Or it will end with one of us dropping to the ground,” he determined.

Unlike Watanabe, Tsuyu already had a plan and rushed at Watanabe again, careful not to have her tongue in his reach. She had learned her lesson on that already. Watanabe grunted and moved forward to block her off. The two clashed as their punch met each other. Watanabe used his free hand to try and grasp Tsuyu so that he could throw him out, but surprisingly, Tsuyu brought out her broken hand to block it off.

Watanabe was slightly shocked as Tsuyu hissed at the pain that flowed through her body, but she fought through it and controlled her tongue, successfully wrapping it around Watanabe’s body.

“I win,” she said shortly to a wide-eyed Watanabe before she uncoiled her tongue fully. She rotated her tongue once, twice, thrice, and kept rotating.

“It seems like Tsuyu is building up momentum on her tongue so that she can throw out Watanabe and end the fight!” Mic explained to the audience.

“Oh crap, oh crap!” Watanabe panicked, “Ok, just stay calm We need to think,” Watanabe told himself, as he struggled to think with his head spinning wildly.

The little voice in his head spoke, “You could do that,”

“NO THAT’S REVOLTING!” Watanabe argued.

“Only if you don’t want to lose,” the voice told him.

“ARGH!” Watanabe yelled out loud and did something that caused some of the crowd to stare, and others to gag. Watanabe rotated the opposite way that Tsuyu was spinning him in. This caused her tongue to coil on itself and Watanabe found himself being buried by the coils that he had formed.

Tsuyu immediately understood what Watanabe was going for and tried to release him, but she couldn’t untangle him. Watanabe arrived at high-speed towards Tsuyu who could do nothing to dodge since her tongue was the tether! He slammed straight into her, his knee catching her in the face as they both smashed into the ground.

Tsuyu’s tongue went limp enough for Watanabe to wiggle out and lie onto the cold ground, “I’m gonna puke,” he groaned. At least the fight was over… or so he thought.

“Frogs… have great endurance, kero!” Tsuyu announced as she staggered to get up properly. Watanabe grumbled. The world was still spinning, but he had to end this. He too stood up. Watanabe knew from Tsuyu’s face that she’d fall unconscious any moment now, but the same went for him. So, he moved as fast as he could without spilling his stomach and grabbed Tsuyu’s tongue, “Sorry about this,” he apologized beforehand and pulled on it.

Tsuyu’s eyes widened as this time Watanabe took her tongue and lifted her above before spinning her a couple of times and throwing her out of bounds. Tsuyu was too exhausted to stop him and let it happen.

As she flew out, time seemed to become slow for her. She knew that she was about to fall out of bounds, but until she touched the ground, the fight would not end. And so, with a final heave, Tsuyu controlled her tongue to lift one of the weights embedded into the ground and threw it straight at Watanabe.

Watanabe’s eyes widened as he saw the weight approaching at high speed but his dizzy vision did not allow him to dodge and it hit him square in the head. Just as Tsuyu landed outside with a thud, Watanabe also fell to the ground, unconscious.

The crowd cheered, applauding Tsuyu’s last-ditch effort.

“A memorable effort by Tsuyu to catch Watanabe off-guard but alas, she has fallen outside. Watanabe will take the win,” Mic started to say when Midnight interrupted, “Hold up! Watanabe also fell unconscious! We have to check whether Tsuyu touched the ground first or whether Watanabe fell unconscious!”

“Eh, she was out of bounds already, the boy should win,” Someone shouted from the crowd.

“Nah, the girl still didn’t touch the ground, right?” Someone else interjected.

“In that case, flight quirks could roam all over without breaking the rules,” Someone else pointed out. Just as it seemed like there would be a massive argument, Midnight shouted in anger, “How about you let the judges decide you idiots!”

“Yes, miss,”

All for One looked at his computer with utter confusion. He knew that All Might had to pass his quirk on and was watching the sports festival to see who his successor was. He was pretty sure that Midoriya Izuku was the boy who was All Might’s successor, but he was also staring at news claiming Kaminari Denki was All Might’s son. So, was he wrong?

“No, I can’t be wrong. The boy might just be his son, and not his successor,” All for One reasoned. The other reason he was scared was that his moles at the festival overheard the heroes and they thought that the boy named Watanabe had a foresight or erasure quirk. That could cause many problems for him.

He hummed in thought for a while, tapping his pen on the desk, “Kurogiri!” he ordered.

“Yes sensei!”

“Those three, keep a vigilant eye on them,” he pointed to Watanabe, Kaminari, and Izuku.

“But, sir, you already have grunts following them,”

“That was to monitor their activities as Storm and Chaos. This is for you to seize the opportunity to nab any of them and bring them to me,” All for One ordered. He paused as he looked at the screen, “And that shadow boy, Tokoyami to the list as well,”

“Yes sensei,” Kurogiri said and disappeared to prepare for his mission.

“Shigaraki will be a surprise blow to that wretched symbol of peace,” All for One spat as he thought, “But having his son as a bargaining chip will be even better,” he grinned evilly.

Chapter Text

Listeners! It’s time for us to move on to our next fight!” Mic announced, “It’s Mezou Shouji who was the pivot in Team Watanabe’s plan last round, vs Uraraka Ochako, the one who humiliated Endeavour by puking on him!”

“It was an accident,” Uraraka pouted hearing the commentary.

Some of the crowd chuckled at the memory of the incident while Endeavour fumed in his spot. Yagi had been keeping a keen eye on him and made sure he couldn’t go to Shouto and give him a talking to. A single step out of line and he had no doubt he’d be thrown out. Nedzu was a man of his words.

“Oi! Wait a minute!” Someone called out, “Who won the last fight!?”

The crowd roared their approval, “Yeah, yeah! It was such a good match! Who’s the winner?” They demanded.

Midnight waved her flag for silence, “On investigation, we found out that Watanabe was knocked unconscious before Tsuyu fell to the ground,”

“That sucks for him. Poor kid was top all this time,” Someone commented.

“Watanabe didn’t lose,” Midnight announced, much to the surprise of the crowd, “What do you mean?” Someone shouted.

“When Tsuyu threw the weight, she fell unconscious immediately, making Watanabe the winner,” Kayama explained.

“HUH!?” The crowd yelled.

“I don’t get it,” Some members of the crowd voiced their confusion.

“Me neither,”

“Look,” Midnight shouted to gain their attention, “Basically, Tsuyu got knocked out first, then Watanabe, and then Tsuyu fell to the ground. Even though Tsuyu fell out of bounds later, she got knocked out first, got it!?”

The crowd cheered in response, “Man, the girl is going to be pissed. She just needed to be awake for a few seconds,”

“Yes, but the victory wasn’t undeserved,” Ms. Joke said, “Watanabe’s endurance was better. It was just like a real fight, a few seconds was crucial for the win,”

“That is true but Tsuyu is really impressive,” Ryukyu commented.

“Didn’t say she wasn’t,” Ms. Joke replied, “Are you planning on nabbing her for the internship? You rarely show much interest,” Emi inquired.

Ryukyu smiled politely, “I have my hands full with Hado. Maybe later,”

Emi sighed, “I’d like that Watanabe for myself. He looks pretty mischievous to me. Maybe I could teach him some tricks to annoy Aizawa,” she mused out loud.

“No way! Watanabe is mine!” Snipe said pointedly.

“Eh, how so?” Emi asked, “It’s up to him to choose,”

“I already called dibs,”

“That’s not fair! You’re his teacher you saw his potential earlier,” Emi pouted.

“Deal with it,”

“Hmph, you deal with Nighteye. The guy thinks the kid is his second coming or something. You sure you can pry the kid away from All Might’s sidekick?” Emi pointed out.

Snipe stayed silent after that remark, “What about Midoriya?” he asked, “He’s pretty good too,” Snipe remarked. All Might had already told all of the staff about the secret of his quirk and his connection with Midoriya to avoid questions. The relation between the symbol of peace and the staff was frosty after they discovered that he had originally told him he couldn’t be a hero, but hey, he seemed apologetic.

“The kid’s fighting style seems pretty fluid. I’d like to train him but I don’t think I’m the right person for it,” Edgeshot told them. Some of the lower-ranked heroes were impressed that Izuku managed to get one of the top 10’s approval.

“I think I’d do a good job. I can train his strength,” Death Arms told.

Snipe snorted, “Really you?”

Death Arms was offended, “Yeah, why not?”

Snipe started to laugh uproariously causing all the heroes to stare at Emi who looked confused, “What? I didn’t use my quirk!”

“What is it?” Death Arms asked a bit aggressively.

“Oh, you don’t remember trying to crucify him on national TV when you said weak quirks are liabilities!?” Snipe snarled aggressively.

The heroes flinched under Snipe’s tone. They had rarely seen the cool and collected man lose it multiple times in a matter of minutes.

“B-but, that can’t be! That kid was quirkless!” Death Arms said.

“Late bloomer,” Snipe told quietly, using the lie that All Might had told them to use in case they were ever questioned. Snipe’s words had jogged everyone’s memory and now most of the heroes were staring at him with hostility. Death Arms gulped and stepped out of his seat, “I think I’ll just patrol…” he said quietly and left.

“That’s the third time Uraraka has floated herself back in after being thrown out of bounds!” Mic’s booming voice suddenly erupted, “Will Uraraka be able to keep up her quirk usage enough to edge out Shouji’s endurance?”

“The match started already?” Emi asked rhetorically.

“Yes, now keep quiet and let us watch,” Nighteye told quietly causing Emi to roll her eyes in annoyance.

Shouji exhaled deeply as Uraraka used her quirk to avoid falling out of bounds. He was adamant that his plan would work, “My endurance is far better than Uraraka’s. Her quirk will make it harder for me to win but she should yield sooner or later,”

Uraraka panted on the other end, wary of Shouji's moves. The boy was tall and big but unnaturally fast as Uraraka quickly discovered, “What should I do!?” She panicked inwardly, “Shouji knows I am at a disadvantage. My endurance is nothing compared to him and to win I have to get close to touch him but if I do that, he just grabs me first,” Uraraka groaned, “At least Shouji is waiting to defend than attack, that gives me some time,” Uraraka thought to herself, but she thought wrong.

Shouji was cunningly building up muscle fibers in his right arm to launch a long attack. It was a bit of a costly move but Shouji was willing to take the risk. He knew that the longer Uraraka had, the higher the probability he lost.

Shouji waited patiently for Uraraka to drop her guard even for just a second. His chance came as Uraraka looked elsewhere. Shouji let his muscle fibers rip. The elastic fibers recoiled with great force and sent a long muscular arm headed towards Uraraka's way.

Uraraka stared at the fast-approaching arm, taken by surprise. It was only her reflexes that caused her to duck. She was still struck square in her chest but managed to avoid a knockout blow to her head.

Uraraka flew out of the ring again. Shouji wasn’t messing around this time. He grunted as he lifted his gigantic arm extension and caught Uraraka who had still not caught up to what was happening.

Right before Uraraka could activate her quirk, Shouji brought his arm down and slammed Uraraka to the ground.

Shouji grinned, he had won but his excitement was short-lived, “Uraraka Ochaco wins,” Midnight stated calmly.

“W-what, how?” Shouji demanded.

“You’re out of bounds,” Midnight pointed to his arm that was coiled around Uraraka. Shouji paled, he had forgotten to bring his arm back to him after throwing Uraraka down, and now, it was his extension that was touching the ground out of bounds and not Uraraka.

Shouji sulked and absorbed his arm back as a dazed Uraraka slowly stood up, “I won?” she asked disbelievingly and then shouted excitedly, “I WON!” she jumped up.

Uraraka noticed Shouji looking on sadly and tried to comfort him, “Sorry Shouji, you should have won. I didn’t stand a chance,” she admitted.

Shouji smiled, or that’s what Uraraka thought he did. it was hard to tell with a mask covering his face, “Don’t worry about it. It was my stupidity that cost me,”

“So, no hard feelings?”

“None at all,” Shouji replied as the two shook hands with a grin.

“Sheesh, that was so… anti-climatic,” Kamui looked unimpressed.

“Not really. Shouji had a sturdy plan and almost pulled it off. It was just his inexperience that made him hasty and lose. I see quite the potential in him,” Edgeshot praised.

“You’re sounding like Eraserhead,” Emi said in a flat tone. “But I’m sure Edgeshot just likes him because he wears a mask too,” Emi teased with a giggle.

Edgeshot looked away but did not refute the statement causing some of the heroes to laugh, “The girl was pretty lucky to have won. She needs some combat training,” Fat Gum observed.

“I thought All Might would be good at that, but I guess you can’t be good at everything,” Native thought out loud.

Mirai tensed hearing that. He never liked anyone bad-mouthing All Might. He doubted that he couldn’t teach but he was also angry at his former colleague for not choosing Mirai as his successor.

Nighteye scowled at that memory and stared at Izuku with disappointment. The boy could barely control his power. He couldn’t understand why on earth Yagi would choose someone so incompetent when he had trained Mirio to be the perfect successor.

Snipe noticed Mirai's dirty glare. He knew that Nighteye was All Might's former sidekick and now that he knew the truth about One for All, Snipe had an intuitive feeling of what Mirai was thinking. With a sigh, he stepped in, “Everything alright, Nighteye?”

Mirai put on a smile, “Of course,”

“Listeners, this will be the last match of this round of fights! It’s the surprise entrance from the support course, Hatsume Mei! And the opponent is Class 1B's delinquent, Monoma Neito!”

The crowd cheered. Hatsume ran in with a cheerful smile, soaking in the crowd's attention, eager to show off her inventions, or as she called them, babies.

Meanwhile, Monoma had a scowl on his face, “Of course you’d label those with villainous quirk as delinquent. But with these inventions, I’ll show them!” Monoma thought darkly as he clutched some of the inventions that Hatsume had handed to them.

“I thought she was going to try and win?” Momo looked at the inventions handed to Monoma.

“She is,” Shouto replied, “She told me that she can’t showcase it all, so she’s giving the opponents some of her stuff too,”

“Of course she is,” Momo facepalmed.

“Hey, you’re part of the hero course, you can’t be carrying support equipment,” Midnight warned.

Monoma frowned, “Hatsume is the one who gave it to me,”

Mei nodded enthusiastically in response, “I wanted our match to be fair, sensei,” Mei slightly lied.

Midnight squealed, “Such a display of youth! I’ll allow it!” she ruled.

“Hah, is she even allowed to do that?” Mic asked his friend.

“I suppose she is the judge, so it’s whatever she wants,” Aizawa shrugged.

“Now, are you both ready?” Midnight asked

Both contestants nodded, a confident smirk on their face, “Then… start!”

Monoma flew right off the blocks with an evil grin. Hatsume had told him what each of his equipment did and even given him an extensive manual, the idiot. There’s no way he could lose.

He tilted his arm back to activate the taser he had been given and punched. Mei flashed a grin as she caught it with a fluid substance.

The stadium's mics rang with static causing the audience to groan with pain, “Ladies and gentlemen, and most importantly, all you support companies, welcome to my invention showcase! With me is Monoma Neito who has kindly agreed to help me!” Hatsume spoke in a reporter's voice.

“I agreed to nothing like that!” Monoma said and struggled to free himself, “Let me go!” He ordered Hatsume who simply laughed in response.

Meanwhile, Mic was trying to regain control of the sound system, “How the hell did she take control?” he asked as he frantically searched for a solution.

“The support department was in charge of it. I’m guessing Hatsume went behind Majima's back and did this,” Aizawa took a guess.

“As you can see, Monoma is armed with a taser and not just any normal one. It can emit enough to destabilize mutant quirks but don’t worry, you can adjust the settings for different people,” Hatsume explained the mechanics.

Monoma roared in anger as his attempts at escaping were ignored. He swiped viciously at Hatsume with his free hand but it got stuck in the fluid, “Now this fluid you are seeing,” Hatsume went on, taking no notice of Monoma's anger, “It is a rubbery fluid that ground electricity and also captures most people. Very efficient!”

Monoma tried to use one of his copies quirks but it was to no avail. He had passed his time limit for the copy and now he was quirkless. He cursed himself for coming in underprepared. He could still take Hatsume's quirk but he doubted someone in the support department possessed a strong quirk.

Mei finally seemed to take notice of Monoma and chuckled, “Don’t worry, I still need to show my other inventions,” she said and let Monoma free.

Monoma fell to the ground. He growled and looked up angrily at Mei who didn’t seem too bothered about the whole thing.

Monoma took one of the rods Hatsume had supplied him, into his hand and tried to hit Hatsume towards her unguarded back but Mei automatically moved away to the side, “That, was a program that automatically detects incoming attacks and moves the wearer away via an automated machine response,” she grinned.

The crowd started murmuring at that, “An automated system?”

“It would come in handy for heroes,”

“Not just heroes, other dangerous professions too, like construction work,” Someone pointed out.

“That is true, she’s quite the genius, isn’t she?” The crowd praised causing Hatsume to grin further.

Nedzu himself was bursting with excitement. He had already witnessed what 1A and to some extent, 1B was capable of. But now a Hatsume was also catching his eye. He wanted to train her, badly. Maybe Powerloader would lend her for his teaching sessions with the hero department?

The support companies were also in heavy discussion. Hatsume had successfully caught all of their attention and now they were all arguing about who was to take her for her internship.

While the show was proving jovial to most, for one man, it was hell. That person was Monoma Neito.

He glared at Mei with rage, “That asshole. She would have never done this with someone with a hero quirk. But just because I have a villain quirk… I’ll show her!” Monoma thought furiously and ran straight at her. He didn’t have a plan, he didn’t need one. He was going to beat her without anything!

Hatsume simply smirked and pressed a button that made Monoma seize up and fall to the ground. The crowd watched in stunned silence.

That was a defense mechanism. You see none of the equipment belonged to Monoma. This button here lets you override your Hatsume equipment and tase them, knocking them out!” Mei explained.

Midnight shook her head at Hatsume's antics and checked Monoma. He was indeed unconscious, “Hatsume wins! Robots, escort Monoma to the medical wing,” Midnight announced.

“Remember you all, these are all patented, so you better take me as your intern if you want to use these,” Hastume warned the conspiring support companies that were planning to replicate what they had seen.

As Hatsume basked in her glory, Monoma was being loaded into a stretcher, his consciousness slowly returning. He watched the crowd cheering on Mei, but to him, it felt like they were jeering at him, insulting him. It was all Hatsume's fault, she had made a laughing stock of him. All because he had a ‘villainous’ quirk.

“I’ll make them pay… I’ll make them all pay!”

Chapter Text

“Hatsume’s fight was freaky,” Kaminari praised with a grin, “Makes me scared of her too. Can you imagine how hard it will be to fight against her?”

Izuku nodded but didn’t talk. He was clearly already formulating an analysis on how to counter her. Watanabe noticed this, and laughed, “You realize you have to defeat me first?”

“I do,” Izuku replied shortly, causing Watanabe to smirk at his cousin’s confidence, but he didn’t speak further to antagonize Izuku. He needed to come up with his own plan to defeat his cousin.

Kaminari grinned, “You know Watanabe, you’re both smart but with Izuku’s OP ass quirk, you can’t really match up to it,”

“Yeah,” Watanabe admitted begrudgingly, “But, it doesn’t hard to try!”

“Now listeners, without further ado, we’ll move directly to the quarter-finals! The first fight will be Tokoyami and Tetsutetsu!” Mic announced.

The latter tensed at the announcement, “We won’t get any interval between the two rounds?”

“I guess UA wants to see how well we fight even when we are trying to cope with low stamina,” Tokoyami told in his usual demeanor, “Come, let’s get it over with,”

Tetsutetsu shook his head at Tokoyami’s uncaring attitude but looked past it, “Oi Kendo! Tell Monoma I’ll see him after my fight!” he shouted as he ran past Tokoyami to the ring.

“Who do you think will win?” Kaminari asked his classmates.

“It has to be Tokoyami!” Iida assured. At the weird looks his friends gave him, Iida huffed, “I know I lost to Tetsutetsu but Tokoyami is different. He has the perfect defense, and it’s not like Dark Shadow can be hurt, I think at least. To sum it up, Tetsutetsu needs to go close and Dark Shadow won’t let him,”

“I’m sure Tetsutetsu can put up a manly fight!” Kirishima pumped up his fists.

“Izuku and Watanabe have been too quiet,” Ashido grinned teasingly, “You two scared of each other or what?”

“They both know the other is a difficult opponent. It will be a fun fight to watch!” Kaminari stretched lazily, “Speaking of, looks like I’m up,” Kaminari said. 1A turned to see Tetsutetsu sprawled on the ground, out of bounds.

“Wow! That was not even 2 minutes! Tokoyami brilliantly used his quirk to grab Tetsutetsu and throw him out of bounds, and there was nothing he could do about it!” Mic summarized the fight.

“That was boring. The kid didn’t even put up much of a fight,”

“I mean, it was expected. Some quirks just don’t work against another type,” A member of the audience defended the prideful Tetsutetsu.

“Sorry if I humiliated you,” Tokoyami apologized and stretched his hand to help Tetsutetsu up. The 1B student smiled and accepted the hand, “It just means I have to work harder!”

“My turn,” Kaminari shouted and headed towards the ring, “Watanabe, Izuku, good luck on your match!” Kaminari wished them well as he hastily made his way down. The blonde only got a curt nod and a smile in reply.

Uraraka whispered to the rest of her classmates, “They’re really focused on planning for their fight, huh?”

“As they should be,” Iida praised.

“But still. They aren’t even talking anymore,” Uraraka pointed out.

“It will be a difficult fight for both of them Ochaco-chan,” Tsuyu explained, “Izuku looks destined to be the winner on paper. He’s smart, his quirk boosts his strength rapidly, and he has stayed with Watanabe long enough to know his tricks,”

“But Watanabe has stayed with Izuku too, so he’ll know Izuku’s plans as well,” Ojiro pointed out in favor of his martial arts friend.

“That is also true, Kero,” Tsuyu said.

“Both are adept at strategizing, so it will be a clash of brains. But Watanabe cannot hope to match up to Izuku’s strength,” Momo analyzed.

“Not that Watanabe is weak Kero. He packs quite a punch but I don’t think it will be enough against Izuku,” Tsuyu admitted.

“Are you being serious?” Hitoshi asked sarcastically, “Have you seen what he did in the first two rounds? He always manages to pull off something crazy that gets him the win,”

“That is true,” Shouto agreed, “The fight will be close but I think Izuku will be the overall winner,”

“What about you Bakugou? You were with them for a while,” Kirishima asked. Bakugou just grunted and looked away, refusing to give a straight answer.

Suddenly both Izuku and Watanabe started to move without a word, “Where are you guys going?” Uraraka asked.

“Kaminari lost,” Watanabe pointed to the ground. The rest of the class turned and sure enough, Kaminari was sprawled on the ground, unconscious, while Shiozaki was standing, unharmed.

“How on earth did Kaminari lose!?” Jiro demanded.

“His electricity got grounded by Shiozaki’s vines,” Kendo explained from the other stand, “There’s always a quirk that can counter,” Kendo winked with a grin, “Speaking of, two of the toppers from your class are going to have to fight it out, huh?”

Iida nodded with a sigh, “To our displeasure, yes,”

“Hattori is the one who’ll win, I think. Midoriya can’t defeat someone with a foresight quirk, can he?” Kendo asked seriously.

The class stared collectively at Kendo before bursting out laughing, much to her confusion. “You know what Kendo? You might be right!”

“Kaminari, one of the tournament’s favorites was shockingly defeated in the last fight,” Mic announced, “But now, we move to the most anticipated fight of this tournament. It’s two of the tournament’s favorites, Midoriya Izuku vs Hattori Watanabe!” Mic announced with enthusiasm.

The crowd roared loudly and applauded as the contestants entered.

Watanabe was nervous. Both Izuku and he knew that he faced a big disadvantage. No matter what the pro heroes believed, Watanabe’s quirk was simply just vision change, and nothing more.

“I know I can overcome Izuku’s full cowling. But if he uses more than his 5%, I might be done for. The question is whether Izuku will risk breaking a few of his bones for this,” Watanabe thought to himself.

Izuku on the other hand knew that the battle lay in his favor. He had all the advantages. Sure, Watanabe had more tricks up his sleeve, but he couldn’t really use them in an open ground. If Watanabe had equipment nearby like in the battle simulation arc, it would be a different story.

“Are the two of you ready?” Midnight asked.

Watanabe nodded with determined eyes; a plan already formed in his head. Izuku gave a quick nod as well, readying his finger. He only needed to use one 100% blast and Watanabe would be thrown out of bounds.

“Start!”

Izuku just about energized his finger but Watanabe was already on top of him. Izuku’s eyes widened, “His weights! Of course, he’s faster,” He thought to himself. That’s when Izuku noticed his finger charging up. He hastily deactivated the quirk. At that power, he’d blow a hole through Watanabe.

Unfortunately, Izuku’s reaction time went towards deactivating his quirk and he could not dodge Watanabe’s crippling punch that knocked him to the ground.

Blood splattered from his nose, but Watanabe wasn’t letting Izuku go down that easily. He caught Izuku’s hands and struck both arms with pinpoint precision. Izuku yelled as it felt like an electric shock pulsed through him. Watanabe readied his elbow to deliver a bone-crushing hit, but Izuku channeled One for All to his feet and jumped away.

“Can’t give him any space,” Watanabe thought to himself and painfully sped up to keep Izuku occupied. This time he aimed a roundhouse kick to Izuku’s chest. Izuku tried to bring up his hands to block but realized they were not working. His eyes widened as he remembered that Watanabe could shut off his blood flow and cut off One for All.

The kick almost landed on Izuku’s chest but Izuku managed to divert it by using his knee to launch it to his left. Izuku turned to get behind Watanabe, and tripped him onto the ground, before retreating to a safe distance.

The crowd roared as the first phase of the fight got off to a great start.

“And it’s Midoriya who’s getting pummeled in the early stages! After the two boring fights in the quarter-finals, it seems we finally have a good one on our hands!” Mic agitated the crowd further.

Nighteye smirked. His soon-to-be protégé looked to be even better than he thought, going toe-to-toe with One for All.

Meanwhile, 1A was confused, “Wasn’t Izuku charging up his finger to launch that air attack thing?” Jiro asked.

“Yeah. Why did he stop suddenly?”  Uraraka asked. Momo was just as puzzled.

“Idiots. You’ve been with Izuku for a month and you haven’t noticed?” Bakugou growled, “Izuku will fight, but he won’t seriously harm someone in a mock battle. Watanabe knows that he can survive Izuku’s normal fighting capability but if he gives him the chance to use the finger airwave, Watanabe will lose. As long as Watanabe is close enough, Izuku won’t use it in fear of seriously harming Watanabe,” Bakugou explained.

“…So, Watanabe is preying on the fact that he knows his cousin won’t want to hurt him?” Kirishima asked. At Bakugou’s nod, he scowled, “That’s unmanly!”

“There’s no manly and unmanly in a fight,” Shouto said coolly, “It’s the only way Watanabe has a shot. He’s doing what it takes to win, just like he would in a real battle. It’s not his fault Izuku won’t take it as seriously,”

The class went silent at Shouto’s words. They knew he was right. In a real fight, they would need to defeat the villain, no matter what. Shouto’s words had hardened them for what would be coming next in the fight, but of course had to ruin it, “You know, Watanabe seems to have shut off Izuku’s quirk? Maybe he’s actually Aizawa-sensei’s child?”

Chapter Text

Watanabe tried to leap forward again to restrain Izuku, but he winced as he felt a pull in his calf. He was forced to stop in his tracks and catch his breath, “The fight with Tsuyu really took a toll on my stamina. I know I have to keep pressing Izuku, but I need to catch my breath,” he thought to himself in between ragged breaths.

On the other hand, a bloodied Izuku locked gazes with his cousin. His broken nose had stopped bleeding and the adrenaline coursing through him kept the pain at bay. He could slowly feel the blood flow in his arms resuming. That didn’t mean he could use One for All in his arms yet though, “Watanabe’s martial arts is already superior to my 5% full cowling, so there’s definitely no chance I’m keeping up with him while only using my legs. I can’t even use 100% in my legs because if I miss, my mobility is reduced. What do I do!?” He questioned himself impatiently on the verge of panicking.

Suddenly Izuku realized something. Watanabe was giving him space to breathe even though that meant he could come up with a plan, “I thought Watanabe’s catching his breath too but he’s still panting! His fight with Tsuyu took a lot out of him!” Izuku grinned realizing that he was still very much in the fight.

He straightened himself up and settled into a stance. Watanabe was well aware that Izuku was going to try an attack and prepared himself as well, “I can’t manage 100%, but I can manage at least 8%,” Izuku thought to himself and strengthened his legs. He winced as he felt his bones creaking, but there was no crack.

He leaped forward and attempted a flying kick. Watanabe was caught by surprise, thinking that the attack would come at a slower speed but regardless, he blocked it.

Izuku trapped the front end of his foot in between Watanabe’s arms and used it as a pivot to rotate upwards and bring his leg down on his cousin. Watanabe could do nothing and was smashed into the ground, this time blood pouring out of his nose.

“Midoriya has suddenly retaliated and done so successfully! Watanabe looked prepared but there was nothing he could do!” Mic commentated.

Izuku retreated, realizing he didn’t have enough limbs to launch another onslaught. It proved to be the right decision as Watanabe punched where he stood a moment back, slightly cracking the concrete.

“What strength! And he doesn’t even have a strength quirk!” Iida looked amazed.

“He trained hard,” Kaminari grinned, “But he’s pretty tired from what I can see. If Izuku’s arms work again, Watanabe’s done for,”

“What did he even do to Izuku?” Jiro asked, “He did the same thing with the Kirishima look-alike in the cavalry battle,”

“Hey!” Kirishima yelled.

Kaminari just smirked, “That’s his secret,”

On the other side of the stadium, Yagi was in a conundrum of his own. Surrounded by the audience, he had heard supporters of both the boys, but as a teacher, he couldn’t choose the winner. Sure, Izuku was his successor, but he had also trained Kaminari and Watanabe. He refused to choose one over the other.

Watanabe didn’t give himself a break and tore at Izuku who dodged the oncoming punch with ease. Izuku quickly moved to the side to avoid a kick and took aim at Watanabe’s head. Watanabe was lucky that Izuku took some time to move his leg upwards and reacted quickly to dodge.

Taking advantage of Izuku’s close position, Watanabe switched to his X-ray vision and ruthlessly chopped his cousin’s chest. Izuku gasped as all the air left his lungs, he was sure he felt a rib crack too. In his state of pain, he could do nothing as Watanabe struck his arms again to make sure the blood flow remained paused and then moved on to his legs.

Izuku reacted quickly to deliver a kick straight into Watanabe’s face, launching him upwards and away. The two were thrown away from each other because of the resultant force and landed painfully on opposite sides of the ground.

The crowd roared, “An end-to-end fight, just like we had hoped for! There’s no telling who can be the winner!”  Mic praised.

“I seriously thought Izuku would overpower Watanabe. But even though they are on the same level, Watanabe looks too tired,” Jiro observed.

“He did have the hardest fight in the round of 16 against Tsuyu. Meanwhile, Izuku had more of a mental battle than a physical battle,” Momo shrugged, expecting Watanabe’s stamina to fade.

“But he’s still matching up to Izuku! Ahh, so manly!”

“Watanabe’s hitting strength will decrease in some time then, right?” Hagakure asked.

Momo nodded but Tsuyu refuted her statement, “Watanabe packs much more of a punch than it seems, kero,”

“I’d say so. He literally broke the concrete!” Sero grinned.

“Idiots, it’s going to remain a stalemate unless Izuku gets over his fear and uses his true power,” Bakugou yelled.

“It’s not as simple as that,” Shouji interrupted, “Midoriya’s quirk breaks his bones when he uses too much power on it. On his hands, he can sacrifice his bones but you can’t really move your toes like that. If Izuku uses his leg, he’ll break it and the competition will end for him anyway,”

Ojiro nodded in agreement as he watched the two cousins have at it again, “Even if Izuku wins, he’ll have half his mobility in the semi-finals, and if he misses, it will be like killing a sick deer for Watanabe,”

Suddenly Mic’s commentary interrupted them, “What on earth! Izuku just walked straight into that punch!”

The class stopped their bickering and paid attention. Kaminari smirked, “That was intentional,”

“Why would he intentionally get hurt?” Ashido asked. The question was answered immediately as a gust of wind nearly knocked Watanabe back, courtesy of Izuku’s hands.

“He got back control!?” Sato exclaimed.

On the field, Watanabe was smirking, “So, you intended to move so that my punch would hit your arm?”

“Yup,” Izuku admitted, “If the point that shuts off my blood supply is somewhere there, so is the point that can resume it,”

“A bit lucky, but it won’t matter,” Watanabe said and sped up to right in front of his cousin’s face, “You’re still too scared to use 100% on someone,”

“Am I?” Izuku asked rhetorically.

Watanabe’s eyes widened as he saw Izuku actually power up his finger. Just before impact struck, Watanabe did some quick thinking and grabbed onto Izuku’s shirt.

The second gust threw Watanabe away, but since he was grabbing Izuku, he had been sent flying too. Watanabe used every bit of his strength to make sure Izuku could not escape his grasp and tried to twist his arm painfully, and throttle Izuku into the ground. However, his shoulder had sustained a tremendous injury and all he could do was just keep Izuku in position.

The two crashed outside of bounds with a heavy thud, the blow knocking both of them out. Midnight rushed to administer aid.

“Oh my! Some quick thinking by Watanabe to drag Midoriya out with him too! What a stunning display! We’re waiting for confirmation to see who fell out of bounds first! Eraserhead, what are the results?”

“They both fell at the same time, it’s a draw,”

The crowd cheered as Mic gaped, “Well there you have it, listeners! It will have to be settled at the end of this round. The two will need to get medical aid,”

Some of the crowd looked dejected that the fight had ended so abruptly, just when it looked good, but most of the audience applauded the two fighters as they were carried off on stretchers.

“The next fight will be Uraraka vs Hatsume!” Mic announced.

1A on the other hand was absolutely stunned, “How did Watanabe survive that?” Ojiro yelled. Even Kaminari was bewildered at what just happened, “I didn’t think Izuku would have the guts to do it, especially at such close range!” he admitted.

“He must have been really irritated,” Shouto offered.

“Good for him. He can’t be so merciful to villains,” Bakugou looked for the positive point.

“I think Watanabe is seriously injured. His arm was dislocated during our fight, and now this. He might have to leave the tournament, kero,”

“Nah, Watanabe isn’t like that. Even if all his bones break, he’ll be back!” Kirishima promised.

“Maybe, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for him,” Jiro reminded.

“Are they alright?” Yagi asked, entering recovery girl’s office.

Chiyo gave Yagi an angry look, “Of course not! Izuku just broke his finger but he also has a nasty concussion. It’s Watanabe I’m worried about. You should have warned Izuku not to go 100% in close combat!”

“I did!” Yagi defended.

“Even so, you probably told him he needed to win no matter what,”

“Erm…”

“See,” Chiyo said frustrated, “The poor boy has two cracked ribs and a shattered arm. There’s no way he’ll be competing in the tournament,”

“He won’t like that,” Yagi said.

“It doesn’t matter. I already put him on a sedative to let him rest. By the time he wakes up, the festival will be long over,” Chiyo said and then started grumbling, “That idiotic hero commission; forcing us to hold the festival. Not only is it dangerous by showing your skills to villains, but it also puts the students at risk!”

“Well, they do need their publicity stunts,” Yagi sighed, “Nedzu doesn’t want to anger them too much just yet. He wants to completely batter them,”

“So, he’s still on that case?”

Yagi nodded, “Tsukauchi is trying to help but the commissioner forbade them from direct intervention. Apparently, there’s someone underground. They won’t give us any further information.”

“And that’s good. If Nedzu makes a wrong step, UA and everyone in it will be in danger.” Chiyo informed Yagi, “And anyway, can’t you do something? You’re the number 1!”

Yagi laughed, “I wish I could but with my time limit gone, there really isn’t much to do. And the number 2 is Endeavour who… well let’s just say he might as well be on the commission’s side.”

“His son doesn’t look so bad,”

“He isn’t. I think he understands what is wrong since he despises his father,” Yagi replied. Chiyo nodded.

The two sat in silence for a while, “You should go and watch Uraraka’s match. These two might be your favorites, but she’s your student too,”

Yagi looked startled but nodded, “Yeah, you’re right,” he said and left.

A few minutes after Yagi left, Izuku began to stir. He sat up with a groan, “Awake I see?” Chiyo asked.

Izuku blinked a few times to check where he was, “Did I lose?” he asked.

“No, it was a draw, but I have to talk with you, young man! What were you thinking using 100% on your cousin at such a close distance?”

“I-I did?” Izuku asked hesitantly, “I only wanted to use 50%,”

“50% wouldn’t have cracked Watanabe’s ribs and shattered his arm. I’m quite sure one of his legs is broken too from the impact,” Chiyo said unkindly.

Izuku turned to look at his cousin who was wrapped in bandages and sleeping, “I lost control…” he said sadly, “I wanted to use 50% only but since I didn’t spread the power, I used too much,” he tried to explain himself.

Chiyo patted Izuku, “Look, I know you didn’t mean it, and Watanabe probably won’t hold it against you either. But you have to get your power in check! If 5% isn’t enough, are you going to risk killing someone by using 100%?”

“No…” Izuku said slowly.

“Then train and find a way to limit your output. It will reduce damage to yourself too," Chiyo said warmly. Izuku simply nodded, his eyes still on Watanabe, clearly angry at himself for what he had done, “Now sleep,” Chiyo ordered, “I can get you some time till the next round,”

“I thought you said it’s a draw?”

“Do you really think I’ll allow Watanabe to fight?”

“No, but you’re allowing me?”

“If I don’t Watanabe will eat my head, even more, when he wakes up,” Chiyo grunted.

Izuku chuckled at that, “That is if he isn’t mad at me,”

“Don’t worry, he won’t be,” Chiyo assured.

“Hmm, I see. Listeners!” Mic announced, “Due to Watanabe’s aggravated injuries, he has been pulled out of the tournament. Izuku progresses by default!”

“WHAT!?” The crowd yelled angrily.

“Come on! Give the kid a chance!” They yelled, clearly hoping to see much more of the fight.

Midnight cracked her whip and let it fly just in front of the person who said that, making him squeal, “You bastards! Is a fight more important than his life! If one more person argues, I’ll kick them out!”

The crowd gulped and found it best to shut up, “Now, without further ado, we’ll move to the next match,” Midnight announced, “Are you two ready?”

Uraraka nodded but Hatsume raised her hand, “How come I can’t give Uraraka my equipment like Monoma?”

“You used it to humiliate him. I won’t let you do the same thing again,” Midnight said. Hatsume frowned.

In the stands, Monoma clenched his fists tightly, “Just because she has a heroic quirk, Midinight saved her. But when it was me, she allowed it!”

1B looked around uncomfortably. Tetsutetsu tried to argue, “Monoma, I’m sure it’s nothing like that! UA teachers are always good!”

“Shut up!” Monoma scowled, “You have no idea how it is to have a villainous quirk,”

“Heh, are you being serious?” Kuroiro said a little too loudly, “It’s just your superiority complex that makes you like this,”

“Why you-”

“Enough!” Kendo ordered, and silence fell on the class, “Just enjoy the fight,”

The said fight did not even last 10 seconds as Hatsume fired a gun that ejected a net and trapped Uraraka. Uraraka tried to use her quirk to levitate and escape but the net was stuck to the ground. After much struggling, Uraraka sighed, “I give up,”

“Hatsume advances to the semi-finals!”

Mei grinned walked towards Uraraka with the adhesive that would take out the glue.

The crowd was displeased, “What the hell? That wasn’t even a proper match,”